Hong Kong: Govt monitoring travel resumption

(To watch the full media session with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and Mainland authorities will closely monitor the operation of the resumption of normal travel between the two places and see whether there is room to adjust relevant arrangements.

Chief Executive John Lee made the remarks this morning before attending the Executive Council meeting.

In addition to pointing out that all relevant boundary control points (BCPs) have been operating well since normal travel between Hong Kong and the Mainland resumed on January 8, he stressed that the process in which people are travelling across the boundary is being done in an orderly manner.

Currently, the total prescribed daily number of people who can travel to the Mainland via these BCPs is 50,000.

Noting that there are still time slots available for bookings in the first eight weeks, Mr Lee said the Hong Kong SAR Government will maintain communication with the Mainland authorities to discuss whether it is possible to adjust the prescribed number of people passing through the BCPs and the number of BCPs.

We have assessed a suitable number for people to make appointments so as to ensure that the passage at the boundary crossing points is orderly, safe and smooth.

A lot of visitors from the Mainland need to have the right endorsement for them to come and the process of endorsements has just started.

And the other point I would like to make is, we are not looking at just one or two single days, we are obviously looking at the reopening of the boundary crossing in the long run. And obviously this has been the desire and the wants of a lot of people, not just to satisfy family reunions, but to ensure that normal business and normal activities can go about.

The Chief Executive also emphasised that the resumption of normal travel between the two sides will have a positive effect on the economy as well as the tourism, exhibition, retail and catering sectors.

This normal travel between the two places will not just ensure that the activities between the two places can resume, it also means that our international connectivity will increase as well, as overseas visitors can also come to Hong Kong to make their way into the Mainland and vice versa.

In fact, the Hong Kong SAR Government is planning to do a big promotion exercise starting in February because I think tourism will start to come back in February. So it is the Hong Kong SAR Governments plan to launch a big promotion for attracting tourism and attracting businesses to Hong Kong and we will be working with the tourism sector and also the business sector to make the promotion in that regard.

This story has been published on: 2023-01-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
UNDP pledges to support Vietnam in green energy transition

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) stands ready to support the Vietnamese government in the detailed formulation and implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) resource mobilisation plan right in 2023, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Ramla Al Khalidi has affirmed.









UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Ramla Al Khalidi. (Photo: UNDP)

This includes our proven technical assistance services to the Governments in green transition/NAMA projects, which can help Vietnam identify cost effective de-risking public instruments to promote and scale up private sector investments in the JETP resource mobilisation plan, Khalidi said in an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) on the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.



According to the UNDP Resident Representative, the UNDP is initiating assessments on the impact of phasing-out coal power and energy transition in Vietnam and defining what these processes would specifically mean for the country.



As Vietnam will embark on a greener and more resilient path in the next three-five years, including the JETP, the country needs to accelerate preparations for a package of public instruments to de-risk investments in renewable energies and design a just and feasible process to phase out coals in both state-owned enterprises and foreign-invested coal power plants, she suggested.



She said the Country Programme Document sets out the areas of cooperation between the UNDP and the Vietnamese Government until 2026.



Accordingly, UNDP Vietnam is supporting the Government in the areas of poverty reduction, human development, increasing citizens participation and human rights, increasing transparency and accountability, effectively scaling up climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster risk management, promoting circular economy and the sustainable deployment of clean and renewable energy with a just process, and the sustainable management of natural resources.



Institutionally, the UNDP has contributed to various aspects to strengthen Vietnams readiness for climate change governance, institutional capacities, and regulatory frameworks to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) processes.



This includes our recent contribution to support the key enhancement of Vietnams Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and the recent National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS) until 2050 to realise the net-zero ambition, she said.



In the coming years, she noted, the UNDP will focus on support for enhancing transparency framework for NDC implementation in line with Article 15 of the Paris Agreement, and comprehensive policy reform in alignment with net zero 2050 and global goals for adaptation with a just process, including preparedness for climate change legislation and empowerment of youth and women in all climate decision making process.



Financially, the UNDP is initiating work to support Vietnam to introduce needed financial instruments such as carbon tax and carbon market readiness for emission trading system, while designing relevant incentives, including innovative green finance and insurance schemes to leverage domestic and international investments in climate actions.



Currently, the UNDP is working directly with local communities and provinces to strategically channel finance into payments for ecosystem services, nature-based tourism, and private contributions in nature-positive solutions.



In terms of technical assistance, Khalidi said the UNDP is introducing more innovative and integrated solutions to accelerate the implementation of prioritised measures in Vietnam NDC and NCCS.



These include partnering with municipal and provincial authorities to promote the green transportation transition or green agriculture supply chain toward low carbon and resilient systems.



The UNDP deploys extensive work to promote circular economy, such as supporting policy formulation, training businesses and the private sector, developing community-based models to tackle waste management, and sourcing innovative solutions for marine plastic pollution, she said.



Khalidi noted that achieving a just energy transition will require an unprecedented investment effort, which will oblige everyone - government, business, community and household - to realign priorities and indeed to make some personal sacrifices./.
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New data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed that the structures of galaxies in the early universe were much more diverse and mature than previously known. Scientists compared images of hundreds of galaxies taken by JWST for the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey with corresponding images previously taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and presented the results at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society. The study examined 850 galaxies at redshifts of z three through nine, or as they were roughly 11-13 billion years ago. Associate Professor Jeyhan Kartaltepe from Rochester Institute of Technology's School of Physics and Astronomy said that JWST's ability to see faint high redshift galaxies in sharper detail than Hubble allowed the team of researchers to resolve more features and see a wide mix of galaxies, including many with mature features such as disks and spheroidal components. "There have been previous studies emphasizing that we see a lot of galaxies with disks at high redshift, which is true, but in this study we also see a lot of galaxies with other structures, such as spheroids and irregular shapes, as we do at lower redshifts," said Kartaltepe, lead author on the paper and CEERS co-investigator. "This means that even at these high redshifts, galaxies were already fairly evolved and had a wide range of structures." The results of the study, which have been posted to ArXiv and accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, demonstrate JWST's advances in depth, resolution, and wavelength coverage compared to Hubble. Out of the 850 galaxies used in the study that were previously identified by Hubble, 488 were reclassified with different morphologies after being shown in more detail with JWST. Kartaltepe said scientists are just beginning to reap the benefits of JWST's impressive capabilities and are excited by what forthcoming data will reveal. "This tells us that we don't yet know when the earliest galaxy structures formed," said Kartaltepe. "We're not yet seeing the very first galaxies with disks. We'll have to examine a lot more galaxies at even higher redshifts to really quantify at what point in time features like disks were able to form." (ANI)
Ellis lauded the contribution of Gujarati diaspora to the UK-India Living Bridge. He tweeted, "Excellent meeting @Bhupendrapbjp to discuss collaboration with the new government on climate, education and sport. The Gujarati diaspora make an immense contribution to the UK-India #LivingBridge."

Meanwhile, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel in a tweet stated, "Met the British High Commissioner in India Mr. @AlexWEllis at Gandhinagar. Discussed with him about 15 meetings to be held in Gujarat under the G20 Summit." Notably, India officially assumed the G20 presidency on December 1.

Meanwhile, Alex Ellis welcomed the signing and exchanging of letters for formalizing the Young Professional Scheme, calling it another "element in strengthening" ties between India and UK. He tweeted, "Another element in strengthening #LivingBridge which supports the flow of ideas and talent."

On Monday, the High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram K Doraiswami, and Matthew Rycroft, the permanent secretary at the Home Office of the UK signed and exchanged letters for formalising the Young Professional Scheme at an event in London.

The High Commission of India in London tweeted, "HC @VDoraiswami & PUS Home @MatthewRycroft1 signed & exchanged the letters for formalising the Young Professional Scheme at an event @HCI_London today. Further details and implementation date will be shared soon. @MEAIndia @PIBHomeAffairs @ukhomeoffice @DoC_GoI @ANI @DDNewslive."

"Delighted to agree the Young Professional Scheme today with High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami. YPS is an important step in strengthening migration + mobility relationship, Matthew Rycroft stated in a tweet.

Earlier in November, British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis said that PM Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart Rishi Sunak announced the launch of the young professional scheme at the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia. (ANI)
Egypt's Deputy Minister of Finance for Economic Affairs Sherine ElSharkawy has called India an interesting destination both for 'tourism and investment'. She stressed that India has a lot of opportunities, especially in the information technology sector. "India is an interesting destination both for tourism because of the different cultures and also for investment. There is a lot of business, there is a lot of opportunities, especially in the IT sector," Sherine El Sharkawy said while speaking to ANI. She made the remarks during the cultural program and dinner organized for the G20 delegates on the cruise ship 'The Bengal Paddle' in Kolkata. In an interview with ANI, Sherine ElSharkawy said that she is "really impressed" with India as it has invited countries who are not part of the G20 to share their views and concerns with other countries. Egypt's Deputy Minister of Finance for Economic Affairs Sherine ElSharkawy called the working groups meetings held under India's G20 presidency "very useful." Notably, India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1. "I'm really impressed with how it is dealt with. India has invited many countries not part of G20 to provide their input and to listen to the concerns of other countries," Sherine ElSharkawy said. "All the working groups that I have attended are very useful and are helping that discussions and ideas back and forth between the members and non-members. All the topics are very well chosen and very important for the current economic environment," she added. Calling the ties between India and Egypt "very strong", Sherine ElSharkawy said both nations are alike as individuals. Speaking to ANI, She said, "We are a lot alike actually as individuals with a culture, with a like of food and music and religion. All this is very diverse and we have a lot of discussions going on for cooperation between India and Egypt." In response to a question, if she will again visit India, Sherine ElSharkawy responded, "Yes, definitely I will. I look forward to that." She stated that she attended the G20 meeting held in Bengaluru and will again visit India to attend meetings in a month or so. Sherine ElSharkawy called the cultural program on the cruise ship and the hospitality in Kolkata "amazing." Expressing views regarding exhibitions, Egyptian Minister said, "the exhibitions were really very interesting. It showcased how much India has progressed and how much they have done. I found the exhibitions very useful." "The whole atmosphere is very welcoming. In Egypt, we have the river nile, which reminds me of home with a taste of Indian culture. I am really grateful for this opportunity," Sherine ElSharkawy said. (ANI)
Nepal's newly appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda is set to test the floor of parliament on Tuesday amid the uncertaintywhether the parties on board will vote for him or not. Dahal who is attempting for a whopping majority in the parliament has been attempting to ensure more votes in his favor and is also trying to woo the opposition to increase vote in favor. Prachanda last month broke off a democratic-communist alliance forging another alliancewith CPN-UML (Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist) and five other partiesalong with 2 other independent lawmakers. Late on Monday evening, Dahal reached out to the opposition Nepali Congress President andformer Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba seeking support on Tuesday's vote ofconfidence. Nepali Congress has a total of 88 seats in the parliament after one of the lawmakers from the party was removed from the post provided his criminal background. As per the officials aware of the matter, Deuba has promised to help Dahal but gave no concrete answer. The Nepali Congress being the largest party has again sidelined opposition after Dahal broke off the five-party alliance and headed for another six-party alliance. "The two leaders held a discussion about it but the final decision of the Nepali Congress will be made only on Monday morning. A meeting of the Parliamentary Committee to decide on vote of confidence has been called on for 9 AM (Local Time) on Tuesday morning," Purna Bahadur Khadka, Vice President of Nepali Congress told ANI over the phone. With time running out, Dahal is making all possible efforts to get votes from the parties representing in the parliament amid speculation that he might lose the vote of confidence. The CPN-Unified Socialist (CPN-US) led by another former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal which failed to be a national party but owns 10 seats is still undecided about today's vote of confidence. Like CPN-US, the Nagarik Unmukti Party which had supported Dahal as Prime Ministeron Monday's first parliamentary meeting chaired the opposition bench and has statedthat they are yet to decide over the vote. The CPN-UML, led by former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has directed all its members to be present in the house session for the vote of confidence on Tuesday. Oli on Monday itself had sent out a directive to all its members of the house to mandatorily be present on the day of the vote of confidence. Notably, Prachanda and Oli have struck an agreement to govern the country on a rotational basis, with Oli agreeing to make Prachanda Prime Minister first as per the latter's demand. In the new coalition, the CPN-UML has 79, Maoist Center 32, Rastriya Swatantra Party20, Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) 14, Janata Samajbadi Party 12, Janamat Party 6and Nagarik Unmukti Party has four MPs. Two independent lawmakers are alsosupporting Prachanda. The RPP also remains undecided about today's vote of confidence. In case the government fails to get endorsed then the President should give another chance to garner a majority and upon repeated failure, the President can dissolve the House of Representatives and call for another election within 6 months. Dahal would need to cross the mark of 50 percent of the 275-seated parliament to remain in power for the promised term. (ANI)
At least 12 people were killed in clashes near Juliaca airport in southeastern Peru on Monday, said the local ombudsman's office, reported DW News. The anti-government protesters, demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, attempted to enter an airport, where they clashed with law enforcement officials. "We ask the forces of law and order to make a legal, necessary and proportional use of force and we urge the state prosecutor's office to carry out a prompt investigation to clarify the facts," the ombudsman's office wrote on Twitter. The anti-government protests began in Peru in early December following the removal and arrest of then-president Pedro Castillo shortly after his attempt to illegally dissolve Congress, reported DW News. Protesters in Peru have erected new blockades and expanded their demonstrations in several regions, as calls for new elections and the release of detained former President Pedro Castillo grow across the country. He is serving 18 months in pre-trial detention on charges of rebellion, which he denies. Meanwhile, the protest is growing despite new president's early election pledge. President Dina Boluarte promises to hold a vote in 2024 amid growing protests demanding the release of ex-President Pedro Castillo. Protests resumed last week after a holiday lull. Apart from early elections and the release of Castillo, the protestors are calling for the resignation of new President Dina Boluarte, closure of Congress and changes to the constitution, reported DW News. Juliaca, located in the Puno region on the border with Bolivia, has been a hotbed of anti-government protests. An open-ended strike was declared there on January 4. Protests swiftly broke out across the country, with many supporters of the detained former leader demanding that Peru hold elections rather than allow Boluarte to stay in power until Castillo's term ends in 2026. Some protesters have also called for Congress to be shut down. The demands for new elections come as recent polls show nearly nine in 10 Peruvians disapprove of the nation's legislature amid years of political scandals and instability. The country is now on its sixth president since 2016. The power struggle in the country has continued as the Andes region and its thousands of small farms struggle to survive the worst drought in a half-century. (ANI)
In an unusual move, one of China's most prominent "wolf warrior" diplomats, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has been moved to an obscure department, according to the ministry's website, reported The Straits Times. "Boundary affairs is not one of the (foreign ministry's) more popular departments," said Yun Sun, an expert on Chinese diplomacy at the Stimson Centre in Washington, of Zhao's new role. "It could be because he had caught too much attention in the past three years and needs some time and space to cool off." Zhao gained prominence as one of China's most outspoken "wolf warrior" diplomats and was transferred to the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs on Monday as deputy head of the ministry. Zhao took up the post of foreign ministry spokesperson in 2020, after making headlines with controversial tweets as an envoy to Pakistan, reported The Straits Times. Zhao was known for his vociferous defence of the Communist-led country on social media platforms such as Twitter - which is blocked in China. He built a large following on Twitter as well as on Chinese social media for his frequent and often combative posts, many targeted at the US, reported The Straits Times. In a controversial Twitter post in March 2020, Zhao wrote that the US military might have brought the coronavirus to the Chinese city of Wuhan. He also sparked outrage in Canberra when he posted an illustration of an Australian soldier holding a bloody knife to a child's throat, prompting condemnation by Australia's prime minister. Zhao, who often hosted the ministry's daily media briefing, has 1.9 million Twitter followers. Zhao and the ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his change in role. His rise in influence came as Beijing spearheaded a more aggressive diplomatic turn under President Xi Jinping, China's most powerful ruler in decades. Late last month, China promoted Qin Gang, its ambassador to Washington and a trusted aide of President Xi Jinping, to be its new foreign minister, as Beijing and Washington seek to stabilise rocky relations. Other former spokespersons have also risen to prominent posts. Lu Kang became a director at the ministry's North America department and is now China's ambassador to Indonesia, while Geng Shuang was promoted to become China's deputy permanent representative at the UN. (ANI)
Gwadar Rights Movement leader Maulana Hidayatur Rehman has issued a warning to Chinese nationals to leave the Gwadar port area, Al Arabiya Post reported citing The Maritime Executive. Issuing a warning to Chinese nationals living in Gwadar, Rehman said if the government 'ignores' their peaceful protests, the people have a right to 'pick up and use weapons' to protect their rights. As per the news report, Chinese nationals have been used as a 'negotiating chip' by protesters in Balochistan to ensure that their demands are addressed. Maulana Hidayat Rehman's recent call to leave Gwadar was for the less than 500 Chinese residing there, Al Arabiya Post reported citing The Asian Lite International. Balochistan has been facing problems due to Chinese presence and 'utter neglect' by the Pakistani government. The lack of development and economic growth fuelled by 'Chinese colonialism' in the Gwadar port has created a "ground swell of anti-China feeling", resulting in locals recently asking Chinese nationals there to leave within a week's time, the Al Arabiya Post reported. Currently, the biggest challenge faced by Pakistan is ensuring that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) does not collapse as a keystone of CPEC under construction in Gwadar port in Balochistan, as per the news report. Protest on the expansion of Gwadar port, which is an important asset for China's Belt and Road Initiative continues to escalate, potentially affecting the economic ties between China and Pakistan, Al Arabiya Post reported citing the Maritime Executive. Last year, Maulana Hidayatur Rehman-led similar protests lasted for more than thirty-two days. He called on the government to address their issues, which the protesters now have not resolved. As per the news report, locals in Balochistan are being treated as 'aliens' while Chinese citizens earn good salaries, denying local employment. According to reports, during the protests in the third week of December, Maulana Hidayatur Rehman warned Chinese nationals to leave Gwadar within a week. The protests that have been going on for about two months involve blocking Gwadar's port entrance and the Gwadar East Bay Expressway, a key artery connecting the port with Pakistan's main highway network. Protesters have sought a reduction of security checkpoints in Gwadar and an end to deep-sea trawling. They have also called on the government to ease curbs on informal border trading with Iran, according to the Al Arabiya Post. Chinese nationals have been the target of terror attacks in Pakistan since 2021. (ANI)
Amid the global unrest over the civil unrest triggered by Mahsa Amini's death, the Iranian judiciary on Monday handed down three more death sentences, reported France24. In the latest ruling, Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were sentenced to death for 'moharebeh' -- waging 'war against God' -- under Iran's Islamic sharia law, the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported. However, they can appeal the verdict. Two others were handed prison terms for the incident that led to the deaths of the three members of the security forces in the central province of Isfahan on November 16, Mizan said. The latest sentences -- for three men who were convicted of the killings of three members of the security forces -- bring to 17 the official total of detainees condemned to death in connection with nearly four months of protests, reported France24. Four executions have been carried out, while six of those convicted have been granted retrials. Oslo-based group, Iran Human Rights (IHR), said at least 109 protesters now in detention have been sentenced to death or face charges that can carry capital punishment, reported France24. Iran has been rocked by a wave of protests since the September 16 death in custody of Kurdish Iranian Amini, 22, following her arrest for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code for women. In an updated death toll, the IHR said Monday that 481 protesters have been killed, including 64 minors, since the unrest began. Iran has blamed the unrest on hostile foreign forces, and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying that authorities had been dealing 'seriously and justly' with those implicated in the 'riots', reported France24. "There is no doubt that there is an economic and livelihood problem, but can this problem be solved by burning trash cans and rioting in the streets?" he said according to his official website. The crackdown and executions have sparked global outrage and new Western sanctions against Tehran. Rights groups have also accused Iran of extracting forced confessions and denying the thousands arrested due legal process. Canada on Monday announced a new round of sanctions over the regime's "brutal repression of brave Iranian voices", said Foreign Minister Melanie Joly. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan decried "the brutal repression of the Iranian government against its own people", saying the United States "will continue to impose costs and consequences for that". The European Union and several European countries including Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway have summoned Iranian diplomats in protest at the latest executions carried out on Saturday. According to London-based rights group Amnesty International, Iran is second only to China in its use of the death penalty, with at least 314 people executed in 2021. (ANI)
The spokesperson for United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP), Sardar Nasir Aziz Khan, was welcomed by the outfit's Canada's president Sardar Rashid Yousaf and other activists at Calgary airport, Khan tweeted. UKPNP spokesperson is currently on a two-week visit to Canada. As per a video shared by the UKPNP on its official YouTube channel, Khan, during his visit, will hold discussions with fellow Kashmiris on the issue of 'freedom' from PoK. In December last year, Human rights activist and chairman of UKPNP, Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, raised concerns over the deprivation of basic rights of the people in Gilgit Baltistan. Taking a dig at Pakistan, the rights activist said Gilgit Baltistan is part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan's policy is aimed at depriving the people of their fundamental rights and propagation against Indian involvement. "Gilgit Baltistan is part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and people are deprived of basic rights. It's Pakistani policy and fashioned to deprive people and propagation against Indian involvement. Pakistani is a country that always used religious sentiments," Shaukat Ali Kashmiri wrote on Twitter. in October, last year, the party organised a protest in PoK and other parts of the world in favour of marking October 22 as a 'black day'. The day commemorates the Pakistan Army's tribal invasion in Jammu and Kashmir in 1947. The UKPNP stands against Pakistan's bid to change the constitutional status of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, saying instead of fighting for the interest of the ruling elite in the name of identity, the focus of the oppressed locals should be on the establishment of a society free of exploitation. (ANI)
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva on Monday (local time) criticised the police for protesters' breach of government buildings, presidential palace, Congress, and the Supreme Court in the capital, Brasilia on Sunday, reported CNN. "The Brasilia police neglected (the attack threat), Brasilia's intelligence neglected it," Lula said during a meeting with governors. "It is easy to see in the footage of the police officers talking to the attackers. There was an explicit connivance of the police with the demonstrators," he said. He also vowed to find out who financed the protesters. Protesters supporting the far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro besieged government buildings on Sunday, calling for the military to intervene and oust the leftist hero Lula da Silva, who returned to power after a 12-year hiatus following a slim run-off victory over Bolsonaro last October. Footage shared of the attack appeared to show forces standing by and watching protesters march into government buildings, reported CNN. Prior to the attack, Bolsonaro supporters had been camped outside army barracks across the country as they implored a military intervention to reverse his loss in the 2022 presidential vote. Police made more than 1,500 arrests and Lula said officials were investigating those who financed the 'coup acts'. The government is also investigating the financiers and organizers of the protests, Dino said, adding that a tip-off email account had since received 13,000 messages. The attack bore similarities to the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol in Washington DC, when supporters of ex-US President Donald Trump -- a close ally of Bolsonaro -- stormed Congress in an effort to prevent the certification of his election defeat. Meanwhile, Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tweeted a photo of himself on a hospital bed in Orlando, Florida, on Monday, saying it was related to injuries from a 2018 knife attack during a political rally, reported CNN. Bolsonaro left Brazil for the US on Dec. 30, 2022 -- just two days before Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's inauguration -- and was admitted into the Florida hospital after suffering from abdominal 'discomfort', according to an Instagram post from his wife Michelle Bolsonaro. In the latest development, Brazil police found five hand grenades on the premises of the Supreme Court and Congress after the Sunday attacks on government buildings in Brasilia, Brazilian Sen Randolfe Rodrigues told CNN Brasil on Monday. Rodrigues, who will be leading President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government in Congress, said three of the grenades were found in the Supreme Court and two in Congress. In a tweet that he later deleted, the senator described the individuals behind the attacks as 'terrorists' who wanted to destroy the Supreme Court, the Presidential Palace and Congress. In a separate tweet, he called on security forces to identify all those who were involved in the attacks on government buildings. (ANI)
The volatile Afghanistan-Pakistan region is again the global hub of terrorism after the revocation of the peace deal by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Taliban taking over Afghanistan, reported Asian Lite International. It's a double whammy for Pakistan which has a new 'enemy' (Taliban) on its western border and a new nightmare that is its own making (TTP). As many as 15 cross-border attacks took place in Pakistan in 2022. While conditions in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan are anybody's guess given its cloistered existence, a survey by the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS), released January 7, 2023, confirms details of what is known -- that 419 Pakistanis were killed and 734 injured in 262 terror attacks during the past year launched by the TTP and other Islamist militant groups active on the Af-Pak border. It appears uncertain whether "the Taliban will fulfil their promises on foreign militant groups such as Al-Qaeda, Islamic State Movement of Uzbekistan, ETIM (East Turkestan Islamic Movement) or TIP (Turkistan Islamic Party), and the TTP", the report says. Pakistanis are sore from facing threats to its own rule. Kabul has only acted against ISKP and not against the TTP and elements like Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, all religiously inspired, reported The Asian Lite International. Analysts are asking why and how religion and terrorism go together in the entire region of which Pakistan is the prime example. As the Afghan rulers stay defiant, more and more Pakistanis, including the political opposition are ridiculing the end of the long-sought 'strategic depth' from a 'friendly' Afghanistan. At long last, the charade of 'good' and 'bad' Taliban that Pakistan successfully sold to the world, especially the United States, has now been exposed, the report says. For Raoof Hasan, a former special advisor to Prime Minister Imran Khan (The News, January 6, 2023) the new formulation of TTP/TTA, clubs the Afghan Taliban with their Pakistani ideological brothers. Operations to tame the TTP were "only partly successful because the bulk of their operatives escaped across the border where they have been working since in filial bondage with the Afghan Taliban." Pakistan's military 'establishment', also called the 'deep state', fully exposed now, is finding it difficult to learn that radicalization as a state policy or a proxy weapon is a double-edged sword bound to operate both ways. Blaming the government for the manner of holding talks with the TTP, the PIPS report notes that the Afghan Taliban's taking power in Kabul, and the Pakistani state's persistent ambition to engage in peace talks with the TTP had "encouraged the group to regroup and escalate terrorist violence in the country," reported Asian Lite International. As the government vowed to crack down on terrorism without discrimination, the reaction from the TTP has been a familiar one: a threat to attack two of the leading political parties of Pakistan for fighting 'America's war'. Pervez Hoodbhoy, writing in Dawn (January 7, 2023), declares that the "TTP is undefeatable" as the rulers are in cahoots with them. "If Pakistan is to eventually defeat TTP and its backers in Kabul, our soldiers must know what they are fighting for and why. An ideologically confused army cannot hope to fight and win. Without a clearly spelt-out cause, there cannot be a strong motivation. Else Pakistan will lose and TTP will triumph," he writes. He underscored the need, clarity of intent and determination to act against the TTP with a comparison. "By official counts, there were 70,000 deaths from terrorism in 2002-2014, whereas Pakistanis killed in all four Pakistan-India wars add up to around 18,000," he added. Moreover, since the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan, the relations between Pakistan and the Taliban soared over the issue of the Durand Line. The Taliban do not recognise the international border and bilateral ties are tense. (ANI)
The locals and traders of Gilgit Baltistan (GB) in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) are holding protests against heavy taxation laws, illegal land occupation, and load shedding imposed by the regime in the province, Pakistan's vernacular media outlet Baad-e-Shimal reported. The locals have raised concerns over the re-imposition of Gilgit Baltistan Revenue Tax 2022, which was earlier revoked after several discussions between the people and authorities, the report said. A report from Pakistan's vernacular media outlet Baad-e-Shimal highlighted protests over load shedding, flour crisis and ownership of Khalsa Sarkar land. These protests over concerns raised by the Baltistan residents have been intensifying with each passing day, the report said, adding that Pakistan's military establishment continues to exert coercive claims over the land and resources of the area. Before this, local traders and members of various political and social organisations observed a shutters'-down strike on December 28 in different parts of Gilgit-Baltistan, with markets closed and vehicles off the roads. Most of these demonstrations were held in Skardu, Gilgit, Hunza and Ghizer Pakistan has been openly misusing the 'Khalsa Sarkar' laws for land-grabbing in GB, the report claimed, adding that the law states that the federal government could claim 'ownership of barren or uncultivated land' in GB, even if it was collectively owned by the local community. The Pamir Times tweeted on December 30 tweeted, "Massive protest demonstrations held in different parts of #Gilgit-#Baltistan yesterday against the "Khalsa Sarkar" colonial law, imposition of taxes and the wheat and power crisis." The chairman of National Equality Party Jammu Kashmir Gilgit Baltistan and Ladakh (NEP JKGBL) said, "Ppl of #GilgitBaltistan protest for the 8th consecutive day at Yaadgaar #Skardu against #Pakistan on the issues of illegal land occupation, cutting subsidies, increasing electricity prices, black laws & imposing unfair taxes. #Pakistani govt & media have closed their eyes & ears." According to a fact-finding report by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan last year, the Khalsa Sarkar system violated international human rights standards, including the 'UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples', which protects indigenous peoples' "rights to their collective bio-cultural heritage as a whole, including traditional knowledge and resources, territories, and cultural and spiritual values and customary laws." (ANI)
After Turkey publicly criticized China for the first time over Beijing's treatment of its Uyghur minority, it is irked over Ankara's support for Uyghurs, writes Federico Giuliani, writing in Insideover. In September 2022, the UN released a report on alleged violations of the human rights of ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in China. The report found that mass detentions in China's Xinjiang region from 2017 to 2019 were marked by credible documentation of torture, sexual violence, and forced labour, as well as forced abortions and sterilisations. Taking a cue from the above report, Turkey publicly criticized China for the first time over Beijing's treatment of its Uyghur minority, reported Insideover. At a press briefing on December 29, 2022 Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu stated, "Our defending the rights of the Turkic Uyghurs in the international arena disturbs China. But this is a humanitarian issue". He told reporters that Beijing was irked by Ankara's refusal to grant extradition requests for Uyghurs who were Turkish citizens and settled down in Turkey, said Giuliani. Notably, Turkey has been one of the most hospitable countries to Uyghurs, with whom Turks share ethnic, religious and linguistic connections. Roughly 50,000 Uyghurs live in Turkey, forming the largest Uyghur Diaspora outside Central Asia. The 48-page report concluded that "serious human rights violations" were committed by the Chinese government against the Uyghurs and other Muslims under China's policies to fight terrorism and extremism. The Foreign Minister further emphasized that Turkey wanted to cooperate with China in a transparent manner but Chinese authorities did not allow the Ambassador in Beijing to freely visit the region where Uyghurs reside instead they wanted him to follow a "programme that they provided". He reminded Beijing about the commitment made by Chinese President Xi Jinping five years ago of allowing a humanitarian delegation from Turkey to visit and examine Xinjiang region and questioned Chinese authorities for impeding the visit, said Giuliani. Though Turkey's public criticism of China is a rare happening, there have been instances in the past where Ankara has taken on Beijing for ill-treatment of Uyghurs. In 2019, Turkey had brought up the minority's plight at the United Nations, condemning Beijing of "torturing" more than a million people. The condemnation had prompted the Chinese Ambassador in Ankara to openly warn the Turkish government against publicly criticizing Beijing by saying that it could have commercial and economic consequences. Beijing followed the warning by suddenly announcing temporary closure of its consulate in Turkey's Aegean province of Izmir, which is planned to be the last port in China's multibillion-dollar infrastructure project One Belt, One Road initiative, linking Asia and Europe, reported Insideover. In another spat, in 2021, the Chinese Embassy in Ankara directly targeted Turkish opposition leaders for commemorating the deaths of the Uyghurs. At that time the Chinese embassy had said, "The Chinese side reserves its legitimate right to respond" prompting the Turkish foreign minister to summon the Chinese ambassador. Besides the confrontation on Uyghur issue, tensions have also cropped up in economic cooperation field. Recently, Huawei, the Chinese tech giant, threatened its Turkish partner telecom operator Turkcell over a defence tender, reported Insideover. Huawei allegedly warned Turkcell with freezing its contracted operations when the latter refused to bow to pull down the bid in the defense tender, citing cost effectiveness concerns, according to a report by France-based Intelligence Online website. The company's aggressive competitiveness "damaged its good relations" in Turkey, the report noted. China is widely accused by human rights organizations of oppressing Uyghurs, one of the country's largest predominantly Muslim minorities. Those including Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have accused Beijing of incarcerating tens of thousands of Uyghurs in "camps" in Xinjiang and resorting to other means in blatant violation of international laws in a bid to strip off the minority from its Muslim identity. (ANI)
On the sidelines of the 17th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, President Droupadi Murmu met the President of the Republic of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi at Indore, Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday. President Murmu said that it is heartening to see his participation in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention as she happily noted that the Indian community in Suriname has maintained its cultural identity even after 150 years of leaving India, an official statement read. Both leaders also discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral relations and advance cooperation in trade, energy, technology and culture. "President Droupadi Murmu met President @CSantokhi of Suriname in Indore on the sidelines of 17th PBD Convention. Both leaders discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral relations and advance cooperation in trade, energy, technology and culture," the Official Twitter account of Rashtrapati Bhavan, run by the President's Secretariat tweeted. The President said that cooperation between India and Suriname is progressing well. Regular high-level visits are providing impetus to our growing relations. She reiterated India's commitment to extending technical cooperation and contributing to capacity building and skill development in Suriname. The President said that we must work together to expand our trade for mutual benefit, according to the official statement. Suriname is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Indians in June 2023 and wished the celebrations every success. Moreover, she expressed pride in knowing that despite the large geographical distance, Hindi is widely spoken in Suriname. President Droupadi Murmu also held wide-ranging talks with her counterpart from Guyana, Mohamed Irfaan Ali in Indore. The two sides discussed various sectors including oil and gas, healthcare, training, and capacity building during their discussion "President Droupadi Murmu held wide-ranging discussions with President @DrMohamedIrfaa1 of Guyana in Indore on the sidelines of the 17th PBD Convention. They discussed about enhancing cooperation in various sectors including oil and gas, healthcare, training, and capacity building," the President's Secretariat tweeted. President Droupadi Murmu reached Indore valedictory session of the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention in Indore, Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday and was received by the Governor of Madhya Pradesh Mangubhai Patel and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention is the flagship event of the Government of India that provides an important platform to engage and connect with overseas Indians and enable the diaspora to interact with each other. The theme of this PBD Convention is 'Diaspora: Reliable partners for India's progress in Amrit Kaal'. Over 3,500 diaspora members from nearly 70 different countries have registered for the PBD Convention. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar appreciated the role of Indian talents and creativity in foreign lands and said that the diaspora has demonstrated exceptional quality of dedication, commitment, and perseverance in many fields, in an address at the valedictory session of the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday. The EAM said that Indian citizens abroad have an admirable reputation in their respective societies as a result of their contributions, successes, and accomplishments. "Representing the best of Indian talent and creativity in foreign lands, our diaspora has demonstrated the exceptional quality of dedication, commitment, and perseverance in many fields. Their contributions and achievements and successes have earned them an enviable reputation in their respective societies," Jaishankar said during the address at the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Indore. Each of them has done us proud and the awards being presented today are a reflection of that sentiment. From this convention, it's clear that global demand for Indian talent, skills & practices will only increase, he added. He also expressed gratitude to President Murmu for her presence during the event and said that the day means so much to everyone, The minister also appreciated the presence of the President of Guyana, Mohammad Irfan Ali who is the chief guest of the event and also thanked the President of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi for their distinguished presence at this event. Jaishankar further added that the convention takes place as India celebrates the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and enters the Amrit Kaal and said that it is time to recognize the sacrifices and achievements of the past as the country prepares for the ambitions of the future. "This convention takes place as we celebrate the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and enter the Amrit Kaal. It is time to recognize the sacrifices and achievements of the past as we prepare for the ambitions of the future," he said. Talking on the Youth PBD, the External Affairs Minister said that they are an effort to capture the optimism of the coming generation and PM Modi's address gave us the vision and guidance for the journey that we embark on. "The council of the presidents of Guyana and Suriname and the warm sentiments that they expressed to convey the good wishes of our family abroad in this regard. Five union minister and 3 ministers of state have also spared their time to interact with our overseas brothers and sisters," the EAM said. The convention was inaugurated on Tuesday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who also released a commemorative postal stamp 'Surakshit Jaayen, Prashikshit Jaayen' > The PM also inaugurated the first-ever digital PBD Exhibition on the theme 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav - Contribution of Diaspora in Indian Freedom Struggle'. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention is the flagship event of the Government of India that provides an important platform to engage and connect with overseas Indians and enable the diaspora to interact with each other. The theme of this PBD Convention is 'Diaspora: Reliable partners for India's progress in Amrit Kaal'. Over 3,500 diaspora members from nearly 70 different countries have registered for the PBD Convention. (ANI)
The diligence and success of the Indian diaspora is recognized very well around the world, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar as he met the Pravasis from the US and Canada at the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention in Indore, Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday. The minister expressed confidence in the Indians residing overseas and said that they will continue to be a source of strength to India's ties with the US and Canada. Taking to Twitter, the EAM wrote, "Great to meet Pravasis from the US and Canada at the PBD Convention. Their diligence and success are well-recognized around the world. Confident that they will continue to be a source of strength to our ties." India and US share strong ties with each other as the strategic partnership between the two countries is founded on shared values including a commitment to democracy and upholding the rules-based international system. The United States and India have shared interests in promoting global security, stability, and economic prosperity through trade, investment, and connectivity. Whereas, India is Canada's eleventh-largest export market and 12th-largest trading partner overall as the two countries share strong trade-related ties with each other. Major Indian exports to Canada include drugs and pharmaceutical products, iron & steel products, marine products, cotton fabrics & readymade garments (RMG) and chemicals, etc, while key Canadian exports to India comprise pulses, fertilizers, coal, and crude petroleum, etc. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also met the Indian diaspora from Gulf in the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) in Madhya Pradesh's Indore on Tuesday. "Glad to meet with our enthusiastic community from UAE and Bahrain. Appreciated their contribution in taking India's partnership in the Gulf to a higher level. They also recognized the greater priority that the Modi Government has accorded to the Gulf," the External Affairs Minister tweeted. Indian diaspora from the Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, and Bahrain participated in the 3-day convention of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. At the valedictory session of the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday, Jaishankar said that Indian citizens abroad have an admirable reputation in their respective societies as a result of their contributions, successes, and accomplishments. During the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) in Indore, President Droupadi Murmu conferred Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards to the recipients. Guyana's President was also conferred by the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman earlier today by the Indian President for community welfare and politics. "Our diaspora brothers and sisters will always have a special place in our hearts, not only as extended family members but as responsible stakeholders in India's development," President Droupadi Murmu said during her address at 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Indore, Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday. The theme of this Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention is "Diaspora: Reliable partners for India's progress in Amrit Kaal". Over 3,500 diaspora members from nearly 70 countries registered for the PBD Convention. The convention was inaugurated on Tuesday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who also released a commemorative postal stamp 'Surakshit Jaayen, Prashikshit Jaayen'. (ANI)
Nepal's newly elected House of Representatives will choose its House speaker on January 19, the parliament secretariat announced as it called off the house meeting for the week. The incumbent acting house speaker Pashupati Shumsher JB Rana who has been given the charge of being the eldest member of the house on the basis of age made the announcement on Tuesday while calling it off for the week. "The election of House speaker as per the parliamentary code would be held on January 19. It is hereby directed to the Secretary General of the Parliament Secretariat that the election is scheduled to be published on January 17. The next house meeting would be held on January 19, 2023 at 11 AM (local time)," incumbent house speaker Rana announced in the parliament. As per the agreement reached in the ruling coalition, the CPN-UML (Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist) would be getting the post of house speaker. (ANI)
Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda won the vote of confidence in parliament on Tuesday with 268 votes in favour and two against. It is the first time in the history of Nepal's parliament that any Prime Minister has secured more than 99 per cent votes in parliament. A total of 270 lawmakers were present in today's meeting. The prime minister required at least 138 votes to win the trust motion. "Yesterday, I had said that the whole house would be in favour of the vote of confidence as I exited the federal parliament but hadn't said it knowing it would evidently happen but I had expressed my opinion and feeling as well as what I really had wanted for. Today here in this honorable parliament, the whopping support seen in this parliament regarding the vote of confidence for the government has made me feel proud. I am standing at the centre of the national unity government. On the other hand, I've been entrusted with challenges and responsibilities, what would happen, how I should go ahead, and whether I would be able to handle this support and trust in a justifiable way or not. The thoughts are running through my mind," Dahal said in his address to parliament on Tuesday. Nepali Congress who was the reason for the postponement of Tuesday's house session in the final hours had decided to vote for Dahal. Tagging along, the lawmakers of CPN (Unified Socialist) and Loktantrik Samajbadi Party voted in favour of the confidence motion which set a new record. "I declare that the motion of the vote of confidence tabled by Prime Minister Dahal has been endorsed with a majority," said the oldest parliamentarian Pashupati Shumsher Rana, who chaired the meeting as Speaker. Addressing the parliament while tabling the trust motion, Prime Minister Dahal said he is ready to take ahead the politics of consensus, cooperation, and mutual trust. The prime minister said he asked for a vote of confidence with the commitment to ensure social justice, good governance, and prosperity. Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed CPN (Maoist Centre) chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal as prime minister on December 25 after he showed the support of 169 lawmakers. As per the constitutional provision, a prime minister appointed under Article 76(2) needs to secure a vote of confidence from the parliament within 30 days of the appointment. The cabinet expansion is expected to move ahead with the prime minister securing the vote of confidence. The prime minister has been saying he would expand the council of ministers only after passing the floor test. The current cabinet is eight-member strong. The prime minister can now appoint 17 more ministers as the constitution has limited the size of the Cabinet to 25 members. (ANI)
In a special media briefing at the outset of the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday said that Oil and Gas cooperation are major sectors of cooperation for India with Guyana and Suriname amongst others. Skill development has been put in focus because it is an important subject. The Minister of Skill development and education also talked about it, Secretary East, MEA, Saurabh Kumar said, adding that specific to Guyana and Suriname, oil and gas is a major sector for cooperation amongst others. The MEA Secretary further added that skill development is something that the President of Guyana is very keen on and he wants Indian manpower to be in Guyana and contribute to the development of the nation. "In the bilateral context, skill development is something that the President of Guyana is very keen on. He also wants Indian manpower to be in Guyana and contribute to the development of the country. Capacity building is an integral part of our bilateral cooperation with both these countries," Secretary East said. Responding to media queries on India's support to Guyana under "Vaccine Maitri", Saurabh Kumar highlighted how the president of Guyana in his opening remarks expressed gratitude to India for providing them covid vaccines. "Regarding India's support to Guyana under vaccine Maitri, the President of Guyana in his opening speech expressed gratitude to India for providing them vaccines when they were unable to get them from anywhere. He shared this sentiment with both PM Modi and President Murmu during the bilaterals," Saurabh Kumar said during the special briefing. Moreover, during the briefing, the Secretary (Consular and Diaspora), of the Ministry of External Affairs, Ausaf Sayeed said that the PBD convention had several ministers from various countries partnering and had overwhelming responses to these plenary discussions. All the panelists contributed very well and interactive sessions with the diaspora were held. "We had several ministers from various countries partnering, so we had overwhelming responses to these plenary discussions. All panelist comntruibuited very well. Interactive sessions with the diaspora," Ausaf Sayeed said. He further said that this year, India had for the first time, from UAE a delegation of 200 students and in this way, we tried to have children come and experience their interaction and their interest. We also had 100 blue-collar workers also join, he added. "We had big official delegations from Guyana, Suriname, and Mauritius. We had ministerial delegations from Malaysia, Panama, and Zimbabwe," the Secretary (Consular and Diaspora) said during the briefing in Indore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu had bilateral discussions with the dignitaries from Guyana and Suriname on the margins of the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held wide-ranging discussions with Guyana President Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Suriname President Chandrikapersad Santokhi on the margins of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention. "Deepening ties with our CARICOM partner. PM Narendra Modi met President Mohamed Irfaan Ali of Guyana in Indore on PBD 2023 margins. Discussed furthering bilateral cooperation in diverse sectors, with a focus on energy, infrastructure, defence, healthcare, technology and innovation," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted. "Wide-ranging discussions held between PM Narendra Modi and President Chandrikapersad Santokhi of Suriname in Indore on the sidelines of PBD 2023. Deliberated on ways to further boost our cooperation in hydrocarbons, maritime security, digital initiatives, ICT, capacity building and defence," Bagchi tweeted. On the sidelines of the 17th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, President Droupadi Murmu also met the President of the Republic of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi, and President Mohamed Irfaan Ali of Guyana in Indore, Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention is the flagship event of the Government of India that provides an important platform to engage and connect with overseas Indians and enable the diaspora to interact with each other. (ANI)
The Embassy of India in Kathmandu organized Vishwa Hindi Diwas jointly with the Central Hindi Department of Tribhuwan University on Tuesday at the embassy premises. The event was attended by Prasanna Srivastava, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy, and head of the Hindi Department, TU, Sanjeeta Verma. Member of Parliament and President, Hindi Manch Nepal, Mangal Prasad Gupta, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. In his address, he opined that Hindi has played an important role in deepening the cultural ties between Nepal and India. He also underlined the global importance of Hindi and its relevance in the international arena. India's distinguished linguist Vimlesh Kanti Verma, Nepal's senior Hindi litterateur, and scholar Ganga Prasad Akela, and Ram Dayal Rakesh were Guests of Honour in the program. Dr. Vimlesh Kanti Verma in his address shared his experience on Hindi research, particularly in respect of its history, its connection with other international languages, and its evolution in contemporary times. Deputy Chief of Mission read out the message of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the occasion. He remarked that World Hindi Day reminds us of the linguistic heritage and identity of Hindi speakers. He expressed his gratitude to Hindi enthusiasts, scholars, and litterateurs of Nepal who have contributed to further strengthening Nepal-India friendship through Hindi. "As a part of the program, Hindi poetry recitation was organized for various schools of Kathmandu where students recited impactful poetry on the theme 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'. TU's M.A students of the Hindi Department were also felicitated on the occasion," the mission stated in a release. Music students of Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre, Kathmandu gave a group performance. Asawar Bapat, Director of Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre delivered a talk on the Devnagari script and its features which makes it unique. Hindi professors of Tribhuvan University Shweta Deepti and Manchala Jha highlighted the importance of Hindi in Nepal-India relations in their addresses. Nepal-India Kavi Sammelan was also organized in the second session of the program in which distinguished poets recited poetry in Hindi, Urdu, and Nepali languages and enthralled the audience. Vishwa Hindi Diwas has its underpinnings in the first World Hindi Conference that was organized on 10 January 1975 in Nagpur, India. Vishwa Hindi Diwas is globally celebrated every year on January 10. (ANI)
Under the Finance Track of India's G20 Presidency meeting of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) Working Group of G20, Manfred Auster, a G20 delegate from Germany on Tuesday said that they are looking forward for India's G20 presidency with high expectations. The German delegate said that India is the best place to take an important role in investment from the world. "We're looking for India's G20 presidency with high expectations. 'One Earth, One Family, One Future' looks promising. Germany & India have a strategic partnership. India is the best place to take an important role in investment from the world," Manfred Auster told ANI. The first meeting of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) Working Group of G20 under the Finance Track of India's G20 Presidency began with a symposium through an engaging session on the role of digital public infrastructure to augment digital financial services. Moreover, a G20 delegate from Indonesia lauded India's digital and financial sector and said that the country is very good. Speaking to ANI, Andreas Hotmanri, a G20 delegate from Indonesia said, "We must focus on digital public infrastructure to promote financial inclusion. When it comes to investment in the digital sector and financial sector, India is very good." Further, Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh, Andalib Elias told ANI, "Bangladesh has done a lot in terms of financial inclusion, this is the best platform for us to learn more, Here, the focus is on how we can use digital platforms for financial inclusion. We're thankful to India for invitation." According to G20 India's statement, the working group would discuss ways to improve financial system infrastructure, pursue policies conducive to harnessing emerging technologies, facilitating remittance flows and reducing the cost of remittance transfers, financial literacy and consumer protection, digital financial literacy and bridging the digital divide, among others. During the first month of the Presidency of G20, meetings were held in Udaipur, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. There were cultural programs and excursions held during the meetings in Udaipur, Mumbai, and Bengaluru and so it would be an opportunity for Kolkata to showcase its rich culture, cuisine, and heritage sights. (ANI)
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has condemned the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz- led government's "irresponsible statements" against the Taliban and warned that a deterioration in Afghan ties could result in a "never-ending" war against terrorism, Dawn reported. Addressing a seminar on terrorism on Tuesday, Imran Khan spoke about the criticism levelled at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for leading peace talks with the TTP, adding that the opposition parties should not "lie to the people." He stated that all stakeholders were informed about the need for talks with the TTP and the plan to resettle their members. "A military operation can be a part of the overall peace settlement but it is never successful on its own," Dawn quoted Imran Khan as saying. PTI Chairman Imran Khan slammed Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah for his "irresponsible" statements about Pakistan taking action against TTP hideouts in Afghanistan, as per the Dawn report. PTI Chairman said that if the Taliban decided to stop cooperating with Pakistan, it could result in a "never-ending war" against terrorism. Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan questioned the Shehbaz Sharif-led government on why they did not raise the issue of recent incidents at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border with the Afghan government, as per the news report. He asserted that another war against terrorism would turn into a curse for Pakistan if ties with Afghanistan deteriorated. He stressed that Pakistan should not seek help from the United States and warned that it would cause internal discord among locals if drone attacks were conducted. Notably, the ceasefire between Pakistan and TTP ended on November 28, 2022. Pakistan has been witnessing terror incidents over the past few months, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to Dawn. Pakistan has been witnessing an increase in terror attacks across the country, believed to have been planned by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP) leaders based in Afghanistan. The TTP, which has links with the Afghan Taliban, executed over 100 attacks last year. (ANI)
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday issued bailable arrest warrants against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and other party members Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar in cases related to the contempt of the electoral body, Dawn reported. In the hearing on Tuesday, the Election Commission of Pakistan rejected the pleas of PTI leaders seeking an exemption from appearing before the commission and issued arrest warrants for them against surety bonds of Rs 50,000 each, as per the news report. The four-member ECP bench headed by member Nisar Durrani passed the order and adjourned the hearing till January 17. After the ECP's decision, PTI leader Asad Umar tweeted, "The Election Commission has issued arrest warrants for Imran Khan, Mere, and Fawad Chaudhry. They are engaged in these tasks instead of conducting their own election. They themselves are guilty of contempt of court by not holding Islamabad elections." PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry called ECP's decision to issue a bailable warrant against them an "insult" to the High Court's decision. He termed it another "biased" decision by members of the ECP. He tweeted, "The Election Commission's decision to issue a bailable warrant is an insult to the High Court's decision, the date of the case is January 17, which was decided today against the rules. This is another biased decision by these dwarf members of the Election Commission. He will file a contempt of court case in the High Court." During the previous hearing, the ECP gave the PTI leaders a last chance to appear before the commission and warned that their absence before the commission at the next hearing could result in the issuance of arrest warrants. Last year, the ECP issued contempt notices to PTI leaders last year and ordered them to appear before the commission in person or through their counsels. However, the PTI leaders did not appear before the commission. The PTI leaders challenged ECP's decision in various high courts on the grounds that Section 10 of the Elections Act 2017, which is the statutory provision regarding the commission's power to punish for contempt, was against the Constitution, according to Dawn. The PTI leaders even sought declaratory relief from the charges in the high courts. On January 3, the Pakistan Supreme Court allowed ECP to continue its proceedings against Imran Khan Asad Umar, and Fawad Chaudhry, in cases related to the contempt of the electoral body. (ANI)
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said that joint investigation team (JIT) members investigating the attack on him in Wazirabad were being "pressurised to distance themselves" from the findings of the case, which he claimed confirms his conviction that "powerful quarters" were responsible for the attack. Imran Khan tweeted, "As per media reports, JIT members being pressurised to distance themselves from the findings of JIT investigating assassination plot against me. This further confirms my conviction that powerful quarters were behind the assassination attempt on me." On November 3, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) worker died and 14 others, including Imran Khan, were injured in an attack in Wazirabad, Dawn reported. The attack was carried out when the PTI's "Haqeeqi Azadi" march against the Pakistan government stopped on its way to Islamabad. The Punjab government set up a joint investigation to conduct the investigation into the attack. Earlier, an official aware of the findings told Dawn that shots were fired by "three unknown shooters, from unknown weapons" from a considerable height other than the gun attack carried out by the suspect, Naveed Meher. Meher had been arrested from the site of the attack. It is pertinent to note here that Imran Khan has repeatedly said that three shooters were involved in the attack against him in Wazirabad, as per the Dawn report. In an address on January 5, Imran Khan said that "two to three people" were behind the plot to assassinate him. He called for a "powerful" body backed by Pakistan's Chief Justice to conduct the investigation. "I know that the country's armed forces are giving sacrifices for the country [...] but there are black sheep in every institution," Dawn quoted Imran Khan as saying. "But the person who planned this, I want them to cooperate with the JIT. Action should be taken against those deliberately obstructing justice," he added. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that "an institution" working under the Pakistan government was not willing to conduct a forensic analysis of a mobile phone sent by the joint investigation team, as per the news report. However, the Pakistan government has rejected the claims made by Imran Khan. Last week, Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that there was no second or third suspect involved in the incident other than the arrested suspect, as per the Dawn report. Speaking at a press conference, Rana Sanaullah said that PTI can conduct as many investigations as it wants, however, it will not be able to "insert a second or third suspect." (ANI)
A 14-year-old boy is in custody after a 14-year-old girl was shot multiple times in Racine on Sunday, according to the Racine Police Department.

Shortly after 11:40 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to the area of 21st Street and South Memorial Drive, where a girl had been shot multiple times, Racine Police said.

The girl was taken to a hospital, then airlifted to Milwaukee. As of Monday, the girl was conscious and in stable but serious condition, police said.

A 14-year-old boy was taken into custody and is being held at juvenile detention, according to police.

The boy and girl know each other, but are not related, police said.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Racine Police Department Investigations Unit at 262-635-7756. Those who wish to remain anonymous may contact Crime Stoppers at 262-636-9330 or through the Crime Stoppers P3 app.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Boy, 14, in custody after girl, 14, was shot multiple times in Racine
[Source]

Before you read:

A 17-year-old male has been arrested in connection with the brutal assault of an elderly Asian woman on a San Francisco Muni bus last month.

The incident, which was caught on video, occurred as soon as the victim boarded the 38 bus at Geary and Laguna on her way to work.

I get in the bus, need to scan my Clipper. I saw him standing up  he kicked me with his foot. In the stomach, the Indonesian victim, identified only as Lisa, told ABC7 News after the attack.

More from NextShark: 700 Malaysians tricked by human traffickers are held for ransom in Laos

The 79-year-old reportedly hit her head on a railing as she collapsed to the ground. Medics transported her to the hospital to treat her non-life-threatening injuries.

Her assailant managed to escape on foot. On Monday, police announced the arrest of a 17-year-old male, who turned out to already be in custody in Contra Costa County due to another offense.

The teenager, who has not been identified because of his age, was taken to the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center on Dec. 29, 2022. He was booked on charges of aggravated assault and elder abuse.

More from NextShark: Man accused of killing 2 people at Houston Vietnamese restaurant charged with capital murder

Although the teenager has been apprehended, investigation into the case continues. Anyone with information is urged to call 1-415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411, beginning the message with SFPD.

Related stories:

More from NextShark: Elderly woman kicked in stomach on SF Muni bus: 'As an Asian American, I dont feel safe'

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Air Force Vet Finds Long Lost Korean Family Using Social Media
The Daily Beast

University of WashingtonThe Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) is a massive fault line stretching from Vancouver Island to Northern Californiaand its the source of the vast majority of earthquakes and tsunamis in the region. In fact, scientists believe that the fault line will likely be the source of the next Big One, an anticipated megathrust earthquake so powerful itll wreak death and destruction the likes of which weve never seen before from a geological event.So, it goes without saying that
25 Investigates learned that there is an ongoing effort to find items Brian Walshe, husband of missing Ana Walshe, may have thrown away in bins or dumpsters during his travels.

Brian Walshe was under federal house arrest when his wife went missing and police have been able to follow his every move because he wears GPS tracking advice.

Ana Walshe, 39, of Cohasset, was last seen around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 1. She has three young children between the ages of two and six.

The husband of Ana Walshe, 46-year-old Brian Walshe, was arrested on Sunday for misleading police in their investigation into her disappearance, the DAs office said. He faced a judge Monday and was ordered held on $500,000 bail.

Prosecutor: Bloody knife found in Ana Walshes home, husband bought cleaning supplies at Home Depot

During the court hearing, Assistant District Attorney Lynn Beland told the judge that a blood-covered knife and other bloody spots were found in Anas home following a search over the weekend.

Surveillance video from inside a Home Depot in Rockland also showed Brian buying a tarp, mops, tape, and other cleaning supplies, Beland added.

According to Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley, a family member last saw her in her Cohasset home between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. on New Years Day. There is no indication she ever arrived at the airport and Walshes cellphone, credit and debit cards have been inactive since her disappearance on Jan. 1.

Brian and Anas employer reported her missing three days later on Wednesday, Jan. 4.

Troopers and Cohasset police officers could be seen filing in and out of the Walshes home on Sunday when a search warrant was executed. Three children were also spotted being shuttered into cars that then drove away from the house. Ana and Brian Walshe have three children together.

According to a law enforcement source, the couples three boys are now in state custody.

A spokesperson for the Cohasset Police department told Boston 25 News on Saturday that detectives from the towns police department and Massachusetts State Police arrived in Washington D.C. Saturday before returning Sunday.

Story continues

Bojana Bogosav, a news editor in Anas homeland of Serbia, told Boston 25 that concern has been growing among family and friends.

This is a big story here because a woman from Serbia goes to America, living the American dream, and after that, she disappears, she has a husband, but the husband is very mysterious because he was arrested, Bogosav said.

Brian previously pleaded guilty in federal court two years ago after prosecutors say he took two Andy Warhol paintings from a friend in South Korea, put the authentic art for sale on eBay, then delivered fake paintings to a buyer for $80,000. He is on house arrest pending the outcome of that case.

Brians recent arrest in his wifes disappearance is a violation of the federal case and if he posts bail federal authorities can grab him before he gets out.

Sources tell Boston 25 Investigative Reporter Ted Daniel that Brian Walshe lived an affluent lifestyle. He used to host dinners for groups in Boston that cost $20,000 and more. According to sources, Walshe claimed to have made his money creating a software program in college.

Brian is due back in court at a later date.

An investigation by Cohasset and Massachusetts State Police into the disappearance of Ana remains open and ongoing.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Record rains caused flooding in Santa Barbara County, and throughout the state, on Monday. George Rose/Getty Images

A 5-year-old boy was swept away by California floodwaters as bystanders rescued his mother.

The woman and child were stranded in their truck near San Miguel in San Luis Obispo County.

Rescuers conducted an hours-long search but so far have only found one of the boy's shoes.

As torrential rains pummeled California, a 5-year-old boy was swept away in floodwaters after he and his mother got trapped in their vehicle, according to local reports.

The mother and her son got stuck in their truck in the San Marcos Creek creekbed near San Miguel in central California on Monday morning, firefighters told the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

According to ABC7, bystanders came to the rescue and pulled the mother to safety, but the child was pulled in by the floodwaters and was last seen floating away.

California firefighters, a helicopter, and a dive team searched for the boy for seven hours, according to NPR.

ABC7 reported that rescuers have so far only found one of the missing boy's shoes.

Tony Cipolla, a spokesperson for the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office, told the Tribune that the rescue effort had to be called off Monday afternoon because the weather conditions were too dangerous for first responders.

Cipolla told the Tribune that officials will "evaluate the weather conditions to see when they can resume the search."

Cipolla told ABC7 that the boy has not yet been declared dead. Cal Fire and the local sheriff's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for an update on the search efforts.

The identities of the mother and child have not been publicly released, but San Miguel Joint Union School District Superintendent Karen Grandoli told the Tribune the boy is a kindergartner at Lillian Larsen Elementary School and his mother is a teacher in the district.

After more than a week of atmospheric river storms, another storm battered California on Monday, causing more flooding and forcing evacuations across the state.

Story continues

Montecito  a posh town that's home to celebrities like Oprah, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle  issued an evacuation order; Ellen DeGeneres posted a video on Monday of a creek overflowing near her home in the area.

The accumulated damage of the downpours could total more than a billion dollars, the New York Times reported. More than a dozen people have been killed in the storms, authorities said, and more than 200,000 utility customers are still without power as of Tuesday afternoon, according to California's Office of Emergency Services.

Read the original article on Insider
A Versailles woman died Monday nearly a month after she was critically injured in crash involving a tractor-trailer in Darke County.

54-year-old Tena Black died at the EverHeart Hospice Care Center in Greenville, according to a spokesperson for the Darke County Sheriffs Office.

Black was one of four people taken to the hospital after a crash involving a semi-trailer in Greenville on Dec. 18.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 3 injured, 1 critical after crash involving semi in Greenville

Darke County deputies along with Greenville crews were called to an injury accident on U.S. 127 and Childrens Home Bradford Road around 8:40 p.m.

An initial investigation found that a Chevrolet Traverse driven by Randy Brunswick, 60, of Fort Loramie was traveling eastbound on Childrens Home Broadford Road when Brunswick failed to yield at a stop sign and traveled into the path of a semi-trailer driven by William Kellam, 42, of South Carolina.

After the collision, Brunswicks car traveled across the median and came to rest in a ditch.

Brunswick along with his passengers, Black and two juveniles, were trapped in their car and had to be freed by the fire department.

Brunswick and the two juveniles were taken to Wayne Healthcare, but he was later taken to Miami Valley Hospital. Brunswick has since been released.

One of the juveniles was taken to Dayton Childrens Hospital where they were previously reported to be in stable condition. The other juvenile was released from Wayne Healthcare.

Black was taken to Miami Valley Hospital where she was listed to be in critical condition, but was later transferred into hospice care where she died.

Kellam denied medical treatment at the scene.

Deputies said alcohol is suspected to be a factor in the accident but it remains under investigation.
A 6-year-old is recovering after a collision with a school bus, according to the Columbia County Sheriffs Office.

Investigators say the boy was driving the go kart in his neighborhood when he mistakenly put the kart in reverse.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

A school bus had just dropped off students and was driving away when the boy rolled underneath, according to the sheriffs office.

The boys father was outside supervising him at the time of the accident, according to investigators.

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The sheriffs office says the child is stable. No charges are expected against anyone involved.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
Updated

Its not easy to be a first on the Minneapolis School Board. The board has had Black and Latino members for decades. It has had Asian, Muslim and LGBTQ members, and the countrys first elected Somali official. Its first Native American director, Peggy Flanagan, is now Minnesotas lieutenant governor.

All this diversity notwithstanding, Sonya Emerick is a first, elected as the boards first autistic director in November. When Emerick, who is transgender, took the oath of office Jan. 3, they became, its believed, the second autistic school board member in the United States and one of four transgender people elected to a school board in 2022.

Emerick, 41, decided to run after spending most of the pandemic trying  and failing  to secure basic instruction for their son Foxy, who is homebound and communicates with assistive and augmentative technology. The boy got in-home therapies but never received the hundreds of hours of interaction with a teacher for kindergarten, and now first grade, mandated in his Individualized Education Program  the legal document that determines a childs special education services. The resistance Emerick, a community organizer and activist, encountered sparked the unique campaign that propelled them to office.

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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

By law, children whose disabilities prevent them from leaving home are entitled to the same free and appropriate public education as other kids. Your experience trying to get support for Foxy tells a different story.

My younger child, who is 7, has been a Minneapolis Public Schools student since he was 2, when he first started receiving special education services. My early experiences of advocating for him were challenging, but overall positive. As he got older, the advocacy got more challenging. Then there were the additional challenges of the pandemic and the state of the city of Minneapolis in the aftermath of George Floyds murder. Everyone started to have to advocate a lot more on behalf of themselves and their families.

Story continues

How that played out for my particular kid, because of the nature and complexity of his disabilities, is that he basically stopped receiving the educational services that were in his IEP  services he is legally entitled to. I did what, as a parent, I am empowered by the law to do, which is to use the alternative dispute resolution process to try to work collaboratively with the school and district to figure out how to get my kids education delivered.

I worked really hard for a whole year and went to 40 hours of IEP meetings to try to get it done. We were not able to do it. Though my direct dealings with the IEP team werent 100% free of conflicts, the real difficulties didnt lie with a teacher or a building administrator or anyone who I had direct access to. The barriers to getting my childs most fundamental, basic educational needs met were much more at the systems level, above the pay grade of every person at the IEP table.

I had two choices: to move into litigation with the district or to try to move where I had access to influence systems-level problems and barriers. I chose the latter. When you litigate in special education, its a significant amount of time and financial resources. Its very, very draining on a family emotionally. Even if you get the best possible outcome, it still begins and ends with one kid, typically. I decided I can do something with a bigger impact. Thats why I decided to run.

Theres a second layer. The systemic form of oppression called ableism has a very dehumanizing impact. As a disabled parent of two disabled children, advocating in the school system for one of my kids, these really traumatic  I dont think Im being too extreme when I use the word traumatic  experiences occur. I experience that trauma as a disabled person trying to navigate these systems, and as a parent, watching my child have to experience this oppression.

The deficits-based narratives we impose on kids who receive special education services  we have to use those narratives in our conversations about our children, with parents, families, caregivers. It can really start to impact your relationship with your child. You sit down to play with your kid or hug your kid or read to your kid or put dinner in front of your kid and its there all the time as something that youre either choosing to mitigate or to ignore or choosing to believe or work not to believe. It builds something that exists between you and your kid. Think of the violence of putting something between someone and their baby that interferes with their relationship and the developmental support that exists for that child. That will exist for that family forever. Its generational.

Related: Downsize Schools? Keep Them Open & Hope Students Come Back? With Enrollment Down, Minneapolis & St. Paul Split on How to Spend COVID Relief Funds

I was in an IEP meeting and a special education director said, For kids like your child, who are difficult to engage I had to interrupt and say, If were having difficulty engaging my child, educationally, thats a problem with our instruction. Thats not a problem with my child. My child is extremely engaged.

The way we talk about disabled kids, no one even thinks about it. What if I didnt interrupt? I think about all the times that I havent interrupted, and then I think about as a white person, as an English-speaking person and as a person who has expertise, the safety that I believe I will still experience after interrupting  those are privileges a lot of people trying to navigate these systems dont have.

I have seen some pretty amazing videos of Foxy you made for his teachers. Why did you start doing that?

I actually created a website of video and images of him and got the district to agree as part of his IEP that it would be an official tool for evaluation. That the evidence that I upload onto this website is used to determine his services, because I just dont trust that traditional tools always capture everything.

Foxy has been literate since the age of 3. But he is also non-speaking and has significant communication difficulties. He can type the entire book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He can type many books. He can use capital letters and punctuation and spaces. But I was told when he was 5 that we didnt need to put academic goals into his IEP because a functional IEP [one that addresses basic self-care skills] would be fine. The idea was that we wouldnt even make an investment in his academic instruction because it wasnt worth it, we would just teach him life skills like hand washing or picking up toys.

So you changed peoples beliefs about him.

I dont know that I did. Where that type of advocacy has been effective is with educators. When I show his teachers what he can do, it definitely informs what kind of instruction they provide. They can observe where he has skill and plan for that. But I dont know that it has necessarily had a significant impact when you go above the educators who are directly teaching my child. Sometimes I almost feel like its a cute party trick: Look at what my kid can do. Hes so skilled and amazing. Wow, thats so great. Hes so cute. Yet it doesnt alter programming or prioritization or get them to hire a teacher or anything like that. Its frustrating to get really creative and spend a lot of energy designing advocacy mechanisms and then have a system thats so broken its impenetrable. As an individual parent, there is no amount of advocacy I could do that would have the impact that my child needs just at, like, baseline level.

When the idea of running first came up, was there an aha moment?

No. Honestly, my initial response was a feeling of shame. That I would think that something like that was for me  an autistic person with other disabilities, who was not successful in school, didnt go to college, tried to pursue a few different career paths and was not successful, and ended up living in survival mode, parenting in acute poverty for a couple of decades. I have never in my life gotten messaging that this kind of opportunity was for me.

So my initial experience wasnt aha. My initial experience was, How foolish am I that for one second I would think this is something that I get to do. Thats painful to think about.

Related: There Are Just 90 LGBTQ School Board Members. Half Were Threatened, Harassed

You did not run a traditional campaign, yet you credit its novel aspects with helping you win.

Filing to run is easy. You fill out a one-page form, you pay $20. But actually running? Id never been involved in electoral politics before. Id been a community organizer and an activist, but Id never worked on a campaign. My participation in electoral politics began and ended with voting.

I talked to somebody who said, You need a kitchen cabinet, a group of people you meet with maybe every week to help figure out your campaign. I found a very small group. We tried designing a big field strategy where we mapped out every week, phone-banking, door-knocking, fund-raising  really specific goals. It wasnt something that we held onto because we found we couldnt plan that far out. Part of that was resources. And part of it was the way that my body and brain function because of my disabilities.

Autistic people do not yet have a disability support services system anywhere in the country, as far as I know, that really takes a look at adaptive support needs [daily living skills that may need to be taught or approached differently], which is where many autistic people have significant need. And its also an area of need thats quite easy to mask [by working to appear as typical as possible].

Autistic people can do many things, but we cant do many things. I can do 10 things, but only two of them today. The other eight I have to outsource, because I run out of processing power, because I get tired, because I need a lot of recovery. Thats hard to assess.

For us, what worked was to do something, evaluate it and then decide the next thing. We planned out a week. Lets try phone-banking. Lets try an event. How many events can Sonya do in a week? How many hours can Sonya do in a day? I dont know.

I found out I cant door-knock, which is hard if youre a candidate. Things like steps and walking on inclines and those types of things I can do for a few blocks, but then Im at risk of falling, of going to grab a handrail and missing. Then the other challenge of knocking on a door as an autistic person is not knowing if I would be talking to somebody, if I talk to somebody, who are they going to be, how they are going to receive the fact that someones knocked on their door to have a conversation. Then having to try to be effective  that elevator stump speech at the door was just so far beyond what my social communication skills are capable of. As an autistic person, there was too much uncertainty.

What I could really do well was go to community events and talk to people there. I had no problem going up to folks, giving them my literature. I didnt have to do as much coordination because Im just walking around a parking lot or a blocked-off street. If I go out door-knocking for an hour, I might talk to 10 people on a good day. But I can go to an event for an hour and talk to 100. I started doing as many events as I could. There were weekends where I hit eight events.

There was a time where I was told we would need to hire a social media person because the job was too big to ask anyone to do it without compensating them. I didnt think thats a priority in terms of our limited spending. I was like, Okay, lets game it out. We need someone to create a calendar, someone to create the graphics and to create the text. And then we need somebody to post the posts. Thats four jobs. Can we get four volunteers? Are those jobs little enough that its reasonable to ask someone to do just one part?

I did the graphics, and we found three volunteers to do the other pieces. Not only was nobody feeling like it was too big of an ask, we got feedback that it provided more ways for folks to plug into the campaign. There was one person who took care of her kids during the day but was happy to schedule our social media posts late at night. She was like, Ive really wanted to volunteer for the campaign. I cant do events or door-knocking, but this is something I can do.

On the campaign trail, Emerick found door-knocking problematic but discovered an affinity for talking to voters at events. (Sonya Emerick)

We made a variety of little volunteer opportunities. It was a great way to get folks to help us out, because we didnt ask them to be in a certain place at a certain time. By the end of the campaign, we had almost 100 volunteers, not counting people who came to a meet-and-greet or got a yard sign.

When I think about special education, I want opportunities to be differentiated [presented in different formats for people of differing abilities] like this so everybody can be involved. There should be a way for everybody who wants to plug in to plug in. A lot of this came from the principles of the Disability Justice Movement and around dismantling white supremacy culture.

We had a saying: The means is the work. Its where the real work is.

But you didnt start out centering those principles or your needs.

I grew into myself over the course of campaigning. Early on in a kitchen cabinet meeting, I was apologizing for something that didnt require an apology. Someone said, This is the second time during this meeting that youve apologized. I get the feeling that you think that we are all going to abandon you. I need you to know that were not waiting for you to do something wrong so that we can decide that we dont support you after all. She wasnt just being nice, she was being really clear.

I had impostor syndrome. I was so afraid that these people who are investing significant money, time and energy in me being in this role were going to find out that Im not who they think I am. But what actually happened is that I found out that I wasnt who I thought I was. I saw myself as unworthy. Maybe able to mask well enough to convince people that I had some value or skill. But they saw me as someone who could bring something needed to this role. And they were right.

Their belief held me while I was figuring out how to believe in myself. Im changed because a group of people decided unequivocally that they believed in me and decided to act from that belief, consistently, 100% of the time, regardless of how I acted. If there was a day where I had a symptom flare up and couldnt get out of bed, they still believed in me. If I made a mistake, did something I shouldnt have done or forgot something, they still believed in me.

Once I got a taste of what it felt like, for the first time in my life to feel believed in, I was like, this is what every student in our district  and everywhere  needs to experience. What would it be like if our students experienced this unshakable belief in their goodness, their worth, their abilities? That wasnt conditionally based on how they act today in school, or this test score, or this assignment, but because theyre worthy of belief because they are here.

There is a particular experience a lot of disabled people have where were thought to not be capable. It becomes part of the story we tell ourselves about ourselves. Theres so many kids, some because of disability and some for different reasons, who were teaching that they are not worthy of belief. We talk about the belief gap as racism, and it certainly is. We have kids of color, Black kids, Indigenous kids, who are not believed in because of who they are.

Think about how inextricably tied ableism and racism are. You dont have to be disabled to experience ableism. Its a set of beliefs that some bodies and minds are more worthy than others. We decide that some children are capable of learning to read and some are not, some children are worth academic investment, some are not. Some children are worth the support needed to stay in a classroom even when theyre having a tough day and some are not. That is ableism.

I could talk to you all day about this, and the trauma of the thing that gets inserted into the parent-child relationship, but I should ask you about your yoga ball.

Im glad you asked. The majority of the campaign, I didnt expect that I would win. I really had to think about what our goals were other than winning to keep us going. I had prepared myself for if I didnt win, how I would deal with the fallout. But I didnt prepare myself for if I did win.

I called the person who had probably been my closest support in terms of disability and access and said Im in this dark place because Im alone now. Ive had this whole team directly supporting me every single day. Now, that part is over, and Im going to go be a school board director and I have to do it on my own. I am a disabled person who will always need significant support to execute my considerable strength. I dont think Im going to be able to do it.

She said, Who told you that you have to do this on your own? You needed a high level of support to campaign and nobody thought something magical was going to happen if you got elected and you wouldnt need it anymore.

Theres this adage I like  I dont know who its attributed to  if you feel like youre walking in circles, look down, because youre probably moving on a helix. It may look like youre back in the same place, but youve come to a new plane. I experience my life like that a lot.

I have to build out what that support looks like now. I was successful campaigning because I let it have breathing room. And I can feel now, because of the state of crisis that our school district is in, that it can feel like theres no space, theres no time to do anything like that. So I have to ground myself. I go back to my campaign experience and say, we were able to be successful, giving ourselves room to figure out how to be authentic and not leave anyone out. The means is the work.

So, the yoga ball. If I have to sit for a meeting or any sort of situation where theres a lot of information, a lot of executive functioning, I can modulate my processing experience through continuous rhythmic movement. Sitting on a yoga ball behind the dais will give me a way to support my processing so that I can integrate all the information and the discussion and the presentations, and be super present and effective.

One of Emericks first acts as a board member-elect was to purchase a yoga ball to sit on during board meetings. (Sonya Emerick)

I already have the ball at district headquarters because I know Im going to need it. But what happens if I need a sensory break during a meeting? What happens if I need somebody to repeat something? I dont know if I will. If I do, were going to have to have a conversation about what does that look like. I cant identify all the needs beforehand, because its experiential. Itll be an adventure to figure it out.

Im not saying everyone should be expected to do this by any means, but there is value when people choose to do this in public. Disabled people are supposed to be invisible. Institutionalization is a primary mechanism through which disabled people have been kidnapped out of society and put away so that no one sees us. If I cant be a visibly disabled person and be a school board director, then Im not included. It doesnt do me any good to try to hide my process as a disabled person.

I hope that having an identifiable disabled person behind the dais will let kids who receive special education services see an example of what kind of life they might prepare for. And I hope that having a visibly disabled person behind the dais will show caregivers and educators of students who receive special education services what kind of future they might need to prepare their kids for.
Laney Sweet, widow of Daniel Shaver, arrives Oct. 25, 2017, at Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix with attorney Mark Geragos for opening statements in the trial of former Mesa Officer Philip Brailsford, charged with murder in the fatal 2016 shooting of the unarmed Shaver.

The $8 million settlement between Mesa and Laney Sweet for the death of her husband has finally been funded, according to Sweet's attorney.

The settlement was originally reached back in November 2022, nearly seven years after former Mesa police Officer Philip "Mitch" Brailsford killed Daniel Shaver, shooting him five times in a hotel hallway in 2016.

Sweet had sued Mesa as well as the officers present for her husband's "wrongful death and violation of civil rights on behalf of herself, her children, and her husband's estate," the firm said.

On Monday, attorney Karen Moskowitz with the Richards & Moskowitz law firm released a statement detailing that the settlement had now been funded.

"After a lengthy battle through the federal courts, Laney recently reached a settlement with the defendants. The $8 million settlement being paid to resolve the claims against Mesa is among the largest publicly reported for any killing of a citizen by an Arizona police officer. In fact, it is the highest settlement for a deceased victim in Arizona and more than twice the amount of Mesas highest settlement to date," the firm said in the statement.

Prior to this, Shaver's parents were able to settle with Mesa in 2021 for $1.5 million.

The shooting

In January 2016, Mesa police officers responded to a hotel after receiving reports of a man pointing a rifle out of the window.

Body camera footage from the incident showed Shaver, in town on a work-related trip from Texas, being confronted by six Mesa police officers in the hallway of the hotel. Shaver can be seen on his knees, unarmed and pleading for his life. Visibly traumatized, Shaver tries to comply with officers, crawling toward them as directed.

The footage then shows, as Shaver moved his hand toward his waistband, Brailsford shoots Shaver five times. According to the police report, Shaver's motion indicated he may have been armed.

Officers later found a pellet gun inside the hotel room that Shaver used as a pest-control worker.

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Brailsford was charged by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office with second-degree murder in 2016 but was found not guilty by a jury just a year later.

Department of Justice investigation

In 2018, it was confirmed by the Mesa Police Department that the U.S. Department of Justice had opened a civil rights investigation into Brailsford, subpoenaing all documentation pertaining to the shooting.

At this time, no information surrounding the investigation has been released, nor has the city provided an update into the matter.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: $8 million settlement funded in 2016 murder of Daniel Shaver
Russian forces attacked Nikopol district of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast twice on the night of 9-10 January.

Source: Valentyn Reznichenko, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram

Quote: "9 hours of air-raid sirens and strikes by Grads [multiple-launch rocket systems  ed.] and heavy artillery.

The Russians shelled the Nikopol district twice during the night. The Marhanets hromada [an administrative unit designating, in this case, a town of Marhanets and its adjacent territories  ed.] came under enemy fire. Over 30 deadly shells have been fired there.

People have not been injured. There is some destruction  houses and cafes were damaged. The aftermath is still being investigated."

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






Sandeep Dole / BuzzFeed News

Whenever I visited Aba, my maternal grandfather, who lives in India, he burst with questions. He wanted to know how I was, and whether I still liked my job. He wanted to know what I had for dinner each day, and whether I still worked out. He wanted to know how the internet works, and what exactly was a Facebook.

Each time I answered, however, his face would settle into a puzzled expression. Hed lean in closer and look faintly annoyed. I spoke again, and again, and then one more time, my voice growing louder and louder until I was practically shouting at him. Then his shoulders drooped, and he waved me away with a resigned sigh.

At 95, Aba cant hear much. He started to lose his hearing pretty early in life, back when he was a strapping young medical school student in the 1940s who knocked out a couple thousand squats a day. He was frighteningly fit except for bouts of cold that would strike him more and more frequently as the years went by. Doctors later diagnosed him with otitis media, a condition caused by repeated infections of the ear canals that were triggered by his colds.

Still, he powered through life, living in Narayangaon, a small town in western India where he built an eye hospital from scratch. Aba was a social animal. He loved company, and loved having long, winding conversations. But by the time he turned 80, doctors said that more than 70% of his hearing capacity was gone. Aba spent thousands on expensive, medical-grade hearing aids. They were functional, but he despised them.

They make all noises loud, he complained. I just need to hear the person I am speaking with. I dont need everything amplified. It hurts, and I cant stand it.

Simple conversations were now Herculean efforts that ended in shouting matches and frustration.

As he neared 90, Abas world shrank. He spent his days reading and watching TV, listening to the sound through a pair of oversized wireless headphones over his ears with the volume cranked to the max. He still wore his hearing aids, but as his ears got worse and worse, the devices became even less effective. Simple conversations were now Herculean efforts that ended in shouting matches and frustration.DO YOU WANT DINNER?

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ARE YOU SLEEPY?CAN I GET YOU SOME TEA?Phone calls were impossible  Aba had to put his phone on speaker, press it right up against his ear, and ask the person on the other end to shout as loudly as they could. Eventually, talking to Aba on the phone meant getting him on a video call and smiling and waving at him.

When I visited him in the fall of 2022, I was wearing a pair of AirPods, and he gestured to my ears with a puzzled expression on his face.

HEADPHONES! I shouted. I USE THESE TO LISTEN TO MUSIC!

And then, I wondered if I could use them for something more important.

In 2018, Apple made Live Listen , a feature of iOS that lets iPhones and iPads transmit audio from their microphones directly to compatible hearing aids, work with regular AirPods. I hadnt had any reason to use the feature myself, but now I was curious. Could Live Listen help me have a conversation with my grandfather after all these years?

I slipped the AirPods out of my ears and put them in his. I turned on Live Listen on my iPhone, brought it close to my mouth, and spoke into it.

Hi, can you hear me?

Abas face broke into a grin, and he nodded excitedly. I can hear you! I can hear you!

AirPods arent my favorite Apple product. I think theyre overpriced, and they dont sound great for what you pay. But its also true that no other wireless buds work so seamlessly with iPhones, which is why theyre the default wireless earphones for most people, including me.

Theyre also an environmental hazard. Vice called AirPods future fossils of capitalism, destined for landfills once their tiny batteries, encased in hard plastic, wear out after a couple of years. And I resent the fact that Apple eliminated headphone jacks that worked perfectly well and forced people to pay for something that they used to get in the box for free.

But with Live Listen, AirPods helped me reconnect with my grandfather in a way that no other device has been able to. Im willing to look past my misgivings for that.

Nearly 30 million US adults could benefit from using hearing aids, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. But in adults over 70 with hearing loss, fewer than 1 in 3 have actually used them.

Thats because hearing aids are expensive. In the US, they can cost as much as $5,000 and often arent covered by insurance. In October, in an effort to drive down hearing aid prices, the Food and Drug Administration allowed some types to be sold over the counter for the first time. But even with the new rules, the devices can still cost well over $1,000. Meanwhile, the most expensive pair of Apples in-ear buds are $249.

Last year, a team of researchers from Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan read a short sentence out loud to people with mild to moderate hearing loss. The subjects listened to the sentence multiple times  with basic and premium hearing aids, as well as with two kinds of AirPods. Then they were asked to repeat the line back. In some cases, the researchers found that the AirPods performed as well as the premium hearing aids. The study was published in November in the journal iScience.

They wont replace hearing aids but its a good way for people to experience what the world would be like if they could get some help, an upgrade for their hearing, Yen-Fu Cheng, an ear, nose, and throat specialist who cowrote the study, told the Wall Street Journal.Apple says that Live Listen can help people hear a conversation in a noisy area or even hear someone speaking across the room, but the company doesnt explicitly market the feature as a hearing aid. Still, Apple has been quietly researching turning AirPods into health devices that can be used more than just to listen to audio, the Wall Street Journal reported .Apple has studied using AirPods to monitor peoples body temperature, correct their posture, and boost their hearing. Apples earbuds already include sensors, microphones, an amplifier, and a high-end chip that could make them ideal for helping people who have moderate hearing loss, experts told the Journal. (Apple declined to respond to BuzzFeed News questions about Live Listen on the record.)

Minutes into wearing my AirPods, Aba had a question: Can I get my own pair?

Of course, I said, and a few days later, a package from Amazon showed up at his doorstep. I paired Abas new AirPods to an old iPhone SE that once belonged to my mom and set him up.

For the first time in years, Aba and I talked. I spoke, directly and quietly, into the phone and watched him nod his head in comprehension, and when he responded, clearly and in complete sentences, it felt like a chasm had closed.

No longer restricted to transactional monosyllables and gestures, Aba talked and talked. We talked about his childhood and what growing up in an India still ruled by the British was like. We talked about politics (sigh) and India and America and the internet and, yes, Facebook.

These days, Aba and his AirPods are inseparable. Hes far less lonely. He can finally meet people again and hold entire conversations, as long as they speak into his phone.

Why didnt anyone tell me about this before? he asked me recently over a video call. I didnt have an answer, but it didnt matter because he was also smiling the biggest smile I have seen on his face in years.

More on this
Variety Path to Parity Summit, Arrivals, Los Angeles, USA - 06 Jun 2018

Michael Buckner/Variety/REX/Shutterstock

Dr. Jennifer Ashton is giving social media users tons of information after kicking off Dry January.

On Thursday, the ABC chief medical correspondent appeared on a GMA3 Instagram video where she discussed the benefits of temporarily giving up alcohol for the new year. While sitting in her dressing room, Ashton, 53, urged anyone who's considering it to give it a shot.

"Well listen, I've been doing it for the last five years," she shared. "Dry January, I call it. I mean, it's incredibly popular. People have been doing it for longer than that."

"It's not for people who have an abuse or dependence issue," the mother of two emphasized. "It's just like a wellness experiment."

Ashton then gave her top reasons for sticking with the "experiment."

"Number one: Be curious in yourself. So see if you can do it, see what your triggers are, see how you feel, see what the benefits are," she said. "Number two: Your sleep will improve, your skin will improve, you will lose a few pounds. Those are guarantees. And you'll save some money."

RELATED: Eyeing the Wine? Here's How to Stay Motivated for the Rest of Dry January

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"And lastly, data has shown that people who do these kind of dry months, or periods of time, tend to drink less after that month or period of time is done," Ashton continued. "So it may actually stimulate some longer lasting health and wellness behaviors."

Ashton explained that Dry January doesn't have to be "an all or none type of thing," noting that moderation is key.

"That's why I think one month is discreet. It's easy. I always, always, always feel good and find it easy when I do it," she said. "So give it a try."

Ashton also teased that she offers information about giving up alcohol in her book, Self-care Solution.

"Dry January is basically chapter one. I break down all the science, my own experience, and then tips for anyone wanting to do this," she said. "And no, it doesn't have to be in the month of January. You can do it any month you want."

Ashton isn't the only one who's spoken out about taking a break from alcohol. Celebrities like Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Bella Hadid, Valerie Bertinelli, and more have also hopped on the Dry January bandwagon in the past.
Police officers carry a demonstrator to clear a road at the village of Luetzerath, near Erkelenz, Germany, January 10, 2023. / Credit: Michael Probst/AP

Berlin  Police clashed Tuesday with climate change activists occupying a tiny town in Germany that's set to be engulfed by a large coal mine. Several hundred activists moved into the town of Luetzerath weeks ago, after its residents moved out and energy giant RWE took ownership of all of its buildings and land. RWE has been approved to demolish the hamlet to expand a nearby mine and extract the lignite (brown coal) reserves under the town.

The activists have resisted efforts to clear them from homes and makeshift shelters, including tents and treehouses, in the town, but when police started trying to push them out Tuesday to make way for demolition equipment, some refused to go.

Videos posted to social media showed large numbers of police and activists, locked arm-in-arm, pushing and shoving, and the clashes grew serious enough that police resort to tear gas on a couple occasions. Police could be seen detaining people on the ground, but there was no immediate word on the number of arrests.

Report says solar power to beat out coal globally in a few years

All lawsuits filed to block the demolition of Luetzerath for the mine works have been rejected by German courts. The responsible district, Heinsberg, prohibited the activists' occupation, clearing the way for the eviction push that took place Tuesday, involving more than 1,000 officers.

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RWE has said it's necessary to mine the significant lignite reserves under the town, and as Germany and Europe face sky-rocketing energy prices amid Russia's war on Ukraine, it has the backing of the North Rhine-Westphalia state government.

"In the current energy crisis situation, it is clear to everyone that the coal under Luetzerath is needed to ensure security of supply," the state's top administrator, Minister President Hendrik Wust, said in an interview with local newspaper Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger. "No one took the decision lightly to use this coal."

Police officers and protesters clash on a road at the village Luetzerath near Erkelenz, Germany, January 10, 2023. / Credit: Michael Probst/AP

The activists, backed by some scientists from regional universities who have joined forces under the guises of a "CoalExit Research Group," say RWE primarily wants to dig up Luetzerath because the coal under the town can be extracted more easily, making it more profitable. The company denies that allegation.

Police Chief Dirk Weinspach of the city of Aachen has described the activists in Luetzerath as predominantly "middle-class and peacefully oriented," but some members of the group had thrown firecrackers and bottles at police on several occasions.

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With Mega Millions jackpot at $1.1 billion, lottery players share what they'd do with big prize

Capitol Hill reacts to discovery of documents marked classified at Biden's former office, while Rep. George Santos faces mounting scrutiny
By David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 100 arms-control, environmental and other activist groups have urged the Biden administration to formally apologize to the Marshall Islands for the impact of massive nuclear testing there in the 1940s and '50s and to provide fair compensation.

The activists, led by the by the Arms Control Association and including Greenpeace, Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Marshallese Education Initiative, made the call in a Dec. 5 letter to President Joe Biden. The text was made available to Reuters.

It urged Washington to deliver on promises of nuclear justice in ongoing negotiations with the Marshall Islands on renewing a Compact of Free Association (COFA) that has been the basis of relations with the Pacific territory since the 1980s.

COFA provisions will expire in 2023 for the Marshall Islands and another Pacific territory, the Federated States of Micronesia, and with Palau in 2024.

The island nations still enjoy close ties to Washington, but analysts warn a failure to reach new terms for economic aid could spur them to look to U.S. strategic rival China for funding or increased trade and tourism.

Marshall Islanders are still plagued by health and environmental effects of the 67 U.S. nuclear bomb tests there from 1946 to 1958, which included "Castle Bravo" at Bikini Atoll in 1954 - the largest U.S. bomb ever detonated.

Though the State Department says Washington already reached a full and final settlement for the nuclear legacy under past agreements, a State Department official told Reuters last month it was "exploring a variety of areas in which the United States might provide broad assistance" to address ongoing needs.

Asked to comment on the letter, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council referred to a statement at a 2022 summit with Pacific island nations that Washington remained "committed to addressing the Republic of the Marshall Islands ongoing environmental, public health concerns, and other welfare concerns."

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The letter signatories welcomed this statement, while noting that as well as coping with the legacy of nuclear testing, the low-lying Marshall Islands were on the frontlines of the global climate disaster, adding:

"Now is the time for the United States to step up and meet its responsibilities by delivering on these important steps for Marshallese people through the new Compact of Free Association."

They said that as well as issuing a formal apology and meeting compensation claims, Washington should support long-term environmental remediation, expand access to healthcare, especially for illnesses associated with radiation exposure, and declassify documents related on nuclear testing.

Separately on Tuesday, the State Department said the United States had signed a memorandum of understanding with Palau as part of its COFA talks affirming a close and continuing partnership "and reflecting our consensus reached on levels and kinds of future U.S. assistance to be requested for Palaus economic development."

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Newly released documents reveal disturbing details about the murders of an elderly couple in Mount Dora.

Vickie Williams is charged with first-degree murder related to the deaths of Sharon and Darryl Getman.

Sharon and Darryl Getman, of Mount Dora.

The arrest affidavit details the gruesome scene investigators discovered inside the Getmans home in the Waterman Village senior living community on New Years Eve.

Investigators said the couple was stabbed to death.

Read: Woman accused of killing retired Mount Dora couple faces murder charges

Officers said Williams was arrested in the couples car in Georgia days later. Williams told officers she was homeless and had been living in the car, which she said she borrowed from a friend.

In an interview, Williams told investigators she hadnt been to Florida since 2019. But according to the affidavit, Williams mother and son identified her to police from surveillance photos taken in Waterman Village.

Read: Stunned, devastated and heart-broken: Children of couple killed in Mount Dora release statement

Detectives said items inside the home helped police tie Williams to the crime. Investigators said it looked like someone tried to clean up in the Getmans bathroom where they found Williams hair and fingerprints. They said they also found her bloody footprints in the garage.

According to court documents, cameras followed Williams out of the Mount Dora complex in the couples car, then to South Carolina before she was found with their car in Savannah, Georgia to an Amtrack station where she was arrested.

Read: Person of interest in Mount Dora couples deaths faces Georgia judge on stolen vehicle charge

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By Kanishka Singh and Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The succession of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was believed to have been killed in a U.S. raid last year, remains unclear, a U.S. intelligence official said on Tuesday.

Zawahiri was killed in a U.S. strike in Afghanistan, the biggest blow to the militant group since its founder Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011.

"The question for Al Qaeda, that it has not answered for itself, is who follows (Zawahiri)," Christine Abizaid, director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, said in an event organized by the Washington Institute when asked about Al Qaeda's "center of gravity" after Zawahiri's death.

Zawahiri had been in hiding for years. Al Qaeda has not named a successor.

Saif al-Adel, a mysterious, low-key former Egyptian special forces officer who is a high-ranking member of Al Qaeda, is seen by experts as the top contender. The United States is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to his arrest.

Abizaid also addressed the threat landscape in the United States and said the country faced an "unpredictable" environment, adding that Americans must remain vigilant about overseas-based extremist organizations such as Al Qaeda and Islamic State.

"The online environment is where most of the radicalisation is occurring," she said.

Lone actors remained a key threat for the United States, Abizaid said, adding they could be inspired by overseas extremist groups or be driven by racially and ethnically motivated violent domestic extremism.

Her remarks echoed a recent assessment by the Department of Homeland Security, which said in November that the U.S. threat environment will remain heightened in the coming months, with lone offenders and groups motivated by a range of ideologies posing a danger.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has signed a cooperation agreement with the government of Hangzhou, the city where the company is headquartered, local media reported on Tuesday.

China's internet giants have been in the crosshairs of Chinese regulators for the past two years, but authorities have in recent months given increasing signs that relations between the government and China's tech sector will thaw, which would bode well for the sector's prospects

The government-backed Zhejiang Daily reported that at the signing event, local authorities formulated specific measures to help develop the online platform economy.

The signing comes just two days after Ant Group Co Ltd, the finance company long affiliated with Alibaba, announced Jack Ma had ceded control of the company.

The announcemnt caused shares of Alibaba and other Ant Group affiliated companies to soar, as investors interpreted the move as possible cap to a years-long regulatory crackdown on the Chinese tech industry

On Monday, Guo Shuqing, Communist party chief of the People's Bank of China, was quoted by state broadcaster CCTV as saying that rectification of the financial business of 14 online platform companies has been "basically completed," though he did not name any companies.

(Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Conor Humphries)
Vladimir Putin wanted to reaffirm Russia as a global superpower, but his disastrous war in Ukraine and growing trouble at home could ultimately lead his country to collapse.

A growing number of analysts predict that his stalled Ukraine invasion could be the catalyst for a wave of social and economic upheaval in Russia that loosens Putins grip on power within the next decade. Nearly half of top foreign policy experts and global strategists say Russia will become a failed state or break up completely by 2033 due to economic collapse and social upheaval, according to a survey released Monday by the Atlantic Council, an independent think tank focusing on international affairs.

One of the most surprising takeaways was how many respondents pointed to a potential Russian collapse over the next decade, said the report, which was based on a survey of 167 global experts from a number of disciplines about international affairs over the next decade. The Kremlins war against Ukraine could precipitate hugely consequential upheaval in a great power with the largest nuclear-weapons arsenal on the planet.

But while some strategists said Russias expected collapse could mean a transition from autocracy to democracy, many also warned that as Russias status as a global power declines, the risk of Putin resorting to extreme measures, including using nuclear weapons, will grow.

Russian failed state

Global strategists interviewed by the Atlantic Council put Russia as the most likely state to fail within the next 10 years, well ahead of countries traditionally mired in political and economic instability including Afghanistan and Venezuela.

If Russia does become a failed state, it would also entail a personal failure for Putin, who has been the countrys most powerful politician since he assumed the presidency from Boris Yeltsin in 1999. In the more than two decades since, Putin has acted as Russias president or prime minister in electoral wins widely considered fraudulent by the international community. In 2021, Putin signed a law that lets him run for president twice more in his lifetime, potentially keeping him in power until 2036.

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Putin has spent most of his time in office rebuilding Russias military and, during his first decade in power from 1999 to 2008, grew the countrys economy by an average of 7% annually, largely on the back of Russias massive oil and gas energy empire.

But Russias economic growth has stagnated in the 15 years since the 2008 global financial crisis, when oil prices fell precipitously. Between 2009 and 2020, Russias annual growth averaged less than 1%, according to the Atlantic Council. The invasion of Ukraine and subsequent wave of sanctions may be the final straw for the countrys floundering economy.

Russias economy is set to enter a period of decline that could last three to five years, researchers at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace wrote in December. Meanwhile, the World Bank and other international organizations predicted last year that Russias economy would shrink between 3.4% and 4.5% in 2022 in response to sanctions and export controls, with Russian trade in goods and services set to fall significantly. In 2023, the countrys GDP is expected to continue declining by as much as 5.6% in the worst-case scenario.

The Western worlds recent price cap on Russian oil exports may accelerate Russias economic decline. Energy historian Daniel Yergin wrote in December that Russia will likely turn to oil production cuts in retaliation for the price cap, but warned that such an act would backfire on Russias economy by reducing the countrys oil revenues. This week, Centrocredit Bank economist Yevgeny Suvorov said the price cap could prove catastrophic for Russias federal budget and economy.

A more dangerous world

But with Russia in increasingly dire straits, experts surveyed by the Atlantic Council warned Putin could be pushed into a knee-jerk military response with global consequences.

With Russias power waning, 14% of survey respondents said Putin could launch a nuclear weapon within the next 10 years. Among respondents who said Russia is on the way to becoming a failed state, 22% predicted Putin would use a nuclear weapon.

While Russian officials including Putin ramped up nuclear rhetoric last fall as Western nations continued to send weapons and reinforcements to Ukraine, Russias Ministry of Foreign Affairs made clear in a statement in November that it remained committed to preventing nuclear war while affirming that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. The White House has so far referred to Putins occasional nuclear threats as saber-rattling and has said there is no indication Russia plans a nuclear strike.

The worlds nuclear risk is set to increase regardless of whether Putin uses nuclear weapons, however, the Atlantic Council survey found. Nearly 90% of respondents said at least one country would add military nuclear capabilities over the next decade, with 68% saying Iran will be the most likely one.

While more than half of respondents said they do not expect a nuclear weapon to be used in the next decade, many forecast a more dangerous and isolated world in the next 10 years. Nearly 60% of respondents said they expect China to attempt an invasion of Taiwan before 2033, while nationalist and populist movements are predicted to wield more political influence than democratic movements over the next decade.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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A newly approved drug intended to slow the progression of Alzheimers disease offers patients hope, but it will come with a steep price tag: $26,500 a year.

The drug, called Leqembi from the drugmakers Eisai and Biogen, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Friday for use in people with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimers disease.

Its only the second drug approved in the United States  behind Biogens Aduhelm  aimed at attacking what is thought to be one of the underlying causes of the disease  build-ups in the brain called amyloid plaques.

Leqembis annual price tag of $26,500 is below the price set for Aduhelm  which was approved by the FDA in 2021 despite strong objections from its panel of outside advisers. That drug initially cost $56,000 per year before Biogen slashed the price in half, to $28,000 annually.

Still, the price for Leqembi is much higher than recommended by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a Boston-based research group that helps determine fair prices for drugs. Dr. David Rind, the institutes chief medical officer, said an appropriate cost for the drug is $8,500 to $20,600 a year.

We think this is overpriced right now, he said.

Because of the high price tag, experts say, the number of people who will be able to get the drug when it becomes available  expected the week of Jan. 16  will be extremely limited. More than 6 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimers disease, according to the Alzheimers Association.

As a rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services restricts coverage for new Alzheimers treatments that target amyloid, including Leqembi, to only those patients participating in clinical trials.

Scan of the brain of a patient affected by Alzheimer's disease. (BSIP / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

John Domeck, 60, of Aurora, Ohio is currently enrolled in a phase 3 clinical trial testing Leqembi. Because of that, he gets the medication free every two weeks.

But his wife, Ann Domeck, says she doesnt know if that will continue when the trial ends in the next two years, even though John qualifies for Medicare.

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I dont know if we could afford it, she said, but were going to cross that bridge when we come to it.

Holly Fernandez Lynch, an assistant professor of medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania, said the CMS standards for covering new Alzheimers treatments are higher than those the FDA uses to get new treatments on the market quickly.

Leqembi was approved under the FDAs accelerated pathway, which allows early approval for new drugs that fill an unmet medical need and are found to be safe and effective. In its review for accelerated approval of Leqembi, the FDA looked at data from a phase 2 clinical trial of more than 800 patients. Eisai and Biogen will still need to submit data from an additional phase 3 clinical trial that confirms the benefits of the drug to gain full approval.

The standard for CMS coverage is not that the drug is safe and effective, Lynch said. It is that is it reasonable and necessary for the Medicare population.

Lynch said the CMS cant determine that until it has seen the full data from both clinical trials.

Arthur Caplan, the head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said the CMS has to be especially cautious about what medications it covers because drugs, like Leqembi, could cost it billions. About 6.5 million people over the age of 65 have Alzheimers and would qualify for Medicare.

The CMS may be willing to swallow that cost if the drug is shown to provide a lot of benefits for patients, he said.

But right now, the clinical trial for Leqembi shows that the drug provides modest efficacy at a big, big price, Caplan said.

Its possible, Lynch said, that the CMS will consider covering Leqembi once the drug receives full approval. Eisai announced late Friday that it had submitted an application for full approval. Ivan Cheung, the U.S. chairman and CEO of Eisai, told NBC News that the FDA could reach a decision in six months.

But, as of right now, it appears the CMS is unwilling to budge on its policy stance, Lynch said.

The CMS has said, Look, something might be safe and effective from the FDAs perspective, but we have too many qualms about the qualify of evidence, she said.

In the meantime, many patients who want the drug will not be able to afford it, said Dr. Alberto Espay, a neurologist at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

Its very unfortunate, he said, noting that physicians will have to explain to patients the potential benefits  a modest slowing of the disease  alongside the risks, which may include a great financial burden.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
More than 800 Amazon employees are calling on the company to step up its response to climate change through foreign aid  a sign internal activism is still alive at tech companies despite layoffs and a slowing economy.

The employees say the aid is a way for Amazon to take greater responsibility for its role in producing the greenhouse emissions that cause climate change.

In a petition posted on an internal system, the workers are asking Amazon to contribute toward reparations for Pakistan which suffered devastating floods last summer and fall by matching employee donations to relief efforts, according to screenshots given to NBC News. They also want the company to match employee donations in future climate related disasters.

Amazons success and scale comes with a broad responsibility, the petition reads. As Amazonians, we are proud to uphold our leadership principles, and in that spirit, we owe it to our workforce, our customers, and the planet we live on to mitigate the harm our operations cause.

The petition was started by Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, a group of workers that has pushed the company on climate issues for years. Scientists have said the flooding that killed more than 1,700 people and displaced millions in Pakistan was much more likely to occur because of climate change.

Amazon created a disaster relief portal in 2017 that allows employees and the company to work together to send supplies to areas affected by climate change and other disasters, and it has donated $200,000 to relief organizations in Pakistan since the floods, according to spokesman Patrick Malone.

The company did not comment directly on the petition. Malone said in a statement that Amazon has responded to more than 100 events around the globe and donated more than 20 million goods, funding, and other services to nonprofits operating on the ground.

Following previous employee actions around climate change, the company pledged to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040.

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Despite pledge, emissions rise

But workers noted in their petition that the companys most recent disclosures showed its carbon emissions increased 40 percent in 2021 from 2019, the year the company announced its climate pledge.

The petition is part of a growing global movement demanding that wealthy countries and companies recognize their contributions to the climate crisis and the disproportionate effects climate change has wreaked on areas of the world that produce fewer emissions.

And it is attracting some Amazon workers not previously involved in workplace activism. The effort was sparked in part by Pakistani employees in the group whose families back home were affected by the floods. They say the company has an obligation to do more, given both its role in climate emissions, and the population of Pakistani workers it employs in the U.S., many of whom are on H1B visas.

One Pakistani employee on the East Coast said she thought hard about getting involved because of concern for her job in an uncertain economic climate. Amazon recently announced layoffs of some 18,000 workers, joining other tech luminaries like Meta, Salesforce and Lyft in downsizing. She ultimately decided the modest action was worth the risk, though she requested that her name not be used, fearing retaliation for publicly criticizing the company.

Amazon is one of the largest logistics companies and uses tons of fossil fuels, the worker said. It hasnt been proactive enough. Amazon does have a responsibility, as do all of the big corporations in the U.S., and Europe.

A contentious history

Amazon has faced down internal activism over climate change before, at times aggressively.

The company fired two of the founders of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, after the group organized a virtual event for the companys tech employees to speak with its warehouse workers about covid safety issues in early 2020. Tim Bray, a prominent engineer and vice president at the company, quit in protest over those firings, as well as that of organizer Chris Smalls.

Previously, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice had helped organize letter-writing campaigns, protests and a walkout to pressure the company on climate issues, demanding Amazon meet zero emissions by 2030, stop its cloud services division from doing business with the oil and gas industry, and cease donations to climate change denying politicians. One letter received 8,700 signatures from Amazon employees.

The NLRB found merit in the workers complaints that they were fired in retaliation, and Amazon eventually settled out of court with the employees.

It definitely had an effect on people, said Eliza Pan, a former program manager at the company who left in 2019 to go work on climate change issues, but is still involved with Amazon Employees for Climate Justice. The effect was people being more cautious and more careful, but it wasnt scaring people away completely.

Amazon did ramp up its work on climate change, releasing a Climate Pledge on the eve of an employee walkout in 2019 that promised to have net zero emissions by 2040.

Those efforts include transitioning some of its fleet from gas to electric vehicles and pledging $100 million to reforestation funds. More than 350 other companies have since signed on to the pledge.

Tensie Whelan, the director of the Center for Sustainable Business at New York Universitys business school, said that this kind of activism would continue to bubble up at companies as millennials and Generation Z continue to make up a bigger sector of the workforce.

Were not asking Amazon to do anything super extreme, said an Amazon developer in Seattle who also spoke to NBC News on the condition his name not be used for fear of reprisal for going public. What were asking them to do first is something were willing to do.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
An Amtrak worker convinced more than 40 people to pay for a round-trip excursion from New Orleans to New York City  but the trip was fake, federal prosecutors said.

The employee convinced the people to pay her around $500 each to secure a private spot on an Amtrak train before telling them the June 2019 trip was suddenly canceled over a bomb threat, court documents show.

In reality, the bomb threat was another lie the Amtrak worker told those who gave her money for the purported trip, which was also supposed to include tickets to shows and museums in New York City, food, sight-seeing tours and hotel accommodations, according to an affidavit. All told, the woman stole at least $23,000 from the people she duped, prosecutors said.

Now the woman, who no longer works for Amtrak, will spend a year in prison after she pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced in a Jan. 9 news release.

A judge sentenced her to six months in prison for each count of wire fraud and ordered her to pay restitution to the people she stole from, prosecutors said.

McClatchy News contacted the womans attorney for comment on Jan. 10 and didnt immediately receive a response.

How the scam worked

For the fake trip, the woman ran two Facebook groups titled Dem Nola Girlz and NOLA and NYC, according to the affidavit.

As the planned June 21, 2019 excursion approached, the woman announced on the NOLA and NYC page that Amtrak had canceled the trip after she already received thousands in PayPal payments for it, investigators said.

She concocted a fake story, informing those who paid for the excursion that one of the attendees who also paid for the trip created a confrontation with Amtrak employees at the station in New Orleans on June 8, according to the affidavit.

Supposedly, the employee said, this individual attacked another Amtrak worker and made a bomb threat while asking to see her room on the train for the trip, according to investigators.

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The woman represented that she was fighting to get the trip restored or the passengers money returned, after announcing the cancellation, the affidavit said.

After skeptical victims reached out to law enforcement, Amtrak began investigating and the woman ultimately admitted she misled people into paying for a nonexistent trip, according to investigators.

In addition to this, the woman was also caught submitting fake sick benefit claims to the Railroad Retirement Board, prosecutors said.

She lied about being too ill to do her job and was paid more than $4,500 in sick benefit claims, according to the release. Officials said she was actually working elsewhere at the time.

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Brian Walshe has been on house arrest after pleading guilty in 2018 for selling two fake Andy Warhol paintings for $80,000.

During a federal court hearing last June, Brians wife, Ana Walshe, wrote a letter to the judge to show support for her husband ahead of his sentencing while he had been on home confinement.

Police search North Shore dumpster station in connection with missing Cohasset mother Ana Walshe

In her letter to the federal judge in June 2022, Ana wrote:

During these eight months, our family was able to be together during many of the milestones: our youngest son turned one, our middle son started to speak and our eldest son who had just started kindergarten when we saw you last is now only a few weeks away from completing the year and preparing for first grade. He also lost his first tooth.

Ana went on to say Brian was a big help after her mother suffered a brain aneurysm in December 2021.

Not only did he save her life, but he also brought her and the entire family comfort and joy during the course of her illness, Ana wrote in her letter.

While helping his mother-in-law, Ana also said Brian continued to take care of his ailing elderly mother and be there for his sons day in and day out.

Whether it was walking for World (Peace) Day in Dorchester, or stopping by the Pine Street Inn in Boston to drop off food and sanitary supplies, Brian has been teaching our young boys from early age how important it is to share the joy and be in contribution with time and resources, Ana wrote.

The court documents reveal Brian is the primary caretaker of their three boys, ages six, four, and two, while Ana spends a lot of time working for a real estate firm in DC.

Brian has been working consistently on breaking the past bad habits of his family and we are all looking forward to the new chapter of his life, Ana wrote to the federal judge.

Ana Walshe has now been missing for more than a week, and police believe her husband could be responsible after he was charged Monday with misleading police in the case of Anas disappearance. He was ordered held on $500,000 bail.

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Prosecutor: Bloody knife found in Ana Walshes home, husband bought cleaning supplies at Home Depot

During the court hearing, Assistant District Attorney Lynn Beland told the judge that a blood-covered knife and other bloody spots were found in Anas home following a search over the weekend.

Surveillance video from inside a Home Depot in Rockland also showed Brian buying a tarp, mops, tape, and other cleaning supplies, Beland added.

According to Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley, a family member last saw her in her Cohasset home between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. on New Years Day. There is no indication she ever arrived at the airport and Walshes cellphone, credit and debit cards have been inactive since her disappearance on Jan. 1.

Brian and Anas employer reported her missing three days later on Wednesday, Jan. 4.

Troopers and Cohasset police officers could be seen filing in and out of the Walshes home on Sunday when a search warrant was executed. Three children were also spotted being shuttered into cars that then drove away from the house. Ana and Brian Walshe have three children together.

According to a law enforcement source, the couples three boys are now in state custody.

A spokesperson for the Cohasset Police department told Boston 25 News on Saturday that detectives from the towns police department and Massachusetts State Police arrived in Washington D.C. Saturday before returning Sunday.

Bojana Bogosav, a news editor in Anas homeland of Serbia, told Boston 25 that concern has been growing among family and friends.

This is a big story here because a woman from Serbia goes to America, living the American dream, and after that, she disappears, she has a husband, but the husband is very mysterious because he was arrested, Bogosav said.

Brian previously pleaded guilty in federal court two years ago after prosecutors say he took two Andy Warhol paintings from a friend in South Korea, put the authentic art for sale on eBay, then delivered fake paintings to a buyer for $80,000. He is on house arrest pending the outcome of that case.

Brians recent arrest in his wifes disappearance is a violation of the federal case and if he posts bail federal authorities can grab him before he gets out.

Sources tell Boston 25 Investigative Reporter Ted Daniel that Brian Walshe lived an affluent lifestyle. He used to host dinners for groups in Boston that cost $20,000 and more. According to sources, Walshe claimed to have made his money creating a software program in college.

Brian is due back in court at a later date.

An investigation by Cohasset and Massachusetts State Police into the disappearance of Ana remains open and ongoing.

Missing Cohasset mother: Timeline of events related to disappearance of Ana Walshe

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
By Felix Light and Nailia Bagirova

TBILISI/BAKU (Reuters) -Armenia's prime minister expressed concern on Tuesday about the failure of Russian peacekeepers to take a more active role around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, as Azerbaijan said time was running out for forging a lasting peace deal.

Yerevan wants the Russian peacekeepers to end a month-long Azeri blockade of the only road linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly ethnic Armenian enclave which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.

"We do not criticize Russian peacekeepers, but we do express concern about their activities, and this concern has long-standing roots," Russian state news agency TASS quoted Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as saying.

Moscow and Yerevan have a mutual defence pact, but Russia also strives for good relations with Armenia's arch foe Azerbaijan.

The blockade of the road, known as the Lachin corridor, is being led by a group of Azeris identifying themselves as environmental activists.

Armenia says the group comprises agitators backed by the Baku government bent on fueling tensions. Azerbaijan says they are eco-activists protesting against Armenian mining activity and that humanitarian traffic can pass freely along the road.

Both Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh officials have warned of a humanitarian crisis in the blockaded region.

In December, Armenian news site Hetq quoted Pashinyan as saying that Moscow should make way for an international peacekeeping mission if it is unable to reopen the road.

On Tuesday, Pashinyan said Armenia would not hold drills on its territory in 2023 with the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a Russian-led alliance of post-Soviet countries.

Asked about the move, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down talk of a rift, saying Armenia was "our very close ally", and that dialogue would continue.

Russia's foreign ministry said last month that its peacekeepers - deployed along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor - were doing everything they could to help stabilise the situation in the area.

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BORDER THREATS

Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought repeatedly over Nagorno-Karabakh, which broke away from Baku's rule after a war in the early 1990s.

In 2020, Azerbaijan retook territory in and around Nagorno-Karabakh in a second war that ended in a Moscow-brokered ceasefire and the deployment of Russian troops to the Lachin corridor.

Last September Azerbaijan staged large-scale cross-border attacks inside Armenia that Yerevan described as unprovoked aggression. Azerbaijan said its soldiers were responding after Armenian sabotage units tried to mine its positions.

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said in a televised national address on Tuesday that Armenia would be the loser if the sides failed to strike a peace accord this year.

"We can live like this for a long time ... They (Armenia) don't want (border) delineation, which means the border will pass where we deem it necessary," he said, noting that the Russian peacekeepers' mandate expired in 2025.

(Reporting by Felix Light in Tbilisi and Nailia Bagirova in Baku; Writing by Felix Light and Jake Cordell; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Jan. 9Two new members were introduced at the Athens Rotary Club's first meeting of the new year.

Rotarians welcomed Athens-Limestone Hospital President Traci Collins and Jordan Adams, a Federal Account Director at Gartner. Collins' membership was proposed by Rotarian Jim Moffatt. Rotarian Jimmy Woodruff proposed Adams' membership.

"I welcome these two professionals to our club as we continue to grow our club in 2023," Athens Rotary Club President Mason Matthews said.
After just 30 minutes of deliberation, a Richmond County jury on Tuesday found an Augusta man guilty of arson in connection to a 2020 apartment fire.

Charles Bragg, 52, was found guilty of arson in the first degree. Superior Court Judge John Flythe sentenced Bragg to three years in prison, followed by 17 years of probation.

The two-day trial centered around a fire at the HUD Augusta apartment complex on Wrightsboro Road on Sept. 14, 2020.

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Richmond County sheriff's deputies were called to the scene prior to the arson for an altercation involving Bragg and one of the property maintenance workers, according to a news release from the Augusta District Attorney's Office.

There was a 25-minute window from the time deputies and staff left and when the fire was reported, according to the release. Bragg was the only person left on the property during that time.

Bragg had stacked boxes full of clothing and other items in the lobby/hallway outside his door to prevent people from entering, and the boxes had been set on fire, according to a previous Augusta Chronicle article.

A passerby traveling on Wrightsboro Road called 911 to report billowing smoke coming from the building and Bragg remained at the scene watching the fire grow, "making no attempt to put it out or alert authorities," according to the release.

"Some people just want to watch the world burn," assistant district attorney Kyle Davis told the jury. "When Charles Bragg stood on that lawn watching this building burn, he was saying, 'If I cant live here, no one can.'"

The District Attorney's Office confirmed there were no injuries.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta man sentenced to three years for 2020 arson
Australian crypto exchange Swyftx is ending its crypto-interest earning product Earn on Tuesday due to a constantly changing regulatory landscape in the country, according to a company announcement.

See related article: Australian crypto exchange Swyftx cuts 40% of jobs amid fallout from FTX collapse

Fast facts

Swyftx said it understands the news may be disappointing but it must do whats best for its overall exchange business. While we believe in the value and potential of cryptocurrency, what we currently need is greater clarity on the regulation of crypto offerings such as Earn, Swyftx said.

The remaining balances on all Earn accounts will be returned to their respective wallets once the program ends.

Yield accounts such as Earn generate returns through staking assets held on Swyftx wallets on-chain and therefore do not carry third-party risks.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) sued local fintech firm Block Earner in November, alleging the companys yield-earning crypto products should have been registered as a managed investment scheme and that it was offering unlicensed financial products to retail investors.

ASIC also took legal action against Australian financial information company Finder.com in mid-December, alleging it was offering its now-defunct crypto yield product Finder Earn without a financial services license and was offering illegal financial advice.

The Australian government has said it will release updated rules for regulating cryptocurrency exchanges this year in the wake of the multi-billion dollar collapse of Bahamas-based exchange FTX.com

See related article: Australia to revamp cryptocurrency rules after FTX collapse
By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The far-right media personality known as "Baked Alaska" was sentenced on Tuesday to two months in prison after having pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor charge stemming from his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Anthime "Tim" Gionet, had admitted in July to being part of the mob that entered the Capitol without authorization and occupied the building for hours.

He was also ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden to pay a $2,000 fine and $500 in restitution for damage done to the Capitol building in the assault by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. Gionet had livestreamed his breach of the Capitol.

Gionet, a banned YouTube prankster and former BuzzFeed social media strategist calling himself Baked Alaska, had also pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully "parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building."

Five people died and more than 140 police officers were injured in the attack, which followed weeks of false claims by Trump that he had won the 2020 elections. The attacks occurred as the U.S. Congress was certifying the November 2020 presidential election victory of Democrat Joe Biden over Trump.

About 900 people have been charged so far with taking part in the riot, producing about 470 guilty pleas, according to a tally released recently by the Justice Department, which is conducting an investigation into the attacks.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Colorado State student Ty Thomas celebrates hitting a half-court shot in the New Belgium "Beer for a Year" contest. From a screenshot of CSU's video of the event.

Ty Thomas didnt even plan to go to the game originally.

But after a request from his father to attend, Thomas donned his David Roddy Grizzlies jersey, and off to Moby Arena he went.

As one of the few students in attendance during winter break, Thomas was approached pregame and asked if he would take part in a halftime contest.

So Thomas found himself center court at Moby with a rack of basketballs and 45 seconds to hit a half-court shot.

Obviously, its a little nerve-wracking because everyone has their eyes on you, Thomas said.

My biggest fear was just, like, not even being able to hit the rim."

The first shot missed everything, but not far off.

Second: Bang!

    



Tyler channeled his inner @droddy22 to win  beer for a year with this half-court shot - courtesy @newbelgium#Stalwart x #CSURams pic.twitter.com/grNwUY9cVe  Colorado State Rams  (@CSURams) January 7, 2023

Thomas hit the half-court shot, winning the Beer for a Year contest courtesy of New Belgium.

End of the day, it was pretty awesome. I didnt really know how to react after it went in, said Thomas, a 23-year-old journalism student at CSU who is three classes from graduation.

Plenty of friends have been reaching out over the past couple days. Hes still working out the details with New Belgium on what Beer for a Year actually means, but likely a certain amount of free packs each month.

His moment went viral during the game Saturday. CSU posted the video of the made shot, and the tweet has 150,000 views.

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Youre blowing up! he was told during the second half of the CSU game.

The Grizzlies responded, as did Roddy himself, in a tweet.

You dropped this sir  https://t.co/z42PqaoxNU  David Roddy (@droddy22) January 8, 2023

Hes such an icon the past couple years here at CSU. Its kind of crazy having someone like that recognize you, Thomas said.

This shot may have spread around the Internet more than any other hes had, but its not the first big one Thomas hit. As a Fort Collins High School basketball player in 2018, he hit a game-winner to take down rival Fossil Ridge, sending Lambkin fans into a court-storming frenzy on the court of their rivals.

From high school:Ty Thomas' big shot to beat Fossil Ridge

Another big shot, another moment hell never forget.

It was kind of surreal.

"Beer for a Year" half-court shot winner Ty Thomas is pictured in 2017 when he was a high school basketball player at Fort Collins High School.

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on Twitter and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: CSU student goes viral with half-court shot, gets beer for a year
Former prosecutor Tom Brummett, center, is sworn in as judge of Lubbock County Court at Law #2 by outgoing judge Drue Farmer on Tuesday.

Tom Brummett stood between his wife, Christiana, and daughter, Mia, as he placed his left hand on a Bible, raised his right hand and swore an oath to serve as judge of County Court at Law 2.

As a prosecutor for nearly two decades, Brummett, 51, was taking on a role he's set his sights on before even going to law school.

"This has always been the intent. This has always been the purpose. This has always been the goal," Brummett said after his family helped him don his judge's robes at the end of his Jan. 3 investiture ceremony.

Dozens of Brummett's friends and family members packed into his courtroom to support him. He said the significance of the ceremony was not lost on him.

"At the back of your mind, there's also that voice that tells you the seriousness of this and the solemnity of it," he said. "That you have been entrusted with an amazing amount of trust to make decisions that impact people's lives."

Brummett was one of three newly-elected judges to be sworn in that day. John Grace was sworn in as judge of The 72nd District Court and Frank Gutierrez was sworn in as judge of the Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace court.

Mark Hocker, the judge of County Court at Law #1, served as the investiture ceremony's host and described Brummett as a very fine man and lawyer.

"It has been a pleasure to work with you from across the bench, and I know it will be an even greater pleasure to work with you as my newest colleague," he told Brummett.

County Court at Law 2 is one of three statutory courts in Lubbock County. It is one of two that deals with both family law, civil and misdemeanor criminal matters.

Though misdemeanors cases, which potentially carry up to a year in jail, may not compare to capital offenses or felonies in terms of severity of punishment, they are still serious, Brummett said.

"As a prosecutor I always rolled my eyes at this, when people go, 'Oh, something's only a misdemeanor.' And you're like, 'You know what?' Somebody that's been arrested from drunk driving, that's not 'only' anything to them. I guarantee you the victim of a domestic assault doesn't consider that's an 'only' anything. And for somebody that can go to the Lubbock County Jail for one whole year? That's not an 'only' anything," he said. "And so, it is serious."

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Brummett said county courts at law are often the first many people step into when they face the criminal justice system, which gives him a chance to hopefully help guide people away from more serious crimes.

"This is an opportunity, hopefully, to get corrective behavior when it's needed at the ground level, before people have become hardened or gone past the point of being able to affect their lives and I'm very aware of that," he said. "So that seriousness is always at the back of your head."

Brummett, who was born in Lubbock and grew up in Corpus Christi, earned his bachelor's degree from Texas Tech and received his law degree from Indiana University School of Law in 2002.

He initially planned to work as a lawyer in the tech industry. However the dot-com bubble bust derailed those plans and he quickly pivoted to criminal law.

"(Criminal law) was an escape door because we didn't know what else to do," he said. "You gotta eat, you gotta pay your student loans now, right? So we came down to Lubbock, and I said, 'hey this is a good place for me to try and reach out since I'm from here."

He found a job as a prosecutor at the Lubbock County District Attorney's Office and handled misdemeanor cases in County Court at Law #2.

"Judge Drue Farmer is the judge that swore me in as a brand new, baby lawyer," he said. "(I) didn't know anything going on but in practicing in that court and being exposed to what happened and the older more wiser attorneys that came before me in there."

Brummett said he planned to work as a prosecutor to gain trial experience then start his own practice after about five years.

Christiana Brummett, right, helps her husband Tom don his robe after he was sworn in Tuesday as judge of Lubbock County Court at Law #2.

He stayed for nearly 20.

"I just fell in love with the job," he said. "And I went to my wife at one point and said, 'This is what I want to do for a living.' With the exception of being a judge."

Brummett moved up in the district attorney's office, prosecuting felonies and specialized in impaired driving cases. He led the prosecution of manslaughters resulting from drunken driving wrecks. He also served as the chief of misdemeanor prosecutors for 14 years, a role that helped him kept in close contact with the court he would one day preside over.

"I was able to pass on the lessons that I have learned to generations of other newer attorneys practicing there," he said. "Some of them may agree with me on that, they're in the courtroom, some of them may not but I always strove to do the best I can and to help them do the best that they could and those are the lessons."

Lubbock County, district and appellate judges applaud after during the investiture ceremony of judge Tom Brummett on Tuesday after he was sworn in to begin his term as judge of Lubbock's County Court at Law #2.

He said Farmer and the judges he's practiced before showed him that a judge had to balance protecting the community from those who would harm it while protecting the rights of those accused of crimes, making sure they're treated fairly and consistently.

Brummett is not the first in his family to serve in Lubbock County's criminal justice system.

The West wall of the County Court at Law #2 courtroom is lined with portraits of past judges. One of those portraits is of Brummett's grand-uncle, Dudley Brummett who was the court's judge in 1976. Dudley Brummett was also the Lubbock County attorney from 1951-1954 and was the Lubbock County judge from 1955-1958.

Dudley Brummett served as judge of Lubbock County Court at Law #2 in 1976. On Jan. 3, his grand nephew was sworn in as judge of the court.

"I walked past his picture every day down there on the second floor when I walk into the DA's office," Brummett said during his campaign speech when he announced his bid to run for judge of the court.

Hack Brummett, Dudley Brummett's father, and Tom Brummett's great-grandfather, was also a judge in Dickens County.

Brummett said he initially planned to run for judge when Farmer retired. However, in 2019, Jim Bob Darnell, then judge of the 140th District Court announced he was retiring and Brummett made his first run at public office and announced his candidacy for the bench.

That election turned into a four-way race that resulted in a runoff election between Brummett and Douglas Freitag, who now presides over the 140th District Court.

A year later, Farmer announced her retirement and Brummett, with one campaign under his belt, ran again. The race also resulted in a runoff election this time against Lubbock attorney Bob Nebb. Brummett won the runoff in May and was unopposed in the general election in November.

"I think there's no mistakes and everything happens for a reason and now I understand what those reasons were," he said. "This is not a consolation prize. This is not the silver medal. This is where I need to be."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Brummett continues family legacy as Lubbock County Court judge
An Indio police car.

After being shot elsewhere, a man drove himself to Indio, where police found him in the car early Sunday.

Officers found him while responding to a report of a crash on Varner Road near the I-10 Auto Mall about 1:50 a.m., Indio police spokesperson Ben Guitron said.

He did not have detailed information about the man's condition, but said officers at the scene reported that he was not seriously injured and did not need to be hospitalized.

The officers saw no evidence a crash had happened where they found the car. They spoke to the man and determined the shooting had occurred outside of Indio, possibly in either La Quinta or Palm Desert, Guitron said.

They turned over the investigation to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, which polices those cities.

The sheriff's department did not respond to multiple Desert Sun inquiries for information about the shooting and investigation.

Paul Albani-Burgio covers breaking news and the City of Palm Springs. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and via email at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Man shot in Coachella Valley drives himself to Indio, police say
Authorities have concluded that the use of force by a Berkeley police officer in a 2021 shooting incident was legally justified, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced Tuesday.

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office has completed its investigation nearly a year and a half after the incident, Billhimer said, and also deemed it unnecessary to present the case to a grand jury.

On Aug. 1, 2021, at 10:39 a.m., three officers responded to a residence on Stanford Drive in Berkeley following a 911 call, Billhimer said, and were warned by dispatch that the man involved, Stephen M. Carroccia, had previously pulled a knife out of a pile of laundry.

All officers  identified by Billhimer only as Officer 1, Officer 2 and Officer 3  on scene were wearing a standard police uniform and equipped with body cameras, according to the announcement.

Police and county Sheriff's Department authorities were at the scene of a shooting involving police on Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in the Silver Ridge section of Berkeley.

Court case:Little Egg Harbor boat dealer shot in the stomach by Tuckerton man sues police

When the first two officers arrived at the residence, they approached a woman, a relative of Carroccia's, who was sitting on the front porch, said Billhimer. One of the officers identified the relative as the 911 caller who lived at the home with Carroccia and said he was acting erratic.

Moments after, Carroccia came out of the front door "noticeably agitated," according to the news release. He questioned why the police where there and who called them. The relative told officers that he had physically assaulted her in the past and she was concerned that the situation was going to escalate.

The officers  named in the affidavit of probable cause as Special Officer Andrew Picinic, and patrolmen Eric Krook and Warren Black  tried unsuccessfully to de-escalate the situation, Billhimer said. Carroccia flinched at one of the officers like he was going to attack, and then yelled in his face, the prosecutor said.

While two of the officers talked to the relative on the porch, Carroccia stood in the doorway, according to the announcement, continuing to question why they were there. After officers again tried to calm him down, he swung the door open, stepped onto the porch and, without provocation, lunged at Picinic with a 16-inch stainless steel kitchen knife, aiming at his neck and head.

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Police and county Sheriff's Department authorities were at the scene of a shooting involving police on Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in the Silver Ridge section of Berkeley.

Picinic pushed him back, ordering him to drop the knife, the news release said. Carroccia, ignoring the commands, lunged at him again, using a downward stabbing motion with the knife. Black, "fearing for the life" of Picinic, shot Carroccia three time in his upper body while Picinic simultaneously used his taser.

The officers secured Carroccia and immediately gave first aid, Billhimer said. The Berkeley Township First Aid Squad arrived and took Carroccia to the hospital, along with the three officers who were evaluated per department policy.

Picinic was not injured during the incident, according to the announcement. The relative was also unharmed.

Carroccia gave a statement to detectives several days later at the hospital, saying that he grabbed the knife from the kitchen because he was frustrated that he may be arrested, the news release said. He admitted to possessing the knife and to lunging at Picinic.

The relative as well as three neighbors who saw the incident were interviewed by detectives during the investigation.

Carroccia was charged with and indicted for attempted murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon and certain persons not to have weapons, according to Billhimer. He has been held in Ocean County Jail since his arrest, the case pending disposition.

The investigation was conducted in accordance with the then applicable Attorney Generals Independent Prosecutor Directives, the announcement said. Pursuant to those Directives, the Attorney Generals Office conducted its own review of the incident and agreed with Billhimers determination and conclusion to forego presentation to the Grand Jury.

Jenna Calderon covers breaking news and cold cases in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Before coming to the Press, she covered The Queen City for Cincinnati Magazine in Ohio. Contact her at 330-590-3903; jcalderon@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Berkeley NJ cop shooting of knife-wielding man justified: prosecutor
The Biden administration is proposing to lower the cost of monthly student loan bills under a certain type of income-driven repayment (IDR) plan that for some borrowers will amount to $0 per month.

The Department of Education announced Tuesday that under the proposed changes, those making less than roughly $30,500 annually would have $0 monthly payments. The same criteria would apply to a borrower in a family of four that makes less than $62,400. The plan does not apply to Parent-PLUS loan borrowers.

For those who earn above those thresholds, the administration calculates that undergraduate borrowers could see their monthly payments also cut in half by requiring that 5 percent of their discretionary income be paid toward their student loans instead of the existing 10 percent.

The proposed changes to the Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (REPAYE), one of four types of IDR plans, also includes a mechanism to shorten the time frame to qualify for student loan forgiveness, essentially shaving off the time it takes to pay off an entire loan.

For example, students who have an original principal balance of $12,000 or less could qualify for loan forgiveness after 10 years of payments on such an IDR plan, instead of 20 to 25 years. Every $1,000 above a $12,000 original principal would add another year of monthly payments before forgiveness could apply.

The plan also intends to address interest accumulated on student loans.

The department said that under the proposed plan, payments made under the amended REPAYE program would first be applied to interest but if the monthly payment amount approved by the program does not cover the interest in full, any remaining interest would not be charged. This extends existing benefits under such an IDR plan in which borrowers have at least half their interest paid per month.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement the plan intends to fix a broken system that left millions borrowers in default on their loans before pandemic-era regulations were put in place to pause interest accrual and some types of monthly student loan payments.

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We cannot return to the same broken system we had before the pandemic, when a million borrowers defaulted on their loans a year and snowballing interest left millions owing more than they initially borrowed, Cardona said.

These proposed regulations will cut monthly payments for undergraduate borrowers in half and create faster pathways to forgiveness, so borrowers can better manage repayment, avoid delinquency and default, and focus on building brighter futures for themselves and their families, he added.

A senior administration official said there is not yet a timeline of when the proposed rule to amend the REPAYE program could go into effect but expects it to be finalized later this year. It next goes to public comment for 30 days.

The department also announced Tuesday it would be seeking public comment on a regulatory proposal that would allow the administration to make a list of colleges and programs that put students in significant debt that dont have financial value.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Migrants from Venezuela wait in line to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol agents in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 4. (Paul Ratje/Reuters)

WASHINGTON  The reviews were in, and they were harsh: President Bidens plan to provide parole to some asylum seekers, critics said, was an abdication of executive responsibility and an affront to American ideals.

Only there was a twist to the usual Washington partisanship. This time, the criticism was not coming from the presidents entrenched conservative opposition.

President Biden announced last week that up to 30,000 asylum seekers a month from four nations  Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti  could be granted parole to live and work in the United States for two years, provided they did not travel to the border with Mexico first. Now the detractors were progressives  advocates, activists, legislators  who usually side with the White House on policy matters.

With his own announcement about a reelection run in 2024 looming and a Republican-controlled House looking to launch investigations into his approach to immigration, Biden has embarked on a perilous middle path that seeks to show he takes the border crisis seriously. He visited El Paso, Texas, earlier this week, his first trip to the frontlines of the crisis  but remains committed to the progressive vision he espoused as a candidate.

So far, that middle path has been fraught, failing to satisfy allies or pacify opponents.

A woman from Cuba seeking asylum waits with other migrants to be processed after crossing the border near Yuma, Ariz., on Jan. 6. (Gregory Bull/AP)

The new plan is an effort to stem illegal crossings by incentivizing asylum seekers to apply from their home countries. To do so, they need to be able to access a new smartphone app, submit to a background check and find a sponsor in the United States.

For immigration advocates, the process and monthly cap are onerous and inhumane. Many believe that seeking asylum at the border  as hundreds of thousands of migrants have done each month  is a human right.

The administration is illegally and immorally gutting access to humanitarian protections for the majority of people who have already fled their country seeking freedom and safety, said International Refugee Assistance Project policy director Sunil Varghese, echoing a charge made by many other groups advocating for fewer immigration restrictions.

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Administration officials have strenuously denied such accusations. The Biden administration is creating safe and orderly pathways for people who want to seek asylum in the United States, an administration official told Yahoo News.

Migrants at a Border Patrol station in Marathon, Fla., on Jan. 4. (Wilfredo Lee/AP)

The White House knew that whatever it did  or didnt do  to address the influx of migrants to the border, attacks from anti-immigration Republicans would come hard and fast. Indeed, that was the case.

Stephen Miller, who devised a travel ban from majority-Muslim countries during the first days of the Trump administration in 2017, blasted Biden for what he described as a tyrannical usurpation of our democracy. If the charge seems hyperbolic, it was nevertheless echoed by many other conservatives and Republicans.

With the GOP now in control of the House, partisan investigations of how Biden and his homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, have allegedly failed to enforce existing immigration laws are bound to consume the lower congressional chamber for the next two years.

The reaction of Democrats has been arguably more surprising, since it comes after a stretch during which Biden seemed to bank a considerable amount of goodwill with his own party by passing legislation on issues like gun control and climate change that virtually all factions of the party supported.

On immigration, a consensus is much more difficult to find.

Venezuelan migrants Juan Tovar and his 7-year-old daughter Arianny in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 7. (Andres Leighton/AP)

In a statement sent hours after the presidents announcement, four Democratic senators who are usually White House allies  Alex Padilla of California, Bob Menendez and Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico  denounced the new plan because it would, as they put it in a press release, exclude thousands of migrants fleeing violence and persecution who do not have the ability or economic means to qualify for the new parole process.

The reaction to Bidens plan was a case study in how political polarization can lead to starkly different perceptions of reality.

For the anti-immigration right, almost all asylum seekers are viewed with harsh skepticism, especially when they are regarded as no different from migrants who arrive at the southern border without credible asylum claims. The Federation for American Immigration Reform  which wants significant curbs to both legal and illegal immigration  said the new parole plan amounts to one of the most egregious and unlawful abuses of humanitarian parole authority in the history of our nation.

For the pro-immigration left, Bidens plan smacks of the Trump-era restrictions he had denounced while campaigning for the White House. It is U.S. law that people can apply for asylum, regardless of their nationality or manner of entry, said Womens Refugee Commission senior policy adviser Savitri Arvey. We urge the Biden administration to uphold the right to seek asylum, not expand Trump-era anti-asylum policies, her statement said.

A particularly sore point for immigration advocates is that the new parole policy continues to rely on Title 42, a World War II-era public health statute that allows for the swift expulsion of migrants who are caught crossing into the U.S. without proper authorization. The Biden administration has challenged Title 42 but continues to use it for now, including to send 30,000 migrants to Mexico each month under the new parole plan.

Protesters at a march in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 7 to demand an end to the immigration policy known as Title 42. (Paul Ratje/Reuters)

Advocates, however, say the Biden administration is not merely continuing to use Title 42 but actually expanding its scope to deport more people.

We are required by court orders to implement Title 42, the administration official told Yahoo News. The administration is challenging those orders in court, but must still comply with the existing court order in the meantime. (Eventually, the administration expects to deport migrants under Title 8, a preexisting immigration statute.)

Advocates have also criticized a new Department of Homeland Security proposed rule that would make migrants ineligible for asylum in the United States if they travel to the U.S.-Mexico border without first seeking asylum in another country through which they passed along the way.

For immigration supporters for whom seeking asylum at the border is a sacrosanct right  one, they point out, that is enshrined in law  the proposed new DHS rule is especially galling, since it will penalize the very process by which asylum is sought.

The administration official said the rule was being misinterpreted and that it is not an asylum ban. Its a safe, orderly, and humane process for seeking asylum. He also added that the rulemaking process would give advocates and others plenty of opportunities to offer amendments to the DHS proposal.

Sergio Moreno and another migrant from Cuba look on, on the day that President Biden and first lady Jill Biden visit El Paso, Texas. (Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters)

To be sure, not everyone has denounced the new Biden plan. Increasing the use of humanitarian parole will help contribute to a more orderly process at the border, as will expanded legal alternatives for those seeking humanitarian protection, said National Immigration Forum president Jennie Murray.

In unveiling the new program, Biden blamed Congress for its many years of inaction on immigration reform. Without the partnership of Capitol Hill, there is little, if anything, the White House can do to fix a system that most Americans  regardless of their ideological affiliation  acknowledge is profoundly broken.

Ultimately, the widespread frustration with the parole plan may reflect the near-universal yearning, from progressives and conservatives alike, for more sweeping reforms. Even supporters of the new plan acknowledge that it is offering only limited relief. Still, they say, such relief is necessary as thousands of migrants seek entry into the United States every day.

I do know some people at the border, their communities are bearing a lot of the brunt of this refugee crisis, Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., told the Hill. And so theyre looking for some solutions, so they may be more open to those solutions than others.

An earlier version of this article misattributed a statement by Women's Refugee Commission senior policy adviser Savitri Arvey to the group's external communications senior director, Joanna Kuebler.
President Joe Bidens attorneys found a small number of classified documents in a private office last year before turning them over to the National Archives, the White House said in a statement Monday.

The documents are from Bidens time as vice president and were found in a locked closet at a think tank in Washington in November. Biden used the office for several years from 2017 to 2020, a special counsel appointed to look into the matter said in a statement. The presidents personal lawyers notified the National Archives, which is tasked with maintaining government documents, the same day the files were found and turned them over a day later.

Its unclear what type of information the files contained, but the White House said the Justice Department would review the episode. The Biden administration added it was cooperating with the DOJ.

CBS News was the first to report the discovery.

Former President Donald Trump, who is under criminal investigation for his own removal of classified documents from the White House, immediately pounced on the news. But Trump failed to note that he resisted several attempts to return those files when the National Archives demanded them. His attorneys eventually handed over boxes of documents, but investigators later found out he had even more at his Mar-a-Lago compound in Palm Beach, Florida.

When is the FBI going to raid the many houses of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social. These documents were definitely not declassified.

Richard Sauber, the special counsel looking into Bidens files, suggested Monday that the matter was different, saying the documents the presidents lawyers found were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the archives.

Since that discovery, the presidents personal attorneys have cooperated with the archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden administration documents are appropriately in the possession of the archives, Sauber said in a statement.

Related...
Biden and Bolsonaro. Illustrated | Getty Images

Thousands of supporters of far-right former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed Brazil's three branches of government on Jan. 8, vandalizing and looting the Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential palace. Brazilian authorities arrested about 1,500 rioters over the next 48 hours and said they plan to prosecute at least 1,000 of them. But the former president this mob was rioting for was not in Brasilia, the capital, with them  or even in Brazil.

Bolsonaro spent the last two days of his presidency and first week of 2023 in Florida, where he arrived on Dec. 30. It's not clear when  or if  he plans to leave.

His successor, President Inacio Lula da Silva, and other Brazilian officials blame Bolsonaro's baseless claims of election fraud for inciting the attack on Brazil's government, but he has not yet been charged in connection with the assault. There have been rumblings from Brazilian officials and U.S. Democrats for President Biden to kick Bolsonaro out of the U.S. and back to Brazil, however. What are Biden's options, and which should he choose?

What is Bolsonaro doing in Florida?

The recently unelected president has been staying in a house owned by Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter Jose Aldo da Silva Oliveira in a gated community off the highway to Disney World outside Orlando. He greets Brazilian expats outside the house and has been photographed shopping at the local grocery store and, in his last lunch as president, dining by himself at an Orlando-area KFC.

Ultimo almoco como presidente: pic.twitter.com/bovaXR7KAk  Raquel Krahenbuhl (@Rkrahenbuhl) December 31, 2022

On Dec. 9, he checked into an Orlando-area hospital with abdominal discomfort he linked to a 2018 stabbing attack.

Otherwise, it isn't clear what brought him to the U.S. or what his future plans may be. But Florida "has long served as a haven for foreign leaders escaping political or legal turmoil at home," The Washington Post reports. "Over the last century, strongmen and former leaders from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, Peru and Bolivia have relocated to the state, often buying property and seamlessly blending in with other expats from Latin and South America, some until their final days."

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Should Biden give him the boot?

If Brazil files charges against Bolsonaro  for the Jan. 8 insurrection or one of the other alleged crimes prosecutors are investigating him over  Biden would probably try to comply. But some Democrats want him to be more proactive.

"Bolsonaro should not be in Florida" and "the United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism," Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) told CNN. "The U.S. must cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida," tweeted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

Bolsonaro may also run afoul of immigration laws. It isn't clear what kind of visa he traveled to the U.S. on, but there's speculation it was an A-1 visa for diplomats and heads of state.

"If an A visa holder is no longer engaged in official business on behalf of that government, it is incumbent on that visa holder to depart the U.S., or to request a change to another immigration status within 30 days," State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday, speaking (more or less) theoretically. "If an individual has no basis on which to be in the United States, an individual is subject to removal by the Department of Homeland Security."

Could Biden just deport Bolsonaro?

Yes. "The Biden administration could immediately revoke his visa," Fabio de Sa e Silva, a lawyer and professor of Brazilian studies at the University of Oklahoma, told the Post. "There is no need for any formal procedure or formal request from the Brazilian government or any authority. It's entirely within the discretion of the U.S. administration."

"There's nothing that prevents Biden from saying to Bolsonaro, 'You have to be out in 24 hours,'" agreed former U.S. Ambassador John Feeley. But Bolsonaro could also drag out the process. Panama asked the U.S. to extradite former President Ricardo Martinelli in 2015, and Interpol issued an arrest warrant in 2016, but he wasn't extradited to Panama until 2018, Feeley told NPR. He was acquitted and is now the frontrunner in the 2024 election.

Brian Winter, editor of Americas Quarterly in New York, told the Post he thinks Bolsonaro would likely try to claim exile, and when Biden said no, he'd try to keep his case in court until after the 2024 election. "If Interpol is after him, I don't think Joe Biden's America would shelter him," he said. "But Ron DeSantis's America might."

Is there a reason Biden should leave him be?

"A Biden decision to keep Bolsonaro in the U.S. might be less of a political decision than a safety one: Bolsonaro's return could spark more violence," NPR reports.

And there's always the chance Bolsonaro could just leave on his own, as he told CNN he might do after his latest gastrointestinal problem.

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President Biden. Illustrated | AP Images, Getty Images

President Biden has controversially expanded the COVID-era border policy known as Title 42, which allows the U.S. government to quickly expel asylum-seekers in the name of public health. The decision goes against Biden's assurances to do otherwise and has sparked strong reactions from immigration advocates and border hawks alike. Below, thought leaders from both sides lay out their critiques.

The president is 'cherry-picking' access to the U.S.

As part of the new shift, the administration will use Title 42 to expel migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela while also granting humanitarian parole to 30,000 individuals from each country per month (so long as they apply legally and through the administration's processes). But with that, Biden is essentially "cherry-picking who gets the welcome mat instead of setting up a system allowing everyone to apply for asylum, review each case, and decide on its merits," argues Elvia Diaz at The Arizona Republic. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, agrees with Diaz: While he's glad the administration will expand parole access for the selected demographics, "this benefit will exclude migrants fleeing violence and persecution who do not have the ability of economic means to qualify" for the new process, he wrote in an eviscerating statement.

The administration is purposely burying the lede

The parole set-up  marketed under the purpose of creating "safe and orderly" pathways into the country  is more or less a euphemism for "largely unconstrained entry into the United States," writes the editorial staff at The National Review. Much like former President Bill Clinton's famous line regarding abortion (that the procedure should be "safe, legal, and rare"), the administration is disguising its true intentions in misleading and "anodyne" messaging. In actuality, "border enforcement by redefinition  can be expected to work about as well as the current Biden approach to the border, which is to say not at all," the editors claim.

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For instance, what about the migrants from designated countries who don't apply legally? Mexico says it will take 30,000 of them a month, but what happens to anyone "over and above that number?" Further, the administration has cited its "success" with a similar parole program for Venezuelans as evidence its new policy will curb migration if and when Title 42 falls. But while there "were indeed fewer apprehensions of Venezuelans" under the targeted program, "it's not clear that the Venezuelans not able to avail themselves of the legal avenue didn't just join a surge of so-called 'got aways' who came across the border and either weren't caught or didn't turn themselves into authorities." (Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection says the Venezuela parole program has reduced illegal crossings by 76 percent.)

All this to say  "we don't need 'safe and orderly' entry into the United States so much as 'swift and certain' removal from it," the editors argue. The president "might succeed in reclassifying a portion of the influx of illegal immigrants as something else, but that shouldn't qualify as border enforcement, sound policy, or honest accounting."

Parole is no substitute for asylum

Though expanding opportunities for parole is indeed a step in the right direction, asylum is still a vital part of the immigration reform equation, advocates argue. "Parole isn't something you can exchange for asylum because asylum was designed for people who can't wait to apply for protection from where they are but need to flee and come to the border," Refugees International's Yael Schacher told The Progressive, a social justice magazine. Further, to essentially replace asylum with parole "fundamentally misunderstands the realities and purposes of asylum, and poisons this otherwise-laudable expansion of parole," added Refugees International President Jeremy Konyndyk on Twitter.

Put plainly, "we cannot ask people to stay in place when their rights are being denied and their lives are at risk," Margaret Cargioli of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center said in a statement, per Mother Jones.

Fuel for the 2024 fire

That Biden is "finally noticing there's a problem at the U.S.-Mexico border" is surely because he plans to run for re-election, posits The Wall Street Journal's editorial board. In repeatedly blaming the GOP for the border chaos, the president made obvious that his newly announced strategy shift is "more political palliative than a solution." He claims Republicans "won't give him more money, won't negotiate in good faith," and won't consider his previously-proposed reform plans, the Journal writes  but that's just "an exercise in re-election campaign inoculation, not a genuine legislative offer." If Biden actually hoped to strike a cross-aisle deal, "he would have spared the blame-game this far out from 2024 and staked out what could be bipartisan common ground." Instead, he'll just kowtow to those on the left instead of angering them. "Why does [Biden] want a second term if he doesn't want to lead?"

He'll get flack either way, so he might as well do the 'right thing'

Law professor Karen Musalo interprets Biden's situation here as a lose-lose, at least from an optics standpoint. But if that's the case, she writes for the Los Angeles Times, "he might as well be criticized for doing the right thing"  i.e. admitting asylum-seekers at the border. At this point, Title 42 is no longer a public health measure; it's "a sop to people who oppose immigration." And "polling consistently shows strong support for protecting asylum seekers, across party lines," Musalo says. Rather than crack down on migrants for the sake of immigration hardliners, Biden should see this as an opportunity to "change course, to uphold our national ideals, and to be an example to other nations around the world."

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Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has reportedly finalised her divorce from her second husband, Dan Jewett.

She filed for divorce in September. Mr Jewetts name was reportedly removed from her group of fellow ultra-wealthy individuals pledging to give away half their wealth before they die.

Ms Scott is the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

The couples divorce was finalised on 10 January, the Daily Beast reported.

Last year the New York Times reported that Ms Scott filed a petition for divorce in the King County Superior Court in Washington State, according to a copy of the filing

Mr Jewett promised to join in on Ms Scott's pledge when the couple were married, though his name was later taken off her pledge.

The Times reported that, in the past, nonprofits receiving grants from the couple had thanked both Ms Scott and Mr Jewett, but more recent recipients had only thanked the former.

Ms Scott, a published author, also removed Mr Jewett's name from her author bio on Amazon.

After her divorce from Mr Bezos and subsequent status as a billionaire, Ms Scott began rapidly donating portions of her vast wealth to charitable causes. In three years she has donated more than $12bn.

According to a Bloomberg analysis, Ms Scott's net worth was estimated around $62bn  which at one point dropped to $27.8bn due to a decline in the stock market  and she said in a 2019 letter on her Giving Pledge page to "keep at it until the safe is empty.

The Times checked the Giving Pledge website on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, which archives old webpages, and noted that Ms Scott and Mr Jewett were featured together in a photo on the site as recently as a week ago. However, the site subsequently only displayed a photo of Ms Scott.

Philanthropy-MacKenzie-Scott-Gifts (2018 Invision)

In his pledge that was previously featured on the site, Mr Jewett said he was grateful for the exceptional privilege it will be to partner in giving away assets with the potential to do so much good when shared.

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Last year, Ms Scott donated two Beverly Hills mansions valued at a combined $55m to the California Community Foundation. Ms Scott's was the only name featured in a news release announcing the donation.

Ms Scott also reportedly gave another $15m to the Health Forward Foundation and a $20m grant to the Houston-based Episcopal Health Foundation on Tuesday. Neither of the announcements mentioned Mr Jewett.

Ms Scott and Mr Jewett were married in 2021. Mr Jewett was a teacher at the private Lakeside School in Seattle before his marriage to Ms Scott.

He finished out his term there, but left after saying he felt his presence on campus had become a distraction after reporters showed up to the school to report on his high-profile marriage.
German-based biotech company BioNTech SE is set to acquire InstaDeep, a Tunis-born and U.K.-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup, for up to 562 million (~$680 million) in its largest deal yet.

Per Financial Times, the German vaccine maker intends to use InstaDeeps machine learning to improve its drug discovery process, including developing personalised treatments tailored to a patients cancer.

BioNTech is said to pay 362 million  a mix of cash and an undisclosed amount of BioNTech shares  upfront. The remaining 200 million is dependent on how InstaDeep performs in the future, according to the companys statement.

Last January, InstaDeep, founded by Karim Beguir and Zohra Slim in 2014, raised $100 million in Series B financing led by Alpha Intelligence Capital and CDIB. BioNTech was among the participating investors, which also included Chimera Abu Dhabi, Deutsche Bahns DB Digital Ventures and Google.

The Tunis and London-based enterprise AI startup which uses advanced machine learning techniques to bring AI to applications within an enterprise environment, has offices in Paris, Tunis, Lagos, Dubai and Cape Town.

CEO Beguir, in an interview with TechCrunch last year, said InstaDeep uses reinforcement learning, a kind of machine learning that helps design optimization strategies and tackles them simultaneously. Instances where InstaDeep applies its AI tech includes helping a large shipping company to efficiently transport thousands of containers to a railway station or automate scheduling for 10,000 trains. Other examples are the design of advanced therapeutics with silicon and routing components on a printed circuit board.

The company is currently working on a moonshot product to automate railway scheduling with Deutsche Bahn, the largest rail operator in Europe.

In 2019, InstaDeep formed a multi-year strategic collaboration with BioNTech to launch a joint AI innovation lab where they would deploy the latest advances in AI and ML to develop novel immunotherapies. This acquisition is as a result of this long-term partnership that has seen InstaDeep become the centerpiece of a growing portfolio of initiatives around AI and ML at BioNTech.

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BioNTech intends to use computational solutions to create personalised drugs for cancer patients and according to its CEO Ugur Sahin, The acquisition of InstaDeep allows us to incorporate the rapidly evolving AI capabilities of the digital world into our technologies, research, drug discovery, manufacturing and deployment processes. Our aim is to make BioNTech a technology company where AI is seamlessly integrated into all aspects of our work.

InstaDeeps 240-man team will continue to provide its AI and machine learning services to other companies, including Google and Nvidia, per the companys statement.

AI is progressing exponentially and our mission at InstaDeep has always been to make sure it benefits everyone. We are very excited to join forces and become one team with BioNTech, with whom we share the same culture of deep tech innovation and focus on positive human impact, said Beguir on the acquisition. Together, we envision building a world leader that combines biopharmaceutical research and AI with the aim to design next-generation immunotherapies that enhance medical care -- thus, helping fight cancer and other diseases.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Dion Rabouin, a Black journalist who was handcuffed and detained while reporting outside a bank in November last year, has recounted a large number of times he has been mistreated by the police  starting at the age of four.

Rabouin, who works as a finance reporter for the Wall Street Journal, wrote a Twitter thread on Monday about the chilling encounters he has had with police detailing how he was subjected to harrowing mistreatment at the hands of law enforcement.

The incident in Phoenix wasnt the first time Ive been harassed and/or detained by the police for seemingly no reason. Its just the first time anyone has taken notice. And Im thankful, Rabouin wrote, referring to the November incident where he was stopped from reporting outside a bank by Phoenix police.

This time, the bank that called the police on me has called to apologise, and the mayor of the city where it happened has emailed me personally to apologise and assure me that a full investigation is happening. But Ive been dealing with this my entire life, he continued.

Rabouin opened up about how his first police encounter was at the age of four.

My dad used to let me sit on his lap while he drove. I would pretend to be driving and it was my favourite thing in the world. The last time it happened we were pulled over by an officer.

The incident in Phoenix wasnt the first time Ive been harassed and/or detained by the police for seemingly no reason. Its just the first time anyone has taken notice. And I'm thankful.  Dion Rabouin  (@DionRabouin) January 9, 2023

He told my dad he couldnt do that. My father told the officer he didnt know that he couldnt have his son on his lap while driving. The officer lowered his sunglasses and asked him, Are you stupid or something?

No, my dad responded. I just didnt know.

Yeah, maybe you are stupid, the officer said. Dont do it again. My dad had this look of sadness, fury and helplessness on his face that I had never seen before, recounted the WSJ reporter.

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No, my dad responded. I just didnt know.

Yeah, maybe you are stupid, the officer said. Dont do it again.



My dad had this look of sadness, fury and helplessness on his face that I had never seen before.  Dion Rabouin  (@DionRabouin) January 9, 2023

He detailed another incident that occurred when he was seven years old. Rabouin had called the police after his father who had some anger issues had hit him, after which, thinking the dispatcher would help him, had instead sent two officers who grabbed and pulled me, screaming and crying, out of the building and put me in the back of a police car.

Lying to police was a crime, they said. After talking with my dad for some time they eventually let me out of the car and told me I was free to go, he continued.

to me before she sent any police over so I could decide whether I wanted to press charges. When I went to meet her near the vending machines in the hallway there were two uniformed officers there. I initially denied I had been the one who called. When I finally admitted...  Dion Rabouin  (@DionRabouin) January 9, 2023

In another incident, Rabouin said police had pulled him and his friend over when he was a teenager and searched both of them twice and unreasonably interrogated them, despite the explanation offered of them being outside their own high school.

My friend started shaking with fear as he was searched. The officer pushed him against the car. What are you hiding? he demanded.

Hes just scared, I said.

If he doesnt have anything hes got nothing to be scared of.

Hes never dealt with the police before, I replied.

When I was 16, my car started overheating so I pulled into the parking lot of my high school to let it cool down. It was a 1985 Ford Tempo, so it did that a lot. I was with a friend and as we sat in the car waiting with the hood propped open a police car pulled up.  Dion Rabouin  (@DionRabouin) January 9, 2023

The journalist recounted two other incidents as well.

When I was 17, I pulled off the street into the alley behind my house. A police car followed me. When I pulled into the spot in the alley where I parked and opened my door, two cops jumped out of their car and grabbed me. One threw me on the trunk of my car and cuffed me.  Dion Rabouin  (@DionRabouin) January 9, 2023

When I was 20, I was riding in a car with a couple friends (both Black) and when we turned left at a stoplight, a police car pulled us over. After offering up his license and insurance, my friend driving asked why we had been pulled over...  Dion Rabouin  (@DionRabouin) January 9, 2023

Rabouin received many encouraging responses to his Twitter thread.

Dion, in our conversations, youve always been the epitome of professional. Im sorry you were treated this way for just doing your job, wrote analyst Kathy Jones.

I read this and feel anger boiling within me. At no point does there appear to be any probable cause to search your vehicle(s) which is a violation of the 4th Amend, said another user.

The Wall Street Journal had last week called on the Phoenix Police Department to perform an internal review and ensure the constitutional rights of its journalists are protected.

The newspapers editor-in-chief pressed Phoenix police chief Michael Sullivan in a letter after Rabouin was filmed being put in the back of a police vehicle in November last year.

In a letter dated 7 December, editor Matt Murray wrote that he is appalled and concerned that the departments officers would attempt to interfere with Mr Rabouins constitutional right to engage in journalism and purport to limit anyones presence in a public location.
Estonia is preparing to present a plan for seizing Russian assets and delivering funds under European Union sanctions to Ukraine.

The government in Tallinn asked ministries in late December to create a legal blueprint for asset seizures and is expected to present the plan at the end of this month, Mihkel Tamm, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, said, Bloomberg reported.

According to Bloomberg, Estonia is looking to present the plan by the time the European Commission develops a union-wide decision on what to do with the $322 billion in Russian central-bank reserves and billions in frozen assets of sanctioned Russians.

The government estimates that eligible funds in Russian-owned accounts in Estonia are around 20 million euros, Bloomberg reported.

Earlier on Dec. 22, the U.S. Senate approved an amendment allowing the transfer of seized assets belonging to Russian oligarchs to the people of Ukraine.
Bob Saget was remembered Monday on the first anniversary of his death by the cast of Full House, his wife Kelly Rizzo and friend John Mayer.

One year ago today, we lost Bob Saget, wrote Mayer on Instagram, referring to the comedians January 2022 death from accidental head trauma. I loved that guy. I love saying I loved that guy. Soon after he left us, I couldnt finish those three words without falling apart, but now I say it with all the simplicity and complexity that love itself entails.

Mayer recalled their countless dinners and drinks and stories and laughs as the stuff of Old Hollywood Magic and said he misses Saget all the time.

Rizzo, who previously shared what she misses most about Saget and got a touching tattoo in his honor, tweeted Twitter owner Elon Musk after noticing her late husband was no longer verified. She asked Musk if something could be done, as Saget truly loved Twitter.

I just wanted you to know, Ive thought of you every day for the past year, wrote Full House alumn Jodie Sweetin. Its just not the same without you with us, and I dont think it ever will feel like that again.  theres so many moments you were supposed to be here for.

Sweetin said she regularly asks herself: What would Bob do in this moment? Her answer: Make a joke about it. She said his photo on the wall at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles gave her courage before a recent performance.

Bob could always bring out the 5th grader in me, wrote Dave Coulier. I met him when I was just an unknown, 18 year-old standup at a small club in Detroit. We became instant brothers. Sometimes, I still grab my phone, ready to share one of the hundreds of silly bits we did together.

At some point today, Ill think about how much I miss him and Ill shed some tears, Coulier continued. Then Ill hear Bobs voice, and itll make me laugh. Enjoy the gifts of life while theyre still here with you. Tell those you love that you love them  and hug them like Bob Saget.

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Candace Cameron Bure, who played Sagets eldest daughter in Full House, wrote on Instagram that she stayed up for hours watching videos of Bob on my phone. She said she couldnt watch them last year, but now they comfort her and warmed my heart.

John Stamos, who played Uncle Jesse on the hit TV series, told Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper during their New Years Eve broadcast for CNN that he misses Saget madly.

Saget, 65, was found dead at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Florida. He is survived by his wife and three daughters.

Remembering Bob today. Cant believe youre gone. Cant believe its been a year. Cant believe how lucky we were to know and work with you, for you to be our Future Ted. Team #HIMYM will always love you, Bob. Because love is the best thing we do. @bobsagetpic.twitter.com/f8DqGCrZ6L  Craig Thomas (@HimymCraig) January 9, 2023

Gilbert wrote this one year ago. He would have wanted to say something today too. He truly loved Bob. My heart goes out to Kelly and his daughters. RIP @bobsagetpic.twitter.com/PercRkEB0V  Gilbert Gottfried (@RealGilbert) January 9, 2023

"The most lost day in our life is the day we don't laugh" It's hard with you gone Bob, but we'll try. And also love and hug, alot. It's hard to believe it's been a year. Time flies when you're grieving. pic.twitter.com/ncMv0CIHG1  John Stamos (@JohnStamos) January 10, 2023

Its been 1 year since my friend @bobsaget passed. I miss him so much. I looked through our old messages, they made me laugh + cry. I played Separate Lives for Bob last night. I know what that song meant to him. If we continue to speak his name/share memories, he is still with us pic.twitter.com/mrbo44d6Bj  Stephen Bishop (@BishSongs) January 9, 2023

Related...
Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic/Getty

Bob Sagets wife issued a plea to Elon Musk on Monday to mark the one-year anniversary of the late comedians death: reinstate his blue check mark.

Hi, Elon Musktoday on the one year anniversary of Bobs passing, I saw hes no longer verified? Kelly Rizzo said in a Monday post to the Chief Twit. My husband truly loved Twitter. Out of respect for his legacy, can something be done? Thank you kindly (friends, please help).

Rizzo added in a second tweet that the only reason she decided to issue the plea to reinstate a blue check mark for Sagets account, which boasts 2.2 million followers, is because the comedian would be very bummed about it.

Hed say hey if someone goes to see my page and all the jokes Ive tweeted over the years, how will they know its for sure me!?' she added about Saget, who she married in 2018.

Hi @elonmusk -today on the 1 year anniversary of Bobs (@bobsaget ) passing, I saw hes no longer verified? My husband truly loved Twitter. Out of respect for his legacy, can something be done? Thank you kindly (friends, please help)  Kelly Rizzo (@EatTravelRock) January 9, 2023

The request for verification was among several posts Rizzo shared on social media to mark the anniversary of Sagets death while he was in Florida on tour for his new comedy show. The family said authorities eventually concluded that the Full House star died after he accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it and went to sleep. No drugs or alcohol were involved. While Saget is best known for his role in the 90s sitcom, he was also known for his comedya lot of which he shared online.

Rizzo told The Daily Beast on Monday that Saget loved expressing himself and making people laugh through Twitter for years.

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When I noticed today that his blue check was gone I thought it would be nice to have it reinstated in order to honor his legacy, she added, noting that she believes the verification was removed recently because she remembers the blue check being next to her husbands name not too long ago.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The body of Anna Nuno from Lakewood was found Saturday by park rangers in Rattlesnake Canyon in the Indian Cove district of the park. (Hannah Schwalbe / National Park Service)

A 58-year-old hiker from Lakewood fell to her death in Joshua Tree National Park and was discovered in a remote area, according to authorities.

The body of Anna Nuno was found Saturday by park rangers in Rattlesnake Canyon in the Indian Cove district of the park. Nuno suffered a fatal head injury from the fall, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and the National Park Service.

An air unit from the San Bernardino County Fire Department and personnel from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and the Morongo Basin Ambulance responded to the scene.

It's unclear how Nuno fell, but officials said there appear to be no signs of foul play. There is no additional information about the incident, authorities said.

The area where Nuno's body was found  Rattlesnake Canyon and the Wonderland of Rocks  is considered a challenging region to navigate because it includes remote, rocky terrain and does not have reliable cell service. Rattlesnake Canyon features a 2.6-mile trail near Twentynine Palms that takes a little over an hour to complete, according to AllTrails.com.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
By Crispian Balmer and Francesca Piscioneri

ROME (Reuters) - Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has not requested Italian citizenship and probably would not get it even if he applied, Italy said on Tuesday, after hundreds of his backers were arrested for storming Brazil's state institutions.

Brazil's new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist who took office on Jan. 1 after defeating far-right rival Bolsonaro in an October election, has vowed to bring those responsible for the weekend violence in Brasilia to justice.

Bolsonaro flew to the United States at the end of last year, 48 hours before his term ended. He is under investigation in at least four criminal probes back home and Brazilian media have reported that he was seeking Italian citizenship.

But Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani denied this.

"He hasn't asked for it and I don't believe he can have it, as far as I'm concerned," Tajani told Italian radio.

Under Italian law, people can claim nationality if they can prove they had Italian ancestors, without any generational limits. But criminal records are taken into consideration when applications are filed.

Bolsonaro's great-grandfather was born in Anguillara in north-east Italy, making the ex-Brazilian president and his children eligible for citizenship.

Italy's Foreign Ministry has confirmed that two of Bolsonaro's four sons, Edoardo and Flavio, had requested citizenship in 2020. Their request is still being processed.

Italian consulates in countries where applications are presented deal with the request and are expected to process the paperwork within 24 months.

NO PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT

However, a diplomatic source said Italy's consulates in Brazil had been inundated with applications, meaning it would likely take years before hopefuls received an Italian passport.

A left-wing Italian parliamentarian, Angelo Bonelli, has urged the government not to grant citizenship to any of the Bolsonaro family. He said it took on average 10-15 years for people to receive citizenship via ancestral ties and warned that Bolsonaro's sons should not receive preferential treatment.

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Bonelli has accused the Bolsonaros of actively backing an attack on Brazil's key institutions over the weekend by thousands of the ex-president's followers.

"The Italian government must be clear. No citizenship for Bolsonaro's children and the former president. No citizenship for supporters of coup plotters," said Bonelli.

Angry mobs rampaged through Brazil's Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential offices on Sunday, smashing windows, furniture and artwork in the worst attack on state institutions since Brazil's return to democracy in the 1980s.

Bolsonaro told CNN Brasil that he had planned to stay in the United States until the end of January but now planned to go back to Brazil sooner to see his doctors.

Italy's right-wing League party, which is in the ruling coalition, has close ties with Bolsonaro and League leader Matteo Salvini has referred to him in the past as a friend.

Bolsonaro visited the home of his great-grandfather in 2021 and was given honorary citizenship of Anguillara by the mayor, who is a League politician. The move is being challenged in Italy's highest court.

(Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri and Crispian Balmer; Editing by Gavin Jones and Edmund Blair)
By Leticia Fucuchima and Rodrigo Viga Gaier

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian power company Eletrobras is investigating whether the collapse of at least two transmission towers is related to anti-government riots on Sunday after finding signs of sabotage, according to two people familiar with the probe.

Organizers of the uprising that ransacked government buildings in the federal capital Brasilia had also discussed on social media their plans to disrupt highways and oil refineries to create economic chaos in sync with storming the capital.

The towers - one of which fell on Sunday and the other in the early hours of Monday - were operated by Eletrobras subsidiaries Furnas and Eletronorte.

Eletronorte said its maintenance team found "signs of sabotage" at a fallen tower connecting rural parts of northern Brazil in Rondonia state with the central grid, but did not provide further details.

"Eletronorte's staff is already mobilized for the replacement of the tower, and the services are expected to be concluded on Wednesday," Eletronorte said in a statement on Monday.

Furnas reported a fallen tower and damages to three others in Parana state, according to a joint statement from regulator Aneel and the mines and energy ministry, which have set up a crisis committee to monitor potential threats to Brazil's power grid.

Furnas told authorities it suspected this was an act of vandalism in the absence of adverse weather conditions that could have caused the collapse of the towers, the statement showed.A third tower operated by power transmission company Evoltz also collapsed, according to a report by Brazil's National Electric System Operator (ONS) on Tuesday. That sparked interruptions of 14 generating units at Jirau and Santo Antonio power dams, authorities said.

Eletrobras, Furnas and Evoltz did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Leticia Fucuchima and Rodrigo Viga GaierWriting by Ana Mano and Peter FrontiniEditing by Brad Haynes, Steven Grattan, Deepa Babington and Marguerita Choy)
Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro tweeted a photo of himself in a Florida hospital bed Monday after thousands of his supporters stormed his country's democratic institutions the day before  in scenes eerily similar to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Bolsonaro said he was being treated in Orlando for complications from an old stabbing, and it looks like he doesn't have plans to go anywhere anytime soon, even as some U.S. lawmakers call for him to be expelled from the country.

"The United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil," said Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro.

The State Department wouldn't comment directly on Bolsonaro's case but said in general, diplomats are in the U.S. under a 30-day visa and need to reapply to the Department of Homeland Security in order to stay in the country.

- Apos facada sofrida em Juiz de Fora/MG, fui submetido a 5 cirurgias. Desde a ultima, por por 2x tive aderencias que me levaram a outros procedimentos medicos.

- Ontem nova aderencia e baixa hospitalar em Orlando/USA.

- Grato pelas oracoes e mensagens de pronto restabelecimento. pic.twitter.com/u5JwG7UZnc  Jair M. Bolsonaro 22 (@jairbolsonaro) January 10, 2023

Sunday's protests  which saw an angry mob, false accusations of a stolen election, and incalculable damage to national institutions  were in support of Bolsonaro, a former right-wing, populist president who lost Brazil's presidential election last year to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro left Brazil for a gated Orlando vacation home just two days before da Silva's inauguration.

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In 2020, former U.S. President Trump called Bolsonaro a "terrific man" who has "done a fantastic job."

Bolsonaro himself is sometimes called the "Trump of the Tropics." He was an acolyte of the former U.S. president, both in manner and strategy, making false accusations of election fraud and calling his opponents criminals.

He has also received strong support and, as The Washington Post reports, even advice from Trump ally Steve Bannon.

As events unfolded in Brazil's capital on Sunday, Bolsonaro denied encouraging the attacks, tweeting that while peaceful protests are part of the democratic process, destruction and invasion of public buildings are not.

"There's no question that extremism is a factor in Brazilian politics, just as it is here," said Michael McKinley, who served as ambassador to Brazil in the Trump administration.

"There's a strong foundation for Bolsonarismo, as they're calling it, to have a second life across the coming years," McKinley said.

He said Bolsonarismo is the Brazilian equivalent of Trumpism.

"CBS Evening News" headlines for Tuesday, January 10, 2023

New inflation data to be released as Federal Reserve weighs another interest rate hike

New guidelines for treating childhood obesity include medication and surgery
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ordered the arrest of former Justice Minister Anderson Torres, who served under former President Jair Bolsonaro and who was in charge of public security in Brasilia during Sunday's invasion of government buildings, a source told Reuters on Tuesday.

Torres, who was removed from office on Sunday, is currently in the United States, raising questions about his next move. The Supreme Court said it could not confirm the arrest warrant.

(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Judge Harriett Thompson

A New York judge who was facing an upcoming hearing to consider whether she had engaged in misconduct has resigned from the bench.

Last Friday, Brooklyn Surrogates Court Judge Harriet L. Thompson, 67, gave notice to New Yorks top administrative judge in a letter that she would retire from the court on March 1, the New York Times reports.

A condition of her resignation agreement was that she would not seek or accept any judicial positions in the future and would discontinue any litigation she had initiated against the Judicial Conduct Commission.

There was to be a hearing on the charges on January 17.

The commission administrator, Robert Tembeckian, released a statement regarding Thompsons resignation.

The conduct charged against Judge Thompson was egregious and, if established at trial, would have warranted her removal from office, he wrote.

She now claims a medical condition prevents her from performing judicial duties, which opens a different path in furtherance of the public interest for her immediate and permanent departure from the bench.

Thompsons troubles have been working themselves through the review process.

A senior New York judge wrote in a filing that Thompson said that being gay is an abomination to mankind and that Hispanic people had a deceitful trait that goes way back to biblical times.

An affidavit last year included anti-LGBTQ+ language attributed to Thompson.

I hate these gay white men, she said before going on that gay racist fa---ts ... trying to ruin me and get me, and that Being gay is an abomination to mankind. The Holy Ghost [is] going to get them.

Thompson also said that she assumed the litigant was a liar whenever a litigant had a Hispanic-sounding name, according to the filing.

They have a deceitful trait that goes way back to biblical times, she said. The men are always stealing, and the women are no better. They lie, steal, and use their vaginas for anything they want.

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The Commissioner of Judicial Conduct received a formal complaint regarding those comments and others, which Thompson denied making but were substantiated by an inspector generals report.

While Thompson served on the bench, she clashed with Richard Buckheit, the courts gay public administrator. Thompson, who is Black, accused Buckheit, who is white, of creating a hostile workplace for Black employees and hiring only white men for temporary positions.

Buckheit denied those allegations and said the false claims resulted from Thompsons homophobia.

Andrew S. Fisher, a lawyer for Thompsons lawyer, Andrew S. Fisher, told the Times that the agreement contained no finding of wrongdoing, adding that but for the intervention of her medical problems, she would have vigorously defended herself.

Thompson, whose term would have expired on the last day of December 2026, has served as Surrogates Court judge since 2019. She was a New York City Civil Court judge for seven years before that, beginning in 2011.
Jan. 9Several Brunswick residents and public schools officials on Monday called on Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater to accelerate the construction of a new Brunswick High School to replace a building they said is posing safety hazards to students, teachers and staff members.

A town hall meeting about the county's budget on Monday was the first of five that County Executive Jessica Fitzwater plans to host in the coming weeks. There will be one meeting in each County Council district.

Monday's meeting was in council District 1, which covers the southwestern part of the county, including Middletown, Burkittsville, Rosemont, Brunswick and land west of Md. 355, including parts of Urbana and the Sugarloaf Mountain area.

Residents who called for funding for a new Brunswick High School during the town hall meeting  many of whom said they have children who attend or who will attend the high school  said the building has undrinkable water and has doors and bathroom stalls that won't lock.

It's also "riddled" with asbestos, said Ellen Fowler, who is a local parent-teacher organization member and was part of a group tasked with studying asbestos in the building.

"We need to find the money to repair this," Fowler said during the town hall meeting at Brunswick City Hall.

Principal Christopher Berry, who is in his first year at Brunswick High School after leaving his role as principal at Tuscarora High School over the summer, said that most of the classrooms in the building  built around the time of the Vietnam War  are 200 square feet too small.

"Buildings should inspire students. The Brunswick High School that currently exists does not, in the least, inspire students," Berry said during the meeting. "In fact, it has the opposite effect. You're talking about a building where most of the classrooms have a single window."

Board of Education President Sue Johnson said that voters have elected the right people to county offices to ensure progress will be made on pressing matters like the high school.

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Johnson, like Fitzwater, District 1 County Councilman Jerry Donald and County Council President Brad Young, are lifelong educators who plan to put the county's students first, she said.

It's personal for Johnson, too. Her son attends Valley Elementary School in nearby Jefferson.

"I'm right there with them as a parent of a child in this community," Johnson said during the meeting.

Fitzwater has two children. One is in Frederick County Public Schools and the other will be soon.

Residents, including Brunswick Mayor Nathan Brown, also advocated for budget money to pay for a new senior center in the city, which is in a century-old, single-level house.

Not only do senior centers provide older people with a place to get information about the resources available to them or to socialize, but they can be a reason for older people to get out of the house, said Debra Horton, a member of the board of directors for Advocates for the Aging of Frederick County.

"As advocates, we cannot support any new senior center expansion or development until the Brunswick center is addressed and replaced with a building that addresses the needs of our seniors  one that this area's seniors can be proud of and will want to attend," Horton said during the meeting.

Fitzwater is expected to present her proposed budget to the County Council in April.

The council is scheduled to vote whether to adopt her proposed budget by May 31.

The next town hall meeting about the county's budget is scheduled for Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. at the Urbana Volunteer Fire and Rescue banquet hall in Frederick. The meeting will be in council District 2, which covers the southeastern part of the county, including New Market, Linganore, Ijamsville and parts of Urbana and Mount Airy.

Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan
Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Cranswick plc (LON:CWK) as an investment opportunity by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward.

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. For those who are keen learners of equity analysis, the Simply Wall St analysis model here may be something of interest to you.

Check out our latest analysis for Cranswick

The Method

We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Levered FCF (, Millions) UK76.0m UK86.7m UK98.0m UK95.0m UK93.4m UK92.5m UK92.2m UK92.3m UK92.6m UK93.1m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x5 Analyst x5 Analyst x5 Analyst x1 Est @ -1.72% Est @ -0.91% Est @ -0.34% Est @ 0.06% Est @ 0.34% Est @ 0.53% Present Value (, Millions) Discounted @ 6.5% UK71.4 UK76.5 UK81.2 UK73.9 UK68.2 UK63.5 UK59.5 UK55.9 UK52.7 UK49.7

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = UK653m

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We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (1.0%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 6.5%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2032  (1 + g)  (r  g) = UK93m (1 + 1.0%)  (6.5% 1.0%) = UK1.7b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= UK1.7b ( 1 + 6.5%)10= UK916m

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is UK1.6b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of UK31.6, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

dcf

Important Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the 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 Cranswick 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 6.5%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.800. 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.

SWOT Analysis for Cranswick

Strength

Debt is not viewed as a risk.

Weakness

Earnings growth over the past year underperformed the Food industry.

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Food market.

Expensive based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow for the next 3 years.

Threat

Dividends are not covered by cash flow.

Annual earnings are forecast to grow slower than the British market.

Looking Ahead:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or 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 Cranswick, there are three pertinent aspects you should explore:

Risks: You should be aware of the 1 warning sign for Cranswick we've uncovered before considering an investment in the company. Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for CWK's future outlook? Check out our management and board analysis with insights on CEO compensation and governance factors. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the LSE every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.

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SAN DIEGO  The headaches and heartaches from deadly winter storms across much of California aren't likely to end soon.

Millions remain under flood warnings and thousands are without power from the severe weather that has turned roads into rivers, spurred rockfalls and mudslides and forced thousands from their homes.

The heavy rain across much of the state Tuesday will continue Wednesday in Northern California. And forecasters are calling for another storm-producing system at the end of the week into next week.

California's weather has been unrelenting, and it has killed at least 17 people, officials said Tuesday.

"Almost 100,000 Californians [are] living in places where it's unsafe to be in their homes right now," California Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot said at an afternoon news conference Tuesday.

Fears of more flooding and mudslides persist because the ground is saturated, an unusual state amid Californias historic, three-year drought.

Soils in California are saturated from above average rainfall over the past few weeks, which means it wont take much additional rainfall to trigger flooding, the federal Weather Prediction Center said in a forecast statement Tuesday.

Floodwaters surround homes on Thornton Rd. in Merced, Calif., as storms continue battering the state on Jan. 10, 2023. (Noah Berger / AP)

The city of San Francisco told residents Tuesday to take shelter and do not travel for three hours, starting about 12:30 p.m. PT, after the National Weather Service issued a flash-flood warning for the region.

Meteorologist Jan Null tweeted Tuesday that the rainy stretch from Dec. 26 to Monday was historic: "This is now San Francisco's 3rd wettest 15-day period, going back to the Gold Rush in 1849."

High winds closed Interstate 80 in both directions near the California-Nevada line.

And in Southern California, several routes in Angeles National Forest were closed.

The search resumed Tuesday for a child who was swept away when floodwater swamped a vehicle Monday near Paso Robles, said Scott Jalbert of the San Luis Obispo County Office of Emergency Services.

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The boys mother was rescued Monday.

As many as 30 first responders, including a search-and-rescue team and operators of search drones, were looking for the boy Tuesday. Officials had requested a helicopter-based search crew; it wasnt clear whether weather permitted such flights.

To the south, in the city of Ventura, officials declared a local state of emergency in order to expedite disaster response and seek emergency funding, officials said in a statement. The city sustained flooding and damage from high surf, they said.

By Tuesday night, power company workers had whittled the number of homes and businesses in the dark to 75,778, according to PowerOutage.us.

Sacramento County was one of the hardest-hit, with about 12,000 customers still without power by the lunch hour, according to the outage tracker.

The rain appeared to be letting up in Beverly Hills on Tuesday afternoon. But organizers of the Golden Globes took no chances and set up tents so the gray-colored red carpet would remain dry when celebrities arrived.

Kevin Costner, who won for best performance in a television drama, said in an Instagram video Tuesday that he wouldn't attend because local flooding would make the trip difficult if not dangerous.

Heavy rain lashed water-logged California Monday, with forecasters warning of floods as a parade of storms that have killed 12 people battered the western United States. (Josh Edelson / AFP - Getty Images)

An 'endless onslaught'

Just as one episode of heavy rain across the state began to wind down, another low-pressure system rapidly gained strength off the West Coast, barreling toward the state, according to the National Weather Service.

"The endless onslaught of potent systems with atmospheric rivers of moisture continue to inundate California," it said.

Moderate to heavy rain was expected across much of California into the night, while several feet of snow were expected along the Sierra Nevada, it said.

Officials issued immediate evacuation orders Monday for the entire community of Montecito, as well as for parts of Santa Barbara and other nearby towns, because of heightened flood and mudslide hazards.

Montecito, a town of about 9,000 people that is also a favorite of American entertainment royalty such as Oprah Winfrey and Jennifer Aniston, was expected to get up to eight inches of rain in 24 hours (Apu Gomes / AFP - Getty Images)

In Montecito, which is home to 10,000 people, Monday's flooding came five years to the day after heavy rain hammered a Montecito burn scar, killing nearly two dozen people.

The severe weather also forced Santa Barbara Airport to close, the airport tweeted Monday.

"All commercial flights are canceled until further notice, and the terminal is closed," it said. The airport said its reopening would be "dependent on the weather and conditions."

In Chatsworth, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, four people were trapped after two cars were swallowed by a sinkhole that compromised an entire road Monday night, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

Two people were able to get out of the sinkhole, while firefighters were able to safely extricate the two others, who were treated and taken to a hospital with minor injuries, it said.

Widespread storms hit California. (Neal Waters / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Maria Aldana, 26, who lives in the northern Los Angeles County community of Lancaster, couldn't believe her eyes when she saw sidewalks swallowed up by rainwater Monday night.

Aldana was grateful to be driving her dad's truck and not her usual Toyota Corolla.

"When we were passing by, we were like, 'Dang if we would have come in my car, this would have been a lot worse,'" she said. "A 2023 Tacoma is very high."

Nearly all of California has had higher-than-average rainfall totals over the past several weeks, with totals 400% to 600% above average, according to the weather service.

Climate change has made extreme precipitation in California twice as likely, with extreme weather predicted to generate 200% to 400% of surface runoff  rainwater that can't be absorbed by soil  by the end of the century, according to research by the UCLA environment and sustainability department.

The recent severe weather prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency last week, while President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration Sunday to support the storm response.

Enormous cyclone to strike Wednesday

Tuesday's storm system was expected to push inland in the evening, bringing widespread mountain snow across the Great Basin, but an "enormous cyclone forming well off the coast of the North American continent will bring yet another Atmospheric River toward the West Coast  this time impacting areas further north from northern California northward up the coast of the Pacific Northwest" on Wednesday, the weather service said.

"When all is said and done, precipitation totals over the next few days will be in the 3-7 inch range through the Transverse Range of Southern California, northward along the central to northern California coast ranges and through the Sierra," it said.

The weather service warned that widespread flood impacts were likely across large parts of California into western Nevada.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
HYATTSVILLE, Md. (AP)  When Jamieson Brill answers a crisis call from a Spanish speaker on the newly launched national 988 mental health helpline, he rarely mentions the word suicide, or suicidio

Brill, whose family hails from Puerto Rico, knows that just discussing the term in some Spanish-speaking cultures is so frowned upon that many callers are too scared to even admit that theyre calling for themselves.

However strong stigma around mental health concerns is in English-speaking cultures, in Spanish-speaking cultures it is triple that, said Brill, who helps people navigate mental health crises from a tiny brick building tucked away in Hyattsville, Maryland.

Brill works in one of more than 200 call centers fanned out around the country tasked with answering an uptick in calls day and night from people considering suicide or experiencing a mental health emergency.

With bipartisan congressional support and just under $1 billion in federal funds, the 988 mental health helpline has quickly expanded its reach in the six months since it launched  with over 2 million calls, texts and chat messages pouring in.

The number of centers answering calls in Spanish grew from three to seven last year. A pilot line dedicated to LGBTQ youth started taking calls in September. And plans are underway to keep the momentum going, with the federal government adding Spanish language chat and text options later this year and aiming to expand those services to a 24/7 operation for the LGBTQ line.

When the around-the-clock service launched last summer, it built on the existing network that staffed the old national lifeline, 1-800-273-8255. The new 988 number is designed to be as easy to remember as 911.

It couldnt have come at a more needed time: Depression rates in U.S. adults, overdose deaths and suicide rates have been on the rise.

The call volume is, in some instances, well beyond what we anticipated, said Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, assistant secretary for mental health and substance use in the Department of Health and Human Services. It does let us know that people are struggling, people are having a hard time. Where I feel heartened is that people are getting connected to services and supports, as opposed to struggling on their own.

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The 988 helpline registered 154,585 more calls, texts and chat messages during November 2022 compared to the old national lifeline in November 2021, according to the latest data available.

Texting has been particularly popular, with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration noting a 1,227% increase in texts to the line during that same time.

The Veterans Crisis Line  callers can press 1 after texting or calling 988 to reach it  has fielded 450,000 calls, texts and chat messages, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. By the end of the year, the line had handled a nearly 10% increase compared to 2021.

Calls show no signs of slowing into this year, with counselors answering 3,869 calls on New Year's Eve and the first day of 2023  a 30 percent increase compared to the previous holiday. The Spanish language line saw an increase of 3,800 calls year over year from November 2021 to November 2022.

Meanwhile, some states are considering unveiling their own lines dedicated to certain communities.

In November, Washington became the first state to launch a mental health crisis line dedicated to American Indian and Alaska Native people. Callers in Washington can reach the line by calling 988 then pressing 4 to be greeted by one of the 13 counselors  all Indigenous people  who staff the phones.

Having fellow American Indians answer those calls is crucial, because those familiar with the culture can immediately decode some terms that others cannot, said Rochelle Williams, the tribal operations manager for Volunteers of America Western Washington, which oversees the call center. For example, she said, when a caller says that a relative is bothering me, that sends up an immediate red flag: The person is likely signaling that theyre the victim of a sexual assault.

Who has a better understanding of native people than native people? Williams said. We dont trust in a lot of government programs. Knowing youre talking to another Indigenous person is really important.

Williams wants to add chat and text options next. She hopes Washingtons 988 line for Native Americans becomes a model for others. Shes already given presentations in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Montana and in Canada, which is set to launch its own national 988 this year.

States are expected to receive more money to fund the line from the $1.7 trillion end-of-the year spending package, which set aside another half-billion dollars for the project.

Still, long-term funding for the 988 helpline is in jeopardy in some states, which have yet to figure out a permanent funding plan for it. While the federal government has poured millions of dollars into the project, states are expected to take over the operation and funding of the 988 line  just as they do with 911 emergency call services.

So far, fewer than 20 states have passed legislation to permanently fund their 988 line, according to the National Alliance on Mental Health Illness.

In Ohio, for example, advocates are pushing for the state legislature to sign off on a 50-cent fee that would be tacked onto cellphone bills, raising roughly $50 million to $55 million every year to operate the line, said Tony Coder of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation.

Quite frankly, lives depend on it, Coder said. The need for 988 services is more crucial than ever, simply because of the aftermath and the mental health issues from COVID.
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada has imposed sanctions on four Sri Lankan state officials over human rights violations during armed conflict in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009, the Canadian foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

"Over the past four decades, the people of Sri Lanka have suffered a great deal due to the armed conflict, economic and political instability, and gross violations of human rights," Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said. "Canada has taken decisive action today to end international impunity against violators of international law."

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa)
(Reuters) - Canada's First Quantum Minerals Ltd said on Tuesday it was in talks with the government of Panama to avoid halting operations at its mine in the Central American country over a contract dispute.

The company was notified on Dec. 21 of a government order for it to create a plan to halt operations at Cobre Panama within 10 working days after it missed a deadline for a new contract due to disagreements on royalties and tax payments.

First Quantum said its unit will deliver a plan to put the mine under "care and maintenance" for the government's review, but that operations at the mine continues as normal for now.

The company said it continues to engage with the Panama government to reach an agreement that is "fair and equitable to both parties."

First Quantum and its unit MPSA are prepared to agree with, and in part exceed, the objectives that the government outlined in January 2022 related to revenues, environmental protections and labour standards, the company said.

(Reporting by Ankit Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
WASHINGTON (AP)  A far-right internet personality who streamed live video while he stormed the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to two months of imprisonment for joining the mob's attack on the building.

Anthime Gionet, known as Baked Alaska to his social media followers, declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden sentenced him to 60 days behind bars followed by two years of probation. Gionet had faced a maximum of six months of imprisonment.

Gionet incriminated himself and other rioters with the video that he streamed to a live audience of roughly 16,000 followers. The 27-minute video showed him encouraging other rioters to stay in the Capitol.

You did everything you could to publicize your misconduct, the judge told Gionet. You were there encouraging and participating fully in what was going on.

The judge allowed Gionet to remain free until he must report to prison. After his sentencing, Gionet told reporters that he views his sentence as a win" and said he plans to write a book while in jail.

Despite his guilty plea, Gionet said he didn't think he was breaking the law on Jan. 6 and doesn't regret being there.

I have grown immense amounts, he said outside the courthouse. But I still hold firm that I was there because I believe the election was fraudulent, and I believe people should have a right to speak freely as long as they are being peaceful.

Inside an office for Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley, Gionet filmed himself picking up a telephone and pretending to report a fraudulent election, parroting former President Donald Trump's baseless claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

We need to get our boy, Donald J. Trump, into office, Gionet added.

Gionet joined others in chanting, Patriots are in control! and Whose house? Our house! Before leaving, he profanely called a Capitol police officer an oathbreaker."

Gionet, 35, pleaded guilty in July to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing inside a Capitol building.

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Prosecutors recommended sentencing Gionet to 75 days of incarceration, three years probation and 60 hours of community service.

Gionet worked at BuzzFeed before he used social media videos to become an influential figure in far-right political circles. He was scheduled to speak at the white nationalist Unite the Right rally in 2017 before it erupted in violence on the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan originally was scheduled to sentence Gionet. Sullivan recently withdrew from Gionet's case and several others for reasons that aren't specified in court filings, although he took "senior status" and retired from full-time duty nearly two years ago.

Gionet celebrated online when his case was reassigned to McFadden, a Trump nominee. On a live stream, Gionet praised McFadden as a very awesome judge who is a pro-Trump judge and one of the judges that let one of the guys off innocent in his trial.

McFadden acquitted a New Mexico man, Matthew Martin, of riot-related charges in April 2022 after hearing trial testimony without a jury. Martin is the only Jan. 6 defendant who has been acquitted of all charges after a trial.

More than 900 people have been charged with federal crimes related to Jan. 6. Nearly 500 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanor offenses, and over 350 of them have been sentenced.

Federal authorities have used Gionets video to prosecute other rioters, including three men from New York City. Antonio Ferrigno, Francis Connor and Anton Lunyk pleaded guilty last year and were sentenced to home confinement. Gionets livestream showed them in Merkleys office.

Defense attorney Zachary Thornley argued in a court filing that Gionet never crossed the line from being a protestor to a rioter. Thornley described his client as sort of a guerrilla journalist.

He was there to document. That's what he does, the lawyer told the judge.

Mainstream internet platforms, including Twitter, suspended Gionets accounts before Jan. 6. At the Capitol, he was livestreaming video using a fringe service called DLive. He told authorities that viewers paid him $2,000 for his livestreams on Jan.5 and Jan. 6.

Under Elon Musk's ownership, Twitter has reinstated accounts belonging to Gionet and other far-right figures.

Gionet, who grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, was arrested in Houston less than two weeks after the riot and jailed for five days. He moved from Arizona to Florida after his release.

McFadden also ordered Gionet to pay a $2,000 fine and $500 in restitution. The judge said the Jan. 6 riot was the culmination of a petty crime spree by Gionet.

Gionet was sentenced to 30 days in jail for misdemeanor convictions stemming from a December 2020 encounter in which authorities say he shot pepper spray at an employee at a bar in Scottsdale, Arizona. Gionet also was convicted of a criminal damage charge and fined $300 for damaging a Hanukkah display in December 2020 outside the Arizona Capitol.

McFadden noted that Gionet recorded his crimes to drum up social media followers and money.

That is a very disturbing vocation, sir, the judge told him.

Without him going to prison, he wont stop what hes going, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Franks said.

Gionet initially balked at pleading guilty to the Jan. 6 charge during an earlier hearing. Sullivan refused to accept a guilty plea by Gionet in May after he professed his innocence at the start of what was scheduled to be a plea agreement hearing.

___

Associated Press video journalist Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report.
Franco Origlia/Redferns/Getty Images

Cardinal George Pell, the highest-ranking member of the Catholic Church to ever be convicted of child sex abuse, only for his verdict to be overturned after a two-year legal battle in 2020, died Tuesday, according to Vatican media outlets.

Pells Secretary, Father Joseph Hamilton, confirmed he suffered a cardiac arrest after a successful hip replacement surgery on Tuesday.

In a statement on Facebook, Peter Comensoli, the Archbishop of Melbourne, said, Cardinal Pell was a very significant and influential Church leader, both in Australia and internationally, deeply committed to Christian discipleship.

The Vatican did not immediately comment on the cardinals death.

 BREAKING | El cardenal George Pell ha fallecido tras complicaciones derivadas de una operacion de protesis de cadera. Tenia 81 anos de edad.



Que Descanse en Paz  pic.twitter.com/Fnm1TarfNn  EWTN Vaticano (@EWTNVaticano) January 10, 2023

Australias most prominent Catholic cleric, Pell spent 404 days in solitary confinement at a Melbourne prison after he was convicted in 2018 of five counts related to the molestation of two choirboys two decades prior. With an unanimous jury decision, he was sentenced to six years in prison.

Pell appealed, and in April 2020 a panel of seven High Court judges dismissed the jury verdict as unreasonable, saying there was a significant possibility Pell was innocent. The decision was criticized by legal experts who noted the prosecutions opacity, including a refusal to release the testimony of Pells primary accuser.

The process was also marked by a sweeping suppression order that initially prevented any Australian media from reporting on the trial, including Pells name and the gag order itself.

Upon learning that his conviction had been overturned, Pell punched the air and then said Te Deum, which is the Christian prayer of thanks, he told The Salt Lake Tribune last year.

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Top Vatican Cardinal Accused of Buying False Pedophile Testimony Against Cardinal George Pell

In a statement, Pell said he held no ill will towards his accuser, who was identified as Witness J during his trial. (His other alleged victim died before charges were brought).

However my trial was not a referendum on the Catholic Church; nor a referendum on how Church authorities in Australia dealt with the crime of paedophilia in the Church, he continued. The point was whether I had committed these awful crimes, and I did not.

In interviews after the then-78-year-old walked free, Pell recalled the experience of imprisonment with ambivalence. Jail is undignified, youre at the bottom of the pit, youre humiliated, but by and large I was treated decently, so that was a big help he told the BBC last year. He added that the worst single thing had been being subjected to strip-searches.

A month after his appeal was granted, the Australian government released a previously redacted report that had found Pell had known for decades about other instances of clergy members preying upon children, but had failed to take any action.

Choirboys Dad Sues Cardinal George Pell Over Sexual Abuse Claims

In one account, according to a Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Assaults report, a witness said that, as a young teen in 1974, hed approached then-Father Pell to tell him that another priest was abusing children. Pell reportedly replied: Dont be ridiculous.

The commission also said that Pell had lied to the inquirys panel in 2015, testifying that a bishop had misled him about Gerald Ridsdale, an Australian priest under Pells jurisdiction who was later convicted of abusing close to 70 victims.

Its a sad story and it wasnt of much interest to me, Pell told the panel, according to the report.

The commission wrote that it did not accept that Pell was deceived, intentionally or otherwise, adding that Pell had known that Ridsdale was being shuttled from parish to parish to avoid scandal.

Pope Refuses to Condemn Pedophile Cardinal Pell, Even After Losing Sex-Abuse Appeal

Prior to his legal woes, Pell had been appointed the first prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy by Pope Francis in 2014. Lifted up to occupy the Vaticans No. 3 spot, Pell oversaw the economic activities of the Holy See, which had previously been marred by claims of financial mismanagement and a lack of accountability. His term expired in 2019.

Pell returned to Rome after his release from prison. He held no official position in his final years, but regularly met with Pope Francis, whom he said had been very supportive of him.

A few days before his death, Pell had attended the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. He emphasized to Catholic outlet EWTN that Benedict had been a quiet, gentle, pious man, absolute gentleman.

For the BBC, I asked Cardinal George Pell about his legacy and regrets. pic.twitter.com/ouKbyomYlP  Colm Flynn (@colmflynnire) January 10, 2023

In the BBC interview, Pell said that the fact that his legacy was inextricably linked to the churchs sex abuse crisis was a good thing.

My only concern is to get the truth out there, he said. It doesnt matter too much in the grand scheme of things what people think about me, but I am keen that the church is not judged unfairly.

God knows that weve got more than enough to be guilty about.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Crematorium in Chongqing, China Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

China officially attributes just 5,200 deaths to COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, including fewer than 40 COVID deaths since Beijing lifted President Xi Jinping's strict but ultimately futile "zero COVID" strategy Dec. 7, The Washington Post reported Monday night. But "projections made by international experts put the real death toll closer to 5,000 people each day, with several models predicting more than 1 million COVID deaths in China in 2023."

Chinese public health officials acknowledge that COVID spread rapidly after the lockdowns and mandatory testing were eased. But government censors are removing videos of long lines of mourners waiting to cremate dead family members, the Post reports. A review of satellite images, videos posted to China's version of TikTok, and interviews with mourning relatives and overworked morgue workers affirm the surge in deaths.

Crematoriums in several large cities are running around the clock and families wait in line for hours to secure a spot for their dead relatives, the Post reports. Scalpers sell spots in line for $300. Some crematoriums have dispensed with memorial services and give the families 2 minutes to say good bye before cremation.

Photos posted by The New York Times on Tuesday show patients filling hospital corridors, lonely deaths, rushed memorial services, and exhausted doctors and nurses in Shanghai last weekend, evoking the early days of the COVID pandemic in the U.S. and other Western countries. Shanghai's 26 million residents, and China's 1.4 billion, have little immunity from prior infection or China's relatively ineffective COVID vaccine.

"China was so proud of its COVID control measures until spring of 2021," Yanzhong Huang, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, tells the Post. "But look at now. Everything has fallen apart and its pandemic response model has become a laughingstock."

"The good side is that they are dealing with the Omicron, not the original or Delta variants," says Mai He, a professor of pathology and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "The bad thing is, due to zero COVID, most Chinese, their immune system has not been primed."

Story continues

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Quality key for Vietnamese longan to Japanese market: expert

Vietnam should maintain high quality of its farm produce, especially longan, to clinch its position in the Japanese market, according to Vietnamese Trade Councillor in Japan Ta Duc Minh.







Last week, the first batch of fresh longan arrived in Japan, becoming the fourth kind of fruit to be sold in the choosy Japanese market after dragon fruit, mango and litchi.



According to Minh, Vietnam and Japan started negotiations on Japans opening of market for Vietnamese fresh longan six years ago and reached an agreement on November 23, 2022.



On January 3, Hoang Phat Co., Ltd. shipped 10 tonnes of fresh longan to Japan. After that, each month, the firm will export about 70-100 tonnes of the product to the market.



Minh said that the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan will coordinate with exporters and Vietnamese authorities to organise promotion programmes to popularise this specialty fruit to Japanese consumers as well as the Vietnamese community in Japan.



He expressed his hope that Vietnamese fresh longan will also affirm its position in Japan like fresh litchi.





The official noted that currently, Vietnamese dragon fruits are holding 80% of the market share in Japan, while that of mango is 6.6% and fresh banana 0.8%. Meanwhile, some kinds of fruit that have just been sold in Japan for 2-3 years like durian, litchi and frozen longan, have also seen good sales.









Vietnamese Trade Councillor in Japan Ta Duc Minh. (Photo: VNA)

Longan is cultivated in some southern localities of Japan, but the production is modest, he noted, stressing that the opening of markets for Vietnamese fresh longan is a great chance for Vietnamese farmers, and at the same time manifests the high quality of the products, enabling it to enter other markets in the world.



However, Minh warned exporters to ensure high and stable quality of longan exported to the Japanese market to win strong confidence of local consumers.



He highlighted the strict technical standards and plant quarantine process for Vietnamese fresh longan in Japan, advising local farmers to follow the quality management procedures in all production stages to ensure highest quality of their products.



He also recommended that exporters upgrade their preservation equipment and technology to make sure that longan is kept fresh with preserved taste for a longer time.
WILLOWBROOK, Ill. (AP)  The former operator of a suburban Chicago medical equipment cleaning plant has agreed to pay $408 million to settle hundreds of lawsuits alleging that the now-shuttered facility exposed residents to a toxic industrial gas and caused illnesses.

Sterigenics announced Monday that a claims administrator will be appointed to distribute the money to as many as 870 people who had sued the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company. The completion of the settlement agreements is expected to take 90 to 120 days, it said.

Sterigenics used toxic ethylene oxide gas to sterilize medical equipment, pharmaceutical drugs and spices at a facility in Willowbrook, a DuPage County village southwest of Chicago.

State authorities ordered the plant temporarily shut down in 2019 after air quality monitoring recorded spikes of ethylene oxide in surrounding neighborhoods. Sterigenics later permanently closed the facility.

The first lawsuits against Sterigenics and other companies tied to the Willowbrook plant were filed in 2018 after published research showed people living near the plant faced some of the nations highest cancer risks from toxic air pollution.

Under the agreement, Sterigenics will pay to settle the claims subject to substantially all of the plaintiffs providing opt-in consents to their individual settlement allocations and dismissing their claims with prejudice, Sotera Health, Sterigenics' parent company, said in a statement.

In September, a Cook County jury awarded $363 million to one plaintiff, a 70-year-old woman who alleged Sterigenics exposed her to ethylene oxide gas for 20 years and led to her cancer diagnosis.

Sterigenics was ordered to pay $220 million in punitive damages to the woman, whose lawsuit was the first to go to trial. Sotera Health was directed to pay her $100 million and Griffith Foods, the current name of the plants original owner, $5 million. Jurors also awarded the woman $38 million in compensatory damages.

Sotera Health said in its statement that the planned settlements are not to be construed as an admission of any liability or that emissions from the Willowbrook facilities ever posed any safety hazard to the surrounding communities."

The statement adds that while Sterigenics maintains that its Willowbrook operations did not pose a safety risk to the community in which it operated," it was in its best interest to settle the lawsuits because significant time and cost would have been required to contest all of the cases.
Club Q

Prosecutors on Monday filed a motion to bring new charges against the alleged shooter who authorities say gunned down five people at Club Q, a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo. More than a dozen were injured.

Authorities have added more than 10 new charges including attempted murder, attempted assault, bodily injury with a deadly weapon, and a bias-motivated crime (which is Colorados hate crime designation), according to court documents.

A hearing is set for Friday at 2 p.m., according to local authorities.

Related: Who Were the 5 Victims of the Club Q Shooting?

The suspect is accused of entering Club Q late on November 19 with an AR-style weapon and a handgun and opening fire, killing Daniel Aston, Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh, and Derrick Rump. About 20 others were injured, police have said, most of whom suffered gunshot wounds. Prosecutors have already filed more than 300 charges against Aldrich.

A patron, Richard Fierro, took down the gunman, and several others assisted in holding the suspect down until police arrived several minutes later.
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group could hold an emergency meeting in Caracas as early as this week, the head of the government negotiating team said on Tuesday.

Colombia declared and then called off a bilateral ceasefire with the group last week after the ELN said it had not agreed to the move. The government blamed a misunderstanding of the ELN's position for the about-face.

The two sides held a first cycle of negotiations to end the guerrillas' part in nearly six decades of war last year in Caracas and was set to begin another round of talks in Mexico.

But Mexico was not yet ready to host, Otty Patino, the head of the government's negotiating team told Blu Radio and the two sides could hold a prior meeting back in Caracas this week or next.

"We are trying for there to be a prior conversation to complete what was left from the first cycle," said Patino, who like President Gustavo Petro is a former member of the M-19 urban guerrilla group.

A meeting in Caracas "is not a cycle but an emergency meeting" he added.

Patino denied talks with the rebel group, which counts some 2,400 combatants, are in crisis.

"There isn't a crisis, there is a pause," he said. "To talk about a crisis at a negotiating table that is paused seems inadequate to me."

The government has said ceasefires remain in force with another four groups - two dissident groups founded by former FARC rebels and crime gangs the Clan del Golfo and Self-Defenses of the Sierra Nevada.

Petro, who took office last year, has pledged to seek peace agreements or surrender deals with armed groups of all stripes.

(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Josie Kao)
The process of filtering the city's wastewater undergoes multiple steps, including separation of solids and disinfecting using UV ray light.

The city of Columbia was awarded a $4.8 million grant from the federal American Rescue Plan fund, which will be used to help fund the new wastewater plant in Columbia, increasing the city's wastewater treatment capacity for years to come.

The grant would also fund construction costs to renovate and replace old sewer lines, as well as replacement of the Duck River sewage pumping station.

Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder said the city is pleased to be awarded the ARP grant, to be administered by the state, to help with building a new $65 million wastewater treatment plant in Columbia, the largest capital project in the city's history.

Columbia's Wastewater Treatment Plant has been operational since 1978 and is in need of upgrades. The city plans to pursue a $65 million project to build a new plant, estimated to be completed by 2027.

"The city of Columbia recently embarked upon its biggest capital project in city history with what will be a new state-of-the art wastewater treatment plant upon completion, a project that will ensure adequate wastewater facilities for the next 50 years," Molder said. "This grant will go towards that overall investment, allowing the city to defer costs and allowing taxpayers to have even less of a burden."

The city's grant, announced by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Friday, is part of 24 grants totaling $125.9 million, administered by TDEC in the form of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure grants.

The grants announced Friday follow the announcement of 18 grants totaling $72.4 million from the ARP fund in August and October, bringing the total awarded by TDEC year-to-date to $198.4 million.

Columbia Wastewater Chief of Operations Corey Jenks explains the plant's multi-step filtration process to ensure the cleanest water for citizens. The Columbia Wastewater Treatment Plant has been operational since 1978, and will soon undergo a complete renovation, with a new plant scheduled to open in 2027.

Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, also stated the impact the grant will have on rapidly-growing Columbia.

As Columbia continues to grow, it is vital that we have the necessary infrastructure in place to best serve our residents and businesses, Cepicky said. This grant will help address critical needs that currently exist, while also ensuring that our community continues to thrive for years to come. I appreciate TDECs continued partnership and support of these very important projects.

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Wastewater plant:Historic investment: City takes plunge for new $65 million wastewater treatment plant

Tennessee received $3.725 billion from the ARP, and the states Financial Stimulus Accountability Group dedicated $1.35 billion of those funds to TDEC to support water projects in communities throughout Tennessee. Of the $1.35 billion, approximately $1 billion was designated for non-competitive formula-based grants offered to counties and eligible cities. The remaining funds will go to state-initiated projects and competitive grants.

These grants will address important water infrastructure needs throughout our state, especially those among disadvantaged communities, Gov. Bill Lee said. We look forward to the improvements the projects will bring, and we commend the communities who have gone through the application process.

Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, called the grants "critically important" now more than ever to help secure the state's infrastructure for years to come, while Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, said the grants will help the state's cities and counties during a time of great growth.

According to McNally said the state's Fiscal Accountability Group worked to make sure sure "the funds were spent appropriately and efficiently."

Kerri Bartlett is the editor of The Daily Herald and deputy editor of the Middle Tennessee region.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Columbia receives $4.8 million ARP grant to help fun new wastewater plant
I cant get it out of my head: A honkingly big Caterpillar sign that read, JOIN US AS WE BUILD A BETTER WORLD. The digital recruitment billboard at CES 2023 followed promos for an autonomous compactor and excavator, and proceeded another callout: CHECK OUT OUR BIG AUTONOMOUS TRUCK .

I did, and boy was it ever.

A better world could mean anything in corporate-speak, but in this case, the company is talking specifically about sustainability  and using aspirational language to distance itself from a fossil-fueled role in carving up the earth. Like Caterpillar, many of the exhibitors I saw as I walked the tech-show floor seemed to be rinsing their brands via earthly taglines, stock photos of crops and sunbeams, plastic trees and/or AstroTurf. I find this sort of thing especially distracting now that climate is my main beat, and that's unfortunate, because there was still lots of intriguing climate (and adjacent) tech on display this year, tucked in among the vague evocations of nature.

When I arrived in Vegas my colleague Ingrid asked if the show would feature mostly adaptive tech (for coping with the consequences of climate change) or mitigative tech (for direct emission cuts). I saw a mix of both, but much of what caught my attention skewed toward adaption. And to that end, this year CES practically overflowed with portable batteries and solar gear for campers and preppers alike. Really, there was no escape.

Jackery's portable solar tech at CES 2023.

Jackery's portable solar tech at CES 2023. Image Credits: Harri Weber for TechCrunch

Highlights included EcoFlows "whole-home" backup power box and Jackery's new solar generator, but I'm sure it's not a leap to say we should expect more gear like this in the coming years  as more people cope with climate anxiety and extreme weather events alike.

There was a ton of conservation-geared tech, too. Moen debuted a smart sprinkler with soil sensors and Rachio announced a $100 smart hose timer, both aiming to help lawn-havers save water and lower their bills. (Climate change exacerbates water scarcity and drives droughts around the world.)

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Moen's "smart water network" gear.

Moen's "smart water network" gear. Image Credits: Moen

For farmers, Meropy showed off its crop-watching robot, which rolls over fields on legs that look like giant hairbrush bristles. "The idea is to provide information to farmers to help them reduce the amount of chemicals they put on the plots," co-founder and CEO William Guitton said in an interview with TechCrunch. Meropy's bots weigh 15 kg (about 33 pounds) and pack cameras that "scan over and under the foliage," Guitton said.

Along similar lines, John Deere showcased farming equipment that's also supposed to reduce fertilizer use. (Fertilizers are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture.) Plus, Samsung announced washing machine tech that's intended to save energy and halve microplastic pollution, while AMD highlighted energy efficiency gains in its new chips.

Meropys crop monitoring robot

Meropys crop monitoring robot. Image Credits: Meropy

As for emissions mitigation, Schneider Electric made some waves with a smart-home system that's centered around solar and energy storage. Schneider executive Jaser Faruq told TechCrunch he hopes the firm's app will offer a "much more interesting, fulfilling experience for customers to feel like they're in control of their power." The system will ideally help users conserve energy and reduce their reliance on fossil fuel-powered grids, Faruq added, such as by automatically disconnecting outlets while you travel. Some of the company's energy-storage tech reminded me a lot of Tesla's, which is no coincidence; Faruq previously worked in Tesla's power storage and solar energy division.

No Traffic, a company that automates and surveils intersections, also caught my eye. When I asked if its name represented a goal or was just aspirational, co-founder and CEO Tal Kreisler told me it originally started as "kind of a joke," because when people ask how long it takes to travel through perpetually busy areas  like from San Francisco to Palo Alto  you might sarcastically say, 'with no traffic, it should take like 20 minutes.'"

Kreisler said the company's goal is to smarten up intersections so municipalities can prioritize whatever they want -- be it cars, buses, micromobility or pedestrians (ideally the latter three). That includes timing lights to reduce traffic, so ideally fewer cars are left idling on city streets, but really No Traffic's scope is broader than its name implies.

Makka's Prism electric bike

Cake's Makka Prism electric bike. Image Credits: Harri Weber for TechCrunch

If you count electric cars and e-bikes as mitigative climate tech, as I typically do, then read my editor Kirsten's story on how electric-vehicle tech stole the show this year. The eye-catching announcements included Mercedes-Benz's plan for a "global" EV charging network as well as the debut of Icoma's bizarre suitcase motorcycle. I can't speak to the need for transforming e-bikes with screens, but it's nice to see automakers throw more weight behind EV charging infrastructure, which is hampered by unreliable chargers and environmental racism.

Unfortunately, Mercedes plans to focus on cities, so it probably won't help quench rural America's charging deserts.

And though they aren't brand-new, I enjoyed the colorful shields on Swedish brand Cake's Makka Prism e-bikes. Aren't they kind of cute?
Police attended a Girls Gone Wild hot tub party and engaged in sex acts while on and off duty in Tennessee, officials told news outlets.

Now, five officers reportedly have been fired and three others suspended from the force in La Vergne, roughly 20 miles southeast of downtown Nashville.

This situation is unacceptable and as soon as it was brought to our attention it was immediately investigated and action was taken upon the individuals involved, Jason Cole, the citys mayor, said in a statement emailed to McClatchy News on Jan. 10. Our top priority moving forward will include rebuilding the publics trust.

Officials started to investigate after Cole heard allegations of a Girls Gone Wild-style party and an officer having sexual relationships with her colleagues, according to WKRN.

In a report published last month, officials said several officers went to a party on a houseboat. During the festivities, some cops drank heavily, and a female officers shirt came off, police told WSMV.

On another occasion, officials reported that two officers engaged in oral sex in a police department gym while actively onduty.

The report also accuses cops of having off-duty sexual encounters and exchanging nude photos. One time, an officer let a colleague drive home from his home when he knew she was intoxicated, according to the document obtained by WSMV and WZTV.

One of the officers is accused of putting his hands around a human resources workers throat, and two conspired to lie during officials investigation, according to the document that the TV stations posted online.

In all, eight officers either have been suspended or lost their jobs, WTVF reported.

This is a difficult situation for our department and for the city, but I want to be clear that the actions of a few do not represent this department as a whole, Chief Burrel Chip Davis said in an emailed statement, noting that the department has brought on counselors and is still staffed across all shifts.

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McClatchy News requested a copy of the investigative report but was told it couldnt be obtained without a Tennessee drivers license.

Bank teller stole $28,000 using 83-year-old customers debit cards, Tennessee cops say

18-year-old stealing ammunition kills worker who confronted him, Tennessee cops say
A house at 70 S. Harris Ave. in Columbus' Hilltop neighborhood, which the City of Columbus has acquired an emergency court order to shut down after Columbus police were called to the residence frequently over two years on reports of illegal drugs and shootings. The image is captured from a Google Street View taken in June 2021.

A court order shutting down a Hilltop home reveals new details about the frequent visits Columbus police made since early 2021 to the residence where David A. Johnson III is accused of fatally shooting a man in April 2021 and where his 1-year-old son died of a fentanyl overdose in November while Johnson was on house arrest there.

Johnson was mistakenly released from the Franklin County jail in late November due to a court clerical error. Police rearrested him on Dec. 19 and Johnson is now being held without bond. While he was out, police said Johnson was a suspect in a Dec. 13 robbery that turned deadly at a gas station. Police have since dismissed charges against Johnson for that incident for now while police investigate new information.

The preliminary injunction, signed by a Franklin County Municipal Court judge on Monday, states Columbus police made multiple controlled purchases of drugs at the home; confiscated guns and drugs from the home in February while executing a search warrant; and responded to a call on Aug. 30 about a 13-year-old who had been shot  but the victim would not describe the person who shot him.

The court document also states that as of that Aug. 30 call, Franklin County Children Services had recently removed a 10-year-old from the home.

Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein announced Tuesday the city had obtained the emergency court order to board up the single-family house at 70 S. Harris Ave. The city filed the case against the home's owners on Dec. 13, the day of the gas station homicide.

This is the first drug house we shut down in 2023, and it wont be the last, said Klein in a statement. The city has made it our priority to take out drug houses and go after the criminals that make our neighborhoods less safe."

Lock Equity Holdings, LLC and other defendants who own the home agreed to and signed the order, which states that they and the city will work toward developing or selling the property so it is no longer a public nuisance.

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Lock Equity was incorporated in Ohio by Christina Lowery and William Emerick, of Hilliard, in November 2020.

The order authorizes the city to forcibly remove all occupants from the home and board it up, and it limits the owners' access.

Context:One wrong click: why suspect in two deaths (now three) was released from jail

Context:Columbus man on house arrest in 2021 murder facing new charges after 1-year-old son dies

Illegal drugs, guns and multiple shootings at Hilltop house

The order lists more than a dozen instances since January 2021 when authorities received complaints about illegal activity or visited the house, including:

In January and April of 2021, Columbus police received reports that Derek Ponder, a wanted felon, was at the home.

On April 28, 2021, police responded to a report of a shooting at the home. Johnson is accused of fatally shooting 26-year-old Ponder that day and wounding his own mother during an altercation, according to other court records. The order states the 911 caller identified Johnson as the suspect and said he lived at 70 S. Harris Ave.

Johnson is charged with murder and felonious assault in connection with Ponder's death.

On Feb. 8, Feb. 14 and Feb. 15 of 2022, Columbus police detectives, with the assistance of a confidential informant, purchased crack cocaine and fentanyl at the home, the order states.

On Feb. 15, detectives were granted and executed a search warrant for the home, according to the order. Detectives recovered fentanyl, crack cocaine, powder cocaine, heroin, firearms, firearm magazines, ammunition and more than $1,800 in cash.

Inside the home when the warrant was executed were eight adults, multiple juveniles and an infant, according to the order.

The home's owner told police in March that tenants were given a three-day notice to leave, but they did not do so and the owner would file to evict the tenants.

On Aug. 30, Columbus police responded to a call about a 13-year-old male at the home who had been shot and was bleeding from his mouth. The victim was transported to Nationwide Children's Hospital.

"Notes indicate that the victim was uncooperative and would not give a description of the suspect that shot him," the order states. "Reports also indicate that Franklin County Children Services had recently removed a ten year-old from the home."

On Nov. 18, Columbus police responded to the house on a report of an overdose. The original caller stated their 1-year-old son had gotten into some unknown medicine while they were sleeping. The infant was transported to Nationwide Children's Hospital but went into cardiac arrest and passed away. Postmortem testing revealed the infant was positive for fentanyl, the order states.

While there, officers patted down three individuals inside the house, according to the order. Police found one individual was concealing a scale with white powder in his underwear and two grams of crack cocaine in a jean pocket. The suspect, who had an active warrant for his arrest, said the narcotics were for his personal use, according to the order.

Other court records state police found multiple drugs in large quantities in the home, including crack cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl, as well as unidentified pills.

Johnson, Destiny Strickland and Daviair D. Porter are charged with crimes relating to the Nov. 18 incident. Johnson is charged with involuntary manslaughter, endangering children, trafficking in drugs and numerous other counts. Strickland is charged with obstructing official business. And Porter is charged with felony counts of tampering with evidence, possession of drugs and obstructing official business.

More court news:Multiple fatal shootings by officers among notable Columbus cases set for 2023

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Court order reveals numerous calls to Hilltop home of death and drugs
By Martin Quin Pollard and Eduardo Baptista

BEIJING (Reuters) - China suspended issuing short-term visas in South Korea and Japan on Tuesday, after announcing it would retaliate against countries that required negative COVID-19 tests from Chinese travellers.

China has ditched mandatory quarantines for arrivals and allowed travel to resume across its border with Hong Kong since Sunday, removing the last major restrictions under the "zero-COVID" regime which it abruptly began dismantling in early December after historic protests against the curbs.

But the virus is spreading unchecked among its 1.4 billion people and worries over the scale and impact of its outbreak have prompted Japan, South Korea, the United States and other countries to require negative COVID tests from travellers from China.

Although China imposes similar testing requirements for all arrivals, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters on Tuesday entry curbs for Chinese travellers were "discriminatory" and China would take "reciprocal measures".

In the first retaliatory move, the Chinese embassy in South Korea suspended issuing short-term visas for South Korean visitors. It would adjust the policy subject to the lifting of South Korea's "discriminatory entry restrictions" against China, the embassy said on its official WeChat account.

The Chinese embassy in Japan later announced a similar move, saying that the mission and its consulates had suspended the issuing of visas from Tuesday. The embassy statement did not say when they would resume.

The move came soon after Japan toughened COVID-19 rules for travellers coming directly from China, prescribing a negative result of a PCR test taken less than 72 hours before departure, as well as a negative test on arrival in Japan.

With the virus let loose, China has stopped publishing daily infection tallies. It has been reporting five or fewer deaths a day since the policy U-turn, figures that have been disputed by the World Health Organization and are inconsistent with funeral providers reporting surging demand.

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Some governments have raised concerns about Beijing's data transparency as international experts predict at least 1 million deaths in China this year. Washington has also raised concerns about future potential mutations of the virus.

China dismisses criticism over its data as politically-motivated attempts to smear its "success" in handling the pandemic and said any future mutations are likely to be more infectious but less harmful.

"Since the outbreak, China has had an open and transparent attitude," the foreign ministry's Wang said.

But as infections surge across China's vast rural hinterland, many, including elderly victims, are simply not bothering to get tested.

PAST THE PEAK

State media downplayed the severity of the outbreak.

An article in Health Times, a publication managed by People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's official newspaper, quoted several officials as saying infections have been declining in the capital Beijing and several Chinese provinces.

Officials in the southern technology powerhouse Shenzhen announced on Tuesday that the city had also passed its peak.

Kan Quan, director of the Office of the Henan Provincial Epidemic Prevention and Control, said nearly 90% of people in the central province of 100 million people had been infected as of Jan. 6.

In the eastern province of Jiangsu, the peak was reached on Dec. 22, while in neighbouring Zheijiang province "the first wave of infections has passed smoothly," officials said.

Financial markets looked through the latest border curbs as mere inconvenience, with the yuan hitting a nearly five-month high.

Although daily flights in and out of China are still at a tenth of pre-COVID levels, businesses across Asia, from South Korean and Japanese shop owners to Thai tour bus operators and K-pop groups celebrated the prospect of more Chinese tourists.

In a further sign of opening, Beijing's Daxing International Airport will resume taking international flights for the first time in nearly three years from January 17, along with Beijing Capital International Airport.

Chinese shoppers spent $250 billion a year overseas before COVID.

PFIZER CRITICISM

The border rules were not the only COVID conflict brewing in China.

State media lashed out at Pfizer Inc over the price for its COVID treatment Paxlovid.

"It is not a secret that U.S. capital forces have already accumulated quite a fortune from the world via selling vaccines and drugs, and the U.S. government has been coordinating all along," nationalist tabloid Global Times said in an editorial.

Pfizer's Chief Executive Albert Bourla said on Monday the company was in discussions with Chinese authorities about a price for Paxlovid, but not over licensing a generic version in China.

China's abrupt change of course in COVID policies has caught many hospitals ill-equipped, while smaller cities were left scrambling to secure basic anti-fever drugs.

Yu Weishi, chairman of Youcare Pharmaceutical Group, told Reuters his firm boosted output of its anti-fever drugs five-fold to one million boxes a day in the past month.

(Reporting by Beijing and Shanghai bureaus; Additional reporting by Rocky Swift and Maki Shiraki in Tokyo; Writing by Marius Zaharia and Greg Torode; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Peter Graff)
Ellen DeGeneres shared an alarming video from her Montecito home on Monday (9 January) as intense flooding hit the celebrity-filled area.

Residents of the city, which is home to stars including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, were placed under an evacuation order as more heavy weather was due through Monday evening.

Sharing a selfie video on Instagram, DeGeneres showed followers a creek next to her house, which normally never flows, ever but in the clip was a raging brown torrent of water. Its probably about nine feet [high], the TV host remarked.

We need to be nicer to mother nature, DeGeneres warned, because mother nature is not happy with us.

In the caption to her post, DeGeneres explained that while Montecito is under mandatory evacuation, she had been advised to shelter in place as their house was on higher ground.

The star also noted that the storm fell on the five-year anniversary of the 2018 mudslides that hit Montecito, killing 23 people and destroying many homes.

Santa Barbara emergency officials have issued a shelter in place warning for those not already evacuated, advising them to go to innermost room or high ground.

More severe weather is forecast for California this week after days of heavy rain, snow and damaging winds, raising the potential for flooding, rising rivers and mudslides on already saturated soils.

Follow live updates from the California storms and flooding here.
By Summer Zhen and Samuel Shen

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Bridgewater has doubled its fund assets in China to more than 20 billion yuan ($2.93 billion) over the past year, according to two sources and government data, a feat that cements its position as the biggest foreign hedge fund in the country.

The jump was aided by Bridgewater China's raising of 2.7 billion yuan through a product launch in December, said the sources. That further underlined the popularity in China of billionaire founder Ray Dalio, a self-proclaimed Sinophile, and his "All Weather" strategy.

Connecticut-based Bridgewater launched its first onshore China fund in 2018, and three years later its assets under management (AUM) in China exceeded 10 billion yuan, catapulting the firm past Winton and Man Group to become the biggest foreign hedge fund house in the country. Stellar growth last year further strengthened its leadership.

Bridgewater's business boom is rare for global fund managers in China, many of whom are struggling to grow in the $10 trillion, highly competitive asset management market.

"Bridgewater goes to show that building a scaled business in China is very much possible," said Peter Alexander, managing director of fund consultancy Z-Ben Advisors, adding its growth has shattered the myth that foreigners cannot compete locally.

"The commentary surrounding China as being too competitive or that foreign firms face certain barriers to growth are simply untrue."

Graphic: Bridgewater China fund performance https://www.reuters.com/graphics/BRIDGEWATER-CHINA/FUND/zdpxdrddjpx/chart.png

By early November, Bridgewater's onshore China funds grew to roughly 19 billion yuan, Shanghai government data showed.

It sold a series of feeder funds via China Merchants Bank in December, raising 2.7 billion yuan, said the two sources.

Bridgewater declined to comment. The sources, who were familiar with the matter, did not wish to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

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'ALL WEATHER' STRATEGY

Bridgewater's "All Weather" strategy, a multi-asset investment approach structured to be indifferent to shifts in economic conditions, caught on in China, where unpredictable "black swan" events including Beijing's tech crackdown, the Russia-Ukraine war, and COVID-19 lockdowns have roiled markets.

The steady performance of Bridgewater's China funds - mainly targeting wealthy individuals - was highlighted in the hedge fund firm's sales pitch, which was seen by Reuters. Bridgewater's first China fund achieved an annualised return of 15.6% in the four years following its October 2018 launch. That compares with a 3.7% return for the CSI300 Index, and 5% for Chinese treasuries.

Another fund, launched in December 2021, delivered a net return of 8.4% from inception till December 2022, said one of the sources. China's stock market plunged over 20% last year.

Besides returns, another selling point was Dalio's long connection with China, and the firm's deep understanding of China cycles since the ancient Tang dynasty. Chen Yin, head of Bridgewater's China strategy, said during a roadshow last month that fund size is not a priority.

"Ray often told us: don't always think of fundraising, or business size in China," Chen said. "If we set the highest bar for ourselves, and do things beautifully, inevitably, we will get recognition from the market."

(Reporting by Samuel Shen in Shanghai and Summer Zhen in Hong Kong; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
(Reuters) - A record number of business and government leaders will descend on the Swiss resort of Davos next week to pore over challenges ranging from global economic slowdown to environmental collapse as the World Economic Forum returns to its winter slot.

Criticised by some as a talking shop for the jetset that merely adds to the world's carbon footprint, the forum insists it has the power to bring decision-makers together in a world facing multiple crises amid growing geopolitical mistrust.

"We are all stuck in a crisis mindset," WEF executive chairman and founder Klaus Schwab told the pre-meeting news conference of a world grappling with the Ukraine war, climate change and simultaneous energy and food supply crunches.

The last in-person Davos winter gathering was in 2020, just days before the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a global health emergency. The 2021 event was held virtually and last year's was shifted from January to May after a spike in infections.

"Davos should help to shift that mindset," Schwab said of a week-long set of discussion panels, informal gatherings and events under the banner of "Cooperation in a Fragmented World".

While the Russian delegation will be conspicuous by its absence, organisers hailed a record turnout in terms of the number and diversity of participants, with expectations of a "high-level" Chinese presence.

Fifty-two heads of state and government will show up next to 56 finance ministers, 19 central bank governors, 30 trade ministers and 35 foreign ministers. Heads of the United Nations, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organisation will be among 39 leaders of international agencies.

The upmarket ski resort will host its biggest ever business participation, with 600-plus CEOs among 1,500 business leaders that include the highest ever number of female executives.

Discussions are due to focus on short-term challenges like how to avoid the risk of a global recession in 2023 and how to ensure a failing global effort to tackle climate change is not set back even further by the energy crunch exacerbated by the Ukraine war and sanctions on Russia.

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Organizers said that Ukraine, which dominated last year's forum, would send another high level delegation and that there would be several sessions related to the war.

As advanced economies around the world struggle with tight labour markets, there will be debate on the importance of re-skilling workforces, generating properly remunerated jobs and overcoming shortfalls in gender parity and racial equity.

(Reporting by Mark John; Editing by Alexander Smith)
GENEVA (AP)  The Swiss town of Davos will host 52 heads of state and government and nearly 600 CEOs as the World Economic Forum hosts its annual meeting in the Alps next week, organizers said Tuesday.

Forum organizers said their latest lineup for the elite gathering of political leaders, business executives, cultural trend-setters and international organization chiefs will tackle issues facing a divided world as 2023 begins, with war and conflict, economic pressures and climate change in focus.

There is no doubt that our 53rd annual meeting in Davos will happen against the most complex geopolitical and economic backdrop in decades, said forum President Borge Brende, pointing to challenges like the threat of global recession, soaring energy and food prices, and the need to better address global warming.

Russia's nearly yearlong war in Ukraine and COVID-19 restrictions and now a wave of infections in China have helped weaken the global economy.

Brende pointed to record participation of 52 heads of state and government, more than half of them from Europe, as well as some recently elected leaders including President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea, President Gustavo Petro of Colombia and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines. Nearly 300 government ministers were expected to take part.

The forum president said some delegations had asked for the names of their participants not to be shared right away for security reasons. Brende said, for example, that unspecified high-level delegations from China and Ukraine would attend.

The U.S. will be represented by Biden administration officials including presidential climate envoy John Kerry, head of national intelligence Avril Haines and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai as well as several governors and congressional lawmakers.

The meeting offers a grab-bag of issues discussed in hundreds of public sessions as well as in more secretive backroom deal-making by business leaders in the upscale hotels along Davos Promenade, near the conference center that hosts the gathering.

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The agenda is stacked with discussions about ideas, innovations and the search for public-private cooperation on issues like energy, climate, investment, trade, future technologies, jobs, health and social mobility, among others.

Its hard to predict if the high-minded discussions will yield substantial announcements that make headway on the worlds most pressing challenges. The event has been criticized for hosting wealthy executives who sometimes fly in on emissions-spewing corporate jets.

On the gatherings opening day Monday, four figures from art and culture will be honored: Artist Maya Lin, soprano Renee Fleming, and actors Idris and Sabrina Dhowre Elba will receive the forums Crystal Award  given in recognition of artists who are bridge-builders and role models for all leaders of society.
MEXICO CITY  Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday thanked President Joe Biden for being the first president in a long time that has not built "even one meter of wall" along the U.S.-Mexican border.

His comments came at the end of a two-day North American Leaders Summit that was preceded by an agreement from Mexico to accept the return of migrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba who enter the U.S. illegally. In exchange, the United States agreed to create a new legal pathway for up to 30,000 people each month from those countries who have a sponsor and pass background checks.

But those and other changes announced by Biden before the summit were criticized by both immigration opponents as too lax and by immigration supporters as too similar to former President Donald Trumps hardline approach.

Both extremes are wrong, Biden said at the joint news conference held with Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

He added: Its a basic middle proposition.

In addition to migration, other issues the leaders discussed over two days included making North America a clean energy powerhouse and strengthening supply chains for critical minerals, electric vehicles and semiconductors.

President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrive for a news conference at the 10th North American Leaders' Summit at the National Palace in Mexico City, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023.

The latest

The three leaders met jointly Tuesday following Biden's one-on-one with Trudeau Tuesday morning and his sit-down with Lopez Obrador on Monday.

President Joe Biden kicked off day two with a bilateral meeting with Trudeau, where the two leaders discussed clean energy and support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Biden said Trudeau has "always been there" when he reached out. He also said he intends to travel to Canada in March.

Trudeau warned Biden against Buy American policies that Canada views as an impediment to free trade, according to the prime ministers office. But their meeting was still chummier than Bidens discussion Monday with Lopez Obrador. Mexicos president urged Biden step up support economic development and what he called this abandonment, this disdain, and this forgetfulness for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Making progress: The three leaders already have announced key steps on several issues, including setting up a forum with industry to increase investment in semiconductor supply chains; committing to reduce methane emissions from solid waste and wastewater by at least 15% by 2030 from 2020 levels; working to improve coordination and address the root causes of migration; cooperating against labor and sex trafficking; promoting racial justice and equity in public policies; and combatting violence against LGBTQ people.

This is the 10th North American Leaders Summit. Biden held the last one in November 2021 in Washington, D.C.

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President Joe Biden meets with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Mexico City, on Tuesday during the North American summit.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Want to know more? Heres what you missed.

Day one of North American Leaders' Summit: Biden is in Mexico City. His first action? Asking the Mexican president for help with fentanyl

What's on the agenda: Biden, visiting Mexico, will highlight rising fentanyl deaths and record migrant crossings

From the El Paso border: Biden faces pleas for help on migrant crisis as he visits El Paso in first trip to border

Reach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden in Mexico: US talks migration, supply chains, climate change
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Lynette Hardaway, an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump and one half of the conservative political commentary duo Diamond and Silk, has died, according to the pair's Twitter account. She was 51.

Hardaway, known by the moniker Diamond, carved out a unique role as a Black woman who loudly backed Trump and right-wing policies, earning fame first on the Internet and then as a cable television commentator. Her promotion of COVID-19 falsities eventually got her dropped from Fox News, but she landed on another right-wing cable platform.

She and her sister, Rochelle Silk Richardson, rose to prominence during the 2016 presidential campaign cycle when they appeared on stage in support of Trump, who embraced the two Black women amid widespread accusations of racism and sexism.

Hardaway's cause of death has not been released. Trump, who called her death really bad news for Republicans in a Monday night post on his Truth Social platform, said it was totally unexpected.

Our beautiful Diamond of Diamond and Silk has just passed away at her home in the State she loved so much, North Carolina," Trump wrote. There was no better TEAM anywhere, at any time!

The pair's verified Twitter account had asked people to please pray for Diamond in a November tweet but did not elaborate on the circumstances.

The World just lost a True Angel and Warrior Patriot for Freedom, Love, and Humanity," the account wrote Monday night, linking to a memorial fundraising page.

A memorial ceremony will be announced.

The sisters, who called themselves Trump's most outspoken and loyal supporters, have said they switched political parties to support his first presidential bid, in which he carried only about 8% of Black voters in the 2016 general election. He invited them to his inauguration in 2017 and, later, to the White House.

In the introduction to their co-written autobiography Uprising, published in 2020, the pair wrote that they faced criticism throughout the 2016 campaign cycle from people who called them sellouts and worse names as they stumped for Trump. They said their time in the spotlight wasnt planned.

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We were just going along with our lives as usual, then we were thrust into this political arena all because we dared to speak out and speak up for what we believed, they wrote.

Raised in the Tar Heel state, the two amassed a following of 347,000 subscribers on YouTube and leveraged their Internet stardom to land many network television appearances and regular roles at Fox News.

The network removed them from its list of contributors in 2020 after they came under fire for spreading false information about the pandemic and vaccines. The duo had falsely suggested the virus was man-made and that the rising death toll was a media conspiracy to make the Trump administration look bad.

Twitter briefly locked their account for violating its coronavirus misinformation policy after they tweeted the baseless claim that quarantining people inside of their houses for extended periods will make people sick.

Landing at Newsmax, a far-right cable news and digital media company, they hosted three seasons of their talk show Diamond and Silk: Crystal Clear."

___

Hannah Schoenbaum is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Donald Trump took to Truth Social to share that Diamond, whose real name is Ineitha Lynnette Hardaway, from the Diamond and Silk duo had died.

Really bad news for Republicans and frankly, ALL Americans. Our beautiful Diamond, of Diamond and Silk, has just passed away at her home in the State she loved so much, North Carolina, Trump posted.

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Silk was with her all the way, and at her passing. There was no better TEAM anywhere, or at any time! Diamonds death was totally unexpected, probably her big and precious HEART just plain gave out. Rest In Peace our Magnificent Diamond, you will be greatly missed!

Donald Trump on Truth Social comments on Diamond

The cause of death was not known and multiple sources cited that Diamonds age was 51. Diamond, along with Silk, billed themselves as Trumps most loyal supporters. The MAGA duo supported Trump throughout his presidency and beyond.

Diamond and Silk rose to notoriety for their political comments on YouTube and they both got shows on Fox News Fox Nation and Newsmax TV. On the latter network, Diamond and Silk Crystal Clear aired on Saturday nights.

After Trumps post on Truth went viral on Twitter, Republican politicians took to the social platform to react.

Matt Gaetz said, Very sad news.

Tudor Dixon tweeted, My heart breaks upon hearing of the tragic loss of our friend Diamond. Her personality was bigger than life with an infectious faith that undoubtedly led thousands to Christ. Her love for this country was strong and true. Rest in Peace beautiful lady. Prayers for Silk & family.

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Newsmax correspondent DeAnna Lorraine said, What a tragic lost of such a beautiful soul.

(L-R) Diamond and Silk

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Disney has told staff to return to its offices four days a week. AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Disney staff have been told to return to the office four days a week from March.

CEO Bob Iger, who returned to the company in late 2022, announced the policy in a memo to staff.

The change would benefit Disney's "creativity, culture, and our employees' careers," he said.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has told staff to return to its offices four days a week.

From the start of March, staff working "in a hybrid fashion" will need to work at Disney's offices most days, likely from Monday to Thursday, CEO Bob Iger told workers on Monday in a memo obtained by Insider.

"It is my belief that working together more in-person will benefit the company's creativity, culture, and our employees' careers," Iger told staff.

"In a creative business like ours, nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe and create with peers that comes from being physically together, nor the opportunity to grow professionally by learning from leaders and mentors," he added.

For roughly the past year, most Disney staff have been required to visit the office three days a week, The New York Times reported.

Disney is following in the footsteps of other companies who have told staff to return to the office as coronavirus cases largely decline. Many bosses have highlighted the importance of in-person work for communication and collaboration.

Goldman Sachs, however, found that productivity jumped during the pandemic when many people were required to work from home. Benefits include saving time commuting and not attending non-essential meetings. Employees can also work more flexibly, allowing time for childcare and other caring commitments.

The pandemic has triggered a huge shift in attitudes to work and some companies have said that their staff can work from home forever.

A working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that more than half of survey respondents expressed a willingness to accept a "sizable" pay cut  of 5% of more  for the option to work from home part of the week.

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Iger returned as CEO of Disney in November in a surprise move, replacing Bob Chapek who had been at the helm for close to three years and had to lead the company throughout the pandemic, including lockdown-mandated park closures, huge strains on the movie industry, and the necessity to work from home.

Before Chapek was appointed, Iger had served as CEO for around 15 years. Many Disney staff and analysts celebrated his return after a tumultuous few months at the company including a $1.5 billion quarterly loss in its streaming business, backlash over price increases at its theme parks, and a staff walkout and intense public criticism over Chapek's response to Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Employees at Disney have been ordered to return to the office four days a week, a move that upends the hybrid work option that had been offered.

The directive from CEO Bob Iger, who returned from retirement to lead the company in November, argued that the return to in-person work would boost the companys creative processes, according to news organizations, including The New York Times, that reviewed the letter.

In a creative business like ours, nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe and create with peers that comes from being physically together, Iger said in the message to employees, according to the Times.

Many companies opted to allow workers to work from home during the pandemic. Since then, many, including large corporations, have continued to extend a hybrid working option to their workforce.

But the move at Disney was not seen as a complete shocker  Iger suggested in a meeting with employees in late November that a change to the hybrid work policy may be coming, according to the Times.

Igers move to shake up the hybrid work option comes just months after his surprising return to the company, less than a year after his announced retirement. He previously led the company for 15 years.

Iger has come back to the company to steer it through a turbulent time in which its shares have fallen about 40 percent in the past year.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
To hear Republicans react to reports that attorneys working for President Joe Biden had discovered  and promptly reported  the presence of documents bearing classification markings at a Washington DC think thank where he kept an office before launching his 2020 presidential campaign, Christmas came early in the new year.

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch defender of former president Donald Trump, immediately took to right-wing host Tucker Carlsons Fox News programme to declare that Attorney General Merrick Garland should be impeached if Mr Garland fails to treat Mr Biden the way Mr Trump was treated after he refused to return classified documents that hed taken to his Florida home before leaving office.

Since his term ended in January 2021, the National Archives and the Justice Department have been pushing Mr Trump to return documents that he took from the White House, some of which have been reported to be classified at top secret levels or higher.

The back-and-forth culminated in the FBIs search of Mr Trumps Florida home on 8 August, at which point special agents recovered more than 100 such documents. Between the documents found during the search, another tranche turned over in response to a grand jury subpoena, and the contents of 15 other boxes returned to the National Archives in January 2022, Mr Trump has allegedly had possession of more than 300 classified documents long after his ability to legally possess national defence information expired.

A Department of Justice special counsel, Jack Smith, is overseeing a probe into whether Mr Trump violated US laws governing handling of national defence information by hoarding the documents.

Most legal experts and intelligence veterans believe the ex-president faces considerable legal peril from Mr Smiths probe.

And while the GOP has not been willing to criticise Mr Trump, they are jumping on the news of the discovery of roughly a dozen intelligence memoranda and briefing documents at an office Mr Biden used at the Penn Biden Center in Washington as an equivilent offence that can be used to argue that Mr Trump is being singled out for political reasons.

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The ex-presidents eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, expressed the line many Republicans have taken in the wake of the revelations in a Tuesday post on Twitter, writing: Biden kept classified documents from the Obama administration that he as VP would not have had the ability to declassify and I have yet to hear about the FBI Hostage Rescue Team raiding one of his homes? Why the double standard?

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, suggested that the media is already giving Mr Biden kid glove treatment over the matter during a Tuesday press conference.

The image included in a US Justice Department court filing on Tuesday against Donald Trump (US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE/AFP via)

If then-Vice President Biden took classified documents with him, and held them for years, and criticised former President Trump during that same time that he had those classified documents  I wonder why the press isnt asking the same questions of him, he said.

In fact, the press did ask questions about the matter when Mr Biden appeared for a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Mexico City, but the president declined to answer their queries.

Another top Republican, incoming House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Turner of Ohio, asked the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to conduct an assessment as to whether the discovery of documents at Mr Bidens former office indicates any damage to US interests.

In a letter to DNI Avril Haines, Mr Turner warned that Mr Biden could be in potential violation of laws protecting national security, such the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act.

Those entrusted with access to classified information have a duty and an obligation to protect it. This issue demands a full and thorough review, he said.

Yet despite the seemingly gleeful way Republicans are reacting to the news that Mr Biden or someone working for him may have packed classified documents in a locked office closet six years ago, theres a key difference they are missing.

When Mr Bidens made their discovery on 2 November, their first call was to the National Archives, which under the Presidential Records Act would have been the proper custodian of any Obama-Biden administration records.

According to Special Counsel to the President Richard Sauber, the Archives retrieved the documents the very next day.

Joe Biden with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Legal experts say that fact alone not only differentiates Mr Bidens case from that of Mr Trump, but it actually makes it far more likely that Mr Trump will face indictment for his conduct.

Mr Trump never once attempted to notify the Archives as to what he had taken to his Florida home upon leaving office. It took Nara a full year after the end of his term to reach an agreement for the ex-president to return 15 boxes of materials, and only then did archivists discover classified documents among what had been brought back from Florida.

According to court documents, Mr Trump and his aides actively resisted returning more documents until presented with a grand jury subpoena, then turned over another tranche last June.

But the resistance to returning what was rightfully government property continued for months, leading the Justice Department to ask a magistrate judge for a warrant to search the ex-presidents home after developing evidence showing that hed lied about having turned it all over to the government.

Whereas Mr Bidens lawyers promptly notified the government that theyd discovered potential national defence information among papers in his former office, Mr Trump refused to return similar information after being asked to return it.

Its that refusal that experts say could leave the ex-president on the hook for violating a criminal statute which makes anyone who willfully retains national defence information and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it at risk of imprisonment for ten years on each count.

In an interview with Insider, national security law attorney Bradley Moss said Mr Bidens lawyers did exactly what you're supposed to do if you discover documents bearing classification markings.

When you find improperly stored classified documents, you immediately notify the government  and you turn it over immediately, he said. "The reason Donald Trump is in criminal jeopardy right now isn't just because of the documents being improperly stored. It was the obstruction  that is why it has gotten to the point it has, where we're looking at the real possibility of a criminal indictment.
The Department of Justice has launched a preliminary review into classified documents found at the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., sources told ABC News.

In a statement, an attorney for President Joe Biden said his team first flagged the materials to both DOJ and the National Archives and Record Administration.

"The White House is cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice regarding the discovery of what appear to be Obama-Biden Administration records, including a small number of documents with classified markings," Richard Sauber, a special counsel to Biden, said in a statement.

Sauber said the documents were found on Nov. 2 and the National Archives was notified by the White House on the same day, then took possession of them on Nov. 3.

The documents were found by Biden's personal attorneys while they were "packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space" at the Penn Biden Center, said Sauber, who noted "the documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the Archives."

"Since that discovery, the President's personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives," Sauber said.

The president helped launch the Penn Biden Center after leaving office as vice president under Barack Obama.

Biden "periodically used this space from mid-2017 until the start of the 2020 campaign," Sauber said.

The center operates independently from the administration, according to its website.

Sources said the matter seems to involve only a handful of documents.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has assigned U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch with leading the review into how the documents ended up at the Penn Biden Center, a source familiar confirmed.

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Lausch's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The FBI referred comment to DOJ, who declined to comment.

CBS News first reported the review.

Former President Donald Trump is also being investigated for his handling of classified and sensitive government records. The FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in August.

In that case, according to court records, federal authorities say a criminal referral was sent to them by the National Archives' inspector general after 15 boxes were handed over by Trump's team in 2022 that included "highly classified records" intermingled with otherwise innocuous documents.

The subsequent FBI search at Mar-a-Lago found additional sets of documents of various classifications ranging from confidential to top secret and sensitive compartmented information, court records show.

The Justice Department has been investigating the violation of criminal statutes including obstruction of justice. Trump denies wrongdoing.

DOJ reviewing as Biden lawyer says classified docs found in his old office originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A few days before Christmas, the current Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, offered an apology on behalf of the Dutch government for more than two centuries of Dutch slavery. His remarks, given at the National Archives in the Hague, where I am living this year, acknowledged his countrys role in abetting and profiting from centuries of slave trading.

The Netherlands was directly responsible for the transport of an estimated 600,000 human beings over the Atlantic Ocean, mostly to Suriname, which is on the northern coast of South America. Through the East India Company, the Netherlands also traded human beings in Indonesia, India and South Africa.

Rutte noted that the National Archives are the home of our national memory and that the history of slavery, preserved in millions of historical documents, is often ugly, painful, and even downright shameful.

Douglas Brouwer

The other countries, in addition to the Netherlands, which profited from the slave trade, include Portugal, Spain, Britain, France, and Denmark.

Listening to friends, neighbors, and church members talk about this apology has been instructive, not least because of what has been happening recently in my own country, which continues to resist the subject of slavery and its own role in the Atlantic slave trade, which brought more than 12 million Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas.

Most of the Dutch people I have spoken to had favorable reactions to the Prime Ministers words, but overall, from what I read, the reaction has been mixed. Some thought Rutte should have waited a few months and made his speech on the 160th anniversary of the abolition of slavery. Others thought the apology should have come not from the prime minister, but from the king. Still others believe that apologies without talk of reparations are incomplete at best.

Rutte acknowledged that no one alive now is personally to blame for slavery and that people of today could not easily take meaningful responsibility for something that happened so long ago. But he made clear that slavery is not behind us and that centuries of oppression still affect us today, listing discriminatory exclusion, social inequality, and racist stereotypes.

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Rutte, to his credit, spoke personally and described his own change of heart about apologizing for his countrys role in the slave trade. His change, remarkably, was spurred by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. In a news conference at the time, he said he found Floyds death unacceptable, and he began speaking with groups in the Netherlands about persistent racism here.

Government apologies for slavery (or anything else) are rare. The U.S. House of Representatives offered an apology in 2008 for enslaving African Americans and for the Jim Crow laws that followed abolition. In 2018 Denmark apologized to Ghana for the Danish role in the slave trade. During a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo last summer, the king of Belgium expressed his deepest regrets for these wounds of the past, though he stopped short of an actual apology.

Over the months I have lived here, I have sensed a growing coming to terms with the past. For example, during a tour of the Mauritshuis Museum in the Hague, where Vermeers famous painting The Girl with the Pearl Earring can be found, our guide made clear at the start that Johann Maurits, whose vast collection also includes paintings by Vermeer and Rembrandt, among others, made most of his money from the slave trade in Brazil.

Exactly how much money Maurits earned because of his slave trading is impossible to estimate, but he spent far more on his various palaces than his annual salary in Brazil would have allowed. This historical reckoning during a museum tour is new and indicates that, in what is at least a beginning, the Netherlands is beginning to acknowledge its role in what Rutte called a shameful past.

I now serve a church in the Netherlands with members from Suriname, Indonesia, and South Africa, all nations where the Dutch slave trade once flourished. These members are keenly aware of Dutch history and its impact on their home countries. They know the history better, in many ways, than other citizens of this country. They have endured its impact, and they continue to live with its legacy. They are not eager, generally speaking, to discuss the prime ministers apology. Instead, they are curious about what happens next.

What seems hopeful to me is that these conversations are beginning to happen. They are not easy. They will take some time. But they are happening. In my own country we do not talk about our history because are afraid of making school children uncomfortable.

I would be grateful if Americans could at least have the conversation.

 Douglas Brouwer is a resident of Park Township, except for the 2022-2023 school year, when he is living and working in the Hague.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Douglas Brouwer: The Dutch prime minister apologized
(Bloomberg) -- The rapper and record producer Andre Young, better known as Dr. Dre, is demanding that Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene stop using his music in her political campaigns, saying shes wrongfully exploiting his work to promote her divisive and hateful political agenda.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Dres lawyer Howard King made the demand in a cease-and-desist letter to Greene Monday, saying he wants a written confirmation that she has complied by Jan. 11. Greene posted a video of herself in Congress Monday, with Dr. Dres Still D.R.E. used as background music, without the lyrics which include numerous n and f words and anti-police sentiments.

Young is the owner of the copyright in Still D.R.E, with the exclusive right to exploit it and he hasnt and will never grant Greene permission to disseminate any of his music, King wrote.

One might expect that, as a member of Congress, you would have a passing familiarity with the laws of our country, King said in the letter. Its possible though that laws governing intellectual property are a little too arcane or insufficiently populist for you to really have spent much time on.

Taylor Greene, first elected in 2020, has gained notoriety for trafficking in conspiracy theories, spreading antisemitic tropes and threatening violence against Democratic officials.

The post on Twitter initially had the content of the video blocked, citing a copyright complaint that was made. It was later removed, with Greene posting a part of a TMZ article, calling it The next episode...

Greenes Facebook post with the video has also been deleted.

A spokesperson for Greene reiterated her statement to Dr. Dre, saying While I appreciate the creative chord progression, I would never play your words of violence against women and police officers, and your glorification of the thug life and drugs.

Story continues

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A driver intentionally ran into pedestrians and cars outside a Walmart in South Carolina, officials said.

Justin Wade Gardner, 33, was driving through the stores parking lot when Florence County deputies said he purposefully hit two people on Saturday, Jan. 7.

Then, on his way out of the parking lot, he slammed into four occupied and four unoccupied cars, according to deputies.

Now, Gardner is facing multiple charges. No attorney information was listed for him in online court records or a news release from the Florence County Sheriffs Office.

State troopers were called at about 2 p.m. to the Walmart store on South Cashua Drive in the Florence area, roughly 70 miles northwest of Myrtle Beach. As officials investigated, they determined that the incident was likely intentional.

Officials in their news release didnt provide a motive. Gardner was taken to jail and charged with several counts each of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and leaving the scene of an accident, deputies said.

The sheriffs office, which didnt share additional information as of about 2 p.m. on Jan. 10, also didnt identify the pedestrians or reveal the extent of their injuries.

Man sexually assaults teen girl he added on Snapchat at Walmart, South Carolina cops say

Bloodied man buying cleaning products at Walmart convicted of murder, SC officials say
We dont know whether the Federal Trade Commission is right that forbidding noncompete agreements in labor contracts will increase wages by nearly $300 billion per year. Nor do we have a strong opinion about whether the ban can be carried out via regulation, as just proposed, or requires legislation like the wise bipartisan Workforce Mobility Act; the courts will suss out the inevitable legal challenges. Finally, we think its possible the FTC has written its rule a bit too broadly, touching almost all employees in almost all sectors of the economy.

That said, there is absolutely no question that constraining ordinary Americans, from construction workers to nurses to hairstylists to software engineers to journalists, from starting their own businesses or switching jobs within their industry for six months or a year or two deprives them of a core economic right to capitalize on their experience and skills and pursue better opportunities. And that is precisely what noncompetes, which affect an estimated 30 million American employees laboring for businesses of all sizes, do. Workers without the ability to switch employers or set up a shingle in their field of choice is profoundly disempowered.

Nor are noncompetes aimed merely at those in the upper echelons, in whom companies have arguably invested the most and who presumably have been trusted with top-tier trade secrets. Research shows that large shares of low-wage workers are frequently being barred from job-hopping. Plenty of those made to sign noncompetes lack college degrees or even high-school diplomas.

Lots of Republicans are railing against the FTC for supposedly meddling in the free market, but defenders of the perverse tool are the ones far guiltier of doing that by setting back competition, innovation and dynamism.

All the members of Congress blasting the proposed rule on the merits should stop and think about the staffers they hired from the offices of fellow elected officials and all the strategists they poached from campaign rivals. The world of politics couldnt function with strict noncompetes; why should the American economy at large?

____
Television journalist Elizabeth Vargas is joining cable network NewsNation, the outlet announced on Tuesday.

Vargas will anchor Elizabeth Vargas Reports, an hour-long weekday evening news program debuting April 3 at 6 p.m. from a new state-of-the-art studio in New York City, the network said.

Vargas, currently host of iCrime, a half-hour syndicated crime series that is broadcast on WPIX-TV in New York and other stations across the country, has previously worked as the host of Americas Most Wanted on Fox and is most well known for her reporting for newsmagazine show 20/20 on ABC for 15 years.

Vargas also served as Co-Anchor of ABCs World News Tonight, and was a news anchor and frequent host of Good Morning America. She left ABC in 2018.

Elizabeth Vargas is by far one of the most talented journalists working in television news today, Michael Corn, President of News at NewsNation and a former ABC News executive said in a statement. Were confident that Elizabeths honest and empathetic interview style, coupled with her determination to get to the heart of important stories, will strike a chord with viewers as we continue delivering on NewsNations promise to bring you news you can trust.

Corn and the leadership at NewsNation have spent the last several months filling out a roster of broadcasting talent and assembling a nightly lineup of programming as it looks to boost its modest ratings compared to other cable channels.

Last summer, NewsNation hired ex-CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, another ABC News alum, who was fired from CNN after it was revealed he worked to help his brother, the former Governor of New York, fight allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct.

NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill, which it purchased in 2021.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Twitter owner Elon Musk turned over access to internal company documents to a top source of vaccine misinformation whos been giving out bunk public health advice for years, the latest in a far-right shift on one of the most influential social media sites in the world.

Alex Berenson, a former New York Times reporter  whom The Atlantic called The Pandemics Wrongest Man in 2021  published a Substack article Monday as part of the so-called Twitter Files, or Musks effort to turn over certain internal Twitter records to select writers and journalists.

Berenson has been frequently and flagrantly wrong about the pandemic. For example, he questioned in October 2020 why anyone would believe a prediction of 500,000 U.S. COVID deaths by the following spring  only for the death toll to pass that number by February, and then double it by May 2022.

But worse than simply being wrong, he has, on several occasions, presented misleading information about vaccines to his readers. In one telling example, Berenson in November 2021 cited British mortality data for people aged 10-59 and wrote, Vaccinated English adults under 60 are dying at twice the rate of unvaccinated people the same age  I dont know how to explain this other than vaccine-caused mortality. Within eight days, according to Berenson, the link to his post had been shared 800,000 times, and screenshots had been spread by the millions around the web. But he was wrong, and dramatically so.

Fact-checkers and British officials identified his fundamental misunderstanding: Berenson had written age but was referring to an age range, lumping together everyone aged 10-59. Older Brits in that range had been prioritized for the vaccine, so more of them were vaccinated than the younger people. And older people, vaccinated and not, are generally more likely to die than younger people. As a spokesperson for the British Office for National Statistics told PolitiFact, Vaccinated people are more likely to be older and unvaccinated people more likely to be younger, therefore increasing the all-cause mortality rates for the vaccinated.

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All of this is somewhat complicated, Ill admit, Berenson said in a follow-up post, asserting nonetheless that the chart hed misinterpreted uses real data to raise a crucial issue.

Berenson was banned from Twitter in 2021 for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation rules, but he sued the company and was allowed back on as part of a settlement. He subsequently pledged to sue the Biden administration after Twitters internal corporate chatter described Biden administration officials fingering him as the epicenter of disinfo, as Andy Slavitt, then a Biden COVID-19 adviser, was said to have described Berenson. (Slavitt has denied that he asked Twitter to censor Berenson.)

You get the picture: As The Atlantic noted, Berensons cherry-picked and incorrect interpretations of pandemic data have sown doubt about vaccine efficacy statistics, immune response to vaccines, Israels vaccine strategy, and even the age-appropriateness of getting vaccinated. (Berenson suggested a cut-off for healthy people under 70. According to CDC data analyzing 99% of reported COVID deaths, at least 166,858 Americans aged 50-64 have died of COVID, as have 38,151 Americans in their 40s, and thats to say nothing of the hundreds of thousands whove been hospitalized with the disease and face long-term effects.)

Recently, Berenson has taken to Twitter to imply without evidence that the death of soccer journalist Grant Wahl and the on-field collapse of NFL player Damar Hamlin were tied to the COVID-19 vaccine.

A Sweeping Conclusion

Berensons Twitter Files report is fairly straightforward. In it, he reprints emails to Twitters team from Scott Gottlieb, who served as Food and Drug Administration Commissioner in the Trump administration and subsequently joined Pfizers board in 2019. Gottlieb has long been a Berenson target, and Berenson has announced his intent to sue Gottlieb and others he alleges conspired to have him kicked off of Twitter.

The records show Gottlieb emailing Twitter regarding a post from Brett Giroir, who served as assistant secretary for health in the Trump administration and, briefly, the acting FDA commissioner. Giroir wrote in August 2021 that natural immunity from a prior COVID infection was superior to immunity derived from a vaccine by ALOT. Those whod been infected neednt get the jab, Giroir wrote.

After Gottliebs email  which called Giroirs tweet corrosive and said it drew a sweeping conclusion based on a single study  the company affixed a misleading tag to Giroirs tweet, Berenson reported.

Berenson relished his access, repeatedly implying Gottlieb was acting on behalf of Pfizers financial interests and concluding his story, So how will Pfizer react to the black-and-white proof from Twitters records that one of its most powerful board members secretly tried to suppress debate on the mRNA jabs that have has been by far its best-selling product since 2020?

But as virologist Angela Rasmussen pointed out on Twitter, the only problem is that the tweet from Dr. Giroir *is* incorrect by A LOT. Natural immunity is variable & NOT superior to vaccine-induced immunity. Even in 2021, we knew that infection-acquired immunity is at best comparable to vaccine-induced immunity. Giroir, for his part, wrote, My tweet was accurate then, and it remains so now. Gottlieb responded by posting several emails hed sent to Twitter that Berenson decided not to reprint  tweets hed flagged that he considered a threat to his safety.

In response to Berensons blog post, Musk tweeted, and then apparently deleted, a post that read, Some conspiracies are actually true.

Under Elon Musk's leadership, Twitter has stopped enforcing its COVID misinformation policy.

Under Elon Musk's leadership, Twitter has stopped enforcing its COVID misinformation policy.

Twitter Ditches Its COVID Misinfo Policy

Musk, who has interacted with Berenson on Twitter since the pandemics early months, has his own terrible track record on COVID commentary: He infamously predicted in March 2020 that there would be close to zero new cases in US by the end of the following month. What actually happened was more than a million Americans died.

That hasnt stopped Musks embrace of COVID skeptics and conspiracy theorists on Twitter: In November, Twitter quietly updated a webpage to state that it was no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy as of Nov. 23.

At around that time, coinciding with the release of the anti-vaccine film Died Suddenly, the number of tweets with keywords associated with conspiracy theories  such as Covid AND hoax or Fauci AND lied  spiked dramatically, an Australian researcher found.

Last month, two prominentphysicians whod been suspended for breaching the COVID-19 misinformation policy had their accounts restored.

Musks introduction of paid verification badges  even if there appears to be no verification occurring  has also resulted in the distinct blue badges being affixed to several anti-vaccine accounts with tens of thousands of followers each, The Guardian reported.

In his blog post on Monday, Berenson noted that he was planning more reporting on the files in the weeks to come.

Related...
Members and supporters of the New York State Nurses Association launch a strike outside Mount Sinai hospital in Harlem on 9 January. (Alex Woodward/The Independent)

Intensive care unit nurse Roxanna Garcia waved a sign reading safe staffing saves lives above a sea of red caps and posters across the street from Mount Sinai hospital in Harlem, where hundreds of striking nurses surrounded the renowned healthcare facility on 9 January.

Ms Garcia is among 7,000 New York nurses on strike for better wages and, critically, sustainable nurse-to-patient ratios that are currently burning out healthcare workers and endangering patients during an ongoing public health crisis, she said.

It just makes it even harder than it needs to be, she told The Independent. It makes it unsafe when it doesnt need to be for the patients and nurses. And it just adds to your stress when your focus is trying to keep someone alive.

Ms Garcia has worked as a nurse for 10 years in both public and private healthcare systems in the city. She has spent the last eight years working in the ICU, including three years of the Covid-19 pandemic and during a wave of respiratory illness that has aggravated a persistent public health crisis.

Its already mentally taxing as it is, she said. So you add that extra element of having to take care of more patients than you should be  it really takes a toll.

Following the expiration of their contracts in December, union workers with the New York State Nurses Association voted to authorise a strike if agreements could not be reached between eight hospital systems and the more than 16,000 nurses working in them, priming one of the largest nurses strikes in US history.

Last week, as union workers neared the 9 January deadline, tentative agreements were reached with nurses at several hospitals. But negotiations stalled at Mount Sinais Harlem hospital and three Montefiore facilities in The Bronx in the early morning hours before the 10-day strike warning deadline expired.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has sought to broker negotiations between the nurses and affected hospitals and called for binding arbitration so that all parties can swiftly reach a resolution, her office said in a statement. Hospital officials said they welcomed arbitration but union officials declined the offer.

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A response from the union called on the governors office to ramp up enforcement of nurse staffing laws.

Governor Hochul should listen to frontline Covid nurse heroes and respect our federally protected labor and collective bargaining rights, the union said. Nurses dont want to strike. Bosses have pushed us to strike by refusing to seriously consider our proposals to address the desperate crisis of unsafe staffing that harms our patients.

At 6am, before sunrise, and without a tentative deal with their employers, nurses walked off the job and joined picket lines surrounding Mount Sinai and Montefiores hospitals.

Outside Mount Sinai, nurses and their supporters flanked both sides of the street surrounding the hospitals campus on Madison Avenue. Passing cars and trucks honked their horns in support, joining noise makers, a brass band and a jubilant atmosphere powered by coffee and pizza wheeled in on wagons to feed the picket lines.

The strike has drawn widespread support from across city and state leadership, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, who rallied with a crowd outside Mount Sinai, and progressive US Senator Bernie Sanders, as well as union leaders and workers from across the citys industries.

Nurses dont want to strike. We would rather be inside, taking care of their patients, but safely, and in a safe manner. Not in the conditions theyve had us working the past five, 10 years. Enough is enough, union president Nancy Hagans told a crowd gathered on the sidewalk outside Mount Sinai.

Your boss at Mount Sinai had a choice, she said. These executives could have settled a fair contract. We gave them months of negotiations. They could have listened to the nurses. Do you hear us now, Sinai?  Respect your nurses, respect your patients, respect your community. Settle a fair contract now.

(AP)

One Mount Sinai healthcare worker, who has worked as an outpatient nurse for five years, held a sign reading its always wheres my nurse, never hows my nurse.

Its never, How are we going about doing it? Do we have the adequate supplies? Do we have adequate staffing? Its always just demand after demand, and they just dont give us enough resources, the nurse, who asked that her name not be published over fears of retaliation from her employers, told The Independent.

I was a new nurse for two years, and then Covid came. I was working at the height of it, she said. And in New York City, we saw everything firsthand  and also we were getting sick ourselves as the nurses. My coworkers got sick, coworkers I know in my hospital have died from Covid  and now its just unfair that hospitals were calling us heroes. People had signs out for us three years ago, and now where is all that? We need people to support us now, not just during the pandemic. Were still here, people are still sick, and theres still a pandemic.

(REUTERS)

Mount Sinais emergency room nurses can care for more than a dozen patients, as many as 18 at a time, according to the union. Montefiore patients have been moved into hallways to alleviate overcrowding in emergency rooms, which sparked calls for state investigations, while nurses warn that they can see up to 70 patients a day.

Following years of organising and demands from healthcare workers, state lawmakers in 2021 mandated hospitals implement staffing ratios in intensive units, with enforcement from the states Department of Health by 1 January 2022.

But staff attrition and turnover rates, compounded by hospitals failure to recruit and retain more workers, have exploded the understaffing crisis fuelling nurses demands in the renewed contract battle, Ms Hagans told reporters in a virtual briefing on 5 January.

Instead of wasting time and resources and money, they could  allocate to the nurses right now and improve staffing, she said. They need to come to the table and negotiate a fair contract.

Over the last several years, nurses have endured chronic staffing issues on top of Covid surges, waves of respiratory illness, inflation concerns and the growing cost of living. Ms Hagans said that hospitals failure to hire new nurses has left hundreds of vacancies, including more than 700 openings at Montefiore and 500 at Mount Sinai.

Montefiore said it offered to create 170 new nursing positions. But Ms Hagans said new positions are not an issue when there are dozens of open positions, without any contractual agreements to enforce safe staffing ratios.

Its just gotten worse, Ms Garcia told The Independent. Things have been exacerbated, staffing has gotten worse, its getting more difficult to retain new nurses  so thats something that unfortunately has continued throughout the years, even before Covid.

Nurses are adamant that the state enforce the staffing mandate, she said.

Attorney General James also has pushed the governors office to enforce staffing rules, telling a crowd outside Mount Sinai that it is so important that the states Department of Health get it right.

No excuses, she said, pointing out to the crowd that hospitals have hired temporary workers to address staff shortages while nurses are on strike. If you could do it now, then you should have done it then, she said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James joined striking nurses outside Mount Sinai hospital on 9 January. (Getty Images)

A statement from Mount Sinai as the strike was underway called the action reckless. The hospital accused union leadership of walking out of negotiations late on Sunday night.

Our first priority is the safety of our patients, the statement said. Were prepared to minimize disruption, and we encourage Mount Sinai nurses to continue providing the world-class care theyre known for.

New York Assemblymember Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, a member of the Assemblys Committee on Health, said in a statement on Monday that nurses did not walk out on us while New Yorkers were dying during the pandemic.

While the CEO was making a large salary, the nurses were risking their lives day after day to save New Yorkers, she added. It is past time that their work and sacrifice are recognized with safe staffing, better pay, and work conditions. Clapping will not feed their families and keep them in the profession.

A statement from a Mount Sinai spokesperson last week said that the hospital systems goal is to reach an agreement that continues to provide our valued nurses with competitive compensation and benefits and ensures a safe, supportive working environment that enables them to provide exceptional care to all our patients across the diverse communities we serve.

The union refused to accept the exact same 19.1 per cent increased wage offer agreed to by eight other hospitals, including two other Mount Sinai Health System campuses, the hospital said in a statement on Monday.

Montefiores CEO Philip O Ozuah said in a staff memo that the union rejected a generous offer that exceeded terms at other institutions and instead walked away from the bedsides of our patients.

In my opinion this action was totally unnecessary, especially given how close we already were to a final agreement, he added.

New York State Nurses Association president Nancy Hagans addresses striking workers and members of the press outside Mount Sinai hospital on 9 January. (REUTERS)

Montefiore is one of largest healthcare systems and private employers in The Bronx, with 10 hospitals and 200 clinics in the borough as well as neighbouring Westchester County and the lower Hudson Valley.

The union says that the system devotes two-thirds of its resources to its Westchester facilities, an area that is much smaller and whiter compared to its patient population in The Bronx, which continues to face one of the highest increases in hospital pricing and charges in the region, according to the union.

In 2020, Montefiores Ozuah made more than $6m, according to Crains.

Hospital profits at the onset of the pandemic and high rates of executive pay have made ongoing arguments for better nurse-to-patient ratios and more resources all the more frustrating, according to nurses.

Despite the broad economic fallout from the pandemic and rising healthcare costs, hospital executives in the state received $73m in bonuses in 2020. Two-thirds of nurses across the US, meanwhile, plan to quit in coming years, with 99 per cent reporting similarly chronic staffing issues at their workplace.

When union contract negotiations began in 2018 and 2019, Montefiore had committed to spending $66m over the next four years to boost staffing and improve ratios of patients to nurses. But staff numbers have instead plummeted, from 3,200 in 2018 to 2,700 last year, according to the union.

People think, Oh, you guys are nurses, you have money.  When you consider the type of work that were doing, working 14 hours a day, the type of responsibilities that we have, the kind of things that we always need to be accountable for at the end of the day  really its not proportional to what we should be getting, Ms Garcia said. And also, it makes it difficult to retain and get new nurses to come on board when theyre like, Why should I come into such a toxic work environment?

New York nurse Roxanna Garcia, left, and Roy Permaul join hundreds of striking healthcare workers outside Mount Sinai on 9 January. (Alex Woodward/The Independent)

Bracing for strikes, affected hospitals announced that some locations would divert ambulances, only schedule emergency procedures at certain facilities, and transfer or discharge eligible patients.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement that New Yorkers may experience impacts to operations, including possible delayed or limited service and warned residents to be prepared to seek an alternate facility in case their preferred hospital is impacted.

The union has repeatedly stressed that its strike actions are not meant to deter patients from seeking care at impacted locations. Walking through hospital doors is not crossing the picket line, the union said. Members instead have invited patients to join them on the strike line after their visit.

We want to be absolutely clear: If you are sick, please do not delay getting medical care, regardless of whether we are on strike, the union said in a statement on Monday. Patients should seek hospital care immediately if they need it. We would rather be the ones providing that care, but our bosses have pushed us to be out here instead.

Hopefully we come to a resolution. We dont want to be here, said Sheena Buat, standing among a group of cheering nurses who work in Mount Sinais outpatient care.

We want fair wages. Were hoping to get to a tentative agreement [and] hoping for the best, she told The Independent. Nobody wants to be out here.
SkyShowtime has struck its first major content deal, picking up exclusive rights to 21 HBO Max Europe originals.

The move from the Comcast/Paramount JV comes after HBO Max pulled commissioning from the majority of European territories and removed originals from its platform, which left numerous scripted shows up for grabs. Following Warner Bros and Discoverys merger, the window for HBO to benefit from this content has now passed, although the newly-merged WBD has stressed it remains committed to European content.

More from Deadline

SkyShowtime, which launched recently in 12 markets in which Paramount+ and Comcast-owned Peacock arent active, has picked up critically-acclaimed shows including Norways Beforeigners, Swedens Lust and Denmarks Kamikaze.

Shows that were yet to air include Finland and Swedens ID, Czechia and Slovakias The Winner and Polands Warszawjanka.

All in all, SkyShowtime has picked up 168 episodes of original scripted, a big boost to a growing streamer that can also lean on the hefty Comcast/Paramount catalogs. The SVoD will soon be available in 22 countries including Spain, Albania, Czechia and Poland.

SkyShowtime CEO Monty Sarhan hailed a landmark deal.

As a streaming service created specifically for Europe, SkyShowtime is committed to consumers in our markets. Local programming is an important part of our strategy, and we are pleased to be the home for these new series, as well as popular shows that resonated with audiences across the Nordics, Central & Eastern Europe, and Spain.

HBO Maxs European restructure was one of the major international news stories of last year. Following a strategic review, local originals were halted in the Nordics and Central Europe  a u-turn following a Series Mania event in which HBO Max commissioners spoke publicly about their commissioning desires.

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Deadline subsequently revealed that nearly 30 staff including key programing execs had been made redundant following the programing cull.

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Click here to read the full article.
MISSION, Kan. (AP)  The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that it has reached an agreement with a pipeline operator to clean up a spill that dumped 14,000 bathtubs worth of crude oil into a rural Kansas creek.

The agency said in a news release that the Dec. 7 rupture of the Keystone pipeline affected 3 1/2 miles of the creek as it flows through rural pastureland in Washington County, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of Kansas City.

The order requires TC Oil Pipeline Operations Inc., whose parent company is Canadian-based TC Energy, to recover oil and oil-contaminated soil and vegetation and contain the further spread of oil in the creek.

Meg McCollister, an EPA regional administrator, said in a statement that the federal government and the state are committed to a thorough cleanup and restoration."

The 2,700-mile (4,345-kilometer) Keystone system carries heavy crude oil extracted from tar sands in western Canada to the Gulf Coast and to central Illinois.

The cause of the 14,000-barrel spill hasn't yet been announced. Each barrel is 42 gallons, the size of a household bathtub.

But U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, raised concerns in a letter Monday about the decision to grant TC Energy a permit that allowed the pressure inside parts of the Keystone system  including the stretch through Kansas  to exceed the typical maximum permitted levels.

This latest spill is no surprise," Cantwell told the deputy administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in demanding a review of the permit.

The spill was the largest onshore in nine years and larger than 22 previous spills on the Keystone system combined, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data.

The company and government officials have said drinking water supplies were not affected. No one was evacuated, and most of the Keystone system was back in operation in eight days.

Concerns that spills could pollute waterways spurred opposition to plans by TC Energy to build another crude oil pipeline in the same system, the 1,200-mile (1,900-kilometer) Keystone XL, across Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. President Joe Bidens cancelation of a permit for the project led the company to pull the plug on the project last year.
An escaped prisoner was arrested Monday afternoon after committing an aggravated robbery and leading deputies on a chase, according to the Dallas County Sheriffs Department.

At 1:56 p.m., county deputies were notified that a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter was following a stolen Porsche. Deputies were told that the suspect, Tyler Charles Payne, 31, was armed and driving the car.

Before stealing the Porsche in Dallas, the sheriffs department said, Payne committed an aggravated robbery in Frisco by holding a woman at gunpoint and stealing a Cadillac SUV.

As deputies were chasing Payne, traveling south on Interstate 35, he lost control of the Porsche and collided with another vehicle near 8th Street, according to the sheriffs department.

Payne then targeted a Pontiac, attempting another carjacking, authorities said. Deputies tried to arrest Payne. After a brief struggle, they were able to take the suspect into custody, the sheriffs department said.

He was in stable condition at a hospital Tuesday.

After his arrest and verification of his identity, the sheriffs department learned Payne is a two-time escapee from Choctaw County Jail in Oklahoma and Hinds County Jail in Mississippi, according to a news release.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will impose new sanctions on Belarus as it keeps up the pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine and extends measures to those countries that support Russia, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.

"We will keep pressure on the Kremlin for as long as it takes with a biting sanctions regime, we will extend these sanctions to those who militarily support Russia's war such as Belarus or Iran," von der Leyen said at a news conference.

"And we will be coming forward with new sanctions against Belarus answering their role in this Russian war in Ukraine."

(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Alison Williams)
The European Union is to propose new sanctions against Belarus and Iran, which are supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Source: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a briefing in Brussels, reported by European Pravda.

Quote: "The European Union will continue to do everything possible to support the brave people of Ukraine. We will keep pressure on the Kremlin for as long as it takes with a biting sanctions regime."

Details: Ursula von der Leyen said Brussels would extend these sanctions to those who support Russias war militarily, such as Belarus or Iran.

"And we will be coming forward with new sanctions against Belarus answering their role in this Russian war in Ukraine," she added.

Background: It was reported earlier that the EU would conduct a close dialogue with the G7 countries regarding the introduction of the tenth sanction package against Russia.

Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has urged the West to impose sanctions on the Russian Patriarch, Kirill (Vladimir Gundyayev), and undermine Russias defence industry in 2023.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
By Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber and Natalie Grover

LONDON (Reuters) -Countries should consider recommending that passengers wear masks on long-haul flights, given the rapid spread of the latest Omicron subvariant of COVID-19 in the United States, World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Tuesday.

In Europe, the XBB.1.5 subvariant was detected in small but growing numbers, WHO and Europe officials said at a press briefing.

Passengers should be advised to wear masks in high-risk settings such as long-haul flights, said the WHO's senior emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood, adding: "this should be a recommendation issued to passengers arriving from anywhere where there is widespread COVID-19 transmission".

XBB.1.5 - the most transmissible Omicron subvariant detected so far - accounted for 27.6% of COVID-19 cases in the United States for the week ended Jan. 7, health officials have said.

It was unclear if XBB.1.5 would cause its own wave of global infections. Current vaccines continue to protect against severe symptoms, hospitalisation and death, experts say.

"Countries need to look at the evidence base for pre-departure testing" and if action is considered, "travel measures should be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner," Smallwood said.

That did not mean the agency recommended testing for passengers from the United States at this stage, she added.

Measures that could be taken include genomic surveillance, and targeting passengers from other countries as long as it does not divert resources from domestic surveillance systems. Others include monitoring wastewater around points of entry such as airports.

NEW VARIANT

XBB.1.5 is another descendant of Omicron, the most contagious and now globally dominant variant of the virus that causes COVID-19. It is an offshoot of XBB, first detected in October, itself a recombinant of two other Omicron subvariants.

Concerns about XBB.1.5 fuelling a fresh spate of cases in the United States and beyond are on rising amid a surge of COVID cases in China, after the country pivoted away from its signature "zero COVID" policy last month.

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According to data reported by the WHO earlier this month, an analysis by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed a predominance of Omicron sublineages BA.5.2 and BF.7 among locally acquired infections.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Tuesday issued recommendations for flights between China and the European Union including "non-pharmaceutical measures to reduce the spread of the virus, such as mask-wearing and testing of travellers, as well as monitoring of waste water as an early warning tool to detect new variants."

The agencies recommend "random testing may also be carried out on a sample of arriving passengers" and "enhanced cleaning and disinfection of aircraft serving these routes."

Last week, the EU's Integrated Political Crisis Response group (IPCR), is a body made up of officials from the EU's 27 governments, also recommended all passengers on flights to and from China should wear face masks and random testing of passengers arriving from China.

Many scientists - including from the WHO - believe China is likely under-reporting the true extent of its outbreak.

The WHO is aware that the case-definition of what counts as a COVID-19 death in China is narrow and "not necessarily the case definition that WHO has recommended countries adopt," said Smallwood.

More than a dozen countries - including the United States - are demanding COVID tests from travellers from China.

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber in Geneva, Natalie Grover in London and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by William Maclean, Mark Potter and Bernadette Baum)
NEW CASTLE, Ind.  The trial of a former New Castle police officer facing excessive force allegations had been scheduled for this month, but has been postponed.

A U.S. District Court grand jury last July indicted Aaron Jason Strong, now 45, on four charges  three counts of "deprivation (of civil rights) under color of law" and a single count of witness tampering.

Strong is accused of, "without legal justification," kicking one arrestee in the head and shooting another, at close range in the back, with a bean bag shotgun in July 2017.

He is also accused of beating another man with an expandable baton, after that arrestee had surrendered, in 2019.

In a related federal lawsuit, Joshua Lee West contends Strong hit him more than 20 times with the baton, resulting in injuries to his "head, jaw, arms and back."

More:Retired Muncie officer strikes plea deal in federal excessive force case

Strong  who resigned from the New Castle Police Department in December 2019  had been scheduled to stand trial Jan. 30.

However, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt recently granted a request for a continuance, and rescheduled the trial for April 24.

Strong also has a co-defendant, 25-year-old Adam Guy, a former reserve deputy with the Henry County Sheriff's Department.

In an indictment returned in October, Guy is accused of making false statements to an Indiana State Police trooper investigating allegations against Strong in 2019.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Former New Castle office's excessive force trial reset for April
By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A lawyer for Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former Honduran president who is facing U.S. drugs and weapons charges, on Tuesday accused the Central American country's current government of setting up obstacles to his defense.

In a hearing on Hernandez's case in Manhattan federal court, defense lawyer Raymond Colon said individuals in Honduras he was hoping to speak with were "being intimidated," without providing evidence.

Colon said he had identified a Honduran military officer who was willing to testify at trial on a "very important" issue that would cast doubt on the prosecution's version of events.

But he said that individual, whom he did not identify, later told a family member he needed approval from a judge in Honduras before continuing to speak with Colon.

"That certainly creates a problem for us in terms of putting on an effective defense," Colon said.

Gerardo Torres, Honduras' deputy foreign minister, denied Colon's claims.

"I don't know where that accusation against the government of Honduras comes from," Torres told Reuters. "The Honduran state and government are interested in a swift conclusion of the trial."

Elinor Tarlow, a prosecutor, said she had not been aware of the problem before Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel, who oversees the case, instructed both sides to confer before he took any action.

Hernandez, a former U.S. ally who led Honduras from 2014 until January 2022, was extradited to the United States last April.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan say he received millions of dollars from drug traffickers in exchange for protecting them from arrest.

Hernandez has pleaded not guilty and long portrayed himself as a fierce opponent of drug cartels, arguing traffickers have implicated him in court as part of an effort to lessen their own sentences.

Honduran President Xiomara Castro, a leftist who replaced Hernandez last year after beating a candidate from his right-leaning National Party, has pledged to tackle corruption.

Castel on Tuesday also rescheduled Hernandez's trial for Sept. 18, 2023. It had been set for April 24.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Additional reporting by Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa; Editing by Josie Kao)
NEW YORK  Former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in jail and five years of probation in Manhattan state court Tuesday after pleading guilty to tax fraud scheme. He has also repaid around $2 million in taxes he owed as part of the agreement.

The punishment ends a three-month trial at which Weisselberg, once chief financial officer for the real estate firm founded by former President Donald Trump, became the star witness in a separate case against the Trump Org.

Before Weisselberg was sentenced, his lawyer appealed to the judge for leniency, citing his clients age, his cooperation with prosecutors and the publicity around the trial. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, however, said were it not for the plea deal the 75-year-old had struck, he would have imposed a harsher punishment.

I believe that a stiffer sentence would be appropriate, having heard the evidence, Merchan said Tuesday, citing what he referred to as the greed behind Weisselbergs actions.

Weisselberg, who sat in court wearing a mask and a dark green North Face fleece, struck a deal in August with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The DA agreed to recommend a lower sentence in exchange for Weisselbergs testimony in the case against the Trump Org.

And testify he did.

Over three days on the stand in November, the executive detailed some of the accounting sleights of hand that allowed the Trump Org. to avoid taxes by paying its employees lower salaries and instead compensating them with luxury cars, free lodging and tuition for family members.

At one point, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass invoked Trump himself, who ran the firm at the time but was not charged in the case.

Donald Trump is explicitly sanctioning tax fraud, he said during closing arguments.

Last month, a jury found the Trump Org. guilty on all 17 counts in the tax fraud case. The firm is facing up to $1.6 million in fines and is set to be sentenced Friday.

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After the Tuesdays sentencing, Bragg touted the convictions in both cases, which he said exposed the inner workings of the Trump Org.

In Manhattan, you have to play by the rules no matter who you are or who you work for, he said in a statement.

During Tuesdays proceedings, Weisselberg remained silent, only chiming in to say that his thoughts and feelings were expressed by his attorney, Nicholas A. Gravante Jr.

Outside the courthouse, Gravante Jr. said that Weisselberg  who was taken into custody immediately following the sentencing  expressed remorse for the pain he has caused his family.

Mr. Weisselberg also regrets the harm his actions have caused to the Trump Organization and members of the Trump family, Gravante Jr. added. He is grateful to them for their continued support throughout this difficult chapter of his life.
Facebook-owner Meta and its lead data protection regulator in the European Union, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), are facing an interesting legal challenge over a major data-scraping breach that led to a 265 million penalty for Facebook last year under the bloc's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The legal action, reported earlier by the Irish Examiner, is being brought by the digital rights group, Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) -- which raised a complaint about the breach on behalf of two affected individuals and is unhappy about the finding by the Irish regulator that no security breach occurred.

Instead, in a final decision of November 25 2022 on an own volition enquiry the DPC opened in response to the incident, it found a breach by Meta of the GDPR's requirement for data protection by design and default. Hence levying a fine.

However the lack of a finding by the DPC of a breach of the security of processing (aka Article 32 of the GDPR) meant there was no requirement for Meta to notify the 100 million or so EU-based Facebook users whose information was exposed and subsequently posted to online forums via the data-scraping of Facebook users carried out by unknown malicious actors. Instead Meta could pay a fine representing a tiny fraction of its revenue to make the matter go away.

A finding of an administrative breach of GDPR -- rather than a security breach, which would identify Facebook as liable to the individuals whose personal data was exposed -- also looks relatively convenient for the tech giant when it comes to potential liability over the episode given affected individuals could pursue class-action style litigation for damages.

Such mass legal actions have been on the uptick in the region in recent years -- and are set to be bolstered this year as enforcement of the EUs Collective Redress Directive begins. And had the DPC's decision acknowledged a security breach it would have simplified such litigation in this case. However the regulator's decision avoided doing that.

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The unknown entity/entities involved in the breach were able to obtain data on Facebook users by using a contact importer feature the platform had offered up to September 2019. The design of this feature was insecure in that it allowed large sets of phone numbers to be uploaded -- enabling malicious actors to find phone numbers that matched Facebook profiles and, via this method, collate a massive data-set on individuals that included (in the majority of cases) phone numbers, names, genders and Facebook IDs that was later found exposed online.

Data-sets containing linked names and phone numbers plus social media profile information offer what DRI calls a "treasure trove" for fraudsters to target people -- such as via phishing and social engineering techniques.

The total number of affected Facebook users globally is estimated to number around 533M -- so the EU component of this data-scraping breach is also just the tip of the iceberg.

Following media reports of the data-scraping breach last year, DRI complained to the DPC on behalf of two data subjects whose information had been exposed -- which led on to the DPC opening an own volition enquiry in April 2021. And in an update sent by the DPC to DRI in December, which has been shared with TechCrunch, the regulator writes:

The facts of this case, as established by the DPC, led to a conclusion that the data was not collated arising from exposure as a result of a security vulnerability falling for examination under Article 32 GDPR, but rather arose as a result of the very design of the relevant features of the platforms. Accordingly, as security was not infringed, there was no personal data breach within the definition of Article 4(12) and for that reason Article 34 was therefore not applicable.

In the letter, the DPC also asserts that: "The configuration of the Meta systems permitted such scraping to occur at the material time and this was the basis upon which the DPC found an infringement of Article 25."

So, essentially, the Irish regulator's finding asserts that the Facebook data scraping breach occurred because of the design of Meta's systems being insecure -- yet, simultaneously, declines to find that users' data was exposed because of a security vulnerability. Therefore it finds no infringement of the security of processing as defined by the GDPR -- so no personal data breach, under the regulation and, consequently, no direct liability link to individuals for exposing their information and no need for the tech giant to consider whether it should inform affected users of a security breach.

We understand a final outcome letter from the DPC to the DRI is due to be sent this month -- as the regulator says it hasn't yet provided its last word on the latter's complaint (but, per the decision it made in November on its own volition enquiry, it's safe to assume the substance isn't going to be different).

Update: The DRI has responded to refute the DPC's claim that it has not yet taken a decision on the complaint -- pointing out that the letter it received from the regulator last month stated its findings in a paragraph entitled "Your complaint"; and finished with a paragraph entitled "Conclusion" that referred to "the DPC's decision on this matter".

Here's the concluding chunk of the letter:

The DPC would like to thank you for lodging your complaint. We hope that the DPCs decision on this matter and the exercising of corrective powers, including the imposition of substantial administrative fines which are deemed to be effective, proportionate and dissuasive and reflective of the nature and extent of the infringements involved help to bring a satisfactory closure to this matter.

"Digital Rights Ireland utterly refutes the DPC's assertion that "a decision has not actually been made yet by the DPC in relation to this complaint," a spokesman told us.

Referring to the DPC's letter, he added: "We see no ambiguity there. This letter states the DPCs findings in the paragraph Your complaint. The last sentence signals that the letter is intended to close the matter. If this isnt a decision, we dont know how we'd be supposed to recognize one.

"The idea that this letter did not represent a decision only became the DPCs position when the DPC found out they were being sued."

Despite Meta being fined a couple of hundred million over this data-scraping breach it arguably dodged a far bigger bullet here -- since it has not had to inform the circa 100M EU-based users that it breached their security and exposed their data. (While litigation for damages on a pool of some hundred million affected users could get considerably more expensive if successful.)

One thing is clear: For a company which made over $33.6B in 2021 alone by mining people's data to sell their attention to advertisers, a fine of $275M is the proverbial 'parking ticket'/cost of doing business -- which can be written off as a business expense.

Whereas reputational damage -- which has the potential to drive users away and so reduce engagement with Meta's services -- poses a far more meaningful threat to its attention-sapping business model, before you even consider the litigation damages liability risk.

Conveniently for Meta, the tech giant has so far been able to contain damage over this massive data-scraping episode to a few media reports -- and to some reporting of the fine itself -- instead of having to communicate with every single one of the users personally affected by having their information scraped and exposed online.

Although we understand Meta is appealing the DPC's enforcement, regardless.

Discussing DRI's lawsuit, which is being lodged in the Circuit Court in Ireland -- and targets Meta and the DPC both, with the claim that justice has been denied to victims of the data breach -- its chair, Dr TJ McIntyre, told TechCrunch: "The data breach point is just one part of a wider complaint that they didn't make an adequate decision overall with regard to our complainants. The central argument with regard to a security breach is that it makes no sense to say that there's a notifiable breach if somebody picks the lock but not if you don't bother locking the door to begin with; i.e. a failure to apply security is a breach, not merely inadequate security."

"Whether it is a notifiable data breach is in one sense relatively unimportant -- it doesn't affect the fact that there was a violation of duty. However a finding on this point would be helpful in establishing liability towards the individuals affected," he added.

Meta and the DPC were contacted for comment on DRI's lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment. But we understand the company has yet to receive any filings or legal papers regarding the DRI's case.

The DPC's deputy commissioner, Graham Doyle, sent the following statement:

It will be appreciated that we cannot comment on the substance of matters that are now before the courts. For information, however, you may wish to note that a decision has not actually been made yet by the DPC in relation to this complaint. It is acknowledged that DRI takes a different view on this point.

The DPC continues to attract criticism over its approach to enforcing GDPR against tech giants and the DRI's lawsuit joins a variety of legal actions and accusations fired at it since the regulation came into application -- which run the gamut from complainants about time wasting and wasted resources, to narrowly scoped or simply non-existent (i.e. never opened) enquiries following complaints, to legal challenges accusing it of inaction and even alleging criminal corruption.

It routinely defends itself -- arguing its dealing with a large workload that often involves complex cases that require full attention to due process to minimize the risk of decisions being overturned on appeal.

Depending on what happens with this latest legal challenge over the Facebook data-scraping breach the lawsuit could have wider significance beyond Meta itself -- in relation to other GDPR complaints being decided by the DPC that hinge on whether there's a breach of security -- such as a major complaint against Google's role in real-time bidding (which, more broadly, implicates the third party tracking ad industry as a whole) that the DPC has been formally considering since May 2019 but still hasn't decided or enforced.

Last year, complainants in that case sued the Irish regulator for inaction over what they've dubbed "the largest data breach ever".

It remains to be seen what the DPC will decide on that (separate) GDPR complaint. But the wider point here is there could be a risk of a GDPR enforcement loophole if sloppily designed systems that are insecure by design -- accidentally or even, potentially, cynically and systematically -- are allowed to provide a route for data processors to avoid broader security breach liability under the GDPR.

There is also an interesting comparison to be drawn with the Cambridge Analytica Facebook data scandal, which made global headlines back in 2018 -- and which Facebook has always strenuously denied represented a breach of user data. Yet it was, similarly, an insecure design -- in that case of its developer platform -- that led to data on hundreds of millions of users being extracted from Facebook without the knowledge or consent of the vast majority of the affected users in that earlier event.

The "rogue" actor Facebook accused of perpetrating the Cambridge Analytica data heist was an app developer who had agreed to its developer T&Cs. And the company was accused in 2018 by the developer, Aleksandr Kogan, of not really having T&Cs as a result of the company not taking actions to ensure its terms were actively being enforced.

That major global data scandal predated the application of the GDPR -- but it's interesting to speculate what kind of enforcement Facebook would have faced had the episode fallen under the EU regulation. And whether or not Ireland's DPC would have deemed Cambridge Analytica a security breach or just another failure of data protection by design.

This report was updated with a response from DRI to the DPC's claim that the letter it sent was only an update, not the outcome/decision on its complaint -- and with additional analysis of liability related to the different GDPR breach findings
The claim: Greenhouse effect is a hoax, global warming uncorrelated with CO2 levels

A Dec. 17 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims a CO2-driven greenhouse effect is not causing modern climate change.

"The greenhouse effect is a hoax," reads the post's caption. "There is no correlation between a higher level of CO2, and higher temperature. The year 1998 was warmer than 2013, although the atmosphere had less CO2."

The post also features a video that describes four purported mismatches between CO2 concentrations and global temperatures since 1887. A narrator in the video then claims that, based on this evidence, global CO2 levels and temperature are not correlated.

Our rating: False

Global temperature and CO2 levels are correlated and both have risen overall since the late 1880s, according to researchers. However, the Earth's average temperature fluctuates from year to year due to natural variability in Earth's climate systems. This means that it's possible for a certain year to be cooler than a previous year, even if CO2 concentrations have risen. The greenhouse effect has repeatedly been verified in experiments since at least the 1800s.

USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment.

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Greenhouse effect repeatedly proven through experiments and observations

The greenhouse effect is the process by which energy from the sun ultimately gets trapped on Earth. It begins when the sun's energy strikes the Earth, which then warms and releases heat, Howard Diamond, a climate scientist at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told USA TODAY.

"Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere 'capture' some of this heat, then re-emit it in all directions  including back to the Earth's surface," he said in an email.

This process slows the escape of heat into space, warming the planet.

Story continues

Experiments demonstrating the greenhouse effect and proving that CO2 is a greenhouse gas date back to at least the late 1800s.

A simple lab experiment can be conducted to demonstrate the phenomenon, Josh Willis, a NASA climate scientist, previously told USA TODAY. In the experiment, two tanks, one filled with CO2 and one filled with oxygen, are exposed to radiation.

The tank with CO2 retains the most heat, he said.

"The theory and mathematics of radiation passing through gases are clearly defined," Michael Roman, a planetary scientist at the University of Leicester, told USA TODAY in an email. The greenhouse effect has "been verified by laboratory experiments and meteorological observations."

Fact check: Human-generated CO2, not water vapor, drives climate change

Clear correlation between CO2 levels and modern global warming

Over the long term, CO2 and other greenhouse gases are causing global warming by slowing the escape of heat into space. However, shorter-term global warming and cooling also occur because of natural climate cycles such as the El NinoSouthern Oscillation, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"Within any given decade ... the temperature bounces around between warm and cool years," reads the agency's website. "The warmest years are usually El Nino years, when the eastern and central tropical Pacific is warmer than average. The coldest years are generally La Nina years, when that same part of the tropical Pacific is cooler than average."

The fact that 1998 was warmer than 2013  as stated in the social media post  was largely due to a very powerful El Nino event, according to NOAA.

However, global temperatures have clearly increased overall  as have CO2 levels. The two aren't always perfectly in step because global warming due to CO2 is "superimposed" on this natural variability, said Roman.

"It's messy because many complicated natural factors in the Earth system are in play and producing effects at the same time," said Roman. "However, we cannot escape the simple physics  increasing CO2 will inevitably trap more heat in the lower atmosphere, producing an upward trend in surface temperatures overall."

Fact check: Climate change caused by humans, celestial 'magnetic state' not cause of extreme heat

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Global temperatures and atmospheric CO2 levels correlated
LONDON (Reuters) - The family of a British voluntary worker missing in Ukraine expressed concerns for his health and whereabouts on Tuesday in a statement released by Britain's foreign office.

The family of Chris Parry, one of the two British nationals who the Ukrainian police have said were missing in east Ukraine, said: "We are very worried and concerned about the health and whereabouts of Chris right now."

"He is an extraordinary person who is compassionate and caring and would not be dissuaded from his work in Ukraine liberating elderly and disabled people."

(Reporting by Muvija M; editing by William James)
Boston 25 News sat down with a local family to discuss their decision to file a wrongful death lawsuit on the 2 year anniversary of their sons shooting.

Michael Conlons father, Bob, talked about the moment he learned his son was gone with Boston 25s Mark Ockerbloom. Our police chief said Theres no easy way to say this Bob, Mikes been shot and killed by the Newton police, Conlon recalled. Nobody should have to go through this Mark. Nobody.

COURT INQUEST FINDS POLICE NOT RESPONSIBLE

According to a court investigation of the incident, 28-year-old Michael Conlon, who suffered from long-term mental illness, walked into the Indulge! candy store in Newton Highlands on January 5th, 2021, carrying a kitchen steak knife. The store was located under the apartment where Conlon lived. The clerk called 911. According to testimony, Newton police responding to the scene followed Conlon into the apartment hallway above the store.

According to an inquest released by the Middlesex District Attorneys office last year, officers convinced Conlon to drop the knife at one point, but after a failed deployment of a non-lethal bean bag rifle, he picked the knife back up and charged at officers. They fired their weapons, killing him.

The inquest found no criminal responsibility by the police, stating At that moment, no reasonable alternative existed, except for the use of deadly force.

CONLON FAMILY: HE DIDNT HAVE TO DIE

But the Conlon family says Michaels death did not need to happen. Their civil lawsuit claims officers failed to follow standard de-escalation protocols that could have prevented the need for deadly force.

He didnt have to die, Conlons mother Betsy said. He was actually complying. He had put the knife down. The talking was going well.

Hes outnumbered, right. Complying. Having a mental health crisis. Serious breakdown. Thinks hes in a simulation calling for his father. And they pull out a non-lethal weapon that looks like a gun, Bob Conlon added. They, the Newton police, exaggerated things, heightened the anxiety and killed our son.

Story continues

STANDARD DE-ESCALATION PROCEDURE QUESTIONS

The Police Executive Research Forum or PERF Guiding Principles on Use of Force States: a better outcome can result if officers can buy more time to assess the situation... going on to state, ...officers should be trained to use distance and cover to create a...safe zone.

According to the lawsuit, those tenants of time, distance and cover were not followed in this case. The suit claims the less-than-lethal gun was used, though the trained regional negotiating response group NEMLEC was only 6 minutes away. The suit also says police were only separated from Michael in a narrow hallway by a flight of stairs. It goes on to say a body barrier was in the building but not placed for cover between police and Michael.

The lawsuit also says a Newton Police social worker with knowledge of Michaels situation was on scene that day, but kept outside of the building for safety, rather than being allowed to talk with him.

MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE CONCERNS

The Conlons tell Boston 25 News, Michael showed signs of mental health issues in elementary school, including self-harm. They sought treatment and he was eventually diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder.

Michael died in 27 minutes. We did everything within our power to keep him alive for 28 and a half years. 27 minutes, Bob Conlon said.

According to the inquest, Michaels autopsy indicated high levels of methamphetamine in his system that day. When asked if that couldve heightened the situation, Betsy Conlon said its common that addiction issues go hand in hand with mental health issues. Bob Conlon noted Michaels behavior that day was consistent with past episodes of mental crisis hed experienced and was not in his opinion related.

WHAT LAWSUIT HOPES TO ACHIEVE

The Conlons lawsuit does not ask for a specific dollar amount in damages.

When asked what they hope to achieve with the suit, the Conlons said theyre hoping it will spur greater accountability and transparency from local police. They say theyd like better training for officers for these situations, the use of body cameras and for social workers to be available on every shift.

Bob and I are not were not against the police, Betsy Conlon said. There are many police officers, women and men that serve that are good people. They want to do the right thing.

But were trying to get the word out there as it relates to Michael, as it relates to mental health issues, mental illness, Bob Conlon added. No other families should suffer what our family has suffered with, Besty concluded.

The lawsuit includes 12 counts ranging from wrongful death and excessive force, to American with Disability Act violations and violations of Conlons 14th amendment rights. The City of Newton and several officers involved that day are listed as defendants.

CITY OF NEWTON RESPONSE:

In response to the lawsuit, the City of Newton and the police chief issued the following statement:

Today marks the two-year anniversary of when tragedy struck the City of Newton. That tragic incident left behind a grieving family, poignantly distraught police officers, and a disquieted Police Department and community.

The family of Michael Conlon, the man killed in the officer-involved shooting that day, has initiated a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Newton and the officers involved. This lawsuit comes after a fair, impartial and transparent inquest presided over by the Honorable District Court Judge Jeanmarie Carroll.

Having reviewed the evidence, facts and circumstances of what happened on January 5, 2021, Judge Carroll found that when Newton Police Officers fired their weapons, any reasonable law enforcement officer in the same position would reasonably believe that fellow officers as well as others were in imminent danger of being seriously injured or killed. The Judge wrote, At that moment no reasonable alternative existed, except for the use of deadly force.

As part of the ongoing healing process, it is important to understand that critical life or death situations such as this occur in a split second. Lethal force decisions are what every police officer prays they will never be forced to make and trains to avoid. The primary officers that were on scene that day were and are fine members of the department - professional and compassionate.

As the Mayor of Newton and as the Chief of the Newton Police Department, we know the death of anyone in such circumstances is tragic, and there is a lot of healing that must take place for all of those impacted by this incident. Our hearts go out to the Conlon family as well as to our officers and their families.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Washington  A far-right media personality who admitted to live-streaming to thousands of viewers his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Tuesday to 60 days in prison.

Anthime Gionet, known online as "Baked Alaska," pleaded guilty in July to one misdemeanor count of illegal picketing in the Capitol building.

Prosecutors  who requested a sentence of 75 days in prison  alleged in court on Tuesday the defendant urged others to breach the Capitol before he made his way into the building as it was under siege by pro-Trump rioters. Ultimately, prosecutors said he made his way into two Senate offices, including one belonging to Sen. Jeffrey Merkley of Oregon. In that room, according to the government, Gionet picked up the phone and pretended to call the United States Senate, making unfounded claims of a fraudulent 2020 presidential election.

"We need to get our boy, Donald J. Trump, into office," Gionet is accused of yelling, as depicted in his live stream, "America First is inevitable, let's go, f*** globalists, let's go."

Anthime

In an excerpt from his online video that was played in court during sentencing, the man known as Baked Alaska advocated for further action. "Occupy the Capitol," he said, "Let's go. We ain't leaving this b****."

Another portion of the video evidence presented on Tuesday showed Gionet yelling vulgarities at police as they pushed him and other rioters out of the building. It was after this encounter that prosecutors said the defendant illegally entered the Capitol a second time.

Judge Trevor McFadden, who imposed Gionet's sentence, said he took this "shocking conduct," as well as the defendant's past history in petty crime into account. McFadden also imposed a $2,000 fine and 2 years of probation.

The judge said Gionet's amplification of the "shameful" and embarrassing events of Jan. 6 warranted the prison time he imposed.

His past brushes with the law included tearing down a menorah outside an Arizona county office building and assault, prosecutors said. Such actions, McFadden said, demonstrated a "very troubling vocation" of profiting off of his crimes.

Story continues

Gionet's defense attorney emphasized his client's nonviolent nature during the riot, highlighting a portion of video in which the defendant urged other members of the mob not to destroy property.

Gionet, the attorney said, was a "guerilla journalist" inside the Capitol, and lumping him in with other violent protesters that day as he said the government was doing was "disingenuous."

Still, McFadden told Gionet on Tuesday that while he has not seen much remorse from the defendant, McFaddennoted that he was right to have stopped his live-streaming operation.

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Far-right internet troll and streaming personality Anthime Gionet, better known as Baked Alaska, has been sentenced to 60 days in prison with two years of probation for his role in the attack on the US Capitol in 2021.

The conspiracy theorist was sentenced in US District Court in Washington DC on 10 January. He also is required to pay a $2,000 fine.

Gionet pleaded guilty on 22 July to one count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, after he live-streamed himself on the platform DLive for more than 20 minutes from inside the Capitol on 6 January, 2021, including using a phone inside a Senate office.

Federal prosecutors alleged that he conducted an approximately 27-minute long stream from inside the Capitol, where Gionet and others can be heard chanting patriots are in control, whose house? our house and traitors, traitors, traitors.

The governments case argued that Gionet said fight for Trump, lets go, America first and lets go, 1776 during the assault, fuelled by Donald Trumps baseless narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

Gionet  who filmed a music video for his song We Love Our Cops  also berated a law enforcement officer during the riot, saying youre a f****** oathbreaker, you piece of s***, f*** you and you broke your oath to the constitution, according to federal prosecutors.

This was a fraudulent election. Were standing up for truth, Gods truth, he says in the video, according to court filings.

Gionet was banned from several social media platforms after posting antisemitic and white nationalist memes, and he has marched among hate groups in Charlottesville, Virginia and New Orleans. The Southern Poverty Law Centre identifies him as a white nationalist.

After his Twitter account was permanently suspended in 2017 for violating the companys terms regarding repeated and/or or non-consensual slurs, epithets, racist and sexist tropes, or other content that degrades someone, he returned to the platform under new ownership from Elon Musk.

Story continues

Anthime Gionet, better known as Baked Alaska, arrives for sentencing in federal court in Washington DC on 10 January. (Getty Images)

Ive waited over 2 years for this court case to be over [and] finally tomorrow Ill be sentenced in DC federal court for live streaming January 6, he wrote on the platform on Monday.

I love you guys so much, Ive learned a lot since then [and] grown to be a better person. Please pray for Gods will to be done, he said.

This is a developing story
Jose Rodolfo Villareal-Hernandez, a Mexican cartel leader known as "El Gato" who is wanted in the U.S. for his alleged role in orchestrating a 2013 murder in Southlake, Texas, has been arrested in Mexico, authorities said.

Villareal-Hernandez was detained in Mexico City.

In a tweet, Mexican authorities said that Villareal-Hernandez is "requested by authorities of the United States of America for his probable responsibility in the crimes of interstate stalking and criminal association to commit homicide." Villareal-Hernandez was on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list for charges of "interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire," charges that were filed against him in 2018.

The 2013 slaying that Villareal-Hernandez is alleged to have orchestrated targeted Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa, who was allegedly a lawyer for the notoriously violent Gulf Cartel drug trafficking organization and an informant for the U.S. government. Investigators believe that Villareal-Hernandez held a personal grudge against Chapa. Chapa was sitting alongside his wife in their Range Rover when he was shot at least five times, marking Southlake's first murder in more than 10 years, according to CBS Dallas-Fort Worth.

Former United States Attorney Paul Coggins told CBS Dallas-Fort Worth that Villareal-Hernandez's arrest sends a strong signal of cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico.

"What that's telling the Cartel members... is it's not just from the bottom up but from the top down as well," Coggins said.

Three other men have been previously indicted on interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit murder for hire charges in Chapa's killing.

The United States has sixty days to begin the extradition process, Mexican authorities said.

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Former President and current presidential candidate Donald Trump fumed on Monday evening after a report that potentially classified documents were discovered at a Washington, DC think tank by President Joe Bidens personal attorneys.

The documents in question came from Mr Bidens vice presidential office. Mr Biden had an office at the think tank from 2017 to 2020 between his stints in government. Mr Trump, who is under criminal investigation for his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House two years ago, was none-too-pleased.

When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified, Mr Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social.

This story will be updated.
(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday said it has issued warning letters to manufacturers of medical scopes used in surgical procedures, citing violations found during inspections of facilities in Japan.

Warning letters pertain to a category of devices known as endoscopes, which allow doctors to see and access the urinary tract, gastrointestinal tract, and respiratory tract, during diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.

The health regulator released the letters on Monday, which were sent to units of Japan's Olympus Corp - Olympus Medical System Corp and Aizu Olympus Co -in December and November, respectively.

During recent inspections of the units' facilities in Tokyo and Fukushima, the agency found that the subsidiaries were not meeting FDA's requirements for assuring quality and performance of its devices, such as adequate testing and documentation of the assembly process.

The agency added that Olympus Medical did not develop medical device reporting procedures as mandated and did not submit them to the regulator in the required timeframes.

These warning letters add to a history of the U.S. FDA's compliance actions against Olympus related to testing and manufacturing requirements. In 2015, Olympus Medical's duedonoscopes, used for diagnosing or treating disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, were among those linked to the then superbug outbreaks at U.S. hospitals.

The Japanese medical device maker did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on what steps it was taking to meet the agency's requirements.

(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
Newly minted Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) wasnt the only Washington figure to draw attention in the first week of the new Congress.

Several House members saw their profiles rise as a result of the four-day, 15-round Speakership election.

Here are five key figures who garnered attention during the Speaker battle:

Matt Gaetz

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) speaks with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas)

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) speaks with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) during the first day of the 118th session of Congress on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. (Greg Nash)

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) showed a unique ability to command attention during the prolonged Speaker battle.

Gaetz, one of the last anti-McCarthy members to change his vote, helped lead a prominent bloc of GOP members who resisted the California Republicans bid.

At one point, Gaetz remarked on Fox News, Were at the stage right now where Im running out of stuff to ask for.

On the 14th round of voting, Gaetz voted present  leaving McCarthy one vote short of the Speakership and requiring a 15th round.

Between the final rounds of voting, Gaetz had a tense exchange with Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), during which Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) held Rogers back.

Gaetz also garnered attention last week for casting a vote for former President Trump for Speaker and making an impassioned speech nominating Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio)  after Jordan nominated McCarthy. Jordan, who received several Speaker votes from McCarthys opponents, voted for McCarthy each round.

Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Scott Perry (Pa.) and Chip Roy (Texas) were also among the group of around 20 GOP members who repeatedly voted against McCarthy throughout the week.

Patrick McHenry

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.)

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) leaves a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. (Greg Nash)

The North Carolina GOP congressman featured prominently in coverage leading up to the vote surrounding potential Speaker alternatives should McCarthys bid fail.

Story continues

McHenry, a top McCarthy ally, supported the California Republican each round and was a central figure in the final rounds of voting Friday, nominating McCarthy on the penultimate round and sitting and talking with Gaetz during the roll call.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (La.), another frequently discussed potential Speaker alternative, also supported McCarthy each round.

McHenry is the new chair of the House Financial Services Committee and a regional representative on the Steering Committee.

Hakeem Jeffries

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is seen during a vote for Speaker on the first day of the 118th session of Congress on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. (Greg Nash)

Democrats were unanimous in their Speaker votes for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on all 15 ballots. He received 212 votes on 14 of 15 ballots, with only Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) absent from the 12th vote due to a surgery. Democrats havent all voted the same way for Speaker since 2009.

Jeffries has used the event to frame Democrats as unified and Republicans as divided. (He also took the opportunity to deliver an astonishingly alliterative alphabetical speech.)

Some other Democrats deserving mention: Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) practiced the subtle art of catching up on some reading in the chamber with a not-so-subtly-titled book. And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was seen talking with Gosar, with whom shes had a contentious relationship.

Marjorie Taylor Greene

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speaks to a reporter after a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. (Greg Nash)

A well-known member already, the Georgia Republicans profile took on another dimension amid the Speaker fight as she repeatedly pitched McCarthys bid to her colleagues (she also snapped a selfie with him as he clinched the Speakership).

A widely circulated photo shows Greene trying to hand her phone with a call from DT to Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), one of the last to change his anti-McCarthy vote to present to pave his path. Greene told The Hill that the call was from Trump.

The Hills Emily Brooks reported on the budding cooperative relationship between McCarthy and Greene last September.

Byron Donalds

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), first elected in 2020, initially got attention last week after switching his vote away from McCarthy on the third round. On the fourth round, 20 Republicans (including Donalds) voted for the Florida Republican for Speaker.

Donalds challenged Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) for conference chair in November, losing 144-74.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.)

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) speaks to reporters as he arrives for a House Republican Leadership Forum for the 118th Congress on Monday, November 14, 2022. (Greg Nash)



This is NotedDC, looking at the politics, policy and people behind the stories in Washington. Were Amee LaTour and Liz Crisp.



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Inside the House during the Speaker election

(Greg Nash, The Hill)

We caught up with The Hills House whisperer Emily Brooks to get the scoop on what you didnt see in the House Speaker fight.

You can follow Emily on Twitter here and see her work on The Hills website here.



NotedDC: What is one thing people should know about the new House?

Emily Brooks: There will be major spending fights and gridlock in Washington if Republicans stick to the hardline budgetary and tactical agreements struck between McCarthy and his detractors during the Speaker fight.

They aspire to pass all 12 regular appropriations bills on time  which Congress hasnt done since 1997 and has happened only four times total since the current system was implemented  and reject other Senate deals. And they want to play hardball with the debt limit in order to get concessions on spending cuts. There could be a lot of nervousness from Wall Street and investors if the debt limit fight gets down to the wire.

Noted: During the whole House Speaker race was there anything that stood out to you in the chamber that people on the outside might not have seen?

EB: First off, Im so glad the public got to see so much more of what happens in the House chamber during important moments due to C-SPAN cameras having a rare window of access before there was an official Speaker.

Here is one thing that the cameras cant capture: The smell of cigars, booze and clothes that people have been wearing for nearly 20 hours on the House floor during Fridays late-night drama, as a few members described to me.

On Friday evening, it felt like the whole chamber collectively holding their breaths. Some of the people in the House gallery were literally sitting on the edge of their seats. Its rare to see uncertainty on the House floor in general, let alone all the twists and turns that night!

Noted: Who do you think emerged as the stand-outs/stars in the Speaker race  who got a profile boost?

EB: Rep. Chip Roy (Texas) and Scott Perry (Pa.) were instrumental on the hardline conservative side in negotiating an agreement that flipped 14 holdouts to support McCarthy. The week also showcased the skill of McCarthy allies Patrick McHenry (N.C), Garret Graves (La.) and French Hill (Ark.) in negotiating the deal.

The freshman GOP members who opposed McCarthy  Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.), Andy Ogles (Tenn.), Keith Self (Texas), Josh Brecheen (Okla.) and Eli Crane (Ariz.)  are also starting off their Congressional careers being defined by their opposition.

Noted: Did the Speaker race give us any insight into who the emerging leaders in the House are?

EB: Aside from elected leadership, I think it showed that McHenry, Graves and Hill could be important to help McCarthy get certain priorities and legislation across the finish line if there are sticking points. And also showed that new House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.)  who held the negotiations in his office all last week  will have a tough but important job in making sure the House GOP passes key legislation with its slim majority.





Behind C-SPANs time in the spotlight

(Greg Nash, The Hill)

For many Americans, C-SPAN became must-see TV last week as Republicans grappled over more than a dozen rounds of voting for who would become the new Speaker of the GOP-controlled House.

Whether highlighting real-time tension between eventual Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Republican holdouts, showing controversial Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) saddling up next to new colleagues or Democrats efforts to mock the prolonged vote series, C-SPANs cameras caught it all.

C-SPAN, the collaborative that started even before CNN and ESPN, trended on Twitter much of the week  offering glimpses rarely seen by people who dont have a seat in the chamber. Because a Speaker had not been elected and the House had not voted on its rules package, the network was able to operate more freely.

The House has since returned to normal government feeds, but the unique insight that C-SPAN was able to offer has won bipartisan praise  from Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy (Texas) and Democrats like Rep. Mark Pocan (Wis.), who is now filing legislation to reinstate the C-SPAN coverage.

Pocan called C-SPANs free range during the lengthy fight over the House Speakers election worthy of an Oscar.

Unlike traditional networks, C-SPAN doesnt participate in the ratings contests, so its unclear exactly how many people tuned in, but its safe to say it was a healthy number particularly in D.C.

We dont really get into the numbers games with what our digital properties do, C-SPAN Vice President of Communications and Affiliate Relations Peter Kiley told NotedDC. We want to put on whats the most important public policy every day, not whats going to generate the most people.

In the past, the House Speaker has had the option to limit cameras mostly to straight-forward views of the chamber or tighter shots focused on individual members who were addressing the chamber.

One feature of the new Congress that made this debate so compelling was the fact that cameras recording the U.S. House of Representatives were free to broadcast the full Chamber during votes and debate, and not merely the rostrum, well and members recognized to speak, Pocan wrote in a letter to colleagues.

C-SPANs cameras caught a number of dramatic scenes in real time and video clips went viral on Twitter and prompted popular parodies.

Were still talking internally about if were going to make an ask to the speaker or not, Kiley said of the networks plans to pursue continued access. People connected with us, either by downloading (the app) or joining us on social media platform  Thats where we can reach this whole new group of people.







WHAT WERE READING

As legal bills mount, its come to light that Florida paid about $35,000 per person in its controversial plot to send migrants to Marthas Vineyard (The Tallahassee Democrat)

Dr. Dre slams use of Still D.R.E. by divisive and hateful Marjorie Taylor Greene (The Hill)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Is Polling Well Against Trump  As Long As No One Else Runs (FiveThirtyEight)





NUMBER TO KNOW

6

Days until Martin Luther King Jr. Day. After a busy start to the year, Congress will be on a break to mark the occasion.





ONE MORE THING

Lawmakers get their own bobbleheads

The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum has marked the start of the year with new bobbleheads honoring former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.).

Cheney was the vice chair of the House panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Her bid for reelection last year was ultimately tanked after former President Trump backed her opponent.



We think this bobblehead will be a great way to commemorate Congresswoman Cheneys key role in the investigation of the events that took place on Jan. 6, 2021, National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum CEO Phil Sklar said in a statement.

The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Milwaukee and also sells bobbleheads of notable figures.

Fetterman, who was Pennsylvanias lieutenant governor before he was elected to the Senate, is known for wearing sweatshirts and shorts, and his honorary bobblehead stays true to that.

This bobblehead is sure to be a must-have for his supporters and collectors of political bobbleheads, Sklar said.

Sklar said Porter was picked to be honored because of her viral popularity from using her whiteboard to break down topics in committees.

After going viral on social media thanks to her signature whiteboard, Rep. Porter has become well known and we have received a lot of requests for a Katie Porter bobblehead, he said.





Thanks for reading! Please consider signing up for more newsletters from The Hill. Well see you tomorrow!

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
And Tango Makes Three

An award-winning book about the true story of a same-sex penguin couple raising a chick has been banned by a Florida school district in response to the states dont say gay law.

The 2005 book And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell was one of three books reportedly removed from the libraries and classrooms of the Lake County School District in central Florida. The other books removed were Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss and In Our Mothers House by Patricia Polacco.

According to Popular Information, the board said the titles were administratively removed due to content regarding sexual orientation/gender identification prohibited in HB 1557, otherwise known as the Parental Rights in Education Act  the so-called "don't say gay" law.

Cover art for

While the book does not contain any discussion of same-sex sexual relations or instruction, it does tell the real-life story of two male chinstrap penguins who cohabitate and raised a penguin chick together.

At the penguin house at the Central Park Zoo, two penguins named Roy and Silo were a little bit different from the others, publisher Simon & Schuster says on its website. But their desire for a family was the same. And with the help of a kindly zookeeper, Roy and Silo got the chance to welcome a baby penguin of their very own.

The book has won numerous awards, including CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children's Book Council), CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book, Nick Jr. Family Magazine Best Books of the Year, Bank Street Best Books of the Year, and was also a Lambda Literary Award Finalist among others.

Other Florida school districts are also banning or restricting books with LGBTQ+ content, citing compliance with the "don't say gay" law. Popular Information noted school districts in Seminole and Manatee counties have made similar decisions regarding literary content in their classrooms and libraries.

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Same-sex couples are not uncommon among penguins. Both male and female couples often go through mating rituals and attempt to hatch eggs that have been abandoned by other couples or outright stolen from other nests.

Last year, a same-sex penguin couple in the U.K., Diego and Zorro, successfully hatched a healthy little penguin chick named Ponyo at the Oceanarium in Bournemouth.

Also last year, male Humboldt penguins Elmer and Lima successfully raised a foster chick at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, N.Y.,

In 2021, famed Australian same-sex Gentoo penguin couple Sphen and Magic shared their three-year anniversary together. A spokesperson for the Sea Life Aquarium in Sydney, Australia said the zoo celebrated the anniversary of their partnered relationship with a special frozen fish cake.
In the wake of a violent uprising on Sunday by supporters of Brazil's far-right former president, President Joe Biden on Monday spoke with the nation's newly inaugurated leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and extended an invitation to visit the White House.

"President Biden conveyed the unwavering support of the United States for Brazil's democracy and for the free will of the Brazilian people as expressed in Brazil's recent presidential election, which President Lula won. President Biden condemned the violence and the attack on democratic institutions and on the peaceful transfer of power," read a joint statement released by both Biden and the Brazilian president, who is commonly known as Lula.

The statement added that da Silva accepted the invitation to "visit Washington in early February for in-depth consultations on a wide-ranging shared agenda."

MORE: DOJ reviewing as Biden lawyer says classified docs found in his old office

Sunday's attack on three of Brazil's seats of power -- its Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential office, called the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia -- was also condemned in a joint statement issued by Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who convened in Mexico City on Monday for the North American leaders' summit.

"We stand with Brazil as it safeguards its democratic institutions. Our governments support the free will of the people of Brazil," they declared. "We look forward to working with President Lula on delivering for our countries, the Western Hemisphere, and beyond."

The scenes from Brasilia on Sunday, of rioters overtaking government buildings while calling for a newly elected president's removal, echo the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden meets his Mexican counterpart Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at an official welcoming ceremony before taking part in the North American Leaders' Summit at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico January 9, 2023. (Henry Romero/Reuters)

In responding to the turmoil in Brazil, Biden also confronts another conundrum created by da Silva's predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently staying in the U.S.

Bolsonaro had flown to Florida at the end of December, days before da Silva was inaugurated. Dubbed the "Trump of the Tropics," the populist ex-president refused to accept the results of Brazil's election when he was voted out in October and spread unsubstantiated claims of fraud.

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While Bolsonaro condemned the "depredations and invasions of public buildings" in a tweet on Sunday after the violent rioting, da Silva and others accused him of implicitly spurring on his supporters with false allegations about a stolen election.

MORE: Jair Bolsonaro admitted to US hospital as Biden condemns 'outrageous' attack on Brazilian government

Some Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. were quick to call for Bolsonaro's removal.

"Nearly 2 years to the day the US Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad attempt to do the same in Brazil," New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "The US must cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida."

"He's a dangerous man. They should send him back to his home country, Brazil," Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas urged during a televised interview.

PHOTO: Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a meeting with Governors at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, on January 9, 2023. (Mauro Pimentel/AFP via Getty Images)

The Biden White House's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters on Monday that the Biden administration had not received any request from Brazil's government to extradite Bolsonaro but that "if we did receive such requests, we treat them the way we always do -- we treat them seriously."

While the U.S. and Brazil have an extradition treaty in place, it stipulates that the individual must be formally accused of an offense that is considered a crime in both countries. Bolsonaro is the subject of several investigations, but Brazilian authorities have not filed any charges against him.

MORE: House Republicans propose sweeping committee to review government's criminal investigations

Separately, if the Biden administration wanted to expel Bolsonaro from the country, it could revoke his visa without any legal justification. While that would be an extraordinary move, John Feeley, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Panama when the country's former president attempted to avoid corruption charges by fleeing to Florida, said it likely wouldn't be met by significant backlash on the international stage.

"I think one of the possible silver linings out of this whole episode is that there has been universal condemnation from Latin American governments," Feeley said. "There has been literally no government that has supported Bolsonaro. There have been some that have been quiet, but most have made very strong statements."

PHOTO: Protesters, supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, clash with police during a protest outside the Planalto Palace building in Brasilia, Brazil, Jan. 8, 2023. (Eraldo Peres/AP)

While individual visa cases are confidential, State Department spokesperson Ned Price seemed to suggest that Bolsonaro -- who is believed to have entered the U.S. on a diplomatic visa as Brazil's head of state -- would have a grace period of 30 days to either exit the country or request a change to his immigration status before facing consequences.

The former Brazilian president was admitted to an Orlando-area hospital on Monday afternoon for abdominal pain resulting from a stabbing he endured on the campaign trail in 2018, his wife announced via Instagram.

ABC News' Aicha El Hammar Castano contributed to this report.

Following Brazil's far-right uprising, Biden will bring Lula to the White House originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Jan. 10CINCINNATI  A former insurance agent pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to receiving more than $100,000 in fraudulent commissions for unauthorized policies involving victims across the Dayton and Cincinnati area.

Seneca Birchmore, 45, of Cincinnati, admitted to committing aggravated identity theft, a federal crime punishable by a mandatory two-year prison sentence

Birchmore lost his license as an insurance agent in 2019 for writing unwanted insurance policies in order to collect commissions. Birchmore stole the identities of two other insurance agents to write life insurance policies and had those commissions deposited into his own bank accounts, a release from the office of U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker of the Southern District of Ohio stated.

Local law enforcement departments received complaints that money was being automatically withdrawn from bank accounts for unauthorized insurance policies. Many of the victims are senior citizens, and most reside in Dayton, Englewood, Middletown and Cincinnati, the release stated.

The commissions for the fraudulent insurance policies under Birchmore's name totaled more than $8,000. The commissions for policies created under the stolen identities of other agents totaled more than $93,000.

As part of his plea, Birchmore agreed to pay the following restitution:  Americo Financial Life and Annuity Insurance Company: $34,820.37  Columbian Life Insurance Company: $16,604.01  Transamerica Life Insurance Company: $4,671  Mutual of Omaha: $2,104.65  Great Western Insurance Company: $16,303.17  Aetna Health and Life Insurance Company: $8,826.84  American General Life Insurance Company: $158.82  Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company: $17,906.07  U.S. Small Business Administration: $41,665

In a separate scheme, Birchmore fraudulently obtained two COVID Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling more than $40,000. Birchmore claimed on both loan applications that he owned a business in his name and stated his gross income for 2019 was more than $13 million. However, no such business exists, the release stated.

A sentencing date for Birchmore has not been scheduled.
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's former King Constantine II, whose nine-year reign coincided with one of the most turbulent periods in the country's political history, died on Tuesday aged 82, state website ERT news reported.

Constantine II, the only son of King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece, ascended to the throne in 1964 after his father died but his reign was marred by political instability which culminated in a military coup on April 21, 1967.

A few months later, he was forced to flee the country after leading an unsuccessful countercoup against the then military junta.

He remained in Rome until the junta abolished the monarchy in 1973.

In a referendum called by a national unity government led by Konstantinos Karamanlis after the fall of the junta in 1974, Greeks rejected monarchy for a second time, making Constantine the last king of Greece. Athens later stripped him of his citizenship.

In 2002, he and other family members were compensated with 13.7 million euros for their former property in Greece which includes the Tatoi palace estate north of Athens that is currently being restored and a villa in Corfu, where Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was born, now turned into a museum.

With his wife Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, the former king, a sailor whose team won a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics, had five children. Constantine, Prince William's godfather, and his family had lived in London for years, before returning to Greece.

In his last public appearance in the centre of Athens last year, the former king was seen in a wheelchair and with nasal catheters, accompanied by his sister, the former Queen of Spain Sofia, and other family members.

Suffering from chronic heart and mobility problems, the former king's health condition had worsened and he had been hospitalised several times in recent months.

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Additional reporting Alkis Konstantinidis; Editing by Sandra Maler)
A former high school teacher in Marshalltown will serve two weeks in jail and a year probation for soliciting sexual contact from a student.

Mark Esquivel, 27, was a high school physical education teacher and coach when he was arrested on June 30, 2021. He was alleged to have solicited sexual contact from a 17-year-old student between April and June 2021 through personal, social media and/or phone, according to court records and a police news release.

Esquivel pleaded guilty in December. A felony charge of sexual exploitation by a school employee was reduced to three counts of third-degree harassment. He was sentenced in Marshall County on Tuesday on the three misdemeanor charges.

More:Sexual misconduct by Iowa educators is uncommon, data shows, but more needs to be done to protect kids, advocates say

District Associate Judge Stephen Owen sided with the state's sentencing recommendation of suspended 30 days of jail time and a year supervised probation on two of the counts and a 14-day jail sentence on the third count. Esquivel received credit for time served.

His defense counsel requested a 90-day suspended sentence without additional jail time, and a year of supervised probation.

Esquivel will have six months to complete the jail sentence on consecutive days. If approved, his probation also may be transferred to California, where he now lives.

Owen ordered a five-year no contact order between Esquivel and the victim, and Esquivel must pay a $105 fine, 15% surcharge and court costs on each of the three counts.

Neither the victim nor her family gave impact statements at sentencing, and Esquivel declined to give a statement to the court.

A picture of the Marshall County Courthouse before damage from a July 19, 2018, storm.

Esquivel had no prior criminal history. He had served in the National Guard for more than five years and has a job in California. He pleaded guilty to the charges against him in order to keep his employment, said his attorney Joel Waters.

Esquivel also surrendered his teaching license and has worn a monitoring bracelet on his ankle for a year and a half without any violations, Waters said.

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Assistant County Attorney Torey Cuellar said Esquivel's lack of criminal history had not deterred his behavior. Cuellar added the victim had accepted Esquivel's plea.

His arrest and initial charge was the first in a series of charges of sexual exploitation by a school employee filed against two other Marshalltown educators over a span of about four weeks in 2021.

More:Three Marshalltown educators have been accused of sexual abuse and two have since died. Here's what we know.

The two other defendants died by suicide, authorities said. Marshalltown Police Chief Michael Tupper said the cases and the victims were not connected.

Marshalltown Community School District spokesperson Adam Sodders previously told the Ames Tribune that Esquivel worked for the district between Aug. 13, 2020 and July 12, 2021, when the school board approved his resignation in lieu of termination.

Since then, the district has had all staff trained by the Des Moines-based Ahlers & Cooney law firm on appropriate social media use and student-staff boundaries, Sodders said.

The district also requires all teachers be up-to-date on Iowa Area Education Agencies' "Ethics for Educators" course and all staff-student electronic communications take place through official district channels. Hiring and internal processes have been reviewed and a review of programming for students on how to seek help has been conducted by the Child Abuse Prevention Services Center in Marshalltown, Sodders added.

Phillip Sitter covers education for the Ames Tribune, including Iowa State University and PreK-12 schools in Ames and elsewhere in Story County. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com. He is on Twitter @pslifeisabeauty.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Former Marshalltown teacher sentenced for student sexual contact
The Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old child pleaded not guilty to the federal charges onMonday.

Jaime Adolfo Gonzalez-Farias, 68, appeared in shackles, his silver hair neatly combed, in a federal courtroom in Columbia, South Carolina, after being extradited from Florida. He has been charged with aggravated sexual abuse of a child, coercion of a minor and transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Wearing a dark green jumpsuit and bright orange plastic sandals, the Roman Catholic priest peered over his glasses as he waived reading of the indictment.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliott Daniels, who is prosecuting the case, requested that Gonzalez-Farias be detained. Through his attorney, federal public defender Allen Burnside, Gonzalez-Farias stated that he was not contesting the detention at this time.

The court advised him that he had a right to file a motion at any time to schedule a hearing on the status of his detention.

He whispered yes when asked by Magistrate Judge Shiva Hodges if the information on his financial affidavit was accurate.

I need you to speak up, Hodges said.

I have no voice, Gonzalez-Farias replied in a hoarse whisper.

Hodges advised Gonzalez-Farias that, after reviewing his financial affidavit, it was a close call as to whether a federal public defender should be provided. However, she said that Gonzalez-Farias could continue to be represented by a federal public defender.

The exploitation of children  particularly by those in positions of trust  will not be tolerated in our state, said U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs in a statement released Tuesday. Our commitment to victims and survivors is that when they are met with abuse, offenders will be met with a full measure of accountability.

Originally from Chile, Gonzalez-Farias began working in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston in 2015. Officially a visiting priest, Gonzalez-Farias ministered in various parishes and ministries, according to the indictment.

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A statement released by the diocese in 2020 said that he was to be administrator of St. Mark Church in Newberry, Holy Spirit Mission in Laurens, and St. Boniface Mission in Joanna. He was also chaplain to Tyger River Correctional Institution and to Presbyterian College.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston said that it was made aware of an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor involving visiting priest Father Jaime Gonzalez-Farias in December 2020, after he had left the country for his home in Chile.

If convicted, Gonzalez-Farias faces a minimum of 10 years in federal prison for the charges of coercing a minor and transporting a minor for purposes of sex. The federal charge of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor carries a minimum of 30 years and up to life in prison.

The FBI has requested the publics help in identifying more potential victims. The agency has urged members of the public to contact them at 803-551-4200 if you believe you or your minor dependent(s) were victimized by Gonzalez-Farias, or if you have relevant information about Gonzalez-Farias the FBI should know.

Gonzalez-Farias was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in Miami, Florida, on Nov. 29.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Laurens County Sheriffs Department. Daniels and fellow Assistant U.S. AttorneyE. Elizabeth Major are prosecuting the case.
Allen Weisselberg, former chief financial officer of the Trump organization, was sentenced to five months in jail on Tuesday for his involvement in the companys tax-fraud scheme.

Weisselberg, 75, will be transferred to New Yorks Rikers Island jail complex on Tuesday to serve out his sentence.

In August, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Weisselbergs guilty plea for devising and operating a 15-year scheme to defraud federal, New York State, and New York City tax authorities, evading payment of taxes due on $1.76 million in unreported income during his time at the Trump enterprise.

As part of the plea deal, Weisselberg was asked to testify as the states witness against the company, reimburse two million dollars in back taxes, interest and penalties, and waive any right to appeal, CNN reported. Weisselberg has reportedly already started paying the money he owes by court order. If Weisselberg hadnt entered the plea bargain, he could have faced a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison.

One example of his tax evasion was his failure to report off-the-books compensation summing to about $200,000 in one year, which included a luxury Manhattan apartment, two Mercedes Benz car leases, parking, utilities, furniture and private school tuition for his grandchildren, CNN reported.

The disgraced executive was first indicted in July 2021 on 15 charges of grand larceny, criminal tax fraud, scheme to defraud, conspiracy, falsifying business records and offering a false instrument for filing, Forbes noted.

In December, a criminal court jury in Manhattan convicted the Trump Corporation on nine criminal counts and the Trump Payroll Corporation on eight criminal counts. Both entities fall under the Trump Organization.

The Trump Organization will be sentenced on Friday for the charges leveled against it. The company could potentially face massive fines of up to $1.6 million. Weisselberg still works for the Trump Organization although not as CFO. The company is placing him on paid leave for the duration of his prison time, Reuters reported.

More from National Review
MASON  A former Webberville official who is charged with embezzling more than $50,000 from the village is heading to circuit court to potentially stand trial.

Jaymee Hord, 52, waived her right to a preliminary hearing on Tuesday. The hearing would have allowed a district court judge to determine whether there was enough evidence to send the case to trial.

The court finds that the waiver was knowingly, voluntarily and accurately made, Ingham County District Court Judge Richard Hillman said Tuesday. The case is bound over to circuit court for all further proceedings as charged.

Hord, of Owosso, is the city's former clerk treasurer. She is charged with embezzlement of $50,000 to $100,000.

She was arraigned on the charge Oct. 21, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison upon conviction.

The 55th District Court at 700 Buhl St. in Mason Dec. 6, 2022.

She is represented by Ingham County Assistant Public Defender Brian Jackson, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

The prosecutor's office Juvenile Justice/Community Outreach Coordinator Scott Hughes told the State Journal that generally the office has not commented on pending cases.

An attorney for Webberville contacted the Ingham County Sheriff's Office in March and reported that an audit by an outside firm turned up discrepancies in village finances.

A forensic audit and the sheriff's investigation indicated Hord had been embezzling village funds "for quite some time," using "multiple different schemes," Ingham County Sheriff's Office Detective Kelly Bowden testified.

Hord, who had been clerk treasurer starting in 2014, pocketed cash after citizens came in to pay utility bills or property taxes, Bowden testified.

She also submitted "fraudulent overtime for herself and was paying herself reimbursements for vacation and basically paid time off that she was not entitled to," the detective told a judge.

Read More:

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The investigation determined the village lost nearly $40,354 through the utility billing scheme and another $7,348 in property tax revenue, according to the testimony. The payroll reimbursement scheme led to an additional loss of $50,535.

The total loss was more than $98,200, Bowden testified.

In 2020, the Michigan Department of Treasury was withholding from Webberville $544,000 in Michigan Transportation Fund money and $97,000 in state revenue sharing after the village repeatedly failed to file required financial documents.

Webberville hired certified public accounting and business advisory firm Plante Moran at the end of January 2020 to help catch up the audit reporting, to investigate and verify numbers, and report findings to the state, according to its website. The village also hired two staffers in 2018 to work with Hord.

Contact Bryce Airgood at 517-267-0448 or bairgood@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @bairgood123.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Former Webberville official ordered to stand trial on embezzlement charge
By John Irish

PARIS (Reuters) - France's foreign ministry said on Tuesday it had not ruled out the idea that the European Union designate Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, a day after Germany said the move would be politically important and make sense.

Ties between Paris and Tehran have deteriorated in recent months as efforts to revive nuclear talks, to which France is one of the parties, have stalled. Tehran has detained seven French nationals while France is critical of an ongoing violent crackdown on protesters.

With the European Union discussing a fourth round of sanctions over the crackdown and Iran's supply of weapons to Russia, some member states have called for the bloc to classify the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation. Britain is expected to make the decision in the coming weeks.

France has so far been reluctant to push for the Guards' designation. But Paris has left the door ajar, following further executions of protesters this week and closer military coordination between Tehran and Moscow that has seen drones transferred to Russia in its war against Ukraine.

"Given the continuation of this repression, France is working with its European partners on new sanctions' measures, without excluding any," Foreign ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre told reporters in a daily briefing when asked whether Paris supported designating the IRGC.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Monday said that a new round of sanctions would not be enough.

"Listing the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization is politically important and makes sense," she said on Twitter, adding that legal hurdles still needed to cleared before it could be done.

Designating the IRGC as a terrorist group would mean that it would become a criminal offence to belong to the group, attend its meetings, and carry its logo in public.

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Set up after Irans 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shiite clerical ruling system, the Guards have great sway in Irans political system, controlling swathes of the economy and armed forces and put in charge of Irans ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

The IRGC's political influence in Iran's complex power structure has increased since the election of President Ebrahim Raisi, whose government includes dozens of Revolutionary Guard commanders.

Its affiliate, the Basij, have been at the forefront of the state clampdown on the unrest sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran's morality police on Sept. 16.

(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
STORY: Location: Beit Lahiya, Gaza

Talal Taha is known in Gaza as The Newspaperman

thanks to his collection of 25,000 newspapers from the past five decades

He began collecting them in the 1970s with the twists and turns of Israeli-Egyptian relations

[Talal Taha, 73-year-old Gazan newspaper collector]

"Many people talked to me about newspapers saying that newspapers are finished and I reply you are finished. Holding the newspaper in your hands is joy. It is completely different from viewing images on mobile phones, a paper that is 40, 50 years old, holding a newspaper has its own joy, not only a newspaper, any old paper that you hold and look at, it is completely different than photographs."

Taha gets the four Palestinian dailies delivered to his door:

Al-Quds, Al-Ayyam, Al-Nahar and Felesteen

Once he is done reading, he takes them up to the attic

Nabil Bakeer has been distributing newspapers in Gaza for more than 20 years

[Nabil Bakeer, Newspaper distributor]

"Previously distribution of newspapers was much more, there was much more interest in newspapers and I used to distribute 300, or 400 a day. Currently, distribution decreased to 120, 130, sometimes 80, according to need, now people have cellphones and the internet, this is one reason for the decrease, the other is that people don't have money, people are unemployed. My income has dropped very much, I am hardly making a living."
A Georgetown man was sentenced in federal court Monday for wire fraud after he stole half a million dollars from a local church over the course of four years while acting as their treasurer.

Ralph Tackett, 66, stole $512,042 from the church and used the money for his own personal benefit, according to court records. He was sentenced by Judge Danny Reeves to nearly three years in prison and ordered to pay $532,807 in restitution. He will have to self-report to a Bureau of Prisons facility in March.

Tackett previously accepted a plea agreement in September 2022.

As the treasurer for the church, Tackett was in charge of the churchs financial affairs including approving and processing payments, managing mortgage payments, depositing cash offerings and overseeing the churchs bank accounts, according to court records.

The church was not named in court records or court testimony.

Tackett routinely issued church checks payable to his spouse without her knowledge and cashed and deposited them into his own personal and business accounts, according to court records. Tackett transmitted some of the money through bank transfers with the churchs WesBanco checking account to his personal American Express credit card, according to court records.

Tackett also took money directly out of the offering plate, according to testimony and court documents.

In addition, he transferred around $187,356 to pay his own personal credit card debts in increments of $1,000 or less.

He treated the donations and funds of the church as if he were entitled to them  he managed the churchs operating account as if it were his own secret bank account,prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. He concealed his threats by generating over-simplified monthly reports that omitted the numerous unauthorized transfers of funds he made to pay his own personal debts.

Tackett routinely transferred funds to an out-of-state individual who made financial demands to him, in small amounts that totaled $325,000, according to court records. The transactions spanned from December 2015 to July 2019.

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Tacketts defense attorney, Jarrod Beck, said Tackett was being blackmailed and cyberstalked. Court documents alleged the blackmailer threatened to reveal Tacketts sexual exploits.

The blackmail affected him, and he was fearful the threats made against him would destroy him, Beck said. He didnt care about his reputation, but the reputation of the lives of the people around him.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tashena Fannin confirmed the blackmail, but reported to the court there was no evidence to suggest that the blackmail coincided when the crimes first started. She said that according to Tackett, the blackmail did not begin until 2017.

The defendant started on this criminal path before exposure of his personal sexual life was threatened, the frequency of his actions and omissions were weekly and often daily, and he carried on with his scheme for approximately 43 months, the prosecutors sentencing memorandum said.

The church community never suspected Tackett was taking money and believed their financial problems were from natural growing pains, having just moved into an updated and more expensive facility, according to court records. His authority as treasurer went unchecked.

Once the FBI confronted Tackett, he was fully cooperative with their investigation and thankful it was no longer a burden to carry, according to court testimony made Monday.

He accepted full responsibility for his actions, Fannin said in court.

A plea deal was arranged due to Tacketts compliance, and prosecutors and the defense team agreed he was not a threat to the public, and would not likely re-offend due to his age and lack of criminal history.
LUETZERATH, Germany (Reuters) - Police on Tuesday began dismantling barricades and dragged away activists staging a sit-in protest against the expansion of an opencast lignite mine that has highlighted tensions over Germany's climate policy during an energy crisis.

The demonstrators, many wearing masks or balaclavas, have been protesting against the Garzweiler mine, run by energy firm RWE in the abandoned village of Luetzerath and is part of the brown-coal district of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

They have formed human chains, staged sit-in protests and occupied deserted buildings in Luetzerath which will be razed to make way for the mine's expansion. Some dug themselves into holes in the ground while others hung suspended from wooden tripods.

"You consider this a peaceful eviction? It is ridiculous what you are doing, how are you not embarrassed?" said one protester as police dragged away activists who were sitting on a muddy track.

The protests highlight growing tensions over Berlin's climate policy, which environmentalists say took a back seat during the energy crisis that hit Europe last year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, forcing a return to dirtier fuels.

It is particularly sensitive for the Greens party, now back in power as part of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government after 16 years in opposition between 2005-2021.

Many Greens oppose the mine's expansion, but Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens party has fronted the government's decision. Some activists dumped 250 kg (551 lb) worth of coal blocks in front of a local Greens party headquarters, German media reported.

Police urged protesters to avoid violence and exercise restraint, saying that some activists had began to attack officers and thrown rocks in recent days.

"We have barricades that are currently being expanded in the village in particular to represent obstacles to us," Chief Operations Officer Wilhelm Sauer said on Monday.

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The protest follows a regional court decision on Monday that upheld an earlier ruling to vacate the village whose land and houses now belong to RWE.

Some of the activists have built treehouses in Luetzerath, believing these would make it harder for police to force them to leave. The move echoes a similar protest in 2013 in the Hambach forest, which delayed an RWE coal mining project for years and became a symbol of anti-coal demonstrations.

"Yes, it is of course infuriating to see that the police are already starting to clear the area and to use violence," another climate activist said.

"We cannot rely on politics. Because at the end of the day, it's up to us to use our bodies to stop the police from clearing Luetzerath."

The fallout of Russias invasion of Ukraine has prompted Scholzs government to change course on previous policies.

Those include firing up mothballed coal power plants and extending the lifespan of nuclear power stations after Russia cut gas deliveries to Europe in an energy standoff that sent prices soaring.

The government has, however, brought forward the date when all brown coal power plants will be shut down in North Rhine-Westphalia, to 2030 from 2038, acceding to a campaign promise from the Greens.

The Garzweiler mine extracts around 25 million tonnes of lignite every year, according to RWE. The company has said it supports both energy transition and a temporary increase in the use of lignite-fired plants to tide Germany through the energy crisis.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa, Andy Kranz, Stephane Nitschke, Petra Wischgoll; Writing by Riham Alkousaa and Matthias Williams; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Grant McCool)
According to Greek Minister of National Defense Nikos Panagiotopoulos, during a phone call with his German counterpart, Christine Lambrecht, "the realization of the agreement on transferring BMP-1 armored personnel carriers (APCs) to Ukraine with a swap of German Marder fighting vehicles" was discussed.

Read also: Germany to supply Ukraine with more Gepard systems  Spiegel

In September 2022, Greece officially announced it would supply Ukraine with the BMP-1 APCs in exchange for German Marder infantry fighting vehicles.

A source in the Greek military told German newspaper Bill that Greece is ready to delay receipt of the promised Marders, if Germany sends them to Ukraine first.

Read also: Another batch of military aid from Germany arrives in Ukraine

On Jan. 6, ruling German SPD party spokesperson for the foreign affairs in the German parliament, Nils Schmid, said Germany plans to supply Kyiv with 40 Marder IFVs.

According to UK newspaper The Guardian, Berlin plans to do this as early as the first quarter of 2023.

Read also: Weakened support for Ukraine would invite further Russian aggression, Germany warns

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Dale Rita Day, right, a registered nurse at Good Shepherd Hospice, won $5,000 in December in Gannett's Healthcare Hero contest. Dr. Kevin T. Barlow, left, owner of Winter Haven Audiology, was the local sponsor of the national contest.

Dale Rita Day, a registered nurse and director of nursing standards at Good Shepherd Hospice, says she's always felt concern for people and "only want the best for them.

Her colleagues agree, and they nominated her for Gannett's Healthcare Heroes program. In December, Day received a check for $5,000 as a national winner.

I also realized very early in my career that employees who feel valued and appreciated are more loyal, work harder and will usually do a much better job. I try not to ask anyone to do something I would not be willing to do myself.

July winner:Lakeland nurse recognized as a national 'healthcare hero' with $5,000 award

Healthcare Heroes is a national contest to reward exceptional people in health care. Gannett is the parent company of The Ledger, and the contest in the local area was sponsored by Winter Haven Audiology

Days nominator said she is steadfast in her duties as a registered nurse and inspiring to those who work or visit Good Shepherd Hospice, an affiliate of Chapters Health Services, in Texas.

Day has been in nursing for 42 years. And after all those years, she hasnt wavered from what started her on this journey, even during the pandemic years that saw widespread burnout in the nursing ranks.

It always saddens me when I see much younger nurses deciding to change careers because they are burned out, Day said. I think as an industry, there definitely are seasoned nurses out there who have forgotten they were once a new nurse, too. As an older nurse, I believe my legacy to leave behind is through compassion and empathy and to help each nurse I interact with to feel valued and respected and to impart any wisdom that can help them grow. Its frustrating that nurses are working who dont have the true compassion for it to be a calling for them."

Day has an idea for whats missing in the industry and what needs fixing.

Bring the professionalism back to nursing," she said. "Respect nurses and truly hear them.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Nurse at Good Shepherd Hospice wins $5,000 in Healthcare Heroes
The Pennsylvania state House Republican who recently nominated and voted for Democratic Rep. Mark Rozzi to serve as speaker wrote him Monday to say Rozzi was waffling on whether he will register as an independent and therefore should resign.

The letter from Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Blair, who has worked closely with Rozzi on child sexual abuse issues, said bonds of trust between friends  as close as you and I have been  are now broken.

The split became public as lawmakers in both chambers began a special session, called by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, designed to get a referendum allowing a two-year window for otherwise outdated child sexual abuse lawsuits before voters for final approval in the May primary.

Gregory confirmed the letter, first reported in a tweet by Spotlight PA, in a brief interview in his Capitol office. Gregory declined to elaborate but said Rozzis statement regarding his party registration status came in a phone conversation the two men had on Saturday.

Rozzi, who represents a Reading area district, was the surprise choice as speaker on Tuesday, breaking a deadlock caused by the two parties photo finish results in the November election. The speakership vote was 115-85, with all seven members of GOP leadership, Gregory and eight other Republicans joining all Democrats.

Rozzi promised that day to govern as an independent and not caucus with either party, but questions were raised whether he would change his party registration. Gregorys letter said that it was with great sadness for me as your friend that you would admit to me Saturday that you are only thinking about switching.

Gregory wrote that Rozzis words directly contradicted your previous three affirmative answers to me of yes that you were going to switch to independent. You made a commitment to uphold your promise to me, to the members of this body, and to the people of Pennsylvania.

Asked earlier Monday if he would agree to an interview, Rozzi was noncommittal and indicated his office did not have the money needed to hire a press aide to field such requests.

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Because they took all the money away, were in a tough spot, Rozzi said as he headed to the chamber to start a special session.

Gregory and Rozzi have both spoken of being abused as children. The proposed amendment passed last session and needs to be approved by both the House and Senate again before going before voters for final approval.

The special session got off to a slow start Monday in both chambers and it was not clear whether the House will conduct much business before special elections are held to fill three vacant Democratic-leaning seats in the chamber. With those seats vacant, Republicans have a 101-99 advantage, with one incumbent GOP member running in a Jan. 31 state Senate special election.

In the Republican-controlled Senate on Monday, a divided State Government Committee advanced three other constitutional amendments. They would mandate voter ID for all elections, empower lawmakers to cancel regulations without facing a governors veto and establish election audits by the states elected auditor general. The three proposals, which were grouped as a package last session with two other measures, were passed by both chambers previously.

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Shares in the troubled Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) surged on Monday, narrowing its discount from Bitcoin.

The price for the OTC-traded security jumped 11.56% yesterday, to $9.65. This brought the trusts discount against the net asset value (NAV) of its Bitcoin holdings to 38.55%, the smallest gap since mid-November.

GBTC is a publicly-listed financial vehicle that gives investors exposure to Bitcoin without needing to buy and hold the asset physically. The trust had historically traded at a premium to Bitcoin but has, since late February 2022, been stuck at a hefty discount.

The uptick in its price comes despite a myriad of problems facing both the investment firm behind the trust and its parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG).

Grayscales discount woes

Grayscale is the largest holder of Bitcoin in the world after the cryptocurrencys pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.

It owns 643,572 Bitcoin, according to treasuries listings, the equivalent of $11.1 billion.

The GBTC discount emerged due to market volatility and shareholders' inability to redeem their shares.

Grayscale has looked to convert the trust into a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), a structure that its CEO Michael Sonnenshein argues would provide better protection for investors.

But like every other entity which has applied to launch a Bitcoin ETF in the U.S., the company has been shot down by regulators. Last June, Grayscale filed a lawsuit against the SEC after it again rejected the firm's spot Bitcoin ETF application.

Competition from crypto ETFs in other countries such as Canada, as well as U.S.-traded Bitcoin futures ETFs, may also, therefore, be contributing to the discount.

Grayscale under fire from investors

Because Grayscale does not offer a way to redeem their shares, GBTC holders have begun to put pressure on the firm to change their rules and introduce some form of liquidity.

On one front, the trust is facing a lawsuit accusing it of potential mismanagement and conflicts of interest, filed by New York hedge fund Fir Tree Capital Management.

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On another, rival investment firm Valkyrie has put forward a proposal to become the new sponsor and manager of GBTC. The idea is that GBTC shareholders could vote for a change of management, though there are some doubts over whether this would even be possible.

Meanwhile, Grayscales parent company DCG has become embroiled in a public spat with Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss. In a letter to DCG founder Barry Silbert sent last week, he set a deadline of January 8 to publicly commit to working together to solve the problem of the $900 million that Genesis, another DCG portfolio company, owes Gemini Earn.

In the letter, he also accused DGC of borrowing almost $1.7 billion from Genesis, its own subsidiary.

Silbert denied this on Twitter, adding that DCG had never missed an interest payment to Genesis.
Columbus City Council president Shannon Hardin speaks to Ramon Obey II, president of JUST 614, on Monday at City Hall.

Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said the council will explore the possibility of funding a community-based assistance program for victims of crime after about 30 people showed up at Monday's meeting to express concern about how officials have handled the shooting death last fall of 13-year-old Sinzae Reed.

"I take advocacy very seriously," Council President Shannon Hardin told The Dispatch after the meeting, adding that he would recommend the council work with Columbus Public Health to determine if funding for such a program could be identified in the city's budget.

Also Monday, City Council voted 6-0 to appoint former council member Mitchell Brown to serve the remaining roughly one-year term of Pro Tem Elizabeth Brown, who resigned last month to take over as executive director of YWCA Columbus. The selection of Mitchell Brown, who said he was retiring from council when he left on Dec. 31, 2021, came as little surprise to many, including the other candidates, as he was the only name nominated for the opening and he was approved without debate.

Family members and activist advocates of 13-year-old Sinzae Reed, who was fatally shot in October at a Columbus Hilltop apartment complex, spoke before council during the meeting. They have held press conferences and other events to call attention to the case, including a rally Sunday at the Ohio Statehouse.

Sinzae Reed's family wasn't informed Krieg Butler had been released from jail

Dejuan Sharp, an activist who said he lives near the shooting location and has become a contact point person for Reed's family, said the family should have been notified when charges against the accused shooter had been dropped, he was released from jail and was back living near them at the Wedgewood Apartments complex in the city's Hilltop neighborhood.

Columbus City Council member Lourdes Barroso de Padilla responds to public comments about the police handling of recent deaths, including those of 13-year-old Sinzae Reed of the Hilltop last October and the fatal police shooting of 20-year-old Donovan Lewis last August, both in the Hilltop neighborhood.

The Columbus Care Coalition, which is supposed to help provide services to victims' families, did not do so in the case of the Reed family, and the Hilltop community stepped in to help the family in their time of mourning, Sharp said.

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Krieg Butler, 36, was initially arrested by Columbus police and charged with murder in Reed's death. He was ordered held on $1 million bond, but charges later were dropped by Franklin County Prosecutor Gary Tyack's office pending an autopsy report from the county coroner's office and further police investigation into Butler's claim of self-defense in the shooting. A 2019 law by the Ohio General Assembly that places more burden on the prosecution in cases where a defendant maintains self-defense.

Columbus police have said they are still awaiting forensic and ballistic evidence to be processed and the investigation remains open. Both the prosecutor's office and police reminded that there is no time limit on filing charges in a murder case.

Activists asked for a liaisons with families to communicate developments in murder cases

Activists on Monday asked the city council to establish community-based "trauma care" organizations that would serve as a liaisons with families and communicate developments in murder cases.

Sinzae Reed:What we know about the death of 13-year-old Sinzae Reed in Columbus, Ohio

"We just don't know if we have the City Council members on our side to get the job done," said Ramon Obey II, president of JUST (Justice, Unity & Social Transformation) 614.

"We don't need the police. We need better options and people that understand our community a little better," Obey said of the community-based liaison approach. He also said that he was offended by what he maintained was a larger-than-usual police presence in the council chambers Monday in apparent anticipation of the group's appearance.

Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin responds to public testimony Monday during council's meeting at City Hall.

Obey later told reporters outside council chambers that his organization would want to be among those receiving funding to act as a liaison group with victims' families.

City Public Safety Director Robert Clark said that he was learning for the first time during the meeting that Reed's family wasn't informed Butler had been released from jail. As director of Public Safety and the son of murdered father, Clark said he "would go back and assess what happened."

Columbus City Council member Shayla Favor speaks Monday at City Hall to Rebecca Duran, the mother of 20-year-old Donovan Lewis, who was fatally shot by city police Officer Ricky Anderson, on Aug. 20, 2021 while police were saving a warrant for Lewis's arrest.

Activists were unhappy that the council's YouTube livestream was down during the segment of the meeting where they spoke before council, displaying a message that the meeting "will resume shortly." The feed resumed after City Council moved on to other business.

City Council spokesperson Nya Hairston said members of the public speaking on non-agenda items aren't televised by the city under council rules. Typically, the public speaks at the end of the meeting, Hairston said, but on Monday the council allowed the Reed group to be heard near the start of the night.

Mitchell Brown appointed to serve Elizabeth Brown's remaining term

Hardin said the council is grateful to have Mitchell Brown back for the remainder of this year, saying Brown brings needed experience while agreeing to not seek reelection to the seat. Twenty-seven people had applied to fill the vacancy.

In the November general election, the city council will expand from seven to nine district seats. Only one member can reside in each of nine new residential districts. But unlike wards, voters citywide can still vote for candidates in any residential district.

After the nine council members are elected, they will draw straws to see if they will have won two- year or four-year terms, so that they are staggered in the future.

Eight liquor license objections were withdrawn

In other business, City Council withdrew objections to the state on renewing eight liquor permits out of a dozen that it had voted to oppose last month, saying they had become homes to routine crime and violence.

Columbus Assistant City Attorney Sarah Pomeroy said the city had reached agreements with each of the eight on things like updating security cameras, providing additional security, staff training and better lighting, and all are now under the supervision of the Environmental Court, allowing the city an enforcement option depending on noncompliance or future incidents.

The eight liquor license objections that were withdrawn include: PJs Grill at 15 East Frambes Ave.; Moments Grill and Lounge, 2545 Petzinger Road; Midway on High, 1728 N. High St.; Save Way Mini Mart, 2585 W. Broad St.; Sunoco station at 2725 West Broad St., Speedway #1216 at 6175 East Livingston Ave.; United Dairy Farmers (UDF) Store #649, 530 S. Hague Ave.; and UDF 634, 1680 N. High St.

"We do not come by these lightly," Pomeroy said, noting that Moments Grill and Lounge, has agreed to cease operating at the Petzinger Road location in order to get the city's support for its liquor license.

wbush@gannett.com

@ReporterBush

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: City Council picks former member Mitchell Brown to fill vacancy
The long-running feud between Prince Harry and his older brother William is unlikely to end any time soon, following the publication of Harrys controversial memoir, Spare.

Early reports suggesting the Duke of Sussex would come down particularly hard on William have now been confirmed, as the book documents how sibling rivalry was sharpened into all-out war.

Harry frequently documents the disparities in how he and his brother were treated from a young age, right down to the decor of their childhood bedrooms at Balmoral. Here are the most glaring instances of the rivalry, from squabbles to alleged physical fights.

Bedrooms at Balmoral

Harry writes of how Balmoral had 50 bedrooms, one of which had been divided for him and Willy, with adults referring to it as the nursery. Willy had the larger half, with a double bed, a good-sized basin, a cupboard with mirrored doors, a beautiful window looking down on the courtyard, the fountain, the bronze statue of a roe deer buck, he recalls. My half of the room was far smaller, less luxurious. I never asked why. I didnt care. But I also didnt need to ask. Two years older than me, Willy was the Heir, whereas I was the Spare.

Strangers at school

Harry claims that when he began attending Eton, William  already a student there  instructed him to pretend they didnt know each other. For the last two years, he explained, Eton had been his sanctuary. No kid brother tagging along, pestering him with questions, pushing up on his social circle. He was forging his own life, and he wasnt willing to give it up. Harry writes that this came as no surprise, given William apparently loathed it when Diana dressed them in the same outfits, or when anyone made the mistake of thinking us a package deal.

For one brief moment

The Duke of Sussex in an Apache helicopter (PA Archive)

Writing about the moment he was no longer Prince Harry and instead Second Lieutenant Wales of the Blues and Royals, the duke seems to relish a rare instance of one-upmanship on William. At the passing out ceremony on 12 April 2006, he remembers William saluting him as he marched past. He couldnt resort to his typical attitude when we were sharing an institution, couldnt present not to know me  or hed be insubordinate, Harry writes. For one brief moment, Spare outranked Heir.

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Pilot training

The phone hacking scandal that took place in 2005 was one news event that seemed to unite Harry and William. He writes that they were both overjoyed at the investigations into the now-defunct News of the World and relieved at the thought that friends theyd once suspected had now been vindicated. At the time, the brothers were living in a cottage in Shropshire, both training to become pilots. We had a load of laughs in that cottage, Harry says, but there were tensions, too, that he might not have comprehended at the time. They agreed to a rare joint interview, during which William apparently joked about Harry being a slob and his snoring. I turned and gave him a look. Was he joking? He claims to have laughed because we often bantered like that, but in hindsight wonders if there wasnt something else at play. I was training to get to the front line, the same place Willy had been training to get, but the Palace had scuttled his plans. He suggests William was quietly frustrated by this and expresses his astonishment at the idea: I was proud of him, and full of respect for the way he was dedicating himself wholeheartedly to his preparation.

Not a best man

Prince Harry in military uniform at the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Kate Middleton in 2011 (AFP via Getty Images)

Harry writes that he was forced to go along with the bare-faced lie that he was Williams best man at his wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011. In Spare, he writes that he was made to act out the role at the royal wedding to spare scrutiny into the lives of his brothers two closest friends, James Meade and Thomas Van Straubenzee, and also because the public expected it. He travelled to Westminster Abbey with his brother and then Prince Charles in a Bentley. Willy didnt want me giving a best mans speech, he writes, adding that it was actually Meade and Straubenzee who gave the traditional speech at Williams wedding reception. He didnt think it safe to hand me a live mic and put me in a position to go off-script. I might say something wildly inappropriate. He wasnt wrong.

William laughing at him after a panic attack

While documenting his struggles with mental health, Harry recalls a particularly uncomfortable encounter with his brother after delivering a speech. He says he had always struggled with public speaking, but in 2015 was going through a phase of avoidance that was incompatible with his public role. After one speech, which couldnt be avoided or cancelled, and during which Id nearly fainted, Willy came up to me backstage. Laughing, Harry claims. Harold! Look at you! Youre drenched! I couldnt fathom his reaction. Him of all people. Hed been present for my very first panic attack. With Kate And now he was teasing me? I couldnt imagine how he could be so insensitive.

Africa was Williams thing

File photo dated 17/10/08 of Prince William and Prince Harry ahead of the Enduro Africa charity ride in Port Edward, South Africa (PA Wire)

At the end of 2015, Harry says he felt as though he was moving in the right direction. Along with psychedelics, work was a remedy that proved most effective in combatting his mental health issues. He decided to sign up on the fight against the climate crisis. But a problem apparently arose once again in the shape of his older brother. Africa was his thing, he allegedly told Harry. And he had the right to say this, or felt he did, because he was the Heir. It was ever in his power to veto my thing, and he had every intention of exercising, even flexing, that veto power. Harry claims that he and William had serious rows about the issue and almost came to blows over it in front of their childhood friends. It was all so obvious, he writes. He cared less about finding his purpose or passion than about winning his lifelong competition with me.

Doom and gloom about Meghan

(Getty Images)

Harry claims that while William and Kate were initially excited at the news he was dating the star of Suits (they loved the show), his brother allegedly issued a warning at the end of his visit. He [said] to slow down, Harry writes of the moment he told his brother about his feelings for Meghan. Shes an American actress, after all, Harold. Anything might happen. Harry says he nodded, a bit hurt. Then hugged him and Kate and left. Later, Harry observes how William apparently always managed to make the term American actress sound like convicted felon.

The Independent has contacted representatives of Prince William for comment.

Follow the latest news and updates about Harrys memoir here. You can also read The Independents four-star review.
KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP)  Michael Castillo comes from a rich heritage of golf in Hawaii, now the head pro at Kapalua and formerly president of the Aloha Section. He had reason to believe his hope of ever playing the Sony Open was long gone.

But his assistants at Kapalua talked him into playing this year, mainly because the Aloha Section PGA Championship was at Poipu Bay, where he spent 12 years as the head pro.

Never mind that he faced radiation in November for cancer that returned to his liver. Or that he was 60 and mostly competed in senior divisions. He can still putt great, and Castillo birdied the last hole to win by one.

Now he's at the Sony Open, the oldest player in a field that includes 20-year-old Tom Kim and three-time major champion Jordan Spieth, who upon finishing at Kapalua thanked Castillo for last week and wished him the best this week at Waialae.

It is really cool, Castillo said. And it's the first time our family will all be together in 10 years. So that's exciting to get together as a family.

The patriarch is longtime club pro Ron Castillo, who played 10 times in the Sony Open. His five children all became golf professionals. His daughter, Lori, won the U.S. Junior Girls in 1979 and U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links in 1980 and is in the Hawaii Golf Hall of Fame along with her father.

Castillo's father and two brothers have played the Sony Open, which like several PGA Tour stops, reserves a spot for the PGA professional in that section.

I thought that opportunity had passed many years ago, Castillo said. I only played in the section championship because it was at Poipu. The guys said, Youve got to play.' I played well, putted good, it was 25 mph wind and I birdied 18 to win.

If that wasn't enough of a challenge, Castillo was diagnosed with colon cancer nearly five years ago. It moved to his liver, his lung and back to his liver. He has gone through chemotherapy and radiation two times each.

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The Aloha Section championship was in September.

I knew in September I needed radiation for cancer on my liver, he said. I waited until that tournament, went to New Mexico for the Senior PNC (Professional National Championship) with my sister, Lori, on the bag, and then did treatments.

He said it was a small bit of cancer, and his options were having radiation or doing nothing.

I went with radiation and I'll know next month if it was successful, he said. In December, it cleaned my body out and I feel pretty good. I'm ready for the Sony.

His father and two brothers never made the cut. Castillo was hosting 39 players at the Sentry Tournament of Champions last week, and his assistants kept on him by asking, Did you putt today? He found time.

But it's not entirely about his performance at Waialae. Castillo finally made it, a tribute to his family, and they'll all be there watching. That's enough.

SAUDI EXEMPTIONS

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan says he has granted a couple of conflicting event releases for the Saudi International next month. It now is an Asian Tour event, and Monahan says players have a right to play.

But he is applying the same stipulation as he did a year ago, when some two dozen players competed in the Saudi International as LIV Golf was actively recruiting.

Because it falls the same week as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, players who went to the Saudi International had to play Pebble once over the next two years if they had played Pebble recently; otherwise, they would have to play twice in three years.

A lot has happened since that December 2021 decision  LIV Golf began, players joined, other chose to stay with the PGA Tour and now there are $20 million tournaments on the PGA Tour that top players are required to play.

What hasn't changed is the stipulation regarding Pebble.

We laid out the rule very clearly as it relates to the number of times that they would have to play (Pebble Beach) either of the next two or three years, and those rules apply, Monahan said. Nothings changed on that front.

It will be worth keeping an eye on Xander Schauffele, who didn't like the stipulation and has said he has no intention of squeezing Pebble into his West Coast schedule. Schauffele had an MRI on Monday on his back and was awaiting results, so he likely wasn't going to be at Pebble this year anyway.

Pebble Beach and the Saudi event are Feb. 2-5.

GOLF WRITERS AWARDS

Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, Lydia Ko and Steven Alker have been voted players of the year by the Golf Writers Association of America.

Scheffler, who won four times and spent the majority of the year at No. 1 in the world, received 49% of first-place votes as the male player of the year, finishing ahead of FedEx Cup champion and three-time winner Rory McIlroy and British Open champion Cameron Smith, who also won The Players Championship and a LIV Golf event among his five victories.

Scheffler also won PGA Tour player of the year, a vote of the players.

Ko won the GWAA award for the second time (also in 2015). She won three times, was LPGA player of the year and won the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average. She received 80% of the first-place votes against U.S. Womens Open champion Minjee Lee and Atthaya Thitikul.

Alker was a four-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions, including a senior major, and he won the Charles Schwab Cup. He got 50% of first-place votes over Padraig Harrington and Steve Stricker.

They will be honored at the GWAA annual dinner on April 5, which is the week of the Masters.

MINOR LEAGUE MONEY

The Epson Tour is offering nearly $5 million in prize money this year, just 5% of what the LPGA Tour offers but still the most in its 43-year history.

Ten years ago, the developmental tour had 15 tournaments and $1.6 million in total prize money, with $150,000 for the highest purse. This year it will have 22 events and $4.9 million in prize money, with the biggest purse $335,000.

The Carlisle Arizona Womens Golf Classic and French Lick Charity Classic each have a $335,000 prize fund.

The season begins in Florida the first week in March and ends the first week in October with the Epson Tour Championship. The leading 10 players receive LPGA Tour cards for 2024 and will be offered $10,000 to wear the Epson Tour logo on their shirt sleeve.

Among recent Epson Tour alumni are Nelly Korda, Brooke Henderson and Hannah Green, all major champions.

DIVOTS

Adam Scott last week became the seventh player to top $60 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour. ... Taiga Semikawa makes his PGA Tour debut this week in the Sony Open. He won twice on the Japan Golf Tour while in college. Semikawa also will be playing the next two weeks at The American Express and Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. ... Winged Foot will host the U.S. Open in 2028 for the eighth time. It last was played there without spectators in September 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bryson DeChambeau set the U.S. Open record for Winged Foot at 274 to win by six. ... India-based Hero Motor Corp. is the new title sponsor for the Dubai Desert Classic. Hero already sponsors the Indian Open, this weeks Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi and the Hero World Challenge that Tiger Woods hosts in the Bahamas.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Since the FedEx Cup began, Daniel Chopra in 2008 is the only player to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions and not make it to the Tour Championship.

FINAL WORD

Theres a number at the end of the week that tells you how good you are and tells the world how good you are.  Max Homa.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Read also: Ukraine accuses priest of working for Russia

"A person involved in criminal proceedings had distributed Russian propaganda leaflets, where he called the faithful to seize power and change Ukrainian borders, the SBU said.

SBU

SBU

SBU

Also, he had published materials in support of Russian occupiers and their war crimes.

According to the SBU, they have completed their investigation into the matter and have submitted the relevant documents to court.

Read also: SBU says Russian propaganda found in raids of Moscow Patriarchate church premises

The alleged collaborator faces up to 8 years of prison, if found guilty.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
IPO Edge hosted a fireside chat at the 2023 ICR Conference with the CEO and CFO of Regis Corporation, a hair salon chain known and serving worldwide. The in-person interview featured CEO, Matthew Doctor and CFO, Kersten Zupfer, joined by IPO Edge Editor-in-Chief John Jannarone and Editor-at-Large Jarrett Banks. Watch the full recording below:

About Regis Corporation

Regis Corporation is a leader in the haircare industry. As of September 30, 2022, the Company franchised, owned or held ownership interests in 5,494 locations worldwide. Regis franchised and corporate locations operate under concepts such as Supercuts, SmartStyle, Cost Cutters, Roosters and First Choice Haircutters.

About CEO, Matthew Doctor

Matthew Doctor was appointed President & Chief Executive Officer and joined the Board of Directors of Regis Corporation in May 2022. He served as interim Chief Executive Officer since December 2021. He joined the company in February 2021 as Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer. Previously, Matt was a Partner and Chief Financial Officer for Kava Restaurants, a Tim Hortons franchisee. Prior to his time at Kava, Matt held several roles at Restaurant Brands International (RBI), owner of the Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes brands. At RBI, he was Head of Global Development and Franchisee Performance for Burger King, led mergers and acquisitions in Asia for Burger King, and led development efforts for Tim Hortons. Matt started his career as an Investment Banker for J.P. Morgan in New York, where he executed several M&A and Capital Markets transactions for Financial Institution clients. Matt received a BBA with Distinction from Emory Universitys Goizueta Business School.

About CFO, Kersten Zupfer

Kersten Zupfer was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in November 2019. Kersten has served in accounting and finance roles of increasing leadership at Regis for more than 12 years. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since November 2017, prior to which she served as Vice President, Corporate Controller, Chief Accounting Officer since December 2014. In this role, Kersten has responsibility for all of Regis accounting, external financial reporting, and financial controls, including, SEC reporting, accounting policy, and technical accounting. She joined Regis in 2007 serving in a range of accounting leadership roles. Kersten holds a bachelors degree in accounting from the University of North Dakota and is a certified public accountant (inactive). She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants. Kersten started her career at Arthur Andersen LLP.

Story continues

Contact:

IPO Edge

www.IPO-Edge.com

Editor@ipo-edge.com
Republican Rep. George Santos of New York. MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

A pair of Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday filed a complaint asking the House Committee on Ethics to investigate Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) after he admitted to falsifying large portions of his background during his congressional campaign.

The complaint, which was first reported by The New York Times, was filed by Democratic Reps. Daniel Goldman and Ritchie Torres, both of New York. In their letter to the ethics committee, Goldman and Torres wrote that Santos broke the law when he failed to "file timely, accurate, and complete financial disclosure reports as required by law," describing Santos' reports from 2020 and 2022 as "sparse and complexing."

Goldman and Torres also claimed that Santos "misled voters in his district about his ethnicity, his religion, his education, and his employment and professional history, among other things." While these lies about his resume may not technically be illegal, the lawmakers wrote that Santos "failed to uphold the integrity expected of members of the House of Representatives" as a result.

However, the House Committee on Ethics typically investigates misconduct from current members of Congress, whereas Santos' lies occurred prior to his taking office. Despite this, Jonathan Entin, a constitutional law professor at Case Western Reserve University, told BBC News that any potential criminal charges brought against Santos related to his financial disclosures could be "sufficient" for him to be expelled from the House.

Even if Santos doesn't face charges, Casey Burgat, director of the Legislative Affairs program at George Washington University, told BBC News that Republicans may eventually decide that "keeping him in their conference does more harm than good for their general party reputation."

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Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff of California, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Eric Swalwell of California. Anna Moneymaker and Win McNamee/Getty Images

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has pledged to bar three Democrats from sitting on two committees.

Republicans are targeting Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell, and Ilhan Omar.

Democrats declined to speculate on next steps if McCarthy follows through on his plan.

As Speaker Kevin McCarthy prepares to make good on promises to punish three House Democratic lawmakers by stripping them of their committee assignments in the nascent 118th Congress, questions remain about how far the political retribution will go.

McCarthy promised a year ago that Reps. Adam Schiff of California, Eric Swalwell of California, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota would pay the price for House Democratic leaders plucking conservative firebrands Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona from their respective panels in the last session. McCarthy on Monday told the Associated Press that penalizing the Democratic trio was at the top of his to-do list this year, arguing that "Schiff has lied to the American public."

While he said he'd leave committee assignment decisions to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Swalwell told Insider that McCarthy's not that hard to figure out.

"If I was an NFL coach, and I could take the best players off the field, you know, on the opposition, I guess I would try and do that too," Swalwell said just off the House floor, touting McCarthy's "purely vengeful" move almost as a badge of honor.

House Democratic Caucus chair Pete Aguilar declined to speculate on next steps should McCarthy follow through on his plan to remove Schiff and Swalwell from the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

"We will send the names of the individuals who this caucus supports and are qualified to serve on committees. What the speaker does beyond that is something that we will handle  but it isn't anything that we're going to get into today," Aguilar told congressional reporters during a Capitol Hill press conference.

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Schiff served as chairman of the Intelligence panel in the 117th Congress. Swalwell has served on the Intelligence committee since 2015, and is also a member of the Homeland Security Committee and Judiciary Committee.

Both served as impeachment managers in the back-to-back House trials against embattled former President Donald Trump, with Schiff tapped to lead the 2019 impeachment proceedings and Swalwell contributing to the 2021 probe.

Jeffries's staff did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about defending Democratic members' committee assignments. A Schiff spokeswoman wrote "we'll have more information on this at a later date."

The potential move, promised by McCarthy, follows Democrats' decisions last Congress to strip Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona from their committee assignments because of her promotion of conspiracy theories and endorsement of political violence and his anime video depicting him killing Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

But Democrats aren't without recourse if Republicans carry out their plans this Congress.

Last month, McCarthy explained how Democrats could retaliate against him for not seating the three Democrats under a rule he was fighting at the time  and later agreed to.

Back then, McCarthy opposed a rule allowing a member to propose a "motion to vacate the chair" because it would allow any single member of the House to call for a vote to unseat the House speaker, a move that would fail but take up significant floor time. McCarthy thought there should be a higher threshold. But he ultimately agreed to the rule to win support from conservative members.

"Think about this," McCarthy told Newsmax host Sean Spicer last month. "Adam Schiff and Swalwell are no longer going to be on the Intel Committee. Omar's no longer going to be on Foreign Affairs, based upon what they've done. Don't you think they'll walk to the floor to try to make havoc every single day with us?

"Why would we turn the floor over to the Democrats?" he continued. "Why would we empower the Democrats to stop our agenda going forward?"

Read the original article on Business Insider
Republicans have significantly retooled the focus of the House panel investigating the governments response to the coronavirus pandemic, a move that aligns with the new majoritys oversight focus.

As part of the rules package that passed the House 220-213 on Monday night, the 12-member Select Committee on the Coronavirus Response will be charged with examining the origins of the pandemic, including federal funding of gain-of-function research.

The origins of the coronavirus have become intensely politicized, and Biden officials and outside scientists are bracing for a new wave of investigations.

The examination of gain-of-function research is central to the common GOP position that the virus originated from a lab in Wuhan, China, and was potentially backed by funding from the U.S. government. Last year, Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee released a report concluding the pandemic began with a virus that escaped from the Wuhan lab.

When they were in the minority, Republicans were not shy about launching probes into the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, focusing on the origins of the virus and whether the federal government  and by extension, Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases  helped fund controversial research that might have played a role in its creation.

With the majority, the GOP would have the authority to lob subpoenas at the administration to force it to hand over documents, likely through the broader House Oversight and Reform Committee, now chaired by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), under which the coronavirus panel works.

The coronavirus committee will also investigate trillions of dollars in aid doled out to address the pandemic, federal COVID-19-related mandates, and the impact of school closures. Republicans have been frustrated with what they see as the administrations unaccountable coronavirus spending and are looking to shine a spotlight on where the relief money has gone.

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The panels focus is a major change from how it operated under the Democratic-controlled House. Former Chairman James Clyburn (D-S.C.) prioritized looking into the early response and shortcomings from the Trump administration, as well as the former presidents political interference.

With its focus often falling on Trump, Republicans on the panel regularly accused Clyburn of politically motivated investigations. A bipartisan pandemic response bill was included in last years omnibus funding bill, but it did not contain a provision that would have established an independent commission to investigate the government pandemic response and the viruss origins.

Republicans have not selected a leader for the committee, though its first hearing is expected next month.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) speaks at a press conference following their weekly caucus meeting in the U.S. Capitol Building on July 19, 2022 in Washington, DC. During the press conference the Republican House Members spoke about U.S. President Joe Biden's domestic agenda and the President's recent trip to the Middle East,

Anna Moneymaker/Getty; Win McNamee/Getty

The controversy surrounding New York Rep. George Santos continued during his first full week in Congress. As Democrats are urging the House Ethics Committee to formally investigate Santos for fabricating significant portions of his past, Majority Leader Steve Scalise says that the House GOP has its own plan.

"This is something that's being handled internally," Scalise told reporters, ABC News reports. "Obviously, there were concerns about what we had heard and so we're gonna have to sit down and talk to him about it. And that's something that we're going to deal with. Just like there's a lot of other things we're going to deal with."

RELATED: Embattled Rep. George Santos Reportedly Called a Liar on House Floor During Rough First Day in Congress

Scalise's comments came the same day that Santos' fellow New York Reps. Daniel Goldman and Ritchie Torres  both Democrats  filed an official complaint with the House Committee on Ethics, calling for them to launch an investigation into Santos.

"George Santos, by his own admission, is an outright fraud. The House has an obligation to police itself and maintain the integrity of the institution," Goldman said in a tweet announcing the complaint.

RELATED: Incoming Rep. George Santos Apologizes for 'Embellishing My Resume': 'I Said I Was Jew-ish'

Baldwin, N.Y.: Congressman-elect George Devolder Santos joined the newly elected GOP members of the Senate and Congress during a press conference on November. 9, 2022 in Baldwin, New York.

Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty George Santos

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Santos, who was sworn in to office last week, has been courting controversy for the past several weeks, after a bombshell New York Times report alleged that much of his biography could not be substantiated.

Following the report, Santos himself admitted that he had "embellished" some portions of his resume, such as working at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, as he previously asserted. Santos also revealed that he had lied about his education, noting that he did not attend Baruch College or New York University, as he earlier claimed.

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"I didn't graduate from any institution of higher learning," he told the New York Post. "I'm embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my resume. I own up to that ... we do stupid things in life."

RELATED: Tulsi Gabbard Criticizes GOP Rep.-Elect George Santos in Fox News Interview: 'Do You Have No Shame?'

But many questions about Santos' background remain, including those about his finances. Late last month, outlets including The New York Times and CBS News reported that Santos was under federal investigation regarding his financial disclosures.

In 2020, when Santos launched his first run for the House, he stated in a financial disclosure that he had no assets and no earned income. But by the time he launched his second run for the House in 2022, his financial situation had changed, with Federal Election Commission filings showing he lent at least $580,000 to his campaign, and $27,000 to his political action committee.

RELATED: Complaint Against New Rep. George Santos Alleges His Campaign Lied About 'the True Source' of Its Funding

The news of the federal investigation into Santos' finances came just hours after the Nassau County District Attorney's Office in New York announced Wednesday that it, too, is investigating the incoming lawmaker.

The complaint filed by Reps. Goldman and Torres seeks an investigation into whether Santos broke the law by leaving some details out of his financial disclosures, The New York Times reports.

A separate complaint  filed Monday by the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center  argues that "unknown individuals or corporations may have illegally funneled money" into the Santos campaign, and alleges that the lawmaker lied "about how his campaign raised and spent money" in addition to lying about "virtually every aspect of his life."
The Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has launched an investigation into the documents marked classified that were found at a private office once used by President Joe Biden. CBS News has learned those documents were marked with varying levels of classification including some that were designated highly classified.

FILE: Committee Ranking Member James Comer (R-KY) speaks during a House Oversight Committee hearing at the Rayburn House Office Building on December 14, 2022 in Washington, DC. / Credit: / Getty Images

In a letter to Stuart Delery, the White House counsel, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, of Kentucky, wrote the committee "is concerned that President Biden has compromised (intelligence) sources and methods with his own mishandling of classified documents."

Comer asks the White House to turn over all documents and communications related to the classified material found in Mr. Biden's personal office  including the classified documents themselves  by Jan. 24. The documents were given to the National Archives on Nov. 3, according to a White House statement. They are believed to be held in a secure facility in Washington.

He is also requesting a list of people who had access to the office space and any communication related to the documents among the White House, National Archives and Department of Justice.

The request did not include a subpoena.

Comer told CBS News Tuesday evening that "it appears that it's another cover-up. And we just have a lot of questions with respect to how Biden's been treated verses how Donald Trump was treated."

"We simply want to know the same things we asked when Mar-a-Lago was raided," Comer said. "Who has which documents? What level of classification are we talking about here? How many documents? And what was the process involved with making the decision to raid Mar-a-Lago, versus the decision to apparently do nothing with President Biden?"

The House investigation comes about 24 hours after CBS News first reported the Department of Justice was reviewing roughly 10 documents marked classified that were found at the Penn Biden Center, a think tank in Washington, D.C., where Mr. Biden worked between 2017 and 2019. The documents stem from Mr. Biden's tenure as vice president, two sources said.

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The documents were found in a locked closet by personal attorneys for Mr. Biden who were cleaning out the space on Nov. 2, according to a statement by White House lawyer Richard Sauber. The lawyers stopped their work and informed the White House counsel of the discovery.

The White House counsel then informed the National Archives, the federal agency responsible for securing and preserving presidential and vice presidential papers. The Archives referred the matter to the Justice Department.

Attorney General Merrick Garland assigned John Lausch, Jr., the U.S. attorney based in Chicago, to review the classified materials and investigate how they ended up at the president's private office. The FBI is assisting in the review, which is expected to wrap up soon.

A source familiar with the investigation told CBS News Justice Department officials are exploring whether there are additional classified documents in other locations.

Comer sent a second letter to the National Archives Tuesday saying his committee would also probe "whether there is a political bias" at the agency. He alleges "inconsistent treatment of recovering classified records held by former President Trump and President Biden." The letter also requests agency documents and communications within 14 days and testimony from senior Archives officials by Jan. 17.

In August, the FBI executed a search warrant at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate that yielded more than 100 documents marked classified. That seizure came after a year of resistance by Trump and his representatives to federal efforts to recoup documents from the Trump administration. In all, more than 300 documents with classified markings have been recovered from Mar-a-Lago.

A special counsel is investigating Trump's handling of the classified material.

Comer's interest in the Biden documents stands in contrast to his reaction to the Trump records. In late November, Comer told CNN that investigating the Trump documents would "not be a priority." He said, "I don't get involved in a lot of the drama from the last administration."

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Congress (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The House of Representatives passed a controversial rules package that some in the conference criticised as a concession to the far-right in the party.

The rules package passed on an almost exclusively party-line vote, with 220 Republicans voting for it and only Republican Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas voting against the package. All 212 Democrats voted against the rules package.

Mr Gonzales of Texas had announced that he would vote against it on Friday amid the dispute within the GOP about concessions to right-wing members who opposed House Speaker Kevin McCarthys nomination.

But Representative Byron Donalds of Florida, who voted for Mr McCarthy before having his name put forward for nomination, said the package puts power back in the hands of members.

Our rules package is the most transformative rules package this place has seen in quite some time, he said. And I think that's a very good thing and I expect it to I suppose it's a pass unanimously.

Mr Donalds said that he had heard whispers from Democrats saying they liked some parts of the rules package.

These rules will help every member, no matter their party or where they come from in a country, he told reporters.

Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who voted present for Mr McCarthys speakership, praised the rules package.

These rules will help every member no matter their party or where they come from in a country, she told The Independent.

But Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina said that while she would vote for it, she worries about giving away too much to insurgent Republicans.

And if we're going to say that the far left should it be cutting back from deals and secret when they're in charge, then we too shouldn't be doing it, she said. And I was I posed the question, well, what is it what are we negotiating here?

Specifically, Ms Mace noted how in the final rules package released on Friday, the only change was lowering the threshold for a motion to vacate the chair, which would allow for a no-confidence vote for the speaker.

So what did we do for four days, she said. What else was negotiated?
Republican Reps. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, Mike Bost of Illinois, and Mike Rogers of Alabama are all set to chair committees in the new Congress. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times, Win McNamee/Getty Images, and Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post

House Republicans have announced a new slate of committee chairs for the new Congress.

Six of the committees will be chaired by a man named Mike or Michael.

Meanwhile, just three committees will be chaired by women, down from seven during the last Congress.

The House of Representatives is set to have more members of Congress named "Mike" than women serving as committee chairs under the new Republican majority.

Following the election of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week, the chamber is continuing to organize and set up committees, which are involved in drafting legislation, conducting hearings, and providing oversight of government agencies.

The House is set to have 22 committees in the new 118th Congress, not including join committees with the US Senate.

That includes a new Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party  known colloquially as the Select Committee on China  that's set to be established by a House vote on Tuesday.

Lawmakers typically ascend to the top of committees through a combination of seniority and decisions made by party leadership. On Monday, House Republicans sorted out a number of contested chairmanships, and House Majority Steve Scalise released a list of recommendations for chairmanships that were ratified by the conference on Tuesday.

The result: men named "Mike" will outnumber women two-to-one among committee chairs.

The six incoming committee chairs named Mike or Michael include:

Mike Rogers of Alabama, chairing the Armed Services Committee

Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, chairing the new Select Committee on China

Mike Bost of Illinois, chairing the Veterans' Affairs Committee

Mike Turner, chairing the Intelligence Committee

Michael McCaul of Texas, chairing the Foreign Affairs Committee

Michael Guest of Mississippi, chairing the Ethics Committee

The three incoming committee chairs who are women include:

Kay Granger of Texas, chairing the Appropriations Committee

Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, chairing the Education and Workforce Committee

Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chairing the Energy and Commerce Committee

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According to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, 33 of the 222 Republicans now serving in the House are women  a record high driven by efforts by Republicans leaders like McCarthy and House GOP Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik to recruit more female candidates.

Meanwhile, 91 of the 212 House Democrats are women. Under Democratic leadership in the previous Congress, 7 House committees were chaired by women.

Read the original article on Business Insider
WASHINGTON (AP)  House Republicans moved Tuesday to swiftly establish the marquee investigations of their new majority, voting to create panels focused on China and what they assert is rampant abuse of power in the federal government.

Newly empowered, GOP lawmakers are vowing to bring accountability to the Biden administration, pledging to investigate federal law enforcement agencies, including those that are conducting probes into former President Donald Trump.

Republicans also established a committee, with broad bipartisan support, to investigate strategic competition between the U.S. and China, in line with the party's push for a more hardline approach to the Asian nation.

The creation of the committees is the first of many investigative steps Republicans plan to take as they settle into their slim majority and attempt to serve as a check against President Joe Biden and his agenda on Capitol Hill.

It amounts to a massive reshuffling away from the oversight priorities of Democrats, who used their majority to form a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. That committee is no more, and Republicans have no plans to revive it, vowing instead to take a closer look at the actions of law enforcement.

Republicans officially labeled one of the committees as reviewing the Weaponization of the Federal Government, a name that from the outset suggests the panels investigations may be one-sided. The probe will be conducted under the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee, which is headed by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a hardliner who is a close ally of Trump.

The committee is being given a broad mandate, told to investigate the expansive role of the executive branch to collect information on or otherwise investigate citizens of the United States, including ongoing criminal investigations." Notably, the panel will have access to classified information, a privilege usually reserved for the intelligence committees in the House and Senate.

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First up is investigating what they call a coordinated effort by Justice Department to go after parents and deem them domestic terrorists following an increase of threats targeting school board members, teachers and other employees in the nations public schools.

The real focus has always been what 14 FBI agents have come and told Judiciary Republican staff about whats going on with the FBI and the very first one was on the school board, Jordan told reporters Monday. Well start with those individuals and well move from there once we get up and running with whos on our committee.

The GOP focus on issues like parents rights in schools stems from the unruliness that engulfed local education meetings across the country since the pandemic began, with board members regularly confronted and threatened by angry protesters. There is no evidence the FBI ever declared protesting parents domestic terrorists," despite Republican rhetoric.

Jordan, who is expected to lead the investigation, said the committee is modeled after the bipartisan Church Committee," a 1970s congressional investigation that sought to investigate allegations that the U.S. government spied on its own citizens for decades. That investigation led to significant reforms with the passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which requires intelligence agencies to seek permission from a secret court before surveilling Americans.

Democrats opposed the creation of the committee, calling it a partisan tool for Republicans to go after the Justice Department as Trump is the subject of several federal criminal investigations, including for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and his handling and storing of presidential records at Mar-a-Lago.

Republicans claim to care about law enforcement. But this new committee is about attacking law enforcement, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the ranking member of the Rules Committee, said on the House floor. Its about going after people. Its about destroying peoples careers and lives. Its about undermining the Department of Justice.

The sharply partisan debate over the Judiciary committee stood in stark contrast to the bipartisan support for the China panel, which will be led by Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin. Members of both parties said more attention should be devoted to the global implications of China's economic competition strategy.

You have my word and my commitment. This is not a partisan committee, Speaker Kevin McCarthy said. That is my hope, my desire, my wish that we speak with one voice that we focus on the challenges that we have.

He added, The threat is too great for us to bicker with ourselves. Close to 150 Democrats voted for the committee's creation on Tuesday.

Who will serve on either committee beyond the chairs will be a decision for congressional leaders. The House is in the process of seating the various standing committees, a process that is expected to be contentious as McCarthy has already pledged to retaliate against Democrats for removing several far-right members from their committee assignments in the last Congress.

Some of the names being floated for the Judiciary subcommittee include Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., whose phone was seized in August as part of the Justice Department's investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Why should I be limited just because someone has made an accusation?" Perry said in a Sunday interview on ABCs This Week with host George Stephanopoulos. Everybody in America is innocent until proven guilty.

But Democrats are alleging that members like Perry and Jordan will be using the committee as a way to push back on agencies that are investigating them and their allies.

Theyre effectively trying to pardon themselves with the creation of this select committee, McGovern said. This is unconscionable.

___

An earlier version of this story mistakenly reported that the National Security Agency was a byproduct of the work of the Church Committee. That reference has been deleted.
As messy and dramatic as it was, last weeks lengthy fight over the House speakers gavel was supposed to be the easy part.

Now, newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is poised to face his next test. With members having finally been sworn in, the House is set to vote Monday night on its first order of real business: adopting a rules package laying out how the 118th Congress will operate. After that, Republicans will look to repeal billions in new funding for the Internal Revenue Service provided by Democrats last year.

As you might expect, there could be more drama ahead.

McCarthy won the speakers gavel late Friday night after making a host of concessions to the hardline conservatives who had been withholding their support. "I ran out of things I could even imagine to ask for," Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), one of the holdouts, told CNN. Those concessions could raise the chances of risky budget and debt battles over the coming year. Already, they have spurred some grumbling from moderates. Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX) said he will vote against the rules package, and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) told CBS Newss Face the Nation on Sunday that she is on the fence about it given the secretive dealmaking that created it.

I like the rules package. It is the most open, fair, and fiscally conservative package we've had in 30 years, she said. I support it, but what I don't support is a small number of people trying to get a deal done or deals done for themselves in private, in secret, to get a vote or vote present. I don't support that.

The Republican majoritys new rules: The rules package includes some significant changes. Perhaps most notably, it restores the power of any single member to force a vote to oust the speaker  a change that could weaken McCarthy and result in instability for the House.

The package also includes a number of fiscal measures meant to reduce federal spending and forestall tax increases.

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* A switch from PAYGO to CUTGO: The GOP rules replace the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) requirements used by the last Congress, which call for any increase in mandatory spending or reduction in revenues to be offset by other spending cuts or revenue increases. The new rules would switch to cut as you go, or CUTGO, which would prohibits net increases in mandatory spending over a five- or -ten-year budget window and nix the use of revenue increases to offset new spending.

* An increased threshold for approving tax rate increases: The GOP rules would require a three-fifths supermajority to approve any increase in tax rates.

* Eliminating an automatic increase of the debt limit: The GOP rules would strike whats known as the Gephardt rule, a provision named for former Democratic leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri, which tied automatic debt limit increases to the passage of a House budget resolution. The Republican change would mean that a debt limit increase would have to come via a separate vote.

* The use of dynamic scoring: Republicans want to restore a rule they have enacted in the past requiring the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation to factor in macroeconomic feedback effects into their analyses of legislation.

Setting up future fights: The rules package does not actually contain some of the most important concessions McCarthy made to conservatives, such as a commitment to pursue a budget that would balance within 10 years and cap spending at fiscal 2022 levels. McCarthy reportedly also agreed to require spending cuts in exchange for any increase in the federal governments debt limit, a hike that will be needed later this year.

Punchbowl News reported Monday morning that some of those promises are laid out in a separate, secret three-page addendum to the 55-page rules package. This pact includes the most controversial concessions McCarthy made in order to become speaker  three seats on the Rules Committee for conservatives, freezing spending at FY2022 levels, a debt-ceiling strategy, coveted committee assignments and more, Punchbowl said.

The commitment to cut spending to 2022 levels would mean cuts of more than $130 billion from the recently passed omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2023, including potentially steep cuts to the defense budget, which most Republicans and many Democrats will likely oppose. Non-defense programs would also face massive cuts. The combined package would seem to have little chance of passing the Senate, making the votes even trickier for some House moderates.

The deal, if it holds, would largely impose the balanced-budget blueprint that former President Donald Trumps budget director, Russ Vought, drafted and shopped to conservative lawmakers last year, Roll Call reports. It purports to cut some $10 trillion in projected spending over the next decade while producing a slight surplus in the final year  all while making room for $3.3 trillion in tax cuts. Complicating matters is that two of the largest pots of federal dollars, Social Security and Medicare benefits, would be spared the ax, leading to bigger cuts across every other program.

The GOP plan calls for $4 trillion in cuts from projected health care spending and another $2 trillion from programs including food stamps, child nutrition, student loans and agricultural price supports, Roll Call says.

At the same time, the debt ceiling hike that will be needed in a matter of months now appears even more likely to prompt a dangerous showdown  or put McCarthys speakership in peril. When asked if he would look to oust McCarthy if the speaker allowed the House to pass a clean increase in the debt limit, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) told CNN: Im not going to play the what-if games on how were going to use the tools of the House to make sure that we enforce the terms of the agreement. But we will use the tools of the House to enforce the terms of the agreement.

The White House insists it wont negotiate over the debt limit. Congress is going to need to raise the debt limit without  without  conditions and its just that simple, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Sunday. Attempts to exploit the debt ceiling as leverage will not work. There will be no hostage taking.

Just totally unrealistic: The GOP hardliners budget demands are the stuff of fantasy, even according to experts whose jobs involve pushing for deficit reduction and a sustainable fiscal path.

Their specific ask of balancing the budget in 10 years is just totally unrealistic. It would take $11 trillion in savings, Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, told The New York Times.

I want to save more money than a lot of people, she said. But what theyre demanding is just not achievable.

The bottom line: Republicans hoping to push the rules package through can again afford to lose just four votes if Democrats remain united in opposition. The rules are likely to be adopted  and set up plenty of showdowns this year.

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Brian Walshe, of Cohasset, faces a Quincy Court judge charged with impeding the investigation into his wife Ana' disappearance from their home Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool

Brian Walshe was arrested on charges of misleading police in the case of his missing wife.

Walshe was granted bail Monday despite being on parole for a prior conviction.

In 2021, he was convicted of fraud for attempting to sell fake Andy Warhol paintings on eBay.

The husband of a missing Massachusetts mother of three was granted bail Monday  despite being on parole for a fraud conviction involving two fake Andy Warhol paintings.

Brian Walshe, 47, was arrested Sunday and charged Monday with misleading investigators in the search for his wife Ana Walshe, 39, who was reported missing on January 4, 2023. After a two-day search, prosecutors with the Norfolk District Attorney's office turned their attention to Brian Walshe, calling into question his previous statements to police, according to an affidavit filed Monday.

In addition to finding a bloodied knife in the couple's Cohasset, Massachusetts, basement, investigators also discovered searches in Brian Walshe's internet history including "how to dispose of a 115-pound woman's body," two law enforcement sources told CNN.

Walshe told police he went to CVS and Whole Foods on day one of his wife being missing, though no footage at either store showed him there.

In a statement to The Daily Beast, Brian Walshe's defense attorney, Tracy Miner, said her client has "been incredibly cooperative" with police.

The charges announced Monday weren't Brian Walshe's first run-in with the law. In an unrelated April 2021 case, he pleaded guilty in connection to taking and attempting to sell two Warhol paintings on eBay. He was currently on parole awaiting sentencing and was only permitted to leave the house at certain times with the court's permission.

Prosecutors said the paintings were two pieces from Warhol's 1978 work, "Shadows." The original listing price for the paintings was $100,000. The buyer arranged to buy the paintings outside of eBay for $80,000, according to the complaint. After buying the paintings, the buyer noticed the promised authentification seal from the Andy Warhol Foundation was not on the back of the artwork.

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An affidavit completed by an FBI agent investigating Walshe's art trade indicated Walshe had purchased two authentic Warhol paintings at auction, then "falsely offered the authentic paintings for sale in his eBay listing," but "delivered fake paintings" to the victim.

The gallery owner who Brian Walshe attempted to sell the paintings to spoke to The Daily Beast on Monday.

"He knows how to play the legal system, he knows how to play everyone and everything," Ron Rivlin told The Daily Beast. "He's very calculated."

Read the original article on Insider
Chinese whole-process peoples democracy

15:16, January 09, 2023 By Paul Tembe ( People's Daily Online

In his address at a central conference in October 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping mentioned and elaborated on what he terms Chinas whole-process peoples democracy.

To the untrained eye, juxtaposing democracy and communism in relation to China may seem like an anachronism. After all, democracy is largely associated with Western countries where people, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, choose their leaders, decide on policies and programmes.

The experience and practice of China since the 1978 opening up and reform period, turns this understanding on its head and exposes its evident structural shortcomings.

Chinese democracy is markedly different from that of Western countries. Addressing the ceremony celebrating the CPC centenary, President Xi said, On the journey ahead, we must rely closely on the people to create history. Upholding the Party's fundamental purpose of wholeheartedly serving the people, we will stand firmly with the people, implement the Party's mass line, respect the people's creativity, and practice a people-centered philosophy of development. We will develop whole-process people's democracy, safeguard social fairness and justice, and resolve the imbalances and inadequacies in development and the most pressing difficulties and problems that are of great concern to the people. In doing so, we will make more notable and substantive progress toward achieving well-rounded human development and common prosperity for all.

What does this mean and how has it been applied and monitored regularly in the Peoples Republic of China? How is its relevance most fitting given Chinas rather unique history, demography, political and economic landscape?

Which lessons can be learned for South Africa as it battles to make its constitutional democracy deliver for the majority of its people, as the PRC has achieved in unparalleled quantities, in terms of the human development index (HDI) and UNs Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

Above all, whole-process peoples democracy is associated with good governance, that is, if good governance is associated with effective and efficient service delivery of common goods. Judged on this alone, the CPC has achieved this rare feat of delivering for its various citizens and diverse communities in basic and advanced education, health care, infrastructure, employment, and safety.

On this front alone, the PRC is uncompromising that public leaders must serve and prioritise national interests above selfish individual rights. The very function of Chinese state institutions is to be accountable and responsive, at all levels, to the citizens needs and concerns. Failure to do so is not tolerated, and there is simply no impunity for lack of effective service delivery or the perpetration of corruption and maladministration.

Let us recall that the word governance, using a definition from the 2015 World Public Service Report, refers to steering.

Steering, for example a ship, is not only a matter of keeping the ship afloat and in a forward, backward or sideways motion, most importantly, it strongly demands knowledge of the direction and ensuring that the ship is constantly on course in that direction.

This is not surprising since for the CPC, most prominently since 1978 and in the current trajectory under President Xi, the connection between political development, economic reform and social stability has been prized above anything else.

This has enabled the CPC to select, not holus-bolus, from other countries and their systems what works for the PRC. This selection has been cognisant of the objective material conditions in China.

Hence the role of the market economy was not left to its own devices, of pure profit-seeking, but required state facilitation to balance the wealth and income inequalities it inevitably produces.

This is a reason it is now commonplace to speak of Chinas socialism with Chinese characteristics. The same is true when it comes to democracy. It has been reconfigured to respond directly to, and be applicable to, the relatively exceptional structural circumstances of China.

Unlike in other countries where the will of the people matters during electoral periods, in China the peoples interests reign supreme throughout the terms of office of public officials, from the county to president levels of administrations.

Whole-process peoples democracy is supposed to serve common interests and deliver tangible societal benefits that have, for example, enabled China to surpass, in 2019, the US as the number one source of international patent applications that were filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Whole-process peoples democracy has enabled the PRC to build the worlds largest social security system and a basic medical insurance coverage which reaches more than 95 percent of the countrys population. This is in addition to the popularly known unprecedented accomplishment of lifting 770 million Chinese citizens from absolute poverty.

In the process, the CPC has reached, ahead by 10 years, the SDG Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

As the world battles through the Covid-19 pandemic, the PRC has shown the way with its whole-process peoples democracy just how the pandemic, in all its variants, can be handled, how to maintain economic growth, and still deliver to most citizens basic socio-economic rights. As such, Chinese democracy deserves acknowledgement for delivering on good governance that advances basic service delivery.

It is not a coincidence President Xi states simply that democracy is not an ornament to be used for decoration; it is to be used to solve the problems people want to solve.

We would do well to all remember that, between 2016 and 2020, the CPC created an estimated 60 million decent jobs, which is an obvious sign of Chinese democracy in action to link the attainment of socio-economic rights to the delivery of social cohesion and nation-formation.

The declaration by President Xi of China being a moderately prosperous society in all respects is related to the practice of whole-process peoples democracy.

Quite obviously, when a government is dominated by a few interest groups and mainly advances the well-being of a few and in the process the majority is excluded from benefiting from the fruits of democracy, it is an example of bad governance.

This was the conclusion of a 2014 groundbreaking study by American social scientists, Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page, that in the US it can be reasonably concluded that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests impact on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.

Using a South African terminology and recent experience, is this not an example of sophisticated state capture? From this study is it not fair to conclude that the US is more of an oligarchy than a democracy?

What are the lessons, for South Africa, that can be gleaned from Chinas whole-process peoples democracy? Firstly, an executive and bureaucracy are defining features towards making democracy meaningful and having a societal impact.

When leaders simply focus on policy proclamation without emphasising implementation and even more implementation, as Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew and Rwanda under Paul Kagame have achieved, this places a risk on the sustainability of the democratic project and nation-formation programmes.

Secondly, the prosecution of those found to be implicated in acts of corruption and maladministration, by relevant law enforcement agencies, should be non-negotiable.

Thirdly, political systems should be fitting for the material conditions of a country. It does not benefit anyone to proclaim proudly that our constitutional democracy is the most progressive in the world when the basic needs of people are not met.

Lack of effective service delivery is the reason there are record-high incidents of service delivery protests in our country.

There is a Chinese truism that says: A man of wisdom adapts to changes; a man of knowledge acts by circumstances.

Paul Tembe is a South African expert on China.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Wu Chengliang)
The Christmas and New Year's holidays passed without any gifts, treats or special meals for Paul Whelan.

The former corporate security executive from Novi, who was arrested in Moscow in December 2018 and convicted of espionage after a closed-door trial in 2020, is serving a 16-year sentence at a labor camp in Russia. The U.S. has declared him wrongfully detained and has been negotiating for his release.

The prison has forbidden any gatherings or festivities, including decorations, for the holidays, his brother David Whelan told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, of conditions at the IK-17 labor camp in the Republic of Mordovia.

US citizen suspected spy Paul Whelan attends a hearing of investigators' motion to extend his arrest at the Lefortovsky district court in Moscow, Russia, 24 May 2019. Paul Whelan, a citizen of the United States, Britain, Canada and Ireland, was detained on suspicion of spying by Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) at the end of December 2018 in Moscow. If found guilty he could be sentenced up to 20 years in jail, media reported.

Whelan allowed to call parents in Michigan

There, Paul Whelan, a former Marine who worked for Auburn Hills-based auto supplier BorgWarner before his arrest, sews buttons and buttonholes on uniforms.

He has been able to continue making daily calls to his parents, Rosemary and Edward Whelan, who live in Manchester, Michigan, and was able to speak to our parents on Christmas and New Year's, his brother said.

On the fourth anniversary of his arrest, the White House and several members of Congress pledged to continue working to bring Whelan home.

4 years ago Paul Whelan was arrested & accused of espionage by Russia, & has been wrongfully detained since.



As the new Congresswoman for Novi, I am committed to working with the Biden Administration, @RepHaleyStevens, and whoever else necessary until we can bring Paul home.  Rep. Debbie Dingell (@RepDebDingell) December 28, 2022

He was left behind in a prisoner swap in December with Russia, which traded U.S. basketball standout Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout, an arms dealer dubbed the Merchant of Death who was held in U.S. custody since 2011.

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"Weve not forgotten about Paul Whelan," President Joe Biden said on Dec. 8, the day when Griner was returned to the U.S. "This was not a choice about which American to bring home.  Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul's case differently than Brittney's. ... We will never give up."

Griner was convicted on drug charges after Russian authorities found cannabis oil in her luggage last February. She was convicted in July and sentenced to nine years of hard labor at a Russian prison camp.

Although Biden tried to negotiate Whelans release along with Griners in the trade for Bout, the Russian government wouldnt accept it, the White House said.

Paul Whelan:Who is Paul Whelan, the Michigan man held in Russia?

Brittney Griner freed:Michigan man remains imprisoned in Russia though Brittney Griner is freed

'Easy to be disappointed'

Because Whelan was accused of spying, the Russian government is treating his case differently.

It is impossible to know what will cause the Kremlin to finally agree to release Paul, David Whelan said. The Biden administration and members of Congress have been very clear about their intentions to bring Paul home. In the end, all they can do is create an opportunity.

The Russian government will act in its own self-interest, which may or may not lead to Paul's freedom. I do not focus on likelihoods. As we saw in December, it is easy to be disappointed, and we may have another 12 years to go. When it happens, we'll all be thankful.

On Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. continues to negotiate with Russia to secure Whelans freedom.

We have had direct conversations with Russian officials regarding Paul Whelan, who remains wrongfully detained and who we are determined to bring home to his family, to his loved ones, just as soon as we can, Price said.

State Department spokesman Ned Price speaks during a news conference at the State Department, Monday, August 22, 2022, in Washington.

Our imperative is to see that outcome brought about swiftly, so it doesnt do us any good to speak to the details of that. But weve said we are going to be committed, were going to be relentless, we are going to be creative in doing everything we can to bring about Paul Whelans return to the United States, return to his family.

Whelan also was left behind in a prisoner swap with Russia involving former Marine Trevor Reed in April. That surprise exchange traded Reed for convicted Russian drug trafficker Konstantin Yaroshenko.

'We must get a lot tougher with Russia'

Paul Whelans sister, Elizabeth Whelan, said its difficult to remain hopeful.

Unfortunately, I have no more hope for Paul's release in 2023 than I have had for the last several years," Elizabeth Whelan said. We see how the Russian authorities are using American citizens to get back at our government, regardless of who is the president, and to sow dissent here in the U.S.

I am heartened to see that support for Paul has grown over the four years, but that has not brought Paul home. We must get a lot tougher with Russia if this is to change. Perhaps this will be the year when that is finally achieved.

Griner posted an open letter to Instagram shortly before Christmas, asking Americans not to forget Whelan and to send him letters in Russia.

Thanks to the efforts of many, including you, I am home after nearly 10 months, she wrote. You took the time to show me you cared, and I want to personally take the time to write to you and say that your effort mattered. Your letters helped me to not lose hope during a time where I was full of regret and vulnerable in ways I could have never imagined. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Because of you I never lost hope.

Your letters were also bigger than uplifting me. They showed me the power of collective hands. Together, we can do hard things. Im living proof of that. My family is whole and now, thanks to you, we are fortunate to get to spend the holidays together. However, there are too many families with loved ones wrongfully detained.  Its our turn to support them. I hope youll join me in writing to Paul Whelan and continuing to advocate for other Americans to be rescued and returned to their families."

It takes months for letters to reach Whelan

She included the address people can use to write letters to Whelan: Paul N. Whelan, c/o American Citizen Services Unit Consular Section, 5430 Moscow Place, Department of State, Washington, D.C., 20521-5430.

Its too soon to say whether Americans took Griners suggestion to heart, David Whelan said.

It will take some months before any letters reach Paul, he said. We are all curious to see what the quantity of mail is like  how many cards and letters arrive  when that happens. Because of the inability to send direct mail, any cards and letters sent will have to wait until the next visit by an embassy to Paul to be delivered. He'll see the quantity, during the visit, and then will wait one to two months before receiving the letters/cards, as they will need to be translated/read by the prison.

I think every incarcerated person, in the U.S. or Russia or anywhere, appreciates letters. There is a lot of research on the importance of family and friend contact with the incarcerated, on their success while in detention as well as after leaving it. I know Paul values every letter he gets. It is hard, after so many years, not to worry that you've been forgotten.

Paul Whelan was arrested and accused of spying in Moscow. He speaks to a journalist as he escorted by Russian Federal Security Service officers into a courtroom in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2019.

Russia's war with Ukraine affects prisoners

While he waits, the fallout from Russias war with Ukraine are trickling down to the labor camp where Whelan is being held. Getting nutritious food has grown increasingly challenging for prisoners, David Whelan said.

The food given to and sold to the prisoners has diminished in quantity. It is much harder to get fresh fruits and vegetables, even for Russian prisoners, he said.

And the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service has become very strict about the types of food that can be taken to prisoners. Several tins of food taken to Paul in November were opened and spoiled by the guards during their review of the food he was taken.

The war also has meant that there isnt as much work for prisoners to do at IK-17.

The supplies for textile fabrication have dwindled, so the prisoners are working less, David Whelan said.

Elizabeth Whelan said that even if 2023 doesnt bring her brother home, she'd like to see the nation unite behind the governments efforts to secure his release.

I do hope to see an end to the partisan sniping over the tools a president must use to get Americans home, and instead see that same energy put to helping the government at large to stop hostile foreign nations using our citizens as pawns, she said.

Americans should not be used as pawns at home, either, and that requires folks who find it easy to lob insults at each other actually working together to solve this national security issue.

Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus. Subscribe to the Free Press.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paul Whelan: US still negotiating with Russia to free American
India is projected to see an explosion in its urban population in the coming decades, but its cities are already overburdened. (Punit Paranjpe/AFP via Getty Images)

India is expected to surpass China and become the worlds most populous nation within the next three months, according to a recent report by the United Nations population division, marking a seismic shift on the global stage in a trend with significant social and economic impact for both countries.

Most people think India's economy is still a fraction of what it could be in the future, which means there's so much promise, Dr. Audrey Truschke, an associate professor of South Asian History at Rutgers University, told Yahoo News, adding that much of the potential is due in large part to India being such a young country.

Of the rapidly growing 1.41 billion people in India, about 1 in 4 are under the age of 15 and nearly half are under 25. By comparison, Chinas population is about 1.45 billion, but those under 25 make up only a quarter of the population.

The Indian subcontinent has always supported a robust human population, Truschke said. India has also long been compared to China, and they have for a long time traded with one another. So as much changes over the course of human history, that's something that recurs  both the dense population of the subcontinent, as well as the comparison with China.

Shoppers crowd a market area in New Delhi on Nov. 12, 2022. (Anindito Mukherjee/Getty Images)

Since 1950, India and China have accounted for an estimated 35% of the worlds population growth, with China emerging as a global industrial power. Combined, the two population epicenters are a significant slice of the worlds roughly 8 billion people.

But Chinas one-child policy, which was introduced in 1980, drastically reduced its birth rate  and redirected its economic prospects. In recent years, women have been allowed to have up to three children, but the average birth rate still sits at 1.2. China's population is set to peak in the coming years and projected to decline. This means that the older, nonworking population will have to rely on individual single children, many of whom will probably face economic difficulties caring for two parents and four grandparents. As a result, many elderly Chinese will be left to rely on a public pension system that is reportedly set to run out of money by 2035, despite recent efforts by the government to boost revenue.

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Without a quality pension support system, young people would be reluctant to get married and have children, [and] middle-aged people are double-burdened to care for the young and the elderly, Zhang Jingwei, a researcher at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University, told the South China Morning Post. Only when the elderly can enjoy the fruits of the reforms and are guaranteed institutionally happy twilight years, anxiety at different age groups can be solved and all of societys energy can be released.

An elderly man and woman are pushed in wheelchairs along a street in Beijing on May 11, 2021. (Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)

Population growth in China is flatlining, and its supply of cheap labor may follow suit. Despite stubborn unemployment in pockets of the country, the shortage of skilled manual labor is becoming more evident.

India and its growing population of more than a billion people could pick up some of the slack, but its growth rate is also declining, and its industrial infrastructure is not as robust as Chinas. And much of Indias population growth is centered in its poorer regions, especially in the north.

By 2050, data shows that India is expected to provide more than a sixth of the worlds population of working age (15 to 64 years old).

_____

Cover thumbnail photo: Punit Paranjpe/AFP via Getty Images
EVANSVILLE  The Indiana Supreme Court has decided CenterPoint Energy can bill customers with solar panels the way it originally requested back in 2020, meaning customers will likely receive less credit for the energy they create.

The court agreed with a decision made by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, not the reversal decided on by the Indiana Court of Appeals in February 2022. The Court of Appeals had ruled in the favor of consumer advocacy groups who said the change would undercut the total savings for customers with solar.

The Court of Appeals ruled that state law, SEA 309, required billing to be calculated as the difference between power used and power returned to the grid. Indiana Supreme Court justices disagreed, stating CenterPoint's proposed "instantaneous" netting method did not violate state law.

"When the General Assembly overhauled the system to a new excess distributed generation scheme, it did not direct utilities on how often excess distributed generation must be measured," the finding states.

More:ATF releases cause for Garvin Street warehouse fire in Evansville

In the prior arrangement, customers with solar power received a credit for their extra power at the same rate CenterPoint charges others for that electricity in a one-for-one retail credit at the end of the billing cycle.

The justices wrote that since the statute does not mandate a specific time for the measurement of energy flowing to the customer versus to the utility company, the IURC acted correctly in granting CenterPoint's request.

Justice Derek Molter did not participate in the proceedings because he represented Vectren Energy Delivery while working as an attorney at Ice Millers Indianapolis office.

When the IURC originally granted the request, local solar advocates were concerned the change would discourage homeowners from installing solar panels. They argued that would make it more difficult to recover the investment of solar panels, and it would slow the growth of rooftop solar installations in Indiana.

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CenterPoint will file for a new rate for excess distributed generation in March.

Through a spokesperson, the utility said instantaneous netting "better balances the interests of all customers who choose not to install rooftop solar or other qualifying customer-owned generation without hindering customers who have installed their own generation."

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Indiana Supreme Court okays CenterPoint's billing process for solar
An armed intruder was killed after forcing his way inside the home of a mother and her two children, Louisiana authorities say.

Deputies were called around 5 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 8, about a shooting at the home on Klein Road in Hammond, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriffs Office.

Investigators said Robert Rheams, 51, was armed with a shovel and lug wrench when he broke into the familys residence. Rheams got into a scuffle with the homeowner, who was protecting her kids, the news release said.

The woman drew her gun and fired at Rheams, hitting him, deputies said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

This case appears to be a homeowner exercising Second Amendment rights to protect herself and her children from a violent home invasion, sheriffs office Chief Jimmy Travis said in a statement.

No one else was hurt.

Investigators said Rheams was out on parole after serving a 20-year sentence on an armed-robbery conviction. Deputies also linked him to a carjacking that happened hours before the home invasion.

Hammond is about 50 miles east of Baton Rouge.

Homeowner answers door  and gets slashed by intruder in bizarre attack, Georgia cops say

Woman finds camera in bathroom USB charger, California cops say. Roommate arrested

Man stabbed 17 times after he came to kill in-laws in revenge attack, IL cops say
This article was produced for ProPublicas Local Reporting Network in partnership with Lee Enterprises, along with Capitol News Illinois.

On a chilly November morning in 2019, Lutrice Williams, a patient at a state-run mental health center in southern Illinois, was surprised by a visit from a sheriffs deputy. He served Williams a summons ordering her to report to criminal court on a felony battery charge.

Williams has been diagnosed with an intellectual disability, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, and her personal story consists of one upheaval after another. At age 23, in a state of crisis, Williams had sought help at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center. Shed never been charged with a crime before. But four months before the deputy showed up, a Choate employee who claimed Williams had forcefully shoved her asked her employer to pursue charges against the patient.

You have a job to deal with people with mental health problems, Williams said she thought at the time. Why are you charging me?

Williams, records show, is far from the only patient to have faced criminal charges.

By scouring courthouse and police records, reporters with Lee Enterprises Midwest, Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica discovered at least 40 felony charges filed against 29 patients since 2015 in two of the four downstate counties where the state operates a residential facility. (Reporters did not identify any charges at two of the four facilities.)

Of the 29 patients charged, 22 were receiving care at Choate. The facility, which treats people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental illnesses, has been the subject of a monthslong investigation by the news organizations.

The charges against patients contrast sharply with the way the facility and police agencies have handled employees who are accused of mistreating and abusing patients. In some of those cases, staff who faced serious abuse allegations experienced few consequences because colleagues refused to cooperate in investigations  or actively worked to derail them.

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At the same time, the institution and its employees sought charges against patients even as watchdogs say it failed to provide legally required services, such as individualized therapy for people with traumatic histories and poor coping mechanisms. Whats more, Choate carried out its own investigations against patients under its care, and prosecutors used those investigations to press charges even in cases when the patients denied the allegations against them and there were no other witnesses.

The charges in all but one of the 40 cases were elevated from misdemeanors to felonies based on legal technicalities allowed under Illinois law  that the altercations happened at a public place or that the victim was a medical professional  rather than the seriousness of the acts.

The accusations included hitting, pushing, hair pulling and, in one case, throwing soiled underwear at an employee. Some patients faced multiple charges over several years. Many of the patients who were charged had legal guardians, meaning that a court had previously found them unable to handle their own affairs. Among this group was one patient whose mental function was at the level of a preschooler, court records show. Some of the young adults who faced charges had experienced physical or sexual abuse as children and had only recently aged out of the foster care system, court records show.

Reporters spoke with seven legal experts and advocates for people with developmental disabilities and mental illness who said they were alarmed that so many patients had been charged at a single facility, especially one set up to help people with complex needs and behavioral issues. Except in extreme cases, they said, patients in crisis should not be charged.

Leigh Ann Davis, who oversees the National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability at The Arc, one of the nations largest advocacy organizations for people with disabilities, said shed never heard of such a large number of patients at a single facility facing charges in her 26 years in the field. Although theres a dearth of data on the subject, she said, the numbers are deeply concerning.

This is such an invisible population in the criminal justice system and this situation really showcases that, she said.

The Illinois Department of Human Services does not track patient arrests at its facilities. During an interview with reporters, one senior official said she hadnt been aware of the volume of patients who had faced charges at Choate.

She also said she didnt know the facility security staff had been conducting investigations and determining whether patients had committed felonies that were then referred to the states attorney. She called the practice highly inappropriate. In a statement, an IDHS spokesperson said that upon learning about this, the agency acted immediately to ensure that this practice has stopped. The statement said that Choate itself does not pursue criminal charges against residents and instead works to provide them with the appropriate treatment.

The statement also said that staff members who are injured on the job by a patient do have the right to pursue charges on their own by filing a complaint with a law enforcement agency or the states attorney and IDHS cannot infringe on that right, the statement said. When staff chooses to exercise that right, it is then the decision of the local states attorney and law enforcement as to how investigations proceed and whether to pursue charges and IDHS fully cooperates in all cases.

Tyler Edmonds, who was the states attorney when most of the patients were charged, is no longer in that role. He declined comment to a reporter, saying it would violate judicial ethics because hes now a judge in Union County, where the courthouse continues to hear cases about Choate. Tyler Tripp, who was the defense attorney for many of the charged patients, including Williams, and who took over as states attorney in 2020, said that each charging decision he makes is dependent upon the unique facts of the case and strength of available evidence. With regards to Choate patients accused of crimes, Tripp said he does take into consideration the fact that individuals are already in a facility receiving treatment and how this could impact their criminal intent, among other considerations. Court records show he has filed charges against two patients.

Patients Untreated for Years

For many patients, Choate is an option of last resort when family or supervised community homes are no longer able to provide the level of care they need.

Thats how it was for Williams, who grew up on Chicagos South Side. She was born with fetal alcohol syndrome; her father was seldom in the picture, and her mother lost custody of her when she was a baby. Her adopted mom died unexpectedly when Williams was 16.

Overwhelmed by the loss, she began acting out and skipping school. She tried living with other family members, but they found her behaviors too difficult to manage. Then she reentered the foster care system, according to medical records she provided to a reporter.

After she aged out, Williams spent five years at a supervised community home for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Chicago. She wanted nothing more than to live a normal life, and she experienced some successes. She graduated from high school at 21 and held an office job, answering phones, filing paperwork and cleaning.

Williams, who recently turned 30, has kind eyes that turn up at the edges when she smiles, and she can be exceedingly sweet. But her feelings, she said, are like a layer of raw skin  and the slightest bump against it can send her flying into fits of rage.

Its like I black out until I calm down again, she said.

In the year before she arrived at Choate, shed been hospitalized for psychiatric treatment on four occasions for aggression and homicidal threats to staff at her community home. She had refused to take her medications and attempted to run away on multiple occasions, her medical records show.

After an incident in November 2015, staff said she couldnt return. She spent nearly four months at the hospital while her treatment team looked for places for her to live.

Eventually, they suggested she try Choate  located at the opposite end of the state in rural southern Illinois. Williams was skeptical, but when she spoke with Choate staff by phone, they sounded nice and told her shed get the help she needed there, Williams recalled.

She arrived on the grounds of the wooded campus in March 2016, having traveled some 350 miles in the back of an ambulance.

When I got there, it was a whole different story, she said.

Williams said she felt she didnt receive the level of talk therapy she needed to address the trauma shed endured in her life. She said some staff members were dismissive and rude, and that she was physically abused.

She is named as the victim in a felony case against an employee accused of whipping her with a belt in 2020, court records show; two colleagues reported the alleged abuse to authorities. The employee, whose employment with Choate ended after he was charged, has pleaded not guilty, and his jury trial is scheduled for early next year.

Williams said there wasnt much to do at Choate, and residents spent much of their days watching TV.

Its a lot of downtime, she said. Thats where I think a lot of the behaviors came from. Everybody was always fighting everybody. Residents, staff, everybody.

Williams criticisms of the institutions shortcomings are echoed by oversight entities and advocacy organizations. In a 2009 report, the U.S. Department of Justices Civil Rights Division found many instances where individuals were receiving inappropriate or insufficient behavioral interventions at Choate.

These shortcomings, the report concluded, led to an overreliance on the use of restraints by Choate staff to control patients, contributed to an unsafe environment and ultimately resulted in patients staying at Choate far longer than they should have, in violation of their constitutional rights.

More than a decade later, staff with a legal advocacy organization, Equip for Equality, conducted a review of programming at Choate and again found the facility falling short. Numerous residents at Choate and other similar state-run institutions have significant trauma histories that do not appear to be adequately addressed, the organization wrote in a September 2021 report to the Illinois Department of Human Services obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Stacey Aschemann, an Equip for Equality vice president, said in an interview that Choate residents arent offered the individualized therapy many of them need. And monitors with the organization have observed residents sitting around for much of the day with little to do. Aschemann said that this lack of effective treatment negatively impacts an individuals progress and personal safety and that it contributes to a chaotic and sometimes unsafe environment.

Heidi Dalenberg, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said Choate and its staff have responded to the consequences of its own failure of care by arresting patients in need of help. The end result is the person went in as someone with an illness needing treatment and exits as a criminal, she said. That is an abusive system.

In previous reporting, IDHS acknowledged ongoing problems at Choate in patient care and safety and said that the shortcomings are the result of longstanding, entrenched issues dating back decades. The department said that the current administration, under Gov. JB Pritzker, has taken aggressive measures to resolve these issues. In a new statement, the department said its focus at Choate is on providing quality care to residents and keeping staff and residents safe, which includes working individually with residents to ensure they receive the appropriate treatment.

By the time Williams was charged, she had been a patient at Choate for more than three years. Displays of impulsive behavior were part of her history.

When she arrived, an evaluation of Williams identified verbal and physical aggression and the provoking of others as areas of primary concern. Her medical records stated she was admitted to Choate specifically to receive treatment to stabilize her behavior and moods.

The IDHS spokesperson said the agency could not disclose individual treatment plans, but said that both one-on-one and group therapy are available to Choate residents. Therapy needs, IDHS said, are determined on a case-by-case basis.

Other residents who faced charges while at Choate also had sought treatment because of their traumatic pasts or behaviors that stemmed from their disabilities. In March 2019, an employee accused a patient of pulling out a chunk of her hair when she told the patient that she couldnt attend activities due to staff shortages. Nine months later, the patient was charged with felony battery. In a court-ordered fitness evaluation, an IDHS social worker wrote that the residents maladaptive behavior was driven by elements of her intellectual disability, including poor coping skills, lack of impulse control and low tolerance for frustration.

Another young woman who was charged while receiving care at Choate had been hospitalized dozens of times for unstable moods and psychosis while growing up in the foster care system. In November 2016, the patient told a nurse she didnt feel well. When the nurse told her to wait to be seen while the nurse finished other work, the patient attacked her, though she wasnt seriously injured, internal records obtained by reporters show. In August 2017, the patient pleaded guilty to felony aggravated battery.

A year later, staff found the patient dead in her room. An autopsy determined that she died by suicide while in Choates care, according to a coroners report obtained under the Freedem of Information Act.

Facility Staff Handle Investigations

Decisions on whether to pursue charges against patients for misconduct during the course of their treatment are largely left up to local officials. Reporters examined how these decisions were handled at four state-run facilities in southern Illinois.

Chester Mental Health Center, a maximum-security, state-run psychiatric hospital located about 55 miles northwest of Choate, serves the largest number of patients of the four  about 450 people annually. It primarily houses men with mental illnesses who were ordered by a court to receive treatment, including some who were accused of violent crimes. Reporters did not find any felony charges filed against patients since 2015 in Randolph County, where Chester is located.

Jeremy Walker, who was the states attorney in that county until late last year when he became a judge, said he didnt pursue charges because patients would most likely be found unfit to stand trial. With a few exceptions, he said in an interview in October, it would be a waste of time and resources to bring them into criminal court when they were already confined to a secure facility for mental health treatment.

Alton Mental Health Center, located outside of St. Louis, serves a similar population to the one at Chester, but the smaller, medium-security hospital mostly houses women. Since 2015, prosecutors have filed 11 felony charges against seven patients at Alton. Most of these charges were filed in the past three years, though court hearings have been suspended so that patients treatment at Alton isnt interrupted, a spokesperson for Madison County States Attorney Tom Haine said. IDHS, which also runs Alton, said the facility did not conduct the investigations against the patients there.

Reporters found no felony charges against patients at Murray Developmental Center, which serves patients with developmental disabilities. (The states attorney in Clinton County, where Murray is located in south-central Illinois, declined an interview).

But at Choate, it wasnt only the number of residents taken to criminal court that alarmed advocates. The facilitys handling of residents alleged misconduct may have violated their civil rights, experts said.

When employees at Choate faced abuse allegations, Illinois State Police investigators were called to the scene. They notified the accused workers of their Miranda rights as well as their Garrity rights, which prohibit public employees from being compelled to incriminate themselves during an investigation by their employer.

When patients were accused, on the other hand, Choate handled the investigations internally. A Choate security officer questioned the patient and any witnesses. The accused patients were not read Miranda warnings and their guardians were not contacted.

In an interview, Steve Hartline, the longtime security chief at Choate who retired at the end of 2019, said his staff didnt need to read Miranda warnings to patients because Choates security officers are civilian employees  not sworn law enforcement officers. The staffs role, he said, was to conduct a neutral investigation and forward the interview reports to the states attorneys office.

We had no control over who was charged or who wasnt charged, Hartline said. Everything was sent to the states attorney, and the states attorney made his discretionary call. Hartline, who is also the longtime mayor of Anna, the town where Choate is located, stressed that he was not acting as a police officer, a job he held prior to coming to Choate. We are not a criminal law enforcement entity. We dont recommend any criminal charges or anything.

But internal investigative records show that, in some cases, security officers reports sent to the states attorneys office included their conclusions that the patients had committed felony battery. Thats what happened in Williams case.

Natalie Barnes, the employee who said she was assaulted, returned to work about two weeks after the incident and filed a statement with Choate security. She said Williams had caused a cervical strain in her neck that had to be treated in an emergency room. This writer would like Chief Hartline to move forward and press charges against Lutrice Williams, she wrote.

The next day, a security officer visited Williams unit and questioned her about the incident, though the officer didnt tell her it was because an employee wanted her to be charged. Williams told the security officer that Barnes had gotten into her personal space and ordered her to stop knocking on a fellow patients door, so she put her hand on Barnes chest and pushed her backwards.

Both Barnes and Williams told the security staff that no one else was present during the altercation.

Security ultimately sent the report, complete with Williams statements, to the states attorney with a finding that she had committed aggravated battery. Four months later, Williams was charged with that crime, which carries a possible sentence of up to five years in prison and a $25,000 fine. Barnes declined comment.

Williams was one of seven patients charged at Choate in 2019. In other years, from 2015 to the present, between one and eight patients were charged per year. The last patient was charged in early 2022.

When Barry Smoot took over as security chief in early 2020, he said he was surprised to learn that patients were being charged with felonies for what he said were relatively minor assaults on staff.

He was further alarmed to discover that Choate had been taking statements from patients that became the basis for criminal charges against them.

This isnt right. Why isnt law enforcement doing these investigations? Smoot recalled thinking at the time. We shouldnt be interviewing people when we are providing them with services. We shouldnt be taking those cases for charges.

Smoot, who has since retired, initiated a change in policy that now dictates that an employee who wants to press charges must take their case to a law enforcement agency, rather than internal Choate security staff.

Consequences of Being Charged

Most of the Choate patients who faced charges were initially found unfit to stand trial because they were unable to articulate the basics of court proceedings or participate in their own defense, which are minimal competency requirements under the law. They were ordered to undergo treatment to ready them to stand trial. But in numerous cases, IDHS mental health professionals determined that they were unlikely to gain fitness because of the severity of their disabilities.

That doesnt mean the charges didnt come with consequences.

Through a variety of legal mechanisms, patients were ordered into the custody of IDHS for treatment in a state facility, where some remained for years, even when the criminal charges against them were dismissed.

Among those who were able to meet the fitness benchmark to face the charges against them, two were found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Findings of unfitness or not guilty by reason of insanity usually meant a transfer to a more secure hospital. Female patients at Choate with this status were typically transferred to Alton Mental Healths forensic treatment program, located about 140 miles northwest of Choate. One of the patients who was charged with a felony at Choate was transferred to Alton, where she later faced four additional felony charges. The patient, according to court records, had a history of physical and sexual abuse as a child.

Williams, whose intellectual disability is in the mild range, was also initially found unfit to stand trial.

She was ordered into the states care at Choate, where she was already a patient. They wanted to get rid of me, she said; Williams would have gone to Alton, but transfers were halted during the pandemic, records show. Williams said she was given printouts to read about court terminology and tested again. Eventually, she was found fit to stand trial and her defense attorney urged her to accept a plea deal for misdemeanor battery.

Tripp, who was then Williams defense attorney and is now the states attorney, said he did raise questions about the investigation when he was arguing to reduce the charge against her. Tripp said that it is typical to see defendants plead to a lower-level offense to avoid the risk of felony conviction. Theres an additional built-in credibility hurdle to clear in most cases that rely heavily on statements by those with mental health concerns, Tripp said, which may make a jury less apt to believe a defendants version of events.

In August 2020, she was sentenced to 12 months of conditional discharge, which is a less restrictive alternative to court supervision.

Shes among four patients who were convicted. Three others received felony convictions.

Of all of the problems she said she faced at Choate, Williams is most frustrated by the fact that she was charged. If she could go back, Williams said, she wouldnt accept the plea deal.

This aint right and they shouldnt be doing this, Williams said. At first, I didnt know. Id be more educated.

Williams was discharged from Choate in November 2020 and is trying to stabilize her life. She has enrolled in college classes and is applying for jobs. But with every application she sends out, she worries that her criminal record will give the hiring manager pause.

And in some cases, it has. She provided the news organizations with a rejection letter from a temporary hiring agency showing shed been disqualified for jobs because of the misdemeanor battery conviction. Based on the enclosed background report, said the letter from PeopleReady, we have reservations about hiring you for the initial position offered. The letter cited her Union County conviction from her time at Choate.

Williams said she called the clerk in Union County asking if she could get help having the conviction removed from her record. Expunging or sealing a case would require her to hire a private lawyer, Williams said they told her.

I cant afford a lawyer, she said.
Welcome to Investigative Stories from Ukraine, a newsletter by the Kyiv Independent.

This edition will walk you through the most prominent Ukraine-focused investigative stories over the past two weeks.

To support our journalism, please become a patron of the Kyiv Independent, starting from just $5 a month.

Top investigative stories

______________________________________________

Ukrainian journalists identify 4 Russian kamikaze drone operators

Russian servicemen Sergey Sozinov, Gleb Pivkin, Russian Air Force captain Andrey Stepovoy and Russian Air Force lieutenant Evgeny Glukhov are allegedly responsible for manning some of the Iranian-made kamikaze drones launched to attack Ukraine, according to a joint investigation by Slidstvo.Info and Nashi Groshi Lviv.

The four reportedly belong to the 294th State Center for Unmanned Aviation of the Russian Defense Ministry.

All four were part of a Russian unit that visited Iran in August before Russia launched its first attack using Iranian Shahed-136 loitering munition, the journalists reported. The investigation alleged that the Russian unit could have visited Iran to get trained in operating the drones.

Journalists identified them through videos and photos from a training ground in Iran, posted on Russian social media and Iranian websites.

Russia has been using Iranian drones to attack Ukrainian military and civilian targets, as well as critical infrastructure, since September to compensate for its reportedly depleting missile stock.

Watch the investigation with English subtitles here.

RFE/RL locates alleged training ground for Russian drone operators

Russian soldiers piloting the Iranian-made kamikaze drones are allegedly being trained near Kolomna, Moscow Oblast, according to an investigative report by Donbas Realities, a project by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The training ground is located 8 kilometers southeast of the State Center for Unmanned Aviation of the Russian Defense Ministry. Four Russian servicemen, who were allegedly trained in Iran, are stationed at this military facility.

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The aviation center in Kolomna is the only one under Russias Defense Ministry that trains drone operators, according to the report.

The journalists identified the training ground using the pictures the Russian Defense Ministry published between 2019 and 2021 from the military competition for drone operators held there.

Read the full story in Ukrainian here.

Russian media: Russian Deputy Defense Minister profits from construction in occupied, destroyed Mariupol

Timur Ivanov, Russian Deputy Defence Minister, has allegedly profited from construction in Mariupol, a Ukrainian city occupied and destroyed by Russia.

The Anti-Corruption Foundation, led by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, writes that Ivanov is among the most influential people in the Russian Defense Ministry.

He is reportedly responsible for building military barracks, cadet corps, military airfields, and hospitals.

The journalists analyzed 8,000 leaked emails of Ivanov's then-spouse Svetlana Ivanova, and found that a group of Defense Ministry contractors paid the couple's bills to marble their villa. The ministry hired the same companies to build houses in destroyed Russian-controlled Mariupol.

Olimpcitystroy and Oboronspetsstroy, two companies mentioned in the investigation, have received 17 billion rubles ($243 million) from Russias Defense Ministry.

According to the Anti-Corruption Foundation, Ivanov and his wife used proxies to pay for rented yachts and villas on the French Riviera and purchase their Saint-Tropez-parked Rolls Royce.

The European Union imposed sanctions on Ivanov in October, while his wife was spared.

She divorced Ivanov in June, which journalists believe was a trick to place family assets out of sanctions reach. Svetlana's emails show no evidence of the couple's separation.

Svetlana was spotted in Paris and London, while her husband was taking an active part in Russias full-scale war against Ukraine, the Anti-Corruption Foundation showed.

Watch the full story with English subtitles here.

The Guardian: Roman Abramovichs billion-dollar trusts transferred to his kids before sanctions hit

Offshore trusts holding Russian oligarch Roman Abramovichs billions in assets were amended to transfer the beneficial ownership to his children right before the European Union sanctioned him in light of Russias war against Ukraine.

The files documenting the change of ownership were leaked through a hack of a Cyprus-based offshore service provider that administers the Abramovich trusts. According to the documents, seven of the oligarchs kids became beneficiaries of 10 trusts holding assets for at least $4 billion in early February 2022, three weeks before the start of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The Guardian alleges that the timing of the sudden reorganization could have been Abramovichs attempt to circumvent the sanctions.

According to the Guardian, the changes made Abramovichs children the ultimate beneficial owners of trophy assets long-linked to their father, including luxury properties and a fleet of superyachts, helicopters and private jets.

Read the full story in English here.

Reuters identifies pro-Kremlin operatives in Germany working to turn Berlin against Ukraine

The key figures campaigning for Germany to reconcile with Russia and weaken support for Ukraine have links to either the Russian government or far-right, a Reuters investigation found.

Reuters identified some of the significant Russia advocates in Germany who promote pro-Kremlin narratives both online and on the streets. Among them are Max Schlund, an ex-officer of the Russian Air Force, who changed his name from Rostislav Teslyuk after moving to Germany 10 years ago, and his partner Olena Kolbasnikova, a native of Ukraine, and a Russia supporter.

The couple reportedly organizes and leads rallies and cultural events in support of the Kremlin in Germany. In 2022, they traveled to the Russia-occupied part of Donbas to deliver aid to the Russia-backed forces there. Some of the supplies they claimed were provided by the Peoples Front, a pro-Putin coalition of Russian civil society groups.

Recently, Rossotrudnichestvo, a Russian government agency that is under EU sanctions for spreading Kremlin narratives, paid for Schlunds plane ticket to Moscow to attend a conference where Putin was the keynote speaker. Another organization affiliated with Rossotrudnichestvo, Russky Dom, allegedly obtained plane tickets for Russia supporters led by Schlund and Kolbasnikova to visit Moscow for an event co-organized by the Russian government.

Reuters identified other promoters of Russian narratives in Germany, including one running a German-language social media group called the Putin Fanclub.

Read the full story in English here.

OCCRP selects villain of the year

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Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) names Yevgeny Prigozhin as a person of the year for being a corrupt individual capable of instigating terrorism and massive human rights violations in diverse conflicts around the world.

Prigozhin is a Russian oligarch and mercenary leader, close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He is the founder of Wagner Group paramilitary organization that recruits mercenaries across Russian jails and is a key unit in the ongoing Russian offensive in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

Wagner Group has taken an active part in Russias war against Ukraine since 2014 and was spotted in military conflicts in Syria, the Central African Republic, and Libya.

Putin himself was selected a person of the year in organized crime and corruption in 2014, while Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko was named person of the year in 2021.

Read more about OCCRPs choice in English via this link.
By Emily Rose

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Isaac Herzog appealed to Israeli politicians on Tuesday to "lower the temperature" amid confrontional exchanges between the new hardline nationalist coalition government and the centre-left opposition.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has returned to power after 12 years as premier until 2021, heads a bloc composed of his conservative Likud party and hard-right and religious parties who secured a clear victory in the November elections.

His inclusion of the Religious Zionism and Jewish Power parties has stirred concern at home and abroad given their leaders' calls for annexing occupied land that Palestinians seek for a state, as well as past agitation against Israel's justice system, the country's Arab minority and LGBTQ rights.

"This is a sensitive and explosive time in Israeli public life...I appeal to you, elected representatives and citizens from across the public and political spectrum: Exercise restraint and act responsibly. We need to calm things down and lower the temperature," Herzog said in a Twitter post.

He spoke shortly after Jewish Power parliamentary deputy Zvika Fogel said that four leading members of the opposition, including its centrist leader and former premier Yair Lapid, "are the most dangerous people there are at this moment.

"They are calling for war," Fogel said in an interview with public media. "If they were calling for protests, I would give them every right to protest but they are speaking in terms that I am the enemy - they are speaking in terms of war."

"For me that's treason against the state..., and yes, that's grounds for imprisonment," he added.

Israeli police said they had arrested a motorist for endangering a group of demonstrators - who Lapid identified as supporters of his party - in the southern city of Beersheba by driving onto the sidewalk and halting right in front of them.

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In response, Lapid said in a Twitter post: "The government's incitement will end in bloodshed." In a subsequent comment on Fogel's remarks, he tweeted: "This is how democracy implodes."

Benny Gantz, another senior opposition figure and a former defence minister, urged Netanyahu to rein in his far-right coalition partners.

"I call on you to condemn the attack on the demonstrators and the harsh statements and act to bridge the divisions in the nation and not to deepen them," Gantz said.

Netanyahu later appeared to take issue with Fogel's remarks while also criticising opposition broadsides against the new government, saying demonising one's opponents was unacceptable in a democracy.

(Reporting by Emily Rose; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
The father and son owners of two Jacksonville construction firms were sentenced for conspiring to defraud the IRS and hiring illegal workers. The court sentenced 52-year-old Raul Solis to 33 months in federal prison and his son, 33-year-old Raul Solis-Martinez, to 21 months in federal prison. The court also ordered the two to pay $5,613,082.38 in restitution to the IRS. The two pleaded guilty to the charges last Summer.

Court documents say Solis and Solis-Martinez owned and operated Solis Brothers Company, LLC and Duval Framing, LLC. The two conspired with each other, along with Hugo Cruz-Medina the owner of H&S Framing, to pay their employees partially off the books. Between 2014 and 2019, the workers received over $22 million in wages that were never reported to the IRS.

Cruz-Medina was sentenced to 41 months in prison, in February 2021, for conspiring to defraud the IRS, conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud and illegally reentering the U.S. after previously being deported.
Louis Cantrell was shot to death July 5.

Shawnee County District Court Judge Jessica Heinen bound Jahiem Brown over for trial Tuesday on charges that included intentional second-degree murder linked to the July 5 shooting death of Louis Cantrell in East Topeka.

The ruling came after a two-day preliminary hearing in which witnesses said Cantrell was killed after confronting young people who were shooting off fireworks early that morning outside his apartment at 233 S.E. Lawrence.

Louis Cantrell's widow, Marisela Cantrell, testified Monday that he argued with another man thought to be Brown, then removed the handgun he was carrying from his pocket and placed it beneath his vehicle, making her think he was about to get into a fist fight with the other man.

The other man then pulled a handgun from a backpack he carried and shot Louis Cantrell to death, she said.

At the end of the second day of the preliminary hearing on Tuesday, Heinen found probable cause existed to believe Brown committed intentional second-degree murder and nine other crimes, which were committed on five different days between May 28 and July 5.

Kansas law defines intentional second-degree murder as murder committed intentionally but not with premeditation.

More:Topeka has seen 3 separate homicides in 2 days; victims include Keith K. Gaylord Jr., 23

What crimes is Jahiem Brown charged with committing?

In addition to murder, Brown was bound over on charges of one felony count each of theft, criminal damage to property, aggravated battery, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, the criminal possession of a weapon and the criminal discharge of a firearm, and one misdemeanor count each of battery and criminal damage to property.

Included among those crimes were the May 28 shooting and wounding in East Topeka of Toriano J. Thomas, who survived, and the May 30 firing of shots that damaged Sunset Arms Apartments, 721 S.W. Polk, and nearby Grace Episcopal Cathedral, 701 S.W. 8th Ave.

Two revisions were made Tuesday to the charges Brown faces.

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A charge of attempted aggravated robbery was revised to that of aggravated robbery, and an aggravated assault charge was added in response to suggestions that Brown pointed the handgun he used to kill Louis Cantrell in the direction of his wife.

More:These were Topeka's 2022 homicide victims. They ranged in age from 6 months to 81 years

Heinen also ruled Tuesday that Brown had violated conditions of a nine-month probation sentence imposed upon him last January after he was convicted of the criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.

She ordered Brown to serve the rest of that sentence in the custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Assistant Shawnee County District Attorney Lauren Amrein represented the prosecution at Monday and Tuesday's hearing. Brown was represented by defense attorney Shaye Downing.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at 785-213-5934 or threnchir@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Judge binds Jahiem Brown over for trial in East Topeka shooting death
The The Late Late Show" host discussed reviews the highlights of Prince Harry's tell-all interview ahead of the release of his memoir. Terence Patrick/CBS via Getty Images, Anwar Hussein/WireImage

James Corden joked on "The Late Late Show" about how Prince Harry lost his virginity.

The royal's memoir "Spare" reveals how he had sex for the first time in a field behind a pub.

"That's one of those things that's worse than the sum of its parts," Corden said.

James Corden cracked jokes Monday night on "The Late Late Show" about the way in which Prince Harry lost his virginity, as detailed in the royal's new memoir.

The Duke of Sussex's much-anticipated tell-all book, "Spare," which went on sale worldwide Tuesday, includes a passage that details how he had sex for the first time with an "older woman" in a field behind a pub.

Harry also discussed the surprising revelation in his wide-ranging interview with ITV journalist Tom Bradby, which Corden played clips of and reacted to on Monday night's episode of "The Late Late Show."

"In a field behind the pub, that's one of those things that's worse than the sum of its parts," Corden joked.

"You lose your virginity in a field or in a pub, right? Not great either way. In a field behind a pub? That's terrible, isn't it?"

During the ITV interview, Harry appeared to defend including the story about his first time in the book, commenting: "It's four lines or something. If that."

Prince Harry being interviewed by Tom Bradby at his home in Montecito, California. ITV

This also prompted a joke from the British comedian and presenter.

"Only 'four lines'?'" Corden repeated after playing the clip of Harry speaking. "That's OK, it happens to a lot of guys the first time."

The prince referred to losing his virginity at the age of 17 in 2001 as an "inglorious episode with an older woman," per Us Weekly.

Harry  who shares son Archie, 3, and daughter Lilibet, 18 months, with wife Meghan Markle  declined to name the older woman, but added: "Among the many things about it that were wrong. It happened in a grassy field behind a busy pub."

Read the original article on Insider
[Source]

Filipino American comedian Jo Koy visited the Philippine city of Bacolod last week for the inauguration of a road he donated.

Koy, who was born Joseph Glenn Herbert, arrived in the Philippines on Dec. 28 , 2022, for a family vacation. On Friday, he traveled to the village of Alangilan to witness the launch of the completed road, according to reports.

Using funds from the Jo Koy Foundation, the comedian reportedly donated around 1.6 million Philippine pesos (approximately $29,200) to construct the quarter-mile concrete road for Alangilan National High School. His relatives, including his 19-year-old son, Joseph Herbert Jr., and his sister, Gemma Herbert Simmons, joined him during the special event.

According to a school official, 1.2 million pesos (around $21,900) was spent on the construction of the road. The public school used the remaining amount to improve its water service and build a guardhouse.

More from NextShark: Chris Pratt playing Super Mario may prove the Nintendo character is not Japanese after all

To help the school build more facilities, such as a basketball court and a cafeteria, Koy donated an additional 1.2 million pesos.

Since his arrival in the Philippines last month, Koy has been sharing several images on social media.

In one Instagram post, he described his trip as "the most beautiful family vacation we have ever taken."

More from NextShark: High-flying drag queen performance has netizens wondering 'how there are straight Filipinos'

Koy, who is known for his sold-out comedy shows, made history last year by starring in "Easter Sunday," a Filipino-themed film with an almost all-Filipino cast produced by a major Hollywood studio.

More from NextShark: James Hong admits he didnt understand Everything Everywhere All at Once after reading its script

Produced by Steven Spielbergs company Amblin Entertainment, the film highlights Koys Filipino background. It is inspired by the comedians own life experiences and has been described as a love letter to the Filipino American community.

Story continues

Related stories:
As a current resident of Ottawa County, my career of 35 years as a local government specialist involved working in and with city governments, county governments and the federal government. In addition, Ive trained local government officials in many countries around the world to use the procedures of U.S. local governments, because our local government practices are considered the best in the world.

So I was shocked and dumbfounded to learn that the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners (my county commission) recently hired a new county administrator who lacks most of the required qualifications for the most important administrative position in our county government. I am also dismayed by the irregular (perhaps illegal?) way in which he was hired.

Qualifications

The job description for the Ottawa County administrator requires candidates to possess each and every one of 10 qualifications, including:

Bachelors or masters degree in public administration, public policy, planning, business or related field.

At least 10 years of progressively responsible local government leadership.

Experience must include at least five years as a chief administrative officer or assistant chief administrative officer of a local government of similar size and complexity to Ottawa County; preferably county government with significant experience interacting with elected officials and other stakeholder groups.

Experience working with diverse departments, including law enforcement, courts, public health, mental health and park systems.

Have strong financial and asset management skills including significant experience in capital improvements planning.

Knowledgeable in land-use planning, community and economic development, affordable housing and tourism.

Have strong proven leadership and skills in union labor relations, and negotiations of collective-bargaining agreements.

The details of Mr. Gibbs employment history clearly show he lacks many of the most important required qualifications. His 20 years of employment includes four years in the federal government, about seven years working for a global organization seeking to engage the world for gospel impact, and the remaining years working as a software engineer.

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Running a local government in a cost effective, transparent and accountable way is complex and difficult; it requires the right aptitude, education and, especially, experience.

Mr. Gibbs and some commissioners stated that he is over-qualified for the position because of his federal government experience. But his experience in the federal government is almost entirely irrelevant (save his experience in grantsmanship)  the very reason it is not a required qualification.

As a former federal employee myself, I can say that federal employees have the least knowledge and understanding of the detailed operations of city and county governments, compared to employees from state and local governments. Does anyone really believe that a Washington bureaucrat of four years can run a local government effectively? I urge you to examine the resume of a qualified county administrator and compare it with that of Mr. Gibbs: His deficiencies are disturbingly apparent.

Hiring procedures

Ottawa County is a very attractive place to live and raise a family; if the position had been filled by following normal, transparent and competitive processes, there would have been many highly qualified applicants from which to choose.

Hiring county administrators involves several steps, from reviewing/updating the job description, working with a committee to winnow a group of candidates, conducting interviews, doing background checks and references, holding community interviews, and finally choosing the best qualified applicant  all in the public eye.

Were any of these steps conducted and the results made available to the public? Mr. Gibbs seems to have been dropped into place with no public process. Was Mr. Gibbs made aware of this process and did he accept the position knowing that it was done in secret? A qualified county administrator would never accept a job under these circumstances.

These are important questions that raise critical concerns for Ottawa County residents. Until now, weve had proven, qualified county commission administrators; we need to maintain the high quality of local life which they helped to protect. From what I can see, Mr. Gibbs is far from being qualified to be our county administrator. And the hiring process the county followed is just shameful, and possibly illegal.

 Fred Van Antwerp is a resident of Holland.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: My Take: Is John Gibbs qualified to be the Ottawa County's administrator?
WASHINGTON  The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee supports sending advanced, long-range rockets to Ukraine, a weapon with the range to strike targets inside Russia.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said Ukrainian forces need the Army's Tactical Missile System to destroy Russian command posts and supply depots that have been moved in response to successful attacks from shorter-range rockets. In an interview with USA TODAY, Reed said the longer-range missile could only be provided if Ukraine agreed not to attack Russia with it, a move that could escalate the war and prompt Russian President Vladimir Putin to strike a NATO country.

"We have to be judicious," Reed said. "This system has to be restricted to firing within Ukrainian territory."

Reed traveled to Kyiv last week and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials for an update on the war. Reed's position atop the lead oversight committee for defense policy gives him influence in the Senate and Pentagon.

The Pentagon and western allies since last summer have provided Ukraine with ammunition with a range of about 40 miles for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. The weapons have been a key component of Ukrainian counteroffensives that have retaken large blocs of territory Russia seized after its Feb. 24 invasion, according to Reed and Pentagon officials.

The tactical missile system has at least twice the range, although it contains just one rocket. The shorter-range version contains six rockets.

The Biden administration is considering Ukraine's request for the longer-range rockets but has made no decisions, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the deliberations.

'A test for our endurance': Will brutal winter weather be a game changer for Ukraine or Russia?

Concerns about provoking Putin with the missiles are overblown, said Seth Jones, senior vice president and director of the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Story continues

Putin already has escalated the war, attacking civilian infrastructure, Jones said.

"The concern at this point is largely erroneous," Jones said.

The longer-range missile would allow Ukrainian forces to attack Russian targets at a safer distance, beyond the range of some Russian weapons used for counterattack, Jones said.

Ukraine's most urgent request, Reed said, is for more Patriot air-defense systems. The Pentagon and Germany each have pledged to send a system, which are in high demand among the U.S. and its allies to protect sensitive sites from ballistic missiles and aircraft.

Ukraine needs Patriots to help protect its electrical infrastructure from Russian attack, Reed said. Reliable electricity is critical to provide heat in the winter months, he said.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that as many as 100 Ukrainian troops will be trained at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, to operate and maintain the Patriot system. Training, which takes as long as a year, will be accelerated for Ukrainian troops, Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary. told reporters.

100 Ukrainian troops to train in Oklahoma; Russia nearly destroys Ukraine city: Live updates

Last week, the White House and Pentagon announced a $3 billion package of military aid for Ukraine that included 50 Bradley armored vehicles, which ferry infantry troops into combat under fire. Ukrainian troops will train to use the vehicles in Germany before using them in combat, Ryder said. Since the invasion, the Biden administration has sent more than $24 billion in aid to Ukraine.

Putin has relied on poorly trained conscripts and mercenaries, many of them convicts under the Kremlin-linked Wagner Group, on the frontline in eastern Ukraine. The Wagner Group has provided mercenary soldiers for Russian military operations around the world. The continuous flow of arms and training will allow Ukrainian forces to retake territory in the spring, Reed said.

The U.S official described fighting in eastern Ukraine, particularly near the city of Bakhmut, as vicious. Russia has made incremental gains on the ground by accepting a high number of casualties among mercenary troops.

Putin must be stopped in Ukraine, Reed said. If he isn't, he'll move on to threaten Poland and other NATO allies in the region. Providing Ukraine with weapons and training now is in U.S. national interests, he said.

"If we don't support them, we might have to take up this fight ourselves," Reed said.

A Ukrainian soldier prepares a U.S.-supplied M777 howitzer to fire at Russian positions in the Kherson region, Ukraine, Jan. 9, 2023.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Senator Jack Reed supports sending long range missiles to Ukraine
The Ministry stated that Deripaska controls or owns significant shares of Rusal (one of the worlds largest aluminum producers), Basic Element, and the En+ Group.

Read also: Anti-corruption court to rule on confiscation case involving Russian titanium oligarch

The Russian oligarch also runs a military and industrial concern that manufactures armored vehicles used by the Russian armed forces in their full-scale war against Ukraine.

According to the Ministry, Rusal provides aluminum products to Russian defense companies which directly develops, produces, and supplies the Russian armed forces with military equipment, weapons, and ammunition.

Read also: UK arrests associate of Russian oligarch Deripaska

At the same time, some parts of the aluminum products are made from raw materials of Ukrainian origin, namely the production of Mykolayiv Alumina Plant LLC, reads the report.

The ministry believes these are sufficient grounds for the confiscation of all Deripaskas Ukrainian property, namely:

Mykolayiv Alumina Plant LLC;

Glukhiv Quarry Quartzite LLC;

Khust Quarry PrJSC;

Zhezheliv Quarry PrJSC;

Guardon of Ukraine LLC;

Company Aluminum of Ukraine LLC;

Service Center Metalurg LLC;

CHAS IT LLC;

Protection of MGZ LLC;

Mykolayiv Accounting Center LLC;

Mykolayiv Charitable Foundation Center of Social Programs;

Zaporizhalumintorg LLC;

Zaporizhzhya Production Aluminum Combine JSC;

non-residential real estate;

equipment, etc.

Deripaska was sanctioned by Ukraine, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Poland, the Swiss Confederation, Australia, and New Zealand, said Deputy Justice Minister Iryna Mudra.

In accordance with international sanctions and due to answers received on requests of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the sanctioned person is a citizen of Russia, who supports the Putin regime by being involved in receiving benefits from the Russian government and production of armored vehicles used by the aggressor country in the war against Ukraine.

Story continues

Read also: Russian oligarch Deripaska struggles to sell aluminum abroad

She added that the Ministry of Justice had collected a sufficient evidence base to file the lawsuit, with the aim of nationalizing Deripaskas assets.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A teenage boy was found shot multiple times in Penn Hills.

According to Allegheny County police, officers were notified of a shooting in the 2100 block of Sampson Street at around 5:19 p.m.

Emergency crews found the victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

Police said the victim was taken to an area hospital in critical condition.

Homicide detectives initiated an investigation.

Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to call the County Police Tip Line 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.

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Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty

Since launching their popular podcast Fly on the Wall a year ago this week, Dana Carvey and David Spade have interviewed dozens of former Saturday Night Live cast members, hosts, and musical guests about their experience on the iconic show. Guests have included everyone from their close friends Adam Sandler and Conan OBrien, to huge stars like Tom Hanks and Paul McCartney, to a rare sit-down with SNL creator himself, Lorne Michaels.

This Wednesday, when the Cadence13 podcast returns for its second season, they will flip the script as late-night host Jimmy Kimmel stops by to interview the two hosts, who share some genuinely hilarious stories about working with Chris Farley and Norm Macdonald, among many others. And as you can see from the exclusive clip below, Carvey and Spade do not hold back when talking about how different celebrity hosts have handled one of the most pressure-filled gigs in show business.

Kimmel begins by asking them about what it was like when Michael Jordan hosted SNL in 1991 when both Carvey and Spade were in the cast.

The really fascinating thing for me that week with Michael Jordan was that its a fish out of water, Carvey explained. The greatest player ever, but hes got a lot of sketches and were about to go out on the live show. He recalls being backstage with Jordan before a live sketch, and had the script in his hands for last-minute jamming and I could tell he kind of had cottonmouth, he was a little tense. Carvey told him, Michael, just go out there and read it right off the cue card. Christopher Walken does it. Dont even worry about that.

Trying to calm Michael Jordan down about anything was unique, Carvey adds, noting that he also once had to assure Sting that his hair looked OK. Spade offers up Rosanna Arquette as the host who was the most nervous, and Carvey shares a story about hearing orgasm sounds coming out of Steven Seagals dressing room.

Chris Redd on His New Stand-Up Special, Kanye Wests Bullshit and Why He Really Left SNL

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But both men reserve the highest praise for someone who hosted in more recent years, long after they had left the show.

The secret of the show, in Carveys opinion is, When its good, its good. But then also, When its bad, its good. He points to someone like the late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who hosted in 1990, as someone who just wasnt cut out for sketch comedy, but somehow it still worked.

He sucks. Not his fault, Carvey says of Steinbrenner. I find that really compelling to watch live, and watch people bomb.

This leads Kimmel to ask if they found it disheartening when a non-comedian like Kim Kardashian hosted in 2021 and by all measures delivered a killer opening monologue (with a little writing help from comedian Amy Schumer).

I saw her monologue and said, What the fuck?! Carvey replies. He added, She landed that beautifully, and noted that their friend and fellow cast member Chris Rock called it the monologue of the year.

Yeah, it was really good, Kimmel agrees, as Carvey adds, And it just crushed.

Also, its out of nowhere so you get extra points, Spade chimes in.

Ultimately, the biggest comedy compliment comes from Carvey: She scored so hard, a part of me did die.

For more, listen and subscribe to The Last Laugh podcast.

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Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Getty

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem received a flamethrower for Christmas from her staff and photos online showed her giddily incinerating a pile of trash.

She has now attempted the political equivalent by siccing her mouthpiecethe perfectly named Ian Furyon Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Its a fight involving two people so loathsomely ambitious that you can only hope it ends with both of them losing. But Noem is so extreme that she somehow manages to make DeSantis look less terrible.

It began when National Review reporter Nate Hochman reached out to Fury for comment on a story he was writing on the transgender lobbys outsized influence in South Dakota. The story was timely because the states biggest employer, Sanford Health, will be holding a Gender Identity Summit in Sioux Falls on Friday to review the needs of transgender patients in healthcare.

By Hochmans account, Fury responded with a lengthy statement rejecting any implication that Governor Noem is overly cozy with major lobbying groups that helped kill a long line of anti-gender-ideology bills in the state.

Fury then sent a second email, resorting to deflection.

Governor Noem was the only Governor in America on national television defending the Dobbs decision, Fury wrote in an email to the reporter, referring to the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Where was Governor DeSantis? Fury asked. Hiding behind a 15-week ban. Does he believe that 14-week-old babies dont have a right to live?

It was a reference to the fact that this fall, DeSantis signed a law outlawing abortion after 15 weeks but has not promised to further restrict the right to end a pregnancy.

Noem, on the other hand, has endorsed her states near-total ban on abortion. She has gone beyond even her own conservative state legislature in supporting a ban on abortion after the first heartbeat is detected.

The abortion issue is a rare sliver of daylight between the two Republicans.

Both are MAGA acolytes, strident culture warriors and champions of parental choice who opposed lockdowns and masks and vaccine mandates and other public health measures they characterize as un-American challenges to our God-given freedoms.

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But Fury, in his message to the journalist, managed to highlight the one area where DeSantis may be less reprehensible than Noem.

Fury declined to comment, beyond referring The Daily Beast to a Twitter thread that says Hochman long ago outed himself as someone with an unhealthy bias against Noem. Fury also accused Hochman on Twitter of carrying water for Gov. DeSantis.

.@njhochman long ago outed himself as someone with an unhealthy bias against @KristiNoem.



When his narrative is proven false, he doesnt let facts get in the way of his efforts to take her down.



Here are a few of the most egregious errors in his most recent reporting (1/  Ian Fury (@IanTFury) January 5, 2023

But the Democratic National Committee was less reticent; as Florida Politics reported, it made hay with the spat in a message from its War Room.

The DNC noted that both DeSantis and Noem have designs on 2024. DeSantis likely is not worried about Noem hurting his chances of taking the presidency, and he did not respond to a request for comment about the spat.

But Noem may be gambling that by torching DeSantis, she ups her chances of being chosen as Trumps running mate. They they would both have plenty of opportunity to throw flames. Of course, if either one of them were to win, its the rest of us that would get burned.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Shortly after a three-hour meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her unannounced visit to the northeastern city of Kharkiv on Jan. 10, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba expressed confidence that Germany will hand over to Ukraine the long-pledged Leopard tanks.

Every minute during the visit, the topic of Leopards invisibly accompanied us, Kuleba said, adding that tanks are needed for Ukrainian cities and villages liberation from the Russian occupation.

I think that the German government, somewhere deep down, understands that this decision will be made, and the tanks will be transferred to Ukraine. The only upsetting thing is that this decision has not been made yet, and we are losing precious time and lives because of this, the foreign minister said.

Kuleba added he was grateful to Germany for all the support during almost 11 months of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

On the same day, Politico reported that France is putting pressure on Berlin to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine ahead of a Franco-German summit on Jan. 22. Poland is also exerting pressure on Berlin by publicly calling for a broad coalition among Western allies to hand over Leopards to Ukraine, the report said.

After months of negotiations, Germany announced on Jan. 5 that it would provide Ukraine with Marder infantry fighting vehicles. The United States jointly announced it would give Ukraine Bradley fighting vehicles the same day.

During her visit, Baerbock announced 20 million euros' worth of German financial support for the operation of over 10,000 Starlink terminals in Ukraine, of which a third are being used by the Armed Forces.
Correction appended Jan. 10

Every week or so, Los Angeles parent Glenisha Cargin makes a round of phone calls to LAUSD school officials trying to get help for her young son.

Cargin, the mother of a first-grader on the autism spectrum who attends a district school in Westmont, calls the principal. Next she moves on to the schools special education coordinator, then the local district superintendent.

Cargin also said she legit (talks) to his teacher every day.

The boys individualized education plan, or IEP  a legal document binding under state and federal federal disability law  entitles him to specific services from LAUSD. (To protect his privacy, Cargin requested her sons name not be used.) He needs speech therapy. Prone to outbursts and wandering from his desk, he also needs a dedicated classroom aide.

But midway through the 2022-23 school year, the child hasnt gotten any of these services. During LAUSDs remote schooling in 2020 and 2021, he wasnt getting them either.

Theres regression, both behavioral and academic, said Cargin. I dont feel like he is where he should be.

Under an April 2022 agreement with the U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights, LAUSD must assess whether Cargins son and each of the roughly 66,000 district students with disabilities are eligible for compensatory education to make up for services many were illegally denied during remote schooling.

Related: You Dont Get That Time Back: Parents Seek Special Ed Services Lost to COVID

Eight months later, parents and advocates say rollout of the plan has been uneven at best, and often confusing with minimal parent outreach. The process can be so opaque that securing even the most basic services requires a lawyer, they said.

Because parents dont know what their rights are, no one is holding the district accountable, said Lisa Mosko Barros, a parent in the district and founder of the advocacy group SpEducational.

What we have in this districtis a crisis of awareness and information available to parents, she said. There should also be an awareness-raising campaign on the part of LAUSD to explain to families what compensatory ed is and why their child might be entitled.

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Advocates across the U.S. hailed the agreement with LAUSD, the countrys second largest district, as a potentially pivotal moment in public schools pandemic recovery. A November resolution in Fairfax County, Virginia, the outcome of a similar investigation, brought renewed attention to the issue of regression suffered during the pandemic, especially for students with disabilities.

But LA parents of children with special needs say the agreement simply highlights problems that long precede March 2020.

In a statement, an LAUSD spokesperson said more than 38,000 IEP meetings with individualized compensatory education determinations had been completed as of December 1. The District has also provided information to parents of students with disabilities about the Plan, provided multiple parent and stakeholder outreach meetings and trained thousands of staff members on implementing the Plan.

But its unclear what determinations were made  that is, of the 38,000 students whose IEPs were reviewed, how many actually qualified for makeup services.

The decision about who qualifies comes down to an analysis. IEP teams  besides the parent, these include the students teacher, a special education coordinator and an assistant principal  must go through records to determine whether a student received the services spelled out in the IEP during the months disrupted by COVID. If not, the district has to offer them.

Under the federal agreement, IEP teams must discuss this analysis thoroughly during their annual meetings with parents, but advocates say theyre skipping over it entirely.

As a general theme, the district is not bringing up compensatory services, said Jill Rowland, the education program director at the Alliance for Childrens Rights, which advocates for foster youth.

Rowland and other lawyers on her team representing low-income LA families have observed silence around compensatory education in about 30 IEP meetings this year. When they bring it up, the IEP team members appear at a loss. So parents have to enter informal dispute resolution, a process that takes up to 20 work days, to secure the extra services the child needs.

Now, thats all good and great if you have an attorney, Rowland said. That is not going to help the majority of kids.

Cargin got the silent treatment too. At her sons IEP meeting in August, no one from his school mentioned compensatory education, said Cargin. Four months later, despite Cargins constant pressure, her son was still without speech therapy and classroom support.

The district really is lousy at notifying parents about anything, she said.

Related: Virtual Nightmare: One Students Journey Through the Pandemic

Ariel Harman-Holmes, a parent, attorney and vice chair of the districts Community Advisory Committee for Special Education, said she suspects parent experience varies wildly from school to school.

She considers herself among the lucky ones.

Her son Elijah, a fourth-grader at an LAUSD school in Sherman Oaks, has an IEP for his autism. Handwriting for him is cumbersome, so he avoids it. Although hes on a track for gifted learners, his ability to form letters on the page is at a kindergarten level.

Harman-Holmes says leadership from the schools assistant principal in charge of special education is excellent.

She and Elijahs IEP team met multiple times this fall. They reviewed what sort of help he got during remote schooling and discussed whether his difficulties were behavioral, academic or physical.

They ultimately agreed that Elijah did need compensatory occupational therapy.

But the process wasnt trouble-free. Harman-Holmes had to enter informal dispute resolution because the IEP team members couldnt grant the services on their own.

They were like, You have to go to [informal dispute resolution], she said. But at least they were very clear and open about it, and told me how to move forward.

During a presentation to the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education this fall  one of five the district gave for parent groups  member Kelley Coleman worried that other parents had no idea the plan existed.

If I wasnt on the [committee], I would not have any of this information. How is the division of special ed making certain that all families are aware of and understand all of this?

Other advocates say the outreach sessions dont come close to cutting it given the districts size and demographics. Nearly 22% of district families fall below the poverty level, and nearly 12% of families speak English less than well, according to U.S. Census Bureau data compiled by the Department of Education.

The case manager for every child with an IEP should reach out to the family by phone and by email and by a notice in the backpack and say your child might be entitled to compensatory education, said Mosko Barros. To my knowledge, thats not happening.

Cargin, the mother in Westmont, said shes been trying to get the district to pay for private services since well before the resolution was announced last April. But she doesnt blame her sons teachers or his schools administrators. I just think that they get the same answers and the same runaround as I do, she said.

And then theres the case of Isaiah Gardner.

Isaiah, whos 14 and medically fragile, requires near-constant attention during the school day. He needs nursing support, speech therapy, and adaptive physical education. He uses a communication device to speak. When the pandemic started, he lost all of these services.

Through a series of administrative proceedings, Isaiahs mom, Tiffaniy Gardner, secured promises of hundreds of hours of services and the equivalent of thousands of dollars of compensation from the district. But by the time she reached the last settlement agreement in December 2021, she was fed up. The districts denial of services  including barring Isaiah from entering the classroom once in-person schooling resumed in April 2021  had humiliated her son.

To me, it felt like you guys dont want him here. You dont value him as a student, you dont value him as a community member, said Gardner.

LAUSD would not discuss Gardners case or others with The 74.

On April 15, the single mother flew with her three boys to Dallas so Isaiah could attend a public school in the suburb of Mansfield known for its disability services. The transition has been tough for Isaiah, she said. He still talks on the phone regularly with his nurse and teacher from LA Unified.

But Gardner feels she made the right decision. And she wants to remind parents that they have agency during IEP meetings.

A lot of times people dont understand that their voice is just as important as everybody else in that room, she said. Its your call to make about your child.

Correction: Story was changed to correct the spelling of Glenisha Cargins name.

More information about LAUSDs compensatory education plan can be found here: https://achieve.lausd.net/compedplan

Parents can also email Covid-Comp-Ed-Plan@lausd.net or call (213) 241-7696
A former police officer in Lawrence can no longer work in law enforcement in Kansas after authorities found he targeted females during underage drinking checks at bars.

In a data analysis, 99% of the citations Bradley Williams issued during minor in possession checks were to females. Sixty-four percent of the arrests he made for operating under the influence were females while 36% were males, according to Kansas Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (CPOST) records. The agency is responsible for licensing police officers in the state.

Williams worked for the Douglas County Sheriffs Office from March 2011 to May 2017, and for the Lawrence Police Department from May 2017 to January 2021. CPOST records said he resigned.

Lawrence police spokeswoman Laura McCabe said department officials appropriately turned the investigation over to CPOST and trust the process.

An attorney for Williams did not respond to a request for comment.

In August 2020, Sheriff Jay Armbrister expressed concerns to Lawrence police that Williams targeted college-age women during alcohol enforcement patrols. During Williams time with the sheriffs office, several complaints were also made by a dancer at an adult club who said she was stopped several times by him and began to feel like she was being stalked. Other women at the club had similar concerns, CPOST records said. One reported that a message written on a restroom stall at the club said anyone with issues with Williams should contact his supervisor and included the supervisors name and phone number.

A female Lawrence police officer said she was stopped four times by Williams while he was with the sheriffs office. None of the stops, including one for traveling 32 mph in a 30 mph zone, resulted in a ticket.

LPD began an investigation, analyzing citations and arrest data and discovered a large discrepancy, CPOST records said. When they removed Williams data from the analysis, the departments gender statistics aligned with national data from the FBI.

Story continues

In response to the investigation, Williams submitted a written statement.

I have observed during bar checks where there are college aged individuals, as a general rule males seem to be calmer even if they are minors, and are more likely to say hello or high five the officer, he wrote. On the other hand, females, at times, react differently, including attempted flight from the bar.

CPOST concluded that Williams engaged in biased-based policing and revoked his license. The agency rarely cites bias-based policing in revocations. Last year, 53 officers were reprimanded or had their licenses revoked  Williams was the only case of bias-based policing, according to CPOST records.
Jan. 9LIMA  A Lima man was sentenced to six years in prison on Monday for the attempted rape of a woman in February of last year.

Anthony Randall, 19, had previously been charged with kidnapping and attempted rape, first- and second-degree felonies. The kidnapping charge was dismissed in exchange for Randall pleading guilty to attempted rape.

According to court records, the victim told staff at Lima Senior High School, where she and Randall were students at the time, that he assaulted her on Feb. 11, 2022. She said she was in a locker room when Randall attacked her with his pants down and his genitalia exposed.

The victim said Randall attempted to pull her pants down but she stopped him. She said Randall pulled up her shirt to expose her right breast, placed his mouth on her breast, and attempted to force her to perform oral sex.

Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Reed said on Monday that Randall has a prior juvenile record and went through sex offender treatment through the juvenile system. He said the victim of the offense suffered serious psychological harm.

Randall is ordered to register as a Tier III sex offender. He must have no contact or communication with the victim. Tier III offenders are subject to registration and verification requirements as laid out by state law every 90 days for life.

Randall is ordered to pay all court costs. He will be eligible to apply for judicial release five years into his sentence.
A Louisiana woman allegedly shot and killed a home invasion suspect to "protect herself and her children," local authorities said.

The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to a shooting in Hammond shortly after 5 a.m. on Sunday. Detectives determined the suspect, identified as 51-year-old Robert Rheams, was armed with a shovel and a lug wrench when he forced entry into the home of the victim and her two young children, law enforcement officials said.

Robert Rheams, 51, was shot and killed after allegedly breaking into a home in Hammond, Louisiana, police said. / Credit: Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office

Authorities said the homeowner and Rheams got into a fight during the incident, which ended with Rheams being shot. He was pronounced dead by the Tangipahoa Parish Coroner's Office.

Rheams was out on parole after serving about 20 years in prison for armed robbery, authorities said. Officials also tied Rheams to an alleged carjacking that happened hours prior to the home invasion.

Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office Chief Jimmy Travis concluded the case appears to be a "homeowner exercising Second Amendment rights to protect herself and her children from a violent home invasion."

No arrests were made in the investigation. Once the investigation is complete, the case will be forwarded to the district attorney's office for further review.

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Play Air, an Icelandic-based airline that operates flights between Iceland and Europe, announced on Tuesday that it will start flying to Canada on June 22. (Supplied)

A new low-cost airline is coming to Canada this summer.

Play Air, an Icelandic-based airline that operates flights between Iceland and Europe, announced on Tuesday that it will start flying to Canada on June 22. Starting Tuesday, travellers will be able to book flights between Hamilton International Airport and 26 cities across Europe, including London, Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, Dublin and Brussels.

Play Air is a low-cost carrier that was founded in 2019, offering low base fares and no-frills service while charging for extras such as seat selection and larger carry-on luggage. The airline operates a fleet of Airbus A321NEO and A320NEO aircraft. It started with service between Iceland and Europe in 2021, before expanding to the United States in 2022. Hamilton is the airline's first Canadian destination.

"Travellers around the world are hungry to venture to new destinations and recent data show that 73 per cent of global travellers want vacations outside of their comfort zone," Play Air chief executive Birgir Jonsson said in a statement.

"With our reliable and affordable flights, travellers can enjoy their destination rather than overspending on the flight to get there."

As part of its Canadian launch, the airline is offering tickets for as low as $169 to 13 destinations in Europe for flights between August and October this year. The promotion is available through to midnight on Jan 31.

Play Air is not the first airline to offer service between Europe and North America via Iceland. The airline's model is similar to that of Wow Air, the Icelandic ultra low-cost carrier that ceased operations in March 2019. According to Bloomberg, several Play Air executives were previously employed at Wow.

Competition in the Canadian airline market has been heating up in recent years, with the launch of low-cost carriers such as Swoop, Flair Airlines, Lynx Air and Jetlines.

Alicja Siekierska is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow her on Twitter @alicjawithaj.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
About 100 Ukrainians are bound for Fort Sill in Oklahoma to learn how to use the Patriot missile defense system to help counter Russia's barrage of its civilian population and infrastructure.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lobbied for months for the system, saying it would make a significant difference in bolstering Kyiv's defenses. The U.S. pledged one Patriot battery in December as part of one of several large military assistance packages, and last week Germany pledged another one. The truck-mounted launching systems can hold up to four missile interceptors, a ground radar, a control station and a generator.

Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the training could begin as soon as next week and could take several months.

The system and training will "provide another capability to Ukrainian people to defend themselves against Russia's ongoing aerial assaults," Ryder said.

Other developments:

The Ukraine military said Tuesday that hospitals in the Russian-occupied port city of Berdyansk are so crowded with wounded that Russian troops set up three military hospitals in the last week.

Finland and Sweden will soon win the unanimous approval of NATO members required to join the defense pact, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday. Turkey and Hungary have thus far failed to sign off on accepting the two nations as members.

Swedish authorities warned that Russia is likely to increase activities threatening the Scandinavian nation's telecommunication and the power networks.

KREMLIN CLAIMS CRITICIZED IN RUSSIA: Rich, famous dissenters face crackdown: Ukraine updates

A Ukrainian soldier prepares a U.S.-supplied M777 howitzer to fire at Russian positions in the Kherson region, Ukraine, Jan. 9, 2023.

'This is what madness looks like': Russians destroy town of Soledar

The small, mining town of Soledar once known for the healing power of its salt caves, is the latest victim of Russia's brutal efforts to gain control of the industrial Donbas region.

Soledar, which had a population of more than 10,000 people a year ago, is virtually abandoned today. Zelenskyy, in his nightly address Monday, said Soledar has been the focus of Russia's assaults in recent days and there are now "almost no whole walls left" in the town.

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The streets, he said, are covered with the bodies of Russian soldiers and scars from rocket strikes. Russia is overrunning the city, but at a cost  Zelenskyy said the Ukraine military has gained valuable time and strength for defending the region.

"I thank all the warriors in Soledar who withstand new and even tougher attacks of the occupiers," Zelenskyy said. "And what did Russia want to gain there? Everything is completely destroyed, there is almost no life left. ... This is what madness looks like."

Ukraine ambassador to US: It's hard to say things are 'fine'

Oksana Markarova, Ukraines ambassador to the United States, says she has a hard time answering a simple question such as "how are you?" these days. Markarova told The Kyiv Independent she is working around the clock in Washington to secure much-needed weapons for Ukraines battle to drive Russian troops out of her country.

I usually tell people we are kicking, fighting, but to say that we are fine is hard, Markarova told the Independent.

Markarova says she agrees with Zelenskyy that Russia's efforts to scare Ukrainians into submission with unrelenting missile strikes that prompt disruptions in heat, light and water won't work.

Talking to not only the president but also to family and friends, (these attacks) have made everyone more resolute, she said.

Belarus, Iran could face EU sanctions for aiding Russia

The European Union will expand sanctions pressure on Russia and expand it to countries that provide military aid to the Russian war effort, European Community President Ursula von der Leyen said at a news briefing Tuesday. Belarus has been conducting military exercises with Russian troops, and strong evidence indicates Iran has been providing Russia with armed drones and other weaponry. Iran denies it.

"We will keep the pressure on the Kremlin for as long as it takes with a biting sanctions regime," she said. "We will extend these sanctions to those who militarily support Russia's war, such as Belarus or Iran."

Von der Leyen also pledged to continue the EU's "substantial" humanitarian, economic and security assistance to Ukraine for as long as the embattled country needs it.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine live updates: 100 Ukrainian troops to train in Oklahoma
A 45-year-old man who authorities say was killed last month by a 16-year-old in a Kansas City residence was previously convicted of child endangerment in an infamous abuse case from more than 10 years ago.

Marcus R. Benson, of Kansas City, was found shot to death Dec. 30 in a home in the East Blue Valley neighborhood.

A 16-year-old, identified in court documents only by his initials, is charged with second-degree murder by the Office of the Juvenile Officer, which acts as a prosecutor in juvenile cases. Available court documents establish no alleged motive for the killing.

In 2012, Benson ended up in the crosshairs of law enforcement after Kansas City police, acting on a tip from Missouri social services, entered an apartment in the 1300 block of Highland Avenue and found an emaciated 10-year-old girl in a closet. Authorities later concluded that she was kept locked away inside the small space off and on for years, never leaving to go outside and play or go to school.

The girl, identified as L.P. in court documents, weighed 32 pounds, roughly half the average for a girl of her age. Police officers found her locked inside the closet by shoestrings and noted an overwhelming stench of urine coming from the living space.

Her mother, Jacole Prince, was arrested and L.P. and her two other children were taken into custody. L.P. later required a heart transplant.

Jacole Prince (pictured), the mother of LP, a 10-year-old girl discovered locked in a closet surrounded by her own waste who weighed 32 pounds at the time, appeared in Jackson County Circuit Court Monday, Nov. 16, 2015. File/The Kansas City Star

Neighbors at the time told authorities and The Star they never saw L.P. leave the apartment. They knew of Prince and her two younger daughters, who they always described as clean and neat when they were outside playing.

Benson was the father of Princes two younger daughters. He denied living at the apartment or knowing of the abuse, though authorities contended he regularly visited and was aware of the conditions L.P. was living in.

Prosecutors alleged at the time that Benson had regular contact with L.P. and knew of the abuse. He was also accused alongside Prince of physically abusing (LP) by hitting her with their fists in her stomach, face, back and legs, which have left the marks, scars and bruises on (LPs) body, according to court records.

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In 2013, Benson pleaded guilty to a single count of endangering the welfare of a child, a felony, and was sentenced to five years of probation. He was ordered to stay out of trouble or face as long as seven years in prison.

One of the conditions of Bensons probation was to not have contact with children  a condition he was found to have violated six months after entering his guilty plea. In October 2013, Bensons probation was revoked.

Prince, meanwhile, was sentenced to 34 years in Missouri prison. She remains incarcerated in Chillicothe, state corrections records show.

On Dec. 30, Kansas City police officers were called to the 6900 block of East 17th Street on a reported shooting. The 911 caller told police her teenage son had contacted her by phone saying he shot Benson inside the house before running away to a nearby park, according to court documents.

She directed officers to the bathroom, where Benson was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds. The teenager was taken into police custody that evening.

Because the alleged shooter is a juvenile, the case is being handled in Jackson Countys Family Court. The second-degree murder charge requires a mandatory certification hearing to determine whether the teenager will be tried as an adult.
Dr. Dre is no fan of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) using his hit "Still D.R.E." on a video for social media. (Doug Benc / Associated Press)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene might be a fan of Dr. Dre's music, but the Grammy-winning rapper has no love for the Georgia Republican using his hits for attention on social media.

Days after California Rep. Kevin McCarthy secured the House Speaker position early Saturday morning, East Coast time, Greene took her celebration to social media. Monday morning she tweeted a video of herself walking the halls of Congress in slow motion and smiling at the result of McCarthy's election. The score to her victory lap was the iconic piano trill of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg's "Still D.R.E."

"Its time to begin.. and they cant stop whats coming," she captioned her video.

Shortly after the video went live, TMZ reported that Dre (real name Andre Young) wasn't too happy about the clip. In a statement to The Times, first shared with TMZ, the producer slammed Greene for using his music.

As of Monday afternoon, Twitter had removed Greene's video from her profile.

"This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner," said a notice in the video's place.

Dre said in the statement, "I dont license my music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one."

His disapproval didn't stop there.

Dre's legal team sent Greene a cease-and-desist letter Monday afternoon, The Times confirmed. The letter, obtained by The Times, accuses Greene of wrongfully exploiting this work through the various social media outlets to promote [her] divisive and hateful political agenda.

The letter claimed that Greene's use of "Still D.R.E." constitutes copyright infringement and that the rapper "has not, and will never, grant [Greene] permission to broadcast or disseminate any of his music.

"One might expect that, as a member of Congress, you would have a passing familiarity with the laws of our country. Its possible, though, that laws governing intellectual property are a little too arcane and insufficiently populist for you to really have spent much time on," the letter continued. "Were writing because we think an actual lawmaker should be making laws not breaking laws, especially those embodied in the constitution by the founding fathers."

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The letter demanded that Greene cease and desist from any further unauthorized use" of Dre's work and confirm she has complied with the request before 5 p.m. ET Wednesday.

Shortly after Dr. Dre's first comments Monday, Greene fired back with some snark of her own.

"While I appreciate the creative chord progression, I would never play your words of violence against women and police officers, and your glorification of the thug life and drugs," she told TMZ.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The former health secretary denied he was getting veneers in Turkey. (@matthancock/TikTok)

Matt Hancock has denied travelling to Turkey to get a hair transplant and veneers over the Christmas.

The MP for West Suffolk made the remarks after being spotted in Istanbul - which is popular destination for Brits seeking cheaper veneers and hair transplants than in the UK.

Hancock's TikTok is the latest attempt by the MP to rebrand and expand his presence on social media after appearing in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in December.

On Monday, Abdul Al-Kadiri, 29, a journalist and filmmaker, posted a video of Hancock in the city on TikTok with the caption: "Matt Hancock is deffo getting a hair transplant".

"I couldn't believe it when I saw him," Al-Kadiri told the Mirror. "I was looking at him for about two minutes before I realised it actually was him.

"It was so random. He's either there for a hair transplant or to get his teeth done. You don't go to Turkey for a holiday. Especially at the moment - it's freezing."

Watch: Matt Hancock spotted at a market in Istanbul

Responding to the claims, Hancock said the story "has no teeth" and denied he was there for cosmetic surgery.

I just got back to the office to find a journalist has called to ask if I went to Istanbul at the weekend to have a hair transplants and veneers, he said in his own TikTok clip.

No, I did go to Istanbul at the weekend, but this story has no teeth. Its hair today, gone tomorrow.

According to the Mirror, a spokesman for Hancock also said he did not buy any knock-off Calvin Kleins.

Read more: Tony Blair calls Matt Hancock 'courageous' for taking part in I'm A Celebrity

Hancock was accused of abandoning his constituents for appearing on the show, and had the Tory party whip removed - with Rishi Sunak saying "it's incumbent on politicians to earn people's respect and trust".

His own local Conservative association also asked the party not to restore his parliamentary whip after he had it removed for participating in the programme.

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Weeks after, Hancock announced his intention to stand down as an MP at the next election.

"For my part, I want to do things differently," he said in a letter to the prime minister.

"I have discovered a whole new world of possibilities which I am excited to explore - new ways for me to communicate with people of all ages and from all backgrounds.

"I look forward to championing issues that are dear to my heart, including better support for dyslexic children who get a raw deal from the education system."

The former health secretary is also set to appear in Channel 4's SAS Who Dares Wins, and has announced he is releasing a book titled "Pandemic" on his his time at the department of health and social care during the pandemic.

Watch: Matt Hancock seen dancing with I'm a Celeb campmates in latest Tiktok
Maya Jama is the host of Love Island 2023. (ITV)

Love Island has had a makeover for 2023, with a new host taking over the hugely popular ITV2 dating show.

Maya Jama was confirmed last year as the latest presenter taking over from the outgoing Laura Whitmore - but how much do you know about her?

Who is Maya Jama?

Maya Jama is a TV and radio presenter. (Getty)

Maya Jama is a 28-year-old TV and radio presenter from Bristol.

Her early TV jobs included work on MTV and hosting roles for the Brit Awards, and in 2017 at the age of 23 she became the youngest person to host the MOBO Awards.

Read more: All the Love Island winning couples so far

You may have also seen Jama presenting the first series of reality show The Circle, gameshow Cannonball, Simon Cowell music contest Walk The Line, fundraiser Stand Up To Cancer, Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer, and Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-up Star.

Jama has also presented a number of shows on BBC Radio 1.

Watch: Full Love Island 2023 lineup revealed

Stormzy and Maya Jama in 2017. (Getty Images)

As well as her TV and radio work, she is known for her four-year relationship with Stormzy which began before he became famous.

Stormzy spoke in a Louis Theroux interview last year about his regrets at their relationship ending, and wrote his track Lessons about their break-up.

Why is Maya Jama the perfect match for Love Island?

Maya Jama is a big fan of Love Island. (ITV)

Almost as soon as Whitmore announced she was quitting Love Island, Jama's name began being touted as the perfect replacement for her.

Not only is she a popular presenter and fits with the age group the show appeals to, but Jama also happens to be a huge fan of the series.

Read more: Love Island's winter 2023 line-up

She said: "Ive been a fan for years. It was the first reality show, other than Big Brother, that I made sure I was back at a certain time to watch and all my friends and family were speaking about.

"Everyone gets involved, everyone has opinions - from the older people in your family to the younger ones. Its just fun, its fun to see how people play out in different situations and wonder what you would do if you were in the same position.

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"Most of us have had a bit of a holiday romance before and its like watching that on telly."

Who else has presented Love Island?

Laura Whitmore was the last Love Island presenter. (ITV)

Cast your mind back to the 2005 celebrity series of Love Island that the current incarnation is based on, and you might just remember that it was originally hosted by Patrick Kielty and Kelly Brook.

There was a second celebrity series in 2006, this time hosted by Kielty and Fearne Cotton, before Love Island went on to hiatus until its 2015 reboot.

Caroline Flack hosted Love Island between 2015 and 2019. (ITV)

Late TV presenter Caroline Flack made the new version of Love Island hugely successful from 2015 to 2019, but stepped down from the 2020 winter series after allegations that she had assaulted her boyfriend Lewis Burton, and shortly before her death.

Flack's friend Laura Whitmore, who is also married to series narrator Iain Stirling, took over as host from the 2020 winter series onwards, until she announced her decision to leave following the summer 2022 series.

Love Island returns on 16 January at 9pm on ITV2.
The city of Cincinnati is suing the owners of Williamsburg Apartments in Hartwell over multiple code violations. In November, residents lost water for about five days and many were forced into hotels.

The city of Cincinnati filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the owners of Williamsburg Apartments of Cincinnati, where dozens of residents were displaced over the holidays due to poor housing conditions.

At a press conference to announce the suit, Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said some tenants have endured unlivable conditions at the 976-unit complex in Hartwell, including water damage and mold from leaking pipes, blocked sewer lines and hazardous wiring.

Williamsburg owners have shown a pattern of neglectful behavior that has created conditions no one should be forced to live in, Pureval said during a press conference.

The lawsuit was filed by the Quality of Life Division of the City Solicitors Office and will be heard in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas.

Williamsburg apartments:City targets complex in wake of violations, displaced residents

Lawsuits:Five things to know about lawsuit over Anderson High School construction project

Mayor Aftab Pureval announced at a press conference Tuesday that the city of Cincinnati has sued the Williamsburg Apartments of Cincinnati over poor housing conditions.

A number of Williamsburg tenants were left without running water during Thanksgiving after a water line failed in the complex, which houses hundreds of families in multiple buildings off Galbraith Road, according to the complaint.

Over the Christmas weekend, dozens of residents were forced to evacuate their apartments because they were living without water or heat or forced to deal with apartments that had been flooded after pipes burst due to the cold.

City inspectors have also discovered dozens of building code violations, including broken doors and windows, and generally unsafe and unsanitary conditions.

'Don't you dare add more':In Cincinnati's West End, a fight over affordable housing and a neighborhood's future

Tobye Marshell has lived in the Williamsburg Apartments for about four months. In November, he had to go to a hotel for four days while his apartment was without water. He said its happened more than once. You get home from work, you need water," he told The Enquirer Tuesday.

In an open letter, the city said it asked the property's owner, New Jersey-based BRC Williamsburg Holdings LLC, to submit a plan to address health and safety violations at the complex to avoid legal action by the city.

In a written response dated Dec. 18, a Williamsburg representative said the company planned to resolve all issues by the end of 2022, except for exterior lighting repairs, which would be completed by March 31.

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But the city still questions the owner's "ability to fix the problems in an acceptable timeframe," a press release said.

The lawsuit requests that the court order Williamsburg owners to fix all issues in a timely manner. If the owners fail, the lawsuit requests that the court appoint a receiver, who will make the necessary repairs.

We know who these investors are. Were committing our resources to finding violations and protecting residents. And whether youre Williamsburg, or VineBrook, or any other group neglecting your property and harming your tenants, understand this: We are coming for you.  Aftab Pureval (@AftabPureval) January 10, 2023

Pureval said the complex owners can ignore the city if they choose, but they cant ignore a judge's order or theyll go to jail.

The mayor added that the issues affecting Williamsburg residents are pervasive throughout Cincinnati due to out-of-town "institutional investors."

"We know who these investors are," he tweeted. "Were committing our resources to finding violations and protecting residents. And whether youre Williamsburg, or VineBrook, or any other group neglecting your property and harming your tenants, understand this: We are coming for you."

VineBrook, which owns more than 3,000 single-family rentals in Hamilton County, has come under intense scrutiny from state, local and federal officials for its ownership and management practices, as The Enquirer previously reported.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati files lawsuit against Williamsburg Apartments owners
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has reported that it detained a Russian agent who was directing missiles at the thermal power plant in Dnipro city and "hunting" for local air defence systems positions.

Source: Security Service of Ukraine

Details: Counterintelligence of the SSU has exposed an agent of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during the course of counterintelligence activities in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Quote from the SSU: "He [the agent - ed.] was dealing with medicine supplies while working for a local pharmaceutical company. During this time, he collected intelligence data about units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

First of all, the Russian agent was trying to find out the combat positions of air defence systems and the locations of the headquarters of the operational command of the Ukrainian troops.

In addition, the man sent the aggressor the locations of local heating and power supply facilities."

Details: It is established that the Russian agent "reported" to the officers of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate about the aftermath of air attacks on these facilities, the Prydniprovska Power Plant in particular.

The SSU counterintelligence officers have detained the agent while he was trying to collect intelligence data about Ukrainian facilities.

He had been sending the data he had received to the occupiers via closed communication channels in the form of photos linked to locations with detailed descriptions.

During the searches of the residence of the detained, law enforcement officers have found mobile phones with proof of correspondence with a representative of the Russian secret service.

At the moment, the SSU investigators have served the Russian agent a notice of suspicion as per Art. 111.2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (high treason under martial law).

As per the SSUs request, the court has chosen a measure of restraint in the form of detention.

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Investigative and operative actions were performed by the officers of the SSU of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutors Office in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






Meek Mill, shown in fall 2021, is apologizing for shooting music-video footage last month inside Ghana's presidential palace. (Andy Kropa / Invision / Associated Press)

Meek Mill has issued an apology for covertly shooting an explicit music video in Ghana's presidential palace, known as Jubilee House.

The South Philadelphia hip-hop star visited the African nation last month, when he performed at the Afro Nation concert in the capital city, Accra. He also was invited by President Nana Akufo-Addo to see Jubilee House, where the emcee and his team were photographed, and recorded footage for the video. But when the "Going Bad" and "R.I.C.O." rapper uploaded the clip to Instagram on Sunday, he ignited a firestorm among critics in the West African nation.

Mill, 35, born Robert Rihmeek Williams, was seen performing bits of his explicit song all over the palace, behind the presidential lectern and in various formal meeting rooms, prompting criticism from Ghanaian officials who accused the entertainer of desecrating Jubilee House.

But, he said, that was not his intention.

"To the people of Ghana no video I drop is ever meant to disrespect the people of Ghana," Mill tweeted on Monday. "The fastest way to make connection is thru music and I wanted to do that with displaying art  im in my 30s from America and didnt know much about the lifestyle here."

The "Dreams and Nightmares" musician has since taken down the clip but said that he would still "push to make the connection between black people in America and Africa."

"[W]hat I'm trying to do is more than a video and you should see coming soon. My apologies to the office also."

To the people of Ghana no video I drop is ever meant to disrespect the people of Ghana . The fastest way to make connection is thru music and I wanted to do that with displaying art  im in my 30s from America and didnt know much about the lifestyle here  MeekMill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023

My apologies to the people if any disrespect! We still gonna push to make the connection between black people in America and Africa  what Im trying to do is more than a video and you should see coming soon! My apologies to the the office also!  MeekMill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023

Ghana-based critics called out the rapper and directed outrage at the administration for allowing the video to be shot in the first place.

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"All those responsible for this despicable desecration of the Jubilee House by Meek Mill must be fired immediately," tweeted Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a member of parliament for the North Tongu district whose NDC party opposes the president's National Patriotic Party. "How do those explicit lyrics from the president's lectern project Ghana positively? Is Ghana's seat of government no longer a high security installation?"

The MP told Accra's Joy FM radio station Monday that he would call for an investigation into the incident and insisted "that all those who masterminded this national disgrace and international embarrassment are brought to book." (After Mill tweeted his apology, Ablakwa said he believed that the performer was being "quite sincere" but still had reservations about some of the rapper's claims.)

According to the BBC, others, including Ghana's former deputy chief of staff, Alex Segbefia, added that the video was "unnecessary and is unacceptable in any shape or form."

Social activist Julius Kwame Anthony said that "seeing a foreign musician on the pulpit of the president" was a "shocking" incident that "is sinking our country to a new depth," the BBC reported.

In a follow-up tweet, Mill noted that officials likely didn't know the footage he was recording was for a music video.

"I dont think they knew it was video footage when we asked to shoot," he tweeted, adding that the set-up comprised "a small camera and one kid."

"... in America we didnt know this existed and was excited to show because they dont show Ghana on our media much! So Ill take responsibility for my mistake! Not intentional," he added.

The criminal justice reform advocate  who recently learned that he has Ghanaian ancestry  also called for unity among the cultures, tweeting that he wanted to use the moment to mend relations.

"Im just not here for no separation of anything black  we already separated enough and dont understand each others cultures  lets used this to help fix that and not more judgement towards each other!" he wrote.

I dont think they knew it was video footage when we asked to shoot its a small camera and one kid  in America we didnt know this existed and was excited to show because they dont show Ghana on our media much! So Ill take responsibility for my mistake! Not intentional https://t.co/obDZb9Czu5  MeekMill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023

Im just not here for no separation of anything black  we already separated enough and dont understand each others cultures  lets used this to help fix that and not more judgement towards each other!  MeekMill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023

Mill returned to Twitter after that to bring attention to his philanthropic work. The rapper, actor-comedian Kevin Hart and Fanatics chairman Michael Rubin pledged Monday to donate $7 million to Philadelphia-area educational causes, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, using most of the money to support scholarships for low-income students at private schools for the upcoming school year.

"Gotta get the whole trap booming too  we come from public schools side!!!!!" Mill tweeted, later adding, "You see the blogs didnt catch this one they highlight anything negative about their own people, its getting readable!"

You see the blogs didnt catch this one  they highlight anything negative about their own people, its getting readable! https://t.co/DJRjjToFfq  MeekMill (@MeekMill) January 10, 2023

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Meek Mill has since deleted the video. Getty/Gilbert Carrasquillo; Twitter/MeekMill

Meek Mill apologized to the people of Ghana for filming a music video in the presidential palace.

The rapper had faced criticism from Ghana's former deputy education minister.

"My apologies to the people if any disrespect!" said Mill.

Meek Mill has apologized to the people of Ghana after facing criticism for filming a music video in the country's presidential palace.

Over the weekend, the rapper, who is of Ghanaian heritage, shared a teaser of a new music video, in which he could be seen rapping in the Jubilee House and on the same podium President Nana Akufo-Addo uses to address the nation.

On Monday morning, Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ghana's former deputy education minister, hit out at Meek and his team.

"All those responsible for this despicable desecration of the Jubilee House by Meek Mill must be fired immediately," he tweeted.

"How do those explicit lyrics from the president's lectern project Ghana positively? Is Ghana's seat of government no longer a high security installation?"

Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) January 9, 2023

Shortly after Ablakwa's comments, Mill deleted the video and issued a heartfelt apology.

"To the people of Ghana no video I drop is ever meant to disrespect the people of Ghana," he said. "The fastest way to make connection is thru music and I wanted to do that with displaying art  im in my 30's from America and didn't know much about the lifestyle here."

Mill added: "My apologies to the people if any disrespect! We still gonna push to make the connection between black people in America and Africa  what I'm trying to do is more than a video and you should see coming soon! My apologies to the the office also!"

2023 has already proven to be very eventful for Meek Mill.

On Saturday, the 35-year-old was involved in a ringside altercation with boxer Gary Russell Jr. and his brothers while watching Gervonta Davis beat Hector Luis Garcia in Washington, D.C.

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The altercation, which resulted in the Davis' fight being stopped, could be seen on Showtime's broadcast.

After the incident, Mill said on Twitter: "I would never let no petty shit escalate to let somebody movie run. I just walked away."

Read the original article on Insider
GENEVA (Reuters) - A World Health Organization committee will meet on Jan. 27 to consider whether the COVID-19 pandemic still represents a global emergency, a spokesperson said on Tuesday, three years after it was first declared.

WHO spokesperson Carla Drysdale confirmed the timing of the meeting at a Geneva press briefing. The Emergency Committee advises WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who makes the ultimate call on whether an outbreak represents a so-called Public Health Emergency of International Concern which is the U.N. agency's highest level of alert.

Several leading scientists and WHO advisers say it may be too early to declare the end of the COVID-19 pandemic emergency phase because of high levels of infections in China which dismantled its zero-COVID policy last month.

(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Madeline Chambers)
Samir Hussein / Samir Hussein / WireImage, Wpa Pool / Getty Images

In his memoir Spare, published Tuesday, Prince Harry accused his father, stepmother, and their press teams of being responsible for unfavorable  and inaccurate  stories about other members of the royal family making their way to the UK media.

Specifically, Harry blames Charles and Camilla for planting the story that his thenfuture wife Meghan Markle made Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, (aka Kate Middleton) cry in the days before their wedding in May 2018. (Both Harry and Meghan insist that it was the other way around  that Kate made Meghan cry but apologized the next day with a note and flowers.) Later in the book, however, he hints that his father and stepmother were responsible for feeding a far more damaging story to the UK press: the rumor that his brother Prince William was having an affair.

This backstabbing behavior among Mountbatten-Windsor family members and their staff is one of the books constant themes, but the Duke of Sussex makes a point of singling out his fathers longtime girlfriend-turned-wife Camilla Parker-Bowles as being the worst offender.

From her very first official meetings with Prince William (now the Prince of Wales) and Harry in 1998, he writes, Camilla was play[ing] the long game, a campaign at marriage and eventually the Crown  using friendly members of the press to further her cause.

Stories began to appear everywhere, in all the papers, about her private conversation with Willy, stories that contained pinpoint accurate details, none of which had come from Willy, of course, Harry writes. They could only have been leaked by the one other person present. And the leaking had obviously been abetted by the new spin doctor Camilla had talked Pa into hiring.

But later in Spares pages, Harry hints that in addition to leaking conversations, his father and Camilla purposefully gave damaging false stories about the Sussexes and the Cambridges to favored members of the press.

The story about Meghan making Kate cry, first published in the Telegraph on Nov. 26, 2018 , and quickly picked up by the British tabloids, was a turning point in the Sussexes relationship with the Palace, Harry writes in Spare, because everyone knew it wasnt true and yet none of the royal familys press teams were willing to correct the record.

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In Spare, the Duke of Sussex describes a meeting between himself, Meghan, William, and Kate, shortly after the storys publication, wherein they try to figure out who could have given the inaccurate story to the Telegraph.

The Sun / Via Twitter

Who couldve planted such a thing? Who couldve leaked it to the press in the first place? Who? Harry writes. We went around and around. The list of suspects became vanishingly small.

Finally, finally, Willy leaned back and conceded that, ahem, while [Harry and Meghan] had been on tour in Australia, he and Kate had gone to dinner with Pa and Camilla and, alas, he said sheepishly, he mightve let it slip that thered been strife between [the Sussexes and the Cambridges]

I put a hand over my face. Meg froze. A heavy silence fell. So now we knew. I told Willy: You of all people shouldve known He nodded. He knew.

A year later, Harry writes, it was Williams turn to be the victim of a story that he and his brother believed originated in Charles and Camillas press offices.

Towards the end of April 2019, days before Meg was due to give birth, Willy rang, Harry writes. Something had happened between him and Pa and Camilla. I couldnt get the whole story, he was talking too fast, and was way too upset. He was seething actually. I gathered that Pa and Camillas people had planted a story or stories about him and Kate, and the kids, and he wasnt going to take it anymore. Give Pa and Camilla an inch, he said, they take a mile. Theyve done this to me for the last time. I got it. Theyd done the same to me and Meg as well.

In April 2019, there was one particularly damaging story that was circulating on gossip blogs, and going viral on Twitter: William allegedly cheated on Kate. The rumor began with a story in the Sun, published March 22, 2019 , claiming that Kate had a falling out with a rural rival named Rose Hanbury (aka the Marchioness of Cholmondeley). This story  which has now been scrubbed from Suns website  was followed by a Daily Mail piece published two days later claiming that the piece was false and that both Rose and Kate were considering legal action. Reading between the lines, people began to suspect that this was the UK press's way of hinting that William and Rose had been romantically involved.

The American gossip magazine In Touch picked up the story and reported the alleged affair on its cover in an early April 2019 edition . And then, on April 9, 2019, the Daily Beast published a story titled  Prince Williams Lawyer Tries to Suppress Rumors of Affair , reporting that William and his legal team were sending threatening letters to UK media outlets warning them against publishing the rumors.

Twitter

In Spare, Harry specifies that he and William didnt suspect Charles and Camilla specifically of planting the story, but instead a member of their media team.

It wasnt them, technically, Harry writes. It was the most gung-ho member of Pas comms team, a true believer whod devised and launched a campaign of getting good press for Pa and Camilla at the expense of bad press for us. For some time this person had been peddling unflattering stories, fake stories, about the Heir and Spare, to all the papers.

Harry says that he and William confronted their father about this individual and her actions.

Willy put it to Pa: How can you be letting a stranger do this to your sons? Pa instantly got upset. He began shouting that Willy was paranoid. We both were. Just because we were getting bad press, and he was getting good, that didnt mean his staff was behind it. But we had proof. Reporters, inside actual newsrooms, assuring us that this woman was selling us out. Pa refused to listen.

More on this
The last time the San Antonio Spurs played the Memphis Grizzlies inside FedExForum, Ja Morant had one of the most memorable games of his career. Morant dunked on Spurs center Jakob Poeltl, then Steven Adams heaved a full-court pass to Morant as he made a buzzer-beating shot while fading out of bounds.

Morant scored 52 points in that game and later called it one of the best moments from last season. The Grizzlies (26-13) will play the Spurs at FedExForum again on Monday night while riding the NBA's longest active winning streak at six games.

The Spurs (13-27) have lost four of their last five games, but they have given some of the NBA's best teams hard times in recent games. Still, San Antonio has the worst point differential in the NBA.

Memphis is on the second night of a back to back. Morant, Adams and Brandon Clarke all missed Sunday's win against the Utah Jazz. Desmond Bane had arguably his best game since returning from a sprained right big toe injury, but he has yet to play both nights of a back-to-back.

The Grizzlies defeated the Spurs 124-122 in an overtime thriller earlier this season. Memphis has won the last seven meetings.

Follow along for live updates.

Memphis Grizzlies score vs. San Antonio Spurs: Live updates

A Twitter List by DamichaelC

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis Grizzlies score vs. San Antonio Spurs: Live updates
Advertisers wont be able to target teen users on Facebook and Instagram based on their engagement on the apps starting next month, Meta announced Tuesday.

The change is part of a series of updates Meta is making in the next couple of months for teen users on its social media apps.

The update means a teens previous engagement, such as posts and pages they have liked, will not inform the types of ads they see on the apps.

The update rolling out in February will also remove gender as an option for advertisers to reach teens. Meta previously removed the ability for advertisers to target teens based on their interest and activities. The company said age and location will now be the only information about a teen user that it will use to target ads.

Meta will also launch Ad Topic Controls, which will let teen users choose to see less ads about a topic, or to choose no preference on a specific topic.

Topics already restricted for teen users, such as alcohol and weight loss products, will be defaulted on to see less so that teens are not able to opt into that content.

The updates are the latest Meta has launched since facing scrutiny over its impact on teen users, especially after whistleblower Frances Haugen came forward with disclosures alleging the company had internal research indicating its products negatively impacted teens mental health.

Meta pushed back on Haugens accusations when she first came forward in October 2021. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company was being mischaracterized by Haugens disclosures and her testimony before Congress.

In the year since, though, bipartisan momentum has built on the federal level and in state governments to increase regulation on kids online safety. A couple of bipartisan bills advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee last Congress but failed to pass before the end of the year, but given the bipartisan support may gain support again.

California passed its own kids online safety bill, but it is being challenged by tech groups that allege it violates free speech protections.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Screenshot: Meta

Nearly seven months have passed since Meta agreed to settle a Department of Justice lawsuit accusing the company of illegally allowing discrimination against its users based on race and other characteristics in its housing advertising system. Now the company says its finally ready to release a new machine learning technology it claims will distribute advertisements in more equitable ways and reduce algorithmic discrimination. The new technology, which Meta calls its Variance Reduction System (VRS), will start off with housing ads, but is expected to expand and apply to U.S. employment and credit ads by the end of 2023.

Meta says VRS will ensure audiences on its platform see ads more closely targeted to the eligible target audience for those ads. VRS uses a method of measurement called Bayesian Improved Surname Geocoding to measure the aggregate age, gender, and estimated race or ethnicity distribution of the users who have seen the ad. All that aggregate demographic info, informed by U.S Census statistics, is then compared against the demographic distribution of a targeted audience selected by the advertiser. Those changes, according to the DOJ, should, substantially reduce the variances between the eligible and actual audiences along sex and estimated race/ethnicity in the delivery of housing advertisements.

Read more

This development marks a pivotal step in the Justice Departments efforts to hold Meta accountable for unlawful algorithmic bias and discriminatory ad delivery on its platforms, DOJ Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement. The Justice Department will continue to hold Meta accountable by ensuring the Variance Reduction System addresses and eliminates discriminatory delivery of advertisements on its platforms.

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In its lawsuit, the DOJ claimed Meta violated the Fair Housing Act by encouraging advertisers to target ad recipients based on characters like race, religion, and sex. The complaint alleged Metas previous Special Ad Audience advertising tool introduced bias when delivering the ads. Additionally, the DOJ said Metas system fed FHA-protected characteristics data into its delivery system and used that data to predict what housing ads were most relevant to users.

Meta ultimately paid a $115,054 civil penalty as part of the settlement and agreed to cease its use of the Special Ad Audience tool. The company also agreed to replace that tool with a new system that ultimately became VRS, though the company never admitted wrongdoing. Guidehouse, a third-party review, will now investigate Meta on an ongoing basis to make sure VRS is meeting the compliance metrics.

Across the industry, approaches to algorithmic fairness are still evolving, particularly as it relates to digital advertising, Meta said in a blog post. But we know we cannot wait for consensus to make progress in addressing important concerns about the potential for discriminationespecially when it comes to housing, employment, and credit ads, where the enduring effects of historically unequal treatment still have the tendency to shape economic opportunities.

The DOJ, on the other hand, said the Meta settlement and subsequent development of the VRS alternative should serve as a warning sign to other tech companies with their own dubious algorithms.

Federal monitoring of Meta should send a strong signal to other tech companies that they too will be held accountable for failing to address algorithmic discrimination that runs afoul of our civil rights laws, Clarke said.

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MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Mike Lindell says he's got the support to derail RNC chair Ronna McDaniel's re-election.

Lindell is running a dark horse campaign in a three-way race with McDaniel and lawyer Harmeet Dhillon.

Lindell told Insider he's secured the votes to make sure McDaniel won't have an outright win.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says he's secured enough support to derail longtime foe Ronna McDaniel's re-election bid to lead the Republican National Committee.

Speaking to Insider on Monday night, Lindell said he's "locked in" the commitments he needs to make sure McDaniel will not have an outright win. The leadership of the RNC will be decided in a ballot during the committee's winter meeting this month.

"It'll be like, what you've just seen happening in our Congress here, you know. There's gonna be multiple votes, and there's a three-way race, and we all stay in until somebody gets to 85," Lindell told Insider, referencing the majority votes needed from 168 voting members of the RNC.

"I have plenty of states now. I believe she's well under 85  with my math, I'd say somewhere around 70 to 75," Lindell said of McDaniel.

Lindell acknowledged that the remaining votes might be divided between him and attorney Harmeet Dhillon, who is also challenging McDaniel for the top job at the RNC.

As for Lindell's chances of actually clinching the position, it is unclear how much support he has. He told Insider that he has called "a third" of the 168 RNC members since he announced his candidacy in November.

"And when you talk to some  sometimes I talk for three to four hours to one person," Lindell told Insider on Monday. "They bring up problems and I say, here's how I'm going to solve them: whether it's a new communications structure within the RNC, and whether it's restructuring the fundraisers."

"There's still a lot of calls I have to make," Lindell added.

Alabama and Texas GOPs turn against McDaniel

Lindell might be right about the tide turning against McDaniel. On Monday, NBC reported that the Alabama GOP has declared its position against McDaniel.

Story continues

"We believe that RNC leadership needs a new vision for future elections," the committee's statement read.

The committee added that it cannot "support or endorse" McDaniel, and declared its "vote of no-confidence in her leadership."

"We encourage all RNC members across the country to support new leadership at the RNC Winter Meeting," the committee wrote in its statement.

The Texas GOP also unanimously voted in December for a new RNC leader.

The strongest challenger to McDaniel, however, appears to be Dhillon, rather than Lindell. CNN reported in December that Dhillon is putting up a tough fight. The media outlet spoke to an unnamed RNC member, who described the race as being "a bare-knuckle fight" between Dhillon and McDaniel.

It is worth noting that McDaniel was in November endorsed by a majority of the RNC's voting members  101 in total  who signed on to a letter endorsing her re-election, The Hill reported.

Dhillon and a representative for McDaniel did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Trooping The Colour 2019

The British royal family gathers on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping The Colour, the Queen's annual birthday parade, on June 08, 2019. Credit - Chris Jackson  Getty Images

In his new memoir, Spare, Prince Harry nods to the old adage, an heir and spare referring to the tradition of aristocratic families having at least two children; first an heir to the title and then a spare to bolster the family line, just in case.

The book has thrust the roles and traditions of monarchy figures back into conversation, at a time when monarchies across the world have considered changes to their succession laws and the slimming down of minor positions. Minor royals are often left in a holding pattern, with the privilege of being born into royalty separating them from the rest of society, but without a clear sense of identity or purpose.

And as the British royal family has dropped in numbersfrom Prince Harry leaving the U.K. for California to Prince Andrew being barred from official duties by the Queen due to his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epsteinthe question cant be escaped: how necessary are monarchies?

Read More: Prince Harrys Bitter Feud With His Older Brother William Has Centuries of History

A slimmed down monarchy

As scandals continue to emerge within the British royal family, the public has been less inclined to back them. In 2021, after Prince Harry split from the royal family and Prince Andrew withdrew from public life after allegations of sexual assault, support for the monarchy hit a new low, with a quarter of those surveyed by British Social Attitudes saying that the monarchy was not at all important, or should be abolished for the first time. And amongst younger Britons, support is waninglast June, a YouGov survey found that only 33% of 18-24 year-olds in the U.K. supported the continuation of the monarchy, compared to 68% of 50-64 year olds.

King Charles IIIs ascension of the throne last fall led many to believe that the monarchy might downsize, since he has long called for a slimmed down monarchy. Charles rightly has concern about the expense of maintaining a royal family. says Arianne Chernock, a professor of History at Boston University whose specialty includes British and European monarchies.

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In the 2021-22 fiscal year, taxpayers paid a total of 86.3 million to the Sovereign Grant, which supports the work of the royal family, 51.8 million for the core funding, and another 34.5 million for the re-servicing of Buckingham Palace.

The British royal family lists 23 individuals in the line of succession. A downsized monarchy would cut out many of the people on the public payroll. Last fall, plans emerged speculating that King Charles would cut the royal family to just seven members, all senior working royals. The plan never materialized, and Chernock says that any cutting will likely happen gradually.

The duties of many royals involve a lot of soft power, meeting with the public and representing the monarchy at events. They do have a major role to play at events in Britain and the Commonwealth and around the world, she says, A lot of this work is the less glamorous work of the monarchy, but its still really important. Princess Anne in particular is associated with over 300 charities, and serves as President of Save the Children UK.

Read More: Why the Royal Family Hasnt Responded to Prince Harrys Memoir

A global trend

From Denmark to Sweden, surviving monarchies have set the tone for downsizing, stripping lesser-known members of the royal families of their titles and duties as the public continues to question their checkered colonial histories and continued opulence at the expense of taxpayers.

In 2019, Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf relieved five of his grandchildren from their Royal Highness titles and duties, along with the yearly taxpayer-funded appanage given to members of the royal house. The BBC reported at the time that the decision came amid controversy over taxpayer funding of the royal family, especially as the Royal House was the largest it had been in 100 years.

And in an TV documentary interview with Swedish public broadcaster SVT recently, King Carl discussed a 1980 change to Swedish Act of Succession, which introduced the inclusion of female heirs to the throne. The change retroactively applied to the Kings children, making then three-year old Crown Princess Victoria heir to the throne over her seven-month old brother Carl Philip. My son was born and then all of a sudden you changed it and he lost it. Its quite strange. I think it is unfair, he told SVT. Some interpreted the comments as criticism of his daughters right to the throne and of the greater practice of female succession. But in a later statement he clarified his position: The female succession to the throne is for me a matter of course. The Crown Princess is my successor.

These types of changes to monarchies dont seem to come easily. The Danish monarchs decision to strip her grandchildren of their titles last October was met with controversy within the royal family as well.

Queen Margrethe II announced on New Years that four of her grandchildren would be relieved of their royal duties and stripped of their royal titles of prince and princess, leaving them free to shape their own lives while still holding their spot in line for the throne. (The four grandchildren were not in line to receive salaries from the state, which will only be given to Margrethes direct heir.) Her younger son, Prince Joachim, publicly expressed his familys disappointment. To tell my children that at the new year their identity will be taken away from them, he told Danish media at the time. Why must they be punished in that way?

But members of the U.K.s monarchy are more recognizable than others around the world, an advantage the Royal Family wont give up too easily. The Swedish Royal family does not have the same kind of global presence that the British Royal Family has, nor do they have the same kind of tourism. says Chernock. Too slimmed down and what are we looking at? At what point do we cease to be interested in the monarchy?

Read More: Prince Harry Says Camilla Isnt an Evil Stepmother. His Memoir Begs to Differ

Changes in the U.K. are unlikely

Chernock notes that King Charles sees himself as a bridge from Queen Elizabeth to his son, and is unlikely to make any major changes to the monarchy during his rule. Britain as a nation is in such a fragile place in terms of its geopolitical identity in the wake of Brexit and Queens death. she says. I dont think were going to see a major shake up of the royal family in the way some might have imagined.

King Charles might instead look to modernize the royal family in smaller ways, signaling their own willingness to adapt to a more modern morality, says Chernock. The surviving monarchies have been around for thousands of years, each weathering their share of scandals and coming out on the other side. This is not the end, says Chernock.

But even so, she says that watching royal family spats play out in public might be a wake-up call of sorts. What do all of these royals actually do?
House Republicans first bill would rescind new IRS funding  and the White House isnt happy about it.

Well also look at a new campaign finance complaint against newly minted Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.).

But first, find out why Dr. Dre is mad at Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

Welcome to On The Money, your guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. For The Hill, were Sylvan Lane, Aris Folley and Karl Evers-Hillstrom. Subscribe here.

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CBO: Republicans IRS bill will add $114B to deficit

The Republican proposal to eliminate billions of dollars in IRS funding will pile more than $100 billion onto federal deficits, according to a new estimate from Congresss official budget scorekeeper.

The bill, which is slated to hit the House floor Monday night as the first legislative act of the new GOP majority, would claw back most of the almost $80 billion in new IRS funding provided under the Democrats massive climate, health and tax package, which was signed by President Biden last year.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the legislation would cut federal spending by $71 billion, but would reduce tax revenue to the tune of almost $186 billion.



The net effect would be a $114 billion increase in deficits over the next decade, the CBO found.



Almost $46 billion of the spending would go toward agency enforcement efforts designed to prevent certain taxpayers  largely corporations and wealthy individuals  from paying less than they owe.

Aris and Mike Lillis have more here.





IT BEGINS

White House opposes reckless GOP bill to rescind IRS funding

The White House on Monday excoriated Republican-led legislation up for a vote in the House to rescind funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allocated last year by Democrats, calling it a reckless bill that would benefit tax cheats.

Story continues

With their first economic legislation of the new Congress, House Republicans are making clear that their top economic priority is to allow the rich and multi-billion dollar corporations to skip out on their taxes, while making life harder for ordinary, middle-class families that pay the taxes they owe, the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.

The background: The House is set to vote as early as Monday evening on the bill, which would claw back roughly $80 billion in funding for the IRS.

Democrats have said the money will be used to improve taxpayer services and increase the agencys ability to crackdown on corporations and wealthy Americans who are skirting tax laws.



Republicans for months vowed to reverse the funding if they won control of the House, claiming the money would be used to fund other Democratic priorities and that the agency would go after middle-income Americans.

Heres more from The Hills Brett Samuels.





SANTOS SCRUTINIZED

Ethics watchdog files FEC complaint against George Santos

A nonpartisan ethics watchdog filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against first-term Rep. George Santos on Monday, urging the agency to investigate the New York Republican for allegedly violating campaign finance laws.

The ethics complaint  filed by the Campaign Legal Center  came shortly after Santos was sworn into the House early Saturday morning following the dayslong Speaker election, officially installing him as a lawmaker in the 118th Congress.

Among other claims, the watchdog is specifically interested in:

Allegations Santos took part in a straw donor scheme to hide the sources behind a loan he made to his campaign



Claims he purposely falsified numbers on his disclosure reports



Allegations he wrongfully used campaign funds for personal matters.

The Hills Mychael Schnell has more here.





FOR THE RECORD BOOKS

Elon Musk secures world record for largest-ever loss of personal fortune

Elon Musk has secured a world record for the largest loss of personal fortune in history, Guinness World Records said Friday.

In a blog post, the global organization, which keeps track of a huge variety of records, cited Forbess estimate that Musk had lost around $182 billion since November 2021 but noted that other sources indicate the figure is closer to $200 billion.

While the true figure is unclear, Musks losses appear to easily surpass those of the previous record-holder, Japanese tech investor Masayoshi Son, who lost $58.6 billion in 2000.

The Hills Jared Gans breaks it down here.





Good to Know

The top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee blasted a provision in the proposed House rules package that would make it easier to transfer public lands, calling it an indication the new GOP majority intends to pursue a broadly pro-industry agenda.

The proposed rules package, made public Friday, includes a provision streamlining the process by which ownership of federal lands passes from the federal government to states or localities.

Another item were keeping an eye on:

The U.S. needs to boost its investments in tech advancements in order to stay competitive on a global market, three Senate Democrats said Friday at the Consumer Electronic Show.





Thats it for today. Thanks for reading and check out The Hills Finance page for the latest news and coverage. Well see you tomorrow.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Most Ukrainians believe that their country can join the European Union in the coming years.

European Pravda has cited results of a survey conducted by the think tank Info Sapiens and commissioned by the New Europe Center.

In total, 82% of respondents believe in the possibility of Ukraine joining the European Union "as soon as the war ends" and in the future, within 5 years.

The largest share of respondents  30.8%  believe that Ukraine can become a member of the EU even in the next year or two.

26.9% are convinced that this might happen as soon as the war ends; another 24.4% assume that it is possible in 4-5 years.

About 7% are too cautious to predict how long Ukraine's transition to the EU may last.

6.1% believe that Ukraine can join the EU in 10 years; 1.2% say it's possible within the next 20 years.

It is worth noting that the start of accession negotiations (after which Ukraine will need to adapt the legislation to the European one according to 35 negotiating chapters, closing them one by one) is technically impossible before autumn 2023.

In the same survey, the majority of Ukrainians called it fair that the European Union requires reforms from Ukraine in order to open negotiations on joining the bloc, although some of them believe that Ukraine deserves a more lenient assessment due to the fact that it will carry out reforms in conditions of war.

59% believe that the quality of preparation of European integration projects is more important than the pace, while 36.4% consider the pace to be more important.

About 60% of respondents consider it fair when EU officials remind Ukrainian officials about the problem of corruption in Ukraine and are convinced that the pressure of the European Union will help to overcome it.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Newark City Municipal Building

NEWARK  Licking County Municipal Court Clerk Marcia Phelps efforts to set the salaries of her employees failed at Newark City Council, so she has taken her request to court.

Phelps filed a complaint in Licking County Common Pleas Court seeking a court order compelling the mayor and council to fund her salary requests.

The decision (to file) was difficult only because I never wanted to have to come to this position to have them recognize what the law says, Phelps said. The clerk has the right to set the salary. I didnt want to have to do this because it wastes taxpayer dollars.

Phelps said she has the authority to give additional salary increases to her employees according to the Ohio Revised Code and a Fifth District Court of Appeals ruling, but she tried to work with the city administration.

The court filing states that a city council has the duty to fund a clerk of court's request for the salaries of the deputy clerks, and the citys refusal is a violation of state law.

Phelps said the raises are not outrageous, but states in the complaint that she is not required to prove the request is reasonable. The city has the burden to show the request constitutes an abuse of discretion and is unreasonable, according to the complaint.

Gregory Beck, attorney with the North Canton law firm of Baker, Dublikar, Beck, Wiley & Mathews, confirmed he is representing the city of Newark in the case, but said he does not comment on pending litigation.

A Friday afternoon telephone call to Mayor Jeff Hall was not returned by presstime.

In January, before Phelps reduced her request by more than half, the mayor said additional salaries costing $150,000 would put a strain on the 2022 budget.

The timing is very difficult on this," Hall said in January. "We worked hard all year to be fiscally responsible on the budget, and 2022 is kind of an uncertain year. Thats a sizable amount of money. Thats tremendous. The cost of it itself is very challenging. We dont know if (tax) collections will stay solid.

Story continues

The mayor said if one department's employees get raises beyond the 4% everybody received, "youll get a parade of people in here."

Phelps' revised request was to increase the pay grade status of 18 Municipal Court employees. The increase would have been 11% for the office manager, 6.3% for the three senior deputy clerks and 6.5% to 6.7% for the 14 deputy clerks, according to statistics from the city auditor's office. The total increase in 2023 for all the positions, including pension costs, would be $64,141.

The employees will still get the 4% increase that all other city employees will receive, but Phelps said that just continues the inequality.

The clerk's office employees are underpaid, Phelps said, and frequently leave for better-paying jobs, such as in other city departments or municipal courts in neighboring counties. She said a survey of neighboring communities proves her point.

The request affects everyone in the office except for Phelps and the chief deputy clerk, who are covered by separate legislation.

The office manager's base salary would increase from $52,520 to $58,344, according to statistics provided by Phelps. The senior deputy clerks would change from $47,362 to $50,357. The deputy clerks 2022 salaries ranged from $42,890 to $46,592. The proposed increase would boost their pay to a range of $45,760 to $49,629.

In December, council's Personnel Committee voted 5-0 against Phelps' request for 2023. It was the second consecutive year council denied the request.

She made two modifications to her January request and council rejected a revised proposal in a 9-1 February vote. One of the arguments against her request was it came after the budget was approved. So this year, Phelps made her presentation before the budget was finalized.

City Councilman Jonathan Lang, R-5th Ward, cast the lone vote in support, saying he opposed the salary increases voted in favor of the amended ordinance after talking to the city law director about case law. City Councilman Doug Marmie, R-6th Ward, said he researched salaries in other cities and other city departments and did not see the disparity.

Phelps efforts date back to 2020. Legislation to increase the salaries was tabled by council on Oct. 5, 2020.

kmallett@newarkadvocate.com

740-973-4539

Twitter: @kmallett1958

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Municipal Court Clerk Phelps takes city to court over salaries for her employees
NASA is still willing to fund unusual concepts in its bid to advance space exploration. The agency is handing out $175,000 initial study grants to 14 projects that could be useful for missions in and beyond the Solar System. The highlight may be TitanAir, a seaplane from Planet Enterprises' Quinn Morley that could both fly through the nitrogen-and-methane atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan and sail its oceans. The "flying boat" would collect methane and complex organic material for study by sucking it in through a porous leading edge.

A project from UCLA's Artur Davoyan, meanwhile, could speed up missions to the outer edge of the Solar System and even interstellar space. His design (shown at middle) would propel spacecraft by producing a "pellet-beam" of microscopic particles travelling at very high speed (over 74 miles per second) using laser blasts. The concept could dramatically shorten the time it takes to explore deep space. Where Voyager 1 took 35 years to reach interstellar space (the heliopause, roughly 123AU from the Sun), a one-ton spacecraft could reach 100AU in just three years. It could travel 500AU in 15 years.

Pellet-beam spacecraft propulsion concept

Other efforts are sometimes similarly ambitious. MIT's Mary Knapp has proposed a deep space observatory that would use a swarm of thousands of tiny satellites to detect low-frequency radio emissions from the early universe, not to mention the magnetic fields of Earth-like exoplanets. Congrui Jin from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln has envisioned self-growing habitat building blocks that could save space on missions to Mars, while Lunar Resources' Peter Curreri has devised pipelines that could shuttle oxygen between Moon bases.

These are all very early initiatives that aren't guaranteed to lead to real-world tests, let alone missions. However, they illustrate NASA's thinking. The administration is funding the projects now in hopes that at least one will eventually pay off. If there's even partial success, NASA could make discoveries that aren't practical using existing technology.
The Netherlands granted the Russian independent TV station Dozhd (Rain) a license to broadcast in the country less than a month after Dozhd's licenses were revoked in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

Latvia's broadcasting regulator canceled Dozhd's license on Dec. 6, citing threats to national security and public order after the TV station displayed a map of Russia that included occupied Crimea and called Russian troops in Ukraine "our army." Lithuania and Estonia revoked Dozhd's licenses the following day.

The independent TV station had been forced to move its broadcasting abroad following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Dozhd received a five-year broadcasting license from the Commissariat for Mass Media of the Netherlands, European Pravda reported, citing a decision published by the Dutch regulator.

The license allows Dozhd to continue broadcasting in the European Union.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Iran has sentenced a Belgian aid worker to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes after convicting him of espionage charges in a closed-door trial, state media reported Tuesday.

The website of Irans judiciary said a Revolutionary Court sentenced 41-year-old Olivier Vandecasteele to 12.5 years in prison for espionage, 12.5 years for collaboration with hostile governments and 12.5 years for money laundering. He was also fined $1 million and sentenced to 2.5 years for currency smuggling.

Iran has detained a number of foreigners and dual nationals over the years, accusing them of espionage or other state security offenses and sentencing them after secretive trials in which rights groups say they are denied due process. Critics accuse Iran of using such prisoners as bargaining chips with the West, something Iranian officials deny.

Iran has not released any details about the charges against Vandecasteele. It is unclear if they are related to anti-government protests that have convulsed Iran for months or a long-running shadow war with Israel and the U.S. marked by covert attacks on Iran's disputed nuclear program.

The nationwide protests began after the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained for allegedly violating Iran's strict Islamic dress code. Rallying under the slogan Women, life, freedom, the protesters say they are fed up with decades of social and political repression. Iran has blamed the protests on foreign powers, without providing evidence.

Under Iranian law, Vandecasteele would be eligible for release after 12.5 years. The judiciary website said the verdicts can be appealed.

Vandecasteele's family said last month that he has been detained in an Iranian prison for months and has been on a hunger strike. They said he was deprived of access to a lawyer of his choice and is suffering from serious health problems.

Belgium has urged its nationals to leave Iran, warning that they face the risk of arbitrary arrest or unfair trial. There was no immediate comment on the verdict.

At least 520 protesters have been killed and more than 19,300 people have been arrested since the demonstrations began, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has been monitoring the unrest. Iranian authorities have not provided official figures on deaths or arrests.

Iran has executed four people after convicting them of charges linked to the protests, including attacks on security forces. They were also convicted in Revolutionary Courts, which do not allow those on trial to pick their own lawyers or see the evidence against them.

London-based Amnesty International has said such trials bear no resemblance to a meaningful judicial proceeding."

The protests, which have continued for nearly four months with no sign of ending, mark one of the biggest challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution that brought it to power.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  A Roman Catholic bishop who has criticized the Nicaraguan government will stand trial on charges of conspiracy and spreading false information, a court ruled Tuesday.

Matagalpa Bishop Rolando Alvarez, shown seated and dressed as a civilian at Tuesdays hearing, will remain under house arrest, according to the government outlet El 19 Digital.

Alvarez was arrested along with several other clergy last August in a pre-dawn raid at his church residence.

President Daniel Ortegas government has moved systematically to silence voices of dissent, arresting dozens of opposition leaders in 2021, including seven potential challengers for the presidency. The crackdown continued last year after he won a fourth consecutive term.

Alvarez had been a key religious voice in discussions of Nicaraguas future since 2018, when Ortega initiated the crackdown in response to a wave of protests against his government.
Niue, an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, has released a "Warrior of Azovstal" silver commemorative coin with a denomination of $5.

Source: Top World Coins reported that the silver coin commemorates the defenders of Mariupol who resisted the Russians at the steelworks.

Quote: "The Ukrainian soldiers who resisted at Azovstal are proof that standing up to a powerful aggressor has and will always be right," the website states.

Details: The coin is engraved with a work by the artist Maksym Palenko, "Mariupol Azovstal", which depicts a soldier of the Mariupol garrison in armour.

His helmet seems to be "created" from the metalworks that gave shelter to the soldiers and saved the lives of thousands of people.

"May their heroic feats never be forgotten with this commemorative piece. Itll surely find a special place in your collection and your heart," the description says.

Background: Two silver coins featuring Ukrainian national symbols have been issued in the USA. The Vatican has also minted a special coin in support of Ukraine.

Earlier, the National Bank of Ukraine presented a commemorative coin celebrating the Ukrainian Navy.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  No amnesty! No amnesty! No amnesty!

The chant reverberated off the walls of the jam-packed hall at the University of Sao Paulos law college on Monday afternoon. Within hours, it was the rallying cry for thousands of Brazilians who streamed into the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, penned on protest posters and banners.

The words are a demand for retribution against the supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro who stormed Brazils capital Sunday, and those who enabled the rampage.

These people need to be punished, the people who ordered it need to be punished, those who gave money for it need to be punished, Bety Amin, a 61-year-old therapist, said on Sao Paulos main boulevard. The word DEMOCRACY stretched across the back of her shirt. They dont represent Brazil. We represent Brazil.

Protesters' push for accountability evokes memories of an amnesty law that for decades has protected military members accused of abuse and murder during the country's 1964-85 dictatorship. A 2014 truth commission report sparked debate over how Brazil has grappled with the regime's legacy.

Declining to mete out punishment can avoid tensions at the moment, but perpetuates instability, Luis Felipe Miguel, a professor of political science at the University of Brasilia, wrote in a column entitled No Amnesty published Monday evening. That is the lesson we should have learned from the end of the military dictatorship, when Brazil opted not to punish the regimes killers and torturers.

The same day, Brazilian police rounded up roughly 1,500 rioters. Some were caught in the act of trashing Brazil's Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace. Most were detained the following morning at an encampment in Brasilia. Many were held in a gymnasium throughout the day, and video shared on pro-Bolsonaro social media channels showed some complaining about poor treatment in the crowded space.

Story continues

Almost 600 who were elderly, sick, homeless or mothers with their children were released Tuesday after being questioned and having their phones inspected, the Federal Police said in a statement. Its press office previously told The Associated Press that the force plans to indict at least 1,000 people. As of Tuesday afternoon, 527 people had been transfered to either a detention center or prison.

The administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says jailing the rioters is only the start.

Justice minister Flavio Dino vowed to prosecute those who acted behind the scenes to summon supporters on social media and finance their transport on charges involving organized crime, staging a coup, and violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. Authorities also are investigating allegations that local security personnel allowed the destruction to proceed unabated.

We cannot and will not compromise in fulfilling our legal duties," Dino said. "This fulfillment is essential so such events do not repeat themselves.

Lula signed a decree, now approved by both houses of Congress, ordering the federal government to assume control of security in the capital.

Far-right elements have refused to accept Bolsonaros electoral defeat. Since his Oct. 30 loss, they have camped outside military barracks in Brasilia, pleading for intervention to allow Bolsonaro to remain in power and oust Lula. When no coup materialized, they rose up themselves.

Decked out in the green and yellow of the national flag, they broke windows, toppled furniture and hurled computers and printers to the ground. They punched holes in a massive Emiliano Di Cavalcanti painting at the presidential palace and destroyed other works of art. They overturned the U-shaped table where Supreme Court justices convene, ripped a door off one justices office and vandalized a statue outside the court. Hours passed before police expelled the mob.

"It's unacceptable what happened yesterday. It's terrorism," Marcelo Menezes, a 59-year-old police officer from northeastern Pernambuco state, said at a protest in Sao Paulo. Im here in defense of democracy, Im here in defense of the people.

Cries of No amnesty!" were also heard during Lula's Jan. 1 inaugural address, in response to the president detailing the neglect of the outgoing Bolsonaro administration.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain, has waxed nostalgic for the dictatorship era, praised a notorious torturer as a hero and said the regime should have gone further in executing communists. His government also commemorated the anniversary of Brazils 1964 coup.

Political analysts had repeatedly warned that Bolsonaro was laying the groundwork for an insurrection in the mold of that which unfolded in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. For months, he stoked belief among hardcore supporters that the nations electronic voting system was prone to fraud  though he never presented any evidence and independent experts disagreed.

Results from the election, the closest since Brazil's return to democracy, were quickly recognized by politicians across the spectrum, including some Bolsonaro allies, as well as dozens of other governments. The outgoing president surprised nearly everyone by promptly fading from view, neither conceding defeat nor emphatically crying fraud. He and his party submitted a request to nullify millions of votes, which was swiftly dismissed by the electoral authority.

None of that dissuaded his die-hard backers from their conviction that Bolsonaro should still be in power.

In the immediate aftermath of the riot, Lula said that the so-called fascist fanatics and their financial backers must be held responsible. He also accused Bolsonaro of encouraging the uprising.

Bolsonaro denied the presidents accusation Sunday. Writing on Twitter, he said peaceful protest is part of democracy, but vandalism and invasion of public buildings cross the line.

Authorities are also investigating the role of the federal district's police in either failing to halt protesters' advance or standing aside to let them run amok. Prosecutors in the capital said local security forces were negligent at the very least. A supreme court justice temporarily suspended the regional governor, who oversees the force, for what he termed "willful omission" and issued warrants for the preventative arrests of the former heads of the security secretariat and military police, as well as searches of their residences.

Another justice blamed authorities across Brazil for not swiftly cracking down on homegrown neofascism.

The upheaval finally prompted municipal and state governments to disperse the pro-Bolsonaro encampments outside the military barracks. Their tents and tarps were taken down, and residents were sent packing.

Meanwhile, pro-democracy protesters want to ensure their message  No amnesty!  will be heeded by both the law enforcement authorities and any far-right elements who might dare defy democracy again.

After what happened yesterday, we need to go to the street, said Marcos Gama, a retiree protesting Monday night in Sao Paulo. We need to react.

___

AP videojournalist Mello reported from Sao Paulo. AP writer Carla Bridi contributed from Salvador.
RIO DE JANEIRO  No amnesty! No amnesty! No amnesty!

The chant reverberated off the walls of the jam-packed hall at the University of Sao Paulos law college on Monday afternoon. Hours later, it was the rallying cry for thousands of Brazilians who streamed into the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, penned on protest posters and banners.

The words are a demand for retribution against supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro who stormed Brazils capital Sunday, and those who enabled the rampage.

These people need to be punished, the people who ordered it need to be punished, those who gave money for it need to be punished, Bety Amin, a 61-year-old therapist, said on Sao Paulos main boulevard. The word DEMOCRACY stretched across the back of her shirt. They dont represent Brazil. We represent Brazil.

Protesters push for accountability evokes memories of an amnesty law that for decades has protected military members accused of abuse and murder during the countrys 1964-85 dictatorship. A 2014 truth commission report sparked debate over how Brazil has grappled with the regimes legacy.

Declining to mete out punishment can avoid tensions at the moment, but perpetuates instability, Luis Felipe Miguel, a professor of political science at the University of Brasilia, wrote in a column entitled No Amnesty published Monday evening. That is the lesson we should have learned from the end of the military dictatorship, when Brazil opted not to punish the regimes killers and torturers.

Brazilian police on Monday had already rounded up roughly 1,500 rioters, with some caught in the act of trashing Brazils Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace, while the majority were detained the following morning at an encampment in Brasilia. Many were held in a gymnasium throughout the day, and video shared on pro-Bolsonaro social media channels showed some complaining about poor treatment in the crowded space.

Story continues

The Federal Polices press office told The Associated Press the force plans to indict at least 1,000 people, and has begun transferring them to the nearby Papuda prison.

The chant reverberated off the walls of the jam-packed hall at the University of Sao Paulos law college on Monday afternoon. Hours later, it was the rallying cry for thousands of Brazilians who streamed into the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, penned on protest posters and banners.

The words are a demand for retribution against supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro who stormed Brazils capital Sunday, and those who enabled the rampage.

These people need to be punished, the people who ordered it need to be punished, those who gave money for it need to be punished, Bety Amin, a 61-year-old therapist, said on Sao Paulos main boulevard. The word DEMOCRACY stretched across the back of her shirt. They dont represent Brazil. We represent Brazil.

Protesters push for accountability evokes memories of an amnesty law that for decades has protected military members accused of abuse and murder during the countrys 1964-85 dictatorship. A 2014 truth commission report sparked debate over how Brazil has grappled with the regimes legacy.

Declining to mete out punishment can avoid tensions at the moment, but perpetuates instability, Luis Felipe Miguel, a professor of political science at the University of Brasilia, wrote in a column entitled No Amnesty published Monday evening. That is the lesson we should have learned from the end of the military dictatorship, when Brazil opted not to punish the regimes killers and torturers.

Brazilian police on Monday had already rounded up roughly 1,500 rioters, with some caught in the act of trashing Brazils Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace, while the majority were detained the following morning at an encampment in Brasilia. Many were held in a gymnasium throughout the day, and video shared on pro-Bolsonaro social media channels showed some complaining about poor treatment in the crowded space.

The Federal Polices press office told The Associated Press the force plans to indict at least 1,000 people, and has begun transferring them to the nearby Papuda prison.

Brazilian authorities vowed to punish thousands of supporters of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro who stormed the capital in Brasilia. (Jan. 10) (AP video/Mario Lobao and Eduardo Francois)

The administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says that is only the start.

Justice minister Flavio Dino vowed to prosecute those who acted behind the scenes to summon supporters on social media and finance their transport for crimes including organized crime, staging a coup, and violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. He also said authorities would investigate allegations that local security personnel allowed the destruction to proceed unabated.

Protesters, supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, storm the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. Planalto is the official workplace of the president of Brazil.

We cannot and will not compromise in fulfilling our legal duties, Dino said. This fulfillment is essential so such events do not repeat themselves.

Lula signed a decree ordering the federal government to assume control of security in the capital Sunday. It was approved by Congress Lower House on Monday night, and now proceeds to the Senate.

The riot in Brasilia was a reminder of the threat to democracy posed by far-right elements that refuse to accept Bolsonaros electoral defeat. Since his Oct. 30 loss, they have camped outside military barracks, pleading for intervention to allow Bolsonaro to remain in power and oust Lula. When no coup materialized, they rose up themselves.

Decked out in the green and yellow of the national flag, they broke windows, toppled furniture and hurled computers and printers to the ground. They punched holes in a massive Emiliano Di Cavalcanti painting at the presidential palace and destroyed other works of art. They overturned the U-shaped table where Supreme Court justices convene, ripped a door off one justices office and vandalized a statue outside the court. Hours passed before police expelled the mob.

Its unacceptable what happened yesterday. Its terrorism, Marcelo Menezes, a 59-year-old police officer from northeastern Pernambuco state, said at a protest in Sao Paulo. Im here in defense of democracy, Im here in defense of the people.

Cries of No amnesty! were also heard during Lulas Jan. 1 inaugural address, in response to the president detailing the neglect of the outgoing Bolsonaro administration.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain, has waxed nostalgic for the dictatorship era, praised a notorious torturer as a hero and said the regime should have gone further in executing communists. His government also commemorated the anniversary of Brazils 1964 coup.

Political analysts had repeatedly warned that Bolsonaro was laying the groundwork for an insurrection in the mold of that which unfolded in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. For months, he stoked belief among hardcore supporters that the nations electronic voting system was prone to fraud  though he never presented any evidence and independent experts disagreed.

Results from the election, the closest since Brazils return to democracy, were quickly recognized by politicians across the spectrum, including some Bolsonaro allies, as well as dozens of other governments. The outgoing president surprised nearly everyone by promptly fading from view, neither conceding defeat nor emphatically crying fraud. He and his party submitted a request to nullify millions of votes, which was swiftly dismissed by the electoral authority.

None of that dissuaded his die-hard backers from their conviction that Bolsonaro belonged in power.

In the immediate aftermath of the riot, Lula said that the so-called fascist fanatics and their financial backers must be held responsible. He also accused Bolsonaro of encouraging the uprising.

Bolsonaro denied the presidents accusation Sunday. Writing on Twitter, he said peaceful protest is part of democracy, but vandalism and invasion of public buildings cross the line.

Authorities are also investigating the role of the federal districts police in either failing to halt protesters advance or standing aside to let them run amok. Prosecutors in the capital said local security forces were negligent at the very least. A supreme court justice temporarily suspended the regional governor, who oversees the force, for what he termed willful omission. Another justice blamed authorities across Brazil for not swiftly cracking down on homegrown neofascism.

The upheaval finally prompted municipal and state governments to disperse pro-Bolsonaro encampments outside military barracks that have lasted since the election. Their tents and tarps were taken down, and residents were sent packing.

But pro-democracy protesters on Monday sought to ensure that their message  No amnesty!  was heard by the authorities responsible for investigating and prosecuting, as well as far-right elements who might dare defy democracy again.

After what happened yesterday, we need to go to the street, said Marcos Gama, a retiree who protested Monday night in Sao Paulo. We need to react.

-- AP videojournalist Mello reported from Sao Paulo.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Protesters in Brazil demanded jail time for the pro-Bolsonaro rioters
By Jarrett Renshaw and Dave Graham

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The United States, Mexico and Canada on Tuesday vowed to tighten economic ties, producing more goods regionally and boosting semiconductor output, even as integration is hampered by an ongoing dispute over Mexico's nationalist energy policies.

U.S. President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met in Mexico City and pledged to beef up supply chains after weathering serious disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lopez Obrador said Mexico would help Biden clamp down on the trade in synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is blamed for thousands of U.S. deaths, as the leaders also promised to reduce their countries' carbon footprint and tackle inflation.

"We're working to a future to strengthen our cooperation on supply chains and critical minerals so we can continue to accelerate in our efforts to build the technologies of tomorrow - right here in North America," Biden said in a joint news conference with his fellow leaders after their meeting.

Lopez Obrador said the region would promote economic development by creating a committee for import substitution to make North America less dependent on other parts of the world.

The White House said the three countries would improve legal pathways for migrants, and Lopez Obrador again urged Biden to press Congress to enact measures that would regularize the migration status of millions of Mexicans in the United States.

The United States said the region would in early 2023 organize a semiconductor forum to increase investment in the strategic high-tech industry dominated by Asia.

The White House said coordination would be needed on semiconductor supply chain mapping to identify needs and investment opportunities in making chips that are used in everything from telecoms to carmaking and defense.

Mexico's hopes of benefiting from the push to boost semiconductor output have been undermined by the energy dispute, with Washington and Ottawa starting formal dispute settlement proceedings against Mexico's policies in July.

Story continues

The spat, which centers on Mexico's efforts to give priority to its cash-strapped, state-run energy companies at the expense of private investors, was being closely watched at the summit. The leaders did not answer questions on it at the news conference.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard had suggested energy would not feature prominently in Tuesday's talks, noting that a resolution process was under way and the three leaders did not want to turn the summit into a dispute panel.

"I wouldn't imagine it's a major issue in today's summit," he told Mexican radio, while noting Trudeau was likely to raise the matter in separate talks with Lopez Obrador on Wednesday.

MIGRATION

The Biden administration has focused much of its attention with Mexico on containing illegal crossings at the southern U.S. border, and policy analysts argue Washington is often reluctant to let other issues complicate dealings on migration.

On Monday, Canadian International Trade Minister Mary Ng put across her country's concerns about Mexico's energy policies and their potential effects on Canadian investments in a meeting with Mexican Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro.

Ng said it was important to find a "mutually acceptable resolution" to the dispute, and also flagged concerns about the treatment of Canadian mining companies in Mexico.

Biden and Trudeau met earlier on Tuesday, and the U.S. leader said he would visit Canada in March, according to the White House. As their meeting started, Biden said the region should aim to be "the clean energy powerhouse in the world."

Biden also stressed "strengthening our supply chains so that no one can arbitrarily hold us up."

Under the North American Drug Dialogue (NADD), the three countries would adopt an "updated strategic framework" to address threats posed by banned narcotics, the White House said. This would include greater information-sharing on chemicals used to make drugs including fentanyl.

The White House said the three were also committed to curbing methane emissions from solid waste and wastewater by at least 15% by 2030 from 2020 levels.

They would also create a virtual platform to give migrants streamlined access and information on legal ways to enter Mexico, the United States, and Canada and make them less likely to rely on smugglers, it said.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Dave Graham; Additional reporting by Diego Ore, Raul Cortes, Steve Scherer, Liz Diaz, Stephen Eisenhammer, Ismail Shakil, and Tim AhmannEditing by Alexandra Hudson, Alistair Bell, Grant McCool and Leslie Adler)
With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 7.1x Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group Corporation Limited (SGX:T14) may be sending bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in Singapore have P/E ratios greater than 11x and even P/E's higher than 18x are not unusual. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

We'd have to say that with no tangible growth over the last year, Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group's earnings have been unimpressive. It might be that many expect the uninspiring earnings performance to worsen, which has repressed the P/E. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

View our latest analysis for Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group

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We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that there was hardly any earnings per share growth to speak of for the company over the past year. Although pleasingly EPS has lifted 37% in aggregate from three years ago, notwithstanding the last 12 months. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the market is expected to decline by 2.9% over the next year, which puts the company's recent medium-term positive growth rates in a good light for now.

In light of this, it's quite peculiar that Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group's P/E sits below the majority of other companies. It looks like most investors are not convinced at all that the company can maintain its recent positive growth rate in the face of a shrinking broader market.

Story continues

What We Can Learn From Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group's P/E?

Using the price-to-earnings ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

Our examination of Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group revealed its growing earnings over the medium-term aren't contributing to its P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted, given the market is set to shrink. We think potential risks might be placing significant pressure on the P/E ratio and share price. One major risk is whether its earnings trajectory can keep outperforming under these tough market conditions. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued, but investors think future earnings could see a lot of volatility.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 1 warning sign for Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group that you need to be mindful of.

You might be able to find a better investment than Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20x (but have proven they can grow earnings).

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:NUS) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example!

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Check out our latest analysis for Nu Skin Enterprises

Step By Step Through The Calculation

We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$123.9m US$162.3m US$173.6m US$183.0m US$191.1m US$198.1m US$204.4m US$210.2m US$215.6m US$220.7m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Est @ 6.94% Est @ 5.45% Est @ 4.41% Est @ 3.68% Est @ 3.17% Est @ 2.81% Est @ 2.56% Est @ 2.39% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 8.4% US$114 US$138 US$136 US$133 US$128 US$122 US$116 US$110 US$104 US$98.5

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$1.2b

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After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 2.0%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 8.4%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2032  (1 + g)  (r  g) = US$221m (1 + 2.0%)  (8.4% 2.0%) = US$3.5b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$3.5b ( 1 + 8.4%)10= US$1.6b

The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is US$2.8b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of US$43.6, the company appears a touch undervalued at a 22% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

dcf

The Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. 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 Nu Skin Enterprises 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 8.4%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.069. 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.

SWOT Analysis for Nu Skin Enterprises

Strength

Debt is not viewed as a risk.

Weakness

Earnings declined over the past year.

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Personal Products market.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the American market.

Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%.

Threat

Dividends are not covered by earnings.

Annual revenue is forecast to grow slower than the American market.

Moving On:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For Nu Skin Enterprises, we've put together three essential elements you should look at:

Risks: For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Nu Skin Enterprises that you should be aware of. Future Earnings: How does NUS's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every American 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.

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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
When a single insider purchases stock, it is typically not a major deal. However, when multiple insiders purchase stock, like in GWA Group Limited's (ASX:GWA) 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 do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

See our latest analysis for GWA Group

GWA Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by MD, CEO & Director Urs Meyerhans for AU$155k worth of shares, at about AU$2.38 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of AU$2.11. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. 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.

In the last twelve months GWA Group insiders were buying shares, but not selling. 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!

GWA Group is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 5.5% of GWA Group shares, worth about AU$31m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

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So What Do The GWA Group Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no GWA Group insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think GWA Group insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for GWA Group (of which 2 are a bit unpleasant!) you should know about.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Photo: Chung Chow

B.C. companies are likely to benefit from the Canadian government's contract to buy 88 F-35 fighter jets for $19 billion to replace the country's aging fleet of CF-18s.



While Canada's agreement is with the U.S. government, aerospace company Lockheed Martin Corp. and aircraft engine maker, Pratt & Whitney, which is a Raytheon Technologies Corp. subsidiary, B.C. companies are expected to be involved making some components.



Aircraft maker Latecoere finalized in November its deal to buy Delta-based Avcorp, which has about 500 employees across Canada and has made folding outboard wing assemblies for the F-35C variant of the fighters the U.S. Marine Corps uses on aircraft carriers. About 375 of Avcorp's employees are based in Delta.



As of September 2022, Avcorp had delivered 94 sets of those seven-foot-long assemblies that compose the end of a wing, folding up to create more space when stored on an aircraft carrier. Avcorp produces about 30 sets of those assemblies per year and was set a few months ago to deliver 300 more, according to former CEO Amandeep Kaler, who left the company following the transaction with Latecoere.



Kaler last year told BIV that work on the F-35 program could ultimately be worth between $750 million and $1 billion for his company.



Workers at nearby Asco Aerospace Canada Ltd. have also produced components for F-35 stealth fighters: bulkheads. Asco employs about 100 workers in Delta and its vice-president and general manager Kevin Russell told BIV last year that military contracts helped the company survive the pandemic.



That was sort of our lifeline, he said.



Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand today made the announcement that the contract to buy the F-35s had been finalized.



The Canadian government last March announced that it had chosen the F-35s as the preferred fighter jets after initiating a bid process. In the 2015 election campaign, the Liberals opposed the previous Conservative government's decision to buy the planes, saying that they intended to find a cheaper option.
Members of the House of Representatives meet to elect a speaker on Jan. 6, 2023. (Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images)

The new leadership of the House of Representatives is filled with Republican legislators who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

After a historic 15 ballots, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., became House speaker late Friday night. McCarthy was one of 139 House GOP members who voted against certifying the election results on Jan. 6, 2021, despite calling then-President Donald Trump and begging him to call off his supporters who had stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to stop Joe Biden from being certified the winner.

In order to become speaker, McCarthy made concessions to a number of Republican holdouts who voted against certification, including Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, who has been investigated by the Justice Department for his role in the events of Jan. 6.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., was a vocal supporter of McCarthys speakership bid and another vote against election certification. One of the most right-wing members of the Republican caucus, Greene had her committee assignments stripped away by the previous Congress due to her history of embracing conspiracy theories and making antisemitic remarks.

Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., who is being investigated for fabricating much of his biography during his 2022 campaign, was also an adamant supporter of McCarthy. While Santos was not in Congress to vote at the time, he claims he attended Trumps Jan. 6 rally and paid to help get rioters out of jail.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, center, in the House chamber during the meeting to elect a speaker. (Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Behind McCarthy in the Republican House leadership are a number of fellow 2020 election deniers. Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York and Republican Policy Committee Chair Gary Palmer of Alabama all voted to reject Bidens win.

At the committee chair level, a majority of the gavels were distributed to Republicans who were in support of overturning the election results. One of those chairmanships will go to Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who will lead the Judiciary Committee after being heavily involved with the Trump White Houses efforts to stop Biden from taking office.

Other powerful panels, like the Budget Committee (Jodey Arrington of Texas), the Ways and Means Committee (Jason Smith of Missouri), the Armed Services Committee (Mike Rogers of Alabama) and the Homeland Security Committee (Mark Green of Tennessee), will be led by legislators who voted against certification.

The six other election deniers set to become committee chairs are Mike Bost of Illinois, Sam Graves of Missouri, Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania and Roger Williams of Texas.
Pictures of a smiling Michael Wayne Jones making funny faces and being the life of any gathering, versus Jones' dark, disturbing family history, were on display Monday, the third day of Jones' defense in this high-profile murder case.

Circuit Judge Anthony Tatti is presiding over the proceedings. The defense is trying to convince the jury that Jones should face life in prison, not death row, for the deaths of his wife and four children.

Assistant State Attorneys Amy Berndt and Rich Buxman are trying to persuade the jury that Jones deserve the death penalty. They presented their case in December, and the jury is now hearing from the defense.

Resolved:Seven felony cases resolved

Poisoned:Man accused of killing neighborhood dog, three cats with antifreeze-laced food

Michael Wayne Jones:Defense witnesses describe problems that affected confessed killer Michael Jones

Gruesome discovery

Jones has previously entered guilty pleas to four counts of first-degree murder for Cameron Bowers, 9; his brother, Preston Bowers, 4; and sisters Mercalli Jones, 2; and 11-month-old Aiyana Jones. He also has pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the death of his wife, Casei. The sisters belong to the couple, while the brothers are from his wife's previous marriage.

With the guilt phase over, it's now time for the penalty phase. In the penalty phase, prosecutors are laying the foundation for aggravating factors that support imposing capital punishment. The defense counters with mitigating factors that support life in prison.

The jury eventually will vote on a sentencing recommendation.

Casei Jones and her four children

The Summerfield man was taken into custody in Georgia following a single-vehicle crash in September 2019. He admitted to possessing his wife's remains in a tote that was in the vehicle he was driving. He led law enforcement officials to the children's remains, which were in a suitcase and sealed totes. Authorities believe the murders occurred between July 10 and the end of August 2019.

Story continues

Jones' former employers testify

The owners of a Mount Dora veterinary clinic where the defendant, Casei Jones, and Michael Jones' first wife worked testified separately for the defense.

The couple told one of Jones' lawyers, Morris Carranza, that their former employee was a happy-go-lucky, cheerful, hard working, respectful person who loved his job.

Beau Delaporte said Jones was "his right-hand man" and "all my clients loved Mike."

He said he hired Jones because Jones needed a job. Delaporte thought Jones would be a good fit based on his job experience in the U.S. Navy, where he worked as medic. Delaporte said Jones quickly adapted to the job.

Defense lawyer Morris Carranza

Delaporte said Jones was good to him and his wife's children and "they loved Mike." He said Jones was a good father to his three children.

The man said Jones' first wife was in charge of the relationship and gave Jones structure.

He said after Casei Jones was hired, he noticed a change in Michael Jones. He said their close friendship suffered.

Delaporte said Jones was fired after he found out Jones lied to him. Jones said he went to Vermont to bury his mother, but actually went to the beach. He also said Jones burglarized the office.

Under cross-examination, Delaporte told Buxman that Jones was dependable and wasn't low functioning. Testimony given in court last week by a defense expert suggested Jones was a low functioning person.

Delaporte said he never saw any depression, alcohol abuse or serious mental health problems that would have prevented Jones from doing his job. Experts testifying in court for the defense on Friday mentioned Jones suffered mental problems.

Testimony from employer's wife

Casey Delaporte called Jones "a great friend" who wasn't violent. She said Jones' "best quality was being a dad."

Although Jones' first wife "kept Mike on a good path," she said the woman "wore the pants" in the relationship. In previous testimony, the defense has pointed out that Michael Jones was a follower.

When Casei Jones was hired, Casey Delaporte said, Michael Jones liked her. They had an affair and Delaporte saw a change in Jones. She said Casei Jones was controlling with Jones. The woman said Michael Jones told her about the sexual and mental abuse had had suffered in childhood.

Buxman asked the woman about Jones' work ethic and was told "he (Jones) ran the clinic."

She said she never saw any depression or any other problems that affected Jones' job performance. She said Casei Jones was "sweet, quiet and caring."

She said she also saw a change in Jones after Casei was hired. The woman said she would agree that Jones told lies to get sympathy. She said when she and Jones spoke about the clinic break-in, he told her "he doesn't do well when backed into a corner."

He also blamed PTSD for the burglary.

A friend and expert take the stand

James Cardenas, who served in Iraq while in the U.S. Marines and was Jones' former neighbor when they were on the military base, said Jones was a laid-back, chill, man who loved the Navy. He said although Jones drank frequently, he showed up to work and wasn't violent.

Cardenas told Amanda Sizemore, another defense attorney, that his friend had a girlfriend who also was in the Navy. He said the woman dominated the relationship and was somewhat physically abusive toward Jones. While he saw few moments of depression, Cardenas said Jones had no signs of mental problems.

He said Jones was "very passionate" about his veterinary clinic job. He said Jones was good around his children.

Asked by Buxman if Jones had shown signs of mental issues or PTSD, Cardenas said no, and that Jones seemed normal.

Amanda Sizemore

Dr. Yenys Castillo, a clinical and forensic psychologist, said she met Jones for nearly seven hours at different times and interviewed others who knew him.

Castillo said she believes Jones came from a dysfunctional family where there's evidence of sexual, mental and physical abuse, along with violence.

Those problems were passed from generation to generation on both sides of the family. Over time, Castillo said, it affected the way Jones and other members of the family were raised and treated.

With seemingly no one to turn to, Castillo said, the abuse continued. She labeled it "a legacy of silence."

From a family chart, Castillo detailed the abuse that touched Jones and several family members. She added that Jones' defense was not to face his problems. She said while Jones appears to be functioning on the outside, deep down, he was doing his best not to show his true feelings.

Assistant State Attorney Amy Berndt

She said Jones survived in a structural and organized environment.

Berndt mentioned, and it was agreed, that Jones' biological father tried multiple times to contact his son, but was given excuses.

Jones' father was not diagnosed with mental health issues and did not take any medication for such problems, according to testimony presented in court. It was also agreed that some members of the family went to prison for molesting other family members.

While working in the Navy, Jones worked under stressful situations and never showed any signs of a mental breakdown. Since leaving the military, Jones was able to function without any problems, Berndt pointed out.

The trial continues Tuesday.

Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Day 3 of Michael Jones defense: Experts, former bosses testify
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reuters/Kim Kyung Hoon

Russian Urals, the nation's largest crude oil export, is trading at roughly $38 a barrel, well below the $60 price cap.

But to oil historian Gregory Brew, the price reflects a softening global market, more than the impact of sanctions.

"Softer market conditions have made the [price] cap somewhat moot," he told Insider.

Over a month after the European Union and G7 imposed a $60 price cap on Russian oil, the country's Urals blend is currently trading at about $38 a barrel. But the steep discount has more to do with China than sanctions, according to oil historian and Yale postdoctoral fellow Gregory Brew.

Before Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine last February, Russia stood as the world's second largest crude exporter. Over the past year, however, many nations including the US have either imposed sanctions or shunned business with Moscow to penalize the nation for its aggression.

But in Brew's view, the key variable behind cheap Russian oil is China.

"Since the war, we've generally seen Urals go for less, so this isn't a surprise," Brew told Insider. "The current drop reflects softer conditions on the market overall. There's uncertainty with the global economy and with China's zero-COVID policies."

Brent crude, the international benchmark, is currently hovering just below $80 a barrel.

Brew noted that this remains a demand-driven story, as opposed to one centered on the West's reactions to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It isn't about what Russia can produce or how badly the West can crimp Moscow's revenue, he said, but rather about the global market Russia is operating in, which hinges on China's reopening plans. Whether China sees fuel demand come roaring back will hold the biggest sway over prices for Russian oil.

Meanwhile, Russia has refused to formally abide by the price cap mechanism and has threatened to retaliate, such as by slashing oil output. UBS analysts have warned that oil prices could spike above $100 a barrel this year, but so far that has yet to materialize given that demand remains subdued largely in China.

"Softer market conditions have made the [price] cap somewhat moot," Brew said. "The market is somewhat oversupplied, and to say this is the result of the cap is a bit hard to argue."

Read the original article on Business Insider
One of the worlds best-rated restaurants is closing its doors in 2024. Noma, a Copenhagen fine dining restaurant, is known for inventing New Nordic Cuisine and serving eccentric dishes like reindeer brain custard and saffron ice cream in a beeswax bowl.

The restaurant has been at the top of the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants list five times, with the most recent win being in 2021. Foodies from around the world would travel to Copenhagen, some flying first-class, to experience the culinary excellence at Noma. The multicourse tasting menu can run you upwards of $500 per person.

To continue being noma, we must change. Therefore, dear guests, colleagues, and friends, we have some exciting news to share. Head over to https://t.co/8DqGez12f2, to read more about noma 3.0.  restaurant noma (@nomacph) January 9, 2023

Related: SASAA: One Of The Few Black-Owned Restaurants In Copenhagen, Denmark

Why would a top restaurant close?

Nomas chef Rene Redzepi has decided to close the three-Michelin-star establishment as a restaurant at the end of 2024. It will, however, be rebranded as a giant lab aka Noma 3.0.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by noma (@nomacph)

In a statement on the restaurants website, its revealed that the giant lab will be a pioneering test kitchen dedicated to the work of food innovation and the development of new flavors, one that will share the fruits of our efforts more widely than ever before.

The restaurant will have pop-ups where diners can experience its locally foraged dishes.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by noma (@nomacph)

Our goal is to create a lasting organization dedicated to groundbreaking work in food, but also to redefine the foundation for a restaurant team, a place where you can learn, you can take risks, and you can grow, says the site.

Story continues

The restaurant industry post-pandemic

After winning the Worlds Best Restaurant in 2021, chef Redzepi shared, If the pandemic has taught us anything, its how fragile our dreams can be, how incredibly grueling and difficult the industry can be.

Nomas next phase of being a test kitchen has been in the planning stages for the past two years.

Read more about Noma 3.0 here.

Related: This Traveling Mom Shares Her Secrets On Funding International Family Travel
Hey there, OnPolitics readers. Classified documents are in the headlines, but this time it's about President Joe Biden, not former president Donald Trump.

USA TODAY political reporters Bart Jansen and Kevin Johnson report:

The revelation Monday that classified documents were found in an office President Joe Biden used before his campaign echoed the discovery of documents seized at Mar-a-Lago after former President Donald Trump left the White House.

What we know, briefly:

A special counsel to Biden said the documents were turned over in a timely manner and Bidens personal lawyers have been cooperating with the archives and the Justice Department.

House Republicans plan to investigate what they contend is different treatment between GOP and Democratic presidents.

The White House contends it was a small number of documents in a locked closet, and "not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the archives."

 Dig deeper: Who is investigating, and the differences between the two cases.

Real quick: Stories you'll want to read

Meanwhile, Biden at North American Leaders Summit: This afternoon Biden is in a trilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. What to know from today -- so far.

House gets down to business: The rules package passes, an early win for speaker Kevin McCarthy, but it came after a fiery debate with Dems accusing Republicans of caving to "MAGA extremists."

How did the Republicans get here? Groups of conservative activists have fought ever-evolving Republican establishments for more than a half-century. Here's how the GOP went from Barry Goldwater to Ronald Reagan to Newt Gingrich to the Tea Party to Donald Trump to, now, the House Freedom Caucus.

Feinstein challenged: Rep. Katie Porter, a Democrat, says she'll run for Senate in 2024. But incumbent Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, hasn't announced she's retiring.

Story continues

 C-SPAN cameras are out of the House: The view of the chamber is back to the norm of party-controlled cameras, Ken Tran writes:

Thanks to McCarthy's win, per standard procedure, Republicans put their own cameras in the House, and party-run cameras tend not to wander around the chamber in pursuit of interesting shots. C-SPAN was able to televise the McCarthy debate because, technically, no one was in charge of the House.

ICYMI: A near fight on House floor, other dramatic moments caught on camera in McCarthy speaker saga

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How are Biden's classified documents different from Trump's?
Hundreds Oaxacans and leaders of Indigenous communities across California participate in a March for Justice in downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 15. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles has recently welcomed a slate of elected officials following the widespread outrage from the leaked audio recording that has exposed deep-seated, racist behavior within L.A.s local government.

While Mayor Karen Bass is entering office with strong political support from voters, incoming City Council members will have to reckon with deeply unpopular views of the scandal-plagued council and work to regain the trust of their constituents.

As these newly elected leaders begin addressing the citys problems with homelessness and housing, it is imperative they make good on commitments to forge a new direction in L.A. politics  one that is based on coalition building and unity  including rebuilding trust with L.A.s Indigenous communities. One simple and effective starting point is to expand language services within government agencies by properly funding Executive Directive 32.

As an Indigenous woman (Bene Xogsho, Zapotec) born and raised in L.A., I have seen firsthand the impact of language barriers on the citys Indigenous communities. The tendency to lump Indigenous communities under the broad umbrella of Hispanic/Latino not only erases the diversity and cultural richness of the many Indigenous groups that call Los Angeles home, but it also significantly limits the resources dedicated to language access for these groups by assuming that we are all able to speak or understand Spanish. We have seen time and time again that this is not the case: The tragic 2010 police shooting of Manuel Jaminez Xum, a Guatemalan day laborer and native Kiche speaker who was unable to understand English and Spanish commands from the police, is a pivotal example of the need for expanded Indigenous language access.

Executive Directive 32, also known as Strengthening Language Access in the City of Los Angeles and introduced by Mayor Eric Garcetti in December 2021, will improve access to information and services for over half a million Angelenos who have limited proficiency in English by requiring every city department to implement a plan to handle language access issues  for instance, constituents requests for services in different languages and how information is disseminated to reach non-English speaking communities.

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L.A. has the largest population of Indigenous people in the United States, and it is home to an estimated 170,000 Indigenous migrants from the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Michoacan. This translates to more than 17 Indigenous languages spoken in Los Angeles County alone, making it imperative for Indigenous migrants to receive services in their language.

Indigenous organizations like Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo (CIELO) have been the primary source behind most of L.A.s existing Indigenous language resources, such as interpretation services, language and cultural awareness trainings for the Los Angeles Police Department to better identify and assist Indigenous language speakers, and video translations of vital information on COVID-19 into several Indigenous languages.

At a city and state level, however, there is still a troubling lack of official resources for Indigenous language access: Of the 18 languages that the Los Angeles County registrar is required to provide translations and assistance to for voting, there is not a single Indigenous language represented.

The current lack of language accessibility leaves Indigenous Angelenos unable to access the political resources and information necessary to advocate for their communities needs. It also leaves many Indigenous workers vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, such as wage theft, with few options for redress. In some cases, language access can even be a matter of life and death: At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, many of Californias Indigenous communities missed vital information about how to protect themselves from the pandemic due to language barriers, as most of the news outlets reported only in English or Spanish.

While E.D. 32 is a positive first step toward greater language accessibility, it is currently not included in the Los Angeles budget of 2022-2023. In comparison, New York City has invested $4 million into a similar program to help non-native English speaking students and their families more equitably access information and services. That program now helps over 400,000 students each year by expanding translation services within school facilities, providing workshops and language support to multilingual families, and developing citywide know your rights campaigns. It is a model that the L.A. City Council can study to find potential funding sources.

At a time when distrust of the City Council is running high, we need Bass and other incoming elected officials to show that they are willing to commit the dollars and time to develop the programs that truly allow for all communities in Los Angeles to be recognized and supported.

Janet Martinez is co-founder and vice executive director of Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo (CIELO).





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion, the Security Service has exposed more than 600 Russian agents and spies working for Russia in Ukraine.

Source: Press office of the Security Service of Ukraine

Quote: "Since the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation, the Security Service has been investigating more than 1,500 criminal proceedings on the facts of treason and espionage. Over 340 of them have been sent to court.

During this period, the SSU exposed more than 600 Russian agents and spies who were conducting intelligence and subversive activities against our state."

Details: In particular, a sabotage and reconnaissance group of Russian military intelligence was detained in August.

Russian agents have been plotting the assassination of the Minister of Defence and the head of the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, as well as a well-known Ukrainian activist.

A Russian intelligence group has been exposed in Kyiv; it included officials of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The officials handed Russia intelligence on the arrangement of the state border and personal data of Ukrainian law enforcement officers.

In addition, Russian agents have been detained in the city of Khmelnytskyi, Volyn Oblast, and Mykolaiv.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
About 55% of Ukrainians believe that Russia's full-scale invasion contributed in some way to the European Union granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for membership.

European Pravda reports that this has been confirmed by the results of a survey conducted by the think tank Info Sapiens and commissioned by the New Europe Center.

26.3% of respondents said the war was a key factor in this decision, while 0.2% of respondents called it a gesture of solidarity.

The most popular answer was "[the EU made this decision] because of the war with Russia and thanks to the reforms implemented [in Ukraine]"; this is the opinion of 28.9% of respondents.

Other possible answers received less than 2% of responses.

More than 70% consider it fair that the European Union requires Ukraine to implement reforms in order to open the accession negotiations.

62% believe that this process can be launched before the end of the war.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Every investor in Power Root Berhad (KLSE:PWROOT) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual insiders with 51% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

With such a notable stake in the company, insiders would be highly incentivised to make value accretive decisions.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Power Root Berhad, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Power Root Berhad

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Power Root Berhad?

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 Power Root Berhad does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Power Root Berhad's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Power Root Berhad. Our data suggests that Fuei Boon Wong, who is also the company's Top Key Executive, holds the most number of shares at 19%. When an insider holds a sizeable amount of a company's stock, investors consider it as a positive sign because it suggests that insiders are willing to have their wealth tied up in the future of the company. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 19% and 10% of the stock. Interestingly, the second-largest shareholder, Say Swee How is also Top Key Executive, again, pointing towards strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders. Additionally, the company's CEO Tak Keong Wong directly holds 9.7% of the total shares outstanding.

Story continues

To make our study more interesting, we found that the top 4 shareholders control more than half of the company which implies that this group has considerable sway over the company's decision-making.

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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Power Root Berhad

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our information suggests that insiders own more than half of Power Root Berhad. This gives them effective control of the company. Given it has a market cap of RM883m, that means they have RM450m worth of shares. Most would argue this is a positive, showing strong alignment with shareholders. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 13% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. 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.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 12%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Power Root Berhad better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Power Root Berhad you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit unpleasant.

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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Photo: File photo

Richmond RCMP are looking for information about an alleged road rage incident in late December where a driver claims bear spray was used.

The driver of a grey four-door Tesla claimed he was followed closely by a South Asian man driving a black Hyundai sedan through the tunnel. Both cars exited Highway 99 on the Steveston Highway off-ramp and then proceeded westbound.

The Hyundai was allegedly swerving between lanes behind the Tesla right up to No. 4 Road at which point, the Hyundai driver pulled in front and cut the other driver off.

Both drivers got out of their cars and thats when the Tesla driver alleges the Hyundai driver used bear spray.

The Tesla driver said the other driver then got back in his car and drove off westbound on Steveston Highway.

The incident took place around 7:06 p.m. on Dec. 27.

Richmond RCMP officers responded to the incident at the 6600 block of Steveston Highway, close to Gilbert Road.

Richmond RCMP are asking the public for dash cam footage from 6:40 p.m. through 7:15 p.m. in the following areas:

- Northbound Highway 99 from the Highway 17 on-ramp, along Highway 99 and on the Steveston Highway off-ramp from Highway 99

- Steveston Highway off-ramp from Highway 99 up to between No. 3 Road and Gilbert Road

This is a typically a busy stretch of road around 7 p.m. on a weekday, said Cpl. Adriana OMalley, Richmond RCMP media relations officer. We are asking anyone who was in that area around that time to review their dash cam footage or if you witnessed the incident to contact us.

The driver of the Hyundai was described as South Asian wearing black or dark clothing.

Anyone who may have witnessed or has information regarding this incident is asked to call Richmond RCMP at 604-278-1212 and quote file number 2022-35742. Should you wish to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or visit them online at www.solvecrime.ca.
A Pensacola man who was arrested Friday for allegedly pistol whipping a woman was also charged separately in connection to a June 2022 shooting that injured multiple people at The Pelicans Nest in downtown Pensacola.

Pensacola Police Department spokesman Mike Wood confirmed to the News Journal that 28-year-old Michael Lamar Rudolph was charged with attempted homicide, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and firing missiles into a building relating to the Pelicans Nest shooting that left five injured.

According to Rudolph's arrest report, he was arrested by Escambia County Sheriff's deputies after he "punched (a woman) in the side of her head," then "threw her to the ground, hit her in the head with a handgun and stole her gun" on Dec. 27, 2022. Rudolph then allegedly stole the woman's white Nissan Kicks SUV.

Rudolph was charged with robbery, aggravated battery, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, a misdemeanor count of battery and a misdemeanor count of possessing marijuana.

Pelicans Nest shooting:Five people shot at downtown Pensacola night club. Police believe attack was 'targeted'

Attempted bank robber sought:Pensacola police searching for middle-aged woman who tried to rob Synovus Bank

What happened at The Pelicans Nest on June 18, 2022?

At 12:35 a.m. June 18, a suspect shot five people between the ages of 21 and 45 years old at the self-described dance club and hookah lounge on 15 East Intendencia St.

Five days later on June 23, the club announced they were permanently closed.

After the incident, Officer Gregory Gordon told the News Journal that evidence compiled by investigators pointed them to believe "the shooting was a targeted incident" and did not present a danger toward the greater public.

Although the shooting occurred inside the building, police officers located three victims outside the building in the clubs parking lot upon their arrival at the scene.

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A fourth victim arrived at a local hospital a short time later, followed by a fifth victims arrival at another unidentified medical facility.

At this time, there is still no reported motive for the shooting.

Rudolph is held in Escambia County Jail without bond.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pelicans Nest shooting suspect charged with attempted homicide
US Patriot Missile system at the Border town of Rzeszow close to the Ukrainian border, in Rzeszow Subcarpathian Voivodeship Poland NurPhoto / Contributor/ Getty Images

U.S. officials say the Pentagon will begin training Ukrainian troops to use the Patriot missile system at a military base in the United States as early as next week, per CNN. The training program will take place over "several months" at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, per Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia.

President Biden announced in December that the U.S. would send Ukraine the Patriot missile system after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, D.C. The U.S. for months resisted pressure from Kyiv to share the system, citing logistical challenges as well as concerns over the message it might send to Russia. But a senior administration official told CNN that the "reality of what is going on" in Ukraine eventually pushed the U.S. to agree to provide one Patriot battery. Germany also recently followed suit and announced that it would send Ukraine a Patriot missile system from its inventory, as well.

The battery typically requires 90 troops to operate, but it is not immediately clear how many Ukrainian soldiers would be sent to train in Oklahoma, per The Washington Post.

Despite being lauded as one of the world's most advanced air defense systems, experts have warned that, due to its limited range and learning curve, the weapon is "not a game-changer" for Ukraine. The system is also not meant to move around the battlefield, considering its size and complexity. As retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, former commander of US Army Europe, told CNN: "If anyone thinks this is going to be a system that is spread across a 500-mile border between Ukraine and Russia, they just don't know how the system operates."

Still, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Friday that providing Ukraine with equipment and training affords the country "an opportunity to change the equation on the battlefield" and "hopefully take back territory."

Story continues

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From left, Executive Director of Sandusky County Economic Development Corporation Beth Hannam; Communications Administrator at the Sandusky County Economic Development Corporation Andrea Gibson; Miranda Hoffman, Terra State University and Director of Ohio Small Business Development Center; and Bob Gross of the City of Fremont.

FREMONT - The start of a new local business initiative, "The Pitch," was held Thursday at the downtown MoonShine Nightclub, kicking off a networking effort hosted by the Sandusky County Economic Development Corporation.

The event was also a contest and an opportunity for small business entrepreneurs and individuals to create their own business plans. Participants met with local business and development leaders Andrea Gibbons, Beth Hannon, Miranda Hoffman, Bob Gross, and others.

The overall goal of The Pitch is for a panel of judges to select the top candidates and then have those participants pitch their businesses to the public this summer. From there, the public will judge who will win a grand prize package of a one-year free rent location in Fremont and other services, totaling up to $17,000.

Some of the participants of the first event for The Pitch had ideas ranging from board games, decor, an authentic Mexican restaurant and bakery, to IT and marketing.

Participants present business plans, gather information

At the meet and greet Thursday, "contestants" were given opportunities to talk about their business plans, gather information, and meet with other hopefuls.

Terra State Community College is partnering with the SCEDC on this project. The sponsors are working together to engage, develop, and accelerate entrepreneurship throughout Sandusky County.

At the launch event, contestants received a packet loaded with information for the eight-month contest that helps each participant work on their business model, financial projections, and company overview, so that in August the competitors can confidently pitch to the judges.

Contestants in "The Pitch" join in networking and learn details of program which was held at MoonShine Nightclub in Fremont.

Later, the finalists will get to pitch to the public, and they will then be able to cast their vote and help each business bolster their seed fund.

This event is an opportunity for businesses to not only get the resources they need to start a successful business, but it also allowed the SCEDC to build connections within the community and help local entrepreneurs  who are on the fence about starting a business  put their best foot forward.

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Resources are available for entrepreneurs

The Pitch sponsors are looking for an entrepreneur with a clear business plan, someone who is hoping to grow. Andrea Gibson, from the SCEDC, said The Pitch is a great opportunity due to all of the resources provided to entrepreneurs and small business owners. It can aid some businesses get certified where needed.

Another resource came from Stayce Fowler with Northwest Ohio Minority Business Assistance Center. Her agency aids to certify minorities, women, and veteran-owned businesses to help elevate career prospects and also loan opportunities.

Fremont Mayor Danny Sanchez said the SCEDC has been focusing on collaboration and trying to listen to the needs of the public and the community from small businesses.

Fremont Mayor Danny Sanchez said at the opening event for The Pitch Thursday that economic development has been a major focus for the community.

The mayor, speaking of The Pitch, said "there's going to be several people who are successful from this opportunity."

From the resources, networking opportunities, and the seed money earned through the public event, each business has the opportunity to accelerate its growth and reach.

Participants have until May 31 to create a plan and financial summary and officially enter the contest online. Contestants will have several other events along the way until the public competition on Aug. 5.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Local entrepreneurs present ideas at The Pitch event
The TitanAir concept for exploring Saturns moon Titan.

The future of space exploration requires big ideas, and NASA has no objection to considering some of the biggest ideas out there. The space agencys Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program exists for this very purpose, and it has chosen the next crop of concepts worthy of an initial study.



The latest round of NIAC grants were awarded to 14 research teams, each receiving $175,000 to further develop their concepts, NASA announced yesterday. Of the 14, 10 are first-time NIAC recipients. These are all preliminary Phase I studies, which need to be completed within nine months.

Read more

These initial Phase I NIAC studies help NASA determine whether these futuristic ideas could set the stage for future space exploration capabilities and enable amazing new missions, Michael LaPointe, program executive for NIAC, said in the statement.

Success in Phase I could see some of these concepts move to Phase II, in which the researchers are granted more funding and two more years to further develop their ambitious schemes. Only a select few make it to third base: Phase III.

NIAC grants typically cover a wide spectrum of space-based interests, and the selections for this year are no different. NASA strikes a balance between Earth and space science, space exploration, and, of particular importance to the space agency, the furthering of its Artemis agenda, under which NASA is seeking a sustainable and prolonged return to the Moon.

Fly AirTitan

Among the more eye-catching concepts is the AirTitan project envisioned by planetary scientist Quinn Morley of Planet Enterprises. Various concepts for exploring Saturns moon Titan have been proposed before, and NASA is already in the midst of preparing the Dragonfly mission, but Morleys idea is discernibly next level. The autonomous AirTitan vehicle would be just as comfortable flying in Titans thick atmosphere as it would be sailing on its methane lakes.

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Artists concept of a lake at the north pole of Saturns moon Titan.

Morley envisions daily flights for AirTitan, as it seamlessly transitions from watercraft (er, methanecraft?) to aircraft. In addition to sampling Titans complex atmosphere, the probe would collect and analyze liquid samples. Indeed, Titan is of significant astrobiological interest, as it may host prebiotic organic chemistry. That said, the thick oily lakes could present a problem, but an inflatable wing liner could offer resiliency and mitigate sludge buildup problems, according to Morley.



Satellite megaconstellations for astronomy

NASA is also interested in the Great Observatory for Long Wavelengths (GO-LoW) concept proposed by Mary Knapp from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This space-based observatory would consist of thousands of identical satellites working at the fifth Earth-Sun Lagrange point (L5). By hunting for radio emissions at frequencies between 100 kHz and 15 MHz, the satellite array could study the magnetic fields of distant exoplanets and detect rocky exoplanets similar to our own.

Depiction of Great Observatory for Long Wavelengths (GO-LoW) with low-frequency vector sensors.

The fail fast, fail cheap approach is a drastic departure from traditional practices, Knapp writes, adding that SpaceX and other new entrants to the launch vehicle market have pushed the market to lower and lower costs, through manufacturing innovations and the economics of scale behind mega-constellations.



Pellet-beam propulsion

NASA wants Artur Davoyan from the University of California, Los Angeles, to further develop his pellet-beam propulsion system concept, which the mechanical and aerospace engineer envisions as means for transporting heavy spacecraft to targets across the solar system and even into interstellar space. The proposed propulsion system would employ a pellet beama beam of microscopic hypervelocity particles propelled by lasersto push spacecraft to desired locations. Unlike other concepts, the pellet beam allows for the transport of heavy spacecraft, which Davoyan says substantially increases the scope of possible missions.

Depiction of Pellet-Beam Propulsion for Breakthrough Space Exploration

Pellet-beam propulsion could take payloads to the outer planets in less than a year and to distances farther than 100 times the Earth-Sun distance (au) in about three years, he claims. For the current study, Davoyan will consider the efficacy of using the pellet-beam to transport a 1-ton payload to 500 au in less than 20 years. For reference, Pluto is just 35.6 au from Earth, while NASAs Voyager 2, which launched 45 years ago, is now roughly 133 au from Earth.



An oxygen pipeline at the lunar south pole

A key priority for NASAs Artemis program is to maintain a sustainable presence on the Moon, a challenge that the space agency could overcome by using on-site resources, such as extracting oxygen from the lunar regolith (soil) and water-ice. Peter Curreri from Lunar Resources in Houston agrees, but hes not a fan of NASAs current plan, as he explains:

Current funded efforts for in-situ [on-site] oxygen extraction consists of bottling the oxygen in compressed gas tanks or to liquefy and store it in dewars. Either approach requires trucking tanks or dewars to various facilities for use. The process of moving this oxygen on rovers is more energy intensive than the extraction process and is thought to be the MOST expensive aspect in obtaining in-situ oxygen for use on the Moon considering the long distances a resource extraction area will be from a human habitat or liquification plant.

Instead, Curreri proposes a lunar pipeline, which would be built at the lunar south pole, as thats where most of the Moons water-ice is located. The concept attracted NASAs attention, resulting in the Phase I research grant.

Depiction of the Lunar South Pole Oxygen Pipeline.

The pipelines would provide settlers with constant access to precious oxygen, while also linking scattered settlements. A lunar pipeline has never been pursued and will revolutionize lunar surface operations for the Artemis program and reduce cost and risk, Curreri says.

Growing bricks on Mars

NASA also has its sights set on Mars, so it wants Congrui Grace Jin, an engineer from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, to flesh out her idea for growing bricks on Mars, as opposed to importing them from Earth. Indeed, settlers will need to build structures on Mars, but that would require the launching of materials on separate missions, adding to costs. More practically, Jins research proposes that, rather than shipping prefabricated outfitting elements to Mars, habitat outfitting can be realized by in-situ construction using cyanobacteria and fungi as building agents.

These microbes would be coaxed into generating biominerals and polymers for gluing the Martian regolith into building blocks. These self-growing building blocks can later be assembled into various structures, such as floors, walls, partitions, and furniture, Jin writes.

These are only a few of the 14 concepts chosen by NASA for this years NIAC grant. You can learn more about the other research proposals here. And to be clear, these concepts havent been approved as actual projectsthey all still need to pass NASAs sniff test. Some and possibly all of these ideas may die on the vine, but these sorts of speculations are always worthwhile and a sneak preview to what may eventually be possible.

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Jan. 9Santa Fe police arrested an Indiana man Sunday and accused him of battering and strangling his pregnant girlfriend before barricading himself inside her apartment, prompting a short standoff with a SWAT team.

Adam Evans, 27, faces a variety of charges, including aggravated battery against a household member and false imprisonment, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.

Police responded Sunday at about 8:10 a.m. to the Presbyterian Santa Fe Medical Center emergency room after a nurse treating Evans' girlfriend reported the alleged altercation. The woman told officers she got into a fight with her boyfriend earlier in the morning after looking at his phone and finding messages from a woman with whom she'd previously had a physical altercation, according to the complaint.

She told Evans he was "fake" for messaging the woman. He responded by insulting his girlfriend and pushing her off her bed, the complaint states.

"[She] began to cry because she is 17 weeks pregnant and was afraid the baby may have been harmed," according to the complaint. "Adam then stood in front of the bedroom door preventing her from leaving the room as she picked herself up and sat onto the bed."

Evans held his girlfriend down with his body before repeatedly strangling her, the complaint states. He is accused of choking her until she was about to lose consciousness, stopping, then continuing for about 15 minutes.

Evans also head-butted the woman multiple times before threatening to kill her, according to the complaint.

"She began telling Adam he could do what he wanted to her, but she needed to go to the hospital for the baby," the complaint states.

The woman told officers he agreed to take her to the hospital. However, she ran out of her South Meadows Road apartment while he was busy looking through her phone. The complaint states she drove to her mother's house, who took her to the hospital.

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When officers arrived at the apartment complex, they immediately noticed a man matching Evans' description go inside an apartment, police said in a news release Monday. Evans spoke with officers through a closed door, and initially agreed to surrender to police after talking with his mother by telephone. However, he stopped responding to law enforcement about 15 minutes later.

Police waited more than an hour before activating a SWAT team response at about 12:30 p.m. Evans surrendered about 20 minutes later after a flash-bang device was deployed inside the apartment, according to the complaint.

Santa Fe police Lt. Thomas Grundler said he did not know if police reached out to Evans' mother during the incident to help convince him to surrender, or if he called her.

Police encouraged Evans's girlfriend to obtain a temporary restraining order against her boyfriend, Deputy Chief Matthew Champlin wrote in an email. He added Evans arrived in Santa Fe in September, but he did not know where in Indiana Evans is originally from.

Evans was booked into the Santa Fe County jail Sunday afternoon, according to the facility's online records.

State prosecutors requested a 24-hour delay on Evans' first hearing to investigate the case further, and will decide whether to file a motion to detain him pending trial, according to documents filed Monday in Magistrate Court.
Dallas police have identified a murder suspect and two victims in Fridays shooting in an apartment complex parking lot that killed three people and wounded two, officials said.

The suspect, 25-year-old Evin Geovanny Mata-Guzman, is still at large as of Tuesday. According to police, he should be considered armed and dangerous and anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts is asked to call 911.

Two men and one woman were shot to death early Friday in the back parking lot of the Landmark on the Valley Apartments in the 8500 block of Lazy Acre Circle in Dallas.

Police have identified the woman as 29-year-old Queidin Flores and one of the men as 22-year-old Stanley Chachagua. The other victim who was killed will be identified pending family notification, police said.

Two other men were wounded in the shooting and taken to a local hospital, one in critical and the other in stable condition, according to Dallas police.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Detective Chad Murphy at 214-283-4934.
Photo: Apple

Technology has allowed many air passengers to recoup lost luggage from around the world through the advent of Bluetooth-enabled trackers.

But in some instances, travellers watch their belongings go on long, peculiar journeys before they get them back  if they end up recovering them at all.

Mauro Francis says he didn't have any issues with his luggage but ended up losing his Apple AirPods on an Air Canada flight out of Vancouver International Airport to Seattle International Airport on Jan. 5.

While the Vancouver traveller isn't sure exactly when he misplaced them, he thinks he may have dropped them while boarding the plane.

AirPods use similar technology as Apple AirTags, allowing users to keep track of their belongings through its "Find My app" feature.

"I was sitting in the plane and when I checked [on my phone] they were within 100 metres," he told Vancouver Is Awesome.

After he saw their location on his phone, however, Francis said the AirPods were then taken from the airport to an address in Auburn, Washington. The following day the AirTags were apparently brought back to the airport.

"When [they] went back to the airport while I was [in] downtown Seattle, it got interesting. The whole day it went back and forth between the Air Canada baggage check-in area, to the Air Canada south terminal," he explained.

Seems my Airpods lost on my @AirCanada flight at @SeaTacAirport were picked up..





Tracked at the Airport on Friday, then on Saturday to an address in Auburn, WA





Magically on Sunday its back and forth between terminals.





Basically, an @AirCanada employee took my headphones, fun! pic.twitter.com/j0mhT13jEs Mauro Francis (@MauroAFrancis) January 9, 2023



Francis flew back home after attending a Jan. 8 retreat for the creation of a North American coalition on homelessness and addiction. He filed a report with Air Canada before he left.

Glacier Media has reached out to Air Canada for comment.
An officer was fired for using excessive force during an arrest, the Aiken Department of Public Safety said Monday.

Now Anthony Mason, formerly a public safety officer with the Aiken Department of Public Safety, is being investigated by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and could face criminal charges, according to a news release.

On Jan. 3, the department of public safety said it received a complaint about Mason using excessive force from an incident that happened the same day.

At about noon, Mason responded to a report of a collision at the intersection of Two Notch Road and East Pine Log Road, according to an incident report. Thats near Whiskey Road, not far from downtown Aiken.

A man who was a passenger, but the owner of a Hyundai Tucson involved in the crash told Mason times were hard and that he didnt have insurance on the vehicle, according to the incident report.

Another officer arrived on the scene and said the SUV owner was becoming highly agitated and nervous.

He kept moving around, approaching Masons window asking what was taking so long, the officer said in the incident report.

Mason ultimately told the SUV owner he was being cited for operating an uninsured vehicle, then said he could smell marijuana coming from the Hyundai and was going to search the vehicle, according to the incident report.

The SUV owner told Mason, you are not searching the vehicle, and began walking away from officers, the incident report said.

Mason told the SUV owner to step back over in the grass where they had been talking, but the man continued walking away, according to the incident report.

Mason grabbed the SUV owners arm and told him to put his hands behind his back, but the man ran away, across four lanes of traffic, toward a nearby McDonalds restaurant, the incident report said.

Mason and the other officer followed as the SUV owner ran another 75 feet and surrendered, according to the incident report. The second officer grabbed the SUV owner and assisted him to the ground, telling him to put his hands behind his back, as Mason approached, the incident report said.

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The SUV owner continued to resist and Mason hit him on the top of the head, according to the incident report.

Although the SUV owner continued to resist he was eventually restrained and taken back to the original scene, the incident report said.

The SUV owner was arrested on a failure to comply charge and put in the back of Masons patrol vehicle, according to the incident report.

While in the patrol vehicle, the SUV owner said he needed medical attention because of dizziness, and EMS responded to the scene. EMS evaluated the SUV owner, saying he was OK and that they did not observe any areas of concern, the incident report said.

Mason took the SUV owner to the department of public safety headquarters, about 5 miles away from the scene, according to the incident report. But because the SUV owner was involved in a collision, Mason then took him Aiken Regional Medical Center, another 4-plus miles away.

At the hospital, Mason transferred custody of the SUV owner to another officer, the incident report said.

The SUV owner was ultimately given medical clearance and was taken to the Aiken County Detention Center, according to the incident report. Aiken County court records show his bond was set at $465 and hes not currently listed on the inmate roster, according to jail records.

Following an internal investigation Mason was fired, according to the department of public safety.

The department of public safety said it turned its information over to SLED, which is now leading the investigation.
Cambridge Police are investigating a shooting that left two people injured in the area of Washington and Windsor Streets on Monday night.

Officers responded to the shooting just before 8:30 p.m. and located two victims who were transported to local hospitals after being treated on-scene, according to police. At this time, the injuries to the victims are serious, but not believed to be life-threatening, police said.

There have been no arrests made at this time.

Preliminary information indicates that the victims were shot while sitting inside a car. The car was damaged and a number of casings have been recovered.

Anyone with any information related to this incident is strongly encouraged to call Cambridge Police at 617-349-3300.

No additional information has been released at this time.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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Read also: Poland ready to give Ukraine "symbolic" number of Leopard tanks

Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki and various cabinet ministers also attended the meeting.

On the agenda is Ukraines request for delivery of western-made heavy battle tanks including German-made Leopard-2 tanks, Szrot said.

The official reiterated that Warsaw would consider transferring German tanks to Ukraine only if such deliveries were supported by a wider coalition of allies.

Earlier, Poland confirmed that it was prepared to transfer a token amount of German Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Paris is putting pressure on Germany to agree to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine ahead of a Franco-German summit on Jan. 22, Politico reported, citing an unnamed French official.

Poland is also exerting pressure on Berlin by publicly calling for a broad coalition among Western allies to hand over Leopards to Ukraine. We encourage other countries to form a broad coalition for the transfer of more modern tanks to Ukraine, such as Leopard tanks, Deputy Foreign Minister Pawe Jabonski told Polish public radio on Jan. 9, Politico reported.

After months of negotiations, Germany announced on Jan. 5 that it would provide Ukraine with Marder infantry fighting vehicles. The United States jointly announced it would provide Ukraine with Bradly fighting vehicles the same day.

The announcements followed a decision by France to supply Ukraine with AMX-10 RC armored fighting vehicles and Bastion armored personnel carriers in the first decision of a European country to provide Ukraine with Western-made fighting vehicles.

The Ukrainians are asking for the Leopard tanks because there are lots in stock across Europe, Politico quoted the French official as saying.

Currently, Germany, Spain, Poland, Greece, Denmark, and Finland are using the 60-ton Leopard 2, which is equipped with a 120-millimeter cannon. Finland has publicly stated its readiness to send the tanks to Ukraine.

But as Munich defense company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann produces the tanks, any decision to send them to Ukraine requires a re-export authorization from the country of origin, meaning that Berlin has to give the green light, Politico reported.


A robot hand with the letter AI and a lady justice statue on the wooden table with law books. 3d illustration. style-photography/Getty Images

A chatbot powered by artificial intelligence will appear in court next month to help a defendant fight a traffic ticket, CBS News reports. The "robot lawyer," the first of its kind, is an experimental step toward exploring the capabilities of increasingly sophisticated AI tools.

Consumer-focused tech firm DoNotPay is behind the AI-powered legal assistant. The company's CEO, Joshua Browder, says the company's creation runs on a smartphone that listens to court arguments. The information is then fed through an AI program that outputs legal arguments to the defendant through wireless headphones in real time.

When asked by Gizmodo if the court would be aware of the AI legal advisor during the hearing, Browder replied, "Definitely not." Phones and internet-powered devices are banned from court proceedings in many countries and jurisdictions globally. To circumvent restrictions, Browder said his company sought out a court that allowed Apple Airpods for hearing accessibility, per Gizmodo.

Browder says the ultimate goal of his creation is to make legal representation free and accessible. However, given the current legal barriers, he doesn't have plans for commercialization soon. "This courtroom stuff is more advocacy," he explained to CBS. "It's more to encourage the system to change." He's also aware that "there are a lot of lawyers and bar associations that would not support this."

Nicholas Saady, a litigator at Pryor Cashman who advises on using AI in business and legal practice, said that Browder's plan risks violating state laws requiring lawyers to be licensed."Is it the unauthorized practice of law?" he asked Politico. In his opinion, people are better off hiring real-life lawyers, no matter how advanced the AI gets. Without the ability to read body language or make strategic decisions in real-time, "It doesn't seem like AI is ready to get on its feet in court," he said.

On the other hand, Boston attorney Matt Henshon believes that the AI-powered litigator is a promising innovation. Henson, the chair of the American Bar Association's Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Committee, said that DoNotPay's chatbot could provide legal assistance in lower-stakes scenarios where people would otherwise go unrepresented.

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"There are plenty of legal wrongs that don't get righted because it's not worth it for a lawyer to get involved," Henshon said.

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WASHINGTON  The revelation Monday that classified documents were found in an office President Joe Biden used before his campaign echoed the discovery of documents seized at Mar-a-Lago after former President Donald Trump left the White House.

Richard Sauber, a special counsel to Biden, said the documents were turned over in a timely manner and Bidens personal lawyers have been cooperating with the archives and the Justice Department.

Biden said Tuesday he was surprised to learn classified documents were at the office and he doesn't know what the documents contain. But he said the records were sent immediately to the National Archives and he is cooperating with a Justice Department review of the documents.

"I was briefed about this discovery and was surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there to that office," Biden said at a news conference in Mexico. "Were cooperating fully  cooperating fully  with the review, which I hope will be finished soon. There will be more detail at that time."

But House Republicans plan to investigate what they contend is different treatment between GOP and Democratic presidents. Trump sought to compare the two cases.

When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? Trump asked on Truth Social. These documents were definitely not declassified.

Here is what we know about the two cases so far:

What type of documents?

The Biden documents, according to the White House, were found Nov. 2 in a "locked closet" while the presidents personal attorneys were packing files at the office he used at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C. Biden used the office after the end of the Obama administration in 2017 until his presidential campaign in 2020. The administration hasnt described the number or type of documents, but the White House said it was a small number.

The documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the archives, the White House said in a statement. Since that discovery, the presidents personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure any Obama-Biden administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives."

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Biden amplified that explanation Tuesday, saying his lawyers were clearing out the office while sending documents to a secure office in the Capitol and found the classified records in a box in a locked closet.

"As soon as they did, they realized there were several classified documents in that box," Biden said. "They did what they should have done. They immediately called the archive, immediately called the archive, turned them over to the archives."

Biden added: "But I dont know whats in the documents. My lawyers have not suggested I ask what documents they were. Ive turned over the boxes."

The Trump administration documents seized at Mar-a-Lago included about 100 classified records. Trump has argued he declassified them before moving out of the White House, but investigators have found no documentation to verify that.

More: Jan. 6 Capitol attack 2 years later: Trump still plagued by multiple investigations

September 6, 2022: This image, contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice and redacted in part by the FBI, shows a photo of documents seized during the search on Aug. 8, 2022, by the FBI of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Who is investigating?

FBI agents seized the Trump documents during a search of Mar-a-Lago for evidence of violations of the Espionage Act or obstruction of justice. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel, Jack Smith, to investigate the Mar-a-Lago documents as part of a broader inquiry that includes Trumps role in the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.

The Justice Department has declined comment on the Biden documents while Chicago U.S. Attorney John Lausch Jr., oversees the review. Lausch is one of a few chief federal prosecutors who are holdovers from the Trump administration. Lauschs office also has declined comment.

Lausch's initial review is nearing completion, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday. The person, who is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, described the review as moving toward an inflection point in which the attorney general would decide how to proceed.

Taylor Budowich, a former Trump spokesman who is now CEO of the political action committee Make America Great Again Inc., called for a special counsel to investigate.

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, sent a letter Tuesday to Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, asking for an immediate review and damage assessment of the documents stored at a nongovernmental office for at least six years.

"This discovery of classified information would put President Biden in potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act," Turner said.

The head of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said he would investigate what he called a "two-tier justice system." He asked the National Archives for information about the Biden documents and was referred to the Justice Department.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters Tuesday a president is the only official with the authority to declassify documents and Biden appeared to hold classified documents for years as he criticized Trump for taking classified documents with him.

I wonder why the press isnt asking the same questions of him as vice president taking classified documents that they were asking President Trump, Scalise said.

More: Trump claim breaks with custom: Presidents alone don't usually declassify documents

Jack Smith, then the Department of Justice's chief of the Public Integrity Section, poses for photo at the Department of Justice in Washington, on Aug. 24, 2010. Attorney General Merrick Garland named Smith a special counsel on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, to oversee the Justice Department's investigation into the presence of classified documents at former President Donald Trump's Florida estate as well as key aspects of a separate probe involving the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 election.

What is different between the Biden and Trump documents cases?

A contrast between the two cases is how the documents were returned to the government.

Trump resisted returning 11,000 administration documents despite repeated requests from the National Archives under the Presidential Records Act. Trump's personal lawyer signed a statement that all classified records had been returned before the August search 18 months after he left office.

More: 'Lives could be at stake': Trump document review to gauge whether US sources put at risk

The Biden administration voluntarily returned his records to the archives the day after they were discovered.

The chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, said Biden followed the right procedure to return the documents.

This is Republican hypocrisy at its finest, Aguilar said. The president is handling this the way that he should.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the Biden administration acted appropriately after discovering the documents.

Unlike former President Donald Trump, who allegedly obstructed efforts to recover hundreds of classified documents, the handful of classified documents reportedly found at the Biden Center were immediately sent to the National Archives and President Biden is allowing the Justice Department to operate free of political interference, Durbin said.

Brad Moss, a national security lawyer, said Biden's staff did what they were supposed to do by notifying the relevant government authority about the discovery of classified documents and then returning them. In contrast, Trump's lawyers signed statements that all classified documents had been returned when they hadn't.

"The Biden and Trump situations could serve as a case study in polar opposites," Moss said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joe Biden classified documents: How DC discovery compares to Trump
The Duke of Sussexs autobiography is the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever, recording figures of 400,000 copies so far across hardback, ebook and audio formats on its first day of publication, its publishers have said.

Prince Harrys memoir Spare accidentally went on sale in Spain five days prior to its official release, while pages of the tell-all book were leaked to various media outlets.

The ghost-written autobiography was released officially on Tuesday and has reportedly flown off bookstore shelves.

Prince Harrys memoir Spare went on sale on Tuesday (PA Wire)

Larry Finlay, managing director of Transworld Penguin Random House, said; We always knew this book would fly but it is exceeding even our most bullish expectations.

As far as we know, the only books to have sold more in their first day are those starring the other Harry (Potter).

The memoir has dominated the news cycle in recent days, with the duke making a series of TV appearances on both UK and US broadcasters to promote the highly anticipated book.

Major demand was expected for the Duke of Sussexs book, however, queues appeared sparse outside bookshops in central London on Tuesday.

Prince Harry has given a series of primetime TV interviews to promote his memoir (GMA/ABC)

The memoir had already ranked first on many bestseller lists ahead of its release date.

Spare details a series of shocking allegations about Prince Harrys life inside the royal family and his conflict with the British press.

Among the most attention-grabbing extracts from Spare are retellings of an alleged physical fight between Prince Harry and Prince William, his use of illegal drugs, the guilt he felt while mourning his mother Princess Diana, and disagreements between Kate and Meghan.

The Duke of Sussex discussed a raft of the claims made in Spare during a series of primetime TV interviews last week.

In one of two televised interviews on Sunday, the prince opened up about his decision to publish the personal and moving memoir to ITVs Tom Bradbury.

Spare details an alleged physical fight between Princes William and Harry (AP)

The 90-minute programme drew an average TV audience of 4.1 million, based on overnight figures released by ITV, making it the channels highest rating for a factual programme for more than a year.

Harry also conducted three more interviews in the lead-up to the books publication, including a sit-down with Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes on CBS News and Michael Strahan of Good Morning America, which have already aired.

Another interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show on CBS is due to be broadcast in the early hours of Wednesday morning, UK time.
Max Mumby / Indigo / Getty Images

I love my father, Prince Harry insisted in an ITV interview with Tom Bradby that aired on Sunday, ahead of the release of his new memoir, Spare, out today. I love my brother, I love my family. He tripped over his words slightly as he finished: I will  always do. He dreams of reunification, he said, and is certain it will happen one day. I would like to get my father back; I would like to have my brother back.

Bradby questioned how Harry could possibly think reunification is possible, given that you haven't so much burnt your bridges as taken a flamethrower to them.

I'm not sure how honesty is burning bridges, Harry responded, pointing out that before hed started sharing more of his story publicly (in an explosive 2021 Oprah interview, Netflixs recent Harry & Meghan docuseries, and now his memoir), the King and his heir had already shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile.

You know, he added, silence only allows the abuser to abuse."

Its a fascinating exchange considering what Harrys had to say about his estranged family in recent weeks. Spare was leaked in Spain earlier this month, meaning enterprising journalists began translating and posting stories about the books most shocking revelations. Harry claims William, his father, and his stepmother Camilla collaborated with or outright planted stories in the press to discredit Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, for their own personal gain. He also alleges Prince William once physically assaulted him, and that their father, upon Harrys birth, told Princess Diana, "Wonderful! Now you've given me an heir and a spare. (The Palace has not publicly commented on any of these allegations.)

Copies of Prince Harry's autobiography, Spare, displayed at Waterstones bookstore, on Jan. 10, 2023, in London Peter Nicholls / Reuters

Despite directly accusing his family members of abusing him and Meghan, Harry wants, or at least says he wants, a relationship with his abusers. Perhaps he really does believe that healing can only begin once every grisly truth has been publicly revealed. But whats clearer than ever according to Spare and Harrys interviews surrounding its publication is that he holds much more contempt and blame for the presss part in his family dissolution than he does his family members themselves. Their alleged collusion with the media  Harrys archnemesis since the tabloids relentless harassment of his mother before her death  has clearly hurt him deeply, but not enough to consider reunification off the table. Not even the royals racism is enough.

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In the ITV interview, Harry suggests he doesnt actually think theyre racist at all. "In the Oprah interview, Bradby asked him at one point, you accuse members of your family of racism

No, Harry interjected. "The British press said that, right? Did Meghan ever mention 'they're racists'?"

Bradby brought up the most incendiary aspect of that Oprah interview: when Meghan said someone in the family had wondered what color their baby would be when he was born. Wouldn't you describe that as essentially racist?" Bradby asked.

Harry would rather blame the media, after all, for turning Willy against Meghan than consider the possibility that his family could indeed have qualms with a Black woman at Buckingham Palace.

Harry disagreed, chalking up the offensive comment to unconscious bias. "Once it's been acknowledged or pointed out to you as an individual, otherwise an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you therefore have an opportunity to learn and grow from that, he explained. Otherwise, unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism."

As an example, he cited a recent incident involving Lady Susan Hussey, whod served as Queen Elizabeth IIs lady in waiting for more than 60 years. The longtime member of the Buckingham Palace household resigned after Ngozi Fulani, a Black woman and prominent advocate for survivors of domestic abuse, said Hussey touched her hair and repeatedly asked her where she really came from.

Meghan and I love Lady Susan! Harry said. We think shes great. I know she never meant any harm at all. This was a case of unconscious bias rendered into something far darker by the tabloids, the real antagonist here, he argued, which created a distorted view of the situation. Harry seemingly has more sympathy for Hussey than he does for Fulani, who, after coming forward with her story about a racist incident that left her deeply rattled inside the palace walls, has said shes been subjected to still more horrific abuse on social media, forcing her charity, Sistah Space, to temporarily close its doors out of a fear for workers safety.

Disappointing, but not surprising. Harry would rather blame the media, after all, for turning Willy against Meghan than consider the possibility that his family could indeed have qualms with a Black woman at Buckingham Palace.

This is the issue with Harry: cakeism, tweeted the Black British writer Jason Okundaye as the interview aired. He wants to condemn his family members so they can grow, but only wants to call it unconscious bias because calling it racism requires him to unravel the institution of monarchy itself. Okundaye continued, People need to stop deluding themselves that Harry and Meghan are taking down the monarchy. They are ultimately pursuing reform for the monarchys benefit  their vision is a multicultural, diverse monarchy but the basis of its wealth and power is unchanged.

From left: Prince Charles, Camilla (Duchess of Cornwall), Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth ll, Meghan (Duchess of Sussex), Prince Harry, Prince William, and Catherine (Duchess of Cambridge) at Buckingham Palace, on July 10, 2018, in London. Anwar Hussein / Getty Images

And of course, splitting hairs over the difference between racism and unconscious bias hasnt endeared Harry any further to those who were outraged over the insinuation in the first place. Robert Jobson, the royal editor at the Evening Standard, tweeted on Monday that, given Harry says neither he nor Meghan said the royal family was racist, perhaps they should return the award they received in New York last month from the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation for their heroic stand against structural racism in the monarchy. Honestly, the guys got a point.

But any good faith criticism of the former prince is likely indistinguishable to Harry from the overwhelming slurry of often racist garbage that has characterized so much of the coverage of him and his wife over the past few years. A white-hot hatred of the press rages through the book, Lucy Pavia writes in her review of Spare for the Independent. She quotes Harry writing that Charles hated [the presss] hate, but oh how he loved their love compulsively drawn to the elixir they offered him. But, Pavia notes, clearly Harrys own fixation is compulsive too. And in an online world his effort to correct every falsehood written about him looks like shouting at the sea.

To much of the British press, Harrys tell-all is only a sign of his terrible hypocrisy.

Spare is about the torment of a royal in the age of the smartphone and Instagram, argues Charlotte Higgins in her Guardian review, a torment of a different order from even that suffered by his mother, and certainly by Princess Margaret, forbidden from marrying the man she loved by her own sister. Harry admits in the book to spending years reading what seems like every vile word ever published about him, from the front page of the tabloids to randos social media feeds. His therapist suggested to him that he might be addicted to it.

To much of the British press, Harrys tell-all is only a sign of his terrible hypocrisy. James Marriott in the Times writes that although he claims to despise the intrusions of the press, Harry craves being the centre of attention.

I may be old-fashioned, Philip Hensher concludes in his Spectator review, but I dont consider that the appropriate person to advocate any restrictions on published writing is somebody who has only ever, it appears, read one book under the demands of his very expensive schooling, and who evidently regards our noble trade with undiluted contempt, which may of course be justified, and unmitigated ignorance, which never is.

Spare was never going to change the minds of Harrys haters. But even those who were rooting for the princes escape from his gilded cage  this was a boy who grew up knowing that he existed in large part as a potential organ donor for his more important brother  are starting to wonder where hes really going with all this. According to a survey conducted this week by YouGov, only a quarter of Britons have a positive view of the Duke of Sussex, a seven-point drop since his favorability was polled in December. Most significantly, younger people, whove been much more likely to be pro-Harry, are turning on him too: 41% percent of young Brits approve of him, while the same percentage disapprove  an astonishing drop from his 20-point lead in December, when 49% held a positive view compared to just 29% negative.

Perhaps it is precisely Harrys cakeism thats bothering younger generations in the UK, a full two-thirds of whom would like to see the monarchy abolished. Even in the US, Harry and Meghans adopted home, where theyve enjoyed a more favorable reception, the tide seems to be turning against them, argues Sarah Lyall in a piece today for the New York Times.

While theres plenty of sympathetic material in Spare  many reviewers have pointed out that Harrys aching for his mother is the most poignant element of the book  theres also Harry taking pride in killing 25 Taliban soldiers by othering them, according to what he says was the armys way of rendering the enemy inhuman; theres Harry writing, explicitly, that his problem has never been with the concept of monarchy. What were left with is not a heroic freedom fighter against institutional racism and oppression, but a traumatized young man of enormous privilege who wishes his family wasnt quite so fucked up and would generally do a little less racism (sorry, unconscious bias)  and not because racism is bad, necessarily, but because its hurting him personally. That someone is getting harder and harder to root for. 

Shannon Keating is a writer, jeweler, and culture critic. She lives in northern England.
China spares no efforts in ensuring anti-COVID drug development, supply

08:18, January 10, 2023 By Liu Xin, Quan Xiaoshu ( Xinhua

* China is implementing swift and concrete measures to accelerate drug development, production and supply in order to guarantee better treatment of COVID-19 cases, as the country adjusts its epidemic response policy.

* Chinese drug researchers and developers have been racing against the clock to find the right medicine to beat the virus in two ways: biological macromolecular drugs based on antibodies and small molecular compounds that can inhibit virus invasion and replication.

* China is paying special attention to drug distribution and emergency reserves for elderly people and for people in rural and remote areas.

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- China is implementing swift and concrete measures to accelerate drug development, production and supply in order to guarantee better treatment of COVID-19 cases, as the country adjusts its epidemic response policy.

Weakened pathogenicity of the virus, a high vaccination rate and the accumulation of experience in prevention and control, have allowed China to optimize its COVID-19 response this winter.

The current focus of China's epidemic response has shifted from preventing infections to beefing up treatment of severe cases, which has greatly increased demand for relevant drugs, both from self-quarantined patients at home and from severe cases in hospital.

Staff members pack medicines at a pharmaceutical company in central China's Hunan Province, Dec. 19, 2022. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

BROADEN OPTIONS

Chinese drug researchers and developers have been racing against the clock to find the right medicine to beat the virus in two ways: biological macromolecular drugs based on antibodies and small molecular compounds that can inhibit virus invasion and replication.

A China-developed oral antiviral agent called VV116, which is a potent anti-COVID-19 drug, has been proven as effective as Pfizer's Paxlovid in increasing the speed of clinical recovery, and it has shown improved performance during the early onset of Omicron infections, according to a study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

China has kept broadening its range of options. Its drug regulator has granted conditional approval for the import of the Paxlovid COVID-19 pill.

It has also activated special approval procedures and granted conditional approval for the import registration of Merck's COVID-19 treatment Molnupiravir -- for adult patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms and a high risk of progressing to severe cases.

The small-molecule oral drug can be given to patients who, for instance, are elderly, overweight, or have chronic renal diseases, diabetes, severe cardiovascular diseases, and chronic lung diseases.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has also been widely applied and has shown unique benefits in the treatment of COVID-19 infections.

For those with severe symptoms, integrated treatment with Chinese and Western medicine can effectively prevent the disease from becoming more severe or at least slow the development of more severe symptoms, thus reducing the fatality rate, said Huang Luqi, deputy head of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, at a recent national media conference.

Pharmacists prepare traditional Chinese medicine at the Affiliated Hospital of Gansu University of Chinese Medicine in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province, Dec. 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Ma Xiping)

ENSURE SUPPLY

Targeting classic symptoms of the infection, China has improved its production capacity for fever and pain relievers ibuprofen and paracetamol.

The country's daily production capacity of ibuprofen and paracetamol has exceeded 200 million tablets, while the daily output reached 190 million. In addition, the maximum daily output of children's antipyretic medicine has reached 1.12 million bottles.

There are 194 types of antipyretic, antitussive, antibacterial and antiviral drugs on the Chinese market.

Enterprises have increased drug development and distribution efforts. Jilin Natu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. has developed and manufactured new products which assist in enhancing patients' resistance, clearing fever, detoxifying, and reducing inflammation.

A pharmaceutical company in Zibo city, east China's Shandong Province, has increased its production capacity by more than 60 percent. All its production lines and employees are required to give priority to the production of COVID-19 treatment drugs.

Medical enterprises in the northwestern Gansu Province's Minxian County, home to TCM herbs, are working hard to produce key medicines, such as cough medicines. At present, the daily output of key medicines for COVID-19 control in this region totals 150,000 boxes and TCM preparations reach 200,000 bags.

A community worker (R) hands a care package to a resident in a community in Yangfangdian Subdistrict of Haidian District in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 27, 2022. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

REACHING GRASSROOTS LEVEL

China is paying special attention to drug distribution and emergency reserves for elderly people and for people in rural and remote areas, as it optimizes its COVID-19 response.

Village doctors play an important role in this regard. Yang Pengcheng, a rural doctor in Baoding, north China's Hebei Province, has been on a tight schedule lately, delivering medicine to 50 or 60 households with COVID-19 patients daily.

Yang begins by decocting TCM according to the formula recommended by the county's health bureau and based on each patient's condition. After that, the veteran doctor embarks on a long trip, delivering boiled TCM remedies to the patients from house to house.

He also carries his usual medical bag with antipyretic medicine, and his sphygmomanometer, pulse oximeter, thermometer and stethoscope, to check the patients' health conditions.

"Not so long ago, my whole family contracted COVID-19. So I called our village doctors, and they brought us TCM decoctions and other Western medicine," said Yang Shaokun, a villager.

In Baoding, there are more than 7,700 rural doctors like Yang Pengcheng. In Zhujiayu Village alone, 12 rural doctors protect the health of more than 6,500 villagers, including over 600 elderly aged 65 and above, many of whom have difficulty walking.

Rural doctor Xiang Kaimin (front) visits local households in Shuanglong Township of Huayuan County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in central China's Hunan Province, Dec. 27, 2022. (Xinhua)

Grassroots units of the government and other social forces are also mobilized to deliver medicines and help patients in need.

In Fuzhou, capital of east China's Fujian Province, government and community workers delivered care packages containing ibuprofen and other medical supplies to vulnerable groups such as seniors living alone.

Online distribution of medical supplies via e-commerce platforms has been launched in 11 provincial-level regions, benefiting over 2 million patients -- most of whom are in remote rural areas.

The country has also strengthened cross-region transfers of medical supplies. By Dec. 28, 2022, over 174 million ibuprofen tablets and 60 million paracetamol tablets had been allocated to key areas across the country.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
Photo: The Canadian Press A recreational magic mushroom industry is popping up in Canada as advocates mount legal challenges arguing the federal government should regulate psilocybin so it can be more readily available to patients who need it. Magic mushrooms are seen in a grow room in Hazerswoude, Netherlands on Aug. 3, 2007. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Peter Dejong

Thomas Hartle became one of the first Canadians to receive a federal exemption to treat symptoms of his stage-four colon cancer with magic mushrooms just a few years ago  and he was celebrated for it.

But not long after the landmark decision, Hartle says that legal avenues to access the drug have been "shut off," even as an illegal market booms.

"The only places where I really run into problems is with the minister of health himself, and with Health Canada being resistant to moving forward with opening the avenues of this," he said in an interview.

The psychoactive compound produced by the mushrooms, called psilocybin, is not legal in Canada. But early clinical trials are underway to test its effectiveness in treating mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

Listed under Schedule III of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the drug can only be obtained legally via an exemption from the federal minister, as part of a clinical trial or through a special access program that allows physicians to request it for patients suffering from serious or life-threatening conditions.

But in some cities, including Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa, psilocybin can be easily found at a growing number of brick-and-mortar shops openly selling magic mushrooms. And a web search for such products shows they are readily available for delivery to Canadian doorsteps.

In 2020, Hartle was was among a handful of patients  many of whom were suffering from terminal illness  granted the exemption to use psilocybin by former health minister Patty Hajdu.

The exemptions under Canada's drug law did not allow the patients to buy or legally receive psilocybin, but it allowed their medical practitioners to use it for treatment without participating in a crime.

Hartle said the psilocybin made him more comfortable with his end-of-life anxiety, but his exemption expired after a year, and he is still waiting on an answer about getting another one.

He admits that nothing is stopping him from buying the illegal mushrooms that are available online or at brick-and-mortar stores. But he wants to discourage people from going "into these illegal markets and get treatment from potentially questionable sources and people," he said.

"I would like this therapy to be medicalized so that it's a treatment, (so) that your doctor can just give you a referral to a professional who is qualified and experienced and who has access to a safe supply."

Health Canada said in a statement that early clinical trials examining psilocybin have shown "promising results," but further research is still needed and "the best way for patients to access psilocybin is through participation in a clinical trial."

Though Health Canada said dozens of ministerial exemptions were granted last year, more than a hundred requests are still outstanding, including Hartle's.

"It is amazing that these patients can very easily go to storefronts and buy these mushrooms but are being barred from doing it safely with their doctor, from a regulated medical source," said Spencer Hawkswell, the CEO of TheraPsil, a non-profit organization that offers training to health-care practitioners and is working with patients to obtain psilocybin and combat the government's drug policy.

The group helped Hartle and others get their exemptions and is leading a legal challenge to fight the status of psilocybin in Federal Court.

The federal government never justified why it departed from the original decision to grant the exemptions, Hawkswell said. Instead, it is currently requiring doctors to apply through a Special Access Program to use psilocybin.

Hawkswell said that has created challenges because doctors are unwilling to apply or participate without first being trained. And outside of a clinical trial, experience treating patients with psilocybin was previously only available through an exemption.

This has the department and the current health minister, Jean-Yves Duclos, "putting the cart before the horse," he said.

"You can almost think about it like the government granting patients access to chemotherapy but making medical school and the training around ... chemotherapy illegal," Hawkswell said. "All we would have is underground chemotherapy treatments. And that's what's happening today in Canada."

Demand for training on how to use psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy has been "absolutely unbelievable," he added. But he doesn't blame the majority of doctors who are reluctant.

"They're putting an awful lot on the line in terms of their reputation and credibility for this treatment because, you know, as of now, Health Canada does not recognize psilocybin as a treatment for anything."

In the absence of federal regulation, some provinces are moving ahead with their own regulation regimes for psilocybin.

In December, Quebec became the first province to announce it would provide health coverage for the costs of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy.

And this month, regulations for psychedelics, including psilocybin, MDMA and LSD, will come into force in Alberta that are intended to see the drugs administered by licensed practitioners.

But there is no visible effort at the federal or provincial level to take action against the out-in-the-open illegal sale of magic mushrooms.

Justice Minister David Lametti's office referred questions about psilocybin to Health Canada, and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino's office did not respond to questions about whether law enforcement should respond to stores that are operating illegally.

Hawkswell said the only way to upend a growing illegal market is to create a safe, regulated market.

"We should not have unregulated psilocybin. That's what we have right now. It's being sold and consumed widely in Canada," he said. "We need to have regulations around this."
The Duke of Sussex dodged questions about renouncing his royal title during his recent interview with Anderson Cooper.

Ahead of the release of his forthcoming book Spare, Prince Harry sat down with journalist Anderson Cooper on Sunday (8 January) for an episode of CBS 60 Minutes. The 38-year-old royal discussed many of the shocking revelations written in his memoir, which hits shelves this Tuesday.

However, Cooper shared some of the criticisms Harrys received since he and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped down from their roles as senior royals in 2020. He pointed out that the Sussexes gave a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey shortly after relocating to North America, and inked a deal with Netflix worth a reported $100m.

After noting how critics say the Duke and Duchess are cashing in on their royal titles while they still can, Cooper asked Prince Harry: Why not renounce your titles as Duke and Duchess?

Harry replied: And what difference would that make?

One of the criticisms that youve received is that OK, fine, you want to move to California, you want to step back from the institutional role. Why be so public? Why reveal conversations youve had with your father or with your brother? You say you tried to do this privately, the 60 Minutes correspondent said.

And every single time Ive tried to do it privately there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife, Harry responded. You know, the family motto is never complain, never explain. But its just a motto. And it doesnt really hold.

Despite stepping back from the royal family in 2020, the couple has continued to use the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex, which they received from Queen Elizabeth II on their wedding day in 2018.

Since then, theres been much public outcry for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to drop their royal titles, as well as speculation over the titles their two children  Archie, three, and Lilibet, one  will inherit.

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A recent YouGov survey, which was conducted in December 2022, found that nearly half of the British public believed Prince Harry should have his title removed following his and Meghan Markles Netflix docuseries, Harry and Meghan.

Speaking to Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, Meghan revealed that their eldest son Archie did not receive a royal title when he was born in 2019. They were saying they didnt want him [Archie] to be a prince or princess, which would be different from protocol, and that he wasnt going to receive security, she explained. This went on for the last few months of our pregnancy where I was going, hold on for a second.

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, Harry and Meghans two children inherited the right to be a HRH (His or Her Royal Highness), with Archie a prince and Lilibet a princess. However, Archie and Lilibets royal titles have yet to be updated on the royal familys website. The Sussexes also stopped using their HRH designations when they stepped down from royal duties.

Now, its been reported that King Charles will wait for Prince Harrys memoir to be released before he decides whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs children will inherit titles.

Prince Harry has made many claims about both his father, King Charles II, and his brother, the Prince of Wales, in his forthcoming memoir. In an excerpt of the book, which was leaked ahead of its publication date, Harry writes that King Charles asked him and William not to make my final years a misery at Prince Philips funeral in March 2021.

Please boys, Harry quotes Charles as saying after the Duke of Edinburghs funeral at Windsor Castle, Dont make my final years a misery.

During his ITV interview with Tom Bradby on Sunday evening, Prince Harry discussed his two main criticisms of his father surrounding intimacy and communication problems.

Hed always given an air of not being quite ready for parenthood: the responsibilities, the patience, the time, Harry said. Even he, though a proud man, would have admitted as much. But single parenthood? Pa was never made for that. To be fair, he tried.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry described an altercation he had with Prince William at Nottingham Cottage in 2019, in which the Prince of Wales allegedly grabbed Harry by the collar, ripped his necklace off and knocked him to the ground.
Prince Harry has candidly praised the Dutch royal family and the Norwegian royal family for their work in combating racism and addressing unconscious bias.

The Duke of Sussex applauded Willem-Alexander, the King of the Netherlands, and Harald V, the King of Norway, for leading by example during an ABC special Prince Harry: In His Own Words with Michael Strahan on Monday 9 January.

During the conversation, which aired on the eve of the release of Prince Harrys memoir Spare, the duke criticised the British press for its treatment of his wife Meghan Markle, while noting the steps the other monarchs have taken to condemn such behaviour in their respective countries.

As noted by Strahan, the King of the Netherlands has acknowledged and apologised for the role that slavery and colonialism took in shaping the country and has taken steps to ensure that citizens do not feel that they are being discriminated against.

Prince Harry also praised the King of Norway, who has spoken out in defence of his daughter Princess Martha Louises relationship with self-described American shaman Durek Verrett, who is Black. In light of racist comments about the couple, Harald V has asked that the conscious and unconscious racism be stopped.

I congratulate them for that, enormously. And I dont think theyve been given enough credit for what theyve done, Harry said about the respective rulers. But it is huge. And more of that is needed.

Harry made the comments while acknowledging the need for the British monarchy to modernise considering their role in the Commonwealth.

During the interview, Harry also reflected on his own countrys relationship with race and racism, with the duke alleging that the UK is not bigoted, but rather the British press is bigoted.

The royals claim comes after Harry denied that he or his wife ever accused the British royal family of racism during their tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 while speaking to ITVs Tom Bradby on Sunday.

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The British press said that, right? Did Meghan ever mention theyre racists? Harry asked in response to Bradbys comment. When the interviewer then questioned whether Harry would describe conversations he claimed to have taken place about the colour of his sons skin as racist, he said that he would not.

Rather, Harry said that the royal family was guilty of unconscious bias.

The difference between racism and unconscious bias  the two things are different, Harry said. Once its been acknowledged or pointed out to you as an individual, otherwise an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you have an opportunity to learn and grow from that  otherwise unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism.
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty

As read by Tim Teeman, Tom Sykes, Katie Baker, Kevin Fallon, Helen Holmes, Matt Young, Kate Briquelet, Brooke Leigh Howard, Rachel Olding, Danika Fears, Malcolm Jones, Madeline Roth.

Prince Harry opens his memoir, Spare, with a quote from Faulkner: The past is never dead. Its not even passed. However he admits, just a few pages in, that he discovered it on brainyquote.com. Still, what follows is a rollercoaster ride of revelations and relentless royal dish.

As well as all that has been divulged in countless articles and leaks already, Harry begins by revealing King Charles in an unfamiliar posein boxer shorts at Balmoral, doing headstands.

Prince Harry: Princess Diana Would Be Heartbroken Over Williams Behavior

Harry reveals that he and brother Prince William always bowed to a statue of Queen Victoria on the second floor at Balmoral, having been told to do so. A risk of entering a wrong door at the Scottish castle was finding his father, doing his head stands. Prescribed by his physio, these exercises were the only effective remedy for the constant pain in Pas neck and back. Old polo injuries, mostly. He performed them daily, in just a pair of boxers, propped against the door, hanging from a bar like a skilled acrobat.

In an early recognition of his status, Harry says that at Balmoral he and William shared a room, saying William had the larger half, with a double bed, a good size basin, a cabinet with mirrored doors, a beautiful window looking down on the courtyard, the fountain, the bronze statue of a roe deer buck. My half of the room was far smaller. Less luxurious. I never asked why. I didnt care. But I also didnt need to ask. Two years older than me, Willie was the Heir, whereas I was the Spare.

And so the book begins as it means to go on: a blunt indictment of what Harry sees as his inherently lower position within the royal family that has impacted very part of his life.

He says that on the day of his birth his father told his mother: Wonderful! Now youve given me an Heir and a Sparemy work is done. Harry says the comment was presumably a joke but adds that, minutes after delivering this bit of high comedy, his father went off to meet his girlfriend. So. Many a true word spoken in jest.

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Emotion. Drama. Pain.

Harry describes drifting off to sleep on the evening of August 30, 1997, before waking to find his father at the end of his bed, who tells him, Darling boy, mummy has been in a car crash. Harry writes, I remember thinking: crash Okay. But shes alright? Yes?

However his father then says, There were complications. Mummy was quite badly injured and taken to hospital, darling boy.

Harry says, He always called me darling boy but he was saying it quite a lot now. His voice was soft. He was in shock, it seemed.

Charles finally broke the news of Dianas death to Harry by saying, They tried, darling boy. Im afraid she didnt make it.

Harry describes the morning of his mothers death, saying that the family went to church as usual for a Sunday, but that he can remember very little about it.

He says that on the way home, It was suggested that we stop. People had been gathering all morning outside the front gates, some had begun leaving things. Stuffed animals, flowers, cards. Acknowledgement should be made.

He says that as he began to hear the rhythmic clicking of photographers he reached for his fathers hand, for comfort, then cursed himself because that gesture just set off an explosion of clicks. Ive given them exactly what they wanted. Emotion. Drama. Pain. They fired and fired and fired.

His hatred of the media is the primary theme of the book, alongside the dysfunction of his own family, and his fractured relations with his father and brother.

As already reported by The Daily Beast, Harry writes about thinking Diana had staged her own death, andtruly aliveshe would later be reunited with her two sons.

In a grim detail he says that his aunt Sarah McCorquodale handed him and William, two tiny blue boxes which contained Dianas hair. He writes, Aunt Sarah explained that, while in Paris, shed clipped two locks from Mummys head. So there it was. Proof. Shes really gone.

I wasnt Camillas biggest hurdle

The seeds of royal rebellion were sown early. Harrys history teacher at Ludgrove, named Mr. Hughes-Games, admonished Harry for not knowing anything about his family history; Harry also says he didnt care to know anything about his ancestors.

Harry says Charles never spoke to him about James Hewitt, contrary to many profiles and biographies which say they had a heart-to-heart about the rumor that Hewitt was Harry's father, which is patently false, Harry says.

Before they were officially introduced to their fathers mistress after Diana went missing, Harry says William once bumped into Camilla in the palace. Harry says during his first formal introduction to Camilla, they were both calm or bored. Neither of us much fretted about the others opinion. She wasnt my mother, and I wasnt her biggest hurdle. In other words, I wasnt the Heir.

In subsequent interviews this week, Harry has called Camilla both a dangerous schemer willing to leave bodies in the street to secure her royal position, while saying he has compassion for her.

Harry reveals Charles has a ratty old teddy bear called Teddy, and that William ignored him as a kid. On a hunting trip to Africa, a guide shoves Harrys head into the carcass of a dead animal as part of a blooding ritual. A close encounter with a Leopard in Botswana that passes nearby to the camp and Harry takes it as a sign from Diana that All is well. And all will be well.

Rehabber Kooksinfected pustule on the arse of humanity

Harry talks about Club H, a de facto place he could drink and let his hair down at his dads country pile, Highgrove, and of losing his virginity, as has been widely reported.

Inglorious episode, with an older woman. She liked horses, quite a lot, and treated me not unlike a young stallion. Quick ride, after which shed smacked my rump and sent me off to graze. Among the many things about it that were wrong: It happened in a grassy field behind a busy pub.

He reserves particular scorn for one journalist who seems to be dead-set on pursuing him at all costsanagram Rehabber Kooks, who seems very likely to be Rebekah Brooks, former editor the News of the World and the Sun and now CEO of News UKas an infected pustule on the arse of humanity, plus a shit excuse for a journalist.

Charles and Camillas spin doctor decided to collude with Brooks, Harry writes, and throw the teenage Harry under the tabloid bus in order to bolster the sagging reputation of Pa No more the unfaithful husband, Pa would now be presented to the world as the harried single dad coping with a drug-addled child.

The tabloid, Harry says, invented a story that hed gone to rehab. He was furious when the story landed: I felt heartbroken at the idea that this had been partly the work of my own family, my own father and future stepmother. Theyd abetted this nonsense. For what? To make their own lives a bit easier.

Harry also talks about the late Princess Margaret, another Spare as any Crown fan will remember, watching the powers-that-be separate her and her sister, Queen Elizabeth, early in their lives.

Harry finds Margo cold and intimidating with a scowl that could kill any house plant. One Christmas she gave him a biro as a gift. It wasnt just any biro, she pointed out. It had a tiny rubber fish wrapped around it I told myself: That is cold-blooded.

Now and then, as I grew older, it struck me that Aunt Margo and I shouldve been friends, Harry writes. We had so much in common. Two Spares. Her relationship with Granny wasnt an exact analogue of mine with Willy, but pretty close. The simmering rivalry, the intense competition (driven largely by the older sibling), it all looked familiar.

Cocaine didnt make me particularly happy

Harry writes about doing cocaine, and denying to a courtier that he had done so, despite press reports saying he had. It wasnt much fun, and it didnt make me particularly happy as it seemed to make everyone around me, but it did make me feel different, and that was the main goal. Different. I was a deeply unhappy 17-year-old boy willing to try almost anything that would alter the status quo. That was what I told myself anyway. Back then, I could lie to myself as effortlessly as Id lied to that courtier.

Harry outlines his struggle to find purpose; he was not academic (saying the press cast him as Prince Thicko), and by process of elimination decided on the army as a career. He worked on a farm in Australia until the tabloids discovered him there, and thenon returning homeslept with a page-three girl (the famed topless models of the Sun) which led to more nauseating, snobbish press coverage.

His girlfriend Chelsy Davy seemed immune to that common affliction sometimes called throne syndrome. It was similar to the effect that actors and musicians have on people, except with actors and musicians, the root cause is talent. I had no talent so Id been told, again and againand thus all reactions to me had nothing to do with me. They were down to my family, my title, and consequently, they always embarrassed me, because they were so unearned. Id always wanted to know what it might be like to meet a woman and not have her eyes widen at the mention of my title, but instead to widen them myself, using my mind, my heart. With Chelsy that seemed a real possibilityshe was remarkably incurious.

Camilla sacrificed me on her personal PR altar

Harry writes that he welcomed Charles and Camillas announcement they would marry, even if the ceremony was delayed. Other than feeling sorry for them, I couldnt help but think that some force in the universe (Mummy?) was blocking rather than blessing their union. Maybe the universe delays what it disapproves of?

Still, when the wedding did finally take placewithout Granny, who chose not to attendit was almost cathartic for everyone, even meI did sneak several long peeks at the groom and the bride and each time I thought: Good for you. Though, also: Goodbye. I knew without question that this marriage would take Pa away from usI didnt relish losing a second parent, and I had complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who, I believed, had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar. But I saw Pas smile and it was hard to argue with that, and harder still to deny the cause: Camilla. I wanted so many things, but I was surprised to discover at their wedding that one of the things I wanted most, still, was for my father to be happy. In a funny way I even wanted Camilla to be happy. Maybe shed be less dangerous if she was happy?"

Harry goes on to write about things already leaked and reportedhis Nazi costume, allegedly greenlit and encouraged by William and Kate, and seeing photographs of his dead mother takenas well as his army career, and ongoing paranoia he and William had about who was leaking stories about them to the press. Harry said he would rather be in a warzone than in Fleet Streets sights. What a relief it will be, I thought, to be in a proper war zone, where none of this is part of my daily calculus. Please, put me on a battlefield where there are clear rules of engagement. Where theres some sense of honor.

As it was, fighting in Iraq, Harry writes about himself becoming a target for insurgents to kidnap, torture, or kill. Upon returning to Britain, his partying became extreme, and the ever-present paparazzi he compared to Iraqi insurgents. The paps had always been grotesque people, but as I reached maturity they were worse. You could see it in their eyes, their body language. They were more emboldened, more radicalized, just as young men in Iraq had been radicalized. Their mullahs were editors

As has been reported, William and Harry went to where their mother died in Paris.

Harry: I was Chandler in Friends

Late summer of 2013, Harry was having terrifying panic attacks and lethargy. Putting on a suit in the morning would trigger the panic attacks. He began to fear all public venues and started staying at home. He watched a lot of Friends and decided he was a Chandler.

He loved the show. Describing his bachelor lifestyle, he writes he did his own laundry, and folded his underwear while watching the show. For his everyday clothes he went to T.K. Maxx, liked Gap and J Crew.

He writes that he stopped going out in 2015, but still watched Friends, then would smoke a joint and go to bed early. Solitary life. Strange life. I felt lonely, but lonely was panicky.  I was an agoraphobe.

One therapist said he was suffering from post-traumatic stress, and that rang a bell. He also started meditating and taking psychedelics. Id experimented with them over the years, for fun, but now Id begun to use them therapeutically, medicinally.

In 2016 he went back to America and ended up staying at Courteney Coxs house, who was a friend of a friend. Was thrilled as a Friends fanatic. But, She was Monica. And I was a Chandler. I wondered if Id ever work up the courage to tell her. Was there enough tequila in California to get me that brave?

During a party at Coxs, he met an actor from Batman (but doesnt say who). At that party, he took mushrooms and washed them down with tequila. This is the bathroom shrooms story where the toilet became a head. The next day, there was another party with more tequila and more mushrooms. He ended the night by staring at the moon, which was speaking to him and telling him that the year ahead would be good and that there would be something special and big.

Maybe even someone who would be there for him, when the rain starts to pour.

The King lived here, you say? Really?

The book is intriguing as a kind of inside report on incidents that became such well-known tabloid fodder. Harry writes about the infamous time in Las Vegas where he was photographed nude after a wild night out. His sense of guilt and shame made it hard at moments to draw a clean breath. He fled to Balmoral, where his dad was gentle and bemused about it. Harry was relieved his bodyguards werent fired over it.

Deployed in Afghanistan, after he kills motorbike-riding Taliban soldiers, a friend asks, Did it factor into your feeling that these killers were on motorbikes? The chosen vehicle of paps all over the world. He couldnt say that not one particle of him was thinking about the bikes that chased him, and one Mercedes into a Paris tunnel.

As has been reported, Harry killed 25 people while deployed. It wasnt a number that gave me any satisfaction. But neither was it a number that made me feel ashamed. They were chess pieces removed from the board, Bads taken away before they could kill Goods. His questions about the war were never moral and the only shots he thought twice about were the ones he hadnt taken.

Harry credits ex Cressida Bonas with performing a miracle, opening me up, releasing suppressed emotions during their relationship.

One night she asked about his mother. Her tone was just the right blend of curiosity and compassion. Harry started crying and told her, This is the first time Ive been able to cry about my mum since the burial... She was the first person to help me across that barrier, to help me unleash the tears. It was cathartic, it accelerated our bond, and added an element rare in past relationships: immense gratitude. I was indebted to Cress, and that was the reason why, when we got home from Kazakhstan, I felt so miserable, because at some point during that ski trip Id realized that we werent a match. He drove over to see Cress and broke up with her. Damn, I thought. She helped me cry. And now Im leaving her in tears.

On a trip to America for his friend Guy Pellys wedding. Harry toured Graceland and was super not impressed. Dark, claustrophobic. I walked around saying: The King lived here, you say? Really?

The wedding made him think, Whens it going to be my turn? The one person who might want it most, to be married, to have a family, and its never going to happen. More than a little petulantly, I thought: Its just not fair of the universe.

Having left the army to be a full-time royal, Harry read the stories of William being lazy which was obscene, grossly unfair, because he was busy having children and raising a family.

He did as much as Pa wanted him to do, and sometimes that wasnt much, because Pa and Camilla didnt want Willy and Kate getting loads of publicity. Pa and Camilla didnt like Willy and Kate drawing attention away from them or their causes. Theyd openly scolded Willy about it many times. Willy told me that both he and Kate felt trapped, and unfairly persecuted, by the press and by Pa and Camilla.

Kate and William were big fans of Suitsseriously

Harry says he and Meghan began messaging each other on July 1, 2016what would have been his moms 55th birthday. In their meet, which Harry writes about suitably cutely, he talks about traveling to Africa together, a freaky moment where his phone is bust and he is not able to contact her, and Will and Kates shock when Harry reveals he is dating Meghan.

They explained that they were regularnay, religiousviewers of Suits. They barraged me with questionsoverall what I told them was heavily redacted. I just didnt want to give away too much. I also said I couldnt wait for them to meet her, that I looked forward to the four of us spending lots of time together, and I confessed, for the umpteenth time, that this had long been my dreamto join them with an equal partner. To become a foursome. Id said this to Willy so many times and hed always reply: It might not happen, Harold! And youve got to be OK with that. Now I felt that it was going to happen, and I told him sobut he still said to slow down. Shes an American actress after all, Harold. Anything might happen. I nodded, a bit hurt. Then hugged him and Kate and left.

Meghan meets the queen very early, does a flawless curtsey, declines to discuss Donald Trump, and scores major points when she says shes been working in Canada part of the Commonwealth. Meghan also meets William, hugs him, freaks him out. Both William and Charles are furious when Harry issues a statement decrying racism, sexism and harassment in the initial media coverage and online comment around Meghan. Pa and Willy were furious. They gave me an earful. My statement made them look bad, they both said. Because theyd never put out a statement for their girlfriends or wives when they were being harassed.

Harry reveals he warned Meghan before she took a trip to India for World Vision that she shouldnt take a photo in front of the Taj Mahal. Id explained that my mother had posed for a photo there, and it had become iconic, and I didnt want anyone thinking Meg was trying to mimic my mother. Meg had never heard of this photo, and found the whole thing baffling.

Kate: I know, Meghan, that I was the one that made you cry

In the run-up to the wedding, Kate and Meghan fell out over what has become an endless saga of who said what about bridesmaid dresses.

Post-wedding, Harry conveys an image of them being hunted by the media, and frozen out by the family, although Meghan tells him of her first joint engagement with the queen: We bonded! The queen and I really bonded! We talked about how much I wanted to be a mum and she told me the best way to induce labour was a good bumpy car ride! I told her Id remember that when the time came.

There are excruciating meetings where Harry and Meghan and Kate and William try to get their relationship back on track. William and Kate are upset that they did not receive Easter presents from Harry and Meghan.

Harry perceptively notes: None of this airing of grievances was doing us any good, I felt. We werent getting anywhere.

Kate tells Meghan she owes her an apology over Meghan saying she may have baby brain: You hurt my feelings Meghan I told you I couldnt remember something and you told me it was my hormones... Were not close enough for you to talk about my hormones.

As has been reported William told Meghan she was being rude, and Meghan told him not to point at her.

Was this really happening? Harry writes. Had it actually come to this? Shouting at each other about place cards and hormones?

Harry does not address the bullying allegations against Meghan directly, but says, Team Cambridge versus Team Sussex took shape, with rivalry, and competing agendas poisoning the atmosphere... Nerves were shattering, people were sniping more than once a staff member slumped across their desk and wept."

When the story breaks that Meghan made Kate cry over the bridesmaid dresses, Meghan says to her husband, Haz, I made her cry? I made HER cry? In December 2018, at another summit between the couples, Kate allegedly says to Meghan: I know, Meghan, that I was the one that made you cry.

Meghan asked what was being done to correct the story in public.

Harry writes that he realized that nothing would be done: nothing could happen to embarrass the future queen. William confesses that he told Charles and Camilla about the beef between the couples, and although it is not stated the unspoken source of the leak is implied to be him or Camilla.

I was a stranger to my older brother

In January 2019, Harry recalls Meghan saying she felt suicidal, then a letter she wrote to her father was leaked to the Mail, Harry watching his wife's mood deteriorate even further. William visited, and shoves himnow infamouslyon to the dog bowl. There is joy when Archie is born, with Harry transfixed by the miracle of life.

There is more joy when the couple go to chill at Elton John and David Furnish's home in the South of France, until Elton tells Harry that the Daily Mail will serialize his memoir, pointing out, I want people to read it! Harry is furious that Elton is dealing with the very people who've made your life miserable, but then says he will always love Elton.

Back home, Harry does battle with three terrifying-sounding courtiers, nicknamed the Bee, the Fly, and the Wasp, who he sees as scheming for ever more control around an ailing queen. Harry then launched three lawsuits against British newspapers, which his family does not not support.

The queen and Charles called an emergency meeting with Harry, the Bee, and the Wasp to confront him for making their relationship with the media complicated because of the lawsuits. Harry reminded them many family members, the queen included, had sued the press. Why was this different? Plus, he and Meghan had been asking for their protection constantly, and they did nothing to help. Youre doing a disservice to yourselves by not protecting my wife.

William and Harry viciously fight by text, with William accusing Harry of being brainwashed by therapy. I was a stranger to my older brother, Harry writes.

Next came a briefly blissful sojourn to Vancouver Island, Canada, until the media found Harry and Meghanalthough the experience, Harry says, gave he and Meghan an opportunity to see life outside the royal fishbowl. The idea of leaving their royal roles was born.

Exit strategy

Harry describes in great detail the alleged skullduggery and briefing and leaking against him and Meghan planning their royal exit. Finally, he recalls the Sandringham Summit that played out with the world's media agog at every machination. Harry writes that the queen, Charles, William, the Bee, and the Wasp were all at the meeting. William was annoyed that he was being accused in the papers of bullying Harry and Meghan out of the family.

There were five options, Harry writes. Option 1 was the status quo. Option 5 was full severance from the family, royal duties, and security. Retaining security was paramount to Harry, to prevent another untimely death. Everyone Harry had consulted recommended Option 3: living elsewhere part of the year, continuing their work, and retaining security. The family pushed for Option 1, and said, barring that, theyd only accept Option 5. They had even already drafted an Option 5 statement to the public, without consulting Harry, he writes.

For Harry, keeping security was paramount, especially given the viciousness of what had been said against Meghan.

The palace head of security told Harry that the threat level for them was still higher for that of nearly every other royal, equal to that assigned the Queen. As Harry tried to figure out hiring his own security, the Palace directed him to a firm that quoted him a price of six million a year.

In the midst of all this, Harrys old friend/ex Caroline Flack took her own life. She couldnt stand it any more, apparently. The relentless abuse at the hands of the press, year after year. I felt so awful for her family. I remembered how theyd all suffered for her mortal sin of going out with me.

The reason Tyler Perry offered them his house to stay in during the pandemic was my mother, Perry told them in a FaceTime call. My mother loved your mother. After Diana visited Harlem, She could do no wrong in Maxine Perrys book.

In the house, Archie became obsessed with a painting of a scene from ancient Rome. Finally, after Archie kept staring at it, Meghan noticed the nameplate on the frame: Goddess of the hunt. Diana. When they moved to their Santa Barbara house after the press discovered they were at Tyler Perrys, the move only took hours. Everything we owned fit in 13 suitcases.

After Meghan suffered her miscarriage, in the midst of the stress of preparing for the tabloid trial, they buried their unborn child in a tiny package under a banyan tree.

The brothers, as has been widely reported, had another physical altercation after Prince Philips funeral.

After their daughter Lilibet was born and they were home, Meghan told Harry that shes never been more in love with him. She jotted notes in a journal that she showed him: She said: That was everythingShe said: That is a manMy love. She said: That is not a Spare.

And that moment of cheerafter hundreds of pages of tumultis the last line of the book.

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Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour on June 13, 2015 in London.

Camilla and Harry stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour on June 13, 2015 in London. Credit - Max MumbyIndigo/Getty Images

In tales of princes and princesses, the trope of the wicked stepmother is timeless. At best, these unwelcome new family members are depicted as cold and neglectfulat worst, they pose a treacherous threat. The latter is precisely the image Prince Harry has painted of his stepmother Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Queen Consort, in his memoir Spare.

In his bookwhich was published on Tuesday after a week of leaked excerptsthe 38-year-old royal revealed that, in 2005, he and Prince William pleaded with their father not to marry Camilla. Charles, who is now King, had been engaged in a long-standing affair with Camilla during his 15-year marriage to Princess Diana.

Despite Willy and me urging him not to, Pa was going ahead. We pumped his hand, wished him well. No hard feelings, Harry writes in Spare. We recognized that he was finally going to be with the woman he loved, the woman hed always loved.

In passages that many stepchildren will relate to, Harry reflects on difficult moments adjusting to his fathers new marriage. In one story, likely from the late nineties, Harry remembers wondering if Camilla would be cruel to him like all the wicked stepmothers in storybooks, noting that William long harbored suspicions about the Other Woman. Harry also claims that Camilla converted his bedroom into her own personal dressing room as soon as he moved out of their former residence, Clarence House, when he was 28.

Beyond these anecdotes, in the book and in promotional interviews, Harry has taken his criticism of Camilla much further with statements on her character. He has alleged that Camilla had a calculated agenda to remedy her public image as the other woman, one that paved the way for her marriage and eventual Queen Consort title.

This accusation is one of the more surprising aspects of Spare and Harrys surrounding press tour, andalongside Williamit paints Camilla as one of the central villains in Harrys story.

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Read More: Prince Harry Alleges William Assaulted Him. What to Know About the Claims in Spare

Throughout her relationship with Charles before his ascension to the throne, Camilla was known for carrying out charity work and royal duties to rehabilitate her imageefforts recognized by the late Queen Elizabeth, who endorsed her daughter-in-law with a consort title on the eve of her Platinum Jubilee last February. But Harry believes Camillas efforts to improve her standing with the public went further.

In his first promotional interview with ITV Correspondent Tom Bradby on Sunday, Harry elaborated on the relationship between the royal family and the British press, which he said involves a lot of briefings, leakings, and plantings. He accused members of the royal family of getting into bed with the devil, citing an instance when Camilla allegedly leaked one of her early conversations with William. (The Telegraph recently reported that it was in fact Camillas former assistant who leaked the conversation and that she was subsequently let go.)

In Spare, Harry writes that his father and Camillas spin doctor decided they should throw Harry right under the bus. He writes that they leaked news of his drug use in 2002, saying that Prince Charles sent Harry to a drug rehabilitation center in order to garner sympathy for Charles as a father and for their relationship. Harry also writes that in 2019 William was seething because Pa and Camillas people had planted a story or stories about him, and Kate, and the kids, and he wasnt going to take it any more. Give Pa and Camilla an inch, he said, they take a mile.

Read More: What Broke Harry and Meghans Relationship With William and Kate, According to Spare

Harry further escalated his allegations against Camilla in a second interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday by calling her dangerous because of the connections she has with members of the media. There was open willingness on both sides to trade information. And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her on the way to being Queen Consort, there was going to be people or bodies left in the street, he told host Anderson Cooper. He then described his stepmother as the villain and the third person in the marriage, echoing his mothers controversial interview with Martin Bashir in 1995, when Diana said there were three of us in the marriage.

I had complex feelings about gaining a step parent who, I believed, had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar, Harry writes in Spare. In a funny way I even wanted Camilla to be happy. Maybe shed be less dangerous if she was happy?

The royal family has remained silent in response to the book, but many British publications are reporting that Camilla did not leak the stories Harry describes. The BBCs former royal correspondent Jennie Bond wrote an essay for the i newspaper, describing how she tried to forge a relationship with the Queen Consort to no success. Bond claimed that she had coffee with Camila a number of times, but the royal reportedly snubbed her with a polite, handwritten letter expressing that she had no interest in cultivating a special relationship with any journalist.

In an interview with Good Morning America on Monday, Harry seemed to soften his stance on Camilla, saying that he has a huge amount of compassion for her. He added that they havent spoken in a while, but he loves every member of his family, so they remain cordial. But, while he pulled back from the wicked stepmother comparison, he also appeared to double down: Shes my stepmother. I dont look at her as an evil stepmother, he said, then continued, I see someone who married into this institution and has done everything that she can to improve her own reputation and her own image for her own sake.
WASHINGTON  Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., a progressive star who won re-election in November, on Tuesday announced her campaign for the Senate in 2024.

In a video announcing her bid, Porter said she's running because California "needs a warrior in Washington" who would stand up to powerful banking, oil and pharmaceutical interests.

Porter made her announcement amid uncertainty over whether Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who at 89 is the longest-serving female senator, will retire at the end of 2024.

Porter did not refer to Feinstein in her video announcement, but said that its time for new leadership in the U.S. Senate. By jumping in now  22 months before the election  Porter is beating some well-funded potential rivals, including Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Ro Khanna, to the punch.

Feinstein, who has increasingly relied on staff as she ages, is widely expected to retire after her current term but has remained tight-lipped on her plans and has said she would not leave early. A spokesperson for Feinstein told the Los Angeles Times last month that she has no plans to step down and will announce her plans for 2024 at the appropriate time.

Feinstein had less than $10,000 in the bank at the end of September, according to her most recent campaign finance report, a paltry sum for senior senator in the most expensive state in the country in which to campaign. Senators typically use much of their six-year terms to quietly amass a war chest before their next re-election, so a lack of fundraising can suggest they do not intend to run for re-election

Everyone is of course welcome to throw their hat in the ring, and I will make an announcement concerning my plans for 2024 at the appropriate time, Feinstein said in a statement responding to Porter's announcement. Right now Im focused on ensuring California has all the resources it needs to cope with the devastating storms slamming the state and leaving more than a dozen dead.

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Feinsteins potential retirement is expected to set off a mad dash for the seat among members of Californias Democratic bench. Potential progressive rivals appeared to knock Porter for launching her bid during deadly storms that have hit the Golden State.

"I've been on the phone all day with mayors, county supervisors, been in communication with the governor. We are getting hammered by these storms," Schiff said in an interview. "I've talked to the FEMA regional administrator about getting relief to Californians and that's where my priority, my focus is. And I think that's where we should all be focused right now."

Schiff has signaled for months he will run for the Senate. He dropped out of a House leadership race, and in December met with Feinstein to personally inform her of his intentions to run for her seat, said a source close to Schiff.

Khanna, a top ally of Bernie Sanders, told NBC News following Porters announcement that he will make a decision about the Senate race in the next few months but is focused on severe rain and flooding in the state that has turned deadly.

Right now, California is facing severe storms and floods, and my district is facing historic weather conditions," Khanna said. "My focus is on that. In the next few months, I will make a decision."

After House votes on Tuesday, Porter defended the timing of her announcement to reporters: "I'm very concerned about what climate change is doing to California, and these storms are just one example of the urgency in making sure that we have leaders who understand what our country and what California is facing.

"That means people who are not beholden to oil and gas, who understand that we need to have energy sources that address climate change and don't worsen these storms," Porter continued. "So my kids are in California. I'm in touch with them about the rain and watching very closely and hoping that our transit workers, first responders and others are safe during this time."

Porter won re-election to a third term in November against a challenge from former state Assemblyman Scott Baugh, a Republican. Her race for the 47th Congressional District seat in coastal Orange County was listed as a toss up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

Porter proved a strong fundraiser for her campaign in the 2022 midterm election cycle, raising nearly $26 million compared to Baugh, who raised about $3 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

An adviser to Baugh told NBC News on Tuesday that the Republican candidate will run for the Orange County district again in 2024, adding that a formal announcement would be coming soon.

He has been fielding calls of encouragement all morning, the adviser said.

Porter, 49, has drawn attention for viral videos that feature her sharp questioning of witnesses testifying before Congress. The former law school professor is often seen with a dry-erase board that she uses to list digestible facts and figures to outline her point.

I dont do Congress the way others often do, I use whatever power I have to speak hard truths to the powers that be, to not just challenge the status quo, but call it out, name names, and demand justice, Porter said in her video announcement, which featured a clip of her using a whiteboard during a congressional hearing.

Porter began her first term in Congress in 2019 and serves as deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

CORRECTION: (Jan. 10, 2023, 4:35 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated Porters age. She is 49, not 48.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
STORY: The footage, shot at night time, showed dozens gathered outside Rajai Shahr prison and chanting slogans against the country's ruling clerics.

Rights activists on social media said two protesters, 22-year-old Mohammad Ghobadlou and 18-year-old Mohammad Boroughani, had been transferred to solitary confinement ahead of their execution in the Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj.

In one clip, Ghobadlou's mother said her son's case was an injustice and that he was innocent.

The protest came after Iran hanged two other men on Saturday (January 7), one of them a karate champion with several national titles, in its attempts to stamp out demonstrations, which have slowed considerably since it began carrying out executions within weeks of arrests.
Reuters

As convicted murderers and rapists quickly become Russias new heroes on the battlefield in Ukraine, captured members of the notorious Wagner Group say theyve been stiffed on payment and witnessed public executions on the frontline.

Those who disobey are eliminatedand its done publicly, Yevgeny Novikov, a former inmate recruited by Wagner, told Polygon Media and the independent outlet Mozhem Obyasnit in a new report out Tuesday. Citing recorded interviews the ex-Wagner fighters gave Ukrainian authorities, the publications said they independently verified the mens identities.

The mens accounts come as pro-Kremlin military bloggers lavish the mercenary group with praise for a major assault on the Ukrainian town of Soledar in the Donetsk region, where British intelligence says Russia now controls a large chunk of territory.

It is the musicians who are freeing these cities, one popular pro-war Telegram channel wrote, using a popular nickname for Wagner. The result speaks for itself and you just have to give them their due.

Former inmates say the reality is not so heroic.

There are squadrons of liquidators there made up of [members of assault teams].  Shelling began, one of the prisoners laid down and didnt cover his own [men]. The shelling stopped, he went back, and the higher-up shouted to him: Why didnt you go forward? And they killed him. The higher-up is killed if his team deserts, Novikov was quoted saying.

Putins Chef Is Personally Touring Russian Prisons for Wagner Recruits to Fight in Ukraine, Reports Say

Another former inmate identified as Alexander Drozdov, who was serving a sentence for attempted murder, said the majority of the prisoners in Wagners ranks are completely insane inmates freed from lengthy terms for drug offenses.

They are very different from ordinary mercenaries, they are just fucked up and bulldoze their way through, Drozdov said.

According to him, the mercenary group makes clear distinctions between the prisoners and professional mercenaries, making the two groups wear separate uniforms, while those with HIV have their own signs of distinctiona red bracelet on their arm.

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While Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has talked up the prisoners-turned-mercenaries as patriots and heroes, one inmate said the group made it clear to prisoners that they were forbidden from aligning themselves with the private army.

Youre not Wagner, youre a project, dont even call yourself [Wagner]. Because you are just a project, inmate Sergei Vershchagin was quoted saying.

Vereshchagin said he was recruited and sent to fight in Soledar after Wagner recruited him while he was serving time for a double homicide.

They didnt pay me any money, he told Mozhem Obyasnit.

The deranged scheme to pump up Russias war machine using inmates considered disposable has resulted in heavy losses among the freed prisoners, with The Insider citing public data in early November to report more than 500 dead in just two months. But perhaps thats exactly what the Kremlin is counting on.

Top Kremlin Darling Shocks Putin Officials With Backstabbing Spree

Ukrainian intelligence said back in September that they believe Russia will eliminate all the prisoner-mercenaries in one way or another once they finish their battlefield stints. Prigozhin has already made a show of sending off the first groups of inmates who completed their contracts with Wagner, though many of them said they intended to sign up for another round.

Drozdov, the inmate, said the deaths among the ranks of Wagners assault teams were absolutely gigantic.

While the Kremlin has largely played dumb about Wagners activities in Ukraine, it seems the Russian leader was on board with Prigozhins prison-recruiting scheme all along: Members in the first group of inmates recruited to fight were freed from prison before they ever even set foot on the battlefield, thanks to a secret decree from Vladimir Putin, Eva Merkacheva, a member of Russias Human Rights Council, told RIA Novosti on Monday.

The group is now apparently on the hunt for fresh recruits as they seek reinforcements to help Russia take the Ukrainian stronghold of Bakhmut.

Olga Romanova, the head of the human rights group Russia Behind Bars, said this week that Wagner has launched recruiting efforts at prisons in Chechnya, according to local media.

Up until last week we would say that Wagner is everywhere except Chechnya. They bypassed Chechnya. Now Wagner is everywhere, including Chechnya. They made a deal with [Chechen leader Ramzan] Kadyrov, Romanova said.

She said the fresh recruitment drive came after a long pause prompted by inmates fleeing the frontline and turning themselves into Ukrainian authorities. When the number of deserters began to skyrocket, a Telegram channel linked to Wagner released video footage of the brutal sledgehammer execution of former inmate Yevgeny Nuzhin, who went against the group after winding up in Ukrainian hands.

Since then, according to Romanova, would-be recruits are shown videos of other executions so they know how the group deals with traitors.

The group appears to be using the same tactics to recruit ordinary Russians elsewhere. Several residents of St. PetersburgPrigozhins hometown and the site of the groups first official headquarterstold the outlet Vot Tak they had received cold calls from the shadow army urging them to join.

A 23-year-old man identified only as Artyom told the publication he received a call from someone who said he was representing Wagner and told him we have a holy war against fascists and faggots.

After Artyom made clear he wasnt interested, the man reportedly grew frustrated, saying, The Wagner Center in St. Petersburg is located at 15 Zolnaya Street. If you want to repay your homeland or help in some way, comewe wont hurt you.

Nobodys threatening you, but keep in mind we live in the same city.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Running a data center means that you have to find innovative ways to manage heat from the servers. And French startup Qarnot is standardizing its process to reuse fatal heat and turn it into an asset.

While the startup has been around for a while, Qarnot now wants to reach the next level. It has raised a 12.5 million funding round ($13.3 million at todays exchange rate). It has also negotiated a 22.5 million credit line ($24 million) to finance its future projects.

Societe Generale Ventures, ADEME Investissement, Demeter, la Banque des Territoires and Colam Impact are participating in todays funding round.

Qarnot started with electric heaters for construction companies looking for heaters for their new buildings. The company put servers in those heaters so that CPUs and other components would generate heat. The rest of the heater would act as a passive cooling system and warm residential and office buildings.

At the other end, companies such as BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and 3D animation studio Illumination are renting those servers for their own needs. This is an innovative way of building decentralized data centers.

Ever since we launched Qarnot 12 years ago, our goal has been to valorize fatal heat from computers. Today, its a hot topic and there are a lot of people talking about it, co-founder and CEO Paul Benoit told me.

But the main issue with this system is that you dont need a heater all year round. Qarnot has found a way to counter this seasonality effect by building a new product  scalable boiler systems.

These modules pack up to 12 servers with a standard form factor based on Open Compute Project server designs with AMD Epyc and Intel Xeon CPUs. Each module is then connected to the water system so that cold water enters the module and is turned into hot water. Up to 95% of computer waste heat is turned into hot water.

I asked about the seasonality of central heating boilers. And it turns out that heating networks work all year round. For instance, they produce hot water, which is always required.

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We want to tackle the baseload. Were going to run all year round and the heating network is going to rely on a complementary source, Benoit said. Buildings or neighborhoods are still going to use electricity or natural gas directly for those cold winter nights.

Qarnot can provide multiple modules and make them work in parallel. It generates more hot water and it increases the total compute power of the Qarnot platform.

The idea is that we should be able to deploy data centers in locations where people consume heat. Its a completely different approach compared to traditional data centers, Benoit said.

Qarnot's digital boilers running in a heating network in Finland

Image Credits: Qarnot

Clients include social landlords, property developers, local authorities, swimming pools and heating network operators. Qarnot already rolled out a pilot data center in Finland with 100kW of compute. Its a small data center, but the company is already looking at other locations with 500kW up to a few MW of compute capacity.

With our system, you dont need a cooling system and we can sell the heat that is generated from our servers. In the data center industry, when you have servers that require 1kW, they also require up to 500W in air conditioning, Benoit said.

And this is key to understanding Qarnots appeal. From a business perspective, Qarnot uses electricity in two different ways. It runs computers and it sells heat, which is great for the companys bottom line. From an environmental perspective, Qarnot greatly improves the carbon footprint of data centers.

We think the future looks like a plethora of mid-sized data centers. Edge computing is slowly showing up. Today, we dont really know how its going to look like but we know that there are operators looking for hundreds of data centers with a few kilowatts of capacity, Benoit said.

Qarnot could profoundly change the data center industry. If the company becomes massively successful, there would be no reason to construct dedicated buildings to host hundreds of thousands of computers anymore.

A table of Qarnot's carbon footprint

Image Credits: Qarnot
Last year, French startup Qonto acquired its German competitor Penta. Both companies offer business bank accounts for small and medium companies as well as freelancers. Today, Qonto shared some details about the integration process.

At the time of the acquisition, Penta was serving 50,000 companies in Germany while Qonto had 300,000 customers in France, Spain, Italy and Germany. While Penta is no longer accepting new customers, new German companies looking for a bank account can sign up to Qonto directly.

As for existing customers, Qonto now expects to move all Penta customers to Qontos banking platform by the end of 2023. Once this is done, the company will operate under a single brand  Qonto.

Similarly, there are some internal changes. The Qonto and Penta teams are going to merge, with Pentas co-founder Lukas Zorner acting as the new VP of Germany for Qonto. And just like that, Qonto is going to add tens of thousands of customers to its platform.

Germany was Qontos fastest growing market in both 2021 and 2022 and well keep building on this momentum in 2023. The union of Qonto and Penta is a starting signal for a new era of consolidation in the European fintech industry. By integrating Penta, were combining the strengths of two companies to enhance Qontos position as the digital business finance leader European SMEs and freelancers expect and need, Qonto co-founder and CEO Alexandre Prot said in a statement.

So if youre a Penta customer, keep an eye on your email inbox as you will soon receive an invitation to move your account to Qonto. Customers will still have a German IBAN. Qonto also offers virtual and physical corporate cards, several ways to export and sync your bank statements with your accounting solution (including Datev support), instant SEPA transfers and more.

When it comes to pricing, freelancers should pay more or less the same subscription fee as both Pentas and Qontos plans started at 9 per month. Bigger companies with multiple users could end up paying more though as Pentas enterprise plan offered 15 cards for 49 per month. Companies on the cheapest Qonto plan (29 per month) have to pay another 5 per card per month to get more than two cards.

In January 2022, Qonto announced a massive 486 million Series D funding round ($522 million at todays exchange rate). It was a different time for the tech industry as there are a lot fewer late-stage rounds.

This acquisition is probably the first one of a long series of fintech acquisitions. There will be more consolidation moves in the fintech industry in 2023 due to the current slowdown in venture funding and overaggressive expansion plans in 2021 and early 2022.
Video of a deer barrelling through the front door of a Minnesota butcher shop is going viral online.

At around noon Saturday, the deer ran at full speed through the front door of She Said Butcher Shop in Moorhead, MN, reports WDAY news.

Shop owner Melissa Evans told the news station she was in the other room when the deer busted in.

"I had no idea what was going on," Evans said. "I thought maybe somebody had drove through the building or the ceiling was crashing down."

"This was truly an ordeal and I am really not sure who was more scared at the time me or the deer, but it was a pretty terrifying experience overall," the business said on Facebook.

"Other than a smashed door, a hole in the wall and a few broken plants, everything else came out unscathed and I am thankful, because it could have been so much worse, not only with damages, but potentially could have seriously hurt someone. I hope that the deer is ok and back telling the story to her friends about the crazy experience she had today escaping the butcher."

Evans said she had to close her business for the day to clean up the mess.
Why one mom is putting her foot down when it comes to intense potty training. (Photo: Getty)

Its just three days, I remember explaining to my husband the first time we were deciding how to potty train our son, one of four (soon to be five) kids. But he just poops and pees on the floor? he asked. We were debating the three-day half-naked kid method, where they run around without underwear, and you take them often to the potty, offering lots of drinks and making a full weekend event at home (in potty jail) out of it. The program promises that at the end of that hell, you will have a potty-trained child. We did not, and we were all much more exhausted and defeated at the end of it, kid included.

From there, we tried various other programs with the next kids. With one, we were completely against pull-up diapers, determined it would discourage them from finding a potty. With another, we threw some pull-ups their way, but cut that off at a certain age. One kid came home one day completely potty-trained from daycare after seeing a friend head to the potty. We shook our heads at all of our efforts, all seemingly in vain.

We are far from alone in this controversial conundrum, a hot topic in parenting groups, alongside the big issues like sleep training and baby-led weaning. Dr. Anandita Pal, a Houston-area pediatrician, explains why.

Having seen thousands of children and their families every year, my experience indicates the majority of the pressure comes from other parents and societal pressure expecting children to be potty trained by a certain age," she says. "Moreover, there is an additional expectation that stems from kids being potty trained before attending school or daycare. Even though parents think its a massive milestone, she says pediatricians dont. Each and every child is different and potty training is a very personal step in their growth and development.

Schools and childcare providers can put added pressure on parents to get their kids out of diapers. (Photo: Getty)

This notion took me exactly 4.5 kids to learn, which is why, with our next baby, I have no intention of actively potty training. I will for sure be showing them the potty, reading the Elmo book that makes the flushing sound and showing them how Daniel Tiger stops and goes right away before flush and wash and be on your way. But I wont be having half-naked weekends of pee-covered floors or panic over pull-ups, and I definitely wont be participating in any school programs demanding full potty training as a toddler or preschooler.

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Parents say they learn from their kids, and that they are their greatest teachers. I had no idea it would take me this many kids to realize that instead of me deciding when to potty train, and how, the toddler will actually lead the way through signs and their own communication. Right now, my 19-month-old is interested in toddling into the bathroom and checking out the potty. He flushes the toilet, bangs the lid and makes a mess. But this is the beginning of potty training. Hes saying, Mom, what is this large white thing and whats it for? in his own way. So, instead of shooing him out, we are talking about it.

I also didnt know that parent pressure can actually cause health problems. Potty training should be toddler-guided; if rushed, it can lead to other problems like pain, withholding, chronic constipation, and accidents, Pal says. Once a child shows interest in the potty and using it, it is a good idea to introduce them to the concept gradually by watching videos together and guiding them to the potty if they show interest.

For me, the programs themselves created more of a timeline than any outside pressure. Pal sees this with other parents too. Trying a program or following a timeline seems helpful for the parent and some children but will be pointless, unless the child is ready themself. In certain circumstances, these programs or timelines can result in delays and detrimental behavior.

Instead, I plan on following Pals go-to tips, and my kids own cues. Heres what she suggests doing:

Setting a predictable and potty location, and approximate time

Teaching them the sequence of events when using the toilet, wiping and then washing hands the same way every time to reinforce the process

Informing and ensuring all caregivers are able to follow this consistent approach

Never embarrassing a kid, and celebrating achievements instead

Remembering the wide timeline, from 24 months to 4 to 5 years old, all which is normal

And when in doubt, Ill be reminding myself of the oldest potty training saying in the book. As Pal notes, "we dont find too many high schoolers in diapers, so rest assured that it will happen."

Wellness, parenting, body image and more: Get to know the who behind the hoo with Yahoo Life's newsletter. Sign up here.
Washington  Democratic Rep. Katie Porter on Tuesday announced that she's running for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Dianne Feinstein in California, potentially setting up a showdown in 2024 between the Senate's oldest current member and a rising star in the Democratic Party.

"California needs a warrior in the Senate  to stand up to special interests, fight the dangerous imbalance in our economy, and hold so-called leaders like Mitch McConnell accountable for rigging our democracy," Porter wrote in a tweet with a video announcing her candidacy. "Today, I'm proud to announce my candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2024."

Porter is the first Democrat to formally announce her bid for the seat held by Feinstein, who has been in the Senate for three decades. California employs a "jungle primary," in which candidates from all parties compete in a primary, with the top two vote-getters moving on to the fall's general election.

Feinstein, 89, hasn't said whether she plans to retire. In recent years, she has been the subject of a series of reports citing unnamed Democratic sources who have questioned her mental fitness to serve. After one such article in the San Francisco Chronicle last year, Feinstein issued a statement insisting she is "an effective representative for 40 million Californians, and the record shows that I am."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein tells youth climate change activists "I know what I'm doing"

Porter is currently serving her third term in the House, and has sought to position herself as an outsider. A single mother representing a relatively wealthy Orange County district, she often talks about how she understands the kitchen table issues everyday Americans face. And in her video announcing her candidacy, she promised to be a "warrior" in Washington.

During last week's grueling series of votes for House speaker, Porter was spotted on the House floor reading the book, "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***k" by Mark Manson.

Story continues

Porter narrowly won her race in 2022 against Republican Scott Baugh.

New guidelines for treating childhood obesity include medication and surgery

With Mega Millions jackpot at $1.1 billion, lottery players share what they'd do with big prize

Capitol Hill reacts to discovery of documents marked classified at Biden's former office, while Rep. George Santos faces mounting scrutiny
A push to bring the 2028 Republican National Convention to Jacksonville appears to be underway.

Action News Jaxs Downtown Jacksonville Skycam captured a graphic on the video board at 121 Financial Ballpark that says, Jacksonville 2028 Republican National Contention.

The City of Jacksonville confirmed to Action News Jax that the Republican National Committee was touring venues in the area on Tuesday.

Action News Jax told you about the push to bring the RNC to Jacksonville in 2020.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

Then-President Donald Trump threatened to pull the Republican National Convention out of North Carolina if the states Democratic governor didnt immediately sign off on allowing a full-capacity gathering in August of that year despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Plans to bring the convention to Jacksonville that year moved forward, but Trump then pulled the plug on the RNC in Jacksonville when coronavirus cases in the state began to rise.

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Burglars stole an unknown amount of merchandise from a Cherokee County jewelry store by cutting a hole in the roof of the business, according to Canton Police Department.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Police responded to an alarm call on Jan. 4 around 11:30 p.m. at the Kay Jewelers store on Cumming Highway in Canton.

Once officers arrived at the store, they began checking outside the store and saw the entrances to the store were closed and locked up.

Officers also checked the stores windows and did not see anyone in or around the jewelry store.

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The following day, officers came back to the store in response to a report of a burglary. Investigators said officers determined the robbers got inside the business by cutting a hole in the roof.

Investigators said the robbers got away with an unknown amount of merchandise.

Canton detectives are currently working with other metro Atlanta agencies who are believed to have had similar burglaries incidents in their areas.

Anyone with information regarding this robbery is urged to contact the Canton Police Department at 770-720-4883.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
BUCHAREST (Reuters) -A Romanian court ordered late on Tuesday that divisive internet personality Andrew Tate, his brother and two other suspects remain in Romanian police custody for a full 30 days pending a criminal inquiry into alleged human trafficking.

Tate, his brother Tristan and two Romanian female suspects were detained by Romanian anti-organised crime prosecutors on Dec. 29 on charges of forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit six women.

They have denied wrongdoing through their attorneys and challenged the 30-day arrest warrant. On Tuesday, the Bucharest court of appeals said it rejected the challenge as "unfounded".

"Prosecutors' arguments were that they have evidence. Naturally, our arguments were that there isn't evidence," Ioan Gliga, one of the defence lawyers, told reporters.

The first court to issue the arrest warrant cited the risk that the suspects could evade justice by leaving Romania for countries with which Bucharest has no extradition treaty.

Prosecutors have said the Tate brothers recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship.

The victims were then taken to properties on the outskirts of the capital Bucharest and through physical violence and mental intimidation were sexually exploited by being forced to produce pornographic content for social media sites that generated large financial gains, according to prosecutors.

They also said one of the brothers raped one of the victims in March of last year, which is when the investigation started.

Prosecutors have seized 15 luxury vehicles and over 10 properties and homes belonging to the suspects in Bucharest and Prahova and Brasov counties, Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romania's DIICOT anti-organised crime unit, told Reuters. The seizure was meant to prevent the assets being sold or concealed.

Should prosecutors need more time to investigate, they can seek approval for further extensions of up to 180 days of detention under Romanian law.

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Tate gained mainstream notoriety for misogynistic remarks and hate speech that got him banned from all major social media platforms, although his Twitter account was reinstated in November after Elon Musk acquired the social media giant.

The former professional kickboxer, who holds U.S. and British nationality, has said women are partially responsible for being raped and that they belong to men. He is a self-professed misogynist.

On a podcast last year, he said he started making money by convincing multiple girlfriends to videochat and share the profits back when he lived in London.

"How can I use these women to make me money?" Tate said, adding his business started with two girlfriends and peaked with 75 women working for him and earning $600,000 a month.

He has also said he moved to Romania after being investigated in the United Kingdom on charges of sexual assault, which were ultimately dropped, because he liked living in countries where corruption was accessible to everybody.

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie and Octav Ganea; editing by Nick Macfie and Mark Heinrich)
A reconciliation with Prince Harry is impossible because the King, Queen Consort and Prince William fear anything they say will be made public, The Independent understands.

A source close to the royal family said the King, Camilla and William believe the situation will remain unchanged while the Duke of Sussex remains effectively kidnapped by a cult of psychotherapy and Meghan.

They are trapped, said the source. They really can't engage because everything they say will be shared with the media. It is impossible to have a conversation or write a letter because of the risk that anything they say being put in the public domain by Harry, potentially for commercial benefit.

There has been a complete breakdown of trust.

Full coverage: Prince Harry - latest

Buckingham Palace has remained silent over the flurry of allegations made by Prince Harry in his memoir, Spare, and numerous television interviews.

Despite claiming he was attacked by his brother, and describing the Queen Consort as a villain, Harry has insisted he would like a relationship with his family.

I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back, Harry told ITVs Tom Bradby, adding that he hoped that a reconciliation  will have a ripple effect across the entire world. Maybe thats lofty, maybe thats naive, whatever. But I genuinely feel that.

The Sussexes have also indicated they would like an atonement meeting similar to the one held by palace aide Lady Susan Hussey for charity boss Ngozi Fulani. But the King is understood to be adamant there will be no form of apology to the Sussexes.

The royal source said: They arent going to apologise because they don't recognise Harrys version of events.

Buckingham Palace has remained silent over the allegations made by Prince Harry (Getty)

The source also likened Harrys removal to California, and isolation from the rest of the family, to joining a cult  a comparison likely to prove explosive.

He has been kidnapped by a cult of psychotherapy and Meghan. It is impossible for him to return in these circumstances.

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Harry and Meghans unofficial biographer, Omid Scobie, on Monday predicted the couple would be sort of retreating from speaking out on personal issues for the rest of this year, and acknowledged that any reconciliation is very difficult after the amount  shared in this book.

In addition to the princes teenage drug-taking and losing his virginity behind a pub, the book recounts violent arguments with his brother, Prince William, frosty treatment of Meghan by the royals and palace leaks to the press.

And in an interview with CBS on Monday, Harry referred to Camilla as the villain and dangerous when describing her image rehabilitation following Dianas death.

"I don't look at her as an evil stepmother, he said. I see someone who married into this institution and has done everything that she can to improve her own reputation and her own image for her own sake.

In his book, Harry wrote that William had asked to attend one of his sessions with a psychologist, worrying Harry was being brainwashed.

I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back, Harry told ITV (Getty)

His strategy was obvious: I wasnt well, so I wasnt sane either, and thats why I was behaving questionably, the younger prince wrote.

However, he previously credited William for encouraging him to get help for his mental health, telling podcaster Bryony Gordon: My brother, you know bless him, he was a huge support to me. He kept saying This is not right, this is not normal, you need to talk to [someone] about stuff. Its OK.

Harry has also cited help from Californian energy practitioner John Amaral, whose work addresses fight or flight mode.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were invited to respond to the remarks. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson declined to comment.
Ukrainian servicemen fire with a CAESAR self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions in eastern Ukraine on December 28, 2022. SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images

Russian forces are sending prisoners to absorb heavy Ukrainian fire around the war-torn city of Bakhmut.

Moscow's applying a classic tactic of "trading individuals for bullets," a senior US military official said.

Eastern Ukraine's Bakhmut has become the epicenter of hostilities between Moscow and Kyiv.

Russia is using prisoners and freshly mobilized troops to absorb heavy Ukrainian fire along the war's front lines in order to clear the way for its better trained forces to take ground, a US official said, calling the move a classic Russian tactic.

Prisoners recruited by the Wagner Group  a notorious paramilitary organization with close ties to the Kremlin  and others have recently been deployed to the forefront of fighting around eastern Ukraine's war-torn city of Bakhmut, which has become the epicenter of hostilities between Moscow and Kyiv.

These recruits have been forced to "take the brunt" of Ukrainian firepower in the area before they are replaced by "better trained forces" who move in behind them to try and claim territory, a senior US military official told reporters on Monday.

The official added that Moscow's current tactic of "trading individuals for bullets" has been used on the battlefield throughout Russian history. Russia, for example, did this with conscripts who were sent into the Chechnya region during the First Chechen War of the mid-1990s.

The senior military official described fighting in the area around Bakhmut, which had a pre-war population of over 73,000 people, as "really severe and savage." They said rolling exchanges of artillery fire are often followed up with maneuvers by "people that are not their best fighters."

"You're talking about thousands upon thousands of artillery rounds that have been delivered between both sides," the official said. In many cases, they said, there may be "several thousand artillery rounds in a day that are being exchanged."

Britain's defense ministry shared in a Tuesday intelligence update that Russian and Wagner forces have been able to advance into the town of Soledar, just a few miles north of Bakhmut. It added that Moscow is likely to use this access to attempt to approach Bakhmut from the north, though it is unlikely to "imminently" do so because Ukraine has control of its supply routes and has held solid defensive lines.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a nightly address on Monday that Russia has concentrated its "greatest efforts" on Soledar.

"And what did Russia want to gain there? Everything is completely destroyed, there is almost no life left. And thousands of their people were lost," he said. "The whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes. This is what madness looks like."

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in a recent analysis that Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leader of Wagner, has used the mercenary group's achievements in Soledar as a way to demonstrate that it's the one force that is able of finding any success in Ukraine.

Laura Cooper, the Pentagon's deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, acknowledged at a Friday briefing that Wagner has been able to move at a "more rapid clip" than other units in the Russian military.

However, even Prigozhin has said that capturing Bakhmut will be a challenge. In a video published to social media earlier this month, the Wagner founder said that the city features layers of defense and that his fighters lack the necessary heavy armor and equipment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The sun illuminates traffic along the Jane Byrne Interchange near West Randolph Street on Oct. 6, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

Chicago-area expressway traffic continued to bounce back with a vengeance from early pandemic lows in 2022, as the regions commuters lost more hours to congestion than drivers in any other major U.S. city studied in a new report.

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Its the second year in a row the areas commuters have earned the dubious distinction from mobility analytics firm Inrix. But last year, the firm found drivers spent even more hours stuck in traffic than in 2021 or pre-pandemic. And the upticks likely had little to do with an increasing number of people driving to downtown offices, as trips to the city center remained comparable with the year before, according to the Inrix report.

The report found the average Chicago-area driver spent 155 hours sitting in traffic along major commuting routes in 2022. That was up from 104 hours in 2021, and about 7% higher than pre-pandemic.

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Globally, among the cities studied, only drivers in London lost more hours to traffic, Inrix found.

The firm reached the conclusion by analyzing its own data collected from sources like mobile apps, anonymous GPS probes and trucking fleets to look at travel times along major commuting routes at night, when traffic flows freely, compared with travel times during peak periods. The firm analyzed routes to and from areas like the South Side, Naperville, Arlington Heights and other locations.

The delays cost drivers in lost time and fuel expenses. Using federal guidelines on the value of time, Inrix estimated travel delays cost the Chicago area about $9.5 billion in lost time in 2022.

The report also weighted the findings by the size of the city, and by those measurements determined Chicago was the most congested major area in the country. But comparisons between cities can be difficult to gauge.

For example, the report doesnt factor in that Chicago has a network of local roads, many of which can serve as easy alternate routes for drivers looking to avoid expressway traffic, said Joseph Schwieterman, director of DePaul Universitys Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development. The report also looks at travel to major employment centers, but doesnt measure travel along other routes, he said.

Within the Chicago area, the upticks could partly be a sign of public transit ridership that remains below pre-pandemic levels, said Bob Pishue, the Inrix transportation analyst who wrote the report. Average weekday ridership on Metra in November was 44% of 2019 levels, and weekday ridership on CTA buses and trains in October was at about 56%.

Increasing travel delays could also be tied to the return of afternoon commute congestion, and likely reflect increased driving outside downtown, Pishue said.

Trips to downtown Chicago increased just 1% in 2022 from 2021, according to Inrix. In New York, trips to downtown were up 17% and in Houston they were up 11%, while trips to downtown Los Angeles fell 1%.

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Trips into downtown Chicago had already rebounded somewhat in 2021, leaving less room to grow last year than in cities that saw longer lags, Pishue said.

Downtowns have been the last to recover, and depending on what downtown, its different, he said.

Even as people shift away from public transit ridership, they are driving more to destinations outside downtown, Schwieterman said. As more people work from home, they are compensating by driving to other activities, he said.

The design of Chicagos expressways are also partly to blame, as they funnel traffic into downtown.

The design of our expressway system has hurt traffic flow for generations, Schwieterman said.

Still, fixes could help alleviate traffic and entice riders back to public transit, he said. High-occupancy vehicle lanes on expressways could encourage more carpooling, and bus lanes and peak-period tolling could incentivize drivers to turn away from their cars.

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The recent completion of the Jane Byrne Interchange near downtown, after nine years of construction, should also help, he said.

The increasing traffic is particularly unwelcome because it cant be attributed to a population boom, as upticks perhaps could be in cities like Miami, he said.

This is an unwanted distinction, considering our population is growing so slowly, he said.

sfreishtat@chicagotribune.com
Russias military is planning to attack a hospital in the temporarily occupied part of Luhansk Oblast to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Source: National Resistance Center (NRC)

Details: According to the underground resistance movement, the occupiers are planning to attack a ward treating civilians, presumably to accuse Ukraines Armed Forces of carrying out this attack. The NRC reminds us that the occupiers are systematically attacking the temporarily occupied cities to create material for Russian propaganda and to manipulate citizens in the temporarily occupied territories.

The NRC also reports problems with the mood of the local population in the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk Oblast linked to the worsening of the humanitarian crisis.

The NRC reports that one of the reasons is the transition of civilian medical facilities to serve the Russian military, due to which people are simply kicked out of hospitals or refused treatment.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
According to Ukraines Nothern Operational Command, Russian troops shelled the area of Senkivka village in Chernihiv Oblast with mortars 21 times at noon on Jan. 10.

Later in the day, Russian forces also hit the village of Kucherivka in Sumy Oblast 21 times at around 2 p.m., the military said. The military added there had been no casualties or destruction of civilian infrastructure in both settlements.

Located on Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia, Sumy Oblast is the target of daily Russian shelling and frequent missile strikes. On Jan. 9 alone, the Russian military shelled several communities in Sumy Oblast close to the Russian border 94 times, reported regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi.
A Ukrainian military member on the front lines in Donetsk, Ukraine, December 4. Narciso Contreras/Getty Images

Captured members of a Russian mercenary group say defiant troops are publicly executed in Ukraine.

The infamous Wagner Group has recruited prisoners to fight on the front lines.

One captured former inmate described many of the recruited prisoners as "completely insane."

Captured Russian inmates who have been sent to the front lines in Ukraine as part of the Wagner Group, an infamous mercenary organization with ties to the Kremlin, say they've witnessed public executions of deserters and disobedient troops, according to a Tuesday report from Polygon Media and the independent Mozhem Obyasnit news outlet.

"Those who disobey are eliminated  and it's done publicly," Yevgeny Novikov, a former inmate who the report said was recruited by the mercenary group, said, according to a translation of the report from The Daily Beast.

Novikov said there were "squadrons of liquidators" that dealt with troops considered problematic.

In one instance, according to The Beast's translation, Novikov said: "Shelling began, one of the prisoners laid down and didn't cover his own [men]. The shelling stopped, he went back, and the higher-up shouted to him: 'Why didn't you go forward?' And they killed him. The higher-up is killed if his team deserts."

Alexander Drozdov, another former inmate cited in the report, said many of the Russian prisoners sent to the front lines in Ukraine by Wagner had drug addiction and were "completely insane." While some recruited prisoners may desert or disobey orders, others "are just fucked up and bulldoze their way through," Drozdov said, adding that these fighters "are very different from ordinary mercenaries."

The first batch of prisoners to survive six months of fighting in Ukraine was recently released back into Russia, with the head of the mercenary group celebrating them as heroes deserving of great respect, while advising them not to drink too much, do drugs, rape women, or kill.

The Russian military has suffered staggering losses since Moscow launched an invasion of Ukraine in February last year. In an effort to address issues around dwindling personnel, the Wagner Group has fought alongside the Russian military and has recruited Russian prisoners in the process.

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Last month, a top Ukrainian military advisor said Russian prisoners fighting with Wagner were being shoved to the front lines and "killed in big quantities."

A senior US military official told reporters Monday that prisoners and other recently mobilized troops were being used by Russia to "take the brunt" of Ukrainian fire on the front lines to clear a path for "better-trained forces" amid heavy fighting in Ukraine's east.

Russian forces have been pushing hard to take the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region and have managed to make some advances in recent days into the nearby town of Soledar, according to assessments from the US military and British Defense Ministry.

Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) January 10, 2023

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group and an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Tuesday there were "heavy bloody battles" being fought over Soledar, The Moscow Times reported.

"On the western outskirts of Soledar there are heavy bloody battles. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are honorably defending the territory of Soledar," Prigozhin said.

In his nightly address Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy painted a grim picture of the situation in the town.

"Everything is completely destroyed. There is almost no life left," Zelenskyy said of the situation in Soledar. "And thousands of their people were lost: The whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes. This is what madness looks like."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is calling on Moderna not to quadruple the price of its COVID-19 vaccine, saying Tuesday that the plan amounts to unacceptable corporate greed.

In a Tuesday letter sent to Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel, Sanders urged the company to reconsider its decision and refrain from any price increase in light of the role the federal government has played in the development of the vaccine.

Sanders, the incoming chairman of the Senate Health Committee, said the companys decision to charge up to $130 a dose once the shots move to the commercial marketplace is outrageous and will cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

As you know, the federal government, over the years, has supported Moderna every step of the way going back to 2013 when your company reportedly only had three employees. Now, in the midst of a continuing public health crisis and a growing federal deficit, is not the time for Moderna to be quadrupling the price of this vaccine, he wrote. Now is not the time for unacceptable corporate greed.

Moderna did not immediately return a request for comment.

Bancel told The Wall Street Journal on Monday that Moderna is considering charging between $110 to $130 per dose in the U.S. when the governments contract ends and the vaccine shifts to commercial distribution.

The price range would match what competitor Pfizer said it is considering charging, though both are far more than what the federal government pays. Modernas updated booster shots cost about $26 per dose, and the federal government distributes the shots for free.

I find your decision particularly offensive given the fact that the vaccine was jointly developed in partnership with scientists from the National Institutes of Health, a U.S. government agency that is funded by U.S. taxpayers, Sanders wrote, adding that the government invested $1.7 billion into the company for vaccine research and development.

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Lets be clear: The purpose of the recent taxpayer investment in Moderna was to protect the health and lives of the American people, not to turn a handful of corporate executives and investors into multi-billionaires, he said.

Vaccines will still be free to people with private insurance once the public health emergency ends and the federal supply of vaccines runs out, though the cost will likely be reflected in premiums. Even with insurance, patients will likely see costs if they go to an out-of-network provider.

During the pandemic, the federal government has required all health care providers participating in the vaccination campaign to provide the shots to patients for free regardless of their health insurance status.

As new chairman of the Senates Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Sanders is expected to focus on the cost of prescription drugs, among other priorities.

While most progressive policies wont get traction in the GOP-controlled House, Sanders will still be able to call hearings and cause headaches for industry executives.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Ronnie OSullivan on his way to defeating Luca Brecel (PA)

Luca Brecel was accused of making a schoolboy mistake after going down 6-1 to Ronnie OSullivan to exit the Masters in the first round.

The Belgians initial error came in the second frame but he then unravelled in the third frame with what has been described as unforgivable by the legendary Jimmy White.

After excellent control to nudge the brown into play off the cushion in the second, Brecel lost position after potting the brown, leaving The Rocket to eventually clean up and move two clear.

And it only got worse with Brecels magical shot-making in the third followed by a shocking error that saw him pot the cue ball after draining the blue.

OSullivan would prove ruthless and run away with the match from then on, leaving Eurosport pundits Jimmy White and Alan McManus to deliver a scathing review of Brecels performance.

This in-off [potting the cue ball] for an established match player that Luca is, he should never do that. That puts him 13 in front with pink and black left. To go in-off is unforgivable, White said on Eurosport.

Make no mistake, no one else in the top 16 would probably have given that chance away. Luca for me, he lacks a bit of playing the right shot at the right time.

Hes a bit flamboyant, he didnt really take notice of how important that shot was. Youve got to get a game on the board. It was a strange miss.

While McManus added: He had an acre of space to play on. The middle pocket has always been there. Its a bit of a schoolboy error.
A Southwest Airlines employee helps a traveler search for bags amongst hundreds of other checked bags at baggage claim at Midway International Airport as Southwest continues to cancel thousands of flights across the country Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022, in Chicago. (Erin Hooley/AP)

The operational chaos that engulfed Southwest Airlines Co. over the busy holiday period was a crisis decades in the making.

In the aftermath of a meltdown that led to 16,700 flight cancellations and may cost the airline more than $800 million, blame has fallen on an outmoded crew scheduling system and an unusual point-to-point route network. Southwest was overwhelmed and unable to adapt as a severe storm swept the US.

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But behind those specific issues is an insular management team that critics say lacks the imagination and technology expertise to help avoid such crises. While the bootstrap culture instilled by co-founder Herb Kelleher turned Southwest into one of the nations largest carriers, the size of the company now demands new ways of thinking and investment in innovation.

It makes you wonder if there isnt sort of a correlation or cause and effect here, where youve got a fairly entrenched, stagnant board, a grow-your-own leadership team since it was a very small, scrappy airline, said Keith Meyer, global leader of the CEO and board practice at executive search firm Allegis Partners. A founder-based culture can only take it so far.

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Southwest is full of lifers. Bob Jordan, who took over as chief executive officer in February, has been with the airline 34 years. The chief financial officer and communications chief have each worked there 30 years, while the chief commercial and chief legal officers have been around at least 20. The closest to a newbie among Southwests top management might be Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson, who joined a decade ago from Hawaiian Airlines.

Jordan doesnt see it as a problem.

Weve always been proud of the fact weve developed leaders here and that we have folks with so much tenure, he said in an interview. They have a very deep airline knowledge, functional knowledge and very deep relationship that serves you well in normal times and when you get into an incident like this.

Aviation laggard

Southwest isnt alone in recruiting from within. American Airlines Group Inc.s top leadership had been together since the mid-1990s, first at America West Airlines, then US Airways before a merger with American. The group first began to fracture when Scott Kirby moved to United Airlines Holdings Inc. in 2016 and later became CEO there.

The aviation industry more broadly has been a bit of a laggard experimenting with executives from outside, let alone their boards, said Jason Hanold, CEO of executive search firm Hanold Associates.

But Southwest is in a unique position, with the challenges of a major carrier and the mindset of a small one.

The airline, which began flying between a handful of cities within Texas in 1971, has grown into a behemoth that has carried more domestic passengers than any other airline in recent years. That expansion has added complexity to its keep-it-simple business model, and resulting cost pressures mean it often cant offer the cheapest fares.

Southwests focus on stretching every dollar has also made it more conservative than other carriers in a highly regulated, safety-focused industry that rewards consistency, said Samuel Engel, senior vice president for innovation at ICF, and former head of the consultants aviation group. It leans more on insiders because of the continued belief that Southwest is different.

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The airlines 13-member board has an average tenure of nearly 12 years, compared with about six and a half at Delta Air Lines Inc. and American and five and a half at United, which agreed to a board revamp in 2016 at the behest of activist investors. None of Southwests directors has a background in tech.

The carrier has a long-standing reputation of being slow to adopt new technology, and spent years implementing a new reservation system and updating its maintenance operations. Its now spending $2 billion to improve a balky Wi-Fi system, add power ports at seats and install larger overhead bins.

Southwest is the largest domestic airline in the US and it should start behaving that way, Helane Becker, an analyst with Cowen Inc., said in a research note. There are probably a lot of smart technology people who are getting laid off from tech companies that could help it out.

Achilles heel

Southwest has acknowledged putting updates to its crew scheduling system behind other improvements, despite long-standing complaints from pilots and flight attendants. Watterson called the system its Achilles heel in the December breakdown.

The airline has said its looking at every aspect of operations to find what produced the meltdown, and expects to swiftly reach conclusions. It hasnt said how many passengers were affected, but the company is reimbursing travelers for canceled flights and hotels, meals and other related expenses.

Its shares have fallen slightly since the travel fiasco, even as the broader market has gained. The stock rose 0.5% as of 7:22 a.m. Monday before the start of regular trading.

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Southwest tumbled 21% in 2022, the second-worst performance among the five biggest US carriers. The reputational damage may lead to more volatility, and its shares will underperform the S&P 500 Index by 5% over the next two months, according to Nir Kossovsky, CEO of reputation risk insurer Steel City Re.

Jordan said hes committed to getting the company back on track, regardless of what it takes.

We have a 51-year history of doing really well, operating really well, he said. This one event, which is significant, wont define us.

___

2023 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Dr. Amit Etkin is the founder and CEO of Alto Neuroscience. Alto Neuroscience

Alto Neuroscience is focused on developing precision medicine for mental health.

On Tuesday, the company announced some promising signs for its treatment ALTO-100.

The drug is geared toward treating a subgroup of patients with depression.

In 2019, Dr. Amit Etkin left Stanford University to pursue a new way to treat psychiatric disorders like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

While many treatments for these disorders were developed to treat wide swaths of people, Etkin said he believed there's a more-efficient way to treat patients. He's hoping to develop drugs that help sets of patients who have subtypes of a psychiatric condition.

That's why in 2019, Etkin founded Alto Neuroscience, a private biotech company that uses biological measurements  called biomarkers  to develop drugs for mental illnesses like depression and PTSD. Biomarkers have caught on recently as a way for companies to develop tailored treatments for depression and other conditions.

"The way we develop drugs, the way we deploy drugs in the clinic, all presume nothing about the patient," Etkin said.

He said trial results from Alto were "the first of a series of studies, of a series of efforts," to change that approach.

On Tuesday, Alto announced one of its treatments, ALTO-100, showed promising signs that it could help people with major depressive disorder. The results were shared in a press release and came from a midstage trial that didn't compare ALTO-100 with a placebo, so there's more work to do.

In the trial, Alto separated patients into groups with poor cognition and good cognition, based on a test the company developed, Etkin said.

The company theorized that ALTO-100 would help the group with poor cognition more  and that's what happened in the trial. Those patients saw their depression symptoms improve more than the other group that got the drug.

The trial also tested ALTO-100 in people with PTSD. The company hasn't shared those results.

Alto Neuroscience. Alto Neuroscience

Dr. Rebecca Strawbridge, a lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London, told Insider there's still uncertainty around the results because the study was small and had no placebo arm.

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She said the study appeared to "show encouraging findings for advancing towards a more-personalized treatment approach for depression, in that people who had been flagged as more likely to respond did respond better to the intervention."

Alto said it started a bigger study of ALTO-100 this month, which will include a placebo arm. The company plans to announce results from that trial in the first quarter of 2024, meaning that turning ALTO-100 into an approved drug is years away, at best.

Etkin said Alto planned on conducting a number of midstage trials across its various medicines in 2024.

"That'll really be the year of precision psychiatry readouts from us," he told Insider.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to deny clemency to convicted killer Scott Eizember.

Editor's note: After the publication of this article, the Oklahoma State Department of Corrections reversed course and granted Scott Eizember's spiritual advisor the ability to be present with him in the execution chamber Thursday.

Convicted killer Scott Eizember, 62, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

The state recently denied a minister connected to Eizember access to the chambers during his execution.

Eizember was sentenced to be executed for the bludgeoning death of A.J. Cantrell, 76, and to 150 years in prison in the shotgun slaying of Patsy Cantrell, 70, at their Depew home in 2003.

A daughter of the Cantrells previously told The Oklahoman she wanted to live long enough to see Eizember executed.

Eizember had broken into the Cantrells' home to watch and wait for his ex-girlfriend to return to her mother's house across the street.

He also was convicted of shooting with intent to kill his ex-girlfriends 16-year-old son, and assault with a dangerous weapon against his ex-girlfriends mother.

In 2015, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to uphold Eizembers death sentence.

Current Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who served on the appeals court at the time, voted to uphold the death sentence.

In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Eizembers final appeal by declining to review, without comment, the appeals court decision.

In December, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to deny Eizember clemency.

"I belong in prison," Eizember said by video during the hearing. "I've said that right from the start. And I apologize profusely to all the victims."

The boards decision meant Gov. Kevin Stitt could not change Eizembers death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In Oklahoma, a governor can commute a death row inmate's sentence only if the board recommends clemency.

Eizembers execution would be the eighth lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary since 2021.

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In November, the state executed Richard Fairchild, 63, for the torture and killing of his girlfriends 3-year-old son in 1993.

Spiritual adviser denied access to execution chamber

Eizember and his spiritual adviser, Arkansas-based the Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, planned to file a complaint in federal court after they were told last week that Hood would not be allowed to be present with Eizember in the execution chamber.

During a news conference Monday, Hood said the Oklahoma State Department of Corrections denied him access and referred to him as a woke preacher.

Hood said the gospel message is spiritually and socially connected, and that he considered it an honor to be called a "woke preacher."

Hood said the department denied him access to the execution chamber because of his history of social activism.

The Department of Corrections is the Department of Corrections, Hood said. They are not the department of theology. The Department of Corrections should not and cannot be in the business of determining which religions and which spiritualities are appropriate to the ministers of persons in the chamber.

In a statement, the agency said part of its role is ensuring the dignity of all involved in the execution process.

"Out of respect for the families of victims, ODOC will not allow the outbursts of activists to interfere, regardless of that activists declared role in this process," the statement said. "The spiritual advisor in this case has been arrested multiple times for such outbursts in other states, demonstrating a blatant disregard for the experiences of victims families and the solemnity of the process."

Hood acknowledged his history of arrests in a written response sent to media outlets.

"The Department of Corrections can slander me for three arrests for peaceful protest and a national reputation as an activist all they want. What they can't do is trample on the religious liberty of their prisoners and the ministers who serve them. Protest and protected speech against injustice doesn't make me an enemy of the Department of Corrections. It makes me a follower of Jesus."

If the complaint is filed, it's unclear whether it will bear any impact on the timing of the execution in Oklahoma, however there was a delay recently in Texas following a similar situation.

John Henry Ramirez initially was denied the presence of a minister for his scheduled execution in Texas. His case was argued in the U.S. Supreme Court about whether he had the right to have a minister lay hands on him and pray before his execution.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ramirez, saying Texas violated his religious freedom by not allowing his pastor to be present.

Ramirez was executed in October at the age of 38 in the presence of his minister.

Eizember will be afforded access to Hood in the time leading up to his execution, according to the Corrections Department. Hood is allowed to witness the execution in another part of the facility via a closed-circuit feed, officials said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Convicted killer Scott Eizember scheduled for execution in Oklahoma
Ana Walshe, a 39-year-old mother from Massachusetts, is still missing after her disappearance on New Years Day.

Walshe was last seen at her Cohasset home early on Jan. 1 and never boarded her scheduled flight to Washington, D.C., that morning, according to a Jan. 6 police news conference. She planned to take a rideshare vehicle to Boston Logan International Airport ahead of her trip, Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley said.

Since then, Walshes husband, Brian Walshe, 47, of Cohasset was arrested in connection with the investigation, the Norfolk District Attorneys Office announced in a news release on Jan. 8.

He pleaded not guilty to a charge of misleading a police investigation at his arraignment in Quincy District Court the morning of Jan. 9, the office said in a separate news release.

This came after a bloody knife, described as damaged, was found in the basement of the couples home after Ana Walshe went missing, according to The Patriot Ledger newspaper.

The couple have three children, the newspaper reported.

Investigators also learned Brian Walshe bought a tarp and cleaning supplies at a home improvement store after his wife went missing, according to prosecutors. They said his statements to investigators regarding his activities after Ana Walshe disappeared did not match up.

Meanwhile, Brian Walshes internet records revealed searches for how to dispose of a 115-pound womans body and how to dismember a body, two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told CNN.

Photos show Brian Walshe in handcuffs smiling as officers led him out of the police station to be transported to Quincy District Court, according to images taken and shared by Kevin Wiles, an assignment editor in Boston.

Following Brian Walshes arraignment, a judge set his bail at $500,000, according to prosecutors.

Search activity conducted north of Boston yesterday resulted in a number of items being collected which will now be subject to processing and testing to determine if they are of evidentiary value to this investigation, the Norfolk County District Attorneys Office said on Jan. 10, The Patriot Ledger reported. No details on those items will be disclosed at this time.

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This came after an unsuccessful ground search for Ana Walshe near her Cohasset home ended, Cohasset police announced in a Jan. 7 news release. They said the nearby woods, a small stream and a pool were searched.

Before his wife went missing, Brian Walshe had been confined to his home in connection with an unrelated federal fraud conviction, according to CBS News. He was accused of stealing and selling Andy Warhol paintings  some of which were fake, the outlet reported.

Ana Walshe, who disappeared before her plans to travel to Washington, lives in Washington during weekdays while working at the real estate company Tishman Speyer, Boston 25 reported.

Quigley said police couldnt confirm if Ana Walshe ever stepped foot into a rideshare vehicle the morning of Jan. 1.

She is loved by so many and we just want to see her home, Evan Turell, one of Walshes friends, told WCVB5.

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The Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, said on Jan. 10 that it had uncovered over 600 Russian agents and spies in the country since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Since Feb. 24, over 1,500 investigations into suspected treason and espionage have been opened, and more than 340 of such cases have been sent to court.

SBU noted that during a multi-stage special operation in August, the law enforcement detained the sabotage and reconnaissance group of Russian military intelligence that was allegedly planning to kill Ukraines Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's Intelligence Directorate, as well as unnamed but well-known Ukrainian activist.

In early January, SBU announced that four Russian agents who collected data on HIMARS (High-Mobility Rocket Artillery Systems) and energy facilities in Donetsk Oblast had been convicted by a court.
Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, holds up Senate Bill 2048, a comprehensive energy proposal, to note how much work was done on the bill as he gives his closing remarks on the floor of the Illinois Senate at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., Monday, September 13, 2021. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]

The Illinois Senate on Monday passed an amended version of the assault-style weapons ban. The Protect Illinois Communities Act now heads to the Illinois House of Representatives for a concurrence vote Tuesday.

The matter was discussed on the Senate floor in a relatively short debate with several Republicans rising in opposition to House Bill 5471. The final tally at 6:15 p.m. was 34-20 with four Democrats, including state Sen. Doris Turner of Springfield, voting against it.

Senate President Don Harmon introduced five amendments to PICA filed under HB 5471. Harmon detailed what they would entail on the Senate floor Monday evening.

The bill would prevent the sale, manufacture, possession and purchase of assault-style weapons, assault weapon attachments, and .50 caliber cartridges in the state of Illinois. It would also keep standards set in earlier versions of the act, such as maintaining the age to get a Firearm Owner Identification Card at 18.

What it did change were rounds per magazine limits. Long guns will have a limit of 10 rounds per magazine and handguns will not be allowed to have more than 15 rounds of ammunition.

The restraining order for those wishing to purchase a firearm but who have been found to be a "significant danger of causing personal injury to himself," per the bill, was also increased to a maximum of 12 months from six months.

Gun safety and violence prevention advocacy groups were quick to release statements of support following the Senate vote on Monday. Harmon thanked those groups for their backing, but noted that more needed to be done to prevent gun violence in the state.

"This will not solve the problem, but it is absolutely a step in the right direction," he said.

Senate Republicans, as expected, in opposition

The House vote on Senate Bill 2226, the second version of PICA after House Bill 5855 was introduced in December, secured the exiting House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, as its sole Republican supporter. No Senate Republican backed HB 5471 on Monday.

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More:Illinois House passes assault-style weapons ban; bill now heads to Senate

Sen. Chapin Rose R-Mahomet speaks on the senate floor Saturday April 9, 2022. [Thomas J. Turney/The State Journal-Register]

State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, argued that pieces of legislation that could mitigate gun violence already are on books. Reading from a lengthy list of laws, he said the bill before the Senate would not be a solution but rather target law-abiding citizens.

"Enforce the laws that already exist," he said. "We're going to make felons out of taxpayers. Put the bad guys behind the bars, not the good guys."

Former gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, and state Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Moline, said the bill was an affront to the Second Amendment. Bailey, specifically, said he expects the Illinois Supreme Court will find the measure unconstitutional.

"You've got to know the actions that you are taking are tyrannous," he said to the Senators favoring the bill. "You also must know that I and millions of other gun owners in this state will not comply."

Anderson, after asking Harmon the definition of a "weapon of war," contended that the bill does not include several weapons that fit the definition. Weapons such as the M1 Garand rifle and the 1911 handgun are not listed in the bill, he said, despite being used by those in the armed forces.

"The hypocrisy that we are trying to ban so-called 'weapons of war,' but yet the weapons of war that you actually speak of are not weapons of war," he said, adding later than those voting in favor of the bill should resign.

Harmon said those weapons were not included because of the number of rounds they held  the M1 Garand having an 8-round clip and the 1911 pistol having a seven-round magazine.

"The weapons on this list are designed to do one thing and one thing only: kill people in a horribly brutal, vicious way," he said.

As for an expected legal battle, which gun rights organizations have already promised if signed into law, Harmon seemed to welcome it. He added in his final remark of the evening that "we will see you in court."

United once again

Soon after Harmon's amendments were filed on Sunday, Gov. JB Pritzker and Speaker of the House Emanuel "Chris" Welch indicated they would not be supporting a watered-down version of the bill originally passed by the House.

House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Hillside speaks during a Capitol press conference on Thursday, April 7, 2022. [Thomas J. Turney/ The State Journal-Register]

It marked what some called a public divide among party leadership, but one that appeared bridged on Monday. The Senate president noted early in the floor debate he agreed "entirely" with the needed changes to the earlier introduced amendments.

The trio released a joint statement following the Senate vote, saying they expected the House to pass the bill on Tuesday.

Gun violence is an epidemic that is plaguing every corner of this state and the people of Illinois are demanding substantive action," the joint statement reads. "With this legislation we are delivering on the promises Democrats have made and, together, we are making Illinois gun laws a model for the nation.

Heading to the governor's desk?

While the measure still requires a concurrence vote in the House, Pritzker is expected to sign the bill if it arrives on his desk. The Democratic governor has long-signaled support for an assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazine ban.

Unlike the Thursday debate, spilling into a Friday SB 2226 vote, the governor was not in attendance for the Senate's Monday night vote. He was at the inauguration event being held at the Exposition Building of the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

Gov. JB Pritzker waves to the crowd after delivering his inaugural address during ceremonies Monday in Springfield.

Pritzker discussed the need to pass the assault-style weapons ban during his inauguration address at the Bank of Springfield Center. He also called on a federal ban to follow suit, which he had previously done in a July White House ceremony with Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering.

"Hospitals, high schools, homes, parades, offices  there is no place, geographic or otherwise, that has been spared from the threat of gun violence," Pritzker said after being sworn-in for another four-year term. "Whether its ghost guns, high-powered semi-automatic rifles, or modified rapid-fire handguns, dangerous weapons are putting families and law enforcement at risk."

Tuesday is the last scheduled day of the lame duck session and the 102nd Illinois General Assembly. The House is expected to take up the gun bill while the Senate could move forward with Senate Bill 1543 pertaining to abortions and reproductive health.

Related:Democrats push to further expand abortion, gender care access

Contact Patrick Keck: pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.com

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Illinois Senate passes own version of assault-style weapons ban
A view to the southwest from Cassel Road, east of Highway 89 and Hat Creek. Burney Mountain is visible in the left side of the view. The project would be 12 miles away from this location, according to a Fountain Wind consultant.

A controversial wind farm project that Shasta County supervisors rejected more than a year ago after nearly five years of development and planning has new life.

Last week, the California Energy Commission (CEC) notified Shasta County that ConnectGen under the name Fountain Wind LLC applied to the state for a 205-megawatt, 48-turbine wind farm under the opt-in provision established under Assembly Bill 205, county Resource Management Director Paul Hellman said.

Hellman said in an email the project is proposed for the same site south of Highway 299 in the Round Mountain-Montgomery Creek area of eastern Shasta County that supervisors voted down 4-1 on Oct. 26, 2021, after more than 10 hours of public comment.

In denying the appeal by the company, supervisors upheld a June 22, 2021, unanimous decision by the Shasta County Planning Commission to reject the use permit for the Fountain Wind project.

Proponents and opponents of the controversial Fountain Wind project filled the Shasta College theater on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, for the Shasta County Planning Commission public meeting.

But now the state could overrule the county and approve the project under AB 205, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on June 30, 2022. The law authorizes the CEC to establish a new certification program for eligible non-fossil-fuel power plants 50 megawatts or more and related facilities.

Prior to AB 205, the CECs powerplant licensing jurisdiction was limited to thermal powerplants 50 megawatts or larger.

This is the first project to take advantage of the new opt-in provision for non-fossil-fuel facilities, according to the CEC.

"We remain committed to the belief that this is the right project in the right location and we are excited to go back to work with all the local partners and businesses," Henry Woltag of ConnectGen told the Record Searchlight. "This is a tremendous opportunity to generate local jobs (and) increase the tax base. ... This will be a tremendous benefit for the county."

Woltag says he takes exception to the project being labeled controversial.

"There were as many who supported this project than opposed it. But that didn't get picked up in the dialogue of the project," he said.

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Hellman said Intermountain residents who for years fought the project were aware this could happen.

A lot of the opponents learned about this new law, which went into effect at the end of June, Hellman said.

A majority of supervisors agreed with opponents' arguments in October 2021 that the massive project would increase the risk for wildfire in the area and the negative impact on Shasta County outweighed any economic benefits.

Initially, ConnectGen proposed a 72-turbine wind generation project, but reduced it to 48 turbines  which cut the overall footprint of the project by more than 33%  after the planning commission denied the permit. The company also proposed to decrease the height of the turbines by 10%, from 679 feet to about 610 feet.

Woltag said that was an example of the process working.

"We took feedback and tried to address as many concerns as possible," he said.

Hellman said he has spoken to the California Energy Commission.

Ive already talked to staff and made it very clear to them what occurred. They are very aware of the history of the project as I went through the process, Hellman said.

But will it matter?

CEC spokesman Mike Ward said in an email to the Record Searchlight that the regulatory agency will consider factors that went into Shasta County's decision to deny the project, in addition to the local ordinance that was passed after the denial that bans large-scale wind farms.

"The CEC must make findings regarding a project's conformation with applicable laws, ordinances, regulations and standards," Ward said.

The CEC website says the new law will help speed up California's transition to renewable energy and help maintain electricity reliability as it provide a new, streamlined process for their review and a decision by the CEC.

Information about the application, which Hellman said has not been complete, can be seen by visiting the Fountain Wind project on the California Energy Commission website at https://bit.ly/3GRIkCe. People can also submit comments.

Hellman said once the application is complete, there will still be steps to take before it can be considered for approval.

Ward said ConnectGen started the application process on Jan. 3 and has not finished uploading all the documents necessary to complete the process.

Hellman expects public outreach to include at least one project information and environmental scoping meeting in Shasta County.

Ward said a public meeting will be held within 30 days after the application is deemed complete.

A new draft environmental impact report will have to be done, and the CEC public hearing to consider approval of the project is expected to be in Sacramento.

Ward said a public meeting on the draft EIR will be held within 190 days of the completion of the application.

"When the application is determined by the CEC's executive director to be complete, this will start the 270-day clock for a decision," Ward said.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Fountain Wind rejected in Shasta County gets fresh look from California
Knox County Commissioner Dasha Lundy addresses police accountability activists after they spoke at the Knox County Commission meeting on April 26, 2021.

A Knox County commissioner wants the Knox County sheriff's officers who sparked a social media firestorm that cost a 15-year-old girl her job to explain what happened in December at a McAlister's Deli on the city's northwest side.

Commissioner Dasha Lundy sent a letter Thursday to Sheriff Tom Spangler asking for the officers to attend a commission work session Jan. 17 to provide their accounts of the incident and to answer questions, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Knox News.

Lundy has been a vocal advocate for the girl, who was fired after the deli's corporate office said she was too young for the job. But the deli had hired her with knowledge of her age, and she was fired only after sheriff's office spokesperson Kimberly Glenn and the sheriff's office posted on their Facebook pages that the girl had refused them service at the McAlister's Deli on Schaad Road.

The girl is the sister of Anthony Thompson Jr., a 17-year-old high school junior who was killed by Knoxville police inside his school in April 2021. After her brother's death, she decided to try homeschooling and found a part-time job to keep herself busy and provide the socialization her mother says she needed to begin to heal.

When the officers entered the deli at about 8 p.m., the teen stepped aside from the counter because it was the end of her shift and asked her 16-year-old coworker to take over, according to the girl and her coworker. In their Facebook posts, Glenn and the sheriff's office said the girl refused to serve the officers because they worked in law enforcement.

In the letter sent to Spangler on county commission letterhead, Lundy wrote, As you may have heard, (the girl), former employee at the deli, gave her statement to the full Commission on December 19th. It is only fair that the Commission also hears from the officers involved.

Lundy also requested a sheriffs office human resources representative attend the meeting and for a copy of the sheriffs offices social media policy.

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"This is about grace and love. It's all in love. This is about helping the next generation, helping the Black community and passing the torch. This is a child and we need to stand behind her," said Lundy, who is the only Black county commissioner.

Lundy told Knox News on Monday she has not heard back from Spangler. The sheriff's office did not immediately respond to an email sent Monday afternoon to Glenn seeking comment.

Lundy previously condemned the sheriffs office for the handling of the matter with a lack of compassion and empathy, and has said she is looking into creating a community board to review sheriff's office policies and discipline, similar to Knoxvilles Police Advisory and Review Committee.

Angela Dennis is the Knox News social justice, race and equity reporter. You can reach her by email at angela.dennis@knoxnews.com or by phone at 865-407-9712. Follow her on Twitter @AngeladWrites; Instagram @angeladenniswrites; and Facebook at Angela Dennis Journalist.

Tyler Whetstone is an investigative reporter focused on accountability journalism. Connect with Tyler by emailing him at tyler.whetstone@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @tyler_whetstone. Make our community, our society and our republic stronger by supporting robust local journalism. Subscribe online at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: The Sheriff's Office created a social media firestorm. A commissioner wants answers.
Springfield Police have not caught the person who shot and killed business Thomas Gill and have not said if they have any suspects.

>>PHOTOS: Community pays respects to Springfield businessman shot and killed

Gill was shot while he was in his SUV last week.

News Center 7s Haley Kosik was a vigil for Gill late Monday afternoon and spoke with a family member.

Thomas Tom Gill owned Gills Quality Meat Market for more than two decades and his brother told Kosik this Thursday would have marked a week since he was shot but should been his 25th anniversary owning the business.

I always looked to Tom. He taught me a lot about life.

Kosik said roughly 50 friends, family and customers came together outside Gills Quality Meat Market for a vigil.

>>PREVIOUS STORY: Nicest man that you could ever meet; People mourning business owner shot and killed in Springfield

Kenny Gill, Toms brother, spoke at the vigil and said his big brother was perfect for the job.

My brother Tom was 6 7 when he was at his healthiest, he said. " And because he was a butcher, he used to weigh 240.

Thomas Gill bought his property at the corner of Selma Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in 1998.

Less than a mile from his store, somebody shot him near Kenton and Burt Street Thursday nights.

All we can hope is that people just decide hey, enough is enough, Kenny told Kosik.

>>1 person injured after crashing into the Dayton Foundation building

Some people from the Clark County Sheriffs Office attended the vigil, including Sheriff Deb Burchett, to support the family.

He would literally give you the shirt off his back, said Kenny. Might be a little bit because he was a big man, but hed give it to you.

Kosik said thats how his family wants to be remembered.

>>Coroner IDs 2 men killed in shooting at Dayton apartment complex

Toms oldest son will now operate Gills Quality Meats.

A visitation will be held Thursday at Conroy Funeral Home on E. High Street from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., according to his obituary webpage.

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A private family service will held at a later date.

The family is asking for donations in lieu of flowers and they be made in honor of Tom for his son and grandkids at Richwood Bank in a donation account, his obituary said.

Photos from Haley Kosik/Staff

Photos from Haley Kosik/Staff

Photos from Haley Kosik/Staff

Photos from Haley Kosik/Staff

Photos from Haley Kosik/Staff

Photos from Haley Kosik/Staff

Photos from Haley Kosik/Staff

Photos from Haley Kosik/Staff
Soulja Boy is speaking on the lack of support he sees from the hip-hop community for Megan Thee Stallion. The rapper jumped on Instagram Live and shared his feelings about the trials outcome and how his fellow artists have treated the Houston hottie.

He addressed the victim shaming directed toward the Houston-born rapper over the 2020 shooting ordeal.

As Vibe reports, he began his outrage with, Yall n****s out here shooting b*****s and aint nobody gone say nothing? Im the only n***a in the whole rap game thats gonna say something? Ok, cool.

He ensured the target of his rant was apparent, as he went on to call Tory Lanez a b***h.

In a separate Live, Soulja continued to direct his anger toward Lanez as he called the Toronto natives music trash.

You want to shoot b*****s in the feet n***a? Yous a pussy n***a, he said. And when you get from jail n***a you know where Im at. You got a problem n***a Ill beat your b***h ass n***a. Dont never rap over none of my beats, dont never freestyle over none of my beats. You trash n***a. Your music trash. Your career trash. Your whole life trash.

Although Big Draco seemed sincere in the clip, fans questioned if this was an attempt at clout chasing.

Soulja Boy blasts rap community for not supporting Megan Thee Stallion https://t.co/52WCdDsvQr pic.twitter.com/NNagJPQwue  HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) January 9, 2023

HipHopDX shared the passionate clip in case fans missed it.

Some agreed with the rapper, but several followers said this sudden burst of support seemed late.

And perhaps fake?

Where was this energy the whole time you was doing features with him last year?

Bro on the clout train  Young Dedicated & Proper (@YDProper) January 9, 2023

just somebody thats trynna find its way to be relevant  its okay I get it.   (@dajourxo) January 10, 2023

He might be clout chasing but he not wrong  Frederick Abreu (@FrederickAbreu4) January 9, 2023

Some social media sleuths hinted at the rappers hypocrisy by digging up his allegedly abusive past with former partner Nia Riley.

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good message, awful messenger  pot meets kettle pic.twitter.com/j8WeRHZNbF  Fuck Yall Lightskin Tears #cancelcolorism (@SaadiyaDANGRSA) January 9, 2023

Didnt he beat on Nia and Nas on tv too? Not saying what hes saying is wrong but like.. come on  I feel Puerto Rickun (@VickyLynnLovey) January 9, 2023

Blavity reported that Nias father, R&B legend Teddy Riley, addressed his daughters chaotic relationship with the rapper.
Framed by St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway and Mayor Ken Welch, Samantha Richardson-Hardy smiled for a photo as they handed her a $2,000 check.

Richardson-Hardy was representing The Gathering of Women Inc.  one of 13 organizations that received grants from the Police Department on Monday. Richardson-Hardy said her organization runs a community garden for kids, and the money would go toward vegetables, soil and gardening tools.

It means so much to us to get a grant like this, she told the Tampa Bay Times.

The grants came from the St. Petersburg Police Departments 2022 forfeiture funds. Florida state forfeiture law allows law enforcement agencies to seize property used to commit a felony, including items such as cash, cars or weapons. Any agency that seizes more than $15,000 in forfeitures must donate at least 25% of the funds to community-based organizations.

Here at the St. Pete Police Department, we dont look at it at 25%. We look at what great programs that our community leaders are doing for us, Holloway said during the ceremony Monday.

In total, the department gave away $43,400 in grants and earmarked another $14,600 for community groups as needs arise. During fiscal year 2021-2022, the agencys forfeitures totaled $117,453, meaning about half of the proceeds will go to community groups, a police spokesperson said. This year was the 30th year the agency distributed funds to local organizations.

This year, the grants went to organizations and groups such as the Gibbs High School Boys Basketball team, the Suncoast Cheerleading Association Inc. and New Frontiers of St. Petersburg Inc., which works with people struggling with addiction. The grants ranged from $1,000 to $15,000.

Lisa Ledbetter, the Police Departments forfeiture grant program administrator, said the agency has received more than 80 applications in some years. This year, the agency received about 30 applications.

The grants focus on groups that work in crime prevention, neighborhood safety and drug abuse education, prevention or treatment, as well as school resource officer programs, Ledbetter said.

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Applications open in August each year, she said. After the month ends, Holloway reviews them with his assistant chiefs and chooses how to distribute the funds.

Once the grants are awarded, the groups must provide quarterly reports of how theyve used the money and stick to a budget.

Typically, the Police Department prioritizes programs that are already up and running and are ready to put the funds to work in the community, Ledbetter said.

This is the best part of all  seeing everybody come out and get the funds that you know are going to be put and dispersed throughout the city, and touch young peoples lives, she said.

At Mondays ceremony, Christopher Lampley accepted checks on behalf of two programs: the D.O.S. Crescent Foundation Inc. and the St. Pete Value Program, run by the citys parks and recreation department.

The foundation is a nonprofit that helps K-12 kids overcome barriers through initiatives such as scholarships and school supply giveaways. The parks and recreation program has youth activities such as reading clubs, sports leagues and community service projects.

Our city is great in the fact that we want to be able to give back more, Lampley said. And its really not us being recognized or us being noticed, but its more about just giving back to the community.
University of Chicago Medicine has acquired a controlling interest in four west suburban hospitals, expanding the health systems footprint in Illinois.

University of Chicago Medicine now owns a chunk of AdventHealths Great Lakes Region, which includes four hospitals in Bolingbrook, Glendale Heights, Hinsdale and La Grange, as well as a network of nearly 50 physicians offices and outpatient sites.

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Those four hospitals and other west suburban sites will now include in their names the title UChicago Medicine AdventHealth. AdventHealth still owns part of the hospitals and will continue to manage daily operations.

The new arrangement became official Jan. 1, and was announced in September. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

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Hospital systems leaders say the deal will give AdventHealth patients better access to UChicago Medicine specialists and clinical trials, closer to home, and it will give UChicago Medicine patients who live in the west suburbs more care options in their own communities.

The four west suburban hospitals were previously part of Amita Health, which was a partnership between AdventHealth and Ascension, before those two systems unwound the partnership last year.

The acquisition is UChicago Medicines latest move to grow and reach farther into the suburbs. The system, which includes University of Chicago Medical Center, acquired Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey in 2016 and broke ground in August on a 130,000-square-foot medical facility in Crown Point, Indiana.

In February, UChicago Medicine announced plans to build a $633 million, 500,000-square-foot cancer hospital in Hyde Park to address health inequities on the South Side and draw patients from across the region.

Its common for health systems to grow by acquiring other hospitals in the area. Hospital leaders say the deals help them gain economies of scale, reach more patients and adapt to changing technologies. Hospitals often say they hope to improve care and affordability by merging, though mergers and acquisitions also often increase hospitals bargaining power with insurers, allowing them to charge higher rates for services.

AdventHealth is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church and has more than 50 hospitals and hundreds of care sites in nine states. Only its Great Lakes Region was involved in the deal with UChicago Medicine.
With the bang of a gavel, the Washington State Legislature convened for the 2023 session on Monday.

Both chambers held opening ceremonies at noon. The last time legislators met fully in person was at the end of the 2020 session, when the Legislature adjourned just as the state went into lockdown because of the coronavirus. Funding for COVID-19 measures were passed unanimously in the final days of that session.

This year, lawmakers have switched their attention to other priorities.

House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, gave opening remarks for the House of Representatives. She celebrated the fact that the Legislature is more diverse than ever.

The peoples House should reflect the diversity of this great state, Jinkins said. Washingtonians sent more women and people of color from every corner of the state here to work together on issues that are most pressing to us.

Democrats in the state hold the majority in both legislative chambers, and some Democrats signaled their priorities in the weeks leading up to the session: gun control issues, a constitutional amendment for reproductive protections, housing, homelessness and workforce shortages.

Leaders have a lot to tackle this session, with a two-year state budget looming that needs to be passed before the session ends.

Jinkins elaborated on the need for affordable housing throughout the state, and said that the problem will require creative solutions with support from both sides of the aisle.

Additionally, she said that baby boomers being launched into early retirement because of COVID-19 has exposed workforce deficiencies in all industries and in every area of the state.

This is an all hands on deck issue. Bipartisan. Bicameral. We all need to be aggressive and creative working together to solve workforce challenges, Jinkins said. She said she has heard from incoming lawmakers from both parties about their desire to find common ground.

While she encouraged bipartisan cooperation, she noted too that division on some issues does exist.

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I dont want to minimize the divisions that are out there  immigrant communities, transgender youth and the right to bodily autonomy for every single one of us are all being attacked in an effort to stoke the fires of fear and partisanship, she added. But in this Washington, even if we disagree on these topics, our conversations will recognize the humanity of every person.

House Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, spoke after the House Speakers opening remarks.

This is a building of a lot of division at times, Wilcox said. Wed like to overcome that as much as possibleWe know that were capable of noble things in this building.

Almost every institution in our communities and our country has been torn down to some extent. Lets be part of building one up, he added. Not by ever giving up, not by forgetting our principles, but by persuading in the most effective way  making an impact in the moment in that debate, but doing it in such a way that your opponents will have more respect for you instead of less.

Jinkins also welcomed in the 23 new House lawmakers who were recently sworn in to office.

Gov. Jay Inslee will deliver remarks on Tuesday during his annual State of the State address at noon.

The governor introduced his priorities for the 2023 session in December, including a massive $4 billion request for bonds to construct enough affordable housing in the state to keep up with the pace of demand. He said his other priorities include addressing homelessness and behavioral health.

The 105-day legislative session ends on April 24.
Police have recovered some  but not all  of the equipment and valuables that were stolen from a storage unit belonging to the mother of the beloved Sacramento musician Giovanni Isidro Razo Pizano, who is better known as DJ Gio.

When Anita Razo stumbled upon her burglarized storage unit on Jan. 3, she was devastated to discover someone had stolen items that belonged to her late son. Pizano was shot to death in April in an incident that police described as centered on a robbery.

Over the weekend she received a call from the Sacramento Police Department, who told her that they were able to recover some of DJ Gios belongings with the help of El Dorado County sheriffs detectives.

A Facebook post from the El Dorado County Sheriffs page confirmed that El Dorado County detectives were investigating a burglary that happened in El Dorado Hills and found stolen property that included DJ equipment and designer clothing.

Razo drove from her North Natomas residence to Placerville to meet with police officers and retrieve the possessions that belonged to her son.

After coordinating with the Sacramento Police Department, El Dorado County Detectives were able to make contact with Giovannis mother and return the stolen property. We would like to thank the Sacramento Police Department for their assistance, and we are happy to see these items rightfully returned, wrote the El Dorado County Sheriffs Facebook post.

The items taken from her storage unit at SmartStop Self Storage in Sacramento reportedly had a value of up to $250,000, including DJ equipment that Razo planned to use for her nonprofit, DJ Gio Nonprofit Organization.

Razo told The Sacramento Bee that while some of the items have been returned, not all of her sons valuables have been recovered.

She said about 10 pairs of shoes, a TV, and his old turntables were reclaimed.

It wasnt even half of what was taken. We dont have any of the other pairs of shoes, we didnt get the new turntables, we didnt get the old music mixer, all of his clothes, or the real expensive luggage. Theres still a lot, said Razo.

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For example, Razo said that there are clothing items DJ Gio can be seen wearing in pictures on his Instagram page that have not been located.

Razo said officers gave her all of the items they were able to retrieve.

I think Im sounding ungrateful and Im not. Im just really glad that we were able to get what we got. I just wish we would have gotten the other important things, as well, said Razo.

The Sacramento Police Department is actively investigating the burglary. No arrests have been made at this time.
By Andrew Hay

(Reuters) -Police in New Mexico on Monday said they had arrested a man in connection with shootings at the homes and offices of six elected Democratic officials, incidents that have raised concerns of political violence.

"There is a suspect in custody, on unrelated charges, related to these incidents," Albuquerque police Chief Harold Medina told a press conference. "We do have one of the firearms involved in one of the incidents in our possession."

Medina declined to comment on the unrelated charges or a motive.

The string of attacks began in early December, with the most recent occurring last week when multiple shots were fired at the southwest Albuquerque home of state Senator Linda Lopez and the downtown law office of state Senator Moe Maestas.

"That there is a suspect in custody is very important for our city and for our elected officials and frankly for our local democracy," said Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, a Democrat.

No one has been injured in the shootings in Albuquerque, New Mexico's largest city which has suffered record homicides for the past two years driven by gun violence

The attacks follow a rise in threats and intimidation against U.S. politicians, government officials and sometimes their families. Members of Congress from both major parties have experienced a rise in harassment since the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

"We're trying to link, and see, what cases are related and what cases are not related," Medina said of the incidents, adding that his force had numerous search warrants in the case.

Police on Monday said a sixth legislator, incoming Speaker of the New Mexico House Javier Martinez, had reported gunshots were fired at his house in early December.

We have identified potential connections between some of the shootings," Medina said.

Democrats swept all New Mexico U.S. House seats in November midterm elections and held control of the state legislature in a highly polarized political climate.

(Reporting By Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico; Editing by Bradley Perrett and Cynthia Osterman)
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen called on Germany on Tuesday to help maintain "regional order" during a meeting with senior German lawmakers who are visiting the island on a trip that Beijing has condemned.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has been heartened by support from Western democratic allies in the face of stepped-up Chinese military threats, including war games staged by China near the island in August.

Meeting the lawmakers at the presidential office, Tsai said that in the face of "authoritarian expansionism", democracies must stand together.

"Starting next year, Taiwan's mandatory military service will be extended to one year. This will bolster our defence capabilities and demonstrate our determination to defend our homeland and safeguard democracy," she said, referring to an announcement last month.

"We look forward to Taiwan, Germany and other democratic partners jointly maintaining the regional order and prosperity."

While Germany, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, Berlin is working on a new strategy taking a more sober look at its relations with China and aiming to reduce its dependence on Asia's economic superpower.

Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the head of Germany's parliamentary defence committee and a member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's junior coalition partner Free Democrats (FDP), told Tsai that Germany and Taiwan are friends.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a wake up call for the whole world, Strack-Zimmermann said.

"That's the reason why we come to your country, to your wonderful island, to say (to) the world that we stand close together as democratic states," she added.

China has expressed anger at the trip, with its foreign ministry on Monday alluding to Germany's World War Two past.

"We want to point out that the root cause of the Taiwan issue stems precisely from the law of the jungle, hegemony, colonialism and militarism that were once rampant in the world. China was deeply impacted by that. Germany has a deep and tragic historical lesson in that," Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's 23 million people can decide their future.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Yew Lun Tian in Beijing; Editing by Neil Fullick)
A Romanian court has upheld the decision to extend the detention of former kickboxer and misogynist social media influencer Andrew Tate on charges of human trafficking, rape, and being part of an organized crime group, according to The Associated Press. The judge had previously approved a request from Romanian authorities to extend his detention from 24 hours to 30 days.

Tate, who's known for promoting hate speech and misogyny online to his millions of social media followers, was detained in Romania on December 29 alongside his brother and two other suspects.

All four suspects had appealed the judge's extension, which was granted due to the possibility that they could "leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition."

With the extension upheld, prosecutors can now request a further extension of the detention to up to 180 days.

Tate and his associates allegedly formed the organized crime group in Romania in early 2021 with "a view to committing" human trafficking in Romania, the U.S. and U.K. in order to "obtain important financial benefits," prosecutors said when the group was detained. They had been under criminal investigation in Romania since April.

The suspects were accused of working together "with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialized websites for a cost," prosecutors said at the time of Tate's arrest.

The agency responsible for dealing with organized crime in Romania, DIICOT, said it had identified six victims who were sexually exploited and subjected to "acts of physical violence and mental coercion" after raids targeting Tate's alleged operation in late December, The Associated Press reported.

A spokesperson for DIICOT said authorities seized 15 cars and over 10 properties, which "will be taken by the state and cover the expenses of the investigation and damages to the victims" if prosecutors can prove the group earned money through human trafficking.

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"CBS Evening News" headlines for Tuesday, January 10, 2023

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New guidelines for treating childhood obesity include medication and surgery
There's a new social media app captivating teens. Using the Gas app, users can anonymously compliment their friends (or secret crushes), and the app is gaining steam among young users.

NBC News correspondent Savannah Sellers reports on TODAY that 1 in 3 teens are using the app and more than 1 billion compliments have been shared, according to Gas app founder Nikita Bier.

So, how does it work? Gas app users can log on and compliment, or "gas up," their friends. Users take a series of polls about their friends, with questions ranging from thoughtful to flirty.

"You sign up, join your high school and or you sync your contacts, so we can find your friends," Bier told Sellers.

Bier says people have drawn comparisons to other anonymous apps that are plagued by bullying.

"The distinction with Gas is that we author all the content so that youre answering polls that are generally uplifting and positive, and thats kind of the aim of the product," Bier says.

Sample polls: "I'd say yes if (blank) asked me out on a date." "I think (blank) is the coolest kid in school." Users select a name to fill in the blanks, and people can see the results without knowing who cast the votes.

Bier says Gas has been designed in a way that is "completely safe and private."

"We dont allow messaging of any kind (and) we dont have any advertising or tracking," he says. "Weve really wanted to create a safe place for teens to share what they love about each other and I think weve really accomplished that with Gas."

Sellers talked with Stuyvesant High School students in New York who reported positive interactions with the app and shared examples of compliments they have received.

"Would make an ugly face and still look pretty," a student named Fin, whose last name has been withheld to protect their privacy, shared.

But are there negatives associated with an app dedicated to "gassing" people up?

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Titania Jordan, chief parenting officer at Bark Technologies, a social media watchdog platform for parents, says yes.

"While Gas isnt nearly as dangerous as other apps weve reviewed lately, it has its share of issues," she tells TODAY.com. "The app prompts you to add your contacts from your phone, and if you choose to, you can then see all kinds of people in randomly generated polls, which could get messy."

Jordan adds that while nothing "super explicit or identifying is revealed through these polls," the possibility exists for kids to become "very attached to the idea of someone liking them, leading them to obsessively using and checking the app."

Jordan also warns against a portion of the app that charges money.

"Gas features a subscription upgrade called 'God Mode' that unlocks features that will reveal extra information in polls," she says. "For example, you can see the first letter of the name of someone who voted for you or you can get notified whenever someone adds your name to a new poll."

The Bark Technologies executive says this feature could potentially get more kids hooked on the app, and "may lead to them spending more and more money and time on it."

Bier said the hint function is the only way the company monetizes the app, and "we actually encourage teens not to use it. Because its more fun when its a mystery."

Jordan says parents know their kids best, and to proceed using caution, just like with all social apps.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
A man and a woman who traveled from Texas to Miami last week are accused of bringing along an underage girl and selling her for sex.

Xavier Latrell Smith, 32, of Dallas, Texas, and Jayla Welch, 21, who is from the Dallas area, were arrested on Friday by Miami-Dade polices human trafficking squad. The two are charged with human trafficking, interference with child custody, and unlawful use of a communications device. Smith faces an additional charge: renting space for prostitution.

Detectives received a tip from the FBI about a man and woman trafficking a 17-year-old victim in Miami-Dade, according to police. They found the three at the Budget Inn, a motel at 8929 NW 27th Ave. in West Little River.

The woman, police say, met the teenage victim two months ago when she was recruiting young girls for sex work in Dallas. The man, her boyfriend, was tasked with arranging meetings with potential customers, according to a police release.

The three of them began to drive to Miami but stopped in several cities to meet with clients who paid to go on dates and have sex with the underage victim, according to police. Clients booked services through the mans phone number, which was posted on commercial sex sites.

During the trios week-long stay in Miami, the victim received more than $10,000, which she shared with the man and woman, police say.

Smith and Welch were booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. As of Tuesday evening, they dont have bonds set.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers at (305)471-TIPS (8477) or (866) 471-8477.
Rain or shine, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will celebrate the 2023 Golden Globes, executive producer and showrunner Dionne Harmon revealed to Variety. This weather dealt us a hand, she said.

Speaking via Zoom from the Beverly Hilton, Harmon continued, We had plans to do these beautiful arches, and it was a refresh of the carpet that you hadnt seen before. After monitoring the weather and with rain on the forecast, Harmon said the decision was made to put a tent over the carpet. That meant we wouldnt be able to do the arches, but she plans to use them next year.

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Harmon added the carpet will not be red: The carpet is a beautiful gray color that goes with the new palette for the year, which is blush tones and coral. She went on to say, Youll be enclosed in a big tent, so no one should be worried. They will get out of their car to a dry, warm place.

As for inside the ballroom, Harmon said the design would pay homage to the history of the show. She and fellow producer Jesse Collins enlisted designer Brian Stonestreet to bring his expertise to the production design.

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We looked back at the Ciros nightclub on Sunset Boulevard, which is now home to The Comedy Store and where the show happened many years ago, and we used that as inspiration...Its like a modern supper club with a nod to old Hollywood. When you walk in, you feel like youre in this swanky supper club. Everyone will walk in and feel relaxed and celebratory.

Known for the free-flowing champagne during the ceremony, Harmon said Moet & Chandon are back as sponsors. Said Harmon, There will be beautiful big magnums of Moet on each table so the champagne will be flowing.
A Texas Republican has filed articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, wasting little time in the new Congress to act on a GOP priority leadership has said would come after thorough investigation.

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) filed the paperwork for the resolution on Jan. 3, the first day of the 118th Congress, though with delays in securing a House Speaker, the document was officially filed late Monday.

The resolution claims Mayorkas engaged in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with his duties, complaining that he has failed to maintain operational control over the border.

The resolution comes amid a busy week in the Biden administration. President Biden visited the border over the weekend for the first time since taking office, pledging to deliver more resources to the officers who patrol the region.

Biden visits border port, wall separating US and Mexico

Texas governor says Biden team failed to communicate on border visit

And Mayorkas is in Mexico this week, meeting with officials there on a variety of issues, including the shared migration agreement rolled out by the Biden administration last week.

Mayorkas is also due to discuss coordination on transnational crime with Mexican authorities.

Fallons resolution wont move without further action from GOP leadership, but it would otherwise jump-start a process House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has treaded carefully on.

House Republicans will investigate every order, every action and every failure will determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry, McCarthy said at a press conference in El Paso, Texas, in November.

Still, impeachment charges against Mayorkas were all but certain under Republican control of the House, as the DHS secretary has been a constant foil for the party during the Biden administration.

Republicans claim that under Biden, the DHS has dismantled the border security apparatus built under former President Trump, leading to border chaos.

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The primary basis for the articles of impeachment is the claim that Mayorkas lied to Congress  a case they back by pointing to two instances in which the secretary told lawmakers he believed the Southern border was under control.

His willful actions erode our immigration system, undermine border patrol morale, and imperil American national security. He must be removed from office, Fallon said in a release.

DHS said Tuesday that Mayorkas has no plans to resign and argued that the grounds for impeachment pointed to by the GOP were both inaccurate and failed to meet the standards to qualify as high crimes and misdemeanors.

Secretary Mayorkas is proud to advance the noble mission of this Department, support its extraordinary workforce, and serve the American people. The Department will continue our work to enforce our laws and secure our border, while building a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Marsha Espinosa said in a statement.

Members of Congress can do better than point the finger at someone else; they should come to the table and work on solutions for our broken system and outdated laws, which they have not updated in over 40 years.

Most border and immigration analysts agree that increased migration due to security, economic and governance conditions in the Western Hemisphere is the primary reason for the high number of migrants encountered at the border.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, left, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speak before a meeting with President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

And Mayorkas has taken flak both from the right and the left, as the DHS has maintained many of the Trump administrations border policies, which immigrant advocates say violate human rights.

Still, Republicans see the border as a winning issue for them, and Mayorkas is the Biden administrations face on that issue.

Mayorkas, the first Latino to ever hold that post, has often butted heads with congressional Republicans at oversight hearings.

In April, Mayorkas clashed with Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, including a notable exchange with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) over the agencys record on deportations from the interior of the country.

That combative exchange could set the tone for impeachment proceedings.

The potential for a political circus is concerning for Republicans fresh off a nationally televised Speakers race that highlighted divisions in the party.

Some Republicans have expressed reservations about going after Mayorkas without careful study.

Youve got to build a case. You need the facts, evidence before you indict, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas).

Has he been derelict in his responsibilities? I think so, he added.

Updated at 5:15 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
(Bloomberg) -- Former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh met with federal prosecutors in a bid to become the third member of Sam Bankman-Frieds inner circle to seek a cooperation deal in the fraud case over the cryptocurrency exchanges collapse.

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Singh, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, attended a so-called proffer session last week at the Southern District of New York US Attorneys Office, according to people familiar with the matter. At such meetings, individuals are usually granted a limited immunity to share what they know with prosecutors.

A proffer session doesnt automatically lead to a cooperation agreement. Prosecutors must weigh the value of Singhs information before deciding whether to offer him a deal that could see him plead guilty and cooperate in exchange for possible leniency.

A Singh cooperation deal would leave Bankman-Fried, who pleaded not guilty to eight criminal counts last week, increasingly isolated. Caroline Ellison, who was the chief executive of FTXs hedge fund arm Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, FTXs co-founder, have pleaded guilty to fraud charges and are working with authorities.

A spokesman for the US Attorneys Office and Singhs lawyer, Andrew D. Goldstein, declined to comment.

Prosecutors have accused Bankman-Fried of laundering customer funds through political and charitable donations as part of a yearslong fraud of epic proportions at FTX. The indictment against Bankman-Fried also alleges campaign finance violations.

Campaign Finance

Singh, a Democrat mega-donor who lived with Bankman-Fried in the Bahamas, could offer an insight into the campaign finance side of FTX. He has given more than $9.3 million to Democratic candidates and committees since 2020. In the last election cycle, he shelled out $8 million alone. Among the largest recipients was Mind The Gap, a political action committee founded by Bankman-Frieds mother that received $1 million from Singh in April, 2021.

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Singh also received hundreds of millions of dollars in loans from Alameda Research, according to bankruptcy court filings.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are also probing Singh, Bloomberg previously reported.

Bankman-Fried frequently met with regulators and visited the White House during his long-running public relations blitz championing the crypto cause. At least $73 million in political donations were tied to FTX and Bankman-Fried himself pledged to give as much as $1 billion in the 2024 presidential election cycle.

Read More: FTXs Millions in Political Gifts at Risk of Bankruptcy Clawback

The new management at FTX wants to claw back those donations. The team publicly appealed last month to the recipients of contributions to return the money voluntarily. The alternative will involve using the bankruptcy court to force organizers to repay the donations  with interest.

Key Figure

Aside from his political donations, Singh was a key figure in FTXs management circle and decision making.

He was hired to Alameda Research in 2017 before establishing FTX two years later with Wang and Bankman-Fried. Singh helped write the software that the exchange was built on and contributed to the launch of FTX US in 2020.

Singhs name was also tied to a GitHub account that created a code to hide Alamedas ballooning liabilities in the lead up to FTX filing for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, Bloomberg previously reported.

As FTX began to crumble and an $8 billion hole emerged on its balance sheet, Ellison told her Alameda employees that she, Singh, Bankman-Fried and Wang were aware FTX funds had been used by the trading house, according to a SEC complaint.

The SEC has filed civil charges against Ellison, Wang and Bankman-Fried over their respective roles commingling funds and in the alleged fraud at FTX and Alameda.

Stern Warning

After announcing the pleas of Ellison and Wang, US Attorney Damian Williams issued a stern warning to those who prosecutors had not yet heard from. If you participated in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead of it, he said on Dec. 21. We are moving quickly, and our patience is not eternal.

But not everyone who was intrinsically involved in FTX before its disastrous downfall can cut a favorable deal. When it comes to deciding who gets a cooperation agreement, its often who reaches the negotiation table first.

The first person in the door is often going to have a much greater chance of being accepted as a cooperator because there will usually be a greater need for their testimony, former Manhattan prosecutor Sarah Paul said.

The government expects potential witnesses to detail their own conduct as well as everyone elses. Former Manhattan federal prosecutors said that office typically requires cooperating witnesses to plead guilty to all of their misconduct.

You want to make sure the jury understands you are not trying to give the witness a free pass, Paul, a New York-based defense attorney, said. Giving someone a cooperation agreement is a great benefit but they have to own up to everything they did.

--With assistance from Bill Allison.

(Adds more details on Singh in graph 12)

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By Dawit Endeshaw

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Tigray forces, who fought a two-year war against Ethiopia's federal government, began handing over heavy weaponry to the national army as part of an African Union-led peace process on Tuesday.

The demobilisation of Tigray forces is seen as central to the Nov. 2 ceasefire agreement, alongside the restoration of services, resumption of humanitarian aid and withdrawal of Eritrean troops, who fought alongside Ethiopia's army but were not party to the truce.

The conflict created famine-like conditions for hundreds of thousands of Tigray's population, killed thousands and displaced millions across northern Ethiopia.

The handover in the town of Agulae, around 30 km (18 miles) northeast of the regional capital Mekelle, was overseen by a monitoring team comprising members of the two sides and a regional body, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

At the ceremony, Tigray Defence Forces (TDF) representative Mulugeta Gebrechristos said the start of the disarmament would play a major role in restoring peace.

"We are operating with the belief that if we are to have peace, all things that open the door for provocation must not be there. Peace is vital for us all," Mulugeta said in a speech broadcast on Tigrai TV.

"We are all (part of) one Ethiopia. Both us and the TDF have moved from our respective defensive positions in peace, understanding and love," said Aleme Tadesse, a representative of the Ethiopian army.

Eritrean soldiers pulled out of several major towns in Tigray late last month but have not left Tigrayan territory, according to residents. Eritrea has declined to comment on whether troops will leave.

(Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Aaron Ross and Bill Berkrot)
LONDON (AP)  TikToks CEO met Tuesday with European Union officials about strict new digital regulations in the 27-nation bloc as the Chinese-owned social media app faces growing scrutiny from Western authorities over data privacy, cybersecurity and misinformation.

In meetings in Brussels, Shou Zi Chew and four officials from the EUs executive Commission discussed concerns ranging from child safety to investigations into user data flowing to China, according to European readouts from two of the meetings and tweets from a third.

TikTok is wildly popular with young people but its Chinese ownership has raised fears that Beijing could use it to scoop up user data or push pro-China narratives or misinformation. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020.

U.S. states including Kansas, Wisconsin, Louisiana and Virginia have moved to ban the video-sharing app from state-issued devices for government workers, and it also would be prohibited from most U.S. government devices under a congressional spending bill.

Fears were stoked by news reports last year that a China-based team improperly accessed data of U.S. TikTok users, including two journalists, as part of a covert surveillance program to ferret out the source of leaks to the press.

There are also concerns that the company is sending masses of user data to China, in breach of stringent European privacy rules. EU data protection watchdogs in Ireland have opened two investigations into TikTok, including one on its transfer of personal data to China.

I count on TikTok to fully execute its commitments to go the extra mile in respecting EU law and regaining trust of European regulators," Vera Jourova, the commissioner for values and transparency, said after her meeting with Chew. There cannot be any doubt that data of users in Europe are safe and not exposed to illegal access from third-country authorities."

Caroline Greer, TikTok's director of public policy and government relations, said on Twitter that it was a constructive and helpful meeting.

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Online safety & building trust is our number one priority, Greer tweeted.

The company has said it takes data security incredibly seriously" and fired the ByteDance employees involved in improperly accessing user data.

Jourova said she also grilled Chew about child safety, the spread of Russian disinformation on the platform and transparency of paid political content.

Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, who's in charge of competition and antitrust matters, met with Chew to review how the company is preparing for complying with its obligations under the European Commissions regulation, namely the Digital Services Act and possibly under the Digital Markets Act."

The Digital Services Act is aimed at cleaning up toxic content from online platforms and the Digital Markets Act is designed to rein in the power of big digital companies.

They also discussed privacy and data transfer obligations in reference to recent news reports on aggressive data harvesting and surveillance in the U.S., the readout said.

Chew also met with Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders and Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson.

Reynders tweeted that he insisted on the importance of TikTok fully complying with EU privacy rules and cooperating with the Irish watchdog.

We also took stock of the companys commitments to fight hate speech online and guarantee the protection of all consumers, including children, he said.

Chew is scheduled to hold a video chat with Thierry Breton, the commissioner for digital policy, on Jan. 19.
Is Tom Hanks ever going to retire?

At 66, the actor has appeared in almost 80 feature films during his four-decade tenure in Hollywood. At the New York premiere of his newest film, A Man Called Otto, Hanks cast doubt on the prospect of retirement.

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No, I dont have any desire [to retire], Hanks told Variety on Monday night. Im not working for the sake of working. Im in a very lucky position. Its got to be fabulous. Rita and I talk about it all the time, which is theres only two reasons go to work: Itll be good or itll be fun. And if its neither one of those, Ill stay home until the cows come on. I dont need to do anything.

The circumstances were much different for Otto, the character Hanks plays in the reboot of the Swedish film A Man Called Ove. The story begins with Otto leaving his company because he was no longer valued.

There was a mandatory retirement in the original movie in Sweden, Hanks said. You got to a certain age, youre out! And thats the way things work. Here, it was he had been bought out, he took a severance pay  he didnt want to quit. There was no reason to stay because they had no more faith in him.

As Otto struggles to cope with the recent death of his wife, Sonya, his heart begins to grow after a new family moves in across the street. Mariana Trevino, who plays Ottos bubbly neighbor, said the film spotlights the overlooked value of a strong community.

We have become more fragmented as a society around the world, so its great to bring [community] forth as a value, Trevino said. We are all connected underneath our differences. We need each others love to advance in our lives, to connect with our own sense of love  and we tend to forget it. We have to be open to reverting this fragmentation.

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Another neighbor that Otto bonds with is Malcolm (Mack Bayda), who is transgender and a former student of Sonyas. Malcolm revealed that Sonya was the person who encouraged the school to accept their transgender identity.

You dont often see transgender representation, especially played by a transgender person like myself, in a major motion picture, Bayda said. Its a pretty prominent role, so its such an honor to be in such a huge project and being able to represent the trans community for audiences that might not otherwise be open to LGBT people.

Screenwriter David Magee added, Its ironic that this trans character, who has had trouble fitting in society and in their relationship with their father, finds a father in Otto. Despite his grumpiness and seeming irritation with the world, hes open to caring about other people because they need it.

A Man Called Otto was also a family affair for Hanks. His wife, Rita Wilson, served as a producer and wrote the Oscar-qualifying song Til Youre Home. Their youngest son, Truman Hanks, delivers his first major acting performance in the film. He plays a younger version of Otto in a series of flashback scenes that adds context to the characters present-day grouchiness.

Truman, 27, was asked by director Marc Forster over a cup of coffee to appear in the film. While Truman said hed be open to more acting roles in the future, his chosen profession is being a cinematographer.

Im jumping right back into the camera world, but well see, he said. Im not gonna rule anything out. If some cool director that I really respect calls me up for coffee, Im not gonna say no to that.

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Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., listens to the opening testimony during a House Rules Committee meeting on "Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act" on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, November 2, 2015. Al Drago/CQ Roll Call

The Biden administration announced new regulations to improve income-driven repayment plans.

Republicans are already pushing back, saying the new regulations further burden taxpayers.

Broad forgiveness is still in limbo, and headed to the Supreme Court on February 28.

As student loan relief hangs in court limbo, the Biden administration is moving ahead on making monthly payments cheaper for some borrowers  and it's already attracted ire from the right.

On Tuesday, the Education Department officially released its new regulations for income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. The changes are meant to make payments cheaper, and "create faster pathways to forgiveness," according to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

But Rep. Virginia Foxx, who now chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee, said that the announcement is "a repeat of the same playbook that got us into this college affordability crises in the first place." Foxx has been an outspoken opponent of Biden's broad student loan forgiveness and other pandemic-era debt-relief measures.

"Because President Biden couldn't get his radical free college agenda through Congress, he has resorted to doing it through the backdoor by executive fiat," Foxx said in a statement. "Expansions of already generous repayment options, institutional shame lists, and other failed policies of the past won't lower the cost of college for students and families. It does, however, turn the federal loan program into an untargeted grant with complete disregard for the taxpayers that fund it."

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton also took to Twitter to criticize the plan, saying that Biden's "proposed changes encourage students to take out as much debt as possible because the taxpayers pick up the tab. This is the opposite of the message we should be sending young Americans."

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Under IDR, borrowers are meant to make monthly payments based on their incomes, with eventual loan forgiveness after at least 20 years of payments. But, as Insider reported, those plans currently have deep flaws, prompting the push for refreshed regulations. The National Consumer Law Center found that just 32 borrowers ever have qualified for full forgiveness under IDR.

The new proposed regulations to IDR plans that Biden announced on Tuesday would cut monthly payments for undergraduates in half and give borrowers in default a chance to access the repayment plans, among other things. The reforms will enter a 30-day public comment period, and senior administration officials told reporters on Monday that the Education Department plans to implement them by mid-2023.

Amid GOP criticism, Democratic lawmakers have lauded the reforms.

"The Biden administration's proposed rules for higher education are big structural changes to lower costs for working people and hold colleges accountable," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. "These plans will significantly cut monthly loan payments and it's part of a real transformation of the student loan system."

As administration officials noted, it plans to implement not only those changes to IDR, but also Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt this year  which is headed to the Supreme Court on February 28.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the top Republican on the panel, on Tuesday pledged to find common ground in the upper chamber in the face of a looming standoff with the House over government funding.

Murray and Collins in a joint statement said they would work together amidst growing speculation about a likely government shutdown later this year after Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) promised conservative rebels in his conference that he would insist on capping spending at fiscal year 2022 levels  something that Democrats are dismissing as a non-starter.

As the incoming chair and vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, we take our responsibility to govern seriously and look forward to working in a bipartisan way here in the Senate to find common ground and move our country forward, the senators said in a joint statement.

In addition to his pledge to cut discretionary spending, McCarthy also promised to pass the 12 annual appropriations bills individually to avoid having to vote on another year-end omnibus spending bill.

Murray and Collins jointly expressed support for taking up the annual appropriations bills in a more timely manner in the Senate. Not a single regular spending bill came up for a vote on the Senate floor last year until the chamber considered the omnibus package in December  something that angered many Senate Republicans.

There are so many pressing challenges our nation faces right now  both here at home and abroad  and it is our responsibility as members of Congress to do the hard work to listen to one another, find common ground, and then reach sensible solutions that help the American people, they said. This starts with funding the government in a responsible and bipartisan manner  that means marking up our appropriations bills and bringing them to the floor in a timely way.

The Senate didnt vote until Dec. 22 on a consolidated package of spending bills while the House passed six appropriations bills in July.

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McCarthys concessions spur fears of potential default, government shutdown

GOP battles with itself over possibility of defense cuts

The Senate didnt pass any regular appropriations bills in 2021, either, as Democrats were consumed by negotiations over President Bidens Build Back Better Agenda, which stalled in mid-December after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) balked at several of its core provisions.

The upper chamber later passed an omnibus spending package for fiscal 2022 in March of 2022, nearly six months after the end of the previous fiscal year.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
BBC

The Traitors became a runaway hit when it hit screens, becoming BBC iPlayer's second most-streamed show over Christmas.

But it almost wasn't a hit at all, with the show's creator admitting to having trouble getting the concept off the ground.

Marc Pos created the original Dutch format, and spent six years pitching it only to be rejected.

BBC

Related: The Traitors star Maddy Smedley reveals whether she'd return to EastEnders

"Nobody wanted to have it over here. Now its like this romantic success story, and yet no one wanted it back then," he told Variety.

"But I continued doing tests, pilots, and kept believing in it, and when we finally created this series in the Netherlands, it became a hit."

Following the Dutch premiere, the show was sold to 20 countries by the end of the year. An American version, hosted by Alan Cumming, is landing on screens very soon.

Related: Netflix's The Circle will fill that Traitors-shaped hole in your life

Pos explained why he felt like companies were hesitant about the format.

"Well, normally, when you create this kind of program, like The Mole, its a sort of guessing game for viewers who have to find out who the mole is.

"But in the case of The Traitors, viewers know right away who the traitors are.

BBC/Studio Lambert Associates/Mark Mainz

Related: The Traitors winner Meryl Williams opens up about daily abuse she receives on social media

"People at TV channels kept telling me that if I know who the [traitors] are, theres no point. But as it turns out, if you produce a show in a good manner, then it becomes a success everywhere!"

He also shared his opinion of the UK version, which differed from the Dutch version by using civilians rather than celebrities.

"We were really, really, really blown away," he said. "The cast is so fantastic in the UK.

"Its great to see these regular people who arent really used to this kind of psychological adventure, so to speak."



The Traitors is available to catch up on via BBC iPlayer.

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The atrium of the Museum of Contemporary Art in 2018. The Chicago museum was one of 85 Illinois recipients from the National Endowment for the Arts in the first round of grants for 2023. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

The National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts on Tuesday announced grants for humanities and art projects, including about $2.4 million for 93 projects in Illinois.

The NEH grants were given out in several categories, including awards for faculty members at colleges and universities, fellowships, and grants for public projects.

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The range, diversity and creativity of these new projects speak to the wealth of humanities ideas and deep engagement of humanities practitioners across our country, said NEH chair Shelly C. Lowe in the announcement.

The NEA grants included research awards, grants for art projects and Challenge America grants, which aim to reach historically underserved communities.

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Together, these grants show the NEAs support nationwide for strengthening our arts and cultural ecosystems, providing equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contributing to the health of our communities and our economy, said NEA chair Maria Rosario Jackson.

The 8 Illinois NEH grants are:

Kaskaskia College, project director is Scott Crothers: $116,488. Project description: A three-year humanistic exploration of mortality, bereavement, death and dying, for faculty and students in nursing as well as members of the wider community.

University of Illinois, Erin Riggs: $30,000. Project description: Research and writing for a book that examines the urban resettlement and homemaking of Partition refugees in Delhi, India, from 1947 to the present.

Northwestern University, project director Spencer Striker: $29,950. Project description: Research and consultations with scholarly and educational advisers to create a role-playing game about New York City during and after the American Revolution.

University of Chicago, Victoria Troianowski Saramago: $60,000. Project description: Research and writing for a book on the cultural legacy of electrification in Brazil from the 1930s to the present.

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, project director Jessica DeSpain: $149,612. Project description: The continued development and implementation of a digital recovery hub focused on surfacing the work of American women writers and promoting scholarship on their literary contributions.

Elmhurst Art Museum, project director John McKinnon, matching grant: $150,000. Project description: Renovations to the roof of the Elmhurst Art Museum to protect its permanent collections and sustain humanities programming.

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Northwestern University, Dassia Posner: $60,000. Project description: Research and writing for a book on the history of Moscows Kamerny Theatre, an avant-garde theater founded by Ukrainian-Jewish director Alexander Tairov and dissolved during Stalins purges.

Northwestern University, Jennifer Lackey: $60,000. Project description: Research and writing for a book on the rights of victims to epistemic justice by being known and heard by the parties who wronged them.

The 85 Illinois NEA grants are:

Illinois High School Art Exhibition; $20,000 for visual arts projects.

3Arts; $20,000 for artist communities.

About Face Theatre Collective; $10,000 for Challenge America.

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Izidora Angel, $10,000 literature fellowships for literary arts translation projects.

archi-treasures Association; $25,000 for design projects.

Art Institute of Chicago (on behalf of Gene Siskel Film Center); $20,000 for media arts projects.

Artists Cooperative Residency and Exhibitions Project; $10,000 for artist communities.

Arts of Life; $20,000 for visual arts projects.

Asian Improv aRts Midwest; $10,000 for folk and traditional arts projects.

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Association of Architecture Organizations; $15,000 for design projects.

Audience Architects; $10,000 for dance projects.

Black Alphabet; $20,000 for media arts projects.

Black Ensemble Theater; $30,000 for theater projects.

Blair Thomas & Company (aka Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival); $25,000 for theater projects.

Chicago A Cappella; $10,000 for music projects.

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Chicago Architecture Biennial; $40,000 for design projects.

Chicago Arts and Music Project: $10,000 for arts education.

Chicago Childrens Choir: $50,000 for arts education.

Chicago City Theatre Company (aka Joel Hall Dancers & Center); $10,000 for Challenge America.

Chicago Human Rhythm Project; $20,000 for dance projects.

Chicago International Film Festival; $25,000 for media arts projects.

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Chicago Latino Theater Alliance; $20,000 for theater projects.

Chicago Media Project; $25,000 for media arts projects.

Chicago Mobile Makers; $24,000 for design projects.

Chicago Opera Theater: $25,000 for opera projects.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra: $30,000 for music projects.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra (on behalf of Civic Orchestra of Chicago); $35,000 for music projects.

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Chicago Theatre Group (aka Goodman Theatre): $20,000 for theater projects.

CircEsteem; $15,000 for presenting and multidisciplinary works.

Community Television Network; $15,000 for arts education.

Crossing Borders Music Collective; $10,000 for music projects.

Eighth Blackbird Performing Arts Association; $20,000 for music projects.

Elastic Arts Foundation; $10,000 for Challenge America.

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Facets Multimedia Incorporated; $20,000 for media arts projects.

Fulcrum Point New Music Project; $20,000 for music projects.

Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance: $10,000 for Challenge America.

Haymarket Opera Company; $25,000 for opera projects.

High Concept Laboratories: $10,000 for presenting and multidisciplinary works

Hyde Park Art Center: $25,000 for visual arts projects.

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Hyde Park Jazz Festival: $15,000 for music projects.

Ile Oro: A Mutual Aid Society for Spirituality & Black Excellence; $10,000 for Challenge America.

Independent Film Alliance Chicago; $25,000 for media arts projects.

Ingenuity Incorporated Chicago: $75,000 for arts education

Instituto Cervantes of Chicago: $15,000 for folk and traditional arts projects.

International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago: $20,000 for media arts projects.

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Joffrey Ballet; $10,000 for dance projects.

Kartemquin Educational Films; $25,000 for media arts projects.

Lookingglass Theatre Company; $15,000 for theater projects.

Lyric Opera of Chicago (on behalf of Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center); $40,000 for opera projects.

Marwen Foundation; $15,000 for arts education

Mezcla Media Collective; $15,000 for media arts projects.

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Midnight Circus in the Parks; $30,000 for presenting and multidisciplinary works

Muntu Dance Theatre; $15,000 for dance projects.

Museum of Contemporary Art; $40,000 for museum projects.

Near NorthWest Arts Council; $25,000 for design projects

Newberry Library; $35,000 for museum projects.

Pegasus Theatre Chicago; $20,000 for theater projects.

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Praize Productions; $10,000 for Challenge America.

Reading In Motion; $10,000 for Challenge America.

Skyart; $20,000 for visual arts projects.

Snow City Arts Foundation; $15,000 for presenting and multidisciplinary works.

South Shore Drill Team & Performing Arts Ensemble; $10,000 for Challenge America.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company; $45,000 for theater projects.

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Storycatchers Theatre; $50,000 for arts education.

Strategy for Access Foundation; $10,000 for Challenge America.

Territory; $30,000 for design arts projects.

Third Coast Percussion; $25,000 for music projects.

ThreeWalls; $25,000 for visual arts projects.

Danville Light Opera Company; $10,000 for musical theater projects.

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Destined For Greatness; $10,000 for Challenge America.

Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra; $10,000 for Challenge America

Art Encounter; $25,000 for arts education

City of Evanston; $11,250 for local arts agencies.

New Media Caucus; $10,000 for media arts projects.

Northwestern University Chicago; $40,000 for research.

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Open Studio Project; $10,000 for Challenge America.

Writers Theatre; $10,000 for theater projects.

Midwest Young Artists; $15,000 for arts education.

Ragdale Foundation; $20,000 for artist communities.

Maywood Fine Arts Association; $10,000 for Challenge America.

BrightSide Theatre; $10,000 for musical theater projects.

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Illinois State University (on behalf of Obsidian); $40,000 for literary arts projects.

Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra; $10,000 for music projects.

Springfield Art Association of Edwards Place; $15,000 for local arts agencies

Macoupin Art Collective; $20,000 for visual arts projects.
A triple shooting just over the county line separating Miami-Dade and Broward ended with one person dead in Pembroke Park, the Broward Sheriffs Office said.

The 7:20 p.m. Monday homicide meant fatal shootings involving multiple people for BSO, which started the day investigating a double shooting near Fort Lauderdale.

READ MORE: Overnight double shooting in a Broward residential neighborhood

Reports of gunfire Monday night brought Pembroke Park police to the 5500 block of Southwest 41st Street, where officers and BSO Fire Rescue found one man dead. The other two people were hospitalized as Pembroke Park police turned the investigation over to BSO homicide detectives.

Anyone with information about this can reach out to Broward Crime Stoppers, either online or by calling 954-493-8477 (TIPS).
(Bloomberg) -- Rudy Giuliani, a close ally of Donald Trump involved in efforts to undermine the 2020 presidential election, received a subpoena to testify and provide documents to a federal grand jury in Washington, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The subpoena came from the US attorneys office in Washington and was issued in early November, before Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith to oversee investigations into the former president and the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, according to the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

The person declined to say what information the subpoena sought from Giuliani or the status of his testimony. There have been no known sightings of Giuliani at the federal courthouse in Washington in recent weeks.

Giuliani was a chief architect of the Trump campaigns unsuccessful legal challenges to President Joe Bidens wins in key states. Hes featured in several investigations and legal proceedings related to the 2020 election. The former New York City mayor and Manhattan US attorney appeared last August before a special grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, in connection with the local district attorneys probe into efforts to undermine election results in that state.

Whenever you read a negative story featuring an, anonymous source, its important to question the motives of said source  and this is true across the partisan political spectrum, said Ted Goodman, Giulianis communications and political adviser. The mayor is unaware of the specific claims by this so-called anonymous source, and therefore is not in position to respond.

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Myron Marlin, a spokesperson for Smiths office, declined to comment.

One of Giulianis lawyers previously said that the Fulton County district attorneys office had informed them that Giuliani was a target of that probe, and not just a witness. A judge on Monday issued an order stating that the special grand jury had been dissolved. The grand jury, which didnt have the authority to return indictments, submitted an as-yet-unreleased report with recommendations. No charges have been filed so far in connection with that investigation.

Meanwhile in Washington, a round of subpoenas that Smiths office sent out following his appointment asked officials in 2020 battleground states for any records of communications with Trump, his campaign, or a list of 19 people who supported Trumps post-election activities, including Giuliani.

Giuliani recently testified in his defense against a complaint filed by attorney discipline regulators in Washington. His law license is suspended in Washington pending the outcome of those proceedings as well as in New York. Hes also facing a defamation lawsuit from two Georgia election workers who were the subject of a false fraud conspiracy theory that Trump, Giuliani, and others promoted at the time.

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Donald Trump listens as Lynette Diamond Hardaway and Rochelle Silk Richardson praise him during a news conference and meeting with African American supporters in the Cabinet Room at the White House 27 February 2020 (Getty Images)

Former president Donald Trump mourned the death of one-half of his ardent supporting duo of Diamond and Silk, as Diamond Lynnette Hardaway passed away on Monday night.

Really bad news for Republicans and frankly, all Americans, wrote Mr Trump on his social media site Truth Social. Our beautiful Diamond, of Diamond and Silk, has just passed away at her home in the State she love so much, North Carolina.

Calling her the Magnificent Diamond, he said that her sister Silk Herneitha Rochelle Hardaway was there with her all the way, and at her passing.

There was no better team anywhere or at any time! the former president wrote, as he shared the news of the demise of the conservative commentator.

Diamonds death was totally unexpected, probably her big and precious heart just plain gave out. Rest in peace our Magnificent Diamond, you will be greatly missed!

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Former President Trumps attorneys on Tuesday argued to the top court in Washington, D.C., that he acted within the scope of his employment as president when he made comments that a woman who accused him of raping her in the 1990s has said were defamatory.

E. Jean Carroll, a longtime columnist for Elle magazine, went public with the allegation of sexual assault during the Trump administration, and she then sued the former president for defamation over statements he subsequently made casting doubt on Carrolls credibility and demeaning her appearance. Trump vehemently denies the assault took place.

The federal appeals court overseeing the case in September ruled it was unclear whether Trumps statements fell under the Westfall Act, which protects government employees from tort lawsuits arising from actions within the scope of their employment, and asked the D.C. Court of Appeals to weigh in based on the citys local employment laws.

Carrolls lawsuit would be unlikely to succeed if Trumps statements are deemed to fall under the protection of the law, although Carroll has since filed a separate lawsuit with additional allegations of defamation and a claim for the alleged sexual assault itself under a newly enacted New York law.

Trump attorney Alina Habba argued on Tuesday that the former president was serving the public in making the statements by responding to journalists who thrust upon him the alleged sexual assault as a matter of public concern.

The Department of Justice, under both the Trump and Biden administrations, has sided with Trumps attorneys in arguing the Westfall Act applies to the statements.

He was on the front lawn being asked questions. He answered those questions. That is proof that he was solely doing it to respond and for the purpose of his job, Habba said.

She argued Trump cannot be held liable even if the comments were one iota in the scope of his employment, but Joshua Matz, an attorney representing Carroll, argued the court should use a higher standard.

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Matz asserted that Trump was liable under either rule, however, because the comments were purely personal, pointing to their inflammatory nature and that Trumps conduct continued beyond his presidency.

The alleged defamatory statements include a written statement the White House issued to reporters, comments Trump made to reporters on the South Lawn and an interview Trump gave to The Hill, in which he said Carroll was not my type.

If you look at his statements, there are several features of them that take this, I think, well outside the norm, even for Mr. Trump during his time in office, Matz said.

The federal appeals court asked the D.C judges to weigh in about under the laws of the District, were the allegedly libelous public statements made, during his term in office, by the President of the United States, denying allegations of misconduct, with regards to events prior to that term of office, within the scope of his employment as President of the United States?

A number of judges, however, drew concerns over whether the local court should completely answer the federal courts question by applying D.C. employment law to the facts of the case, or whether its appropriate role is to merely clarify D.C. employment law so that a fact-finder could apply it to Trumps case.

Matz said the court should not dodge the question, arguing in part it could lead to further delays.

This case has gone on for quite some time, the parties are of an advanced age and looking for a resolution to the case, Matz said. And Judge Kaplan has concluded multiple times that Mr. Trump has acted with bad faith and in dilatory ways designed to prolong the resolution of these proceedings. And if the court were to pursue your option, Judge McLeese, I frankly worry it could take years to get to a resolution.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
By Karen Freifeld

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Allen Weisselberg, a longtime executive for Donald Trump and the star prosecution witness in the Trump Organization's criminal trial, was sentenced on Tuesday to five months behind bars for helping engineer a wide-ranging tax fraud at the former president's real estate company.

Weisselberg, 75, was sent to New York's notorious Rikers Island jail after pleading guilty last August in an agreement with prosecutors to all 15 counts he faced. The Trump Organization's former chief financial officer admitted that from 2005 to 2017 he and other executives received bonuses and perks that fraudulently saved the company and themselves money and that he evaded taxes on $1.76 million of income.

The Trump Organization was convicted last month on all counts it faced at a trial overseen by Justice Juan Merchan in a New York state court in Manhattan.

At Tuesday's sentencing hearing, Merchan said that had he not agreed last August to a five-month term for Weisselberg arising from the plea deal, he would have imposed a much longer sentence based on the trial testimony.

Merchan singled out Weisselberg for putting his wife on Trump's payroll so she could receive undeserved Social Security benefits. Other perks for the Weisselbergs included a luxury Manhattan apartment and multiple Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

"The reason the court finds it so offensive is it was driven by greed," even though Weisselberg was already "earning over seven figures," Merchan said.

Weisselberg also paid about $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest as part of his punishment.

He had been on paid leave from the Trump Organization - his employer for about five decades - but his lawyer Nicholas Gravante said after the hearing that Weisselberg and the company had "amicably parted ways."

The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Merchan is set to sentence the company on Friday, though penalties are limited to $1.6 million.

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'BLACK HOLE'

Weisselberg wore an olive green North Face jacket, a white crewneck shirt and a light blue disposable mask at his sentencing. Once at Rikers, he was expected to trade his street clothes for a uniform and sneakers with Velcro straps.

He will likely serve 100 days in jail with time off for good behavior. Those days probably will not be easy. Lying between the New York City boroughs of Queens and the Bronx, Rikers is known for violence, drugs and corruption.

The jail houses more than 5,900 inmates, and 19 inmates died there last year. The city's corrections department has said its mission includes keeping inmates safe. Rikers is scheduled to close in 2027.

"You're going into a byzantine black hole," said Craig Rothfeld, a prison consultant at Inside Outside Ltd who helped Weisselberg prepare for lockup.

Another client is Harvey Weinstein, the former Hollywood movie producer convicted twice of rape.

Rothfeld said he hopes Weisselberg will be segregated from the general population, and not placed in a dorm with inmates who may not know him but will know his former boss, who is seeking the presidency again in 2024.

"Certainly Mr. Weisselberg's 50-year relationship with the former president is on all our minds," Rothfeld said.

Weisselberg testified that Trump signed bonus and tuition checks, as well as other documents at the heart of the prosecution case, but was not in on the tax fraud scheme. He also testified that he hoped to get a $500,000 bonus this month, and that the company was paying his lawyers.

Trump was not charged and has denied wrongdoing.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office prosecuted Weisselberg and the Trump Organization, attended the sentencing. Bragg's office is still investigating Trump's business practices.

"In Manhattan, you have to play by the rules no matter who you are or who you work for," Bragg said in a statement.

Weisselberg remains a defendant in New York state Attorney General Letitia James' $250 million civil lawsuit that accused Trump and his company of inflating asset values and Trump's net worth.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Will Dunham and Richard Chang)
Michael M Santiago/GettyImages

Nearly five months at a dilapidated New York City island jail notorious for its frigidly cold cells and violent inmates are what await Allen Weisselberg, once the chief financial officer at former President Donald Trumps corporate empire and now a convicted tax cheat.

On Tuesday in Manhattan criminal court, a state judge sentenced the wealthy 75-year-old to five months at Rikers, noting he was inclined to give Weisselberg an even stiffer sentence. He cited the way Weisselberg abused his position of authority at the Trump Organization to cook the booksand give his wife a no-show job just to let her qualify for taxpayer retirement benefits.

It was driven purely by greed. Pure and simple. The entire case was driven by greed, Justice Juan Merchan said. At a time when so many Americans work so hard in the hopes of theyll one day benefit from Social Security, your client found a way to give his wife a $6,000 payroll payment so that she could contribute to Social Security so that she could one day receive the benefits to which she was not entitled.

Weisselberg, who was wearing a jacket and a pandemic cloth face mask, was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs. He had little to say, merely agreeing with what his lawyer said: that he had already been punished "severely" by being forced to pay $2.3 million in fines and facing "disgrace."

Weisselberg avoided what could have been a longer sentence when he struck a plea deal with New York County prosecutors and agreed to testify against the company, which was itself convicted of similar crimes in December. The company is set to be sentenced this Friday and punished with monetary fines.

As is standard procedure in New York, Weisselberg will only serve two-thirds of his actual five month sentence if he remains on good behavior, meaning hell likely serve less than four months in total.

Inside the Jury Room for the Trump Org Criminal Trial

But even if his sentence is cut short, every day he spends on Rikers Island will be its own sort of hell.

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Regardless of what you think of Weisselberg politically, spending 100 days at Rikers Island is going to be absolute misery, warned attorney Eliza Orlins, a public defender whose clients routinely get shipped there. People are suffering there. Theyre not getting their medical appointments. Theyre not getting food. Theyre not getting clean, sanitary conditions. Its horrible for every single person who has to go there.

The conditions are so dire that human rights activists have been actively trying to close down the jail for years. And a detainee lawsuit that led to a landmark settlement with the city that placed a federal monitor in charge of improving the dire conditions there has amounted to nothing. Seven years and $18 million dollars later, the effort has come under scrutiny for its poor resultsa shocking failure that led the news outlet Gothamist to assess that the city jails system is actually far deadlier and more dangerous than it was.

The problems for Weisselberg are expected to start as soon as he arrives on the island, a depressing and stark assortment of gray buildings on an island in the East River between the Bronx and Queens.

As part of the slow intake process, he'll wait alongside New Yorkers plucked from the streets for violent crimes and emotionally unstable outbursts on city subwayssharing space for an undetermined amount of time with members of dangerous gangs like the Dominican-American "Trinitarios," who assert a powerful presence on Rikers.

According to defense lawyers who spoke to The Daily Beast, Rikers' delayed intake system is perhaps the most grueling part of the processand the site of many of the suicides that are taking place there with increased frequency.

Last year, a shocking 19 inmates killed themselves at the jail, and human rights advocates point to the difficult time they spend in densely crowded holding pens. Last month, Kevin Bryan endured 23 hours that forced him to sleep on the floor. He hanged himself upon arriving at his housing center.

Weisselberg is expected to be sent there as well. The New York City Department of Corrections told The Daily Beast that sentenced individuals are typically housed at the Eric M. Taylor Center until the jails screening process determines where Weisselberg will be housed permanently.

Trump Organizations Last Play in Tax Fraud Case: Pin It on the Fall Guy

The conditions of Rikers' intake system is so dire that on Tuesday, just as Weisselberg was headed there, the city's corrections department was obligated to update a federal judge on how it was trying to limit the wait to 24 hours at a facility described in court documents as plagued by "security failures" that led to a nearly three-fold increase in fights and "use of head strikes and unnecessary uses of force" by guards. These were improvements U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain had demanded more than a year and a half ago.

Upon Weisselberg's arrival, it can go one of two ways. Either hell be placed alongside detainees awaiting trialwho tend to be more violent and erraticor with sentenced prisoners who are largely trying to serve their short sentences in relative calm.

On the sentence side, everyone tries to keep their nose down, because its so short, said Winston Nguyen, who spent the first half of 2019 at Rikers for a financial crime.

If hes mixed with detainees, a lot of the problem is that the housing gets overturned so often. There tend to be more fights. Someone is always trying to assert dominance. When I was there, there was a large gang element. The guards ask you, Do you identify with one gang or another? So it doesnt cause drama, Nguyen said. Theyll put him anywhere.

Weisselberg will join the 331 prisoners who are currently serving sentences for city crimes that are punished with less than a year behind bars.

But Nguyen, who now teaches at a private high school in Brooklyn, warned that Rikers is still unbearable for everyone.

In lawsuits against the city reviewed by The Daily Beast, detainees frequently complain about the lack of the most basic supplies: clean undergarments, blankets to stay warm in the icy winter, and air conditioning to keep cool in the blazing hot summer.

Weisselberg will get his city-issued Bob Barker khaki top and bottom, made of a rough canvas material that rubs harshly against the skin. But itll be up to him to bring underwear, socks, and a white undershirt. These undergarments are highly coveted behind bars, because inmates can only keep what they bring in with themup to five at a time.

Nguyen recalled how he wore five pairs of underwear on his way in and layered several socks over his feet, which made it difficult to keep his shoes onnot that he kept the shoes anyway. Rikers issues shoes to inmates, but popular sizes disappear quickly, so some inmates get stuck wearing what Nguyen called oversized clown shoes for months.

And while the city experiences the usual winter cold spells that frequently bring temperatures to 20 Fahrenheit overnight, Weisselberg can expect to languish in frigid facilities that are sometimes left unheatedeven as inmates are often denied sweaters. Sometimes it's because the jail has none left. Other times, it's because corrections officers can't be bothered to fetch them.

"Im sure its going to be cold. I was shivering all the time. Unless you get someone to bring him thermal underwear, hes going to be cold. Im sure hes going to get sick. Theres not much protection," Nguyen recalled. "Id spend most of the day shivering, and I'd get really mad about it."

Then there are the phones. Inmates get a maximum of 25 minutes a day (with a maximum of 15 minutes at a time). Yet the government phones arent what they seem. Weisselberg will need to strike deals with imposing inmates who think the phones belong to them.

25 Hours in a Cell: Rikers Island Is Worse Than You Think

Do not get into a fight over use of the phone, Nguyen warned. The phones are owned by gang members although the phone may look free, its assigned to different people.

One inmate owns the phone furthest to the right. Another owns the adjacent one. None of them belong to you.

If it looks free, you have to ask that person if you can use it. Can I use it during this time? Its Big Daddys between 9 and 10. You have to ask them if you can use it. Most of the fights that happen are between people trying to use the phone, Nguyen recalled.

The occasional medical and court appointments are also problematic. Inmates will leave their housing units and be placed in what detainees call bullpens for extended periods of time. But this too is the site of several tragedies at Rikers, because corrections officers will leave detainees there as they wait for transportationsometimes extending that time as a form of punishment.

Anytime you go out of a building, they put you in a bullpen. Those are the areas that tend to be overcrowded, Nguyen said. Feces on the walls. Some guys will purposefully clog the toilet and flood it. Part of it is that people are purposefully damaging that area to get attention. It could be hours, especially if theres a change of shifts.

And it could get lonely. Its notoriously difficult for family members and friends to visit Rikers Island, a labyrinth of a bureaucratic process that involves taking a bus from Queens to the island, going through a security screening, taking another bus to the inmates housing unit, and going through a second screeningthen waiting for an undetermined amount of time to see the person.

Its a half day excursion, Nguyen said.

For his safety, Weisselberg could be separated from other prisoners and held in what the city's corrections department deems "protective custody," which is designed for inmates who are deemed to be "at risk from other people in custody." However, what that really means is solitary confinement. He'd be kept alone in a cell, a practice that is known to quickly deteriorate a person's psyche and has been deemed by Humans Rights Watch as "unduly severe" and at times akin to "torture."

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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On Monday evening, news outlets reported the death of 51-year-old Ineitha Lynnette Hardaway, also known as Diamond.

Hardaway and her sister, Herneitha Rochelle Silk Richardson, became popular across conservative news and social media as outspoken and boisterous Black women supporters of former President Donald Trump. Diamond and Silk have also regularly spread misinformation about COVID-19. An official cause of death has not yet been reported.

Outspoken Trump supporters and conservative talking heads

Hardaway and Richardson became famous during the 2016 presidential campaign after the sisters publicly announced they were dropping their affiliation with the Democratic Party to support Trumps presidential campaign. The duo grew an immense following on social media as they started focusing their content on boisterous support for Trump and pushing far-right talking points. Their presence as Black women Trump supporters landed them campaign appearances as well as appearances on Fox News, eventually landing a show on the networks online platform. The Diamond and Silk brand was also quickly monetized through tickets to speaking appearances, drinking glasses and other merchandise, and even downloads of their music single, Trumps Yo President. The sisters continued to be outspoken supporters of the former president and conservative darlings, appearing on various far-right platforms.

Trump shares his condolences for our beautiful Diamond

Trump announced Hardaways death on his Truth Social account Monday, declaring that our beautiful Diamond, of Diamond and Silk, has just passed away at her home in North Carolina. Trump added that Diamonds death was totally unexpected, speculating that probably her big and precious HEART just plain gave out.

President Trump on the passing of Diamond (Diamond and Silk).  pic.twitter.com/4mGNLm8Ob7  Jenna Ellis  (@JennaEllisEsq) January 10, 2023

Some sources, including journalist Marc Lamont Hill, report that Hardaway had been hospitalized after contracting COVID-19 around Thanksgiving.

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Diamond of the right-wing, Trump- loving duo Diamond and Silk has died. In late November, she was hospitalized due to COVID-19. The duo was fired by Fox News a couple years ago for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines. You cannot script this stuff.  Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) January 10, 2023

Twitter reactions to Diamond's death are polarized

Twitter reactions to Hardaways passing were widespread and very polarized. Conservatives generally lauded Hardaway while remaining vague or silent concerning the circumstances of her death. Conservative actor and comedian Terrence K. Williams posted, We will miss you and most definitely will never forget you.

This is truly heartbreaking  This one hit hard. Diamond, of Diamond and Silk has passed away. Im at a lost for

We will miss you and most definitely will never forget you. Love you forever.

Please keep her sister Silk in your prayers. RIP Legend pic.twitter.com/jEndEyc8FK  Terrence K. Williams (@w_terrence) January 10, 2023

Meanwhile, more liberal posters and much of Black Twitter were significantly more savage in their posts.

Several Twitter users reshared a 2020 profile of Diamond and Silk by comedian Rob Haze, documenting the sisters history and their eventual firing from Fox News for touting conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19.

Meet sister Trump surrogates Diamond and Silk  heres how their love for 45 earned them primetime guest spots on Fox News and how, eventually, their COVID-19 conspiracies had them ousted (@robertistheMan) pic.twitter.com/yx3a6vMVPx  NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 30, 2020

Others criticized Richardson for setting up a fund to raise money in the name of her just-deceased sister.

Diamond of Diamond and Silk sadly passed away. But dont worry, theyve already set a grift up on her casket. If you ever see someone raising money off my death, know that I was not ok with that sh*t.  pic.twitter.com/Mrfioj4G9z  Ryan Pinesworth (@RyanPinesworth) January 10, 2023

As details surrounding Hardaways death emerge and conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19 continue to increase online, expect more heated discussion of Hardaway and her legacy in the coming days.
Two people stole 1,023 gallons of diesel fuel from a Pennsylvania gas station, police said.

Authorities were called to the Exit 77 Travel Plaza in Harrisburg on Dec. 30 after someone reported the theft, according to a Jan. 10 news release from Pennsylvania State Police.

Investigators learned the two people stole more than 1,000 gallons of gas worth $5,000, police said. They then left in a blue truck with a flatbed.

The truck did not have a visible USDOT Number, police said, which is required for companies operating commercial vehicles for interstate commerce.

Harrisburg is the state capital of Pennsylvania.

Man steals $138,600 in fuel by manipulating gas station pumps, Pennsylvania cops say

Man gets 800 gallons of gas for 1 cent each using remote device, Texas officials say

Thieves in Lexus pull off brazen gas heist from U-Hauls over multiple days, SC cops say

Stolen gasoline was advertised online and sold for a bargain, Virginia cops say
By Nate Raymond

A federal appeals court on Monday declined to revive hundreds of lawsuits by women who claim that GlaxoSmithKline Plc failed to warn them that taking the anti-nausea drug Zofran during pregnancy could cause birth defects.

The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that federal law preempts the plaintiffs' state-law claims that GSK failed to warn doctors and pregnant women that animal studies found a link between birth defects and taking Zofran.

The ruling upheld a 2021 ruling by U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor that marked the end of 425 lawsuits consolidated before him in long-running multidistrict litigation.

GSK in a statement welcomed the ruling, saying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has "repeatedly rejected the product labeling that the plaintiffs' lawyers have advocated for in this litigation."

Louis Bograd, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at Motley Rice, did not respond to a request for comment.

The FDA approved Zofran in 1991 for preventing nausea and vomiting caused by surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy, but the plaintiffs said GSK promoted the drug as an off-label treatment for morning sickness without adequately warning of the risks.

The plaintiffs' lawyers contended that Japanese animal studies they claimed GSK had withheld from the FDA would have justified a change on the drug's warning label indicating the studies revealed adverse effects on the fetus.

But U.S. Circuit Judge William Kayatta, writing for the three-judge panel, said those studies did not constitute newly acquired information and that the risks were already known to the FDA as a result of other research when it approved Zofran.

Without any newly acquired information, GSK could not legally change the label without the FDA's blessing, Kayatta wrote.

Even if the Japanese studies did reveal new information the FDA had not originally considered, Kayatta said the agency's later decision in 2021 to approve an updated warning label undercut the plaintiffs' claims.

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The 2021 update was in response to a request by Novartis AG, which was not a party to the litigation but had acquired Zofran from GSK in 2015 and proposed warning of the risks of harm to fetuses.

But Kayatta said the FDA, by then aware of the Japanese studies, instead approved a label that said "animal data revealed "no significant effects of (Zofran) on the maternal animals or the development of the offspring."

"When the FDA formally approves a label stating one thing with full and obvious notice of the directly contrary position, one can read the approval as rejecting the contrary position," Kayatta wrote.

The case is In re Zofran (ondansetron) Products Liability Litigation, 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 21-1517.

For the plaintiffs: Louis Bograd of Motley Rice

For GSK: Lisa Blatt of Williams & Connolly

Read more:

Zofran birth defect cases should be revived, say hundreds of plaintiffs

GSK defeats 425 lawsuits alleging Zofran causes birth defects

(NOTE: This story has been updated with a comment from GSK.)
CAIRO (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet said on Tuesday it had intercepted a fishing vessel smuggling 2,116 AK-47 assault rifles in the Gulf of Oman on a maritime route from Iran to Yemen on Jan. 6.

"The intercepted vessel, which was sailing on a route historically used to traffic illicit cargo to the Houthis in Yemen, was crewed by six Yemeni nationals," it added in a statement.

(Reporting by Yomna Ehab; Writing by Enas Alashray; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Best known for playing Maxine Shaw on iconic sitcom Living Single, Erika Alexander is making her directorial debut with the documentary The Big Payback, about the first tax-funded reparations bill that passed in Evanston. (Zalo Castillo)

Best known for playing Maxine Shaw on the iconic sitcom Living Single, Erika Alexander is making her directorial debut with the documentary The Big Payback, about the first tax-funded reparations bill that passed in Evanston. The film airs on PBS Independent Lens on Martin Luther King Jr. Day Jan. 16.

Alexander codirects with Whitney Dow, who has a background as a documentary filmmaker, which made the transition for me into a director very easy, said Alexander. He was very patient and he has a natural teaching personality and I love to learn, so it was fairly smooth. And because Ive been on sets since I was 14, it felt like a very natural place to be.

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Alexanders acting credits also include The Cosby Show, The Long Walk Home and Get Out among many high points.

From left: Patrick Dancy and Erika Alexanderin a scene from "Living Single." (JOAN ADLEN / FOX)

When asked about a low point, she recalled a role that came after her success on Living Single.

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Ive been lucky, I dont have many extreme experiences. But just being in show business as a dark skinned Black woman is extreme and we often live in a state where you dont feel the joy as much  you enjoy those moments, but you dont experience them as high points sometimes because there are so many things that rebalance the scales.

But one experience does stand out.

My worst moment 

I had just finished Living Single and had gone out into the world again as an actor  but one who had accomplished something, not only on Living Single but also years of indie film, the Royal Shakespeare Company, plays at the Public Theater. So I thought I had accomplished enough and proven myself enough to have respect in this space.

But when Living Single ended, nothing happened for me. And I think I was a little bit heartbroken about all of that. So that feeling of not being recognized for my accomplishments transferred onto my next experience, which was a miniseries (from 1998) called Mama Floras Family. It was part of the Roots saga and I was going to be playing young Flora. Cicely Tyson was playing the elder Flora.

As the younger Flora, I was doing all the emotional work of: This family has now gotten out of slavery but she was in a different type of slavery. She was basically an indentured servant to a Black family that had means and she was getting raped and abused by the master, played by the wonderful Shemar Moore. And then they literally take her baby.

Before I got the role, there was a lot of back and forth about the salary. I didnt think it was enough because here I am, carrying this lead role with Miss Tyson and the amount wasnt respectable  it was a lot less than many of my co-stars were getting. And I had just come off Living Single. All of that was in my mind. I try to be humble, but I thought my accomplishments should mean something by this point. And this was the lead role in a big saga.

Erika Alexander attends Hulu's "Wu-Tang: An American Saga" premiere in 2019. (Lars Niki/Getty)

So I originally said no  and was treated pretty badly by the powers that be because I had the temerity to say no. I even got a call from one of the producers who was screaming at me that I would never work again. But when I heard what they were going to pay me, I thought, well, no. They ended up pushing up the salary  it wasnt by much  so I would say yes and I capitulated, but I also felt a little bullied by it.

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So thats some background.

Theres a scene where Im on a train in Atlanta. Id lost my baby and I was supposed to be upset about it. Everything is hard to film because its a big deal to roll this train back and forth on an actual train line. Of course it was going to be a scene that was emotional and I was crying. Id never had any issue with those scenes before, even though theyre pretty stressful because the director is worried about getting the shot and making sure theyre getting the emotion.

But I suddenly go numb. I mean numb. I couldnt feel anything.

It was frightening. I didnt know what to do. It was like I had left myself. And maybe it was because I was building up this scene in my head, but also because I was so frustrated and angry about the lead up to getting this job.

So everyones waiting for me to do the scene and I go numb. This has never happened before.

(Long pause) Im sorry, its hard to talk about.

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I got up and I ran off the train, back to the makeup room. And I said, I cant film anything. Makeup is always a refuge for actors and they said to me, Its OK, its OK.

Then the assistant director came and said, Is this ready? They didnt understand why I got up and zoomed past the cameras as quick as I could. So the makeup people said, Oh, were just touching up something. They covered for me.

I tried to get myself together enough to go back and I was pinching myself because I could literally not feel anything except the embarrassment and the terror of not feeling like I could act. Thats when, being a veteran  and I was less than 30 at the time  kicked in and I knew I had to go finish the scene: The show must go on.

So I somehow got through the scene, a lot less successfully than I wanted it to be. I was probably having an anxiety attack. To this day I can feel it pretty viscerally.

Afterward, we went back to base camp and I started to sob. Suddenly all of the emotions I was supposed to feel for the scene came out. And I could see that the PAs didnt know whats wrong. I didnt know whats wrong. I was embarrassed because Im strong and I dont do these types of things, but I couldnt control it.

I went back to my trailer and the PAs tell me, Miss Tyson wants to see you. And I thought: Oh please, I just want to go home. But I know I cant not go see Cicely Tyson. So I go in and she can just see on my face that a battle has gone on. Eyes red, face puffy. I walk in and I kneel at her lap and sob. And first she chastised the PAs by saying, Why didnt you bring her to me earlier? Why didnt someone come get me? And then she says to me: Erika, breathe. Breathe.

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Erika Alexander attends the Tribeca Festival earlier this year. (Monica Schipper/Getty Images)

And Im thinking: What, are you kidding me? I am breathing!

She wanted me to move in with her and to take me under her wing. And I didnt do that, but I would go to her house and she would walk me through the script, line by line, just trying to get me back on track. And she took me to church with her.

The whole time, I felt so ashamed. I had these long skirts, these slave-looking skirts, so you couldnt see it but my knees on set were just knocking. Everything terrified me.

But we got through it. Miss Tyson got me through it.

As an actor, youre paid to channel human emotions. And I was being human in the worst way (laughs)  not on time, not on cue. But my body, my senses were so hammered by not feeling loved or appreciated as an actor.

Because I was like: Is this my future? There had been people saying I was so good and I should have my own show  and then nothing happened and youre back to square one with newcomers in audition rooms. And then someones screaming at you that youll never work again.

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Well, Im just grateful for Cicely Tyson, who put me on my feet and gave me the best piece of advice I ever got: Breathe. Her instruction got me through it, along with my willpower and my need to please.

So that was one of the worst moments. But it was also the key to regaining and finding myself.

Was the numbness about not feeling supported on this project and that her role was rooted in traumatic material and themes?

It absolutely was. Because I had started my career as a teenager playing a rape victim in a play called Under Pressure. I hated that role. I am a decidedly happy person who likes to joke around. But I think they correctly assumed that I had the emotional IQ to get there. And I did. But I didnt like the role.

So I played a child of molestation. Then in my first movie role My Little Girl (from 1986) I played a foster child. Then in a TV movie I was Oney Judge, who was a slave of George Washingtons. And I was doing very serious plays at this time, too. It was all very intense work and I didnt realize that this trauma was building up in my body.

By the time I got The Cosby Show (in 1990), it was a nice break because it was comedy. But even there I played someone from the wrong side of the tracks, you know? I was always being asked to bring a certain amount of dark energy.

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When I got Max on Living Single, I was 23 and I felt like an old veteran who had done a few tours of duty. I was so ready to lean into the comedy. And maybe because they werent paying attention, I felt free. And I played her like how I was on the inside.

Erika Alexander in 2018 at a discussion about subminimum wage workers that depend on tips for their living in New York. (Seth Wenig / AP)

Im just realizing now looking back, when I was filming Mama Floras Family, I was wondering: Am I back in that cage? Because I went from Max to Flora  is this my destiny going forward? Will I have to play these really dark characters that dont seem to get me any further?

And I think my body said: No. Because being good at something wasnt getting me anywhere. I never said it out loud, but my body did.

Because no matter what I did, or what I could control, it wasnt going to get me the due I thought I had earned. And people telling me I was good was even worse. It was horrible to hear Oh, you should have your own show when nothing would happen. People who were hiring would come up to me and give me all this praise, then hire someone else. Not one sitcom offer. Not one. Or I would go to auditions and theyd say, You were the best in the room, but they wouldnt let us hire you.

Just nothing. I was back to square one again.

The takeaway 

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Breathe and they cant eat you.

I apply it to everyday life: Breathe, Erika, and they cant eat you. Youll survive it.

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic

nmetz@chicagotribune.com
Ukraines Ambassador to the United States has just about as much trouble answering the question how are you? as many Ukrainians these days.

I usually tell people we are kicking, fighting, but to say that we are fine is hard, Oksana Markarova told the Kyiv Independent during our first conversation over Zoom from her office in Washington, D.C. in late November.

In between near 24/7 work with the Pentagon to secure much-needed weapons for Ukraines fight against Russia, the ambassador says she is able to get in touch with her family, affected by Russias constant attacks on Ukraines energy infrastructure, when they have power.

Theyre more or less hanging in there, but its cold, she said.

Since Oct. 10, Russia has launched a series of mass missile and drone attacks at Ukraine, damaging and destroying critical energy infrastructure in the middle of winter. Millions across the country have faced frequent heat, water, and power outages.

Markarova says Russias goal with its attacks on Ukraines infrastructure is pretty clear: to completely subjugate and occupy Ukraine. Its just that their means are evolving as they fail to do so.

According to the ambassador, its all part of Russias perennial strategy to absorb Ukraine into its orbit. Even before 2014, when Russia invaded eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea, Russia went to lengths to install its puppets in government positions, managing to get its own citizens into leadership positions in Ukraines Defense Ministry and security services, she said.

When that didn't work, and people said a resolute no on Maidan to (then-President Viktor Yanukovychs decision) not to join the European Association, that's when the war started.

But Markarova is certain that no matter what Russia does to try and scare Ukrainians into submission, they will not be successful, despite living with frequent blackouts in the middle of winter.

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Talking to not only the president but also to family and friends (these attacks) have made everyone more resolute, the ambassador said.

It is not just Russias attacks on critical infrastructure that have made Ukrainians more determined. As Ukraine continues to liberate territories and evidence of Russian war crimes comes to light, Ukrainians understand that they only have one choice, to fight, Markarova said.

Gaining and maintaining support from the US

Fighting Russia will require a steady stream of support and weaponry from Ukraines Western partners.

American support for Ukraine has been on a roll lately. In late December, the U.S. announced $1.85 billion in military aid to Ukraine, including the first Patriot air defense systema big hand in protecting Ukraines skies.

Following President Volodymyr Zelenskys trip to Washington, during which he delivered a historic address before Congress on Dec. 21, the U.S. announced more than $3 billion in military aidthis time with the long-awaited Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.

Markarova believes Zelenskys trip to D.C. has a lot to do with this latest military aid packagethe largest so far.

Zelenskys trip energized everyone. There was no guarantee that the Congress would support a bill that big, they could have let the next congress decide. I think the trip was essential to that decision, Markarova said during a follow-up conversation over Zoom in early January.

Traveling to D.C. also allowed Zelensky to talk to U.S. President Joe Biden one-on-one. There are so many things that you cannot discuss even over the secure phones, she said.

During the trip, Zelensky also spoke to leaders of Congress about the possibility of confiscating Russian assets to use as assistance for Ukraine through the Foreign Assistance Act. That made it into the bill just days before it was passed, Markarova said.

The recent and seemingly sudden change of heart among Western politicians who earlier claimed sending more advanced weaponry could escalate the war and antagonize Russia is also partly the result of 11 months of empty Russian threats, according to the ambassador.

During the past 11 months, Putin himself has proven how the new capabilities that help us to liberate our territories and our people do not result in anything escalatory on his part, Markarova said, citing the lack of major Russian escalation or retaliation after each time Ukraine liberated its territories.

Regarding calls for negotiations among certain Western voices, Markarova said she hears fewer suggestions for a negotiated peace with Russia that would involve territorial concessions from Ukraine.

She also said that her counterparts in the United States government have been firm in their stance that they will be with Ukraine as long as it takes.

But Markarova admits that some, but not everyone, she said, want the issue to be somehow resolved and go away.

But for Ukrainians, reaching a deal with Russia that does not involve the full liberation of Ukraines territories is not an option, Markarova said.

We did not start (this war). We did not choose it. And the choice for us is pretty clear. It's either fight and liberate Ukraine or die. And we choose not to die.

__________________________________________________________________________

Note from the author:

Hello there from Lili, the author of this article. I hope you found this interview with Ukraine's ambassador to the United States interesting and enlightening. Along with my incredible colleagues, I work hard to report on Russia's brutal war against Ukraine-my adopted home after I first started living there in 2017. All I want is for Russia to leave Ukraine and for Ukrainians to be able to live in peace. Please consider donating to the Kyiv Independent and becoming our patron so that we can continue to build the Ukraine of our dreams.
(Bloomberg) -- The Pentagon said 90 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers will come to a US Army base in Oklahoma for training starting next week on operating and maintaining the complicated Patriot air defense system the US is providing.

Most Read from Bloomberg

In eastern Ukraine, Russian mercenary forces mounted a concentrated assault on a key frontline town, a siege that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his troops were holding off in an extremely difficult military exchange.

The Kremlin had positioned the most experienced units from the Wagner military-contracting company near the town of Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region, according to Ukrainian operational command spokesman Serhiy Cherevatyi. Ukrainian forces were holding the line following 86 artillery attacks of various caliber, he said.

(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)

Key Developments

Russias Budget Gap Surges to Record as War Hits Finances

Ukraines Inflation Steadies on Price Cuts Amid Blackout Fears

Ukrainians Rush to Relocate Businesses to Poland After Invasion

Russia to Try to Limit Oil Discounts With Market Principles

China Scoops Up Rare Russian Oil as Top Buyer Boosts Imports

On the Ground

Ukrainian forces repelled attacks near 13 settlements throughout the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions over the past day, including Soledar, the General Staff said in its morning update on Facebook. Ukraines Defense Ministry said the assault on Soledar followed previous unsuccessful attempts to capture it, resulting in heavy losses. Zelenskiy said in his nightly address that the resilience of the Ukrainian troops allowed his country to gain additional time, pointing out that there are almost no whole walls left to defend the settlement. Russian forces also shelled civilian infrastructure in the cities of Kharkiv, Kherson, Kramatorsk and Ochakiv over the past day, the Ukrainian military said.

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(All times CET)

US Says Its Working With EU, Ukraine to Prevent Weapons Diversion (10:03 p.m.)

The US is working with the European Union and Ukraine to prevent the weapons pouring into Ukraine from being diverted into the international arms market, a State Department official told reporters.

While the US focuses its efforts on protecting portable and high-tech weapons, the EU is concentrating on small arms and light weapons, said the official, who briefed on condition of anonymity.

The official dismissed reports of large-scale diversions of western military equipment as Russian disinformation and said the US isnt aware of any credible reports of weapons shipments going astray.

Germanys Baerbock Pledges Support After Visiting Kharkiv (9:48 p.m.)

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Kharkiv to underscore Berlins commitment to supporting Ukraine all the way.

Besieged, bombed, liberated  this city is a symbol of Russias aggression and for Ukraines unbreakable will to live in freedom from oppression, she said in a tweet.

Zelenskiy Say Allies Can Show Russia Escalation Wont Work (9:18 p.m.)

A global effort to stop Russias aggression is urgent, especially now, when Russia is accumulating forces for another escalation, Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address to the nation.

Together with our partners we can do and we are doing everything possible to make Russian rulers understand that any escalation is not going to help them, the Ukrainian leader said.

US to Train Ukrainian Soldiers on Patriot System in Oklahoma (7:22 p.m.)

The US will start training Ukrainian soldiers on the Patriot missile system at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, next week, Brigadier General Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters.

The US will train about 90 to 100 Ukrainians, the number needed to operate and maintain the complex air-defense system the US is sending to Ukraine.

The training would normally take several months, but the US is considering ways to speed it up by incorporating classroom work and simulation, Ryder said. Germany hasnt announced plans for training on the Patriot system its contributing.

Canada to Buy a US-Made Nasams System for Ukraine (7 p.m.)

Canada will buy a U.S.-manufactured air defense system for Ukraine, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday after a meeting with US President Joe Biden in Mexico City.

Trudeaus office said Canada will purchase the National Advanced Surface-to-Air System, a medium-range defense system. It wasnt immediately clear how quickly it can be delivered to Ukraine for use.

Germanys Baerbock Makes Visit to Eastern City of Kharkiv (4:36 p.m.)

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made an unannounced visit to the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, from which Ukrainian forces pushed back Russian troops last year, in a show of solidarity with residents confronting a winter in war.

Citing Ukraines aspirations to join the European Union, Baerbock said in a statement that she would discuss advances made by the country toward membership. The government wants to make concrete offers to strengthen the rule of law, independent institutions and the fight against corruption  as well as moving closer to meeting EU standards, she said in a statement.

Ukraine Seeks to Seize Assets Linked to Russian Billionaire (4:31 p.m.)

Ukraines Justice Ministry signaled that it aims to seize assets it claims are controlled by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, filing a suit against him in the nations top anti-corruption court.

The government will seek to confiscate assets that Deripaska can influence directly or through intermediaries in Ukraine, the ministry said, accusing him of supporting Russian President Vladimir Putins regime and supplying military manufacturers. A spokesman for Deripaska, who doesnt have direct or controlling stakes in entities that own the Ukrainian assets, declined to comment.

Ukraines Inflation Steadies on Price Cuts Amid Blackout Fears (2:30 p.m.)

Ukraines wartime inflation steadied last month as retailers cut prices for perishable goods after Russian attacks on the nations power grid triggered concerns that staple foods would spoil.

Consumer prices rose 26.6% from a year earlier in December, the State Statistics Service said. The result was below the 27.4% forecast in a survey. A better-than-expected harvest of vegetables and fruits last fall also helped, the central bank said in a statement to Bloomberg.

Russias Budget Gap Surges to Record as War Hits Finances (1:24 p.m.)

Russias federal budget deficit widened to a record in December as revenues plunged amid restrictions on oil exports and spending on the invasion of Ukraine grew.

The fiscal gap reached a record 3.9 trillion rubles ($56 billion) last month, according to Bloomberg calculations based on preliminary government data released Tuesday. That brought the full-year shortfall to about 3.3 trillion rubles, reversing a surplus in the 11 months of the year. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov later confirmed the full-year figure, which he said amounted to 2.3% of gross domestic product, in televised comments at a government meeting.

EU Plans New Sanctions and Signs Accord With NATO (1 p.m.)

Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, told reporters in Brussels that the bloc plans further sanctions against countries like Belarus and Iran that militarily support Russias war.

Von der Leyen, with Charles Michel of the European Council and NATOs Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, earlier signed a cooperation agreement between the EU and the alliance. The agreement recognizes the value of a more capable European defense that contributes positively to our security and is complementary to and interoperable with NATO, Stoltenberg said.

The leaders said the EU and NATO were determined to work more closely on issues including resilience, protecting critical infrastructures, space and the security impact of climate change.

Ukraine Suspects Russia Used Missiles to Hit World War I Mine Landfill (1 p.m.)

A Russian attack on Ochakiv in southern Ukraine on Monday hit an old depot full of World War I sea mines, the governor of Ukraines Mykolayiv region, Vitaliy Kim, said on Telegram.

According to preliminary data cited by Kim, Russia may have used supersonic Kinzhal missiles to hit the concrete-covered landfill on the seashore. The resulting massive detonation wounded 15 people and damaged more than 200 buildings, mainly breaking windows and roofs, according to Kim.

Russian Independent TV Network Gets Dutch Broadcast License (1 p.m.)

Russias most prominent independent TV channel, Dozhd, or Rain, received a license to broadcast in the Netherlands after Latvia revoked its permit last month for a program that appeared to advocate sending supplies to mobilized Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.

The journalist later apologized and was fired. Like several other independent media outlets, Dozhd fled Russia after the start of the war and initially set up operations in Latvia. Dozhd applied for the Dutch license on Dec. 6, the same day Latvia revoked its license, and was granted a five-year license on Dec. 22, according to a statement by the Dutch media authority.

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(Reuters) - The need for the West to supply Ukraine with an increased number of modern weapons is critical because Russia is gathering forces for another escalation, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday.

"The free world has everything necessary to stop Russian aggression and bring about a historic defeat for the terrorist state," he said in a video address.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren and Ron Popeski; Editing by Leslie Adler)
The Ukrainian Defence Forces of the Tavriia front have struck a Russian ship in the Dnipro River.

Source: Colonel Yevhen Yerin, Head of the joint press centre for Ukraines defence forces on the Tavriia front, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "This happened on the Dnipro River near Bilohrudyi Island; it [a ship - ed.] was struck with artillery systems."

Background: The morning report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on 10 January stated without any details that the Defence Forces had damaged or drowned a Russian military vessel over the past day.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
WASHINGTON (AP)  About 100 Ukrainian troops will head to Oklahoma's Fort Sill as soon as next week to begin training on the Patriot missile defense system, getting Kyiv closer to obtaining the long-sought protection against Russia's missile attacks.

Ukraine for months requested that the U.S. provide the Patriot surface-to-air guided missile defense system because it can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles. During his late December visit to the U.S., Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the battery would make a significant difference in bolstering Kyiv's defenses against Russia's invasion.

The number of Ukrainians coming to Fort Sill is approximately the number it takes to operate one battery, and they will focus on learning to operate and also maintain the Patriot, Pentagon spokesman Air Force Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday.

Kyiv's decision to take troops off the battlefield to train across the Atlantic in the U.S. is unusual, although Ukraine has sent forces for short-term training at European bases for other complex systems it has received, such as on the longer-range High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.

Patriot training normally can take several months, but the longer those troops are off the line, they're not actually engaged in combat," Ryder said, so the training will be shortened.

Fort Sill was selected because it already runs Patriot training schools, Ryder said.

The U.S. pledged one Patriot battery in December as part of one of several large military assistance packages it has provided Ukraine in recent weeks. Last week Germany pledged an additional Patriot battery.

Each Patriot battery consists of a truck-mounted launching system with eight launchers that can hold up to four missile interceptors each, a ground radar, a control station and a generator. The Army said it currently has 16 Patriot battalions.

The Patriot batteries will complement a variety of air defense systems that both the U.S. and NATO partners have pledged to Ukraine, as it faces an evolving barrage of missiles and drones against its civilian population and infrastructure from Russia in the nearly 11-month-old conflict. In the last few months Germany has pledged four IRIS-T air defense systems; the U.S. has also pledged eight mid-range National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS, and Avenger air defense systems.

The training at Fort Sill was first reported by CNN.
Planet Earth as seen from outer space. (Gettty Images)

The ozone layer is on track to fully recover from its depletion within the next four decades, a panel of scientists gathered by the United Nations said on Monday.

In an assessment conducted every four years on the progress of the Montreal Protocol, the 1987 agreement between over 180 countries to phase out the chemicals causing ozone depletion, the group confirmed an almost 99% reduction in emissions of ozone-damaging substances banned by the agreement. That is allowing the ozone layer  a section of the stratosphere that contains high concentrations of ozone, or trioxygen (O3), which absorbs ultraviolet (UV) rays  to gradually recover. The phenomenon of ozone depletion was first discovered in the 1970s and the United States banned nonessential CFC use in aerosol spray cans in 1978, but the 1984 discovery of a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica spurred the international community to act.

In the upper stratosphere and in the ozone hole we see things getting better, Paul Newman, co-chair of the scientific report, told the Associated Press.

If present trends continue, the assessment projects that the ozone layers average thickness will be returned to 1980 levels by 2040. Since the ozone layer has thinned the most at the poles, it is expected to take until 2045 to return to pre-depletion levels over the Arctic and around 2066 in the Antarctic. There is currently a 8.91-million-square-mile hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but that hole has been gradually shrinking since 2000.

The blue and purple shows the hole in Earth's protective ozone layer over Antarctica, October 2022. (NASA via AP)

The thinning of the ozone layer allows UV rays to reach the Earth, increasing the prevalence of conditions including cataracts and skin cancer, and causing damage to crops such as soybeans.

The Montreal Protocol required the phase-out of chlorofluorocarbons, also known as CFCs, chemicals used in refrigerants and aerosols that cause ozone depletion. CFCs are also greenhouse gases that cause global warming. The U.N. report estimates that by ending the use of CFCs, the world has prevented 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 Fahrenheit) of warming.

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The impact the Montreal Protocol has had on climate change mitigation cannot be overstressed, Meg Seki, executive secretary of the U.N. Environment Programmes Ozone Secretariat, said in a statement. Over the last 35 years, the Protocol has become a true champion for the environment.

An addition to the Montreal Protocol, known as the Kigali Amendment, which requires member nations to phase down the use of some hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, which do not cause ozone layer depletion and have replaced CFCs in many products, was negotiated in 2016. HFCs have also turned out to be greenhouse gases. The Kigali Amendment, which was ratified by the Senate last year, will prevent another 0.3 to 0.5C of global temperature rise by the end of this century, according to the new assessment.

Experts say that the Montreal Protocols structure and its success have provided the template that action to prevent catastrophic climate change could follow.

Ozone action sets a precedent for climate action, said World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Petteri Taalas, in response to the new report. Our success in phasing out ozone-eating chemicals shows us what can and must be done  as a matter of urgency  to transition away from fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gases and so limit temperature increase.
The Sama office in Nairobi, Kenya on Feb 10, 2022.

The Sama office in Nairobi, Kenya, where Facebook content moderators began working in 2019. Photographed on Feb 10, 2022. Credit - Khadija Farah for TIME

Facebooks largest content moderation provider in Africa announced Tuesday it would be discontinuing its work for the social media giant, nearly a year after a TIME investigation found low pay, trauma and alleged union-busting at its Nairobi office.

The company, Sama, is currently the co-defendant, along with Meta, in a Kenyan lawsuit brought by former content moderator Daniel Motaung, who alleges both companies are guilty of multiple violations of the Kenyan constitution.

Sama blamed the decision on the current economic climate, and said it would entail letting go of approximately 3% of its staff, mostly from Nairobi.

A Meta spokesperson confirmed the end of the contract in a statement. We respect Samas decision to exit the content review services it provides to social media platforms. Well work with our partners during this transition to ensure theres no impact on our ability to review content.

Samas contract to review harmful content for Meta, Facebooks parent company, was worth $3.9 million in 2022, according to internal Sama documents reviewed by TIME. Sama and Meta declined to comment on the figure.

Read More: Inside Facebooks African Sweatshop

Cori Crider, the co-director of Foxglove, a legal NGO that is supporting Motaungs lawsuit against Meta and Sama, criticized both companies in a statement. Metas decision to ax the Sama contract just as Facebook moderators were organizing for better conditions shows what cowards they are. The moment it looks like Meta is in legal hot water for its awful working conditions, the company moves to hide behind a different firm, Crider said. But the problem is still with Meta. Meta designed the system that exploits moderators and gives them PTSD  and Meta is the one treating them as disposable.

Crider said that Majorel, a Luxembourg-based outsourcing firm, would be taking over Samas contract with Meta, citing workers in touch with Foxglove. Workers report to Foxglove that conditions at Majorel, a new outsourcer Meta is hiding behind, are even worse. Theres no proper mental health support and base pay looks to be about half of even Samas poor wages, she said. A Meta spokesperson did not respond to a request to comment on whether Majorel would be Samas replacement. Majorel did not respond to a request for comment.

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We know that this will be a difficult day for everyone at Sama, and we are offering several support programs for those impacted, Sama said in a statement to TIME. While we understand that this is a difficult day, we believe it is the right long-term decision for our business.

Our strategic vision is to be the number one provider of computer vision data annotation. In our quest to realize that vision, we branched out into other adjacent technologies. However, the current economic climate requires more efficient and streamlined business operations. Therefore, we have chosen to refocus our business and concentrate solely on our computer vision annotation technology platform and solutions. This means we will discontinue our work that isnt closely aligned with that vision, including Natural Language Processing and our Content Moderation business, effective March 2023.

All impacted employees would receive severance packages and well-being support for 12 months after their last day of employment, Samas statement said.

Read More: Big Tech Layoffs Are Hurting Workers Far Beyond Silicon Valley

The remit of Samas Nairobi content moderation teams included Ethiopia, where Facebook has been accused of not doing enough to prevent the spread of incitement to violence amid a violent civil conflict. Weve seen the consequences of cut-rate moderation in the Ethiopian war  and just this week in the attack on Brazils democracy, Crider said in her statement. These crises were fuelled by social media  and both unfolded in places where Meta and other social firms run moderation on the cheap. We wont solve the online safety debate until this labor problem is sorted.

On Feb. 6, a judge is scheduled to decide whether a Nairobi court has the jurisdiction to continue hearing Motaungs case against Meta. The social media giant argues that the case should not proceed because it does not trade in Kenya.
What should you wear to work if youre nonbinary?

It may not be the most pressing question that gender-nonconforming people face on the job, but with approximately 1.2 million LGBTQ Americans identifying as nonbinary, employers and employees alike are exploring what professional attire can look like.

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I think people treat me with more dignity when I dress more masculinely, but people are way nicer to me when I dress more femininely, said El Layla Johnson, 33, a former restaurant server who is now a therapist.

For Johnson, getting dressed for work has been a struggle since adolescence.

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I just feel like theres a manual or rule book that people receive and that my copy got lost in the mail, said Johnson, who, like many nonbinary people, uses the pronouns they and them.

The therapist El Layla Johnson, who said that it sometimes felt as if their manual for dressing as a nonbinary person "got lost in the mail," in New York, Dec. 1, 2022. (Clement Pascal/The New York Times)

Johnson recalled regularly crying while getting dressed for work at an upscale restaurant in Seattle. It wasnt just that Johnson found the restaurants dress code to be ugly (though Johnson did). Johnson had a hard time finding clothes that fit at all.

Im 6 feet tall, Ive always had really big feet and wide shoulders but a small waist and a really big butt, they said. And so it is not easy for me to find clothing in the mens section or the womens section that fits me well.

Now, as a therapist who works with LGBTQ patients, Johnson finds that their own gender identity can be an asset. The fact that I have a rat tail and piercings and tattoos, I actually believe that people might feel more comfortable with me or relate to me more easily, Johnson said.

Deciding whats appropriate for work can be fraught for employees of any gender, especially in this post-lockdown-but-still-Zooming power casual moment. But many nonbinary people report unique pressures that accompany choosing a work outfit.

For video call sessions, Johnson usually opts for simplicity. I pick one shirt and I wear it all week and I hang it on the back of my office chair, they said. And that is great because it just takes so much of the consideration out of it.

Other nonbinary people consider their work outfits an opportunity for self-expression. Ginger Copes, 32, works as a digital producer for CBS in Philadelphia. During an onboarding meeting, employees were encouraged to bring their whole selves to work.

Copes took the guidance to heart, ditching traditionally masculine looks in favor of maxi skirts paired with button-down shirts. To Copes surprise and delight, the response was positive. Several co-workers remarked that Copes seemed particularly confident and happy at work, Copes recalled.

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Feeling liberated in the way that you present is just so important because it will also reflect how your mood is, whether youre dragging yourself to work or youre showing up as 100% yourself and you love it, Copes said.

This feeling of liberation does not extend to all aspects of Copes life. Fearing violence in their own neighborhood, Copes changes clothes during their commute home.

I have denim jeans underneath the maxi skirt, they said. I just pull down the maxi skirt, and boom: Im masculine again.

Andy Izenson, 34, the senior legal director of the Chosen Family Law Center in New York City, primarily considers the needs of clients when dressing for work. My strategy in court is to be as invisible as possible, they said.

For Izenson, invisible usually means a tailored gray mens suit bought at a thrift store, a steamed white dress shirt and the occasional fun floral tie. Izenson settled on this approach after running a sort of gender-based cost-benefit analysis.

I overshoot in a masculine direction under those circumstances because No. 1, thats strategic for my client, and No. 2, I cant predict whether someones going to look at me and think that Im a man or a woman, Izenson said.

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If they think that I am a woman in a suit, thats fine, right? they added. Thats not weird. That doesnt make anyone want to punch you.

Appropriateness is a moving target

Richard Thompson Ford, a Stanford Law School professor and the author of Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History, has studied rules and laws related to dress since the Middle Ages.

Historically, theres been a really strong norm, both in terms of law and custom, of enforcing a strict division between masculine and feminine attire, Ford said.

One of the tricky things is that the norms of gendered dress keep shifting, he said. Determining whats appropriate is always kind of a moving target. As an example, he cited rules prohibiting women from wearing flapper-style short dresses to work during the 1920s.

At the time, people said, Its not feminine, its masculine, but also its way too sexy, Ford added. But today wed see that as recognizably feminine.

In the United States, it is legal for employers to enforce rules related to attire, hygiene and grooming. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has consistently been interpreted to permit different dress codes for men and women, and in 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that transgender employees were subject to the dress codes of their gender identity, regardless of their sex assigned at birth.

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While federal law prohibits employment discrimination against nonbinary people, separate dress codes for men and women can leave nonbinary workers in a puzzling place.

Samy Nemir Olivares, 31, ran for New York state Assembly last year knowing that if he were elected, he would face a Capitol dress code in Albany that didnt account for his genderqueer identity. During the campaign, he knocked on doors and attended fundraising events wearing caftans and dresses as an overt statement about gender inclusivity in politics.

Government, including the Democratic Party, needs to embrace and welcome that it is normal that people wear whatever makes them feel powerful and confident and secure, said Olivares, who lost his districts Democratic primary to the incumbent, Erik Dilan, in June.

During his campaign, Olivares championed the inclusion of nonbinary candidates in state and local politics, a cause that was bolstered last summer when Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York signed the Gender Inclusive Ballot Act into law, requiring political parties to include an option besides male or female for those seeking party offices.

At his job in public relations for the LGBTQ advocacy organization Lambda Legal, Olivares has encountered little resistance and much praise for his style of dress. People are embracing it and I dont think it has been much of an issue, he said.

Dress codes? Youre literally just wasting your breath.

Cooper Howell, a 34-year-old actor, moonlights as a bartender at the Manhattan gay bar Hush. Instead of jeans, they sometimes opt for a kilt as a reminder to be true to themself.

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They dont necessarily care what you wear as long as youre shirtless and hot and can talk to the endless throng of white gay boys named Kyle, Howell said of the bars management. Working in such an environment, Howell will sometimes catch themself slipping back into a butch persona.

I will retreat back into my old habits of trying to conform to male normative behavior, Howell said. Their voice deepens and wrist movements are restricted. Its just a really uncomfortable place to retreat back to.

Honoring their nonbinary identity has other rewards. When I really let my personality shine, thats when I really give the best service and get the best tips, they said.

For Wendy Berry, 44, the human relations director at Rainbow Health in Minnesota, theres an obvious solution to some of the problems nonbinary people face when getting dressed for work.

Dress codes can just go away, Berry said. Grown-ups know how to dress, and anytime when you tell someone what they can and cant wear, youre literally just wasting your breath.

Lauren A. Rothman, the author of The Style Bible: What to Wear to Work, disagrees. Rothman is the founder of Styleauteur, a company that advises individuals and companies on work-appropriate attire.

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I am thrilled when clients want to implement or update a dress code, Rothman said. But I think that dress code and hygiene standards need to be reset across the board.

Rothman advises clients to create dress codes that rely on an overall impression rather than specific garments. At a law firm, what were looking for is for your presence to have a trustworthy and executive nature, she said. Whether you identify that as being a suit and tie or you identify that as being in belted dress, either works as long as it comes across polished and modern and clean, wrinkle-free. Those would be some of the words I would use in a dress-code guideline.

For individual nonbinary clients, Rothman maintains a list of retailers like Nordstrom, PacSun and Shein that offer gender-fluid options. Rothman also noted that a flexible return policy is a crucial element to welcoming nonbinary people, especially for retail stores that do not offer gender-neutral fitting rooms.

Rothman, for one, is excited by the massive shift she sees happening in professional dress.

As we all reawaken to what it means to walk into an office, youve got to own that office runway, she said. You want that sense of confidence and you want to empower and fuel your employees.

And some nonbinary people are eager to focus less on their outfits and more on their work.

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I used to be that typical bureaucrat: I thought whatever you wore mattered more than what you have to say, said Ace Sutherland, 28. Sutherland recalls being called out by co-workers in previous jobs for avoiding blazers.

Today, Sutherland is a representative for Equality New York, an LGBTQ advocacy group that welcomes their sweaters and polo shirts. I want to make sure that people that look up to me, people that I work with, know that I can dress however I want to dress and still have the same conversation that would be necessary at that time, they said.

Kelli Dunham, 54, a community school director for Counseling in Schools, an education nonprofit in New York City, jokes that her gender is Can you please listen to my ideas now? Dunham said she was hopeful for a world in which gender and clothing present no barriers at work.

The nonbinary people in your workplace have so much to give, Dunham said. Dont let stumbling over pronouns or the dress code make it difficult for what are going to be some of your best employees.

Maybe worst, too, she added with a laugh.

c.2022 The New York Times Company
The New Year has arrived, which means Americans have an entire calendars worth of federal holidays to look forward to.

At midnight on December 31, individuals around the world celebrated the start of 2023. The date also marked the arrival of the first federal holiday of the year in the US, New Years Day on January 1.

However, because New Years Day falls on a Sunday in 2023, the holiday was officially observed on Monday, January 2nd.

First introduced by Congress in 1885 when it was decided that federal employees should have certain days off from work, the list of US federal holidays is made up of 11 days of significance that Americans recognise - and celebrate.

To ensure that these holidays are observed, certain guidelines have been put in place, with federal holidays that fall on a Saturday observed by federal employees on the previous Friday, while holidays that fall on Sunday are observed the following Monday.

On these 11 days, all non-essential federal offices are closed, while banks, post offices and schools may also be closed. However, that doesnt mean that all Americans will receive a day off from work, as employees in the private sector may or may not get the day off, depending on their employer.

From Juneteenth to Thanksgiving, these are the dates of the 2023 federal holidays.

2023 federal holidays:

New Years Day: Sunday, January 1 (Observed Monday, January 2)

Martin Luther King Jr Day: Monday, January 16

Presidents Day: Monday, February 20

Memorial Day: Monday, May 29

Juneteenth: Friday, June 16

Independence Day: Tuesday, July 4

Labor Day: Monday, September 4

Indigenous Peoples Day (also observed as Columbus Day): Monday, October 9

Veterans Day: Saturday, November 11 (Observed Friday, November 10)

Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 23

Christmas: Monday, December 25

Other important days to note:

Valentines Day: Tuesday, February 14

St Patricks Day: Friday, March 17

Passover: Thursday, April 6

Good Friday: Friday, April 7

Easter: Sunday, April 9

Mothers Day: Sunday, May 14

Fathers Day: Sunday, June 18
Zelenskyy addresses Congress on December 21. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

In December, President Joe Biden signed a bill with another $47 billion in aid for Ukraine.

US leaders need to explain how US interests are being advanced by the money we've given Ukraine.

Daniel L. Davis is a senior fellow for Defense Priorities and a former US Army lieutenant colonel.

Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky became the first foreign wartime leader since Winston Churchill in December 1942 to address a joint session of the US Congress.

While he received a rousing standing ovation for his remarks and Biden has now signed a spending bill that includes $47 billion in additional support, it is now necessary for Congress to explain to the American people how US interests are being advanced by the nearly $100 billion we've given Ukraine to date, what this new support will be used for, and how we'll know if the money has been wisely spent.

First, let's examine what Ukraine got as a result of Zelensky's trip. The marquee capacity was Biden's formal announcement that the US Patriot air-defense system will be sent to Ukraine, along with over 200,000 rounds of artillery, rockets, and tank rounds.

While many in the US and Ukraine were excited about the Patriot announcement, it is important to understand what that one battery can and can't do.

A US Patriot missile air-defense battery overlooking the Turkish city of Gaziantep in February 2013. NATO

This was not long after Russia launched its ninth round of strategic missile strikes against Ukraine's energy infrastructure since mid-October, crippling almost half of the country's electric generation.

Zelensky has been pleading for air defense from the United States and West almost since the beginning of the war. In the past months, however, the West has been more than generous, providing large numbers of modern air-defense systems. The question: does adding this Patriot battery represent a game-changer for Ukraine? The honest short answer: no.

A Patriot battery ordinarily operates as part of an integrated defense system which may include numerous US and NATO systems. A battery requires a staff of 90 personnel, which will typically need 90 days of training before they can go into operation. A single battery, however, can generally defend a single point target.

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It is possible for a battery to defend a large portion of, say, the capital city of Kyiv, but even then, not the entire city. As exposed in 2019 when the Saudi-operated Patriot system failed to stop a complex aerial attack from Iran, the system is not fool-proof even when operational.

The reality is that some number of months from now a single Patriot will go into operation at a selected location in Ukraine  but otherwise won't change any dynamics of existing Ukrainian anti-missile capabilities from the current level of protection.

Ukrainian troops unload US-made Stinger missiles and other military assistance in Kyiv in February 2022. SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images

Secondly, since Biden has signed that omnibus bill that includes $47 billion in additional support, an examination of where that money goes exposes that only about $14 billion will go towards additional new weapons.

In a series of recent interviews in The Economist and Guardian newspapers, the top military and political leaders of Ukraine specified their minimum requirements in weaponry needed to have a realistic chance to move to the offensive in 2023.

Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, commander of Ukraine's Armed Forces, said he needed at least 1,500 modern armored vehicles (including 300 tanks and 500 artillery pieces). During Zelensky's Washington speech, he added "I assure you that Ukrainian soldiers can perfectly operate American tanks and planes themselves."

The fact that Zelensky left Washington and Biden remained silent on sending more than one Patriot battery and no tanks, armored personnel carriers or hundreds of new artillery pieces is telling.

An analysis of what the United States and NATO are doing  and what they are not doing  makes it clear that our primary objective is indeed to avoid any direct clashes with Russia that all too easily could spiral into a nuclear conflict. That is the right course of action and I commend the White House for their considered restraint.

However, that leaves another question unaddressed: what is America's intended end state in this conflict and what is Congress' strategy regarding future support?

A US airman prepares ammunition, weapons, and other equipment bound for Ukraine in January 2022. Mauricio Campino/U.S. Air Force via AP

Including this most recent aid package, the US has spent over $100 billion on the war in Ukraine, which is $16 billion more than the entire Russian military budget for 2023. Congress owes it to the American people to explain how the expenditure of that much money for a non-treaty ally provides $100 billion worth of national security.

What does Congress expect that money to produce (in other words, what is the expected or hoped-for outcome)? How will we know if the money is a good investment  and what will Congress do in 2023?

These are not minor questions, because as we have seen from two decades of disastrous involvement in our own war in Afghanistan  where we squandered close to $2 trillion  Congress can often get carried away with the emotion of a situation. The stakes are too high to repeat that mistake with our support of Ukraine.

Before allocating another dollar in 2023, Congress should explain to the American people how this money advances vital national interests of our country. Or we need a new plan.

Daniel L. Davis is a senior fellow for Defense Priorities and a former lieutenant colonel in the US Army who deployed into combat zones four times. He is the author of "The Eleventh Hour in 2020 America." Follow him @DanielLDavis1

Read the original article on Business Insider
Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

The US justice department is investigating a number of documents bearing highly sensitive classified markings stored at Joe Bidens former institute in Washington from his time as vice-president in the Obama administration, the White House acknowledged in a statement on Monday.

Related: Grand jury in Georgias Trump 2020 election investigation finishes work

The documents were found by Bidens personal lawyers at the start of November when they closed out office space at the University of Pennsylvanias Biden Center for Diplomacy, a thinktank where he was an honorary professor until 2019.

Bidens personal lawyers sent the documents to the National Archives, which referred the matter to the justice department because of their sensitive nature, with some classified at the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level, a source familiar with the matter said.

Merrick Garland, the attorney general, has since assigned the Trump-appointed US attorney in Chicago John Lausch to oversee the investigation alongside the FBI, a second person said. A spokesperson for the justice department declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.

The White House is cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice regarding the discovery of what appear to be Obama-Biden admin records, including a small number of documents with classified markings, the White House counsels office said in a statement.

On the day of this discovery, 2 November 2022, the White House counsels office notified the National Archives. The Archives took possession of the materials the following morning, the statement added. The discovery of these documents was made by the presidents attorneys.

The new inquiry comes as the justice department is investigating Donald Trumps unauthorized retention of national security materials and obstruction of justice after the FBI seized hundreds of records marked classified at his Mar-a-Lago resort in August.

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Conservatives immediately seized on the news of the discovery. Mike Pence, the vice-president under Donald Trump, argued that the situation parallels the investigation into the deliberate attempt by Trump to hold on to classified documents taken from the White House, which eventually led to the FBI searching his properties after months of resistance from Trumps team. When the home of a former president of the United States  was raided by FBI agents, I was deeply troubled by that action at the time. And this double standard is just as troubling, Pence told a conservative radio host.

Trump himself, as earlier reported by CBS News, wrote on his social media website Truth Social: When is the FBI going to raid the many houses of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified.

The last part of the former presidents post appeared to draw a parallel between the two cases, referencing his disputed claim that the documents at Mar-a-Lago had been declassified, though no such evidence has publicly emerged and his lawyers have not repeated that in court.

But the circumstances of the Biden documents are also markedly different compared with the materials seized from Trump: Biden does not appear to have personally and willfully retained classified materials nor did he resist returning them to the government.

Trump was initially asked by the National Archives in 2021 to return documents it determined were missing, but put off the request for months. He then relented in December 2021, and agreed to return 15 boxes of materials to the government, which included a number of classified materials.

The presence of highly sensitive documents prompted the National Archives to make a referral to the justice department, which developed evidence that Trump had not fully complied with a grand jury subpoena from May demanding the return of any documents with classified markings.

That led to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, with the search warrant affidavit indicating that Trump was under criminal investigation for possible violations of the Espionage Act, which criminalizes the willful retention of national security materials, and potentially attempting to conceal classified documents.

But regardless of the strength of the legal case, the discovery of the documents at the Biden UPenn center will probably change the political optics for the justice department as it considers whether to charge Trump over mishandling classified materials.

The incoming Republican chair of the House oversight committee, James Comer, told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday that he will launch an inquiry into what documents were kept and whether a double standard was being applied to Biden compared with Trump.

How ironic, Comer said. President Biden was quick to criticize President Trump for having classified documents. I wonder if the National Archives is going to ask the FBI to raid the White House tonight?

Asked about the Biden classified docs, Rep. Aguilar tells reporters that it is "Republican hypocrisy at its finest"



"What President Biden did is...exactly the way that you should handle this. " Says Biden following "established protocol" + go from there  Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) January 10, 2023

House Democrats defended Biden, with Representative Pete Aguilar saying there was no comparison between the documents found at Bidens old office and the ones unearthed by the FBI after searching Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort. Aguilar noted that Bidens personal lawyers immediately turned over the documents they had found, calling the conservative outcry Republican hypocrisy at its finest.

What President Biden did is  exactly the way that should handle this, Aguilar told reporters, noting that Bidens team followed established protocol and that the president is handling this the way that he should.

Biden, who is in Mexico City for a summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, did not respond to questions shouted by reporters, including one asking about the classified documents.

Meanwhile, the Ohio representative Mike Turner, the top Republican of the House permanent select committee on intelligence, sent a letter to the director of national intelligence requesting an immediate investigation into Biden over the documents.

Lausch, the US attorney, is one of two Trump-appointed US attorneys that Garland kept on after the end of the previous administration in part because at the time, he was engaged in a high-profile bribery investigation into former Democratic Illinois House speaker Michael Madigan, the source said.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The United States accused Russian military contractors backed by the Kremlin on Tuesday of interfering in the internal affairs of African countries and increasing the likelihood that violent extremism will grow in the Sahel region which is facing increasing attacks and deteriorating security -- an allegation Russia denied.

U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Mills lashed out at the Wagner Group at a U.N. Security Council meeting on West Africa and the Sahel, accusing its paramilitary forces of failing to address the extremist threat, robbing countries of their resources, committing human rights abuses, and endangering the safety and security of U.N. peacekeepers and staff.

Frances political counselor Isis Jaraud-Darnault echoed Mills, saying the model" used by Wagner mercenaries has proven totally ineffective in combating terrorism. She cited the nefarious and devastating impact of its work and human rights violations, including the alleged killing of over 300 civilians in Mali, and its pillaging of natural resources.

Britains deputy U.N. ambassador James Kariuki cited the deterioration of security especially in Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin, and the fear of instability spreading to West African coastal countries. You cannot ignore the destabilizing role the Wagner Group plays in the region. They are part of the problem, not the solution, he told the council.

Russias deputy U.N. ambassador Anna Evstigneeva rejected attempts to besmirch Russian assistance to Mali, where Moscow has a bilateral agreement to assist the transitional government, and in other countries in Africa.

Some countries once again today declared that Russia apparently is pillaging and looting the resources of Africa and is facilitating the growth of the terrorist threat, she said, accusing those unnamed nations of doing the same thing throughout the world and in Africa especially in neighboring Libya which destabilized the entire area.

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Accusations against Russia are just astonishing, given common sense, and undermine African leaders trying to resolve their own problems and decide who they want to cooperate with, she said.

Evstigneeva never mentioned the Wagner Group by name. The group is run by a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and its mercenaries are accused by Western countries and U.N. experts of numerous human rights abuses throughout Africa, including in the Central African Republic, Libya and Mali.

Giovanie Biha, the deputy head of the U.N. Office for West Africa and the Sahel, told the council that insecurity has again deteriorated in large parts of the region, due to activities of armed groups, violent extremists and criminal networks. As a result, she said, more than 10,000 schools across the Sahel have closed, leaving millions of children without an education,nearly 7,000 health centers have shut down.

Armed groups are fighting for supremacy and control of resources, she said, and the central Sahel is facing unprecedented levels of security and humanitarian challenges, socio-political instability, further compounded by the impact of climate change, and food insecurity which was exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine. She added that increasing attacks in countries along the Gulf of Guinea are threatening transport arteries to landlocked countries further north.

According to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres latest report issued this week, over 18.6 million people in the region are experiencing severe food insecurity, an increase of 5.6 million since the end of June 2022, with Burkina Faso, the Niger and Nigeria being the hardest hit. And about 6.3 million people are displaced across the Sahel, an increase of 300,000 since June.

Russias Evstigneeva said Moscow shares concerns about the increasing number of terrorist threats in the region, ongoing inter-ethnic and inter-communal conflict, organized crime, drug trafficking and killing of a large number of civilians by fighters in the second half of 2022.

She pointed to the withdrawal of French counterterrorism forces and the Takuba European military task force under their command on June 30, saying it wasnt agreed on with Malis transitional government and is having a negative impact on the security situation in the short-term.

Nonetheless," she said, there is already some progress and Russia is providing Mali with appropriate assistance.

Mills, the U.S. deputy ambassador, said the United States is deeply concerned at the security, humanitarian and political crisis in the Sahel that are causing a dramatic increase in the strength and influence of violent extremism.

The problem requires a democratic governance solution, he said. We are also gravely concerned about democratic backsliding across the region and urge the return of democratically elected, civilian-led governments.

West Africas latest wave of coups kicked off in Mali in 2020, followed by another in Guinea in 2021, and then Burkina Faso in January 2022.

Omar Alieu Touray, president of the West African regional group ECOWAS' commission, told the council he was pleased to report that transitions to critical elections in the three countries are on course, with voting to take place in the next two years.

___

This story has been corrected to show that French diplomat Isis Jaraud-Darnault is a woman and that more than 300 civilians have been slain in Malis unrest.
(Getty Images)

The Virgin Orbit launch was intended to be a demonstration of the UKs plan to be a space nation of the future, launching unprecedented rockets and satellites into orbit.

A former passenger plane was supposed to climb up to 35,000 feet, let go of the rocket that was attached to its wing, and come home. The rocket would ignite and then climb up into orbit, dropping off an array of nine satellites that would be the first ever to be launched from western Europe.

But somewhere over the ocean, as the mission was due to draw to a close, something went badly wrong. The rocket failed to make it into its orbit as predicted.

Instead, it probably fell through the atmosphere and burnt up, experts said. Those bits of equipment that survived the failed mission have probably fallen into the sea.

It is still not clear why exactly that has happened. Virgin Orbit and the government say they are working together to find out what the anomaly was that caused the Start Me Up mission to fail to get the rocket to orbit.

Initially, it was not even clear that failure had happened at all. Virgin Orbit announced in a tweet on Monday night that it had successfully made it to orbit  but that tweet was deleted soon after, along with a promise to release more information as it became available.

The mission began on Monday night, a little earlier than scheduled. The plane known as Cosmic Girl lifted off from Spaceport Cornwall and could be seen climbing on its live stream.

About an hour later, the rocket detached from that plane. Its pilots then began making the journey back from Irelands southwest coast, preparing to land again.

The rocket initially appeared to be burning as expected. But its upper stage conducted a nearly five-minute burn  and a few minutes later Virgin Orbit indicated that something had gone wrong.

It revealed very little on a live stream that had already been hit by criticism for the vagueness of its commentary, as well as other technical problems such as overly loud music. Even in the hours that followed, the company said little about what had happened.

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At some point during the firing of the rockets second stage engine and with the rocket travelling at a speed of more than 11,000 miles per hour, the system experienced an anomaly, ending the mission prematurely, Virgin Orbit later said in a statement.

Its still not clear what happened. The business secretary Grant Shapps said Virgin Orbit would be investigating what caused the failure in the coming days and weeks.

But he and others attempted to cast the failure as an example of just how hard it is to work in space. And they have also indicated that the failed launch will not dent their faith that the UK could become a future space nation.

Virgin Orbit and its customers wont be out of pocket for the failure: the launch was insured, confirmed Matt Archer, the UK Space Agencys commercial space director. Customers including Oman, British start-up Space Forge and others are thought to have paid as much as $12 million for the launch

Whether the failure will affect the company more generally remains to be seen. The companys share price was down 14 per cent on Tuesday, after the launch  meaning that it has lost more than 80 per cent of its value since it was listed last year  amid fears from investors that its business plan could fail to take off.

But Virgin Orbit is not alone. Last month, an Italian-built Vega-C rocket failed after it lifted off from French Guiana  and the rockets have been delayed until further work can be done to understand why it failed and what can be done.

Whats more, the European Space Agencys Ariane 6 launched  intended to carry big satellites into orbit  has been delayed.

Even Nasa, perhaps the worlds most famous launcher of rockets, struggled to get its recent Artemis 1 mission into space. It did eventually conduct the mission, which saw a spacecraft circle around the Moon and then come back to Earth, in preparation for humans doing the same thing  but not after weather and technical problems caused a number of expensive delays.

Virgin Orbit will now be hoping that it can have another go at the launch, and might even do so this year. Much will depend however on the investigation that is to come.

Space is difficult, Mr Shapps told Sky News. It didnt work. No doubt theyll pick themselves up, dust themselves off and theyll go again.

But other UK companies could get there first. Spaceport Cornwall is just one of a number of locations that have been set up as future launch locations  and those places and the companies that are depending on them may now get a chance to be the first after all.

On Tuesday morning, for instance, rival and fellow launch company Orbex Space commiserated Virgin Orbit but also pointed to the excitement over its own launches. Meanwhile we look forward to introducing the UK to vertical orbital launches with the debut of our environmentally-friendly rocket Prime, launching from our own pad at Sutherland Spaceport in the near future, it wrote on Twitter.
The UKs first-ever space mission has failed after an anomaly prevented the Virgin Orbit rocket from reaching orbit.

The rocket and the nine satellites it was carrying, reportedly burned up in the atmosphere after the launch failed.

It was projected to land over water, but burned up in Earths atmosphere on reentry, according to New Scientist.

Shortly before midnight, an official on the live stream announced the rocket suffered an anomaly that meant it failed to reach orbit.

The launch was an opportunity for Virgin Orbit to show its investors what it was capable of, but the failure has led to its tanking as much as a third in after-hours trading and is set for a $200m fall.

The launch was set to be the first-ever rocket launch from UK soil, as well as the first time that satellites have been launched from Europe.

Virgin Orbits unusual system sees a plane carry the rocket up to 35,000 feet, before dropping it off to carry its satellites into space.

Key Points

UK space mission fails

Small seaside town awaits western Europes first ever satellite launch

UK Space Agency excited for launch

SpaceX capsule undocks from International Space Station

Monday 9 January 2023 22:50 , Andrew Griffin

Elsewhere in space, a SpaceX capsule has just detached from the International Space Station and is on its way back down to Earth.

Undocking  COMPLETE



At 5:05pm ET, @SpaceXs Cargo Dragon undocked from the @Space_Station for its return to Earth.



After splashdown on Jan. 11, @ISS_Research will be brought to Kennedy Space Center and returned to the hands of researchers: https://t.co/GjYJu8nOhr  NASA's Kennedy Space Center (@NASAKennedy) January 9, 2023

Monday 9 January 2023 22:54 , Andrew Griffin

Story continues

Heres another view of the plane on a map. Looks like its moving into its race track, where itll go round and round a little to ensure its ready to drop its rocket. Just over 15 minutes until that happens.

(Virgin Orbit)

150,000 people track plane as it gets ready to launch

Monday 9 January 2023 22:57 , Andrew Griffin

There are almost 150,000 people tracking the plane as it goes around its race track, getting ready for the launch, according to FlightRadar.

(FlightRadar24)

Its by far the most popular plane on the service. And the second plane most tracked plane  with 22,000 people watching it  is a seemingly otherwise unremarkable flight from Madrid to Keflavik in Iceland, which just happens to be going sort of near Cosmic Girl.

(FlightRadar24)

Plane successfully takes off ahead of rocket launch

Monday 9 January 2023 23:02 , Andrew Griffin

Heres the latest round-up from the Press Association, on everything that has happened before and is about to happen. (Theres about 7 minutes until the drop.)

The Virgin Orbit plane carrying the first rocket to launch into space from UK soil has taken off from Spaceport Cornwall.

As the Start Me Up mission lifted off from the runway at Cornwall Airport Newquay, hundreds of people cheered and Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones was blasted out on loudspeakers.

Named in tribute to the Stones 1981 hit, the mission involves a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 and Virgin Orbits LauncherOne rocket.

The 747, dubbed Cosmic Girl, took off horizontally from the new facility while carrying the rocket under a wing.

Around an hour into the flight the rocket will be released at 35,000ft over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland.

The plane will then return to the spaceport while the rocket will ignite its engine and take multiple small satellites, with a variety of civil and defence applications, into orbit.

Before the launch, the team behind the historic moment spoke of their immense excitement as they prepared for take-off.

Ian Annett, deputy chief executive at the UK Space Agency, described his immense excitement.

Who would not be excited by the fact this is the first time that it has been done in Europe? Thats because its hard, he said.

There is a point where the training takes over and you fall into that rhythm of the teams knowing what they need to do.

They know when they need to make the decisions they need to make.

I would say the real achievements here are not the successes that you can necessarily see but all of the challenges that collectively as a team people have overcome.

The culmination of all of that is putting these exciting missions into space. Its the things at the pointy end of the rocket that really matter.

Drop to happen any time now

Monday 9 January 2023 23:11 , Andrew Griffin

The drop ready time has arrived  the rocket is prepared to drop off its plane and head into space.

Rocket on its way to space

Monday 9 January 2023 23:13 , Andrew Griffin

The rocket has dropped and is now burning fuel as it heads up into space.

(Virgin Orbit)

(Virgin Orbit)

First ever satellite launch from Europe successfully blasts off

Monday 9 January 2023 23:13 , Andrew Griffin

Heres our full story on todays successful launch.

Rocket flicking through ground stations as it careens up into space

Monday 9 January 2023 23:18 , Andrew Griffin

The rocket is gradually moving through various ground stations as it sends data back down to Earth. It just switched to Madrid, as it flies south over the globe as well as going upwards.

First burn of second stage complete

Monday 9 January 2023 23:21 , Andrew Griffin

The rockets journey is nearing its end. It just finished the first burn of its second stage. Its got another burn, then that engine will cut off, and then the payload will be deployed and the mission can be declared a success. This bit all happens very quickly.

You can follow all of that live on YouTube here.

(As all this happens, the plane Cosmic Girl is making its way back to land in Newquay. Virgin Orbit isnt really tracking that anymore but you can watch it on FlightRadar here.)

Live stream hit by complaints on YouTube

Monday 9 January 2023 23:28 , Andrew Griffin

The official live stream is currently being hit by a flurry of complaints. The thrust of them is mostly that while the mission might have been a pioneering success, the video of it certainly wasnt.

Complaints have included everything from the music (its true; its just one bland piece of music on repeat, which makes you feel like youre on hold) to technical problems with the video and with glitches. Others just complain its boring  especially since theres very little to see.

Live streams of rocket launches are always hit by complaints of this kind, of course, just like everything on the internet. But they do seem particularly vociferous, here.

Cosmic Girl about halfway home after groundbreaking mission

Monday 9 January 2023 23:30 , Andrew Griffin

Cosmic Girl, the former passenger plane that dropped off the rocket for its big launch, is about halfway back to Newquay as it prepares to land where right back where it took off, about 90 minutes ago.

(FlightRadar24)

Monday 9 January 2023 23:45 , Andrew Griffin

Frustration over the poor quality of the feed is continuing to grow.

This coverage is diabolical! What a let down  its the equivalent of being on hold but on the Tele with crappy music and a diagram that is just a line over the sea. At least its made me laugh #VirginOrbit   Natalie-Eve Williams (@natalieeveradio) January 9, 2023

Historically, Virgin Orbit and Virgin Galactic have been very keen on using these live streams for marketing, showing a wide variety of products as well owner Richard Branson.

But theyve also always been less spectacular than those run by Nasa and rivals SpaceX, presumably in part because those companies have so much more practice.

As a reminder, you can decide for yourself by watching the live feed here:

Mission has failed

Monday 9 January 2023 23:47 , Andrew Griffin

Someone just appeared on the live stream to announce that the rocket suffered an anomaly that means it will fail to reach orbit.

No further information was given, but some was promised soon.

Until then it looks like the mission has failed.

Plane coming back to land

Monday 9 January 2023 23:52 , Andrew Griffin

The live stream is currently showing video of the Cosmic Girl plane coming back to land at Newquay.

(Virgin Orbit)

Theres been no further information given on the stream or anywhere else about what actually happened to the rocket.

Cosmic Girl arrives on the ground

Monday 9 January 2023 23:56 , Andrew Griffin

Cosmic Girl has touched back down at Spaceport Cornwall.

(Virgin Orbit)

On the live stream, the company is hailing the success of the plane part of the mission.

But once more it is notably not giving any detail about what happened to the rocket, or how the mission failed.

Virgin Orbit deletes apparently false tweet about mission

00:00 , Andrew Griffin

Virgin Orbit had previously announced that the rocket had reached orbit, and that it was just waiting for final confirmation of the satellite payload being deployed. But it now says it is deleting that tweet, which appears to have been untrue.

As we find out more, we're removing our previous tweet about reaching orbit. We'll share more info when we can.  Virgin Orbit (@VirginOrbit) January 9, 2023

Virgin Orbit ends live stream  with no information given

00:12 , Andrew Griffin

The already controversial live stream has already ended, with no further information given beyond the rocket having had an anomaly.

A mission controller appeared on screen to announce that the feed would be coming to an end.

We have experienced an anomaly. And we are gathering more information, he said, before thanking Virgin Orbits customers, staff and others involved in the launch.

Were going to be ending our live stream at this pint but please be sure to check our other channels  our social media channels  for more information as soon as its available.

Virgin Orbits social media channels are yet to give any detailed information on what has gone wrong  or even exactly what happened at the end of the launch.

(Twitter/Virgin Orbit)

Launch appears to have gone wrong at the last moment

00:15 , Andrew Griffin

From both the live stream and people on the ground, it sounds like all of the mission went right until the very end. Technical problems appear to have meant that the payload isnt in the right orbit.

That might explain the confusion in Virgin Orbits tweets: its possible that the satellites have made it into orbit, but not on the path needed. (If so theyll likely be useless, and may well just burn up very quickly.)

Failed launch could bring embarrassment for politicians  and major money problems for Virgin Orbit

00:22 , Andrew Griffin

This was a very important launch for a lot of people, who have spent recent days playing up how much of a success it would be.

It could be embarrassing for the politicians who had hailed the launch as a major first step for their plans for the UK to become a space nation, with a range of space ports across the country and the ability to cheaply and easily launch new satellites. Business minister Grant Shapps had appeared during the live stream making such predictions.

But it could be outright worrying for Virgin Orbit itself. The company was spun out of Richard Bransons private space company Virgin Galactic in 2017, with a whole host of hopes about how it could make a success of private satellite launches. Instead, it has struggled to make money, and its share price is down 80 per cent since it was listed last year.

Lots of people had been banking on todays mission being a success, and the first of many. A lot of work will have to be done to try and save that future now.

00:33 , Andrew Griffin

Heres the latest wrap from Reuters in Newquay, on where we are after what appears to have been a failed mission:

The first attempt to launch a satellite from western Europe appeared to have failed early on Tuesday when Virgin Orbit reported an anomaly that had prevented its rocket from reaching orbit.

The mission had left from the coastal town of Newquay in southwest England, with Virgins LauncherOne rocket carried under the wing of a modified Boeing 747 and later released over the Atlantic Ocean.

We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit, the company said. We are evaluating the information.

The apparent failure deals a further blow to European space ambitions after an Italian-built Vega-C rocket mission failed after lift-off from French Guiana in late December.

The rockets have since been grounded.

Virgin Orbit, part-owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, had planned to deploy nine small satellites into lower Earth orbit (LEO) in its first mission outside its United States base.

Launch officials were not immediately available for further comment. The company had earlier said on Twitter that LauncherOne had reached earth orbit, a tweet it later deleted.

A graphic display on an official video feed showed the mission at second-engine cut-off, three steps short of payload deployment about two hours after take-off.

The carrier aircraft, called Cosmic Girl returned to Newquay spaceport shortly after the rocket suffered the anomaly.

You can read our full story on the failure here.

Mission fails after anomaly'

01:45 , Andrew Griffin

What was due to be a breakthrough mission for the UK, Europe, Richard Branson and his private satellite launch company ended in failure and confusion late on Monday night.

Virgin Orbit had intended to use a plane to carry a rocket up to 35,000 feet, before dropping it off to carry itself and its payload of nine satellites into space. It would have been the first ever rocket launch from UK soil, and the first satellites put into orbit from western Europe.

The company initially suggested that the mission had gone well and the satellites had been put into orbit. But soon after it said it had experienced an anomaly, that the payload had not made it after all  and the mission appeared to be a failure.

It could drastically harm the reputation of the fledgling UK space industry, the government that had publicly backed it, and Virgin Orbit, which had looked to be a pioneer and key participant in hopes for a boom for such companies in Britain.

But first engineers will have to work out what actually went wrong during the mission.

In a series of tweets, Virgin Orbit said: We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit. We are evaluating the information.

As we find out more, were removing our previous tweet about reaching orbit. Well share more info when we can.

The plane, and its two pilots, made their way safely back to Spaceport Cornwall, in Newquay, soon after the missions failure was announced. They landed the converted former passenger plane on the same strip from which it had taken off just a couple of hours earlier.

But the mood of tense hope that marked the spectators as they set off had turned to confusion and frustration. Many had waited to watch the rocket as it left, and tens of thousands tuned in from home.

Even before the mission was declared a failure, those watching Virgin Orbits livestream had criticised the production, for failing to give a proper accounting of the missions progress alongside other stylistic and technical problems.

But at the end of that stream, a mission controller appeared on screen to announce that the mission had failed. He gave no further indication of what had happened  even when he returned again to announce the feed was over and to urge people to pay attention to Virgin Orbits other channels for any updates on what had happened.

At the time of writing, no such update was forthcoming. The company only said that it had failed to reach orbit, and that it would share more information as it became available.

On the ground, however, spectators suggested that the rocket had likely suffered issues during its final moments, and so failed to put the payload in the correct orbit. As such, those million-pound satellites were probably on their way to burning up high above the Earth, if they had not already.

Virgin Orbit stock falls after failed UK launch

03:14 , Vishwam Sankaran

Virgin Orbits stock took a plunge on Monday evening after its rocket failed to reach orbit due to an anomaly.

The companys shares fell nearly 30 per cent during extended trading on Monday, dropping as much as below $1.40 per share.

Virgin Orbits mid-air launch system attempted to use a modified Boeing 747 to send nine satellites to space in a rocket that was dropped from under the planes wing mid-flight.

But about half an hour after the rocket was launched, the company announced on Twitter that the launch had an anomaly and that the satellites would not reach orbit.

'Rocket reached space but didn't reach required orbit'

03:30 , Vishwam Sankaran

Matt Archer, commercial space director at the UK Space Agency, said the rockets second stage suffered an anomaly.

He said the rockets first stage burn would have got it into basic orbit, but added that a second stage was needed to put it 500km above the Earth.

That didnt happen tonight and what you have seen is that it has reached space but hasnt reached the required orbit, Mr Archer explained, adding that an investigation in the following days will help understand what caused that technical failure.

In effect, the rocket has not reached the required altitude to maintain its orbit or deploy the satellites, and therefore the mission was unsuccessful, he said.

'Team resilient and would recover from set back'

03:45 , Vishwam Sankaran

Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall, told PA that the launch team was resilient, and would recover from the failed mission.

Were feeling awful, to be honest  Im not going to lie. Its gutting and we all heard at different times and when we got together there were tears, and it was very upsetting, Ms Thorpe told reporters.

We are family and weve been through a lot together. So, when you go through something like this as a family at least you have that support, and we all understand one another, she said.

Ms Thorpe said the horizontal launch part of the mission had gone to plan, adding that she was confident they can embark on another mission.

This isnt the first time weve been knocked, this is the biggest definitely, but I feel okay and well get up and well go again, she said.

Launch failure may cause further problems for Virgin Orbit  report

04:15 , Vishwam Sankaran

Virgin Orbit previously reached orbit on four of its first five attempts.

But the failure to launch its rocket successfully into orbit yesterday may prove disastrous for the company, according to Eric Berger of Ars Technica.

He said this may prove to be a devastating launch failure for Virgin Orbit.

Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne vehicle now has four successes out of six launch attempts. This is not a terrible record for a startup at all. But a failure on a high profile mission, with a company in a precarious financial position, may prove disastrous.  Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) January 10, 2023

This is not a terrible record for a startup at all. But a failure on a high profile mission, with a company in a precarious financial position, may prove disastrous, Mr Berger tweeted.

'Virgin Orbit's horizonal launch had gone to plan'

04:43 , Vishwam Sankaran

Although Virgin Orbits Start Me Up mission to launch nine satellites into orbit failed due to an anomaly yesterday, Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall, said the companys horizonal launch had gone to plan.

In the mid-air launch system, the company used a modified Boeing 747 to carry the rocket up to 35,000 feet, before dropping it off to carry its satellites into space.

But more than half an hour after the rockets first stage did its job, the company said an anomaly has seemingly prevented the rocket from reaching its planned orbit.

Well see how things look over the next little bit. Were here and weve got our licence so it would be great to do it again soon, Ms Thorpe told reporters.

With any kind of failure its how you react to it and for us to get right back up again and were still passionate about what we do, she added

UK science minister thanks teams involved in launch

05:39 , Vishwam Sankaran

Science minister George Freeman thanked the flight, ground crew, mission control team involved in the Virgin Orbit rocket launch.

After a successful launch, rocket fire, release & entry into space, Virgin Orbit reported a problem with orbit trajectory, he said.

Gutting, Mr Freeman tweeted, sharing a John F Kennedy quote We do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard.

ICYMI: What happened in moments leading to Virgin Orbit mission's 'anomaly'

05:52 , Vishwam Sankaran

Virgin Orbits rocket carrier plane, dubbed Cosmic Girl, lifted off from Spaceport Cornwall at 22:02 GMT on schedule.

The modified Boeing 747 plane dropped the companys 21-meter-long LauncherOne rocket about an hour later when it was off Irelands southwest coast.

Virgin Orbits live telecast suggested that the rockets first stage successfully ignited, and its two stages separated over 3 minutes after the drop.

A few minutes following this, Chris Relf the companys director of systems engineering and verification said LauncherOne seemingly suffered an anomaly, which will prevent us from making orbit this mission.

The missions failure has resulted in the loss of nine satellites, including several UK defense cubesats

We will return to orbit as soon as we complete full investigation, Virgin Orbit chief

06:03 , Vishwam Sankaran

Virgin Orbit boss Dan Hart said in a statement that the first-time nature of the mission added layers of complexity.

While we are very proud of the many things that we successfully achieved as part of this mission, we are mindful that we failed to provide our customers with the launch service they deserve, he said.

We will work tirelessly to understand the nature of the failure, make corrective actions, and return to orbit as soon as we have completed a full investigation and mission assurance process, Mr Hart added.

Anomaly occurred during rocket's second stage engine firing, Virgin Orbit says

06:32 , Vishwam Sankaran

Following the rockets release from Virgin Orbits customized 747 and ignition of its engines, it quickly went hypersonic and successfully reached space and continued through stage separation.

But at some point during the rockets second stage engine firing, the system experienced an anomaly while travelling at a speed of more than 17,000 kph (11,000 miles per hour), ending the mission, Virgin Orbit said in an official statement.

We have shown the UK is capable of launching into orbit, but the launch was not successful in reaching the required orbit. We will work closely with Virgin Orbit as they investigate what caused the anomaly in the coming days and weeks, Matt Archer, Director of Commercial Spaceflight at the UK Space Agency, said.

What launch failure could mean for Virgin Orbit

07:19 , Vishwam Sankaran

Before Mondays failed attempt, Virgin Orbit had nailed four of its first five attempts.

While this is a good record overall for a startup space launch company, the company is reportedly still yet to reach a high number of yearly missions.

The space company conducted two launches in 2022, but the number was short of its forecast for four to six missions at the beginning of last year, according to CNBC.

Yesterdays launch was an opportunity for the company to show its investors it was capable of, but its failure has led to its stocks plunging as much as below $1.40/share (-30 per cent) in after-hours trading.

While we are very proud of the many things that we successfully achieved as part of this mission, we are mindful that we failed to provide our customers with the launch service they deserve, Virgin Orbit chief Dan Heart said in a statement.

We will work tirelessly to understand the nature of the failure, make corrective actions, and return to orbit as soon as we have completed a full investigation and mission assurance process, he added.

Rocket burned up in atmosphere after launch failure  report

07:48 , Vishwam Sankaran

Virgin Orbits rocket and the nine satellites it was carrying to low-Earth orbit reportedly burned up in the atmosphere after the launch failed.

The rocket, which was projected to land over water, burned up in Earths atmosphere on reentry, according to New Scientist.

Virgin Orbit said in a statement that at some point during the firing of the rockets second stage engine, the system experienced an anomaly, that ended the mission prematurely.

Although the mission did not achieve its final orbit, the company said its feat still represents an important step forward.

Today we inspired millions, and we will continue to look to inspire millions more. Not just with our ambition but also with our fortitude. Yes, space is hard, but we are only just getting started, Melissa Thorpe, Head of Spaceport Cornwall said.

Nine small satellites lost in Virgin Orbit launch failure

08:06 , Vishwam Sankaran

Virgin Orbits rocket launch failure has resulted in the loss of the nine small satellites it was carrying.

The payloads included small UK defense satellites, one for studying space weather and another studying the ionosphere as well as a navigation satellite co-funded by the European Space Agency.

The satellites were insured, according to the BBC, suggesting the manufacturers and operators will likely be compensated.

While we are very proud of the many things that we successfully achieved as part of this mission, we are mindful that we failed to provide our customers with the launch service they deserve, Virgin Orbit chief Dan Heart said in a statement.

Virgin Orbit shares fall by nearly third after rocket failure

08:45 , Vishwam Sankaran

Virgin Orbit is presently trading at $1.39, with its shares falling by nearly a third  a loss of over $200m.

The companys stock took a plunge as much as below $1.40 per share in after-hour trading yesterday after its rocket failed to reach orbit due to an anomaly.

While the mission did not achieve its final orbit, Virgin Orbit said its feat still represents an important step forward.

We will work tirelessly to understand the nature of the failure, make corrective actions, and return to orbit as soon as we have completed a full investigation and mission assurance process, Virgin Orbit chief Dan Hart said.

'Don't know what caused anomaly,' space agency head says

08:54 , Vishwam Sankaran

Matt Archer, Director of Commercial Spaceflight at the UK Space Agency, said the agency would work with Virgin Orbit to understand what went wrong with the launch.

Over the coming days we will work closely with Virgin Orbit as they investigate what caused the anomaly, Mr Archer said in a statement.

Currently we dont know what caused the anomaly, he said adding that despite the failure, the project has succeeded in creating a horizontal launch capability at Spaceport Cornwall.

There may be another launch at Spaceport Cornwall later this year: Virgin Orbit chief

09:05 , Vishwam Sankaran

Virgin Orbit chief Dan Hart had said before the launch that company may be back at Spaceport Cornwall later in 2023.

Were excited about the future and coming back, maybe as soon as later this year, to launch again and hopefully get a rhythm going, Mr Hart said at a pre-launch press conference.

We want to be a part of the fabric of the space community here in the U.K. as well as globally. Thats our objective as a company, he said.

Following the failed launch, the Virgin Orbit chief said the first-time nature of the mission added layers of complexity.

We will work tirelessly to understand the nature of the failure, make corrective actions, and return to orbit as soon as we have completed a full investigation and mission assurance process, he said in a statement.

Failure of Virgin Orbit launch to reach orbit 'disappointing', space agency head says.

09:27 , Vishwam Sankaran

The UK Space Agencys Director of Commercial Spaceflight Matt Archer said the Virgin Orbit rocket launch result was disappointing.

While the mission could launch the rocket into orbit, it was not successful in reaching the required orbit, he explained.

Mr Archer added that the UK remains committed to becoming the leading provider of commercial small satellite launches in Europe by 2030, with vertical launches planned from Scotland.

More on the space agency heads statement here.

Great thing no-one was harmed, UK Business Secretary says

09:54 , Vishwam Sankaran

UK Business Secretary Grant Shapps expressed hope that the teams behind yesterdays failed launch would go again once they find out what exactly went wrong.

The great thing about this technology is that no-one was harmed. The pilots came back in the aircraft, he told Sky News.

Space is difficult, Mr Shapps said, adding that it a big moment yesterday nonetheless.

ICYMI: Timeline of events that led to Virgin Orbit mission's 'anomaly'

10:32 , Vishwam Sankaran

The jumbo jet Cosmic Girl carrying Virgin Orbits rocket lifted off from Spaceport Cornwall at 22:02 GMT on schedule, and flew to 35,000ft over the Atlantic Ocean.

It then released the 21-meter-long rocket about an hour later off Irelands southwest coast.

The companys live telecast said the rockets first stage successfully ignited, and its two stages separated over three minutes after the drop.

But a few minutes after the rockets upper stage finished a nearly five-minute burn, Virgin Orbit announced that something had gone wrong.

The UKs first ever space launch has failed

We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit. We are evaluating the information. As we find out more, were removing our previous tweet about reaching orbit. Well share more info when we can, the space company tweeted.

At some point during the firing of the rockets second stage engine and with the rocket travelling at a speed of more than 11,000 miles per hour, the system experienced an anomaly, ending the mission prematurely, Virgin Orbit later said in a statement.

The plane returned to Spaceport Cornwall safely as engineers attempted to establish what went wrong.

This isnt the first time weve been knocked, this is the biggest definitely, but I feel okay and well get up and well go again, Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall, said.

Two more sites in UK currently being developed for space launch

10:45 , Vishwam Sankaran

Two more places in the UK are reportedly in the final stages of space launch preparations.

SpaceHub Sutherland in Scotland and SaxaVord Spaceport off the Scottish coast are being developed to serve vertical micro-rocket launches, according to Space.com.

Spaceport Cornwall chief Melisa Thorpe said it cost 20 million ($24 million) to prepare the Newquay airport for the Virgin Orbit launch.

The UK Space Agency has reportedly provided funding for seven sites overall in 2017 to make space-related upgrades.

Indian billionaire hails India's space agency after Virgin Orbit launch failure

11:07 , Vishwam Sankaran

Indian billionaire Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group, hailed the record of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Twitter following the failure of the Virgin Orbit mission.

I recognise that this was a very different type of orbital launch but it stills tells me how much more we should appreciate and admire the launch record of ISRO, he said.

Virgin Orbits mission was planned to be the first-ever rocket to launch from UK soil, as well as the first one carrying satellites to be launched from Western Europe into space.

I recognise that this was a very different type of orbital launch but it stills tells me how much more we should appreciate and admire the launch record of @isro https://t.co/K48TrE5VLy  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) January 10, 2023

Unlike conventional rockets launched from a launchpad, the companys mid-air launch system used a modified Boeing 747 to carry its rocket up to 35,000 feet, before releasing it off to carry its satellites into orbit.

But about an hour after the rockets release, the company said an anomaly appeared to prevent the rocket from reaching its planned orbit.

Launching a spacecraft always carries significant risks. Despite this, the project has succeeded in creating a horizontal launch capability at Spaceport Cornwall, Matt Archer, the UK space agencys director of commercial spaceflight said.

Omans satellite mission faces setback with Virgin Orbit launch failure

11:26 , Vishwam Sankaran

Omans first-ever orbital mission faces a setback with the failure of Virgin Orbits rocket launch mission from the UK.

The Arab countrys satellite, Aman, developed to collect high-resolution satellite photos of Earth, was one of the payloads carried by Virgin Orbits LauncherOne rocket.

The satellite was reportedly a product of collaboration between the Sultanate of Oman, the US, and Poland.

However, the rocket launch failure has resulted in the loss of the nine small satellites it was carrying.

The BBC reported that the satellites were insured, suggesting the manufacturers will likely be compensated.

UK minister called out for seemingly editing out Boris Johnson in Virgin Orbit photo

11:51 , Vishwam Sankaran

Twitter users have called out UK Business Secretary Grant Shapps for seemingly editing out former British prime minister Boris Johnson from a photo he recently shared.

The photo seems sourced from a Virgin Orbit post in June 2022 where then UK prime minister, Mr Johnson, can be clearly seen.

Were happy to report well have the @NatReconOfc onboard a joint mission between the UK and the US later this year in a historic flight out of @SpaceCornwall! This will be the first-ever orbital launch from British soil. More: https://t.co/EWX5IPXBdy pic.twitter.com/sHVKpOKJAm  Virgin Orbit (@VirginOrbit) June 29, 2022

However, in Mr Shapps now-deleted post, prior to Virgin Orbits Monday launch, the former prime minister is seemingly photoshopped out as several Twitter users pointed out.

In a now-deleted tweet by Grant Shapps, former PM Boris Johnson is seemingly edited out of the photo (Twitter)

Local MP says failure was disappointing but hails great achievement

12:48 , Andrew Griffin

This is a great achievement by all involved and a huge milestone in the UKs journey into space.

I am immensely proud of everyone who made this incredible moment happen, especially the team at Spaceport Cornwall, Newquay Airport and Cornwall Council as well as the UK Space Agency and Civil Aviation Authority.

Of course, I want to thank Virgin Orbit as well as numerous Government ministers over the years and particularly Boris Johnson, who while PM was an enthusiastic supporter of this project. Its been a real team effort and shows just what is possible when we all pull together.

The launch is not only a giant leap for the UK, but the Duchy and Cornish space sector as Spaceport Cornwall is transforming our local economy by bringing in investment and creating well-paid jobs as well as inspiring millions of people.

It has now also placed Cornwall at the centre of UKs space programme and shows just what we can achieve. I look forward to seeing what happens next and am excited for the future of the space industry in Cornwall and the UK.

For now, we have so much to be proud of and have shown the world that we can successfully launch from Spaceport Cornwall into space.This is a great achievement by all involved and a huge milestone in the UKs journey into space.

I am immensely proud of everyone who made this incredible moment happen, especially the team at Spaceport Cornwall, Newquay Airport and Cornwall Council as well as the UK Space Agency and Civil Aviation Authority.

Of course, I want to thank Virgin Orbit as well as numerous Government ministers over the years and particularly Boris Johnson, who while PM was an enthusiastic supporter of this project. Its been a real team effort and shows just what is possible when we all pull together.

The launch is not only a giant leap for the UK, but the Duchy and Cornish space sector as Spaceport Cornwall is transforming our local economy by bringing in investment and creating well-paid jobs as well as inspiring millions of people.

It has now also placed Cornwall at the centre of UKs space programme and shows just what we can achieve. I look forward to seeing what happens next and am excited for the future of the space industry in Cornwall and the UK.

For now, we have so much to be proud of and have shown the world that we can successfully launch from Spaceport Cornwall into space.

Payload was insured and Virgin Orbit should recover losses, space agency says

14:10 , Andrew Griffin

Matt Archer, from the UK Space Agency, has said that the satellite load was insured, that Virgin Orbit should recover its losses, and the satellites will break up and what is left should crash into the ocean.

The rocket will probably break up, not all of it will burn up, but certainly thats what they will be tracking at the moment and making sure that it is coming down safely, he said.

The trajectory that it was on shouldnt be anywhere near land.

Mr Archer said the first stage burn would have got the rocket into basic orbit but a second stage was needed to put it 500km above the earth

That didnt happen tonight and what you have seen is that it has reached space but hasnt reached the required orbit, he said.

While it is obviously disappointing that the mission wasnt successful, actually were really proud of the fact that weve delivered so much here and weve created the conditions for launch here.

Weve seen that we can do it and we will look to do it again.

Matt Archer, from the UK Space Agency, said the satellite load was insured and Virgin Orbit would recover its losses.

Rival and fellow space launch company Orbit sends sympathies  and highlights its own technology

16:07 , Andrew Griffin

Orbex Space is another of the companies hoping to start launches from the UK, and turn it into a space nation. The company has addressed Virgin Orbits failure in tweets  but also used the opportunity to highlight its own technology, which relies on more traditional vertical rockets.

We were sorry to learn that US launch firm @VirginOrbits first horizontal orbital space launch from the UK did not go as planned. We know how much time & energy has been invested to deliver that launch attempt & wish the team well for their next mission (1/2)  Orbex Space (@orbexspace) January 10, 2023
The James Sneider Apartments on Chicago's Far North Side where three seniors were discovered dead after residents reported high temperatures are seen May 16, 2022. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

During a week of record-breaking high temperatures in May, three women died inside their sweltering apartments in a Rogers Park senior housing facility. Now eight months since the tragedy, their families will split a $16 million payout for their deaths.

Delores McNeely, 76, Gwendolyn Osborne, 72, and Janice Reed, 68, were found unresponsive in their units at the James Sneider Apartments, at 7450 N. Rogers Ave., on May 14. They all died of environmental heat exposure, according to records from the Cook County medical examiners office.

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There is no excuse for apartment owners or managers to ignore cries for help from their tenants, especially when their main clientele is the elderly, the McNeely familys attorney, Brian Salvi, said in a news release Monday. While nothing will fill the void in her loved ones hearts, we hope this settlement agreement will allow the family to find a bit of closure and begin the healing process.

In the days leading up to the womens deaths, the building had received several complaints from residents about units being too hot and the air conditioning not working, Ald. Maria Hadden, 49th, said at the time. Temperatures in Chicago that week remained consistently above 90 degrees, lawyers for the families said in the news release Monday.

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According to lawyers for the families, temperature readings registered McNeelys and Reeds units at around 103 degrees at the time they were found.

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When they complained about the heat, building residents and Hadden were reportedly given the same erroneous answer: that a Chicago heat ordinance required the building to keep the heat on until June 1.

The ordinance sets a daytime temperature requirement of at least 68 degrees from Sept. 15 to June 1, but has no requirement that the heat has to stay on if temperatures naturally exceed that threshold.

Attorneys Steve Levin and Megan OConnor filed a lawsuit on behalf of Osborne in June. Attorneys Larry Rogers Jr. and Jonathan Thomas filed a wrongful-death lawsuit on behalf of Reed that same month. According to Mondays news release, McNeelys case was settled leading up to filing.

In December, Gateway Apartments Ltd. and Hispanic Housing Development Corp., which own and manage the senior apartment building, agreed to pay a total settlement of $16 million to the womens families. The payout will be split equally between the families of the three women.

Gwendolyn Osborne was a vibrant, intelligent, and dynamic woman. She had so much more life to live. Her death is such a tragedy for her family and friends, said the Osborne familys attorney, Levin. Gwendolyns family hopes this settlement sends a strong message to landlords that they must behave responsibly and if they dont, they will be held accountable.

Reeds son remembered her as a lovely lady who was always in good spirits and very independent. My mom was my father, my mother, my best friend, just everything, he said back in May. She meant the world to me.

adperez@chicagotribune.com
Virgin Orbit's 747 Cosmic Girl, with a 70 ft. rocket strapped below the wing.



Virgin Orbits 747 Cosmic Girl, with a 70 ft. rocket strapped below the wing, on the ground in Cornwall.





Update, 7:08 p.m. ET: Virgin Orbit, after initially declaring that its rocket had reached orbit, said the vehicle suffered an anomaly that prevented it from doing so. The rocket maker said it would update the public when it better understands what happened.



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The launch of nine small satellites from Newquay, England, would have marked the first time spacecraft have been delivered to orbit from the United Kingdom.

The launch was attempted by Virgin Orbit, a publicly-traded American company backed by the British tycoon Richard Branson. Virgin Orbit uses a modified 747 airliner to carry a 70-foot-long rocket 40,000 feet into the air over the ocean, where it is released and fired into orbit.

The payload includes two UK military satellites, Omans first earth observation satellite, a test-bed for in-space manufacturing built by Wales-based Space Forge, and a satellite for Polands SatRev. This is the sixth time Virgin Orbit has launched customer payloads into space, and the first time it has done so outside of the United States.

A successful mission is critical to keeping Virgin Orbit operating as a going concern, boosting the UKs domestic space industry, and maintaining the Wests edge in space over its rivals.

What the launch means for Virgin Orbit

While Virgin launched two missions in 2022, it hasnt met its goals for number of launches or revenue. That has investors deeply concerned about the publicly-traded company (NYSE: VORB), which was spun out of Virgin Galactic, Bransons space tourism firm, in 2017 before going public last year. The companys stock price has fallen nearly 70% since its debut, opening today (Monday) at $1.94 per share.

At the end of September, Virgin Orbit disclosed $71 million in cash on its books, and a burn rate of $140 million in the previous nine months. A November infusion of $24 million from Bransons Virgin group will help keep the lights on, but the company needs to speed up its launch cadence to get more money in the door. A smooth mission today could help win future business from UK government agencies and companies, and tee up as many as six launches in 2023.

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Most of those launches will take place in the US at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. With nothing on the schedule, it may be a year or more before Virgin Orbit flies spacecraft from the UK again.

What the launch means for the UK (and Europe)

While this isnt technically the first launch regulated by the UK (that one occurred in Australia in 1971), its a notable moment to see a commercial rocket company deliver assets to orbit from northern Europe. For the UK, its a notable moment to promote its space industryuniversities in the UK have been major contributors to the boom in small satellites. But the reality of the Cornwall spaceport is that it does not have the infrastructure to support vertically-launched rockets, which has thus far proven the most efficient way to get cargo into orbit.

The bulk of Europes space activity actually occurs in French Guiana, where the EU national champion Arianespace flies its rockets. But Arianespace is having its own troubles: Its new Ariane 6 rocket is still facing delays and hasnt launched yet, it has a limited number of Soyuz rockets due to sanctions on Russia, and its latest small rocket, Vega, failed during a launch late last year.



That means Europe remains dependent on US rocket-builders, and particularly Elon Musks SpaceX, for access to orbit.

The mission today, however, does help cement links between US and UK military and intelligence organizations, which are eager to enhance their ability to surveil and communicate in space. The launch was funded by the US National Reconnaissance Organization, which manages spy satellites for the US government.

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A 6-year-old boy Virginia boy who brought a 9-mm. pistol to school and shot his first-grade teacher, Abby Zwerner, in an incident last week that shocked the nation did so in the middle of a lesson, police said Monday.

Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew had previously only described the shooting at Richneck Elementary School on Friday afternoon as not accidental and did not elaborate on any circumstances.

Drew said Monday that the student pulled the gun out, aimed and fired at Zwerner while she was teaching the class. No students were hurt. The boy was then restrained by another school employee and taken into police custody.

Police said the handgun used in the shooting was legally bought by the childs mother. No charges have been filed against the boys parents.

Authorities have not released any other information about the shooting or what led to it. The boy is receiving treatment at a medical center, officials said.

Under state law, the child cannot be tried as an adult and is too young to go into Juvenile Justice Department custody if found guilty.

Zwerner was reportedly shot in the stomach and rushed to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries, but she was in stable condition Monday.

She is a trouper. She is a hero, Drew said at a news conference. She made sure every one of those kids were out of that room. She was the last one to leave  after suffering a gunshot wound, to make sure her students  were safe.

The school will be closed this week, according to its website.

With News Wire Services
This article originally appeared on Velo News

MAAP teams up with 100% on another limited edition pair of Hypercraft sunglasses

Australian apparel brand MAAP has teamed up with performance eyewear brand 100% on another pair of shades.

This time around its three more seasonal colors of the Hypercraft, an ultralight model that the two brands had previously collaborated on.

"Our fourth collaboration with 100% brings a new lifestyle focused color palette to their most technically advanced Hypercraft sunglasses, said Misha Glisovic, MAAP's creative director and CCO.

The three colors, forest green, deep purple, and bone, have been chosen to complement a wide variety of MAAPs apparel, which is heavy on earth tones and simple color palettes.

The latest MAAP x 100% collaboration involves three new colors.

The Hypercraft shades weigh just 23 grams and come with the usual high performance features from 100%, including coatings to repel water, sweat, grime, and other road debris, as well as grippy temple arms and nose pieces. Theyre available from maap.cc and 100percent.com.

Team DSM renews contract with Scott bikes

Team DSM will once again race on Scott bikes in 2023.

The WorldTour level squad announced a two-year extension with the brand Monday for frames for both its mens and womens teams. The development level team will also ride Scott.

Both the Foil RC aero bike and Plasma time trial bike will be at the teams disposal.

The deal extends to components like seatposts, handlebars, and stems through Scotts Syncros brand. Syncros is also expanding its support of the team by providing saddles starting this season.

Syncros is providing Team DSM with saddles this season.

Shimano provides the components and wheels for the rest of the bike.

For exclusive access to all of our fitness, gear, adventure, and travel stories, plus discounts on trips, events, and gear, sign up for Outside+ today.
Walt Disney World announced three big changes that it promises will bring more value and flexibility while visiting the resort.

Annual passholders will soon be able to visit theme parks after 2 p.m. without having to make a park reservation first, except on Saturdays and Sundays at Magic Kingdom, Disney said.

While the theme park reservation system remains important to manage attendance in our parks, especially on busier days, we realize our Passholders enjoy more spontaneous visits  and this change will make that possible, Disney said in a blog post.

The change will take place in the next few months, Disney said. Pass blockout dates will continue to apply.

READ: Dutch Bros. Coffee brews more local expansion

Also in the next few months, guests who purchase Disney Genie+ will receive digital downloads of their Disney PhotoPass attraction photos taken in the park on the day of purchase at no additional charge.

Passholders will also soon gain access to Disney PhotoPass Lenses and a complimentary Cinderella Castle Mural of Memories experience. A new offering that will allow guests to create and share short Disney-themed video slideshows with favorite photos from theme park visits will also be available soon, Disney said.

Also, effective tonight, complimentary overnight self-parking returns for guests staying at Disney Resort hotels.

READ: Electric: Runners compete in final race at 2023 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend

This is a Disney difference many of you have asked us to bring back, and were happy to reintroduce it to make your vacation a little easier and more affordable  whether youre road tripping across the country, renting a car or vacationing as a local Florida resident, Disney wrote in a blog post.

Hotel guests will continue to receive complimentary standard parking at Disney parks, daily early theme park entry and complimentary on-site transportation.

READ: Disney World previews Moana inspired attraction The Journey of Water

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.
Lawmakers in Washington state returned to Olympia on Monday to begin a 105-day legislative session, the first one fully in person since the COVID-19 pandemic forced lawmakers and the public to often meet and vote virtually.

Today we meet in person for the first time in three years, Lt. Gov. and Senate President Denny Heck said on the Senate floor Monday. Now we will practice democracy in the way originally intended  face to face. Were all glad for that, I think.

The focus on helping people through the pandemic as in years past also has been largely left behind as leaders of both parties in the Democratic-led Senate and House have said top concerns now range from people experiencing homelessness to public safety and gun violence to a workforce shortage affecting all areas of Washingtonians lives.

The bulk of lawmakers work will be to finalize a new two-year state budget.

Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee has urged a housing focus as part of his budget proposal, asking lawmakers to approve a measure to raise $4 billion over six years by issuing bonds to build thousands of housing units. If lawmakers give the OK, the measure would go before Washington voters in November.

Democrats are also proposing to ban assault weapons, require a permit to buy a gun and potentially make gun sellers liable for selling weapons that are used in criminal activity. Those proposals follow a spike in U.S. gun-related deaths and recent successful law-making efforts that banned high-capacity magazines, expanded background checks and mandated better gun storage.

Inslee and Democratic legislators additionally have proposed spending more money for police officer training, including regional training campuses throughout the state.

Democrats also plan to further strengthen reproductive rights in the state, including a push for adding abortion and contraception protections to the state constitution. That move would require support from two-thirds of the Legislature, which would mean some Republicans would need to back it, and their support could be tough to get. If passed, voters also would need to approve it.

The Legislature also includes more women lawmakers this session than ever before at more than 46%, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. With that percentage, Washington state ranks fourth in the country after Nevada, Colorado and Arizona.

People can check in on the action during Legislative session through TVW, which provides nonpartisan coverage of lawmakers committee hearings, floor debates and votes. The public also can continue to have their voices heard virtually.
A photo of Daniel Davis Aston provided by the author. Jude Roth Hausen

Writer Jude Roth Hausen lost her friend Daniel Davis Aston to the Club Q shooting in November.

Her post commemorating Daniel went viral, and she was swallowed in a deluge of online support and sympathy.

Then, she experienced a wave of isolation as she watched that support quickly disappear, she writes.

On November 20th, I woke up at 1:26 pm to the news that there had been a shooting in Colorado Springs at a venue called Club Q. Daniel Davis Aston, one of my closest and oldest friends, was a bartender and assistant manager there. I knew that he had been at work that night, as he was most nights. At 1:33 pm, I frantically sent him a text. I tried to remain calm.

"Hey are you okay?"

It was never answered.

I sat in bed scrolling through Twitter in a panic, trying to find information. At the time, all that had been released was that there were five dead and nineteen injured, and search results only yielded this unhelpful and sterile fact over and over again. I was searching desperately for names but found nothing. I checked my messages every few seconds for Daniel's response. Finally, after scrolling through post after post that shared the same headline, I saw what I was praying I wouldn't find: Someone had posted a photo of my friend with his arm around a fellow bartender named Derrick Rump. The caption read, "Heartbroken to share that we lost these beautiful boys last night."

The following moments were a blur. I ran to my roommate and collapsed to the floor. I sobbed with a kind of theatricality that would come to feel comical later. I couldn't breathe; I couldn't form a coherent thought. It felt as if the walls were closing in around me, like the air had gone out of the room altogether. For over an hour, I weathered the storm until I could finally catch my breath and gain control of my thoughts. Finally, I lifted my head, and I wrote. And hit publish.

The Instagram caption tribute to Daniel that went viral. Instagram / @bannedfrmtinder

I hadn't expected or prepared for the possibility that anyone outside of our circle of mutual friends would see it. My tweet that shared my Instagram tribute to him climbed in numbers across the different platforms. It was reshared, and it accrued thousands of likes, hundreds of comments, and millions of views. I received a deluge of responses, all of them with a central theme: People had been brought to tears, my words were a "gut punch", and they felt as if through my writing about Daniel, they had known him too. I was floored by the reaction  in shock and confused. I was grateful, but still in a haze of processing that obscured that anything happening was real. It hadn't sunk in that he was truly gone, even with thousands of people telling me that they were sorry for my loss.

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The next few days blended together into what felt like one long night. I went through the motions. Online, the messages and comments continued to pour in. I sat motionless and refreshed my Twitter feed continuously for over 18 hours each day. I committed to liking every comment and message. It was all I could do, as I had nothing else to give. It was impossible for me to extend my genuine gratitude to each person when I had so little within myself to give. It was overwhelming, terrifying, and comforting all at once.

The chaos of my online cocoon continued to grow bigger and untethered. It was a whirlwind of interactions  likes, replies, quote retweets, journalists begging for comment, messages of love, support, and shared grief in my inbox. A poem I had written about Daniel climbed in engagement numbers as well, which only added to the sea of responses I felt I needed to acknowledge. Every post across social media platforms seemed to be about the shooting: Joe Biden contacted the owners of Club Q; Celebrities were sending me and others comforting messages; I was even approached to write an article about Daniel. I tried to be the best advocate I could be for him, a mouthpiece of sorts trying to ensure that he would be remembered as the complex, loving, kindhearted activist he was.

'Losing the attention of the public felt, in a way, like losing Daniel twice.'

A photo of Daniel Davis Aston provided by the author. Jude Roth Hausen

Weeks crept by. The news cycle shifted away from coverage of the shooting. Daniel's funeral services came and went. The public returned to their lives. Time continued on, but I stayed in place. I thought that the loss of support would be more gradual, but instead, it was a sharp tapering off into an abrupt silence. One day I woke up and the world no longer seemed to remember or care. There were no more posts about him. No one sharing his photos. No one left to say his name but those of us who knew him.

Despite this, it still felt like a betrayal to talk about anything other than Daniel, or to give the impression that I had moved on. I felt as if I were betraying him by expressing any emotion besides sadness or anger  like smiling before the eyes of the world that had turned away from me. With the position I'd been given, the pedestal upon which my pain had been placed, it was difficult to feel as if there was anything else I was allowed to do. And that truth was something that my audience reinforced.

People didn't understand when I had to find humor in the situation I was in. They projected their own wrenching sadness onto me, and it often felt patronizing. If I tried to share funny stories about Daniel, or about the comical absurdity of the grieving process, I get comments saying it brought people to tears, and that it was a "gut punch." It seemed like those who followed me for the tragedy didn't want to see me moving on, or trying to find things to laugh or smile about. People had come for my viral posts about the eviscerating grief I experienced shortly after the shooting, and they only wanted more of the same.

From the tragedy forward, I felt I couldn't live only for myself anymore  I had to live for him. I had to be a conduit for him, a vessel through which to keep him alive, in any form. This only became harder as the public began to quiet their interest. It became uncomfortably clear that I was sharing my grief, and the process of putting myself back together, with a shrinking audience who seemed to be growing bored and moving on.

Losing the attention of the public felt, in a way, like losing Daniel twice. I experienced a second surge of grief from a mass forgetting where there had been a mass appreciation. As much of a consolation as it is to have been able to share him with the world however briefly, there's a deep loneliness when I'm reminded that those who rallied around his memory can no longer recall his name. In the week following the shooting, having so much focus on Daniel and seeing so many people celebrating him online felt like I hadn't lost him at allbecause he was all around me. I felt him, I saw him everywhere I turned. The tragedy of his death reverberated across queer and trans communities worldwide.

With the world grieving alongside me, it appeared like I was surrounded by support. In reality, however, I was struggling to navigate my grief and I was counting the days until that support inevitably waned. I was left with a mess of complicated emotions; I was truly grateful for having had as much support as I did. but in its absence, I only became angrier and more isolated, coupled with the guilt of feeling greedy for wanting the world to have loved him more.

Many of us have been desensitized by the nature of recurrent tragedies and the increasing speed of the online news cycle. I knew from the start that the focus on Daniel's death was temporary, and that there would come a time that it would disappear. With the 24-hour news cycle's hunger for more information, aided by social media and how fast posts go viral, I saw firsthand just how insatiable we all were for content. I tried to console my feelings of anger and abandonment by telling myself that I was lucky to have been given a few weeks to share my grief with the world, rather than just a few days.

'Everyone else gets to move on, but those of us still mourning Daniel's absence will be left to pick up the pieces alone. '

A photo of Daniel Davis Aston provided by the author. Jude Roth Hausen

There is only so long that an audience can vicariously grieve, especially with a revolving door of new tragedies and stunts to hold our attention. This was one of the most painful realizations: That, to many, my grief was only content to consume voyeuristically. With the demand for more of the same content they had come to see, the process of surviving and carrying on after loss is of little interest. And in a matter of weeks or days, there will be a new round of news articles and viral posts to take its place. Everyone else gets to move on, but those of us still mourning Daniel's absence will be left to pick up the pieces alone.

I am more grateful than I can express for the support I've received in sharing my stories about Daniel with the world. It's more than most people dealing with grief get to experience. For a moment, however short, he was celebrated by millions of people. That alone is a consolation, even if it was brief.

Although it may be selfish, I wish it could have lasted longer. I wish that strangers continued to check in, ask about Daniel, and repost his legacy. I wish that he was remembered more for the joy of his life than the tragedy of his death. I can't say for certain if this would bring me closure; Grief rarely responds the way we want it to. All I can do is adapt, carry on, and ask instead that people make it a point to not forget.

Think of Daniel, Derrick, Kelly, Raymond, and Ashley from time to time. Commemorate them on the anniversaries to come. Don't let this pass by as one of many senseless tragedies to be forgotten. I can't ask the world to share my grief with me forever, but I can ask that others share in the act of remembering  that no one is carrying the memory of their loved ones alone.

Read the original article on Insider
Charismatic nomad Caleb McGillvary, a home-free traveler who called himself Kai, became an internet sensation in 2013 when a local news team interviewed him as an eyewitness to a car crash. Months later, he was arrested for murder. So where is Kai the Hitchhiker now?

His wild story and fall from grace as a viral star to a violent criminal is the basis for the Netflix documentary The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, which dropped on the streaming service on January 10, 2023. On February 2, 2013, a video of Kai was broadcast on Fox affiliate KMPH in Fresno, California. According to his eyewitness account, he had been hitchhiking and was picked up by Jett McBride. The driver crashed into a pedestrian, pinning him between McBrides car and a parked truck.

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Kai jumped out to help; McBride attacked a bystander and, sensing she might be in danger, Kai took a hatchet from his backpack and repeatedly hits McBride with it in the back of the head. He was a hero. But just months later, Kai was arrested for the murder of someone else. Heres the story of a happy-go-lucky nomads ascent to viral stardom and the steep downward spiral that resulted in his imprisonment, per Netflix.

Where is Kai the Hitchhiker now?

For the murder of New Jersey attorney Joseph Galfy, Kai the Hitchhiker is imprisoned at Union County Jail in Elizabeth, New Jersey, listed as inmate number 210329. Its quite a fall from grace from once being a darling of the internet, even though his fame only lasted five minutes. Kai, whose real name is Caleb McGillvary, went viral after recounting an incident to a local TV news crew.

Click here to read the full article.

Story continues

Courtesy of Netflix

A man hed caught a ride with suddenly went berserk, intentionally driving into a utility worker and pinning him between two cars. McBride was said to have told Kai that he was Jesus Christ and could do whatever he wanted. Kai got out of the car to help the pedestrian, but McBride then attacked someone else offering to help. A guy that big can snap a womans neck like a pencil stick, Kai told a local Fox News affiliate. So I fking ran up behind him with a hatchet. Smash, smash, SUH-MASH!

I was blown away, absolutely blown away, cameraman Terry Woods told the Netflix documentary. Because you looked at him, little rough around the edges and then you see the treasure he truly was. Jessob Reisbeck, the FOX reporter, recalled that the first thing he wanted to do was send a loving message to whoever sees this interview. And its powerful, it gives me goosebumps. Indeed, Kai told the news crew: No matter what you done you deserve respect. Even if youve made mistakes, youre lovable. And it doesnt matter your looks, skill, age or size, youre worthwhile. No one can ever take that away from you.

Hailed a hero nationwide, Kais dynamic retelling of the incident even landed an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live and interviews with VICE. Merely months later though, Kai was arrested for beating a 73-year-old lawyer to death in New Jersey. Kai had apparently met Galfy in New Yorks Times Square after spending the night prior sleeping in the Port Authority bus terminal.

The attorney allegedly offered Kai a ride and a place to stay at his home in Clark, New Jersey. Kai was given a few beers and hamburgers, which he told New Jersey police after his arrest that he believed they had been drugged, saying: He had made some burgers, then I dont remember much after that. I woke up on his floor, he was trying to take my pants down and I started hitting him. I just blacked out.

Kai maintained it was an act of self-defense. I was under the influence of god knows what and there is, for all intents and purposes, a naked man over the top of me sexually assaulting me, he said in an interview with Vocativ from 2016. I fought tooth and nail. On the street, like, dont get me wrong, Im a nice guy and stuff. But if youre sleeping underneath a train bridge and you wake up in a situation like that, you gotta fight for your life. Its just a fact for survival on the streets.

Courtesy of Netflix

A friend asked the police to check in on Galfy after his newspapers started to build up in his driveway, which was out of character for the lawyer as he always collected his paper at the beginning of each day. This is how his body was discovered. Investigators used surveillance footage and phone data, among others pieces of evidence, to identify Kai as a suspect and he was arrested in Philadelphia a few days later.

Prosecutors didnt buy his claim of self-defense, saying Kais statements were inconsistent and cited the victims extensive injuriesincluding numerous serious blunt-force injuries to his face, head, neck, chest, and arms, including three skull fractures, four broken ribs, and severe contusions, abrasions, and bleeding, as reported by CBS New York at the time. They also said the cutting of his long hair indicated his guilt and that he was trying to change his appearance to avoid capture. Prosecutors also told the jury that a list of sex offenders was found in Kais bag and suggested that he was seeking vigilante justicea point rehashed in the Netflix documentary.

It took the case six years to get to trial but only four weeks to convict Kai after he appeared in court. He was found guilty and sentenced to 57 years behind bars. Union County Superior Court Judge Robert Kirsch said to him at the time of sentencing: You are crafty, you are cunning, you are disingenuous, and you are manipulative, Kirsch told Kai, describing numerous ways in which the convicted attempted to cover his tracks. And when you become eligible for parole, you will still be younger than Mr. Galfy was when you murdered him.

Courtesy of Netflix

Kai must serve at least 85 percent of the term before the possibility of parole, under the terms of his sentence. Do I feel bad that hes dead? Its a human life, [so] I mean yeah, Kai said during the piece with Vocativ. Do I feel bad that he raped me? I feel embarrassed like I think its disgusting. I feel all sorts of emotions and stuff that I wouldnt wish on anyone else.

In August 2021, Kai bid to have his murder conviction overturned, citing the jury was justified by the evidence and that prosecutors committed misconduct by mischaracterizing the evidence and Kais defense, per the Associated Press. He also accused the trial judge of improperly allowing highly prejudicial expert testimony.

The appeals court noted that the medical examiners testimony showed Galfys injuries were so severe that they were the result of far more than just an effort to thwart a sexual advance, in the opinion of the trial judge. The record does not suggest a miscarriage of justice occurred, the two-judge panel wrote.

The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker is available to stream on Netflix.

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First UK Rocket Launched From Cornwall

NEWQUAY, ENGLAND - JANUARY 09: A general view of Cosmic Girl, a Boeing 747-400 aircraft carrying the LauncherOne rocket under its left wing, as final preparations are made at Cornwall Airport Newquay on January 9, 2023 in Newquay, United Kingdom. Credit - Getty Images; 2023 Getty Images

Not a lot of people have heard of Spaceport Cornwall in the U.K., but last night more than 2,000 paying ticket holders showed up there to watch what was supposed to be the first orbital space launch from British soil. The payload: nine different satellites from both the military and the private sector. The launch company: Virgin Orbit, the U.S.-based operation owned by billionaire Richard Branson. The resultalas: a failure, marking a major setback for both Virgin Orbit and for the U.K.s announced goal of becoming the leading provider of launch services for small satellites in Western Europe by 2030.

Virgin Orbit operates unlike most private and public launch services. Rather than using a vertical rocket that lifts off from a launch pad to reach space, it tucks a small satellite-carrying rocket under the wing of a Boeing 747, flies it to about 10,000 m (35,000 ft.) and then releases it. The first stage of the rocket then fires, boosting itself above the 100 km (62 mi.) line that is the recognized threshold of space; then the first stage drops away and a second stage lights, carrying the payload to orbit.

Since its founding in 2020, Virgin Orbit has successfully pulled off four launches following that exact profile from a spaceport in Californias Mojave Desert. Last night, in the U.K., things did not go as well. The plane took off as planned and the first stage worked perfectly, but, an official statement by the U.K. space agency said, an anomaly prevented the second stage from igniting as it should have, destroying the entire payload of satellites.

While we are very proud of the many things that we have successfully achieved as part of this mission, said Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart in the group statement, we are mindful that we failed to provide our customers with the launch service they deserve. Those customers include the U.K. military and a handful of private companies, including In-Space Missions, which had two Earth surveillance satellites aboard the Virgin Orbit rocket. To have lost those is very upsetting for everyone, Doug Liddle, the companys chief executive, said to the BBC.

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Added Matt Archer, director of commercial spaceflight for the space agency, in the statement: While this result is disappointing, launching a spacecraft always carries significant risks.

For Virgin Orbit, those risks involve its goal of becoming more than a niche player in the space launch business, dwarfed by behemoths like SpaceX, which tallied 61 successful launches of its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket last year alone. We will work tirelessly to understand the nature of the failure [and] make corrective actions, Hart said. But those actions do not prevent one more bruise on the Virgin brand, along with the companys space tourism division, Virgin Galactic, which has promised since 2004 to begin regular suborbital flights for paying space tourists and has yet to deliver on that pledge.

The bigger blow, however, fell on the U.K. The European Space Agency (ESA) regularly launches spacecraft to Earth orbit and beyond aboard its Ariane 5 rocket from a spaceport in French Guiana in South America. Indeed, it was an Ariane 5 that successfully launched NASAs James Webb Space Telescope. But no country has yet launched orbital spacecraft from the European continent.

Britain has a robust satellite manufacturing capability and is able to launch payloads on suborbital lob shots, but it relies on other countries, including the U.S. and New Zealand, to launch the satellites to orbit. Spaceport Cornwall, which only a few weeks ago was an unused cement slab at a commercial airport, was supposed to mark the first step in the countrys space launch independence. The U.K. also has plans to build a facility in Scotland that can launch traditional vertical rockets.

It is absolutely gutting, Melissa Thorpe, the head of Spaceport Cornwall, told the BBC. We put so much into this, but its space and the cliche is its hard. We know its hard.

In a tweet, U.K. science minister George Freeman, echoed that, quoting President John Kennedy, who famously said of the U.S. goal of reaching the moon, We do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

Spaceport Cornwall stands ready to try again, as does Virgin Orbitwhich plans to return to orbit as soon as we have completed a full investigation into the cause of the failure, said Hart.

When that might be is not certain, but the timing of the Virgin face-plant was poor. On the same day the company failed to deliver nine satellites to orbit, competitor SpaceX successfully launched a flock of 40 broadband satellites.
Chinese FM holds phone talks with Russian, Pakistani, S. Korean FMs respectively

Xinhua) 08:34, January 10, 2023

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Monday held phone conversations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin respectively.

The China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era has maintained high-level development, exchanges and cooperation in various fields have been deepened, and the popular support for bilateral friendship has been continuously consolidated, Qin said.

He said China-Russia relations are based on the principle of non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-direction at the third party, noting that China is ready to work with Russia to implement the important consensus reached by the two countries' heads of state and continuously push forward the two countries' relations.

During phone talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Qin said China and Pakistan enjoy a special friendship and high-level mutual trust, and the close high-level interactions between the two countries have injected strong impetus into the development of bilateral relations.

China is ready to work with Pakistan to take the important consensus between leaders of the two countries as a guidance, continuously deepen their traditional friendship, and join hands to forge an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, he noted.

Qin stressed that as the Chinese Lunar New Year is approaching, China pays close attention to the safety of Chinese citizens in Pakistan, and hopes that Pakistan will continue to take effective security measures.

When talking with Park, Qin said China and South Korea are close neighbors that will always live next to each other and partners that cannot be separated, adding that the sound and steady development of China-South Korea relations serves the common interests of the two countries and is the general direction that both sides are continuously working for.

Qin said he would like to forge and maintain good working relationship with Park and jointly implement the important consensus reached by the two countries' heads of state.

He noted that he stands ready to focus on the current situation while taking a long-term perspective, grasp the overall friendly situation and rally cooperation forces, so as to push for steady and long-term development of China-South Korea relations.

Qin also expressed concerns about the recent temporary restrictions taken by South Korea on arrivals from China, and voiced his hope that South Korea would uphold an objective and scientific attitude.

The three foreign ministers congratulated Qin on taking office as the Chinese foreign minister, extended new year greetings for the Year of the Rabbit to the Chinese people, and expressed their willingness to jointly implement the important high-level consensus and work together to continuously promote new achievements in bilateral relations.

Zardari said Pakistan will spare no effort to protect the safety of Chinese personnel, institutions and projects in Pakistan.

Park said South Korea is willing to strengthen cultural and people-to-people interactions and personnel exchanges between the two countries.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
A man and a woman found fatally wounded inside a South Loop building Monday afternoon have been identified, officials said.

Chicago police said the man, 36, and the woman, 45, were found with gunshot wounds to the head shortly before 5 p.m. Monday in a building in the 2000 block of South Indiana Avenue. Police believe the fatal wounds happened between 2 p.m. Sunday and 3 p.m. Monday.

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The victims were identified as Joseph P. Fry, and Leticia Zaragoza, of the same address where they were found, according to the Cook County medical examiners office.

An autopsy Tuesday ruled Zaragozas death a homicide due to multiple wounds to the head, and Frys death a suicide.
Prince Harry's Controversial Memoire Goes On Sale

Copies of Prince Harry's new book 'Spare' on sale in a bookshop in Richmond, London on Jan. 10, 2023 in London, England. Credit - Chris JacksonGetty Images

The British royal family has become practically synonymous with its famous credo never complain, never explain, especially following the Tuesday release of Prince Harrys memoir Spare, in which he dedicates 416 pages to doing a fair bit of both.

Despite that, it may all be for naught. According to a recent survey of about 1,700 U.K. residents by the British pollster YouGov, over half (54%) of the British public have a favorable view of the monarchy as an institution, though that figure has declined from 60% in November after Queen Elizabeth IIs death. The survey, which was conducted from Jan. 5 to 6, came amid a steady drip of revelations leaked from Spare ahead of its official release, including the allegation that Prince William assaulted Harry.

The one glaring exception to Spares impact may be on the person Harry least expected. The same survey found that Harrys own popularity among Britons has fallen to its lowest point since YouGov began tracking it more than a decade ago, with just over a quarter (26%) having a positive opinion of him compared to nearly two-thirds (64%) who have a negative one. This decline is even seen among younger Britons who have historically been more sympathetic to the Duke of Sussex.

Harrys popularity has been steadily declining since November 2017 (a period that coincides with his engagement to Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex), according to YouGov, with its steepest drop occurring in January 2020, when Buckingham Palace announced that the Sussexes would no longer be working members of the royal family. The only other royal to experience a dip in popularity is his brother William, whose favorability has declined far more modestly by comparisonfrom 77% in December to 69% in early January. Attitudes toward the remaining royals such as King Charles, Kate Middleton, and Markle remain largely unchanged at 60%, 69%, and 23%, respectively.

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Read More: Why the Royal Family Hasnt Responded to Prince Harrys Memoir

The lack of movement in British public opinion when it comes to the royal family isnt wholly surprising. As an institution, the monarchy has long enjoyed broad, albeit declining, support among Britons, even if several of its individual members have not. And while the promotion of Spare has shed light on several concerning aspects of royal lifefrom the claim that Harrys own family were behind negative stories that appeared about him and his wife in the British tabloid press to the archaic rules governing details as seemingly minute as beard lengthsthe revelations appear to have largely passed most Britons by.

This may be explained at least in part by Britons pre-existing views of the Sussesexs, whose decision to quit England for a warmer California coastline may have been regarded by some as a kind of defection. But it may also be explained by the very British preference for having a stiff upper lipthe stoic quality that, by pulling back the palace curtains on the reality of royal life or (or, in Harrys telling, taking ownership of his own story), Harry betrayed.

In Britain, I think its part of our DNA, Richard Fitzwilliams, an expert on the royal family, says of the monarchy, noting that while Harrys estrangement represents a serious fissure within the family, its nothing that the institution hasnt faced before. There is a dysfunctionality about the monarchy, about the way the family is forced to behave, adds Fitzwilliams, but then, on the other hand, that makes it even more fascinating.

If the Sussexes can count on more support, however, it is in the United States. By and large, Americans tend to be more sympathetic to the Sussexes than Brits, particularly among those who see the royal couple as taking a stand against the racism that Markle encountered in Britain. It helps that the U.S., home to monarchists and Anglophiles alike, tends to view British royalty as an extension of celebrity culture, rather than representatives of a sacrosanct institution.

But if the Sussexes arent careful, they could run the risk of alienating their American sympathizers, too. Everyone has a family, I have arguments with my familyam I going to put that out there for the whole world to see, said CNN anchor Don Lemon. I know hes selling a book, but to me its just  gauche.

Weve all just fallen down some wormhole where we will never be free of hearing every single detail of Prince Harrys life, tweeted American television personality Meghan McCain. This is never going to end. Hes never going to let us live!
A Wisconsin woman has been jailed for allegedly poisoning her veterinarian husbands coffee with animal euthanasia drugs, authorities said.

Amanda Chapin, 50, was arrested late last month for allegedly repeatedly poisoning her 70-year-old husband, Gary Chapin, with barbiturates. She was officially charged on Dec. 28 with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, officials said.

According to a criminal complaint, the Wisconsin woman poisoned her spouses coffee on three separate occasions between July and August, the Wisconsin NBC affiliate WJFW-TV reported. The third dose of poison put Gary Chapin in a coma for four days.

Barbiturates were later found in the elderly veterinarians system after bloodwork was conducted during his hospitalization. The lab results indicated the barbiturates were the same drugs used to euthanize animals.

His coma came less than a year after the newlywed couple was married in March, according to online court records.

RELATED: California Dermatologist Accused Of Trying To Poison Husband With Drano

After their wedding, Amanda Chapin allegedly forged her husbands signature on power-of-attorney court documents for one of Gary Chapins children, the Associated Press reported. She then requested her spouse alter a property deed to award her homeownership in the event of his demise. The criminal complaint alleges she initially poisoned her husband less than three weeks after the quitclaim deed  a deed that indicates a no-sale transfer of property, according to Investopedia  on the house was approved, per the Associated Press.

A police handout of Amanda Chapin

Amanda Chapin Photo: Lafayette County Sheriff's Office/AP

Gary Chapin has since filed for divorce, per additional online court records, the Associated Press reported. Following his hospitalization, his son also filed a restraining order against Amanda Chapin on his father's behalf, according to reports.

In September, the Wisconsin woman allegedly violated the court order by emailing Gary Chapin a suicide note. In the note, Amanda Chapin denied poisoning her estranged husband. She also explained shed decided to kill herself, suggesting her spouses children would seek to ruin her name.

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The only thing I am guilty of is loving you SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH, Amanda Chapin allegedly wrote in the suicide note, per the cases complaint.

Tanya Rodriguez featured on Accident, Suicide or Murder

Amanda Chapin was rushed to a nearby hospital after carrying out the failed suicide attempt. She survived the incident. Gary Chapin filed for the divorce the next day, per the Associated Press.

Chapin was booked into a Lafayette county detention facility on Jan. 1, a sheriffs spokesperson confirmed to Oxygen.com. Shes being held on a $10,000 bond. No other information has been released by officials.

A lawyer for the accused 50-year-old has since denied the allegations.

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Under the constitutions of this state and this nation, Ms. Chapin is innocent and has the right to due process under the law," attorney Adam Witt said in a statement to The Associated Press on Thursday. We will continue to assert her fundamental constitutional rights, as they are the only protection a citizen has against the state.

Oxygen.com has reached out to Witt for further comment on Monday.

Chapin has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 12, according to jail records.
Wolves have written to Howard Webb to demand an explanation for the VAR controversy at Liverpool.

Boss Julen Lopetegui is still unhappy Wolves were denied victory in their 2-2 FA Cup draw at Anfield on Saturday.

They were forced to settle for a replay due to a lack of camera angles for a VAR call when Toti Gomes scored in the second half.

Referee Andy Madeley upheld the offside call against Matheus Nunes and Wolves have sent the clubs own footage to Webb  chief of referees body the PGMOL.

Lopetegui said: Of course I have seen the images on the internet. I have my opinion, we have sent our comments and we are waiting for an explanation.

I talked after the match and now we have sent our comments but its very clear something has happened. Its important to forget all the Liverpool issues, the injuries and to put the focus on the match (at Nottingham Forest).

Wolves now go to Forest on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup quarter-final.

Lopetegui remains without Pedro Neto (ankle), Boubacar Traore (groin) and Sasa Kalajdzic (knee) with Daniel Podence a doubt.

And the boss feels their clash at the City Ground will present more of a challenge than Anfield.

I am sure it will be a much harder game than Liverpool and different for different reasons, he said.

We have to be ready to have different answers but we are fighting for one semi-final (place). We have to be ready to go to the bus thinking and knowing it will be a hard task. We have ambition to overcome a good team.

They have very good players, I know a lot of them and they have a very good squad. In the Premier League every squad has good players because its the best league in the world.

They are going to be a different team. Im sure well have a very hard match.
A screenshot of Molly Flaherty's home on Airbnb before it was removed from the vacation-rental site. Airbnb

On Christmas, Molly Flaherty came home to find a family on her doorstep. They'd booked it on Airbnb.

But Flaherty said she never listed her home on the vacation-rental site.

The renters reported the issue and received a refund, and the listing was eventually removed.

When Molly Flaherty walked up to her home in Philadelphia on Christmas night, she was shocked to find four people huddled around her lockbox at the steps to her front door.

"It was 10 o'clock at night, so I was a little scared at first," Flaherty told Insider. "Were these people that were trying to break into my house? Or were they at the wrong house? I even thought was there something wrong with my house? Was there gas or smoke or something?"

The group seemed more confused than anything, she said, so she approached them and introduced herself as the homeowner.

Nicole Brunet, who was standing at the lockbox, told Flaherty she'd rented the property on Airbnb for her parents, who were visiting for the holidays from California, Brunet told Insider.

But Flaherty had never listed her home on the vacation-rental website.

The listing was real, but Flaherty didn't make it

Brunet said she initially thought she might have the wrong address, and Flaherty assumed the same.

But when Brunet pulled up the Airbnb listing, Flaherty said the address and photos matched her house.

Flaherty shared screengrabs of the listing  which has since been removed from Airbnb  with Insider. She said the images of the home's interior were taken before she bought it in 2020.

After Flaherty insisted she'd never listed her house as a vacation rental on Airbnb, Brunet realized she'd been scammed, Brunet said.

It's what Airbnb calls an "account takeover," when a scammer steals an Airbnb owner's password.

An Airbnb representative told Insider that the listing for Flaherty's home technically wasn't fake but was an outdated listing that was likely reactivated by a scammer.

The Airbnb listing for Flaherty's home showed a favorable rating and over 100 reviews. Airbnb

The screengrabs showed that the listing had a 4.7-star rating and more than 100 reviews when Brunet reserved it.

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"I'm a tech-savvy person," Brunet said. "I read reviews. I looked at the pictures. I walked by the house before I rented it to make sure my parents would be happy there.

"That's the craziest part about this whole thing," she continued, adding that the listing "had every component of a real account." The experience, she said, has "shattered" her trust in Airbnb.

In a statement sent to Insider, the company said that "issues like this are rare, and we were disappointed to learn about it." It added, "We provided support to the guests at the time to help make things right, including a full refund, and have deactivated the listing."

Brunet said that when she reported the listing to Airbnb that night, the company offered to book them another Airbnb. But she said there was "no way" she was going to do that since "there was no way for me to tell if they were real or fake."

Instead, Brunet found her parents a room at a nearby hotel that she said they paid for out of pocket. A few hours later, Brunet said, she received a full refund from Airbnb. She said she spent more than $1,000 for the week's stay.

Flaherty said she came home to strangers at her door on Christmas. Molly Flaherty

Flaherty said it took a week for the listing to be removed from Airbnb

Flaherty also reached out to Airbnb on Christmas to alert it that the listing wasn't legitimate. She hoped it would be taken down quickly, but she said it remained active for a week.

Fearing that other people had booked a stay at her house, Flaherty put a note on her front door that read: "If you rented this address through Airbnb it is a fraudulent listing. This is not a rental. Airbnb has been contacted multiple times."

The note Flaherty posted on her front door. Molly Flaherty

Flaherty said she was constantly refreshing the listing and checking its calendar for any indication that it had been booked and that she could expect strangers at her front door. Luckily, she said, it seemed that no one else had booked the Airbnb in the near future.

Still, Flaherty said she worried each time she left her house that she'd come home to strangers. "I didn't feel comfortable thinking that anyone could show up at my house at any time  day or night  thinking that they could get in," she said.

The following week, Flaherty reached out to Airbnb numerous times to get the listing removed, she said.

She said she was told a specialized team was looking into the situation. But as the listing remained active, she turned to other strategies. She had friends and family report the inaccurate listing and sent Airbnb a link to a Philadelphia database that listed her as the property's owner.

"After several days of back-and-forth, I was pretty much told that I was considered a third party because I wasn't the host and I wasn't a renter," she said, adding that she was told that "Airbnb doesn't arbitrate these disputes." An Airbnb representative said the company has to perform its due diligence when a third party makes a complaint.

It wasn't until Flaherty reached out to The Philadelphia Inquirer to share her story  and the reporter Ximena Conde followed up with Airbnb for comment  that the posting was removed, Flaherty said.

Flaherty said she never received confirmation that the listing was taken down. Airbnb's representative said this was likely because of privacy concerns since Flaherty was considered a third-party member.

Flaherty said she was frustrated by how long it took for the listing to be removed from Airbnb's website. "I would think that if you're getting that much feedback, it'd be something that you might want to pay attention to," she said. "And they really didn't seem, to me, to have any concern whatsoever."

Flaherty said the incident added stress to a holiday season she'd hoped would be relaxing. "I had holiday time and plans with friends and family," she said. "I didn't enjoy that time as much because I was worried about this."

Read the original article on Insider
A Wichita woman who shot her 40-year-old sister to death in the 2400 block of North Green on May 15, 2021, is headed to prison for at least 25 years, according to Sedgwick County District Attorneys Office spokesman Dan Dillon.

Wichita police found Shawna D. Webbs body face down in a pool of blood in her home, near 21st and Grove, after Joy Lynn Wilson told a nurse and doctor at a local hospital where shed checked herself into a psychiatric ward that shed shot her sister and needed a lawyer, court records say. Wilson, whose defense attorney argued had a history of mental health issues during competency proceedings last year, told police who responded to the hospital that everyone is out to kill her and that her sister needed help, a probable cause affidavit released in the case says.

The coroners office found Webb had been shot nine times in the chest, back and abdomen and four times in the arms. Police found 15 spent cartridge casings in the house and a 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun in a Chevy Trailblazer Wilson drove.

Wilson, 36, pleaded guilty in November to an amended charge of first-degree felony murder. Judge Seth Rundle on Friday sentenced her to life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years, Dillon said.
The market for ultra-aged spirits, particularly single malt scotch, is hotter than ever. Look no further than the bottles of The Macallan approaching 100 years old that have broken auction records recently. But its not just aged whisky getting collectors attention anymore, because what the Guinness World Records calls the oldest known rum just sold for nearly 30 grand.

The bottle in question is a 1780 vintage rum that was distilled in Barbados on the Harewood estate, which was discovered in the cellar of the Harewood House in the UK by two wine trade professionals in 2011. The rum was originally auctioned off by Christies in 2013 for $9,500, but most recently Miami spirits company Old Liquors Inc. sold the bottle to a private collector in Switzerland for $29,999. According to the Christies website, there were 59 bottles in total of dark and light rum, but only 23 were suitable for sale because the quality of many had deteriorated so much.

More from Robb Report

We are proud to be a part of the world of fine rum collecting, said Old Liquors Inc. head Bart Laming in a press release. This sale is a testament to the enduring appeal of rare and exceptional spirits. We look forward to continuing to bring our customers the best in rare and premium spirits from around the world. The company manages the astounding spirits collection of one Bay van der Bunt, with more than 10,000 bottles in its Doral, Florida cellar including 18th and 19th century vintages of Cognac, Port, Madeira and scotch.

Given where and when this Harewood vintage rum was distilled, it is worth noting that its a relic of an era when slavery was a fact of life in the Caribbean. Christies has traced the bottle back to a family that built its fortune in the sugar industry, which was intrinsically linked to the slave trade at the time. To that end, the original Christies sale proceeds went to benefit the Geraldine Connor Foundation. This organization, named after a woman who was deeply involved in the West Indian steel band music community in the UK, works to help youth get involved in the performing arts.

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If youre interested in perusing the Old Liquors catalog, you can check out the website for yourself.

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HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe on Tuesday signed a bill into law that outlawed organised protests by healthcare workers who could now face a fine or an imprisonment of up to six months.

The signing by President Emmerson Mnangagwa comes after health workers were locked in a protracted fight with the government over poor salaries last year.

Thousands of nurses and doctors at state-run hospitals in the southern African country went on strike last year demanding a hefty raise and wages in U.S. dollars due to a slide in the local currency and steep inflation that eroded the value of their earnings.

An exodus of doctors and nurses has left Zimbabwean hospitals understaffed, with over 4,000 health workers leaving the country since 2021, the country's Health Services Board said in November.

Many nurses in Zimbabwe earn less than $100 a month.

(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Alexander Winning and Conor Humphries)
Critics say that Japan's comics often feature young teenage girls engaged in inappropriate acts, with exaggerated body parts but facial features that look like those of kids.

As many countries are banning or restricting those manga, there's more and more criticism and concerns toward Japan's anime and manga industry about it. ...continue reading

North Korean missile prompts brief evacuation order in Japan

Al Jazeera - Apr 13

The Japanese government has reassured citizens on its second largest island, Hokkaido, that a missile from North Korea is no longer likely to land on or around its territory, lifting a previously issued evacuation order. The Japanese government has reassured citizens on its second largest island, Hokkaido, that a missile from North Korea is no longer likely to land on or around its territory, lifting a previously issued evacuation order.

Japan likely to approve first casino

NHK - Apr 13

Japan's government may soon sign off on a proposal to build the country's first resort to feature a casino. Japan's government may soon sign off on a proposal to build the country's first resort to feature a casino.

The Incredible engineering behind Japanese castles

Simple History Live - Apr 13

Japanese castles are some of the greatest marvels of medieval Japanese engineering. Being products of a unique defense phylosophy, lack of certain materials, Japanese mythology and thousands of man hours gave them a unique and beautiful look. Japanese castles are some of the greatest marvels of medieval Japanese engineering. Being products of a unique defense phylosophy, lack of certain materials, Japanese mythology and thousands of man hours gave them a unique and beautiful look.

'Stage is set': Japan startup eyes moon landing late April

azertag.az - Apr 13

A commercial space startup in Japan on Wednesday said its Hakuto-R Mission 1 Lunar Lander is expected to touch surface of the moon late April, making it the first private company in the world to reach the celestial body, according to Anadolu Agency. A commercial space startup in Japan on Wednesday said its Hakuto-R Mission 1 Lunar Lander is expected to touch surface of the moon late April, making it the first private company in the world to reach the celestial body, according to Anadolu Agency.

Japan's population declines for 12th straight year

NHK - Apr 13

Japan's population has shrunk for the 12th year in a row. But, Tokyo's population has increased for the first time in two years. Japan's population has shrunk for the 12th year in a row. But, Tokyo's population has increased for the first time in two years.

Living in the secret world of sumo in Japan (rare footage)

Yes Theory - Apr 13

We've spent more than seven years and have traveled to Japan on multiple occasions and each time attempted to gain close-up access to an ancient practice very secretive to the outside world. We've spent more than seven years and have traveled to Japan on multiple occasions and each time attempted to gain close-up access to an ancient practice very secretive to the outside world.

Green groups target Japan's mega banks on climate action

Business Mirror - Apr 12

INVESTOR activist group Market Forces and other environmental nonprofits filed shareholder proposals with several Japanese megabanks and utilities, seeking to require them to disclose more specific plans on how they will work to meet climate targets set by the Paris Agreement. INVESTOR activist group Market Forces and other environmental nonprofits filed shareholder proposals with several Japanese megabanks and utilities, seeking to require them to disclose more specific plans on how they will work to meet climate targets set by the Paris Agreement.

"Reading the Air" in Japan: Why it matters

Japanese Comedian Meshida - Apr 12

To live in Japanese society having the ability to read the room is more important than anything else. To live in Japanese society having the ability to read the room is more important than anything else.

Yellow sand likely to reach Japan on Wednesday, weather officials say

NHK - Apr 12

Japan's weather officials expect yellow sand to reach the country on Wednesday. Japan's weather officials expect yellow sand to reach the country on Wednesday.

Annual Tokyo fireworks festival to be held for 1st time in 4 years

Kyodo - Apr 12

A major annual firework festival in Tokyo will be held this summer for the first time in four years after the display was repeatedly canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event's organizer said Tuesday. A major annual firework festival in Tokyo will be held this summer for the first time in four years after the display was repeatedly canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event's organizer said Tuesday.

Panel to suggest ending Japan's controversial 'trainee' scheme

breitbart.com - Apr 11

A Japanese government panel is set to recommend the closure of a controversial vocational training scheme for young people from developing countries, an immigration official said Tuesday. A Japanese government panel is set to recommend the closure of a controversial vocational training scheme for young people from developing countries, an immigration official said Tuesday.

Japans house price increases moderating

globalpropertyguide.com - Apr 11

The average price of existing condominiums in Tokyo rose by 4.8% (inflation-adjusted) in 2022 from a year earlier, a sharp slowdown from a year-on-year increase of 10.65% in the prior year. The average price of existing condominiums in Tokyo rose by 4.8% (inflation-adjusted) in 2022 from a year earlier, a sharp slowdown from a year-on-year increase of 10.65% in the prior year.

As summer heat looms, Japan urged to curb impact, emissions

Japan Today - Apr 11

Temperatures are rising in Japan and summer is coming fast. Cherry blossoms bloomed sooner than ever before, chiffon-pink thats traditionally heralded spring for the nation popping up just two weeks into March. Temperatures are rising in Japan and summer is coming fast. Cherry blossoms bloomed sooner than ever before, chiffon-pink thats traditionally heralded spring for the nation popping up just two weeks into March.

Man goes on rampage with tent peg in Osaka supermarket, injuring 4

NOJ / YTV NEWS - Apr 10

A 56-year-old man has been arrested for attempted murder after attacking customers and a store clerk with a tent peg at a supermarket in Osaka. A 56-year-old man has been arrested for attempted murder after attacking customers and a store clerk with a tent peg at a supermarket in Osaka.

11-yr-old Japan dancer takes top prize in youth ballet competition

Kyodo - Apr 10

An 11-year-old male Japanese ballet dancer won the top prize Sunday for his age group at a major international ballet competition for young dancers seeking to become professionals. An 11-year-old male Japanese ballet dancer won the top prize Sunday for his age group at a major international ballet competition for young dancers seeking to become professionals.
In a sworn deposition made public over the weekend, an ex-aide to embattled Chicago Ald. Jim Gardiner said the alderman was obsessed over criticism on his wards Facebook page, referring to his detractors as rats and vowing to rid the ward of them.

He would constantly make comments to me such as, Im going to eradicate the ward of rats, and Im not talking about the kind with four legs,  Tanya King, who served as Gardiners chief of staff early in his tenure, testified under oath in September as part of an ongoing lawsuit over Gardiners Facebook practices. He had an agenda to go after certain people once he was in office.

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King, who left Gardiners office in 2019 after just six months on the job, described the aldermans allegedly long list of perceived enemies, including the commissioner of the Six Corners Association, the owner of a Portage Park yoga studio, and an elderly community activist whod been critical of him in the past.

She was older, had grayish hair, she wore glasses, King testified about the activist, according to a transcript filed Saturday in U.S. District Court. He really hated her. He really had it in for her.

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In a deposition of his own, Gardiner denied having had much to do at all with monitoring his Facebook page, saying he left it mostly to his employees  including King  to make sure that no one was posting harassing material that would demean others or dox somebody or try to bring any type of unnecessary insults toward someone.

The goal of his ward Facebook page was to simply to have a dialogue ... without feeling, you know, threatened, the alderman said in the Sept. 20 deposition, which was done by video from his mothers house.

Gardiner also said that he believed King had cleared the blocking of certain individuals with the Chicago Board of Ethics, according to the deposition transcript.

In a lengthy written statement to the Tribune late Monday, Gardiners campaign denied he ever called anyone a rat, saying he is a dedicated public servant committed to making Chicago work for all of its residents.

Contrary to what has been reported or stated by Ms. King, he did not refer to anyone as a rat as alleged in the fabricated narrative by a former disgruntled employee, the statement read. Alderman Gardiner believes in freedom of speech as well as the responsibility that comes with it.

The alderman also denied King was ever chief of staff, calling her an aide responsible for duties such as managing social media accounts and responding to the concerns of constituents.

The public filing of the depositions marked the latest controversy for Gardiner, a Chicago firefighter who is seeking a second term in the city election next month after a roller coaster four years in office.

The lawsuit filed in 2021 by 45th Ward resident Pete Czosnyka and five others alleged Gardiner violated the First Amendment rights of constituents who were critical of him on social media by deleting their comments from his official Facebook page and blocking them from posting in the future.

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Gardiners attorney has argued that even if the alderman deleted certain comments or Facebook posts from his wards Facebook page, he is immune from civil damages because he was engaged in a discretionary government function at the time.

In addition to that case, Gardiner and his ward boss and right-hand man, Charles Sikanich, are facing another federal lawsuit alleging they had a man harassed, intimidated, and ultimately falsely arrested after hed picked up a cellphone that Gardiners ward superintendent had inadvertently left at a 7-Eleven.

Sikanich, meanwhile, is scheduled to go on trial in March on state weapons charges alleging he was trying to sell an illegal MP 40 machine gun.

Meanwhile, Gardiner is also under federal criminal investigation involving his conduct in office, including whether he retaliated against constituents for political purposes, sources have told the Tribune. Investigators are also looking into allegations of potential political corruption, sources said. No charges have been filed in that ongoing probe.

Gardiner did not respond to messages left Monday at his ward office. His attorney, Thomas Carroll, was not immediately available for comment.

The Facebook lawsuit alleged Gardiner created a Facebook page specifically for his role as a public official, making it subject to First Amendment protections. The plaintiffs alleged Gardiner permanently banned them from commenting on the page and also retaliated in various ways, including taking screen shots of their posts and directing supporters to attack or harass them online.

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In one instance, according to the suit, Gardiner posted a video on Facebook of him visiting Czosnykas block on North Menard Avenue in October 2020 with a caption thanking our friends who came out today to acknowledge our efforts to improve long overlooked infrastructure issues on their street.

In the post, which Gardiner ended with the hashtag #Besties, Czosnyka could be seen in the background, standing on his porch.

In his deposition, Gardiner repeatedly said he could not recall why he put the Besties hashtag on the post or decided to film the video right in front of Czosnykas home, even though hed been blocked from commenting on the wards Facebook page.

We often go out into the community and tell the community what projects were working on, and we often make mention of where we are, Gardiner said, according to the transcript.

Was it a sarcastic joke about how much bad blood between yourself and Mr. Czosnyka? asked the plaintiffs attorney, Adele Nicholas.

I dont have any bad blood with Pete Czosnyka, Gardiner replied.

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In her testimony, King said that from the moment he took office, Gardiner was on the Facebook page 24/7 obsessing over posts and responding to them constantly.

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He would text me at six oclock in the morning, Did you see this?  she said. He would call me at nine oclock at night, Did you see this? It was constant.

She also said that Gardiner was well aware of guidance from the citys Board of Ethics over how aldermen should administer their wards social media pages, but that she never tried to get him to institute his own written policy because he was very difficult to work with.

He would threaten. He would constantly question loyalties, King testified, according to the transcript. And you always knew kind of how far you could go with him. And a lot of times there were just fights I didnt want to take.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman is expected to rule on dueling motions for summary judgment in the case sometime this year.

In denying a previous motion by Gardiners attorney to dismiss the allegations, Coleman wrote that court precedent clearly states when the government or a government official uses a social media account for official business, the interactive portions of the social media platforms are public forums for First Amendment purposes.

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Gardiner, whose Northwest Side ward contains portions of Old Irving Park, Jefferson Park and Portage Park, is in a six-way race in the Feb. 28 city election.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday announced a new round of funding that will soon be open to support Summer Youth Internship opportunities across Iowa.

A total of $379,000 will be available for Future Ready Iowas Summer Youth Internship Program grants, which support the creation of internship programs for Iowas youth between the ages of 14 and 24 that help prepare them for high-demand careers in the workforce, according to a press release from Iowa Workforce Development.

The grants have helped support the summer internship program offered by Avenue Scholars Southwest Iowa (formerly known as CareerEdvantage), according to Executive Director Cara Cool Trede.

Our organization was awarded this the past two summers  $25,000 in 2021 and $50,000 in 2022, she said. The funds were used to support over 100 students placed in paid summer internships throughout southwest Iowa.

We were able to use a portion of the funding to reimburse business partners (of Avenue Scholars SWI) that hosted Avenue Scholars SWI students as interns, Cool Trede said. Another portion of the funds were provided to Avenue Scholars SWI students in internships to cover transportation-related costs.

As for this coming summer, Avenue Scholars has some solidified businesses to host summer interns, and we are seeking others, she said.

Applications for this years Summer Youth Internship Program Grants will be accepted on IowaGrants.gov beginning Jan. 16. The deadline for applications is Feb. 28 at noon.

One of the most important steps we can take as a state is to support our youth with meaningful opportunities that prepare them for future employment in Iowa, Reynolds said in the press release. These grants not only help our youth by exposing them to high-demand careers, they focus that support on those who may already face barriers to employment. I encourage employers, nonprofits and eligible organizations to apply for this great opportunity.

Eligible applicants for Iowas Summer Youth Internship Program include nonprofits, educational institutions, employers and community organizations. The target audience for participants includes high school youth who are at risk of not graduating, youth who are from low-income households, youth who are from communities underrepresented in the Iowa workforce or youth who otherwise face barriers to success and upward mobility in the labor market.

Summer internships continue to be a valuable asset for our youth, as well as the employers and organizations that sponsor their workforce experience, said Beth Townsend, director of Iowa Workforce Development. We continue to support unique ways to build Iowas pipeline. Offering this grant early in the year will help maximize opportunities for overall recruitment.

Awarded funds may be used to support the following:

Participant wages (minimum of $12/hour)

Participant compensation as a result of completing the program

Training resources (i.e., curriculum, internet access, software)

Program supplies and materials (i.e., uniforms, computers, books, tools, consumable items; less than $5,000 per item)

Direct transportation costs for participants and trainers

Program coordination (i.e., wages for day-to-day staff who directly support program participants)

Administrative costs (limited to 10%)

While not required, applicants are strongly encouraged to co-enroll Summer Youth Internship participants with the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Title I Youth Program in their local area.
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...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 8 PM CDT THURSDAY FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR ALL OF EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA... * Affected Area...In Iowa, Monona, Harrison, Shelby, Pottawattamie, Mills, Montgomery, Fremont and Page. In Nebraska, Knox, Cedar, Thurston, Antelope, Pierce, Wayne, Boone, Madison, Stanton, Cuming, Burt, Platte, Colfax, Dodge, Washington, Butler, Saunders, Douglas, Sarpy, Seward, Lancaster, Cass, Otoe, Saline, Jefferson, Gage, Johnson, Nemaha, Pawnee and Richardson. * Winds...South 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 45 mph. * Relative Humidity...As low as 21 percent. * Impacts...Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly. Outdoor burning is not recommended. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior. &&
Zimbabwe has set its largest wheat harvest in 2022 that reached 375,000 tons, making the landlocked country in southern Africa a self-sufficient agricultural powerhouse, which is a unique performance on the continent.

The harvest in 2022 was 13% higher than the previous year, breaking a half-century old record. The area sown to wheat has increased by 10% and, above all, the state has set up a policy of distributing fertilizer and buying crops via a public body, the Grain Marketing Board, which has won over farmers. Hence, Zimbabwe no longer needs to import wheat to meet its needs, saving up to 300 million dollars in import costs. In the current context where African countries are suffering from the absence or high cost of Russian and Ukrainian wheat, Zimbabwe stands out for its proactive policy.

However, although the country can pride itself on being a unique example in Africa for wheat, not everything is rosy. The Grain Marketing Board is having the worst difficulties paying farmers. Less than a quarter of the crop has been purchased, despite government assurances and the release of emergency funds. The maize sector, the main cereal consumed in the country, is also progressing, but remains insufficient to meet national needs. In general, Zimbabwes agricultural yields remain below the African average, according to some experts.

For the first time in our country since 2004, we have never had such a bumper harvest of wheat. We are looking at high yields, Zimbabwes Information Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, commented. We are not yet looking at exporting but we are happy that what we are producing this year will cover more than a year of consumption.

Wheat is grown entirely under irrigation during the winter season in Zimbabwe. In 2022, more than 80 000 hectares of agricultural land was put under wheat production nationwide, with many new farmers venturing into the sector.
The steering committee of the Negev Forum, including Abraham Accords partners, Egypt and the U.S. met Monday in Abu Dhabi to prepare for the second summit, scheduled in Morocco.

Delegates from Morocco, Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain, Israel and the U.S. are taking part in the two-day preparatory meeting tasked with identifying realistic and doable projects to be submitted to the next ministerial meeting for approval.

These projects are related to food and water security, education, health, tourism, renewable energy, coexistence and security.

The Arab countries participating in the Abu Dhabi meeting emphasize the need to ensure security, peace and development in the region, especially for the Palestinian people. They also voiced concern about unilateral actions undermining peace chances, making reference to recent events in Al Quds.

The Negev Forum includes six working groups. Morocco co-chairs with Israel the two working groups related to food and water security, and education and teaching, while other countries chair the sectors of tourism, health, renewable energy, security, environment, among others.

In March 2021, the first Negev summit hosted the Emirati, Bahraini, Moroccan and Egyptian foreign ministers, along with the U.S. secretary of state.

During this summit, Moroccos top diplomat Nasser Bourita voiced hope to see the next summer held in another Sahara alluding to Moroccos southern provinces.

On January 2, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said the next Arab Accords summit would be held in Morocco.
Gabons President Ali Bongo Ondimba has appointed Alain Claude Bilie By Nze as the countrys Prime Minister in replacement of Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda who has been made Vice President  a position vacant since 2019.

The office of the President announced Monday the appointment adding that the former Deputy Prime Minister has been tasked to form a cabinet.

The office announced that the President also appointed Raponda as Vice President. The position has been vacant since 2019 after President Bongo fired Pierre Claver Maganga Moussavou, the leader of Social Democratic Party.

President Bongo appointed Nze Deputy Prime Minister in October upon recommendation of Raponda. The position of Deputy Premier had been vacant since 2016.

The October appointment also indicated Nze will, in addition to his new role, still hold his department of Energy and Water Resources.
Chinas new Foreign Minister Qin Gang has kicked off an African tour on January 9 for his first foreign trip to counterattack US strategy to sideline the Asian giant in Africa.

Qin Gang will visit Ethiopia, Gabon, Angola, Benin and Egypt from Jan. 9-16, spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily media briefing.

The Chinese foreign minister was appointed in Dec. 30 in replacement of Wang Yi, who like former top diplomats undertook each year a trip to the continent.

It shows that China attaches great importance to the traditional friendship with Africa and the development of China-Africa relations, Wang said.

In Egypt, Qin, who served as Chinas former ambassador to the U.S., will also meet up with the secretary-general of the Arab League.

The trip of the 56-year old diplomat to Africa comes several weeks after President Joe Biden met with African leaders in Washington in December and promised a win-win partnership with the African continent in a move widely viewed as a push to counter China and Russia in Africa.

China has established itself as a major trading partner with the continent and an investor in infrastructure and mining projects.
Maria Aguilar, 50, a street vendor who had been robbed several times, serves customers at 26th Street and Homan Avenue on Dec. 21, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Every day, just before 4 a.m., the streets of Little Village begin to fill with the scent of homemade tamales and the 26th Street business corridor lights up with an influx of cars and the chatter of those getting ready to start their day.

The early-morning hours are typically the most profitable for tamaleros, who for decades have built a livelihood selling the traditional Mexican dish to their loyal customers. They have become an essential part of the culture and fabric of the city despite historical struggles to regulate their business.

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Thats why, even after getting robbed at gunpoint five times in the past two months while selling tamales in the early morning, Maria Aguilar, 50, continues to set up shop at Homan Avenue and 26th Street.

Ive been anxious and cant sleep at night, but we cant stay home, Aguilar said. Even if Im scared, I need to go sell to make some money to pay for rent, to feed my family.

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Maria Aguilar, 50, a street vendor who has been robbed several times, bags tamales for a customer at 26th Street and Homan Avenue on Dec. 21, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Though street vendors are vulnerable to robberies because they are working alone and only with cash, most robberies reported over the years were sporadic. It wasnt until early December when aldermen of Southwest Side neighborhoods, community leaders and the Chicago Police Department alerted the community to a recent string of armed robberies targeting vendors.

In Little Village, the tamaleros have taken the biggest hit, leaving them in fear and scaring away their clients.

Some of the vendors say they have been assaulted multiple times by the same group of armed and masked men in the weeks before Christmas. The group took their cash, sometimes their phones, and even the tamales, said Elizeth Arguelles, a community leader and organizer of the vendors in the area.

Vendors, their families and local leaders have held several community meetings over the past month, demanding more police officers patrol the 26th Street corridor in the early-morning hours to prevent more attacks. But the crew is not enough, said William Betancourt, commander of the 10th District, during one of the meetings.

Business owner Mike Moreno, second from left, talks with Chicago police Officer Ramiro Alvarez, left, Cmdr. William Betancourt and Officer Yahdira Garcia on Dec. 21, 2022, as they walk down the 26th Street business corridor in Chicagos Little Village neighborhood, talking with business owners and residents following a string of robberies in the area. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

During the community meeting, Betancourt said there isnt enough staff to increase police presence in the 10th District during the early-morning hours. So vendors, their families and neighbors have galvanized to protect each other by lining up volunteers to patrol the streets from 4 a.m. until about 9 a.m., when the sun is up and the streets fill with pedestrians, said Kristian Armendariz, a community organizer with the Little Village Community Council.

We need to take care of one another, Arguelles said.

Arguelles, a daughter of a tamalera, has become an advocate for the rights and protection of the vendors. She said the only way to ensure their safety is to put the robbers behind bars.

This is concerning because our vendors are under attack, our families are getting traumatized and weve heard from police that there is nothing they can do even after demanding their help, she said after learning that four more vendors had been assaulted Thursday morning. We are frustrated and dont know what to do.

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On Thursday, the group of men was armed with semi-automatic guns, said Aguilar, still in shock. After quickly pulling up, they held a gun to her head and demanded her belongings. In the 15 years that shes been selling tamales in the area since arriving from Guatemala, she had never experienced anything like that, she said.

Chicago police confirmed that units responded to an incident at about 6:30 a.m. Thursday in the 3400 block of West 26th Street, but the report did not specify the type of gun used by the suspects.

That same morning, three more vendors also reported getting robbed in a similar manner.

Though police have not released data about street vendor robberies, robberies overall in the 10th Police District, which includes Little Village, increased more than 40% in 2022 with 541 thefts, compared with 378 in 2021.

Crime statistics for the 10th District show there were 32 armed robberies or attempted armed robberies from 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. from Nov. 1 through Dec. 29. That six-hour period is typically when vendors set up shop. In October, there were eight armed robberies during the hours from 4 to 10 a.m. In September, there were five.

Andres Herrera, who has been robbed twice, keeps a watchful eye on the surrounding streets as he waits for customers at 26th Street and Avers Avenue in Chicago on Dec. 21, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

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A group of vendors and Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, sent a letter in mid-December to Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago police Superintendent David Brown asking for a more permanent strategy to protect vendors.

A group of vendors and the Little Village Community Council went to the Police Department headquarters demanding a meeting with Brown but were unable to meet with him.

We are desperately asking for their help, said Laurencio Perez, who has been making tamales for more than 20 years and supplying at least four vendors in the area. We are terrified; its not only our well-being but also our money. They are taking the little money that we make to survive.

Perez is one of the residents who has paired up with a friend to patrol the area in the last two weeks. During that time, he said, I have not seen a single police car around.

The robberies caused him and other vendors to lose the money they needed for the holidays. Many of them, he said, live paycheck to paycheck. People are afraid to go out and sell, and others are afraid to go out and buy, he said.

Andres Herrera, who has been robbed twice, sells tamales at 26th Street and Avers Avenue in Chicago on Dec. 21, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

During the robberies, Aguilar has been stripped of more than $1,200 and, in one instance, her rent money, she said. The suspects also took her phone, she said. Maria Velazquez, who was robbed three times in a span of 15 days, lost nearly $1,000, she said.

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At the moment, all I could feel was the gun to my head, Velazquez said.

A spokesperson of the Chicago Police Department said the department is committed to strengthening safety for our residents and street vendors across the city, including in our Little Village community.

The statement added that to address the incidents targeting the street vendor community in the 10th District, the department has placed special attention and additional visibility in the affected areas. We will continue to adjust resources as necessary as we work to combat these crimes.

In a meeting with the vendors organized by the Little Village Chamber of Commerce and the office of Ald. Michael Rodriguez, 22nd, officers from the 10th District told the vendors how they can protect themselves, including the possibility of going cashless to avoid losing all their money.

Chicago police officers walk down the 26th Street business corridor in Chicagos Little Village neighborhood on Dec. 21, 2022, talking with business owners and residents following a string of robberies in the area. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

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Arguelles said that as the days go by and the robbers are not put behind bars, her biggest concern is that instead of only taking the little money that vendors have, they can potentially take the vendors lives.

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Theyve already taken our peace, she said.

In early December, the CPDs Bureau of Detectives sent out an alert to residents in the nearby 8th and 9th districts about the armed robberies that targeted street vendors.

Police said that in each instance, a group of three to six men approached vendors and demanded personal property. The suspects are described as being 15 to 25 years old; between 5-foot-10 and 6-foot-1;140 to 160 pounds; and wearing all black clothes and face masks. A CPD spokesperson said there are no other updates.

The Chicago Tribune spoke to 12 vendors who said they had been assaulted. The vendors also described a group of young males, armed and wearing face masks.

larodriguez@chicagotribune.com
Police in South Africa has announced the arrest of wanted 50-year-old Mozambican suspected to be the mastermind of a lucrative kidnapping ring for ransom.

Esmael Malude Ramos Nangy is wanted in his country and by Interpol for organizing kidnappings for ransom which can reach several million dollars in the country affected by the phenomenon for the past 20 years, AFP reports.

The abductions haunted Mozambique for 20 years, targeting in particular businessmen and their families. South African police said in a statement Nangy was arrested during a raid on Saturday evening at an address in Centurion, near the capital Pretoria.

The police seized during the raid a firearm, cartridges, five cell phones, as well as several bank cards and Sim cards. Nangy will appear in court. Meanwhile his home country has applied for his extradition.
Moroccos agricultural and fisheries exports rose to an unprecedented 8 billion dollars in 2021, up 20% compared with 2022, the agriculture ministry said.

This rise was achieved despite a lack of rainfall that affected cereals whose output dropped 67% to 3.4 million tons.

Agricultural and fisheries exports now stand in the third position behind phosphates and automotive sector sales.

Fruits and vegetables exports stood at 2.3 million tons, up 10%. Red fruits exports in particular rose 20% to 132k tons, the ministry said.

Demand on Moroccos citrus increased notably on the US market while fisheries exports increased 13% in volume and 16% in value, reaching 2.72 billion dollars.

However, up to November this year, figures show that Morocco imports of foodstuff equaled its exports, notably due to a rising wheat bill which stood at 2.2 billion dollars.
North Platte Catholic School students raised over $12,000 last year to replace textbooks and school supplies that were destroyed in a fire.

This year, the students have set a new goal of $10,000 for another project for the same orphanage. The group set a goal of $3,500 last year for the project after a fire destroyed a boarding house for orphans in western Kenya.

Dr. Kim Baxter, optometrist, has conducted eye exam clinics in the area for a number of years and shared the situation with the students.

The fundraiser went above and beyond the students expectations and the additional funds were used to fund medical camps for the children including the immunization of many against typhoid.

The current project will raise funds to rebuild one of the classrooms that was destroyed in the same fire that took place nearly two years ago.

Baxter will be returning to the area next summer to conduct another eye care mission in partnership with the North Platte Rotary Club. The students will be speaking at area churches, both catholic and protestant, to raise awareness and support of their project.

Along with the collection of funds, the students will also be taking donations of used eyeglasses to support Baxters mission.

For those who wish to contribute, checks can be taken or mailed to either St. Patrick High School or McDaid Elementary School. Donated eyeglasses can also be delivered to either of the schools.

Checks can be made out to the North Platte Rotary Club.
Angela Blaesi was elected North Platte School Board president after 10 votes and coin toss tiebreaker.

Nominees Blaesi and Matt Pederson tied in all 10 votes 3-3 at the boards January meeting Monday at McKinley Education Center.

District policy requires a coin toss to determine election of officers after those 10 tie votes. Board Clerk Sheila Furley tossed the coin that came up in favor of Blaesi and she took over the role for 2023.

Pederson then won the vice president seat over Jo Ann Lundgreen on the second vote by a 4-2 margin. Lundgreen and board newcomer Emily Garrick were nominated for secretary and another 10 rounds ended in 3-3 ties. The coin toss went in Lundgreens favor.

The board does its reorganization as part of the first meeting of each year and makes various appointments. Pederson was also appointed as board liaison to the North Platte Public Schools Foundation.

Pederson, Skip Altig and Cynthia OConnor were appointed to the Finance, Facilities, Operations and Legislation Subcommittee. Lundgreen, Blaesi and Garrick were appointed to the Personnel, Americanism, Curriculum, Student Services and Communication Subcommittee.

Lundgreen, Garrick and OConnor were installed as board members at the beginning of the meeting after winning their respective ward elections in November.

The consent agenda was amended at the request of Garrick for discussion on several proposed teacher hires for the 2023-24 school year. The teachers all come from the Philippines and have met all the educational requirements.

Im not against voting for those teachers, Garrick said. I just know as a new board member that the discussion on those (teachers) has been going on for several months.

She said as a new board member she had a few questions.

My first question would be, do we feel as a board and as a district we have exhausted all of our other options when it comes to staffing teachers, Garrick said, that would justify us taking that step of hiring teachers from other countries.

Altig said the answer was yes and Kevin Mills, director of human resources confirmed that answer as well.

Weve been discussing this since the summer, Mills said. To me, its just like hiring whether the person graduates from Kearney or Chadron or UNL.

Mills added that hiring teachers is an administrative process.

Absolutely, I just think its something worth having conversation and conversation that the public sees, Garrick said. I wanted to make sure before I voted for it, I needed to verify and feel comfortable with it.

Garrick and Mills agreed that staffing is an issue, but Garrick said she thought there might be other options in the future to look at in overcoming the shortage issue.

Mills said in past years he has had 10 to 15 applicants for a position, but in the last year or two there have only been one or two applicants for open positions.

The eight teaching contracts were pulled from the consent agenda and added to the action items where the board voted to approve the hires unanimously.

Annually the board makes several designations the board passed unanimously as well. One of those was designated the North Platte Telegraph as the official district newspaper of record.

Blaesi questioned why the designation couldnt be split between The Telegraph and The North Platte Bulletin.

I think anytime you are going to publish something there is cost involved, Superintendent Todd Rhodes said. Most districts choose one of their newspapers that are in their general circulation.

I know the county splits it between the two newspapers, Blaesi said.

Pederson said as far as he knew, the county designated The Telegraph as its official newspaper for 2022.

The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners designated the Telegraph as the countys official newspaper at its Jan. 17, 2022, meeting. The board is expected to consider that designation for 2023 at Mondays weekly meeting.

The board:

Designated all financial institutions as depositories for district funds, although Stuart Simpson, executive director of finance said the district has one main bank.

Designated KSB Law as legal counsel for the district.

Appointed Mills as non-discrimination compliance coordinator and Title IX compliance coordinator for employees; and appointed Brandy Buscher as Title IX compliance coordinator for students.
The Lincoln County commissioners voted 3-2 Monday to raise the highway superintendents salary from $72,000 to $92,000.

Commissioners Joe Hewgley and Kent Weems voted against the proposal, saying it was too big a jump all at once.

Chairman Chris Bruns said the personnel committee looked at salaries in similar-sized counties in Nebraska. It was determined the raise would still be near the bottom of the array.

The counties included in the array class for Lincoln County are Adams, Buffalo, Cass, Dodge, Hall, Madison, Platte and Scotts Bluff.

The board voted on salaries for four other department head positions and followed that up with reappointments to those positions  Region 51 Emergency management, veterans service officer, noxious weeds supervisor and county highway superintendent.

The commissioners had a lengthy discussion before voting on the highway superintendent raise.

I have been, to say the least, more than pleased with the outcome of the appointment of Jason Schultz in April, Commissioner Jerry Woodruff said. I feel that we made an excellent choice in the county highway superintendent.

Woodruff said Schultz is extremely qualified, oversees a budget of more than $8 million and has a workforce of 40-plus employees as well as other duties.

A lot of discussion went into this in the personnel committee, Bruns said. We looked at competitiveness within the array, the quality of the individual we had filling this position.

We looked at the things that Jason is implementing within the department and even requested some projections as far as cost savings for this next year with changes he has made and efficiencies hes creating.

Bruns said with the changes Schultz is making, the county likely will save hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel and labor costs.

We did up the salary when we started the search for the new superintendent, Bruns said, but it still did not bring it, in my opinion, to a competitive pay with counties in our array size.

Bruns added that the 1,642 miles of county roads make Lincoln County vastly different from the other counties in the array.

To me this seems, while a sizable increase, it brings it to the bottom of competitiveness with counties in our array class, Bruns said.

Hewgley said the comparison is not apples to apples with the other counties.

Theres different considerations other than saying heres salary and so on, Hewgley said.

When you look at the roads our county has as well as some of the programs Jason is implementing, Bruns said, I believe this raise has merit. Youre right, were not comparing apples to apples. We are comparing apples to oranges and I think that Lincoln County is in a unique situation.

Bruns said Schultz is very high caliber and we need to do what we can to make sure were keeping this talent here.

Hewgley said he did not agree with that assessment.

What I do disagree with is doing it all at one time, Hewgley said. Ive been a big proponent over the last 37-38 years for doing it in steps. Set out where we want that individual to be and to have that individual work towards it. Lets have that discussion, but I dont think it should all be done in one year when the individual has worked here about a year.

Hall County, Bruns said, pays their highway superintendent $117,420 a year.

Weems agreed with Hewgley that the increase was too much to do all at once, but the other three commissioners voted in favor of the increase.

The board approved merit pay of $2,000 plus cost of living increase for Todd Herndon, noxious weeds supervisor.

Todd is doing a great job, Wuehler said. He oversees 1.6 million acres while all other counties in our array are between 352,000 to 624,000 acres.

She pointed out that Herndon has served the county for eight years and his department brings in $65,000 in revenue, which takes care of his annual wage.

We have added a whole new line of work with what hes doing with prairie dog management, Bruns said. Thats an added responsibility.

The county took over the prairie dog management after the USDA dropped service in the area.

Region 51 Emergency Management supervisor salary received the 8.7% cost of living adjustment to increase from $60,000 to $65,220 and the Veterans Service Officer went from $50,996.40 to $55,437.20.

In other action, the commissioners:

Approved a resolution designating depositories for the county including Nebraskaland Bank, First National Bank of Omaha, Adams Bank and Trust, Bankers Bank of the West, First State Bank and Western Nebraska Bank. The motion passed 4-0 with Weems abstaining.

Approved a job posting for a building and grounds supervisor with a wage to be from $24 to $33 per hour.

Accepted the resignation of Jeff Higgins, building and grounds supervisor effective Feb. 15.

Appointed Joe Hewgley as board representative to sign a settlement agreement between Old Republic Surety Company and Nebcon, Inc. and Lincoln County.

Set the mileage rate as designated by the state of Nebraska and the federal government at 65.5 cents per mile for personal vehicle use.

The board will include reorganization of officers and committee appointments at the Jan. 15 meeting.
State Sen. Mike Jacobson of North Platte said Monday hell be on guard against unintended consequences for western Nebraska if a renewed push for permanent daylight saving time catches on in the Legislature.

Albion Sen. Tom Briese, whose 2021 proposal to that end won strong support last spring, reintroduced his year-round DST call Friday as Legislative Bill 143.

As with Brieses previous bill, the new measure would prevent a first-Sunday-in-November fall back of Nebraskans clocks whenever Congress makes it possible and three bordering states adopt laws for a single year-round standard of time.

LB 143, however, says that its provisions would take effect after year-round DST is authorized by the laws of the United States  or are no longer in conflict with the laws of the United States 

The no longer in conflict part could let states differ by either opting for year-round DST or year-round standard time. Bayard Sen. Steve Erdman proposed the latter last year for Nebraska, which is split between Mountain and Central time.

Should Colorado make a different choice than Nebraska, that could force motorists on Interstates 80 and 76 between North Platte and Julesburg to change clocks twice in an 80-mile stretch  once at the state line and again at the Keith-Lincoln county line.

Jacobson said hell seek to prevent that scenario from occurring.

I believe that the bills going to be amended to include Iowa, Colorado and Wyoming as the three states that would have to act along with Congress, he said. Ill offer the amendment if it takes that to accomplish it.

All three states share interstate connections with Nebraska, with all of Iowa in Central Time and all of Colorado and Wyoming in Mountain Time.

In other Unicameral business, senators voted 40-7 to approve their final assignments to standing committees after two days of protests by unhappy lawmakers who alleged partisan maneuvering produced the final list.

The Legislature Friday and Monday fell short several times of recommitting the recommendations to the Committee on Committees, which presented them in the first place.

The logjam was broken only after Speaker John Arch of Gretna offered a motion to suspend legislative rules, said Jacobson, a Committee on Committees member. Arch withdrew it after opponents did likewise.

We wasted a lot of time for people to make a point that they pretty well made out of the gate, he said.

When that happens, we cant do the peoples business. I think thats what we came here to do.

Mondays vote confirmed Jacobsons membership on the Natural Resources and Banking, Commerce and Insurance committees.
Consolidated Uranium Inc.

TORONTO, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Consolidated Uranium, Inc. (TSXV:CUR) (OTCQB: CURUF) (CUR, Consolidated Uranium, the Company) is pleased to announce that Tracy Primeau has joined the Company as an advisor with a focus on community consultation and engagement. Tracy brings with her a lifetime of experience in the nuclear industry along with high level communication skills amongst many other attributes. She is an expert on nuclear energy who spends much of her time educating communities on the benefits and safety of nuclear power production and the nuclear fuel cycle.



Tracy currently sits on the board of directors of Ontario Power Generation where she began her career. She started out at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station as a Nuclear Operator in Training and was qualified as a Nuclear Operator in only a few years. Within a relatively short number of years, Tracy moved to the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station and progressed up the ranks to an Authorized Nuclear Operator and then to Shift Manager. She is one of the few women to become a Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission licensed operator at Bruce Power (the first at Bruce A) and the only female Shift Manager to work her way up from the shop floor.

Throughout her career, Tracy has been a tireless communicator, having been an active member of Women in Nuclear (WiN) Canada, where she currently holds a WiN Canada Board position. She has also participated in numerous activities with local communities, including job fairs at local Indigenous communities, STEM camps, and public awareness and education sessions along with sitting on numerous boards and committees in her home community. Tracy is also a mentor and role model to many men and women in the energy sector.

Tracy is a proud member of the Nipissing First Nation and was a founding member of the Ontario Hydro Native Circle in 1992 and was the first Chair of the Bruce Power Native Circle, a position she held for many years. She strives to use the Seven Grandfather Teachings in her leadership every day. Recently retired from Bruce Power, Tracy joined the Ontario Power Generation board of directors to focus on giving back, working on climate change and Indigenous knowledge.

Story continues

Philip Williams Chairman and CEO of Consolidated Uranium stated, We are thrilled to have Tracy join our team as we advance our goals of becoming a premier provider of uranium, a carbon free source of fuel, to nuclear reactors globally. Our ability to attract someone of Tracys calibre shows the strength of our existing team, our commitment to battling climate change and to advancing our projects in a safe, sustainable, and engaging manner. We look forward to Tracy playing an active role on our advisory board with a particular focus on providing direct nuclear industry expertise as well as in local and indigenous community outreach and engagement. Tracy joins an active advisory board that includes Leigh Curyer, CEO of NexGen Energy and Ted Wilton, a 50-year uranium exploration geologist, both of whom have been active contributors to the Company since their appointments in late 2020.

About Consolidated Uranium

Consolidated Uranium Inc. (TSXV: CUR) (OTCQB: CURUF) was created in early 2020 to capitalize on an anticipated uranium market resurgence using the proven model of diversified project consolidation. To date, the Company has acquired or has the right to acquire uranium projects in Australia, Canada, Argentina, and the United States each with significant past expenditures and attractive characteristics for development. Most recently, the Company completed a transformational strategic acquisition and alliance with Energy Fuels Inc., a leading U.S.-based uranium mining company, and acquired a portfolio of permitted, past-producing conventional uranium and vanadium mines in Utah and Colorado. These mines are currently on stand-by, ready for rapid restart as market conditions permit, positioning CUR as a near-term uranium producer.

For More Information, Please Contact:

Philip Williams

Chairman and CEO

pwilliams@consolidateduranium.com

Toll-Free: 1-833-572-2333

Twitter: @ConsolidatedUr

www.consolidateduranium.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including, but not limited to, the Companys ongoing business plan, exploration and work programs. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates, or believes or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved or the negative connotation thereof. Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms, and that third party contractors, equipment and supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct the Companys planned exploration activities will be available on reasonable terms and in a timely manner. Although the assumptions made by the Company in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate.

Forward-looking information and statements also involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual events or results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future events or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information or statements, including, among others: negative operating cash flow and dependence on third party financing, uncertainty of additional financing, no known mineral reserves or resources, reliance on key management and other personnel, potential downturns in economic conditions, actual results of exploration activities being different than anticipated, changes in exploration programs based upon results, and risks generally associated with the mineral exploration industry, environmental risks, changes in laws and regulations, community relations and delays in obtaining governmental or other approvals and the risk factors with respect to Consolidated Uranium set out in CURs annual information form in respect of the year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the Canadian securities regulators and available under CURs profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information or implied by forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or reissue forward-looking information as a result of new information or events except as required by applicable securities laws.




Two historic events loom large in the mind of James Patterson, an Auburn graduate and retired U.S. diplomat. Those two events: the Kopper Kettle Explosion of Jan. 15, 1978, and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Patterson was a witness to both. He will speak at two events in Auburn in the coming weeks about these events and their impact on his life.

The first will be at St Dunstans Episcopal Church on Jan. 15 at 10 a.m. Patterson will read from a historic sermon written by the Rev. Rod Sinclair about the explosion.

The second speaking engagement, titled Explosions In My Life, will be held at the Boykin Community Center in Auburn on Jan. 17 at 4 p.m. For this speech, Patterson will talk about what he witnessed at both the Kopper Kettle explosion in Auburn, and on 9/11 when he worked in Washington D.C. as a diplomat.

Additionally, throughout January, the Auburn Public Library is displaying photos from the Kopper Kettle explosion to commemorate the events 45th anniversary.

I wanted to add some context of what happened, Patterson, now 68, said of the Kopper Kettle explosion. I wanted people to remember Reverend Sinclairs sermon and his bravery that morning. And I wanted also to add the context of the community unity after the explosion.

The Kopper Kettle was a small restaurant that sat at the corner of East Magnolia and North Gay Street. Like many buildings in downtown, it also had apartments above it that students rented out. Shortly after 8 a.m. on Jan. 15, 1978, when hardly anyone was out and moving, a gas leak in the Kopper Kettle exploded.

Patterson, then a college kid at Auburn University, was running late for church at St. Dunstans that Sunday morning. He had a job at the university and was going to service before work. The service was supposed to begin at 8:30 a.m. Patterson was just one block away when the explosion happened.

At that moment, there was a big fireball in the sky and the heavy, heavy black smoke, he said. At the top of it where there was blue sky, and high up in the sky were big pieces of the building like the roof, just an incredible sight to see pieces of a building that high up in the sky.

He added, You couldnt print exactly what I said when I saw that.

Miraculously, no one was hurt that morning. Most of the students were out of town, or not home for various reasons. Patterson said the explosion was felt, if not heard, by people across Auburn.

According to Patterson, the stained-glass window at St. Dunstans, half a block away from the explosion, was pulled out of place by the force of the blast. There was wreckage everywhere.

Windows all through the area, they were blown out because of the impact of the intensity of the explosion, he said. It was just like, I dont know, 10 tons of dynamite. It was an enormously powerful explosion.

The only other witness to the event was said to be Rev. Rod Sinclair of St. Dunstans Episcopal Church. Sinclair, who passed away in 2018, had been at the church preparing his sermon. Patterson recalls that Sinclair had initially thought a plane had crashed in downtown Auburn when he heard the explosion. He said the reverend was incredibly brave in those moments after the explosion.

He was out there on the streets, Patterson said. He was talking to the people. He gave a blessing to the people who were working there, the responders. He gave blessings to everyone he counseled and the students in the church who came in who had been scared and awakened by this. And he was just a very brave, courageous, dedicated minister, and someone that I respected very, very much.

Sinclair presented a sermon about the tragedy in the following weeks, appropriately called Explosions. In 2018, that sermon was made a part of Congressional record.

This is the sermon that Patterson will read from when he speaks at St. Dunstans on Jan. 15.

I always had that to look back at and be grateful that I wasnt closer to the church that morning, that I wasnt on time to get there for the service, Patterson said. I was very grateful that no one else was hurt or injured either.

When the attacks on 9/11 happened, Sinclair was once again present, but at a distance. He was employed as a diplomat with the U.S. Government and lived in Washington D.C. His apartment was on the other side of the Potomac River from the Pentagon.

When the plane crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, Patterson felt the windows in his apartment shake.

I had already seen on TV, the planes had attacked the World Trade Center, he said. And it was again that feeling about being at the Kopper Kettle in Auburn just standing there, stunned, like whats happening here?

Patterson said when the first plane flew into the World Trade Center, he thought it had to be small plane. Then he saw the second plane and realized it was a jet liner.

It was like that moment in Auburn when youre looking at whats happened, and you say, How could this be happening?

Patterson escaped another potentially deadly scenario that day. The plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was reportedly en route to crash into the White House.

I lived at that time on 24th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, Patterson said. So I was just eight blocks away from the White House.

Patterson will talk about the intersections in his life between 9/11 and the Kopper Kettle on Jan. 17 at the Boykin Center. He said the title for the speaking engagement and photo series at the Auburn Library is pulled from the Beatles song In My Life.

I just put the explosions in front of it, he said. Explosions In My Life. You cant go wrong using the title of a Beatles song or lyric from Beatles song because people all over the world know them.

Patterson remembers well the Auburn community coming together after the explosion at the Kopper Kettle. Its a big part of why he wanted to come back and speak at both St. Dunstans and to the city.

I also had an appreciation of being in a place like Auburn where I saw the unity and the spirit that happened after that, he said. And I think thats one of the strengths that Auburn offered students for a lot of years. Its the sense of caring, the sense of community, the sense of something that is bigger than one person, that is that thing that we call the Auburn Spirit.
The capital murder trial of Grady Wayne Wilkes, who is accused of murdering Auburn Police Officer William Buechner, will begin on Feb. 6 at the Lee County Justice Center.

Buechner was 37 years old, had been an officer with the Auburn Police Department since 2006, and had a wife and two children.

On the night of May 19, 2019, Buechner and two other Auburn police officers, Webb Sistrunk and Evan Elliott, arrived at Arrowhead Mobile Home Park, off Wire Road in Auburn, to answer a domestic disturbance call from a female victim.

She told officers that Wilkes, her live-in boyfriend and father of her child, threatened to kill her as well as physically assaulted her, according to the affidavit given by state Detective Reginald Harkins in 2019.

She advised that he had grabbed her by the wrist and also choked her. She fled the residence and met officers at another location inside the trailer park, the affidavit reads.

Earlier reports stated Wilkes answered the door wearing body armor, was armed with a rifle and opened fire on the three responding officers, injuring Sistrunk and Elliott and fatally wounding Buechner, who passed away that night.

Wilkes served as an active member of the Alabama Army National Guard and was an infantry fire team leader with the rank of corporal, Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Tim Alexander told the Opelika-Auburn News in an earlier interview. He also said Wilkes has no record of being deployed.

After an overnight manhunt, police caught and arrested Wilkes about a mile away from where the incident unfolded.

Wilkes, 32, of Auburn, is charged with capital murder and three counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Judge Christopher Hughes will preside over the trial, which could take two to three weeks. Jury selection begins on Feb. 6.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gestures toward the newly installed nameplate at his office after he was sworn in as speaker of the 118th Congress in Washington on Jan. 7, 2023. (Matt Rourke/AP)

The late Madeleine Albright, a former U.S. ambassador and secretary of state, once referred to the United States as the indispensable nation. This catchy phrase has been invoked by U.S. politicians and analysts ever since, nearly a quarter century after it was first uttered.

The U.S., however, can be a quite self-centered nation too. Americans witnessed this during the multiday saga last week on the floor of the House of Representatives as Republican lawmakers fought among themselves over who deserved the speakership. Kevin McCarthy eventually claimed the gavel on the 15th vote in the middle of the night.

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Americans also read and watched this narcissism play out in the commentary dissecting the speakership vote.

If you didnt know any better, you would think the chaos that played out on the House floor dragged the U.S. into a less advantageous position in the world. Americas allies and adversaries, we have been told, are watching  and the conclusion they were making was that Americas institutional foundations were rotting from within. Its a disgrace, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts told Boston Public Radio about the speaker vote. The world is watching, and this is simply dysfunctional. David Jolly, a former congressman from Florida and an MSNBC contributor, offered a similar analysis: We have one chamber of our bicameral legislature that is now not functioning. That creates an image of instability across the world stage. Jan-Werner Mueller, a columnist for The Guardian, went as far as to suggest that autocrats around the world were feeling a sense of comfort over the tumult in the House.

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[ Editorial: A dysfunctional GOP cant even pick a speaker. Bad for Republicans, worse for America. ]

Heres a news flash: Countries like Russia, China and Iran werent spending their days last week fixated on the arcane procedures of the House floor. Nor do these nations care who serves as third in line to the presidency. They have bigger priorities to deal with, and none of them involves wondering whether American democracy will survive. (Which it will.)

Take Russia. The country enters 2023 in a woefully degraded strategic position, with its wealth and power weakened courtesy of Russian President Vladimir Putins war of choice in Ukraine. The Russian military is not only facing immense casualties in Ukraine  last November, the Pentagon estimated more than 100,000 Russian troops have been killed or injured since the war began in February. It also is continuing to commit extremely costly mistakes on the battlefield, such as jamming soldiers into a single location only a few miles from the front line and throwing fresh recruits into battle without enough equipment.

The Russian economy, never great to begin with, contracted by almost 3% last year, and Russias labor pool is shrinking as working-age men are being rounded up and thrown into the Ukrainian meat grinder. Thanks to European Union sanctions and self-sabotage, Moscow has lost its biggest customer in the energy market; with the exception of Hungary and Bulgaria, Europes markets are now closed to the Russian oil industry.

China is undergoing significant domestic turbulence itself. While the protests against the Chinese Communist Partys zero-COVID-19 lockdown policy ended long ago, Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, is now contending with a coronavirus resurgence that makes Americas own look pale in comparison. Approximately 250 million people were infected by the virus in the first 20 days of December. If the director of the health commission in Henan province is correct, this specific area is seeing a positivity rate of 89%, which is almost unheard of.

Xi, so desperate to demonstrate his unity of command and competency as a leader, looks downright incompetent in the face of Chinas largest public health crisis to date. Chinas hospital wards are overflowing with the sick, dead and dying, a scenario due in part to Beijings inability to roll out an effective vaccination campaign for its older population. Xi wanted to prevent infections from sweeping across the country, but his policies have done precisely the opposite.

Iran, meanwhile, is in the throes of its biggest demonstrations since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979. Unlike previous protest movements in the late 1990s, 2009 and 2017-18, Iranian security forces are having a difficult time squelching the broad-based movement, even as hundreds of Iranian protesters have been killed and at least 14,000 have been arrested.

The Iranian government itself is increasingly divided over how to mollify the protesters; some in the hard-line camp are beginning to advocate dialogue with the protesters, while others are inching toward enacting cosmetic reforms to law enforcement as a way of slowing down their momentum. This, coupled with the likely demise of nuclear pact negotiations and the persistence of U.S.-led sanctions on the Iranian economy, amounts to the Iranian government facing a simultaneous political and economic crisis.

None of this is to say that last weeks barnburner on the House floor wasnt embarrassing for those who were an intimate part of it. McCarthy, for instance, was so desperate to attain the gavel that he spent days groveling to conservative holdouts for their votes. A man who hopes to exert control over the lower chamber was relegated to bribing his way into the office. By the time the ordeal was over, McCarthy was able to move into the speakers office. But that came at a considerable price, including a series of rules changes that give rank-and-file members more power over how the House operates.

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However, to argue the U.S. embarrassed itself in the eyes of the world or somehow delivered its chief adversaries a propaganda coup isnt serious analysis. Its narcissism at its finest.

Daniel DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities and a foreign affairs columnist for the Chicago Tribune.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
French McDonalds food tasted just like American McDonalds tbh The McQuesadilla was particularly embarrassing. The restaurant was cleaner though. I also liked using the display boards to order more than talking to someone, too.



Edited at 2023-01-10 07:13 am (UTC)

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The last time I was at a McDo in Paris a fight broke out.

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this nerd expected way too much out of her experience based on emily's outfit alone

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Not going to lie, I went to the McDonalds in Monaco and it was fancy - it had a portrait of the Royal family on the wall lmao

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I went into a McDonalds in Monaco to get some A/C because I was dying from the heat and now I wish Id looked around a bit lol

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But was it as fancy as the Biltmore Estate McDonalds? Lol

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Lol Monaco would. The random escalators up and down streets are awesome

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nah i def think french mcdonalds is a diff experience than north american ones, the food may vary though



drove past a burger king in germany too that we literally thought was a sit down restaurant until we saw the big burger king sign lol, it was all dimly lit and had a big christmas tree in the middle

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McDonalds in Korea is on par with McDonalds in the states

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do not disrespect McDonalds Korea, what about the curly fry season!

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They sell those for one month every two years lmao

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I agree, Korean McDonalds was basically the same



But anytime something like this comes up I have to mention how good Korean KFC was

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If you go to a McD or Burger King on a tourist city's most expensive boulevard (the one with the designer shops) then they're very nice. Was in Lugano (Switzerland) last September and no restaurants were open yet and we needed a very early lunch, so reluctantly went there... it had style and a nice view of the promenade, not gonna lie.



My funniest McD's experience was in the South of France a few years ago, going through the drive through and I ordered only "un double cheeseburger" with English pronunciation and they wouldn't understand. They told me to wait until they found an employee to be translator (I speak French!), she arrived and said "ah! un doooooble cheeseburger!". Haha.

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yep same. i went to a big mcd's in the tourist area of warsaw and it was PACKED every time i walked past it. also was way cleaner and had a big bakery section with macarons and such on the side i was like ???? it was kinda sad though because it was the only place really packed compared to local restaurants, but people want what they want

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lol i grew up in france and in middle school i had to go and buy a new english textbook for class and i asked the employee at the store for something like "english workbook 2" with a fairly RP accent and they could not understand me even after several tries... then i'm finally like "oui le ingeulishe worque bouque" and they're like "AAAH SI LE INGEULISHE WoRQUE BOUQUE!". Still makes me laugh.

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There are fancy McDonald's in the US just with normal food. There is one near the Biltmore Estate in Asheville NC that has a baby grand player piano and is fancy as fuck (or was last time i was there, it's in an area with ridiculous coding laws relating to appearance).

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If I look at pictures I'm surprised with how much more 'modern' and colourful McD looks outside of the USA, but I guess it makes sense; that country doesn't go with the times in many ways.

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For one thing McDonalds in Europe threw out the tacky red color many years ago. The subtle green already makes it look more classy

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And there's so much (fake?) wood!

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This is what they look like in London for the most part...











Edited at 2023-01-10 10:28 am (UTC) What does McDonalds in America look like?This is what they look like in London for the most part...

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yes french mcdonalds is just as shit lol

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But I won't lie: when visiting Tokyo I'm planning on peeking at the menus of American fastfood chains there.

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Honestly, I know you're not "supposed to" care about or eat fast food when you travel but trying out local menu items in different countries is just a lot of fun too. My favorite McDonald's burger ever is a specifically Austrian/German/etc. one, the McRosti.

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Exactly that. I don't visit fastfood chains here; on a holiday it's just another part of the tourism.

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honestly this is one of my favourite things to check out on holiday!

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True that , when I went to Thailand I had to check their Burger King and it was awesome

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I'm Australian and you better believe I hate McDonald's more than once while I was in Paris (partly because I got anxious about the language barrier and found the kiosks very helpful in that regard, but also because it was nice, goddamnit)

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for real, I usually did this when I was backpacking and hadn't found my bearings yet, it's just nice to have something that you know what the quality is going to be but are still trying something different.





(Also since moving to Germany all I get from McDonalds is the big rosti if I want a burger lmao. they're so good.)

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I did go to a McD in Tokyo years ago and they had great offerings! I remember a savoury potato kinda pie which was really yummy. Have fun!

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My favourite mcds in the world is india mcdonalds. Vegetarian and spice heaven. Mcds outside of north america is way better.

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I loved getting McDo when I visted china lol

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you should also check out mos burger! it's a japanese fast food chain and they always have fun stuff

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After watching this video...I want to go to a Tokyo McDonald's.





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I've been all over the world, and I like popping into a McDonald's at least once cus it's a fun comparison to one's back home. I'm sure other people think it's tacky but I've been to one in every country even if it was just for a coke and a bathroom in all 40 countries I've been in and I don't even eat at Mickey D's in the USA. I started it when I was a backpacker and now my husband likes to do it too.

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I do that as well and I know friends who do too. Like everyone else said its nice trying out and seeing whats different, but also if youre feeling a little homesick its a comfort.

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You mean a TV show lied to us?? And McDonald's isn't glamorous. I feel lied to and cheated.

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We did Five Guys in Paris, I can confirm it was the same except for the drinks because of the sugar tax.



I appreciate foreign McDonalds because they serve beer and sometimes, when youre getting a fast food meal on the beach, a cold beer is ideal.

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How do we lock her out of the planet?

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Well need to trick her into stepping off the very edge of the Earth, which she most likely believes is flat.

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She is unhinged.

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Dre makes her look like a pauper. I doubt it is possible but I just want this to stay in court forever to chapter 9 her ass.

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While I appreciate the creative chord progression, I would never play your words of violence against women and police officers, and your glorification of the thug life and drugs



"I would, however, chase and harass the victims of a school shooting and accuse them of being crisis actors."



Eat shit and die, insurrection barbie

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is she honestly saying that she DIDNT play his music... when she posted a video WITH his music playing in it?!



my head hurts.

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I think shes saying she played the music part of the song but not the lyrics (which is still copyright infringement tho lol)



Edited at 2023-01-10 04:12 pm (UTC)

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Are lawyer letters usually this bitchy?  I love it, tbh.



Shes such a fucking racist asshole.

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I was going to say something about dogwhistles but they're more like dogbullhorns at this point. ~thug life~ 

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Oh yes lol. Back in the 90s my dad was always having to take calls on the road. When NY changed the cellphone law hed never hang up the phone just tell the cop to write the ticket and keep talking. He could always get the ticket erased so he never cared. Eventually they just stopped pulling him over.



Oh and Im not trying to glorify my dad here. Hes an abusive dick. I had to laugh at the audacity though.



Edited at 2023-01-10 03:39 pm (UTC)

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Awww I hate them both, bless.  The letter is pleasantly smart-assed tho

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I swear, Republicans as a whole have a humiliation kink with how much they love playing music of artists who cannot stand them.

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If I'd be more invested, I'd make an original out of it. "Five Times Republicans got Humiliated by Musicians".

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Can we make it a course at ONTD University?

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I may or may not have some time this afternoon

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If they didn't they would be reduced to playing that one shitty Lee Greenwood song over and over again. What amazes me is how in 40 years they still haven't listened to any part of "Born in the USA" but the chorus.

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I always wonder why they never play music from Kid Rock or Ted Nugent or any of those male country artists that are far right/love Trump. It's always the artists that want nothing to do with them.

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i read somewhere that at least some of them do it on purpose - their supporters don't give a shit, and it gets them a ton of attention they wouldn't have gotten otherwise when the musician speaks out. its all about attention with these trolls.



Edited at 2023-01-10 07:55 pm (UTC)

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My brother is a lawyer for that firm - unfortunately, he doesn't spill any tea. I wish that he would.

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Hed lose his license lol.

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So he'll go live in my parent's basement. What's the big deal? Isn't that worth an ONTD exclusive?!

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I would never play your words of violence against women and police officers, and your glorification of the thug life and drugs." but you did tho, you hobgoblin (apologizes to the hobgoblin)

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To hell with both these people. Team nobody.

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Oh I hope he just sues her now. Dre does not play.

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God, shes such a twat.

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Lock MTJ up in isolation and throw away the key.

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Politics news, but katie porter just announced her senate candidacy for 2024.

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omg yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss ssssssssssss



i neeeeeed her as a senator!!!

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also @ Feinstein: RETIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRE

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Welp. There's tons of rumors that she treats her staff poorly, so she might want to get ahead of that...

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I saw this! I know there are some other CA reps that want to throw their hat in the ring for Feinstein's seat too. I get nervous though with Katie because her district could easily flip to a red seat if she leaves.

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that poor representative putting down her dumbass fire

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More like sprinkling a few drops into a building on fire, it didn't put anything out, clarified or denied nothing, lmao.

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Like the seven story building is a blazing inferno and they're there with the hose, but the setting is on "mist"

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I feel bad for the representative lmao

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I get that she's trying to say she felt a strong affinity with the culture but yeah in light of everything it's not gonna come off that way lol. It's still pretty messed up how much she objectified those girls and it would have been nice to see a little more self-reflection there



unrelated but I need her to bring back L. It's an all-timer spring and summer fragrance

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I still regret not getting that perfume.

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you can still find it online sometimes! I picked up a backup bottle last year. I use it sparingly so I don't run out but you only need 1 spritz, the performance is amazing.

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I literally just threw out the solid version I'd had since I bought it in college. I kept the bottle bc it still smells great!

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them publishing this verbatim and not holding back how insane it is is SENDING me lmfao. more publications should do this

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honestly kudos to allure

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i bet they were sooo happy but then also didn't want to react too much to it so that she starts walking back/going into PR mode lol

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"As those words seemed to hang in the air between us," is so brutal lmao

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I'd be happy if that's one thing 2023 could give us, and end to all the "taken out of context" BS cliche that celebs try when they fuck up. Read their word back to them in interviews and let them figure a way out.

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oh imagine being the interviewer in that moment

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This is real journalism.

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I'm used to celebrities digging a deeper hole for themselves, but digging into a 20-year-old hole that most people had forgotten about is pretty impressive.

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They way she keeps doubling down and challenging ppl to call her on it makes me think she wants that so she can play victim.

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RIGHT? I'm genuinely astonished. She had SO MUCH TIME to come up with a more socially savvy response. Literally all she had to do was add "I felt like [dumb shit she said] at the time but I've since realized how racist and appropriative that was. I really appreciate X, Y, and Z about Japanese culture and I wanted to express that but I should have been more thoughtful in how I did so"





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You're assuming she has changed or cares. She doesn't. She married Blake. That's the core of who she is.

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We love a multi layered, thri-racial queen, reyne!

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I think she might be..quad-racial? She had a bindi phase while she was dating Tony.

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+ the henna

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I mean, I get what she's saying. The blue hair SJW set will lose their shit over this but the irony is over in Japan they actually love seeing westerners take interest and dress traditionally or even as harajuku girls. This faux outrage stuff is distinctly US-centric.



Back in 2007 a group of Danes and I backpacked in India, specifically Rajasthan and we had read that dressing in saris or more traditional clothing would indicate respect for the local culture. Every one we met loved that these blond girls were wearing saris, they thought it was really cool and refreshing that we weren't dressing as we would back home. But I'm sure we'd get dragged for this by today's "folx".



Edited at 2023-01-10 05:56 pm (UTC)

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The blue hair SJW set



grandma this isn't the facebook

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https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/reuters-naked-athena-portland-protest-2020-07-18t164349z-1531134111-rc2svh9v0itp-rtrmadp-3-global-race-protests-portland-1595859563.jpg?crop=1xw:0.84375xh;center,top&resize=1200:*



Edited at 2023-01-10 06:02 pm (UTC) lol shocker I'm a gay male liberal who's as fed up with this performative woke shit as most of America is.

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my hair is green, thank you very much.

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I get that white people like to yell about cultural appropriation without actually listening to the people who are IN that culture and are sometimes OK with outsiders celebrating or honoring certain elements in certain ways.



...but you ruined it with the "blue hair SJW set" and that icon lmao

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lmao this non 100x100 icon having ass

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You using "blue hair SJW set", "folx", AND "performative woke shit" unironically



You are on the wrong site, my guy

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Bruh, there's a difference between that and what Gwen did. She treated the "Harajuku Girls" like her own personal japanese barbie dolls. There's interviews where they are literally asked questions, and Gwen jumps in telling people "oh no, they don't speak." and before devil's advocate come in, no the four of them were not mutes.

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This faux outrage stuff is distinctly US-centric.



and where does gwen stefani make her money? not like japanese americans and asian americans have called her out on her bullshit and a white woman profiting from their culture and would possibly differ in perspective from japanese people who don't have to compete with her. y'all always say this when people in the diaspora don't fuck with this lol

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I don't really get how you're equating this to wearing saris in India, they're not the same thing.



Also you're conflating the issues and viewpoints of Asian-born Asians and American-born Asians here as though they're equivalent, and I don't appreciate you treating our issues in such a monolithic way tbh.



Would people in Japan potentially get a kick out of Gwen's antics? Probably, yeah. Is she also regressing the way Japanese people are seen in Western media? Also yes. The latter is harmful for the Asian American community and to pretend it isn't is being obtuse tbh.



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Indian diaspora outside of india /= indians in india. Two VERY different experiences

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Back in 2007 a group of Danes and I backpacked in India, specifically Rajasthan and we had read that dressing in saris or more traditional clothing would indicate respect for the local culture. Every one we met loved that these blond girls were wearing saris, they thought it was really cool and refreshing that we weren't dressing as we would back home. But I'm sure we'd get dragged for this by today's "folx".



As an Indian American, I'm continually amazed at how stupid you white people are. Indians in India, in which they are the majority of everything, are different than Indians in other countries in which they are usually the extreme minority, dumbshit.

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She used Japanese women as props and wouldnt let them speak. She deserved every ounce of backlash she got.

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She literally said in an interview they were all in her mind and they weren't allowed to speak. I don't understand her.



Also this reminds me that she had a bindi and a chola phase.

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danes are pretty stupid and i say that as one

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These types can never get their icon size sorted, like please...have some class. This isn't one of your homosexual dance clubs.



Edited at 2023-01-10 07:11 pm (UTC)

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Here, have another one. Hope it makes your day to get a little attention.

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LOLLL not you again!!!!



Mr "It's a double-standard that non-Black people can't use the n-word", "there's a ton of crime in the Black community", "affirmative action is true privilege"*, and "Don't play the race card when it's convenient". You also have claimed to be "part Black" when you get called out on your racism.



Entirely and unequivocally fuck off, crusty lying racist.



Edited at 2023-01-10 07:56 pm (UTC)

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Shut your dumb palm colored self up

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Sure, Japanese people and other East Asians might see the appropriation as complimentary. But as an Asian American woman, her bullshit only amplified and played a part of the very specific racism and violence Asian women get in America.



Edited at 2023-01-11 08:02 pm (UTC)

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Dont shit yourself

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Theres a difference between going to another country and partaking in the culture vs taking random aspects of another culture and using it and the people as props for commercial purpose. She literally used those women as exotic props.

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Is this what she meant when she sang "take a chance you stupid ***" ? Like full on go for it, the full scarTreeJo?

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Goddamn, she is the absolute worst. I can't think of a celeb I hate more tbh (not including abusers obv). I hope she gets made fun of for the rest of her life for this. She's such an idiot.

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She's def one of those that should be thanking her lucky stars that she is as pretty as what she is cuz sis is DUMB.

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Side eyeing rn lol. this is a helluva mess and alotta to unpack, like its hilarious and sad

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Yeah sure, speak on it Gwen Maria Lopez De La Stefani!



I had to scroll back up to see who the OP was after reading that and I knew it was Stewie. Lol!



The way this woman doubles down........ she didn't learn shit.

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talk about a culture vulture



but honestly the 90s were so different in relation to was culture appropriation and culture appreciation and everything became a melting pot of the world, so like i get where she is coming from.



i'm old and don't care.

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Yeah with Harajuku Girls (the song and her phase, generally) you can see that she had a lot of genuine appreciation. She was upfront on where the inspiration came from, she called out specific Japanese designers whose work she loved. It wasn't a Toros/Clovers situation where she took notes and then acted like she came up with it herself. I can see why she still defends that.



I do think she should have regrets about treating the girls like set pieces and literally not letting them speak. So weird and objectifying



Edited at 2023-01-10 06:22 pm (UTC)

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But it's 30 years later, and she has an internet connection. If she said "back then I felt I was connected to that culture and didn't have the knowledge we have now" I could probably see it...

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As someone who is half Japanese and definitely listened to Gwen during this time, I didnt really find it as culture appropriation. I remember thinking it was cool that she was making it cool, if that makes sense. (I did not like that album though)



If I had to think much deeper about it then maybe I could find a reason to be insulted but back then it was oh cool, shes making Japan look super cool and maybe my very white school friends will think Im cool as well. Very basic thinking.



Im also old and dont care haha

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idk, my neighbor was Indian back in the day and she hated Gwen using a Bindi for fashion, because she got a ton of shit for wearing it years earlier. Now a skinny white woman does it and it's cool? And everyone think my neighbor wears a Bindi to be more like Gwen?



People definitely hated Gwen in the '90's, there just wasn't a platform to talk about it to a wide audience.

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Yeah, I definitely think that the internet didn't bubble up more people angry so much as allow them to connect to each other and actually have a voice that carries. If the internet was around in the 90s in the way it is now then I'm sure she would've been called out much earlier.

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It was 2004-2006

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She was still South Asian here, later she became East Asian I guess. (I'm referring to the bindi.)

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I think the bindi thing is a bit different compared to the rest ofthis.



Tonys mom gave her those items when they were dating, so they hold special meaning to her. She didnt know that eventually mainstream pop culture would take to it like that. It was just something that blew up.



But the rest of thisay gwen i love you but this is something middle school me would say (the japanese part; im already half puerto rican by blood/heritage/however you put that). I was definitely a weeb back in middle school and wanted to give up being black and puerto rican to be japanese. Ive since matured, thank god.

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this was her madonna phase with sprinkle of chola and south asia. and then madonna took it further and became a south asian woman two years later after having played a latina a year before that. full circle i tell ya!

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It's what she said to her Harajuku Girls

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Danny Masterson Gets New Rape Trial; Proceedings Set For Spring https://t.co/0szaHMFiD3  Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) January 10, 2023

Judge Charlaine Olmedo rejected a defense motion to dismiss three charges of rape against Danny Masterson on Tuesday. After the first trial was declared a mistrial on November 30, the new date was set for March 29th.Masterson attorneys asked Olmedo to use her judicial discretion to toss out the old case based on alleged inconsistencies with the testimonies of the three Jane Does. Olmedo refused, pointing out that new witnesses, new evidence or even Masterson himself taking the stand could change any jury outcome in a second trial.
Thoughts and prayers for Ellen #JeSuisEllen

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ty op, this is not at all a small update, i cant imagine how long it must have taken you

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the rain has be CRAZY here



its sunny rn but i can already see the storm clouds rolling in again. theres a county in the next town over that has to evacuate 4000 residents due to the flooding in their streets



i just hope with all the rain theres a ton of snow within the sierras, thats what we need too

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also did you guys hear about that robbery in houston where a man run into a restaurant and points a gun (turned out to be fake) at people while demanding money and one of the people getting robbed pulled out his own gun and killed him?



like how are as a nation suppose to handle these type of situations

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i feel like even tho the gun was fake thats a clear cut case of self defense and defense of others. the robber played a stupid game and won a stupid prize. its unfortunate and sad, but ultimately a potential risk and consequence of committing a crime even with a fake gun.

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and in dc a young teenager was messing with/breaking into people's cars and some vigilante shot and killed him instead of calling the police.



eta, the young teen was black. i don't know anything about the shooter or their race. at the time i read the article, they were pending details from authorities.



Edited at 2023-01-10 10:40 pm (UTC)

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Good lord. I hope you stay safe and don't have to evacuate! 

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and the wind



literally half my city has been mandatorily evacuated. we canceled schools today and sent kids home early yesterday due to rain and flooding in the area. our 'river bed' is so full that it is hitting the overpasses and closing the streets at the bridges



the sierras are getting tons of snow, my sister's mom lives up in the mountains and was getting feet upon feet of snow.

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there needs to be age limits in Congress, like how theres an age minimum to be President. also TERM LIMITS PLEASE

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both have base age requirements but none of the gov has a cap which is lame honestly

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It's been HAILING and lightning and thundering here in San Francisco which is insane, it always rains this time of year but never this intensely, it's just been buckets and buckets. I don't think we've had a single totally dry since the new year and it's supposed to continue through to the 21st.

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i saw something that said weve only had two totally dry days since christmas

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Omg yes. It's been so wild. The loud thundering made me nervous, along with that strong ass wind. Luckily, where I'm at, there's not much hailing. Stay safe.

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It hailed here earlier this morning here!

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I just got a flash flood warning and THREE notifications of streets closed near me (richmond district, SF). It's wild as hell out there right now

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We had a tornado warning... in Central CA. I'm in Modesto and that warning came in at 3:44AM over the phones. Woke everybody up.

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im in san francisco and saw a giant tree in front of my house fall a couple hours ago! thankfully it fell towards the street and not towards any houses so nobody got hurt.



cant wait to vote for my white board queen katie porter. i have it on good authority that adam schiff will be announcing as well. RETIRE DIFI!!!!

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A tree fell in my coworker's neighborhood and the block lost power, so lol we had to cancel several meetings today since she (and the rest of the department) are WFH.

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Also, there's this 



Breaking news: The Pentagon is planning to bring Ukrainian troops to the United States for training on the Patriot missile defense system, a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the development said Tuesday. https://t.co/Dp6GG0pmdY  The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 10, 2023



ETA:

Thank you, OP! You continue to be a  gem 



Edited at 2023-01-10 10:00 pm (UTC) Not gonna lie, seeing those insurrectionists being marched out in handcuffs made me feel a little jealous. That needed to happen on Jan 6. And like all the days after.Also, there's this ETA:Thank you, OP! You continue to be a  gem 

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Oh I missed this!!! I'll add

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So is the US fully in denial that they're at war with Russia? I feel like most Americans think of it's not announced then it's not US vs Russia, which it totally is. I wish Put*er would get fucking k***** already.



Edited at 2023-01-11 02:51 pm (UTC)

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It finally stopped raining in LA!!!! I'm very happy, it was getting ugly with the streets flooding, and I know a lot of folks dealing with leaks in their homes. I feel for the folks in Montecito and thereabouts who were evacuated, that's horrible.



Apparently, we are getting more rain this weekend, but we're supposed to be dry til then. So that's something.



I am 100% convinced Dianne is gonna retire/be forced to retire, and I am all in on Katie. It's just a shame her district will end up going red in the House.

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Did you see the sinkhole in Chatsworth that two cars fell into last night???

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That's terrifying. Stay safe everyone!

Weather is acting crazy here too, there's too much heat and humidity in the mountains and it's causing mudslides too, but not as bad as the ones in California, at least not yet.

I'm really scared of the future.

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it was raining so hard when i went to sleep, and i was worried about our backyard/garage flooding but thankfully it didn't happen. the videos on TikTok from other places in LA and up North are scary and heartbreaking.



i'll happily vote for Katie Porter, it's insane that Dianne Feinstein is still our senator. she's literally held that office for longer than i've been alive!

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Bolsonaro supporters are the whiniest, most dramatic and dumbest group of people that I have ever seen.

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My husband and I just moved to Orange County from Boston in September. I dont think my husband believes that this weather is not common for us here

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Im thankfully more in land now vs when I was in the Bay Area but this rain has been intense and its not over. :(



And omg Feinstein please retire already!! Shes been in her seat almost my whole life, pls leave. I dont even understand why youd want to work such an intense job (idk how much shes really doing vs her staff) when you get to her age.

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i have a video of the rock slide from the new york times post but i cant embed it livejournal says i exceed the count limit lol



https://www.instagram.com/reel/CnNZf7NKVHZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link OT kinda but does anyone know how to post instagram posts in the comments??i have a video of the rock slide from the new york times post but i cant embed it livejournal says i exceed the count limit lol

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When you go to the post on Instagram, you hit the three horizontal bubbles and then share and it should have an option to imbed, it doesn't have this option if you're on the app tho, only in browser, it's the easiest on computer tbh

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so weird bc im on a computer rn! i went to embed but it gave me a huge code that didnt make it any sense lol at first i thought it was bc it was a reel but another user was able to do it!



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> We Want The Source Code. Its being reported the protestors want the source code for the machines used in Brazils recent election.

Huh. "Busloads of arrested Bolsonaro supporters are transported to local police stations" If their police force is corrupt like ours is, well...I hope it does some good.





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They def are very corrupt and pro bolsonaro but this event had a lot of attention they have taken de over thousand insurrectionist to a gimnasium owned by the federal government so they can all be booked and pay for the damage (they made a lot of damages to historic buildings and art)

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With the global transition to clean energy in full swing, traditional renewable energy sources such as solar and wind have, unsurprisingly, been hogging the limelight. Unfortunately, one powerful renewable energy source has been conspicuously missing in the conversation: Geothermal energy. Despite its many obvious benefits, geothermal energy--which taps the heat within the earths crust--is criminally underutilized in the United States. In 2019, the U.S. generated ~18,300 GWh from geothermal sources. While that appears impressive at first glance, heres the kicker: that figure works out to just 0.4% of U.S. power generation. Geothermal energy has two primary applications: electricity generation and heating/cooling.

Geothermal energy can be found almost anywhere: other than seismically active hotspots, there is a steady supply of milder heat--useful for direct heating purposes--at depths of anywhere from 10 to a few hundred feet below the surface. This heat can be found in virtually any location on Earth since it has its origins from when the planet formed and accreted, frictional heating caused by denser core material sinking to the center of the planet as well as heat from the decay of radioactive elements. Indeed, just 10,000 meters (about 33,000 feet) of the Earth's surface contains 50,000 times more energy than all the oil and natural gas resources in the world. Further, unlike solar and wind which are intermittent energy sources, geothermal is highly reliable with a high capacity factor of 74.3% vs. 24.9% for solar and 35.4% for wind.

Related: Europes Warm Winter May Not Be Such Good News For Energy

Another key benefit: geothermal is much cleaner than any fossil fuel out there. Whereas geothermal power plants are frequently associated with sulfur dioxide and silica emissions as well as traces of toxic heavy metals including arsenic, mercury, and boron, the emissions profile of geothermal energy is nowhere near as bad as those of fossil fuels. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) says geothermal power plants emit about 99% less carbon dioxide and 97% less acid rain-causing sulfur compounds than fossil fuel power plants of similar size. Further, geothermal power plants are frequently equipped with scrubbers to remove the hydrogen sulfide naturally found in geothermal reservoirs. Its, therefore, hardly surprising that a country like Iceland--which derives ~two-thirds of its primary energy from geothermal sources--has only one-third the greenhouse gas emission per capita as the United States.

But the same technology that powered the U.S. shale boom might help unlock the full potential of U.S. geothermal resources.

Source: Center for Sustainable Systems

Geothermal Shale Boom

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, continental U.S. has over 100 GW of geothermal electric capacity or 40 times the current installed geothermal capacity, meaning geothermal has the potential to supply 10% of the countrys power needs.

Unfortunately, high drilling and production costs compared to other clean energy sources has impeded growth for the geothermal sector. Indeed, in 2021, the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for geothermal energy in the U.S. clocked in at $84.80/MWh, much higher than $36.60/MWh for utility-scale solar and $40.90/MWh for onshore wind projects.

LCOE calculates the present value of the total cost of building and operating a power plant over an assumed lifetime. Even more worrying is the fact that geothermal development costs have been expanding, increasing by 47% from 2010-2021 at a time when solar PV costs fell 82%; onshore wind development declined 35% while offshore wind costs decreased by 41%.

Enter enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) 

EGS promises to not only boost the energy output of wells over a smaller footprint but also increase the areas where geothermal energy can be exploited.

For the most part, geothermal has only made economic sense in countries such as Iceland, where heat and water can be found close to the surface of the Earth. However, much like shale drilling, EGS creates a subsurface fracture system that increases the permeability of rock and allows for the injection of a heat transfer fluid (typically water). The injected fluid is then heated by the rock and returned to the surface to generate electricity. In June, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a $165 million investment in geothermal energy research and deployment. The Enhanced Geothermal initiative by the DOE aims to lower the cost of EGS projects to $45 per MWh by 2035, thereby vastly increasing the competitiveness of geothermal power. Further, the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law included $84 million for research into EGS projects.

The private sector is also beginning to take tentative steps into geothermal energy, with a slew of geothermal energy startups raising millions of dollars in capital. Last month, Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) partnered its clean energy subsidiary Chevron New Energies with Swedens Baseload Capital to develop geothermal projects in the United States. Two years ago, Chevron and BP Inc. (NYSE: BP) invested $40 million in Canadian geothermal energy company, Eavor Technologies. In the same year, Aloha State energy utility Hawaiian Electric unveiled a plan to increase its geothermal generation capacity as part of its goal to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030.

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Its like solar: If you look at solar 20 years ago, nobodys interested in solar because it costs too much. But as solar has grown, the cost has come down as its improved in scale. Were kind of on the cusp of moving into the cost-effective range [for geothermal], just like we did with solar, over the next 20 years, Roland Horne, a professor of earth sciences at Stanford University, has told Yahoo News.

But its not just about technology and lower costs, the global energy crisis has triggered a sense of urgency by governments everywhere to enhance their energy security.

Its unbelievable how geothermal has gone under the radar. Now, when you see the bills [in] electricity and the gas prices go up everywhere--at least, around us--it doesnt affect us. This can be done all around the world. you don't need to be the most active volcanic island in the world to use geothermal Icelands environment minister, Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson, has told Yahoo News.



By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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There is not enough refining capacity in the U.S. or Europe to respond to rising demand, so only demand destruction can save the market.

With an embargo on Russian diesel looming, demand for heating oil set to climb, and travel increasing, middle distillate markets could tighten further.

Diesel markets have grown increasingly tight in the last two years as demand for freight transport surged during the pandemic while production didnt.

Talk of a global diesel shortage subsided in the past few weeks as oil prices once again took center stage, but the tight supply situation in middle distillates appears to have remained unchanged, and traders are betting it will continue to be tight. Tighter than the situation in oil, in fact.

In his regular column on oil buying, Reuters John Kemp said this week that more traders were bullish on middle distillates than on crude oil. Even though sales of diesel in the last week of 2022 hit 2 million barrels, they were nowhere near sales of crude oil at 30 million barrels for WTI.

Its all about the outlook. Diesel and other distillate fuels swung close to a shortage over the past two years as demand for freight transport surged amid the pandemic and the lockdowns, but production didnt.

As the pandemic began to subside and the lockdowns ended, demand for transportation remained strong and, it seems, so did demand for freight transport specifically. Air travel began to recover, too, with pent-up demand adding to the shortage worry in middle distillates, which, besides diesel, are used to make jet fuel.

In the United States, the East Coast got a scare last October with diesel and heating oil inventories lower than usual and demand about to take off as heating season began. Luckily, a shortage was avoided, but prices soared along with many peoples heating bills.

Farmers in some parts of the country are also suffering the effects of tight diesel supply and the resulting higher prices even as they still try to recover from the blow the industry suffered from the pandemic.

In Europe, buyers rushed to stock up on Russian diesel before the February 5 embargo on fuels kicks in. This week Bloomberg reported that Kuwait is preparing to ramp up its diesel sales to Europe considerably this year to replace embargoed Russian fuels.

However, the Kuwaiti fuel will not be able to replace all of the lost Russian diesel supply, so China and India will also probably be exporting more diesel to Europe. It is no coincidence that Beijing issued higher fuel export quotas for Chinese refiners this year.

Meanwhile, the silver lining of all the bad economic news reports that marked the last quarter of 2022 appears to be lower diesel use, alleviating the tight supply situation somewhat. Reuters Kemp again noted it first in a column from the start of December and then another written a month later.

A decline in manufacturing activity and freight transport in response to rising fuel prices has led to a decline in the demand for those fuels. As a result, U.S. distillate fuel inventories inched up between October and November, which was a very welcome development. However, they still remained lower than the five-year average for that time of the year.

With U.S. manufacturing activity marking a decline for the second month in a row in December, distillate fuel demand is set to have declined further with it. While such a development is usually a cause for concern, when it comes to distillate demand, its more on the good news side because lower consumption could eventually lead to some price relief.

Production remains the big problem, and traders appear to be betting on continued tight supply because of this fact. There is simply not enough refining capacity in the U.S. or Europe to ramp up production fast enough to respond to demand levels. As some analysts from the banking industry said last year about oil prices, the only surefire way to bring them down was a recession. The way would no doubt work for distillate fuels, too.

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Last year, the United States became the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) thanks to a massive surge in deliveries to energy-starved buyers in Europe and Asia amid Russias invasion of Ukraine and a global energy crisis. Indeed, the U.S. and North America accounted for the lions share of long-term LNG contracts signed in 2022 for the export market with no less than 20 deals inked. The biggest contract on record was signed between Energy Transfer Partners and Shell Plc. (NYSE: SHEL) for the supply of 2.1mtpa of LNG from 2026 to 2046.

Unfortunately, efforts by the U.S. to continue growing its natural gas sector are in jeopardy due to takeaway constraints including limited pipeline capacity. For instance, in the Appalachian Basin, the countrys largest gas-producing region churning out more than 35 Bcf/d, environmental groups have repeatedly stopped or slowed down pipeline projects and limited further growth in the Northeast. This leaves the Permian Basin and Haynesville Shale to shoulder much of the growth forecast for LNG exports. Indeed, EQT Corp.(NYSE: EQT) CEO Toby Rice recently acknowledged that Appalachian pipeline capacity has hit a wall.

Its the reason why all eyes have turned to pipeline companies as they try to save the day.

Analysts at East Daley Capital Inc. have projected that U.S. LNG exports will grow to 26.3 Bcf/d by 2030 from their current level of nearly 13 Bcf/d. For this to happen, the analysts say another 2-4 Bcf/d of takeaway capacity would need to come online between 2026 and 2030 in the Haynesville.

Given this backdrop, here are three pipeline companies that look like good buys right now.

Hess Midstream

Market Cap: $7.5B

Dividend Yield (Fwd): 7.2%

Hess Midstream LP (NYSE: HESM) is a fee-based traditional master limited partnership (MLP) originally carved out of New York-based integrated oil giant Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) in 2014 to own, operate, develop and acquire a diverse set of midstream assets to provide services to its parent company as well as third-party customers.

Now some investors want nothing to do with MLPs--and for good reason. Prior to the oil price crash of 2014, MLPs were popular with income investors due to their slow but steady and almost guaranteed returns. Indeed, in past business cycles, MLPs frequently outperformed oil and gas stocks thanks to their considerably higher yields, favorable taxation and less exposure to commodity prices. Unfortunately, the Big Shift away from the MLP structure began in earnest in 2018 after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reversed a key policy in MLP tax costs for interstate pipelines that led to increased cost of business for many companies in the space. To add insult to injury, Trumps tax bonanza that saw corporate tax rate lowered from 35% to 21% seriously lowered the tax advantage MLPs held over traditional oil and gas companies. Related: Russian Lukoil To Sell Strategic Italian Refinery To Trafigura-Backed Company



But HESM has continued to defy the odds and thrive in the midst of that storm. First off, this little-known MLP has grown its distribution by more than 140% over the past 5 years and currently yields a very decent 7.22%. HESM share price has even advanced by 50% over the stretch compared to just 20% by your average large-and mid-cap energy company. On the revenue front, Hess Midstream has continued to impress after reporting Q3 2022 revenue of $334.8M (+10.2% Y/Y), beating the Wall Street consensus by $17.77M while Q3 GAAP EPS of $0.53 beat by $0.01. Meanwhile, adjusted EBITDA clocked in at $253.6 million; Distributable Cash Flow was $214.8 million and Adjusted Free Cash Flow was $155.6 million.

Hess Midstream announced a 5% payout hike for 2022, and intends to maintain that growth rate over the next two years which could see the companys yield exceed 8%. Other high-yield MLPs are Holly Energy Partners LP (NYSE: HEP)+7.4%, Enterprise Product Partners LP (NYSE: EPD)+7.7% and Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE: MMP)+8.1%.

Kinder Morgan

Market Cap: $42.1B

Dividend Yield: 5.9%

Houston, Texas-based Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) operates as an energy infrastructure company including natural gas pipelines, products pipelines, terminals, and CO2 in North America.

Ever since the oil price crash of 2014, Kinder Morgan has cut back on spending and instead focused on strengthening its balance sheet. The company also took the radical and unpopular decision of slashing its dividendwhich eventually worked as planned. Over the past three years, Kinder Morgan has been able to lower its long-term debt by nearly 30% while capital expenditure is down by 60%. This has left the company with plenty of free cash flow to support its nearly 6% (ttm) dividend.

Another reason to love this company: Kinder Morgan contracts its assets via long-term take-or-pay and fixed-fee contracts which ensures the company enjoys steady cash flows regardless of the market cycle. Indeed, the stock did not suffer like most of its peers during the infamous gas price crash of 2020. On the flip side, KMI shares might not make a lot of gains when gas prices soar like they did till mid-2022. In other words, this is a good stock for investors looking for some measure of downside protection in choppy markets.

The Williams Companies

Market Cap: $39.8B

Dividend Yield: 5.2%

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The Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily dealing with the transportation of natural gas and natural gas liquids.

Lately, WMB has been on an M&A spree as it looks to expand and to enhance its gas pipeline network. In its latest deal, Williams has agreed to acquire MountainWest Pipelines from Southwest Gas (NYSE: SWX) for $1.07 billion in cash and also assume $430 million of MoutainWest's debt. MountainWests assets run across Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado, comprising ~2,000-mile interstate natural gas pipeline system with ~8 billion cubic feet per day of transmission capacity as well as 56 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage.

Williams says that its latest acquisition will expand the company's services in the Rockies region and also boost its cash flows backed by government-regulated rate structures. The company also sees significant synergies as it integrates the incoming system into its existing assets, which it says could allow it to offer additional services to shippers.

The MountainWest deal comes hot on the heels of Williams' acquisitions of Trace Midstream's Haynesville gathering and processing assets as well as NorTex Midstream earlier in the year. The company has been successful in utilizing its improving balance sheet to expand its natural gas infrastructure platform, which should be accretive to earnings, cash flows and, hopefully, future dividends.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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Gov. J.B. Pritzker dances with his wife, M.K. Pritzker, to Youre Still the One on Jan. 9, 2023, at the inaugural celebration at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

SPRINGFIELD  Seeking to build on the successes of his four years in office, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker offered a second-term agenda Monday that called for a state constitutional right to abortion, making preschool available to every family and making public college free for children in working-class families.

The 57-year-old governor also vowed that Democratic lawmakers will send to his desk comprehensive legislation to ban military-style firearms and to require such guns already in circulation to be registered. The governor and legislators reached a deal on a measure that was passed by the Senate later Monday, with a final vote in the House expected Tuesday.

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In a pomp-filled ceremony at the Bank of Springfield convention center, Pritzker stood with his family on a massive stage flanked by white columns as he took the oath of governor for a second time shortly after noon from Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis.

The inauguration events culminated with a performance by pop superstar Bruno Mars at a gala at the state fairgrounds.

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It was the culmination of a lengthy reelection campaign that saw the billionaire heir of the Hyatt Hotels fortune spend more than $150 million in defeating his Republican challenger, Darren Bailey, a conservative downstate farmer who had been Pritzkers preferred GOP opponent, by nearly 13 percentage points in November.

Reflecting the one-party dominance of the state, a full slate of Democrats were also inaugurated to four-year terms Monday: Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Comptroller Susana Mendoza and Treasurer Mike Frerichs, who all were reelected. Alexi Giannoulias was sworn in as Illinois secretary of state, replacing Jesse White, who held the office for 24 years and did not seek another term.

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton hugs Freddrenna Lyle, associate justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, after taking the oath of office alongside her family as she begins her second term on Jan. 9, 2023. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Pritzker was sworn in shortly after signing into law pay raises for the statewide officers and his agency directors, as well as the states 177 legislators beginning with the new term that starts Wednesday. Democratic lawmakers approved the raises with no Republican support.

Opening his address, Pritzker jokingly took note of the election and Republican campaign yard signs that said Fire Pritzker. He said his concern lessened when my kids pointed out that when people in their generation think something is really cool they say, Thats Fire! So, I want to take this moment to thank everyone who put up those very encouraging signs, he said to laughter.

Pritzker recounted the optimism of his first inaugural speech, which reflected a contrast to the four years of governmental and financial chaos under his vanquished predecessor, one-term Republican Bruce Rauner.

He noted how he achieved most of what he proposed in 2019, including restoring the states fiscal footing, increasing the minimum wage to $15-an-hour by 2025, legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana, prioritizing broadband access to rural downstate areas and putting the state on a path to 100% clean energy by 2050.

Pritzkers speech four years ago also introduced a phrase that, unbeknown to everyone at the time  including the governor himself  that would soon become a central theme of his administrations first term: I believe in science.

Though he was speaking then of efforts to curb climate change, little more than 14 months later Pritzkers expressions of belief in and following science defined his emergency responses to the COVID-19 pandemic  including mitigation efforts that shuttered businesses, closed schools to in-class learning and kept nonessential workers from going to the workplace.

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We did all those things while fighting to survive a historic crisis  one that has left a deep imprint on every one of us, Pritzker said of the pandemic, which dominated his first term. The difficult thing about governing through unprecedented times is that its your job to set the precedent.

As governor its your job to plan for the future, even as you continue to grapple with the past, he said. So today, as Illinois continues its progress overcoming our historical fiscal challenges and a deadly pandemic, I come to you with an agenda as ambitious and bold as our people are, thinking not only about the next four years, but about the next 40.

A crowd attends the inauguration ceremony at the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield on Jan. 9, 2023. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Pritzker campaigned for reelection on his longtime support for a womans right to obtain an abortion, which became a politically charged issue in late June when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal recognition of the procedure and returned the matter of its legality to the states.

Illinois has already enshrined a right to an abortion in state law and is considering legislation to help physicians and women from other states undergo the procedure in Illinois. But until Monday, Pritzker had not responded to questions about whether the state should add a right to abortion to its constitution, a process requiring a public vote.

One thing last year proved is that if given the chance, a bunch of right-wing judges and legislators will take away womens rights. Well, Illinois spoke loudly and decisively in 2022 and declared that in the Land of Lincoln, we trust women, he said, referring to his solid reelection victory.

The right to privacy and bodily autonomy demand that we establish a constitutional protection for reproductive rights in Illinois, he said. The extremists still want to take away a womans right to choose and I dont intend to let them. Thats why yet again, on womens rights, Illinois will lead.

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In a lame-duck session scheduled to end Tuesday, House and Senate Democrats were attempting to reconcile differences over measures to protect patients and providers from being subjected to restrictive laws in other states, as well providing similar protections involving gender-affirming care for transgender people. The legislation also would expand the pool of health professionals for abortion.

Democrats in each chamber also appeared on the brink of fulfilling Pritzkers vow for a ban on military-style guns, limits on ammunition magazine capacity, and provisions for current owners of those firearms to provide serial numbers to register them.

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza arrives with her family to take the oath of office on Jan. 9, 2023, during the inauguration ceremony at the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield. Mendoza is with her mother, Susana, son David (hidden) and husband David Szostak. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Pritzker, Senate President Don Harmon of Oak Park and House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch of Hillside reached an agreement on the plan that was approved by the Senate on Monday evening on a 34-20 vote, with no Republicans in support.

A final House vote to approve the measure is expected Tuesday, with Pritzker, Harmon and Welch saying they had reached a deal on one of the strongest assault weapons bans in the country.

In his inauguration speech, Pritzker had said he was tired of living in a world where a mass shooting needs a title so you know which one were referring to.

Now, Im a firm believer that government functions best when we look for compromise, Pritzker said. But Im done with the NRA having its way when it comes to mass shootings. Why do we allow anyone to easily purchase a rapid-fire, high-capacity weapon that can kill dozens of unarmed people in under a minute?

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In addition to guns and abortion, another first-term initiative for Pritzker remains unresolved  the elimination of cash bail, which was a provision in a sweeping criminal justice bill he signed in early 2021.

A lawsuit by more than 60 states attorneys from across Illinois led a county judge to declare the provision in violation of the state constitution, and the Illinois Supreme Court subsequently put a stay on cashless bail taking effect as scheduled on Jan. 1, and has set hearings on the issue.

Pritzker has long been an advocate of early childhood education and he used his address to propose we go all in for our children and make preschool available to every family throughout the state.

An aide said later that Pritzker is considering an expanded program for state subsidized preschool based on income. There were no details on the program or its costs, which may surface in Pritzkers upcoming budget proposal, the aide said.

Additionally, no details or cost estimates were available on Pritzkers call for making college tuition free for every working family. Pritzker has increased funding for need-based grants to students from lower income families.

Prior to the speech, in one of the final acts of his first term, Pritzker signed into law a budget measure boosting the salaries of lawmakers, starting with those sworn in for a new term Wednesday, while also raising pay for the governor and other statewide officials and the heads of agencies appointed by the governor.

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The raises would boost the annual salary of rank-and-file lawmakers to $85,000 from $72,906, a nearly 17% increase. The governors salary, which Pritzker does not collect, goes to $205,700 from $190,700, an 8% increase.

The lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, treasurer and secretary of state  offices that remain filled by Democrats after Mondays inauguration  also get pay increases.

Giannoulias, the lone newly elected official in that group, would be paid $183,300  a 9% increase from the $168,300 salary paid to outgoing White, whos held the office since 1999.

Pritzker, who pushed for raises for his agency heads, over the weekend defended the move as necessary to attract great people to positions in his administration.

Pritzker said the optimism he felt at his first inauguration was born of a truth lodged firmly in my heart, that Illinois has always stood at the intersection of American ambition and human resilience.

That combination, he said, is what has made this the greatest state in the union.

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Petrobras will cut the price of natural gas for its customers by 11.1% from February 1 compared to the November-January period due to lower international oil prices and depreciation of the Brazilian currency, Brazils state-held oil and gas firm said on Tuesday.

Petrobras updates the price of natural gas on a quarterly basis and takes into account the price of the international crude oil benchmark, Brent Crude, as well as the foreign exchange rate for the Brazilian reais.

Over the past three months, oil prices dropped by 11.9%. Meanwhile, the reais exchange rate depreciated by 0.2%, that is, the amount of Brazilian currency to convert into dollars increased by 0.2%, Petrobras said in a statement.

In addition, the natural gas contracts effective from 2022 include a reduction of the pricing formula, from 16.75% of Brent price to 14.40% of Brent prices.

Petrobras noted that the final price of natural gas for consumers does not depend entirely on the companys sales prices. It also depends on the portfolio of suppliers and the margins of each gas distributor, as well as federal and state taxes and consumer tariffs.

Petrobras currently has bigger problems than the updated price of natural gas. The companys shares have tumbled since Brazils leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office last week. At the end of December, Lula picked his political ally, Jean Paul Prates, as the new chief of Petrobras. Prates had accused the current company leadership of driving Petrobras off a cliff by its singular focus on oil and gas and its meager attention to the energy transition.

This week, Petrobras stepped up security at its refineries in response to threats of attacks on the infrastructure, Reuters has reported, citing unnamed sources.

The threats come as supporters of Brazils previous president, Jair Bolsonaro, stormed Brazils Congress, the presidential palace, and the Supreme Court this weekend. The riots first erupted following the narrow victory of President Ignacio Lula da Silva over Bolsonaro in October and have been going on since then.

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China has stepped up imports of Arctic Russian crude grades in the latest sign of a re-routing of Russian oil deliveries internationally.

The shift was reported by Bloomberg, which cited data from Vortexa and Kpler, with the Vortexa data showing that China only bought its first cargo of Arcoa sour, heavy crudein November last year. According to traders that Bloomberg spoke to, the grade could displace some Iraqi oil imports.

The re-routing of Arctic grades is absolutely taking place, Viktor Katona, lead crude oil analyst at Kpler, told Bloomberg. Russias Arctic grades were among the Europe-oriented streams that since Dec. 5 have to find new homes elsewhere, and in all of those cases its pretty much an India and China split.

Meanwhile, India is also ramping up imports of Arctic Russian crude. Last month the first-ever cargo of the Varandey crude blend from the Timan-Pechora oilfields, operated by Russian firm Lukoil, reached India, according to data from Vortexa.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Indiathe worlds third-largest crude oil importerhas also bought cargoes of other Russian crude grades from the Arctic, such as Arco and Novy Port Lightthe same grades that China is now importing, according to the latest data.

Previously, Arctic crude was shipped to Europe but flows have been shifting as the EU targeted Russias energy industry with a series of sanction moves that culminated with an embargo on most Russian crude oil imports that came into effect on December 5. An identical embargo on Russian fuels is scheduled to come into effect on February 5.

As a result, China and India have replaced Europe as the largest buyers of Russian oil, with India raising its intake of Russian crude especially markedly. From a marginal exporter before the war in Ukraine, Russia has now turned into Indias biggest supplier of the commodity.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought to a California court last year by a group of individuals claiming the Trump administration and U.S. oil producers colluded with Russia and Saudi Arabia to keep oil and gasoline prices high.

Defendants named in the lawsuit included the American Petroleum Institute, Chevron, Exxon, Occidental Petroleum, Phillips 66, and Energy Transfer.

The plaintiffsabout two dozen of themalleged that the defendants conspired with Saudi Arabia and Russia, with the help of the Trump administration, to keep the prices of oil and fuels high.

The suit cites events from 2020, when Russia and Saudi Arabia temporarily locked horns and flooded the market with oil, causing prices to plunge. The plaintiffs also cite a statement made by API chief Mike Sommers, who said that What we have here is . . . a supply shock because of the decision by Russia and the Saudis to flood the market with oil. Ultimately the solution here is to work in a diplomatic way to make sure that oil markets are well balanced.

The statement is taken by the plaintiffs to mean it was made at the instigation of the companies named as defendants and that it prompted APIs Sommers to seek consultation with the White House on remedying the matter.

The plaintiffs also targeted President Donald Trump for taking part in the conspiracy, citing a couple of tweets from April 2020, when the President first hailed lower fuel prices resulting from the price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, only to do a U-turn a few days later and suggest that an end to that production conflict would be good news for everyone, especially the U.S. oil industry.

In his ruling, Judge Jeffrey White said, as quoted by Courthouse News Service, that The allegations include specific foreign policy decisions allegedly made by the Trump administration in furtherance of the alleged conspiracy.

The court lacks jurisdiction over a complaint that 'requires and inquiry into' whether foreign nations entered an agreement with defendants at the behest of the President of the United States, he also wrote.

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A 2005 deal for oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea signed by the Philippines with companies from China and Vietnam is illegal, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, saying the countrys constitution bars foreign firms from exploring Philippine natural resources.

The ruling, 14 years after an appeal was lodged, could make talks between China and the Philippines on energy exploration in non-disputed parts of the South China Sea more complicated, according to Reuters.

The long-running dispute in the South China Sea involves territorial claims by China as well as Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei, and Malaysia. China has territorial claims to about 90 percent of the South China Sea, which has put it at odds with its neighbors.

A court in The Hague in 2016 ruled against Chinas claims and in favor of the Philippines. China, however, has not acknowledged the ruling, which has heightened tensions in the area. Instead, it has continued with its agenda, according to which most of the sea is Chinese waters.

China and the Philippines agreed at the end of 2019 to pursue joint oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea.

The South China Sea may hold 28 billion barrels of oil, according to an estimate from the U.S. Geological Survey from the mid-90s. Since then, with improvements in technology, this figure could have increased substantially.

However, in June 2022, the Philippines ditched talks with China on a potential joint exploration for oil and gas in the South China Sea due to sovereignty issues and constraints in the Philippines constitution.

Because of the Chinese claims over most of the South China Sea, the Philippines has struggled to find partners willing to engage in the exploration of resources in the basin.

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Russias government is watching Russian crude oil price trends closely after reports that its flagship crude currently trades at around half the price of the international benchmark, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

The government, first of all Deputy Prime Minister [Alexander] Novak, is watching the situation very closely, as [well as] the Energy Ministry, Peskov said, as carried by Russian news agency TASS.

Vladimir Putins spokesman was asked if the Kremlin was concerned about the very low prices at which Russias Urals is trading and the consequences for Russias budget income.

Urals, Russias flagship crude grade, was going for $37.80 a barrel at the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk on Friday, half the Brent Crude price on the same day, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing data provided by Argus Media.

Russia is also keeping a very close watch on the situation after the presidential decree in retaliation to the price cap on Russian oil, Peskov said today.

At the end of December, Russian President Vladimir Putin banned the sale of Russian oil to countries that have joined the so-called Price Cap Coalition and comply with the cap imposed by the Western countries. The Russian move was weeks in the making and follows the start of the price cap mechanism that the G7, the EU, and Australia implemented on December 5.

The EU and G7 banned maritime transportation services from shipping Russias crude oil to third countries if the oil is bought above the price cap of $60 per barrel, and the EU imposed an embargo on seaborne imports of Russian oil into the bloc.

Putins decree bans the sale of Russian oil to countries that comply with the price cap and will be in effect from February 1 to July 1, 2023.

Russia has the right to respond to illegal measures as it sees fit, Putins spokesman Peskov has said.

Moscow claims the price cap will not seriously hit its oil production and economy. Russias oil production will not fall off a cliff now that the EU-G7 price cap on Russian crude has come into effect, Russias First Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin said last month.

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When it is time to pop open a cold one, your go-to is a familiar beer brand. But if you like beer and supporting local businesses, there are comparable beer styles made by local beer makers that with just one sip might surprise you. This time of year especially, Nebraska breweries house some of the best seasonals, freshly brewed and in your neighborhood. Even if youre not a beer drinker, some breweries offer hard ciders, beer sours and seltzers, as well as a selection of craft spirits and wine varieties.

Ready to sample these offerings? This list features the most notable beer styles and descriptions to help you order at a Nebraska brewery.

Ales

Beer falls into one of two categories: lagers or ales. The latter consists of six main styles: British origin, North American origin, Belgian and French origin, Irish origin, German origin, and other origin. Each style has multiple subsets, totaling over 70 styles. Of these, here are some of the most popular:

Brown ales: Usually range in color from amber to brown and are characterized by notes of chocolate, caramel, citrus or nuts.

Usually range in color from amber to brown and are characterized by notes of chocolate, caramel, citrus or nuts. Pale ales: Noted by their copper hue and fruitier palates.

Noted by their copper hue and fruitier palates. Indian pale ales (IPAs): Like the name, theyre pale in color and notably hoppy.

Like the name, theyre pale in color and notably hoppy. Porters: Distinguished by their deep hues and smooth flavors of chocolate and toffee.

Distinguished by their deep hues and smooth flavors of chocolate and toffee. Stouts: The more complex ale, varying in shades of dark brown and black. Often full-bodied in flavor, but not in alcohol content. Can be considered dry or sweet and sometimes bitter, and typically include notes of chocolate and coffee.

Pale Ales and IPAs

Steeple Brewing offers Kitchen Kerfuffle, a creamy ale thats easy to down. According to their menu, it is something everyone can agree on.

At Corn Coast Brewing Co., try their Nebraska Surf League blonde ale if youre into ales that are light, aka fewer calories. If sweet is more your style, their Belgian blonde Devil Dog Golden Ale, or either of their amber ales Shuck Yeah! or Shucking Guv'na are stellar choices for a clean yet malty body.

Macs Creek Brewery Irish Ale is a good choice if you want a more balanced blend of malts and barley for a profile thats technically bitter with a sweeter taste.

Stouts and porters

Thunderhead Brewing describes their Peat Smoked Porter as a satisfying black beer. More adventurous beer drinkers should give their Your Argument Is Invalid Imperial Stout a taste.

If chocolate milk is your kryptonite, Benson Brewery recommends its Velveteen Milk Stout. Its basically an adult version with more complex notes of amaretto, chocolate and mocha. Order a nitro for a smoother texture.

At Flyover Brewing Company, try their award-winning Oatmeal Stout, which they describe as roasty and refreshing.

Jukes Ale Works is the go-to for delectable beer concoctions like bananas foster, cookies and cream and PB&J. Their Merlin's Cream Ale is made of flaked corn and specialty grains for a slightly sweet, well-balanced taste.

Pals Brewing Company says its Bourbon Bent, Whiskey Bent and seasonal stout are all great if you're a stout lover.

Zipline Brewing Co.s Oatmeal Porter is most similar to a stout in that its a dark roast, which makes for an ultra-rich brew.

Ciders and liquors

For some, the hoppiest of hours does not include drinking beer. This person may be your spouse or your best friend, but you love them anyway, those dear non-beer drinkers. No need to let your next brewery outing fizzle, consider the following options so you can bring along your bestie non-beer drinkers, too. These places have something for everyone.

At Saro Cider, you can order a variety of year-round and seasonal ciders, including Sangria, Dry Citrus Cider and Wild Berry Cider.

For non-beer drinkers, Boiler Brewing Company often recommends a fruit-heavy beer, cider or mead.

In addition to beer, Brickway Brewery & Distillery crafts vodka, gin, whisky and rum to satisfy your taste.

No matter your preferred flavor profile, Kros Strain Brewing is sure to offer you something that matches your palate from their foeder program  a variety of saisons, sours and other mixed culture beers.

Stone Hollow Brewing Company has a house cider and a fruited cider, as well as a fruited sour beer that doesnt taste like your average beer. If neither of those is your style, they also serve a variety of mixed beverages and wine.

Nebraska Brewing Company has a year-round lineup of four craft seltzers  blackberry, grapefruit, mango and pineapple  plus a variety of new flavors they consistently introduce as additions for a total of six flavors during any given time.

To learn more, visit nebraska.beer/find-nebraska-beer.

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An Omaha man reportedly shot and killed himself Monday in the presence of police during a domestic disturbance.

According to the Omaha Police Department, officers were called to a residence near 167th and Q Streets for a domestic disturbance at 10:15 a.m. Monday. When they arrived, they saw 41-year-old Loren Dexter in the front of the house.

Police saw Dexter walk away from the home and enter a car in the driveway. Before officers got out of their cruisers, they heard a single gunshot.

Police immediately removed Dexter, who had suffered a gunshot wound, from the car and began performing CPR. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The incident is being investigated by the Omaha Police Departments Officer Involved Investigations Team, the Douglas County Sheriffs Office and the Bellevue Police Department.

The case will be presented to a grand jury after the investigation is completed. Nebraska law requires that a grand jury be summoned when a death occurs when a person is being apprehended by law enforcement or in law enforcement custody.
A Papillion man was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison after being found guilty of three counts of felony cruelty to animals resulting in death.

Edward Luben, 57, agreed to enter the guilty pleas in exchange for the Sarpy County Attorneys Office dismissing nine other charges of cruelty to animals, including four felonies.

Luben was sentenced to three one-year terms in prison to be served one after the other. He also was ordered not own animals for 15 years.

In December 2021, the Nebraska Humane Society and the Papillion Police Department served a search warrant at Lubens house near 84th Street and Centennial Road to recover evidence of animal neglect.

Officials seized and removed 665 animals from the home, including exotic birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. About 70 of the 665 animals were found dead during the search, and two animals had to be euthanized due to the extent of their injuries.

The Nebraska Humane Society evaluated and treated the surviving animals.

These animals were living in deplorable conditions, Deputy Sarpy County Attorney Dominique Jones said at the time. Many of them were severely malnourished or had physical impairments due to their living conditions. The fact that so many of the animals survived is a testament to the Nebraska Humane Societys work.

People with information about possible animal abuse or neglect may contact the Nebraska Humane Society at 402-444-7800, ext. 1.
WASHINGTON  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government is little more than a week old, but it's already giving the Biden administration headaches.

Just days into its mandate, a controversial member of Netanyahu's right-wing Cabinet riled U.S. diplomats with a visit to a Jerusalem holy site that some believe may be harbinger of other contentious moves, including vast expansions of Jewish settlement construction on land claimed by the Palestinians.

And, Netanyahu's government adopted punitive measures against the Palestinians that run in direct opposition to several recent Biden moves to boost U.S.-Palestinian relations, including restoring assistance to the Palestinian Authority that had been cut during the Trump administration and allowing Palestinian officials to visit the United States.

The new government is an unwelcome complication for a Biden national security team seeking to shift attention away from the Middle East and toward rivals like China and Russia. It also comes as Republicans take control of the House of Representatives and are eager to cast Biden as unfriendly to Israel ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Bracing for more turmoil, Biden is dispatching his national security adviser to Israel in mid-January in a bid to forestall potentially deepening rifts between his administration and its top Mideast partner. That visit by Jake Sullivan may be followed by other high-level trips to Israel, including one by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to administration officials.

Their message goes beyond warnings about inflaming tensions with Palestinians: It's also about not cozying up with Russia, particularly now that Moscow is relying on Israel's main enemy, Iran, in its war on Ukraine; and not upsetting the delicate Middle East security balance.

Since Netanyahu won hotly contested elections last year with huge support from the Israeli right, U.S. officials have said they will judge his government on actions rather than personalities.

"I look forward to working with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has been my friend for decades, to jointly address the many challenges and opportunities facing Israel and the Middle East region, including threats from Iran," Biden said when Netanyahu took office Dec. 29.

Yet while Biden and Netanyahu have known each other for years, they are not close. Biden and former Obama administration officials who now work for Biden still harbor resentment toward the prime minister who, during his previous iteration as Israel's leader, sought to derail their signature foreign policy achievement: the Iran nuclear deal.

Still, the administration is signaling it will engage with Netanyahu while avoiding more extreme members of his government. That approach wouldn't be unprecedented: The U.S. deals with Lebanon's government while shunning members from the Hezbollah movement, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

"We will be dealing directly with Prime Minister Netanyahu," State Department spokesman Ned Price said when asked about possible contacts with Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's, whose visit to the site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary prompted a major outcry.

The inclusion of Ben-Gvir, a West Bank settler leader, and other extreme right-wing figures in Netanyahu's government who are hostile to the Palestinians and opposed to a two-state resolution has put Israel and the U.S. on opposite paths.

On Thursday, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood, at an emergency meeting of the Security Council called by Arab states to condemn Ben-Gvir's holy site visit, underscored Biden's firm support for "the historic status quo," especially the "Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount."

Wood noted that Netanyahu pledged to preserve the status quo and he stressed that the administration placed a priority on preserving the possibility of a two-state solution.

But on Friday, Netanyahu's Security Cabinet approved a series of punitive steps against the Palestinian leadership in retaliation for the Palestinians pushing the U.N.'s highest judicial body to give an opinion on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

The Security Cabinet decided to withhold millions of dollars from the Palestinian Authority and transfer those funds to a compensation program for families of Israeli victims of Palestinian militant attacks. And it will deny benefits, including travel permits, to Palestinian officials who "are leading the political and legal war against Israel."

Biden's administration has reversed the Trump ban on aid and provided more than $800 million in economic, development, security and other assistance to the Palestinians and the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

Despite a more-than-$3 billion annual assistance package to Israel and diplomatic backing in international forums, U.S. sway with Netanyahu appears limited.

The Biden administration has not yet followed through on its pledge to re-open the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, which historically served as the main contact point with the Palestinians, and made no move to re-open the Palestinian embassy in Washington. Both facilities were shut down during the Trump administration.

Photos: Biden visits the border for the first time
LINCOLN  Roughly eight hours of debate over the course of two days led the Nebraska Legislature to adopt its original lineup of committee memberships with no changes.

Lawmakers approved a report laying out legislative committee memberships for the next two years in a 40-7 vote Monday afternoon. Democrats adamantly opposed the report, claiming Republicans steamrolled the process to get an advantage on some committees, though several Democrats ultimately voted in favor of the report.

The debate, which began on Friday, likely would have continued further into this week, as the Legislature was originally scheduled to adjourn around 11:30 a.m. Monday. When that time neared with multiple lawmakers still in line to speak, Speaker of the Legislature John Arch announced the debate would extend through the lunch hour in an effort to vote on the report that day. The vote did not happen until around 3 p.m.

Democrats extended debate by making motions to recommit the report back to the Committee on Committees. Though Republicans successfully made motions to cease debate after some discussion, each of those motions were met with new motions to recommit from Democrats.

Arch attempted to cut straight to a vote on the report in the early afternoon by making a motion to suspend some of the Legislatures rules. This, however, led to more debate from Democrats alleging Archs motion was improper and an attempt to stifle dissent. Once Arch withdrew his motion, the Legislature immediately proceeded to the final vote on the report.

Committees are an essential part of the officially nonpartisan Legislature, as virtually every bill that gets approved each session must first get through a designated committee. Many bills that get introduced never get debated on the chamber floor because they dont make it out of their committees.

Committee lineups are decided once every two years coinciding with the start of a new Legislature by the Committee on Committees, which is made up of three caucuses representing Nebraskas three congressional districts. The whole body then votes on the committee memberships.

This time around, rather than following past precedent in deciding committee assignments, Democratic State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha claimed Republican leaders made the process a bald-faced partisan exercise. Hunt served in one of the caucuses, and she said when there was dissent among members, Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn would call for a break and when they resumed Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston, the committee chair, would threaten to force a vote.

Hunt and other Democrats alleged this led to several lawmakers getting kicked off committees where they had incumbency, or senior lawmakers not getting a seat on their preferred committee.

When you have the numbers to just beat the process over the head with a club  then this is what happens, Hunt said.

Unlike Fridays debate, which was largely dominated by Democrats, Mondays debate saw a fair share of Republicans testify in defense of the committee process.

You can certainly  for the public theater or whatever you want to call it  you can continue to be upset, but we are doing what we were tasked to do, Albrecht said.

Linehan said the Committee on Committees followed the most important procedure, which was designating committee seats in numerical order based on congressional districts in an effort to equally represent all parts of the state. For example, she said if a committee chair represented District 2, the next committee seat would go to a senator from District 3, then District 1 and so on.

Because of some changeups in the committee chairmanships, Linehan said this led to some of the changes Democrats were upset about, including Sen. Jen Day of Omaha losing a seat on the Education Committee, which she previously held.

Day pressed Linehan on this in a heated exchange, in which Linehan claimed Days seat was given to another lawmaker who had higher seniority. Linehan said although circumstances differ, generally seniority rules. Day disputed this claim, arguing that typically incumbency reigns supreme.

Hunt claimed that she developed a matrix within just a few hours that gave lawmakers their preferred committees and followed past precedent. She said Republicans could have handled the process fairly and still gotten their way in the end.

Youll probably win because you have the numbers, number one, Hunt said. But youre definitely going to win because youre willing to cheat and lie and corrupt procedure.

From the start of the debate on Friday, Republicans made it clear that despite Democrats protests, the original report would likely still get adopted. Sen. Mike Moser of Columbus said he didnt think anything would change regardless of how long the debate lasted.

The sentiment continued into Mondays debate. Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard accused Democrats of whining and crying about not getting their preferred committees, and predicted early on that the Legislature would ultimately approve the original report.

Democrats refuted these claims, arguing the debate wasnt about complaining about their preferences, but instead about establishing a fair and consistent process.

This is the tone were setting for the entire session, Hunt said.

Photos: 2023 Nebraska legislative session
ATLANTA  The Valentines Day Market Weekend on Route 66 will take place in Atlanta the weekend before the holiday, organizers said.

The market will be inside the Union Hall and the Logan County Visitors Center, 114 SW. Arch St. The market will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 11 and noon to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 12.

Free parking will be available on the street, the Post Office lot and in the Atlanta Public Library lot.

The market capacity for vendors this year filled in less than seven days. Eighteen vendors are set to offer a variety of crochet items, jewelry, wood-wick candles, 3D printed toys, essential oils and more.

Other attractions open that weekend include the Bunyon Giant and the J.H. Hawes Grain Elevator. Country-Aire, Chubbys Bar & Grill and the Sip Shack will also be open for those looking for a drink or bite to eat.

Contact tourismatlantail@gmail.com or 217-871-7557 for more information.

Photos: Atlanta's first Market Weekend on Route 66 drew vendors and visitors
BLOOMINGTON  The site of a derelict Bloomington home could be the location of Habitat for Humanitys next project.

On Monday, the Bloomington City Council authorized an ordinance allowing the city to accept a property at 308 W. Stewart St. as part of its consent agenda. Following the demolition of the building, the land then would be handed over to Habitat for Humanity.

According to city documents, the owners of the property were sent a violation notice to appear in Administrative Court due to the poor condition of the house.

Heres how the citys property complaint process works, according to Community Development Director Melissa Hon: After a complaint is received, an inspector is sent to verify whether it is founded. If a violation is discovered, the homeowner is ordered to provide an estimated date of compliance and to schedule a follow-up inspection.

If it is found at that point that they have not complied, depending on the severity of the violation, they may be sent a second notice to follow up and give them an extended period or they could be sent directly to administrative court, Hon said.

Although financial assistance and extensions are available to homeowners trying to achieve compliance, Hon said, if the property is beyond repair, the homeowner can deed the property to the city for demolition or repairs.

Obviously, were looking for properties within the city to be maintained so that is our goal in order to reach compliance, Hon said.

The owners stated in court that they could not afford the costs of repairing or demolishing the building and called on Habitat for Humanity to see if they could accept the property as a donation.

However, Habitat for Humanity was unable to accept the property unless the building was demolished.

For many of its properties, the city of Bloomington accepts funds from the Illinois Housing Development Authoritys Strong Communities Program, which offers reimbursements related to the acquisition, maintenance, rehabilitation and demolition of residential property.

The average cost to demolish a house of its size is between $20,000 and $25,000, according to city documents.

Alderman Jeff Crabill commended the citys ability to receive the necessary funds to demolish the building and give the property new life thanks to Habitat for Humanity.

Hon said she is not sure when demolition procedures may begin.

Photos: Habitat for Humanity's 1st 3D-printed home
NORMAL  McLean County Unit 5s board will meet Wednesday afternoon to consider putting a referendum on the April ballot, after a referendum was rejected by voters in November.

The board will meet at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the district office at 1809 W. Hovey Ave. in Normal. The only action on the agenda is a possible vote on submitting the referendum. There will also be an opportunity for public comment before the action item.

Voters rejected the referendum in November by about 54% to 46%.

A copy of the resolution available on the districts meeting documents site suggests the referendum would be to raise the maximum allowed education fund tax rate from $2.72 per $100 equalized assessed value to $3.60 per $100 EAV. That was the same increase requested in the November referendum.

The resolution could be amended before action is taken on it.

The education fund is the largest of the several funds in which the district levies a property tax. It is where the district is experiencing a structural deficit, expected to grow to more than $20 million by the 2025-26 school year.

The district has been covering its deficit, which is around $12 million this year, with working cash bonds, which the board can issue on its own. District staff have created a plan they say would allow them to keep the total tax rate, right now at $5.61 per $100 EAV, flat and even start decreasing it.

Right now the district has a levy of around $1.58 per $100 EAV to cover bonds and interest, including building bonds and the working cash bonds. Staff said they would wait to increase the education fund levy until those bonds started to be paid off, lowering the amount being levied for the bonds and interest fund.

Prior to the November election, supporters argued that having the money directly in the education fund would be a better use of taxpayer dollars than working cash bonds, which have interest.

Others, including the McLean County Republican Party, said it was the wrong time to ask for an increased tax rate and that the district should look at cutting costs before asking to increase funding.

Local governments have until Jan. 17 to adopt a resolution to put a referendum on the ballot, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections calendar.

The April election is scheduled for April 4 and will also include school board elections, including four seats on Unit 5s board.

Photos: Scenes from historic speaker vote of 118th Congress
SPRINGFIELD  Two months after an affirming reelection victory, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was sworn in for his second term Monday afternoon, offering a reflection on governing through unprecedented times the past four years while promising an ambitious and bold agenda in the next four.

Pritzker in broad strokes outlined a second-term vision that includes universal preschool, tuition-free college for working class people and support for an amendment to the state constitution that would protect abortion rights.

So today, as Illinois continues its progress overcoming our historical fiscal challenges and a deadly global pandemic, I come to you with an agenda as ambitious and bold as our people are, thinking not only about the next four years, but about the next 40, Pritzker said.

Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton were inaugurated along with Treasurer Mike Frerichs, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, Comptroller Susana Mendoza and Attorney General Kwame Raoul, all Democrats. Members of the Illinois General Assembly will be sworn in for their new terms in two separate ceremonies on Wednesday.

But Monday was Pritzkers day.

The billionaire incumbent, joined by his wife MK and their two children, was sworn in by Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis just after 12 p.m. on a stage adorned with blue and yellow lights  the color scheme of his campaign  at the Bank of Springfield Center in Illinois capital city.

Pritzker, who oversaw a remarkably active period of legislating in his first term that included a minimum wage increase, recreational marijuana legalization and landmark clean energy legislation, offered a glimpse at his second term policy goals in his 30-minute address.

Though he only spoke briefly on the topic, Pritzker called for Illinois to enact "a constitutional protection for reproductive rights" in the state.

Pritzker and Democrats in the legislature have been aggressive in protecting and expanding Illinois' status as a haven for abortion rights in in the Midwest.

Much like the amendment approved by Illinois voters in 2022 enshrining the right to unionize and collectively bargain, a constitutional amendment for abortion would likely not change existing policy, but would prevent future governors and legislators from enacting restrictions.

It would take a supermajority in the legislature to place on the 2024 ballot. It would then need either 60% of those who voted on the question or 50% of all ballots cast to be approved.

Illinois Right to Life, an anti-abortion group, denounced Pritzker's call in a statement issued Monday afternoon.

"His pro-abortion legacy is, in practice, harming women and depriving unborn children of an opportunity at life," said Mary Kate Zander, the group's executive director. "This may be politically expedient for Governor Pritzker today, but it wont age well.

Lawmakers are currently considering an omnibus reproductive health bill that would, among other provisions, allow advanced practice clinicians such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants to perform in-clinic abortions and prevent doctors from losing their licenses to practice in Illinois if it is revoked in another state for performing healthcare services that are legal in Illinois.

More broadly, Pritzker then focused on education.

Saying its time for Illinois to lead, Pritzker proposed that the state go all in for our children and make preschool available to every family throughout the state. He also called for the elimination of child care deserts and expanding options throughout the state. He did not offer specifics.

The governor also called for making college tuition-free for every working-class family, the need to keep making healthcare more affordable and his desire to work towards more permanent tax relief.

In perhaps an implicit defense of signing a capital construction program into law that doubled the states gas tax in 2019, Pritzker said that improving our roads has saved hundreds of dollars a year for drivers.

While not getting into the granular detail on these long-term ambitions, Pritzker was far more specific about an immediate priority: making Illinois the ninth state to enact an assault weapons ban.

Im a firm believer that government functions best when we look for compromise, Pritzker said. "But Im done with the NRA having its way when it comes to mass shootings.

With the governor present in the chamber, a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines passed the House late last week. But it has temporarily stalled amid a dispute between House and Senate Democrats.

A Senate proposal that dropped Sunday afternoon was dismissed by Pritzker as legislation that falls short of meeting the moment because it did not include language that would require gun owners who have weapons that are grandfathered in to register their serial numbers with the Illinois State Police.

A second Senate proposal that emerged Monday appeared to include the serial number language after pressure from Pritzker, House Speaker Chris Welch, D-Hillside, and gun safety advocates. It passed 34-20, with the governor and Democratic legislative leaders heralding it as "one of the strongest assault weapons bans in the country." It will likely be considered in the House on Tuesday.

Pritzker at times channeled history, comparing the world weariness that Illinois Gov. Dwight Green, a Republican, must have felt while giving his second inaugural address in January 1945  the waning days of WWII  to the feeling of loss he has experienced leading through the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 18,601 Illinoisans were killed in WWII while 35,814 have died from COVID-19.

As governor, its your job to plan for the future, even as you continue to grapple with the past, Pritzker said. Thats a lesson tucked into Gov. Greens second inaugural speech, which, while filled with somber remembrance, also set a second-term agenda for post-war Illinois even before the war ended.

Unlike his fiery victory speech on election night, Pritzker did not mention former President Donald Trump's name once during his inaugural address, but said there has been "a rise in intolerance and fascism throughout the United States."

Pritzker closed by addressing "a rising tide of hate" in the country.

"Ive realized that for my entire lifetime, progress has been made against bigotry and intolerance," Pritzker said. "But not anymore. None of us should ignore that our nation has slid noticeably backward, and dangerously so."

Pritzker said that "old evils must be faced head on yet again by a new generation."

Also sworn in Wednesday was Giannoulias, the former state treasurer who succeeds former Secretary of State Jesse White, who retired after holding the office for 24 years.

Frerichs enters his third term as state treasurer; Mendoza, who won a special election in 2016, begins her second full term; and Raoul begins his second term.

NOTEBOOK Apart from the larger goals and accomplishments, here are some other moments from Gov. J.B. Pritzker's second inaugural address. DUAL MEANINGS: The governor opened his inauguration speech with a lighthearted nod to his critics. He said he felt "concerned" by the "Fire Pritzker" yard signs he saw while campaigning, until his kids said that young people use the phrase "thats fire" to describe things they think are cool. "So I want to take this moment to thank everyone who put up those very encouraging signs," he said. DUBIOUS ROLE MODELS: Pritzker said he had taken to learning from the words and actions of past governors, though "lets be honest, in Illinois, choosing which ones to learn from can be a challenge." TAYLORVILLE: Speaking of the resilience of Illinoisans, Pritzker referred to the tornado that struck Taylorville on Dec. 1, 2018. The families of Taylorville didnt give up when a tornado wiped out 100 homes and 22 people were injured, he said. They helped each other out and the community came together to rebuild. ILLINOIS VS. HATE: "Hate needs two things to thrive: the sense of helplessness that fertilizes hopelessness and the willingness of powerful people to cower in front of a lie," Pritzker said in the closing moments of his speech. "Illinois, we have power and we have hope  and a genuine goodness that is rooted in being the place in this country to which all people can come and live free."

Photos: Pritzker sworn in for second term
President Joe Biden has done so many things well -- saving Ukraine, confronting China, signing a bipartisan gun control bill. And in a week of right-wing crazytown, he stood out as a comforting keeper of stability.

But there's one thing he hasn't gotten right: curbing the chaos at the border. The problem isn't just the policies themselves, which are a mixed bag. It's the messaging. It's the air of apology when he does something real to stop illegal border crossing. He seems afraid to displease some progressives in his party who think anyone poor should get in.

Biden's repeated vows for a "humane" process sound good. The reality, however, is that a gentle approach is hard to maintain when thousands of migrants are surging across one's border.

Canada and Australia have big, generous immigration programs, but neither tolerates breaking of the laws nor do they express any guilt over their strict enforcement. It can be argued that their systems are more humane because clear rules dissuade dangerous attempts to get around them.

This said, Democrats should not have the border mess hanging around their necks and not Republicans' as well. Polls show most Democrats want an orderly immigration system. And Republicans continually stymie serious efforts to get there.

It happens that illegal immigration to this country hit a 50-year low, not under President Donald Trump, but under President Barack Obama. Identity activists accused Obama of being "deporter in chief," but he persisted. Biden must learn to hang tough against inevitable sniping from a vocal minority on his side.

In 2013, a bipartisan Senate passed an immigration reform bill that would have required all employers to electronically verify a new hire's right to work in this country while legalizing the status of many undocumented migrants. Obama's strenuous enforcement program may have been intended to calm concerns that the legislation would be just another amnesty.

The bill would have also passed the House with Democratic and significant Republican support. But then-Speaker John Boehner refused to put it up for a vote because a majority of Republicans were not willing to vote "yes." And so America to this day does not have a federal law mandating that all employers use E-Verify, the electronic system that could have greatly weakened the economic magnet that draws most of the illegal entrants.

When President Trump was asked whether he would support a national law requiring E-Verify for all new hires, he said "no." It would be too "tough" for farmers. Other Republican big-mouths on border security have similarly preserved that access to cheap illegal labor.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that requires only state government and large Florida businesses to check the immigration status of job applicants. Left out were the very industries heavily dependent on illegal workers: restaurants, hotels, maintenance companies and so on.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an even sneakier bill. It forces only state agencies and institutions of higher learning to use E-Verify. In other words, almost nobody. When border hawks called on him to expand E-Verify for all private employers in Texas, Abbott went limp. Rather than taking real steps, he puts on little shows, like depositing lightly dressed asylum seekers in Washington on a freezing Christmas Eve.

Biden has gotten tougher. He has added 300 new Border Patrol officers and just made it easier to turn back unauthorized migrants who just show up at the border. And he's keeping for now Title 42, a pandemic-era measure that lets migrants seeking asylum be quickly turned away.

Of course, we can restore order. But that will require breaking up the marriage of cheap-labor Republicans and diversity Democrats. Biden should push harder for that and hold the apologies.
Ghana Union of Traders Association(GUTA) has heaped kind words on the outgoing Trade and Industry Minister, Hon Alan Kyerematen.



The Traders union eulogized the iconic imprints of the outgoing Trade and Industry, describing him as a national icon, a statesman and a global asset.



With over 10 years of service at the Trade and Industry Ministry under two governments, Hon Alan Kyerematen surprisingly sent in an official resignation letter on January 5, 2023, to end his stay at the Ministry.



His unexpected resignation set the political space agog with divided opinions on why he stepped down from such an enviable position in government.



As the official mouthpiece of the Traders Union in Ghana, the leadership of GUTA issued a press statement celebrating the Industrial expert at the Ministry of Trade and Industry.



An official communique from the leadership of GUTA described the outgoing Trade and Industry Minister as an excellent leader, and a political genius.



"The Ghana Union of Traders' Associations (GUTA) is deeply saddened by the news of the sudden resignation of the Trade and Industry Minister, Hon. Alan Kyerematen.



All those who know him and happen to have come in contact with this affable gentleman will attest to the fact that he is an astute politician, a very humble public servant, versed in his area of duty, coupled with excellent human relations which have endeared him to all who have happened to meet him on matters of trade and industry, especially, those of us in the private sector.



We can confidently say that he has performed excellently and left an indelible footprint that will ever remain in our memories. So we see him as an asset not only to Ghana but also to the sub-regional and continental blocs, as well as the entire globe", parts of the Press Statement from GUTA reads.



Hon. Alan Kyerematen was first appointed as a Trade Minister from 2003-2007 under HE John Agyekum Kuffuor before his return to the same seat from 2017 to 2023.



His rich experience in the Trade and Industry Ministry saw him elevated to various global platforms on international Trade and Industrial drive initiatives.



"It is our hope and prayer that, the next person to be appointed to replace him will also, emulate such sterling performance of his or her immediate predecessor and work with full commitment and dedication to service.



We wish Hon. Alan well in all his endeavours", the conclusion part of the Statement reads.



In Ghana, the flagship One District One Factory is one of several brain works of the former Trade and Industry Minister.

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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Vice President of Imani Africa, Kofi Bentil, has said the appointment of deputy ministers by the president should be abolished.



According to him, Chief Directors should be allowed to play their roles rather than allowing the deputy ministers to do so.



In a Facebook post, he said, I am of the full view that Deputy Ministers are needless !!Chief Directors must do their work!! Abolish the post!!!



Kofi Bentil has been concerned about the size of the government in recent times, despite the current economic crisis the country is facing.



In a recent interview, he said Ghana does not need a large government as it does not mean the government will perform better.



The largest government in the history of this country has given us the worst performance.



When the president set up the largest government weve ever had in this country, many people said this is wrong signalling. If you have competent people, you dont need that many people. We said a lot on that issue but the president responded that they would make sure that their numbers justified themselves over time.



Today, we have suffered the lowest rating in our economy ever. Our economy has crashed to the ground, and many things have been flushed down the toilet. The largest government in the history of this country has given us the worst performance. 3news.com quoted Kofi Bentil.











Source: ghanaweb.com









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The Akwamuhene of Akyem Awisa in the Eastern Region, Nana Yaw Barima Twum Sarkodie I, has entreated Ghanaians to be united and support leaders in the country including chiefs and those in government to bring about development.



He underlined that unity means being together for one another in thoughts, feelings, actions and reactions, especially once we are united, we share the same feelings, sympathy, ideas, tangible and intangible resources.



Nana Yaw Barima Twum Sarkodie I, was speaking as the Guest of Honour, at the grand durbar of Adehyedae Kse Festival 2022, at the forecourt of Anum Ampene Kotoko Ahenefie, Asamankese.



The festival, which was used to raise funds in aid of palace projects, was on the theme 3 Years of Exceptional Leadership; Uniting the Citizens for Development.



Unity, he stressed, is strength, adding that it is in this strength that we support each other to achieve development.



To develop in unity would mean that we support our chiefs, elders and leaders in society in their development agenda. We must eschew individualism and respect each others view whiles we take our time to state our positive positions devoid of insults, emotions, sentiments and insinuations, he advised.



According to Nana Yaw Barima Twum Sarkodie I, the objective of modern-day chieftaincy is to bring development to the people.



He said this can only be realised through the total support in the unity of the same people we intend the development for.



Development starts from the mind; let us, therefore, begin from today to change our mindset towards development in unity and the rest would be history. You are fortunate enough to have a chief whose quest for the development of his people and society is unmatched, he charged.



He told his people that all that was needed from them was their support in unity.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The Ahafo Regional Minister, George Boakye in collaboration with the members of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) and in consultation with the Interior Minister and the National Security Minister have imposed a curfew on Bomaa in the Tano North Municipal with immediate effect.



The curfew according to a statement signed by Mr Frimpong Andrews the Personal Assistant to the Minister, said the curfew shall be in force from 5pm to 7am everyday pending periodic assessments and reviews.



The decision of the Ahafo REGSEC according to the statement has become necessary following violent clashes that claimed one life and caused injuries to five others on Sunday night.



In recent times, there has been chieftaincy dispute between two fashions in the town.



Mr George Boakye and the top security officials in the Region as well as Ernest Kwarteng (MCE, Tano North), Yaw Osei Boahene (MCE, Asunafo North) have since visited the community to assess the situation at first hand.



The Minister and his entourage visited the family of the deceased to commiserate with them on their loss and charged the security to continue full investigations until justice is served.



They also touched base with the traditional leaders of the two stakeholder groups in the town to appeal for calm.





Source: ghanaweb.com









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Former Head of Communications at the Presidency under the government of President Mills, Samuel Koku Anyidoho has indicated the cause of his frosty relationship with former presidential staffer, Stan Xoese Dogbe.



According to Koku, his relationship with Stan Dogbe who later became the director of communications at the presidency stems from his uncompromising stance and will to ensure that the image of the presidency was protected at all times.



Speaking to Kwame Nkrumah Tikese of Okay FM in an interview, Mr Anyidoho said he has over the years been wrongly accused of arrogating powers to himself during his time of office because he ensured the right thing was always done.



There is a guy so-called Stan Dogbe, when we started, he was galivanting at the information ministry. Later I saw him walking around Castle (the presidency). Nobody had given him an appointment at the Castle and neither had he been given any assignment at the Castle. But all of a sudden, he was all over the place, when the president receives guests he was around. I had no problem then one morning a lady named Obuobia Darko (OB) who was at Radio Gold called Stan Dogbe that she was interviewing him to speak on behalf of the President of the Republic of Ghana.



OB had no locus at the Castle, maybe Radio Gold gave you airtime which is okay but under what circumstance will you OB call Stan Dogbe and ask him to speak on behalf of President Mills and the presidency? he narrated.



Mr Anyidoho who was speaking on the recent controversy surrounding a video shared by American rapper Meek Mill on social media showing him in various places at Ghanas presidency said he was compelled to warn Stan Dogbe about his actions.



So I will call you Stan Dogbe because I wont compromise; I will give you a stern warning that as far as I am concerned you have no locus at the Castle. If you ever go on air and speak again on behalf of President Mills or the presidency you will have a big problem with me. Kwame, that is the reason why some people developed a hatred for me because they claim during President Millss tenure I was too powerful, he added.



Meek Mill who had been in Ghana to perform at an event during the Christmas period, has courted public backlash after he posted a promo video shot at the Jubilee House.



In the video shared by the rapper on his Instagram page, Meek Mill is captured in different places at the presidency, from the frontage, through the main corridors, in the main conference hall  at a point positioned behind the presidential lectern - and later in a sitting area rapping.



According to his critics, the actions of the rapper not only desecrates the presidency but also raises security and morality concerns.



Meanwhile, Meek Mill has since deleted the video and issued an apology to Ghanaians. The rapper in a series of tweets said he never meant to disrespect Ghanaians or the presidency.







Source: ghanaweb.com









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The Evanston City Council received an update on Jan. 9 regarding District 65s potential kindergarten through eighth grade school to be located in the Fifth Ward near Family Focus and the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center.

The council was reminded of the fast-approaching deadline to help the district decide which building proposal, at the northwest corner of Ashland Avenue and Foster Street, should be used. Evanstons City Planning and Engineering Bureau Chief Lara Biggs said the initial Jan. 1 deadline was extended for the Jan. 9 update.

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Several factors like parking and what to do with the current Fleetwood-Jourdain facility are delaying the decision, Councilmember Bobby Burns said. Other City Council members, like Councilmember Claire Kelly, cite uncertain financial obligations as another contributing factor to the pressing deadline.

We do not have time, Burns said. We have to make decisions about where the building (will be) but we also need to settle parking. This is an area already stressed with parking congestion and we will not move forward without necessary parking.

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Four primary design options were surveyed by 342 Evanston residents. The survey showed most residents prefer site plan option one, which would keep Fleetwood-Jourdain at its current location with minimal cost for the City of Evanston.

The option 1 plan for the proposed 5th Ward school in Evanston leaves the Fleetwood-Jourdain Center in its current spot. It was the overall favorite among survey respondents. - Original Credit: Handout (City of Evanston / HANDOUT)

Survey participants showed option three, that would demolish Fleetwood-Jourdain and rebuild it at its current location, as the second choice. This would require the community center relocate for more than 18 months, according to a report by Biggs.

The option 3 plan for the 5th Ward school in Evanston would demolish the existing Fleetwood-Jourdain Center and rebuild it in the same space while it relocates for 18 months. - Original Credit: Handout (City of Evanston / HANDOUT)

88 of the 342 survey participants reported they are Fifth Ward residents. These residents prefer option four over option one  their second choice  by 12.5%. Option four would rebuild Fleetwood-Jourdain at the Emerson Park area and require additional City of Evanston land acquisition, according to Biggs. There are two variations of this plan with the play field and school sites slightly adjusted.

The option 4 plan for the 5th Ward school in Evanston is a more expensive option as it requires demolition of the Fleetwood-Jourdain Center and land acquisition. - Original Credit: Handout (City of Evanston / HANDOUT)

The option 4a plan for the 5th Ward school in Evanston is a more expensive option as it requires demolition of the Fleetwood-Jourdain Center and land acquisition. It is slightly different than the option 4 plan with the play field and school sites adjusted. - Original Credit: Handout (City of Evanston / HANDOUT)

Option four is more costly than the overall preferred option one because it includes the cost of a new Fleetwood-Jourdain building, demolishing the new building and acquiring additional property.

Proposed options two and three would also require demolishing Fleetwood-Jourdain but wouldnt require additional property acquisition.

The option 2 plan for the 5th Ward school in Evanston would include demolition and rebuilding of the Fleetwood-Jourdain Center and its relocation for 18 months. - Original Credit: Handout (City of Evanston / HANDOUT)

Biggs next steps include hiring a consultant to specifically look for the citys best interests. She told City Council that sharing a consultant with the school has been instrumental, it would be beneficial to have a consultant independent from the school district to explore the citys best interests.

Biggs said she will try to amend the existing memorandum of understanding with District 65 to get a new timeline established that will allow the district to move forward while also giving the city time to figure out what to do with Fleetwood-Jourdain.

They need certain information, including where to build the building, Biggs said. We received some feedback that we can provide them (with) some very general terms and make that decision. But, what happens to Fleetwood-Jourdain (and) what that building (will) include in it, that is still open for debate.

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Corey Schmidt is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.
Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh, Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC) has admonished journalists in the Upper East Region to be circumspect with information they churned out in public domain.



I am not saying you should lie. But there are certain truths that depending on the circumstances of the time, must not be disclosed. It is not every truth that has to be told.



And even if it must be told, the way you tell it could be the difference. That is why we want to appeal to everyone here to be circumspect, he told journalists in Bolgatanga at a meeting to revive the Regional Media Advisory Committee and to encourage journalists in the region to report on issues from Bawku with circumspection.



The five-member Committee comprised Mr Robert Ajene, Chairman, the Right Reverend Dennis Debukari Tong, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Tamale as member and Sir Alfred Abugre Ndago, a former Principal of the Saint John Bosco College of Education, member.



The rest are Mr Bob Tater, a Legal Practitioner, member and Mr Eric Kwadjo Amoh, the immediate past Chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association as member and Coordinator.



The NMC Chair said, Once we revive the Media Advisory Committee, listen to them. Do not take any of them for granted because if you do, you do so at your own risk.



He said the Committee was given the mandate and authorised to advise journalists and media outlets who erred in line of duty on behalf of the NMC, and called on journalists to respect the work of the Committee.



We exist because of a Constitutional provision. We have the mandate to do the things we do, and when we approve of their work, it means that it is our decision. And none of you can challenge the decision of the NMC by way of impunity, he said.



Mr Boadu-Ayeboafoh urged journalists in the Region to work with the Committee to serve the interest of the Region, adding that the journalists must understand the conflict situation in Bawku so they do not become tools for destruction in their quest to building the peace in the area.



Mr George Sarpong, the Executive Secretary of the NMC, stressed on the need for the work of the journalists to calm tensions in Bawku and other conflict prone zones in the Region.



He said any child denied access to education in Bawku could become a liability to society, and if children in the area were educated, it would be beneficial to the entire country.



Mr Ajene thanked leadership of the NMC for the confidence reposed in members to continue to serve on the Advisory Committee of the Region.



He reminded journalists not to report any information that was not thoroughly investigated, Do not also support any side when there is a controversy, he added.



He said there were threats to close down some institutions, especially the Presbyterian Nurses Training College in Bawku if peace was not restored in the area.



We should make sure that there is a reversal of the issue so that Bawku returns to normal life. We want Bawku to return to normal life, you can make it, take the challenge, and let us see, Mr Ajene told the journalists.





Source: GNA









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The Ashanti Regional Health Directorate has appealed to health facilities in the region to encourage regular hand washing to prevent the spread of disease in the region.



The Regional Health Promotions Officer, Mr. Felix Frimpong, made the appeal on the Kumasi-based OTEC 102.9 FM's health show, "Apomuden Ahotoso" on Sunday, January 8, 2023.



"The importance of regular hand washing had been brought to the fore more strongly following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and other communicable diseases across the globe."



"Washing your hands properly removes dirt, viruses, and bacteria to stop them from spreading to other people and objects, which can spread illnesses such as food poisoning, flu, or diarrhea. It can help stop people picking up infections and spreading them to others." He told the host Mrs. Kate Appiah Boateng popularly known as Radio Nurse.



He noted that hand washing had proved to be one of the most cost-effective ways of dealing with a disease outbreak, adding that it has the potential of preventing over 65 percent of diseases.



Mr. Frimpong has therefore encouraged all and sundry to make washing their hands with soap under running a regular habit, given the significant part it plays in disease prevention.













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The Head of the Public Affairs Unit for the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), in the Ashanti Region, ADO3 Peter Addai, has advised farmers to engage the services of fire volunteers before preparing their lands for fire.



"The service has consistently urged our gallant farmers to make it a point and involve local fire volunteers to help them prepare their new farmlands to avoid setting bushfires to destroy the environment and properties," he said.



"Bushfires caused extensive damages to farm produce in the last farming and dry seasons, as the dry season approaches, there was the need for palm wine tappers, hunters, smokers, and all farmers to be careful about handling naked fire to prevent the destruction of lives and properties," he told OTEC News, Jacob Agyenim Boateng.



In a telephone on Sunday, January 8, 2023, ADO3 Peter Addai called on farmers to remain vigilant as the dry season increases the risk of field fires.



He, however, expressed worry over how negative practices and attitudes of some individuals result in the destruction of food and forest covers through bushfires every year.



The fire officer has therefore encouraged all to support the GNFS in their quest to reduce fire disasters in the country.





Source: GNA









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Founder of the Perez Chapel International (PCI), Archbishop Charles Agyinasare, has asked the newly elected national executive members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to put up their best behaviour in public, as they are the government in waiting.



According to him, the public conduct and statements of the new executives will reflect the kind of government the NDC will be, if entrusted with the reins of governance, urging them to appreciate the Ghanaian culture of decorum.



Political parties are public institutions and the public, rightly, has an interest in what happens internally. Our public conduct and statements reflect the kind of government you are in waiting for or would be when entrusted with power, the Archbishop stated at the thanksgiving service of the NDC executives at the Dome branch of the PCI.



He said while the church cannot prescribe to the NDC executives what to say or what not to say, it is always important to appreciate the Ghanaian culture of decorum and circumspection and being cautious of the unintended effects and meanings of your public pronouncements.



Inducement



He also said the public was concerned about the financial inducements and how money has replaced conscience in politics, and noted that Its obvious the greatest enemy of this nation is corruption.



The Perez Archbishop, however, intimated that looking at the way political parties fund their activities and campaigns, his church was of the view that we are not going to fight corruption anytime soon.



Those political business people who fund politicians end up hijacking the wealth of the nation. Politicians help us fight this. Our nation is sinking too fast and we cant continue in this direction, he posited.



For him, those who gain political power must not use it as a means to amass wealth for themselves and their loved ones, charging the NDC to exorcise the perception that Ghanaian politicians go into office to steal from the public purse.



You must exorcise the perception that Ghanaian politicians go into office to steal from the public purse and do not do anything for free, he challenged.



Agyinasare said political parties must make sure they implement sound social and economic policies to improve upon the living conditions of citizens.



Currently, our economy is facing many challenges, for reasons best known to all. Ghanaians would like to see a paradigm shift which can impact the economy and lives.



Whether we like it or not, its one political party or another that would lead to achieve this. It is, therefore, very imperative for parties seeking to be in government to also espouse sound policy alternatives on national issues that will give hope to the people, he charged further.



Constructive Criticism



He urged the NDC executives to criticise constructively for national development, saying, It must not be criticism for criticisms sake but constructive criticism that leads to our collective benefit as a nation.



Ghanaians would be looking forward to a healthy balance between patronage and meritocracy as the challenges of economic management get tougher, he added.



He continued, This would also require a useful blend between the old and the young to give hope and assurance that we appreciate the magnitude of public expectations.



National Peace



He used the occasion to call for a national peace, noting, Without peace and tranquility, countries struggle to develop, and citizens become despondent.



Political parties play major roles in maintaining the peace or otherwise of countries including Ghana. As we move into major campaign activities towards the 2024 elections, all parties must endeavour to maintain the peace of the country, he admonished.



The NDC as the party that ushered the 4th Republican dispensation has a duty to ensure your conduct protects this democracy which turned 30 years yesterday, he stressed.



He also said political parties must steer more towards research-based decisions and choices if they want to carry the people along.



Lets be mindful that decisions based on narrow group interest often cause gross disaffection and internal apathy. As we get closer to the next elections, we dont need fanciful, unrealistic & ill-researched promises just aimed at winning power, he told the NDC leaders.



The NDC national executives, led by its National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, attended the Perez Chapel International branch at Dzorwulu in Accra to thank God for the successful congress in December.



In attendance were the Second Vice Chairperson, Shirley Ayittey; General Secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey; Second Deputy Communication Officer, Godwin Ako Gunn; and Greater-Accra Regional Chairman, Emmanuel Nii Ashie Moore.



Asiedu Nketia aka General Mosquito thanked the Archbishop for his candid advice, and recounted the electoral processes the NDC went through in electing the new executives.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









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Mr. Joseph Ayikoi Otoo, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice says the 1992 constitution is not to blame for corruption among the political class.



While acknowledging that the Constitution required periodic reviews to improve its performance, he said the provisions of the constitution were informed by historical events and experiences of previous governments.



Speaking on a news programme monitored by the Ghana News Agency, Mr Ayikoi Otoo kicked against calls for a total overhaul of the 1992 constitution.



He was responding to concerns raised by some analysts that the constitutional provision, which enjoined the President to appoint more than half of his Ministers from Parliament undermined proper checks and balances and fueled corruption.



"There is a history behind the Constitution. Dr Hilla Limman lost his budget because he did not have the numbers to support it. So there is a history why the President appoints some of his ministers from Parliament.



"But if after 30 years we find issues with it, then we can review it; we should not say that it's the cause of corruption...Article 527 was an Act that was passed to amend the Constitution. So the Constitution is not rigid; it can be amended," he said.







Source: GNA









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Mr Abdul Malik Jeleel, Deputy National Communications Director, Convention Peoples Party (CPP), has lauded Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanas first President, as the pacesetter of Ghanas sustained democracy.



In an interview with the Ghana News Agency to mark the Constitution Day, which was commemorated on January 7 2023, he said the foundation of Ghanas constitutional rule started when the CPP Government adopted the first constitution in 1957.



The adoption of the first Constitution, Mr Jeleel said, had a positive impact and accounted for the success of the 4th Republican Constitutional rule.



As we celebrate the Constitution Day, credit ought to be given to Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah for the foundation he laid, making Ghana as the beacon of hope of Africas democracy building in the 21st century.



The recent coup detats in Equatorial Guinea, Burkina Faso, etc and Ghanaians, especially our Armed Forces and other security agencies should applaud themselves and use the day to uphold our constitutional rule despite challenges in governance, he said.



Since 2019, every December 7 is observed as Constitution Day, a public holiday set aside to mark the coming into effect of the 1992 Constitution and the birth of the Fourth Republic.



Mr Jeleel urged the media and the civil society to play their key roles as democratic actors for a strengthened rule of law as well as effective governance for accelerated development and growth.



While condemning some chaotic conducts of the Majority and Minority caucuses in Parliament which he said had stained the countrys democratic credentials, he urged Members of Parliament to work together in the interest of the people.



Mr Jeleel said although heated debates were part of the culture of the House, such situations should be managed in a manner that did not lead into fisticuffs.



The application of the 1957 Constitution also had heated debates; for example, in December 1957, the CPP-dominated Parliament passed the Avoidance of Discrimination Act (ADA) and the Preventive Detention Act (PDA).



The CPP adopted uncompromising attitude and strategy of using its majority in parliament to get their Bill passed without using an open-floor fight in the chamber of Parliament, he noted.



Mr Jeleel rallied the citizenry to be responsible citizens and contribute their quota in their respective disciplines to strengthen and sustain the countrys constitutional rule.

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Source: GNA









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Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, a flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has reiterated calls on the Government to reduce the number of ministers amid the current economic hardship to send a positive signal to the people.



He denounced the appointments of multiple deputy ministers, saying each minister should not have more than one deputy to reduce the cost of running the Government and enhance efficiency.



Speaking on a news programme monitored by the Ghana News Agency, Mr Agyepong said the framers of the 1992 Constitution did not envisage larger Governments, hence their decision to peg the number of cabinet ministers at 19.



I have never believed in having multiple deputy ministers. I think the President has one Vice President so every minister should have one deputy.



Small, lean, mean Government means that you are going to be efficient, more effective and the President will have a handle of his Government. It is important that we do these things, especially in financial distress, he said.



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at the beginning of his second term in office in 2017, trimmed down the number of ministries in his second administration from 36 to 29, and scrapped 41 ministerial positions.



The President had appointed 126 ministers in his first term.



With Ghanas economy taking a nosedive, there have been persistent calls on the President to further downsize his Government to reduce cost.



Mr Agyepong said the scrapping of more ministerial positions would send a positive signal to the people about the Governments readiness to sacrifice.



The quantum may not be enough but it sends a moral message and signal to the rest of the people, he said.



Mr Agyepong said the political class must demonstrate sacrifice and selflessness to win the trust of the people and rally them along to develop the country.



It is all about service, sacrifice and selfless. If you dont have these character traits, you dont have any business going into politics, he said.



Mr Agyepong said governance and development issues that had bedevilled the country could not be blamed on the Constitution but on bad leadership.



He bemoaned what he described as the lack of patriotism and readiness to serve among the political class and the people at large, saying: We need the kind of leaders that are prepared to take difficult decisions and so that all of us will be doing what is right; putting our country first before everything.





Source: GNA









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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu constituency says an apology from American rapper Meek Mill over his music video shoot at the seat of government is well accepted.



Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in an interview with NEAT FMs morning show, 'Ghana Montie' said the rappers choice of location for his video was unfortunate regardless of his motive.



Following backlash against his music video filmed at the Jubilee House, Meek Mill issued a heartfelt apology on Twitter.



To the people of Ghana, no video I drop is ever meant to disrespect the people of Ghana . The fastest way to make a connection is thru music and I wanted to do that by displaying art, his initial tweet reads.



He went on to take responsibility for [his] mistake and expressed his desire to make the connection between black people in America and Africa.



The criticisms arrived full-steam Monday morning when Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa tweeted screenshots of the music video, expressing his outrage.



He still stands by his decision that those who gave access to the rapper at the Jubilee House must be sacked.



Its worrying to have these young men from America to come to the Jubilee House and on the blind side of security hopping from one office to another and recording videos. We should be worried, he told NEAT FMs morning host.



How safe is our President? our President [Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo] is naked. He is not protected and we are not safe collectively, he added.







Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com/ghana









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This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Graphical abstract. Credit: Science of The Total Environment (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160622

Chesapeake Conservancy's data science team developed an artificial intelligence deep learning model for mapping wetlands, which resulted in 94% accuracy. Supported by EPRI, an independent, non-profit energy research and development institute; Lincoln Electric System; and the Grayce B. Kerr Fund, Inc., this method for wetland mapping could deliver important outcomes for protecting and conserving wetlands. The results are published in the peer-reviewed journal Science of the Total Environment.

The team trained a machine learning (convolutional neural network) model for high-resolution (1m) wetland mapping with freely available data from three areas: Mille Lacs County, Minnesota; Kent County, Delaware; and St. Lawrence County, New York. The full model, which requires local training data provided by state wetlands data and the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI), mapped wetlands with 94% accuracy.

"We're happy to support this exciting project as it explores new methods for wetlands delineation using satellite imagery," said EPRI Principal Technical Leader Dr. Nalini Rao. "It has the potential to save natural resource managers time in the field by using a GIS tool right from their desks. Plus, it can help companies and the public manage impacts to wetlands as infrastructure builds are planned to meet decarbonization targets."

"The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into projects that will have an impact on the landscape. However, the data that we rely on to minimize impacts to wetlands is distressingly outdated," said Environmental Policy Innovation Center's Restoration Economy Center Director Becca Madsen, a former EPRI researcher. "There has never been a better time to invest in updating our nation's wetland data and establishing a sustainable and cost-effective process for keeping them updated."

"When this highly accurate model is scaled up to predict wetlands in much bigger geography such as the Chesapeake Bay or the contiguous United States, this will be a game changer. It obviates the need for manual mapping of wetlands as well as mapping wetlands with traditional machine learning which require a lot of data processing, curation and manual feature engineering, both of which are time-consuming, labor intensive and very expensive," said Chesapeake Conservancy's Data Science Lead/Senior Data Scientist Dr. Kumar Mainali.

What this means for protecting and conserving wetlands

The new model will help infrastructure planners avoid wetlands in the planning process, resulting in cost savings and wetlands conservation. Potential beneficial situations include ongoing efforts to expand and develop renewable energy, which requires expanding electric power infrastructure.

The product of the model is a map of wetland probability. This probability data may be used to map the most likely wetland extent, but if users prefer, they can map wetland extent with a lower probability threshold. The resulting map limits the likelihood of wetland omission even though it maps more wetlands than are present in reality.

There could also be potential to use this model to map locations where wetlands have already been lost since they were mapped with NWI. Additionally, potential locations for wetland restoration could also be identified. For example, persistently wet agricultural fields are picked up by the model even though for the purposes of field wetland delineation, these areas are not considered wetlands when actively farmed.

The team will expand the model to states or larger regions and continue to train the model on varied geographies.

Model overcomes outdated data in Nebraska pilot

Following the initial model development, the model was extended to include Lancaster County, Nebraska. Modeling wetlands in this region proved challenging because the NWI data for the area was decades out of date, and included wetlands in several areas where they had been lost to development. The team was interested to learn whether the model could succeed in mapping wetlands where no recent high-quality wetlands datasets were available to train the model.

The wetland model was trained with the decades-old NWI dataset and recent satellite and aerial imagery data. The team found that the NWI data improved the local accuracy of wetland mapping by 10% compared to predictions before training, showing the importance of using local training data in new geographies.

In addition, the model correctly omitted wetlands where they had been lost to development, despite these wetlands remaining in the outdated training data, as shown in the image below (outdated training data shown in green; model prediction in purple, overlaid over recent satellite imagery). The performance of the model in determining the dominant pattern in the data to both improve local mapping accuracy but still accurately reflect wetland presence and absence is promising for the usefulness of this approach.

Despite the important role of wetlands data for planning infrastructure projects and managing wildlife, NWI wetlands data have not been comprehensively updated for many years. As shown in the map below, much NWI data across the nation dates to the 1970s and 1980s, yet remains the best available data. A modeling approach to wetland mapping that can utilize training data of varying vintages will be incredibly useful in modernizing wetland mapping where it is most needed.

About the model

The "predictor" layers used in wetland training from which the model learns the patterns found in wetlands were: USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) aerial imagery (1m), Sentinel-2 optical satellite imagery (10-20m), LiDAR-derived geomorphons, an approach to mapping landforms that Chesapeake Conservancy has been applying to advance high-resolution stream mapping; and LiDAR intensity, an index that is frequently used to identify water and persistently wet soils.

Additionally, the team trained a simpler model using only USDA NAIP and Sentinel-2 data as the input layers, securing an accuracy of 91.6%.

More information: Kumar Mainali et al, Convolutional neural network for high-resolution wetland mapping with open data: Variable selection and the challenges of a generalizable model, Science of The Total Environment (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160622 Journal information: Science of the Total Environment

Provided by Chesapeake Conservancy
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Credit: Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias

An international team of researchers, among them scientists from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC), has confirmed the primitive origin of an old star in the Milky Way using the ESPRESSO instrument.

The stars with the least content of metals are considered to be the oldest in the Milky Way, formed only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, which is a small fraction of the age of the universe. These stars are "living fossils" whose chemical composition gives clues about the first stages of the evolution of the universe.

The star SMSS1605-1443 was discovered in 2018 and identified as one of the oldest in the galaxy by its chemical composition, but its underlying nature was not known. Now, thanks to the combined efforts of several European research groups and the use of the ESPRESSO spectrograph, the origin of this jewel of stellar archaeology has been deduced. The results of this research are published today in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

"It was surprising to find, thanks to ESPRESSO on the VLT, that this object is really a double star (a binary). This was thought not to occur in the majority of these very old stars," says David Aguado, the first author on the paper, now a researcher at the University of Florence.

The research team used the ESPRESSO instrument, whose high precision has revealed the small variations in the velocity of the object, which confirms that it is a binary, but leaves open the nature of its companion. It is thought that this type of star was formed from material processed in the interior of the first, very massive, stars, and ejected in supernova explosions during the first stages of formation of the Milky Way. In consequence, these stars have low iron content but high carbon content, generated in the interiors of the first massive stars.

The high resolution of the ESPRESSO spectrograph has permitted the detailed analysis of the proportions of the isotopes of carbon, which throws new light on the origin of this object.

IAC researcher Jonay Gonzalez Hernandez, a co-author of the article, explains, "We found the key in the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-13, which we measured in the atmosphere of this star. The relative proportions of these two isotopes show that the internal processes of the star have not changed its primordial composition. It is like having a pristine sample of the medium in which this star formed over ten thousand million years ago."

"This discovery should be understood in the context of a project that started more than 10 years ago, in which we studied in detail all the stars which are known in this rare category until we have come across this marvelous finding, which gives us a better chance to understand the chemical evolution of the universe," says Carlos Allende Prieto, an IAC researcher and a coauthor of the article.

Rafael Rebolo, the director of the IAC an another of the authors of the article, says, "The multidisciplinary team, of researchers from Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and Switzerland has shown that the ESPRESSO spectrograph is one of the best and most modern instruments for studying the formation of the first stars. We at the IAC are very proud to have participated in its construction."

More information: D. S. Aguado et al, The pristine nature of SMSS 16051443 revealed by ESPRESSO, Astronomy & Astrophysics (2023). DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202245392 Journal information: Astronomy & Astrophysics
The following items were taken from Lake Forest police department reports and news releases. An arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt.

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Abraham Mayorga, 19, of the 4100 block of W. Jennifer Lane, Chicago, was charged Dec. 30 with several counts of domestic battery, aggravated assault with a motor vehicle and aggravated fleeing/eluding after an incident in Lake Forest where a physical confrontation led to him driving over the arm of another individual. After fleeing the scene, he was eventually arrested by Palatine police. He was held and had a scheduled court date of Jan. 5.

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Cecilia Ensch-Hinojosa, 42, of the 400 block of Jackson Street, Waukegan, was charged Dec. 28 with driving with suspended registration, an expired drivers license and operating an uninsured motor vehicle after she was stopped near the intersection of Waukegan and Conway roads, police said. She was released on bond and has a scheduled court date of Jan. 17.

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An unlocked 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the key fob inside was reported stolen Dec. 30 when it was parked on the 100 block of Ravine Forest Drive.

An unlocked 2017 Audi A3 with the keys inside and an unlocked 2012 Toyota Highlander with the keys inside were both reported stolen Jan. 3 as they were both in the 400 block of E. Prospect Avenue.

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Mathias F. Shreve, 46, of Lake Bluff was charged Jan. 4 with domestic battery after an incident at his residence. He was transported to Lake County jail with no further information available.

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Credit: Antoni Shkraba / Pexels

When parents learn their child has a developmental disability, they often have questions about what their child may or may not be able to do.

Children with developmental disabilities, such as Down syndrome, often have challenges and delays in language development. And for some families, one of these questions may be: "Will speaking two languages be detrimental to their development?"

However, studies consistently demonstrate exposure to an additional language, including a minority language, does not impact language outcomes negatively. This highlights the importance of giving children the opportunity to become bilingual.

Many parents feel speaking one language would be easier than two. Some may feel bilingualism would be too confusing for a child with a developmental disability. This is a belief which is also sometimes held by teachers and clinicians who may be consulted on their view towards bilingual exposure.

With good intentions, pediatricians, speechlanguage therapists, teachers or social workers may advise parents to avoid using a heritage or minority language in the home, as children will also be exposed to the majority community language.

Research also shows children with disabilities may have fewer opportunities to access services in a second language.

However, bilingualism is possible for children with developmental disabilities, as our research on children learning both Welsh and English shows. Children who are able to access bilingual provisions may also benefit. In fact, research shows bilingualism may have a positive impact on these children's social interactions and the formation of their identity.

Bilingualism in Wales

The most recent census data for England and Wales suggests the number of children able to speak Welsh in Wales has declined by 1.2 percentage points from 19% in 2011 to 17.8% in 2021. The largest decline was in those aged between five and 15 years old.

While these latest figures are unexpected and disappointing according to the Welsh government, the age group with the highest percentage of Welsh speakers was also children between the ages of five and 15. This gives a promising outlook for the future of the Welsh language.

Crucially, converging evidence shows bilingualism does not cause additional difficulties or lead to confusion for children learning more than one language.

Parents may have reservations about Welsh-medium education if they do not speak Welsh themselves, for example. Parents of autistic children or children with developmental disabilities may have further reservations still.

Once again though, studies show bilingualism does not cause additional difficulties for these groups either. This includes children with more complex and co-occuring conditions.

Why parents should embrace bilingualism

Regarding children with Down syndrome, we found parents need not have these concerns. Indeed, our research suggests families should embrace bilingualism. We recruited children with Down syndrome alongside typically developing children who were either acquiring only English, or were exposed to both English and Welsh. These children completed a range of specialist tasks to assess their cognitive and language skills.

We found Welsh-English bilingual children with Down syndrome had comparable English skills in important language areas to children with Down syndrome who had only been exposed to English.

Meanwhile, the bilingual children were also developing skills in their additional language. Those also acquiring Welsh had similar abilities in that language as younger children without Down syndrome, who were at the same level of development.

Children with Down syndrome should therefore be supported in accessing similar educational provisions as more typically developing children. In the context of Wales, this could mean accessing Welsh-medium schools or being included in second language classes.

In Wales, parents can opt for their children to receive Welsh-medium education, regardless of their home language. Children who receive Welsh education can flourish if they have access to bilingual education.

Research on typically developing bilingual children and adults suggests there may be other benefits to being bilingual. These include better mental skills, creativity and even the possibility of being protected against cognitive decline, such as Alzheimer's disease.

Being bilingual opens up a range of opportunities such as better prospects of gaining employment, and helping to develop social skills.

Research shows some of these benefits, such as enhanced thinking skills, may also extend to autistic children.

Giving children the opportunity to develop abilities in two languages also enables them to be able to choose what language they want to communicate in. It may also make them feel connected to their community.

These findings challenge the view that bilingualism is detrimental to children's development. In contrast, including children with developmental disabilities in bilingual provisions gives them the chance to blossom alongside their typically developing peers.

As a result, families should feel empowered to reach informed decisions for themselves by considering the potential opportunities being bilingual may provide.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Credit: Royal Holloway, University of London

New research has been published on the organic analysis of the Winchcombe meteorite that crash landed onto a driveway in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire in 2021. The research, led by Dr. Queenie Chan, from the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway, University of London, found organic compounds from space that hold the secrets to the origin of life.

In the study, the analysis found a range of organic matter, which reveals that the meteorite was once from part of an asteroid where liquid water occurred, and if it that asteroid had been given access to the water, a chemical reaction could have occurred leading to more molecules turning into amino acids and proteinthe building blocks of life.

The Winchcombe meteorite is a rare carbon rich chondritic meteorite (approximately 4% of all recovered meteorites, containing up to 3.5 weight percent of carbon) and is the first ever meteorite of this type to be found in the U.K. with an observed meteorite fall event, with more than 1,000 eyewitnesses and numerous footages of the fireball.

The amino acid abundance of Winchcombe is ten times lower than other types of carbonaceous chondritic meteorites and was a challenge to study due to the limited detection of amino acids, but with the meteorite so promptly recovered and curated, the team were able to study the organic content of the meteorite prior to its interaction with the Earth's environment. The organic matter suggests the meteorite could represent a class of unique, weak meteorite not previously studied.

Dr. Queenie Chan, at Royal Holloway, University of London, said, "Meteorite fall happens all year round, however, what makes this meteorite fall so unique is that this is the first meteorite to have been observed by numerous eyewitnesses, recorded, and recovered in the U.K. in the last 30 years.

"Winchcombe belongs to a rare type of carbonaceous meteorite which typically contains a rich inventory of organic compounds and water. The first Winchcombe meteorite stone was recovered within 12 hours of the fireball observation event and properly curated to restrict any terrestrial contamination. This allowed us to study the organic signature truly essential to the meteorite itself.

"Studying the organic inventory of the Winchcombe meteorite provided us with a window into the past, how simple chemistry kick started the origin of life at the birth of our solar system. Discovering these life's precursor organic molecules allowed us to comprehend the fall of similar material to the surface of the Earth, prior to the emergence of life on our own planet.

"It was an honor to be leading the team on the organic analysis of the first ever successful carbonaceous meteorite recovery in the United Kingdom. It was a pleasure and an exciting journey to be working with highly skilled and enthusiastic scientists across the country."

The paper is published in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science. The wider research of the organic analysis of the Winchcombe meteorite in this study involved collaborations with Imperial College London and the University of Glasgow.

More information: Queenie H. S. Chan et al, The amino acid and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compositions of the promptly recovered CM2 Winchcombe carbonaceous chondrite, Meteoritics & Planetary Science (2023). DOI: 10.1111/maps.13936
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A wireless camera took this 'group photo' of China's Tianwen-1 lander and rover on Mars' surface. Credit: Chinese Space Agency

China's National Space Administration (CNSA) has been hoping to reestablish communications with the Zhurong Mars rover, but so far, their efforts have been unsuccessful. Zhurong was put into hibernation over six months ago as it hunkered down in attempts to survive the Martian winter.

But it's been a tough winter in Utopia Planetia in Mars northern hemisphere where Zhurong is located. Not only were the temperatures extremely low, colder than -100C (-148F), but a regional dust storm severely reduced the likelihood of the rover collecting any power with its solar panels. This is the same dust storm that has hastened the end of NASA's Mars InSight mission.

According to the South China Morning Post, the mission team predicted Zhurong would resume operations around December 26 as the planet's northern hemisphere entered its spring season and environmental conditions improved. But so far, no contact has been established.

Zhurong landed on Mars on May 15, 2021, making China the second country ever to successfully land a rover on Mars. The cute rover, named after a Chinese god of fire, explored its landing site, sent back pictures including a selfie with its lander, taken by a remote camerastudied the topography of Mars, and conducted other science experiments.

The South China Morning Post also quoted sources saying that the Chinese space authorities planned to send the their orbiter, the Tianwen-1 probe, to take pictures of the rover. However, the sources said "ground control had encountered difficulty when downloading the latest data from the orbiting probe, which is equipped with two cameras."

The Chinese Zhurong rover landed on Mars in May 2021.This HiRISE image, acquired on 11 March 2022, shows the rovers new location. Credit: NASA/JPL/UofA

An image from Chinas Zhurong rover shows spacecraft hardware in the foreground and Martian terrain in the background. Credit: CNSA

The winter solstice in the northern hemisphere of Mars began on July 26, 2022 (on Earth) and conditions should have improved by the end of December

According to Jia Yang, deputy chief designer of the Tianwen-1 probe system, the rover is programmed to wake up on its own when two conditions are met: its power level must hit 140 watts and the temperature of key components, batteries included, must exceed minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees F.)

The Zhurong lander had a primary mission of three months, but it remained operational for one year and has traveled nearly 2 km (1.24 miles) across the terrain. Using its ground-penetrating radar, scientists found evidence for two major flooding events on Mars, believed to have occurred millions of years ago.
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Chlamydiae, known as bacterial pathogens of humans, originally evolved in single-celled microorganisms long before gaining the ability to infect humans. The image shows soil amoeba (labeled in green) and their chlamydial symbionts (labeled in orange). Credit: Eva Heinz

All chlamydiae today live inside the cells of hosts ranging from amoeba to animals. A team of scientists from the University of Vienna and the Wageningen University & Research found that the ancestor of chlamydiae likely already lived inside host cells, but that chlamydiae infecting amoeba evolved later in ways unexpected for intracellular bacteria.

The study, published in Nature Microbiology, is an important step toward understanding the emergence and evolution of endosymbiotic bacteria, including human pathogens.

Chlamydiae are known for the human pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis, but this group of bacteria evolved more than a billion years agolong before even the first animals. Nevertheless, all chlamydiae found today live inside a broad range of hosts from small amoeba to animal cells. But what has been puzzling scientists since the first chlamydiae genomes were sequenced 20 years ago is that, while chlamydiae infecting animals have small genomes similar to other endosymbionts, those that infect amoeba have larger genome sizes more similar to free-living bacteria. The study of this diverse bacterial group's evolution, however, has been hampered by the difficulty of growing these microbes in the lab.

The teams led by Matthias Horn (University of Vienna) and Thijs Ettema (Wageningen University & Research) circumvented this problem: "We've only recently gained the capability to sequence genomes directly from environmental samples to explore the breadth of chlamydial diversity," explain the researchers. With this new data in hand, they traced back the evolution of chlamydiae.

Using state-of-the-art computational methods, they reconstructed the genome of the last common ancestor of all known chlamydiae. The researchers found that "this extinct microbe had all the genes needed to be an endosymbiont. Even genes important for chlamydial animal pathogens today were likely already present." This means that chlamydiae have been infecting host cells for over a billion years of evolutionary history.

However, to their surprise the research team also found that chlamydiae infecting amoeba gained many metabolic genes only later, despite the fact that endosymbionts have fewer opportunities to exchange genes with other bacteria. "Our results show that more gene exchange happened in some chlamydiae than expected for endosymbionts," the authors explain, "including the gain of key metabolic genes."

This result challenges how we think about the evolution of endosymbionts. But the researchers also suggest a solution to this conundrum. "It's not so surprising when you think about the environment these chlamydiae live in: Amoeba often host multiple endosymbionts and feed on free-living bacteria, so there are other microbes around increasing the accessible gene pool. In addition, most chlamydiae move between different hosts, and exposure to changing environments could explain why it might be beneficial for these endosymbionts to keep and even gain additional metabolic genes."

The scientists are curious to see whether this mode of endosymbiont evolution is more widespread. In any case, this study is an important step for understanding the emergence and evolution of endosymbiotic bacteria, including human pathogens.

More information: Jennah E. Dharamshi et al, Gene gain facilitated endosymbiotic evolution of Chlamydiae, Nature Microbiology (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-022-01284-9 Journal information: Nature Microbiology
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Artist's depiction of our Milky Way galaxy and its small galaxy companions surrounded by a giant halo of million-degree gas. Credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss/Ohio State/A Gupta et al

Astronomers have used an intense burst of radio waves originating from a nearby galaxy to inspect the halo of gas cocooning our own Milky Way galaxy. The scientists studied the way that the light of the so-called fast radio burst, or FRB, was dispersed as it traveled from deep space and into our galaxy as a means to estimate how much matter resides in the galaxy's halo. This is a bit like shining a flashlight through fog to see how thick the cloud is; the more matter there is, the more the light will disperse.

The results show that our galaxy has significantly less "regular," or baryonic, matter (the same type of matter that makes up stars, planets, and living beings) than expected. This, in turn, supports theories that say matter is regularly flung out of galaxies by powerful stellar winds, exploding stars, and actively feeding, or accreting, supermassive black holes.

"These results strongly support scenarios predicted by galaxy-formation simulations where feedback processes expel matter from the halos of galaxies," says Vikram Ravi, assistant professor of astronomy at Caltech, who presented the results on January 9 at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Seattle. "This is fundamental to galaxy formation, whereby matter is funneled in and blown out of galaxies in cycles," Ravi says.

The latest findings, submitted to The Astrophysical Journal, are part of a bevy of new results from Caltech's Deep Synoptic Array (DSA), a collection of radio dishes located in the high desert at Owens Valley Radio Observatory, east of California's Sierra Nevada mountains. The purpose of the DSA is to discover and study FRBsmysterious flashes of radio waves that typically originate from deep in the cosmos. The first FRB was discovered in 2007, and hundreds are now being observed each year.

One of the challenges in studying FRBs lies in identifying their place of origin. Knowing where the FRBs originate helps astronomers determine what may be triggering the intense cosmic flashes. Identifying their locations is also essential for using FRBs to study how baryonic matter is distributed across the universe. Of the several hundreds of FRBs discovered to date, only 21 have been pinpointed to known galaxies. The DSA, which began commissioning in February 2022, has already discovered and pinpointed the locations of 30 new FRBs.

"We were puzzled at first about why we were discovering so many FRBs," says Ravi, who is a co-investigator on DSA. "But it comes down to careful engineering of the antennas and receivers, and the software pipelines. We now rarely miss a thing."

In addition to finding less matter than expected in our Milky Way galaxy, other early results from the telescope array have led to new questions about the leading candidate for the cause of FRBs. Previous findings have indicated that recently deceased stars with extreme magnetization, called magnetars, may be the source of FRBs. For instance, in 2020, several telescopes, including Caltech's STARE2 (Survey for Transient Astronomical Radio Emission 2) caught a magnetar red-handed as it shot out an intense FRB in our own galaxy. New observations from DSA, however, show that FRBs originate from a diverse assortment of galaxies, including from older galaxies within rich galaxy clusters. These results suggest that if FRBs are emitted by magnetars, they are formed through multiple potentially unknown pathways.

"Magnetars like those in the Milky Way are formed during episodes of intense star formation," Ravi says. "To find FRBs from galaxies that have mostly stopped forming stars was surprising."

Ravi says that the DSA will become even more powerful as the team brings additional radio dishes online. So far, only 63 out of a total of 110 planned dishes are in operation.

"The DSA gathers and processes enormous amounts of data all the time," says Ravi. "The data rate is equivalent to watching 28,000 Netflix movies at once."

In the future, Caltech astronomers, together with collaborators, plan to build an even bigger array, called the DSA-2000, a network of 2,000 radio dishes that would be the most powerful radio survey telescope ever built. The project would process a data rate equivalent to 20% of today's global internet traffic and detect a billion new radio sources, which is 100 times more than we know of today. This would include 40,000 new FRBs.

"The DSA-2000 will build upon progress with the DSA and revolutionize radio astronomy," says Gregg Hallinan, professor of astronomy at Caltech, director of the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, and principal investigator of DSA-2000.

More information: Vikram Ravi et al, Deep Synoptic Array science: a 50 Mpc fast radio burst constrains the mass of the Milky Way circumgalactic medium, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2301.01000 Journal information: Astrophysical Journal , arXiv
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Panel A shows how the native SEI on Li metal is passivating to nitrogen gas, which means that no reactivity with Li metal is possible. Panel B shows that a proton donor like Ethanol will disrupt the SEI passivation and enable Li metal to react with nitrogen species. Panel C describes 3 potential mechanisms through which the proton donor can disrupt the SEI passivation. Credit: Steinberg et al.

Ammonia (NH 3 ), the chemical compound made of nitrogen and hydrogen, currently has many valuable uses, for instance serving as a crop fertilizer, purifying agent, and refrigerant gas. In recent years, scientists have been exploring its potential as an energy carrier, to reduce global carbon emissions and help tackle global warming.

Ammonia is currently produced via the Haber-Bosch process, a carbon-producing industrial chemical reaction that entails the conversion of nitrogen and hydrogen into NH 3 . As this process is known to heavily contribute to global carbon emissions, electrifying the synthesis of ammonia would be very beneficial for our planet.

One of the most promising strategies for electrically synthesizing ammonia at ambient conditions is based on the use of lithium metal. However, some aspects of these process, including the properties and role of lithium's passivation layer, known as the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), remain poorly understood.

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA), and the California Institute of Technology have recently carried out a study closely examining the reactivity of lithium and its SEI, as this could enhance lithium-based pathways to electrically synthesize ammonia. Their observations, published in Nature Energy, were collected using a state-of-the-art imaging method known as cryogenic transmission electron microscopy.

"Karthish Manthiram and I met first at Berkeley more than a decade ago, while he was a Ph.D. student and I was a graduate student," Yuzhang Li, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Phys.org. "Karthish has been a long-term mentor to me, and we've kept in touch with each other's research. This collaboration opportunity naturally came about because of his efforts in lithium-mediated ammonia synthesis and my expertise in lithium metal batteries. These communities rarely talk to each other, but since Karthish and I often communicate, we started to learn more and more about key gaps in understanding of our respective fields."

The primary objective of the recent work by Li, Manthiram and their colleagues was to unveil the unique role that metallic lithium, particularly its SEI, plays in the electrochemical production of ammonia. To do this, the team examined the material's surface using an advanced, high-resolution microscopy technique that won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

"Since metallic Li is so reactive and unstable, it melts like butter under an electron beam typically used to study materials at atomic resolution (think of burning a hole in a leaf using a magnifying glass under the hot sun)," Li explained. "We instead cooled our samples in liquid nitrogen (very cold) and was able to image the atomic-scale surface of metallic lithium using a technique called cryogenic electron microscopy, a Nobel Prize winning tool that is also responsible for figuring out the molecular structure of COVID-19."

The analyses conducted by the researchers yielded some very interesting results, as they highlighted the crucial role of proton donors, such as ethanol, in governing the reactivity of lithium towards the fixation of nitrogen. They found that without ethanol or other proton donors, the SEI passivates metallic lithium, which prevents nitrogen reduction and thus the synthesis of ammonia.

"We discovered that the surface corrosion film of Li metal actually serves as a barrier to the reaction between Li metal and nitrogen gas (which is unexpected) and showed that this film had to be disrupted using a proton donor (e.g., alcohols like ethanol) to enable reactivity to form ammonia," Manthiram said. "This nanoscale understanding of the reaction pathway will guide future efforts to make this lithium-mediated approach to synthesizing ammonia more efficient and practical."

The findings gathered by this team of researchers could have crucial implications for the development of alternative and more environmentally friendly methods for synthesizing ammonia. By unveiling the crucial role of proton donors in lithium-based nitrogen reduction processes, this study could particularly promote the more efficient use of lithium in electrical ammonia synthesis.

"In our next works, we plan to study how the surface corrosion film properties change in different electrolyte chemistries and how they impact reactivity to produce ammonia," Li added.

More information: Katherine Steinberg et al, Imaging of nitrogen fixation at lithium solid electrolyte interphases via cryo-electron microscopy, Nature Energy (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41560-022-01177-5 Journal information: Nature Energy

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Deep-sea rock with a variety of sponges, corals, and other organisms. Red lasers on the center of the rock are 10 cm apart, and the white scale bar is 10 cm long (EX1705 Dive 5 Jarvis Island, 375 m). Morphotypes found on this feature include glass sponges, crabs, octocorals, scorpionfish, thin eels, sea urchins, snails, squat lobsters, and zoanthids. Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration. Frontiers in Marine Science (2023). DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2022.1033274

SUNY Geneseo's Assistant Professor Mackenzie Gerringer and 13 biology undergraduates and alums partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Ocean Exploration program to study the deep seas in an online classroom. Their project focused on how to use deep-sea biology data in the classroom and its educational benefits. Gerringer's students also produced unique research findings using NOAA data that may inform conservation efforts of deep-sea ecosystems. The project results were published this week in Frontiers in Marine Science.

The article shares lessons from SUNY Geneseo's Marine Biology course and presents a model for bringing deep-sea research into undergraduate classrooms. As Gerringer notes, access to the deep oceans is limited to a select number of researchers, in large part due to the costs of ship time.

Over the years, programs like NOAA Ocean Exploration have increased accessibility to the deep seas for scientists and the public through telepresence technology. Using telepresence, the program broadcasts live footage of deep-sea exploration through a remotely operated vehicle. NOAA Ocean Exploration provides valuable opportunities for research and education by sharing the video and other data open access.

"We hope this study will inspire others to use the incredible resources that NOAA Ocean Exploration and other telepresence-enabled programs offer. Opportunities for undergraduates to engage in deep-sea research increase the accessibility and strength of the marine scientific community," says Gerringer.

Science is a process driven by questions. In training to be scientists, students develop skills in asking these scientific questions and employing the scientific method through research. Some fields, like deep-sea biology, are challenging to bring into undergraduate classrooms. But, as the Geneseo and NOAA Ocean Exploration team show, it can be done. Students who have the opportunity to learn science content and who can practice asking questions by engaging in original research benefit academically and experience increased feelings of belonging in the sciences.

The habitat students investigated in this original research study was a deep-water coral reef off Jarvis Island, about 1,000 miles west of Hawai'i, in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Coral reefs in shallow waters captivate due to their beauty, diversity, and critical ecosystem functions. Though less accessible, corals also live in deep waters, relying on plankton and sinking organic material for nutrients.

Deep-sea corals extend to depths greater than 13,000 feet. These corals also contribute essential habitat to a wide diversity of other deep-sea species, including brittle stars, worms, crabs, barnacles, and fishes. Because deep-sea corals can be very slow-growing, these habitats are especially vulnerable to human impacts and are essential to study.

In the fall of 2020, the Marine Biology lab class at SUNY Geneseo studied these deep-sea coral habitats to investigate the effects of habitat rockiness, or rugosity, on the diversity and abundance of organisms in the community. Students who participated in original research during this study reported increasing their understanding of deep-sea ecosystems, gaining experience in the scientific process, and feeling stronger senses of their own science identities. The collaborative nature of the work also helped students develop their teamwork, communication, and leadership skills.

"The deep oceans are the largest habitat on our planet and are home to a beautiful diversity of organisms," says Gerringer. "We need a broad and diverse community of researchers in the ocean sciences so that we can better understand and protect these incredible ecosystems."

Provided by State University of New York at Geneseo
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This artist's conception shows a late-stage galaxy merger and its two newly-discovered central black holes. The binary black holes are the closest together ever observed in multiple wavelengths. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); M. Weiss, NRAO/AUI/NSF

Astronomers have spotted two ghostly Goliaths en route to a cataclysmic meeting. The newfound pair of supermassive black holes are the closest to colliding ever seen, the astronomers announced on January 9 at an American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle and in a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

While close together in cosmological terms at just 750 light-years apart, the supermassive black holes won't merge for a few hundred million years. In the meantime, the astronomers' discovery provides a better estimate of how many supermassive black holes are also nearing collision in the universe.

That improved head count will aid scientists in listening for the universe-wide chorus of intense ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves, the largest of which are products of supermassive black holes close to collision in the aftermath of galaxy mergers. Detecting that gravitational-wave background will improve estimates of how many galaxies have collided and merged in the universe's history.

The short distance between the newly discovered black holes "is fairly close to the limit of what we can detect, which is why this is so exciting," says study co-author Chiara Mingarelli, an associate research scientist at the Flatiron Institute's Center for Computational Astrophysics in New York City. This artist's conception shows a late-stage galaxy merger and its two newly-discovered central black holes. The binary black holes are the closest together ever observed in multiple wavelengths. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), M. Koss et al (Eureka Scientific), S. Dagnello (NRAO/AUI/NSF)

Due to the small separation between the black holes, the astronomers could only differentiate between the two objects by combining many observations from seven telescopes, including NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. (Although supermassive black holes aren't directly visible through an optical telescope, they are surrounded by bright bunches of luminous stars and warm gas drawn in by their gravitational pull.)

The astronomers found the pair quickly once they started looking, which means that close-together supermassive black holes "are probably more common than we think, given that we found these two and we didn't have to look very far to find them," Mingarelli says.

The newly identified supermassive black holes inhabit a mash-up of two galaxies that collided around 480 million light-years away from Earth. Gargantuan black holes live in the heart of most galaxies, growing bigger by gobbling up surrounding gas, dust, stars and even other black holes. The two supermassive black holes identified in this study are true heavyweights: They clock in at 200 million and 125 million times the mass of our sun.

The black holes met as their host galaxies smashed into each other. Eventually they will begin circling each other, with the orbit tightening as gas and stars pass between the two black holes and steal orbital energy. Ultimately the black holes will start producing gravitational waves far stronger than any that have previously been detected, before crashing into each other to form one jumbo-size black hole.

Prior observations of the merging galaxies saw only a single supermassive black hole: Because the two objects are so close together, scientists couldn't definitively tell them apart using a single telescope. The new survey, led by Michael J. Koss of Eureka Scientific in Oakland, California, combined 12 observations made on seven telescopes on Earth and in orbit. Although no single observation was enough to confirm their existence, the combined data conclusively revealed two distinct black holes.

Telescope observations of two newly discovered supermassive black holes on a collision course. Their host galaxy, left, is a mash-up of two galaxies that have collided. The pink box shows the location of the supermassive black holes. Close observation of the pair, right, reveals two distinct black holes (white spots) only 750 light-years apart. Credit: M.J. Koss et al.

"It's important that with all these different images, you get the same storythat there are two black holes," says Mingarelli, when comparing this new multi-observation research with previous efforts. "This is where other studies [of close-proximity supermassive black holes] have fallen down in the past. When people followed them up, it turned out that there was just one black hole. [This time we] have many observations, all in agreement."

She and Flatiron Institute visiting scientist Andrew Casey-Clyde used the new observations to estimate the universe's population of merging supermassive black holes, finding that it "may be surprisingly high," Mingarelli says. They predict that an abundance of supermassive black-hole pairs exists, generating a major amount of ultra-strong gravitational waves. All that clamor should result in a loud gravitational-wave background far easier to detect than if the population were smaller. The first ever detection of the background babble of gravitational waves, therefore, may come "very soon," Mingarelli says.

More information: Michael J. Koss et al, UGC 4211: A Confirmed Dual Active Galactic Nucleus in the Local Universe at 230 pc Nuclear Separation, The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2023). DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/aca8f0 Journal information: Astrophysical Journal Letters

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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

There is now supportive evidence that child-access-prevention laws reduce firearm homicides and self-injuries among youth, and that shall-issue concealed-carry laws and stand-your-ground laws increase levels of firearm violence, according to a new RAND Corporation report.

The findings are part of a new report updating RAND's Science of Gun Policy research synthesis, which reviewed the existing scientific literature to assess the strength of available evidence about the effects of 18 commonly discussed gun policies on a range of outcomes, including injuries and deaths, mass shootings, defensive gun use, and participation in hunting and sport shooting.

Several other policies are now found by RAND to have moderate scientific evidence of effects, the second-highest evidence rating used by the researchers. These include private-seller background-check requirements, which appear to decrease total homicides; laws setting the minimum age to purchase firearms at 21, which appear to decrease suicides among young people; and state laws prohibiting individuals subject to domestic-violence restraining orders from possessing firearms, which appear to decrease intimate-partner homicides.

The conclusions build on prior work by the RAND team that had already identified supportive evidence for two laws. Specifically, in the last update to this report in 2020, the team identified supportive evidence that child access prevention laws reduce intentional and unintentional firearm injuries and deaths among children, and that stand-your-ground laws increase firearm homicides. (Supportive is the project's highest level of evidence for a policy.)

Overall, the updated report found that for eight gun policies, the new research results incorporated into the review were sufficient to upgrade previous conclusions to a higher level of evidence.

Three of those strengthened findings are for child-access prevention, concealed-carry and stand-your-ground laws. Other areas with upgraded evidence ratings compared to the prior RAND report include limited evidence that bans on high-capacity magazines may reduce mass shootings and mass shooting fatalities; that surrender laws, in combination with prohibitions related to violent offenses, may reduce firearm-related intimate-partner homicides; and that more restrictive background check laws may reduce firearm homicides.

"While the state of research about gun policies is less well developed than in many other areas of social science, there is a growing body of evidence that provides suggestive evidence about the effects of several frequently discussed policies," said Rosanna Smart, lead author of the new analysis and an economist at RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization.

"More than 45,000 Americans died by gun violence in 2020, and our hope is that by highlighting where scientific evidence is accumulating, we can help build consensus around a shared set of facts established through a transparent and impartial review process," Smart said. "In so doing, we also mean to highlight areas where more and better information could make important contributions to establishing fair and effective gun policies."

The updated version of the project identified 152 studies that investigated the causal effects of gun polices on any of the targeted outcomes, 29 more than the previous edition of the project released in 2020.

Across the 18 classes of policies studied, only child-access-prevention laws, shall-issue concealed carry laws and stand-your-ground laws had any evidence of effects that were classified as supportive for a particular conclusion.

These three policies aim to affect how legal gun owners can legally store, carry or use their firearms. They differ from many of the other policies considered by the project that primarily affect the acquisition of new firearms (such as background checks or waiting periods) or that are designed to affect a relatively small proportion of gun owners (such as prohibitions that target domestic violence offenders).

Based on the report's findings, RAND researchers recommend that states without child-access prevention laws consider adopting them as a strategy to reduce total and firearm suicides, unintentional firearm injuries and deaths, and firearm homicides among youth. (In 2020, firearm-related injuries surpassed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death among children and adolescents aged 1 to 19.)

RAND researchers say that while shall-issue concealed-carry laws and stand-your-ground laws were adopted on the belief that they would reduce violent victimization either by deterring violent crime or by reducing barriers to victims defending themselves, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests these laws have the opposite effect.

As such, the RAND report recommends that states with stand-your-ground laws consider repealing or amending them as a strategy for reducing firearm homicides. States with shall-issue or permitless-carry laws should consider whether other regulations, either through requirements implemented as part of the permitting process or as through other aspects of law (such as rules that may prevent firearm theft) might ensure the effects of concealed-carry laws are aligned with public safety.

In total, the report makes 19 recommendations about gun policies that policymakers might consider to reduce firearm violence, as well as ways to improve available evidence about the effects of such policies.

"Although the base of evidence has grown since our first edition of this report in 2018, there remain a surprisingly large number of firearm policy effects for which we have no studies, or available studies are inconclusive," said Andrew Morral, co-author of the report and leader of the RAND Gun Policy in America project. "This does not mean that these policies are ineffective; they might well be quite effective. Instead, this reflects shortcomings in the contributions that scientific study has been able to contribute to policy debates in these areas."

The United States has a large stock of privately owned guns in circulation, estimated to be somewhere between 265 million and 393 million firearms.

More than 45,000 Americans die annually from deliberate and unintentional gun injuries, just over half of which are suicides. Another 50,000 to 150,000 Americans per year receive care in a hospital for a nonfatal gun injury.

More information: The Science of Gun Policy: A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United States [Third Edition],", www.rand.org
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Herds of blackbucks browsing in agricultural fields. Blackbucks are also seen in such human-dominated landscapes, albeit in relatively smaller groups. Such areas also face additional challenges of human-wildlife conflicts. Credit: Ananya Jana

A new study from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) sheds light on how blackbucks in India have fared in the face of natural and human-induced challenges to their survival. The work, among the first of its kind in its scope, involved analyzing the genetic profiles of blackbucks found across the country.

Increased human activities like indiscriminate cutting of trees and building dams across rivers have sliced up natural landscapes. These changing landscapes are restricting animal species to smaller areas, and preventing them from moving to farther regions in order to find new mates, a factor that is crucial for maintaining their genetic diversity.

"We need genetic diversity to sustain a population because if you have genetic diversity, the population is more adaptable to changing environments," explains Praveen Karanth, professor at the Center for Ecological Sciences (CES), IISc and senior author of the study published in Conservation Genetics.

The blackbuck is found only in the Indian subcontinent. Males have corkscrew-shaped horns and black-to-dark brown coats, while the females are fawn-colored. The animals are mainly seen in three broad clusters across India that pertain to the northern, the southern, and the eastern regions. This geographic separation as well as dense human habitation between the clusters would be expected to make it difficult for them to move from one location to another.

Innumerable blackbucks dotted across rolling grasslands. Only few such habitats continue to thrive in India. Credit: Ananya Jana

"We went in with the idea that these populations might be genetically constricted, and going forward, they may be in danger of getting incurring inbreeding depression [decreased biological fitness because of inbreeding]," recalls Ananya Jana, a former Ph.D. student from CES and first author of the study.

Karanth and Jana collected fecal samples of blackbucks from 12 different locations spread across eight states of India. The researchers tracked the animals on foot and in vehicles from a distance to collect the samples. When they returned to the lab, they extracted and sequenced the DNA from the fecal samples to study the genetic makeup of blackbucks, and deployed computational tools to map the geographic locations with the genetic data. The team also used simulations to trace how the three present-day clusters may have evolved from their common ancestor.

What they found was that an ancestral blackbuck population first split into two groups: the northern and the southern cluster. The eastern clustereven though geographically close to the northern clusterseems to have emerged from the southern cluster. "This was indeed a very surprising result," adds Karanth.

An adult male blackbuck (left) and a pair of female blackbucks with a suckling fawn (right). Credit: Ananya Jana

Next, the team found that despite all odds, male blackbucks appear to disperse more than expected, thus contributing to geneflow in this species. Females, on the other hand, appear to stay largely within their native population ranges, which the researchers inferred from unique mitochondrial signatures in each population. The data also showed an increasing trend in blackbuck population numbers as compared to the recent past.

"So, [it] looks like this species has managed to survive in a human-dominated landscape," notes Karanth. In future studies, the researchers plan to unravel the blackbucks' secrets to surviving in the face of human-induced threats to their landscape, by studying changes in their DNA and gut microbiome. Such studies could provide better insight into their conservation.

More information: Ananya Jana et al, Not all is black and white: phylogeography and population genetics of the endemic blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), Conservation Genetics (2022). DOI: 10.1007/s10592-022-01479-x Journal information: Conservation Genetics
An East Chicago man was charged in a New Years Eve shooting that injured a man on the Borman Expressway.

Alantae Antwan Thornton, 30, faces two counts of attempted murder, a Level 1 felony; two counts of battery by means of a eeadly weapon, a Level 5 felony; battery resulting in serious bodily injury, a Level 5 felony and two counts of criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, a Level 6 felony, according to court records. He is currently in the Lake County Jail.

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Around 6:45 p.m. on Dec. 31, Indiana State Police investigators say troopers were dispatched to Munster Community Hospital for a report of a victim with a gunshot wound to the upper torso who had walked in. Preliminary investigation revealed that a shooting had taken place on Interstate 80/94 near Burr Street, according to a release from the Indiana State Police, and the victim was driven to the hospital in for treatment.

Police investigators discovered that the victim and a woman had a confrontation just prior to the shooting at a gas station on Burr Street in Gary, the release stated. After a brief conversation, the victim headed west on I-80/94 when he saw a black Ford passenger car following him, which was the same vehicle that had observed at the gas station. The victim tried to flee the vehicle, but, as he did so, the vehicle drove next to him and Thornton allegedly began shooting him. The victim suffered a gunshot wound to the upper torso, police said.

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Subsequent investigation led detectives to determined that the woman had a prior relationship with the shooting victim, and the victim was able to identify both individuals, the release stated.

On Friday, troopers were able to take Thornton into custody at the Lake County Courthouse without incident.

Indiana State Police Detective Sergeant Mike Bailey complimented the work of the detectives, crime scene investigators and the Lake County Prosecutors Office.

I would like to commend all of the troopers, detectives, CSI, and the Lake County Prosecutors Office in the thorough investigation and subsequent arrest of this dangerous individual and look forward to justice for the victim in this case, Bailey said in the release.
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Hurricane Ian, which ravaged Florida in September, caused nearly $113 billion in damage, according to an NOAA report.

Major hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, drought and a fierce winter storm caused more than $165 billion in damage in the United States last year with climate change "supercharging" some extreme weather, a government report said Tuesday.

The country experienced 18 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said, with Hurricane Ian the most costly at nearly $113 billion.

"Climate change is creating more and more intense extreme events that cause significant damage and often sets off cascading hazards like intense drought followed by devastating wildfires followed by dangerous flooding and mudslides," NOAA administrator Richard Spinrad told reporters.

"More and more Americans and more places are exposed to risks from climate and extreme weather," Spinrad said. "People are seeing the impacts of a changing climate system where they live, work and play on a regular basis."

NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information said in a year-end report that 2022 tied 2017 and 2011 for the most billion-dollar disasters in a calendar year, behind the 22 and 20 separate billion-dollar events of 2020 and 2021.

The increasing number of extreme events "hints that the extremely high activity of recent years is becoming the new normal," the NCEI said, with Spinrad adding they should serve as a "wake-up call" to build resiliency.

With a price tag of more than $165 billion, 2022 ranked third in total costs behind 2017 (hurricanes Harvey and Irma) and 2005 (hurricane Katrina), the NCEI said, and the figure could rise when the impact of a sprawling winter storm that hit the central and eastern US in December is fully factored in.

The report noted that the figures do not reflect the total cost of last year's US weather and climate events, only those associated with major disasters that each caused more than $1 billion in damages.

The billion-dollar events accounted for about 85 percent of the total damage from all recorded US weather and climate events in 2022, it said.

Hurricane Ian, which ravaged Florida in September, was far and away the most costly, causing $112.9 billion in damage and 152 deaths.

A summer heat wave and drought which gripped large parts of the central and western United States was next, causing $22.2 billion in damage, 136 deaths and leaving reservoirs such as Lake Mead severely depleted.

Damage left by a tornado which touched down in New Orleans, Louisiana, in March 2022.

Other weather and climate disasters included wildfires in the western US and Alaska, flooding in Missouri and Kentucky, tornadoes across southern and southeastern states and the December winter storm.

The 18 billion-dollar events resulted in at least 474 direct or indirect fatalities, the seventh most since 1980.

'Devastating consequences'

The cost of weather and climate disasters was increasing, the NCEI said, due to a number of factors including increased settlement in vulnerable areas like coasts and river floodplains.

"Climate change is also supercharging the increasing frequency and intensity of certain types of extreme weather that lead to billion-dollar disasters," it said.

This is characterized by rising vulnerability to drought, lengthening wildfire seasons, flooding caused by heavy rainfall and hurricane storm surge worsened by sea level rise.

The NCEI said strong Category 4 or 5 hurricanes have made landfall in the United States in five of the last six years, the most frequent impacts on record.

It said 2022 was the eighth consecutive year in which 10 or more separate billion-dollar disaster events have hit the United States, up from an average of 7.9 events between 1980 and 2022.

In a recent report, the UK-based charity Christian Aid also listed Hurricane Ian as the most costly weather event in a year that saw devastating floods in Australia, parts of Africa, China and Pakistan and a severe summer heatwave and drought in Europe.

The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said Tuesday that average temperatures across 2022 made it the fifth warmest year since records began in the 19th century.

"2022 was yet another year of climate extremes across Europe and globally," said Samantha Burgess, deputy head of the climate monitoring service. "These events highlight that we are already experiencing the devastating consequences of our warming world."

 2023 AFP
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The U.S. military has an idea to save its seaside bases from some of their most relentless foes: flooding, erosion and storm surge.

The Defense Department spends billions of dollars to repair hurricane- and flood-related damage to its bases; in 2018, a particularly damaging series of storms caused $9 billion worth of destruction. Scientistsand military plannersexpect that toll to grow as rising sea levels make storm surge and beach erosion worse.

To protect coastal bases, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has enlisted corals, oysters and three international teams of scientists led by investigators at the University of Miami, the University of Hawaii and Rutgers University. The researchers are developing what they call "hybrid reefs," which combine concrete structures with living coral reefs and oyster beds to break up damaging waves.

One day, the Defense Department hopes to deploy these super resilient reefs off the coast of military bases to reduce the amount of damage they take when they're pummeled by waves.

"A lot of people are surprised that the [Defense Department] is doing this, but there are more than 1,700 military installations that are on coasts worldwide, and when they're impacted by storms it causes billions of dollars of damage," said Catherine Campbell, the DARPA program manager in charge of the project, "so we're looking for ways that we can reduce the wave energy so we don't have these severe impacts from storms."

If they work, civilians could use them too. Andrew Baker, a University of Miami marine biology and ecology professor and one of the principal investigators for the project, says he'd like to see hybrid reefs used in Miami-Dade County to protect barrier islands like Miami Beach and Key Biscayne from flooding and erosion.

"If you're going to do this anywhere in the world and you want to get the maximum bang for your buck, there's no better place than Southeast Florida because we're just so vulnerable," Baker said.

Reefs break up damaging waves

Coral and oyster reefs protect coastlines against flooding and erosion by breaking up big waves. When a wave bumps into a reef, some of its energy gets lost to friction as the water whirls through the rough surface of the reef. Another chunk of the wave's energy gets redirected upward, causing the wave to break through the surface in a white, foamy crest that dissipates even more power.

All told, a well-placed reef can absorb as much as 97% of a wave's energy, according to one 2014 meta-analysis published in Nature Communications that combined data from 27 previous research papers on reefs and wave energy.

Smaller waves reduce the amount of pounding that beaches, seawalls and coastal building foundations take on a daily basis. During hurricanes, smaller waves cut down the extent of flooding during storm surge, which can determine whether or not the water splashes over a seawall or laps up to the ground floor of a building.

But, as climate change makes oceans warmer and more acidic, most of the world's reefs are dying. Roughly half of the coral reefs that existed in 1950 are now gone, according to a 2021 paper from U.S. and Canadian scientists. Warmer seas, combined with overfishing and pollution, have also taken a toll on oyster reefs.

The decline of these reefs leaves the coastlines they used to protect more vulnerable to flooding.

Playing 'Reefense'

That prompted the Defense Department to create a $19.4 million grant this year to fund the "Reefense" program, which aims to design hybrid reefs that can be built and installed quickly to protect military bases and coastal communities. UM is leading one part of the project, dubbed X-REEFS, which involves 29 professors at 11 universities developing hybrid coral reefs for the Atlantic Ocean. (The University of Hawaii is leading a similar project for coral reefs in the Pacific Ocean, while Rutgers is leading a team focused on oyster reefs in the Gulf of Mexico.)

The base of these hybrid reefs will be made up of artificial concrete structures designed to mimic the wave-breaking ability of natural reefs. These structures will stack together like LEGO bricks, have rough surfaces to help corals and oysters cling onto them, and be hollow and full of holes, which will cut down on material costs and also increase the amount of wave energy they absorb.

The concrete structures are beneficial because they can be installed quickly and immediately start breaking up waves. But the researchers will cover them with living corals or oysters that can slowly grow bigger and become better at knocking down waves over time. Plus, the living part of the reef gives the entire structure the ability to repair itself, because the corals or oysters will grow back if they get damaged by debris or a storm.

The military is also investing in speeding up the growth of corals and oysters and making sure they stay healthy, so that the hybrid reefs can expand "at least as fast as the healthiest reefs found in nature," according to a 2021 project overview.

One team of Miami-based X-REEFS team is researching ways to make the artificial reefs friendly environments for corals while warding off the algae that compete with these creatures for habitat. Some scientists are developing anti-algal coatings for the concrete structures. Others, like UM marine biology masters student Catherine Lachnit, are raising sea urchins to live on the reefs. The urchins graze on algae like undersea billy goats, keeping the area clear for corals.

Another team of researchers, led by Baker, is working on biologically engineering corals so that they won't simply die when they're placed in the warming oceans. "We recognize that you can't use corals, which are a climate change-sensitive organism, to solve a problem that is becoming worse because of climate change," Baker said.

To toughen up the corals, the researchers plan to cross-breed hardy populations that have adapted to live in warm parts of the sea, like the southern coast of Cuba and the Mexican Caribbean Coast, using an aquatic version of in vitro fertilization, among other strategies.

Hybrid reef pilots are coming to Keys, Miami Beach

The hybrid reefs showed promise during early lab tests in UM's massive wind and wave tank on Virginia Key, which holds 38,000 gallons of water and can simulate Category 5 hurricane conditions.

The scientists put an artificial reef structure at the bottom of the tank and covered it with a smattering of small staghorn coral skeletons. The hybrid reef cut wave energy between 11% and 98%, depending on the reef design and the types of waves the researchers threw at it, according to a paper the researchers published in 2021.

The coral accounted for up to half of the hybrid reef's wave stopping power in the study. But planting more coral reefs in the wild also brings environmental benefits. Local governments up and down Florida's coastlines have been creating artificial reefs for decades, using everything from old ships to concrete rubble, but the goal with those has mainly been to attract divers and recreational anglers while reducing pressure on struggling natural reefs.

"Artificial reefs are not new, and to some degree even hybrid reefs are not new," said Baker. "What's new about all of this is thinking about: How do we do this in the best possible way? What's the best design to reduce wave energy?"

Later this month, University of Miami researchers will install two small, 20-foot-long hybrid reefs off the coast of Miami Beach near 80th Street to see how the structure performs in the real world. (This test is funded by a separate research grant from the University of Miami and the City of Miami Beach and is not part of the Reefense program, although it dovetails nicely with UM's military research.)

In November, the Reefense scientists plan to begin building a 50-meter-long (160 feet) hybrid reef that they'll install off the coast from the Key West naval air base, where the runways of Boca Chica Field stretch almost into the sea. In early 2026, the researchers will build another 50-meter stretch of hybrid reef next to the first one, incorporating any new concrete designs, algae-fighting tactics or hardier corals they've developed along the way.

By then, according to the goals laid out in the DARPA grant, the team will have developed a technique for building hybrid reefs that can knock down 90% of wave energy at a cost of less than $300 per cubic meter of reef. If they succeed, they'll have created a blueprint that city and state governments and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could use to install miles of artificial reefs to protect coastlines in areas where coral and oyster reefs naturally grow.

"Ultimately the goal is, whatever we learn from this, we want to scale it up and use it in other areas including here, closer to home, in Miami-Dade County or Broward," Baker said.

2023 Miami Herald.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Brown Mouse Lemur, one of the 104 species of lemurs that are currently threatened with extinction. A total of 17 species of lemurs have gone extinct since humans arrived on Madagascar. Credit:  Chien C. Lee

In many ways, Madagascar is a biologist's dream, a real-life experiment in how isolation on an island can spark evolution. About 90% of the plants and animals there are found nowhere else on Earth. But these plants and animals are in major trouble, thanks to habitat loss, over-hunting, and climate change. Of the 219 known mammal species on the island, including 109 species of lemurs, more than 120 are endangered. A new study in Nature Communications examined how long it took Madagascar's unique modern mammal species to emerge and estimated how long it would take for a similarly complex set of new mammal species to evolve in their place if the endangered ones went extinct: 23 million years, far longer than scientists have found for any other island.

That is, simply put, really bad news. "It's abundantly clear that there are whole lineages of unique mammals that only occur on Madagascar that have either gone extinct or are on the verge of extinction, and if immediate action isn't taken, Madagascar is going to lose 23 million years of evolutionary history of mammals, which means whole lineages unique to the face of the Earth will never exist again," says Steve Goodman, MacArthur Field Biologist at Chicago's Field Museum and Scientific Officer at Association Vahatra in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and one of the paper's authors.

Madagascar is the world's fifth-largest island, about the size of France, but "in terms of all the different ecosystems present on Madagascar, it's less like an island and more like a mini-continent," says Goodman. In the 150 million years since Madagascar split from the African mainland and the 80 million since it parted ways with India, the plants and animals there have gone down their own evolutionary paths, cut off from the rest of the world. This smaller gene pool, coupled with Madagascar's wealth of different habitat types, from mountainous rainforests to lowland deserts, allowed mammals there to split into different species far more quickly than their continental relatives.

But this incredible biodiversity comes at a cost: evolution happens faster on islands, but so does extinction. Smaller populations that are specially adapted to smaller, unique patches of habitat are more vulnerable to being wiped out, and once they're gone, they're gone. More than half of the mammals on Madagascar are included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, aka the IUCN Red List. These animals are endangered primarily because of human actions over the past two hundred years, especially habitat destruction and over-hunting.

Lowland Streaked Tenrec (Hemicentetes semispinosus). This is a species of tenrec, a diverse and unique group of mammals found only on Madagascar. Credit: Chien C. Lee

An international team of Malagasy, European, and American scientists, including Goodman, collaborated to study the looming extinction of Madagascar's endangered mammals. They built a dataset of every known mammal species to coexist with humans on Madagascar for the last 2,500 years. (Humans have lived on the island, perhaps intermittently, for the past 10,000 years, but have remained constant there for the last 2,500.) The scientists came up with the 219 known mammal species alive today, plus 30 more that have gone extinct over the past two millennia, including a gorilla-sized lemur that went extinct between 500 and 2,000 years ago.

Armed with this dataset of all the known Malagasy mammals that interacted with humans, the researchers built genetic family trees to establish how all these species are related to each other and how long it took them to evolve from their various common ancestors. Then, the scientists were able to extrapolate how long it took this amount of biodiversity to evolve, and thus, estimate how long it would take for evolution to "replace" all of the endangered mammals if they go extinct.

The critically endangered Verreauxs Sifaka is one of the 109 species of lemurs that currently are extant on Madagascar. A total of 17 species of lemurs have already gone extinct. Credit:  Chien C. Lee

To rebuild the diversity of land-dwelling mammals that have already gone extinct over the past 2,500 years, it would take around 3 million years. But more alarmingly, the models suggested that if all the mammals that are currently endangered were to go extinct, it would take 23 million years to rebuild that level of diversity. That doesn't mean that if we let all of the lemurs and tenrecs and fossas and other unique Malagasy mammals go extinct, that evolution will recreate them if we just wait around 23 million more years. "It would be simply impossible to recover them," says Goodman. Instead, the model means that to achieve a similar level of evolutionary complexity, whatever those new species might look like, would take 23 million years.

Luis Valente, the study's corresponding author, says he was surprised by this finding. "It is much longer than what previous studies have found on other islands, such as New Zealand or the Caribbean," says Valente, a biologist at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. "It was already known that Madagascar was a hotspot of biodiversity, but this new research puts into context just how valuable this diversity is. These findings underline the potential gains of the conservation of nature on Madagascar from a novel evolutionary perspective."

The Madagascar Sucker-footed Bat (Myzopoda aurita) belongs to an ancient family of bats that is found only on Madagascar. Credit: Chien C. Lee

According to Goodman, Madagascar is at a tipping point for protecting its biodiversity. "There is still a chance to fix things, but basically, we have about five years to really advance the conservation of Madagascar's forests and the organisms that those forests hold," he says.

This urgent conservation work is made difficult by inequality and political corruption that keeps land-use decisions out of the hands of most Malagasy people, says Goodman: "Madagascar's biological crisis has nothing to do with biology. It has to do with socio-economics." But while the situation is dire, he says, "we can't throw in the towel. We're obliged to advance this cause as much as we can and try to make the world understand that it's now or never."

More information: Luis Valente, The macroevolutionary impact of recent and imminent mammal extinctions on Madagascar, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35215-3. www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-35215-3 Journal information: Nature Communications
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Astronauts imaged the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory during its deployment from space shuttle Atlantis in April 1991. Credit: NASA/STS-37 crew

Astronomers studying archival observations of powerful explosions called short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have detected light patterns indicating the brief existence of a superheavy neutron star shortly before it collapsed into a black hole. This fleeting, massive object likely formed from the collision of two neutron stars.

"We looked for these signals in 700 short GRBs detected with NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory," explained Cecilia Chirenti, a researcher at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who presented the findings at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle. "We found these gamma-ray patterns in two bursts observed by Compton in the early 1990s."

A paper describing the results, led by Chirenti, was published Monday, Jan. 9, in the scientific journal Nature.

A neutron star forms when the core of a massive star runs out of fuel and collapses. This produces a shock wave that blows away the rest of the star in a supernova explosion. Neutron stars typically pack more mass than our Sun into a ball about the size of a city, but above a certain mass, they must collapse into black holes.

Both the Compton data and computer simulations revealed mega neutron stars tipping the scales by 20% more than the most massive, precisely measured neutron star knowndubbed J0740+6620which weighs in at nearly 2.1 times the Sun's mass. Superheavy neutron stars also have nearly twice the size of a typical neutron star, or about twice the length of Manhattan Island.

The mega neutron stars spin nearly 78,000 times a minutealmost twice the speed of J17482446ad, the fastest pulsar on record. This rapid rotation briefly supports the objects against further collapse, allowing them to exist for just a few tenths of a second, after which they proceed to form a black hole faster than the blink of an eye.

"We know that short GRBs form when orbiting neutron stars crash together, and we know they eventually collapse into a black hole, but the precise sequence of events is not well understood," said Cole Miller, a professor of astronomy at UMCP and a co-author of the paper. "At some point, the nascent black hole erupts with a jet of fast-moving particles that emits an intense flash of gamma rays, the highest-energy form of light, and we want to learn more about how that develops." This simulation tracks the gravitational wave and density changes as two orbiting neutron stars crash together. Dark purple colors represent the lowest densities, while yellow-white shows the highest. An audible tone and a visual frequency scale (at left) track the steady rise in the frequency of gravitational waves as the neutron stars close. When the objects merge at 42 seconds, the gravitational waves suddenly jump to frequencies of thousands of hertz and bounce between two primary tones (quasiperiodic oscillations, or QPOs). The presence of these signals in such simulations led to the search and discovery of similar phenomena in the light emitted by short gamma-ray bursts. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and STAG Research Center/Peter Hammond

Short GRBs typically shine for less than two seconds yet unleash energy comparable to what's released by all the stars in our galaxy over one year. They can be detected more than a billion light-years away. Merging neutron stars also produce gravitational waves, ripples in space-time that can be detected by a growing number of ground-based observatories.

Computer simulations of these mergers show that gravitational waves exhibit a sudden jump in frequencyexceeding 1,000 hertzas the neutron stars coalesce. These signals are too fast and faint for existing gravitational wave observatories to detect. But Chirenti and her team reasoned that similar signals could appear in the gamma-ray emission from short GRBs.

Astronomers call these signals quasiperiodic oscillations, or QPOs for short. Unlike, say, the steady ringing of a tuning fork, QPOs can be composed of several close frequencies that vary or dissipate over time. Both the gamma-ray and gravitational wave QPOs originate in the maelstrom of swirling matter as the two neutron stars coalesce.

While no gamma-ray QPOs materialized in the Swift and Fermi bursts, two short GRBs recorded by Compton's Burst And Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on July 11, 1991, and Nov. 1, 1993, fit the bill.

The larger area of the BATSE instrument gave it the upper hand in finding these faint patternsthe tell-tale flickering that revealed the presence of mega neutron stars. The team rates the combined odds of these signals occurring by chance alone at less than 1 in 3 million.

"These results are very important as they set the stage for future measurements of hypermassive neutron stars by gravitational wave observatories," said Chryssa Kouveliotou, chair of the physics department at George Washington University in Washington, who was not involved in the work.

By the 2030s, gravitational wave detectors will be sensitive to kilohertz frequencies, providing new insights into the short lives of supersized neutron stars. Until then, sensitive gamma-ray observations and computer simulations remain the only available tools for exploring them.

Compton's BATSE instrument was developed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and provided the first compelling evidence that gamma-ray bursts occurred far beyond our galaxy. After operating for almost nine years, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was deorbited on June 4, 2000, and destroyed as it entered Earth's atmosphere. Goddard manages both the Swift and Fermi missions.

More information: Cecilia Chirenti et al, Kilohertz quasiperiodic oscillations in short gamma-ray bursts, Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05497-0 Journal information: Nature
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Members of the public can help astronomers observe and study the night sky through NASAs Universe of Learning Exoplanet Watch program. Credit: NASA/Bill Dunford

The Exoplanet Watch project invites you to use your smartphone or personal telescope to help track worlds outside our solar system.

More than 5,000 planets have been confirmed to exist outside our solar system, featuring a wide array of characteristics like clouds made of glass and twin suns. Scientists estimate there could be millions more exoplanets in our home galaxy alone, which means professional astronomers could use your help tracking and studying them.

This is where Exoplanet Watch comes in. Participants in the program can use their own telescopes to detect planets outside our solar system, or they can look for exoplanets in data from other telescopes using a computer or smartphone.

Exoplanet Watch began in 2018 under NASA's Universe of Learning, one of the agency's Science Activation programs that enables anyone to experience how science is done and discover the universe for themselves. Until recently there were limits on how many people could help look through the data collected by other telescopes, but now this program is easily available to anyone. By following the site's instructions, participants can download data to their device or access it via the cloud, and then assess it using a custom data analysis tool.

"With Exoplanet Watch you can learn how to observe exoplanets and do data analysis using software that actual NASA scientists use," said Rob Zellem, the creator of Exoplanet Watch and an astrophysicist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "We're excited to show more people how exoplanet science is really done."

A planet passing in front of its parent star creates a drop in the stars apparent brightness, called a transit. Exoplanet Watch participants can look for transits in data from ground-based telescopes, helping scientists refine measurements of the length of a planet's orbit around its star. Credit: NASAs Ames Research Center

Helping without a telescope

Participants without telescopes can help astronomers comb through data that's already been taken. The project has 10 years of exoplanet observations, collected by a small ground-based telescope south of Tucson, Arizona. This year, the project will start collecting additional data from two other telescopes at the Table Mountain facility in Southern California, which JPL manages.

These telescopes look at nearby stars and search for what scientists call exoplanet transits: regular dips in a star's brightness caused by a planet passing between the star and Earth. Essentially, a transit is an observation of a planet's silhouette against the bright glare of its star.

Multiple NASA telescopes look for exoplanet transits as a way to discover new planets, but Exoplanet Watch participants primarily observe transits by planets that have already been discovered to gain more information about their orbits. The time between exoplanet transits reveals how long it takes an exoplanet to orbit its parent star; the more transits that are measured, the more precisely the length of the orbit is known. If the timing of the orbit isn't measured precisely, scientists who want to study those planets in more detail with large ground-based or space-based telescopes can lose valuable observing time while they wait for the planet to appear. Having volunteers sort through the data will save significant computing and processing time.

Exoplanet Watch participants will also look for variations in the apparent brightness of starschanges caused by features such as flares (outbursts of light) and star spots (dark spots on a star's surface). In transit measurements, these changes make a planet appear smaller or larger than it actually is. This work will help scientists anticipate the variability of a particular star before they study its exoplanets with large, sensitive telescopes like NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.

Citizen scientist Bryan E. Martin uses his personal telescope to observe exoplanet transits with NASAs Universe of Learning Exoplanet Watch. There is no minimum size telescope necessary to participate, and those without a telescope can still analyze exoplanet transit data. Credit: Bryan E. Martin

Helping with your own telescope

Want to take your own data? Although the number of targets you can see increases with the size of the telescope used, there's no minimum size requirement. For example, Exoplanet Watch can help you detect exoplanet transits for hundreds of nearby stars with just a 6-inch (15-centimeter) telescope.

Exoplanet Watch combines observations of the same target by multiple sky watchers in order to get a higher-fidelity measurement. Combining observations is also useful if the planet's transit lasts longer than the time a star is visible in the sky for a single observer: Multiple participants at different locations around the globe can collectively watch the duration of a long transit.

That was the case with a planet called HD 80606 b, which Webb will observe this year. A recent study of this planet led by Kyle Pearson, the Exoplanet Watch deputy science lead at JPL, combined observations from more than 20 Exoplanet Watch participants.

The volunteer effort on HD 80606 b will free up almost two hours of time on Webb for other observations. On missions that aim to observe hundreds or thousands of exoplanets, the number of minutes saved by refining planet transit measurements can add up and free a significant amount of observing time, according to Zellem.

One of the program's policies requires that the first paper to make use of the observations or analysis done by volunteers will list those volunteers as co-authors, which was the case with the study led by Pearson. "I hope this program lowers barriers to science for a lot of people and inspires the next generation of astronomers to join our field," said Zellem.

More information: For more information about Exoplanet Watch, visit: exoplanets.nasa.gov/exoplanet-watch/ For more information about NASA's Universe of Learning, visit: www.universe-of-learning.org/ For more NASA citizen science projects, visit: science.nasa.gov/citizenscience
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Newly discovered Earth-size planet TOI 700 e orbits within the habitable zone of its star in this illustration. Its Earth-size sibling, TOI 700 d, can be seen in the distance. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Robert Hurt

Using data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, scientists have identified an Earth-size world, called TOI 700 e, orbiting within the habitable zone of its starthe range of distances where liquid water could occur on a planet's surface. The world is 95% Earth's size and likely rocky.

Astronomers had previously discovered three planets in this system, called TOI 700 b, c, and d. Planet d also orbits in the habitable zone. But scientists needed an additional year of TESS observations to discover TOI 700 e.

"This is one of only a few systems with multiple, small, habitable-zone planets that we know of," said Emily Gilbert, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California who led the work. "That makes the TOI 700 system an exciting prospect for additional follow up. Planet e is about 10% smaller than planet d, so the system also shows how additional TESS observations help us find smaller and smaller worlds."

Gilbert presented the result on behalf of her team at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle. A paper about the newly discovered planet was accepted by The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

TOI 700 is a small, cool M dwarf star located around 100 light-years away in the southern constellation Dorado. In 2020, Gilbert and others announced the discovery of the Earth-size, habitable-zone planet d, which is on a 37-day orbit, along with two other worlds.

The innermost planet, TOI 700 b, is about 90% Earth's size and orbits the star every 10 days. TOI 700 c is over 2.5 times bigger than Earth and completes an orbit every 16 days. The planets are probably tidally locked, which means they spin only once per orbit such that one side always faces the star, just as one side of the moon is always turned toward Earth.

TESS monitors large swaths of the sky, called sectors, for approximately 27 days at a time. These long stares allow the satellite to track changes in stellar brightness caused by a planet crossing in front of its star from our perspective, an event called a transit. The mission used this strategy to observe the southern sky starting in 2018, before turning to the northern sky. In 2020, it returned to the southern sky for additional observations. The extra year of data allowed the team to refine the original planet sizes, which are about 10% smaller than initial calculations. Watch to learn about TOI 700 e, a newly discovered Earth-size planet with an Earth-size sibling. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Robert Hurt/NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center

"If the star was a little closer or the planet a little bigger, we might have been able to spot TOI 700 e in the first year of TESS data," said Ben Hord, a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park and a graduate researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "But the signal was so faint that we needed the additional year of transit observations to identify it."

TOI 700 e, which may also be tidally locked, takes 28 days to orbit its star, placing planet e between planets c and d in the so-called optimistic habitable zone.

Scientists define the optimistic habitable zone as the range of distances from a star where liquid surface water could be present at some point in a planet's history. This area extends to either side of the conservative habitable zone, the range where researchers hypothesize liquid water could exist over most of the planet's lifetime. TOI 700 d orbits in this region.

Finding other systems with Earth-size worlds in this region helps planetary scientists learn more about the history of our own solar system.

Follow-up study of the TOI 700 system with space- and ground-based observatories is ongoing, Gilbert said, and may yield further insights into this rare system.

"TESS just completed its second year of northern sky observations," said Allison Youngblood, a research astrophysicist and the TESS deputy project scientist at Goddard. "We're looking forward to the other exciting discoveries hidden in the mission's treasure trove of data."
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Credit: Merawalesi Yee, Author provided

Climate change is forcing people around the world to abandon their homes. In the Pacific Islands, rising sea levels are leaving communities facing tough decisions about relocation. Some are choosing to stay in high-risk areas.

Our research investigated this phenomenon, known as "voluntary immobility."

The government of Fiji has identified around 800 communities that may have to relocate due to climate change impacts (six have already been moved). One of these is the village on Serua Island, which was the focus of our study.

Coastal erosion and flooding have severely damaged the village over the past two decades. Homes have been submerged, seawater has spoiled food crops and the seawall has been destroyed. Despite this, almost all of Serua Island's residents are choosing to stay.

We found their decision is based on "Vanua," an Indigenous Fijian word that refers to the interconnectedness of the natural environment, social bonds, ways of being, spirituality and stewardship of place. Vanua binds local communities to their land.

Residents feel an obligation to stay

Serua Island has historical importance. It is the traditional residence of the paramount chief of Serua province.

The island's residents choose to remain because of their deep-rooted connections, to act as guardians and to meet their customary obligations to sustain a place of profound cultural importance. As one resident explained, "Our forefathers chose to live and remain on the island just so they could be close to our chief."

A house on Serua Island is submerged by seawater. Credit: Serua Island resident, Author provided

The link to ancestors is a vital part of life on Serua Island. Every family has a foundation stone upon which their ancestors built their house. One resident told us: "In the past, when a foundation of a home is created, they name it, and that is where our ancestors were buried as well. Their bones, sweat, tears, hard work [are] all buried in the foundation."

Many believe the disturbance of the foundation stone will bring misfortune to their relatives or to other members of their village.

The ocean that separates Serua Island from Fiji's main island, Viti Levu, is also part of the identity of men and women of Serua. One man said, "When you have walked to the island, that means you have finally stepped foot on Serua. Visitors to the island may find this a challenging way to get there. However, for us, traveling this body of water daily is the essence of a being Serua Islander."

Sau Tabu is the burial site of the paramount chiefs of Serua. Credit: Merewalesi Yee, Author provided

The ocean is a source of food and income, and a place of belonging. One woman said, "The ocean is part of me and sustains mewe gauge when to go and when to return according to the tide."

Serua Islanders are concerned that relocating to Viti Levu would disrupt the bond they have with their chief, sacred sites and the ocean. They fear relocation would lead to loss of their identity, cultural practices and place attachment. As one villager said, "It may be difficult for an outsider to understand this process because it entails much more than simply giving up material possessions."

If residents had to relocate due to climate change, it would be a last resort. Residents are keenly aware it would mean disruptingor losingnot just material assets such as foundation stones, but sacred sites, a way of life and Indigenous knowledge. Serua Island is one of about 800 communities in Fiji being forced to consider the prospect of relocation.

Voluntary immobility is a global phenomenon

As climate tipping points are reached and harms escalate, humans must adapt. Yet even in places where relocation is proposed as a last resort, people may prefer to remain.

Voluntary immobility is not unique to Fiji. Around the world, households and communities are choosing to stay where climate risks are increasing or already high. Reasons include access to livelihoods, place-based connections, social bonds and differing risk perceptions.

As Australia faces climate-related hazards and disasters, such as floods and bushfires, people living in places of risk will need to consider whether to remain or move. This decision raises complex legal, financial and logistical issues. As with residents of Serua Island, it also raises important questions about the value that people ascribe to their connections to place.

A decision for communities to make themselves

Relocation and retreat are not a panacea for climate risk in vulnerable locations. In many cases, people prefer to adapt in place and protect at-risk areas.

No climate adaptation policy should be decided without the full and direct participation of the affected local people and communities. Relocation programs should be culturally appropriate and align with local needs, and proceed only with the consent of residents.

In places where residents are unwilling to relocate, it is crucial to acknowledge and, where feasible, support their decision to stay. And people require relevant information on the risks and potential consequences of both staying and relocating.

This can help develop more appropriate adaptation strategies for communities in Fiji and beyond as people move home, but also resist relocation, in a warming world.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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A study found disability counsellors made substantial contributions to faculty members efforts to redesign their courses. Credit: Shutterstock

Forty years after the enactment of Canada's first children's special education laws, universities and colleges have made significant strides in accessible education for adult students with disabilities.

But positive change is not coming fast enough. And accessibility issues are not about some small minority of students. Twenty-two percent of Canadians aged 15 years or older have at least one disability. This percentage is roughly echoed in higher education.

Many important practical approaches that galvanize post-secondary institutions' pro-inclusion policies are carried out by disability counselors (sometimes referred to as accessibility consultants) attached to student wellness units.

Pandemic exposed issues

The COVID-19 pandemic made existing barriers for people with disabilities more apparent.

As Tina Doyle, Director of AccessAbility Services at University of Toronto, shared with me in an interview, the pandemic revealed there is still much work to be done to make education accessible and welcoming to persons with a disability. Researchers who have documented experiences of students with disabilities in the pandemic have made similar observations.

Support for students with disabilities

Since 1986, the National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) has been mandated to support education and employment for post-secondary students and graduates with disabilities.

NEADS has launched projects, resources, research, publications and partnerships and created scholarships.

Nevertheless, many readers including students with disabilities and parents or supporters may be unfamiliar with how universities and colleges are currently supporting their students with disabilities.

Employee training

Administrators at most institutions have introduced significant policies and requirements for employee training. They have undertaken new practices in a range of student support services embedded in campus life.

These include audits and reports often by human rights units, and regular facilities reviews as historic campus buildings are increasingly being retrofitted to conform to accessibility standards.

Similarly, innovative teaching and learning center staff typically promote practical approaches among the teaching faculty, while librarians and others focus on important learning resource accessibility and supportive technologies.

Students assigned counselors

A drawback of traditional approaches to accommodating disability has been a heavy reliance on only recognized medical diagnoses of disability.

Today many students with a disability present themselves to disabilities services units requiring assistance.

While some disability rights researchers or advocates flag that some students are inhibited from receiving accommodations due to a lack of a formal diagnosis, some disability advocates and researchers we have spoken with say there is a trend towards working with students even before they have a diagnosis.

Counselors as advocates

Counselors also often find themselves tasked with advocating, alongside or for students, with faculty to ensure an array of accommodations are put into practice.

Most commonly this may include having faculty follow the student's approved need for occasional extensions on assignment due dates, extra time for test completion, use of a computer or a test center for writing tests or perhaps access to assigned course resources in an accessible format.

Where expensive accommodations are needed by the student (such as computers, software, ergonomic modifications or staffing supports) then institutions, on behalf of government administrators, often require current diagnoses to be presented in advance.

Professors may have already selected and ordered books or uploaded their course materials to the digital learning management system long before learning that a student registered to their class has some needs they hadn't anticipated.

Part-time staff

A significant challenge for the sector is how to train teaching faculty on the many specific practical approaches when universities and colleges employ a very high ratio of part-time instructors on short-term contracts.

Disability counselors report sometimes expending significant energy communicating with teaching faculty about using what should be seen as simple inclusive strategies that students have a right to, or convincing them of the necessity.

Promoting universal design

What more can be done?

A clear way to measure the commitment to promoting inclusion of those with disabilities can be found in policies supporting equity, diversity and inclusion and those that commit the institution to promoting universal design for learning approaches by their teaching faculty and staff. In recent years NEADS has come out as a strong proponent of the approach.

Universal design for learning is aimed, in part, at addressing accommodation needs. It has been also shown to support learners with disabilities along with needs of international students, first-generation students and many others.

Some centers for innovative learning in post-secondary institutions in the United States, and less so in Canada, have promoted partnerships between teaching faculty and disability service staff such as disability counselors.

Humber College study

A recent Canadian project undertaken by a team at Humber College, and studied by this story's first author, found that connecting teaching faculty with a learning specialist and disability counselors was key to supporting greater implementation of universal design. This echoed findings in other contexts.

In the Humber project, teaching faculty were connected with an innovative learning center specialist. They were also able to leverage considerable knowledge and commitment of the institution's disability counselors.

An important factor in their ability to design accessible courses with supportive expertise was their employer allowed them to formally allocate time to this kind of work.

Supporting student success

Over the 14-week redesign project period studied, disability counselors were able to make substantial contributions within about 90 minutes per week. The collegial support that all participants reported broke down some of the isolation that faculty sometimes experienced while redesigning courses.

It also built up trust as participants, whether teachers or disability counselors, learned to better appreciate the challenges of each other's complex roles in supporting student success.

Employing the considerable knowledge and experiences of disability counselors in novel ways may provide substantial guidance to some areas where institutions can improve their support efforts.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Since the reversal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, several states have moved to either protect, significantly restrict, or ban abortion.

In this Q&A, Josh Sharfstein speaks with legal and public health expert Joanne Rosen about what's happening in the statesincluding threats to medication abortion, the chilling effect changes are having on practitioners, and how the recently passed Respect for Marriage Act is protecting rights that might have been erased by a ruling similar to the Dobbs decision.

About six months ago, the Supreme Court released the Dobbs decision, which ended the constitutional right to an abortion. What have we seen happening at the state level since then?

It's been a really busy six months. Abortion is no longer available at all in 14 states, and it looks like that may be just the beginning of state actions to ban abortion. The Guttmacher Institute has estimated that 25 or 26 states are likely to ban or significantly restrict abortion. At the moment, in addition to the 14 states that have banned abortion, eight states have introduced bans that are currently blocked by court order. So there's been quite a lot of movement to ban or significantly restrict abortion.

The case has also sparked legislation and action in states that are supportive of abortion rights. What's been happening there?

Yes, that's absolutely true. During the most recent legislative session, in anticipation of the outcome of Dobbs, many states introduced new legislation to further protect abortion access. A number of these states introduced protections for doctors who perform abortionsprotecting them against lawsuits or claims from other states in the event that they perform abortions on women who travel into those states from states that have banned abortion.

Maryland was among a handful of states that took steps to increase the number of health care professionals who would have the necessary credentials to perform abortions, so that they would have a critical mass of providers to deal with an anticipated increased demand from women traveling into these more protective states [to seek care]. Fifteen states and Washington, DC, took measures to protect both abortion access and the people who perform abortions.

What about the legal gray area of what one state can do to try to limit what happens in another state? Can a state say you can't travel for an abortion, for example? Can a state make an abortion provider a criminal for performing an abortion in another state?

These are still wide-open legal questions. There is no explicit constitutionally protected right to interstate travel, but historically, states are only able to legislate matters that take place within their boundaries. So if a pregnant person travels from Texas, let's say, to Maryland to get an abortion, could Texas prosecute her upon her return? Or could Texas prosecute the doctor who performs the abortion?

Historically, it would look like that shouldn't happen, but it's still an open legal question, which is why some states have introduced legislation to protect the doctors within their boundaries.

But the possibility of a state legislating outside its borders and going after doctors in other states has already had a chilling effect in some states. There are doctors who may be licensed in multiple jurisdictions, including those that have banned abortion. They don't perform abortions where they're banned, but those states have said that they could discipline those doctors or suspend their licenses, even though the services they're providing are lawful in the states in which they're providing them. I've heard from physicians who perform abortions and are licensed in multiple states that they are deeply concerned about this.

What about ballot initiatives?

As we all know from the midterm elections [in November], five states had abortion-related matters on their ballots. Three of the ballot initiatives were abortion protective, and two were really abortion restrictive. The abortion protective measures all passedincluding a constitutional amendment in California that protects the right to abortion and to contraception. The two measures that would have restricted abortion were both defeated.

Even before the midterms, in August, Kansas had the first ballot measure to be considered after Dobbs. That ballot measure, if successful, would have amended the Kansas state constitution to ban abortionand it failed by a healthy margin.

Let's look at the federal level for a second. We have a divided Congress. What do you think that means?

The Women's Health Protection Act, which would protect abortion access nationwide, has been introduced in several successive Congresses, including the last one, and has never been able to get out of the Senate. In a more divided Congress, I think it's a nonstarter. There have been attempts for decades to revoke the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds for abortions except in very limited circumstances, and those have failed. So I think a federal initiative to protect abortion is unlikely.

Is the Biden administration taking steps to protect abortion access administratively? Are there challenges to abortion coming to administrative agencies?

The Biden administration issued guidance under EMTALA [the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act], making it clear that in cases where a pregnant woman's health is jeopardized and the appropriate medical intervention involves an abortion, EMTALA protects and requires hospitals to perform those abortions. This would be most relevant in states that have banned abortion or included very narrow exceptions for the life or health of the mother, and physicians in those states might be worried about the huge ambiguity of whether the condition is sufficiently serious to put the woman's health or life at risk. The guidance under EMTALA is intended to make it abundantly clear that if a person is pregnant and is seeking emergency medical care at a hospital and requires an abortion as part of treatment, EMTALA would preempt the state law with respect to limited rights to abortion.

If I'm not mistaken, the Biden administration's position on EMTALA is being challenged in court by some states.

Yes, by Texas and some other states, I believe.

What about on the other sideare there efforts to restrict access to abortion through administrative challenges?

Yes. There are two recent ones trying to restrict or limit access to one of the medications used in medication abortions.

A petition has been filed asking the FDA to require physicians who prescribe one of the drugs used in a medication abortion to dispose of what they described as "fetal remains" and to treat them as medical waste. They've argued that the flushing of fetal remains into wastewater presents an environmental hazard. So they're making an environmental protection argument.

But medication abortions don't take place in clinics or hospitals; they take place in the person's home. This disposal requirement would make the use of medication abortion so burdensome that I think many physicians would simply be unable to prescribe it.

It's expected that the FDA will reject this petition and that the challengers will then try to review this in federal court. If successful, which I don't think they will be, it is one way of making it virtually impossible for doctors to comply with the law and prescribe medication for abortion.

The second challenge seeks directly to ban one of the medications and medication abortion altogether. It involves a court action that would compel the FDA to withdraw its approval of mifepristone, a drug that has been approved by the FDA for more than 22 years. They're seeking a nationwide preliminary injunction to prohibit the approval of mifepristone while the litigation proceeds.

Those are two recent attempts to try to prohibit access to medication abortion, which is the most common method used for abortions in the country, and its use is expected to rise post-Dobbs.

This suggests that there may be some additional court decisions to watch. It also suggests that should there be elected an administration that is committed to reducing or eliminating abortions in this country, they may aim for the FDA to try to put in place some of those ideas.

That is absolutely correct. For the lawsuit filed to get the FDA to withdraw its approval, there was actually a sort of jurisdiction shopping. The litigants filed their lawsuit in one of the most conservative jurisdictions in Texas, and it's served by only one judge, and that judge is one of the most conservative judges in the country. So just as there may be jurisdiction shopping in bringing a lawsuit, if there's a change in the administration at the federal level and a change in who is the FDA commissioner, there may be renewed efforts.

There are concerns that the Dobbs decision may have implications beyond abortion. Can you talk about the recent legislation passed in response?

When the Supreme Court reversed Roe, although they said that this case is only about abortion and has no bearing on any other rights in this similar constitutional lineage, such as the right to same sex marriage, the court's analysis in Dobbs significantly erodes the constitutional underpinnings of some of these other cases.

Almost immediately upon the Dobbs opinion, the Respect for Marriage Act was introduced in the House. The Respect for Marriage Act was an attempt, I think, to secure some of the rights closely related to same sex marriage.

Congress passed a statute in 1996, when Bill Clinton was president, called the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, that for the purposes of all federal laws and policies defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman, and also said that no state need recognize a valid same sex marriage that was entered into in another state. Although DOMA was deemed unconstitutional and struck down in 2013, it was never repealed. It sits there on the books. The Respect for Marriage Act repeals DOMA and precludes some subsequent legal challenge from reviving it. It requires that all states give full faith and credit to any valid same sex or interracial marriage that was entered into in another state. And for the purposes of all federal laws, a valid same sex marriage will be recognized federally.

You recently published an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association about other consequences that could flow from Dobbs. Do you think this law that just passed resolves those questions?

I think we're going to have to see. It's a very similar issue to what the Respect for Marriage Act just did in reversing DOMA, just to make sure that there couldn't be attempts to try to revive it. The article that Dr. Chris Beyrer and I published in JAMA was looking at what might happen to the case known as Lawrence v. Texas. This was the case that provided a constitutional right to same-sex physical intimacy. Just as there were many pre-Roe abortion bans that were invalid but never repealed after Roe, 12 states had pre-Lawrence sodomy criminal laws that were never repealed after Lawrence. So they're invalid, they have no force or effectbut they're still on the books.

We wrote this article to make clear that even though these laws are invalid, they're still lurking in state codes, and Dobbs has opened the door to potentially revisiting Lawrence as well as other precedents. The safest course would be to repeal those laws and take that argument off the table, much in the way that the Respect for Marriage Act has repealed DOMA and taken any attempts to revive it off the table.
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Phenotype, panicle fertility, and grain quality of progeny plants of selected apomictic events harboring the T314 and T315 T-DNA constructs. A Phenotypes of plants grown under controlled greenhouse conditions. Left: Five F2 progeny plants derived from the self-fertilization of BRS-CIRAD 302 compared to a BRS-CIRAD 302 F1 plant. Right: Three T1 progenies from T314 15.1 event compared to a BRS-CIRAD 302 F1 plant. B Phenotypes of T2 progenies grown under controlled greenhouse conditions: 56 T2 progeny plants of a T1 plant of events T314 15.1, T314 37.7, T315 5.4, and T315 8.1 are compared to a BRS-CIRAD 302 F1 plant. Senescent leaves of the plants have been removed for photographing. C Panicles of the BRS-CIRAD 302 F1 hybrid and of T314 15.1 T2 plants. The master panicles of five distinct plants have been pooled for photographing. D Distribution of seed filling rate among BRS-CIRAD 302 F1 plants, and T2 progeny plants of T314 events (15.1 and 37.7) and T315 events (5.4 and 8.1 events). Average panicle fertilities of the apomictic lines represent 75.8%, 60.7, 79.9%, and 74.7%, respectively, of that of control plants (100%) (dotted red line). Significance of the differences are based on Duncan's test, dof = 4, confidence interval of 95%. E Husked and dehulled seeds of 1 F and D24 parents, F1 and F2 generations and apomictic lines. Upper: 1 F and D24 parents, F1 hybrid seeds harvested on 1 F parent, F2 seeds harvested on the F1 hybrid. Lower: T3 seeds harvested from apomictic plants in the four selected apomictic lines. F Starch and amylose content of F2 seeds and T3 seeds harvested from BRS-CIRAD 302 F1 plants and T2 apomictic plants, respectively. Different letters indicate significant differences (-risk = 0.05) in a KruskalWallis test: Event T314 37.7 exhibits a significantly lower starch content than F2 seeds and seeds of event T315 8.1 and 5.4. Credit: Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35679-3

An international team has succeeded in propagating a commercial hybrid rice strain as a clone through seeds with 95 percent efficiency. This could lower the cost of hybrid rice seed, making high-yielding, disease resistant rice strains available to low-income farmers worldwide. The work was published Dec. 27 in Nature Communications.

First-generation hybrids of crop plants often show higher performance than their parent strains, a phenomenon called hybrid vigor. But this does not persist if the hybrids are bred together for a second generation. So when farmers want to use high-performing hybrid plant varieties, they need to purchase new seed each season.

Rice, the staple crop for half the world's population, is relatively costly to breed as a hybrid for a yield improvement of about 10 percent. This means that the benefits of rice hybrids have yet to reach many of the world's farmers, said Gurdev Khush, adjunct professor emeritus in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis. Working at the International Rice Research Institute from 1967 until retiring to UC Davis in 2002, Khush led efforts to create new rice high-yield rice varieties, work for which he received the World Food Prize in 1996.

One solution to this would be to propagate hybrids as clones that would remain identical from generation to generation without further breeding. Many wild plants can produce seeds that are clones of themselves, a process called apomixis.

"Once you have the hybrid, if you can induce apomixis, then you can plant it every year," Khush said.

However, transferring apomixis to a major crop plant has proved difficult to achieve.

One step to cloned hybrid seeds

In 2019, a team led by Professor Venkatesan Sundaresan and Assistant Professor Imtiyaz Khanday at the UC Davis Departments of Plant Biology and Plant Sciences achieved apomixis in rice plants, with about 30 percent of seeds being clones.

Sundaresan, Khanday and colleagues in France, Germany and Ghana have now achieved a clonal efficiency of 95 percent, using a commercial hybrid rice strain, and shown that the process could be sustained for at least three generations.

The single-step process involves modifying three genes called MiMe which cause the plant to switch from meioisis, the process that plants use to form egg cells, to mitosis, in which a cell divides into two copies of itself. Another gene modification induces apomixis. The result is a seed that can grow into a plant genetically identical to its parent.

The method would allow seed companies to produce hybrid seeds more rapidly and at larger scale, as well as providing seed that farmers could save and replant from season to season, Khush said.

"Apomixis in crop plants has been the target of worldwide research for over 30 years, because it can make hybrid seed production can become accessible to everyone," Sundaresan said. "The resulting increase in yields can help meet global needs of an increasing population without having to increase use of land, water and fertilizers to unsustainable levels."

The results could be applied to other food crops, Sundaresan said. In particular, rice is a genetic model for other cereal crops including maize and wheat, that together constitute major food staples for the world.

Khush recalled that he organized a 1994 conference on apomixis in rice breeding. When he returned to UC Davis in 2002, he gave a copy of the conference proceedings to Sundaresan.

"It's been a long project," he said.

More information: Aurore Vernet et al, High-frequency synthetic apomixis in hybrid rice, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35679-3 Journal information: Nature Communications
Chancellor Thomas L. Keon speaks during the Purdue Northwest Roaring Ahead Scholarship Gala on Friday, June 10, 2022 at the Hard Rock Casino in Gary. (Michael Gard / Post-Tribune) (Michael Gard / Post-Tribune)

Purdue University Northwest kicked off its spring semester by announcing a new executive director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at a time when the school faces continued calls for Chancellor Thomas Keon to resign over a racist comment he made during one of the Fall Commencement ceremonies Dec. 10.

Associate DEI Director Laura Odom will step into the role of executive director, Keon announced in a campuswide memo obtained by the Post-Tribune on Monday. Odom, whos also the schools Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Officer and Title IX Coordinator, replaces Linda Knox, whose retirement was celebrated on Jan. 5.

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Odom, who started Monday, has a Bachelor of Science in Management and minor in Human Resource Management from Purdue University and has been with Purdue for 22 years in roles such as assistant director of institutional equity and training at Purdue North Central and associate director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Purdue Northwest.

In a second email obtained by the Post-Tribune, Purdue University Northwest Faculty Senate Chair, Thomas Roach, wrote that hed spoken with James Yackel, who served as chancellor for Purdue Calumet from 1990 to 2001. Pointing out that What is at stake is the universitys future, Yackel, Roach said, asked him to relay the message that he believes Keon should resign as well.

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The Chancellors responsibility is to support all aspects of the universitys mission, including student learning, faculty support, public relations, etc. It is also necessary that the chancellor evaluate how effective that leadership has been, Yackel said in the statement. One major constituency, the faculty, have taken a bold step by voting no confidence in current leadership. Now it is necessary that you respect and honor that faculty evaluation by resigning.

Yackel couldnt immediately be reached for comment.

Keon has come under fire since in his Dec. 10 commencement address. After keynote speaker Jim Dedelow talked about a made-up language he created to entertain his new granddaughter, Keon came back to the podium and said, Well, all I can say is and proceeded to speak in a made-up language that sounded as if he were trying to speak Chinese. He then said, Thats sort of my Asian version of his  trailing off before going back on-script.

In a letter on Purdue Northwests web site dated Dec. 14, Keon apologized for making a comment that was offensive and insensitive.

Keon was asked to resign his seat of the Urban League of NWIs Board of Directors last week as well, the Post-Tribune reported. Its Board of Directors gave him until Jan. 9 to resign and asked him to establish a DEI committee to work with the NWI Urban League, Board President Yolanda Davis and President/CEO Vanessa Allen-McCloud said in a letter dated Jan. 5. Keon responded to the letter Friday, Allen-McCloud said previously.

The Urban League of NWI Board will meet at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to discuss his response, she said.

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
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Humans have inhabited Hispaniola for roughly six thousand years, during which time the island's rodent diversity dwindled from 11 species to just 1. By determining exactly when these species last appear in the fossil record, authors of a new study pinpoint the historical events that led to their extinction. Credit: Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace

The island of Hispaniola once had among the highest diversity of rodents in the Caribbean, supporting 11 species that coexisted for thousands of years. Today, only one rodent species remains within the island's two countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and its prospects for survival are uncertain. There are many theories as to why so many species went extinct, but it's unclear exactly when each disappeared, making it difficult to determine the cause.

A new study helps bring the history of this group into clearer focus. Researchers from the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural in the Dominican Republic performed carbon-dating analyses on the fossilized remains of six hutia species, close relatives of capybaras that resemble a mix between a squirrel and beaver.

They also examined thousands of bones stored at the Florida Museum of Natural History that were initially collected over 40 years ago, analyzing them for any similarities that might help explain the recent wave of rodent extinctions.

"These hidden gems are what made this study possible," said Lazaro Vinola Lopez, a doctoral student at the University of Florida and lead author on the study.

Despite the preponderance of material available for study, radiocarbon dating on fossils collected in the tropics can be tricky business. The region's high humidity, moisture and heat accelerates the degradation of collagen in the fossils needed to date them, leaving scientists with open questions about their antiquity.

"They mineralize and lose all organic material really quickly, so there are limitations to what you can date," Lopez said.

The fossils used for this study, however, were excavated from caves and sinkholes, where they were sheltered from harsh conditions and safe from marauding scavengers. Sinkholes often act as traps for animals, which fall in and are unable to escape, while many of the bones found in caves were directly transported there by predators like the Hispaniolan giant barn owl (Tyto ostologa). These large predators declined alongside the hutias and may have succumbed to extinction when their food source disappeared.

Hutias and the biological communities they supported flourished on Hispaniola for nearly 20 million years, and it was previously unclear when they began to disappear. Early theories speculated that the species went extinct due to rapid climate change at the end of the ice ages in the late Pleistocene more than 10,000 years ago. More recent theories posit that the arrival of Indigenous people in the Caribbean and the later arrival of Europeans may have played a stronger role.

However, researchers have been unable to make an accurate estimate as to when they went extinct without knowing a "last appearance date," or the age of the youngest specimen to have been discovered.

Prior to this study, researchers had only a handful of radiocarbon dates for hutia fossils on which to base their assumptions. Here, the authors add carbon dates for an additional six species, all of which survived the period of climate change originally theorized to have done them in.

This directly implicates humans in their disappearance.

It is estimated that the first humans arrived on Hispaniola somewhere between 4,0006,000 years ago. This lines up with a handful of older extinctions from the six dated species, including Rhizoplagiodontia lemkei, which was determined to have died out less than 6,000 years ago.

Beginning roughly 3,000 years ago, another group of Indigenous people moved into the Caribbean from present-day Venezuela. These early islanders hunted hutias and even set up an inter-island exchange of the animals, but these practices seem to have been carried out sustainably.

Instead, European colonization appears to have been the main cause of hutia decline. Radiocarbon dates indicate that seven species went extinct within the last 2,000 years. Of these, at least three coincided with the arrival of Europeans.

Lopez suspects that gradual habitat destruction, rising human population numbers, and the introduction of invasive species eventually led to the demise of hutias along with several other mammal and bird species.

"When Europeans came to the island they brought several animals with them, like rats, dogs and cats," he said. "Is it possible that these species went extinct because of competition with these new animals? That's just one of the questions we can ask now because of this study."

According to Lopez, the results serve as a jumping-off point for many future studies into Caribbean rodents.

"We are just scratching the surface," he explained. "Right now, we only have nine new biometric dates. Imagine what we could do with 20, or even 50 dates. With a more detailed chronology, we can start to theorize about the past relationships between these species and the humans on the island."

The research is published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.

More information: Lazaro Willian Vinola-Lopez et al, Endemic rodents of Hispaniola: biogeography and extinction timing during the Holocene, Quaternary Science Reviews (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107828 Journal information: Quaternary Science Reviews
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A strong 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit deep under the ocean off Indonesia and East Timor early Tuesday, the US Geological Survey reported.

A strong 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit deep under the ocean off Indonesia and East Timor early Tuesday, the US Geological Survey reported.

The epicentre of the quake was 427 kilometres (265 miles) south of the Indonesian island of Ambon at a depth of 95 kilometres, USGS said.

Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported some aftershocks at a magnitude of 5.5.

The agency said the tremor was felt on the islands of Timor, Maluku archipelago, and Papua. But there were no immediate reports of damages or victims.

"I was in bed, then I felt little shake. I woke up and found out that many of my friends felt it too," Hamdi, an Indonesian in Ambon, said to AFP.

An unidentified resident in Dili, capital of East Timor, reported a "very strong, long shake," in a remark left at the website of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC), a nonprofit monitoring center.

The quake caused light poles to sway and sent residents running out of buildings and onto streets in Tual, a port in the Maluku archipelago, videos posted by users on Twitter showed.

The Indonesian geophysics agency warned about a potential tsunami initially, and then lifted the warning.

The quake was felt as far as Darwin, capital of Australia's Northern Territory, where at least 1,000 people reported it to the Australian Geoscience agency.

"Sustained vigorous shaking here in #Darwin just now from what looks to be a pretty serious #earthquake to our north," user @OreboundImages tweeted.

"Could hear the earth rumbling," another Darwin resident posted on the EMSC website.

"Was huge! Went on for ages, whole house was really shaking," still another Darwin resident noted.

Video posted by Twitter users in Darwin showed water in glasses and pitchers sloshing from side to side.

Indonesia experiences frequent seismic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide.

On November 21, a 5.6-magnitude quake hit the populous West Java province on the main island of Java, killing 602 people.

A major earthquake off Sumatra on December 26, 2004, set off an Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people as far away as Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

That powerful 9.1-magnitude quake triggered 100-foot waves that hit the shore of Banda Aceh on Sumatra.

 2023 AFP
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A repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft, named Cosmic Girl, carrying Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, takes off from Spaceport Cornwall at Cornwall Airport, Newquay, England, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. The plane will carry the rocket to 35,000 feet where it will be released over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland, as part of the Start Me Up mission and the first rocket launch from U.K. The rocket will take multiple small satellites, with a variety of civil and defence applications, into orbit. Credit: Ben Birchall/PA via AP

British officials and space scientists said Tuesday they were disappointed but not deterred after the first attempt to launch satellites into orbit from the U.K. ended in failure.

U.S.-based Virgin Orbit attempted its first international launch late Monday, using a modified jumbo jet to carry one if its rockets from Cornwall in southwestern England over the Atlantic Ocean.

The plane released the rocket, carrying nine small satellites for a mix of civilian and domestic uses. But about two hours after the plane took off, the company reported "an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit."

The plane, piloted by a Royal Air Force pilot, returned to Cornwall. The rocket and satellites were destroyed.

"We're feeling awful, to be honestI'm not going to lie," Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall. said.

"This isn't the first time we've been knocked, this is the biggest definitely, but I feel OK and we'll get up and we'll go again," she said.

Virgin Orbit, which was founded by British transport and telecommunications tycoon Richard Branson, previously completed four similar launches from California.

Hundreds of people gathered for the Cornwall launch had cheered when a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft, named Cosmic Girl, took off late Monday. Around an hour into the flight, the plane released the rocket at around 35,000 feet (around 10,000 meters) over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland.

A repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft, named Cosmic Girl, carrying Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, taxis down the runway ahead of take off at Spaceport Cornwall at at Cornwall Airport, Newquay, England, Monday Jan. 9, 2023. The plane is due to take off from the airport on Monday evening and carry the rocket to 35,000ft where it will be released over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland, as part of the Start Me Up mission and the first rocket launch from UK. The rocket will take multiple small satellites, with a variety of civil and defence applications, into orbit. Credit: Ben Birchall/PA via AP

A repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft, named Cosmic Girl, carrying Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, taxis down the runway ahead of take off at Spaceport Cornwall at at Cornwall Airport, Newquay, England, Monday Jan. 9, 2023. The plane is due to take off from the airport on Monday evening and carry the rocket to 35,000ft where it will be released over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland, as part of the Start Me Up mission and the first rocket launch from UK. The rocket will take multiple small satellites, with a variety of civil and defence applications, into orbit. Credit: Ben Birchall/PA via AP

Virgin Orbit chief executive Dan Hart said "a technical failure appears to have prevented us from delivering the final orbit."

"While we are very proud of the many things that we have successfully achieved as part of this mission, we are mindful that we failed to provide our customers with the launch service they deserve," he said.

The mission was a collaboration between the U.K. Space Agency, the Royal Air Force, Virgin Orbit and Cornwall Council.

Britain hopes to become a major player in making and launching satellites, and is building a spaceport in the Shetland Islands north of Scotland as well as the one in Cornwall.

U.K. Business Secretary Grant Shapps said Monday's launch was "a big moment" despite its failure.

"Space is difficult," Shapps told Sky News.

"It didn't work. I've no doubt that they'll pick themselves up, dust themselves off and they'll go again once they find out what exactly went wrong with it," he said.

 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A Concordia project cataloging the diversity of the urban forest in a Montreal residential neighborhood is now complete, and the researchers behind it say the results highlight the importance of a diverse city tree population.

The project found that private residences and institutions such as schools and places of worship usually had different tree populations from those planted by municipal authorities in city parks and roadways or sidewalks. While the city-planted trees tended to be bigger and more resilient to stressors like drought or salt, the often-smaller private trees served other functions such as providing fruit, flowers or aesthetic beauty.

"Our findings likely reflect the different motivations, goals and aims among decision-makers of where trees were planted," says MSc student Kayleigh Hutt-Taylor, who co-led the project with assistant professor of biology Carly Ziter. A municipal land manager will have a different set of priorities from a resident with a small backyard, for instance.

"This leads to measurable differences in which trees are planted where, because we all have unique motivations for why we are planting a tree in a particular spot."

The full findings are published in the journal Urban Forestry & Urban Greening.

The more species, the better

The researchers solicited residents and institutions such as schools and churches around Concordia's Loyola Campus in the Notre-Dame-de-Grace neighborhood. They asked them to measure the circumference of the trees on their property, photograph their bark and leaves and submit their data to the Montreal Tree Project website for analysis.

Over the summer of 2020, they received 98 submissions from landowners in the neighborhood and used the City of Montreal's open data public tree inventory to analyze trees in public spaces. In total, almost 4,300 trees on both private and public lands were counted.

Norway and silver maples accounted for more than 30 percent of the tree population, making it the most common species in the area surveyed. Five species accounted for nearly half of the total tree population: the maples, the eastern white cedar, the littleleaf linden and the green ash.

Private residences were found to have the highest richness in species diversity while institutional landsmostly schools and churcheswere found to have the lowest. This high diversity of trees on private land represents the critical contribution landowners make toward the urban forest. Nevertheless, the researchers say, even areas with lower species diversity play an important role in providing services such as shade, temperature regulation and fighting air pollution.

"From an ecological standpoint, having a diverse tree population leads to a more multifunctional landscape," says Hutt-Taylor, now the project coordinator of nature-based solutions at Concordia's Loyola Campus. "It can also provide a more resilient forest to events like climate change, changes in the environmental fabric of the city as well as to pests and disease."

She points to the damage the invasive emerald ash borer inflicted on the that particular species as an example of the importance of a diverse population: "If the emerald ash dominated the landscape, we could have lost 50 percent of our trees."

Recruiting citizen scientists

"When it comes to understanding and strengthening our urban forests, trees on private land are a critical, but sometimes overlooked, piece of the puzzle. Citizen science offers a way to collect this data while engaging members of the community," Ziter adds.

For residents who are inspired to plant trees in their backyards, Hutt-Taylor suggests they opt for trees that are both native to their region and are of a different species to the trees in their neighbors' yards.

"It's a nice way to create a more diverse population of trees within the landscape and to have that promoted across our neighborhoods."

More information: Kayleigh Hutt-Taylor et al, Private trees contribute uniquely to urban forest diversity, structure and service-based traits, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127760
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Commercial traffic along rivers in Europe and China -- as in this photo of the Yangtze River -- were disrupted by drought in 2022.

The last eight years were the warmest on record even with the cooling influence of a La Nina weather pattern since 2020, the European Union's climate monitoring service said Tuesday.

Average temperatures across 2022which saw a cascade of unprecedented natural disasters made more likely and deadly by climate changemake it the fifth warmest year since records began in the 19th century, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Pakistan and northern India were scorched by a two-month spring heatwave with sustained temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), followed in Pakistan by flooding that covered a third of the country, affected 33 million people, and caused some $30 billion in damage and economic losses.

France, Britain, Spain and Italy set new average temperature records for 2022, with Europe as a whole enduring its second hottest year ever, Copernicus said in an annual report.

Heatwaves across the continent were compounded by severe drought conditions.

European temperatures have increased by more than twice the global average over the past 30 years, with the region showing the highest rate of increase of any continent on the globe.

"2022 was yet another year of climate extremes across Europe and globally," said deputy head of the Copernicus climate change service Samantha Burgess in a statement.

"These events highlight that we are already experiencing the devastating consequences of our warming world."

Large swathes of the Middle East, China, central Asia and northern Africa also saw unprecedented warmth averaged across the whole of 2022.

China and western Europe reported negative impacts on agriculture, river transport and energy management related to weather conditions.

Global temperature anomalies in 2022 compared to the 1981-2010 average.

'No sign of slowing'

Earth's polar regions experienced record temperatures last year as well.

The remote Vostok station deep in the interior of East Antarctica reached a relatively balmy minus 17.7C (0.14F), the warmest ever measured in its 65-year history.

Antarctic sea ice reached it lowest minimum extent in the 44-year satellite record in February, during the southern hemisphere summer.

At the other end of the globe, Greenland experienced September temperatures 8C higher than average, accelerating ice sheet loss that has become a major contributor to sea level rise.

The hottest years on record globally so far arein descending order2016, 2020, 2019 and 2017, according to Copernicus.

The atmospheric concentrations of the two main greenhouse gases that drive global warmingcarbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 )also continued a decades-long climb to record levels.

CO 2 levels rose to 417 parts per millionthe highest level in over two million years. Methane rose to 1,894 parts per billion to levels not seen in 800,000 years.

"Atmospheric concentrations are continuing to rise with no sign of slowing," said Vincent-Henri Peuch, director of the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service.

A world barely 1.2C above pre-industrial levels has already been buffeted by record heatwaves, droughts and temperatures, and is headed for a disastrous 2.8C above that benchmark.

The Paris Agreement, agreed by nearly all the world's nations in 2015, calls for capping global warming a 1.5C, which scientists say would limit climate impacts to manageable levels.

But CO 2 and CH 4 emissions from production and use of fossil fuelsthe main driver of warminghave continued to rise, even as the decarbonisation of the global economy has accelerated.

 2023 AFP
FORT EDWARD  The Village of Fort Edward Water Department issued a boil water advisory Monday, following a water line break on Seminary Street.

Users of the Fort Edward Water System who reside on Seminary Street, Oak Street, Valley Street, and Clark's Lane will need to boil their water, according to a news release from Washington County Department of Public Safety Deputy Director Tim Hardy.

In order to ensure that disease-causing organisms are not consumed through drinking water, residents will need to bring all drinking water to a rolling boil, the news release said.

In an earlier news release Monday morning at 11:30 a.m., Hardy said Village Water Department members were called for a water line break. The release said tap water in the affected area could be discolored.
Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District staff are warning landowners in Warren County to watch for impacts on trees from emerald ash borer infestation.

Don Lehman, Director of Public Affairs for Warren County said in a news release Monday that landowners need to watch for the insect. The watch was issued after additional areas of damage from the invasive species of beetle were noted recently in the Queensbury and Lake George areas.

Emerald ash borer infestations were found in the towns of Chester and Warrensburg in 2020, and WCSWCD staff have seen the insects effects again recently, the news release said.

WCSWCD staff noted ash trees that had been damaged by EAB on Flat Rock Road in Lake George and on Route 9 at the Queensbury/Lake George town line, the news release said.

Jim Lieberum, WCSWCD District Manager, said the continued spread of EAB should prompt landowners to inspect ash trees to watch for the insects presence. Lieberum said EAB kill ash trees within 2 to 4 years of infestation, leaving trees susceptible to storm or wind damage.

Ash trees that are infested with emerald ash borers decline quickly and lose their structural integrity quickly and that will lead to trees and limbs falling, potentially hurting people or damaging property, he explained. Landowners can treat their ash trees to try to prevent EAB from damaging them, but it has to be done quickly before EAB begin to severely damage a tree.

There is no statewide or regional treatment program for emerald ash borer at this time, the news release said. Those with ash trees in yards or around their homes should contact a forester or tree service to assess their situation.

WCSWCD or New York State Department of Environmental Conservation staff can be contacted by those who own woodlots with ash trees to review their options.

The DECs webpage on EAB, which shows photos of damaged trees, can be found at https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7253.html.

For more information, log on to the websites of the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program or the Capital Region Prism Partnership For Regional Invasive Species Management.

WCSWCD staff can be reached at 518-623-3119 for questions.
FORT EDWARD  Washington Countys domestic terrorism prevention plan is designed to prevent or respond to acts of terrorism or targeted violence, identify agencies most likely to be involved in prevention or response, detail their roles and strengthen coordination among the agencies.

The plan, as approved by the county board of supervisors at its December monthly meeting, is meant to be a framework that was collectively worked on with our partners in Warren County, said Putnam Supervisor Darrell Wilson, chairman of the county Public Safety Committee. Our team members working on this plan clearly advised it was in fact very basic to allow our program to grow and change as we continue to progress.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order on May 18 requiring that counties create the plan in the wake of a white supremacist attack on a Buffalo supermarket.

Executive Order 18 requires all counties to develop and maintain a domestic terrorism plan that identifies and confronts threats of domestic terrorism. Counties had a deadline of Dec. 31. Washington and Warren county agencies and officials are collaborating, but Warren County supervisors failed to adopt their plan at their December meeting. They were seeking possible amendments.

According to the plan, terrorist acts that pose the greatest risk to Washington County include active shooters, vehicle ramming, complex coordinated attacks and attacks on large groups.

The Washington County Department of Public Safety, Washington County Sheriffs Office, Warren County Office of Emergency Services and Warren County Sheriffs Office are tasked with developing the Warren-Washington County Threat Assessment Coordination Team (WWC-TACT). Team members will identify, assess and attempt to manage potential incidents of domestic terrorism or targeted violence.

The plan notes that emergencies are handled first by local first responders, but state and federal resources will probably assist if there is a credible threat or active situation. On the Washington County side, participating agencies include the Department of Public Safety and Sheriffs Office, five police departments covering six of the countys eight villages, New York State Police, the Washington County District Attorneys Office, Washington County Attorneys Office, Probation Department, Alternative Sentencing/Youth Bureau, Department of Social Services, Mental Health Office of Community Services, Glens Falls Hospital, Hudson Headwaters Health Partners, school representatives and the county Board of Supervisors. Children and family services and faith-based organizations may also be called in to help assess and manage threats.

Coordinated response

Washington County members of the threat assessment coordination team plan to meet with Warren Countys Office of Emergency Services team during the last week of January, Wilson said in an email.

It is important to our leadership that we gather the members of the WWC-TACT, many of whom are our local experts in their field, and rely on their insight and expertise to help shape the future of the plan and the work our team will be doing together, Wilson wrote.

To implement the plan, Washington County will be relying on personnel in the Sheriffs Office and mental health office trained as part of the Crisis Intervention Team and using services offered through the countys correctional facilities and Adirondack Peer-to-Peer Veterans Program. The sheriffs office trains its members on active shooter situations and provides drills, education, and outreach on request to schools and businesses. Schools have school safety planning processes and submit their plans annually to the Department of Public Safety and Sheriffs Office.

To date, the county has spent no money on the plan. Any current expenses have only come in the form of our staff time working with Warren Countys team and other public safety colleagues on developing the current framework base plan, Wilson wrote.

Funding will come from the NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services and Washington County, he said, and is 100% reimbursable.

The county will hire a consultant to fill out the plan. In October, the board of supervisors approved Contingency Management Consulting Group LLC, a Pennsylvania firm with an office in White Plains. However, the firm is not a state-approved minority and women-owned business enterprise. The county will need a waiver from the state to qualify for state funding to hire the firm.

If the waiver isnt granted, the team will put out a request for proposals, Wilson said.

The only person to vote against the plan in December, Hartford Supervisor Dana Haff, objected that a domestic terrorism plan could target political enemies and that he could be at risk because of his Ultra-MAGA hat. Federal law, however, defines domestic terrorism as acts endangering human life that violate state and federal criminal laws, aim to intimidate or coerce civilians, intimidate or coerce government policy, or interfere with government through mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping. Political messages on clothing are protected speech under the First Amendment.

All active emergencies and imminent threats should be reported to 911. Threat reports can also be made to WWC-TACT@washingtoncountyny.gov or WWC-TACT@warrencountyny.gov.
ATLANTIC CITY  A man and woman were charged Friday after police said they found drugs and a loaded gun during a traffic stop on Absecon Boulevard.

Khalif Chambers, 19, of Atlantic City, and Nevaeh Dorris, 20, of Pleasantville, are each charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a high-capacity magazine and possession of hollow point ammunition.

Chambers is additionally charged with possession of a handgun during a drug offense, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school and money laundering.

Dorris was additionally issued several motor vehicle violations.

Both were charged after police stopped their vehicle in the 1400 block of Absecon Boulevard.

Atlantic City man indicted in fatal September crash An Atlantic City man on Tuesday was indicted on one count of knowingly leaving the scene of 

At 9:46 p.m. Friday, an officer spotted the car, which had heavily tinted windows, illegally parked in the 400 block of North New York Avenue. The vehicle was believed to be involved in a road rage incident Jan. 3 in which the suspect fired at another car, police said Tuesday in a news release.

The car was stopped on Absecon Boulevard after it left New York Avenue. Both Chambers, the passenger, and Dorris, the driver, were removed from the vehicle while officers investigated, police said.

A police dog led officers to search the vehicle, where they found a loaded handgun under the passenger seat, police said.

Chambers also was found to be in possession of about 30 grams of suspected crack cocaine and 26 prescription Percocet pills, as well as about $900 in suspected illegal drug profits, police said.

Chambers was taken to the Atlantic County jail, and Dorris was released on a summons pending court.
A sentencing hearing for a Northfield man convicted in a multimillion-dollar health care fraud conspiracy has been delayed until April 6.

A federal jury in September found Thomas Sher guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and three counts of health care fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Shers attorney, Joseph Grimes, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Kugler originally scheduled Shers sentencing hearing for Tuesday in Camden. A reason for the postponement was not listed, U.S. Attorneys Office spokesperson Matthew Reilly said.

The jury found Sher guilty after about a two-week-long trial between August and September 2022.

Atlantic County man sentenced for role in local compound medication conspiracy CAMDEN  An Absecon man on Monday was sentenced to 37 months in prison for his role in a hea

Prosecutors said Sher worked as a sub-recruiter to help other local conspirators push prescription compound medications on people they knew carried state health benefits packages, creating a scheme that defrauded the plans of about $50 million.

Prosecutors asserted the conspiracy, led by William Hickman, of Northfield, collected high-price reimbursements from the prescriptions they had filled. Some of the money was used to pay doctors and employees who filled the prescriptions fulfilled by Central Rexall Drugs of Hammond, Louisiana.

Sher aided the scheme with his brothers, Michael and John Sher, both of whom pleaded guilty to their charges.

The U.S. Attorneys Office announced in December that Thomas Schallus, a former Ventnor police officer, was sentenced by Kugler to three years of probation and six months of home confinement for his role in the scheme.
We Are China

China receives over 250,000 inbound passenger trips on first day of new COVID policy

Xinhua) 08:43, January 10, 2023

Inbound passengers arrive at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in east China's Shanghai, Jan. 8, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- China recorded 251,045 inbound passenger trips on Sunday, the first day following a major COVID-19 response policy shift, data from the country's customs watchdog showed on Monday.

From Sunday, China started managing COVID-19 with measures designed to combat Class B infectious diseases, rather than Class A infectious diseases.

The country received 396 inbound ships, 325 inbound flights, 6,323 inbound trucks and 83 inbound trains, according to the General Administration of Customs.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
Demonstrators march holding a banner that reads in Portuguese "We are Democracy" during a protest calling for protection of the nation's democracy in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, a day after supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings in the capital. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) (Andre Penner/AP)

Whats Quickly? Its where readers sound off on the issues of the day. Have a quote, question or quip? Call Quickly at 312-222-2426 or email quickly@post-trib.com.

Portage attorney Patrick McEuen should get his story straight. First, he said he never entered the Capitol and then he said he went through the door and up the stairs after the first wave was over. Which is the truth? His wife was with him so lets ask her? Being a Republican will she understand the QUESTION?

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Brazil is showing that insurrectionists need to be crushed, not coddled. And lest you think our attempted insurrection is over and done with, forget it. Its no longer on the steps and in the hallways of the Capitol. Its moved right into the House chamber, with 222 GOP members joining in on it. Theyre beginning with an eye to undermining such fundamental institutions of the government as the Department of Justice, the FBI, the IRS, and so on. You voted for them, you Republican fools, even though they kept no secret about what they were up to. Hope your vote ends up costing you.

Ten rounds in a rifle and 15 in a handgun  Who would possibly need more capacity than that? Unless youre expecting an invasion of ravenous zombies or some other nonsense. The Illinois gun laws being considered arent bad ideas, but its too late. There is enough high capacity equipment out there to fill the Grand Canyon twice over. Every far-right militia type has a closet or bunker full of the stuff. Its a key part of their overthrow the government fantasy.

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930 people attending the January 6th insurrection have now been charged with crimes. Does that mean every person attending this event was an insurrectionist? I guess a Porter County judge will get to decide while hearing the case of a local politician.

If the Republicans had expelled the traitors from their party right after the January 6th insurrection, they wouldnt have to be battling them and their ridiculous drunken power now.

You pay taxes, I pay taxes, and billionaires pay as little in tax as possible and sometimes pay nothing at all (looking at you,Trump!). Kevin McCarthy now vows to go after the IRS. For what? Theyll gin up a story that theyre just trying to protect ordinary working citizens from being harassed by the villainous IRS. But what they really want is to protect the deep-pocketed donors who contribute hundreds of millions to their campaigns. They vote to give them tax breaks, and then fight to protect them from having to pay even the taxes they owe.

Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis seems to be doing a better job of investigating Trump than Merrick Garland, but she doesnt deserve heaps of credit. She also has had two years to conduct an investigation and bring charges, if merited. Two years. Its unforgivable that our system of justice is so slow and so unevenly applied.

The political future of our great country is looking murky at best. I firmly believe we are at risk of turning our government over to an extremist culture. We have many talented individuals who I suspect would turn out to be outstanding leaders. The problem is the political landscape has become so ugly until they are refusing to toss their hats in the ring. This is not just happening on the national scene, it is also taking place statewide and locally. School boards are becoming entrenched with controversial characters whose only purpose is to get back at someone or make sure school administrators are carrying out their selfish agendas. Before it is too late, there must be a campaign to encourage our best and brightest to run for office. Yes, politics can be stressful and ugly. However, there is a level below ugly that can happen if we are not careful. Its called insurrection or anarchy. Many us thought it could never sink to that level until reality set in on January 6, 2021!

Read more at www.post-trib.com/opinion.
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AVALON  A federal beach project worth close to $30 million is set to add sand to the beaches of Avalon and Stone Harbor this year.

The Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia district awarded a $28.8 million contract with Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company of Oak Brook Illinois for the Townsends Inlet to Cape May Inlet project, which includes adding sand to the beaches of Avalon and Stone Harbor starting in late February or early March.

The district announced the contract award on Monday.

Beaches and dunes on the island were damaged in October, when winds and high water driven by the remnants of Hurricane Ian cut steep cliffs into dunes in Avalon and Stone Harbor, leading authorities to close some beach access points in those communities.

That storm caused damage in multiple beach towns. The Army Corps project was in the works well before the storm arrived.

The contract calls for dredging sand from Townsends Inlet, according to Steve Rochette, an Army Corps spokesman.

Sand is then pumped through a series of pipes, placed on beaches, and graded into an engineered dune and berm template, which is designed to reduce damages from coastal storm events, reads a statement from the Army Corps. Once unusual, the process has become familiar along the Jersey shore over the past 30 years, as more and more local beaches come under long-term agreements for federal protection.

Under the agreements, the Army Corps pledges to return periodically to add more sand to beaches. The Avalon and Stone Harbor project projects new sand will be added every three years.

In Avalon, the contract calls for 231,000 cubic yards of sand to be placed from 9th Street to 18th Street, with the contract offering an option for additional sand.

In Stone Harbor, the sand will be placed from 9th Street to 123rd Street, putting at least 464,000 cubic yards of sand onto the beach. A large dump truck can carry about 10 cubic yards of material.

The October storm eroded dunes in Stone Harbor and Avalon, and exposed rock seawalls and bulkheads in Avalon long buried in sand. According to Rochette, the project will include dune repairs in some areas, but most of the work includes widening the beach between the dunes and the water line.

The state and the local municipalities will contribute to the cost of the project, according to the Army Corps.

There are other scale beach projects are planned for 2023 in Cape May County, with sand set to be added in Ocean City, Strathmere, Sea Isle City, and Cape May.

The Philadelphia district of the Army Corps of Engineers lists multiple projects throughout Cape May County for 2023, replenishing sand in several communities.

One that does not look likely to proceed this year may be the area that seems to need it the most. The north end of North Wildwood is included in the Hereford Inlet to Cape May project, which plans to add sand and build a dune the length of the barrier island that includes North Wildwood, Wildwood and Wildwood Crest. The Army Corps website indicates that the project is awaiting the needed real estate acquisition before it begins. North Wildwood officials say their beaches are badly eroded and have called for faster action.

That city is currently locked in a legal fight over how much can be done locally to repair storm-damages dunes and beaches. The state has denied emergency permits for some work requested since the October storm, and sought a court injunction to keep the city from doing work without the emergency approval.

The city has responded by asking $20 million in damages from the DEP.

In the north end of Ocean City, about 400,000 cubic yards of sand were added to beaches before the end of 2022, pumped from the Great Egg Harbor Inlet. Additional sand is planned to be added to the south end later in the year, with Sea Isle and Strathmere expected as part of the same project.
Vilnius  Today, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) opens its new office in Vilnius, Lithuania, the latest step in a comprehensive strategy to counter pervasive Russian disinformation and reach new audiences with trusted, independent news and information.

RFE/RL President and CEO Jamie Fly will be joined at an event to commemorate the office opening at MO Museum by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, the Speaker of the Parliament Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, exiled Belarusian leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania Robert S. Gilchrist, former RFE/RL president and member of the RFE/RL Board of Directors Dr. Jeffrey Gedmin, and other esteemed guests.

I am thankful to President Nauseda and the Lithuanian government for their steadfast support of RFE/RLs mission, said Fly. Our new Vilnius office is a testament to RFE/RLs decades-long partnership with the Lithuanian people. It will allow us to provide our audiences in Belarus with accurate and truthful news. I am immensely proud of our journalists who have sacrificed so much to carry out this mission and who have now found a safe haven in Lithuania.

Announced in March 2022, RFE/RLs new Vilnius office will host journalists exiled from Belarus in the aftermath of Alyaksandr Lukashenkas fraudulent 2020 re-election. RFE/RLs Minsk bureau was raided and sealed, and the Belarus Services websites were blocked in July 2021. In December 2021, RFE/RL was designated an extremist organization, a label that criminalized both the reporting and consumption of RFE/RL content. Two Belarus Service journalists  Ihar Losik and Andrey Kuznechyk  remain unjustly imprisoned by the Lukashenka regime.

More than a haven, the new Vilnius office is part of RFE/RLs efforts to counter Russian malign influence in the region. RFE/RLs 24/7 Russian-language platform Current Time will create new video products from Vilnius for Russian-speaking audiences in Belarus as alternatives to Kremlin and other state propaganda.

Later this week, RFE/RL will also officially open its new office in Riga, Latvia, which will be a Russian-language media hub and the operational center for expanded efforts against Kremlin disinformation and censorship.

For decades, the people of Lithuania and Latvia have been enthusiastic consumers of and contributors to RFE/RLs reporting -- both from RFE/RLs Lithuanian and Latvian services, which operated from 1975 to 2004, and more recently from Current Time. These new offices mark RFE/RLs physical return to Vilnius and Riga, where the services maintained bureaus from 1992 to 2004.

RFE/RLs Belarus Service, known locally as Radio Svaboda, overcomes significant censorship accompanied by draconian criminal penalties to provide audiences in Belarus with independent reporting. In one of the most dangerous climates for journalists in Europe, the Service is known for its in-depth reporting on the Lukashenka regime, finding innovative and creative ways to reach Belarusians inside Belarus. The narrative podcast Lukashenkas Lackeys, a six-part report on the tumultuous events of the summer of 2020, for example, was played over 600,000 times across all platforms. The Services website and social media accounts see millions of page and video views each year.

About RFE/RL

RFE/RL relies on its networks of local reporters to provide accurate news and information to more than 37 million people every week in 27 languages and 23 countries where media freedom is restricted, or where a professional press has not fully developed. Its videos were viewed 7 billion times on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram in FY2021. RFE/RL is an editorially independent media company funded by a grant from the U.S. Congress through the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

---

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Victoria Benner in Washington, D.C. (bennerv@rferl.org, +1.202.993.0875)

Karin Maree in Prague (mareek@rferl.org, +420.221.122.074)
In an address to the nation on the eve of countrys victory day, Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina placed a new vision before countrymen, transforming her country into a smart one by 2041, and sought for cooperation from all in her pursuit to make her dream a reality. Crisis will come. Getting afraid of a crisis is not right. We have successfully faced the coronavirus pandemic with the help of the people. InshaAllah, we will also overcome the global recession. We are seeking cooperation from you for that, she added. Also issuing a word of caution, the Bangladesh premier alerted her people of conspirators who still remained hell bent on altering the course of national progress. In her 23 minutes speech, the premier also stressed on collective efforts in her pursuit to transform her nation to next step, following successful completion of her earlier pledge of building a Digital Bangladesh, a milestone that already saw extension of digital centers at grassroots with many public services taken at doorsteps in rural areas, let alone thousands of freelancers were developed who are now making their earnings through freelancing.
HPM Sheikh Hasina said the next election will he held as per the constitution of the country and her government is ready to welcome election observers. The next election will be held as per the constitution, she said while four MPs of the British All-Party Parliamentary Group called on her at her office. We follow your Westminster type of democracy. We do not have any problem if election observers come," she was quoted as saying. She said that Awami League as a political party has its long tradition of fighting for the restoration of democracy from the clutches of military rulers in the past. She urged the UK entrepreneurs to make investment in the 100 economic zones across the country.
A 46 year-old man was beaten to death with a hammer in Delhis Govindpuri area, police said, adding the accused has been apprehended.

According to a senior police official, at about 7.15 p.m. on Monday, a call was received about a man being beaten in the Tughlakabad extension area following which an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) was dispatched.



"When the police team reached the spot, they found that the injured had been shifted to Mazidia Hospital. Thereafter the police team reached the hospital and collected the medico-legal case (MLC) of Md Ayub who was declared brought dead," said the official.



"On enquiry, it was revealed that Ayub was assaulted by Shahil with a hammer causing head injury. Accordingly a case under section 302 (murder) of the IPC was registered at the Govindpuri police station."



The body has been shifted to the AIIMS mortuary for post-mortem.



"The accused Shahil has been apprehended. Further investigation is in progress," the official added.




Holds high-level meet amidst recent incidents of misbehaviour in flights

#NEWDELHI A high-level meeting was held in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to review airport security along with logistical and infrastructure issues. Director General of CISF, Sheel Vardhan Singh, among other officers of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) were present in the meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Monday. According to sources, the recent incidents of misbehaviour in airlines were discussed during the meeting, which lasted for more than half an hour.

Necessary guidelines were given to the officers to deal with such incidents. Recently, in an Air India flight from New York to Delhi, a passenger urinated on his copassenger in an inebriated state.

2 air passengers held in Patna for travelling in drunken state

Two passengers on board an IndiGo flight from Delhi were arrested in Patna on Monday for travelling in an inebriated condition. The accused, identified as Nitish Kumar and Rohit Kumar, were travelling on flight 6E-6383. The alleged passengers were kept under check by the marshal in the flight.

IANS
Asia Internet Coalition raises questions on the proposed digital competition law, urges the Indian government to conduct wider consultations

#NEWDELHI The Asia Internet Coalition, that has Meta, Amazon, Twitter, Google and other Big Tech companies as its members, has raised questions on the digital competition law recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, that may dampen digital innovation in India. In a statement, the Coalition urged the Indian government to conduct wider stakeholder consultations to ensure that any new legislative proposals meet international best practices, are evidencebased, and are for the purpose of benefiting innovation, growth, and consumers.

Otherwise, transplanting legislative reforms designed for a foreign jurisdiction with high digital penetration into India, could lead to disproportionate costs to consumers in India and an impact on innovation and investment by businesses in India  especially at a time when the government is rightly focusing on bringing connectivity to all under the Digital India initiative, said the Coalition. Last month, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance recommended that the Centre should formulate a digital competition act to regulate anti-competitive practices by Big Tech companies.

The Coalition said the report put forward by the Committee is prescriptive, absolutist and regressive in nature. The Indian government has recently proposed two significant bills  the revised Digital Personal Data Protection Bill and the Competition Amendment Bill (CAB), both of which seek to protect consumers, preserve competition and promote tech innovation, with a special focus on digital markets. The Coalition said that it is critical to first understand the effects of these two bills on the digital ecosystem before introducing any new legislative proposals. The Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) was established in 2010 as an industry association that promotes the understanding and resolution of Internet policy issues in the Asia Pacific region.

IANS
First-of-its-kind voice assistant will provide customers access to a wide range of services

#LASVEGAS Amazon and Disney have teamed up to launch a new voice assistant called Hey Disney!, which was shown with a live demonstration at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023. The first-of-its-kind voice assistant will provide customers access to a wide range of Disney magic through Echo devices at home and as a complimentary service at select Disney Resorts hotels, Amazon said in a blogpost.

Disney created this experience using the Alexa Custom Assistant, a voice artificial intelligence (AI) foundation upon which the company could easily build its own custom voice assistant that coexists with Alexa. This new voice assistant, termed the Disney Magical Companion, is the voice of Hey Disney, Amazon said. This new service will be available for purchase in the US in the coming months. Customers will be able to access the service through Echo smart speakers at home and in Disney Resort hotel rooms.

Moreover, it will feature support for Disneys MagicBand+, which is a smart and interactive wearable device that visitors use at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort to interact with shows, enter the park, and much more. As a first-of-its-kind voice assistant, Hey Disney! continues Disneys long tradition of using technology to provide the coolest, most convenient experiences to make your visit better, said Dan Soto, vice president of technology and digital, Disney.

IANS
The countrys ministry of science and ICT stated the ERBS is forecast to crash back down to Earth

#SEOUL The South Korean science ministry on Monday warned that a retired US satellite could possibly fall on the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity. Launched in 1984, the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) was set to fall on Earth around 5.10 am India time on Monday (plus or minus 17 hours) after completing its decades-long mission to study how the Earth absorbed and radiated energy from the sun. The ministry of science and ICT said the ERBS is forecast to crash back down to Earth and the Korean Peninsula is included in the regions that the satellite would fall toward, reported Yonhap news agency.

The ministry said the majority of the satellite will burn up upon re-entry to the atmosphere but asked Korean people to remain cautious about some components that will likely survive the process and reach the surface. Meanwhile, NASA predicted that most of the 5,400-pound (2,450 kilograms) defunct satellite will burn up as it travels through the atmosphere, but some components are expected to survive the reentry. The risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is very low  approximately 1 in 9,400, a NASA official said.

ERBS, part of NASAs three-satellite Earth Radiation Budget Experiment mission, was launched to low Earth orbit aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1984. ERBS used three scientific instruments to study how our planet absorbs and radiates solar energy. It was designed to operate for just two years but kept ticking until 2005, after which it became a hefty hunk of space junk. Drag has been pulling the spacecraft down gradually ever since, reports Space.com.

IANS
Academics and officials marked the 10th anniversary of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on Monday with the launch of a scholarly book on the connectivity framework.

The "Walk Along the Road: Ten Years of BRI" has compiled more than 100 reviews on the BRI by a group of scholars across Malaysia's universities in Chinese, Malay and English languages, which will allow readers in Malaysia to understand the BRI from multiple perspectives, the organizer said in a statement.

Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said in a brief video message "This year marks the 10 years anniversary of BRI. It is indeed a significant milestone and fruitful journey for China, but also the countries along the BRI, including Malaysia."

He conveyed his desire to deepen bilateral trade and investment ties under the China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership, and open up broader development prospects for bilateral cooperation.

In his remarks at the event, Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing said publication of this book is right on time.

Since 2013, China has been upholding the aspiration of building a human community with a shared future and adhering to principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. China has been working together with Malaysia and other partners in advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, said the ambassador.

An increasing number of Chinese companies has been investing in Malaysia, especially in emerging industries such as e-commerce, digital economy, and green development, among others, he said.

The ambassador cited the "Two Countries, Twin Parks" and the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), the flagship projects of China-Malaysia Belt and Road cooperation, as some of the successes of Malaysia's participation in the BRI, both of which have brought economic benefits to and created jobs in Malaysia.

The book launching ceremony was organized by the Southeast Asia Research Centre for Humanities and Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TARUMT), co-organized by the Association of Belt and Road Malaysia and supported by the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia.

TARUMT board of governors chairman Liow Tiong Lai thanked the scholars for making a great wealth of information on the BRI accessible to the Malaysian public.

"It is vital having this info easy to understand and accessible for the public," he said, adding he looked forward to seeing Malaysia and China work together to strengthen cooperation in various fields.
PMC claims public response to improve after receiving vaccines; urge high-risk patients not to be complacent

The non-availability of Covishield doses has led to poor response for COVID-19 precautionary shots. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been awaiting the supply of Covishield vaccine doses since last month. PMC officials claim that the response for precautionary doses will increase only after Covishield doses are available. It may be noted that on July 13 last year, the Centre had announced that COVID-19 vaccine booster doses will be free for adults at government-run centres from July 15, 2022, for 75 days as part of its Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations  a step aimed to help spur the uptake of third doses.

Until then, the precautionary dose was free only for healthcare and frontline workers, and those above the age of 60 years at government-run centres. The population aged between 18 and 60 years could receive the booster jab at private vaccination centres by paying for it. Following the announcement, the civic body started administering free COVID-19 precautionary doses to citizens above 18 years of age at the PMC-run vaccination centres from July 15, 2022.

However, since December last year, the non-availability of Covishield doses has resulted in poor response for the precautionary doses. Since the precautionary doses were started by the PMC, as many as 5.43 lakh (only 16.32%) of the 33.30 lakh eligible population have taken their precautionary doses in the city. However, a larger chunk of 37.21 lakh people (111%) in the city have taken their first dose of the COVID19 vaccine and 3.15 lakh (94%) of citizens have taken their second dose, state officials.

Dr Suryakant Devkar, assistant health chief of PMC and head of the immunisation programme said the civic body has written to the state government requesting to provide Covishield doses. Since December 4, we are waiting for Covishield doses. Currently, we have Covaxin doses, but not Covishield. As a result, we have decreased the number of COVID-19 vaccination centres to 21. The number of beneficiaries who took the first and second doses of Covishield is much higher in comparison to citizens who have taken Covaxin doses.

As a result, the response will increase only after Covishield doses are available. Dr Sanjeev Wavare, assistant health chief of PMC, said that the eligible population should take their COVID-19 precautionary doses. In the city, we observe that the response for COVID immunisation increases and decreases as per the surge and fall in COVID cases. Whenever there is a surge in cases, the number of people coming for immunisation increases.

On the other hand, when the number of cases falls, the response to immunisation decreases. However, citizens should keep in mind that to end the pandemic they should take their precautionary doses, said Wavare. Dr Kapil Zirpe, a member of the city and district COVID task force and head of the department of critical care at Ruby Hall Clinic, said, a huge population has been exposed to the virus and a large section of the population has availed of two doses.

Consequently, we are not expecting a bad situation. In this view, COVID-19 immunisation is not being promoted aggressively by the government. However, high-risk patients should take precautionary doses mandatorily, he said.
Education department finds 22 suspicious institutes in Pune (rural and city) and Pimpri-Chinchwad; official says those found guilty will be shut, students will be rehabilitated

If you are planning to admit your child to a CBSE school, better watch out. According to the education department officials, 666 schools across the state, including 22 in Pune (city and rural) and PimpriChinchwad, are under the scanner amidst allegations of no-objection certificates (NOCs) having been obtained by them to run the show. A single NOC, according to sources, is sold for Rs 12 lakh by a gang to schools lacking the infrastructure specified by the Central Board of School Education (CBSE), New Delhi.

And what will happen to the schools that are found guilty and the fate of students studying there? Such CBSE schools will be shut down, state education commissioner Suraj Mandhare told Mirror while adding that the pupils will be rehabilitated in such educational institutes nearby. A school gets an approval, in principle, from the CBSE. However, before starting a school, an NOC has to be obtained from the Maharashtra education ministry after submitting the required documents, which will now be rechecked by us, said the official.

In the primary stage, only three CBSE schools were found to be involved in the racket. We are collecting the NOCs and other essential documents from them. There are 666 schools in the state that have aroused our suspicion. We will scrutinise the authenticity of their NOCs  first with the state education ministry and then with the CBSE head office in New Delhi. I have ordered all CBSE schools to publish CBSE and state approval orders at their entry gates. We will release the names of schools that have opened with or without NOCs.

I appeal to parents not to get influenced by flashy school buildings, attractive advertising and attractive brochures. They should verify the NOCs before admitting their children to the institutes. It is the parents fundamental right. The issue came to the fore when parents of students studying in three schools complained to the education department. The beans were spilled when the officials verified the documents of these schools.

Meanwhile, the Pune Zilla Parishad education department has submitted its probe report to the state education commissioner and the primary and secondary education directors office. In this regard, the state education commissioner and divisional deputy director of education have ordered action against the people involved in the racket and the school administrations concerned.

Audumber Ukirde, Pune deputy divisional director of education, said, We are confident that this is a state-wide scam. A primary investigation report has been tabled before the state education commissioner, deputy divisional director, and primary and secondary education directors office. We found 666 bogus CBSE schools all over the state.

Out of these, around 22 CBSE affiliated schools and junior colleges are in Pune city, Pune rural, and the PimpriChinchwad Municipal Corporation area. We have established a special team of education block officers and education officers for on-the-spot inspection of NOCs and other essential documents of the schools on the radar. The documents will be sent to the education ministry for cross-verification and then to the CBSE head office in New Delhi. We will then finalise the list of schools that have bogus NOCs and other fake documents, he added.

According to the education department officials, once the inspection drive gets over in eight days, criminal cases will be registered against guilty school authorities and the gang members who sold NOCs for Rs 12 lakh per school.

"We will scrutinise the authenticity of their NOCs, first with the state education ministry and then with the CBSE head office in New Delhi. I have ordered all CBSE affiliated schools to publish CBSE and state approval orders at their entry gates."  Suraj Mandhre, state education commissioner

"We are confident that this is a state-wide scam. A primary investigation report has been tabled before the state education commissioner" Audumber Ukirde, Pune deputy divisional director of education

Where in Pune

The suspicious schools that run with fraudulent CBSE NOCs are in Pune city, Shivajinagar, Swargate, Kondhwa, Wanwadi, Yerwada, Wadgaon Sheri, Narhe Ambegaon, Katraj, Chakan, Akurdi, Pimpri, Chinchwad, Ambegaon, Junnar, Indapur, Khed, Maval, Mulshi, Bhor, Velha, and Haveli.
Goons vandalise vehicles in Gokhale Nagar, spread terror in mobile market, videos go viral on social media; cases registered at Chatuhshrungi and Faraskhana police stations

While the Pune police claim to be taking action against the dreaded Koyta gang, the miscreants continue to terrorise the city. Two incidents occurred within 12 hours of each other. Early on Monday morning, a gang vandalised vehicles in the Gokhale Nagar area. While a gang of four youngsters entered the mobile market near the Dagadusheth Ganpati temple and damaged the businesses, they were seen roaming in the neighborhood, wielding sickles. The Chatuhshrungi and Faraskhana police have opened investigations into these occurrences.

The first incident occurred at 4 am on Monday. Five auto rickshaws and one Maruti Omni car were vandalised with sickles by a gang of three. No one dared to stop them. The Chatuhshrungi police have registered a case under sections 425, 427 of the Indian Penal Code against the miscreants. Balaji Pandhare, a senior police inspector, stated, We examined the CCTV footage in the area and discovered three suspects with their faces covered and sharp objects in their hands.

They vandalised six vehicles and terrorised the public. We are attempting to identify them and will apprehend them soon. The same evening, four youngsters wreaked havoc in the crowded mobile market near the Dagdusheth temple. They were spotted in multiple CCTV footages in that area, and were seen roaming in Tulshibaug too.

They tried to vandalise two stalls in the market. The Faraskhana police arrived on the scene and arrested one of them. Senior police inspector Shabbir Sayyad told Mirror, We apprehended one of them, who told us they came to buy a cellphone. Nobody was hurt in the incident. Our teams are on the lookout for the other two suspects. Well check to see if they had the sickle, and then add the sections of Arms Act. While police are investigating the matter, the incidents have instilled a sense of fear among citizens.

In the aftermath of the Koyta gangs back-to-back incidents, leader of the opposition in the state assembly Ajit Pawar also raised the matter, particularly those in Punes outskirts, such as Manjari Budruk , Bhekrainagar, Ganga Nagar, and Hadapsar regions.
Files plaint with Human Rights Commission after three inmates die in Sassoon hospital last week

Photo: RAHUL DESHMUKH

After the suspicious death of three undertrial prisoners (UTPs) from the Yerwada Central Prison at the Sassoon General Hospitals (SGH), a second-year law student alleged that jail authorities are trying to brush the matter under the carpet. She has also filed a complaint with the state Human Rights Commission (HRC), requesting a thorough investigation into the matter.

A week after the inmates death, student Roshini Naaz (in pic), 25, accused the jail officials of torturing and mistreating them. On December 31, last year, three inmates  Sandesh Anil Gondekar (26), resident of Donje; Shahrukh Sheikh (29), resident of Kondhwa and Ranganath Datal (32), resident of Morgaon Baramati  died at SGH. Naaz went on to say that the jail officials frequently abuse undertrials and the truth never comes out. The deaths need a fair investigation.

The fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of India are for all, including prisoners, she said. However, an officer from the Yerwada police station refuted the allegation and termed it baseless. All three UTPs were suffering from different illnesses and were undergoing treatment at SGH. One of them died due to HIV infection, while the other two had been hospitalised for chest pain and low blood pressure and died during treatment. We have registered a case of accidental death, the official said. Superintendent of the Yerwada Central Prison SB Patil said there is no question of covering up the incident.

We will answer the human rights commission if they ask us about the matter, he said. Prior to this, in July 2022, 27-year-old Sachin Narwade, a murder convict, committed suicide on the prison premises. Casting doubt on all four incidents, Roshini alleged that they occurred while the convicts were lodged in Yerwada Central Jail, one of the largest prisons in South Asia.

She also gave references of several judgements passed by the apex court in favour of the inmates including Munshi Singh Gautam Vs state of Madhya Pradesh; Fattuji Vs Superintendent of police Akola, Shaikh Shama Vs state of Maharashtra. Roshini said that without proper investigation, justice is not served to the deceased. The police officers in the incidents failed to perform their duties. Section 7, 29 of the Indian Penal Code provides for dismissal, penalty, or suspension of the police officers who are negligent in the discharge of their duties or unfit to perform the same, she said.

It is a violation of inmates fundamental right to life. If such horrendous and frightful incidents continue to happen then this will be nothing but the death of humanity, she said and requested the commission to take action against guilty officials after a detailed probe. Despite several attempts, officials of the Human Rights Commission were unavailable to comment. A superintendent of police-rank official, who just got transferred from the commission, on condition of anonymity said, The complaint has been registered and the court will conduct the inquiry into the same.

The commission upon receiving such a complaint calls the action taken report from the concerned authority. Then it shows the report to the complainant. If the complainant has doubts or has some more evidence, he submits the same to the commission. If the commission is not satisfied with the evidence, the complaint is sent to the investigation wing. The investigation wing visits all the spots, conducts inquiry, takes statements of all witnesses, checks history and then they file a report to the commission.

All three UTPs were suffering from different illnesses and were undergoing treatment at SGH. One of them died due to HIV infection, while the other two had been hospitalised for chest pain and low blood pressure and died during treatment Official, Yerwada police station
Davenport's strategy to reduce gun violence is growing, including to other area cities.

The Quad Cities Community Foundation awarded Family Resources $300,000 over three years to pay for a full-time staffer to work on Group Violence Intervention, an anti-violence initiative Davenport launched about eight months ago.

The Group Violence Intervention, or GVI, strategy followed a record number of incidents involving gunfire in 2020.

The three-pronged strategy involves representatives from law enforcement, social-service organizations and community members to talk with people at highest risk of being perpetrators or victims of gun violence.

They bring an anti-violence message oft repeated: "We want to see you safe, alive and out of prison." The message extends an offer of help from Family Resources along with a warning from community members and law enforcement officials that gun violence won't be tolerated.

"We're here to help. We're not here to harm you. We're not here to judge you. We're here to help you. And I think that's starting to resonate with members in the community, especially the younger population," said Dwayne Hodges, a community member and pastor who helps deliver GVI's message.

Family Resources has a unit dedicated to surviving loved ones of homicide and other violent crimes. Workers at the agency have been meeting people face-to-face, called "custom notifications," without hiring additional staff members.

But the grant will change that.

"Our team is trained in order to provide that custom-notification service but also to take those clients on in services and programs Family Resources provides," said Tee LeShoure, who leads the survivors resource team.

The Quad Cities Community Foundation grant will allow them to add a full-time staffer, pay community member volunteers a stipend and start a research project with St. Ambrose University to evaluate the GVI strategy's effectiveness.

Oftentimes, people may not be receptive to accepting services right away, said Sarah Ott, Davenport's chief strategy officer. What it takes is trust-building with our social-services providers and our community members, and you cant build trust without continual engagement. With the Quad Cities Community Foundations Transformation Grant, we will now have the capacity in Family Resources and our volunteers to continue those conversations and follow through on our offer to help.

So far, since implementing the strategy in the summer of 2022, members of the team have contacted 73 individuals, Ott said. Of those, two people went on to be involved in gun violence, she said.

In Davenport, 0.19% of Davenport's population is involved in about 55% of the city's gun violence, according to an analysis of Davenport crime data by John Jay College's National Network for Safe Communities. That means representatives have contacted a significant share of people driving gun violence in Davenport.

In 2022, gun deaths and shots-fired incidents declined from the year before, according to statistics from the police department. In 2022, police responded to 171 shots-fired incidents, down from 206 in 2021. In 2022, there were four shooting homicide victims, down from nine in 2021. The number of non-fatal shooting victims, however, stayed roughly the same. In 2022, there were 44 non-fatal shooting victims, up slightly from 43 in 2021.

Davenport Police Chief Jeff Bladel said there's likely a number of factors driving the reduced gun crime, and building trust with social services organizations and the police department through group violence intervention could be one of those. But, he said, more research is needed.

Part of the grant will go toward a research project at St. Ambrose University to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy by interviewing people who were contacted. The research will also help in securing additional grant funding in the future, said Family Resources Director Nicole Cisne Durbin.

"We can guess what are the gaps in services, but we want to actually talk to people who are impacted by the gun violence," Cisne Durbin said. "And directly ask them: What would it take? How did you get here? What did we miss as a community? Instead of us just making those assumptions."

The grant is part of the Quad Cities Community Foundation's Community Impact Fund.

Complex community challenges like this can only be solved through collaboration, said Sue Hafkemeyer, president and CEO of the Community Foundation. Were excited to see an innovative tool for promoting racial equity and ensuring our community is safe for everybody who calls it home. By supporting this effort now, we believe we can transform it into the wider regional strategy needed, activating the entire community together.

Expanding to Rock Island

The Rock Island Police Department in 2023 plans to partner with Davenport police and Family Resources to expand Group Violence Intervention to Rock Island, Mayor Mike Thoms said in his state of the city address on Monday.

The city had a startling string of homicides in 2022, which the mayor called a "serious issue" and pledged the city would work to find solutions to gun violence in the city.

The Illinois Department of Human Services awarded Family Resources a grant for violence prevention.

Cisne Durbin noted that violence doesn't adhere to city boundaries.

"We need this strategy to be regionwide," she said.
A computer system used by some of Iowas county recorders appears to have been hacked over the holidays and has yet to be fully restored.

Iowas elected county recorders maintain land records, issue marriage licenses and register births and deaths. They also issue titles and liens on vehicles. The biggest immediate effect of the apparent hack is that the public, as well as some recorders themselves, cannot currently access real estate records.

In Scott County, records are accessible in-person, but online viewing is not available.

Scott County Recorder Rita Vargas explained how the attack was impacting Scott County records and those who wished to view them electronically: "Were still operating. Its mostly (that) you cant go online and access anything, but you can from our office. Thats the work-around theyve been able to provide."

The vendor that Vargas and others in Iowa use, Cott Systems, hosts the document-storage service and appears to have been the primary victim.

"They (Cott) were hoping to have us back up again, but they were not successful this weekend," Vargas said. "They are waiting for servers to come in. It has to do with the forensic investigation theyre doing."

She said the company detected a possible hack or attempted hack. No Iowa counties were directly targeted, she said.

"No Scott County data was exposed," Vargas said. "In order to find how this happened, they are moving data to new servers. Due to some nationwide shortage on equipment they are having a difficult time getting the equipment they need to move over to these new servers. Theyre going through all the data and once they know its safe theyre putting it into a server."

For now, anyone seeking Scott County real estate records must make an in-person visit to Vargas' office in the Administrative Center, 600 W. 4th St., Davenport.

"Were still able to take in documents; its just the viewing of the documents. We host our own system, so you can come in and view the documents," Vargas said. "Im not overly concerned other than the unfortunate inconvenience it means for customers."

It was not immediately clear how many of Iowas county recorders are under contact with Cott Systems, which is based in Ohio and became aware of a possible attack at Christmas.

Iowa counties that are known to have used at least some of Cott Systems services in addition to Scott County include Dallas, Allamakee, Black Hawk and Jasper counties.

Polk County uses some of Cott Systems software but doesnt contract with Cott for hosting the countys records. As a result, it has been unaffected by the apparent cyberattack, according to Tom Brogan, Polk Countys first deputy recorder.

Dallas County, however, does have its documents hosted by Cott. Dallas County Recorder ReNae Arnold said Thursday that the company recently notified her of the hack.

I dont know anything about what happened or any of the details, she said. Their system was compromised, but how far (the hackers) went into their system, I have no idea. Theyre not giving us that information.

She added that Cott Systems had informed her office that the FBI was involved and was investigating the matter.

Cott Systems provides public-records management services for more than 300 government agencies in the United States. The company helps those agencies record and archive documents, while also making them searchable and accessible to members of the public.
Two men have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 4 shooting at a Bettendorf apartment complex in which a 20-year-old man was wounded, Bettendorf Police Chief Keith Kimball said Monday.

Police said an argument over money escalated into the shooting.

Andre Avon Little, 27, formerly of Kissimmee, Fla., and Daniel Tyrese Morgan, 32, of Rock Island, each is charged with one count of attempt to commit murder. The charge is a Class B felony under Iowa law that carries a mandatory sentence of 25 years in prison, 70% of which, or 17  years, must be served before parole can be granted.

Each also is charged with:

First-degree burglary, also a Class B felony that carries a prison sentence of 25 years with a mandatory minimum of 17  years before parole can be granted.

One count of willful injury causing serious injury and assault while participating in a felony, a Class C felony that carries a prison sentence of 10 years.

One count of going armed with intent, a Cass D felony that carries a prison sentence of five years.

Morgan is also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, also a Class D felony.

According to the arrest affidavit filed by Bettendorf Police Sgt. Jeff Buckles, at 8:06 p.m. Jan. 4, Morgan and Little went to The Villas at Devils Glen, 3434 Towne Pointe Drive, looking for the victim. Morgan was armed with a handgun.

The victim and Morgan are known to one another.

Before the shooting, the victim and Morgan were outside the apartment complex arguing about money.

The victim then went to his apartment and locked the door, but Morgan and Little forced their way inside and began physically assaulting the victim.

The victim got out of the apartment and ran into the hallway at which time Morgan fired one round from the handgun. The bullet struck the victim in the chest.

The victim positively identified Morgan as the shooter.

The victim told police he believed the altercation took place because Morgan was upset that the victim was taking too long to get Morgan his money.

Little was being held Monday night in the Scott County Jail without bond on the Bettendorf charges, and on a bond of $1,000, cash or surety, for failing to appear in court on a charge of driving while revoked.

On April 14, 2021, Little was sentenced to one year on probation during a hearing in Clinton County District Court after pleading guilty to one count of domestic abuse assault.

Morgan was being held without bail Monday night in the Fulton County, Ill., Jail, where he is awaiting an extradition hearing.

Morgan had been arrested Jan. 6 in Fulton County on charges of aggravated driving under the influence and aggravated fleeing, both Class 4 felonies under Illinois law that carry a prison sentence of 1-3 years. He also is facing traffic charges of failing to reduce speed, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, disregarding a stop sign and improper lane usage.

Morgan had been released from the Fulton County Jail after making a first appearance in Fulton County Circuit Court on his charges. However, when Fulton County authorities learned of the arrest warrants out of Bettendorf, sheriffs deputies located him at the Caseys General Store in Lewiston, Ill., and took him back into custody without incident.
Four Davenport West students will spend more than two weeks in eastern Kenya to implement their student-designed water filtration system.

The system is expected to deliver clean drinking water to more than 22,000 people.

"Its an incredible project that we all put a lot of time into," said junior Mary Anne Le. "So I think what I am most excited for is to see the accumulation of all our hard work, in Kenya, and witness the impact it will have on the villagers."

Led by industrial technology teacher Greg Smith, the students will install the system in the village of Muamba in an ongoing partnership with international non-profit Fishers of Men Ministries Inc.

Headquartered in Davenport, Fishers of Men is a Christian missionary organization that works to provide water wells, churches, schools, and homes for children and families throughout Kenya. Founder Joshua Ngao said he had to travel nearly 50 miles for safe drinking water while growing up in Kenya.

Were blessed to have this partnership, he said in an October interview. We have 19 water wells in Kenya, but we have thousands of people who are dying right now because theres no water or because of water contamination.

The filtration system is part of a roughly six-year outreach project by West students in the engineering, design and development capstone class. Last year, students finished the model for the fully functioning water filtration system.

The one being built in Kenya, however, is roughly five times the size of the school's model. Senior Duro Johnson led the design of the building to house the system.

My family is from Africa, so it interested me, Johnson said previously, adding that he has extended family in Nigeria. Some of these places dont have the type of technology and resources that we do here, so we had to consider those needs and work around them.

In previous reporting, Smith, the teacher, said a focus for Johnson and the design team was using natural materials to avoid importing materials outside of Kenya.

We can get rock, sand and gravel pretty much anywhere in the world, so it lends itself naturally to what were doing. The only thing thats not natural are the piping and storage containers, but that stuff is readily available and we can adapt," he said. "We gave Duro some design parameters; he came up with the idea and then Joshua would come give feedback.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the project's schedule, construction on the building began in the fall.

"This is something thatll change peoples lives  maybe not directly here  but around the world, Smith previously said. Looking at some of those things we take for granted or issues we dont typically have to deal with; itll definitely open students eyes, seeing that Maybe I can do good'."

Ngao agreed the project will be "life changing for everyone."

Twenty-five percent of people are dying because of water-born diseases in that county, and the students are starting something that can lower the percentage, he said.

Upon completing the first filtration system in Muamba, which Ngao said will feature a plaque crediting West High students, Fishers of Men aims to continue implementing systems in all of Kenya's 42 counties and are looking to get the initiative government-licensed.

The students will return home on Friday, Jan. 27.

Photos: Davenport West defeats Central DeWitt boys basketball 79-57.
The Davenport School Board voted to approve elementary school boundary changes, a decision spurred by the closures of Washington, Buchanan and Monroe elementary schools next school year.

Director Karen Gordon cast the lone vote against the proposed boundaries, saying she doesn't think she has all the information needed to make the right choice and is uncertain the changes are equitable.

Superintendent TJ Schneckloth addressed equity, saying the new boundaries will open the potential for an additional Title I elementary building, or adjustments to the district's current Title I programming.

So, in our current landscape, we have the reduction of three Title I buildings, which I'm going to guess is an approximation of about $300,000 per building, that will be redistributed back throughout our system," he said.

Representatives from Bray Architects, in collaboration with district leadership and the facilities master planning committee, presented initial boundary proposals to the board on Dec. 5. Following the meeting, all proposals alongside the existing boundary map were posted to the district website with a feedback submission form to gather input from families and community members.

Last week, district leadership issued a final call for feedback across district-wide communication channels, namely through the auto-dialer system. Schneckloth and his cabinet read, reviewed, and considered each submission and adjusted the initial boundary proposal based on the community feedback.

Here's an overview of Davenport elementary boundary changes:

Adams: This attendance boundary zone will expand to Fairmount St. and Hillandale Road, absorbing portions of former Buchanan neighborhoods. Former Adams neighborhoods near Hickory Grove Road and Central Park Ave. will shift into Wilson's attendance zone, also losing some neighborhoods surrounding Gaines and Harrison St.

This attendance boundary zone will expand to Fairmount St. and Hillandale Road, absorbing portions of former Buchanan neighborhoods. Former Adams neighborhoods near Hickory Grove Road and Central Park Ave. will shift into Wilson's attendance zone, also losing some neighborhoods surrounding Gaines and Harrison St. Fillmore: This boundary will greatly expand westward to Wisconsin Ave. It will also expand to the southeast, absorbing parts of Harrison's former attendance neighborhoods between Brady St. and Goose Creek Park.

This boundary will greatly expand westward to Wisconsin Ave. It will also expand to the southeast, absorbing parts of Harrison's former attendance neighborhoods between Brady St. and Goose Creek Park. Truman: In another significant westward expansion, Truman's boundary will reach Fairmount and Hillandale down to Kimberly Road, absorbing most former Buchanan neighborhoods.

In another significant westward expansion, Truman's boundary will reach Fairmount and Hillandale down to Kimberly Road, absorbing most former Buchanan neighborhoods. Harrison: This boundary will move slightly past Veteran's Memorial Parkway to include neighborhoods in Fillmore's former attendance zone. It will also grow to include the Prairie Heights Park area from Eastern Ave to Kimberly, dipping into some former Garfield neighborhoods.

This boundary will move slightly past Veteran's Memorial Parkway to include neighborhoods in Fillmore's former attendance zone. It will also grow to include the Prairie Heights Park area from Eastern Ave to Kimberly, dipping into some former Garfield neighborhoods. Eisenhower: This boundary will move west towards Brady, including portions of Fillmore's former attendance zone. It will slightly expand to absorb some former Garfield neighborhoods near Central Park Ave.

This boundary will move west towards Brady, including portions of Fillmore's former attendance zone. It will slightly expand to absorb some former Garfield neighborhoods near Central Park Ave. Garfield: Surrendering the Prairie Heights Park region, this boundary will shrink east of Kimberly, but expand to Kirkwood Blvd. The new boundary will absorb several former Washington neighborhoods between Arlington and Belle Aves., also dipping into small potions of former Madison and McKinley attendance zones.

Surrendering the Prairie Heights Park region, this boundary will shrink east of Kimberly, but expand to Kirkwood Blvd. The new boundary will absorb several former Washington neighborhoods between Arlington and Belle Aves., also dipping into small potions of former Madison and McKinley attendance zones. Jefferson: Absorbing most former Monroe neighborhoods, this boundary will grow to Division St. and will narrow to Gaines St.

Absorbing most former Monroe neighborhoods, this boundary will grow to Division St. and will narrow to Gaines St. Madison: This boundary will expand to reach Gaines St., absorbing some former Jefferson neighborhoods. Moving east, it will reach the intersection of Arlington Ave. and 10th St. and include neighborhoods nearing 6th and Farnam St., dipping into some former McKinley neighborhoods.

This boundary will expand to reach Gaines St., absorbing some former Jefferson neighborhoods. Moving east, it will reach the intersection of Arlington Ave. and 10th St. and include neighborhoods nearing 6th and Farnam St., dipping into some former McKinley neighborhoods. McKinley: This boundary expands southwest to Gaines and northeast to include more neighborhoods near Pheasant Creek Ave, pulling from Eisenhower's former attendance zone. It will absorb some former Madison neighborhoods near Farnam and Arlington and some Washington neighborhoods near Kirkwood Blvd. and Locust St.

This boundary expands southwest to Gaines and northeast to include more neighborhoods near Pheasant Creek Ave, pulling from Eisenhower's former attendance zone. It will absorb some former Madison neighborhoods near Farnam and Arlington and some Washington neighborhoods near Kirkwood Blvd. and Locust St. Jackson: This boundary will expand to 60th St. and Fairmount, absorbing a notable portion of Buchanan's former attendance zone. On the northeast side, it will shrink slightly to Waverly Road.

This boundary will expand to 60th St. and Fairmount, absorbing a notable portion of Buchanan's former attendance zone. On the northeast side, it will shrink slightly to Waverly Road. Hayes: This boundary will grow toward Highway 6 and Rockingham Road to River Drive, including some former Buffalo and Jackson neighborhoods. It will absorb former Monroe neighborhoods from W 3rd St. to Division

This boundary will grow toward Highway 6 and Rockingham Road to River Drive, including some former Buffalo and Jackson neighborhoods. It will absorb former Monroe neighborhoods from W 3rd St. to Division Wilson: This boundary will absorb most former Monroe neighborhoods, expanding down to 3rd St. It's southwestern boundary will expand slightly to Waverly Road, dipping into some former Jackson neighborhoods. Former Adams neighborhoods near Central Park and Division St. would also fall into this boundary.

This boundary will absorb most former Monroe neighborhoods, expanding down to 3rd St. It's southwestern boundary will expand slightly to Waverly Road, dipping into some former Jackson neighborhoods. Former Adams neighborhoods near Central Park and Division St. would also fall into this boundary. Blue Grass : No change

: No change Walcott: This boundary expands slightly towards Wisconsin Ave. and could absorb some of Buchanan's western attendance zone.

This boundary expands slightly towards Wisconsin Ave. and could absorb some of Buchanan's western attendance zone. Buffalo: The northeastern boundary will narrow to Wisconsin Ave. and W River Drive, losing a portion of its former attendance zone to Hayes.

Amelia Cross, a current Harrison fourth-grader, shared her concerns about the boundary changes during open forum.

"It would be hard to make new friends; I would be uncomfortable. It would take time to adjust," she said. "I dont think its fair that some kids stay at Harrison, but I have to leave along with kids in my neighborhood. I don't think it's fair that I would have to go to Fillmore, because its so much farther away than Harrison. I hope you change your mind and think about the fairness of this decision."

Cross' parents seconded the sentiments, calling on the board to introduce an option to allow students to remain at their former schools or "grandfather" some in. Among the changes, Schneckloth said, the district is discussing a transfer-request option. It would prioritize families displaced due to boundary changes and those requesting to stay at their original schools.

District officials now are working on transition letters to all district households and are planning transition activities to assign across district buildings, Schneckloth said.

"We have three buildings' worth of teachers that need to know where theyre going  our families in those buildings need to know where theyre going," he said. "It all hinges off this vote tonight."

Photos: Sudlow students create collaborative mural entitled, Courage & Identity
Chinese Food Festival was held in the Swedish capital Sunday afternoon, that featured delicious Chinese food and related food culture show to the locals.

The event, held at Berns -- the first hotel in Sweden to provide Chinese food in the 1940s -- in central Stockholm, was hosted by the China Cultural Center in Stockholm and co-organized by the Sweden Chinese Restaurant Association.

Over 200 guests, including representatives from the Swedish government, business circle and academia, tasted signature dishes such as the chrysanthemum fish, the braised pork belly (or Dong Po Rou), traditional Chinese snacks such as Tangyuan, Mahua (or fried dough twist), and Jian Bing Guozi (or Chinese crepes).

The venue was decorated with themed food sculptures, which were made of ingredients such as harps, carrots, papayas and pumpkins, symbolizing good luck, prosperity and happiness.

"Chinese food is rich in variety, which reflects the colorful life of the Chinese people and embodies the cultural connotation of 'people-oriented, conforming to nature, and aspiration for harmony'," Cui Aimin, China's ambassador to Sweden, said in his opening remarks.

"Chinese cuisine is well-known for its rich flavors and great diversity, and it's very impressive," said Susanne Andersson, chief executive officer of the state-owned marketing company Visit Sweden.

"Before the (COVID-19) pandemic, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Sweden had quadrupled in a decade," she said, adding that as China further optimized its COVID-19 response measures, "more and more Chinese tourists will come to Sweden again in the near future and enjoy Swedish food culture."
With enough money to begin construction in the spring, the long-planned Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Davenport is becoming a reality.

The nonprofit Friends of MLK raised $1.1 million from state and local grants and private donors to complete the park, including a state tourism grant that sealed the deal.

Friends Board Chair and CEO Ryan Saddler expects construction to begin this spring and wrap up this summer.

"With the $1.1 million we will have the park as a usable space for history of our area, not just Black history, but ethnic and cultural history," Saddler said.

The concept for the park includes standing displays for exhibits that provide historical context and education and can be changed for specific programming and events. The plaza area will also feature a stage and lawn for community events and classes.

"We'll look at the Davenport civil rights movement and how African Americans moved through slavery will be two key features of the park," Saddler said.

The Friends of MLK was originally started as a task force in 2014 by then-Mayor Bill Gluba and Pastor Rogers Kirk. The pair wanted to find a way to honor King, who spoke in Davenport in April 1965 when he received the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award from the Diocese of Davenports Catholic Interracial Council.

In 2021, Davenport pledged a $500,000 grant, using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds and signed a long-term lease with Friends of MLK for the plaza.

In spring 2022, the Friends group secured grants from the county, the Regional Development Authority, and the Scott County Regional Authority. The group finalized construction documents and requested bids from construction companies.

Support came from other ways, too. Ascentra Credit Union donated fees to cover the architectural design for the park.

But the Friends group was a few hundred thousand dollars short of being able to begin building later that year. Saddler went to the Board of Supervisors, who pledged to match $20,000 to apply for a state tourism grant.

In December, the state awarded a $219,840 Enhance Iowa Grant through its Community Attraction and Tourism program, closing the gap to start construction.

"This is a great thing for the city," Mayor Mike Matson said Wednesday.

The group still is accepting donations to cover elements of the park that Saddler said had to be taken out to meet the budget.

"I'm just ecstatic," he said of the progress, thanking donors to the park.

Learn more about the Friends of MLK here and donate to the park's building fund here.
After a year that included the allocation of millions in American Rescue Plan Act dollars, a new taxing district and economic-development projects, Rock Island is forging ahead on long-term growth, the mayor said.

Mayor Mike Thoms on Monday delivered his annual State of the City address, focusing on community partnerships and investments. He highlighted investments in downtown revitalization, the allocation of $26.5 million in ARPA funds and a budget that keeps property taxes flat while containing a surplus of $1.8 million in reserve.

"We continue to forge a path forward that uses these partnerships to improve our economy, spur new development, grow our population and invest in long-term growth," Thoms said.

In partnership with the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, the city secured a $3 million grant in August through the Rebuild Illinois Downtowns and Main Streets Capital program that will go into a $7 million reinvestment in downtown revitalization. The city also is using $2.5 million in ARPA funds and $1.5 million in tax increment financing district funds.

After months of deliberation, the council passed an ordinance in December 2022 to establish a downtown Special Services Area. Property owners in the SSA will pay an additional 1.15% that will then be used to enhance and maintain the downtown.

Downtown Rock Island Director Jack Cullen told the Quad-City Times/Dispatch-Argus, with the investments in downtown, a synergy is being created that will set the area up for success.

"Downtown is the heart and soul of the community," Cullen said. "When the downtown thrives, the city thrives."

Negotiations on management of the SSA are underway with the Chamber.

The city allocated $26.5 million in ARPA funds that will be used to support businesses, road maintenance, public safety, new citywide software and capital-improvement projects. Allocations include $1 million for road repairs, $2.2 million for new citywide software, $1.2 million for a portion of the demolition of the downtown parking garage next to City Hall and a new parking lot in its place.

Council members also approved a five-year Capital Improvement Plan that invests $20 million on various projects funded by ARPA, gaming tax, the general fund, TIF funds and other taxes. Projects include $3.5 million in the road and street improvements and $2.1 million for the resurfacing of 31st Avenue from Rock Island-Milan Parkway to 11th Street.

Thoms also highlighted the city's partnership with the Development Association of Rock Island, known as DARI, and how there were 89 new expansion and business-attraction projects, 509 business engagements and 18 ribbon-cuttings.

Sixth Ward Alderman Mark Poulos said he was eager to see the progress continue.

"I've been out talking to businesses, trying to get them to bring more restaurants into Rock Island and at least connect the people to our downtown advisers," Poulos said.

Other highlights included the purchase of eight snowplows and two ambulances, the partnership with Augustana College to provide services related to the development of Lead Service Line inventory, housing rehabilitation projects and others that currently are under construction.
Carissa Hauck turned her hobby into a thriving business, Scobi Kombucha. Now, shell help others pursue their entrepreneurial dreams in her new role as director of the South Dakota Center for Enterprise Opportunity West Womens Business Center.

Hauck started as director on Dec. 30. Previous SD CEO West director Michelle Kane is leaving the organization in early January to lead the Sanford Underground Research Facility Foundation as its director.

Passing the leadership baton to Carissa Hauck is truly an honor, Kane said. Leaving the organization in such capable hands is an exciting finish to leading it for the last five years.

Hauck will develop programs, oversee day-to-day operations of SD CEO West, provide business advising and more. She previously spent two years with the group as a marketing specialist and program coordinator, managing grants, organizing and developing conferences and trainings, and assisting with business advising.

At SD CEO West, we provide our services to everyone, but we specialize in helping women. We provide opportunities for networking and training and career development, and I want to encourage people to connect with us and reach out if they know of anyone who needs assistance. We are here for them, and our services are free and confidential, Hauck told the Journal.

We have so many resource partners who also provide free and confidential services. If we dont know the answer, we connect them with someone who could help them, she said.

SD CEO Wests office is located on the campus of Black Hills State University in Spearfish, and the organization serves the Black Hills and most of the state.

The opportunity to continue working with the amazing women at SD CEO West as the director and help others realize their entrepreneurial dreams will be both exciting and challenging. I cant wait to get started and continue to build on the legacy of success of SD CEO West, Hauck said. "Our team is great. Im so excited and honored to take on this role and looking forward to continue doing [the] good work Michelle has started.

Haucks involvement with SD CEO West started when she was its client. After graduating from Black Hills State University with a degree in business administration and human resources in 2018, a friend who became her business partner urged Hauck to start a kombucha business. Hauck had been brewing her own as a hobby.

I wrote up a business plan and (my business partner) helped me get it started. It worked out very well to use the resources we had from BHSU. I consulted with Michelle Kane when I was getting started. Thats how my relationship with SD CEO started to bloom, Hauck said.

After three years in business making artisanal kombucha, Hauck sold the business. Scobi Kombucha is now located in Hot Springs. At the same time, Hauck applied for a position at SD CEO West and was hired.

One of her favorite parts of her job is advising others who want to start businesses.

The influx of new residents in the Black Hills and the COVID-19 pandemic have sparked an increase in the number of people who are starting new businesses, Hauck said. Rentals, Airbnbs and short-term rentals for the tourist season are especially popular new businesses right now in western South Dakota.

Theres a lot of start-ups. We specialize in helping people with marketing strategies, too. They are now having to compete with more people than they did in the past, she said.

Hauck wants to continue helping SD CEO West grow, and shes looking forward to more in-person events after many had to be moved online earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic. She also wants to develop the network of volunteers who take SD CEO West services to rural areas.

Id really like to reignite our volunteer network. Theres a lot of rural communities that our organization covers Its hard for us to go out and meet these people but if we have a network of volunteers  SD CEO ambassadors  to connect with these communities, thats something I really want to work on, Hauck said. Theres so much opportunity with this organization this coming year.

According to SBA South Dakota District Director Jaime Wood, the announcement of Hauck as the new SD CEO West WBC director continues a legacy of dedicated service to women small business professionals.

We are grateful to Michelle Kane for her robust years at SD CEO West Womens Business Centers helm. One of the greatest leadership achievements is creating a strong bench of talent to keep an organization going and growing and Michelle set the stage for a strong future for small business support across the state, Wood said. We are thrilled to see Carissa Hauck elevate into the SD CEO leadership role. She has the depth of organizational and personal business experience and proven dedication to the South Dakota entrepreneurial space.

Wood said Hauck was instrumental in assisting with the recent expansion of the Womens Business Center network in South Dakota with the launch of the SD CEO East Womens Business Center in Sioux Falls.

SD CEO West is hosted by the Black Hills State University Foundation and partially grant funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Go to bhsu.edu/sdceo/ for more information.
Gov. Kristi Noem called Tuesday for using the states surplus to eliminate the tax charged on groceries and lower other taxes in a State of the State address that steered clear of the hot-button topic of abortion.

The Republican governor delivered her address as the Legislatures nine-week session began. All eyes are on what lawmakers might do with the states $423 million surplus.

Noem said that shoppers are astonished" when they arrive at the checkout line to pay for their groceries. She said it is so costly that she has watched many shoppers have to put items back on the shelves because they don't have enough money to purchase them.

South Dakotans need this relief," said Noem, whose executive budget calls for repealing the states 4.5% sales tax on groceries, a move that would save taxpayers $100 million.

Noem was critical of a proposal to repeal the state grocery tax during the final days of the legislative session in March, but this fall, she changed course and made it a centerpiece of her reelection campaign. She has called repealing the tax her top priority for 2023, arguing that the states surplus would cover the revenue loss.

While minority Democrats support the idea, a number of staunch Republicans oppose it, questioning whether the state can absorb the lost revenue.

We will help every single family in the state," she said. And then they have the freedom to decide how to use those dollars to meet their needs in their family.

Sen. Casey Crabtree, the Republican caucus leader, said he also anticipates sales and property tax reduction proposals. He was vague about the legislation's prospects of success.

Well see where it all ends up, he said.

Budget-setting during most of Noems first term was filled with state revenues swollen by consumer spending and federal pandemic relief. Lawmakers are also cautioning that those years of plenty  when millions of dollars went to upgrading university campuses and other projects  could soon be over.

Noem also highlighted workforce shortages, noting that the state has 23,000 open jobs. To address that, she called for updating licensing requirements for professional jobs. She said that other states like Arizona that have taken steps to recognize out-of-state licenses have added thousands of workers.

Thats the kind of drastic workforce boost that we need right here in South Dakota, she said.

Noem is also calling for improving paid family leave and creating a way for childcare workers to get benefits.

Under her family leave proposal, state employees could get their entire salary paid for 12 weeks, instead of the 60% that is currently offered for eight weeks. The new policy would cover new births or adoptions, as well as taking care of a child, spouse, or parent with a serious health condition, or a situation where a spouse is called to active-duty military service.

Her plan also calls for allowing private sector companies to be a part of the states risk pool, which would make it cheaper for them to offer the benefit, and providing $20 million in grants to incentivize them to participate.

Those proposals are key pieces of her goal of supporting families alongside a bid to uphold the states abortion ban, which was triggered by the U.S. Supreme Courts June ruling. Noem, an ardent abortion opponent, faces a challenge to the ban through a citizen-proposed constitutional amendment that could appear on the 2024 ballot. She never discussed the issue directly in her address, though.

Democratic Sen. Reynold Nesiba was critical of Noem for bypassing the issue.

At the moment that a woman needs access to reproductive health care, it is far easier for them to simply go somewhere else if they have the means to do that," Nesiba said. But one shouldnt have to leave the state to be able to have access to reproductive health care.

Noem also notably stepped up her rhetoric against China, touting legislation that would create a board that would review the sale or lease of agricultural land to non-Americans. The move came after she blocked the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok from state devices in November 2022 and ordered a review of Chinese investments.

We cant allow Chinese interests to purchase any South Dakota ag land, much less any land near any military base or critical state infrastructure, she said.

 Associated Press writer Amancai Biraben contributed to this report.
Senator John Thune stands out, with his six-foot-four frame adorned with a crop of salt-and-pepper hair, but his senior status in Congress gives South Dakota a seat  and a voice  in the halls where decisions are made.

Now in his fourth term, Thune has solidified his position  the second highest-ranking Senate Republican  with Congressional scuttlebutt hinting at his eventual ascension to Minority Leader. He'll admit the issues have changed since he took office in 2004  the year Facebook launched and Usher's "Yeah" was Billboard's top year-end hot single.

Thune famously hesitated on announcing his intention to run for a fourth term, instead contemplating retirement. His usually lively blue eyes had  for a time  grown weary after navigating the harsh waters of a Trump-dominated Republican Party. The former President had at one point even called for a primary to unseat Thune, referring to him as a "RINO"  Republican in Name Only.

He's now just the second South Dakota Senator to hold a fourth term, the other being Karl Mundt in the 1950s to 1970s.

"It is the honor of my life to represent South Dakota in the United States Senate," Thune said. "The values I learned growing up in Murdo and that are reflected around our state will continue to guide me."

A less-than-stellar showing for the "red wave" in November served as a reminder that elections are won or lost on the issues. Thune focused on the "kitchen table" issues  the ones impacting families on a daily basis  while looking down the barrel at the 2024 presidential election.

"We just came through an election, clearly, where I think it's going to be argued that we underperformed  certainly in the Senate and in the House, for that matter. And I think part of the reason for that is that we weren't speaking to the issues that the middle of the electorate  those in many cases are people who are maybe independent in terms of their registration, or moderates in either party  we've got to talk to those people."

The concerns? Affordable education that's "informed by and aligned with their values and their principles," a "lighter touch" in tax and regulatory policy, and the cost of energy to address the needs of the American people. A less locally discussed issue, Thune said, is the southern border.

"Our southern border is a national security issue. I just think that this administration has been completely missing-in-action when it comes to address what is a crisis by any objective metric," he said.

Thune isn't the only South Dakota lawmaker putting an emphasis on southern security, with Rep. Dusty Johnson and Governor Kristi Noem both reiterating the need for control of the situation.

He's been a proponent of expanding broadband infrastructure, introducing the Rural Internet Improvement Act in December. South Dakota's rural setting and the ever-increasing need for technology-based agriculture propelled the issue up the Senator's priority list.

The Farm Bill is already a major focus for legislators nationwide, but particularly for Thune and Johnson, who regularly campaigned on its importance for South Dakotans. Making sure the crop insurance provision is strong is the cornerstone of the farm bill, Thune said.

"Maintaining that; that is the basic safety net in agriculture," he said. "In the commodity title, there are other programs that are accessed  Agricultural Risk Coverage Program, Price Loss Coverage Program  that farmers have access to."

Thune said they also have ideas to help modernize the bill's conservation title and provisions for disasters as well. For more than a year, Thune and colleagues across the aisle have worked on mandatory country of origin labeling, introducing the American Beef Labeling Act in September 2021. He believes the solution is long overdue, but there is a way for it to be drafted in compliance with World Trade Organization requirements.

"That would get a provision in place once and for all that allows people in this country to know where their meat is coming from," Thune said. "And it allows our producers to be able to differentiate their products from those that are raised in other places around the world."

The Farm Bill is always a back-and-forth process, with a battle between different regions and commodities groups vying for limited resources. Any shift in the allocation of one title has to come from another, but Thune said the goal is divvying those in a way that optimizes farmers' ability to be successful.

"It's not just Republican [or] Democrat, it's east [and] west. A lot of these things have regional implications," he said.

A narrow majority in the House, Thune said, may make passage of a Farm Bill even more challenging, as will a static baseline for funding, which he expects will be the case.

During a half-hour press call with media statewide, Sen. Thune also explained his yes vote on the omnibus bill, a $1.7 trillion piece of legislation to fund the government, by saying each legislator has to evaluate it as whether it's the best deal they can get or not. He firmly disagreed with colleagues who called for a continuing resolution.

"I can tell you that a continuing resolution is absolutely detrimental and really guts the military, because it freezes spending at last year's level," Thune said.

Military and defense spending is a major deal for South Dakota, with millions invested in the B-21 Raider bomber mission coming to Ellsworth mid-decade. Whether on defense or another topic, omnibus bills fundamentally require priorities from both sides, even if there are things you might not like, Thune said. He said the need for the vote is a testament to the "incompetence and dysfunction" of the Democratic Party, because it wasn't dealt with earlier in the year, so by the time it got to them, they had to play the hand they were dealt.
Sales and advertising veteran Ken Henry has joined the Richmond Times-Dispatch as vice president of advertising.

Henry, comes from Fort Worth, Texas, where he was a vice president of advertising for the Star-Telegram, a McClatchy Media-owned newspaper.

Henry, 57, has been a leader in building strategies for growing and transitioning traditional advertising onto modern digital platforms, as well as diversifying the products and services offered by his respective companies.

We are thrilled to have Ken join our team. He is an extraordinary leader, Kelly Till, publisher of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, said. Kens deep experience of sales leadership, digital media sales and alignment with our passion for providing unparalleled client results make him the perfect leader to help drive our growth into the future.

Henrys experience in the industry has spanned across circulation, marketing and advertising departments, including a focus on digital advertising for the past 21 years. His 30-year career also includes working for Forum Communications, Advance Media NY, Gatehouse Media and Gannett. The Times-Dispatch is owned by Lee Enterprises.

In his new role, Henry will work with other Lee markets in Virginia. His first day was Jan. 1.

Henry has been an active community member in various advisory board committees, including the 4-H Youth Development of Fort Worth and the board of directors for The Rochester Construction & Training Center in Rochester, New York.

I plan to join chambers and other community-based organizations to connect with people and businesses in the market, Henry said. I will spend time in the field meeting our advertising partners and learning about their goals and objectives as business owners. Ill also seek nonprofit organizations to partner with, and local boards to join.

Henry attended the University of Connecticut and Monmouth University, where he majored in business management.

He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Carla, for 35 years and has a daughter, Carneisha, and a son, Kenneth Jr. In their spare time, Henry and Carla love fishing.

$2.78 million Windsor Farms home tops list of Richmond area home sales for December 1) $2,780,000 2) $2,695,500 3) $2,400,000 4) $2,250,000 4) $2,250,000 6) $1,795,000 7) $1,610,000 8) $1,545,000 9) $1,540,000 10) $1,375,000
When James Roehrick  managing partner of the new Torchys Tacos in Short Pump (11120 W. Broad St.)  goes on vacation, he leaves his Torchys apparel at home.

When I was in Denver, four or five people were stopping me in the street a day, asking if Torchys was coming to their city, he said. It really has a cult following.

The taco chain started in Austin, Texas, in 2006 when Mike Rypka, who grew up in Virginia, started slinging his distinctive take on tacos from a food trailer. Today, Torchys Tacos has more than 100 locations in 14 states. Three are finally coming to Richmond this year, starting with the Short Pump location, which opens this week. Torchys Tacos Carytown (3510 W. Cary St., Suite C110) is slated to open on Feb. 1, and a Chesterfield location (1315 Huguenot Road) is set for summer of 2023.

The Short Pump location officially opens Wednesday at 10 a.m., and the first 100 customers in line get a limited-edition T-shirt that entitles them to a free order of green chile queso every day for a year.

People usually start to line up around 2 a.m. the night before, local store marketing manager Cassie Fitzgerald said.

So, why the queso craze? For starters, its made fresh daily, starting with between 300 and 400 pounds of tomatoes that are roasted each morning, then turned into the tangy roja salsa thats the base for the cheesy dip. When you get your order, its finished with a dollop of guacamole, a sprinkle of Cotija cheese, chopped cilantro and a drizzle of spicy diablo hot sauce.

You sacrifice your first chip to stir it all together, market partner Dave Fitzgerald said.

The result is a creamy concoction with a little heat, a citrus-cilantro bite and a deeper depth of flavor than your typical cheese dip.

That roja salsa is also popular on its own, but because it is made in-house, dont expect flavor like salsa from a jar. The flavor changes every couple of weeks based on the peppers we get, Roehrick said. The recipe doesnt change, but the flavor is different.

Torchys opens at 10 a.m. on weekdays and at 9 a.m. on weekends, but the staff arrives at 6 a.m. every day to start prepping. Meats are trimmed in-house, marinated for 24 hours and rested before slicing. Cheeses are grated in-house for maximum flavor. Whether you choose flour or corn, the tortillas are made fresh as well.

So, what else should you order? The biggest menu section at Torchys is Damn Good Tacos. We started with The Trailer Park, which is the first taco Rypka created and features fried chicken, green chile peppers, lettuce, cheddar-jack cheese and pico de gallo on a flour tortilla. We tried it Trashy style, which means skipping the lettuce and adding queso  the creamy, crunchy, cheesy combination was definitely satisfying.

The Tipsy Chick with marinated grilled chicken, spinach, grilled corn, green chiles, cheddar cheese and chipotle sauce served on a flour tortilla with a side of bacon jam was a monthly special taco that was so frequently requested by Taco Junkies (the name given by the company to super fans who follow the tacos around the country) it became a regular menu item.

For a non-meat eaters, the fried avocado taco combines the creamy fruit with refried beans, pico de gallo, cheddar-jack cheese and lettuce and is served on a corn tortilla. Theres also a vegan Mofaux taco featuring cowboy-style Beyond Beef.

Feeling extra hungry? Ask a staff member to see the secret menu and order an Ace of Spades. Its two flour tortillas topped with grilled jalapeno-cheddar sausage, smoked beef brisket, fried egg, green chile queso, Cotija cheese, cheddar-jack cheese, sour cream and cilantro.

To go with the morning opening hours, Torchys also serves breakfast tacos all day long. Scrambled eggs can be combined with various proteins. The Ranch Hand made with eggs, tender marinated grilled beef, cheese and diablo sauce is a hearty, satisfying day starter.

Non-taco options include burritos, salads and sides like street corn. Lil Nookies made with chocolate-chip cookie dough crusted with corn flakes, fried and dusted with powdered sugar are available in orders of one, three or 13 for dessert.

Dining at Torchys is what the management team calls craft casual. You place your order at the counter and receive a pager that connects to technology at your table and tells the team where to bring your order. We like to interact with the customers, Fitzgerald said. During our meal, staffers stopped by repeatedly to see if we needed anything or if they could remove table trash.

Each Torchys restaurant also has a full bar  you can sit at the bar or at four tables near it for full dining service from the bartender. Speaking of the bar, the house margarita is made with freshly squeezed lime juice and is available frozen or on the rocks. Torchys Paloma features tequila thats infused in-house. All Virginia locations serve a Devils Juice cocktail made with Cirrus Jala-Pina infused vodka, guava, house sour mix and a Tajin rim. Torchys is also partnering with local breweries for special beers.

Whether its locally sourced drinks or giving back, community involvement is an important part of the Torchys model. Proceeds from the Short Pump opening as well as staff tips are being donated to Make-a-Wish Foundation. The Carytown locations opening will support Childrens Hospital of Richmond at VCU. Each location also has its own look and feel: the Short Pump Torchys is clean and modern with a big Damn Good Tacos sign on one wall. The Carytown location will feature graffiti art and murals.

Takeout is available through the Torchys app with delivery coming soon. DoorDash will also be added once the restaurant is fully up and running. Before you go, join the Torchys Taco Junkies Rewards Club and youll get a free order of queso on your visit. As rewards rack up, you can earn additional free menu items as well as Torchys swag.

PHOTOS: Torchy's Tacos
Bon Secours has opened a $16.5 million clinic and office building in Church Hill, fulfilling a promise made to the city of Richmond 10 years ago.

The nonprofit health system held a ribbon cutting Tuesday for the East End Medical Office Building. Its leaders acknowledged the delay but declined to address why it took so long.

Construction finished just days before a city-imposed deadline.

In addition to debuting the new facility, Bon Secours announced a three-year plan for improving health care in the East End. Its ideas include constructing a new urgent care center and replenishing some medical services on an outpatient basis, including cardiology and OB/GYN.

Cynthia Newbille, a Richmond City Council member, said she would have liked the building to have been completed sooner. But she was happy to see the East End receive a major health resource.

She thanked Bon Secours for keeping your word.

Bon Secours came under scrutiny last year following a number of news articles revealing how the health system uses Richmond Community Hospital in Church Hill to save money on drug costs through a government discount. At the same time, the health system delayed construction on the East End building, removed doctors from Richmond Community and proceeded with the expansion of hospitals in wealthier parts of town.

The agreement between the city and Bon Secours came in 2013. Richmond gave Bon Secours control of the valuable Westhampton School site in the citys West End, near St. Marys Hospital. The health system received favorable terms  a 60-year lease at a cost of $5,000 per year.

In exchange, Bon Secours agreed to construct a building in the East End, bringing jobs and health care services to a low-income neighborhood.

Bon Secours was quick to act on the Westhampton site. The block now features an apartment complex with a pool and one-bedroom units that cost $1,700 a month.

But progress on the East End site took longer. Construction started in early 2022, and on Dec. 28, Bon Secours received a certificate of occupancy. It was just three days before the construction deadline set by the city. The contract originally called for an earlier deadline, but the city agreed to an extension.

Bryan Lee, president of Richmond Community Hospital, said the medical office building should have been completed faster, but he declined to say why.

Ill be the first to acknowledge this project should have happened sooner, he said. Theres a lot of reasons that Im not going to get into today.

A two-story, 25,000-square-foot structure, the East End Medical Office Building will house 147 employees working in hospice, home health, behavioral health and a wellness clinic. It is across the street from Richmond Community Hospital on Nine Mile Road.

The wellness clinic, which includes three exam rooms, will provide vaccines, health screenings and health education. The behavioral health center will treat outpatients with ailments such as anxiety, depression and substance abuse. Theres space for up to 35 patients who can participate in group, one-on-one, art and music therapy.

The services offered at the clinic dont include detox or addiction recovery. Joey Trapani, chief operating officer for Richmond Community, said the treatment will be complementary to traditional substance abuse rehabilitation.

Baskervill served as the projects architect. Gilbane was the general contractor, and Davis Brothers was the construction contractor.

In addition to cutting the ribbon on the new building, Bon Secours announced a general plan for improving health in the East End during the next three years.

The system intends to build an urgent care center  a facility that provides care for illnesses and injuries that dont require treatment in an emergency room. It also plans to increase coverage of oncology, cardiology, general surgery and other specialties on an outpatient basis.

Bon Secours said it will add care in other specialties, including gastroenterology and pulmonary medicine, and it will bring back OB/GYN services on an outpatient basis.

It also will install a new MRI. When the last one broke, it wasnt immediately replaced, former hospital staffers said. The cost of these commitments isnt clear yet, said Mike Lutes, market president of Bon Secours Richmond.

These additions will meet the needs of the community in large measure, said Newbille, the city council member. If more needs arise, shell push for those, too.

Newbille said she was impressed with Bon Secours willingness to meet with community members and listen to their concerns. Several lawmakers expressed consternation about the lack of services at Richmond Community Hospital and the 340B federal government program that allows the health system to save millions of dollars on drug costs after the story appeared in The New York Times.

Improving health outcomes for East End residents is a top priority for Newbille  life expectancy is lower in Church Hill than other Richmond neighborhoods, according to a Virginia Commonwealth University study.

This isnt just some exercise, she said. This is about lives and well-being.

Mayor Levar Stoney has not yet reviewed the new commitment made by the health system but wants to ensure Bon Secours equitably invests in the East End, said Jim Nolan, a spokesperson for the mayor.

Minutes before the ribbon-cutting, a group of Richmond Democrats issued a news release calling for Bon Secours to reinvest 100% of its profits from the 340B program.

Local Democrats are united in our call for accountability from Bon Secours, said group member Tom Barbour. We will not stand idly by as communities of color are pillaged by corporate greed.

Lutes, the Bon Secours president, said that the savings achieved on the Richmond Community campus stay in the East End. But those savings are just a small percentage of the total 340B savings in the health systems Richmond market.

News reports on the hospitals use of the 340B program spawned the creation of a civic organization, the Richmond Coalition for Health Equity. The group has petitioned Bon Secours with a list of demands. Those include hiring locally, reopening closed services and disclosing how it uses its 340B profits according to American Health Association stewardship principles.

Barbour was critical of Bon Secours ribbon-cutting, saying it missed the point the coalition raised.

The step they took today was more performative than anything else. It was completing a project that should have been completed a number of years ago, Barbour said.

Barbour described the new office space as a drop in the bucket as compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars in profits Bon Secours Mercy Health has been reaping on the backs of poor patients and poor communities surrounding Richmond Community Hospital.

He added: They dont understand whats wrong; they dont understand yet how upset the community is about this.
A Richmond man who was scheduled to be sentenced Monday for a January 2022 murder had his case dismissed instead, after his sudden death at the Richmond Jail last month halted any further action against him.

Vance Holloway, 39, pleaded guilty Oct. 26 in Richmond Circuit Court to first-degree murder in the shooting death of Vernon Pope Jr., 51, inside his Belt Atlantic apartment on Jan. 29, 2022.

Six weeks later, on Dec. 12, Holloway died inside the Richmond Jail while awaiting sentencing. He was one of three inmates to die last year at the facility, which has come under scrutiny for the deaths and other issues.

The case against Holloway was not dismissed on the merits of the case, said Richmond Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Michael Hollomon.

Rather, it was dismissed because a prosecution of any defendant is not final until the defendant is sentenced, Hollomon said. In this case, the court could not move forward to a final judgment on the case due to the defendants death. Given that a prosecution is not final until a sentence has been imposed, the court had no option other than to abate the prosecution.

Speaker Gilbert: With chambers split, no movement on abortion likely "I would be very surprised if anything of substance comes out of this General assembly on abortion," Gilbert said.

According to the prosecutions factual summary of the case, Holloway and Pope were inside Popes apartment at the Belt Atlantic complex on Jan. 29, 2022.

Although the two men had been friends for a number of years, a brief argument and struggle occurred inside the apartment between them, with Pope demanding that Holloway leave the premises.

During the struggle, Holloway pulled out a semiautomatic pistol and fired five shots at Pope, striking him several times. Holloway immediately left the residence and fled the complex.

The argument and shooting was witnessed by another occupant of the apartment who reported it to police after they arrived. Pope died as a result of the gunshot wounds.

Richmond Jail, also known as the Richmond City Justice Center, has come under criticism for a string of assaults on deputies, inmate deaths and concerns about the volume of illicit contraband confiscated inside the facility.

One inmate, Dantron Lamarco Harris, died of a drug overdose in March. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed the presence of fentanyl in Harris system as part of his autopsy.

Two other inmates, Nina Hill and Holloway, died at the facility on Nov. 14 and Dec. 12, respectively. The cause and manner of their deaths have yet to be confirmed by the medical examiners office.

From the archives: 65 photos of Richmond in the 1930s
A trade delegation, composed of over 30 representatives from foreign trade enterprises and government in northeast China's Jilin Province, has recently departed for Russia to expand business opportunities there.

The delegation will spend approximately 10 days carrying out economic and trade negotiations and investment promotion activities with Russian industry associations and enterprises in fields such as coal, seafood, agricultural products, auto parts and cross-border e-commerce.

Li Zhuang, an official with the Jilin provincial department of commerce, said the economic and trade activities will help Jilin's enterprises deepen cooperation with their Russian peers, and export high-quality specialty products to the Russian market.

From January to November 2022, Jilin's trade volume with Russia increased by 74 percent year on year.

Over the past month, Jilin has sent several economic and trade delegations to the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and other countries to attract more business orders and foreign investment to the province.
Police say the 6-year-old student who shot his teacher Friday at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News used a 9 mm firearm that belonged to the childs mother.

Officers said Abby Zwerner was teaching a lesson when the student pointed the firearm at her and fired one round. Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said Zwerner took a defensive position, bringing a hand up to protect herself. The bullet entered her hand, went out the other side, then entered her upper chest.

Zwerner is in stable condition at Riverside Regional Medical Center. Drew said she asked about her students both times he went to see her.

Drew said that after she was shot, Zwerner was able to get all her students out of the classroom. They are seen running out of the class on security footage, and she is the last one to run out of the room.

I believe that Ms. Zwerner, Abigail, she saved lives on Friday, Drew said.

Between 16 and 20 students were believed to be in the classroom at the time, Drew said. The firearm used was legally purchased by the childs mother in York County, he said. Police are still working to determine how the firearm was secured in the home and how the child got ahold of it.

The child was evaluated at a mental health facility and is currently being treated.

The school is closed until Friday. A virtual town hall is planned at 6:30 p.m. Thursday for families to engage and share with division leaders as they plan for a return to school.

Police have declined to describe what led to the altercation or any other details about what happened in the classroom, citing the ongoing investigation.

Virginia law does not allow 6-year-olds to be tried as adults. In addition, a 6-year-old is too young to be committed to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice if found guilty. Authorities have not specified where the boy was being held.

On Monday morning, several parents, grandparents and community members gathered with a local pastor in an open patch of grass outside the school.

Among them was parent Eric Billet, who said each of his three children in the Newport News school system, two of whom go to Richneck, has reacted differently to the shooting.

Billets son who is in middle school has raised concerns about school security, telling his dad that he felt safer at theme parks, which the boy argued had better security than his school. His second-grade son is doing better, Billet said, fist-bumping a police officer on his way out of school Friday.

His daughter, a fourth-grader, has had nightmares every night, Billet said.

But at the same time, he said, she was also disappointed she couldnt go to school this week.

29 photos from The Times-Dispatch archives
A portion of a Civil War battlefield east of Richmond where U.S. Colored Troops gained a famous victory has been purchased for preservation by the Capital Region Land Conservancy, the nonprofit announced Monday.

CRLC closed on the purchase of more than 49 acres containing a stretch of Civil War earthworks that was captured by the Union soldiers on Sept. 29, 1864, during the Battle of New Market Heights. For their valor, 14 U.S. Colored Troops were awarded the Medal of Honor, the nations highest military honor.

The site lies east of Interstate 295 and south of Route 5 and had been owned by the family of Frederic Albert Dabney, who purchased the property in 1937. Funding for the acquisition was made possible through a $600,000 grant from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation. The grant will be used to match a National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant that CRLC has applied for through the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Both grants require that the Virginia Department of Historic Resources hold a conservation easement on the property to preserve the cultural landscape of the battlefield.

In 2022, 28 acres at nearby Four Mile Creek Farm were donated to the Capital Region Land Conservancy.

Preservation Virginia listed New Market Heights Battlefield among Virginias most endangered historic places in 2021.

The National Park Service has plans for a New Market Heights unit of the Richmond National Battlefield Park, but has not yet secured enough land to provide meaningful public access and interpretation of the site, according to a CRLC news release. With the most recent land acquisition, more than 300 acres of the approximately 2,000 acres of core battlefield are owned by CRLC, Henrico County and the American Battlefield Trust. Private landowners own the rest.

CRLC is a nonprofit that seeks to conserve and protect natural and historic land and water resources of Virginias capital region for the benefit of current and future generations.

From the Archives: Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department Firefighters Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department Richmond Fire Department
The biggest chunk of Dominion Energy power bills, essentially untouched since Virginia re-regulated electric monopolies in 2007, could be headed down as legislators, and the company itself, call for tighter regulation.

Dominion, which for years has convinced the General Assembly to limit State Corporation Commission oversight, has proposed a sweeping, 24-page revision of state utility regulation that would return some power to regulators and give ratepayers some immediate relief.

It includes, among several other things, returning to the SCC the power to determine if Dominions base rates are too high.

Thats the key to a simpler, one-sentence bill proposed by a long-standing critic of those Dominion efforts, Del. Lee Ware, R-Powhatan, and Del. Rip Sullivan, D-Fairfax, who sponsored the law requiring Dominion net zero carbon emissions by 2045.

Because base rates, which now account for 51% of a Dominion bill, havent changed since 2007, they overstate the value of older Dominion assets, the utilitys critics say.

That matters because Dominions rates are supposed to generate no more than a set percentage, currently 9.35%, of that value.

Dominion, meanwhile, recovers costs of newer facilities and programs, along with a capped profit, from a series of 24 surcharges, called riders or rate adjustment clauses.

The companys bill says some of these should be incorporated into base rates, and that the SCC should have the power in the future to move others into base rates.

Dominion says doing that would bring Virginians electric bills down about $5 to $7 for a home using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month, compared with where the bill would otherwise be under the current law. That relief would take effect this summer.

Dominions riders now account for nearly $31 of a typical $137 a month Dominion bill for 1,000 kilowatt hours.

Since the General Assembly formally froze Dominions base rates in 2017, riders have fueled much of an increase in a 1,000 kilowatt hour bill, which rose from $109 a month in that year.

Dominions measure, sponsored by House Majority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, would also set a higher benchmark for the monopoly power companys permitted profit rate. Kilgore, former chair of what was then the House Commerce and Labor Committee, in the past shepherded several Dominion-backed regulatory bills that limited SCC powers.

Dominion has complained that its permitted profit margin is the lowest in the Southeast and makes it hard for the company to convince investors to put their money in the company.

The proposed legislation would provide significant and ongoing rate relief to our customers, said Dominion spokesman Aaron Ruby.

It would provide strong state regulatory oversight, he said.

Ware said that while his bill, like the part of Dominions bill that empowered SCC review of base rates, should prevent any overcharging of ratepayers, the impact of other parts of Dominions bill arent clear.

Dominions proposal for a new benchmark for its profit margin would likely keep rates high, said state Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, who supports the Ware and Sullivan bill.

The impact of rolling riders into base rates is also unclear, she said.

When was the last time you saw a one-sentence energy bill, Sullivan said, saying the measure he and Ware sponsored will save Virginians money while preserving utilities ability to cover costs and earn a fair profit.

SCC studies since 2009 calculated that Dominions overcharges of its customers exceed $1.9 billion.

Meanwhile, other legislators are also taking aim at Dominion rates.

Del. Tony Wilt, R-Rockingham, Del. Israel OQuinn, R-Washington County, and state Sen. Frank Ruff, R-Mecklenburg, want to give the SCC power to rein in utilities use of those surcharges, called riders or rate adjustment clauses.

And Gov. Glenn Youngkin has suggested he wants to see more focus on holding down Virginians electric bills.
It looked like an easy solution to the politically contentious decision to elect a member to the State Corporation Commission.

Instead of one seat to fill on the powerful independent body, the General Assembly would have two, thanks to Judge Judy Jagdmanns decision to retire at the end of December, a year before her term expires. Republicans in the House of Delegates and Democrats in the Senate each would have the opportunity to choose a candidate to fill empty seats on the three-member commission.

But assembly leaders are stuck on how to make the terms equal for the two seats, with one scheduled to expire in a year and the other in five years, and its possible that Gov. Glenn Youngkin will have a say in who is elected to a quasi-judicial commission that regulates some of the most vital industries in Virginia.

I would say this is a priority of everyone here, including the governor, to get these seats filled, said Dean Goodson, chief of staff to House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah.

The SCC regulates Virginias investor-owned electric and natural gas utilities, as well as insurance and financial institutions, and oversees the creation of corporations and other entities doing business in the state. The commissions role in administering state energy policy will be a foremost concern as the assembly convenes on Wednesday for a legislative session with the issue near the top of its agenda.

Its not clear yet what Youngkin could do, other than mediate, said Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, who calls the SCC the most powerful institution nobody has heard of.

Youngkin doesnt seem eager to publicly intervene.

The General Assembly has a constitutional responsibility to appoint them, and the governor looks forward to their work on this important matter, spokesperson Macaulay Porter said Tuesday.

House Majority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, and Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, who also chairs the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, say its too soon to discuss names of potential candidates for the slots because the legislature has to decide how to equalize the value of the open seats.

Its going to be tough, said Kilgore, former chairman of whats known now as the House Commerce and Energy Committee, which has jurisdiction over companies that the SCC regulates.

Virginia enshrined the SCC in the state constitution in 1902 as an independent body as a way to overcome the political dominance of railroad companies in the legislature. But the constitution gives the assembly authority to elect up to five members of the commission, each to six-year terms.

The legislature can amend state code sections related to the election of commissioners, but cannot legally bind a future General Assembly to re-elect someone that it elects this year. Jagdmanns term would end early next year, after a newly elected assembly takes office.

If we work a deal out, were going to have to sign a blood oath, I guess, that next year we wont take anybody off, Kilgore said. I think thats the only way that a deal can work.

The assemblys track record makes such a pledge tenuous. In 2020, newly empowered Democrats declined to re-elect Judge Patricia West from the SCC a year after Republicans installed her to serve the unexpired term of Judge James Dimitri, who had retired a year earlier. The assembly replaced her with Judge Jehmal Hudson, the first Black elected to the commission, who is the only remaining member.

Last year, after Republicans took control of the House, they refused to re-elect Judge Angela Navarro, a former official in the administration of Gov. Ralph Northam, who had replaced Judge Mark Christie after he left in 2021 to join the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Without an enforceable pledge, Kilgore said, the assembly will have to determine what we can do to even [the lengths of the two terms] out.

The House, Senate and, possibly, the governor will be involved in finding a solution, he said. Id say everybody is interested in it.
Its been a hard year for Dominion Energy. Its stock price has plummeted to its lowest level in years. Its CEO, Bob Blue, has announced a strategic reassessment of the iconic power company covering every line of business, but so far its been mostly silence. The company is not yet adjusting to a brave new world in which the energy sector is being constantly disrupted and profits arise from technological gain, not monopolistic position.

Whither Virginias most powerful corporate citizen, the quintessential Big Boy of Virginia business?

For generations, Dominion held sway in the commonwealth, first as the eponymous Virginia Power and then as Dominion Resources, the Richmond-based mega-company with energy assets up and down the East Coast. During this era, Dominion, always reliant on its Virginia rate base, could count on the General Assembly to rubber stamp its legislative priorities: deregulation in the late 1990s, followed by re-reg a few years later, then culminating in the rate freeze bill of 2015 that locked in bloated base rates with no oversight from the State Corporation Commission.

That era is ending. A new generation in the General Assembly does not regard Dominion Energy as an infallible pontiff whose proclamations must become law. More pertinently, the very nature of a public utility is changing. Simply maintaining the same base rate for customers is not a win; rather, utilities are expected to accelerate both efficiency and interconnectivity with private sources.

The era of the public utility calling its own shots is coming to an end.

Does that mean that companies like Dominion are obsolete? Of course not. Dominion owns most of the generation in Virginia and nearly all the transmission infrastructure, which will only grow as electric vehicles become standard in Virginia. It also has an impressive array of human capital, from its engineers to its linemen. It just needs to adapt those assets to a brave new world of competition and innovation.

Here are two humble suggestions:

1. Stop making political donations. For years, Dominion has lavished donations on Virginia lawmakers who crafted its regulatory structure. The obvious conflict of interest has led to a backlash in which all the companys legislative goals, good or bad, are now suspect. There is an easy way to regain this trust  keep advising lawmakers but stop giving them money. My Senate Bill 804 would accomplish that by ending the practice of public utilities donating to state lawmakers.

2. Simplify the law on electric utilities. Over the past two decades, Dominion has made the state code needlessly complicated by sponsoring legislation that created a byzantine structure of exemptions and exceptions, beyond the ken of the most hardened corporate lawyer. It doesnt have to be this way. The code should reflect one simple principle: a public utility must deliver energy, including a defined percentage of renewable energy, at the most reasonable rate possible. Those rates should be reviewed regularly by the State Corporation Commission and excess profits should be returned to customers. Alternatively, Virginia can join a dozen other states in requiring performance-based rates, where utilities are paid to serve customers, not build generation or transmission structures. Again, the key is simplicity  energy rates ought to be explicable to the average consumer, just like any other commodity.

For years, Virginians have been told that Dominion and their executives are the smartest guys in the room, that they must be allowed to write the state code regarding electricity because mere mortals cannot do it. But that is the old way.

Its time for a new direction from Virginias premier corporate citizen. Maybe 2023 will be a year of actual change, not just lip service. Its time to introduce neutrality, simplicity and competition to our power markets in Virginia. Dominion should work with the General Assembly and the governor to make that a reality going forward.

Close 12-28-1980 (cutline): Don Newton watches as studen Steve Nelson (left) gives Barbara Carter a perm. 06-09-1988 (cutline): Here's how--Raymond Lee, a barber for 29years, demonstrates a styling technique to students at his barber and styling school on Hull Street. 09-16-1979: Reporter gets the 'curly' treatment from hairdressers. 08-16-1955 (cutline): Heat waves hit hair wavers--When summer heat hit suberban beauty salons, operators in one of them switched from uniforms to Bermuda shorts and sleeveless blouses such as Miss Marbara Bagby (center) wears. Customers followed suit, as evidenced by Miss Gloria Robinson (left), in short shorts, and Barbara's mother, Mrs. M.T. Bagby, Jr., in regular shorts. 11-21-1976 (cutline): Inside salon owned by Edward Moyer and Jerry Atkins and was located at 105 S. First Street. The salon had a home-like feeling. 11-21-1976 (cutline): Edward Moyer and Jerry Atkins's salon was located at 105 S. First Street. 11-21-1976 (cutline): The salon was owned by Edward Moyer and Jerry Atkins and was located at 105 S. First Street. 11-21-1976 (cutline): Salon's waiting room and reception area have home-like decor. The salon was owned by Edward Moyer and Jerry Atkins and was located at 105 S. First Street. 11-21-1976 (cutline): Salon's waiting room and reception area have home-like decor. The salon was owned by Edward Moyer and Jerry Atkins and was located at 105 S. First Street. 08-01-1967: Dewn Beauty Salon at 2225 Hanover. 02-01-1968: Local beauticians at work. 11-25-1964 (cutline): Electric comb sets, dries. Forget hair dryer, rollers, teasing. 11-25-1964 (cutline): Beautician shows electric comb. Arthur Vornehm with customer. 01-29-1948 (cutline): She gets her hair fixed in an immaculate booth with sterilized instruments. Her operator is as crisp, neat and efficient as a nurse. Members of the Richmond Beauty Technicians' Association claim that all booths will resemble the one on the right if the General Assembly passes a law requiring licensing of cosmetologists. 09-16-1979 (cutline): Hairstylist Brenda Carter gives reporter facial. From the Archives: Barbers and beauty parlors of Richmond Interested in a copy of any of these photos? Click here. 12-28-1980 (cutline): Don Newton watches as studen Steve Nelson (left) gives Barbara Carter a perm. 06-09-1988 (cutline): Here's how--Raymond Lee, a barber for 29years, demonstrates a styling technique to students at his barber and styling school on Hull Street. 09-16-1979: Reporter gets the 'curly' treatment from hairdressers. 08-16-1955 (cutline): Heat waves hit hair wavers--When summer heat hit suberban beauty salons, operators in one of them switched from uniforms to Bermuda shorts and sleeveless blouses such as Miss Marbara Bagby (center) wears. Customers followed suit, as evidenced by Miss Gloria Robinson (left), in short shorts, and Barbara's mother, Mrs. M.T. Bagby, Jr., in regular shorts. 11-21-1976 (cutline): Inside salon owned by Edward Moyer and Jerry Atkins and was located at 105 S. First Street. The salon had a home-like feeling. 11-21-1976 (cutline): Edward Moyer and Jerry Atkins's salon was located at 105 S. First Street. 11-21-1976 (cutline): The salon was owned by Edward Moyer and Jerry Atkins and was located at 105 S. First Street. 11-21-1976 (cutline): Salon's waiting room and reception area have home-like decor. The salon was owned by Edward Moyer and Jerry Atkins and was located at 105 S. First Street. 11-21-1976 (cutline): Salon's waiting room and reception area have home-like decor. The salon was owned by Edward Moyer and Jerry Atkins and was located at 105 S. First Street. 08-01-1967: Dewn Beauty Salon at 2225 Hanover. 02-01-1968: Local beauticians at work. 11-25-1964 (cutline): Electric comb sets, dries. Forget hair dryer, rollers, teasing. 11-25-1964 (cutline): Beautician shows electric comb. Arthur Vornehm with customer. 01-29-1948 (cutline): She gets her hair fixed in an immaculate booth with sterilized instruments. Her operator is as crisp, neat and efficient as a nurse. Members of the Richmond Beauty Technicians' Association claim that all booths will resemble the one on the right if the General Assembly passes a law requiring licensing of cosmetologists. 09-16-1979 (cutline): Hairstylist Brenda Carter gives reporter facial.
Covid-19 booster program starts in Quintana Roo

Chetumal, Q.R.  Anti-covid-19 booster shots for adults are being administered in three municipalities of the state. The booster shot program began Monday. The Government of Mexico is administering the Cuban Abdala vaccine to those over the age of 18, including the elderly over the age of 60.

The state of Quintana Roo will be offering the boosters for five days. From January 9 to 13, vaccination campaigns continue for the population aged 18 and over in Jose Maria Morelos, Felipe Carrillo Puerto and Chetumal, government of Quintana Roo health officials announced.

The booster program is aimed at adults who have not received a full first and second vaccination dose. The program will be expanded to other municipalities in the state in coming weeks.

The Cuban vaccine began arriving at the Mexico City International Airport toward the end of 2022. More than 5 million doses arrived at the end of December, meant for distribution around the country as covid-19 figures begin to increase.
Fugitive on FBIs top 10 Most Wanted captured in Nuevo Leon

Monterrey, Nuevo Leon  A fugitive on the FBIs Most Wanted top10 list has been captured in the state of Nuevo Leon. The Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) announced the arrest of Jose V in the northern city of Monterrey.

He has been wanted by American authorities for interstate stalking and criminal association to commit homicide. Jose V, who goes by the alias El Gato, was captured in a joint effort between several Mexican government and state law enforcement agencies.

However, it was the State Investigation Agency of Nuevo Leon that fulfilled the outstanding arrest warrant against Jose V, who is currently being held in the South Prison of Mexico City until his subsequent extradition to the United States.

Jose V was a Beltran Leyva cartel lieutenant who has been wanted by both Mexican and American law enforcement since 2018. He is also accused of the murder of a 43-year-old American man from Southlake, Texas in May of 2013.
INM holds meeting with US Border Patrol to discuss migrant flow

Mexico City, Mexico  A meeting between the INM and American Border Patrol was held to join efforts in favor of migrants along the common border. The meeting was held within the framework of the X Summit of North American Leaders being held in Mexico City.

The commissioner of the National Institute of Migration (INM), Francisco Garduno Yanez, met with authorities of the Border Patrol of the Office of Customs and Border Protection of the United States to endorse the commitment by safeguarding the rights of migrants who enter and transit through Mexican territory.

The leaders of Mexico, the United States and Canada will address, between other topics, the migratory impact in this region.

Commissioner Francisco Garduno stated before the Border Patrol authorities that the INM will maintain communication, collaboration, and coordination of efforts, following the precepts of Mexican legislation and international standards.

This, he specified, implies guaranteeing a safe, orderly and regular migration with a humanitarian vision and the protection of the rights of people in a context of mobility, regardless of their nationality, social, political or economic condition.

He considered that given the vulnerability of those who arrive and are concentrated on the border of both nations, aggravated by the climatic factor, it is imperative to double the actions on both sides of the Rio Grande to reaffirm governability and migratory governance.

The flow of migrants through Mexico to the U.S. is a topic both President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Joe Biden have agreed to discuss during the X Summit.
Man rushed to hospital after suicide attempt inside Cancun International

Cancun, Q.R.  A man was rushed to hospital from Cancun International Monday after a suicide attempt inside the airport. According to preliminary information, the man was in the area of a national airline ticket counter when he suddenly pulled out a pair of scissors and stabbed himself in the neck.

According to others in the lineup to buy tickets, he instantly fell to the floor. People from inside ticket area attempted to help him. One person applied CPR, but the man lay bleeding and unresponsive.

An ambulance was called and the unidentified man, rushed to Cancun hospital. The man is said to be from Puebla. The updated condition of his health status is not known.
Riviera Maya highway could be next traffic nightmare

Playa del Carmen, Q.R.  Additional highway congestion could be expected sometime this year with the rehabilitation of the road between Cancun and PDC. On Sunday, Governor Mara Lezama made mention of the likeliness of an overhaul project that would see the Riviera Maya highway repaired.

Lezama reported that the federal government has gradually guaranteed the rehabilitation of that section of federal highway, the section that passes through Riviera Maya.

She specified that it is the same areas of highway that has suffered wear and tear, the development of sinkholes and hurricane damage as well as damage due to the Maya Train project.

Mara Lezama met with the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation in Mexico City January 8, 2023.

I have talked with the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation. I brought it to the table with the President of the Republic and there will be an overhaul. We are talking about the work to be done and also the issue of the train and the wear and tear of the road itself, she said.

We are talking, not just with the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation, but also with Civil Protection since it is an issue with them and of course, we are going to work to gradually achieve highway rehabilitation, she added.

Mara Lezama indicated that among the proposals that have been delivered to the President of Mexico, one is the improvement of the Riviera Maya section of federal highway, which has been accepted within the various projects being carried out in the state.
You are here: Business

Indonesian Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said on Monday that the Southeast Asian country is ready to welcome Chinese tourists following China's optimized COVID-19 strategy.

"We are ready to welcome Chinese tourists with a red carpet," Uno said at a weekly news briefing in the country's capital Jakarta.

"We just need to follow our CHSE (cleanliness, health, safety and environment sustainability) standard just like what we have been doing all this time," he said.

Uno said before the pandemic, China had always topped the list of the number of tourists coming to the country's tourist destinations.

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) recorded 2.07 million Chinese tourist arrivals in 2019. However, since the outbreak of the pandemic, the number has drastically dropped, with only 94,924 Chinese tourists coming to Indonesia during January-October 2022.

This year, Uno said, Indonesia expects at least 253,000 Chinese tourists to visit the country.
Trudeau arrives in Mexico City for X Summit meeting

Mexico City, Mexico  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau landed at the the Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA) Monday afternoon. He was met by Mexicos President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon.

Trudeau arrived with his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, who received a bouquet of flowers from Beatriz Gutierrez Muller, the Presidents wife.

The Canadian Prime Minister arrived to participate in the X Summit of North American Leaders. At 6:00 p.m. they shared a dinner at the National Palace in Mexico City.

Meeting between Biden and Lopez Obrador at the National Palace in Mexico City November 9, 2023.

On Monday, the White House issued a statement noting that both Mexico and the US held a meeting earlier in the day where they reviewed security cooperation under the Bicentennial Framework for Safety, Public Health and Secure Communities.

The leaders also discussed greater cooperation to prosecute drug traffickers and dismantle criminal networks, disrupt the supply of illicit chemical precursors used to make fentanyl, shut down drug labs, and prevent trafficking in drugs, weapons, and people, through the shared border.

Biden and Lopez Obrador reaffirmed their commitment to implement  innovative approaches to address irregular migration, in accordance with the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, according to the Washington statement.

Before the arrival of Trudeau, Lopez Obrador and Biden talked about the recent announcement to grant 30,000 humanitarian visas to Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans and to expel people who cross the border irregularly to Mexico. Both endorsed the commitment to address the root causes of migration.

The White House reported that the presidents discussed the violent protests in Brazil and reiterated that the free will of the Brazilian people and their democracy is supported by the United States and Mexico, referring to the recent violent acts by followers of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Biden and Lopez Obrador met early Monday since Biden arrived the night before. However, all three North American leaders will meet again Tuesday to continue talks.
A Democratic candidate will run for an open seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, joining two Republicans.

Blacksburg resident Lily Franklin announced she is launching her campaign this week for Virginias 41st House District. Its a new district for the November election, covering eastern Montgomery County and western Roanoke County, with no current incumbent.

My SWVA roots go deep, Franklin said on her campaign website. I can put a proven record, established contacts, and an in-depth knowledge of the inner workings of our Commonwealths government to work for SWVA in the newly created district.

Franklin has a campaign kickoff event set for Saturday in Catawba.

Franklin, 28, is former chief of staff for Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke. She is a graduate of Northside High School in Roanoke County, and Longwood University in Farmville.

I know the problems we face in SWVA because I live here, Franklin said on her website. I can bring concrete solutions to these problems from Richmond because Ive worked there.

Republicans Chris Obenshain, who announced in April 2022, and Lowell Bowman are also declared running for the district. Details on a Republican primary election process have not yet been publicized. If a districtwide primary is chosen, the date chosen for those is June 20.

Obenshain is a prosecutor in Montgomery County, and cousin of Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham. Bowman, who owns several businesses and also farms, ran for state House previously in 2021, losing to Del. Marie March, R-Floyd, in a Republican primary.

Winner of the election in November will serve a two-year term in the House of Delegates. The General Assembly convenes Wednesday for the 2023 lawmaking session.
The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors elected Martha Hooker as its new chair for 2023, with 2022 Chair Paul Mahoney now serving as the vice chair.

The votes were unanimous at Tuesdays annual reorganization portion of the meeting, which takes place at the first meeting of each calendar year.

Hooker is serving her second term as chair since being elected to the board in 2015.

She ran the five-person governing body in 2018 and served as the vice chair in 2017 and 2019, according to the countys website.

Mahoney was elected to the board in 2019, but served as its attorney for many years before retiring from the county.

Salem also elected its leadership for the next two years on Monday evening, with Mayor Renee Turk and Vice Mayor Jim Wallace retaining those positions, according to Salem spokesman Mike Stevens.

Turk and Wallace won back their positions after a 3-2 vote on both accounts, with Councilman Randy Foley nominating Councilman Bill Jones to serve as both mayor and vice mayor, falling one vote short on each nomination.

Turk and Wallace each voted for themselves and one another for the roles, with new member Hunter Holliday casting the deciding vote each time, according to Stevens.

Turk was the first woman in Salems history to have the title when she was first elected in 2020, also her first term on council.

Wallace was also elected vice mayor his first term on council in 2020.

Some localities elect its mayor in a separate race from the rest of council, but in Salem candidates run for a seat on the five-person council and every two years a new mayor and vice mayor are elected by its members.

Jones and Foley were not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon.
The first week of 2023 served up a double-dose of Republican spectacle, both across the country and here in Southwest Virginia.

The first occurred in Washington, D.C., as one faction of pro-Trump Republicans battled other Trumper Republicans over who should lead the House of Representatives. The fight for House Speaker concluded after 15 rounds of voting and lots of GOP backbiting.

Somewhat fittingly, the 14th ballot featured a near-assault by one GOPer upon another.

The other Republican spectacle happened closer to home, in a Wythe County courtroom. There, Del. Marie March, a restaurateur from Floyd, squared off against Del. Wren Williams, an attorney from Patrick County. Both are pro-Trump Republicans.

March, as you may recall, attended the insurrection-preceding Stop the Steal rally in Washington (but said she skipped the Jan. 6 after-party at the U.S. Capitol).

Williams, meanwhile, has claimed he tried  but failed  to help Trump overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Wisconsin. His efforts werent totally for naught, though, because the Trump campaign was forced to spend $3 million on a partial recount that confirmed Joe Bidens Wisconsin victory.

The two lawmakers used to be party colleagues in the Virginia House of Delegates. But bitter political enemies might be a more appropriate description these days. Decennial redistricting has cast each into the same legislative district. Uncomfortably, one might say.

Theyre now competing for the Republican nomination in Junes primary, and only one can win. Which brings us to what happened after a Republican dinner-dance in Wytheville last September.

March testified Williams grievously and deliberately slammed into her while exiting the event. Williams denied such conduct under oath. But he admitted he accidentally bumped somebody.

It was probably the most dramatic and important criminal trial in the American South since the 1992 Oscar-winning movie My Cousin Vinny. And as in that hilarious case, the defendant prevailed.

Williams clearly was taking no chances on the outcome, though. Rather than defend himself, he hired criminal defense lawyer Jimmy Turk, whos probably the F. Lee Bailey of Southwest Virginia. Over 37 years in practice, Turk has tried more than 70 death-penalty cases, and reckons he has dozens of murder acquittals under his belt.

The trial went on for nearly three hours. After hearing March, Williams and others testify, retired Judge Becky Moore quickly acquitted Williams.

The judge ruled that while it was obvious Williams had bumped March, the evidence he did so intentionally was woefully lacking. And Williams intent was the crux of the case against him.

Standing outside the Wythe County courthouse afterward, Williams looked almost like a young Perry Mason. He sounded almost Trumpian as he declared hed been completely exonerated and that the case was nothing more than a political hit job.

I am grateful Marchs allegations were proven false in court, Williams crowed.

Except, her allegations werent qutte proven false. That little nugget is what you call post-trial spin. The judge actually ruled the commonwealth had failed to prove Marchs allegations were true. Its not necessarily the same.

March, meanwhile, suggested the trial had victimized her all over again

Judges are appointed by politicians and the Swamp is deep, folks, March proclaimed on social media afterward. Our country is in a sad state of affairs.

That Trumpian statement also invites quibbles, when you understand the background to Moore being asked to preside over it. Shes a retired judge who sat on Alexandrias district court. She was brought in after all the jurists in Wythe County smartly recused themselves.

The truth is, no sitting judge in Virginia would have wanted to hear the case, because theyre appointed for specific terms by the General Assembly. Whichever way the trial ended, it was bound to leave at least one of the delegates angry.

And theres a decent chance the angry delegate would later be in a position to squelch the deciding judges reappointment. In other words, a retired judge was brought in precisely so nobody could seriously argue the verdict was politically tainted.

Of course, that didnt stop March from claiming it, anyway. Which is exactly what one might expect from her and Williams political hero.

If theres a bright side to all of the above, its that both in Washington and Wytheville, Trump Republicans have turned on each other and are hurling accusations among themselves. Its making all of them look bad. And ultimately, that could save American democracy.

Its also reminiscent of a May 2016 tweet from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina.

If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed, he tweeted that day. And we will deserve it.

The senator must be clairvoyant.
WAYNESBORO  police are investigating the weekend spray painting of swastikas on a mural at the Waynesboro Family YMCA on South Wayne Avenue.

YMCA Executive Director Jeff Fife said he was notified of the hate crime early Monday morning. Four swastikas were spray painted on a YMCA mural showing a Black father and daughter swimming.

The Y is extremely frustrated and saddened by this act, Fife said in a statement. The mural is not only beautiful and impacting street art  it speaks to the inclusive mission of our organization.

Fife said the swastikas have been covered. He said the YMCA reached out to the original artist who painted the mural, Nils Westergard, and another local painter.

Unfortunately, Westergard is overseas and is not returning until March. But Fife said he was given a complete paint list to do touch-up work.

The Y leader said the Y hopes to have touched up the damaged mural by the end of this week.

The reaction to the hate crime was heard at Monday nights Waynesboro City Council meeting.

Waynesboro Mayor Lana Williams said the council had been told of the incident before the meeting.

Williams said the council is certainly anti-hate, and we want all citizens to know that; we want to foster a community where all citizens feel safe and respected. We will continue to follow the investigation of the incident and comment and act appropriately as more is known.

Waynesboro Vice Mayor Jim Wood said of the act, there is no place for that in our town.

The Waynesboro Police Department has taken a report on what happened, said Police Chief David Shaw.

We are following up on leads, said Shaw. Fife said camera footage from the Y is also being reviewed.

Any person with information is asked to call the police department at (540) 942-6675 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 322-2017.
Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It" is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
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" " Marian Diamond, a professor of anatomy and an expert on the brain, examined Einstein's brain, but her findings about Einstein's glial cells did not hold up to scrutiny. Jerry Telfer/San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images

As the story goes, when Albert Einstein was born, his mother was positively flabbergasted by her son's large and angular head [source: Hayden]. But when Einstein died, his brain was no larger than that of any other man his age. Thomas Harvey weighed it as part of the autopsy, and the organ clocked in at 2.7 pounds (1.22 kilograms) [source: Hotz]. Harvey had the brain photographed, and then the brain was sectioned into approximately 240 pieces and preserved in celloidin, a common technique in the preservation and study of brains [source: Burrell].

Harvey would go on to send small slivers of the brain to doctors and scientists around the world whose work he found intriguing. The hand-picked experts were to report their findings back to Harvey, and then the work would be published so that the world could know what went on inside the brain of a genius.

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Harvey and the world were in for a long wait. Einstein's brain was of a normal size, and he appeared to have a normal number of average-size brain cells. Harvey persevered in his belief that someone would find something, and whenever a reporter tracked the man down, he would say that he was just a year or so away from publishing something. At one point, Harvey was discovered to be living in Kansas while the brain sat in a jar inside an old cider box behind a beer cooler.

Then, in 1985, Harvey finally had something to report. Dr. Marian Diamond, who worked at the University of California at Berkeley, was studying the brain plasticity of rats and had found that rats in more enriching environments had more robust brains. Specifically, the rats had more glial cells in relation to their neurons, and Diamond wanted to see if Einstein's brain would prove similar.

Glial cells cushion and provide nutrients to the much busier neurons, the brain cells that communicate with each other. In some ways, though, glial cells are like the housekeeping service for the neurons. As neurons communicate, they leave behind trash in the form of potassium ions. The potassium ions pile up outside the neurons, but that trash pile can only go so high before the neurons stop communicating, because there's just no more room for the potassium ion discharge. Glial cells clean up those potassium ions to allow the neurons to fire repeatedly. Glia also soak up other neurotransmitters that might clog the communication lines of the neurons [source: Fields].

When Diamond received her pieces of brain, she compared them against a sample group of 11 other brains. She reported that Einstein did indeed have a higher ratio of glia cells to neurons than other brains, and she hypothesized that the number of glial cells increased because of the high metabolic demand that Einstein put on his neurons [source: Burrell]. In other words, Einstein needed fantastic housekeepers because he made such a mess with all of his amazing thoughts.

Unfortunately, other scientists thought Diamond's work was a mess as well. For one thing, glial cells continue to divide during a person's life. Though Einstein died at 76, Diamond compared his brain to a control group with an average age of 64, so it's only natural that Einstein might have had more glial cells than these younger men [source: Herskovits]. Additionally, Diamond's control group of brains came from patients at a VA hospital; while she could say that they had died of non-neurological causes, not much else was known about these men, such as IQ score. Was Einstein being compared to dunces? Another scientist pointed out that Diamond had only provided ratios of one specific measure, while by her own account, there were 28 ways to measure these cells. Diamond admitted that she didn't report scores that didn't prove her point; the scientist claimed that if you measure enough things, you'll find something that can support or disprove any claim [source: Burrell].

Would Einstein's brain ever give up its secrets?
A locomotive is seen on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Aug. 25, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]



The Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway Share Company (EDR) has disclosed an income of 2.5 billion Ethiopian birrs (about 47.4 million U.S. dollars) for the past five months.

Abdi Zenebe, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the EDR, said the Chinese-built 752.7-km Ethiopia-Djibouti railway was able to transport more than 500,000 metric tons of cargo in the past five months, eventually generating 2.5 billion Ethiopian birrs in income, state-run Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported Monday.

The income was said to have about 600 million Ethiopian birr increase as compared to the same period of the previous Ethiopian fiscal year.

According to figures from the EDR, the railway's last five months' performance has augmented its contribution to the East African country's overall export and import trade from 11.2 percent to 15 percent.

Some of the major export and import commodities transported by the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway included fertilizers, edible oil, wheat, and vehicles, according to the EDR.

Zenebe said part of the railway's recent successes in its performance is due to its achievements in diversifying its services over the past years.

In August last year, the railway started vehicle shipment from ports in Djibouti to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

Noting the huge movement of imported commodities from ports in Djibouti to central Ethiopia and exported items from Ethiopia to the rest of the world via ports in Djibouti, Zenebe said the first shipment of vehicles from Djibouti to Ethiopia signifies the EDR's commitment to diversify its transportation services.

The Ethiopia-Djibouti standard gauge railway, contracted by China Rail Engineering Corporation (CREC) and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), is the first transboundary railway on the African continent.

As the Ethiopia-Djibouti electrified railway significantly improves the freight market, the EDR said they are enriching services of the railway toward realizing the two countries' ambition of building an industrial and economic belt driving the economic and social development of the two countries.
FLORENCE, S.C.  Girl Scouts will be out and about at various locations selling Girl Scout cookies starting Saturday.

Cookie hunters can download the app Girl Scout Cookie Finder in their app store and type in their ZIP code and radius for a list of cookie booths nearby with times and locations. Find cookies online at https://bit.ly/findmycookies.

When people buy cookies from a Girl Scout, they are investing in much more than a box of cookies  they are investing in a girls future, and the future leadership of the country.

Through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, girls learn five essential life skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics. All of the net proceeds from Girl Scout Cookie sales are reinvested back into the local councils for activities and fund Girl Scouts take-action projects, which positively affect their communities.

Things to know about this years cookie sale:

2023 is the final year of local Girl Scout cookies holding at $4 per box; only one other council is currently at $4 per box (with other councils seeing price increases)

Girl Scouts have a new cookie, Raspberry Rally (available online only.)

Council warehouses are holding 96,244 cases, which is over 1 million packages.

The girls have many choices for their cookie sales incentives program like indoor skydiving, a cruise or a Southern California trip. Last year, top cookie sellers earned a trip to New York City, a Caribbean cruise, Nintendo Switch, podcast microphones and a pearl-stringing experience with a jeweler.
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 US Sentencing Commission releases "Weighing the Impact of Simple Possession of Marijuana: Trends and Sentencing in the Federal System" | Main | "Are Schools in Prison Worth It? The Effects of and Economic Returns to Prison Education" 

January 10, 2023

Brennan Center assesses "Criminal Legal Reform Halfway Through the Biden Administration"

The Brennan Center has this notable new analysis of some of the criminal justice work of the Biden Administration and it reaches the mid-point of Prez Biden's current term. The piece is filled with lots of context and links and is worth a full read. Here is how it starts and closes, with its headings along the way as a kind og summary:

A year ago, we reviewed progress made by the Biden administration toward building a fairer and more effective criminal legal system, as well as missed opportunities. Here we outline major developments since then, including setbacks and steps in the right direction. Retrenchment on the Federal Death Penalty... Limited Progress on Prison Reform... Notable Nominations and Confirmations... Updates to DOJ Charging Policy... Limited Progress on Clemency... Mixed Record on Immigration Detention... New Investments in Community Violence Interventions... Critically, the administration can continue to make progress in many of the areas named above without the need to navigate complex congressional dynamics. The power to restructure the federal clemency power, for example, lies wholly within the presidents discretion. The DOJ has already begun to significantly revamp its approach to implementing the First Step Act, and it should continue to do so. And the president could effectively suspend the death penalty on his own initiative by commuting existing federal death sentences to life in prison. While the president must continue to work with Congress on major legislative priorities, all of these steps and more would represent significant progress on their own.

January 10, 2023 at 04:06 PM | Permalink

Comments

It's difficult for me to evaluate the effectiveness of any administration in building a fairer and more effective criminal justice system without considering the number of people who are incarcerated in federal prisons.

During the first five years of the Obama administration, the federal prison population increased by almost 19,000. They mention Eric Holder who almost promised 10,000 or more commutations. They granted slightly over 1,700 and denied about 19,000. During the Trump administration the federal prison population decreased by almost 40,000 people. Since Biden took office there are around 5,000 more people living in federal prisons.

Policy statements and intentions are not reality to those living in small cells with bars in federal prison. It would be refreshing to hear less about intentions and see more positive results.

Posted by: beth curtis | Jan 10, 2023 8:37:59 PM

Post a comment
 En banc Third Circuit to reconsider constitutionality of  922(g)(1)'s felon-in-possession gun prohibition after Bruen | Main | Brennan Center assesses "Criminal Legal Reform Halfway Through the Biden Administration" 

January 10, 2023

US Sentencing Commission releases "Weighing the Impact of Simple Possession of Marijuana: Trends and Sentencing in the Federal System"

This morning, the US Sentencing Commission has released this interesting new report titled "Weighing the Impact of Simple Possession of Marijuana: Trends and Sentencing in the Federal System." This USSC webpage provides this summary and key findings:

The report entitled Weighing the Impact of Simple Possession of Marijuana: Trends and Sentencing in the Federal System updates a 2016 Commission study and examines sentences for simple possession of marijuana offenses in two respects. Part One of the report assesses trends in federal sentencings for simple possession of marijuana since fiscal year 2014. The report then describes the demographic characteristics, criminal history, and sentencing outcomes of federal offenders sentenced for marijuana possession in the last five fiscal years and compares them to federal offenders sentenced for possession of other drug types. Part Two of the report examines how prior sentences for simple possession of marijuana (under both federal and state law) affect criminal history calculations under the federal sentencing guidelines for new federal offenses. The report identifies how many federal offenders sentenced in fiscal year 2021  for any crime type  received criminal history points under Chapter Four of the Guidelines Manual for prior marijuana possession sentences. The report then assesses the impact of such points on those offenders criminal history category, one of the two components used to establish the sentencing guideline range. Key Findings Federal Sentencings for Simple Possession of Marijuana The number of federal offenders sentenced for simple possession of marijuana is relatively small and has been declining steadily from 2,172 in fiscal year 2014 to only 145 in fiscal year 2021.

The overall trends were largely driven by one district, the District of Arizona, which accounted for nearly 80 percent (78.9%) of all federal marijuana possession sentencings since 2014. As the number of such cases in the District of Arizona declined from a peak of 1,916 in 2014 to just two in fiscal year 2021, the overall federal caseload followed a similar pattern.

Federal offenders sentenced for marijuana possession in the last five fiscal years tended to be male (85.5%), Hispanic (70.8%), and non-U.S. citizens (59.8%). A little over two-thirds (70.1%) were sentenced to prison; the average prison sentence imposed was five months.

As of January 2022, no offenders sentenced solely for simple possession of marijuana remained in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Impact of Prior Sentences for Simple Possession of Marijuana In fiscal year 2021, 4,405 federal offenders (8.0%) received criminal history points under the federal sentencing guidelines for prior marijuana possession sentences. Most of the prior sentences (79.3%) were for less than 60 days in prison, including non-custodial sentences. Furthermore, ten percent (10.2%) of these 4,405 offenders had no other criminal history points.

The criminal history points assigned under the federal sentencing guidelines for prior marijuana possession sentences resulted in a higher criminal history category for 1,765 of the 4,405 offenders (40.1%).

Of the 1,765 offenders whose criminal history category was impacted by a prior marijuana possession sentence, most were male (94.2%), U.S. citizens (80.0%), and either Black (41.7%) or Hispanic (40.1%).

Nearly all (97.0%) of the prior marijuana possession sentences were for state convictions, some of which were from states that have changed their laws to decriminalize (22.2%) or legalize (18.2%) marijuana possession, states that allow for expungement or sealing of marijuana possession records (19.7%), or some combination thereof. Prior sentences for marijuana possession from these states resulted in higher criminal history calculations under the federal sentencing guidelines for 695 offenders.

January 10, 2023 at 10:16 AM | Permalink

Comments

What was the actual conduct, and what was the pled to conduct?

Posted by: federalist | Jan 10, 2023 11:20:28 AM

What do you think is the valid basis for analysis, federalist? How might Bogdan Vechirko respond to this question?

Posted by: Doug B. | Jan 10, 2023 1:17:34 PM

I can't speak for Mr. Vechirko, but we do have the videotape. We do know that he did not enter the highway illegally, and we know he did his damnedest to stop his truck. Of course, that you don't see his case as an indictment of the entire DFL establishment in MN, well, that's just your partisanship. Can you imagine going through the indignity of having to deal with restorative justice with some twit whining about PTSD. Yuck. Just for that, the prosecutor should be imprisoned for life.

As for pleas--you cannot be blind to the fact that a significant amount of those in the pokey for "possession" entered into a plea deal.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 10, 2023 2:34:18 PM

My point, federalist, is that lots of folks take deals for all sorts of reasons and on the basis of all sorts of contestable charges. Some may take pleas believing they have done a lot worse than the terms of the plea; some may take pleas believing they have done nothing wrong but not having faith in the criminal justice system to fairly adjudicate their case. In the Vechirko case, you came away with no faith in the criminal justice establishment in MN. I surmise you are not the only one lacking in such faith in many jurisdictions, and that lack of faith likely drives more than a few plea deals.

Posted by: Doug B | Jan 10, 2023 2:53:17 PM

All fair points, but we're looking at things from a macro level, and assuredly, you aren't blind to the fact that more serious conduct often gets pled down, so to speak, so speaking about imprisonment for possession in a vacuum is somewhat misleading.

The Hennepin County DA's office and the DFL establishment in MN are impugned by what happened to Vechirko. But because the antagonists are members of your team, you give them a pass. What a joke.

But hey, you couldn't even come to the conclusion that Obama lying to a vet's widow is more appalling than Trump's birtherism or that Barack Obama was a disloyal liar for denigrating the war effort in Afghanistan by claiming that US servicemen were "just" bombing villages and killing people. Given the fact that the US military strives mightily to avoid civilian casualties, Obama's smear is sickening.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 10, 2023 3:01:03 PM

What has your partisan juices cooking today, federalist? I have not given anyone a "pass," nor am I am member of any "team." You are the one who sounds like a partisan clown by making such silly claims. Rather, I am making the point that anyone who thinks the CJ system wronged an innocent person in the Vechirko case ought to be open to the notion that it has wronged many others (and not just one out of every 1000). Ergo, though a plea might in some case be cover for worse conduct, in other cases it may be the only way an innocent person feels he needs to resolve suspect charges.

Meanwhile, I surmise your military background accounts for your obvious disaffinity for Obama. (Also, Trump reportedly called fallen veterans losers and suckers and repeatedly lied about veteran health care programs, but I have yet to see you express concerns on these fronts.) The broad point is I have still yet to find a single person who shares your apparent belief that, policy differences aside, Trump has been a more moral public figure than Obama. Perhaps I misunderstand your claims/beliefs about Trump's morality, but I sense my view is in the mainstream among folks of all political perspectives, whereas your view is at best "unique"and at worst puts into partisan disrepute all your other contentions and claims.

Posted by: Doug B | Jan 10, 2023 3:32:32 PM

You raise a valid point about the plea process Mr.Berman. The entire process of plea bargaining, especially on the federal level, is beyond appalling.

First, charges are oftentimes premised on the word of cooperators. These individuals have criminal histories that are indefensible and they've learned how to game the system---cooperating is now part of the fabric by which they live and thrive. Furthermore, their criminal histories more often than not are worse than the individuals to whom they are given a pass for with their 'substantial' assistance.

Second, some---but not all, prosecutors aren't concerned about public safety because these individuals on whom they rely as cooperators are committing a broad swath of the crimes in their communities. But, because they are able to aid the prosecution in padding a record of convictions---that do little to nothing to make the community more safe given that the cooperators are committing the crimes and gaming the system---they are given free reign to terrorize the community.

Third, a vast majority of cases are brought with the aid of these cooperators. They vow to testify truthfully, in accordance with the language of their deal, but in reality their testimony is self-serving. When their blatant inconsistencies are exposed, prosecutors---in far too many cases for comfort---never move to withdraw their cooperation agreements and far too many district courts don't penalize these individuals for their mistruths when the time arrives for sentencing.

Fourth, lawyers (public defenders, especially) are overworked and underpaid. They have, unfortunately, become pawns in this game of plea-bargaining. The defendant may be guilty of something so if, which often happens, the initial indictment is overcharged, then the defendant will very likely plead to some lesser crime that s/he may or may not have committed.

In the end, people take deals for all sorts of reasons. They often committed 'some' crime but far too often they are overcharged and end up pleading to some 'offense' out of fear of exercising their 6th Amendment right to a trial for the charges that they know that they have not committed. This is no defense of the law-breaker. It's an indictment of the system.

It is very easy to sit on the sideline and pass judgment as some of us do. But I do remember a swath of the public chastising and castigating cooperators very recently when it appeared that those cooperators were providing information against 'their' public officials. This same crowd ironically accepts the words of cooperators as 'gospel' when it involves inner-city crime. Of course, they will tell you they don't. But where do they think all of these convictions come from? They oftentimes only see the world through their partisan lenses because it fits their 'narrative.'

The system is broken. That's the simple reality. It won't get fixed until the 'people' who the system is comprised fix it.

Posted by: Eric A. Hicks | Jan 10, 2023 3:40:36 PM

Trump denied having called vets losers. And it's so funny how you can't just admit that Obama disparaged the war effort . . . . facts are stubborn things.

I didn't say that the CJ system got it right (as in perfect procedure) 999 out of 1000, just that punishes the guilty at that rate. But I will readily admit, this bail thing bothers me a lot.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 10, 2023 4:50:51 PM

And you can't admit that relying on pled possession for possession only is a bit of a stretch . . . .

Posted by: federalist | Jan 10, 2023 5:23:37 PM

Trump also denied having lost the 2020 election, federalist, and it's so funny how you can't see that only a particular type of partisan sees Trump as a moral paragon. It is also funny that right after you suggest the CJ system soundly punishes the guilty in 999 out of 1000 cases, you then assert that most of those who plead to MJ possession are in fact guilty of more. So does the system usually get it right or usually get it wrong?

Rereading your unclear plea comments, I am struggling to understand if your main point is just that those (relatively rare) defendants sent to prison after MJ possession guilty pleas are likely often involved in more criminality. If that is what you are trying to say, I would generally agree. But that is not what this USSC report is principally discussing. In fact, it notes that in Part One that "As of January 2022, no offenders sentenced solely for simple possession of marijuana remained in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons." And it notes in Part Two that lots of federal defendants get criminal history points for prior MJ possession offenses even when those offenses produced a non-custodial sentence.

Posted by: Doug B | Jan 10, 2023 10:12:58 PM

Do we know what the story is in D. Arizona? Unless the judges there are radically out of step with the mainstream on sentencing, a lot of defendants are pleading to simple possession based on facts that are considerably more serious than what you think of as your run-of-the-mill simple possession case.

Is this some sort of de facto fast-track program? A concerted effort by the defense bar to avoid felony convictions for a client population where that may have severe immigration consequences for many people? Something else?

Posted by: Jason | Jan 10, 2023 11:28:07 PM

The USSC in a prior report, Jason, detailed many of the distinctions between so-called "Border" and "Non-Border" offenders convicted of MJ possession: https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/research-publications/2016/201609_Simple-Possession.pdf

But the USSC has never fully explained fully what exactly is going on with these "Border" cases, and I was disappointed that this new report did not break down more fully the details of the possession offenses as was done in the prior report.

Posted by: Doug B. | Jan 11, 2023 9:22:11 AM

"you then assert that most of those who plead to MJ possession are in fact guilty of more"

Surely you've heard of "pled down", no?

Posted by: federalist | Jan 11, 2023 9:59:15 AM

"Trump also denied having lost the 2020 election, federalist"

Given the FBI's thumb on scale and Joe Biden's active taking advantage of that thumb, then he can say the election was unfair and he didn't lose it. I seriously doubt you want to go toe to toe on this issue.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 11, 2023 10:00:39 AM

Marijuana really only has implications when it is being used as a basis to revoke someone's probation or SR.

That should be a report unto itself.

Posted by: FPD | Jan 11, 2023 10:53:12 AM

Of course I have heard of pleading down, federalist, but it is unclear whether you are asserting that ALL OR MOST of the entire pool of people with marijuana possession convictions are "pleading down" OR if you are just asserting that ALL OR MOST of those people with marijuana possession convictions who were sentenced to incarceration are "pleading down." These are VERY different pools of persons with convictions, since the vast majority of folks with marijuana possession convictions are NOT sentenced to any term of incarceration.

Meanwhile, though I am not sure this is the ideal forum, you are welcome to give your partisan account of why you think Trump actually won the 2020 election. Does it include 2000 mules?

Posted by: Doug B | Jan 11, 2023 10:56:16 AM

I am asserting that talking about MJ possession stats in a vacuum (i.e., not considering the underlying conduct) is somewhat misleading. That's all.

As for Trump, I didn't assert that he won the election--I asserted that he could make a case that it was unfair (and hence illegitimate) and that he therefore won. We all know that law enforcement used its considerable powers to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story, and Biden made use of that suppression to lie through his teeth in a debate. We also know that Joe Biden okayed the hamstringing of Trump's presidency by agreeing that Michael Flynn should be investigated based on the Logan Act. We also know that the Pa. election was held under illegal processes.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 11, 2023 11:08:05 AM

Trump has made a lot of "cases" about all sorts of purported unfairness. And I surmise many partisans think of him as quite the victim.

Posted by: Doug B. | Jan 11, 2023 11:58:22 AM

Thanks, Doug. So in the prior data set, it seems pretty clear that most of the "border" cases were really trafficking cases that were not charged as such:

<>

It would be helpful to know if the decline in simple-possession charges was due to fewer people meeting whatever the charging profile was (low-level mules?) or whether those cases are being handled differently in recent years (felony prosecution? no prosecution?). But the report doesn't really offer any hints.

Posted by: Jason | Jan 11, 2023 12:04:20 PM

quote was deleted from prior comment:

Non-Border offenders generally were found with only a

small amount of marijuana. The median weight of marijuana among Non-Border

offenders was 5.2 grams (0.2 ounces). In contrast, the median weight of the marijuana

found among Border offenders was 22,000 grams (48.5 pounds or 776.0 ounces).

Posted by: Jason | Jan 11, 2023 12:04:59 PM

Jason: my sense is that formal and informal changes in the processing of immigration cases (eg "fast-track" policies) in part account for changing border prosecutions in MJ possession cases over the last two decades. Folks who work there would know a lot better than me as to the particulars, and I share your dissapointment that we do not get more intricacies from the USSC. Also, I have co-authored a short article detailing that there have been a huge decline in ALL federal MJ prosecutions due largely to much less cross-border traffic of MJ: "How State Reforms Have Mellowed Federal Enforcement of Marijuana Prohibition" https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3965571

Posted by: Doug B. | Jan 11, 2023 1:38:01 PM

Federalist, Donald Trump has been the most pernicious and malignant influence in American politics since Jefferson Davis. As for Trump's credibility, I'm still waiting for the "astounding discoveries" of the investigative team he sent to Hawaii relating to Obama's birth. He promised to release those discoveries, and we're still waiting and waiting...just like he promised to releases his tax returns. History will remember the twice impeached Trump as the liar in chief, tax dodger in chief, grifter in chief, and insurrectionist in chief. I remain confident that folks are even now measuring the drapes for his prison cell.

Posted by: anon | Jan 11, 2023 4:19:26 PM

"Trump brought the three horsemen of the apocalypse  immorality, dishonesty and bigotry."

Posted by: Dave 22 | Jan 11, 2023 7:35:24 PM

Kudos to Dave 22 and anon for their honest assessments of the former occupier of the White House. My grandmother once told me, "if you have nothing good to say about someone, don't say anything." In this instance, I will follow her advice.

My disappointment is reserved for those who continuously defend this person with a straight face. It tells us much more about who they are than we probably are comfortable knowing. And it tells us how low people will go in the debasement of themselves all in the name of an agenda that is unmoored from reality and traffics in the very worst traits of America.

The only thing left for the former occupier of the White House to do is borrow a page from former President Andrew Johnson and pardon everyone associated with the January 6th attack on our democracy. Somehow, his sycophants would find a way to justify that as well.

Posted by: Eric A. Hicks | Jan 12, 2023 7:55:19 AM

Guys, it's a matter of public record that the FBI/DOJ: (a) went soft on Hillary--in plain violation of the Federal Records Act, she conducted the people's business (much of which involved classified info)--they granted Cheryl Mills immunity based on the idea that she was Hillary's lawyer (balderdash, she worked for the state department and so was not Hillary's lawyer), (b) cooked up a Russia-collusion narrative and illegally spied on Trump's campaign, (c) conducted a Logan Act investigation on Flynn and doctored the 302s to make him look guilty and (c) suppressed the Hunter Biden story.

You can talk all you want about Trump, but this stuff actually undermines democracy and makes the 2020 election completely unfair. It ain't about Trump. I find Trump selfish and distasteful, but I also think that he was a great president. Joe Biden lied through his teeth in the presidential debate about the Hunter laptop and the national security apparatus and the national criminal justice apparatus gave Joe Biden cover. Let's start by getting that right.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 12, 2023 8:42:34 AM

"conducted the people's business on a private, unsecured server"

"The only thing left for the former occupier of the White House to do is borrow a page from former President Andrew Johnson and pardon everyone associated with the January 6th attack on our democracy. Somehow, his sycophants would find a way to justify that as well."

Someone should--given the dismissals of all the charges against Portland rioters, the dismissal of charges against the 2017 DC rioters etc.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 12, 2023 8:45:16 AM

Federalist says he thinks Trump was "a great president." Was Trump great when he downplayed and made fun of the the seriousness of Covid, promoted snake oil like like hydroxychloroquine, and indirectly caused the death of many thousands? Was he great when he separated parents from their children at the border, some of which families will never be reunited? Was he great when put the children in virtual cages? Was he great when he instigated insurrection against the government, the first President to resist the peaceful transfer of power? Was he great when he threatened to withhold arms from Ukraine unless Zelensky make up a fake investigation into Biden. Was he great when he made fun of and ridiculed a reporter who suffered from a Parkinson's type disease? Was he a great president when he praised a Congressman who body-slammed a reporter? Was he great when he says he believes Putin and trusts him more than our own intelligence agencies? Was he great when he never accepts responsibility of any mistake, but always blames someone else? Was he great when he promised to release his tax return but never did so? Was he great when his tax returns show him to pay virtually no taxes in many years and to be a busines failure and almost certain tax cheat? Was he great when he consider fascists and neo-Nazis and Jew-haters to be "fine people" (remember: "fine people on both sides").

As anon stated above, "Donald Trump has been the most pernicious and malignant influence in American politics since Jefferson Davis. " Those who think otherwise. like Federalist, should think again.

Posted by: Texas Tim | Jan 12, 2023 1:30:33 PM

Texas Tim--you show your complete f'in ignorance when you denigrate HCQ as snake oil. I'll explain later.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 12, 2023 1:47:25 PM

Federalist, your language is getting nasty. You never did respond to my list of Trump's "great" actions. As for hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), research data show the use of HCQ for treating COVID-19 can be dangerous and has no medical benefit. In fact, the FDA revoked emergency use authorization for HCQ in COVID-19 patients based on these dangers and because it does not help people recover faster. HCQ should not be taken for COVID-19 infection because it can cause serious heart rhythm abnormalities, severe liver inflammation, and kidney failure.



Posted by: Texas Tim | Jan 12, 2023 3:21:35 PM

Because Federalist believes Trump to have been a "great President," I will be unable to trust his judgment with respect to anything he posts.

Posted by: long time observer | Jan 12, 2023 6:38:52 PM

he 2018 Siena poll of 157 presidential scholars reported George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson as the top five US presidents, with SCRI director Don Levy stating, "The top five, Mount Rushmore plus FDR, is carved in granite with presidential historians...."[30] Donald Trumpentering the SCRI survey for the first timejoined Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin Pierce among the bottom five US presidents. George W. Bush, whom presidential scholars had rated among the bottom five in the previous 2010 survey, improved in position to the bottom of the third quartile. A 2021 C-SPAN poll continued a recent rehabilitation of Ulysses Grant, with Bush improving yet again, Obama remaining high and Trump near the bottom.

Posted by: Hanna23 | Jan 12, 2023 6:44:46 PM

Regarding HCQ: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03841-8 and it is a well-tolerated drug. Where are all the lupus patients with COVID-19?

As for COVID, does Warp Speed mean anything? But then, of course Joe Biden and Kamala "Boudoir INterview" Harris badmouthed the vaccine.

Posted by: federalist | Jan 13, 2023 2:36:06 AM

To everyone who has underscored the antics of the former President, once again---kudos to all of you. I would just remind you all that at this point you are "preaching to the (proverbial) choir" when it comes to highlighting the obvious social and moral deficiencies of this individual to his sycophants.

Never in my years of existence would I believe that the day would come when so many people would run the gamut when it comes to making excuses for the morally reprehensible and destructive conduct of a 70+ year-old man. I wonder if they would extend those kind of excuses to a teenage inner-city male enmeshed in the criminal justice system? I think, without a moments deliberation, we all know the answer to that question. This lamentable example tells me nothing of the antics of the 70+ year-old former President but reveals so much about those who continuously defend this person and have chosen to life lives detached from reality.

The world view of his sycophants embodies more than a heaping dose of delusion. To this pitiable lot, neither shame nor hypocrisy knows of any boundaries.

Posted by: Eric A. Hicks | Jan 13, 2023 10:39:12 AM

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Leather Tanning Chemicals Market Size By Tanning Type (Vegetable Leather Tanning, Chromium Leather Tanning, Aldehyde Leather Tanning, and Others), By Application (Textile and Apparel Industry, Automotive Accessories, Furniture, and Others), Regions, Segmentation, and forecast till 2030.

Pune India, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The market has been studied for the below mentioned-segmentation and regional analysis for North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East and Africa. These are the key regions where the Leather Tanning Chemicals market is operating and is predicted to expand soon. The manufacturers and suppliers involved in the Leather Tanning Chemicals market are present across various countries in the above-mentioned regions.

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The report provides a detailed understanding of the market segments which have been formed by combining different prospects such as Tanning Type, Application, and Region. Apart from this, the key driving factors, restraints, potential growth opportunities, and market challenges are also discussed in the below paragraphs.

The significant players operating in the global Leather Tanning Chemicals market are BASF SE, Bayer AG, Balmer Lawrie Co. Ltd., Clariant International Ltd., Chemtan Company, TASA Group International, Dystar Singapore Pte Ltd., Elementis PLC, Lanxess AG, Texapel, Stahl International B.V, Schill Seilacher GmbH Co, Lawrence Industries Limited, Papertex Specialty Chemicals Pvt Ltd, Zschimmer Schwarz Co. KG, among others. To achieve a substantial market share in the worldwide Leather Tanning Chemicals market and strengthen their position, manufacturers are pursuing expansion methods such as current developments, mergers and acquisitions, product innovations, collaborations, and partnerships, joint ventures.

Leather tanning has increased as a result of consumer demand for leather footwear, which is driving the market for leather chemicals. Additionally, the process of creating leather shoes, which require several chemicals for colouring and tanning, has been enhanced by leather tanneries. Furthermore, leather shoe imports have increased dramatically in a number of countries, including the US, Japan, Germany, France, and Italy. However, the use of chemicals in a number of processes prior to the tanning type of leather requires a lot of water, and waste emissions such heavy metals and phthalates can have a significant negative impact on the environment due to their high toxicity. Recently, the profit margins of large corporations have been impacted by a small number of market participants executing expansion strategies to enhance their positions in the leather chemicals sector. The demand for Leather Tanning Chemicals has been high in recent years, and it is anticipated that growth will continue in this direction over the forecast period. Because it uses less chemicals, such as acids and dyes, in the tanning type of leather that has been chrome tanned, chrome tanning is less expensive and time-consuming. Two further advantages of chrome-tanned leather that have a significant effect on the growth of the global market are the ability to create leather in large quantities in a single day and the potential for long-term colour preservation.

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Scope of Leather Tanning Chemicals Market Report:

Story continues

Report Metric Information Study Period 2022-2030 Base Year 2022 Forecast Period 2023-2030 Market Share Unit USD Million Segments Covered Tanning Type, Application, and Region Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, and Middle-East and Africa Major Players BASF SE, Bayer AG, Balmer Lawrie Co. Ltd., Clariant International Ltd., Chemtan Company, TASA Group International, Dystar Singapore Pte Ltd., Elementis PLC, Lanxess AG, Texapel, Stahl International B.V, Schill Seilacher GmbH Co, Lawrence Industries Limited, Papertex Specialty Chemicals Pvt Ltd, Zschimmer Schwarz Co. KG, among others.

Segmentation Analysis

Vegetable Leather Tanning are expected to be the fastest-growing segment in 2022.

The Tanning Type segment is Vegetable Leather Tanning, Chromium Leather Tanning, Aldehyde Leather Tanning, and Others. Vegetable Leather Tanning is expected to be the fastest-growing segment in 2022. They are rising in popularity as a result of the global movement toward sustainable development and continuous research in the area. Vegetable tanning uses no harmful chemicals while being a traditional technique. Vegetable tannins may be discovered naturally in a variety of plants by using the branches, leaves, bark, or even some fruits in particular techniques. Compared to other methods, this one is safer.

Automotive Accessories is expected to be the fastest-growing segment in 2022.

The application segment is Textile and Apparel Industry, Automotive Accessories, Furniture, and Others. Automotive Accessories is expected to be the fastest-growing segment in 2022. One of the main factors driving the growth of the leather tanning chemicals market is the increasing need for soft leather in the automotive industry. The tanning, beam housing, retaining, waterproofing, and aliquoting of such leathers need a sizeable amount of the leather chemicals.

Regional Analysis

The regional analysis provides a detailed perception of the key regions and the countries. Some of the key countries analyzed for Leather Tanning Chemicals include the US, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, the U.K., Italy, Spain, Russia, China, Japan, India, Brazil, Peru, UAE, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia.

The Asia Pacific region witnessed a major share. A significant portion was seen in the Asia Pacific area. The leather tanning chemicals industry is expected to continue to be dominated by Asia Pacific. Due to the region's strong demand for more advanced leather chemical technologies and the rise of the textile, footwear, and automotive sectors, the leather tanning chemicals market is increasing throughout period.

Country Analysis

Germany

Germany's Leather Tanning Chemicals market size was valued at USD 0.8 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 1.0 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 3% from 2023 to 2030. Germany is Europe's top exporter of leather goods due to their positions in the market for luxury goods.

China

Chinas Leather Tanning Chemicals market size was valued at USD 1.9 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 2.3 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 6.5% from 2023 to 2030.

China is anticipated to maintain its position as one of the top emerging countries due to factors such as the growing need for cutting-edge leather technology, the growth of the automotive sector, and the rise in the number of footwear industries.

India

India's Leather Tanning Chemicals market size was valued at USD 0.7 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 1.8 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 2.5% from 2023 to 2030. India is anticipated to take the lead in the automobile sector. The textile industry is also growing in India, where the government is making significant investments.

Covid-19 Impact

Covid-19 had a major impact on almost all industries, such as electronics, semiconductors, manufacturing, automobile, etc. However, several companies operating in the technology sector have seen increased revenue due to significant changes in consumer preferences toward technological services. In addition, the pandemic has led to significant growth in technology across developing and developed countries.

Furthermore, the growth of this market is mainly driven by the growing consumption of leather in the end-use sector.

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64-year-old Prema S. Naraynasamy has been sentenced to 14 years jail on Jan. 9 for torturing a domestic worker from Myanmar to death.

She had teamed up with her daughter to abuse 24-year-old Piang Ngaih Don.

Prema was present in court and apparently had no reaction when Principal District Judge Toh Han Li issued the sentence.

Her sentence will be backdated to the date of arrest on Jul. 26, 2016.

Abuse and humiliation went on for 15 days

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Senthilkumaran Sabapathy said in his submissions that this was one of Singapores worst abuse cases of a foreign domestic worker.

The torture of Piang took place over 15 days and it is said that the mother and daughter had used bare hands as well as various items like a bamboo pole and chopping board to abuse her.

The DPP also said that the abuse involved a high degree of physical and psychological harm to which Prema is highly culpable.

He added, The deceased was dragged and thrown around the house like a rag doll Many of us would not even treat inanimate objects in such a manner. Her life was nothing short of a living nightmare and this was in no small part due to Premas actions.

In an earlier story Coconuts covered, it is believed between October 2015 and her death in July 2016, Piang was physically assaulted almost daily by Prema and her daughter (who was her employer) Gaiyathiri Murugayan, 41.

She was also deprived of food and rest, and was further humiliated by having to shower and relieve herself with the door open.

During the last few days of her life, Piang was tied to a window grille at night and slept on the floor in the same room as Prema  who slept on the bed.

The autopsy showed that she had died from brain injury after severe blunt trauma to the neck.

Piang weighed 39kg when she started work for the family in May 2015 but was only 24kg when she died on Jul. 26, 2016.

Daughter facing 30 years in prison

Initially, Prema was facing a murder charge but was later given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.

Story continues

She had pleaded guilty earlier to 47 charges of voluntarily causing harm to the domestic worker and one charge of attempting to voluntarily cause harm.

On top of that Prema is claiming trial to one charge of causing evidence to disappear.

Premas daughter Gaiyathiri, a housewife and former wife of a cop was sentenced to 30 years of prison on Jun. 22, 2021.

Loving grandmother

Premas lawyer Rai Satish of Kalidass Law Corporation was seeking 10 years jail for his client and claimed she had abused Piang after hearing her daughters complaints about their domestic worker.

He brought up the times of when his client offered the victim food. On top of that he also put out that his client was a loving grandmother and the long sentence would deprive her time with her grandchildren.

Still pending: former cops charges

However, former cop and Gaiyathiris former husband Kevin Chelvams case is still pending before the courts.

The couple finalised their divorce in 2020.

He has been suspended from service since 2016 and also faces multiple charges in relation to the abuse.

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Two top leaders from Bangladeshs primary opposition party were released a month after being arrested during the governments crackdown on political dissent.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Mirza Abbas, a former minister, were freed from a prison outside capital Dhaka on Monday.

Both men were arrested from their homes during the early hours on 9 December last year on charges of inciting violence, a day before the oppositions biggest political rally in over a decade.

Mr Alamgir was supposed to be the main speaker at the rally, which was attended by tens and thousands of supporters, demanding prime minister Sheikh Hasina to step down from power.

Seven BNP MPs at the rally announced their resignations from parliament in protest against the government crackdown on dissent and arbitrary arrest of opposition members.

Prior to the gathering, at least one person was killed and nearly 60 sustained injuries as police stormed BNP headquarters.

Members of the opposition party said more than 2,000 of its activists were arrested and thousands were charged as part of a police crackdown to deter people from participating in the rally.

Heightened political tension in the south Asian country prompted 15 embassies to issue a joint statement calling for Ms Hasina to allow free expression, peaceful assembly and fair elections.

A high court granted bail to the two leaders last week, which was later upheld by the countrys supreme court.

On Tuesday, hundreds of supporters greeted the men after they arrived at BNP headquarters in central Dhaka.

We have no retreat. We just have to move on, Mr Alamgir was quoted by Radio Free Asia affiliate Benar News as saying.

We will succeed in the movement we have started. We have to intensify our movement and defeat the autocratic regime, he added.

Let us restore democracy from the hands of this fascist Awami government. We come out of jail today with a new commitment. We pledge again, we will continue until we win, he said, referring to the government of political party Awami League, led by Ms Hasina.
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A novel wearable vest for long-term lung monitoring is exhibited by Swiss company CSEM during the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the United States, Jan. 8, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

The 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world's premier tech show, concluded in the U.S. city of Las Vegas on Sunday, featuring latest innovations in consumer technology.

The four-day show drew more than 3,200 exhibitors from over 170 countries and regions.

Hundreds of Chinese companies participated in the show, including well-known brands like TCL, Lenovo andHisense as well as many startups.

People visit a smart home kitchen at the exhibition area of Chinese company Hisense during the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the United States, Jan. 8, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

CES 2023 highlighted innovations in sustainability, transportation and mobility, digital health, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality, smart homes, robotics and more.



"CES is the world's most exciting technology event, from startups in Eureka Park to global brands on the main stages. We are thrilled to spotlight thousands of innovative companies at this year's show," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), organizer of the CES.

A woman experiences AI 3D technology at the exhibition area of French company Dassault Systemes during the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the United States, Jan. 8, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

As in past years, automotive technology took center stage at CES 2023. The automotive sector was bigger than ever, making it one of the largest auto shows in the world with nearly 300 exhibitors in West Hall of Las Vegas Convention Center.

Global launches and keynotes from BMW and Stellantis led into exhibits featuring the latest in self-driving technology, electric vehicles and personal mobility devices for land, air and sea.

CES 2023 was held amid another surge of COVID-19 infections in the United States. The show brought more digital health innovations and brands to the global stage, showing advancements in digital therapeutics, mental wellness, women's health technology and telemedicine.

Clean energy and energy storage solutions became a focus at the show. Chinese clean energy companies attracted lots of attention and interest among visitors, exhibitors and reporters with their innovative solar generators, appliances and clean energy solutions.

People visit the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the United States, Jan. 8, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

Jackery, a pioneer in portable power industry, which is based in Shenzhen of China's Guangdong Province, unveiled innovative portable solar generators at CES 2023.

Its Solar Generator 3000 Pro, producing a maximum of 8.5 kilowatt-hours of power per day, can provide backup power for five days of outdoor adventures or home emergencies. Jackery also bagged four CES 2023 Innovation Awards for its innovative portable renewable energy solutions.

"The pandemic has changed people's lifestyles. A lot of people prefer outdoor activities. Portable solar power generators could offer power for RVs, electric appliances such as microwaves, refrigerators, and BBQ ovens while they are outdoors," Jack Sun, founder and chairman of Jackery, told Xinhua.

Global warming calls for urgent efforts to promote renewable energy, which has facilitated innovations in the green energy industry.

"Tech advances are helping to solve the world's greatest challenges, and CES 2023 will set the agenda for the year ahead," Shapiro said.
SIOUX CITY  There were 23 applicants for the Sioux City Community School District's superintendent position.

Of those 23 applicants, the school board has decided to move forward with interviewing five individuals and will announce the two finalists within the month.

School Board President Dan Greenwell announced the number during the regular school board meeting on Monday. The first round of interviews will take place this week, he said.

Once the two finalists are chosen and announced, community and staff interviews will take place the week of Jan. 23.

Originally, the finalist announcement was expected to take place Jan. 18, but Greenwell said it was moved back due to scheduling conflicts. A new timeline will be posted on the district's website.

The superintendent application officially opened on Oct. 20 and closed on Dec. 12. The board met on Jan. 5 to discuss the applicants and decide who to interview.

GR Recruiting reviewed the applications received and identified nine who they believed fit superintendent traits identified by the community. After reviewal, the board narrowed it down to five.

The superintendent search process officially began in September with the help of the superintendent-recruiting firm of GR Recruiting. Multiple opportunities were furnished in October-- including in-person meetings and a virtual survey -- to learn what the community wanted in a new superintendent.

Results showed that Sioux City residents want a superintendent who values ethics and integrity, leads by example through honesty, is an effective communicator and is accountable for his or her actions.

The superintendent traits identified were used to create a profile of the desired candidates for the position.

Dick Christie of GR Recruiting said it could also be used to guide interview questions for potential candidates, entry plans for the chosen candidate, and guidance for the current interim superintendent and new superintendent goals.

Interim Superintendent Rod Earleywine, who started his new job on July 1, was selected as interim superintendent in April after former superintendent Paul Gausman was selected as the new superintendent of Lincoln Public Schools.

Earleywine resigned as the superintendent of the Sergeant Bluff-Luton Community School District in February 2022, after 27 years with the district.
SIOUX CITY  The Sioux City Council voted Monday in a split decision to approve a resolution to reconfigure a portion of Sixth Street from a four-lane roadway to a three-lane roadway with bike lanes and trail on each side.

Mayor Bob Scott and Mayor Pro Tem Dan Moore voted against the resolution.

City staff requested the reconfiguration of Sixth Street from Lewis Boulevard to Hoeven Drive in connection with the Sixth Street bridge re-decking project.

Staff selected option No. 1, which consists of matching the existing bridge width, three lanes and 10-foot trail on the south side of the bridge, as well as 6-foot bike lanes from Chambers Street to Lewis Boulevard.

Option No. 2 included widening the bridge, four lanes plus 10-foot trail on the south side of the bridge, and no bike lanes.

Sixth Street Hoeven Drive Traffic is shown Monday evening at the intersection of Sixth Street and Hoeven Drive in Sioux City. The City Council approved a resolution Mon

Before the vote, City Engineer Gordon Phair told the council that westbound trucks that are turning north on Hoeven Drive are having a hard time making that turn without hitting the median or corner.

"If we expanded the bridge on that end, we'd have to relocate the signal back. This street was designated as a prime candidate for lane reduction through the DOT," Phair said. "It not only prevents us from having to move the signal, it actually helps us reduce the cost of the bridge re-decking."

Scott expressed opposition to the plan to reconfigure to three lanes, asking Phair, "What do we gain?"

"I know. You already told me. I'm not buying the story," Scott said. "What trucker has a hard time? Most trucks that are coming into Sioux City use 10th Street, because they're going to Cargill, or they're coming from the south, and they're going north on Hoeven. They aren't ever hitting Sixth Street."

Phair said trucks will be able to make a wider turn going northbound, under the reconfiguration recommended by staff.

Scott said trucks turning right will back up traffic that can currently get by on the left.

Councilman Alex Watters noted that the roadway could remain four lanes, but that there would be added expenses associated with that.

"This is going to go down in history as one of our more brilliant moves," Scott remarked.

Annual average daily traffic for Sixth Street, from Chambers Street to Lewis Boulevard, is 7,600. The type of road reconfiguration recommended by city staff and approved by the council is to be implemented on roadways with current and future daily traffic of 25,000 or less, per the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.
SIOUX CITY  The Sioux City Council approved a new 25-year sewer treatment agreement Monday between the city and South Sioux City.

There was no discussion on the matter before the council unanimously voted in favor of the agreement.

The council previously approved agreements of the same length with North Sioux City, Sergeant Bluff and Dakota Dunes.

South Sioux City is building its own $46.4 million wastewater treatment plant next to the Missouri River and north of the Tyson Fresh Meats lagoons. However, South Sioux City will continue to take its residential sewer across the north river crossing, according to Tom Pingel, the citys utility director in charge of Sioux City's regional wastewater treatment plant.

After five deferrals, the council voted unanimously in November 2019 to terminate the existing agreements. The termination notice becomes effective four years after receipt of the notice.

Sioux City wastewater treatment plant (copy) Sioux City's Wastewater Treatment Plant is shown in this 2022 file photo. The Sioux City Council approved a new 25-year sewer treatment agreem

The previous agreements with Sergeant Bluff and North Sioux City had been established 39 years ago, while the agreement with South Sioux City had been in place for 38 years.

Dakota Dunes, a planned community that borders North Sioux City, entered into a sewer treatment agreement with Sioux City on Dec. 3, 1990. That agreement was subsequently amended and restated on April 12, 1993, May 14, 2007, and October 3, 2016.

The agreements had no sunset dates, and automatically renewed unless other action was taken, and didnt provide Sioux City with any remedy when flow limits are exceeded.

On Nov. 25, 2019, the City of Sioux City gave notice of termination to the sister cities. They received a letter signed by Mayor Bob Scott, warning that the city may end the contracts that govern the amount of waste each community can send to Sioux Citys regional wastewater treatment plant at 3100 S. Lewis Blvd. and the rates each city pays.

The new agreement with South Sioux City, like the agreements with the other sister cities, will ensure that capacity at the Sioux City regional wastewater treatment plant doesn't get over-allocated and implements several new provisions, including a fats, oil and grease program; odor and corrosion control; monitoring requirements and discharge limitations; a re-opener clause; and a user charge plan and payment to the City of Sioux City.

The new agreements will help the sister cities plan for economic growth, as well as attract businesses and residents to the region.
SIOUX CITY  Thompson, formerly known as Thompson Electric, and the Interstate Mechanical Corporation have merged.

The combination became effective Jan. 1, according to an announcement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The combined company is called Thompson Solutions Group.

Before the merger, Thompson specialized in electrical contracting, building security, IT, automation and robotics and a variety of other technical services. Interstate Mechanical works primarily in metal fabrication, plumbing, industrial piping, mechanical contracting and HVAC systems.

Skip Perley, CEO of Thompson, said in a phone call Tuesday that all of the Interstate employees have been retained, along with the Interstate building on Fourth Street.

The two companies, he said, had essentially no overlap in their trade specialties before the merger.

Strategically, we felt that this kind of a merger was really good for us, he said.

The conversations between the two companies took place over a long process  more than a year  before the deal was finalized in the fall. The two companies found that their cultures were a good fit for one another, Perley said.

The culture at Interstate was to go out and find new things to do, Perley said, referring to Interstates business culture of developing new and innovative lines, much as Thompson has long done. That was really appealing to us.

Leaders of the two companies  Interstate being under the control of James Olson and Wes Hunold  determined that we were not looking for joint ownership of two separate companies, Perley said. We were looking to create one company.

Thompson was founded in 1933 by Alfred C. Thompson. In 1987, TEC Corp. was incorporated as Thompsons parent company. The company opened a Sioux Falls office in 1989 and another in Omaha in 1996, according to a history of the company. Thompson moved into its current building, 2300 Seventh St., in 2013.

Interstate Mechanical was founded in 1912 by J.E. Johnson as a sheet metal contractor under the name Interstate Cornice Works, according to a history of the firm. By the mid-century, as air conditioning became a must-have for commercial and residential spaces, the company began offering air conditioning services and was renamed the Interstate Air Conditioning Corporation. In 1983 Interstate merged with the James P. Olson Company, a mechanical contractor. The company subsequently took the Interstate Mechanical name.

Interstate Mechanical moved from its former home at 418 Iowa St. in 2019 to its current location at 1900 Fourth St.
LITTLE SIOUX, Iowa  The new owners of the Little Sioux Scout Ranch have agreed to eventually open the scenic property to public outdoor recreation and honor the Boy Scouts' longtime history camping there.

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation on Monday announced it has signed an agreement to buy the 1,776-acre property from the Mid-American Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which operated the area as a Scout camp for more than 50 years.

The Heritage Foundation raised nearly $2 million by Dec. 31, when it had to exercise an option to buy the property.

Little Sioux Scout Ranch An aerial view shows the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in Monona County, Iowa. The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation has exercised an option to buy 

"The support for this project has been amazing," Heritage Foundation president Joe McGovern said in a news release. "Donors have told us they want to see this place protected -- staying in one piece and not being developed -- but they're also excited to see it opened to the public eventually."

Lead donations were $500,000 each from Polina and Bob Schlott, of Crescent, Iowa, and the Iowa West Foundation of Council Bluffs, $300,000 from the Gilchrist Foundation of Sioux City and $250,000 from the MidAmerican Energy Foundation, plus hundreds of other private donations.

The sale likely will close later this month.

As part of the sale, the Heritage Foundation agreed to open the property to the public, maintain a memorial to four Scouts killed there in a June 11, 2008, tornado and share and honor the Scouts' history at the camp.

Little Sioux Scout Camp entrance The entrance to the Little Sioux Scout Ranch is shown in 2010. The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation has exercised an option to buy the 1,776-a

Located in southern Monona County on the west slope of the Loess Hills near Blencoe and Little Sioux, the property consists of woodlands and prairie and includes a 20-acre lake and 25 miles of hiking trails. It's also home to several state-listed endangered and threatened plants and animals. The Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit conservation group, envisions public uses such as hiking, camping, bird watching, fishing and hunting.

The group will work to allow Scouts to continue to use the property in the near future while public access and management plans are developed.

Declining numbers led the Boy Scout council to decide it wasn't getting enough use to justify its continued use as a camp. In 2021, the Boy Scouts approached the Heritage Foundation to see if it was interested in buying it. The Heritage Foundation purchased an option to buy the $7 million property and set a goal to raise $2 million by the end of 2022.

The Heritage Foundation will continue fundraising efforts for remaining purchase and management costs. Anyone interested in the project may contact the foundation's director of philanthropy, Abby Hade Terpstra at aterpstra@inhf.org or (515) 809-5676.
MIAMI  Migrants and asylum seekers fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries have increasingly found that protections in the United States are available to those with money or the savvy to find someone to vouch for them financially.

President Joe Biden announced a massive expansion of humanitarian parole Jan. 5 for Cubans, Haitians, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans that is reserved for those who apply online, pay airfare and have a financial sponsor for two years.

It builds on a measure introduced in October to admit 24,000 Venezuelans to the United States for two years if they have sponsors  and, on the flip side, to quickly expel anyone crossing the border illegally back to Mexico, denying them a chance to seek asylum.

Maria Antonieta Diaz, a Venezuela-born accountant and entrepreneur living in the U.S for more than two decades, sent a WhatsApp message to former classmates in Venezuela after the Biden administration offered humanitarian parole Oct. 12, asking if they needed a sponsor. She set up a website, circulated a signup sheet and got 40,000 responses from people seeking financial backing, some representing entire families.

Diaz vouched for a man who came with two adult sons but left behind his wife, a daughter and her spouse and a 6-month-old child because they could not afford $200 passport renewals.

Many in the U.S. are reluctant to sponsor strangers, fearing they will be on the hook for any debts, Diaz said.

"It is not easy, it is not a perfect program, not everyone will be able to benefit," she said in a phone interview from her office in Miramar, a suburb northwest of Miami.

Biden said that up to 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans would be eligible for humanitarian parole every month, entitling them to work in the U.S. for two years. At the same time, Mexico agreed to accept the same number from those four countries who enter the U.S. illegally, even if they come seeking asylum.

U.S. officials pointed to a 90% drop in Venezuelan arrivals after October's policy shift, ending their short-lived status as the second-largest nationality at the border after Mexicans. The Biden administration granted parole under similar terms to 100,000 Ukrainians after Russia's invasion.

Asked about limiting parole to those with financial backing, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas didn't answer directly, saying only that such policies for Venezuelans and Ukrainians succeeded.

Mayorkas said the policy will last as long as conditions dictate, potentially even beyond a Trump-era rule known as Title 42, under which migrants have been denied a chance to seek asylum under U.S. and international law 2.5 million times on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on Title 42 in February.

He said U.S. officials are working on a plan under which people may seek asylum through scheduled appointments at border entry points.

Guerline Jozef, executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, said telling people who are fleeing extreme conditions in their countries to stay put is unacceptable, and questioned how someone in a dire situation traveling through the Americas without a phone or access to an embassy is supposed to use an app to get an appointment to apply for asylum.

"That is completely disconnected from the reality of people fleeing to seek asylum," Jozef told reporters Friday.

Asylum applicants must prove they face persecution at home under limited criteria such as race, political opinion or religious belief, without regard to financial status. Some who arrive at the border later will obtain asylum through the U.S. immigration courts but not all will qualify.

Under the parole policy, Homeland Security can admit anyone "on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit."

In October, Dr. Kyle Varner of Spokane, Washington, was overwhelmed with hundreds of responses when he posted on Facebook that he was open to sponsoring Venezuelans. He set aside a four-room house that he bought as an investment.

Varner has backed 49 Venezuelans so far, most of whom he has never seen. Only eight have been approved and settled in Spokane.

Varner, 38, developed an affinity for Venezuelans as a medical student in Miami in 2012, surrounded by neighbors who left the South American country for a better life. As a doctor, he says he can provide medical care if needed, business contacts to find a job and assistance with online English learning.

"My idea is that I'm a launching pad for people to have a new life," said Varner, who has traveled four times to Cucuta, a Colombian city on Venezuela's border, to provide free medical care to fleeing Venezuelans. "I intend to do everything I can to advocate for the expansion of this program, and I also want to help Americans who want to be sponsors."

Prospective volunteers may hesitate to provide tax returns or other required documents, said Parker Newburn, program coordinator for Home for Refugees, an aid group. Many Venezuelans have relatives in the United States but not all are in a position to sponsor, he said.

Photos: Scenes from the US-Mexico border as Title 42 decision looms
You are here: Business

China will export 224 buses to Mongolia that will help improve the country's public transport system.



Eighteen buses have recently been exported to Mongolia's Ulan Bator via the Erenhot Port in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and 189 more are scheduled to be delivered before the Spring Festival.

The Erenhot Port is the largest land port between China and Mongolia.

Given this large number of exported buses, the Erenhot entry-exit border checkpoint has opened two "green channels" and designated special personnel to conduct inspection so as to facilitate the clearance of the vehicles.
NEW YORK  Many of the conservative prelates who dominate the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were appointed by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. His recent death deprives them of a symbolic figurehead but is unlikely to weaken their collective power or end the culture wars that have divided the USCCB, according to Catholic academics and clergy.

David Gibson, director of Fordham Universitys Center on Religion and Culture, noted that conservative-leaning bishops were appointed over a 35-year period by Benedict and his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, and routinely prevail in voting over the relatively more liberal group of bishops appointed since 2013 by Pope Francis.

That conservative core is better organized and, as shown by the recent election of USCCB officers, more motivated as it reacts against the more open and unpredictable style of Francis, Gibson said via email.

The Francis-style bishops are not as numerous nor as well-organized, Gibson added. But they are also contending with well-organized conservative Catholic activists who can make their jobs exceedingly difficult if those bishops are perceived as being too focused on social justice or other teachings perceived as progressive.'

The USCCB doesn't track the number of bishops appointed by individual popes, according to its spokesperson, Chieko Noguchi. A sociology professor who does do such tracking, Katie Hoegeman of Missouri State University, said that of more than than 200 bishops now active in the USCCB, about half were initially appointed by Francis and half by his two predecessors.

Massimo Faggioli, a professor of historical theology at Villanova University, says he doesnt foresee any major shift in the USCCBs decision-making in the aftermath of Benedicts death.

It is a fact that whenever theres an election (within the USCCB), the more conservative side always wins, he said in a telephone interview.

One reason for the conservatives sustained dominance, Faggioli said, is that Benedict and John Paul II appointed bishops at relatively young ages. For example, outspoken conservative Salvatore Cordileone was 46 when named a bishop by John Paul in 2002; he was promoted to be archbishop of San Francisco by Benedict 10 years later.

Cordileone has been among the USCCB members to differ openly with Pope Francis on high-profile issues, notably barring U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi  a Catholic from San Francisco  from receiving Communion in the archdiocese because of her support for abortion rights. Francis has made clear he opposes using denial of Communion for this type of repudiation.

Its difficult to say what a Francis bishop stands for  they dont correspond to a single profile, Faggioli said, Its easy to say what a Benedict bishop stands for  they brought in a very distinct cultural war mentality.

The divisions within the USCCB are so pronounced that they were highlighted in a statement from Timothy Broglio, the Archbishop of the Military Services, USA, after his election in November as the conferences new president.

We do suffer from a damaged unity, Broglio said.

We have a responsibility to cultivate that unity, which does not mean that we are carbon copies of one another or always have the same approaches to a problem. he said. It does mean that, if we disagree, we first speak among ourselves. We are not obliged to imitate the society around us by contributing to diatribes about others.

One of the minority of U.S. bishops who energetically align with Pope Francis is John Stowe, bishop of Lexington, Kentucky.

During the November USCCB meeting at which Broglio was elected, Stowe unsuccessfully urged his fellow bishops to overhaul a longstanding statement on Faithful Citizenship so it would reflect some of Francis priorities, such as climate change and economic justice.

Stowe was subsequently asked by the Jesuit magazine America what he saw ahead for the USCCB during Broglios three-year term.

Were definitely not going to be going in the direction of Pope Francis any more than we have, and thats unfortunate, Stowe replied. I hope Archbishop Broglio can bring us together a little bit better than we have been, but Id also like to see Francis agenda much higher on the bishops priorities.

America then asked Stowe if lay Catholics were wearying of the confrontational approach of some USCCB bishops.

I think the conference is becoming more and more irrelevant to average Catholics, Stowe replied.

Indeed, the hardline stances of many conservative U.S. bishops are not shared by a majority of lay Catholics, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in June. Most respondents said abortion should be legal, favored greater inclusion of LGBT people, and opposed the denial of Communion for politicians who support abortion rights.

Stowe was appointed bishop by Pope Francis in 2015.

Francis, in addition to his appointment of bishops, has appointed five cardinals during his papacy, most recently San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy. He was picked over higher-ranking prelates such as Cordileone and Los Angles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who has been the archbishop of New York since his appointment to that post by Benedict in 2009, expressed relief that the opposing ideological camps within the USCCB had responded to Benedicts death with inclusive praise.

Im just very touched by it, he told The Associated Press in Rome.

But he demurred when asked if the USCCBs culture wars might subside.

Unfortunately, youre talking to a church historian, so I have to say, that is nothing new, he said. Theyve always been going on and theyll continue.

Photos: The funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
LAS VEGAS  As thousands of children were taken from their parents at the southern border during a Trump administration crackdown on illegal crossings, a federal public defender in San Diego set out to find new strategies to go after the longstanding deportation law fueling the family separations.

The resulting legal defense that Kara Hartzler would help draft in the coming years  work that continued even after a judge halted the general practice at the U.S.-Mexico border in June 2018  was unprecedented.

It exposed Section 1326 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which makes it a crime to unlawfully return to the U.S. after deportation, removal or denied admission, as racist and a violation of equal protection rights guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.

And it became the legal framework for a never-before-seen ruling in August 2021 by Nevada U.S. District Judge Miranda Du. She struck down the law as unconstitutional and discriminatory against Latinos when she dismissed an illegal reentry charge against Mexican immigrant Gustavo Carrillo Lopez, though she didnt block enforcement and prosecutions haven't stopped as the government appeals the case.

Du's 43-page ruling cited much of Hartzler's legal defense. The record before the Court reflects that at no point has Congress confronted the racist, nativist roots of Section 1326, the judge wrote.

Hartzler, who has spent the last decade as a federal public defender in California, said she was blown away when she learned of the ruling.

When youve been working in law for as long as I have, you know that just because youre legally right doesnt mean you always win, she said. Theres a lot of forces at work in making legal decisions.

The potentially precedent-setting case has been in legal limbo for more than a year as a federal court in California considers the Justice Department's appeal defending the law. Despite the ongoing battle in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Nevada case has shined a national spotlight on the little-known history of Section 1326.

It really is an ill-understood law when you think about the degree to which it is based on explicitly racist and white supremacist ideology, said Sirine Shebaya, executive director of the nonprofit National Immigration Project.

Section 1326, along with its misdemeanor counterpart Section 1325, which criminalizes unauthorized entry, was enacted by Congress in 1952.

But the law's origins can be traced back a century to the 1920s  a decade described by UCLA history professor and leading Section 1326 researcher Kelly Lytle Hernandez as a time when the Ku Klux Klan was reborn, Jim Crow came of age, and public intellectuals preached the science of eugenics.

Many of the key elements that formed the legal defense now being considered by the 9th Circuit came from Hernandez's findings on Section 1326's discriminatory background.

With Congress' sights in the 1920s set on legislation that would block undesirable immigration, the National Origins Act of 1924 was enacted, establishing a cap on how many immigrants could enter the U.S. under a system that reserved 96% of slots for European immigrants and included a total ban on Asian immigrants.

Exempt from that system, however, were immigrants from the Western Hemisphere, including Mexico. Hernandez, who was called as an expert witness in the Nevada case, said the exception came as a compromise between nativist lawmakers and employers who had come to rely heavily on cheap labor from Mexico.

But before the decade's end, South Carolina Sen. Coleman Livingston Blease would orchestrate a new deal with employers that led to the Undesirable Aliens Act of 1929.

Under this new law, unauthorized entry into the U.S. became illegal, allowing Congress to limit immigration from Mexico without implementing an outright ban.

Blease, Hernandez said, was a proud white supremacist" who advocated for segregation and defended lynching. That alone requires some reckoning with.

Nearly a century later, the Justice Department has conceded that the 1929 law was motivated by racism. But in oral arguments in early December before the 9th Circuit, an attorney for the U.S. government argued later revisions  like Section 1326  made it constitutional.

Du's ruling, however, points out that the 1952 revision establishing Section 1326 adopted language word for word from the 1929 legislation, and since then, penalties  that range from prison time to permanent deportation  have stiffened at least five times.

Justice Department attorneys also conceded that Section 1326 bears more heavily on Mexican and Latinx individuals, but argued the disparity is a product of geography, not discrimination, as well as a feature of Mexicos proximity to the United States, the history of Mexican employment patterns, and other socio-political and economic factors that drive migration from Mexico to the United States.

The numbers behind the DACA program: how many people would its end affect? The numbers behind the DACA program: how many people would its end affect? Although there are DACA recipients from more than 150 countries, a large majority come from Mexico and other Central American countries As years go by, fewer people meet DACA requirements A majority of DACA recipients live in Western states The majority of DACA recipients are in their 20s
A young Omaha mother is facing a charge of felony negligent child abuse resulting in death after her 4-year-old son died by ingesting a pill that was laced with fentanyl.

Paris Hunt, 21, was taken into custody Saturday in connection with the death of her son, who died last March.

According to an affidavit, Hunt called 911 shortly after 4:30 p.m. March 12 to report that her son was not breathing. She had found him unresponsive next to vomit in his bed before calling for help.

Upon arrival, first responders found Hunt crying and visibly hysterical as she performed CPR on the boy. She told officers that there was half a Percocet pill in a bottle on her nightstand that he may have gotten into, as she could no longer find the pill.

The boy was taken to Childrens Hospital & Medical Center with CPR in progress. Hospital staff members were able to regain a pulse, and he was transferred to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Hunt provided permission for officers to search her home, and it is noted in the affidavit that she was completely cooperative throughout the process.

In an interview at the hospital, Hunt told officers that she was using pain pills to help with wisdom tooth pain and that she got the pill from a childhood friend who said it was Percocet. The pill actually was a counterfeit 30 milligram oxycodone pill.

Hunts son was declared brain dead March 16. He was taken off life support that evening.

A urine drug screen completed upon admission to the hospital did not show any drugs in the boys system. In his autopsy, however, blood taken at the hospital showed fentanyl and norfentanyl, a fentanyl analog, in his system. His cause of death was determined to be fentanyl toxicity.

If convicted, Hunt faces up to 21 years in prison. She has not yet appeared in court.
An Omaha business owner will spend a year and a day in federal prison and pay more than $460,000 in restitution for failing to pay payroll taxes.

Bryan Erdman, president and owner of BSJ CO, which did business as Its A Wonderful World Childcare, was sentenced in federal court to 12 months and one day in prison, according to a press release from the IRS Criminal Investigations St. Louis Field Office.

From 2015 to 2017, BSJ CO withheld tax payments from its employees paychecks but failed to account for and pay approximately $295,000 of the employee share of payroll taxes. Erdman also failed to pay approximately $167,000 of the employer share of payroll taxes for tax years 2015 through 2017, the release said.

During the same time period, Erdman also used some of the money within BSJ COs bank account to pay for personal expenses, according to the release.

The case was investigated by the IRS.
DES MOINES  Emboldened by six years of conservative reforms under their belts and multiple elections that expanded their majorities in the Iowa Legislature, Republicans kicked off the 2023 state lawmaking session Monday by promising more conservative action  particularly on K-12 education and property taxes.

The 90th Iowa General Assembly met for the first time at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines. In the coming months, legislators will consider hundreds of proposals to make changes to Iowa state law.

Iowa Republicans hold commanding agenda-setting majorities  34-16 in the Senate and 64-36 in the House. While that margin grew in Novembers election, this is the seventh consecutive year that Republicans have held complete control of the state lawmaking process by virtue of their majorities in the Iowa Legislature with a Republican governor.

Iowa Legislature Iowa House Speaker Pro Tempore John H. Wills speaks during the opening day of the Iowa Legislature Monday in Des Moines.

Jack Whitver, the Republican Senate majority leader from Grimes, used his opening day remarks to highlight many of those conservative law changes of the past six years, including multiple rounds of state tax reductions, a dramatic reduction of collective bargaining rights for public workers, changes to the states elections laws and judicial nominating process, restrictions on legal abortions and the expansion of gun rights.

Republicans in the Iowa Senate do not shy away from hard work or hard decisions, and Iowans have rewarded us for it, Whitver said. With the historical successes we have had, I think its safe to say that we are ready for bigger, bolder and better.

Democratic legislators, who by virtue of being outnumbered are unable to influence the lawmaking process with their votes, made calls for bipartisan work in the Legislature and called on Republicans to work on legislation that will benefit all Iowans.

Iowa Legislature Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley is escorted through the chamber before taking the oath of office during the opening day of the Iowa Legislature, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Zach Wahls, leader of the Senate Democrats from Coralville, said lawmakers focus this year should be on Iowas stagnant population growth and shortage of workers.

Its been called a brain drain and a workforce crisis. But really this challenge is bigger than that. What we face is a people crisis, an exodus in the state of Iowa, Wahls said. Whether its growing wait lists for child care, bigger class sizes in our public schools or the shuttering of labor and delivery units at hospitals across our state. This crisis threatens the future of Iowa and is holding us back every single day.  Everything we do this session should be focused on this crisis.

Republicans pledged action on three main topics: property taxes, funding for K-12 private school students and expanding transparency in K-12 public education.

Republicans plan for a third consecutive year to work on legislation that would set aside state funding for private school tuition assistance. Previous attempts were supported by Gov. Kim Reynolds and passed the Senate, but stalled in the House.

During her successful 2022 re-election campaign, Reynolds supported challengers to incumbent Republican state lawmakers who did not support the private school tuition assistance bill.

Speaking at the Republican Party of Iowas annual legislative breakfast Monday morning, Reynolds said voters gave Iowa Republicans a mandate to continue to be bold in pursuing an agenda that puts parents and students first when it comes to their education, that fights back against the liberal, woke agenda thats being shoved down our throats from Washington, D.C., and continues to keep our community safe.

She called Republicans dominance in the 2022 state elections a red tsunami that shows Iowans like the direction Republicans are taking this state.

Iowa Legislature Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley pounds the gavel during the opening day of the Iowa Legislature, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

While previous so-called school choice proposals died in the House, Republican Speaker Pat Grassley has been more optimistic about some form of legislation passing this year. He formed a new committee  which he will chair, which is not common for a House speaker  to address education policy, including private school tuition and K-12 transparency. He said that legislation will be House Republicans top priority this session.

Grassley added that while state-funded private school scholarships are an important part of that discussion, we believe its just part of the much broader reforms that we will see, he said.

With a variety of policy ideas  some of which will look familiar  we can provide greater choice to Iowa parents and keep our public school system strong, Grassley said. Were crafting creative solutions to the issues that have plagued our state for years like workforce shortages. Were digging deep into the issues that are oftentimes deemed too complicated to address like property taxes. And were acting on the concerns we hear consistently from our constituents and are pushing back against the radical social agenda being forced upon us and our children by the left.

Iowa Legislature State Rep. Austin Baeth, D-Des Moines, center, takes the oath of office during the opening day of the Iowa Legislature, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Iowa House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, of Windsor Heights, reiterated the House Democrats position of putting people over politics  a message they unveiled during the 2022 campaign  and urged House Republicans to remember the wishes of their constituents.

My charge to you, and to us, is to use this new House of Representatives as an opportunity to set politics aside and do the work for the people, Konfrst said. We all knocked on a lot of doors last spring, last summer, last fall, and we talked to our constituents about what they wanted. Lets remember what they told us when drafting legislation.

Konfrst said Democrats will prioritize lowering costs for Iowans, legalizing marijuana, increasing funding for public schools and protecting abortion rights  all issues she said Iowans care about.

Listening to voters is exactly what House Republicans plan, according to House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, a Republican from Missouri Valley. He said House Republicans wins in the 2022 election show the party has a mandate to enact their agenda.

Windschitl said Republican legislation will be crafted with an eye toward expanding freedoms in Iowa, referencing an amendment Iowans passed designed to enshrine gun rights in the states constitution.

We took a message out, we showed Iowans what were capable of, we told them what were going to do, and how were going to govern. And (voters) said, Yes, that is what we want, Windschitl said.

Iowa Legislature Iowa House Majority Leader Matt W. Windschitl delivers his opening remarks during the opening day of the Iowa Legislature, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Iowa Legislature Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann waves after being introduced in the Iowa House during the opening day of the Iowa Legislature, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

The first week of the legislative session is largely ceremonial.

Legislative leaders gave their session-opening remarks Monday; Reynolds will give her condition of the state address Tuesday evening to the Iowa Legislature; Iowa Supreme Court chief justice Susan Christensen will address lawmakers Wednesday; and Iowa National Guard adjutant general Ben Corell will address legislators Thursday.

The session is scheduled to last until late April, but there is no hard deadline for it to end. Iowas sessions often trickle into May and occasionally into June.

One of lawmakers top priorities each year is to craft the next state budget. Iowas state budget year begins July 1.

Iowa Legislature Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, right, stands with his grandfather U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, during the Pledge of Allegiance on the opening day of the Iowa Legislature, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Iowa Legislature State Rep. Cindy Golding, R-Linn, takes the oath of office during the opening day of the Iowa Legislature, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Iowa Legislature State Rep. Chad Ingels, R-Fayette, takes the oath of office during the opening day of the Iowa Legislature, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Iowa Legislature State Rep. David Young, R-Van Meter, talks with State Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, right, during the opening day of the Iowa Legislature, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds will appear in a new 30-second ad promoting legislation that would create state-funded private school scholarships.

Priorities for Iowa, a conservative political action committee based in Des Moines, launched a six-figure ad buy across Iowa in support of Reynolds school choice legislation.

The group announced the new ad Monday featuring the governor in a classroom discussing the need to give parents more choices for their childrens education.

In the video, Reynolds states Iowa has increased school funding by $1 billion in the past decade.

"But money alone isnt the solution. Parents also need choice," Reynolds says in the ad. "To send their kids to whatever school is best for them regardless of income or ZIP code."

Iowa House Republicans have pushed back on the voucher program for the past two years over objections from rural school districts who fear the proposal would sap state aid to public schools and limit course offerings, lead to larger class sizes and force more school consolidations.

The proposal, which was a major plank of Reynolds re-election campaign and one of her top priorities for the newly begun 2023 legislative session, would have taken about $5,360 out of a public school for each student who took advantage of the program, for use at a private or charter school. That plan would have made 10,000 scholarships available to families. The plan included a provision that distributed some of a students per-pupil funding to rural schools to mitigate some of the negative effects.

The Iowa State Education Association, a teachers union in Iowa, criticized the ad Monday.

Iowa families already have a choice in where they send their students to school, ISEA President Mike Beranek said in a statement. Iowa families do not want to use public money for private schools to pick and choose who they will admit. Private school vouchers pull critical resources from public schools which educate 90 percent of our students. Iowa families choose public money for public schools.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Monday stressed the need for ceaseless efforts to promote full and rigorous Party self-governance and ensure the implementation of decisions and plans made at the 20th CPC National Congress.



Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while addressing the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

In the interests of the Party's long-term governance, the country's lasting prosperity and stability and the people's happiness, full and rigorous Party self-governance should be the Party's long-term strategy and constant priority, Xi said.

The Party should continue to uphold strict principles, apply strict measures and foster a rigorous environment for its self-governance, and the Party's self-reform should be carried forward staunchly, he said.

While pushing forward strict self-governance, efforts should also be made to encourage enthusiasm, initiative and creativity among Party members and officials, he added.

Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi and Ding Xuexiang attended the meeting.

Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CCDI, presided over the meeting.

To do a good job of governing the country, the Party should do a good job of governing itself, Xi said, noting that the country will become strong only if the Party maintains its strength.

Xi said that full and rigorous self-governance is an unceasing endeavor, and the Party should remain alert and determined to tackle the special challenges that a large political party like it faces.

He stressed the importance of running the Party with systems and regulations, and improving the systems for exercising full and rigorous self-governance.

Xi ordered strong political oversight to ensure the decisions and plans made at the 20th CPC National Congress are effectively implemented.

Prominent problems should be found in a timely manner, Xi said, listing examples such as a failure to implement the decisions and prohibitions set by the central leadership, selective or compromised enforcement, protectionism in disregard of the overall interests, and blindly copying others' solutions.

He ordered measures to effectively remove bottlenecks, obstacles and difficulties in implementation and enforcement, and to refine the mechanisms through which the Party Central Committee's major decisions and plans are implemented.

Xi stressed that the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on improving conduct must be implemented with perseverance until it becomes a regular practice among Party members.

High importance should be placed on strengthening Party discipline, and the requirement for strictness should be integrated throughout all processes ranging from the formulation of Party rules and the dissemination of Party discipline to discipline enforcement oversight, he said. This is to ensure that a high degree of self-consciousness can be developed among all Party members in terms of observing Party rules and discipline.

Noting that the fight against corruption remains grave and complex, and the Party still faces uphill tasks in preventing new cases and rooting out existing ones, Xi urged enhanced efforts to address both the symptoms and root causes of the problem in a systematic way.

Coordinated steps must be taken to see that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to become corrupt, Xi said.

To keep pressure on officials so that they do not become corrupt, the deterrent effect of a zero tolerance policy and harsh punishment should be maintained, he said.

Corrupt officials who show no sign of restraint should be punished. Corruption that involves both political and economic elements should be resolutely investigated and dealt with, he said.

Action should be taken to prevent leading officials from acting for any interest group or power group, and to forestall any collusion between officials and businesspeople, or any infiltration of capital into politics that undermines the political ecosystem or the environment for economic development, he said.

The launch of initiatives to uproot prominent sectoral, institutional and regional corruption is also imperative, Xi said.

Efforts to ensure officials do not have the opportunity to become corrupt should be intensified, Xi said, calling for advancements in oversight mechanism reform and institutional development in key areas, and for improving institutions and mechanisms to curb corruption.

More measures are needed to ensure that officials do not have the desire to become corrupt, Xi said, stressing the importance of promoting a culture of integrity in the new era.

Simultaneous, coordinated and comprehensive steps should be taken to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to become corrupt, he noted.

Improving the laws and regulations targeting bribery is important, as is meting out joint punishment for those offering bribes, Xi said, vowing to crack down harshly on political liars with so-called connections.

Improving the total-coverage, authoritative and highly effective oversight system under the Party's unified leadership is essential to modernizing China's system and capacity for governance, Xi said.

On refining this oversight system, Xi emphasized the leading role of Party committees, the continued efforts to reform the country's discipline inspection and supervision system, and the strengthened inspections that serve as a powerful tool.

Xi noted that discipline inspection and supervision organs must remain loyal to the Party, take on tough and arduous tasks, and be adept at tackling their struggles.

He stressed the need to raise awareness of upholding the rule of law, following procedures and producing evidence, and to make discipline inspection and supervision work more well-regulated, law-based and standardized.

Discipline inspection and supervision organs should submit themselves willingly to oversight from all sides, manage their staff in a strict manner, and punish corrupt elements in the system harshly, so as to prevent being blind to their own problems, he said.

Li Xi presided over the plenary session and called for the thorough study and implementation of the spirit of Xi's speech.

He urged efforts to develop a deep understanding of the decisive significance of the "two affirmations," strengthen the "four consciousnesses," bolster the "four confidences," and ensure the "two upholds." He called for tireless efforts to exercise full and rigorous Party self-governance on China's new journey in the new era, advance the great new project of Party building in the new era, and provide a strong guarantee for a good start to the construction of a modern socialist country in all respects.

Li delivered a work report on behalf of the CCDI standing committee on Monday afternoon.
Our guest this week is Mike Augustyniak, Director of Meteorology for WCCO-TV, the CBS affiliate in the Twin Cities. He joins us to talk about the recent cold weather, what happens at the American Meteorological Society's annual weather conference (the largest in America), how technology is changing forecast communication and  most importantly  cocktails!

About the Across the Sky podcast

The weekly weather podcast is hosted on a rotation by the Lee Weather team:

Matt Holiner of Lee Enterprises' Midwest group in Chicago, Kirsten Lang of the Tulsa World in Oklahoma, Joe Martucci of the Press of Atlantic City, N.J., and Sean Sublette of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia.

More about this episode

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A spokesperson for Romanian anti-organized crime agency DIICOT said the court rejected an appeal by Tate against a judge's decision to extend his arrest from 24 hours to 30 days.
It will be a cold day in Sioux City, with temperatures in the 30s. The forecast calls for it to be a cold 37 degrees. We'll see a low temperature of 25 degrees today. Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast. The area will see gentle winds today, with forecast showing winds from Southeast, clocking in at 8 mph. This report is created automatically with weather data provided by TownNews.com. For more daily forecast information, visit siouxcityjournal.com.
In their first major vote since installing a speaker late Friday night, House Republicans passed a package of rules to govern the body on Monday night, 220 to 213.

It was the side agreements, thoughthe deals Speaker Kevin McCarthy made with hard-liners to resolve last weeks impasse that were not in the rules packagethat caused the most angst before the vote.

The most high-profile concession on the books was a restoration of a motion to vacate the chairessentially a no-confidence vote in the speakerto its pre-Pelosi status quo. This puts McCarthy under pressure to hew to the Freedom Caucus line right out of the gate.

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When Pelosi regained the speakership in 2019, she changed that rule, allowing only a party leader or a majority of a party to try to oust the speaker. McCarthy would have liked to have kept that kind of job security. But the Freedom Caucus forced his hand, and McCarthy restored the old rule, which empowers any single member to force such a vote, and call his job into question.

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To save face, McCarthys allies have been saying that this concession merely restores the rule to the way it was prior to Pelosis second four-year stint as speaker. That is true, but it misses some important context: This rule was a loaded gun sitting around for decades waiting for someone to pick it up. Then-Rep. Mark Meadows finally did in 2015, eventually leading to Speaker John Boehners retirement.

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McCarthy will now take over a more radical and narrower majority than Boehner had; the gun has been reloaded; and theres recent precedent for its having been used. For those who forced McCarthy into making all sorts of side agreements last week, this is their ultimate accountability mechanism to ensure he follows through.

A couple of the major side agreements McCarthy reportedly agreed to include giving hard-line Freedom Caucus members a critical three seats on the Rules Committee, and passing a 2024 budget capped at levels lower than 2022. Again, these arent in the rules package. Theyre in a written gentlemens agreement somewhere, which Punchbowl News devilishly described as the secret three-page addendum.

We dont know what else is in this mysterious codex. Its secret! But the elements of the McCarthy deal with holdouts that would probably give most Republican swing-district members, defense hawks, and appropriators heartburn would be found in the Secret Three-Page Addendum. Already, theres concern that one agreementcapping spending at 2022 levelswould necessarily lead to defense cuts. (Members who negotiated the deal, like Texas Rep. Chip Roy, argue that the caps can be met by going after non-defense discretionary spending alone. But there are plenty of Republicans who dont want to cut domestic spending that much.)

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That prompted Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales, for one, to declare himself a no on the rules package over the weekend. He was also worried about the restored motion to vacate the chair.

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I dont want to see us every two months be in lockdown, Gonzales told Fox News of the possibility of recurring speaker elections every time McCarthy angers, say, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz. Gonzales was the only Republican to vote no.

South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace had been undecided on the package heading into Monday, wanting more information on the backroom deals McCarthy cut with the holdouts. She was a yes in the end, but warned against backroom deals after she voted.

What may leaders have told these members who had concerns about the rules, or the Secret Three-Page Addendum? Perhaps to go along with all the tough talk about cuts for now, because theyll ultimately be dead on arrival in the Senate, and then a real bipartisan deal will be cut.

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Promising one side dramatic spending cuts and the other side that those cuts will never really happen: A guidebook for American legislative leadership.

And now, for a slew of other things in the rules package that caught our eye.

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 It weakens the Office of Congressional Ethics.

 Proxy voting is gone.

 It establishes a Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic to look into, among other things, the Federal Governments funding of gain-of-function research. (These are the dudes that will harangue Anthony Fauci.) It also tees up a vote to establish the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which is expected to be Ohio Rep. Jim Jordans perch from which to go after the FBI.

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 It requires the Congressional Budget Office to offer a so-called dynamic score of major legislation, i.e., to incorporate the budgetary effects of changes in economic output, employment, capital stock, and other macroeconomic variables resulting from such legislation into its score. They want CBO to make tax cuts look cheaper.

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 It revokes House floor privileges from territorial governors and the mayor of Washington, D.C.

 It restores the Holman rule, which allows individual members to use the appropriations process to cut the salaries or staff positions of federal workers at specific agencies. In other words, they may just go after the jobs of individuals who are villains in the MAGA cinematic universe. (Another good moment to reiterate that all this legislation will slam into a wall called the Senate.)

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 It attempts to enforce single-subject bills. Conservatives get angry at the way leaders logroll disparate pieces of legislation in order to sneak its more controversial components across the finish line. The requirement itself, though, reads as somewhat porous, requiring bill sponsors to merely submit for the record a statement setting forth the single subject of the bill or joint resolution. Just say its about politics stuff, like I tell my editor.

 It bars former members (or their spouses) who are lobbyists from using the House gym, a steamy haunt for corruption.

With their rules and a pathway to restoring American fiscal sanity in place, Republicans immediately turned to pass their first big policy item of the new Congress: defunding Democrats recent expansion of IRS enforcement. Republicans bill would add $114 billion to the debt.
The Federal Trade Commission issued a proposed rule on Thursday that lays the groundwork for a nationwide ban on noncompete clauses in employment contracts. The introduction of the rule is a huge development on its own. Employers use noncompete clauses to depress wages and lock in workers for no good reason. Its estimated that at least 30 million workers in the U.S. are subject to noncompete clauses that restrict their ability to move to a competing employer or start a competing business. Workers are unable to leverage a better job offer into higher wages. The FTC estimates that a ban on noncompetes would increase earnings over $250 billion annually.

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Beyond the rules direct beneficial impact on workers, it has crucial implications for the agencys long fallow rulemaking authority. The legal underpinnings of the noncompete clause rule rely on rulemaking authority granted by Congress but neglected by the FTC until now. The proposal could pave a path for the FTC to issue rules without being hamstrung, or mossified, by the procedural gauntlet known as Magnuson-Moss, or Mag-Moss.

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The proposed noncompete clause rule is refreshingly direct. Noncompete clauses are contractual terms under which one party agrees not to work against the other. They are built into employment contracts and bar workers from taking a job with a firm deemed in competition with the employer and from starting a competing business. The new rule does not include special carveouts or exceptions common on the state level. It also avoids the problem of employers threatening the use of unenforceable noncompetes on workers who may not know the clauses are illegal in their state. And importantly, the proposed rule affirmatively states that non-compete clauses increase racial and gender wage gaps by disproportionately reducing the wages of women and non-white workers. The rule actively requires employers to rescind existing noncompete clauses and provide notice to their workers. In short, the agency put forth a rule that addresses the problem head-on without prevaricating or kowtowing to corporate America.

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With a mountain of evidence in hand, the FTC made the determination that noncompete clauses are an unfair method of competition. That determination is a big deal, and not just for protecting workers. To understand why, its important to understand that while Congress passed laws to give the FTC significant rulemaking authority, the agency hasnt ever really used it in an impactful way. By one estimate, the agency has only issued one substantive antitrust rule in the last 50 years.

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For almost all its history, the FTC has been reticentor unwillingto use the broad authority granted to it by Congress in Section 5 of the FTC Act. Section 5 grants the FTC the power to prohibit practices that it determines are an unfair method of competition in or affecting commerce and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce. That necessarily wide mandate has never been fully used to protect the public through rulemaking or standalone enforcement.

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Business-friendly agency officials have attempted to wall off the FTCs rulemaking authority for fear of an active regulator using its power to outlaw unfair practices and ding corporate profits. In 2015, the FTC issued a policy statement preemptively constraining the agencys use of Section 5. Courts have been skeptical about the use of Section 5 on its own despite a strong line of precedent backing the agencys use of extensive Section 5 powers.

Following a federal appeals courts 1973 decision that the FTC had the statutory authorization to issue trade regulation rules, Congress passed a series of bills that imposed new rulemaking requirements on the FTC known as the Mag-Moss procedures. With Section 5 and competition rulemaking on the shelf, the FTCs only procedural choice for national regulatory standards was Mag-Moss using authority found elsewhere in the FTC Act.

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If youre looking to slow down a rule that will hurt your client, theres no better way than endless procedure.

Mag-Moss makes standard informal rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act look like the essence of proficiency and speed. The Government Accountability Office estimated that agencies take about four years on average to finalize a rule under the APA. Prior to Mag-Moss, it took the FTC an average of about three years to issue consumer protection rules. After the procedures went into effect, the average shot up to almost six years for rules that made it to finalization. The FTC ended up abandoning rules related to food advertising, nutritional labels, and hearing aidssome after a decade of staff work.

Mag-Moss is an industry lobbyists dream. If youre looking to slow down a rule that will hurt your client, theres no better way than endless procedure. In effect, Mag-Moss is red tape. The procedures prevent essential consumer protections from coming to fruition by imposing years of onerous notices, hearings, oral presentations, cross-examinations, and the like. The delays not only add time, but provide a host of opportunities for business interests to water down the rules substance. They also give courts ample opportunity to invalidate an FTC rule by claiming that the agency made a mistake at some point in the long and complex process. More procedural requirements mean more chances for a judge to flyspeck some aspect of rulemaking.

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Industry already has an asymmetrical advantage over public interest groups when it comes to shaping regulations. It is difficult to imagine the noncompetes rule surviving a full-scale assault by corporate lobbyists under Mag-Moss.

Thankfully, its a new day at the FTC under the current leadership of Chair Lina Khan, a Joe Biden appointee whos backed up by commissioners Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya. Khans FTC acted to rescind the 2015 guidance that clipped Section 5 authority. The new guidance, issued last year, lays out an extremely strong case for the use of Section 5 authority in a wide range of contexts, including competition rulemaking.

The commission also voted in 2021 to update its Mag-Moss rulemaking procedures so that it can act quickly and turn the page on decades of self-imposed red tape. The FTCs moves are building blocks to give the agency a path to responsive regulatory action. The noncompetes rule and associated enforcement actions are significant uses of the agencys consumer protection power under Section 5. Competition rules, like the ban on noncompetes, only need to undergo standard APA procedures, putting the FTC on par with most other agencies.

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Looming over all the good news is the entrenched hostility of the courts to an aggressive and powerful FTC. The conservative legal movement has made great strides in building antiregulatory thought and doctrine into case law and the wider legal academy. This term, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide a case that may open the door for more constitutional challenges to the agencys structure.

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The inevitable legal challenges to the rule will also summon the business worlds favorite antiregulatory tool: the major questions doctrine, which the Supreme Court conjured up in 2022s West Virginia v. EPA to strike down a regulation on the grounds that Congress did not specifically authorize a policy with such major political and economic significance. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has already said it doesnt believe the rule is within the FTCs statutory authority. Its not hard to see a conservative judge deeming the use of noncompetes so significant across the economy that exact congressional authorization is required, even though Congress has made clear that it is the FTCs duty to crack down on unfair practices like noncompete clauses. Yet the major questions doctrine itself is novel and leaves a host of unanswered questions. Not all courts will agree to substitute their view so easily for that of Congress based on such an unusual legal theory. But theres no doubt corporate America will fight tooth and nail to stop, or indefinitely pause, the noncompetes rule and what it sees as the greater threat: a reinvigorated Section 5 authority at the FTC.

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Its tempting to say that a conservative Supreme Court majority will quickly use the major questions doctrine to block the noncompetes ban. Doing so, however, would require an embarrassing stretch of the already thin premise. The FTCs statutory authority to police a clearly unfair method of competition is more direct than the EPAs authority in West Virginia v. EPA, the recent major questions decision. Were the court to take such a bold step, the reaction might finally wake up Congress.

The proposed noncompetes rule has incredible potential. It is competition rulemaking, based on Section 5 authority, that will not be subject to onerous Mag-Moss procedures. Once finalized, it will help millions of Americans stuck in hostile, abusive, or just plain bad work environments. The rule will raise wages and allow for real competition in the labor market. Ultimately, it could open the door for the FTC to meet its mandate to protect consumers and competition, without being dragged down by weaponized procedure.
Around 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, a masked man broke into a house about a mile from the University of Idaho campus and stabbed four students. Then he walked past a stunned, surviving roommate and left. By the time police arrived, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, two 21-year-old best friends, and Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, two 20-year-olds who were dating, were dead.

Early on in the investigation, the Moscow Police Department became interested in a white Hyundai Elantra that surveillance footage had captured near the house that morning. Police compiled lists of white Hyundai Elantras, spanning from 2011 to 2016, that were registered at local universities and instructed officers to search for still more. An affidavit released last week revealed that on Nov. 29just two weeks after the crimethese techniques succeeded in identifying a 2015 Elantra registered to Bryan Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology student at nearby Washington State University.

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And yet it would be another month before police arrested Kohberger and charged him with the murders. All the while, investigators would keep pleading for more tips about Elantras. Thats because it was not Kohbergers Elantra that had elevated him to a priority person of interest. Rather, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation with whom I spoke, a key reason police focused on Kohberger as a likely suspect has to do with something that is never mentioned in the 18-page affidavit: forensic genealogy. It was only after investigators utilized a technique reliant on genealogy databases to determine whod left DNA on a tan leather knife sheath that police requested a search warrant for Kohbergers phone records, according to this source. Up until that point, in late December, he hadnt stood out among all the other Elantra owners, the source said, something that is reinforced by a close, informed reading of the affidavit.

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The precise way forensic genealogy helped investigators zero in on Kohberger hasnt been previously reported. This is one of the most high-profile cases in which this relatively new, ethically contentious method has been used so soon after a crime has been committed, and it will likely influence how law enforcement approaches it going forward. Though multiple news outlets, including CNN and ABC News, reported that forensic genealogy helped with the case, none has explained how it was used or why it did not appear in the affidavit.

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That how and why matters. For one thing, it shows that a method known mostly for solving cold cases can apply to ones that are still hot. That may increase demand for an emerging field that was already experiencing a boom.

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The use of forensic genealogy also underlines that the current storyline about how police identified their suspect, which some are suggesting is a model, is missing pivotal details. According to numerous genetic genealogists, the case embodies an emerging trend of leaving out any mention of forensic genealogy from court documents and press conferences. The Idaho affidavits thoughtful omission of any reference to genealogy, as forensic DNA analyst Tiffany Roy put it, has reignited a heated debate among investigative genealogists, lawyers, detectives, and other forensic experts about the wisdom of this strategy.

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The people involved in Kohbergers arrest wont be weighing in anytime soon. On Jan. 3, shortly after Moscow police announced the arrest, a judge in Idaho issued a gag order prohibiting anyone involved in the case from speaking about it, in order to encourage a fair trial. This order also applies to Kohbergers defense team, which did not respond to a request for comment. Kohberber is expected to appear in court again on Thursday.

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Hyundai Elantras are among the best-selling compact cars in America. White is among the most common car colors. And so it is not surprising that, within 24 hours of requesting tips about white Hyundai Elantras on its Facebook page on Dec. 7, the Moscow Police Department had received so many that it had to devise a new system for accepting them. By Dec. 27, the agency had a list of 22,000 white Elantras.

One of the ways investigators whittled down the vehicles owners was by looking for associated mobile phones that pinged cell towers near the crime scene around the time of the murder. Kohberger failed to stand out in that way, according to the affidavit.

A query of the 8458 Phone in these returns did not show the 8458 Phone utilizing cellular tower resources in close proximity to the King Road Residence between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., Brett Payne, Moscow Police Departments lead investigator, wrote, referring to Kohbergers phone.

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What this likely meant was that there was no immediate reason to prioritize Kohberger over other Elantra owners. On Dec. 23, three weeks after Kohbergers Elantra first made the list, Payne applied for a search warrant for records of Kohbergers phone activity between Nov. 12 and 14. The results helped convince Payne that Kohberger was the Elantra owner he was looking for after all.

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The route of travel of the 8458 Phone during the early morning hours of November 13, 2022 and the lack of the 8458 Phone reporting to AT&T between 2:47 a.m. and 4:48 a.m. is consistent with Kohberger attempting to conceal his location during the quadruple homicide that occurred at the King Road Residence, he wrote.

So the question is what happened shortly before Christmas that refocused Paynes attention on this particular Elantra owner. The answer, according to the source familiar with the investigation, is partly that the officer got back the results from a forensic genealogy team.

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As court documents state, during his exploration of the house, Payne found a leather knife sheath stamped with a Marine Corps eagle containing a single source of male DNA on its button snap. Had their suspect been arrested for or convicted of a felony in one of the states that are aggressive about collecting DNA, officials might have found him by searching a criminal database. But Kohbergers most notable previous interaction with police occurred this past fall, when he applied for an internship to work for the Pullman Police Department.

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And so, in the end, investigators would turn to an alternative way of identifying DNA, which rose to prominence following the 2018 arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer, in whats widely referred to as the Golden State Killer case. After decades of dead ends, investigators helped triangulate the identity of the mystery man whod terrorized California in the 70s and 80s, committing at least 13 murders and many more rapes, by using partial genetic matches to relatives in genealogy databases and the building of an enormous family tree.

Since then, law enforcement agencies across the country have used the technique to identify suspects and victims in hundreds of cases. Most of these cases went cold decades ago. But regardless of how long a lab has been storing the DNA, a first step involves processing the DNA in a way that enables an upload to a genealogy database. This is not something police labs can do, because genealogists rely on a different, essentially far more informative type of DNA analysis, said Samantha Blatt, a biological anthropologist at Idaho State University who has worked on forensic genealogy cases in Idaho.

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Idaho State Police has a contract with Othram, a forensic genealogy company, to conduct genealogy testing, according to a July 2021 memo. (Othram and Idaho State Police Forensic Services declined to comment.)

Once the DNA profile is ready, it gets uploaded to GEDmatch or FamilyTreeDNA, if not both; these are two primary genealogy sites that permit some types of law enforcement searches. The FBI played a role in the forensic genealogy work in the Idaho case, according to the source familiar with the investigation, something several genealogists confirmed would be likely to happen in such a high-profile investigation. (The FBI declined to comment, and Anthony Dahlinger, spokesperson for the Moscow Police Department, wrote, Due to the gag order issued by our Judge I am not allowed to discuss the case in any form.)

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Regardless of who is conducting the investigation, genealogists look for partial matches, hoping to find relatives within the third-cousin range. They then began the process of building an enormous family tree, using a vast array of public records and more-traditional detective work to create a short list of people within that tree who could plausibly be the suspect. The fact that Kohberger lived 10 miles from the crime scene would have helped him stand out. So too would the fact that he owned a white Elantra.

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Still, even after pulling the phone records, the team had no way to be certain Kohbergers DNA would match the knife-sheath DNA. A genetic genealogy lead is just a hypothesis, after all. A final step typically involves conducting surveillance on the suspect and then collecting something theyve discardedsuch as a cigarette butt or soda canextracting DNA from it and comparing it with the crime scene DNA. On Dec. 27, agents collected trash from outside the Pennsylvania home where Kohberger was visiting his parents, according to the affidavit. The Idaho State Lab reported that there was an extremely high probability it contained DNA belonging to the suspects father. On Dec. 30, agents arrested Kohberger.

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Soon after Kohberger appeared in front of a judge in Idaho, the court released the affidavit. Some suggested that the absence of any reference to forensic genealogy meant that it had not been utilized after all. But there is another explanation: Forensic genealogy leaders at the FBI and beyond have directed police departments to omit all references to the technique, numerous people involved in these investigations told me. The only reason it would show up in a probable-cause document or search warrant these days is if a police department rejected their guidance. As to whether keeping it out of court documents is a problem, two primary camps have emerged over the past few days.

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The first camp says leaving it out is offensive. The technique relies on members of the public whove chosen to opt in to genealogy databases to allow law enforcement to use their DNA profiles to help identify their relatives. Therefore, the public deserves to know when it is used. (Contrary to what many people think, Ancestry and 23andMe dont easily enable law enforcement searches, so GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA are what were talking about here. With FamilyTreeDNA, youre opted in by default. With GEDmatch, users have to click a box.) Because its not in these court documents, its difficult to know how many times its been used or the kinds of cases in which law enforcement applies it.

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Why hide it? asked Greg Hampikian, a biology professor at Boise State University who is also the director of the Idaho Innocence Project. Having worked on two cases in Idaho in which forensic genealogy helped clear two people who were wrongfully convicted of murder, he knows firsthand that the foundational science is solid and the technique is valuable. But hes observed that the longer a novel forensic method stays hidden, the more room there is for errors in its application. Lets go get it tested in court and lets tell the public about it, he said.

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Roy, the forensic DNA analyst, made similar points in a LinkedIn post that sparked a fiery debate over the weekend. In a follow-up interview, Roy noted that when investigators get a DNA hit in CODIS, the FBIs criminal database, they typically mention it in an affidavit. Getting a partial match in a genealogy database should be similarly included, she said. Early on, prominent forensic genealogists and database managers allowed genetic profiles to be searched in ways that violated customer service agreements. Investigators also lied to relatives of people they found through these databases. She believes that more scrutiny is needed to ensure police dont abuse their power, and she dismisses the argument that keeping the technique out of affidavits protects the privacy of the suspects family members, because police have already used this information.

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They are using privacy as a shield and a sword at the same time, she said.

The second camp says that these people need to chill out, because an affidavit of probable cause is supposed to explain why police believe someone is their suspect, not how they arrived at that conclusion. You dont typically include anonymous tips or internet searches in the document. This isnt that different, they insist, given that you would never use a genetic genealogy lead to arrest someone, only to take the next step and collect DNA from them to compare with the crime-scene sample.

And since an investigative genetic genealogy (or IGG) lead is not direct evidence, there is no reason for the jury to hear about the lead generated by IGG either, said David Gurney, the director of the Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center at Ramapo College, who is also part of a group that is developing standards for investigative genetic genealogists. Several prominent genealogists told me they agreed with him.

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Some within this second camp agree with the first camp that transparency is important. But affidavits are not the place for it, they say.

One strange consequence of the current policy is that even Kohbergers relatives may never know that their DNA profiles contributed to his arrest. Thats because most genealogists approach is to not tell them. And if they are distant cousins, they might not recognize his name. Several genealogists I talked to made the case that people would rather not know they are related to suspected killers and rapists.

John Hogan, a death investigator and business owner in Lowndes County, Georgia, disagrees. Hogan learned that his DNA profile helped arrest a second cousin for murder in 2019 only after a reporter told him. If they took the time to use something that is a part of me, I need to know that something that is part of me is used, he said in a phone interview.

All of these are the sorts of issues Kohberger had planned to spend the next few years studying. Washington State University even offers a course examining the implications of forensic genealogy. Its worth remembering that a jury could find Kohberger to be innocent. Regardless, its unlikely hell enter a classroom soon.
Running a car company has to feel a little dull once youve become one of the richest people on the planet. But your wealth gives you options. You could buy a media platform, for instance, where you might bully a marginalized group or forge new friendships with fringe characters. Sharing half-baked views on international affairs works, too; when youre this rich, even your most reprehensible takes get serious attention.

But be warned: All of this might be fun for you, but it could spell disaster for the car company that generated your riches in the first place.

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Im talking, of course, about Henry Ford, the founder of the car company that bears his name. It would be hard to overstate his influence over corporate America and the national zeitgeist a century agoor the damage he ultimately inflicted on both his company and the country.

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The resemblance to a certain publicity-craving, South Africaborn billionaire is more than fleeting.

But there are some important differences, especially in their early years. Unlike Elon Musk, Ford did not grow up rich (he was raised on a farm in rural Michigan). Ford met his wife and loyal companion, Clara Jane Bryant, when he was 20; he called their wedding the greatest day of my life. Musks romantic and family life is more, um, complicated. And only Ford actually founded the car company that made him one of the most famous people in the world. (Thanks to a lawsuit settlement, Musk is allowed to call himself a co-founder.)

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Fords business accomplishments are the stuff of legend. In the early 20th century, he brought to car manufacturing two transformative ideas: interchangeable parts and the assembly line. Together, they turbocharged his companys production rates, enabling Ford to reduce the price of its flagship Model T by more than two-thirds between 1908 and 1925, when it cost $260 (about $4,400 today). At one point, over half of all cars in the world were Model Ts.

Musk, for his part, is credited with making electric vehicles cool instead of dorky. Starting with the release of the Roadster in 2008, Teslas sales of electric cars have dwarfed those of its competitors. The company has capitalized on several innovative business tactics, such as selling directly to consumers, issuing over-the-air software updates, and offering house calls from vehicle technicians. Tesla has loosely followed Musks famous 2006 master plan of designing high-end EVs before moving down-market with more affordable models. (That said, Teslaunlike Fordhas not come close to producing a true vehicle for the masses, unless you count the $46,000-plus youll pay for a Model 3 before incentives). At age 50, Musk was named Times Person of the Year in 2021.

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Ford, too, seemed to be on top of the world when he turned 50 in 1913, as the Model T was transforming the country. His 1914 promise of a $5 workday drew thousands of young men from Midwestern farms to Detroit, helping to make Ford himself a topic of national fascination. He became the recognizable face of the automobile industry, producing a wildly popular product that suggested a thrilling future of transportation. According to Heather Barrows book Henry Fords Plan for the American Suburb, Ford pooh-poohed transit, claiming that subways would eventually be used to park cars. That suggests yet another parallel with Musk, who once said, I think public transport is painful. It sucks. Thus far, his vision of subterranean, autonomous tunnels has produced a single 1.5-mile track used by Las Vegas conference attendees who ride inside Teslaswith human drivers.

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But then Henry Fords life took a grim turn toward bigotry. In 1918 Ford bought a local newspaper, the Dearborn Independent. At a time when hundreds of thousands of Jews were fleeing pogroms in Europe, the paper published a torrent of vicious antisemitism, such as the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion and a series titled The International Jew: The Worlds Problem. According to Steven Watts book The Peoples Tycoon, the resulting backlash included condemnation from former presidents William Taft and Woodrow Wilson and at least one Ford dealership (in Iowa) ending its relationship with the company.

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Musk, for his part, bought Twitter last year and now wields it as a weapon against the woke mind virus. Transgender people have been a frequent target; Musk tweeted that pronouns suck, and last month the San Francisco Chronicle accused him of leaning into transphobia. Musks politicization of Twitter and embrace of the right seem to be taking a toll on Teslas business, much as disgusted Jews once refused to buy Fords.

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And then there are international affairs, an area where Musk has recently dabbled disastrously. Here, too, Henry Ford did it first.

Given Fords loathing of Jews, his affinity for Nazi Germany is hardly surprising. In 1938 Ford became the first American to accept the Third Reichs top honor for a foreigner, the Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle. The warm feelings were reciprocated: Hitler at one point kept a portrait of Ford in his office, calling him my inspiration. In his book, Watts describes how Ford did everything he could to keep the United States out of World War II, including authoring articles touting isolationism and joining Charles Lindbergh in the infamous America First Committee that blamed the United Kingdom and Jews for trying to drag the U.S. into war. Ford infuriated the Roosevelt administration by reneging on an agreement to manufacture engines for Great Britain; only after Pearl Harbor did Ford quietly change course, converting the companys factories for wartime production.

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Musk, too, has developed warm relations with some of the most despicable people of his era. Since buying Twitter, he has invited Nazis back to the platform, where he has also engaged in friendly banter with Vladimir Putins top allies. (Epic thread!! he recently tweeted in response to former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedevs New Years predictions, which included a civil war breaking out in the U.S.) A few months ago Musk proposed a peace plan for the war in Ukraine that received praise from the Kremlin but condemnation from virtually everyone else. Like many on the far right, his disdain for Dr. Anthony Fauci seems to border on obsession.

With Tesla shares tumbling 65 percent in 2022, Musks growing involvement in media and politics has done his car company no favors. With much of his wealth comprised of Tesla stock, Musk recently became the first person in history to lose $200 billion. His companys lead among EV makers once seemed insurmountable, but not anymore.

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A century ago, Fords carmaking dominance faded along with its founders focus on his core business. For years, Henry Ford resisted calls to overhaul the Model T. When he finally did, launching the Model A in 1927, it was too late; Ford had already ceded market share to competitors like General Motors and Chrysler. The companys struggles continued during the 1930s, when Henry Ford relied on a private police force to battle workers trying to unionize. (Musk, too, has shown no love for organized labor.)

It was only in the 1940s, as Henry Fords behavior became increasingly erratic and the companys finances teetered, that he was finally forced to hand over the reins. He could now fill his time with an array of passion projects that ranged from watchmaking to farming to constructing Greenfield Village, his collection of historic American buildings that included Thomas Edisons laboratory and the Wright Brothers bicycle shop.

As for Musk? Now might be a good time for him to focus on a few hobbies, too.

Lucas Peilert provided research assistance.
Prince Harry spills a lot of ink in his memoir, Spare, on Willywhich is what he calls his brother, better known to you and me as Prince Williambut the book also contains more than one revelation about his other willy. Such as: Contrary to popular belief, Harry is circumcised. Um, OK! And that circumcised willy of his has been through the wringer, apparently: It, and by extension he, got frostbite in 2011, while Harry was on an Arctic expedition. Whats more, the prince was still recovering from this serious case of chilly willy during one of his biggest moments on the worlds stagewhen he served as best man at his brothers wedding.

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These are just some of the more sensational leaks that flooded headlines last week in the leadup to the books release. With Harry making the talk show rounds and the book set to hit shelves, there will undoubtedly be plenty more royal gossip to chatter about this week. But some of us still need a moment, because its not every day that you learn that the Duke of Sussex got frostbite on a body part you werent even aware could get frostbitten. Or that he calls his penis his todger. In the interest of all of us being able to move on with our lives, we thought it prudent to pose some of our biggest questions and concerns about penile frostbite to a slate of professionals.

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The first thing to know is that Harry is a statistical oddity. Its a very rare phenomenon, said Seth Cohen, a urologist who teaches at New York Universitys medical school, of getting frostbitten in that particular, ahem, place. This is not something thats commonplace.

While its reported that you can get frostbite on your penis, its very uncommon, and so I was a bit surprised that thats where he got frostbit, agreed Rena Malik, another urologist.

He even had a little rhyme for the most at-risk body parts: fingers, nose, penis, toes.

Scott McIntosh, head of the wilderness medicine program at the University of Utah School of Medicine, said that to the extent that hed heard of anyone getting frostbite in that area, it mostly happened to people exercising in cold weather wearing too-thin clothing. That was the case for Remi Lindholm, the Finnish cross-country skier who got frostbitten on his penis during last years Olympics, i.e., the guy Harry just dethroned for the title of the most famous person in the world to have frozen his penis. Spare no more!

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Harry reportedly writes in the book that he had some frostbite on his ears and cheeks, too, but they healed more quickly than his todger. A few of the doctors I spoke to were puzzled as to how Harry ended up with the most severe frostbite on his penis as opposed to, say, on his fingers. But Craig Comiter, a professor of urology at Stanfords medical school, told me penises are just as vulnerable to the condition as other extremities. He even had a little rhyme for the most at-risk body parts: fingers, nose, penis, toes. All of these are end organs, Comiter explained, meaning their blood supply comes from just one or two vessels. If the blood vessels constrict, as they naturally do when its cold, you actually can get death of the tissue, he said. (Comiter added that testicles have better blood flow than penises, so thats onewell, twoless things to worry about.)

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Comiter said he could envision a scenario where Harry could have contracted the frostbite on his penis but not his hands or feetand no, it didnt involve Harry exposing himself in the Arctic. Its probably just lack of warm clothing, Comiter said. We buy super expensive gloves and wool socks and a face mask if we go to cold weather, but we kind of just wear underwear and pants. He guessed that the prince may have had the latest gear for protecting his hands and feet and neglected to think about extra protection for a certain other important extremity.

The other thing is, when youre using your extremity, there is good blood flow. So if youre moving your hands, if youre walking around, you are going to have better blood flow in the fingers and the toes. But if youre not using the penis, and its just sitting there, theres no reason for it to have extra circulation.

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So thats how it could have happened. But what does frostbite on ones penis look and feel like? In the moment itself, there will probably be some numbness and a very pale appearance, but apparently, its the warming up you really need to worry about. When things are thawing out, and youre getting sensation and blood flow back to areas that werent receiving much blood flow, that is a very painful, painful experience, Cohen said.

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We dont know how serious Harrys frostbite was, but theres reason to believe it was superficial. Per Page Six, The injured royal used Elizabeth Arden cream on his afflicted memberon the advice of a friend, who we assume did not have a medical degreeuntil he finally consulted a doctor. If Harry had more severe frostbite, he probably would have sought out medical attention sooner, because he would have been in serious duress.

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Superficial frostbite normally doesnt prove to have many long-term consequences, but deep frostbite can have very severe consequences, including amputation, McIntosh said. Harry did not confirm the ultimate outcome for his own case, but Comiter, the Stanford doctor, assumes he was fine. It would be very unlikely that he would have lost his penis and not spoken about it to Anderson Cooper, he said.

What other implications could a frostbitten penis have for the princes sex life? The penis has multiple layers, from the skin on the outside to the dermis layers underneath to the corpora cavernosa, which carry all the blood flow for erection, Cohen said. Theres quite a lot of layers to get through before you get into the erectile tissue of the penis. So as long as the frostbite just affected the skin and not the actual erectile tissues, you would assume his erectile function would be normal after this injury.

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Or as Comiter put it, Youve got to freeze that thing for a long time to really kill it.

Its better than the alternative, but so-called superficial frostbite might take weeks to heal. According to McIntosh, Frostbitten tissue can be very sore after it is thawed. Theres inflammation in the area. The nerves can be hyperactive and sense pain very acutely. Then factor in having a gazillion cameras on you at a royal wedding while youre trying to recover. Yikes!

Theres not really anything to do to help it heal but wait, McIntosh said. (Elizabeth Arden cream, several doctors assured me, would neither help nor hurt.)

One last question: Is it possible Harry might have been slightly better protected if he werent, as we all now know, circumcised?

Unlikely, Comiter said: If you think about it, the foreskin is such a flimsy, thin piece of skin, it would be like wearing Saran Wrap gloves to go out in the winter. I doubt Harrys irresponsible enough to do that in the Arctic, but perhaps its for the best that he settled in Southern California.
Tiny semiconductor chips are essentially the brains powering our modern lives. We use them all day long, in our coffee pots, our cars, our cellphones. But these tiny chips also hold the key to immense economic and government power. Those little silicon wafers help create advanced weaponry and are crucial to national security.

So last summer, in a rare bipartisan move, Congress passed the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act. They were worried about the countrys reliance on foreign chip manufacturers, particularly in Taiwan, which makes nearly all of the most advanced chips out there. China claims Taiwan is part of China, and if the country were to, say, launch an offensive against Taiwan, the U.S. chip supply would be endangered or cut off. So, the idea behind the CHIPS Act was to reduce our reliance on foreign countries for chip-making.

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On Sundays episode of What Next: TBD, I spoke with Don Clark, who covers the semiconductor industry, about whether the U.S. can really bring chip manufacturing home. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Emily Peck: Through the CHIPS and Science Act, the Biden administration is offering roughly $76 billion in grants, tax credits, and subsidies to incentivize manufacturers to do whats called reshoringessentially bringing factories to the United States. And chipmakers are responding. Since 2020, more than 35 companies, some of the biggest players in this space, have pledged nearly $200 billion for manufacturing projects related to chips.

Don Clark: Its an interesting change in industrial policy. It used to be the federal government just built things, but in this kind of a policy, theyre using public money to spur private money. And the reason theyre doing it that way is because thats what other governments are doing around the world, in Asia and other places.

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The idea is to even out the playing field. Its about 30 percent more expensive with no government support to build a chip factory in the U.S. as it is abroad because of the subsidies and other factors. So theyre trying to basically even it out, so if youre Intel, its essentially neutral as to where you build your plant.

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What exactly are semiconductor chips? Explain them to me like Im 5 years old.

Semiconductor chips are devices that perform all the functions that you want with electrical things. They store data, they add numbers together, they multiply numbers together. They can amplify signals. They can do things like change of voltage. Physically, you take a big wafer of silicon and you photographically put designs on each chip and then theyre broken up into little squares or rectangles.

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The famous discussion in Silicon Valley is about Moores Law. Gordon Moore was the founder of Intel, and back when he was at Fairchild Semiconductor, he made this prediction about how rapidly companies would shrink the little tiny switching elements called transistors on each chip. And he said they would double very rapidlyevery year, every two yearsand that has pretty much held true. Chips are one of the few things in life that have gotten better and better, and each of those little tiny transistors has gotten cheaper and cheaper. That miniaturization is the reason we have many products we take for granted today. The average car now has more than a thousand chips in it. Theyre everywhere, essentially. Your light switch, your lightbulb.

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My lightbulb?

LED lightbulbs are based on a semiconductor called gallium nitride, which is basically a chip. My espresso machine, my dishwasher, theyve all got chips.

The chip supply chain is incredibly geographically dispersed. The average chip might cross a national border 70 times before it actually reaches the final destination because theres all these different players involved. They get fabricated in one plant and packaged in another plant and tested in another plant and shipped to a distributor. The supply chain is incredibly complicated, and a lot of it is in China.

The U.S. is certainly not lagging when it comes to inventing new and advanced chips. In fact, chip designers in the U.S. account for more than 50 percent of all semiconductor revenue globally. The issue is in the manufacturing. In 1990, the U.S. made 37 percent of the worlds chips. Thirty years later, that number has cratered to 12 percent. While the country might design some of the most advanced chips in the world, almost all the manufacturing takes place in foreign countries. What happened?

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Its a complicated story, and its not We moved to Asia for cheap labor. What first started happening is companies in Japan started making chips. In the 80s, they started making memory chips, which are one of the most widely used chips around, and then Korea got into it. The fabrication of semiconductors is not a game about cheap laborits about big expenditures on very expensive machines. Now the factories cost, say, $10 billion each, and some of the individual machines cost $200 million, and they have hundreds of these machines in some of these factories. Its a game about money, not about labor.

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Perhaps the biggest reason for why U.S. manufacturing of chips has fallen is because of one man: Morris Chang. Born in China, Chang came to the U.S., where he spent 25 years working at Texas Instruments, one of the oldest semiconductor makers in the country. Up until the 80s, most semiconductor makers designed and manufactured their own chips in their own factories. But Chang saw an opportunity to cut costs and get more efficient.

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In the late 80s, he left Texas Instruments. With the full support of the Taiwanese government, Chang helped found Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which makes chips that other companies design. TSMC is now the most important semiconductor manufacturer in the world, producing advanced chips for companies like Nvidia, Apple, and even Amazon.

TSMC produces more than 90 percent of the advanced chips, the things that you really care about. For example, an Apple iPhone always uses the most advanced TSMC process. They go immediately to the most advanced technology, and TSMC is the only company in the world that can make it. Thats the alarming factor.

Taiwan, though friendly to the U.S., has a fraught relationship with China.

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He founded the industry in Taiwan. Hes very close to the government. Hes now almost like a government ambassador. Now, TSMC have agreed to build factories in Arizona. They recently stepped up their investment to $40 billion in Arizona, and they expect to get money under the CHIPS Act to help do that. They have a big factory already under construction north of Phoenix. Theres a long-term trend to be close to your customers, but there is added incentive with all this attention. If youre Apple, you want TSMC making chips in Arizona.

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Although then they would have to send the chips to China to assemble the phones.

Even the chips that Intel makes in Oregon or Arizona, theyre sent to Asia, usually, to be packaged and tested. Thats originally because that part of the business, the packaging and testing, is labor intensive. So thats why U.S. makers started having assembly and test operations in Asia, starting in the 1970s. That is another problem for the U.S., that all assembly happens abroad.

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According to the New York Times, all of this will boost U.S. production of chips from 12 percent to 14 percent, which seems disappointing.

Thats a little pessimistic. Thats not including the tax credits, the last $25 billion. But the 12 percent figure is not the important figure. The important figure is that 95 percent of advanced chips now come from Taiwan. If we get to 20 percent of the advanced chips made in America, that would be a huge thing, because those are the really important chips in this discussion.

And whats the barrier there?

If TSMC builds its factories here in America, thats probably the most important single thing that will make that figure go down. But other players are Samsung, which is the other big foundry service company, they build almost all in South Korea. They already have a factory in Austin, Texas, but theyre putting $17 billion into a new factory in Texas, too. Intel, which used to lead in the advanced chip production, but has fallen behind in the past five years, is spending heavily to catch up in the race. So thats another factor thats going to reduce that 95 percent figure down.

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Is the scare about the 95 percent figure mostly coming from that COVID supply chain shock where we couldnt get the chips shipped to where they needed to be? Or is there a bigger national security concern with Taiwan dominating the manufacture of the highest-end chips?

I would say that the supply chain issues galvanized politicians. But before that was happening, the Pentagon has always worried about where the chips have come from. Theyve established this program 30 years ago to have trusted foundriesthey have chip factories with armed guards around them and all these procedures. On the more strategic level, a lot of the concern is from advanced weapons systems. I mean, the U.S. wants to have its weapons be the smartest in the world, and by and large they are.

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Its my understanding that you need a really highly skilled labor force to manufacture these chips. Is that going to be a hindrance here?

Very likely it will be. Theres two classes of workers that are important. Theres the actual people in the bunny suits running the machines in the factories, and they usually have a two-year community college degree. But then we need Ph.D.s in all kinds of disciplines. A lot of this is a chemical engineering process, all the things you do on wafers, but you need electrical engineers, chemical engineers, material scientists, all these people to keep the advancing miniaturization and all the things you need to do in chips, the search for new materials to make chips out of.

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Something like two-thirds of the Ph.D. candidates in the disciplines that matter are foreign-born now. Since the Trump administration, its been very hard for those people to stay in the U.S. after they get their Ph.D.s. Theres been lots of effort to put more money into making our educational institutions stronger and graduating more people. At the same time, theres the immigration issue. We are essentially shooting ourselves in the foot by sending these people home, where among other things, they start building chips in other countries. Many of them are Chinese and go back to China.

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Underlying all this is the tension between the U.S. and China. The U.S.

government fears that if China is able to get its hands on the most advanced chips, itll make the tech race between the countries even more competitive, especially given Chinas aggressive push into A.I. and surveillance. The U.S. placed pretty strict sanctions on China and crippled its ability to make or get a hold of the more sophisticated chips. What happened with those sanctions?

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There are two poles of this. One is to stop them from buying the most advanced chips. So weve put restrictions on companies like Huawei. Weve hobbled them by limiting their ability to buy advanced chips. At the same time, China has an indigenous semiconductor industry. They are like 10 years behind, but they are making many of the simple chips that people use. Basically were trying to freeze them in place. We used to say, Its OK if China is basically two generations behind in chip manufacturing technology. These latest sanctions, which came out in October 2022, are saying, Were going to freeze them at about 2018. Were not going to allow them to get the machines that allow them to get to progress beyond that. Its a pretty radical step up in U.S. policy. We have no idea how China is going to respond, but I think they will respond in some way were not going to like.

China is one of the biggest buyers of chips in the world. If you take these kinds of actions or put these sanctions in place, couldnt they retaliate by stepping back their purchasing power or buying somewhere else?

The trouble is, lets say they want to make a smartphone. You cant make an advanced smartphone without a chip that comes from someplace else. So do they want to shoot themselves in the foot by making those smartphones? While we depend on China to make stuff for us, kinds of stuff, they depend on other countries to make them chips. They cannot get away from buying certain kinds of chips if they want to do surveillance of those people, if they want to build supercomputers, if they want to do A.I. They need chips that are made by foreign companies.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
The Horgos port, a border port in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, resumed passenger customs clearance on Sunday, welcoming its first inbound tourists of 2023.

From Jan. 8, customs clearance will be resumed in Irkeshtam, Karasu and Takixken, the region's three other road ports, respectively bordering Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Mongolia.

"It's convenient to take an international intermodal bus to China after the resumption of the customs clearance," said Belik Zhanuzakov, who is from Kazakhstan and arrived at the Horgos port, which borders Kazakhstan.

Due to the pandemic, Belik Zhanuzakov had to do business with his Chinese partners online. "Now we have the chance to talk face to face," he said, expressing the hope that his business will grow.

In order to ensure smooth customs clearance procedures for passengers at ports, Xinjiang customs departments have made individual plans based on the characteristics of each port. Border inspection authorities have also increased the publicity of exit and entry policies and made arrangements for accommodation and catering at ports.
Further development of the area is planned.

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Waterfall Bytro or Bystre in central Slovakia near Banska Bystrica is a favourite spot for many local hikers but also those who travel to see its beauty.

The national natural monument Bystro Waterfall belongs among the largest waterfalls in the Western Carpathian volcanics; the rock wall exceeds 23 meters in height.

The waterfall is located on the southern slopes of Polana, on the upper reaches of the Bystre stream. You can start out from Detva and Hrinova pod Polanou, and the road to it by car and bus leads through Hrinovske lazy. An educational hiking trail leads to it through the valley of the Bystry potok stream from the bus stop Bystre - Vratka. The educational trail is approximately 2.5 kilometres long and tourists can reach the waterfall in less than an hour.

The surroundings of the waterfall have recently got a facelift, but Banska Bystrica Region plans further development, according to the regions spokesperson Lenka Stepanekova.

The work carried out here mainly included the construction of durable, safe risers and railings to the waterfall. Currently, they are also planning to install new information boards with operating procedures and rules for visitors. According to the spokesperson, it will also include a dry toilet at the interception point at the beginning of the hiking trail to the Bystro waterfall in the Vratka section.

video //www.youtube.com/embed/EN2PBlZJ0S8

"In addition to the activities of the project, we are thinking about building a simple shelter from the remaining lumber," she added, as quoted by the TASR newswire.

As she mentioned, currently hikers already use exiting steel stairs and railings with steel handrails filled with steel cable. The railings are also directly at the viewpoint above the waterfall. They have also built a via ferrata training chain for children. "They also installed a wooden statue of the bear Misko in the rock niche. New resting places were created under the waterfall," she summed up for TASR.

https://sk.frame.mapy.cz/s/kukaduceka

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The Health Ministry claims it is seeking a solution.

A doctor demonstrates a model treatment of a broken arm during the opening ceremony of the new A&E department at the Prievidza Hospital located in Bojnice on October 3, 2022. (Source: TASR - Radovan Stoklasa)

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Dozens of doctors' offices have started collecting a new fee to compensate for higher operating costs from the start of the new year.

President of the Association of Private Doctors, Marian Soth, points out that other doctors' offices may join them, the TASR news agency wrote.

First known case in Bratislava

The Sme daily presented the first story about the new practice last week. A cardiologist's office in Bratislava-Petrzalka set its fee at 10 for a 20-minute medical examination, though the fee is said to be voluntary.

The Health Ministry told patients to turn to self-governing regions to deal with similar problems, the daily added.

However, the Bratislava Region, which is responsible for the operation of doctors' offices in the region, refused to fine the cardiologist. The region went on to say that it is not a solution, as doctors might then cancel contracts with health insurance companies and introduce even more fees.

It is not the first time that doctors charge patients for a visit. A similar situation occurred in the noughties.

Financial aid still in the works

Today, Soth cites the high advance payments for energy, which doctors - essentially business owners - are unable to continue to pay without the help of the state. In addition, they have to raise the salaries of their staff.

Today, doctors' offices only receive money from the state through health insurance companies, which pay them for the number of performed medical procedures.

"The minister [Vladimir Lengvarsky] told us that the problem will be resolved in a short time," the association's president specified.

He also stressed that the situation is acute, because the amendments to contracts with health insurance companies expire at the beginning of February. Without new contracts or amendments, doctors will receive no payments from the state.

As a result, doctors could introduce more fees to earn money. Alternatively, they could close their offices down.

Meanwhile, the Economy Ministry plans to launch another round of energy aid for small businesses in February.
A trip to a waterfall and a change that can help foreign workers.

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Good evening. Here is the Tuesday, January 10 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.

Patients asked to pay in doctors' offices

One of the doctor's offices during the official opening of the emergency department at the faculty hospital in Banska Bystrica on February 12, 2019. (Source: TASR - Dusan Hein)

Higher energy costs have made dozens of doctors to introduce an eyebrow-raising fee to cover costs with the help of patients and prevent the closure of their offices.

The first publicised case appeared in Bratislava last week.

The government has not yet prepared energy aid for doctors' offices, which can today rely on money from health insurance companies only.

More stories from The Slovak Spectator website

Bus: A hydrogen bus from Portugal is operating in Trnava the next three days.

A hydrogen bus from Portugal is operating in Trnava the next three days. Weather: The end of December and early January saw extraordinary to extremely warm weather in Slovakia.

The end of December and early January saw extraordinary to extremely warm weather in Slovakia. Employment: Recent changes to the Employment Services Act also help third-country nationals.

If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription. Thank you.

TRAVEL STORY FOR TUESDAY

Bystro Waterfall

Bystro Waterfall in the Polana protected landscape area, central Slovakia. (Source: Hrinova.sk)

It is now safer to visit the national natural monument of Bystro Waterfall, one of the largest waterfalls in the Western Carpathian volcanics in central Slovakia.

IN OTHER NEWS:

At the beginning of the new year, businesses still do not know when and what kind of compensation for high energy prices they can expect .

. For the fifth time this year, the Financial Administration has sent taxpayers electronically generated pre-filled motor vehicle tax returns . However, they still need to check all their details and fill in the current data for the new tax period, which were not included in the previous tax return.

. However, they still need to check all their details and fill in the current data for the new tax period, which were not included in the previous tax return. Slovak industry slowed down significantly last November , the year-on-year lagging increasing by more than 10 per cent, the Statistics Office wrote.

, the year-on-year lagging increasing by more than 10 per cent, the Statistics Office wrote. The weather-forecast service has issued wind and ground-ice warnings in central and eastern Slovakia for Wednesday.

Thank you for reading The Slovak Spectator.

P.S. If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.
Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide have not been too busy thus far in the NCAA transfer portal this offseason, but it is now being reported that former Kentucky defensive lineman Justin Rogers is expected to visit Tuscaloosa this weekend.

Rogers is a former four-star recruit from the class of 2020 where he was the top-ranked prospect from the state of Michigan.

In three seasons for the Wildcats Rogers totaled 61 tackles, five tackles for loss, and three sacks.

Rogers has already visited Alabamas two biggest rivals LSU and Auburn and is expected to stay inside the SEC for the 2023 season.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on Twitter @Blackwood89.

Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

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2024 5-star DB Ellis Robinson IV lists Alabama in top five

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2024 OT Michael Uini lists Alabama as a finalist in his recruitment

Story originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire
Tennessee will host UConn in womens basketball at Thompson-Boling Arena on Jan. 26.

Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. EST. ESPN will televise the matchup.

ESPN College GameDay Covered by State Farm will visit Tennessee for the Lady Vols contest against UConn.

The one-hour College GameDay program will air at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN, preceding the Tennessee-UConn contest. The game is part of ESPNs annual We Back Pat initiative honoring late womens basketball coaching legend and Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt.

Elle Duncan will host College GameDay from inside Thompson-Boling Arena. Duncan will be alongside womens college basketball commentators Andraya Carter, Rebecca Lobo, Carolyn Peck and Holly Rowe. Lobo and Rowe will join play-by-play voice Ryan Ruocco on the call for the game.

Story originally appeared on Vols Wire
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/battle-for-bakhmut-why-the-city-is-key-to-russias-liberation-of-donbass-1106197085.html

Battle for Bakhmut: Why the City is Key to Russia's Liberation of Donbass

Battle for Bakhmut: Why the City is Key to Russia's Liberation of Donbass

Mark Sleboda, a US military veteran and international affairs and security analyst, has explained to Sputnik why Bakhmut is so important for Russia and Ukraine.

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First of all, from a level of its significance, one of the Russian military priorities was to secure all the Donbass, to secure the liberation of the entirety there, Mark Sleboda told Sputnik. And that being kind of right in the center of the Donetsk region, Bakhmut has often been called the key to Donetsk. So, of course, all of that area has to be liberated () Bakhmut is also a major transport and logistical hub because it's got two highways that intersected and railroads that run north all the way to Moscow and then they go through south and then bend around down into Donetsk city.Second, Bakhmut is the linchpin of the entire second line of defense of the Kiev regime, the US military veteran continued.After that, there's only one last defensive line in Donetsk of any major node between Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, further to the west, Sleboda noted.Third, taking Bakhmut threatens further advances and flanks in other directions due to its geographical location. Finally, it would allow greater control of the Donetsk-Seversky Canal, which provides water to Donetsk city, according to the analyst. Sleboda pointed out that the Kiev regime cut off the water supply to Donetsk five years ago. They did it in Crimea as well, the analyst added. Cutting off water is what they do.Following the February 2014 regime change in Kiev, the breakaway Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) established control over Bakhmut (known as Artyomovsk at that time). However, the Kiev military junta captured the town in July 2014.The city is of utmost importance to both sides, and the entire conflict now is centered on what happens there. The Kiev regime has sent tens of thousands of reinforcements into Bakhmut, which are being methodically eliminated by the Russian forces, according to the analyst. Presently, the standoff over the city has escalated dramatically, he stressed.Entire Front Around Bakhmut is ActivatedThe entire front line, particularly to the area north and south of Bakhmut and Donetsk, is fully activated, Sleboda said. And everywhere along there, Russian units, particularly led by the private military company (PMC) Wagner [Group], are on the assault.The US military veteran explained that the Russian military forces are also advancing in Soledar, a small town which lies 18 km northeast of Bakhmut. On Monday, the Defense Staff of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) announced that Russian forces had taken control of the village of Bakhmutskoe near the town of Soledar. The developments could pave the way for the liberation of Donbass.According to the analyst, there appears to be some general breakdown in the Kiev regime's ability to rotate forces and supply reinforcements at the rate they have been doing for the last few months.Also, their artillery has to a much higher degree been silenced, the military veteran continued. Russian counter-battery artillery fire has been extremely offensive. What was already a 9-to-1 advantage in terms of artillery is probably at this point greater.To cap it off, the Ukrainian forces have been sustaining heavy losses which are between 300 and 1,000 people a day as per western reports. Roughly 90% of Kiev regime casualties continue to be by Russian artillery strikes, according to Sleboda.Bakhmut Defense: City Beneath CityThe particularity of the fight over Bakhmut and adjusted areas is that they're very easy to defend and very hard to attack because of the height advantage. Those who control this height can see everything and fire down on approaching troops, explained the US military veteran.To get a scale, the Kiev regime just in the Bakhmut area has some 60,000 troops, Sleboda said. Now, a lot of them are conscripts in territorial defense, but they also have some of their best troops there. According to the head of Wagner [Yevgeny Prigozhin], they have erected some 500 defensive lines of trenches within the city.In addition, Bakhmut has an unusual geography where it is split by a river and has bodies of water in it, which makes it more easily defendable, according to the analyst.However, despite all of the above, Russian forces are now advancing, Sleboda stressed, adding that just in the last two days, there was a breakthrough in Soledar, which will help threaten the Ukrainian military's entire defensive line there.This is also important because in the north there is also a large Kiev offensive grouping in the direction of the small cities of Kremennaya and Svatovo, the analyst emphasized.The Kiev regime has been on an offensive there very quietly, said Sleboda. No one's talking a lot about that front to the north of this area in Bakhmut, and they have some 40,000 troops there, and they have been throwing them at Kremennaya. [They are] making some marginal gains and settlements, but suffering very high casualties and appears to have petered out there. If Soledar collapses the way it looks like it's going, then Seversk will essentially be undefendable to the north of it. And if Seversk is undefendable, that is the launching pad for much of the attack on Svatovo and Kremennaya. So, that means that the entire northern offensive grouping of the Kiev regime will be unsustainable.One could see that the whole Ukrainian military offensive is stalled there and may have to be pulled back to save them from being enveloped by a quick Russian surge if there is a greater breakthrough in the Kiev regime lines, according to the US military veteran.Sleboda has also drawn attention to what appear to be active mobilizations in south Donetsk, in Ugledar, in Zaporozhye, and also further to the north and the west on the Belorussian-Ukrainian border. These activities have become possible because the ground is all getting frozen now and everyone is preparing for that "winter fighting weather," as per the analyst.Russia-NATO Standoff is EscalatingMeanwhile, the overall conflict against Russia in Ukraine is escalating, with NATO member states stepping up their military supplies to Kiev. A new US military aid package for Kiev contains a long list of military equipment and ammunition, including 50 Bradley fighting vehicles with 500 TOW anti-tank missiles and 250,000 rounds of 25mm ammunition, 100 M113 Armored Personnel Carriers, Sea Sparrow RIM-7 missiles for air defense, additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), and 100 M113 Armored Personnel Carriers.French President Emmanuel Macron pledged an unspecified number of AMX-10 RC light tanks to Kiev, while Germany vowed to provide 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to the Ukrainian military. For their part, Polish and Finnish ministers are considering supplying some of their German-made Leopard 2 or US M1 Abrams tanks if the major western powers take the lead.Sleboda does not rule out that soon one may also see NATO member states sending main battle tanks to Kiev, even though previously it was largely seen as a red line. In addition to that, all the signs are that there's another Patriot battery now being promised by Germany, he remarked.However, western supplies wont become a dramatic game changer, given that Russia has been surging huge amounts of new state-of-the-art equipment to the front, either, according to him. Make no mistake, this is all escalating, the US military veteran said.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20220905/putin-kievs-neo-nazi-regime-responsible-for-donbass-tragedy-1100387293.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20221109/scott-ritter-explains-why-russias-kherson-withdrawal-is-a-pyrrhic-ukrainian-victory-1103953027.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230106/russian-embassy-slams-germanys-decision-to-send-new-heavy-weapons-to-ukraine-1106085810.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/biden-visits-a-coincidentally-empty-el-paso-texas-1106183845.html

Biden Visits a Coincidentally Empty El Paso, Texas

Biden Visits a Coincidentally Empty El Paso, Texas

On todays episode of The Backstory, host Lee Stranahan discussed current events including Kevin McCarthy becoming the Speaker of the House, and riots from... 10.01.2023, Sputnik International

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Biden Visits a Coincidentally Empty El Paso, Texas On todays episode of The Backstory, host Lee Stranahan discussed current events including Kevin McCarthy becoming the Speaker of the House, and riots from pro Bolsonaro supporters in Brazil.

Mark Sleboda - International Relations and Security Analyst | Russia Has the Military Advantage, Russia Hating Twitter, and the Weather is Hurting Ukrainian ForcesTodd Bensman - Senior National Security Fellow and Author | Parole for Migrants, Humanitarian Parole, and Joe Biden gets Tough on the Border In the first hour, Lee spoke with Mark Sleboda about Russia's strategy in the military operation, the temperature in Ukraine, and NATO forces. Mark discussed the Russian advances in Bakhmut and the real time satellite information both sides have. Mark talked about Russia counter attacks on Western drones used by Ukraine and Russia introducing new weapons onto the battlefield.In the second hour, Lee spoke with Todd Bensman about migrants following social media posts, the Biden administration lies about its immigration plans, and the end of Title 42. Todd commented on President Biden's quick visit to El Paso, Texas and the media coverage of the visit. Todd spoke about humanitarian parole and when the humanitarian parole expires.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comThe views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/fifteen-us-commandos-reportedly-questioned-under-investigation-into-drug-use-1106195634.html

Fifteen US Commandos Reportedly Questioned Under Investigation Into Drug Use

Fifteen US Commandos Reportedly Questioned Under Investigation Into Drug Use

Fifteen US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) soldiers were questioned last week under an investigation into drug use at Fort Bragg military base.

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All 15 commandos were released after questioning, with two of them being "cleared of any wrongdoing," Lt. Col. Michael Burns, spokesman for the USASOC, said.Burns added that the investigation by the US Army Criminal Investigation Division was not over, thus it was inappropriate to discuss any details. Burns added that the USASOC did not condone any drug use and was fully cooperating with the investigators. No soldiers were detained or charged.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/japan-and-us-sign-agreement-on-joint-development-of-new-generation-nuclear-reactors-reports-suggest-1106187007.html

Japan and US Sign Agreement on Joint Development of New Generation Nuclear Reactors, Reports Suggest

Japan and US Sign Agreement on Joint Development of New Generation Nuclear Reactors, Reports Suggest

Japan and the United States reached an agreement on extending bilateral cooperation in development of next generation nuclear reactors and energy security

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According to the local news agency, the agreement was signed by Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. The sides agreed to boost cooperation in development and construction of next generation nuclear reactors, including smaller module reactors, in both countries, as well as in third countries, the media noted. Besides, Japan and the US are going to join efforts in LNG supplies and collaborate more closely on other energy issues. Nishimura also explained the governments decision to allow operations of nuclear power plants (NPPs) older than 60 years under certain conditions. In late 2022, the Atomic Energy Commission, the main nuclear regulatory body of Japan, approved operations of NPPs that has been in service over 60 years, provided facilities passed an inspection by experts.

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Biden invites Brazilian president to visit U.S. in wake of violence

Xinhua) 08:47, January 10, 2023

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (L), who is wearing the presidential sash, greets his supporters in Brasilia, Brazil, Jan. 1, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)

During the call, U.S. President Joe Biden "condemned the violence and the attack on democratic institutions and on the peaceful transfer of power" that the world witnessed in Brasilia.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden will host his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, for a visit in the United States in early February, according to a joint statement issued Monday following a call between the two presidents in the wake of violent attacks on Brazil's government buildings.

The visit, for which an invitation from Biden was accepted by Lula da Silva, was intended to serve as an opportunity for the two leaders to have "in-depth consultations on a wide-ranging shared agenda," the joint statement said.

During the call, Biden "condemned the violence and the attack on democratic institutions and on the peaceful transfer of power" that the world witnessed in Brasilia, the nation's capital, as a group of former President Jair Bolsonaro's supporters stormed the presidential palace, the congressional building and the Supreme Court on Sunday.

As of Monday, more than 1,000 arrests have been made in connection with the violence, according to an update by the Brazilian justice minister, Flavio Dino.

Photo taken on Aug. 16, 2022 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The supporters of Bolsonaro were protesting against the former president's defeat by Lula da Silva in the October presidential election. Bolsonaro didn't attend his successor's inauguration on Jan. 1 and is now in the U.S. state of Florida, reportedly being hospitalized due to "discomfort."

At a daily press briefing on Monday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price refused to reveal the type of visa with which Bolsonaro entered the United States.

While "Brazil's democratic institutions have our full support," Price said, the United States "has not yet received any requests for information or for action" from Brazil related to the investigation into Sunday's attacks.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
You are here: China





Staff promote intellectual property rights at a sock market in the city of Zhuji, east China's Zhejiang Province, on April 26, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese courts are required to make greater effort when dealing with intellectual property cases involving core technologies and emerging businesses this year, to promote new development patterns and high-quality growth.



The better handling of IP disputes and other cases involving emerging industries will stimulate innovation and advance the digital economy, the Supreme People's Court said while raising the requirement at an annual court meeting on Sunday.

China's top court called for judges to fully protect the rights of private businesses and entrepreneurs, with greater focus on solving bankruptcy and financial cases.

In other news, the Supreme People's Court said that polluters will continue to be harshly punished, adding that the handling of cases involving foreign parties will be improved.

It also ordered courts to respond public concerns for justice, by more strongly protecting women, children, the elderly and the disabled.

On Friday, the top court summed up the judicial achievements of the past decade, including fighting corruption, protecting national security and human rights, guaranteeing livelihoods and setting up technology-friendly courts.

Over the past 10 years, some 341,000 people involved in 311,000 cases were punished for corruption, bribery and malpractice, with 9,553 defendants acquitted due to insufficient evidence, according to the top court.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/libya-presidential-council-chairman-lna-commander-hold-talks-in-cairo-advisor-says-1106187359.html

Libya Presidential Council Chairman, LNA Commander Hold Talks in Cairo, Advisor Says

Libya Presidential Council Chairman, LNA Commander Hold Talks in Cairo, Advisor Says

This article is about Libyan Presidential Council Chairman Mohamed Menfi and Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar holding a meeting in Cairo.

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Earlier, a number of Libyan media, citing a source, reported a meeting in Cairo on Monday between the LNA commander and the head of the Presidential Council. According to media reports, the meeting discussed the settlement of the intra-Libyan crisis. According to a Sputnik source close to Menfi, Libyan politicians "will continue their meetings in Cairo on Tuesday in the presence of Egyptian officials."

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/nebenzia-wests-ukraine-tribunal-idea-ridiculous--not-worth-commenting-on-1106182437.html

Nebenzia: West's Ukraine Tribunal Idea 'Ridiculous' & Not Worth Commenting On

Nebenzia: West's Ukraine Tribunal Idea 'Ridiculous' & Not Worth Commenting On

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - Moscow finds the idea of a tribunal to investigate Russia for its alleged aggression against Ukraine ridiculous and a waste of time... 10.01.2023, Sputnik International

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2023-01-10T00:00+0000

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tribunal

ukraine crisis

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Earlier, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the US will look at Iran's role in the conflict in Ukraine as it continues to document alleged war crimes. Price stressed the United States has not made formal determination when it comes to foreign actors. There have been several attempts and statements of Western countries calling for an establishment of a special tribunal against Russia. Last year in October, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania asked the EU for support to establish such a tribunal. Later, the idea gained favor from other countries and now has been floating in the air. For example, on January 6, the Labour leader Keir Starmer, the former Nato secretary general George Robertson, the former foreign secretary David Owen, and former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith put out a joint statement saying the tribunal should be set up to look into the "manifestly illegal war" on the same principles as the groundwork for the Nuremberg war crimes trials of Nazi leaders. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in December the total silence of the Western media about the war crimes of the Ukrainian military is the height of cynicism. Shoigu added that the Russian Defense Ministry receives daily data on executions of Ukrainian servicemen who refuse to perform combat missions. Russian officials have repeatedly rejected any allegations of committing war crimes, stating that rather the military actions of the Ukrainian army in relation to the citizens of the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, recently incorporated into Russia, should be investigated.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20221124/western-countries-encourage-ukraine-to-make-threats-take-reckless-approach---nebenzia-1104614539.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/pakistani-naval-chief-china-pakistan-joint-drills-strengthen-ties-between-two-navies-1106203227.html

Pakistani Naval Chief: China-Pakistan Joint Drills Strengthen Ties Between Two Navies

Pakistani Naval Chief: China-Pakistan Joint Drills Strengthen Ties Between Two Navies

The Pakistan Navy plans to host the AMAN-23 multinational maritime exercise in February 2023, with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, having taken part in previous editions, are again expected to participate.

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chinese people's liberation army (pla)

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military drills

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China and Pakistan have been maintaining close naval and maritime exchanges and cooperation in recent years, including joint drills, enhanced by Pakistan's procurement of four advanced Type 054A/P frigates from China. Shortly before the Exercise AMAN-23, Global Times reporter Liu Xuanzun (GT) was granted an exclusive interview with Admiral M Amjad Khan Niazi (Adm. Niazi), chief of the naval staff of the Pakistan Navy, and discussed topics ranging from the exercise plan and the Pakistan Navy's equipment procurement plan from China to the PLA Navy in the eyes of the Pakistan Navy.GT: Please briefly elaborate on the upcoming Exercise AMAN-23. When and where will it be held, and who is going to participate?Adm. Niazi: Exercise AMAN is the premier multinational maritime exercise of the Pakistan Navy which has been conducted biennially since 2007. The exercise is conducted with the aim to develop synergy between participating naval units to tackle maritime security challenges by enhancing interoperability between regional and extra regional navies at different levels of technological prowess. The eighth series of Exercise AMAN will be held in Karachi from February 10 to 14, 2023. The format of the exercise has two distinct phases: First, the harbor phase which will be held from February 10 to 12, followed by the sea phase from February 13 to 14.During the harbor phase, various professional and social activities will be conducted to share experiences on contemporary maritime security challenges and coordinate modalities of sea exercises. The sea phase includes exercises and an international fleet review to demonstrate unified resolve against maritime terrorism, piracy, and other prevalent illicit activities at sea.We are expecting a wide range of participation from across the globe, as 43 countries participated in Exercise AMAN-21 despite COVID-19 restrictions. I am confident that Exercise AMAN-23 will contribute significantly toward fulfilling the common desire of participating maritime nations for regional peace and shared prosperity through such collaborative efforts.GT: What are your purposes and goals for conducting the exercise?Adm. Niazi: There are a number of non-traditional threats that prevail in the wider Indian Ocean region such as terrorism, piracy, drugs smuggling, and arms trafficking. The vastness of the oceans makes the maritime arena an attractive avenue for illegal activities and no country has the capability to singlehandedly counter these challenges. Collaborative maritime security has thus evolved as an established norm and the Pakistan Navy is actively involved in international and regional efforts. Exercise AMAN is Pakistan's humble but focused initiative in this regard.The word AMAN in Urdu means "Peace" and the motto of the exercise is "Together for Peace" which demonstrates the importance and united resolve of all participating countries and partners in this cause. The AMAN series of multinational exercises is significant in fostering regional cooperation for the maintenance of good order at sea, improving interoperability, sharing experiences, and exhibiting common resolve against terrorism and organized crimes in the maritime domain. Participation in this exercise has been growing at a steady pace since its inception, with the exception of AMAN-21 in view of the COVID environment. The increased participation reflects growing trust in the value of the exercise and acknowledgement of the Pakistan Navy's efforts in promoting collaboration between regional and extra regional navies in the face of diverse non-traditional security threats.GT: Other than AMAN, the PLA Navy and the Pakistan Navy recently have had close exchanges and cooperation, including the Sea Guardian-2 joint exercise held in Shanghai in July. Why is it so important to hold joint exercise like this for both the PLA Navy and the Pakistan Navy?Adm. Niazi: Pakistan Navy-PLA Navy relations are a reflection of Pakistan-China strategic ties and range from training exchanges to high-level visits, port calls by ships, navy-to-navy expert-level staff talks, and the regular conducting of bilateral exercises. I may highlight that the PLA Navy is among the world's leading navies that now operates regularly in the Indian Ocean region, making collaborative maritime security our common interest for ensuring maritime security in the region. Pakistan Navy-PLA Navy interaction also provides an opportunity to enhance interoperability, share experiences to optimally utilize common sensors, iron out procedures, and further elevate our relations.In this regard, the Sea Guardian series of exercises serve the objectives of fostering interoperability and sharing professional experiences to deal with contemporary traditional and non-traditional security threats. During Exercise Sea Guardian-2 conducted off Shanghai from July 10 to 13, 2022, the PNS Taimur along with PLA Navy frigates Xiangtan and Shuozhou, supply ship Qiandaohu, submarine, and aviation units including early warning aircraft and fighter aircraft participated. The evolutions at sea included joint maneuvers, anti-surface, anti-air, and anti-submarine drills which provided a useful opportunity to strengthen naval ties and enhance interoperability between the two navies.GT: In tandem with Exercise AMAN-23, the Pakistan Navy will also hold the first Pakistan International Maritime Expo and Conference (PIMEC). What is PIMEC?Adm. Niazi: The Pakistan International Maritime Expo and Conference, or PIMEC, is an initiative of the Pakistan Navy to showcase the potential of Pakistan's maritime sector and draw attention to the contribution that the maritime industry can make toward the development of our blue economy. The expo aims to bring together stakeholders and companies, both international and domestic, from various maritime fields to exploit the potential offered by the blue economy. The three-day expo will provide an opportunity for business to government (B2G) and business to business (B2B) interactions for joint ventures and investments in Pakistan's maritime sector. A maritime conference will also be conducted during the PIMEC where eminent speakers, experts, and representatives, both domestic and foreign, and from both the public and private sectors, will share their views on contemporary maritime issues and suggest viable options for developing countries like Pakistan to exploit the true potential of the blue economy.GT: In what ways would you like to see China participate in PIMEC, and why?Adm. Niazi: Since PIMEC aims to bring together stakeholders and companies from diverse maritime fields, I reckon it will provide a unique opportunity for joint ventures and investments in the maritime sector. In this regard, the Chinese maritime sector has witnessed exponential growth over the years as evidenced by being the leading manufacturer of shipping equipment. Furthermore, China has more than 30 major ports and seven out of 10 of the world's busiest ports are located in China. With these maritime credentials, the participation of the Chinese maritime sector in the maiden PIMEC will provide an ideal opportunity to local as well as international companies in exploring avenues of collaboration to promote investments in the maritime sector of Pakistan.GT: Speaking of China-Pakistan cooperation, now that China has delivered two of four Type 054A/P frigates, how does the Pakistan Navy think of the vessels? What roles are they playing in enhancing Pakistan Navy's capabilities?Adm. Niazi: Acquisition of the Type 054A/Ps is a symbol of enduring friendship and historical affinity between China and Pakistan. The Type 054A/P is one of the latest multi-role frigates of Chinese origin equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and sensors that include CM-302 SSM and LY-80 SAMs as well as the advanced anti-submarine warfare suite and combat management system. These ships are equipped to operate under multi-threat scenarios. The first two ships of this class, PNS Tughril and the PNS Taimur, were inducted into the Pakistan Navy in December 2021 and June 2022 respectively, while the remaining two ships are also on track to join the Pakistan Navy Fleet in 2023. These ships are being integrated into Pakistan Navy operations and will be the mainstay in the Pakistan Navy Fleet in the coming years ensuring seaward defense and protection of Pakistan's vital sea lines of communications.GT: What's next for the Pakistan Navy's cooperation plan with China in terms of equipment procurement? For example, how is the submarine project going on?Adm. Niazi: The Pakistan Navy's development strategy is based on "progressive capability enhancement" to create a balanced, potent, and combat-ready force to meet evolving threats. As part of this modernization, the Pakistan Navy is replacing its existing aging platforms with acquisitions from friendly countries along with transfer of technology for in-country construction. In this regard, collaboration with China has been strengthened with the procurement of F-22P frigates, Fast Attack Craft (Missile), helicopters, a survey ship, and medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicles. The ongoing planned induction of Type 054A/Ps and Hangor-class submarines will further cement naval ties between the two countries. The Pakistan Navy will continue to engage Chinese firms to meet its operational requirements in the future.The Hangor-class submarine project is making progress steadily and the submarines are under various stages of assemblage in Pakistan and China. These conventional type modern submarines are equipped with the latest weapons and sensors. The induction of Hangor-class submarines with air independent propulsion (AIP) system onboard will significantly enhance their submerged endurance capabilities. The project is continuing as per the timeline despite certain delays due to COVID-19 and technical intricacies.GT: China has undergone a series of military reforms since 2012. The PLA Navy is also making great efforts to become a blue-water navy. In your eyes, what kind of achievements has the Chinese military made over the last decade?Adm. Niazi: The PLA Navy has shown remarkable progress during the last two decades to achieve the goal of becoming a blue-water navy. It became the world's largest navy in terms of size in 2015 and has been growing ever since through the addition of state-of-the-art platforms, weapons, and sensors. The commissioning of 28 ships in 2021 alone is undoubtedly a manifestation of an impressive pace of shipbuilding capacity by China. Developments in the field of submarines, aviation, and hypersonic missile technology also bear testimony to the PLA Navy's drive to transform into a credible and modern force. Moreover, the PLA Navy's role in maintaining peace and stability in the Indian Ocean region and counter-piracy operations while keeping from BLOC politics is creditable. We look forward to strengthening our historic relationship with the PLA Navy and cooperating closely to promote peace and stability in the Indian Ocean region while preserving good order at sea.GT: China commissioned its first aircraft carrier in 2012. A decade later it has three. Do you think China will have more aircraft carriers? What's the meaning of aircraft carriers to a country's sovereignty and security? Adm. Niazi: The Pakistan-China friendship spans over more than seven decades and is imbued with a high level of trust and commonality of interests. It has matured into a comprehensive strategic partnership at the national level. In this regard, it is heartening to see the PLA Navy grow into a blue-water navy with a variety of modern platforms in their inventory, including the three aircraft carriers. The latest PLA Navy aircraft carrier, the Fujian, designed by Chinese engineers and equipped with electromagnetic aircraft launch systems, is a significant leap in the field of naval technology. Aircraft carriers reflect a country's strategic orientation and power projection capability. In this regard, keeping in view the strategic relations of Pakistan and China as iron-clad brothers, we wish for the PLA Navy to grow from strength to strength and continue with its modernization efforts to safeguard its national interests, as per evolving geo-strategic dictates.GT: When you interact with your counterparts from the PLA Navy, do you see any difference in them having taken place over the last decade?Adm. Niazi: Over the last decade, the PLA Navy has grown exponentially and transformed into a highly competent and combat-ready force. Based on my recent interactions, I have found PLA Navy personnel highly professional, determined, and well trained in line with the modern trends. The conduct of PLA Navy ships at sea highlights their professionalism and adherence to well-defined procedures which indicates high standards of PLA Navy training institutes. It is encouraging to observe similar traits in Pakistan Navy personnel that have availed themselves of various training courses in China. With this ongoing evolution in both material and quality human resources, I have no doubt that the PLA Navy is on its way to becoming one of the finest leading navies in days to come.This article was originally published by the Global Times.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/peruvian-prime-minister-otarola-says-deadly-riots-in-puno-were-orchestrated--1106186432.html

Peruvian Prime Minister Otarola Says Deadly Riots in Puno Were Orchestrated

Peruvian Prime Minister Otarola Says Deadly Riots in Puno Were Orchestrated

Peruvian Prime Minister Alberto Otarola stated that the attack on Juliaca airport in the Puno Regionwas a premeditated plot and called on the prosecutor's office to find and punish those planning a coup.

2023-01-10T05:49+0000

2023-01-10T05:49+0000

2023-01-10T05:49+0000

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According to the Peruvian ombudsman, 17 protesters were killed in a clash near Juliaca Airport, and another victim among the demonstrators was in Chucuito, where a road was blocked. Earlier, the regional health department reported that 12 bodies were brought to the local hospital and 38 people were hospitalized with injuries. Pedro Castillo, who served as President of Peru, on December 7 last year dissolved parliament, which was supposed to consider his impeachment for the third time. However, the parliamentarians still gathered for a meeting and decided on the resignation of Castillo. The military and police spoke out against Castillo's decision, and he was arrested on charges of sedition and abuse of power. Dina Boluarte, who previously was Vice President, was sworn in as the President of Peru in Congress and became the first woman to hold the post. Supporters of the ex-president have been holding protests since December 10, in which, according to official figures, 46 demonstrators have already died.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/poland-asks-us-congress-to-solicit-war-reparations-from-germany-1106199439.html

Poland Asks US Congress to Solicit War Reparations From Germany

Poland Asks US Congress to Solicit War Reparations From Germany

Poland is asking for the US Congress' help in making Germany agree to paying reparations for the damage inflicted on Warsaw during the Second World War

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Poland has already made the same request to UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the United Nations, as well as 50 countries, including EU and NATO member states. Mularczyk added that Warsaw considered the US "a key country when it comes to respecting the international order, human rights, the rule of law, international justice." Ties between Poland and Germany have been strained by Warsaw's repeated claims to war damages. Warsaw estimates its losses caused by Nazi occupation during the Second World War at 6.2 trillion zlotys ($1.36 trillion). Berlin argues that the Polish government had relinquished all demands for reparations under a renunciation deal signed in 1953.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/report-us-struggling-to-supply-ukraine-with-effective-counterdrone-systems-1106182947.html

Report: US Struggling to Supply Ukraine With Effective Counterdrone Systems

Report: US Struggling to Supply Ukraine With Effective Counterdrone Systems

The United States is reportedly struggling to supply Ukrainian troops with effective counterdrone systems to address the current modern aerial threat.

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The US Defense Department promised the delivery of Vampire counterdrone systems to Ukraine in August, but only approved a $40 million contract for the weapon last month, press said in a report, citing Western officials and analysts.The United States will not deliver the first four Vampire systems until mid-2023, with ten more units expected to arrive by years end, the Monday report said. Ukraine needs hundreds of counterdrone systems around large cities, military facilities and infrastructure to meet the threat, Sam Bendett, a drone expert with the federally-funded Center for Naval Analyses said. Vampire systems, short for Vehicle-Agnostic Modular Palletized ISR Rocket Equipment, tracks targets and intercepts them with laser-guided munitions. The counterdrone system is intended to fit in the back of a standard pickup truck, the report added. The systems are meant to address the reported widespread use of drones by Russian forces. Washington and Kiev accuse Moscow of utilizing Iranian Shahed-136 drones in Ukraine. Moscow and Tehran have denied the accusations.US Reportedly Considering Sending Stryker Armored Combat VehiclesNewly surfaced reports also revealed on Monday that the Biden White House is presently considering dispatching Stryker armored combat vehicles to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package.Citing individuals familiar with the development, another report said that the announcement may be made official as early as next week in parallel with the next Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Germany.Last week, the Biden administration announced its largest to-date package of military assistance to Ukraine worth $3.75 billion which includes $225 million for Ukrainian military modernization and $682 million for US allies and partners on NATOs eastern flank in Europe. The new funding will buy Ukraine a long list of military equipment and ammunition, including 50 Bradley fighting vehicles with 500 TOW anti-tank missiles and 250,000 rounds of 25mm ammunition.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/reports-brazilian-senator-urges-supreme-court-to-seek-bolsonaros-extradition-from-us-1106191249.html

Reports: Brazilian Senator Urges Supreme Court to Seek Bolsonaro's Extradition From US

Reports: Brazilian Senator Urges Supreme Court to Seek Bolsonaro's Extradition From US

Brazilian Senator Renan Calheiros has made a formal request to Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes for the immediate extradition of former President Jair Bolsonaro from the United States.

2023-01-10T10:50+0000

2023-01-10T10:50+0000

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Calheiros told the judge that Bolsonaro took "active part and is responsible" for the actions of protesters that stormed the National Congress on Sunday, Brazilian media reported on Monday. According to the senator, Bolsonaro should be included in the investigation and summoned to court to explain his involvement in the protests, which Calheiros called anti-democratic, as cited in the report. The senator asked the court to issue an order for Bolsonaro's return to Brazil within 72 hours, G1 said. In the event of his non-compliance, the court should order pre-trial detention for the ex-president, Calheiros reportedly wrote. On Sunday, Bolsonaros supporters stormed the National Congress and Supreme Court buildings, as well as the presidential palace, as part of protests against the 2022 Brazilian presidential election results. The ex-Brazilian president neither participated in the inauguration of his successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on January 1 nor intended to hand over the presidential sash. Bolsonaro went to the US in late December to spend New Years Eve at former US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. US Democrat lawmakers Joaquin Castro and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday called on the government to "cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro" and extradite him against the backdrop of the National Congress storming.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/sweden-to-relaunch-civil-conscription-amid-military-buildup-1106186004.html

Sweden to Relaunch Civil Conscription Amid Military Buildup

Sweden to Relaunch Civil Conscription Amid Military Buildup

The initiative comes alongside other defense plans such as increasing military spending to 2% of the GDP to nearly doubling the number of military conscripts.

2023-01-10T07:09+0000

2023-01-10T07:09+0000

2023-01-10T07:09+0000

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The Swedish government is admittedly taking steps to reintroduce the conscription of civilians for its emergency services in the latest move by the Nordic nation to bolster its military amid the recent NATO push.Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson says that the civil service will start preparations for the move this week.Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said the scheme will focus on deploying appropriately trained civilians within the municipal rescue services and bolstering their capabilities to respond in a state of emergency or a potential attack. He added that the government is engaged in "broader work" reintroducing civil conscription in other parts of the country's civil defense infrastructure too.While it not immediately clear how many civilians the new initiative would involve, local media reports suggested that as many as 3,000 people could be called up during the initial phase of the plan, which echoes Swedens Cold War-era defense preparations. Civil conscription, which in effect is the civilian equivalent of military conscription, was previously abandoned in 2008.This move comes alongside other defense initiatives, such as increasing military spending to 2 percent of the GDP (Some of Sweden's top brass, including Supreme Commander Micael Byden even called it the bare minimum). During the Cold War, defense spending peaked at 4 percent of Sweden's GDP (1963). After the dissolution of the Soviet Union (1991), however, the percentage fell gradually to a minimum of 1.0 percent (in 2017 and 2018). Furthermore, Sweden aims to nearly double the number of military conscripts to 10,000 by 2030.The government had also launched talks with the US on deepening defense collaboration as Turkey continues to block its NATO membership. Sweden's Defense Ministry said it is negotiating a deal for "even closer" cooperation with the US both bilaterally and within the framework of NATO.According to Defense Minister Pal Jonsson, the upcoming deal will cover issues from US soldiers legal status in Sweden to the storage and pre-placement of defense material and investments in infrastructure.In May 2022, Sweden and Finland broke with decades of neutrality and applied to join NATO in response to Russia's special op in Ukraine, citing a "change in their security landscape." So far, only Turkey has refused to ratify their applications, citing security concerns and demanding the Nordic nations take a tougher stance against Kurdish organizations Ankara accuses of terrorism. Stockholm and Helsinki were even granted a list of people Ankara wants extradited  which is a sensitive issue for Sweden, which takes pride in its image as a champion of human rights.Tellingly, during the very same defense conference, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that Turkey has made some demands that Sweden cannot meet.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230109/swedish-pm-on-stalled-nato-bid-turkey-wants-things-stockholm-cannot-give-1106149180.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/think-tank-simulation-predicts-taiwan-could-defeat-china-with-us-japan-aid-in-invasion-scenario-1106184632.html

Think Tank: Simulation Predicts Taiwan Could Defeat China With US-Japan Aid in Invasion Scenario

Think Tank: Simulation Predicts Taiwan Could Defeat China With US-Japan Aid in Invasion Scenario

The United States is officially committed to a one-China policy, which concedes that Taiwan is part of China. However, the United States has kept informal... 10.01.2023, Sputnik International

2023-01-10T04:04+0000

2023-01-10T04:04+0000

2023-04-06T12:15+0000

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A simulation run by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank has determined that Taiwan would come out as a victor if faced with a Chinese invasion in 2026, assuming it has the military support of both Japan and the United States.However, that victory would come at a high cost in the estimated three or four weeks of fighting that would occur.The results of the war simulation, which were released on Monday, were undertaken with both historical and operational research. The model was run 24 times.Dozens of ships, hundreds of aircraft, and tens of thousands of troops would be lost for all sides of the potential war. There were also scenarios in the simulation, though rare, where China came out on top. According to the CSIS, Taiwan must hold the line and the US must have access to bases in Japan in order for Taiwan to prevail.The group also ran a scenario in which Taiwan does not receive direct military support from Japan and the United States. In those scenarios, China comes out on top. Unlike the situation in Ukraine, the United States would not be able to pump weapons into Taiwan and China would easily isolate the island.Japan has been non-committal about defending Taiwan in a potential war with mainland China. However, last year it decided to increase its military capabilities, moving from a defense only force to something more substantial.The model also notes a war would be disastrous to all nations involved, and that is without considering the possibility that nuclear weapons are used. China has the third-largest nuclear stockpile in the world while the United States ranks second. Any prolonged use of nuclear conflict between the two powers would devastate the world and make possession of Taiwan an afterthought at best.The model did not look at the possibility of China blockading the island instead of invading it.While the CSIS model predicts Taiwan will win in most scenarios with the United States backing, it admits China may view the military situation in a different light.While Cancian takes a strong stance on funding Taiwan, he insists the study is not taking a stance on if the United States should defend Taiwan with direct military action. Instead, he says, its purpose is to highlight how costly such a war could be.It should also be noted the CSIS is a notoriously pro-war think tank, and has been funded by weapon manufacturers and defense contractors. Its donor list, along with several foreign governments, includes Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, and General Atomics, all of whom stand to profit from increased military aid to Taiwan.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/trump-wonders-if-fbi-will-raid-bidens-home-after-secret-docs-found-at-potus-former-office-1106194465.html

Trump Wonders if FBI Will Raid Biden's Home After Secret Docs Found at POTUS' Former Office

Trump Wonders if FBI Will Raid Biden's Home After Secret Docs Found at POTUS' Former Office

In August 2022, the FBI conducted a raid on Trumps Mar-a-Lago residence as part of a probe into his post-presidential handling of classified documents.

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Donald Trump has taken to the social platform Truth Social to question whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will react to the discovery of a slew of classified documents from President Joe Bidens time as VP in a private office.He was echoed by his son Donald Jr., who tweeted that he would like to know when the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team will storm one of Biden's many vacation homes bought and paid for somehow by a lifetime of being a humble public servant.The same tone was struck by Ronny Jackson, the former White House doctor turned Texas congressman, who described the news about highly classified documents being improperly stored in one of Bidens private offices as incredible.The remarks follow a US media outlet reporting that the federal prosecutors office is reviewing about 10 documents found by Bidens personal attorneys at his vice-presidential office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a Washington-based think tank, in early November.The sensitive materials were reportedly found while the attorneys prepared to vacate the office space, where the classified documents were said to have been located alongside other unclassified papers.After the documents were identified and reported to the National Archives on November 2, the agency took possession of the materials and notified the Justice Department.The developments come as special counsel Jack Smith is probing Trump for potentially mishandling classified records at his Mar-a-Lago resort in southern Florida. Federal investigators have recovered at least 325 classified documents from Trump as part of their inquiry.The investigation was preceded by the FBI raid on the Mar-a-Lago residence, where bureau agents searched documents that the ex-POTUS had taken from the White House at the end of his term, rather than surrendering them to the National Archives in line with the Presidential Records Act.Last month, US District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, of the Southern District of Florida, dismissed Trumps lawsuit challenging the Mar-a-Lago search for lack of jurisdiction.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/classified-docs-from-bidens-time-as-vice-president-uncovered-at-private-office-1106182787.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20220907/trump-says-fbi-took-highly-confidential-medical-files-during-mar-a-lago-raid-1100507439.html

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The National Immigration Administration of China has launched new measures to optimize immigration policies, starting Jan. 8. These measures have been introduced to facilitate international exchange and communication and support socioeconomic development, following the country's downgrading of COVID-19 to a category B infectious disease.

The Exit-Entry Administration of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau has taken several proactive steps in tandem with these measures. These include the resumption of the acceptance and examination of Chinese citizens' applications for ordinary passports for the purposes of tourism and visiting friends abroad, the acceptance and examination of foreigners' applications for the extension, renewal and reissuance of ordinary visas, as well as the issuance, renewal, and reissuance of stay permits and residence permits.

People waiting to apply for exit-entry services at the Exit-Entry Administration, Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, on Jan. 9. [Photo by Wang Yiming/China.org.cn]

According to data from online reservations and the 12367 service hotline, there was a significant increase in the number of applicants for exit and entry services this Monday, the first workday after China relaxed its immigration control measures, said the administration.

Liu Jing, an official with the administration, explained that the Spring Festival holiday period and the winter break for students are typically peak periods for applications for exit and entry services.

Judging from the reservation data, Liu said that since the National Health Commission announced its downgrading of the management of COVID-19, the volume of exit and entry applications has now basically returned to pre-pandemic levels.

People apply for exit-entry services at the Exit-Entry Administration, Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, on Jan. 9. [Photo by Wang Yiming/China.org.cn]

On Jan. 9, a 70-year-old Beijinger surnamed Li came to the Exit and Entry Administration to replace his passport. "My passport expired last year. I heard that the policy has shifted lately in light of the current epidemic situation, so I came today to update my passport so I can visit my nephew abroad," he told China.org.cn.

In response to the recent uptick in applications, Liu Jing explained that the administration has published a full list of the locations for accepting and processing applications in order to help applicants better understand the relevant procedures and to provide more convenient services.



Liu Jing, an official with the Exit-Entry Administration of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, answers inquiries from residents, Jan. 9. [Photo by Wang Yiming/China.org.cn]

The policy changes also make it much easier for those looking to visit China. Travelers arriving in the country are no longer required to undergo quarantine upon arrival.

Derek Holste, a 24-year-old American, arrived in Beijing last month to pursue his Ph.D studies. He went to the Exit and Entry Administration on Jan. 9 to apply for a residence permit.

"I'm glad that students from all over the world can come back to China and finally start studying again. It's a great opportunity," he said, adding that the new policy "will allow for my other Ph.D students to easily come into China. My parents also want to visit, but they were concerned about the quarantine period. Now, they want to come to China this summer."

Derek Holste, a 24-year-old American, who is pursuing his Ph.D studies in Beijing, applies for a residence permit at the Beijing Exit and Entry Administration on Jan. 9. [Photo by Wang Yiming/China.org.cn]

Currently, there are a total of 17 exit and entry service locations for foreigners in Beijing, and 13 windows have been set up for them to apply for work permits and residence permits. The processing time for applications has also been shortened, making it more convenient for foreign nationals to handle their various visa and document needs, said Ji Xiaowen, an official with the administration's Foreign Visa Division.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/ukraine-admits-to-nato-puppetry-bolsonaro-supporters-rampage-biden-visits-southern-border-1106182255.html

Ukraine Admits to NATO Puppetry; Bolsonaro Supporters Rampage; Biden Visits Southern Border

Ukraine Admits to NATO Puppetry; Bolsonaro Supporters Rampage; Biden Visits Southern Border

The Ukrainian Defense Minister has admitted that Ukraine is carrying out NATO's mission and "NATO countries are not shedding their blood; it is Ukrainian... 10.01.2023, Sputnik International

2023-01-10T09:22+0000

2023-01-10T09:22+0000

2023-03-29T10:38+0000

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Ukraine Admits to NATO Puppetry; Bolsonaro Supporters Rampage; Biden Visits Southern Border The Ukrainian Defence Minister has admitted that Ukraine is carrying out NATO's mission and "NATO countries are not shedding their blood; it is Ukrainian soldiers who are shedding their blood."

Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss Ukraine. The Ukrainian Defense Minister has admitted that Ukraine is carrying out NATO's mission and "NATO countries are not shedding their blood; it is Ukrainian soldiers who are shedding their blood."Alex Suarez, Peruvian-American writer and independent journalist, joins us to discuss the Global South. Bolsonaro supporters have gone on a rampage in Brazil, invading the presidential palace and other government facilities. Also, we discuss the Alex Saab case and police repression in Peru.Scott Ritter, former UN weapon inspector in Iraq, joins us to discuss the Ukraine conflict. Scott Ritter gives a historical view of the US aggression against Russia playing out in Ukraine. Also, the Ukrainian parliament celebrates its Nazi heritage.George Koo, journalist, social activist, and international business consultant, joins us to discuss China. George Koo writes that 2023 bodes poorly for US international relations. Also, Beijing deploys troops near Taiwan as US puppets push against the one-China policy.James Carey, host of The Left is Dead podcast, joins us to discuss the Middle East. Most Turks favor good relations with Russia. Also, Middle East rallies commemorate the murder of Iranian General Soleimani.Caleb Maupin, journalist and political analyst, joins us to discuss the EU. Germany has launched a lawfare campaign against socialists and anti-imperialists who question the US-led NATO propaganda campaign against Russia. Also, the defense minister of Ukraine has admitted that he is running a puppet state for the US-controlled alliance.Marjorie Cohn, Professor Emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, joins us to discuss the Cuba blockade. Cuba argues that President Biden is applying the US blockade more vigorously than President Trump. Also, Israel may be preparing a Holy War against the Palestinians.Professor Danny Shaw, author, activist, and professor of Latin American studies, joins us to discuss Cuba. Professor Shaw has recently returned from Cuba and joins us to discuss how the blockade affects the nation's youth.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comThe views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/un-report-reveals-ozone-is-healing-itself-should-be-normal-by-2066-1106184458.html

UN Report Reveals Ozone is Healing Itself, Should Be Normal by 2066

UN Report Reveals Ozone is Healing Itself, Should Be Normal by 2066

Bromine and chlorine are both blamed for ozone depletion, and were banned in 1987 as part of the Montreal Protocol agreement. The deal was signed by every... 10.01.2023, Sputnik International

2023-01-10T03:28+0000

2023-01-10T03:28+0000

2023-01-10T03:22+0000

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The ozone is slowly recovering from decades' worth of bromine and chlorine use that depleted it to the point that there was a gaping hole over Antarctica, a Monday report released by the United Nations has revealed.The report is the result of a once-every-four-years scientific assessment that has monitored ozone depletion since 1989. It states that at its current pace of healing, the average thickness of the ozone will return to pre-1980 levels around 2040, and the ozone above the Arctic should return to normal in 2045. However, things will take a little longer in Antarctica, where a gaping hole has been in the ozone for years. Scientists say at the current pace it will take until 2066 for the ozone to completely heal itself.The study determined bromine levels are down 14.5% since its peak in 1999 and chlorine levels are down 11.5% since its 1993 peak.The recovery of the ozone has been hailed as one of the most significant environmental victories in human history. UN Environment Programme Director Inger Anserson told the AP earlier this year that the ozones recovery is preventing over 2 million cases of skin cancer annually.The chemicals banned by the Montreal Protocol agreement were commonly used in refrigerants and aerosols. The near elimination of the chemical elements by the vast majority of the world showcases how the nations of the world can collaborate on environmental issues when there is a will. The rare act of collaboration gives hope to environmental activists that humankind can tackle climate change before it is too late.The report also mentions that a newer generation of the chemicals were banned a few years ago because they contribute to climate change. According to the report, that ban should prevent additional warming of 0.5 to 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/us-pressures-africa-over-russia-relations-south-african-defense-minister-says-1106189370.html

US Pressures Africa Over Russia Relations, South African Defense Minister Says

US Pressures Africa Over Russia Relations, South African Defense Minister Says

This article is about South African Defense and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise slamming the pressure exerted by the United States on African nations, including South Africa, for maintaining a relationship with Russia.

2023-01-10T11:40+0000

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2023-01-10T11:48+0000

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South Africa has slammed the US pressure campaign on African nations for maintaining a relationship with Russia.The remarks came in the wake of western media reports speculating that an alleged Russia-flagged merchant ship delivered unidentified cargo to the Simons Town navy base, South Africas largest naval base, in late December 2022.Senior US officials, also cited by the WSJ, said they were concerned about the absence of publicly available information on the load delivered by the US-sanctioned Lady R vessel, purportedly owned by Russian shipping company MG-FLOT LLC.Russian officials, in turn, have repeatedly pointed out that the so-called collective West and the US in particular have been exerting pressure against African countries in a bid to dissuade them from cooperation with Russia.According to Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Oleg Ozerov's May statement, the West has been pressuring African countries "to close any opportunities for developing economic relations with us."At the same time, Ozerov pointed out that despite western pressure, half of the African countries refuse to condemn Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and do not want to impose anti-Russian sanctions.Moreover, Russian Ambassador to Angola Vladimir Tararov, while speaking with Sputnik earlier this year, revealed that Angola was "under extreme pressure from the western countries, who call on them to condemn Russia."The ambassador noted at the time that the West often resorts to threats and blackmail.The western anti-Russian campaign comes amid the ongoing special military operation in Ukraine, which Moscow kicked off on February 24. Since, the US - along with its western allies - has been trying to isolate Russia in the international arena, in particular in Africa, where, it appears, the former has started losing its ground.Earlier this week, Eritrean Ambassador to Russia Petros Tseggai revealed that France and other western countries are losing their influence in Africa. According to him, another world is being built, and Africans can breathe freely, gaining full independence from US and French influence.A late-December report in The Times shared the same point of view expressed by Tseggai. The London-based paper noted that a new battle for Africa may already be lost in the wake of Russia's and China's expanding presence on the continent.Last November, in the wake of a wave of anti-French protests that swept Africa's Sahel region as Paris began withdrawing its troops after experiencing military setbacks in countering security threats in that region, Frances President Emmanuel Macron admitted that the French influence in the region has diminished. He also accused Moscow of pursuing a predatory project on the African continent.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/whats-behind-bidens-sudden-interest-in-the-long-term-us-border-crisis-1106205695.html

What's Behind Biden's Sudden Interest in the Long-Term US Border Crisis?

What's Behind Biden's Sudden Interest in the Long-Term US Border Crisis?

President Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pledged to use innovative approaches to tackle illegal immigration on January 9, according to the White House. Why did it take so long for Biden to start dealing with the US border crisis?

2023-01-10T18:30+0000

2023-01-10T18:30+0000

2023-01-20T13:26+0000

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President Biden has had two years to try to solve this problem, and it has only gotten worse, Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Washington DC-based Center for Immigration Studies, told Sputnik. We can only conclude that he does not want to solve it; in fact, he does not consider it to be a serious problem at all.Having assumed office in January 2021, Joe Biden reversed most of his predecessors border policies. Ex-President Donald Trump struck a deal with the Mexican leadership to stem the tide of asylum seekers from South and Central America. Bidens loosened border approach has resulted in an unprecedented upsurge in border encounters.Mexico's authorities expressed concerns over Joe Biden's asylum strategy and warned that it was fueling illegal immigration and opening the door to organized crime. Mexican President Lopez Obrador suggested in March 2021 that asylum seekers see Biden "as the migrant president, and so many feel theyre going to reach the United States."In June 2021 Vice President Kamala Harris visited the US-Mexico border, although the location she chose, El Paso, was about 1,000 miles away from where most of the illegal border crossings occurred in Texas in the lower Rio Grande Valley between the Rio Grande City and Brownsville.Meanwhile, the situation continued to worsen, with the Biden administration repeatedly coming under fierce criticism from GOP lawmakers and governors. Eventually, the GOP-led Texas, Florida, and Arizona governments started to fly and bus illegal migrants to blue states and Washington DC.All in all, there were over 2.3 million migrant encounters during the 2022 fiscal year, well up from the 1.7 million in 2021. For comparison's sake, under then-President Donald Trump, the number of encounters was 458,088 in 2020 and 977,509 in 2019.Ron Vitiello, former US Border Patrol Chief who served as deputy director and acting director of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, appears to share Bensmans stance: The admin appears to be in favor of chaos on our border versus attempts at control, Vitiello told Sputnik. They claim to offer reform solutions and increased parole avenues, but everything they've done has made it worse.Sanitized Border Crisis & Trip to MexicoEventually, President Joe Biden visited the southern border this January for the first time in his presidency. However, Biden visited the border at a time when migration encounters dropped off significantly from December and encampments were cleaned up ahead of his arrival, according to the US press. The president got a watered-down version of the border crisis in El Paso, Texas, the media argued.Having visited the border, the US president headed to Mexico to discuss the migrant problem among other issues with his Mexican counterpart. Obrador, who has subjected Washington to criticism on multiple occasions over the latters Latin America policies, challenged Biden again on Monday, urging the US president to end an attitude of abandonment and disdain for the region.This is the moment for us to determine to do away with this abandonment, this disdain, and this forgetfulness for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Mexican president argued.Nonetheless, the White House noted in its Monday press release that "President Biden and President Lopez Obrador also reaffirmed their commitment to address the root causes of migration."According to Vitiello, this seems to be the step in the right direction: Working with Mexico is important, he said. Previously, their assistance was based on Trump Admin threats of tariffs or closing the border.Todd Bensman does not share this optimistic approach: The goal of the meeting is for Mexico to do its part in the next phase of border management, which is to pre-legalize hundreds of thousands of immigrants while they are still inside Mexico, under a questionable legal authority called humanitarian parole so that they can be escorted legally through established ports of entry or at American airports when they are flown in. Mexico will have to make accommodation for the long lines that no doubt already are forming on its territory. This is all about making the in-bound flow "orderly" not stopping or deterring it. And also so that no one can call them immigrants illegal.Timing of Bidens New Border FocusBidens abrupt decision to visit the southern border and start looking into the migration crisis could be caused by the GOPs takeover of the House of Representatives in the aftermath of the midterms and the incumbent presidents apparent plans to run in 2024, according to the observers. He has to calculate the 2024 run, remarked Vitiello.The Democratic Biden administration up to now has received little congressional oversight on their enforcement of the border because fellow Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress, Dr. Harvey Schantz, professor of political science at State University of New York at Plattsburgh, told Sputnik. Now that the Republicans are in charge of the House, the administration will surely receive critical scrutiny on their border performance. It is best for the presidential administration to get out in front of the oversight and step up their performance on the southern border. A broad framework for migration has been difficult to achieve, and it is unlikely that the Congress and president will quickly enact a comprehensive plan that deals with the border and migrants already in the country.The observers expect GOP lawmakers to exert pressure on the Biden administration in the lower chamber of the US Congress. According to Todd Bensman, House Republicans are likely to raise the volume about what's really happening at the border, opening up investigations, calling public hearings, and possibly even starting impeachment proceedings against the president or [US Homeland Security Secretary] Alejandro Mayorkas for refusing to follow the Immigration and Nationality Act and creating illegal parallel immigration entry systems that were never approved by Congress. He also expects that new bills will be introduced.Still, according to him, one should not hold ones breath: most of this will be more noise than real change since the chambers are politically divided and Biden holds the White House. However, the Republicans could by all of this influence the 2024 national elections to their advantage, Bensman suggested.Vaughan appears to share Bensmans skepticism:

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230108/biden-arrives-in-el-paso-to-tour-us-southern-border-for-first-time-since-taking-office-1106146662.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230109/why-is-bidens-immigration-policy-failing-1106172744.html

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Are you ready for a new pet in your life? All these animals are available for adoption at Iredell County Animal Services, 430 Bristol Drive, Statesville.

All this weeks pets have been spayed or neutered and are looking for their forever homes. Come and meet them. Any animal that has been in the shelter 30 days or more can be adopted for free. Others are available for regular fees  cats/kittens, $65, dogs/puppies, $80. PetSmart adoption fees are always $20.

Business hours are noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Access from 10 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday is by appointment. All adoptions take place during business hours. For appointments, visit iredellcountync.gov/FormCenter/Animal-Control-17/Appointment-Request-Form-260.

The shelter will be closed Monday in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The Books & Buddies reading program is now running. No appointment is necessary. Reading times are from noon to 5 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Bring a book or borrow one from the shelter and grab a stool.

The Books & Buddies guidelines are:

Children of all ages and adults are welcome to read.

Children 15 and younger must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Do not put fingers in the kennels.

Do not run or make loud noises around the animals.

Sit sideways to the dog kennels when reading.

One person can be reading in the cat room at a time.

Readers must track their own service hours. Any staffer can sign off on service hours.

To become a volunteer, a foster owner or both, visit co.iredell.nc.us/149/animal-services-control, call the volunteer coordinator at 704-878-5424, ext. 3507, or stop by the shelter for an application from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Fostering is a great way to get the animals out of the shelter for a reprieve and a great opportunity to get them in front of potential adopters they wouldnt see while being in the shelter.

Urgent: The shelters feline foster program is running dangerously low on wet and dry kitten food and cat litter. Fosters are true lifesavers in providing the tender loving care that the cats and kittens so desperately need for the animals best possible outcome. The shelter doesnt want the fosters to have to provide for the basic care items needed to care for the animals. To donate, the shelters address is 430 Bristol Drive, Statesville.

As for size of dry kitten food, 3.15- or 6.3-pound bags are easiest for fosters to handle.

Animal Services also holds drive-thru rabies clinics from 6-7 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month. The fee is $5, cash only. For information, call the shelter at 704-878-5424.
A transitional kindergarten program has offered parents and children a chance to get a free head start on their education, with some parents saying they have already seen the benefits since enrolling in November.

Elizabeth Allshouse, a Longview truck driver and mother of four, said she enrolled her youngest daughter in the Kinder Bridge program after learning about it through social media and mailed flyers.

Her daughter was born during the COVID-19 pandemic and did not have many opportunities to be around other children her age, Allshouse said.

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Kids werent playing at the parks anymore, and so my daughter was kind of antisocial, Allshouse said. I figured, well maybe preschool would give her some kind of a boost to a social life. And it has, and it has helped her be a little more social. Shes a little more friendly.

The transitional kindergarten school began Nov. 1 for students who turned 4 years old by Aug. 31.

Classes taught in these early learning programs include social-emotional development, motor skills, introduction to basic science, math and literacy, and communication.

Washington state does not require students to enroll in school until 8 years old. Many parents like Allshouse did not have the funds to pay for preschool or daycare programs that help students get a kickstart on their learning until they enter a classroom.

A 2017 study in American Institutes for Research of Californias transitional kindergarten showed students who went into the program had an easier time with reading, writing and comprehension when they got into kindergarten.

Transitional kindergarten graduates were about 5% more likely to have a larger vocabulary and better grasp on phonetics than those who did not attend a similar early learning program, according to the AIR data.

Many parents express the desire to put their kids into some sort of schooling before kindergarten, but a 2021 study of Cowlitz County families by the Cowlitz Community Network showed that cost remains the main barrier for them; 42% of respondents said they turned down preschool options because of expenses.

Longview was not the first district in Cowlitz County to begin a transitional kindergarten program; Kelso, Kalama and Woodland all host the same opportunities for young children.

Daneeshia Wonderlings son Mateo also attends the Kinder Bridge program. Wonderling works in childcare as well and said her family could not afford specific preschools but did not necessarily qualify for government-funded early programs like Head Start.

Kinder Bridge has helped them kickstart Mateos learning, Wonderling said.

My son loves it, Wonderling said. He loves his teacher. The curriculum that they have there is amazing. He comes home every day with something new to talk about. ... Im so thankful for preparing him to be more independent and because he starts school next year, its good to have an expectation for next year. I think its really great program.
Today, BMW Motorrad Malaysia announced a couple of new electric vehicles. Among them, the new BMW CE 04 is perhaps the most eye-catching one as it's the company's first local electric scooter.

Coming in Light White, the new BMW CE 04 presents a futuristic design with tyres measured at 120/70 R15 67H for the front and 160/60 R15 56H for the rear. The LED lighting units have been implemented for the headlamp in both high beam and low beam, the rear light, as well as the turn indicators. Additionally, the Adaptive Headlight Pro can even include special light functions, such as Welcome and Good Bye.

In terms of power, the BMW CE 04s motor generates a maximum output of 31 kW (42PS) and 62 Nm of torque, allowing for stop-and-go acceleration from 0 to 50 km/h in just 2.6 seconds. The top speed for the New BMW CE 04 is set at 120 km/h and as for battery cell capacity, it features an ample 60.6 Ah (8.9 kWh), providing a maximum range of 130 kilometres.

The lithium-ion battery is charged using the integrated charging device, which can be done at any regular household power socket, wallbox or public charging station. When completely flat, fully charging the battery to maximum capacity takes 4 hours and 20 minutes, assuming the standard output of 2.3 kW. With quick charging, assuming an output of up to 6.9 kW, this can be reduced to 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Riders can also choose four riding modes: ECO, Rain and Road, as well as the Dynamic riding mode that is available as an ex-works option. For safety, the latest generation of BMW Motorrad Integral ABS Pro is featured and the electric scooter comes with a 10.25-inch TFT colour display with Integrated Map Navigation. Riders may use the BMW Motorrad Connected App for monitoring vehicle status, statistics and navigation.

The BMW CE 04 is not available in Malaysia yet but will be launching soon in March 2023. There's no official price tag either, but BMW Mottrad Malaysia said it should be at the RM60K price range and no B license is needed to ride it. Stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.
Former senior discipline inspector Liu Yanping was on Tuesday handed a suspended death sentence for accepting bribes in excess of 234 million yuan (around 34.6 million U.S. dollars).

Liu was formerly head of the discipline inspection and supervision team sent to the Ministry of State Security by the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision.

The Intermediate People's Court of Changchun City in northeast China's Jilin Province sentenced Liu to death with a two-year reprieve for bribery, revoked his political rights for life and ordered the confiscation of all his property. Following the reprieve, his sentence will be commuted to life in prison without parole. All ill-gotten gains will be confiscated and handed over to the state treasury.

The court established that between 2001 and 2022, Liu took advantage of his various posts in the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of State Security, as well as his discipline inspector posts, to assist others in matters such as business operations and the handling of cases. During the same period of time, Liu received money and valuables totaling more than 234 million yuan.

The sum of bribes Liu accepted was particularly large, and his crimes brought significantly heavy losses to the interests of the state and the people, the court said.

It said that in light of the fact that Liu has confessed to all of his crimes, showed repentance, and been cooperative in returning his illegal gains, he was granted a lenient sentence.
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

New rules went into effect in China on Tuesday to regulate the use of deepfakes, the increasingly realistic digital video manipulations that have sparked disinformation fears around the globe.

Deepfake technology allows users to replace one person's face with another in a video, or to put words into a speaker's mouth, with at times disconcerting realism.

The technique relies on artificial intelligence and has proven popular on social media, where amusing and often uncanny creations featuring face-swapping celebrities abound.

However, the technology can "also be used by unscrupulous people... to disseminate illegal information... defame and sully the reputation of others, and steal identities in order to commit fraud", the Chinese cyberspace administration warned last month.

Deepfakes present a "danger to national security and social stability" if they are not regulated, it said.

The new regulations require businesses offering deepfake services to obtain the real identities of their users. They also require deepfake content to be appropriately labeled to avoid "any confusion" on the part of the public.

China has been quick to regulate technologies seen as potential threats to stability or to the power of its Communist Party.

Several homegrown tech giants have been forced to hand over details about their algorithmsusually closely guarded corporate secretsto authorities in the past year as Beijing asserts control over the sector.

Authorities also moved against the country's vibrant gaming sector in August 2021, freezing the approval of new titles and introducing a cap on the amount of time children could spend playing games.

And in one of the most visible examples of China's tech sector crackdown, regulators pulled the plug on what would have been the world's biggest-ever IPOthat of fintech giant Ant Groupin 2020 just days after its founder Jack Ma criticized local regulators.

 2023 AFP
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence have allowed bots to translate text, create art and even write essays.

Now, they're ready to argue for you in court.

Startup DoNotPay, which bills itself as "the world's first robot lawyer," plans to take on two speeding ticket cases in court next month, with its AI instructing the defendants how to respond to their assigned judges.

"The law is almost like code and language combined, so it's the perfect use case for AI," CEO and founder Joshua Browder told U.S. TODAY. "I think that this is the biggest potential for GPT and large language model technology."

How does DoNotPay work?

First reported in New Scientist, DoNotPay's plan is to have the defendants wear an earpiece with Bluetooth connectivity in the courtroom, likely an AirPod or hearing device, with the AI whispering instructions on what to say in the defendants' ears.

One defendant will argue their case in person, the other on Zoom. DoNotPay is also considering taking on a third case over an eviction.

This will be the first time AI is used in court, according to Browder. DoNotPay is keeping the exact dates and locations of the hearings under wraps in case state bars try to intervene.

Browder hopes the experiment loosens courtroom rules against the use of AI in court, which he believes hurt low-income individuals since roughly 80% cannot afford legal assistance, according to the American Bar Association.

"AI technology is so powerful. People deserve to use that to help themselves," Browder told U.S. TODAY.

What is DoNotPay?

DoNotPay, which has been operating since 2015, has released templates that help people appeal parking tickets or request refunds from airlines. It has also created a bot that can negotiate bills with companies like Comcast using GPT technology.

What are the risks to an AI lawyer?

Browder acknowledges that there are risks to being the first to rely on AI in court, but DoNotPay has agreed to cover any fines and the defendants will be compensated for taking part in the experiment.

DoNotPay has also taken steps to avoid issues with its AI exaggerating facts or being "too polite" and responding to everything the judge saysincluding rhetorical statements.

While the AI's initial court cases are set for February, there may be more to come. Browder said on Twitter that DoNotPay would pay anyone with an upcoming case in the U.S. Supreme Court $1 million to wear AirPods and let its robot lawyer argue the case.

(c)2023 USA Today

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Killer robots dont look like this, for now. Credit: Denis Starostin/Shutterstock

You might have heard of killer robots, slaughterbots or terminatorsofficially called lethal autonomous weapons (LAWs)from films and books. And the idea of super-intelligent weapons running rampant is still science fiction. But as AI weapons become increasingly sophisticated, public concern is growing over fears about lack of accountability and the risk of technical failure.

Already we have seen how so-called neutral AI have made sexist algorithms and inept content moderation systems, largely because their creators did not understand the technology. But in war, these kinds of misunderstandings could kill civilians or wreck negotiations.

For example, a target recognition algorithm could be trained to identify tanks from satellite imagery. But what if all of the images used to train the system featured soldiers in formation around the tank? It might mistake a civilian vehicle passing through a military blockade for a target.

Why do we need autonomous weapons?

Civilians in many countries (such as Vietnam, Afghanistan and Yemen) have suffered because of the way global superpowers build and use increasingly advanced weapons. Many people would argue they have done more harm than good, most recently pointing to the Russian invasion of Ukraine early in 2022.

In the other camp are people who say a country must be able to defend itself, which means keeping up with other nations' military technology. AI can already outsmart humans at chess and poker. It outperforms humans in the real world too. For example Microsoft claims its speech recognition software has an error rate of 1% compared to the human error rate of around 6%. So it is hardly surprising that armies are slowly handing algorithms the reins.

But how do we avoid adding killer robots to the long list of things we wish we had never invented? First of all: know thy enemy.

What are lethal autonomous weapons (LAWs)?

The U.S. Department of Defense defines an autonomous weapon system as: "A weapon system that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further intervention by a human operator."

Many combat systems already fit this criteria. The computers on drones and modern missiles have algorithms that can detect targets and fire at them with far more precision than a human operator. Israel's Iron Dome is one of several active defense systems that can engage targets without human supervision.

While designed for missile defense, the Iron Dome could kill people by accident. But the risk is seen as acceptable in international politics because the Iron Dome generally has a reliable history of protecting civilian lives.

There are AI enabled weapons designed to attack people too, from robot sentries to loitering kamikaze drones used in the Ukraine war. LAWs are already here. So, if we want to influence the use of LAWs, we need to understand the history of modern weapons.

The rules of war

International agreements, such as the Geneva conventions establish conduct for the treatment of prisoners of war and civilians during conflict. They are one of the few tools we have to control how wars are fought. Unfortunately, the use of chemical weapons by the US in Vietnam, and by Russia in Afghanistan, are proof these measures aren't always successful.

Worse is when key players refuse to sign up. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) has been lobbying politicians since 1992 to ban mines and cluster munitions (which randomly scatter small bombs over a wide area). In 1997 the Ottawa treaty included a ban of these weapons, which 122 countries signed. But the US, China and Russia didn't buy in.

Landmines have injured and killed at least 5,000 soldiers and civilians per year since 2015 and as many as 9,440 people in 2017. The Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor 2022 report said:

An Israeli missile defence system. Credit: ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock

"Casualtieshave been disturbingly high for the past seven years, following more than a decade of historic reductions. The year 2021 was no exception. This trend is largely the result of increased conflict and contamination by improvised mines observed since 2015. Civilians represented most of the victims recorded, half of whom were children."

Despite the best efforts of the ICBL, there is evidence both Russia and Ukraine (a member of the Ottawa treaty) are using landmines during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine has also relied on drones to guide artillery strikes, or more recently for "kamikaze attacks" on Russian infrastructure.

Our future

But what about more advanced AI enabled weapons? The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots lists nine key problems with LAWs, focusing on the lack of accountability, and the inherent dehumanization of killing that comes with it.

While this criticism is valid, a full ban of LAWs is unrealistic for two reasons. First, much like mines, pandora's box has already been opened. Also the lines between autonomous weapons, LAWs and killer robots are so blurred it's difficult to distinguish between them. Military leaders would always be able to find a loophole in the wording of a ban and sneak killer robots into service as defensive autonomous weapons. They might even do so unknowingly.

We will almost certainly see more AI enabled weapons in the future. But this doesn't mean we have to look the other way. More specific and nuanced prohibitions would help keep our politicians, data scientists and engineers accountable.

For example, by banning:

black box AI: systems where the user has no information about the algorithm beyond inputs and outputs

unreliable AI: systems that have been poorly tested (such as in the military blockade example mentioned previously).

And you don't have to be an expert in AI to have a view on LAWs. Stay aware of new military AI developments. When you read or hear about AI being used in combat, ask yourself: is it justified? Is it preserving civilian life? If not, engage with the communities that are working to control these systems. Together, we stand a chance at preventing AI from doing more harm than good.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Schematic view of LE-type-EA-DFB laser. Credit: Lumentum Japan

Scientists from Japan have developed a new type of distributed feedback (DFB) laser and have shown that it can be used to transmit data at speeds of 200 Gb/s over a record distance of 10 kilometers. This research could help advance network technology that would allow internet data centers to handle unprecedented levels of data.

Kazuki Nishimura, an optical engineer in the Datacom Business Unit of Lumentum Japan, will present the new research at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC), taking place March 59 2023 in San Diego, California, U.S..

"The research contributes to the development of next-generation data centers for 800G and 1.6T ethernet. Particularly, the new technology suggests electro-absorption modulators with integrated distributed feedback (EA-DFB) lasers can work even 10-km transmission using conventional PAM4 (pulse amplitude modulation) technology, which is defined as a simple intensity-modulation direct-detection (IM/DD) scheme," said Nishimura.

As communication traffic continues to increase, there is a growing focus on implementing next-generation ethernet technology, such as 800G and 1.6T ethernet, to help data centers meet growing demands. Although the same PAM4 technology used for 2-km transmission in today's 400G ethernet is being considered for 800G, new technology is needed to achieve data transmission over longer distances for interconnections between data center regions or campuses.

In the new work, the researchers developed a lumped electrode electro-absorption (EA) modulator DFB laser to achieve longer distances. They first used the new laser to demonstrate 5-km transmission of 225-Gb/s PAM4 using the coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) wavelength band under 50C operation. They also used the laser for 10-km transmission of 225-Gb/s PAM4 at 1293.5 nm. This wavelength exhibits less chromatic dispersion than the wavelength range assigned to CWDM, the technology typically used to simultaneously send multiple optical signals over an optical fiber. Chromatic dispersion can cause degradation in the optical signal and is more problematic for longer transmission distances.

For all the experiments, the new laser exhibited low transmitter and dispersion eye closure quaternary (TDECQ) values, indicating solid transmitter performance. The researchers say that their results demonstrate the potential of the lumped electrode EA-DFB laser as a light source for 800G ethernet technology, including 10-km applications. It could also be useful for longer reach 5-km CWDM4 applications.

"The traffic in data centers is significantly growing annually as high-resolution video-streaming services, such as 4k and cloud applications. These results show our EA-DFBs are a promising optical light source to realize the upcoming 800GbE applications," said Nishimura.
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The TikTok logo is seen on a cell phone on Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston. North Carolina Gov. Roy Coopers administration said it is reviewing the use of TikTok on state government devices, as the popular social media app is a growing source of security concerns from politicians in Washington and other states. Credit: AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File

TikTok's CEO met Tuesday with European Union officials about strict new digital regulations in the 27-nation bloc as the Chinese-owned social media app faces growing scrutiny from Western authorities over data privacy, cybersecurity and misinformation.

In meetings in Brussels, Shou Zi Chew and four officials from the EU's executive Commission discussed concerns ranging from child safety to investigations into user data flowing to China, according to European readouts from two of the meetings and tweets from a third.

TikTok is wildly popular with young people but its Chinese ownership has raised fears that Beijing could use it to scoop up user data or push pro-China narratives or misinformation. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020.

U.S. states including Kansas, Wisconsin, Louisiana and Virginia have moved to ban the video-sharing app from state-issued devices for government workers, and it also would be prohibited from most U.S. government devices under a congressional spending bill.

Fears were stoked by news reports last year that a China-based team improperly accessed data of U.S. TikTok users, including two journalists, as part of a covert surveillance program to ferret out the source of leaks to the press.

There are also concerns that the company is sending masses of user data to China, in breach of stringent European privacy rules. EU data protection watchdogs in Ireland have opened two investigations into TikTok, including one on its transfer of personal data to China.

"I count on TikTok to fully execute its commitments to go the extra mile in respecting EU law and regaining trust of European regulators," Vera Jourova, the commissioner for values and transparency, said after her meeting with Chew. "There cannot be any doubt that data of users in Europe are safe and not exposed to illegal access from third-country authorities."

Caroline Greer, TikTok's director of public policy and government relations, said on Twitter that it was a "constructive and helpful meeting."

"Online safety & building trust is our number one priority," Greer tweeted.

The company has said it takes data security "incredibly seriously" and fired the ByteDance employees involved in improperly accessing user data.

Jourova said she also grilled Chew about child safety, the spread of Russian disinformation on the platform and transparency of paid political content.

Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, who's in charge of competition and antitrust matters, met with Chew to "review how the company is preparing for complying with its obligations under the European Commission's regulation, namely the Digital Services Act and possibly under the Digital Markets Act."

The Digital Services Act is aimed at cleaning up toxic content from online platforms and the Digital Markets Act is designed to rein in the power of big digital companies.

They also discussed privacy and data transfer obligations in reference to recent news reports on "aggressive data harvesting and surveillance in the U.S.," the readout said.

Chew also met with Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders and Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson.

Reynders tweeted that he "insisted on the importance" of TikTok fully complying with EU privacy rules and cooperating with the Irish watchdog.

"We also took stock of the company's commitments to fight hate speech online and guarantee the protection of all consumers, including children," he said.

Chew is scheduled to hold a video chat with Thierry Breton, the commissioner for digital policy, on Jan. 19.

 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
 Flash

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Czech President Milos Zeman via video link on Monday.

Xi said that over the past 10 years, he and President Zeman have met and talked many times, and exchanged in-depth views on bilateral relations and experience in governing their countries, and upgraded Chinese-Czech relations to a strategic partnership.

"We have jointly promoted bilateral economic and trade relations and personnel exchanges," Xi said, noting that Czech exports to China have nearly tripled, and that in 2019, the number of Chinese tourists to the Czech Republic increased 250 percent from 2013.

Xi said that China attaches importance to the development of bilateral relations, regards the Czech Republic as an important strategic partner, and is willing to work with the Czech side to promote stable and far-reaching bilateral relations and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

He stressed that China is promoting the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, and will continue to promote high-level opening up, which will surely provide new opportunities for all countries, including the Czech Republic.

Xi called on the two sides to be firm in their respect for each other's core interests and major concerns, and strengthen multi-level and high-quality communication, tap the potential of complementarity, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

"China will introduce more practical measures to promote cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC)," Xi said.

He noted that China's European policy remains stable, and expressed his hope that the Czech side will continue to actively promote China-CEEC cooperation and the sustained and healthy development of China-Europe relations.

For his part, Zeman said the Czech side is willing to make joint efforts with China to strengthen cooperation in the fields of the economy, trade and investment, overcome the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, resume personnel exchanges, and bring great vitality to Czech-Chinese relations.

The Czech side is willing to play an active role in promoting the healthy development of Europe-China relations, he said.
Former Georgia Bulldogs star Herschel Walker failed in spectacular fashion against Democratic incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock in the runoff election last month, eventually conceding the race when he trailed by more than 100,000 votes on election night, a staggering amount given the Republican standing of the state and performance of other Republican candidates in Georgia.

While Fox News dubbed him one of their biggest political losers of the year and the Republican Party would love to forget his campaign ever existed, there are still some lingering bits of news surrounding the campaign.

Last week, a staffer on the campaign alleged that Republican activist Matt Schlapp made sustained and unwanted and unsolicited sexual contact with him while they were driving back from a bar in October.

Now, with Walkers campaign filing its campaign finance reports late last week, we learned that his campaign held onto more than $5 million when the election was over. Per NBC News, its unclear why Walker didnt spend that money, especially given how close the runoff election was in the final days.

NBC News notes that its not unheard of for a losing candidate to keep some of the money raised during an election. There is a lot of leeway for how that money can be spent, but its usually donated to other candidates or PACs, donated to charity, or used for a future political purpose. Its hard to imagine Walker has much of a future in politics, so well have to see what happens to all that money people donated to him.

[NBC News]
MEXICO CITY  Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador challenged U.S. President Joe Biden to end an attitude of abandonment and disdain for Latin America and the Caribbean as the two leaders met on Monday, making for a brusque opening to a summit of North American leaders.

The comments were a stark contrast to the public display of affection between Lopez Obrador and Biden shortly before, as they smiled and embraced and shook hands for the cameras. But once the two sat down in an ornate room at the Palacio Nacional, flanked by delegations of top officials, it didnt take long for tensions to bubble to the surface.

Most of the summits work will be handled on Tuesday, when the two leaders and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are to hold hours of talks. Migration, both legal and illegal, and border security will be key topics.

On Monday, Lopez Obrador challenged Biden to improve life across the region, telling him that you hold the key in your hand.

This is the moment for us to determine to do away with this abandonment, this disdain, and this forgetfulness for Latin America and the Caribbean, he said.

He also complained that too many imports are coming from Asia instead of being produced in the Americas.

We ask ourselves, couldnt we produce in America what we consume? he said. Of course.

Biden responded by defending the billions of dollars that the United States spends in foreign aid around the world, saying unfortunately our responsibility just doesnt end in the Western Hemisphere. And he referenced U.S. deaths from fentanyl, a drug that flows over the border from Mexico.

While both men pledged to work together, it was a noticeably sharp exchange, on full display before reporters. Biden and Lopez Obrador were to have dinner later with Trudeau and their wives.

The meeting is held most years, although there was a hiatus while Donald Trump was president. Its often called the three amigos summit, a reference to the deep diplomatic and economic ties between the countries, but new strains have emerged.

All three countries are struggling to handle an influx of people arriving in North America and to crack down on smugglers who profit from persuading migrants to make the dangerous trip to the U.S.

In addition, Canada and the U.S. accuse Lopez Obrador of violating a free trade pact by favoring Mexicos state-owed utility over power plants built by foreign and private investors. Meanwhile, Trudeau and Lopez Obrador are concerned about Bidens efforts to boost domestic manufacturing, creating concerns that U.S. neighbors could be left behind.

Biden and Lopez Obrador havent been on particularly good terms for the past two years either. The Mexican leader made no secret of his admiration for Trump, and last year he skipped a Los Angeles summit because Biden didnt invite the authoritarian regimes of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

However, there have been attempts made at thawing the relationship. Biden made a point of flying into the new Felipe Angeles International Airport, a prized project of the Mexican president even though its been a source of controversy.

The airport, which is expected to cost $4.1 billion when finished, is more than an hours drive north of the city center, has few flights and until recently lacked consistent drinking water. However, its one of the keystone projects that Lopez Obrador is racing to finish before his term ends next year, along with an oil refinery, a tourist train in the Yucatan Peninsula and a train linking Gulf coast and Pacific seaports.

The two leaders rode into Mexico City in Bidens limousine. Lopez Obrador was fascinated by the presidential vehicle known as the beast, and he said Biden showed me how the buttons work.

In a notably warm comment, the Mexican president described the two leaders first encounter of the trip as very pleasant, and he said President Biden is a friendly person.

The U.S. and Mexico have also reached an agreement on a major shift in migration policy, which Biden announced last week.

Under the plan, the U.S. will send 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela back across the border from among those who entered the U.S. illegally. Migrants who arrive from those four countries are not easily returned to their home countries for a variety of reasons.

In addition, 30,000 people per month from those four nations who get sponsors, background checks and an airline flight to the U.S. will get the ability to work legally in the country for two years.

On Monday, before the summit began, Lopez Obrador said he would consider accepting more migrants than previously announced.

We dont want to anticipate things, but this is part of what we are going to talk about at the summit, Lopez Obrador said. We support this type of measures, to give people options, alternatives, he said, adding that the numbers may be increased.

Mexico would likely also require an increase in those receiving work authorization in the U.S. in order to take back more migrants who are being expelled.

Jake Sullivan, Bidens national security adviser, cautioned that nothing was decided yet.

What we need is to see how the program announced last week works in practice, what if any adjustments need to be made to that program and then we can talk about taking the next steps, he said.

On his way to Mexico, Biden stopped in El Paso, Texas, for four hours  his first time at the border as president and the longest hes spent along the U.S-Mexico line. The visit was highly controlled and seemed designed to counter Republican claims of a crisis situation by showcasing a smooth operation to process migrants entering legally, weed out smuggled contraband and humanely treat those whove entered illegally.

But the trip was likely to do little to quell critics from both sides, including immigrant advocates who accuse the Democratic president of establishing cruel policies not unlike those of his hardline predecessor, Republican Donald Trump.

The number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has risen dramatically during Bidens first two years in office. There were more than 2.38 million stops during the year that ended Sept. 30, the first time the number topped 2 million.

On Monday afternoon, Lopez Obrador formally welcomed Biden at the Palacio Nacional, the first time since 2014 that Mexico has hosted a U.S. president.

In a display of solidarity, the first ladies of the U.S. and Mexico delivered the same speech, alternating between Jill Biden in English and Beatriz Gutierrez Muller in Spanish.

We believe that poverty is not destined by God, but the product of inequality, Jill Biden said. We know that the poor deserve to live better and are working with compassion, every day, to improve lives for everyone.

Earlier in the day, Jill Biden met with women from the fields of education, art and business, most of them recipients of U.S. cooperation programs or scholarships.

Do whatever you want but teach others, she said.

Biden is expected to follow up his first trip to Mexico as president with another to Canada, although it has not yet been scheduled.

A senior Canadian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said Canada is working with Americans on a visit in the near future.
AUSTIN  After ushering in a near-total abortion ban last year, the states GOP leaders are treading carefully on the eve of the upcoming legislative session and not openly saying how they will handle the hot-button issue.

They face some division within their party about how to proceed.

A handful of Republicans have signaled an openness to soften the law by adding exemptions for rape and incest.

But others say they want to toughen the states laws by punishing companies that help employees get abortions out of state and overriding district attorneys who refuse to bring abortion-related criminal charges. Theyre being egged on by the states most prominent anti-abortion groups, including Texas Right to Life.

Simply because abortion is illegal in statute doesnt mean its actually being followed everywhere in the state, Texas Right to Life president John Seago said. We want to pass several bills that will address some of the new lawless trends that we have seen in the last 18 months.

Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan did not answer questions about what approach they favor.

The Legislature reconvenes on Tuesday.

So far, few Republicans have filed legislation related to abortion, making it difficult to gauge which policies will gain traction. Lawmakers can put forward proposals until early March.

Democrats already have submitted bills to pull back the ban and put reproductive rights before Texas voters through a constitutional amendment, though the proposals are unlikely to pass the GOP-dominated Legislature.

Rep. Donna Howard, an Austin Democrat who chairs the Texas Womens Health Caucus, said the focus is going to be on minimizing the harm done to Texas women and families.

Knowing that the ban is not going to be lifted, how do we make sure that women still have access to the health care they need and that those who assist are not penalized? she said.

Texas is one of 13 states that cut off womens access to abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade last summer. New Mexico is the only neighboring state that still allows the procedure, and according to the Guttmacher Institute, the average driving distance from Texas to an abortion clinic is now more than 500 miles one way.

Under the states ban, doctors in Texas can face life behind bars and six-figure fines for performing illegal abortions. Another law, known as Senate Bill 8, empowers regular citizens to sue doctors or anyone else who aids or abets an abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy.

The procedure is only allowed to save the life of the woman, although the narrow exemption has sparked confusion among physicians and led some to delay ending dangerous pregnancies, at a risk to the womens health.

In August, providers reported performing three abortions statewide, all of them in hospitals and in response to medical emergencies, according to the most recently available data published by the states health and human services commission.

Since the states restrictive laws took effect, researchers found that demand for abortion pills by mail surged in Texas and other states with similar bans.

The legislative session will test Republicans resolve on an issue for which recent public polling shows a majority of Texans believe theyve gone too far.

In a statement last week, former President Donald Trump pinned the partys underwhelming midterm performance on its hardline abortion stance, saying Republicans who insisted on no exceptions cost the party votes.

But Trump faced pushback from Phelan, who said on Twitter that the former presidents hand-picked candidates were to blame.

May 2023-24 bring the GOP new leadership PROUD to protect the unborn, said Phelan, R-Beaumont.

Cypress Rep. Tom Oliverson, interim GOP House caucus chair, said the fact that Republicans maintained control of state government in the November elections, when Democrats made the states abortion ban a central line of attack, shows that voters feel theyre on the right track.

I can tell you confidently from my communitys perspective, he said, that the overwhelming majority of them are very OK with the law as written.

Elizabeth Simas, an associate professor of political science at the University of Houston, said the abortion bans are so new that not many voters may have felt their effects yet. As the stories become more common of pregnant women not being able to get care or to have a choice in their care, pushback may grow, she said.

We have seen in other states that there obviously is a tipping point to where people are going to respond and react, Simas said. They havent quite found that yet in Texas. I dont know if theyre going to roll the dice and risk finding that in this session.

In the months before the midterm elections, a handful of Republicans showed a willingness to expand the laws exemptions to include cases of rape and incest. But none has filed legislation to make such a change. The most prominent among them  Sens. Robert Nichols of Jacksonville and Joan Huffman of Houston  did not respond to a request for comment.

In recent television interviews, Patrick suggested the idea of adding more exemptions lacks broad support among Senate Republicans. Last fall, Phelan told The Texas Tribune that the House might revise the abortion ban, but he did not know how the chamber would vote on adding more exemptions.

The states most prominent anti-abortion groups  Texas Right to Life and Texas Alliance for Life  are firmly against rolling back any part of the abortion ban, their leaders told The Dallas Morning News. Instead, the groups are supporting a variety of proposals to tighten enforcement.

Rep. Candy Noble, R-Lucas, has filed legislation to prohibit state and local governments from providing any logistical support to assist women in getting an abortion, including child care, lodging or travel. Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, filed a bill to block businesses from receiving tax subsidies if they help employees in leaving the state to get abortions.

Neither bill has attracted co-sponsors.

Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, said he is working on legislation to get around district attorneys who will not prosecute violations of the abortion ban. Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot is one of a handful who have said they will refrain from prosecuting anyone who seeks, provides or supports an elective abortion.
Country

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Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
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Restrictions on Chinese travelers entering Denmark are unnecessary, the Danish Health Ministry said on Monday.

"There is no binding requirement for testing before entering Denmark from China," the Ministry said following an assessment of potential COVID-19 measures.

To help prevent infection, free antigen testing is being offered to those arriving in Denmark on direct flights from China.

The Danish Epidemic Commission said on Monday that there is currently "no significant risk of COVID-19 spreading from China to Denmark, or significant risk of the introduction of new virus variants, as there is high population immunity in Denmark."

An earlier assessment by the Statens Serum Institut (SSI), the Danish national center for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, came to the same conclusion.

Danish Minister of Interior and Health Sophie Lohde is expected to provide an updated report at a meeting with members of the Epidemic Committee in the Parliament on Tuesday.

"The government will follow the recommendations of the SSI and the Epidemic Commission," Lohde said.
HAMILTON COUNTY  Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol arrested two people following a pursuit early Sunday morning in Hamilton County which ended near Hampton.

At approximately 12:15 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 8, a trooper observed a Dodge Magnum speeding on Interstate 80 at mile marker 329, near Aurora. The trooper attempted a traffic stop, but the vehicle accelerated and fled at a high rate of speed. The trooper initiated a pursuit.

The vehicle exited I-80 at the Aurora interchange and continued fleeing northbound. As the vehicle entered Aurora at a high rate of speed, the trooper discontinued the pursuit out of concern for public safety. A short time later, troopers observed the same vehicle traveling on county roads east of Aurora. The trooper attempted a traffic stop, but the vehicle again fled. The trooper initiated a pursuit.

The vehicle continued fleeing eastbound on Highway 34, toward Hampton, and drove on the wrong side of the road at times. As the vehicle reached Hampton, it turned northbound onto city streets. A short time later, a trooper was able to successfully perform a tactical vehicle intervention to bring the vehicle to a stop. The driver and passenger were both taken into custody without further incident.

The driver, Travis Fielder, 36, of Grand Island, was arrested for an outstanding warrant from Hall County, as well as willful reckless driving, flight to avoid arrest, driving under the influence  drugs, carrying a concealed weapon, possession of marijuana  less than one ounce, possession of drug paraphernalia, and numerous traffic violations. The passenger, Brandon Proctor, 36, of Bradshaw, was arrested for a probation violation, as well as possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Both were lodged in Hamilton County Jail.

The Hamilton County Sheriffs Office assisted in this incident.
Brian Kronk is looking for a few good fishing holes. Kronk is the new owner at In-Line Collision located at 1729 N. Division Avenue, York having purchased the body shop from Tom and Peg Menze this past fall.

Kronk is a native of Lake Ozark, Missouri where a good fishing spot is right outside your back door. He made his way to Nebraska through his wife Allison whose maiden name was Roehrs as she grew up in the York and Lincoln area. The couple moved to Nebraska in 2015 where for the past several years Kronk has managed a body shop for an area Ford dealer.

The couple had purchased some of her familys farmland near the Henderson interstate exit and is building a home there and Kronk was looking for something closer to that location. His paint vendor at his former job put him in touch with the Menzes who were looking for an exit strategy after owning the body shop here in York for the past 31 years.

Kronk came about his interest in body work naturally as his father owned a shop in Missouri. Ive always been around it, he said. I tried getting away studying accounting in college and then went to work at a bank. But it seemed the family business was in my blood and I kept coming back to it.

Tom and Peg had a great business here, said Kronk. Were going to try to stick with the way they operated and will make some gradual changes as we go along.

He has added a couple of new employees bringing the total up to six and have done some remodeling in the office area since taking over. One new area of the business was adding body repair on semi-trucks.

Tom Menze has continued on a part-time basis for the time being handling some of the alignment duties until other employees are trained up on that portion of the business.

We just decided it was time, said Menze. Ive been in the business for almost 50 years and Ive got a lot of projects at home that hopefully will get done now.

Menze recalled that after high school he started and finished one quarter studying body work at Milford and then had to enter the military. Later on, I got out of the military on a Friday and the next Monday was the start of the quarter back at Milford so I was right back at it and have been in the business ever since.

We certainly appreciate all the loyal customers and employees weve had over the years, Menze added. The City of York has treated us well and its been a good community in which to own a business.

Kronk is also looking forward to being a part of the York business community and being an area resident. He and Allison have two daughters Georgia who is 12 and Ava aged eight. The girls are students at Heartland Community Schools in Henderson and love the familys eight horses according to their dad.

Kronk says he likes fooling around with old cars and the aforementioned fishing so if anyone knows of a good fishing hole in the area and want to share give him a call.

In-Line Collision is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be reached by calling 402-362-7780.

Cornerstone Bank announces officer appointment

The Board of Directors of Cornerstone Bank announced the appointment of the following officer in York, at their recent meeting:

Hannah Eatherton was named Electronic Banking Officer in York. Eatherton started with Cornerstone in January of 2019 in the Electronic Banking Department and has spent her entire career in that department.

She is a graduate of York High School and came to Cornerstone Bank with seven years of prior banking experience. She and her husband have two children and reside in York.

Cornerstone Bank is a $2.2 billion bank with 47 banking facilities in 38 communities.

What the heck?

So how many of you actively dream at night? It seems here lately that my nights have been filled with them a little bit more than usual. Why, I dont know. Luckily, mine dont seem to be the ones where youre getting chased by a bear or have monsters trying to bite your head off.

They are more benign. In one I was eating vanilla ice cream and it was the best ice cream Ive ever had. Even after I woke up, it was like I could almost still taste it.

My Mom and Dad seem to show up from time to time in my dreams even though Dad has been gone since 1998 and Mom passed away several years ago. I guess its a good thing but after waking up you still have that little sense of loss when you realize it wasnt real.

One that seems to show up from time to time is a dream where Im back in college and Im trying to get to a class but I cant find the classroom where Im supposed to be taking a test. In the dream, I know if I dont get there and take the test Im going to fail the class.

Thats one where I relish waking up from, And maybe sometimes your dreams do mirror what actually happened in real life.
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The iconic Oscar Mayer Weinermobile made a couple of stops in Southern Illinois over the weekend, evoking recollections, smiles and a few renditions of Oh, I wish I were and Oscar Mayer wiener

As word of the 27-foot-long hot dog on wheels presence in the region spread like mustard on a frankfurter, many families stopped by the Kroger stores in Carbondale on Saturday and Marion on Sunday to get a better look and to visit with Hotdogger Beth Lynn.

Lynn, known in sausage circles as Bologna Beth, will spend a year traveling throughout the Midwest in the Weinermobile.

I get a lot of reactions, she said between helping children getting a peek inside the vehicle and passing out the small weenie whistles which are a hallmark of the truck. Lots of people come and take pictures and others come up singing the song. The Wienermobile has been around for a long time and it is a great memory for lots of people.

Each year 12 recent college graduates are selected as Hotdoggers to serve a one-year term traveling in one of six Weinermobiles in the package, um, rather, fleet. The two Southern Illinois stops were part of dozens of promotional stops the Hotdogger will make throughout the Midwest during her tenure.

Its almost like youre famous; like people are seeing a unicorn, Lynn said of piloting the vehicle. My favorite part is going to a new city each week because you see all of the reactions.

She got a warm reception from the Vaughn family of Stonefort who were making a regular trip for grocery shopping. Kristen Vaughns children - Kora, 8, Hattie, 6, and Kolby, 2, - did not know the vehicle was going to be at the store.

It was a neat surprise, Kristen said.

Kora wanted to do more than shop.

I want to eat it, she said.

Lynn wouldnt let the little girl get even a nibble, but she did allow Kora and her siblings to take a look inside the Weinermobile, its interior decorated in condiment colors. Of course, they also received whistles and mom got coupons for Oscar Mayer products. Memories were on the menu, too.

Its something I hope theyll relish, Lynn said, the pun obviously intended.
COLUMBIA  FlexCold, a leading cold storage warehousing and logistics company, today announced plans to establish operations in Dorchester County. The companys $49.9 million investment will create 59 new jobs.

Headquartered in Charleston, FlexCold specializes in cold storage warehousing and logistics by providing customers with personalized cold storage expertise and targeting strategic locations that are advantageous to todays evolving food supply chain. The company focuses on storing, handling, and distributing poultry, seafood, meat, packaged goods and frozen produce.

Located on Patriot Boulevard in North Charleston, the Dorchester County facility marks FlexColds first cold storage location in South Carolina and second facility in the United States. The new operations will include a highly modern, cold food storage facility to accommodate a diverse customer base with a focus on receiving a substantial amount of imported goods. Operationally, FlexCold will provide import and export services, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration inspections, labeling and repacking, and cross-docking services.

Operations are expected to be online by late summer 2024. Individuals interested in joining the FlexCold team should visit the companys website.
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Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Monday held phone talks respectively with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Foreign Minister Park Jin of the Republic of Korea (ROK), the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

China and Russia to continue bilateral relationship a high level

Qin expressed his hope to continue close exchanges with Lavrov to push forward the China-Russia relationship, which is based on non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties.

China is ready to join its Russian counterpart in fully implementing the major consensus reached by the two heads of state, Qin noted.

Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era has maintained its development at a high level, exchanges and cooperation in various fields has been deepened, and the public opinion base for friendly relations between the two countries has continued to be consolidated, Qin said.

Lavrov congratulated Qin on his recent appointment and and expressed his expectation to lead foreign ministries of the two countries to continue to carry out close cooperation, fully implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and promote the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination to continuously achieve new results.

The two sides also exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis and other issues.

China, Pakistan to carry forward all-weather friendship

Qin Gang said that China and Pakistan enjoy an "unprecedented and unique" friendship and a high degree of mutual trust. The high-level exchanges between the two countries have maintained close interaction, and injected strong impetus into the development of the bilateral relations.

China, Qin said, is ready to work with Pakistan to continuously deepen the traditional friendship between China and Pakistan, and join hands to build a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era under the guidance of important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries.

China pays close attention to the safety of its citizens in Pakistan and hopes that Pakistan will continue to take effective security measures, Qin emphasized.

In his message, Zardari sent his Chinese lunar New Year greetings and once again congratulated Qin on his recent appointment and vowed to push forward all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries to new high.

Pakistan will make every effort to protect the safety of Chinese personnel, institutions and projects in Pakistan, he noted.

China and the ROK to promote stable and far-reaching bilateral relations

China and the ROK are close neighbors and inseparable partners, Qin said, adding that the healthy and stable development of the China-ROK relations serves the common interests of both sides, and is the general direction of the continuous efforts of both sides.

Qin said he is willing to establish and maintain a good working relationship with Park and jointly implement the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries.

Based on the present and focus on the long-term, Qin said he will grasp the overall situation of friendship and gather strength for cooperation to promote the stable and far-reaching bilateral relations.

For his part, Park congratulated Qin as China's new foreign minister, and agreed with China's views on bilateral relations.

Taking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the ROK as an opportunity, Park expects that both sides will effectively implement the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries, and open a new era of mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

Park called on both sides to strengthen cultural and people-to-people exchanges and personnel exchanges.

Qin expressed his concerns over ROK's recent temporary restrictive measures on people from China entering the ROK, calling for the ROK to uphold an objective and scientific attitude.

The two foreign ministers exchanged views on the situation of the Korean Peninsula and exchanged New Year greetings.
KaiBienn Bookhart, of Antioch Road, Santee, has been identified as the 16-year-old who died after someone shot him on Saturday.

An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday, according to Orangeburg County Chief Deputy Coroner Sean D. Fogle.

DreMorean Smalls, 18, of Santee River Road, Santee faces charges of murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, according to Santee Police Chief Joseph Serrano.

Officers were dispatched to 112 Cecelia Street around 3:15 p.m. Saturday for the shooting incident.

As officers were on the way, dispatchers notified them that Bookhart had been taken to HealthPlex, located on John Lawson Avenue in Santee, Serrano said.

Serrano reported to HealthPlex while other officers went to the Cecelia Street home.

Bookhart was transferred by ambulance to the Regional Medical Center.

He later died of his injuries. The investigation is ongoing.

Serrano said Smalls and Bookhart knew each other.

The Holly Hill Police Department assisted.

A circuit judge may consider setting bond on Smalls at a later date.

If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
BEIRUT  Hezbollah on Tuesday criticized cartoons published last week by the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo depicting Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, deeming the drawings insulting.

In a press release, the party also urged the French government to "punish" the authors of these cartoons.

Charlie Hebdo was the target of a deadly attack in 2015, when gunmen aligned with Al-Qaeda killed 12 people at the newspaper's office in Paris.

The Khamanei cartoons were published following a competition organized by Charlie Hebdo in December to produce "the funniest and most wicked caricature of Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Iran has been shaken for several months by countrywide protests after the death in detention of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for allegedly breaking the country's modest dress codes for women.

'Horrible work'

In a press release dated Tuesday, Hezbollah stated that "Charlie Hebdo magazine is once again committing an offense and an attack on our sanctity and our values, the same magazine that has repeatedly attacked our Prophet Muhammed." The paper has previously published controversial cartoons depicting Muhammad.

Hezbollah said it "strongly condemns the horrible work of this magazine ... We denounce it in the strongest possible terms and call on all free and honorable citizens in the world to reject it," the statement said.

"Imam Khamenei is not only the leader of a great state, but also an imam of the ummah and a religious reference for tens of thousands of believers, a high symbol of all that is humanity, freedom, dignity, resistance," the statement continued. "We can see how the West acts with opinions and stances that are opposed to its fundamental political interests."

With the publication of these cartoons, Charlie Hebdo finds itself at the heart of a diplomatic crisis. Tehran last week announced the closure of the oldest and most important French research center in the country, affiliated with France's foreign ministry. Several dozen people gathered outside the French embassy in Tehran on Sunday to burn French flags in protest against the cartoons.

Charlie Hebdo said it published these cartoons to support the Iranian people during a mass protest movement nearing its fourth month.
A Casper man faces second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder charges in connection with a killing reported early Sunday morning, police said.

George Kevin Dickerson, 61, made his initial appearance in Natrona County Circuit Court on Monday afternoon. He faces no less than 20 years in prison on each charge if he is found guilty.

The Casper Police Department responded to a report Sunday of two dead people at an address on the 1600 block of Begonia Street in Paradise Valley.

Officers found two victims, one of whom was dead and the other sustained critical injuries, police said.

The man who was killed has been identified as Andy William Martin Jr., 76, of Casper, Natrona County Coroner James Whipps said. Martins family was notified, and an autopsy is scheduled.

The surviving victim was transported to the Banner Wyoming Medical Center. As of Monday morning, the victim was alive and considered stable but remained in critical condition.

There will be a continued law enforcement presence around Begonia and Navarre streets while the investigation is ongoing.

We would like to reiterate that this is an isolated incident and there is no ongoing threat to the public, the department said.

Dickerson has some prior offenses. He was found guilty of a DUI in 2006 and of violence against a household member in 2011.

Natrona County Circuit Court Judge Nichole Collier set the bond at $600,000 cash-only, as he was deemed a significant flight risk due to extended periods of unemployment and severely damaged family ties in Natrona County.

There is no way I, or anyone I know, could come up with that amount, and I certainly understand why they would do that, Dickerson said during his court appearance.

No further details were available Monday.
A Cheyenne high school student died after she was shot in the back while she and three others were on a drive Monday night, police said.

Tirso Munguia, 19, and Cody Nicholson, 18, were in the backseat handling a gun while the victim and another female were in the front seat.

Munguia allegedly fired the gun while the group was driving on Dell Range Boulevard. The shot struck the unidentified 16-year-old girl in the front passenger seat, Cheyenne police said.

The vehicle pulled over, and Nicholson fled on foot with the gun. The driver then proceeded to the Frontier Mall parking lot and called police.

Police arrived at 1400 Dell Range Boulevard at about 6 p.m.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Triumph High School Principal Troy Lake sent out a statement to families Tuesday about how to deal with grief, loss, anger and fear reactions.

Last night, Triumph High School experienced the loss of one of our students, Lake said in the statement. The Laramie County School District 1 community is grieving, and our deepest condolences go out to our students family.

Nicholson was located and taken into custody without incident. He had an outstanding Laramie County warrant for a probation violation on an original charge of driving under the influence.

He was booked into Laramie County jail on the warrant and is facing a charge of accessory after the fact to manslaughter.

Munguia faces a charge of manslaughter without incident.

The Cheyenne Police Department continues to investigate the incident.

This story has been updated. The Cheyenne Police Department originally released that the victim was 17 years old; she was 16.
It was an active Monday as Casper Fire-Ems responded to several notable incidents including a person being removed from a car crash with the Jaws of Life and several cars intentionally lit on fire, officials said.

An unidentified person became trapped inside a car following a crash at the intersection of East 15th Street and Fairdale Avenue.

Firefighters immediately stabilized the vehicle, used hydraulic extrication tools to remove the door and rescued the injured person shortly before 8:30 p.m., Casper Fire-EMS said.

The person was transported to the Banner Health Wyoming Medical Center with what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries.

The Casper Police Department is investigating the cause of the crash.

Casper Fire-EMS responded to a report of a vehicle fire at the Ford Wyoming Center about 45 minutes after the crash.

Firefighters found several vehicles enveloped with flames on the north side of the building. They quickly extinguished the fires and prevented damage to the Ford Wyoming Center.

Natrona County investigators determined the fires were started intentionally, with road flares and signal-style distress flares either placed or fired into several front seats. There were no reported injuries.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Casper Police Department at 307-235-8278.

Earlier Monday, one person was transported to the hospital, one family cat died, and one female Rottweiler went missing after a fire broke out at a south central Casper home. The dog was found later Monday evening.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley will today turn the sod for the construction of the 112 mega watt (MWac) solar project.

The sod-turning comes almost three years after the consortium of bpTT and Shell were selected as the preferred bidder on the project which has caused an escalation in cost to taxpayers.
A relative of one of the two men killed along the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway in Piarco, on Monday night, heard the gunshots that ended their lives and saw the vehicle they were in pull to the side of the road.

The dead men are Shamba Chandler, a resident of Maracas/St Joseph and Mt DOr Road, Champs Fleurs, and Carlsbury Lewis, also known as Berry, of Mohammed Street, St Augustine.
As I get older, I am starting to understand my grandparents better. I have seen things grow 
If youre looking to add culinary harmony to your 2023 Tucson Desert Song Festival experience, we have some suggestions of new restaurants near the festival venues that are worth checking out.

A few dining tips before we get started:

Check to see if the restaurant takes reservations.

Probe their Yelp and other social media reviews to see if they have any service issues that might make you late to your concert.

Check out the menu before you go so you have an idea of what you want. That will cut down on the time you wait.

If possible, order ahead so the food will be ready when you arrive.

OK, now onto the tasty stuff.

Downtown Tucson  not far from the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall where several Song Festival events will take place  and the area around the University of Arizona  home to Centennial Hall and smaller concert halls at the Fred Fox School of Music  welcomed a handful of new restaurants last year that either opened after the 2022 Song Festival or were so new they werent on many folks radars.

Tyler Fenton and his siblings (Reilly Craft Pizza) opened their fire-inspired fine-dining restaurant Bata at 35 E. Toole Ave. in March. They opened the downstairs cocktail complement Barbata in mid-November. bata tucson.com, barbata.com

Cruda Mariscos & Oysters, 31 N. Scott Ave., joined the family of downtown restaurants that includes La Chingada and The Neighborhood in February. crudamariscos.com

Ezbachi, a Japanese-style izakaya grill, opened at 62 E. Congress St. in mid-April. ezbachi.com

If youre taste buds are craving quesabirria tacos, check out La Yaquesita Mexican Cuisine, which took over the former L Station at 500 N. Fourth Ave. inJune. facebook.com/YaquesitaTacos

The popular food truck Penelope Wood Fired Pizza opened inside Cartel Roasting Co.s downtown location at 210 E. Broadway in October. penelopepizza.com

For a true taste of the South, The Delta, 135 S. Sixth Ave., which This is Tucson food writer Ellice Lueders labeled the pissed off rock-and-roll cousin of the popular New Orleans-inspired The Parish, opened in the old Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails in early January. thedeltatucson.com

The Flores family honored its founder with The Monica, a fast-casual, scratch-made open-kitchen eatery that pays homage to Monica Flores at 40 E. Congress. themonicatucson.com

The pasta-centric Noodies, which also sells Italian sandwiches and self-serve gelato, opened in the former Bentleys House of Coffee and Tea at 1730 E. Speedway in mid-April. noodies.square.site
The two-part 11th annual Tucson Desert Song Festival kicks off Wednesday, Jan. 18, and will present 17 events over a total of seven weeks including landmark symphonies by Beethoven and Mahler, a Rachmaninoff masterpiece, four world premieres  one of them commissioned by the Song Festival  and 32 guest artists including one of operas brightest stars.

The first leg of the festival runs Jan. 18-Feb. 19; it resumes March 24-April 6.

If Jack (Forsythe, the festival founder) or someone else ever said that it would be this big at this point, nobody would have believed it, said festival Director George Hanson.

Among the artists on this years roster is Grammy winner and Metropolitan Opera regular Angel Blue, whose recital with the Arizona Opera on April 1 prompted Hanson and Song Festival Board President Jeanette Segel to extend the festival beyond February. Blue was only available in April, so Hanson and Segel decided it was worth adding the spring leg to accommodate her.

In addition to Blues event, the second leg includes True Concord Voices & Orchestra performing Rachmaninoffs Vespers March 24-26 and Tucson Symphony Orchestra tackling Mahlers behemoth Resurrection Symphony March 31 and April 2.

Hanson said one of the festivals highlights will come on the opening weekend, when the TSO, under the baton of Jose Luis Gomez, performs Beethovens Ninth Symphony Choral with the TSO Chorus and four guest soloists.

Beethovens Ninth, with its breathtaking Ode to Joy finale, was a catalyst for Forsythes idea to launch the Tucson Desert Song Festival, said Hanson, who spent 19 years at the TSO podium before leaving in 2015; Gomez replaced him in 2016.

Hanson said that Forsythe, who died in 2020, had come up to him after the orchestra performed the Ninth in 2009 and commended him on the performance. He then suggested it would have been even more spectacular with world-class vocalists on the stage, the kind of vocalists whose fees would outpace the orchestras pocketbook.

Forsythe suggested that a song festival involving a handful of Tucson arts organizations including the symphony, opera and university, could raise the money to bring in world-class, up-and-coming vocalists who would shine a spotlight on Tucson as a vocal arts destination.

Forsythe and Cecile Follansbee, a longtime Tucson arts advocate, put the pieces together and launched the inaugural festival in 2013.

This is the first time the Ninth has been fully incorporated into the festival, Hanson said, which in some ways brings Forsythes vision full circle. We have retirees and others coming here from areas with major symphonies like Chicago, and they bring high expectations to our little pueblo. The song festival is helping all of our arts organizations rise to that level of expectation.

The festivals four world premieres also are destined to be highlights.

After postponing it for a year, courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic, True Concord Voices & Orchestra with soprano Susanna Phillips will finally perform the world premiere of Jocelyn Hagens Here I Am, celebrating womens voices. Hagen and her husband, Timothy Takach, are True Concords inaugural composers in residence. Performances are Jan. 27-29; trueconcord.org

Baritone Justin Austin will perform the world premiere of opera composer Ricky Ian Gordons new song cycle, commissioned by the Song Festival as part of the Wesley Green Composer Project. Feb. 9; tucsonsongfest.org

Ballet Tucson will present the premiere of Chieko Imadas new work based on the legend of Japans Queen Himiko. Feb. 17-19; ballettucson.org

The Tucson Guitar Society orchestra will premiere Belarus-born classical guitarist and composer Olga Amelkina-Veras Pulling Down the Clouds, a song cycle the society commissioned that is set to the texts of Tohono Oodham poet Ofelia Zepeda. April 2; tucsonguitarsociety.org

Tickets for song festival events are available through the participating arts organizations. Details: tucsonsongfest.org
PHOENIX  The Arizona Court of Appeals has agreed to expedite consideration of Kari Lakes claims the 2022 election was flawed.

But that doesnt mean the judges will give her what she wants: either to be installed as governor or to require a new election in the states most populous county.

In a brief order made public Tuesday, the appellate court accepted the losing Republican gubernatorial candidates request to have her election claims handled as a special action. As a result, attorneys for Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs have only until Jan. 17 to file their own legal papers about why the three-judge panel should reject her bid.

The judges also agreed to consider the matter on Feb. 1, at least a month earlier than the court would have heard a regular appeal.

Lakes appeal is essentially a renewal of the claims she made to Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson that she would have won  or, at least, would have had a better chance  had Maricopa County not had problems with its ballot-on-demand printers at many of its 223 voting centers. Many of those printers produced ballots that could not be read by the on-site ballot tabulators.

Lake contends this depressed the votes of Republicans, who are more likely to go to the polls on Election Day than Democrats. She argued there was evidence the printer problems were the result of intentional misconduct by one or more people  she had no names  working for the county.

Thompson, however, said Lake not only failed to prove any intentional act but also to provide evidence there was an effect on the outcome of the election, which Lake lost to Hobbs by 17,117 votes. He pointed out that those voters whose ballots could not be immediately read by the on-site tabulators had the option of putting them in a sealed box to be read later at the county election center.

County supervisors have since commissioned a study to find out why the ballot printers that worked during the August primary malfunctioned in November. They retained former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor to lead the effort.

No deadline has been given to complete that study. But whatever is found would have no legal effect on the election results.

In his ruling last month, Thompson also rejected another claim by Lake that the county failed to follow chain-of-custody rules for ballots and that somehow an extra 25,000 ballots were injected into the election system after the vote.

Lake also hopes to get the appellate court to consider one claim that Thompson did not even allow her to present: that signatures on envelopes containing early ballots did not match each voters registration file.

County officials said they did do a signature comparison, though they also used other documents they had on file, such as voters requests for early ballots. That complied with the Election Procedures Manual, they said.

Thompson said the manual and its procedures have been in place since 2019 and if Lake believed they allow something illegal, she should have filed that challenge before the election.

Lake had sought to bypass the appellate court entirely and take the case directly to the state Supreme Court.
Those already expensive eggs at your local grocer are about to get a tiny bit more costly, and potentially less available.

It's all in the name of humane treatment of animals.

New Arizona regulations that took effect at the beginning of the month require that laying hens kept in cages have at least one square foot  144 inches  of usable floor space. Until now, cages could be less than half that size.

Also, beginning in 2025, all major producers must go to cage-free.

How much that will cost depends on how many eggs a year you eat.

The state Department of Agriculture puts average annual per capita consumption at slightly more than 270 eggs a year. Figuring the new rules would add somewhere between a penny and 3.25 cents per egg, that comes out to somewhere between $2.71 and $8.79 a year.

But Chelsea McGuire, lobbyist for the Arizona Farm Bureau, which opposed the rule, thinks those numbers are soft.

At best, she said, they are speculative, as the full rules for cage-free housing are not in place. McGuire argued the estimates the state used didn't really take into account all the costs.

And she said costs are only part of the problem consumers will face since shoppers are sometimes finding no eggs available at any price.

Much of that is due to an outbreak of avian flu that requires farmers to destroy whole flocks even if just one hen tests positive. A ban on selling eggs from traditionally caged hens only adds to the problem, McGuire said.

"We're restricting the supply from which we can choose the eggs that we can bring into the state,'' she said, noting the rule affects not just Arizona-based egg producers but any firm that wants to sell eggs to Arizona consumers.

"We're locking producers into this premium product and doing so unnecessarily,'' McGuire said. She said it's all being done "without a public health or safety justification or a scientific justification.''

What's "necessary,'' however, depends on point of view.

Cruelty arguments

Some animal rights groups argued it's cruel to keep the laying hens in tiny pens.

McGuire sniffed at that contention. "Stress indicators on hens, things like that, are really no different between conventional confinement cages and cage-free production systems,'' she said.

That was not the assessment of then-Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, when he wrote Arizona legislation in 2021 to require cage-free housing by anyone producing more than 3,000 eggs a year.

"Confining chickens to less than 1square foot, I think, is really cruel,'' he told colleagues.

"Granted, they don't have very high levels of sentient awareness,'' Kavanagh continued. "But they feel pain, and they're prevented from engaging in natural and instinctive behavior, even to the point of spreading their wings or being able to sit down when they lay their eggs.''

The Farm Bureau managed to kill that measure. But that didn't end the matter because the state Department of Agriculture concluded it already had the authority to approve its own rules. And that's what it did.

Largest producer supported new rule

It turns out the agency had an important ally on its side: Hickman's Egg Ranch, located west of Phoenix, the state's largest egg producer. Hickman's worried failure to take voluntary action would result in something more onerous.

In 2021, when lawmakers were considering the Kavanagh measure, company President Glenn Hickman told lawmakers he was concerned voters would adopt an initiative being pushed by World Animal Protection.

It would not only have required cage-free systems by May of this year but would have made violations a crime. By contrast, the legislation  and the state rule that eventually followed after the bill failed  gives him until 2025 to come into full compliance, with no criminal penalties.

The company already has been moving into the cage-free market. Hickman told lawmakers in 2021 that some clients, including McDonald's and Costco, were demanding cage-free eggs. Also, other states already had enacted similar rules, meaning Arizona producers who want to sell their eggs elsewhere would have to go along eventually.

But Hickman's Egg Ranch told state officials it could not convert the remainder of its production facilities to cage-free housing by May 31, 2023, as would have been required by the World Animal Protection initiative, and might have to euthanize a portion of its flock to avoid criminal penalties if the ballot measure passed.

The final Arizona rule is more liberal than what lawmakers had rejected. It exempts any producer that has fewer than 20,000 egg-producing hens.

It also does not require that all eggs come from free-range hens, which would have required that they have access to the outdoors at least part of the day. Instead, they can be kept in large barns of up to 300,000 square feet, where hens can wander about.

Higher-quality eggs?

McGuire, however, said she remains convinced none of this was necessary. She argued that Arizonans would have rejected the initiative for cage-free eggs.

The record suggests otherwise. Arizona voters in 2006 approved a ban on "gestation crates'' for pig and cattle ranchers.

And the Department of Agriculture cited "the success of recent animal welfare ballot initiatives in Arizona and elsewhere'' to justify the rule.

In debating the 2021 legislation, lawmakers asked Hickman if eggs from cage-free chickens are of higher quality than their more-confined cousins. He said there's no simple answer.

"You feed the chickens the same,'' Hickman said. He said it's like brown versus white eggs, with no real difference.

"But there are some studies that suggest that chickens who have less stress tend to have more natural defenses, immunities, if you will, and are therefore healthier. And that would translate potentially into maybe a different composition of egg," he said, though he added, "You're making some scientific leaps."
Buckeye in Maricopa County, long one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S., is not the first place in Arizona that state water officials concluded lacks enough groundwater to support its projected homebuilding  and it likely will not be the last.

That's the outlook from Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke, whose office by state law must determine if new developments in Arizona's urban areas have enough assured water supplies to support a century's worth of expected housing growth.

His comment came just after new Gov. Katie Hobbs released on Monday an ADWR report, previously kept under wraps, showing the groundwater basin underlying Buckeye, west of Phoenix, will fall 4.4 million acre-feet of water short of what's needed to serve subdivisions  already approved to be built  over the next 100 years.

That's equivalent to the amount of Colorado River water the Central Arizona Project canal system delivers to Tucson and Phoenix over four years.

The report's release comes close to two years after ADWR made a similar water supply determination for Pinal County, effectively blocking much new home development in that previously rapidly growing area.

New home development relying on groundwater in other fast-growing urban areas, including Pima County, could or will in the coming years face similar legal roadblocks to subdividing under state law, Buschatzke is predicting.

At the same time Hobbs released the Buckeye report, she took a second action that will be broader and potentially farther reaching in the long run. She ordered creation of a new Water Policy Council, representing virtually every major water interest group in the state, that will try to find ways to update the pioneering, 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act that first allowed the water agency to limit groundwater pumping to protect declining aquifers in urban areas including Tucson and Phoenix.

Restrictions don't completely protect aquifers

A longtime homebuilders' lobbyist, Spencer Kamps, noted, however, that these restrictions on homebuilding won't stop development and won't completely protect the aquifers in such areas. That's because the state's requirement for assured water supplies only applies to new subdivisions  not to apartments, commercial development or industry. Kamps is deputy director of the Phoenix-based Home Builders Association of Central Arizona.

Under the 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act, subdividers for all new homes built in the state's three most populous counties  Maricopa, Pinal and Pima  must prove they have an assured water supply for 100 years. They're required to prove both that there's enough groundwater under the subdivision and that a three-county water district can find enough renewable supplies to replenish that or another aquifer to compensate for the subdivision's pumping.

"The assured water supply issue first daylighted in Pinal County. Now, it's daylighted in the West Valley" of the Phoenix metro area, Buschatzke said in an interview this week. "Sooner or later, its going to daylight everywhere.

"Groundwater is finite, and we've been allocating it 40-plus years" for new development in state-run water management areas surrounding cities across the state, Buschatzke said. Those areas include the Tucson Active Management area in Pima and southern Pinal counties, and similar areas in Santa Cruz County and surrounding Phoenix and Prescott.

He's not ready to say what will be the next urban area his office will find lacks sufficient water for 100 years of new housing growth. Pima County, where large portions of unincorporated areas rely on groundwater, could be the next place this happens, "but I don't want to say that will be the next area," Buschatzke said.

"It has to happen" that other areas will be found lacking sufficient groundwater for new growth, he said. "We will be working on updating our groundwater models that we have for Active Management Areas. As we continue to work on updating those models and improving the science, we'll start seeing where that (assured water supply issue) starts to daylight specifically."

Other water supplies may need to be brought in

In the Tucson area, Green Valley and surrounding southern Pima County communities, unincorporated areas north of Tucson to SaddleBrooke in Pinal County, and unincorporated areas southeast of Tucson depend almost exclusively if not exclusively on groundwater.

A federal study released in 2021 found that increased water demand and expected future reductions in deliveries of CAP water will trigger major declines in groundwater levels in the unincorporated southern and southeastern suburbs and in both incorporated and unincorporated north- and northwest-side suburbs such as Oro Valley, Catalina and SaddleBrooke.

For Buckeye, Buschatzke said ADWR officials are "very confident" in results from their computer-based groundwater models showing "there is not going to be sufficient groundwater to build all the homes in the pipeline or that might be planned," in that area's surrounding Lower Hassayampa Sub-Basin that stores groundwater.

"Some other types of water supplies may need to be brought into this area, if those houses are to be built," he said.

Only developments that already have state approved assurances of water supply in that area can move forward  "I don't expect to be able to approve anything new," Buschatzke said.

Until and unless other water supplies can be found, the state's action effectively slams the brakes on new subdivisions in Buckeye, a city whose population has been projected to rise from about 123,000 in 2022 to about 872,000. That's if all 27 master-planned communities that have been approved by the city are eventually built, says Buckeye's water master plan, released in April 2020.

Reached for comment, Buckeye city spokeswoman Annie DeChance said Tuesday that city officials are reviewing close to 300 pages of findings in the just-released state report, in order to respond later.

"We need time to analyze the data. Once we have an opportunity to fully review the report; well be able to respond and provide input," said DeChance.

She emphasized, however, that all Buckeye homes and businesses already developed and those "in the process of being built" have been shown to have an assured, 100-year water supply. For the period beyond that, "we're looking at other, alternative sources besides groundwater," DeChance said. She declined to elaborate because "we have a bunch of nondisclosure agreements involved."

Groundwater is 41% of state's water supply

Hobbs accompanied her order for the Buckeye study's release on Monday with a third directive, besides creating the water policy council. She also created the Governor's Office of Resilience, aimed at fashioning "water, energy and land use solutions," she said in a news release. The office will coordinate activities among a wide range of interests, including state agencies, tribal governments, universities and outside organizations, "to address Arizonas water challenges from a local, state, regional and national level," Hobbs said.

The water policy council will update groundwater management tools and protect groundwater  which serves as 41% of the states water supply, Hobbs said.

"The critical need for these updates comes from needing to close groundwater poaching loopholes. There are effectively no restrictions on groundwater pumping and lack of support for smaller communities" in rural areas outside of the state-run Active Management Areas near cities, she said.

More specifically, Hobbs cited the recently disclosed news that "a Saudi Arabian conglomerate is pumping local groundwater nearly unchecked in La Paz County today, to grow water-intensive crops and send them to the other side of the planet." She was referring to The Arizona Republic's reporting that the Saudi firm Fondomonte was paying $25 an acre to lease close to 10,000 acres of Arizona-owned state land to grow alfalfa  with no limits placed on its water use.
LAS VEGAS  The mottled bright green leaves of a pothos plant stood out against the flashy expanse of electric vehicles and smart products at the CES tech show in Las Vegas this year. This particular version of the familiar houseplant was bioengineered to remove 30 times the amount of indoor air pollutants of a typical house plant, according to Neoplants, the Paris-based company that created it.

Customers are already joining a waitlist for seedlings still in the nursery.

Neoplants founder and CEO Lionel Mora is a passionate former Google employee who sings a bit of a different tune than other founders at the electronics convention, with its technology-can-solve-anything vibe. He said before people turn to engineering solutions, they need to address consumption. But, "when it comes to innovation, we believe that biology is the way to go because it's sustainable by design," he said.

As countries grapple with how to limit global warming and protect natural resources and biodiversity, more companies are growing their own commitments to building sustainable supply chains and slowing emissions. For others, like Neoplants, addressing environmental issues is their whole reason for being.

Companies and start-ups at CES touched on a broad range of those efforts. Austin-based Pivet showcased biodegradable phone cases. Electric watercraft company Candela unveiled a 28-foot electric speedboat. Ukrainian start-up Melt Water Club presented its water purification method that uses freezing.

The Department of Energy even had a booth  a first, said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Granholm said she is excited about a range of technologies at CES and beyond, from John Deere's newest electronic farm equipment, to battery storage using alternative materials such as sodium salt, both of which she said the Department of Energy helped fund.

Granholm also spoke about expanding the use of clean energy, including some forms of hydrogen, fusion and geothermal energy, highlighting the latter as an opportunity for the oil and gas industry.

"If they've used fracking to be able to get to oil and gas, they could be using that same technology to be able to extract the heat beneath our feet," she said.

It could be a while before the oil and gas industry walks away from extracting fossil fuels. In the meantime, more companies are taking emissions reductions seriously.

The first step to reducing emissions is having a full understanding of them, said GreenSwapp founder Ajay Varadharajan. The Dutch company intends to help online grocers and food delivery services understand their carbon footprint, including those in their supply chain or "Scope 3"  often the toughest to track.

Varadharajan wrote an algorithm that pulls information about various edible products from published research papers, which allows him to assign a carbon footprint to every food's barcode. The algorithm then fine tunes that number with information about a product's farming techniques and packaging.

Using GreenSwapp's app, CES attendees could scan the barcode of various milk containers on display to instantly compare their carbon footprint. The company claims this works on any food item with a barcode.

The information is helpful for conscious consumers, but Varadharajan says the real impact happens when food companies use it to track their emissions.

Some companies may want to share the information with customers, but he expects many to use it internally, preparing for possible regulations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to soon require publicly traded U.S. companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions. The largest ones may need to disclose Scope 3 emissions related to their supply chain.

Once finalized, the U.S. would join a growing number of countries including the U.K. and Japan that require large companies to disclose this information. The European Union is finalizing reporting standards.

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company didn't have a booth this year, but it did demo new tires on vehicles plastered in blue and yellow that rolled around Las Vegas.

The company has the largest market share for replacement consumer tires in the U.S. It said its new demo tire contains 90% sustainable materials, and has improved rolling efficiency, which helps people save energy, even when the tires are on electric vehicles.

Goodyear didn't specify how much carbon is reduced in the new tire manufacturing process, or how much energy is saved through rolling efficiency.

"It's very dependent on the type of vehicle and the type of tire being used," said CEO Rich Kramer.

There's still some room for improvement in the sourcing of Goodyear's rubber, said Sean Nyquist of Forest Stewardship Council, which works to certify sustainable rubber.
WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden said Tuesday he was "surprised" when informed that his attorneys found government records at his former office space in Washington.

He was asked about the issue after the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee requested that the U.S. intelligence conduct a "damage assessment" of potentially classified documents.

Speaking to reporters in Mexico City, Biden said his attorneys "did what they should have done" when they immediately called the National Archives about the discovery at the offices of the Penn Biden Center. He kept an office there after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until shortly before he launched his presidential campaign in 2019.

The White House confirmed that the Department of Justice was reviewing "a small number of documents with classified markings" found at the office.

"I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there are any government records that were taken there to that office," Biden said in his first comments since news of the Nov. 2 document discovery emerged Monday.

He added that "I don't know what's in the documents" and that his lawyers had suggested he not ask.

Earlier Tuesday, Rep. Mike Turner sent the request to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, saying that Biden's retention of the documents put him in "potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act."

The revelation that Biden potentially mishandled classified or presidential records could prove to be a political headache for the president, who called former President Donald Trump's decision to keep hundreds of such records at his private club in Florida "irresponsible. "

"Those entrusted with access to classified information have a duty and an obligation to protect it," said Turner in a letter to Haines. "This issue demands a full and thorough review."

On Tuesday, Rep. James Comer, the new GOP chairman of the House Oversight Committee, sent the White House Counsel's office a letter requesting copies of the documents found at the Biden office, communications about the discovery, and a list of those who may have had access to the office where they were found. The White House didn't immediately respond to the request.

Haines agreed in September to conduct a "risk assessment" rather than a "damage assessment" of the Trump case.

There are significant differences between the Trump and Biden situations, including the gravity of an ongoing grand jury investigation into the Mar-a-Lago matter. The intelligence risk assessment into the Trump documents is to examine the seized records for classification as well as "the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents."

Sen. Mark Warner, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for a briefing on the documents.

"Our system of classification exists in order to protect our most important national security secrets, and we expect to be briefed on what happened both at Mar-a-Lago and at the Biden office as part of our constitutional oversight obligations," he said. "From what we know so far, the latter is about finding documents with markings, and turning them over, which is certainly different from a months-long effort to retain material actively being sought by the government. But again, that's why we need to be briefed."

Special counsel to the president Richard Sauber said Monday that after Biden's attorneys found the records, they notified the National Archives and Records Administration  which took custody of the documents the next day.

"Since that discovery, the President's personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives," Sauber said.

A person who is familiar with the matter Attorney General Merrick Garland asked U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch to review the matter after the Archives referred the issue to the department. Lausch is one of the few U.S. attorneys to be held over from Trump's administration.

Trump weighed in Monday on his social media site, asking, "When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?"

Republicans just took control of the House of Representatives and promised to launch widespread investigations of Biden's administration.

The revelation also could complicate the Justice Department's consideration of whether to bring charges against Trump, who is trying to win back the White House in 2024 and has repeatedly claimed the department's inquiry into of his own conduct amounted to "corruption."

The National Archives did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Spokespeople for Garland and Lausch declined to comment.

Comer also sent a letter to the National Archives requesting records and correspondence relating to discovery of the Biden documents, asserting that "NARA's inconsistent treatment of recovering classified records held by former President Trump and President Biden raises questions about political bias at the agency."
If you go: Dillinger Days

A fire that broke out at Hotel Congress in 1934 led to the capture of the infamous Dillinger gang.

Each year, the hotel puts on Dillinger Days with reenactments of the capture, vintage cars and live music.

When: 10 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 15. There will also be a Dillinger Speakeasy at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14.

Where: Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St.

Cost: Dillinger Days are free to attend; the speakeasy is $15.

Visit the event page for more information.
Tulsa-based ONEOK announced Monday that it has reached a nearly $1 billion agreement with insurers to settle all claims for physical damage and business interruption related to a July 9 fire at a company-owned facility near Medford.

Under the settlement terms, ONEOK agreed to resolve its claim for total insurance payments of $930 million, including $100 million received to date. The outstanding settlement payment must be paid by the insurers within 45 days.

The proceeds will serve as settlement for property damage and as a payment in lieu of future business interruption insurance claims.

Residents near the town of Medford, in northwestern Oklahoma, were asked to evacuate in the aftermath of the summer incident. No injuries were reported in the explosion, which occurred at a natural gas liquids fractionation facility about 135 miles northwest of Tulsa.

We are pleased to have come to a successful agreement with our insurance carriers that was the result of a collaborative process, Pierce H. Norton II, ONEOK president and CEO, said in a statement. This agreement provides us the certainty of insurance recovery, and shortens the construction period to restore the most efficient fractionation capacity to our integrated system to meet expected growth in NGL supply for petrochemical and export demand.

ONEOK will continue to operate NGL pipeline assets in Medford along with existing offices for regional operations. In addition, ONEOK is preserving assets for future potential NGL facilities that could be constructed in Medford to enhance its NGL business as the market evolves.

We are cooperating with government agencies, as applicable, and we continue our efforts to determine the cause of the event, Brad Borror, ONEOK communications manager, wrote in an email.

When the insurance proceeds are received, the company expects to apply cash from the settlement payment to the balance of any insurance receivables outstanding as of Dec. 31 and record a gain for the remaining settlement proceeds in the first quarter of 2023.

With the resolution of the insurance claim, ONEOK also is announcing plans to build a new, roughly $550 million NGL fractionator at its Mont Belvieu, Texas, facility.

Upon completion, the new, 125,000-barrel per day fractionator, MB-6, will increase the companys total fractionation capacity in Mont Belvieu to roughly 700,000 bpd and better align ONEOKs fractionation capacity with NGL market demand on the Gulf Coast.

Additionally, the MB-6 fractionator will produce ethane instead of an ethane/propane mix previously produced at the Medford facility. Construction of MB-6 is expected to be completed in about 24 months.

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An Oklahoma inmate will spend more time in prison after he pleaded guilty Monday in Tulsa federal court to drug conspiracy as part of a scheme to use contraband cellphones to run an illegal gun and meth operation while behind bars.

Richard Dale Deeter Jr., 45, will serve 16 years in federal prison after he completes his state prison sentence, under the terms of the agreement with prosecutors, which still requires judicial approval.

Prosecutors charged Deeter, a member of the Universal Aryan Brotherhood, and five others in April in a 43-count indictment that alleged their participation in a drug conspiracy and other crimes since at least January 2021.

The indictment alleged that Deeter used cellphones to traffic drugs and firearms while he was serving time for a 2017 drug-trafficking conviction. Deeter has about three years left on a 12-year-term for drug trafficking, his attorney told the court Monday.

Prosecutors alleged that Deeter used cellular telephones to direct the purchase and pickup of bulk quantities of methamphetamine from Oklahoma City for redistribution in the Tulsa area and northeastern Oklahoma. Some of the guns, cash and meth were kept in a residence in the 1800 block of North Atlanta Place, according to the indictment.

The indictment also alleged that Deeter would use illegal cellphones while in prison to communicate with co-conspirators on the outside to sell drugs and guns and make other demands.

Prosecutors allege that in one instance Deeter instructed an unnamed individual to steal a car to satisfy the persons drug debt.

The car owner, Michael Johnson, 41, was found fatally shot outside his home Jan. 5, 2022, after returning from a casino, according to Tulsa World archives.

Carl Allen Couch Jr. faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with Johnsons death.

Deeter is the last defendant to plead guilty in the conspiracy case.

Others named in the indictment who have already entered pleas and await sentencing are Donald B. Pearson, 37; Jonna Elise Steele, 37; Johnny Wesley Sparks, 35; Izabella Marie Boling, 26; and Nicole Cox, 27.

Boling, of Broken Arrow, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. The agreement with prosecutors, which still requires judicial approval, calls for Boling to serve a prison term of six years.

The charge carried a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison upon conviction.

Pearson, of Sand Springs, pleaded guilty Wednesday to possession of at least 500 grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute in exchange for a stipulated prison term ranging from 10 to 15 years in prison.

Sparks, of Tulsa, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing nearly 2,400 grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Sparks faces a 10-year-prison term, the mandatory minimum sentence, under the terms of an agreement with prosecutors.

Steele, also of Tulsa, pleaded guilty to one count of using a messaging application to facilitate a drug transaction. Steele faces up to four years in prison at sentencing.

Cox, of Mountain Home, Arkansas, pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy in a plea deal that calls for her to serve a prison term ranging from 10 to 15 years in prison.

A judge will decide at Deeters formal sentencing whether to accept his plea agreement.

Featured video: Memorable Tulsa World criminal justice stories of 2022

Staff Writer Curtis Killmans most memorable stories of 2022 Left out of the labor force: Oklahoma working on obstacles to employment Feds decline more than 5,800 criminal cases since McGirt ruling Number of poor-condition rural bridges drags down Oklahoma's ranking overall Teen's case goes dark in federal court system after crash that killed two in east Tulsa Bizarre dog killing exposes limits to cross-deputization agreements in wake of McGirt ruling Check out our latest digital-only offer and subscribe now
Its official: come Jan. 23, the Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education will have a vacant seat.

By a 5-1 count with one abstention, the board formally accepted the resignation of District 2 representative Judith Barba Perez, effective Jan. 23, at Monday nights meeting.

Citing an upcoming move out of state, Barba Perez announced her resignation plans on Friday. The first first-generation immigrant to serve on the board, Barba Perez was elected in February 2021.

I hope that another strong advocate will step up to serve in my place  and show first-generation immigrants that they need to be here, Barba Perez said. That voice needs to be here. It doesnt matter how much English you speak  you bring a strong voice to this table.

Barba Perez abstained from the vote to accept her own resignation. The lone no vote came from Jerry Griffin, who attempted to request that Barba Perezs resignation take effect immediately. That request was denied by the boards legal counsel.

Under state law, the board has up to 60 days to appoint her successor until the 2024 election cycle or, failing that, to call for a special election to fill the remaining two years on her term.

A motion from Griffin not to appoint anyone, run out the 60-day clock and have a special election died due to lack of a second.

We have to at least make an effort to appoint someone to the seat, board President Stacey Woolley said in response to the motion.

With the acceptance of Barba Perezs resignation, applications for the vacant seat were posted in both English and Spanish on Monday night on TPS website. Paper copies will be available at the districts Education Service Center and at all campuses within District 2 starting Tuesday, with a submission deadline of 5 p.m. Jan. 20.

The board will be using the district boundaries that were approved in December. Therefore, campuses that will have applications available are Emerson, Kendall-Whittier, McKinley, Mitchell, Owen and Sequoyah elementary schools; Unity Learning Academy; Carver Middle School; Booker T. Washington High School; and Will Rogers College Middle and High School.

Candidates will have the opportunity to speak at the boards regularly scheduled Jan. 23 meeting. Dates for candidate interviews have not yet been determined but would be after that Jan. 23 meeting.

When asked by other board members Monday night, Woolley confirmed that with the interviews slated for after her resignation takes effect, Barba Perez will not have a vote in determining her successor.

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OKLAHOMA CITY  A death-row inmate and his spiritual adviser have sued the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for refusing to allow the minister into the execution chamber.

The suit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Creek County killer Scott Eizember and his spiritual adviser, Jeffrey K. Hood, are the plaintiffs.

Steven Harpe, Oklahoma Department of Corrections director; Jim Farris, Oklahoma State Penitentiary warden; and Justin Farris, ODOC chief of operations, are named defendants.

Eizember is set to die for the 2003 beating death of A.J. Cantrell in Depew. He also was sentenced to 150 years for the slaying of Patsy Cantrell, A.J.s wife.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 last month to deny recommending clemency for Eizember, who is to be executed Thursday by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

Gregory W. Gardner, a Colorado attorney representing Eizember, said an opinion by the U.S. Supreme Court allows a spiritual adviser not only to be present in the chamber during the execution but also to touch the offender and to pray out loud.

Hood said Eizember was told last week by prison officials that his request to have Hood in the chamber with him had been denied.

Hood said prison officials deemed him to be an activist, but he said the only reason he could be denied is if he were deemed to be a security threat.

I have a long history of activism and social advocacy, Hood said. Well, according to the standard the DOC has set and Director Harpe, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would not be allowed in the (execution) chamber in Oklahoma.

Hood was arrested for civil disobedience in Huntsville, Texas, in 2016 after trying to cross a police line outside the prison during an execution, the Dallas Morning News reported.

He said that for months he has been able to visit and interact with inmates on death row. He said he signed a document saying he would follow the agencys rules.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections is tasked with professionally carrying out the orders of the court in accordance with state statute, ensuring the dignity of all involved, said Josh Ward, a DOC spokesman. Out of respect for the families of victims, ODOC will not allow the outbursts of activists to interfere, regardless of that activists declared role in this process.

Ward said Hood has been arrested for similar outbursts in other states, demonstrating a blatant disregard for the experiences of victims families and the solemnity of the process. He cited DOC policy in offering Eizember access in the time leading up to his execution to Hood, who would be invited to witness the execution via a closed-circuit video feed.

Hood, who lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, said he has been arrested three times in his life for protesting.

They are making this sound like I have been convicted of murders, he said, adding that they were peaceful protests by a national activist.

The suit seeks a declaration that Hood must be allowed to participate or for the issuance of an injunction prohibiting the execution until he is allowed in.

Eizember was subject to one of the largest manhunts in Oklahoma history following the slayings. He was apprehended after kidnapping another couple and beating them.

He was pursing his ex-girlfriend, Kathy Biggs, who now goes by Smith. Biggs had a protective order against Eizember at the time.

He shot Biggs son and beat her mother, both of whom survived.

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Vietnam's trade surplus with the United States widened to $94.9 billion last year, the highest level on record, led by shipments of items such as garments, shoes, smartphones, electronics and wooden furniture, customs data showed. The Southeast Asian country has benefited from around 15 free trade agreements helping boost its export-driven economy, which grew 8% last year. Total exports in 2022 rose 10.6% to $371.85 billion. However, economists warn Vietnam is facing headwinds, with weakening global demand already starting to impact its shipments in December, when exports fell 14% from a year earlier. Meanwhile, a trade deficit with China, which is the largest supplier of materials and equipment to Vietnam's labour-intensive manufacturing sector, widened to a record $60.2 billion in 2022 from $54.0 billion a year earlier, according to Vietnam's customs data released on Monday. Vietnam's imports from China last year rose 6.6% to $117.87 billion, led by products such as machinery, electronics, fabrics, smartphones and components, the data showed. Exports to the United States - Vietnam's largest export market - rose 13.6% to $109.39 billion last year, with the trade surplus climbing from $81.0 billion in 2021.

Vietnam's trade surplus with the United States widened to $94.9 billion last year, the highest level on record, led by shipments of items such as garments, shoes, smartphones, electronics and wooden furniture, customs data showed.

The Southeast Asian country has benefited from around 15 free trade agreements helping boost its export-driven economy, which grew 8% last year. Total exports in 2022 rose 10.6% to $371.85 billion.

However, economists warn Vietnam is facing headwinds, with weakening global demand already starting to impact its shipments in December, when exports fell 14% from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, a trade deficit with China, which is the largest supplier of materials and equipment to Vietnam's labour-intensive manufacturing sector, widened to a record $60.2 billion in 2022 from $54.0 billion a year earlier, according to Vietnam's customs data released on Monday.

Vietnam's imports from China last year rose 6.6% to $117.87 billion, led by products such as machinery, electronics, fabrics, smartphones and components, the data showed.

Exports to the United States - Vietnam's largest export market - rose 13.6% to $109.39 billion last year, with the trade surplus climbing from $81.0 billion in 2021.
Britain's attempt to become the first European nation to launch satellites into space ended in bitter disappointment early on Tuesday when Virgin Orbit said its rocket had suffered an anomaly that prevented it from reaching orbit. The "horizontal launch" mission had left from the coastal town of Newquay in southwest England, with Virgin's LauncherOne rocket carried under the wing of a modified Boeing 747 called "Cosmic Girl", and later released over the Atlantic Ocean. "We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit," the company said. "We are evaluating the information." The failure deals a further blow to European space ambitions after an Italian-built Vega-C rocket mission failed after lift-off from French Guiana in late December. The rockets have since been grounded. Technicians work on Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, attached to the wing of Cosmic Girl, a Boeing 747-400 aircraft, ahead of UK's First launch, at Spaceport Cornwall at Newquay Airport in Newquay, Britain, January 8, 2023. Photo: Reuters Europe has suffered a series of setbacks in the past year, with its key Ariane 6 launcher delayed, access to Russian Soyuz rockets blocked by the Ukraine war, Vega grounded and now a showcase launch for the burgeoning small launcher industry abandoned. Virgin Orbit had initially said on Twitter that LauncherOne had reached earth orbit, a tweet it later deleted. "Over the coming days there will be an investigation by the government and various bodies, including Virgin Orbit," Matt Archer, Commercial Space Director at the UK Space Agency said. A replica model of Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket sits in a media area ahead of UK's First launch at Newquay Airport in Newquay, Britain, January 8, 2023. Photo: Reuters Virgin Orbit, part-owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, had planned to deploy nine small satellites into lower Earth orbit (LEO) in its first mission outside its United States base. The mission had been heralded as a historic first for Cornwall, Britain and Europe, and thousands of enthusiasts watching from beside the runway cheered when "Cosmic Girl" took off and when they were told the rocket had been deployed. The crowd quickly and quietly dispersed following the announcement of failure. People watch Britain's first satellite launch on a screen, at Cornwall Airport Newquay, in Cornwall, Britain January 9, 2023. Photo: Reuters Mission failure A mission failure would be the second in Virgin Orbit's history since its first launch in 2020. The company has had four successful missions. Archer, at the UK Space Agency, said the a first stage burn had taken the rocket into space but the second stage had a "technical anomaly and didn't reach the required orbit". A graphic display on an official video feed showed the mission at second-engine cut-off, three steps short of payload deployment about two hours after take-off. Technicians work on Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, attached to the wing of Cosmic Girl, a Boeing 747-400 aircraft, ahead of UK's First launch, at Spaceport Cornwall at Newquay Airport in Newquay, Britain, January 8, 2023. Photo: Reuters The war in Ukraine has highlighted the importance for tactical military purposes of smaller satellites, like those being launched from Newquay, which can get into low orbit at much shorter notice than bigger ones. It was not immediately clear how the failure, which will have to be investigated, would affect the timing or location of future missions. Virgin Orbit Chief Executive Dan Hart told reporters on Sunday that the company hoped to return to Newquay before the end of 2023. Britain says it is the leading non-U.S. manufacturer of satellites, with 47,000 people employed in its space industry, and has called for the development of multiple potential microlaunch sites including two vertical launchpads in Scotland. CEO of Virgin Orbit Dan Hart, Deputy CEO of UK Space Agency Ian Annett and Head of Spaceport Cornwall Melissa Thorpe take part in a news conference at Newquay Airport, ahead of UK's First launch of Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, in Newquay, Britain, January 8, 2023. Photo: Reuters The UK Space Agency had described the Cornish mission as a moment of national pride for Britain's growing space industry while Britain's minister for science, George Freeman, told Reuters at the spaceport that it was a "historic moment". "Lots and lots of things have been achieved and yet the milestone is obviously disappointing," Archer said. "But we will continue to press on and we will get there in the end."

Britain's attempt to become the first European nation to launch satellites into space ended in bitter disappointment early on Tuesday when Virgin Orbit said its rocket had suffered an anomaly that prevented it from reaching orbit.

The "horizontal launch" mission had left from the coastal town of Newquay in southwest England, with Virgin's LauncherOne rocket carried under the wing of a modified Boeing 747 called "Cosmic Girl", and later released over the Atlantic Ocean.

"We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit," the company said. "We are evaluating the information."

The failure deals a further blow to European space ambitions after an Italian-built Vega-C rocket mission failed after lift-off from French Guiana in late December.

The rockets have since been grounded.

Technicians work on Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, attached to the wing of Cosmic Girl, a Boeing 747-400 aircraft, ahead of UK's First launch, at Spaceport Cornwall at Newquay Airport in Newquay, Britain, January 8, 2023. Photo: Reuters

Europe has suffered a series of setbacks in the past year, with its key Ariane 6 launcher delayed, access to Russian Soyuz rockets blocked by the Ukraine war, Vega grounded and now a showcase launch for the burgeoning small launcher industry abandoned.

Virgin Orbit had initially said on Twitter that LauncherOne had reached earth orbit, a tweet it later deleted.

"Over the coming days there will be an investigation by the government and various bodies, including Virgin Orbit," Matt Archer, Commercial Space Director at the UK Space Agency said.

A replica model of Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket sits in a media area ahead of UK's First launch at Newquay Airport in Newquay, Britain, January 8, 2023. Photo: Reuters

Virgin Orbit, part-owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, had planned to deploy nine small satellites into lower Earth orbit (LEO) in its first mission outside its United States base.

The mission had been heralded as a historic first for Cornwall, Britain and Europe, and thousands of enthusiasts watching from beside the runway cheered when "Cosmic Girl" took off and when they were told the rocket had been deployed.

The crowd quickly and quietly dispersed following the announcement of failure.

People watch Britain's first satellite launch on a screen, at Cornwall Airport Newquay, in Cornwall, Britain January 9, 2023. Photo: Reuters

Mission failure

A mission failure would be the second in Virgin Orbit's history since its first launch in 2020. The company has had four successful missions.

Archer, at the UK Space Agency, said the a first stage burn had taken the rocket into space but the second stage had a "technical anomaly and didn't reach the required orbit".

A graphic display on an official video feed showed the mission at second-engine cut-off, three steps short of payload deployment about two hours after take-off.

Technicians work on Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, attached to the wing of Cosmic Girl, a Boeing 747-400 aircraft, ahead of UK's First launch, at Spaceport Cornwall at Newquay Airport in Newquay, Britain, January 8, 2023. Photo: Reuters

The war in Ukraine has highlighted the importance for tactical military purposes of smaller satellites, like those being launched from Newquay, which can get into low orbit at much shorter notice than bigger ones.

It was not immediately clear how the failure, which will have to be investigated, would affect the timing or location of future missions. Virgin Orbit Chief Executive Dan Hart told reporters on Sunday that the company hoped to return to Newquay before the end of 2023.

Britain says it is the leading non-U.S. manufacturer of satellites, with 47,000 people employed in its space industry, and has called for the development of multiple potential microlaunch sites including two vertical launchpads in Scotland.

CEO of Virgin Orbit Dan Hart, Deputy CEO of UK Space Agency Ian Annett and Head of Spaceport Cornwall Melissa Thorpe take part in a news conference at Newquay Airport, ahead of UK's First launch of Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, in Newquay, Britain, January 8, 2023. Photo: Reuters

The UK Space Agency had described the Cornish mission as a moment of national pride for Britain's growing space industry while Britain's minister for science, George Freeman, told Reuters at the spaceport that it was a "historic moment".

"Lots and lots of things have been achieved and yet the milestone is obviously disappointing," Archer said. "But we will continue to press on and we will get there in the end."
Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will pay an official visit to Laos on Wednesday and Thursday at the invitation of his Laotian counterpart Sonexay Siphandone, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday. Siphandones invitation came shortly after his election late last month. The visit will be PM Chinhs first to Laos since he took office in 2021. He will be also the first leader of a foreign country to visit Laos this year. Vietnamese PM Chinh and his Laotian counterpart Siphandone will co-chair the 45th meeting of the VietnamLaos Inter-Governmental Committee, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition, PM Chinh will meet with leaders of the Party, State, and National Assembly of Laos. He will attend a Vietnam-Laos investment cooperation conference, visit the Vietnamese Embassy in Laos, and hold meetings with Vietnamese people living in Laos. His working trip takes place amid the sustainable development of the partnership between the two countries. The two sides celebrated the 60th anniversary of their bilateral diplomatic relations and 45 years of the Viet Nam-Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in 2022. Cooperation in national defense and security remains a key pillar in their relationship, while their collaboration in economy, trade, and investment has been boosted. The two countries bilateral trade reached over US$1.4 billion in the January-October period last year. Vietnam is currently the third-largest foreign investor in Laos with 217 projects which have a total investment of some $4.7 billion. In January-September last year, Laos welcomed nearly 197,000 Vietnamese tourists, while almost 26,000 Laotian travelers visited Vietnam. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will pay an official visit to Laos on Wednesday and Thursday at the invitation of his Laotian counterpart Sonexay Siphandone, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday.

Siphandones invitation came shortly after his election late last month.

The visit will be PM Chinhs first to Laos since he took office in 2021. He will be also the first leader of a foreign country to visit Laos this year.

Vietnamese PM Chinh and his Laotian counterpart Siphandone will co-chair the 45th meeting of the VietnamLaos Inter-Governmental Committee, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In addition, PM Chinh will meet with leaders of the Party, State, and National Assembly of Laos.

He will attend a Vietnam-Laos investment cooperation conference, visit the Vietnamese Embassy in Laos, and hold meetings with Vietnamese people living in Laos.

His working trip takes place amid the sustainable development of the partnership between the two countries.

The two sides celebrated the 60th anniversary of their bilateral diplomatic relations and 45 years of the Viet Nam-Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in 2022.

Cooperation in national defense and security remains a key pillar in their relationship, while their collaboration in economy, trade, and investment has been boosted.

The two countries bilateral trade reached over US$1.4 billion in the January-October period last year.

Vietnam is currently the third-largest foreign investor in Laos with 217 projects which have a total investment of some $4.7 billion.

In January-September last year, Laos welcomed nearly 197,000 Vietnamese tourists, while almost 26,000 Laotian travelers visited Vietnam.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse hosted a banquet for diplomatic corps in Hanoi on Monday on the occasion of the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday. The event saw the attendance of senior Party and state officials of Vietnam, along with foreign ambassadors, charges daffaires, and chief representatives of international organizations in the country, and their spouses. The world experienced complicated and unpredictable changes in 2022, and countries are more aware of the importance of interdependence and joint efforts to reach global goals and uphold multilateralism, PM Chinh said in his remarks. The COVID-19 pandemic has been put under control, and countries are reopening and promoting recovery and development, he continued. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse host a banquet for diplomatic corps in Hanoi, January 9, 2022. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre Vietnams macroeconomic situation was stable in 2022, with the consumer price index (CPI) increasing 3.15 percent and the gross domestic product (GDP) expanding 8.02 percent. The economy totaled US$409 billion last year, with per capita income reaching $4,110. The international community has given Vietnam timely and meaningful support, creating favorable conditions for the Southeast Asian country to fight the pandemic, reopen, and recover its economic growth. In 2023, peace, cooperation, and development will still be the key tendency and also aspiration of each country. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and diplomats enjoy a folk music performance at the banquet in Hanoi, January 9, 2022. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre However, the path to that goal is not easy but requires efforts by each country and the whole world, and it is necessary to uphold international solidarity, tighten friendship and cooperation, and respond to global challenges in the win-win spirit. Countries should stand ready to jointly resolve global challenges and take timely policy solutions on the basis of sharing, mutual support, and mutual understanding in order to bring better life to the people. Cooperation will focus on removing barriers, boosting recovery in production, trade, tourism, services, and supply chains, promoting innovation, attracting investment, and enhancing digital transformation, green transformation, and circular economy. Palestinian Ambassador Saadi Salama, head of the diplomatic corps, speaks at the banquet in Hanoi, January 9, 2022. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre PM Chinh reaffirmed Vietnams consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, being a good friend and trustworthy partner of countries, being an active and responsible member of the international community, and actively contributing to common efforts toward a better future of the region and the world. The government chief expressed his hope that the ambassadors, charges daffaires, and chief representatives of international organizations in Vietnam will further help intensify Vietnams relations with their countries. Palestinian Ambassador Saadi Salama, who is head of the diplomatic corps, extended New Year greetings to the Party and state leaders and people of Vietnam while hailing the countrys multifaceted achievements in 2022. The diplomat expressed his belief that Vietnam, with its foreign policy of peace and constructive spirit, will have an important voice in promoting compliance with international law, the maintenance of global peace and stability, cooperation among countries, multilateralism, and the settlement of common challenges. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse hosted a banquet for diplomatic corps in Hanoi on Monday on the occasion of the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

The event saw the attendance of senior Party and state officials of Vietnam, along with foreign ambassadors, charges daffaires, and chief representatives of international organizations in the country, and their spouses.

The world experienced complicated and unpredictable changes in 2022, and countries are more aware of the importance of interdependence and joint efforts to reach global goals and uphold multilateralism, PM Chinh said in his remarks.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been put under control, and countries are reopening and promoting recovery and development, he continued.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse host a banquet for diplomatic corps in Hanoi, January 9, 2022. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre

Vietnams macroeconomic situation was stable in 2022, with the consumer price index (CPI) increasing 3.15 percent and the gross domestic product (GDP) expanding 8.02 percent.

The economy totaled US$409 billion last year, with per capita income reaching $4,110.

The international community has given Vietnam timely and meaningful support, creating favorable conditions for the Southeast Asian country to fight the pandemic, reopen, and recover its economic growth.

In 2023, peace, cooperation, and development will still be the key tendency and also aspiration of each country.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and diplomats enjoy a folk music performance at the banquet in Hanoi, January 9, 2022. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre

However, the path to that goal is not easy but requires efforts by each country and the whole world, and it is necessary to uphold international solidarity, tighten friendship and cooperation, and respond to global challenges in the win-win spirit.

Countries should stand ready to jointly resolve global challenges and take timely policy solutions on the basis of sharing, mutual support, and mutual understanding in order to bring better life to the people.

Cooperation will focus on removing barriers, boosting recovery in production, trade, tourism, services, and supply chains, promoting innovation, attracting investment, and enhancing digital transformation, green transformation, and circular economy.

Palestinian Ambassador Saadi Salama, head of the diplomatic corps, speaks at the banquet in Hanoi, January 9, 2022. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre

PM Chinh reaffirmed Vietnams consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, being a good friend and trustworthy partner of countries, being an active and responsible member of the international community, and actively contributing to common efforts toward a better future of the region and the world.

The government chief expressed his hope that the ambassadors, charges daffaires, and chief representatives of international organizations in Vietnam will further help intensify Vietnams relations with their countries.

Palestinian Ambassador Saadi Salama, who is head of the diplomatic corps, extended New Year greetings to the Party and state leaders and people of Vietnam while hailing the countrys multifaceted achievements in 2022.

The diplomat expressed his belief that Vietnam, with its foreign policy of peace and constructive spirit, will have an important voice in promoting compliance with international law, the maintenance of global peace and stability, cooperation among countries, multilateralism, and the settlement of common challenges.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport has proposed building two more bridges -- Phu My 2 and Dong Nai 2 -- to connect Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring Dong Nai Province. In a proposal sent to the municipal Peoples Committee, the department stated that apart from already planned bridges, relevant departments and agencies of the two localities suggested adding these two bridges to facilitate travel between them. As proposed, the six-lane Phu My 2 Bridge project will connect the south of Ho Chi Minh City with Nhon Trach District in Dong Nai. The bridge will run from the Dong Nai River, go along Hoang Quoc Viet Street, and connect with Nguyen Luong Bang Street and then Nguyen Huu Tho Street in District 7. Meanwhile, the Dong Nai 2 Bridge project, which was proposed to have six lanes, will link Thu Duc City, under Ho Chi Minh City, and Long Thanh District in Dong Nai. Many plans for the construction site of Dong Nai 2 Bridge were drawn up, though officials are leaning toward it starting at an intersection of Go Cong Street and a branch of Ring Road No. 3 running to Hanoi Highway in Thu Duc City. Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai Province share a river border of about 40 kilometers. The two localities had earlier planned to build five bridges, including Dong Nai Bridge, Long Thanh Bridge (part of the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway), Nhon Trach Bridge (part of the Tan Van-Nhon Trach section of Ring Road No. 3), Cat Lai Bridge in place of the Cat Lai Ferry, and Phuoc Khanh Bridge (part of the Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway). The Cat Lai Bridge project was planned to have eight lanes. However, to build such wide bridge, Nguyen Thi Dinh Street must be expanded from 60 to 77 meters wide, affecting land use on the two sides of the street. As a result, plans for the bridge have been revised so that it would have only six lanes. According to consulting units, these bridges have yet to meet the traveling demand between the two localities. Therefore, the addition of Phu My 2 and Dong Nai 2 Bridges is needed. In the middle of this month, the Peoples Committees of Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai Province will report to the Ministry of Transport on bridge projects connecting them. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport has proposed building two more bridges -- Phu My 2 and Dong Nai 2 -- to connect Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring Dong Nai Province.

In a proposal sent to the municipal Peoples Committee, the department stated that apart from already planned bridges, relevant departments and agencies of the two localities suggested adding these two bridges to facilitate travel between them.

As proposed, the six-lane Phu My 2 Bridge project will connect the south of Ho Chi Minh City with Nhon Trach District in Dong Nai.

The bridge will run from the Dong Nai River, go along Hoang Quoc Viet Street, and connect with Nguyen Luong Bang Street and then Nguyen Huu Tho Street in District 7.

Meanwhile, the Dong Nai 2 Bridge project, which was proposed to have six lanes, will link Thu Duc City, under Ho Chi Minh City, and Long Thanh District in Dong Nai.

Many plans for the construction site of Dong Nai 2 Bridge were drawn up, though officials are leaning toward it starting at an intersection of Go Cong Street and a branch of Ring Road No. 3 running to Hanoi Highway in Thu Duc City.

Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai Province share a river border of about 40 kilometers.

The two localities had earlier planned to build five bridges, including Dong Nai Bridge, Long Thanh Bridge (part of the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway), Nhon Trach Bridge (part of the Tan Van-Nhon Trach section of Ring Road No. 3), Cat Lai Bridge in place of the Cat Lai Ferry, and Phuoc Khanh Bridge (part of the Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway).

The Cat Lai Bridge project was planned to have eight lanes.

However, to build such wide bridge, Nguyen Thi Dinh Street must be expanded from 60 to 77 meters wide, affecting land use on the two sides of the street.

As a result, plans for the bridge have been revised so that it would have only six lanes.

According to consulting units, these bridges have yet to meet the traveling demand between the two localities. Therefore, the addition of Phu My 2 and Dong Nai 2 Bridges is needed.

In the middle of this month, the Peoples Committees of Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai Province will report to the Ministry of Transport on bridge projects connecting them.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Residents in Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc City under Ho Chi Minh City are concerned over the health and environmental impacts of a local canal that turned a deep shade of red on Monday afternoon. Water in the Nhum Stream Canal near National Highway 1 gradually darkened from pinkish to blood red on Monday afternoon, alongside foul smells emitting from its water. The canal sits about three kilometers away from the Saigon Hi-Tech Park. Water of the Nhum Stream canal turns red in Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc City under Ho Chi Minh City, January 9, 2023. Photo: Chau Tuan / Tuoi Tre N.V.C., a resident of Linh Trung Ward who has been living near the canal for 15 years, said it was the second time he had seen the canal turn red, the first being last year. It could be untreated wastewater released from a nearby company, C. guessed. A representative of the Peoples Committee of Linh Trung Ward said on Monday afternoon that the committee will send staff to the canal to examine the incident. Nhum Stream Canal connects to Ba Bo Canal and a drainage system flowing from neighboring Binh Duong Province, according to the representative. Water of the Nhum Stream canal turns red in Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, January 9, 2023. Photo: Chau Tuan / Tuoi Tre It is often polluted by untreated wastewater illegally discharged from factories. The situation gets worse in the evenings and during rainstorms. Authorities of Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong have collaborated to implement plans to control pollution in the canal for several years, the representative affirmed. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Residents in Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc City under Ho Chi Minh City are concerned over the health and environmental impacts of a local canal that turned a deep shade of red on Monday afternoon.

Water in the Nhum Stream Canal near National Highway 1 gradually darkened from pinkish to blood red on Monday afternoon, alongside foul smells emitting from its water.

The canal sits about three kilometers away from the Saigon Hi-Tech Park.

Water of the Nhum Stream canal turns red in Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc City under Ho Chi Minh City, January 9, 2023. Photo: Chau Tuan / Tuoi Tre

N.V.C., a resident of Linh Trung Ward who has been living near the canal for 15 years, said it was the second time he had seen the canal turn red, the first being last year.

It could be untreated wastewater released from a nearby company, C. guessed.

A representative of the Peoples Committee of Linh Trung Ward said on Monday afternoon that the committee will send staff to the canal to examine the incident.

Nhum Stream Canal connects to Ba Bo Canal and a drainage system flowing from neighboring Binh Duong Province, according to the representative.

Water of the Nhum Stream canal turns red in Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, January 9, 2023. Photo: Chau Tuan / Tuoi Tre

It is often polluted by untreated wastewater illegally discharged from factories.

The situation gets worse in the evenings and during rainstorms.

Authorities of Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong have collaborated to implement plans to control pollution in the canal for several years, the representative affirmed.

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Some 160 spring-themed paintings created by 23 artists are being displayed at the premises of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association in the southern metropolis through Thursday. Art enthusiasts can pay a visit to the associations building at 218A Pasteur in District 3 to attend the exihibition. The 23 authors are members of the Walk Together 5P painting club, which was founded 40 years ago. They depicted nature and landscapes across Vietnam in spring in realism and abstract painting styles with many different materials such as silk, oil paints, acrylics, watercolors, and pastels. Painter Tran Thuy Linh looks at one of her spring-themed paintings, which are exhibited at the premises of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, January 8, 2023. Photo: Hoai Phuong / Tuoi Tre Painter Nguyen Thi Tam talks with visitors about her spring-themed paintings, which are on display at the premises of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, January 8, 2023. Photo: Hoai Phuong / Tuoi Tre A painting by artist Nguyen Nhu Khoi. Photo: Hoai Phuong / Tuoi Tre A painting by artist Nguyen Thi Tam. Photo: Hoai Phuong / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Some 160 spring-themed paintings created by 23 artists are being displayed at the premises of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association in the southern metropolis through Thursday.

Art enthusiasts can pay a visit to the associations building at 218A Pasteur in District 3 to attend the exihibition.

The 23 authors are members of the Walk Together 5P painting club, which was founded 40 years ago.

They depicted nature and landscapes across Vietnam in spring in realism and abstract painting styles with many different materials such as silk, oil paints, acrylics, watercolors, and pastels.

Painter Tran Thuy Linh looks at one of her spring-themed paintings, which are exhibited at the premises of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, January 8, 2023. Photo: Hoai Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Painter Nguyen Thi Tam talks with visitors about her spring-themed paintings, which are on display at the premises of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, January 8, 2023. Photo: Hoai Phuong / Tuoi Tre

A painting by artist Nguyen Nhu Khoi. Photo: Hoai Phuong / Tuoi Tre

A painting by artist Nguyen Thi Tam. Photo: Hoai Phuong / Tuoi Tre

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SBS has appointed Bethan Arwel-Lewis as Commissioning Editor, Factual.

Arwel-Lewis has more than 20 years of experience, most recently with Southern Pictures where she was Series Producer on Miriam Margolyes: Australia Unmasked (ABC). Among the other projects she has series produced are Old Peoples Home for 4 Year Olds, Murder in the Outback: The Falconio and Lees Mystery, Look Me in the Eye. Prior to coming to Australia, she worked with the Welsh language broadcaster S4C  a language she speaks. Her career has included a number of senior production roles working with leading production companies in Australia and the UK.

As Commissioning Editor of Factual, she will commission content as a member of SBSs Unscripted team, as SBS prepares to deliver its biggest ever locally commissioned slate.

Joseph Maxwell, Head of SBS Unscripted, said: Were so thrilled to have Bethan joining the team, bringing her extensive experience, creativity and natural flair for authentic storytelling to our unscripted offering at SBS. Having worked across such a diverse collection of distinctive and award-winning series, both here in Australia and in the UK, Bethans got a track record of stories that connect with audiences and, coupled with her passion for the work we do at SBS, will be a great asset as we continue to explore new ways to surprise and delight Australians through our original factual programming.

Arwel-Lewis added: SBS is renowned for its distinctive documentaries and factual series which have shown to have the power to provoke meaningful debate and trigger change, something I am very passionate about. Its a privilege to be able to play a role in sharing these important stories with Australians, and Im looking forward to working with this respected team as we engage audiences with programs that challenge, explore and celebrate contemporary Australia.

She commences with SBS on 16 January.
Andy Preston.

Middlesbroughs mayor has called for troublemakers in the town to be sent to Rwanda.

Independent Andy Preston said criminals are currently causing havoc in Pallister Park and Berwick Hills by assaulting innocent shop workers and smashing windows. He wants to see tougher action taken to crack down on those responsible.

The Northern Echo: Andy Preston tweet Permission for use by all LDR partners

On Saturday, January 7, in a now-deleted tweet, the mayor said he agreed with another tweeter who posted that action needed to be taken to get the countrys unruly thuggish teens under control. Mr Preston added: The only sensible thing to do with some indigenous families is to send them packingto Rwanda.

Rwanda has been in the news after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to send some asylum seekers who arrive in the UK there on a one-way ticket. The aim is to deter people from attempting to reach the UK using illegal, dangerous or unnecessary methods, however, critics have slammed the scheme as unethical.

Despite deleting the tweet, Mr Preston has now stood by his initial comments in a longer statement. The mayor added: Right now the disgusting behaviour of a small group of criminals and troublemakers is causing havoc and misery to Pallister Park and Berwick Hills.

The many decent people there feel ignored and overlooked because known troublemakers are smashing windows, throwing bricks and stones at cars and assaulting innocent shop workers and customers. The system of catching and punishing criminals seems broken.

The rights of criminals and troublemakers seem to always be prioritised over the victims and weve all had enough. Some people are now talking about taking vigilante action and, while I absolutely dont condone such action, I can understand their thinking.

All decent people want to see these criminals locked up and those who want to keep on causing suffering should be forced out to live somewhere else  I dont care where, whether its Reading, Rochester or Rwanda  Im just sick of them bringing Middlesbrough down. I want to see the government get tough and actually start locking up criminals and troublemakers.

Story continues

Britain has a history of shipping off its criminals elsewhere. Between 1788 and 1868, 162,000 convicts from Britain and Ireland were transported to Australia.

Its not the first time the mayor has demanded tougher action. Last year, he called for a significant number of kids in Middlesbrough to be tagged so the police could prove where they were when crimes occur.

He added: Whether its the tag or something else, I just dont care. I want to see an example made of some kids and some families. Its not because I love punishing people, its because it deters some of the others.
Croatia warmly welcomes Chinese tourists: tourism head

Xinhua) 08:49, January 10, 2023

Fireworks are seen during the inauguration ceremony of the Peljesac Bridge in Komarna, Croatia, July 26, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xuejun)

Although Chinese tourists were reappearing on the streets of major Croatian cities such as Zagreb and Dubrovnik, their numbers were still marginal -- compared with an annual 300,000 tourist arrivals from China before the COVID-19 pandemic.

ZAGREB, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Croatia warmly welcomes Chinese tourists, Kristjan Stanicic, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB), told Xinhua on Monday.

"We warmly welcome Chinese tourists, because they are our dear guests," Stanicic said, noting that there used to be about 300,000 Chinese tourists visiting Croatia each year before the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a huge impact on the coming of Chinese tourists.

Although Chinese tourists were reappearing on the streets of major Croatian cities such as Zagreb and Dubrovnik, their numbers were still marginal in terms of the huge potential the country had, Stanicic said.

Tourists visit Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia, on Aug. 5, 2021. (Kristina Stedul Fabac/Pixsell via Xinhua)

Stanicic noted that the number of incoming tourists were conditioned on the number of flights to Europe, including to Croatia, and there are no direct flights between Croatia and China so far.

"We hope that normal flights between China and Europe will resume soon so that there will be a large number of Chinese arrivals to Europe, including Croatia," Stanicic said, noting China's recent optimization of its COVID-19 response and gradual restoration of Chinese citizens' overseas travel.

Moreover, the CNTB Shanghai office, launched four years ago, had worked intensively on the promotion of Croatian tourism, including organizing online workshops and digital fairs, Stanicic said, adding that starting from 2023, offline activities would be held to promote Croatian tourism, one of the main pillars of the country's economy.

Passengers queue for security check at Haikou Meilan International Airport in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 7, 2023. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

The CNTB had always regarded China as its major focus of tourism development, Stanicic said, voicing hope that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Croatia could resume to the pre-pandemic levels in a year or two, said Stanicic.

"We will do everything to facilitate the arrival and stay of Chinese tourists in Croatia," he added.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
A Foreign Office minister has met with the legal team of a detained Hong Kong media mogul, Downing Street has confirmed.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, minister for Asia, met on Tuesday with Jimmy Lais representatives to discuss the dual-nationals situation.

It comes after lawyers for the jailed Hong Kong newspaper publisher asked for an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, with his team keen for Britain to step in.

Mr Lai founded the now-defunct Apple Daily in Hong Kong but was arrested in 2020 during a crackdown on the citys pro-democracy movement.

China has cracked down on political freedoms in Hong Kong (Yui Mok/PA)

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: Weve been clear the Hong Kong authorities must end their targeting of pro-democracy voices, including Jimmy Lai.

The British Government will always support rights and freedoms of the rule of law  it is the right and moral thing to do.

The Foreign Office has provided support to Jimmy Lai for some time and minister for Asia, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, has met his legal team today.

Asked whether further action could be taken, the No 10 official added: We think that is the right approach at this stage. Obviously, we will keep it under review.

Mr Lai, who is a Hong Kong and British citizen, is fighting collusion charges under a Beijing-imposed national security law.

The 75-year-old faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Jimmy Lais lawyers have requested a meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Oli Scarff/PA)

Caoilfhionn Gallagher, leader of the team, said Mr Lais son was in London this week to call on British officials to protect his father.

His trial  originally scheduled to begin last month  was postponed to September after the Hong Kong leader asked Beijing to make a ruling that could effectively block Mr Lai from hiring a veteran British lawyer, Timothy Owen, to represent him.

A critic of the Chinese Communist Party, Mr Lai is accused of conspiring with others to call for an imposition of sanctions or blockade, or engage in hostile activities against Hong Kong or China.

He also faces a charge of collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security, and a separate sedition charge under a colonial-era law that is increasingly used to crush dissent.

Hong Kong was handed over from the UK to China in 1997 with a promise by Beijing to keep Western-style liberties under a one country, two systems framework.

But crackdowns in recent years by China on political freedoms have spurred criticisms from Western governments, including the UKs.
Abby Zwerner (Facebook)

A six-year-old Virginia boy shot his teacher while she was mid-class and had moved to confiscate the handgun, it has been reported.

There was no fight, no physical struggle and no warning before Abby Zwerner was shot in the school in Newport News, US police said on Monday.

A Richneck Elementary School parent told reporters that the 25-year-old teacher was fired at as she tried to confiscate the weapon from the unnamed boy.

Brittaney Gregory said her son was in the same class and that Ms Zwerner was his favourite teacher.

Police vehicles parked outside Richneck Elementary School (via REUTERS)

She was going to confiscate it, and thats when he shot, she told the Washington Post.

Ms Zwerner was shot in the abdomen through her hand but is said to be in an improving condition in hospital after it was originally said she was in a life threatening state.

Ms Gregory said she is a sweet lady and very attentive.

Newport News police Chief Steve Drew said that the 9mm handgun used by the boy was legally purchased by his mother and was in the family's home.

He had previously said that the shooting was not accidental but had declined to elaborate.

What we know today is that she was providing instruction. He displayed a firearm, he pointed it and he fired one round," Mr Drew said.

Mr Drew hailed Ms Zwerner as a hero for quickly hustling her students out of the classroom after she was shot. He said surveillance video shows she was the last person to leave her classroom.

"She made a right turn and started down the hallway, and then she stopped. ... She turned around and made sure every one of those students was safe," Mr Drew said.

Mr Drew said a school employee rushed into the classroom and physically restrained the boy after hearing the gunshot. He said the boy became "a little combative" and struck the employee. Police officers arrived and escorted him out of the building and into a police car.

The boy has been held at a medical facility since an emergency custody order and temporary detention order were issued Friday, Mr Drew said. He said it will be up to a judge to determine what the next steps are for the boy. He also said the boy's mother has been interviewed by police, but it is unclear whether she could potentially face any charges.

Classes at Richneck Elementary School were cancelled on Monday and Tuesday.
HA NOI  Viet Nam needs to gear up to welcome Chinese tourists, focusing on improving service quality and strengthening promotion activities, according to tourism experts at a seminar held on Monday in Quang Ninh Province.

The seminar, named Measures to attract Chinese tourists to Viet Nam, was held by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the Vietnam Tourism Association and Quang Ninhs Provinces Peoples Committee.

Chairman of the Viet Nam Tourism Association Vu The Binh said the first thing the tourism sector should do is implement measures to attract Chinese tourists as well as improve the quality of services to create a good impression on them, which helps to develop this important market in a sustainable way.

President of the Viet Nam Travel Association's Union Cao Tri Dung said it is important to resume regular flights and charter flights to attract tourists to localities such as a Nang, Khanh Hoa and Phu Quoc.

He suggested that Viet Nam strengthen the promotion of destinations in localities which have direct flights from China or are close to China in proximity.

Viet Nams travel companies should also offer a variety of tourism products at different prices to different market segments.

Service providers, accommodation, restaurants and shopping malls need to get ready in terms of staff and facilities to welcome tourists, ensuring that they compete with each other with quality of service and avoid selling services or products at prices lower than those in the market.

There needs to be smooth cooperation from relevant ministries and agencies with localities, airlines and travel companies in promoting destinations.

The image and content promoted must be impressive and show the outstanding features of Viet Nam as a safe, hospitable and exciting destination for all Chinese tourists as well as change the position of Viet Nam as a cheap destination.

Relevant agencies and companies should also promote their activities on social platforms that are popular in China including Weibo, Tik Tok, WeChat, QQ and Baidu, Dung said.

Given the risk of COVID-19 spreading amid the emergence of a new variant, there should be a roadmap to welcome tourists while ensuring their safety and that of local people.

Despite achievements, there are issues and limitations in serving Chinese tourists, which include zero ong tours, tour guides who are foreign, fraud in sales of goods and souvenirs, among others.

China is Viet Nams largest tourism market with 5.8 million visitors to the country in 2019, accounting for nearly one-third of international arrivals.

Meanwhile, about 4.5 million Vietnamese people also travel to China a year, making this the leading outbound destination of locals.

In 2022, Viet Nam received only 3.5 million international visitors, accounting for only 70 per cent of the target of 5 million. It served 101 million domestic visitors, up 19 per cent from 2019, the pre-pandemic year. VNS
HA NOI  The upcoming official visit to Laos by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will create momentum for Viet Nam and its neighbour to strengthen their relations, a diplomat has said.

PM Chinh will pay an official visit to Laos and co-chair the 45th meeting of the Viet Nam-Laos Inter-governmental Committee from January 11-12.

The visit will be made at the invitation of Lao PM Sonexay Siphandone, according to an announcement from the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, the visit aims to materialise foreign policies adopted at the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), focusing on government cooperation.

This is the first official visit to Laos by Chinh in his capacity as Prime Minister of Viet Nam, also the first visit to Laos by a foreign high-ranking leader in 2023, he stressed.

It demonstrates the importance and the highest priority the Vietnamese Party and State give to consolidating and enhancing the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

During the visit, PM Chinh and his Lao counterpart are expected to discuss national and international issues of mutual concern, and seek solutions to challenges in the new situation, thus contributing to peace, security, stability and development in the region and the world at large.

They will discuss measures, including new, breakthrough ones, to consolidate the relations, giving a boost to the comprehensive cooperation this year.

Regarding the 45th meeting of the Viet Nam-Laos Inter-governmental Committee, to be co-chaired by the PMs, Hung said the two sides would look into major orientations, policies and measures to foster the collaboration in a more practical and effective manner.

They were expected to sign many important documents, he said, adding that the two PMs were also scheduled to wrap up the Viet Nam-Laos Friendship and Solidarity Year 2022.

The ambassador stressed that thanks to the instructions of the two countries Party and State leaders, and efforts by their ministries, agencies, businesses and people, the relationship had been deepened, bringing great, practical interests to both nations.

Apart from politics, national defence and security and external affairs, the leaders had worked to enhance bilateral economic ties by exchanging experience in policy making, facilitating the operations of businesses and connecting the two economies, especially in transport infrastructure.

Hung held that Viet Nam and Laos had substantial opportunities to step up international integration, bilateral collaboration as well as cooperation with other countries, for peace, security, stability and development.

The diplomat expressed his belief that with the strong determination and great efforts of the two countries Parties, Governments and people, the relationship would be preserved and consolidated forever. VNS
HA NOI  Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong inh Hue expressed his hope that Viet Nam and Australia will expand cooperation in energy transition during his reception for the Treasurer of Australias Victoria state, Tim Pallas, in Ha Noi on Monday.

Briefing the guest on Viet Nams economic growth in 2022, which exceeded 8 per cent, the top legislator stressed that the country was working to consolidate traditional markets, while seeking new ones.

He used this occasion to thank Australia for its support of Viet Nam in ensuring energy security, and affirmed that Viet Nam had maintained macro-economic stability.

Hue suggested Victoria enhance its cooperation with HCM City in finance and digital transformation, explaining that policies are expected to be adopted to turn the Vietnamese southern metropolis into an international financial centre.

He also called on the Australian state to help HCM City devise the policies and implement them as they go through the legislature.

The two sides should exchange delegations more regularly, especially in 2023, which marks the 50th anniversary of Viet Nam-Australia diplomatic ties, the host leader said.

For his part, Pallas, who is also Victorias Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Trade and Investment, noted his admiration for Viet Nams economy, which has increased 10-fold since 2000 despite a range of difficulties.

The minister said he hoped that his visit would help boost cooperation between Victoria and Viet Nam and HCM City in particular in the fields of energy and agriculture, suggesting the two sides expand their collaboration in education-training, and digital transformation.

Pallas told Hue that the proposal on the resumption of the agriculture visa programme that targets Vietnamese farmers, made during the Vietnamese leaders official visit to Australia in late 2022, was being implemented.

Victoria authorities always encouraged the federal government to restore the programme, he affirmed.  VNS
This is the second year in a row that Casper Vietnam has been honoured at the Tech Awards, an annual award for products and brands in Vietnam organised by VnExpress.

With outstanding power-saving capabilities and value-added utilities for users, Casper air conditioners have become increasingly popular among Vietnamese families. According to GfK Market Data, the company has been one of the three best-selling air conditioner brands in Vietnam for four consecutive years. The recognition by Tech Awards reinforces its strong position in both Vietnams electronics and refrigeration industry and the minds of consumers.

Casper air conditioners are equipped with outstanding technologies such as true inverter power-saving technology, an iFeel body temperature sensor, turbo-fast cooling capability within 30 seconds, and a gold-plated copper radiator. They come with a warranty policy to ensure peace of mind for the buyer.

Casper inverter air conditioners are developed with smart energy-saving technology called i-Saving. When the ambient temperature reaches the set value, the compressor will automatically reduce its operating frequency to the lowest level, cutting power consumption to a minimum.

The Laboratory for Testing Energy Efficiency under the Institute of Energy and Mining Mechanical Engineering announced the test results of the Casper air conditioners on March 24. During an operation time of 8 hours, the power consumption was measured at 1.8 kilowatt hours.

Based on Electricity of Vietnam's prices, the cost of electricity was calculated according to level 2, equivalent to VND3,370 ($0.14) including 8 per cent VAT. The findings indicate the outstanding energy-saving capability of Casper air conditioners.

The representative of Casper Vietnam said that the company is honoured to receive the award.

"This is recognition from consumers of the companys orientation to meet the energy-saving needs of people in Vietnam and around the world. We will continue to be consistent with this orientation and constantly strive to bring more value to more Vietnamese families," said the representative.

During the Tech Awards 2022, Caspers showroom also attracted the attention of representatives from ministries and departments, the press, and consumers. The showroom displayed a new premium sub-brand called LaCasper. In the middle of the VIP Brand area, two high-end LaCasper product lines were showcased to the public.

The first was a new generation of OLED TVs that boasts the most advanced technology with a thin design of less than 0.5 cm. It also has a hands-free voice control feature, which eliminates the need for users to adjust the TV or hold the remote control. Secondly, LaCasper's high-end air conditioner, which is equipped with the Fresh-Air supply feature, was introduced for the first time in Vietnam.

Casper also won Most Popular Smart TV and Favorite Front Loading Washing Machine at the Tech Awards 2021.

Casper Vietnam presents smart TVs to Ha Giang students Casper Vietnam has donated 12 55-inch Smart TVs to students in Ha Giang's Meo Vac district with a view to facilitating their English learning.

Air conditioner vendors battle it out over Vietnam Japanese Daikin Industries will invest $93.6 million to build an air conditioner manufacturing plant in Vietnam, as part of its plans to capitalise on the Southeast Asian nation's potential for rapid growth, according to newswire Nikkei.com.
The northern region is expected to celebrate the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival in cold weather. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi  The northern region is expected to celebrate the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival in cold weather, according to the National Hydrometeorological Forecasting Centre.

The spell is forecast to linger through the country's longest annual festival, this year lasting from 20-26, while the central and south-central regions will see rains.

Between January 15-18, the northern region will be cloudy and experience light rains. Rains are forecast during the period, and will will continue in the central region, while the Central Highlands and the southern region will see less rains, the centre said.

It said there have been no signs of storms or tropical depressions in the Eat Sea so far.

A memorable escape at InterContinental Phu Quoc InterContinental Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort will be a destination that holds you tight from the warmest moments beside your dearest ones to the sincerity of its sumptuous Lunar New Year dining and savoury delights as you sip on aromatic tea or Vietnamese drip coffee. Usher in the Lunar New Year with bountiful culinary events designed for multi-generational sharing and fun daily activities for the entire family.
Bilateral trade between Hong Kong and Vietnam grew significantly at an average annual growth rate of 11.8 per cent from 2017 to 2021. Vietnam has become Hong Kong's seventh-largest trading partner.

Hong Kong's total merchandise trade with Vietnam in 2021 amounted to VND651 trillion ($27.76 billion), up 19 per cent from 2020, putting Vietnam as the second largest trading partner of Hong Kong among ASEAN countries.

Bilateral trade between Hong Kong and Vietnam continued to perform strongly in the first half of 2022, amounting to $15.82 billion, up 21 per cent compared with the corresponding period in 2021.

Algernon Yau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of Hong Kong said, "Vietnam's economy has been growing very fast in recent years amid an unfavourable global economic environment, in particular in the manufacturing sector, presenting opportunities for the business communities overseas. Hong Kong businesses have a profound interest in Vietnam's business and investment opportunities and have a strong presence in the country. A notable example is Sunwah group."

Yau noted that Hong Kong was the fifth-largest investor in Vietnam, with a total registered investment capital of about $28 billion as of December 2021. Over 60 Hong Kong business leaders joining a business delegation to Vietnam is a case in point.

With the entry into force of the ASEAN-Hong Kong, China Free Trade Agreement in 2019, the ties between the two economies have gone from strength to strength.

To further enhance the trade and economic tie with ASEAN member states, including Vietnam and other key economies in the region, Hong Kong has requested to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), of which Vietnam is a member.

"Hong Kong's prospective membership in the RCEP will further deepen the bilateral relation between Hong Kong and Vietnam and bring more business and investment opportunities to the business communities of both places," Yau said.

Hong Kong firms interest in Vietnamese gem market Businesses from Hong Kong (China) have expressed their interest in the Vietnamese gem market during their participation at the ongoing 38th HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show and 8th HKTDC Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show.

Vietnam-Hong Kong target boosting bilateral trade to $50 billion Vietnam and Hong Kong set the target for a hike in bilateral trade turnover to $50 billion in the next five years, making Vietnam the city's largest trade partner in ASEAN.
Despite gloomy forecasts about global economic prospects, the southeast of the country continues to welcome an influx of foreign direct investment (FDI). Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong were the top two regions for attracting foreign investors, enticing $3.94 billion and $3.14 billion from overseas in 2022 respectively.

The volume of FDI for other localities in the region, such as Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Tay Ninh, and Binh Phuoc also showed a slight increase on-year.

An increasingly apparent challenge to attracting future FDI to the region is ensuring that the amount of quality land reserved for industrial development remains significant. Dao Xuan Duc, from Ho Chi Minh City Industrial and Export Processing Zones Management Authority, noted that the city has only 46 hectares of clear space for investors to lease in 2023 and that this sum is distributed over several districts rather than in a single zone.

Duc added that the city has several other land funds, such as a 320ha space in Hiep Phuoc Industrial Zone (IZ) and more than 100ha in the Northeast Cu Chi, but they have so far been unable to sign land lease contracts with the state.

The southeast has established major industrial centres, hosting the most extensive industrial and export processing zones in the country.

Duc voiced concerns that amid an investment wave into Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City may be unable to entice large investors with such meagre land availability.

Similarly, Dong Nai is facing obstacles in expanding its land fund to attract more overseas finance.

According to Pham Van Cuong, deputy head of Dong Nai Industrial Zones Management Authority, the provinces available land for FDI has reached capacity and five new intended IZs comprising more than 7,100ha are yet to commence development.

Due to a lack of land for industrial development, Dong Nai has been missing opportunities to entice huge foreign-led projects with capital touching billions of dollars over the past two years, said Cuong.

Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau currently have an advantage in the southeast as they accommodate parks for attracting investment. For instance, Binh Duong has attracted Lego Group to invest in a $1.3 billion factory covering more than 40ha.

Despite the available land, location remains a challenge for these provinces as they are some distance from the major seaports and airports and much of the infrastructure requires upgrading. Construction projects are underway to improve the connectivity of several routes in the region such as the Ring Road 3 in Ho Chi Minh City, Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway, and a number of other planned improvements.

While these projects will do much to alleviate the challenges associated with the lack of connectivity in some parts of the region, they are not expected to be open until 2025.

The southeast has established some major industrial centres, hosting the most extensive IZs in the country. The region's private sector has also witnessed vibrant development, accommodating the greatest number of enterprises in the country and taking the pole position for attracting FDI with over 40 per cent of Vietnams total volume. In particular, Ho Chi Minh City has been growing into a science and IT innovation hub for the region and beyond.

The advantages and challenges of joint real estate investment in Vietnam Vietnams real estate market outlook remains positive, driven by strong domestic and foreign demand for housing and investment. However, high initial investment value and low liquidity are major barriers preventing individual and institutional investors from participating in large-scale projects with stable cash flow in Vietnam. Therefore, residential real estate is always a sought-after property for individual investors.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Photo: VNA)

Ottawa  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has sent greetings to Vietnamese people living in Canada and around the world, on the occasion of the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet)  the biggest festival in a year of Vietnamese.

In his letter, the Prime Minister acknowledged continuous contributions of Vietnamese Canadians to the host country, affirming that Tet is a good chance to understand more about the rich culture, customs and traditions of the Vietnamese community.

In 2023, Vietnam and Canada will celebrate 50 years of their diplomatic relations, he said, adding that half a century has passed, the friendship and relationship between the two peoples continue to be strengthened with the presence of about 250,000 Vietnamese Canadians in this North American country.

Since 2015, Vietnam has always maintained its position as Canada's largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). According to Canadian statistics, in 2021, two-way trade reached 10.5 billion CAD (7.85 billion USD), up from 8.9 billion CAD in 2020.

Canadas Foreign Minister heads to Indonesia, Vietnam to boost ties Canadas Foreign Minister Melanie Joly is travelling to Indonesia and Vietnam from April 9 to 14 to expand partnerships and reiterate the countrys commitment to engagement with nations throughout the region as part of the governments forthcoming Canadian Indo-Pacific Strategy.

Vietnam to be attractive strategic partner for Canada: Expert The visit to Vietnam by Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly is a signal that Canada attaches importance to the bilateral relationship with the Southeast Asian country, said Luis Silva, an expert on Government relations of Canada.

VinFast opened its first store in Canada The VinFast store that debuted on November 16 in the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto is the first of eight outlets that will open in Canada this year.
"Together We Make Tet" delivers warm coats to workers

The "Together We Make Tet" campaign in Hanoi has delivered 1,000 gifts (valued at $30 each) to poor union members, workers, and employees.

Opening every item in the Tet gift bag and lucky money from the "Together We Make Tet" campaign, Hoang Thi Que, a worker at North Thang Long Industrial Park was moved to tears.

She said she would spend the lucky money to buy new clothes for her children to wear over the Lunar New Year.

"This New Year, my children will have new clothes," Que said.

Que comes from Yen Bai province's Luc Yen district. A year ago, she was found to have thyroid cancer, so she had to move to work in Hanoi to earn money to cover medical expenses because her family was too poor.

Fortunately, she applied to be a worker at North Thang Long Industrial Park in Hanoi. If she works overtime regularly every month, she makes about $304 per month.

She lives frugally to have money for medical treatment and sends it home to her children. For this Lunar New Year, Que is worried because her small salary is not enough for her family to have a full Tet.

The highlight of the campaign is fun activities to welcome the New Year, such as discounted-item booths and 'Zero dong' booths to support union members and workers to prepare for Tet.

There were also Spring Festival activities, including decorating peach and apricot blossom trees for the Tet holiday, a banh chung wrapping contest, a performing arts competition to welcome spring, the re-enactment of cultural and culinary activities, and folk games in the spirit of the traditional Tet holiday.

Following the event in Hanoi, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in collaboration with SABECO will organise campaigns in four provinces and cities (Nghe An, Dak Lak, Binh Duong, and Long An).

Through the "Together We Make Tet" programme, 8,000 gifts amounting to almost $243,500 will honour the contribution of the workforce to the economic development of Vietnam. They make one of the greatest contributions to Vietnams economic development, but sadly can also be the most vulnerable  being the hardest hit when the pandemic happened is a case in point.

The programme will take place in 11 provinces and cities across the country: Vinh Phuc, Hanoi, Nghe An, Khanh Hoa, Dak Lak, Binh Dinh, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Long An, Soc Trang, and Tien Giang.

SABECO teams up with the government to help workers enjoy Lunar New Year As Vietnam's traditional festival known as Tet draws near, Bia Saigon  SABECO's leading brand  has joined hands with the government and authorities to ensure workers enjoy a happier Lunar New Year.
Samsung Vietnam opened the largest new R&D Center in Southeast Asia in the presence of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in the Tay Ho Tay urban area, Hanoi, last month.

With the new facility, Samsung plans to make Vietnam overcome its role as a global production hub for Samsung to become a strategic base for major research and development, thereby contributing to improving the industrial competitiveness of Vietnam in the Industry 4.0 era.

Nikkei Asia in December reported that Apple plans to move some MacBook production to Vietnam for the first time next year as the US tech group continues diversifying its production base away from China amid escalating tech tensions between Washington and Beijing.

On December 8, 2022, Lego Group signed an MoU with Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) to build a new factory in Binh Duong province. The project has the total investment of more than $1 billion, is expected to be deployed in the second half of 2022, and put in operation in 2024, creating about 4,000 jobs.

This is the project with the largest investment capital by a Danish enterprise in Vietnam. It will be Lego's sixth factory in the world and second in Asia, helping the group expand its global supply chain network, thereby flexibly and quickly responding to changing consumer demand.

Vietnam has witnessed an increasing wave of foreign companies shifting production in our country in the past year, which is expected to rise.

Ho Quoc Tuan, a lecturer at the University of Bristol (UK), said that Vietnam had benefited significantly from foreign manufacturers diversifying production. The process of shifting production out of China by foreign manufacturers will continue, no matter how China eases its COVID policy. Vietnam is expected to benefit greatly.

There are many reasons why large corporations shift electronic manufacturing plants to Vietnam, including lower labour costs, simpler supply chain integration, and better access to free trade, due to Vietnam's participation in 15 free trade agreements (FTAs).

Samsung's R&D centre in Vietnam has the total investment of $220 million

Many experts also believe Vietnam is an attractive destination for foreign electronics manufacturing projects.

Le Hong Hiep, a senior fellow at the ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, said that international companies had started to find ways to shift production to Vietnam.

Vietnam is an important partner in many FTAs, with more than 10 agreements signed, including with the major economies such as the EU with the EVFTA and the UK in the UVFTA.

So companies shifting to Vietnam benefit from continued exports to not only the United States but also other markets.

According to Burkhard Schrage, head of the Management and MBA programme, at RMIT University Vietnam, the strong commitment of technology firms and suppliers to pour in the capital shows growing confidence in Vietnam's ability to upskill the workforce, comply with global production standards, and implementing good governance in the supply chain.

Many observers commented that foreign investment in complex manufacturing or R&D projects is a sign that Vietnam is capturing an increasingly large part of the global value-added production chain, Burkhard said.

Vietnam stock market remains attractive to foreign investors Foreign investors net purchased 14.8 million stocks, worth some 80 billion VND (3,42 million USD) during the week from August 8  12, showing that the Vietnamese securities market remained attractive to them.

Vietnam ready to embrace semiconductor manufacturing Global chip shortages are set to bring Vietnam a chance to develop, acquire and invest in cutting-edge technological expertise and semiconductors, according to a group of academic experts at RMIT University.
There are already indices that cover sci-tech, admin reform, business reform, and others, Photo: Shutterstock

Le Tuan Anh, deputy director of the Department of General Affairs under the General Statistics Office, said that the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) is consulting on a draft indicator framework for the administration of government agencies.

The hundreds of indicators discussed cover GDP; accumulation and consumption; balance of international payments; state budgets; import and export of goods; labour productivity; investment and construction; and much more.

The main social indicators for the whole country include population, labour, education, science and technology, and health and living standards.

The submission of an indicator framework for enactment would need huge brainstorming and efforts from authorities at all levels. Such indicators are of great importance as they are the foundation for the government to manage the economy, sectors, and localities, Anh said at a consultation workshop in Hanoi last week.

Currently, there is no unified and comprehensive set of indicators and assessments for government agencies and the prime minister to decide on goals for the countrys 5-year and annual socioeconomic plans for key economic regions and localities.

This has caused great difficulties for leaders, managers, and policymakers to supervise, assess, and monitor socioeconomic development, Anh said.

Besides that, many qualitative goals need to be studied and quantified with specific norms to make it more favourable to supervise and assess results of the implementation of resolutions and plans on annual and 5-year development.

Data-based management

Aware that designing such an indicator framework is complicated, the MPI has submitted a detailed document on the indicators with content that must be clarified.

In addition to the content on the necessity for and direction of the indicator framework, other content has been mentioned, such as principles for making the framework, appendices, and its outline, as well as the number of norms used and systems for ministries, sectors, and localities.

At present, the number of indicators needed remains unfixed.

To ensure the comprehensiveness of the assessment framework, the MPI has relied on goals and norms carved in many important documents, including Party resolutions and the Socioeconomic Development Plan for 2021-2025.

Presently, ministries and sectors have also been building sets of their own indicators to evaluate performance results, or in areas they are interested in. For example, some use the Administrative Reform Index, which evaluate annual performance in ministries and provinces.

Meanwhile, the Satisfaction Index on Public Administrative Services measures the happiness of people and organisations with the services offered by state administrative agencies to assess the quality of public administrative service provision.

In addition, the Digital Transformation Index tracks related annual results across the country; and the Business Regulatory Reform Effort Assessment Index aims to classify and rank business regulation reform efforts and promote related activities.

Except for the latter framework on business reform, which is implemented online, the other sets of indicators aim to assess the annual performance of ministries, agencies, and localities, and are not indicators for general direction or operation. This is a gap that needs further investigation and analysis, Anh said.

Lam Dinh Thang, director of Ho Chi Minh Citys Department of Information and Communications, said that the city had applied high technology to assess its socioeconomic performance.

By late 2022, the city has begun to operate an online governance platform for its Peoples Committee. The platform, for the committees management and direction, is now in its first phase, Thang said.

The first phase includes four systems used for following socioeconomic norms: supervising the settlement of public complaints and proposals; overseeing the settlement of administrative procedures; the provision of public services for people; and supervising the directions of the Peoples Committee.

For example, the system of overseeing the settlement of administrative procedures and the provision of public services for people will connect all data resulting from the processing process in handling administrative procedures and providing public services from departments and localities throughout the city. It will automatically collect information and make accurate evaluations to help leaders of the city, districts, and sectors monitor and provide public services.

Fresh proposals

Highlighting the need for a unified indicator framework, Prof. Nguyen Quang Thai, chairman of the Vietnam Economic Association, said that the agencies and leaders must gradually shift from a traditional direction such as time-consuming phone calls or paper-based dispatches to data-based direction and management.

Having accurate and reliable information ensures the effectiveness and efficiency of the policies, Thai said. A bottom-up tracking, monitoring, and reporting system automatically linked through the IT system will increase accountability of individuals and operating agencies, avoiding the tendency to take reasons for avoiding responsibility. Traditional methods of direction and management currently do not respond promptly to reality.

He also suggested a unified indicator framework and operating information system be built up as soon as possible to serve state agencies and leaders in administration.

This is an unprecedented product, so it is necessary to develop a new system. The active and proactive participation of all the stakeholders and parties is a decisive factor in the usefulness and feasibility of the governing information framework, Thai noted.

Vietnam's green startups show growth Green startups show strong growth in the Vietnamese market as sustainable development projects draw the attention of several venture capitalist funds.

Onwards and upwards for Vietnams production goals In spite of a slowdown in industrial production, confidence among the business community is expected in increase, while being backed by the governments sturdy efforts to provide enterprises a more business-friendly climate to play in.
Amidst the intensifying competition in Vietnam's fragmented retail industry, more mergers and acquisitions are taking place with major players scooping up or merging with smaller retailers.

Vietnam's retail market is dominated by a number of large retailers. However, small- and medium-sized enterprises are growing their footprint by securing new contracts and breaking into new markets as a result of technological advances and product innovations. As a result, there will likely be fierce competition and significant room for expansion in the Vietnamese retail market.

Local and foreign retailers in Vietnam are vying for market share by offering a variety of shop formats, including commercial centres, supermarkets, groceries, and convenience stores.

The report pointed out that the growth of the local retail market is being driven by the rising demand for convenience food. Compared to home-cooked meals that require extensive preparation, convenience food items like processed beef and poultry products are becoming increasingly popular. During the projected period, this is anticipated to boost consumer demand for convenience goods and, in turn, support the expansion of Vietnam's retail industry.

The rapid pace of urbanisation and the shifting shopping preferences of young urban consumers have led to important changes in modern retail channels, including convenience stores and e-commerce. Online sales are becoming a bigger priority for market leaders and independent merchants alike. Retailers are taking advantage of favourable indicators like high internet penetration and smartphone ownership to offer their products online. These factors will encourage market expansion over the course of the projection.

Omnichannel boosts local retail sector The omnichannel retail model, which integrates all existing shopping platforms, has helped the retail sector outperform many others to become the one with the fastest recovery rate post-pandemic.

AEON to accelerate opening of new retail models Over the past 10 years, AEON Vietnam has developed a retail system with six shopping malls, general merchandise stores, supermarkets, a small supermarket chain, 25 speciality stores, and an e-commerce website. It has welcomed 160-180 million customers, laying the foundation for its future development strategy.
The fatal shooting of a South Waco homeowner on Dec. 23 began with an argument with the two young men who shared his house and ended with them hiding his body the next day under a bridge near Baylor University, an arrest warrant affidavit states.

James Keylan Willis and Brandon Xavier Stephens, both 19, have both been charged with murder and evidence tampering in the death of Stanley Wilcox, 59.

Police say both Willis and Stephens were present in the room and both took part in killing Wilcox at his home in the 800 block of Garrett Avenue.

Brandon and James confirmed that a confrontation with Stanley ensued that led to a gunshot being discharged that injured the victim and was confirmed through separate stories, affidavits in the murder cases state.

It was reported near the end of the confrontation while Stanley was wounded that they should put him out of his misery, showing mental processing of the aggressive act of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and the clear conscious decision to knowingly cause the death of another person namely Stanley Wilcox, the affidavits state.

The arrest affidavits for suspicion of tampering with evidence say that Willis disposed of the body under a bridge in the 1100 block of South Ninth Street. Willis further made efforts to clean up Mr. Wilcoxs blood after the murder, the affidavits say.

Stephens assisted Willis after Wilcoxs murder, his affidavit says.

He assisted by helping move Wilcoxs body to a vehicle at the home, loading the body into the vehicle, and together they disposed of the body, Stephens affidavit for suspicion of tampering states.

Police also arrested Heavyn Hamilton, 17, of Waco, on suspicion of failure to report the killing of Wilcox, records show. She was released Jan. 7 from McLennan County Jail on a $3,000 bond.

Willis and Stephens affidavits say that Hamilton knew about the shooting but that detectives believe she was not present in the room for the shooting and did not take part in killing Wilcox.

Police say Willis told officers who were investigating Wilcoxs disappearance around Dec. 29 that Wilcox left his home and gave Willis the keys to a 2021 Ford Escape with North Carolina plates, telling him he could use it while he was gone, his tampering affidavit says.

The lead detective obtained search warrants for the Ford Escape and the home on Garrett Avenue. When investigators searched the Escape and the home, they found evidence of cleaned-up blood, the affidavits say.

Willis and Stephens remained in custody Monday afternoon in McLennan County Jail on charges of murder and of evidence tampering, a second-degree felony. Bail was set at $1.5 million for each of the men.
Mayborn Community Day

Monday, Jan. 16, is Community Day at the Mayborn Museum, 1300 S. University Parks Drive. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Community Days are an opportunity for visitors to explore the museums Discovery Center, Natural History Hall and Historic Village for free.

The Mayborn offers Museums for All and other discounts all year long. Families who qualify for state food assistance can receive $1 per person admission for up to two adults and all the children in the household. Just show an EBT card at the entrance.

Parkinsons support group

The Heart of Texas Parkinsons and Caregivers support group invites members and the public to hear Larry Denham, a health professional who will discuss emergency medical services.

The program will be presented at 3 p.m. Thursday at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, 1624 Wooded Acres Drive. A 30-minute social with refreshments provided by will follow.

For more information, call Ida McBride at 254-716-4402.

MLK Peace March

The Waco chapters of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. invite the Waco community to join in the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace March and Observance beginning at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 16.

The march will start in Indian Spring Park, crossing the Washington Avenue bridge and marching down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. After the march, there will be a youth essay contest, community cleanup with the National Women in Agriculture Association, canned goods drive, and an educational program with community entertainers.

For more information on the free event, call 254-366-6029.

Waco Herb Society

The Waco Herb Society will meet at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at The Harrison Center, 1718 N. 42nd St.

Anyone interested in growing and using herbs is welcome to attend a meeting and become a member.

Bagby Avenue ramp closing

The Texas Department of Transportation will close the Highway 6/Loop 340 eastbound off-ramp for Bagby Avenue on Wednesday to prepare the area for upcoming traffic switches. Eastbound motorists will access Bagby Avenue by exiting at Imperial Drive and taking a new section of frontage road, including a new bridge, to Bagby.

The Bagby off-ramp will remain closed until summer.
CRETE  Doane University was recently awarded a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support students pursuing degrees in STEM majors. The grant will fund scholarships and paid research opportunities for academically talented, low-income students with unmet financial need through Doanes Sustaining Undergraduate Classroom and Career Excellence for STEM Students (SUCCESS) Program.

The SUCCESS program provides a terrific opportunity for students to break into the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, said Dr. Kris Williams, associate professor of mathematics, director of institutional effectiveness at Doane, and the principal investigator of the grant. Were thrilled to have this funding from the NSF to continue encouraging low-income students to gain degrees in these fields, which helps diversify and create a more equitable STEM community.

This is the second time the university has received funding to support the SUCCESS program through the NSFs Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program. The program provides students with up to $7,800 in scholarships annually (and up to $31,200 over four years) enrolled in Doanes biology, biochemistry, chemistry, engineering or natural sciences and environmental sciences degree programs. Doane will offer the scholarship to three cohorts of ten students starting in 2023.

In addition to financial support, students participating in the SUCCESS program benefit from:

- A dedicated community within Doanes residence halls. All first-year students in the program will be in a Living-Learning Community with a peer mentor to help them acclimate to campus life, studying and living away from home.

- Advising and mentoring from faculty to help them develop individual plans of courses and experiences at Doane that will prepare them for careers or graduate studies.

- Opportunities to participate in research or internships, including on campus.

- Common coursework that allows students to learn college skills together, and to participate in STEMinars each semester that explore new scientific discoveries and promote career and graduate school preparation.

Doane had 38 students participate in the first cohort of the SUCCESS program, with 74% (28 students) graduating within four years. Sixteen of those 28 have continued in STEM careers or graduate programs, and the remaining 12 went on to medical fields, professional programs or non-STEM graduate programs. Of the 10 students who left the program, two continued at Doane in other programs and eight transferred to other schools.
LINCOLN  The U.S. Department of Agricultures National Agricultural Statistics Service has released the results of its 2021 Certified Organic Survey.

Certified organic operations in Nebraska sold a total of $193 million in organic products in 2021, up 5% compared to 2019. The number of certified organic operations in Nebraska totaled 220, down 7% from 2019.

The 2021 Certified Organic Survey is a special study conducted by NASS in conjunction with USDAs Risk Management Agency. It provides value of sales information at the commodity level along with acreage, production, and practices data for a variety of certified organic crop and livestock operations. Information was also collected on marketing and agricultural practices, crop insurance usage, select production expenses, and acres transitioning into organic production.

Access the National publication for this release at https://usda.library.cornell.edu/concern/publications/zg64tk92g.

Find agricultural statistics for county, state and nation at www.nass.usda.gov.
LINCOLN  A manual count of 48,292 ballots from 132 voting precincts across all 93 Nebraska counties verifies that the equipment utilized to count ballots is secure and accurate, Secretary of State Bob Evnen said.

Following each statewide election since 2008, a manual audit has been conducted for two to three percent of precincts across the state. This years audit was expanded to ten percent.

Nebraska continues to use paper ballots, which allows for these post-election audits. The manual audit verifies that the equipment properly functioned on Election Day and was not tampered with at any point following pre-election testing.

A minimum of one precinct from every county was audited. These were randomly selected in those counties with more than one precinct. Additional precincts were apportioned based on county population and then were randomly selected within the county. Three races were hand-counted in each precinct: the races for governor, U.S. House of Representatives, and a local race in the county.

Of the more than 48,000 ballots that were hand-counted in the audit, there were 11 discrepancies between the machine count and the hand count. Thats an error rate of 23 thousandths of one percent.

For example, five of the apparent differences were the result of voters having placed light marks on the ballots. Its questionable whether these were discrepancies at all since the voters intent was unclear.

This highlights the importance of following the instructions that are found on every ballot and clearly darkening the oval on the ballot, said Evnen, If you make a mistake on a ballot, you can ask for a new ballot.

In addition to the expanded hand-count audit, a centralized list of those who voted in the election was prepared prior to state certification. Voter registration lists with voter history have always been maintained by the counties, but voter history was not required to be added to voter records until 30 days after the election, which always occurred after certification. This is the first time that all counties prepared their voter history information in conjunction with the county and state canvassing process. This provided a centralized list of who voted in the November 2022 election.

The voter history list was then compared with the tabulated ballot count. The net variance statewide between the number of voters shown on the voter history list as having cast ballots (682,745), and the total number of ballots tabulated (682,716), was 29. This is a variance of four-thousandths of one percent.

The variances found in the hand-counted audit, and in the voter history list compared with ballots cast statewide, were both minuscule.

In addition, just prior to each election, every ballot tabulator in the state is tested three separate times with test decks of ballots to confirm that the tabulators are counting and reporting results accurately.

These evaluations demonstrate the very high degree of accuracy and integrity of Nebraskas ballot counting and reporting process, Secretary Evnen said. Nebraska voters can be confident that their ballots will continue to be cast securely and counted and reported accurately.
Melody's memorable stories from 2022

Its like a being a parent asked to choose their favorite child. Theyre all my favorites is the standard response, or occasionally, it depends on which day.

When reporters were asked to choose their five favorite stories for 2022, my first thought was how do I narrow the list? It came down to a good narrative and the joy and inspiration I got from the people I interviewed.

These are the stories that are closest to my heart.

University of Northern Iowa professor emeritus and former Courier columnist Scott Cawelti tipped me off about Phil Pirages. Pirages, 77, is one of the nations most-respected rare book dealers and author of the new Booked by Fate. Now an Oregonian, Pirages graduated from Cedar Falls High School and UNI in the 1960s. In our phone interview, Pirages described his exotic adventures in the esoteric world of medieval illuminated manuscripts, first editions and slightly tatty but charming collectible books. I could almost smell the sweet, musty old books as I wrote the story published earlier this month.

Cherie Dargan captured my imagination with the first heartwarming book in her five-part Grandmothers Treasures series, The Gift. It was inspired by her marvelous collection of antique quilts and other heirlooms and the strong women in her family, especially her mom and aunts, who have been Dargans lodestars.

Milo Meads stunning domed clock cathedral was an impressive creation by the Cedar Falls woodworker. I wrote about the project last spring, detailing the 800 hours he spent drawing, designing, sawing and assembling the elaborate clock. It stands 5  feet tall, measures 35 inches square, has multiple floors, detailed fretwork and a clock pendulum that chimes the hour.

In January, I wrote about Kevin Dills inspiring work as an advocate for all forms of dementia. Dill was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, a degenerative and progressive form of dementia, nearly four years ago. Since retiring as director of Black Hawk County Veterans Affairs, Dill has devoted his efforts to hosting golf tournaments and other events for Dementia Friendly Cedar Valley and veterans projects. He also paints as a form of therapy and sells the artwork.

What could be more fun than hearing a bunch of young musicians mastering the monster guitar riff and raw power of AC/DCs Back in Black? In August, I covered Amp Camp, the innovative summer music camp that is UNIs version of School of Rock. Kids learn to play guitar, bass, drums and keyboards and sing rock, hip-hop, R&B, country and pop music. They break into bands, and Mutual Shock blew me away with their enthusiasm and talent.
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP)  The entire community of Montecito, California and surrounding canyons were ordered to evacuate Monday amid a deluge of rain that has flooded roads and swollen waterways.

The evacuation order affecting about 10,000 people came on the fifth anniversary of a mudslide that killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes in the coastal enclave.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said the decision to evacuate came based on the continuing high rate of rainfall with no indication that that is going to change before nightfall.

Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor said at least 8 inches of rain had fallen in 12 hours, with several more inches expected. The canyon communities under evacuation orders are under hillsides burned bare in recent years by wildfires.

Upscale Montecito is squeezed between mountains and the Pacific coast and home to celebrities such as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Up the coast, evacuation orders were issued for about 32,000 people in Santa Cruz County because of swollen rivers and creeks.

Much of the state was being walloped by a major winter storm that inundated roads, toppled trees and knocked out power to tens of thousands.

This is an update. APs earlier story follows below.

Photos: Powerful storms wallop California
After two years of pandemic postponements and lineup chaos, 2023's Coachella will feature its most global and diverse slate of headliners to date. Get that and more trending news here.
RIO DE JANEIRO  "No amnesty! No amnesty! No amnesty!"

The chant reverberated off the walls of the jam-packed hall at the University of Sao Paulo's law college on Monday afternoon. Within hours, it was the rallying cry for thousands of Brazilians who streamed into the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, penned on protest posters and banners.

The words are a demand for retribution against the supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro who stormed Brazil's capital Sunday, and those who enabled the rampage.

"These people need to be punished, the people who ordered it need to be punished, those who gave money for it need to be punished," Bety Amin, a 61-year-old therapist, said on Sao Paulo's main boulevard. The word "DEMOCRACY" stretched across the back of her shirt. "They don't represent Brazil. We represent Brazil."

Protesters' push for accountability evokes memories of an amnesty law that for decades has protected military members accused of abuse and murder during the country's 1964-85 dictatorship. A 2014 truth commission report sparked debate over how Brazil has grappled with the regime's legacy.

Declining to mete out punishment "can avoid tensions at the moment, but perpetuates instability," Luis Felipe Miguel, a professor of political science at the University of Brasilia, wrote in a column entitled "No Amnesty" published Monday evening. "That is the lesson we should have learned from the end of the military dictatorship, when Brazil opted not to punish the regime's killers and torturers."

Brazilian police on Monday rounded up roughly 1,500 rioters. Some were caught in the act of trashing Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace. Most were detained the following morning at an encampment in Brasilia. Many were held in a gymnasium throughout the day, and video shared on pro-Bolsonaro social media channels showed some complaining about poor treatment in the crowded space.

Almost 600 who were elderly, sick, homeless or mothers with their children were released Tuesday after being questioned and having their phones inspected, the Federal Police said in a statement. Its media office previously told The Associated Press the force plans to indict at least 1,000 people. As of Tuesday afternoon, 527 people had been transferred to either a detention center or prison.

The administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said jailing the rioters is only the start.

Justice minister Flavio Dino vowed to prosecute those who acted behind the scenes to summon supporters on social media and finance their transport on charges involving organized crime, staging a coup and violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. Authorities also are investigating allegations that local security personnel allowed the destruction to proceed unabated.

"We cannot and will not compromise in fulfilling our legal duties," Dino said. "This fulfillment is essential so such events do not repeat themselves."

Lula signed a decree, now approved by both houses of Congress, ordering the federal government to assume control of security in the capital.

Far-right elements have refused to accept Bolsonaro's electoral defeat. Since his Oct. 30 loss, they camped outside military barracks in Brasilia, pleading for intervention to allow Bolsonaro to remain in power. When no coup materialized, they rose up themselves.

Decked out in the green and yellow of the national flag, they broke windows, toppled furniture and hurled computers and printers to the ground. They punched holes in a massive Emiliano Di Cavalcanti painting at the presidential palace and destroyed other works of art. They overturned the U-shaped table where Supreme Court justices convene, ripped a door off one justice's office and vandalized a statue outside the court. Hours passed before police expelled the mob.

Political analysts repeatedly warned that Bolsonaro was laying the groundwork for an insurrection in the mold of that which unfolded in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. For months, he stoked belief among hardcore supporters that the nation's electronic voting system was prone to fraud  though he never presented any evidence and independent experts disagreed.

Results from the election, the closest since Brazil's return to democracy, were quickly recognized by politicians across the spectrum, including some Bolsonaro allies, as well as dozens of other governments. The outgoing president promptly faded from view, neither conceding defeat nor emphatically crying fraud. He and his party submitted a request to nullify millions of votes, which was swiftly dismissed by the electoral authority.

In the immediate aftermath of the riot, Lula said the so-called "fascist fanatics" and their financial backers must be held responsible. He also accused Bolsonaro of encouraging the uprising.

"It's unacceptable what happened yesterday. It's terrorism," Marcelo Menezes, a 59-year-old police officer from northeastern Pernambuco state, said at a protest in Sao Paulo. Im here in defense of democracy, Im here in defense of the people.
Tens of thousands of Elvis fans flocked to the Australian town of Parkes to celebrate the King of Rock and Roll, fans and players continue to show their support for Damar Hamlin, and more of today's top videos.
Thalapathy Vijay, who possesses an immense craze, is all set to enthrall the audience with his upcoming flick Varisu. The movie is up for a grand release tomorrow. This is a clean family entertainer and is directed by Vamshi Paidipally. This combination excited Vijay fans.

In a recent interview, the director was asked if the movies plot would be normal. Vamshi Paidipally said there are many surprises in the film and added that he is a clever seller. In the past, Vamshi delivered fine family dramas like Brindhavanam.

It needs to be seen if the director can deliver big with a star like Thalapathy. Rashmika Mandanna is playing the leading lady, and Dil Raju is producing the biggie. The film has a huge cast, including Srikanth, SJ Suryah, Prakash Raj, Jayasudha, Sangeetha, Khusbhu, Prabhu, Sarath Kumar, and Suman. The Telugu version releases on 14th January.

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The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), part of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, has selected DHI to deliver a metocean assessment for proposed Dutch offshore wind farm zones (WFZs).



RVO is responsible for publishing a site characterization package for end users to prepare bids for a permit tender to build and operate a wind farm. These works consist of the detailed design metocean assessment (MA) at two WFZs. One of the WFZs is IJmuiden Ver and the second WFZ is to be determined.

The assessment includes the construction of a metocean database, and a metocean assessment (consisting of a metocean desk study and a wind resource assessment) on design level.

The contract was back in August with four tenders received. In Q4 2022, the first non public delivery was expected based upon existing data sources. In Q2 2023, a second delivery should contain around six months of measurement data from the planned floating LiDAR campaign in the Ijmuiden Ver WFZ (IJV WFZ).

A third and fourth delivery will contain 1 year and 2 years of measurement data respectively. The fifth and sixth delivery will contain a comparable series for a second to be determined WFZ.



The

IJmuiden Ver

offshore wind farm zone is made of of for offshore wind farm sites which are expected to be tendered in Q4 2023. The four sites each have the potential to host up to 1 GW of offshore wind energy.

For more information on offshore wind farms worldwide,

click here

.


Exploration Advances at Large Scale Trieste Lithium Project

Perth, Jan 10, 2023 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Loyal Lithium Limited ( ASX:LLI ) is pleased to announce that the high resolution historical satellite data (multi-spectral) correlates with the known mapped pegmatites and therefore can be used as an efficient and cost-effective tool to refine field program targets at the Trieste Lithium Project ("Project"). Loyal Lithium has subsequently engaged Geospatial Intelligence Ltd to conduct more complex derivations of satellite borne data across the Trieste Lithium Project to streamline its method of refining targets for the inaugural field program in the Canadian spring 2023.



Loyal Lithium CEO, Mr Adam Ritchie, commented:



"Hard rock lithium exploration typically starts with an outcrop - identified via satellite photograph and verified by in-field geologists. With the help of our partners at Geospatial Intelligence we plan to take the use of satellite imagery data to the next level and streamline this time consuming and costly process."



"Trieste is a huge strategic land holding with many highly prospective targets. Therefore, the deployment of technology to refine targets and reduce the physical work in-field is paramount. I strongly support and encourage our exploration team to utilise technology solutions where possible to advance and accelerate our mission, and I look forward to expanding the use of proven technologies to our other assets."



The 100% owned Trieste Lithium Project is a large-scale lithium Project located 14km east of Winsome Resources' ( ASX:WR1 ) Adina Lithium Project drill hole that recently recorded a significant Lithium mineralised intercept of 1.34% over 107.6m. Loyal Lithium acquired the Trieste Lithium Project in October 2022 - prior to the recent drill campaign results at the Adina Lithium Project.



Loyal Lithium is the largest land holder within the highly prospective Trieste Greenstone Belt. The Trieste Lithium Project covers 251 km2, which is 8.6 times larger than Winsome Resources' ( ASX:WR1 ) Adina Lithium Project. The project area includes a 39 km long contact zone in the Trieste Greenstone Belt with a significant amount of historical data. Although the Project hasn't ever previously been explored for lithium, it does contain an anomalous historical lithium assay site (180ppm Li).



The Trieste Lithium Project has 153 logged pegmatite outcrop observations, 35 of which are the same classification as those identified at Winsome Resources' ( ASX:WR1 ) Adina Lithium Project. This is a notable 11 times more 'A Type' Pegmatites observations (I1A) than Adina. The historical data also includes 118 'G Type' mapped Pegmatite observations (I1G). Both 'A Type' & 'G Type' are prospective for lithium.



Geospatial Intelligence Ltd were commissioned to conduct a trial using high resolution historical satellite data (multi/hyper-spectral) to assess the level of correlation with the historically mapped pegmatites. The trial zone is a multi-spectral small-scale example, with more detailed, accurate largescale images to be produced.



The Trieste Lithium Project has never been explored for lithium, however based on historical data 14 initial target areas have been generated for high priority field investigation. The successful deployment of a total coverage satellite imagery program could alter the focus areas as the eastern extension of the greenstone, which has had little to no historical work but remains highly prospective for lithium.



*To view tables and figures, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/I52W6213





About Loyal Lithium Limited





Loyal Lithium Limited (ASX:LLI) is a well-structured listed resource exploration company with projects in Tier 1 North American mining jurisdictions in the James Bay Lithium District in Quebec, Canada and Nevada, USA. Through the systematic exploration of its projects, the Company aims to delineate JORC compliant resources, creating value for its shareholders.
Copyright  2023 Albuquerque Journal

After more than a decade of serving an eclectic mix of Mexican, Greek and American food, Nick & Jimmys closed its doors for good Jan. 1.

Owner Nick Kapnison, now 90, retired in March 2022. Kapnison opened the restaurant in 2009 with then-business partner Jimmy Daskalos, who has since parted ways with Kapnisons many business ventures.

Kapnisons daughter, Nicole Kapnison, continued running the business until the beginning of the year, when the restaurants lease was up and she decided not to renew it.

Nicole Kapnison said that many customers looked forward to seeing her dad at the restaurant  after he retired, things werent quite the same.

Without him there anymore, it was really sad for people not to see him, Nicole Kapnison said.

The son of Greek immigrants, Nick Kapnison had an over six-decade career in the restaurant industry and opened dozens of restaurants in his lifetime, including Albuquerque favorite El Patron. He opened his first restaurant, the Court Cafe, in Downtown Albuquerque when he was 26.

I probably spent 98% of my life in a restaurant, Nicole Kapnison said.

Nicole Kapnison caught the restaurant bug from her father, opening her first restaurant, Nob Hill Bar and Grill, at age 26  the same age her father opened his first restaurant.

Shell continue running Mykonos Cafe and Taverna, which Kapnison and Daskalos bought in 2014, and Meraki Coffee and Market. A longtime manager of the Kapnison restaurant empire, Neta Dominguez, will keep Kaps Coffee Shop and Diner, which has an over-40 year tenure, running.

Nicole Kapnison said that between running Mykonos and Meraki, running the bars at the state fairground and her cocktail company Nikle Co. Spirits, she couldnt focus on keeping Nick & Jimmys running. And, it was her fathers place.

It was just a place where people came to see my dad, Nicold Kapnison said.

Although Nick and Jimmys has come to an end, Nicole Kapnison said, many of its menu items will live on in Mykonos, Meraki and Kaps.

We still have most of the items that people love so much, Nicole Kapnison said.

All of the employees from Nick & Jimmys were encouraged to apply to jobs at Mykonos, Meraki and Kaps, and many employees decided to move over, Nicole Kapnison said.

Gift cards to Nick & Jimmys will be honored at Mykonos.
Copyright  2023 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  New Mexico Supreme Court justices grappled Monday with questions about their authority to intervene  and the criteria that might be used if they decide to do so  in a case that hinges on the political fairness of the states redrawn congressional map.

For now, the states highest court plans to take its time in coming up with answers.

After more than an hour of oral arguments, the Supreme Court did not issue an immediate ruling on the Republican-backed lawsuit that argues the Democratic-approved congressional map  approved during a 2021 special session  represents a political gerrymander.

This is an issue of significant importance and we want to be deliberative, Supreme Court Chief Justice Shannon Bacon said in announcing the courts decision to not issue a same-day ruling.

Its unclear when a decision might be issued, as the Supreme Court has in the past deliberated for months on some high-profile cases before releasing a decision.

The Monday court hearing came just two months after Democrats swept all three state congressional seats for just the third time since 1982, including a narrow victory by Democrat Gabe Vasquez over incumbent Republican Yvette Herrell in the southern New Mexico-based 2nd Congressional District.

Attorneys for the state GOP and other plaintiffs who filed the court challenge argued Monday the election results offered evidence of top-ranking Democrats intent to redraw the states congressional district boundary lines in their partys favor.

However, lawyers representing the Democrats named in the case responded by saying the redrawn congressional map does not violate the federal Voting Rights Act o

r other established redistricting guidelines, such as the one-person, one-vote principle.

By wading into the case, Supreme Court justices would be intruding into legislative territory without a ready rule book, said Sara Sanchez, an Albuquerque attorney who is representing the lawmakers on contract.

This court should not agree to enter that political thicket, Sanchez said.

The lawsuit was initially filed in January 2022 by the state Republican Party and seven other plaintiffs, who argued the congressional map approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham a month earlier intentionally chopped up Republican voting strongholds in southeast New Mexico in order to obtain a partisan advantage.

A state District Court judge in Clovis was initially assigned the case, but it was taken over by the Supreme Court last summer after the Governors Office  along with top-ranking Democratic lawmakers  asked the states highest court to intervene in order to resolve underlying legal questions.

During Mondays court hearing, judges voiced concern over the possible precedent of their ruling in the case and what criteria might be used to determine when political gerrymandering goes overboard.

Specifically, Justice David Thomson expressed misgivings about the request from Daniel Gallegos, the attorney representing the state GOP, that justices consider partisan factors in the case, while Justice Briana Zamora questioned whether a ruling to dismiss the lawsuit could bar the Supreme Court from hearing future similar cases.

For her part, Bacon said its likely the arguments would be reversed if Republicans held a majority over Democrats in the Legislature.

Ive been around the block a few times  you all would be making exactly the opposite arguments, she said.

In court filings in the run-up to Mondays hearing, attorneys representing the top Democratic lawmakers and the governor claimed the new map succeeded in creating more competitive districts, as Vasquez defeated Herrell by just 1,350 votes.

In addition, the states two other Democratic U.S. House members  Melanie Stansbury and Teresa Leger Fernandez  both won election by smaller margins than Democrats had won their respective seats in 2020.

But top GOP officials accused Democrats of engineering Herrells ouster by moving parts of Albuquerques South Valley and West Side into her congressional district, while shifting Roswell and parts of Hobbs into other districts.

In their court challenge, the Republican Party and other plaintiffs also claimed the new congressional map violates the equal protection clause of the state Constitution.

They asked the Supreme Court to strike down the newly-drawn map and direct the District Court judge to oversee the drawing of fairer boundary lines.
Newly appointed state Sen. Moe Maestas recent opinion piece (County Commission needs clear guidelines on appointments) masks a yearlong attempt at a power grab under the guise of good government reform.

Counter to his protestations, what we have seen over the past year is an orchestrated, albeit clumsy, attempt by Maestas, his wife and Santolina lobbyist Vanessa Alarid, and former Sen. Jacob Candelaria to circumvent the scrutiny and will of the voters, and handpick their replacements for Senate District 26 and House District 16.

Lets go to the timeline.

In December of 2021, during the redistricting process that happens every 10 years, Maestas and Alarid bought a house in the newly drawn Senate District 26 so Maestas could be appointed to fill the seat by a friendly Bernalillo County Commission.

Fast forward to this past fall: For months, Sen. Candelaria said that he would resign his SD26 seat early at the end of 2022. Instead, he announced suddenly in mid-October 2022  just weeks before the Nov. 8 election  that he was resigning, effective immediately. Why the earlier resignation? Did these cohorts realize that a staunch ally of theirs on the County Commission was going to lose her reelection campaign, thereby denying them the three votes necessary to appoint Maestas to Candelarias seat? They needed a decision before the new County Commission would be seated on Jan. 1, 2023, or all would be for naught. They succeeded and Maestas was appointed to the Senate seat.

This bunch then went one step further and tried to appoint a hand-picked successor for Maestas now-vacant House District 16 seat, which also had recently gone through the redistricting process. What happened next was a comedy of errors.

First, Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada tried to rush the commission to appoint Maestas right before the November election, giving just five days for applicants to apply. Because of public pressure  including an editorial to wait from this paper  his effort failed.

Then, Quezada sponsored a resolution requiring the commission to fill any future appointments within three weeks of a vacancy, to try to get the appointment done before Dec. 31. When these cohorts realized that three weeks may be too long, Quezada had to amend his own resolution, shortening the time frame to 10 days.

None of the appointment precedents that Maestas invoked in his opinion piece is relevant because this HD16 appointment involved a seat that had been newly created from redistricting.

A question we should be asking Maestas is if he knew all along that he was going to vacate his HD16 seat, yet still ran for reelection in November, denying the voters of House District 16 a voice in who their representative will be for two years and giving their power to five members of the Bernalillo County Commission, four of whom do not live in, nor represent, HD16.

This yearlong process was nothing more than a power grab by consummate insiders of New Mexico politics. Its not lost on me that Maestas has singled out well-respected leaders in our community, including former state Sen. Dede Feldman, state Rep. Joanne Ferrari, Rep.-elect Eleanor Chavez, City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, Commission Chair Adriann Barboa and consultant Neri Holguin  Yet, in the end, the ones who lost out were the West Side voters of House District 16, who were denied a say in electing the representative of their choice.

Debbie OMalley recently ended her second term representing District 1 on the Bernalillo County Commission, which includes the North Valley and a large swath of the West Side.
I know were here illegally and Im sorry for doing that. But our desperation is to the point where we fear for our lives.

 Rose Tortoza, Venezuelan migrant in El Paso

When high-ranking officials visit trouble spots, it is customary for them to actually view the trouble. But two years into his administration  and decades into the countrys failed immigration policy  Biden chose photo ops over substance, essentially bypassing the humanitarian crisis in El Paso. On Sunday, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott handed Biden a letter that said the city you visit has been sanitized of the migrant camps, which had overrun downtown El Paso, because your administration wants to shield you from the chaos that Texans experience on a daily basis. El Pasos Mayor Oscar Leeser is a Democrat; we would expect he was part of the sanitation Abbott mentioned and that was reported on by national news outlets.

Yet, just three weeks ago, Leeser issued a disaster declaration citing a humanitarian, security, and economic crisis resulting from mass migration through El Paso.

According to the Associated Press, in Bidens almost four-hour highly controlled visit, he encountered no migrants except when his motorcade drove alongside the border and about a dozen were visible on the Ciudad Juarez side. His visit did not include time at a Border Patrol station, where migrants who cross illegally are arrested and held before their release, or Downtown El Paso, where hundreds of migrants are sleeping on the frigid sidewalks. And El Paso isnt alone.

Immigration has been a mess for years and a growing one in recent months, as many fleeing violence or looking for economic opportunities have traveled to our southern border with the hope for an end to Title 42, a pandemic regulation that lets the country automatically return asylum seekers to Mexico. Last month the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Title 42 must remain in place until it renders a decision on its use. The high court will hear arguments in February; a final ruling could come in early summer.

In the meantime, we need resources to more quickly determine who should be allowed to remain while waiting for an asylum hearing  and those migrants should be able to join families or sponsors. While we do not support open borders, it is inhumane to migrants to expect thousands to live, eat and sleep on the streets and places an unacceptable burden on those who live in the border communities.

Biden recently enacted rules that subject migrants from four countries  Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela  to quick expulsion but also allow 30,000 migrants per month from those countries to come to the U.S. legally as long as they travel by plane, get a sponsor and pass background checks. Good, yet there are millions of people who have crossed and/or tried to cross in the past year. They are living in the shadows or on border city sidewalks while Congress continues its decades-long tradition of bipartisan inaction on immigration.

Theres also the criminal element, exemplified Jan. 5 when a Border Patrol agent was shot in his bulletproof vest by someone inside a suspected smuggling vehicle on N.M. 146, just north of Hachita. Currently, criminals hide in plain sight among the crush of migrants. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says the Biden administration is trying to incentivize a safe and orderly way and cut out the smuggling organizations. Unfortunately, while the president recently announced do not, do not just show up at the border, the fact is millions already have.

It bears repeating that at our core we are a nation of immigrants, and that our president should have taken a portion of his border visit to speak with some of the migrants like Guillermo Perez from Costa Rica, who says I wish the government of the U.S. would see that we sincerely need help. I wish they could understand that if we would return to our countries, we will be punished, believe me that we will be punished. My hope is to enter and to live better, to live like a person, to work, and to give no problems to the government.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Officials have identified a man who was found dead off 2nd and Desert SW on Saturday as 47-year-old David Kennedy.

Jayme Fuller-Gonzales, a spokeswoman for the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office, said around 1:30 p.m. deputies were called to the 200 block of Camino Ocho SW for reports of an unconscious male,

When deputies arrived, they located the male on the ground, where he was pronounced deceased, she said.

Fuller-Gonzales said violent crimes and homicide detectives are investigating the case as a suspicious death. She said Kennedys cause of death is unknown.
A few schools may be on the chopping block as Albuquerque Public Schools moves forward in right-sizing.

While no facilities are closing altogether, a committee of about half a dozen APS officials on Monday brought the school board recommendations for repurposing several campuses and moving their students to other ones  recommendations they said would help keep APS academically and financially viable.

Weve been talking about this for quite some time, Superintendent Scott Elder, whos not on the committee, said. We understand the impacts of closing schools, and so what were looking to do is to not necessarily shut our schools, but to create alternatives, and place our students in other areas.

The district has been under pressure to right size for some time, but especially since the Legislative Finance Committee in April told APS it was time, given the growing gap between its funding and enrollment.

Officials recommended that five schools, most of them near the North Valley area, be repurposed and have their students put in different schools  Duranes, La Luz and Kirtland elementary schools, along with Polk and Taft middle schools.

Two of those schools  Duranes and La Luz, both near the North Valley  would be redesigned and turned into early childhood centers under the committees recommendations.

The Kirtland property, the committee said, could be swapped for up to 10 acres of the housing development just northeast of Gibson and Carlisle, where another early childhood center would be constructed.

Taft, which is one of three middle schools in a roughly 5-mile corridor in the North Valley and Los Ranchos areas, would still be a school under the recommendations.

Its students would still be moved, and Taft itself would become a bilingual magnet middle school that students from Coronado Dual Language Magnet School  about six miles away  could flow to.

Garfield STEM Magnet and Community School, also in that middle school corridor, would lose its boundaries, and any students who dont want to stay would move to Taylor Middle School.

Polk, in the South Valley, is also facing repurposing, but plans for that property are up in the air. Possibilities include using it as a southwest campus for the districts school for teen parents, a multi-use outdoor school and another early childhood center.

Alameda Elementary School, near Alameda and Fourth Street, scored in the top five on the right-sizing rubrics, but the committee recommended that no changes be made because the school is built on a major ancient Native American burial/archeological site.

Other recommendations included turning Corrales Elementary School into a small pre-K through eighth grade school and removing attendance boundaries for Janet Kahn School of Integrated Arts. Ten other schools may also change boundaries to balance enrollment.

Students could be moved to different schools as early as 2024, as would be the case for Taft and Garfield pupils. Duranes and La Luz students would move in 2025, and Kirtland students in 2026. A reboundary timeline wasnt included in the report for Polk students.

The proposed timelines, Capital Master Plan Executive Director Kizito Wijenje noted, are draft recommendations that are contingent on funding and board approval.

Next steps include fleshing the recommendations out, including what boundary changes and funding would look like, with Elder and the district cabinet, Chief Operations Officer Gabriella Blakey said. Affected schools will also form their own committees to discuss their wants for repurposing.

Several factors weighed in on the rubrics the committee used to come up with their recommendations, including enrollment and how empty schools are, academic outcomes, financial viability and equity  the latter of which included considerations about the number of English learners a school has and whether its a Title I school.

Equity, Capital Master Plan Executive Director Kizito Wijenje said, was one of the factors officials used to balance out their evaluations from the purely technical and financial considerations.

Part of what the committee hopes to accomplish, said Office of Innovation Executive Director Mark Garcia, is to make APS, especially through its magnet schools, a more appealing choice for families.

Many students leave the district after fifth grade, he said. I think this might bring us back into a competitive edge, not just for parochial schools, but also for charter schools in the district.

Elder added that the plan  which he called clever  would help expose students all over the city to more options and opportunities to take advantage of new curriculums and programs. He said the plan was a long time coming, and that the district couldnt keep doing the same thing over and over.

Mondays discussion came after LFC analysts, citing dwindling enrollment and bloated funding and staff numbers, called for the district to right-size in the spring of last year. Currently, APS has about 71,100 students  down from close to 89,200 students 10 years ago.

Since the district got that sobering review, officials have said its cut hundreds of positions, and that APS has reduced its number of vacancies districtwide.

But after they got the LFC report, officials also said that consolidating schools was on the table for the district in 2024. Since then, Elder has stressed that simply shuttering schools is not good for the neighborhood and not good for economic development.

Board Vice President Peggy Muller-Aragon urged the committee to look further, saying that some communities  like on the West Side of the city, where her district is  may benefit from selling schools.

If we sold some of those schools  it would bring a possibility of building new neighborhoods in areas where there isnt space for new neighborhoods, she said. We all know how housing is really lacking in our city.

On another hand, board member Barbara Petersen said that for the most part, she appreciated the work that had been done on the recommendations.

I appreciate  that its not just slash and burn, she said. This is not a business, this is a mission that we have for educating children and being a real substantive part of communities.

WEB-ONLY: RightSizingRecommendations_01.09.2023
Copyright  2023 Albuquerque Journal

Chicos the name he got, but Lucky would have been an equally good fit for the tan-colored Chihuahua with an underbite and what appears to be one blind eye.

The little dog is apparently a survivor of a head-on crash between a van and a tractor-trailer rig near Vaughn on Jan. 3. As many as 110 Chihuahuas may have been in the van and more than 25 of them have been missing.

Santa Rosa Mayor Nelson Harrison Kotiar said a motorist from Illinois was driving north on U.S. 54 mid-afternoon on Saturday when she saw Chico along the highway north of Vaughn and south of Pastura. Kotiar said the woman brought the dog  a male aged 2 to 3  to the Santa Rosa Police Department. A forever home with local residents has been found for him.

The mayor said he also received word Monday that ranchers in the Vaughn area had found and recovered two more Chihuahuas.

We are telling people, if you see any dogs, let us know, bring them to our town, Kotiar said.

On Saturday, a Santa Rosa firefighter took Chico to Susan Marquez, who operates Sues Doggie Doos, a Santa Rosa grooming business.

It was very thin and had cactus quills in it, she said. The fireman said he thought it may have had dried blood on it, but I could not find any injuries. I bathed him and took the quills out. He had very long toenails. I clipped them. He was very thirsty, but in pretty good shape. And hes a very sweet dog.

Marquez named the dog Chico and gave it to residents of an RV park she manages. She said they want to keep him. They say he is very clingy, very attached.

According to New Mexico State Police, officers were notified at 12:45 a.m. Jan. 3 of a collision on U.S. 54, about two miles north of U.S. 60. An investigation showed that a 2000 Chevrolet Astro Van, driven by Missael Rodelo, 40, of El Paso, was traveling south on U.S. 54 when it crossed into oncoming traffic and crashed into a 2022 Freightliner tractor-trailer rig driven by a 41-year-old man.

Rodelo and four passengers in the van, as well as the tractor-trailer driver and a passenger in the rig, were taken to a hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

The van was towed to Santa Rosa, where it was discovered that it contained 82 Chihuahuas, 64 living and 18 dead. The city contacted area shelters and animal rescue operations for help. The East Mountain Companion Animal Project took 48 of the dogs and placed them in foster homes.

But Kotiar said information obtained at the accident site indicated that 108 to 110 dogs had been in the van when the accident occurred. It was believed that the missing Chihuahuas got out through a side of the van that had been ripped open.

Keenan Foster, a director with East Mountain Companion Animal Project, said project volunteers had driven the area of the accident on Saturday, but had not seen any Chihuahuas nor found any remains of the dogs.

We have emailed people in the area to be on the look-out and some of our volunteers have posted items asking the same thing, Foster said.
Copyright  2023 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham outraised  and outspent  her Republican opponent, Mark Ronchetti, by over $3 million during her successful campaign for reelection, according to campaign records.

And it appears to have been a much more expensive race overall than four years ago.

Lujan Grisham, Ronchetti and Libertarian Karen Bedonie reported nearly $23 million in spending during the 2022 election cycle, well above the $14 million reported at a similar point in the 2018 campaign.

Lujan Grisham alone spent about $13 million on her reelection bid, according to Mondays campaign finance reports. Ronchetti spent almost $9.5 million.

The total spending by the gubernatorial candidates was among the highest ever for a contested race for public office in New Mexico.

Lujan Grisham won the hard-hitting race by 6 percentage points.

The campaign filings due Monday are the fourth and final report for the 2022 election. They cover activity for a 61-day period running from the week before Election Day through the end of the year.

Lujan Grishams campaign spending in the final week included more than $25,700 to a private jet company, Vincent Jets, for staff travel. She also spent heavily late in the campaign on campaign consultants, according to Mondays report.

Among her big donors before Election Day were $10,000 each from outgoing U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., and New York radio host Barry Cope.

Among Ronchettis large donors in the latest report were contributions from individuals in the oil and gas, ranching and aviation industries. The donations included $1,000 from Legacy Church senior pastor Steve Smothermon, whose comments about Ronchettis position on abortion roiled the race at times.

Ronchettis late spending  about $542,000 overall in the final report  was heavy on campaign commercials, fuel and lodging.

In the run-up to Election Day, Ronchetti crisscrossed the state on a 42-stop RV tour spanning 10 days.

The campaign also spent about $169,000 in the final week before Election Day on airtime or ad production costs, according to Mondays report.

Bedonie, the Libertarian candidate, raised and spent about $149,000 in her campaign for the election cycle  just a fraction of what her Democratic and Republican rivals raised.

Her late spending covered fuel, vehicle repair and maintenance, meals, sign removal and other costs.

The final reports also show significant spending by independent groups:

 A committee affiliated with the Democratic Governors Association spent about $11.3 million under the name A Stronger New Mexico. A second DGA-affiliated PAC spent about $476,000.

 A committee affiliated with the Republican Governors Association reported about $6.9 million in spending during the 2022 election cycle.

 The Yes on the Childrens Amendment committee spent about $1.7 million in the cycle, supported by funding from the National Education Association union.

The campaign sought voter approval of the constitutional amendment to withdraw more money out of New Mexicos largest permanent fund to pay for early childhood education and public schools.

It won support from about 70% of voters.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces are escalating their onslaught against Ukrainian positions around the wrecked city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian officials said, bringing new levels of death and devastation in the grinding, monthslong battle for control of eastern Ukraine that is part of Moscows wider war.

Everything is completely destroyed. There is almost no life left, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday of the scene around Bakhmut and the nearby Donetsk province city of Soledar, known for salt mining and processing.

The whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes, Zelenskyy said. This is what madness looks like.

Late Tuesday, the head of the Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor, Dmitry Prigozhin, claimed in audio reports posted on his Russian social media platform that his forces had seized control of Soledar, with battles continuing in a cauldron in the citys center. Ukrainian officials did not comment on the claim, and The Associated Press was unable to verify it.

The U.K. Defense Ministry said earlier that Russian troops alongside soldiers from the Wagner Group had advanced in Soledar and are likely in control of most of the settlement.

The ministry said that taking Soledar, 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Bakhmut, was likely Moscows immediate military objective and part of a strategy to encircle Bakhmut. But it added that Ukrainian forces maintain stable defensive lines in depth and control over supply routes in the area.

A Western official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Wagner Group has moved from being a niche sideshow of Russias war to a major component of the conflict, adding that its forces now make up as much as a quarter of Russian combatants.

The Kremlin, whose invasion of its neighbor 10 1/2 months ago has suffered numerous reversals, is hungry for victories. Russia illegally annexed Donetsk and three other Ukrainian provinces in September, but its troops have struggled to advance.

After Ukrainian forces recaptured the southern city of Kherson in November, the battle heated up around Bakhmut.

Ukraines deputy defense minister, Hanna Malyar, said Russia has thrown a large number of storm groups into the fight for the city. The enemy is advancing literally on the bodies of their own soldiers and is massively using artillery, rocket launchers and mortars, hitting their own troops, she said.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the Donetsk regions Kyiv-appointed governor, on Tuesday described the Russian attacks on Soledar and Bakhmut as relentless.

The Russian army is reducing Ukrainian cities to rubble using all kinds of weapons in their scorched-earth tactics, Kyrylenko said in televised remarks. Russia is waging a war without rules, resulting in civilian deaths and suffering.

Wounded soldiers arrive around the clock for emergency treatment at a Ukrainian medical stabilization center near the front line around Bakhmut. Medics fought for 30 minutes Monday to save a soldier, but his injuries were too severe.

Another soldier suffered a head injury after a fragment pierced his helmet. Medics quickly stabilized him enough to transfer him to a military hospital.

We fight to the end to save a life, Kostyantyn Vasylkevich, a surgeon and the centers coordinator, told The Associated Press. Of course, it hurts when it is not possible to save them.

The Moscow-backed leader of the occupied areas of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, told Russian state TV control over the city would create good prospects for taking over Bakhmut, as well as Siversk, a town further north where Ukrainian fortifications are also quite serious.

An exceptional feature of the fighting near Bakhmut is that some of it has taken place around entrances to disused salt mine tunnels which run for some 200 kilometers (120 miles), the British intelligence report noted.

Both sides are likely concerned that (the tunnels) could be used for infiltration behind their lines, it said.

In Russia, two signs emerged Tuesday that officials were grappling with the military shortcomings revealed during the conflict in Ukraine.

Russian Defense Minister Shoigu, whose performance has been fiercely criticized in some Russian circles but who has retained Russian President Vladimir Putins confidence, said Tuesday that his military would use its experience in Ukraine to improve combat training.

Military communications and control systems will be improved using artificial intelligence, Shoigu said, and troops will be given better tactical gear and equipment.

The second indication of trouble involves Russias production of weapons and other supplies its military needs for the fight in Ukraine. The deputy head of Russias Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, warned that officials who failed to meet deadlines for such items could face criminal charges.

Putin appointed Medvedev last month to head a new commission tasked with trying to solve the militarys supply problems. Numerous reports have suggested Russia is running low on certain weapons and was sending some troops into battle with insufficient equipment and clothing.

Part of the Kremlins challenge is keeping up with the weapons and supplies that Western allies are providing to Ukraine.

The Patriot surface-to-air guided missile defense system is one of the weapons Ukraine is about to receive, and the Pentagon announced Tuesday that about 100 Ukrainian troops will head to Oklahomas Fort Sill as soon as next week to begin training on it. That will help Ukraine protect itself against Russian missile attacks. The United States pledged one Patriot battery last month, and Germany has pledged an additional system.

Germanys foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, announced Tuesday while visiting Ukraines second largest city, Kharkiv, that her country would also provide 40 million euros ($43 million) to help with demining, energy infrastructure and internet connections, German news agency dpa reported.

Several front-line cities in eastern Ukraines Donetsk and Luhansk provinces have witnessed intense fighting in recent months.

Together, the provinces make up the Donbas, a broad industrial region bordering Russia that Putin identified as a focus from the wars outset and where Moscow-backed separatists have fought since 2014.

Russias grinding eastern offensive captured almost all of Luhansk during the summer. Donetsk escaped the same fate, and the Russian military subsequently poured manpower and resources around Bakhmut.

Taking Bakhmut would disrupt Ukraines supply lines and open a route for Russian forces to press toward Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, key Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk.

Like Mariupol and other contested cities, Bakhmut endured a long siege without water and power even before Moscow launched massive strikes to take out public utilities across Ukraine.

Kyrylenko, the Donetsk regions governor, estimated more than two months ago that 90% of Bakhmuts prewar population of over 70,000 had fled since Moscow focused on seizing the entire Donbas.

Ukraines presidential office said at least four civilians were killed and another 30 wounded in Russian shelling between Monday and Tuesday.

Vitaliy Kim, the governor of the southern Mykolaiv region, said Russian forces shelled the port of Ochakiv and the area around it late Monday and again early Tuesday. He said 15 people, including a 2-year-old child, were wounded.

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Follow APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
LUETZERATH, Germany (AP)  Several hundred climate activists tried Tuesday to prevent heavy machinery from reaching an abandoned village in Germany that is due to be cleared for the expansion of a coal mine, even as police pushed back protesters and removed road blocks ahead of a possible clearance this week.

The standoff between police and protesters followed a regional courts decision Monday rejecting a last-ditch attempt by the activists to stay in the hamlet of Luetzerath, west of Cologne, which has become a battleground between the government and environmentalists.

About 300 people refused to heed the ruling arguing that civil disobedience at the site was justified in the face of the climate crisis.

Utility company RWE wants to extract the coal beneath Luetzerath, which it says is necessary to ensure energy security in Germany. The company reached a deal with the regional government last year that allows the village to be destroyed in return for ending coal use by 2030, rather than 2038.

But climate campaigners say the agreement to expand the massive open-cast Garzweiler mine goes against Germanys international commitments to reduce emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases. They also cite studies suggesting the coal beneath Luetzerath may never be needed.

Tuesdays protest began peacefully, with activists sitting in self-dug trenches and atop large tripods along the roads to the village. Others locked arms in long lines to prevent police and heavy machinery from getting through.

As officers slowly pushed the activists back and carried some away by force, scuffles briefly broke out. On at least two occasions police used pepper spray to stop protesters from advancing again. They in turn responded with chants of We are peaceful, what are you? and Were here for your children too.

Some protesters expressed particular anger at the environmentalist Green party, which is part of the regional and national governments. It supports the deal with RWE, citing the companys claim that the lignite coal beneath Luetzerath is needed and other surrounding villages will be saved under the agreement.

A group of activists dumped 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of coal bricks outside the Greens regional headquarters in Duesseldorf, along with a wooden cross meant to symbolize the death of the partys ideals, German news agency dpa reported.

A townhall meeting Tuesday attended by regional officials and police is expected to see disagreement over the mine come to a head.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden said he was surprised when informed that government records were found by his attorneys at his former office space in Washington. He was asked about the issue after the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee requested that the U.S. intelligence community conduct a damage assessment of potentially classified documents.

Speaking to reporters in Mexico City on Tuesday, Biden said his attorneys did what they should have done when they immediately called the National Archives about the discovery at the offices of the Penn Biden Center. He kept an office there after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until shortly before he launched his Democratic presidential campaign in 2019.

The White House confirmed that the Department of Justice was reviewing a small number of documents with classified markings found at the office.

I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there are any government records that were taken there to that office, Biden said in his first comments since news of the Nov. 2, 2022, document discovery emerged Monday. He added that I dont know whats in the documents and that his lawyers had suggested he not ask.

Earlier Tuesday, Rep. Mike Turner sent the request to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, saying that Bidens retention of the documents put him in potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act.

Irrespective of a federal review, the revelation that Biden potentially mishandled classified or presidential records could prove to be a political headache for the president, who called former President Donald Trumps decision to keep hundreds of such records at his private club in Florida irresponsible.

Those entrusted with access to classified information have a duty and an obligation to protect it, said Turner in a letter to Haines. This issue demands a full and thorough review.

On Tuesday, Rep. James Comer, the new GOP chairman of the House Oversight Committee, sent the White House Counsels office a letter requesting copies of the documents found at the Biden office, communications about the discovery, and a list of those who may have had access to the office where they were found. The White House didnt immediately respond to the request.

Haines agreed in September to conduct a risk assessment rather than a damage assessment of the Trump case.

There are significant differences between the Trump and Biden situations, including the gravity of an ongoing grand jury investigation into the Mar-a-Lago matter. The intelligence risk assessment into the Trump documents is to examine the seized records for classification as well as the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents.

Sen. Mark Warner, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for a briefing on the documents.

Our system of classification exists in order to protect our most important national security secrets, and we expect to be briefed on what happened both at Mar-a-Lago and at the Biden office as part of our constitutional oversight obligations, he said. From what we know so far, the latter is about finding documents with markings, and turning them over, which is certainly different from a months-long effort to retain material actively being sought by the government. But again, thats why we need to be briefed.

Special counsel to the president Richard Sauber said Monday that after Bidens attorneys found the records, they notified the National Archives and Records Administration  which took custody of the documents the next day.

Since that discovery, the Presidents personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives, Sauber said.

A person who is familiar with the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly said Attorney General Merrick Garland asked U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch to review the matter after the Archives referred the issue to the department. Lausch is one of the few U.S. attorneys to be held over from Trumps administration.

Trump weighed in Monday on his social media site, asking, When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?

Republicans have just taken control of the House of Representatives and are promising to launch widespread investigations of Bidens administration.

The revelation also may complicate the Justice Departments consideration of whether to bring charges against Trump, a Republican who is trying to win back the White House in 2024 and has repeatedly claimed the departments inquiry into of his own conduct amounted to corruption.

The National Archives did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Spokespeople for Garland and Lausch declined to comment.

Comer also sent a letter to the National Archives requesting records and correspondence relating to discovery of the Biden documents, asserting that NARAs inconsistent treatment of recovering classified records held by former President Trump and President Biden raises questions about political bias at the agency.

His Democratic counterpart, Rep. Jamie Raskin, said Bidens attorneys appear to have taken immediate and proper action.

I have confidence that the attorney general took the appropriate steps to ensure the careful review of the circumstances surrounding the possession and discovery of these documents and make an impartial decision about any further action that may be needed, he added.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, said Monday that the American public deserved to know earlier about the classified documents.

They knew about this a week before the election, maybe the American people should have known that, Jordan told reporters. They certainly knew about the the raid on Mar-a-Lago 91 days before this election, but nice if on November 2, the country would have known that there were classified documents at the Biden Center.

Jordan is among House Republicans pushing for the creation of a select subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal government within the Judiciary Committee.

It wasnt immediately clear why the White House didnt disclose the discovery of the documents or the DOJ review sooner. CBS was first to report Monday on the discovery of the potentially classified documents.

The Justice Department for months has been investigating the retention of roughly 300 documents that were marked as classified and were recovered from Trumps Florida estate. In that instance, prosecutors say, representatives of Trump resisted requests to give back the full stash of classified documents and failed to fully comply with a subpoena that sought their return.

FBI agents in August served a search warrant at the Mar-a-Lago property, removing 33 boxes and containers.

That investigation is being led by special counsel Jack Smith. Prosecutors have interviewed an array of Trump associates and have been using a grand jury to hear evidence.

Democrats made a similar request of the director of national intelligence in August following the search of Mar-a-Lago. Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Adam Schiff, who then led the House Oversight and Intelligence committees, asked Haines for an immediate review and damage assessment, alleging that Trump has potentially put our national security at grave risk.

Intelligence officials are not believed to have briefed Congress on their assessment in the four months since, according to public statements from lawmakers. Haines noted in her letter that any risk assessment would not unduly interfere with the Justice Departments criminal investigation into the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago.

___

Associated Press writers Nomaan Merchant, Eric Tucker and Farnoush Amiri in Washington, Colleen Long in Mexico City and Michael Tarm in Chicago contributed.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  No amnesty! No amnesty! No amnesty!

The chant reverberated off the walls of the jam-packed hall at the University of Sao Paulos law college on Monday afternoon. Within hours, it was the rallying cry for thousands of Brazilians who streamed into the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, penned on protest posters and banners.

The words are a demand for retribution against the supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro who stormed Brazils capital Sunday, and those who enabled the rampage.

These people need to be punished, the people who ordered it need to be punished, those who gave money for it need to be punished, Bety Amin, a 61-year-old therapist, said on Sao Paulos main boulevard. The word DEMOCRACY stretched across the back of her shirt. They dont represent Brazil. We represent Brazil.

Protesters push for accountability evokes memories of an amnesty law that for decades has protected military members accused of abuse and murder during the countrys 1964-85 dictatorship. A 2014 truth commission report sparked debate over how Brazil has grappled with the regimes legacy.

Declining to mete out punishment can avoid tensions at the moment, but perpetuates instability, Luis Felipe Miguel, a professor of political science at the University of Brasilia, wrote in a column entitled No Amnesty published Monday evening. That is the lesson we should have learned from the end of the military dictatorship, when Brazil opted not to punish the regimes killers and torturers.

The same day, Brazilian police rounded up roughly 1,500 rioters. Some were caught in the act of trashing Brazils Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace. Most were detained the following morning at an encampment in Brasilia. Many were held in a gymnasium throughout the day, and video shared on pro-Bolsonaro social media channels showed some complaining about poor treatment in the crowded space.

Almost 600 who were elderly, sick, homeless or mothers with their children were released Tuesday after being questioned and having their phones inspected, the Federal Police said in a statement. Its press office previously told The Associated Press that the force plans to indict at least 1,000 people. As of Tuesday afternoon, 527 people had been transfered to either a detention center or prison.

The administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says jailing the rioters is only the start.

Justice minister Flavio Dino vowed to prosecute those who acted behind the scenes to summon supporters on social media and finance their transport on charges involving organized crime, staging a coup, and violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. Authorities also are investigating allegations that local security personnel allowed the destruction to proceed unabated.

We cannot and will not compromise in fulfilling our legal duties, Dino said. This fulfillment is essential so such events do not repeat themselves.

Lula signed a decree, now approved by both houses of Congress, ordering the federal government to assume control of security in the capital.

Far-right elements have refused to accept Bolsonaros electoral defeat. Since his Oct. 30 loss, they have camped outside military barracks in Brasilia, pleading for intervention to allow Bolsonaro to remain in power and oust Lula. When no coup materialized, they rose up themselves.

Decked out in the green and yellow of the national flag, they broke windows, toppled furniture and hurled computers and printers to the ground. They punched holes in a massive Emiliano Di Cavalcanti painting at the presidential palace and destroyed other works of art. They overturned the U-shaped table where Supreme Court justices convene, ripped a door off one justices office and vandalized a statue outside the court. Hours passed before police expelled the mob.

Its unacceptable what happened yesterday. Its terrorism, Marcelo Menezes, a 59-year-old police officer from northeastern Pernambuco state, said at a protest in Sao Paulo. Im here in defense of democracy, Im here in defense of the people.

Cries of No amnesty! were also heard during Lulas Jan. 1 inaugural address, in response to the president detailing the neglect of the outgoing Bolsonaro administration.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain, has waxed nostalgic for the dictatorship era, praised a notorious torturer as a hero and said the regime should have gone further in executing communists. His government also commemorated the anniversary of Brazils 1964 coup.

Political analysts had repeatedly warned that Bolsonaro was laying the groundwork for an insurrection in the mold of that which unfolded in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. For months, he stoked belief among hardcore supporters that the nations electronic voting system was prone to fraud  though he never presented any evidence and independent experts disagreed.

Results from the election, the closest since Brazils return to democracy, were quickly recognized by politicians across the spectrum, including some Bolsonaro allies, as well as dozens of other governments. The outgoing president surprised nearly everyone by promptly fading from view, neither conceding defeat nor emphatically crying fraud. He and his party submitted a request to nullify millions of votes, which was swiftly dismissed by the electoral authority.

None of that dissuaded his die-hard backers from their conviction that Bolsonaro should still be in power.

In the immediate aftermath of the riot, Lula said that the so-called fascist fanatics and their financial backers must be held responsible. He also accused Bolsonaro of encouraging the uprising.

Bolsonaro denied the presidents accusation Sunday. Writing on Twitter, he said peaceful protest is part of democracy, but vandalism and invasion of public buildings cross the line.

Authorities are also investigating the role of the federal districts police in either failing to halt protesters advance or standing aside to let them run amok. Prosecutors in the capital said local security forces were negligent at the very least. A supreme court justice temporarily suspended the regional governor, who oversees the force, for what he termed willful omission and issued warrants for the preventative arrests of the former heads of the security secretariat and military police, as well as searches of their residences.

Another justice blamed authorities across Brazil for not swiftly cracking down on homegrown neofascism.

The upheaval finally prompted municipal and state governments to disperse the pro-Bolsonaro encampments outside the military barracks. Their tents and tarps were taken down, and residents were sent packing.

Meanwhile, pro-democracy protesters want to ensure their message  No amnesty!  will be heeded by both the law enforcement authorities and any far-right elements who might dare defy democracy again.

After what happened yesterday, we need to go to the street, said Marcos Gama, a retiree protesting Monday night in Sao Paulo. We need to react.

___

AP videojournalist Mello reported from Sao Paulo. AP writer Carla Bridi contributed from Salvador.
An Albuquerque man was killed after being hit while trying to cross Interstate 25 on foot Monday night.

Ledonta Jenkins, 43, died in the incident that happened around 9:30 p.m. on southbound I-25 at Gibson, according to New Mexico State Police.

Based on the initial investigation, police said Jenkins for unknown reasons was trying to cross all four lanes of southbound traffic and was hit by a Hyundai Sonata.

Mr. Jenkins suffered fatal injuries in the crash and was pronounced deceased on the scene by the Office of the Medical Investigator, State Police said in its news release.

The 21-year-old driver of the other car was not hurt.

Police said alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the crash.
Copyright  2023 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  New Mexico state workers and teachers would receive salary increases starting in July and state residents would get another round of tax rebates  of $750 per taxpayer  under a $9.4 billion spending plan unveiled Tuesday by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The budget plan released by the governor, who recently began her second term after winning reelection last year, also calls for spending infusions in order to extend the school year in New Mexico by up to 10 days annually, expand a college scholarship program, hire more law enforcement officers statewide and create mobile response teams to deal with homeless individuals.

Today, we have a historic opportunity for change in the state of New Mexico, Lujan Grisham said in a statement. This budget builds upon the immense progress and success of the last four years, continuing to improve the lives of the people of New Mexico by funding programs, policies and initiatives that we know are working.

In all, the budget plan would tap an unprecedented state revenue windfall to increase year-over-year spending by roughly $1 billion  or about 11.9%  while still setting enough money aside to pay for changes to New Mexicos tax code.

The changes sought by the governor include reducing the states gross receipts tax base rate by an additional 0.25 percentage points  a similar phased-in rate reduction was approved last year  and adjusting brackets in the states personal income tax code, top Governors Office officials said Tuesday.

They also said the governor does not favor including a trigger mechanism that would automatically undo the tax cuts if projected revenue levels fail to materialize, though such a provision could end up being a part of negotiations with the Legislature.

As for the rebates, the idea of returning a chunk of the states oil-fueled revenue surplus to taxpayers has received bipartisan support in recent weeks, though Lujan Grisham criticized her Republican opponent Mark Ronchetti on the campaign trail last year for proposing annual rebates and sweeping tax cuts that her campaign described as imprudent.

The rebates would mark the latest round of financial relief for state residents dealing with the high cost of gas, food and other supplies, as several rounds of rebates approved last year provided up to $1,500 in rebates per household.

The new round would cost an estimated $1 billion and rebates would be provided for all New Mexico taxpayers, not just lower-income ones, under the governors plan.

Meanwhile, the tax package favored by the governor could cost the state about $500 million in foregone revenue.

Mountain of money

The spending plan released Tuesday comes as lawmakers are readying for the start of a 60-day legislative session next week.

While a wide range of proposals are expected to be debated, the states mountain of money will be at the forefront of many Roundhouse debates.

Specifically, new revenue estimates unveiled in December projected revenue levels will continue to surge through the coming budget year  with roughly $3.6 billion in new money projected to be available  due to increased oil production and an uptick in consumer spending.

Some lawmakers have called for spending restraint despite the revenue windfall, saying a drop in oil prices and a possible global recession could mean a big drop in state revenue collections within the next several years.

I think we better be real, real careful, Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, the states longest-serving legislator, said in a recent interview. We just need to make sure we dont overspend so much that down the road we have to find ways to fund or cut.

But lawmakers have already come forward with different ideas on how to spend some of the states budget surplus, including the building of a high-speed train crisscrossing New Mexico from north to south.

A key legislative panel will release its own spending plan later this week and the two proposals will be studied as lawmakers build a new state budget for the fiscal year that starts in July.

Pay raises

Despite the revenue windfall, many New Mexico state government agencies have dealt with high employee vacancy rates amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an attempt to bolster staffing levels, the spending plan released Tuesday by the governor would provide 4% pay raises for all state workers, teachers and other education workers in New Mexico.

Those raises would take effect in July and would cost the state an estimated $202.4 million annually.

In addition, the governors plan calls for $100 million to be earmarked to cover the cost of health care premiums for education employees.

Starting teachers in New Mexico paid an average of $4,223 per year on health insurance costs as of August 2021, according to Legislative Finance Committee data.

Teachers unions have lauded the proposal to have the state pay for educators health insurance premiums, which would take effect just a year after New Mexico starting teacher pay was increased to $50,000 per year.

When skyrocketing health care premiums drive talented people out of the profession, everyone loses, said Bethany Jarrell, the vice president for the National Education Association union in New Mexico.

However, the proposal to cover health insurance premiums would only apply  at least for now  to educators and not other state workers, top Lujan Grisham administration officials said Tuesday.

Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, questioned the long-term feasibility of the plan.

I dont think we can afford to pick up every teachers health insurance, Munoz told the Journal. Its not sustainable.

He also said the Legislative Finance Committee would be proposing slightly larger salary increases for state workers and teachers than the governor.

Ending poverty

Lujan Grisham, who vowed during her inaugural address on Jan. 1 to work to end generational poverty in New Mexico during her second term, also included in her spending plan more funding for economic development initiatives and mental health treatment for children held in state protective facilities.

The Democratic governor described the proposals, and others included in the budget plan, as new and innovative strategies that are disrupting the status quo, that help our children, our families, our schools, our small businesses and our entire economy to grow and prosper.

The 60-day legislative session starts Jan. 17.
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The Good Charlotte musician is content with his marriage life with the former 'Charlie's Angels' actress as he pens a sweet note to mark their latest wedding anniversary.

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Benji Madden feels "happy and grateful" after eight years of marriage to Cameron Diaz. The Good Charlotte star celebrated the couple's eighth wedding anniversary on January 5 by sharing a sweet tribute to his actress wife and their daughter Raddix - who arrived in 2019 via surrogate - in a post on Instagram declaring he's hoping for 80 more years together.

"In Love, Inspired, Happy and Grateful. 8 years married, side by side, and now a little one for us to guide. Let's do 80 more and then forever ... Happy anniversary 1.5 @camerondiaz ...," Benji wrote and shared the message alongside one of his paintings which depicted a vase full of flowers.

The couple's friends and family rushed to comment on the post with Benji's twin brother Joel posting three red heart emojis and pal Gwyneth Paltrow writing, "Love you both so much."

The 43-year-old rocker tied the knot with Cameron back in 2015 after less than a year of dating. They welcomed their daughter four years later.

Cameron recently opened up about how her love of cooking helped her during the early days of their romance as she was able to whip up an Italian feast for her new man.

During an interview on "The Drew Barrymore Show", Drew recalled to Cameron, "We get home from this two-day immersive course on Northern and Southern Italian cooking, and you are about to go on a date with Benji.

"We had talked about it all weekend and I drove you to a grocery store, so pregnant I stayed in the car, and you went inside. What was the dish you made him that night? I'm gonna let you tell it. I remember it clear as day."

Cameron revealed she had made lamb for Benji. She said, "Lamb chops. Mediterranean lamb chops, some couscous, and some broccoli and sauteed zucchini. I put shallot gold inside the couscous."

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The Duchess of Sussex apparently mistook Queen's second son as her assistant when the then-'Suits' actress met him for the first time at the Royal Lodge in 2016.

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Meghan, Duchess of Sussex initially thought Prince Andrew was Queen Elizabeth's assistant the first time they met. In his new memoir "Spare", out worldwide from Tuesday, January 10, 2023, Prince Harry, 38, revealed how unprepared the former "Suits" actress, 41, was when she was first introduced to his family.

"After a moment Meg asked me something about the Queen's assistant. I asked who she was talking about. 'That man holding the purse. That man who walked her to the door. That wasn't her assistant? Who was it?' " he said in the book about Meghan's meeting with the Queen at the Royal Lodge in 2016. "That was her second son. Andrew," he replied and added about Meghan, "She definitely hadn't googled us."

Meghan told in her and Harry's Netflix docuseries how her experience of curtseying to the Queen was "surreal." She was seen in the six-part "Harry & Meghan" show giggling as she recreated the exaggerated bow she said she gave the late Queen, who died aged 96 on September 8 at her Balmoral estate.

Meghan also compared her first encounter with Her Majesty to a royal-themed dinner at America's "Medieval Times" restaurant, but said it was an "intense" moment. Meghan added about her 2016 meeting with the Queen, "I mean, it's surreal. There wasn't like some big moment (with Harry) of, 'Now you're gonna meet my grandmother.' "

"I didn't know I was going to meet her until moments before. We were in the car and we were going to the Royal Lodge for lunch, and (Harry) was like, 'Oh, my grandmother is here, she's gonna be there after church.' I remember we were in the car, driving and (Harry is) like, 'You know how to curtsy, right?'. And I just thought it was a joke."

"Now I'm starting to realise this is a big deal. I mean, Americans will understand this. We have 'Medieval Times' dinner and tournament. It was like that. Like, I curtsied as though I was like, 'Pleasure to meet you your Majesty.' It was so intense... I didn't know what I was doing."

Harry said in the show about Meghan's ignorance of royal life, "She had no idea what it all consisted of, so it was a bit of a shock to the system for her how do you explain that to people? How do you explain that you bow to your grandmother? And that you would need to curtsy, especially to an American. That's weird."

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The Duke of Sussex explains why he would never return to live full time in his native country with his wife Meghan Markle and their son Archie and daughter Lilibet.

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Prince Harry believes moving back to Britain would be "unsurvivable." On Monday, January 9, 2023, the Duke of Sussex, 38, claimed he and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, 41, will never again return to live in the UK as he thinks the British Press would make it unbearable for them and their young family.

"I don't think that even if there was an agreement or an arrangement between me and my family (to move back to Britain), there's that third party (the British media) that's going to do everything they can to make sure that that isn't possible - not stopping us from going back but making it unsurvivable," he told "Good Morning America" co-host Michael Strahan in his latest interview to promote his new memoir.

Harry and his wife's move from Britain to California, dubbed "Megxit," came in 2020, and has seen them settle in a $14 million mansion in Montecito, where they are bringing up their two children, Archie, three, and 19-month-old Lilibet.

Despite his declaration he and Meghan will never return to live full time in Britain, Harry also hinted that he and Meghan will never give up their official titles.

He asked host Anderson Cooper in a chat on "60 Minutes" shown on Sunday, January 8, 2023, "What difference would that make?" when the presenter enquired if he and his wife were going to renounce their royal titles of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, which they continue to use despite not working at royal duties.

Anderson also asked Harry why he was airing his grievances against the royal family so publicly, "One of the criticisms that you've received is that okay, fine, you want to move to California, you want to step back from the institutional role. Why be so public? Why reveal conversations you've had with your father or with your brother? You say you tried to do this privately."

Harry replied, "Every single time I've tried to do it privately there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife. You know, the family motto is never complain, never explain. But it's just a motto. And it doesn't really hold."

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After the Duke of Sussex claims in his book 'Spare' that he killed 25 Talliban while serving in Afghanistan, people protest at a university in Helmand as they're asking the royal to be put on trial.

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Prince Harry is facing calls from Afghans to be put on trial after he boasted he killed 25 people during his tours of duty in the country. The 38-year-old British royal bbragged of the killings in his memoir "Spare", and said he considered his targets "chess pieces" instead of humans and "Bads taken away before they could kill Goods."

Protesters at a university in Helmand, southern Afghanistan, carried posters on Sunday, January 08, after his comments were published, which showed the Duke of Sussex's portrait crossed out with a red "X". And Mail Online reported on Monday, January 9, that Mullah Abdullah, who lost four family members in what he described as a U.K. airstrike in 2011, said, "We ask the international community to put (the Duke of Sussex) on trial, and we should get compensation for our losses. We lost our house, life, and family members. We lost our livelihood and also our loved ones."

The outlet added Sayed Ahmad Sayed, a university teacher in Helmand, said, "The cruelties which have been committed by Prince Harry, his friends or by anyone else in Helmand or anywhere in Afghanistan is unacceptable, cruel. These acts will be remembered by history."

The media director for the Taliban governor of Helmand, Mawlavi Mohammad Qasim, declared Harry's brag exposed the "real face of the Western world". Harry has also been mocked by Taliban militants as a "mad big mouth loser" and "dirty idiot" over his death toll claim.

Speaking from a checkpoint outside Islam Qala, on the border with Iran, Taliban commander Molavi Agha Gol, 32, told Mail Online on Friday, January 6, "We are still here ruling but he has fled to his grandmother's palace. He's a big mouth loser who has been trying to get attention. I do not even believe what he said about the Mujaheddin. He is a loser and scared to go to a combat zone. We made history by kicking him and his army out of our homeland and he should be very angry about that."

"Do not believe whatever losers tell you. I see news about him a lot on my Facebook feed and really think he's gone mad and needs a doctor immediately. Even if he believes (that he killed 25 Taliban), our martyred Mujaheddin are in heaven, but his invading friends are burning in hell and I really hope I was in Helmand when he was there, to make him understand what real chess pieces are. If he's a real man and not a f**king loser, come to Afghanistan again," he continued.

Former British Army Colonel Richard Kemp has warned Harry may have put a target on his back with his remarks, and was quoted by The Sun on Friday, January 6, saying, "It undermines his personal security. He has shot himself in the foot."

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Previously, it's reported that the Canadian rapper fired George Mdgesyan, who allegedly botched the emcee's defense, and replaced him with Suge Knight's former lawyer David Kenner.

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Tory Lanez's ex-defense lawyer has finally broken his silence after it's reported that the Canadian rapper, who was found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in July 2020, switched up his legal team and got rid of one of his lawyers, George Mgdesyan. In a statement, George clarified that he's leaving on good terms.

On Monday, January 9, Rolling Stone senior reporter Nancy Dillon received a statement from George. In it, the lawyer refuted claims that he's exiting the "Say It" rapper's legal team on bad terms. "I don't do appeals, so we had to get somebody on board to handle the appeal," said the attorney.

Additionally, George said he "may still attend" Tory's sentencing hearing on January 27, "if possible." He shared, "As a party who represented Tory and is friends with Tory, I have an interest."

Despite the sentencing hearing being set for late January, the rapper has a court date on Tuesday, January 10. According to Nancy, the court hearing tomorrow will be for "substitution for attorney."

Tory replaced George with Suge Knight's former attorney David Kenner. David is the third lawyer that Tory has hired since his charges were laid in 2020, having started with Shawn Holley and worked with George, who allegedly botched the emcee's defense.

Tory's new attorney, David, has represented Suge in his January 2015 hit-and-run case. However, David was fired in 2015. The former head of Death Row Records went on to change attorneys three more times, and in 2018, he agreed to serve 28 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter for running over a man, Terry Carter. The Death Row Records co-founders had initially said that Suge was acting in self-defense when he drove and clipped a man, causing him to die.

Tory was convicted of shooting Megan on December 23, following eight days of trial, nearly two days of closing arguments and a day of deliberations. A grand jury found Tory, who pleaded not guilty to all counts, guilty of all three charges levied against him. The three counts include felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm, possession of a concealed, unregistered firearm and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.

In response to the guilty verdict, Tory's legal team said that they're planning to appeal the verdict. His fans have also established several petitions to appeal his conviction in connection to the shooting. The petition with the most signatures, launched on the same day that Tory was taken into custody, now has over 50,00 signatures with a goal to reach 75,000.

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The former N.W.A. member is not happy after learning that the Florida congresswoman uses his song in a video to tout her political prowess, calling her 'divisive and hateful.'

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Dr. Dre may be proud of his works, but he refuses to let his songs be associated with any politicians, particularly Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The hip-hop legend has called out the Republican politician for an unauthorized use of his song in a promo video.

In the clip posted on her Twitter page on Monday, January 9, the Florida congresswoman touts her seeming behind-the-scenes role in helping Kevin McCarthy get elected as House Speaker. In the video, she's seen walking through the halls of Congress. At one point, she takes a call from "DT," all while the beat of "Still D.R.E." is playing in the background.

"It's time to begin.. and they can't stop what's coming," she captioned the video.

Dre was unhappy to find out that his song was used without his permission for Marjorie's personal purpose. "I don't license my music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one," he said in a statement.

The video has since been removed from Twitter and Marjorie was temporarily locked out of her account for posting the video. In response to Dre's statement, Marjorie said, "While I appreciate the creative chord progression, I would never play your words of violence against women and police officers, and your glorification of the thug life and drugs."

But Dre didn't stop there. His lawyer Howard King has sent a cease and desist to Marjorie. "Mr. Young [Dre] has not, and will never, grant you permission to broadcast or disseminate any of his music," the attorney said.

In the letter, Howard went after the far-right conspiracy theorist as saying, "You would have a passing familiarity with the laws of our country. It's possible, though, that laws governing intellectual property are a little too arcane and insufficiently populist for you to really have spent much time on."

"We're writing because we think an actual lawmaker should be making laws not breaking laws, especially those embodied in the constitution by the founding fathers," the lawyer stressed. He also demanded that Marjorie cease and desist from using any of Dre's music, and he set a time deadline. "Please provide me with written confirmation that you have complied with these demands before January 11, 2023 by 5:00 P.M. EST," he stated.

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In his explosive memoir 'Spare', the Duke of Sussex elaborates on the tension between the Duchess of Sussex and the Duchess of Cambridge over the bridesmaid dress for Kate's daughter Princess Charlotte.

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Kate Middleton is reportedly very upset after Prince Harry detailed the tension between her and his wife Meghan Markle in his bombshell memoir "Spare". According to a royal expert, the Princess of Wales is "outraged and hurt."

Tom Bower, who wrote "Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors", tells Page Six that the attacks against Kate were "grotesquely gutter" and "disgraceful." He continues, "The deception of Harry at the Queen's funeral knowing what he'd written about Kate and William and his father, without giving a hint of what was to come, it's just unbelievable."

Tom also notes that the Duchess of Sussex may also have a tell-all book in the works. "This is the way they're going to make their money for some time now," he adds.

In "Spare", which is set to be released on Tuesday, January 10, Harry writes about the frosty relationship between the sister-in-laws. He also details the infamous feud over bridesmaid dresses as he reveals the fiery text messages between the Duchess of Cambridge and Meghan.

"Charlotte's dress is too big, too long, too baggy," Harry recalls what Kate told Meghan about her daughter Charlotte's dress. "She cried when she tried it on at home."

According to Harry, Meghan then replied, "Right, and I told you the tailor has been standing by since 8am. Here. At KP. Can you take Charlotte to have it altered, as the other mums are doing?" Instead of agreeing to alterations, Kate allegedly asked all the dresses to be "remade" and even discussed the issue with her own wedding designer, who agreed with her.

Harry adds, "Meg asked if Kate was aware of what was going on right now. With her father," referring to the drama surrounding the former "Suits" actress' father Thomas. "Kate said she was well aware, but the dresses. And the wedding is in four days!"

Harry also claims that the wife of Prince William was having "problems with the way Meg was planning her wedding. Something about a party for the page boys? It went back and forth." Meghan allegedly responded, "I'm not sure what else to say. If the dress doesn't fit then please take Charlotte to see Ajay. He's been waiting all day," to which Kate reportedly replied, "Fine." Harry then shares that he found Meghan sobbing "on the floor" of their home.

In addition to that, Harry says that Meghan was reprimanded after she told Kate, who had just given birth to Prince Louis, that she "must have baby brains because of her hormones" amid a tiff. It was also said that Kate wasn't happy when Meghan asked to borrow her lip gloss before the Fab Four appeared at Royal Foundation Forum in 2018.

"Kate, taken aback, went into her handbag and reluctantly pulled out a small tube," Harry writes in his book. "Meg squeezed some onto her finger and applied it to her lips. Kate grimaced."

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All residents of Montecito, California, including celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Meghan Markle and Gwyneth Paltrow, are ordered to 'LEAVE NOW' as a fierce winter storm has pounded the area.

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Not even celebrities' luxury houses can be their safe havens in the threat of Mother Nature. Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and everyone who live in Montecito have been ordered to evacuate immediately amid mudslides.

Taking to her Instagram page, Ellen shared a scary update on the flash flood in the area. She showed a creek next to her property raging as she filmed herself on a safe place next to it. "Montecito is under mandatory evacuation. We are on higher ground so they asked us to shelter in place. Please stay safe everyone," she captioned it.

In the video, the comedian, who was wearing a gray sweater with her hoody up, said to the camera, "So, Montecito is under complete evacuation. The entire town." She mentioned the tragedy that ravaged the area five years ago as saying, "This is the five year anniversary from the fire and mudslides that killed so many people and, er, people lost their homes and lives."

"This is crazy that on the five year anniversary we are having unprecedented rain. This creek next to our house never flows ever," the former daytime talk show host continued. She noted that the water is already nine feet high and will likely go two more feet up. She went on urging people to be "nicer to Mother Nature", saying, "Mother Nature is not happy with us. Stay safe everybody."

The Montecito Fire Department told all surrounding residents on Monday, January 9 to "Leave Now" after the location was hit with more than eight inches of rain in just 12 hours. Those who choose not to evacuate should be ready to "sustain yourself and your household for multiple days," the order said, as residents "may not be able to leave the area, and emergency responders may not be able to access your property in the event of road damage, flooding or a debris flow."

The order impacts about 10,000 people in Montecito and the surrounding area. Celebrities like Oprah, Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, Rob Lowe, Adam Levine, Gwyneth Paltrow and George Lucas are believed to be affected by the conditions.

The conditions have led to trees toppling onto roadways, making evacuation harder. Evacuation centers have been reportedly set up for those who can reach them.

Five years ago, a storm unleashed mudslide that killed 23 people in the town located 90 miles from Los Angeles. More than 100 homes were destroyed.

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The Puerto Rican rapper/actor will work together with 'Bridgerton' creator Chris Van Dusen, 'Yellowjackets' executive producer Drew Comins and studio eOne.

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Bad Bunny is bringing New York Times bestselling young adult book "They Both Die at the End" to the small screen. The "Un Verano Sin Ti" artist is slated to executive produce the Netflix adaptation of Adam Silvera's LGBTQ novel.

According to Deadline, the Puerto Rican rapper/actor will work together with "Bridgerton" creator Chris Van Dusen, "Yellowjackets" executive producer Drew Comins and studio eOne. They're expected to team up after an intense bidding war between five streaming services.

"They Both Die at the End" was a bittersweet hit when it was released back in 2017. However, it had a resurgence during the pandemic thanks in large part to readers posting about it on BookTok. The book also made history by being the first young adult novel with queer Latinx characters to top the New York Times bestsellers list.

After becoming the #1 best-selling young adult book of 2021, Adam, who's gay, celebrated the achievement on Instagram. " 'They Both Die at the End' has been #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for ONE YEAR STRAIGHT (BUT GAY). This is mind-blowing. Thank you for loving Mateo and Rufus so fiercely, and for changing my life in so many extraordinary ways," he wrote back in March.

Globally, "They Both Die at the End" has surpassed the latest "Twilight" book as the #1 YA Best Seller in the U.K. and Australia. A prequel, "The First to Die at the End", was published on October 4, 2022, again hitting #1 on the NY Times Best Seller list and has remained on the list for 13 consecutive weeks since its release.

The novel is a devastating yet uplifting story about two people whose lives change over the course of one unforgettable day. The book synopsis reads, "On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news; They're going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they're both looking to make a new friend on their End Day."

"The good news; There's an app for that," it added. "It's called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure -- to live a lifetime in a single day.

As for Bad Bunny, who has been a vocal ally of the LGBTQ community, he indeed had a big 2022. His LP "Un Verano Sin Ti" was the most streamed album of the year, breaking several records. The album also became the year-end No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums recap. It also became the first Spanish-language album to be nominated for album of the year at the Grammys.

Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, was the year's top-grossing touring act with 81 concerts culled from two separate tours, which each set a new record for the biggest Latin tour ever. As an actor, Bad Bunny will be seen in the "Spider-Man" universe for Sony/Marvel in his own standalone film, "El Muerto". His film/TV credits also include "Bullet Train", "American Sole" and "Narcos: Mexico".

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The 'Saturday Night Live' alum and his 'bodies, bodies, bodies' co-star are photographed snuggling to each other while waiting for food together in a Brooklyn restaurant.

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Pete Davidson and Chase Sui Wonders seemingly are no longer platonic friends. The "Saturday Night Live" alum and his "bodies, bodies, bodies" co-star were photographed snuggling to each other while waiting for food together.

Obtained by TMZ, one of the pictures saw Pete and Chase sitting side by side in a booth while waiting for takeout on Monday afternoon, January 9 at Baba's Perogies in Brooklyn. They appeared to laugh at something they were watching on Pete's phone.

The twosome didn't seem to hold back from getting intimate as they got cozy in public. At one point, Chase wrapped her arm around the comedian's shoulders and pressed her cheek against his. Eyewitness at the restaurant added that the pair even exchanged a couple of sweet kisses.

It was said that when the food came, they left in the same car. During the outing, the apparent new couple opted for casual looks as they donned sweatshirts.

The outing marked the fourth time for Pete and Chase to be hanging out together over the last month. Prior to this, the two were spotted out together three times in one week. In addition to shopping together at a Whole Foods, they were snapped attending a Rangers game and enjoying a late-night rendezvous at the comedian's New York apartment.

Despite the numerous outings, a rep for Pete previously claimed in a statement that the two stars are only friends. The rep for "The King of Staten Island" star told TMZ, "Chase and Pete are great friends." The rep also noted that the pair hung out all the time and they are not an item.

Pete and Chase's intimate outing arrives shortly after Pete's former fling Emily Ratajkowski was spotted on a date with comic Eric Andre. The 31-year-old model, who was last month seen kissing artist Jack Greer and has recently been linked with Pete and DJ Orazio Rispo, had a night out with the 39-year-old funnyman in her home city of New York.

In some photos that circulated online, they were spotted together on Saturday, January 7. The two took a stroll with their arms wrapped around each other. The two were also seen sharing a meal at a Japanese restaurant before going to a bar.

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Speaking with The Sun, one former resident of a rehab facility told the 38-year-old Duke of Sussex makes the admission when he visited the centre aged 17.

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Prince Harry reportedly told a drug addict he took cocaine, Ketamine, cannabis and Nepalese hashish "Temple Balls" as a teenager. Speaking with The Sun on Monday, January 9, one former resident of a rehab facility told the Duke of Sussex made the admission when he visited the centre aged 17.

Paul Smith said he and other addicts were left stunned when the 38-year-old royal dropped in to Featherstone Lodge, south-east London with his father Charles in 2002, after the now-King discovered his son had been regularly smoking cannabis and drinking as a teenager.

Paul, 54, told The Sun after it emerged Harry detailed in his memoir "Spare" to being a drinker, and user of cocaine and weed as a teen, "I think Charles wanted him to be alone and talk to real addicts about how bad drugs are. He did not even have his security people in the room at the time. I said my name was Paul and I explained my situation. I told him that he did not want to end up in a place like this. He talked about taking marijuana, 'Temple Balls' and cocaine."

"He also talked about Ketamine. I was like, 'Oh my God' - I told him he needed to rein it in. But when all the drug taking stuff came out this week from his book I was shocked. I don't know why he decided to announce it all now. He said he felt very bad after taking the drugs," he continued.

Harry tells in his autobiography how he thought a bin spoke to him during a mushroom trip and confessed he had a conversation with a fox from the window of a toilet at posh boarding school Eton where he was smoking marijuana.

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The 'Don't Give Up on Me' rapper comes under fire after he posts on social media a teaser for his new music video, which was taken at the Office of the President of Ghana.

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Meek Mill showed remorse after his recent music video landed him in hot water. The Philly rapper took to Twitter to issue an apology to the people of Ghana after filming a music video at the Jubilee House, a government building that acts as both a residence and office for Ghana's president.

In response to many Ghanaians who thought that it was disrespectful, Meek tweeted on Monday, January 9, "To the people of Ghana no video I drop is ever meant to disrespect the people of Ghana." He added, "The fastest way to make connection is thru music and I wanted to do that with displaying art  im in my 30's from America and didn't know much about the lifestyle here."

In a follow-up tweet, the "God Did" spitter showed his remorse for the decision. "My apologies to the people if any disrespect! We still gonna push to make the connection between black people in America and Africa," the rapper explained. "what I'm trying to do is more than a video and you should see coming soon! My apologies to the the office also!"

Meek also said that it was never his intention to create tension between Africans and black Americans as conversations about culture were brought up. "I'm just not here for no separation of anything black," tweeted Meek. "We already separated enough and don't understand each others cultures. Let's used this to help fix that and more more judgement towards each other!"

Meek came under fire after he posted a teaser for his new music video taken at the Office of the President of Ghana. Meek filmed the clip while visiting Ghana over the holidays to perform at Afro Nation.

Shortly after the post was made, some Internet users criticized Meek for disrespecting the place. "Meek Mill really shot a music video at Jubilee House? This is the lowest point we can get as a country," one user wrote on Twitter. "What happened to 'Jubilee House is a security zone.' Even American Embassy in Ghana, you can't take pictures and Ghana allows Jubilee House to become studio. We are FINISH."

"Director of Diaspora Affairs & Minister of Interior, y'all really get questions answer for that Meek Mill video oooo.. how's a drone being flown over the Jubilee house? As innnnnn???? You can't even shoot a photo at the Independence Square & not get jumped at by 'security' Herh!" someone else added. Another user wrote, "Nah!! This is getting serious, why are we allowing this? Can Meek Mill shoot a music video in the white house?"

In the wake of the backlash, Meek has since deleted the post.

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'Spike Lee' is the latest track off Glock's EP 'PRE5L' to receive a music video treatment as he released 'Forgive Me' visuals back on December 12, 2022.

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Key Glock has released a new music video for "Spike Lee". In the cinematic visuals, which was released on Monday, January 9, the Memphis emcee shows his love to film while paying homage to the famed filmmaker.

The clip shows Glock playing both actor and director as he adds touch to two of Lee's films, 1998's "He Got Game" and 1989's "Do the Right Thing". On the track, he brags, "I made it off the block, then made a couple million, then got me a spot out there by the white people/Just f**ked around and spilled some Wock' on my wife beater."

"Spike Lee" is the latest track off Glock's EP "PRE5L" to receive a music video treatment. On December 12, 2022, he dropped "Forgive Me" visuals that displays him dressing as a nun while rapping his reflective bars in a church.

"Lord forgive me for my sins, I'm 'bout to kill these f**k n***as once again/ Left, jumped off the porch, no pad, no pen, yeah, all I really had was a stick on my hip (Yeah)," he rhymes. "Stick on my hip, I put it on him (Yeah), I put it on him and I put it on you (Yeah)/ Matter of fact, I put it on the whole crew (Baow), these n***as big cap, like Dr. Seuss/ Yeah, big MAC back and it fled like a cruise, I be chasin' them racks like duck, duck, goose (Phew, phew)."

The 5-track set arrived exactly one year after Glock's cousin,Young Dolph, was gunned down at a Memphis, Tennessee cookie store. In March last year, the "Ambition For Cash" spitter said that he was considering becoming an actor because "music don't hit da same" in the wake of Dolph's death.

Glock, whose real name is Markeyvius LaShun Cathey, made the revelation on his Twitter page. "Finna go to acting schooldoing music don't hit da same for me anymore," he tweeted at that time.

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The 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' alum reveals in an Instagram tribute that her mother-in-law, Martina Guobadia, passed away following a battle with dementia.

Jan 11, 2023

AceShowbiz - Porsha Williams and Simon Guobadia mourned the death of his mother, Martina Guobadia. Taking to their respective social media accounts, "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" alum and her husband paid their final tributes to her.

Making use of Instagram, the 41-year-old reality star shared several photos of her and Simon posing alongside her late mother-in-law. She began her caption by writing, "My heart is with my love today after the passing of his mummy Mrs. Martina Guobadia."

"His mother suffered from dementia but the past couple times including the time I was able to meet her she was in good spirits and aware," she added. "I thank God for those moments for Simon and i'm blessed to have been able to be in her presence."

Porsha went on to remember Martina as "a warm and kind and very loving mother." She further noted, "Gone from this earth, yet she will never be forgotten. Thank you all for the love and prayers that you have sent to the Guobadia family at this time. May her soul rest in peace."

Porsha's post arrived after Simon confirmed his mother's death on his own page. "We lost our precious mummy in the last day. She was about to turn 81 years old this month. She was peaceful, loving, soft spoken, endearing to everyone she ever met. She had nothing but kind words for everyone she ever encountered," he wrote.

"We mourn her loss with a sense of gratitude to God that we got to experience this type of love that will live with us forever," the entrepreneur continued. "She is survived by 7 children she had nothing but love regardless of whether she birthed them or not. She would be missed. Rest in perfect peace mummy."

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In new documentary 'The Kardashians: A Billion Dollar Industry', media strategist Sheeraz Hasan details the incident which took place at Kim's perfume launch at the London Hotel back in 2012.

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Kim Kardashian made headlines back in 2012 when she was flour bombed at her perfume launch at the London Hotel in West Hollywood. However, the reality TV star's former media strategist has now revealed the incident was actually a calculated move.

In Channel 4's new documentary, "The Kardashians: A Billion Dollar Industry", media strategist Sheeraz Hasan detailed the incident. Hasan, who helped promote Kardashian's fragrance True Reflection, said that Kim was "willing to get flour bombed" before the event.

"Okay this is what's going to happen, you're going to be fine, you're going to be safe, but we're going to create a media moment," Hasan recalled what he said to "The Kardashians" star. "If we create media gold, guess what's going to happen? Everyone's going to be talking about your perfume, everyone's going to buy it."

Hasan continued, "Are the team in on it? Of course, they're in on it."

However, sources close to the situation told New York Post that the SKIMS founder was never aware of the move. She also allegedly blamed PETA that was originally speculated to be behind the incident as she was previously condemned for her former love of real fur. However, Hasan claimed that the animal rights organizations were not involved in the accident.

In response to Hasan's revelations, PETA senior vice president Lisa Lange said in a statement to The Post on Monday, January 9, "Perhaps the bigger reveal is that Kim's assistant is a secret PETA member? We may never know, but we do know that Kim's now fur-free, and that's what really matters to us and to the animals she's preventing from being caged, tortured and electrocuted for fur."

At the time, Kim addressed the flour bomb incident in an interview with E!. "That probably is the craziest, unexpected thing that ever happened to me," the former "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star admitted. Making light of the whole thing, she added, "Like I said to my make-up artist, I wanted more powder, and that's a whole lot of translucent powder right there."

A woman named Christina Cho was then revealed to be the attacker. She was detained by hotel staff until police arrived, but Kim chose not to press charges.

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The Duke of Sussex had a very good impression of Kate Middleton after their first meeting but he couldn't help but feel 'worried' that he would lose his older brother to her.

Jan 10, 2023

AceShowbiz - Prince Harry was afraid Catherine, Princess of Wales would take his brother "away" from him. The Duke of Sussex has remembered first meeting Prince William's wife at the now-infamous costume party in 2005 - where Harry controversially wore a Nazi outfit - and connecting with her "heavily disguised silly side."

"I liked his new girlfriend. She was carefree, sweet, kind. She'd done a gap year in Florence, knew about photography, art. And clothes. She loved clothes. Her name was Kate," he wrote.

However, the 38-year-old royal admitted he "consoled" himself with the laughter they shared as he feared the day William became too caught up in his relationship to spend time with him while he desired a "serious girlfriend" of his own.

Writing in his tell-all memoir, "Spare", which officially went on sale today, January 10, 2023 after being leaked and put on shelves early in Spain, he recalled, "I liked seeing Kate laugh. Better yet, I liked making her laugh. And I was quite good at it."

"My transparently silly side connected with her heavily disguised silly side. Whenever I worried that Kate was going to be the one to take Willy from me, I consoled myself with thoughts of all our future laughing fits together, and I told myself how great everything would be when I had a serious girlfriend who could laugh along with us."

Despite being enamoured by Catherine - who first met William at university in 2001 before tying the knot in 2011, Harry also claimed in the tome that his brother and sister-in-law told him to wear the Nazi uniform to the party.

Harry - who married Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in 2018 - caused outrage when pictures showed him in the military costume, complete with a swastika on his left arm, at the "native and colonial" themed party thrown by show jumper Richard Meade.

And he insisted his older sibling, 40, and Catherine, 41, "howled" with laughter about the outfit and encouraged him to put it on for the bash. Harry wrote in the book of his deliberations between the controversial costume or a pilot's get-up, "I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. Nazi uniform, they said. They both howled. Worse than Willy's leotard outfit! Way more ridiculous! Which, again, was the point."

The prince, who was 20 at the time of the party, recently spoke of his regret about wearing the uniform. He said on the third episode of his Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan", "It was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I felt so ashamed afterwards."

"All I wanted to do was make it right. I sat down spoke to the Chief Rabbi in London, which had a profound impact on me. I went to Berlin and spoke to a Holocaust survivor. I could have just ignored it and gone on and made the same mistakes over and over again in my life. But I learned from that."

At the time of the scandal, Harry apologised for his "poor choice."

Harry and William haven't spoken in a while and William, according to the former, who has made salacious claims that his brother whom he referred to as his "arch-nemesis," "knocked him to the floor" during an argument about Meghan.

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Continuing its legacy of serving as a distinguished platform for addressing contemporary challenges, the 8th edition of the Fortune Institute of International Business (FIIB)'s research conference will witness extensive brainstorming on the theme,'' Humanizing Businesses for a Better World of Work.

Speaking on the theme Prof. Radhika Shrivastava, FIIB had this to say  The fundamental transitions in the post pandemic world present challenges for organizational decision makers and scholars of management like never before, and forces us to reimagine and reinvent the future organizational structures, workplaces and the workforce.

The ambitious conference has been designed in line with the existing volatile times, particularly after the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged the global economies and supply chain.

FIIB's 8th research conference has been uniquely categorized in four subsequent events including-:

Research Grant Competition (RGC, 14th January, 2023): The competition will come as an unprecedented opportunity for researchers to introduce their research ideas and bag awards and recognition.

Katastasi: Case Writing Competition (19th January, 2023): This case study competition will underline business problems that can be utilized for teaching-learning in management classes or by organizations for transitioning towards a sustainable business model.

Research Clinic & Doctoral Consortium (RCDC, 2nd and 3rd February 2023): The third edition of the Research Clinic & Doctoral Consortium (RCDC) 2023 is designed to facilitate scholars to examine their ongoing research and garner productive feedback. The scholars will also receive a chance to network with highly proficient researchers with similar research interests.

FIIB Research Conference (FRC, 2nd and 3rd March 2023): The finale will include holistic discussions to identify the strategies to humanize businesses and sustainable business development across global economies. The participating experts will also evaluate the existing and forthcoming policy challenges for businesses in the ongoing times of volatility and disruption.

FIIB's 8th research conference will be navigated by globally acclaimed management researchers and practitioners like-:

Prof Jacqueline Eastman from Florida State University

Prof Jochen Wirtz from National University, Singapore

Prof Malcolm Higgs from Birmingham City University Business School

Prof M S Balaji from Rennes School of Business

Prof Radhika Shrivastava and Prof Kokil Jain from FIIB

The 8th edition of FIIB's research conference will focus on effective solutions and roadmaps for work in the post-Covid-19 era. Bringing in unique elements of workshops, case competitions, and keynote addresses by top level managers, the conference will offer a significant opportunity for knowledge sharing with researchers, industry leaders, and students said Prof. Malcolm Higgs.

''FRC2023 is a sincere attempt by FIIB to bring together scholars who study and inform management, as well as practitioners who practice management to deliberate on proactive solutions and roadmaps for navigating the overwhelming new world of work. Besides offering a remarkable platform to network with the experts, the conference will also furnish the chance to win numerous prizes across 25 categories,'' adds Dr. Kokil Jain, Faculty FIIB.

The conference will also include papers from both the practice and research sides in the form of Perspective paper submissions and Research paper submissions respectively.

For more information about FIIB and the Research Conference, please visit: www.fiib.edu.in/frc
MR.DIY, One of Asia's largest home improvement retailers celebrated its 100th store grand opening in the Inorbit Mall Vashi Navi Mumbai on Friday, 6th January 2023.

In a major milestone for the company, Asias one of the largest home improvement retailers MR.DIY celebrated the grand opening of its 100th store in India this week. The new location, which is located in the bustling city of Navi Mumbai, is the company's 5th store in the Navi Mumbai region, 100 in India and brings its total number of stores worldwide to over 2500.

The celebration was attended by company executives, local dignitaries, and hundreds of excited customers. In a statement, CEO Mr. Maneesh Sharma said, "We are thrilled to reach this major milestone and are grateful to our customers, employees, and partners for helping us get here. We look forward to continuing to grow and serve our communities in India through the unique and useful range of everyday products along with the quality at Always Low Prices

MR. DIY is a store loved by all. With over 15,000 SKU's offerings in ten categories namely household, hardware, electrical, car accessories, furnishing, stationery, sports, toys, gifts, computer accessories, fashion accessories and cosmetics, there is always something for everyone. Each member of the family feels excited while shopping in MR. D.I.Y. store. We cater to those who value products that empower and improve their lives. Added Mr. Sharma.

Indian's aspire for being self-sustained, independent, caring for the environment, loving animals and living a happy family life  these are examples of values that drive us to do more. Life improvement is relevant to every Indian family, whatever community, lifestyle or life stage they belong to. These are the values that MR. D.I.Y. empowers its customers with. For us to be part of the life improvement of every Indian family is equally exciting and rewarding, added Mr. Sharma. "We are grateful for the love, support and confidence showered by every customer since our first store launch in Mumbai. Their excitement and willingness to explore and experience our products have kept us motivating and pushing to achieve this milestone. It was only because of our customers that we were able to sustain and expand at such a fast pace in India."

The grand opening celebration included various activities and promotions, such as productdemonstrations, free umbrella/water bottle on Purchase of Rs 800 and free popcorns/cotton candies for all the customers. The store also hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a traditional folk performance to mark the occasion.

With the promise to fulfill consumer needs for affordable home improvement products, complementing value for money with shopping convenience, and with more stores opening across the country, MR.DIY continues driving innovation and to be the one-stop destination for home and life improvement products at Always Low Prices.
The pandemic played a decisive role in shaping the advertising and marketing trends in 2022. For example, D2C e-commerce sales saw an exponential rise with people confined to their homes. We also saw the great boom in live content; brands used live videos increasingly to reach out to their TG. Performance-first campaigns became the biggest priority as there was a slowdown and constraints in post-Covid budgets.

So, how was the year that just went by like? And what does 2023 hold for the industry? While the days of tough pandemic restrictions are long over, the shadow of Covid still looms with the fresh rise of new variants in China and some other countries. Amid the threat of a global recession, what does the prognosis for the advertising and marketing ecosystem look like in the year ahead? Let us explore this along with industry experts.

READ MORE: 5 Trends That Are Shaping The Future Of Advertising And Marketing

Video ads saw a drastic rise in 2022, says Amitek Sinha, Co-founder & COO, ET Medialabs. Delving deep into the key trends, Sinha said that there are several reasons why video advertisements might perform better than static creative. One of them is that it is easier to convey a message to your TG with help of a video, there is more you can show making your idea come across more effectively.

Vernacular creatives also took an important place. Brands realised there was no better language to employ than their own if they needed to address various audiences and cultures. The post-pandemic times saw a huge rise in Influencer marketing. Because of the increased popularity of content creation, marketers tried to employ influencer marketing to the fullest extent possible. Brands used this chance to connect with their TG because influencers frequently have large followings and a direct impact on their audiences, he adds.

We have always striven for campaigns that matter, Gautam B Thakker, Chief Employee, EveryMedia Technologies, adding, Even while ideating and executing said campaigns, we have always taken the industry slowdown coupled with the post-COVID budgets. Interestingly, influencer marketing was a huge hit for us in 2022. We ended up doing impactful campaigns for several brands and productions for a mixed bag of paid and barter collaborations. For Influencer Marketing campaigns, 2022 kick-started with a bang! With the OTT release of blockbusters. We commenced a trend campaign with influencers among all categories. Apart from these campaigns, we also undertook the campaign for Indias official selection for the Oscars. Additionally, the user-generated content helps as we extend the activities in the Metaverse while incorporating NFTs and AR/VR, says Thakker.

For 2023, he believes in the time-tested interactive content marketing campaigns. It will continue to be one of the reliable trends in 2023 in the world of marketing. We must emphasise on the brands social responsibility as well as we manage their reputation in 2023 with authentic, humanised and relatable content, he adds.

The year 2022 saw less of an intense impact of COVID as compared to 2021 with business sectors and markets starting to open, remarks Pradeep N Dutta, Head  Branding, Advertising and Alternate Channel of Panasonic life Solutions India. According to him, there was a shift in consumer behaviour post the pandemic, as people started to venture out more giving brands an opportunity to shift and leverage back to traditional modes of advertisement like OOH and television.

While the digital medium would keep its sheen with possible effectiveness, reach and target, brands have started using innovative TV and digital OOH. From Integration or QR codes in TV commercials to digital hoardings, brands are now looking to leave an impact on consumers. PPC marketing has been a most effective and transformative tool for marketers. This strategy has seen a dramatic rise since the beginning of the pandemic, and has since then become an effective way to maximise a marketing budget. Marketers search for performance and cost-effective measures to target the right customers, as well as the ability to easily measure return on investment (ROI), which makes it easier to identify campaign efficiency and justify ad spending, says Dutta.

He predicts that purpose-driven advertising, rapid and clear communication, a customer-centric strategy, and the utilisation of digital commerce/ Meta will pave the way for the next five years. He further points out that it has also been equally important to maximise the use of the data for ad optimisation by:

Targeting customer through the data gathered at multiple touchpoints

Minimising customer touchpoint friction and maximize digital sales opportunities

Creating tailored online marketing ad campaigns

Automating personalised email offerings

Retargeting campaigns to build recall

Focusing marketing campaigns on customer retention

One key trend thats going to happen in 2023 is brands getting ready for the post-cookie world, predicts Mihir Karkare, Cofounder and EVP, Mirum India. We know its coming, and all brands are going to make sure they are ready for it. It will involve investing in CDPs, figuring out how all your customer data is connected  no more silos, thats going to be a big focus area. Personalisation across channels is going to go mainstream, once the CDP comes into picture. For example, activities that you do on one channel are going to be impacting what you see on other channels. Theres also going to be a huge focus on privacy as regulations come into place, which I think is going to be a good move for the industry, Karkare adds.

Top trends in 2023

According to Pradeep N Dutta the top trends in 2023 in the marketing and advertising field are:

Multi-search

The search engine often consumes more than 82% of a consumer's time for which Google launched multi search to help with this. It provided various supporting algorithms with the goal of improving how we consume and find information.

It is interesting to see how multi-search has assisted marketers in capitalising on the greatest untapped potential. Customers can use Google Lens to discover everything there is to know about any snapshot. Google can deliver more relevant search results faster by combining entity data with high-quality, relevant, and contextual images.

In 2023, marketers will employ a variety of assets, including the Google Vision API and entity data, to provide the most accurate and high-quality assets. The key to opening doors and succeeding in 2023 is to create digital assets that are future-proofed for discovery.

Experiential marketing

Getting the attention of consumers has become more difficult than ever. Because of this, all marketers have embraced experiential marketing. Experiential marketing conveys the message without interruptions; it engages consumers directly, motivates participation, and links them with the brand, resulting in a unique and dynamic branded experience.

Interactive ads

AR and more interactive ad formats are leading to new opportunities for brands that will engage users in all new ways. Many platforms are already experimenting with this technology. Meta seeks to guide users into the next stage, these types of next-level ads will be a stepping stone and would help more brands lean into this trend.

Programmatic advertising

Using AI to automate ad buying. Advertisers can more precisely target their intended consumers using AI-assisted programmatic advertising. By removing humans from ad buying, companies receive a more reliable and cost-effective solution to their needs.

According to Amitek Sinha, WhatsApp commerce and ads (CTWA) will undoubtedly experience a big increase in 2023. He points out that WhatsApp shopping ads are still very new on the market, but they may be a very effective tool for marketers.

As mentioned already, influencer marketing will definitely become way bigger compared to last year with an increase in the content being produced on a daily basis. Artificial Intelligence will definitely be powering advertising in the coming year. AI impacts different domains of marketing such as content creation, product recommendations, better customer service, and more. Along with that, reels & short video ads will continue to do well for sure, he adds.

Video is the star

Video became more and more effective with the growth of reels showing massive improvement in CTR. The trend will continue in 2023, say industry experts.

Short-format video has blown up on the digital media front, says Gautam B Thakker. With Reels becoming the gold standard of the highest engaging content, clearly surpassing static posts, we have recorded a significant increase on the CTR front. These digital media trajectories will continue to trend in 2023. The ever-decreasing attention span surely helps.

Mihir Karkare is certain that this trend will continue. TikTok, Instagram and other platforms have made this format of Reels ubiquitous, he says. We will thus see this sort of format becoming more prevalent in other places as well  an example could be the e-commerce sites. My sense is that they are going to adopt this kind of user experience quite extensively, he adds.

Video material is more dynamic and interesting to audiences, points out Pradeep N Dutta. Video marketing, according to him, is about fitting a lot of material and value even into a little video, regardless of whether it is intended to entertain or educate.

He asserts that one of the most influential social media platforms today is video. There are many applications for video platforms. Around 2.1 billion people use YouTube; and every minute, 500 hours of new content is posted to the site. When it comes to daily views, YouTube Shorts have exceeded the 15-billion milestone. Looking at the figures, we can be assured that video marketing will continue to grow and remain in trend in the coming year, he adds.

Concurring with the views about the videos, Amitek Sinha says that previously Instagram was known primarily as a photo-sharing platform. After the pandemic, the content shared on Instagram observed a drastic shift, with the introduction of Reels, he adds.

Within a few months of its launch, most users started creating Reels and even brands started showing a preference for reels. Over the past year, search interest for Instagram Reels has eclipsed that of Instagram Stories, reaching peak popularity around the first week of 2022. Every day there are around six million Reels being uploaded. Further, with the constant changes in Instagram algorithm, content creators observed how Instagram was only pushing Reels, and static images were no longer getting the reach they previously got. Moving forward, reels will definitely continue to perform well, he adds.

The role of AI

We have seen the efficacy of conversational marketing (with chat bots getting smarter with AI and NLP). Going forward, Artificial Intelligence will play a crucial role in marketing and advertising.

AI refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines. This wide-ranging branch of computer science is set to transform jobs in marketing and the industry as a whole in a lot of ways. AI in chat-bots has mitigated the requirement of human resources and has made the process much more efficient and quicker, says Amitek Sinha.

In advertising, he adds, as in other industries, AI is focused on using machines to mimic human intelligence by programming them to think and respond in the same way humans do. This is achieved by exploring historical data to determine certain behavioral patterns and make smarter decisions.

The result, according to Sinha, is:

More personalised encounters with brands

Highly targeted, more sophisticated advertising

Easy identification of thought leaders and influencers

Quick, but informed decision-making

AI has a significant role in designing a users experience, says Pradeep N Dutta. AI makes use of pertinent data, such as buying habits, website visits, and page views, to offer products that certain customers will find interesting, he adds.

He explains that digital marketing initiatives powered by Artificial Intelligence have a higher chance of succeeding since they can deliver quicker and more precise insights on consumer behaviour.

Businesses can provide more engaging interactions while gaining insightful information about their target audience by utilising AI technology like Natural Language Processing (NLP). NLP analyses client intent and generates customised responses. Due to their ability to create individual experiences at scale, conversion rates may eventually rise. The loss of customisation is one potential drawback of the growing usage of AI in digital marketing. Personalised marketing experiences might be possible without human input as AI algorithms advance in sophistication. This may lead to a more general, one-size-fits-all marketing strategy, which might drive away some clients, explains Dutta.

According to him, the collaboration of AI into digital marketing is a trend that is here to stay. AI technology will become an increasingly crucial tool for companies trying to boost their marketing efforts and acquire a competitive edge as it continues to develop. AI has the potential to completely change the way that digital marketing is carried out thanks to its capacity for large-scale data analysis, the production of top-notch content, and personalised customer support, he concludes.

AI has and always will play a crucial role in 2023, asserts Gautam B Thakker. With the advent of the IT industry, he adds, the boost in SaaS enterprise solutions has been a game changer. These AI-powered tools provide better insight into audiences that eventually help us in crafting more impactful integrated marketing communications campaigns. They provide the superpower of guiding through content ideas and generation concepts faster and more efficiently than human capabilities. AI has also increased the scope for personalisation and also helps us perceive sentiment through the analysis. Eventually, the feedback lies with the end-user as the customer, and they have expressed that they dont want to feel that theyre marketed to. Since then, marketers are forced to accept this switch. Marketers need to offer people something beneficial in return for their information, he explains.

Its going to reshape how marketing is going to happen in the next two years, opines Mihir Karkare. Each of us marketers and agency folks, we really need to rethink and recalibrate how we work, how we do the work that we do, and what is the value we are bringing to the table. Rather than worrying about whether AI is going to take over creativity and so on, we need to adapt so that AI becomes an ally for us, he adds.

Will Metaverse ads become commonplace in 2023?

We should now talk about the role of Metaverse in the advertising and marketing domain. Metaverse provides immense possibilities for marketers. In fact, brands are yet to explore the full potential of it. Soon we will get to see ads in the Metaverse, such as virtual billboards.

Metaverse is our best way to get on the Web 3.0 bandwagon, says Gautam B Thakker. Like all things that end up getting commercialised, so will the Metaverse and the rest of the Web 3.0 properties, he adds.

The industry finds a way to generate a revenue stream and what better than ads on all fronts  Social, digital, print, offline, and now, Metaverse marketing? As virtual brand presence becomes increasingly crucial, so will the ads in the same space. Brands must redefine how they connect with the end consumer and this is just another add-on to an already-extensive list of ways to reach out. Opportunities are endless. Imagine virtual billboards! In order to stay relevant, brands will be forced to start marketing in the Metaverse sooner than they think, and the sooner they start, the better it will be for them, says Thakker.

The much-anticipated Metaverse is still a relatively fresh and unique concept, especially for marketers and companies, opines Pradeep N Dutta. However, he adds, a wide range of enterprises can profit from this technology because it gives them the freedom to experiment without restrictions and test out novel advertising strategies.

When businesses learn to construct novel realities that they can share with their target markets, a new era of marketing will start. Brands still have time to fully leverage the Metaverse's marketing potential, since we can already envisage a future where bitcoin is used for virtual economic exchange. Metaverse will enable businesses to construct new realities and usher in a new era of marketing as it provides its users with a space to study, build, explore, share, and buy, he adds.

Ads becoming commonplace on a channel is a function of adoption of that channel by consumers, points out Mihir Karkare. Now, when it comes to the Metaverse, I believe adoption is going to happen differently for different target groups (TG). For example, if the TG you want to target is into gaming, you will have no choice but to increase your marketing and advertising spends in the Metaverse. But if there is a different TG, you need to see how they adopt this new channel and decide whether to advertise there or not.

What marketers should know when they market on the Metaverse in 2023?

Recently we concluded the launch campaign for a brand on Web 3.0, where we employed exhaustive touchpoints where we created awareness and the massive campaign was all over the news. What we learnt through this campaign is that key touchpoints are a great way to introduce the average Joe to the metaverse and its applications. All in all, marketers should strive for more and more ways to indulge in consumer-led campaigns for interaction and engagement. Metaverse marketing can only be beneficial if implemented in the right way, opines Gautam B Thakker.

Mihir Karkare thinks that first and the most fundamental part that marketers need to know is to find out where their audience is and then be clear about what your objective is when they are deciding to market on the Metaverse. Once these are clear, start, he says.
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I gotta say, Speaker Kevin McCarthy's acceptance speech hit all the right notes for me. He spoke as the champion of ordinary Americans, promising to legislate for ordinary Americans as ordinary Americans. And death to the 87,000 IRS leeches! But apparently the speech caused an uproar.

McCarthy invoked the memory of Abraham Lincoln, and championed the painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware in December 1776, not forgetting that Emanuel Leutze painted a black and an indigenous in the boat crew. I was annoyed that there was no mention of My Guy Alexander Hamilton, but I guess the 21-year-old youngster hadn't joined Washington's staff yet.

Hey, did you notice that McCarthy's 20th District in California is 52.1% Hispanic?

But maybe all this doesn't make a blind bit of difference. Maybe McCarthy is first and last a swamp creature, never mind how many House Freedom Caucus flies buzz around his lair.

Maybe the effort to take some power back from the House Speaker won't really change things. Maybe Our Nancy consolidated power into the Speaker's office because the operation of the administrative state required it, as Steven Hayward suggests. Maybe the whole federal government would grind to a halt without the Speaker's office calling every shot. Indeed, most likely, individual House members can't really "make a difference." Not until the administrative state goes belly up.

Anyway, I don't believe in "leaders." I thought we were all agreed that anyone that believes in der Fuhrer is a fascist.

Yes, it's curious how our liberal and lefty friends seem to have a blind spot on the leader front when it comes to dictators like Stalin, Mao, and Xi. Not to mention revered near-dictators like FDR and the sacred Obama.

Right now, America is divided between a party that represents the educated class, single women, and blacks, and a party that represents the ordinary middle class. In the late COVID extravaganza our government and the governments of most of the world looked after Big Business, Big Government, Big Activism and also shoveled money at the lower class so they didn't have to work and didn't have to pay rent. Ordinary small businesses were "non-essential" and went to the wall.

That tells you all you need to know about who's got the power.

And so, will Speaker McCarthy make a difference? Not much, I expect.

I doubt if things will change much until single women and blacks are really feeling the pinch, and stop voting for Democrats. Will that take a recession? A depression? Or will nothing short of economic collapse persuade the lower-class Democrat supporters that the Democratic Party really doesn't care about people like them? Maybe not even then.

I wrote in AT a couple of weeks ago about the Age of Liberalism, with its Ideas, its Revolutions, and its century of Supremacy. We live in a world where educated liberals have all the political and cultural power and occupy cozy sinecures in the administrative state while condemning their welfare and black supporters to a Second Slavery of gubmint benefits.

I believe that it is politics, educated-class politics, that has got us into our current mess, and I doubt if politics can get us out of it. Politics is all about fighting the enemy, as we saw last week when one of Speaker McCarthy's supporters had to be restrained from attacking one of the Freedom Caucus holdouts.

I say that politics is the conceit of the educated class, and the administrative state is the vain idea that educated people are called by Gaia to minister to the plebs, because the Enlightenment.

In my dream world where the ordinary middle class rules, there won't be much politics, because ordinary middle-class people aren't much into beating up the enemy and are not that interested in power. Instead, people will make themselves useful to others, and work with other people, and marry and have children, ordinary people living ordinary lives in community with others.

It might be something like Christopher Rufo's "Quiet Right" that is "patiently, and nearly invisibly, building a viable counterculture" with homeschooling, "classical schools," and a move to small towns away from the woke metropolises.

And maybe the Quiet Right will encourage the Waste People of the current regime, the deracinated single women and blacks, to come into the middle-class world and try out the culture and the life of Commoners, ordinary people living ordinary lives in community with others.

Whatever the future may be, it would have to include a broad movement of women rejecting the "independent woman" fantasy of feminism, and rebuilding human culture on the basic foundation of marriage and family and children and neighborhood and community which is programmed into women full fathom five.

But meanwhile, let us wish Speaker McCarthy and his fractious Republican caucus all the best in the months to come. They will need it.

Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also get his American Manifesto and his Road to the Middle Class.

Image: Lorie Shaull
On the night of 9/12/2001, my phone was ringing as I walked in the door after two days on standby at my fire department. I was an Ashburn, VA firefighter/EMT. We had sent one fire truck and ambulance already to the Pentagon that terrible morning of 9/11; I was on the second engine crew waiting to respond. All that day and night and the next day we watched the TV coverage of the attack on the Towers in New York and on the Pentagon, and the crash in Pennsylvania. The night after the plane flew into the Pentagon, it was declared a recovery and we were stood down.

On the phone was a woman who boarded a horse with me. She complained that shed been trying to call me for two days, said she knew I had connections in Washington, and that I must stop President Bush from reacting violently to the events of the previous day. I was stunned. Later I learned that she and her husband were Quakers.

Libertarians and pacifists have something in common: They don't want to engage in overseas wars. There the comparison pretty much stops. Quakers dont want any war anywhere anytime. Noble sentiment. Nor do any good people of sound mind, including and especially warfighters. Libertarians are not antiwar, theyre for war if our country is invaded, but only if our country is invaded, and only on our own territory.

Theres a big problem with that philosophy, but Ill get to that in a minute.

A few days after the 9/11 attack, I got summoned to a meeting in a military association headquarters in Washington. Cato Institute wanted to meet with leadership of conservative/military organizations, so half a dozen of us met with the two Libertarian intellectuals. The Cato men argued that the United States absolutely must not respond to the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Not one U.S. soldier, airman, sailor, or Marine on the ground, in the air or on the sea of a foreign shore. We had been invaded, yes, but the people who did it were dead. The end.

The problem with Libertarian war policy is that by the time an invading force gets to the territorial U.S., countless people elsewhere have been killed or displaced, their countries devastated. Theres nobody left to help us, and now its our turn to die or be displaced, our own country to be devastated by war. And where would our refugees go? As President Reagan said, America is the last best hope for mankind.

Woodrow Wilson (WWI) and FDR (WWII) campaigned on the promise that they would not send your sons to war. Lyndon B. Johnson (Vietnam) swore in his 1964 presidential campaign, We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.

President Joe Biden has made clear that the U.S., despite promises made in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, American troops will not be sent to the war in Ukraine. (Except for Bidens telling 82d Airborne troops in Poland that they would soon see the war in Ukraine for themselves.)

We do go to war on foreign shores, but after our allies-to-be were bled white with the enemy in control of Europe in the cases of World War I, and both Europe and Asia in the case of WWII. How much sooner would those wars have ended had America joined the fight at the outset? How much blood and treasure would have been saved?

Trumans response to Korea was timely, but with insufficient and untrained, poorly armed and badly equipped occupation troops stationed in Japan. Vietnam should never have been our war, and was criminally mismanaged by politicians and bureaucrats in Washington. Afghanistan and Iraq I & II are the definition of just war. We (or our national interests in Gulf One) were attacked, and we responded, going after the enemy on his home ground.

In our interests, cold rationalism says that it is better to fight a war somewhere else rather than in our own land, on our own streets. That sounds callous, but the war is already on elsewhere, and the enemy must be contained as quickly as possible where he is, and defeated decisively. It wont help the hapless victims over there if we wait for the enemy to crush them before moving on to our own shores. Its a case of feeding the crocodile in the hopes it will eat you last, to paraphrase Churchill.

Most wars could be prevented by fearlessly decisive action at the first move of an aggressor, or by preemption. Hitler admitted that the West could have stopped his war plans dead in their tracks over Sudetenland. But we didnt.

Deterrence is even better. Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. If you desire peace, prepare for war. (Vegetius, Roman general)

In the American system of government, elected politicians must make the decision to go to war. They must set the broad parameters, right or wrong, as Truman did in Korea. But then they must allow the military to fight to win an absolute victory. If they do not, more war is inevitable. In WWII we had total victory, and our former enemies are our allies now. In WWI we had an armistice -- a ceasefire. It led to WWII twenty years later. We did not achieve a victory in Korea -- we signed a ceasefire that can explode into war again at any time. LBJ and Robert Strange McNamara, his Secretary of Defense, had no intention to winning the Vietnam War, only not to lose it under their watch. American involvement ended in a cut and run after the pernicious Paris Peace Accords ignominiously ended American involvement in the war and abandoned those Vietnamese, Hmong, Montagnard, Cambodian, and Lao allies who had trusted us to their terrible fates. And then theres Afghanistan, Bidens treacherous abandonment of people and assets.

If Putin crushes Ukraine, he will not stop there -- history tells us that the crocodile will only have had another appetizer. His appetite has already been whetted with Georgia, Crimea, and Chechnya. The U.S., UK, and, ironically, Russia guaranteed Ukraines security and sovereignty. Russias definition of the guarantee, of course, is not the same as that of American, British, and Ukrainian understanding. Will we stalwartly stand by those guarantees? Will our resolve be unwavering?

Apologists argue that Russia needs and has a right to a buffer. That buffer, like the universe, is ever-expanding. Maybe it will stop when it reaches the seas. Even now, Russia is expanding its Arctic strategic zone and its military infrastructure.

Our politicians -- POTUS and Congress -- must decide whether to wait for a new world war or to do whatever is necessary to stop Putin right there and now, and destroy his ability to make aggressive war. Our leadership, unfortunately, will not want to have to make that hard decision. Theyd rather obsess over climate change and pronouns, and then be surprised when war demands our participation.

War is looking for us, and if it finds us, it likely will find us with our pants down again.

Image: Robert J. Fisch
Typical of corporate and big conservative media, we had the pleasure of hearing ad nauseum how the process whereby a speaker of the U.S. House is elected was somehow disruptive and bad optics and whatever other parroted drivel. These dimwits might as well have said it was downright unpatriotic.

Of course, the jabbering propagandists at CNN and MSNBC painted the speaker contest as the start of the Apocalypse, which is exactly what their dwindling audiences of Karens, woke hucksters, race peddlers, and climate catastrophe inbreds want painted. Their talking points came from the DNC, without which theyd, deer-in-headlights, stare vacantly into the cameras.

Over at Fox News, we had Sean Hannity browbeating Lauren Boebert for the sin of offering no viable alternative to Kevin McCarthy. Sean missed the point of the rebellion. Newt Gingrich characterized the 20 dissident Republicans as blackmailers. Newt who came to fame in the 80s challenging the GOP establishment and throwing bombs. Rightly so.

What happened on the House floor in less than a week is whats supposed to happen in a nation brimming with freedom. A speaker was elected in an open forum through a civil process and citizens were free to watch. It was contentious and messy at times. But, heck, there were no melees, though one almost occurred.

Alabamas Mike Rogers lunged at a sitting Matt Gaetz, the rebel factions bete noire. Rogers had to be restrained and nearly lost his rug in the fracas. Rogers crouching tiger routine wasnt quite on par with Preston Brooks caning Charles Sumner on the Senate floor, but it did bring back the memory of when democracy was rowdy sport and not the domain of flabby, green-haired, tattooed, nose-ringed sissies and their hovering mommies.

What does actual living, breathing democracy look like? You witnessed a family audience version of it. A lot of ugly sausage grinding. The plainer the view, the healthier for liberty.

What weve observed in recent years is stilted anti-democracy, imposed mostly by the establishment and Democrats. Theres a cultural overlay, importantly. A feminized, everybody-gets-a-ribbon generation recoils at conflict. Heck, they recoil if told their shirts dont match their pants. Making nice is assigned a premium and has been ladled into mushy skulls. It matters more than whats concretely achieved through often arduous -- and, jeepers, bruising -- processes.

The anti-democracy Stepford Wives standard has been predictably aped by establishment Republicans, who dream nights of being Democrats Stepford wives. Go ask Nebraskas Don Bacon about that. Bacon, who threatened to jump ship to work with Democrats had McCarthy missed the brass ring. Bacon, as in pork, whose name is perfectly suited to his work as a squishier member of Congress.

Democrats have transformed their congressional leadership elections into Stalinist affairs. They might as well hold their elections on college campuses. Powerbrokers select and anoint candidates. Their ballots offer Column A. Column B is blank. Dare show the temerity to dissent, especially publicly, a la the GOP rebels, and expect to be crushed, in a very orchestrated way. Isnt that referred to in todays vernacular as cancelled?

Yes, AOC and her band of of-color diversity poster malcontents do stir the pot ever so slightly, but have no doubt that wizened Comrade Pelosi and her Politburo chums made it clear to this rump that while theyd get some bones, unless they ceased and desisted, those long knives would whittle them down to size. Ouch.

During the rounds of election votes, the rebels put forward candidates to oppose McCarthy. Floridas Byron Donalds was one. Make no mistake, Donalds is a future, major GOP leader.

Thanks to the nasty speakers election, more Americans were introduced to Donalds. Record that as a wonderful side benefit. He even received a publicity push from racist Democrat Cori Bush, who said that ol Uncle Tom Donalds was a mere prop. We wonder what Cori will say one day when Donalds is Speaker of the House or Senate GOP leader or Florida governor and, perhaps, a serious veep or presidential contender while shes still pimping hate?

But Donalds day is yet to dawn. The rebels knew that, and they and Donalds understood that derailing McCarthys election was a longshot and wasnt their primary aim. They were being more strategic and tactical than a roomful of RINOs at the Palm is capable of being.

The aim was to drag out the process to wring concessions from McCarthy and his leadership team. And wouldnt you know it. In less than a week, the Freedom Caucus stalwarts did, indeed, make McCarthy fold and concede critical conditions for his obtaining the speakership. They played indispensable roles in establishing the framework within which McCarthy acts as speaker.

Needless to say, McCarthys feet must be held to the fire. Laws arent worth a plug nickel unless enforced. The conditions wrung from McCarthy matter little unless Gaetz, Boebert, Perry, and their allies remind McCarthy that the sword dangling over his head isnt there for decoration.

The two key internal conditions won by the rebels were their receiving representation on the Rules Committee, which is pivotal to agenda-setting in the House and determines the amendments process on the House floor, among other functions. The other was permitting just one member to move that the chair (meaning speakers chair) be vacated. It puts McCarthy on a short leash. There were other critical concessions, which the Daily Mail summarizes.

The spin now is that the speakers election will make McCarthy a stronger leader. It should, unless McCarthy remains as tin-eared as he was just following the midterms.

It was then -- realizing that the red wave would amount to nothing more than a red trickle, and that the GOP House majority would tally a slim 222 members, and that the defection of just five Republicans would put the kibosh to all sorts of measures -- that McCarthy should have grasped that engaging Andy Biggs, Scott Perry, and other dissidents was critical to his securing the speakership. Instead, in his conceit, McCarthy assumed that the speakers vote would be pro forma. Why, those gripers wouldnt make a big fuss.

McCarthy and his equally smug advisors regarded the Freedom Caucus fighters much the same as King George regarded the patriots: peasants easily dispatched. So much for that. Had McCarthy taken the dissidents seriously from the get-go, and had he undertaken meaningful discussions leading to resolutions, he may have been spared the pundit described very awful spectacle of winning election through upfront, old-fashioned haggling. Our hearts break.

McCarthy and the Freedom Caucus victors relationship is now entwined. The success of McCarthys speakership rests on abiding the agreement hammered out with the victors. With consultation, he will set the conferences agenda and move legislation accordingly. He will, of necessity, listen, engage, and seek accommodations. Or he should if hes smart. Has McCarthy really learned from his trial?

The goal for all must be single-minded: provide a compelling counter to the destructive leadership of Bidens handlers, Schumers Senate majority, and Mitch McConnells fifth column.

For the victors, advancing a freedom agenda is paramount. McCarthy has the talent, skill set, and the reach across the conference to lead. The imperative for Freedom Caucus stalwarts is to persist. The speaker simply must cooperate and produce. Their success is his, and his, theirs.

As Rick said to Louie in the closing scene from Casablanca, Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

J. Robert Smith can be found regularly at Gab @JRobertSmith. He also blogs at Flyover . Hes recently returned to Twitter. His Twitter handle is @JRobertSmith1.

Image: Speaker John Boehner
I recently suggested that Israel should terminate the Oslo Accords and deal with the violence that diplomatically and otherwise will ensue.

That would bring us to the pre-Oslo days, which, by the way, was a time of good relations between the Arabs living in Judea and Samaria and Israelis.

The Oslo Accords introduced PLO terrorists into Israel at the behest of President Clinton.

Thereafter, Israelis were subjected to one intifada after another and daily acts of terror.

I expect, in the coming weeks, that King Abdullah II of Jordan will abdicate and Mudar Zahran will be installed as the new leader of Jordan.

In the vacuum created by the termination of Oslo accords, Israel could strike a new deal with Jordan under Zahran's leadership, the terms of which are already worked out in the main. (See Trumps Deal of the Century a.k.a. The Jordan Option.)

In essence:

All Palestinians would be given full Jordanian citizenship and invited to emigrate to Jordan. Area A would be confederated with Jordan under some kind of confederation with Jordan. Area A would then be administered jointly by both Jordan and Israel. Israel would be free to extend sovereignty over the rest. Gazans would be offered a confederation with either Jordan or Egypt. UNRWA would be terminated All refugees would be incentivized to emigrate to Jordan to get the benefits UNRWA had provided them

You may wonder how How the Jordan Option will Impact Israel. To know, read the article at that link.

Such an arrangement is totally compliant with the Reagan Plan which President Reagan set out in this speech:

I want to make the American position clearly understood: the purpose of this transition period is the peaceful and orderly transfer of domestic authority from Israel to the Palestinian inhabitants of the West Bank and Gaza. At the same time, such a transfer must not interfere with Israels security requirements. Beyond the transition period, as we look to the future of the West Bank and Gaza, it is clear to me that peace cannot be achieved by the formation of an independent Palestinian state in those territories. Nor is it achievable on the basis of Israeli sovereignty or permanent control over the West Bank and Gaza.

So the United States will not support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, and we will not support annexation or permanent control by Israel. There is, however, another way to peace. The final status of these lands must, of course, be reached through the give-and-take of negotiations; but it is the firm view of the United States that self-government by the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza in association with Jordan offers the best chance for a durable, just and lasting peace. We base our approach squarely on the principle that the Arab-Israeli conflict should be resolved through the negotiations involving an exchange of territory for peace. This exchange is enshrined in United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which is, in turn, incorporated in all its parts in the Camp David agreements. U.N. Resolution 242 remains wholly valid as the foundation-stone of Americas Middle East peace effort. It is the United States position that  in return for peace  the withdrawal provision of Resolution 242 applies to all fronts, including the West Bank and Gaza. When the border is negotiated between Jordan and Israel, our view on the extent to which Israel should be asked to give up territory will be heavily affected by the extent of true peace and normalization and the security arrangements offered in return. Finally, we remain convinced that Jerusalem must remain undivided, but its final status should be decided through negotiations. In the course of the negotiations to come, the United States will support positions that seem to us fair and reasonable compromises and likely to promote a sound agreement. We will also put forward our own detailed proposals when we believe they can be helpful. And, make no mistake, the United States will oppose any proposal -from any party and at any point in the negotiating process  that threatens the security of Israel. Americas commitment to the security of Israel is ironclad. And I might add, so is mine.

Forty years later, the Reagan Plan will be followed by the Jordan Option.

Thus the Arab/Israeli conflict will be ended.

Image: Library of Congress, via Picryl // public domain
The headline is delicious: Vice President Biden left the White House taking classified documents with him. However, whats really lovely is the problem this creates for Obama: After all, hes the only one who can rescue Biden but, by doing so, he will completely exonerate Trump of the charges that the latter violated national security laws by taking documents with him when he left the White House.

Both Rajan Laad and Howard J. Warner have ably covered the factual issues surrounding the news that Biden took classified documents with him when he left the Vice Presidents office. They addressed how the Washington establishment had the story before the midterms but covered it up; how that same establishment (including the media) that castigated Trump as a traitor and arch-criminal for allegedly having classified material in his possession is now racing to make excuses for Biden; and how its possible that China had access to the materials because it has access to the University of Pennsylvania Biden think tank in which the documents resided for so many years.

What I find so delectable is that Biden has only one defense to the charge that he stole classified documents from the White House, which is a felony (as Democrats never failed to remind us when the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago). That defense is that Obama, who was president when Biden took the documents, gave him permission to take them, effectively declassifying them.

This defense works because the President of the United States is the ultimate authority about whether to declassify documents. Moreover, as I never tire of saying, the president doesnt need to go through any rubberstamp process, nor does he need to consult with the bureaucrats who work for him. Basically, he has the power, whether through words (Here, Joe, take these classified documents with you when you leave the White House) or actions (stuffing the documents in his own briefcase), to declassify them instantly, with nothing more required.

Image: Barack Obama. YouTube screen grab.

This is because the presidentand only the presidenthas whats called plenary power over national security matters, including document classification and de-classification. The Supreme Court articulated whats currently the last and best word on the subject in Navy v. Egan, 484 U.S. 518 (1988), a case examining whether a civil service board could review someones being denied a national security clearance, a power it came to via a congressional act.

The Supreme Court gave an unequivocal no, based in part on the fact that the executive office is the final word on classification:

The President, after all, is the "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States." U.S.Const., Art. II,  2. His authority to classify and control access to information bearing on national security and to determine whether an individual is sufficiently trustworthy to occupy a position in the Executive Branch that will give that person access to such information flows primarily from this constitutional investment of power in the President, and exists quite apart from any explicit congressional grant. See Cafeteria Workers v. McElroy, 367 U. S. 886, 367 U. S. 890 (1961).

Now you can see the Hobsons choice Obama is being forced to make. As I noted, the uncontested facts show that Joe Biden violated national security laws and, worse, put those same documents in an unsecured environment to which the Chinese had access. When they learned that Trump had documents in the Secret Service-secured environment of Mar-a-Lago, Dems thought execution was too good for him. I guess thats the appropriate punishment for Biden, too, given that he committed the crime years before he gained the White House.

There is only one way to say that Biden is innocent, and that is for Obama to announce, I told Joe he could take the documents. However, if Obama makes that announcement, he has conceded, and all the Dems will be forced to concede, that a president can declassify documents simply by walking them out of the White House or authorizing someone else to do so.

In other words, to exonerate Biden, Obama must also exonerate Trump from the disgraceful, deeply (criminally?) dishonest charge leveled against Trump. I get a real kick imagining Obama sitting in the lavishly decorated office of one of his three luxury homes, cursing to himself that you can always trust Joe Biden to F things up.
President Biden previously had said that it was irresponsible for former President Trump to be in possession of secret documents at Mar-a-Lago. Now he has been discovered to be in possession of such documents at his former think-tank location for the University of Pennsylvania at his D.C. office. Don't worry, as the press friends are already trying to distinguish this finding as less critical. But they fail to note that he had the most sensitive compartmented information. But they say none were nuclear secrets. Wow, I am relieved.

These were uncovered in November but mentioned only now, when A.G. Merrick Garland appointed John Lausch, Jr., the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, to investigate. Of course, he will pursue Biden with the vigor with which the Justice Department goes after Trump and his allies. After all, he was appointed by Trump and is a holdover. This reminds me of the special counsel from Connecticut, who has yet to jail any bureaucratic swamp rats. The announcement comes while Biden is attending the Meeting of the Americas, diminishing the sting of the information.

By the way, the president has full authority to declassify documents, but the vice president has no such authority. Will this play any role in the outcome? More likely, it will be overlooked by the politicized Justice Department.

As an aside, Penn paid Biden handsomely for his limited services. Incidentally, the university received substantial funds from Chinese sources. What a coincidence. See a pattern in any of this?

The GOP leadership now has more motivation for investigations of the White House. James Comer will head the Oversight Committee, which has jurisdiction over the National Archives, which was heavy-handed with Trump but less so with Biden. I am shocked. They will say that the Biden lawyers were more cooperative than the Trump staff. But by now the pattern is so obvious. If the GOP can accumulate real evidence, then a future administration (from the GOP if 2024 goes well) might pursue litigation against the criminals. I won't hold my breath, since I do plan to see my daughter have a family one day.

Just as the Homeland Security Department sanitized the El Paso area visited by Biden on Sunday, we can expect much cleaning of any evidence that would put thenvice president Biden in jeopardy. It is nice to have swamp rats that are good at cleaning up messes.

We must make sure that the cookie jar contains wholesome ingredients that will prevent any recognition of the hypocrisy that is rampant in Washington. Afterall, we have found the president's hand in the cookie jar, but it is likely that this issue will fade from the media reports quickly. Omission is well practiced in journalism and is better discounted than absolute lying. Pravda would be proud.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Carbon credits issued in Guizhou's Meitan county to supplement incomes

08:59, January 10, 2023 By Yang Jun in Guiyang and Hou Liqiang in Beijing ( Chinadaily.com.cn

A photo shows villagers picking tea leaves on the hillside in Meitan county, Guizhou province. [Photo by Xing Yi/chinadaily.com.cn]

Meitan county in Guizhou province plans to tap the potential of carbon credits to help it boost its already booming eco-friendly tea sector, which local authorities see the capacity potential to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Located in northern Guizhou, about 66 percent of the county is covered by vegetation. Ten percent is accounted for by tea trees and 73 percent of its 500,000-strong population is engaged in growing the crop.

At the end of 2022, Meitan forest administration issued the first carbon credit certificate in the county to a 534-hectare tea plantation owned by State-owned company, Mingcheng, which translates as 'city of tea'.

Calculations show that the plantation has helped absorb greenhouse gases equivalent to 6,044 metric tons of carbon dioxide, according to Meitan authorities.

The issuing of the certificate is a result of the county's efforts to explore viable approaches to transform their "lucid waters and lush mountains" into invaluable assets, Song Linsong, an official with Meitan forest administration, was quoted as saying by Guizhou Daily.

The administration has drafted a guideline on the management of carbon credit certificates for tea plantations and the issuing, as well as on registration of the certificate, for trial implementation. "We will promote carbon credit certificates to plantations across the county," he said.

As a market instrument, carbon credits can be sold to emitters to help offset their emissions. Some conference organizers, for example, will buy credits to offset the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the events they organize, and thus claim to hold carbon neutral meetings.

Tea plantations are a major source of income in Meitan.

In 2021, the county produced about 79,800 metric tons of tea valued at more than 6.7 billion yuan ($978 million) and growing tea contributed to half of the per capita disposable incomes of rural residents, according to local authorities.

Following consistent efforts to promote the development of the sector, the area planted with tea in the county has increased from 1,867 hectares in the 2001 to 40,000 hectares in 2021.

Unlike many other areas, Meitan has adopted an eco-friendly approach to grow tea. Instead of only planting tea, farmers interplant other cash crops, including sweet osmanthus and cherries, local authorities said.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
Do you remember "the era of big government is over"? It was President Clinton turning to the center and letting everyone know that he'd be running as a centrist in 1996. Well, it worked, and we got four more years of Clinton-Gore.

According to news reports, President Biden is setting the table for a 2024 run and a centrist message. Get ready for a lot of speeches about working together and less partisanship. No more red-background speeches talking about domestic terrorists.

This is the story:

President Biden is quietly pivoting to the middle as he prepares for a 2024 run. What's happening: His early '23 moves  Sunday's visit to the U.S.-Mexico border and his appearance with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to promote the infrastructure law  gave a crystal-clear contrast with the GOP's chaotic speaker fight. Why it matters: Voters sent a clear message in the midterms that they value bipartisanship, rejecting extreme candidates. Republicans accommodated the far right, with often disastrous results. Biden began his administration pandering to progressives. But he ended '22 with his party cutting deals with some Republicans on small-scale gun regulations  and a big infrastructure package. Zoom in: Sunday's trip to El Paso, Texas, the first time Biden has visited the U.S.-Mexico border as president, will showcase law enforcement  taking a possible Democratic vulnerability head-on. "This feels like the Joe Biden of 2020," said Jim Kessler, executive vice president for policy at the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way. "This trip to the border is what the doctor ordered." Reality check: Even as Biden shores up his center flank, he'll still need to balance the priorities between the party's ascendant progressive wing and majority-making moderates.

Well, 2024 is a long way down the road, and so much is up in the air. Nevertheless, let me share some thoughts:

1) President Biden is not President Clinton. What I mean is that Clinton ran for re-election with a good economy. My guess is that Biden won't be so lucky.

2) The FBI and Hunter Biden stories will explode in 2023. I cannot say today how the father benefited from the son's business activities, but it may be bad. Time will tell.

3) The GOP won't nominate a Bob Dole this time around. I love Senator Dole and honor his service, but he was not a good candidate. Ross Perot won't be picking off 8 million votes, either.

4) The GOP will nominate Governor DeSantis or a rejuvenated President Trump or both. Wouldn't you love a debate between V.P. Harris and Governor DeSantis?

We will see where things stand around Labor Day. My guess is that Democrats will persuade President Delaware to move there permanently and let a new generation lead the party in 2024.

PS: Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.

Image: SEIU.
Scott McLaughlin said, "I'm f------ killing that b----." After doing just that, he came back covered in Beverly Guenther's blood. When he led the police to his ex-girlfriend's body, they found her naked from the chest down, with her bra stained red with her own blood. McLaughlin admitted to stabbing Guenther. Over and over again. The subsequent autopsy found evidence that he may also have strangled and raped her.

McLaughlin had repeatedly assaulted Guenther when they were dating. He later stalked her, broke into her home, and threatened her. She obtained an order of protection against him. A police officer walked her from her job to her car for a week.

Scott Mclaughlin had previously served time for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

And because he eventually claimed to be a woman, feminists pleaded with authorities to spare his her his life.

You see, while in prison, Scott "became" Amber, hair held back in ringlets, rose-colored lipstick gracing "her" lips. Scott was granted a genuine, official, taxpayer-funded "gender transition" three years ago.

So-called feminists took to social media and posted selfies while wearing pink nail polish to protest McLaughlin's execution. Some gathered in the rain outside of his prison, waving pink signs stating "#ClemencyforAmber." Apparently, McLaughlin had urged people "to wear pink in solidarity" with him. So females actually made sad faces and held pink fingernails up to the camera, demanding that Scott Amber be spared the death penalty. They formed a circle and held up candles. In defense of a man who stalked, strangled, raped, and killed a woman  and sexually assaulted a young girl. Feminists, indeed.

But that's not all. Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), of "Squad" infamy, co-signed a letter urging Missouri's governor to spare McLaughlin's life because, while he may have beaten, raped, and stabbed a woman to death (and also sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl), "she [sic] was also silently struggling with her [sic] identity, grappling with what we now understand is gender dysphoria." Yes, naturally, when one wants to be a member of the opposite sex, one assaults and murders other members of that sex. A rite of passage, so to speak.

Bush went on to state, "Ms. [sic] McLaughlin's cruel execution would mark the state's first use of the death penalty on a woman [sic] since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976." No, it wouldn't, because "Ms. McLaughlin" is actually Mr. McLaughlin, a man. For saying that, authorities would surely demand that I attend "re-education camp" (as Canadian authorities have of psychologist Jordan Peterson), where I will have the "opportunity" to have "stimulating" electrodes attached to my cranium until my thinking has been straightened out. 1984 is here, albeit thirty-nine years late.

Moreover, Bethany Mann, the Democrat congressional candidate for the Show-Me State's 3rd District, in conjunction with the Missouri Democratic LGBTQ Caucus, preposterously expectorated, "We resoundingly reject the violence in executing a member of the LGBTQIA+ community during a time of increased attacks and hateful rhetoric across America."

Perhaps Mann (!) and the Missouri Democratic LGBTQ Caucus should "resoundingly reject the violence" against innocent women and girls that McLaughlin perpetuated.

I will close by noting that Elyse Max, an anti-Israel activist who moonlights as the co-director of something called Missourians for Alternatives, recently insisted, "Amber is a gentle human."

Tell that to Beverly Guenther's loved ones. People  of "any gender"  who stab, strangle, and rape others are not "gentle humans." Period. Scott Amber was not "a gentle human."

Nor was he a woman.

Authorities?

(McLaughlin was executed on January 3.)

Image via Pxhere.
Deportation used to be a dirty word to far-left Democrats, until someone told them about Brazil, a country they'd never paid any attention to until now.

We're getting this from Rep. Joaquin Castro, the weaselly leftist from Texas so malevolent that he once doxxed his own donors:

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) called the Biden administration to extradite former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro back to his country in the wake of violent protests that rocked the capital city of Brasilia on Sunday. ... Bolsonaro is currently in Florida, staying at a house he rented near Disney, just south of Orlando. ... Mentioning Bolsonaro's presence in Florida and recent reports that he was under investigation for corruption, Castro declared "he should be extradited to Brazil." ... "He's a dangerous man," Castro added. "They should send him back to his home country of Brazil." "Are you calling on the Biden administration or authorities in Florida to return Bolsonaro, put him on a plane and send him to Brazil as soon as possible?" Acosta asked. "Yes, absolutely," Castro replied. "Bolsonaro should not be in Florida. The United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who is inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. He should be sent back to Brazil."

Note how Castro here, and elsewhere, has repeatedly used the word "authoritarian" to describe the Brazilian Trump-like populist, who expanded freedom in Brazil by cutting regulations and taxes, quite unlike the man who succeeded him, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, an open admirer of the communist Cuban dictatorship and a friend and ally of Venezuela's late strongman and self-declared communist, Hugo Chavez, who plans to pretty well put Brazil, according to this account in the leftist U.K. Guardian, under control of the United Nations.

That's some claim to authoritarianism we are getting from this Castro, who, by the way, knows nothing about Brazil.

Not to be outdone, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez echo-chambered Castro with the same call to action:

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said the United States must "cease granting refuge" to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in Florida as supporters of the former president stormed the Brazilian Congress and presidential palace on Sunday. ... "Nearly 2 years to the day the US Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad attempt to do the same in Brazil. We must stand in solidarity with Lula's democratically elected government," Ocasio-Cortez wrote.

The Washington Examiner has a collection of her tweets.

It's strange stuff, because neither of these characters knows anything about Brazil, nor have they ever shown interest in the place. They have few or no Brazilian-American constituents (if they did, they were virtually all Bolsonaro voters, as reports indicated); they do not speak Portuguese, which is not the same as Spanish, contrary to what they may think; and they have never expressed any interest in this country in the past.

Oh, but they are on it, because they "smell" a comparison of Brazil and its electoral woes as an extension of their war on President Trump and are eager to virtue-signal and attack another populist. If Bolsonaro is a friend of Trump's, they want to "get" him, too, jail him, as will happen if he is sent back, if for nothing else, then for payback for Lula's time in jail for corruption, and they are willing to abuse state means of doing so.

Because the truth of the matter is, they have no case against Bolsonaro whatsoever.

Bolsonaro has disavowed the violence that did happen in Brazil over the weekend, condemning it, actually, and now lies in a hospital bed in Orlando, with extreme abdominal pain that has given him recurrent problems, based on a stabbing attack by a socialist fanatic during to his 2018 presidential campaign. The guy is sick and in a hospital bed, and they are showing their true colors by calling for the gendarmes. Such a compassionate bunch.

What's more, Bolsonaro didn't appear to have anything to do with the riot, which was brought on by persistent reports that Lula, who won his election by getting just enough votes to put him over the top, is in office through election fraud, with reports of problems with the voting machines. That may or may not be correct  they did get the election done in one night, after all, and Breitbart, of all sources, reported last August that the machines seemed legit. All the same, more recent reports suggest that not all of the machines cited were the ones used, and here is one report that cites problems. We know that a lot of people in Brazil think so.

Prior to going to the hospital for poststab wound pain, Bolsonaro was seen tooling about Orlando, visiting a Publix and taking pictures with tourists. He didn't even get a chance to meet with President Trump, who's a two-hour drive away in Palm Beach.

But now the harpies of the left are on him, proposing that Biden sic the state on Bolsonaro, who has broken absolutely zero U.S. laws and hasn't created any problems here. There is no legal case to send in the troops and the deportation plane.

That doesn't mean it might not happen anyway, given that suddenly, Joe Biden, who also has shown no interest in Brazil, suddenly wants Lula at his side in the White House. He's called on Lula to come visit him there next month, and Lula plans to come.

This reeks of Biden, AOC, and Castro plotting to "get" Bolsonaro and nakedly interfere with the internal affairs of another country, all in the name of promoting election fraud as normal and attempting to seal their own legitimacy in the wake of January 6. They are in that bad of shape on the legitimacy front that they want to make every dispute overseas about an election a matter of "baseless" claims of election fraud, projecting their own political agendas onto other countries. In AOC's case, that support for any election now extends to the flaming-fraud elections seen in socialist hellholes like Venezuela.

Rest assured that there will be conflicts if guys like Biden get away with this  even the Guardian notes that the U.S. and Brazil under Lula have significant differences in foreign policy.

But right now, Lula is useful, and Bolsonaro is even more useful (as a Trump-like bogeyman). In ensuring that Bolsonaro is jailed in Brazil, which is what will happen if he is sent back, these loudmouths are trying to reap political hay.

What jackasses. Except that with this "by any means necessary" crowd, they might get away with it.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
I expect very little from politicians, but Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) still managed to disappoint me. When he ran for and won a seat in Congress, this former Navy SEAL seemed like a great choice. He loved his country enough to put his life (and vision) on the line and seemed to have both a fighting spirit and a calm demeanor. It turns out, though, that he dislikes those in the House who are fighting against the elites business-as-usual approach to governance. Thats why he deserved to lose out to another military veteran when it came to chairing the House Committee on Homeland Security.

The cracks in Crenshaws image began to show when he made it clear that he was a Liz Cheney partisan. Liz Cheney has dedicated the past few years of her life to destroying Donald Trump, never mind that he has been the most conservative president in 40 years. Her father was George Bushs vice president, and Donald Trump insulted George Bush. Therefore, Trump must die (figuratively), and she joined Democrats to lead the charge.

Image: Dan Crenshaw . YouTube screen grab.

By pursuing this personal vendetta, Cheney caused irreparable damage to the conservative movement. What was the shocker was that Dan Crenshaw vehemently defended her:

Lets get some truth on the record: @Liz_Cheney has a hell of a lot more backbone than most, & is a principled leader with a fierce intellect. She will continue to be a much needed leader in the conference, with my full support.



We can disagree without tearing eachother apart. https://t.co/yMLary1kLj  Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 13, 2021

Well, someone just drew a line in the sand! Crenshaw lost a lot of respect from former supporters (me included) for that stance.

And did you notice that line saying that we can disagree without tearing eachother [sic] apart? Crenshaw often likes to make the point that hes Mr. Temperate. Just this past November, he said that we should stop focusing so much on January 6, but he didnt add the corollary, which is that the Democrats focus means people have been kept in prison without bail for two years, violating their constitutional rights. Nor does he seem to care that the FBI, which ignored the BLM and Antifa protests, has 1,000 ordinary Americans on its hit list.

All pretense of his cant we all just get along shtick vanished with the healthy fight to constrain McCarthys past failures to lead the House in a conservative direction. As a reminder, McCarthy does not have a hereditary claim to the speakership, although he acted as if he did when he moved into the Speakers office before any vote.

But it was Crenshaw who really felt that any challenge to McCarthy was out of bounds. He attacked those who demanded that McCarthy behave like a conservative as terroristsa loaded term, especially from someone who faced actual, anti-American terrorists on the battlefield.

When called out, Crenshaw doubled down, appearing on CNN (!) to call his Republican colleagues narcissists and enemies. Speaking to another reporter, he called them f***ing people and clowns. Thats how Crenshaw speaks of politicians who are trying to do the peoples, rather than the political classs, will.

Then, when Tucker Carlson appropriately called Crenshaw out, his response was to insult Tucker, too, saying that others (not Crenshaw himself, obviously) need to get a thicker skin in the face of a figure of speech:

Unclutch your pearls. Its a figure of speech. You cant insult, slander, and hold everyone hostage with no way out - and not expect me to punch back.



Grow thicker skin. https://t.co/gmwDmfCney  Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 5, 2023

When the political heat got bad, Crenshaw apologizedon CNN! Except, it wasnt an apology at all. Instead, it was the classic narcissistic apology. Thats the one that goes, Im sorry youre angry at me, especially because I did nothing wrong. Its all on you. So, while the word sorry appeared, an apology it was not.

Today, it emerged that Crenshaw is paying the price for turning on the American people (which is what he did). He desperately wanted to chair the House Committee on Homeland Securitybut he didnt get the gig. Instead, it went to Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), who has his own impressive background:

Green is an Army Ranger veteran who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, with his last assignment being a flight surgeon with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), a special operations unit known as the Night Stalkers.

Green was gracious in victory, which, frankly, is more than the post-January 6 Crenshaw deserves:

His first order of business is hiring staff.



Says beating Crenshaw "was not easy" and that he heard the Texas R did an "amazing job" and that he is , "one of my best friends in Congress."  Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) January 9, 2023

The sad thing is that Crenshaw probably wont learn from this. Instead of following his own cant we all get along advice, his non-apology hints that hes just going to double down on his sense of ill-usage, and thats a shame. Crenshaw has squandered so much goodwill because of his misplaced anger and pettiness.
A few hours back, CBS News reported that Joe Biden's lawyers had discovered several classified documents in his former office at Biden's Washington think-tank, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.

It is astonishing that Biden, who is among the least thoughtful men in the U.S., should have a think-tank. This happens only in D.C.

But let's focus on the classified documents.

Richard Sauber, White House special counsel to Biden, confirmed that the classified documents were discovered on Nov. 2, 2022, when Biden's personal attorneys "were packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C."

The classified documents were reportedly in a folder that was in a box with other unclassified materials and date from Biden's tenure as vice president.

Biden used an office at the center from mid-2017 until the launch of his 2020 presidential campaign.

The White House revealed in a statement that the White House Counsel's Office notified the National Archives and Records Administration on the very day the documents were found and that the agency retrieved them the following morning. The representatives from the National Archives then notified the Justice Department.

Attorney General Merrick Garland assigned the U.S. attorney in Chicago to review classified documents found at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington.

The White House said that it "is cooperating" with the DOJ and the National Archives and Records Administration.

Statement from White House Counsel's Office on cooperation with the National Archives: pic.twitter.com/Wu55efv1DE  Ian Sams (@IanSams46) January 9, 2023

Now about the timing of the breaking of this news.

The documents were discovered just a few days prior to the 2022 midterms, yet the announcement of the discovery of the documents was made late today.

Clearly, the agencies didn't want this declaration to affect the Democrats' prospects during the midterms.

This once again reveals how compromised and politicized various government agencies are. Instead of being vigilant watchdogs, they have devolved into obsequious lapdogs for the Democrats.

They suppressed and discredited the Hunter Biden laptop from hell prior to the 2020 presidential elections, and now Biden's mishandling of classified documents was buried prior to the midterms.

They once again manipulated the narrative prior to the midterms to interfere in the elections.

How did the Democrats achieve this "purity" in the agencies?

They obviously purged out all fair-minded individuals, conservatives, and dissenters from government agencies. Every individual is either partisan or mortally afraid to stand for what is right, lest he face reprisals and retaliation.

Hence, there are no whistleblowers or leaks to the news media. In today's time, leaks are much easier. There are numerous alternative media outlets that would willingly publish facts that are inconvenient to the establishment. Yet that didn't happen.

If this had happened prior to the 2018 midterms, during the Trump presidency, the agencies would have been invited to the location of the discovery for a briefing. The news media would have carried this news around the clock to inflict maximum damage.

President Trump wrote the following on Truth Social:

When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified.

As always, Trump has a point.

Following the Mar-a-Lago raid, U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland revealed that he had personally approved the decision for the FBI to execute a search warrant at President Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago.

Garland pompously proclaimed:

Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy. Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly without fear or favor. Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing.

So let's look at Biden's situation now.

The classified documents were at least six years old and were kept in an unsecured location for a prolonged period of time.

There could have been a break-in and the documents could have fallen into the hands of hostile powers. Perhaps some were already accessed and copied by unauthorized personnel or hostile foreign adversaries.

Biden's lawyers' discovery of the classified documents is itself a breach because they did not have security clearance to access these documents.

Since Biden was responsible for the documents, the blame falls solely on him.

If Biden was this careless with classified documents that he left them for years at his think-tank office, perhaps he left other documents lying around his various homes, too. Biden, recall, also had a Washington, D.C. office he shared with Jill, dissolute son Hunter, and an "emissary" for a Chinese oligarch, with a shared key.

Perhaps some of the classified documents were within the reach of Hunter Biden, or the Chinese official he shared office space with, Gongwen Dong, which means they could already be with the Chicoms.

If the FBI actually stood for the grand claims that A.G. Garland made and had uniformity in enforcing the laws, all of Biden's homes and offices would have been raided and meticulously scrutinized for classified documents.

But that won't happen.

We can be sure that Biden will never suffer consequences for his actions. The worst-case scenario is that one of Biden's staffers will be blamed, and Biden will pardon the official later.

In fact, it is quite surprising that the agencies even revealed these discoveries.

It is also most unusual that various Democrat mouthpieces in the media are covering it and are even being critical of Joe Biden. They obviously continue to claim that Trump's situation with the classified documents was much worse, yet the fact that this is being covered is most rare.

Perhaps the establishment is looking to force Biden to not run in 2024, and this is the first warning shot? This is the week that Biden is expected to announce his run for re-election.

This discovery of the materials comes as Special Counsel Jack Smith is investigating President Trump for allegedly mishandling classified records at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

Once again, if there were fairness, a special counsel would also be appointed to look into Biden's mishandling of classified records, but we know that won't happen, either.

These agencies clearly have no regard for fairness or objectivity or propriety or the law of the land. Their goal is only furthering the Democrat agenda.

How about reactions following the unprecedented August raid on Mar-a-Lago?

The most shocking reaction was from NBC's "presidential historian," who invoked the Rosenberg spies, who were executed for leaking U.S. nuclear secrets to the KGB in 1953. Remember him?

Rosenbergs were convicted for giving U.S. nuclear secrets to Moscow, and were executed June 1953: pic.twitter.com/0Ox1JXoNDf  Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) August 12, 2022

A retired general and a former director of the CIA and the NSA appeared to concur.

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

They were implying that Trump deserved to be executed for a crime that wasn't even mentioned by the FBI at the time of the raid.

Democrats and media pundits delivered numerous sanctimonious spiels regarding federal officeholders being required by law to relinquish classified records when their government service ends.

Biden himself wondered how "anyone could be that irresponsible" to have classified documents in a private facility.

Biden also said that the government needs to figure out "what data was in there that may compromise sources and methods."

In September, Joe Biden was asked about the classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.



He said he didn't know "how anyone could be that irresponsible" and questioned "what data was in there that may compromise sources and methods?" pic.twitter.com/jvw8FcBZZj  Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) January 10, 2023

Now that Biden appears guilty, there will be relative silence.

Legal egalitarianism that requires all citizens, irrespective of their position, power, and wealth, to be equal before the law is a fundamental tenet of any civilized democracy.

Alas, those standards are rapidly eroding, and so are democratic values in the U.S.

Image: Twitter screen shot.
There has been much written about Alabama Republican Representative Mike Rogers, a McCarthy ally, nearly getting into a physical confrontation with Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz following the 14th ballot speakership vote on Friday, January 6. Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker of the House on the 15th ballot, which was held in the early hours of Saturday, January 7.

By Sunday evening, Rogers and Gaetz had mended fences. Rogers tweeted, I regret that I briefly lost my tempter on the House Floor Friday evening and appreciate Matts kind understanding. Gaetz responded that he forgave Rogers, who shouldnt face any punishment or reprisal just because he had an animated moment.

During those hours leading up to the final vote that gave McCarthy the speakership he had wanted for years, there was a lot of anger throughout The Peoples House. Was it a prelude to future events?

Lets look back to when an attack on the Senate floor drew blood.

In December 1855, as the countrys deep split over slavery grew, it took two months for the House of Representatives to elect a speaker. The pro-slavery and anti-slavery sides would not budge. The New York Tribune wrote during this ongoing saga:

This is not a mere contest as to a Speaker of the House; it is but an incident in a long and arduous struggle which is to determine whether slavery will be the pole star of our National career.

Finally, in January 1856, Republican abolitionist Nathaniel Banks was elected speaker, but he only lasted 13 months. Few expected any semblance of peace following the vote as Congress was filled with pro- and anti-slavery representatives and senators.

Image: Southern Chivalry, also known as The Caning of Charles Sumner, 1856.

On May 20, 1856, a few months after Banks won the speakership, Republican Senator Charles Sumner (Massachusetts) delivered a two-day-long speech entitled The Crime Against Kansas. In his lengthy anti-slavery speech, Sumner detailed the sordid slavery institution. Sumner called out Democrat Senator Andrew Butler (South Carolina), hinting that he and other southern slaveholders used their female slaves for sexual gratification. Those innuendos (which were true on many plantations) offended many southern senators.

Two days after his historic speech, South Carolina Democrat Representative Preston Brooks, who was Butlers cousin, walked into the Senate chamber, went directly to Sumners desk, and began beating him over the head with a heavy wooden cane. Profusely bleeding, Sumner attempted to protect himself by pulling up his desk, which was bolted to the floor. Brooks kept hitting Sumner until his cane broke, and there was blood dripping all over the Senate floor.

The incident became known as The Caning or Charles Sumner or The Brooks-Sumner Affair. The anti-slavery side hailed Sumner as a hero for his two-day speech and his surviving the deadly assault. The pro-slavery side saw Brooks as a hero, with the representative receiving hundreds of new canes to replace the one broken in his attack on Sumner.

Although Brooks survived a House censure resolution, he resigned. However, he was quickly reelected, only to die soon after at age 37. Sumner had a long recovery but returned to the Senate, where he served for another 18 years.

The Civil War didnt start until four years after this incident. However, many historians view the lengthy fight over electing a speaker, followed by Brookss murder attempt on Sumner, as a symbolic prelude to the catastrophic War Between the States.

Robin M. Itzler is a regular contributor to American Thinker. She can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com.
Jim Browns syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also look over a list of books he has published at www.thelisburnpress.com.
According to Bloomberg, Google agreed to pay $23 million to settle a class action lawsuit that was filed against the company 12 years ago. The lawsuit claims Google has shared users search data with third-party companies.

Lawsuits against Google and its business practices have no end. The search giant pays millions of dollars in fines every few months to settle lawsuits. Most of these lawsuits are filed around privacy violations. Likewise, the company is accused of sharing search data with advertisers and other third-party companies without the users permission.

As per the lawsuits details, when a user clicks on a query on Google, its data is shared with the website and advertiser. The advertisers also use the data to figure out what queries brought users to specific pages. This is reportedly against the federal Stored Communications Act and California domestic laws.

Law firms Nassiri & Jung LLP, KamberLaw LLC, and Progressive Law Group LLC represent consumers.

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Google to pay $23 million over sharing users search data with advertiser

Back in 2013, Google was ready to pay $8.5 million to settle the case. However, the deal was canceled due to the Supreme Courts decision in Spokeo Inc. v. Robins case. At the time, Google argued that users couldnt claim their privacy was violated when the searches were not related to their identity.

Besides paying $23 million, Google must now inform users about sharing their data with third-party agencies. Additionally, the lawsuit needs court approval to be finalized.

These multi-million dollar fines are coming in the days when Google is reportedly preparing for harder economic situations. The search giant slowed hiring due to economic uncertainty and might even lay off some of its employees in 2023.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has recently announced a new performance review system for 2023 (via CNBC). He also wanted employees that most of them might be at risk due to poor performance. Pichai already told employees Google needs to be at least 20% more efficient.
The Google Pixel Watch is getting a new software update, the second since its market debut in October last year. Its a relatively small release this time around. Googles official release notes only mention a fix for an issue with third-party watch faces that cause those to turn off automatically after 15 minutes when always on display (AOD) is enabled. Of course, the January 2023 security patch is also part of this update. The latter contains dozens of vulnerability fixes.

If you are one of the early adopters of Googles first-ever smartwatch, you can check for updates for your wearable from the System menu on the Settings app. Tap on System updates and your Pixel Watch will look for new updates on its own. If it finds a new software release, youll be prompted to download and install it. If theres no update available, wait a few days and check again. You may also receive a notification once the OTA (over the air) release hits your unit. You can proceed by tapping on the notification.

According to Googles release notes, the new firmware version for the Pixel Watch is RWD9.220429.073 (RWD9.220429.073.J1 for users in Japan and Taiwan). Since the rollout has just begun, it could take a few days for everyone to see this update. Make sure to keep the Pixel Watch app on your smartphone updated so you dont miss out on all the latest features. The app has picked up a few updates of its own since Google launched its first-ever smartwatch.

Your Pixel Watch may get Fall Detection any day now

The Pixel Watch shipped without Fall Detection support. Google said the feature will be available a few months down the line. While none of the two software updates brought it, at least one user has already picked up the nifty feature. The said user received Fall Detection via a server-side update while running the December patch. Their watch showed a prompt to set up the feature after a restart.

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Google still lists Fall Detection as an upcoming Pixel Watch feature, so it appears to be small-scale testing. But with the release of this update, we expect the company to soon begin a wider rollout of it. The feature may arrive as a server-side update in the coming days. Once available, it can be found under the Safety & Emergency section in the Settings app. We will let you know if Google officially announces the availability of Fall Detection for the Pixel Watch.
Google has begun rolling out the first batch of Google System updates of the new year. The initial January 2023 release contains new developer features, Play Games improvements, and more. As usual, the company should add more changes to the release notes as the month progresses.

The January 2023 Google System updates are now rolling out

According to Google, the January 2023 Google System updates expands the range of users and use cases supported by the Play Games profile. This change will be available on both phones and PCs with Google Play services version 23.01, which rolled out last week. The same Play services version also adds support for Device Connectivity-related developer services. Googles in-house developers as well as third-party Android developers can take advantage of this feature.

Additionally, Google Play Store version 33.5 released last week continues the companys efforts of making apps and games more discoverable. Youll see more apps and games that you might be interested in downloading on your phone. Speaking of downloading, Google has further optimized the process to enable faster and more reliable installation. This update also contains Play Protect improvements and various performance optimizations, bug fixes, and security, stability, and accessibility improvements for the Play Store.

As said earlier, Google is just getting started with the January 2023 Google System updates. It will continue to roll out more changes in the coming weeks. You dont need to do anything to get these updates, though. The changes are installed automatically with the latest versions of the Play Store and Play services apps. You dont have to manually install the new versions. However, it may take a few weeks for the updates to reach all Android users globally. Meanwhile, we will let you know when Google adds notable new changes to its release notes.

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Google recently released this months security update

Google System updates are different from the monthly security updates that Android devices get. The latest security patch rolled out to the Pixel lineup and eligible Android products from other brands last week. It patches more than 60 vulnerabilities across nine Pixel smartphones  Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 5, Pixel 5a, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, and Pixel 7 Pro.

Other Android OEMs such as Samsung ship these updates with additional vulnerability patches specific to their respective devices. The January SMR (Security Maintenance Release) for Galaxy devices patches 20 such Galaxy-specific vulnerabilities, including flaws in NFC, Wi-Fi Service, Knox Service, Secure Folder, and more device components.
Samsung has released Android 13 for one more Galaxy smartphone in the US. The Galaxy A42 5G is the latest to get the big Android update stateside. The mid-range model is yet to pick up the new Android version in most international markets.

Samsung began rolling out the Android 13-based One UI 5.0 update to the Galaxy A42 5G early last month. The new version was first released in its home country South Korea. We expected the rollout to expand to other markets in subsequent weeks. But, more than a month later, South Korea remains the only market where this 2020 mid-ranger has received Android 13. The US versions are joining the party today. Hopefully, users in Europe and other international markets wont have to wait much longer.

As of this writing, the Android 13 update is available for carrier-locked units in the US. Users on Comcasts networks are picking up the new release with firmware version A426USQU4DVL2. A wider rollout covering unlocked models should be just around the corner. The update bundles a relatively old November 2022 security patch. Samsung has already rolled out the January 2023 SMR (Security Maintenance Release) to a few Galaxy devices. But for the Galaxy A42 5G, this update is more about Android 13 than anything else.

The latest Android version, along with Samsungs One UI 5.0 custom skin, brings a host of goodies to the mid-range smartphone. We have a minor UI refresh with bolder app icons featuring gradient colors and smoother system animations and transitions. There are also plenty of new features that add to your devices functionality. We have privacy and security improvements too. This is on top of dozens of vulnerability fixes that are part of Samsungs November 2022 SMR.

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The Galaxy A42 5G gets its final Android OS update in the US

Samsung released the Galaxy A42 5G in November 2020 as a premium mid-range offering. The company didnt launch a successor to it, but the device got its fair share of support. Debuting with Android 10 on board, it picked up updates to Android 11, Android 12, and now, Android 13. Thats the end of its run, though. The mid-range device will not get Android 14.

From here on, its only security updates for the Galaxy A42 5G, which will come once in a while at least until November 2024. Meanwhile, if youre using this phone, you can head over to Settings > Software update and tap on Download and install to check if Android 13 is available for you. If not, wait a few days and check again.
Samsung is expecting 2023 to be a challenging year for its business because of the deteriorating global economic environment. The companys Vice Chairman and co-CEO Han Jong-hee recently said that the firm is bracing for a rough year ahead. Han, who oversees Samsungs smartphone and home appliance businesses, was speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of CES 2023.

According to the Samsung executive, multiple factors are affecting its business this year. Perhaps the entire industry is suffering from the prolonged economic recession, geopolitical tension, supply chain risks, and climate change. These overlapping crises have caused drastic uncertainty in the market, leading to stalled economic growth. Consumers have become more conscious about their spending, resulting in slugging demand.

The Samsung CEO suggested that 2023 could be a defining year for the success or failure of many companies in the coming years. He said how the company overcomes these crises will determine its immediate future. To that end, the Korean behemoth plans to remain focused on fundamental values while simultaneously innovating and expanding its investment to futuristic technologies such as metaverse and robotics.

Samsung recently invested KRW 59 billion (approx. USD 46 million) in South Korean robot maker Rainbow Robotics. The company also sees a bright future for the metaverse and plans to develop technologies and solutions around it. As it is with all technologies, it always attracts attention when it first begins. But technology goes to where it is most needed, and I think the metaverse is also in that flow, Han said during the press briefing. He added that many other tech biggies are actively working on metaverse solutions.

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Samsung is developing a China-specific business strategy

Hans comments about Samsungs 2023 outlook came on the same day the Korean behemoth estimated its operating profit in the final three months of 2022 to drop a staggering 70 percent. The company is expecting its profits to drop to KRW 4.3 trillion (approx. USD 3.4 billion) from KRW 13.87 trillion it made a year earlier. Weak demand and low prices for semiconductor chips resulted in this massive profit decline.

The Korean conglomerate is struggling in the smartphone market as well. It reportedly fall short of its flagship sales target last year. One of the biggest reasons for that is Samsungs failure to penetrate the Chinese market. Its market share in the worlds most populous country is a paltry two percent. Han said the company has figured out the problem and is preparing to launch new products tailored to China in the coming years. Samsung has already formed a China-specific business innovation team.
It seems like Xiaomi plans to launch the Xiaomi 13 Lite after all. The phone surfaced on the Google Play Console, and that listing gives us a good idea as to what to expect. Do note that the phone will likely launch during MWC 2023, along with the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro.

The Xiaomi 13 Lite design is kind of surprising

The phones design appeared at the Google Play Console, along with some of the phones specs. Thats not all, though. The device is codenamed Ziyi, which actually matches the Xiaomi Civi 2. Whats interesting is that the linked image looks identical to the Xiaomi Civi 1S.

As you can see in the image provided above, the device is expected to feature a display camera hole, a centered one. Its bezels will be thin, and its display seemingly curved. Three cameras are visible on the back.

Whats interesting is that the Xiaomi 13 Lite is expected to feature a curved display, while the regular model has a flat display. The Xiaomi 13 Pro, on the flip side, includes a curved panel. How do we know that? Well, the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro already launched in China last month. They will launch globally next month, quite possibly during MWC 2023 in Barcelona.

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The phone will include the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC

In any case, some specs of the phone are mentioned in the listing. The device will include a fullHD+ (2400 x 1080) panel, while the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 will fuel the device. The listing also mentions that the Xiaomi 13 Lite will include 8GB of RAM.

Android 12 is mentioned as pre-installed software, though the phone will likely ship with Android 13 by the time it gets released. Its still a bit surprising that this phone looks like the Xiaomi Civi 1S, but perhaps thats the design Xiaomi will go with.

As a reminder, the Xiaomi Civi 2 has a pill-shaped cutout on the display, and it looks a bit different than the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro. On the flip side, the specs of this phone are more in line with the Xiaomi Civi 2. Its all a bit confusing, well have to wait and see what is Xiaomi planning.
(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 10 - Italy and Japan are to forge a strategic partnership, Premier Giorgia Meloni said after talks in Rome Tuesday with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Saying that ties between the two countries would be raised to that new level, Meloni hailed the already high level of bilateral trade, at 12 billion euros.

"We had a long talk starting from the excellent bilateral relations that exist between Italy and Japan, which have trade of 12 billion euros a year," said the Italian premier.

"I recall the launch on 9 December together with the United United Kingdom of a programme aimed at developing a sixth generation vehicle on civil sectors and scientific research.

"We agreed to elevate our relationship to the status of strategic partnership, a significant step and a strengthening of our contacts with the opening of new opportunities".

Meloni went on: "In addition to ensuring full support to Ukraine, we want to work with the Japanese presidency (of the G7) on certain priorities proposed by Japan, such as the protection of the rules-based international order, strengthening economic security, protecting supply chains and upping the fight against climate change.

"These are all challenges on which there is a lot of work to be done, we will deepen these issues related to international politics, starting with the consequences of the war in Ukraine".

(ANSA).


Over 15,000 visit Creators of Egypt exhibit in Vicenza Knock-on effect for other city museums

(ANSAmed) - VICENZA, JAN 10 - The exhibition 'The Creators of Eternal Egypt: Scribes, Artisans, and Laborers in the Service of the Pharaoh' in Italy's northern city of Vicenza proved to be a success.



Organised in collaboration with the Egyptian Museum of Turin, the show attracted over 15,000 visitors in the 17 days it was open.



The Vicenza town council said that the exhibition had a knock-on effect in all the city's museums, which amid a recovery of tourism following two years of the pandemic saw their entrances double to over 20,000.



From Dec. 22 to Jan. 8, there were 15,551 tickets paid for with a resulting 146,314 in revenue.



In the same period, the seven city museums saw a total of 20,800 entrances, more than double the same period of the previous year.



With 9,082 tickets sold, the most popular was Teatro Olimpico, which in the same period of the previous year had raked in 4,383 visitors.



"Adding to the excitement of seeing once again the lines of residents and tourists waiting to enter exhibitions and the satisfaction of receiving many positive comments," said mayor Francesco Rucco and culture councillor Simona Siotto, there is "the certainty today of seeing significant numbers [of visitors] recorded during the Christmas holiday - not only of the exhibition but also city museums, which were able to make good use of the city being put into the spotlight" by the exhibition.



"From Teatro Olimpico to Palazzo Chiericati, all museum sites double their entrances, a sign that visitors fully welcomed" Vicenza as a city of art, they said. (ANSAmed).




NAPLES - The city of AlUla is located in the desert of Saudi Arabia, amid sudden oases and archaeological sites dating back thousands of years and in which archaeologists have found the remains of ancient plants and animals.



The city has been included on a list of Seven Wonders of the World for 2023, according to Conde Nast Traveler.



The list was compiled by travel writer Aaron Millar, who described AlUla as a place of "extraordinary history and cultural heritage", according to a report in Gulf News.



"At the end of 2022, the site officially opened its doors to visitors and, in doing so, unveiled a more than a 200,000-year-old piece of Arabian history," Millar was reported as saying.



Saudi Minister of Culture, Prince Badr bin Farhan Al Saud, praised the magazine for including AlUla in its list.



"AlUla, with its unique beauty and stunning nature, is among the Seven Wonders of the World for the year 2023 on the list of Conde Nast magazine," Bin Farhan tweeted.



Other destinations included among Millar's Seven Wonders of the World for 2023 include Mont Saint-Michel in France, Argentina's Perito Moreno Glacier, Bhutan's Tiger's Nest Monastery, Cappadocia in Turkey, the Lake District in the United Kingdom, and South Africa's Sardine Run, Gulf News reported.



"Located 1,100km from Riyadh, AlUla is a region filled with natural and human history covering a vast area of desert, oasis, sandstone mountains and ancient cultural sites. Remains of past civilisations date back to 7,000 years ago, and AlUla is also home to Hegra, one of the Nabataean Kingdom's key cities and Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site," it noted.




(ANSAmed) - ATHENS, 10 GEN - A group of 24 aid workers and volunteers who participated in migrant rescue operations on the Greek island of Lesvos have had their trial in Lesvos, Greece adjourned today amid protests and calls from human rights groups that authorities drop the "absurd" charges of spying and disclosing state secrets.



The trial, which was initially set to go ahead in 2021 but was postponed over procedural issues, started on Tuesday as expected but was later adjourned. The smuggling-related case has been widely criticized by human rights groups.



There were protests outside the court ahead of the start of the trial, with hashtags such as #DropTheCharges and #SolidarityOnTrial also started on social media in support of the aid workers, while banners were put up outside the court with slogans such as "If helping is a crime then we are all criminals".



The defendants, including many who spent several months in pre-trial detention, face a range of charges including misdemeanor counts of espionage-related offenses, illegal access to state communications and assisting criminal activity. They all deny all charges, saying they did nothing more than help rescue people whose lives were in danger. The trial is expected to continue on Friday.



Two 28-year-olds - the Syrian refugee Sara Mardini and the German activist Sean Binder - are the most in the spotlight in this trial, which many observers have called the "largest case of criminalisation of solidarity in Europe".



Mardini, who now lives and studies in Berlin, disembarked on Lesbos as a refugee in 2015.



After the boat she was travelling on with her sister Yusra - with whom she shared a passion for swimming - experienced engine failure, the sisters pulled the boat to shore and saved their 18 travel companions. Yusra later took part as swimmer in the Rio Olympics in a refuge team. The story had inspired a Netflix film, 'The Swimmers'.



Only a year after her arrival in Europe, in 2016, Sara decided to return to the Greek island as a volunteer to take part in search and rescue operations for migrants at sea. In 2018 she and Binder were arrested. They spent over 100 days in jail before being released on bail. The two are under investigation for human trafficking, belonging to a criminal organisation, and money laundering, crimes that carry a sentence of up to 20 years in jail.



"What is on trial today is human rights. That is the fundamental problem," Binder told reporters outside the court before Tuesday's proceedings began. "We are desperate to go to trial because what we did was legal, and we need the judge to acknowledge that we need to get through this, because until then, there is a shadow of doubt, not over me alone, but over anybody who does search and rescue." "Sarah and Sean did what any of us should do if we were in their position. Helping people at risk of drowning in one of the deadliest sea routes in Europe and assisting them on the shoreline is not a crime," commented Nils Muiznieks, director of Amnesty's European Regional Office, in a media statement ahead of Tuesday's hearing.



He added: "This trial reveals how the Greek authorities will go to extreme lengths to deter humanitarian assistance and discourage migrants and refugees from seeking safety on the country's shores, something which we see in a number of European countries," he said. "It is farcical that this trial is even taking place." Last year Amnesty pointed out that hundreds of people like Sarah and Sean have been criminalized across Europe for doing humanitarian work helping refugees and migrants. In a 2020 report Amnesty detailed the numerous ways in which European governments have deployed restrictive, sanctioning and punitive measures against people who defend refugees and migrants' rights. They do so by misusing laws and policies, including the legally ambiguous and inconsistent rules in the so-called EU Facilitators' Package. Dozens of prosecutions have been launched against individuals and NGOs, including Medecins Sans Frontieres, in Italy, Greece, France and Switzerland.
BEIRUT - The United Arab Emirates has announced that it will introduce the history of the Holocaust into school curriculums.



The Holocaust was the "murder of six million Jews by the Nazis during the Second World War," The National noted in reporting the news.



The move has come about two years after US-backed normalisation agreements signed between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain.



The announcement was reportedly made at the UAE embassy in Washington DC.



Though the UAE education ministry has not yet confirmed the news, statements by members of the Jewish community in the UAE and Israeli government representatives welcoming the move were published on Tuesday in UEA media.



According to the announcement, the Holocaust will be taught in both primary and secondary schools in the UAE. This issue is not taught in the curricula of most other Middle Eastern countries.



The UAE embassy in Washington DC has said that the course content will be developed in collaboration with Yad Vashem, the Israeli institute to commemorate the Holocaust which was founded in 1953 in Jerusalem.
The Horgos port, a border port in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, resumed passenger customs clearance on Sunday, welcoming its first inbound tourists of 2023.

From Jan. 8, customs clearance has also been resumed in Irkeshtam, Karasu and Takixken, the region's three other road ports, respectively bordering Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Mongolia.

"It's convenient to take an international intermodal bus to China after the resumption of the customs clearance," said Belik Zhanuzakov, who is from Kazakhstan and arrived at the Horgos port, which borders Kazakhstan.

Due to the pandemic, Belik Zhanuzakov had to do business with his Chinese partners online. "Now we have the chance to talk face to face," he said, expressing the hope that his business will grow.

In order to ensure smooth customs clearance procedures for passengers at ports, Xinjiang customs departments have made individual plans based on the characteristics of each port. Border inspection authorities have also increased the publicity of exit and entry policies and made arrangements for accommodation and catering at ports.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
TEL AVIV - Israel's national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir has ordered a ban on flying Palestinian flags in public.



Ben Gvir is the leader of the far-right party Otzma Yehudit ('Jewish Power').



Media reports stated that Ben Gvir also criticised the behavior of the police when public celebrations were held in an Israeli village following the release - after 40 years in jail - of Karim Yunes, a Fatah member who was found guilty of killing an Israeli soldier.



"Support for a terrorist is not freedom of expression," said Ben Gvir.



The minister then asked for an in-depth investigation to clarify how a Hamas detainee - Hassan Salameh, who is serving 46 life sentences for terrorist attacks that he organised - was able to send to Gaza the manuscript of a book of memories entitled 'Bus in Flames'.



According to Hussein a-Sheikh, secretary general of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), on Monday Ben Gvir ordered harsher measures as concerns dozens of palestinian "prisoners" including Fatah leader Marwan Barghuti, who - according to a-Sheikh - has been transferred from the Hadarim jail in central Israel to the "strict isolation jail of Nafha" in the Negev.



Following a protest of thousands of people against the new government that was held on Saturday in Tel Aviv, Ben Gvir also ordered that police be more strict as concerns demonstrations of this type.



He called for the arrest of anyone blocking traffic and banned the showing of "incitement posters" that are strongly polemical against the government.




ROME - Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Premier Antonio Tajani said Tuesday that he called on Tunisia to take action to stop migrants embarking from its shores to try to reach Italy during a telephone conversation with his Tunisian counterpart Othman Jerandi.



"Telephone call with Tunisian Foreign Minister Othman Jerandi," Tajani said via Twitter.



"I asked for a strong commitment from the Tunisian government to combat illegal migrant departures and to facilitate a greater number of repatriations.



"I'll be in Tunis soon: the Italian government is working to solve the immigration emergency".




Confiscation proceedings against a former SNP MP convicted of embezzling almost 25,000 from pro-independence groups have been postponed to allow her appeal process to continue.

Natalie McGarry, 41, was jailed for two years in June last year after she was found guilty of embezzling 19,974 while treasurer of Women for Independence and 4,661 while treasurer and convener of the Glasgow Regional Association of the SNP.

Last month, she was granted leave to appeal against her conviction and sentence and a procedural hearing is due to take place later this month.

At a hearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Tuesday, Patrick Campbell, representing McGarry, asked for the confiscation hearing to be continued to a later date.

The hearing took place at Glasgow Sheriff Court (Andrew Milligan/PA)

He said: Matters have now moved on as far as the appeal proceedings are concerned.

Leave to appeal conviction and sentence has now been granted.

He added: Im inviting (the sheriff) to continue this for six weeks or perhaps a little longer.

The court heard that a procedural hearing in the appeal is due to take place later this month followed by a substantive hearing in February.

Sheriff Barry Divers continued the case until March 7 this year.

He said: In the circumstances I will continue this matter for eight weeks and see where we are with this case.

McGarry, who stood trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court last spring, did not attend the hearing on Tuesday and has been excused from attending the next one in March.

In May last year, a jury found her guilty by majority of a charge of embezzling 19,974 while she was treasurer of Women for Independence between April 26 2013 and November 30 2015.

The charge relating to her time at the Glasgow Regional Association of the SNP covered the period between April 9 2014 and August 10 2015.

The Crown launched proceeds of crime proceedings against McGarry following her sentencing, seeking to ensure that profits obtained through criminal conduct are confiscated.

The 41-year-old was elected as an SNP member in 2015 but resigned the party whip after the emergence of fraud allegations  which she denied.

She continued in Parliament as an independent MP representing Glasgow East but did not seek re-election in 2017.
A drone pilot has pleaded guilty to endangering a historic aircraft during an RAF memorial flypast in front of an estimated 20,000 people.

Mark Bagguley was in charge of the device when it flew dangerously close to the wing of a Hawker Hurricane from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight RAF display group, which was flying over Buxton, Derbyshire, as part of the towns annual carnival on July 9 last year.

The drone was later seized and Bagguley, 49, was arrested as the flypast had a short-term air space restriction which banned other flights in the area, including by drones.

Bagguley, of Chatsworth Road, Fairfield, pleaded guilty at Chesterfield Justice Centre on Monday to endangering an aircraft and operating an aircraft out of the visual line of sight.

Pc Matt Moore, flight safety manager for the Derbyshire Constabulary drone team, said: The way the pilot flew his drone was unsafe, illegal and totally unacceptable.

Anyone using a drone must follow the rules to make sure they fly safely.

As a police drone unit, we know the benefits drones can bring to society, but people using a drone in this way not only threaten the safety of aircraft and the public, they also damage the future use of drones.

This is for the safety of not only yourself but others around.

Bagguley will be sentenced at Derby Crown Court on February 9, in what Derbyshire Constabulary said is the first case of its kind for the force and believed to be one of the first cases nationally.

The force reiterated the need for drones to be flown safely and legally, which is the responsibility of the operator.
Ellen DeGeneres has urged residents of Montecito, in California, to stay safe as the area continues to experience unprecedented weather conditions.

The US talk show host and comedian posted a video of herself from near her home, which she shares with spouse Portia de Rossi, beside a rushing river.

It comes after local authorities ordered an evacuation of the area which is home to other famous faces including actor Rob Lowe, Oprah Winfrey and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Montecito is under mandatory evacuation. We are on higher ground so they asked us to shelter in place. Please stay safe everyone. pic.twitter.com/7dv5wfNSzG  Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) January 9, 2023

The extreme weather comes on the five-year anniversary of deadly mudslides in the seaside community that left 23 people dead and destroyed more than 100 homes.

Speaking in a video on her social media accounts, DeGeneres said: This is crazy.

We are having unprecedented rain. This creek near to our house never flows ever (and its) probably about nine feet up.

It could go another two feet up. We have horses ready to evacuate.

We need to be nicer to Mother Nature, because Mother Nature is not happy with us.

(David Jensen/PA)

DeGeneres added in the caption of her post: We are on higher ground so they asked us to shelter in place. Please stay safe everyone.

On Monday, a 5-year-old boy was swept away by floodwaters, and the death toll from the string of storms climbed from 12 to 14 on Monday, after two people were killed by falling trees, state officials said.

Tens of thousands of people remained without power, and some schools closed for the day, with streets and highways flooded and trees felled.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said the decision to evacuate nearly 10,000 people was based on the continuing high rate of rainfall with no indication that that is going to change before nightfall.
A 31-year-old has been convicted of murdering a man who was drugged and stabbed to death after being lured by a woman who had seen his Rolex watches on Instagram.

Saul Murray, 33, was drugged with the sedative GHB, stabbed and left for dead at his home in Luton last February, Bedfordshire Police said as Ikem Affia was convicted of murder alongside two women and a man found guilty of manslaughter.

Mr Murray had posted images of himself wearing two Rolex watches on Instagram that were spotted by Surpreet Dhillon, 36, Luton Crown Court heard.

She contacted him and the pair spoke over WhatsApp before Dhillon and Temidayo Awe, 21, went to meet Mr Murray at his flat.

Both women were convicted of manslaughter and conspiracy to commit robbery along with Cleon Brown, 29.

A man who died in #Luton on Sunday has been formally identified as Saul Murray, 33. A murder investigation was launched after officers were called to an address in New Town Street, shortly after 5am on Sunday morning following the discovery of a body.https://t.co/jYWYZmn6Gy pic.twitter.com/GXUA0iAvRq  Bedfordshire Police (@bedspolice) March 2, 2022

Affia, 31, was convicted of murder, possession of a bladed article and conspiracy to commit robbery.

CCTV footage taken outside Mr Murrays flat on the night of his death showed the two women entering with their victim just before 11.40pm, Bedfordshire Police said.

One of the women propped open the communal door with a broom as the other left shortly before 2.30am.

She returned with the two men, Brown and Affia, and all four left together 20 minutes later, with one of the men seen on the footage clearly carrying a large knife, officers said.

Mr Murray was then seen running towards the door before losing consciousness and collapsing.

Emergency services found him dead just after 5am on February 27 and a post-mortem examination showed he had died after losing blood from a knife wound.

Detectives said they could identify Dhillon and Awe from CCTV while further footage showed a Mercedes Benz acting suspiciously near Mr Murrays flat which had been hired by Brown.

CCTV from a fast-food restaurant in London showed Brown with a man believed to be Affia wearing a distinctive designer coat identical to a garment seen on the footage from Mr Murrays flat.

Information from the manufacturer revealed that one of these coats had been sold to Affias partner.

This, along with data which placed Browns hired Mercedes Benz at Affias home address before and after Mr Murrays death, led to Affias arrest.

Affia and Brown, of Hackney, east London, Dhillon, of Forest Gate, east London, and Awe, of Gillingham, Kent, were convicted on Tuesday after a 10-week trial at Luton Crown Court.

They will be sentenced at the same court on March 3.

Detective Inspector Dale Mepstead, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said: This alarming act of violence resulted in Mr Murray losing his life in the most horrific way.

All four had planned to rob Mr Murray of any expensive belongings he may have had, and had agreed to use force and threats, as well as the use of a sedative substance  in this case GHB that the women used on Mr Murray  to get what they wanted.

Not only was the attack on him brutal, but all four left him alone to die from his injuries.

This was a very complex investigation that involved a lot of CCTV and phone work to identify the rightful suspects and I am pleased that all four have been found guilty of the part they each played in Mr Murrays death.
The Duke of Sussex has condemned Diana, Princess of Wales former butler for releasing a book that made a series of private revelations about his mother.

In his controversial memoir Spare, Harry said Paul Burrell was milking Dianas death for money when he penned A Royal Duty in 2003, adding that it made my blood boil.

Mr Burrell, who the duke does not name in the autobiography, drew criticism from the royal family at the time when he released the book about his former boss Diana.

A statement issued by the brothers from Clarence House accused Mr Burrell of a cold and overt betrayal.

In response, Mr Burrell welcomed the suggestion of meeting with the princes to justify his book and tell them about parts of their mothers life they had not witnessed, adding: Id love to give them a piece of my mind.

In his memoir Spare, Harry describes how he learned of the book when he was working as an unpaid farmhand in Australia aged 19 in 2003 after leaving Eton.

He writes that he received a package from Buckingham Palace, which was full of memos from the Palace communications team about a delicate matter.

Former royal butler Paul Burrell (John Stillwell/PA)

Mummys former butler had penned a tell-all which actually told nothing, he said.

It was merely one mans self-justifying, self-centring version of events.

My mother once called this butler a dear friend, trusted him implicitly. We did too. Now this.

He was milking her disappearance for money. It made my blood boil.

Harry writes that he wanted to fly home to confront Mr Burrell but Charles and William talked him out of it, saying all they could do was issue a united condemnation.

Diana, Princess of Wales (John Stillwell/PA)

The duke also claims that he had nothing to do with the drafting of the Clarence House statement and that he would have gone much further.

On a meeting with Mr Burrell, Harry wrote: He wanted to give us a piece of his mind?

Harry said he anxiously waited for the meeting but it never happened, writing: I didnt know why; I presume the Palace quashed it. I told myself: Shame.

I thought of that man as the one errant steer that got away that summer.
Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian addresses the New Year's Press Gathering held by the Chinese embassy in Canberra, Australia, Jan. 10, 2023. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)

CANBERRA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian said the bilateral relationship is at a critical stage of turnaround currently, and he believed an improved relationship would give more confidence for bilateral cooperation in various fields.

While addressing the New Year's Press Gathering held by the Chinese embassy on Tuesday, Xiao said 2022 was an "extraordinary year" for the China-Australia relations, which have tided over difficulties and regained positive momentum thanks to the efforts from both sides.

"Both sides need to renew our commitment to the relationship, bring it back on the right track, and earnestly implement the important consensus between our leaders and the China-Australia Foreign and Strategic Dialogue Joint Outcomes Statement," he said.

The Chinese ambassador urged Australia to look at China in a more objective way, and formulate its defense policy relating to China on the basis of facts and rationality.

"If you think the other side is an enemy, how could you have a sincere, real and good relationship in real sense."

"It is simply not true that China is and could be a potential threat to Australia. There's no reason for us to believe. That's not the case," he stressed.

Xiao also dismissed Australia's security pact with Britain and the U.S. as not constructive nor helpful, and Canberra's nuclear submarine deal under this mechanism goes against the international non-proliferation efforts and Australia's own interest.

"China is not seeking to be an enemy of the United States, Britain nor Australia, so there's no reason for the three countries to stand together to work on something that is targeting China as a potential threat," he said.

"We have certainly different views, but there's no reason for us to be confrontational in nature."

As Australian businesses and universities are expecting more Chinese travellers and students after China further optimized its COVID-19 prevention and control measures, the ambassador believed that a further improved relationship would give more impetus for the bilateral cooperation.

He said the two countries experienced some difficulties under the previous Australian government, and those difficulties have affected relationship in other fields.

"I personally believe that while we have a consistent improvement of relationship, that will give people more confidence that they can be assured to continue doing their normal business."

He said he hoped China and Australia will continue to rise above differences, respect each other and work together for mutual benefit in the new year, so that the relationship can get back on the right track and move forward in a sustainable manner. 

Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian addresses the New Year's Press Gathering held by the Chinese embassy in Canberra, Australia, Jan. 10, 2023. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
1,200 jobs at risk as Amazon proposes closure of three warehouses

Amazon has revealed plans to shut three UK warehouses and seven delivery stations in a move which will affect more than 1,200 jobs.

The company has launched consultations over the closure of warehouses in Hemel Hempstead, Doncaster and Gourock in the west of Scotland.

All 1,200 workers at these sites will be offered roles at other Amazon locations, the firm said.

The online technology giant has also revealed plans for two new major fulfilment centres in Peddimore, West Midlands, and Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, which will create 2,500 jobs over the next three years.

Around 500 employees currently work at Amazons Hemel Hempstead site, and will all be offered roles at its nearby Dunstable warehouse or other nearby locations.

The consultations will involve around 400 staff at its Doncaster site in Balby Carr Bank, who the company plans to transfer to its two other fulfilment centres at Doncasters iPort.

The proposals will also affect around 300 workers currently based at the Gourock site.

Furthermore, Amazon said on Tuesday evening that it was closing seven of its delivery stations across the UK.

Five stations in Huntingdon, Horley, Birmingham, Newcastle and Hemel Hempstead will close, with staff given the opportunity to transfer to stations in the local area.

And stations in Portsmouth and Aylesford will shut, with Amazon planning to open new delivery stations in Havant and Aylesford that staff can move to.

Each of these sites employ a few dozen workers at most.

It is understood these proposals are separate from Amazons plan to cut around 18,000 jobs worldwide as part of a drive to cut costs.

A spokesman for the company said: Were always evaluating our network to make sure it fits our business needs and to improve the experience for our employees and customers.

As part of that effort, we may close older sites, enhance existing facilities, or open new sites, and weve launched a consultation on the proposed closure of three fulfilment centres in 2023.

We also plan to open two new fulfilment centres, creating 2,500 new jobs, over the next three years.

All employees affected by site closure consultations will be offered the opportunity to transfer to other facilities, and we remain committed to our customers, employees, and communities across the UK.

Steve Garelick, GMB union organiser, said: This is a real kick in the teeth for Amazon staff who worked themselves into the ground during the festive rush.

Hard-up Amazon workers cant suddenly be expected to up sticks and move to a different fulfilment centre which may be many miles away.

Local workers may not be in a position to take roles so far away from where they live.
The unusual and sometimes eccentric world of royal life from TV dinners served under domed platters to the Kings favourite aftershave is revealed in the pages of the Duke of Sussexs memoir.

Harry gives a glimpse of royal habits behind the walls of royal residence as he describes life growing up as a member of the monarchy.

He reveals at Balmoral, the late Queens Scottish retreat where the royal family spend their summers, visitors would be left a little concerned by what came out of the taps.

The duke writes: Brownish, suggestive of weak tea, the water often alarmed guests. Sorry, but there seems to be something wrong with the water in my loo?

Pa would always smile and assure them that nothing was wrong with the water; on the contrary it was filtered and sweetened by Scottish peat.

Charles would come into the Balmoral bedroom Harry shared with his brother when they were boys smelling of Eau Sauvage.

The duke writes in his book Spare: Hed slather the stuff on his cheeks, his neck, his shirt. Flowery with a hit of something harsh, like pepper or gunpowder, it was made in Paris.

It is thought Charles wears Diors Eau Sauvage after-shave, which retails for around 74.

The Kings teddy bear was his constant companion when he was a boy (Joe Giddens/PA)

Harry passes judgement on what is likely to be his fathers longest serving companion  the teddy bear he took to Gordonstoun, the school where the King was bullied as a boy.

Harry writes: Teddy went everywhere with Pa. It was a pitiful object, with broken arms and dangly threads, holes patched up here and there.

He added: Teddy expressed eloquently, better than Pa ever could, the essential loneliness of his childhood.

The Duke of Edinburgh was famed for his love of barbecues he hosted during their Balmoral holidays, and even had a trailer especially built to house all the equipment.

But his grandson Harry reveals Philip was a dab hand at making spaghetti bolognese on the coals, while for the Queen Grannys speciality was the salad dressing.
The Duke of Sussex has said that Tyler Perry offered him his Los Angeles house to stay in because his own mother had loved Diana, Princess of Wales.

Harry said that the US actor and comedian had made the generous offer as he and Meghan sought to travel to America from Canada amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.

Perry, who is known for multiple US television shows, revealed that after Dianas famous visit to Harlem, New York in 1989, she could do no wrong in the eyes of his own mother.

Harry said the US comedian offered him his Los Angeles house to stay in because his own mother loved Diana, Princess of Wales (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

During her visit at the time of the US Aids epidemic Diana visited hospitals and spoke to victims of the deadly disease.

Harry said that Perry had previously sent a message of support to Meghan before their wedding in 2018, and offered them his gated house in March 2020 on FaceTime.

It was too much. Too generous, he said, writing in his memoir, Spare.

I asked why he was doing this. My mother. Your? My mother loved your mother.

I was caught completely by surprise. He said: After your mother visited Harlem, that was it. She could do no wrong in Maxine Perrys book.

The Sussexes stayed at Perrys Los Angeles home in March 2020 amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic (PA)

He went on to say that his mother had died ten years earlier, that he was still grieving. I wanted to tell him it gets easier. I didnt.

Harry said that he and his family arrived at the palatial home at the end of that month and that within a few weeks it had felt like home  providing a safe space for their young son Archie.

He went on to describe how they had faced increasing intrusion from the paparazzi at Perrys, forcing them to stop venturing outside.

Last month Perry appeared as a talking head in the Sussex six-part Netflix documentary, described as a friend.

He revealed that the couple had asked him to be the godfather of their daughter Lilibet, as well as commenting on their tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.
Senator Bernie Sanders has attacked Moderna's "unacceptable corporate greed." (Reuters)

(Reuters) - Senator Bernie Sanders sent Moderna Inc a letter this week asking the drug company to halt planned U.S. price increases on its COVID-19 vaccine, saying price hikes could make the shot unaffordable for millions of Americans.

Sanders said in his letter that raising prices would be particularly egregious after the U.S. government provided around $1.7 billion to fund development of the vaccine. The letter was addressed to Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel.

"You propose to make the vaccine unaffordable for the residents of this country who made the production of the vaccine possible," wrote Sanders, who is set to become chairman of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions later this month. "That is not acceptable."

Bancel told the Wall Street Journal on Monday that Moderna is considering charging $110 to $130 a dose for the vaccine once the United States moves to a commercial market for the shots.

The top end of that range is around 8 times the price in the earliest U.S. contracts for the vaccine and nearly 5 times the roughly $27 a dose the government paid for booster shots last year.

Moderna did not respond to a request for comment.

Now, in the midst of a continuing public health crisis and a growing federal deficit, is not the time for Moderna to be quadrupling the price of this vaccine. Now is not the time for unacceptable corporate greed.Sen. Bernie Sanders

Sanders is a democratic socialist whose presidential campaigns have pushed the U.S. Democratic Party agenda leftward. The Vermont senator has railed against high drug prices and backed Medicare-for-all, and his chairmanship of the HELP committee could put drug companies in his crosshairs.

Sanders wrote that Bancel and several of Moderna's founders have become billionaires after the vaccine's launch. He said the new, higher prices would cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars and make the shots too expensive for uninsured and underinsured Americans.

"Now, in the midst of a continuing public health crisis and a growing federal deficit, is not the time for Moderna to be quadrupling the price of this vaccine. Now is not the time for unacceptable corporate greed," Sanders wrote.

Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine sales were around $18.4 billion in 2022. That is expected to fall sharply next year even with the price increases, as demand for the shots has dropped off. The drugmaker said on Monday it expects a minimum of $5 billion in revenue from the shots this year.
McDonalds (MCD) former CEO Stephen Easterbrook agreed to repay more than $52.7 million in a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over investor fraud allegations.

The agency alleges that Easterbrook defrauded the companys investors by lying about sexual relationships with company subordinates while he was CEO, resulting in a separation compensation that he should not have received because of the alleged fraud.

The conflict  that the company at the time said was related to a single relationship that violated company policy  led McDonalds board to oust him from the company in November 2019.

In an internal investigation conducted by McDonalds the following year, the company said Easterbrook originally disclosed one intimate relationship with a company subordinate. But through its investigation, the company said it discovered three additional relationships that similarly violated its rules.

According to the SEC, McDonalds and Easterbook entered into a settlement agreement that characterized his termination as without cause. That characterization, the SEC said in Monday's announcement, wrongfully allowed Easterbrook to retain equity compensation that he otherwise would have been required to forfeit.

McDonald's CEO Stephen Easterbrook unveils the company's new corporate headquarters during a grand opening ceremony on June 4, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. The company headquarters is returning to the city, which it left in 1971, from suburban Oak Brook. Approximately 2,000 people will work from the building. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

In its order, the SEC said that Easterbrook agreed to pay back $52.7 million to the company, representing disgorgement and pre-judgment interest on his ill-gotten gains, along with interest and agency fines. The former CEO, who neither admitted nor denied the charges, agreed to a civil penalty of $400,000 and to refrain for five years from acting as a company officer or director.

The full amount of disgorgement and prejudgment interest, the SEC said, is deemed satisfied by Easterbrook's repayments to McDonalds in resolution of the companys lawsuit against him. In August 2020, McDonalds sued Easterbrook in Delaware Chancery Court in an effort to claw back separation compensation, alleging that he lied to the company when specifically asked about the three additional intimate relationships with his subordinates.

In December, McDonalds reached a settlement with Easterbrook in the matter, requiring the former CEO to return more than $105 million in combined equity and cash awards.

"When corporate officers corrupt internal processes to manage their personal reputations or line their own pockets, they breach their fundamental duties to shareholders, who are entitled to transparency and fair dealing from executives," Gurbir Grewal, the SEC's enforcement division director said in a statement. "By allegedly concealing the extent of his misconduct during the companys internal investigation, Easterbrook broke that trust with  and ultimately misled  shareholders."

McDonalds also was charged with violating securities laws for allegedly withholding from investors the extent of Easterbrooks alleged wrongdoing.

However, the SEC said due to the companys substantial cooperation with the agency, it would not seek to impose fines. Without admitting or denying the charges, McDonalds agreed to the order and to undertake remedial measures such as seeking and ultimately recovering the payments it made under Easterbrooks separation agreement, the SEC said.

Easterbrook did not immediately respond to Yahoo Finances request for comment.

Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed.

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The Rio Del Mar neighborhood of Aptos, Calif., was flooded Monday. (Nic Coury / Associated Press)

For the record:

7:59 a.m. Jan. 10, 2023: An earlier version of this article said the Russian River is in Napa and Mendocino counties. It is in Sonoma and Mendocino counties.



Continued heavy rains have California concerned about rivers that face high flood risk.

At least nine rivers across the state could exceed the flood stage Monday, and 32 locations could exceed the flood monitor stage, according to the National Weather Service's California-Nevada River Forecast Center.

Officials with the joint state-federal Flood Operation Center are focused on the Cosumnes River in Sacramento County, which has already experienced deadly levee breaches, among other areas. Crews on Monday were placing "flood fight" materials on about 4,000 linear feet of levee to mitigate erosion due to overtopping, said Jeremy Arrich, manager of the Division of Flood Management with the California Department of Water Resources.

Significant rises on CA rivers the next 2 days with several locations reaching flood stage. Band of moderate to heavy precip moving south and east through the region today with scattered showers behind it. Another system will bring widespread precip Tues. #cawx#cawater#nvwxpic.twitter.com/TVaXBK2jDw  NWS California-Nevada RFC (@NWSCNRFC) January 9, 2023

At least three people were found dead in or near their submerged cars after waters broke through levees last week.

Major flooding was reported Monday along the San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz County.

Officials are also monitoring Bear Creek in Merced County, the Russian River in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, the Carmel River in Monterey County and the Pajaro River in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, Arrich said during a news briefing.

Across 13 counties, officials have delivered more than 180,000 sandbags and 3,000 feet of reinforcing muscle wall, as well as flood specialists who are providing technical support.

"As the storms persist, the Flood Operations Center will continue coordination with public safety entities to respond and prepare for these impacts we're seeing statewide, and this includes preparing for road closures [and] gathering additional flood fight supplies from some of our state warehouses," Arrich said.

While the fifth in the series of atmospheric rivers that have pounded the state since December might not be overwhelming on its own, the collective nature of it becomes a volume management issue, said Michael Anderson, state climatologist at the Department of Water Resources. You start seeing compounding events occur.

As the storm makes it way south into steeper coastal terrain, it is also creating landslides, debris flow and other hazards. Montecito was ordered to evacuate Monday afternoon as the storm brought heavy rains and damaging winds to the already soaked region.

DWR director Karla Nemeth said the storm system was extraordinary and another climate signal of Californias worsening swings between extreme conditions. The state, she noted, is experiencing a simultaneous drought emergency and flood emergency.

By far the most pressing matter Monday was the flooding, Nemeth said.

The state activated its Flood Operations Center last week.

Five of the six weirs in the DWR's Sacramento River Flood Control Project have passively opened after being triggered by overtopped systems. The sixth requires manual activation.

The Sacramento and San Joaquin River system continues to be doing what we need it to be doing," Nemeth said, including flood releases from some smaller reservoirs.

The rising levels in the San Joaquin system and Sacramento system are really due to how these atmospheric rivers are making landfall and how local rivers and creeks are feeding into the main stem of these river systems.

The pounding rain washed out roads and sent already saturated soils sliding, further snarling traffic across the region.

Santa Cruz County  still reeling from significant damage along the coast from last weeks storm  was again experiencing some of the worst damage.

Early Monday, evacuations were underway and major flooding was reported in Felton Grove and Paradise Park after the San Lorenzo River rose over its banks and flowed into the surrounding community. Videos posted on social media showed muddy water covering cars and rising up to stop signs in Felton Grove as the San Lorenzo raged nearby, filled with logs and other debris.

The San Lorenzo crested at about 24 feet shortly before 8 a.m. and continued to recede as rain subsided slightly across the county, according to National Weather Service data.

Anderson said the evacuation in Montecito was largely due to the types of hazards that can come with steep terrain and wildfire burn scars.

"When you get heavy rain waves like this, it makes the land more prone to landslides and debris flow," he said. "And to make sure that we dont repeat the incidents after the Thomas fire, they wanted to evacuate people from that area."

In January 2018, mud and debris loosened from the Thomas fire plowed through Montecito, killing 23 people and destroying more than 100 homes.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Trump hosts New Year's Eve party at his Mar-a-Lago resort, in Palm Beach, Florida

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) -A Washington, D.C., appeals court on Tuesday considered whether Donald Trump should be immune from author E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit stemming from the former U.S. president's 2019 denial that he raped her.

An eight-judge panel of the district's highest local court is expected to decide whether Trump was acting as president when, in response to a reporter's question, he accused the former Elle magazine columnist of lying about the alleged mid-1990s encounter.

During more than 2-1/2 hours of oral arguments, Trump's lawyer Alina Habba said there was great public interest in letting presidents "deal fearlessly with the American people" when fielding questions from reporters and constituents, entitling Trump to broad immunity covering Carroll's claim.

Joshua Matz, a lawyer for Carroll, countered that Trump has a long history of making "highly personal attacks on women who credibly accuse him of having engaged in sexual misconduct. ... That tends to suggest that the motivation is not really anything relating to their job. That's just how they roll."

Carroll described her alleged encounter with Trump in a June 2019 New York magazine excerpt from her memoir, saying Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan.

Trump later told a reporter at the White House that he did not know Carroll, that "she's not my type," and that she had concocted the rape claim to sell her book. He has also denied sexual misconduct claims by several other women.

TWO LAWSUITS

Last September, a federal appeals court in Manhattan asked the Washington court to weigh in on whether under District of Columbia law Trump had spoken within the scope of his role as president, or in his personal capacity as Carroll argued.

If Carroll wins, she can further pursue the first of her two defamation cases against Trump in Manhattan federal court, with a trial scheduled for April 10.

A victory for Trump would likely end that lawsuit, and could provide broad immunity to presidents from defamation claims over statements they make while in office.

The Biden administration supported Trump's immunity claim, while criticizing his "crude and offensive" comments.

Regardless of the outcome, Carroll could still pursue her second lawsuit, which says Trump defamed her last October - after he left the White House - by again denying the rape happened.

That lawsuit also includes a battery claim under New York's Adult Survivors Act, a new law that lets adults sue their alleged attackers even if statutes of limitations have expired.

Carroll's case is one of many legal clouds over Trump as he runs again for the White House in 2024.

TRUMP'S MOTIVATIONS

During Tuesday's arguments, several judges expressed concern they had no factual record about what motivated Trump to speak, and questioned where to draw the line when presidents speak about public matters.

Judge Joshua Deahl asked Mark Freeman, a Department of Justice lawyer, whether Trump would have been acting as president if he brushed off advisers who recommended he ignore Carroll, and instead decided to "take her down. That's the way I live my life."

Freeman said no, if Trump were acting purely for personal reasons.

But he added: "It would be exceptionally rare to come to that conclusion with respect to the president of the United States answering a question from a reporter at the White House."

Habba countered that Trump would be shielded if he spoke with even the slightest motivation to serve the people.

Judge Catharine Easterly asked her: "If the motivation is 99.99% personal and 0.01% for the employer, does that mean you think he acted in the scope of his employment?"

"I do," Habba replied.

The appeals court did not say when it will rule.

The case is Trump et al v. Carroll, District of Columbia Court of Appeals, No. 22-SP-0745.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Howard Goller)
The White House on Monday disclosed that lawyers for President Biden discovered what they called a small number of classified documents in November in an office Biden had used between his time serving as vice president and president.

The documents were turned over the next day to the National Archives, and the White House said it is cooperating with the Department of Justice (DOJ) as it conducts a review of the documents.

The news quickly drew comparisons to former President Trump, who has been in hot water over his potential mishandling of classified materials upon leaving office two years ago.

In both cases, the two men appear to have failed to follow the Presidential Records Act, which requires presidents and vice presidents to turn over documents to the National Archives for secure storage.

But there are key differences between the two cases, which many Biden allies swiftly pointed out, while several Trump supporters openly wondered if the president would also see an FBI search of his home.

Heres a look at some of the ways the Biden and Trump discoveries of classified documents differ, based on what is known so far.

FBI not involved in retrieving Biden documents

Attorneys for Biden discovered the documents on Nov. 2, 2022, six days before the midterm elections, Richard Sauber, special counsel to Biden, said in a statement.

The materials were discovered at an office in Washington that Biden had used while he served as an honorary professor for the University of Pennsylvania from 2017 to 2019.

The presidents lawyers alerted the National Archives the same day of the discovery, and the agency took possession of the materials the next morning. The matter has since been referred to the Justice Department for review.

The discovery has drawn pushback from Trump allies, who have sarcastically asked whether the FBI will be raiding Bidens properties in search of more documents. After the news about Biden broke, Trump himself wondered if the FBI would search the White House. Thats because federal agents searched Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in August to recover sensitive government materials Trump had taken with him upon leaving office.

Federal officials had tried for months to recover materials from Trump they believed were being kept at Mar-a-Lago, some of which were discovered to be in unsecured locations.

The FBI search in August came after the National Archives last January retrieved more than 150 classified documents, The New York Times reported. Concern over how many documents Trump was holding at his property triggered the Archives to alert the Justice Department, which eventually led to the FBI search.

Trump had more documents of varying classification degrees

One key difference between the Trump and Biden cases is the sheer number of documents involved.

Multiple news outlets reported that lawyers for Biden found about 10 classified documents in a locked closet as the university office space was being prepared to be vacated. The level of classification that applies to the documents in Bidens office has not been made public.

By comparison, a heavily redacted affidavit used to justify the August FBI search of Trumps Mar-a-Lago property showed that authorities had discovered 15 boxes in January 2022 that contained 184 classified documents, including 25 that were marked top secret.

In total, The New York Times reported that the federal government has recovered more than 300 documents with varying levels of classified markings on them from Trumps Mar-a-Lago property.

The Washington Post has reported that some of those documents describe the nuclear capability of a foreign governments military along with top-secret U.S. operations shared with only a select few government officials.

Sources told CBS News the documents found in Bidens office did not contain nuclear secrets.

Bidens team alerted National Archives quickly

While the White House did not alert the public about the classified document discovery until it was reported on by CBS News on Monday, the presidents attorneys were quick to inform the National Archives about the situation.

The presidents lawyers alerted the National Archives about the documents the same day they were discovered, Sauber said.

The agency took possession of the materials the next morning. The matter has since been referred to the Justice Department for review.

Hope context breaks through in coverage. Looks quite different from Trump situation, Ben LaBolt, a former White House press aide, tweeted, calling the quick notification to the National Archives a key point.

Trump, by comparison, has been insistent that he tried to work with the National Archives and that he was forthcoming about the documents hed taken with him. But affidavits outlining the justification for last Augusts FBI search made clear that was not always the case.

The redacted affidavit showed how federal officials spent months trying to get the sensitive materials back from Mar-a-Lago without success, prompting high-ranking DOJ officials to sign off on the FBI search.

The New York Times reported that the National Archives had spent much of 2021 trying to get sensitive materials back from Trump.

Trump as president had authority over certain documents

Trumps defenders have leaned heavily on the argument that the former president had the power to declassify classified documents and therefore must have done so with the materials he took with him from the White House.

Some Trump allies have talked about a so-called standing order by Trump to declassify documents, though Trumps own attorneys have been unable to provide proof of any such order.

Trump himself at one point claimed presidents dont have to go through a formal process to declassify sensitive documents and can do so even by thinking about it. While that isnt the case, a presidents ability to declassify documents has been a central talking point to push back on Trumps potential legal exposure.

The documents discovered in November by Bidens team, meanwhile, stem from his time as vice president, a position that does not have the power to declassify documents.

Unlike President Trump, then-VP Joe Biden wasnt the President when he took classified records with him when he left office, tweeted Mike Davis, a conservative legal activist and former GOP Senate aide. Presidents have the constitutional and statutory power to declassify and take records when they leave office. Not VPs. FBI raid? Intel assessment?

Updated on Jan. 10 at 8:13 a.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
FILE - President Joe Biden waves before boarding Air Force One at El Paso International Airport in El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023, to travel to Mexico City, Mexico. The Justice Department is reviewing a batch of potentially classified documents found in the Washington office space of President Joe Biden's former institute, the White House said Monday, Jan. 9. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

WASHINGTON (AP)  The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee has requested that the U.S. intelligence community conduct a damage assessment of potentially classified documents found in the Washington office space of President Joe Bidens former institute,

Rep. Mike Turner sent the request Tuesday to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, saying that Biden's retention of the documents put him in potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act.

Irrespective of a federal review, the revelation that Biden potentially mishandled classified or presidential records could prove to be a political headache for the president, who called former President Donald Trumps decision to keep hundreds of such records at his private club in Florida irresponsible.

Biden ignored shouted questions about the matter Tuesday during a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Mexico.

Turner's request came a day after the White House confirmed that the Department of Justice was reviewing a small number of documents with classified markings." The documents were discovered as Biden's personal attorneys were clearing out the offices of the Penn Biden Center, where the president kept an office after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until shortly before he launched his presidential campaign in 2019, the White House said.

Those entrusted with access to classified information have a duty and an obligation to protect it, said Turner in a letter to Haines. This issue demands a full and thorough review.

The documents were found on Nov. 2, 2022, in a locked closet in the office, according to special counsel to the president Richard Sauber.

Sauber said the attorneys immediately alerted the White House Counsel's office, which notified the National Archives and Records Administration  which took custody of the documents the next day.

Since that discovery, the Presidents personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives, Sauber said.

A person who is familiar with the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly said Attorney General Merrick Garland asked U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch to review the matter after the Archives referred the issue to the department. Lausch is one of the few U.S. attorneys to be held over from Trump's administration.

Trump weighed in Monday on his social media site, asking, When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?

Republicans have just taken control of the House of Representatives and are promising to launch widespread investigations of Biden's administration.

The revelation also may complicate the Justice Department's consideration of whether to bring charges against Trump, who is trying to win back the White House in 2024 and has repeatedly claimed the department's inquiry into of his own conduct amounted to corruption."

The National Archives did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Spokespeople for Garland and Lausch declined to comment.

Rep. James Comer, the new GOP chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Monday that the revelation raised questions about the Justice Departments handling of the Trump probe.

Is the White House going to be raided tonight? Are they going to raid the Bidens? he asked reporters. This is further concern that theres a two-tier justice system within the DOJ with how they treat Republicans versus Democrats, certainly how they treat the former president versus the current president.

His Democratic counterpart, Rep. Jamie Raskin, said Biden's attorneys appear to have taken immediate and proper action.

I have confidence that the attorney general took the appropriate steps to ensure the careful review of the circumstances surrounding the possession and discovery of these documents and make an impartial decision about any further action that may be needed, he added.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, said Monday that the American public deserved to know earlier about the classified documents.

They knew about this a week before the election, maybe the American people should have known that, Jordan told reporters. They certainly knew about the the raid on Mar-a-Lago 91 days before this election, but nice if on November 2, the country would have known that there were classified documents at the Biden Center.

Jordan is among House Republicans pushing for the creation of a select subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal government within the Judiciary Committee.

It wasn't immediately clear why the White House didn't disclose the discovery of the documents or the DOJ review sooner. CBS was first to report Monday on the discovery of the potentially classified documents.

The Justice Department for months has been investigating the retention of roughly 300 documents that were marked as classified and were recovered from the Trump's Florida estate. In that instance, prosecutors say, representatives of Trump resisted requests to give back the full stash of classified documents and failed to fully comply with a subpoena that sought their return.

FBI agents in August served a search warrant at the Mar-a-Lago property, removing 33 boxes and containers.

That investigation is being led by special counsel Jack Smith. Prosecutors have interviewed an array of Trump associates and have been using a grand jury to hear evidence.

Democrats made a similar request of the director of national intelligence in August following the search of Mar-a-Lago. Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Adam Schiff, who then led the House Oversight and Intelligence committees, asked Haines for an immediate review and damage assessment, alleging that Trump has potentially put our national security at grave risk.

Haines agreed in September to conduct a risk assessment instead, different from a formal damage assessment that carries specific requirements under intelligence regulations.

The risk assessment was to examine the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago for classification as well as the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents.

Intelligence officials are not believed to have briefed Congress on their assessment in the four months since, according to public statements from lawmakers. Haines noted in her letter that any risk assessment would not unduly interfere with the Justice Departments criminal investigation into the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago.

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Associated Press writers Nomaan Merchant, Eric Tucker and Farnoush Amiri in Washington, Colleen Long in Mexico City and Michael Tarm in Chicago contributed.

This story was first published on Jan. 9, 2023.
Zhao Zhicheng (3rd R), chief of a subunit of the Chinese medical team to Libreville, and Gisele Mounguengui Epse Kouanga (3rd L), the dean of the China-Gabon Cooperation Hospital, shake hands during the donation ceremony of medical supplies to the hospital in Libreville, Gabon, Jan. 10, 2023.

The 24th Chinese medical team to Gabon on Tuesday donated a batch of medical supplies to the China-Gabon Cooperation Hospital in Libreville, the Gabonese capital, to help it boost medical service. (Xinhua/Han Xu)

LIBREVILLE, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The 24th Chinese medical team to Gabon on Tuesday donated a batch of medical supplies to the China-Gabon Cooperation Hospital in Libreville, the Gabonese capital, to help it boost medical service.

The donated items included 15 categories of much-needed medicines and medical apparatus and instruments, including Chinese acupuncture needles and Chinese plaster, which will help address the shortage of medical supplies in the hospital, said Zhao Zhicheng, chief of a subunit of the Chinese medical team to Libreville.

Zhao said the hospital in which the team subunit currently performs its duties has long been facing a shortage of medical supplies, noting that the medical team would honor its commitments as usual for the Gabonese people.

During the donation ceremony, Gisele Mounguengui Epse Kouanga, the dean of the China-Gabon Cooperation Hospital, hailed the Chinese medical team's kind gesture, commending the tremendous support of Chinese medical workers over the past few decades.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Chinese acupuncture in particular, has been long appreciated by the Gabonese people, said Epse Kouanga, noting that the presence of TCM will help ease the pain of local patients. 
FILE - Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch's executive director, speaks during a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 1, 2018. Harvard University rejected a fellowship for Roth, a leading human rights activist who was Human Rights Watch's executive director until last year, over what he said Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, was his groups criticism of Israel. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

BOSTON (AP)  Harvard University rescinded a fellowship that it had offered to a leading human rights activist over what he said Monday was his groups criticism of Israel.

Kenneth Roth, who was the executive director of Human Rights Watch, or HRW, until last year, was recruited by the Harvard Kennedy Schools Carr Center for Human Rights Policy to become a fellow and he accepted. But a few weeks later, in July, Roth said the center called and told him that the dean of the school, Douglas Elmendorf, had not approved it.

Roth said he wasn't given a reason but believes it was due to his and his groups criticism of Israel. It is unclear why it took six months for the decision to become public, though The Nation reported on the issue last week.

A son of a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, Roth acknowledges that his work has made him enemies around the world. In a brief conversation with Elmendorf before his fellowship was denied, Roth said he told the dean that he had been sanctioned by the Russian and Chinese governments and was pretty sure the Israeli government detests me. That turned out to be the kiss of death.

Over the years, the group has issued a number of reports saying that Israel appears to have committed war crimes against the Palestinians.

And in 2019, Israel expelled the groups local director, accusing him of boycott activity. Roth, who at the time was HRWs executive director, said Israel was joining a fairly ugly group of governments that have barred the groups researchers. Two years later, HRW said Israeli policies toward the Palestinians amounted to apartheid. Israel vehemently denies the label and comparisons to apartheid-era South Africa.

This is a shocking violation of academic freedom, Roth told The Associated Press. I don't understand how an institution that purports to address foreign policy, that even has a human rights policy center, how can it possibly avoid criticism of Israel.

In a statement, the Harvard Kennedy School didn't say why Roth wasn't chosen for a fellowship, only that Elmendorf decided not to make this fellowship appointment, as he sometimes decides not to make other proposed academic appointments, based on an evaluation of the candidates potential contributions to the Kennedy School.

The director of the Carr Center, Mathias Risse, called the decision a profoundly sad moment for him personally.

My subsequent conversation with Ken Roth to explain this decision to the extent I could was one of the lowest moments in my professional life, he said in a statement that was sent to the Carr Center community and shared with the AP.

Kathryn Sikkink, the Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights Policy at the Kennedy School, said she couldn't understand the decision so she went to Elmendorf for an explanation. He told her that they would not approve the fellowship because they considered HRW and Roth to have an anti-Israel bias.

I have seen no credible evidence whatsoever that HRW or Ken Roth are biased against Israel. I consider this misinformation, and for people who know better, actual disinformation, she added.

The move has also angered civil rights and press freedom organizations, many which defended Roth and his work.

Few people have done more to advance human rights than Kenneth Roth. If Harvards decision was based on HRWs advocacy under Kens leadership, this is profoundly troubling  from both a human rights and an academic freedom standpoint," Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement. Scholars and fellows have to be judged on their merits, not whether they please powerful political interests. We urge Harvard to reverse its decision.

PEN America also criticized the move, saying that withholding the fellowship over Roth's staunch critiques of human rights abuses by governments worldwide raises serious questions about the credibility of the Harvard program itself.

But the decision was applauded by some groups supportive of Israel.

Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor, a group that reports on alleged anti-Israel bias by international NGOs, welcomed the universitys decision, saying Roth is an anti-Israel activist far beyond what is called legitimate criticism.

He said his organization was not directly involved in Harvards decision, but that he believes academic articles he has written that are critical of Roth were reviewed as part of the universitys due diligence.

The decision is consistent with academic standards, he said. He cited the obsession that he has with Israel, the completely disproportionate focus, the vindictive and vitriolic language that he uses.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was not involved in the issue.

The Israel-Palestinian conflict is an extremely fraught subject on college campuses these days.

A boycott movement against Israel has made great inroads on many campuses. Israels supporters, meanwhile, say the country is unfairly singled out and that the boycott movement masks a deeper agenda to delegitimize and even destroy Israel.

___

This story was updated to correct two instances in which Roth was referred to as Ross.

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Associated Press writer Josef Federman contributed to this report from Jerusalem.
Ukrainian military medics carry an injured Ukrainian serviceman evacuated from the battlefield into a hospital in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. The serviceman did not survive. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces are escalating their onslaught against Ukrainian positions around the wrecked city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian officials said, bringing new levels of death and devastation in the grinding, monthslong battle for control of eastern Ukraine that is part of Moscow's wider war.

Everything is completely destroyed. There is almost no life left, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday of the scene around Bakhmut and the nearby Donetsk province city of Soledar.

The whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes, Zelenskyy said. This is what madness looks like.

The Kremlin, whose invasion of its neighbor 10 1/2 months ago has suffered numerous reversals, is hungry for any victories. Russia illegally annexed Donetsk and three other Ukrainian provinces in September, but its troops have struggled to advance.

After Ukrainian forces recaptured the southern city of Kherson in November, the battle heated up around Bakhmut.

Ukraine's deputy defense minister, Hanna Malyar, said Russia has thrown a large number of storm groups into the fight for the city. The enemy is advancing literally on the bodies of their own soldiers and is massively using artillery, rocket launchers and mortars, hitting their own troops, she said.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the Donetsk region's Kyiv-appointed governor, on Tuesday described the Russian attacks on Soledar and Bakhmut as relentless.

The Russian army is reducing Ukrainian cities to rubble using all kinds of weapons in their scorched-earth tactics, Kyrylenko said in televised remarks. Russia is waging a war without rules, resulting in civilian deaths and suffering.

Wounded soldiers arrive around the clock for emergency treatment at a Ukrainian medical stabilization center located near the front line around Bakhmut. Medics at the center for combat casualties fought for 30 minutes Monday to save a soldier, but his injuries were too severe.

Another soldier had a head injury after a fragment pierced his helmet. Medics quickly got his condition stable enough to transfer him to a military hospital for further treatment.

We fight to the end to save a life, Kostnyantyn Vasylkevich, a surgeon and the centers coordinator, told The Associated Press. Of course, it hurts when it is not possible to save them.

The Moscow-backed leader of the occupied areas of Donetsk said Tuesday that Russia's forces were very close to taking over Soledar. But the gains were coming at a very high price," Denis Pushilin told Russian state TV.

Control over the city would create good prospects for taking over Bakhmut, Pushilin said, as well as for a further assault on Siversk, a town further north where Ukrainian fortifications "are also quite serious.

The U.K. Defense Ministry concurred with that appraisal of the battle developments. Russian troops alongside soldiers from the Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor, have advanced in recent days in Soledar and are likely in control of most of the settlement, the ministry tweeted Tuesday.

It said that taking Soledar, which is located 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Bakhmut, was likely Moscows immediate military objective and part of a strategy to encircle Bakhmut.

But it added that Ukrainian forces maintain stable defensive lines in depth and control over supply routes in the area.

An exceptional feature of the fighting near Bakhmut is that some of it has taken place around entrances to disused salt mine tunnels which run for some 200 kilometers (120 miles) underneath the area, the British intelligence report noted.

Both sides are likely concerned that (the tunnels) could be used for infiltration behind their lines, it said.

Russian Defense Minister Shoigu, whose performance has been fiercely criticized in some Russian circles but who has retained Russian President Vladimir Putins confidence, said Tuesday that his country's military would use its experience in Ukraine to improve combat training.

Military communications and control systems will be improved using artificial intelligence, Shoigu said, and troops will be given better tactical gear and equipment.

The Kremlin argues that it is not just fighting Ukraine but also its NATO allies. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that NATO's members have become a party to the conflict, pumping weapons, technology and intelligence data into Ukraine.

Several front-line cities in eastern Ukraines Donetsk and Luhansk provinces have witnessed intense fighting in recent months.

Together, the provinces make up the Donbas, a broad industrial region bordering Russia that Russian President Vladimir Putin identified as a focus from the wars outset and where Moscow-backed separatists have fought since 2014.

Russias grinding eastern offensive captured almost all of Luhansk during the summer. Donetsk escaped the same fate, and the Russian military subsequently poured manpower and resources around Bakhmut.

Taking Bakhmut would disrupt Ukraines supply lines and open a route for Russian forces to press on toward Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, key Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk.

Like Mariupol and other contested cities, Bakhmut has endured a long siege, spending weeks without water and power even before Moscow launched massive strikes to take out public utilities across Ukraine.

Kyrylenko, the Donetsk regions governor, estimated more than two months ago that 90% of Bakhmuts prewar population of over 70,000 had fled since Moscow focused on seizing the entire Donbas.

Ukraines presidential office said at least four civilians were killed and another 30 wounded in Russian shelling between Monday and Tuesday.

Vitaliy Kim, the governor of the southern Mykolaiv region, said Russian forces shelled the port of Ochakiv and the area around it late Monday and then again early Tuesday. He said 15 people, including a 2-year-old child, were wounded in Mondays shelling.

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Follow APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
FILE - Progressive Democrat Tina Kotek holds a press conference in Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, Ore., on Nov. 10, 2022. Tina Kotek will be sworn in as Oregon's new governor and make her inaugural address at the State Capitol in Salem on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. Kotek says her priorities include homelessness, mental health and addiction treatment, and education. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

SALEM, Ore. (AP)  Oregon's newly sworn-in Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek said on Monday at her inauguration that her first step will be tackling homelessness as she unveiled several measures intended to address one of the state's most pressing issues.

In her inaugural address at the state Capitol in Salem, Kotek said she will declare a homeless state of emergency and sign an executive order to increase housing construction on her first full day in office. She also proposed a $130 million emergency investment to help unsheltered people move off the streets.

Imagine an Oregon where no one has to live in a tent on the sidewalk, Kotek said. That's an Oregon worth fighting for, and today is a new beginning."

"Our state's response must meet the urgency of the humanitarian crisis we are facing," she added.

Oregon has struggled for years to address a housing shortage and interwoven homelessness, addiction and mental health crises. Its homeless population has increased by more than 22% since 2020, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It also has the highest drug addiction rate of any state and ranks last in access to mental health treatment, according to federal data from the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Kotek also pledged to unite Oregonians after a bitterly fought gubernatorial race  the tightest in a decade  in which Republicans sought to break Democrats' dominance of the state. She said she plans to visit every county in Oregon during her first year in office.

Governing is about serving Oregonians  all Oregonians," she said, adding that her personal promise will be to strengthen connections across the state.

Kotek said her first executive order will set a housing construction target of 36,000 new homes per year, describing the figure as an 80% increase over recent construction trends.

Her proposed $130 million emergency investment will aim to help unsheltered people move off the streets within a year. Kotek asked lawmakers to act with urgency and said she hopes to build on the investment with a larger, more comprehensive housing and homelessness package during the legislative session.

The measures come on the heels of a significant spending package passed by Oregon lawmakers last year that included $400 million to address homelessness and housing.

Kotek will be replacing term-limited Democrat Kate Brown, whose strict coronavirus pandemic measures made her a polarizing figure. The two worked together for years as respective speaker and governor, and they have similar profiles as progressives and open members of the LGBTQ community. But Kotek sought to distance herself from Brown  and her low approval ratings  toward the end of the gubernatorial campaign, casting her predecessor as ineffective on homelessness.

Kotek won Oregon's three-way race for governor in November after fending off a stiff challenge from a fellow former state representative, Republican Christine Drazan, defeating her by less than four percentage points.

Kotek was a state representative from 2006 until 2022, when she resigned to run for governor. During her time in the Legislature, she became the longest-serving speaker in Oregon history after nine years in the role and cemented her status as a key player in state politics, earning a reputation for cutting deals and muscling bills through the state House.

As speaker, Kotek spearheaded and passed liberal agendas made possible by Democratic supermajorities, including the nations first statewide rent control law. She also helped push through gun storage laws, criminal justice reform and paid family leave, among other measures.

Lawmakers also were sworn in on Monday. Democrats still control both chambers of the Legislature, but they lost their three-fifths supermajority in November's election.

Kotek joins Maura Healey of Massachusetts as the first openly lesbian elected governors in the U.S.

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Claire Rush is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Claire on Twitter.
A rare copy of the Bible has sold for 20,000 at auction in Belfast.

The Geneva Bible, which is believed to date back to 1615, attracted a lot of interest, auctioneer Karl Bennett said at the sale in the east of the city.

Bidding at Bloomfield Auctions started at 6,000 before swiftly reaching five figures and finishing with the winning bid of 20,000 on Tuesday afternoon.

This was almost twice what it had been expected to sell for.

The book is thought to have travelled from Devon with its former owner Elizabeth Pole in 1633 to what is now Massachusetts in the US, on the Speedwell pilgrim boat.

Mr Bennett said: We have been fortunate to have many interesting and historic items for sale at Bloomfield Auctions and this has been one of the most exciting. The Elizabeth Pole Bible is a piece of world history.

It was carried by an inspirational woman from her home in rural Devon to the New World where she joined the Founding Fathers, before going on to establish the town of Taunton, Massachusetts.

Bloomfield Auctions managing director Karl Bennett holding a Breeches Bible, Geneva Edition printed by Robert Parker, which dates back to 1615 (PA)

The attention that the bible drew from both sides of the Atlantic is testament to the extraordinary life of Elizabeth Pole, and how these early pioneers helped found a country that has influenced every part of the world.

The Geneva Bible has been described as one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible.

It was the first mechanically printed, mass-produced Bible available to the public and pre-dates the King James Bible by 50 years.

Copies of it were carried by the Pilgrims on the Mayflower to the New World.

The edition sold by Bloomfield Auctions was owned by Ms Pole, who travelled with her brother on the Speedwell to the Plymouth Colony in 1633 and founded the town of Taunton, Massachusetts.

She is believed to have been the first woman to establish a town in North America.

It remained in the possession of the Pole-Carew family until the mid-20th century when it was sold to a collector from Northern Ireland.

The Bible was sold as part of a private collection.
Ukraine will not be able to take back significant territory from Russia without an increase in fighting power  including tanks and other heavy armour, Western officials have warned.

Officials said the two sides were currently too closely matched for the Ukrainians to be able to mount a successful offensive.

The warning comes as the UK Government is considering whether to become the first Western power to supply the Ukrainians with main battle tanks in the form of British Army Challenger 2s.

The chairman of the Commons Defence Committee Tobias Ellwood urged ministers to give the plan the green light, saying the West should be doing far more to support Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pressing for months for Nato to provide his forces with US Abrams and German-built Leopard II battle tanks.

One Western official said that a reported Ukrainian call for 300 tanks was not and unreasonable number to create sufficient force mass for them to go on the offensive.

One of the elements the Ukrainians lack in terms of capability are main battle tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) in sufficient number to support offensive manoeuvre operations, the official said.

The Ukrainians wont be unable to win back significant amounts of territory without changes to their force posture from last year. The force ratios between the Russians and the Ukrainians are too finely balanced.

Something needs to break that deadlock, especially if they (the Ukrainians) are to win territory back and go on the offensive. Main battle tanks and APCs are part of that mix.

UKRAINE  Still no main battle tanks yet from the West! But a step forward with French & German armoured fighting vehicles. This enables Ukraine to advance its combined arms warfare authority. But what is the collective mission for 2023? We must put STRATEGY before TACTICS. pic.twitter.com/ylwZM1q6a3  Tobias Ellwood MP (@Tobias_Ellwood) January 6, 2023

Downing Street said no final decision had been taken on the supply of Challenger 2s, but confirmed that there had been discussion within the alliance on the issue of tanks.

For several months, weve been working with partners around the provision of tanks and armoured vehicles, artillery and air defence, the prime ministers official spokesman said.

The Prime Minister spoke to President Zelensky just last week about what can be most effective in helping Ukraine continue their progress.

There have been concerns within Nato that supplying tanks could be regarded by the Russians as a further escalation of the conflict.

Poland, which operates Leopard IIs, has said that it would consider handing over some to the Ukrainians, but only in concert with other countries.

Mr Ellwood said he very much welcomed the fact that the UK was now looking at sending some of its heavy armour.

This is our war, but weve left the Ukrainians to do the fighting, he told BBC Radio 4s World At One programme.

It does show how far weve come in our willingness to look (Russian President Vladimir) Putin in the eye and not be spooked by his rhetoric, and were finally sending this much-needed serious hardware to Ukraine.

Nato essentially has been benched. We should be doing far more to put this fire out and were not doing that.

The latest discussion comes after the US last week promised the 50 Bradley tank-killing armoured vehicles in its biggest military assistance package to date for Ukraine.

Germany also announced it would supply around 40 Marder armoured personnel carriers and France promised wheeled AMX-10 RC tank destroyers.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has invited Irish premier Leo Varadkar to visit Ukraine at a future opportunity.

The offer was made in the first phone call between the two leaders since Mr Varadkar returned to the role of Taoiseach in December as part of a coalition deal.

Had the first phone call with Prime Minister of Ireland @LeoVaradkar, Mr Zelensky said on Twitter.

Had the first phone call with Prime Minister of Ireland @LeoVaradkar. Thanked for freezing Russian assets, discussed support for Ukraine's energy system and post-war recovery. Invited to join the implementation of the #PeaceFormula.    (@ZelenskyyUa) January 10, 2023

Thanked for freezing Russian assets, discussed support for Ukraines energy system and post-war recovery. Invited to join the implementation of the #PeaceFormula.

President Zelensky also extended new years wishes to the people of Ireland during the call and thanked them for their friendship.

Mr Varadkar assured Mr Zelensky of Irelands ongoing solidarity, and said Ireland was resolute in backing Ukraines application for EU membership.

He said that the 70,000 Ukrainians that had sought refuge in Ireland were welcome and that the Irish people were responding to their difficult situation with great generosity.

An honour to speak to @zelenskyyUa this evening. President wished the people of Ireland a Happy New year, and thanked them for their friendship and generosity. Ireland stands in solidarity with #Ukraine, supports EU membership and will continue financial and other aid pic.twitter.com/jrUbAoBei8  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) January 10, 2023

The Irish premier also said Ireland would continue to provide financial and other assistance to Ukraine.

Ireland was very aware of Russian attacks on Ukraines energy infrastructure, and was pleased to help with equipment to repair its electricity grid, such as the large transformer sent from Ireland to Ukraine this month, a readout said.

President Zelensky highlighted his 10-point Peace Formula. The Taoiseach expressed his support for the restoration of Ukraines territorial integrity and for holding those responsible for the war to account.

Mr Zelensky assured the Taoiseach that the people of Ukraine remained strong and were determined that Russia will not win its war of aggression. He also invited the Taoiseach to visit Ukraine at a future opportunity.

During a phone call with President of the European Council @CharlesMichel I informed him about the situation on the battlefield and 's current needs in armaments. We agreed on joint efforts to implement the #PeaceFormula & discussed expectations from the upcoming - Summit.    (@ZelenskyyUa) January 10, 2023

Mr Zelensky also held a call with the president of the European Council Charles Michel.

I informed him about the situation on the battlefield and Ukraines current needs in armaments. We agreed on joint efforts to implement the Peace Formula and discussed expectations from the upcoming EU/Ukraine Summit, he said.

Irish deputy leader and foreign affairs minister Micheal Martin visited Ukraine in July during his tenure as Taoiseach. His trip included a visit to the site of a mass grave on church grounds in Bucha.

Mr Martin said he was impressed by the resilience of the Ukrainian people and described his visit to the war-torn country as very emotional.

In April, Mr Zelensky gave a historic address to the Irish parliament, where he said Ireland had supported Ukraine from the start of the war and indicated his gratitude to Irish citizens for their support of sanctions against Russia.


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KATHMANDU, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal won a vote of confidence comfortably in the House of Representatives on Tuesday evening, two weeks after he took office as the head of a new coalition government.

Dahal, also known as Prachanda, won the support of 268 lawmakers in the 275-strong lower house, much more than the 138 votes needed to pass the trust motion.

Lawmakers from the Nepali Congress, the largest party in the chamber which did not join the seven-party coalition, voted in favor of Prachanda as well.

"Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has won the vote of confidence by receiving 268 votes," announced Pashupati Shamsher Rana, who chaired the lower house session as the senior-most lawmaker.

Prachanda, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center), took office on Dec. 26, and he has to seek a vote of trust within 30 days under the constitution.

As he appealed for support in the lower house, Prachanda promised to work for good governance and take the country on the path of prosperity. "I am well aware that I don't have an excuse to make mistakes. I am here to deliver," he said. 
YEREVAN, JANUARY 10, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan says he will refuse to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan if the treaty would contradict the national interests of Armenia.

Speaking at a press conference, PM Pashinyan once again reiterated that Armenia is ready to sign a peace treaty if the document will comply with Armenias interests.

If there were a document on the table that we were planning to sign that would be good news rather bad news because it would mean that wed succeeded in eventually reaching a point where wed considered that the interests of the Republic of Armenia are safeguarded. Now the objective is not only the content of the paper but the mechanism of implementing that content. We have a signed paper of November 9, but the fact is it is not being implemented today, Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan said that a peace treaty could be signed, but if no mechanisms for implementing its terms exist then new military escalations could happen immediately after its signing.

The text wont be an ideal one, lets understand it now, but it can comply with Armenias balanced interests. But if there wont be mechanisms for applying and implementing that document, it would mean that we can sign a paper called peace treaty and a week later we can get a new war or new escalation, Pashinyan said.
GABORONE, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Botswana reported a single COVID-19 death Monday, the southern African country's first in four months, Botswana's health authorities confirmed.

The death occurred in Jwaneng, a mining township about 200 km southwest of Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, which has been the hardest hit by the nationwide resurgence of cases, Christopher Nyanga, the spokesperson of Botswana's Ministry of Health, told Xinhua in a telephone interview.

"A campaign to test more people in the Jwaneng area has been intensified following the recording of the related death," said Nyanga.

The development underlines the threat posed by the outbreak of new sub-variants of the COVID-19 Omicron variant -- the sub-lineages of BQ. 1 and BQ. 1.1 -- that has triggered Botswana's related death count since the pandemic's reemergence, according to Nyanga.

Botswana detected the new sub-variants of the COVID-19 Omicron variant earlier last month.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Omicron variant is of concern and remains the dominant variant circulating globally.

As of Monday, Botswana has recorded 328,190 COVID-19 cases and 2,787 deaths, with a 99.2 percent recovery rate.


Modi said that the global community is watching India keenly with curiosity as the country made rapid progress in several sectors

: Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention, in Indore, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. More than 3,500 diaspora members from 70 countries have registered for the event. (PTI Photo)

INDORE/ NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the diaspora has a significant role to play as "brand ambassadors of India" in the journey of the country as it enters the "Amrit Kaal" (the perfect time to start a new venture as per Vedic astrology) of the next 25 years.

Unveiling the 17th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) in Indore city in Madhya Pradesh, Modi said, "I consider the diaspora as brand ambassadors of India on foreign soil. Your role is diverse. You are brand ambassadors of Indias heritage, yoga, ayurved, cottage industries, handicrafts and also millets (on foreign soil)."

Modi said that the global community is watching India keenly with curiosity as the country made rapid progress in several sectors.

He said that India is taking over the G20 presidency this year and the responsibility comes with a great opportunity to make the world aware of Indias past experiences to attain a sustainable future and learn from these experiences.

At the PBD convention, the PM said: "The G20 is not just a diplomatic event; it should be turned into a historic event of public participation".

Highlighting the countrys achievements, the PM said India has emerged as a global economy during the current period of pandemic induced global instability and became the fifth largest economy in the world.

He also highlighted Indias successful foray into the cashless economy and fintech and said that 40 per cent of the world's real-time digital transactions are being done in India.

He said that India has caught global attention due to its rapid growth in several sectors and the diaspora has an important role to play in addressing the desire among the world community to know more about India.

He urged the diaspora to enrich their knowledge not only about Indias culture and tradition but also about the nations progress so they could project them suitably in their respective countries.

He also lauded the Pravasi Bharatiyas for the role they have played in the development of their respective countries.

"The feeling of pride in being the mother of democracy increases manifold when Pravasi Bharatiyas are talked about as democratic, peaceful and disciplined citizens in different parts of the world," Modi said and called upon the universities in India to document the contributions made by the diaspora in their respective countries for the benefit of the students.

He said that today, India has the opportunity to become not only the knowledge centre but also the skill capital of the world and the skill capital can become the engine of world growth.

During his address, the PM heaped praise on Indore, saying that the city is ahead of its time not only in cleanliness but also in the preservation of its heritage. The delicacies of Indore are mouthwatering.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister released a commemorative postal stamp and launched the first digital PBD exhibition, "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav  Contribution of Diaspora in Indian Freedom Struggle."

The three-day PBD Convention, which is being held from January 8 to 10, is the "flagship event of the ministry of external affairs and provides an important platform to engage and connect with the overseas Indians".

The theme of the ongoing PBD convention is "Diaspora: Reliable partners for

Indias progress in Amrit Kaal". Over 3,500 diaspora members from nearly 70 different countries had registered for the PBD Convention.

The Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was celebrated on Sunday, a day before the commemoration of PBD.
As the governor rose to deliver his address, members of few political parties aligned to the ruling DMK started a ruckus inside the House

MLAs belonging to the allies of the ruling government raise slogans against Tamil Nadu Governor R. N. Ravi before staging a walkout during his address at the first session of the year of Tamil Nadu Assembly, at Fort St George, in Chennai. (PTI Photo/R Senthil Kumar)

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi stormed out of the state Assembly midway through the proceedings after triggering a controversy by refusing to read some lines from the customary governors address prepared by the state government and also raising several constitutional questions through his behaviour on Monday, the opening day of the current session in the New Year.

Even as the governor rose to deliver his address, members of some political parties aligned to the ruling DMK started a ruckus inside the House, expressing their anger against Ravi holding back 20 legislations passed by the Assembly and for making a statement that the state should be called "Tamilagam" and not Tamil Nadu, among other issues.

An NDA member, PMK, too, joined them in the protest and even held out a banner on the floor of the House with slogans protesting the holding back of the Bill banning online rummy in the state.

As the governor went ahead with his address, unmindful of the kerfuffle, the protesting MLAs left the House and boycotted the address after some time. However, since the governor did not follow the entire address prepared by the government, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin moved a resolution to include in the official records the lines that were left out and to delete the extra things that Ravi had added unilaterally.

It was then Ravi walked out of the House without waiting for the proceedings to be over or the national anthem to be played or for the Assembly Speaker to escort him out of the hall as per protocol. Earlier in the day, when the Governor arrived at the premises, he was received by the Speaker.

Among the lines that the governor refused to read out from the text was: "Following the principles and ideals of Thanthai Periyar, Annal Ambedkar, Perunthalaivar Kamarajar, Perarignar Anna and Muthamil Arignar Kalaignar the government has been delivering the much acclaimed Dravidian Model of governance."

Another passage that was left out was: "Because of the stellar management of law and order, Tamil Nadu continues to be a haven of peace. As a result, the state was attracting numerous foreign investments and is becoming a forerunner in all sectors."

The governor also skipped: "This government is founded on the ideals of social justice, self-respect, inclusive growth, equality, womens empowerment, secularism and compassion towards all."

Moving the resolution, Stalin said it was regrettable that the governor did not read out the address completely and properly. He also said that those passages added unilaterally would be removed from the Assembly records.

He said that though the governor had been acting against the principles of the Dravidian Model, which was highly unacceptable to the government, the ruling party did not express its protest when he came to the House as the members wanted to maintain the dignity of the House and also follow the rules and regulations, but he did not reciprocate it.

Reacting to the development, BJP state vice-president V.P. Duraisamy said the governor was not bound to read the entire speech prepared by the state government. Duraiswamy, who was the deputy speaker of Assembly in the DMK government, said that Ravi had read out the policies of the government and that was enough.

He also said that the Speaker was not empowered to expunge the governors speech as he was not a member of the House.

State industries minister Thangam Thennarasu, who spoke to the media, said that the draft governors address was sent to Raj Bhavan. He regretted the governors attitude to even mention the name of Ambedkar in the speech.

Members of the AIADMK, led by the Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami also walked out of the House with the governor. Palaniswami said that they had come to the Assembly to listen to the governor and not the chief minister.

PMK founder S. Ramadoss, reacting to the incident, said that it was not proper on the part of the governor to have behaved that way. PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss said that it was an insult to the Assembly and elected state government and will in no way add strength to democracy.

CPI member Nagai Maali accused the governor of working for the BJP and RSS to implement the Union governments agenda against the state government with no understanding of Tamil sentiments and functioning against the peoples welfare.

Urging the Union government to call back Ravi, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi member M.H. Jawahirullah accused the governor of acting like a political agent by not sanctioning approval for 20 Bills passed in the House, which has 234 members.

Other leaders like TNCC president K.S. Alagiri, leader of the Congress in the Assembly Selvaperunthagai and CPI secretary K. Balakrishnan were among those who spoke against the governor, saying that it was anti-democratic, while the BJP state president and MLA Vanathi Srinivasan accused the government of enacting a drama.
by Melani Manel Perera

Nilantha Jayawardene is accused by the local church of failing to act to prevent the 2019 terrorist attacks on three churches. He had received intelligence about the possibility of an attack three weeks earlier. The archbishop's message was conveyed during a press conference yesterday.

Colombo (AsiaNews) - Following news of the appointment of Nilantha Jayawardene as police chief, "the Archbishop of Colombo, Card. Malcolm Ranjith, declares that the current government is undermining the rule of law in Sri Lanka and that the plot behind the Easter attack has been covered up".

These were the words used by Fr Cyril Gamini Fernando in conveying the Archbishop's statement during a press conference at the Archbishop's House yesterday.

Jayawardena is accused of failing to take necessary measures to prevent the 2019 Easter attacks on three churches and four hotels in which more than 250 people died and nearly 500 were injured. Recently there has been growing speculation about his possible appointment by President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Reading the archbishop's statement, Fr Gamini pointed out that the granting of privileges to Jayawardene is intended to prevent the truth about the attacks from being revealed: 'Jayawardene received the first information about the possibility of a terrorist attack from an Indian intelligence colleague on 4 April 2019,' three weeks before when the blasts occurred.

"The Commission of Inquiry is of the opinion that the then Deputy Inspector General of Police bears malicious responsibility and recommends that the Attorney General consider initiating criminal proceedings against Jayawardene under the provisions of the Criminal Code. It is clear that he is responsible for the lives of about 270 innocent people," said Fr Gamini.

According to Card. Ranjith, 'it is clear that President Wickremesinghe is also performing a shameful act by covering up the facts behind the Easter attack and protecting the criminals,' reported Fr. Cyril Gamini.
PHILIPPINES

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yesterday appointed Carlito Galvez as Chief of Defence, prompting the officer-in-charge of the Department of National Defence, Jose Faustino, to resign. Last week Marcos appointed Andres Centino as army chief, replacing Bartolome Bacarro. The president's moves seem to indicate a distancing from the Duterte administration, which had included retired military personnel and increased the salaries of soldiers and policemen in its government.

THAILAND

Thai soldiers killed six suspected drug traffickers in a jungle in the north of the country. The shooting occurred near the 'Golden Triangle' - on the border between Thailand, Myanmar and Laos - a known smuggling area. The army said soldiers searched 19 backpacks belonging to the slain men and found 300 kg of ketamine and three pistols.

MYANMAR

Pro-regime militias are forcing residents of Sagaing and Mandalay regions to attend campaign meetings of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, the party linked to the military coup junta. Despite the ongoing civil conflict, the army has announced that general elections will be held in August.

INDIA

In the district of Lakhimpur, in the Indian state of Assam, the eviction of about 500 families has begun in order to clear 450 hectares of land, which the government believes is illegally occupied. The residents, mostly Bengali Muslim families, said they had lived in the area for decades and had submitted legal ownership documents, which were rejected by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government.

AFGHANISTAN - PAKISTAN

Over the past 30 years, many Afghans have found refuge in Pakistan. But they often mistake one bad situation for another because of the economic difficulties that prevent the refugees from being properly housed: according to some estimates it would cost Pakistan 2.2 billion dollars to take care of the 700,000 Afghan refugees in the country, who, blamed for the rising cost of rent, are increasingly being pushed back.

JAPAN - USA

The US wants to move US Marine units to the Japanese islands of Okinawa by 2026, arming them with missiles and lighter equipment to deter Chinese armed forces. According to the Yomiuri newspaper, the US has already informed Japan of the reorganisation, which will announce it in the coming days after a bilateral meeting in Washington. Meanwhile, Tokyo announced its new plan to increase military spending for the first time since World War II.

RUSSIA - IRAN

Iran and Russia intend to 'zero' customs duties on 90 per cent of goods, according to Rahmatulla Harmali, Director of Customs at the Trade Development Organisation of Iran, who says 'there will be strong growth in trade with Russia, increasing the volume of our exports by up to 4 billion in the next 4 years'.

CENTRAL ASIA

Anomalous atmospheric flows of particularly intense frost have started in Central Asia, as reported by the 'Meteozurnal' in Tashkent, with temperatures dropping to below 40 degrees Celsius in all countries of the region. In Kazakhstan, schools have already switched to online mode, in Azerbaijan, children are deserting classes.
by Steve Suwannarat

The general turned prime minister had to change party in order to run in the next election in May. In announcing his candidacy, he said his goal was to "protect" Thailand out of a sense of duty". The opposition has challenged him as well as the results of the previous election.

Bangkok (AsiaNews)  Outgoing Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha yesterday announced that he will seek another mandate. Wearing civilian clothes, the former general said that he was running out of a sense of duty in order to complete unfinished business.

To this end, he is switching parties, moving from Palang Pracharath (which he had helped create in March 2018 to give legitimacy to military rule) to the newly created Ruam Thai Sang Chart (United Thai Nation Party).

Prayut was joined by several prominent leaders of Palang Pracharat, as well as from the Democratic Party and others.

In his speech, the 68-year-old Prayut once again said that he was not seeking power or benefits for himself, but out of a sense of duty to protect this sacred land and maintain the three pillars of nation, (Buddhist) religion, the monarchy.

For this reason, a new mandate would enable him to complete his mission, which he intended to do no matter how challenging or how much stress it might cause him.

All I have done is for the sustainable future of the country. I will leave no one behind until I hand over the country to the next generation, he said.

Since he came to power eight years ago, Prayut has survived several votes of no confidence in parliament as well as street protests.

In fact, the opposition has refused to recognise his legitimacy and considers him incapable of leading the country; instead, he is viewed as the guardian of an establishment that protects the interests of the monarchy, the armed forces and the oligarchy.

In April and May 2010, Prayut led the crackdown against the Red Shirts movement, and came to power in a coup d'etat on 22 May 2014 at the helm of a military junta.

He was picked to be prime minister by the National Assembly without a popular mandate. In 2019, elections were held, which were widely seen by his rivals as unfairly skewed in his favour.

Any hope that he might be forced to leave office was dashed on 30 September when the Constitutional Court ruled that his first three years in power as head of the military junta, should not be counted towards the eight years allowed by the constitution (approved under military rule in 2016).

If Prayut is re-elected on 7 May, he can at most remain in office for half a term.
The WIN Health Institute office in the Willits area of Basalt was closed after the criminal charges against Dr. David Jensen and massage therapist Nathaniel Gordon were filed.
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KAMPALA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish Airlines plane destined for Istanbul, Turkey had to return to Uganda's Entebbe International Airport on Tuesday morning after it struck a group of birds during take-off.

The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA), the country's air transport regulator, said flight Number TK606 hovered in the Ugandan airspace for more than an hour.

"As a precautionary measure, the flight hovered in the Ugandan airspace before landing safely at Entebbe at 08:52 a.m. [local time]," the aviation body said in a brief statement.

"The aircraft is being checked for airworthiness before resuming the flight," UCAA added. 
Not sure if America is doing the same, for the simple reason that even before Russia hit Ukraine in February last year, the U.S. had been constantly running military exercise in a bid to keep its forces ready for whatever may come. Yet in 2022, and it would seem this year as well, the nation seems to have accelerated the pace a bit. In the early days of this year, for instance, it performed the largest C-17 launch ever from a single base.More to the point, a total of 24 C-17 Globemaster IIIs left the runways at Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina on January 5 on a so-called mission generation exercise that involved elements from the U.S. Air Force (USAF), Army, and Marine Corps.Once airborne, the planes conducted a show-of-force flight over the Ravenel Bridge in Charleston Harbor, only to disperse and tend to their individual missions, which included command-and-control, navigation, tempo, and logistics under fire, as per the Air Mobility Command (AMC).AMC is one of the organizations tasked with flying the C-17 fleet in support of military operations. The Globemaster in the current configuration has been around since the 1990s and is still described as the most flexible cargo aircraft to enter the airlift force. It can be used for delivery of troops and cargo by airlift and airdrop, being capable of taking off while weighing 585,000 pounds (265,352) kg. That includes the airplanes own weight and that of 102 troops or 170,900 pounds (77,519 kg) of cargo.The training routine for this months exercise called for the 24 Globemasters to disperse after takeoff and land at four other bases in the area, namely Pope Army Airfield, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, and Hunter Army Airfield.All this while in the air a small army of other military jets was performing combat maneuvers. More precisely, 20 F-16 Fighting Falcons from the Shaw Air Force Base and McEntire Air National Guard Base were fighting in mock combat for air superiority.Aside from these pieces of hardware, an E-3 Sentry and an undisclosed number of KC-135 Stratotankers were also airborne during the mammoth exercise meant to make use of a big chunk of Americas aerial assets.The year has just begun, and while hoping the Ukraine conflict will not spill over the European countrys borders, America will probably continue to train for the worst in the months ahead, and who knows what other first will go down in history books.
ABUJA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- An investigation has been launched into the killing of 12 members of a para-military agency by unknown gunmen who attacked a mining site in the country's northern state of Kaduna, an official said Tuesday.

The victims were members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) who provide security guard service at the Kuriga mining site in Birnin Gwari local government area of Kaduna when the gunmen attacked the place Monday, said Olusola Odumosu, an NSCDC spokesman at a press briefing in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

One NSCDC personnel escaped with injuries when the gunmen laid an ambush on the NSCDC members at the mining site, said Odumosu, adding the gunmen also took away the rifles of the victims.

The remains of the deceased were deposited at a mortuary while the injured security personnel is responding to treatment at a local hospital, he said. The motive of the attackers was unknown.

NSCDC is a para-military agency of the Nigerian government, commissioned to provide measures against threats and any form of attack or disaster against the nation and its citizenry, according to an introduction of the agency's website. 
The original USS South Carolina has been gone for almost a century, and had an ending that was unworthy of its incredible heritage. According to the Navy, it was sold for scrap way back in 1924. Commissioned in 1910, it would be the lead ship of its class. USS South Carolina and Michigan were revolutionary at the time, in the U.S., as the nations first dreadnoughts.The term was coined after the Royal Navy launched the HMS Dreadnought in 1906. That warship was so extraordinary that it literally became a prototype for a new class of ships. The main thing that made it stand out was the exclusive use of big guns, in opposition to a mix of large-caliber and small-caliber ones, and that it was packed with a lot of them. In the following years, dreadnoughts came to mean large and fast battleships that had only large-caliber guns as weapons.The USS Carolina started out with a cruise to Europe and with support operations in the Gulf of Mexico. It also served during World War I, performing escort tasks, training sailors, and eventually safely bringing veterans back home, in 1919. Even though it would end up being torn to pieces in 1924, its model survives to this day, and can be admired (though not at the moment) at the U.S. Navys museum.Although the Navy seems to be quick to discard its vessels back in the day, fortunately it also had the foresight to build ship models each time a new class of ships comes to life. The South Carolina model was most likely built at the same shipyard as the battleship itself, and is said to be remarkably intricate.This surviving model has been on display for more than two decades now, and at the end of last year it started getting ready for a new chapter in its long career. The Navy is building a new flagship museum, one that allegedly costs $450 million. Its meant to replace the former facility in Washington, which is now getting close to 60 years of age.The historic model has been quietly waiting for its relocation, and was recently moved (on wheels) at the Washington Navy Yard. For now, the Navy has selected five architecture firms to come up with renderings for the future museum, and hopes to complete the project by the end of 2025.
EV

Has anyone ever heard of a Tesla window spontaneously cracking on its own? For no reason? Im sitting in car and this just happened pic.twitter.com/vRA8hb31En  Neill Blomkamp (@NeillBlomkamp) January 1, 2023

To be fair, the District 9 and Elysium director did not see the right front window of his Tesla shatter: it just cracked. Thats because his refreshed white Model S has laminated windows, which remain in place even when they break, presenting long pieces. When tempered glass shatters, it breaks into tiny square pieces. Most cases of Tesla windows breaking involve tempered glass.The last case we covered before Blomkamp tweeted about his situation was a bit more than one year ago. That was when a Tesla Model 3 owner shared what had happened to her car. Inderpal Kaur had just received her vehicle when the rear right window had just turned into glass pieces. More cases may have occurred from that time until now, but we have not heard about them.Blomkamp apparently took a picture of what happened to his Model S immediately after its window cracked. The director then asked: Has anyone ever heard of a Tesla window spontaneously cracking on its own? For no reason? Several replies to the director confirmed this is not uncommon with Tesla vehicles, as the video below  from another case  proves. At the same time, some tried to defend the company by claiming this happens several times in the winter with any brand. Blomkamp did not reply to any of the people commenting on his tweet.Although a thermal stress episode is possible, Tesla vehicles have presented this problem for ages. As their doors do not present frames, any issue with body alignment may mechanically stress the windows, which is another possibility for them to crack. Tesla never presented an explanation for these cases, even when it still had an active press relations department in the U.S. Currently, it only has one in China.Being a high-profile customer, Blomkamp must have been contacted by Tesla immediately after sharing the issue on Twitter. Themaker must also have proposed fixing the window for free, especially considering that Blomkamp has a pretty recent vehicle. We have no idea if the director has ever had other Tesla vehicles, but his question suggests that the Model S is the first one. Causing a lousy impression could also lead this electric sedan to be his last Tesla.
Last year, a Russian rap artist caused quite a stir on social media when he shared images of himself casually walking a robot dog. The unusual pet who became instantly famous  is called Striga, and walks around in a massive metallic chain leash that was chosen by his nonconformist owner.Striga got plenty of attention as the symbol of a growing trend. Far from childish toys, robotic pets such as this four-legged one are highly advanced, and can cost thousands of dollars, if fully customized. In other words, these are quite literally some precious possessions, which is why you would certainly not wish to see anything happen to them.Yet, it does. The owner of a robot dog just like Striga is trying to find the unknown woman who supposedly kicked his pet robot, named Stampy, square in the front sensors. The incident was captured on video, showing someone who seems to be kicking the robot pretty hard, while her friend disapproves. After the owner shared it on social media, the video quickly became viral, with many people showing sympathy for the dog.Its not just that the person who did that was downright rude and aggressive, but that the damage was serious, according to the robots owner. It seems that the forward-facing cameras and distance-measuring sensors took a serious hit. And all of that while Stampy was simply gathering some GPS and visual data, for obstacle avoidance. It turns out that a human got to be the biggest and worst obstacle so far.The incident sparked a social media debate about the attitude of people towards these types of pets, and the disadvantages of owning a highly-customized, expensive robot such as this one. Stampys owner is offering a reward to find the woman who allegedly did this, so that she can help pay for the damage. But if that never happens, he will have to deal with the costs  a real bummer, considering how expensive the robot was in the first place.The Australian robot dog owner didnt reveal exactly how much he paid for Stampy, but prices for the Unitree Go1 start at $3,400, and go up to five figures depending on the customizations. He also mentioned that he went for the version that can be programmed, but skipped the high-end additions.Introduced as the first bionic quadruped robot for the consumer level, the Unitree Go1 is seen by some as a bargain version of Boston Dynamics Spot. It weighs only 26 lbs (12 kg) but boasts impressive mobility, thanks to its knee and body joints motors. The Go1 can walk, jump, and go as fast as 10.5 mph (17 kph). Sadly, none of its advanced sensors and abilities could protect it against human rudeness. Jokes aside, we need to live in a society where robotic pets and delivery robots can also be safe.
Downsizing means a lot of different things depending on who you talk to. Ask Tom Burick, and he will probably tell you it has to do with the pure pleasure of hitting the road with his Vespa and trailer, in search of new friends and new experiences.

20 photos Photo: Tom Burick
Photo: Exosonic

Photo: Exosonic

Photo: Exosonic

F-22 pilots can spend all day, and then some, doing mock dogfights with other Raptor pilots. Or, they could busy themselves with mock aggressor squadrons comprised of inferior gen-IV fighters or sub-sonic UAVs that are little more than target practice. For decades, U.S. Air Force Agressor Squadrons have employed domestic fighters like F-5 Freedom Fighters and F-16 Fighting Falcons to create the illusion of enemy Air Forces for training purposes.But if any of the propaganda around the Russian Su-57 , in particular, is to be believed, its capabilities exceed even that of the F-16. With that in mind, what NATO, and therefore the U.S., crave desperately is a tool that can mimic adversarial gen-V fighters' speed and combat capability. You know, without having to go behind enemy lines in a helicopter to crane a prized enemy stealth fighter home a-la Operation Mount Hope III.With this in mind, say hello to the Exosonic Revenant. A supersonic-capable UAV drone built to mimic the best hostile fighter jets the U.S. is liable to come across. Though it may look like a flaming pencil or a scaled-down F-16 with the cockpit removed. But don't be fooled. This novel, un-crewed jet's on-paper capabilities are far greater than you might think. Let's take a look at some of the details.But first, who even is Exosonic, and why do they think they're capable of mimicking adversarial modern fighter jets for NATO pilots to test their grit against? Well, like other recent aerospace startups like Boom Technologies, Exosonic has its sights firmly set on supersonic commercial aviation.If nothing else, the Revenant UAV serves as a technological demonstrator for hardware slated to be implemented in a full-sized airliner. Exosonic seems confident this can be achieved sometime before this decade is out, even with an advertised employee count numbering just 14. With this in mind, it should be no shock Exosonic's most notable initiative is as a design partner to study how to make Air Force One supersonic.But building the spiritual successor to Concorde for the U.S. President to jet around might be more of a pie-in-the-sky ambition. That's despite the admittedly brilliant-looking promotional material. But as far as the Revenant supersonic UAV is concerned, that might soon start paying dividends very soon.With support from the American Department of Defense, there's reason to suspect Revenant is well on its way. Exosonic's webpage is the best place to find admittedly scarce information on this DOD-funded, partially-classified military project. But to the company's credit, computer-generated graphics of the Revenant in action at least make it easy to deduce a few things about this UAV's makeup.Though the Revenant platform is meant to duplicate a flagship twin-engine gen-V jet, the plane itself is a slender, single-engine design. One can only assume this configuration was chosen in the name of saving weight as opposed to physically looking like the jets they're trying to mimic.But thanks to Revenant's highly modular platform, or "open system architecture," as Exosonic calls it, there are plenty of other ways to mimic contemporary military jets. Everything from active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, Infrared Search and Track (IRST) capability, and high bitrate data-link similar to what's found on an F22 Raptor make for a package that's no doubt pleasing to NATO air power.Powered by a single afterburning turbojet engine of unspecified origins, the Revenant platform almost impersonates a cruise missile in its design principals principal. One could even assume Revenant is an upgrade package for the AGM-129 cruise missiles that B-52s used to carry without prior knowledge.Whatever the specifics, a top speed of 1.2 times the speed of sound (920 mph, 1,481.76 kph) should be fast enough to simulate the speeds of most frontline fighters built in the last 40 years. The benefits of this in a hypothetical adversarial training squadron that Raptor and Lightning pilots can cut their teeth against should speak for themselves.Keep in mind the Russians and Chinese also wield powerful UAVs, which they intend to use in conflict against NATO . Just Google photos of the Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B or the Hongdu GJ-11 if you don't believe us. From this perspective, Exosonic's Revenant, at least on paper, exceeds the speeds that even these the newest operational Russian and Chinese UAVs can manage.No word yet on when we'll see the first working examples. But with U.S. Agressor Squadrons already strapped for new airframes, expect a supersonic UAV to be a top priority for NATO for the duration of the 2020s.
ICE

The new partnership targets the development and production of four-cylinder diesel engines in the Cleon plant in Normandy, France. These new engines are set to be Euro 6 and Euro 7 versions of Renault-developed four-cylinder diesels, and they will be featured in light commercial vehicles that will roll off the assembly line starting 2025.As a fun fact, Renault has been making engines in its Cleon factory ever since 1962. It was then that the French firm started making its line of C-Type units. Those came with a cast iron block and were referred to as Cleon-Fonte. These engines ended up being manufactured up until 2004, when their final form ended its production run.Since the technology is already in Renault 's hands, and the same is true for the factory where the engines are being made, you might wonder what PUNCH Torino has to do with all this.Well, the Italian firm will be able to purchase, use, and sell the current and future inline four-cylinder diesel units from Renault. The Horse Project, which is a joint venture announced by the French group last November, will be among the customers of these new engines.The folks at PUNCH are specialized in developing engines, and Renault is interested in taking its power plants for LCVs to the next level, which is Euro 7 compliance. And doing so with a partner might be a measure to help keep costs under control.That last bit is not mentioned in the release, but it is obvious since the Italian partners will be able to take part in the development, which is the costliest part of making a new engine.While development costs are usually split across the number of units sold, and the products end up paying for themselves if they sell as many units as expected, the firm still needs to pay for the development upfront, and then hope that the sales will happen.The LCV segment will continue to have diesel engines in Europe, as well as in several other parts of the world, as it has different requirements in terms of annual mileage, as well as usage scenarios.In other words, it does make sense to keep making light commercial vehicles with internal combustion engines, at least as long as the market keeps buying them. It is all a game of who buys what, and it is referred to as the law of supply and demand by economists.Last November, Renault decided to overhaul its operations , and that involves moving itsdivision to a joint-venture company that the carmaker started with Geely. The idea is to stop the Renault Group from focusing on internal combustion engine development and take that part of the business into a separate unit.The Renault Group also has a separate division for the development of electric vehicles, which is called Ampere and is based in France. Ampere is meant to be a mix between an electric vehicle manufacturer, a software development firm, and an automaker, all under the Renault brand.
GVWR

$TSLA semi getting towed on Gerber Road. Say it aint so. pic.twitter.com/QcIKm099cP  PeopleFamiliarWith (@EarningCallElon) January 4, 2023

The Semi is the first Tesla product in years, and the company has huge expectations. The electric Class-8 truck has already divided the internet, and professional truck drivers have demolished it for being just a gimmick, built without any consideration for what a work truck actually is. In the meantime, major trucking companies are still waiting for feedback from PepsiCo before taking the plunge.The Semi specifications are pretty impressive on paper, with a 500-mile range and operating costs that look enticing. If everything checks out in real life, the Tesla Semi might become the best-selling truck in history. On the other hand, its lower gross vehicle weight rating () might indicate that a trucking company needs more Semis to move the same cargo than it does with conventional trucks. Therell surely be a balancing act between the trucks capabilities, costs, and requirements, so itll be interesting to see how all these will pan out.Elon Musk promised that the Semi could drive one million miles between overhauls with little to no maintenance. This is mighty impressive, but the Semi still has to prove this claim. If it holds to this promise, the Tesla Semi might be the most cost-effective Class-8 truck on the market, but were only a little more than a month away from the delivery start to conclude. Even so, there are already two known instances when a Tesla Semi needed towing for unknown reasons.The first broken Tesla Semi was spotted on New Years Eve via live feed from Nevada DOT. The Semi broke down at the roundabout intersection of Nevada State Route 439 and U.S. 50, just west of Silver Springs, Nevada. There is no information about this incident other than that it took two hours before it was towed away. On January 5, another Tesla Semi wearing a PepsiCo livery was spotted while being towed in Sacramento, California, near a Pepsi Bottling Company location. This is also a mysterious event, and both Tesla and PepsiCo remained silent about what happened.Its not the first time a Semi has broken down in the middle of the road. In an earlier incident, a testing prototype needed towing after breaking down in the middle of a highway on-ramp, causing a traffic nightmare. Nevertheless, while a prototype might get the excuse of an immature configuration, a production vehicle does not. Two trucks needing towing in less than a week are not random events. They seem indicative of the failing Tesla quality control.Its also something youd expect from a new model coming from a company that never built such a big rig before. Breakdowns happen all the time, even with trucks from established manufacturers. But for a newcomer, this could prove a lot worse. No matter how good it looks on paper and how cheap it is to operate, a truck that needs towing is not very helpful to a trucking company. And were still very far from the one-million-mile mark, so Tesla Semi trucks breaking down on the side of the road are a disturbing image.
Google Assistant is getting a major facelift on Android Automotive, and thanks to remote actions, its capable of starting the air conditioning system or unlocking the vehicle doors.Its all possible thanks to a Google Assistant-enabled device, as the remote connection to the vehicle makes it possible for drivers to do all these things with nothing but voice commands.The new capabilities also include checking the battery status, and it goes without saying this is something that comes in very handy given the growing adoption of zero-emission vehicles. Users can therefore ask Google Assistant to tell the battery level of their cars when preparing to go to work, therefore being up-to-date with the status of the car without turning to any other application. Polestar 2 will be the first model to get the new capabilities, with the parent company explaining that the rollout will begin in the United States. The rest of the markets, however, will receive it at a later time, though no further specifics were provided on this front.Its not difficult to see why Android Automotive is slowly becoming Googles big bet in the automotive industry in the long term. As compared to Android Auto, where all the features are powered by a connected mobile device and whose role is to mirror the UI on the larger display in the cabin, Android Automotive powers a deeper integration of Google services in the car.This eventually means that Google is also getting access to more vehicle data, something that not all carmakers seem to be big fans of.Not a long time ago, BMW also decided to embrace Android Automotive , though the company didnt agree to give in to Google. So instead of the licensed version of the OS, the German carmaker decided to use the open-source sibling, which doesnt include the Google services that would provide the tech company with access to vehicle data.This gives BMW more control over everything that Android Automotive does in its cars. The company wont be offering the Google Play Store either, so all apps will be published in a third-party store that will come pre-loaded with the cars where the OS is installed. The first BMW models projected to come with this custom version of Android Automotive are projected to see daylight next year, with more information to be shared at a later time.
This time, the Google-owned company has partnered with Karamo Brown, the current TV host of Queer Eye. And just like in the past, this partnership is bringing special goodies to Waze users, including a new car icon and further navigation voices.Lets start with the car icon. After enabling the new experience in Waze, users can activate the Karamobile, a special car icon that is available as part of this new update. Then, the collaboration also includes two moods  keep in mind that these are the icons that show you on the map. Users are now allowed to choose between calm and centered, in addition to the existing moods that were already available in Waze.And last but not least, the application is getting a new navigation voice that is powered by Karamo himself. Youll, therefore, be provided with a new (and very famous) driving companion, and Google says his role is to help drivers see the positive side of things  if such a thing really exists when sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic waiting for the green light.Enabling the new experience is pretty easy. All you need to do is to make sure you are using the latest version of Waze and then open the My Waze menu in the main screen of the app.Next, you should see a banner that lets you activate the special car icon, moods, and navigation voice, so just tap them and enable whatever you want in the app.The Google-owned company says the Karamo-powered content will be available in Waze until the end of the month, at which point all your settings will return to the previous configuration.As a daily Waze user, these updates are a great idea, but on the other hand, probably the worst thing about them is that they are only available for a very limited time. The new navigation voices, for example, certainly make the experience behind the wheel more enjoyable, so theres no reason not to allow users to stick with a certain voice for more time.Unfortunately, theres obviously no way to enable the special-edition Waze content after the company removes it. When this happens, you just need to go back to the previous configuration, which includes the standard navigation voices and the typical moods and car icons that come bundled with the app.The new experience powered by Karamo is only available in English for obvious reasons, so if you dont want to use this language for the navigation voice, you can at least enable the new car icon and one of the two moods that are included in the update. Everything is already live on both iPhone and Android.
HARARE, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's gold output reached a new record high of 35.38 tonnes in 2022, spurred by new mining projects, timely payments and incentives to miners.

The output was 19.5 percent up from the previous year's output, the state-owned Herald newspaper reported Tuesday, citing statistics from the country's sole gold buyer, Fidelity Gold Refineries.

"The incentives are really paying off to such an extent that the viability of the sector hinges on sustaining the incentives to unlock more value," Fidelity Gold Refineries chief executive Peter Magaramombe was quoted as saying by the daily newspaper.

In 2022, the Zimbabwean government extended an incentive to large-scale gold miners that exceed their average monthly deliveries by paying them 80 percent in foreign currency for the additional output.

Previously, large-scale gold producers were retaining 70 percent of their export proceeds in foreign currency.

In addition, the government stipulated that large-scale gold producers that qualify for the 80 percent retention threshold would be entitled to directly export the additional gold to enable them to secure funding and gold loans to enhance production.

Gold is one of Zimbabwe's major foreign currency earners alongside tobacco leaf and platinum. 
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A representative image

Jamnagar

A National Security Guard (NSG) team has been deployed for the detection of any suspicious substance on the Azur Air flight ZF2401, which was forced to make an emergency landing at Gujarat's Jamnagar airport on Monday evening, police said.



Jamnagar Superintendent of Police, Premsukh Delu told the media, "NSG team and local Bomb Detection & Disposal Squad (BDDS) teams are detecting the entire flight, only after the NSG gives clearance, the flight will be allowed to take off from Jamnagar and it is likely to take more time, as entire flight and passengers baggage is to be cleared by the teams."



According to police sources, more BDDS teams, too, have joined the detection, teams from neighbouring districts like Devbhumi Dwarka and Rajkot are also roped in for the detection.

Sources said that the Jamnagar BDDS team in primary inspection had found nothing on the flight, but the state government does not want to take any chance.

ALSO READ: State Bank of Pakistan's forex reserves fall by $245 mn

The flight that took off from Moscow after a letter was received informing about a bomb-like substance on board, because of which the Moscow-Goa flight was diverted to Jamnagar, which had made an emergency landing at 10.50 p.m. on Monday.
The local power grid operator Artsakhenergo reported on Tuesday that a section of the high-voltage transmission line coming from Armenia was knocked down on Monday for still unknown reasons. It said the accident occurred near the town of Lachin handed back to Azerbaijan last summer.

Because of the unconstructive position of the Azerbaijani side, at the moment we are unable to visit and inspect that section and organize repairs, Artsakhenergo said in a statement. Therefore, a decision was made to supply electricity to the republic from local generating stations with appropriate restrictions.

The restrictions will take the form of rolling blackouts, added the statement. It urged households to use electricity sparingly to reduce the load on local hydroelectric plants that now have to fully meet Karabakhs energy needs.

The operator clarified later in the day that starting on Wednesday households in and outside Stepanakert will have no electricity for up to two hours a day. No power cuts were reported in the Karabakh capital on Tuesday.

The Azerbaijani authorities did not immediately comment on the supply disruption which came almost one month after they blocked the sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia, causing growing shortages of food and other essential items in the Armenian-populated region.

The day after the start of the blockade, Karabakhs leadership accused Baku of also blocking Armenias gas supplies to Karabakh. The supplies were restored three days later. The United States and the European Union were quick to express serious concern over their disruption.

The Western powers have repeatedly urged the Azerbaijani side to unblock the Lachin Corridor. Baku has dismissed their calls and defended Azerbaijani protesters continuing to occupy a section of the corridor on ostensibly environmental grounds.

Faced with the worsening shortages, the Karabakh government decided on Monday to start rationing basic foodstuffs and other essential items supplied to private shops from its strategic reserves. All Karabakh residents are due to receive in the coming days coupons for buying limited quantities of sunflower oil, sugar, macaroni, rice and buckwheat.

Zina Nazarian, a 65-year-old Stepanakert resident, said that in recent weeks she and her neighbors have routinely spent hours waiting in lines to buy food imported from or through Armenia. But bread is available, so never mind, she said.

According to Karabakh officials, the blockade has prevented the shipment of 12,000 metric tons of food and other essential supplies the region home to over 120,000 ethnic Armenians.
Pashinian also announced that his administration has cancelled a military exercise, which the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) planned to hold in Armenia this year, because of the Russian-led military alliances reluctance to defend it against what Yerevan regards as Azerbaijani military aggression.

Reacting to the announcement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said CSTO member states will be in touch soon to try to clarify the details of Armenia's position.

In any case, Armenia is our very close ally and we will continue the dialogue, including on the issues that are very difficult now, Peskov told Russian media.

Armenia appealed to Russia and the CSTO for support during the September 2022 clashes along its border with Azerbaijan which left at least 224 Armenian soldiers dead. Armenian leaders afterwards accused the Russian-led alliance of ignoring the appeal in breach of its statutes.

During a November summit in Yerevan the CSTO proposed what its then Secretary General Stanislav Zas called a set of measures to assist Armenia in this difficult situation. However, Pashinian rejected the offer, citing the absence of CSTO statements condemning Azerbaijan. Zas said in December that the proposed measures included military-technical assistance.

Pashinian said on Tuesday that Azerbaijan has told Western nations that its aggressive actions are aimed at neutralizing a perceived threat emanating from the Russian-Armenian alliance.

We all know that that that is absurd, but against the backdrop of the events in Ukraine this narrative is attracting some interest, which is why Azerbaijan is advancing this narrative, he told a news conference.

We bring our Russian partners attention to this fact, noting that their lack of reaction means that Russias military presence in Armenia not only doesnt guarantee Armenias security but on the contrary creates threats to Armenias security, he said.

Friction between Yerevan and Moscow has deepened during Azerbaijans month-long blockade of Nagorno-Karabakhs sole land link with Armenia supposedly controlled by Russian peacekeeping forces.

Late last month, Pashinian complained that the peacekeepers are doing little to unblock the vital road. Lawmakers representing his Civil Contract party went farther, alleging that Moscow is using the blockade to try to force Armenia to join the union state of Russia and Belarus and open an exterritorial corridor to Azerbaijans Nakhichevan exclave.

Armen Grigorian, the secretary of Armenias Security Council, effectively echoed the allegations, prompting angry Russian rebuttals. The Russian Foreign Ministry challenged Grigorian to substantiate them.

Pashinian acknowledged that Yerevan has received no official offers to join the Russia-Belarus Union. But he noted at the same time that the reality is not as clear-cut as it seems.

Sometimes we need to take a close look not so much at the substance of issues but at their subtext, he said, adding that Grigorian probably referred to signals received by Armenian officials during unofficial contacts. He did not elaborate.

Pashinian went on to again urge the Russian peacekeepers to ensure the normal functioning of the Lachin Corridor in line with the Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement that stopped the 2020 war in Karabakh.
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You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.
Xinjiang's border ports resume passenger clearance

Xinhua) 09:03, January 10, 2023

A truck loaded with cross-border e-commerce packages arrives in Horgos Comprehensive Bonded Area, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Gu Yu)

URUMQI, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Horgos port, a border port in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, resumed passenger customs clearance on Sunday, welcoming its first wave of inbound tourists of 2023.

From Jan. 8, customs clearance will be resumed in Irkeshtam, Karasu and Takixken, the region's three other road ports, respectively bordering Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Mongolia.

"It's convenient to take an international intermodal bus to China after the resumption of the customs clearance," said Belik Zhanuzakov, who is from Kazakhstan and arrived at the Horgos port, which borders Kazakhstan.

Due to the pandemic, Belik Zhanuzakov had to do business with his Chinese partners online. "Now we have the chance to talk face to face," he said, expressing the hope that his business will grow.

In order to ensure smooth customs clearance procedures for passengers at ports, Xinjiang customs departments have made individual plans based on the characteristics of each port. Border inspection authorities have also increased the publicity of exit and entry policies and made arrangements for accommodation and catering at ports.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
SUVA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Fiji's new coalition government announced on Tuesday back-to-school support for students from low-income families across the island nation.

In his televised national address on Tuesday afternoon, Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka announced back-to-school support of 200 Fijian dollars (about 91 U.S. dollars) per child assistance to all those earning a combined annual income of 50,000 Fijian dollars (about 22,735 U.S. dollars) or less.

This is being done to ensure that children return to school without difficulty, he said, adding this assistance is due to the hardship that many families are facing due to COVID-19 and the contraction of the Fijian economy whereby a lot of people have lost their jobs.

According to the prime minister, the assistance will be funded via the existing budget.

They have allocated 50 million Fijian dollars (about 22.7 million U.S. dollars) for this assistance through the redeployment of funds within the current budget, Rabuka added.

The Fijian government also assured that it will continue to provide free education and transport assistance to all eligible students as has been the practice, and the transports will be available to take students to school when the new school term begins on Feb. 6 this year.

Recently, the new coalition government has also announced the change from four school term structure to three school terms this year.

Fiji is a South Pacific island nation with a population of around 900,000. Its current national poverty rate stands at 24.1 percent. 
Mahant Swami Maharaj and dignitaries from around the world pay tribute to Pramukh Swami Maharajs work of fostering Hindu spirituality and culture on the African Continent

On 9 January 2023, BAPS devotees from various countries in Africa presented a creative programme titled, Africas Timeless Tribute: BAPS Africa Day to tens of thousands assembled at Pramukh Swami Maharaj Nagar. Following the special programme, His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj and dignitaries from around the world paid tribute to Pramukh Swami Maharaj and his ability to inspire spirituality, temples, and humanitarian service in Africa and around the world.

Evening Assembly

The thought-provoking programme commenced with devotees from Africa singing dhun and prarthana. Following this, various dramas, videos, dances, and speeches depicted Pramukh Swami Maharajs tireless efforts in traveling, constructing mandirs, and serving and transforming the lives of thousands of devotees and volunteers around Africa.

Sadguru Viveksagardas Swami narrated the history of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha in the African continent. Recounting BAPSs deep roots in Africa, he noted how almost a century ago, Shastriji Maharaj encouraged devotees living in East Africa to gather and worship regularly. Yogiji Maharaj travelled to Africa in 1955 and later in 1960, consecrating temples in Mombasa, Kampala, Jinja, and Tororo. In 1960, 9 youths were given monastic initiation, one of whom was from Africa  Mahendrabhai Patel. He was the first Swaminarayan swami from outside of India, and we know him today as Sadguru Tyagvallabhdas Swami. The roots of BAPS UK lie in Africa, as much of the early devotees there were migrants from Africa. It was Yogiji Maharajs wish that a grand stone mandir be built in Africa. Pramukh fulfilled this wish by building a traditional stone mandir in Nairobi in 1999, which, together with BAPSs 25 other mandirs in Africa, represent and foster Hindu faith and traditions across Africa.

Amrutswarupdas Swami and Paramkirtidas Swami narrated various incidents of African devotees who were inspired by Pramukh Swami Maharaj to renounce addictions and violence, forgive those who had harmed them, adopt a simple lifestyle, remain firm in their devotional observances and serve society.

Priyavratdas Swami offered a prayer to Mahant Swami Maharaj, To celebrate BAPS Africas centenary five years hence, we pray that we may further cultivate the virtues of humility, tolerance, and Pramukh Swami Maharajs motto  In the joy of others. May all the devotees and all of Africa become prosperous, may everyone become ideal devotees, and may BAPS Africas centenary be celebrated on a grand scale.

A special issue on the Pramukh Swami Maharaj Centennial Celebrations in the Journal of Contemporary Research Studies in Tanzania was inaugurated by Mahant Swami Maharaj. BAPS youth wrote several research articles for this academic journal, which was produced by the BAPS Swaminarayan Research Institute, Tanzania and St. Augustine University.

Mahant Swami Maharaj inaugurated a new English publication, My Personal Mala: My Daily Companion written by Amrutvijaydas Swami which shows Pramukh Swami Maharajs love for worship, even during intense travels and service.

Mahant Swami Maharaj inaugurated another new English publication, In the joy of others that provides a historical account of Pramukh Swami Maharajs efforts for the success of the Narmada Dam Project.

Mahant Swami Maharaj then said, The many satsang centers around Africa have come together and presented a beautiful programme on the occasion of BAPS Africa Day. Shastriji Maharaj laid the foundations of Satsang in Africa. Nirgundas Swami strengthened this foundation through his letters to African devotees. Upon this foundation, Yogiji Maharaj and Pramukh Swami Maharaj built a great edifice of Satsang centres and mandirs. I travelled to Africa twice with Yogiji Maharaj and three times with Pramukh Swami Maharaj, and those memories are still fresh for me. I have seen how Yogiji Maharaj and Pramukh Swami Maharaj have endured immense hardships to please the devotees of Africa. Only such souls who have tremendous mental stability can endure such hardships.

We have also seen the devotees of Africa remain staunch in their faith and niyams to please Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Young and old, male and female, this continues today, allowing Satsang to continue growing. Without staunch observance of niyams, this could not happen. Everyone strives to serve through body, mind, and wealth, and they are fully devoted. I pray that everyones devotion may be further strengthened, that their social and financial circumstances improve and that everyone attains happiness in this world and in Gods abode.

Several esteemed dignitaries were also present to pay tribute to Pramukh Swami Maharajs life of selfless service.

Honourable G. Kishan Reddy, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development of the North Eastern Region of India- Government of India said, Pramukh Swami Maharaj combined spirituality, modernity, and values. His life was full of culture, spiritual endeavour, empathy, sacrifice and service. He thought of the happiness of others and felt his own happiness lay in it. His global personality can be seen from the celebrations in his honour at the United Nations in New York. Like Vivekananda Swami who believed that service of humans is the service of God, I see this value in the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. Great universities will have to study this festival, which will be an inspiration for them.

Pramukh Swami Maharaj worked for the development of individuals, families, communities, nations and the world. BAPS is one of the greatest social organizations in the world. In India and abroad they engage in service activities during times of crisis, whether it was the earthquake in Kutch, the floods in Assam, the cyclone in West Bengal, the war in Ukraine, the COVID pandemic, or the tragedy in Morbi. Wherever they are in the world, one sees the volunteers of BAPS offering service to the world. The grand mandirs of BAPS attract hundreds of thousands of people to India fostering both our spiritual heritage and our economy. Here one can see the spirit of service, values, cleanliness, service, and sacrifice.

Honourable Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, said, I have tremendous respect for the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. I have read about Pramukh Swami Maharaj in President Abdul Kalams book, Transcendence: My Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji. It is not my place to praise his spiritual qualities but having presided over many courts and dealt with many calamities, it is indeed very heartening to note that Pramukh Swami Maharaj inspired service for some of our countrys greatest social causes. The members of BAPS are seen to help wherever there is a calamity.

BAPS has become a world-renowned institution. It is founded on the teachings of the Vedas and has done incredible work in the preservation of Sanatan Dharma in all its aspects. When you see the activities of BAPS, one feels a great sense of belonging to the great traditions of Sanatan Dharma. The first sentiment of world unity was the Vedic statement Vasudhaiva Kutumbhakam. This is also the motto of the Indian Parliament. As Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, the Supreme Court and the Parliament all work under the motto, Where there is Dharma there is victory.

Sanatan Dharma is timeless and pure. There is nothing in it against any kind of people. Indeed, it originated when there was no other religious thought in this world. It stands on the great pillars of the concepts of the atman, the different celestial realms and the ultimate authority of Paramatma. The three great ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome and Egypt no longer survive, but Varanasi survives and is thriving. This is a sign of the greatness of our culture and our civilization.

Kashi is one of the worlds oldest cities, and Ayodhya is even older. India was a great culture even then. Nalanda and Takashila were great universities. We made advances in science, mathematics and so many branches of science. And I do not wish to undermine the importance of the social impact of our cultural values. In fact, most of these great values can be found in the Shikshapatri written by Parabrahman Purushottam Bhagwan Swaminarayan.

I would like to conclude with a statement of Sardar Patel who said, If every Indian followed Bhagwan Swaminarayans Shikshapatri, there would be no need for police or courts. I dont think that anything greater can be said about the value of the teachings of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha.

Honourable Tejendra Khanna, Former Lieutenant Governor of Delhi said, Saints and great holy men have explained our relationship with God. We relate to society and family members, but we all have an individual relationship with God. We can either relate to or break that bond with God. A persons devotion determines ones connection with God. When I was the Lieutenant Governor in Delhi, I met Pramukh Swami Maharaj three times. He met with me lovingly and blessed me that I should serve people. He said that if I do this, I will find success and the love of people. Having a seat of authority means to serve.

Today, learning about the efforts of BAPS to serve around the world has been inspiring. There are no words to describe BAPSs service and love for people. Please continue to give your love and blessings to me, Mahant Swami Maharaj. Where there is love, there is no Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, or Christian. God is present in everyone. Where there is love, vices are destroyed.

Honourable Justice Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny-Dollo, Chief Justice of Uganda said, Today, I have seen with my own eyes what faith, love, devotion, commitment and utmost dedication can do. I have seen fulfilment in the faces of everyone I have met during these two days. It is amazing. This is the work of God. Nothing can move the world more than faith. This is what I have seen here. I have seen the inexplicable, the indescribable assemblage of infrastructure and people who are gathered here from the morning into the night. This is so inspiring.

During my visit to one of the exhibitions here there is a caption, One earth, one family, one future. I think this sums up all that has been said about the purpose and meaning of life given by Pramukh Swami Maharaj. His good works and contributions to the world are a constant source of reflection and a clarion call to all of us to love, love and love. The world is a much better place when we understand the meaning of love.

Pramukh Swami Maharaj was meticulous, thorough, and devoted to his chosen mission to change the world. His teachings and his attention to small details in every task remains a special attribute for all to emulate. Being a part of these celebrations is one of the greatest opportunities in my life and I will always remember this. My personal encounter with Mahant Swami Maharaj and receiving his blessings has had a profound effect on me. The consequences were immediate.

Pujya Bodhinatha Veylanswami, Guru Mahasannidhanam of Kauai Aadheenam (Hawaii, USA) said, In todays troubled world, many thoughtful individuals are concerned with bringing greater peace into the world. A temple such as the Swaminarayan mandir helps individuals find more peace within themselves, which in turn brings greater harmony into their homes, which in turn brings greater tolerance and unity within the community. Certainly, the many mandirs established through the inspiration of Pramukh Swami Maharaj including those in the African countries of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa will continue generation after generation, helping Hindu values, traditions and customs flourish as well as contributing in an unseen way to making the world a more peaceful place.

A second important aspect of the Swaminarayan mandirs is how they will influence the current and future generations of children. With most schools focusing solely on secular studies, there is a need for children to learn traditional values in a religious setting such as this. In other words, it is not enough to simply learn to read and write, children also need to learn what to read and write. The concept of what it means to be a successful adult needs to include not only wealth and family, but also the principles of a pious life, virtuous conduct, fulfilment of duty to the family, community and country, and regular worship of God and guru in the mandir and in the home shrine.

In our 2004 visit to the opening of the Houston mandir one father proudly told us about how his two sons devoted their entire summer working all day in the construction of the Houston mandir. We were quite impressed at the extent of their dedication. Through the inspiration of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, BAPS is an excellent model for other Hindu organizations to follow in successfully involving youth in the construction and subsequent activities of mandirs worldwide.

His Holiness Sri Swami Yogaswarupanandaji Maharaj, President of the Divine Life Society said, I am thankful to be present at the celebration of HH Pramukh Swami Maharajs birth centenary. I had the privilege of meeting Yogiji Maharaj in 1964 in Gondal and was thankful for knowing them.

Pujya Madhu Pandit Dasa Ji, President of ISKCON Bengaluru said, That so many volunteers have been able to organize this celebration for an entire month is an expression of their love and faith. Pramukh Swami Maharaj was an embodiment of purity, love and compassion, so this is a fitting celebration of those values.

Pramukh Swami Maharaj had so much faith in chanting Gods name. That was his strength and surely is the strength of all his devotees. Through the construction of architecturally iconic temples all over the world, Pramukh Swami Maharaj contributed in an unimaginable way to the spread of Hinduism and the propagation of Bhagwan Swaminarayans message worldwide. His contributions to serving humanity are known to all.

In my first meeting with Pramukh Swami Maharaj, I was struck by his deep, penetrating gaze. The way he would look into your eyes was beyond the body, beyond any designationit was a look directly into the soul. His glance was a glance of divine grace that could raise the divinity in everyones hearts. His work for 45 years as guru showed he was a very pure instrument in the hands of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, whose teachings are bringing and will bring peace, harmony, happiness, and spirituality to the masses of the modern world.

Dr. Bhupinder (Sonu) Sharma, Author, Educator, Business Counsellor and Entrepreneur said, To be in the presence of Mahant Swami Maharaj is one of the greatest moments of my life.
On 9 January 2023, a special program titled Katha Kahu Ek Yug Purush Ni was organized by the BAPS Africa Womens wing in the Womens Empowerment Hall at Pramukh Swami Maharaj Nagar. The vibrant program enthralled the audience with traditional musical dances of Africa and India, highlights from Pramukh Swami Maharajs spiritual travels in Africa as well as an inspirational skit depicting a personal incident of a devotee who was facing many challenges of life with unshakeable faith in God and unwavering strength.

Some volunteers shared their experiences of how Pramukh Swami Maharaj transformed their lives by building temples and starting the weekly assemblies in Africa.

Ms. Alpha Mehta, BAPS Womens Wing volunteer from South Africa, said When I came to South Africa with my husband and son, we did not know anyone. But, upon visiting the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in South Africa, I felt a sense of belonging. While I was new to the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, everyone would patiently answer my questions about theology and spiritual practise. My curiosity led me to read the Swaminarayan scriptures, which further resolved my questions. I felt enlightened by the weekly assemblies and started getting involved in serving the community. These activities transformed me into a very productive and confident person.

When I initially came to South Africa, I barely knew how to cook basic recipes. Every week we would gather in the mandir to listen to spiritual discourses and celebrate the festivals. It was during these festivals that I learned many skills like how to cook various dishes, perform in various creative programs, and work together with groups of people to accomplish a goal. Later, when I met my in-laws in India, they were shocked to see how much more of an Indian I had become after moving to South Africa. I am so grateful for the BAPS community and mandir in South Africa as it is due to them, the current and upcoming generations will retain the values of our culture and refrain from the vices that are otherwise prevalent in society. The impact of the temple as well as its activities is so widespread that people from various professions are extending their support to encourage us. 

Mrs. Jyonita Patel, a baker from Lenasia, South Africa, recounted an incident in which she discussed the influence of her strong, cultured mother in her life. She said, My mother requested me to bake an aeroplane cake for Swaminarayan Bhagwan while we were planning for the Hindu New Year Celebrations in the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir. But because of my prior poor experiences with baking, I was hesitant. She offered me encouragement and courage by reassuring me that Pramukh Swami Maharaj will lead me. She even persuaded a seasoned baker to instruct me in the art of icing. Today, I am a professional baker and I owe my success to her and Pramukh Swami Maharaj. When I reflect on this incident, Pramukh Swami Maharajs wise words come to mind, One cultured mother is equal to 100 excellent teachers.

My mother was the glue that bound my family together. So when we lost my mother, my family and I were completely shattered. But Pramukh Swami Maharaj gave me the strength to look after my family in these trying times. It is because of him that I have transformed into the self-assured and self-reliant person I am today.

Mrs. Sarasvati Jivan, a teacher from Lenasia, South Africa, said, I feel blessed to be a small part of Pramukh Swami Maharajs Centenary Celebrations. Although I have anchored many events in the past, none of them have given me the same excitement that I felt when I got onto the stage today.

In 1998, we went to London for Pramukh Swami Maharajs darshan. In those days my husband had a few vices and so I had written a letter to Pramukh Swami Maharaj to help me persuade my husband to give them up. Much to my amazement, after doing Pramukh Swami Maharajs darshan, my husband had a change of heart. He expressed that he found the strength to give up his vices after looking into Pramukh Swami Maharajs divine eyes. This experience reaffirms my belief that he is always listening to our prayers and guiding us onto the path of spirituality.

Pramukh Swami Maharaj always said a mandir brings a community together. I had the pleasure of seeing those words come to life when we were building the temple in Johannesburg. People from different communities offered their services, some offered their time while some offered their resources. This helped bring us closer together.

On this occasion, Dr. Jyoti Pandya Sheth was felicitated in the Women Empowerment Exhibition Hall.

Dr. Jyoti Pandya Sheth, National Vice President Mahila Morcha, BJP Gujarat, Former Mayor of Vadodara, Gujarat, expressed, Magnificent is the only word that comes to mind when I think of this Nagar. The positive vibrations emanating from here will spread across humanity and will in the future help us survive peacefully. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to attend this program. The entire team of 80,000 volunteers has left a legacy for the world to follow.
COLOMBO, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's treasury is running out of funds as a serious economic crisis continues to affect the the South Asian island nation, the country's cabinet spokesman said on Tuesday.

Cabinet Spokesman Bandula Gunawardena told reporters that funds collected through taxes have seen a decline.

As a result, the treasury is running short of funds to make payments, said Gunawardena.

Gunawardena said the economic crisis that hit the country in 2022 has affected the income of the treasury.

"The expected income by way of taxes during the first three months of 2023 is low. However, we need to pay public sector salaries. Payments are made by the treasury and not by our personal funds," he said

He noted the president has informed all the ministries to slash their budget allocations for 2023 by at least 5 percent.

Gunawardena said further steps to cut expenses will be taken to reduce the impact caused by the economic crisis.

The cabinet spokesman said the treasury gets funds from public taxes. The country used to print money and obtain loans, but now it is unable to do that as no one is giving loans and they cannot print money.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its repayments of loans last year and is now seeking approval from the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package to help the country recover from the crisis. 
Dhaka wants good relations with both Beijing and Washington but striking a balance between the two superpowers is a challenge, Bangladeshs foreign minister said Tuesday after meeting new Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang.

Chinas top diplomat was making a stopover at Dhakas international airport as he headed to Africa for his first official trip in his new position. His brief visit took place amid tensions between Washington and Beijing  rival powers competing for influence in Asia.

When asked about Bangladesh foreign policy in such a situation, Foreign Minister A. K. Abdul Momen said the countrys position had not changed.

They might have their own issues. That is their headache, not ours, Momen said, referring to China and the United States.

Bangladesh wants to maintain good relations with both of them. That is a challenging thing, Momen said.

Bilateral tensions have arisen lately between Washington and Dhaka after the U.S. sanctioned an elite Bangladeshi security unit over human rights concerns. Sino-Bangladeshi tensions have also surfaced.

We believe in the one-China principle. We maintain a balanced foreign policy. This is our principle. We will extend our support [to China] from time to time.

The Chinese minister did not talk to the media but the Chinese embassy in Dhaka posted a statement on its website.

The two sides spoke highly of the friendship between China and Bangladesh, and agreed to strengthen exchanges in the new year and jointly work for new progress in bilateral relations, the statement said.

Qin, 56, who most recently served as Beijings ambassador to Washington, replaced Wang Yi, who had been Chinas top diplomat for a decade.

Qins airport layover in Bangladesh came as the U.S. National Security Councils Senior Director for South Asia, Rear Adm. Eileen Laubacher, visited the country. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu is also scheduled to visit Bangladesh on Jan. 14.

China and the U.S. are vying for influence in the small non-aligned South Asian nation, which is bordered by the Bay of Bengal to its south.

Bangladesh is, in fact, caught in the middle of a geopolitical battle between the two superpowers for supremacy in the Indo-Pacific region, analysts say. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bangladesh was one of the targets of the superpowers vaccine diplomacy for this reason.

Being sought after, though, can be a challenge, as Momen put it, because Bangladesh needs both China and the U.S. for its economic development and has to balance its relationships with them. As it is, Dhaka walks a tightrope between New Delhi and Beijing, which are staunch foes.

The U.S. is a key recipient of Bangladeshs exports, and the South Asian nation is looking to China to ramp up its infrastructure under Beijings Belt and Road Initiative.

Since December 2021, Dhakas relationship with Washington has been fraught after the U.S. declared sanctions on Bangladeshs elite security force, the Rapid Action Battalion, over alleged human rights violations such as enforced disappearances.

Tensions spilled over into 2022 and this year.

On Monday, Bangladeshs Momen archly commented that his country did not need lessons on democracy from other nations, after the U.S. called on Dhaka to ensure that upcoming elections be free, fair and transparent.

This country was born to establish democracy, human rights and justice. We fought for human rights. Every citizen has these ideals in their veins, Momen said when asked about recent related comments from the U.S. State Department spokesman.

We dont need to be advised by others. Let them look in the mirror, he added.

On Tuesday, Momen was asked if U.S. Rear Adm. Laubacher had discussed Bangladeshs upcoming general election, but he didnt give a direct answer. He merely said that the last national polls were free and fair.

It will be unfortunate if any violence occurs during the elections and it cannot be stopped by outside suggestions. We have to do it, he said.

Dhaka has seen tensions with Beijing as well.

In May 2021, Chinas then-envoy to Bangladesh said that the relationship between the two countries could be substantially damaged if the South Asian country joined any initiative launched by the Washington-led Quad alliance.

The Quad, or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue on the Indo-Pacific region, comprises the United States, Japan, Australia and India.

Bangladesh hit back saying it was a sovereign state and would make its own decisions about the nations foreign policy. At the time, Momen called the Chinese envoys comments aggressive.
Muslim men carry a banner saying stop violence during an anti-violence rally attended by Muslim and Buddhist residents in Thailand's southern Narathiwat province, Jan. 22, 2019.

Malaysias government announced Tuesday it was appointing a former military chief as the new facilitator of peace talks for the Thai Deep South, a move that the southern rebels representative and analysts welcomed saying they hoped it would step up the pace of negotiations.

As BenarNews first reported last week before the appointment was made official, Malaysia picked Zulkifli Zainal Abidin to replace Abdul Rahim Noor, a former national police chief who was appointed to the role of peace broker in 2018.

In a statement announcing the appointment, Mohd. Zuki Ali, chief secretary to the Malaysian government, thanked Rahim Noor for his service, adding that Zulkiflis appointment began on Jan. 1.

It is hoped that Zulkifli will play an effective role in expediting efforts towards creating peace and security in southern Thailand, he said.

The statement didnt give a reason for replacing Rahim Noor, although there is a history of bad blood between him and Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysias new prime minister. When he served as police chief in 1998, Rahim Noor notoriously gave Anwar a black eye by punching him in the face when he was in jail at the time.

Zulkifli, an expert in anti-insurgency operations, served in the Malaysian army for more than four decades before retiring in 2020. He began his military career in 1978 and was made the army chief in 2011. He served as military chief in 2018.

Zulkifli wasnt immediately available for comment on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Rahim Noor said he had been informed about the new appointment.

The government has made a decision. This is a normal process, Rahim Noor told BenarNews.

Talks between negotiators representing the Thai government and Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) insurgents in the largely Muslim and ethnic Malay southern border region began in early 2020. The two sides last met in August.

Since then, negotiations were informally on hold while Malaysia held a general election in November.

This is a good thing

Anas Abdulrahman, who heads the delegation representing BRN at the peace talks, said he was optimistic about the new facilitator.

We hope there will be a significant improvement to the peace talk with the appointment of the new facilitator, he told BenarNews.

In Thailand, Lt. Gen. Santi Sakuntanark, the army commander for the southern region, was also receptive to the news.

It is good to change the facilitator so we can keep moving forward, he told BenarNews.

The armed separatist movement in the Deep South began in the 1960s.

The border region encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala provinces and four districts of Songkhla province. Since the insurgency reignited in January 2004, more than 7,344 people have been killed and 13,641 others injured in violence, according to Deep South Watch, a local think-tank.

Regional conflict analysts said they believed it was time for something to change in the peace talks, because the negotiations so far had been frustratingly slow and fruitless.

Srisompob Jitpiromsri, the director of the Deep South Watch, said Zulkiflis appointment may bring the change that was required to energize the talks.

This is a good thing. We may get something new out of this change. The new person may have new methods or change the approach of the Malaysian government, Srisompob told BenarNews.

They may have appointed a former army official because he may work with the Thai military better.

Another analyst, Fikry A. Rahman, of the Bait Al Amanah research institute in Malaysia, said Zulkifli appeared to be the right person for the job.

We hope that he can bring new approaches in engaging with multiple stakeholders from Patani. It includes bringing other insurgent groups to come on board at the negotiation table and to exert more political-will by the Malaysian government in solving the conflict, Fikry told BenarNews.

Patani is the name that many ethnic Malays in Thailands southern border region use to refer to the Deep South.

To be in a stalemate position is not an option especially after COVID that disturbed the process. Timing is key now and proper planning is paramount, Fakri said.

It is essential to keep the negotiation process moving, said Altaf Deviyati, director of the Iman Research Center, a Malaysian security and conflict research group.

The process needs to move to more concrete terms. The feeling of frustration is being felt by the common folks down south, Altaf told BenarNews.

I fear if it doesnt move and only builds frustration, this can be bad in the long run and push peace even farther from reach.

Some of that frustration is already evident.

Kamaludde Sahoh, a villager in Yala province said his only concern was peace.

I dont know about the change and I dont care. We just want peace. They can do anything as long as it doesnt affect us. We have to make a living, he told BenarNews.

We already face so many difficulties. There has always been violence and the locals are really fed up with it.
Nationwide flight cancellations in Papua New Guinea and an increase in port charges at the start of 2023 have highlighted the chronic problems for the Pacific country that involve monopoly control of many parts of the economy.

Domestic travelers on national airline Air Niugini suffered repeated cancellations over the festive season after oil company Puma Energy withheld jet fuel supplies, citing difficulties in getting foreign currency in Papua New Guinea.

The latest halt to domestic flights, on Thursday, prompted Prime Minister James Marape to fly to Singapore on the weekend for talks with Puma Energy executives.

We cannot be held to ransom like this, Marape said in a statement.

Papua New Guinea is the most populous country in the South Pacific but among the poorest as high crime rates, corruption, inadequate infrastructure and lack of competition increase the cost of doing business and deter investment.

Puma Energy, owned by Swiss commodity trading company Trafigura, operates Papua New Guineas only oil refinery and also has a monopoly on supply of imported fuels. Competition is also limited in other crucial industries such as banking, ports and telecommunications.

Pumas frequent foreign exchange difficulties stem from a long-running legal dispute with Papua New Guineas central bank. It says the energy company has not fulfilled obligations under its refinery agreement, which include keeping its Papua New Guinea export earnings in the country, and on occasion has cut off Pumas access to foreign exchange.

After his meeting with Puma executives, Marape said businesses shouldnt face difficulties in getting the foreign currency they need to pay for imports.

But he also indicated that more of the countrys oil production should be refined into fuels for domestic use, rather than shipped abroad.

He said he would have meetings with international oil companies to look at producing petroleum products from our own resources instead of importing as we go into the future.

The whole idea is to ensure that we are energy-secure, instead of being wholly-dependent on one supplier, to save the country from grinding to a halt as weve seen last Thursday, Marape said.

An increase to port charges, announced in the first week of January, has also caused concern for businesses.

South Pacific International Container Terminal Ltd. said the increase to charges at international wharves in the capital Port Moresby and the industrial hub of Lae is necessary because costs have risen steeply.

The company secured a 25-year contract in 2018 to provide stevedoring services at the two ports.

Wilson Thompson, president of the Highlands Farmers & Settlers Association, said the higher cargo handling charges would likely be a double burden for farmers and consumers.

Papua New Guinea largely exports raw agricultural and mineral commodities rather than processing them domestically to increase their value or to create products for domestic consumption.

We import fertilizers, weedicides and fungicides and farm implements and stock feed and pay at the wharf and then export again and pay at the wharf and then pay again for imported coffee and Milo and chocolate and cooking oil and the whole lot, he said.
DHAKA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese and Bangladeshi joint venture have signed a deal with the Bangladeshi government to set up a 68-megawatt solar power plant in the country's Sirajganj district, 134 kilometers northwest of the capital Dhaka.

Bangladesh China Renewable Energy Company (Pvt) Limited (BCRECL), a subsidiary of the North-West Power Generation Company Limited and China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation, signed a power purchase agreement and an implementation agreement with the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).

As per the agreements, BPDB will purchase electricity from the plant over the period of 20 years.

Bangladeshi State Minister for Power Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, among others, was present at the agreement signing ceremony. He said the power plant is part of the government's plan to generate 2,000 megawatts of electricity from renewable energy sources in the next year. 
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Ana Reyes was just 11 years old when she wrote her first story about a creepy house in the woods in Pittsfield. It wouldnt be her last.

Thirty years later, that same house plays a prominent role in her debut novel, The House in the Pines, which actor and entrepreneur Reese Witherspoon recently announced as her first book club pick of the year.

Read It "The House in the Pines" by Ana Reyes. Published by Dutton. 336 pages $27

This is an absolute, cant-put-it-down thriller, Witherspoon said in an Instagram video post on Jan. 3, announcing the pick to the followers of Reeses Book Club, the popular, monthly online book club she curates. Its truly a wild ride that had me flying through chapter after chapter. It had me guessing. And like all amazing thrillers, it has a crazy twist that I cant tell you, because it will give the whole thing away.

Its been amazing, Reyes said of being selected during a recent interview with The Eagle by phone from Los Angeles. I found out a couple of months ago, so the hardest part was keeping it a secret. I just don't think I could have kept it a secret another day. I was ready to shout it from the rooftops.

Witherspoons post was timed to coincide with the Jan. 3 release of The House in the Pines, a thriller that begins with a viral YouTube video of a young woman dropping dead in a diner in Pittsfield. Across the state, Maya views the video and recognizes the man sitting across from the woman  the same man who was standing next to her best friend Aubrey when she dropped dead in a similar manner seven years earlier.

Maya has always been convinced that Frank  a slightly older boy she dated for a few weeks before she left for college  had something to do with Aubreys death. She returns home to Pittsfield determined to prove that her initial fears were true and that Aubrey isnt his only victim.

But Maya isnt a reliable narrator. Her story is complicated by hazy memories of that fateful summer coupled with withdrawal from Klonopin  originally doled out by a psychiatrist after Aubreys death and until recently supplied by a friend  which shes used as a sleep aid. Is her paranoia real or the result of her withdrawal? And if she is right, can she stop Frank before he kills again?

The house, Reyes said, is the exact same one that she wrote about in 1993, when she was 11. That story  about a girl getting lost in the woods in Pittsfield and finding the house  was the first shed ever written. She hoped it would win the Berkshire Athenaeum's annual short story competition and its top prize  a gift certificate to Either/Or Bookstore on North Street.

Essentially, my impetus to start writing was to get more books, Reyes said. So, I wrote this story. I didn't know the first thing about writing but I was a huge reader and my favorite writer was Christopher Pike. So, Ive always drawn to creepy scary stories.

She didnt win the contest, but she did earn an honorable mention in her age group. The house in the woods, however, remained with her over the years  lurking in the back of her mind as she wrote poetry and other short stories, finally manifesting itself fully in her debut novel.

Editors note: Reyes, who now lives in Los Angeles, recently took the time to answer a few of our questions about The House in the Pines. Her answers, found below, are lightly edited for length and clarity.

Q: How did you come to write The House in the Pines?

ANA REYES: I went to grad school at Louisiana State University and in 2015 this was my MFA thesis. That first draft was very different. After I graduated, I reworked it. I spent a long time getting it into shape. Then, I found an agent who was very generous with her time. She basically said, I think, you need to rewrite it just one more time. So, that daunted me a little bit, but over the course of two years, I eventually got back to it. She worked with me on it, the whole time, and helped me turn it into the book that it finally is today.

Q: Can you tell us more about the house?

ANA REYES: This house, a creepy house in the woods, just appeared in my very first story. And then 20 years went by. When I sat down to write my novel, I again, was not quite sure what it was going to be about. I had some thematic ideas but I wasn't really sure what it was going to be about. And again, the house  that creepy house in the woods  appeared. So this is my exploration of that house, both as an actual place and also as a symbol.

Q: What made you set the story in Pittsfield?

ANA REYES: My mom [Mary Carey] is originally from Pittsfield. Her father [Dr. William Carey] lived in Pittsfield and was born there. My uncle, [former Eagle business editor] Bill Carey did a lot of reporting about GE, so I remember hearing a lot about that growing up.

I love Pittsfield. I have a really strong emotional connection to it because I grew up spending holidays there at my grandparents house on Brunswick Street. I just have all these memories of these warm family gatherings with our family. And then, of course, I lived there in fourth and fifth grade, so a lot of the places we go to are places that I had been and had vivid memories of that I could draw on.

Initially, when I first started writing the book, it was set in Amherst because that's where I ended up going to middle school and high school. But as I was writing it I just kind of felt myself being drawn back to Pittsfield because I feel like there's something very poignant about Pittsfield.

I grew up hearing my mother's memories of Pittsfield. She actually worked in that big department store, England Brothers, as the Easter Bunny. I grew up hearing these memories of people actually cruising down North Street and I was like, what does that even mean? They would tell me all of these stories about how Pittsfield used to be. But by the time I lived there, that was not what I saw.

There's this kind of heartbreaking sense of the disconnect between what it was and what I actually saw with my own eyes when I lived there.

Q: A lot of this book has to do with memory or faulty memories. What intrigues you about memory?

ANA REYES: Memory is intriguing to me because it really makes you who you are. Your memories shape you.

But at the same time, the holes in your memories also shape you in a much more subconscious way. I was interested in memory and identity and the way that this shapes my main character. I also am just very intrigued by memory. I like stories where you have unreliable narrators.

READ IT

"The House in the Pines" by Ana Reyes.

Published by Dutton.

336 pages

$27
Community News Editor / Librarian

Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989.
KIEV, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine's foodstuff exports reached 17 million metric tons since August under a deal on the export of grain and fertilizers from Black Sea ports, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Tuesday.

In the past three days, five vessels loaded with 158,500 metric tons of agricultural products departed from Ukraine's ports for Egypt, Sri Lanka and other countries, the agency said, citing the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority.

Currently, 98 ships are waiting for inspection in the Bosphorus, with 21 of them already loaded and 77 heading for loading.

On July 22, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkiye and the United Nations on grain and fertilizer exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict.

The deal, also known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was due to expire on Nov. 19, 2022, was extended for another 120 days. 
Clarkston, WA (99403)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 35F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 35F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight's rundown:

 Talking Points Memo: Joe Biden continues to decline with the world watching and remains out of the press reach

 Presidential Historian Larry Cook weighs in on how Bidens relationship with the press compares to past presidents

 US Special Forces have been confirmed to be in Ukraine

 OReilly describes Democrats hosting the DNC in Chicago as Crazy Arrogant

 The trial of Fox News gets underway

 58% of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck even as inflation begins to cool off

 Smart Life: Utilizing Kelly Blue Book when searching for a new car

 This Day in History: FDR dies in office

 Final Thought: what to do when someone is disrespectful to you

In Case You Missed It:

 Read Bill's latest column, "Reason to Believe"

 Join 'Team Normal!' Order your gear now at BillOReilly.com!

 Pre-order Bills next bestseller Killing the Witches NOW

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Utilising the funds to build its team, further develop the product and scale the app across India

Bengaluru-based Medbikri, a unique app-first inventory management solution, has raised $650,000 in the pre-seed funding round. The company will utilise the funding to build the team, develop the product further and scale the app across India.

Medbikri aims to onboard 50,000 chemists/ pharmacists, across UP, MP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi and Karnataka, in the first six months.



The Medbikri app, available to pharmacies across the country for free, allows them to update their inventory easily and simply by uploading photos of the purchase bills, recording sales and sending e-invoices and prescription refill reminders to customers.

It is already running e-clinics at select pharmacies across India. In 2023, the company plans to open 10,000+ e-clinics across the country, including at select pharmacies in Lucknow. The app has already helped to sell 25L+ medicines, including 30K+ unique medicines, and in issuing 1.5Lakh+ prescriptions, including 40K+ chronic patient prescriptions.




For enabling life sciences companies to be future ready

Bengaluru-based Indegene, a digital-first, life sciences commercialisation company, has announced the launch of a new centre in Germany, expanding its client-focused consulting and management team in the region.

With this centre, Indegene is further strengthening its presence in Europe to help life sciences companies fast-track digital transformation across the commercialisation value chain. Indegenes local expert teams will work closely with clients in Germany and across Europe to provide consulting services and healthcare solutions.

Indegene already has a significant presence in Europe, with centres in the UK, Ireland, and Switzerland. In 2019, Indegene acquired DT Associates, a consulting services company in the UK, supporting clients in the healthcare and life sciences space. Indegene supports many leading life sciences clients in the region in a variety of ways across the commercialization value chain.

Medicine spending in Germany is expected to rise from $64.6 billion in 2021 to $76-96 billion at a CAGR of 4.5-7.5% (2022-2026).

With six operation hubs and 16 offices located across North America, Europe, and Asia, Indegenes client base includes 19 of the 20 largest biopharmaceutical companies, many emerging biotech companies, and medical device companies.
Partnership to provide access to quality healthcare to additional~600,000 high-risk patients over the next two years

MillionICU, an initiative by Bengaluru-based startup Dozee, Indias first AI-based contactless Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) & Early Warning System (EWS), has partnered with British International Investment (BII), the UKs development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor, to upgrade 6000 hospital beds in ~140 public hospitals across India and in other regions to transform the public healthcare landscape.

The goal of Dozees partnership with BII is to improve access to healthcare across India and alleviate the workload of healthcare workers, reduce nurse burnout and fatigue in hospital wards. Dozees pioneering contactless remote patient monitoring and Early Warning System (EWS) in India saves around 2.5 hours of nursing time per patient per day.

Backed by BIIs capital, Dozee will upgrade regular beds to step-down ICUs through the MillionICU initiative  established by Dozee in 2021 to install one million step-down ICU beds across India - and bring about a rapid, long-term transformation in Indias public healthcare infrastructure. The MillionICU initiative has already benefited 46 such hospitals across 15+ districts with more than 10,000+ patients being monitored and having saved 25,000+ nursing hours.
The Sound Connects Fund (SCF) is an initiative that aims to serve the development of the cultural and creative industries inviting organisations operating in Southern Africa to apply for funding. It has opened the final call for funding.

The fund aims to accelerate development and increase the capacities of practitioners in the region. Its third and final call is now open and will close on 15 January 2023. The value of the approved grants will range between 45,000 and 70,000.

The SCF is implemented by the Music In Africa Foundation (MIAF) in partnership with Goethe-Institut. It is made possible with funding from the ACP-EU Culture Programme, a project implemented by the Organisation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and funded by the European Union (EU).

To date, the fund has awarded grants worth over 2m to 23 organisations based in Angola, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Eligible projects

The fund seeks to support projects and activities in the cultural and creative sector that:

Facilitate the rapid production and distribution of high-quality goods within and outside the Southern African region.

Increase capacities among professionals.

Support rapid mobility and exchange among creators.

Enhance access to new markets.

Develop visual literacy (especially among underrepresented groups).

Promote advocacy aimed at protecting the interests of creators.

Support the existence of sustainable financing structures.

Eligible countries include Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The fund supports projects across a wide range of disciplines including, but not limited to, performing arts, visual arts, animation, film, gaming, photography and videography.

Applications to the Sound Connects Fund can be made in both English and Portuguese from organisations based in the eligible countries. The English and Portuguese application forms can be downloaded from the Sound Connects Fund website.

Interested organisations are urged to visit the Sound Connects Fund website for more information about the fund and the application process.
Burger King and Pepsi are collaborating with local artist African Ginger for the X Marks the Drop campaign.

NFT for the Burger King and Pepsi campaign. Source: Supplied.

During the campaign period, South Africans are invited to take part in a nationwide search for virtual tokens, with an opportunity to win an original African Ginger piece of art and NFT worth $25,000; one of 10,000 limited editions African Ginger NFTs (with an estimated total value of $260,000), along with 20,000 free whoppers up for grabs. Along with this, offers like discount codes or free pepsi with meals purchased can be won each day.

Illustrative style

Seth Pimentel, A.K.A. African Ginger, is known for his unique illustrative style. He creates art with depth and meaning, often pushing boundaries by merging traditional and digital work into a hybrid of experimentation. His works for X Marks the Drop are consistent with his style whilst still incorporating Burger King and Pepsi brand colour.

Natural transition

Ezelna Jones, head of marketing for Burger King SA, says: Gen Z grew up online playing games so combining the world of a digital token hunt and NFTs is a natural transition, especially for those seeking to own an original digital picture from African Ginger. Like fashion and traditional art, Gen Z members express their personalities through the digital art they collect, including NFTs that represent their passions. X Marks the Drop with Pepsi ticks all the boxes as we offer them the opportunity to be incentivised for doing something they would normally be doing while gamifying their experience with our brands.

I am incredibly proud of the successful partnership we have built over the past nine years with Burger King and PepsiCo, this collab of two great brands is one more step to show South Africa how innovative we can be in this channel. We wish all our loyal customers and consumers all the best in their virtual hunt for tokens, says Martin Charles of PepsiCo SA.

The virtual hunt is a collaborative piece created by Because Creative Experiences and their technology partners Inner Reality supported with media strategy and execution by Initiative Media.
A new report published by the World Economic Forum,, offers business and policymakers a blueprint for more sustainable, resilient healthcare systems rather than accepting trade-offs of efficiency over social fairness.

Source: iStock.

Launched in the run-up to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos-Klosters, the report presents case studies in four areas that can drive change: equitable access and outcomes; healthcare systems transformation; technology and innovation; and environmental sustainability.

The pandemic brought remarkable progress for development and delivery of medicines. We now need to focus on long-term system change to stop health services deteriorating in the face of economic crises.

The shortage of healthcare workers could rise to 10 million by the end of the decade, affecting access to care, inequities and treatment of mental health.

"Businesses and policy-makers must think beyond false trade-offs of efficiency over social fairness and harness the power of public-private partnerships and outcomes-based regulation to drive healthy equity by the end of the decade, said Shyam Bishen, head of health and healthcare, World Economic Forum.

The annual meeting will convene more than 2,700 leaders from business, government and civil society. Leaders from healthcare organisations will focus on driving public-private partnerships for better health outcomes.

Pandemic disruptions

The report, prepared with L.E.K Consulting, highlights the pandemics disruptions such as a 25% drop in coverage of essential health services. This resulted in compound impacts on vulnerable populations and minority communities, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

More specifically, Covid-19 put extra strain on healthcare systems, disrupted global supply chains of essential products and pushed overburdened care providers to breaking point.

The threat of violence and burnout are real and is one of the contributors as to why doctors are considering other professions, said Kashish Malhotra, physician at the department of internal medicine, at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, North India.

To improve access and narrow the global health disparity gap, the report urged healthcare leaders to allocate funds disproportionately towards alternative care models and to include more representative clinical trials across low- to middle-income countries.

As healthcare systems seek to adapt and evolve, innovations frequently outpace regulatory change. On top of this, public regulations vary by jurisdiction and the lack of common standards across the global industry erodes trust, inhibits reimbursements and slows the sectors return to pre-pandemic stability. Meanwhile, the private sector is stymied by fragile and disrupted supply chains, while a go-it-alone business mindset further slows healthcares systemic transformation.

Public-private partnerships

Too often we see many companies trying to find the path through the forest themselves and each of them getting lost and not learning from one another, said Jeff Allen, chief executive officer, Friends of Cancer Research. Public-private partnerships help bridge this divide to find solutions to common problems in a shorter time.

Service delivery value is worth more than volume, the report argues. To incorporate prevention, healthcare policy should be linked to consistent and measurable outcomes since what is efficient is not always what is most effective.

On partnerships for innovation, the pandemic accelerated a technological tipping point in digital health and telemedicine. This can be expanded to other areas of healthcare. With a Wi-Fi signal and better digital access, a rural patient can consult with a health worker from a nearby city or halfway around the world.

Remote opportunities

People want on-demand healthcare, said Jisella Veath Dolan, chief global advocacy officer of Honor + Home Instead. We want greater accessibility to real-time answers.

Remote care empowers both patient and worker. It improves convenience, adherence and access to information across geographies.

By reducing the need for traditional infrastructure, costs per patient fall. And telehealth goes beyond online consultation. Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics further support clinical decisions, home diagnostics, home-administered drug-delivery systems and patient-monitoring devices.

By harmonising data use, Dolan said, physicians are building better relationships with patients through telehealth and we are seeing greater uptick in usage by older adults.

"The pandemic demanded emergency responses. However, according to the new report, medical triumphs are too often reactive cures to the communicative zoonotic diseases that could have been prevented at far lower costs.

"To preserve health and save lives, a higher return on investment comes from clean air, safe water and healthy biodiversity," he said.
The Department of Basic Education says it is on track to release the Matric 2022 results on 20 January 2023.

Image source: Andy Barbour from Pexels

The Class of 2022 sat for their final school examinations from 31 October to 7 December last year.

The department explained that results for the matric class of 2022 are currently being processed.

When the results are released, we urge [learners] to collect their results at the centre where [they] sat for the 2022 National Senior Certificate examinations, the department said.

For learners who will return to school this year, the academic year will kick off on Wednesday, 11 January, for learners attending school in Gauteng, Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North West.

In the coastal cluster  Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Western Cape  learners will have their first day of school on 18 January.

Meanwhile, Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Minister Blade Nzimande, has condemned the murder of Mboneli Vesele who was a bodyguard of University of Fort Hare Vice Chancellor Professor Sakhele Buhlungu.

This after an alleged attempted assassination of the vice chancellor on Friday.

I outrightly condemn this barbaric murder of Mr Vesele and the attempt on the life of Professor Buhlungu. This attack is not only an attack on the University of Fort Hare but also an attack on the entire Post School Education and Training sector.

I also encourage all the Vice Chancellors (VC) and TVET College Principals to engage with my Department on all security related issues to enable us to engage with the Cabinet Security Cluster, particularly on security concerns that have an impact on the institutions ability to perform their duties, Nzimande said.

The department is providing psycho-social support to Veseles family and university staff.
Registration for the Department of Basic Education's Second Chance Matric Programme will close on 8 February 2023.

The programme is aimed at those who have not met the requirements to pass the National Senior Certificate (NSC) or the extended Senior Certificate (SC) examinations.

The programme is also open to those who want to improve their results.

In reply to questions regarding the programme in the National Council of Provinces in October last year, Minister Angie Motshekga revealed that at least 400,000 learners have been assisted through the programme to achieve their subject passes towards their NSC or SC qualification.

The programme plays an important role in retaining learners beyond the formal schooling programme. Learners who are disappointed by their failure or poor performance at the end of their schooling career, are able to continue with their studies at their own pace.

They are able to register for one, two or more subjects, and write the examinations either in May/June or October/November. The face-to-face centres keep learners motivated, as they prepare for their examinations. Learners migrate within provinces, seeking job opportunities and the SCMP allows learners to continue with their studies, irrespective of the province they have relocated to, she said.

Subjects that learners can register for include:

Accounting



Agricultural Science



Business Studies



Economics



English First Additional Language



Geography



History



Mathematics



Mathematic Literacy



Physical Sciences



Life Sciences

The programme offers face-to-face support, online support and a wide range of learning support materials. The programme facilitates the development of learning and teaching support materials (LTSMs) that is based on diagnostic reports, so as to ensure that the support materials focus on common areas of poor performance emanating from previous examinations.

The LTSMs are government-owned, printed and distributed to learners at no cost to the learner, Motshekga said.

To register for the programme online go to www.eservices.gov.za or visit any Department of Basic Education office with an ID document and statement of results.

Community education and training

Those who are older and/or those who have not had the opportunity to complete matric due to various reasons and those who do not qualify for higher education can register at Community Education and Training (CET) colleges across the country.

According to the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation website, the colleges are supported by some 200 community learning centres.

These colleges...target post-school youth and adults who wish to raise the base for further learning, improve their skills for employability and/or progression to opportunities in the TVET colleges and university education.

In essence, community education and training...offer(s) programmes that contribute to improving community cohesion and social capital, and responsive to the geographic and sectoral needs and challenges, the department said.

The colleges offer training and academic learning opportunities, including the General Education and Training Certificate for adults (GETC), courses in computer literacy and applied agriculture.

In his budget speech last year, Minister Blade Nzimande said at least R200m has been committed to support CET colleges which are critical to closing South Africas skills gap.

In addition to academic skills and occupational programmes already on offer, CET colleges will offer two new accredited programmes which are Entrepreneurship and Digital Skills programmes.

Nine hundred CET college lecturers will be trained in accredited training programmes. We will also accredit 35 pilot community learning centres, which will be an addition to the 15 community learning centres accredited in 2021/22, he said.

More information on CETs can be obtained on the departments website.
Tattoo discrimination is a very real problem in South African business, but do organisations have an inkpot to stand on?

Image source: Olha Ruskykh from Pexels

People with tattoos often face discrimination. Theyve been dismissed from their company, had their roles changed  or struggled to get a promotion  and theyve been judged on the basis of their ink.

This issue came to prominence last year when the Minister of Police Bheki Cele suggested that people with tattoos couldnt get jobs in the police force because they are more likely to be gangsters, or have gangster tendencies. The protection of an employees right to have a tattoo, and to protect them against discrimination or unfair judgement, says Nicol Myburgh, Head: CRS Technologies HCM Business Unit, is not clearly mandated in the Constitution or in the Employment Equity Act, but the courts tend to rule in favour of the employee over the company.

Freedom of expression

There are, as with all things in labour law, exceptional circumstances that can influence whether or not a court will rule in the companys favour, but as a rule, tattoos fall under the jurisdiction of freedom of expression, he says. Some companies, of course, dont mind at all if a person is covered in tattoos, but others may find this to be unacceptable in light of the kind of work that the person does, such as working on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) or as a doctor. There are still old perceptions influencing how customers and patients feel about tattoos and those who wear them.

The Employment Equity Act clearly makes room for the freedom of expression. People are protected when it comes to expressing themselves and how they use their bodies  it is also a Constitutional right. So, if an employer impedes that right, then they are actively discriminating against you. However, there is the balance in this situation where, as an employee, you have to act in good faith towards your employer.

If you are applying for a very visible role in a company, or perhaps a traditionally very professional-looking role, then having tattoos could realistically limit your getting the role, or keeping it, says Myburgh. That said, if your tattoos can be covered during working hours, there is no reason why a person cant take on such roles even if they are inked all over. If customers cant see the tattoos, then its absolutely fine. This understanding is reflected in a lot of company rules  they often say that they are fine with tattoos as long as theyre not too visible.

Creatives and covers

So, wear a long-sleeved shirt or a jacket or long pants if youre hiding tattoos on your arms and legs, and avoid getting tattoos on your face and neck unless they are religious or tribal in nature. The other side of this equation is that even though there are preconceived ideas about tattoos in the workplace, these can work in an organisations favour. If the head of creative walks into the room with tattoos all over, there is an immediate sense of validity  this person is a true creative.

The world has changed a lot, and new companies with fresh ideas and creative leaders dont have issues with tattoos, says Myburgh. Its become a way of life, a form of creative and individual expression, and a completely accepted part of how an employee looks. The only people still struggling with tattoos are the old-school leaders who think tattoos mean gangs, drugs and guns. Its not true, of course, but fortunately that way of thinking is on the way out.

At the end of the day, you are allowed to have tattoos but try to keep them within reasonable limits within the office and aligned with how your organisation manages its dress code and customer meetings. If youre fired for having a tattoo, you have a very strong foundation from which to fight the ruling thanks to the Constitution, but, as with anything, within realistic boundaries.
Image supplied. Cesar Vacchiano, president & CEO Scopen hopes permacrisis, the term that we all have had in mind for 2022, will expire soon and be substituted by permahope or another more optimistic term

Marketers are working with more and more communication partners This is a global trend. In China, brands mention 25, in Brazil 17 and South Africa is not far behind with 13. The biggest challenge for marketers is to decide which is the best ecosystem of partners for their brands, and how to coordinate them.

Data The Covid-19 pandemic has made marketers realise how important data is, and made them seek data related to trends, technology, consumers, newer generations Brands want to understand what is happening, reduce uncertainty and be able to engage with their consumers without barriers, in order to be loved and meaningful to them.

Strategic planning Along with data, strategic planning is also becoming increasingly more important, as marketing directors realise they need a different type of talent to help them digest all the different sources of data, identify insights, and come up with the best strategies that will be the base of big ideas.

More integration between creative and media agencies Because data is mostly handled by media agencies, being one of the weaknesses of some creative agencies, marketers are asking for more integration between creative and media agencies. They believe their media strategies would be more powerful and their teams more efficient if they thought and worked together.

Social media, e-commerce and the Metaverse Investment in social media is increasing, and more specifically, towards Influencers. Ecommerce is also growing and, in the years to come, we will see more brands entering the Metaverse.

Trust and partnerships But another consequence of the pandemic is that marketers have realised that digital platforms are just tactical partners that are more interested in sales than strategic partners that help brands in difficult times. Trust and partnerships have been reinforced and consolidated by agencies that have helped their clients navigate the difficult times and continue to do so, enlightening marketing managers about what is happening locally, regionally, and globally, what type of decisions should be made, and which territories they should invest in to get a better ROI.

B2B B2B will continue to increase in the coming years, with more and more brands investing in B2B while still doing B2C. There are very few specialists in this territory and the few that exist and have developed a profound understanding of the discipline will have a unique opportunity to grow and become powerful partners of the client companies they work with. Cannes Lions has started to recognise these talents and campaigns in 2022, and this category will see a growth in entries soon.

People and talent People and talent in our industry have always been highly important, and one of the main factors that differentiate agencies. But marketers have never valued their agency team as highly as nowadays. This is also a consequence of the pandemic: marketing managers have realised how important it was for them to be able to deal with high profile strategists, creatives, digital leaders, account managers, media experts, technologists working together in order to create the best possible campaigns.

Conflict no longer relevant Conflict related to agencies working for other brands in the same category are no longer so relevant. Clients have finally understood that sometimes its beneficial to work with an agency that fully understands one specific sector or category, and take advantage of that level of expertise, as long as the agency establishes the right walls to protect the information from its different client brands. This is one of the advantages of consultancies coming into this industry as they have been working with clients from the same sector for many years.
The role of business has shifted over the past few years, with companies understanding the need to respond to the accelerating climate crisis, deepening social inequality, and increasing pressure from consumers, employees and investors.

Cathy Duff, director, Trialogue

A growing demand for environmental, social and governance (ESG) products has driven investment managers towards more responsible investment, and those same managers are also taking on stewardship roles to coax companies towards greater compliance.

While this is not new, and companies are accustomed to referencing ESG impacts in their sustainability reports, we foresee a greater shift from reactive reporting to proactive efforts to embed sustainability within company strategy. This will also impact corporate social investment (CSI) which will continue to become more aligned to company strategy. We believe these two macro trends, which are explored in this article, will influence companies this year.

Shift from sustainability reporting to integrated thinking

ESG disclosure is vital, but have companies truly understood that sustainability should be an integral part of their core strategy? Many view the plethora of codes and standards as the regulatory cost of doing business  a mindset that guarantees that adoption will be superficial (perhaps superficially referencing the Sustainable Development Goals, for example). At best, this is inefficient; at worse, it is disruptive and does not lead to behaviour change.

The alternative to thinking about ESG adoption as a cost is to recognise it as a means to generate long-term sustainable value. The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) has released guidelines that compel companies to embed ESG in their organisations, marking a shift from disclosure and reporting to integrated thinking. Integrated thinking involves incorporating the stakeholder view and considering ESG issues in all that a company does  in its strategy, operations and processes, and not just in its reporting. Companies need to ask themselves how they can align ESG with strategy and purpose.

The next few years will mark a transition from disclosure to action as companies change their mindsets. For example, PricewaterhouseCoopers 2021 remuneration report shows companies are increasingly incorporating ESG into short-term and long-term incentive structures. Shoprite Holdings, for example, links incentives to the groups strategy to reduce its carbon footprint, reduce electricity consumption, and recycle. Trialogues own research shows that 72% of companies are already integrating material ESG issues into strategy and that 56% of them expect ESG matters to be fully integrated across every department in the next two to five years.

Articulating the business case for ESG helps companies to incorporate it into their strategy. The benefits are significant and may include reduced costs; market opportunities as sectors transition; improved risk management and mitigation; reduced cost of compliance; access to capital; and better performance on the back of improved stakeholder relations.

Aligning corporate giving practices with company strategy

Corporate giving practices have changed enormously since the 1970s. The early years of CSI in South Africa  what we term CSI 1.0  saw the private sector increasing philanthropic giving, but it lacked strategic intent. Giving was reactive and only incidentally part of a transformative effort.

This changed with the publication of the second King Report in 2002, which underscored the fact that social responsibility and corporate citizenship could inform how companies thought about their business. Companies began to fund projects that aligned with their values and strategies (CSI 2.0).

With a multitude of metrics against which to benchmark their CSI initiatives, companies are now acknowledging the complexity of the development landscape, along with the need to partner with other stakeholders to bring about meaningful change.

As with ESG, what we term CSI 3.0 will increasingly align with business strategy. Companies will take a more holistic approach to development, considering the entire ecosystem in which they operate. We will see growing collaboration and cross-sector engagement, driven by innovative and outcomes-based finance.

Many companies will also be more willing to support legitimate and lawful advocacy work to tackle injustice and inequality. A good example of this is Woolworths, which has announced its intention to rethink CSI in the context of inclusive justice in South Africa.

Integrated thinking provides a roadmap for change, which will become increasingly important as the focus on impact intensifies. Company leaders have a limited time in which to set their businesses on the right path, so the sooner they focus on transforming their businesses practices by embedding ESG, the sooner they will reap the rewards inherent in that transformation.
The overriding retail trend for 2023 will be the convergence of technologies, and retailers would be wise to wake up to the widespread implications and opportunities of profoundly disruptive technology trends.

This is according to Ajay Lalu, director and co-founder of Q-Hop, who notes that 5G will continue to lead digital physical convergence.

This is the beginning of the metaverse  which is (or will be) an interactive environment built on blockchain and internet technology like Web 3.0. From the retailers point of view, the ability to create a much more realistic virtual world means endless opportunities. The most obvious of these would be the opportunity to replicate the in-store experience digitally.

Despite improvements, todays e-commerce sites are not much more advanced than they originally were  more reviews perhaps, sometimes better photographs, but it is just catalogue shopping on steroids. The in-store experience remains the goal, where you could be given a 360-degree customer experience and, at the very least, touch and feel the product, says Lalu.

Opening up new markets

He notes that replication of the in-store experience online would not only supercharge a retailers existing business, but it would also genuinely open up new markets.

For example, a wealthy shopper in, say, Kinshasa may wish to buy luxury goods such as a Louis Vuitton handbag, something thats not readily available in any store in town. Of course, they could look at a picture on the e-commerce site which is a rather flat experience when compared to going into a luxury goods emporium and spending time browsing. So, a realistic experience of the Louis Vuitton shop in the Place Vendome at home would open up a global market for many products, he adds.

Lalu confirms this same scenario could play out across retail; a consumer in Durban could experience a craft market in Cape Town and order a unique item to be shipped.

Importantly, this is a two-way street. A craftsperson can also gain customers across a country (or the globe for that matter) without incurring the expense of finding agents and so on. This would enable them to allow potential customers to see how the creative process unfolds or track the creation of the specific item they have ordered.

Lalu says Africa can shop the world, but perhaps more importantly the world can shop Africa.

One sector of retail that could obviously be transformed is clothing. Selling clothing online has always entailed a lot of returns because human bodies are not standard, and variables like the cut of a garment cannot really be properly shown on a photograph. But imagine if your avatar with your actual body measurements could try on a garment in the metaverse before ordering it. The next step, clearly, would be to have a garment manufactured to your measurements which heralds an era of hyper-personalisation.

Another way that technology could open up new markets for retailers is the ability to sell products on any social media platform. Heres how: the manufacturer of a distinctive garment  say a shirt  could find all instances of people wearing that product across multiple social media platforms (using AI), and then tag that item so that visitors to that page could order the same product.

Convergence of physical and digital

Lalu says one of the golden threads that run through these technologies and their use cases is the convergence between the physical and the digital. Brick-and-mortar retailers could harness this kind of technology to enhance the in-store experience too. A mobile device could be used to scan an item and immediately obtain reviews, specifications and the like. Other information like how sustainably the product is produced or its impact on the environment could also be provided.

Lalu says the future of retail means processing large amounts of data and using the resulting insights in real-time on mobile devices. The cloud for processing and 5G for enabling data-driven mobility are central here. This convergence is going to be vital also in the emerging use of drones for delivery, especially in remote areas.

These are examples of how technology and its convergence can disrupt the entire sector and retailers need to apply their minds and business strategies to focus on how they will use these opportunities to grow their businesses, concludes Lalu.
Mayor of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, Tania Campbell, says the municipality is exploring legal action against the driver and company of the LP Gas tanker that exploded in Boksburg on Christmas Eve.

Image: People gather near a burnt out truck at the entrance of the damaged bridge where a gas tanker exploded in Boksburg near Johannesburg, South Africa, 24 December 2022. Source: Reuters/Sumaya Hisham

The incident occurred when gas cylinders on the tanker exploded when the driver attempted to and was unable to drive through a bridge underpass.

The blast claimed the lives of at least 38 people including healthcare workers who were stationed at a public hospital near the incident.

The City is exploring its legal options to act against both the company that owns the truck and the driver of the truck. We are of the opinion that there is sufficient evidence to do so. More information in this regard will be communicated in due course.

Once all investigations are concluded, we will show no fear nor favour in holding those responsible to account, Campbell said.

The Mayor said she is pleased with the status of various municipality-led investigations into the incident.

Since the day of the explosion, various departments in the city have been working tirelessly to ensure that a thorough and meaningful investigation takes place to ascertain what happened on the day and the way forward.

I had a meeting with Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMCs), Chief of Police, various Heads of Departments (HODs) and senior officials to get feedback on what the status is of the investigation. I am pleased with the progress that is being made in this regard and expect a final report to come to the Mayoral Committee this month which will subsequently be presented to Council, she said.

Campbell reiterated the municipalitys condolences to the families affected by the tragedy.

I want to take this opportunity once again to pass on my sincere condolences to everyone who has suffered as a result of this tragedy and offer my thoughts and prayers to the families who have lost loved ones.

I also want to thank the outpouring of support from civil society, NGOs, faith-based organisations, unions, residents, and other spheres of government. Without you, our relief efforts would have not been as impactful as they have been, she said.
Lynas Rare Earths expansion plans will face new risks in 2023 as the group pins its hopes on the Malaysian government removing restrictions on its operations in the South-East Asian nation.

Lynas is planning to drastically ramp up its production of rare earth ores this year by opening a new processing plant in Western Australia in July, but the group has indicated that it is keen to keep its operations in Malaysia despite ongoing issues with the local government.

The Australian-listed miner extracts rare earth ores  17 elements crucial to the manufacture of many hi-tech products such as mobile phones, electric cars and wind turbines  from a mine near Perth, and sends the materials to its only processing facility in Malaysia.

Lynas wants to keep its rare earths processing plant in Malaysia despite ongoing issues with the local government.

Lynas was hit with severe restrictions following a government review in 2018 into allegations the ore it was importing into Malaysia for processing contained radioactive material. That dispute remains unresolved and Lynas continues to have restrictions on its activities in Malaysia.
As fantastical art duo The Huxleys walk through Carriageworks dressed in glitter, sequins and brocaded corsets with mammoth petal-like collars shafts of sunlight ripple across their bare buttocks.

But, those cheeks are missing something.

In a nearby large-scale photo, part of the Huxleys multi-disciplinary exhibition Bloodlines, their derrieres stream lengths of gold foil fluttering in the breeze.

Thereby hangs a tale: The Huxleys tribute to designer Leigh Bowery. Credit:

Titled Leigh, the image is the Huxleys tribute to Australian designer and artist Leigh Bowery, whose multi-faceted career of outlandish costumes and wild performances once included an onstage enema.
Do not be fooled by the anodyne name, the governments safeguard mechanism, outlined in draft form by Chris Bowen on Tuesday, is the tent pole that holds up its entire climate policy.

And tethered to it is the governments effort to rebrand Australia as an activist global player on climate, which in turn is central to its foreign policy.

Its domestic credibility is at stake too. Crucial to Labors victory was the fragile truce it managed to secure in the climate wars, winning (guarded) support for its climate policies from business and industry groups as well as key environment advocates.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen at a Rio Tinto refinery in Gladstone on Tuesday. Credit: Mike Richards

Economists broadly agree that the simplest way to drive down emissions is via a carbon tax because, as the IMF notes, they can easily be piggybacked on existing fuel taxes, and flow through to energy prices, prompting reductions in fossil fuel use.
Prime minister appealing to Australians to support an Indigenous Voice to Parliament

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A Queensland police officer involved in a car crash while on duty has been charged with high range drink-driving.

The 41-year-old senior constable, from Operations Support Command, was driving a police vehicle on the night of January 4 when it was involved in a two-vehicle crash in Yamanto.

The officer driving a police vehicle that collided with another vehicle in Yamanto is alleged to have been intoxicated at the time.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Queensland Police Service said the officer returned an alleged blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.177 per cent and was charged with high range drink-driving.

The driver and the passenger from the other vehicle received non-life-threatening injuries and were transported to hospital for observation, the statement said.
Although we have just launched into the new year, when we later review 2023 in the context of Australias security, there is a good chance it will be judged as the year of living dangerously.

Of course, in the post-Christmas and new year celebratory haze, the memory of Australias foreign minister being welcomed in Beijing will give many comfort, and even encourage the narrative that a corner has been turned in Australias bilateral relations with China, and the path ahead leads to reduced tariffs on our goods, the release of Australians detained in China, and greater harmony and even co-operation in the South China Sea.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong meets her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing in December. Credit: AAP

But this is a mirage.

Nothing has changed in the underlying strategic interests. Chinas recent harassment of the US plane operating in the South China Sea underscores the perilous divide between the interests of China and the US, and by association with the US, Australia.
Union heavyweights in health, manufacturing and transport want to change laws so they can charge employees for wage deals if theyre not members.

As union membership declines in Australia, the ACTU is calling for all new migrant workers to be inducted by unions and given the opportunity to join one, in its submission to Australias migration review.

Several union heads are pushing to overturn Howard-era laws banning them from charging non-members a fee for pay deals. Credit: Chris Hopkins

Labor government sources who were not free to speak on the record did not rule out fee-for-bargaining reforms in the future but said they would not be part of the next tranche of industrial legislation.

I think the concern is this could be used to hijack other priorities, the source said.
Chinas ambassador to Australia has launched an extraordinary attack on Japan, warning Australians against becoming too trusting of their former World War II adversary and declaring Japan is a greater military threat than China.

Xiao Qian, Chinas top envoy in Australia, said Japans failure to issue an official apology for its conduct during WWII, including the mistreatment of Australian prisoners of war, meant it could again go to war with Australia, even though the countries have since become close security partners.

Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian warned Australia against becoming too close to Japan. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Describing the Australia-China relationship as at a critical stage of turnaround, Xiao said he hoped a solution to the detention of Australians Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun in China would soon emerge, adding that it was important for Australia to respect Chinas legal processes.

He also suggested Australia and China could seek to resolve trade blockages on $20 billion of Australian imports through direct negotiation rather than the World Trade Organisation.
A host of Indigenous performers will appear at free concerts, and the January 25 Vigil: Awaken, part of the Sydney Festival at Barangaroo Reserve, will be followed by WugulOra Morning Ceremony, which this year will celebrate its 20-year anniversary.

There is a healing that is needed and we need to do it together.

On Tuesday, the NSW government also announced that the sails of the Sydney Opera House will be lit up in a display of First Nations artwork by Kamilaroi artist Rhonda Sampson on the national holiday.

The Australian and Aboriginal flags will be raised together on the Sydney Harbour Bridge on January 26, marking the third year Australia Day will begin in a more reflective manner in Sydney.

These events are part of a national movement to broaden January 26 from a celebration of the day in 1788 when the First Fleet arrived in Sydney Cove, to a commemoration for Indigenous people, said Yvonne Weldon, the deputy chair of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council that organises the Indigenous ceremony at Barangaroo.

WugulOra is respectful in honouring those who have fallen, continue to suffer but is also about moving forward and how as a state and country we can do this with the First Nations, Weldon said.

Australia Day is about having yarns and sharing information - thats what this Australia Day program aims to achieve. There is a healing that is needed and we need to do it together, she said.

This years ceremony will have extra significance with the state government earmarking $43 million for the handing back of Me-Mel (Goat Island) to the Indigenous community, and with a referendum on the Indigenous Voice to parliament likely.

As well as the Indigenous focus, the traditional Sydney Harbour Ferrython which started in 1977, will again take place. Emerald-Class ferries, colourfully dressed in honour of their namesakes  May Gibbs, Catherine Hamlin, Victor Chang and Bungaree - will race on the harbour.
Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to strengthen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region amid shared concerns over China and North Korea.

Speaking to reporters in Paris, Macron and Kishida highlighted challenges including security as areas where they can increase cooperation. The leaders looked to a new round of joint military exercises as well as Japans establishment of a consulate in Frances New Caledonia islands, which marks deeper cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.

Beyond the war in Ukraine, our two countries have never failed to coordinate closely on major international crises, as well as on non-proliferation issues, Macron said ahead of a work dinner at the Elysee presidential palace on Monday.

Closer: French President Emmanuel Macron, left, welcomes Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Paris. Credit: AP

Japan can count on our unfailing support in the face of Pyongyangs flagrant violations of international law, Macron said, adding that Paris and Tokyo will also continue our joint actions in the Indo-Pacific area.
The Russian state RIA news agency later issued a report saying that Wagner Group took over Soledars salt mines following fierce fighting. The salt mines are located in the suburbs of the town. Washington has said Prigozhin may want personal control of the areas mines. If confirmed, it would be Russias most substantial gain since last August, after a series of humiliating retreats throughout much of the second half of 2022. Russian forces have been fighting for months to capture the nearby larger city of Bakhmut, a few kilometres to the south-west. Loading But any victory would come at a massive cost, with troops from both sides having taken heavy losses in some of the most intense combat since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago. Kyiv has released pictures in recent days showing what it says are scores of Russian soldiers strewn dead in muddy fields. Moscow says capturing Bakhmut would be a major step to taking full control of Ukraines Donetsk region, one of four provinces it claimed to have annexed two months ago.

Russias Defence Ministry did not mention either Soledar or Bakhmut in a media briefing on Monday. Russias Soledar axis is highly likely an effort to envelop Bakhmut from the north and to disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication, the British defence ministry said in a short daily intelligence briefing. Putins chef Yevgeny Prigozhin, left, shows Russian President Vladimir Putin around his factory in 2010. Credit: AP Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not mention control of Soledar on his evening address. Zelensky repeated his call for more Western weapons, saying Russia was gathering its forces to intensify its campaign. He did not provide details. But Ukraines Defence Ministry tweeted later, Even after suffering colossal losses, Russia is still maniacally trying to seize Soledar - home to the largest salt mine in Europe.

Ukraine said earlier its forces were still holding on to positions in Soledar, withstanding assaults by wave after wave of Russian forces seeking their first battlefield victory for months. Zelensky asked And what did Russia want to gain there? Everything is completely destroyed, there is almost no life left. And thousands of their people were lost: the whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes, he said. This is what madness looks like. Near Bakhmut, a team of Ukrainian soldiers was firing volleys of shells from a heavy anti-aircraft gun at what they said were Russian ground positions, across a barren snowy field. Commander of the Ukrainian army, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, gives instructions in a shelter in Soledar. Credit: AP Were frying orcs, said soldier with the nomme de guerre Pilot, using a common Ukrainian slur for Russian troops.

His crew receives coordinates of Russian bases from spotters or drones. They periodically shell Russian bases, and unleash storms of heavy fire when the enemy troops advance: If they creep in very actively, then we kill them in great numbers. Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for Ukraines eastern forces, said the Russians were deploying their best Wagner fighters at Soledar, which had been struck 86 times by artillery over the past 24 hours. He compared Russian tactics to World War I: throwing large numbers of men into ground battle and absorbing heavy losses. A Ukrainian officer sits in a shelter in Soledar. Credit: AP This is basically not a 21st-century war, he said.

Reuters could not verify the situation inside Soledar itself. Journalist Yuriy Butusov, embedded with Ukrainian troops in Soledar, wrote for the online outlet New Voice that Russian forces had established fire control over the main Ukrainian supply route. This is not a complete encirclement, but normal supply along the route is impossible, [and] this is critical for defence, he said. Loading Wagner, the mercenary company founded by Prigozhin, has taken a leading role in the Bakhmut fighting as Russias regular military forces elsewhere on the front line have dug into mostly defensive positions. Prigozhin, whose fighters are also active across Africa and the Middle East, has released videos showing himself recruiting fighters in Russian prisons with offers of pardons.

He said on Saturday that Soledar was important for a network of cavernous mining tunnels. Zelensky has repeatedly urged Ukraines Western supporters to supply more sophisticated weapons. Last week, one of Ukraines biggest pleas was answered when the United States, Germany and France promised large numbers of Western armoured fighting vehicles for the first time. Kyiv is still seeking Western battle tanks. In a symbol of Kyivs battlefield successes of recent months, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Kharkiv. The eastern city, Ukraines second largest, was nearly surrounded by Russian forces and under constant bombardment until Ukraine drove the Russians from its ramparts in a breakthrough in September that shifted the wars momentum. Loading This city is a symbol of the absolute insanity of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and of the endless suffering that people, especially here in the east of the country, are confronted with every day, she said. She promised aid for Ukraine and support in its bid to join the EU.
During the argument, about allegations of bullying by his wife Meghan, Harry said William was really steaming. He lunged, grabbed my shirt. Listen to me, Harold, he said. Harold, you must listen to me! Harry claimed he said. I just want you to be happy, Harold. I swear I swear on Mummys life.... He stopped. I stopped. Pa stopped. Hed gone there. William got on the rum before the wedding

Harry says William was still tipsy from the night before hours before his wedding to Kate, now Catherine, the Princess of Wales. When they met well-wishers assembled on the Mall, Harry claims he had to offer his brother mints so the crowds did not smell the aftermath of last nights rum. The Queens PA, or so Meghan thought. Credit: Getty Harry said he was not actually the best man at the wedding, despite standing beside his brother at Westminster Abbey. He writes that his official position was for show and that, in fact, his brothers friends James Meade and Thomas van Straubenzee gave the speech. Meghan hadnt Googled the royals, thought Andrew was the Queens PA

The Duke of Sussex recalls the moment when his wife met his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, for the first time and mistook Prince Andrew for her assistant. Loading Meghan met the Queen during a lunch at the Royal Lodge in Windsor, shortly after she and Harry revealed they were dating, in 2016. He writes: After a moment Meg asked me something about the Queens assistant. I asked who she was talking about. That man holding the purse. That man who walked her to the door. That wasnt her assistant? Who was it?

Harry quickly told her that it was, in fact, his uncle saying: That was her second son. Andrew... She definitely hadnt Googled us. Harry thanks his celebrity mates In a one-page acknowledgements section at the back of the book, Harry gives a shoutout to some of his celebrity friends and an alternative medicine practitioner. Oprah Winfrey, British chat show host James Corden and Chris Martin from the band Coldplay are thanked, as well as John Amaral, an energy practitioner who has worked with the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow. Filmmaker and actor Tyler Perry and Argentinian polo player and model Nacho Figueras and wife Delfina Blaquier are also thanked for their unwavering friendship and support.

Harry denies what Meghan wants, Meghan gets line It had been alleged he made the comments during a dispute with Angela Kelly, the late Queens dresser and close confidante, about her wedding tiara, but his recollection in the book differs. Britains Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, left, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in 2019. Credit: AP Harry writes of the Tiara-gate row that they did clash about whether she could have it for her hair appointment. He claims the Queen offered a choice of five tiaras but Kelly later told him that taking the tiara for an appointment with Meghans hairdresser cant be done.

Although Kelly later agreed to its release, Harry claims: She fixed me with a look that made me shiver. I could read in her face a clear warning. This isnt over. King Charles handstands in boxer shorts Harry writes that he would dread knocking on his fathers bedroom door at Balmoral for fear of what he would find on the other side. King Charles III reportedly stands on his head in boxer shorts. Credit: Getty He says the now King would perform daily headstands half-naked to combat pain in his neck and back from years of playing polo.

These exercises were the only effective remedy for the constant pain in Pas neck and back. Old polo injuries mostly. Exiled in the graveyard: Wallis and Edward. Credit: AP Hed perform them daily in just a pair of boxers propped against the door, or hanging from a bar like a skilled acrobat. If you set one little finger on the knob you hear him bark from the other side no, no dont open, please, dont come in. The Queens final angry act to uncle Harry suggests his late grandmother took something of a final swipe at Edward VIII and his American socialite wife, Wallis Simpson, by exiling them in the Royal Burial Ground away from everyone else.

Her uncle set off a life-changing chain of events when as his King he renounced the crown for love. Harry suggests in the opening pages of his memoir that his grandmother decided to bury the couple in a distant spot as a last scolding. Who the fook is [William] Faulkner? Harry asked. Recalling a moment when he found himself alone in the royal cemetery at Frogmore, Harry described the site as the final resting place for so many of us including... the controversial Wallis Simpson. As well as her double controversial husband Edward, who was King and my great-great uncle. After giving up the throne for Wallis and leaving Britain with her, the two began to worry about their eventual return and became obsessed with being buried [in the Royal Burial Ground].

The Queen, my grandmother, agreed to their plea, but she placed them away from everyone else, under a sloping plane tree one last scolding, perhaps. A last exile, perhaps. Harry used Brainyquote.com for inspiration The memoir begins with a literary quote from the celebrated American author William Faulkner: The past is never dead. Its not even past. Charles, William and Harry attend a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 2017. Credit: AP While it lends an air of lofty literary heights to the memoir, just a few pages later he admits that he found the famous line on the website BrainyQuote.com.

He writes that he was so taken by Faulkners turn of phrase that he was thunderstruck. His first thought was Who the fook is Faulkner? And hows he related to us Windsors? The quote comes from Faulkners 1951 novel Requiem for a Nun, which tells the story of a Mississippi woman whose infant child is murdered by her nanny. Throughout the novel, she struggles with her past, having been violently sexually assaulted and forced into prostitution. The then Meghan Markle, now simply Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in 2018. Credit: AP Meghan can communicate with seals Harry believed Meghan was magic because she could communicate with seals.
Sydney finance broker and director is reflecting on a productive first 12 months in his new career, in which he settled $135 million in loans.

Nicholas Wilcox (pictured above) began working at Blue Crane Capital in July 2021. He was previously working at St.George Bank as a commercial banker, a role which involved liaising with brokers.

In 2021, I decided it was time to resign from the bank, Wilcox told Australian Broker. As I was leaving, just before starting at Blue Crane Capital, my wife gave birth to our baby and we went into a snap three-month lockdown all at the same time. It was certainly a very interesting time.

Wilcox said during the first three months of his new role, he was unable to see clients face to face and all meetings with clients were via Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

Things shifted so quickly and people pivoted to make it through the lockdown, he said. I set the goal of settling $100 million in loans during my first year (July 2021-June 2022). It was an ambitious target, especially in my first year, but I am proud to say I achieved it.

Wilcox said he doubted whether he could achieve the goal he had set himself.

I thought I might not be able to do it because the sales pipeline cycle means you do not settle deals until after the first three months, so when I hit the end of the three months, I thought to myself I need to get a wriggle on here, he said.

Thankfully, I landed a couple of deals where another brokerage thought they had secured the deal, however the other broker couldnt finalise it for whatever reason. We were so busy during last year with new business flowing through door, so it was a good time to be in the industry and keep pushing towards reaching my goal.

Wilcox said he focuses on providing solutions for self-employed, residential property investors, high net worth clients and commercial property investors.

It can be complicated at times but having strong relationships and connections with bankers across all segments - business bank, private bank, commercial and corporate accounts allow us to work and provide solutions with confidence, he said.

At the start of FY22, I finished my first six months to the end of the calendar year, so now I have been able to have a full calendar year to work hard on deals. Initially I wanted to reach $100 million, then I bumped it to $125 million earlier this year and now I successfully settled $135 million by December 31.

Wilcox shared three key learnings that he picked up during 2022:

Tap into your existing network

Build relationships with referral partners (accountants, buyers agents and real estate agents)

Build strong relationships with lender BDMs

Blue Crane Capital founder and managing director Chris Hall, who was named one of Mortgage Professional Australias Young Gun winners in 2019, also made the move from commercial banking to broking.

In November, Blue Crane Capital was announced as one of the winners of Australian Brokers Fast Brokerages 2022, celebrating the nations fastest growing mortgage broker businesses.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Monday forecast free cash flow for the third quarter at more than 400 million pounds ($485 million), after reporting a 15% rise in wholesale volumes for the period on strong demand and improved chip supply.

The British automaker, in its earnings statement for the second quarter, had forecast a positive cash flow for the second half of fiscal year 2023 and "near breakeven" for the full year.

Tata Motors, which acquired JLR in 2008, had earlier set a target of 1 billion pounds of free cash flow for the fiscal year.

Meanwhile, December quarter wholesales - excluding its joint venture in China - were up 15% from a year earlier at 79,591 units.

Retail numbers for the three months ended Dec. 31, were up 5.9% on a year-on-year basis at 84,827 units.

The total order book at December-end rose by around 10,000 to 215,000 client orders from Sept. 30, Jaguar said, adding that demand for the New Range Rover, New Range Rover Sport and Defender comprised 74% of the order book.

Also Read Expect 60% of sales to accrue from pure-electric variants, says Jaguar Tata Motors dips 3% as Jaguar Land Rover CEO Thierry Bollore resigns Jaguar Land Rover reports 5.9% jump in retail sales in Q3, wholesale up 15% Volume recovery, margins key to Jaguar Land Rover taking the wheel Tata Motors dips 5% on lower-than-expected JLR wholesale volumes in Q2 Tata Motors promises commercial vehicle range for city transportation needs Auto Expo 2023: Wait is over as 16th edition of motor show to be 'electric' Tata Motors starts delivery of EV version of mini truck Ace at Rs 9.99 lakh Mahindra launches new versions of its sports utility vehicle 'Thar' Home-charging of 2-wheeler EVs may keep public charger demand low

JLR's performance is key to India's Tata Motors as it contributes nearly 60% to the group's revenue from operations.

However, wholesale volumes in China, Jaguar's biggest market where it produces cars from Changshu, were down 13% compared to the previous quarter due to COVID-19 impact, Jaguar said in a statement.

JLR is expected to report its results for the third quarter on Jan. 25.

($1 = 0.8242 pounds)


It said it achieved particularly strong year-on-year growth during 2022 in the West Asia, Asia-Pacific, the USA and Europe. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has exceeded annual sales of more than 6,000 cars for the first time in its 118-year history, the company announced.



Some 6,021 cars were delivered to customers last year, a rise of 8 per cent compared with 2021. A single-digit drop in sales was recorded in China  which includes Hong Kong  due to ongoing headwinds but this was successfully counterbalanced by increased sales in other markets, according to the car maker.



Demand for all models remains exceptionally strong with advance orders secured far into 2023, it added. The value of bespoke commissions also reached record levels in 2022, with clients willing to pay around half a million euros (440,000) for their unique Rolls-Royce motor car, according to the BMW-owned company.

Also Read Rolls-Royce names Ex-BP executive Tufan Erginbilgic as CEO to succeed East Rolls-Royce pursues 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' in all three dimensions How feasible are Rolls-Royce and easyJet's hydrogen engines for planes? In a first, Rolls-Royce successfully tests hydrogen-powered jet engine US-France competition heats up for fighter jets to deck INS Vikrant Auto Expo 2023: Big electric two-wheeler makers don't plug into motor show Auto Expo to focus on EVs as manufacturers push for greener, cleaner future FedEx India deploys EVs to achieve goal of zero-emission last-mile delivery BMW recalls over 124,000 electric vehicles due to software glitch Jaguar Land Rover sees December quarter free cash flow above $485 million



Not only did we reveal Rolls-Royce Spectre, our marques first ever fully-electric series model to the world, it was also the first year we ever delivered more than 6,000 cars in a single 12-month period, with strong demand across our entire product portfolio. But as a true house of luxury, sales are not our sole measure of success: we are not and never will be a volume manufacturer. Bespoke is Rolls-Royce, and commissions were also at record levels last year, with our clients requests becoming ever more imaginative and technically demanding  a challenge we enthusiastically embrace. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars chief executive Torsten Muller-Otvos described 2022 as a momentous year for the company. He said:


According to the acquisition agreement signed with the government in January 2022, the airline is not allowed to change the "terms of employment" for one year. The policy, thus, can only be implemented after March 2023. The new agreement was to be implemented on January 1 but has been postponed due to opposition from unions, the report added. As the airline battles accusations of inadequate action against a drunk man urinating on a woman during a flight, Air India will have to wait till March to implement its new HR policy, a report in the Economic Times (ET) said.



The management has also finalised a new service agreement which includes key performance indicators and key result areas. The executive said that the change would be faster if there is increased accountability. "Tatas don't have a hire-and-fire culture...Air India has therefore created indirect recognition programmes to reward customer-centric behaviours and encourage accountability by taking ownership of outcomes. We are focused on implementing the Tata Code of Conduct by removing biases and prejudices within the organisation. We are encouraging interactive feedback and asking employees to look at facts and data, and not be influenced by rumours and speculation," a senior executive of the company told ET.



It also asked the airline to refer the incident to the internal committee which will decide the duration of the ban for flying the unruly passenger within 30 days and this can extend from zero days to a lifetime ban. The aviation regulator DGCA has asked the airline to maintain a database of all unruly passengers.

Also Read We fell short, Air India should have acted swiftly: Chandra on 'pee-gate' Air India peeing case: Airline de-rosters 4 cabin crew members, 1 pilot Air India didn't report second peeing incident to DGCA; notice issued What DGCA's new medical guidelines prescribe for transgender persons How reliable is India's China trade data? Adani Enterprises FPO may get a big boost from Gulf sovereign wealth funds Tata nears iPhone plant takeover to grow India's Apple supply role Apple retail stores to come up in Mumbai's BKC, Delhi's Saket: Report GreenCell Mobility bags order for 570 electric buses from Delhi government Star India asks BCCI for Rs 130-crore discount in the existing deal



After the decision of the internal committee, the airline shall maintain a database of all such unruly passengers and inform the same to DGCA which is the custodian for maintaining the"No-Fly List". A senior DGCA official said that the airline concerned shall refer the incident to the internal committee comprising three members including a retired district and session judge as chairman, a representative from a different scheduled airline as a member, and a representative from a passengers association or consumer association or retired officer of the Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum as a member.


The company said it will use the funds to expand in more than 100 cities, hire 200 employees and improve its verticals. Park+, an app for car owners, announced the closure of its series C round by raising Rs 140 crore (around $17 million) led by Epiq Capital II. Matrix Partners India & Sequoia Capital India also participated in the round.



The confidence shown by our investors in this round is a reflection of their conviction in our business model. We will continue to invest by strengthening and expanding our services to enhance the car ownership experience for them, throughout the life cycle of their car. Additionally, identifying and hiring talented individuals will remain an important part of our human resource expansion strategy, said Amit Lakhotia, founder and CEO of Park+. Park+ provides solutions such as finding parking, tracking challans, recharging FASTag, renewing insurance, cleaning and maintenance.



The auto-tech category is poised for rapid transformation with cars becoming more digital and every car becoming a payment instrument with FASTag. As a dominant market leader in a large and underserved market for access control, FASTag, parking and related auto-services categories, Park+ is well positioned to delight every car user in India through its platform, said Rajinder Balaraman, managing director at Matrix Partners India. Park+ has identified and unlocked business opportunities within the auto-tech segment, which no one else was ready or willing to solve. Today, they host the largest community of car owners in India (60 lakh), a testament to the brand's traction and acceptability among its users," said Rishi Navani, managing partner at Epiq Capital.

Also Read Slow despatch pulls down passenger vehicle retail sales by 5% in July: FADA July vehicle registrations fall 8% as rains, inflation hurt demand: FADA With high August sales, has Indian auto sector entered the fast lane? Why is the second-hand car market running in top gear July auto sales rise 10% YoY as chip availability improves: SIAM Brick&Bolt raises $10mn in funding round co-led by Accel, Celesta Capital Carlyle Group acquires majority stake in beauty brand VLCC for $300 million Regional aviation looks to soar higher, carriers chart growth plans PE investment up 58% in NCR realty in first 3 quarters of FY23: Study 'Make in India' TV shipments grow 33% to reach five million units

Park+ previously raised $25 million co-led by Sequoia Capital India and Matrix Partners India.


Crypto exchange Coinbase on Tuesday laid off 20 per cent of its workforce, or about 950 people, to reduce its operating expenses amid the economic recession fears.

Coinbase Co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong said that as part of this round of headcount reduction, "we will be shutting down several projects where we have a lower probability of success".

The crypto company in June last year eliminated 18 per cent of its workforce, or nearly 1,100 people.

"We also reduced headcount last year as the market started to correct, and in hindsight, we could have cut further at that time," said the CEO.

"As we examined our 2023 scenarios, it became clear that we would need to reduce expenses to increase our chances of doing well in every scenario," he said in a statement.

And there was no way to reduce our expenses significantly enough, "without considering changes to headcount".

Also Read Coinbase's BlackRock pact reinforces crypto status, burns shorts Crypto.com labels mass layoff of 2,000 employees report as 'inaccurate' In coming global recession, job cuts won't mean mass layoffs: Report Coinbase reports $1.1 billion in net loss, revenue drops 60% in Q2 Hiring at crypto exchange Coinbase up 33% despite recent layoffs: Report Indian realty got $5.2 bn institutional investment in 2022, up 19%: Study We sincerely apologise: Go First after flight takes off without 55 flyers Lupin gets US FDA nod for generic medicine to treat heart ailments NTPC produces 14.55 MT coal from captive mines in Apr-Dec 2022 MCL supplied 143.4 million tonnes of coal till Dec this current fiscal: CIL

Armstrong said that some other projects will continue to operate as normal, "just with fewer people on the team".

Affected team members will receive an email to their personal account with more information.

"We will be providing a comprehensive package to support you through this transition. For those of you in the US, this includes a minimum of 14 weeks base pay (2 additional weeks per year worked), health insurance, and other benefits," said the CEO.

"We are also providing extra transition support for impacted employees on a work visa. Those of you outside the US will receive similar support in line with the employment laws of your country," he added.

--IANS

na/vd
Car services management app Park+ on Tuesday said it has raised Rs 140 crore in a funding round led by Epiq Capital, Matrix Partners India and Sequoia Capital India.

The company plans to utilise the fund to expand its presence to over 100 cities, to hire more than 200 employees and expand its services verticals, Park+ said in a statement.

"The fund (Rs 140 crore) that we have raised will help us in strengthening our team and expanding presence to over 100 cities. The part of the fund will be used for launching more used cases," Park+ Founder and CEO Amit Lakhotia told PTI while sharing details of the funding.

Park+ has over 700 employees across India.

Lakhotia said that the company has access control business in 20 cities, parking business in 10 cities, dealership business in 30 cities and the company will scale up across different verticals and touch 100 cities in the next 6-8 months.

The company helps users find a parking spot, track challans, recharge FASTag, renew insurance, car cleaning, car maintenance etc.

Also Read Sebi drops Indian connection clause to make investment easy for AIF, VCF Fintech startup SarvaGram Solutions raises $35 mn in funding round California to see blackouts with highest-ever demand amid brutal heat wave Fidelity, HDFC Mutual eye India's Five Star IPO at lower valuation: Report Billionaire Julian Robertson, hedge-fund guru to 'Tiger Cubs,' dies at 90 Glenmark launches generic version of diuretic Bumetanide injection Private-equity firm Carlyle Group buys majority stake in India's VLCC Tata-run iPhone plant to create opportunities in India, says TCS executive Air India will have to wait till March to implement new HR policy: Report Adani Enterprises FPO may get a big boost from Gulf sovereign wealth funds

Lakhotia said that the company has been making money since the beginning of the business and expects operational profit in the next financial year.

"Park+ has identified and unlocked business opportunities within the auto-tech segment, which no one else was ready or willing to solve. Today they host the largest community of car owners in India (60 lakh), a testament to the brand's traction and acceptability among its users.

"We are excited to be deepening our partnership with Park+ and look forward to the journey ahead," Epiq Capital, Managing Partner, Rishi Navani said.
Senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for the Delhi government, outlined some broad issues in the matter. This is at its core not about the balance between Centre and Delhi. Its about whether civil servants serving in the NCT are accountable through the government and through them the people who elected the Delhi government, he said.



The five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, began hearing the dispute between the Delhi government and the Centre regarding the control of administrative services in the state on Tuesday.
Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi resumed on Tuesday in Haryana's Ambala amid dense fog and biting cold.

The Yatra started from Ambala's Shahpur around 6 a.m and will reach Saini Bhavan around 10 a.m. where it is supposed to take a break.

The Yatra is scheduled to end at Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab today.

Many people joined the Yatra and were seen today shoting slogans with enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, many women Bharat Yatris participated in the Haryana leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra dedicated to them on Monday.

Parag Sharma, an Indian Youth Congress leader told ANI on Monday that she participated with her son and mother in the all-women march.

Also Read Drones spotted near Ambala air base over 2 days, police initiates probe After 3-day break, Bharat Jodo Yatra set to resume in Telangana on Thursday Rahul Gandhi attacks BJP, its ideology as Bharat Jodo Yatra enters Haryana Bharat Jodo Yatra resumes from Dodwa-Taraori crossing in Haryana on Day 114 Hollywood star John Cusack supports Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra Piyush Goyal discusses investment opportunities with US executives in NY Congress supports Karni Sena agitation in Madhya Pradesh: Kamal Nath What's brewing? Bengaluru's India Coffee House gets a new look to woo youth Mercury rises in Delhi, min temperature at 6.4 degrees Celsius on Monday Bank loan fraud case: Bombay HC to hear Dhoot's plea against CBI arrest

"Today's day was dedicated to women, many people are excited about this Yatra early in the morning. This is a wind of change and will also help take us all forward," she said.

So far, the footmarch which started from Kanyakumari on September 7, has covered parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Haryana. It will culminate in Jammu and Kashmir.


The court asked when Union Carbide had already paid over $ 470 million to the Bhopal gas tragedy victims then how the settlement could be reopened. The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, while hearing the curative petition filed against Union Carbide Corporation (now Dow Chemicals) seeking additional compensation to the victims of the Bhopal Gas tragedy, asked the Union government why there is Rs 50 crore lying undisbursed.



The bench -- also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, AS. Oka, Vikram Nath, and JK Maheshwari - said also asked whether fresh documents can be permitted in a curative petition. If there is some data which has emerged we may or may not be inclined to do it. But, it cannot be a re-hearing, the bench said. A five-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul also asked the Attorney General (AG) R Venkataramani, representing the Centre, said that if the settlement arrived at a particular stage of time, then can the court in 10 years hence, 20 years hence or 30 years hence, open the settlement based on fresh documents?



The Attorney General said there was an amendment to settlements. We are not asking for a settlement to be annulled, he added. Justice Kaul pointed out that no review was filed in the case and a curative petition was filed after 19 years. What is the scope of such a curative petition, especially at this point? he asked.

Also Read Centre tells SC it wants more compensation for Bhopal gas leak victims Rewriting an industrial hazards law that followed the Bhopal gas leak DY Chandrachud to succeed UU Lalit as the next Chief Justice of India A fresh beginning Chatroom: 'Drawback of IGST also available on re-export of imported goods' Companies protest WHO guidelines to increase taxes on soft drinks Govt extends RBI deputy governor Michael Patra's tenure by one year Petrol blended with 20% ethanol from April 1, says Hardeep Singh Puri Rs 4,276-crore indigenous weapons get a green signal from MoD DGCA issues show-cause notice to Go First for leaving behind 55 passengers



The Centre on October 11, 2022, told the Supreme Court "it is keen" to pursue its 12-year-old curative petition seeking more than Rs 7,500 crore(75 billion) more from Dow Chemicals, Union Carbide and others for deaths and injuries caused by the 1984 Bhopal gas leak. Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Dow Chemicals, said one important thing was that the Union of India filed the suit (abroad) and Union Carbide sought for a transfer to India. An undertaking was provided that Union Carbide would abide by the jurisdiction of the Indian Court. This is how the suit started, he said.



Union Carbide, which is now a subsidiary of Dow Chemicals, has paid more than Rs 3,900 crore(39 billion) as compensation for the leak from its plant. A curative petition is the last resort available to a person after a review petition is dismissed. Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, representing the victims, had argued that over the years, the tragedys intensity has increased fivefold, that is, deaths, the number of victims, and the extent of injuries.
A court here on Tuesday extended for 14 days the judicial custody of Aaftab Amin Poonawala, accused of killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar and dismembering her body.

Poonawala was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Aviral Shukla in the court lockup.

The judge extended his judicial custody for 14 days. Meanwhile, police informed the court that Poonawala's debit and credit cards were seized as part of the ongoing investigation and would be released after filing the charge sheet, Poonawala's counsel M S Khan said.

Earlier on January 6, Khan had moved an application for releasing the debit and credit cards of the accused and said Poonawala was facing harsh winter inside the prison without adequate warm clothes.

On Tuesday, the judge directed the prison authorities concerned to provide Poonawala with warm clothes, Khan said.

Poonawala informed the court that he had given a written application to prison authorities to provide him with books on the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), but despite the request being approved, the books were not made available, Khan said.

Also Read Mehrauli murder: Accused should get strictest punishment, says DCW chief Mehrauli murder: Court extends Poonawala's custody, allows polygraph test No religious structure to be removed in Mehrauli Archaeological Park: DDA Mehrauli murder: Delhi Police to produce accused before court virtually Mehrauli murder case: Delhi Police seeks narco test of accused Aaftab Videocon-ICICI loan case: SAT asks Sebi to provide documents to Kochhar Uttarakhand's Joshimath sinking: Demolition process of two hotels begins Centre to set up micro-seismic observation systems at Joshimath: Minister Delhi HC Judge recuses from hearing bail plea of UAPA accused Manzer Imam Justice N Kotiswar Singh appointed acting chief justice of Gauhati HC

The judge said that if the books were not provided, his counsel could move an application for the same, Khan said.

The judge asked Poonawala whether he wanted to fight his case, to which he said lawyers will defend me but I will assist my lawyer after reading these books, Khan said.

Last Friday, the court extended Poonawala's judicial custody by four days and sought his physical production.

Poonawala, 28, allegedly sawed Walkar's body into 35 pieces and kept them in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi's Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days.

In November, a police van carrying Poonawala was attacked by some weapon-wielding people outside the Forensic Science Laboratory in Rohini where he was taken for a polygraph test.

He was arrested on November 12.
With the AAP and BJP slugging it out for the Delhi Mayor's post, the AAP is expecting the support of the Congress, which has nine councillors, but Congress leaders do not trust it after the 2013 experience.

In 2013, the party supported the AAP to form the government in Delhi - despite opposition from outgoing Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit but the Arvind Kejriwal-led party junked the Congress after 49 days and in subsequent elections, the Congress has been decimated. Presently, the Congress has neither an MLA nor an MP in Delhi.

Congress ex-MLAA Anil Bhardwaj said: "The ruckus witnessed at the Civic Centre when the Mayoral election was set to take place was very shameful as both the BJP and Aam Aadmi Party councillors betrayed the confidence of the people to indulge in hooliganism and undermine democratic norms in the greed for power."

He said that the Congress councillors were committed to take up the issues of the people, and find solutions to the problems, and not for personal power and glory. He said that it was surprising that the AAP, with a voting strength of over 150, was rattled, making unsubstantiated allegations agains the Congress and trying to threaten the Congress councillors.

He said that it was a matter of serious concern that how the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party councillors turned the oath-taking ceremony of the newly-elected Municipal Councillors and elections to the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and the Standing Committee members a shameful wrestling bout in the presence of MPs and MLAs of the BJP and the AAP.

The Congress alleged that the BJP and the AAP indulged in rowdy behavior not for addressing the issues of the people, but for capturing power in the MCD, which has exposed the real intentions of these parties.

Also Read MCD House ruckus: AAP workers protest outside BJP headquarters AAP protests outside LG's house, alleges he is 'destroying' Constitution Ahead of Delhi mayoral polls, Independent councillor Daral joins BJP Taiwan votes on lower voting age, mayors, city councils in local elections Congress wrests MP's Rewa mayoral seat, BJP wins in Dewas, Ratlam Bharat Jodo Yatra witnesses all-women walk; Rahul meets Tikait in Haryana Govt extends RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra's tenure by one year US announces $100 mn aid for Pakistan's flood recovery, reconstruction Moscow-Goa flight makes emergency landing in Jamnagar following bomb threat PM to flag off Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat train on Jan 19

It said that it will continue to protest against the anti-people policies of the BJP and the AAP as its mandate was to protect and serve the interests of the people and "not to endorse the power games and divisive misrule" of both these parties.

--IANS

miz/vd
South Africa: Creecy expected to visit SA Antarctic research station

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister, Barbara Creecy is expected to visit the South African Antarctic Programmes Research Station, known as SANAE IV, in Queen Maud Land.

In a statement, the department explained that South Africa has had a presence in the Antarctic since 1960 and has contributed to scientific knowledge in the area and played an active role in the management and conservation of the vast continent.

At the base, which is managed and administered by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Minister Creecy will interact with station crew and also inspect the facilities used by the South African scientists.

During the visit to the biodiversity hotspot, the Minister will learn about the threats of pollution and research into the human impact on ocean and marine ecosystems threatened by global climate change and earth systems observations, the department said.

Meanwhile, the Agulhas II supply and research ship left Cape Town with the team last month.

The scientific data that is collected during voyages is critical to the understanding of amongst other things, the impacts of climate change and weather information associated with extreme events, the statement read.

On Monday, Minister Creecy was expected to visit the Princess Elisabeth Antarctic Research Station.

While at the base the Minister will have an opportunity to learn more about the first zero emissions research station in Antarctica, which has become a showcase for best practice in the use of renewable energies to reduce the environmental impact of operations on Antarctica.

The Belgians have expressed their desire to sharing Best Practice to improve the environmental performance of the South African Research Infrastructure in Antarctica, the department said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-01-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
China poised to improve its weather forecasting accuracy

Xinhua) 09:13, January 10, 2023

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The China Meteorological Administration on Monday said that it would focus on improving the accuracy of its weather forecasting in 2023.

While ensuring full coverage of all types of meteorological disasters and terrains in its forecasts, the administration will ramp up its monitoring of imminent weather events using technologies such as artificial intelligence and multisource information fusion. It will also improve its related warning procedures.

Emphasis will also be placed on providing weather forecasts for unique climates during specific seasonal periods in key regions, as well as predicting global climate anomalies, it said.

China has made continued efforts to build an intelligent weather forecasting system that is multidimensional, and updated in real time and at a high resolution.

The country is able to warn the public of a severe convective weather event 42 minutes in advance, and has a 91 percent accuracy rate for rainstorm forecasts, according to the administration.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
India successfully carried out a test launch of tactical ballistic missile Prithvi-II from a test range off the Odisha coast on Tuesday.

The defence ministry said the missile struck its target with "high accuracy".

"A successful training launch of a short-range ballistic missile, Prithvi-II, was carried out on January 10 from the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha," it said.

"A well-established system, Prithvi-II missile has been an integral part of India's nuclear deterrence. The missile struck its target with high accuracy," the ministry said in a statement.

It said the "user training launch" successfully validated all operational and technical parameters of the missile.

The Prithvi-II missile has a range of around 350 kilometres.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it will commence hearing on February 14 on pleas related to the Maharashtra political crisis triggered by the Shiv Sena's division.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud was told by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Uddhav Thackeray Shiv Sena, that he will will seek reference of the cases to a seven-judge bench to have a re-look of a 2016 judgment on powers of assembly speakers to deal with disqualification pleas.

We have filed the submissions on reference of matters to a seven-judge bench constitution bench. They (Chief Minister Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena) have filed the response, Sibal told the bench which also comprised justices M R Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha.

We will keep it for hearing on February 14, the CJI said.

Sibal, while seeking reference of matters to a seven-judge bench, had sought re-look at an earlier apex court judgement.

In 2016, a five-judge constitution bench, while deciding the Nabam Rebia case, had held that the assembly speaker cannot proceed with a plea for disqualification of MLAs if a prior notice seeking removal of the speaker is pending decision in the House.

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This decision had come to the rescue of rebel MLAs led by Shinde, now the chief minister of Maharashtra, in the apex court on the ground of pendency of a notice for removal of assembly deputy speaker Narhari Sitaram Zariwal.

Earlier this year, the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state that comprised the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress collapsed after Sena MLA Shinde and 39 other legislators rebelled against the party's leadership. This later led to the division in the Shiv Sena with one faction headed by Thackeray and the other by Shinde.

"Sibal, senior counsel, submits that when the matter is taken up for hearing, he would be arguing for a reference of the correctness of the view of the constitution bench in the Nabam Rebia case... to a seven-judge constitution bench. It has been agreed that Sibal shall circulate a brief note of his submission on the proposed reference to a seven-judge bench that he would seek," the bench had said on December 13 last year.

"The note shall be circulated at least two weeks in advance to the other respondents (Shinde faction and others). The respondents would be at liberty to circulate a brief note of submissions in response. Both sets of notes shall be compiled by the nodal counsel and be circulated to the bench," it had said.

The political crisis in the state had aggravated after the rebellion in the Sena and on June 29, the apex court had refused to stay the direction of the Maharashtra governor to the 31-month-old MVA government to take a floor test in the assembly to prove its majority after which Thackeray quit office.

On August 23, a three-judge bench of the top court headed by then chief justice N V Ramana, since retired, had formulated several questions of law and referred to a five-judge bench the petitions filed by the factions raising several constitutional questions related to defection, merger and disqualification.

The top court had ordered the listing of petitions before the constitution bench and directed the Election Commission not to pass any orders on the Shinde faction's plea that it be considered the real Shiv Sena and granted the party's poll symbol.

It had said the batch of petitions raise important constitutional issues relating to the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution pertaining to disqualification, power of the Speaker and Governor and judicial review.

The apex court said the proposition of law laid down by the constitution bench in the Nabam Rebia case relating to Tenth Schedule stands on a contradictory reasoning which requires gap filling to uphold constitutional morality.

It had asked the constitution bench to look into constitutional issues whether notice for removal of speaker restricts him from continuing with disqualification proceedings, whether a petition under Article 32 or 226 lies against disqualification proceedings, can a court hold that a member is deemed to be disqualified by virtue of his/her actions, what is status of proceedings in the house pending disqualification petitions against the members.

The Tenth Schedule of the Constitution provides for the prevention of defection of the elected and nominated members from their political party and contains stringent provisions against defections.

The Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena had earlier submitted that party MLAs loyal to Shinde can save themselves from disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution only by merging with another political party.

The top court had asked the Shinde faction to redraft the legal issues of split, merger, defection and disqualification raised in petitions filed by the Thackeray camp that are to be adjudicated upon following the recent political crisis in Maharashtra.

The Shinde group had said the anti-defection law is not a weapon for a leader who has lost the confidence of his own party to lock his members and somehow hang on to power.


Chhawchharia had on January 2 sent a letter to JKC wherein he objected to Sanjiv Kapoor using designation of Jet Airways CEO as the airline is yet to be handed over to JKC under the resolution plan. Ashish Chhawchharia, a member of Jet Airways' monitoring committee, should refrain from sending correspondence on behalf of the airline, said the carrier's winning bidder Jalan-Kalrock Consortium (JKC) on Tuesday.



In a letter to Chhawchharia on Tuesday, JKC said: "Sanjiv Kapoor, who received necessary security clearance from the Honourable Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, in August 2022...is the CEO Designate for Jet Airways and thus requires no further approval from any statutory authority." In March last year, aviation veteran Kapoor was appointed as the CEO of grounded Jet Airways by JKC. The monitoring committee consists of seven members: Chhawchharia as a non-voting member, three voting members selected by lenders and three voting members selected by JKC.



"In the event there exists no monitoring committee resolution which authorizes you to write to Mr. Kapoor, your letter under reference shall be considered as null and void and you are advised to refrain from communicating on behalf of Jet Airways until authorized by all required members of the monitoring committee," it added. JKC asked Chhawchharia to share relevant minutes of the monitoring committee meeting in which the aforementioned matter was discussed and a resolution was passed to issue a letter to Kapoor.

Also Read Once mighty Jet Airways to fly only domestic initially as it resumes ops We are on the path of recovery, says Bank of Baroda CEO Sanjiv Chadha Grounded Jet Airways' cabin crew association moves NCLT for liquidation Chhawchharia objects to Kapoor using designation of Jet Airways CEO Civil aviation sector to employ 100,000 more people by 2024: Ministry Bhopal gas tragedy: SC expresses concern over non-payment of compensation Companies protest WHO guidelines to increase taxes on soft drinks Govt extends RBI deputy governor Michael Patra's tenure by one year Petrol blended with 20% ethanol from April 1, says Hardeep Singh Puri Rs 4,276-crore indigenous weapons get a green signal from MoD

In an ongoing case in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the lenders have stated that JKC has not fulfilled three out of five conditions precedent (CP) mentioned in the NCLT-approved resolution plan and therefore, Jet Airways can't be handed over to JKC right now. This contention by the lenders is confusing because a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order of October 21 has stated that JKC has completed all necessary CPs to the satisfaction of the monitoring committee.


AIADMK former interim general secretary and close aide of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, V.K. Sasikala has urged the Tamil Nadu government to buy Sugarcane of all sizes for the Pongal gift hampers.

She said that the state government had put the size of sugarcane to be bought in for Pongal gift hampers at 6 feet which was not feasible.

Sasikala said that the size of the sugarcane is based on the soil from where it was grown and that it was not in the hands of the farmers. The former AIADMK general secretary said that the government must not stick to the fixing of the size of sugarcane and buy sugarcane of all sizes from the farmers. It is to be noted that the state government was buying sugarcane from farmers at a rate of Rs 33 per piece.

In a statement on Tuesday, the former interim general secretary of the AIADMK said that the DMK government was stalling all the pro-people projects initiated by the previous AIADMK governments of MGR and J. Jayalalithaa.

She also charged that the DMK men were indulging in rowdyism and that this was not acceptable. The former aide of Jayalalithaa said that during the regime of Jayalalithaa, the government had taken stern action even if AIADMK men were involved in any malpractices.

Sasikala alleged that "if people don't pay 'hafta' or protection money to the DMK men, no activities, including construction is not allowed".

Also Read Sasikala opposes power tariff hike in TN, says it will affect people Jayalalithaa death case: Troubles continue for V K Sasikala in Tamil Nadu OPS, EPS, AIADMK: Fight and factions in Tamil Nadu party explained Movement of illegal drugs rampant under DMK rule, says AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa death probe: Ready to face all enquiries, says Sasikala Women work harder than men, finds anthropological study in rural China Tourism industry in Joshimath is going down with the 'sinking' town Loan fraud case: Chanda Kochhar, her husband released from jail in Mumbai Air India will have to wait till March to implement new HR policy: Report Bharat Jodo Yatra resumes from Haryana's Ambala amid dense fog, biting cold

She called upon the state government to be more people-friendly and said that the government must take stringent action against anyone who was indulging in violence.

--IANS

aal/dpb




A constitution bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha will hear the matter.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Uddhav Thackeray group, told the bench that he would argue on the correctness of Nabam Rebia's judgment. He also said that to do so the matter has to be examined by a seven-judge bench. CJI Chandrachud said it was for the 5-judge bench to decide whether the matter should be referred to a larger bench. The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will start hearing on February 14 the pleas on the political crisis triggered by Shiv Sena rivals -- Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray groups.A constitution bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha will hear the matter.



CJI DY Chandrachud on Tuesday said that they can start the Maharashtra matter on February 14 and take the Assam(the Citizenship Act case) matter after that. In Nabam Rebia, a five-judge bench ruled that a Speaker cannot initiate disqualification proceedings when a resolution seeking his removal is pending. On July 13, 2016, a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices JS Khehar, Dipak Misra, MB Lokur, PC Ghose, and NV Ramana unanimously held that the Governors powers to summon, dissolve and advance a session are within the scope of judicial review.

Issues outlined

The three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justice Krishna Murari, and Justice Hima Kohli, who had referred the petitions to the Constitution Bench, had framed the eleven issues for its consideration. Some of them included whether the notice of removal of the speaker restricts him/her from continuing the disqualification proceedings under Schedule X of the Indian Constitution as held by the Court in Nabam Rebia; what is the status of proceedings in the House during the pendency of disqualification petitions against the members; what is the interplay concerning the provisions of the Tenth Schedule; and the power of the governor to invite a person to form the government and whether the same is amenable to judicial review.

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Background

Earlier this year, the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra that comprised the Shiv Sena, the NCP, and the Congress collapsed after Sena MLA Eknath Shinde(now CM of Maharashtra) and 39 other legislators rebelled against the party's leadership. This later led to the division in the Shiv Sena with one faction headed by Thackeray and the other by Shinde.



On August 23, a three-judge bench of the top court headed by then Chief Justice N V Ramana referred the matter to a five-judge bench raising several related to defection, merger, and disqualification. The political crisis in the state escalated after the rebellion in the Sena and on June 29, the apex court refused to stay the direction of the Maharashtra governor to the 31-month-old MVA government to take a floor test in the assembly to prove its majority after which Thackeray quit office.

The top court directed the Election Commission not to pass any orders on the Shinde faction's plea that it should be considered the real Shiv Sena and be granted the party's poll symbol.


Google challenges CCI's Android antitrust ruling in Supreme Court

Google has filed a legal challenge in India's Supreme Court to block a ruling by the country's antitrust watchdog that will force the U.S. company to change how it markets its Android platform, court records showed on Saturday.

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Centre to fully exit IDBI Bank once it gets 'upside value': Dipam secy The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October fined the Alphabet Inc unit $161 million for exploiting its dominant position in the market for Android, which powers 97% of smartphones in India and is a key growth region for the U.S. giant.



Read more... He said the government would make a complete exit from IDBI Bank when it received the upside value on the remaining stake after acquisition. The government will soon notify the exemption period for meeting the public-shareholding norm for the prospective owner of IDBI Bank, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey told Business Standard.

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The tourism industry forms 70 per cent of the towns economy. The town sees a footfall of close to millions of devotees every year, while generating allied jobs for the residents. Most of the hotels in Joshimath have closed their operations, some said they are already operating incurring operational losses. Joshimath is looking at a long winter as locals flee and tourism falls to almost zero with the area witnessing an ecological crisis. A town of 17,000 people with more than 50 hotels, has been declared disaster-prone by the government. Usually considered a motel town for all those travelling to key tourist destinations including the revered Badrinath and Hemkunt Sahib, Joshimath is now witnessing the slow death of its key business.



Though Dimri is worried how he will pay wages to his 15 people staff he is hopeful that the starting of Badrinath Yatra in April will give momentum to the industry again. A lot depends on how much Joshimath sinks, Dimri says. Shrikant Dimri, owner, Hotel Mount View Joshimath says, The winter season is ruined for the industry, revenue has plummeted over 80 per cent for the majority of the hotel owners. No new tourists are coming now. Dimri has closed operations at his hotel.



While speaking to Business Standard, a district tourism development officer from Chamoli district said the tourism industry has taken a severe hit. Not just hotels but all the small businesses associated with the tourism industry are looking at a hiatus. According to State Tourism ministry data in 2021, over 165,000 visited Joshimath town. However, more than half a million tourists went through the town to visit destinations like Badrinath, Auli, and Hemkund Sahib, etc.

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Though, experts panel has reached Joshimath to examine affected areas, as of now, there is no evidence available clearing the reasons behind this disaster in Joshimath. On industry's demand for government support the official said, Currently, the focus is on evacuation, that (discussion with industry) will happen at a later stage. Around 60 families have been evacuated till yet from Joshimath.



Experts have blamed unplanned infrastructure development, including hydropower projects, for the alarming situation. Ranjit Sinha, Disaster Management Secretary while speaking to media on Monday said, All we know is land can not bear the load. Our relief work is still on & until then there will be no construction work done at the location. 



Uttarakhand has more than 1,000 hotels and tourist stays. The average cover per restaurant in Uttarakhand is about 30 and the average employment per establishment is 5.5. The Joshimath incident could also leave a blot on the image of Uttarakhand which is a key tourist attraction - both religious and leisure. The state government in recent years had done aggressive media campaigns for its tourism industry. Some of the noted tourist destinations in the state include  Gaumukh, Yamunotri, Gangoti, Badrinath, Hemkund, Kedarnath, Uttarkashi, Mussoorie, Haridwar, Nainital, etc.



With the inclusion of indirect shares pertaining to linkages of tourism with other sectors of the economy, these shares work out to 6.59 per cent in GVA and 26.8 per cent in employment. According to a report by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in 2019, tourism is estimated to contribute 2.96 percent directly to Uttarakhand's Gross Value Added (GVA) and 11.8 per cent to the state employment.
The authorities on Tuesday started the demolition process of two hotels -- Malari Inn and Mount View -- which have leaned towards each other due to the sinking in Uttarakhand's Joshimath.

Two JCBs, a big crane and two tipper trucks, along with 60 labourers were brought to the site for the demolition.

Manikant Mishra, commandant, State Disaster Response Force said, "Of the two hotels, Malari Inn will be demolished in a step-wise manner today. First of all, the top portion will be demolished. It is being done because both the hotels have tilted and have come very close to each other due to the sinking."

"Their demolition is essential because there are several houses and hotels around, if these two sink any further they can collapse. So, experts decided to demolish them. CBRI experts are coming, they conducted a survey yesterday and now they'll give more technical info on the same," Mishra added.

Thakur Singh Rana, the owner of Hotel Malari Inn, said, "I did not receive any notice from the administration. I am with the government's decision to demolish my hotel in public interest. But I should have got notice before that."

The work of razing the dilapidated buildings, which have been declared unsafe to live in, has also started.

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According to Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Sinha, the buildings are being systematically demolished. The ones which have more cracks are being demolished first. Unsafe buildings will be demolished first. The help of explosives is not being taken to demolish the buildings. Under the supervision of CBRI scientists, a PWD team is demolishing the buildings with mechanical techniques.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Defence, Ajay Bhatt reached here, and is holding a meeting with officials at the Army base regarding the situation in the area in Joshimath.

So far 678 houses have developed cracks due to land subsidence in Joshimath. Not only this, even the roads have caved in at many places. Water is continuously gushing from under the ground.

On Monday, Ranjit Kumar Sinha said, "The situation at Joshimath, where over 600 houses, several pathways and structures have developed cracks, was triggered by loosening of soil and its low-bearing capacity."

--IANS

smita/uk/


The decision to declare it a landslide and subsidence-hit zone was reached during the high-level meeting which took place among the top officials of the Central government, the state government officials, and officers from agencies like the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH). Joshimath, Uttarakhand on Sunday was declared as a landslide and subsidence hit zone by the authorities. The development comes almost a week after the cracks started appearing in many roads and houses of Joshimath.



As the Joshimath crisis looks far from being over, here is an explainer on what might have led to the cracks in Joshimath and what is land subsidence. While many refused to vacate their homes and blamed the construction activities for these cracks, according to a report published in The Indian Express, as many as 68 families have been evacuated to relief centres till Sunday. The report also suggests that nearly 90 families will be evacuated soon.

What is land subsidence?

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) defines land subsidence as the sinking of the ground because of underground material movement.

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Reasons behind Joshimath crisis The sinking can take place owing to a variety of reasons, including, the removal of water, oil, or natural resources, along with mining activities. Earthquakes, soil erosion, and soil compaction.



According to media reports, the 50-year-old MC Mishra committee report first highlighted the possibility of such an incident occurring. The MC Mishra committee report stated that Joshimath was situated on an old landslide zone, and it does not have high-load bearing capacity. This makes the city extremely vulnerable to ever-burgeoning infrastructure and population. While the exact cause of land subsidence in Joshimath is uncertain, experts have suggested that it might have occurred because of unplanned construction activities, overpopulation in the region, and obstruction of the natural flow of water and hydel power activities. Joshimath is also a seismic zone, which makes it prone to frequent earthquakes.



Many residents have also blamed state-owned NTPC's Tapovan Vishnugad Hydro Power Project for the incident and have alleged that the tunnel had water seepage from a punctured aquifer, leading to the drying of water sources in Joshimath. Moreover, a lack of a proper drainage system might have also contributed to the sinking of Joshimath. According to the experts, unplanned and unauthorised construction led to the blocking of the natural flow of water, which eventually results in frequent landslides.

NTPC, however, denied the allegations and in a statement, said, the tunnel built by NTPC does not pass under Joshimath town. This tunnel is dug by a tunnel boring machine (TBM) and no blasting is being carried out presently
The defence ministry on Tuesday approved three procurement proposals, including that of Helina anti-tank guided missiles, at a total cost of Rs 4,276 crore to bolster the combat capabilities of the armed forces along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.

The procurement proposals were cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

The DAC, which is the defence ministry's highest decision making body on acquisition, also gave a go ahead for procurement of a batch of VSHORAD missiles to boost the air defence system along the LAC.

While two procurement proposals were for the Army, the third one was for the Indian Navy.

The defence ministry said the DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for three capital acquisition proposals, amounting to Rs 4,276 crore.

"The DAC accorded AoN for procurement of Helina anti-tank guided missiles, launchers and associated support equipment which will be integrated to the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH)," it said.

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This missile is an essential part of weaponisation of ALH for countering enemy threats.

"Its induction will strengthen the offensive capability of the Indian Army," the ministry said in a statement.

It said the DAC also accorded AoN for procurement of VSHORAD missile system under design and development by DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation).

"In view of the recent developments along the Northern borders there is a need to focus on effective Air Defence (AD) weapon systems which are man portable and can be deployed quickly in rugged terrain and maritime domain," it said.

The ministry said procurement of VSHORAD, as a robust and quickly deployable system, will strengthen the air defence capabilities.

"Further, the DAC granted approval for procurement of Brahmos Launcher and Fire Control System (FCS) for the Shivalik class of ships and next generation missile vessels (NGMVs) for the Indian Navy," it said.

"With their induction, these ships would have enhanced capability of carrying out maritime strike operations, interdicting and destroying enemy's warships and merchant vessels," the ministry added.

India has been bolstering its overall combat capabilities along the LAC in view of the eastern Ladakh border standoff.

Last month, the defence ministry approved the procurement of a number of military platforms and weapons including light tanks, anti-ship missiles and long range guided bombs at a cost of Rs 84,328 crore.


The scheme will provide additional incentives for manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who incorporate Indian-designed IP into their systems and products. The government will soon launch a new production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme aimed at supporting manufacturers of IT hardware and computer servers, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Tuesday.



The centre is focusing on boosting semiconductor and electronics manufacturing with an aim to grow Indias share in the $3 trillion global electronics industry. The ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) has previously announced a nearly $10 billion PLI scheme to encourage semiconductor and display manufacturing in the country. It aims to have domestic electronics hardware manufacturing worth $300 billion and $120 billion in exports by 2026. With increasing digitalisation around the world, there has been an increase in the demand for products as well as talent. The supply chains are also being redesigned around concepts of trust and innovation and not on lines of price and efficiency as was done earlier. These are exciting times for all professionals connected to these sectors, the minister said.



VLSI (Very-large-scale integration) refers to a process in which millions of MOS transistors are combined and integrated on a single semiconductor microchip. VLSI circuits are widely used across electronic products from personal computers to medical electronics systems. Chandrasekhar was virtually addressing a gathering of over 2,000 engineers, students, faculty members, industry experts and representatives, academia, researchers, bureaucrats and government bodies as part of the 36th International Conference on VLSI Design and the 22nd International Conference on Embedded Systems in Hyderabad.

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Prior to 2014, Indias digital economy was limited to the tech services industry manned by a few companies. In 2022 however, the digital and technological ecosystem has significantly been re-architected and diversified covering the full scope of innovation and technology. Indias Techade is not just about the future of the internet or direct-to-consumer technology but just as much about Electronics and Semiconductors, the minister said at the conference. The minister said by 2024 Indian startups will work with global majors and develop IP and devices that are either co-owned or owned by them with the support from the Semicon India Future Design program. He added that the country is working hard to develop global standard capabilities in the Semiconductor design, manufacturing and packaging ecosystem.


As part of the shift, Apple also aims to ready its first cellular modem chip by the end of 2024 or early 2025, letting it swap out electronics from Qualcomm Inc., said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. Apple had been previously expected to replace the Qualcomm part as soon as this year, but development snags have pushed back the timeline. Apple Inc.s push to replace the chips inside its devices with homegrown components will include dropping a key Broadcom Inc. part in 2025, according to people familiar with the situation, dealing a blow to one of its biggest suppliers.



Shares of Broadcom fell as much as 4.7% on the news before paring their decline. The shares closed at $576.89, down 2%. Qualcomm slid as much as 1.6% before closing at $114.61, down 0.6%. Apple rose 0.4% to $130.15. Apple is Broadcoms largest customer and accounted for about 20% of the chipmakers revenue in the last fiscal year, amounting to almost $7 billion. Qualcomm got 22% of its annual sales from the iPhone maker, representing nearly $10 billion, though that company has warned for years that its Apple reliance will wane.





The moves will further upend a chip industry that makes billions of dollars supplying Apple components. Already, the worlds most valuable tech company has removed most Intel Corp. processors from its Mac computers, opting instead to use in-house chips known as Apple Silicon. Now the changes are hitting the biggest makers of wireless electronics. The moves will further upend a chip industry that makes billions of dollars supplying Apple components. Already, the worlds most valuable tech company has removed most Intel Corp. processors from its Mac computers, opting instead to use in-house chips known as Apple Silicon. Now the changes are hitting the biggest makers of wireless electronics.

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Apple is developing an in-house replacement for that chip and is aiming to start using it in its devices in 2025, the people said. In addition, its already working on a follow-up version that will combine cellular modem, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities into a single component. The iPhone is Apples top moneymaker, generating more than half of its $394.3 billion in revenue last year. The phone also has helped fuel growth at Broadcom, which refers to Apple as its large North American customer during earnings calls. The chipmaker makes a combined component that handles both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functions on Apple devices.



Broadcom still supplies Apple with other components  including radio-frequency chips and ones that handle wireless charging  though the iPhone maker has been working on customizing those parts as well. A representative for Cupertino, California-based Apple declined to comment. Broadcom didnt have an immediate comment.



We believe we have the best technology and delivering value to our customers, he said. Theres no reason to find something else where youre not the best. During a conference call last month, Broadcom Chief Executive Officer Hock Tan expressed confidence that his company will maintain its foothold at Apple.



In November, the chipmaker said it expected to supply the vast majority of modems for the 2023 iPhone launch, up from a previous assumption of just 20%. Beyond this, there are no changes to our planning assumption, and we are assuming minimal contribution from Apple product revenues in fiscal 25, Qualcomm said. Qualcomm declined to comment beyond pointing to previous remarks that the company has made on the topic.



But the swap hasnt been easy so far. After aiming to launch its own cellular modem by this year, the company faced problems with overheating, battery life and getting the component validated. The iPhone currently works with more than 100 wireless carriers in over 175 countries, which necessities a lengthy and cumbersome testing process. With the shift away from Qualcomm modems, Apple plans to initially just use its homegrown component in one new product, such as a high-end iPhone model. It will then gradually move away from Qualcomm modems during a period it anticipates will take about three years  similar to how it handled past transitions.



The long transition also could put Apple in a tricky position. The company will still need to rely on Qualcomm for several years as it replaces the component in various devices. A cellular modem is what allows iPhones to handle phone calls and connect to the internet while away from Wi-Fi, making it the most critical part of the device for most people. If Apples offering is inferior to Qualcomms component, it could put the companys flagship product at a significant disadvantage.



Read more: Apple builds team in new office to make wireless chips Apple first started work on its modem around 2018, opening an office in San Diego near Qualcomms headquarters. To speed up development, the company acquired Intels modem unit in 2019 for $1 billion and opened additional offices in key areas known for wireless technology development.



Apple and Qualcomm were embroiled in a legal war over royalties and patents related to modems until a settlement in 2019. At the time, Apple deemed the truce necessary to bring 5G support to the iPhone in 2020. The companies agreed that Qualcomm would supply parts to Apple through 2024. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip effort is newer, and a release will take longer. But Apple has already made some wireless chips in the past, including the H2 processor found in AirPods and the W3 chip found in Apple Watches.



In 2020, Apple said it was spending a total of $15 billion on purchases of Broadcom chips in an arrangement running through the middle of 2023. But despite Apple being Broadcoms top customer, Tans commitment to the market has occasionally wavered. Prior to the 2020 agreement, Tan indicated that Broadcom might divest the business that supplies chips to Apple. Apple also has had a strained relationship with Broadcom. Tan, the chipmakers CEO, has a reputation for tough negotiations and forced some customers to commit to noncancelable orders during the pandemic-fueled supply crunch.
Brazilian authorities said Monday that they were looking into who may have been behind the shocking uprising that sent protesters storming into the nation's halls of power in a riot that had striking similarities to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

In an unprecedented display for Latin America's largest nation, thousands of supporters of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro swarmed into Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace on Sunday. Many of them said they wanted the Brazilian army to restore the far-right Bolsonaro to power and oust the newly inaugurated leftist president, Luiz Incio Lula da Silva.

Also on Monday, police broke down a pro-Bolsonaro encampment outside a military building and detained some 1,200 people there, the justice ministry's press office told The Associated Press. The federal police press office said the force already plans to indict roughly 1,000 people.

Lula and the heads of the Supreme Court, Senate and Lower House signed a letter that denounced the attack and said were taking legal measures.

Justice Minister Flvio Dino told reporters that police have begun tracking those who paid for the buses that transported protesters to the capital. Speaking Monday at a news conference, he said rioters apparently intended for their displays to create a domino effect nationwide, and that they could be charged with a range of offenses, including organized crime, staging a coup and violent abolition of the democratic rule of law.

We think that the worst is over," Dino said, adding that the government is now focused on punishing lawbreakers and those who enabled them. We cannot and will not compromise in fulfilling our legal duties, because this fulfillment is essential so such events do not repeat themselves.

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Rioters wearing the green and yellow of the national flag broke windows, toppled furniture and hurled computers and printers to the ground. They punched holes in a massive Emiliano Di Cavalcanti painting at the presidential palace and destroyed other works of art. They overturned the U-shaped table where Supreme Court justices convene, ripped a door off one justice's office and vandalized a statue outside the court. The buildings' interiors were left in ruins.

Monday's detainments came in addition to the 300 people who were arrested Sunday during the riot.

Police were noticeably slow to react even after the arrival of more than 100 buses leading many to question whether authorities had either simply ignored numerous warnings, underestimated the protesters' strength or been somehow complicit.

Prosecutors in the capital said local security forces were negligent at the very least. A supreme court justice temporarily suspended the regional governor. Another justice blamed authorities for not swiftly cracking down on budding neofascism in Brazil.

After his Oct. 30 electoral defeat, Bolsonaro, who has gone to Florida, has been stoking belief among his hardcore supporters that the nation's electronic voting system was prone to fraud, though he never presented any evidence. His lawmaker son Eduardo Bolsonaro held several meetings with former U.S. President Donald Trump, Trump's longtime ally Steve Bannon and his senior campaign adviser, Jason Miller.

By early afternoon Monday, the remaining Bolsonaro supporters dissipated as word spread that he was hospitalized in Florida with abdominal pain. His condition wasn't clear, but a photo published by Brazilian newspaper O Globo showed him smiling from a hospital bed. He has been hospitalized multiple times since surviving a stabbing in 2018. A hospital spokesperson did not immediately respond to a phone call and text message.

In a joint statement issued from Mexico City, U.S. President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador and and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the attack "on Brazil's democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power.

Results from Brazil's election the closest in over three decades were quickly recognized by politicians across the spectrum, including some Bolsonaro allies, as well as dozens of governments. And Bolsonaro surprised nearly everyone by promptly fading from view. He neither conceded defeat nor emphatically cried fraud, though he and his party submitted a request to nullify millions of votes that was swiftly dismissed.

Since 1996, Brazilians have used an electronic voting system that security experts consider less secure than hand-marked paper ballots because the system leaves no auditable paper trail. But Brazil's system is closely scrutinized, and domestic authorities and international observers have never found evidence of it being exploited to commit fraud.

Still, Bolsonaro's supporters refused to accept the results. They blocked roads and remained camped outside military buildings, urging the armed forces to intervene.
Canada will spend billions to purchase 88 F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin Corp. in a deal announced Monday that aims to end years of deliberations over its aging fleet and fulfill obligations to defend North America's air space.

The first four aircraft are anticipated to be delivered in 2026 with full operational capacity for the fleet expected between 2032 and 2034.

The government has budgeted about $19 billion Canadian (US$15 billion) for the purchase in what is the largest investment in the Royal Canadian Air Force in more than 30 years. Each jet costs about US$85 million. The full life cycle of the program is expected to cost $70 billion (US$52 billion).

Canada has a close defense relationship with the United States, which includes joint missions over North American air space. Canada also has obligations under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The announcement comes as Trudeau is set to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the North American Leaders' Summit in Mexico.

The government said last year Lockheed Martin's F-35 was deemed to be the top-ranked bidder for a new fighter jet to replace aging F-18s, deciding against Boeing's Super Hornet. Meanwhile Canada purchased some Australian F-18s to help extend the life of the Canadian F-18 program until 2032.

Before becoming prime minister, Trudeau had said Canada wouldn't buy the F-35. A former Conservative Canadian government had announced the purchase of the F-35 in 2010 but Trudeau's Liberal government delayed that purchase and opened up the bidding to competition.

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As our world grows darker with Russia's illegal and unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine, and China's increasingly assertive behavior in the Indo-Pacific, this project has taken on heightened significance especially the importance of interoperability with our allies, Defense Minister Anita Anand.

We need to ensure that especially in this changing global strategic environment we are that we are fulfilling our obligations to NORAD and to NATO.

Asked about the Liberals change in position, Anand said: The aircraft has matured. And we see now that many of our allies, eight countries in particular, are using the F-35.

Lockheed Martin in a statement said a total of nine nations are currently operating F-35s, with more than 890 jets in service today.

Last month, German lawmakers gave the go-ahead for the purchase of 35 F-35 fighter jets.

Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said it was inevitable that Canada would opt for the F-35, especially since many other western allies have bought the F-35.

The Liberals opposed the purchase a few years ago when they were in opposition. They did so because the Conservative government favored it," Wiseman said. "Unlike Americans, Canadians generally oppose increased defense spending and the F-35 is expensive. The proposed purchase received public blowback when the Conservatives were in office and the Liberals wanted to capitalize on it, she said.

Wiseman said Biden will welcome the investment F-35s are made in Fort Worth, Texas but the U.S. has been expecting it for some time so it won't be a surprise to Biden. Maintaining and operating the jets should involve 3,300 jobs and add $425 million annually to Canada's GDP, the Canadian government said.

Canada's decision to buy the F-35 was welcomed by U.S. Air Force Lt.-Gen. Mike Schmidt, the senior American officer responsible for managing the stealth fighter project out of the Pentagon.

Canada is our friend and a close ally, Schmidt said in a statement. The F-35 is the best in the world, providing unmatched interoperability to America, Canada and the additional 15 nations that have selected the fighter. It is a global game-changer.
Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) firm Cyient DLM Ltd has filed preliminary papers with capital markets regulator Sebi to raise Rs 740 crore through an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The initial share-sale is purely a fresh issue of equity share with no Offer-For-Sale (OFS) component, according to the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP).

The company may consider issuance of securities aggregating up to Rs 148 crore in a pre-IPO placement round.

Funds raised through the IPO would be utilised for funding incremental capital requirements, capital expenditure, debt payment, achieving inorganic growth through acquisitions as well as for general corporate purposes.

Cyient DLM, a subsidiary of Cyient, is the leading integrated EMS and solutions provider with a focus on the entire life cycle of a product, including design, build and maintenance. It has three state manufacturing facilities in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mysore.

The India EMS is a sizable industry, contributing to 2.2 per cent (USD 20 billion) of the global EMS market in 2022. India's EMS industry is the fastest growing among all countries at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 32.3 per cent and is expected to contribute 7 per cent (USD 80 billion) of the global EMS market in 2026, as per the draft papers.

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The expansion of India's EMS industry is being fuelled by a variety of factors. Significant reasons driving the growth are raising labour costs in other parts of the world and a trend among large OEMs to outsource manufacturing rather than invest in their own infrastructure, it added.

Axis Capital and JM Financial are the book running lead managers to the issue and the equity shares of the company will be listed on the BSE and NSE.
Russian oil company Lukoil said Monday that it has reached an agreement for the sale of a refinery plant in Sicily, where thousands of workers have been fearing job losses due to the European embargo on Russian oil.

A company statement said that the sale of the ISAB Srl refinery to G.O.I Energy is planned to be completed by the end of March pending various approvals by authorities, particularly the Italian government.

The refinery employs 3,500 people and indirectly supports the jobs of 6,500 others. The workers at the refinery protested in late 2022, fearing for their future as a consequence of the embargo imposed because of Russia's war against Ukraine.

About 20% of Italy's oil is refined at the plant.

Lukoil said that under the agreement the new owner will retain jobs and ensure health and safety conditions. It noted that G.O.I. Energy investors own a majority stake in Bazan Group, which operates Israel's largest integrated refining and petrochemical facility.

No financial details of the agreement were immediately released.

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Lukoil said that "for the efficient operation of the complex after its acquisition, G.O.I. Energy formed a partnership with Trafigura, an international trader of oil and petroleum products.
An Indian-origin man has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Fort Bend Toll Road Authority and the Grand Parkway Toll Road authority in the US state of Texas.

Swapan Dhairyawan, 57, was appointed last week based on his background, community outreach, and financial expertise.

I am proud to appoint Dhairyawan to the Grand Parkway Tollway Board of Directors, Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers said.

He is a Certified Public Accountant and understands the importance of being a good steward of the people's money, he added.

As a Director of the autonomous body, Dhairyawan will oversee the maintenance, expansion, budget, and economic impact for the county.

I am thankful to Commissioner Andy Meyers Precinct 3 for nominating me for this position at the Fort bend Commissioners Court, and I am looking forward to engaging and working for substantive results. The Tollways not only connect people but they are an economic engine for the neighbourhood which gets enriched abundantly," Dhairyawan told PTI.

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Dhairyawan was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award by the India Culture Center of Houston during the 75th-anniversary celebrations of India's Independence Day last year.

He immigrated to the United States in 1999 after completing his Bachelor in Commerce and Economics in 1986 and a Master's in Advanced Accounting and Auditing in 1988 from Mumbai University. He also completed a professional cost and management accountant's degree from the Institute of Costs and Works Accountants of India in Calcutta in 1990.

Later he received his Certified Public Accountant license from the Texas State Board in 2004 and started his practice, MD & Associates LLP. His practice focuses on accounting and tax services for small and mid-size businesses.

Dhairyawan has been actively associated with various non-profit and major community organisations, including the India Culture Centre (ICC) of Houston, Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston, International Hindi Association, Foundation for India Studies (FIS), Indian American Conservatives of Texas, Hindus of Greater Houston and Society of Indo American Arts, and Indian Muslims Association of Greater Houston.
Speaker of Iran's Parliament said that former US President Donald Trump and all his "accomplices" must be held legally accountable for the assassination of late military commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020.

The "criminal act" of assassinating Soleimani was a "flagrant and absolute instance of state terrorism", Xinhua news agency quoted Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf as saying at the 13th session of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly in Turkey on Monday.

A US drone strike on a convoy killed Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, along with an Iraqi militia commander near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.

In a public address here on January 3 to mark Soleimani's second death anniversary, President Ebrahim Raisi said that Trump and former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo must be "prosecuted for their criminal activity" through a fair mechanism, warning Iran's revenge in case those involved in and behind the "criminal act" are not punished.

Over the weekend, Iran's Foreign Ministry announced that it had blacklisted 51 more US individuals for their "roles" Soleimani's assassination.

Some of the names in the latest list include Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and former National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien,.

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Trump and Pompeo were previously listed.

Last week, Chairman of the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council Faiq Zidane said the council had issued an arrest warrant for Trump over the assassination of Soleimani and Muhandis.

--IANS

ksk/


Reuters reported on Friday that China was in talks with Pfizer to secure a license that will allow domestic drugmakers to manufacture and distribute a generic version of the U.S. firm's COVID-19 antiviral drug Paxlovid in China.

Pfizer Inc is not in talks with Chinese authorities to license a generic version of its COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid for use there, but is in discussions about a price for the branded product, Chief Executive Albert Bourla said on Monday.



Bourla said the company had shipped thousands of courses of the treatment in 2022 to China and in the past couple of weeks, had increased that to millions. Referring to that report, Bourla speaking at J.P. Morgan's healthcare conference in San Francisco, said "We are not in discussions. We have an agreement already for local manufacturing of Paxlovid in China. So we have a local partner that will make Paxlovid for us, and then we will sell it to the Chinese market."



On Sunday, China's Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) said that the country would not include Paxlovid in an update to its list of medicines covered by basic medical insurance schemes as the U.S. firm quoted a high price for the COVID-19 drug. The drug is currently covered by China's broad healthcare insurance scheme under temporary measures until the end of March.

On Sunday, China's Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) said that the country would not include Paxlovid in an update to its list of medicines covered by basic medical insurance schemes as the U.S. firm quoted a high price for the COVID-19 drug.

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"They are the second highest economy in the world and I don't think that they should pay less than El Salvador," Bourla said. Bourla said that talks with China on future pricing for the treatment had broken off after China had asked for a lower price than Pfizer is charging for most lower middle income countries.



A box of Paxlovid, used for a single course of treatment, is changing hands for as much as 50,000 yuan ($7,313), according to local media reports and social media posts, more than 20 times the original price of around 2,000 yuan.

Infections have spiralled since China pivoted away from its strict "zero COVID" policy last month, prompting a shortage of flu medicines and COVID drugs.



Some Chinese media reported that Pfizer had lowered the price of Paxlovid to 600 yuan in the negotiations, triggering a wave of criticism and questions on social media as to why Chinese regulators had not accepted that price.

The failure of the talks to include Pfizer in the list of medicines covered by basic state health insurance generated heated discussions on Chinese social media on Monday.



Pfizer declined to comment on the Chinese media reports about the price it quoted during the negotiations. NHSA did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment on the negotiations.

A separate report by financial magazine Caixin on Monday cited unnamed sources as saying that Pfizer had not lowered its price significantly beyond the 1,890 yuan it currently charges Chinese hospitals.



"It is not a secret that U.S. capital forces have already accumulated quite a fortune from the world via selling vaccines and drugs, and the U.S. government has been coordinating all along. There is no so-called human right, but monopoly," it said.

China's state media Global Times accused Pfizer of trying to profiteer from China's COVID battle in an opinion piece on Monday.



Bourla said the removal from the list would not have an effect on the company's business there until April and the company could end up selling only to the private market in China.

"If they do care about it (epidemic in China), why don't Pfizer drop some pursuit of the profit, and cooperate with China with a little more sincerity?"



Bourla said production is gearing up in China and progress has been made that may allow it to start manufacturing in the first half of the year, ahead of its year-end internal estimate.

Pfizer signed a deal in August for Chinese drugmaker Zhejiang Huahai to produce Paxlovid in mainland China solely for patients there.

(Reporting by Michael Erman in New York, Brenda Goh in Shanghai, Sophie Yu in Beijing; Editing by Sandra Maler, Christopher Cushing and Muralikumar Anantharaman)


Action should be taken to prevent leading officials from acting for any interest group or power group, and to forestall any collusion between officials and businesspeople, Xi told a meeting of anti-corruption regulators on Monday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned officials against colluding with the business world, underscoring that his governments crackdown on the private sector will remain a concern for investors despite efforts to boost the economy.



Xis government has recently eased up on a regulatory crackdown on tech giants like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., helping their shares rebound. Yet questions remain over how far that approach will go given Xi has also pledged to ensure common prosperity, in part by reining in wealthy special interests. He also warned against any infiltration of capital into politics that undermines the political ecosystem or the environment for economic development.



Last year, the anti-corruption officials broke up what they called a political clique led by former police official Sun Lijun, who was sentenced to what amounts to life in prison for taking bribes and other crimes. Xi has made reining in graft a central aspect of his leadership of the worlds second-biggest economy over the past decade. That approach has been popular with the public and also served to weed out potential threats to his rule.

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Economic Measures

The message that graft cannot be allowed to thrive in the Chinese political system is one that Xi delivers regularly. In December, just after securing a third term in power, Xi said the country had achieved an overwhelming victory in its battle against corruption but added that the work was far from over.



Those policies had led to public anger, with widespread protests erupting in late November, though the government has insisted its policy changes were underway before the demonstrations erupted. Xis latest call to continue with the campaign comes as his government abandons its Covid Zero approach toward the coronavirus. On Sunday, China opened borders that had been largely closed for nearly three years, after earlier doing away with quarantine camps, mass testing and snap lockdowns.

With covid rules loosening, the government is stepping up efforts to bolster the economy. China is considering a record quota for local government bonds and widening the budget deficit. The economy is forecast to expand by 4.8% this year, compared with little growth in the US and a potential contraction in the Eurozone, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The US has accused a former military pilot of illegally training Chinese military pilots, and is trying to extradite him from Australia.

But the pilot's lawyer says his client has been unfairly singled out because of the current geopolitical struggle between the US and China.

Pilot Daniel Duggan, 54, has been held in an Australian jail since his October arrest. Duggan's lawyer Dennis Miralis said outside a Sydney courtroom Tuesday that Duggan denies the allegations and will continue to fight the extradition process at every step.

Australia's Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus last month approved the US extradition request. But before the extradition can proceed, a judge must first determine whether Duggan is eligible for extradition under Australian law.

Miralis said the US Department of Defence had acknowledged there were other people helping foreign militaries but that the US and Australia had singled out Duggan for extradition.

We are concerned that this does highlight the political nature of what's occurring here, Miralis told reporters.

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A 2016 indictment from the US District Court in Washington, D.C., was recently unsealed. In it, prosecutors say Duggan was an officer in the US Marine Corps and a naval aviator. They say Duggan conspired with others to provide training to Chinese military pilots in 2010 and 2012, and possibly at other times, without applying for an appropriate license.

Prosecutors say Duggan received about nine payments totaling about 88,000 Australian dollars (USD 61,000) and international travel from another conspirator for what was sometimes described as Personal Development Training.

The indictment says Duggan travelled to the US, China and South Africa, and provided some training to Chinese pilots in South Africa.

Miralis said Duggan contests and denies the allegations.

It should be remembered that Mr. Duggan is presumed to be innocent under US law. He's presumed to be innocent under Australian law, Miralis said.

Miralis said his client faced inhumane and unacceptable living conditions at the Silverwater Correctional Complex, where he was being held with convicted felons and was designated an extreme high-risk inmate.

Mr. Duggan remains under extraordinary stress as a result of the current restrictions, Miralis said.

He said Duggan hadn't been able to see his six children since he was taken into custody three months ago.

Duggan said in his LinkedIn profile that in 2017 he became general manager of AVIBIZ Limited, a comprehensive consultancy company with a focus on the fast growing and dynamic Chinese Aviation Industry. AVIBIZ is based in Qingdao, a city in eastern Shandong province.

Duggan said he spent 13 years in the US Marine Corps until 2002. He became an AV-8B Harrier fighter pilot and an instructor pilot during his service.

He lived in Australia from 2005 to 2014, founding and becoming chief pilot of Top Gun Tasmania, a business based in Tasmania state that offered joy flights in a British military jet trainer BAC Jet Provost, and a Chinese military propeller-driven trainer CJ-6A Nanchang.

He moved to Beijing in 2014. It is not clear whether he continued to live in China or what he was doing in Australia when he was arrested.

The US has had an extradition treaty with Australia since 1976.


It has set a target price of Rs 512 on the scrip, which implies 24 per cent upside from current levels. Shares of Tata Motors surged 7 per cent in Tuesday's intra-day trade before settling at Rs 413 apiece, up 6 per cent. Those of Tata Motors DVR closed 3.65 per cent higher. Global brokerage CLSA, on Tuesday, upgraded Tata Motors' stock to 'Buy' on the back of its belief that recovery in Jaguar Land Rovers sales volume, along with improvement in margin profile, will aid the companys free cash flow in financial year 2023-24 (FY24).

In comparison, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex fell 1 per cent, while the BSE Auto index edged 0.13 per cent higher.



Wholesale volumes were 79,591 units in the period (excluding the Chery Jaguar Land Rover China joint venture), up 5.7 per cent compared to Q2FY23, and 15 per cent over Q3FY22 sales.

CLSA's upgrade comes after Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported higher wholesale volumes in the October-December quarter of FY23 (Q3FY23) amid gradual improvement in chip supplies.

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According to the company, retails were higher YoY in North America/UK/Overseas by 26 per cent/14 per cent/12 per cent, but declined 6 per cent/8.5 per cent in Europe/China.

Retail sales, however, fell 3.7 per cent QoQ at 84,827 units in a seasonally strong quarter, which, analysts said, could be due to high interest rates across economies.







"The company continues to see strong demand for its vehicles. As of Q3FY23, the total order book increased to 215,000 client orders, up around 10,000 orders from Q2FY23. Demand for the New Range Rover, New Range Rover Sport and Defender remained strong and represent 74 per cent of the order book," Tata Motors said in its statement.



The numbers were ahead of the brokerages estimate of 88,101 units. Hence, it expects the company to, now, report better operating performance in this earnings season.

ICICI Securities says improvement in wholesale dispatches is a positive development for the company as it comes during the quarter which saw chip supply constraints and Covid-led lockdowns in China.



Meanwhile, Tata Motors anticipates positive free cash flow (FCF) of over 400 million in the quarter on a preliminary basis. In December 2022, the company completed a renewal of its undrawn revolving credit facility with 23 banks at 1.45 billion, with the maturity date extended from March 2024 to April 2026. "JLR is witnessing a cyclical recovery, supported by a favourable product mix. However, supply-side issues will defer the process. While there will be no near-term catalysts from the JLR business, the India business will see a continued recovery. The stock trades at 17.1x FY24E consolidated EPS and 3x P/B. We maintain our Buy rating with a target of Rs 520," Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in its report.



This, analysts said, would be further aided by improved product mix as share of models with better profit margins increased to 65 per cent at the end of the quarter vs 45 per cent in H1FY23.

JPMorgan, which has neutral rating on the stock and a target of Rs 400, said JLR needs to achieve a similar FCF in the January to March quarter to be able to achieve its full year guidance.

This, analysts said, would be further aided by improved product mix as share of models with better profit margins increased to 65 per cent at the end of the quarter vs 45 per cent in H1FY23.



Technical View In the past six months, Tata Motors has underperformed the market by falling 6.4 per cent, as compared to the 10.3 per cent rally in the S&P BSE Sensex. Further, in the past one year, the stock has slipped 18 per cent, as against a marginal 0.4 per cent dip in the benchmark index. It had hit a 52-week high of Rs 528 on January 18, 2022.

Bias: Negative Target: Rs 375

Support: Rs 398 Resistance: Rs 415; Rs 421



However, today's sharp up move has seen the stock bounce back above the 20-DMA. It is, now, seen testing resistance at its 50-DMA of Rs 415, above which the next hurdle shall be Rs 421 - the 100-DMA. Shares of Tata Motors had been trading below its 20-DMA (Daily Moving Average) since early December. The stock declined almost 11 per cent since then, till January 09.



On the downside, the stock is likely to revisit the recent lows of Rs 375-odd level. In the interim, the 20-DMA at Rs 398 could provide good support. Overall, the bias on the basis of price-to-moving averages remains negative as the shorter-term moving averages are hovering below the longer-term moving averages.

(With inputs from Rex Cano)


Central Bank of India is quoting at Rs 30.2, down 3.21% on the day as on 13:19 IST on the NSE. The stock jumped 14.83% in last one year as compared to a 0.87% slide in NIFTY and a 52.23% spurt in the Nifty Pharma index.

Central Bank of India is down for a fifth straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 30.2, down 3.21% on the day as on 13:19 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is down around 1.12% on the day, quoting at 17897.85. The Sensex is at 60069, down 1.12%.Central Bank of India has eased around 10.52% in last one month.Meanwhile, Nifty Pharma index of which Central Bank of India is a constituent, has eased around 3.82% in last one month and is currently quoting at 4322.2, down 3.01% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 39.94 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 525.68 lakh shares in last one month.

The PE of the stock is 17.46 based on TTM earnings ending September 22.

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South Koreas Ex-leader Park Geun-hye made her first appearance in a year Tuesday as she visited a Buddhist temple in Daegu, a conservative-leaning city in southeast Korea. After spending nearly five years in prison on corruption charges, Park has largely stayed out of the public eye since being pardoned by then-President Moon Jae-in in December 2021. Park was greeted by a senior monk at the temple and paid her respects by burning incense in front of a Buddha statue, South Korean media reported

Apr 12, 2023 07:36 PM
Faced with the possibility of being left behind in the shift towards EVs, Toyota has announced a radical shift in company policy and directi...
What was it about this story or concept that connected with you and compelled you to direct the film?

Uri Lotan (Black Slide)

The film was inspired by a chapter in my own young life. At the age of 12, coming back from a day at my local waterpark, my mother passed away after a yearlong battle with cancer. Ive always been puzzled by the foreboding intuitive feeling that haunted me that day, and by how over the years the painful memory of my mother has become intercut and mingled with the playful, sunny day in the waterpark.

Peter Baynton, Charlie Mackesy(The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse)

Charlie Mackesy

A while ago I wrote a book about a boy, a mole, a fox and a horse  their conversations together journeying through the wild countryside. We decided to make a film, inspired by the book Id never made one before. The process has been an adventure Id never imagined Id have. It was important to be a part of it, and I am very lucky that the wonderfully gifted people I worked with helped me and we helped each other.

Peter Baynton

Initially, it was the beauty of Charlie Mackesys drawings that connected with me; their flowing and lyrical mark-making, and how simply (deceptively so) they capture a pose, an emotion, a moment, a connection. It felt like an irresistible, though rather daunting, challenge to figure out how they might become animated. Of course, the drawings are inseparable from the words and their meaning, so the idea that we could try to make a film that carried those same comforting, positive, important messages was very compelling. I was also excited by the prospect of making a quiet, simple film set in the English countryside landscape.

Elizabeth Hobbs (The Debutante)

The film is based on a short story called The Debutante which was written by the surrealist artist Leonora Carrington in the late 1930s. Its loosely inspired by her own experience of rejecting the life that was planned for her by her parents. When I first read the story of The Debutante I found it so startling, funny, and courageous. We were lucky to get permission from the estate of Leonora Carrington to adapt the story for animation. The themes in the story particularly resonated with me and I love the tension in the situation of a hyena trying to behave while at a grand dinner party.

Wendy Tilby, Amanda Forbis (The Flying Sailor)

We were inspired by the true tale of a sailor who, in the catastrophic Halifax Explosion of 1917, was blasted skyward for two kilometers before landing unharmed and wearing only one rubber boot. We loved the idea of a pink, naked sailor flailing balletically as he rises above the smoke and mayhem, and we thought there was beautyand humorin his terrible predicament. Our concept was to expand what would have been a few seconds in the air into as many minutes and imagine the sailors flight in slow motion as a visceral and transcendent near-death experience.

Laura Goncalves (The Garbage Man)

I wanted to share a very personal story, the life story of my uncle Botao, told in different memories by my family, during a lunch gathering in Belmonte. After living in a dictatorship and coming back from war, he emigrated to France illegally where he worked as a garbage man, collecting objects others threw away and fixing them to take back to Belmonte to share like treasures with family and friends. His story is representative of thousands of Portuguese that went through the same experiences. So, starting from a personal and family vision to a socio-political context of that time, my uncles story is also the same lived by those who lived through the harshness and oppression of the Salazar dictatorship, the Colonial War, and the great wave of clandestine emigration of the 1960s.

Joao Gonzalez (Ice Merchants)

Im interested in creating realities and scenarios that are inspired by images that come from my subconscious and using them as metaphors to talk about topics that are dear to me and that touch me on a personal level. This makes the films personal to me both on the subconscious and conscious level, helping me immerse deeply into them while Im creating. The fact that my films always take place in surrealistic and impossible realities (possible only in the realm of animation) helps me to expose myself more and to be more open about the topics I cover because although they are inspired by personal themes, they are never strictly about myself and could never be. Making films like this helps me understand myself better and, therapeutically, to be more at peace with topics that concern me; in this case, loss.

Robert-Jonathan Koeyers (Its Nice in Here)

In 2016, I came across a harrowing video of a woman live-streaming her boyfriend bleeding to death in the drivers seat next to her. Her pleas and prayers were occasionally interrupted by the police officer yelling at himself in the background with a genuine sense of panic in his voice. Over the following few months, I kept tuning in to see how this story was unfolding, how new narratives were being formed, and how polarizing and often reductive the conversations surrounding this, as well as many other horrific police shootings, would become. This formed the foundation of Its Nice in Here, in which we try to explore how the world looks at Black bodies, how stories about victims of police violence are told, and how they will eventually be remembered. Ive had moments in my life where I looked at my previous body of work and realized, like so many other Black and POC animators have, that I didnt see myself represented in the characters I drew or in the stories I was telling. During the last few years of working on this film, it has felt so incredibly healing and important to center the lived experiences of people that look like me in my work more.

Amy Bench (More than I Want to Remember)

Stories of migration have always been important to me, but Ive become more devoted to the cause over the last few years, especially as immigration has become so talked about and so depersonalized and deeply politicized. Several years ago, I began reaching out to refugee assistance programs in my community and across the country to meet women who were interested in sharing their journeys. Mugeni was someone I met in 2019 and I was drawn to her as soon as we connected. She has an infectious energy and her story was so urgent and underreported, with few outside of the region knowing about the persecution of the Banyamulenge people. Mugenis story has so many profound moments and lessons that resonate so strongly beyond her own experiences. Her language is very visual and visceral. One of my favorite lines of hers is, My heart was speechless, my tears were stuck inside of me Hearing the poetry in her voice during our interviews was really affectingher words communicate so much about her experience and, most importantly, her state of mind, in those moments.

Sara Gunnarsdottir (director) Pamela Ribon (writer) (My Year of Dicks)

Sara Gunnarsdottir:

Pams writing is beautiful and personal and universal and wonderfully feminine. I was thrilled that she wanted to work with me and honored that she trusted me with her vulnerable adolescence.

Pamela Ribon:

Having worked in the incredibly large and corporate culture of big-studio animated films, I wanted to find a more independent route to help lead an animation pipeline for a story that was more personal. Megan Reid and John Agbaje (then both at FX) suggested adapting my memoir using animation to let my teenage fantasies not just illustrate flights of fancy, but immerse the viewer in genre. This was a unique way to show how much we can bend to make a pretty shitty situation seem perfect, while enjoying the too-muchness of trying on a new persona.

Jeremie Balais, Jeff Le Bars, Raul Domingo, Colman Domingo (New Moon)

The theme of the love between mother and child always inspired us. In animation, you can explore that love through the magic of the imagination, the dream, and the poetry. Colman and Raul wrote this beautiful story, and we felt that the wizardry of animation would truly burst it open. With New Moon we felt incredibly free, especially with one of us- Jeremie- expecting his first child at the time. The anticipation of parenthood and its beauty were at the heart of his thoughts at the time of working on New Moon. Depicting transformation, the magic of newness, and the impact of the new life was incredibly inspiring.

Lachlan Pendragon (An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It)

When stop-motion animating, I spend a lot of time playing with puppets and making them walk around miniature sets. I think its only natural to consider what would happen if they became aware of their constructedness. I felt a story like this would provide me the perfect opportunity to explore the appeal of stop motion and make it unapologetically tactile, imperfect, and handmade.

Juan Pablo Zaramella (Passenger)

The short is about the limits between individuals and society, and how we need to process social codes, which are in constant movement. If we dont interpret them, we could derail. The beginning of the project happened in the most literal way of my entire filmography: taking notes while traveling alone on a train, as the main character.

Spencer Susser (Save Ralph)

Ive been vegan for about nine years and have always wanted to do something to help animals in a meaningful way. Especially helping people connect the dots between cruelty toward animals and food we eat and the products we use. I was learning about the cruelty of cosmetic testing on animals and how prevalent it still is in the world so I wanted to do something to help call attention to it and hopefully create a real impact for animals.

Sander Joon (Sierra)

Sierra is inspired by my anxiety about living up to my parents expectations, and by their confusion about making the right parenting choices. Its a universally understandable dilemma  how far should one go to force their dreams on their descendants? Im happy to see how many people have recognized this feeling. The symbol of a boy becoming a car tire was so fascinating to me that it quickly drove me to build this whole absurd yet warm universe around it.

Spela Cadez (Steakhouse)
Vietnam to improve tourism services to welcome Chinese visitors: experts

Xinhua) 09:28, January 10, 2023

HANOI, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam needs to gear up to welcome Chinese tourists, focusing on improving service quality and strengthening promotion activities, Vietnam News Agency reported on Monday, citing local tourism experts.

Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh said the first thing the tourism sector should do is to take immediate measures to improve the quality of services to attract Chinese tourists.

President of the Vietnam Travel Association's Union Cao Tri Dung said it is important to resume the regular flight and charter flight networks, and strengthen the promotion of destinations in localities that have direct flights from China or are close to China in proximity.

The image and content promoted must be impressive and show the outstanding features of Vietnam as a safe, hospitable and exciting destination for all Chinese tourists, he added.

Relevant agencies and companies should also implement their promotion activities on social media platforms which are popular in China, Dung said.

China is Vietnam's largest tourism market with 5.8 million people visiting the Southeast Asian country in 2019, accounting for nearly one-third of international arrivals.

In 2022, Vietnam received only 3.5 million international visitors.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
On Monday, as Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit celebrated the release of their new adult animated series Koala Man, the duo extended their relationship with Disney by signing a multi-year deal with Disney subsidiaries 20th Television Animation and ABC Signature.

Heres what has been announced about the deal:

Under the terms of the new deal, Hernandez and Samit will create, develop, write, and produce animation (at 20th Television Animation) and live-action (at ABC Signature) shows through their production company Hermit House. Theyre currently developing Talk Nerdy to Me at CBS and their next project is to write a feature film based on Figment, the mascot of Epcots Imagination Pavilion at Walt Disney World in Florida. They also have unannounced projects in development at Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Pictures.
Photo: The Canadian Press Paddle boarders are seen on Moraine Lake in Lake Louise, Alta., in June 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

A decision to restrict personal vehicles at one of the most popular tourist destinations in Banff National Park was required to balance the growing number of visitors with protecting the environment, says a Parks Canada official.

The federal agency announced Friday that it was closing the Moraine Lake road to most personal vehicles and would require visitors to take its shuttles, local transit, or commercial vehicles to visit the iconic blue alpine lake and its nearby climbing routes and hiking trails.

Environmental groups said it's a good start to protect the ecological integrity of the national park, while some  including an Alberta politician  said it could reduce visitor access to the popular tourist area.

"Alberta's parks  both provincial and national  are jewels of the province, and Albertans and visitors alike deserve to have full access to enjoy their benefits," Todd Loewen, minister of forestry, parks and tourism, said in a letter posted on social media Monday. "Parks Canada's decision to block personal vehicles at Moraine Lake means fewer visitors to this important part of the province."

Jed Cochrane, Parks Canada's visitor experience manager for the Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay field unit, said the move was necessary.

"Moraine Lake is one of the most sought-after, if not the most sought-after, destination to visit in Banff National Park. It's really busy." Cochrane said in an interview Monday.

"We just want to be clear with visitors that it is very hard  and it was very, very hard last summer  to access Moraine Lake by private vehicle and we heard from visitors that they were very frustrated."

Cochrane said the parking lot at the end of the narrow 12-kilometre road only has room for about 100 vehicles at a time.

"We would allow about 900 cars a day up to Moraine Lake and we carefully managed that to make sure the parking lot wasn't over capacity and that emergency vehicles could get in.

"We turned away 5,000 cars a day."

Some visitors, he said, would now be guaranteed access if they book the Parks Canada shuttle or use a commercial operator. People with a disability hang-tag on their vehicle and those who want to bike, including electric bikes, will still be allowed to drive up the road.

The move isn't unprecedented as parks across North America try to find ways to balance the number of visitors in popular areas with safety and environmental concerns.

Lake O'Hara, a pristine alpine area across the British Columbia boundary in Yoho National Park, has long restricted private vehicles on its access road and has a reservation system for day use and camping that can only be booked by winning a lottery.

BC Parks also brought in a day-use pass program in June 2022 to visit three popular provincial parks  Golden Ears, Joffre Lake and three trailheads at Garibaldi  during peak hours.

Some parks in the United States, such as Zion National Park, only allow access by shuttle bus or by special permit for people with certain medical needs.

Cochrane said Parks Canada has talked to officials at Zion and BC Parks about those moves. The agency also had an expert panel look at the best way to get the more than four million visitors who visit Banff National Park annually around in a sustainable way and it recommended the move.

"They have a suite of other considerations for us to think about," he said, explaining other measures are still being considered.

"At the end of the day, we really just want to improve visitor experience and balance our mandate between ecological integrity and visitor experience."

Cochrane said the road to Moraine Lake runs across a major wildlife corridor for grizzly bears and elk.

"When we remove 900 cars a day, we are improving wildlife's ability to move back and forth across," he said. "By encouraging visitors to use mass transit and to come in a more efficient way, we think that will improve wildlife movement."

Katie Morrison, executive director of southern Alberta chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, said it's a good decision.

"In all the Rocky Mountain national parks, but especially Banff, we've seen huge increases in visitor use over the past several years," she said. "We know this can have an effect both on people's experience in the park but also things like wildlife and wildlife movement."

Morrison said the organization has long asked Parks Canada to address the massive increase in visitors.

"Someone doesn't want to go to Banff and drive around in circles all day," she said. "So, giving some certainty of  how people are going to arrive at places like Moraine Lake is a really positive thing."
HASLE Refractories appoints BoD chairman

10 January 2023

Carsten Riisberg Lund has been announced as the new chairman of the board of directors (BoD) at HASLE Refractories A/S, Denmark. Mr Lund has undertaken more than 35 years of service in the cement sector. His previous position was as president of FLSmidths Global Cement Business.

Mr Lund has decided to withdraw from operational leadership and focus on helping companies achieve their growth and sustainability ambitions through BoD work. HASLE looks forward to benefitting from his vast experience and strong focus on the green transition of the cement industry, the company said.

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American Gypsum announces new president

10 January 2023

Steven L Wentzel has announced that he is retiring as president of American Gypsum Co LLC, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Eagle Materials Inc, effective from 1 June 2023. Mr Wentzel has been with the company for 28 years and served as president for the last three.

Succeeding him will be Eric M Cribbs, the companys current executive vice president of concrete and aggregates, advanced cementitious materials, logistics, and procurement and materials, a role he has held since January 2021. Prior to his current position, Mr Cribbs most recently served as vice president of concrete and aggregates, safety, logistics, and procurement and materials (January 2020-January 2021) and vice president of concrete and aggregates (November 2018-January 2020). Prior to joining American Gypsum in June 2015, Mr Cribbs was the US Northern Region operations manager for Halliburton.

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Prince Harry "worried" Catherine, Princess of Wales would take his brother "away" from him.

The Duke of Sussex has recalled first meeting Prince William's wife at the now-infamous costume party in 2005 - where Harry controversially wore a Nazi outfit - and connecting with her "heavily disguised silly side".

He wrote: I liked his new girlfriend. She was carefree, sweet, kind. Shed done a gap year in Florence, knew about photography, art. And clothes. She loved clothes.

Her name was Kate.

However, the 38-year-old royal admitted he "consoled" himself with the laughter they shared as he feared the day William became too caught up in his relationship to spend time with him, while he desired a "serious girlfriend" of his own.

Writing in his tell-all memoir, 'Spare', which officially went on sale today (10.01.23) after being leaked and put on shelves early in Spain, he recalled: I liked seeing Kate laugh. Better yet, I liked making her laugh. And I was quite good at it. My transparently silly side connected with her heavily disguised silly side. Whenever I worried that Kate was going to be the one to take Willy from me, I consoled myself with thoughts of all our future laughing fits together, and I told myself how great everything would be when I had a serious girlfriend who could laugh along with us."

Despite being enamoured by Catherine - who first met William at university in 2001 before tying the knot in 2011 - Harry also claimed in the tome that his brother and sister-in-law told him to wear the Nazi uniform to the party.

Harry - who married Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in 2018 - caused outrage when pictures showed him in the military costume, complete with a swastika on his left arm, at the native and colonial themed party thrown by show jumper Richard Meade.

And he insisted his older sibling, 40, and Catherine, 41, "howled" with laughter about the outfit and encouraged him to put it on for the bash.

Harry wrote in the book of his deliberations between the controversial costume or a pilot's get-up: I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. Nazi uniform, they said.

They both howled. Worse than Willy's leotard outfit! Way more ridiculous! Which, again, was the point.

The prince, who was 20 at the time of the party, recently spoke of his regret about wearing the uniform.

He said on the third episode of his Netflix docuseries Harry and Meghan': "It was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I felt so ashamed afterwards.

"All I wanted to do was make it right. I sat down spoke to the Chief Rabbi in London, which had a profound impact on me. I went to Berlin and spoke to a Holocaust survivor. I could have just ignored it and gone on and made the same mistakes over and over again in my life. But I learned from that."

At the time of the scandal, Harry apologised for his "poor choice".

Harry and William haven't spoken in a while, according to the former, who has made salacious claims that his brother, who he referred to as his "arch-nemesis", "knocked him to the floor" during an argument about Meghan.
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Police responded to a suspicious vehicle on N. Crest Road. A black VW Passat was in the road with two flat front tires. The officer was familiar with the car and had placed a notice of tow on it the day before. The vehicle had the VIN covered. The officer checked to see if the vehicle was unlocked and found it was. The officer uncovered the VIN and checked it. The VIN came back to the correct vehicle and was not reported stolen. The officer tried to find contact information for the owner and found a phone number, but was unable to speak with the owner. While conducting an inventory search, the officer found three Tennessee tags. The officer ran all three tags and found one came back to the VW Passat, one was not on file and one came back stolen to a red Nissan Frontier. The Nissan Frontier was not on scene. The tag for the Frontier was turned into property. An anonymous person said the vehicle was stolen and a man was the one who parked it there last week and he came back earlier and cleaned it out. The VW Passat was towed by Ford's Towing and has a hold placed on it.

* * *

Police received a call about a noise complaint on Slayton Street. Police spoke with the resident who agreed to keep the noise down for the remainder of the night.

* * *

Police received a call for a possible theft from auto in progress on Robbins Street. Upon arrival, police spoke with a woman, the possible suspect. She said she came to the address to try to talk to her ex-boyfriend. Police spoke to her ex, who was very agitated and said he saw the woman near a vehicle which was parked in front of his residence. The vehicle belonged to another woman inside the mans home. The only possible damage police observed to the car was that her tag was bent upward. The other woman said she didnt want to press any charges on the first woman for possibly touching her vehicle and didnt see any new damage to her car. The other woman asked police to stay while she gathered her belongings and left. Both women left and the man called back into dispatch requesting to speak to a sergeant. A sergeant called the man back.

* * *

A woman on Arlington Avenue called police after she was awakened by a loud noise outside. She said when she walked outside, she saw the windshield to her 2018 Mercedes had been damaged. Police also saw a large rock near the car. The woman didnt have any suspect information.

* * *

Police recovered an abandoned stolen vehicle at 1300 Reserve Way that was used during additional auto thefts in the area. The 2013 Cadillac SRX was transported to the back lot for processing. In the back hatch area of the car was a Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm. The firearm was not stolen and was turned into property for processing.

* * *

Police were called to Calvary Baptist Church at 4001 Mountain Creek Road where a man was reported living out of his car in the back parking lot. It was requested that the man leave. Police spoke with the man who agreed to leave without incident. No warrants were found for him.

* * *

Police were called to Econo Lodge at 150 Browns Ferry Road where a woman was trying to retrieve her cell phone. Contact was made at room 313 with a woman who returned the complainants cell phone.

* * *

A man and woman at Chatt Inn at 2000 E. 23rd St. got into a verbal argument about a bike and the man said he was just trying to take his bike and leave. The woman was also upset because her sink is not working and there was also a man outside working on his car. The rent manager at Chatt Inn saw the whole incident and said there is nothing wrong with someone working on their car. Police asked the man to leave for a while so everyone can cool off since the man and woman are currently in a relationship. The man left. Police also informed the woman they couldnt do anything about her sink not working or someone working on their car and she will have to take that up with the manager. It was discovered both the man and woman had been drinking.

* * *

A man on Stringers Ridge Road told police his Jeep Wrangler was vandalized. He said the front driver's window was shattered and the door damaged, as well as the seat torn. He said approximately $5 was taken from the vehicle.

* * *

A man at Douglas Heights Apartments at 930 Douglas St. asked police to check on a woman in the parking lot checking door handles on cars. He showed police a photo of the top of her head and shoulders as he was above her on his porch. The photo was taken as she was outside of the fenced in parking lot about to turn down the alley between his building and Champys Chicken. It took him about 15 minutes to come out and talk to police. An officer tried to find her but she was not found in the area. She was a red-headed white female wearing blue jeans and a green shirt with a black back pack. The man didnt see her enter a vehicle.
Patriot Family Homes, a veteran owned business that operates short term rentals at 400 locations across 13 states, has appointed Christian Hempell as President and chief operating officer. Mr. Hempell brings 30 years of hospitality experience, having held executive operating and commercial roles at hospitality technology innovator Sonder and global brand platform InterContinental Hotels Group. He will lead the team to deliver the companys aggressive growth strategy, reporting to Joe Riley, the companys founder and CEO.

This appointment follows the successful completion of a Series B $60M investment from two family offices with deep roots in real estate and hospitality: TRT Holdings and Miramar Holdings. The funds will be used to acquire, renovate, and operate single-family home rentals, as well as invest in infrastructure and management talent to accelerate growth in the fastest growing hospitality segment. The timing of the investment positions Patriot to take advantage of a likely correction in housing prices, said officials.

Mr. Riley said, "Our strategy serves guests in smaller cities and suburban markets through a portfolio of single-family homes to meet underserved short term lodging needs. By securing this round of funding and attracting Christian to the company, we can accelerate the growth of our brand and operations to remain the leading multi-regional operator of economy short term rentals.

The momentum of Patriot Family Homes aligns well with my career focus on building scalable hospitality brands that are real estate intensive, operationally complex, and emphasize a compelling guest service promise, said Mr. Hempell. The companys unique strategy, leadership culture, and market opportunity make this an attractive long-term growth business for investors and employees. Im thrilled to work with Joe and the leadership team to bring guest focused innovation and operational excellence to market.

Mr. Riley founded Patriot Family Homes in 2018 shortly after returning from a military deployment to Afghanistan. During the deployment, he and his wife, Rachel, rented their house on Airbnb, and recognized the need for short term rentals around military bases. Mr. Riley continued to build the company while serving tours in Ukraine and on the National Security Council at the White House. Today, the company operates across 40 markets, acquiring, renovating, and managing single family homes in underserved markets not typically associated with vacation rentals or short-term rentals. The company creates value through a consistent branded experience across the portfolio for guests, a strong service culture for employees, and a track record of delivering attractive returns for investors, said officials.










Point Park, atop Lookout Mountain and part of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, is waiving the entrance fee next Monday to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Officials said, "This would be a great opportunity to visit and contemplate the reasons soldiers struggled along the mountain slopes during the 'Battle Above the Clouds' in 1863 and why 100 years later, in 1963, Dr. King reminded us to 'let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.'"

All national parks will waive entrance fees for everyone on this day as the first fee free day of the year. It is also a day of service when thousands of volunteers participate in service projects across the country, including at national parks.



Find volunteer opportunities inspired by this day of service or visit a park to learn more about the history of Dr. King and the pursuit of civil rights in America. Questions about MLK Day of Service activities at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park can be directed to the parks Volunteer Coordinator Will Wilson at will_wilson@nps.gov or 706-866-9241 ext. 137.



For more information about programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, contact the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706-866-9241, the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at 423-821-7786, or visit the parks website at www.nps.gov/chch.
The Reimagining Broad Street project is a detailed, block-by-block urban design analysis that will address public realm improvements, multi-modal transportation enhancements, integrate technology, green infrastructure, parking, and economic development opportunities, all while supporting existing businesses and urban residents. The hands-on workshop will provide a fun and interactive way for residents to assist the planning team to quickly dive into the details of the plan and inform specific actions to create the short and long-term transformation of Broad Street, said officials.

An evening session, set for Tuesday, is the centerpiece of a week-long planning session and will be informative and essential to building consensus and gathering input. The workshop will include a brief presentation to orient participants to the project, followed by a mapping and visioning exercise.

Questions that will be proposed to participants will include: What would you change about the current configuration of Broad Street? How can the street be better designed to serve and connect Downtown and surrounding neighborhoods? How can the street space welcome all modes of transportation (walking, biking, shuttle users, cars)? Questions like these will start the conversation as participants gather around tables, work in small groups, mark-up maps, and draw ideas.

Over 1,300 Chattanooga residents completed the Reimagining Broad Street survey as part of the first phase of the redevelopment project.

Over 180 residents will meet at the Tennessee Aquarium to provide feedback and assist to create a vision for Broad Street. River City Company, with support of the city of Chattanooga, the Chattanooga Design Studio and Dover Kohl, will combine the feedback with data to create the plan.

It will be held Tuesday from 5:30-7:30 p.m., doors open at 5 p.m. at the Tennessee Aquarium River Journey Building, 1 Broad St. The event is sold out.

Speakers will be Emily Mack, president and CEO River City Company; Mayor Tim Kelly; and Victor Dover, Dover Kohl principal-in-charge.

For more information visit www.broadstreetcha.com.

Link to Initial Survey Results: https://www.broadstreetcha.com/survey-results




A Coventry man was arrested and charged with wire fraud after he allegedly obtained $100,000 in COVID-19 relief funding and used it to pay a dog breeder, an RV company and personal legal fees, according to the U.S. Attorneys office.

John Matava, 58, of Coventry was arrested on federal charges of wire fraud affecting a financial institution and making an illegal monetary transaction after an arrest on Saturday. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Farrish in Hartford court on Monday and was released on a $60,000 bond.

In April of 2020, Matava applied for a $100,000 Paycheck Protection Program loan, a federal low-interest loan for small businesses during the COVID-19 aimed at maintaining jobs amidst widespread financial distress, from Celtic Bank for a company called J.M. Builders LLC, the U.S. Attorneys office said.

The application allegedly contained several false statements, including that J.M. Builders LLC had eight employees and an average monthly payroll of $40,000. The application said the money would be used for payroll, a lease, mortgage, interest and utilities. It also said the owner was not the subject of pending criminal charges, the U.S. Attorneys office said.

At the time of the application, there were no employees on file with the Connecticut Department of Labor and Matava was the subject of two pending criminal cases, according to the U.S. Attorneys office.

Celtic Bank disbursed $100,000 to J.M. Builders LLCs account, where Matava was a signatory, on April 22, 2020. The funds were deposited into an account that was opened the day prior and had a zero balance, the U.S. Attorneys office said.

Between the date of disbursement and January of 2021, Matava allegedly used the funds primarily for personal expenses, including paying a dog breeder nearly $3,500, paying nearly $4,800 to an RV superstore and legal fees. He allegedly paid $2,000 for a retain on four court cases in Rockville, the U.S. Attorneys office said.

In January of 2021, he allegedly sought another $100,000 PPP loan from Celtic Bank and the application again allegedly contained false statements and tax information, the U.S. Attorneys office said.

The charge of wire fraud affecting a financial institution carries a maximum term of 30 years in prison. The charge of making an illegal monetary transaction carries a maximum term of 10 years, the U.S. Attorneys office said.
My family recently attended the International Association of Fire Fighters National Memorial ceremony. My late husband, Chad Crisp, was added to the memorial wall along with 468 additional firefighters for the year 2019 and 2020. Nearly 75 percent (348) of the names added to the memorial were fire fighters who passed away from occupational cancer. That number represents 348 families who will cope with the loss of their loved one due to job related exposure. That number is no where close to the number of families who will watch their loved one suffer through countless treatments, scans, tests, and procedures while fighting cancer related to their firefighting job, knowing that after treatment they may not be able to work in their field.

My late husband Chad was diagnosed in late December 2018 with Stage 4 Adenocarcinoma (esophageal cancer). We sat in the oncologists office and received this devastating news on our 20th wedding anniversary. He was 41 years old. We were told it was unlikely he would live an additional two months, but were blessed that he survived 20 months.

Chad had worked for the city of Chattanooga Fire Department for over 18 years at the time of diagnosis. He was officially employed for another couple of months, until he used up his accrued leave. During that time, he was covered by the citys health insurance as he started his first chemo and radiation treatments.

Now Ill fill you in on the State of Tennessees presumptive illness laws. The backstory is that for several years, firefighters had been working with state legislators to get some sort of presumptive illness laws in place to cover fire fighter cancer. In 2018, the only coverage provided was for metropolitan governments of over 400,000 residents, which meant Nashville. Additionally, the coverage was vague and the fire fighter had to prove the cancer was caused by on-the-job exposure.



This mentality is seriously flawed. There is no way to prove the cause of cancer. There are, however, so many studies that show the direct correspondence of extremely increased cancer rates amongst fire fighters nationally.

Back to our story, Chad had to medically retire in early 2019, leaving him without medical insurance. We were very fortunate, that my employer was able to add him to our health insurance for the remainder of his treatments. This is often not the case for those undergoing treatment who may need to retire.



The Chattanooga Fire Department administration along with the IAFF Local 820 and fire fighters state-wide continued discussions with legislators in Nashville to demand cancer coverage for fire fighters. In July 1, 2019 HB 316/ SB 1442 became effective which provided cancer coverage for four types of cancers: Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, Colon Cancer, Skin Cancer, and Multiple Myeloma. This is a great start. But its not enough. Studies show that firefighters have more than 80 percent greater odds of developing adenocarcinoma of the esophagus than non-firefightersand it didnt make the list of approved cancers.

In the past three years, the Chattanooga Fire Department has implemented training programs, purchased additional gear, and provided additional screenings for our firefighters. These policy changes and training programs are an effort to minimize exposure related cancer risks and to help detect cancers earlier.

As the widow of a young, healthy firefighterIm saying, that the city of Chattanooga and its residents can do more to protect fire fighters and their families. It is time for the mayor and City Council to review recent policy changes enacted by the city of Memphis, that allow for additional cancers to be covered. Memphis now covers lung, mesothelioma, prostate, rectal, stomach and thyroid cancers. Our city needs to step up and ensure that fire fighters who are facing cancer can do so without the worry of medical bills and financial burdens, due to loss of insurance and wages.

I will close this lengthy post by saying thank you to our fire family. Our family is blessed beyond measure to have the support of the members of the Chattanooga Fire Department. I will continue to assist in any way possible to help bring awareness to fire fighter cancer and presumptive illness coverage with the hope that by the time our son applies to join the fire department our city is in a much better place to take care of him as he works hard for its residents.

Leah Crisp

Widow of Senior Fire Fighter Chad E. Crisp

* * *

Mrs. Crisp, I did not have the pleasure of knowing your husband as our paths did not cross in the station or on the fireground prior to his passing. I am enraged that you and your family were denied coverage under HB 316/SB 1442. Your frustration is more than justified, and I support your efforts to improve the current policy at both the local and state level.

Just to give other readers some background on your original contribution, HB 316/SB1442 is also known as the Barry Brady Act (TCA 7-51-201(d)). As you correctly highlighted, this 2019 piece of legislation expanded workers compensation coverage for firefighters diagnosed with four specific cancers. In July 2022, the list of covered cancers was expanded to six by adding leukemia and testicular cancer. The Brady Act theoretically plays an undeniably valuable role in improving the health of Chattanooga firefighters. However, the Brady Act was never designed to truly help firefighters, and as of January 2022 there have not been any claims, mediations, or payouts to any firefighter estates under the Barry Brady Act (Tennessee General Assembly Fiscal Review Committee, Fiscal Note HB 335  SB 1569, January 25, 2022).

The Barry Brady Act was purposely written by Tennessee state legislators to be so narrow that the average firefighter would not qualify. In addition to including only six cancers out of hundreds, the Act incorporates hoops that the firefighter must jump through in order to qualify for coverage after a cancer diagnosis. These barriers include years of continuous service requirements in addition to an eligibility stoppage five years after ones last exposure. while performing duties as a firefighterthus not covering a cancer that may manifest in retirees as they age (TCA 7-51-201(d)). But the most absurd and underhanded tactic to deny firefighter cancer coverage through the Brady Act is the rebuttable presumption.

The Brady Acts rebuttable presumption allows the employer (i.e the municipality) to overcome and subsequently deny any firefighters claim that a covered cancer was work related simply by providing evidence that the cancer could have been caused by anything else in the firefighters life. Moreover, the employer is not required to overwhelmingly prove that the cancer could have been caused by other factors. The employer must simply provide a preponderance of the evidence that the cancer could have been caused by the firefighters lifestyle, diet, or an exposure while not on the clock.

Nationwide, the rebuttable presumption has been used as a rubber stamp to delay or deny firefighters their duly earned benefits after cancer diagnoses. For example, employers in Colorado used that states rebuttable presumption to deny firefighter cancer claims by citing family history, personal hobbies, and even environmental conditions as possible causes of cancerbut not firefighting. This invasive approach to denying cancer coverage led to costly and time-consuming litigation and eroded trust between firefighters and their elected leaders. In 2017 an Illinois appellate court held that public employers do not need clear and convincing evidence to rebut the presumption of cardiac disease in a firefighter, and that they only need to provide some evidence sufficient to support a finding that something other than being a firefighter caused his condition (Johnson V Illinois Workers Compensation Commn, 2017 ILL App (2nd).

There is some hope. Lawmakers in Colorado eventually removed the rebuttable presumption for firefighters and opted for an accident-type policy that provided financial coverage while avoiding litigation. This collaborative approach allowed for firefighters to obtain benefits within ten days of filing a claim while capping payouts for employers. The Colorado Firefighter Heart and Cancer Benefits Trust currently operates with support from both firefighters and employers alike and has provided other states with a viable option regarding improved firefighter health.

The Brady Act can and must be amended to be more inclusive by adding more cancers, reducing barriers to qualify for coverage, and removing the rebuttable presumption. These small changes will improve the current legislation as we learn from past failures.

Thank you for speaking up, Mrs. Crisp.

LT Joseph Thomas, JD MPH

Chattanooga Fire Department



* * *

While Mrs. Crisp's and Lt. Thomas letters addressed Mrs. Crisp's circumstances, I couldn't help but think what her circumstances might have been had she not been able to add her husband to her health insurance. And think about the millions more who could not have been able to add a loved one to existing heath coverage.

Why do the Republicans not want better health care for all Americans? Why do they vote against reform thereby letting ill people without the access to health insurance have their families be forced deeply into debt or bankruptcy?

Historically, the Republicans have always voted against any changes in health care, be it affordable costs, expansion of Medicare or Medicaid, or expansion of the availability and affordability of health insurance coverage, specifically the Affordable Care Act or tort reform. They've pandered to the AMA and the trial attorneys, both of whom are the primary beneficiaries of Congressional and State Legislative inaction on health care and costs.

But for the late Senator John McCain, the Republicans would have repealed the ACA and replaced it with Trumps inferior American Healthcare Act of 2017.

The motive for replacement was really Trumps hatred of anything Obama, not a better plan.

Even containing many elements of the ACA, Trumps plan was not anywhere close to being better. Trump's plan would have allowed a state to make its own rules and regulations. Availability of a common plan for all Americans would be non-existent. The AHCA would not have had standardized coverage and premiums, not controlled costs better, and not enabled portability across the states. Preventative care would not have been covered.

Trumps plan was not a mandatory insurance plan for those without other health insurance. By not being mandatory, only the ill would have purchased coverage, resulting in what is known as adverse selection; rates would be far higher than necessary. Imagine what the premiums for auto insurance would be if only teenagers and bad drivers bought auto insurance. No good driver could afford auto insurance. Everyone must purchase insurance to keep rates lower.

I welcome reasonably thought out responses to my letter.

But hatred of President Obama and the ACA or pointing out your perception of the evil of socialized medicine are not reasonable responses. Taiwan and the Scandinavian Countries are exceptional examples of countries that do far, far better that the U. S. regarding health care.

The possibility of long waits to see a physician is not an acceptable response: thats been happening for years.

Nor are increased taxes a reasonable response. This Country can afford what it wants, and there are billions wasted by Congress on defense and pork.

I also don't want an explanation of health insurance rates. Having spent my working career in insurance regulation and compliance, I understand the actuarial processes necessary for adequate rates.

Joe Warren, Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter, Associate, Insurance Accounting and Finance, Associate, Insurance Regulation and Compliance










Claudia Hernandez, a teacher at the Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence, Middle School, was awarded a $500 classroom grant through the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Helen Pouch Memorial Fund. Administration of the grant request was overseen by the Local Schools Committee of Chickamauga Chapter NSDAR, led by the Chapters First Vice Regent Cindy Dearing. Chapter committee member Elaine Robinson worked with Ms. Hernandez during the application process.

The grant was used to purchase bilingual books and bilingual picture dictionaries to aid students in Ms. Hernandezs classroom.

The Helen Pouch Memorial Fund makes available two grants for each state and the District of Columbia each year. The Fund is administered through the NSDAR Junior Membership Committee in support of DARs mission of Education. The grants are awarded to help as many students as possible each year. Applicants for the grants must be teachers for grades kindergarten through 12. A local DAR Chapter must sponsor grant applications. Grant funds must be used for supplies and educational resources which directly impact students.

Chickamauga Chapter Regent Gayle Burrows said, Our Chapter members are extremely pleased to again oversee a grant award to a local Chattanooga teacher. We extend congratulations to Ms. Hernandez for her successful and impactful grant application.


In 1923 Episode 4, Mrs. Beverly Strafford arrives at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. Mrs. Strafford is determined to take her daughter Elizabeth away from the Duttons after the violent attack from Banner Creighton. However, Elizabeth has other plans in mind. Heres what you need to know about the actor who guest stars as Mrs. Strafford in episode 4.

[Warning: 1923 Episode 4 spoilers ahead.]

Darren Mann as Jack Dutton and Jessalynn Gilsig as Beverly Strafford in 1923 Episode 4 | Christopher T. Saunders/Paramount+

Jessalyn Gilsig portrayed Mrs. Strafford in 1923 Episode 4

1923 Episode 4 picks back up in the aftermath of Banner Creightons brutal attack on the Duttons. Jacob miraculously clings to life. Elizabeth Strafford also survived the gunshot wound she received, though she is running a worrisome fever.

Jessalyn Gilsig portrayed Mrs. Strafford in 1923 Episode 4. Mrs. Strafford soon arrives at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. Her husband Bob died in the battle with Banners men, and she is determined to take her daughter to a hospital back east. Mrs. Strafford also tells Jack that if he still wants to marry Elizabeth Strafford, hell have to come with them.

However, Elizabeth chooses to stay in Montana with the Duttons and marry Jack. Cara tells Mrs. Strafford that her daughter is free to stay or go as she wishes. Mrs. Strafford storms off in a huff.

Heres why Jessalyn Gilsig looks so familiar

1923 guest star Jessalyn Gilsig is a 51-year-old actor from Montreal, Canada. She performed extensively in live theater productions and graduated from McGill University. Gilsig studied theater at the American Repertory Theatres Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University, according to IMDb.

Some of Gilsigs earliest work on television came in the form of voice acting for childrens shows such as The Little Flying Bears and Young Robin Hood.

The actor is perhaps most well-known for portraying Lauren Davis in Boston Public, Gina Russo in Nip/Tuck, Terri Schuester in Glee, and Siggy Haraldson in Vikings.

Yes wellTerri was ahead of her time.. pic.twitter.com/20NmY28wAb  Jessalyn Gilsig (@JessalynGilsig) January 17, 2022

On Instagram, Jessalyn Gilsig wrote about her experiences on the set of 1923. Cant wait for you to see the greats in action! the actor wrote. I was lucky enough to swing by for a minute, and Dame @helenmirren was a master class in acting but also grace, collaboration, and humor-everything you could ever hope. Wait until you see her fearless performance with #harrisonford in 1923.

Cara Dutton stands up to her enemies in 1923 Episode 4

In 1923 Episode 4, Cara Dutton took charge, standing up to Mrs. Strafford, Banner Creighton, and anyone who would cross her family. Cara took her husbands place at the Livestock Association and warned the men that Jacob is hunting cattle thieves in Wyoming.

Though Banner tried to call Caras bluff, he didnt rattle the Dutton family matriarch. Cara warned him of her nephew Spencers eventual arrival in Montana. Back in Africa, Spencer received a letter from his aunt with news of his brothers death. The letter arrived three months after Cara wrote it and will surely serve as the catalyst for Spencer to come home.

New episodes of 1923 air Sundays on Paramount+.
ABC is putting Alaska Daily fans threw the ringer with the 3-month hiatus, but many will be happy to know that were more than halfway through the long wait. And to make up for the lack of episodes, there is some exciting news pertaining to the ABC series  Hilary Swank has been nominated at the 80th Golden Globe Awards for her work in Alaska Daily.

Hilary Swank as Eileen Fitzgerald | ABC/Matt Sayles

Alaska Daily star Hilary Swank is one of the nominees at the 80th Golden Globe Awards

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced the 80th Golden Globe Awards nominees on Dec. 12, 2022; among them was Alaska Daily star Hilary Swank.

The nominees for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series  Drama are:

Emma DArcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon

Laura Linney as Wendy Byrde in Ozark

Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown

Hilary Swank as Eileen Fitzgerald in Alaska Daily

Zendaya as Rue Bennett in Euphoria

The ceremony will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.

Hilary Swank likely wont win for her role in Alaska Daily

Unfortunately, we dont think Hilary Swank will win the Golden Globe for playing Eileen Fitzgerald in Alaska Daily.

She is undoubtedly talented  this isnt the first time she has been nominated at the Golden Globe Awards. Swank won Best Lead Actress in a Motion Picture  Drama twice for starring in Boys Dont Cry and Million Dollar Baby. And she was nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television for Iron Jawed Angels in 2005. So Swank is no stranger to award shows.

However, Swank has some tough competition in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series  Drama category. Laura Linney is always a force to be reckoned with, and Emma DArcy could be a dark horse this year. But most critics and fans agree that this award is Zendayas to lose.

Zendaya won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Rue in Euphoria in 2022. So it stands to reason that she will also come out on top at the 80th Golden Globe Awards in 2023.

We would be shocked if Hilary Swank wins for Alaska Daily, but stranger things have happened.

Congratulations to @HilarySwank on her 2023 #GoldenGlobes Nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series ? #AlaskaDaily pic.twitter.com/QWChJDUvz1  Alaska Daily (@AlaskaDailyABC) December 12, 2022

When does Alaska Daily return with new episodes?

Hilary Swank and the rest of the Alaska Daily cast will return in episode 7, Enemy of the People, which premieres on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 10 p.m. ET.

As fans recall, at the end of Alaska Daily Episode 6, the Concerned Citizen confronted Eileen at the Daily Alaskan. Wielding a gun, he told the journalist that she left him no choice. And episode 7 will pick up from where that tense scene left off in the midseason finale.

The preview for Alaska Daily Episode 7 shows a SWAT team surrounding the Daily Alaskan as the Concerned Citizen holds Eileen hostage.

Alaska Daily is available to stream on Hulu.

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The Wethersfield Police Department added two electric Ford Mustang Mach-Es to their fleet to begin the new year.

The vehicles were purchased from Monaco Ford and outfitted using asset forfeiture funds, according to Mayor Michael Rell. Those funds come from property seized by police that was used in or acquired from illegal activity and not taxpayer money.

The towns police department posted the vehicles were added in an effort to increase sustainability, reduce fuel consumption, and reduce long term maintenance costs in a Facebook post.

The town has already budgeted funds for new police vehicles, Rell said. These EVs will be used as a trial for the police department to see how they work with patrol and how they handle in day to day use for both administrative and patrol officers.

The department said the vehicles will be used in both proactive patrol and administrative functions to fully evaluate the effectiveness of E-vehicles in law enforcement.

I wouldnt want a trial done with taxpayer funds, Rell said. When the chief asked to buy the vehicles through asset forfeiture funds, I agreed with him that the funding would be the right source for this.

The two vehicles were $134,972 to purchase, said Town Manager Frederick Presley. The vehicles were also outfitted with police lights and equipment to make them usable for patrol. The cost to outfit them was $14,538 on top of the purchase price.

The federal Asset Forfeiture Program was created in 1984 when Congress passed the Comprehensive Crime Control Act, which provided federal prosecutors and agents the legal and regulatory tools necessary to seize assets in both civil and criminal cases.

The U.S. Marshals Service identifies, evaluates and also sells assets seized and forfeited by the Department of Justice. That money then gets redistributed back to the local municipalities under certain conditions set by the federal government.

The fund is always changing as the town get money back on a rolling basis, Presley said. But the funds can only be used for the police and not just for their day-to-day operations. The funding was to be used only for special projects or assignments or in this instance EV cruisers.

Other towns in Connecticut have also purchased electric vehicles for law enforcement with the hopes of saving money on fuel, maintenance and other costs. Westport Police became the first department in the state to purchase a Tesla Model 3 in 2019.

There may be some hesitancy about EVs, Rell said. But I think when police went from horseback to the automobile there was also probably pushback. Were not the first town in the state to have EVs but we are the first town in the Hartford region. I cant think of a better way to test their reliability and effectiveness than through using asset forfeiture funds.

Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com
According to the Mayo Clinic, women are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression as compared to men.

While inherited traits, biological factors, and other personal life circumstances are associated with a higher risk of depression in general, there are specific risk factors that most significantly impact women.

These include puberty, premenstrual problems, pregnancy, postpartum depression, perimenopause, and menopause, as well as life circumstances and culture such as unequal power and status, work overload, and abuse.

Although, a team of researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai recently conducted a study that revealed that higher depression diagnosis rates among women might not be so closely tied to hormonal changes. Instead, the teams findings revealed a possible link that lies in RNA.

RNA, also known as ribonucleic acid, is a polymeric molecule that plays a critical role in the coding, decoding, regulation, and expression of genes.

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), on the other hand, is known to interact with certain proteins, RNA, and DNA to carry out other forms of gene expression that are not very well understood.

However, previous research has found that FEDORA one type of lncRNA might be linked with depression.

So, the researchers set out to understand whether FEDORA might be the answer to why more women suffer from chronic depression.

The team studied the brains of recently deceased people and compared the levels of FEDORA present in women as opposed to men.

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With six trucks and some volunteers, a church in Tennessee is helping to fill a gap in rural health care. The ministry, Doing Unto Others Mobile Mission, or DUO, thinks other churches can do the same.

DUO is one of four newly announced winners of grants from church insurer Brotherhood Mutual Insurance, which wants to reward innovative church programs that could be replicated across the country. Other winners include a mentoring program with local business leaders and teens, an afterschool tutoring program, and a homeless ministry.

In about two hours with DUOs fleet, a person in rural Tennessee can see a doctor, pharmacist, optometrist, and dentist, and even get a haircut. The ministry started in 2021 and only operates monthly a few months a year, but it has saved the US health system $3.8 million dollars and 42 emergency room visits, according DUOs estimates using the Mobile Health Map evaluation from Harvard Medical School.

Jamestown, Tennesseea city of 1,900 located in Upper Cumberlandneeded DUOs support after losing its only hospital in 2019 due to financial constraints. Emergency services had to take local patients to another hospital nearly an hour away. Another hospital in Cumberland closed in 2020.

Tennessee has the highest closure rate of rural hospitals per capita of any state.

Samuel LeFave, a Christian and recent Tennessee Tech biochemistry graduate, was interested in medical school when he got to know a family in Jamestown and heard about the desperate state of rural health care. His pastor at Life Church in Cookeville, Tennessee, an hour from Jamestown, asked him about setting up a medical program, since LeFave had worked with a free clinic as an undergraduate. LeFave, then 21 years old, dropped his medical school plans in favor of meeting the immediate local problem. DUO launched in 2021.

I lead Sunday School, youth group; thats fulfilling, but when youve gone to school, worked hard for a degree to serve a need, you want to use that in connection with your faith, he told CT. Its been fulfilling for the volunteer medical providers too, he said: When you can use your talent above your tithe each week, thats buy-in.

The new ministry under LeFave bought and outfitted six buses: dental, hair, wellness, eye care, food, and a stage for any kind of church outreach events. The buses are staffed with volunteer medical providers from churches in the region. They see many patients that are homeless or have chronic, unmanaged illnesses.

I think any congregation of any size could do this to fit their budget, LeFave said. It may not be dental and vision for a whilebut anyone who wanted to offer wellness services through their church can do it on a very low budget.

DUOs dental services are its biggest demandbut a bus with dentists and dental chairs is not the easiest for small churches in rural areas to replicate. Still, studies have shown that in rural areas with few health care resources, churches can be key in communicating the specific medical needs of a communitylike substance abuse in Appalachiato those with outside resources. Churches are also important in convincing community members to get treatment.

Haircuts, though?

Not everyone has a good background with a health care provider, said LeFave. Sometimes the best way to establish trust is a fresh haircut. The DUO team found that a person hesitant about getting their A1C or lipids checked would be more open to stepping over to the medical bus after a trim.

DUO organizers try to be careful about when and where they offer haircuts, because they dont want to take business away from locals in barber shops and salons who rely on that for a living.

One key to the mobile medical clinic is that Tennessee allows volunteer medical services without much liability. In states that dont have that liability protection, churches can apply to be a federally deemed free clinic to be released from significant liability.

DUO has been working on a new need in its region: The remaining local emergency rooms have long waits for psychiatric help. A nurse practitioner from a local church already had a free mental health clinic going, so DUO helped the nurse set up a mobile mental health unit.

The project is still in development but that newly mobile clinic will be able to dispatch a retired ambulance equipped with two mental health nurse practitioners and telehealth access to a psychiatrist to help people in psychological crisis. The organizers recently met with local law enforcement, so the truck will be dispatched to nonemergency cases.

Patients with psychosis going to the ER sit in a hall wearing a special color, LeFave said, which is traumatic for that patient who is already going through a crisis. With a mobile mental health unit, Youre going into the patients comfort zone.

Through the Brotherhood grant, LeFave has four mentors for his program, three in Tennessee and one in Kentucky that runs a clinic. The grant to DUO was a one-time award, but the mentorship relationships continue.

I have access to them whenever I have a question, he said. Some are leaders at large churches. They understand funding and some of the liability.

Chip Freeman, the business administrator at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, was one of LeFaves mentors and said he and the other mentors would be available to LeFave as long as needed.

DUO has experienced great success in a short time period, and theyve shown how replicable this project is, Freeman wrote CT in an email.

Brotherhood Mutual started the grant program after CEO Mark Robison noticed that churches had gone through dramatic changes during the pandemic, with declining attendance but increased demand for ministries like food pantries. He wanted to help churches take risk, knowing that tithes and offerings and some churches were going to be a challenge.

A certified accountant, Robison noted that most businesses fail in the first five years of operating, so he thought his team could help individual churches avoid that. Churches often set up outreach programs without much long-term business strategy, which was evident in the first round of 400 applications for grants Brotherhood received.

I dont know that any of them had a real business plan to them, Robison said. Thats why the program includes mentorship and connections to bigger churches. One thing we learned about churches is they are horrible at raising money. Most of them have never done a grant application.

By partnering a smaller operation with large churches with significant budgets, like Memphiss Bellevue Baptist, Robison hoped that bigger churches could step in as needs arise down the road. And Robison believes these programs might appeal to younger churchgoers, who often give to a specific project rather than a regular tithe.

As the program matures, Brotherhood plans to publish white papers later based on research on the programs they award, to lay out models for other churches.

This first round of Brotherhood winners, awarded last year but not publicized, received grants between $25,000 and $50,000, and Brotherhood has now opened the next years round of applications for what they call the Kingdom Advancing Grant. Any church can apply for the grants, not just those connected to Brotherhood. The deadline for new applications is March 31.

Im experiencing how sharing the gospel of Christ is a global, team effort, said Freeman about mentoring LeFave and his team at DUO. What a personal blessing it has been to me to see there are Christ centered ministries all over this country that want to make a difference for the kingdom of God! All they need is some funding and mentoring to get started.

This article was updated with information about the grant amounts to winners.
Afghan province bans women from seeing male doctors: reports

A province in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan has allegedly passed a measure banning women from seeing male doctors, according to reports.

The Directorate of Public Affairs and Hearing of Taliban Complaints in the Balkh province recently made the announcement, according to the Pakistani-based publication The Current, citing the Afghan daily newspaper Hasht-e-Subh.

The provincial leadership will also reportedly create separate working spaces for male and female hospital workers and prohibit male doctors from walking into rooms with female patients.

"Taliban issued a new ruling in Balkh province, Afghanistan, stating that women are not allowed to visit male doctors," tweeted journalist Ashwini Shrivastava on Sunday. "And, no education to women as well, so no female doctors either."

Sahar Fetrat of Human Rights Watch, an expert on women's rights issues and a native of Afghanistan, told The Christian Post that while her organization has not yet confirmed these reports, "it doesn't seem impossible" given "the Taliban's continuous infringement of women's rights and restriction of women's access to basic rights and facilities."

"Since August 2021, women's rights have been under constant attack by the Taliban," said Fetrat. "The Taliban started systematically attacking women's rights by taking away women's liberty, subjectivity, and removing women and girls from social and political spheres."

"The Taliban's nonstop attack on women's rights has deprived women and girls of education, employment, access to healthcare, and practicing agency."

Fetrat said that after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021 following the U.S. military withdrawal, "they dismantled every system that protected women from gender-based violence and silenced the female protesters who bravely chanted and demanded 'bread, work, freedom' for all the people of Afghanistan."

"We have all seen by now that with the Taliban in power, every day marks a profound loss for women and girls in Afghanistan," she added.

Last November, The Washington Post reported that the Taliban government was looking into educating more female medical professionals as part of their effort to increase gender-based segregation in Afghanistan.

This reported effort of the regime to train more female doctors contradicted their well-documented efforts to eliminate secondary education for Afghan women.

Of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, 24 have barred girls from completing a formal education passed the sixth grade, while many other women pursuing medical careers fled the nation as the Taliban returned to power.

"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," said Fouzia Shafique, senior health adviser for UNICEF in Afghanistan, as quoted by The Washington Post.

"And we now have two years of which we have no cohorts graduating from high school and therefore no people to train."

In 2021, after several years of gradually reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan, the United States pulled the remainder of its military personnel from the Central Asian nation.

As the U.S. evacuated, Taliban forces rapidly took control of the country, which resulted in chaos as thousands of Afghans tried to flee the nation via the airport in Kabul.

In response, the Biden administration temporarily deployed around 6,000 troops to help evacuate U.S. citizens and Afghans who had aided the U.S. over the past several years.

Although President Joe Biden had promised to use "economic tools" to help protect human rights in Afghanistan, the Taliban government appears unabated in its efforts to enforce strict Sharia law on the country.
Andrew Tate's arrest highlights common manipulation tactic sex traffickers use to exploit victims

Amid global headlines surrounding the arrest of American-British former professional kickboxer and social media influencer Andrew Tate on charges of human trafficking, an anti-sexual exploitation group says Tate is accused of employing a tactic commonly used by sex traffickers.

Tate, 36, was arrested on Dec. 29 alongside his brother, Tristian, and two Romanian women, according to a statement last month by Romanias Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT).

The influencer and his associates were arrested on allegations of human trafficking, rape and committing the crimes of constituting an organized criminal group. Six victims were identified. DIICOT stated that at least one of the six victims was raped in March 2022.

While Tate and the others were initially held in pre-trial detention for 24 hours, a Romanian court extended the detainment to 30 days at the prosecutors' request.

Last Wednesday, prosecutors seized 11 cars belonging to the Tate brothers, investigating whether those cars were purchased with money obtained through human trafficking.

Investigators claim that the Tate brothers and two Romanian women formed a criminal group to traffick individuals in Romania and other countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Victims were recruited by British citizens by misrepresenting their intention to enter into a marriage/cohabitation relationship and the existence of genuine feelings of love (the loverboy method), the English translation of a statement released by Romanian authorities alleges.

They were later transported and housed in buildings in Ilfov county where, by exercising acts of physical violence and mental coercion (through intimidation, constant surveillance, control and invoking alleged debts), they were sexually exploited by group members by forcing them to perform demonstrations pornographic for the purpose of producing and disseminating through social media platforms material having such a character and by submitting to the execution of a forced labor.

Dani Pinter, senior legal counsel for the Washington, D.C.-based National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), asserted that the loverboy method, also known as the Romeo method, is one of the most common ways traffickers lure victims into their schemes.

Pinter said in an interview with The Christian Post that traffickers identify vulnerable victims who may have a history of abuse or might have just come out of a bad relationship. The trafficker then pretends to be in love with the victim, building their targets up emotionally and appearing to be a source of comfort.

And so they do this love bombing technique where they shower this person with praise, affection, build them up, make them feel so good, so special, and they create sort of this bond, she told CP. And then, a lot of times, the trafficker will just keep that going and guilt trip and use other forms of coercion and not get violent.

Pinter said its common for traffickers to ensure their victims become dependent upon them, beginning a cycle of violence while also continuing to manipulate the victim with more love bombing.

While the relationship is dysfunctional, Pinter said it can be difficult for victims to break away from the situation.

The victim either fears a violent retaliation from their trafficker or hesitates to leave due to the "trauma bond" their trafficker formed with them.

Pinter says the situation shows that most sex trafficking cases do not involve a random stranger snatching a random woman. Instead, victims typically have a personal connection with their trafficker.

They're introduced by someone they trust or an extended family member or something. So that's one way that the person has their guard down, she told CP. Or its a celebrity, a really charismatic person, which Tate was.

I think thats what Tate used. Hes a celebrity; hes out in the open. Everyone knows who he is; hes famous, Pinter continued, speculating on how Tate might have appeared to the victims. And it's also super exciting and intriguing, gets the person to let their guard down, and then he showered them with affection. So thats hard to turn away from, and thats super common.

The truth is that sex trafficking is whenever someone is sexually exploited for something in exchange, she asserted. Sometimes thats money, obviously. Sometimes its favors or other things, and that can happen from the home.

The anti-sexual exploitation advocate cited the example of predators targeting children by befriending them online, bombarding them with affection before persuading them to send a sexually explicit photo of themselves. The predator may then use the image to blackmail the child and manipulate them into performing more sexual acts online.

Pinter noted that the risk of sex trafficking increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, with income losses due to quarantine restrictions increasing some individuals vulnerability to trafficking. The measures taken to slow the spread of the virus also reduced resources for victims.

In many ways, trafficking shifted in a way that I dont think will be back, which is that many traffickers shifted to the online space, she said. They found that it works, and its easy to be anonymous, and they have access to far more victims that way.

It's unfortunate, but if the trafficker abuses someone physically or sells that person physically, that's a one-time transaction, Pinter continued. Whereas if they're recorded, they can monetize that assault indefinitely and repeatedly.

According to the International Labor Organization, of the 27.6 million people subjected to false labor in 2021, 6.3 million were involved in commercial sexual exploitation. Twelve percent of all those forced labor victims were children, and more than half were involved in commercial sexual exploitation.

A spokesperson for Romanias Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism told Insider Wednesday that authorities seized the 11 luxury cars from Tate and his brother to "sustain the cost of the investigation and would likely be used as collateral to fund payment awards for the alleged victims.

Some of the seized vehicles included a Rolls-Royce Wraith and an Aston Martin Vanquish S Ultimate, according to Insider.

Eugen Vidineac, a lawyer representing the Tate brothers, told the Romanian news outlet Gandul that the defense had not been allowed to study the prosecutions evidence. He added that several electronic devices were seized by authorities last April for searches.

I will point this out from the beginning, that even up to the present moment, the criminal investigation file has not been made available to us to ensure the effective defense of our clients, Vidineac was quoted as saying by The Independent.

In this sense, I would like to point out, at least from this point of view, I am also somehow amazed, there is not a single piece of evidence apart from the victims statement that leads to the idea that a crime of rape was committed.

Vidineac believes there is no evidence.

Im talking about evidence leading, by itself or directly, to the formation of an opinion of reasonable suspicion regarding the commission of offenses provided for and punishable by criminal law, he said.
Jack Hayford, pastor and writer of worship song Majesty, dies at age 88

Jack W. Hayford, a prominent pastor, author, seminary chancellor and the man who wrote the popular contemporary Christian worship song Majesty, has died at the age of 88.

Jack Hayford Ministries posted an announcement on its Facebook page confirming that he died on Sunday evening at his home in Los Angeles, California.

His family said he died peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of the morning, having eaten dinner with his wife, Valarie, and having spoken to one of his grandkids the evening before, stated the ministry.

Today, we mourn his loss but celebrate the homecoming of a great leader in Gods kingdom. We know that this great servant and worshipper is now experiencing the greatest worship service of all.

Responding to Hayford's passing, the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, pastor and president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, shared the late pastor's impact on his life.

"I had the privilege of calling him a friend. He spoke into my life, always encouraging me to make room for the Holy Spirit," Rodriguez wrote on Facebook. "Pastor Jack did change the world. He demonstrated that the Spirit Empowered/Charismatic movement can be both prophetic and practical, innovative, and intelligent, anointed and artistic."

Born in 1934 in Los Angeles, California, Hayford survived a bout with polio when he was a child and viewed his healing as a sign that he was meant to become a pastor.

Hayford helped found The Kings University and Seminary in 1997, serving as its chancellor. He also served as the founding pastor of The Church On The Way in Van Nuys, California, for decades, and was the president of The Foursquare Church from 2004 to 2009.

Hayford wrote several books and hundreds of songs, the most notable of which was the song Majesty, which was released in 1978 and has been recorded and performed numerous times.

In an entry on his ministry website, Hayford explained that the inspiration for Majesty came when he and his first wife, Anna, were visiting the United Kingdom in 1977.

While visiting many of the castles of the land, I began to sense the influence one might feel if raised as a child in such regal settings, Hayford recounted, adding that the sense of regal destiny pervades many of those sites and influences many of those people.

So powerfully did the sense of Christ Jesus royalty, dignity, and majesty fill my heart; I seemed to feel something new of what it meant to be His! The accomplished triumph of His Cross has not only unlocked us from the chains of our own bondage and restored us to fellowship with the Father, but He has also unfolded to us a life of authority over sin and hell and raised us to partnership with Him in His Throne  now!

At the National Religious Broadcasters' 2014 Convention, Hayford was inducted into the Evangelical media organization's Hall of Fame for his televangelism career.

"I think the challenge that we face is remembering that we are called to love one another, but also to serve the world with the Gospel," said Hayford in his acceptance speech.

In 2017, Hayfords wife of more than 60 years, Anna, who had helped to lead The Church of the Way, died of stage four pancreatic cancer at the age of 83. Hayford later remarried.

Hayford leaves behind his second wife, Valerie, four children, 11 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
Pastor who fled war in Congo is shot dead, left like trash in Nashville

A Nashville pastor who fled war in the Congo to find a better life in America was shot dead outside his apartment last Thursday and left like trash in the yard until a concerned neighbor called the police for help.

A statement from the Nashville Metro Police Department which is investigating the murder said the body of Pastor Lubunga Lumenge, 30, was found by a passerby just before 7 a.m. in the grass just outside his apartment in the parking lot of Residences at Stonebrook Apartments.

Residents at the complex report hearing a single gunshot at approximately 4 a.m.

Semetta Simmons told News Channel 5 she discovered Lumenges body just steps from someone's patio door "just lying there and people were just walking past him like he was just trash in the yard."

Thats when she said she was moved to call the police for help. Simmons, who lost a child to gun violence in Nashville, said she is just praying that the pastors family can find peace.

"My prayers are with them. Just keep your head up, and Im so sorry that they had to experience this at the beginning of the year," she said.

Friends and members of the Christian community in Nashville who knew Lumenge, who was a teacher in Tanzania where he first settled before coming to the U.S. after he fled the Democratic Republic of Congo, said he was a very active member of the Swahili Christian community.

His death, according to Mto Biko who met Lumenge in church, is really devastating.

Its really shocking, he told WKRN outside the pastors apartment. I was really devastated feeling like, is this real or am I just dreaming.

Though he did not list a specific name for the church, Biko said Lumenge was an essential part of his faith community where he led a prayer team.

He was a good person because he was someone who was really attached to the community and someone who was really willing to help other people and someone who was really concerned with other peoples problems or difficulties, Biko said.

Hes originally from the Congo, but we all grew up in Tanzania after we fled the war in the Congo. He used to be a teacher back in Tanzania, and then, when he moved to the U.S., from what I know, in Dallas, he then started serving God in a church there in Dallas, he continued.

In our community, its really shocking. We understand if somebody dies from sickness, we understand, he added. If somebody is shot, which is not part of our culture, we really, really feel bad and then devastated.

Staffers at two major Nashville churches where Lumenge worshiped with his Swahili community remained tight-lipped about his passing when contacted by The Christian Post on Monday.

David Johnson, an associate pastor at Grace Church of the Nazarene, said, Lubunga used to be a part of our church but they moved to a different location after a strain in the relationship between the Swahili ministry and Grace Church of the Nazarene which Johnson said he was not in a position to immediately discuss.

He did acknowledge, however, that he was aware of Lumenges death.

I found out about it just a couple of days ago. One of the other guys from the congregation contacted me and let me know about it, Johnson said.

When asked how he felt about Lumenges death, he replied, of course I was concerned about it and sad about it. He further described Lumenge as very active in the Swahili ministry.

Lil Cook, a ministry assistant at Woodmont Baptist Church that also operates a Swahili ministry, said Lumenge would come to events at the church where his brother-in-law, Useni Iweya, is a custodian but he had his own church which she did not name.

He would come to events here but he was pastor at his own church, Cook said. We dont really know anything about it (murder). We were all just very sad for the family.

Investigators are now urging anyone with information on Lumenges killing to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463.

While he continues to pray for justice for his friend, Biko said he was confident that Lumenge must be gone to heaven.
Trans-identified suspect admits to setting historic church on fire after hearing voices in head

A trans-identified individual has been arrested for setting a historic Portland church on fire after confessing to the crime and telling law enforcement that mental illness may have motivated the act of arson.

The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office announced Thursday that Cameron David Storer, 25, was arrested in connection with a Jan. 3 fire at a vacant building that once housed the Portland Korean Church in Portland, Oregon.

The blaze resulted in the partial collapse of the south side of the church as well as the roof. Storer faces multiple charges related to the fire: two counts of arson in the first degree, one count of arson in the second degree and two counts of burglary in the second degree.

The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office statement repeatedly referred to Storer as "they," suggesting that the suspect is trans-identified or nonbinary. Additionally, the document notes that Storer repeatedly asked to be called "Nicolette" after he turned himself into the Multnomah County Detention Center and confessed to the fire.

"Storer stated that they wanted to 'take credit' for the fire and shared a series of details about the incident during a subsequent interview with law enforcement indicating that they set the fire with a Bic lighter," the statement asserted. "Storer stated that they heard voices in their head saying they would 'mutilate' Storer if they did not burn the church down and that they had planned it up to one day in advance. Storer also reported taking approximately 10 oxycodone daily due to a previous injury and that they had a history of schizophrenia."

The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office requested Storer remain in detention without bail.

The Willamette Week reports that Storer also identifies as "Nicolette Fait," and reports from the courtroom and social media suggest that the defendant identifies as female.

A 2011 news article about the building being for sale states that it was originally built in 1905 as the First German Evangelical Church.

On Wednesday, Portland Fire & Rescue announced on its Twitter account that the "third alarm fire at SW 10 & Clay caused significant damage to structure and building deemed unsafe," indicating that the building was slated to be demolished the following day.

Third alarm fire at SW 10 & Clay caused significant damage to structure and building deemed unsafe. Demolition to begin tomorrow. Travel restricted. Updates to follow. Follow @PBOT for travel updates. pic.twitter.com/AJceJXOL1S  Portland Fire & Rescue (@PDXFire) January 4, 2023

On Thursday, Portland Fire & Rescue reported that "the scheduled demolition of the Portland Korean Church is delayed and will not begin this morning."

Subsequent tweets stated that "demolition of the church will begin tomorrow-1/6/23-around 10 AM," predicting a "slow methodical operation with the total duration unknown." The Portland Bureau of Transportation assumed control over the area, and "the demolition process is expected to run through the weekend."

The Portland Bureau of Transportation posted a tweet Saturday containing a statement from the Portland Streetcar, which proclaimed that "the demolition of the burned structure at SW 10 & Clay is wrapping up."

We're back running full service through downtown! Thanks again for your patience during this major disruption.https://t.co/PXq3pyr5ZP  Portland Streetcar (@PDXStreetcar) January 8, 2023
The Stone and Paddle, which has served sandwiches, pizza and craft beer in Manchester for 13 years, announced on Facebook on Tuesday that it is closing.

The time has come to close the doors for the final time on Jan. 13.  We have decided to wrap it up, the announcement read. A while ago we notified our landlords that we would not be renewing our lease on the next renewal date. They understood, and asked us if we would be able to vacate earlier since they had several parties interested in the location. We took some time to think about it and then accepted.

The owners of the restaurant will focus on their other businesses in Connecticut and Vermont, the notice continued. They offered to relocate their staff members to those locations, or offer them severance or help moving.

We plan on using most of this weeks sales to pad the severance our longtime employees get. So stop in say goodbye to the crew at the Paddle, the statement concluded.

Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.
Finding my way out of PTSD, abuse with a newborn baby

Unplanned trials and challenges test a person  they can either chip away at her until she caves to the pressure, or they can forge strength inside of her that she never knew she had.

I was on the path to caving until my life-changing discovery of the Hope Center, a pregnancy resource center in Greeneville, Tennessee, that I can truthfully credit with saving me and my son.

I had survived the Aurora Colorado theater shooting in 2012, but the trauma of that incident clung to me every day. Meanwhile, my husband had returned from the Army struggling with PTSD. While I was ecstatic to learn I was pregnant, he did not share in my excitement. My hope was that once my husband saw the beauty of the face we had created, he would want to stay and fight for our marriage, despite both of us already fighting our own battles.

Our beautiful son, Owen, was born on New Years Day, and I thought this signified the start of a successful and happy 2021. But the day after he was born, my husband received a letter in the mail from the VA explaining that his disability benefits would be decreasing, leaving us unable to afford our house.

During this time, my husbands PTSD worsened. He could hardly stand the colic of our newborn son, and as his anger and depression grew, Owen and I took the brunt of it. I struggled to find a lifeline or any stability as the tornado of events quickly wrapped around me.

Owen was only six weeks old when I packed up our life in Florida and moved in with my parents in Tennessee, leaving my husband behind. The visits he made to see his son were few and far between and I soon found myself divorced  a single mother whose expectations for her life were simply specks in the rearview mirror.

The lingering trauma of the shooting and abuse, mixed with the pain of losing my marriage, left me in a darkness that slowly crept into every area of my life. Just as I felt completely overcome by the strangle of hopelessness, I somehow stumbled upon the Hope Center, a local pregnancy center that offers women compassion and support during pregnancy and motherhood.

I had no idea the trajectory of my life, and of my sons, was about to radically change.

When I first entered the Hope Center, I could feel the happiness and peace engulf me like a warm hug. A feeling I had unknowingly longed for, for many years. They welcomed me without hesitation and helped me to accept my past while working to build my future, one that centered on good choices for my mental, physical and spiritual well-being. Discovering authentic family and friendship at the center made me realize I didnt have to raise Owen on my own.

They showed me how to breastfeed, baby-proof the house, and soothe a newborn with colic. They provided the physical items I needed to care for Owen, including diapers and wipes, but they also provided the emotional ones  love, support, and encouragement  while I navigated new territory as a single parent just trying to get back on her feet. I had been broken and defeated but despite all my struggles, my newborn baby still deserved care and a loving parent.

And as if that wasnt already enough, the Hope Center took to heart my career goals, which I had ever since the shooting: to become a registered nurse so that I could spend my life honoring those who lost theirs. They helped me to apply to schools and acquire the necessary financial assistance including the incredibly generous Unplanned Movie Scholarship, an award granted to one young mother each year who bravely chooses life despite unexpected setbacks. This has enabled me to thrive in a demanding accelerated nursing program so that today I am on track to graduate in 2024.

I can say with certainty that I wouldnt be in the emotional or educational position I am today without the gift of my son. Despite suffering deep trauma, hopelessness, and despair, Owen has changed my life for the better. His constant love and energy bring immense joy to each day.

Because of him, I met wonderful people at the Hope Center who I still turn to for guidance, support, and friendship. With their help, the tragedies in my life have not become the focus of my story but rather the foundation upon which my strength and success were built.
Post-denominational America

American denominationalism is fading. Non-denominationals are now the largest non-Catholic religious group in America. Nearly all denominations are declining. Liberal ones are declining faster than conservative ones. Nearly all growing congregations are non-denominational.

What is the impact on American society?

We at IRD have across over 40 years mostly focused on denominations. From the start in 1981 we have been ecumenical, including Mainline Protestants, Evangelicals, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. We critiqued the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches, which are mostly comprised of Mainline denominations. We sometimes collaborated with and sometimes critiqued the National Association of Evangelicals, which is mostly comprised of denominations, although congregations and parachurch groups can join.

For many people, IRD is mostly associated with Mainline Protestantism. Critiquing its political witness and working for its reform was a big part of our work. We had special renewal projects for United Methodists, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians (PCUSA) that focused on the legislation at their governing conventions. Eventually, in the early and mid 2000s, traditionalists lost their battles in these denominations and either left, created new denominations, or yielded to the new reality. The exception was United Methodism, where traditionalists never legislatively lost, but who are now exiting, mostly for a new denomination, realizing the U.S. part of the global denomination is unfixable.

The new denominations that emerged from Mainline Protestantism are lean, dont have bureaucracies, and themselves reflect in many ways Americas post denominationalism. Perhaps America has only one remaining great denomination, which is the Southern Baptist Convention. A great denomination is national, has millions of members, has universities and colleges, seminaries, publishing houses, journals, and transgenerational brand loyalty. But the Southern Baptist Convention is annually losing hundreds of thousands of members. Many of its most successful congregations now disguise their denominational tie. And even many ardent church members no longer relate strongly to the denominational brand. They and their children move seamlessly among evangelical congregations. Many if not most nondenominational churches are effectively Baptist in theology and polity, governed congregationally, through elders, and practicing believers baptism.

There are some growing denominations, such as the Assemblies of God, which is Pentecostal and very multiethnic. But its adherents dont necessarily strongly identify with the denomination. They regard themselves as Christians, or maybe as Pentecostals, who relate to their congregation but give little thought to their denomination, if they are even aware of it. Why should church goers think much about their denominations if their clergy dont talk a lot about them, if they are not going to denominational gatherings, if they are not attending denominational schools, if they are not reading denominational literature, and if there are no major denominational leaders with high profiles?

The decline of American denominationalism is sad in many ways. The Mainline Protestant denominations, with the Baptists and a few others, have been the pillars of American religion and for much of American civil society since the beginning of our republic. All successful movements and communities ultimately need multigenerational institutions to sustain and transmit their message. Christianity, if orthodox, cannot be divorced from institutions.

But the decline of American denominations does not necessarily herald the decline of American Christianity. Most of todays denominations emerged from the ferment of the Second Great Awakening, or were breakoffs from those denominations, or emerged from the Holiness and Pentecostal revivals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The rise of post-WWII evangelicalism generated a new wave of denominational activity, although much of the action emanated from independent parachurch ministries, contributing to our current post-denominational times.

Such evangelical entrepreneurship, expressed through radio, television, schools, and other independent missions, helped dethrone the centrality of denominations. But so too did the failures of denominations. Mainline Protestant structures were liberalized in the early 20th century, became hostile to populist piety, and began their irreversible membership plunge in the 1960s. Conservative denominations initially benefitted from post-WWII evangelical resurgence but eventually, over the last 20 years, suffered from evangelicalisms frequent indifference to tradition and ecclesiology. From the evangelical perspective, focused on individual conversion and experience, why were denominations needed? Werent they actually a distraction?

Irrespective of denominational failures, nearly all human institutions have a limited shelf-life. None of the Protestant denominations claim a permanent authority like Roman Catholicism. They were all born in particular cultural contexts, which all evolve with time. Schism, growth, sclerosis, mergers, decline and death are part of the rhythm of Protestant denominationalism.

For contemporary American Christianity, national religious institutions with large bureaucracies, strong brand loyalty, famous leaders, and a self-sustaining subculture are deemed not very relevant. Of course, aspects of the old denominationalism will continue. Many Southern Baptist seminaries are quite strong and will produce clergy for post denominational America. And many denominations will survive on a much smaller scale, with very lean structures, and often deemphasizing their denominational brands. In their place, there will be growing congregationalism attenuated by informal church networks. Christians, individually and congregationally, will rely on online resources that are not specific to any denominational traditions.

While the importance of denominations and their structures decline, the traditions that birthed them will not. Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism, Wesleyanism, Restorationism, and various flavors of Baptists, will continue and often will thrive in America, if not always carefully stewarded by denominations. And while post-denominational, contemporary populist piety will always thrive, behind it there will always be more rigorous outlines of orthodox Protestant theology providing some ballast.

For IRD, whose mission is to shape Christian political witness that strengthens democracy, the task is in some ways more complex. Christians no longer look to centralized structures and prominent church leaders for guidance for societal guidance, if they ever really did. Their sources of reference and authority are now defused across a swirling ocean of websites, independent publishers, social media, parachurch groups, and new schools. In this mix are every form of horrors and virtues.

Reaching individual Christians is now easier. There are no more denominational filters. IRD publishes online materials, host talks and conferences, and organizes hard copy books. We strive to reach Christians who are particularly concerned about principled Christian political witness rooted in permanence and tradition. The great Protestant traditions, if not the old denominations, remain our reference, supplemented by Catholic teaching and other historic Christian frameworks.

Ultimately, American Christianity will shift and reorganize in ways that best serve American Christians and other spiritual seekers. It may appear messy and disconcerting. Much of the old Christianity is dying. But new forms of Christian vibrancy are emerging.

American Christianity has always been entrepreneurial and adaptable. Its transitions may often look like decline. But often they are preambles to new spurts of growth and the creation of new institutions. These evolutions are intrinsic to Protestantism, especially in America, a nation whose churning restlessness is rooted in the endless Protestant quest for improvement.

Originally published at Juicy Ecumenism.
A third of Americans have stopped going to church: survey

A new study on how the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns impacted church attendance in the United States has found that roughly one in three Americans now say they've stopped attending religious services.

The pandemic lockdowns disrupted religious participation for millions of Americans, notes the study, titled Faith After the Pandemic: How COVID-19 Changed American Religion, conducted by the Survey on American Life, a project of the American Enterprise Institute.

In the summer of 2020, only 13% of Americans reported attending in-person worship services, which increased to 27% by the spring of 2022, but the rates of worship attendance were still lower than they were before the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, it adds.

In the spring of 2022, 33% of Americans reported they never attend religious services, compared to 25% who reported this before the pandemic, as per the survey, which clarifies that only a few among the most religiously engaged Americans are part of that group.

The largest declines in attendance were seen among adults younger than 50, adults with a college degree or less, Hispanic Catholics, black Protestants, and white mainline Protestants, it explains.

However, the largest increases in attendance during these two periods were seen among adults aged 3049, adults with less than a college degree, and black Protestants.

Conservatives, adults age 50 and older, women, married adults, and those with a college degree were more likely to attend than were other groups in both periods.

Much of this decline in attendance was due to people completely abstaining from worship, the survey says.

Nationally, religious identity among American adults stayed largely consistent during the pandemic, with minimal evidence of religious switching during this period, the study adds.

While 19% of adults changed their religious identification during the pandemic, including 6% who were unaffiliated pre-pandemic but reported a religious identity in spring 2022, 5% who reported a religion pre-pandemic were unaffiliated in spring 2022.

Last Augusts edition of the "State of the Bible: USA 2022 report from the American Bible Society found that 40% of Generation Z adults ages 18 and older attended church "primarily online." They were followed closely by 36% of churchgoers ages 77 and older.

However, the report suggested that among Gen Z and millennials who had made a meaningful commitment to Jesus, about 66% did not attend church either in person or online at least once a month.

Last November, Lifeway Research released the results of a phone survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors conducted from Sept. 6 through Sept. 30, 2022, which showed while churches were resuming the majority of their in-person services, on average, attendance at their churches in August 2022 was 85% of their Sunday attendance levels in January 2020.

Still, those attendance levels marked the highest in over two years.

The average church reported 63% of its pre-pandemic in-person attendance in September 2020. By August 2021, that number climbed to 73% and jumped another 12 points in 2022, according to the study.

"While there are a handful of exceptions, we can definitively say that churches in the U.S. have reopened," Lifeway Research Executive Director Scott McConnell said in a statement at the time. "While masks began to rapidly disappear in many settings in 2022, churchgoers have not reappeared quite as fast."

Last March, Pew Research Center released a report showing that the percentage of Americans who said they had attended religious services in the previous month had leveled off as more churches and houses of worship had lifted various COVID-19 meeting restrictions and safety precautions.

Sam Rainer, president of Church Answers and pastor at West Bradenton Baptist Church in Florida, told The Christian Post at the time that he believed there are times and there are seasons in the life of the church where a plateau is not a bad place to be.

If you are holding your own with attendance right now, if you are stable in attendance, I view that as a victory because its been harder to draw new people in during this season, Rainer said.
Minnesota pastor left paralyzed after slipping on ice outside church

After slipping on ice in front of his church in Minnesota, which left him partially paralyzed, 64-year-old Pastor David Kent recounted his devastating experience while showing faith in God as a healer.

Took one slip, I was down on the ground. My hands, my arms, my legs were all paralyzed, Kent of Christian Life Center in Golden Valley told KSPT, recalling the Dec. 16 accident. I couldnt move, my hands were in the snow. I knew that wasnt good.

The pastor, who broke his neck, was taken to North Memorial Health Hospital where surgeons operated on his spine and he remains paralyzed in his arms and legs.

They said we need to do surgery quickly, because hes broken his C4 and C5, the pastors wife, Susan, told KSPT. They said spinal cord injuries have to have surgery within 24 hours  and if they didnt do it fast, (the area) below the C5 could be damaged as well.

Pastor Kent was walking down the street that is owned by the church to talk to some tree-trimming workers when he slipped, according to an online fundraiser for his treatment, which is likely to cost more than $350,000.

According to CCX Media, the pastor has self-pay health insurance.

It will be a long road ahead of rehabilitation, occupational therapy and physical therapy, to determine when/if he will regain feeling and movement in his body, the fundraiser says. The rehab may be slow and take months, even years. Rehab will also work with the family and David to gain as much independence as possible.

The pastor told KSPT he remains optimistic.

It may be a slow healing, but I believe he is going to walk again, his wife, Susan, was quoted as saying. I dont know how long it will take, I dont know how much rehab hell have to go through. But we have hope.

Pastor Kent added, I wouldnt wish this on anybody. Definitely, its been an experience where I can say Ive been blessed  because of all the people that have come alongside and been a strength to me.

He told CCX Media, I serve a mighty big God. Hes able to do exceeding, abundantly, above all that were able to ask. So, I have total faith. My God is a healer.

The required 90-day in-patient rehab will cost about $3,900 a day. After David completes hospital inpatient rehab, he will need outpatient therapy which will bring much additional medical equipment expenses.

The pastors family says they typically would never ask for money from friends, family and the community. However, David has given so much of himself that we are now asking the community to give back. We do not have the resources required, but we know that anything is possible when we all band together.
Im almost afraid to hand you this, Pastor James Meeks says in handing over megachurch to Charlie Dates

Founding pastor of the 10,000-member Salem Baptist Church of Chicago, James Meeks, said he was almost afraid to hand over the reins of the congregation he led for the last 38 years to Pastor Charlie Dates. In an emotional retirement ceremony Sunday, he revealed he is trusting God to give his spiritual son the strength he needs to carry on the ministry.

"I'm almost afraid to hand you this because I know the burden that comes with this moment," Meeks said during a ceremonial passing of the torch before a packed church that included the attendance of dignitaries like the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who also addressed the church during the event broadcast on social media.

"I know how many nights you aren't going to sleep. I've looked the devil right in his face. I know how many times the devil is going to tempt you to jump off that pinnacle. And Charlie, the only thing I could tell you is God's word will hold you," he added.

"I know what it's like to be misunderstood. I know what it's like to walk into a group of people and smile and hug them and not even tell them what you know. I know what it is to keep a secret when a family comes to you and says, 'we know we could trust you.' And the responsibility that's getting ready to come on you is too heavy for any man to bear. I don't wish this on anybody, but I know that God will give you the grace, and you are God's man for this hour to be our next pastor," he continued. "So after 38 years of leading this church, it is with great delight, my spiritual son in the ministry, that I confer upon you the title new pastor of the Salem Baptist Church of Chicago."

Calling him "the greatest young preacher in our nation today," Meeks announced Dates as his successor last June.

Meeks, who is now 65 and served three terms as a state senator, founded the church in 1985 with his wife, Jamell. The congregation grew into one of the largest black churches in the city.

"It's time for Salem to move forward. It's time for Salem to have younger leadership. It's time for us to bring in new families. It's time for us to bring in young people. We need a new vision. We need new ideas. We need new opportunities," Meeks told his cheering congregation at the time. "And God has blessed us with our own son who has agreed, starting January 15th, 2023, to be the next pastor of the Salem Baptist Church of Chicago."

Dates, 41, is a graduate of Salem's now-closed Salem Christian Academy. Meeks recalls meeting Dates when the young pastor was in the fifth grade. Dates also served on Salem's ministry team for a while before leaving in 2011 to serve as the leader of Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago.

Meeks titled his final sermon on Sunday, "I Can Never Say Goodbye." In the sermon, he compared his retirement from church leadership to St. Paul's departure from congregations in the Bible.

"Nobody could ever make me stop loving you," Meeks said. "You have followed every crazy vision ... and look where it brought us."

In accepting the charge from his spiritual father, Dates highlighted some of Meeks' accomplishments, including baptizing more than 20,000 people.

"For over 38 years, Salem Baptist Church of Chicago has grown in wisdom and in strength, guided by the caring and insight of our pastor, Rev. James T. Meeks and first lady Jamell Meeks," he said. "Now it is time for us to bless them and release them as God has given them a ministry that will take new shape and focus."
Sadie Robertson says Christians can't keep personal, spiritual lives separate, calls for repentance

"Duck Dynasty" star Sadie Robertson Huff urged thousands gathered at Passion 2023 to repent if their spiritual lives dont align with their personal lives, stressing that Christians shouldn't be afraid to "shine their light" by preaching about God anywhere, whether in class or at work.

The 25-year-old outspoken reality TV star, podcaster and social media influencer was among many prominent Christian figures who spoke to thousands gathered at the Passion 2023 conference in Atlanta last week. The event ran from last Tuesday to Thursday.

She stressed that a Christian's spirituality  or their relationship with Jesus shouldn't  should not be separate from the life they lead outside of the church and should invite Jesus into every aspect of their life.

The influencer stated that a Christian's relationship with Jesus shouldn't be hidden when they are in secular spaces and around those who do not believe in God.

"If it's true that the spirit of God is living inside of us, we should have Passion moments in the grocery store, then we should have Passion moments every place we go, then revival really should happen," she said. "We say all the time we want revival to happen, 'God, bring revival.' I just wonder, why isn't it happening? I don't think it's because God is not doing His job. I think it's because we are not responding to ours."

"Everywhere we go could be a place of miracles," she continued. "Everywhere we go is a moment to share the Good news. But I think in order for that to happen, it has to become personal to you."

Robertson Huff encouraged the crowd to think of how they can turn their spheres of influence and the places they spend most of their time into areas of ministry. She pushed back against thoughts that churches and small groups are the only places ministry can happen.

"I just want us to wake up to the idea that your truck, your finance class, your walks to school with your friends, your apartment, that is the place ministry should be happening the most," she said. "Why? Because you're there. How? Because the Spirit of God is living inside of you."

"We have places where our spiritual life takes place, and we have places where our personal life takes place," she added. "Those two things don't really merge a lot of the time. But I think we have to get it out of our heads that those two things are different things, and they have to become one thing."

She used the example of Jesus preaching from Peter's boat in Luke 5.

Robertson Huff warned attendees that they shouldn't only talk about their spiritual lives when they are only around other Christians, stressing that a Christian's ministry is the glue that ties their spiritual life to their personal life.

"Wherever I am is a place for ministry to happen.  Because ministry is not waiting for you on a platform. And ministry is not a job position or a title. Ministry is who you are," she said.

"And it's where you are. And it's what you do. No matter who you are, or where you are or what you do. Because you are a disciple of Christ, ministry is a full-time thing. Ministry is not a separate thing."

For many Christians today, she said, their spiritual lives might contradict their personal lives because they are living in unrepentant sin.

"Maybe you're afraid to fully surrender and fully ask for repentance because you're scared you're going to go back to it. But, the worst thing for you to do would be to try to go back to it alone," Robertson Huff advised.

"The best thing you can do is say: 'Jesus, I need you to be a part of this side of my life because I don't have the power to break the addiction in my own strength. I need your Spirit," she added.

"When things start to get personal with Jesus, I think repentance is a natural response. And many of you, it's starting to get so personal, it feels uncomfortable to let yourself go to that place."

Robertson Huff led the crowd in a prayer of repentance as her sermon came to a close.

"God, I thank you that Your Son died on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins so that I can live with hope. Holy Spirit, I invite you into my life. Convict me in the areas that I try to go back to. God free me of my old self and help me to walk in my new self," she prayed.

"God, I pray that people notice the change in me. I pray that people will ask me the question: 'what happened to you?' so that I can just speak Your name. God, my life will be to give you glory. My life will be for your name.  My life will be a living testimony to the faithfulness of you, God. I will be a part of a generation that will bring revival to this earth."

The Passion movement was launched in 1995 by pastor Louie Giglio of Passion City Church in Atlanta. This year's conference featured several Christian leaders and pastors, including Giglio, Jackie Hill Perry, Tim Tebow and others.

Passion movement's ministry statement declares: "For us, what matters most is the name and renown of Jesus. We believe in this generation and are watching God use them to change the climate of faith around the globe."
Video game company fires employee amid backlash to following 'transphobic' Twitter accounts

A video game company has terminated one of its employees amid social media backlash over the fact she followed several right-leaning Twitter accounts and made statements deemed by critics as "transphobic."

Limited Run Games, which publishes "physical" copies of "indies, retro games, cult classics and more," announced on Twitter Friday that "an employee was terminated" but did not specifically identify the employee in question. The company prefaced the announcement by stating that "LRG respects all opinions, however we remain committed to supporting an inclusive culture."

LRG respects all personal opinions, however we remain committed to supporting an inclusive culture. Upon investigating a situation, an employee was terminated. Our goal as a company is to continue to foster a positive and safe environment for everyone.  Limited Run Games (@LimitedRunGames) January 6, 2023

The tweet noted that the unnamed employee was terminated after an investigation of an unspecified "situation," adding, "Our goal as a company is to continue to foster a positive and safe environment for everyone."

LRG's statement followed the publication of a Twitter thread earlier Friday chastising the community manager for Limited Run Games as "a transphobe who follows a who's who of right-wing transphobic creeps."

The Twitter thread, posted by a trans-identified Twitter user named Purple Tinker, included screenshots of the community manager's Twitter account. The thread concluded with an update declaring that "she was fired."

The community manager for @LimitedRunGames, @/KaraLynne0326, is a transphobe who follows a veritable who's who of right-wing transphobic creeps.



Unless and until she is fired from the company permanently, I am not giving them another single dime.



(CW: Transphobia) pic.twitter.com/SVoQdGOvEF  Purple Tinker (@prpltnkr) January 6, 2023

The community manager, who goes by the name Kara Lynne on Twitter, published a tweet in May 2016 contending that "If you think the # of trans crying about using a bathroom is higher than the perves using the excuse, you are what is wrong with this world."

The 2016 tweet came at a time when policies allowing trans-identified people to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity as opposed to their biological gender grew as a subject of intense debate, especially as the Obama administration advised school districts nationwide to adopt such policies. Critics continue to voice concerns that such policies could be abused by those seeking to do harm.

Additional screenshots posted by Purple Tinker showed that Lynne followed Libs of TikTok, a popular account that shares videos posted on liberal activists' social media accounts and has been critical of Children's hospitals' methods of treatment for children diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

Lynne also followed actress Gina Carano, who was fired from the TV series "The Mandalorian" after making what critics call "transphobic" comments.

Other accounts followed by Lynne include LGBT people who have raised questions about the push to perform gender transition surgeries on youth, including trans-identified conservative activist Blaire White and openly gay media personality Dave Rubin.

"Unless and until she is fired from the company permanently, I am not giving them another single dime," Purple Tinker's Twitter thread vowed.

The Twitter user told Limited Run Games, "I've given your company quite a lot of money" that adds up to "many hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars" before bluntly insisting, "that ends now."

Additionally, Purple Tinker demanded a refund for $1235.40 in pending orders from the video game company, citing outrage that "their community manager is a transphobe" as the reason why.

Since the events that transpired last week, Lynne's account has gone private, making it unclear whether or not she has issued a response to her termination.

Lynne's termination sparked outrage against Limited Run Games, including calls for boycotts.

Christina Pushaw, who served as press secretary for Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and worked on his reflection campaign as rapid response direct, advised her followers on Twitter Sunday that the video game company "deserves only your scorn, not your money."

Pushaw implied Lynne "is probably better off not working for the woke totalitarians" and criticized Purple Tinker for getting "a woman fired because she followed twitter accounts that hurt my feelings."

"I can't imagine having to deal with the pronoun brigade 40+ hours per week," Pushaw stated.

She is probably better off not working for woke totalitarians. I cant imagine having to deal with the pronoun brigade 40+ hours per week. Also, @LimitedRunGames deserve only your scorn, not your money. https://t.co/Urvx15yhq9  Christina Pushaw ???? ???????? (@ChristinaPushaw) January 9, 2023
Is God an egomaniac? John Piper responds

Notable Bible teacher and author John Piper tackled a claim that God is an egomaniac because He demands that people worship only Him.

In a message before the Engaging Truth Conference shared on the Desiring God website, Piper focused his remarks on Matthew 10:37-39, which reads: Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Piper was responding to remarks previously made by Erik Reece, author of the book An American Gospel: On Family, History, and the Kingdom of God, who described his upbringing in a fundamentalist Baptist family that espoused an "oppressive kind of Christianity," that "emphasized our innate sinfulness, our unworthiness before God." As an adult, he abandoned such views. Reece is also a professor at the University of Kentucky.

Reece told National Public Radio in a 2009 interview that he considered the Matthew 10 passage as showing that Jesus was talking like an egomaniac.

Well, it just struck me as, who is [this] person speaking 2,000 years ago, a complete historical stranger, saying that we should love Him, who we are really incapable emotionally of loving, more so than we love our own fathers and our own sons? And it just seemed like an incredibly egomaniacal kind of claim to make, Reece said.

In response, Piper said, God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is not the act of a needy ego, but an act of infinite giving, adding that the reason God seeks our praise is not because He wont be fully God until He gets it, but because we wont be fully happy until we give it.

Piper quoted John 17:24, Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

Thats not egomania. Its love, said Piper regarding that passage. Because nothing will make us happier forever than to be with the greatest Person in the universe, to see his glory, and to be changed to be like him.

The greatest news in the world is that in the death of Christ, God has made a way for his glory to be exalted and my sins to be forgiven in the very same act. God is ultimately glorified in us, and we are ultimately satisfied in him. And they happen together.

Piper also believed that Gods God-centeredness is the test of whether our own God-centeredness is real: Do I rejoice in Gods unwavering commitment to uphold and display his glory  do I rejoice in Gods God-centeredness?

Or am I God-centered only because deep down I believe God is man-centered, so that my supposed God-centeredness is really man-centeredness, even me-centeredness? he continued.

So, the crucial question is: Does my opposition to Gods God-centeredness reveal that my supposed God-centeredness is just a cover for wanting myself to be at the center?

Piper has addressed the egomaniac question before, including in 2010 in a speech before approximately 21,000 college students at the Passion Conference.

Wherever you hear God saying 'praise me,' what He's really saying is since praise is the completion of pleasure in greatness, please come to the fullness of your joy ... [and] of your satisfaction, said Piper at Passion 2010.

You weren't made to be somebody. You were made to know somebody and to be thrilled to know the greatest person in the world as your friend.
Man arrested in hit-and-run that killed pastor; husband forgives the accused

Police in California have arrested a man in the case of a 62-year-old pastor and foster mother who was killed in a hit-and-run on Christmas Eve while she was going to a shelter in Los Angeles to drop off toys. The victims husband says he has forgiven the accused.

Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department arrested 55-year-old Carlos Mayor, an L.A. resident, on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter of Trina Newman-Townsend, who had two biological children and six foster children, ABC 7 reported.

After last week's arrest, many family members and friends arrived at LAPDs South Traffic Division to thank the officers, NBC LA said, adding that police believe the suspect was driving the car that hit and killed Newman-Townsend as she was going back to her car after dropping off gifts at a South LA shelter in the Broadway-Manchester area.

After hitting the victim, the driver jumped a red light and sped away from the scene, a witness was quoted as saying.

A blue mid-size sedan traveling northbound on South Broadway struck her and fled northbound on South Broadway, failing to stop or render aid, LAPD said in a statement, according to People magazine.

Mayors bail has been set at $50,000, and he is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 25.

Newman-Townsends husband, Curtis Townsend Sr., said he had forgiven the accused. Carlos, I forgive you. You panicked. Things happen, he was quoted as saying.

At her memorial on Dec. 29, Dwayne Newman told mourners, The community is here honoring my sister, somebody you didn't even know.

Newman-Townsend was somebody that was doing something in the community that you never knew, until her death, she added.

The victims daughter, Callie Harvey, was quoted as saying, My mother was a phenomenal woman. Love is a verb  people forget that. She showed you that she loved you.  She had a heart. That lady, she loved unconditionally.

Newman-Townsends family is raising money online to celebrate and honor her life.

As of Tuesday, nearly $8,000 had been raised.

Her days were filled with love, laughter, faith and communion. She always made sure the family gathered together and everyone was celebrated. Those blessed with her presence always felt welcomed, were well accommodated, and received so much of her love. Selfless is an understatement, the fundraiser says.

Her doors remained open to family, friends, foster children, or basically anyone that was in need. No matter how busy or tired she was, she'd make your needs her priority. If she had it, she gave it without hesitation or expecting a return. If she couldn't provide by her own means, she'd gathered the village to make way.
Minnesota university fires art professor for showing painting of Muhammad deemed 'Islamophobic'

A Minnesota university finds itself the subject of a complaint after firing a professor for showing a painting of the Islamic prophet Muhammad as part of an art history class discussion.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, formerly known as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), filed a complaint against Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, to the Higher Learning Commission last week. In the complaint, the advocacy organization maintained that the institution is not in compliance with HLCs Criteria for Accreditation section 2.D., requiring the institution to be committed to academic freedom and freedom of expression in the pursuit of truth in teaching and learning.

Hamline admits that it non-renewed an art history instructor last semester after a Muslim student complained that, during a discussion about Islamic art, the instructor facilitated an optional, in-class viewing of a renowned 14th century painting depicting the [Islamic] prophet Muhammad, which the student said offended her religious beliefs, the complaint explained.

According to the complaint, Such nonrenewal violates both HLC and Hamline policies clearly committing the university to free expression and its corollary, academic freedom for all faculty, with Hamline claiming it is committed to academic freedom and celebrates free expression for everyone. Alex Morey, FIREs director of Campus Rights Advocacy, urged the HLC to hold Hamline accountable for violating Standard 2.D.

FIREs complaint to the HLC followed an unsuccessful attempt to convince Hamline to immediately reinstate the instructor and reaffirm its commitment to academic freedom in a Dec. 27 letter. Rather than reinstate the instructor as requested, Hamline President Fayneese Miller sent an email defending the universitys decision to fire the academic, obtained by Alpha News.

To look upon an image of the prophet Muhammad, for many Muslims, is against their faith, she wrote. For those of us who have been entrusted with the responsibility of educating the next generation of leaders and engaged citizens, it was important that our Muslim students, as well as all other students, feel safe, supported, and respected both in and out of our classrooms.

Miller described the termination of the unnamed instructor as an effort to address students expressed concerns about the portrait's display in class. She insisted that Contrary to what has been reported and become the story, the adjunct instructor was teaching for the first time at Hamline, received an appointment letter for the fall semester, and taught the course until the end of the term. She concluded the email by thanking the Hamline community for their efforts to make the school a supportive and welcoming space for all.

FIRE Program Officer Sabrina Conza issued a statement in response to the filing of the complaint, suggesting that Hamline clearly doesnt understand what academic freedom means, even though it explicitly promises faculty this core right. According to Conza, Hamline has no right to dismiss an art history instructor for teaching art history.

FIRE's statement concluded with a form letter that supporters could send to Miller demanding the art history teachers reinstatement. The letter includes a quote by FIRE stating that blanket bans on displaying pedagogically relevant material are not acceptable at a university that commits to academic freedom. It also warned that the instructors dismissal will create a chilling effect among all faculty, who may now choose to censor important aspects of their teaching and deprive students of the rigorous, liberal education the university promises.

Additionally, more than 300 current and former professors representing institutions of higher education worldwide, including 12 from Hamline University, wrote a letter to the schools leadership backing FIREs call for the teachers reinstatement. The letter expressed concern that Miller and Hamline Vice President for Inclusive Excellence, David Everett, asserted in an email that respect for observant Muslim students in that classroom should have superseded academic freedom.

The professors also noted that the syllabus for the art history course made it clear that viewing the painting was optional and condemned Everetts description of the course exercise as undeniably inconsiderate, disrespectful and Islamophobic.
Connecticuts first adult-use cannabis dispensaries are open to the public, bringing everyday consumers as well as medicinal clientele.

For many new to recreational marijuana, however, it can be daunting to know what you are looking for. Whats the difference between sativa and indica strains? Should I get a vape or an edible? What gives a full-body high, or helps relieve anxiety?

While dispensary staff are helping new consumers through their myriad of questions today, we have gone ahead and collected info on what to know with all things THC and CBD. Above all, make sure to do your due diligence and know what you are getting for yourself.

Erick Wichert, (left) of Plainville, makes the first purchase of adult use recreational cannabis on the first day of sales of legalized recreational cannabis in Connecticut, at Fine Fettle Dispensary in Newington, January 10, 2023. Its about time, said Wichert about the long-awaited opening. Its long overdue. Photo by Cloe Poisson/Special to the Courant

THC versus CBD, and other cannabinoids

In simple terms, cannabinoids are the chemical compounds in cannabis plants. They produce the effects of cannabis use.

The two biggest cannabinoids are tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and cannabidiol, or CBD.

THC is the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis plants. It is what gives you that high feeling. More recently, growers have been increasing THC in hybrid plants; a lot stronger then what you might have had back in high school. Be careful when you are looking at hybrids.

CBD, on the other hand, is non-impairing or non-euphoric. You will not get that high feeling taking CBD, but you can still receive many of the other physical benefits, such as reducing pain and nausea, preventing seizures and easing migraines.

Other cannabinoids are used more for medicinal purposes. Cannabinol, or CBN, can help with neurological conditions like epilepsy, seizures, and muscle stiffness. Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THCA, can help with inflammation from arthritis and autoimmune diseases, as well as symptoms of neurological conditions like Parkinsons disease and ALS. Lastly, cannabigerol, or CBG, can help with anxiety and symptoms of OCD, PTSD, and depression.

The harvested hemp buds at the Hemp House Farm in Cheshire goes onto to be medicinal oils and other products. Brant Smith, owner of Hemp House Farms, is among those lobbying become an official grower of recreational marijuana in Connecticut. Smith said that hemp farmers in Connecticut, now fewer than 40, should get priority to grow as their operations can easily be converted to grow marijuana. (Douglas Hook / Hartford Courant)

Sativa, Indica, and Hybrid

While there are numerous strains of marijuana to choose from, an easy way to help differentiate is to check if it is Indica, Sativa or Hybrid. Here is what you can expect:

Sativa usually has a lower dose of CBD compared to THC. You will get more of a mind high, or an energizing, anxiety-reducing effect. You are likely to feel more productive and creative instead of relaxed and lethargic.

Popular strains of sativa include Acapulco Gold, Panama Red, and Durban Poison

Indica has a higher dose of CBD compared to sativa, but its THC content is not usually any less. Indica can be intensely relaxing, and can help decrease nausea and increase appetite.

Popular strains of indica include Hindu Kush, Afghan Kush, and Granddaddy Purple.

Hybrids are grown to increase the THC percentage in the plants, and have more unique ratios between the THC and CBD. They are grown for their diverse impacts, like reducing anxiety or easing symptoms of chemotherapy and radiation.

Hybrids are typically classified as indica- or sativa-dominant, with popular hybrids including Pineapple Express, Trainwreck, and Blue Dream.

Smoking, edibles, tinctures, and more

Along with a myriad of strains to choose from, you also have a choice on how to consume cannabis products.

Smoking is what most people think of when it comes to marijuana, and you will find plenty of buds and pre-rolls for sale. They work by passing cannaboids into your lungs, where it enters your bloodstream and then your brain.

As more states legalize marijuana, edibles are one way to consume cannabis in a variety of products, from baked goods and candies to beverages, and they figure to become only more popular as the cannabis culture stabilizes in more and more places. However, since the products contain varying amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in cannabis, consumers should be careful when trying edibles for the first time. ALSO READ: 24 Food and Drink Trends for 2022  title= As more states legalize marijuana, edibles are one way to consume cannabis in a variety of products, from baked goods and candies to beverages, and they figure to become only more popular as the cannabis culture stabilizes in more and more places. However, since the products contain varying amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in cannabis, consumers should be careful when trying edibles for the first time. ALSO READ: 24 Food and Drink Trends for 2022  data-src=/wp-content/uploads/migration/2023/01/10/ILY6MWGM3IWWKI24OAE7EEEKGM.jpg> As more states legalize marijuana, edibles are one way to consume cannabis in a variety of products, from baked goods and candies to beverages, and they figure to become only more popular as the cannabis culture stabilizes in more and more places. However, since the products contain varying amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in cannabis, consumers should be careful when trying edibles for the first time. ALSO READ: 24 Food and Drink Trends for 2022

Edibles are a common choice as well. They are simple and dosed depending on how much THC or CBD you are looking to consume, and can come in gummies, mints and even baked goods in some locations. They are processed through the stomach and liver.

Vapes have risen in popularity over the last decade. Like smoking, cannaboids pass through the lungs and into the bloodstream. You will be buying cartridges with cannabis oil, resin, or concentrate.

Tinctures, like edibles, can be used for precise dosing. They are made by soaking a cannabis plant in a base liquid like food-grade alcohol or glycerin and, after days of steeping, are strained. Dosing is done through a dropper under the tongue for low and consistent doses. Because its absorbed under the tongue, the ensuing high is more immediate, but not as strong, compared to an edible.

Finally, you are likely to find cannabis topicals along with the laundry list of options above. Topicals are meant to treat pain, muscle aches, and more. Dont expect a psychotropic effect.

What is a safe dose of THC?

When it comes to edibles or tinctures, the standard dose per serving is 5mg of THC. If you are new to marijuana, however, it is recommended you start off at 2.5mg.

You can find higher doses as well, such as 10mg, 20mg, 50mg and more. Be extremely careful when picking out edibles to make sure the dosage of THC makes sense. For most consumers, 5mg will be plenty.

If you are using a vape or bowl, you will more than likely have to feel it out your first few times to find where your tolerance is at. It can take time for THC to take effect, so make sure not to rush things and wait for your bodys response.
Virginia teacher saves entire class of students after 6-year-old shoots her in hand and chest

A first-grade teacher who managed to save her entire class after she was intentionally shot in the hand and chest by a 6-year-old student as she taught at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, has been hailed as a hero for her bravery in the face of danger.

At a press conference Monday, Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said the teacher, Abigail Zwerner, 25, is hospitalized in stable condition after the shooting last Friday, but the first thing she asked him about when they met was how her students were doing.

When I met with Abigails family on Saturday, and they took me up to her [hospital] room, she asked me first question, Do you know how my students are? She was worried about them, Drew said.

And then today  she again asked me, Do you know how my students are? And that touched me, her family and her mother. Abigail wanted me to tell you all, but primarily her students and the parents of her students, she is in stable condition and she is thankful for the thoughts and prayers that have gone out to her. The people that have reached out not only here locally but across our state and across our nation. She is very, very appreciative of the support that she is getting. And continues to get, he explained.

Drew said at about 1:59 p.m. last Friday, police received a call from the school that a teacher had been shot with no other information. Officers from different areas quickly converged on the school and at 2:04 p.m., two sheriffs deputies entered the classroom where the shooting took place and found a 6-year-old male student being physically restrained by a school employee.

The child was physically combative and struck the employee that was restraining him, Drew said.

Officers then took control of him and escorted him out of the building [and] placed him in a police car with an officer inside and outside of that building. Once that had occurred there was a systematic evacuation of rooms and hallways for safety as they didnt know what they were dealing with, he said.

Police later recovered one spent shell casing, a backpack, a cell phone, and a 9mm Taurus firearm from the scene.

The firearm was recovered close to the students desk where the shooting occurred, Drew said.

Zwerner was reportedly teaching when the 6-year-old boy brandished the firearm, pointed it at her and fired one round.

There was no physical struggle or fight. She was providing instruction to her class, Drew said.

The police chief said Zwerner took a defensive position where she raised her hand after the student fired the gun at her.

The round went through her hand, exited the rear of her hand and into her upper chest, he said.

He said when police reviewed security video from the scene, Zwerners bravery was on full display.

She suffered a gunshot wound but she was still able to get all of her students out of that classroom. From the video surveillance we have of the hallway, you can see the students running out of that classroom across the hall into  about 17-20 students  of that classroom into other classrooms, Drew said. Ms. Zwerner was the last person to leave that class. She made a right turn and started down the hallway and then she stopped. She turned around. She turned around to make sure that every one of those students were safe.

Drew said police later interviewed the boy and his mother and discovered that the gun was a legally purchased firearm that he hid in his backpack and brought to school.

We determined that the firearm was in the residence where they lived and the child obtained that firearm, placed it in his backpack and brought it to school. He was brought to school that day by his mother later that morning, he explained.

As the hero teacher continues to recover, Hannah Zwerner, her twin sister, launched a GoFundMe campaign on Monday to raise $250,000 to help with her with medical and living expenses. More than $60,000 had been raised as of Tuesday.

Abby, my family, and I are humbled by the outpouring of support weve received in the days following the event. Thank you for all of the prayers, well wishes, and words of kindness, Zwerners sister said in a statement on the campaign. If you're looking for ways to help, I am creating this fund to help aid in Abby's healing. Its purpose is to cover future living expenses as Abby recovers from this tragedy.

Drew said Zwerners shooter was taken into custody for evaluation at a local hospital. He was later ordered to be temporarily detained by a judge so he can receive treatment at a medical facility while an investigation into the shooting continues.

Id like to reiterate that this shooting was not accidental. It was intentional. I believe, I told her today, I believe Ms. Zwerner, Abigail. She saved lives on Friday, Drew said. She is a trooper. She is a hero
Atheists refute claims abortion bans violate religious freedom

Atheist pro-life advocates are pushing back against lawsuits alleging that state abortion bans and restrictions violate religious freedom and promote a Christian definition of life, saying that the right to practice one's faith does not justify "human rights violations."

As several states have moved to ban or restrict abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade last summer, some lawsuits contend those laws promote a sectarian view of when life begins.

Monica Snyder, who serves as executive director of Secular Pro-Life, an organization comprised of atheists and agnostics, told The Christian Post that the belief that a zygote is the first stage of life for human organisms "is not a religious belief."

"It's a biological fact," she said. "You don't need to be religious to recognize biological facts, and you don't need to be religious to believe all humans are morally valuable."

In Indiana, five women and the organization Hoosier Jews for Choice argue that the state's ban passed in August outlawing nearly all abortion violates the 2015 Indian Religious Freedom Restoration Act signed by former Vice President Mike Pence when he was the state's governor. In December, a judge issued a preliminary injunction against the law finding that it "substantially burdens" religious exercise.

In another lawsuit in Kentucky, three Jewish women claim that the state's abortion ban violates their religious freedom and alleges that the legislature "imposed sectarian theology." As of Oct. 26, the complaint has been removed in federal court as the Kentucky Supreme Court considers other lawsuits challenging the ban.

According to the Brennan Center for Center Justice, 34 lawsuits have been filed against abortion bans in 19 states, with 31 pending at trial or appellate levels.

Jewish nurse practitioner Cara Berg Raunick argues that Indiana lawmakers are imposing a "Christian definition" of life on her by asserting it begins at conception.

"That is a religious and values-based comment," Berg Raunick said in a Dec. 27 statement to The Associated Press. "A fetus is a potential life, and that is worthy of great respect and is not to be taken lightly, but it does not supersede the life and health of the mother, period."

Presenting a hypothetical, the pro-life atheist Snyder questioned whether society would have to allow elective third-trimester abortions in the name of religious freedom if someone's faith claimed that life doesn't begin until the first breath.

"Historically, some societies believed neonates aren't 'children' until they're named, or fed, or baptized. Would we have to allow infanticide prior to those rituals in the name of religious freedom?" she asked. "No, of course not."

"Freedom of religion is important, but it doesn't justify human rights violations. Abortion violates human rights by killing human beings," Snyder asserted. "Freedom of religion doesn't justify it."

Kelsey Hazzard, an atheist attorney and the founder of Secular Pro-Life, echoed these thoughts.

"Religious freedom has its limits, and the death of a child lies beyond that limit," she wrote. "The American legal system has encountered an analogous issue: may Jehovah's Witnesses condemn their medically fragile sons and daughters to death because they believe that blood transfusions are sinful?"

"No one doubts the sincerity of that religious belief, but the answer is no: the child's right to life takes precedence," Hazzard continued. "Likewise, the right to life must take precedence over religious, unscientific beliefs about ensoulment at birth."

During an October conference hosted by the pro-life group Rehumanize International, Hazzard presented an analysis of the litigation challenging abortion restrictions because such bans violate the right to religious freedom.

The attorney asserted that religious liberty claims do not take precedence over a child's well-being, citing various legal cases to support her point.

One of the cases Hazzard cited was Prince v. Massachusetts, a 1944 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld a Massachusetts regulation prohibiting children of a particular age group from selling newspapers in public places. Sarah Prince challenged the law that convicted her for taking her 9-year-old niece to sell Jehovah's Witness literature.

Writing the opinion for the 5-4 majority, Justice Wiley B. Rutledge asserted that past cases established that parents and children have a right to exercise religion, but this was not absolute, citing compulsory vaccination laws as proof.

"Parents may be free to become martyrs themselves. But it does not follow that they are free in identical circumstances, to make martyrs of their children," Rutledge wrote.

Another case Hazzard cites in her speech is the 1961 New Jersey case Hoener v. Bertinato, where the unborn child of two Jehovah's Witnesses required a blood transfusion due to RH compatibility. Most Jehovah's Witnesses hold the religious conviction that human beings should not use another creature's blood to sustain their lives.

While the court acknowledged the sincerity of the parents' religious objections, it ruled that it was in the state's interest to preserve the unborn child's welfare and "its right to survive."

The court stated that "an unborn child is a distinct biological entity from the time of conception, and many branches of the law afford the unborn child protection throughout the period of gestation."

"The most important consideration, however, is that the viability distinction has no relevance to the injustice of denying recovery for harm which can be proved to have resulted from the wrongful act of another."

Hazzard contends that protection for the unborn is "finally being restored" following the Supreme Court overturning Roe in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in June.

She said abortion proponents are "free" to believe that life does not begin at fertilization based on religious convictions.

However, the right to religious freedom does not mean parents are free to make a "martyr" of their child. According to Hazzard, the government has a "compelling interest" in preserving life by preventing abortions.

Berg Raunick and Hoosier Jews for Choice did not respond to CP's request for comment by press time.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott: Biden border visit a 'photo-op;' 'too little,' 'too late'

Critics of the Biden administration's handling of the immigration crisis at the U.S. southern border say President Joe Bidens trip to Texas and Mexico amounted to a photo-op and expressed concern that the administrations policies will only exacerbate the humanitarian crisis.

President Joe Biden visited the southwest border for the first time Sunday, as concerns grow about the high volume of illegal immigration negatively affecting U.S. citizens and border communities. Statistics compiled by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol show there were 465,034 encounters between migrants and law enforcement officials at the southwest border in the first two months of fiscal year 2023, which began in October. By comparison, just 339,682 encounters occurred during the same period in fiscal year 2022.

Bidens border visit occurred against the backdrop of his administrations efforts to abolish Title 42, which enables border officials to quickly turn away migrants seeking entry into the U.S. due to public health concerns posed by the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered Title 42 to remain in place as the justices are slated to hear a case involving the matter later this year. The abandonment of Title 42 is expected to cause the number of illegal border crossings to increase to an even higher figure.

The president announced his intention to visit the border city of El Paso, Texas, in a press conference last week. During the address, Biden laid out actions his administration was taking to address the surge at the U.S.-Mexico border, including the expansion of a parole program allowing Venezuelan migrants with sponsors in the U.S. to come to the country for two years and receive work permits as long as they pass a background check to Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans.

The president predicted that expanding the parole program to three additional countries will substantially reduce the number of people attempting to cross the southwest border without going through the legal process. He contended that since the establishment of the existing parole program, the number of Venezuelans trying to enter America without going through a legal process has dropped dramatically from about 1,100 per day to less than 250 per day on average.

When Biden arrived in El Paso, Gov. Greg Abbott gave him a letter declaring that your visit to our southern border with Mexico today is $20 billion too little and two years too late.

Abbott added, Your visit avoids the sites where mass illegal immigration occurs and sidesteps the thousands of angry property owners whose lives have been destroyed by your border policies.

Hand-delivered a letter to President Biden today during his first visit to the border.



His trip is billion too little & 2 years too late.



Im calling on Biden to do his constitutional duty to protect our nation. pic.twitter.com/cy8xgh5EJ2  Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 8, 2023

Even the city you visit has been sanitized of the migrant camps which had overrun downtown El Paso because your Administration wants to shield you from the chaos that Texans experience on a daily basis, he wrote. This chaos is a direct result of your failure to enforce the immigration laws that Congress enacted.

Abbott elaborated on the consequences of mass illegal immigration at the southwest border, including the emboldening of the drug cartels engaged in trafficking deadly fentanyl and even human beings. He told the president when you finish the photo-ops in a carefully stage-managed version of El Paso, you have a job to do.

The Texas governor urged Biden to comply with the many statutes mandating that various categories of aliens shall be detained, and end the practice of unlawfully paroling aliens en masse, stop sandbagging Title 42, aggressively prosecute illegal entry between ports of entry, and allow ICE to remove illegal immigrants in accordance with existing federal laws, immediately resume the construction of the border wall separating the U.S. from Mexico and designate the Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

Newly elected Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., issued a statement of his own, characterizing Bidens visit to the border as a photo-op, suggesting that any calls for border security from the administration ring hollow as long as the president continues pushing for amnesty for millions of immigrants who have crossed into the U.S. illegally. McCarthy vowed that House Republicans will hold him and [Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro] Mayorkas accountable for creating the most dangerous border crisis in American history.

Biden is making his first border visit of his lifea photo opwhile pushing for amnesty for millions of immigrants who have crossed into the US illegally.



House Republicans will hold him and Mayorkas accountable for creating the most dangerous border crisis in American history.  Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) January 8, 2023

Ahead of Bidens visit to the border, the Democratic mayor of El Paso declared a state of emergency, citing the impacts of the migrant surge on his city. Critics of the Biden administration previously attributed the rise in illegal border crossings, which began at the beginning of his presidency in 2021, to the abandonment of the Migrant Protection Protocols that required those seeking asylum in the U.S. to remain in Mexico while their asylum claims were adjudicated.

During his speech last week, Biden touted the CBP ONE app, which enables migrants to schedule an appointment at a port of entry and make their asylum claim there without crossing the border unlawfully. Additionally, the White House released a fact sheet last week outlining additional actions the administration was taking to reduce illegal immigration at the southwest border.

Specifically, the fact sheet proclaimed that  ... individuals who attempt to enter the United States without permission, do not have a legal basis to remain, and cannot be expelled pursuant to Title 42 will be increasingly subject to expedited removal from their country of origin and subject to a five-year ban on reentry.

DHS and DOJ are surging asylum officers and immigration judges to review asylum cases at the border more quickly  with the aim of reducing initial processing times from months to days, the document added. The administration also intends to mobilize faith-based and nonprofit organizations supporting migrants, including those providing temporary shelter, food, and humanitarian assistance.
Catholic hospital can't refuse to remove uterus from trans-identified patient, judge rules

A federal court ruled the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center broke the law by refusing to remove the uterus of a trans-identified patient due to the religious beliefs of the Institution, which is committed to Catholic principles while also being part of the public medical system.

U.S. District Court Judge Deborah K. Chasanow ruled Friday that the hospital violated the Affordable Care Act and discriminated against plaintiff Jesse Hammons, a biological female diagnosed with gender dysphoria, by refusing to conduct a planned hysterectomy (removal of the womb) because it doesn't conduct those procedures to address gender dysphoria.

The ruling acknowledged that St. Joseph's policy is guided by the National Catholic Bioethics Center's interpretation of Ethical and Religious Directives, which prohibits such procedures because they do not "conform to the true good of the human person, who is a body-soul union unalterably created male or female."

Chasanow, a Clinton appointee, issued a summary judgment stating that the facility may not assert a defense based on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act because it receives federal funds.

The hospital was purchased by the University of Maryland Medical System in 2012 with an agreement that the hospital would continue to "operate in a manner consistent with Catholic values and principles." The hospital also has to comply with a "'formal reporting mechanism' to ensure St. Joseph is held accountable for its 'Catholic identity.'" A representative of the Archdiocese of Baltimore serves on the hospital's board.

In 2019, UMMS scheduled Hammons for a hysterectomy after a doctor "determined that a hysterectomy was the proper treatment" for gender dysphoria. The procedure was scheduled for January 2020. Hammons was later informed that the hospital could not perform the procedure because it was for "gender transition." Hammons rescheduled the surgery at another hospital after another round of pre-operative tests. The hysterectomy was completed in June 2020.

The hospital and the UMMS are reviewing the judge's decision.

"We dispute many of the conclusions that were reached in this decision and may be in a position to comment further after additional analysis of the ruling," a statement sent to The Christian Post by a UMMS spokesperson reads.

"Legal disagreements aside, we sincerely wish the very best for Mr. Hammons and we support his efforts to seek the highest quality healthcare. We may disagree on certain technical, legal points but compassion for the patients we serve remains foundational to our work."

The statement adds that the legal claim stems from a "surgeon mistakenly scheduling a procedure that could not be performed at UM SJMC."

"Although our offer to perform gender affirming surgery at a different location was declined by Mr. Hammons, the University of Maryland Medical System remains committed to meeting the unique medical needs of transgender individuals and patients who are routinely scheduled by physicians for appointments and procedures at UMMS member organizations," the statement concludes.

In a statement shared by the American Civil Liberties Union, Hammons called the ruling "a great win for myself and all transgender people."

"All I wanted was for UMMS to treat my health care like anyone else's, and I'm glad the court recognized how unfair it was to turn me away," Hammons said. "I'm hopeful UMMS can change this harmful policy and help more transgender people access the care they need."

The ruling in Maryland comes as other federal courts have prevented the Biden administration from enforcing on certain religious organizations a regulation requiring medical providers and health insurers to provide or cover gender transition surgeries.

In December, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from enforcing finalized regulations pertaining to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act against several Catholic organizations.

That ruling followed an August decision from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding an order permanently blocking the administration from requiring Christian doctors and hospitals to perform gender-affirming procedures.

The Biden administration didn't appeal the 5th Circuit decision blocking the federal mandate.

"There are now two federal appellate decisions affirming these broad injunctions, blocking the government from forcing [medical providers] to perform or ensure gender transitions," Luke Goodrich, senior counsel of the religious freedom legal organization Becket Law, said during a conference call in December.

"I think this is a very powerful precedent under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This is the same law that has protected religious minorities for over two decades now, also protected the Little Sisters of the Poor from the contraception mandate."
When preachers fail to warn

A high school in my area sent an email out a few days ago about a student who was involved in a single-car accident on the way to school. He passed away today. Our lives are fleeting vapors.

This life is fraught with constant uncertainty. Even in the midst of good times, heartache and tragedy may be a phone call or door knock away. Bad things happen and we all understand that they are just part of living. We take precautions and try as best we know how to insulate ourselves and loved ones from harm. The reality is that traffic accidents, natural disasters, crime, sickness, and other life-altering events are an eventuality if we live long enough.

Some things happen because of the evil intent of others while many events are accidental or natural. Regardless of the source, most of these tragedies are out of our control. Occasionally, someone does come along with a warning to prepare us for the inevitable. A skilled physician sees an anomaly during an exam. Through treatment, they are able to prevent the further spread of disease. But can you imagine the outrage if the physician failed to adequately warn the people theyre supposed to protect because they didnt want to scare or offend patients? That is exactly what is happening as many preachers fail to warn people and the consequences are eternally tragic.

Dear Christian friend, Im writing this article with a sense of humility and love for the Church and fellow preachers. The issue at hand is so critical, if my admonishment makes you uncomfortable, thats a start because what Im aiming for is a holy sense of urgency. Roughly 175,000 people die and go into eternity every day. Peoples souls are literally hanging in the balance between Heaven and Hell. We dont have a moment to waste.

As ministers, we have one primary job and that is to preach the Gospel. Unfortunately, in many churches and ministries, that isnt happening. Instead, we have a growing number of preachers who distort the grace of God. Numerous pastors, teachers, and evangelists are consumed with selfish ambition and envy( Philippians 1:15-16). Counting members, upward mobility, and getting the surrounding community to like us causes many preachers to compromise the truth of the Gospel. The message becomes so distorted that many people who hear it will assume they are saved when theyre not. A number of years ago during a Sunday morning service, I heard a young preacher tell a large gathering essentially that they were okay and God was basically pleased with them.

No repentance, no brokenness, and no warning (Galatians 1:9-10).



This type of preaching has no place in a Christian church. Are we so consumed with people-pleasing that we would neglect to tell people that God is a holy all-consuming fire and that apart from repentance and faith in Jesus, they will die in their sins? God forbid! You might say, Howard, isnt that a bit harsh? No friend, whats harsh is not telling people the truth about the danger they are in. Imagine knowing about the Titanic, September 11th, or the Indian Ocean Tsunami a few days before it happened. Wouldnt you do everything in your power to warn people? You wouldnt spend months trying to get them to know and trust you first so they see how loving you are. You would risk your dignity, reputation, and possibly even your life to warn people. It is the most Christ-like thing we can do.

The Bible is replete with examples of shepherds who fail to warn people. In fact, God is so concerned with preachers and prophets who dont warn people to repent and turn to Him that He rebukes them (Ezekiel 3:18-21). Moreover, He says, My anger is kindled against the shepherds. This is because they mislead people, telling them everything is okay, God is pleased with them, and judgment wont come (Jeremiah 14:14-15, Micah 3:11). All of these examples point to the fact that God holds ministers accountable for failure to warn people.

Dont believe the lie that you must first earn the right to share the Gospel. This is simply a worldly method to ingratiate ourselves to the community via a spiritual bait and switch with no biblical precedent. One preacher gives the following example:

On my plane flight tomorrow, how am I supposed to earn the right to witness to that person? Am I supposed to pour his drinks for him? I have the right commanded to me by Almighty God to witness to him or her and you can be assured I will pray for that opportunity, and I will take advantage of that opportunity.  Mark Cahill

Amid the tepid, seeker-sensitive approach to reaching the lost, Leonard Ravenhill asked preachers timely questions:

Is soul-hot preaching a lost art? Have we conceded to impatient snack-bar sermons, spiced with humor to edge jaded spiritual appetites?

Dear ministry friends, Lets put aside all human craftiness, cunning, and marketing campaigns in our misguided effort to win public opinion. Instead, lets rely on the power of the Holy Spirit through faithful Gospel preaching to save souls (Ephesians 4:14).

Look at the current state of our world and the cesspool of sin people are drowning in. Evil is called good, truth is supposedly relative, and society is imploding. Wars rage, lawlessness increases, and love is waxing cold. Please discern the times we live in and know that our redemption draws near. As we wait for redemption, lost people blindly race toward the judgment and wrath of a holy God.

As His disciples, we have no excuse for failing to warn people. We must preach the whole truth of the Gospel and warn people about the coming judgment, repentance, and faith in Jesus. It is a loving thing to warn people. Jesus loves everyone and desires that all people come to Him (Matthew 9:36).



May God bless you as you make Him known.

Howard Green leads Concerning The Times, a Bible teaching and evangelistic ministry whose primary focus is proclaiming the Gospel to the lost and exhorting believers through End Time Bible prophecy.
Islamic State says jihadis killed 2 in attack on Nigerian church

The Islamic State has reportedly claimed responsibility for an attack on a Nigerian church during worship service that killed two guards and injured three members.

The terror group claimed the Oct. 16 attack on the Celestial Church of God in the Felele area of Lokoja on behalf of the Islamic State West Africa Province on Instagram last week, according to United States-based news agency Sahara Reporters. The report states that the attackers used automatic weapons.

"After killing the two guards, the congregants dispersed immediately," the social media statement was quoted as reading. The statement didn't disclose if the attackers entered the church.

The terror group's statement also boasted that the Islamic State carried out 15 "successful" attacks in Kogi state alone in 2022.

Sources told The Daily Trust in October that perpetrators invaded the church at about 8 p.m. on Oct. 16, a Sunday evening. The gunmen shot at members inside the church.

The sources said the members injured or killed in the incident were rushed to a nearby medical center.

The attack marked the second time that a church was reportedly attacked in the Lokoja area within weeks.

The Daily Trust reported that another church in the Fedele area occurred a few weeks beforehand. A local police information officer told the outlet that "two female members of the church were killed in the attack, while others are receiving treatment for gun wounds."

The rise of Islamic extremism in Nigeria in the last decade-plus has caused millions to flee their homes and thousands of deaths.

The United Nations estimates that there are over 3.1 million internally displaced persons in Nigeria as of June 2022, fleeing insurgency and other forms of violence.

While ISWAP presents a significant threat across the northeast, factions of Boko Haram and the al-Qaeda affiliate Ansaru also operate in some regions.

These groups target non-Muslim communities and Muslims who disagree with or oppose their interpretation of Islamic practice and tradition. The Council of Foreign Religions reports that the violence by Islamic extremist groups has been primarily contained in the Muslim north, especially Borno state.

In the last year, a handful of attacks have targeted churches in central or southern Nigeria.

Last June, around 40 people were killed and dozens injured in a bomb-and-gun attack at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo on Pentecost Sunday.

Bishop Jude Arogundade of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ondo in southwestern Nigeria spoke with The Christian Post and said that the massacre "left the entire community broken" and the "entire diocese shattered."

Last September, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom warned that religious freedom is deteriorating in Nigeria because of rising violence by non-state actors and that "poor governance" was driving and aggravating that violence.

"In recent years, nonstate actor violence has increased in most parts of Nigeria, and this violence has yielded devastating humanitarian and human rights consequences, including but not limited to violence based on religion and other violations of Nigerians' rights to freedom of religion or belief," USCIRF stated in a report on violence in Africa's most populous country.

"Violence that infringes on freedom of religion or belief in Nigeria includes militant Islamist violence, identity-based violence at the intersection of religion, ethnicity, and geographic heritage, mob violence against individuals accused of blasphemy, and violence impacting worship," explained the congressionally mandated body of independent experts tasked with advising the federal government on religious freedom issues.

Militant Islamist groups, including the ISWAP, Boko Haram and Ansaru, have political and ideological objectives, including overthrowing secular governance and enforcing a particular interpretation of Islam, USCIRF reports.

Many have raised concerns about what they perceive as the government's inaction in holding terrorists accountable for the rising murders and kidnappings, which some groups warn have reached the level of genocide.
Photographs of Bill Traylor at work document the completion of an important drawing

The images taken by Charles Shannon, a painter and lifelong champion of Traylor, offer rare glimpses into the Alabama artists process and imagination

Bill Traylor made his first known artworks in 1939 at age 86. What began as drawings of single figures or animals remembered and observed from his doorstep in Montgomery, Alabama, blossomed into complex compositions, which would posthumously earn him the well-deserved reputation as one of the most important American artists of the 20th century. Born into slavery around 1853, Traylor spent his working life on plantations and farms, and in 1928, he moved to the African-American section of the Alabama state capital. In 1939, Charles Shannon, a young painter and leader of New South, a progressive group of white artists in Montgomery, noticed and befriended Traylor, whom he photographed working on Monroe Street. The resulting images are the most well-known and iconic of the artist. In this series, Traylor can be seen drawing Goat, Camel, Lion and Figures, which will be offered in Christies Outsider and Vernacular Art on 18 January in New York. It is through Shannons documentation of this works creation, and through his dedication to the artist, that much can be understood about Traylor.

Open a larger version of this image Bill Traylor (c. 1853-1949), Goat, Camel, Lion and Figures, c. 1939. Graphite on repurposed card. 14 x 22 in. Sold for $252,000 in Outsider and Vernacular Art on 18 January 2023 at Christie's in New York

These photographs, and the artwork associated with them, give us a unique window into Traylors life and existence, his memories, explorations, materials, and practice, says Cara Zimmerman, Christies head of Americana and Outsider Art. Shannon would supply Traylor with materials, in addition to promoting his artworks to outside communities. Traylor and other artists who were working without formal training during this period provide another lens as to what was happening in America and American visual culture in a way that has been woefully missing from the canon of art history for a very long time, she adds. Largely due to Shannons tireless work, which continued many years after Traylors passing, the artists market eventually grew. In the last 10 to 15 years, weve seen a huge uptick of interest, says Zimmerman, adding that a number of museum shows, such as the Smithsonian American Art Museums 2018-2019 exhibition, Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor, have also brought increased attention.

Open a larger version of this image Charles Shannon, Bill Traylor (Frontal), 1939. Photograph: Charles E. and Eugenia C. Shannon Trust, courtesy Betty Cuningham Gallery

In 2020, Christies set the world auction record for Traylor with the double-sided Man on White, Woman on Red / Man with Black Dog, which sold for $507,000. The work had previously been gifted by Steven Spielberg to American author Alice Walker after filming had concluded for the adaptation of Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple in 1985. Today we are increasingly embracing the work of people who come from different backgrounds and have different narratives  works by Black artists, female artists, and artists from different races, cultures and creeds, says Zimmerman. Shannon tried for decades to get Traylor recognition. He approached world-renowned museums and struggled to gain traction, but he did not give up. In 1979, Shannon secured the artists first gallery show in Brooklyn, which was his first since two minor exhibitions in the 1940s. He collected most of the roughly 1,200 surviving works that Traylor made between 1939 and 1942, and eventually parcelled them out to museums and galleries, prompting Traylors market to begin taking off.

Open a larger version of this image Left: Charles Shannon, Seated Boys/Seven Up Sign/Traylor Drawing, 1939. Photograph: Charles E. and Eugenia C. Shannon Trust, courtesy Betty Cuningham Gallery. Right: Charles Shannon, Young Men Watching Bill Traylor Draw, 1939. Photograph: Charles E. and Eugenia C. Shannon Trust, courtesy Betty Cuningham Gallery

Traylor was incredibly sophisticated in his use of both placement on a surface, and in his extremely graphic renderings. He distils figures, animals, and forms into their essence, notes Zimmerman. As epitomised by Goat, Camel, Lion and Figures, Traylor manages to create this idea of movement, energy, and space with the simple tools of graphite and repurposed card, his preferred canvas.

Open a larger version of this image Charles Shannon, Boy with Clasped Hands/Taylor Drawing, 1939. Photograph: Charles E. and Eugenia C. Shannon Trust, courtesy Betty Cuningham Gallery

Goat, Camel, Lion and Figures also captures Traylors imagination. In his earliest drawings, Traylor would portray single objects or animals, such as cats or mules, but this work presents a more complete and complicated composition combining foreign animals with more familiar images  a figure chasing a man with a cane  drawn from his memory. This work is an example of Traylor reaching outside his comfort zone, says Zimmerman. From his doorstep, Traylor would never have seen actual lions or camels, but rather images from posters and cigarette cartons. Shannons photographic documentation of Traylor is especially important for its illumination of Traylors process. Zimmerman describes: This photo series shows us how he would draw outside surrounded by posters, visual culture, bustling crowds, and children. He would rotate his paper to reach the figures at the angles that he needed. There was no big setup with an easel to create the perfect artistic environment. For Traylor, making art was an organic offshoot of his existence in Montgomery.
Collecting guide: the ancient Near East

Christies Head of Antiquities G. Max Bernheimer advises what to consider when acquiring art from the Fertile Crescent and neighbouring regions, the home to the first written language

When collecting ancient objects, it is often the history that speaks to us. Whether it is from one, two, three thousand years ago, it carries with it a long-forgotten tale. The societies that made up the ancient Near East, beginning with the Sumerians in southern Mesopotamia, which dates back to more than 5,000 years ago, produced the first written language  a system of writing consisting of wedge-shaped characters we call cuneiform (coming from the Latin word cuneus for wedge). From massive stone wall panels to more intimate gold images of deities, there is much more than meets the eye when looking this deep into the past.

Open a larger version of this image A South Arabian alabaster female head, c. 1st century BC-1st century AD. 7 in (18.4 cm) high. Sold for $27,720 in Antiquities on 26 January at Christie's in New York

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The Ancient Near East comprised a vast area and time period

Near Eastern art refers to works created in Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the Levant, as well as the South Arabian peninsula, Iran and Afghanistan, from the 6th millennium BC until the Arab conquest in the 7th century AD. In present-day terms, this is the area bounded by the Mediterranean sea to the West, Turkey to the North, Afghanistan in the East and Yemen in the South.



Open a larger version of this image An Old Babylonian limestone figure of Humbaba, c. 1894-1595 BC. 4 in (10.7 cm) high. Sold for $8,820 in Antiquities on 26 January at Christie's in New York

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Artefacts from the Near East were made in the cradle of civilization Perhaps the most typical type of objects that one sees on today's art market are stamp and cylinder seals. These had figural scenes engraved onto their surfaces that were designed to be viewed in relief once the seal was pressed or rolled into clay. Stamp seals appeared first, with the earliest examples dating to the 6th millennium BC, while cylinder seals emerged a bit later, during the second half of the 4th millennium BC, around when cuneiform writing was developed. The usage of cylinder seals was a direct response to the needs of a growing bureaucracy that was increasingly involved with long-distance trade. Many of them are of the highest artistic quality, illustrating mythological subjects and often accompanied by cuneiform inscriptions identifying the owner. They can be carved from colourful stones such as jasper, chalcedony, agate, hematite and limestone, while less common examples are made from shell, bronze and frit.



Open a larger version of this image A fragmentary Sumerian inscribed alabaster bowl, early Dynastic IIIA, c. 2600-2500 BC. 5 in (13.9 cm) wide. Sold for $5,040 in Antiquities on 26 January at Christie's in New York

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These objects preserve long-forgotten languages Another class of object encountered on today's market are cuneiform tablets, typically in clay but copper, stone and even gold examples are known. Most clay tablets are humble documents that focus on an aspect of the detailed administrative functions of daily life, such as the number of livestock brought to temples, allotments of agricultural fields, and crop harvests. More elaborate tablets, cylinders or barrels can record political and diplomatic letters sent by rulers to their counterparts, mythological stories such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, or the exploits and lineages of a king. Other objects such as stone vessels, amulets and even bronze weapons were prominent throughout the region, all of which can be found engraved with cuneiform dedicatory inscriptions. Small votive sculptures of deities, monsters and animals are also prominent, albeit often without inscriptions.



Open a larger version of this image An Akkadian green jasper seal, Late Akkadian, c. 2224-2154 BC. 1 in (3.1 cm) long. Sold for $10,080 in Antiquities on 26 January at Christie's in New York

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It is exceptional to find artefacts from the Royal Palaces



By the early first millennium BC, much of the region was conquered by the Assyrians. The huge palaces of successive kings were decorated throughout with large relief panels sculpted in gypsum. Many reliefs from the palaces at Ninevah, first excavated by the English archaeologist Austen Henry Layard in the 19th century, are now dispersed in museums throughout Europe and North America. Very rarely do these panels come to market, however one superb example from the Virginia Theological Seminary, depicting a winged deity known as an Apkallu, achieved the world-record price of $30,968,750 when it sold at Christies New York in 2018. More often it is smaller fragments, such as a group of reliefs from the Collection of Vallo Benjamin to be sold in January 2023.







Open a larger version of this image Maotic-Scythian sheet gold ornaments from a rhyton, c. 5th-4th century BC. 17 in (44.4 cm) long. Sold for $8,190 in Antiquities on 26 January at Christie's in New York

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Rare metals were prominent Gold was used throughout the ancient Near East, primarily for jewellery but also for small votive statues. Silver was also used, especially for various vessel types ranging from bowls to rhyta. Following the collapse of the Assyrian Empire, the region was briefly ruled from Babylon, until the rise of Achaemenid Persians in the mid-6th century BC. Two exceptional gold plaques, similar in style to the palace reliefs at the capital of Persepolis, were sold at Christies London in December 2021 for 1,402,500 and 1,642,500. These exquisite plaques were likely sewn onto the robes of an Achaemenid nobleman. More common on the art market are gold bracelets with animal head terminals, goats, calves or lions, sometimes surviving in pairs.



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Even the gold tells a story The nomadic peoples from the Eurasian steppes, such as the Scythians and later the Sarmatians, were noted by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus as being particularly rich with gold. Elaborate jewellery and vessels from this region appear on the market from time to time, such as the sheet-gold elements once attached to a rhyton of horn or wood, embossed with winged monsters and foliate motifs in the unmistakable Scythian style. Since precious metal was often melted down and re-used in later periods, says Bernheimer, it is all the more incredible that any ancient gold has survived to the present day.





Open a larger version of this image An Assyrian inscribed gypsum fragment, reign of Ashurnasirpal II, c. 883-859 BC. 7 in (19.6 cm) high. Sold for $50,400 in Antiquities on 26 January at Christie's in New York

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Broken isnt bad Fragments from larger objects often allow the viewer to focus on minute details, as they zero in on the carefully incised details of the work. Such is the case in a wall relief fragment from Sennacheribs palace offered in Christie's upcoming Antiquities sale on 26 January, which preserves the head of an Assyrian warrior, focusing in on his helmet and armour in a way which would be more difficult when looking at a larger battle scene comprising hundreds of warriors. The translation of the cuneiform text on another small fragment revealed that it was once on the reverse of a large panel from Ashurnasirpal IIs palace at Ninevah, part of the so-called Slab Back Text that was cut away in the 19th century to allow for easier transport of the figural scene on the front.





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Dating them is a science in itself Most of the works of art from the ancient Near East can be assigned to a specific period based on their style, as each successive period and place developed unique and recognizable formulae for depicting animals, monsters and gods. Stylistic analyses of seal impressions allows them to be assigned with confidence to their correct epoch, says Bernheimer. Objects with cuneiform inscriptions offer further opportunities to pinpoint the date of manufacture, as these frequently mention the names of local or regional rulers, whose reign dates are well known. Works made of metal, terracotta or organic materials can be additionally subjected to scientific analysis.

Open a larger version of this image An Assyrian gypsum relief of a winged genius, reign of Ashurnasirpal II, c. 883-859 B.C. 7 ft, 4 in x 6 ft, 5 in (223.5 cm x 195.5 cm). Sold for $30,968,750 in Antiquities on 31 October 2018 at Christie's in New York

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Many of the largest works live in museums Museums such as The Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Oriental Institute in Chicago, and the University Museum in Philadelphia have some of the largest collections of ancient Near Eastern art in the United States, but many smaller institutions throughout the country also have significant holdings. When exceptional examples do come to auction, they tend to fetch incredible prices, as evinced by the Assyrian relief in 2018.

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But the market is thriving Some of the highest prices for work from the ancient Near East have been achieved within the past five years, so it is a market to watch. But ultimately when acquiring objects from one of the earliest organized civilizations, you are collecting pieces of history. They tell stories of commerce, of society, that resonate even 6,000 years after they were made.
On the eve of the opening of Connecticuts first recreational marijuana retail shops, Gov. Ned Lamont publicly committed to fully implementing the states delayed clean slate law within the next year.

Were gonna get clean slate done. Were gonna get it done as expeditiously as we can, Lamont said Monday during a news conference at the Greater Hartford Reentry Welcome Center. The gathering was held to recognize the partial implementation of the law, which erases records for people with certain criminal convictions.

I appreciate that theyve been waiting 10 to 20 years, in many cases, Lamont said about people still waiting for clean slates full application. And this is going to be another six- to 12-month delay in terms of getting all those other felony-style convictions off their record.

Lamonts comments come as retail shops across the state prepare to sell marijuana legally on Tuesday. Simultaneously, approximately 44,000 people with cannabis-related misdemeanor cases have begun getting their records expunged as part of clean slates implementation.

Signed by the governor in 2021, the law will automatically erase criminal records of people seven years after the date of their conviction for a misdemeanor or 10 years after the date of their conviction for certain class D, class E or unclassified felonies if they have not been convicted of other crimes.

Any person with convictions prior to Jan. 1, 2000, must petition the court to erase their record.

But the Lamont administration waited until December  less than a month before full implementation  to publicly make known that erasures for the majority of the 280,000 people who would benefit from clean slate wouldnt happen until the second half of 2023, citing outdated technology and outstanding legal and policy questions. The delay mainly affects Black residents with felony convictions.

Were going to do it when we can get it right and make sure they get their very best opportunity, Lamont said. This is a pretty good start today, though, for 44,000 people.

Standing near Lamont at the press conference was Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven and co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, who told reporters that if lawmakers have to take up any matters related to clean slate during the legislative session, he remains committed to doing so.

Were going to get this done, hopefully in a friendly way, Winfield said. But I think, you know, governor, you know who youre dealing with. If its not friendly, were gonna get it done. Because it is important.

In response to the governors public comments Monday, Dawn Grant-Lockley, who works with Congregations Organized For A New Connecticuts criminal legal reform team, told the CT Mirror that her organization will do whatever it can to push clean slate across the finish line.

Were glad that the cannabis expungements happened, Grant-Lockley said. We dont plan on slowing down. We will continue to advocate and speak up to Lamont and Lamonts team to make sure we get this done sooner rather than later.

The clean slate bill progressed through the 2021 legislature following pitched battles among lawmakers over which crimes should be eligible for expungement.

Those in opposition to early versions of the bill sought a narrow list of eligible crimes, rather than including more serious felonies as the House initially proposed. Lamont especially favored a tapered list of nonviolent crimes and said the list could expand after seeing results from the initial effort.

The governor signed the current bill during the summer of 2021. He doubled down on his support for the law in October while on the gubernatorial campaign trail and said the state was working to implement it. But in December, Lamont announced that full implementation of the law was going to be delayed, saying it would instead come in the latter half of 2023.

Implementation involves significant information technology upgrades to allow criminal justice agencies to send and receive data to determine who can have their offenses erased and to update record systems, read a press release from Lamont last month. The information technology systems involved are complex, and some are outdated. In addition, significant interpretation issues may require clarification by the General Assembly this session.

He did not expand on why the process was prolonged or why the delay was communicated just weeks before the beginning of the year.

At Mondays news conference, Marc Pelka, undersecretary for Connecticuts Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division, described the process of implementing clean slate as iterative.

Connecticut has moved very quickly, relative to other states, to implement clean slate, Pelka said. Its apparent that work is required to get it done along the way.

Clean slates supporters have frequently highlighted the need to help people formerly convicted of crimes earn an education, maintain a job and attain housing  and to not punish them further when they have already faced consequences.

A study from Michigan, which passed a clean slate law in 2020, found that less than 1% of people who had a violent crime expunged from their records were reconvicted of another violent crime five years after they were cleared.

Advocates have also highlighted how race lies at the foundation of whos punished and limited in access to basic needs in the state. Connecticuts Black men have a 48% conviction rate, and both Black women and men are more than three times more likely than their white counterparts to have a felony conviction  despite accounting for less than 13% of the state population.

Grant-Lockley, whos formerly incarcerated, said clean slates delay exemplifies why people behind bars have minimal trust in Connecticut and its officials.

Theres no belief that the state of Connecticut is for us, Grant-Lockley said about the mindset of some incarcerated people, and clean slates delay says that we just dont matter.

Jaden Edison is a reporter for The Connecticut Mirror (https://ctmirror.org/ ). Copyright 2022 (c) The Connecticut Mirror.
The management of Mark Twain House & Museum was dismayed last week when the historic home was vandalized three times in two weeks by an unknown group of attackers.

But by the end of the week, a Gofundme account set up to pay to repair the damage reached its goal of $20,000. After that happened, the goal was increased to $25,000.

The original estimate was totally a wild guess on my part. I was trying to get it all started and strike while the iron was hot and that seems to have been a good call, said Pieter Roos, executive director of the Twain. Now that we know more of what it actually is going to cost, we moved it up. Its still a guess but were on pretty firm territory.

Roos said if theres anything affirming about this happening its that the response has been so widespread.

What happened was terrible but at the same time its lovely to see people want to support us. Friends from in and out of the museum field have called me to express concern, he said.

Roos said the money will be spent on repairing the broken windows and a damaged statue in the museum, which has been on long-term loan from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art for about 40 years. It also will be spent on outdoor cameras and lighting and a nighttime security guard. Roos would not say how long a period the security guard would be funded.

The historic home, where the legendary author and his family lived from 1874 to 1891, was vandalized three times in just a few days starting on Dec. 23, when three vandals threw rocks, bricks and chunks of asphalt through the windows. One of the thrown objects also broke off three fingers of the statue.

The Gofundme campaign was started the day after the most recent attack.

One of the donors is Cindy Lovell, Roos predecessor as executive director.

I care about the Mark Twain House incredibly. I love it dearly, Lovell said in a phone interview from her home in Florida. Vandalism is such a crude and vicious act. It serves nothing.

Lovell said the fact that one of the attacks damaged the conservatory broke my heart.

The conservatory is a special part of that house. His children spent time there. They put on their plays there, she said.

Lovell said when she was director, a vandal threw a brick into the butlers pantry. I was horrified, she said.

Kathy Hermes, publisher of the historical magazine Connecticut Explored, was another donor. The magazine and the Twain House are organizational partners, but she had another reason for donating to the repair fund.

I love the Mark Twain House. It was one of the first places I toured when I came to Connecticut in 1985 and I love to take visitors there when my family comes to visit, she said. My brother, who probably never read anything by Mark Twain unless he was forced to, nevertheless loved the house tour.

Roos and his wife, Barbara, also donated. I did it because I didnt want anyone else on staff to feel they had to donate, he said.

Those who want to donate can go to gofund.me/a4a602e9.

Anyone with information about the vandalism incidents can contact Hartford Detective Sid Palmieri at 860-483-6882 or palmc002@hartford.gov, or Detective Anthony Buccher at 860-757-4175 or bucca001@hartford.gov.

Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.
When the 2023 legislative session opened Wednesday morning, there were 36 new members of the Connecticut General Assembly  an unusually large number.

In the House, 17 Democrats and 11 Republicans took their seats on the chamber floor for the first time, and in the Senate, five new Democrats and three Republicans did the same  describing the moment they stood to take their oath of office as surreal, overwhelming and humbling.

The most stunning factor is how huge this years class is, said Rep. Bob Godfrey of the 110th House District. Im impressed by its diversity, by their enthusiasm, by their interest. These arent individuals who are going to sit around and just show up to vote.

Since he was first elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1988, Godfrey has seen many new faces enter and leave the chamber. He said the current shift to a more hands-on nature is a step in the right direction for the legislature.

The culture has changed, Godfrey said. Theres no one anymore that just comes in to give the lip service minimum effort. Theyre all very hardworking, very interested people, and Im just delighted by that. It makes for better government, it makes for better laws.

As one of the leaders of the Connecticut General Assemblys new legislator orientation, Republican Rep. Tami Zawistowski of the 61st House District said she was impressed by the level of experience possessed by the newbies on her side of the aisle.

It seems to be a very eager group. Everybody seems to be taking this very seriously, Zawistowski said of the 36 new legislators. Its a nice growing process, and Im looking forward to continuing to work with these freshmen as time goes on.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont delivers the State of the State address during opening session of the Legislature at the State Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Zawistowskis advice to the class of newcomers is to Read the bills, listen to the debates.

Godfrey said, Pick an issue that you can run with and get passed  and have an overnight bag in the trunk of your car. You never know.

The group of senators and representatives includes immigrants and lifelong locals, veterans, first responders, clergy, nurses, social workers, lawyers, municipal officials, teachers and business leaders.

One noteworthy resume belongs to Rep. Marty Foncello, a Republican representing the 107th House District of Bethel, Brookfield, and Newtown.

The retired lieutenant colonel served for 28 years in the U.S. Army and worked as a senior intelligence officer for the Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis. Foncello also led Brookfield for two terms as the towns first selectman.

Foncello said he is looking to lower taxes, increase benefits for seniors and veterans, and get Connecticut students academics back on track.

Many plan to bring their professional expertise to the public role, like Republican Sen. Dr. Jeffrey Gordon of the 35th Senate District which encompasses Ashford, Chaplin, Coventry, Eastford, Ellington, Hampton, Stafford, Thompson, Tolland, Union, Vernon, Willington, and Woodstock.

Gordon is a physician who specializes in caring for patients with cancers and blood disorders. He served as the president of the Connecticut State Medical Society in addition to many medical leadership roles. Hes also the commissioner of the Woodstock Planning and Zoning Commission and was a leader in other community roles concerning education, agriculture and safety.

I now have an expanded opportunity beyond what Ive been doing in my town as an elected official to help people and help make a difference in peoples lives, and also see what we can do for the future of our state, Gordon said. Its a fantastic opportunity at a state level, but also [a chance] to really help bring those types of opportunities, and I hope good things, back to the people in each of the towns of my district.

Gordon said he is looking forward to his involvement in decisions concerning how the state collects and spends taxes. He wants to increase resources and support for Connecticut State Troopers and local law enforcement. Gordon also said he wants to expand mental health care for adults and children and responsibly increase health care affordability and access.

[I want to] make certain that we can help facilitate the care thats given by doctors and other caregivers in Connecticut to streamline the process [and to] try to get rid of roadblocks and red tape that really delay health care being delivered to people, Gordon said.

For some legislators, taking the oath was a lifelong goal. For others, it was a more recent dream.

Im just forever grateful and indebted to the constituents of the 126th District that they had enough confidence in me to elect me into a role and position that a year ago I didnt see myself in, said Rep. Fred Gee Jr., a Democrat representing Bridgeport. [The swearing-in ceremony] was a surreal moment for me. It was overwhelming.

Gee is a local pastor and the director of Bridgeports Small and Minority Business Enterprise. In addition to lowering taxes and increasing education on the state level, Gee plans to address flooding, public safety, and gun violence in his district and build meaningful relationships with law enforcement in urban areas.

Democratic Rep. Melissa Osborne of Simsburys 16th House District is a family and juvenile court attorney representing vulnerable children and adults. Osborne has served on municipal commissions, task forces and Connecticut Bar Association committees.

Like many of her colleagues, Osborne said her list of possible policy initiatives keeps changing, but Osborne plans to hold true to her campaign goals and emphasize legislation that supports domestic violence survivors and affordable housing for seniors.

Its been a long and unusual road for me, Osborne said. When I began 2022, this wasnt where I thought my path was leading me. And Im just really excited to be able to stretch my wings, to delve into different subject matters, and to bring my efforts and my experience to bear for the benefit of my town and my state.

She noted that this is the first year since the COVID-19 pandemic that the Capitol is fully reopening. Osborne said she appreciated meeting and collaborating with fellow first-term legislators during the in-person orientation. She described the increased access as a crucial piece of democracy.

It was really important for us to be able to come together as a freshman class, so to speak. To start to make those connections and start kicking around the bill ideas that we have. And to start making those one-on-one connections where we can pick up the phone and call each other and say, Hey, Im thinking about this bill, are you interested in it? What are your ideas about it? And, how can we make this better?' Osborne said. Im excited to bring ideas, to be one part of the solution to the issues that are facing Connecticut today.

Alison Cross can be reached at across@courant.com.
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The British Tinnitus Association has changed its name after 44 years in an effort to reach more people.

It began as the British Tinnitus Association in 1979, but has now shortened its name to Tinnitus UK and aims to make it more visible and raise awareness of the condition.

Tinnitus UK unveiled its new name, website and chatbot today, alongside a refreshed visual identity that features bright colours and a soundwave graphic.

Will help us reach more people

Deanne Thomas, chief executive of Tinnitus UK, said: Now we are Tinnitus UK. This new name puts tinnitus first, because taking on tinnitus is the main reason were here, and we want everyone to know that. Becoming Tinnitus UK will help us reach more people with tinnitus, be more visible and raise more awareness of this condition which can have a significant impact on peoples quality of life.

A spokesperson from Tinnitus UK, which had an income of 1.4m in its latest reported financial year, said much of the rebrand was conducted in-house to keep the costs down.

However, it did receive a grant for the new website and the development of the chatbot. The chatbot is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to guide people with tinnitus to relevant resources when they visit the Tinnitus UK website or require assistance.

Thomas added: The chatbot means that we can help people no matter what time of day it is  as we know tinnitus can spike at night. Our website integrates with our new CRM (client relationship management) system, which will help us to connect with more people with tinnitus than ever before.

Currently, one in seven adults in the UK lives with tinnitus, a condition where one hears sounds such as ringing that do not come from the outside world.

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China urges U.S. to share XBB.1.5 data

Xinhua) 09:30, January 10, 2023

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Monday said the United States should share domestic COVID-19 information and data in a timely, open and transparent manner, considering the rapid spread of the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5.

Wang made the remarks at a regular press briefing when asked if the United States has shared relevant information and data with China.

According to the open-source COVID-19 data from the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data, almost all COVID-19 variants and their branches were prevalent in the United States within three years of the initial outbreak, Wang said, noting that the United States is one of the countries with the highest numbers of COVID-19 variants.

Wang said that XBB.1.5 has become the fastest-growing variant in the United States and is estimated to account for more than 40 percent of COVID-19 cases in the country.

"The U.S. side should share domestic COVID-19 information and data with the World Health Organization and the international community in a timely, open and transparent manner, and take effective measures to prevent the further spread of the virus," Wang said.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 10)  The Department of Education (DepEd) will be presenting a revised curriculum for the Kinder to Grade 12 (K-12) program on Jan. 30, according to Malacanang.

The development was one of the highlights of the Cabinet meeting earlier in the day, press briefer Daphne Osena-Paez told reporters on Tuesday.

"[Vice President] Sara Duterte presented the plans for inclusive learning, support for teachers, (and) improving the curriculum," Osena-Paez said in a media briefing.

No further details about the updated curriculum were provided.

Several groups and even lawmakers have pushed for a review of the K-12 program, citing how it is "too congested" for learners.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has given DepEd until July to finalize its review of the program.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 10)  Oil drilling at the contested Recto Bank will remain suspended, but the government will proceed with oil and gas exploration elsewhere, Energy Secretary Rapahel Lotilla said Tuesday.

The Duterte administration terminated in February 2022 its earlier talks with China for joint oil and gas exploration in the West Philippine Sea. During President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s visit to Beijing last week, he and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to revisit the talks.

The agreement was to resume negotiations or talks so we do not have any agreement on moving forward yet with the actual carrying out of activities in the Recto Bank, Lotilla explained.

Recto Bank, also known as Reed Bank, is part of the Philippines 200 nautical-mile exclusive economic zone but is being contested by China.

READ: Marcos to Chinese President: PH wants to continue talks on joint exploration in WPS

The energy chief said oil and gas development in other areas will proceed.

We will be open to foreign and domestic investors carrying out the development activities... In the case of PNOC Exploration Corp., [it] has announced an invitation for potential farm-ins to a number of service contracts that are under the control of the PNOC, Lotilla said.

Marcos earlier noted that the country must continue exploration in the West Philippine Sea for energy resources.

During his visit to China, he urged Xi to continue the talks on joint oil and gas exploration.

I really hopeI would very much like, as you have suggested, Mr. President, to be able to announce that we are continuing negotiations and that we hope that these negotiations will bear fruit because of the pressure upon not only China, not only the Philippines but the rest of the world to move away from the traditional fronts of power, Marcos said.

Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin last year said the Philippines terminated the talks because it could not come at the price of sovereignty.

"We had both tried to go as far as we could without renouncing China's aspiration on his part; and constitutional limitations on my part," Locsin added.

Despite a territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippines and China signed a memorandum of understanding in 2018 to conduct joint oil and gas exploration in the area.

In 2016, an international arbitral tribunal invalidated China's expansive claims in the South China Sea, including in the area Manila calls the West Philippine Sea.

China has refused to recognize the ruling, calling it null and void.

CNN Correspondent AC Nicholls and Digital producer Raheema Velasco contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 9)  The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSa) on Monday cautioned the public against unburned rocket debris which is projected to fall in the northern part of the country after the launch of Chinas Long March 7A.

In an advisory, PhilSa said the Chinese rocket was launched from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Island at 6 a.m., Philippine time.

The agency warned that unburned debris from the rocket is projected to fall in two drop zones. The first drop zone area is approximately 79 kilometers (kms) from Burgos in Ilocos Norte and 121 kms from Dalupiri Island in the Babuyan Islands.

Meanwhile, it said the second drop zone area is about 41 kms from Sta. Ana in Cagayan, 41 kms from Camiguin Island in the Babuyan Islands, and 47 kms from Babuyan Island.

While not projected to fall on land features or inhabited areas, falling debris poses danger and potential risk to ships, aircraft, fishing boats, and other vessels that will pass through the drop zone, PhilSa said.

It added that the debris may float around the area and wash toward nearby coasts.

Additionally, the possibility of an uncontrolled re-entry to the atmosphere of the rockets upper stages returning from outer space cannot be ruled out at this time, the advisory read.

The agency called on the public to inform local authorities if suspected debris is sighted. It also warned against retrieving or coming in close contact with these materials that may contain remnants of toxic substances, such as rocket fuel.

PhilSa said that prior to the rocket launch, it released an advance notice to relevant government agencies and recommended the issuance of appropriate air and marine warnings.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 10) While airlines have yet to fully recover from the pandemic, their losses from the hours-long shutdown of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) already reached more than 100 million, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) said.

CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla disclosed this during the hearing of the House Committee on Transportation on Tuesday.

Hundreds of domestic and international flights were canceled or delayed due to the technical mishap and power outage experienced on New Year's Day at the country's main airport.

Although operations were restored in the afternoon of Jan. 1, air carriers had to mount recovery flights for thousands of stranded passengers.

RELATED: Flight delays to continue due to NAIA glitch airline

Airlines could consider the incident force majeure, Arcilla said, as the situation was out of their control.

Companies earlier said affected passengers have the chance to rebook flights within 60 days from their original planned date with no additional fees. Travelers may also opt to refund or convert their tickets to a travel voucher, they added.

"We have to admit that 'yung mga losses ng mga individuals affected by the glitch ay mailap. Pinipilit naming magkaron ng reference values," Arcilla said.

[Translation: We have to admit that the losses of the individuals affected by the glitch are elusive. We're trying to have reference values.]

On whether the government can claim force majeure on the NAIA crisis, Arcilla said the investigation is ongoing.

"The matter is still under investigation by a team of experts," he pointed out. "Doon pa lang makikita kung may findings of negligence (Only then we can see if there are findings of negligence)."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 10)  The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines made an emergency purchase of two uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units as part of measures to prevent power failures at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), an official said Tuesday.

Manuel Antonio Tamayo, CAAP director-general, said they consulted the supplier regarding the lifespan of the older UPS before proceeding to acquire newer units. This happened days after the crisis at the NAIA that affected tens of thousands of passengers on New Year's Day.

He said the old ones would not be discarded as they would still be maintained and used as a backup.

"We purchased the new UPS from the same manufacturer. These are newer models, easier to maintain and have better monitoring," Tamayo said during the House Committee on Transportation hearing.

However, CAAP was questioned during the hearing on the need to purchase new UPS units when these were not the cause of the chaos at the main air hub.

Aviation authorities said preliminary investigation results point to the malfunction of the main circuit breaker as the reason for the power outage.

Defending CAAP's move, Tamayo said: "The point of the decision made to replace the UPS is there are a lot of possibilities that the UPS will create a future problem."

"We went through emergency purchase but bidding was done, but we just had to expedite," he added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 10) The government of Saudi Arabia has requested for more time to process unpaid salaries of displaced overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Tuesday.

DMW Secretary Susan Ople said in a media briefing that Saudi officials are still finalizing the trip of the Philippine contingent, who were supposed to meet their counterparts last month to iron out details of the backpay.

They wanted time for certain arrangements to be made, so that when I go there, I will be able to meet with the right person, Ople told reporters.

They promised that they will give us the itinerary and schedule for the Saudi trip within the week, she added. But definitely, ang (the) agreement is that that is number one in the agenda.

The Saudi government had committed to shoulder the unpaid wages of around 10,000 OFWs displaced from construction companies that went bankrupt in 2015 and 2016 due to the kingdom's economic slowdown, the Palace announced in November. These include the Saudi OGer, MMG, and the Bin Laden group, among others.

Ople said she understands the plight of the OFWs who have been waiting for the pay, especially with the holiday season passing.

However, she noted she wont be releasing the specifics of their planned discussion for now.

The ball kasi is really in Saudi Arabias court. So I want to be quite prudent and responsible. Wala akong sasabihin [I wont say anything] about it until we finally meet in Saudi Arabia with the officials (who) are tasked to work this out with us, the DMW chief said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 10)  Former Department of National Defense (DND) officer-in-charge Jose Faustino Jr. said he resigned after he was left unaware that Gen. Andres Centino already took his oath of office as returning chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Faustino issued the explanation on Tuesday, a day after Malacanang announced his resignation.

"With the utmost respect, I submitted my irrevocable letter of resignation to the president, His Excellency Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., on Friday, January 6, 2023, after learning only from news and social media reports that an oath of office of the new Chief of Staff, AFP had taken place at Malacanang," he said.

Faustino  who himself served as AFP chief of staff during the Duterte administration  did not attend the change of command ceremony on Saturday, where Centino formally succeeded Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro as the military's top official.

His resignation also came amid rumors of a supposed destabilization plot in the AFP, something both the military and the police denied.

In the rest of his statement, Faustino did not elaborate on the appointment of Centino, who is back to lead the AFP after five months. Instead, he wrote in length about his respect for the AFP  which he described as a "highly disciplined and competent organization that will survive under any given circumstance."

"Thus, fully cognizant of the selfless sacrifice and courage of our troops and civilian human resources, I cannot allow the AFP's reputation to be tarnished, maligned, or politicized. I assure everyone that I will always hold the AFP in high esteem, which its men and women have painstakingly earned," Faustino said.

The Palace announced that Marcos appointed presidential adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. as defense secretary after Faustino vacated his post.

Courtesy resignations

After the change in the DND leadership, department spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said coterminous appointees have begun tendering their courtesy resignations, which he clarified is normal procedure.

"Pag may dadating na bagong liderato, that is automatic na yung coterminous appointees, magbibigay talaga ng courtesy resignations kasi nandoon sa kanilang appointment orders yung coterminous appointment," Andolong said.

[Translation: When a new leader arrives, it is automatic for coterminous appointees to submit their courtesy resignation because the coterminous appointment is stated in their appointment orders.]

"It will be up to the incoming leadership kung ano ang disposisyon doon [what his disposition on that is]. But that is done usually to give the incoming principal a free hand in creating and appointing his staff," he added.

Despite the sudden developments, Andolong said department operations are not affected. He added that while some are saddened by Faustino's exit, "the morale is alright" and they're "looking forward" to Galvez's leadership.

He reiterated that there is no destabilization attempt in the military, calling the rumors an exaggeration.

"The AFP is a truly professional organization," he said. "I don't think the officers and men of the AFP will resort to destabilization because their preferred leadership was not...or their preferred leadership was changed or anything like that. Hindi na sila gano'n [They're not like that anymore]. We've moved on from that already."

Malacanang, for its part, also stressed that Marcos has the "sole prerogative" to choose the chief of the Armed Forces.

It also noted that Faustino "knew of the developments" with regards to Centino's appointment.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 10)  The Department of Health (DOH) said it has observed a plateauing in the number of COVID-19 cases nationwide and in the regions, with the projected number of cases in the middle of next month at less than 1,000 cases.

"As we have reported, we're having this plateau in areas wherein cases are declining both nationally and even in the regional areas of the country," DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said at a media briefing on Tuesday.

She said that as of Tuesday, there was an observed 1% increase in the number of cases, but added that it was not significant enough to say there was an uptick in cases because of the holidays.

Vergeire said the DOH would continue to monitor the situation, but they remain hopeful the numbers will remain low.

"Meron tayong projections ngayon that our cases, by February 15, if ever minimum public health standards decline, tapos tuluy-tuloy ang pasok ng variants na highly evasive and transmissible, we would see up hanggang 730 cases by February 15. Hanggang ganong levels lang ang nakikita ngayon," she said.

[Translation: We have projections now that our cases, if ever minimum public health standards decline and highly evasive and transmissible cases keep coming in, we see cases going only up to 730 by February 15.]

The DOH also reminded devotees who attended events related to the Feast of the Black Nazarene to wear masks for the next five days and monitor themselves for any symptoms.

"Kung sakaling makaramdam na parang tinatrangkaso, sinisipon, inuubo, linalagnat, mag-isolate na agad at tumawag sa ating local government for proper management," said Vergeire.

[Translation: Should they experience flu-like symptoms, get a cold, cough or fever, they should isolate themselves and call the local government for proper management.]

However, Vergeire expressed confidence that the recent Walk of Faith, which replaced the traditional Traslacion in this years celebrations, will not necessarily lead to a surge in COVID-19 cases, noting that while the activities drew in huge crowds, many of the attendees were wearing face masks.

Vergeire also noted that an increased vaccination rate really made a difference in managing the country's COVID-19 situation.

"We've had several events like this before, like yung May elections na meron din mga campaigns and rallies na ang dami talagang tao, but we were able to maintain the number of cases at a minimum," Vergeire said.

[Translation: We've had several events like this before, like the May elections and campaigns and rallies where there were a lot of people, but we were able to maintain the number of cases at a minimum.]

CNN Philippines' Pia Garcia and AC Nicholls contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 10)  President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday appointed Cheloy Garafil as the new secretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), where she previously served as officer-in-charge.

In a social media post, the PCO shared a photo of Marcos leading the oathtaking ceremony.

Garafil stepped down as chairperson of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in October 2022 to serve as officer-in-charge of the then Office of the Press Secretary (OPS).

The OPS was reorganized and renamed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to PCO as stated under Executive Order no. 11 signed on Dec. 29, 2022.

It is responsible for "crafting, formulating, developing, enhancing, and coordinating the messaging system of the Executive branch and the Office of the President."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 10)  The Philippine Consulate General in New York expressed support for Filipino-American nurses in the city who joined the massive strike of over 7,000 health workers to demand better working conditions.

The consulate issued the statement on Tuesday after thousands of nurses at two major New York hospitals  Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan  staged a walkout over staffing shortages and long hours of work with insufficient pay.

When New York City became the epicenter of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, our kababayan nurses stayed true to their oath to care for the sick and the dying, sometimes at the expense of their very own lives, the consulate said.

It called for a mutually acceptable resolution to the strike and said all dispute resolution avenues must be exhausted to recognize the indispensable role" of nurses at the forefront of patient care.

For their compassion, dedication, and selflessness, their call for better employment terms and conditions should be heeded, the office said.

According to a CNN report, both New York hospitals criticized the nurses for going on a strike.

The hospitals said the nurses union walked out of negotiations, refusing to accept the 19% pay hike offer agreed to by other hospitals in the city.

The health workers interviewed by CNN maintained their major complaint is understaffing. They argued that it has affected patient care quality, with some picketers chanting "Safe staffing saves lives."

READ: Key takeaways from the New York nurses strike
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 10)  The Supreme Court on Tuesday voided a 2005 agreement among state-owned oil companies of the Philippines, China and Vietnam to explore a 142,886-square kilometer area of the South China Sea.

Voting 12-2-1, the SC en banc declared the 2005 Tripartite Agreement for Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JSMU) unconstitutional "for allowing wholly-owned foreign corporations to participate in the exploration of the country's natural resources without observing the safeguards provided in Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution."

The three state-owned firms are China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation (PETROVIETNAM), and Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC).

Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution states that "the exploration, development, and utilization (EDU) of natural resources shall be under the full control and supervision of the State."

In 2008, Bayan Muna Party List Representatives Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casino challenged the JMSU before the High Court, noting that the agreement violates the Constitution that mandates reserving "the EDU of natural resources to Filipino citizens, or corporations or associations at least sixty (60%) percent of whose capital is owned by such citizens."

Signed in March 2005 in Manila under the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the three parties expressed through the tripartite agreement their desire to engage in joint petroleum research in a large area in the South China Sea as a "pre-exploration activity."

Responding to the petition, the parties maintained that Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution was inapplicable as the JMSU only involves "pre-exploration activities."

The SC, however, stressed that the parties calling the joint research a "pre-exploration activity" is of "no moment."

"Such designation does not detract from the fact that the intent and aim of the agreement is to discover petroleum which is tantamount to 'exploration," the court said.

Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan wrote the decision, which was concurred in by Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and 10 other Associate Justices.
(CNN)  Election lies lead to election violence.

Horrifying images careening out of Brazil are reminding Americans  and the world  of the high cost that election disinformation brings with it as mobs of people, fueled by conspiracy theories, stormed the South American country's Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential offices in a violent outburst of chaos that overwhelmed authorities over the weekend.

A version of this article first appeared in the "Reliable Sources" newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.

The scenes that played out on January 8 shared a striking commonality with those that played out in the US on television screens almost two years to the day earlier. And, like in the US, the warning signs were apparent for some time, with election deniers mobilizing on social media ahead of the attack.

"We did see this coming," Wendy Via, the president of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told the Associated Press. "This doesn't just happen in Brazil, or the United States. This is a global problem. Should we compare what happened in Brazil to Jan. 6? I say 100%, because it's the same playbook."

That playbook is one of information warfare, where a propagandistic media machine is wielded to disseminate lies casting doubt on unfavorable election outcomes. This can have a devastating effect swaying public opinion, especially in our modern society where lies quickly go viral on social media and trust in mainstream institutions has weakened.

As The NYT's Jack Nicas noted on Monday, the style of coup attempt that took place over the weekend in Brazil stands apart from others, sharing more in common with January 6 than other moments in South America's history.

"Unlike other attempts to topple governments across Latin America's history, the attacks on Sunday were not ordered by a single strongman ruler or a military bent on seizing power, but rather were fueled by a more insidious, deeply rooted threat: mass delusion," Nicas wrote.

Nicas added, "Millions of Brazilians appear to be convinced that October's presidential election was rigged against Mr. Bolsonaro, despite audits and analyses by experts finding nothing of the sort."

Donald Trump employed this playbook in the aftermath of his 2020 election loss, ultimately leading to not only violence on the US Capitol but a significant swath of the American populace believing the election was in fact rigged against him. Now former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has followed his lead.

Not only did Trump write the election denialism playbook, but some of his supporters in the US are currently spreading lies about what is transpiring in Brazil, using their platforms to cast doubt on the country's election.

Steve Bannon, the "War Room" host who drives a lot of the messaging in MAGA Media, has been laying the groundwork on the matter for months, as the progressive watchdog Media Matters noted Monday. "The election was stolen," Bannon has declared. "Stop the Steal" leader Ali Alexander has also cheered on what is happening in Brazil.

And while new Twitter own Elon Musk has welcomed Alexander back onto the platform  as well as other key figures involved in promoting election lies in the lead up to January 6  it is clear that social media companies continue to allow, and outright promote, those who propel the lies fueling distrust and violence against our institutions.

The turn of events prompted CNN anchor Jim Scuitto on Monday to ask whether the US still exports democracy or "is election denialism a new US export?"

It's not a wild question to ask.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Deja coup: How election lies sparked the violent attack on Brazils government."
(CNN)  Much of California can't soak up another drop of rain. Yet the state is getting pummeled again with torrential downpours and ferocious winds, causing power outages and treacherous travel conditions.

More than 34 million Californians were under a flood watch Monday  about 90% of the state's population and 10% of the US population.

Parts of the central California coast got walloped with 1 to 1.25 inches of rainfall per hour, the Weather Prediction Center said. Extensive rainfall there Monday triggered significant flooding, mudslides, debris flows and closed roadways.

Widespread rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches have been observed from just south of San Francisco to just north of Los Angeles. Isolated amounts of 6 to more than 10 inches have been observed in the higher terrain near the coast.

As the rain shifted slowly to the south Monday toward Los Angeles, the National Weather Service there warned of the risk of flooding, debris flow in land scarred by recent wildfires and an increased risk of rock and mudslides in mountains and on canyon roads.

A flash flood warning is in effect Monday evening for downtown Los Angeles until midnight local time, an area including more than 7 million people.

And hurricane-force wind gusts topping 74 mph thrashed states across the western US. More than 37 million people were under wind alerts Monday in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Arizona and Wyoming.

A 132-mph wind gust lashed Oroville, California. Residents in Washoe City, Nevada, were hit with a 98-mph gust, the Weather Prediction Center said.

TRACK THE STORMS

"Expect widespread power outages, downed trees and difficult driving conditions," the National Weather Service in Sacramento tweeted. "Now is the time to prepare if you have not already!"

Almost 92,000 homes, businesses and other power customers had no electricity Monday evening, according to PowerOutage.us.

And the central California coast could be at risk of a tornado, CNN Meteorologist Dave Hennen said.

The severe weather is part of a relentless parade of atmospheric rivers slamming the West Coast.

California is now extremely vulnerable to flooding because much of the state has been scarred by historic drought or devastating wildfires  meaning the land can't soak up much rainfall.

And after an onslaught of storms since late December led to deadly flooding, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned Sunday: "We expect to see the worst of it still in front of us."

'A high-impact event'

Two bouts of major rainfall are expected to hammer the West Coast over the next few days  without much of a break between events for the water to recede.

The system is part of an atmospheric river  a long, narrow region in the atmosphere that can transport moisture thousands of miles, like a fire hose in the sky.

The atmospheric river slamming California on Monday could result in a 1-in-50 year or 1-in-100 year rainfall event near Fresno, the Weather Prediction Center said.

A moderate risk  level 3 of 4  of excessive rainfall covers over 26 million people in California, including in San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and Fresno, where rain could fall at 1 inch per hour.

The San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz County has risen 14 feet in just over four hours and is in major flood stage. Parts of the county will experience "widespread flooding at shallow depths," and the city of Santa Cruz will have serious flooding, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and US Geological Survey.

The threat will shift further south Tuesday, with a level 3 of 4 risk centered over Los Angeles.

"While some of the forecast rain totals are impressive alone, it is important to note that what really sets this event apart are the antecedent conditions," the National Weather Service office in San Francisco said.

"Multiple systems over the past week have saturated soil, increased flow in rivers and streams, and truly set the stage for this to become a high impact event."

'Imminent' flooding spurs evacuation orders

In Sacramento County, officials warned "flooding is imminent" and issued evacuation orders for the Wilton community near the Cosumnes River before roads become impassable.

Wilton residents also had to evacuate during last week's storm, when exit routes flooded quickly, officials said.

El Dorado, Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara and Alameda counties have issued evacuation warnings or recommendations for some areas due to possible flooding and other safety risks as forecasters warned of swelling rivers.

Residents in all areas of Montecito, the city of Santa Barbara and parts of Carpinteria and Summerland are being ordered to evacuate immediately due to the threat of the ongoing storm, the Santa Barbara County Incident Management Team said on Monday evening.

"LEAVE NOW! This is a rapidly evolving situation," the team said in a release.

Montecito is a haven for the rich and famous, including Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex; Oprah Winfrey and Ellen Degeneres. Monday marks exactly five years since heavy rains in the area caused deadly mud- and landslides.

Santa Barbara County authorities are advising residents to "be prepared to sustain yourself and your household for multiple days if you choose not to evacuate, as you may not be able to leave the area and emergency responders may not be able to access your property in the event of road damage, flooding, or a debris flow."

Newsom on Sunday asked the White House for an emergency declaration to support response and recovery efforts.

"We are in the middle of a deadly barrage of winter storms  and California is using every resource at its disposal to protect lives and limit damage," Newsom said in a statement. "We are taking the threat from these storms seriously, and want to make sure that Californians stay vigilant as more storms head our way."

San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Monday issued a Local Proclamation of Emergency due to the ongoing series of winter storms that began New Year's Eve, according to a news release from his office.

Floods kill more than any other natural disaster

This storm system arrives on the heels of a powerful cyclone that flooded roads, toppled trees and knocked out power last week to much of California. Earlier, a New Year's weekend storm system produced deadly flooding.

At least 12 Californians have died from "storm-related impacts" such as flooding since late December, the governor's office said.

In San Luis Obispo County, dive teams from the sheriff's office and Cal Fire rescuers were searching Monday for a 5-year-old child reported to have been swept away in flood waters near the Salinas River in San Miguel.

"Floods kill more individuals than any other natural disaster," California Emergency Services Director Nancy Ward said Sunday. "We've already had more deaths in this flood storm since December 31 than we had in the last two fire seasons of the highest fire acreage burned in California."

Flood-related deaths can happen when drivers attempt to cross standing water.

"Just a foot of water and your car's floating. Half a foot of water, you're off your feet. Half foot of water, you're losing control of your vehicle," Newsom said.

"We're seeing people go around these detours because they don't see any obstacles -- they think everything is fine, and putting their lives at risk or putting first responders lives at risk."

For anyone who doesn't need to travel during the peak of this storm, "please don't," California Secretary of Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot said. "Be prepared for power outages and other interruptions. Have those flashlights, the candles, batteries, charge cell phones at the ready."

Already, flooded roads, toppled trees and downed power lines are making travel difficult, California Highway Patrol said. Some fallen trees crushed cars and homes over the weekend. On Monday, portions of the Pacific Coast Highway -- US 101, a major north-south highway, were closed.

The Santa Barbara Airport, a tri-county regional airport, is closed because of flooding airport officials said Monday.

California contends with 'weather whiplash'

California is experiencing "weather whiplash," going from intense drought conditions to now contending with its fifth atmospheric river, Newsom said.

Much of the state has already seen 5 to 8 inches of rain over the last week. Two to 4 more inches of rain are expected across the coasts and valleys  and even more in mountains and foothills through Tuesday.

Rising from swelling rivers could spill over and inundate communities.

The rainfall over the weekend brought renewed flood concerns for streams, creeks and rivers. The Colgan Creek, Berryessa Creek, Mark West Creek, Green Valley Creek and the Cosumnes River all have gauges that are either above flood stage or expected to be in the next few days.

"The cumulative effect of successive heavy rainfall events will lead to additional instances of flooding. This includes rapid water rises, mudslides, and the potential for major river flooding," the National Weather Service said Monday.

The moisture is expected to sink southward Monday night, making flooding "increasing likely" over the Southern California coastal ranges Tuesday, the weather service said. Fierce winds are expected to accompany the storm as it pushes inland.

"Valley areas will likely see gusts as high as 45-50 mph, with gusts greater than 60 mph possible in wind prone areas," the National Weather Service in Reno said. The Sierra Ridge could receive peak gusts between 130 to 150 mph Monday.

8.3 feet of snow ... and counting

For those at higher elevations, intense snow and ferocious winds will be the biggest concerns.

Parts of the higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada have gotten more than 100"  or 8.3 feet  of snow in just the past few weeks, the Weather Prediction Center said.

Now, another 6 feet of snow is expected in some parts of the Sierra.

As the storm pushes inland, more than 5 feet of snow could fall along the Sierra Crest west of Lake Tahoe, the weather service said.

The heavy snow and strong winds could lead to near whiteout conditions on roads.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "90% of Californians are under flood watches as another storm threatens mudslides, power outages and deadly inundation."
(CNN)  Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday tweeted a photo of himself from a hospital bed in Orlando, Florida, as several US lawmakers called for his removal from the country following attacks by his supporters on Brazil's seats of government.

Bolsonaro said he was receiving treatment for complications relating to an old stab wound. Earlier, his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, said in an Instagram post he was admitted on Monday for abdominal "discomfort" related to injuries from a knife attack during a political rally in 2018.

Bolsonaro's hospitalization comes after hundreds of his supporters stormed the capital Brasilia on Sunday, trashing government offices and drawing strong condemnation from the international community. As of Monday, about 1,500 people had been arrested, according to Brazilian Justice Minister Flavio Dino.

The former leader denounced the attack in a tweet on Sunday, but experts say his repeated and unfounded claims of election fraud in the run-up to October's election served to foment anger among his supporters. Before Sunday's violence, they had camped out for months in the capital and security outside the congressional building had been fortified due to their presence.

Bolsonaro left Brazil for the United States on December 30, according to CNN Brasil  just two days before the inauguration of his successor, President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva. Five civil servants were authorized to accompany him to Miami from January 1-30.

A number of US lawmakers have called for Bolsonaro's extradition from the US, though it's unclear upon what grounds he could be removed.

On Sunday, Dino said at that stage there were no legal grounds to investigate the former head of state in connection with the riots. And US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Monday the US government had "not yet received any requests for information or for action" in relation to Sunday's attacks.

Price declined to confirm that Bolsonaro had entered the US on an A1 visa  which is granted to heads of state and only valid while they are in that position  but said that if such a visa holder "is no longer engaged in official business on behalf of their government, it is incumbent on that visa holder to depart the US or to request a change to another immigration status within 30 days."

It's not clear how long Bolsonaro intends to stay in the US, or if he has been discharged from hospital.

The former leader has been hospitalized several times over the years due to the stabbing injury. The incident took place during his 2018 campaign, as Bolsonaro was led through a crowd on the shoulders of supporters in Juiz de Fora, a city in the southern state of Minas Gerais.

Bolsonaro's son Flavio Bolsonaro tweeted at the time that his father's wounds "reached part of his liver, lung and intestine" and that he lost a lot of blood.

In January 2019, Bolsonaro underwent surgery to remove a colostomy bag fitted after he was stabbed.

He was again hospitalized in July 2021 after feeling abdominal pain and suffering persistent hiccups for over a week.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Bolsonaro tweets photo from Florida hospital as Brazil reels from political violence."
(CNN)  More rain is dropping across California on Tuesday, threatening more flooding and disruption as part of a parade of storms that have forced thousands to evacuate and prompted dozens of rescues in recent days and left more than 14 dead in recent weeks.

Roughly 34 million people across California  about 10% of the US population  are under flood watches as the risk of mudslides also spreads to the Los Angeles and San Diego areas.

Tuesdays rain is part of a wave of atmospheric rivers that have thrashed the West Coast in the last several weeks. The storms have led to dangerous flooding and mudslides and prompted evacuations across the state, with much of California getting rainfall totals that are 400% to 600% above average in that time.

Several more inches of could fall across much of the state Tuesday, after 2 to 7 inches fell over 24 hours ending Monday night across much of the states lower elevations. It was wetter in the mountainous areas of Southern California, where more than a foot of rain fell from Sunday to early Tuesday, particularly along the Ventura and Santa Barbara County mountains.

The greatest threat for new flooding Tuesday is in the mountains just east of Los Angeles, where 2 to 4 more inches of rain could fall.

Todays heavy rain will further exacerbate ongoing flooding while prolonging the risk of  mudslides, the Weather Prediction Center said Tuesday, no small threat for California soil already scarred by historic drought and devastating wildfires.

From north to south in the Golden State this week, flooding, mudslides or threats thereof have led to evacuations, road closures and desperate rescues. On Monday, trees crashed down, homes lost power and major roadways were turned into rivers or otherwise closed as storms unleashed powerful winds and heavy downpours.

In Santa Cruz County just southwest of San Jose, Rachel Oliveria stayed home Monday as water from a nearby river rose and flooded her residence.

It just came really quick, Oliveira said. Within a matter of minutes, it was from across the street all the way into our yard, and it went really fast.

A wrap of recent developments:

 Driver killed: On Californias central coast, a driver died Monday afternoon after entering a flooded roadway in Avila Beach, roughly a 180-mile drive northwest of Los Angeles, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office said. As of Monday afternoon, at least 14 people in California have died because of recent storms  more lives than wildfires in the past two years combined, Gov. Gavin Newsoms office said Monday.

 Child missing: A 5-year-old was swept away by floodwaters Monday morning near the Salinas River in San Miguel, about a 215-mile drive northwest of Los Angeles, authorities said. An hourslong search for the child was suspended Monday afternoon because the weather had become too severe and it was not safe anymore for first responders, San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office spokesperson Tony Cipolla told CNN.

 Montecito evacuated: In Southern California, the entire oceanside town of Montecito  a haven for the rich and famous  was ordered to evacuate Monday because of significant flooding, mudslides and debris flows. Also ordered to evacuate: Residents nearby, including in parts of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria and Summerland. Montecito got a whopping 9.89 inches over 24 hours ending late Monday.

 Evacuations in Northern California: Evacuations also have been ordered for about 32,000 people in parts of Santa Cruz County outside San Jose, the county said. In the coastal town of Aptos, water on Tuesday morning covered the streets of a neighborhood and came up to numerous homes.

 Power outages: Storms have downed utility lines, contributing to power outages. More than 220,000 homes, businesses and other utility customers were without electricity service in California as of 9:20 a.m., according to PowerOutage.us.

 Major road closures: Flooding has closed numerous roadways this week, including parts of the seaside Pacific Coast Highway (State Route 1) in Southern California, officials said. US 101 was closed Tuesday in places like Ventura  about 70 miles west of Los Angeles  with receding floodwater leaving a muddy mess. Between Fresno and Shaver Lake, a rock slide  caught on video by police  crashed onto State Route 168 Monday, closing that road.

President Joe Biden on Monday approved a measure to support Californias efforts to respond to the storms that for weeks have whacked the state like cascading dominoes.

Some of Tuesdays storms could be severe: Central and Southern California have a marginal risk of severe weather, which could include damaging winds and even a tornado, the Storm Prediction Center said.

And while storm-battered parts of central and Northern California will see some respite early Tuesday, it will be short-lived, forecasters say. Yet another atmospheric river  a long, narrow region in the atmosphere that can transport moisture thousands of miles  will hit from Northern California into the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday, the prediction center said.

When all is said and done, precipitation totals over the next few days will be in the 3-7 inch range through the Transverse Range of southern California, northward along the central to northern California coast ranges and through the Sierra, the center said.

Swollen rivers, water rescues and broad damage

Montecito  located between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean in Southern Californias Santa Barbara County  got Mondays evacuation orders on the five-year anniversary of a 2018 mudslide that killed 23 people as mud and boulders the size of houses plowed down hillsides, splintering more than 100 homes and rupturing a gas main, according to the states Office of Emergency Services.

Cars traversed flooded streets Monday as water raged in a nearby creek in Montecito and mud oozed down a hillside, video from CNN affiliate KEYT showed. Roads were impacted by boulders, debris and flooding, Santa Barbara city officials reported.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown asked county residents to shelter in place Monday evening as travel became a nightmare with rockslides, flooded roads and closed highways.

Crews in Santa Barbara County have responded to more than 200 incident calls due to the heavy rains, according to Captain Scott Safechuck, spokesperson for a Santa Barbara County Incident Management Team.

Around 10 to 15 homes were damaged due to flooding in the county on Monday, according to Santa Barbara County Fire, which released images showing a flooded neighborhood and a sinkhole that developed.

To the north, on the central coast, Santa Cruz County saw widespread damage Monday, according to images from Cal Fire. The San Lorenzo River swelled 14 feet in just over four hours Monday morning as heavy rain pounded the region, putting the river in a major flood stage.

Fast-moving water in Santa Cruz knocked out a bridge and flooded state parks, video showed.

The National Weather Service reported a possible levee breach along the Pajaro River Monday morning and warned of life threatening flash flooding.

Also on the central coast, in San Luis Obispo County, authorities urged residents south of the Arroyo Grande Creek Levee to evacuate to higher ground immediately Monday evening.

The deluge prompted numerous water rescues throughout the state Monday, as rising waters trapped drivers.

In Southern California, just northwest of Los Angeles, at least 18 people were rescued Monday by the Ventura County Fire Department, including multiple people who were stranded on an island in the Ventura River, fire officials said.

That included several people who were clinging to branches of floodwater-surrounded trees. Rescuers helped those people get onto and climb a ladder to a bridge above, video tweeted Monday by the fire department shows.

As rainfall intensified Monday night, officers in Ventura Countys Moorpark were working to rescue stranded drivers on State Route 126, according to the California Highway Patrol. State Route 126 was closed from Fillmore City limits to Fairview Canyon.

In central Californias Monterey County, the sheriffs office and the Coast Guard rescued two people and a dog who were trapped by floodwaters, the sheriffs office said in a post on Facebook.

Rainfall records fall across the state

The rains dropped Monday night into Southern California, threatening flash flooding and mudslides from Los Angeles to San Diego  particularly across fire-scarred areas.

Nearly all of California has seen much above average rainfall totals over the past several weeks, with totals 400-600% above average values, the Weather Service said. This has resulted in nearly saturated soils and increasingly high river levels.

Downtown Santa Barbara received 6.37 inches as of early Tuesday  the wettest day on record for the downtown area.

San Luis Obispo McChesney Field also had its wettest day on record, with daily rainfall of 4.10 inches surpassing the previous record of 3.68 inches. Meanwhile, Moorpark had its second rainiest day on record with 4.02 inches.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Thousands urged to flee their homes as more severe weather wallops California, pushing the death toll to 14 in recent storms"
Only 31 Republicans filled the seats of the Colorado General Assembly on opening day for the 2023 legislative session  the fewest the state has seen in more than 80 years.

Republican leaders, however, remained optimistic.

After Democrats flipped seven seats from red to blue in November, Democrats are set to dominate the state Capitol this year, achieving a 46-19 supermajority in the House and a 23-12 split in the Senate. This makes Republicans all but powerless to stop Democrat-backed legislation.

Still, Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen said this will not prevent the party from having an impact.

During his opening day speech on Monday, Lundeen, R-Monument, said the Republican Party will make an honest effort to work with Democrats. He added he is hopeful that Democrats will incorporate Republican ideas into their legislation.

"I have been asked, 'Can a team of 12  the minority caucus in this august chamber  make a difference?' The answer rings clear: Yes," Lundeen said. "We will help this chamber lift up its head, look to the far horizon, and take on the basic issues that will provide extraordinary opportunities to our grandchildren and their children with a willingness to thoughtfully discern priorities and a laser focus that dismisses unsustainable political pet projects."

Lundeen listed his caucus' primary issues as increasing affordability for products and services, decreasing crime, creating a "student focused" education system, and lowering energy costs by utilizing alternative energy options, such as nuclear power.

Lundeen also vowed to stand against Democratic legislation that he views would burden future generations with debt or cause Coloradans to surrender their money, beliefs, livelihoods or Constitutional protections.

"It is our duty that the voices of people who find themselves in the minority in this season of Colorados history be heard and shared," Lundeen said. "The saying in this body is that the minority gets their say, and the majority gets their way. But we are intent to do more than just talk. We insist to be full participants in the legislative process in this chamber, and will offer our best, constructive suggestions for making the future laws of this state better."

In the House, Minority Leader Mike Lynch, R-Wellington, echoed similar legislative goals: Increasing affordability, decreasing crime and increasing parental choice in education.

In a press conference after the opening speeches, Lynch said the Republicans will "put some roadblocks" in the way of the Democratic agenda. This precedent began Monday with eight Republican representatives voting against Democratic House Speaker Julie McCluskie's designation, breaking the state tradition that both parties come together to unanimously support the new speaker.

"We're not going to make this easy," Lynch said. "We feel good that the leadership has given us an olive branch to say that they will allow our voices to be heard and we're going to hold them to that. And if they don't, well, they will still hear our voices."

Lynch also praised the freshmen Republican representatives in his speech, calling them "the most accomplished group of Republicans" he's ever seen in the state House, representing military members and rural parts of the state that he says are often ignored by Democratic legislators.

"I implore you to remember it is not you that sits in those seats, it is the thousands of people who put you there," Lynch said. "Most of them you agree with, but some of them you do not. Those voices are important, as well. Those voices are the ones the minority represents here today. The voices you may not agree with, but are still there to be heard from in each one of your districts. I ask only one thing of you, the super majority, let those voices be heard."
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Artificial intelligence (AI) is suddenly the darling of the tech world, thanks to ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that can do things such as carry on conversations and write essays and articles with what some people believe is human-like skill. In its first five days, more than a million people signed up to try it. The New York Times hails its brilliance and weirdness and says it inspires both awe and fear.

For all the glitz and hype surrounding ChatGPT, what its doing now are essentially stunts  a way to get as much attention as possible. The future of AI isnt in writing articles about Beyonce in the style of Charles Dickens, or any of the other oddball things people use ChatGPT for. Instead, AI will be primarily a business tool, reaping billions of dollars for companies that use it for tasks like improving internet searches, writing software code, discovering and fixing inefficiencies in a companys business, and extracting useful, actionable information from massive amounts of data.

But there's a dirty little secret at the core of AI  intellectual property theft. To do its work, AI needs to constantly ingest data, lots of it. Think of it as the monster plant Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors, constantly crying out Feed me! Detractors say AI is violating intellectual property laws by hoovering up information without getting the rights to it, and that things will only get worse from here.

An intellectual property lawsuit against Microsoft may determine the future of AI. It charges that Microsoft, the Microsoft code repository GitHub, and OpenAI, the parent of ChatGPT, have illegally used code created by others in order to build and train the Copilot service that uses AI to write software. (Microsoft has invested $1 billion in OpenAI.)

The future of AI may well hinge on the suits outcome.

Going all in on AI

To understand the lawsuit, you first need to understand Microsofts big bet on AI. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella believes AI will transform Microsoft much as the cloud did. He recently said: I think the next phase  if you say mobile and cloud was the last paradigm  is going to be AI.

AI will be used in every part of the company, from the cloud to Bing search, and even Windows itself. At last week's CES conference, he explained, Artificial Intelligence is going to reinvent how you do everything on Windows, quite literally. He only gave few details, such as a natural language interface, but theres no doubt a lot of work going on he doesnt yet want to reveal.

The combination of AI and the cloud is perhaps the companys most important focus. ChatGPT is powered by Microsofts Azure cloud technology and was trained using Azures AI supercomputing infrastructure. Microsoft will be selling Azure-based AI capabilities to businesses, which means companies will be able to take advantage of AI without building any infrastructure at all  they can simply use Microsofts cloud-based AI. The product, called Azure OpenAI Service, is already available for preview.

Microsoft is also planning to integrate ChatGPT3 AI with Bing search to power better search results, and to directly deliver the information people are looking for, rather than just pointing them to web pages.

Copilot and software piracy

Now we come to a service that led to the lawsuit against Microsoft: Copilot. Its an AI coding assistant that spits out code for creating basic software functions, freeing developers to focus on more complicated, higher-level programming tasks. Programmers need only to tell Copilot what they want built, and Copilot creates ready-to-use code they can paste into their work.

Thats just for today, though. With enough training, it wouldnt be surprising if non-programmers would be able to build simple apps without knowing a line of code  and maybe eventually build more complicated apps as well.

To work its magic, Copilot needs to be trained on tremendous amounts of code. The Microsoft-owned GitHub open-source code repository, which runs Copilot, says it is trained on billions of lines of public code. The way in which Copilot gets that open source code is at the heart of the suit.

Open-source code isnt in the public domain. Its often copyrighted. It can be used without being paid for, but only if the person using it agrees to the softwares licensing terms. There are a variety of different open-source licenses with different terms. For example, a license might require that any software built based on the open-source code must include the name of the creator of the original code and a copyright notice.

Copilot doesnt adhere to those licenses. Microsoft claims it doesnt need to. GitHubs CEO, Nat Friedman, claims Copilot can use any open source code for training, regardless of the licenses, because it falls under fair use in copyright law. Many other AI companies and researchers claim the same thing.

Matthew Butterick, a programmer, writer, and lawyer, disagrees. He and the Joseph Saveri law firm have filed a class action suit against Microsoft GitHub and OpenAI, claiming they profit from the work of open-source programmers by violating the conditions of their open-source licenses. In plain English, the suit says Microsoft and the others are software pirates, stealing the intellectual property of those who created the code used to train Copilot. (Butterick says that sometimes when someone asks Copilot to write software, the resulting code is an exact copy of open source code on which Copilot was trained.)

Butterick warns that Copilot is just the camels nose under the tent, and much more massive intellectual property theft is on the way  not just theft of code, but of images, writing, and data of any sort. He told The New York Times, The ambitions of Microsoft and OpenAI go way beyond GitHub and Copilot. They want to train on any data anywhere, for free, without consent, forever.

Hes right. AI image generators, such as DALL-E 2, which is run by OpenAI, already train in images found on the web.

One of the great ironies of Microsofts use of open-source software and reliance on a fair use argument is that for years the company fought against open source as if it were the devil itself. In 2000, Microsofts then-CEO Steve Ballmer said that Linux open source software has the characteristics of communism. A year later he doubled down, calling it a cancer.

Where we go from here

To a great extent, this suit will determine the future of AI. If Microsoft wins, itll be full speed ahead for AI, which will be allowed to gobble up and train on code, images, articles, and data created by others. Buttericks warning about AI using any data for free anytime, anywhere would almost certainly come true. If Microsoft loses, those who create AI will have to tread far more carefully, possibly slowing down AI creation, but respecting the intellectual property of artists, writers, programmers, and others.

As for me, Im on the side of those who create, and against Microsoft. Its already a tough enough life for those who try to earn a living based on their intellectual and artistic abilities. Woody Guthrie wrote in his song Pretty Boy Floyd:

Yes, as through this world I've wandered

I've seen lots of funny men;

Some will rob you with a six-gun,

And some with a fountain pen.

If Microsoft wins the suit, its not a six-gun or a pen that will rob the creative people among us  itll be a disembodied AI stealing at the behest of a trillion-dollar company and an AI industry that will be worth countless more trillions than that.
When he laughed at the arrival of the first iPhone, then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made it clear he thought Apple had no chance of success.

Things have changed a lot since Apple introduced iPhone in January 2007.

The product that changed everything

At the time, Apple was an iPod company that made also-ran, underpowered PowerPC Macs, too. Today, its the iPhone manufacturer whose iPad devoured the netbook industry and whose entry-level Macs with their custom silicon deliver low-energy computational performance that competes with the best PCs.

Today, we see declining PC sales, accelerating Mac sales  and Microsoft with no serious position in mobile.

Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said at the time.

Ballmer, history shows, laughed in response.

Only one of them was wrong.

iPhone dialed Apple into the enterprise

When it comes to the enterprise, while you might find PCs in place, the share is changing, and mobile devices have transformed the way we do business.

The momentum of mobile means Apple is growing in every category it plays in in the enterprise computing space, and as Ballmers laughter fades into history, it looks like Cupertino has at least a decade before Chrome gains more than a PR-driven foothold in business computing. When they get a choice, employees regularly choose an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

One of the greatest bugaboos Ballmer referred to was cost. But costs are far better understood today. Total Cost of Ownership studies show that while the initial outlay for Apple products might seem more expensive, the reduced cost of tech support and the loyalty and productivity benefits generated by giving employees choice make up for it.

iPhone captured mind share, and both iPad and iPhone put wind beneath the wings of the Bring Your Own Device trend and employee choice that characterize enterprise IT deployment today.

When free costs the world

We also have a better understanding of the risks of "free" in tech.

Years of data grabbing by shadowy ads networks, tech firms and social media have revealed threats to civil liberties, political consensus, and human rights. Look and you will perhaps see that privacy isnt just a personal matter, its a fabric the removal of which threatens our way of life.

Thats why Apple works where it can protect it. And where it cant, as in China, we see the consequences. Why would loss of privacy play out differently anywhere else?

Apple is not complacent about its enterprise push

A complacent company would not be prioritizing security, would not be sorting out sweetheart deals for business customers with telco networks, and would not be actively supporting the evolution of an enterprise supporting ecosystem of MDM and security providers.

A complacent company would not be focused on constant development of new enterprise-friendly APIs. It would not offer Apple Business Essentials, Apple Pay, Apple Card, or Tap to Pay. And it would certainly not be preparing to introduce what it probably hopes will be a giant leap in collaboration in the form of AR goggles.

This focus on the business market is generating visible awards. Apple accounted for 23% of the US enterprise PC market at one point last year, something no one would have envisioned when Apple introduced its elegant communicator/music player/web browser paradigm in 2007.

Few then would have believed such a huge Apple turnaround possible. But it was possible.

You can even measure the effect  just look at the Statcounter operating system stats for the US to get a sense of how things have changed. Apples combined Mac/iOS systems account for over 40% of all US web traffic by OS, with Android occupying 22% more.

The transformation will continue

Im beginning to lose track of how many tech leaders now tell me, Apple will dominate the enterprise over the coming years. You can thank 15 years of the iPhone (and several years of mobile exploration with iPad) for that. These days, every company wants to have an app and reaches out to others via every mobile channel it can grab.

Mobile isnt just a consumer-facing play, either  business communications, data handling and back-end services (a space in which Microsoft seemingly shines) are essential to business today. It wasnt only photocopiers and fax machines the iPhone-driven mobile change wave replaced  these products revolutionized how we live, work and play, and Apples ascendancy reflects this. While the company doesnt always get the mix right, Apples mission to build easy-to-use systems that enable, rather than get in the way, has proved its value over time.

A new world era

iPhone also ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones, said Apple when introducing its device.

Fifteen years later, its hard to see how to think different about that.

Please follow me on Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.
Supreme Court (PTI)

New Delhi: Everything important in the country can't come to Supreme Court, said the top court on Tuesday as it declined an urgent hearing of the plea relating to the Joshimath sinking incident.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and PS Narasimha said there are democratically elected institutions to look into the issue, as it posted the hearing for January 16.

"Everything which is important need not come to the apex court. There are democratically elected institutions working on it," the top court said.

The court said this after the lawyer appearing for the petitioner mentioned the matter for an urgent hearing.

Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court asked an advocate to mention on Tuesday a plea seeking immediate intervention by the top court to assist the reparation and providing of urgent relief to people of Joshimath in Uttarakhand, who are living in fear in the wake of a landslide and subsidence.

The plea was filed by Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, a religious leader, seeking a direction to declare the current incidents of landslide, subsidence, land sinking, land burst and cracks in the land and properties as a national disaster and direct the National Disaster Management Authority to support the residents of Joshimath at this time.

Several families were evacuated from Joshimath after cracks appeared in their houses in the wake of the subsidence.

The petition sought to provide immediate financial assistance and compensation to the people of Uttarakhand, who have lost their houses and land to subsidence.

"In the name of and/or for the cause of development the respondents have no right to push the people in the mouth of death and the religious sacred town in extinction and thereby infringe the fundamental right of the people of the Joshimath including the petitioner as well as inmates of his Monastery guaranteed under article 21, 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India," it stated.

The entire mess of environmental, ecological and geological disturbances occurred due to large-scale manly intervention in the form of Industrialisation, urbanisation and destruction of natural resources by the Union and State government in the State of Uttarakhand, the petition stated further.

It added, "No development is needed at the cost of human life and their ecosystem and if anything such is happening it is the duty of the State and Union government to stop the same immediately at war level."

The petition was filed to "secure the life and personal liberty of the people of Joshimath town in the Chamoli District of Uttarakhand, wherein the life of the people is lurching large due to imminent and sudden cases of land subsidence, land sliding, the sudden eruption of water, cracking of houses and subsidence and cracking of agriculture plots resulted on account of man-made activities which given rise to recurrent natural calamities which were earlier very rare".

"Issue direction to the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to provide insurance coverage to the residents of Joshimath and to duly compensate the affected residents for the disaster caused by land sliding, land sinking, land burst, subsidence resulting into the cracking of houses and lands," it added.

It also sought direction from the SC to the NTPC and Border Road Organisation (BRO) to rehabilitate the affected citizens at safer and more convenient places.

"Direct Centre, National Disaster Management Authority, Uttarakhand to take effective and proactive steps to protect the spiritual and religious and cultural places of Hindus including Sikhs at Joshimath; especially the Jyotirmath and adjoining sacred shrines/temples wherein deities are being worshipped since time immemorial," the plea read.

"Direct the respondents to immediately stop construction and building work of the Tapovan Vishnugad Hydro Electric, Project tunnel and not to begin again till the high-level committee of geologists, hydrologists and engineers constituted by this court," it added.
Kamareddy farmers have moved the Telangana High Courtagainst themaster plan. (Representational Image: DC)

HYDERABAD: Some farmers from Kamareddy district, who are opposing the state governments draft master plan for their municipality, have moved the Telangana High Court against the master plan.

T. Srinivas Singh and other 39 farmers from Rameshwarpally village in Kamareddy mandal urged the court to direct the state government against any master plan for Kamareddy municipality.

Justice P. Madhavi Devi heard the petition on Monday and sought the governments response by Wednesday.

The petitioners submitted that their patta lands in 35 survey numbers in the said village have been classified as recreational (parks, playground and open spaces) in the draft copy of the master plan. They brought to the notice of the court about government lands abetting their patta lands in survey No. 82 to an extent of acres 70-02 guntas, survey No. 208 to an extent Ac. 88-39 guntas and survey No. 253 to an extent Ac. 71-15 guntas specifying them under urbanisable residential zone.

T. Srujan Kumar Reddy, counsel for the petitioners, submitted that the authorities had not responded to the farmers request for alterations to notify government lands, adjacent to patta lands as recreational by converting such lands as residential areas. He also said that the authorities are planning to take away lands of the petitioners.

K.A. Paul, founder of Praja Shanthi party, came to the court and pointed out that the police were beating farmers, who were protesting against the draft master plan. The court cautioned him to stay quiet.
Scuffle between Congress and BRS activists in Nagarkurnool. (Photo by arrangement)

HYDERABAD: Terming the filing of cases against former minister Nagam Janardhan Reddy following a scuffle between Congress and BRS activists in Nagarkurnool as a sign of police excess, TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy said that under the BRS government the victims were being punished while culprits were scotfree.

A team of Congress leaders led by Revanth Reddy met Director General of Police Anjani Kumar and submitted a memorandum demanding action against those behind the alleged attack on two Congress leaders belonging to the ST and SC communities.

Revanth Reddy told the DGP that a Congress team had gone to Shainpet village in Binijapally mandal, which close to the proposed Markandeya irrigation scheme proposed to be constructed by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

BRS workers reached the site and objected to the visit of the Congress leaders. When the Congress workers refused to leave, the BRS leaders started attacking them while using abusive language, Revanth Reddy said.

Rathlavath Valya Naik was badly beaten by Chinna Reddy, vice-MPP, and his brother Krishna Reddy, former Mahadevunipet sarpanch Tirupathi Reddy and MPP Srinivas Goud. They attempted to kill him by crushing his neck with their feet, Revanth Reddy alleged, while presenting the pictures of incident.

He said that the police had booked false cases on Congress leaders after the incident and demanded that the DGP office initiate an inquiry and book the assailants.

Earlier, former government whip Eravath Anil, sharing pictures and video of the incident on social media, called it a reflection of the fuedal mindset of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. Feudal lord KCRs atrocities reached its peak against SCs and STs, he tweeted.
Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy (Facebook)

HYDERABAD: The BRS suffered a jolt as senior party leader Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, a former MP from Khammam, decided to quit the party for the BJP. Sources said that he would be inducted into the BJP ranks by Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on January 18, following which he will be a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hyderabad entourage during his visit on January 19.

It was learnt that Srinivas Reddy was willing to contest the Palair Assembly seat in the state polls or the Khammam Lok Sabha seat, as decided by the BJP leadership.

Sources said that Srinivas Reddy was upset with the BRS since 2019, when he was denied a ticket to contest the Khammam Lok Sabha seat despite being the MP. He had won the seat on a YSRC ticket in 2014, but quit the party in May 2016 to join the BRS (then TRS).

While he waited, the BRS allotted the ticket to Nama Nageshwara Rao, who joined the party from TD, in 2019.

Sudhakar Reddy had been staying away from party activities; with no indication from the party leadership, he decided to quit the BRS.

Party sources said he was under pressure from supporters to contest the Assembly elections or next years Lok Sabha elections, due to which he has decided to join the BJP, as there would be heavy competition for a BRS ticket.

On January 1, at an event, Srinivas Reddy had asked his supporters to wait for the BRS decision on his political future. He said everyone knew how BRS leadership was treating him since 2019 Lok Sabha polls for which he was denied a ticket.

Srinivas Reddy had also been telling his supporters that an active political leader cannot afford to stay away from contesting elections for more than five years. He will hold meetings with his supporters, mandal wise, from Tuesday to share his decision and seek their continued support.

Although the BRS retained power for the second term with a landslide majority, by winning 88 of the 119 seats in the 2018 Assembly polls, it suffered a huge setback in the undivided Khammam district, where it won only one of the total 10 seats it had contested. The Congress won six seats, TD won two seats and an independent candidate won one.

Subsequently, four Congress MLAs, two TD MLAs and the lone independent joined the BRS, strengthening its hold on Khammam, securing it eight of 10 seats. The Congress is left with two MLAs at present.
Its Nov. 11, 2022, and Oakridge residents are slowly filing into the unique dining experience turned theater, Lion Mountain Bakery. Its the opening night of Blue Moon Burlesque, a show created by locals to lift morale during the Cedar Creek Fire. At this point the smoke has cleared, and rain showers are dousing the town as winter approaches. Inside, attendees are greeted with warm smiles and ice-cold margaritas, and the chasmic room is filled with lively chatter as the show is about to begin. People find their seats, buzzing with excitement, and a hush falls over the crowd when the lights dim, commencing an evening of comedy, music and burlesque.

While the smoke was trapping everyone indoors, community member Chelsi Corcoran-Rhule had a spark of inspiration and decided to put together the performance. She wanted to uplift the community and give everyone a night to remember when the smoke finally cleared.

I was just in bed one morning and thought, when the smoke clears, we need to have fun. We need to do something that's energetic and exciting and sexy, Corcoran-Rhule says.

The weeks of preparation for this moment were colored with hard work, grief and pain. Burn scars are still visible from the peak of Dead Mountain, and clouds of smoke choked the town for months. Locals say they felt fear rooted in their guts during the burn season, and it took the whole village to fight that uphill battle.

Still, love, pride and community spirit erupted from calloused hands as applause shattered the silence. Resilience, a trait thats been apparent in Oakridge residents long before the fire, sparked.

What looks like a small stretch of Highway 58 where a passerby may fill their gas tank is actually a colorful collection of residences and small businesses  whose employees know most of their customers by first name. For an Oakridge local, walking down 1st Street almost guarantees a friendly face and lively chat.

This being said, many Oakridge locals reminisce about a time when the town was thriving economically as well as socially before the closures of the Westfir Mill and the Pope and Talbot Mill. In 1990, the federal government enacted logging restrictions that closed off much of the Willamette National Forest to the timber industry. Oakridge was historically a timber town, and the logging restrictions followed by the mill closures caused about 1,400 people to lose their jobs. At the time, this was about one third of the population.

Since this economic collapse, many citizens have fallen on some difficult financial times. Much of the population moved away after individuals and family members lost lumber jobs, and this cut the already small population by a large margin. According to the 2020 census, the poverty rate is now at a staggering 37.7%, an 11% increase from the year prior and well above the 2020 United States average of 11.4%. Since the mill closures, the population went from 4,800 people to a little over 3,300, also according to the census.

Out of the remaining population, the biggest employers are the U.S. Forest Service and the local school district. Others might work in a few of the small businesses in the area, but many make the one-hour commute to Eugene and Springfield. The most popular occupations include firefighting, construction, extractions, accommodations and food service.

You can't go forward unless you really look at your past, says Susan Dodge-Bryant, a local artist and longtime Oakridge resident. Dodge-Bryant is excited to see more families and young people move to the area in recent years and describes this as a turning point for the community after the mill closures. Dodge-Bryant performed alongside her peers in Blue Moon Burlesque and saw the occasion as a physical manifestation of that turning point.

Many residents were born and raised in Oakridge and oftentimes tend to move away and come back later in life. Sarah Altemus-Pope, who is an Oakridge native, moved to Eugene for her undergrad and then pursued a career as a smokejumper in Missoula, Montana. After 10 years of jumping out of planes into live fires, she moved to Washington D.C. to work for the U.S. Forest Services International Programs before moving back to Oregon to pursue her master's degree. Altemus-Popes multitude of experiences with the U.S. Forest Service definitely informed her future work, but so did her home life.

I grew up in a timber community and had a family that worked in the woods, she says, and then I started working in the woods when I was 16. Through spending so much time in the woods, I've understood the connection between rural economies that are forestry-based and the work that's available. Just because there's not a mill here anymore doesn't mean there's not people whose livelihoods are still very much tied to what's happening in the woods.

In 2016, Altemus-Pope started the Southern Willamette Forest Collaborative, an organization aimed at connecting community members and land management agencies in order to work through conflict and build trust. The collaborative was born out of Altemus-Popes thesis project for her masters degree in conflict resolution and grew into an organization that has accomplished a wide variety of projects. These projects are aimed at forest restoration, improved air quality and ensuring Oakridge as a Firewise community. Firewise USA is a national program that helps communities who are at risk for wildfire increase the ignition resistance of their homes and structures.

Altemus-Pope and other members of the collaborative have been partnering with the Oregon Department of Forestry to complete Firewise assessments around Oakridge proper and the greater Oakridge area. They secured the funding for it in 2019 and had just completed improvements within the greater Oakridge area when the 2020 fires hit.

That changed the perspective of fire in Western Oregon for a lot of people, Altemus-Pope says. They realized that were in forests that are still fire-prone, and wind-driven fire is extremely, incredibly dangerous.

Altemus-Pope also started Oakridge Air, a program funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and aimed at improving the air quality in the area. Oakridge Air was initiated with the goal of improving wintertime wood smoke and then branched out to the realm of wildfire smoke during the 2020 fire season. During the most recent Cedar Creek Fire, Oakridge Air was able to distribute over 3,000 air purifiers to its constituency. This allowed for each household in the area to have at least one room of clean air.

Sarah is one of the sharpest young women in our community, says Lynda Kamerrer, the retired owner of a former local bed-and-breakfast. When the AQI is 500 or 600, you cannot keep it out. The smoke comes in, and if you have health issues, you're scrambling to figure out how you're going to evacuate or protect yourself.

The Cedar Creek Fire started on Aug. 1, 2022, caused by a series of lightning strikes that touched down about 15 miles east of Oakridge, igniting a dense section of the Willamette National Forest. By Aug. 15, the fire had scorched 4,422 acres of forest, with no sign of containment. By Aug. 27, that number grew to 7,632 acres.

In the early weeks of the fire, it was incredibly difficult for ground crews and firefighters to combat or contain the burn due to rugged and inaccessible terrain. This caused the fire to spread quickly across a large area before any hope of containment.

As the fire grew, so did the crews. On Sept. 19, there were over 2,500 personnel actively contributing to the firefighting effort. At this point, the fire was only 11% contained and had burned over 113,000 acres of land, according to the official InciWeb report. The AQI index in Oakridge reached levels that were off the charts, as the fire got within six miles of the Oakridge city limits.

We felt confident that the fire command was doing the best job they could, says Kamerrer. It was just up to Mother Nature. The fire started with lightning and it was going to end with natural causes: the rain and snow.

According to Altemus-Pope, one of the biggest barriers that Oakridge Air faced during their outreach process was communication. She states that only 63% of residents have internet in the home, and most of those people are accessing it on their phones. There used to be a print newspaper in town, called the Highway 58 Herald. The paper ceased print production during the pandemic and then moved completely online  which contributes to the same communication barriers.

That was a major form of information sharing, and so that was a big hit when it closed, Altemus-Pope says. Word of mouth is the strongest information source in our community.

Oftentimes if a piece of information needs to get out, flyers are posted in the local stores and on the post office bulletin board. This posed an issue during the intense smoke, as most of the population was stuck indoors, and many did not have enough reliable internet access or technological literacy to stay informed about the fire day-to-day.

The citizens of Oakridge were put under a Level 3 evacuation notice on Sept. 10. This information was posted to InciWeb and the citys official Facebook group. On the day that the Level 3 evacuation warning was issued, the Lane County Sheriff's Office drove around town with a megaphone, alerting any remaining residents that the fire was coming in hot.

Erika Stalcup was one of these residents. Stalcup is a volunteer firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service and was stationed on the Cedar Creek Fire. Shes a legacy of her father, Lloyd Stalcup, who has worked at the Forest Service for over 44 years. Stalcup and her family heard the megaphone warning as they were already packing up for evacuation.

It was devastating, she says, thinking that I still had to come back to Oakridge regardless.

Stalcups first instinct was to get her family and pets to safety. She evacuated with her family on Friday and then returned to town on Sunday for her shift at the pub. The following Monday, she pulled a 24-hour shift fighting the Cedar Creek Fire. Stalcup wasnt the only one who was put in this position. She describes how both of her best friends have husbands who work directly on the fire line.

They didn't get to come home when we had to evacuate, Stalcup says. It was very hard, knowing that you have a loved one out there fighting that fire, day in and day out for weeks. You only get to come home to shower, scarf down a banana and sleep before you're back out.

When Stalcup returned to Oakridge for her firefighting shift, she saw a familiar face wandering the streets  a houseless individual whom she recognized from growing up in town.

She's somebody's daughter. She's somebody's mom. She's someone's cousin. She's a sweet person, Stalcup says. My heart just broke for the people who could not get out.

Stalcup and another young volunteer firefighter, Emerald Escovedo, both performed in Blue Moon Burlesque following the Cedar Creek Fire. Escovedo is also a resident of Oakridge, and spent time fighting the Cedar Creek Fire in 2022.

This performance was not something that Oakridge had ever seen before. The Zero Clearance Theater the local performing arts group that put on the production  had only ever done classical plays. This was their first show that involved singing, dancing and risque comedy. The Zero Clearance Theater is directed by Loren Christopher Michaels, a multidisciplinary performer who moved to Oakridge to be with his wife. Michaels has performed across the world, and most notably in Las Vegass MGM Grand, Caesars Palace and The Venetian.

Blue Moon Burlesque took place in the bakery-turned-theater, Lion Mountain Bakery. This was the first show that had ever taken place in the bakery, as the stage had only been installed six weeks prior. Jacqui Lamont created Lion Mountain Bakery in a self-described act of insanity. After a careful assessment, she noted two things that Oakridge needed and lacked: a gym and a bakery. As building a gym tends to be both difficult and expensive, she decided to direct her efforts towards creating Lion Mountain Bakery.

The bakery was originally located on 1st Street, within the epicenter of town. In November of 2015, a fire broke out in the adjacent building, scorching her business in the process. Luckily, much of the equipment was salvageable, so she moved to her current location on Highway 58 in the spring of 2017.

The new Lion Mountain Bakery started out as a cavernous, concrete-walled building and grew into a unique dining experience, art gallery and theater. The room is divided in two, with makeshift walls displaying work by local artists and artisans. The wide array of various tables and chairs have been donated by community members, as well as curated from Lamonts personal family collection. The bakery embraces maximalism, and each object within the walls carries its own story, typically rooted in the town of Oakridge.

Creating a sense of community and a place where people gather was really important to me, Lamont says.

Shortly after Lamont moved the bakery to the new location, another fire broke out in the neighborhood, burning the entire hillside behind Lion Mountain Bakery. No businesses or residences were damaged in this fire, but Lamont found the situation unbelievable. Lamont carried these experiences with her once the Cedar Creek Fire started inching closer and closer to Oakridge.

I grew up on the East Coast, so we didn't have forest fires, Lamont says, I was freaking out because we didn't know what was going to happen from day to day. Im extremely grateful for all the people that showed up to help.

When Corcoran-Rhule approached Lamont about the idea of doing a burlesque show, she was more than thrilled at the idea. Lamont was a theater major in college and finds it important for everyone to have a creative outlet.

This show has brought in so many new people, she says. We really needed some fresh new energy.

Fresh new energy seems to be the perfect descriptor for a production like this one. Made up entirely of local community members, the cast consisted of firefighters, business owners and mothers alike. Stalcup kicked off the show with a song: her rendition of Blue Moon, the popular ballad from 1934. Corcoran-Rhule ended the show with her own version  a reprise that tied the evening together in a bow.

They didnt leave a dry eye in the house. Applause rang throughout the peculiar Lion Mountain Bakery  the hidden gem of Highway 58. Following the devastation of the Cedar Creek Fire, the show served as a reminder that Oakridge is vibrant and alive, and no amount of wildfire smoke can stifle this communitys spirit.
Former minister and Congress Manthani MLA D Sridhar Babu speaks to the media. (Photo: Twitter)

WARANGAL: Both the state and central governments are working in a planned manner to stifle the local bodies, a Congress MLA has alleged.

Former minister and Congress Manthani MLA D Sridhar Babu said here on Monday that a critical situation prevailed in the state vis-a-vis local bodies. Without allocating funds to the municipal, zilla, mandal parishads as also to village panchayats, the state and central governments are suffocating the local bodies, he alleged.

The Telangana government is trying to suppress the voice of the opposition by not allowing them to question the failures of the government. Even though the BRS government is continuing with such curbs, the orders issued by the high court have helped the opposition parties to hold dharnas at Indira Park, he said.

He said that when the sarpanches forum took their issues to the notice of the state government, it responded in a stubborn manner.

By giving a time limit, the government is forcing the village sarpanches to hurriedly complete the construction of burial grounds, dumping yards and Prakurthi Vanams without allocating them sufficient funds. They are threatened with suspension if they fail to complete the work on time. The sarpanches who completed the works are being harassed by not clearing the bills, the MLA alleged.

He said that for the past four months, a total sum of Rs. 1,200 crore, which should have been sanctioned by the state finance commission, had not been released to the village panchayats. This apart, the state government diverted Rs. 35,000 crore allocated by the 15th finance commission to the village panchayats, for other sectors, he alleged.

Sarpanch is the first port of call for development of the village, the state and the country. But the state government is making life miserable for sarpanches. It is wrong for the state government to arrest sarpanches when they head to Hyderabad to participate in the maha-dharna, he said.

The MLA said the Congress party is extending its full support for the dharna by the village sarpanches and would fight for their rights until the state government released the funds to the village panchayats.
Given the endless turmoil in the NHS, with A&Es overwhelmed and its waiting lists soaring, the question should have come as no surprise.

On her Sunday morning politics programme, the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg politely asked the Prime Minister whether or not he used private healthcare.

For a moment, Rishi Sunak hesitated. I expected him to then smile and calmly confirm that he had been using private health insurance for years  and explain why he had every right to make this choice.

He might have added that the same was true for most of his Cabinet colleagues  and no doubt for a few Labour shadow ministers as well.

On her Sunday morning politics programme, the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg politely asked the Prime Minister whether or not he used private healthcare (pictured)

Excruciating

Instead, Mr Sunak attempted to deflect the question. He said that it was 'not really relevant'  and then pointed out that his father was an NHS doctor and his mother ran her own pharmacy.

'I grew up in an NHS family!' he cried, as if that were a knockout answer.

When the BBC star continued to probe him on the subject, Mr Sunak bridled, saying: 'As a general policy, I wouldn't ever talk about me or my family's healthcare situation.' And he continued to dodge the question for almost two excruciating minutes.

This was all a gift for Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, who has made no secret of her contempt for the Conservative government.

'[Sunak] ought to be clear with the public whether or not [he's] using private health cover,' said Cullen. 'When you're accountable to the public, you have to be honest with them.'

When the BBC star continued to probe him on the subject, Mr Sunak bridled, saying: 'As a general policy, I wouldn't ever talk about me or my family's healthcare situation'

She is right. By refusing to say whether or not he has private health insurance, Mr Sunak will only ensure that he continues to face the question in every broadcast and print interview he gives until the next election  or until he finally caves in.

How unnecessary, when we already know the answer! In November, Mr Sunak was revealed in a newspaper to have been registered with a private GP in West London. This clinic charges 250 for a half-hour consultation and guarantees to see patients with urgent concerns 'on the day'.

(NHS figures at the time showed that 58 per cent of patients were not seen on the day they made an appointment with their doctor.)

So if Mr Sunak refused to use any other private healthcare beyond his GP you can be sure he would have told us so.

What a contrast his evasiveness was to Margaret Thatcher's attitude in her heyday. When asked, while campaigning in the 1987 election, whether she paid for her own health treatment, the Iron Lady showed her mettle.

'I, along with something like five million other people, insure to enable me to go into hospital on the day I want; at the time I want; and with a doctor I want.

'For me, that is absolutely vital ... Like most people, I pay my dues to the National Health Service. I do not add to the queue ... I exercise my right as a free citizen to spend my own money in my own way, so that I can go in on the day, at the time, with the doctor I choose  and get out fast.'

Mr Sunak was revealed in a newspaper to have been registered with a private GP in West London (pictured on visit to Rutland Lodge Healthcare Centre)

Permacrisis

Labour MPs were predictably appalled  but voters, perhaps equally predictably, were not. Only a week later, Mrs Thatcher won her third General Election victory, with a thumping majority of 102: a clear sign that voters appreciate it when leaders answer direct questions directly.

But then Margaret Thatcher was a conviction politician, unswerving in her commitment to free-market principles.

Her government even introduced tax relief for private health insurance  a benefit abolished by Gordon Brown in his first Budget as Labour Chancellor in 1997.

As ever-more billions from the taxpayer are poured into the NHS with no discernible improvement in the service, the Prime Minister has no need to be so defensive about exercising his choice.

Instead, he should be extolling the benefits of private care just as Mrs Thatcher did. (Although it is surely too much to hope that he will consider reinstating her perk of making insurance contributions tax-deductible.)

It's true that Tory PMs since Mrs Thatcher have often boasted of using the NHS. John Major liked to describe how the health service saved his leg after a serious car accident in 1967.

David Cameron regularly referred to the publicly funded care his late disabled son Ivan enjoyed, calling the NHS 'a fantastic and precious fact of British life'.

David Cameron often called the NHS 'a fantastic and precious fact of British life'. His late disabled son Ivan was treated by the NHS (pictured together in 2004)

Likewise, Boris Johnson sang the praises of his NHS doctors after they helped to save his life following a devastating bout of Covid in April 2020.

They were all honest about their choices as elected leaders  just as Mr Sunak should be today, while reminding us all that he hails from an 'NHS family'.

The fact is that public attitudes are shifting. Even Labour now acknowledges the benefits of the private sector.

Wes Streeting, the Shadow Health Secretary and a rising star on the Opposition benches, has extolled the virtues of private care in a bid to end what some have called the NHS's 'permacrisis'.

'The last Labour government successfully used the private sector to bring down NHS waiting lists,' Streeting said recently. 'By the end of that government, use of the private sector had fallen dramatically because the NHS was so good.'

Keir Starmer himself, who pledged to 'end outsourcing' during his campaign to wrest the Labour leadership from his Marxist predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, has now U-turned and also backed using the private sector to cut NHS waiting lists. Starmer and Streeting are not voicing these former Labour heresies out of nowhere. More Britons than ever before are giving up on the NHS and going private.

Last autumn, a survey by the charity Engage Britain found that the number of UK adults turning to private healthcare had soared by 39 per cent over just two years.

One in ten of us is now paying for treatment  which hardly makes Mr Sunak and his family outliers.

Keir Starmer himself has now U-turned and also backed using the private sector to cut NHS waiting lists

Gagged

The simple truth is that, given the pressures on the NHS, the more Britons who ease the pressure on the service by going private, the better. A number of Tory Cabinet ministers think as much and have told me so.

But, I have learned, they are being gagged from saying so publicly for fear of alienating voters. This is a serious political miscalculation.

These same MPs might also point out that Rishi Sunak is the Prime Minister. And does anyone really think that, afflicted by some minor ailment, the most important man in the country should be expected to join the 7.59am telephone queue for his local surgery, to be told by a recorded voice at 8.01am: 'You are 43rd in line'?

Of course not. Beyond the lunatic fringe, most people accept that Mr Sunak has an important job to do and that with the power and responsibility of his great office come certain privileges.

In exchange, however, he must deliver for voters. And he can start by taking on the NHS union barons who are holding the country to ransom.

By stonewalling on this simple question, Mr Sunak is in danger of making himself look rich and slippery.

So the next time this issue comes up  which could well be in the Commons tomorrow at Prime Minister's Questions  Mr Sunak should follow Mrs Thatcher's lead. He must give a straight and honest answer, eloquently explaining his right to spend his own money in the way he chooses.

The Opposition will howl  but I believe the public will respect him for it.
Harry received his share of 4.5million annually which the King, as Prince of Wales, gave to his sons to keep the wolf from the door. As well as the Queen Mother's legacy, he also got a reported 10million from his mother's estate. So quite why he had to use Meghan's credit card to buy a discounted sofa for two-bedroom Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace remains a mystery. Surely if he and Meghan were that desperate for a sofa a quick call to Granny would have resulted in one being hauled out of storage for him? One thing the royals aren't short of is furniture.

Harry received his share of 4.5million annually which the King as Prince of Wales, so quite why he had to use Meghan's credit card to buy a discounted sofa for two-bedroom Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace remains a mystery

Prince Harry's grievance at being treated differently to his elder brother could have its origins in his mother's insistence on her boys being dealt with equally. Diana was particularly annoyed by the Queen Mother always seating William next to her with Harry placed below the salt. William was also frequently invited over for tete-a-tetes without Harry. It wasn't all bad for the Spare. When she died in 2002 the Queen Mother left him more than William. How could she forecast the Netflix millions?

After Harry's Royal Family 'racism' U-turn, Piers Morgan announces: 'I seem to recall being forced out of my job at Good Morning Britain for disbelieving Harry and Meghan's unsubstantiated racism claims against the Royal Family. Now he's finally admitted there was no racism, two questions: a) Do I get my old job back? b) Why should we believe a word they say?'

Homeland star David Harewood, pictured, famously berated David Lascelles, the Earl of Harewood, when he visited Harewood House, where the owners gave the family name to their Caribbean slaves. 'So my great-great-great-great grandparents were slaves on your family plantation,' he declared in a Channel 5 documentary. 'This is a fine house on beautiful grounds but it was built on the proceeds of slavery. Do you feel any guilt or shame about that?' In the New Year honours, David has just become an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Time, perhaps, has been a healer after all.

Homeland star David Harewood, has just become an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the New Years honours

Veteran thespian Sir Derek Jacobi recalls how Sir Winston Churchill nearly ruined his 'To be or not to be' speech from Hamlet at the Old Vic, telling a Radio 4 documentary about the play: 'Winston came to see the play and was sitting in the front or second row and as I started saying it, he started saying it with me  which was a bit throwing!' Might young Derek have retorted: 'We shall fight them in the stalls. We shall never surrender!'?

Noting that the new British Airways uniform jumpsuits are designed by a man, Ozwald Boateng, Sue West complains: 'It had to be [a man] because all women know what a problem it is to use 'the facilities' when wearing a jumpsuit.' In a letter to The Times, she adds: 'Imagine having to do that in the confines of an aeroplane lavatory.' All cisterns go!
Prince Harry has just scored the biggest own goal in publishing history.

Spare shines a light on a life of ultimate privilege and opportunity most human beings could only dream of that is blighted by constant paranoia, bitter resentments and downright nastiness towards those who do their best to try and save this man child from himself time and again.

I needed to take a wash after reading what is without doubt the most pathetic, self-serving and tone-deaf autobiography ever because of the number of vitriolic and deeply personal swipes he takes at his own flesh and blood.

No one is safe.

Not even the late Queen, who Prince Harry paints as cold, detached and old-fashioned, rather than a monarch desperately trying to hold her wayward family together for the good of the institution.

What's so disturbing is that, even when describing his version of events in such an obviously one-sided manner, it was still clear to me that Harry is in the wrong about almost every menial gripe for which he opines.

DAN WOOTTON: I needed to take a wash after reading what is without doubt the most pathetic, self-serving and tone-deaf autobiography ever because of the number of vitriolic and deeply personal swipes he takes at his own flesh and blood

DAN WOOTTON: The only 'sad little man' is the bloke who has so publicly thrown his own flesh and blood under the bus

While his father King Charles and brother Prince William are, unsurprisingly given their role, far from perfect, they are left at the end of their tether by Harry's pig-headed intransigence, especially once he is so heavily influenced by a cabal of woke psychotherapists and Hollywood yes men working in cahoots with his controlling wife Meghan Markle.

Harry has spent the past two years claiming all he wanted was support from the Royal Family.

DAN WOOTTON: Such hypocrisy is breathtaking, but always goes completely over dim Harry's head

But Spare makes plain when they tried to offer help and solutions, it was never good enough for the Sussexes, who want everything their own way all the time.

For example, they rebuffed the late Queen's very sensible suggestion that Meghan should fly to Mexico to meet personally with her father Thomas Markle and salvage their relationship. What a mistake it was to ignore that sage advice.

The new king can seemingly do nothing right, even coming under strident criticism for heartily laughing during Harry's compulsory Shakespeare performance at Eton, which he believes was an example of his father trying to embarrass him in the same way as Prince Philip once did to a young Charles.

But what shines through is that in Harry's lowest moments in life, his father always delivers for his wayward son, offering tender sympathy and support, for example, over both his Nazi dress-up shame and Las Vegas nude picture scandal.

When Harry is 29, an age when most adults have moved on from relying on their parents for funding or constant emotional support, Charles is so worried about his son's mental health and panic attacks that he sends him to a doctor, even though the Duke eventually rejects the treatment offered.

If anything, I came away thinking his father needed to be far tougher in these crunch moments.

William is prepared to deliver home truths when required and, as a consequence, is disgracefully presented as the villain of the piece.

Even his older brother's guffawing in an interview about Harry's snoring and 'slobby' behaviour while they were living together during military training is taken as a great slight in hindsight, rather than brotherly banter.

DAN WOOTTON: Spare shines a light on a life of ultimate privilege and opportunity most human beings could only dream of that is blighted by constant paranoia, bitter resentments and downright nastiness. Pictured: Copies of Harry's memoir Spare stacked at Foyles bookshop in London

There's a distinct lack of compassion for the limitations of being heir for both his father and brother; no understanding that the pressure of that all-encompassing role might sometimes make them envious of Harry's comparable freedom.

Wills and Kate are punished with the most strident invasions into their privacy.

For a man so angry about the publication of a letter Meghan sent to her father, Harry has no problem publishing for the world private text messages sent by Kate to Meghan during their infamous bridesmaid dress row.

Meanwhile, Harry just had to reveal, tabloid style, that it was he who ended his serious relationship with Cressida Bonas because he didn't feel a lifelong connection, when the view has always been that the actress finished things because she didn't want to deal with the pressures of royal life.

Such hypocrisy is breathtaking, but always goes completely over dim Harry's head.

I have to admit I had some sympathy for William physically lunging for his sibling, after pointing out the sanctimony of Harry moaning about Press briefings just weeks after he and Meghan gave a tell-all interview to Oprah Winfrey as the late Prince Philip was on his deathbed.

In fact, Harry's deranged obsession with the British media is genuinely a little bit worrying.

He describes a recent incident where he laughed in the face of his father who told him: 'You must understand darling boy, the institution can't just tell the media what to do!'

Harry genuinely believes his father has the power and ability to stop negative stories running, showing a fundamental lack of belief in the concept of a free Press.

Predictably, having broken a number of damaging scoops about the Sussexes, often accepting briefing from Harry and Meghan's staff, as I revealed in my column here yesterday, I come in for a pasting, being described as 'a sad little man' for first revealing the story of Megxit.

Just like much of the fiction and fantasy in Spare, Harry gets it all wrong again though, incorrectly claiming I was 'likely working in concert with the Palace, whose courtiers were determined to get ahead of us and spin the story'.

Harry admits he went to the late Queen with the information that I was about to break the story, in order for the Sussexes to release a statement to scoop me, despite the fact I'd given them over a week's notice already by that point.

DAN WOOTTON: Harry's deranged obsession with the British media is genuinely a little bit worrying

But he adds: 'We soon realised it wasn't possible; we didn't have time to get our statement out there first. We opened a bottle of wine. Proceed, sad little man, proceed. He did.'

It's called journalism, mate, something you clearly don't believe in, given the inaccuracies littered throughout your book.

What Harry also describes across virtually every page is a life of great luxury  growing up in castles, extravagant holidays on jet skis, a clothing allowance for posh garb, footmen serving fish fingers on bone china plates covered by silver domes, his father's chef filling his fridge with luxury meals as an adult  but somehow he still attempts to paint himself as some sort of victim throughout.

In these times where a very real cost-of-living crisis is forcing some Brits to consider how they can put food on the table, it all feels chronically out of touch.

Meghan's voice seems to be everywhere throughout the book, too.

I can see her making notes with her calligraphy pen on the manuscript, as has been rumoured.

For example, when blokey Harry makes a reference to a Page 3 girl, he adds in parenthesis afterwards: 'That was the accepted, misogynistic, objectifying term for young women featured each day on page three of Rupert Murdoch's the Sun.' Hardly his language.

Harry expresses embarrassing naivety throughout his relationship with Meghan, who we must remember is an actress.

He swallows hook, line and sinker his new girlfriend's claim that she never Googled him or the Royal Family, using a moment she doesn't recognise Prince Andrew as evidence she must be telling the truth.

Overall, Harry's behaviour as a man is largely weak and appalling. That was summed up for me as he boasted about striking his loyal bodyguard on another booze and drug-fuelled night out.

Indeed, his mistakes are always someone else's.

Harry claims he is looking for peace in Spare, but what he's actually delivered for himself is a life of permanent emotional turmoil and chaos.

The only 'sad little man' is the bloke who has so publicly thrown his own flesh and blood under the bus.
Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark have released new photos of her twins to celebrate their birthdays.

Over the weekend, Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent - the couple's two youngest children - turned 12 years old.

Although the Danish Royal Family have previously shared single photos of the siblings together for their birthday, the household decided to break from tradition this year.

Instead of holding a photoshoot for the occasion, the proud parents have released their children's school photos - taken by photographer Jens Rosenfeldt.

The Danish Royal Family marked Princess Josephine's 12th birthday by sharing her school photo. The royal is currently attending Tranegard School in Hellerup, Denmark

While Prince Vincent is the spitting image of his father Crown Prince Frederik, Princess Josephine has also inherited her mother's thick long hair.

Prince Vincent - who was born 26 minutes before his sister in 2011 - is dressed casually in a faded purple hoodie as he beams at the camera.

Meanwhile, Princess Josephine is pictured in a plain white shirt and pretty pearl necklace for her school picture.

The twins are fourth and fifth in line to the throne and are currently attending the Tranegard School in Hellerup, Denmark, where their elder siblings Prince Christian, 17, and Princess Isabella, 15, were also enrolled.

Prince Vincent is the spitting image of his father Crown Prince Frederick in a faded purple hoodie. The twins are fourth and fifth in line to the throne

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and his wife Crown Princess Mary pictured at a New Year's reception at Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen last week

The images were shared on the Danish Royal Family's official Instagram account with the caption: 'The Prince and Princess are celebrated by the family, and the Crown Prince Couple have the pleasure of sharing new photos of Their Royal Highnesses.'

Earlier this month, Queen Margrethe, 82, officially stripped her second son Prince Joachim's children of their HRH titles.

In September, the European monarch announced that the four children of her younger son, 53-year-old Prince Joachim, would no longer be able to use the title of prince and princess after January 1.

She has said the decision was intended to allow Nikolai, 23, Felix, 20 - born from Joachim's first marriage - and Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10, to live normal lives without royal obligations.

Instead of being Princes and Princesses, they are Counts and Countess and referred to as Their Excellencies - a change which is now reflected on the household's website.

The Danish Queen (pictured with her sons and their wives) has said the decision to was intended to allow Nikolai, 23, Felix, 20 - born from Joachim's first marriage - and Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10, to live normal lives without royal obligations

Denmark's Royal Family has updated their website to show the new status belonging to four of Queen Margrethe's grandchildren after they were stripped of their HRH titles. Pictured, Count Nikolai, left, and right, Count Felix

The 82-year-old monarch announced in September that the four children of her youngest son, 53-year-old Prince Joachim, would no longer be able to use the title of prince and princess after January 1. Pictured, Countess Athena, left, and right, Count Henrik

Out of a title: The four grandchildren who are no longer TRHs Nikolai of Denmark, 23: The Copenhagen Business School student and model regularly tops lists of the world's most eligible bachelors. He lives in Denmark but has jetted around the world to walk for designers in Paris and London. Nikolai has also appeared on the cover of Vogue Scandinavia. Felix of Denmark, 20: Following in his brother's footsteps, Prince Felix has also had success as a model and has starred in an advertising campaign for Georg Jensen. He had a short stint at the Royal Danish Military Academy but quit after two months because it 'wasn't for him'. Henrik, 13, and Athena, 10, of Denmark: The youngest of Prince Joachim's four children, Henrik and Athena are the product of his second marriage to Princess Marie. They live with their parents in Paris. Advertisement

Under the Royal Family and Succession To The Throne pages of the website, the four young royals - who have maintained their positions in the line of succession - are mentioned with their new titles.

It was a tumultuous autumn for the Danish Royal Family after the monarch stripped Joachim's four children of their prince and princess titles - a move which he publicly spoke out against.

But speaking in a televised New Year's address on Saturday, Margrethe admitted: 'That the relationship with Prince Joachim and (his wife) Princess Marie has run into difficulties hurts me.

'Difficulties and disagreements can arise in any family, including mine. The whole country has witnessed this.'

She added that she was 'sure that the family can enter the new year together with confidence, understanding and new courage'.

Last year, Prince Joachim publicly spoke out against his mother's decision in the days that followed - claiming that his children had been 'harmed' in the process.

Months later, the sixth-in-line to the throne admitted that 'communication was missing' within the Royal Family in the lead-up to the shock announcement.

Joachim told local news outlet B.T.: 'There is a lot to work on. Communication was what was missing. Now we have met and we are on the right track.'

Shortly after his children were stripped of his titles, Joachim claimed that he had only been given five days' notice before the news was made public.

Following the Queen's announcement, Joachim spoke to Danish publication Ekstra Bladet outside the Danish Embassy in Paris, where he lives with his French-born wife Princess Marie and his two youngest children, and said his four children had been 'hurt' by their grandmother's decision.

'I was given five days' notice to tell them. In May, I was presented with a plan which, by and large, was that when the children each turned 25, it would happen. Now I had only five days to tell them. Athena turns 11 in January,' he clarified

Meanwhile, his ex-wife Alexandra, 58, who was married to Joachim for 10 years until 2005, said that her sons, Nikolai and Felix, had been left feeling 'ostracised' from the institution and the decision had come like a 'bolt out of the blue'.

The Royal Household released a further statement, saying: 'As the Queen stated yesterday, the decision has been a long time coming.

'We understand that there are many emotions at stake at the moment, but we hope that the Queen's wish to future-proof the Royal Household will be respected.'

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Prince Harry has shared some intimate details surrounding the births of his two children in his explosive memoir.

Writing in Spare, the Duke of Sussex, 38, reminisced about the 'chaos' surrounding the birth of his son Archie, on May 6, 2019 at The Portland Hospital in London.

He revealed that he ate Nando's chicken and admitted to hogging his wife's laughing gas while they listened to songs in Sanskrit, following recommendations from an Ayurvedic doctor Meghan had consulted.

Harry added he didn't text anyone to announce the birth, and that Meghan and he were back at Frogmore Cottage with Archie within two hours him being born.

Meghan at Frogmore Cottage during her pregnancy with Archie

He revealed that the birth of his daughter Lilibet, two years later, in California on June 4 2021, was 'bliss,' and that the couple were calmer than during their first child's birth, with Harry hand delivering his second child into the world.

He said his wife was 10 days past her due date when she was medically induced at The Portland Hospital in May 2019.

He recalled how the couple hopped in a nondescript car to leave Frogmore Cottage without catching the attention of the media stationed outside the property.

Once they arrived at the hospital, the Duke of Sussex revealed they were shown to a private room via a secret lift.

Harry and Meghan with her mother Doria Ragland after Archie's birth in 2019. Harry said the couple were back at Frogmore Cottage two hours after their son was born

During the Duchess' first labour, Prince Harry described how the pair's bodyguards brought a Nando's takeaway to the hospital. He also recalled using laughing gas to calm his nerves.

He revealed the laughing gas was meant for his wife, but that he used so much of it, there was none left for her, and the team had to bring another bottle in for Meghan.

He recalled that Meghan laughed and rolled her eyes at him as she bounced on a large purple ball in order to induce labour.

The couple had decorated Meghan's hospital room with the same electric candles Harry used for his proposal in 2017, and Meghan suggested they put a framed picture of Princess Diana on the bedside table.

The pair also listened to songs by German artist Deva Premal, who turned Sanskrit mantras into music, during the delivery.

Archie holds his father's hand shortly after his birth. Harry admitted he took several hits of laughing gas to calm his nerves when Meghan gave birth for the first time

Meghan cuddling Archie at Frogmore Cottage soon after his birth. The Duke of Sussex said the couple told their son how much they loved him within one minute of him being born

When the contractions quickened, Meghan hopped in a bathtub to deliver the baby and had an epidural to help with the pain of labour.

Harry said he held Meghan's hand as she pushed to deliver Archie, and revealed she had a complicated birth, describing his son's head as being 'tangled'.

He revealed he encouraged Meghan to keep pushing to deliver their son.

When Archie was born, the couple both cried after the baby was wrapped in a towel and given to Meghan.

Meghan consulted with an Ayurvedic doctor during the pregnancy - a qualified medical practitioner following principles from ancient Indian medicine.

The Duke of Sussex recounted how the practitioner had told the couple that newborns absorb everything said to them in the first minute of their life, and how the couple told Archie they loved him.

Harry and Meghan's daughter Lilibet having a snooze at home in Montecito following her birth in June 2021

Prince Harry revealed he didn't text anyone to tell them the news of his son's birth, but instead watched the birthing team running checks on him.

He shared that the couple used the same people carrier they had used to drive to the hospital to go back home, and were at Frogmore Cottage two hours after their son's birth.

In contrast, Harry said the pair felt 'safer and calmer' going into Lilibet's delivery two years later.

'What bliss, we said, not having to worry about timing, protocols, journalists at the front gate,' he wrote.

He recalled how the couple drove calmly to the hospital leaving enough time to get burgers and fries from In-N-Out and fajitas for Meghan.

The Duke of Sussex added that the couple did a viral baby mama dance after settling in their hospital room.

The dance, which was made popular on TikTok, sees pregnant women and their partners gleefully rubbing their baby bumps while singing they've been 'pregnant for way too long.'

Prince Harry also revealed in the book that he told his wife he wanted the first thing their baby to see to be his face.

With the doctor overseeing the whole thing, Harry explained how he helped to deliver his daughter into the world and was overcome with emotion upon meeting his second child for the first time.

He then handed her over to Meghan so she could do skin-to-skin with her daughter.

Prince Harry recounted how Meghan told him later that she had never been more in love with him than during their daughter's birth.

He revealed she shared with him some thoughts she had written in a journal at the time, which he said read as a declaration of love and a renewal of their wedding vows.

In the notes, Meghan wrote that Harry delivering Lilibet and telling her that he would keep her safe had been 'everything,' and that Harry was not a Spare, in a nod to the title of his memoir.

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Gayle King celebrated 11 years at CBS Mornings on Monday by donning the same yellow and white dress she wore on her first day  and every anniversary after.

The $695 Alex Kramer sheath has become a signature look for the co-host, who originally picked it out for her debut on the show on January 9, 2012. More than a decade later, she's still a fan.

Every year on January 9, she slips back into the frock to mark another anniversary with the program, which was previously called CBS This Morning.

'When I put it on this morning, James, our wardrobe guy said, "Did you try it on?"' King, 68, recalled. 'I go, "No, I'm just praying to sweet Black baby Jesus that it fits."'

Gayle King, 68, celebrated 11 years at CBS Mornings on Monday wearing the exact yellow and white dress that she donned for her first day on the show on January 9, 2012

Every year on that date, she slips back into the $695 Alex Kramer sheath to mark another anniversary with the program, which was previously called CBS This Morning

'The seams are like, "Help me, help me!"' she joked.

King's colleagues showered her with love on Monday, including her co-host Nate Burleson, who led the on-air tribute.

'So it's January 9th, which is a very special day around here. It should be a holiday because it's Gayle's 11th anniversary at CBS News,' he said before calling attention to her outfit.

'Her yellow dress, which she looks beautiful in, may look a little familiar. It's the same dress that she wore on her very first day, and she wears it every year on her anniversary here to mark the occasion.

Happy anniversary, @GayleKing!



Today, were celebrating 11 years of Gayle at @CBSNews with some sweet treats, a special yellow dress and a look at some of her most spectacular moments from the past year. pic.twitter.com/WV0gF2Im4g  CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) January 9, 2023

King is pictured wearing the dress on January 9, 2012 (left) and January 9, 2023 (right)

CBS Mornings pulled up images of King in the color-block frock on all of her past anniversaries

'Gayle, in addition to the sweet treats that we put right here on this table, we put together a little something to celebrate you,' he told the broadcast journalist.

Burleson then cued to a montage of her best on-air moments over the past year in honor of her anniversary.

The co-hosts were joined by guest and fellow journalist Deborah Norville, who was on the show celebrating Inside Edition's 35th season.

King toasted to their respective milestones while contemplating her future with CBS Mornings.

King told her co-host Nate Burleson and their guest Deborah Norville that she was 'just praying to sweet Black baby Jesus that it fits'

'The seams are like, "Help me, help me!"' she joked during the segment

'Here's to another 11 I hope, I hope,' she said, pausing. 'Do I hope another 11? I hope for another 11. I wanna be here.'

She also showed her gratitude for the flower cupcakes from Whole Foods that were gifted to her on Monday, thanking both Burleson and Norville.

King took to Instagram after the show to share photos from her work anniversary, including a sweet snapshot of Burleson presenting her a cupcake while on bended knee.

'Nope @nateburleson is NOT proposing  he "be" very happily married! But ELEVEN great years @cbsmornings is worth celebrating! My anniversary dress gets another showing on this day only! Cupcakes for EVERYBODY!! Thanx CBS!!!' she wrote in the caption.

In honor of the anniversary, she was treated to a montage of her best on-air moments over the past year and flower cupcakes from Whole Foods

King took to Instagram after the show to share photos from her work anniversary, including a sweet snapshot of Burleson presenting her a cupcake while on bended knee

'Ps @tonydokoupil not here ONLY becuz COVID test came in before we went on air & now he is reluctantly off for next few days no symptoms and hes fine COVID still messin stuff up (ugh) [sic],' she added.

King's anniversary comes a little over a week after she and her bestie Oprah Winfrey rang in 2023 with a 10-mile 'gratitude' hike with family and friends in Hawaii on New Year's Day.

Winfrey, 68, poked fun at her closest pal by sharing footage of her struggling to make her way up the mountain.

'Somebody take my backpack. It's very heavy,' King said at one point during the trek.

King's anniversary comes a little over a week after she and her bestie Oprah Winfrey rang in 2023 with a 10-mile 'gratitude' hike with family and friends in Hawaii

The CBS Mornings co-host struggled to keep up, but she refused to quit because she was tired

Winfrey was waiting for her when she returned home from the hike nearly two hours after everyone else

'That backpack is too heavy?' Winfrey asked.

'Oprah, my watch is heavy,' her tired pal responded, prompting plenty of laughter.

However, King refused to give up just because she was tired, and Winfrey was waiting for her when she returned home from the hike nearly two hours after everyone else.

'How did @gayleking do during our 5-hour hike? (7 hours for Gayle, actually.) Here you go  she says her toes hurt today,' Winfrey captioned the post.

A few days later, the media mogul dragged her out for another lengthy hike, which may have helped her fit back into her yellow dress this week.

King celebrated her 68th birthday in Hawaii on December 28. Winfrey treated her to a three-tier cake featuring ombre icing in her favorite color: yellow

King had a number of birthday events, including a dinner with her son William Bumpus Jr. her daughter Kirby Bumpus, her son-in-law Virgil Miller, and her grandson Luca in California

King also celebrated her big day with her CBS Mornings colleagues, who treated her to a cake

The series of hikes followed King's 68th birthday party in Hawaii on December 28. Winfrey treated her dearest friend to a three-tiered cake with ombre frosting in her her favorite color: yellow.

The mother of two also celebrated her big day with friends in New York, with her colleagues on CBS Mornings, and in California with her son William Bumpus Jr. her daughter Kirby Bumpus, her son-in-law Virgil Miller, and her grandson Luca.

King was treated to plenty of cake, as well as a performance from The Temptations, who serenaded her in yellow suits.

'2022 ended [with] not one but THREE birthday celebrations!' she wrote on Instagram. 'New York! [California] & Hawaii  with all of my favorite peeps but biggest surprise last photo came swipe left from @thetemptations.

'How did they know my favorite color is YELLOW! New year off to a great start Id say I feel the love...'

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Beijing welcomes first int'l arrivals after new border policy

By He Shan (China.org.cn) 09:41, January 10, 2023

On Sunday, the Beijing Capital International Airport welcomed its first international arrivals after China lifted its three-year-long requirement for inbound travelers to quarantine and take multiple nucleic acid tests.

Travelers present their documents to customs officials at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Jan. 8, 2023. [Photo/China.org.cn]

The first group of cross-border travelers included 291 passengers traveling with the Cathy Pacific CX334 flight from Hong Kong, which landed at the Beijing Capital International Airport at around 10: 30 a.m.

"It's lucky to go back to Beijing without quarantine," said Li Jin, a passenger on board the flight.

After learning the new border policy, Li said she immediately snatched up four tickets to Beijing for her and her family.

Li said it took her some effort to buy the tickets, which costed her more than 3,000 yuan each. She said it was probably because the demand shot up soon after China's recent announcement of ending the requirement for incoming travelers to quarantine.

Prior to the new policy, international travelers to Beijing also had to first enter the Chinese border in another city.

Song Jiarong, a 23-year-old Beijing native working in Hong Kong, said she was happy to be among the first inbound passengers since quarantine was no longer required. She said that last year she had to transfer in Shenzhen and took a 21-day quarantine before flying to Beijing where she had to take another multiple-day quarantine.

Travelers fill in arrival cards at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Jan. 8, 2023. [Photo/China.org.cn]

A total of 10 cross-border flights arrived at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Sunday, according to the airport.

Terminal 3-E and Terminal 2 resumed customs entry services on Sunday, as Terminal 3-D, which had been designated as a special checkpoint area since March 10, 2020, ceased its operations on the same day.

Terminal 3-E has added 12 lanes for customs entry and a waiting area to expedite the process. A special lane has also been set up for passengers with special needs.

Border officers give guidance to travelers waiting for customs clearance at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Jan. 8, 2023. [Photo/China.org.cn]

Immigration inspection officers have tested the facilities and information systems to ensure the smooth entry of cross-border passengers, according to Xu Chunjing, a Beijing border inspection officer.

According to the National Migration Administration, Beijing also resumed the 24/144 hour visa-free transit services for international travelers at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Sunday.

The relaxation of border controls just came after Saturday's start of the Chinese New Year travel rush, as people travel to their hometowns for long-awaited family reunions.

China's civil airlines have scheduled an average of 11,000 flights per day during the upcoming travel rush, and the figure is about 73% of 2019 levels, the Ministry of Transport announced at a press conference Friday.

Under the new entry policy, passengers traveling to China from overseas still need to provide a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 48 hours before departure.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo: PTI)

HYDERABAD: As the BJP looks to expand its footprint in the south, particularly in Telangana, and thwart Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Raos aspirations for a third term and a national political career, the partys state unit is steadfastly pushing for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to run from the state in the 2024 Parliament elections.

Former MP from Mahbubnagar and senior BJP leader A.P. Jithender Reddy stated that he planned to formally invite Modi. "I will be giving a letter to Mr Modi during the January 16-17 BJP national executive meeting in New Delhi requesting him to contest from Mahbubnagar, he said.

The state BJP believes that if Modi runs from Telangana, and the announcement is made before the state elections scheduled in December, it will help give a major fillip to the cadre as well as bolster the party's chances of winning power here. Telangana is the gateway for the south and the Prime Minister contesting from the state will send a strong and powerful message that the BJP wants development in the southern states and would serve the people in all the southern states, he stated.

Further, a survey conducted by the top BJP leadership in Mahbubnagar, according to party insiders, had revealed that Modis presence from Mahbubnagar benefit the party as a whole, both in the Assembly elections later this year and in the general elections that will follow in the early half of next year.

The Prime Minister has been giving the South more emphasis through an infrastructure push, the appointment of senior party leaders such as Dr K. Laxman to the parliamentary board, the holding of the national executive meeting in Hyderabad, and the announcement of numerous development initiatives, particularly rail and road projects.

Incidentally, when Modi visits Hyderabad on January 19, among the several projects he is schedule to inaugurate is that of the doubled railway line between Secunderabad and Mahbubnagar, a Rs. 1,410 crore project. He will also lay the groundwork for a Rs. 1,850 crore national highways project that includes 103 kilometres of National Highway 167N between Mahbubnagar and Chincholi in Karnataka.
Kendall Jenner is the latest celeb to embrace motocross fashions.

The 27-year-old was spotted in Los Angeles rocking a multi-color leather jacket featuring a checkered flag print.

Not sure how to pull off the '80s trend that has seen a revved-up resurgence? Just turn to fashion's favorite it girls, including Kim Kardashian and Hailey Bieber, who have mastered the look.

Kendall Jenner is the latest celeb to embrace motocross fashions. The 27-year-old was spotted in Los Angeles looking like she just stepped off a motorcycle in a jacket by Bates Leathers, a California-based company known for motorcycle jackets

A moto jacket like Kendall's is the easiest way to try the trend out.

Her style is by Bates Leathers, a California-based company known for providing motorcycle riders and non-riders alike with the highest quality outerwear.

The beauty paired the jacket with a white cotton t-shirt and high-waisted Khaite blue jeans, and accessorized with black boots by The Row and dark sunglasses.

She carried The Row's 'Marion' bag and wore her long brown hair down in tousled waves with a center part.

Post Kanye West, older sister, Kim Kardashian, has been showing a new side of her style that includes a racing aesthetic. In Miami, the billionaire said good-bye to her signature body-hugging pantaboots in favor of leather motocross pants

Post Kanye West, older sister, Kim Kardashian, has been showing a new side of her style that includes a racing aesthetic.

In Miami, the billionaire said good-bye to her signature body-hugging pantaboots in favor of leather motocross pants.

The bottoms featured white, grey and blue panels, as well as a zipper closure and a black belt.

For a sexy juxtaposition, Kim teamed the baggy pants with an ab-baring tube top, and completed her ensemble with pointy boots and shield sunglasses.

Hailey Bieber's off-duty supermodel style is where the trendiest fashions live. While out and about on the streets of Los Angeles, the 26-year-old was spotted in an oversize racing jacket

Hailey Bieber's off-duty supermodel style is where the trendiest fashions live.

While out and about on the streets of Los Angeles, the 26-year-old was spotted in an oversize racing jacket.

The predominantly black outer-layer featured yellow drop shoulders and white stripes down the sleeves.

Mrs. Bieber offset the jacket's baggy silhouette with a black Balenciaga minidress and accessorized with knee-high lug-sole boots and a yellow Prada 'Cleo' bag.

To get the look right, follow Kendall, Hailey and Kim's lead and make it a balancing act of masculine and feminine.

Soften the mannish silhouette of an authentic motocross garment by styling it with a fitted, ladylike separate in a silky fabric.

Or, opt for racing-inspired garments in chic silhouettes and elevated fabrics (i.e. satin, sequin or silk) and wear them with rugged accessories like chunky boots.

Feeling inspired but not committed? Dip your toes into the trend this winter with fashions featuring color-block detailing, checkerboard prints, exposed zippers, stripes and flames. Ready, set, go!
Prince Harry has revealed how his wife Meghan 'bonded' with his late grandmother the Queen by telling her how much she wanted to be a mother.

The sweet moment happened during Meghan's first joint engagement with the late monarch, which saw them travel to Cheshire on June 14 2018, the Duke of Sussex revealed in his explosive memoir, Spare.

The Duchess of Sussex came home and told Harry that she and the Queen had strengthened their bond thanks to their love of dogs, and that she had told the monarch she wanted to be a mother.

Harry recounts that his grandmother told Meghan that the best way to induce labour was a 'bumpy car ride'.

Meghan talked to the Queen about her desire for children during their first joint engagement on June 14 2018, pictured

Writing about Meghan's first engagement with the Queen, Harry says that his wife was 'glowing' when she returned from the trip and told him: 'We bonded.

'We talked about how much I wanted to be a mum and she told me the best way to induce labour was a good bumpy ride! I told her I'd remember that when the time came.'

The conversation happened a month into Harry and Meghan's marriage, and marked a moment of renewed hope for the couple, Harry admits in the book.

Five months later, the couple announced they were expecting their first child, first to the King and the Prince of Wales, and then to the rest of the family during a drinks reception for Princess Eugenie's wedding in October 2018.

The Duchess of Sussex announced her pregnancy to the Royal Family five months after her engagement with the Queen and gave birth to her son Archie on May 6 2019 (pictured at the Natural History Museum in February of that year)

Their son Archie was born at Portland Hospital on May 6 2019, with Harry saying he doesn't remember if the couple tried his grandmother's recommended method of inducing labour with a bumpy ride.

In contrast, Harry said the pair felt 'safer and calmer' going into Lilibet's delivery two years later.

The Duke of Sussex made the intimate revelations in his memoir, which was released today.

The royal also made several TV appearances to promote the book ahead of its release, including on ITV in the UK and CBS in the US.

Meghan enjoying a walk at Frogmore Cottage in the late stages of her pregnancy with Archie in 2019

Prince Harry recalled that the couple ate Nando's, listening to Sanskrit music and that he hogged the laughing gas during Meghan's first delivery (pictured with their son Archie and Meghan's mother Doria Ragland in 2019)

Harry has also done a pre-recorded interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which will be broadcast in the US overnight tonight. In the interview, the presenter mocks the book and the Royal Family ahead of the segment.

The comedian compared the prince's life to Harry Potter and joked that the new book is available as a royal commemorative plate.

The Duke of Sussex was also seen downing tequila shots during the interview in New York after being swept into the studio by armed bodyguards yesterday.

After playing a clip where Harry describes his pain at William trying to avoid him at Eton, the Late Show presenter said to roars of laughter: 'That's heartbreaking. To be rejected by his older brother at school even though that magic hat sorted them into the same house. What do you think? Hufflepuff? Gryffindor?'

In another tease Colbert said Spare is available in hardback, audiobook and 'commemorative plate' - a joke at the expense of Harry and other royals whose weddings and anniversaries are marked with limited edition tableware and crockery.

In a further joke at the Royal Family's expense, Colbert says: 'Stock up on corgis and steal a priceless cultural treasure from one of your colonies because The Late Show is going imperial.

Harry recalled the birth of their daughter Lilibet, which took place on June 4 2021 in California, was much calmer than Archie's

After a series of serious TV interviews - which some critics claim failed to properly question contradictions in his book - the prince looks set to be made a figure of fun on The Late Show.

Fans in attendance for the recording at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City told DailyMail.com the Duke of Sussex answered a series of questions from the host in his Colbert Questioner segment.

The quiz is 15 questions that the host says 'cover the full spectrum of human experience'.

Among the questions guests get asked are what their favorite sandwich is, what app they most use on their phone and even what number Colbert is thinking of at that moment.

It is not known what the prince's answers were but those at the studios managed to film a glimpse of the segment which showed two tequila shots on the table next to Harry, which he later drank.

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The Queen Consort has been 'left astounded' by Prince Harry's comments in his book and press tour, sources have claimed.

The Duke of Sussex, 38, has launched a series of extraordinary attacks on King Charles's wife Camilla, including branding her 'dangerous' and a 'villain', as he continues his publicity blitz for his explosive memoir Spare.

Harry - who also reveals in his book that he and William 'begged' their father not to marry Camilla - accuses his stepmother of 'trading information' with the Press in an attempt to get more positive stories written about herself, before sensationally suggesting that her 'connections' with the media would end up with 'people or bodies left in the street'.

Sources told Vanity Fair the family had been shocked and devastated by the comments, with one saying: 'He is on a path of self-destruction. There is so much vengeance. The late Queen would have been absolutely devastated.'

The Queen Consort has been 'left astounded' by Prince Harry's comments in his book and press tour, sources have claimed

Elsewhere, insiders detailed how the duke 'fails to see the irony' in his behaviour, accusing him of being the one leaking private conversations to the media.

Harry has discussed, in depth, his relationship with Camilla in both his book and his publicity tour to promote it.

Harry told journalist Anderson Cooper in a CBS interview that the Queen Consort was content with bodies - including his own - being 'left in the street' as she tried to rehabilitate her image after her long affair with King Charles while he was married to Princess Diana.

Referring to a 1995 interview in which his mother, Princess Diana, famously referred to Camilla as the 'third person in her marriage', Harry said that this admission turned the now-Queen Consort into a 'villain', adding: 'She needed to rehabilitate her image.'

The Duke of Sussex, 38, has launched a series extraordinary attacks on King Charles's wife Camilla

According to Harry, this desire to transform her public image made her 'dangerous'.

'That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British Press,' he said.

'And there was open willingness on both sides to trade information and with a family built on hierarchy, and with her on the way to being Queen Consort, there was going to be people or bodies left in the street because of that.'

The duke also wrote in his memoir Spare that Camilla 'sacrificed me on her personal PR altar', and revealed that he and William asked Charles not to marry her, and accused her of scheming to wed the now King and become Queen Consort.

However in another interview, speaking to host Michael Strahan on Good Morning America, he said he has 'huge' compassion for her.

Strahan asked Harry 'what [Camilla] had done' to prompt both he and his brother to 'beg' Charles not to marry her. The Duke of Sussex insisted he actually sympathised with her role as the 'third person in his parents' marriage', claiming that he 'doesn't look at her as an evil stepmother'.

Harry - who also reveals in his book that he and William 'begged' their father not to marry Camilla - accuses his stepmother of 'trading information' with the Press in an attempt to get more positive stories written about herself

'I have a huge amount of compassion for her, you know, being the third person within my parents' marriage,' Harry told Strahan - despite telling 60 Minutes' Anderson Cooper that Camilla's affair with Charles made her a 'villain'.

When asked where his relationship with Camilla stands today, Harry conceded that they 'haven't spoken for a long time', but added that he 'loves every member of his family' and that when he and the Queen Consort 'see each other, we're perfectly pleasant'.

Harry also doubled down on claims that Camilla 'traded' stories with the Press in order to 'rehabilitate her image' after her affair with Charles was revealed.

'She had a reputation, or image, to rehabilitate, and whatever conversations, whatever deals or trading was made right at the beginning, she was led to believe that would be the best way of doing it,' he said.

He went on to suggest that Camilla was only ever focused on herself - saying that she 'has done everything she can' to 'improve her own image... for her own sake'.

When asked where his relationship with Camilla stands today, Harry conceded that they 'haven't spoken for a long time'

Harry's claims about feeling 'compassion' for his stepmother came less than 12 hours after he branded her a 'villain' in a pre-recorded sit-down with 60 Minutes host Anderson Cooper

'She's my stepmother. I don't look at her as an evil stepmother,' he went on. 'I see her as someone who married into this institution and has done everything that she can to, you know, improve her own reputation and her own image. For her own sake.'

The duke's sensational attack on Camilla was the latest in a line of barbs that he has flung at his stepmother - having already painted what Cooper described as a very 'unflattering portrayal' of her in his explosive memoir Spare, which was accidentally released in Spain last week.

But just hours earlier, in a British interview that viewers said contained several contradictions, he told ITV's Tom Bradby that he was not 'scathing' towards Camilla in his book.

Harry also denied previous allegations that the Royal Family is racist.

Bradby was visibly stunned - as were millions of viewers - by his screeching U-turn from previous incendiary claims that an unnamed senior royal had raised concerns over the color of his son Archie's skin.

The broadcaster raised the 2021 Oprah interview with Meghan and said: 'You accused members of your family of racism.'

But Harry snapped back: 'No I didn't. The British Press said that'.

There was further disbelief when Harry told Bradby that whatever he says to William in future will remain 'private', despite using his memoir, TV interviews, a Netflix documentary, and a primetime Oprah special to spill the beans on what his family has said to him and Meghan behind closed doors.

He also insisted to Cooper that he 'never intended to hurt his family' with the contents of his book.

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An American has been mocked by Brits for 'drying out' their electric kettle after making a brew.

The British person took to Reddit under the user name u/bartharris to share a snap of a black kettle upside down on a dish drainer.

The post quickly went viral after he wrote: 'My American brother-in-law drying his kettle...'

An American has been mocked by Brits on Reddit for 'drying out' their electric kettle after making a brew

It racked up over 1,5000 likes and over 200 comments from amused social media users.

People were instantly baffled as to why you would need to dry out the inside of a kettle, when it always gets wet.

One person wrote: 'You clean the outside by rubbing it with a towel, the inside never dries because you use it every 4 hours without fail, even in the middle of the night I walk downstairs to give it a quick boil just for that familiar and comforting sound it helps me nod back off again.'

Another said: 'OP needs to find out if they used it like a tea pot and put tea directly in the kettle.'

People were instantly baffled as to why you would need to dry out the inside of a kettle, when it always gets wet

While another confused user wrote: 'This is f***king funny as I've never heard of such a thing. tell him not to forget to dry the tea bags out as well while he's there.'

A fourth user wrote: 'I feel we need more info. It's dead mucky, so he can't have cleaned it. Why is he drying it? Why?'

An American joined the conversation writing: 'I had never even heard of an electric kettle until I spent 2 weeks in the UK and saw them everywhere. It was my first purchase when I returned stateside and I use it every day.'

However, some wanted to play devil's advocate and suggested it may not be such a daft idea after all.

One wrote: 'I live in an area with high limescale, after I decale the kettle I dry it like this on the plate drying rack. I do the same if I'm going on holiday so no stagnant water is sitting in the bottom whilst I am away.

'Maybe he was drying after descaling? (Although you do usually wipe down the outside at the same time!)'

However, some wanted to play devil's advocate and suggested it may not be such a daft idea after all

Another said: 'This is it, I reckon. Beats getting a mouthful of limescale everyone once in a while. I may have to adopt this habit!'

While someone else wrote: 'Devil's advocate here. I now live in a dry and humid environment (Western Australia).

'I do this to stop the inside from going gross or attracting cockroaches and other pests that are attracted to water (boiled roach anyone?)

'Obvious you don't submerge the thing, that would be stupid. We just wipe it down and leave it upside down to dry on the drying rack.'

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The Duke later wondered if his brother had expected Meghan to curtsey for him

Prince Harry has claimed Prince William 'recoiled' from Meghan's hug during their awkward first meeting.

In his bombshell memoir Spare, which hit shelves today, the Duke of Sussex, 38, described the moment he introduced his brother to his girlfriend as a 'classic collision of cultures'.

The meeting took place in late 2016 at the Prince and Princess of Wales's Kensington Palace apartment, shortly before Prince Harry and Prince William went on a shooting trip.

The Duke explains how Meghan had already met Princess Eugenie, her then-boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, the Duchess of York, Prince Andrew and the Queen.

Prince Harry introduced Prince William to Meghan in late 2016. Pictured: The Prince and Princess of Wales and Duke and Duchess of Sussex in December 2017

Describing the short walk from Harry and Meghan's home Nottingham Cottage to Apartment 1A, the duke admitted that he was more nervous for his girlfriend to meet William than anyone else.

When his brother answered the door, Harry says William was a 'bit dressed up' in smart trousers and a shirt.

He wrote: 'I introduced Meg, who leaned in and gave him a hug, which completely freaked him out. He recoiled.'

Giving some context to the awkward encounter, Prince Harry said his brother wouldn't usually hug someone he didn't know.

Prince Harry says his brother 'recoiled' from Meghan's hug during their first meeting at Kensington Palace. The two couples pictured in July 2018

In contrast, Harry explained how this was just Meghan's way of greeting strangers.

He continued: 'Maybe Willy expected Meg to curtsey? It would have been protocol when meeting a member of the Royal Family for the first time, but she didn't know and I didn't tell her.'

Elsewhere in the book, Prince Harry recounts having to remind the then Suits actress that she would need to curtsey for the Queen when they first met at Windsor Castle in 2016.

However, the father-of-two didn't feel the need for her to do that when meeting William because he 'loved Suits'.

Prince Harry's bombshell memoir Spare was released in the UK today. In the book, he describes his brother and wife's first meeting as a 'classic collision of cultures'

Prince Harry says he didn't ask his girlfriend to curtsey for his brother as he 'loved Suits'. Pictured: Meghan posing for a Season One Suits cast photo

After 'exchanging a few warm words' in the doorway, the Prince of Wales invited the couple into the flat - prompting Kate and William's black cocker spaniel Lupo to start barking.

When the couple asked after Kate, William told them that she was out with their children George and Charlotte.

Following the brief meeting, Meghan returned to spend her first night alone in Nottingham Cottage while the brothers embarked on their shooting trip.

During their Netflix special, Meghan admitted that she did not realise that her being a 'hugger' was 'jarring for some Brits' and described how she was barefoot the first time she met Kate.

Meghan revealed she was barefoot and wearing ripped jeans when she first met William and Kate

Sharing her experience of being in the Royal Family, Meghan said she was 'surprised' by how 'formal' the family were in private.

She said: 'Even when Will and Kate came over and I was meeting her for the first time I remember I was in ripped jeans, I was barefoot. Like I was a hugger, I have always been a hugger I didn't realise that is really jarring for a lot of Brits.

'I started to understand that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside, that there is a forward facing way of being and then you close the door and think "OK we can relax now". But that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me.'

The Duchess of Sussex also recalled meeting The Queen for the first time in 2016 in the second episode of the docuseries Harry & Meghan, which landed on Netflix last month.

The controversial clip - which unimpressed viewers labelled 'disrespectful' to the late Queen - shows the mother-of-two recreating the extremely deep curtsy she performed for Her Majesty at the Royal Lodge in Windsor.

Ahead of the meeting, Meghan said she was surprised to learn that she would need to bow for the Queen and previously said Prince Harry helped her practice an appropriate curtsy for meeting a member of the Royal Family.

Meghan claimed she didn't know how to perform a proper curtsy before meeting the Queen in the couple's Netflix documentary series, which was released this month

Meghan recreated the extremely deep curtsy she performed for the Queen in 2016 on screen as a stony-faced Prince Harry watched on. Viewers labelled it 'disrespectful'

Meghan compared the 'surreal' encounter with the late Queen to a trip to the American themed-dinner institution Medieval Times. She is pictured with the Queen in Chester in 2018

Ahead of the impromptu lunch at Windsor in 2016, Prince Harry said in the Netflix docuseries that he checked his girlfriend knew how to curtsy for his grandmother.

Sharing her own experience from that day, Meghan then compared the meal to a trip to the American restaurant franchise Medieval Times and joked she 'didn't know what she was doing' when she performed an extremely deep curtsy for the Queen.

Describing her first meeting with the late monarch, Meghan said: 'Now I'm starting to realise this is a big deal. I mean, Americans will understand this.

'We have Medieval Times dinner and tournament. It was like that. Like, I curtsied as though I was like... "Pleasure to meet you, your Majesty."

'It was so intense. And then when she left, Eugenie and Jack and Fergie say, "you did great!". Thanks. I didn't know what I was doing.'

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Meghan Markle's former BFF Jessica Mulroney could be the key to revealing the truth about the Duchess' explosive bridesmaids dress row with Kate Middleton.

In his new book, Spare, Prince Harry has given his first full account of the infamous bridesmaid dress fitting at the heart of 'Megxit', claiming Kate was upset that her daughter's dress was 'too long and too baggy' and that Princess Charlotte 'cried when she tried it on at home'.

In his book Revenge last year, royal author Tom Bower claimed sources told him the Princess of Wales and Duchess of Sussex, 40, also disagreed over whether the bridesmaids 'should wear tights' at the wedding.

He also claimed Meghan was against it and her 'insistence' was 'supported' by her former BFF and mother of another bridesmaid Jessica Mulroney, adding: 'Some would say that Meghan compared Ivy favourably against Charlotte.'

Meghan Markle's former BFF Jessica Mulroney, and mother of royal bridesmaid Ivy, could be the key to revealing the truth about the Duchess' explosive dress row with Kate Middleton (left, Princess Charlotte, and right, Ivy Mulroney at the wedding in 2018)

Toronto based Jessica was one of Meghan's closest pals prior to the apparent rift between the pair following Jessica's comments about 'white privilege'.

Her daughter Ivy was among the few little girls who served as Meghan's bridesmaids, and she featured in a number of scenes in Harry and Meghan's Netflix series.

At one stage, the pair were so close, that Meghan even called Jessica the night when Prince Harry proposed.

From helping her choose her dress to coordinating plans, Jessica was a key player at Meghan and Harry's 2018 wedding, and both her sons and daughter were even involved in the celebration.

Toronto based Jessica was one of Meghan's closest pals prior to the potential rift between the pair following Jessica's comments about 'white privilege'

Pictures from the wedding at St George's Chapel, Windsor, appear to show the six bridesmaids with bare legs, while photographs from Prince William and Kate's wedding in April 2011 show bridesmaids wearing tights.

In the wake of Harry and Meghan's May 2018 nuptials, reports began to emerge about an altercation between the then-bride-to-be and her future sister-in-law which claimed that Kate, 40, had been reduced to tears during a row over bridesmaids dresses.

The infamous row with Prince William's wife made headlines around the world after a supposed falling out over dresses for the flower girls was said to have left Kate in tears.

Bridesmaid dress-gate! How reports of Kate and Meghan arguing ahead of wedding unfolded May 2018 - Meghan Markle and Prince Harry tie the knot in St George's Chapel in Windsor The bridesmaids, including Jessica Mulroney's daughter Ivy and Princess Charlotte, have bare legs November 2018 - The Telegraph's royal editor Camilla Tominey wrote she had 'spoken to two separate sources who claim Kate was left in tears following a bridesmaids dress fitting for Princess Charlotte'. May 2020 - Tatler reports the two argued over protocol around young bridesmaids' tights March 2021 - Meghan confirms there was a disagreement in her bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview but says the Duchess of Cambridge actually made her cry. Royal expert Katie Nicholl says Kate 'never wanted' reports of a rift to come out in the press and has found the situation 'mortifying' July 2022 - In his book Revenge, Tom Bower claimed the original version of the story was true. Writing in the biography, Tom said Kate was 'too fatigued to cope' with a disagreement over whether bridesmaids should wear tights, however ultimately felt they should in order to follow protocol. However he claimed: 'Meghan's insistence was supported by Jessica, the mother of Ivy.' The disagreement was then followed by a second argument 'about the length of Charlotte's hem - Kate felt it was too short and anyway did not fit.' However Bower claims the Duchess of Sussex 'wouldn't compromise'. January 2023 - Harry writes an account of the bridesmaid dress fitting row. Harry insists the incident was driven by his sister-in-law Kate, who wouldn't visit a tailor at Kensington Palace. Advertisement

The Daily Telegraph reported that two sources said the Princess of Wales was crying after a dress fitting with her daughter, Princess Charlotte, who served as a flower girl at the ceremony.

'Kate had only just given birth to Prince Louis and was feeling quite emotional,' a source claimed.

However Meghan would later claim in her interview with Oprah Winfrey that it was actually Kate who made her cry.

Oprah asked Meghan: 'Was there a situation where she [Kate] might have cried? Or she could have cried?'

However, the Duchess of Sussex insisted: 'No, no. The reverse happened.

'And I don't say that to be disparaging to anyone, because it was a really hard week of the wedding. And she was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologized.

'And she brought me flowers and a note, apologizing. And she did what I would do if I knew that I hurt someone, right, to just take accountability for it.'

Meghan added that it was 'shocking' that the 'reverse of that would be out in the world'.

She continued: 'A few days before the wedding, she was upset about something pertaining - yes, the issue was correct - about flower girl dresses, and it made me cry, and it really hurt my feelings.

'And I thought, in the context of everything else that was going on in those days leading to the wedding, that it didn't make sense to not be just doing whatever everyone else was doing, which was trying to be supportive, knowing what was going on with my dad and whatnot.'

Meghan also said: 'It wasn't a confrontation, and I actually think it's I don't think it's fair to her to get into the details of that, because she apologised.

'What was hard to get over was being blamed for something that not only I didn't do but that happened to me.

'And the people who were part of our wedding were going to our comms team and saying: 'I know this didn't happen. I don't have to tell them what actually happened'.'

Meghan also said reports she had reduced the Duchess of Cambridge to tears were a 'turning point.

The Duchess said 'everyone in the institution knew that wasn't true' and she hoped Kate 'would have wanted that to be corrected', adding 'she is a good person'.

Royal expert Katie Nicholl previously claimed Kate found the Oprah revelations 'mortifying'.

Katie noted how you 'never hear' about the Duchess falling out with anyone because she is 'very careful with how she treats others.'

Speaking to OK! magazine, Katie explained: 'Kate has never wanted any suggestion of a rift with Meghan to come out in the press, so for this story to be circulating is very hard.'

Katie added there are 'different versions' of the story and claimed that Prince Harry and Meghan know Kate is 'not in a position to respond'.

'From what I hear, there are different versions of the bridesmaid story, not just the one Meghan discussed,' the royal expert told the publication.

'Kate felt it was all sorted, so to have it brought up again was mortifying. Kate is not in a position to respond and Meghan and Harry know that.

Kate and Meghan exchanged a series of texts (re-created, above) about the bridesmaid dress, according to Harry

The royal expert went on to claim that Kate has been left 'saddened, disappointed and hurt' in the wake of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Still, the mystery took another twist earlier this year when royal author Tom Bower claimed that the original version of events was true.

In the book, Bower said Kate had been 'tired' following the birth of her son Prince Louis in the run-up to the wedding, adding she was 'irritated by complaints of Meghan bullying her staff.'

Writing in the biography, Tom Bower said the Duchess of Cambridge was 'too fatigued to cope' with a disagreement over whether bridesmaids should wear tights, however ultimately felt they should in order to follow protocol.

However he claimed: 'Meghan's insistence was supported by Jessica, the mother of Ivy.'

According to one royal biographer, Kate was upset about the hemline of Charlotte's dress, as well as the general fit - the Duchess felt it was 'too short'

The argument over bridesmaid dresses has arisen a number of times in the press since the royal wedding in 2018

According to royal biographer Tom Bower, Meghan's insistence about the bridesmaid dresses and tights was supported by her friend Jessica (pictured)

The disagreement was then followed by a second argument 'about the length of Charlotte's hem - Kate felt it was too short and anyway did not fit.'

He writes: 'Melissa Toubati, Meghans assistant, and the dress-fitters employed by Givenchys Clare Waight Keller, witnessed Meghan emphatically reject Kates observation.'

However Bower claims the Duchess of Sussex 'wouldn't compromise' - and Kate became upset, feeling as though complaints by staff about Meghan's behaviour had been confirmed.

Prince Harry offered a different account of the disagreement in his book Spare.

Directly referencing his niece  a breach of privacy that is sure to anger his brother William  Harry insists the incident was driven by his sister-in-law Kate, who appeared irritated that it had taken Meghan a day to get back to her about the problem.

The disagreement between the two women was, he claims, further exacerbated by Kate's unwillingness to visit Meghan's tailor at Kensington Palace and suggestions that they hold a party for the page boys when his bride-to-be was busy dealing with a row with her father, Thomas Markle.

Opening his latest salvo, the prince writes that Meghan received a text from Kate four days before their wedding saying there was a problem with the dresses for the bridesmaids and they needed altering.

They were 'French couture' and had been hand-sewn from measurements only  without a fitting  so 'it wasn't a big shock' that they might not fit perfectly, he says.

Harry writes: 'Meg didn't reply to Kate straight away. Yes, she had endless wedding-related texts, but mostly she was dealing with the chaos surrounding her father. So the next morning she texted Kate that our tailor was standing by.'

She told her that his name was Ajay and he was 'at the palace'.

'This wasn't sufficient,' Harry goes on to write darkly.

After setting up a time to speak later that afternoon, Harry writes that Kate complained: 'Charlotte's dress is too big, too long, too baggy. She cried when she tried it on a home.'

Meghan snapped back: 'Right, and I told you the tailor has been standing by since 8am. Here. At KP. Can you take Charlotte to have it altered, as the other mums are doing?'

Meanwhile Charlotte's dress was said to be compared to that of the other bridesmaids, including Ivy, by Jessica Mulroney

According to Harry's version of events, Kate replied: 'No, all the dresses need to be remade.' And said she had discussed the issue with her 'own wedding designer' who agreed.

Harry writes: 'Meg asked if Kate was aware of what was going on right now. With her father. Kate said she was well aware, but the dresses. And the wedding is in four days!'

'Yes, Kate, I know....' his fiancee replied sharply.

He also claims that his sister-in-law had 'problems with the way Meg was planning her wedding. Something about a party for the page boys? It went back and forth'.

The prince reports his wife as saying: 'I'm not sure what else to say. If the dress doesn't fit then please take Charlotte to see Ajay. He's been waiting all day.'

'Fine', Kate is said to have replied.

Meghan confirmed there was a disagreement in her bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview but said the Duchess of Cambridge actually made her cry

Harry states that he arrived home a short time later, which suggests that he and his ghost writer were given an account of the actual conversation by Meghan, to find his fiancee 'on the floor sobbing'.

While he says he was 'horrified' to see her so upset, he didn't think it a catastrophe as emotions were understandably high. He told Meghan that 'Kate hadn't meant any harm'.

He suggests his point was proved when the then Duchess of Cambridge came round the next morning with flowers and a card to say sorry.

Harry makes a point of writing that Meghan's best friend, Lindsay, was in the kitchen when she turned up as if to suggest he can prove his version of events.

Jessica has remained quiet on the issue until now - in part perhaps because it appears her relationship with the Duchess has soured.

It appeared as though they became distant in 2020 when the style guru was called out by lifestyle blogger Sasha Exeter for comments she made regarding 'white privilege' while the pair had a conversation about the Black Lives Matters movement.

Although Jessica denied being a racist, Sasha, claimed the stylist left her 'paralyzed with fear'.

Following the blogger's claims, Jessica issued three public apologies, however she still faced consequences and was dropped by numerous television networks.

As the backlash against Jessica built up, Meghan remained quiet and distant on the matter.

Meanwhile Jessica didn't get a spot in Harry and Meghan's Netflix series, ramping up speculations that their friendship may have ended for good have grown.

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She lives in Sydney and set up a brand focusing on women with smaller breasts

Originally from Tokyo, she even tried to gain weight to help her breasts grow

Lisa Banks, 31, felt embarrassed for having 'the smallest boobs' at her school

A 'flat chested' woman who was desperate for a boob job at the age of just 15 has finally embraced her 'no-cup' chest and now loves showing off her body.

Lisa Banks, 31, originally from Tokyo, felt insecure throughout her teen years after being embarrassed at her all girls' school for having 'the smallest boobs'.

At the age of 15 she even begged her parents for a boob job and went to a Chinese herbalist for a remedy to help her breasts grow in her twenties.

Desperate to gain a bustier figure, Lisa even gained a stone in weight in her mid 20s but says it made her feel worse and didn't make a difference to her chest.

Lisa Banks, 31, originally from Tokyo, felt insecure throughout her teen years after being embarrassed for having 'the smallest boobs' at her school

She started finding other women like her through the hashtag #IttyBittyTittyCommittee on social media and cleansed her channels of bustier women that she wished she looked like.

In 2019, with size AA cup, she decided to embrace her slender figure and 'non-existent boobs' and has started uploading body-positivity content on social media.

Lisa has even created a brand called Itty Bitty Label - selling clothing and nipple covers for women with smaller breasts.

Lisa, an influencer now living in Sydney, said: 'I struggled throughout school - I was really self-conscious.

'I went to a performing arts school in Ascot, Surrey, and I dreaded PE and dance classes.

In 2019, with size AA cup, she decided to embrace her slender figure and 'non-existent boobs' and has started uploading body-positivity content on social media

The influencer, now living in Sydney, created a brand called Itty Bitty Label - selling clothing and nipple covers for women with smaller breasts

'I loved dance classes but I hated being in a leotard as I couldn't wear a padded bra.

'We were teenage girls and people would compare their boobs - I hated being the one with the least amount.

'I would get changed and try and hide in the corner so people wouldn't notice.'

The teen used to wear baggy clothes to hide her flat chest and always donned a padded bra.

'Throughout my 20s I carried on feeling I wasn't good or womanly enough,' she said.

'When I was 15, I asked my mum to take me to a surgery consultancy to get an augmentation and I tried to save up money for it.

Lisa (pictured in her teens) 'dreaded PE and dance classes' and would get changed in the corner

She changed her social media feed, swapping curvaceous women for women who looked like her

Lisa said: 'I feel so good. I'm so focused on trying to encourage other girls to feel great in their own skin'

'It was some kind of filler procedure and it seemed dangerous so luckily my mum didn't allow me to do it.

'I think my Instagram feed was toxic - it was full of bustier girls who had perfect Barbie doll shapes.

'I tried everything I saw in magazines or in the media to grow my boobs.

'When I was 15, I purchased tablets from a magazine - they gave me acne and cramps. I had no idea what was in them - they could have been dangerous.

'In my mid 20s I even went to a Chinese herbalist who gave me three types of herbs to grow my bust.

'She said it was what men transitioning to women used to grow boobs. It didn't work and gave me bad cramps.'

Petite Lisa - who weighs 8st 3lbs - said: 'Doctors have told me to gain weight but I eat well, and I stay the same weight and I am healthy.

'Once I gained a stone because I thought it would make my boobs grow. It didn't and I felt worse in myself.'

Lisa's tips for finding self-love with a flat chest - Follow women who look like you and fill your feed with them - Try to write down things you love about yourself and do inner work and talk to yourself nicely - you can't control what other people say to you but you can control the way you speak to yourself - Journal your thoughts and read self-help books - Change what you consume in the media - stop following women who are making you feel bad about yourself and follow women who look like you - Work towards going braless or wearing a bra without pads - Try to make your own clothing items Advertisement

In July 2019, aged 29, Lisa found a large online community called the 'Itty bitty titty committee' and started to find self-love and confidence.

She changed her social media feed, swapping curvaceous women for women who looked like her and her heroes now include Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman

'Everything shifted once I changed my feed,' Lisa said.

'I started to follow women who looked like me.

'I decided I wanted to make a brand for women with small chests and I created Itty Bitty in 2019 as I was inspired by the community.'

Lisa's brand sells clothing for petite women and nipple covers called 'pasties' so small chested girls don't have to wear bras.

She trained at TAFE - a fashion school in Sydney, Australia - to be a garment technician.

Her partner, Tommy Ge, 37, works in fashion and has encouraged her on her journey to self-acceptance and love.

She said: 'I feel so good. I'm so focused on trying to encourage other girls to feel great in their own skin.

'When you get older you realise being unique and different is something to be proud of.'

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Fell in love with remote cabin, even though she gets snakes and seasonal floods

A 79-year-old living in the Australian wilderness told Ben Fogle that she loves it, in spite of threats from her neighbours, and dealing with regular floods and snakes.

Speaking to the presenter for New Lives in the Wild, airing tonight at 9pm on Channel 5, Bette, originally from Byron Bay, revealed she moved to a remote cabin in the wetlands of North Queensland in 1988, with her seven-year-old daughter Nadia.

In spite of struggling with restricted mobility, the floods that often take over her home, and the unwelcoming neighbours who threatened to burn down her cabin, she joked that 'you go through hell and high water for the things you love.'

She added the wetlands are a 'spiritual place' for her, comparing it to church, in spite of admitting to Ben that it was the only place where she was 'violated in her home' by a man, adding the same person tried to run her over with a car and that she had to flee into the woods.

Speaking to the presenter for New Lives in the Wild, airing tonight at 9pm on Channel 5, Bette, left, originally from Byron Bay, told Ben Fogle she moved to a remote cabin in the wetlands of North Queensland in 1988, with her seven-year-old daughter Nadia

Bette got married at 19 in Byron Bay, where she said she spent some of the happiest times in her life, living by the sea with her three children for 15 years.

'Byron Bay; most of my happy memoires are from there,' she said.

'Lots of dancing, lots of music around the house, I had a view of the sea from the front veranda, it was a great place then.

'My kids said that when they were brought up there it was a free time. Free range kids, that's how I raised them in Byron Bay,' she added.

Bette revealed she was 'violated in her own home' in the cabin, yet, in spite of a frightening row with a former partner, she stayed

However, her marriage ended in 1973, and her grown-up children left home shortly after.

In 1980, she fell pregnant with her youngest daughter, Nadia, and in 1988 the pair took a trip to the North Queensland wetlands.

That's when Bette found a remote cabin she immediately fell in love with, and decided to sell her Byron Bay house and quit her job as a social worker to move to the wilderness, with Nadia.

'I just loved it, I had to be here, I had an incredible feeling I had come home, somehow,' she recounted.

'She was only seven,' she said of her daughter. 'She didn't have any options, I was her mum. Poor kid.

Bette said she felt at home when she first visit the abandoned cabin, and decided to move there on the spot. She lives off her pension and fills her time with arts and crafts

But Bette was sure about her choice, wanting more for herself than a quiet suburban life.

'I don't think I wanted to live the same life over again, you know, being a single mum. I needed another life,' she said.

'I needed something with a bit of adventure. All of this just happened,' she added, admitting she didn't sit down to think her decision over before making the move.

'It hasn't been an easy life, but I always say nothing with me if ever easy,' she joked.

Nadia left home 26 years ago, leaving Bette on her own to look after the house and manage it. She now works for a surgeon but visits her mother whenever she can.

The mother-of-four lives off her pension and the house is connected to the grid, but the rough environment means there are snakes and insects regularly lurking around her home.

The closest town to her remote part of the wetlands is 30km away, and she needs to drive there to get her groceries and other essentials.

The mother-of-four said she doesn't dwell on what life has in store for her, instead saying she is privileged to have lived this long

While her loved ones and family visit from time to time, her only regular company is her dog, Sid Vicious, who she jokes has a 'personality problem.'

As Ben found out on the show, she's had to cope with the regular floods that take over her home as well.

She has installed crooks to lift her sofa from the floor, so that she can sit on it when water floods her home.

She revealed that getting settled into the abandoned cabin in the late 1980s had been 'overwhelming.'

'I didn't have a tap to turn on,' she told Ben, revealing she used big fires she made outside to cook.

'I have been very scared, I have felt very lonely, all of those things, but luckily, I've been able to overcome because I love the place so much,' she added.

'You'll go through hell and high water for something you love. You know there are things you just need to get over and you just get on with them,' she went on.

She admitted to Ben she rarely asked other people for help, because she was told she wouldn't be able to make it on her own in the jungle because she was a woman', explaining that her neighbours consider her 'crazy,' and don't like the fact she is a strong feminist.

She confided in Ben that locals had threatened to throw can of petrol over her house because they weren't happy with her living their or being a feminist.

'They saw it as being a man hater. You got to stand up to what you believe in,' she added.

Bette told Ben that while she doesn't 'hate' men, but she dislikes 'aggressive men.'

'I had never been violated in my home until I came here and that was really really scary, because it had never happened to me in my life before,' she said.

She added that she was in a relationship with the man who attacked her at the time.

'I was so scared, really, and then he tried to run me down with the car and I was running, I was so frightened.'

Admitting that she's the kind of person who tries to 'patch people up', she realised she has a pattern of 'trying to fix broken people', and finally took a vow of celibacy when she was in her 60s.

'If you haven't found what you're looking for by the time you're sixty... to be that person sitting at the end of the bar, waiting for Mr Right to come along,' she said with a laugh.

She took Ben to a creek, away from the house, and talked of her love of nature, tearing up as she described this particular spot in the wetlands as 'a spiritual place'.

'I don't get to share it with that many people. It's just beautiful,' she told Ben, wiping tears from her eyes.

'This is my church, I'm sure this is how people must feel when they go into a church.

'It's given me peace of mind, I'd say. It makes me feel away from all the troubles of the world when I am here,' she added.

Bette admits she misses her children, but added she is determined to see the brighter side of life.

'You have to see life as a movie and if you do see your life as a movie, which part do you want to be in your movie? You want to make it a happy movie,' she told Ben.

'Laughter is the best medicine and if you can put a smile on somebody's face, isn't that the best thing?'

While she admits that her body is ageing and her mobility is not what it used to be, Bette also said she doesn't want to dwell on thoughts about the future.

'Sometimes I get a bit freaked out, it's not going to get very good for me,' she said, adding there is 'no use dwelling on that because otherwise you'd get depressed

'I think I'm privileged to have lived this long,' she said she would like her life to be summarised as: 'Born, died, she tried.'

Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 5.

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Prince Harry's upcoming People magazine cover is being mercilessly mocked by social media users - who accused the outlet of 'photoshopping' his bushy hair, bright blue eyes, and full beard.

The Duke of Sussex, 38, posed for the cover of the magazine's January 23 issue, while promoting his brand new memoir, Spare - his latest in a slew of press appearances over the last few weeks in which he has continuously slammed his family members, shared intimate details on his life as a royal, and made a series of bombshell accusations about the monarchy.

And while Harry's explosive interview with People comes as no shock amid his continued tirade against the royals, his cover shoot left many people on the web raising their eyebrows.

The publication shared a sneak peek of the cover via Twitter this morning, and many people on the web quickly started to ridicule the way that Harry looked on it.

Prince Harry's People magazine cover is being mercilessly mocked by social media users - who accused the outlet of 'photoshopping' his bushy hair, bright blue eyes, and full beard

Some even theorized that he might have been wearing a 'wig' - while pointing out that he's been seen with much thinner hair in the past. He is seen in September 2021

Harry is currently promoting his brand new memoir, Spare, which dropped on January 10. He is seen leaving Stephen Colbert in January 2023

On the front of the magazine, a tanned Harry could be seen smirking towards the camera in a button-down blue shirt.

But his sun-kissed skin, exceptionally vivid eyes, and extraordinarily long hair left many social media users wondering if the cover had been edited.

Some even theorized that he might have been wearing a 'wig' or 'hair plugs' - while pointing out that he's been seen with much thinner hair in the past.

'Aw how considerate, they photoshopped more hair on his head,' joked one person.

Another added: 'Y'all should get an award for the amount of photoshop that went into this pic.'

Someone else simply tweeted, 'Barf,' while a fourth user said, 'Great work in graphics department. He totally looks like a man who's not bald in the middle.'

'Is it in his contracts that the hair must be photoshopped?' asked a different person.

'The photoshop,' wrote someone else with a skull emoji, while another user quipped, 'How many hair plugs is he wearing in his pic? And who does he think he's fooling?'

'Does he wear a wig?' read another tweet.

Harry's sun-kissed skin, exceptionally vivid eyes, and extraordinarily long hair left many social media users wondering if the cover had been edited

Others slammed the Duke for speaking out against the royal family once again, with one person asking, 'When will this traitor shut up? We are tired of his whining and lies'

Someone else even made a joke about claims made by Harry in his book that his older brother, Prince William, ripped one of his necklaces off during a physical altercation over his wife

Others slammed the Duke for speaking out against the royal family once again, with one person asking, 'When will this traitor shut up? We are tired of his whining and lies.'

'It's disgraceful what he is doing to the royal family and England,' said someone else.

'Boring, sorry, not interested in stories about petulant, petty, entitled, selfish, lying, deluded man-babies. #ShutUpHarry,' read another scathing tweet.

A different user added: 'This man is full of hate, resentfulness, lies, victimhood, narcissism, etc.'

Someone else even made a joke about claims made by Harry in his book that his older brother, Prince William, ripped one of his necklaces off during a physical altercation over his wife, Meghan Markle.

Harry wrote that his older brother called the former actress 'difficult,' 'rude,' and 'abrasive,' before things turned physical.

'He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor,' he said.

'I landed on the dogs bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me.'

'See, his broken necklace is back,' joked one Twitter user is response to People's new cover.

On the other hand, some people gushed about how 'good' Harry looked in the shoot.

'Dashing,' read one supportive tweet, while another said, 'OK, Harry looks like a snack.'

'Handsome prince,' wrote a different user.

Harry was previously accused of photoshopping his looks when he posed on the cover of Time magazine with Meghan in September 2021.

On the other hand, some people gushed about how 'good' Harry looked in the shoot

Harry was previously accused of photoshopping his looks when he posed on the cover of Time in 2021 (right) but showed 'noticeably' thinner hair when he stepped out days later (left)

At the time, a celebrity hairstylist said he believed the Time photos had been edited, however, he added that the California sun may have made Harry's (seen in September 2021) hair lighter

'The thinner appearance could be down to the Californian sun lightening the top of his hair,' the hairstylist said, however, Harry is seen above with thinner hair in 2018, before moving

The Prince showed 'noticeably' thinner hair when he stepped out in New York City days later, and celebrity hairstylist Tom Smith told DailyMail.com that he believed the Time photos had been edited, however, he added it was also possible that the California sun had made his hair lighter.

In certain lights he does look as though he is thinning on top, and this most certainly may be the case considering his hair genes,' the expert added. Harry is seen in May 2019

'It seems to look like Prince Harrys hair is fuller in the TIME picture and it would not surprise me if clever retouching skills helped play a part in defining his hair line and given him a fuller body of hair to match Meghans,' he said.

In certain lights he does look as though he is thinning on top, and this most certainly may be the case considering his hair genes.

'However, as a natural redhead, his hair will be far more susceptible to lightening in the sun.

'With their new life on the west coast of the United States, there is no shortage of sunny weather and so the lighter, and therefore thinner appearance of the top of his hair, could be down to the Californian sun lightening the top of his hair more than we are used to seeing.

'Although there is a noticeable difference at first glance when you compare todays appearance to his TIME magazine photoshoot.'

Baldness seems to run in Harry's family, and his brother William began losing his hair in his twenties. They are seen in May 2018

Though his father, King Charles II, is still hanging on to his hair, Harry's grandfather, Prince Philip (seen left), was also balding for many years. The family is seen in May 2019

However, pictures show Harry's hair looking thinner as early as 2018 - long before he moved to California.

Baldness seems to run in Harry's family. Though his father, King Charles II, is still hanging on to his hair, Harry's brother William has long battled against baldness, and began losing his hair in his twenties. His grandfather, Prince Philip, was also bald for many years.

Harry previously made fun of his brother for his hair loss, once quipping: 'I think he definitely is brainier than I am, but we established that at school, along with his baldness.'

Harry and Meghan, 41, have been in the media quite a lot in recent weeks. The couple first released a tell-all six-part Netflix docuseries last month, in which they chronicled their love story - as well as their decision to leave the monarchy and relinquish their royal duties to move to America full time in 2020.

In addition, Harry's memoir, Spare, dropped on January 10, and it was filled with a series of shocking admissions, including that he did cocaine as a teen, killed 25 Taliban fighters during his time in the military, and that it was his brother, Prince William, 40, and his wife, Kate Middleton, 41, who encouraged him to wear his infamous Nazi costume to a party in 2005.

Harry's ginger locks were looking a little thinner during his visit to The Hague in 2020, when he officially launched the Invictus Games

Harry has done numerous interviews in recent weeks - including 60 Minutes and Good Morning America (seen) - and his locks did appear to be a lot fuller during them

In relation to the book release, Harry has done numerous interviews - including 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

In the latest sit-down with People, the father-of-two defended Spare, calling it 'a continuation of his mental health journey' and explaining that he hopes 'sharing his experience' can make a 'positive difference in someone's life.'

'This book and its truths are in many ways a continuation of my own mental health journey,' he explained.

'It's a raw account of my life - the good, the bad and everything in between. My hope has been to turn my pain into purpose, so if sharing my experience makes a positive difference in someone's life, well, I can't think of anything more rewarding than that.

'While I know much of my life may seem unrelatable, I do think most siblings can relate to struggling with comparisons, and my brother and I are no exception.'

He concluded: 'I have a beautiful and blessed life - one that comes with a platform, and with it responsibility that Meghan and I plan to use wisely.

'I feel I am exactly where I am meant to be and exactly where we [my family] are meant to be. I don't think I could have written this book otherwise.'
Prince Harry has shared steamy details from the early days of his relationship with Meghan.

The Duke of Sussex, 38, who also opens up about losing his virginity in his memoir Spare, published today, recounts the very passionate way in which he and Meghan reunited in London after spending weeks apart in the summer of 2016.

The royal reveals he and Meghan spent the night at one of the Soho House branches on the day of the anniversary of Princess Diana's death, and recalls waiting 'breathlessly' outside her room until she opened the door and 'pulled me inside'.

Hinting the passionate clinch that followed their reunion, he wrote: 'I want to say we hung a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. But I don't think there was time.'

In his explosive memoir Spare, the Duke of Sussex, 38, recounts the very passionate way in which he and Meghan reunited in London after spending weeks apart in the summer of 2016

Harry recounts how Meghan had instructed him to meet her at the Soho House where she was staying.

The couple were nearly two months into their relationship, having been on their romantic trip to Botswana.

They also just had spent several weeks apart because Harry had been on a long holiday with pals.

Harry recounts in Spare how Meghan flew to London to meet him on the day of the anniversary of the death of his late mother, Princess Diana.

The reunion happened after the couple, then two months into their relationship, had spent several weeks apart

Harry recounted how he followed a secret way into the Soho House branch where Meghan was staying with the help of one of her friends who worked there

He reveals in the book how she texted him that she had made it into the UK while he was laying flowers on his mother's grave at Althorp with the Prince of Wales.

Harry drove back to London with William and met Meghan later that day.

He says in the book that she had told him to take a secret way to the hotel and a freight lift, where he met a friend of hers named Vanessa who led him to her hotel door.

Meghan soon opened the door, her arms reaching for Harry, he recalled.

'She pulled me inside and thanked her friend in one fluid motion, then slammed the door quickly before anyone saw,' he writes.

The Duke of Sussex hinted that he and his now wife, pictured on their second date, shared a very passionate reunion

It is not known which Soho House location the Duke was referring to, but it may well be the same one where they had their first date.

76 Dean Street in Westminister, London is a Grade II listed townhouse that includes a seascape mural dating back to the Georgian era, in 2009 the building was ravaged by fire and was restored to its former glory as a new Soho House in 2015.

Patrons can enjoy a quiet Library bar, with seats that look similar to those featured in the background of Meghan and Harry's date picture, a more lively club bar and drawing rooms.

As a member you can bring guests, have access to Soho House bedrooms, studios and connect with other Soho House members.

An exterior view of the Grade II listed Georgian townhouse which is now known as private members' club Soho House

Across the five storeys the townhouse now provides living, drawing, library rooms and a screening room, housed in a newly excavated basement.

The development also includes an extension into 5 Richmond Mews located to the rear of the main building.

Founded by Nick Jones, the entrepreneur husband of Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young, Soho House has for two decades been held up as the epitome of louche British cool.

Soho House is an exclusive members club branched across the UK and Europe, singer Paloma Faith was seen dancing on the table of the Turkey branch for it's opening.

The interior of the 'Lounge' or 'Library room' at Soho House, this is possibly the room where Meghan and Harry had their first date

Revelations are pouring out of the Duke of Sussex's explosive memoir and more is expected to come out, as the prince is set to appear on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert in the US tonight.

Prince Harry has also posed for this week's edition of People Magazine in the US, with the interview released this afternoon.

Social media users remarked on how the magazine's photo shoot appears to have brightened his blue eyes and thickened his hair.

One critic said pictures of Harry, which include him walking on a wooden terrace and leaning against some patio doors in an open blue shirt and dark jeans, looked like a 'faux fashion photo shoot'.

An interior view of the Club bar in the Westminster Soho House members' club on 76 Dean Street

Harry is also wearing a black leather cord necklace. Some claimed it is identical to the one he says was broken by his brother William in an alleged fight at Kensington Palace during a row over Meghans 'difficult' and 'abrasive' behaviour in 2019.

Harry's appearance on the satirical The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was recorded in New York yesterday with the royal ushered in and out of the studio by armed bodyguards including a British former policeman carrying a Glock pistol carry case.

In his interview with People magazine, Harry justified his decision to share the fact that he killed 25 fighters as an Apache helicopter gunner, saying: 'I know from my own healing journey that silence has been the least effective remedy. Expressing and detailing my experience is how I chose to deal with it, in the hopes it would help others.'

Former military commanders, pilots, aid workers and diplomats condemned the remarks, which they claimed handed the militants a propaganda victory. He also faced the ignominy of being branded a big-mouth loser by the Taliban itself.

But Harry told People: 'This is something each soldier has to confront, and in the nearly two decades of working alongside service personnel and veterans, I've listened to their stories and have shared mine.

'In these conversations, we often talk about the parts of our service that haunt us  the lives lost, the lives taken. But also the parts of our service that heal us and the lives we've saved.'

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Tamil Nadu governor Ravindra Narayana Ravi. (Photo: Twitter)

Tamil Nadu governor Ravindra Narayana Ravi leaving the packed Assembly Hall in a huff even as chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin was addressing the House on Monday was a shocking visual that an entire nation watched with trepidation. It was a moment that not just brought the ongoing acrimonious rift between the governor and the state government in the open but focused the klieg lights on the Centre-state relationship that has seemingly gone awry. Even as naysayers from both sides, who have instantly turned busy as bumble bees, spewed opinions to justify the roles of both the governor and government in the unseemly drama, it was democracy that was caught in the crossfire.

While many blamed it squarely on the governor who deliberately skipped passages, phrases and words in the address prepared for him to read out to the Assembly as it met for the first time in the New Year, the opposing camp cited a convention that when the governor was in the House nobody else should speak. Yet squeals had begun emanating even as the governor rose to deliver his address. MLAs owing allegiance to allies of the ruling DMK heckled him, raising slogans against his past acts of omission and commission. Since Mr Ravi had stirred a hornets nest, offending the collective sensibilities of the people of Tamil Nadu, by stating that the state should be referred to as Tamizhagam and not Tamil Nadu, it came handy for those protesting MLAs.

Then there was this long-time complaint of the governor keeping in cold storage a score of legislations passed by the same House, in which he was delivering the address on Monday, without dispatching them to New Delhi as he is expected to do precisely. So the MLAs had that axe to grind, too. The PMK, which is not an ally of the DMK but part of the BJP-led NDA, was particularly sour that a legislation banning online gambling that had been causing too many deaths by suicide in the state was also part of the bunch lying with the governor for too long. So those MLAs too joined the protesting brigade that without persisting much left the hallowed precincts soon.

All hell broke loose only when ruling party mandarins realised that the governor was not reading out the full text given to him and was interpolating it with his views. A resolution was drafted expeditiously to ensure that none of what the governor said entered the House records and only the speech prepared by the government was taken into consideration. The governor, who was initially clueless as to what the chief minister was reading out, left when he figured out, with assistance from aide-de-camp, that it was a resolution against him, thus opening a Pandoras Box.

Critics went to town flaying the intemperate governor for insulting the Assembly and disrespecting the people who had elected its members. Wall paintings and posters with inimical words came up against him. The kindest of hashtags that trended was #GoBackRavi though he received some support from some quarters. But not many openly pointed out that the drama was a fallout of a Union government gameplan to pit hostile governors against elected non-BJP state governments, which in fact is the real threat to democracy.
Do you know the identity of the influencer? Email femailus@dailymail.com

Although it's unclear who the influencer is, many have speculated it's a social media enthusiast by the name of Lexi - who has 17,000 followers

She then pulled her by her hair to the ground

Another unidentified woman confronted her for skipping the line

Footage of a self-proclaimed influencer cutting in line during an event has gone viral after the so-called social media star excused her behavior by telling bystanders she has '70,000 followers' and is 'obnoxiously beautiful.'

A TikToker who goes by @desi.self documented the so-called social media star - who has yet to be revealed - skipping the line to buy food and drinks at the 14 annual Jack Daniels New Years Eve Live: Nashvilles Big Bash event on New Years Eve - which had an estimated 210,000 attendees according to local Nashville news.

According to @desi.self, she didn't catch the moment three women 'cut to almost the front of the line' after other attendees had been waiting for over '40 minutes', but she did document another woman confronting the unidentified women who believed their looks and follower count could get them to the front of the line.

Footage of an unidentified self-proclaimed influencer cutting in line has gone viral

The so-called social media star excused her behavior by telling bystanders she has '70,000 followers' and is 'obnoxiously beautiful'

A TikToker who goes by @desi.self documented her skipping the line to buy food and drinks at the 14 annual Jack Daniels New Years Eve Live: Nashvilles Big Bash event on New Years Eve

'[She] went up and said something to them because it was rude and everyone was talking about it.

'The girl who cut started videoing the lady who said something to them and when [the woman] asked her to stop [filming], she didnt, so [the woman] smacked her phone,' @desi.self said.

After the self-proclaimed influencer's phone gets 'smacked,' she looks back in shock at the woman who took matters in her own hands while @desi.self zoomed in on the fight waiting to happen.

Those patiently waiting in line for their food and drinks were heard cheering on the confrontational woman.

As the influencer continued recording, she turned back to the woman who confronted her and said, 'I am obnoxiously beautiful, you ugly old b****.'

'I will beat you the f*** up,' she added.

'Bro she has 70,000 followers on TikTok,' someone in the crowd can be heard screaming, however it's not clear if he was repeating something the woman had said or was joking.

'She said she got 70,000 followers on TikTok,' another said while laughing.

The so-called social media star then sticks her tongue out at the other woman, grabs her friends and prepares to leave.

The so-called social media star then sticks her tongue out at the other woman, grabs her friends and prepares to leave

Another woman confronted the unidentified women who believed their looks and follower count could get them to the front of the line and even pulled her hair

After throwing her beer at the woman who confronted her, the self-proclaimed influencer and her three friends stormed off

But the three women don't get very far as the woman who defied her from the start began to inch closer, grabbed her the influencer's hair and pulled her to the ground.

The influencer then soon got to her feet and threw her drink at the woman.

After having beer thrown at her face, the woman walks away only to be followed by the influencer.

'She chases after the lady but does nothing once she gets to her and the lady just walks off,' @desi.self said at the end of her video.

Although it is unclear who the influencer is, many have speculated it is social media enthusiast Lexi - who has 17,000 followers - but she has yet to confirm or deny the allegations.

Social media users couldn't get enough of the video and dubbed it as one of the most 'hilarious' and 'awesome' cat fights they had seen

Social media users couldn't get enough of the video and dubbed it as one of the most 'hilarious' and 'awesome' cat fights they had seen.

One user wrote: 'This was so satisfying. Im glad she wasted her beer she cut in line for by throwing it.'

Another added: 'This is good content thank you.'

'Hilarious,' commented one user.

'Thats awesome,' said another user.

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One vicious troll even said they'd 'tip' her to 'put clothes on'

A 322-pound influencer has been slammed by vicious trolls who called her dreams 'unrealistic' after she put on a Hooters uniform in an attempt to convince the popular restaurant chain to hire plus-size women.

Olivia Messina, from Toronto, Canada, revealed she 'always wanted to be a waitress at Hooters,' while sharing a video of herself trying on the well-known orange and white ensemble that employees at the eatery always wear to TikTok.

In the clip, which was originally posted in June 2022 but is still making waves on the app, Olivia flaunted her figure in the tiny shorts and crop top - as she danced to the song Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard.

'Do you want fries with that?' she captioned the post, which has now been viewed more than 468,000 times.

A 322-pound influencer was slammed by vicious trolls who called her dreams 'unrealistic' after she put on a Hooters uniform in an attempt to convince the restaurant to hire plus-size women

Olivia Messina, from Canada, revealed she 'always wanted to be a waitress at Hooters,' while sharing a video of herself trying on the well-known orange and white Hooters' ensemble

In the clip, shared to TikTok last year, Olivia flaunted her figure in the tiny shorts and crop top - as she danced to the song Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard

She also shared some snaps of herself in the outfit to Instagram, adding, 'I'd love to see more plus-size Hooters girls.'

She also shared some snaps of herself in the outfit to Instagram, adding, 'I'd love to see more plus-size Hooters girls'

While Olivia seemed as confident as ever in the posts, they were quickly flooded with nasty comments from unkind users who told her 'forget the dream.'

'I'm not even hungry no more bruh,' read another mean comment.

'Nah, don't normalize bad health,' said someone else, while a third person wrote, 'Go eat a salad or something, put the wings down. You ain't gonna make it to 50 years old the way you're going.'

'I'd tip you just to put clothes on,' added another troll.

'Not a single soul wants to see your [fat] while trying to eat wings. They have positions for you at hooters though, it's called the kitchen. Or the stock yard,' commented a different user.

'Keep away from my food,' wrote someone else, while another person added, 'I always wanted to be an astronaut and go to the moon. Looks like we both have unrealistic goals lol.'

While Olivia seemed as confident as ever in the posts, they were quickly flooded with nasty comments from unkind users who told her 'forget the dream'

Others, however, were supportive of Olivia's dream to become a Hooters waitress

Others, however, were supportive of Olivia's dream to become a Hooters waitress, with one person writing, 'I'd only visit on days you worked.'

'You would get all the attention,' said someone else. Another user revealed, 'I think I would be a regular customer.'

'I wouldn't go for wings,' joked a different person, while another comment read, 'You're more than qualified.'

'They really should have some diversity not everyone likes the same thing,' commented someone else.

Hooters is well known for its very skimpy uniforms and sexy employees. And while one Hooters manager from Pelham, Alabama, who didn't reveal their name, stated on its Indeed page that 'all body types are welcome' to work there, they added that employees 'must meet the image they are trying to put forward.'

'Hooter Girls must fit the uniform because we are an image based company,' they explained.

One Hooters manager from Pelham, Alabama, who didn't reveal their name, stated on its Indeed page that employees 'must meet the image they are trying to put forward'

Olivia often fires back at haters in her videos, and she has gained more than 576,000 followers on the video streaming platform

In one TikTok, she posted a video in response to people who say she's 'too fat' to wear something sexy. In it, she lip-synced along to the sound, 'No, I'm a star, please, I'm a star'

In another video, she danced to the song Yes by LMFAO as common questions that people often ask her popped up on the screen

In a third clip, she addressed people who tell her to 'go to the gym.' She shared footage of herself working out, writing, 'Fat people can still be people who exercise regularly'

Olivia often fires back at haters in her videos, and she has gained more than 576,000 followers on the video streaming platform.

In one TikTok, she posted a video in response to people who say she's 'too fat' to wear something sexy.

In it, she donned a tight, white mini-dress, as she lip-synced along to the sound, 'No, I'm a star, please, I'm a star.'

In another video, she danced to the song Yes by LMFAO as common questions that people often ask her popped up on the screen.

'Is it true you weigh 320 pounds? Are you truly happy at that weight? Did you ever break a toilet seat? Do you exercise?'

In a third clip, she addressed people who tell her to 'go to the gym.' She shared footage of herself working out, writing, 'I know many people aren't able to comprehend this but... Fat people can still be people who exercise regularly.'

Olivia has also explained in previous videos that her physique is what earned her such a big following, and that losing weight could potentially harm her career as an influencer

She called her 'size her brand,' and explained that while she does exercise sometimes, she doesn't want to devote her life to getting thin because it will just make her 'unhappy'

'I refuse to comply with their view of how my body should look and I am literally shaking my big beautiful womans body in their faces,' she told Fabulous magazine last year

Olivia, who previously worked as a beauty consultant, has also said that her physique is what earned her such a big following, and that losing weight could potentially harm her career as an influencer.

She called her 'size her brand,' and explained that while she does exercise sometimes, she doesn't want to devote her life to getting thin because it will just make her 'unhappy.'

In an interview with Fabulous magazine last year, she revealed: 'I refuse to work out daily like the bullies tell me I should.

'If I did, Id end up like some people who lose weight and are unhappy with their bodies and lives when Id much rather be fat and fabulous.

'Id lose my social media followers and income and Id be miserable. By taking on my trolls and flaunting my size, I am showing them they could do their worst.

'I refuse to comply with their view of how my body should look and I am literally shaking my big beautiful womans body in their faces.'

Olivia also charges $15 a month on her Patreon site, where she shares exclusive content.

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These sweatpants that are disguised to look like jeans have fans going wild as they can now step out wearing sweats without any guilt or weird looks included.

The Rag and Bone Liquid Miramar Jeans that are made from 100 per cent cotton are the perfect combination of comfort and chic, and while their 'ultra comfortable' material and denim print may have fashionistas raving, the price tag may have you raising an eyebrow.

If you want to strut your stuff and avoid the dreadful task of putting on jeans every morning, you will have to drop upwards of $250, but before you go clutching your wallet, social media users have claimed the jeans are worth every penny.

Designer brand Rag and Bone has created sweatpants that are disguised to look like jeans and have fans going wild

Now, you can step out sporting sweats without any guilt or weird looks included

You will have to drop upwards of $250 if you want to avoid the dreadful task that is putting on jeans every morning

The sweatpants - which come complete with a real button and an elastic waist - mimic the 2010 trend that saw people sporting Pajama Jeans everywhere to get the look of jeans with coziness of pajamas.

And while Pajama Jeans may have been popular over a decade ago, now it appears the trend is coming back in a different form: sweatpants.

The designer brand digitally prints the denim look on a pair of French terry sweatpants to create the effortlessly cute look that will have everyone fooled.

And not only does the brand offer everyone's dream combination, it also gives fashionistas the chance of purchasing many different variations

From wide-leg to joggers to shorts in light-wash, medium-wash, black and more, no matter your occasion you can rock the sweatpants or 'jeans' anywhere.

The cozy jeans first went viral when fashion expert Kristina Alfano shared them to her social media in a video, which amassed over 1.3 million views, and gushed about the '10/10' purchase, adding that she was 'so excited.'

But before you go clutching your wallet, social media users have claimed the jeans are worth every penny

The designer brand digitally prints the denim look on a pair of French terry sweatpants to create the effortlessly cute look that will have everyone fooled

The chic and cozy pants have fashionistas 'obsessed' as they have been showing them off on their social media

'I bought pajama jeans, I am literally so excited about them,' she said at the beginning of her video before showing off the 'silky' sweats.

Holding up the Miramar Liquid Jeans to the camera, she explained that they had a 'real button and zipper' and that she 'loved them so much.'

'They feel like wearing sweatpants, like truly, but they look nice, like I'm telling you when you put them on, they look so nice. You would have no idea that these aren't denim,' Kristina said.

She then gave the camera a twirl while sporting the fooling jeans, adding that they are 'so comfortable' and she's 'obsessed' with them.

TikTokers then followed in her footsteps, all boasting different styles.

Although the cost may have you questioning whether wearing jeans is really all that bad, fans note that getting both a sweat pant and designer jean in one is a well worth the price

The sweatpants - which come complete with a real button and an elastic waist - mimic the 2010 trend that saw people sporting Pajama Jeans

The cost doesn't seem to be warding off potential buyers either as every size but size 24 is sold out on Rag and Bone's website

Influencer Madeleine White showed her over 3.9 million followers the black pair in a video - which amassed over 1.4 million views - and had fans dying to get their hands on them.

Content creator Malia sported hemmed joggers in a viral video, which raked up over 140,000 views, and Kristen Gracelam wore a medium-wash in a video that gained over 61,000 views.

Social media users couldn't get enough of the jeans, with many calling them the 'best' and adding that they are their 'favorite' jeans.

Others said they were 'convinced' after seeing the videos, but couldn't 'find them anywhere', with many adding that they were 'sold out' in their size.

And although the cost may have you questioning whether wearing jeans is really all that bad, fans note that getting both a sweat pant and designer jean in one is well worth the price.

The cost doesn't seem to be warding off potential buyers either as every size but size 24 is sold out on Rag and Bone's website.

And luckily for those who can't justify spending anywhere from $250-$275 based on the style, many of the jeans are now on sale on the website for $99 to $140, but you'll have to act fast as shoppers can't keep their hands off these sweatpants disguised as jeans.

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Prince Harry has revealed that his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy was 'unlike so many girls he met' because she didn't have 'throne syndrome' and 'wasnt visibly fitting herself for a crown the moment she shook his hand'.

In his bombshell memoir Spare, which hit shelves on Tuesday, the Duke of Sussex, 38, described the moment he reunited with Chelsy in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2004 - after first meeting 'years earlier' at the Berkshire Polo Club.

'She wasdifferent,' said the royal. 'That was the word that had come to mind when I first met her, and it immediately came to mind now, and then again and again.'

He continued: 'Unlike so many people I knew, she seemed wholly unconcerned with appearances, with propriety, with royalty.

Prince Harry has revealed that his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy (pictured in 2008) was 'unlike so many girls he met' because she didn't have 'throne syndrome' and 'wasnt visibly fitting herself for a crown the moment she shook his hand'

'Unlike so many girls I met, she wasnt visibly fitting herself for a crown the moment she shook my hand. She seemed immune to that common affliction sometimes called throne syndrome.'

Former City lawyer Chelsy, 37, who is married to successful hotelier Sam Cutmore-Scott, dated Harry on-and-off for six years from 2004.

In his book, Harry recalled how Chelsy seemed 'bored' by his title and knew 'less than nothing' about his family.

Harry had told friends before they split in 2011 that she was 'the best thing that's ever happened to me'.

In his bombshell memoir Spare , which hit shelves today, the Duke of Sussex , 38, described the moment he reunited with Chelsy (pictured together in 2007) in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2004 - after first meeting 'years earlier' at the Berkshire Polo Club

They met in England when they were both at school but got together in 2004, during Harry's gap year travels in Zimbabwe, where Chelsy's millionaire father owns and runs a game reserve.

The relationship became so serious that palace officials remarked he had started calling her 'wifey' and she in turn called him 'hubby'.

It was clearly serious when Chelsy attended not only Harry's cousin Peter Phillips' wedding to Autumn Kelly - where she was introduced to the Queen - but she was also invited to Prince Charles's 60th birthday celebrations.

But the pressures of their conflicting careers and long periods apart as Harry served in Afghanistan took their toll.

Prince Harry's bombshell memoir Spare (pictured) was released in the UK today

They split in 2011 and Chelsy, who was born in Zimbabwe and now runs a jewellery and luxury travel business, has remained largely out of the spotlight in the 12 years since.

Elsewhere in his memoir, Harry has claimed Prince William 'recoiled' from Meghan Markle's hug during their awkward first meeting.

He described the moment he introduced his brother, 40, to his girlfriend, 41, as a 'classic collision of cultures'.

The meeting took place in late 2016 at the Prince and Princess of Wales's Kensington Palace apartment, shortly before Prince Harry and Prince William went on a shooting trip.

The Duke explains Meghan had already met Princess Eugenie, her then-boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, the Duchess of York, Prince Andrew and the Queen.

Chelsy, who was born in Zimbabwe and now runs a jewellery and luxury travel business, has remained largely out of the spotlight in the 12 years since her split from Prince Harry (pictured together in 2006)

Describing the short walk from Harry and Meghan's home Nottingham Cottage to Apartment 1A, the duke admitted that he was more nervous for his girlfriend to meet William than anyone else.

When his brother answered the door, Harry says William was a 'bit dressed up' in smart trousers and a shirt.

He wrote: 'I introduced Meg, who leaned in and gave him a hug, which completely freaked him out. He recoiled.'

Giving some context to the awkward encounter, Prince Harry said his brother wouldn't usually hug someone he didn't know.

In contrast, Harry explained how this was just Meghan's way of greeting strangers.

He continued: 'Maybe Willy expected Meg to curtsey? It would have been protocol when meeting a member of the Royal Family for the first time, but she didn't know and I didn't tell her.'

After 'exchanging a few warm words' in the doorway, the Prince of Wales invited the couple into the flat - prompting Kate and William's black cocker spaniel Lupo to start barking.

When the couple asked after Kate, William told them that she was out with their children George and Charlotte.

Following the brief meeting, Meghan returned to spend her first night alone in Nottingham Cottage while the brothers embarked on their shooting trip.

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The first 100 guests will received a gift with a limited-edition cocktail bottle

On of the world's best restaurants, one of Australia's favourite bars and a renowned whisky brand are teaming up to create a one-night-only, pop-up cocktail experience.

The teams from Sydney's Maybe Sammy bar along with New York's world-famous Eleven Madison Park restaurant and Glenfiddich whiskey have collaborated to host an extravagant event for cocktail lovers.

On Wednesday, January 18, guests will be able to try four bespoke never-before-tasted cocktails created by Eleven Madison Park Beverage Director Sebastian Tollius.

Sydney's Maybe Sammy is teaming up with New York's Eleven Madison Park, one of the world's best restaurants and Glenfiddich whisky to create a one-night cocktail pop-up event

On Wednesday, January 18, guests will be able to try three bespoke never-before-tasted cocktails created by Eleven Madison Park Beverage Director Sebastian Tollius

Each cocktail has been inspired by Eleven Madison Park's famous vegan menu that even the loyalist of meat-lovers would enjoy.

Sebastian and Maybe Sammy's expert barmen will be shaking four unique cocktails which use a range of innovative plant-based methods and ingredients.

Ingredients include shio koji which is a Japanese marinade, aquafaba or chickpea water and pecan miso that pair perfectly with Glenfiddich's range of fine whiskies.

The event starts at 6pm until stocks last at Maybe Sammy at The Rocks and the first 100 guests to arrive with receive a special gift.

Sebastian and the Maybe Sammy expert barmen will be shaking four unique cocktails which use a range of innovative plant-based methods and ingredients

The first 100 guests to arrive will receive a limited-release bottled cocktail (pictured) made in collaboration with the three brands inside an Eleven Madison Park tote bag

Early birds will get to take home a limited-release bottled cocktail made in collaboration with the three brands inside an Eleven Madison Park tote bag with an item from the Eleven Madison Home collection.

Eleven Madison Park has three Michelin stars, was voted the world's best restaurant in 2017 and continues to win prestigious global hospitality awards.

Since opening in 2019, Maybe Sammy has become one of Australia's most internationally awarded cocktail establishments earning a spot on the Top 50 World's Best Bars list each year since its inception.
An acupuncturist has revealed how you can alleviate drowsiness by hitting an 'alert button' on your face for 20 seconds.

Eileen Li, from Connecticut, said 'digging in' on the spot between your top lip and nose can feel like pressing 'a reset button to stimulate alertness' in a video posted to her popular Instagram page.

The Chinese medicine guru said the trick can also work to decongest the sinus, help back pain or wake up someone who has fainted.

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Acupuncturist Eileen Li (pictured), from Connecticut, has revealed a simple trick for decongesting the sinus and staying alert and awake

She said 'digging in' on the spot between your top lip and nose for 20 seconds can feel like 'a reset button to stimulate alertness'

'Save this tip because you never know when you're going to need it,' Eileen said with a blue dot on the 'magic' acupuncture point.

'DU26 is right above the lip and below the nose and you want to press right up towards your nose.'

Eileen said those with long nails can use their knuckle or you can also take a pen or sharpie to the area.

What is acupuncture point DU26 and what can it help with? Acupuncture point DU26, aka 'water trough', is is right above the lip and below the nose. It has historically been used to revive consciousness from fainting in emergency situations. Press up toward the nose and hold it for 20 seconds if: you're feeling drowsy, fatigued, this is the reset button to stimulate alertness.

you have a lot of sinus congestion, this will open up the nasal passages.

you suffer from acute back pain, this will help ease the pain to help you move.

you want to wake up your boo from a deep sleep, this is the one. Source: anew.acu/Instagram Advertisement

'Once you find the point you want to dig in and hold it there for 20 seconds,' she said.

'Your eyes might water and your sinuses might open up but you'll definitely feel awake.'

Eileen said the acupuncture point, also known as the 'water trough', has historically been used to help people who have fainted regain consciousness and it is safe to perform on pregnant people and children.

She recalled a time her mother woke her up by pressing DU26 when was just eight-year-old and had fainted from dehydration.

'My mum took a bobby pin and pinned this point on me. I woke RIGHT UP,' she said.

Eileen's clip has racked up 1.2million views and hundreds of impressed comments from people who were shocked the alternative hack worked.

'Wow! Cleared my congestion and made my eyes water. This will be great for the 3pm sleepiness,' one woman said.

'I'm battling a cold right now and this really helped! Thank you!' another replied.

'Shoulder ache has just gone like magic,' a third responded.

Others were already aware of the effects of the acupuncture point and shared the times it helped them.

'Before the EMT's arrived, my mother used this point to restore consciousness to my grandfather. Let's say it was a life saver at the time,' one viewer replied.

'I always use this point when I'm in a place/time I don't want to sneeze but I feel one coming, it always stops my sneeze (great when you have food in your mouth),' a second suggested.
The homeowner caught them and called the police on them for breaking in

The man then brought her to a stranger's house claiming it was his own

A single woman has left thousands with their jaws on the floor after she casually shared her 'crazy' disaster date story.

In a video posted to TikTok, an interviewer had stopped the woman on the street to ask about her worst ever date and was not prepared for the 'wild' story she relayed from when she went out with a man while visiting Queensland.

She said her date made her pay for dinner, his car broke down on the way home and she even ended up being taken to the police station for a suspected breaking and entering violation after he brought her to a stranger's house claiming it as his own.

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A woman has shocked thousands with her astonishing worst-ever date story that ended with her at the police station after the guy broke into a stranger's home claiming it was his own

'This guy invited me out to this nice restaurant, five star, it was really posh,' she started the story.

'We ate dinner, all good, he's like, 'Sorry, I can't actually afford this,' and I was like, 'That's alright I'll get it, pay me back, it's all good'.'

The pair get in the man's car which proceeds to break down and they were left stranded on the side of the road for two hours in silence.

'His car breaks down half way home and I'm like it's all good. We did not talk, I struck up a conversation but he didn't say anything back to me,' she recalled.

When they finally got back to the man's house, she noticed something very unusual about his living arrangements.

'No furniture at all, no bed, no cutlery, nothing, no toilet paper - empty, an empty house,' she said.

The woman still was not bothered and stayed the night, sleeping on the floor before she received a rude awakening.

'The next day some people come home, some randoms - he doesn't know who they are, he's in their house, he broke into some random's house and claimed it as his house,' she said.

The single woman also had to foot the bill for the fancy dinner he invited her to and was stuck on the side of the road with him for two hours after his car broke down

'Got the cops called on us. We didn't go to jail but we got sent to the cop station for breaking into someone's house.'

The woman's parents had to fly over to fetch her from the police station in Queensland from Western Australia and she then returned back home.

Thousands of viewers were astounded by the 'wild' date story and were impressed by the women's cool and calm attitude.

'I'm impressed with her, 'it's all good' seems to be her motto, nothing fazes this woman, that gentleman is a keeper,' one man said.

'This is the most low-maintenance woman I've ever seen and I love it,' a second agreed.

The woman received a rude awakening after spending the night at his house: 'The next day some people came home, he broke into some random's house and claimed it as his,' she said

'She has a heart of gold!' a third commented and a fourth said: 'Wifey material, 100 per cent'.

Others were shocked by the man's behaviour while some said he must have been good looking for his date to put up with his 'red flags'.

'I'm impressed with her, 'it's all good' seems to be her motto, nothing fazes this woman, that gentleman is a keeper,' said one viewer.

'The date would of ended at the restaurant with him owing them,' one woman laughed.

'What... I'm blown away. the man must have looked like Tristen Tate. Still go home with him and sleep there after all that and not talking and paying,' another user replied.

'Wow.. Hard enough to get a match.. How do you get away with this?' a third asked.
These drugs also leave a person vulnerable to manipulation, an expert warns

Experts say that these therapies can help manage trauma, grief and anxiety

Prince Harry admitted he used psychedelics to cope with his mother's death

Prince Harry's blistering attack on the Royal Family may have been fueled by powerful psychedelic 'trips', experts have told DailyMail.com.

During several bombshell tell-all interviews over the weekend, the Duke of Sussex, 38, claimed he self-medicated with potent and illegal drugs like ayahuasca and magic mushrooms to cope with the loss of his mother, Princess Diana.

The drugs are illegal in most US states and the UK, but growing research indicates they have therapeutic value in managing trauma, addiction and mental health issues by lowering inhibitions and allowing patients to open up fully.

Dr Matthew Johnson, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research, told DailyMail.com: 'Openness appears to be good, but there can be too much openness... it can cause manic phases.'

Dr Johnson said if there are underlying issues within a patient's family, the drugs often allow users to become willing to forgive and see things from a different perspective. 'But some people go the wrong direction with it' and develop even greater resentment for loved ones, he said.

Prince Harry admitted to using psychedelic drugs to deal with the 'grief' and 'trauma' he felt after the tragic death of his mom, Princess Diana

Now, Harry (seen with Diana in 1987) admitted he only cried once over his mother's death - and said he was plagued with guilt over feeling like he was not being emotional enough

Dr Matthew Johnson (pictured), a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins, said the use of these psychedelic drugs could leave a person vulnerable to manipulation

Dr Johnson added the drugs give people a fresh perspective on life, but they also leave takers susceptible to influence from others.

'It's been argued that a part of [the therapy] is greater mental flexibility... someone can be molded, sculpted, ' he said.

Prince Harry and his wife Megan Markle controversially stepped away from the royal family in early 2020 in a bitter breakup dubbed 'Megxit'.

They have since alluded to racism and mistreatment against them by the Royal Family in multiple high-profile TV interviews and a documentary on Netflix.

In the 60 Minutes interview, which aired Sunday, Prince Harry revealed he experimented with psychedelic therapy seven years ago as he still struggled to grieve his mother's death in 1997.

He says he used hallucinogenic drugs under the supervision of a therapist.

Dr Rachel Yehuda, director of Mount Sinai's Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research, told DailyMail.com: 'The idea is to put yourself in a different kind of state that is good for insight.'

It is thought that talking through trauma and emotions while under the influence of a hallucinogen allows people to open up more than usual and confront their fears head-on.

While Dr Johnson agreed the therapy is valuable, he says that sometimes it can have the opposite effect.

'You see some whacky stuff, some people go the wrong direction with [the therapy],' he said.

A person whose mind has become open is more likely to understand and consider the opinion of others.

But being too open leaves them vulnerable.

'Someone can be inspired to be estranged from his family... it could loosen someone up to go the wrong direction,' Dr Johnson added.

In early 2020, Prince Harry and his wife Megan Markle (left with Queen Elizabeth II) elected to step away from the royal family

What is ayahuasca and psilocybin? Magic mushrooms, or any fungus containing psilocybin, are illegal in most of US states but have been fully decriminalized in Oregon and partially in Colorado, when under medical supervision. Psilocybin is thought to help against depression by stimulating a receptor in the brain  called 5-HT2A  in an unusual way. This triggers a clinical state that is 'best described as a waking dream' that users can remember afterwards, researchers have said. It also releases a surge of dopamine  which is involved in mood regulation  and a neurotransmitter, called glutamate. This puts the brain in a more flexible state, 'opening a therapeutic window of opportunity', according to scientists. This can lead to positive changes in the mind of people suffering treatment-resistant depression. Meanwhile, ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic drink made by boiling together vine stems along with leaves from a chacruna shrub  both native to the Amazonia region. It is legal in most Latin American countries but is illegal to prepare, distribute or possess in the UK. It is illegal in the US unless for religious use. The psychedelic brew contains the compound N,N-Dymethyltriptamine (DMT), which is one of the world's most powerful known hallucinogens. DMT is also a class A drug in Britain, with the same potential punishments attached to it as psilocybin. Advertisement

Even with a great therapist and a perfect situation, Dr Johnson said a person using these drugs is still vulnerable to having their view warped.

He said he has heard of cases where patients were effectively brainwashed using psychedelic therapy.

But the expert added that for many people, '[They] can come to terms with personal issues with others... [and] feel that they have gained closure.'

Dr Johnson has seen many positive cases in clinical trials, though. Sometimes, a person will finally understand a loved one, and even break estrangement to reconnect.

Magic mushrooms, or any fungus containing psilocybin, are illegal in most of US states but have been fully decriminalized in Oregon and partially in Colorado, when under medical supervision.

Psilocybin is thought to help against depression by stimulating a receptor in the brain  called 5-HT2A  in an unusual way.

This triggers a clinical state that is 'best described as a waking dream' that users can remember afterwards, researchers have said.

It also releases a surge of dopamine  which is involved in mood regulation  and a neurotransmitter, called glutamate.

This puts the brain in a more flexible state, 'opening a therapeutic window of opportunity', according to scientists.

This can lead to positive changes in the mind of people suffering treatment-resistant depression.

Meanwhile, ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic drink made by boiling together vine stems along with leaves from a chacruna shrub  both native to the Amazonia region.

It is legal in most Latin American countries but is illegal to prepare, distribute or possess in the UK. It is illegal in the US unless for religious use.

The psychedelic brew contains the compound N,N-Dymethyltriptamine (DMT), which is one of the world's most powerful known hallucinogens.

DMT is also a class A drug in Britain, with the same potential punishments attached to it as psilocybin.

Experts have warned of its potentially deadly consequences after earlier this month it was revealed a young artist suffered a mental breakdown and took her own life after taking ayahuasca.

Similar to psilocybin, DMT has demonstrated its ability to increase connectivity between different brain networks.
Scientists have sought to calm fears over rising Covid deaths in New York, saying a rise during the winter months was to be expected.

Covid data from the state's health department shows 915 people died from Covid in December, up 30 percent from the 664 last month.

Concerns were raised by some experts and media outlets, who stressed that deaths had 'spiked' and 'people had let their guard down'.

But deaths are running at half the level compared to December 2021, and a third of the level of winter 2020. The current rate is also a far cry from the 16,000 monthly fatalities New York suffered early in the pandemic.

Dr Denis Nash, an epidemiologist at City University of New York, told DailyMail.com that the drop in Covid fatalities showed that vaccines, boosters and antivirals were working, adding that it underlined 'how far we've come'.

The above graph shows Covid deaths in New York state by month, and the rise by 30 percent which was described as a spike by the New York Post

But fatalities from respiratory illnesses  including Covid, flu and RSV  are expected to rise at this time of year because colder conditions lead to people spending more time indoors, where the virus finds it easier to spread.

The country is also currently being battered by a tripledemic, after flu and RSV cases surged earlier than expected overwhelming children's hospitals.

Fears have been raised over the 'Kraken' variant XBB.1.5  for which New York is a hotspot  but there is no sign that it is more likely to cause severe disease than its rivals. Experts came forward today to suggest concerns were overblown and that it was not spreading as fast as previously suggested.

Presented with the figures on New York state, Dr Nash told DailyMail.com: 'I think this figure is a sign of how far we've come.

'I mean, the first thing that comes to mind is all the increasing immunity that people have developed from vaccines and boosters and infections.

The above graph shows Covid cases by week across the United States. Cases in the US have now hit more than 100million recorded to date

This graph shows hospital admissions by week across the United States

This graph shows deaths by week across the United States

'The next thing that comes to mind is people, not enough, but many people are accessing antivirals when they become infected with Covid that can reduce their risk of a severe outcome.

'As we move further along in the pandemic, we are getting better and better at preventing the worst.'

He added that it was not surprising to see Covid fatalities rise in winter, when respiratory viruses are more likely to spread.

'We expect a winter surge to happen,' he said.

'We saw a blip after the thanksgiving holidays, and I think people gathered more after the Christmas holidays and New Year's so we are expecting to see an increase in cases and deaths after that as well.'

Dr Nash also warned that there were still too many people dying from Covid across the US, with around 390 daily fatalities.

About 29 people are dying from Covid in New York every day, up from 22 last month.

Hospitalizations are currently flat with about 734 people admitted every week on average.

And about 2,400 people are catching the virus every day, also a small change from last week, although this may be down to a lack of testing.

Nationally, hospitalizations are down by 11 percent on the previous week to 5,545 new patients in hospital every week on average, down from 6,230 previously.

But deaths are trending upwards, with 2,731 recorded last week up eight percent on the previous seven-day spell.

Covid cases are level nationally with about 470,000 recorded in the week to January 4 alone.

America has recorded the most fatalities from Covid out of any nation in the world, with the current tally at more than 1.091million.

And last week it became the first country in the world to officially top 100million infections.

Estimates suggest at least 60 percent of Americans had already been infected with Covid from April, giving them substantial immunity.

Some 73 percent  or 228million people  have also come forward to get their first two doses of the Covid vaccine.

The US, in line with other countries, has also run a booster programme this year to shore up immunity in the country.

Studies show that protection can wane overtime in older people, who are more at risk of severe disease and death if they catch the virus.

But just 38 percent of those over 65 years old have come forward for a bivalent booster this year.

In other news...

US becomes first country to hit 100million Covid cases, amid reports China suffered 250million alone last month.

Are 'Kraken' fears overblown? Experts say XBB.1.5 variant is NOT spreading as quickly as feared.

Moderna will jack up price of its Covid shot FIVE-FOLD to $130 this year to match rival Pfizer's
Pfizer board member and former FDA head Scott Gottlieb used his influence to pressure Twitter to flag a tweet that cast doubt on Covid-19 vaccines, the latest batch of 'Twitter files' show.

Documents leaked to controversial reporter Alex Berenson allege that Dr Scott Gottlieb leaned on the social media company to obscure a relatively innocuous post that cast doubt about the Pfizer vaccine's effectiveness and suggested natural immunity was more effective.

The tweet - made by a former Government health official - was subsequently slapped with a 'Misleading' label, despite the debate around immunity still dividing scientists to this day.

The revelations are part of the Twitter files, a cache of internal documents and correspondences that have recently been made publicly available to a select number of journalists. Their aim is to highlight a range of censorship decisions Twitter made prior to the takeover by eccentric billionaire Elon Musk.

Dr Gottlieb called Dr Giroir's relatively innocuous tweet 'corrosive' in an internal email to company higher-ups, who apparently were not made aware of Gottlieb's financial ties to Pfizer

The Twitter post was 'corrosive,' Gottlieb wrote worried it would 'end up going viral and driving news coverage' in a negative way, possibly imperiling Pfizer's profits

Dr Gottlieb is the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration under President Trump and a member of Pfizers Board of Directors.

Documents show that on August 27, 2021, Dr Gottlieb emailed Todd OBoyle, a top lobbyist in Twitters Washington office, after seeing a tweet disparaging the Covid vaccines.

The tweet was posted by Dr Brett Giroir, another government health official under the Trump administration, and touted the superiority of natural immunity over vaccine-conferred immunity.

Dr Gottlieb, who currently has a Twitter following of about 550,000, lobbied for the Tweet to be flagged as misinformation.

Dr Gottlieb said in the email the language could prove corrosive to the nationwide Covid vaccination campaign.

And even though Twitter could not prove outright that the tweet was a violation of its misinformation policy, it was slapped with a Misleading label anyway.

Dr Gottlieb himself never requested that the tweet be labeled as such, just lamenting that the corrosive message would wind up driving news coverage in a negative way.

Mr Berenson argued that Dr Gottlieb's motivation for quashing the tweet, which cast doubt on the necessity of the vaccines, was financial. In saying that natural immunity through prior exposure to the virus was superior to that conferred by the vaccine, Dr Brett Giroir was placing Pfizers sky-high profits in jeopardy.

Dr Gottliebs financial ties to Pfizer were not flagged in internal emails regarding the tweet.

He was spoken about by execs at the social media company as the former FDA commissioner, but not a Pfizer stakeholder who would be affected by waning vaccine uptake.

Both Dr Gottlieb and Mr Berenson have huge Twitter megaphones - 553k followers and 455k followers respectively

In his Substack post, Mr Berenson wrote: By suggesting some people might not need Covid vaccinations, the tweet could raise questions about the shots. Besides being former FDA commissioner, a CNBC contributor, and a prominent voice on Covid public policy, Gottlieb was a senior board member at Pfizer, which depended on mRNA jabs for almost half its $81 billion in sales in 2021. Pfizer paid Gottlieb $365,000 for his work that year.

Alex Berenson, a former New York Times journalist and prolific novelist, has become one of Twitters most high-profile vaccine skeptics. One of his hot takes got him temporarily banned from the platform last summer.

The tweet in question said: It doesn't stop infection. Or transmission. Don't think of it as a vaccine. Think of it - at best - as a therapist with a limited window of efficacy and terrible side effect profile that must be dosed IN ADVANCE OF ILLNESS. And we want to mandate it? Insanity.
Sexpert Chantelle Otten said to approach 'hickeys and spanking' with caution

Of 1,003 people quizzed, almost half of women had been injured during sex

The second most common bedroom mishap were carpet burns, followed by UTIs

According to a survey by LoveHoney, bruising is the most common sex injury

To most of us, sex may be innocent fun.

But getting down and dirty can sometimes be downright dangerous.

From carpet burns to bruises, a survey has now revealed the most common sex injuries.

From carpet burns to the run to the loo to avoid a UTI, a survey of the most common sex injuries shows your risque antics can be risky

Women are more injury-prone  with 47 per cent suffering a bedroom mishap of some kind, according to the poll of 1,003 people by LoveHoney.

For comparison, just 33 per cent of men confessed to injuring themselves during sex.

Of those who had experienced a sex-related injury, bruising was the most common (33 per cent)

It was followed by carpet burn (31 per cent) and UTIs (29 per cent).

Rounding out the top 10 were pulled muscles, vaginal tears, back injuries, allergic reactions, anal tears, haemorrhoids and twisted ankles.

Experts say anal sex is unlikely to cause new haemorrhoids, although it can worsen existing lumps.

Unsurprisingly, more than half of all sex-related injuries occurred in the bedroom. However, one in four happened in the shower.

Chantelle Otten, a Melbourne-based sexologist, provided tips on how to stop your bedroom antics ending in disaster in future.

She said: 'Bruises can be mild to moderate and occur when capillaries under the skin burst.'

A survey by LoveHoney found that women are more likely to be injured during sex, with almost half (47 per cent) experiencing some sort of bedroom mishap

The sexpert explained that 'hickeys, spanking and rough sex' were the most common culprits for bruising and advised to 'approach these acts with caution'.

Ms Otten recommended icing the area if you are in pain, or taking paracetamol.

For UTIs, she said women could reduce the risk of contracting one by peeing both before and after sex, to flush 'unwanted bacteria' from the urethra.

But this is disputed among experts, with some saying peeing before is not necessary unless you are particularly susceptible to UTIs.

Others claim there isn't much scientific data support the benefits of peeing after either.

Vaginal tearing, caused by too much friction or rough penetration, was experienced by 18 per cent of people who said they had experienced a sex-related injury.

Sexpert Ms Otten said: 'It's important to ensure you are aroused before engaging in penetration (with fingers, penis or toy,) go slow to gently stretch the area, and use lots of lots of lube. Always.'
She also urged passengers to wear face masks while on long-haul flights

But she said Europe should not impose testing requirements 'at this stage'

American travelers should show a negative Covid test in order to enter European countries, the World Health Organization implied today as the US became the world's hotspot for XBB.1.5.

Catherine Smallwood, the agency's senior emergency officer for Europe, implied the rule-change at a press conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

But she stopped short of recommending testing mandates 'at this stage', instead urging people on long-haul flights to wear face masks to curb the spread of Covid.

Concerns have been raised over the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, which has taken root in America and is now behind 27 percent of cases. For comparison, in Europe it is responsible for less than 2.5 percent of infections.

But scientists are quick to point out that America's wave is not growing as fast as feared and that there is no sign the strain is more likely to cause severe disease at present.

A man undergoes a COVID-19 test at the Histopath Diagnostic Specialists pre-departure area at Sydney International Airport on November 28

Catherine Smallwood, a senior emergency officer for Europe at the agency, implied that testing requirements should return (pictured)

Asked today about travel restrictions, Ms Smallwood said: 'In terms of travel measures, yes, our opinion is that travel measures should be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner.

'That is not to say that we recommend testing of patients, of passengers, coming from the US at this stage.

'Countries need to look at the evidence base for testing for pre-departure testing.'

She added: 'When it comes to XBB.1.5, which is a recombinant virus, that has been spreading very very rapidly in the northern US and eastern parts of the USA.'

Asked about wearing masks on flights, she said: 'The WHO's recommendation is that passengers should wear a mask in high risk settings such as long haul flights.

'This should be a recommendation issued to passengers arriving from anywhere where there is widespread transmission.'

About 27 percent of Covid cases in the US are caused by XBB.1.5, statistics suggest. For comparison, in Europe it is behind about 2.5 percent of cases

In Northern and eastern states like New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts, it is behind as many as three in four infections

Covid cases are trending upwards in the US, having risen 16 percent over the last week nationally to about 67,000 new infections every day.

But in the European Union  which has twice as many people  cases are falling, down by about a third last week to some 65,000 infections a day.

The uptick in the US is largely being driven by the more transmissible Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, which is now behind 27.6 percent of cases nationally.

In northern and eastern states like New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, it is behind as many as three in four cases.

But in Europe the variant is little-known, being behind less than 2.5 percent of cases according to estimates from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), although this is rising.

Many scientists say, however, that concerns over the variant are overblown pointing out that it is not spreading as quickly as first feared and that there is no evidence that it is more likely to cause severe disease or death.

The US and more than a dozen other countries have already placed restrictions on travelers from China, requiring them to show a negative Covid test before flying.

This is in response to the 'exit wave' of cases in China, which has left hospitals overwhelmed and triggered estimates the country could be facing up to 250million Covid infections in December.

America dropped its negative Covid test requirement for all in-bound travelers on June 12 last year, after a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Many other European countries had dropped the restriction earlier, with the UK ending the requirement in February and France dropping the restriction the same month.

There are no signs at present that the countries may re-impose Covid restrictions.
The prince was keen to avoid a second case of suffering from a

He said a friend presented him the device before an arduous hike in Antarctica

Prince Harry had a bespoke penis 'cushion' made for a trip to Antarctica in order to protect him from a second dose of genital frostbite.

The Duke of Sussex, 38, was presented with the device by a 'close mate' ahead of a 335km charity hike for injured veterans across the continent in 2013.

His close friend, who wasn't named, sent him the custom-made device after Harry revealed he had suffered 'frostnip' of the penis during a similar charity event in the Arctic in March 2011.

But experts told MailOnline a 'specialised' device wasn't needed for any polar trips, provided a man dresses adequately for frozen conditions.

Watch your South Pole Harry! The Duke, pictured here on the charity hike across Antarctica in 2013, has now revealed he packed much 'snugger' underwear in a bid to avoid a repeat case of frostbitten penis, as well as custom 'c**k cushion' given to him by a close friend

The prince waving to fans as he left the Late Night studios in New York City on Monday

Prince Harry's memoir Spare has revealed his attempts to avoid further cases of a frostbitten penis

WOULD A PENIS 'CUSHION' EVEN WORK? Like other extremities, the outward sticking body parts like the toes and fingers, the penis is vulnerable to frostbite. However, in most environments and situations, men will generally dress warmly enough that this part of the body, which is usually bundled up anyway, should be protected from most temperatures. It is unclear how effective a bespoke 'c**k cushion' would be at offering any further protection than underwear specially designed for hiking or cold weather conditions. And Dr Richard Viney, a consultant urological surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, told MailOnline while it would be 'reasonable' to get extra protection if the area had suffered from frostbite previously, no 'specialised devices' should be needed. 'It must be said that its highly unusual to just get frostbite to this area without getting frostbite to more exposed body parts like nose/ears and toes,' he said. 'All that should be necessary are a few extra layers in the immediate vicinity.' Advertisement

The bizarre admission is just the latest in a string of shocking revelations buried in his bombshell new memoir 'Spare'.

Harry had confessed his prior injury, which left the head of the organ extremely raw and sore as it healed, caused him great discomfort during William and Kate's wedding in April that same year.

In the extract from 'Spare', which went on sale in Britain today, Harry told how he was keen to avoid a repeat injury for his trek across Antarctica and ensured he had taken extra precautions such as packing better underwear and extra padding.

But, he added that one friend went above and beyond in an attempt to protect his manhood.

'Better yet, one very close mate hired a seamstress to make me a bespoke c**k cushion,' he said.

'Square, supportive, it was sewn from pieces of the softest fleece and... Enough said.'

Harry didn't explain how this close friend acquired the necessary measurements to commission this 'bespoke' item.

Nor did he reveal if he actually wore the item during the arduous trip across the South Pole.

The trip saw the Duke of Sussex, as part of team of seven, endure freezing temperatures of -45C (-49F) for about two weeks to reach the geographic South Pole in a bid to raise funds for military charities supporting veterans.

During a similar trip in 2011, this time to the North Pole, had left Harry with frostbite of his cheeks, ears and genitalia, he claimed.

Frostbite can occur anywhere on the body but extremities, including ears, nose, hands and penis, are more vulnerable to exposure.

The condition occurs when skin is exposed to extreme temperatures below zero degrees celsius.

Normally, the affected area begins to feel cold and painful as blood withdraws from the area to protect internal body temperature.

If exposure to cold continues, the sensation of pins and needles can happen before the area finally numbs over as tissue freezes, damaging it.

In extreme cases the tissue can be lost as a result, requiring amputation.

For minor cases, the body heals the damage but this can be very painful as the dead tissue sloughs off, becoming red and raw, and sometimes taking up to six months to fully recover.

While Harry's frostbitten ears and cheeks swiftly healed, he said he still suffering from his penile injuries during his brother's wedding.

He also detailed in his memoir that he applied an Elizabeth Arden cream  a favourite of the late Princess Diana  onto his penis after a recommendation from a friend.

A beauty world cult staple, the brand's Eight Hour Skin Protectant cream, one of its best-loved products, is known for its moisturising properties.

It contains a blend of petrolatum and vitamin E, which aims to soothe dry skin.

Harry also said he secretly visited a doctor on Harley Street after fearing he may have to undergo a partial penectomy - a removal of part of the penis.

But he was told he just needed time for his organ to heal.

Dr Richard Viney, a consultant urological surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, told MailOnline frostbite of the penis was rare but typically only happens when a man urinates in freezing temperatures.

The Duke of Sussex confessed that he suffered from a frostbitten penis during William and Kates wedding in April 2011. Pictured above with the Prince of Wales on his wedding day

The Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Skin Protectant cream is known for its multi-tasking moisturising properties

'Its possible for the penis to be affected but this is fairly rare as its central position means its usually well protected and insulated,' he said.

'When it is pulled out to urinate this will leave it exposed and wet and can lead to frostbite.'

He also said the 'cushion' wouldn't be needed provided Harry had dressed adequately for the conditions.

'No specialised devices should be needed. All that should be necessary are a few extra layers in the immediate vicinity.'

Dr Viney said that the best way to avoid a frostbitten penis entirely was to dress warmly in cold environments and not take the organ out of this protection.

'Keeping oneself warm is key to avoiding a frostbitten penis.'

The NHS says frostbite sufferers, who usually include climbers, skiers and the homeless, should be taken to warm environments urgently.

Doctors usually warm up the affected areas in warm water in order to stop the damage.

The rewarming process is often painful and require strong painkillers as warm blood surrounds frostbitten tissue, impacting nerve signals.

The earliest stage - called frostnip - which the Duke of Sussex claimed he had, is the easiest to treat.
Hundreds of thousands more students across the US have been placed under Covid restrictions as schools and colleges bring back mask and testing mandates.

In another sign that pandemic policies are creeping back into American life, elementary and middle schools in Massachusetts and Michigan began requiring face coverings to be worn indoors 'at all times' on Monday.

Meanwhile, children in a Chicago school system must now show a negative Covid test before being allowed back into classrooms this week after the holidays.

Mask hysteria is also spilling over into colleges, with Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, planning to make masks an entry requirement if Covid cases don't come down within the next fortnight. The University of Massachusetts, Boston, brought back its controversial mask mandate on Monday.

It means more than 600,000 students are living with Covid rules  despite little evidence that they reduce transmission  after students in New Jersey and Pennsylvania were also put under mask mandates last week.

Schools in Michigan and another school system in Massachusetts are bringing back requirements for people to wear face masks. A school system in Chicago, Illinois, is now asking pupils to test negative for Covid before coming to the school

Covid cases in the US remain below levels that they reached over the summer, with about 470,000 cases now being recorded every week, or 67,000 a day

Covid cases in the US have risen 16 percent in a week nationally according to the latest data available, to about 67,000 new cases a day.

This is thannks to a new highly infectious variant XBB.1.5, and higher mixing this winter during the first normal festive season in years.

But experts tell DailyMail.com that XBB.1.5 is not more dangerous than other variants, and that the winter rise was always to be expected because respiratory diseases spread more in the colder months when people spend more time indoors.

There are also fears that the rampant outbreak in China could spawn a new dangerous variant.

Those fears prompted the World Health Organization to today urge countries to bring back mask mandates on airplanes.

But there is little evidence that face masks and testing reduce infection rates, while mounting research suggests covering faces in classrooms stunts social development in children and weakens their immunity.

As Covid cases remain steady, hospitalizations with flu have continued to decline after flu season took off early this year

A total of 11 states currently have 'very high' flu levels (left), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is about half the 21 at this threshold in the previous week. States with 'very high' flu levels are colored in purple and the two darkest reds shown on the map. Those that are purple have the absolute highest levels

Hospitalizations with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are also on the way down, after spiking early this year to above levels seen over the previous five years

Schools in two states have, however, pushed ahead with face mask requirements  joining those in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Washington.

Principals at Chelsea Public Schools, Boston  which has 6,000 pupils across 10 elementary and high schools in Boston, Massachusetts  told parents in a letter Monday that masks would be required in classrooms.

Superintendent Dr Almi Abeyta wrote they were bringing in the rule a week after term began because the CDC had designated their county 'high risk' for Covid transmission.

'As a result of this designation, Chelsea Public Schools will implement a mask mandate, effective on Monday, January 9,' he said.

'Masks must be worn in school buildings at all times except when eating or drinking.

'Mask wearing will continue to remain mandatory for any person visiting our school health offices, and anyone returning to school from a five-day quarantine following a positive Covid diagnosis.'

The rule is set to remain in place until such a time as Covid levels start to fall in the county, meaning it could last for weeks.

Ann Arbor Public Schools  which has 17,000 students across 32 elementary and middle schools in the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan  followed suit yesterday bringing back its mask mandate as children returned from the Christmas holidays.

Officials said this was to head off a wave of Covid cases, an to avoid any further school closures due to respiratory illness after five took place in December.

Superintendent Jeanice Swift wrote in a letter to parents: 'The Ann Arbor Public Schools will require well-fitting masks to be worn by students, staff and visitors while indoors in AAPS schools, beginning on January 9th and during the first two weeks following the winter break.

...and now the WHO urges countries to bring back masks on flights! Face masks should be brought back on long-haul flights to counter the spread of Covid, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today. The XBB.1.5. subvariant is growing substantially in America, where it is now behind about one in three cases. The WHO's senior emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood, made the recommendation. She said: 'This should be a recommendation issued to passengers arriving from anywhere where there is widespread COVID-19 transmission.' It remains unclear if XBB.1.5 will cause its own wave of infections around the world. Current vaccines continue to protect against severe symptoms, hospitalization and death, experts say. 'Countries need to look at the evidence base for pre-departure testing', Smallwood added, saying it was crucial not to focus exclusively on one particular geographic area. If action is considered, she said, 'our opinion is that travel measures should be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner'. That did not mean the agency recommended testing for passengers coming from the United States at this stage, she added. Measures that can be taken include genomic surveillance, and targeting passengers arriving from other countries as long as it does not divert resources away from domestic surveillance systems. Others include wastewater monitoring systems around points of entry, such as airports. Advertisement

'Extra masks are available at all school buildings for use by students and staff.'

The schools join Massachusetts system Boston Public Schools (BPS), which brought in masking requirements last week to avoid a tide of Covid infections.

Principals insisted at the time that it was an 'ask and expectation' but 'not a mandate'. They said any children not wearing a face mask would not be sent home.

The School District of Philadelphia and Camden City Public Schools in Pennsylvania and Paterson Public Schools in New Jersey brought in mask mandates last week for the first 14 days of term.

Last month Wilson Elementary School in Washington state also mandated face masks for a week to head off rising winter infections.

In another sign of Covid restrictions leaching back into public life, this week Chicago Public Schools  which has 340,000 pupils in Illinois  said all children needed to show proof of a negative Covid test before being allowed to return to classrooms for the new term.

A notice from the school read: 'In order to keep our school communities safe, please test for Covid before returning to school.

'If you test positive, please report the positive test using the Covid Self-Reporting Form, and follow the guidance outlined on our safety page.'

The school system returned to lessons this week after the winter break.

There are also now signs that mask hysteria is spilling over into colleges across the country.

This week the University of Massachusetts, Boston, brought back face masks for its 16,000 students.

In a campus memo released Friday they said the move was in response to the CDC's community risk level for Covid in the county being raised from 'medium' to 'high'.

It read: 'While on-campus transmission has remained low and our very highly vaccinated population continues to have strong protection against severe disease, we nonetheless will continue to follow the CDC guidance.

'For the sake of the health of our campus and community, we are hopeful that this latest wave of the Covid pandemic will pass quickly.

'We extend a heartfelt thank you to all our students, faculty and staff for your continued vigilance in keeping our community safe.'

Duke University in North Carolina is also threatening to bring back masks within two weeks should cases remain high.

It would be at least the second college to do so after the University of Massachusetts reinstated its mask mandate on Monday.

Students expressed concern over the move by Duke University yesterday, saying it would 'not be popular' and that people 'hate masks'.

Freshman Evelyn Wilson told ABC11: 'I'd be surprised if the mask mandate was brought back honestly.

'I think a very popular opinion is people hate masks and that they are such a hassle. [But] I don't really have a problem with them.'

Freshman Aissatou Diallo added: 'Yeah masks are annoying to wear but whatever.

'I feel like I don't know enough about it to say no masks or yes masks; I'm going to follow what other people are saying.'

Last week the US quietly extended its vaccination proff requirement until April.

And America has introduced the requirement for Chinese travelers to test negative for Covid before being allowed to enter the country.

While Covid cases have risen slightly after Christmas, flu has ebbed after surging early this year likely due to lower immunity levels.

The latest CDC data shows a total of 11 states now have 'very high' flu levels, about half of the 21 states hitting this threshold in the previous week.

Cases and hospitalizations with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are also dropping. About 2.4 people per 100,000 were admitted to wards with the disease in the third week of December, the latest available, down from 3.3 previously.

But despite the ebbing tide of infectious diseases, schools in a total of five states have moved to bring back mask requirements.
Moderna has come under fire after DailyMail.com revealed the firm plans to hike the price of its taxpayer-funded Covid shot.

The company's CEO told this website it would charge up to $130 for the shot - which costs just $2 to make - when its Government contract runs out later this year.

Moderna said it was a direct response to rival Pfizer's similarly high price spike announced late last year. But the move will be seen as a double blow to Americans given that, unlike Pfizer, Moderna benefitted from more than $2billion in taxpayer-funded support to develop its shot.

Julia Kosgei, Policy Co-Lead for the Peoples Vaccine Alliance said: 'The sheer greed is obscene. Billions of taxpayer dollars went into the development of mRNA vaccines. This vaccine isnt just Modernas.'

Moderna has come under fire after DailyMail.com revealed the firm plans to hike the price of its taxpayer-funded Covid shot

She added: 'It was developed in collaboration with a government agency based on decades of publicly-funded research.

'It is the peoples vaccine  and it should be available and affordable for everyone, everywhere.

Americans have been able to get a Covid-19 shot free of charge when they become eligible thanks to purchasing agreements between the federal government and vaccine manufacturers, including Moderna and Pfizer.

Since both companies debuted their vaccines in late 2020, the US government has procured more than one billion doses.

But the federal stores and money to buy more are drying up and a gridlocked Congress has shown little interest in repleninishing dwindling funds.

It means uninsured Americans in need of a Covid shot will soon be forced to pay the commercial price.

Mr Bancel did not disclose the final per-dose price but told DailyMail.com that the company would mirror the prices set by competitor Pfizer, whose vaccine with partner BioNTech was the first to hit the US market.

Mr Bancel told DailyMail.com: 'When we did the first contract with the US, we proposed an offer to them [with] a big discount In the US it's $26 now. That was the discounted price, it's going to go up. Pfizer said theyre going to price it between $110 and $130.

Wed want to be the same ballpark as that.

Pfizer was sharply criticized last fall when it announced plans to increase the commercial price of its mRNA vaccine. The company sparked ire in Washington among progressive lawmakers such as Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Moderna's mRNA vaccine was one of the first to hit the US market in late 2020 and was developed using federal resources

Sen Sanders, for instance, said: Enough is enough. The COVID vaccine should cost $0. Pfizer's greed is killing people throughout the world.

Sen Warren, meanwhile, said it 'smacks of corruption' and was a signal that 'Big Pharma' and leading federal regulators were in too-close contact.

The Covid shots have been free thanks to the multi-billion dollar vaccine and treatment research initiative Operation Warp Speed spearheaded by the former Trump administration in April 2020. OWS helped shepherd Modernas vaccine across the regulatory finish line.

Moderna, a Massachusetts-based biotech startup, inked several contracts with the federal government totaling more than $2.4 billion in the first year of the pandemic to provide the government with hundreds of millions of doses.

As that supply wanes, Moderna will be forced to work directly with insurance companies to nail down a new pricing model, which will ensure that people with health insurance do not have to pay anything out of pocket. But people without coverage wont be so lucky.

Despite the high list price, dwindling demand means Moderna likely will not make the same financial gains as it did in the first two years of the pandemic when the need for vaccines was most acute.

The mRNA vaccine juggernaut reported approximately $18.4 billion in revenue last year, exceeding 2021s total of $17.7 billion. But 2023 sales are expected to be far more modest. On Monday, Moderna projected 2023 sales of the vaccine to reach about $5 billion.
A world-renowned oncologist and one of the architects of Obamacare will refuse any medication in 10 years' time - including antibiotics, chemotherapy and even pain meds - to achieve his goal of dying at 75.

Unlike many elites with ambitions of immortality, Dr Ezekiel Emanuel, 65, will act as if medical leaps made over the last 200 years never happened, and make no efforts to cheat death.

The physician has dedicated large parts of his career to saving the lives of elderly Americans, but his personal belief is that old age is a burden on society and loved ones.

Dr Emanuel, who served in both the Obama and Biden administrations, says there is also a lack of dignity when aging past 75.

Dr Ezekiel Emanuel, a former Obama Administration official, said he plans to swear off all medical treatment after age 75 so he can die while he is still healthy and vibrant

The doctor, who is in good health now, first wrote about his goal in a morbid essay published in The Atlantic titled 'Why I hope to die at 75' in 2014.

It recently resurfaced after Dr Emanuel was interviewed with the British press, now that the deadline is ten years away.

Major medical advancements have allowed people in the Western world to live significantly longer now than in previous decades, with the average American living in 2023 expected to reach the age of 77 compared to just 59 a century ago.

Dr Emanuel notes that, while people have more years of life now than before, the amount of years they are healthy has not increased much.

'There is a simple truth that many of us seem to resist: living too long is also a loss,' he wrote in his essay.

'It renders many of us, if not disabled, then faltering and declining, a state that may not be worse than death but is nonetheless deprived.

'It robs us of our creativity and ability to contribute to work, society, the world.'

The degradation of health someone goes through in old age can also rob a family of valuable time and resources.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 40million Americans provided unpaid care to an elderly person in 2018 - the most recent available data.

Around half of them care for an elderly person - usually a family member or other person in the household - either every day or several times per week. In nearly 40 percent of cases, the person receiving the care is aged 85 and older.

Dr Emanuel also notes when a person lives especially long - into their 90s or even 100s - their children may have to spend their own retirement caring for a parent.

At this point in life they are not who they once were either.

Dr Emanuel said people whose health slowly degrades over time will be remembered for who they are at the end of their lives rather than in their prime.

The version of their lives that will remain in loved ones' minds will be someone who is feeble, needy and 'even pathetic' - not vibrant and full of personality.

The irony of his claims are that he is best known for his work with the Obama Administration when he served as chief of the Clinical Center's Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health.

He worked closely with the president to craft the Affordable Care Act - which proved to be one of the nation's largest expansions of public healthcare in 2010.

The expansion of Medicaid and a slew of other changes to US healthcare that came alongside the law undoubtedly helped millions of elderly Americans extend their lives.

Despite his wish to die soon after the next decade, he does not support euthanasia - saying he thinks resources used for assisted suicide care could go towards end-of-life counseling.

Dr Emanuel does not want to die at age 75, but wants to go 'naturally', as he puts it, after that age.

Dr Emanuel took a swipe at people he calls 'immortals' like Bills Gates (pictured with the doctor in 2011) who are investing in longevity

Dr Emanuel said that elderly people who require a caretaker can prove to be a burden on their family and friends

Dr Emanuel's (center) loved ones largely oppose his plan and want him to continue seeking medical care to live far beyond age 75

Scientists say they've cracked secret of aging - and it could lead to 'fountain of youth pill' Scientists believe they've cracked the secret of aging. A major genetic analysis of people, rodents and fish found the length of their DNA was directly linked to their biological age. Shorter genes were associated with shorter lifespans, while longer genes were linked to better health and longevity. Scientists believe if they can hijack this mechanism, it could pave the way for a fountain of youth drugs that could slow  or even reverse  aging. Dr Thomas Stoeger, lead author of the study from Northwestern University in Illinois, said: 'I find it very elegant that a single, relatively concise principle seems to account for nearly all of the changes in the activity of genes that happen in animals as they age.' The length of a gene is based on the number of nucleotides within it. Each string of nucleotides translates to an amino acid, forming a protein. Therefore a very long gene yields a large protein, and a short gene yields a small protein. A cell needs to have a balanced number of small and large proteins to achieve homeostasis, and problems occur when that balance gets out of whack. Advertisement

If he develops cancer, for example, he will not seek treatment and instead just let the disease kill him.

He also plans on receiving his last cancer screening at age 65.

The physician admits that his own daughters are not happy with his plans, and hope that he will renege once he is staring down the prospect of dying ten years from now.

His father lived to 92 before passing away, and his mother is still alive at age 89. She is also uncomfortable with his decision, The Times reports.

Rahm Emanuel, Ezekiel's brother who served as Obama's chief of staff and as mayor of Chicago, jokingly asks regularly how many years he will still need to put up with his brother.

His family, and others around him, often cite examples of high-profile people still finding success and showing mental acuity past 75.

Dr Anthony Fauci, a leading figure in America's fight against Covid, just retired from his post at the ripe age of 82.

President Joe Biden was sworn into office at 79, and despite some speculation that he is cognitively declining, he has maintained the role in office.

Dr Emanuel considers cases like Dr Fauci and President Biden to be outliers, though, saying it is unlikely for a person to remain in great cognitive health that far into their life.

He says that in most cases, people of Fauci's age are a burden on public resources.

For example Medicare, America's public health service available to those 65 and older accounts for more than 20 percent of America's health spending.

In 2021, the most recent data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), $900billion was spent on Medicare.

The CMS projects a 7.8 percent growth in Medicare spending in the US between 2019 and 2028 - making it the fastest growing health expenditure in America.

This is because Americans live longer and because of the rapidly rising costs of common medications.

In 2019, the last year before the pandemic, the average American lived to 79 years - a rise of three years from 2000.

In peer nations such as Canada and the UK - which have also expanded public health systems - average residents live past 80 years old.

Dr Emanuel has taken aim at what he calls 'immortals', who invest in longevity - saying many forget the world can, and will, continue without them.

Interestingly, Dr Emanuel is not a proponent of euthanasia or assisted suicide - a practice becoming more common in the western world.

He says that many people who opt for euthanasia are not doing so because of an unbearable disease, but instead to die on their own terms and avoid psychological distress.

Instead, he thinks resources spent on assisted suicide should instead be put towards counseling and other near-end-of-life services for the elderly.
Electric car drivers who want to charge their vehicles en-route are forced to pay 58 per cent more than they were in May, a new market review has revealed.

The average cost to use a 'rapid' device across the different public charging operators in the UK at the start of January has risen to 70.32p per kilowatt hour, up from 44.55p eight months ago, according to new analysis by the RAC.

It says the owner of an electric family car with a 64kW battery will pay 36 to add around 188 miles of range, which works out at almost 20p per mile. In contrast, a driver of an equivalent petrol car will pay only around 17p-a-mile.

As a point of comparison, the RAC says the average cost to charge a family EV to 80 pent cent using a wallbox installed at home costs around 17.87 today - despite record high domestic energy prices.

Public charging prices up 58% since May 2022: Analysis by the RAC has found that the average price for using rapid public devices has risen from 45p per kWh to 70p in just eight months

The RAC's report follows similar analysis conducted by the Daily Mail on Monday, which pointed to petrol cars being less expensive to run over longer journeys than electric vehicles, which have commonly been sold to customers under the premise that they are far cheaper to run.

Driving their rising cost is the high wholesale price of electricity, which public charging operators are passing onto consumers via ad-hoc price rises.

This has extended the running cost gap between plugging in an electric car at home and more expensive public devices - and in some cases it's more than twice the price.

For instance, pay-as-you-go users of the popular Shell Recharge network need to fork out 85p per kWh to charge via a rapid 50kW device, while BP Pulse wants 69p per kWh to access plug-in points with this charging speed.

Running costs compared Petrol: 17p per mile Diesel: 20p per mile EV charged at home: 10p per mile EV charged at rapid public devices: 20p per mile EV charged at ultra-rapid public devices: 21p per mile Source: RAC data based on current fuel and EV charging prices

This means the price per mile for an electric vehicle charged at home is just over 10p, which is far cheaper than petrol and proof that those with the capacity to plug-in at the properties will see the biggest cost benefits.

Using the fastest public 'ultra-rapid' charging devices - those with speeds in excess of 100kW - is even more expensive.

While these charging points can boost an electric car's battery to 80 per cent in a matter of minutes, it comes at a far steeper average cost of 74.79p per kWh.

That's up from an average of 50.97p in May 2022 - an increase of 47 per cent.

Charging an average 64kWh battery electric family car to 80 per cent using one of these devices will cost a staggering 38.29 on average - or 21p per mile - the report said. That's 20.42 more than it costs drivers who can plug in at home.

It also means it is more cost effective to drive a petrol car over longer journeys, based on current UK average pump prices.

A petrol model returning 40 miles to the gallon will cost around just 17-a-mile, the RAC calculated, while diesels are on par with rapid charging costs at around 20p per mile due to higher prices at the pumps. That figure is also based on a return of 40mpg, but many diesel cars are more fuel efficient than petrol and so the real-world petrol to diesel comparison may prove more favourable.

Charging an electric car at home is still by far the cheapest option, working out at around 10p per mile. That's 9p less than using public chargers - and some 6p cheaper than petrol

The RAC says it is growing increasingly concerned that the high cost of longer journeys in EVs will temper drivers' appetite to switch to greener cars.

It said the sky-high cost of using the public network - on top of relatively high battery vehicle prices - 'risks dissuading drivers from opting for them over keeping their existing petrol and diesel vehicles'.

Britain's poor charging infrastructure is another hurdle in the switch to EVs As well as concerns about rising costs, the size and coverage of the public charging infrastructure is also being brought into question by industry insiders and EV owners. Government figures show nearly a third of all public charging points are in located in the capital. In fact, Westminster has more devices than Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield and Birmingham combined. There is one charger available for every mile on average in the capital compared to one every 16 miles in English counties, according to analysis from the County Councils Network.

Simon Williams, the RAC's spokesperson, said: 'For drivers to switch to electric cars en masse, its vital that the numbers stack up.

'In time, the list price of new electric models will come down but charging quickly has also got to be as affordable as possible.'

He went on: 'It continues to be the case that those who can charge at home or at work and who dont use the public rapid charging network very often get fantastic value  even given the relatively high domestic energy prices right now.

'Sadly, the same cant be said for people who either cant charge at home or at work, or who regularly make longer journeys beyond the range of their cars.

'Theres no question they have to pay far more, and in some cases more than petrol or diesel drivers do to fill up on a mile-for-mile basis.'

Figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders last week showed that battery electric new cars took a market share of 16.6 per cent in 2022, making it the second most-bought fuel type behind petrol.

In comparison, diesels accounted for just 9.6 per cent of all new cars purchased in 2022, as demand for the fuel type continues to shrink following the Dieselgate emission cheating scandal of 2015.

Sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans in the UK will be banned from 2030.
The stock market hit its highest level for nearly five years as New Year cheer continued.

On another upbeat day for investors, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.3 per cent, or 25.45 points, to 7724.94. It was the first time the Footsie has been above 7700 since mid-2018.

The more domestically focused FTSE 250 slipped 0.1 per cent, or 25.33 points, to 19479.39, however.

China boost: On another upbeat day for investors, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.3% - it was the first time the Footsie has been above 7700 since mid-2018

The rally among the blue chips was helped by mining and oil stocks as the further reopening of the Chinese economy pushed up commodity prices.

Oil prices rose back above $80 a barrel amid hopes of rising demand. It sent BP up 0.5 per cent, or 2.25p, to 479.3p and Shell added 1.2 per cent, or 29p, to 2379p.

Meanwhile, Glencore rose 3.2 per cent, or 16.7p, to 542.6p and Antofagasta gained 4.3 per cent, or 71.5p, to 1726.5p as the mining sector made gains.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: The FTSE 100 has pushed up to its best level since August 2018 driven by resilience in commodity prices after China relaxed Covid travel restrictions, helping to push the likes of Glencore and Antofagasta higher as copper prices push to six-month highs.

Nanoco shares plunged 24.4 per cent or 13.6p, to 42.2p after it warned its settlement cost with Samsung would be lower than hoped.

HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP How to choose the best (and cheapest) stocks and shares Isa and the right DIY investing platform

The Manchester-based technology company sued the South Korean tech giant for patent infringement. Nanoco claimed Samsung used its quantum dot technology without permission across its TVs.

Last week the pair avoided a courtroom showdown and were granted 30 days to work out terms of the no-fault agreement, which could be worth as much as $500million (415million).

Stock Watch - Music Magpie Music Magpie strengthened its foothold in the US after its American brand signed a deal with the biggest retailer in the world. The group, which allows consumers to buy and sell second-hand CDs and electronics, said refurbished discs sold by its business Decluttr could be bought by Walmart.coms 120m monthly website visitors. Decluttrs refurbished phones, iPads, MacBooks and consoles will also soon be added. Music Magpie shares soared 10.9 per cent, or 3.1p, to 31.6p.

But Nanoco yesterday warned that further negotiations were required and uncertainty remained over what a final agreement would look like.

The gross settlement value should be expected to be towards the lower end of the range of expectations for a successful jury trial outcome as previously guided by the company, a company spokesman added.

Investors in telecoms stocks had much to digest at the start of the week. Vodafone agreed to sell its Hungarian business for 1.5billion as part of efforts to reduce debt.

It will be bought by the local technology company 4iG and the Hungarian state.

Voda finance boss Margherita Della Valle, who stepped up to become interim chief executive while the search to replace Nick Read continues, said the combined entity will increase competition and accelerate investment in the ongoing digitalisation of Hungary.

Voda shares fell 0.7 per cent, or 0.64p, to 88.07p. Airtel Africa, meanwhile, bought 4G and 5G radio frequencies from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for 260million.

The companys Nigerian subsidiary is hoping that the deal with the telecoms regulator in the country will enable it to provide reliable and affordable services to local communities.

The news was somewhat dampened by Barclays cutting the groups target price to 195p from 200p. Shares sank 3.2 per cent, or 3.8p, to 114.5p.

There was better news for BT after analysts at Citi raised the telecoms giants rating to buy from neutral and lifted the target price to 160p from 130p. Shares inched up 1.1 per cent, or 1.4p, to 128.05p.

Tortilla Mexican Grill produced a tasty set of results as the restaurant group brushed aside the impact of train strikes and poor weather. Revenue shot up 20 per cent to 57.7million for the year to January 1.

Tortilla hailed the positive progress of the sites it opened during the year, including ones in Durham and Canterbury. Shares soared 16.1 per cent, or 14p, to 101p.
Games Workshop posted record sales for the six months to the end of November, but missed targets, sending shares falling 5 per cent.

The Warhammer figurine maker told investors that the 7 per cent increase in revenues to 226.6million 'isn't where we wanted to be, particularly in the US', where sales were flat on a constant currency basis against a record year last year.

Pre-tax profit fell 5.2 per cent to 83.6million, as it suffered from a fall in licensing profits, but this was before its blockbuster deal with Amazon announced in December.

Record sales: Games Workshop is looking to sign more licensing contracts, its boss said

While the company reiterated it has not signed any contracts yet, the deal to make Games Workshop's characters into films and TV series is expected to be lucrative.

'We have nothing more to say at this stage,' the company said.

'We will keep you informed. We remain confident we will bring the worlds of Warhammer to the screen like you have never seen before.'

Games Workshop shares fell 5 per cent to 86.70 in morning trading on Tuesday.

However, they have risen by 18 per cent in the last month thanks to the Amazon deal, and by 242 per cent in the last five years.

The Nottingham-based company said it saw a 'great' recovery in sales in Australia, Canada and the UK, but sales were flat in the US.

Sales at its own stores rose almost 10 per cent at constant currency, trade sales - or those to independent retailers, agents and distributors - climbed 3.4 per cent, but global online sales dipped by 0.5 per cent, in line with its expectations.

It lost around 2million in net revenues from trade sales in Russia due to the war in Ukraine, and around 1million in China due to Covid restrictions, but this was not as bad as previously forecast.

Overall, the company admitted that strong global sales is a 'relatively new' trend and is proving to be a 'reasonable challenge'.

An upgrade to its IT systems is also taking longer and costing more than it previously expected.

Meanwhile, rising costs for materials, shipping and staff has eaten into core gross margins, which declined by 4.5 per cent to 64.1 per cent.

The company said Brexit has also added extra costs and made it harder to find staff with 'language skills' in the UK that can that supports its European clients.

As a result, it has opened a new trade sales office in Barcelona, which will have a headcount of around 45 when once fully staffed.

But all in all, chief executive Kevin Rountree said the company was 'in great shape'.

'Another rewarding and successful period for the global team with core sales for the six months of over 200million for the first time.

'We will continue to focus on making the best miniatures in the world, sign new licensing contracts with partners to exploit our IP outside of our core business and support our staff.'

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: 'Games Workshop has an excellent proposition in a brand with a growing and extremely loyal cohort of followers, it just needs to bring its infrastructure up to speed to take full advantage.'
A truck driver who drives 28 hours every fortnight to transport food to a remote community was once bogged down for eight weeks.

Kym Mozol had been driving 650km from Ceduna, on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, to Tjuntjuntjara at Kalgoorlie, in Western Australia.

His truck suddenly became bogged down in a stretch of thick mud, leaving him stranded in the outback for two months.

A truck driver who drives 28 hours every fortnight to transport food to a remote community was once bogged down for eight weeks

Kym Mozol had been driving 650km from from Ceduna, on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, to Tjuntjuntjara at Kalgoorlie, in Western Australia

Tjuntjuntjara has a population of only 300 people and the town depends on Mr Mozol to replenish its supplies every two weeks.

Mr Mozol tried to drag the truck out of the mud with the help of another truck, but the 400 horsepower vehicle was no match for the rough terrain.

Tjuntjuntjara locals rallied together and loaded the supplies onto trailers while the remaining food was flown in by plane.

Among the usual supplies are cans of tuna, bottled water, cans of vegetables, juice boxes, cereals and eggs.

Two months would pass before the mud finally dried up and the truck was brought unstuck by a D6 Dozer.

The remote road is difficult to travel along on an ordinary day with Mr Mozol forced to change the tyres on his truck regularly.

Wombats, kangaroos and camels are among the animals that constantly cross his path requiring the truck driver to remain vigilant.

Tjuntjuntjara has a population of only 300 people and the town depends on Mr Mozol to replenish its supplies every two weeks

'You just got to switch the lights off and sneak past them,' he told ABC. 'Else they might end up in the bunk with you.'

Mr Mozol usually spends a little over an hour unloading the supplies from the truck at the local grocery store before heading back on his way home.

He says he spends most of the time driving in silence and talking to himself as he contemplates life.

Western Roads Federation CEO Cam Dumesny said it took a 'tough breed' of men and women to drive the trucks through such rugged terrain.

'[Truck drivers] are critical to their ongoing sustainability as communities.'
Russian hackers attempted to compromise US nuclear scientists in cyber espionage that were noticed recently.

Russia's Cold River Hacking Campaign

According to internet records, in August and September, as President Vladimir Putin implied Russia would be inclined to use nuclear weapons to protect its territory, Cold River tried to bait the Brookhaven (BNL), Argonne (ANL), and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL) by creating fake login information for each institution and emailing scientists to make them expose their login details, reported Euractiv.

Reuters could not determine why and how the labs were targets or the intrusion was successful. None of these institutions commented on the actual status.

Many cybersecurity investigators and western public officials said the hackers had increased their cyber initiative against Kyiv's supporters since the conflict started.

An initial digital assault against the labs occurred as UN experts entered Moscow, Ukraine, territory to investigate Europe's largest atomic energy plant and consider the risks of what both sides said might be a disastrous radioactivity catastrophe despite heavy shelling near the area.

Cold River, which first emerged under the surveillance of intelligence professionals upon attacking Britain's foreign office in 2016, has already been involved in dozens of other, more significant hacking events in recent times, as shown by discussions with nine cybersecurity firms.

Reuters tracked down email accounts used during malicious cyber activities between 2015 and 2020 by an IT employee in the Russian city of Syktyvkar, citing i24 News.

Cyber Espionage Attempts on Western Institutions

According to Adam Meyers, senior vice president of intelligence at US cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, it is among the most crucial computer hackers you've ever noticed. They are implicated in actually supporting Kremlin intelligence activities.

Read Also: Vladimir Putin Issues Chilling Warning That the EU, US Is Next After Kyiv Was Left Defenseless, Begging for Assistance

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the domestic security agency that also performs covert operations initiatives for Moscow, and Russia's embassy in Washington did not reply to emails seeking comment.

Western authorities claim the Russian government is a worldwide leader in cyberattacks and utilizes cyber espionage to gather intelligence on foreign entities and businesses to pursue a competitive edge. Nonetheless, Moscow has repeatedly denied the need for any hacking processes.

Reuters presented its findings to five industry professionals, who confirmed Cold River's involvement in the initiated nuclear laboratories hacker attacks based on similar digital fingerprints previously linked to the collective by scientists.

The US National Security Agency (NSA) refused to respond to Cold River's operations. The foreign office did not give any statements.

Cold River Collects Intelligence

Cold River cracked into and leaked emails affiliated with the former head of Britain's MI6 spy service in May. One of many activities last year conducted by hackers revealed highly classified interactions publicly in Britain, Poland, and Latvia, as said by cybersecurity professionals and Eastern European security personnel.

The French cybersecurity firm SEKOIA.IO said Cold River got domain names to mimic at least three European NGOs probing war crimes in alleged cyber warfare activity affecting Moscow critics. In one of their cyber espionage attempts, Russian hackers conducted activities against US nuclear scientists as key targets of cyber spying.

Related Article: Brazil Attack: 400 People Arrested After Storming Congress, Jair Bolsonaro Slams Supporters

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Cashless gaming cards with a daily spending limit would be introduced in NSW if Liberal Premier Dominic Perrottet is re-elected in March.

The premier is determined to remove cash from poker machines as part of gambling reforms in the state - with an amount of between $1,000 and $1,500 a day reportedly being considered as the upper limit.

Former Liberal Prime Minister John Howard has thrown his support behind Mr Perrottet's plan saying it was 'courageous' to take on the gaming industry but also 'wise' because it was a measured approach rather than any sort of gambling ban.

NSW could be the second state in Australia to require cashless gaming cards with a spending limit to use poker machines (file image)

If the system is brought in, NSW will be the second state behind Tasmania to introduce the cards - though their limit is far lower at $100 a day, $500 a week and $5,000 annually.

The aim of the cards would be twofold - to minimise harm brought to the community via gambling addiction and to also cripple the ability of pokies being used to launder illegal funds.

A 2022 NSW inquiry labelled Project Islington led by the NSW Crime Commission alleged that 'billions' in dirty money was washed through poker machines in the state in the 2021 financial year.

As well as a spending limit, the cards would be linked to a particular person so anonymous betting would no longer be an option.

Poll Do you agree with cashless gaming cards? Yes No Yes but the limit should be lower Do you agree with cashless gaming cards? Yes 35 votes

No 60 votes

Yes but the limit should be lower 19 votes Now share your opinion





Liberal Transport Minister David Elliott sided with the Nationals saying he is 'sceptical' about the effectiveness of the plan.

'I'm keen to find where in the world the cashless card has worked. I want it to work. I want people in NSW to have confidence their loved ones are not throwing away their money,' Elliott said on Friday.

'But unfortunately, we can throw money away at all manner of gambling in this country.'

Mr Elliott, a former executive for the NSW Australian Hotels Association, said he would excuse himself from direct cabinet decisions about gaming reform as his son works for gambling technology company Aristocrat.

The hotel industry has largely lobbied against the introduction of the cashless cards.

'We have an industry on its knees post-Covid being told to introduce an unproven, untested, un-costed and unnecessary cashless system which treats every patron like a criminal,' John Whelan, CEO of the Australian Hotels Association NSW said.

Unions, however, are backing Mr Perrottet saying pokies were taking money out of workers' pockets.

'What I want to see is one more hurdle put in the way, so that people think about what they do when they put more money into the pokie so they're not churning through a whole week of wages,' Unions NSW boss Mark Morey said.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet (centre) would introduce the cards if re-elected in March

Commenters on social media questioned how effective the $1,000 to $1,500 a day limit would be.

'A $1,500 per day limit would be pointless for most people as they'd be in trouble well before reaching those figures,' one person said.

'Wouldn't the only people putting $1,500 a day into pokies be the money launderers?' another added.

'They still allow television to play gambling adverts. Seems as long as they say 'gamble responsibly' then they can advertise all they like,' a third said.
Footage of the encounter has circulated online with many praising Mr Bakhos

A model dressed as a 'sexy nun' and her photographer were awkwardly kicked out of a Sydney cathedral after a churchgoer caught them in the middle of a photoshoot.

Charlie Bakhos had been at St Mary's Cathedral in the city's CBD on Monday when he spotted a woman scantily clad in lingerie, knee-high white socks, high heels and a nun's habit.

Three others were with the woman and were believed to have been snapping photos of her when Mr Bakhos started filming and ordered them to leave the church immediately.

'I don't know who gave you permission to be taking photos here at the cathedral like that,' he is heard saying in the footage.

'Get your stuff and get out of here.'

Charlie Bakhos had been at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney's CBD on Monday when he spotted a woman scantily clad in lingerie, knee-high white socks, high heels and a nun's habit

The model is seen turning away from the camera while those coordinating the shoot then scramble awkwardly to pick up their equipment.

Mr Bakhos then demanded the photographer delete the images from his camera.

'There's a sign out the front that says no photos taken here without permission,' he says to the group.

The photographer then showed himself deleting the photos from his camera before Mr Bakhos left.

The footage has circulated on Twitter with many heaping praise on Mr Bakhos for standing up to the group, with many saying sacred places 'needed to be respected'.

Mr Bakhos ordered the photographer to delete the images off his camera while the group scrambled to pack up their equipment

'Extremely disrespectful,' one person commented.

'Why are people always sexualising nuns?' another wrote.

'Absolutely disgusting and shameful,' added a third.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney said the cathedral should be respected, regardless of an individual's faith.

'St Mary's Cathedral is a sacred space for the Catholic Church in Australia and many others who come to seek peace and solace within its walls. The Cathedral has been visited by three popes, three Catholic saints, and is a place of welcome for all, especially the poor, disadvantaged and disenfranchised,' the spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

'The unfortunate reality, however, is that as Australia's Mother Church, it is regularly a magnet for malicious acts of vandalism, property damage and offensive behaviour.

'We accept that not everyone shares our beliefs, but all people of religious faith should be able to expect that their places of worship will be respected, or at least not be treated with mockery and subjected to acts of indecency.

'Respect for those who might be different to you should be a value that unites all Australians.'
Giant snakes feast on mutton bird chicks before hibernating with them

The snakes are 'twice as big' and more venomous than their mainland relatives

Tiger snakes on the island of Mount Chappell off Tasmanian coast have mutated

A tiny island just off the coast of Tasmania has been taken over by 'mutant' tiger snakes, growing to twice the size of their Australian relatives.

The island of Mount Chappell, also known as Hummocky and located in the Bass Strait, is said to be home to Australia's largest and most venomous tiger snakes, who hunt birds and have made the island their own.

The giant snakes are twice as big as their relatives on the mainland and for Tasmanians are a thing of folklore, many of whom share mythical stories about historic encounters with the mammoth reptiles.

They are found all over the island but are most prevalent in a 200-metre stretch of scrub on the island - fittingly named Snake Alley.

Snake Alley is filled with short-tailed shearwater, or more commonly known as mutton birds, burrows.

The tiger snakes spend much of their life in the burrows - feasting on the chicks before hibernating with the warm-blooded animals over the winter to stay warm.

The island of Mount Chappell is said to be home to Australia's largest and most venomous tiger snakes who hunt birds and have made the island their own

The giant snakes are twice as big as their relatives on the mainland and for Tasmanian's are a thing of folklore, sharing stories about their harrowing encounters with the mammoth reptiles

Mount Chappell Island is located within the Bass Strait and off the northeast corner of Tasmania

Local legends speak of highly venomous, barking snakes with visitors claiming they have been forced to retreat from hordes of snakes slithering towards them.

One man who lives amongst the snakes is Pakana ranger Grahame Stonehouse, who says the snakes aren't a danger to humans.

'They don't want to use their venom on you, they want to use it on a feed,' he told the ABC.

'I've got a lot of respect for them.'

The Mount Chappell Island tiger snakes are considered to be the largest of all subspecies of tiger snakes and can reach lengths of 2.4 metres.

The reptiles survive off of an annual six-week feast of mutton bird chicks, a migratory bird species which calls Tasmania home.

Mount Chappell Island snakes are much larger and heavier than mainland tiger snakes and have evolved to have much larger heads to help them eat the birds.

The Mount Chappell Island tiger snakes are considered to be the largest of all subspecies of tiger snakes and can reach lengths of 2.4 metres. The reptiles survive off of an annual six-week feast of mutton bird chicks, a migratory bird species which calls Tasmania home

Mutton bird chicks are only young enough to feed on for the first six weeks before they become too big to eat, which is why the Mount Chappell tiger snakes have mutated to have an oversized head

Mutton bird chicks are only young enough to feed on for the first six weeks before they become too big to eat, which is why the Mount Chappell tiger snakes have mutated to have an oversized head.

The smaller the snake's head, the less time they have to consume the fast-growing chicks.

Chappell Island tiger snakes also have the most venom of all black tiger snakes, with a whopping average venom yield (the amount of venom a snake can excrete) of 74mg, compared to mainland snakes which have an average venom yield of 35mg.

Mr Stonehouse said the snakes had mutated to suit their island home, with only 1 per cent of the native tiger snakes making it to adulthood.

If the snakes don't grow large enough or fast enough, they simply don't survive.

Mr Stonehouse believed there also may be similar populations of mutated snakes on surrounding islands, with around 40 islands around the Bass Straight yet to be studied, with potentially similar mutated monster snakes.

Tiger snakes are responsible for the second-highest number of bites in Australia.

Bites are fatal if untreated with the venom quickly effecting the nervous system and the blood.

The tiger snake is the tenth most toxic snake in the world.
Three teenage girls desperately tried to revive a woman who drowned after suffering a medical episode at one of Sydney's most popular swimming spots.

The 47-year-old woman was face down in the water when she was found by the girls at Gordons Bay, next to Clovelly Beach in Sydney's east, about 1.40pm on Monday afternoon.

They pulled her onto the rocks and immediately began to give her CPR.

Lifeguards attended on a jetski a short time later and took over.

Despite their best efforts, she was unable to be revived.

Surf Lifesaving NSW Sydney Branch Duty Officer Ben Henman said the young women, who were 'no older than 15', did an exceptional job.

A woman died at one of Sydney's most popular beaches after being pulled unconscious from the water at Gordons Bay near Clovelly Beach

The 47-year-old woman was face down in the water when she was found by the girls at Gordons Bay, next to Clovelly Beach in Sydney's east

The girls pulled her onto the rocks and immediately began to give her CPR. Lifeguards attended on a jetski a short time later and took over but she was unable to be revived

'Three young girls pulled her in, no more than 15 years old, and they did a fantastic job under the circumstances,' Mr Henman said.

The woman was pulled onto the rocks about halfway between the Clovelly and Gordons Bay access points, Mr Henman added.

'It was hard to navigate on foot, so having the lifeguards there meant we could get there quite quickly as their access was via the water,' he said.

'When NSW Ambulance arrived they utilised the Lucas Device (a mechanical CPR machine) on the patient but unfortunately, she was declared deceased on scene.'

A witness said police arrived at the scene at about 1:30pm.

'There was a commotion in a cave down that way and then the police arrived and they brought someone higher up on the rocks and we saw them doing CPR,' Ellie Shephard said.

'I think they were doing CPR for like 15 minutes, 20 minutes and then they stopped after that and we were asked to come off the rocks.'

Another witness, Annie Elias, took to Facebook to share what she saw.

'Life is so fragile. Yesterday I went to Gordons Bay in Coogee, it felt like a European hideaway with people laying on rocks, great music, people enjoying a beautiful day swimming and snorkeling.

'Next minute, helicopters and emergency services climb over rocks to reach the rocks where people were administering CPR.

'God bless the people who tried to help, the police and emergency services people who worked tirelessly for hours to evacuate the water and keep a respectful distance while a helicopter was able to get near enough to airlift the person.

'A sobering experience for everyone to look out for each other & stay safe.'

NSW Police say the 47-year-old was swimming when she suffered a medical episode

A rescue helicopter was seen at the site of the drowning as paramedics worked desperately to revive her

Beachgoers watched as the emergency unfolded before their eyes

Police and paramedics scrambled over the rocks near Gordons Bay to assist the woman

Monday's incident comes after it was revealed a 'staggering' 1200 rescues were completed in NSW by surf lifesavers over the Christmas and New Year period, the highest number recorded in the last five years.

Lifesavers and lifeguards performed 56,470 preventive actions and were involved in 85 emergency incidents, another record in the past five years.

It comes just days after an off-duty police officer died while trying to save his teenage son at a NSW beach on New Year's Day.

Peter Stone, 45, died at Bogola Beach near Narooma while trying to rescue his son from a rip.

Lifesavers rushed to the unpatrolled beach in an inflatable rescue boat but he could not be revived despite CPR being performed.

At least 30 people have died after drowning in the nation's waterways so far this summer, 11 of which were in NSW, according to Royal Lifesaving Australia's fatal drowning toll.

'We are reminding people about the power of the ocean environment and of just how quickly things can change, which is why it is so important to swim at a patrolled location and between the red and yellow flags,' Surf Life Saving NSW director Joel Wiseman said.

'If you are caught in a rip current, the number one priority is to remain calm and conserve your energy. Attract the attention of a lifesaver or lifeguard and wait to be rescued. If you are a competent swimmer, you can escape the rip by swimming parallel to the shore.'

In NSW, drowning deaths are 2.7 times more likely to happen during a public holiday and 1.6 times more likely during school holidays.
A Chicago lawyer was forced to apologize after she called sheriff's deputies 'those motherf******' and used a racial slur in a livestreamed court hearing.

Donna Makowski groveled before Judge Dominique Ross  who is black  at a contempt of court hearing on Friday for her remarks the day earlier telling her: 'I'm shaken and I'm humiliated.'

Makowski was not sentenced to contempt of court, as Ross argued her public humiliation was punishment enough, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

But she could now face discipline by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, which last year reassigned a judge and ordered him to undergo sensitivity training after he was caught on a hot mic making sexist comments at another livestreamed court hearing.

Chicago lawyer Donna Makowski (pictured) was forced to issue an apology after she was recorded calling sheriff's deputies 'those motherf******' and saying ''N****** do it all the time'

Judge Dominique Ross decided not to hold Makowski in contempt of court, saying her humiliation was punishment enough

According to court documents obtained by CBS News, Makowski could be heard in an unmuted conversation while waiting for her client to sign on to a livestreamed court hearing on Thursday saying 'Those motherf****** at the sheriff's office' and 'N****** do it all the time.'

Ross called the comments 'unprofessional, disrespectful and contemptuous,' and scheduled a contempt of court hearing for the next day.

When that hearing began, the Sun-Times reports that Makowski issued her groveling apology, saying, 'Your Honor, I apologize. I have no words for the inexcusable episode that happened yesterday.'

Makowski then went on to insist that the language was not directed at the black judge.

'It was outrageous whether you were directing it to the court or not,' Ross replied. 'I'm sure that you have clients who are people of color.'

At that point, Makowski revealed that her late husband was black, prompting Ross to tell her: 'That does not give anybody a pass to make those types of statements. They're just not proper.

But in the end, Ross decided not to hold Makowski in contempt of court because 'the court cannot teach adults not to make ignorant statements, to make racial slurs, whether they are directed at the court or not.

'There is no punishment that this court can impose upon you that is going to surpass the embarrassment, the humiliation that your colleagues and other judges have heard you make.'

Still, she said: 'Your apology is accepted.'

Makowski has been licensed to practice law in the state of Illinois since 1984

Since making the remarks, the Facebook page for Makowski's law office has been inundated with comments calling her racist.

One man wrote: 'The next time youll [think] long and hard before you open your [mouth],' while a woman commented: 'Welp, there goes your career up in flames. Truth always comes out! Wish this would have been exposed sooner.'

Makowski has been licensed to practice law in the state of Illinois since 1984. She has never before faced disciplinary actions by the state's regulatory board, according to CBS News.
Australian author Peter FitzSimons has jumped to the defence of Prince Harry after his bombshell memoir revealed a string of attacks on members of his own family.

Mr FitzSimons, who is married to TV personality Lisa Wilkinson, hit back strongly at a Twitter user suggesting Prince Harry was a 'sook' and a 'weak man' who was 'controlled by a manipulative woman', with wife Meghan Markle being the only reason the royal was 'knifing his own family'.

'That is way too simplistic, in my view,' FitzSimons said.

'His broad point is, "They have leaked against me and my wife for years. I am not leaking, I am putting my name to my views, and this is what happened." And to me he sounds credible.'

Former head of the republican movement Peter FitzSimons (pictured) has rushed to the defence of Prince Harry in his feud with the Royal Family

Prince Harry (pictured with wife Meghan Markle) has gone public with a number of stunning revelations and allegations against the Royal Family

In explosive interviews with British and American TV networks, Prince Harry defended spilling family secrets in his biography Spare and argued he was retaliating against being leaked against by other royals.

He accused stepmother Camilla Parker Bowles of sacrificing him on her personal PR altar' and said that royal family members were 'getting in bed with the devil' by leaking stories about him and wife Meghan Markle to the UK press.

The argument impressed FitzSimons.

'As to the notion that he shouldn't tell family secrets, his equal point is that everyone else in the Royal Family has been leaking to the press for years,' FitzSimons said.

'They have told several books worth, courtesy of the tabloid press. So, for once, he can tell his own story.'

Responding to another Twitter user who asked why an 'intelligent man' would waste time thinking about the Royal family FitzSimons outlined the republican implications of the fallout between the Prince and his family.

'One reason is, the whole imbroglio speaks to the republic,' FitzSimons tweeted.

'The notion that this is a special family - put there by God to be so much better than the rest of us, that they must reign over us - is wearing a bit thin, yes?'

FitzSimons (pictured with wife Lisa Wilkinson) stepped down as head of the republican movement last October

FitzSimons stepped down as the head of the Australian Republican Movement in October last year, but has remained a staunch republican and continues to push for the country to ditch having a royal as the head state.

Polling showed support for a republic dropping after the death of Queen Elizabeth II died last September.

Although he is an avowed republican, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out a referendum until at least his next term with the Indigenous Voice to Parliament being the priority for major constitutional change.

Earlier this morning, Bill Shorten, the Minister for Government Services for the Albanese government, called out the 'dysfunctional' and 'feuding' royal family while pushing for Australia to become a republic.

'It's a shame to see a family bust-up but perhaps at the deepest level, why do we need to keep borrowing a dysfunctional British family to be the Head of State of Australia?' he told the Today Show on Tuesday morning.

Mr Shorten said the details divulged by Harry made it seem like viewers were sitting in a 'ringside seat of a family bust up'.

Bill Shorten has called out the 'dysfunctional' and 'feuding' Royal family and questioned why Australia has not been made a republic

'It's gossip but scintillating. To me it just shows there's a lot of damage and trauma but at another level this is just family gossip,' he said.

'And it reminds me that this family are the head of state of Australia, so it really puts a question mark around our government structures, where we've got a feuding family on the other side of the world who seem to really not like each other very much - they're actually the head of Australia.'
A teenage tradesman accused of firing a nail gun at drivers on a busy motorway has been slammed by a judge as having been 'absolutely reckless', if the allegations are proven.

Reid Partlett, 19, was travelling north on the M1, between Somersby and Ourimbah on NSW's Central Coast, on Monday afternoon when he allegedly shot nails at two male drivers, aged 57 and 52, from the front passenger's seat of a white ute.

The 57-year-old behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi sedan was allegedly hit in the arm before the 52-year-old was later struck in the head, causing him to briefly lose control of his Toyota Rav 4.

Police were called and tracked down the white ute to a commuter carpark on nearby Sparks Road and stopped to speak to Partlett, the driver, and another passenger.

Partlett, who had an outstanding warrant, allegedly fled on foot down the road then climbed over a fence.

A police chase ensued, before he was arrested nearby using capsicum spray.

Reid Partlett, 19, (pictured) has faced court after allegedly firing a nail gun at two motorists

Wearing an orange hi-vis shirt and shorts, Partlett appeared pensive as he sat in the dock of Wyong Local Court on Tuesday, charged with a string of offences including assault occasioning harm and malicious damage.

Applying for bail, the excavator's lawyer argued the prosecution's case relied on witness testimony that the accused nail gunman was wearing orange.

She said Partlett was one of three people in the white ute - including his boss and colleagues, who were wearing similar orange work clothes, which creates identification issues.

She added that he suffered from ADHD, autism, depression and anxiety and that he [allegedly] ran from police because of his previous experiences with the criminal justice system.

'He is a young man, he has not been sentenced to full time in prison,' she said.

'Your honour, his diagnosis of ADHD would interfere with his socialisation and safety in custody. It is likely that any period may be particularly onerous.'

The alleged attack took place on the Pacific Motorway between Somersby and Ourimbah (pictured) on NSW's Central Coast

Pictured: A stock image of a nail gun

The police prosecutor said Parlett [allegedly] ran from officers because he was 'clearly aware of the warrant' and the alleged nail gun incident.

He argued that bail should be opposed for the safety of the community.

'It is a very serious course of conduct. Firing a nail gun on the M1 motorway can cause a serious accident, could result in loss of life, and if convicted on those facts, a custodial sentence is a certainty,' he said.

'There are two victims who saw the defendant in an orange shirt and saw him holding the nail gun.'

The police prosecutor said forensics would be conducted on the nail gun and a nail found in one of the alleged victim's cars.

He said Partlett was already subject to three intensive correction orders at the time of his arrest and any bail conditions imposed by the court would not be adequate.

Magistrate Stephen Olischlager agreed with the prosecution and refused Partlett bail, saying his release would pose significant risks to the community's safety.

He added that given the fact Partlett ran from police, there was a risk he may fail to appear in court if granted bail.

Photos posted on social media show Partlett posing for selfies and riding motorbikes in rural areas

'He has a number of offences including assault and intent to commit indictable offence, damage to property, and domestic violence offences which shows why the warrant was issued,' Mr Olischalager said.

'Clearly these are serious matters and offer a serious outline of events which could have resulted in significant injury or death.

'To be firing a nail gun at another truck is absolutely reckless.

'There is no doubt that if these allegations are proven, they will result in a custodial sentence.'

The M1 Pacific Motorway is 127km stretch of road connecting Sydney to the Central Coast and Hunter Region, with speeds reaching up to 110km/h.

The 57-year-old driver was travelling north on the M1, near Somersby, about 4pm when he was allegedly struck in the arm by a nail as Partlett's vehicle passed by.

A short time later, the 52-year-old was driving near Ourimbah when he allegedly felt something hit the top of his head.

He looked sideways and allegedly saw Partlett leaning out of the truck before shooting more nails towards car, shattering the passenger's side window.

Partlett has been charged with armed with intent to commit an indictable offence (two counts), assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company (two counts), malicious damage (two counts) and an outstanding warrant.

The court also heard Partlett, who lives in the Central Coast, left school in year nine and has held several tradesmen jobs since.

Photos posted on social media show him posing for selfies in hi-vis and riding motorbikes down rural roads.

He will face court again at a later date.
Three leaders said the riots were an attack on 'peaceful transfer of power'

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The Biden Administration is not planning to force the return of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro from his Florida hospital bed after hundreds of his supporters attacked seats of government power  but the current Brazilian president is heading to DC.

The administration has not received any extradition request for Bolsonaro, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said earlier Monday, and an administration official said Bolsonaro's hospitalization ensures that the U.S. will not jump to intervene to send him home.

'Were not going to move him when hes in a hospital,' a senior administration official said Monday, as President Joe Biden kicked off the substance of his visit to Mexico City with an arrival ceremony and meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the National Palace.

Bolsonaro visited Florida on a temporary health visa, under a program that under normal circumstances requires proof of payment and documentation that it is medically needed or unavailable  and stay for only a temporary period.

President Joe Biden, who met with President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico City Monday, has invited Brazilian President Lula da Silva to the White House after supporters of his rival, Jair Bolsonaro, attacked government buildings in Brasilia

In an unusual bit of timing, Bolsonaro has been admitted into a hospital in Orlando, Florida, after experiencing 'severe abdominal pains.'

The far-right politician, who is living in Florida, was rushed to Advent Health Celebration hospital because of his ailments, local media reports. The news came just hours after Bolsonaro's supporters rampaged through the Congress, presidential palace, and Supreme Court in Brasilia.

The attack, which bore echoes of the January 6, 2001 attack on the U.S. Capitol, drew immediate condemnation from Biden.

Bolsonaro arrived in the U.S. December 30th, and has been seen stocking up at KFC and at an area Publix store.

He reportedly has plans to stay for a month, and has been living in a rented house near Disney World.

Bolsonaro offered qualified criticism of the attack by his supporters. 'Peaceful demonstrations, within the law, are part of democracy. However, vandalism and the invasion of public buildings like todays acts, and like those practiced by the left in 2013 and 2017, are an exception,' he said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal.

Bolsonaro was stabbed in the abdomen during his 2018 presidential campaign. He is pictured here on January 3, 2022, giving the thumbs-up from his hospital bed after being admitted for an abdominal problems, in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Group hug: President Joe Biden, US First Lady Jill Biden, Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and Mexico's First Lady Beatriz Gutierrez Muller greet each other during a welcome ceremony at Palacio Nacional (National Palace) in Mexico City

Free as a bird: Bolsonaro has been spotted at a KFC and a Publix in Florida. But he was hospitalized with 'abdominal pains'

Biden spoke to Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after the stunning attacks on the seat of government. He invited him to Washington in February

The storming of the seat of government was reminiscent of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Congress

According to the White House, Biden phoned President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday to discuss the attack  stating flat out that Lula 'won' the election, and inviting him to visit the White House next month.

According to a White House readout, 'President Biden conveyed the unwavering support of the United States for Brazils democracy and for the free will of the Brazilian people as expressed in Brazils recent presidential election, which President Lula won.'

'President Biden condemned the violence and the attack on democratic institutions and on the peaceful transfer of power. The two leaders pledged to work closely together on the issues confronting the United States and Brazil, including climate change, economic development, and peace and security. President Biden invited President Lula to visit Washington in early February for in-depth consultations on a wide-ranging shared agenda, and President Lula accepted the invitation.'

That statement came after Biden was joined by the leaders of Canada and Mexico in condemning 'attacks' on democracy itself in Brazil after supporters of ousted President Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings.

Their statement, issued in Mexico City, came after the military and police in Brazil cleared out a camp that Bolsonaro supporters had established across from the Army headquarters, after emptying seized buildings and making hundreds of arrests following violent clashes on Sunday.

'Canada, Mexico, and the United States condemn the January 8 attacks on Brazils democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power,' the leaders said.

'We stand with Brazil as it safeguards its democratic institutions. Our governments support the free will of the people of Brazil. We look forward to working with President Lula on delivering for our countries, the Western Hemisphere, and beyond,' they said.

The statement came hours before Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are set to meet at the National Palace in Mexico City for a welcome ceremony.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Monday expressed confidence in the resilience of Brazil's democracy after the events.

'We have expressed confidence because we believe it that the democratic institutions of Brazil will hold. The will of the people in Brazil will be respected. The freely-elected leader of Brazil will govern Brazil and will not be deterred, or knocked off course by the actions of these people who have assaulted the instruments of governance in Brasilia, including Congress, the presidential palace in the Supreme Court. So we think Brazilian democracy is resilient, strong and will come through this,' he said.

Sullivan said the administration had no direct knowledge of Bolsonaro's whereabouts or other status, following online posts of his doings in Florida.

'We're not, as far as I know, in direct contact with Bolsonaro. So, I can't speak definitively about his whereabouts,' Sullivan said.

He said the U.S. had not received any 'official requests,' and said there were restrictions on speaking about visa matters. He also indicated a Biden call with Lula was in the works, but gave no immediate time frame.

Mounted police watch as supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro depart their encampment outside army headquarters in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023.

President Joe Biden condemned the 'outrageous' attack on Brazil's governmental buildings, after supporters of ousted President Bolsonaro ransacked the Congress and presidential palace

The joint statement came after Biden on Sunday condemned the 'assault on democracy' in Brazil, calling the situation 'outrageous' after supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro attacked the country's Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court.

The violence represents an eerie echo of the way former President Donald Trump's supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021; an anniversary Biden just marked.

Biden made his comments during a three hour visit to El Paso, Texas, just before he was due to fly to Mexico City for a summit of North American leaders.

He later tweeted: 'I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil. Brazils democratic institutions have our full support, and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined. I look forward to continuing to work with @Lulaoficial'  Lula's Twitter handle.

His remarks came after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan tweeted: 'The United States condemns any effort to undermine democracy in Brazil. President Biden is following the situation closely and our support for Brazil's democratic institutions is unwavering. Brazil's democracy will not be shaken by violence.'

Police and protestors are clashing in the streets outside of the government buildings after weeks of anger towards newly inaugurated President da Silva

Protesters smashed their way into the buildings, smashing windows as they forced their way into the Congress building, the Supreme Court and presidential palace

President da Silva - said there was 'no precedent in the history of our country' and called the violence the 'acts of vandals and fascists'. He is currently on an official state trip in Sao Paulo

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio da Silva, who was traveling in Sao Paolo as news of the violence emerged, has branded protestors who stormed Congress as 'vandals and fascists' - with the scenes being similar to that of Trump supporters January 6 take-over.

He announced a federal security intervention for the Brazilian capital until the end of the month.

'These vandals, who we could call fanatical Nazis, fanatical Stalinists ... fanatical fascists, did what has never been done in the history of this country,' said Lula, defeated Bolsonaro in an election last year.

'All these people who did this will be found and they will be punished.'

The left-wing veteran known as 'Lula' has only been in power for a week, after being inaugurated a week ago as supporters of the former president claim the election was stolen.

Footage from the scenes strike an eerie similarity to those who stormed the Capitol building on January 6th after claims from former President Trump that the election was stolen.

After Lula's win, Biden issued a statement that called his win free and fair, amid Bolsonaro's repeated attacks on its integrity, although Bolsonaro ultimately yielded.

'I send my congratulations to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on his election to be the next president of Brazil following free, fair, and credible elections. I look forward to working together to continue the cooperation between our two countries in the months and years ahead,' Biden said at the time.
The Royal Family have 'no trust left' in Prince Harry after learning of the contents of his memoir and American television interviews, well placed sources say.

After the onslaught of bombshells the Duke of Sussex dropped this week, his father and brother are reportedly at their wits end.

Speaking to ITV's News at Ten anchor Tom Bradby, Harry said he'd be open to reconciliation and even returning to a partial royal role, on the condition he could have 'frank' conversations with his family which would stay private.

'I don't know whether they'll be watching this [interview] or not, but, what they have to say to me and what I have to say to them will be in private, and I hope it can stay that way,' he said, noting he doesn't want 'frank discussions [to] leak out'.

The comments have been labelled ironic given all the private moments Harry has shared in his memoir, Spare, which is available for purchase today.

It's understood the Royal Family are unlikely to comment publicly on any of the allegations levelled against them

Prince William is reportedly devastated by the allegations levelled against his family. Pictured together at the unveiling of a statue of their mother, Princess Diana in 2021

A royal source told The Mirror: 'The irony is there for all to see, apart from Harry himself it seems.

'There was very little (trust) before these latest scenes, but there is no trust left at all for Harry to be brought into the fold.'

Harry's bombshell memoir 'Spare' released today

It's understood the Royal Family are unlikely to comment publicly on any of the allegations levelled against them.

But even discussing matters privately may be off the table for high-ranking royals, who fear any conversations held with Harry could be used against them in the future.

Separately, Vanity Fair's Katie Nicholl told Page Six, per her sources: 'Williams privately seething and devastated... [the royals] have been taken aback by the level of detail and just how far Harry has gone in all of this.'

'It really feels like a line has been crossed.'

In the bombshell interview to plug his memoir, Harry suggested his family helped to 'trash' his and Meghan's reputations, forcing them to move to California, and have 'shown no willingness to reconcile'.

A bookstore in central London prepares for the release of Spare on Tuesday morning

Speaking to ITV's News at Ten anchor Tom Bradby, Harry said he'd be open to reconciliation and even returning to a partial royal role, on the condition he could have 'frank' conversations with his family which would stay private

He also accused his elder brother of physically attacking him at Nottingham Cottage in 2019 and 'lunging' at him after the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral in 2021.

His book, Spare, also details the conversation he reportedly had with his father the King on the day of the Queen's death, in which the Duchess of Sussex reportedly was banned from joining the immediate family in Balmoral.

In yet another private moment which became public in the controversial tell-all memoir, Harry recounts his final words to his grandmother when he visited her body, and explained the trauma of his mother's death when he was just 12-years-old led him to use alcohol and drugs to 'mask' his emotions.

He also said he experienced burnout in his late 20s as a result of a 'hectic' royal engagement schedule and suffered 'severe anxiety and panic attacks' until the age of 32, roughly around the same time he met Meghan.

The Prince and Princess of Wales are still due to carry out an engagement in the north of England this week, while King Charles will visit Scotland.
Passengers aboard one Royal Caribbean ship experience an unexpected waterfall after the ship did a hard-turn to avoid a raft in the sea.

Video of the incident posted to social media shows the major spillage flowing from one upper deck of the ship onto another level on the ship.

The incident happened on the Harmony of the Seas as the cruise ship heading towards Cozumel in Mexico, according to reports.

Royal Caribbean officials confirmed in a statement to DailyMail.com no damage was reported and no individuals were hurt as a result of the incident.

Passengers aboard one Royal Caribbean ship witnessed an unexpected waterfall after the ship did a hard-turn to avoid a raft in the sea

The stunning video documents the 'waterfall' coming from the upper deck and landing on a lower deck as the floor begins to flood.

Passengers on the ship can be seen laughing, running, and taking photos and videos as the water continues to fall.

The ship and its captain had taken emergency action to avoid a suspected refugee raft in the ocean after visiting CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's private Caribbean island, on Monday.

The turn caused the water from the pool's Deck 15 to overflow and spill over.

The water trickled down to Deck 8 where another pool was located.

Video of the incident posted to social media shows the major spillage flowing from one upper deck of the ship onto another level on the ship

The incident happened on the Harmony of the Seas as the cruise ship heading towards Cozumel in Mexico, according to reports

Royal Caribbean officials confirmed in a statement to DailyMail.com no damage was reported and no individuals were hurt as a result of the incident

Some guests appeared unbothered by the flooding water at their feet

A Royal Caribbean spokesperson shared the following statement with DailyMail.com Monday regarding the incident:

'On Tuesday, Jan. 3, Harmony of the Seas spotted a raft at sea and maneuvered to provide assistance. This maneuver unexpectedly caused water from the pool deck to go over into a lower deck of the ship.

'Fortunately, this was immediately managed and cleaned up by our crew, and there were no injuries or any damage.

'The 7-night Caribbean cruise continued to the next destination as planned.

'The raft was empty, and Royal Caribbean provided details to the U.S. Coast Guard.'

The unexpected waterfall spilled onto the ship's Deck 8, pictured here

According to Cruise Hive, the water most likely came from the Beach Pool on the ship's starboard side

Fortunately, this was immediately managed and cleaned up by our crew, and there were no injuries or any damage' said a Royal Caribbean spokesperson

Cruise Hive reported crew members had spotted a potential refugee raft as traveled through the Straits of Florida.

According to the cruise-centered outlet, the water most likely came from the Beach Pool on the ship's starboard side.

Some water may have also come from the Splashaway Bay Attraction, also on Deck 15.

Cruise Hive reported the ship's crew were seen 'cleaning up the spillage and drying out the deck to minimize any after effects,' after the incident.

This is the Harmony of the Seas cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean

The incident happened on January 3

No one was hurt and no damage was done in the incident

The video shared by one Instagram user has been viewed more than 84,000 times and has received dozens of comments.

'Wow! Im so glad no one got hurt. My goodness,' said another person.

'These people seem so calm. This would be very scary to me,' said one person who commented on the original video.

'So unnerving' wrote another person.

'New features on Royal Caribbean ship. Central Park with waterfalls,' joked one commenter.
A looming nurse shortage at Mt. Sinai due to negotiation under strife is the same as other medical institutions facing the same problem.

Nurse Shortage Affecting Critical Healthcare Services

The head of the state's nurse union issued an angry statement last Saturday when hospital officials halted talks with the union, with a strike deadline and walkout coming close, reported NY Daily News.

According to Nancy Hagans, president of the New York State Nurses Association, the tactics have antagonized members. Employers have intervened unjustly and unlawfully in an attempt to intimidate our nurses.

As union officials warned of a 6 a.m. strike, the hospital and Mount Sinai Morningside and West and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx continued to be the last hospital without even an agreement. Hospital staff started walking out last Monday. Union discussions at Sinai Hospital were halted as the walkout reached its conclusion, notwithstanding the hospital's denials, noted NY1.

When they should come to the table and interact in a fair deal, Hagans emphasized the need to negotiate an agreement over the recent staffing shortfall. When the pandemic was declared, it became clear that they were understaffed but unreplaced, citing Yahoo News.

The hospital states that the union is the one who broke off talks, not them. Considering that the NYSNA's suggested pay raise was similar to what other city hospitals were proposing, hospital officials characterized the organization's actions as misguided. Patients' care is in danger, and it's trying to make cherished nurses give up their dedication to caring delivery and their own.

Read Also: Volodymyr Zelensky Children: Does the Ukraine President Have Kids?

Other Medical Institutions Reach Deals with Nursing Staff

There's been better news before Saturday when nurses at three city hospitals reached provisional contracts on their current deals. The union announced the awaiting agreements with Bronx Care, the Flushing Hospital Medical Center, and the Brooklyn Hospital Center, whereas nurses at Maimonides Medical Center formalized the new three-year settlement with the facility last Friday night.

Ken Gibbs, CEO of Maimonides Health, stated that the approval of this deal benefits Maimonides, nurses, and the patients we serve. Both parties planned to reach an agreement that supports dedicated nursing staff and ensures clients continue to receive the best care possible.

At several hospitals in the Brooklyn region, additional strikes are still possible. Even though temporary agreements had been reached at several other locations, including Richmond University Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian, negotiators persisted in trying to reach new agreements at the remaining institutions.

Hagans added the union will still talk up to 11:59 p.m. Sunday. According to the union president, the nursing workforce has slowly decreased since the disease outbreak, and staff numbers have become incredibly low, adding urgency to the negotiating table. She mentioned that certain hospital administrators obtained seven-figure wages.

The point of discussion is the ratio of a single nurse to two patients in the intensive care unit and one for five patients in medical-surgical units. The Union head added that patients are above profit and want a good deal, and staffing is essential.

A nurse shortage is an issue at the Mt. Sinai hospital, with other medical institutions reaching agreements, but less hospital staffing is a major concern.

Related Article: European Health Agency: Chinese COVID-19 Surge Will Not Cause a Spike in EU

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Prince Harry's memoir Spare has finally gone on sale at midnight in the UK - five days after it was first leaked to the world in Spain and was extensively quoted in the Duke's round of TV interviews.

But although train station in London, including Victoria, Euston and Piccadilly opened late for the sales, fans appeared to swerve their first chance to buy copies.

Some UK stores opened late for the midnight release of the biggest royal book since Harry's mother Princess Diana collaborated with Andrew Morton for 'Diana: Her True Story' in 1992.

The long-awaited 416-page book will be awaiting shoppers tomorrow morning and is being sold at half-price for 14 in Waterstones, WH Smith and on Amazon.

Prince Harry's memoir Spare has finally gone on sale at midnight in the UK - five days after it was first leaked to the world in Spain

Shops appeared relatively empty as the memoir was launched - with more press than customers

First in the queue to get his hands on a copy at Euston station was professor Chris Imafidon

He holds three copies of the memoir during the special midnight opening event for the release of the memoir

Press also attended WH Smiths as the book was released, appearing to outnumber customers

A member of staff in WH Smiths at Victoria in London unpacks copies of Spare ready to go out on display

The long-awaited 416-page book will be awaiting shoppers tomorrow morning and is being sold at half-price for 14 in Waterstones, WH Smith and on Amazon

Alternatively, the audiobook - narrated by Harry himself - is available for 7.99 on Audible.

First in the queue to get his hands on a copy at Euston station was professor Chris Imafidon.

But there appeared to be more press than customers eagerly awaiting the moment the book was available.

Only a handful of people were waiting outside WHSmith in Victoria station, central London to be one of the first to buy a hardback copy of the Duke of Sussex's controversial memoir Spare.

The release comes after the Spanish edition of the book En La Sombra ('In The Shadow') was leaked on February 5, despite ultra-secure arrangements in place, and after a set of tell-all interviews.

It was pulled from the shelves within hours but not before the world had gained access to its contents, detailing tensions between Harry and other members of the royal family and personal stories about the Prince's life.

The 'explosive' pages include accusations of a physical fight with his older brother Prince William at Nottingham Cottage in 2019, as well as a further disagreement shortly after the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral in 2021. Kate also comes under fire.

The Duke of Sussex describes a stand-up row that ended with the Prince of Wales grabbing him by the collar and throwing him to the floor, shattering a dog bowl with his back.

Harry also includes personal stories, admitting to drug use, having a frostbitten penis at William and Kate's wedding and detailing how he lost his virginity.

It is dedicated to his wife Meghan, children Archie and Lilibet, and his late mother Diana and is being published in 16 languages.

A pallet of books are delivered to a branch of WHSmiths in Euston Station, ready for the midnight release

The 'explosive' pages include accusations of a physical fight with his older brother Prince William at Nottingham Cottage in 2019 (pictured together in September)

It follows a round of TV interviews, including with ITV's Tom Bradby and US network CBS

Harry has been secretly working on the book about his life in the Royal Family for over a year as part of a reported $20 million book deal with Penguin Random House

Copies of the bombshell memoir Spare are finally available to purchase in the UK from midnight

He has collaborated with the Pulitzer-winning ghostwriter J. R. Moehringer to share his 'raw and unflinching' story.

Spare is now finally available in the UK after the a publicity blitz including two interviews with ITV's Tom Bradby and CBS's Anderson Cooper which dropped yesterday.

Mr Bradby, a former royal correspondent and current presenter of ITV News at Ten, is a friend of the Sussexes and previously interviewed them for a documentary about their 2019 Africa tour.

The interview saw him alternate between answering questions from Bradby and reading sections from his memoir, as he sensationally accused his family of being 'complicit' in the 'pain and suffering' inflicted on his wife and compared them to 'abusers'.

And speaking to Anderson Cooper on US network CBS, he called Camilla 'the villain' and 'dangerous' - ignoring his father's pleas not to attack her - and suggests there are still questions to be answered surrounding Diana's death.

The family, particularly William and father King Charles III, will be fearing what other embarrassing and dangerous revelations are contained within its pages, as the British media picks over Harry's claims in minute detail.

The book comes on the back of six-hour Netflix docuseries 'Harry & Meghan', in which the couple again aired their grievances with the royal family and the British media.

The Spanish version was leaked on January 5

If the couple were hoping to elicit sympathy, recent polls appear to show that they are having the opposite effect - at least in the UK.

A YouGov poll on Monday found that 64 percent now have a negative view of the once-popular ginger prince - his lowest-ever rating - and that Meghan also scores dismally.

And after days of TV trailers and newspaper leaks, a relatively low figure of 4.1 million people tuned into the first of Harry's interviews, with Britain's ITV, according to official ratings data.

In the interview, the Duke of Sussex caused bafflement by insisting he and his mixed-race wife never accused the royal family of racism over comments made about the skin tone of their unborn son.

'No I didn't. The British press said that,' Harry said, adding that Meghan had also not called the royals 'racist'.

The initial allegation, made in a bombshell interview given by Harry and Meghan in March 2021 to US chat show host Oprah Winfrey, caused a transatlantic uproar.

To CBS, the prince also admitted to being 'probably bigoted' before he met Meghan, and accused William and his wife Kate of never giving her a chance.

Harry maintains he wants a rapprochement with his father and brother, despite a lack of contact with them, but said the onus was on them, refusing to confirm whether he will attend Charles's coronation in May.

Omid Scobie, a friend and biographer of Harry and Meghan, said the couple were likely now to adopt a lower profile after the recent 'soap opera'.

'I think we're going to see, for the rest of this year, a couple sort of retreating from a lot of what we've seen over the last few months,' he told BBC radio.

Harry has been secretly working on the book about his life in the Royal Family for over a year as part of a reported $20 million book deal with Penguin Random House.
A mystery van at the centre of the police investigation into the alleged arson murders of a popular baker and his daughter had recently been spray-painted white.

Queensland Police at the weekend released footage of the Holden Barina - with a distinctive solar panel strapped to its roof - as part of their investigations into a fatal fire that killed Todd Mooney, 54, and his daughter Kirra, 10.

The family's bodies were found in a burned out shed at rural Biggenden, about 240km north-west of Brisbane, on December 20.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal the vehicle recently underwent a colour-change from its original red - with patches of the previous colour still evident in security camera vision released by detectives.

The possible new clues come as the fire victims' sister and aunt, Lisa-Marree Mooney, revealed she and her brother had been planning a double wedding with their partners.

It will now tragically have to be 'a double funeral'.

Queensland Police released security camera vision of the Holden Barina van at the weekend as part of their investigations. The vehicle has changed colour, with a police image showing remnants of the red colour it once was

How the van previously looked before it was placed at the centre of the police investigation into the Biggenden deaths

Kristen Olsen, 24, (pictured) has been charged with two counts of murder and one count of arson over the deaths of Todd Mooney, 54, and Kirra Mooney, 10, plus further arson offences

It comes as travel blogger Kristen Leslie Olsen, 24, was slapped with new charges, on top of one of arson and two of murder, relating to the fatal blaze.

Police allege Olsen lit both the shed fire and a second blaze later on the same day, allegedly destroying a caravan, bus and carport at Tinana near Maryborough, an hour's drive east of Biggenden.

She has been charged with three counts of arson over the alleged Tinana incident, and one of stealing for the alleged theft of clothing from the Ban Ban Springs Road House, west of Biggenden, also on December 20.

Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting that Olsen changed the colour of the van as part of any criminal plot.

As Olsen was refused bail and remanded in custody in Queensland until at least March 6, Ms Mooney faces the grim prospect of burying her brother and niece at a time when the family had been anticipating a joyous occasion.

It was to be a double wedding for Lisa and partner Heath, of Armidale NSW, and Todd Mooney and his partner Bec, the mother of Kirra, who ran the Biggenden bakery.

Lisa Marree Mooney posted a picture of her brother Todd (above) who she said was due to marry his partner Bec in a double wedding with her and her partner Heath the same week he died in the Biggenden shed fire

Kristen Olsen is also charged with the alleged theft of clothing from the Ban Ban Springs roadhouse (above) on December 20, the same day as she is accused to lighting the fatal Biggenden fire and another at Tinana

'So no I didn't get married as we supposed to do double wedding and now poor Rebecca has been left with no partner or child,' Ms Mooney posted on Facebook.

'My brother was so proud to finally marry the girl of his dreams and the mother of their beloved daughter just 10 (years old).

'I am broken, yet another sibling and niece we have lost.

'We were supposed to have double wedding not a double funeral.'

Todd and Kirra Mooney were found dead inside a burned down shed at their property about 12.20pm on December 20.

The fire was thought to be a tragic accident, but detectives launched a homicide investigation.

They then arrested and charged Olsen, 24, a self-proclaimed gypsy who goes by the name 'SlipperyGypsy.69' on OnlyFans.

Todd Mooney, 54, and his daughter Kirra Mooney, 10, (pictured is Todd and Kirra as a baby) were found dead inside a burned down shed at their property in Biggenden, in south-east Queensland on December 20 at about 12.20pm

The body of 10-year-old Kirra Mooney was found in the blackened remains of the shed

Kristen Olsen has been charged with two counts of murder and one of arson for the fatal Biggenden shed fire, and also three counts of arson from a fire at Tinana, Maryborough on the same day

Investigators issued the footage of the van and and asked for three people caught on CCTV to come forward as witnesses.

'Investigators appeal to anyone who may have seen the vehicle between 10am and 2pm on December 20 between Biggenden and Ban Ban Springs to come forward,' a spokesperson said.

Queensland Police Detective Chief Inspector Gary Pettiford confirmed on Friday that Olsen is the only person of interest 'at this stage' of the investigation.

He said while she didn't have any known links to the Mooney family, she had attended school in Biggenden, located in Queensland's North Burnett Region.

A grieving Lisa Marree Mooney says she is 'broken' after the deaths of her brother and niece and instead of holding a double wedding she is now planning a double funeral for her loved ones

Queensland Police will allege the travel blogger deliberately lit a fire that destroyed a large shed on the Mooney family's property in Biggenden on December 20

Queensland Police on Monday night released an image of a white Holden Barina wagon that was seen driving in the area on the same day as the fire

Olsen is understood to have made a 15-hour drive from Cairns down the coast to Maryborough and Biggenden in December.

On November 24, she told followers she was 'back, bigger and better than ever' and thanked them for their support over the years in a lengthy Facebook post.

She shared a link to her OnlyFans page for people who wanted to see 'where my feet take me and what they are continuously teaching me'.

'These two foot falcons have led me to the heart of Far North Queensland  a town surrounded by jungle  where I am able to be myself,' she wrote in the post.

'For those who don't know, I stand for the land; our ultimate sustainable life force.

Detective Chief Inspector Gary Pettiford confirmed on Friday that Olsen is the only person of interest 'at this stage' of the investigation

'Over the years my bare feet have led me to different places, exploring new ventures and commemorating the origins of Australia's vast lands and communities.'

On the homepage of her adults-only subscription site, Olsen said she is a 'small town barefoot gypsy, exploring the many pleasures in life'.

Olsen faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court last Saturday and again on Monday when further arson charges from the alleged Tinana fire were laid.
The House of Representatives passed a rules package Monday night 220-213 with relatively little drama as the first order of business for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's new majority.

The 55-page package includes some, but not all, of the concessions McCarthy made to the group of 20 House Republicans to get his speakership bid across the line early Saturday morning and after 15 floor votes.

It includes the motion to vacate provision, which allows just one member to move to remove the House speaker - one of the top conservative demands.

It also does away with proxy voting and virtual participation in Congressional committee meetings - which Democrats put in place to deal with the spread of COVID in the Capitol complex.

The House Republican majority passed a rules package Monday night that would do away with proxy voting, reestablish certain select committees and enable just one member to call a vote to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy

After Friday night and Saturday morning's drama that concluded with the election of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Monday night's rules vote was relatively drama-free

Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Republican from Texas, was the only 'no' vote on the rules package Monday night. Another Texas Republican, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, did not vote

'For far too long the House allowed members to do their jobs from home without ever setting foot in Washington,' Republican Rep. Tom Cole said on the House floor.

Cole is taking over the chairmanship of the powerful House Rules Committee and went through some of the changes included in the rules package on the House floor before voting kicked off Monday night.

He noted that with Republicans taking over committee leadership, the select committee that had been investigating the COVID-19 pandemic would reorient and be focused on looking into COVID's origins and how shutdowns adversely impacted the country.

The House Republicans are also creating a select committee on China competition, he said. They will also look into the so-called 'weaponization' of the Department of Justice.

The new rules included a number of provisions in line with fiscal conservatism.

Instead of what Democrats called 'PAYGO' - pay as you go - which required legislation that added to the deficit to come with tax increases or spending cuts, Republicans are instituting 'CUTGO,' which means only spending cuts can offset mandatory spending increases.

House Republicans doubled down on not hiking taxes by including in the rules package a threshold of three-fifths of the body to implement any new tax increases.

Republicans were also suspending the so-called 'Gephardt Rule,' which automatically raised the debt ceiling when a budget was passed.

They brought back the so-called 'Holman Rule,' which allows Congress to amend a spending bill by cutting programs, firing federal employees or reducing their salaries.

House Progressive Caucus leader Rep. Pramila Jayapal called it a 'rules package for MAGA extremists,' in a floor speech Monday night

All 212 Democrats voted against the rules package.

Only one Republican, moderate Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, voted against it.

His fellow Texan, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, did not vote.

Moderate Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina ended up voting for the package after initially saying she was on the fence.

House Progressive Caucus leader Rep. Pramila Jayapal called it a 'rules package for MAGA extremists,' in a floor speech.

Monday marked the House's first day back in session after Friday night and Saturday morning's dramatic showdown that eventually allowed for McCarthy to capture the speakership.

The House is also voting Moday night on an IRS bill that rolls back money to hire more staff.

It took McCarthy 15 rounds of voting to finally become Speaker last week
Paramedics rushed the boy to the Children's Hospital at Westmead

Boy, 2, rushed to hospital after falling 10m from a balcony in Sydney's west

A toddler has been rushed to hospital after plunging 10m from the balcony of his third floor apartment.

Emergency services were called to an apartment building on Hythe Street in Mount Druitt, in Sydney's west, around 10.10am Tuesday morning to reports a child had fallen from a balcony.

A neighbour told Daily Mail Australia the boy was under the age of two and had fallen from his family's third floor home.

The boy plunged from the third-floor balcony but survived and is in a serious condition

Police and paramedics rushed to the scene just after 10am on Tuesday

NSW Police said the child miraculously fell into bushes on the ground, partially breaking his fall.

High fences, with sharp metal spikes, enclose the apartment building with the boy also managing to avoid that when he fell.

A CareFlight helicopter landed at the scene to attend to the child before he was rushed to Westmead Hospital by NSW Ambulance.

The child is in a serious condition.

'This young boy has fallen quite a distance, about 10 to 12 metres from the balcony of a top floor apartment,' NSW Ambulance Acting Inspector Mark Thomas said.

'He landed in bushes below, which may have broken his fall and prevented more serious injuries.

'NSW Ambulance paramedics and the CareFlight helicopter medical team assessed the boy at the scene before travelling with him in an ambulance to hospital, where hes undergoing further scans.'

Police said the boy's fall was broken by a cluster of bushes
The Elgin Marbles will be much better preserved if they remain in the British Museum, a renowned Greek academic claimed yesterday.

Acquired from the Acropolis of Athens by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century, the 2,500-year-old statues are one of the museums most prized exhibits. But under plans drawn up by its chairman George Osborne, they could soon be sent back to Greece.

Dr Dimitris Michalopoulos, a former director of the Athens City Museum, has argued that the figures should remain in London. He said: As I am fairly acquainted with Greek museums, I am convinced the Elgin Marbles are much better preserved in the British Museum than in any Greek one.

The Athens-born historian, 70, also claimed that if the statues were sent to Greece on a loan basis, they would never be returned to London.

Acquired from the Acropolis of Athens by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century, the 2,500-year-old statues are one of the British Museum's most prized exhibits

Under plans drawn up by British Museum chairman George Osborne, the Elgin Marbles could soon be sent back to Greece

He added: I think British public opinion, in a manifestation of traditional British gallantry, is henceforth inclined to give them back to Greece. Nonetheless... the matter has an outstanding political aspect, let alone the legal, moral and religious ones.

Greek politicians have long-called for the marbles, taken while the country was under Ottoman rule, to be returned.

UK law prevents the British Museum giving away objects in its collection. But former chancellor Mr Osborne is understood to be in talks to loan the statues in exchange for other ancient artworks.

The British Museum said constructive discussions are on-going. A government spokesman said: The Parthenon Sculptures are legally owned by the trustees of the British Museum. Decisions relating to its collections are a matter for the trustees.
Bright orange and silver bicycles were once a common sight across Australia's biggest cities - but the largest bike company in the world's second attempt to crack our tricky rideshare market has been abandoned.

More than 1600 bikes worth about $1.3million in total built by Chinese start-up Mobike have been left sitting in warehouses and on streets on Australia's east coast.

Mobike was founded in Shanghai in 2015 by former technology journalist Hu Weiwei and quickly boomed thanks to nearly $1billion in investor funding and the share-economy trend of the late 2010s.

It expanded into other regions and countries before landing on Australian shores in 2017 in Sydney and on the Gold Coast.

But bike share companies hoping to crack the Aussie market were met with a wave of difficulties - from vandalism, to theft, and difficult relationships with local councils over the bikes being left in unauthorised spots.

Mobikes left in a park in Sydney (pictured). The company has gone into liquidation

The start-up was founded by Chinese technology journalist Hu WeiWei (pictured) in 2015

In 2018, the company was sold to Chinese web conglomerate Meituan-Dianping for about $3.8billion, with Ms Hu and co-founder Davis Wang both leaving the firm that same year.

By the following year Meituan-Dianping was looking to tighten up its bottom line and chose to shed Mobike's operations in dozens of overseas countries.

This marked the end of the start-up's first attempt in Australia but its assets were bought by a group of overseas-based investors who re-branded and tried again as Onyahbike - or OBike - by Mobike Australia.

That went into external administration in October 2022 according to regulator ASIC with the entire business popping up for sale on Commercial Real Estate via liquidators Chifley Advisory.

A report from Chifley lodged just before Christmas revealed that a buyer could not be found and painted a picture of how many bikes were out in the wild.

'Approximately 1600 bicycles (are) located at four storage facilities in NSW and Queensland with an estimated value of $1,341,860,' the report, seen by The Sydney Morning Herald, stated.

The liquidators said a director advised them there were also a significant number on the streets but these could not be located as the software was no longer active.

'As the third-party software provider has terminated the company's software, we are unable to access the information about the bikes currently deployed,' one liquidator Henry Kwok, said.

'We were advised some bikes may be deployed in Gold Coast, Queensland.'

About 1600 of the bikes are sitting in warehouses and on city streets in Australia

The liquidators made a 'commercial decision' to renounce any interest in the bikes due to the difficulties in locating them all, getting their software working and paying to store them - leaving them effectively abandoned.

They added Mobike Australia was still the owner and any profit made using or selling the bikes would legally need to go to them.

Mobike, Lime and Ofo were among the first wave of bike-share companies to appear in Australia.

Lime is still operating and are joined by a second wave of firms including US-based Bird and Chinese-based HelloRide which have recently popped up.

The bikes have become sturdier, fitted with GPS, and speed limited for the electric versions which, along with improved agreements with local councils, could see them become a mainstay on city streets.
It has recently developed a reputation for being critical of the British Establishment.

So it may come as a surprise to learn that even the Left-wing US newspaper The New York Times has run an article suggesting that Americans may be tiring of Prince Harrys complaints.

The papers former London correspondent Sarah Lyall yesterday wrote a piece headlined Has Prince Harrys Confessional Tour Run Its Course?, asking whether the tide seems to be turning in US attitudes towards the Sussexes. She said people in the US had a soft spot for royals in exile, but added that there are only so many revelations the public can stomach.

She asked if their troubles had become so repetitive or even tiresome that they had eroded their personal brand.

Sarah Lyall, The New York Times' former London correspondent, yesterday wrote a piece headlined Has Prince Harrys Confessional Tour Run Its Course?

Miss Lyall wrote: Once they have exhausted the topic of themselves, what is left for them to talk about?

In 2021, Harry and Meghan did a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey for the CBS television network.

This was followed by the couples six-part Netflix documentary series which was released last month.

Now just weeks later the duke has been doing a series of TV interviews to promote his new memoir, Spare, including on ITV.

The New York Times article admitted that Harry, who was revealing private family details, was presenting a stark contrast to William and Kate, who have publicly said exactly nothing about any of this.

It comes as The New York Times recently developed a reputation for being critical of the British Establishment

It quoted a public relations expert, Jeffrey W. Schneider, who said there had been an overload of Prince Harry and Meghan and questioned whether maybe there is a natural limit to that.

Crisis management expert Howard Bragman told the paper that you can really only tell your story once and that their media activity feels a little reality-television-y to me.

Miss Lyalls piece noted: Something has changed, judging from the response so far.

Even in the United States, which has a soft spot for royals in exile and a generally higher tolerance than Britain does for redemptive stories about overcoming trauma and family dysfunction, there is a sense that there are only so many revelations the public can stomach.

The New York Times, nicknamed the Old Gray Lady, has been known for its highly critical stories about Britain in recent years.

In September the paper sparked anger after it ran an article on the day of the Queens death, which said the late monarch had helped obscure a bloody history.

A piece written for the paper by a Harvard academic used the death to attack the ills of British history.

In August last year Andrew Neil, in a piece for the Daily Mail, spoke about how articles in The New York Times regularly depict Britain as a plague-ridden, poverty-stricken hellhole in terminal decline.
He has already criticised the couple's documentary as 'Netflix narcissism'

Harry should give up his royal titles and 'become Mr Windsor' if he continues to lash out at the monarchy, says a Tory MP.

Bob Seely, who has already criticised the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's 'Netflix narcissism', will press ahead with an attempt to pass legislation to allow their royal status to be downgraded.

He plans a Private Member's Bill that would allow a vote on amending the 1917 Titles Deprivation Act. The act was used to strip the German royal family of their UK titles during the First World War.

Tory MP for the Isle of Wight, Bob Seely said Harry should give up his royal titles and 'become Mr Windsor' if he continues to lash out at the monarchy

'If he hates the institution so much, why doesn't he set an example and become Mr Windsor,' he told BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour.

'To trade on titles while at the same time trashing the Royal Family, the whole thing is sad and desperate.'

Mr Seely said his planned amendment would hand the Privy Council  made up of 741 senior parliamentarians  the power to strip the Sussexes of their titles. When asked about giving them up on US TV network CBS, Harry said: 'What difference would that make?'

Bob Seely is now pressing ahead with an attempt to pass legislation to allow the Sussex's royal status to be downgraded

Last month Mr Seely said Harrys criticism of the Royal Family was equivalent to 'trashing' the UK constitution, and that he should voluntarily relinquish his titles'.

If the Duke refuses, Parliament should have the power to remove them, he added.

Mr Seely added: 'There is a political issue. As well as trashing his family and monetising his misery for public consumption, he is also attacking some important institutions in this country.'

Last month Downing Street refused to back the bill, which is likely to be proposed in early spring.

Labour MP Rachael Maskell also has a Private Members Bill giving the monarch powers to remove titles - although the motivation behind her proposed legislation relates to the controversy around Prince Andrew.

Senior Tory Tim Loughton has said he is 'ashamed that this deeply embarrassing couple bear the title of our great county' and that it is time to take the title back from someone so clearly lacking any respect'.
Ballots for strikes by hundreds of thousands of school staff will go ahead after crunch talks to avoid industrial action failed.

Teachers are set to walk out after no pay offer was made at a meeting between union bosses and Government ministers yesterday.

Three teaching union ballots will close this week, with strikes potentially taking place within weeks should they be successful.

Teachers are set to walk out after no pay offer was made at a meeting between union bosses and Government ministers. File image: Teacher standing at a whiteboard teaching a class

The talks with Education Secretary Gillian Keegan were described as largely unsatisfactory by school leaders with concerns over pay and teacher shortages remaining unresolved.

A staffing crisis has left many schools scrambling for teachers.

Theres nothing thats happened today that would make us want to stop our ballot or put off strike action at the moment, said Kevin Courtney of the NEU union.

The meeting also featured the NASUWT, NAHT and ASCL unions. Discussions were civil but became pushy and tetchy, a source said.
Riso Glogo said he saw an 'old man' defecating in the life saving club showers

A swimmer got more than he bargained for after going for a 'beautiful' swim at a beach when he saw an elderly man relieving his bowels into a surf life club public shower.

Resident Riso Glogo complained about the disgusting act he said he saw at the Manly Life Saving Club on social media on Monday.

His complaint drew a barrage of comments, with some defending the dumper as Mr Glogo said he would steer clear of the club's amenities after he saw the drains become blocked after the incident.

Resident Riso Glogo posted the disgusting act that he said was done at the Manly Life Saving Club (pictured) on social media on Monday, which drew a barrage of comments with some defending the dumper

'What a beautiful swim spoiled by old man, who used a shower next to me to empty his bowels,' his scathing post (pictured) read

'What a beautiful swim spoiled by old man, who used a shower next to me to empty his bowels,' his scathing post read.

'Then he tried to break it and flush it out. So he blocked the drainage with the whole mess. From now on I better avoid using the showers in the Manly Life Saving Club.'

Mr Glogo told Daily Mail Australia he is immune to such appalling acts but this one really repulsed him.

'This was quite disgusting. Firstly I could smell it ... then I saw [his] feet breaking [it up],' the young father said.

'That made me feel sick ... [and I] went outside to shower myself again.'

The incident sparked online debate and disgust, but some social media users supported the offender.

'Maybe he had health issues. We never know the bigger picture,' one wrote, but another slammed the comment.

'Thats nonsense, thats poor education and respect for other people,' the retort read.

'Perhaps he has fecal incontinence, spinal issues and/or lacks nerve endings in which case he cannot control it and this post is utterly shaming him,' another commenter said.

'Im sure hes extremely embarrassed by what happened, hence why he tried to clean it up.'

Another told the swimmer to stop whining on the page, while another had a more sympathetic ear.

'Manly Whinging is that way,' a savage remark on social media said, while a sympathetic user told Mr Glogo, 'hope you had thongs on' (pictured, beachgoers at Manly Beach)

'Manly Whinging is that way,' the savage remark said, while the other commenter wrote, 'hope you had thongs on'.

Some online users described the act as 'disgusting', 'sick' and 'gross', while others saw the lighter side.

'Ive looked up the law on this situation and found out if its not claimed in seven days, you can keep it,' one joked.'

'Thats gold!,' one responded. 'You had my husband laughing too.'

Some online users described the act as 'disgusting', 'sick' and 'gross', while others saw the lighter side (pictured, volleyball players at the beach)

'I won't use the rock pool any more after last summer when a man (whom I see around the place frequently) expectorated and blew his nose straight in to the water!' another said.

'But I think your experience is worse.'

'Reason 101 of why not to scroll [social media] whilst eating lunch,' one more wrote.

The Manly Life Saving Club was contacted by Daily Mail Australia for comment.
Russia's Liberal Democratic Party recently suggested that the Chinese carrier Liaoning bought from Ukraine could be repossessed by repurchasing it.

Russia's Liberal Democratic Party Takes a Long Shot

Based on the most recent RIA Novosti, Sergey Karginov, the chief of the Russian Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), recommended last January 5 that Russia's government buy back the Soviet aircraft carrier that Ukraine had initially sold to China. The LDP is a right-leaning and ultra-national party that is all going for the Ukraine conflict.

Speaking to the media, Karginov contended that the incomplete aircraft carrier Varyag had been provided to Ukraine before being acquired by China and turned into a casino. After obtaining the ship, China finally built it and gave it the new name "Liaoning." The warship was initially envisioned as one of the leading ships of the USSR, reported The EurAsian Times.

One of the discussions by the LDP is that the Russian government could repurchase Liaoning and put it into service as Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the party's founder, who passed away last year.

The LDP's founder was an established ultra-national with Putin's dislike of Ukraine, along with former Soviet bloc members. He added after the dissolution of the USSR, Kyiv decided to sell it for the cost of a few vodka bottles or metal scrap. Russia must buy back the ship from China and name its founders the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet. Calling for the induction of Liaoning in the Russian Baltic fleet as a naval armada is sending assaults into Ukraine.

Read Also: Tax Refund 2023: 2 Significant Reasons Why You May Receive Smaller Amount; What To Do To Prevent It?

The spiel of the current LDP head is the Ukrainian claim that a ship in the Black Sea fleet has no Kalibr cruise missiles to use to mock Moscow, citing Pravda.

Furthermore, Kyiv has been attacking Crimea and Sevastopol Port, where the Baltic fleet is moored. The rather far-out idea is to buy the first Chinese aircraft carrier, Liaoning. However, it is questionable whether China planned to buy the vessel and how it was done.

First-ever Chinese Carrier

In 2012, Beijing officially launched Liaoning, the first aircraft carrier to bore the name of a Chinese province. The boat was a renovated Soviet Kuznetsov-class cruiser carrier purchased in half-completed condition.

The large ship, known initially as Kuznetsov and equipped with 12 P-700 Granit anti-ship missile systems, is armed with powerful weapons. Kuznetsov was designed to carry aircraft.

Classification is a technical point because the Montreux Convention prohibited "aircraft carriers" from passing the Black Sea to the Mediterranean through the Bosporus Strait; it was more than 15,000 tons.

The Varyag, the second ship of its kind, was left incomplete in Ukraine before the fall of the Soviet Union, with no arms or electrical apparatuses.

In 1992, the Ukrainian regime was desperate to sell the rusting metal hulk for scrap in its Mykolaiv shipyard. Later, the Chinese PLA planned for its navy to get the ship when it was better, as stated in a story by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post in 2015.

In March 2002, the carrier was bought and taken to Dalian port, in dry dock, and it was finished three years later in 2011. The idea of Russia's LDP is unlikely that the PLAN would sell its Chinese carrier Liaoning back to Moscow.

Related Article: Chinese Navy Constructs Five More Destroyers To Become the Most Formidable Armada Surpassing US Navy

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A young pupil who is a student at the school in Virginia where a six-year-old boy shot his teacher in the chest with a gun, has spoken of the moment he heard gunfire which sent his class into hiding.

Mark Garcia Jr., who is eight and in second grade, said his teacher heard the gunshots coming from down the hall and immediately got the class to stay quiet in case there was a shooter on site.

'When it happened the teacher heard it coming from the first grade class. We were walking back to our room and when we got there we all stayed quiet.'

Garcia Jr. told CNN that he managed to stay calm and even tried to comfort others around him.

An eight-year-old student at Richneck Elementary School in Virginia, Mark Garcia Jr. has shared his experience of the shooting that occurred at the school last week

'Two people were crying. I went to help them. When the cops came we were marched to the gym and then we were all safe.'

Mark's father, Mark Anthony Garcia, said when he found out about the shooting, he raced to the school.

'There was police helicopters everywhere outside, traffic was jammed up. Then there was a two-mile radius cordoned off of parked cars and people running, trying to actually get to the scene.'

Richneck Elementary is remaining closed all of this week as the school and community continue discuss ways to navigate through the crisis.

Garcia said local parents had raised concerns prior to the incident.

'We've talked to the principal, we've talked to the guidance counselor, we've went to town hall meetings, we spoke on zooms, what else are we supposed to do?' he said.

As a veteran, Garcia said that what happened at the school was the failure of multiple security measures including metal detectors, of which he says the school has just one located in the library.

Mark's father, Mark Anthony Garcia Sr., left, said when he found out about the shooting, he raced to the school

Teacher Abby Zwerner, 25, is stable after the life-threatening attack on Friday. She was shot at point-blank range, and the bullet went through her hand and into her chest

Earlier on Monday it emerged how the boy responsible for shooting his teacher had stolen his mother's gun from their home before putting it in his backpack and taking it along to class.

She had bought it legally in York County, and was kept in their home. It is not known why the firearm was not under lock and key.

The Richneck Elementary School student, who is not being named, is now being detained in a medical facility where professionals continue to psychologically evaluate him.

Teacher Abby Zwerner, 25, is stable after the life-threatening attack on Friday. She was shot at point-blank range as the bullet passed through her hand and into her chest.

She was giving her first grade class instructions when the child pulled the gun out of his backpack and shot her. Police have confirmed that the attack was deliberate and not accidental.

Zwerner was 'providing class instruction when six-year-old child displayed a firearm, pointed it at her and fired one round,' Chief Drew said at a news conference. 'There was no physical struggle or fight.'

Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said on Monday afternoon that more facts still had to be gathered before the department can determine if charges will be filed against the boy's mother.

Mark Garcia Jr., a second grader, described how his teacher heard the gunshots and quickly got the class to stay quiet and hide

Zwerner was shot at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News around 2pm on Friday

Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew told a press conference that the child shot one round, which went through the teacher's hand and then chest

Drew also revealed that Zwerner made sure all of the children in her class were safe and out of the room before she attempted to get help for herself.

He said that the teacher's first question when he visited her was 'do you know how my students are.'

The six-year-old 'combative' boy was physically detained by another school employee following the terrifying shooting who he then hit, police confirmed.

When officers arrived on the scene, the child was placed in a police car and later interviewed alongside his mother.

The six-year-old 'combative' boy was physically detained by another school employee after the shooting - who he then hit, police confirmed

The teacher has been hailed a hero in the local community

Police have not released any details about the child or his parents but said that more interviews and probes are taking place.

The six-year-old will appear before a judge in the coming days.

'It's a very difficult thing to process,' Newport News Mayor Philip Jones said on Sunday. 'The fact that we have a 6-year-old individual with the ability to bring a gun into school and harm his teacher  something that we're still grappling with.

'There's a lot of questions that we have to answer as a community,' the mayor added. 'Up with, how a 6-year-old was able to have a gun, know how to use it in such a deliberate manner  The individuals responsible will be held accountable. I can promise that.'

Meanwhile, a grandparent of a student at the school claimed that the week prior to the attack, one child brought in 'shiny gold bullets' and told his class and teacher he was thinking about bringing in a gun.

It is not clear if the student described by the grandparent is the same one who shot Zwerner.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, the grandmother said: 'The parents outside stated that their child told them a kid brought golden shiny bullets to school and was thinking about bringing his gun. The student told the parent, who informed the school.

'And the school just yesterday got back to the parent saying the parent of the kid said it was a nerf bullet and the parent said nerf bullets aren't shiny and gold.'

Zwerner was reportedly attempting to confiscate the gun from the young child when he shot her. Police said they were working to determine why he shot his teacher.

Dr. James Fedderman, President of the Virginia Education Association, said the problem is only going to get worse if the mental health needs of students are not met soon.

'We're going to see an increase in crime in our schools and we really needs to take the reins and do something about it,' he said, adding that schools do not currently have the capacity to address the 'social-emotional needs of our students.'

Lawonda Sample-Rusk, a grandmother who was at the school early on Friday to pick up her two grandchildren, helped render aid to the wounded Zwerner.

Rusk told local news outlet WKTR that she heard Zwerner cry out 'I'm shot, I'm shot. Call 911.'

She and the school receptionist at first thought Rusk had just been wounded on her hand, but then she 'passed out on the floor.'

Richneck Elementary will remain closed this week as administrative leaders continue to think through how to move students past the trauma experienced Friday

Lawonda Sample-Rusk told a local outlet how she responded to the shooting of 25-year-old teacher Abby Zwerner

Rusk and the receptionist stayed with Zwerner and helped put pressure on the wound while other administrators herded young students to designated safe zones.

The terrifying Friday incident led Rusk to the area's second annual Stop the Violence Rally.

Concerned residents, community activists and city leaders came together to share concerns about community safety following the shooting.

Police have so far declined to comment on what, if any further, contact they've had with Zwerner.
The head of the Border Patrol agents' union condemned President Joe Biden's visit to El Paso, saying he wasted his time visiting the city's port of entry, where tens of thousands of people enter legally from Mexico each day.

Biden spent more than three hours in the Texas city seeing how agents searched cars and luggage for contraband, as well was learning about services available for migrants.

Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said the border crisis was not being felt at the official ports of entry.

'He did not speak with any rank and file agents,' said Judd.

'He spent the vast majority of his time at the port of entry. We don't have problems at the port of entry. That's not where the issues are.'

Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, slammed President Joe Biden's visit to the southern border on Sunday, saying he did not get a full picture of the crisis

Immigrants sleep on the sidewalk near a migrant shelter on January 9, 2023, a day after the president's visit. He did not meet any migrants during his tour of border facilities

Judd said the president would have learned little about the problems facing Border Patrol from visiting a port of entry, where tightly controlled lines of people wait with their identity cards or passports.

Biden stopped off in the Texas border city before heading to Mexico City for a summit of North American leaders.

It was his first visit to the southern border since becoming president. For two years Republican kept up a steady chorus of demands that he see for himself the strain caused by more than two million people trying to cross each year.

But if the president thought his whistlestop tour would silence the critics, he was quickly put straight.

Judd said his members thought it was too little, too late and were angry that Biden had not heard from rank-and-file agents who were responsible for patroling the border between entry points.

'The only people that he met with in the in the Border Patrol were upper level management,' he said.

'If they don't tell him what he wants to hear, they're subject to be moved.

'He did not meet with any rank-and-file frontline agents.'

Immigrants wade across the Rio Grande into El Paso, Texas on January 08, 2023 from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on the same day as Biden's visit

Biden was making his first visit to the southern border since becoming president. White House officials have been able to point to one other visit during his career in politics

It also emerged that law enforcement agents conducted a sweep of the city last week, taking migrants off the street, in what opponents said was an effort to give Biden a 'sanitized' tour.

The number of illegal crossings has also plunged in the past two weeks, easing conditions in El Paso.

'Every single Border Patrol agent that I've spoken with is extremely frustrated and upset about what just took place yesterday,' said Judd.

'They are upset that he was not willing to see what's actually going on. They're upset that they cleaned everything up.

'They're upset that him knowing that he was going to bring the mainstream media with them, that we all of a sudden doubled the number of agents in the field so the mainstream media would say: "Hey, there's nothing going on here, nothing to see.'

Judd said Biden did not meet any migrants and the tour amounted to nothing more than 'optics.'

'He didn't tour any facilities where migrants would have been,' he said. 'So he didn't see anything.

'He did not see any of the chaos that he's created, that he's caused.'

Just a short distance from where President Biden was taking a stroll along a 'sanitized' stretch of the border fence in El Paso, migrants continued to cross the Rio Grande river into the U.S.

In December, this area was filled with migrants sleeping on the streets. Bon Saturday, the same streets had no sign of the migrants who had camped there after a clearance operation

Biden arrived in El Paso in the early afternoon.

From the airport, Biden visited the Bridge of the Americas  actually a series of bridges connecting El Paso with the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez  for a close-up look at the border and a bustling port of entry.

He watched border officers demonstrate how they search vehicles for drugs, money and other contraband.

A yellow Labrador was shown detecting fruit and meat in a vehicle, before a chocolate Labrador retrieved what appeared to be a package of drugs from another car.

As he toured the port of entry, a sign reading, 'Bienvenido a Mexico,' could be seen on the far side of the border.

From there he took a stroll along the side of the border fence, and on to the El Paso County Migrant Services Center to hear about the services that were offered to new arrivals.

During his tour Biden was shown how border officers search vehicles for drugs, money and other contraband at the El Paso port of entry on the Bridge of the Americas

Biden was shown a fake battery that was used in an attempt to smuggle drugs into the U.S.

Abbott handed this letter to Biden at El Paso International Airport, ensuring a frosty welcome to Texas on Sunday as the president makes his first visit to the border since taking office

He asked how many people came through the center and was told about 300 to 500 a day, although it sometimes reached as many as 1000.

His drive to the center, along closed-off roads, actually brought him close to people who that day had crossed the Rio Grande river on to U.S. soil. They cheered as his motorcade thundered past the other side of the border fence from him.

But he would have been oblivious to their presence as his convoy raced past.

Judd said Biden claimed before the visit he wanted to get a better understanding of the problems at the border.

'He didn't get any more of an understanding that what he had before he went, and again, that's politics,' he said.

'It was just optics. It was a photo shoot.'
The 'Three Amigos' summit got started Monday with a bit of a friendly quarrel between two of the allies  after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador complained in his first meeting with Biden about 'disdain' for the region, prompting Biden to defend U.S. global commitments.

President Joe Biden got down to business in Mexico City with a bilateral meeting with his Mexican counterpart, vowing to take on the steady flow of fentanyl that is streaming across the border, as well as migration challenges that prompted a new policy release last week. He called the synthetic opioid a 'scourge.'

He said tackling what he called 'irregular migration' was something 'which were well on our way to doing.

That came after Lopez Obrador signaled his country might take more than 30,000 migrants sent back from the U.S. each month under Biden's new policy.

But the host appeared to challenge Biden in his own remarks, delivered in Spanish, as he touted JFK's multi-billion Alliance for Progress aid program during the height of the Cold War, then complained about global inequality.

President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had a warm welcome during an official greeting ceremony at the start of the 'Three Amigos' summit. The Mexican president then complained about 'disdain' for Latin America

The left-wing Lopez Obrador called it the 'only important thing that has been done in terms of cooperation ... in our continent in more than half a century,' according to remarks simultaneously translated into English.

He said this is the moment 'to do away of this abandonment, this disdain and this forgetfulness for Latin America.'

That prompted some verbal pushback from Biden, who spoke second, with two delegations seated across a long table lined with white floral arrangements.

'The United States provides more for aid than every other country, just about, combined in the world to not just the hemisphere, but around the world,' he said.

Lopez Obrador said through a translator that this is the moment 'to do away of this abandonment, this disdain and this forgetfulness for Latin America'

'Unfortunately, our responsibility just doesn't end in the Western Hemisphere,' Biden shot back

'Unfortunately, our responsibility just doesn't end in the Western Hemisphere. It's in Central Europe. It's Asia, Middle East, and Africa and Southeast Asia. I wish we could just have one focus, only one focus. We have multiple foci,' he said, days after signing a bill to provide $47 billion in aid to Ukraine.

'Just in the last 15 years, we've spent billions of dollars in the hemisphere  tens of billions of dollars in the hemisphere,' Biden responded.

Lopez Obrador also complained about Asian imports flooding his country  echoing concerns in the U.S. about imports from China. Not long ago, it was a flood of imports built by cheaper Mexican labor that drove trade discussions in the U.S.

'Theyre coming from Asia,' Lopez Obrador said of merchandise landing in stores.

'Couldnt we produce in America what we consume? Thats what were asking. Of course we could,' he said.

Biden spoke of combatting the 'scourge' of illegal fentanyl

The White House has also said improving supply chains and have critical items produced by friendly nearby countries is a discussion issue for the summit.

The U.S. requested $2 billion in foreign assistance for Latin America and the Caribbean for fiscal 2022, which would have been the largest allocation in a decade.

The U.S. has long topped the list of providers of foreign aid in dollar terms  but lags other developed nations in terms of the size of its own economy.

Mexico's economy, which is closely tied to exports to the U.S., has been suffering during the pandemic and economic slowdown, even as Lopez Obrador worked to boost wages here. The country is experiencing slow growth.

According to a White House readout of the meeting, the two men 'reviewed progress towards their ambitious climate commitments, including achieving the emissions targets established in their nationally determined contributions and reaching the goals Mexico announced at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt in November.'

They also 'reaffirmed their commitment to implement innovative approaches to address irregular migration,' and Biden 'discussed the recent announcement of additional enforcement actions, coupled with expanded pathways for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans in addressing irregular migration. President Biden and President Lopez Obrador also reaffirmed their commitment to address the root causes of migration.'

The two leaders spoke at the top of a meeting Monday after the White House indicated that a plan to take in 30,000 additional legal migrants each month wasnt a fixed number. That came after the Mexican president signaled his country might be willing to take more border crossers than announced previously that the US plans to send back.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke to reporters Monday after the Biden Administration announced a plan to accept 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti who apply for asylum online.

We are in the early days of the implementation of that, and we will see how that goes and then make determinations about where to take the next step. So I don't think we have a fixed number in mind, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters from the presidents luxury hotel in Mexico City, hours after Biden landed here.

He was asked about the Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors own statement earlier that Mexico might take more than 30,000 migrants from the U.S. than previously indicated.

President Joe Biden met Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Monday night. The two men shared an hour-long ride into town

We dont want to anticipate things, but this is part of what we are going to talk about at the summit, Lopez Obrador said. We support this type of measures, to give people options, alternatives, he continued, adding that the numbers may be increased.

For his part, Sullivan said the numbers, announced by the White House last week, had been an iterative process.

The concept is to have the U.S. encourage people from the countries to apply for asylum online, while those who appear at the southern border would be sent back.

Lopez Obrador indicated openness to accepting more than 30,000 migrants per month to be sent back from north of the border.

Migrants stand behind barbed wire to keep them from crossing into El Paso, Texas, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Tuesday. The White House wants people to apply for asylum online

The U.S. plans to send about 30,000 migrants a month back to Mexico, according to a plan announced before Biden's trip

Long road: Biden and the Mexican president rode together for an hour in 'the Beast'

He spoke of how the administration began the program for those fleeing oppression in Venezuala, then extended it to Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians.

Biden landed Sunday at at the new Felipe Angeles International Airport, a pet project of the president, although it has few flights and had issues with running water.

That subjected Biden, who is accustomed to zipping through downtown areas, to a nearly hour-long ride to his hotel. But he was accompanied by the president for the hour-long ride in 'the Beast,' Biden's presidential limo.

That constituted Biden's biggest chunk of diplomacy yet. He doesn't have any public events until after 4 pm local time, although he was to get his presidential daily brief.

Sullivan indicated the limo ride was useful, but wouldn't disclose details.

'Yesterday, he had the opportunity to ride with President Lopez Obrador from the airport back into town, which gave them the chance to just have a one on one chat. Kind of how they're seeing the world right now  what's on their minds. I think they both got a lot out of it,' he said.
Prince Harry said that his mother Diana's former butler made his 'blood boil' when he released a book about her following her death.

In his controversial memoir Spare, The Duke of Sussex said Paul Burrell was 'milking' Diana's death for money when he published 'A Royal Duty' - which made a series of private revelations.

Mr Burrell, 64, served as a footman for the Queen and was later butler to Diana for 10 years until her death in 1997.

He said in December that the Queen, who died aged 96 in September, would be 'very upset and unhappy that Harry was saying so much, showing so many private things'.

Back when the book was published in 2003, Mr Burrell, who the duke does not name in the autobiography, drew strong criticism from the royal family.

A statement issued by the brothers from Clarence House accused Mr Burrell of 'a cold and overt betrayal'.

In his new book Prince Harry said his mother's former butler made his 'blood boil' by releasing a book about her called 'A Royal Duty'

The Duke of Sussex accused Paul Burrell of 'milking' Princess Diana's death for money (pictured together in 1997)

In response, Mr Burrell welcomed the suggestion of meeting with the princes to justify his book and tell them about parts of their mother's life they had not witnessed, adding: 'I'd love to give them a piece of my mind.'

In his memoir Spare, Harry describes how he learned of the book when he was working as an unpaid farmhand in Australia aged 19 in 2003 after leaving Eton.

He writes that he received a package from Buckingham Palace, which was full of memos from the Palace communications team about 'a delicate matter'.

'Mummy's former butler had penned a tell-all which actually told nothing,' he said.

'It was merely one man's self-justifying, self-centring version of events.

'My mother once called this butler a dear friend, trusted him implicitly. We did too. Now this.

'He was milking her disappearance for money. It made my blood boil.'

In his memoir Spare, Harry describes how 'Mummy's former butler had penned a tell-all which actually told nothing'

Harry writes that he wanted to fly home to 'confront' Mr Burrell but Charles and William talked him out of it, saying all they could do was 'issue a united condemnation'.

The duke also claims that he had 'nothing to do with the drafting' of the Clarence House statement and that he would have 'gone much further'.

On a meeting with Mr Burrell, Harry wrote: 'He wanted to give us a piece of his mind?'

Harry said he 'anxiously' waited for the meeting but it never happened, writing: 'I didn't know why; I presume the Palace quashed it. I told myself: Shame.

'I thought of that man as the one errant steer that got away that summer.'
The parents of missing Madeleine McCann Gerry and Kate had to pay out nearly 7,000 - using funds raised to search for their daughter - for a libel battle with a former Portuguese police chief.

The couple lost the 13-year battle in September with Goncalo Amaral, who made 'unfounded' claims they were involved in their daughter's disappearance.

Accounts for Madeleine's Fund, a not-for-profit company, revealed it paid 6,695 in legal costs relating to 'a legal action in Portugal brought by Gerald and Kate McCann'.

Meanwhile, the latest accounts also show Madeleine's Fund received 3,498 from sales of Kate's book titled 'Madeleine' in the previous year, and the fund has 970,767 in cash and assets.

Kate and Gerry McCann, parents to missing girl Madeleine McCann, had to pay out nearly 7,000 for a libel battle with a former Portuguese police chief

Madeleine, who went missing aged three during a family holiday to Portugal in 2007, has a fund set up in her name called Madeleine's Fund which is used to search for her

Madeleine's Fund was set up to 'secure the safe return' of Gerry and Kate's daughter, who was three years old when she vanished during a holiday to Portugal in 2007.

According to The Mirror, The McCanns sued Amaral for libel over claims made in his book, Maddie: The Truth About The Lie, and in 2015 a Lisbon court ordered him to pay the couple 440,000 in damages.

However, the next year an appeal court overturned the decision, and in 2017 the supreme court found against Madeleine's parents. They then took the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

The McCanns sued Goncalo Amaral, pictured, for libel over claims made in his book, Maddie: The Truth About The Lie

Gerry and Kate have maintained that they only took action against Amaral after his 'unfounded claims were having a detrimental impact on the search for Madeleine'.

In 2020, 45-year-old paedophile Christian Brueckner was named the prime suspect over Madeleine's disappearance by authorities in Germany, where Brueckner is imprisoned. He denies any involvement in the McCann's missing daughter.
A new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland seemed more likely last night after Britain and the EU agreed to share trade data.

In a significant breakthrough, the UK said the EU would be given access to data detailing the flow of goods from mainland Britain to the province.

The two sides hailed the agreement as a 'new basis' for resolving the long running row over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

A source close to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said: 'It is indeed a big step, and it could be a door-opener for more.'

The new agreement follows talks in London between Foreign Secretary James Cleverly (pictured) and European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic

The deal followed talks in London between Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic. The two men said the agreement on data sharing was 'a critical prerequisite to building trust and providing assurance, and provided a new basis for EU-UK discussions'.

Their joint statement said that London and Brussels would now 'work rapidly to scope the potential for solutions in different areas on the basis of this renewed understanding'. They will hold further talks next week. Downing Street said the agreement was an 'important step forward' and 'a foundation for building further trust'. But the Prime Minister's spokesman said: 'There are still significant issues at the heart of the protocol that need addressing.'

Data sharing could allow the EU to drop the need for checks on goods not destined to enter the EU's single market via the Irish Republic.

European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic and the Foreign Secretary said the agreement on data sharing was 'a critical prerequisite to building trust and providing assurance, and provided a new basis for EU-UK discussions'

Last month Simon Coveney, former Irish foreign minister, said: 'If we're going to get a deal here, there has to be real-time sharing of data and that has to happen in a way that the UK are comfortable with and in a way that the EU can live with too.'

The agreement will fuel hopes that the two sides might be closing in on a deal to resolve the problems over the Northern Ireland Protocol, which have seen the DUP boycott a power-sharing government for months.

EU trade checks are blamed for driving a wedge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Last week, the Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar conceded that the trade rules were 'too strict' and that 'mistakes were made' in the design of the Protocol.
Rishi Sunak will give police new powers to stop protesters from disrupting traffic in a move seemingly targeting eco-zealot group Just Stop Oil.

The Prime Minister said the proposals would be set out in the coming weeks to prevent 'a small minority' disrupting the lives of the 'hard-working majority'.

It comes after Mr Sunak promised to give police chiefs 'whatever they need' to put an end to the disruptions that have been plaguing the London streets.

Parliament recently passed new legislation intended to restrict disruptive protests, but Mr Sunak has since indicated that yet more powers would be required.

Rishi Sunak will give police new powers to stop protesters from disrupting traffic in a move seemingly targeting eco-zealot group Just Stop Oil. Pictured: Just Stop Oil protesters marching through Clapham South, London on December 12, 2022

Mr Sunak promised to give police chiefs 'whatever they need' to put and end to the disruptions that have been plaguing the London streets. Pictured: Just Stop Oil protesters get a police escort while demonstrating through Highbury, Islington and Angel on November 30, 2022

'Peaceful protest is a fine British, democratic tradition. But that must be balanced with the rights of everyone else to go about their lives freely,' Mr Sunak wrote on the ConservativeHome website.

'We have been looking at how we can strengthen our laws to provide the police with the clarity they need to stop serious disruption and will come forward with those plans in the coming weeks.

'We cannot and will not have protests conducted by a small minority disrupting the lives of the hard working majority, preventing a mother taking their kids to school or cancer patients attending their hospital appointments. It's not right and we're going to put a stop to it.'

Ministers and officials have been grappling with the changing tactics used by the demonstrators, including slowing traffic to a crawling pace by carrying out walking protests through cities including London.

Parliament has already passed the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act and is currently considering the Public Order Bill, which were both intended to restrict disruptive protests.

However, Downing Street suggested there could be additional powers and greater clarity for police.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (pictured yesterday) said the proposals would be set out in the coming weeks to prevent 'a small minority' disrupting the lives of the 'hard-working majority'

Parliament has already passed the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act and is currently considering the Public Order Bill, which were both intended to restrict disruptive protests. Pictured: Just Stop Oil activists near Clapham South station on December 12, 2022

'We want the police to have the requisite powers and that includes ensuring that when people are significantly disrupting the public's everyday lives, the police can act,' the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.

'There is additional legislation moving through the House already that provides further power, but we have seen new tactics emerge, evolve  in part because of the tougher powers we've introduced.

'So it's important we continually look at making sure the police have any powers, and certainly any clarity they need, to act.'

He added: 'We've seen protests move to slow walking protests. Obviously the Government fully respects people's right to protest, to demonstrate, and we will always protect that.

'But equally there needs to be a balance struck on protests that are deliberately designed to inflict misery on the public so they can't go about their daily lives.'

Asked if there could be a ban on slow-walking protests, of the kind which have been staged on Whitehall outside the gates to Downing Street, the spokesman said: 'I'm not going to get into what further action we may or may not take in this area. It is something we want to keep looking at to make sure police have the right powers.'

A spokesperson for Just Stop Oil said: 'Investing in new oil and gas will significantly disrupt peoples lives, all day, everyday and never stop.

'We look forward to the police using the powers they already have, to ensure those planning the greatest criminal act in history are arrested and brought to trial'.

Police officers deal with activists from Just Stop Oil outside Harrods last October

Just Stop Oil protesters Phoebe Plummer, left, and Anna Holland, right, threw soup at Vincent Van Gogh's masterpiece Sunflowers at the National Gallery on October 14, 2022

An environmental protester from Just Stop Oil climbs above the rush hour traffic of the M25 arterial motorway, on an overhead gantry on November 10, 2022 in London

Just Stop Oil eco-zealots were arrested up to SEVEN times each during month of road-block chaos in London: Click here to read more Just Stop Oil protesters blocked roads and bridges in the capital last year in order to highlight their demand that the Government stops new oil and gas projects Advertisement

The move to tackle disruptive protests comes after the eco-zealots brought large parts of London and the South East to a standstill last year after they embarked on more than 30 days of continuous protests.

Extinction Rebellion, which inspired Just Stop Oil, announced earlier this month that it is quitting actions that target the disruption of the public, admitting that 'little has changed' by doing so.

However, Just Stop Oil vowed to carry on with their demonstrations.

The continuous protests caused significant disruption, frustrating members of the public and prompting tough talk from politicians, with Home Secretary Suella Braverman dubbing the demonstrators as 'extremists'.

Their tactics included blocking roads in the capital and climbing gantries on the M25 to force the closure of the ring road on multiple occasions.

One pair of protesters forced the closure of the Dartford bridge for more than a day, causing chaos on one of the UK's busiest roads.

They also targeted some of world's most recognisable cultural sights, with a pair of activists throwing soup at Vincent Van Gogh's masterpiece Sunflowers.

Many were arrested and last month the climate protest group claimed those who were jailed are 'political prisoners'.

A Just Stop Oil protester is arrested by police after blocking the road at the junction of Cannon Street and Queen Victoria Street in London on October 27

A Just Stop Oil protester is detained by police after being taken down from the Dartford bridge in November 2022

Officers arrest Just Stop Oil protesters who spray painted buildings on October 31, 2022

Additionally, data released by Met Police in late December revealed that Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested up to seven times each during the month of road-blocking chaos in London last autumn.

Official figures showed that of the 755 people arrested between October 1 and November 4, 155 were detained by police more than once - just over one in five.

Official figures from the force show that some protesters were able to take part in multiple protests, with one person being arrested a remarkable seven times, The Times reported.

Police detained two people on five occasions, 25 people on four, 28 on three and 99 protesters on two demonstrations.

Of the 755 people arrested during the demonstrations in October and at the start of November, 112 have since been charged.

It told the publication that most arrests in the first five weeks were for obstructing the highway, a lesser offence that can only receive a maximum sentence of six months in prison.

While police investigated many of these offences, the protesters were released on bail, meaning they were free to join other demonstrations taking place.
Locals in a small surfing town are promising to fight against a wave of developers looking to turn their hidden paradise into the next trendy Byron Bay.

A growing number of tourists have been flocking to the NSW North Coast town of Crescent Head every summer to enjoy its famous surf and crystal clear water.

However, locals said the boom in visitors has seen people setting up camp in illegal spots, litter and put too much strain on the small town's resources.

So the prospect of a brand-new 'boutique' hotel popping up in the middle of town has many on edge.

Crescent Head (above) locals are concerned a wave of tourists and new property developments will turn their small town into the next Byron Bay

Locals said an increase of summer tourists through the years has seen people setting up camp in illegal spots, litter and put too much strain on the small town's resources (pictured, Crescent Head's annual Santa Surf)

Fashion designer and international hotelier George Gorrow, who started the brand Ksubi, said he and his German model wife Cisco Tschurtschenthaler will work to build a 1970s-inspired surf club hotel that reflects the Crescent Head community.

Set to open later this year, the hotel promises to be reminiscent of classic Australian coastal culture with a specialised local surfboard gallery, music and restaurant.

'I love surfing. So does my wife, and Crescent Head is one of the most iconic surf breaks on the north coast, so we are trying to keep in with that,' Mr Gorrow told ABC.

'Crescent Head still feels like that place you visited as a child, it still feels so pure.'

Many Crescent Head residents said the hotel will be a great addition to the small town and help support local businesses during the off-peak season.

Fashion designer and international hotelier George Gorrow said he and his German model wife Cisco Tschurtschenthaler (above) are going to build a new 'boutique hotel' in Crescent Head

Locals are divided over whether development will allow the town to survive or destroy its unique identity (pictured, local commenters)

Among them is Robyn Harvey, 72, a former Australian longboard surfer and proud Crescent Head local.

'We need tourism for the shops to survive and get through our winter, this will just sparkle it up a little bit,' she said.

'We all have to learn to share and get along with every generation.'

But not all of the locals are convinced the couple - who have spent that last decade living and running a successful hotel in Bali - are the right fit for the town.

Kempsey Shire Councillor and local resident Alexandra Wyatt said a balance needed to be found.

'I find opinion in Crescent Head very divided,' Cr Wyatt told the ABC.

'I would also like to see some social equity in there, so we don't just kick out everyone who can't afford to be there.

'We cannot love these places to death.'

Several disappointed residents voiced their opinions on Facebook.

'It's not what the locals want, it's really sad this is going ahead and it sounds like locals are only finding out now. So much for community consultation,' one person wrote.

Some residents said increased tourism would help long-term business survive out of peak season while other said new businesses would force locals under (pictured, Crescent Head)

'The reason why myself and many others love Crescent Head the way it is, is because it's not high end. If people want glitzy high end let them go to Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay or the Gold Coast that have arguably been ruined,' another said.

A third wrote: 'Calling it a sleepy town and making out we should be happy to have these people come and 'shake it up'. How many tickets do these people have on themselves? Keep your city ideas and comments and leave our 'sleepy town' to those that love it just the way it is!'

About a quarter of Crescent Head locals have joined an online group dedicated to monitoring the progress of the town's new developments.

Its 521 members are passionate about protecting their community's identity but are divided in how that identity will look in the future.

A 521-strong group made of concerned locals regularly holds town meetings, attends council sessions and provides its thoughts on future development plans (pictured, Crescent Head)

The group regularly holds town meetings, attends council sessions and provides its thoughts on future development plans.

Mr Gorrow's surf-inspired hotel is just one of the many plans locals are upset about with a separate three-storey hotel, bars and cafes set to open in the area with many frustrated the new establishments will take away from long-standing businesses.

One local business owner wrote on the page: 'Shouldn't council be looking at Byron Bay as a template as to what not to do?'

'Unfortunately the council are not working for the people who pay rates.

'There is no infrastructure in place to support our community in the growth that's proposed, shame on them.'

How a bedroom in Crescent Head's flash new 1970s-inspired surf hotel may look
Onlookers watched on in shock as two horses bolted from a Magic Million promotional event on Tuesday morning and narrowly avoided being hit by vehicles and light rail.

The horses were competing in an annual 'Beach Gallop' on the sand at Surfers Paradise Beach, an event which sees celebrities and VIPs ride horses along the sand in front of hundreds of onlookers.

Billy Slater and visiting royal Zara Tindall were amongst those present when two horses managed to escape the barricades and bolted towards the busy Gold Coast highway.

In shocking footage uploaded to Twitter, the two fleeing horses can be seen crossing sand dunes and pedestrian footpaths before heading directly to the nearby highway.

In shocking footage uploaded to Twitter, the two fleeing horses can be seen crossing sand dunes and pedestrian footpaths in a panicked state before heading directly to the nearby highway.

The horses were competing in an annual 'mock race day' on the sand at Surfers Paradise Beach

It's understood both horses then crosses the Gold Coast light rail tracks several times, evading the dozen or so race officials who had attempted to apprehend them from the beach.

They also managed to avoid any contact with vehicles on what is one of the busiest stretches of the Gold Coast highway - at the time heaving with holiday makers and back-to-work commuters.

Queensland Police later released a statement saying the horses were safely apprehended and loaded on to floats about a kilometre from their original location.

Magic Millions media manager Greg Irvine said that while he was not on site at the beach promotion during the escape, he confirmed both horses were rescued unharmed.

Onlookers watched on in shock as two horses bolted from a Magic Million promotional event on Tuesday morning

The two fleeing horses can be seen crossing sand dunes before heading to the Gold Coast highway

Queensland Police later released a statement saying the horses were safely apprehended and loaded on to floats about a kilometre from their original location

'All I know is that everyone is okay and the horses sustained no injuries,' Irvine told Daily Mail Australia, adding that the two horses who bolted the event were not competing in Saturday's race schedule.

'They are a couple of retired horses that were just trotting down the beach and somehow managed to get away but they're both fine, thankfully.'

Another Magic Millions spokesperson confirmed that horse welfare officials had since assessed the two escaped horses.

The two female jockeys, who had dismounted the horses shortly before they took off, were also assessed and cleared.

'What appears to have happened is that the two horses came together at the end of the beach gallop and the jockeys came off and then the horses then went on their merry way,' the spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

'You would like to think that these things go as seamless as possible but that's not always the case and it wasn't today.'

The Magic Millions rep confirmed that the two horses were eventually captured by handlers 'a few hundred metres' from the beach gallop site and underwent vet checks.

She also confirmed that safety measures for next years beach event would be reviewed as a result of Tuesday's incident.

The shocking escape followed another bizarre incident on Saturday when four-year-old mare Princess Lunar got loose from its jockey and jumped in a nearby canal.

Another bizarre incident occurred on Saturday when four-year-old mare Princess Lunar got loose from its jockey and jumped in a nearby canal.

Princess Lunar was corralled by handlers after escaping jockey Tegan Harrison prior to Pierata First Yearlings Quality Handicap over 900 metres.

Barrier attendants and race day starter Ken Watson were amongst those who helped retrieve the horse

It's understood the horse got away from jockey Tegan Harrison on the way to the start for the Pierata First Yearlings Quality Handicap over 900 metres.

Princess Lunar then broke away, broke through perimeter fencing, crossed a grassy embankment and took a swim in the nearby Nerang River and settled in a canal.

According to reports on JustHorseRacing.net the race day starter  Ken Watson  and barrier attendants swam out to successfully retrieve the mare  a winner of three races in 10 starts.

Princess Lunar was inspected by Racing Queensland vets and given a clean bill of health.
December 2022 remained drier than average for the UK, the Met Office said

Hosepipe bans will come into effect unless there is exceptional rainfall

England will suffer another drought this summer  and hosepipe bans  unless there is exceptional rainfall in coming months, says the Environment Agency.

Despite recent downpours, most of England is still in drought, it explains.

Last summer was the driest for 50 years and hosepipe bans were brought in for millions of homes. And latest Met Office figures show December 2022 remained drier than average for the UK.

John Leyland, from the agency, said: We cannot rely on the weather alone  if we are to avoid a worse drought this year, it will require action by us all.

England will suffer another drought this summer unless there is exceptional rainfall in coming months, says the Environment Agency. Pictured: Ardingly reservoir in West Sussex at 30 per cent its normal capacity, September 27, 2022

The UK had 111mm of rain in December, which is 87 per cent of the average.

Forecasts of drought are likely to renew criticisms of water companies who lose a staggering amount of water to leaky pipes - some 3billion litres a day - or just over 1 trillion litres over the year according to Ofwat figures.

The Government has set the industry a target to halve leakage rates by 2050, while Ofwat has set a five-year target of a 16 per cent reduction by 2025.

Meanwhile, demand for water is growing with the National Infrastructure Commission estimating that the UK will need an extra 3.5billion- 4billion litres water a day.

The National Infrastructure Commission has warned without further action there is roughly a one in four chance over the next 30 years that large numbers of households will have their water supply cut off for an extended period because of a severe drought.

The NIC has recommended that smart water meters become mandatory to help track demand and identify problems.

The Climate Change Committee, which advises government, has called for set targets for reducing household and business water use.

Although ministers have said they want water consumption to fall to 110 litres per person per day by 2050, from about 142 litres today, the goal is not legally binding and does not cover businesses, which account for more than a quarter of public water supply needs.

Despite recent downpours, most of England is still in drought, the Environment Agency explains. Pictured: Vehicles drive through flood waters in Reading, November 23, 2022

A Defra spokesperson said: Protecting our water resources remains a priority for this government. We are already pushing water companies to halve leakage rates and develop new supplies as well as taking action to ensure resilience including investment in new reservoirs.

We want to go further, which is why we are proposing a statutory government target on water efficiency through the Environment Act which would require a reduction in leakage of over 30 per cent by 2037.

These measures will support the delivery of the ambitions set out in the National Water Resources Framework to reduce personal consumption from 144 litres to 110 litres per person per day by 2050.

Water UK said its members were increasingly using innovative solutions, such as drones and artificial intelligence, to find and fix leaks as soon as possible and said tackling leakage was only part of the solution.

A Water UK spokesperson said: Leakage is currently at the lowest level on record ever and water companies are increasingly using innovative solutions, such as drones and artificial intelligence, to find and fix leaks as soon as possible. Each company has plans in place to reduce leakage year on year to meet the ambitious sector target of reducing leakage by 50 per cent by 2050.

However, leakage is only part of the solution which is why companies are investing billions in new water resources projects, including new reservoirs and major water transfer schemes. In addition, companies are working hard with customers to cut water use and are pushing Government to champion water efficiency through mandatory water efficiency labelling and robust building regulations.
The laid-off Chinese workers of the COVID-19 antigen factory were seen in a protest that engaged police in fisticuffs.

Chinese COVID-19 Antigen Kit Factory's Laid-Off Workers Protest

In Beijing, numerous workers at an antigen kit factory clashed with police in a video posted on social media last Sunday. The protests come as Xi Jinping eased the hardline pandemic policy, reported The Straits Times.

AFP footage from an industrial park in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing shows a swarm of people hurling crates at a group of uniformed men, sending a shower of what appear to be test kits inside the boxes. One more scene shows a mass of people standing in front of a line of officers at night as megaphones play an alert demanding that they completely stop illegal practices, noted Deccan Herald.

Many workers had never been paid, based on a caption of an uploaded video from the scene. Other posts disclose the Chongqing-based pharmaceutical company Zybio had just fired workers that were hired in recent weeks. But the COVID-19 kit firm had kept mum, and the local Chongqing cops had not given a justification for the incident.

A man in a video, who claims to be a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, explained that the workers are asking about their pay and said there is nothing political about the protests, only concern for their jobs.

The outlet was unable to confirm when the images were obtained, but several users stated that the confrontation occurred on Saturday night into Sunday morning, citing VOA News.

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The footage shows strikingly patterned brown-and-white industrial buildings in the surroundings, complementing the preceding images of Zybio's plant in the Dadukou District Jianqiao Industrial Park.

The headline "Chongqing Dadukou Pharmaceutical Factory" emerged to be edited on the popular Weibo social media platform last Sunday, with just one post from the preceding day explaining the mass demonstrations as an "interesting subject" nevertheless observable.

One TikTok clip uploaded by a state-owned media organization showed what appeared to be a road strewn with pathogen tests in a Chongqing industrial park. The headline cites a labor dispute, but the footage was removed within hours.

COVID- 19 illnesses have shot up across China as the government forsakes its zero-tolerance strategy for viral infection, which results in a spike in demand for testing products and drugs. Officials last month ended up taking over production lines at more than a dozen pharma companies, although some companies decided to bring on new employees to satisfy surging demand. Despite government attempts to quell dissent, demonstrations focused on wages and targeting businesses seem common in China.

The year before, similar scenarios started playing out at Foxconn's production plant in central China, in which outraged workers came into conflict with authorities over a COVID-19 clampdown and pay dispute.

In November, China's strict COVID-19 limits triggered a portion of the nation's harshest turmoil in years, with thousands demonstrating on the streets from across the country to resist curfews and required testing.

Many laid-off Chinese workers at a COVID-19 antigen factory were caught on tape as they engaged the police over the situation.

Related Article: COVID-19 Breakout Causes Shortage of Beds in Chinese Hospitals as More Cases Surge

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Police have arrested a man and a woman for allegedly dealing drugs after finding a huge pile of syringes, $20,000 cash and other illicit substances during a home raid.

The 36-year-old man and 43-year-old woman were arrested at about 10.30pm on Monday during a suspected drug deal in Hawker, north west of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.

Police searched the man's car and found cash, prescription medication and 19 clip-seal bags containing substances believed to contain illicit drugs including synthetic heroin and methylamphetamine.

A man, 36, and woman, 43, were arrested for allegedly dealing drugs in Hawker, north west of Canberra. Police raided a home in the suburb of Cook and found piles of syringes, drugs, $20,000 cash and hazardous chemicals used to make illicit substances (pictured)

A home in the suburb of Cook was searched at about 11.30pm, with similar items to those seized from the man's vehicle found.

Shocking photos taken by the police show the disheveled state of the alleged drug dealer's home, with a huge pile of syringes found heaped on a mattress on the floor.

Chemicals used to manufacture illicit substances was also found along with drugs and $20,000 cash.

Police swiftly evacuated the residence after discovering the hazardous chemicals, but will resume their search on Tuesday once the home is declared safe.

The Cook man and Coombs woman will face court on Tuesday charged with receiving stolen property and trafficking in a controlled drug other than cannabis.

The man is also charged with possession of property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.

The arrests come after ACT Police launched an ongoing operation targeting the manufacture and distribution of illicit drugs.

Police are urging anyone with information about the manufacture, sale or distribution of illicit drugs to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
An American rapper has taken a swipe at Qantas after the airline lost his luggage.

Denzel Curry, 27, fired off a series of tweets attacking the airline after staff misplaced his luggage on one of his Jetstar flights.

Curry had been travelling around the country to perform at a number of popular music festivals.

'EVERYONE TWEET AT @Qantas AND TELL THEM TO FIND MY BAG ASAP,' he wrote on Twitter.

An American rapper has taken a swipe at Qantas after the airline lost his luggage

Denzel Curry, 27, fired off a series of tweets attacking the airline after staff misplaced his luggage on one of his Jetstar flights

'Find My Bags @Qantas Find My Bags,' he added in another tweet.

He then put a spin on the airline and its New Years Eve message, 'Taking off into 2023. Happy New Year!'

'Leaving Bags in 2023 also Find My Bag,' he wrote.

Jetstar was quick to respond to the tweets posting a comment to the original post.

'As this involved one of our flights last night, we wanted to let you know we're urgently looking into this,' the comment read.

'Once your bag is located it will be delivered to you. We're really sorry for what's happened, please DM us if you need further help.'

A Jetstar spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the luggage had been found and was on its way to being returned to Curry.

After a year of customer rage over delayed flights and lost luggage, Qantas began 2023 regaining its position as the airline rated the safest in the world.

Curry had been travelling around the country to perform at a number of popular music festivals

After a year of customer rage over delayed flights and lost luggage, Qantas began 2023 regaining its position as the airline rated the safest in the world

Its no-frills sister airline, Jetstar, also made the list of world's safest low-cost airlines.

Qantas, which started flying in November 1920, edged out last year's winner Air New Zealand to be crowned the safest airline in the world.

Though it declined to comment directly on topping the poll, Qantas has always maintained that safety is its number one priority.

AirlineRatings.com, in making its evaluation, takes into account factors that include serious incidents, recent fatal accidents, audits from aviation's governing and industry bodies, profitability, industry-leading safety initiatives, expert pilot training assessment and fleet age.

Geoffrey Thomas from the website said 'Our top 20 safest airlines are all standouts in the industry and are at the forefront of safety, innovation and launching of new aircraft.

'In fact, the safety margins between these top 20 airlines are very small, they are all outstanding airlines,' he said.
A guest at a luxury hotel has died days after she was found floating unconscious in the resort pool.

The woman, 61, was pulled from the water after being discovered by staff at the Ville Resort-Casino in Townsville, Queensland at around 10.20am on Saturday.

Workers desperately gave her CPR before she was rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

The woman, 61, was pulled from the water after being discovered by staff at the Ville Resort-Casino in Townsville, Queensland on Saturday

However, local police confirmed on Tuesday morning that the woman has now died.

Her identity has not yet been revealed.

It is unknown how she ended up in the water or what caused her to lose consciousness.

Detective Acting Inspector Chris Hicks Townsville Crime Services described the death as a tragedy.

'We extend our deepest sympathies to the family. It is a tragedy,' he said.

'As a result of that the forensic crash unit and Workplace Health and Safety investigators are investigating this matter and are preparing a report to the coroner.'

Workers desperately gave her CPR before she was rushed to hospital in a critical condition

A spokeswoman for the Ville Resort and Casino said: 'The Ville confirms there was an incident in the Hotel pool Saturday the 7th January and a guest is currently in a critical condition at Townsville University hospital.

'The Ville is working with all authorities investigating the incident and is supporting the guest's family through this difficult time.

'Our thoughts are with the guest and their family.'
The desperate battle to save the life of a devoted dog lover has been revealed after her unconscious body was pulled from the water at a Sydney beauty spot.

Bev Webb, 47, died after she appeared to have a medical episode in the sea at picturesque Gordons Bay in Clovelly on Sydney's eastern beaches on Monday.

Aleksei Prakhiy, 18, was on the beach when he and his mates spotted the Leichhardt woman lying lifeless in the water close to nearby rocks and sprinted to help.

He and his friend immediately pulled her from the sea but she was already unconscious and appeared to have stopped breathing.

Bev Webb, 47, died after she appeared to have a medical episode in the sea at picturesque Gordon's Bay in Clovelly on Sydney's eastern beaches on Monday.

Aleksei Prakhiy, 18, was on the beach nearby when he and his mates spotted the Leichhardt woman lying lifeless in the water close to rocks and sprinted to help

'The waves were washing over her and she was being submerged so we had to move her onto a rock,' the teen from Mascot in Sydney's east told Daily Mail Australia.

'There were three teenage girls there too, but one guy checked her pulse and tried to see if she was breathing, but there was no sign of life.

'She wasn't responsive at all so we started shouting for people to call the emergency services.'

Aleksei learned basic CPR at school and put it into action, recalling instructions to use the rhythm of the Bee Gees song Staying Alive to try to keep her heart beating.

'When we saw she wasn't breathing, we realised we needed to do CPR so I just started doing chest compressions,' he said.

'I was doing it for five minutes or so - I did about three or four rounds of it. I was trying to remember the song in my head to keep the beat.

'It felt surreal at the time. I remembered it and I was doing it - but it just didn't work.'

The teenagers immediately pulled Bev Webb (pictured with husband Russ) from the sea but she was already unconscious and appeared to have stopped breathing

The 47-year-old woman was face down in the water when she was found at Gordons Bay, next to Clovelly Beach in Sydney's east

Aleksei was still doing the chest compressions when help arrived, with police and paramedics picking their way through treacherous boulders to reach the scene.

The 1.95m teen then helped lift Ms Webb's body from the water's edge up several metres to a flatter area on top of one of the giant boulders so medics could treat her.

A surfer with first aid training also arrived to help while police on a jetski transferred vital medical equipment from a police boat from nearby Coogee.

Ms Webb - married to husband Russ and an avid fan of whale watching - is believed to have been snorkelling at the beach with relatives when the tragedy unfolded.

The relatives joined the rescue mission but were unable to help save the woman's life.

The 1.95m teen then helped lift Ms Webb's body from the water's edge up several metres to a flatter area on top of one of the giant boulders so medics could treat her

Gordons Bay is a picturesque hideaway popular with divers and snorkellers

'It was shocking,' admitted Aleksei. 'It's the first time I've encountered a dead body and it's a lot to process.

'At the time it was more of an adrenaline rush when I saw her unconscious and my first instinct was to run and help.

'When help arrived I was just relieved to be able to hand over to people who knew exactly what to do.'

Friends paid tribute online to Ms Webb - believed to be an area supervisor with Census Australia = as word spread of the tragedy.

Pet rescue group Paws for Thought broke the news to followers 'with a heavy heart' and called her a 'beautiful kind lady'.

'We have known Bev for over five years,' they posted online. 'We see and chat to Bev every Saturday and every Sunday at our doggie cafe.

'There is such profound sadness and shock felt by all of us at Cafe Bones.

Pet rescue group Paws for Thought broke the news to followers 'with a heavy heart' and called Bev Webb (pictured with husband Russ) a 'beautiful kind lady'.

'We cant believe that one of the nicest people youd ever meet will no longer be the smiley, happy and jolly person we see every week on our weekend outings.

'The doggie cafe can never be the same without our Bev.'

Shane Manuse, owner of the Leichhardt-based cafe, told Daily Mail Australia they are planning to hold a memorial for her in the days to come.

'She was just a lovely lady who would always adopt the older dogs that other people would ignore and give them a happier life in their twilight years,' he said.

Cafe Bones owner Shane Manuse said Bev Webb's husband Russ (pictured together) will be devastated by the loss of his wife

'She was always out walking her dogs, come rain, hail or shine and made sure everyone else's dogs were all part of the pack.

'She was just a very loving lady.'

He added: 'It's going to be a huge blow for her husband Russ. He was always down here with her and they were always very close.

'It's a huge loss for him. He will miss her a lot.'
An 11-year-old boy who vanished from Sydney's packed Darling Harbour during a visit to the aquarium has been found on the other side of the city.

Daniel Huxtable, aged 11, went missing after last being seen on busy Lime Street in Sydney, at about 11am on Tuesday.

His family and police were especially concerned for his welfare as Daniel is autistic and is non-verbal.

However, a few hours after the alarm was raised, Daniel was found on a train in the North Sydney area.

Daniel Huxtable, aged 11, was last seen on a busy Lime Street in Sydney, at about 11am on Tuesday after visiting the aquarium

Daniel went missing in Sydney's busy Darling Harbour after he had visited the aquarium

It is unclear if Daniel was with his family before he went missing.

When he could not be found, officers were notified and conducted a search of the area with the assistance of PolAir.

Police sent a text message to people in the area shortly after Daniel went missing.

The appeal for help from the public to find the boy came after he had been missing for more than two hours.

Hundreds of primary school-aged children filtered through Sea Life on Tuesday afternoon, shortly after Daniel went missing.

Many held hands in holiday care groups to avoid being separated, while others skipped ahead of their parents.

In the crowd was a police officer standing guard outside the entrance to the aquarium's cafe. She refused to comment on the situation.

Police sent a text message to people in the area shortly after Daniel went missing and appealed for help finding him

When Daniel could not be found, police were notified and officers (pictured in Darling Harbour on Tuesday afternoon) are now conducting a search of the area with the assistance of PolAir

Sea Life staff would not comment on the situation, and parents didn't want to talk about the missing boy in front of their children.

After he was a found, NSW Police said: 'A boy missing at Sydney's Darling Harbour has been located safe and well.

'The 11-year-old was seen on Lime Street, Sydney, about 11am today (Tuesday 10 January 2023).

'Following a public appeal and Geo-target SMS campaign, the boy was located safe and well on a train in the North Sydney area.

'Police would like to thank the media and public for their assistance.'
The Chinese ambassador to Australia thanked the Labor government for an 'extraordinary year' and hinted at China's willingness to rebuild relations.

Xiao Qian told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday the last 12 months has been a 'positive, constructive and productive' period.

Mr Xiao said the Communist superpower was open to cooperation following the election of Anthony Albanese as Prime Minister and end to the Coalition government.

'First key word is the Labor government,' Mr Xiao said.

'The Labor government came to parliament last May, it did offer an opportunity for China and Australia to reset the relationship between our two countries which had been going through a difficult time over the last couple of years.'

China's ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian raised a glass of wine at the New Years Press Gathering in Canberra (pictured), thanking the new Labor government for an 'extraordinary year', prompting China's willingness to rebuild relations

The ambassador raised a glass of wine at the New Years Press Gathering and explained meetings between Albanese and China's President Xi Jinping, as well as Foreign Minister Penny Wong's visit to Beijing had assisted in mending relations.

Mr Xiao added both sides will not allow 'difference to hijack' the relationship but admitted disputes over areas such as trade need to be worked on 'in constructive manner'.

'This relationship is important for both sides and both sides should work together to improve, to uphold and to develop the relationship,' Xiao said.

'Both sides agree to address these differences in a constructive manner [and] in a way that will not allow the differences to hijack the overall relationship.'

The ambassador explained China was willing to work with Australia to tackle climate change, labelling green energy and electric cars as 'new frontiers'.

Mr Xiao explained meetings between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) and China's President Xi Jinping (right), assisted in mending relations. As the two countries focus on tackling climate change, with green energy and electric cars

In recent years, relations between the nations have been strained, with China imposing $20 billion-a-year trade sanctions in 2020.

Australian barley, beef, coal, copper, cotton, seafood, sugar, timber and wine was banned after Scott Morrison's government called for an independent international inquiry into Beijing's handling of the Covid pandemic.

The World Trade Organisation's findings into Australia's barley and wine sanctions are due later this year.
A Victorian mum found dead in bushland at the edge of the state's Alps eight months after she mysteriously vanished was surrounded by a collection of strange items.

What exactly happened to Trayse Lee Whittaker, 54, might never be known after a coroner could find no cause of death despite a jar labelled 'poison' found next to her.

Ms Whittaker was known under the assumed name of Samantha Wilson by locals in her home of Abbeyard, near Mount Buller, 200km northeast of Melbourne, where she lived a semi-reclusive lifestyle with her on-again-off-partner.

The last indication of Ms Whittaker alive was on August 13, 2018 when she used her phone for a 3G data session between 1.17pm and 2.04pm.

Trayse Whittaker (pictured), also known as Samantha Wilson, lived in the sparsely populated Victorian area of Abbeyard

She was never reported missing but her decomposed body was found by hunters on May 11 the next year after they ventured into the bush about 100m off Abbeyards Rd, Abbeyard.

She was found behind a fallen tree, lying on her stomach and wearing a snow jacket with the hood pulled over her head, The Herald Sun reported.

Next to her was an unscrewed glass jar with 'poison' scrawled on a piece of grey tape stuck to it and also a nearby jar lid with the words 'phos dron' written on it.

A coroner could find no discernable cause of death despite a jar of 'poison' found nearby

A tan-coloured handbag containing $1,650 in cash, a notebook, coin purses, a glasses case, mobile phone and charger was also found.

The report from Coroner John Cain noted that her phone still had 80 per cent charge and someone had gone to the trouble of switching it off.

Other items found next to Ms Whittaker were a neatly folded beige jacket, a plastic bag of food items and an empty bottle of lemonade containing plant and insect debris.

Forensic pathologist Dr Joanna Glengarry said in her report to the coroner there was no discernable cause of death.

'There was no evidence of trauma to the soft tissues present. There was no evidence of trauma to the skeleton... Due to decomposition, it is possible that there are injuries that were present that may longer be detectable,' Dr Glengarry said.

She added a toxicology report also detected no poison despite the jar found nearby but that 'Phosdrin' and not 'phos dron' was a known insecticide.

Ms Whittaker had not been reported missing by her partner David Grady who a day before her phone was last used had gone to visit his daughter nearby and was away for more than a week.

Abbeyard resident Ken Heywood said Ms Whittaker was stressed on that day because they'd had a disagreement and Mr Grady wanted her to move out and be taken off their shared phone bill.

Mr Grady visited a mobile phone store in Wangaratta the next day and removed her from the shared bill, just hours after the last ping of her phone.

He later told investigators he'd assumed she had left him and found work elsewhere but when he heard nothing from her for months he went to the police station.

Police are still actively investigating Ms Whittaker's case - though no-one has been charged - and have neither confirmed or ruled out foul play.

Her on-again-off-again partner David Grady (pictured) never reported her missing, telling investigators he assumed she had left him
A Sydney-to-Hobart racing yacht that was abandoned on a remote island off the coast of Tasmania has been salvaged over the objections of an Aboriginal group which claims it is now owned by Indigenous people.

The race entrant Huntress was recovered from a fierce surf break and towed away from Cape Barren, also known as Truwana, on Monday, weeks after it was abandoned and washed ashore due to a broken rudder.

But Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania chairman Michael Mansell told the ABC no permission was given to move the Huntress and that 'any vessels wrecked... on the shores of Aboriginal land belong to Aborigines'.

The beached Sydney to Hobart yacht Huntress (pictured) has been claimed by traditional owners under Indigenous law

'The Huntress has washed up on the shores of Aboriginal land on Cape Barren and that makes that vessel the property of Aboriginal people  that's always the Aboriginal law,' he told the national broadcaster.

'From the time that the white people chased us off our land in Tasmania and put us on the islands, the old people always applied Aboriginal traditional law to anything that washed up on the shores of Aboriginal land.'

Mr Mansell said the Aboriginal right of salvage on the territory had been recognised since 1920 and cited a number of wrecked vessels that he said had passed into Aboriginal hands.

Land Council of Tasmania chairman Michael Mansell said that the boat's ownership should either pass to the traditional owners or a third of the vessel's value paid

Huntress owner Brent Dowton has been contacted for comment. In a Facebook past Mr Dowton thanked Total Dive Solutions and sub-contractor Total Marine Solutions for the salvaging the vessel.

'We will be working with our insurer to plan Huntresss repairs in restoring her to her former glory,' the message said.

'This may take several months to complete but we cannot wait to get started!'

Mr Mansell (pictured left) says that the Aboriginal laws of salvage have been operating on Cape Barren Island since 1820

In a separate Facebook post, Total Dive Solutions gave 'special' thanks to 'the Cape Barren Island Indigenous community representatives for their permission and local site knowledge'.

Under the common law of salvage a wrecked vessel still belongs to the owners but salvors may, under certain circumstances, claim a reward.

After leaving Sydney on December 26 the Huntress lost its rudder on December 28, causing the crew to abandon ship.

The vessel was spotted drifting by a cruise ship on January 2 and was reported as a potential hazard to shipping before landing on Cape Barren Island on January 4.
A prominent Muslim organization is defending a professor who was fired after showing a painting of the Prophet Mohammed to class.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council released a statement Monday demanding Hamline University reverse its decision to fire art history professor Erika Lopez Prater.

It even praises the professor's teaching and says the image she displayed to her class in October was not Islamophobic  despite the claims of some students.

With the release of its statement, the Muslim Public Affairs Council has become just the latest group to stand behind Prater and denounce the Minnesota-based school's decision to fire her.

Aram Wedatalla complained to the school administration that an art professor showing her class a 14th-century depiction of the Prophet Mohammed is Islamophobic

Hamline University in Minnesota is facing backlash for firing Professor Erika Lopez Prater

Prater faced backlash almost immediately after she taught an online class about Islamic art on October 6 as part of a wider curriculum on world art.

She chose to show the class a 14th-century depiction of the angel Gabriel delivering the Prophet's first revelation.

Conscious that in some branches of Islam it is blasphemous to look at any image of the Prophet, Professor Prater gave students two minutes to look away from the screen or log out before she projected the image onto her presentation.

But Aram Wedatalla, a student who is also the president of the university's Muslim association, chose to remain online in the class. She then complained to school officials that the image 'blindsided' her and made her feel marginalized.

Despite being told by department head Allison Baker that she had done 'everything right', Prater was fired after more students - including some who were not in the class - complained.

The students viewed it as a victory.

'Hamline teaches us it doesnt matter the intent, the impact is what matters,' student DeAngela Huddleston told the school newspaper The Oracle.

Now, however, many Muslims are coming out to denounce the school's actions as they praise Prater for showcasing Muslim art.

In its statement on Monday, for example, the Muslim Public Affairs Council said it supports Prater and urges the university 'to reverse its decision and to take compensatory action to ameliorate the situation.

Some students at the school praised the faculty's decision to fire Prater. The college campus is pictured here

'As a Muslim organization, we recognize the validity and ubiquity of an Islamic viewpoint that discourages or forbids any depictions of the Prophet, especially if done in a distasteful or disrespectful manner,' the organization said.

'However, we also recognize the historical reality that other viewpoints have existed and that there have been some Muslims, including and especially Shi'a Muslims, who have no qualms in pictorially representing the Prophet (although often veiling his face out of resect.

'All this is a testament to the great internal diversity within the Islamic tradition, which should be celebrated.'

The professor should be thanked for her role in educating students, Muslim and non-Muslim alike and for doing so in a critically emphatic manner. The Muslim Public Affairs Council

It goes on to argue that the painting is not Islamophobic, noting that it was, in fact, 'commissioned by a 14th-century Muslim king in order to honor the Prophet, depicting the first Quranic revelation from the angel Gabriel.'

'Even if it is the case that many Muslims feel uncomfortable with such depictions, Dr. Prater was trying to emphasize a key principle of religious literacy: religions are not monolithic in nature, but rather internally diverse,' it continues.

'This principle should be appreciated in order to combat Islamophobia, which is often premised on flattening out Islam and viewing the Islamic tradition in an essentialist and reductionist manner.

'The professor should be thanked for her role in educating students, Muslim and non-Muslim alike and for doing so in a critically emphatic manner.'

The Muslim Public Affairs Council also noted that 'highly offensive and radicalized images of the Prophet Mohammad abound on the Internet and social media,' which it considers 'to be inappropriate and not dissimilar to "black face" or anti-Semitic cartoons.'

But, the organization says: 'Given the ubiquity of Islamophobic depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, it hardly makes sense to target an art professor trying to combat narrow understandings of Islam.

'There is unmistakable irony in the situation, which should be appreciated.

'Additionally, misusing the label Islamophobia has the negative effect of watering down the term and rendering it less effective in calling out actual acts of bigotry.'

It concludes: 'Finally we stress the importance of education in the Islamic tradition.

'On the basis of our shared Islamic and universal values, we affirm the need to instill a spirit of free inquiry, critical thinking and viewpoint diversity in the university setting.'

A Change.org petition in support of the fired professor has gained over 9,600 signatures

The statement comes as a Change.org petition in support of the fired professor has gained over 9,600 signatures.

The petition calls on the university to launch an independent investigation and says it fired Prater without giving her the right to 'due process'.

Prater has not commented on the scandal.

After the incident in October, the university's associate vice president for inclusive excellence, referred to the lesson as 'undeniably Islamophobic' in an interview with the student newspaper.

'It was decided it was best that this faculty member was no longer part of the Hamline community,' he said.

It remains unclear if Allison Baker, the department head who agreed with Prater and told her she'd done 'everything right', remains in her position.

Hamline University did not respond to inquiries regarding criticism of the decision when contacted by DailyMail.com.

Instead, a spokesman referred back to a December statement on the issue.

'Hamline University is composed of people with diverse views, expectations, and interactions. Our community, like many in higher education, is comprised of people with different lived experiences, including religious beliefs and traditions.

'We, as an institution, acknowledge the diversity among us and are committed to creating an environment of respect and care for each other.

'As has been reported, this past semester an adjunct instructor displayed images of the prophet Muhammad. Students do not relinquish their faith in the classroom.

'To look upon an image of the prophet Muhammad, for many Muslims, is against their faith.

'Questions about how best to discuss Islamic art have been raised by many academics and is certainly an issue worthy of debate and discussion.

'For those of us who have been entrusted with the responsibility of educating the next generation of leaders and engaged citizens, it was important that our Muslim students, as well as all other students, feel safe, supported, and respected both in and out of our classrooms,' a spokesman said.
She also allegedly threatened to kill him before sending the videos to his father

A mother who allegedly filmed herself shoving socks into her baby's mouth has been charged with a string of horrific child abuse offences.

Holly Anne Maxwell, 26, also allegedly filmed herself choking her seven-month-old son and threatened to kill him before sending those videos to the baby's father and grandmother.

She broke down multiple times as she appeared at Joondalup Magistrates Court in Western Australia on Tuesday, where she faced several charges.

The court was told she filmed her son with a black sock in his mouth and also pulled a cord tight around his neck.

In the video, a woman could be heard shouting: 'I'm going to f***ing kill this c***, he's going to get hurt'.

Holly Anne Maxwell, 26, allegedly filmed herself shoving socks into her baby's mouth

She broke down multiple times as she appeared at Joondalup Magistrates Court in Western Australia on Tuesday, where she faced several charges

The court heard she was 'clearly impending his breathing' and that she later sent the video to her ex, who is the boy's father, and her grandmother, The West Australian reported.

She allegedly sent the video alongside several more abusive messages threatening to harm her son.

The court was told Maxwell also sent another video which showed her son in a car seat and her hand around his throat.

Prosecutors allege the child was screaming out in pain during the video.

His grandmother contacted the police and the baby was taken from Maxwell and rushed to the child protection unit at Perth Children's Hospital.

The baby's condition is currently unknown.

His mother has been charged with two counts of impeding another person's normal breathing or blood circulation by applying pressure to their neck, a count of impeding another person's breathing or normal blood circulation by blocking their nose and a count of threatening to kill.

Police allege the offences happened between June last year and this month.

Magistrate Kelly Thompson said Maxwell is facing 'very serious charges' over the alleged abuse of her son.

However, she told the court Maxwell needed help with her mental health.

His grandmother contacted the police and the baby was taken from Maxwell and rushed to the child protection unit at Perth Children's Hospital

Throughout her court hearing, Maxwell asked when she could see her baby again, and whether she would ever get full custody again.

'I was begging him (ex-partner) for help,' she said through tears.

'I don't know what to do anymore.'

Prosecutors strongly rejected bail, however it was granted by the magistrate under strict conditions.

Maxwell is allowed no contact with her son, is unable to go near her ex-partner's home, and has to have supervised visits with other children.

She is due to appear back in Joondalup Magistrates Court on Friday, January 20.
A 7-year-old Louisiana girl got killed by a vicious pit bull in a fatal attack due to the owner's neglect.

Negligent Owner Allowed Vicious Pit Bull To Roam

The young Louisiana girl got mauled mercilessly by a pit bull, with the owner getting arrested after the victim died from the attack, reported The Blaze.

At approximately 6:35 p.m., Sadie Davila, a first-grader, had been playing outside a relative's residence last Friday when a pit bull "ruthlessly" savaged her, based on the arrest affidavit. A relative on the scene had tried to save the child from the vicious beast by hitting the dog with a cane, but it was not enough. It did not stop the animal from killing Sadie.

The dog belonged to a neighbor approximately 150 yards away from Sadie's playground. As stated in the arrest report, there were no barricades in the yard to keep the pit bull confined.

She was rushed to the local hospital but died from the horrible wound inflicted on her. Medical staff gave the grim report to investigators that the animal's maw and savage bites were terrible. The dog bit her face and crushed her skull while mauling the girl dead.

The mom of the slain child said that her baby was dead. She added that the family is shattered, including the ones who caused it will pay for what happened.

The Advocate reported that the father of the victim, Mikey Davila, wrote, "RIP my sweet Sadie Elizabeth, 7 years old & taken from us in the most violent way. The world is a cruel place. You were the light in my heart."

Young Louisiana Girl Dies in the Most Violent Way

Sadie has been recalled at Woodlawn Elementary as a young girl "flourishing in the sunrise of her life."

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As said by East Baton Rouge Schools Superintendent Sito Narcisse, Sadie was getting underway in her life and the education that should have been hers. It is difficult to grasp her family and friends' grief and deep regret; the tragedy is insurmountable, citing KSLA.

Her first-grade teacher, Grace Feucht, said she was intense, feisty and also tender-hearted, and warm-hearted. Each time she came in the door, she brought energy and joy to the class. Very was fearless and would undertake wholehearted songs before a group of her fellow students.

East Baton Rouge Animal Control officers located and caught the dog later that evening. Based on the affidavit, this same pit bull seemed to have blood around its face and mouth. A "substantial" quantity of blood was noticed in the yard where Sadie played.

Daniel Piatkiewicz, the animal control director of East Baton Rouge, stated that the beast was euthanized on the night the girl had passed away.

The dog's owner, Erick Lopez, has been apprehended and booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison since last Saturday, as said by East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks.

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office stated that he got charged with negligent homicide. He told the police the dog attack happened when he was not home, and he usually let the dog roam the neighborhood. Investigator says it is his fault the dog got loose and killed the girl on another property.

Related Article: Buffalo Woman Froze to Death Inside Car After Being Trapped in Blizzard for 18 Hours

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A convicted Massachusetts art fraudster and husband to a missing woman Googled how to dispose of a female body days before her disappearance.

Brian Walshe, 46, was charged with misleading a police investigation after he was seen on surveillance video buying heavy duty cleaning supplies despite telling cops he had been home around the time his wife, Ana, 39, was last seen alive.

The investigation into Ana's disappearance took a grim turn on Monday when it was revealed Walshe had searched 'how to dispose of a 115-pound woman's body.' Ana was described as being 5'2 and and about 115 pounds in please to the public after she went missing.

Walshe told police the mother of three vanished after she took a car to Boston Logan Airport on January 1. However, ride-share services show no pickups at the family home, according to WCVB, and Ana's cellphone continued pinging from there for two days after she allegedly left the home.

Brian Walshe, 46, Googled how to dismember a body before his wife vanished

Ana, 39, was reported missing on January 4 after she failed to show up for work

Ana was not reported missing until January 4, when her office called the police when she failed to show up for work.

Since then, cops have been combing the seaside town of Cohasset for any sign of her.

Initially treated as a missing-persons case, the investigation transitioned to homicide after Walshe's internet search queries - which included how to dismember a human body - were discovered.

Prosecutors said Walshe gave cops misleading statements about his and his wife's actions around the time of her disappearance, buying himself ample time to clean up a possible crime scene.

'These various statements caused a delay in the investigation to the point that during the time frame when he didn't report his wife and gave various statements, that allowed him time to either clean up evidence, dispose of evidence, and causing a delay,' said prosecutor Lynn Beland on Monday.

Initially treated as a missing-persons case, the investigation transitioned to homicide after Walshe's internet search queries - which included how to dismember a human body - were discovered

The investigation into Ana's disappearance took a grim turn on Monday when it was revealed Walshe had searched 'how to dispose of a 115-pound woman's body'

Prosecutors said Walshe gave cops misleading statements about his and his wife's actions around the time of her disappearance, buying himself ample time to clean up a possible crime scene

Those statements included a confused and rambling alibi Walshe told police about what he was doing on the day he said his wife left for the airport.

He told cops he left his phone at home and drove to a Whole Foods and a CVS 40 miles from his home on January 1, and then brought one of his sons out for ice cream the next day.

But he did not appear on surveillance footage at either of those stores, and instead of going out for ice cream on January 2, he was seen on video going to a Home Depot where he picked up about $450 in mops, buckets, tarps, tape, and other cleaning supplies. He wore a mask and gloves during the trip.

After obtaining a search warrant for the Walshes' home, blood was discovered in the basement, along with a bloodied and damaged knife.

Walshe has not yet been charged with his wife's disappearance, and plead not guilty to his misleading police charge. He is currently being held on $500,000 bail.

Police search a highway in Cohasset, Massachusetts, on January 7 for any sign of Ana

Walshe appears in court on January 9 over charges related to his wife's disappearance

Walshe in court on January 9. He was charged with misleading a police investigation

Walshe was already under house-arrest for charges of wire-fraud from a 2018 scam where he sold a pair of fake Any Warhol paintings for $80,000 on eBay.

He plead guilty to the scheme in 2021.

Under house-arrest, Walshe had allocated times he was allowed to leave home.

During his January 2 outing to Home Depot, he was supposedly taking his kids to school, even though the school was closed that day.
A dad has recounted the horrifying moment he realised his one-year-old son had plunged three stories from the balcony of his family's apartment when he turned his back.

Leon Anderson told Daily Mail Australia he feels like he should buy a Lotto ticket after his 19-month-old toddler survived a 10 to 12 metre fall from his family's third floor apartment in Mount Druitt, in Sydney's west just after 10am on Tuesday.

Mr Anderson's son, who he requested not be named, suffered barely a scratch - with paramedics and police stunned that the boy managed to survive because a tree broke his fall.

A visibly relieved Mr Anderson said that he was only home because he'd taken the day off work to look after the kids, with the children pottering around on the balcony while he went out to have a vape.

The shaken dad said he ducked inside and left his twin boys for 'no more than a minute' when the near-tragedy occurred.

Leon Anderson (pictured with his partner and twin boys) went outside to have a vape while his twin boys pottered around on his balcony. He said he left them for 'no more than a minute' when one fell from the balcony

Mr Anderson (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia how his toddler managed to plunge 10m from apartment balcony in Mount Druitt, in Sydney's west and walk away with only a scratch

On Tuesday emergency services rushed called to an apartment complex on Hythe Street in Mount Druitt, in Sydney's west, at about 10.10am to respond to a 19-month-old boy falling from a balcony

Police inspect the huge drop from the family's apartment in Mount Druitt

'I had just ducked inside around 10am and when I came back there was only one of my boys, so I yelled out to my partner if she'd seen the other,' Mr Anderson said.

The father-of-two then frantically called out and looked for his son before leaning over the balcony to find him three stories below, wedged in a thick bush.

'When I looked down I could see him at the top of the bush below and he was flailing his legs so I ran down.

'I didn't get dressed even, I was still in my underwear.

'I lifted him out of the bush and took him upstairs and while I was worried, he was moving his arms and legs so I figured he didn't have any spinal injuries or anything.'

The boy's father believes his overly active son managed to climb up onto a sheet the family keep on their balcony to provide some shade from the morning and afternoon sun.

'He has tried to play with the sheet before but I am guessing he has used the outdoor chair to actually climb up onto the sheet and then "poof" like that, he has fallen over the rail,' Mr Anderson said.

The toddler fell from the third story balcony after climbing up onto a sheet (pictured) the family use to provide protection from the sun before falling over the railing

The young boy fell onto the top of a bush below, with his father coming out to find his son wedged in the bush below

The tree outside the balcony appeared to have slowed down the toddler's fall as he miraculously managed to land in a bush below, which was no more than 30cm away from a concrete slab.

Mr Anderson said it was a miracle he survived and said his kids were banned from the balcony for the moment.

'If he had landed either side or really anywhere else this would have been an entirely different story,' Mr Anderson said.

'I just can't believe how lucky we are, I think I need to buy a lotto ticket, it is just so lucky that he is okay.

'They won't be going back out here (the balcony) anymore, I can tell you that.'

If the fact he survived wasn't fortunate enough, Mr Anderson said his son's only injury was a scratch on his back caused by the bush that broke his fall.

Police officers inspecting the balcony height after the little boy was rushed to hospital

The 19-month-old was taken to the Children's Hospital in Westmead for treatment but miraculously managed to avoid any broken bones or internal injuries

The 19-month-old miraculously avoided broken bones and internal injuries.

The family had only recently moved to the area around six months prior so the children could have more room to play, after previously living in Darling Harbour.

A neighbour a couple of floors below said the young boys were always playing in the stairwell and were 'very active'.

'They are very active twins and I thought they were older as they can walk and are often playing with balls and toys on the stairs,' the neighbour told Daily Mail Australia.

'I have heard the mother tell the children to "hop off" or "get down" so they seem to be a bit cheeky and probably a bit of a menace.

'I just can't believe a child survived that fall even into the bush.

'It truly is an act of God and a miracle that this young boy survived and is ok, just wow.'

Mr Anderson said he might need to buy a lotto ticket after his son's lucky escape

The 19-month-old was rushed to the Children's Hospital in Westmead where he is being monitored but is expected to be discharged shortly.

NSW Ambulance Acting Inspector Mark Thomas said the boy fell 'quite a distance', estimating the fall to be 10 to 12 metres, and was fortunate to land in the bushes below.

'This young boy has fallen quite a distance, about 10 to 12 metres from the balcony of a top floor apartment,' he said.

'He landed in bushes below, which may have broken his fall and prevented more serious injuries.

'NSW Ambulance paramedics and the CareFlight helicopter medical team assessed the boy at the scene before travelling with him in an ambulance to hospital, where hes undergoing further scans.'
Joe Biden's handling of classified information should be investigated by a special counsel, a former advisor to Donald Trump has said, after it emerged that Biden, like Trump, was found to have kept classified documents after leaving office.

Biden's documents, 10 files with the contents unknown, were found on November 2 inside the Washington DC office of his think tank. The president said he was unaware of their existence until the Justice Department on Monday announced the files had been handed over, and an investigation launched.

Trump's documents, which included some 300 pages deemed classified, were found in January 2022 at his Mar-a-Lago home. Officials from the Justice Department and National Archives and Records Administration were in talks with Trump's team for months to agree a hand-over, but the discussions ground to a halt and in August the DoJ took the extraordinary step of launching a raid on Mar-a-Lago to seize the files.

On November 18, special counsel Jack Smith was appointed to investigate the saga of the Mar-a-Lago classified documents - and Trump allies are now demanding Biden be subjected to the same scrutiny.

'Special Counsel. Now,' tweeted Stephen Miller, special advisor to Trump.

Joe Biden is pictured in Mexico City with his wife and Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, with his wife Beatriz Gutierrez. Biden was in Mexico when the news of the documents broke

Attorney General Merrick Garland, left, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas are seen in Mexico City on Monday as part of the top-level delegation

Biden looks down at his briefing files on Monday in Mexico City, as a reporter yells a question about the classified documents found in the Washington DC offices of his think tank. Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, looks up as the press pack is ushered out

Others called for Merrick Garland, the attorney general, to launch a swift investigation into Biden's actions.

How the Biden documents were discovered NOVEMBER 2: 10 documents were found while Biden's attorneys were packing up the DC think tank office to leave. The files were said to be in a folder inside a locked closet, in a box with other unclassified documents. NOVEMBER 8: The midterm elections, which see Biden and his party perform better than expected. NOVEMBER 18: The Justice Department announces that Jack Smith, former chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague, will lead an investigation into Trump's storage of classified documents in his Florida home. JANUARY 9: The Justice Department announces an investigation has been launched into how the classified documents ended up at Biden's think tank. Biden says he was unaware there were any classified documents being held there, and his supporters point out that his own lawyers handed them over - noting that Trump's team fought to keep hold of his stash. Advertisement

Jenna Ellis, who was part of Trump's legal team trying to overturn the 2020 election, tweeted: 'Biden's DOJ is reviewing Biden's classified docs? Maybe should *checks notes* consider a special master.'

Podcaster Steve Hilton, who served as an advisor to British former prime minister David Cameron, said that Biden's actions were worse than Trump's.

He did not say why, but vice presidents, unlike presidents, are not able to declassify documents.

'Joe Biden's theft of classified documents is clearly worse than anything Trump has been accused of,' he said.

'If Merrick Garland doesn't pursue Biden with at least as much ferocity as he's pursuing Trump, we'll know that Equal Justice Under Law is dead: killed by hyper-partisan Democrats.'

Yet others insisted that Trump's storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago was a more serious crime than Biden's.

Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior advisor to Barack Obama, tweeted: 'Team Biden found the documents, immediately contacted the archives, and returned them.

'Trump and his lawyers repeatedly deceived authorities and did everything possible to avoid returning them.

'These are not the same thing.'

Joyce Vance, a former federal prosecutor, agreed.

'Big differences between this & Trump's Mar-a-Lago situation: they were found in an office setting, not in Biden's home,' she said.

'Biden's team immediately volunteered news of the discovery to the Archives & turned them over immediately. It's apples to oranges.'

Garland has appointed the U.S. attorney in Chicago, John Lausch, to review the 10 files discovered by Biden's personal attorneys, while moving documents at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.

The investigation could lead to a special counsel being appointed, The New York Times said.

In the case of Trump, the Justice Department was alerted to the presence of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago in January 2022. Ten months later, after much back-and-forth about the return of the files, the special counsel was appointed.

Two months after the Justice Department learnt of Biden's classified files, it remains unclear whether a special counsel will be appointed to investigate him too.

It remains unclear what the 10 files contained, where they were stored, and whether Biden was aware of their presence.

The classified materials included some top-secret files with the 'sensitive compartmented information' designation, also known as SCI, which is used for highly sensitive information obtained from intelligence sources.

Biden has not yet commented on the news of the investigation.

In Mexico City on Monday for a meeting with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, he refused to answer shouted questions as to how the documents ended up inside the offices.

The White House special counsel said in a statement on Monday: 'The White House is cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice regarding the discovery of what appear to be Obama-Biden admin records, including a small number of documents with classified markings.'

The documents were located in November, six days before the midterms.

James Comer, the Republican congressman currently serving as chairman of the Oversight Committee, said late on Monday he would send a letter to the White House and National Archives looking for answers.

The House Judiciary GOP tweeted the news with warning sirens.

Trump on Monday led the chorus of condemnation.

'When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified,' he wrote on social media

Trump's son, Donald Jr, also asked when Biden's home would be raided.

'When will the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team storm one of Biden's many vacation homes bought and paid for somehow by a lifetime of being a humble public servant?' asked Trump Jr.

Ronny Jackson, the former White House doctor turned Texas congressman, said the news was 'incredible'.

'It's just been discovered that Biden had HIGHLY CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS that were improperly stored in one of his private offices,' he tweeted.

'INCREDIBLE! WHERE is the FBI? WHERE is the dramatic raid? We have two systems of justice in this country: one for them and one for us.'

Conservative radio host Clay Travis said: 'They just announced Joe Biden illegally kept classified documents from his vice-presidency in his possession.

'I'm old enough to remember when the media told me this was impossible. So much for that Trump indictment. Between Hillary and now Biden, this story is over.'

The Department of Justice has launched an investigation to review classified documents from Joe Biden's Vice Presidency found in a Washington D.C. office for his think tank

Texas congressman Troy Nehls tweeted: 'BREAKING: Classified documents from Joe Biden's Vice Presidential days found at his private office. When will the FBI raid his home?'

Arizona congressman Andy Biggs said that Biden 'stole' the documents, and referenced an April report in The New York Post, which pointed out that the University of Pennsylvania - home of the Biden center - received donations from China.

'Biden stole classified documents and stored them at his think tank while he was VP. The VP does not have any authority to declassify classified documents.

'And this 'think tank' received $54 million in funding from the CCP.'

Attorney General Merrick Garland has asked the U.S. attorney in Chicago to review 10 files discovered by Biden's personal attorneys at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement six days before the midterms in November

The report stated that the documents were found while Biden's attorneys were packing up the office to leave.

The files were said to be in a folder inside a locked closet in a box with other unclassified documents.

The CBS report states that Biden is unaware of the contents and there will now be a review how the documents got to the office a mile away from the White House.

The Presidential Records Act requires all president and vice-presidential documents be handed over to the National Archives when the term in office ends, so they can be kept secure.

After the discovery, the White House counsel's office then notified the National Archives, which then took possession of the documents on November 3.

John Lausch, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, will now consider next steps, included whether a further investigation or a special counsel is needed.

Lausch is one of two U.S. Attorneys nominated by Trump.

The other, Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, is in charge of the investigation into Hunter Biden.

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch will now consider next steps, included whether a further investigation or a special counsel is needed. Lausch is one of two U.S. Attorneys nominated by Trump. The other, Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss is in charge of the investigation into Hunter Biden

Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, told CBS: 'The documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the Archives.

'Since that discovery, the President's personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives'.

In September, Biden was asked on 60 Minutes about the photo showing documents recovered at Mar-a-Lago during the FBI raid last August.

'How that could possibly happen? How anyone could be that irresponsible,' the president said. 'And it just  totally irresponsible'.

More than 300 classified documents were recovered from Trump's Palm Beach estate.

Biden used the office in D.C. from 2017 until he announced he was running for president in 2019.

It also used to be the home of his cabinet officials and closest aides.

Blinken was the center's Managing Director in 2018 while top White House aide Steve Richetti was managing director in 2019.

Biden is on leave from the University of Pennsylvania after he was named a Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice Professor in 2017.

He has been paid $917,643 for speeches and for heading the center, CBS reported.

His granddaughter Naomi, his late son Beau and daughter Ashley all got degrees there and his granddaughter Natalie is an undergraduate.
It comes just weeks after documents showed the Biden administration suppressing Twitter accounts questioning the vaccines

The documents were released as part of a lawsuit against the Biden administration for allegedly colluding with social media executives

Rob Flaherty said a segment in which Carlson was questioning the efficacy of the COVID vaccines should not be trending

Tucker Carlson slammed the Biden administration on his show Monday after court documents revealed it directly pressured Facebook to censor his show.

Court documents released as part of a lawsuit against the Biden administration for allegedly colluding with social media executives to suppress stories revealed that the White House's director of digital strategy emailed Facebook monitors about a video in which Carlson debated the efficacy of the COVID vaccines.

He publicly questioned at the time why vaccinated people could not return to normal life, leading Chelsea Clinton to publicly call on Facebook to take the video down.

The director, Rob Flaherty, also pressured Facebook to 'reduce' the availability of the story as it worked to tamp down on what it deemed to be 'misinformation' about the vaccine, Carlson said on his show Monday night.

Carlson and his guest, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, say the move directly violated Carlson's First Amendment rights.

It comes just weeks after it was revealed bow the government pressured Twitter executives to censor any COVID information that was 'true but inconvenient.'

Tucker Carlson revealed on Monday how the White House censored one of his segments questioning the efficacy of the COVID vaccine

Jeff Landry on White House allegedly censoring 'Tucker Carlson Tonight': 'Clear violation of the First Amendment'



Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry discusses his lawsuit against the White House forcing Facebook to censor 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' over vaccine coverage. pic.twitter.com/Ac4QAskJ6V  Stephiereine28 (@stephiereine) January 10, 2023

On his show Monday, Carlson shared excerpts of court documents showing Flaherty emailed Facebook executives in April 2021 saying: 'The top post on Facebook about vaccines today is Tucker Carlson saying they don't work.'

He then allegedly went on to pressure the social media giant to follow its strategy of 'reduction.'

'If "reduction" means "pumping our most vaccine hesitant audience with Tucker Carlson saying it doesn't work" then... I'm not sure it's reduction!' Flaherty wrote in the email.

Court documents reveal that the White House's director of digital strategy, Rob Flaherty, emailed Facebook executives about apparently censoring Carlson's show

A Facebook employee later responded that he agreed and was 'running this down now.'

The move was apparently part of the White House's efforts to tamp down on what it deemed to be misinformation about the vaccine.

Journalist David Zweig recently revealed how the Biden administration also emailed Twitter executives to censor any information that did not support its messaging that the COVID vaccine was necessary  even when experts cited the administration's own data.

'It was never really a secret that there were huge problems with the COVID shots,' Carlson began his show, pointing to the Biden administration's own VERS database that indicated a large number of risks associated with the jab.

'We tried to pointing it out more than a year ago, not because we have a problem with the vaccine or are antivaxxers but because if you're going to force people to take something you probably ought to know what it is and what affects it might have.

'But in trying to say that we were censored, and now we know we were censored directly by the White House,' he said.

Carlson then turned the conversation over to his guest, Jeff Landry, who, along with Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt filed the suit against the Biden administration.

Landry said that in reading the court documents he felt that the White House demanded Carlson's video be taken down.

As he told Carlson: 'It's certainly a violation of your First Amendment right, Tucker.'

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landy said the move was a direct violation of Carlson's First Amendment rights

The Biden administration is accused of censoring anyone with whom it disagreed

Tucker Carlson publicly questioned the efficacy of the COVID vaccines in April 2021, leading Chelsea Clinton to call for his post to be taken down

Landry went on to talk about the suit he filed with Schmitt back in October, saying it 'is about whether or not the government basically suppressed Americans' speech,'

Examples of social media 'censorship' in Louisiana and Missouri's lawsuit 'On April 8, 2021, YouTube "deleted a video in which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and a handful of medical experts," including Plaintiffs Bhattacharya and Kulldorff, "questioned the effectiveness of having children wear masks to stop the spread of COVID-19."' 'On August 10, 2021, YouTube barred Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) from uploading new videos to the site for seven days, after the ophthalmologist posted a video last week arguing that most masks dont work against the coronavirus.' 'Twitter permanently suspended the account of prominent lockdown critic Alex Berenson, despite repeated reassurances from high-level Twitter executives that his account was safe, just days after Dr. Fauci singled him out as a danger for suggesting young people might reasonably decline the vaccine.' 'Perhaps most notoriously, social-media platforms aggressively censored an October 14, 2020 New York Post expose about the contents of the laptop of (then-Candidate Bidens son) Hunter Biden, which had been abandoned in a Delaware repair shop and contained compromising photos and email communications about corrupt foreign business deals. 'As the New York Post reported at the time, [b]oth Twitter and Facebook took extraordinary censorship measures against The Post on Wednesday over its exposes about Hunter Bidens emails.' Advertisement

He said he and Schmitt suspected the Biden administration of silencing views they disagreed with.

'And the evidence in this case right now is showing us that's exactly what happened,' he said, adding: 'It's clearly a First Amendment violation.'

The suit accused the Biden administration of working 'hand-in-hand' with social media giants to 'censor' news stories that reflected negatively on the White House.

'Throughout this case, we have uncovered a disturbing amount of collusion between Big Tech and Big Government,' Landry said in a statement when the suit was first filed in October.

'This egregious attack on our First Amendment will be met with an equally full-hearted defense of the rights of the American people.'

Among the topics they accused the White House of censoring were stories about COVID-19 and more recently, White House officials' insistence that the US economy is not careening toward a downturn.

'[S]ocial-media platforms are beginning to censor criticisms of the Biden Administrations attempt to redefine the word recession in light of recent news that the U.S. economy has suffered two consecutive quarters of reduction in GDP,' the suit claims.

It points to a Fox News article about Facebook fact-checking an economist who claimed the US was in a recession.

'Thus, Defendants conduct alleged herein has created, with extraordinary efficacy, a situation where Americans seeking to exercise their core free-speech right to criticize the President of the United States are subject to aggressive prior restraint by private companies acting at the bidding of government officials.'

The attorneys general argue that such coverage 'is intolerable' by First Amendment standards.

They also accuse the White House and related entities of running 'open and explicit censorship programs.

'Having threatened and cajoled social-media platforms for years to censor viewpoints and speakers disfavored by the Left, senior government officials in the Executive Branch have moved into a phase of open collusion with social-media companies to suppress disfavored speakers, viewpoints, and content on social-media platforms under the Orwellian guise of halting so-called disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation,"' the court filing states.

The suit is now in the discovery phase, in which lawyers on both sides can subpoena evidence.

Landy and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a suit against the Biden administration for allegedly censoring conservative voices in October

Twitter executives suppressed the views from doctors and scientific experts under the guidance of the Biden administration, according to journalist David Zweig

Meanwhile, recently released files documented how both the Trump and Biden administrations pressured Twitter executives to censor information that was 'true but inconvenient.'

Journalist Zweig laid bare in a series of tweets last month how the government was able to discredit doctors and experts, and suppress ordinary users' freedom of speech on Twitter  even if they were citing the Center for Disease Control's own data.

The Biden administration also piled pressure on the social media platform to suspend former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson over his tweets questioning Covid vaccines.

He said the efforts ramped up when Biden took office, noting that the president said social media companies were 'killing people' for allowing vaccine misinformation int he summer of 2021  and just a few hours later, Berenson's account was suspended.

He was kicked off the platform the following month, and ultimately sued (and settled with) Twitter.

As part of the legal process, Twitter was compelled to release internal communications, which showed how the White House pressured the company to take action on Berenson.

But the Biden administration was apparently 'very angry' that Twitter had not done more to deplatform other accounts, and pressured executives to do more.

'Twitter executives did not fully capitulate to the Biden team's wishes,' Zweig tweeted.

'An extensive review of internal communications of the company revealed employees often debating moderation cases in great detail and with more care than was shown by the government toward free speech.

'But Twitter did suppress views  many from doctors and scientific experts  that conflicted with the official positions of the White House.

'As a result, legitimate findings and questions that would have expanded the public debate went missing,' Zweig wrote.
Two men have been arrested over the theft of the vehicle

The vehicle was allegedly taken in Chelsea in Melbourne's southeast

Two young men wanted over the theft of a SUV have been arrested by police at a busy shopping centre in front of dozens of shoppers.

Jonathan O'Connor, 18, from Narre Warren and Brylee Dickson, 20, from Clarinda are accused of stealing an SUV with a sleeping toddler inside on Nepean Highway in Chelsea in Melbourne's southeast at 4pm on Sunday.

Dramatic police footage has emerged showing Dickson being pinned to the ground by one officer and struggling, while O'Connor is seen being led away by two cops when the pair were taken into custody just after midday on Tuesday.

The two young men are accused of sneaking into the grey Volkswagen SUV after the father of the sleeping child inside the vehicle went into a shop.

Two men have been arrested by Victorian Police for allegedly stealing an SUV that had a sleeping toddler inside

The grey Volkswagen SUV was stolen after a man ducked into the shops on the Nepean Highway at Chelsea (pictured) on Sunday

Dickson and O'Connor allegedly stopped the car about 350 metres away in nearby Bath Street and left the child by the side of the road.

A passerby found him distressed but unharmed a short time later.

The two young men are said to be assisting police following their arrest and the investigation is ongoing.

The stolen car has not been found.

On Monday, Victoria Police said the father left his son alone for a few minutes with the air conditioning on and ruled out laying any charges against him because it was not in the public's interest.

The harrowing ordeal prompted a warning to parents.

Victoria Police said the father (pictured) left his son alone for a few minutes with the air conditioning on and ruled out laying any charges against him

A Narre Warren man, 18, and a Clarinda man, 20, were arrested over the theft of the vehicle in Frankston on Tuesday

'This situation serves as a timely reminder  never leave young children unattended in a car,' police said.

'A lot can happen in the space of a minute or two.'

Child safety experts said it was very lucky the toddler was unharmed.

'Nothing is worth the risk of leaving your child unattended anywhere, particularly a younger child, they should be within reach,' Kidsafe NSW Executive Officer Christine Erskine said.

'It's very scary to think that these incidents, as rare as they are, do happen because a risk has been taken.'
A beloved local butcher has shared a sad note to customers announcing its closure after almost 40 years in business, citing 'chronic' staff shortages and massive increases in meat prices.

Staff at Moore's Meats in North Strathfield, in Sydney's west, left a note on the window of the store for its loyal patrons, breaking the news the business could no longer afford to keep its doors open.

The note said the store in the Bakehouse Quarter - previously at Paramatta Road - 'must close due to the chronic shortage of butcher staff and the huge increase in meat costs in the last two years'.

'These factors have made it impossible for the More Meat model of supplying quality meat at discount prices to continue,' the note read.

Beloved local butcher Moore's Meats in North Strathfield shared a sad note to customers announcing its closure after almost 40 years in business

Moore's Meats said 'chronic' butcher staff shortages and massive increases in meat prices were behind its decision to close its store after almost 40 years in business (image of Moore's Meats from its Facebook page)

'From the management and staff, We would like to thank our loyal customers for their support and patronage over the years'.

The George Street store was operated by fourth-generation butchers according to its website.

Moree Meat Processing Factory Shop opened on Parramatta Road, Strathfield, in the early 1950s as a meat wholesale company. As the business grew it expanded into export production servicing the USA, Japan and Korea.

The modern incarnation of the store opened in 1984 when the property and factory were re-modelled and upgraded.

A devastated local shared a photo of the note on a community Facebook page today.

'Sorry if this has been posted previously. Not affiliated but wanted to share this,' the post read.

'Moore meats has now closed for good.'

Other locals reacted with shock at the 'sad' news about the much-loved community butcher, declaring it 'the end of an era'.

'Oh my goodness! That's very sad,' one said.

'My mum used to go to the original shop on Parramatta Rd and then we have shopped there regularly at their Bakehouse Quarter premises.'

Another pointed out the difficulty local businesses face in offering 'low prices when the products are so expensive from suppliers'.

Locals reacted to the news of the much-loved butcher's closure with shock and sadness

Others commented that the closure was part of a dark trend for local businesses, observing Moore's had been forced to reduce 'the range that they had'.

The cost of meat and seafood in Australia has increased by more than a third from levels seen in 2013.

Meat processors faced significant delays during the Covid pandemic, leading to labour shortages and the shutting down of processing facilities.

These factors constrained overall production during 2021 - 2022, placing upward pressure on meat prices, while the price of cattle remained at record levels.

In 2022 , Meat and Livestock Australia - the meat industry's marketing and research body- reported retail meat prices went up 10 percent per kilogram compared to the previous year.

Soaring costs have been passed onto Aussie households, who have felt the pinch of increased cost of living expenses over the past few years.
More than 150 Met Police officers are under investigation over sexual misconduct or racism claims, new figures show.

The officers, while still on the payroll, are being stopped from holding public-facing roles while the allegations are probed.

The figures, published by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act, represent a doubling of the previously-reported number.

They show 118 officers were on restricted duties over sexual misconduct claims, while a further 43 were facing investigation over racism allegations as of the end of November.

More than 150 Met Police officers are under investigation over sexual misconduct or racism claims, new figures show

Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley (pictured) insisted upon taking the job that he was determined to root out criminal behaviour within the force and admitted himself in November that it was 'completely mad' that he employs so many officers suspected of misconduct who are not trusted to speak to the public

Britain's biggest police force has been dogged by a string of scandals in recent years, such as the murder of Sarah Everard by serving police officer Wayne Couzens.

Just months later, two more officers were jailed for taking and sharing photos of the bodies of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.

Scotland Yard attributed the rise in restrictions and suspensions to 'concerted efforts' to encourage other staff members to recognise and report wrongdoing, along with the requirement for employees to report misconduct.

However, the revelations angered campaigners including the Reclaim These Streets (RTS) collective, which came together to organise a vigil after Miss Everard's murder.

A spokesperson told the Guardian: 'It's extraordinary that we're expected to pay to keep misogynists and racists on the Met police payroll.

'It's right that they're suspended: women deserve to know that the person we ask for help in an emergency isn't a predator themselves.

'But we have to ask how they passed vetting to be hired in the first place, how long their prejudice was allowed to fester in the Met's ranks, and how many others like them remain in post.'

Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley insisted upon taking the job that he was determined to root out criminal behaviour within the force and admitted himself in November that it was 'completely mad' that he employs so many officers suspected of misconduct who are not trusted to speak to the public.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I have got about 100 officers in the organisation who have very restrictive conditions on them because frankly we don't trust them to talk to members of the public... it's completely mad that I have to employ people like that as police officers who you can't trust to have contact with the public. It's ridiculous.'

Britain's biggest police force has been dogged by a string of scandals in recent years, such as the murder of Sarah Everard by serving police officer Wayne Couzens (pictured)

A spokesperson for the Met said: 'Following concerted efforts to encourage employees to recognise and report wrongdoing, mandatory training that makes it a duty to report misconduct, boosting officer numbers in the directorate of professional standards, and listening to the public's views about their expectations of suspension, we've seen restrictions and suspensions of officers almost double.

'Our work continues at pace to identify those who let down the public and police, and deal with them as swiftly as possible.'
The police force knocked her back for a promotion as she wore earrings on TV

She was interviewed on TV several times about the rescue and water safety

Vic police officer Sally Fairweather rescued three people in the water last year

A heroic police officer who saved three people from drowning was refused a promotion because she wore earrings during a number of TV interviews.

Leading Senior Constable Sally Fairweather was driving past Pykes Creek Reservoir, west of Melbourne, when she saw three distressed people in the water on December 11.

The two men and an eight-year-old boy had fallen off a jetski and were wearing life jackets but couldn't swim.

Constable Fairweather, who was Acting Sergeant at the time, jumped into the cold water in her uniform and swam more than 250 metres to rescue the trio and managed to get them back to land using the jetski.

Her courageous efforts led to several TV interviews where Victoria Police's media unit pushed for Constable Fairweather to speak about water safety.

Leading Senior Constable Sally Fairweather (pictured) was reportedly knocked back for a promotion due to the fact she wore earrings for a series of TV interviews

But the constable's hopes for a permanent promotion with the force were knocked back after the rescue due to the fact she wore earrings on TV.

Victoria Police confirmed that earrings were not allowed to be worn by officers and that Constable Fairweather had gone from Acting Sergeant back to her current rank.

'All Victoria Police officers and PSOs are expected to abide by the uniform and appearance standards,' a statement read.

'The Victoria Police Manual clearly states that officers are not allowed to wear earrings of any kind while on duty.'

Victoria Police added there was 'no doubt' Constable Fairweather had 'performed a heroic act when rescuing jet skiers in Pykes Creek Reservoir'.

'However, it is important that members maintain the uniform standards at all times and it is not uncommon to have a conversation with someone if they are not abiding by the policy,' the statement concluded.

Constable Fairweather rescued two men and an eight-year-old boy who fell off a jetski and couldn't swim at Pykes Creek Reservoir last month

Her courageous efforts sparked several TV interviews where Constable Fairweather (right) spoke about the rescue and water safety

The response was met with criticism from Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews who has urged the force to use 'common sense' in their decision.

'That officer is an absolute hero and I want to thank her,' he said.

'I would hope common sense prevails here and the only consideration there should be the outstanding quality of her service, her courage, and her commitment to keeping Victorians safe.'

It also sparked a response from the former chief commissioner of Victoria Police, Christine Nixon, on 3AW radio.

'I'm a bit surprised by that,' she told the station.

'I can't quite figure out why earrings might make such a difference to somebody's future promotion.'

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured) has urged the police force to use 'common sense'

Former chief commissioner of Victoria Police, Christine Nixon (pictured), told 3AW radio she couldn't 'figure out why earrings might make such a difference to somebody's future promotion'

Some of Constable Fairweather's colleagues slammed the decision to knock her back.

One anonymous cop described it as 'pedantic bullshit' to the Herald Sun.

Another said: 'No wonder we can't find members.'

Victoria Police have been struggling to get new recruits and keeping officers from leaving in recent years.

Almost one in nine officers resigned or retired from the force between 2019 and last July.
Primary schools across Scotland are shut today as teachers walk out in a dispute over pay.

Last-ditch talks between Scottish Government officials and teaching unions yesterday failed to prevent strike action.

Parents blasted the closures as a 'cruel blow' for pupils with one parents' group saying that families are being hit financially by the industrial action.

Teaching union members are taking strike action today - with staff at secondary schools set to stage industrial action on Wednesday.

Primary school teachers on a picket line outside a school in Glasgow, Scotland, today

Primary school teachers in Scotland have gone on strike in a dispute over pay

Negotiations held yesterday between the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), which brings together unions, local authorities and the Scottish Government failed to avert the strikes.

Unions involved include Members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), NASUWT, Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA) and Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland (AHDS).

It comes after SSTA and NASUWT members took two days of strike action in December, while EIS members walked out on November 24.

Discussions were previously held on Friday, which Scotland's Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville described as 'constructive and helpful'.

She had previously urged union members to 'reconsider their plans for industrial action while talks are ongoing'.

Union members stood on the picket line outside a primary school in Glasgow on Tuesday morning

However unions said if there was no new offer then strike action would go ahead.

The current offer would see most staff in classrooms receive a five per cent pay rise, although the lowest-earning teachers would get a 6.85 per cent increase.

Strike ballots for teachers will go ahead after talks over pay broke down Advertisement

Unions have demanded a 10 per cent increase.

Leanne McGuire, chair of Glasgow City Parents Group told the Glasgow Times that she is seeing increased frustration from parents.

She said: 'One day before Christmas could easily be overlooked as 'one day' but we've heard from many parents concerned about what arrangements they will need to make for two days, maybe three if you have children across primary and secondary sectors.

'We also need to remember ASL pupils generally like routine and when that routine is disrupted it's not as easy for the parent to explain why and it's easily accepted by the pupil.

'These strike days can be quite distressing for ASL pupils and their families.

'There is a lot of anxiety from parents about senior pupils who are sitting their prelims and the disruption it will cause, increasing the stress the pupils might currently be feeling.'

The group said it was being contacted by parents who run their own businesses and were forced to close for the day to organise childcare.

She added: 'There is an adverse knock-on effect for families who are being impacted financially too by the strikes.'

Members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) join teachers at a rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh last November

Mike Corbett, NASUWT Scotland national official, said there is still 'quite a distance' between what is currently on the table and what teachers are looking for.

He told BBC Radio Scotland: 'We can't forget the fact that that last offer that was made in November, which was dressed up as an improved offer, was only really an improved offer for those at the bottom of the salary scale.

'It remained for the vast majority of teachers the five per cent offer that had been around for some months and had been firmly rejected by all.

Rishi Sunak holds Cabinet talks on how to end 'forever strikes' as laws to force striking NHS, rail and fire unions to guarantee 'minimum service levels' are set to be unveiled TODAY Rishi Sunak will gather his Cabinet today as the government pushes ahead with laws to force striking unions to guarantee 'minimum service levels'. The PM and his senior team will take stock of the situation ahead of the publication of measures designed to limit the impact of a wave of public sector walkouts. In a round of interviews this morning, Business Secretary Grant Shapps insisted ministers must act to end 'forever strikes'. The new legislation being introduced to Parliament later will oblige workers to maintain basic levels of services during industrial action. It would initially cover rail, fire and ambulance - but could be extended to the rest of the NHS, education, nuclear decommissioning and border security if union chiefs do not agree 'voluntary positions'. The proposals have sparked threats of legal challenges, while Labour has indicated it repeal the law. There is also set to be fierce resistance in the House of Lords, making it unlikely that the rules will apply to the current wave of strikes. The introduction of the Bill comes a day after crisis talks between ministers and unions failed to resolve industrial disputes involving nurses, teachers and rail workers. Ambulance strikes are expected to go ahead in England tomorrow. However, there were some signs of movement with Health Secretary Steve Barclay considering backdating next year's NHS staff pay increase to break the deadlock. Advertisement

'There's still no formal revised offer on the table and that is the real reason why our members and others feel they've got no alternative but to be out on strike again today and tomorrow.'

Asked whether the union would be prepared to settle for somewhere between what they are being offered and 10 per cent he said: 'I think what would need to happen, first of all, is there needs to be a properly improved offer tabled.

'If we get what we deem to be a decent offer then it's up to our members to decide what they think about it, but we're just not at that stage at the moment.

'Although there are some grounds for optimism, the fact that there have been talks on Friday and Monday and there's been a little bit of progress made.'

EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said: 'The SNCT negotiating meeting, held today (Monday) following a request from teacher unions, did not result in any new pay offer from the Scottish Government and Cosla (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities).

'This means that strike action, planned for Tuesday in primary schools and for Wednesday in secondary schools, will proceed as scheduled.'

'It is disappointing, though not surprising, that no new offer was presented today, despite some positive progress in discussions.

'The union side remains willing to talk, at any time, with a view to reaching a resolution to this dispute.

'While it is now too late to halt this week's strike action in schools, we hope that fresh talks may take place later this week to advance discussions towards an improved offer.

'Only a significantly improved offer from the Scottish Government and Cosla can bring an end to this dispute.'

A Scottish Government spokesman said the meeting on Monday provided a crucial opportunity to further discuss potential areas for agreement.

'While there was a shared understanding that today's talks were focused on examining options for compromise, rather than tabling a new offer, dialogue was constructive,' he said.

'The Scottish Government continues to urge teaching unions to reconsider their plans for industrial action while talks are ongoing.

'Strikes in our schools are in no-one's interest  including for pupils, parents and carers who have already had to deal with significant disruption over the past three years.

'We value our teaching workforce and recognise the vital importance of an agreement on pay, but we cannot escape the unprecedented pressures facing Scotland's budget.

'While we have been clear that a 10 per cent pay increase is unaffordable within the Scottish Government's fixed budget, we remain absolutely committed to a fair and sustainable pay deal.'

Seumas Searson, general secretary of the SSTA, said: 'Members are taking part in the strike this week to send a hard message to the employer and Scottish Government that teachers demand to be respected and receive a professional salary that will act to retain teachers in Scottish schools.'
Andrew Tate will remain in custody after a Bucharest court rejected his appeal to be released.

The divisive social media personality and self-described misogynist has had his 30-day arrest upheld on charges of organized crime, human trafficking and rape.

Earlier today, the lawyer for the Tate brothers and their alleged accomplices had challenged the preventative arrest measures at the Bucharest Court of Appeal in an attempt to get them released.

But Tate, his brother Tristan, and Luana Radu and Georgiana Naghel have now been told that they will remain in custody by the court this evening.

Andrew Tate is pictured holding a Quran as he enters the Bucharest court in handcuffs alongside his brother Tristan earlier today

Tate, along with his brother Tristan, and two alleged accomplices Luana Radu and Georgiana Naghel, were told that they would remain in custody by the Court of Appeal this evening

The court decision read that the unfounded appeals were rejected this evening, January 10, 2023

The court late Tuesday rejected the appeals against a judge's December 30 decision to grant prosecutors' request to extend the arrest period from 24-hours to 30-days.

A document explaining the judge's reasoning said 'the possibility of them evading investigations cannot be ignored,' and that they could 'leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition.'

Tate and the other three defendants arrived at Bucharest's Court of Appeal in handcuffs Tuesday and were taken away in the afternoon. Eugen Vidineac, a Romanian defense lawyer representing Tate, told journalists after a morning hearing that 'all four of the accused have made statements' and that 'the lawyers' pleas were listened to entirely.'

But following the rejection of the appeal this evening, Eugene Vidineac told MailOnline: 'I'm very disappointed with the court decision. It seems excessive to me.

'The court warrant means they will stay in custody the full 30-days until the end of January and then we will look again.

'I will speak with my clients in the morning and we will decide what the best way forward is but they will be as disappointed as me.'

Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romanian anti-organized crime agency DIICOT, said the court rejected an appeal by Tate against a judge's earlier decision to extend his arrest from 24 hours to 30-days.

Tate and the other three defendants arrived at Bucharest's Court of Appeal in handcuffs Tuesday and were taken away in the afternoon

The anti-feminist influencer, 36, attended the hearing at the Court of Appeal in Bucharest today

The six-hour behind-closed-doors hearing took place earlier today where lawyers tried to convince a panel of judges to release the four from custody.

The Tate brothers later emerged from court in handcuffs and their lawyer said the pair were 'able to express themselves' to the judge.

In the failed appeal attempt, lawyer Eugen Vidineac said both Tate brothers have small children in Romania and they should be freed to care for them.

Andrew has remained coy about the exact number of children he has fathered, but claimed in an interview with the Times in September: 'I am certain I will have more children than 99.9 per cent of the population of the western world. Double digit children. And they all adore me.'

The rejected appeal comes after news that the Tate brothers have turned to a high flying British lawyer for their defence.

Smartly dressed Andrew Ford, 34, was seen entering the court room earlier today in the Romanian capital of Bucharest minutes before the two brothers were led in handcuffed together.

According to his LinkedIn biography he deals with a selective clientele who are made up of sports stars and other A list celebrities and 'high net worth clients'.

Witnesses said Mr Ford spoke at length to the two men as well as other officials in the court and appeared to have several bundles of paperwork with him which he showed Tate, 36, and his 34-year-old sibling.

The Tate brothers' Romanian lawyer Mr Vidineac was also asked by MailOnline what his argument had been in court and why Mr Ford was at the hearing. He replied: 'I'm afraid I can't tell you are defence strategy and my clients' privacy forbids me form answering your other question.'

Mr Ford works for the London based firm Holborn Adams and on its website it says criminal law is one of its specialties adding: 'Clients come to us when they are in trouble, and we ensure we attend to their needs and adopt a strategy to deliver the best results for them. We have acted for clients across the United Kingdom and international jurisdictions,' it adds they specialise in 'sexual offences'.

Mr Ford divides his time between the London office and the Stratford-upon-Avon branch of the legal firm where he lives and also represents high profile sports people according to an online directory which include players at Worcestershire cricket club and Gloucester rugby club.

On the firm's website one of the notable cases he has been involved in was that of a 'former professional footballer for possession with intent to supply class A drugs at a festival' where his client managed to avoid a jail term as it fell below sentence guidelines.

Mr Ford could not be reached for comment and a receptionist at the firm told Mail Online: 'He was out of the country and unavailable.'

Along with the millionaire adult webcam businessmen were the so-called 'Tate's Angels' in handcuffs, former policewomen Luana Radu (far left) and Georgiana Naghel (second left), Andrew's alleged girlfriend

The Tate brothers were held last month after Romanias anti-organised crime agency DIICOT said it had identified at least six victims who had been subjected to  acts of physical and mental coercion.

Former professional kick-boxer Andrew Tate was pictured earlier today entering court dressed in black and handcuffed. He was seen clutching a Quran as he entered and left court before the appeal had been rejected.

Along with millionaire adult webcam businessmen were the so-called 'Tate's Angels' in handcuffs, former policewomen Luana Radu and Georgiana Naghel, Andrew's alleged girlfriend.

The four suspects are under investigation for allegedly coercing women into 'forced labour... and pornographic acts', which they intended to publish online for 'substantial financial benefits'.

They have denied wrongdoing through an attorney and have challenged the arrest warrant.

Prosecutors also said one of the brothers raped one of the victims in March of last year, which is when the investigation started.

The Tate brothers and two Romanian women were initially detained for 24 hours following their arrest on December 29.

But a Bucharest court granted the prosecutors' request to extend their detention to 30-days because there was a possibility they might try to escape or otherwise evade investigation.

'The possibility that the suspects would evade investigation, leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition given their financial possibilities and public comments to that regard cannot be ignored,' the court judge said in the written record approving the arrest.

Prosecutors have seized 15 luxury vehicles and over 10 properties and homes belonging to the suspects in Bucharest and Prahova and Brasov counties, Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romanian anti-organized crime unit DIICOT, told Reuters.

The seizure was meant to prevent the assets being sold or concealed.

The anti-feminist influencer, 36, was pictured stepping out the back of a police van in Bucharest this morning handcuffed to his detained brother Tristan

Tate is being held in the Bucharest detention centre in a cell similar to this shabby, cramped cell measuring 15 square metres which has a hole-in-the-ground toilet set in an open cubicle

After the court upheld the arrest warrant, prosecutors can seek approval for further extensions of up to 180 days of detention under Romanian law.

Tate gained mainstream notoriety for misogynistic remarks and hate speech, which got him banned from all major social media platforms, although since Elon Musk took over Twitter his account was reinstated in November.

The former professional kickboxer, who holds U.S. and British nationality, has said women are partially responsible for being raped and that they belong to men. He is a self-professed misogynist.

On a podcast last year, he said he started making money by convincing multiple girlfriends to videochat and share the profits back when he lived in London.

'How can I use these women to make me money?' Tate said, adding his business started with two girlfriends and peaked with 75 women working for him and earning $600,000 a month.

Georgiana Naghel (left), 28, is described as a businesswoman and influencer who is believed to have been dating Tate for almost a year before her arrest. Luana Radu (right), 32, was previously based at a police station in central Bucharest but quit the force eight years ago to pursue a career working in video chat rooms

Ms Naghel was born in Bucharest and raised in the Tuhari district and is believed to have met Tate (pictured together) through friends soon after he moved to the country five years ago

Both Ms Radu (pictured) and Ms Naghel regularly post glamorous photographs of themselves in designer clothes often in exotic locations

He has also said he moved to Romania after being investigated in the United Kingdom on charges of sexual assault, which were ultimately dropped, because he liked living in countries where corruption was accessible to everybody.

The former Big Brother star recently converted to Islam, declaring it the 'one true religion', and has posted excerpts from the Quran online to his large following.

Radu, 32, was previously based at a police station in central Bucharest but quit the force eight years ago to pursue a career working in video chat rooms, which attract men from all over the world and have become a lucrative industry in Romania.

Naghel, 28, who is a US citizen, is described as a businesswoman and influencer who is believed to have been dating Tate for almost a year.

Yesterday, prosecutors alleged in court filing that Tate refused to let women leave his compound without being escorted by one of his employees, according to WhatsApp messages.

The messages are allegedly from women Tate and his brother are accused of forcing to create online sexual content.

Pictured: Andrew Tate is escorted by police after being arrested in Bucharest on December 29, 2022

Tate and the alleged ring was arrested on December 29 at his bolthole on the outskirts of Bucharest (pictured)

In the unearthed messages between Tate and his alleged victims, the infamous misogynist appears to boast about how he runs the operation.

This comes after the lawyer of the Tate brothers claimed Romanian prosecutors had no evidence to back up the allegations of rape and human trafficking.

The messages show Tate allegedly threatening a women in a WhatsApp group that includes his employees and the alleged victims.

Filed by prosecutors and released by Gandul, they show one of the women asking to leave the compound.

Andrew Tate tells the woman 'don't go anywhere' without one of three trusted employees.

She then asks Tate: 'Why are you so cold to me?'

Tate then tells her: 'Don't go out alone without telling me. Mall, supermarket, nowhere from now on.'

The woman says that she had already told him that she 'wanted to go alone'.

Tate then says this is her 'last warning!'

In the other messages released by Gandul, Tate brags about how he runs the operation.

One woman messages him: 'I heard you're the one running the Onlyfans and TikTok girls business.'

Tate responds: 'Tristan and Georgiana [Georgiana Naghel, who was also arrested with the Tate brothers], but I lead them.'

The released messages come after Tate's lawyer claimed Romanian police have no evidence to back up their allegations of rape and human trafficking against the infamous misogynist.

Eugen Vidineac, who represents both brothers (pictured on December 30 in Bucharest), told Romanian online newspaper Gandul that Romanian police do not have evidence to back up the allegations of rape, human trafficking and organised crime against the Tate brothers

Vidineac's video came after Romanian authorities seized four more luxury cars on Thursday ahead of a court appearance in Bucharest on Tuesday, after 11 vehicles were previously taken in raids. Pictured: Tate is seen filling up one of his supercars in an Instagram photo

Eugen Vidineac, who represents both brothers, told Romanian online newspaper Gandul he believed the character someone like Tate portrays on social media could not be 'used as evidence in a criminal trial' as it may not reflect who they really are.

Mr Vidineac said it took the Tate brothers 'some time to understand' why they were in custody, and that there was no evidence to support the allegations, that also include organised criminal activity.

Asked what evidence there was in support of a human trafficking offence, Mr Vidineac said: 'In my view, there is no evidence there either, and I'm talking about evidence leading, by itself or directly, to the formation of an opinion of reasonable suspicion regarding the commission of offences provided for and punishable by criminal law.

'In this case we are talking about human trafficking and organised crime.'

Mr Vidineac said the documents they had seen did not 'accurately describe the hierarchy of the group, the functions of each person, who was part of this alleged criminal group'.

He said the documents also did not 'comply with the legal requirements concerning the way in which the offence of human trafficking is committed'.

Speaking about claims the men had contempt for women, Mr Vidineac said: 'They say that these issues are ripped out of context, out of some interviews they have done on social media.

'But they also say, if we live our lives surrounded by over 300 people, women and men, we have a lot of girlfriends and supporters all over the world, we've been out in public all the time with our girlfriends and there have been no complaints from our girlfriends.

'People have come out in public and said that they've been with one of the Tate brothers and he's not a violent, uneducated, abusive character as he is being portrayed at this point.'

Speaking about what role social media may play in the case, Mr Vidineac said: 'In the case of the Tate brothers, I don't know what their intent was in promoting themselves on social media, but I sit here and wonder, can that intent from the social media stand as evidence in a criminal prosecution case, with respect to a criminal character?'

Andrew Tate (left) - a professional kickboxer turned controversial online personality, 36 - and his brother Tristan, who grew up in Luton, Bedfordshire, were detained in Romania last month as part of a human trafficking and rape investigation. Two other female suspects - Georgiana Naghel and Luana Radu - were also taken into custody in Bucharest on December 29

Pictured: Andrew Tate is seen detained in Romania after being arrested in December

On Sunday, Andrew Tate has tweeted a link to a Romanian article that stated one of the influencer brothers has been taken to hospital.

He adding that the 'Matrix has attacked me'.

In the ambiguous message, the 36-year-old said: 'The Matrix has attacked me. But they misunderstand, you cannot kill an idea. Hard to Kill.'

One of the brothers is said to have informed a medic of a pre-existing health issue, resulting in a consultation at a hospital in Bucharest.

They are now back in a detention centre, the website reports.

DIICOTs said in a statement last week that it has identified six victims who were subjected to 'acts of physical violence and mental coercion' and were sexually exploited by group members.

The agency said two British citizens in the case lured victims under the pretence of love, and later intimidation, constant surveillance, and other control tactics into performing pornographic acts intended to reap 'important financial benefits.'

Tate was banned from most social media platforms, by his account was reinstated by Twitter after the company was bought by billionaire Elon Musk.

He currently has 4.4 million Twitter followers, although the reach of his content on video platforms such as TikTok has been more of a concern.

According to analysis by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) in November, over 100 accounts that frequently promote Tate's content had amassed a total of 250 million video views, and 5.7 million followers.
The Chinese military claims to have conducted another round of military drills near Taiwan, this time focusing on land and sea attacks.

In a statement late on Sunday, the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command claimed its troops had organized "joint combat readiness patrols and actual combat" exercises in the sea and the airspace surrounding Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its sovereign territory.

Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a command spokesperson, said the drills were meant to evaluate unified combat capabilities and "resolutely" confront the provocative activities of foreign forces and Taiwan independence separatist elements amid the China-Taiwan conflict, Al Jazeera reported.

Taiwan's presidential office called China's charges "groundless" and strongly denounced the exercises, stressing that Taiwan and China share responsibility for maintaining stability in the Taiwan Strait.

The office said Taiwan will do everything it can to protect its sovereignty and security instead of making things worse.

Taiwan's defense ministry tweeted on Monday that it has identified 57 Chinese military planes and four naval ships surrounding the island in the last 24 hours.

It stated that around 28 of the jets entered the ADIZ, an unofficial border separating the two sides in the Taiwan Strait, off the southwest coast of Taiwan.

According to the ministry map, two H-6 bombers equipped with nuclear weapons were flying south of Taiwan.

After the US enacted a defense budget package that supported Taipei in the China-Taiwan conflict, 43 Chinese aircraft crossed the median line in similar drills late last month, according to Taipei.

War Simulation Predicts China's Defeat Against US-Taiwan Forces

A renowned independent Washington think tank performed wargame simulations of a future confrontation that preoccupied military and political officials in Asia and Washington.

The simulation showed that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2026 would result in thousands of casualties among Chinese, US, Taiwanese, and Japanese troops, and Beijing would likely lose.

In a conflict over Taiwan, the US military's chances of coming out on top may be as slim as those of the Chinese troops it beat. China's modern fleet, the world's biggest, would be in "shambles," and at least two US aircraft carriers would sink in the Pacific.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) ran one of the most thorough wargame simulations ever on a hypothetical fight over Taiwan, as per a CNN report.

The use of armed force to annex Taiwan has not been ruled out by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

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According to the study, the US and Japan lost dozens of ships, hundreds of planes, and thousands of military people. Such losses would harm the US's standing in the world for several years.

The US Navy typically lost two aircraft carriers and 10 to 20 significant surface combatants. A little more than 3,200 US soldiers would perish in three weeks of fighting, which is less than half of what the US lost in two decades of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

China has significant losses as well in the simulation. Its navy, amphibious forces, and tens of thousands of troops are prisoners of war, it asserted.

According to the assessment, China would lose 138 large ships, 155 combat planes, and around 10,000 soldiers.

US, Allies in Asia Prepare for Possible China-Taiwan War

The senior Marine Corps general in Japan said the US and Japanese armed forces are fast integrating their command structure and ramping up military cooperation as Washington and its Asian allies brace for a potential clash with China over Taiwan.

The Financial Times reports that Lieutenant General James Bierman, commanding general of the Third Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) and Marine Forces Japan, said the two forces had seen exponential growth over the past year in operations in the region they would have to defend in a battle.

According to Bierman, the US and Asian allies are laying the basis for future contingencies like a Chinese invasion of Taiwan by modeling it after the foundation that allowed western nations to assist Ukraine's battle against Russia.

Related Article: China Crash: 17 Killed, 22 Injured During Road Traffic Accident as the Country Opens Up Back Following Intense COVID-19 Chaos

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Dreamworld's operator has been charged with a string of alleged safety breaches over a maintenance mishap six years after four people were crushed to death on the park's Thunder River Rapids Ride.

The Gold Coast theme park's operator Ardent Leisure was charged with failure to comply with work health and safety duty during scheduled work on the Tailspin ride on February 23, 2021.

The latest alleged breach comes after Ardent Leisure pleaded guilty to safety a string of charges in the aftermath of the fatal October 2016 tragedy and were ordered to pay $3.6million in fines.

Dreamworld operator Ardent Leisure was charged over safety breaches related to a maintenance mishap on the Tailspin ride (pictured)

Queensland Work Health and Safety Prosecutor alleged Ardent failed to ensure the boom of the Tailspin ride (pictured) was secured to anchor points and base plates during the maintenance

The presiding magistrate, in September 2020, castigated the company for not taking steps to minimise the risk of injury or death that would have been 'inexpensive' and 'only mildly inconvenient'.

Now the operator has been accused of failing to ensure workers knew correct procedures before taking down six of the 12 plane-shaped gondolas on the Tailspin side, the Courier Mail reported.

One of the new charges levelled is that maintenance workers did not even have a copy of the manufacturers instructions for ride, which opened in 2014, before they started.

The work involved partially dismantling the ride's giant boom arm, which holds the gondolas.

But the Queensland Work Health and Safety Prosecutor allege Ardent Leisure failed to ensure the boom was secured to anchor points and base plates during the upkeep.

Four adults died when Dreamworld's Thunder River Rapids Ride (pictured) malfunctioned in October 2016 and Ardent was ordered to pay $3.6million in fines

'The disassembly task was hazardous in that it passed a risk to the workers, namely injuries and/or injuries from falling objects, if the arm lifted or otherwise moved uncontrolled,' court documents said.

It also alleged staff were not instructed in the safest way to perform the work according to the manufacturer's instructions and were not prevented from starting the job despite.

The court documents claimed Ardent Leisure 'should have eliminated or minimized the risk as far as it was reasonably practical' but failed to do so.

The Work Health and Safety Prosecutor lodged its complaint in November, which was heard in Southport Magistrates Court on Monday.

Ardent Leisure acknowledged that Workplace Health and Safety Queensland had filed a complaint against it over 'an event that occurred during scheduled maintenance work on the Tailspin'

The case was adjourned but returns to court in February.

Ardent Leisure acknowledged that Workplace Health and Safety Queensland had filed a complaint against it over 'an event that occurred during scheduled maintenance work on the Tailspin'.

It pointed out the ride was closed to guests at the time and pointed out 'nobody was injured as a result of the event'.

It said 'the safety of our staff is as critical to Dreamworld as the safety of our guests'.
Jair Bolsonaro has posted an image of himself lying on a hospital bed recovering from treatment in Florida, while back home thousands are marching on the streets against his supporters' attempted insurrection.

The nationalist former president was admitted to hospital in Orlando yesterday with 'severe abdominal pains', a day after rioters stormed the seats of government in Brasilia.

Last night, he said the procedure was a result of the ongoing medical complications from his stabbing at a campaign rally in Juiz de Fora in 2018.

He told his followers: 'After being stabbed in Juiz de Fora/MG, I underwent 5 surgeries. Since the last one, for 2x I had adhesions that led me to other medical procedures.

Jair Bolsonaro has posted an image of himself lying on a hospital bed recovering from treatment in Florida

'Yesterday new adherence and discharge from hospital in Orlando/USA.

'Grateful for the prayers and messages of prompt recovery.'

The 'Trump of the Tropics' was previously admitted to hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in January 2022 because of a blockage found in his intestines.

The 67-year-old was stabbed in the abdomen during his successful 2018 presidential campaign, losing nearly 40 percent of his blood.

Meanwhile in Brazil, thousands have marched through the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo demanding the pro-Bolsonaro rioters who stormed and ransacked government buildings are jailed with 'no amnesty'.

Brazilian police have already rounded up roughly 1,500 people after insurrectionists trashed Brazil's Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace on Sunday, clashing with riot police in ugly scenes.

He was taken to Advent Health Celebration hospital in Orlando, Florida, on Monday

The 67-year-old was stabbed in the abdomen during his successful 2018 presidential campaign, losing nearly 40 percent of his blood (pictured moments after the attack)

Bolsonaro poses for a photo while sitting in his hospital room at the Albert Einstein Hospital, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday, August 8, 2018

The president is pictured here on January 3, 2022, giving the thumbs-up from his hospital bed after being admitted for an abdominal problems, in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Demonstrators march holding a banner that reads in Portuguese 'We are Democracy' during a protest

A protester holds a sign reading 'Bolsonarism is fascism' on Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo yesterday

The majority were detained yesterday morning at an encampment in Brasilia outside an army headquarters were protesters are calling on the military to intervene and oust newly-elected Lula to replace him with the ousted Bolsonaro.

'These people need to be punished, the people who ordered it need to be punished, those who gave money for it need to be punished,' Bety Amin, a 61-year-old therapist, said on Sao Paulo's main boulevard.

The word 'DEMOCRACY' stretched across the back of her shirt. 'They don't represent Brazil. We represent Brazil.'

Protesters' push for accountability evokes memories of an amnesty law that for decades has protected military members accused of abuse and murder during the country's 1964-85 dictatorship.

The Federal Police's press office told The Associated Press the force plans to indict at least 1,000 people, and has begun transferring them to the nearby Papuda prison.

The administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says that is only the start.

Members of social movements protest in defence of democracy, holding a banner reading 'respect my vote'

Thousands of people gathered in the main cities of Brazil to repudiate the attacks perpetrated on the Presidential Palace, Congress building and Supreme Court

Thousands have marched through the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo demanding the pro-Bolsonaro rioters who stormed and ransacked government buildings are jailed with 'no amnesty'

Justice minister Flavio Dino vowed to prosecute those who acted behind the scenes to summon supporters on social media and finance their transport for crimes including organized crime, staging a coup, and violent abolition of the democratic rule of law.

He also said authorities would investigate allegations that local security personnel allowed the destruction to proceed unabated.

'We cannot and will not compromise in fulfilling our legal duties,' Dino said. 'This fulfillment is essential so such events do not repeat themselves.'

Lula signed a decree ordering the federal government to assume control of security in the capital Sunday. It was approved by Congress' Lower House on Monday night, and now proceeds to the Senate.

The riot in Brasilia was a reminder of the threat to democracy posed by far-right elements that refuse to accept Bolsonaro's electoral defeat.

Protesters' push for accountability evokes memories of an amnesty law that for decades has protected military members accused of abuse and murder during the country's 1964-85 dictatorship

The Federal Police's press office told The Associated Press the force plans to indict at least 1,000 people for Sunday's attempted coup

Members of social movements protest in defence of democracy a day after supporters of Brazil's far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro invaded the Congress

Since his October 30 loss, they have camped outside military barracks, pleading for intervention to allow Bolsonaro to remain in power and oust Lula. When no coup materialized, they rose up themselves.

Decked out in the green and yellow of the national flag, they broke windows, toppled furniture and hurled computers and printers to the ground.

They punched holes in a massive Emiliano Di Cavalcanti painting at the presidential palace and destroyed other works of art.

They overturned the U-shaped table where Supreme Court justices convene, ripped a door off one justice's office and vandalized a statue outside the court. Hours passed before police expelled the mob.

'It's unacceptable what happened yesterday. It's terrorism,' Marcelo Menezes, a 59-year-old police officer from northeastern Pernambuco state, said at a protest in Sao Paulo. 'I'm here in defense of democracy, I'm here in defense of the people.'

Cries of 'No amnesty!' were also heard during Lula's Jan. 1 inaugural address, in response to the president detailing the neglect of the outgoing Bolsonaro administration.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain, has waxed nostalgic for the dictatorship era, praised a notorious torturer as a hero and said the regime should have gone further in executing communists. His government also commemorated the anniversary of Brazil's 1964 coup.

A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a protest

The riot in Brasilia was a reminder of the threat to democracy posed by far-right elements that refuse to accept Bolsonaro's electoral defeat

Political analysts had repeatedly warned that Bolsonaro was laying the groundwork for an insurrection in the mold of that which unfolded in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

For months, he stoked belief among hardcore supporters that the nation's electronic voting system was prone to fraud - though he never presented any evidence and independent experts disagreed.

Results from the election, the closest since Brazil's return to democracy, were quickly recognized by politicians across the spectrum, including some Bolsonaro allies, as well as dozens of other governments.

The outgoing president surprised nearly everyone by promptly fading from view, neither conceding defeat nor emphatically crying fraud. He and his party submitted a request to nullify millions of votes, which was swiftly dismissed by the electoral authority.

None of that dissuaded his die-hard backers from their conviction that Bolsonaro belonged in power.

In the immediate aftermath of the riot, Lula said that the so-called 'fascist fanatics' and their financial backers must be held responsible. He also accused Bolsonaro of encouraging the uprising.

Bolsonaro denied the president's accusation Sunday. Writing on Twitter, he said peaceful protest is part of democracy, but vandalism and invasion of public buildings cross the line.

Authorities are also investigating the role of the federal district's police in either failing to halt protesters' advance or standing aside to let them run amok.

Prosecutors in the capital said local security forces were negligent at the very least.

A supreme court justice temporarily suspended the regional governor, who oversees the force, for what he termed 'willful omission'. Another justice blamed authorities across Brazil for not swiftly cracking down on 'homegrown neofascism.'

The upheaval finally prompted municipal and state governments to disperse pro-Bolsonaro encampments outside military barracks that have lasted since the election. Their tents and tarps were taken down, and residents were sent packing.

But pro-democracy protesters on Monday sought to ensure that their message - 'No amnesty!' - was heard by the authorities responsible for investigating and prosecuting, as well as far-right elements who might dare defy democracy again.

'After what happened yesterday, we need to go to the street,' said Marcos Gama, a retiree who protested Monday night in Sao Paulo. 'We need to react.'
A 'high-profile' man is set to front a Queensland court after being charged with two counts of rape in an alleged attack of a young woman.

The man is alleged to have raped the woman in October 2021.

A Queensland Police Service spokesman on Tuesday confirmed the bombshell allegations as the accused prepares to face court.

A 'high profile' man is set to face Toowoomba Magistrates Court on January 11 after being charged with two counts of rape in an alleged attack on a young woman in October 2021 (stock image of Toowoomba Magistrates Court pictured)

'Toowoomba Criminal Investigation Branch detectives have charged a man with the alleged rape of a young woman in October 2021,' police said.

'The man is scheduled to appear in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on January 11, 2023, charged with two counts of rape.'

Under Queensland law, the identity of the man can not be revealed as the anonymity of accused serious sex offenders is protected until they are committed to stand trial. This legal process can often take several years.

While his name cannot be revealed, he has been described as a 'high profile' figure in Australia.

Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman announced in November that the law protecting the identity of accused rapists would be changed this year.

The Sunshine State is one of the last jurisdictions to have this law, designed to protect the reputation of the person charged until evidence is tested at committal.

It is not offered for any other type of offence, including murder.

Queensland is one of the last states to have a law protecting the identity of persons charged with serious sex offenses (stock image)

The proposed change came after the 188 recommendations made by the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce in its Hear Her Voice 2 report, handed down in July 2022.

The Queensland State Government accepted in full 103 of the recommendations and supported the other 85 'in principle'.

The Queensland Police Service said it is unable to comment on the proceedings of the case as the matters 'are presently subjected to court processes'.
The warship will sail through the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Indian Ocean

A Russian frigate armed with 'unstoppable' hypersonic Zircon missiles is staging war games as it sails towards Britain.

Footage shows the warship Admiral Gorshkov, which is carrying one of the world's deadliest weapons, 'repelling a simulated enemy's air strikes' in stormy conditions in the Norwegian Sea - six days into the mission to challenge the West.

The vessel is armed with new Mach 9 nuclear-capable Zircon missiles, which travel at speeds of nearly 7,000mph, as well as Kalibr missiles.

The warship is sailing towards Britain and footage released today showed the vessel taking part in a military exercise. Video on Zvezda TV did not include the launch of any missiles during the drills.

Footage shows the warship Admiral Gorshkov, which is carrying one of the world's deadliest weapons, 'repelling a simulated enemy's air strikes' in stormy conditions six days into the mission to challenge the West

A Russian frigate armed with 'unstoppable' hypersonic Zircon missiles is staging war games as it sails towards Britain

This image shows a Zircon hypersonic cruise missile being launched by the Gorshkov from the Barents Sea on May 28, 2022

'The purpose of the exercise was to test the operation of the air defence circuit, its systems, air and electronic lighting systems, anti-aircraft fire systems, tactical camouflage electronic warfare systems and air defence circuit control systems,' said the commentary.

The tasks were 'achieved', said the channel. 'The ship is ready to repel air attacks from different altitudes and directions.'

The Gorshkov, which is on its first deployment, set sail from Severomorsk last week and is set to pass Britain ahead of war games in the Mediterranean - but Moscow has yet to reveal the exact timings or route for the warship.

Putin as previously claimed the missiles have 'no equivalent in the world' and their arrival comes at a much-needed time for Russia after multiple setbacks in Ukraine, with nearly 3,000 troops lost already this year.

After setting sail on its first deployment last week, the vessel immediately fired a test launch of the nuclear-capable cutting-edge Zircon missiles into the Barents Sea, hitting a target 620 miles away in the White Sea, the Kremlin claimed.

The Russian frigate 'Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov' armed with Zircon (Tsirkon) hypersonic weapons leaves the naval base in Severomorsk on January 4

Putin could hardly contain his joy announcing the news last week as he said: 'I am sure that such powerful weapons will make it possible to reliably protect Russia from potential external threats and will help ensure the national interests of our country.'

The president proudly said it was an 'important, if not momentous, event' as the vessel set sail in a task force from Severomorsk.

More than 10 months into the fighting, Russia has faced a series of humiliating setbacks on the ground in Ukraine.

The Russian military's high command has come in for particular criticism in recent days following a strike by Ukrainian forces over New Year in which Moscow said 89 of its soldiers died.

Putin said last week: 'The frigate Admiral Gorshkov is embarking on a long sea voyage. There is nothing unusual here: it is commonplace, but this time the ship is equipped with the latest hypersonic rocket system Zircon, which has no match.

'It is a hypersonic sea-based system - [and the vessel has other] latest-generation weapons

'As I said, it has no equivalent in any country in the world.

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part, via video link, in a ceremony to launch the frigate Admiral Gorshkov armed with hypersonic missiles Zircon, to combat mission, in Moscow, Russia on January 4

Putin said the Zircon missiles were 'able to overcome any modern or future air defence'

'I am sure that such a powerful weapon will allow us to reliably protect Russia from potential external threats and help ensure our country's national interests.'

Putin insisted: 'I want to stress that we will continue to develop the combat capabilities of the armed forces and produce promising weapons. I would like to wish the ship's crew every success in their service for the good of the Motherland.'

He added: 'I am very glad. My congratulations. This is a very big, collective piece of work which ended up with a good result as expected. Begin your task.'

Moscow has previously boasted that the Gorshkov is 'the most dangerous enemy of surface ships in the world's oceans' now it is armed with the new hypersonic missile.

It is also carrying state-of-the-art Kalibr missiles - used against Ukraine - in its armoury.

The frigate's captain Igor Krokhmal has said previously: 'No one will see the missile launch or its flight.

'They will only see when the missile hits the target.

'A surface target, a coastal target. I don't think there will be anything to counter this in the next few years.'
Russia's leading rocket specialist has died, the fourth key defence official to perish in less than three weeks.

Pavel Kamnev, 85, was the scientific director of the Almaz-Antey Aerospace Defence Concern and the expert who developed deadly Kalibr missiles deployed by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.

He was responsible for more than 20 weapons inventions and co-author of over 300 scientific and technical reports.

'He took an active part in the development of many missile systems,' said an Almaz-Antey spokesman.

Pavel Kamnev, 85, (pictured) was the scientific director of the Almaz-Antey Aerospace Defence Concern and the expert who developed deadly Kalibr missiles deployed by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine

On December 25 General Alexei Maslov, 69, former commander of Russian ground forces with close ties to Ukraine, died 'suddenly' the day after Vladimir Putin abruptly cancelled a trip to the tank enterprise where he worked as an international sales ambassador

Last week the inventor of 'world's best' Angara rockets Vladimir Nesterov (pictured) died aged 74

Nosterov's loss followed the 'sudden death' of Alexander Buzakov (pictured), 65, director general of Admiralty Shipyards, in charge of building new submarines armed with deadly Kalibr missiles

He worked until his death as scientific director of arms giant Almaz-Antey and chairman of Novator experimental design bureau where Kalibr missiles were created.

A video shows him being made a Hero of Labour by Vladimir Putin in 2016.

He lauded Putin for the 'highest appreciation' of his missile-making work 'so that our country can live in peace and security'.

He spoke before his Kalibr missiles were used to decimate infrastructure and civilian targets in Ukraine.

Last week the inventor of 'world's best' Angara rockets Vladimir Nesterov died aged 74.

Kamnev (pictured) was responsible for more than 20 weapons inventions and co-author of over 300 scientific and technical reports

Pictured: Russia's leading rocket specialist Pavel Kamnev and Russian President Vladimir Putin

A video shows Kamnev being made a Hero of Labour by Vladimir Putin in 2016

Kamnev lauded Putin for the 'highest appreciation' of his missile-making work 'so that our country can live in peace and security'

Pictured: Kamnev worked until his death as scientific director of arms giant Almaz-Antey and chairman of Novator experimental design bureau where Kalibr missiles were created

He was the brains behind Putin's dreams of the Russian exploration of the moon and outer space.

He was chief designer for the light and heavy versions of the Angara but for the later years of his life was dogged by a criminal case launched by Putin's authorities into alleged fraud and embezzlement of more than 57 million.

He hailed the Angara as the 'world's best' rocket system, and he was seen internationally as a leader in his field.

Nesterov's loss followed the 'sudden death' of Alexander Buzakov, 65, director general of Admiralty Shipyards, in charge of building new submarines armed with deadly Kalibr missiles.

And on December 25 General Alexei Maslov, 69, former commander of Russian ground forces with close ties to Ukraine, died 'suddenly' the day after Vladimir Putin abruptly cancelled a trip to the tank enterprise where he worked as an international sales ambassador.

Pictured: General Alexei Maslov, former Commander-in-Chief of Russian Land Forces, died in Moscow aged 69

Pictured: Vladimir Nesterov, Angara space rocket system developer, died age 73

Pictured: Alexander Buzakov, director general of Admiralty Shipyards, in charge of building new submarines armed with deadly Kalibr missiles, died aged 65

Pictured: Russian Kalibr cruise missile (file photo). Kamnev's Kalibr missiles were used to decimate infrastructure and civilian targets in Ukraine

Pictured: Russian Kalibr cruise missile is fired from a vessel

Buzakov had been healthy the day before he died, and 'nothing had been heard about Maslov's health problems' before he died, said Telegram channel Redacted number 6.

At NATO, Maslov worked alongside Dmitry Rogozin, an official close to Putin who was abruptly removed in the summer as head of the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos.

Putin had been due to fly to the Uralvagonzavod plant in Nizhny Tagil - which has been criticised by the Kremlin for failing to produce sufficient new tanks for the war in Ukraine.

However, the Russian president aborted the December 24 trip 'at the last minute' with no explanation, according to local reports.
A seven-year-old girl was rushed to hospital suffering effects similar to chemical burns after swimming in a public pool.

Emily Lee was cooling off at the Lagoon at Settlement Cove in Brisbane's Redcliffe with her mother Sophie, 31, on December 23, when she started feeling severe pain.

The little girl is one of numerous other swimmers at the the popular spot claiming to have experienced stinging pains and itchiness after swimming.

The Moreton Bay Council which conducts regularly tests at the site denies the water is harmful but advises anyone with sensitivity to chlorine to avoid the pool.

A seven-year-old girl who swam for an hour at the lagoon at Settlement Cove (pictured) in north Brisbane's Redcliffe was hospitalised for pains in her private parts akin to chemical burns

Ms Lee stated that her daughter had only been in the water for an hour before alerting her of pains in her private parts.

She was rushed to a hospital two hours after they left the park as Emily couldn't urinate without being in excruciating pain.

'Her belly was so swollen as she needed to pee so bad, but she wouldn't want to pee because it was hurting her too much,' Ms Lee told the Courier Mail.

'She's now too scared to even get into a pool now because she thinks the same thing is going to happen again.'

However, the Moreton Bay Council has denied that the lagoon's water is harmful.

'Comprehensive water testing regime across all public swimming facilities, which exceeds industry standards and ensures we have the best possible water quality,' a council spokesperson said.

'Anyone with a skin or health condition that might be triggered by chlorine exposure is advised to seek specialist medical advice.

An independent test of the water by Queensland Pool Supplies showed it had a high pH - which can cause skin rashes- and low levels of stabilisers

'Council immediately reviewed its water testing records after being advised of a post in an online forum, confirming that water quality readings that day were within a safe range.'

Water taken from the lagoon on January 8 was used in an independent test into the safety of the water by Queensland Pool Supplies.

The test showed that the lagoon's water had a high pH of 7.7 -higher than the regularly excepted range of 7.3 to 7.6- with pH levels of 7.8 being enough to cause skin rashes.

The water also had high levels of phosphates, while also having low levels of alkalinity and Cyanuric acid, both pH and pool stabilisers.

'The test has shown the buffer is low, which causes low alkalinity and the stabiliser is low and there are traces of phosphates in the water as well,' Queensland Pool Supplies director, Krissie Meldrum said.

'I've never seen this happen before with stabiliser.'
A website advertising casual sex for Oxford University students was yesterday accused of a privacy breach after publicly sharing a database of student names, email addresses and colleges.

'OxShag' was an anonymous matchmaking website launched by students which promised to help 'overworked and undersexed' students find love with 'no strings attached'.

Those signing up to 'OxShag' would pay 3 to select up to 20 students or staff members they were interested in and submit the names to the website.

Students and staff quickly complained the website breached their privacy by publicly listing their entire university directory - including academics, porters, administrators and more.

'OxShag' was an anonymous matchmaking website launched by University of Oxford students which promised to help 'overworked and undersexed' students find love with 'no strings attached'

Students and staff quickly complained the website breached their privacy by publicly listing their entire university directory - including academics, porters, administrators and more [file image]

When it launched Sunday, OxShag's website featured a list of every person who holds an Oxford University email address.

The list was compiled using publicly available information but the university appears to forbid people from storing and reusing the contact details.

The website did not have a privacy policy, and when students requested to have their names removed from the database they were referred to an FAQ page and given no assurance their name would be erased.

The matchmaking service was briefly taken down after a large number of people complained with students saying it was a breach of their privacy.

Students had raised concerns about the potential for abuse and exploitation. One said it was a 'welfare concern' and a 'huge data breach'.

It was subsequently relaunched and the original subscription fee of 3 was reduced to 1 but after the backlash with possible action from the university, the website was shut down.

The creator, who has so far remained anonymous, said the information given away was little more than people's names and college affiliation, and that it was an 'innocent mistake'

The creator, who has so far remained anonymous, said the information given away was little more than people's names and college affiliation, and that it was an 'innocent mistake'.

They wrote: 'What could have been a fun event has now been ruined by the loud minority. Loosen up, have a laugh and take life a bit less seriously. I think those who are the most against Oxshag are probably the most in need of it.'

A spokesperson for Oxford told The Times: 'The university was very concerned to learn of this website and is taking immediate action to minimise the risk to our students and staff.'
Did you film last night's shooting star? Email eleanor.blake@mailonline.co.uk

A huge 'multi-coloured' meteor streaked over the sky above millions of Britons last night - coinciding with a historic space launch in Cornwall.

Stargazers across England were left dumbfounded by the impressive natural phenomenon, which lit up the night sky on Monday.

The blazing fireball was spotted soaring over London, Sussex, Wilshire, Hampshire, Dorset and Devon - with some as far north as Wolverhampton, near Birmingham, reportedly seeing it.

The meteor was first seen shortly after 8pm, the Met Office said. Amazing video footage shows the shooting star erupting into a ball of flames as it burnt up in the atmosphere.

DID YOU FILM THE METEOR? EMAIL ELEANOR.BLAKE@MAILONLINE.CO.UK

The stunning shooting star was spotted across England as it burnt up in the night sky. This security camera in Wolverhampton captured the moment it soared over the city

The Met Office tweeted: 'Reports of a meteor in the sky over the UK just now. If you managed to take any footage we'd love to see it'.

People took to social media to post footage they'd captured of the rare event - many on video doorbells or home CCTV systems.

One skygazer in Bristol captured the meteor on a Nest CCTV camera at around 8.01pm - as it headed east.

The meteor was so bright it startled stargazer Sophie Green - who feared the 'world was ending'.

'I saw it over Balham south London. Bright orange, so low, honestly thought it was a firework initially then I thought the world is ending. Grateful to have seen it,' she tweeted.

The huge meteor was first spotted shortly after 8pm on Monday evening, with people nationwide sharing clips from their doorbell cameras

The stunning natural phenomenon lit up the night sky across England with its huge fiery tail

In one video, the meteor can be seen streaking through the sky, passing over a plane as it burns up in the atmosphere.

One woman from Chippenham, Wilts., said: 'I couldn't believe it. I was standing outside waiting for a lift to work when the sky lit up.

'A bright orange ball flew through the sky - it was incredible.'

Another person said: 'It wasn't just a shooting star, it was orange in the sky!!'

One Twitter user said they saw a 'huge white ball, red surround, long trail of shooting stars type tail', adding that she 'couldn't believe my eyes. Beautiful.'

Elsewhere, one woman said she 'had just turned my computer off and looked up out of the window' before spotting an object streaking across the sky, adding: 'It was perfect timing.'

Sightings poured in from across London, Hertfordshire and Wolverhampton, among others.

Laura, who did not wish to give her surname, from Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, caught the flying object on camera at around 8pm from her front room.

Her video showed a light streaking through the sky above a residential area for just under 10 seconds before disappearing from view.

She told the PA news agency: 'I had just turned my computer off and looked up out of the window, it was perfect timing.

'It wasn't like a shooting star I have seen in the past. It seemed overwhelmingly close.

'It was large in the sky, orange with an orange blaze behind it, not what I would describe as a long shooting star tail but a shorter orange one.

'Then it just disappeared... Popped out of the sky. It seemed like it hadn't really happened. I tried to tell my husband but they didn't quite believe my account!'

Sightings were reported from London to Devon and up to Birmingham. Footage of the meteor showed it blazing through the atmosphere for several seconds before disappearing

The meteor was recorded by the Sheffield weather camera as it passed above the city on Monday evening

A Met Office spokesman told PA the time of day and clear skies contributed to the quality of the sightings.

The spectacular natural phenomenon comes on the same night a modified Virgin Boeing 747 took off from Newquay Airport, with a 21m LauncherOne rocket attached to its wing.

But the Virgin Orbit mission to deploy satellites into space failed after an 'anomaly' prevented the rocket from reaching its destination height.

In chaotic scenes the team behind the ambitious first UK launch announced they had succeeded in reaching orbit. But then moments later they said an 'anomaly' had actually stopped the LauncherOne getting far enough into space.

It was thought history would be made in the UK on Monday night as the first-ever orbital space launch took off from Cornwall just after 10pm.

British astronaut Tim Peake branded the mission's outcome as 'disappointing' and said: 'Getting to space is hard and valuable lessons will be learned.'

Matt Archer, from the UK Space Agency, said the second stage of the launch suffered an 'anomaly', the cause of which was under investigation.

History was made in the UK on Monday night when a repurposed 747 jumbo jet  named Cosmic Girl by Virgin (pictured)  took off from Newquay Airport in Cornwall
Everything in Soledar is 'completely destroyed', with no walls left standing and the dead bodies of Russian soldiers decaying on the streets, Zelensky said

Russian forces are aiming to take control of the nearby city of Bakhmut

In Soledar, a town in eastern Ukraine, the ground is scarred from fierce battles

The corpses of Russian soldiers are 'covering the ground' of a Ukrainian town where there is 'no life left' amid fierce fighting, president Volodymyr Zelensky said last night.

In Soledar, once a bustling salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine, the ground is now scarred from a relentless stream of missiles and gunfire as Russian forces aim to take control of the nearby and key city of Bakhmut.

Everything in the town is 'completely destroyed', with no walls left standing and the dead bodies of the invading Russian soldiers decaying on the streets, Zelensky said.

Ukraine's army today claimed 710 of Vladimir Putin's men had been killed in one day of the now ten-month war in yet another setback in Russia's barbaric invasion.

But Britain's defence ministry today said that Russian soldiers and forces of Putin's Wagner contract group were probably now in control of most of the salt mining town after advances in the last four days.

In Soledar, once a bustling salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine, the ground is now scarred from a relentless stream of missiles and gunfire as Russian forces aim to take control of the nearby and key city of Bakhmut. Pictured: A Ukrainian tank fires at Russian soldiers sheltered near a building in the destroyed town of Soledar

Soledar, in the industrial Donbas region, lies just nine miles from Bakhmut, where troops from both sides have been taking heavy losses in some of the most intense trench warfare since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year

Yet this rare Russian victory has come at a high price for Putin's men, with Zelensky saying on Monday night that it's been a bloodbath in Soledar.

'Everything is completely destroyed, there is almost no life left. Thousands of their people have been lost: the whole ground near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the blows. This is how madness looks like,' the Ukrainian leader said.

Soledar, in the industrial Donbas region, lies just nine miles from Bakhmut, where troops from both sides have been taking heavy losses in some of the most intense trench warfare since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.

Russia is trying to take control of Bakhmut as it has a network of cavernous mining tunnels below the ground which can hold troops or tanks.

Russian troops have stepped up their assault of Soledar, forcing Ukrainian troops to bear wave after wave of attacks led by the Wagner mercenaries.

Ukraine's deputy defence minister, Hanna Malyar, said Russia has thrown 'a large number of storm groups' into the fight for the city. 'The enemy is advancing literally on the bodies of their own soldiers and is massively using artillery, rocket launchers and mortars, hitting their own troops,' she said.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the Donetsk region's Kyiv-appointed governor, on Tuesday described the Russian attacks on Soledar and Bakhmut as relentless.

'The Russian army is reducing Ukrainian cities to rubble using all kinds of weapons in their scorched-earth tactics,' Kyrylenko said in televised remarks. 'Russia is waging a war without rules, resulting in civilian deaths and suffering.'

Meanwhile, the Moscow-backed leader of the occupied areas of Donetsk said Tuesday that Russia's forces were 'very close' to taking over Soledar. But the gains were coming 'at a very high price,' Denis Pushilin told Russian state TV.

Smoke rises from strikes on the frontline city of Soledar, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, as seen from Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, on January 5

Everything in the town is 'completely destroyed', with no walls left standing and the dead bodies of the invading Russian soldiers decaying on the streets, Zelensky said

Ukrainian military fire an anti-aircraft weapon, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Tuesday

Ukrainian military fire an anti-aircraft weapon, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Tuesday amid heavy fighting

Meanwhile, Britain said in an intelligence meeting that Russia's offensive in Soledar is part of an effort to take control of Bakhmut.

'Russia's Soledar axis is highly likely an effort to envelop Bakhmut from the north, and to disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication,' Britain said in an intelligence briefing on Tuesday.

Britain's Ministry of Defence added: 'Part of the fighting has focused on entrances to the 200km-long disused salt mine tunnels which run underneath the district. Both sides are likely concerned that they could be used for infiltration behind their lines.'

'Despite the increased pressure on Bakhmut, Russia is unlikely to envelop the town imminently because Ukrainian forces maintain stable defensive lines in depth and control over supply routes.'

Meanwhile, the Wagner group said today it was fighting 'heavy, bloody battles' for control of Soledar.

In a highly unusual move, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin praised the Ukrainian soldiers for 'honourably defending' Soldedar and dismissed allegations that Zelensky's men were deserting front lines en masse in the town.

'On the western outskirts of Soledar there are heavy bloody battles. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are honourably defending the territory of Soledar,' the Kremlin-linked businessman said on social media.

'Let's be honest with ourselves. The Ukrainian army is bravely fighting for Bakhmut and Soledar. Reports of their mass desertion are not true,' Prigozhin said.

Prigozhin said earlier this week that Soledar was being stormed 'exclusively' by Wagner units, saying they were fighting fiercely for the city's administration building.

Ukrainian servicemen administer first aid to a wounded soldier in a shelter in Soledar, the site of heavy battles with Russian forces in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Sunday

Commander of the Ukrainian army, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, gives instructions in a shelter in Soledar, the site of heavy battles with the Russian forces, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Sunday

Meanwhile, Zelensky said last night of the fierce fighting: 'I thank all our soldiers who protect our Bakhmut... [and] all the fighters in Soledar, who are withstanding the new and even tougher assaults from the invaders.'

Earlier Monday, the Ukrainian armed forces said they repelled an attempt to seize Soledar, but that fighting resumed.

'After an unsuccessful attempt of the enemy to capture Soledar and retreat, [Russians] regrouped, recovered the manpower, transferred additional assault units, changed tactics and started assault actions,' Ukraine's deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar said on Telegram.

'Currently, the enemy has deployed a large number of assault units formed from the best reserves of the Wagner Group. They literally step on the corpses of their own soldiers,' she added.

Earlier on Monday Russian-backed separatist forces in the Donetsk region said they captured the village of Bakhmutske, just a few kilometres from Soledar.

Ukrainian military fire an anti-aircraft weapon, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Bakhmut on Tuesday

Separately, Wagner's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on social media that Soledar was being stormed 'exclusively' by the group's units.

Wagner draws some recruits from Russia's prisons and is known for uncompromising violence. It is also active in conflicts in Africa and has taken a prominent role in Russia's war effort in Ukraine.

Prigozhin has been trying to capture Bakhmut and Soledar for months at the cost of many lives on both sides.

He said on Saturday its significance lay in a network of cavernous underground mining tunnels which can hold troops or tanks.

A U.S. official has said Prigozhin was eyeing the salt and gypsum from the mines, believed to extend over 100 miles underground and contain auditorium-scale caverns.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said fighting in Bahkmut and Soledar was 'the most intense on the entire frontline'.

'So many remain on the battlefield... either dead or wounded,' he said on YouTube.

'They attack our positions in waves, but the wounded as a rule die where they lie, either from exposure as it is very cold or from blood loss. No one is coming to help them or to collect the dead from the battlefield.

In an evacuee centre in nearby Kramatorsk, Olha, 60, said she had fled Soledar after moving from apartment to apartment as each was destroyed in tank battles.

In an evacuee centre in nearby Kramatorsk, Olha, 60, (pictured) said she had fled Soledar after moving from apartment to apartment as each was destroyed in tank battles

'There isn't one house left intact. Apartments were burning, breaking in half,' said Olha, who gave only her first name.

Ukrainian officials, led by the commander in chief General Valery Zaluzhny, have warned that Russia is preparing fresh troops for a new offensive on Ukraine, possibly on the capital Kyiv.

Zelensky also appears to be banking on securing more sophisticated weapons from Ukraine's Western partners to beat off attacks and eventually expel Russian troops.

On Monday, he pressed on with diplomatic efforts, speaking to Petr Fiala, prime minister of the Czech Republic.

'I am certain that our soldiers at the front will get these weapons and equipment very soon,' he said.

France, Germany and the United States all pledged last week to send armoured fighting vehicles, fulfilling a long-standing Ukrainian request.

Britain is considering supplying Ukraine with tanks for the first time, Sky News reported, citing a Western source. Britain's Ministry of Defence did not comment.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's general staff of the Army claimed 710 Russian soldiers have been killed in a single day, increasing the number of Putin's men killed in battle to 112,470.

More than 10 months into the fighting, Russia has faced a series of humiliating setbacks on the ground in Ukraine.

The Russian military's high command has come in for particular criticism in recent days following a strike by Ukrainian forces over New Year in which Moscow said 89 of its soldiers died.
The backlash against Prince Harry's denials that he or his wife Meghan ever accused the Royal Family of racism has raged on for a second day, with the Duke of Sussex today facing claims that he is 'undermining' his own fight against 'unconscious bias'.

In an incendiary interview to plug his bombshell memoir Spare, the prince told Tom Bradby that the Royal Family were guilty of 'unconscious bias', but denied calling them racist while discussing Meghan's controversial claim to Oprah Winfrey that an unnamed royal had expressed 'concern' about Archie's skin colour.

Bradby - and viewers - were left stunned by Harry's screeching U-turn, which sparked a backlash and allegations that the Duke had 'hung his family out to dry' on an accusation which was left unchallenged for nearly two years.

Lawyer and activist Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, who has previously supported the Sussexes, today claimed there is 'absolutely' a 'problem of racism in the Royal Family'. Taking aim at Harry's defence of the late Queen's former lady-in-waiting Lady Susan Hussey after she was accused of racism, she called the Duke's repeated attempts to draw a distinction between racism and unconscious bias in his interviews 'disingenuous'.

She told Sky News presenter Kay Burley: 'He's clearly on a journey of learning and the good thing that he's said is that he's willing to learn. But he needs to unpick his learning about unconscious bias and racism, they are the same thing, there is no difference.

In an incendiary interview to plug his bombshell memoir Spare , the prince told ITV journalist and old friend Tom Bradby that the Royal Family were guilty of 'unconscious bias' but denied calling them racist while discussing Meghan's controversial claim to Oprah Winfrey that an unnamed royal had expressed 'concern' about Archie's skin colour

Lawyer and activist Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu today claimed there is 'absolutely' a 'problem of racism in the Royal Family'

Harry is protected by armed bodyguards as he heads to The Late Show studio Advertisement

'And him not coming out and clearly stating that there is a serious issue of racism, it undermines his commitment to be part of the solution, and so when he uses examples like Lady Hussey not meaning any harm to Ngozi Fulani, or saying for instance no we didn't say they were racist when they raised concerns about the colour of our son's skin, to me it's just disingenuous'.

She added: 'There is a significant issue of racism, I think the royal family has to be aware that they face a significant reputational risk - not because of Harry... but because they refuse to change and to demonstrate that they understand that change is necessary.'

Oprah asked Meghan in 2021: 'They were concerned that if he were too brown, that would be a problem? Are you saying that?' The Duchess responded: 'If that's the assumption you're making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one, which was really hard to understand, right?'

It prompted a worldwide guessing game about the senior royal who said it and hours later Harry's estranged brother, William, was forced to publicly remark that they were 'very much not a racist family'. The Queen gave a rare statement and said 'the issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning' but stressed that 'recollections may vary'.

But on Sunday night, Harry told Bradby that the Royal Family is not racist. The British broadcaster, a friend of Harry's, raised the 2021 Oprah interview with Meghan and said: 'You accused members of your family of racism.'

But Harry snapped back: 'No I didn't. The British press said that. Did Meghan ever mention that they're racist?'

The duke then insisted the comments made about his son Archie's skin colour were 'unconscious bias'. Mr Bradby appeared taken aback by the answer - while experts said that Harry clearly didn't understand the term he was now using.

Yesterday, former BBC Royal Correspondent Jennie Bond told ITV's Lorraine: 'So much of what he said seemed conflicted and contradictory... he allowed his family to be hung out to dry on an accusation of racism which Harry says now he never said and wasn't true. That in my view is almost unforgivable.'

Harry is facing allegations that he failed to 'correct the narrative' around racism in the Royal Family after sensationally accusing an unnamed royal of asking about the skin colour of his and Meghan's then-unborn son Archie during his bombshell Oprah interview

Jennie Bond (left) told Lorraine: 'He allowed his family to be hung out to dry on an accusation of racism which Harry says now he never said and wasn't true'. ITV's Royal Editor Chris Ship (right) said: 'Harry is right to say that Meghan or Harry didn't use the word ''racist'' at any point... [but] Harry didn't correct the narrative when this whole racism row then started'

Critics accused the Duke of not understanding the difference between denying the royals are racist while also accusing them of 'unconscious bias', arguing they amount to the same thing

And ITV News's royal editor Chris Ship said on Good Morning Britain: 'Harry is right to say [they] didn't use the word ''racist'' at any point... [but] Harry didn't correct the narrative when this whole racism row then started, and not correcting the narrative is something he accused the Royal Family of not doing, when he criticised Jeremy Clarkson and other things as well.'

Royal correspondent and biographer Robert Jobson said: 'Robert F. Kennedy's daughter said Prince Harry and Meghan were handed an award for their 'heroic' stance against the 'structural racism' of the royal family. Harry says neither he or Meg said the RF was racist. Perhaps they should give the award back then'.

While the Duke has not referred to the Oprah interview in his memoir, he was asked by Bradby in the interview to plug the book: 'Wouldn't you describe that as essentially racist?'

Harry replied: 'I wouldn't, not having lived within that family.' But he adds: 'The difference between racism and unconscious bias the two things are different.

'But once it's been acknowledged, or pointed out to you as an individual, or as an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you therefore have an opportunity to learn and grow from that so that you are part of the solution rather than part of the problem.'

And he accused Buckingham Palace of failing to follow up on promises it made in the wake of the Oprah controversy, including appointing a 'diversity tsar'.

The Duke of Sussex said there is a place for the monarchy in the modern world if they addressed unconscious bias.

Asked on Good Morning America this morning if he thinks there is a place for the British monarchy in the 21st century, he said: 'I genuinely believe that there is. Not the way that it is now.'

Asked if they need to modernise and if so in what way, Harry said: 'I think the same process that I went through with regarding my own unconscious bias would be hugely beneficial to them. Not racism, but unconscious bias, if not confronted, if not learned and grown from, that can then move into racism. But there was an enormous missed opportunity with my wife.'

During the interview, Harry also said: 'I think my mother would have realised the missed opportunity with Meghan being part of the institution, part of the monarchy.'

The Duke of Sussex conceded that the Royal Family were not racist but said they were guilty of 'unconscious bias' while discussing the controversial claim in an incendiary interview to plug his new memoir

Pictured, Meghan, Archie and Harry at a Polo match in Wokingham in 2019

Harry told Meghan not to have her picture taken at Taj Mahal in case people accused her of mimicking Diana Advertisement

Harry and Meghan's 'tell-all' conversation with Oprah in 2021 marked their first major interview since they stepped down as senior members of the Royal Family in 2020.

One of the most shocking moments from the interview came when Meghan said there were 'several conversations' between herself, Harry and members of the Royal Family about 'how dark' their baby could be before Archie was born.

Speaking about the family, Oprah had asked Meghan: 'Because they were concerned that if he were too brown, that that would be a problem? Are you saying that?'

Meghan then replied: 'I wasn't able to follow up with why, but that - if that's the assumption you're making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one, which was really hard to understand, right?'

In his interview with Bradby last night, Harry said: 'That conversation, I am never going to share. At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked.'

His refusal to name the person involved sparked an international guessing game about who the 'royal racist' was.

In a statement the late Queen said the claims were 'concerning' but stressed that 'recollections may vary' and the claims would be addressed privately.

Referring to the racism allegations made previously by his wife, Harry bridled at the suggestion by Bradby that he accused his family of racism, snapping back: 'No I didn't. The British press said that. Did Meghan ever mention that they're racist?'

'She said there were troubling comments about Archie's skin colour,' Bradby replied.

'There was  there was concern about his skin colour,' Harry corrected him. When Bradby suggested that there was a danger by not naming the person concerned, Harry said: 'Yes, you're right, the key word is concern, which was troubling.

'But you speak to any other couple, mixed race couple around the world, and you will probably find that the white side of the family have either openly discussed it, or secretly discussed, you know, 'What are the kids gonna look like?' And that is part of a, you know, bigger conversation that needs to be had.'

He claimed that after the interview with Ms Winfrey 'they said that they were gonna [sic] bring in a diversity tsar. That hasn't happened'.

He added: 'Everything they said was gonna [sic] happen hasn't happened. I've always been open to wanting to help them understand their part in it, and especially when you are the monarchy  you have a responsibility and quite rightly people hold you to a higher standard than others.'

Harry told Netflix: 'In [the Royal Family], sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. There is a huge level of unconscious bias'

In the couple's Netflix series Harry & Meghan, the Duke claimed: 'In this family, sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. There is a huge level of unconscious bias.

'The thing with unconscious bias, it is actually no one's fault. But once it has been pointed out, or identified within yourself you then need to make it right. It is education. It is awareness. It is a constant work in progress for everybody, including me.'

The Duke added that members of the Royal Family asked why the Duchess should be 'protected' when they questioned newspaper headlines about her.

'The direction from the palace was don't say anything,' he said. 'But what people need to understand is, as far as a lot of the family were concerned, everything that she was being put through, they had been put through as well. So it was almost like a rite of passage, and some of the members of the family were like, ''My wife had to go through that, so why should your girlfriend be treated any differently? Why should you get special treatment? Why should she be protected?''

'I said ''The difference here is the race element''.'
United States President Joe Biden is facing mounting pressure to send back former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro amid a violent uprising in the latter's country where his supporters are protesting the result of the latest election.

Bolsonaro was reported to have flown to Florida two days before the end of his term as president on January 1, 2023. The situation came as he continued to challenge the results of the October 30 run-off election that saw his loss to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Jair Bolsonaro in Florida

On Sunday, Bolsonaro's supporters erupted into protest and violently clashed with law enforcement in denial of the election. The demonstrators stormed Brazil's presidential palace, Congress, and Supreme Court.

The requests for Biden to send back Bolsonaro came as Americans watched supporters of former US President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol two years ago in a similar fashion. On Monday, the White House said that it has yet to receive any requests from the Brazilian government regarding Bolsonaro's status.

However, the presence of the former Brazilian president on US soil has placed Biden in a corner, with only a handful of good options. If the Democrat lets Bolsonaro stay, he is inviting criticism that the US is harboring a man accused of fomenting anti-democratic violence, as per Yahoo News.

On the other hand, if Biden chooses to expel Bolsonaro from the country, with the latter coming from an allied country and traveling in good faith, results in doubts about due process. In a statement on Sunday, Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Democrat in Congress, said that Bolsonaro had no business being in Florida.

The lawmaker added that the US should not be a refuge for who he called an "authoritarian" who has allegedly inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. Castro immediately called for the quick expulsion of Bolsonaro back to Brazil.

Another Democrat in the US House of Representatives, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, echoed similar views as Castro. She said that the US must cease granting refuge to the former Brazilian president in Florida.

Read Also: China Bolsters Military Drills Near Taiwan But Experts Say Beijing Attack on Taipei Will Fail

Brazil in Chaos

According to Politico, the Biden administration also condemned the recent attacks of Bolsonaro's supporters on Brazil's government agencies. In a Twitter post on Sunday evening, the Democratic leader said that Brazil's democratic institutions have the US government's full support.

The United States national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, also tweeted that Biden was closely following the situation in Brazil. He added that Brazilian democracy will not be shaken by violence.

The situation comes as Biden has had a shaky relationship with Bolsonaro, which was already on the weaker side following the latter losing broad protections from prosecution when his term ended as president.

The former US ambassador to Panama from late 2015 to 2018, John Feeley, said that the most immediate threat to the former Brazilian president would come if his US visa were revoked. He added that the US may remove a foreigner, even someone who entered legally on a visa, for any reason, Reuters reported.

Related Article: Brazil Attack: 400 People Arrested After Storming Congress, Jair Bolsonaro Slams Supporters

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A mother-of-two has issued a stark warning to air fryer owners after her own appliance unexpectedly burst into flames.

Rebecca Sim, 52, was using the one-year-old Tower product to cook bacon in her kitchen when she noticed a plastic smell.

The retired school teacher, who has multiple sclerosis, then saw a flame which quickly escalated into an 'inferno' as she unplugged the device and threw it outside.

Ms Sim from Prestwich, Greater Manchester, said: 'So many people have now got air fryers, and so many of my friends have got one.

'They all say they often leave it cooking while they go and do something. It is very simple to use and it had been thoroughly cleaned, so I wasn't expecting it.

Rebecca Sim, 52, o Prestwich, Greater Manchester, is warning air fryer users to be vigilant after her own machine suddenly caught fire

The air fryer was destroyed by the blaze and manufacturer Tower has asked Ms Sim for the model so it can conduct an investigation

'I was really shocked. I bought the air fryer for my daughter Isobel when she was at Liverpool University and she would cook in it and leave it when she was washing her hair.

'Thank God I didn't leave it - it could have burnt the kitchen down.'

Dramatic video footage shows the device on fire outside Ms Sim's home. The manufacturer has launched an investigation.

Ms Sim added: 'It was a really nasty experience that could have been far, far worse without my quick-thinking. I know that with the cost of living crisis many people are trying to reduce costs and have bought air fryers.'

Ms Sim said the device had been 'thoroughly cleaned out' before she used it, adding: 'I put some bacon in to cook.

Ms Sim said: 'I couldn't believe how quickly it burnt up and there was so much noise. It was really shocking'

'When it had nearly done I pulled out the tray to check it, it was splattering. As I was checking the tray I noticed a tiny flicker in the bottom part of the fryer. I was concerned as it didn't look right.

'My daughters used to leave the food to cook, while they got ready. Thank God I didn't. I noticed the flickering and a plastic smell, so I knocked the switch off with a wooden spoon, unplugged it and smothered it with a damp tea towel.

'When I removed the tea towel I saw smoke and the beginnings of what looked like flames in the base of the fryer. I have multiple sclerosis and I am not that fast or strong so with much difficulty I picked it up and threw it out the back door where it turned in to an inferno.

'I was just shocked - I was thinking, "What if that had been my daughter?" I couldn't believe how quickly it burnt up and there was so much noise. It was really shocking.'

A spokesperson for Tower said: 'The consumer involved contacted us on Wednesday, January 4, regarding her experience.

'Whilst we are pleased that Rebecca is OK we are reaching out to her seeking to obtain the air fryer so an investigation can be carried out.

'The safety of our products is of the upmost importance to Tower and a thorough investigation will help us to understand the circumstances.'
Carla Bruni has posted an edited photo of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex which replaced Meghan Markle with Yoko Ono.

The former French first lady, 55, posted the photoshopped image to her 750,000 followers with the lyrics to All You Need is Love by The Beatles.

The wife of Nicholas Sarkozy even tagged the Royal Family in the post which some praised but others criticised as 'racist' for comparing the two women of colour and their supposed influence over their husbands.

Ono is regularly cited as the main reason the Beatles broke up, despite the Fab Four denying her involvement.

Carla Bruni has been slammed for posting an edited photo of Prince Harry which replaces Meghan Markle with Yoko Ono

Like the Duchess of Sussex, Ono was an actress who moved to the UK to marry into a world famous British institution, but soon left for the US amid a dramatic rupture.

Some critics believe today that the idea she was a Svengali-like figure who ensnared John Lennon and deliberately caused the breakup of the biggest band of all time was a narrative rooted in sexism and racism.

Similarly, while some have questioned Meghan's role in Harry's continuing war of words against the royals, others say it is unfair to blame her for his decision to ditch his family and launch missiles at Buckingham Palace from the US.

During the media blitz for his new memoir Spare which was released today, the Duchess of Sussex has remained out of sight.

Previously, the couple appeared together on their Netflix specials and their bombshell interview with Opray Winfrey where they made accusations of racism against the royal family, which Harry tried to roll back on Sunday.

One person commented on Bruni's post: 'No. Not funny. Why would you post something so insensitive? Seriously. Why are you condoning racism and supporting hateful rhetoric?

'Meghan has been the target of multiple death threats in recent years, Yoko was threatened many years ago and then John was murdered... This post reveals a lot about you and it's disappointing.'

The former French first lady, 55, posted the photoshopped image to her 750,000 followers with the lyrics to All You Need is Love by The Beatles

The wife of Nicholas Sarkozy even tagged the Royal Family in the post which some praised but others criticised (pictured in Saudi Arabia in December)

Many criticised Bruni's post, saying in her Instagram comments how it was 'demeaning' and 'condoning racism'

Another said: 'This is disrespectful and racist towards women of colour I love you so much it fills me with sadness to see you hitting such a low level on your social media platform.'

A Twitter user wrote: 'Carla Bruni, a white woman, continuing to blame WOC [women Women of Colour] for the decisions their white partners make.

'Funny that they never blame any of the white female partners. Ugh, I'm upset I ever admired Carla. I'm done with her.'

Another commented: 'I historically gave Carla Bruni a lot more credit. It wasn't deserved. When given the opportunity to clown, most white women will take it.

'In the same way Yoko had nothing to do with the Beatles separating (hell all groups disband at some point), Meg has 0 to do with Harry's choice.'

Bruni, Sarkozy's third wife, previously courted her own controversy in France after dating renowned philosopher and TV personality Raphael Enthoven, and his publisher and author father Jean-Paul Enthoven.

Others expressed their approval of the joke which divided Bruni's followers

She is said to have had an on/off affair with Mick Jagger when she was in her 20s, which, according to his wife Jerry Hall, precipitated their divorce.

She also briefly dated musician Eric Clapton in 1990.

It was rumoured she briefly had an affair with Donald Trump however, the model said the US president had made up these claims.

Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan, 41, relocated from the UK to California in early 2020, and have, since early 2021, been raising their two children, Archie and Lilibet, in a $14.65million mansion in Montecito.

However, while Harry has admitted that he doesn't believe his family will ever make a full-time return to the UK or royal life, he has hinted that he and Meghan will not give up their official titles.

In an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday, Anderson Cooper asked why they did not relinquish their titles as duke and duchess if they wanted a peaceful existence away from the media.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after their wedding in 2018

Ono is regularly cited as the main reason the Beatles broke up, despite the Fab Four denying her involvement

Cooper said: 'One of the criticisms that you've received is that okay, fine, you wanna move to California, you wanna step back from the institutional role.

'Why be so public? Why reveal conversations you've had with your father or with your brother?

'You say you tried to do this privately.'

Harry replied: 'Every single time I've tried to do it privately there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife.

'You know, the family motto is never complain, never explain.

'But it's just a motto. And it doesn't really hold.'

The couple announced that they were going to step back from their royal duties on January 8, 2020.

At the time, they wrote in a joint statement that they had reached the decision after 'many months of reflection and internal discussions.'

They said they wanted to 'work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen.'
Hopes are rising for a Brexit breakthrough today with claims the UK and EU could enter the negotiating 'tunnel' within days.

There is speculation that Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Maros Sefcovic could trigger the intense final phase - when both sides work together secretly to thrash out a joint text.

The optimism comes after Brussels and London agreed terms for accessing data detailing the flow of goods from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland.

The deal was hailed as a 'new basis' for resolving the long running row over the province.

Mr Cleverly and Mr Sefcovic could announce the next step as early as next week when they hold another round of talks next week - although No10 stressed that there are still 'significant issues' to be resolved.

Rishi Sunak could struggle to win approval from hardline Tories and the DUP if he makes too many concessions.

A source close to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said of the information-sharing deal: 'It is indeed a big step, and it could be a door-opener for more.'

There has been a surge of optimism over the Northern Ireland protocol followed talks in London between James Cleverly (right), commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic (left) and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris

Mr Cleverly tweeted to say the agreement on data sharing was a 'positive step'

The deal followed talks in London between Mr Cleverly, Commission vice-president Mr Sefcovic and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris.

They said afterwards that the agreement on data sharing was 'a critical prerequisite to building trust and providing assurance, and provided a new basis for EU-UK discussions'.

Their joint statement said that London and Brussels would now 'work rapidly to scope the potential for solutions in different areas on the basis of this renewed understanding'.

Downing Street said the agreement was an 'important step forward' and 'a foundation for building further trust'.

But the Prime Minister's spokesman said: 'There are still significant issues at the heart of the protocol that need addressing.'

Data sharing could allow the EU to drop the need for checks on goods not destined to enter the EU's single market via the Irish Republic.

European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic and the Foreign Secretary said the agreement on data sharing was 'a critical prerequisite to building trust and providing assurance, and provided a new basis for EU-UK discussions'

Last month Simon Coveney, former Irish foreign minister, said: 'If we're going to get a deal here, there has to be real-time sharing of data and that has to happen in a way that the UK are comfortable with and in a way that the EU can live with too.'

The agreement will fuel hopes that the two sides might be closing in on a deal to resolve the problems over the Northern Ireland Protocol, which have seen the DUP boycott a power-sharing government for months.

EU trade checks are blamed for driving a wedge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Last week Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar conceded that the trade rules were 'too strict' and that 'mistakes were made' in the design of the Protocol.
The 18-year-old claimed he was sacked by the firm for vaping in the wrong place

His TikTok of the incident was viewed 2.5 million times before being taken down

A B&Q worker has been banned from every branch of the store in the UK after calling his colleagues 'c****' and saying 'f*** everyone' in an explosive final customer announcement after being 'sacked for vaping'.

Adam Powis made the foul-mouthed farewell on the public address system at the hardware giant's Weston-super-Mare branch in November.

He shared a TikTok of the incident, which quickly went viral, showing the 18-year-old saying: 'This is a customer announcement. I just got sacked and B&Q are c****. F*** everyone. Have a nice day'.

Adam then walked away from the desk and out of the store for the last time without speaking to stunned staff and customers.

Adam Powis made a foul-mouthed public announcement at the B&Q store in Weston-super-Mare

Adam now admits he 'regrets' making the announcement because future employers could see the video

The former B&Q worker has now been banned from all of the company's UK stores following the stunt

The student claims he was sacked for vaping outside the designated smoking area and says he 'acted irrationally' as other staff had done the same and hadn't been fired.

His video, posted last Thursday, has been viewed 2.5 million times on TikTok where some said his bizarre act had 'justified' his sacking while others joked they wish they could do the same.

Adam followed this up by revealing a letter from B&Q titled 'banning notice' on Sunday, which claims he will be treated as a 'trespasser' and legal action could be taken if he enters any of their UK stores again.

The aspiring personal trainer brushed off the ban, claiming 'he doesn't shop there regularly anyway' and will simply ask others to buy items for him.

He's admitted he regrets the 6.30pm rant - but only because future employers could see the video.

The 18-year-old had been working in B&Q's building department part-time for around six months where he was trained to cut materials for sale.

Adam, from Bristol, said: 'I don't really get embarrassed but my heart was racing.

'I was on my way out and I thought it would be funny so I acted a bit irrationally. I didn't really think about it.

'I made a mistake at work and then they took it further than they needed to so I was a bit annoyed. It wasn't anything serious.

The 18-year-old walked out of the store for the last time without speaking to stunned staff and customers

Adam said he was 'not too bothered' about being banned from every B&Q store in the country

'I didn't think I deserved it because people have done worse things and they've not been fired. I've seen other staff [vape outside the designated area] and that's why I was a bit baffled.

'I actually enjoyed the job. I was good at it and I was never late. I wouldn't even talk bad about the company but I felt I was treated differently.

'I understand the criticism, but a joke is a joke and you can either take offence to it or you don't. It was directed to staff in a sense but it wasn't malicious.

'I didn't hear anything from them afterwards so I thought I'd put it on TikTok for a joke. It's so unexpected that some people think it's fake, but the banning order proves it.

'I probably shouldn't have [made the announcement] but it happened. I do regret it a bit. Not because of what I said but more about future job opportunities.

'If a company sees it then they might think I'm that sort of person but I'm good at my job and [in] the moment I got a bit heated.

'I'm not too bothered about the ban. I don't shop there on a regular basis. In future I might just have to get someone to go in for me.'

Adam says he had smoked his e-cigarette outside the smoking area behind the store on one occasion when he was spotted and sacked.

Adam's 'heated' announcement at his old workplace drew mixed reactions from viewers on TikTok

He insists he wasn't aware of the rule and believes he should have been given a warning rather than losing his job.

Adam says colleagues texted him after he left to joke about the stunt, but he did not hear from B&Q bosses until he saw the banning order.

The post of his announcement, captioned 'got fired so left with style', attracted a staggering 180,000 likes and 1,600 comments until it was removed by TikTok earlier this week.

One user said: 'Is that your response? Then you justify why you were sacked from whatever you did before?'

Another commented: 'There goes his reference.'

A third said: 'Whether you should do this depends on why you were sacked.'

However one said: 'I've always wanted to do this.'

Another joked: 'You should have said everything is free for five minutes.'

A B&Q spokesperson said: 'We are unable to comment on individual cases. We have agreed processes in place, and any decision to review a colleague's employment is not taken lightly and considers all relevant circumstances.'
Amazon plans to shut three UK warehouses in a move that will impact up to 1,200 jobs.

Sites in Hemel Hempstead, Doncaster and Gourock, in the west of Scotland, have been proposed for closure, a company spokesman said.

The retail giant said workers at the sites will be offered roles at other Amazon locations.

It also unveiled plans for two new major fulfilment centres in Peddimore in the West Midlands and Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham.

The Amazon warehouse floor in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

The three sites affected are Hemel Hempstead, Doncaster and Gourock

Amazon hopes the new fulfilment centres will create 2,500 jobs over the next three years.

A spokesman for the company said: 'We're always evaluating our network to make sure it fits our business needs and to improve the experience for our employees and customers.

'As part of that effort, we may close older sites, enhance existing facilities or open new sites, and we've launched a consultation on the proposed closure of three fulfilment centres in 2023.

'We also plan to open two new fulfilment centres creating 2,500 new jobs over the next three years.

The Amazon warehouse in Gourock, Inverclyde has been proposed for closure. If it closes more than 300 employees stand to lose their jobs

'All employees affected by site closure consultations will be offered the opportunity to transfer to other facilities and we remain committed to our customers, employees and communities across the UK.'

Around 500 employees work at Amazon's Hemel Hempstead site, and will all be offered roles at its nearby Dunstable warehouse or other locations.

The consultations will involve around 400 staff at its Doncaster site in Balby Carr Bank, who the company plans to transfer to its two other fulfilment centres at Doncaster's iPort.

The proposals will also affect around 300 workers currently based at the Gourock site.

The firm said staff would be offered retraining and reskilling opportunities as part of efforts to secure new work.

SNP MP for Inverclyde Ronnie Cowan said the news was a 'serious blow to Gourock, Inverclyde and Scotland'.

Ronnie Cowan, MP for Inverclyde, said the closure was a 'serious blow to Gourock' and that he sought urgent talks with the company amid fears for 300 jobs

In a statement, he said: 'Amongst the number crunching we must remember that 300 families are affected by the decision.

'They will be under enormous strain, and we must do whatever we can to help them find gainful employment and help them through a very difficult time.'

He added: 'It goes without saying that in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis this will come as a hammer blow to the staff and their families.

'Amazon has said it will try to re-deploy workers but has so far given me no firm commitment.

'I now want to see both the UK and Scottish governments intervene to see what measures an be taken in the light of this decision.'

Opened in 2004, the Gourock site at Faulds Park is one of the largest employers in the area, which is one of the most deprived regions in Scotland.

Meanwhile Steve Garelick, GMB union organiser said: 'This is a real kick in the teeth for Amazon staff who worked themselves into the ground during the festive rush.

'Hard-up Amazon workers cant suddenly be expected to up sticks and move to a different fulfilment centre which may be many miles away, local workers who may not be in a position to take roles so far away from where they live.

'Amazon is struggling in part because it is has hugely expensive staff turnover rates due to their long-standing health and safety issues and poor workplace practices.

'Amazon faces real challenges and we want to save those jobs and make them better.'

The Amazon fulfillment centre in Hemel Hempstead

Mr Garelick called on the employer to engage with the workforce through the union.

Sir Mike Penning, Conservative MP for Hemel Hempstead, said he was 'saddened to hear that Amazon have announced that they will close the fulfilment centre in Maylands in April'.

'This is devastating news for Hemel Hempstead to lose such a big-name employer.'

'I understand that employees will all be offered work at an alternative site, many in Dunstable, but for many employees a move to a new location is not an option.

'It is a difficult economic situation at the moment for everyone, it is not a good time to lose your job.'

He continued: 'I am acutely aware that 500 local families will be in shock today with their futures up in the air. I really feel for them'.

Doncaster mayor Ros Jones said she was pleased there will be no job losses for the 400 Amazon staff at the Balby Carr Bank site.

She told MailOnline: 'I am pleased to hear that all of the 400 employees in scope will all be offered alternative roles at the Iport site.

'So whilst the site closes, we have been informed there are no job losses.'

It comes after Amazon announced last week plans to axe 18,000 jobs globally as it attempts to cut costs.

It will be the largest layoff programme in the company's history and it is understood job losses will affect the UK, but details have not been shared.

Amazon's chief executive Andy Jassy said the 'uncertain economy' was the main factor behind the decision and that the impacted employees will be told this month.

The company, which employs around 1.5million people worldwide, warned in November of job cuts without confirming a figure, but said it had found more roles would need to be axed as part of an in-depth review of its business.

Amazon said roles that will be affected the most include those across its stores, such as Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go, as well as its human resources division.
A Second World War veteran has celebrated his 108th birthday surrounded by more than 160 cards from complete strangers following an appeal from a care home.

Donald Rose said he felt 'overwhelmed' by the kindness of well-wishers after people from across the whole of the UK sent him a greeting card to mark his milestone.

The Royal British Legion launched an appeal on Facebook to encourage people to send the widower a card to celebrate the occasion and also his achievements during the war.

War hero Mr Rose, a former sniper and Desert Rat who also served with the Queen's Royal Regiment, was awarded a number of medals during his service.

Second World War veteran Donald Rose celebrated his 108th birthday at his care home in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, surrounded by 160 cards from well-wishers - including one from the King

Well-wishers from across the UK sent birthday cards to Mr Rose following a Facebook appeal by the Royal British Legion

Donald Rose and his late wife Jeanette just after the war ended in 1945. They were married for 55 years and she died in 2000

These include the Legion D'Honneur - France's highest honour and one of the most famous in the world.

The appeal was supported by the care home in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, where Mr Rose lives, and on December 24, he awoke to find 50 cards from generous strangers.

But over the next seven days, cards continued to arrive addressed to the pensioner and by the end of the week, he had received over 160 - including one from King Charles III.

David Rose, 74, Mr Rose's only child, said he got a 'lump in his throat' when he saw how many cards his dad had received for his 108th birthday.

The former NHS hospital technician from West Hallam, Derbyshire, said: 'My father went through a lot in the war and saw a lot of things we couldn't even imagine.

'He is the gentlest man you will ever meet and would do anything for anyone.

Donald Rose holding a photo of himself aged 25 when he signed up to the British Army in 1939

The card Donald Rose received from the King and Queen Consort for his birthday

'Me and my wife Sue, and Donald were so overwhelmed. We didn't know it was going ahead until the day.

'It was very unexpected and brought a lump to my throat because the gesture was so thoughtful.

'People sent him cards and they didn't even know him. Even the local Morrisons sent him a card all signed. He also had one from a commander of the Desert Rats.

'My dad has always been a hard-working man. He always worked to put food on the table and keep a roof over our heads.

'I remember this was especially hard during food rationing in the 1950s where he used to work 24/7. He is just a gentleman really and deserves this.'

Sprightly Mr Rose has lived at the care home since 2020 and has one grandchild and three great-grandchildren.

He had lived in Westcott, Surrey with his late wife Jeannette of 55 years before moving to Derbyshire in 2000 when she passed away.

Photo of Donald Rose (red circle) and two other training solders in 1939 when he joined the Queen's Royal Regiment, in Guilford with the 7th Armoured Brigade

During the conflict, Mr Rose (circled in red) also joined the Eighth Army as a 'Desert Rat' under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in Africa and as part of the liberation of Italy and France

Surrey-born Mr Rose was born on Christmas Eve 1914 and signed up to the British Army in 1939, aged 25.

He served in the Queen's Royal Regiment, in Guilford, with the 7th Armoured Brigade and fought on the front-line during World War Two.

During the conflict, Mr Rose also joined the Eighth Army as a 'Desert Rat' under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in Africa and as part of the liberation of Italy and France.

He also trained to become a sniper and served in North Africa, Italy, France, Normandy, Belgium, Holland and Germany.

After the war ended, Mr Rose was awarded the Legion D'Honneur - France's highest honour medal for his services.

Natalie Summerfield, the activities co-ordinator as Canal Vue care home, described Mr Rose as 'one of a kind'.

She said: 'He's a fantastic, marvellous man and really one of a kind. We were all in shock when the cards started flooding in.

'Donald was completely overwhelmed by the support and number of cards he received. They came from all over the UK and were coming in so quick and fast.'

On his birthday, Mr Rose's family, members of the Ilkeston Royal British Legion, the Mayor John Sewell, local councillor James Dawson, and members from the Long Eaton Sea Cadets joined in the celebrations at the care home.

On Facebook the Royal British Legion branch in Ilkeston said: 'Happy Birthday Donald Rose - 108-years-old today.

'What a great man - he deserves all that heads his way. An extremely brave and caring man throughout his life.'
Missing Massachusetts mother-of-three Ana Walshe begged her mom to fly to the US - just a week before vanishing on New Year's Day.

In a Christmas Day text, the real estate executive, 39, asked her Serbian mother, Milanka Ljubicic, to catch a flight to Washington DC the following day.

Ljubicic, 69, said that the sudden plea to get together over the holidays made her think there were 'some problems' in her daughter's life.

The news comes as police discovered 'evidence' at a garbage facility close to Ana's mother-in-law's home in Peabody. The facility also has a compactor.

Ana Walshe, 39 (left), texted her mother Milanka Ljubicic (right) on Christmas Day, pleading with her to go to Belgrade airport and catch a flight to Washington DC the next day

Ana vanished on January 1 when she failed to catch a flight to Washington DC for work. Her husband Brian Walshe, 46, is charged with 'misleading' police in regards to the investigation.

Ljubicic told Fox News Digital: 'She just said, ''Please, mama. Come tomorrow''. Clearly, there must have been some problems.

'And now I can't forgive myself for not just letting things fall where they may, and just go, and whatever happens to me, happens.'

Officers in protective suits and with police dogs were seen digging through the trash at the facility in Newbury Street, Peabody, days after raiding the family home in Cohasset.

The hunt comes after Walshe told investigators he visited his mother's house in nearby Swampscott on New Years Day but got lost.

The art swindler also made several Google searches for 'how to dispose of a 115-pound woman's body.'

Authorities initially treated the case as a missing person, but sources say they now believe Ana could have been murdered. She is described as 5'2" and 115 pounds in an appeal for her whereabouts.

Ana vanished on January 1 when she failed to catch a flight to Washington DC for work. Her employer reported her missing on January 4

Walshe is charged with impeding the investigation into his wife's disappearance. He was seen cracking a smile as he was handcuffed and led out of the station by officers

Walshe was earlier seen on surveillance video buying heavy-duty cleaning supplies, despite telling cops he had been home around the time Ana was last seen alive

TIMELINE LEADING TO DISAPPEARANCE November 2016: Brian Walshe was arrested in connection with an $80,000 art fraud of Andy Warhol paintings. He is ordered by a court to remain under house arrest until sentencing. Walshe has yet to be sentenced for the fraud. January 1. 2023 Ana reportedly booked a rideshare car to take her to Logan International Airport at 4am, but it is unclear if she ever got into the vehicle. Her husband claims he went to Whole Foods and CVS, but there is no surveillance or receipts to prove he went. January 2: Walshe tells authorities that he only left the family home in Cohasset to take his son for ice cream. He is caught on surveillance footage buying $450 worth of cleaning supplies in Home Depot. Anas phone pinged in the area of the house on Jan 1 and 2. January 4: Ana's employer reports her as missing. January 5: Police say Walshe is cooperating with the investigation into his missing wife. January 8: Walshe is seen leaving the property on Sunday in a red Volkswagen. His three children were taken away in a separate vehicle. Officers executed a search warrant at their home and found blood in the basement, along with a broken knife. The officers loaded a Volvo SUV onto the back of a truck while others searched the grounds of their home. Police arrested Walshe on suspicion of misleading authorities but have not charged him with anything else. January 9: Walshe grins at reporters as he is transported to his arraignment at Quincy District Court. He was held on $500,000 cash bail. Police search a garbage facility in Peabody and find evidence. Advertisement

Walshe was seen on surveillance video buying heavy-duty cleaning supplies, despite telling cops he had been home around the time Ana was last seen alive.

He told police that his wife vanished after she took a car to Boston Logan Airport on January 1 at around 6am.

However, ride-share services show no pickups at the family home and Ana's cell phone continued pinging at the property for two days.

Ana was not reported missing until January 4, when her office called the police after she failed to show up for work.

Since then, cops have been combing the seaside town of Cohasset for any sign of her.

Authorities say Walshe gave cops misleading statements about his and his wife's actions around the time of her disappearance, buying himself ample time to clean up a possible crime scene.

Prosecutor Lynn Beland told the court on Monday: 'These various statements caused a delay in the investigation to the point that, during the time frame when he didn't report his wife and gave various statements, that allowed him time to either clean up evidence, dispose of evidence, and cause a delay.'

Investigators impounded two trash trailers in their search. A business owner said they were last emptied just before New Year.

Art-swindler Walshe was photographed leaving a Cohasset police station on Monday morning, where he smirked and smiled at reporters.

He was charged with fraud after allegedly selling two fake Andy Warhol paintings for $80,000 in 2016, and is on house arrest pending his sentencing in federal court.

This means that he must report when he goes anywhere  but he was caught on camera going to Home Depot on January 2 after saying he never left the house except to take his son for ice cream.

Walshe was arrested on Sunday evening as detectives continued to search for his real estate executive wife.

She has not used her phone or credit cards since disappearing and has not shown up for work.

Walshes bail has been set at $500,000 in cash.

Prosecutors at Quincy District Court say that Walshes statements, including claiming that he didnt leave the house, delayed the investigation.

Police searching the home the couple shared discovered blood on a knife and in the basement.

It is unclear who the blood belongs to.

Brian Walshe, 46 (right), Googled how to dismember a 115-pound woman's body before his wife Ana (left) vanished

The Washington DC home of Ana and Brian Walshe, worth upwards of $1.4million, in the Chevy Chase area of the city

Prosecutors said Walshe gave cops misleading statements about his and his wife's actions around the time of her disappearance, buying himself ample time to clean up a possible crime scene

Walshe in court on January 9. He was charged with misleading a police investigation

Surveillance footage from Home Depot, which has not been released, proved he was lying to officers. It showed him buying mops, buckets, cloths and various kinds of tape.

Court documents show that he was wearing a black surgical mask, blue surgical gloves, and made a cash purchase in the store.

Walshe claimed that he went to Whole Foods and CVS on January 1, but there were no receipts or surveillance footage to back up his claim.

Ana's friends say her disappearance is out of character, as she would never abandon her three young sons.

In a statement, Norfolk County DA's office said: 'Police developed probable cause to believe that Ana Walshe's husband, Brian Walshe, had committed the crime of misleading police investigators.'

The couples three young children - believed to be boys aged two to six years old - are being looked after while the search for their mother continues.

Authorities initially said that Walshe was cooperating with the investigation before his sudden arrest on Sunday.

A specialized State Police unit trained in search and rescue operations, three K-9 teams and the State Police Air Wing searched wooded areas near the Walshe's home on Saturday.
A Ukrainian soldiers has had a live grenade surgically removed from his torso.

Experienced medical surgeon Major-General Andriy Verba from Vinnytsia conducted the daring operation in the company of two soldiers, knowing the explosive could detonate at any moment.

The medic was not able to perform electrocoagulation surgery, which uses heat to control bleeding and destroy abnormal tissue, due to the fear of a blast.

The soldier had a VOG grenade stuck in his torso, which is fired from a grenade launcher attached to the under-barrel of an assault rifle.

Major-General Andriy Verba is pictured holding a grenade after surgery to remove it from the torso of a Ukrainian soldier

The weapons were first seen by the West during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and is effective up to around 400m.

The operation to remove the grenade was successful and the injured soldier is undergoing further rehabilitation.

Serhii Borzov, governor of the Vinnytsia Oblast, said: 'It's a shock. Our military doctors performed an operation to remove an unexploded VOG grenade from the body of a serviceman.

'It was removed in the presence of two sappers who ensured the safety of medical personnel.'

Andriy Verba is one of the most decorated military surgeons in Ukraine, having been given the state awards of Honoured Doctor of Ukraine and Doctor of Medical Sciences.

The soldier had a VOG grenade stuck in his torso, which is fired from a grenade launcher attached to the under-barrel of an assault rifle

He has been based in the Donbas since 2014 and thousands of field operations have been conducted under his leadership.

It comes as Russian troops are stepping up an assault on the small salt mining town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, forcing Ukrainian troops to repel waves of attacks led by mercenary forces, officials in Kyiv said.

The corpses of Russian soldiers are 'covering the ground' and there is 'no life left' amid fierce fighting, President Volodymyr Zelensky said last night.

Everything in the town is 'completely destroyed', with no walls left standing and the dead bodies of the invading Russian soldiers decaying on the streets, Zelensky said.

Ukraine's army today claimed 710 of Vladimir Putin's men had been killed in one day of the war in yet another setback in Russia's barbaric invasion.

But Britain's defence ministry today said that Russian soldiers and forces of Putin's Wagner contract group were probably now in control of most of the salt mining town after advances in the last four days.

Seizing Soledar would be advantageous to Russian forces as they fight for control of the city of Bakhmut, a few miles to the southwest, where troops from both sides have been taking heavy losses in some of the most intense trench warfare since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago.

It would also give Russia a welcome battlefield victory after a series of setbacks in recent months.

Ukrainian military medics carry an injured Ukrainian serviceman evacuated from the battlefield into a hospital in Donetsk region yesterday

Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian positions from a U.S.-supplied M777 howitzer in Kherson region

Soledar, in the industrial Donbas region, lies just nine miles from Bakhmut, where troops from both sides have been taking heavy losses in some of the most intense trench warfare since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year

In Soledar, once a bustling salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine, the ground is now scarred from a relentless stream of missiles and gunfire as Russian forces aim to take control of the nearby and key city of Bakhmut. Pictured: A Ukrainian tank fires at Russian soldiers sheltered near a building in the destroyed town of Soledar

'Russia's Soledar axis is highly likely an effort to envelop Bakhmut from the north, and to disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication,' Britain's Defence Ministry said in an intelligence briefly.

Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for Ukraine's eastern forces, told Ukrainian television Russian forces were deploying their best Wagner fighters at Soledar, which had been struck 86 times by artillery over the past 24 hours.

He said Russia was using World War One-style tactics, throwing large numbers of men into battle and absorbing heavy losses.

'This is basically not a 21st-century war,' he said.

Prominent journalist Yuriy Butusov, who is embedded with Ukrainian troops in Soledar, wrote for the online outlet New Voice that Russian forces had established fire control over the main Ukrainian supply route to the town.

'This is not a complete encirclement, but normal supply along the route is impossible, (and) this is critical for defence,' he said.

Personnel conduct work at the scene following a Russian attack on the territory of the market in Shevchenkove village of Kharkiv yesterday

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Monday that Bakhmut and Soledar were holding on despite widespread destruction.

He cited new and fiercer attacks in Soledar, where he said no walls have been left standing and the land was covered with Russian corpses.

Bakhmut is located on a strategic supply line between the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which make up the Donbas. Gaining control of it could give Russia a stepping stone to advance on two bigger cities - Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Russia's defence ministry did not mention either Soledar or Bakhmut in a media briefing on Monday.

Wagner was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Drawing some recruits from Russia's prisons and known for uncompromising violence, it is active in conflicts in Africa and has taken a prominent role in Russia's war effort in Ukraine.

Prigozhin has been trying to capture Bakhmut and Soledar for months at the cost of many lives on both sides.

He said on Saturday its significance lay in a network of cavernous mining tunnels below the ground, which can hold troops or tanks.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said fighting in Bahkmut and Soledar was 'the most intense on the entire frontline'.

A view shows debris of a destroyed building purported to be a vocational college used as temporary accommodation for Russian soldiers

'So many remain on the battlefield ... either dead or wounded,' he said on YouTube. 'They attack our positions in waves, but the wounded as a rule die where they lie, either from exposure as it is very cold or from blood loss.'

Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.

In an evacuee centre in Kramatorsk, Olha, 60, said she had fled Soledar after moving from apartment to apartment as each was destroyed in tank battles.

'There isn't one house left intact. Apartments were burning, breaking in half,' said Olha, who gave only her first name.

Ukrainian officials, led by the commander in chief General Valery Zaluzhniy, have warned that Russia is preparing fresh troops for a new offensive on Ukraine, possibly on the capital Kyiv.

Zelensky has repeatedly urged Ukraine's Western supporters to supply more sophisticated weapons to help it repel attacks and eventually expel Russian troops.

'The world knows that every day of Russian presence on Ukrainian soil means deaths, injuries, pain and suffering of people,' he wrote in a message on Telegram on Tuesday morning, under pictures of Ukrainian soldiers.

'Ukraine must get everything it needs to expel terrorists from our land and to reliably protect our people from any Russian escalation plans.'

France, Germany and the United States all pledged last week to send armoured fighting vehicles. Britain is considering supplying Ukraine with tanks for the first time, Sky News reported, citing a Western source. Britain's Defence Ministry did not comment.

Russia launched what it calls a 'special military operation' in Ukraine on Feb. 24, citing threats to its own security and a need to protect Russian speakers. Ukraine and its allies accuse Moscow of an unprovoked war to seize territory.

Moscow has also cast the conflict as a fight between Russia and hostile Western nations.

'The events in Ukraine are not a clash between Moscow and Kyiv - this is a military confrontation between Russia and NATO, and above all the United States and Britain,' Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said on Tuesday.

'The Westerners' plans are to continue to pull Russia apart, and eventually just erase it from the political map of the world,' Patrushev, one of Putin's closest allies, told the Argumenti i Fakti newspaper in an interview.
American television personality Judge Judy has slammed Britain's Prince Harry as being 'selfish, ungrateful and disingenuous'.

Her comments came after the Prince's string of bombshell interviews and ahead of the release of his tell-all memoir Spare, which came out on Tuesday - having been leaked days ahead of its official release date.

Harry has spilled a slew of personal details about the British Royal Family and how he and his wife Meghan were treated, and made accusations against them - such as claiming his brother William pushed him to the floor in an argument.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain (GMB) on Tuesday, Judge Judy suggested that while her comments were not directly about the Duke of Sussex, she would be 'furious and hurt' if her child or grandchild did the same as Harry had done.

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American television personality Judge Judy has slammed Prince Harry as being 'selfish, ungrateful and disingenuous' in an interview with ITV (pictured)

'I will tell you that I would be furious, and I would think that child or that grandchild was a selfish, spoiled, ungrateful one,' Judy, a former Manhattan Family Court Judge whose real name is Judge Judith Sheindlin, said.

'That's what I would feel. I'd be really hurt, I think anybody with a brain would see that it's disingenuous, it's biting the hand that fed you, it's unseemly.'

GMB host Noel Phillips repeated that Judge Judy had refused to comment directly about Harry and Meghan, but anchors Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley said from the studio it was clear that she was referring to the couple, and Harry in particular.

'Judge Judy doesn't hold back on her verdict does she... blimey!' Medley said.

Reid chimed in, saying: 'She said she wouldn't specifically talk about what she thought about blimey. I think we were left in no doubt.' She added: 'Selfish, spoiled, ungrateful and unseemly... but she doesn't want to comment.'

Speaking on Good Morning Britain (GMB) on Tuesday, Judge Judy (pictured) suggested that while her comments were not directly about the Duke of Sussex, she would be 'furious and hurt' if her child or grandchild did the same

After days of TV interviews, leaks, and a mistaken early release, Harry's memoir officially went on sale on Tuesday and eager readers headed to bookshops to get their copy with its intimate revelations about the British royal family.

Harry's book 'Spare' has garnered attention around the world with its disclosures about his personal struggles and its accusations about other royals, including his father King Charles, stepmother Camilla and elder brother Prince William.

There were piles of copies of the book in some London stores and the memoir currently ranks as the best-seller on Amazon's UK, U.S., Australian German and Canadian websites.

'Spare' is the latest revelatory offering from Harry and his wife Meghan since they stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and moved to California to forge a new life, and follows their Netflix documentary last month. The royal family has not commented on the book or the interviews and is unlikely to do so.

Extracts from the book were leaked last Thursday when its Spanish language edition also went on sale by mistake in some bookshops in Spain.

Harry speaks of his grief and growing up after the death of his mother Princess Diana when he was just 12, his use of cocaine and other drugs to cope, how he killed 25 Taliban while serving as a soldier in Afghanistan, and even how he lost his virginity.

Harry has spilled a slew of personal details about the British Royal Family, such as claiming his brother William pushed him to the floor, in a round of interviews ahead of his book launch

After days of TV interviews, leaks, and a mistaken early release, Harry's memoir officially went on sale on Tuesday (pictured in the UK) and eager readers headed to bookshops to get their copy with its intimate revelations about the British royal family

He also reveals a heated row with William, the heir to the throne, saying his brother knocked him over, and how they had both begged his father not to marry Camilla, who he wed in 2005 and is now the queen consort.

In TV interviews ahead of the book launch, Harry has doubled down on his accusations that some royals, including Camilla and William, leaked stories to tabloid papers which had damaged either him or his wife Meghan in order to protect themselves or enhance their reputations.

'I think she (his mother Diana) would be heartbroken about the fact that William, his office, were part of these stories,' he told Good Morning America (GMA).

In another interview with CBS show 60 minutes, he said Camilla had been a tabloid 'villain' and needed to rehabilitate her image, which made her 'dangerous'.

'I don't regard her as an evil stepmother. I see someone who married into this institution and has done everything that she can to, you know, improve her reputation and her own image,' he told GMA.
Tesco workers were given boxes of Quality Street chocolates worth 5 instead of a cash bonus at Christmas despite the strains of the cost of living crisis, it has been reported.

The supermarket giant paid staff a 10 per cent bonus in 2020 and has previously handed out shopping vouchers at Christmas, but staff members have said they were given chocolate instead for the second year in a row.

Tesco said it has never given its workers a regular cash bonus in the run up to Christmas, and instead doubled its staff discount to 20 per cent over the 2022 festive period.

One worker said it was the second year running he had been given a box of Quality Street, handed out at the discretion of his store manager.

(Stock Photo) Tesco staff were given boxes of Quality Street chocolates at Christmas instead of cash

(Stock Photo) The supermarket chain said it had never given workers an annual Christmas bonus, and that it was 'wrong to suggest that we have replaced one with chocolates'

He told The Guardian: 'They're certainly penny-pinching and trying to drive costs down.'

The staff member added he was given the sweets rather than cash despite the shop he works in raking in more than 10 million in December.

In 2019, Tesco agreed with unions that it would scrap its annual cash bonus, paid in March, in exchange for higher pay for staff.

The supermarket chain increased the hourly pay of its shopfloor staff twice last year - once in July to 10.10 and again in October to 10.30.

'Special bonuses' were reportedly given to staff during the Covid-19 pandemic in May and June 2020 as Tesco stores saw a surge in demand.

The Christmas bonus in 2020 was also paid to workers to 'recognise their exceptional effort during the peak Christmas trading period'.

The more humble offering of Quality Street tubs given to staff this Christmas came despite what is thought to have been a hugely profitable period for supermarkets as shoppers looked to save money during the cost of living crisis by celebrating at home.

A spokesperson for Tesco told MailOnline: 'We have never given a regular cash bonus at Christmas and it is wrong to suggest that we have replaced one with chocolates.

'To help colleagues with their Christmas shopping this year, we doubled our colleague discount to 20 per cent in the run-up to Christmas  one of many benefits available to our colleagues, on top of the near 8 per cent increase in base pay we invested over last year.'
China calls for jointly ensuring safe, smooth flows of personnel between countries

Xinhua) 09:43, January 10, 2023

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed the hope that all parties would uphold scientific principles and work together to ensure the safe and smooth flows of personnel between countries.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a regular press briefing.

Since COVID began, China has always put the people and their lives above all else, Wang noted. He said that Omicron is much less pathogenic and deadly, and China has improved its capacity for medical treatment, pathogen detection and vaccination. China has taken the initiative to refine its COVID response measures in light of the current pandemic situation.

At present, with a focus on health and preventing severe cases, relevant Chinese departments are making every effort to allocate medical resources, ensure drug production, supply and vaccination coverage, and protect key groups such as the elderly, pregnant women, and children, so as to reduce severe cases and deaths through every feasible means, Wang said.

The epidemic situation in China is improving on the whole. Some provinces and cities have passed their COVID peaks, and production and life are returning to normal at an accelerated pace, the spokesperson said.

China has always been committed to sharing information on its virus mutation monitoring and infected groups with the international community in a timely, open and transparent manner. Over the past three years, China has conducted more than 60 technical exchanges with the World Health Organization, including four in a single month recently, Wang said.

"We hope that all parties will uphold scientific principles and work together to ensure the safe and smooth flows of personnel between countries, so as to contribute to international solidarity in the fight against COVID-19 and to global economic recovery," he said.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
The Georgia grand jury concludes its investigation of former United States President Donald Trump and his alleged involvement in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election and could bring criminal charges against the Republican businessman.

On Monday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who was the one that oversaw the panel, issued a two-page order dissolving the special grand jury. He said that the panel has completed its work and submitted a final report on the matter.

Georgia Grand Jury

The lengthy investigation was only one of many probes across the country that targeted the former president that threatened his third bid for the White House. Now, the decision of whether or not to seek an indictment from a regular grand jury will be the decision of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

Willis' spokesperson, Jeff DiSantis said that the office had no comment on the completion of the grand jury's investigation. In his order, McBurney wrote that the panel recommended that its report be made public and he has scheduled a hearing for Jan. 24 to determine whether all or only parts of the report should be released, as per the Associated Press.

The special grand jury has, since June last year, heard testimonies from dozens of witnesses, which includes numerous close Trump associates, such as the former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Lindsey Graham. The list of witnesses also included Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

The House Select Committee responsible for investigating the events of the Capitol Hill riot asserted in its final report last month that the former president criminally engaged in a "multi-part conspiracy" to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential race.

The panel added that Trump failed to act to stop his loyal supporters from storming the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021. The report concluded a lengthy 18-month investigation into the Republican businessman and the violent attack and how they were connected.

Read Also: Kevin McCarthy Finally Elected as Speaker After Historic US House Debacle; Here's What Happened

Trump's Election Interference

According to CNN, while special grand juries in Georgia do not have the authority to issue indictments, they can use the final report to recommend that Willis pursue indictments in her election interference investigation.

The situation comes as Willis has already spent more than a year digging into the former president and his associates. She began the probe in early 2021, shortly after a January call became public where Trump pressured Raffensperger to "find" the votes that he needed to win the Peace State in the presidential election.

Since then, Willis' investigation has expanded its initial cause and now includes false claims of election fraud to state lawmakers, the fake elector scheme, efforts by unauthorized individuals to access voting machines, and threats and harassment against election workers.

Due to grand jury terms lasting only two months, defendants who are indicted can request speed trials that start by the close of the term that follows the two-month period in which they are indicted. This means that most charges would most likely be brought at the beginning of the next grand jury term that comes in early March or even later, the New York Times reported.

Related Article: Republican Nancy Mace Criticizes Matt Gaetz for Fundraising off Kevin McCarthy Speaker Votes

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Some who bought cars in late 2022 were angry they missed out on additional discount

Footage shows protests in cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Xi'an

Hundreds of recent Tesla buyers stormed the automaker's stores and showrooms across China after surprise price cuts were announced over the weekend.

Footage shows crowds of angry car owners swarming Tesla distribution centres in several Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Xi'an, as they demanded a refund.

The demonstrators slammed the sudden discounts of the Tesla Model Y and Model 3, claiming they had missed out on the price reductions, ranging from between 13 percent and 24 percent of the original cost.

Tesla is battling slowing EV sales in China amid fierce competition from domestic rivals including BYD and Li Auto.

Protesters at a Tesla showroom in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, on January 6, 2023

Crowds gather at a Tesla showroom in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, on January 6, 2023. The demonstrators slammed the sudden discounts of the Tesla Model Y and Model 3, claiming they had missed out on the price reductions

Police have reportedly mediated talks between the disgruntled car owners and Tesla staff, who have agreed to address demands by January 10.

Furious Chinese owners who bought Tesla cars in late 2022 and missed out on the additional discount said they were waiting for a response from the company.

Some of the buyers in China said they had been led to believe that the further discounts would not be coming. Many were also looking to take advantage of a nation-wide EV subsidy that expired at the end of the year.

Tesla has yet to issue an official statement.

Chinese state media have for the most part opted not to cover the protests.

Comments on Chinese social media were largely negative towards the protesters, with many arguing they should have understood the terms of the contract.

'I feel ashamed for them protesting after Tesla cut the prices,' a popular law blogger named Wind Blows commented on his Weibo social media account.

Hundreds of recent Tesla buyers stormed the automaker's stores and showrooms across China after surprise price cuts were announced over the weekend

A video from Changsha in Hunan province shows people chanting: 'Give us back our money!'

On Saturday, around 200 recent buyers of the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 gathered at a Tesla delivery centre in Shanghai to protest against the US carmaker's decision to slash prices for the second time in three months the day before.

Many said they had believed that prices Tesla charged for its cars late last year would not be cut as abruptly or as deeply as the automaker just announced - a move that also aimed to support production at its Shanghai plant.

While established automakers often discount to manage inventory and keep factories running when demand weakens, Tesla operates without dealerships and transparent pricing has always been part of its brand image.

About a dozen police officers could be seen at the Shanghai protest and most of the videos of the other demonstrations also showed a large police presence at the Tesla sites.

A police officer stands guard near the entrance of the Tesla delivery centre in Shanghai after protests on January 7, 2023

Protesters outside a Tesla showroom in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, on January 6, 2023

Prospective Tesla Inc buyers in China are waiting longer for certain versions of its Model Y car, suggesting the electric vehicle maker's decision to cut prices is stoking demand in its second-largest market.

The waiting time for orders of the rear-wheel-drive and long-range versions of Model Y was a week longer on Monday than it had been on Friday, Tesla's website showed.

The wait as of Monday was two to five weeks on those models. The wait time for all versions of the Model 3 and the performance version of the Model Y remained at one to four weeks as of Monday.

The company's shares rose about 8 per cent to $122.20 on Monday after losing 68 per cent in the past 12 months.

Tesla cut prices by 6 per cent to 13.5 per cent on Friday in discounts that brought some of its cars to near BYD's best-selling models in a step analysts read as a sign that a price war could be building at a time when demand in China has faltered.

As of Monday, Tesla had not made any adjustment to its January production plan for its Shanghai plant, with suspension of the assembly lines to start from January 20 through the end of the month, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

'It (the wait time) is an early indication that the price cuts are having their intended impact, which is to boost demand,' said CFRA Research analyst Garrett Nelson.

Nelson added that Tesla's vehicle production has exceeded sales for three straight quarters and the company has chosen to lower prices and take some additional downtime at the Shanghai factory to bring supply and demand back in balance.
A longtime executive for Donald Trump is expected to be sent to New York's notorious Rikers Island jail after being sentenced on Tuesday for helping engineer a 15-year tax fraud scheme at the former president's real estate company.

Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty in August, admitting that from 2005 to 2017 he and other executives received bonuses and perks that saved the company and themselves money.

Weisselberg is expected to be sentenced to five months behind bars, after paying nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest and testifying at the criminal trial of the Trump Organization, which was convicted on all counts it faced.

The sentence will be imposed by Justice Juan Merchan, who oversaw the trial in a New York state court in Manhattan. Weisselberg would likely serve 100 days with time off for good behavior.

Allen Weisselberg (pictured on Tuesday), a longtime executive for Donald Trump, is expected to be sent to New York's notorious Rikers Island jail after being sentenced on Tuesday for helping engineer a 15-year tax fraud scheme at the former president's real estate company

Those days will probably not be easy for Weisselberg, 75, at a jail known for violence, drugs and corruption. Nineteen inmates there died last year.

'You're going into a byzantine black hole,' said Craig Rothfeld, a prison consultant helping Weisselberg prepare for lockup.

Many convicts in New York City facing one year or less behind bars head to Rikers Island, which lies between the New York City boroughs of Queens and the Bronx and houses more than 5,900 inmates.

Rothfeld spent more than five weeks at Rikers in 2015 and 2016 as part of an 18-month sentence for defrauding investors and tax authorities when he was chief executive of the now-defunct WJB Capital Group Inc.

He now runs Inside Outside Ltd, which advises people facing incarceration. Another client is Harvey Weinstein, the former Hollywood movie producer convicted twice of rape.

After being sentenced, Weisselberg will likely be driven to Rikers and trade his street clothes for a uniform and sneakers with velcro straps.

Rothfeld said he hopes Weisselberg will be segregated from the general population, and not placed in a dorm with inmates who may not know him but will know his boss, who is seeking the presidency in 2024.

'Certainly Mr. Weisselberg's 50-year relationship with the former president is on all our minds,' Rothfeld said.

A spokesman for the city's Department of Correction said the agency's mission is 'to create a safe and supportive environment for everyone who enters our custody.'

Rikers is scheduled to close in 2027.

Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty in August, admitting that from 2005 to 2017 he and other executives received bonuses and perks that saved the company and themselves money. Pictured: Weisselberg is pictured with President Trump in January 2017 inside the lobby of Trump Tower, New York City

After being sentenced, Weisselberg will likely be driven to Rikers Island prison (pictured) and trade his street clothes for a uniform and sneakers with velcro straps

Weisselberg was the star government witness against his employer.

He told jurors that Trump signed bonus and tuition checks, and other documents at the heart of prosecutors' case, but was not in on the tax fraud scheme.

Though no longer CFO, Weisselberg remains on paid leave from the Trump Organization. He testified in November that he hoped to get a $500,000 bonus this month.

Weisselberg testified that the company is paying his lawyers. It is paying Rothfeld as well, a person familiar with the matter said. Rothfeld declined to comment.

Trump was not charged and has denied wrongdoing. The Manhattan District Attorney's office is still investigating his business practices.

Merchan will also sentence the Trump Organization on Friday. Penalties are limited to $1.6 million.

Weisselberg remains a defendant in New York Attorney General Letitia James' $250 million civil lawsuit alleging that Trump and his company inflated asset values and Trump's net worth.

Rothfeld said he advised Weisselberg not to go outside at Rikers because of the risk of violence in courtyards, and not to interject himself into conversations between other inmates. 'The goal is to keep to yourself,' Rothfeld said.
Honeysuckle Weeks was twice the legal drink drive limit when she got behind the wheel of her car to escape being coerced into sex, a court heard today.

The troubled 43-year-old star of ITV's Foyle's War had been out drinking with friends in West Sussex when she claimed she felt compelled to flee the scene over fears she would be coerced into group sex after being invited to stay over for the night.

Weeks left the house and, despite being drunk, got behind the wheel of her 30,000 silver Honda CR-V SUV before reversing into a parked car in sight of an off-duty police officer.

The actress - who has also appeared in Midsomer Murders, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries and Death in Paradise - appeared before Worthing Magistrates' Court where she pleaded guilty to drink driving and was banned from the roads.

It marks the latest in a line of personal dramas for the former child star of Goggle-Eyes, whose turbulent lifestyle has seen her run into trouble with the law and left her marriage in tatters in recent years.

Actress Honeysuckle Weeks (above) was twice the legal drink drive limit when she got behind the wheel of her car in order to escape being coerced into sex, a court heard

The troubled 43-year-old star of ITV's Foyle's War (pictured above on set) had been out drinking with friends in West Sussex when she claimed she was invited to stay over for the night - but fled the property fearing she would be coerced into sex

Weeks married hypnotherapist Lorne Stormonth-Darling in a Buddhist ceremony in the Himalayas in 2005. They are pictured together at a more traditional nuptial in St. Mary's church, West Sussex in 2007. Weeks reportedly split from her husband in 2019 after a turbulent marriage

Both Honeysuckle (pictured above) and sister Perdita saw their acting careers launch in the 1990s after they landed parts in the BBC2 children's drama Goggle Eyes

After deciding to leave the property in Arundel, Weeks, of Byworth, West Sussex, reversed into a parked car before driving off and then returning just 15 seconds later.

The incident was seen by an off-duty police officer who stopped the car and realised the driver was drunk.

After failing to carry out a roadside breath test Weeks was taken to a police station where a breathalyser showed she was more than twice the legal drink drive limit.

The test showed she had 78 micrograms in 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit is 35 micrograms.

Mathew Howell, prosecuting, said: 'On Monday November 28 last year at approximately 7.20pm the defendant was driving her vehicle in Arundel when she was seen to reverse into a parked car on the street.

'The defendant drove off from the scene before returning 15 seconds later. The vehicle was stopped and the police officer realised the driver was drunk.'

The actress, who went to Roedean, the elite girls' school in Brighton, and studied English at Oxford, had a rebellious youth and dated Hugh Grant in 2000.

Famous for her role in the period drama Foyle's War, Weeks spent 13 years posing as a prim, proper and ferociously loyal persona to the millions of viewers of the hit ITV series.

Despite the show's success, she yearned for more and admitted she was looking forward to shedding the image she cultivated as Samantha Stewart in a 2008 interview.

'I'm chaotic, happy and desperate to have some laughs. I'd love to do a comedy next, or something modern', Weeks said at the time.

Actress Honeysuckle Weeks (pictured in 2009), who went to Roedean, the elite girls' school in Brighton, and studied English at Oxford, had a rebellious youth and dated Hugh Grant in 2000

In July 2016, Weeks disappeared during a stay as a voluntary patient at a care centre near her home in West Sussex.

Sussex Police issued an appeal saying they were searching for Weeks who disappeared after exhibiting 'concerning behaviour'.

She was later found safe and well and remained with police before returning to West Sussex.

Her disappearance was not the first time the Oxford graduate has sparked concern for her wellbeing.

In 2015, Weeks was caught speeding with her five-year-old son Wade in the back when she was serving a driving ban.

Following sentencing she was made to wear an electronic tag and a nightly curfew was imposed for a month.

The actress also once claimed she fed cannabis-laced mince pies to her unsuspecting parents.

In 2005 she married hypnotherapist Lorne Stormonth-Darling in a Buddhist ceremony in the Himalayas.

However the couple reportedly had a turbulent marriage with neighbours describing the couple having 'vicious' rows outside their home in Kensal Green, north-west London.

Weeks reportedly split from her husband in 2019 and tweeted a picture of a sign bearing the initials L&H with pink hearts burning on a bonfire, captioning it 'Bye bye marriage'.

After failing to carry out a roadside breath test Weeks was taken to a police station where a breathalyser test showed she was more than twice the legal drink drive limit

Weeks appeared before magistrates in Worthing today where she pleaded guilty to drink driving

Weeks, pictured above left in 2015 and right in 2014, told magistrates she got into her car to escape because she feared being coerced into sex

Wearing a tweed checked jacket, brown trousers, a grey polo neck jersey and brown boots, she today told magistrates she only got into the car after she felt she as in danger of being coerced into sex with a man and his lover.

She said she had been out drinking with friends and had been invited to stay the night in Arundel.

Weeks said: 'I was expecting to stay the night in a friend's house in Arundel but the man in question invited his lover to the property and I was in danger of being coerced into sexual actions with them which I found extremely unwelcome.'

She told magistrates she needed her car to take her son to school every day.

Weeks also told her she was not earning any money at present and was receiving Universal Credit.

Magistrates banned her from driving for 20 months and fined her 120 with 85 costs and a victim surcharge of 48.

Weeks agreed to undertake a drink driving awareness course which would reduce her driving ban by 20 weeks, meaning she could get her licence back in April 2024.

Weeks told the court she was no longer living at the Chichester Centre in West Sussex - a low security unit for treating people suffering from drug and alcohol misuse.

Weeks made no comment about her most recent case as she left court today.
Russian civilian planes have suffered a record spate of dramatic accidents after Western sanctions prevented fleets from buying essential parts.

Since the New Year, there have been a staggering 16 significant incidents recorded across Russia's 11 time zones.

Monday alone saw two horrific incidents, one a crash of an An-2 plane in the Nenets autonomous region in which two people, including the pilot, were killed and four survived with injuries, including two children.

The second was an An-26 making an emergency landing after its rear floor came open on take off striking terror among the 25 on board - whose hats flew off their heads vanishing through the gaping hole.

A video taken from the AN-26 passenger flight showed travellers looking unnerved as the rear door of the plane flung open - sending hats and luggage flying

Today, a Nord Star Boeing 737-800 with 116 passengers and six crew floundered for unclear reasons while taxiing in Norilsk, sliding off the runway and aborting its takeoff.

The Moscow Times has said that Russian aviation has been hit by a 'record series of accidents' in the past year dominated by the war.

The country already had a poor record for air safety but Novye Izvestia counted more than 130 civil and military aviation accidents in 2022, including some 28 aircraft crashes.

In another extraordinary development today, flights to one of the world's remotest airports in Arctic village Tiksi have been halted this month due to a lack of aviation fuel.

Magan is eight miles from Yakutsk, the world's coldest city, and capital of Yakutsk region in Siberia, eastern Russia

On Monday, an An-2 plane (pictured) crashed in the Nenets autonomous region in which two people, including the pilot, were killed and four survived with injuries, including two children

The flights are from Yakutsk, regional capital of world's coldest region Yakutia, in Siberia. They have been suspended for January, it was reported.

Many planes in Russia's civilian fleets are suffering because supplies of Western spare parts and engineers are banned due to sanctions, causing major maintenance problems.

Nor can Putin's airlines lease or buy new aircraft from the EU or US, which means decrepit aircraft continue to be flown daily across Russia.

'Serious accidents can happen - it is only a matter of time,' said an aviation analyst speaking anonymously.

'Shortcuts with safety are being taken, and the consequences are all too predictable.'

On January 6, an Azur Air plane from Novosibirsk to Thailand was forced to return due to windshield damage.

On January 8 a Pobeda airline plane skidded off the runway and got stuck in deep snow, aborting its takeoff

In another extraordinary development today, flights to one of the world's remotest airports in Arctic village Tiksi have been halted this month due to a lack of aviation fuel

The plane with 263 on board took off at 1am and returned only at 7am.

A day earlier, an air conditioning malfunction caused a Utair plane to make an emergency landing and on January 8 a Pobeda airline plane skidded off the runway and got stuck in deep snow, aborting its takeoff.

An Airbus A320 of S7 Airlines failed to fly from Bratsk to Moscow and made an emergency landing in Kazan after four hours of flight due to a major malfunction of its toilet system.

A recurring problem is with landing gear, seen as due to lack of servicing.

On January, two separate Boeing 737s at Vnukovo airport in Moscow reported front landing gear issues.

An Airbus A320 of S7 Airlines had a similar problem after landing at Novosibirsk, this time caused by overheating of the hydraulic system.

Investigators examine the An-26 after its rear door opened soon after takeoff, terrifying passengers

A Nord Star Boeing 737-800 with 116 passengers and six crew floundered for unclear reasons while taxiing in Norilsk

Some 80 Boeing and Airbus aircraft in Russia are due ten yearly overhauls on landing gear - which will not happen in the normal way, said Aviatorshchina aviation channel on Telegram.

Russia is relaxing its own safety rules due to sanctions but there are warnings of 'a surge in incidents related to landing gear failure'.

Russia's Sukhoi Superjet 100, which has become a workhorse during the war, is suffering increasing safety concerns.

On January 6, the landing gear failed to retract on a Red Wings flight from Kazan to Yekaterinburg, leading to the pilot returning to the departure airport for an emergency landing.

A day later a similar problem hit an Aktyubinsk to Moscow flight leading to an unscheduled landing in Orenburg.

The problems faced by Russian airlines are a clear sign that sanctions are - months after being imposed - having an impact on the economy.
Partlett was arrested near Ourimbah, NSW, and charged with several offences

One driver was hit in the head with a nail while another was struck in the arm

A terrified driver allegedly shot by a teenage tradesman with a nail gun says he's lucky to be alive.

The 52-year-old was behind the wheel of his Toyota Rav 4 when he was allegedly hit in the arm on the M1, near Ourimbah on NSW's Central Coast, on Monday afternoon.

Just moments after the gruesome injury that saw a deep wound open up, a 57-year-old man was also allegedly struck in the head, causing him to briefly lose control of his Mitsubishi sedan.

Police allege Reid Partlett, 19, was the nail gunman and he has since been charged with a string of offences including two counts of armed with intent to commit an indictable offence, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and malicious damage.

'As I have been hit I've tried to drive away, so there was quite a bit of fear there,' Partlett's alleged 52-year-old victim told 9News.

Reid Partlett, 19, (pictured) has faced court after allegedly firing a nail gun from his work truck and hitting two motorists on Monday afternoon

Two male drivers, aged 57 and 52, were allegedly hit with nails in the arm and head while travelling north on the M1, near Ourimbah on NSW 's Central Coast

'End of the day I think I got lucky with just a shot in the arm.

'A lot of families drive that motorway. It could've caused a major accident.'

Partlett was allegedly in the front passenger's seat of a white Mitsubishi work truck with his boss and a colleague when he allegedly shot at the two men.

Police claim they followed the truck further down the M1 highway.

Partlett allegedly exited the vehicle and ran from police. He was arrested about twenty minutes after the incident, with officers using capsicum spray to subdue him.

Partlett fronted Wyong Local Court on Tuesday wearing an orange hi-vis shirt and shorts.

The 52-year-old man shot in the arm believes he could've died or caused a major accident if the nail struck a different part of his body

A 57-year-old driver was hit in the head by a nail gun (pictured)

Applying for bail, the excavator's lawyer argued the prosecution's case relied on witness testimony that the accused nail gunman was wearing orange.

She said Partlett's boss and colleague were wearing similar orange work clothes, which creates identification issues.

She added that he suffered from ADHD, autism, depression and anxiety and that he [allegedly] ran from police because of his previous experiences with the criminal justice system.

'He is a young man, he has not been sentenced to full time in prison,' she said.

'Your honour, his diagnosis of ADHD would interfere with his socialisation and safety in custody. It is likely that any period may be particularly onerous.'

The alleged attack took place on the Pacific Motorway between Somersby and Ourimbah (pictured) on NSW's Central Coast

Pictured: A stock image of a nail gun similar to one used in the alleged attack

The police prosecutor said Parlett [allegedly] ran from officers because he was 'clearly aware of the warrant' and the alleged nail gun incident.

He argued that bail should be opposed for the safety of the community.

'It is a very serious course of conduct. Firing a nail gun on the M1 motorway can cause a serious accident, could result in loss of life, and if convicted on those facts, a custodial sentence is a certainty,' he said.

'There are two victims who saw the defendant in an orange shirt and saw him holding the nail gun.'

The police prosecutor said forensics would be conducted on the nail gun and a nail found in one of the alleged victim's cars.

He said Partlett was already subject to three intensive correction orders at the time of his arrest and any bail conditions imposed by the court would not be adequate.

Partlett (pictured) had an outstanding warrant at the time of the alleged incident and was arrested by police about twenty minutes after the two motorists were shot

Magistrate Stephen Olischlager blasted Partlett's alleged behaviour in Wyong Court on Tuesday

Photos posted on social media show Partlett posing for selfies and riding motorbikes in rural areas

Magistrate Stephen Olischlager agreed with the prosecution and refused Partlett bail, saying his release would pose significant risks to the community's safety.

He added that given the fact Partlett ran from police, there was a risk he may fail to appear in court if granted bail.

'He has a number of offences including assault and intent to commit indictable offence, damage to property, and domestic violence offences which shows why the warrant was issued,' Mr Olischalager said.

'Clearly these are serious matters and offer a serious outline of events which could have resulted in significant injury or death.

'To be firing a nail gun at another truck is absolutely reckless.

'There is no doubt that if these allegations are proven, they will result in a custodial sentence.'

Partlett will face court again at a later date.
Fake heiress Anna 'Delvey' Sorokin abandoned her super glam get ups for a more modest look as she stepped out in New York City on Monday.

The fraudster, 31, was snapped leaving her box-sized apartment to meet with her parole officer, the only time she is allowed out of her $4,250-a-month fifth-floor East Village home during her house arrest.

While in the past the socialite has made sure to make the most of her rare outings, dressing in eye-catching outfits including a silk dress and robe ensemble, on Monday she wore a simple grey sweatshirt and jeans.

Her hair was not done up either, as it was on previous occasions. One thing remained the same, however: Her ankle monitor was still visible on her right leg.

Fake heiress Anna 'Delvey' Sorokin abandoned her super glam get ups for a more modest look as she stepped out in New York City on Monday (pictured)

The fraudster, 31, was snapped leaving her box-sized apartment to meet with her parole officer, the only time she is allowed out of her $4,250-a-month fifth-floor East Village home during her house arrest

The con artist, immortalized in Netflix's Inventing Anna, spent two years in prison for her crimes. The Russian-born Sorokin managed in October 2022 to convince a judge to let her out of prison while she fights deportation.

However, she is required to remain in her home 24 hours a day and must wear her ankle monitor at all times.

But she will not let the restriction stop her social life, saying last year that she will bring her elite circles of friends to her for intimate dinner parties each month.

She describes her weekly visit to the parole office as her 'Tinder' because everyone is always asking if she's a model or famous, she told The Cut at the time.

Her house arrest is indefinite and she is not allowed access to social media or her own credit card and must have an accountant.

While in the past the socialite has made sure to make the most of her rare outings, dressing in eye-catching outfits including a silk dress and robe ensemble , on Monday she wore a simple grey sweatshirt and jeans (pictured)

Sorokin's hair was not done up either, as it was on previous occasions. One thing remained the same, however: Her ankle monitor was still visible on her right leg (pictured)

In December, it was revealed that the Fake Heiress was punished while serving time at the Albion Correctional Facility in upstate New York for 'tampering' with the unflattering tan-green outfit she was forced to wear.

A source close to her said that she was 'just trying to be fashionable' but fell afoul of the rules and was barred from doing any recreation or getting packages for 10 days as punishment for her transgression.

The source said that Sorokin tailored her prison clothes to 'fit her better since they were too big and baggy.'

In a separate incident, Sorokin lost her privileges and was put under lockdown for two weeks after giving false information to a prison guard and disobeying an order.

The incidents show that Sorokin had a bumpy landing after being convicted in 2019 of financial crimes for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from hotels, private jet companies and her best friend.

She served two years in prison before being released in February 2021, only to be arrested again weeks later for overstaying her visa in the United States.

Sorokin was freed for a second time in October and is currently appealing her conviction with the hope of staying in America.

Her disciplinary record was released to DailyMail.com after a Freedom of Information Act request to the New York State Department of Corrections.

It shows that there was an incident on August 27, 2020 at the Albion facility where Sorokin was accused of violating four prison rules.

They were that an inmate should not 'lie or provide an incomplete, misleading and/or false statement or information'; an inmate should not 'refuse to obey a direct order'; an inmate should not abuse their phone privileges and they should 'comply with instructions regarding facility package procedures'.

Fake heiress Anna 'Delvey' Sorokin flaunted her ankle bracelet as part of a stunning designer look during a trip to her New York parole office in November (pictured)

The socialite wore flamboyant black stilettos that highlighted her black ankle monitor during a rare trip outside her apartment in November

The following month, Sorokin had a hearing where she tried to plead her case but the prison imposed punishment.

She was put into 'Keeplock' for 15 days, meaning she was confined to her cell - though unlike solitary confinement, she still had her possessions.

For 20 days she was barred from doing any recreation, she could not receive packages, was banned from buying items at the prison commissary and couldn't use the phone.

Sorokin also lost use of her tablet for 20 days: each prisoner is given a device which is not connected to the internet on to which they can download movies and photos of friends and family.

The second incident happened the previous year, in July 2019, just two months after she was jailed.

Her offenses included possessing contraband clothing.

The rules state: 'The altering of state-issued clothing or property is prohibited. An inmate shall be required to pay for state clothing or bedding that has been altered without authorization'.

The other two rules that she violated were that she should 'obey orders without argument' and 'destruction of, tampering with, and theft of property'.

DailyMail.com understands that Sorokin's violation was tampering with her jumpsuit to make it look better.

Prison officials ordered that Sorokin could not do any recreation, use the commissary, receive packages or use the phone for 10 days as punishment.

Pictured: Anna Sorokin is seen in court during her trial in 2019. She was convicted for financial crimes for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from hotels, private jet companies and her best friend

Last year, Sorokin's disciplinary record (pictured) was released to DailyMail.com after a Freedom of Information Act request to the New York State Department of Corrections

Sorokin's life has been the subject of intense media scrutiny and was turned into a Netflix series, 'Inventing Anna', starring Julia Garner in the lead role.

The show detailed how Sorokin claimed she had a $60million trust fund and scammed her way to expensive trips and hotel stays, ripping off her best friend along the way.

Sorokin  who calls herself Anna Delvey  was released from jail in February last year after serving her four to 12-year sentence and went about returning to her previous life of luxury by renting a swanky apartment in Chelsea.

Weeks later, after bragging in a TV interview that 'crime pays', she was arrested by immigration agents and held in jail in New York State until she was granted $10,000 bail in October.

Since then she has moved into a small apartment above a payday loan shop in New York's East Village, just 470 sq ft in size. Sorokin has to remain there for 24 hours a day while under house arrest under the terms of her release.

Her new home costs around $2,000 a month which is cheap by the standards of Manhattan, where average rents recently topped $5,000.

Sorokin has said she is 'just hoping to get more freedom eventually' as she is currently banned by a judge from posting on social media.

In one interview Sorokin said: 'Maybe that's for the best? It's really hard to tune out distractions. Hopefully, it's not forever'.

Reflecting on her crimes, Sorokin has said that she has a 'different perspective' on things than the last time she was released. She said: 'I am regretful about the way things played out. The way I've tried to see my experience is to learn from it: Who I am today is because of the decisions I made in the past'.

She plans to sell artwork to make ends meet and is working on a podcast and a book about criminal justice reform.
A small business owner claims she was forced to pretend an Evri driver set her house on fire in order to get the company to respond to her month-old complaint.

Sania Shah, 27, who sells custom clothes, says she tried to contact the delivery service after two customers demanded refunds for items that hadn't arrived, leaving her 200 out of pocket.

After a month of automated responses, a fed up Ms Shah informed Evri that a courier had set her home alight - even attaching images of a house fire from the internet as 'proof'.

The brazen stunt appeared to pay off, as the next day Ms Shah was delighted to receive a call from the company.

Ms Shah, from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, said: 'I was at a loss because I sent the items and was being chased for a refund, I just wanted to know where the parcels were.

Sania Shah, 27, says she tried to contact the delivery service after two customers demanded refunds for items that hadn't arrived, leaving her 200 out of pocket

'I tried to call but it's so hard to get hold of them, it's a robot and at the end it says, "thank you, goodbye, go to our website". I was emailing and that got me no reply.'

While using the company's Live Chat, Ms Shah came up with the claim that her house had been set on fire in order to elicit a faster response. She was asked to submit two photos as evidence, which she sourced from the internet.

Ms Shah said: 'It's bad and people have messaged me saying that it's someone's actual house but I'm not trying to use that to my advantage. I just needed someone to ring me, I didn't want to message.

'The next day I got a call from a lady. They obviously saw the fire and thought "oh, this is serious".

'She said she understood that a courier had set my house on fire and I said they hadn't but this is the extent I'd had to go to to get hold of someone.'

Ms Shah then provided the company with details about her delivery troubles, which led to a refund.

She said: 'This was a couple of hundred pounds to me, I'm just a small business.

'I'm not trying to encourage lying and giving Evri stress, but this is the extent people have to go to to get in touch and money doesn't grow on trees.

'I make custom clothes on the side to make people happy and then you get Evri stress and it's a put off when you're a small business but it hasn't stopped me. People understand.'

Fed up with automated responses, Sania Shah told Evri that a courier had set her house on fire in order to elicit a phone call from the company

Sania says she hasn't shipped with Evri since the incident.

An Evri spokesman said: 'We are sorry to hear about Sania's experience.

'As Sania had arranged delivery via a third party logistics agency we are limited in the information we can access and have previously advised her to be in contact directly with her contracted logistics partner.

'As the UK's biggest dedicated parcels company in the UK, we deliver 700 million parcels each year and are proud that 99% of our parcels are delivered on time.

'We have invested significantly in our onshore customer service operations in the UK, with dedicated teams in each depot.

'If a customer has a problem with a delivery that cannot be solved through our chatbot our dedicated teams will call the customer once they have carried out a detailed investigation, which involves reviewing all the available tracking data, delivery photos and spoken to the courier involved so they can advise the customer on the best course of action.'
Misha had been going up the escalator with his father when he became trapped

Video shows Misha, 11, getting his head and hands stuck in between an escalator and an overhanging glass partition next to it at a subway station in Moscow

An 11-year-old schoolboy suffered a broken jaw after he got his head trapped between a balcony and an escalator while riding the moving stairway at a metro station in Russia.

Video shows frantic efforts to free Misha after he got his head and hands stuck in between the escalator and an overhanging glass partition next to it.

Misha had been going up the escalator with his father when he rested his head on his hands on the moving rail, not seeing the danger from an unsafe design.

The 11-year-old was pulled under the overhanging structure and became trapped at the metro station in Okruzhnaya, a northern suburb in Moscow.

Video shows frantic efforts to free Misha after he got his head and hands stuck in between the escalator and an overhanging glass partition next to it

The 11-year-old schoolboy suffered acute head and facial wounds including a broken jaw after he got trapped between a balcony and an escalator (left) while riding the moving stairway at a metro station in Russia (right)

First his arms were pulled in, then his head became wedged as the rest of his body was pulled updated.

The boy's frantic father tried to pull him out, but failed, and passersby also sought to help.

The escalator kept moving making efforts more difficult to rescue the anguished child.

Eventually, say reports, the escalator was halted and emergency staff were able to free the boy and paramedics rushed the boy to hospital.

Misha suffered multiple fractures including a dislocation of the lower jaw, as well as head wounds and severe bruising.

He is in a Moscow children's hospital after the terrifying incident which happened last week. Video was only released today.

Misha suffered multiple fractures including a dislocation of the lower jaw, as well as head wounds and severe bruising. Pictured: The scene

A witness explained later on a video how the boy got trapped.

'The child was going up the escalator from the bottom to the top,' he said. 'But on this corner he decided to look up. His head got trapped here.

'With his head caught, he went all the way up here. They unclamped this glass here - and pulled him out.'

The authorities blamed the boy and his father for the accident due to 'non-compliance with the rules of safe behaviour'.

A statement from Moscow Railways, which runs the suburban station connecting to the metro [underground] network, said: 'The escalator was stopped, and medical workers were called to the scene.

'At the entrance to the escalator there is a sign with a warning about the need to monitor children while on the moving the steps

'The Ministry of Railways calls on citizens to strictly observe the rules of safe behaviour at all railway infrastructure facilities.'
A pizza worker has been awarded more than $53,000 in damages by her former employer after she was sexually harassed when a male colleague looked at her breasts rather than her face when he spoke to her.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled on Monday that Della Rosa Fresh Foods  one of Melbourne's biggest supermarket pizza suppliers  pay compensation for the injury, loss and damage suffered by former employee Sudesh Kumari in 2017.

Tribunal member Louise Johnson concluded that Ms Kumari be awarded $38,000 in compensation for non-economic loss in respect of Della Rosa's contravention of the Equal Opportunity Act, and $15,241.00 for economic loss.

The company - which supplies pizza products and baked goods to Coles, Woolworths and IGA - was also ordered to pay a loss of superannuation totaling $1,091.27 to Ms Kumari.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled on Monday that Della Rosa Fresh Foods pay more than $53,000 in compensation to former employee Sudesh Kumari after a male colleague looked at her breasts

Della Rosa Fresh Food former employee Sudesh Kumari in 2017 complained in 2017 a male colleague looked at her breasts rather than her face when he spoke to her

Ms Kumari, who is of Indian heriatage and had previously worked in the bakery section for the Campbellfield company, claimed she had been subjected to sexual harassment, discriminated against because of her race, and victimised.

Ms Johnson accepted Kumari's evidence and rejected Della Rosa's submission that any penalty should not exceed $500.

'I consider that an award of $500 in damages would trivialise the conduct complained of,' Ms Johnson said.

'I accept Ms Kumari's evidence that she felt uncomfortable, objectified and degraded.'

Ms Kumari claimed that on August 11 2017 a Della Rosa employee looked at her breasts rather than her face when speaking to her.

'I felt like I was not being respected and this upset me,' she said in 2019.

When she confronted the employee about it, she said he reacted angrily, leaving the woman frightened and upset.

The Tribunal accepted Ms Kumari's evidence that she felt 'uncomfortable, objectified and degraded' after the 2017 incident (stock image pictured)

She reported the incident to her manager, who she said did not believe her.

She was told to take annual leave while the employee she complained about was kept on in his usual role.

The company terminated Ms Kumari's employment on February 8, 2018.

In her January 7, 2018 complaint to the Fair Work Commission, Ms Kumari said her manager told her that he did not like Indians.

The tribunal in 2019 found after Ms Kumari made the sexual harassment complaint she was subjected to discrimination due to her gender, unfavourable treatment and victimisation.
China are yet to lift $20billion sanctions on Aus from 2020's rise in tensions

Xiao Quin claimed that AUKUS deal would be detrimental to Chinese relations

China's ambassador to Australia has suggested one of our allies, Japan, could invade us, invoking the memory of World War II in an extraordinary moment with reporters in the nation's capital.

'During World War II, Japan invaded Australia, bombed Darwin, killed Australians, and treated Australian prisoners of war in a way that was unacceptable,' Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian said during a press conference in Canberra on Tuesday.

'The Japanese government has not apologised for that.

'Does that mean they haven't really realised it is wrong? If they don't apologise, they don't accept it's wrong, and they might repeat the history.

'When someone threatens you, they might threaten you again.'

China's ambassador to Australia, Xiao Quin (pictured), has bizarrely claimed that Australia could be invaded by ally Japan

Mr Xiao's inflammatory remarks came a day after The Australian published an interview with his counterpart from Japan, ambassador Shingo Yamagami.

In that interview, Mr Yamagami addressed the recent thaw in relations between Australia and China under the Albanese government.

'I think this is a good step forward. But at the same time, we have to be vigilant, because when it comes to policy and strategy, nothing fundamental seems to have changed on their part,' he said.

'We would like to see this change of tone, change of tactical approach, leading to the change of policies and measures on their part.'

Mr Xiao's made his comments when he was asked about Mr Yamagami's interview.

'It's not my role to base myself in Canberra while criticising third countries,' he said at the start of his answer.

'It's not my role to try and stop Australia developing a normal relationship with a third country.

'So I'm afraid our colleague from Japan is not doing his job.'

Mr Xiao claims that because Japan never apologised for World War II atrocities that they could be capable of threatening Australian soil again

At another point, Mr Xiao criticised the AUKUS security agreement and claimed it was 'not a good idea' for Australia.

He said the alliance between Australia, the UK and the US involved the unnecessary 'targeting' of China as a potential threat.

In the wide-ranging group interview, Mr Xiao suggested the AUKUS agreement would amount to a waste of Australian taxpayers' money.

The Labor government has committed to following through with the security deal the Coalition struck with the UK and the US in 2021 that will help Australia acquire nuclear-powered military submarines.

Mr Xiao said Beijing was not seeking to make an enemy out of any of the three AUKUS member nations, but the pact would be detrimental to their relationships with China.

'It is not helpful. It's not going to solve any problems at all,' he said.

Mr Xiao also said that the AUKUS security agreement was 'not a good idea' for relations between China and Australia (pictured, Anthony Albanese and Xi Jinping)

Mr Xiao claimed Australia would seek to use its nuclear submarines as 'conventional weapons', breaching its commitment as a signatory of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade shot down similar claims made by the Chinese Embassy in September, noting the treaty doesn't prohibit the acquisition of naval nuclear propulsion by non-nuclear weapon states.

DFAT reaffirmed that Australia would not acquire nuclear weapons, with the AUKUS submarines to be powered by nuclear propulsion but armed only with conventional artillery.

During his media appearance on Tuesday, Mr Xiao toasted journalists with a glass of 2017 Chateau Tanunda Barossa Valley shiraz and claimed there were no Chinese sanctions on Australian products.

'Allow me to propose a toast ... to your health, to the friendship between China and Australia. Cheers,' Mr Xiao said, raising a glass of the South Australian vineyard's signature drop.

Australia is looking to smooth relations with China after they imposed $20 billion sanctions in 2020 after relations soured under Scott Morrison

The event at the embassy comes amid speculation China is poised to drop its trade restrictions on Australian exports, including wine, after a marked improvement in the relationship between the two countries over the past six months

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in November, ending a six-year diplomatic freeze, before Foreign Minister Penny Wong flew to Beijing last month to meet officials there.

Beijing slapped sanctions on Australian goods estimated to be worth $20bn at the peak of its diplomatic row with Canberra in 2020.

Mr Xiao claimed on Tuesday there was 'no such thing' as Chinese sanctions on Australian products but later acknowledged there were 'tariffs' on some goods.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said later on Tuesday the breakdown in the relationship between Australia and China over the past few years had come at a great cost to many farmers and rural communities.

Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian addresses the media during the New Year's Press Gathering at the Chinese Embassy in Canberra

'Whether we're talking about the wine industry, rock lobsters, barley, a whole range of products that have been affected ... that's why we think it's a good thing if we can stabilise the relationship with China,' Senator Watt told reporters in Queensland.

'We all know that it's going to take time. It's not likely that we're going to be seeing, you know, things happen overnight.

'But if we can stabilise that relationship and encourage more of that dialogue, that can only be a good thing for Australian farmers, meat processors and rural communities.'

Mr Xiao wouldn't put an exact time frame on when these restrictions would be lifted but said he wanted a return of a 'normal' trading relationship between the two nations.

In his opening remarks, Mr Xiao hailed the election of the Albanese Labor government, which he said was an opportunity to 'reset' Australia-Chinese relations.

He fielded questions from reporters on a range of topics, including AUKUS, China's treatment of Uyghur people in the Xinjiang province and the plight of detained Chinese-Australians Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun.
Scientists say that the ozone layer, which is a crucial protector of life on our planet, is on track to slowly recover to full strength by 2066 amid a decline in airborne chemicals following the success of global efforts.

The situation is a result of nations stopping the use of harmful chemicals that had been destroying the critical layer in the upper atmosphere. On Monday, scientists said in a report for the United Nations that China had largely eliminated rogue emissions of one of these chemicals, known as CFC-11.

Recovery of the Ozone Layer

The chemical was once widely used as a refrigerant and in foam insulation after it was first synthesized a century ago. Along with similarly harmful chemicals, which are collectively known as chlorofluorocarbons, CFC-11 destroys the ozone layer, which is the one that blocks ultraviolet radiation from the sun that can cause skin cancer and harm living things.

Under the Montreal Protocol, which is a landmark environmental agreement that was implemented in 1989, all chlorofluorocarbons were banned. If countries are able to continue maintaining the bans on these and other chemicals, ozone levels between the polar regions are expected to reach pre-1980 levels by 2040, as per the New York Times.

Furthermore, scientists anticipate ozone holes, which are regions of greater depletion that appear regularly near the South Pole and North Pole, albeit less frequently, to recover by 2045 in the Arctic and in 2066 in Antarctica.

In a statement, the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Chemical Sciences Laboratory and a co-chairman of the protocol's scientific assessment panel, David W. Fahey, said that the recovery of the ozone layer is on track.

He added that the peak destruction of the global ozone layer was behind us due to the effectiveness of the control measures that the Montreal Protocol has provided to those who have adopted it.

Read Also: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Captures Images of Ancient Milky Way-Like Galaxies From 11 Billion Years Ago

Ban on Chlorofluorocarbons

According to Yahoo News, Paul Newman, a co-chair of the scientific assessment, said that in the upper stratosphere and in the ozone hole, things were getting better. The report, which was presented at the American Meteorological Society convention in Denver on Monday, noted that the progress was slow.

For a long time, scientists and environmental advocates across the world have hailed the efforts to heal the ozone hole. In a statement, World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas said that ozone action sets a precedent for climate action.

He added that the success in phasing out ozone-eating chemicals shows what can and must be done, as a matter of urgency, to turn away from fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gasses, and limit the increase of global temperatures.

The optimistic situation comes as ozone-depleting gasses are also potent greenhouse gases and without the ban set by the Montreal Protocol, the world could have seen additional warming of up to 1 degree Celsius.

Since the industrial revolution, our planet has already warmed by around 1.2 degrees and scientists warned that it should not exceed 1.5 degrees or there would be dire consequences related to a climate crisis, CNN reported.

Related Article: NASA Captures Image of Sun's Powerful X-Class Solar Flare Capable of Disrupting Earth's Magnetic Field

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A proud father has described the frantic moment his wife gave birth to their daughter on the side of a busy freeway, from the front seat of their LandCruiser Prado.

Courtney Graham told Daily Mail Australia that he 'hustled' his wife Wendy into their four-wheel drive and was taking her to hospital in Perth at 5am on Monday morning after she went into labour.

But things took a dramatic turn along the way.

'I think the baby is coming,' she announced as they were still well short of King Edward Memorial Hospital.

An Australian father has described the dramatic circumstances of his wife giving birth on the side of a busy freeway. Pictured, mum Wendy and daughter Macy Graham

Little Macy came so early that when Mr Graham looked across, he saw his newborn's head was already out and 'looking back' at him

Little Macy came so early that when Mr Graham looked across, he saw his newborn's head was already out and 'looking back' at him.

So the father cut across four lanes of traffic, knocking over roadside cones and parked their Toyota in the breakdown lane of the Mitchell Freeway.

By the time he jumped out of the driver's seat and reached his wife's side, Macy was more than halfway out.

'I thought there is no way this is happening on the freeway. But yeah, it was just two big pushes and she was out,' he said.

'I just grabbed her by the neck and put her on my wife's chest and called triple zero,' he said.

But the call quickly turned scary as Macy was turning a deep blue colour all over.

'It's going blue!' Mr Graham told the operator, who repeated back 'turning blue?'

'Yep, the baby's going blue'.

The Graham's two and half year old Poppy shows off her newborn little sister Macy

The doting couple also described their frightening triple zero call on the side of the freeway when little Macy began to turn blue

Then the frightened mum Wendy added: 'Why isn't it crying?'

She later said the paramedic calmly told her to wipe the baby's face, which brought 'a splutter' and Macy's first breaths, much to the couple's relief.

Mr Graham admitted he was 's**ting himself' until those first breaths came.

Doctor's said Macy, weighing 3.47kg, is now perfectly healthy despite the unusual birth.

'It's an amazing story,' he said. 'We're just so stoked to provide our story and brighten people's day with some good news for a change.'
Boris Johnson has been deleted out of a picture of Britain's abortive space launch in an embarrassing Photoshop fail.

Business Secretary Grant Shapps recently tweeted an image of himself meeting and greeting staff at Spaceport Cornwall.

However, eagle-eyed social media users quickly spotted that there was something missing from the photograph.

Another version issued by Downing Street in 2021 showed an identical scene, but with the then-PM in the middle.

Quizzed about Mr Johnson's mysterious disappearance from the picture, Mr Shapps told the House of Commons this afternoon: 'I would never knowingly remove the former prime minister - who I served enthusiastically - from anything I put out, if I knew it was going out that way.'

Sources close to Mr Shapps had earlier insisted the Cabinet minister had no idea the airbrushing was happening, and had been 'proud' to serve in Mr Johnson's government.

The image was deleted soon after the tweak was noticed.

Business Secretary Grant Shapps recently tweeted an image of him meeting and greeting staff at Spaceport Cornwall

However, eagle-eyed social media users quickly spotted that there was something missing from the photograph. Another version issued by Downing Street in 2021 showed an identical scene, but with the then-PM in the middle

The tweaked image was issued on Mr Shapps' Twitter feed ahead of the abortive space launch

The original photo remains on the Number 10 Flickr account, dated June 9 2021.

It shows the then-Conservative leader, brow furrowed and arm raised, wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words: 'Prime Minister.'

Mr Shapps deleted his tweet after the apparent editing was spotted.

A source close to Mr Shapps said: 'Grant wasn't aware anyone had edited the picture. He removed it as soon as it was pointed out.

'Obviously he wouldn't endorse anyone rewriting history by removing the former Prime Minister from a picture. He was proud to serve in Boris Johnson's Government'

A launch attempt yesterday morning ended in failure after suffering an 'anomaly' during the flight.

After taking off from Cornwall, the Virgin Orbit plane flew to 35,000ft over the Atlantic Ocean where it jettisoned the rocket containing nine small satellites towards space.

Organisers of the Start Me Up mission said the rocket  with a variety of civil and defence applications  failed to orbit.

After the launch failed, Mr Shapps told Sky News: 'Space is difficult. Everyone's used to seeing rockets which explode from Japan, what have you.

'The great thing about this technology is that no-one was harmed. The pilots came back in the aircraft.

'It didn't work. I've no doubt that they'll pick themselves up, dust themselves off and they'll go again once they find out what exactly went wrong with it.'

Mr Shapps did not know the time schedule for another possible attempt.

'It was a big moment nonetheless yesterday,' he added.
Prince Harry today justified revealing his Taliban kill-count because soldiers should discuss 'parts of our service that haunt us' in a glossy US magazine piece where he appears to model the necklace he claims William broke in a fight over Meghan.

The Duke of Sussex claimed in his memoirs to have killed 25 enemy fighters during two tours of Afghanistan - calling his victims chess pieces rather than people as a means of bearing the emotional strain of taking dozens of lives.

Harry told People that he speaks openly about his time in Afghanistan - and killing insurgents - 'for my own healing journey' and 'in the hopes it will help others'.

The interview was released this afternoon, with social media users remarking on how the magazine's photo shoot appears to have brightened his blue eyes and thickened his hair.

One critic said pictures of Harry, which include him walking on a wooden terrace and leaning against some patio doors in an open blue shirt and dark slacks, looked like a 'faux fashion photo shoot'.

Harry is also wearing a black leather cord necklace. Some claimed it is identical to the one he says was broken by his brother William in an alleged fight at Kensington Palace during a row over Meghans 'difficult' and 'abrasive' behaviour in 2019.

Prince Harry has done a glossy cover interview with People magazine, one of the Sussexes' favoured US publications

Prince Harry is seen on Monday leaving his Manhattan hotel and heading to record an episode of Stephen Colbert's show, accompanied by an armed guard with a Glock gun lock box

Prince Harry on patrol through Garmisir, where he was posted in Helmand province in 2008

It comes as it is revealed today:

Harry has been accused of reducing the royals to a laughing stock ahead of an appearance on the satirical The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, due for broadcast in the US tonight.

It was recorded in New York yesterday with the royal ushered in and out of the studio by armed bodyguards including a British former policeman carrying a Glock pistol case.

But critics, including senior figures in the British Army, have said his admission is a breach of the unwritten code that soldiers do not count notches on their rifles. Others said Harry had betrayed ex-comrades by risking their safety, his own and that of the Royal Family.

Justifying his decision to tell millions that he killed 25 fighters as an Apache helicopter gunner, Harry told People, a favoured US magazine of the Sussexes': 'I know from my own healing journey that silence has been the least effective remedy. Expressing and detailing my experience is how I chose to deal with it, in the hopes it would help others.'

Former military commanders, pilots, aid workers and diplomats condemned the remarks, which they claimed handed the militants a propaganda victory. He also faced the ignominy of being branded a big-mouth loser by the Taliban itself.

But Harry told People: 'This is something each soldier has to confront, and in the nearly two decades of working alongside service personnel and veterans, I've listened to their stories and have shared mine.

'In these conversations, we often talk about the parts of our service that haunt us  the lives lost, the lives taken. But also the parts of our service that heal us and the lives we've saved.

'It's a duty, a job, and a service to our country  and having done two tours of duty in Afghanistan for my country, I've done all I could to be the best soldier I was trained to be.

'There's truly no right or wrong way to try and navigate these feelings.'

He added: 'My relationship with Meghan has opened my eyes to so much I fear I otherwise would have never fully understood'.

Harry was asked by People about how his family might view his book.

He has previously admitted that he didn't think they would read it.

The Duke said: 'I don't want to tell anyone what to think of it and that includes my family. This book and its truths are in many ways a continuation of my own mental health journey. It's a raw account of my life  the good, the bad and everything in between.

"My hope has been to turn my pain into purpose, so if sharing my experience makes a positive difference in someone's life, well, I can't think of anything more rewarding than that'.

And speaking about the chances of reconciliation, he added: 'I've said before that I've wanted a family, not an institution  so of course, I would love nothing more than for our children to have relationships with members of my family, and they do with some, which brings me great joy'.

Prince Harry and his memoir have been ridiculed by Stephen Colbert ahead of the broadcast of their US TV interview tonight, with the comedian comparing his life to Harry Potter and joking the new book is available as a royal commemorative plate.

There were gales of laughter as the Duke of Sussex was called 'His royal Harryness' and also seen downing tequila shots in an interview in New York.

In a series of interviews in the US and UK to promote his memoir Spare, which is released today, he has shared intimate details of his life including losing his virginity, his use of drugs and killing 25 Taliban, as well as private conversations with his family and the deepening rift over Megxit.

But even the usually supportive liberal US media is tiring of Prince Harrys complaints. The New York Times called his remarks 'repetitive and tiresome' and suggested the 'tide seems to be turning in US attitudes towards the Sussexes.

And in a trailer for tonight's show, Stephen Colbert appeared more focused on poking fun at the royal and his bitter rift with his brother, and scathing gags about Britain and the royals including the late Queen.

After playing a clip where Harry describes his pain at William trying to avoid him at Eton, the Late Show presenter said to roars of laughter: 'That's heartbreaking. To be rejected by his older brother at school even though that magic hat sorted them into the same house. What do you think? Hufflepuff? Gryffindor?'

Harry is promoting his book on US TV - this time with Late Show host Stephen Colbert - who appears ready to lampoon the prince and his life

Mr Colbert compared Harry's school days to Hogwarts and also poked fun at the Royal Family and Britain

In another tease Mr Colbert said Spare is available in hardback, audiobook and as a 'commemorative plate'

In another tease Mr Colbert said Spare is available in hardback, audiobook and as a 'commemorative plate' - a joke at the expense of Harry and other royals whose weddings and anniversaries are marked with limited edition tableware and crockery.

In a further dig at the Royal Family, Colbert says: 'Stock up on corgis and steal a priceless cultural treasure from one of your colonies because The Late Show is going imperial.'

Harry's book also contains anecdotes that also appear to poke fun at his own family including hanging a trinket likeness of the Queen on a Christmas tree.

Spare reveals that Meghan gave Harry an ornament of the Queen that she had bought from a local store in California.

Harry writes in his book that it was Grannys face to a T and hung it straight on the large Christmas tree in their California home.

Toddler Archie was running around and knocked the trees stand, which caused the ornament to fall off and smash into pieces.

Harry also said he sought help from a medium who said she could prove she was talking to his late mother from beyond the grave because Diana was giggling at Archie breaking the ornament.

And in the couple's Netflix documentary, released last month, a Meghan appeared to mock her own efforts at following royal protocol as she recounted the 'surreal' moment she first met the Queen - performing a deeply exaggerated curtsey.
Kevin McCarthy will make good on Republican threats to kick Democratic Representatives Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell off the Intelligence Committee, as well as blocking Ilhan Omar from serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

The move is likely payback for former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stripping GOP Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar from their committee assignments during the 117th Congress.

Republicans warned that Democrats would regret down the road deciding to dictate who serves on what committees. If operating under usual precedent, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries would offer their names to the respective committees and McCarthy would approve.

Speaker McCarthy, however, told Punchbowl News that he's already made the case against all three far-left representatives earning spots on these high-profile committees.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy plans to make good on his threat to operate in a Congress Democrats created last term by blocking far-left representatives from serving on the Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Committees

McCarthy will prevent Eric Swalwell (left) and Adam Schiff (right) from serving on the Intelligence Committees. The Speaker claims that Swalwell 'can't get a security clearance in the private sector' and that Schiff has 'lied too many times to the American public'

'It's not like it's anything new,' McCarthy said. 'Remember, this is what Nancy Pelosi  this is the type of Congress she wanted to have.'

'Swalwell can't get a security clearance in the private sector,' he added of his fellow California lawmaker. 'I'm not going to give him a government security clearance,'

He continued: 'Schiff has lied too many times to the American public. He should not be on Intel.'

All three lawmakers say they haven't engaged in wrongdoing and should not be removed from their committees.

However, Swalwell has faced questions over his ties to a Chinese spy named Fang Fang.

The woman helped Swalwell raise money for his 2014 campaign  and while the California Democrat said he cut all ties to the alleged spy, it was shown that he remained friends with her on Facebook long after an FBI briefing on her ties to China.

Omar, for her part, has shared a slew of anti-Semitic comments and sentiments, which were even criticized by other Democrats.

McCarthy will also move to stop Rep. Ilhan Omar from serving on the Foreign Affairs panel

She is a key member of the so-called Squad, a group made up of the most progressive, left-wing Democrats including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, and Rashida Tlaib.

After the rules package passed Monday night, the next big fight is shaping up to be a partisan brawl on the floor regarding committee assignments  following more than a week of Republican bickering and chaos over who should be Speaker and what rules should govern the House in the 118th Congress.

It took 15 rounds of voting last week for Republicans to finally decide that they were OK with handing McCarthy the Speaker's gavel.

McCarthy has been vowing since 2021 to block Swalwell, Schiff and Omar from spots on the Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Committees.

Multiple Democratic leadership sources claim that the plan is to still name Schiff and Swalwell to Intel and Omar to Foreign Affairs, according to Punchbowl.

Meanwhile, Republicans will place Greene, Gosar and the latest controversial GOP Representative George Santos to committees. Democrats, who are now in the minority, can't do anything to stop it.

Greene was booted off the Budget and then Education and Labor panels in February 2021 over a series of offensive comments she made before being elected to Congress  including pushing conspiracy theories about Jewish people.

The Democratic resolution to remove her from her committee was backed by 11 House Republicans as well.

It's expected that McCarthy will place the Georgia Representative on the Oversight and Accountability Committee, among other potential panel assignments.

The blocks against Democratic lawmakers from their preferred panels makes good on McCarthy's threat to act in the same way that former Speaker Nancy Pelosi did when she removed far-right Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (left) and Paul Gosar (right) from their committee assignments in the 117th Congress

Freshman representative George Santos, who has been accused of being a pathological liar, will also receive committee assignments despite being under criminal investigation

Gosar was censured and stripped of his committee seats in the last Congress after he posted on social media a bizarre animated video depicting violent acts toward progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden.

'They promised me that if I wanted to stay on Natural Resources and Oversight, I could stay,' Gosar said regarding his future under new GOP leadership.

It's unclear what committees Santos could serve on, but the freshman lawmaker has been proven a pathological liar after flubbing large parts of his resume. He is currently under criminal investigation.

McCarthy, as Speaker, can unilaterally block Schiff and Swalwell from serving on the Intel panel, but the House will need to act in full against Omar serving on Foreign Affairs.

All three Democrats claim they have done nothing wrong and are being unfairly targeted by Republican leaders.

Republicans have long said they planned to remove Omar, a Somali-born progressive, from the Foreign Affairs Committee if they won a majority in the House.

Omar, who has been in Congress since 2017, claims Republicans 'made it their mission to use fear, xenophobia, Islamophobia and racism to target me on the House Floor and through millions of dollars of campaign ads.'

Schiff, who led the first House impeachment trial against Donald Trump, has attacked McCarthy over the threat to block him from the Intelligence panel, claiming the new Speaker 'will adhere to the wishes of Marjorie Taylor Greene.'

McCarthy and Democratic Leader Jeffries have not yet worked out the ratios for House committees as of Monday night, which could be a process that takes several days in and of itself.

The agreement was delayed due to the floor fight McCarthy faced during the Speaker vote last week.
A 'middle-class, well-educated' neo-Nazi encouraged another man to make a bomb after sharing a video in which he used his Amazon Alexa speaker to read out a recipe for explosives, a court has heard.

Elliot Brown, 25, from Bath, had been to an international school and university and had a 'very good job,' Bristol Crown Court was told.

'He is, in his own words, a man from a middle-class background and well educated,' Naomi Parsons, prosecuting said.

Brown is accused of sending a bomb-making video to a far-right chat group on Telegram on March 22 2020, which was used by another man to make an explosive called Thermite.

A 'middle-class, well-educated' neo-Nazi encouraged another man to make a bomb after sharing a video in which he used his Amazon Alexa speaker to read out a recipe for explosives, a court has heard

When police raided the home of Dean Morrice in Paulton, near Bristol on August 20 2020, they found enough aluminium powder, iron oxide, and magnesium ribbon in the kitchen to make 680g of thermite.

There was also enough carbon, potassium nitrate and sulphur, to make 1.3kg of gunpowder.

On one of his mobile phones, they found a 30-second video containing audio instructions on how to make thermite which had been recorded by Brown, at his home, using his Amazon Alexa, and shared on Telegram, three days before Morrice bought the chemicals.

Thermite was described as a mixture which burns at several thousand degrees Celsius to produce molten metal.

Used in thermite welding, 'it can also be put to nefarious and destructive use' Ms Parsons said.

'Thermite can be used as an incendiary weapon, used to start fires, destroy equipment or cause burns. It is of obvious use to a terrorist.'

Brown was arrested in February 2021 and told police that he made the video as a joke, claiming that at no stage did he have genuinely held neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic or racist views.

He told them he had a 'dark sense of humour,' was being 'ironic' and that he was 'just trying to be one of the lads' by 'chipping in with various comments' online in a bid to gain others' approval.

He found it funny that Alexa would recite the recipe for thermite, and decided to make the video and share it on the chat group, he said.

'But why thermite? Why, for that matter, any explosive substance? Why not get Alexa to recite something else funny?' Ms Parsons said.

'The prosecution say that explosives were of interest to Mr Brown, and indeed to the others to whom he shared the video.'

Ms Parsons told the court that Brown 'intended or, at the very least, was reckless,' that someone in the 'Dart Heads' Telegram group would be encouraged to commit a terrorist act.'

'In Mr Brown's case, the proof is in the pudding. It must be an unfortunate coincidence that one of the recipients turned out to be the real deal, who purchased, within three days of the post, all the ingredients for thermite.'

Brown denies possession and dissemination of terrorist material and the trial continues.

When police raided the home of Dean Morrice (pictured) in Paulton, near Bristol on August 20 2020, they found enough aluminium powder, iron oxide, and magnesium ribbon in the kitchen to make 680g of thermite

Police discovered that Brown had posted the video into a Telegram chat group called 'Dart Heads' which was said to be obsessed with 'white genocide' and the 14-word neo-Nazi slogan: 'We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.'

Brown had shared a copy of the audio book of Hitler's Mein Kampf and posted on June 5 2020, a couple of weeks after the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis: 'It's happening, the race war is here.'

A user called Mercian Heart, responded: 'Our desires to go out and confront these servants of the Jews comes from our instinct to preserve our tribe and by extension the society around us.

'Find men in your area, study 4th gen warfare. train, organize, gather supplies, build yourselves. The time for action will be upon us soon enough. Gods be praised!'

On Brown's phone, police found a 30-minute clip of a livestream of a shooting at a synagogue in Halle, Germany on 9 October 2019 made by Stephan Balliet and a 48-second video, which started as a video game, but switched to clips from the livestream shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand by Brenton Tarrant.

An image on his Brown's phone showed a screenshot labelled: 'Hail the saints! Never forget what they sacrificed for us' with images of Anders Breivik - responsible for the mass murder of children in Norway in 2011, Dylan Roof - who shot black people in a church in the US - and Brenton Tarrant.

Morrice suggested that the objective of the Coronavirus vaccine was the infertility of white men and the aim was 'as always' was 'white genocide,' the court heard.

After reading a book called the Turner Diaries, Morrice posted to the Dart Heads group on March 25 2020: 'The masses will remain complacent as long as they have food and a pay check.

'The System made a move that backfired on them. If this is the hell that the masses need to wake up, then I pray for more panic.

'I hope they go hungry and lose their jobs. I hope the races finally turn on each other.'

He then posted a GIF video labelled 'accelerate', a term used by neo-Nazis and white supremacists to refer to the 'acceleration' of racial conflict through assassinations, murders and terrorist attacks to achieve a white 'ethno-state.'

In July 2021, Morrice was convicted of possession of thermite and gunpowder explosives and a home-made video encouraging ethnic cleansing.
Now, Harry says he never accused his family of racism

The pair accepted an award on stage at the ritzy Ripple of Hope gala afterwards

In an interview, Kerry said they stood up to 'structural racism' within his family

New audio reveals Kerry Kennedy praising Harry and Meghan as 'heroic' for standing up to 'structural racism' within the Royal Family which he now says he never accused them of.

In December, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were honored at the glitzy RFK Ripple of Hope gala in New York City. They were recognized for their 'their work on racial justice, mental health, and other social impact initiatives through their Archewell Foundation'.

Kerry Kennedy, RFK's daughter and JFK's niece, spoke glowingly of the couple in interviews and on-stage at the star-studded event, which Harry joked was just another 'date night' for the couple.

No videos from the gala have been released, but in a November interview with Spain's El Confidencial, which DailyMail.com obtained a recording of, Kerry praised Harry and Meghan as 'heroic' for how she said they'd taken a stand against 'structural racism' within his family.

Meghan, Harry and Kerry Kennedy at the Ripple of Hope Award Gala in December. They were honored by Kennedy for their work fighting 'racial injustice'

Comparing them to her human rights-crusading father, she told journalist Gustavo Egusquiza: 'When my father went to South Africa in 1966, he spoke to an all white audience.... he said that few will have the courage to confront their colleagues and their fellows and their family and their community about the structures of power that they hold.

'That's what Meghan Markle and Prince Harry did.

'They went to the biggest institution, the longest standing institution in all of British history, and they said: "What we're doing is wrong. We can't have this structural racism within this institution.'"

They went to the biggest institution, the longest standing institution in all of British history, and they said: "We can't have this structural racism"... I think they are very, very heroic to do that Kerry Kennedy

'They knew that if they did that, the consequences would be great, that they would be ostracized, that they would lose their family, that they would lose their power structure that people would blame them.

'They did it anyway because they felt like they couldn't live with themselves unless they questioned that authority.

'I think they are very, very heroic to do that.'

Now, those comments are left in the cold with Harry's correction that neither he nor Meghan called the Royal Family racist.

Instead, he says they are guilty of an 'unconscious bias'.

Kerry Kennedy did not immediately respond to inquiries on Tuesday, nor did representatives for the couple who work at Archewell.

Egusquiza told DailyMail.com that it was clear from his interview with Kerry that she, like many others, was under the impression that Harry and Meghan considered the Royal Family to be guilty of racism.

'She was quite confident in her words about structural racism in the Institution.

'I can only guess that after the Oprah interview and without a clear clarification from Meghan or Harry perhaps she was led to believe, like many other people, that there were problems of structural racism in the British Monarchy.

Kerry compared Harry and Meghan's fight against 'structural racism' in the British monarchy to her father RFK's speech in South Africa in 1966 where he told young white South Africans to stand up to apartheid

'In my opinion the British Royal Family have done a phenomenal job in their fight against racism during decades and I wish this institution continued success,' he told DailyMail.com.

In his interview with ITV's Bradby that aired in the UK on Sunday night, Harry said he didn't accuse his family of racism in his interview with Oprah Winfrey.

'No I didn't. The British press said that,' he said.

Bradby was referring to how he and Meghan claimed that an unnamed member of the Royal Family had questioned how dark their son Archie's skin would be.

'There was - there was concern about his skin color,' Harry told Bradby, but he said he 'would not' consider that concern to be racist.

Prince Harry has denied members of the royal family were accused of racism in he and his wife's interview with Oprah Winfrey (pictured)

'I wouldn't, not having lived within that family. The difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different.

'But once it's been acknowledged, or pointed out to you as an individual, or as an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you therefore have an opportunity to learn and grow from that in order so that you are part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

Spanish journalist Gustavo Egusquiza told DailyMail.com Kerry Kennedy was 'quite confident' about her words

'Otherwise unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism,' he said.

He then went on: 'I mean what happened to Ngozi Fulani is a very good example of the environment within the institution, and why after our Oprah interview, they said that they were going to bring in a diversity tsar.

'That hasn't happened. Everything they said was going to happen hasn't happened.

'I've always been open to wanting to help them understand their part in it, and especially when you are the monarchy - you have a responsibility, and quite rightly people hold you to a higher standard than others.'

'For me the difference is unconscious bias and racism, but if you are called out for unconscious bias you need to make that right, and you have the opportunity and the choice to.

'But if you choose not to, then that rapidly becomes something much more serious,' he said.
The footage matches the cellphone data that puts Kohberger's phone in the area around 9.00am the morning after the stabbings, before police had been called

Recently reviewed video in the haunting University of Idaho murder case may support investigators' theory that the murder suspect Bryan Kohberger returned to the scene of the killing in his white Hyundai Elantra in the hours after the massacre.

Kohberger, 28, allegedly returned to the crime scene at least once following the heinous act, according to a police affidavit.

Now, new footage of a white sedan driving near the home the day after may correspond with that theory.

A Fox News Digital camera recorded a brief sighting of a car heading up a road next to the Moscow house. The vehicle can be seen at the top of the video frame as two law enforcement officers converse near the side of a field at around 2pm on November 14.

Pictured: What is believed to be a white car that could belong to Bryan Kohberger driving near the crime scene where four University of Idaho students were found brutally stabbed to death. This image is from November 14 at around 2pm

Cops have not outlined dates, times, or details of the other 11 instances when they think Kohberger stalked the Idaho students and their college home. However police did confirm that all of the 12 'stalking' instances - bar one - took place late in the evening, or in the early hours of the morning

Kohberger's phone pinged in the area of the students' Moscow house around 9am on November 13 - just five hours after he allegedly broke into the off-campus home and stabbed four students to death. But by the end of that day, his phone went cold.

The suspect infamously drove a white Hyundai Elantra and is believed to have driven by the students' home at least four times on the morning of the killings, between about 3.30am and 4.00am.

According to the police's probable cause affidavit, at around 4.20am the same car was captured on video speeding away from the area.

The cops said there are generally 'a very limited number of vehicles' that enter and exit this residential neighborhood in the early hours of the morning. But the white sedan was one of them that was spotted moving past the house 'at high speed' four times.

The pattern of the car's movement corresponded to the estimated time of the murders, which were eventually connected to Kohberger, a PhD student studying criminology at the nearby Washington State University Pullman.

The suspect is believed to have driven some 2,300 miles from Moscow to Pennsylvania. He was attending college in nearby Washington State

Footage from Washington University also showed a white Elantra leaving the campus in the direction of the students' house just prior to 3.00am on the night of the murders. The car then returned to campus just before 5.30am on the same morning.

The data also revealed that Kohberger had been in the area of the students' house at least a dozen times before the murders, generally at odd hours of the day and night.

The police affidavit read: 'All of these occasions, except for one, occurred in the late evening and early morning hours of their respective days.'

It was also the white Elantra which first brought Kohberger's name into the police's orbit - after they found he was the owner when looking through footage from his apartment building's parking lot.

Moscow Police officers visited the parking lot to obtain a license plate for the vehicle - as it matched the description of the car they saw on footage the night the students were killed.

Using forensic DNA testing, cell phone data, CCTV footage and evidence from the scene of the murders, police were ultimately able to hunt down Kohberger and charge him with the quadruple killing.

Kohberger, 28, is accused of murdering Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin on November 13 in the quiet, college town of Moscow, Idaho

Late last month, Kohberger was pulled over in Pennsylvania for a traffic violation in a white Hyundai Elantra registered in his name last month during a cross-country drive with his father.

He was arrested on December 30, during a raid on his family's Pennsylvania home, where the white Hyundai Elantra was also found.

He has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of burglary for the vicious murders of Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.

Two other housemates were inside the rental home at the time of the murders, but were not attacked.

One of them, detectives revealed last week, saw a masked man exit the house.

Last week, Judge Megan Marshall issued a gag order on the case, preventing investigators and attorneys on both sides from making public statements about the many facets of the pending case.
An engineering boss who called the mother of a teenage boy a 'worthless council estate skank' after believing her son had attacked him has been spared prison.

Eric Oldfield, 45, sent a barrage of threats to the mother of a 14-year-old boy over a five-month period as part of a vigilante campaign after he was assaulted by a gang of youths while waiting for a tram.

Between October 2020 and March 2021, Oldfield sent a series of letters to the woman calling her a worthless c**k s*****g council estate skank and demanded that she keep her son away from the wrong crowds.

He also sent her a printout of a fake account under the woman's name on a sadistic sex website, with the profile saying she was 'curvy and looking for casual sex with black men in the north west'.

Eric Oldfield (pictured outside court) sent a barrage of threats to the mother of a 14-year-old boy over a five-month period

Between October 2020 and March 2021, Oldfield sent a series of letters to the woman calling her a worthless c**k s*****g council estate skank

Oldfield twice followed through with threats to 'come round' and visited their address, leaving an ominous stick note calling card on their Ring alarm bell before leaving.

He was eventually arrested when the mother said she feared for her son's safety when walking to and from school.

Oldfield, who ran his own engineering firm before becoming a well-paid consultant, told police he had been given the boy's name by a contact, but refused to provide a name. He later admitted his 'source' lacked credibility.

Appearing at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester, Oldfield admitted sending malicious communications.

He was handed a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. He was also banned from contacting the boy and his family under the terms of a restraining order.

Lisa Boocock, prosecuting, told the court: 'In November 2018, the defendant was punched in the face at a Metrolink tram stop in south Manchester. He fell to the ground and the incident left him with facial bruising and a cut to his lip.

'The case was promptly reported to the police and the incident was captured on CCTV. However, the case was later dropped due to a lack of definitive evidence being produced.

'Although no one was prosecuted for the crime, the defendant was told by a source that a fourteen year old boy was one of the perpetrators.

In October 2020, the defendant discovered their address and sent the boys mother a letter stating that he was the victim of an assault in that he believed her son was involved in.'

The court heard Oldfield told the mother he would report her son to the police and demanded she put him on 'the straight and narrow'.

Appearing at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester, Oldfield admitted sending malicious communications

In February 2021, he wrote to her again, calling her a 'dirty s**g' and threatening to 'come round and sort you out you worthless c**k s*****g council estate skank'.

In another letter, Oldfield attached a screenshot of Google Maps with their address highlighted, also including a link to an article about a teenage boy being killed in Manchester.

Ms Boocock added: 'She felt that this article was intended to make her feel that her son was going to suffer the same fate. He also reissued his demand to stop her son from hanging out with the wrong crowd.'

The following month, Oldfield sent a letter with a printout showing a website on which he had apparently created a fake account under the mother's name.

Its bio read: 'White broad curvy woman looking for casual sex black men in the north west of England.'

The website 'specialised in content showing women getting mistreated' and the bogus profile included a line asking for 'tributes and requests' to be sent to her address.

Oldfield also contacted the son on Instagram using the username thinnestblueline.

He told the teenager that he could not lie and the incident had been caught on CCTV, but the boy replied that he was a 'lowlife sitting behind a laptop'.

On March 14, 2021, he sent a message to the boy's mother saying that if she did not act, he would 'come round and smash their windows in'.

Four days later, he sent another message to the son, though directed to his mother, saying 'act or I come round'.

The following week, Oldfield attended their address a 1.39pm, before turning up a second time a 2.58pm.

The defendant was arrested at his home on April 3.

Max Saffman, representing Oldfield, said in mitigation that the assault had 'triggered heart issues' and put him 'into shock'.

He said Oldfield had been 'alone for a while' and was 'struggling to hold down a serious relationship', adding that his isolation 'only got worse during the Covid pandemic'.

Oldfield was described as 'an intelligent man with a history of employment', including a consultancy role with a good salary.

But passing sentence, Recorder Jeremy Lasker told him: 'You display an amazing ability for double standards, telling this lady to make sure her kids do not hang around with the wrong crowd and then going on to call her a worthless c**k s*****g council estate skank.

'Where do we go if every time the police decide not to charge a suspect the public decide to take it into their own hands. Your actions after your assault have turned you from a victim to an offender.'

On top of a suspended jail sentence and restraining order, Oldfield was also ordered to undertake 20 rehabilitation activity hours and complete 100 hours of unpaid work.
Muslim student Aram Wedatalla had complained about the use of the painting

The Higher Learning Commission has a mandate to allow 'academic freedom'

Hamline has now had a complaint lodged against them with their accreditor

The liberal school sacked Erika Lopez Prater for showing the painting in class

Hamline University could lose its accreditation after a formal complaint was filed against it for firing a professor who showed a painting of Prophet Muhammed.

An attorney sent the complaint to the Higher Learning Commission saying the liberal college was 'failing to protect the academic freedom' of Professor Erika Lopez Prater.

Meanwhile the ACLU also slammed the university for 'punishing educators for presenting controversial material'.

The 42-year-old was unceremoniously sacked after showing the 14th-century picture of the religious figure to her class last year.

Muslim student Aram Wedatalla had complained about the use of the painting  despite being warned about it ahead of time.

She claimed it offended her religion, with the liberal school firing Prater and calling the incident 'Islamophobic.'

The ACLU also slammed the university for 'punishing educators for presenting controversial material'

Muslim student Aram Wedatalla had complained about the use of the painting  despite being warned about it ahead of time

Many practicing Muslims do not believe in looking at pictures of the Prophet Muhammad as they believe it may lead to worshipping an image.

Now the American Civil Liberties Union  ACLU  has hit out at the decision to get rid of the professor.

They tweeted: 'Universities can and should regulate professional standards  but punishing educators for presenting controversial material harms academic freedom.'

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) also announced that they filed a formal complaint with the Higher Learning Commission  Hamline's accreditor.

In a letter to the accreditor, FIRE's director Alex Morey wrote that the professor's 'nonrenewal violates both HLC and Hamline policies clearly committing the university to free expression and its corollary, academic freedom for all faculty.'

They are demanding that the professor be reinstated, adding: 'We gave Hamline plenty of time to reverse course, but it's clear they're not planning to deliver on their academic freedom promises.

'If Hamline won't listen to free speech advocates or faculty across the country, they'll have to listen to their accreditor.'

The Higher Learning Commission's mandate requires accredited institutions to provide academic freedom  something they say the University has not done.

In a letter sent out to students, Hamline University President Fayneese Miller apologized for the incident and said not offending the school's Muslim students is incredibly important

Wedatalla is a member of the Muslim Student Association and gained support from Muslim students who were not in the class but called the incident an attack on their religion

Nearly 8,000 people have signed this Change.org petition in support of the fired professor

By firing the professor, they say it violates Hamline's strong academic freedom policy which gives faculty the right to examine 'all ideas, some of which will potentially be unpopular and unsettling.'

FIRE Program Officer Sabrina Conza added: 'Hamline has no right to dismiss an art history instructor for teaching art history.

'Hamline clearly doesn't understand what academic freedom means, even though it explicitly promises faculty this core right.'

I am offended as a Muslim. In choosing to label this image of Muhammad as Islamophobic, in endorsing the view that figurative representations of the Prophet are prohibited in Islam, Hamline has privileged a most extreme and conservative Muslim point of view Professor Amna Khalid, who supports the fired Hamline professor

The complaint to the HLC says: 'Such nonrenewal violates both HLC and Hamline policies clearly committing the university to free expression and its corollary, academic freedom for all faculty, with Hamline claiming it 'is committed to academic freedom and celebrates free expression for everyone.

'The University embraces the examination of all ideas, some of which will potentially be unpopular and unsettling, as an integral and robust component of intellectual inquiry.'

'Accrediting agencies like HLC are often the last line of defense for faculty members 'expressive freedoms, particularly adjuncts who lack tenure protection and the resources to challenge such decisions.

'HLC's Standard 2.D. is one of the strongest protections for student and faculty expression at private institutions in the United States, and FIRE urges HLC to hold Hamline accountable for violating this laudable standard.'

Hamline University President Fayneese Miller apologized for the incident and said not offending the school's Muslim students is incredibly important.

In a letter sent out to students, she said: 'It is not our intent to place blame; rather, it is our intent to note that in the classroom incidentwhere an image forbidden for Muslims to look upon was projected on a screen and left for many minutesrespect for the observant Muslim students in that classroom should have superseded academic freedom.'

By firing the professor, they say it violates Hamline's strong academic freedom policy which gives faculty the right to examine 'all ideas, some of which will potentially be unpopular and unsettling'

Muslim professor Amna Khalid said Hamline 'privileged a most extreme and conservative Muslim point of view'

A Minnesota adjunct professor who showed students a painting of the Prophet Muhammad lost her job after the incident

In a statement given to DailyMail.com a Hamline University spokesman said: 'As we have stated, in the immediate aftermath of students expressed concerns, the Universitys initial response and actions were to address our students concerns.

'And, contrary to what has been reported and become the story, it is important that this aspect be reported.

'It is also important that we clarify that the adjunct instructor was teaching for the first time at Hamline, received an appointment letter for the fall semester, and taught the course until the end of the term.'

Lopez Prater allegedly gave students a heads-up moments before the painting was shown, giving them another chance to leave the room if they didn't feel comfortable looking at the picture.

Students do not relinquish their faith in the classroom Hamline University

Again, no students brought any concerns or exited the classroom during the October lecture.

Wedatalla told the schools newspaper: 'As a Muslim and a Black person, I don't feel like I belong, and I don't think I'll ever belong in a community where they don't value me as a member, and they don't show the same respect that I show them.'

After the class ended, Wedatalla stuck around to speak with Lopez Prater.

The conversation prompted the professor to sent an email to her department head, Allison Baker, to give her a heads up about the situation.

Baker, the chair of the digital and studio art department, responded by saying: 'It sounded like you did everything right.'

Deangela Huddleston, a Hamline senior and Muslim Student Association member, said of the incident: 'Hamline teaches us it doesn't matter the intent, the impact is what matters.'

A spokesperson for Hamline said Lopez Prate 'received an appointment letter for the fall semester, and taught the course until the end of the term.'
Republicans on Tuesday demanded to know why the fact President Joe Biden had classified documents from when he was vice president at his think tank wasn't revealed until after the midterm elections with one calling it a 'cover up.'

'When you cover up something before an election,' Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning 'that is probably a point that needs to be highlighted.'

He said the fact the White House didn't say 'a darn thing till after the election looks political me.'

Republican Rep. Don Bacon (left) called it a 'cover up' while Republican Rep. Jim Jordan (right) said 'Maybe the American people should have known about it'

House Republicans are demanding the Justice Department treat Joe Biden like they are treating Donald Trump

How the Biden documents were discovered NOVEMBER 2: 10 documents were found while Biden's attorneys were packing up the DC think tank office to leave. The files were said to be in a folder inside a locked closet, in a box with other unclassified documents. NOVEMBER 8: The midterm elections see Biden and his party perform better than expected. NOVEMBER 18: The Justice Department announces that Jack Smith, former chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague, will lead an investigation into Trump's storage of classified documents in his Florida home. JANUARY 9: The Justice Department announces an investigation has been launched into how the classified documents ended up at Biden's think tank. Biden says he was unaware there were any classified documents being held there, and his supporters point out that his own lawyers handed them over - noting that Trump's team fought to keep hold of his stash. Advertisement

The White House announced late Monday that Biden's lawyers discovered 10 classified documents in his former office at a Washington think tank on November 2.

That was six days before the midterm election, where Republicans won control of the House but not by the landslide many had predicted.

The announcement of such a discovery likely would have a been a political explosion in the election akin to the FBI announcing in 2016, eleven days before the election, the discovery of additional Hillary Clinton emails.

The delay in announcing the Biden discovery has sparked fury among the GOP and many warned they expect the Justice Department to treat Biden like the agency is treating its probe of former President Donald Trump and the documents he had at Mar-a-Lago.

GOP Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, who is set to become the House Oversight Chairman, said he plans to send a letter to the National Archives on Tuesday demanding answers.

Comer said he had questions about why the two presidents were being treated differently.

'I'm wondering is Joe Biden's personal residence gonna be raided by the FBI,' he said on Tuesday.

He said he was asking the National Archives about the documents in the possession of both former presidents.

'But we're just trying to find out exactly what went on at both Mar-a-Lago and the Biden's.'

And Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the incoming House Judiciary chairman, wouldn't say if he would investigate the matter.

He said on Tuesday that his committee was focused on 'what the whistleblowers are saying - talking to us about just the political nature of the Justice Department.'

He pointed out that scope could end up being 'far reaching.'

And he said Trump was a victim of a double standard.

'I think everyone sees the double standard there, you know, plus, plus the country got to know about what happened 91 days before the election with President Trump,' he noted. 'This happened a week before the election. We didn't know about it before.'

Additionally, Rep. Mike Turner, the head of the Intelligence Committee, wrote to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines requesting an immediate review and damage assessment on the documents.

'This discovery of classified information would put President Biden in potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act. Those entrusted with access to classified information have a duty and an obligation to protect it. This issue demands a full and thorough review,' he wrote.

Democrats, meanwhile, were careful in their response.

'It's a concern whenever classified documents are somewhere they shouldn't be. But we see no evidence of deliberate intent, or obstruction of justice, as we see in the case of Donald Trump and Mar-a-Lago,' said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who was on many of the panels investigating Trump.

And Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) accused Republicans of 'hypocrisy' and said Biden followed the 'established process' in that he turned over the documents as soon as they were discovered.

'The president is handling this the way that he should,' he said.

President Joe Biden is believed to have left classified documents at his think tank when he was vice president.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has asked the US attorney in Chicago to review 10 files discovered at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C., six days before the midterms in November

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks about the FBI's search warrant served at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in August 2022.

A police car is seen outside former US President Donald Trump's residence in Mar-A-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida on August 8, 2022 as federal investigators search for classified documents requested by the National Archives

Armed Secret Service agents stand outside an entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, late Monday, Aug. 8, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla. as the FBI conducted a search of his home.

Former President Donald Trump claims the FBI "raided" his home to obtain personal documents and keepsakes. The National Archives said the classified documents must be returned under the Presidential Records Act.

The documents are dated to Biden's service as vice president for Barack Obama.

President Biden and his White House legal team doesn't know what is in the documents, CNN reported.

Biden didnt know the documents were there and was only made aware of when his personal lawyers informed the White House counsels office.

Attorney General Merrick Garland's Justice Department is investigating the matter and deciding whether to appoint a special counsel, like the one investigating Trump's hoarding of sensitive documents.

Garland selected U.S. Attorney General for the Northern District of Illinois, John Lausch, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, to review the ten classified documents discovered by Biden's personal attorneys at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.

Trump was among the many Republicans demanding answers and, on Tuesday, said it was time for Biden to have a special counsel too.

The former president on Monday pointed out that his own home was raided by the FBI for having classified documents stored there.

'When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified,' he wrote on social media.

A special counsel would give the White House a certain type of political cover, allowing officials to refuse Republican requests for an investigation by saying the Justice Department was investigating.

Jack Smith, chief to the DOJ's public integrity section, was appointed special counsel in charge of the Trump classified documents investigation.

Biden slammed Trump after in the wake of the FBI raid for having classified documents in his private South Florida residence.

'How that could possibly happen? How anyone could be that irresponsible? And I thought what data was in there that would maybe compromise sources and methods?' he said to CBS' 60 Minutes. 'And it just  totally irresponsible.'

Under the Presidential Records Act, all documents from a president's administration must be turned over to the National Archives - that includes the vice president, which Biden served as at that time.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Monday night expressed disbelief at the timing of the discovery.

'Oh really? They just now found them? After all these years?' he said to reporters on Capitol Hill.

'President Trump had never been in office before and had just left, came out. Here's an individual [who] spent his last 40 years in office and still had this from the vice president.'

'It just shows that they were trying to be political to President Trump,' he added.

Biden was in Mexico City on Monday for a meeting with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and refused to answer shouted questions as to how the documents ended up inside the offices.

As the press in Mexico City was being ushered out of the meeting room, one reporter yelled out: 'Mr. President, any response to the discovery of classified documents?'

The president did not respond.

The classified materials included some top-secret files with the 'sensitive compartmented information facility' designation, also known as SCIF, which is used for highly sensitive information obtained from intelligence sources.

The White House special counsel said in a statement on Monday: 'The White House is cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice regarding the discovery of what appear to be Obama-Biden admin records, including a small number of documents with classified markings.'

The office said the documents were in a 'locked-office' and the National Archives retrieved them the day after their discovery.

Biden used that Washington D.C. office from 2017 until the start of the 2020 presidential campaign. His lawyers were packing it up as they prepared to vacate the space.

It is unclear what the classified documents contain, but their discovery follows the raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort last year and comes as Republicans begin their investigations into the Biden family.

'The documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the archives,' special White House counsel Richard Sauber said in the statement. 'Since that discovery, the president's personal attorneys have cooperated with the archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden administration documents are appropriately in the possession of the archives.'

The White House emphasized Biden's attorneys found the documents and promptly turned them over to the Archives.

In Trump's case, the Archives realized documents from his administration were missing and requested their return.

Trump eventually gave 15 boxes of materials to the agency, which discovered classified documents among them. When federal investigators suspected the former president was holding onto more documents, they got a judges permission to search Mar-a-Lago.

That search took place in August and turned up more documents.
Pakistan is set to receive more than $9 billion in aid from donors at an international conference in Geneva to help its efforts in flood recovery as millions of children are still at risk over contaminated water.

Authorities hosted the event in Geneva on Monday with the help of the United Nations in an attempt to shore up foreign aid to cover roughly half of a total $16.3 billion recovery bill. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres kicked off the one-day conference, which was attended by officials from nearly 40 countries as well as private donors and international financial institutions.

Massive Funding Assistance For Pakistan

The unprecedented flooding that occurred in Pakistan last year was caused by melting glaciers and record monsoon rains. The crisis affected more than 33 million Pakistanis and killed more than 1,700 citizens while pushing roughly 9 million others into poverty, the UN said.

In the aftermath of the flooding, thousands of people are still living in open areas, tents, and makeshift homes located in Sindh and Balochistan, which were the two worst-hit provinces as stagnant water was still present in many areas across the nation, as per Aljazeera.

Pakistani Deputy Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar released a statement saying that the final tally came in above a target for the international community. She said that taken as a whale, the commitments totaled more than $9 billion and were considered additional commitments on top of other humanitarian assistance from bilateral and multilateral partners.

Guterres previously praised Pakistan and its people for responding to the "epic tragedy with heroic humanity." He added that the world must now match the heroic efforts with massive investments to strengthen the country's communities for the future.

The UN chief added that Pakistan was double victimized by climate chaos and a morally bankrupt global financial system. Guterres noted that no country deserved to endure what happened during the flooding crisis.

Read Also: China-Taiwan Conflict: War-Game Simulations Reveal Chinese Failure, Massive Damage for US Military

Children Under Threat

According to Yahoo News, oftentimes, UN pledging conferences draw promises of large sums from governments, international organizations, and other donors. However, these commitments are not always fulfilled in their entirety. The Pakistani government also announced plans for independent, outside monitors to make sure that the funds go where they are most needed.

The one-day conference shaped up to be a test case of how willing rich countries would be to assist developing-world countries such as Pakistan to manage the impact of climate change and brace for other similar disasters.

The financial commitments come more than four months after a national state of emergency was declared in Pakistan. Now, up to 4 million children are still living near contaminated waters, which threaten their survival and well-being, UNICEF warned.

Acute respiratory infections among children, which is a leading cause of child mortality across the globe, have jumped in flood-stricken areas in Pakistan. Furthermore, the number of cases of children found suffering from severe acute malnutrition between July and December last year compared to the prior year has nearly doubled. There are also an estimated 1.5 million children who are in need of lifesaving nutrition interventions, UNICEF reported.

Related Article: Joe Biden, USA Under Pressure To Send Back Jair Bolsonaro to Brazil After Fanatics Attacked Brazilian Government

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Prince Harry appears to have bolstered his personal security detail as he promotes his new memoir, which offers the stunning claim that he killed 25 Taliban fighters during the war in Afghanistan.

During a visit to Manhattan on Monday for an interview with The Late Show's Stephen Colbert, Harry was escorted from his hotel by three NYPD detectives in plainclothes and two private bodyguards, a witness told DailyMail.com.

One of the bodyguards, a British former policeman, was seen carrying a pistol case emblazoned with the logo of Glock, the handgun brand that is popular in both private use and as a police service weapon.

Jonathan Wackrow, a former Secret Service agent with experience in presidential and dignitary protection, told DailyMail.com that enhancing the security around Harry and his family is a 'sound decision' given the attention from his book tour and wartime claims.

'Anytime the public profile of individual increases so does the risk. When coupled with detailed claims that could inspire or motivate retaliation, it only worsens a tense situation,' said Wackrow in an email on Tuesday.

Prince Harry is seen on Monday leaving his Manhattan hotel and heading to record an episode of Stephen Colbert's show, accompanied by an armed guard with a Glock lock box

At least one member of Harry's security detail on Monday was seen wearing what looked like an NYPD detective badge. It is unclear whether he was on-duty, or moonlighting

It's unclear whether the pistol case seen on Monday contained a gun, or why the bodyguard would use a case instead of a body-worn holster for easier access.

However, Wackrow speculated that the case may have been needed to secure the gun for a flight following the Late Show appearance. Even on private planes, firearms often must be declared and secured in a locked case.

He also said that NYPD cops working a protection detail typically do not allow private security guards to work alongside them while armed, and may have required the bodyguard to secure the weapon in the case while they protected Harry.

Harry has long relied on armed private bodyguards since moving to the US, but the appearance of the guard carrying a pistol case was an unusual sight.

As well, at least one member of the security detail at The Late Show was seen wearing what looked like an NYPD detective badge.

However, it is unclear whether the NYPD assigned a detail to protect Harry, or detectives were working as private security while off duty, which is a common practice.

The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Tuesday morning.

Harry is seen taking selfies with fans, as a bodyguard (right) looks on during an event in Dusseldorf, Germany in September. It's unclear how many bodyguards were present

A heavy security detail, including a woman (second from left) wearing the badge of a United Nations security officer, is seen around Megan and Harry as they depart the UN Building in July

Harry's armed guard The Glock lock box carried by Prince Harry's guard usually contains a pistol and ammunition. It can be configured for any type of handgun. Unlike in the U.K. - where private armed security is illegal - it is common for security guards to carry firearms in the U.S. Harry and Meghan are believed to rely on Gavin de Becker and Associates, a private LA firm that charges up to $8,800 per day. Advertisement

Harry's seemingly bolstered personal security comes after he claimed in his new book Spare that he killed 25 enemy fighters during two tours of Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter gunner.

The book reveals that he thought of the enemy casualties as chess pieces rather than people as a means of bearing the emotional strain of taking dozens of lives -- an admission that has already drawn fury from the Taliban.

Anas Haqqani, chief of the Taliban's infamous Haqqani network, lashed out at the prince in a tweet, writing: 'The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families who were waiting for their return.'

Although the Taliban itself is not known for carrying out attacks overseas, the potential for violent retribution over Harry's wartime claims may have inspired his heightened security.

'I would absolutely maintain increased physical security coupled with enhanced protective intelligence throughout the book tour,' said Wackrow, the former Secret Service agent.

However, he noted that 'threats take the path of least resistance' and that it would be important to consider how long and at what level Harry and his family use additional security.

'As long as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex maintain a high profile, whether in the US or UK, they will be subject to the high personal risk caused by threats and vulnerabilities surrounding them coupled with the unique characteristics of the royal family profile,' said Wackrow.

The prince has become increasingly concerned for his security since moving to the United States with wife Meghan Markle, and has frequently said he feels vulnerable.

He took legal action against British authorities after he was blocked under U.K. law from paying for armed police protection in the country.

In High Court papers filed in London, the Duke of Sussex said he 'does not feel safe' in Britain without armed security, and said the decision to prevent him being accompanied by armed guards is 'unlawful' and 'unfair'.

When he stepped down as a working member of the British royal family, he lost his official taxpayer-funded security detail.

In September 2021, when Harry and Megan visited New York, one of their bodyguards (left) told DailyMail.com that he was with the Department of Homeland Security

NYPD officers armed with long guns stood watch as Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, walked while visiting the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan in September 2021

He has said that paying for private armed security is one reason he has sought to sign lucrative deals in the U.S. - such as his memoir, for which he was reportedly paid a $20million advance by publisher Penguin Random House.

ET Canada reported an even more extravagant sum, claiming the deal is for four editions, with a $35million-$40million fee.

Though the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have often spoken out about their physical security concerns, they keep the details of their private security arrangements closely guarded.

In September 2021, when Harry and Megan visited New York during the United Nations General assembly, one of their bodyguards told DailyMail.com that he was with the Department of Homeland Security.

The federal department encompasses a number of agencies with sworn police services, including the Secret Service, Federal Protective Service, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), but the man offered no further details on his agency.
Rishi Sunak was under fire today for using an RAF jet to fly 200 miles to Leeds for an NHS photo op.

Downing Street defended the Prime Minister for using a military Envoy passenger plane for the 36-minute journey from from London to West Yorkshire on Monday, saying there was 'a great deal of pressure on his time'.

Number 10 posted pictures online showing him boarding the French-made executive jet, which can carry 14 people, late last night, in front of a saluting serviceman.

A train from Kings Cross to Leeds takes little over two hours. But rail services across the north of England have been dogged by problems in recent months. There have also been extensive strikes affecting services across the country.

The PM's official spokesman told reporters today: 'The transport the prime minister takes will vary and always be done in the interest of what's most effective.'

But Labour mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin said: 'Its a damning verdict on our public transport network when the PM doesnt want to use it to visit Leeds.

'I wish we could all take a taxpayer-funded jet to avoid the appalling rail services in the North. But sadly that is for a very privileged few.'

Number 10 posted pictures online showing him boarding the French-made executive jet, which can carry 14 people, late last night.

The Prime Minister chatted with 75-year-old Pauline Burke and her carers - husband Patrick and daughter Emma - when he visited Rutland Lodge Medical Practice in Leeds.

Labour mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin said: 'Its a damning verdict on our public transport network when the PM doesnt want to use it to visit Leeds'

The Prime Minister chatted with 75-year-old Pauline Burke and her carers - husband Patrick and daughter Emma - when he visited Rutland Lodge Medical Practice in Leeds.

He was accompanied by social care minister Helen Whately.

Leeds North East MP Fabian Hamilton said it was 'a disgraceful waste of money showing that Rishi Sunak is out of touch and does not take the climate emergency seriously'.

'If only the Conservatives could get the trains to run on time,' he added.

He is the latest minister to face questions over their use of official government aircraft for journeys that could be done by cheaper - albeit slower - forms of transport.

Last November Home Secretary Suella Braverman used an RAF chinook helicopter to travel 30 miles from Dover to the Manston migrant camp at the height of the Channel boat crisis.

She was spotted disembarking from the aircraft wearing a Top Gun-style pilots' helmet. Sources close to the Home Secretary said it was so she could 'see the breadth of the coastline' that Border Force officials are having to monitor as thousands continue to arrive in Britain from across the Channel.

During the helicopter journey, Dan OMahoney, Border Forces clandestine threat commander, was said to have pointed out locations to Mrs Braverman where migrants' small boats are brought to shore.
The lawyer for the family of Kaylee Goncalves says suspect Bryan Kohberger has no connection to any of the four students he is accused of murdering.

Kohberger is facing the death penalty on four counts of first degree murder.

He denies the charges, despite DNA from the scene matching a sample taken from his house, and says he will prove his innocence in court.

While police have laid out some of their evidence against him, no motive for the killings has yet been suggested.

Bryan Kohberger is facing the death penalty on four counts of first degree murder. He is due back in court on Thursday in Idaho

A lawyer for the family of one of the victims says Kohberger had no connection to any of the kids. Pictured from left, Dylan Mortensen - who survived and says she saw Kohberger in the house - Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and survivor Bethany Funke

Now, Shannon Gray - the attorney representing Kaylee's family - says Kohberger didn't even know any of the victims.

'No one knew of this guy at all,' Gray said in an interview with Business Insider.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed in court last week, Kohberger visited the students' home on multiple occasions.

'It appears from the affidavit that he was in the area of the house on several occasions. That's all we know,' Gray added.

Kaylee's family previously revealed her fears that she was being stalked, but no stalker has ever been identified.

Steve Goncalves, Kaylee's father, previously said in an interview that he saw a 'link' between Kohberger and the victims, but he did not go into anymore detail .

Shannon Gray is the attorney representing the Goncalves family. He says no one knew of Kohberger 'at all'

Kohberger is due back in court on Thursday. Last week, he was denied bail after a brief hearing in Idaho following his extradition from Pennsylvania, where he was arrested.

FBI agents staked out his home for days before swooping in to arrest him.

Their smoking gun was the DNA evidence against Kohberger; a sample found on the button snap of a knife sheath left at the scene was a 99.98 percent match to DNA taken from his family home, that could only belong to him or his father.

At the time of the murders in November, Kohberger was living seven miles from the scene, studying at the University of Washington's Pullman campus.

His white Hyundai Elantra also matches the car seen driving in the area on the night of the attacks, and police say he suspiciously turned off his cell phone in the hours surrounding the attack in an alleged effort to evade detection.

Kohberger has not yet submitted a plea or a full defense, but his public defender in Pennsylvania said he was eager to prove his innocence.

He maintains the support of his family, who joined him in court for his first appearance.

Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show Michael Kohberger at the family's Pennsylvania home Sunday, dressed in a jeans and gray hoodie emblazoned with the words 'life is good' on the back
Older pupils are also having to serve food to younger pupils at lunch time

The school said it prevents children being tempted to use their hands

A school is making pupils keep their hands behind their backs under new rules

Outraged parents have slammed a primary school for being more like a 'North Korean prison camp' after staff introduced strict new rules.

The 'Behavioural Curriculum' includes children aged as young as seven having to walk around school with their hands behind their backs to prevent them from running.

Harnham Junior School in Salisbury, Wiltshire introduced the changes when the school restarted after the Christmas break. The youngsters are supposed to put out their hands only to keep their balance when going up and down stairs.

During lunchtimes, the children must sing a song together before they are allowed to sit down and eat.

Harnham Junior School in Wiltshire has introduced a strict new regime of rules for its pupils

Children at the Church of England school have been told they must keep their hands behind their back when walking around the school to stop them from running

And in a bid to reverse a 'general decline in standards' at meal times, older children must sit with younger ones and serve them their meals and clear plates away.

The mother of one Year Six child said her son was told off because he got another child's pudding order wrong.

She posted on social media: 'He told me he was told off as he got another child's pudding order wrong and when he took it back to swap it he was told off. WTF, he is a child and not responsible for serving other children. Slavery was abolished hundreds of years ago!'

Each table must talk among themselves about a pre-determined discussion topic and is expected to speak to the whole hall afterwards about that subject.

Topics have so far included which colour is the most peaceful and what pet is best to keep.

Many parents have complained to the school that they don't want their children to be treated as waiters.

There have also been reports of several Year Six pupils not having enough time to eat their own lunches because they were too busy serving others.

Some parents have said they are disgusted by the rules and have likened the Church of England school to a prison camp or dictatorship.

An emergency meeting is due to be held on Wednesday between headteacher Luke Coles and parents to discuss the issue.

In a letter to parents seen by the Mail, Mr Coles apologised for not adequately communicating the changes.

He also denied that children were forced to walk with hands behind their backs, although they were encouraged to, or stand up and speak about the discussion topic, something which was voluntary. Neither were children forced to sing songs as they entered the dining hall, a practice Mr Coles said was an enjoyable and social way of allowing children to be seated before they all ate together.

Tim Bevington, 41, who has three children at the school, said: 'Lunchtime is supposed to be when the kids can freely enjoy time with friends. They should be allowed to bond with their chosen friendship groups, not be forced to sit with people they don't know.

Some parents accused the new rules of being 'completely ridiculous' and far too strict

Teachers at the school said: 'Changes that we have introduced will have a huge impact on creating a much calmer atmosphere'

'My children are not waiters and waitresses, the kids should be responsible for their own mess.

'And giving them a topic and forcing them to talk about it, in my opinion that's another lesson. Lunchtime should be time for them to relax and get ready for afternoon lessons.

'It's all completely ridiculous. I will not have my kids being forced to walk in the halls with their hands behind their backs like they are in a detention centre or concentration camp.

'I don't know what the school is playing at but I'm fuming and have written to them complaining.'

One mum, who wants to remain anonymous, said: 'My son came home really upset and scared. He is worried about going into school now.

'It's making a lot of children uncomfortable and anxious about going to school and I think making them walk with their hands behind their back is ridiculous.

'And the fact they didn't inform parents beforehand is disgusting.'

Nick Snook, 35, whose daughters attend the school, said: 'I don't understand what they think the benefits of these rules will be. They seem to be punishing everyone because of a few children misbehaving.

'It's madness. I can't see how this will be good for the majority of kids, it sounds more like a military school or prison camp than a primary teaching children as young as seven.'

On social media others jokingly questioned if the headteacher was Kim Jong-Un and many parents said they would be pulling their children out if this was their school.

In a letter to parents outlining the new 'Behavioural Curriculum', assistant headteacher Ruth Fletcher said they didn't consult with parents as they thought it would 'cause unnecessary angst'.

The letter stated they were basing the new rules on research by Bill Rogers, a British education consultant and author of behaviour management books, Doug Lemov, a US educator and author, and Tom Bennett, the lead behaviour adviser for the Department of Education.

Miss Fletcher said: 'This isn't something that has just been decided without any thought. Extensive research has been used, not to mention other schools visited by staff to identify what has been tried, tested and works.

'I recognise that when you hear what we are trying to implement it does sound very formal, however when you see the results it is far more relaxed than it actually sounds.

'Changes that we have introduced will have a huge impact on creating a much calmer atmosphere and will help to ensure all children enjoy coming into school daily.'

The teacher added that some children had said lunchtimes were often too loud and not very pleasant.

The school now has 'Family Lunch' sittings involving a mix of all years.

The letter said: 'This reinforces the value of the older children being role models to the younger children and also allows the children to mix with others who might not be in their immediate circle of friends, encouraging an atmosphere of inclusivity, extending friendship opportunities and practising making new friends.'

It said the children would sing along to a familiar song to allow the whole 'family group' to arrive before sitting down to eat, making the start of lunch calmer, and a discussion topic would be shared 'to promote talk around the table because research shows children who eat at a formal dinner table have improved vocabulary'.

Referring to the hands behind the back rule, the letter said: 'Research, and experience, shows that it is difficult to run without moving your arms and so the routine of children having their hands behind them encourages all children to walk.

'It also prevents the temptation of using their hands in other ways that might not be acceptable.

'Obviously, there are times, for example, when walking down stairs, when this would not be a good idea and so children would be expected to use their hands/arms in the usual way to steady themselves.'

In a statement, Harnham Junior School said: 'We have made some changes to our lunchtime routines after feedback from some of our pupils. While we did mention to parents we would be looking at changes, we should have explained more how these would be rolled out.

'There has been misinformation on social media around some changes and we have contacted parents to clarify these misconceptions. The changes, with feedback from our pupils and wider school, are already having a positive impact and creating a calm atmosphere around the school and for pupils starting lessons. We look forward to continuing to work together with parents as we ensure lunchtimes are enjoyable for all our pupils.
The owner of a popular fishing lake has told how his business has been devastated by a ravenous seal which so far has chomped through 3,000 worth of fish.

Nick North said he has been forced to shut his business to anglers for three weeks after the hungry seal moved in and started snacking on dozens of carp, bream and catfish.

The mammal has so far evaded two attempts to capture it and is also believed to be snacking on the local duck population.

The RSPCA, Essex Rural Police and the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) have all been involved in attempts to capture the animal.

The seal has been eating through thousands of pounds worth of fish stocks after finding its way into the lake in Essex

The grey seal, aged one, was first spotted on December 6 swimming up the River Roach in Essex having likely come from the sea nine miles away.

It was then spotted in the frozen Marks Hall Fisheries lake in Rochford Reservoir, Essex, on December 12 and has been there ever since.

Mr North said: 'It's ridiculous. It's ruining my business.

'It could probably get out if it wanted to but it won't go. It's got never-ending food supplies.'

He now has to wait for the environmental agencies to conjure up another plan.

Whilst he waits he is getting no compensation for the loss of business.

He said: 'It eating my fish doesn't come into it apparently.'

Mr North said the seal had eaten up to 3,000 worth of fish, which he said is 'ruining' his business

Mr North has leased the lake from Rochford District Council for 12 years and never found himself in this predicament.

He also suspects the animal has killed ducks, after finding five dead birds around the lake since its arrival.

The resident ducks have all moved to the river and haven't been seen on the lake since.

According to Mr North, the creature crawled over the 10-metre bank between the lake and the river Roach.

It then went onto the frozen lake and fell through the ice on its way to the island in the middle.

What may have started as an accident that temporarily trapped the animal has ended up in a well-fed seal that is very reluctant to leave its newfound treasure trove of fish.

The seal has managed to evade capture twice so far

Mr North claimed he has lost up to 3,000 worth of fish and over 500 in day tickets to the lake.

Footage from January 5 shows a rescue operation by dozens of people who try to capture the seal that evades them once again.

Mr North said the seal has some injuries that were previously of concern to the BDLMR but have been deemed not life-threatening.

The mammal has a cut on its head and tail and a suspected blind eye.

He added: 'It shouldn't be here, this is fresh water, you've never seen a seal in a park lake or any lake really.

'It's not made for fresh water. Even though it's ruining my business. It's still part of nature I suppose, just an unwanted part.'

Other wildlife is being affected, with the BDLMR saying it 'appreciated the detrimental effect on the other species'

A spokesperson from BDLMR said: 'We are currently the lead agency dealing with a seal which has found its way into a fishing lake near Southend.

'Tranquilisers and electrofishing do not work on seals due to their insulating fat and risks to the fish population.

'We do want this animal to be relocated as much as the angling community do - it cannot exhibit normal 'seal' behaviour on its own (they are social, colony animals).

'All agencies involved appreciate the detrimental effect on the other species in the lake.

'Seals are capable of living healthily in freshwater, however, it is obviously not a natural location for this one.

'We need to give it a short period to settle again after the last two attempts. We must balance the stress of capture attempts against the likelihood of success.

'We do have a further plan being discussed at the moment, including the fantastic team who manage the lake.

'We would ask for the public's support in looking after this animal until such time as a resolution can be reached.'
An Afghan asylum seeker who told British authorities he was 16 but was later confirmed to be 21 stabbed an aspiring Royal Marine to death when he tried to break up a fight over an electric scooter, his murder trial heard today.

Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai twice plunged a knife into Thomas Roberts' chest when the 21-year-old tried to stop the altercation between him and his friend outside a Subway sandwich shop in Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth in the early hours of March 12 last year.

Abdulrahimzai, also 21, got into an argument with James Medway over an e-scooter he had been using when Mr Medway was on a 'very chilled' night out with Mr Roberts.

Jurors at Salisbury Crown Court were today told that, moments after intervening, Mr Roberts sustained two stab wounds to his chest from 'aggressive' Abdulrahimzai - with one slicing through his heart.

Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai twice plunged a knife into Thomas Roberts (pictured) when the 21-year-old tried to stop the altercation between him and his friend outside a Subway sandwich shop in Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth in the early hours of March 12 last year

A police cordon around Horseshoe Common in Bournemouth

'A fatal encounter all about a scooter which has cost this boy his life', prosecutor Nic Lobbenberg KC told jurors.

It can be reported there was a court hearing to determine Abdulrahimzai's age, Judge Paul Dugdale said at Salisbury Crown Court.

Before the trial, there was an unusual legal dispute over Abdulrahimzai's age and it had to be determined at a court hearing.

After he was arrested, Abdulrahimzai told officers he believed he was 16 and had entered the UK aged 14. As a result, he was considered a juvenile and so could not be identified in the press due to legal reasons.

However, checks were carried out and at court it was determined he was born in October 2001 and was in fact 20 at the time of the alleged murder, and had been 18 when he came to the UK. He was transferred from a young offender institution and a judge ruled he could be identified in the press as he is an adult.

Today, it was heard Abdulrahimzai had told friends whom he made in Dorset that he was 16.

Abdulrahimzai - wearing an Afghan flag around his neck - fled on foot following the alleged murder outside the Subway.

In CCTV footage, Mr Roberts, a nightclub DJ from Bournemouth who was described as 'kind and funny', could be seen staggering on his feet then collapsing seconds after he was knifed.

Abdulrahimzai had been drifting around Bournemouth town centre in the early hours of March 12 on the Beryl e-scooter and shortly before the attack attempted to headbutt one reveller outside a club, it was heard. He admits manslaughter, but denies murder.

Prosecutor Mr Lobbenberg KC said Mr Roberts and Mr Medway visited several bars and clubs, including a strip club, before the attack unfolded around 4.40am outside Subway. They had been looking to get a taxi home when Mr Medway suggested they take what appeared to be an unused e-scooter. However, Abdulrahimzai quickly became 'aggressive' over it.

A police cordon outside Subway on Old Christchurch Road in Bournemouth

Mr Lobbenberg said: 'On the 12th of March last year, Thomas Roberts, who was 21, was out in Bournemouth with his friend James Medway, they were on a night out that James described as being very chilled.

'Outside Subway about half past four in the morning James got on a Beryl [E-scooter]. There was an altercation with Abdulrahimzai. Thomas was the peacemaker, he came between the two men.

'For his troubles, he received two stab wounds. The first was to his chest, it cut two bones in his rib, and sliced through his chest cavity... and cut the left ventricle of his heart. There was a second wound to the abdomen.'

Talking about the dispute, the prosecutor said: 'Mr Medway says to Tom 'we don't need to get a taxi home, we can scoot. It's not being used, we can take it'. He is immediately confronted by Abdulrahimzai, Tom comes between them and the defendant gets in Tom's face and is very aggressive.

'The defendant is getting in his face and he slaps the defendant in the face with an open palm. Abdulrahimzai draws a knife and stabs him twice.'

The prosecutor added that Mr Roberts stayed on his feet for a few seconds but then collapsed, 'bleeding profusely'.

Members of the public tried to help and he was later taken to hospital, where he died in the operating theatre.

The prosecutor added: 'Thomas had never met Abdulrahimzai before. This was in the town centre, in an area popular with young people and the night economy. The knife had been brought by Abdulrahimzai. After the stabbing, Abdulrahimzai fled and James chased him but lost him in nearby woodland. Abdulrahimzai dropped his mobile phone.

'He went back to his place in Poole and changed his clothes. On the 13th, he was arrested at the address, police had tracked his phone back to him.'

He also said: 'This defendant has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter. This is not a case about whether he has killed Thomas Roberts as he accepts he has. It's about the circumstances, because the crown says this is murder.'

Mr Roberts, a drum and bass DJ known as 'Nomad', had worked at local nightclubs and dreamt of becoming a Royal Marine.

After his death, his family described him as 'kind and funny' and that he 'brought so much life into the room'.

His family, attending court today, wept in the public gallery as they watched on.

It was heard that Abdulrahimzai will argue a 'loss of control' defence.

Abdulrahimzai, from Poole, Dorset, denies murder.

The trial continues.
The wife of a retired border agent and leader of a border group slammed whoever tasked guards with cleaning up trash and moving along migrants from the streets of El Paso before Joe Biden's visit over the weekend.

Irene Armendariz-Jackson told DailyMail.com that Biden did not have an 'aha moment' during his Sunday visit because he saw a 'sanitized' version of the border.

She also claimed that the president wouldn't have realized the full extent of the crisis even if he witnessed the continuous flow over the border and saw migrants in the streets.

Morale among border agents is still at an all time low  and didn't change after Biden's visit, she said.

Biden took his first-ever trip as president to the southern border on Sunday. He surveyed the border and spoke with officials in El Paso, Texas.

Irene Armendariz-Jackson (left) and her retired Border Patrol husband Bill (right) are in touch with agents who they say are 'counting the days to their retirement' and were not reassured by President Joe Biden's trip to El Paso's border

Armendariz-Jackson, president of the Border Security Coalition, slammed those who led efforts to 'sanitize' El Paso before biden's visit. Above: A picture shows blankets, trash and migrants on the streets of EL Paso

The same area was cleared-out was Border Patrol agents were tasked with cleaning up trash before Biden's visit. Armendariz-Jackson said the 'sanitization' didn't allow Biden to see the full extent of the crisis in border communities

The visit came just three days after Biden announced new plans regarding migration and was just a few-hour stop on his way to the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico City, Mexico this week.

Armendariz-Jackson, president of the Border Security Coalition, said she and her retired border agent husband Bill are in contact with a lot of officials and agents with Border Patrol. She said they are hearing that the agents weren't reassured by Biden's trip.

'They did not expect any miracle,' Armendariz-Jackson said. 'They didn't expect an 'aha moment' where Biden says, 'I repent of all of my sins on the border.' They did not  they knew it was a photo op.'

'Morale is still the same, you know. People are just counting the days to their retirement,' she explained.

El Paso's Mayor Oscar Leeser, a Democrat, 'sold out' the city so he could 'feel important' by going on a 'ride along' with the president at the border, Armendariz-Jackson alleged.

She claimed it was wrong to clean up El Paso before the visit because it didn't give an accurate depiction of the crisis. However, she also claimed that Biden should not need to see the issues first-hand to realize actions need to be taken to fix the overflow.

'Is his dementia really that advanced that he hasn't seen the videos that everybody's posting about the conditions of the border crisis here in El Paso? I mean, is that a reality?' Armendariz-Jackson questioned.

'Did we need him to come and set foot in them [border facilities] to not know what is really what he has caused?' she added. 'I don't think so.'

Biden visited the El Paso, Texas border barrier on Sunday in his first-ever trip to the southern border on Sunday, January 8

The quick visit was just a few-hour stop during his flight down to Mexico City, Mexico for the North American Leaders Summit. Pictured: Biden shakes hands with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday, January 9

Armendariz-Jackson, whose parents are legal immigrants, said she's on a mission to find out who gave the orders to clean up El Paso before Biden's trip, claiming that Border Patrol agents as well as First and Police department officials in the city were tasked with the 'sanitization' efforts.

Before and after images show piles of trash and clothing, as well as swaths of illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers camping out on the streets, that were moved along. Armendariz-Jackson said they are unsure where the migrants went, but suggested they could be in hotels contracted by the government like what happened in 2019.

'First of all, they sanitized the city,' Armendariz-Jackson lamented during an interview with DailyMail.com. 'And I want to find out who gave the order to clean up El Paso.'

She said the perception Biden got from El Paso due to it being 'sanitized' just 'affirms' the president's incorrect claims that 'the border is closed' and 'that there is no crisis.'

'Tragically, the mayor of El Paso, who is one of the wealthiest people here in El Paso, but he is a staunch Democrat, he  I guess the price to sell the community out was to be able to ride along with Biden,' she said.

Armendariz-Jackson's parents are legal immigrants who are against illegal immigration

'And that made him feel important enough that somehow he was okay with the cleanup efforts.'

The Border Security Coalition is a group with the main goal of solving the crisis at the southern border through 'quantifiable metrics'  like decreasing illegal crossings and securing the legal ports of entry.

Armendariz-Jackson says there is nothing wrong with U.S. immigration and migration laws, but explained that the issue lies in the incorrect or lack-off enforcement of these statutes.

Biden announced in a Thursday speech from the White House, much to the dismay of Democrats, that he would extend the Trump-era expulsion policy known as Title 42, which allows for instant deportation of asylum-seekers during a public health emergency.

He did also announce a separate program that would allow 30,000 migrants every month to fly or enter the U.S. through a port of entry if they apply ahead of time for asylum on a smartphone application.
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A fascinating archive belonging to a Second World War hero and keeper of the late Queen's horses at Windsor has emerged at auction.

The rare collection of medals and photos belonged to Captain Evelyn Whyard Joslin, who was a famous show jumper in the 1930s. He later trained and tended to the young Queen's beloved horses in the 1950s.

Alongside Captain Joslin's MBE and his 1914 Star medal trio is a signed picture of the Queen and Prince Phillip with their children King Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew.

The charming photo shows the family sat on a picnic blanket joined by several corgi dogs in front of Balmoral Castle.

A fascinating archive belonging to a Second World War hero and keeper of the late Queen's horses at Windsor has emerged at auction. The rare collection of medals and photos belonged to Captain Evelyn Whyard Joslin (pictured), who was a famous show jumper in the 1930s. He later trained and tended to the young Queen's beloved horses in the 1950s

Soldiers are seen tending to their horses' hooves in another of the images in Captain Joslin's album, which was described by auctioneer Chris Elmy as one of the best he has ever seen

The archive includes a large photo album of cavalrymen in training after the war.

Captain Joslin, who won several show jumping trophies and military tournaments, can be seen in one picture mounted on a horse as it jumps over an obstacle.

He died in the 1960s aged 79 and his belongings are now being sold by his descendants, who wish to remain anonymous.

They are tipped to sell for more than 1,200 at Lockdales Auctioneers of Martlesham, Ipswich.

Alongside Capt Joslin's MBE and his 1914 Star medal trio is a signed picture of the Queen and Prince Phillip with their children King Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew. The charming photo shows the family sat on a picnic blanket joined by several corgi dogs in front of Balmoral Castle

Captain Joslin died in the 1960s aged 79 and his belongings are now being sold by his descendants, who wish to remain anonymous. Above: His First World War service medals, complete with show jumping awards. Above: Medals at the bottom (from left) MBE (Military) and the 1914 Star Trio with original Aug-Nov clasp

Chris Elmy, valuer at Lockdales, said: 'I think the photo album is one of the best I've ever seen.

'For example, the photo of the cavalryman 'saving the baby' - a doll- is Joslin himself.

'In the photo of the fete it is him standing beside the goat, the regimental mascot.

'Another which struck me was the signed photograph of the Queen and the Royal Family. That is particularly poignant right now.

'Joslin was was a captain in the Machine Gun Corps in the First World War, and seems to have been an award winning show jumper in the 1930s.

Military officers are seen training with their horses in one of the images taken by Captain Joslin, who served in the armed forces in the First World War

Officers are seen on horseback as other soldiers run ahead of them. The image shows British forces during a training exercise. It is another ones that features in Captain Joslin's fascinating album

This fascinating image shows soldiers and a horse wearing a gas mask, as one of the men holds a weighty machine gun aloft

This image shows a soldier during what appears to be a polo tournament, as soldiers and dozens of others watch on

'We have estimated the collection at 1,200 - but I expect it to go for higher than that.

'The sellers, part of his family, think the group would be better off with a specialist collector because then it remains safe and is kept together.'

Captain Joslin's collection will be sold on January 18.

The Queen's fondness of horses began when she was just four after her grandfather, King George V, gave her a little Shetland pony.

By the age of six she had fallen in love with riding, becoming an accomplished equestrian in her teenage years and has continued to ride for pleasure throughout her life.

From her first appearance at the annual Trooping the Colour until 1986, the monarch would attend the ceremony on horseback.

Captain Joslin is seen 'saving' a doll as his horse gallops across a stretch of land, whilst dozens of onlookers can be seen behind him

Captain Joslin (second from right) is seen with other military officers and troops, as well as goat that was a regimental mascot, at a fete

Soldiers are seen wrestling each other in front of a huge crowd, as officers stand on the sidelines and watch the action

Soldiers are seen laying wreaths at a remembrance service after the First World War in another image that features in Captain Joslin's album

These women are seen looking strained as they take part in a tug of war competition. The image also features in Captain Joslin's album

Soldiers are seen training with a machine gun as men on horseback are gathered behind them - and a dog sniffs around in front of them

Captain Joslin is seen standing next to his horse as another soldier rearranges a jump. Captain Joslin died in the 1960s aged 79

Soldiers are seen on horses as they move over a low fence in another image that features in Captain Joslin's archive

Soldiers are seen leading their horses through water in one of the images that features in Captain Joslin's album

A soldier (right) is seen carrying a hefty machine gun as another man runs next to him with a different bit of equipment

These soldiers look fully invested in a difficult-looking bout of tug of war. The image features in Captain Joslin's trove of photographs

She first attended the Royal Windsor Horse Show as a horse-mad teenager in 1943. Together with Princess Margaret, the 17-year-old showed off her equestrian prowess by winning the Pony & Dogcart class.

The Queen owned several thoroughbreds for racing after she initially inherited King George's breeding and racing stock following his death in February 1952.

In 1974, the monarch's interest in horses was the subject of a documentary title, The Queen's Race Horses: a Private View, which she herself narrated.

It is thought she made around 10million in prize money over her lifetime, while her operation started with just two trainers and 20 horses,

In October, King Charles made more than 1million by selling off 14 of his late mother's racehorses.

The royal racehorses made him an average of 76,821 each - 1,075,500 in total - with Charles's first race-winning horse Just Fine being sold for 300,000.
An 11-year-old Georgia boy has lost 70 per cent of his scalp after being dragged into a ditch by three snarling pit bulls.

Justin Gilstrap, of Appling in Columbia County, was riding his bike outside his house on Friday when his neighbor's three hounds broke free and chased him down.

One of the dogs clamped down on his leg before the others joined in, pulling him off the road and into a nearby ditch.

There they proceeded to maul him, tearing chunks off his scalp, ears, chest and legs and their owner later admitted that they liked to chase bicycles.

Speaking to local outlet WRDW news, his devastated mother Ericka, who had previously reported the dogs to authorities, said: 'He was just being a little boy playing outside like all the boys do.'

Justin Gilstrap, 11, was reportedly riding his bike in Appling when the animals attacked himand pulled him into a nearby ditch

Justin suffered lacerations all over his body, lost 70% of his scalp and half his ear

Doctors placed Justin in a medically induced coma as they fought to stop the bleeding. They eventually managed to close his wounds

The pit bulls savaged Justin to within an inch of his life before running off.

He was foundby relatives minutes later lying helpless in the dirt by his nephew who alerted mom Ericka who called 911.

Justin was rushed to hospital and placed in a medically induced coma as doctors labored to save his life.

On a GoFundMe page dedicated to raising money to pay for Justin's medical bills, Ericka wrote: 'He is missing 70% of his scalp, has several lacerations and staples, they couldn't close the wound on his leg, and now he's running a fever.

Columbia County deputies added that he had one of his ears ripped apart in the attack.

Justin remained in a coma until Sunday morning, when Ericka offered an update on his condition.

'This morning he woke up and started crying. He was mouthing to us about his bike and his Georgia boots. All of that is replaceable he's not! It was pitiful! I hope he doesn't remember any of this. This has truly been a living nightmare.'

Ericka added: 'He should be at home right now riding his bike, you know, not sedated in a hospital bed. Just kills me, absolutely kills me. My poor baby.'

The pit bulls meanwhile were rounded up by Animal Control shortly after the attack.

The dogs' owner, Burt Baker III, had been the subject of several complaints in connection with his pets.

A statement from Columbia County Sheriff's Office: read: 'Around 7 p.m. (Friday) we were called to 212 Langston Drive in reference to a dog attack on an 11 year old boy.

'When we arrived on scene, Animal Control was in the process of taking three dogs into their custody.

'All three dogs attacked Justin on the side of the road in the ditch, causing substantial injuries to his body that appeared to be life threatening at the time. Justin was taken to AUMC for emergency surgery.

'The owner of the dogs, Burt Baker III, arrived on scene and admitted that the dogs were his and later stated they like to chase people on bicycles. After learning from Animal Control Officer Dana Csira that Baker has had reports and warnings in the past, Burt was taken into custody charged with Reckless Conduct.'

In her GoFundMe post, Ericka herself pointed out she had lodged several complaints with local officials about the dogs, to no avail.

'The sad thing is we have reported these dogs several times before! Columbia County did nothing! It's sad it took this for them to finally do something,' she declared.
Politico VP of communications would not comment but said it breached policy

Despite deleting the tweet and apologizing, he has updated an online resume

A Politico reporter who called Pope Benedict XVI a 'homophobic pedophile protector and Hitler Youth alumnus' after he died last month appears to have been fired, according to his LinkedIn profile and personal website.

Eric Geller, who wrote about cybersecurity for Politico for more than six years, caused controversy after sharing a news story about late Pope's death on Twitter with an offensive caption on December 31, hours after his passing was announced.

'Homophobic pedophile protector and Hitler Youth alumnus dead at 95,' Geller said in full, in a since-deleted tweet.

When asked if Geller was fired, Politico's vice president of marketing and communications Brad Dayspring declined to comment but pointed to a tweet of his own that suggested Geller's comment violated company policy and could lead to termination.

Politico cybersecurity reporter Eric Geller appears to have lost his job after an offensive tweet about the late Pope

'Homophobic pedophile protector and Hitler Youth alumnus dead at 95,' Geller said in full, in a since-deleted tweet

Hours after Geller posted the tweet he removed it, saying: 'I deleted the tweet about Pope Benedict that was offensive and in poor judgment.'

Since then, his personal website, according to internet archives, has gone from describing him as 'a cybersecurity reporter at Politico' to a 'cybersecurity journalist in Washington, D.C.'

He has similarly changed his Twitter bio to remove any reference to Politico, and changed his LinkedIn information to indicate his role there came to an end in January 2023.

Geller did not respond to DailyMail.com for confirmation he was fired by Politico.

Pope Benedict died on December 31 in the Vatican after a long battle with illness. He served as the head of the Catholic Church from 2005 until his resignation in 2013.

Geller's Twitter bio before the tweet (left) refers to his employment at Politico. A new bio no longer refers to the outlet and describes him simply as a 'journalist'

Born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, he was required to join the Hitler Youth aged 14 while growing up in Nazi Germany. At 16, he was conscripted into antiaircraft work and drafted into the army at 21, according to the Washington Post.

His history was a sensitive and controversial issue for the Catholic Church, which had historically come under criticism for its neutrality during the Second World War.

Benedict has since given an account of that portion in his life, and explained that he was forced to join the Nazi youth organization and that a kind Math teacher helped him to avoid attending meetings.

In 2013 he became the first pontiff in 600 years to resign and left at a time when the Catholic Church was steeped in sexual abuse and pedophilia scandals.

Pope Benedict died on December 31 in the Vatican after a long battle with illness. He served as the head of the Catholic Church from 2005 until his resignation in 2013

Hours after Geller posted the tweet he removed it, saying: 'I deleted the tweet about Pope Benedict that was offensive and in poor judgment'

Dayspring said at the time that 'the tweet is a clear violation of our social media policy' and could lead to termination

Dayspring tweeted later on December 31 in response to Geller's comment, saying: 'The tweet is a clear violation of our social media policy and was both inaccurate and offensive.

'Violations of company policy - including social media policy - are subject to an internal review process.

'Without commenting further on this specific matter (as it is under review), violations of company policy could result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination.'

When asked whether Geller had is employment terminated, Dayspring told DailyMail.com, 'as a matter of policy we do not comment on personnel or disciplinary matters' and referred only to his existing tweet.
On Monday, Twitter owner Elon Musk concurred with a journalist's opinion that Russiagate, the disparaging term for the theory and investigation into whether Donald Trump and Russia cooperated to manipulate the 2016 election, was "one of the most deranged and unhinged conspiracy theories in modern history."

Glenn Greenwald, a journalist and co-founder of The Intercept, responded to a Washington Post article by Tim Starks titled "Russian trolls on Twitter had little influence on 2016 voters."

Russiagate Conspiracy

Russiagate was promoted by the "vast majority of media corporations,'scholars,' think tank frauds, and NYT/'disinformation NBC's teams,'" according to Greenwald.

True  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 9, 2023

Musk replied with "true" to Greenwald's tweet.

The Washington Post's story centered on a study indicating that Russian influencers in the 2016 election contacted very few Twitter users, and those who they did reach were likely to be partisan Republicans inclined to oppose Hillary Clinton.

The author of the report, Justin Tucker, informed Starks that the tale was grossly exaggerated. Throughout his presidency, many media sources promoted the story that Trump conspired with Russia to steal the 2016 election.

Per Fox News, the Robert Mueller probe occupied the majority of his first term and was the topic of near-constant media coverage. In 2021, The Washington Post amended articles that relied on the flawed Christopher Steele dossier, which was the basis for various Russiagate claims.

Read Also: Addictive TikTok Described as China's 'Digital Fentanyl' for Americans, Says New US Exec

Elon Musk Twitter Issues

Recently, Elon Musk is receiving criticism for restoring Michael Flynn to Twitter on the second anniversary of the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol, as per Newsweek via MSN.

Friday saw the return of retired Army general and former national security advisor to former President Donald Trump Michael Flynn. Two days after Trump supporters physically stormed the Capitol in a failed attempt to prevent the certification of President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election victory, his account was permanently deleted.

Prior to the attack on the Capitol, Flynn was one of the most prominent proponents of bogus assertions that Biden had "stolen" the election.

Flynn was also a notable proponent of the disproved pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory, reiterating and applauding the linked "where we go one, we go all" motto and tweeting allusions to the subject. He expressed gratitude for Musk's return to the platform.

A torrent of Twitter users criticized Musk for the timing of the reinstatement. Since assuming control of the platform in October, the billionaire has been regularly accused of promoting a right-wing tilt despite claiming to advocate neutrality and "free expression."

Some critics of Musk's reinstatement noted that Flynn had urged for the use of force to reverse Trump's 2020 defeat, soon before Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to overturn the loss by force.

Flynn talked with Trump at the White House weeks before the attack on the Capitol and pushed him to take election equipment and use the military to force fresh elections in areas where he lost.

Flynn's account was reinstated mere hours after Trump confidant Roger Stone tagged Elon Musk in a tweet requesting the reinstatement of the retired general. The reinstatement also occurred one day after Flynn stated he would like to return to the platform to reply to criticism on the right-wing program Man in America.

Meanwhile, the so-called Twitter Files, produced by a group of independent journalists with access to internal corporate papers, reveal how the federal government influenced the flow of information on one of the major social media platforms in the world.

Some tech pundits assert that the Twitter Files contain no secrets: they were already aware of the tens of thousands of takedown requests the company receives each month from law enforcement agencies and courts, or they had previously opined on the immense difficulties associated with content moderation.

However, the Twitter Files have revealed crucial new information. They demonstrate that the business suppressed debate on significant policy topics by shadowbanning particular accounts without justification and then misled the public, according to Reason.com.

They demonstrate that the White House and FBI repeatedly coerced Twitter into complying with spurious removal demands. And they present proof that the intelligence community likely impacted the decision to bury the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 presidential campaign of Joe Biden.

Related Article: Twitter Files 2023: When Will Elon Musk Drop Fauci Files After Hating on Anthony Fauci?

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The driver of a Range Rover accused of causing the death of a beauty therapist in a crash has been remanded in custody after his family were unable to raise 250,000 for bail.

Rida Kazem, 23, is charged with causing death by dangerous driving following a horror crash that killed Yagmur Ozden, 33, on the A40 in west London on August 22 last year.

The mother-of-one died after Kazems black Range Rover became airborne and somersaulted over a Tesla charging station before landing on the rail tracks at Park Royal underground station - with the incident caught on dash cam.

Kazem, a jewellery shop manager, appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court today in a wheelchair after having his leg amputated following the crash.

Rida Kazem (pictured outside court today) is charged with causing death by dangerous driving following the horror crash in west London

Yagmur Ozden, a mother-of-one, died at the scene of the crash at Park Royal Underground Station in August last year

He was remanded in custody after his family were unable to raise the 250,000 bail money required by the court.

The district judge had given his father until 4pm to deposit the money, but they informed the court they could not raise that amount.

Kazem will next appear at the Old Bailey for a pre-trial hearing.

Beauty therapist Ozden, who had a 12-year-old daughter, died at the scene after being ejected from the rear seat of the car.

An inquest opening was told she died from blunt force trauma.

Another passenger Zamarod Arif suffered a fractured arm and leg. Kazem suffered major injuries and had his left leg amputated after spending several weeks in a coma at St Marys Hospital in Paddington.

Kazem has also been charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving and failing to provide a sample of blood.

The Range Rover horror crash which saw the 180,000 car mangled on a London tube track (pictured: Park Royal)

Rida Kazem arrives at Uxbridge Magistrates Court in a wheelchair

The 4x4 careered off the road, smashed into a Tesla charging station (pictured) and into a parked Tesla

Flowers were attached to the railings where the 4x4 Range Rover smashed through to eventually land on the tube tracks at Park Royal station

The judge sent the case to the Old Bailey for a pre-trial hearing on February 7th.

Kazem was remanded in custody after his family were unable to raise the 250,000 bail money required by the court.

The district judge had given his father until 4pm to deposit the money. They informed the court they could not raise that amount.

Kazem will next appear at the Old Bailey for a pre-trial hearing.
The number of Californians aged 65 and older who end up in hospital from using pot has jumped 18-fold since 2005  many of them startled at how much stronger cannabis is nowadays, researchers say.

Emergency room visits by seniors getting high jumped 1,808 percent from 366 in 2005 to 12,167 in 2019, a period in which the state allowed medical cannabis and legalized it for recreational use among adults.

The University of California study echoes DailyMail.com's own interviews with American seniors, who say the powerful cross-breed cannabis sold nowadays is many times stronger than the 'Woodstock weed' they recall from the 1960s.

It also comes as ever more states allow the recreational use of cannabis, even as researchers sound alarm bells about rising numbers of everything from teen pot addicts losing their minds to stoned motorists causing crashes.

The number of ER visits jumped 1,808 percent from 366 in 2005 to 12,167 in 2019, a period in which California allowed medical cannabis and legalized it for recreational use among adults

An 85-year-old woman relaxing at home smoking a marijuana joint as medicinal cannabis. Growing numbers of seniors turn to pot to tackle arthritis, anxiety and other medical issues

Benjamin Han, lead author of the report and a geriatrician at UC San Diego School of Medicine, said many older pot users 'assume they aren't going to have adverse side effects' from a drug they do not take seriously enough.

'I do see a lot of older adults who are overly confident, saying they know how to handle it  yet as they have gotten older, their bodies are more sensitive, and the concentrations are very different from what they may have tried when they were younger,' said Han.

Researchers said cannabis use is rising across the board, but particularly so to manage pain from a range of conditions among older people in California, where it was legalized for medical use in 1996.

But this can lead to 'unintended consequences' and put them in hospital, researchers said, citing cases of users experiencing delirium and paranoia, heart palpitations, or simply getting dizzy, falling over and hurting themselves.

Sometimes this is because cannabis reacts with other medications being taken.

'Although cannabis may be helpful for some chronic symptoms, it is important to weigh that potential benefit with the risk, including ending up in an emergency department,' added Han.

Jill Macdonald, a 70-year-old retiree from Toronto, Canada, is one such senior who smoked pot socially in the 1970s, ditched the habit decades ago, but tried it again recently to try and relieve arthritis pain and other issues.

Customers shop for marijuana products at a newly opened store in Corona, California. The state legalized medical marijuana in 1996 and recreational pot in 2016

She described smoking again while walking with friends in a local park, only to be surprised by the potency of pot nowadays, which contains more of the psychoactive ingredient THC than did the plants of decades ago.

'My face and arms suddenly were vibrating, and my eyesight was blurred. I was overwhelmed like I had never been in the seventies,' said Macdonald.

'It was so extreme that I leaned over in my seat and violently vomited.'

Macdonald said she had no plans to try pot again, saying modern strains are a 'different animal' to those in decades past, and warned that it could be a danger to all users, young and old.

'Unsuspecting people think they're doing little harm to themselves, when in actuality what is being offered is far more dangerous than our mellow weed from the past,' she said.

The study comes after Maryland and Missouri voters approved in November's midterm elections ballot measures to legalize recreational marijuana for adults, while those in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota rejected similar measures.

That means 21 states have legalized recreational marijuana for adults over the past decade  even as it remains illegal under federal law.

Experts have cautioned against America's speedy switch to legalized pot, amid a growing body of evidence that widespread availability leads to increased use, particularly among young people, together with addiction and mental health issues.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse's (NIDA) annual survey last August found the number of under-30s using marijuana hit record levels in 2021  which the agency's boss Dr Nora Volkow called a 'concern'.

The $30billion cannabis industry argues that taking the drug  either smoking it, vaping it or as an edible  can help relieve feelings of anxiety or depression, chronic pain, and even help fight addictions.

The US Cannabis Council, a major lobbying group, says legalization is widely supported, that pot is safe and can help addicts beat opioid and alcohol dependency.

But in states where pot has been legalized, many parents say their children have been sucked into an addiction spiral.
Paul Burrell today hit back at criticism from Prince Harry, saying he doesn't recognise 'the young man I see today'.

In his controversial memoir Spare, the Duke of Sussex said Diana's former butler was 'milking' her death for money when he published his 2001 book A Royal Duty - which contained a raft of private revelations.

But appearing on Australian breakfast show Sunrise, Mr Burrell said: 'I first met him in his mummy's tummy. I don't recognise the young man I see today. That's not the boy I knew.

'What I see now is an angry, petulant, privileged prince who is constantly blaming other people and not taking accountability on his part.'

In his memoir Harry said Paul Burrell made his 'blood boil' by releasing a book about Princess Diana called A Royal Duty

Mr Burrell, 64, served as a footman for the Queen before working for Diana for ten years until her death in 1997.

Speaking from his home in Florida, he said the Duke of Sussex had 'changed fundamentally' and that his mother would be 'appalled'.

'She would be angry at these personal, vindictive revelations which don't just undermine Harry, but his country, his family, the institution  which his mother was very proud of  and his late grandmother's legacy,' he said.

Mr Burrell blamed Harry's wife, Meghan, for the duke's 'vindictive' behaviour  claiming she was the one 'driving him behind the scenes'.

He said: 'This isn't just a book written by Harry Meghan's had a huge influence in this book. She's beside him steering him on his path. You can't just blame Harry. You have to blame the both of them.

'I don't like to see the rug being pulled beneath the feet of our King and Harry's brother, who is on his way to being King. And the snipes that have gone forward about Kate [the Princess of Wales]...

The Duke of Sussex accused Mr Burrell of 'milking' Princess Diana's death for money (pictured together in 1997)

Mr Burrell appeared on Australian TV this morning after being attacked by Harry

'Kate has never put a foot wrong. But the other side of the story will never be heard because the royals believe there's great dignity in silence.'

When Mr Burrell published his book in 2001, he was accused by Harry and William of 'a cold and overt betrayal'.

In his memoir Spare, Harry describes how he learned of the book when he was working as an unpaid farmhand in Australia aged 19 in 2003 after leaving Eton.

He writes that he received a package from Buckingham Palace, which was full of memos from the Palace communications team about 'a delicate matter'.

'Mummy's former butler had penned a tell-all which actually told nothing,' he said.

'It was merely one man's self-justifying, self-centring version of events.

'My mother once called this butler a dear friend, trusted him implicitly. We did too. Now this.

'He was milking her disappearance for money. It made my blood boil.'

In his memoir Spare, Harry describes how 'Mummy's former butler had penned a tell-all which actually told nothing'. Pictured, ex-butler Paul Burrell

Harry writes that he wanted to fly home to 'confront' Mr Burrell but Charles and William talked him out of it, saying all they could do was 'issue a united condemnation'.

The duke also claims that he had 'nothing to do with the drafting' of the Clarence House statement and that he would have 'gone much further'.
The family involved in the North Carolina murder-suicide has been identified as police confirm the husband killed his wife and three children before turning the gun on himself.

Robert J. Crayton, Jr., 45, shot Athalia A. Crayton, 46, Kasin Crayton, 18, and two unidentified juveniles aged 10 and 16, according to police. The minors were named as Nyla and Nasir by a family member on Facebook.

Police found the bodies at their High Point home on Saturday morning around 7am after receiving a report of two people, aged 22 and 25, running down the street and screaming for help.

'The man said that it was his father,' a neighbor told Fox 8. 'He woke up, and there was a gun to his head. Somehow he pulled the magazine out of the gun, and they escaped.' The other survivor was a visitor.

Athalia A. Crayton, 46, was killed by her husband before he turned the gun on himself on Saturday morning in their North Carolina home

Nyla, 16, and Kasin Crayton, 18, were also shot by their father before he took his own life. Pictured: Nyla, left, and Kasin, right

It remains unclear why the gunman chose to attack his family and authorities said they will likely never find out.

'We may never know why,' Lieutenant Patrick Welch said. 'What goes through the hearts and minds of a person that would do this sometimes dies with them.'

The gruesome scene was traumatizing for many officers in the High Point Police force, who claimed they have never seen anything like it before.

'I have been in law enforcement a little over 18 years now, and Ive never seen anything of this magnitude in the City of High Point,' Captain Matt Truitt said at a Monday press conference.

'We have to monitor our own officers now,' Chief Travis Stroud said, according to NBC. 'This was a heavy-duty crimes scene. We have to watch out for our own officers and their own mental health and how they push through this incident.'

Officers have responded to the family's High Point about five times since 2014 - with the last stop by occurring on January 3 when police performed an 'involuntary mental commitment order'.

The gunman struggled with a mental health disorder but didn't disclose the details, according to Fox 8.

The gruesome scene was traumatizing for many officers on the High Point Police force who claimed they have never seen anything like it before. Pictured: Nyla on her 16th Birthday

It is unclear why the gunman chose to attack his family and authorities said they will likely never find out. Pictured: Kasin

The family lived at their home 2734 Mossy Meadow Drive (pictured). Two people made it out of the house alive

Authorities are concerned about the mental well-being of officers who are dealing with the gruesome crime scene

The family was grieved on social media in a dedicated Facebook page run by a relative.

'I love them dearly,' Ptah Thompson wrote in a post. 'I love them for who they are... the quality of their character and the pure golden essence of their hearts. We're grieving tremendously and our hearts are broken from what has befallen my dear family.'

Thompson designated his profile to share photos of the family, while others warned about fake GoFundMe accounts.

The Guilford County Schools - where the children attended - issued a grieving statement.

'It is with deep regret that we inform you about the recent loss to our school community of an 18-year-old and a 16-year-old student who attended Ragsdale High School, as well as a 10-year-old student who attended Union Hill Elementary School, the statement read.

'We are heartbroken and our thoughts are with the family.'
Height of the cliff far eclipsed the platforms used in pro cliff diving competitions

They hit speeds of more than 50mph in the roughly three seconds before impact

Two men have been seriously injured after a botched cliff dive saw them plunge 100ft down the sheer rock face before belly-flopping into a water-filled ravine below.

Shocking footage showed the moment the unidentified men stood atop the cliff next to a wooden cross, took a deep breath, and then leapt one after the other into the abyss in the area of Canteras de Deuco in Angol, Chile, on January 4.

The first jumper landed mere feet from the cliff edge, narrowly escaping death, but hit the water with a sickening slap and sent water spraying high into the air despite holding a relatively stable body position.

His friend however could not retain his composure and began flailing a split second after taking flight. His erratic movements caused him to pitch forward, and seconds later he hit the water's surface head first with a bone-shattering thud.

The divers reached speeds of well over 50mph in the roughly three seconds it took for them to plummet down the side of the rock.

In the clip, the sound of the impact as the bodies hit the surface was gut-wrenching and elicited a concerned response from the man behind the camera.

Local tour guide Ivan Ibasque told Chilean media: 'At that height, the water acts like a solid, and it's from that height that they hit the water. It's like falling onto rocks.'

The alarm was raised by onlookers, one of whom told the Fire Department he'd had a similar accident at the popular cliff-diving spot.

The second commander of the Angol Fire Department, Pablo Staub, explained to the press that 'around 4:30pm on Wednesday we received a report of a person falling from the Canteras de Deuco hill.

'They say that they threw themselves from the cross. A boy who works in the region asked us for help because he had an accident here before, jumping from the rocks,' Staub added.

This image taken from afar shows the rescue efforts carried out for the two people who jumped almost 100ft down a cliff face and into a ravine in the Las Canteras de Deuco sector in Angol, La Araucana Region, Chile

The fire and rescue department was alerted by a boy who had previously had an accident at the popular cliff diving spot

Both young men were taken to hospital in Angol.

One of them, who was said to be 22 years old and from Santiago, sustained 'serious' unspecified injuries.

His companion's age was not provided in reports, but he is also thought to have sustained considerable trauma.

Local media reported that people have lost their lives in previous botched jumps from the same cliff.

The staggering height from which they leapt - 98ft - far eclipses the 88.5ft-high boards conquered by professionals competing in Red Bull's renowned World Cliff Diving series.

Speaking at last year's cliff diving competition in September, professional cliff diver Rhiannan Iffland, 31, from Australia, warned of the dangers of jumping into water from such a height, even for pros who make near-perfect entries.

'The impact can be quite strong. It can feel like a car crash,' she said.

'It's very intimidating. I don't think it feels any different (today) than the first time, with that uncertainty,' she admitted, adding that divers invest hours of training jumping from much lower heights before steadily working their way up.
A $1.5 million canvas painting and a 17th century French grandfather were damaged by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro during the invasion of three government buildings Sunday in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia.

Thousands rioters stormed the buildings designed by famed architect Oscar Niemeyer in an event that strikingly resembled the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's office was not attacked.

Shockingly enough, the takeover came while Bolsonaro was enjoying a post-presidential getaway in Florida, the home of his ally and friend, former United States President Donald Trump.

At least 1,200 followers of the far-right leader have been arrested as of Monday night.

The As Mulatas oil on canvass is considered one of the most important pieces produced by Brazilian modernist painter Emiliano Di Calvacanti and was punctured seven times by rioters who invaded the Planalto Presidential Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on Sunday

Damage was done to one of several paintings that were on display at the Brazilian National Congress. Authorities had arrested 1,200 protesters as of Monday night

Senator Rogerio Carvalho, who is also in charge of curating the Planalto Presidential Palace, found it was impossible to place a monetary value on the overall damage to the three trashed buildings which in 1987 were recognized by Unesco as a World Heritage Site.

'The value of what was destroyed is incalculable because of the history it represents,' Carvalho said, as quoted by BBC Brazil.

The Senator and the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute set up a task force to analyze the destruction and determine which works could be saved

'The collection is a representation of all the presidents who represented the Brazilian people during this long period that begins with JK (Juscelino Kubitschek). This is its historical value," Carvalho said.

Workers clear debris caused by radical supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro after Sunday's riot at the Planalto Presidential Palace

A task force has been set up to analyze which works of art can be fixed, including the As Mulatas oil on canvas painting

Employees specializing in the conservation of works of art sit near a painting by the painter Emiliano Di Cavalcanti that was destroyed by radical supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro following a riot the previous day at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil

The As Mulatas oil on canvass painting is considered one of the most important pieces produced by Brazilian modernist painter Emiliano Di Calvacanti and was punctured seven times.

Elizabeth Di Cavalcanti told newspaper O Globo that her father's 1962 painting, like many of his works, was never named by him.

She said the painting may have been commissioned by a defunct government-run shipping company to accessorize one of its ships before it ended up at the Chamber of Deputies building, where it was displayed in the third floor.

The 17th century grandfather clock that was gifted by French King Louis XIV to Portuguese King Dom Joao VI is only one of two that exist in the world. The timepiece was made by French watchmaker Balthazar Martinot, but was destroyed by rioters on Sunday

French watchmaker Balthazar Martinot's 17th century grandfather clock was completely destroyed by the invaders and beyond repair, according to the authorities.

The timepiece was gifted by French King Louis XIV to Portuguese King Dom Joao VI, who ruled Brazil and Portugal, and is only one of two that exist in the world.

The other one is currently exhibited at Palace of Versailles in France and is said to be half the size of the one that was displayed in the third floor of the Chamber of Deputies.

A wooden sculpture made by Holocaust survivor Frans Krajcber was broken in several parts the Planalto Presidential Palace

Holocaust survivor Frans Krajcber had a wooden sculpture was broken in several parts the Planalto Presidential Palace.

Some of the pieces of the $57,000 art work ripped off from a wall and thrown away by rioters, according to the government.

Krajcberg was born Poland but moved to Brazil after World War Two. His family was killed at a concentration camp.

Bruno Giorgi's 'O Flautista' 1962 sculpture was totally destroyed during Sunday's attack

Bruno Giorgi's 'O Flautista' (Pied Piper) was destroyed and found scattered across Congress.

The 1962 bronze sculpture, valued at $48,000, was located in the same area where the As Mulatas painting was on display.

Alfredo Ceschiatti's 1961 'A Justica', the granite statue of a woman blindfolded and holding a sword that was set outside the Supreme Court, was vandalized by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro

The rioters also wrote graffiti on Alfredo Ceschiatti's 1961 'A Justica' granite statue that was placed outside the Supreme Court.

The three-meter high sculpture, which depicts Themis, the justice goddess, with a blindfold and a sword, had the Portuguese phrase, 'Perdeu, mane' (You lost, fool) on the chest.

The expression was directed by Supreme Court judge, Luis Roberto Barroso, to one of Bolsonaro's supporters was challenging the results of the October election and questioned the use of electronic voting machines.
It also calls for 'balanced public narratives' on immigration

'Virtual platform' gives migrants 'the information they need' without smugglers

The Biden administration has included virtue-signaling proposals on combatting racism and discrimination, a plan to build EV charging stations at the border, and efforts to 'decarbonize' public buses as key topics of discussion at the 'Three Amigos' summit.

The White House is promoting 'inclusive, equitable, and democratic societies', while the migrant crisis is pushing border facilities and law enforcement to the limit.

At a meeting in Mexico City on Tuesday, Biden along with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will establish a 'trilateral expert exchange of information'.

They will pledge to combat violence against indigenous women and girls as well as LGBTQI+ individuals and add Mexico to a 'Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse.'

Thet trio will also commit to a 'balanced public narratives on migrants and refugees to support their meaningful inclusion in the region.'

It all comes after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador appeared to chastise the U.S. for the 'abandonment' of Latin America since the John F. Kennedy years during public remarks at a meeting Monday with Biden.

President Joe Biden, US First Lady Jill Biden, President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his wife Beatriz Gutierrez Muller embrace at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, 09 January. A fact sheet of 'deliverables' contains no major policy changes, but pledes to focus efforts on discrimination and the environment and easing migration through a website

The left-wing Lopez Obrador called Kenndy's New Frontier the 'only important thing that has been done in terms of cooperation ... in our continent in more than half a century.'

He said this is the moment 'to do away of this abandonment, this disdain and this forgetfulness for Latin America.' Biden responded by saying the U.S. spends billions in the region and throughout the world.

Many of the deliverables contain verbs ending in 'ing'  with words like 'continuing,' 'partnering,' 'expanding,' 'sharing,' and 'developing'  a clue that the work is not yet finished, and describing policy efforts that are less than concrete.

On migration, the leaders commit to a 'virtual platform' that gives 'potential migrants the information they need to come to Mexico, the U.S. and Canada lawfully.' The web site is meant to dissuade them from coming illegally and through smugglers.

The list of 'deliverables' released by the White House sets out a series of plans to be developed in the future  with no agreement yet in hand.

One is on developing a 'Food Loss and Waste Reduction Action Plan' by 2025, amid reports that up to a third of U.S. food gets wasted.

A section deals with immigration challenges and commits leaders to 'promoting 'diverse, inclusive, equitable, and democratic societies'

A new web site is meant to ease online asylum applications and decrease the use of smugglers. Here high school students walk across an international bridge while commuting from Ciudad Juarez in Mexico on January 09, 2023 to El Paso, Texas.

The document commits to new Electric Vehicle charging stations at the border

Another commits the leaders on 'sharing information' about 'best practices to electrify and decarbonize public buses  in a region where generations old former U.S. school buses are a familiar site in rural areas.

Another line, with no apparent enforcement mechanism, commits to 'trilateral cooperation' on conserving 30 per cent of the world's land and ocean area by 2030 and to 'advance Indigenous-led conservation.'

The leaders also made commitments to try to boost the semiconductor industry in the continent, after supply chains problems linked to the coronavirus and sourcing from Asia hamstrung industry during the start of the pandemic.

The leaders will organize the 'first-ever trilateral semiconductor forum with industry' to boost investment in supply. It will coordinate mapping efforts to build 'collective understanding of unmet needs' and develop investment opportunities. And they will build information on resources and reserves.

'By working together, the countries of North America are better able to address shared challenges, like climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and transnational criminal organizations trafficking and smuggling people and illicit drugs like fentanyl,' according to the fact sheet.

That comes amid a formal dispute the U.S. and Canada have with Mexico over energy policies the northern neighbors call unfair.
A Texas grand jury will decide whether or not criminal charges should be brought against a customer who shot and killed a robber in a Houston taqueria last week.

Eric Eugene Washington, 30, died after being shot nine times - with one bullet hitting him execution-style in the head - by a vigilante customer who was said to be 'protecting everyone' in the restaurant.

It can now be revealed that Washington already had a lengthy rap sheet. He was on bond for domestic violence after attacking his girlfriend - and he previously spent six years in jail for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.

The customer at Ranchito 4 Taqueria has been hailed a hero after turning his weapon on the would-be robber - who strolled into the local joint, pointed a fake gun at customers and demanded they hand over cash.

The 46-year-old customer, who is believed to be Hispanic, left the scene in a dusty pickup truck, and has not yet been identified because he is not under arrest. Authorities say he is cooperating with detectives - and a Grand Jury will decide if he'll face charges.

Eric Eugene Washington, 30, died after being shot several times by an armed diner at a local taqueria he was trying to rob. Washington had a lengthy rap sheet that included jail time for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon

The customer - seen sitting down with his gun raised - shot the man at least nine times. A Grad Jury will decide if he will be charged

The customer, who is seen in the clip shooting as the robber seems to head towards the door, was 'traumatized' and 'feared for his life' during the ordeal, his lawyer said.

He added that killing someone 'will burden him for the rest of his life' - but he pulled the trigger to 'protect everyone in the restaurant.'

There were around 10 customers eating in the restaurant when Washington entered, wearing a black ski mask and gloves, and started to ambush and rob the diners.

Many scattered to the ground and gave over their possessions in fear of Washington - who was later revealed to be taunting the taco shop with a fake firearm.

Now, records have shown Washington's extensive criminal history, including a recent misdemeanor charge of domestic assault against his girlfriend, which occurred in December.

Court documents also confirmed that Washington was released on parole in 2021 for a conviction of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, for which he had been sentenced to 15 years behind bars.

The vigilante diner has not been identified by police because he has not been charged with a crime. Law enforcement say he is cooperating

The customer shot the robber after he entered Ranchito #4 Taqueria and demanded people's money and cellphones at gunpoint

Pedro Lopez, owner of the taqueria, said he and his employees are still in shock but he is glad that his staff and customers were unharmed in the shooting

Self defense or excessive force: Will the shooter face charges? In Texas, people are allowed to use fatal force when they believe their life or another party's life is in immediate danger. Experts say that Texas law also outlines specific instances for aggravated robbery where deadly force is completely justified. In this case, where the person he shot was in the process of committing an 'armed' robbery, the customer's use of deadly force in self-defense is allowed. He would have also reasonably been in fear of serious bodily injury or death, believing the robber had a gun. The defense can be used as a defense to homicide charges. It is legal to kill someone in self-defense in Texas if: 1. You reasonably believe that there is an imminent danger of you or someone else being seriously injured or killed. 2. Your use of deadly force was necessary and appropriate at the time you used it. Advertisement

Washington had been convicted in 2015 in connection to the murder of 52-year-old Hamid Waraich, the owner of a Boost Mobile cell phone store, who was fatally shot in the back during a robbery. He was paroled in 2021 after serving six years.

One of the victim's sons, Sean Waraich, called Washington 'an evil criminal that took joy from harassing and robbing innocent families.'

He called the taqueria vigilante a 'true hero,' and said he 'did the right thing in stopping the robber and protecting the community from a dangerous perpetrator.'

Aman Waraich, another son of Hamid, said: 'If the guy who stopped Eric was around 10 years ago, maybe I'd still have my dad.'

An attorney for the vigilante made the following statement: 'My client, who wishes to remain anonymous, was dining with a friend at El Ranchito Taqueria and, as it has been seen on video, a robbery suspect entered the restaurant, and pointed a weapon at my client and the other customers demanding money.

'In fear of his life and his friend's life, my client acted to protect everyone in the restaurant.

'In Texas, a shooting is justified in self-defense, defense of others and in defense of property. The customer has met with the Harris County District Attorney's Office and Investigators with HPD homicide. He fully intends to continue cooperating with the ongoing investigation.

'When the investigation is complete, this case will be presented to a Grand Jury. We are confident that a Grand Jury will conclude that the shooting was justified under Texas Law.

'This event has been very traumatic, taking a human life is something he does not take lightly and will burden him for the rest of his life. For that reason, he wishes to remain anonymous. Due to the overwhelming coverage, we ask the media and the public to respect his privacy.'

The would-be robber can be seen on surveillance video taking control of the taqueria and pointing a fake gun at customers as they take cash out of their wallets and place it on the tables and floor.

Police arrived at the scene on January 5 after the fatal shooting

Suddenly, the vigilante customer starts shooting until the robber falls to the ground. He retrieves the customers' money, then proceeds to leave along with other customers at 11.30pm.

University of Houston Law Center Professor Sandra Guerra Thompson spoke to Eyewitness News about the incident and, in particular, the fake gun the criminal had in his possession.

'I know that there are a lot of questions about the use of a gun because it wasn't a real firearm, but that really doesn't make a difference because it was used as a firearm and a person would reasonably believe that they were facing an immediate threat of deadly force,' she said.

Pedro Lopez, owner of the taqueria, said he and his employees are still in shock.

The fatal shooting occurred at Ranchito #4 Taqueria in southwest Houston, Texas

He told ABC13: 'Everyone was scared, nervous. I was too. Some customers were seated here, others were over there, he go the money and was going to leave

'You never really know what is going to happen.'

Experts believe that the customer will most likely not face charges - as his use of excessive, deadly force was justified considering the circumstances.

Former Houston police officer, now lawyer, Thomas Nixon said: 'The person he shot was in the process of committing robbery and consequently his use of force in defense of himself and innocent third parties is completely justified in Texas.

'He was reasonably in fear of serious bodily injury or death.'

The 'gunman' who entered the shop waving his pistol and shouting, was taking money and cellphones from patrons before one customer stood up and shot him

The vigilante's vehicle is a 1970s or '80s model pickup truck with no bed in a rusty-red color. Cops released this image to track him down to speak to him

Diners can be seen scattered on the floor in fear as the robber walks around with the fake gun

Nathan Beedle, with the Harris County District Attorney's Office, believes the shooting was justified, adding: 'I can point you exactly where it is in the law, 9.31 and 9.32 of the penal code.

'Whether someone uses deadly force in the situation, that is presumed to be correct under Texas law.'

Texas has some of the most permissive gun laws in the US. Residents and non-residents over the age of 21 are allowed to carry a handgun - either openly or concealed - in most places in the state.

This does not include people who have any prior felony convictions.

Since September 2021, Texans do not need a permit to open carry a handgun in the state.
The Biden administration took a step Tuesday that will lower student loan payments for millions and pause payments altogether for borrowers who make less than $30,600 annually.

The proposed modifications to the income-driven repayment plan will allow borrowers to pay just 5 percent of their discretionary income, down from 10 percent, on their undergraduate federal student loans.

'Student debt has become a dream killer,' Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said on a call with reporters Monday night. 'This is a promise to the American people that, at long last, we will fix a broken system and make student loans affordable.'

Education Department officials are calling the new plan a 'student loan safety net.'

President Joe Biden's (left) administration took a step Tuesday that will lower monthly student loan payments for millions of Americans, with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona (right) warning that high student loan payments have become a 'dream killer'

As income-based repayment works now, as much as 10 percent of a borrower's discretionary income can go toward their student loan bills.

Only those making less than $20,400 aren't required to make payments.

The new proposal says that anyone making less than $30,600 won't have to make payments, or a borrower in a family of four who makes less than $62,400.

The updated plan will also curb interest, with no accrued interest being added to borrowers' balances if they make their monthly payments.

The government will also forgive loans in a shorter time period.

Undergraduate borrowers will have their loans forgiven no later than after 20 years of payments.

For those who only took out $12,500 or less, loans can be forgiven after 10 years.

Every $1,000 over $12,500 will add an additional year, but it will remain capped at 20 years for forgiveness.

The Biden administration will also make deferring payments due to receiving cancer treatments or military service count count toward loan forgiveness.

The Department of Education proposed the repayment plan changes Tuesday by publishing them in the Federal Register, opening it up for public comment.

The plan doesn't give much relief to borrowers who took out loans for graduate programs.

Graduate borrowers will continue to have to pay 10 percent of their discretionary income on student loan bills.

If a borrower has loans from both undergraduate and graduate school, they'll pay between 5 and 10 percent of their discretionary income.

Additionally, graduate loans will remain at the 25-year mark for forgiveness.

President Joe Biden entered office when federal student loan payments were paused, implemented by former President Donald Trump at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

He seemed reluctant to cancel large portions of loans, with Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, pushing him to write-off as much as $30,000 per borrower.

In August, he announced that he would cancel $10,000 of student loan debt for any American borrower making less than $125,000 a year.

Republicans, however, challenged debt relief and it's headed to the Supreme Court.

The nine justices will hear oral arguments in February on two cases challenging the legality of Biden's program.

In the meantime, the president has extended the repayment pause, announcing in November that federal student loan payments would resume 60 days after the litigation is resolved or 60 days after June 30, whichever comes first.
The 18-year-old said he was good at the job before being 'sacked for vaping'

A B&Q worker has said he regrets calling his colleagues 'c****' and saying 'f*** everyone' in an explosive final customer announcement after he was sacked, and fears it will damage his future career.

Adam Powis made the foul-mouthed farewell on the public address system at the hardware giant's Weston-super-Mare branch in November.

He shared a TikTok of the incident, which quickly went viral, showing the 18-year-old saying: 'This is a customer announcement. I just got sacked and B&Q are c****. F*** everyone. Have a nice day'.

Adam now says he regrets being 'irrational' and venting his frustration in a 'heated' moment which saw him banned from every B&Q store in the country, and worries future employers will see the video.

Adam Powis made a foul-mouthed public announcement at the B&Q store in Weston-super-Mare

Adam now admits he 'regrets' making the announcement because future employers could see the video

The former B&Q worker has now been banned from all of the company's UK stores following the stunt

The 18-year-old had been working in B&Q's building department part-time for around six months where he was trained to cut materials for sale, and said he was good at his job before being sacked for vaping outside the designated smoking area.

The student, from Bristol, said: 'I don't really get embarrassed but my heart was racing.

'I was on my way out and I thought it would be funny so I acted a bit irrationally. I didn't really think about it.

'I made a mistake at work and then they took it further than they needed to so I was a bit annoyed. It wasn't anything serious.

'I didn't think I deserved it because people have done worse things and they've not been fired. I've seen other staff [vape outside the designated area] and that's why I was a bit baffled.

'I actually enjoyed the job. I was good at it and I was never late. I wouldn't even talk bad about the company but I felt I was treated differently.

'I understand the criticism, but a joke is a joke and you can either take offence to it or you don't. It was directed to staff in a sense but it wasn't malicious.

The 18-year-old walked out of the store for the last time without speaking to stunned staff and customers

Adam said he was 'not too bothered' about being banned from every B&Q store in the country

'I didn't hear anything from them afterwards so I thought I'd put it on TikTok for a joke. It's so unexpected that some people think it's fake, but the banning order proves it.

'I probably shouldn't have [made the announcement] but it happened. I do regret it a bit. Not because of what I said but more about future job opportunities.

'If a company sees it then they might think I'm that sort of person but I'm good at my job and [in] the moment I got a bit heated.

'I'm not too bothered about the ban. I don't shop there on a regular basis. In future I might just have to get someone to go in for me.'

His video, posted last Thursday, has been viewed 2.5 million times on TikTok where some said his bizarre act had 'justified' his sacking while others joked they wish they could do the same.

Adam followed this up by revealing a letter from B&Q titled 'banning notice' on Sunday, which claims he will be treated as a 'trespasser' and legal action could be taken if he enters any of their UK stores again.

The aspiring personal trainer brushed off the ban, claiming 'he doesn't shop there regularly anyway' and will simply ask others to buy items for him.

Adam says he had smoked his e-cigarette outside the smoking area behind the store on one occasion when he was spotted and sacked.

Adam's 'heated' announcement at his old workplace drew mixed reactions from viewers on TikTok

He insists he wasn't aware of the rule and believes he should have been given a warning rather than losing his job.

Adam says colleagues texted him after he left to joke about the stunt, but he did not hear from B&Q bosses until he saw the banning order.

The post of his announcement, captioned 'got fired so left with style', attracted a staggering 180,000 likes and 1,600 comments until it was removed by TikTok earlier this week.

One user said: 'Is that your response? Then you justify why you were sacked from whatever you did before?'

Another commented: 'There goes his reference.'

A third said: 'Whether you should do this depends on why you were sacked.'

However one said: 'I've always wanted to do this.'

Another joked: 'You should have said everything is free for five minutes.'

A B&Q spokesperson said: 'We are unable to comment on individual cases. We have agreed processes in place, and any decision to review a colleague's employment is not taken lightly and considers all relevant circumstances.'
Will Fletcher, inspector general of the Chicago Board of Education, recorded 470 sexual misconduct complaints against Chicago Public School workers from minors in 2022.

The report recounts instances of school personnel abusing, groping, grooming, assaulting, and threatening children, according to Illinois Policy.

Chicago School System Sexual Misconduct Allegations

An inquiry revealed that a former Junior ROTC staff member had sexual relations with a 16-year-old high school student for a period of one year. When the staff member discovered there was an inquiry, he threatened to murder the girl and her family if she assisted investigators.

A high school instructor exposed himself to a female 11th-grade student during driver's education when the two were alone. The youngster reported the event to two additional staff workers, but none notified administrators as required reporters.

The minor resorted to social media when no one believed her, and another student came forward with complaints against the same instructor, who is now facing criminal charges and has resigned.

Mary Fergus, a spokesperson for CPS, replied to Fletcher's findings. The OIG advised disciplinary action against any administrator or employee who neglected to disclose abuse accusations. In 2022, a total of 1,825 complaints were received about sexual accusations, misuse of finances, fraud, bullying, and other inappropriate behavior. 725 individuals were examined.

In a report released late last week, the Office of the Inspector General for Chicago Public Schools reported that 470 claims of sexual misconduct were made against CPS employees in 2017. The Sexual Allegations Unit (SAU) of the OIG opened 447 of these cases to examine suspected sex offenses by instructors.

Per The Free Press, the OIG report reveals that this was by far the largest category of faculty and staff accusations of malfeasance or misconduct. These problems accounted for 26% of all unfavorable reports. The second greatest category of complaints, at 7.6%, was "behavior unbecoming."

According to the study, the SAU has started 1,735 cases since its inception in 2018 in response to claims submitted by students, alumni, parents, employees, and others.

Examples identified by the Inspector General include:

A special education instructor allegedly "groomed and sexually involved" an eighth-grade pupil twice. The educator was charged with one count of criminal sexual abuse and pled guilty.

A former staff member of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) had sexual relations with a female student between the ages of 16 and 17. The employee provided the girl drink and, among thousands of text messages, said, "I'm ready to f- right now... I will not be gentle either." When the JROTC employee believed he may be the subject of an inquiry, he allegedly threatened to murder the girl and her family if she went public.

In another instance, a high school girl said that a physical education instructor exposed his groin region to her during driver's ed. Other staff members refuted the claim, with one apparently blaming the student's "provocative attire" However, a 15-year-old student said that the same instructor had emailed her photographs and videos of him masturbating.

A charter school administrator reportedly escorted a student in high school to a Chicago Broadway production. While driving home, the student said that the administrator "slid his hand down the front of the student's pants and groped his genitals."

Read Also: Russiagate: Elon Musk Agrees Conspiracy Theory Is 'Deranged and Unhinged'

Recent Sexual Misconduct Involving School Staff

The OIG for Chicago Public Schools issued its annual report on Sunday, stating that it validated more than 70 charges of wrongdoing out of more than 600 complaints for the 2021-22 school year. Since October 2018, the watchdog reported that 302 investigations uncovered policy violations.

Three times, a 17-year-old student was groomed and sexually assaulted by a teacher, according to an OIG investigation. This teacher was accused of many incidents of sexual assault.

According to the article, the instructor was cleared of all charges during a trial in November 2022, despite proof supplied by the youngster and social media logs.

Another inquiry indicated that a former JROTC staff member had intercourse with a high school female between the ages of 16 and 17 over the period of a year, according to the article. The youngster was also provided beer and marijuana, and she bought marijuana for the suspect, according to the OIG.

When the employee realized he may have been the subject of an inquiry, he allegedly threatened to murder the girl and her family. After pleading guilty to sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse, he was detained and ultimately sentenced to time served and four years probation.

A teacher at a secondary school allegedly exchanged 4,000 text messages with a female pupil, including 400 every day. The instructor said that he was in an open marriage and "attracted to other individuals."

A high school physical education instructor reportedly exposed himself to a female pupil. According to the allegation, a charter school administrator escorted a junior in high school to a Broadway show in downtown Chicago, where he grabbed her leg during the performance.

While driving the student home after the performance, he "slid his hand down the front of the student's pants and stroked his genitalia."

According to the OIG, the administrator also brought the student to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, London, Ibiza, and the Bahamas. The administrator resigned when the OIG advised his dismissal, as per Fox News.

Related Article: New Jersey Mom Convicted for Fake Kidnap Plot of Dead Son Who Was Discovered Dismembered, Burned in Oven 4 Years After Disappearance

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Patrushev is seen by diplomats as one of the major hard-line influences of Putin

Patrushev claimed the West is trying to 'pull Russia apart' amid war in Ukraine

Nikolai Patrushev, a close ally of Putin, said the war in Ukraine is not a conflict between Moscow and Kyiv - but instead between Russia and NATO

One of President Vladimir Putin's closest allies today said that Moscow is now in a 'military confrontation' with the US and Britain and the West is trying to wipe Russia from the political map of the world.

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, who is seen by diplomats as one of the major hard-line influences on Putin, claimed the war in Ukraine is not a conflict between Moscow and Kyiv - but instead between Russia and NATO.

Patrushev claimed that the West is continuing to 'pull Russia apart' by supplying weapons to Ukraine.

'The events in Ukraine are not a clash between Moscow and Kyiv - this is a military confrontation between Russia and NATO, and above all the United States and Britain,' Patrushev told the Argumenti i Fakti newspaper in an interview.

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, who is seen by diplomats as one of the major hard-line influences on Putin (pictured together in 2017), claimed the war in Ukraine is not a conflict between Moscow and Kyiv - but instead between Russia and NATO

Ukrainian military fire an anti-aircraft weapon, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Tuesday

'The Westerners' plans are to continue to pull Russia apart, and eventually just erase it from the political map of the world,' Patrushev said.

Putin casts the war in Ukraine as an existential battle with an aggressive and arrogant West, and has said that Russia will use all available means to protect itself and its people against any aggressor. He has promised victory in Ukraine despite a series of battlefield setbacks.

The United States has denied Russian claims that it wants to destroy Russia, the world's biggest producer of natural resources, while President Joe Biden has cautioned that a conflict between Russia and NATO could trigger World War Three.

Asked about Patrushev's remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said NATO and the United States were part of the Ukraine conflict.

'De facto they have already become an indirect party to this conflict, pumping Ukraine with weapons, technologies, intelligence information and so on,' Peskov told a regular news briefing.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has triggered one of the deadliest European conflicts since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union and United States came closest to intentional nuclear war.

Asked about Patrushev's remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said NATO and the United States were part of the Ukraine conflict. Pictured: Ukrainian members of the military fire an anti-aircraft weapon, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the frontline city of Bakhmut on Tuesday

The United States and its allies have condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an imperial land grab, while Ukraine has vowed to fight until the last Russian soldier is ejected from its territory.

As a former Soviet spy who has known Putin since the 1970s, Patrushev's views give an insight into thinking at the very highest levels of the Kremlin. He rebuffed CIA Director William Burns' warnings in 2021 against an invasion of Ukraine.

In a Soviet-style analysis of the West, Patrushev cast Western political elites as corrupt and controlled by trans-national corporations and business clans which planned and executed 'colour revolutions' across the world.

'The American state is just a shell for a conglomerate of huge corporations that rule the country and try to dominate the world,' Patrushev said.

Local residents remove debris and carry belongings out of a shop destroyed in recent shelling in Donetsk on Tuesday

The United States, Patrushev said, had sown chaos in Afghanistan, Vietnam and the Middle East, and had been trying for years to undermine Russia's 'unique' culture and language.

Russia, he said, was a victim of Western designs to push it back to the borders of 15th century Muscovy, and accused the West of bleeding Ukraine to undermine Russia.

'There is no place for our country in the West,' he said.

In response, he said, Russia would achieve economic sovereignty and financial independence while also building up its armed forces and special services to deter any potential aggressor.

Russian business and private capital, he said, needed to be more 'nationally oriented'.

'The younger generation should be inspired by the ideas of creative work for the benefit of our Motherland, and not sit in the offices of Western corporations,' he said.
Take part in our poll: did you quit your job in the Great Resignation?

New data also shows which industries are affected - the top being hospitality

In November 2022, 4.2M resigned, bringing total for the year to 46.6M

By November 2021, 48M Americans had left their jobs, up from 42M in 2019

A record number of Americans have quit their jobs since 2021 - and the Great Resignation shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows how the trend unfolded, including the cumulative number of resignations since January 2021, and which industries have been most affected, according to an animated graph by Statista.

By November 2021, nearly 48 million Americans had quit their jobs, which is up from the previous record of 42 million resignations in 2019.

And according to the latest JOLTS report, 4.2 million Americans left their jobs in November 2022 alone, bringing the total for the year to 46.6 million.

The Great Resignation was brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, as tens of millions of Americans voluntarily left their jobs. Some of the reasons given were inflexible remote-work policies and a lack of benefits during an unprecedented time.

New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows how the trend unfolded, including the cumulative number of resignations in the United States since January 2021

But it appears to be more than just a trend, as the numbers show that the monthly resignations haven't dipped below four million since May 2021.

While employees are leaving the workforce in droves, employers are struggling to fill open positions, it was reported.

A main reason given was that employees are no longer willing to put in the time or work for the pay or working conditions that were in place prior to the pandemic.

'I certainly think that the pandemic has led many people to reevaluate their work and their priorities and what they want to do,' Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute said in a statement to Business Insider Statista reported.

The higher number of openings has also given workers the upper hand as they have a chance to find a different job with potentially better working conditions and a chance to get paid significantly more.

The data shows that the monthly resignations hasn't dipped below four million since May 2021

Following the pandemic, during which most office workers went fully remote for an extended period, companies have grappled with setting new policies on working from home.

Poll Did you quit your job during the Great Resignation? Yes No Did you quit your job during the Great Resignation? Yes 195 votes

No 341 votes Now share your opinion





Disney CEO Bob Iger ordered all employees to work in the corporate offices at least four days per week, two months after he returned to lead the company.

In an email on Monday, Iger said the new rule would take effect on March 1, and stressed the importance of in-person collaboration, CNBC reported, citing a copy of the memo.

'As I've been meeting with teams throughout the company over the past few months, I've been reminded of the tremendous value in being together with the people you work with,' Iger reportedly wrote.

'And in a creative business like ours, nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe, and create with peers that comes from being physically together, nor the opportunity to grow professionally by learning from leaders and mentors,' he added.

Disney's four-day mandate for working in the office is relatively strict compared with other major companies, most of which require workers to be in the office two or three days per week.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has ordered all employees to work in the corporate offices at least four days per week starting on March 1

Disney 'Imagineers' are seen at work in a company photo. The company's workers will have to return to corporate offices at least four days a week from March 1

Google-parent Alphabet and Apple both instituted three-day requirements for working in the office last year.

Facebook's parent company Meta asks workers to spend at least half their time in the office, though any employee who is able to work from home can seek approval to work remotely full time.

New Twitter owner Elon Musk has laid down the strictest rules, requiring all workers to work full-time in the office after laying off more than half the company's workforce.

A Gallup poll last summer found that, among employees capable of working remotely, only 22 percent were on-site full time.

Forty-nine percent worked in a hybrid arrangement, mixing remote and in-office work, and 29 percent were fully remote, the survey found.
Police in Maryland are searching for a suspect who stabbed three men in a McDonald's early this morning.

The three individuals were getting breakfast in Silver Spring at around 6.45am when a knife attack occurred - leaving all three with non-life-threatening injuries.

When police arrived they found two men stabbed and shortly after a third man entered the restaurant, also wounded, WUSA-TV reported.

Montgomery County Police said no employees were injured and that the man with the knife left the restaurant prior to their arrival so they are still searching for a suspect.

Police in Maryland are searching for a male suspect who stabbed three men in a McDonald's this morning

The police were called at around 6.45am on Tuesday evening

It is currently unclear if the attack was targeted.

The stabbing was reported around 6.45am from a McDonald's in the 8400 block of Colesville Road in downtown Silver Spring. The names of the three victims have not been released.

Initially only two men were identified but then a third person, who had left, returned 'to notify police he had also sustained an injury.'

'There were three victims, all with non-life-threatening injuries, transported to local area hospitals,' said Mary DiGilio of Montgomery Police during a small press conference outside the restaurant.

'We don't know the motive at this time, she said. 'Its a stranger, we don't know the motive.'

Mary DiGilio of Montgomery Police during a small press conference outside the restaurant

The three men were getting breakfast in Silver Spring, Maryland, at around 6.45am

DiGilio was unable to say where the men were stabbed.

More than two hours later the Montgomery County Department of Police put out a brief statement about the incident on Twitter.

'MCPD is investigating a stabbing in the 8400 block of Colesville Road. Officers have secured the area and are looking for the suspect,' it said. No description of the suspect was provided.

Last September a man with an axe was recorded going berserk inside a McDonald's in New York City.

The incident took place at Delancey Street McDonald's on Manhattan's Lower East Side and involved an argument between a man and a group of people who were eating at the restaurant.

During a dispute Michael Palacios, 31, pulled out an axe and started destroying panes of glass and furniture in the restaurant.

After the rampage, Palacios fled the scene on his bike but was picked up a short time later by police on nearby Ludlow Street.
It's believed the 25-year-old was shot when she attempted to 'confiscate the gun'

The parents of a six-year-old boy who allegedly took a gun from home, put it in his backpack and shot his teacher could face charges for not properly securing the weapon - as a substitute teacher reveals that the victim had been struggling with some students.

The first grader is accused of shooting Abby Zwerner, 25, just as the Richneck Elementary School teacher 'tried to confiscate' the deadly firearm, leaving her with serious injuries, according to the Washington Post.

In an update from the school on the incident, the 25-year-old is said to be in a 'stable condition and is talking with family and friends.'

The substitute teacher, named Celeste on TikTok, who subbed for Zwerner, said she knew the child who shot her.

A first grader, 6, is accused of shooting Abby Zwerner, 25, just as the Richneck Elementary School teacher 'tried to confiscate' the deadly firearm, leaving her with serious injuries

'I subbed for her class this year, I taught her class, I taught the 6-year-old that shot her,' she said on her TikTok, twitch_cyberhex.

In a follow-up, the TikToker said she 'knew [Zwerner] was struggling with some of the kids in there.'

Commenters on the TikToks were sympathetic for both the substitute teacher and the parent.

'So scary and I'm so glad you're all safe!' one commenter said.

'Hugs to you, prayers to Abby,' another wrote.

'You have done all you can I promise it's just a heartbreaking reality that these events still happen when they're preventable take care of yourself,' said another.

In a bid to 'give students and families time to heal' the school was closed and will reopen next week.

On Monday, Newport News Chief of Police Steve Drew said in a press conference posted to Facebook that the child had found the gun in his home and put it in his backpack to bring to school.

A substitute teacher, named Celeste on TikTok, who subbed for Zwerner said she knew the child who shot her

@twitch_cyberhex this isnt a joke or to make light, this is coping with the fact that so many people were failed in a preventable accident, and wondering if i could have done more #newportnews #schools #gunviolenceawareness  july - speed songs <3

Because the gun, which was legally purchased by the child's mother, was taken from the home, the parents, who have not been identified, could face criminal liability for the incident.

Under state laws guns must be secured from kids under 14, according to a description of the penalty to allow access to firearms by children on Virginia's Legislative Information System.

'It shall be unlawful for any person to recklessly leave a loaded, unsecured firearm in such a manner as to endanger the life or limb of any child under the age of fourteen,' it reads.

'Any person violating the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.'

The penalty also states that it is unlawful for any person to knowingly authorize a child under the age of 12 to use a firearm except when the child is under supervision of an adult.

'Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor,' it reads.

'For purposes of this subsection, "adult" shall mean a parent, guardian, person standing in loco parentis to the child or a person twenty-one years or over who has the permission of the parent, guardian, or person standing in loco parentis to supervise the child in the use of a firearm.'

On Monday, Newport News Chief of Police Steve Drew said in a press conference posted to Facebook that the child had found the gun in his home and put it in his backpack to bring to school

Because the gun, which was legally purchased by the child's mother, was taken from the home, the parents, who have not been identified, could face criminal liability for the incident

The shooting occurred in the classroom and was an isolated incident. Officers are still trying to determine how the child managed to get the weapon

A grandmother of one of the students told DailyMail.com that a student brought 'shiny gold bullets' to school last week, but it is unclear if it is the same child who was taken into custody.

She said: 'The parents outside stated that their child told them a kid brought golden shiny bullets to school and was thinking about bringing his gun. The student told the parent, who informed the school.

'And the school just yesterday got back to the parent saying the parent of the kid said it was a nerf bullet and the parent said nerf bullets aren't shiny and gold.'

Meanwhile, third grader Kautier Brown, 10, who heard chaos break out inside his school last week told Wavy that 'school is not a battleground' in a message for Newport News Public Schools and the country.

'They better be fixed by Friday because if they don't get fixed by Friday, then I'm not going to school next week,' he said.

Meanwhile, third grader Kautier Brown, 10, who heard chaos break out inside his school last week said 'school is not a battleground' in a message for Newport News Public Schools and the country

'School is not, school is for learning, fun and making friends. School is not a battleground,' he said.

Drew didn't rule out the possibility of charges against the parents, but he said it was too soon to say as the department is still investigating.

'You can't charge a six-year-old criminally, that's pretty well established,' Virginia criminal defense attorney Steve Duckett told the New York Post.

'The test should come down to whether or not appropriate steps were taken to safeguard the weapon,' Duckett said.

'If they kept [the gun] out in the wide open where anybody could grab it and do something untoward with it, that does expose them potentially to some liability.'

Duckett said the parents may not be charged criminally 'if it was locked in a safe and they were not careless about keeping either the keys or the code to the safe out where anybody could find it and the kid broke in without their knowledge.'

According to a report by WTVR CBS 6, legal analyst Todd Stone said the case is unusual given the age of the accused shooter.

'It's really shocking. You just don't see this happen in the legal system where you've got someone so young intentionally using a firearm against another person,' said Stone.

Zwerner was shot in the chest in her classroom at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, at around 2pm Friday, and taken to hospital with 'serious injuries'

Residents of Newport News held a candlelight vigil in honor of Zwerner at the School Administration Building in Newport News. She is now in a stable condition

'The parents could be charged with a misdemeanor, which would be the maximum of 12 months in jail, and realistically, it's very fact-dependent.

The parents could also face charges such as delinquency or neglect of a minor  charges 'which sometimes can be more difficult to prove,' Stone added.

Researcher David Riedman who founded a database tracking US school shootings, said he was only aware of three other school shootings by six-year-olds and one other by a five-year-old, according to a report by the Guardian.

'It's very rare and it's not something the legal system is really designed or positioned to deal with,' Riedman said.

Zwerner was shot in the chest in her classroom at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, at around 2pm Friday, January 6.

She was taken to hospital for surgery but is now in a stable condition.

Police said the boy, who has not been publicly identified, got into an 'altercation' with Zwerner, of Williamsburg, before shooting her.

Parent, Sebastian Gonzalez-Hernandez, confirmed Zwerner's identity to DailyMail.com at the weekend and also detailed her selflessness in the immediate aftermath.

He said: 'She screamed at her kids to run away' after the student fired a single bullet.

'Even after she'd been shot, she was thinking about the safety of her children,' Gonzalez-Hernandez said.

Officials at the scene recovered a 9mm weapon and one shell casing, Drew said, but are yet to identify the child and the parents.
This is the terrifying moment a gang of masked men stole $2 million worth of gems in less than a minute during a brazen smash-and-grab at a Brooklyn jewelry store.

Shocking footage showed the hooded brutes bash their way into the cases with hammers before stuffing the goods into a large bag.

Two of them continued to loot the shop while another appeared to stand guard at the entrance to Facets in Park Slope around 5pm on Sunday.

Meanwhile a horrified customer watched on in terror as they continued their rampage and threatened to shoot a member of staff.

The trio of masked men are seen smashing the main glass displays with hammers

Shop owner Irina Sulay said she was helping a customer when she spotted the three men outside her store.

After one of the men rang the buzzer, she let them in, unaware of the shocking crime that was about to take place.

The trio threatened to shoot a store employee before smashing three of the main glass displays with a hammer and grabbing the contents inside.

They continued diamond engagement rings, handmade designs and rare antique collectibles.

A picture of two out of the three of the men involved in the brazen heist that took place on Sunday around 5pm at Facets jewelry store in Park Slope, Brooklyn

Terrified customers were inside the store, but no one was injured. Though the owner was left shaken and said she 'could barely even speak' after

At one point, one horrified worker tried to call for help until one of the thugs yells out: 'Don't move! What the f*** are you going? I'm going to shoot you!'

A terrified customer and store employee were inside the store, but no one was injured. Though the owner was left shaken and said she 'could barely even speak' after.

At one point, one horrified worker tried to call for help until one of the thugs yells out: 'Don't move! What the f*** are you doing? I'm going to shoot you!'

The three masked men fled with all the jewels in tow and still remain at large, the NYDP said.

Sulay told DailyMail.com that she was scared but she tried to remain calm which she said, 'saved' them from a situation that could have been, far worse.

'We didn't get hysterical and did what we were told then waited for them to exit,' she said. 'If anyone of these women yelled, panicked or even fainted, it would not have been so good. We didn't move. We were just watching them like Holy S***t! This is real. '

She said the trio 'knew exactly what cases to take from and only took the big ticket items,' during the smash-and-grab

The Sulay family, descendants of Bukharian Jewish gem traders, opened their store in the Brooklyn neighborhood in 2001, and in 2019, moved to a larger space on the same block

Though the horrifying ordeal lasted about 38 seconds, she said if felt a lot longer.

'They took off with two and a half full cases of diamond engagement rings - about 100 rings.'

She continued: 'They were all Eastern European, old mine cut, circa 1800s, 1890, 1930, 1950. Some of the pieces were designed in-house.'

The stolen merchandise was valued between $1 million and $2 million.

She said she was still doing inventory, so that number may change, but was heartbroken by the loss.

'For me it is not the diamond, but the mounting - the actual basket - that the setting is held in. These settings were all handmade going back centuries. You cannot replace that. '

The Sulay family are descendants of Bukharian Jewish gem traders- 'this is in our blood back going back from the Silk Road,' she said.

In 2001, they first moved to the Park Slope Brooklyn neighborhood operating out of a 500-square-foot boutique. And, in 2019, they expanded the family business and moved into a 2,000-square two-story space on the same block.

'We started designing and collecting more antique pieces and transitioned the business to something more special because we had so many different things we were doing,' she said.

After Sunday's heist, Sulay told DailyMail.com she is taking it one step at a time. '

She added, 'We are trying to repair the damage, and figure out what our next step is.'
Actor Danny Masterson will face a retrial in March on three counts of rape, prosecutors have announced.

A judge declared a mistrial when jurors were 'hopelessly deadlocked' in the first trial last year.

Masterson, 46, played Steven Hyde on That 70s Show. He is charged with raping three women, including a former girlfriend, at his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003.

The Church of Scientology, of which Masterson is a member, is accused of advising the victims against going public. It is being sued in a separate case in civil court.

The actor Masterson, 46, has been charged with raping three women, including a former girlfriend

In November, a jury of six men and six women in Los Angeles told Judge Charlaine Olmedo that they were unable to reach a decision after four days of discussions.

Masterson pleaded not guilty to all three charges. Jurors said they were not even close to coming to a unanimous decision on the counts.

Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller announced: 'Our office has decided to retry this case.

'Not giving these victims another chance with a jury who can sit there and consider all of the evidence  win, lose or draw  that would be an injustice.'

Judge Charlaine Olmedo denied a defense request to dismiss the case, after defense attorney Philip Cohen argued it was 'unlikely' that any jury would reach a unanimous verdict.

He said: 'Its not that things were ignored that Mr Mueller thinks were important or significant.

Danny Masterson played wise-cracking Steven Hyde, fourth from left, on That '70s Show from 1998 to 2006

Masterson leaving the courthouse with wife Bijou Phillips after the verdict in November last year

'Its that things were discussed and not believed to be important to decision-making for some of the jurors.'

But Judge Olmdeo ruled that Cohen's arguments were 'speculative and unsupported by the facts'.

She added: 'It appears there are many other witnesses the People could choose to call or different arguments the People could choose to make.

'A different outcome at a retrial is at least a possibility.'

The court has ordered a retrial date to be set for March 27.

In the mistrial, on the charge of the forcible rape of Jane Doe 1, two jurors believed Masterson was guilty and 10 voted for his acquittal.

On count two, the forcible rape of Jane Doe 2, the vote was four for guilty and eight for acquittal.

A judge declared a mistrial in November after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked at the trial of That '70s Show actor Danny Masterson, who is charged with three rapes

All three rapes are alleged to have occurred at Masterson's Hollywood Hills house

Judge Charlaine Olmedo denied a request to dismiss the case against Masterson, whose defense attorney argued it was 'unlikely' that any jury would reach a unanimous verdict

On count three, the forcible rape of Jane Doe 3, the vote was five for guilty and seven for acquittal.

His accusers are all ex-Scientologists and are also suing him and the Church of Scientology in civil court, claiming they've been harassed and intimidated since reporting him to police.

All three women who accused Masterson of rape testified that the reason they took so long to report him was fear of retribution from the Church of Scientology.

They said that church officials warned them not to use the word rape and that turning in a fellow Scientologist to law enforcement was considered a 'high crime'.

They said if they disobeyed that doctrine, they could be declared a 'suppressive person', cast out by the church and left alone, cut off from family and friends.
President Joe Biden, for the second day in a row, dodged questions about the classified documents found at his think tank in Washington DC, as a new report claims the files contained information on Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom.

Biden, who is in Mexico City for a meeting of the 'Three Amigos,' ignored questions shouted to him by reporters during his sit-down with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday.

"Mr President, did you mishandle classified documents?' a member of the press corps shouted at him.

He merely smiled and stayed silent as White House staff escorted journalists from the room.

The cache of documents covered topics including Ukraine, Iran and the UK, CNN reported. The boxes also contained personal Biden family documents, including materials about Beau Bidens funeral arrangements and condolence letters.

President Joe Biden, for the second day in a row, dodged questions about the classified documents found at his think tank in Washington DC, smiling at reporters' questions during his meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

How the Biden documents were discovered NOVEMBER 2: 10 documents were found while Biden's attorneys were packing up the DC think tank office to leave. The files were said to be in a folder inside a locked closet, in a box with other unclassified documents. NOVEMBER 8: The midterm elections see Biden and his party perform better than expected. NOVEMBER 18: The Justice Department announces that Jack Smith, former chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague, will lead an investigation into Trump's storage of classified documents in his Florida home. JANUARY 9: The Justice Department announces an investigation has been launched into how the classified documents ended up at Biden's think tank. Biden says he was unaware there were any classified documents being held there, and his supporters point out that his own lawyers handed them over - noting that Trump's team fought to keep hold of his stash. Advertisement

The files were discovered when Biden's lawyer saw an envelope that indicated it contained personal files, opened it and saw there were classified documents inside.

The lawyer closed the envelope and called the National Archives, the news network reported.

Biden's team turned over several boxes out an abundance of caution, even though many contained personal materials, a source told CNN.

Meanwhile, Republicans demanded to know why the fact President Joe Biden had classified documents from when he was vice president wasn't revealed until after the midterm elections - with one calling it a 'cover up.'

'When you cover up something before an election,' Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning, 'that is probably a point that needs to be highlighted.'

He said the fact the White House didn't say 'a darn thing till after the election looks political me.'

The White House announced late Monday that Biden's lawyers discovered 10 classified documents in his former office at a Washington think tank on November 2.

That was six days before the midterm election, where Republicans won control of the House but not by the landslide many had predicted.

The announcement of such a discovery likely would have a been a political explosion in the election, akin to the FBI announcing in 2016, 11 days before the election, the discovery of additional Hillary Clinton emails.

The delay in announcing the Biden discovery has sparked fury among the GOP, and many warned they expect the Justice Department to treat Biden like the agency is treating its probe of former President Donald Trump and the documents he had at Mar-a-Lago.

GOP Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, who is set to become the House Oversight Chairman, said he plans to send a letter to the National Archives on Tuesday demanding answers.

Comer said he had questions about why the two presidents were being treated differently.

'I'm wondering is Joe Biden's personal residence gonna be raided by the FBI,' he said on Tuesday.

He said he was asking the National Archives about the documents in the possession of both former presidents.

'But we're just trying to find out exactly what went on at both Mar-a-Lago and the Biden's.'

Republican Rep. Don Bacon (left) called it a 'cover up' while Republican Rep. Jim Jordan (right) said: 'Maybe the American people should have known about it'

And Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the incoming House Judiciary chairman, wouldn't say if he would investigate the matter.

He said on Tuesday that his committee was focused on 'what the whistleblowers are saying - talking to us about just the political nature of the Justice Department.'

He pointed out that scope could end up being 'far reaching.'

And he said Trump was a victim of a double standard.

'I think everyone sees the double standard there, you know, plus, plus the country got to know about what happened 91 days before the election with President Trump,' he noted. 'This happened a week before the election. We didn't know about it before.'

Additionally, GOP Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, the freshly installed Chair of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, wrote to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines requesting an immediate review and damage assessment on the documents.

'This discovery of classified information would put President Biden in potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act. Those entrusted with access to classified information have a duty and an obligation to protect it. This issue demands a full and thorough review,' he wrote.

Democrats, meanwhile, were careful in their response.

'It's a concern whenever classified documents are somewhere they shouldn't be. But we see no evidence of deliberate intent, or obstruction of justice, as we see in the case of Donald Trump and Mar-a-Lago,' said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who was on many of the panels investigating Trump.

And Rep. Pete Aguilar of California accused Republicans of 'hypocrisy' and said Biden followed the 'established process' in that he turned over the documents as soon as they were discovered.

'The president is handling this the way that he should,' he said.

Joe Biden has refused to answer questions about misplacing confidential documents at his think tank while he was vice president

Attorney General Merrick Garland has asked the US attorney in Chicago to review 10 files discovered at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, DC, six days before the midterms in November

A police car is seen outside former President Donald Trump's residence in Mar-A-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida on August 8 last year, while the FBI searches for confidential papers from the White House

A photo of the documents seized during the August 8 FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate

The documents are dated to Biden's service as vice president for President Barack Obama.

President Biden and his White House legal team doesn't know what is in the documents, CNN reported.

Biden didnt know the documents were there and was only made aware of them when his personal lawyers informed the White House counsels office.

Attorney General Merrick Garland's Justice Department is investigating the matter and deciding whether to appoint a special counsel, like the one investigating Trump's hoarding of sensitive documents.

Garland selected US Attorney General for the Northern District of Illinois, John Lausch, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, to review the ten classified documents discovered at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.

Trump was among the many Republicans demanding answers and, on Tuesday, said it was time for Biden to have a special counsel too.

The former president on Monday pointed out that his own home was raided by the FBI for having classified documents stored there.

'When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified,' he wrote on social media.

A special counsel would give the White House a certain type of political cover, allowing officials to refuse Republican requests for an investigation by saying the Justice Department was investigating.

Jack Smith, chief to the DOJ's public integrity section, was appointed special counsel in charge of the Trump classified documents investigation.

Biden slammed Trump in the wake of the FBI raid for having classified documents in his private South Florida residence.

'How that could possibly happen? How anyone could be that irresponsible? And I thought what data was in there that would maybe compromise sources and methods?' he said to CBS' 60 Minutes. 'And it just  totally irresponsible.'

Under the Presidential Records Act, all documents from a president's administration must be turned over to the National Archives - that includes the vice president, which Biden served as at that time.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday night expressed disbelief at the timing of the discovery.

'Oh really? They just now found them? After all these years?' he said to reporters on Capitol Hill.

'President Trump had never been in office before and had just left, came out. Here's an individual [who] spent his last 40 years in office and still had this from the vice president.'

'It just shows that they were trying to be political to President Trump,' he added.

Biden was in Mexico City on Monday for a meeting with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador when the announcement was made. He refused to answer shouted questions as to how the documents ended up inside the offices.

As the press in Mexico City was being ushered out of the meeting room, one reporter yelled out: 'Mr. President, any response to the discovery of classified documents?'

The president did not respond.

The classified materials included some top-secret files with the 'sensitive compartmented information facility' designation, also known as SCIF, which is used for highly sensitive information obtained from intelligence sources.

The White House special counsel said in a statement on Monday: 'The White House is cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice regarding the discovery of what appear to be Obama-Biden admin records, including a small number of documents with classified markings.'

The office said the documents were in a 'locked-office' and the National Archives retrieved them the day after their discovery.

Biden used that Washington DC office from 2017 until the start of the 2020 presidential campaign. His lawyers were packing it up as they prepared to vacate the space.

It is unclear what the classified documents contain, but their discovery follows the raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort last year and comes as Republicans begin their investigations into the Biden family.

'The documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the archives,' special White House counsel Richard Sauber said in the statement. 'Since that discovery, the president's personal attorneys have cooperated with the archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden administration documents are appropriately in the possession of the archives.'

The White House emphasized Biden's attorneys found the documents and promptly turned them over to the Archives.

In Trump's case, the Archives realized documents from his administration were missing and requested their return.

Trump eventually gave 15 boxes of materials to the agency, which discovered classified documents among them. When federal investigators suspected the former president was holding onto more documents, they got a judges permission to search Mar-a-Lago.

That search took place in August and turned up more documents.
Ron DeSantis laughed at President Joe Biden for even considering a ban on gas top stoves during a wide-range press conference where he celebrated Florida's tourism boom but lamented of 'cheap' Chinese toys.

The Florida governor said that many people relied on gas stoves during hurricanes when power was still out in the states  and lamented that elites are trying to change the rules in order to reduce Americans to being treated like 'peasants.'

He also claimed that the influx of tourism and permanent moves to Florida is due to his policies that prevented Florida from falling to some of the policies promoted by Dr. Anthony Fauci, like indefinite lockdowns and compulsory masking and vaccines.

'It's just crazy the number of people that are down here at any given time,' the governor said. 'Of course, people moving here, but also visiting here.'

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday lauded economic growths that came to the state by refusing to turn into 'Fauciville' during the pandemic and lamented that the Biden team wants to ban gas stoves

He also lauded the money and economic activity that was brought to the state by people moving to Florida and visiting  especially throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

'That would not have been possible, you know, if we had turned Florida into a Fauciville,' he said.

The Biden administration is considering a nationwide ban on gas stoves, according to a Monday Bloomberg report where the Consumer Product Safety Commission cited harmful pollutants released by the appliances.

'You see, the Biden administration wants to nix gas stoves. Are you kidding me?' DeSantis chuckled during a press conference in Bonita Springs, Florida on Tuesday.

'I want gas stoves,' DeSantis added.

'How many people had the hurricane come through, didn't have power right away, but were able to turn on [their stove]?' he said to a crowd gathered at Coconut Jack's Waterfront Grille on Tuesday morning.

CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. called gas stoves a 'hidden hazard.

'Any option is on the table,' he added. 'Products that can't be made safe can be banned.'

The Biden administration is considering a nationwide ban on gas stoves, citing harmful pollutants released by the appliances

DeSantis' Tuesday remarks come just one week after he was inaugurated for his second term as governor of Florida at the state's capital in Tallahassee.

Following taking his oath of office, DeSantis delivered approximately 20-minute remarks where he vowed to make Florida the best state to raise a family and put the focus on education and parents' rights.

The press conference Tuesday took specific and repeated aim at China and the governing Chinese Communist Party.

Not only blaming the CCP for 'weakening western society, western values,' DeSantis also slammed China for producing cheap toys that break easily.

The governor said that he and Florida's first lady Casey Desantis bought their three children, Madison, 6, Mason, 4, and Mamie, 2, gifts to 'thank them for being so nice' during inauguration events last week.

He lamented, however, that the gifts broke because all the options for toys at the store were made in China.

'All this stuff is made in China and it breaks. It's cheap stuff,' DeSantis said. 'Santa Claus may need to not do Chinese toys.'
California teen Chloe Cole, perhaps the most famous American to undergo sex-transition surgery as a child and later regret it, has spoken passionately about her procedure being like 'Nazi-era experiments'.

Addressing a think tank in Washington, Cole, 18, said she was coerced into taking puberty blockers and having both breasts surgically removed when she was 15, and warned of other minors being misdiagnosed and pushed into similar operations.

Cole late last year unveiled plans to sue the doctors who authorized her surgery and 'gender-affirming care', as it is known, fast becoming a poster child for conservatives who want to protect other kids from a similar outcome.

'It's important to know how awful it really is,' Cole told the Heritage Foundation about her double mastectomy.

'Really, it's like Nazi-era experiments.'

Chloe Cole, 18, who transitioned to male at 13 before later regretting her decision at 16, says breast removal operations on trans kids are 'like Nazi-era experiments'

Chloe Cole 'medically transitioned' between the ages of 13 and 16, having her mastectomy surgeries at 15 in June 2020

Cole described having mental health issues and family problems as a child and becoming exposed to transgender discussions online.

Clinicians railroaded her into taking puberty blockers and then hormones and finally surgery, she says.

'They kind of watered it down,' she said of the doctors who explained to her the impending double mastectomy. 'They simplified it a little bit, just to make it a little more digestible for my 15-year-old brain.'

Rejecting claims that trans surgeries on children are rare, Cole said 'it happens all the time'. She warned of ever-more adolescents with a range of problems ending up on a bandwagon of gender-affirming care that oftentimes does not help them.

Many of those who feel a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity  a condition known as gender dysphoria  have other problems that need to be addressed, including autism spectrum disorders, she added.

'Everybody my age, I know, who's transitioning, or is dysphoric, they're either on the spectrum, or they have some other learning disorder, or they have depression or social anxiety, or they have a history of abuse or sexual assault, neglect, or issues with their family,' said Cole.

Cole is unsure whether the testosterone treatment she underwent affected her ability to have children. She has had to wear bandages because her body is rejecting the skin grafts on her chest.

She urged the audience to take transgender ideology more seriously, saying her breast surgery scars and her slimmer chances of being able to have a child should ring alarm bells about the perils.

Cole has 'detransitioned' back to being female and now campaigns against trans ideology. Breast removal and other procedures are 'like Nazi-era experiments,' she says.

Cole and her lawyer Harmeet Dhillon last year announced they were bringing a medical malpractice suit against the clinicians who signed off on her breast removal surgery

'Conservatives have mostly just been ridiculing the movement just brushing it off as crazy,' Cole told the right-leaning think tank.

'But it's not, and it's really captured vulnerable children, parents and young people and even entire institutions. And we've really let it go unchecked.'

Cole started suffering from gender dysphoria aged nine and spoke to a pediatrician about it when she was 12.

She says she was coerced into a gender transition operation and between the ages 13 and 17 took puberty blockers, hormones and had a double mastectomy.

In her lawsuit, she says doctors told her gender dysphoria would never go away and that she was at high risk of suicide unless she transitioned.

She claims they asked her parents: 'Would you rather have a dead daughter or a live son?'

Cole's lawyer Harmeet Dhillon last year said they have brought a medical malpractice suit against the doctors, and she was being represented by Center for American Liberty.

Whether or not to help children transition socially or with drugs and surgery has become a frontline in America's culture wars

Conservatives rail against a 'social contagion' leading to ever more irreversible procedures, while others seek a loosening of gender roles and warn that gender dysphoric minors might kill themselves.

The number of young Americans who experience gender dysphoria and seek puberty blockers, hormones and even surgery as a solution has shot up in recent years.

This chart shows insurance claims for diagnoses of gender dysphoria by year. These have doubled since 2017

This chart shows insurance claims for puberty blockers in the US by year. It shows claims have doubled since 2017

These graphs of selected states show gender dysphoria diagnoses heading upwards

Prescriptions for puberty-blocking drugs among under-18s doubled between 2017 and 2021, while scripts for hormone therapies have seen a similar rise, according to reports from health insurers.

The rise is much more pronounced among girls. The number of breast removals, known as 'top surgery', performed on girls under 18 has risen 13-fold in the past decade, says a study from California.

Bottom surgeries, and operations on male-to-female transitioners, are less common.

Advocates for gender-affirming care say the rise is down to more awareness of gender dysphoria and support among clinicians. Still, some experts, conservatives and parents warn of an ideologically-driven 'social contagion'.

Debate about whether to restrict child gender care has intensified in recent months, as a growing number of former patients who regret having irreversible procedures as children say their desire to medically transition was not challenged enough.

The data on how many transitioners change their minds and seek to detransition, or are pressured to do so by relatives or employers, is not reliable, but estimates are in the range of 1 to 8 percent.

A popular online forum called the Detransition Subreddit has amassed 42,700 followers.
The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday requested a 'damage assessment' after 10 classified documents were found in President Joe Biden's former office at a Washington think tank in early November.

Rep. Mike Turner sent a letter to the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines asking for an immediate review after Biden 'removed, and then retained highly classified information at an undisclosed and unsecure non-government office in Washington, D.C., for a period of at least six years.'

'This discovery of classified information would put President Biden in potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act,' Turner said.

'Those entrusted with access to classified information have a duty and an obligation to protect it,' he added. 'This issue demands a full and thorough review.'

The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Turner (left) requested a 'damage assessment' after 10 classified documents were found in President Joe Biden's (right) former office at a Washington think tank in early November

The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Turner, wrote a letter Tuesday to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines

The 10 documents were found at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C. on November 2 - six days before the midterm elections

Turner also asked Haines for a classified briefing for committee members on the conduct of the damage assessment.

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday that he also wants to be briefed, according to NBC News.

The White House announced Monday that Biden's lawyers found 10 classified documents from his vice presidential days at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington on November 2 - six days before the midterms.

Republicans are now furious that the information was withheld until after the elections - as the party didn't perform as well as expected.

In 2016, then FBI Director James Comey notified Congress 11 days before the presidential election that the agency had reopened the investigation into Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's emails - looking for classified information.

The emails were found by the FBI on a computer that belonged to former Rep. Anthony Weiner, for his unrelated sexting case, as his then wife, Huma Abedin, was a top Clinton aide.

Despite the FBI publicizing that the Clinton case was closed again before election day, Democrats believed Comey's announcement had a detrimental effect on the presidential election, which Republican Donald Trump won.

For months, former President Trump has been embroiled in his own classified documents scandal, with the FBI raiding Mar-a-Lago in August to get back some of the papers he took from the White House.

In late August, Haines confirmed to the top Democrats on the House Intelligence and House Oversight Committees that the intelligence community was conducting a damage assessment into the documents Trump took - including those found at his Florida home and club.

It's likely, then, that Haines will have to agree to do a damage assessment of the Biden documents as well.

Republicans are already comparing the two cases with incoming House Oversight Committee Chair, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky commenting Tuesday: 'I'm wondering is Joe Biden's personal residence gonna be raided by the FBI.'

Biden allies, however, are pointing out that the president's lawyer turned the documents over to the Justice Department upon finding them, whereas Trump and his legal team tried retaining his files.

'Our system of classification exists in order to protect our most important national security secrets, and we expect to be briefed on what happened both at Mar-a-Lago and at the Biden office as part of our constitutional oversight obligations,' Warner said in the statement confirming he'd asked for a briefing.

'From what we know so far, the latter is about finding documents with markings, and turning them over, which is certainly different from a months-long effort to retain material actively sought by the government,' Warner continued. 'But again, that's why we need to be briefed.'

House Democratic Whip Rep. Pete Aguilar accused Republicans of 'hypocrisy' as Biden followed the 'established process' in turning over the documents as soon as they were found.

'The president is handling this the way that he should,' Aguilar said.

Biden has said he didn't know the documents were there.
The Canadian government revealed on Monday that it would be spending $14.2 billion to purchase 88 F-35 fighter aircraft.

According to a press release from the Canadian government, the Royal Canadian Air Force will start using the first US-made plane in 2026, and the whole fleet will be up and running by 2033 or 2034.

CNN reports that the deal makes Canada the last of the F-35 program's initial eight partners to buy the fifth-generation fighter, one of the world's finest.

In a statement, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said that Canada wants "a military that is flexible, agile, and capable of responding" to "a range of unexpected events" in today's complicated world.

Anand said the Canada F-34 Fighter Jets will be critical for safeguarding Canadians, boosting "Arctic security and national sovereignty," and helping Canada to fulfill its NATO, NORAD, and other duties long into the future" as the international order is threatened across the globe.

The North American Aerospace Defense Organization, or NORAD, is a combined US-Canadian command responsible for the continent's air and missile defense.

Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of Canada F-34 Fighter Jets, has experienced an increase in demand over the last year, particularly after Russia invaded Ukraine.

In 2022, the F-35 was ordered by Germany, Switzerland, and Finland, while proposals to purchase it was made by NATO members Greece and the Czech Republic.

F-35s are currently or will soon be in the fleets of the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Japan, Poland, South Korea, Belgium, Israel, and Singapore.

The planes are available in three different variants: the regular F-35A, the short-take-off, and vertical landing F-35B, and the F-35C, which is designed to be flown from aircraft carriers.

How Did It Cost Canada?

Canada will acquire the F-35A version to retire its outdated CF-18 aircraft.

Planes alone are just a portion of the projected $14.2bn ($19bn Canadian) price tag for the Canada weapons project; infrastructure building, armaments, and other costs are also included.

However, some concerns and issues have been raised in Canada over the Canada weapons program's projected $52bn ($70bn Canadian) cost throughout its whole life cycle.

Read Also: German Minister Says Worst-Case Energy Shortage Prevented From Critically Hobbling Germany

By late December, the No Fighter Jets Coalition had issued a statement saying that it was "irresponsible" and unfair for the Trudeau administration to spend public money on Canada F-34 Fighter Jets when "Canadians struggle to make ends meet" due to the onset of winter.

The group said the Canadian government should instead put money into things like low-cost "housing, healthcare, education, economic aid, and climate action." The proposed purchase of the F-35 fighter jet by Canada is unethical and should be scrapped, it added.

Trudeau Contradicting Earlier Pronouncement

In his candidacy for prime minister in 2015, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared that Canada would never buy the F-35.

Trudeau maintained his stance that the Canadian military had no demand for the F-35 and remarked in June 2016 that the Conservatives had "absolutely "missed the boat" when it came to providing Canadians and their armed services the weaponry they required in 10 years.

"They clung to an aircraft (the F-35) that does not work and is far from working," Trudeau said, as per a report from Ottawa Citizen.



In contrast, Anand said on Monday that the Canada F-34 Fighter Jets deal will improve Canada's ability to fulfill domestic military obligations and coordinate with NORAD and NATO partners.

The Canadian defense minister noted that the Canadian weapons initiatives will sharpen Canada's military edge to keep its citizens safe and provide "economic opportunities" for our nation."

She also noted that for 25 years, the cost of maintaining and running the planes is expected to bring around 3,300 employment and $317m ($425m Canadian) to Canada's yearly gross domestic product, per Al Jazeera.

Related Article: Russia's Liberal Democratic Party Hints Kremlin Could Purchase Chinese Carrier Liaoning from Beijing

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A rapist who pounced on a young woman while on bail for a similar assault has been jailed for ten years.

Romanian Dorel Simion, 30, and accomplice Bogdan Paduraru pounced on the victim near an underpass in Pine Crescent, East Kilbride, Lanarkshire in June 2021.

Simion was also convicted of having raped another woman in the town months earlier in August 2020.

Both men have been jailed and placed on the sex offenders list and are likely to be deported to Romania on their releases.

Romanian Dorel Simion, 30, and accomplice Bogdan Paduraru were sentenced at Glasgow's High Court following the attack

The 30 year-old had been out on bail at the time of the assault in 2021 having appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court in September 2020

The court heard how both men had 'taken advantage' of a woman who had been walking from her home nearby.

Prosecutors stated she was intoxicated at the time and unable to consent to sex.

The duo - both from Romania - were later charged, but it emerged Simion had already appeared in court for the earlier rape.

Simion had appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court on September 9, 2020 before being allowed back on the streets.

The 30 year-old had been out on bail at the time of the assault in 2021. He had again preyed on a woman who had been drinking.

The pair were sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on Tuesday having earlier been convicted of both sex attacks after a trial.

Simion - who has a long term partner - had denied the accusations at trial and his lawyer today/yesterday said he continued to protest his innocence.

Louise Arrol KC, defending, said: 'Somewhat concerning is that there is really nothing to note in his background that might shed any light to this offending behaviour.'

The advocate told the hearing Simion had been under the influence of alcohol at the time.

Sentencing, Lady Stacey told Simion: 'It is very concerning that you committed two serious crimes in the space of less than a year - the second one while on bail.

'You claimed to the social worker (in a report) not to understand why anyone would force another person into sex.

'That is exactly what you did. Neither of the women could consent to sex and could not defend themselves against you.'

Janice Green, defending Paduraru, said he claimed to have no memory of the sex attack, but accepted responsibility due to the evidence.

Addressing Paduraru, the judge said: 'The woman (in his charge) had been going out having been at home.

'She was walking in an underpass when you and Simion decided to take advantage of her.'

Paduraru, 28, was jailed for five and a half years after he pleaded guilty to his involvement in the latter rape.

Both were placed on the sex offenders list and are likely to be returned to their homeland on their release.
Prince Harry has revealed that Princess Margaret only bought him a Biro with a rubber fish around it for Christmas one year - which he saw as 'cold-blooded' - and said he thought he and his 'Aunt Margo' should have been closer.

In his long-awaited memoir 'Spare', which was released today following a series of interviews and last month's Netflix docu-series 'Harry and Meghan', Harry says his great-aunt was almost a 'total stranger' to him.

The Duke of Sussex describes one Christmas when the family were together at Sandringham opening presents - and tells the story of a bizarre gift from Princess Margaret.

Opening the smallest present in his pile first, Harry discovered the Queen's sister had bought him a biro pen with a small rubber fish wrapped around it, which he saw as 'cold-blooded'.

Prince Harry has revealed that Princess Margaret only bought him a Biro with a rubber fish around it for Christmas one year. L to R: The then Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry and Princess Margaret walk to the orangery in Kensington

Opening the smallest present in his pile first, Harry discovered the Queen's sister (pictured left, in 1993) had bought him a biro pen with a small rubber fish wrapped around it

Harry adds that Margaret 'didn't have much of an opinion' of him.

And he writes that he too 'felt nothing' for his great aunt except pity - and says he usually tried to keep out of her way.

Princess Margaret died aged 71 in 2002 when Harry was 17. Her health had deteriorated for the last 20 years of her life - in part the result of heavy smoking.

She had pneumonia in 1993 and suffered three strokes between 1998 and 2001. She died shortly after a fourth stroke.

But the prince also shared his wish that he had been closer with Margaret as they had much in common in both being the 'spare' to their older sibling with similar 'rivalry' and 'intense competition'.

He says: 'We had so much in common. Two spares. Her relationship with Granny wasn't an exact analogue of mine with Willy, but pretty close'.

As Margaret became more ill, Harry began to wish that he'd had more time to get to know her.

The Duke also draws comparisons between Margaret and his mother Diana, as they both rebelled against traditional expectations set by the crown.

The 'explosive' pages of Spare include accusations of a physical fight with his older brother Prince William at Nottingham Cottage in 2019, as well as a further disagreement shortly after the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral in 2021.

The 'explosive' pages of Spare also include accusations of a physical fight with his older brother Prince William at Nottingham Cottage in 2019 (pictured together on September 10)

Princess Margaret died aged 71 in 2002 when Harry was 17. Her health had deteriorated for the last 20 years of her life

Caroline Lennon, the first customer to purchase a copy of Spare, the newly released autobiography from the Duke of Sussex, poses for photographers with her copy of the book as she leaves Waterstones Piccadilly, London

The official release of Prince Harry's memoir, Spare, appears to have been something of a damp squib, with minimal enthusiasm from fans

The Duke of Sussex describes a stand-up row that ended with the Prince of Wales grabbing him by the collar and throwing him to the floor, shattering a dog bowl with his back.

Harry also includes personal stories, admitting to drug use, having a frostbitten penis at William and Kate's wedding and detailing how he lost his virginity.

The long-awaited 416-page book is awaiting shoppers today and is being sold at half-price for 14 in Waterstones, WH Smith and on Amazon

It is dedicated to his wife Meghan, children Archie and Lilibet, and his late mother Diana and is being published in 16 languages.

Bookshops opened early this morning for the release of Prince Harry's memoir - but rather than floods of customers, staff saw barely anyone turn up.

Caroline Lennon, 59, was the only one waiting to buy Spare after she walked two miles from Bethnal Green in the East End to queue from 6am.

The majority of the book's most shattering revelations were documented before its official release, through the Duke of Sussex's PR blitz, with interviews with Tom Bradby and Anderson Cooper, as well as the leaking of a Spanish version of the memoir.

World of Books says it's nearly sold out of the title - currently selling for 33.39 - while WH Smith and Amazon are both selling Spare for 14 - half the original price.

The release comes after the Spanish edition of the book En La Sombra ('In The Shadow') was leaked on February 5, despite ultra-secure arrangements in place, and after a set of tell-all interviews.

It was pulled from the shelves within hours but not before the world had gained access to its contents, detailing tensions between Harry and other members of the royal family and personal stories about the Prince's life.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to 'find a reason not to go' to King Charles' coronation, although they are expected to be invited despite Prince Harry's bombshell memoir.

It would be very 'hard for them' to attend, a royal source who is close to the family said, after 'what has been said'.

The couple are not expected to play any formal role in the event, which will see the King formally crowned after his ascension to the throne in September, following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

Sources say that hopes for reconciliation with the Sussexes are limited while the Duke of Sussex remains 'kidnapped by a cult of psychotherapy and Meghan'.

The Duke of Sussex is expected to find a 'reason not to go' to his father's coronation, which will be held on May 6

King Charles, who will be formally crowned at the event having ascended the throne in September following the death of his mother, does not expect his son to attend

The fallout from the publication of Prince Harry's long-awaited memoirs continues as the Duke of Sussex has repeatedly insisted that he would like a relationship with his family.

A royal source said that the King does not expect his son to attend his event on May 6.

The source explained that the family will expect the Sussexes to politely provide a reason not to attend.

'The family will extend the invitation but it would be very hard for Harry and Meghan to be there given everything that has been said in the interviews and the book.

'The family expects Harry and Meghan to find a reason not to be there,' the source told The Independent.

The then Prince Charles (centre) attends the coronation of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II (left), in 1953, following the death of his grandfather George VI. Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, are expected to find a 'reason not to attend' his father's coronation in May

Senior royals remain convinced that reconciliation will not be possible with Harry as he has been effectively 'kidnapped', the source claimed

The palace are yet to publish plans for the elaborate ceremony and the guest list has not yet been agreed.

Organisers said the ornate event will 'reflect the monarch's role today' and 'look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry'.

Prince Harry has said in a number of interviews that he would like to reconcile with his brother and father.

This is despite accusing his brother of physically attacking him and describing Queen Camilla as a 'villain'.

Senior royals do not believe that reconciliation will be possible while Prince Harry remains effectively 'kidnapped by a cult of psychotherapy and Meghan', the source added.
An off-duty police officer who pulled down a young woman's top and photographed her breasts during a night out has been found guilty of sexual assault.

Married father-of-four Paul Hinchcliffe later messaged the woman, who was 18 years old at the time, saying: 'God, I'd do you', with sexually explicit emojis, a court heard.

The South Yorkshire Pc was convicted of one charge of sexual assault by a jury on Tuesday.

Hinchcliffe, 46, sat with his head in his hands and could be heard sobbing when the verdict was announced.

The trial at Leeds Crown Court heard the woman and Hinchcliffe, who was then 43, were in a group drinking at a Wetherspoons pub in Wath-upon-Dearne, South Yorkshire, on October 3, 2020.

Photo issued by South Yorkshire Police of Paul Hinchcliffe, 46, a South Yorkshire Pc, who was found guilty of sexual assault on Tuesday at Leeds Crown Court

An off-duty police officer who pulled down a young woman's top and photographed her breasts during a night out has been found guilty of sexual assault in a trial at Leeds Crown Court

In an interview played to jurors, the woman said: 'It didn't start off strange. I think the first odd thing was he made comments about my bum and said: 'Every time you get up to the toilet, I've had a look.'

She told the detectives that Hinchcliffe later took a photograph of her wearing her glasses and showed everyone else, saying: 'I'm going to have a w**k to that tonight.'

He then went on to pull open her top and photograph her breasts, the court heard.

The woman described how the defendant started flicking foam from the top of his beer onto her glasses, which she first thought was 'a laugh'.

But then she added: 'He was throwing it down my boobs. Then he got his phone and kind of pulled my top open and took a picture down my top.'

She told the interviewing officers that the defendant was making noises as he flicked the foam at her and she said: 'I think he was making reference to ejaculating on my chest.'

Hinchcliffe told the group he was going to send the picture to his friend who could not make it out that night, she added.

After she went home, the woman said: 'I just absolutely cried my eyes out - I was absolutely hysterical'.

She said she got WhatsApp messages from Hinchcliffe that night with a picture of her accompanied by 'w**king emojis'.

Paul Hinchcliffe, 46, who photographed an 18-year-old woman's breasts, arrives at Leeds Magistrates Court, West Yorkshire, January 6, 2023

The woman said one message said: 'God I'd do you, is that bad?' The woman said she replied: 'Yes, it is.'

She said he told her: 'Sorry, I'm just drunk.'

Speaking about the message, Hinchcliffe said: 'I wasn't saying I was masturbating, which is a ridiculous thing in my mind anyway. I was saying she looked nice in the picture.

'When I sent the message to my friend before, it was funny, and I just meant she looked pretty. I was drunk.

'I didn't fancy her. She was less than half my age.'

When Hinchcliffe was interviewed in April last year, his solicitor made a prepared statement saying the victim had consented to him taking the photo of her.

Asked about how the conversation began, the woman told the detectives that the group was talking about her plans for a 'boob job'. She said she had mentioned she had a 'chest like a 12-year-old' and Hinchcliffe had said: 'You've got a bum like a 12-year-old.'

The woman told the officers: 'I feel like I don't want to go out in a low-cut top and leather trousers any more.

'I don't want people looking at my bum all the time. I don't want people looking at my boobs.

'At the same time I feel guilty. I don't know why. I feel like I could've said something at the time.

'I feel like: 'What if he thought I wanted him to do these things?'

The trial heard the woman and Hinchcliffe were in a group drinking at The Church House Wetherspoons pub in Wath-upon-Dearne, South Yorkshire, on October 3 2020

Hinchcliffe told the court he was 'mortified' to be on trial, saying the woman consented to him taking a photograph of her cleavage.

The defendant admitted sending a picture taken down the woman's top to a colleague but denied pulling the garment down. He said he had been drinking beer with a group, including other officers, for around seven and a half hours at the time of the incident.

South Yorkshire Police previously said Hinchcliffe, who had a role training police officers at the time, had been suspended from duties and an internal misconduct investigation was on hold pending the outcome of the trial.

His honour judge Robin Mairs thanked the jury for their service and ordered a probation report be made before his later sentencing.

He told Hinchcliffe: 'I don't know what I'm going to do with you. I will need a pre-sentence report from the probation service. That report may well be in your best interests.'

Judge Robin Mairs told Hinchcliffe he would be sentenced before the same court at a later date following a report from the probation service.
The couple's bodies were pulled from icy waters at the Four Waterfalls Walk

The grieving families of a married couple who died at a waterfall beauty spot during a New Year's Holiday have described the women as 'a truly admirable credit to themselves and society' in a moving joint tribute.

Rachael and Helen Patching, 33 and 52, were pulled from icy waters at the Four Waterfalls Walk in the national park at Brecon Beacons, Wales, last week.

The couple, from Kent, had been trekking through the area during a New Year getaway leading up to the tragedy.

Police are still working to determine exactly how the women came to be in the water.

While the pools under the waterfalls are a known spot for wild swimming, locals also noted the rocks lining the water are extremely slippery at this time of year.

The grieving families of a married couple who died at a waterfall beauty spot during a New Year's Holiday have described the women as 'a truly admirable credit to themselves and society' in a moving joint tribute

Police confirmed two bodies were recovered after a five-day search operation involving divers, mountain rescue teams, firemen and helicopters.

Their families said: 'We are devastated to have suffered such an immeasurable loss following the news of Rachael and Helen's passing at just 33 and 52.

'They were such a devoted, selfless, and loving couple having had an immensely positive impact on all those they met.

'Their love for animals and dedication to caring for them so lovingly over the years made them a truly admirable credit to themselves and society.

'Their endless laughter will be forever remembered by all who had the honour to know them.

'There are no words that can express enough how highly they were both thought of by family members, friends, and colleagues.'

In a joint statement the couple's families praised the 'unwavering commitment' of the rescue teams who braved dangerous river conditions during the five-day search.

Rachael and Helen Patching, 33 and 52, were pulled from icy waters at the Four Waterfalls Walk in the national park at Brecon Beacons, Wales, last week

Police were deployed to Ystradfellte Falls on the rugged Four Waterfalls Walk in Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales at about 11.45am on Wednesday after the alarm was raised by passers-by

One body was found within hours of the two women going into the water on January 4, while the second body was found on Sunday.

The statement said: 'We would like to thank all those who have provided such generous support and guidance, including the unwavering commitment of the Brecon Beacons Mountain Rescue volunteers, the police, National Police Air Support, Mid and West Wales Fire Service, National Resource Wales, the Welsh Ambulance Service and Powys County Council for helping so selflessly at such a difficult time.

'We would now like time to grieve and would ask to be given privacy in which to do so.'

Investigations are continuing into how the two women ended up in the fast-flowing and icy water below one of the four waterfalls on a popular walking trail.

Police are still working to determine exactly how the women came to be in the water at Ystradfellte Falls on the rugged Four Waterfalls Walk in Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales (pictured)

Dyfed-Powys Police said the search operation was hampered by 'high fast-flowing' water.

Locals said the waterfalls attract visitors from all over the UK and became particularly popular after lockdown restrictions were lifted.

Experienced hillwalker Phil Evans, 61, said: 'It's usually pretty safe up there - but like anywhere else in the Beacons there are risks.

'The water will be extremely cold at this time of year, you're not going to survive for long and we've had a lot of rain so there will be rapids forming.'

Inquests will be held on both women following a police inquiry into the double tragedy.
Capital punishment is legal in Japan and off-duty British troops could be subject

The deal with Japanese PM Fumio Kishida will cement defence ties with Japan

The Reciprocal Access Agreement will be signed tomorrow at Tower of London

British troops could be stationed in Japan to counter China under a new defence agreement.

The Prime Minister signed a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Tower of London this afternoon.

It will strengthen defence ties between Britain and Japan in the face of increasing threats from China and North Korea.

Troops have been taking part in training exercises together but the agreement allows the stationing of troops in each other's countries.

It will make the UK the first European country to have a reciprocal access agreement with Japan, with No 10 calling it the most important defence treaty between London and Tokyo since 1902.

The pact is part of the UK's defence and foreign policy 'tilt' towards the Indo-Pacific region following an integrated review in 2021 that recognised the growing impact of China in the area.

But although UK troops will be subject to UK laws while on duty, off-duty soldiers will be subject to the Japanese justice system, meaning they could face capital punishment for the most serious crimes.

The Prime Minister signed a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Tower of London this afternoon.

It will strengthen defence ties between Britain and Japan in the face of increasing threats from China and North Korea.

British troops in Japan could be hanged if they are found guilty of serious crimes under a new defence agreement due to be signed by Rishi Sunak. Here Japanese, American, British and Australian troops took part in an annual exercise

Welcoming his Japanese counterpart to London, Mr Sunak referenced the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the war in Ukraine, in brief remarks before the meeting at the historic venue.

'It is fantastic to welcome you here to London and to the United Kingdom, it is a great pleasure to have you here at the Tower of London,' he said.

'The relationship between our two countries is stronger than ever, not just across trade and security but also our values and I think we saw that brilliantly demonstrated last year.'

Mr Kishida in turn thanked the Prime Minister for his 'warm hospitality'.

'This year, Japan has the presidency of the G7,' he told the PM. 'Let us have a strategic discussion, that would be our hope.

'Thank you so much for creating this opportunity,' he told Mr Sunak, as he referenced the importance of security and cooperation between the two countries.'

Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey said: 'This important bilateral agreement has Labour's full backing.

'It lays the foundation for joint defence developments with a close ally in a time of escalating uncertainty. Now we expect ministers to lay out a long-term plan, not just sign this agreement with Japan today.'

Mr Kishida's visit to London is part of a whistle-stop tour to five G7 nations, marking Japan taking on the rotating presidency of the group for 2023.

His trip, which will see him visit France, Italy, the UK, Canada and finally the US in the space of five days, comes as Japan breaks from its post-war restraint to take on more offensive roles, with an eye toward China.

Japan announced last month it had adopted security and defence reforms, including a counter-strike capability that breaks from an exclusively self-defence-only principle that had been in place since its Second World War defeat.

While at the historic Tower of London, Mr Sunak and Mr Kishida viewed Japanese armour on display.

It was presented to King James I in 1613 by the then-Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada of Japan to mark the first ever trade agreement between England and Japan.

The death penalty is legal in Japan for cases of 'aggravated murder', which include mass killings or the murder of children.

The Ministry of Defence believes diplomatic pressure could be applied to avoid hangings and that the benefits of the deal are worth the risk, according to The Times.

British negotiators were seeking an agreement to give their troops immunity - but have ended up agreeing to a treaty similar to Australia's with Japan.

The pact also discusses immigration, transport of weapons and the legal rights of visiting military personnel when they visit Japan.

After the PM's talks with Mr Kishida, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: 'Collaboration across defence and security would not only benefit Japan and the United Kingdom, but broader global stability, the leaders agreed.

'Discussing Japans leadership of the G7 in such unprecedented times, the PM welcomed PM Kishidas plans to focus on the impact of the invasion of Ukraine on global food and economic security.

'Reflecting on the UKs accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a free trade bloc with a combined GDP of 9trillion, the PM said it offered the UK a unique opportunity to join a group of likeminded countries who shared similar values.

'The PM added that future growth and prosperity for all countries would be driven by collaboration and innovation, and both leaders agreed there was huge potential for growth across the two countries economies.'

Last month Japan announced it would double its defence spending to better protect itself against threats from North Korea and China.

It comes after a US warship riled China on Thursday by sailing through the sensitive Taiwan Strait.

It will strengthen defence ties between Britain and Japan in the face of increasing threats from China and North Korea - after troops have been taking part in training exercises together

The Chinese military held large-scale joint combat strike drills starting Sunday, sending war planes and navy vessels toward Taiwan on Sunday and the early hours of Monday.

British forces have conducted joint exercises with US and Japanese troops in recent days.

In November British and Japanese troops practiced retaking an island. Last month the soldiers took part in a bilateral war game exercise in Gunma prefecture in central Japan.

The last instance of capital punishment in Japan took place in July but there are 107 people currently on death row.

Kishida's visit to London is part of a wider trip including France, Italy, Canada and the US - ahead of hosting the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima in May.
That's more than the current offer to rail workers of 8 per cent over two years

Ministers could offer a 10 per cent pay rise to the RMT union to end strikes

A pay offer of 10 per cent could be tabled by ministers in a bid to reach a breakthrough with the RMT rail union, it emerged today.

Sources said Whitehall officials were looking into whether the existing 8 per cent offer over two years to workers for 14 train companies could be improved.

Rail minister Huw Merriman is understood to have left open the possibility of an extra 2 per cent being found during a meeting with RMT boss Mick Lynch yesterday.

The offer would be for 2022 and 2023, backdated to January last year.

Demands from the Government for driver-only operated trains as part of any agreement could also be watered down to get a deal over the line.

Ministers inserted the driver-only clause at the eleventh hour last month, scuppering a potential deal, but are now softening their stance. Around 55 per cent of passengers already travel on door-only services.

A pay offer of 10 per cent could be tabled by ministers in a bid to reach a breakthrough with the RMT rail union, it emerged today (pictured: Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT on the picket line outside Euston station)

Even if a deal is struck between the RMT and 14 train operators, facilitated by ministers, the unions dispute with Network Rail will continue.

The RMT has snubbed a 9 per cent pay increase offer for 2022 and 2023.

However, more than a third of Network Rail workers voted for the deal when it was put to RMT members in a referendum last month.

The Government-owned agency, which manages signalling and track maintenance, argues it would have been accepted if the union hadnt advised members to reject it on false grounds.

Network Rail and RMT negotiators met today in a bid to reach a breakthrough to the six-month dispute.

A source said the meeting was a chance to clarify key parts of the deal as clearly the RMT information that was put out for the referendum shows misunderstanding for significant parts.

Commuters queue for buses outside London Euston station during a 24-hour strike earlier this month

The hope is that this will lead to a second more considered referendum in which the deal is accepted.

It is claimed that union bosses told members they would be forced on to new contracts that reduce overtime rates and make them worse off.

But the contracts would only apply to new starters, with existing staff given a choice over whether to switch. The contracts would be worth more in the long term because they boost base pay and pension outcomes.

The RMT also failed to communicate the graduated nature of the deal, Network Rail bosses say, and claim it is worth the equivalent of 14 per cent for lower-paid workers.

It is also claimed that the RMT told workers that managers were getting a deal worth 7.1 per cent in year one and 14 per cent in year two.

Its complete bulls***. Management settled on a one-year deal worth 4 per cent, the source said.

Mick Lynch (left), general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) and assistant general secretary John Leach on their way to the Department for Transport in London for a meeting

A dispute with Aslef, which represents train drivers, also needs to be resolved.

Last week the union was offered an 8 per cent pay rise offer over two years, meaning a drivers average salary would go from 60,000 to 65,000.

But it is expected to be rejected when the unions executive committee meets next week.

Aslef boss Mick Whelan also met Mr Merriman yesterday.

Raising the prospect that Aslef strikes could continue until June, when the unions strike mandate ends, a source said: Mr Merriman didnt say this is the best youll get,because hes smart enough to know it isnt.

Mr Whelan and Mr Lynch will be quizzed by MPs tomorrow morning when they are scheduled to appear before the Commons transport committee.
President Joe Biden's possession of classified files in an old private office has spurred a Justice Department investigation - and the threat of further probes from House Republicans' new majority.

The White House confirmed on Monday evening that Biden's personal attorneys found 'a small number of documents with classified markings' when clearing out the president's old office in the Penn Biden Center on November 2, 2022.

They were found in a locked closet in the Washington, DC-based think tank, the statement revealed.

Republican lawmakers seized on the news, first reported by CBS, and new House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer of Kentucky pointed out the stark difference between how Biden is being treated and the August FBI raid on Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort for the classified documents he took.

'Is the White House going to be raided tonight? Are they going to raid the Biden center? I dont know,' Comer said to reporters on Monday.

He opened a formal investigation into it on Tuesday using the Republicans' new ruling House majority.

President Joe Biden said he was 'cooperating fully' with the Justice Department's investigation

The office building housing The Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, where President Biden's personal lawyers discovered several classified documents in November 2022

The Justice Department reportedly tapped one of two Trump-appointed US attorneys still in office to look into the file discovery.

There are still questions left to be answered on why the office was being cleaned out so late into Biden's term, and how come the news came out months later.

'They created this legal controversy to target Trump and now Trump and Biden are in the same legal boat,' Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton told DailyMail.com.

'How did the records get to that office space? Why were lawyers packing for him? That's unusual. Who had access to these classified records?'

He added, 'The other big issue is, why was hidden from American voters just before the election?'

How were the files found?

The files were found in early November when Biden's private office at the Penn Biden Center, a University of Pennsylvania-backed think tank, by his personal lawyers.

Biden had used the space as an office between 2017 until the beginning of his 2020 campaign, according to the White House.

'The documents were discovered when the President's personal attorneys were packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space,' the statement read.

Biden's lawyers notified the National Archives that same day and have cooperated with the federal government ever since.

How is this different from Trump?

The CBS report that broke the story of Biden's classified file possession was a significantly more muted outing than the early FBI raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago home on the morning of August 8.

But Biden's White House statement makes clear that he and his team have cooperated with the relevant authorities.

President Joe Biden was in Mexico City on Tuesday for a summit with leaders from Canada and Mexico

By contrast, the Trump raid came after months of back-and-forth between the National Archives, Justice Department and Trump lawyers, during points of which officials later disclosed they believed the ex-president's allies were being untruthful.

Even the president's personal handling of the matter differs from his predecessor's. Biden avoided answering questions on the matter earlier on Tuesday during a visit to Mexico, though he said during a press conference that he takes the matter 'seriously' and is 'cooperating fully' with authorities.

Trump, however, has criticized the investigation into his handling of classified documents as a 'witch hunt' and sought to discredit it through legal and public means. He's even lambasted the special counsel appointed to look into his investigations, Jack Smith, and his family.

But Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton argued that both the Biden and Trump document probes could set a troubling precedent for a commander-in-chief's ownership of his White House records.

'I think eventually you're gonna have to cut it off because, you know, you can't take the legal position that the president doesn't have a right to manage his own records. That's not what the law is,' Fitton told DailyMail.com.

Is this being investigated?

Multiple reports have indicated that the Justice Department has appointed U.S. Attorney John Lausch to review the documents recovered from Biden's old office.

Lausch is one of two Trump-appointed U.S. attorneys still serving. The other U.S. Attorney from Delaware, David Weiss is currently tasked with investigating the finances of the president's son Hunter Biden.

Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida was raided by the FBI in connection with documents he took from the White House

Armed Secret Service agents stand outside an entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, late Monday, Aug. 8, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla. while the FBI searched for classified documents kept in Trump's residence.

Meanwhile, House Republicans are also threatening to act swiftly with their new chamber majority.

Oversight Chair Comer also sent a letter to the National Archives and White House counsel's office inquiring about the documents on Tuesday, kicking off a formal investigation into the matter.

And on Tuesday, incoming House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner asked for a national security 'damage assessment' regarding the classified files.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner, a Democrat, requested a formal briefing on the matter, as well.

What questions does Biden still need to answer?

Biden was in Mexico City on Monday for a meeting with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when the announcement was made.

During a press conference on Tuesday, he said he took the matter 'seriously' and was 'cooperating fully' with the Justice Department's investigation.

He earlier refused to answer shouted questions as to how the documents ended up inside the offices.

As the press in Mexico City was being ushered out of the meeting room, one reporter yelled out: 'Mr. President, any response to the discovery of classified documents?'

The president did not respond.

But a number of Republican lawmakers have questioned why the delay between the documents' discovery and when the incident was made public.

GOP Rep. Don Bacon told reporters it appeared 'political.'

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton called on Biden to discuss what he knew about the documents and when 'under oath' during an interview with DailyMail.com.

What kind of documents were found?

Among the files recovered from the Penn Biden Center closet were 10 classified documents, according to CNN.

Those reportedly include intelligence memos and records regarding Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Iran. All the classified pages were reportedly from 2013 through 2016.

But the majority of the documents recovered were intimate family records including pages discussing funeral arrangements for Biden's son Beau.

Beau had died of brain cancer in 2015.
U.S. citizens are being detained and forced to pay fines to avoid having their cars impounded if they accidentally use the wrong lane when crossing the border from Mexico to the United States.

Reports of American residents being humiliated, brought to tears and shackled to a bench for hours as they await their hefty fines have emerged, according to KTTV-TV.

If motorists deliberately - and in many cases, accidentally - go into the Sentri Lane, which allows pre-screened members and vehicles expedited entry back into the U.S., they could face fines of up to $5,000 for each person.

Border crossing points have one lane reserved for SENTRI use only and some will also designate a second lane if needed. A car can only use the SENTRI lane if all passengers (including children and infants) have a valid SENTRI card and passengers have nothing to declare at customs.

U.S. citizens are being detained and forced to pay fines to avoid having their cars impounded if they accidentally use the wrong lane when crossing the border from Mexico to the United States

California residents told the broadcaster that they were detained and forced to pay fines to avoid having their cars impounded when they accidentally used the Sentri lane.

'They shackled me to this metal bench as I waited for three hours,' Rose, a Burbank resident, said of her experience at the Tijuana/San Ysidro Port of Entry.

She had accidentally used the Sentri Lane, which has concrete barriers that make it impossible for a car to leave the lane once it has entered.

'When we put in the address to go back home, it basically told us to go through a certain way, I guess Sentri is the fastest way to get out of the border,' Rose said.

Patricia Caro and Bernardo Montenegro of Fontana said they also had the misfortune of ending up in the wrong lane.

'I was scared. I cried. I was trying for the officers not to see me cry,' said Caro.

'We just got into the wrong lane. We didn't do anything else wrong but get into the wrong lane,' said Montenegro.

They filed a petition to have their fines dismissed after being fined a total $10,000, upon their appeal U.S. Customs and Border protection paid 90 percent of their fine back.

Meanwhile, Ana Salazar from Pasadena said she has 'never been humiliated' the way that she was when she claims she was 'treated like a criminal' and forced to pay thousands at the Tijuana/San Ysidro Port of Entry.

If motorists deliberately and in many cases accidentally go into the Sentri Lane, which allows pre-screened members and vehicles expedited entry back into the U.S. they could face fines of up to $5,000 for each person

Border crossing points have one lane reserved for SENTRI use only and some will also designate a second lane if needed. A car can only use the SENTRI lane if all passengers (including children and infants) have a valid SENTRI card and passengers have nothing to declare at customs

Drivers who've been trapped in the Sentri lane blame the roundabouts and signs in Tijuana that are confusing. They also say navigation apps are sending drivers directly to the Sentri lane.

Travelers told FOX 11 that they flagged a CBP agent before they got to the actual checkpoint to let them know they had accidentally driven to the wrong lane.

Attorney John Manley, who has represented drivers who've been detained, fined, and cuffed, said fines are primarily issued to U.S. Citizens.

'They basically shackle you to a bench for two, three hours,' he said.

'They say, 'Yep, we're gonna take your car,' or, 'we're gonna fine you $5,000,' for what amounts to being in the wrong lane of traffic.'

CBP agents said drivers are issued a $5,000 citation only after they've entered the Sentri lane for a third time.

But the people interviewed by the broadcaster said that they were never issued a warning.

Salazar said what she witnessed, while waiting to be released, makes her believe the fines are about generating money for the department.

'When I was in the office waiting, one of the agents came in and he shouted at everyone else in the office, 'Oh, we got another $5K,' she said.

'Obviously, it was someone else that went through the same thing I did. So, I just thought to myself, Oh, this is just a business.'

After El Paso, Biden flew to Mexico City, where he met with the leaders of Canada, Justin Trudeau and Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, for a North American leaders summit

The MexicoUnited States border is the most frequently crossed border in the world, with approximately 350 million documented crossings annually

DailyMail reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The MexicoUnited States border is the most frequently crossed border in the world, with approximately 350 million documented crossings annually.

It is the tenth-longest border between two countries in the world. The total length of the continental border is 1,954 miles.

From the Gulf of Mexico, it follows the course of the Rio Grande to the border crossing at Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, and El Paso, Texas.

Westward from El PasoJuarez, it crosses vast tracts of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts to the Colorado River Delta and San DiegoTijuana, before reaching the Pacific Ocean.

Four American states border Mexico: California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

Meanwhile, border officials have detained a record 2.2 million people crossing the border illegally in the last full fiscal year.

The issue has been used by Republicans to attack Biden throughout his presidency, accusing him of opening the country's borders.

Biden last week announced he was expanding Trump-era restrictions to rapidly expel Cuban, Haitian, and Nicaraguan migrants caught illegally crossing the southern border.

Instead, the U.S. will accept 30,000 people per month from those three countries, as well as Venezuela, so long as they arrive legally.

Combined with a visit to El Paso, one of the crossing hotspots, at the weekend supporters it demonstrates that he is serious about tackling border issues.

After El Paso, Biden flew to Mexico City, where he met with the leaders of Canada and Mexico for a North American leaders summit.
As the West Coast came under a bombardment of torrential rain this week, overwhelmed Californians have been going to bizarre extremes to adapt to their new waterlogged surroundings.

While some suffered severe flooding and the total destruction of their cars and homes, celebrity Cindy Crawford expressed concern her hair might get wet as she enjoyed an outdoor jacuzzi in Malibu.

Braving the weather, Crawford posted a photo to Instagram that showed her donning a transparent Ziploc bag on her head to shield her hair from the rain.

'When it's raining in Malibu but you still want to take a jacuzzi without getting your hair wet! Thanks @ziploc,' she said.

Crawford posted a photo to Instagram that showed her donning a transparent Ziploc bag on her head to shield her hair from the rain

As Crawford shielded her hair with a bag, others in the state made the most of the copious water. Oakland residents towed each other on an inflatable donut through the flooded streets.

For some in California the adverse weather has had more serious implications. Rains that descended upon Los Angeles have already killed around 15 people across the state and required the evacuation of around 50,000 people from their homes.

On Monday Ellen DeGeneres shared a dramatic scene on her Twitter page, showing murky, fast-moving rain water barreling through a creek in Montecito.

DeGeneres captured the treacherous scenes on video and noted that the creek next to her home in Santa Barbara County usually never floods.

'The creek next to our home never floods, never,' she said. 'It's probably about 9 feet up.'

She went on to blame the extraordinary conditions on climate change. 'We need to be nicer to Mother Nature, because Mother Nature's not happy with us,' she added.

The entire area of Montecito, home to people like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, as well as Oprah Winfrey, was ordered to evacuate on Monday afternoon ahead of the powerful storm.

One person on Reddit joked that lowrider cars with comically high ground clearance, popular across the West Coast but particularly in LA, were suited to the water levels.

Despite the deluge, some Californians made light of their state being battered by the adverse weather.

Another person suggested that Californians rarely know how to react to rain. Since the state often deals with drought and wildfires, the rain could be seen as a welcome break.

'Whos laughing at my car now?' the picture was captioned by one Reddit user

Another person suggested that Californians rarely know how to react to rain

In similar scenes to those shared by DeGeneres creeks were totally overwhelmed by water levels

Many took to social media to share shocking scenes of how extreme the weather had been. In some places roads had caved in causing sinkholes, in others water gushed into houses and down public roads.

Some Californians jested that they should use jet skis to navigate flooded streets.

Other jokes on the internet poked fun at the people of California - suggesting that they were easily overwhelmed by even limited amounts of rain.

One person joked that this year California's famous car meets will have to be replaced with jet ski shows

Even small amounts of rain would be sufficient to instill terror in LA drivers, it was joked

A number of posts online showed damage inflicted on parked cars as the storm took down trees

Other jokes online leant into the idea that rainfall is a good thing for Californians and that many view it in a positive light since its so rare.

It's been estimated that California could see as much as 22 trillion gallons of water over the next few days, the Washington Post reported.

Unfortunately, on the rare occasion California does see rain, most of it ends up running off into oceans. However, modern technologies are allowing better management and storage of storm water.

Not only does the water counteract the effects of drought, but it also cleans the roads and cities.

It was joked that the copious rain could give grubby Los Angeles a much needed wash, turning it from filthy to spick and span.

People online joked that the copious water could give grubby Los Angeles a much needed wash

Jokes hinted at the fact Californians view rain in a positive light since for them it is such a rarity

On Twitter one person mocked Ellen's comment that Mother Nature was taking its revenge.

Others used it to casually criticize the Governor of California Gavin Newsom and the issues with homelessness that the state has been facing.

On a more serious note, some Twitter users were concerned by the shear amount of rainfall the state has seen in the last week.

Another acknowledged that since rain is so rare, many are ill-equipped to face the elements, forcing them to double up on hoodies.
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine nears its 11th month, US and Ukrainian officials say that Russia's artillery fire is much less than it was during wartime, in some places by as much as 75%.

According to CNN, officials from the US and Ukraine are still lacking a precise or comprehensive explanation. Russia may be cutting down on artillery fire because of dwindling supplies, but it might also be a strategic shift in response to Ukrainian successes on the offensive.

Moscow's sharp reduction in artillery firing almost a year into the Russia Ukraine War shows its growing military weakness. It also occurs as Ukraine's western allies announced last week that they would provide armored battle vehicles plus an additional Patriot Defense missile battery to safeguard its airspace.

Meanwhile, US intelligence sources think that Russian President Vladimir Putin is scrambling to build up domestic political support for a war he first would only define as a limited "special military operation."

Sources said the US saw Vladimir Putin's decision to call for a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine last week so that Orthodox Christians could celebrate Christmas as an appeal to Russia's large Christian population and a chance for Putin to blame Ukrainians for violating the truce and brand them as heretics.

One of Putin's closest pals, Yevgeny Prigozhin, chairman of the mercenary outfit Wagner Group, has been a vocal critic of the way the Russia Ukraine War has been handled. Prigozhin accused the Russian Ministry of Defense of mismanaging the war effort and said that additional resources, power, and flexibility should be provided to the Wagner Group to conduct operations in Ukraine.

The Wagner Group, meanwhile, has lost hundreds of fighters in Ukraine in only the previous two months of the Russia Ukraine War, according to a senior US official.

Read Also: Canada Just Bought 88 F-35 Stealth Fighter Jets: How Much Did They Pay for the New Weapons?

Russia's Ammunition Stocks Seen To Further Drop Within Several Weeks

Earlier this month, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that Russian soldiers seem to be using up all their artillery ammunition in Ukraine.

The circumstances will likely partly impede Russian troops from continuing a high tempo of attacks in the Bakhmut region and elsewhere in Ukraine, according to the US-based research group, per The National News.

According to ISW's analysis, Russian troops in Ukraine are encountering serious challenges with artillery ammunition that will become more evident "by March of 2023." The basis of the evaluation was a December 31 report by the Chief of the Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR), Kyrylo Budanov.

The number of artillery rounds utilized by Russian troops each day has decreased from 60,000 to 19,000 to 20,000, as per Budanov.

Russian Forces Intensify Attacks in Small Ukrainian Town

In a related update from Reuters, Russian soldiers have ramped up their onslaught on the small salt mining town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, requiring Ukrainian troops to fend off waves of mercenary strikes, according to authorities in Kyiv.

After four days of gains, Russia and the Wagner contract group were likely in control of most of the industrial Donbas town, Britain has said Tuesday.

Russian soldiers would benefit from seizing Soledar while they struggle for control of Bakhmut, a few kilometers (miles) southwest, where both sides have suffered huge casualties in some of the most intensive trench combat since Russia Ukraine War that started over 11 months ago.

Related Article: Ukraine Rejects Vladimir Putin's Ceasefire Offer for Orthodox Christmas, Claims Russia Has Hidden Agenda

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The dressmaker said he and his team had to pull three all-nighters to fix them

The tailor at the centre of the infamous bridesmaid dress fitting has spoken out

The tailor at the centre of the bridesmaids' dresses drama at Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding is not surprised that it prompted tears.

Luxury suit and dressmaker Ajay Mirpuri has broken four years of silence on the now infamous affair - claimed to have led to tears from the Duchesses of Sussex and Cambridge - after being tracked down by the Daily Mail.

He revealed that he saw nothing of what is said to have gone on but he and three staff had to work round the clock at Kensington Palace and Windsor Castle for four days before the 2018 nuptials after finding that none of the six bridesmaids' dresses made by French fashion house Givenchy fitted.

Mr Mirpuri, 45, who has a showroom in London's West End, said he felt it was a shame that how the young bridesmaids, including Princess Charlotte, looked on the day had been overshadowed by reports of the fall-out between Meghan and Kate.

The tailor at the heart of the bridesmaids' dresses drama at Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding has spoken out (pictured centre: Tailor Ajay Mirpuri)

Kate and Meghan had a reported fall-out before the Duchesses of Sussex's marriage to Prince Harry over six bridesmaids' dresses which did not fit

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were married on May 19, 2018 (pictured during their carriage procession on Castle Hill outside Windsor Castle)

'If anything happened in the background, it didn't happen in front of me,' the tailor said today.

'But yes, weddings are stressful at the best of times  and especially one at this high level; you've got to respect that.

'They were faced with a problem like anyone gets at a wedding, with last minute hitches.

'I can understand why anybody would be upset if the dresses weren't fitting  it's nerve-wracking.

'I feel for them all, because you wouldn't want the children to go out on a big stage in an ill-fitting dress  and that's what they were.

'All six bridesmaids' dresses had to be fixed, and we did it.

'I'm a royalist and I wanted to do whatever I could with my small business to serve the Royal Family.

'We just got our heads down and said "Now we're here, we've got to fix it so that on the day Britain comes off well."

'Had this book not come out, no-one would have known it was us. But if it saved the day, it saved the day, and good luck to them.

'I won't say it upsets me, but in that whole big event, this [the row] is what's spoken about the most  it should be the fact that they [the bridesmaids] looked fabulous.'

Kate and Meghan exchanged a series of texts (re-created, above) about the bridesmaid dress, according to Harry

Pictured: Princess Charlotte in her bridesmaid dress after the Sussex wedding in 2018

Mr Mirpuri was speaking for the first time about his role, after Prince Harry detailed in his book Spare, officially published today, his and Meghan's version of the row with the Duchess of Cambridge about the dresses.

The Prince remains angry that initial reports of the argument focused on Kate being left in tears. There have been several different versions over the years of who made who cry.

Now, Harry has said it was Meghan who he found 'on the floor sobbing'.

According to his account, four days before the May 2018 wedding, Kate sent Meghan a text about her daughter Princess Charlotte crying because her dress was 'too big, too long, too baggy'.

A terse exchange ensued in which Meghan said a tailor - named by Harry only as Ajay - had been 'waiting all day' at Kensington Palace to make alterations.

Speaking at his Mirpuri Bespoke showroom on London's New Bond Street, Mr Mirpuri said there was a huge amount of work to do on the dresses just days before the Windsor Castle wedding was to be globally televised.

Harry and Meghan celebrate their wedding day in May 2018 despite tensions within the family and drama with Meghan's father

The gowns were created - as was the wedding dress - by British designer Clare Waight Keller, artistic director of Givenchy. But they were made, it seems, from measurements only, and without repeated fittings.

The other bridesmaids were Harry's goddaughter Florence van Cutsem, Rylan and Remi Litt, the daughters of close friends of Meghan, Ivy Mulroney, daughter of Canadian stylist Jessica Mulroney, the unofficial maid of honour and Zalie Warren, another of Harry's goddaughters and the youngest of the troop, aged just two at the time.

'I've no idea what measurements Givenchy had received, but with our experience and knowledge we could see straight away that all six bridesmaids' dresses had to be fixed, as they weren't going to fit,' Mr Mirpuri said.

'We had to work tooth and nail for four days, four of us working until 4am three nights in a row, to make them fit.

'We left Windsor Castle at 10pm the night before the wedding. Did anyone on the day complain about the bridesmaids' dresses and how they looked? The answer is no.'

Mr Mirpuri has worked for Meghan several times, plus others in the royal household, as well as A-listers Elton John, Michael Caine and Mariah Carey.

When asked what he charged, he replied: 'I won't divulge that - or who paid the bill. I can't say it was four figures or five figures. But whoever's mistake it was paid the bill.'

Givenchy did not respond to a request for comment.
King Charles and Queen Camilla will travel to Paris in March for the first state visit of his reign, French government sources have said.

The invitation to Charles was extended by President Emmanuel Macron at the time of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.

The French government is prepared for the visit, which will include a lavish state dinner at the Elysee Palace, aides to President Macron confirmed on Tuesday.

'Everything is ready for a visit by King Charles III to Paris,' they told Le Parisien newspaper.

The invitation to Charles was extended by President Emmanuel Macron at the time of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and his visit is set to take place at the end of March, reports suggest

Queen Elizabeth II was a committed Francophile and French government sources suggest that the state visit taking place before King Charles's coronation shows that the country is a priority for him

'Behind the scenes, French diplomats are busy preparing for the state visit - the most important possible between two countries - of the eldest son of Elizabeth II.'

The visit is now set to take place in the week beginning March 27, said the sources.

A state dinner is planned at the Elysee Palace, where French first lady Brigitte Macron will have a meeting with the Queen Consort.

The Paris National Assembly - the equivalent of the House of Commons - will also welcome the Royal couple, as will Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo.

An aide to Mr Macron said: 'The visit will send out a strong message because it will be the first official visit of Charles III.

'It will happen when the King is not yet crowned, which shows that France is a priority for him.'

King Charles's Coronation will be held on May 6 this year although plans have not yet been finalised by Buckingham Palace.

Queen Elizabeth ll raises her glass for a toast during a State Banquet hosted by Franch President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace in 2014

Queen Elizabeth II enjoyed six state visits to France, five to Paris and one to Calais, during her reign. Pictured at a horse race at Longchamp race course, outside Paris, in May 1972

The aide continued: 'This visit is an opportunity to show the age-old attachment of his country to ours, beyond Brexit, and to be part of the family continuity, because Elizabeth II was Francophile and French-speaking..'

During his visit to London for the Queen's funeral, Mr Macron gave Charles a photo album of Queen Elizabeth visit to Versailles in 1957.

Mr Macron said on September 16: 'I had the opportunity to invite King Charles to come to France when it is appropriate for him.'

The state visit is set to be accompanied by a Franco-British summit between government ministers from the two countries.

The Queen Elizabeth was a huge Francophile who made six state visits to France during her reign - five to Paris and one to Calais.

The first took place in April 1957, four years after her coronation, when Her Majesty the Palace of Versailles, the Paris Opera, and the Louvre.

She also enjoyed a cruise on the River Seine with Prince Philip, and visited Lille, to lay a wreath on a World War I memorial.
She has denied 20 offences including forgery and fraud at court in Manchester

An 'accomplished fraudster' was paid more than 1 million by the NHS after forging a degree certificate and pretending to be a qualified doctor, a court has heard.

Zholia Alemi worked as a psychiatrist after claiming to have qualified at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, a trial at Manchester Crown Court was told on Tuesday.

The defendant, believed to be 60, denies 20 offences, including forgery and fraud.

Alemi worked for the NHS for 22 years as a psychiatrist despite having 'no qualifications' that would allow her to be called a doctor.

'Accomplished fraudster' Zholia Alemi was paid more than 1 million by the NHS after forging a degree certificate and pretending to be a qualified doctor, a court has heard

Alemi worked as a psychiatrist after claiming to have qualified at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, a trial at Manchester Crown Court was told

Opening the case, Christopher Stables, prosecuting, said: 'To put it bluntly, the defendant is a fraud.

'While she held herself out as being a doctor, she was utterly unqualified to do so.'

He said she forged a degree certificate and a letter of verification which she sent to the General Medical Council (GMC) in 1995 with the aim of becoming registered as a doctor in the UK.

Mr Stables told the jury: 'She is, say the prosecution, a most accomplished forger and fraudster, but has no qualification that would allow her to be called, or in any way to be properly regarded as, a doctor.'

The court heard that the defendant worked in psychiatry and had a number of jobs at health bodies and trusts between 1998 and 2017.

Mr Stables said: 'The events in this case span just a little over 20 years and many different jobs, quite literally the length and breadth of the country, were held by this defendant during this time.

'A conservative estimate, and I stress a conservative estimate, as to the quantum - so the overall - amount of money fraudulently obtained by the defendant from the NHS is somewhere, the prosecution say, between 1 million and 1.3 million.'

He said Alemi was born in Tehran, Iran, but records showed she presented in New Zealand in 1986 and a year later married, giving her occupation as nurse.

By 1995, the court heard, she was living in the UK at an address in Winchester, Hampshire.

She joined the GMC medical register using the legitimate Commonwealth Route, the jury was told.

The trial at Manchester Magistrates Court (pictured, file image) is expected to last four to five weeks

Mr Stables said: 'In short, this defendant exploited this, she forged her qualifications, she made bogus assertions as to what her experience had been.

'In this regard she completely deceived the GMC into accepting that she was a fully qualified doctor. In fact, she never was.

'The evidence will show that in fact the defendant failed her medical exams and after a number of repeated attempts at resitting them was asked to withdraw from the medical faculty.

'Rather than passing her exams she in fact failed them, was asked to leave and was never qualified at all.'

He said a letter of verification sent to the GMC claimed to be from the 'faculty registrar' and said she had completed six years of training with 'satisfactory grade'.

Alemi, of Plumbe Street, Burnley, denies 13 counts of fraud, three counts of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception, two counts of forgery and two counts of using a false instrument.

The trial is expected to last four to five weeks.
A single mum who rang triple-0 to falsely claim her ex-partner was threatening her and their children with a gun had been on an all-night bender drinking and playing Fortnite, a court has heard.

Jaimee-Lee Watson, 33, was facing up to a year behind bars when she pleaded guilty to making false claims in Manjimup Magistrates Court in Western Australia's south-west last week.

The court heard she made the desperate call in the early hours of October 1, claiming her ex-partner was making threats against her and their five children and wouldn't let her leave his Greenbushes home.

Two police officers were already on their way to the home when Watson called back 20 minutes to assure the operator their safety was no longer in danger and didn't need assistance.

The single mum had spent the night drinking and playing popular video game Fortnite before calling triple-0 to falsely claim her ex-partner was threatening her with a gun (stock image)

The operator told her police were already rushing to the home and would be there in minutes.

When police arrived at the home, they quickly established Watson and her children weren't in danger.

The court heard Watson wanted to leave but was being stopped by her ex-partner as she was too intoxicated to get behind the wheel, Manjimup-Bridgetown Times reported.

The court heard Watson told police she made the false claim to the call operator to speed up their response time.

Watson's lawyer Fiona Walsh said her client's 'out-of-character' behaviour was due to being affected by alcohol and that Watson tried to rectify the mistake by making the second call

By the that stage, two officers had been called back on duty and were on their way to the job, the publication reported.

Jaimee-Lee Watson's lawyer described her client's behaviour was described as out of character when she appeared in Manjimup Magistrates Court (pictured)

The court heard Watson had previously suffered substance abuse in the past due to finding her father deceased.

The police prosecutor told the court the punishment had to reflect the seriousness of Watson's actions. 'I doubt there would be any other person in this room with a belly full of alcohol that would do what you did,' Magistrate Linda Keane told Watson.

'(The charge) could lead to a term of imprisonment.'

Watson was ordered to do 40 hours of community service and pay $671.81 to cover overtime costs of the police officers involved, on top of court costs.
Elster said the book is a way for students to explore 'new and different' ideas

Principal Elana Elster, 58, said in a letter to parents the book will remain

'This Book is Gay' can currently be found at Booker T. Washington Middle School

A principal in New York City is defending a 'gay book' being in a middle school library

A New York City public school principal is defending the school's choice to have a sexually explicit book in the library after parents raised concerns.

In an email sent to parents, Booker T. Washington Junior High School principal Elana Elster, 58, said the book will remain in the library to help expose students to 'new and different ideas.'

'This Book is Gay' discusses orgies, kinks, and sex apps, as well as anal and 'girl on girl' sex.

Parents and social media users have expressed outrage over the book's placement in the library, with some calling for the book - and the principal - to be removed.

This is the explicit book that some have raised concerns over

Booker T. Washington Junior High School principal Elana Elster, 58, said the book will remain in the library to help expose students to 'new and different ideas'

Elster in the email said she and other school officials have 'no plans to remove' the book, despite the backlash.

The principal said the book is part of the public school experience and that the 'children will be continuously exposed' to new and different ideas.

'As a parent, you have every right to monitor what your child is reading,' Elster writes in the email.

The message, which has the subject line 'censoring' continues by stating that what some parents consider inappropriate, others may not.

'Parents have very different ideas on what is appropriate for their children,' she says in the email, which was uploaded to Twitter earlier this week.

The principal, whose school works with students younger than 14, also suggests parents recommend certain books to their children that keep 'with your family values' if they are opposed to other books.

Booker T. Washington Junior High School is hoping to expose students to 'new and different' ideas with the book, according to Elster

This is the email sent out to parents and families from the school's principal. The email was posted to Twitter earlier this week

'When you say you are "at war everyday," I am wondering if you are referring to the exposure your child is getting to people and ideas that are new and different. This is a public school and the children will be continuously exposed,' Elster writes.

'It doesn't mean that they will have to agree with everything they are learning or seeing. In fact, they will be taught to question, analyze, expand their horizons,' the e-mail continues.

The book, some argue, has larger issues to it than just a difference of viewpoints.

The book goes into vivid detail on certain sexual situations which may be inappropriate to some young readers.

This is the library at Booker T. Washington Middle School in New York City

'Let's talk about dildos: I think a lot of people assume that where there is no penis, a desperate sexual void is created, out of which something [bleep] shaped must ultimately slot in order to satisfy,' a passage of the book reads.

'I've only every slept with two women who enjoyed using dildos. I hate wearing a strap-on. I've only every done it once and NEVER AGAIN,' it continues.

It also contains pictures and images depicting the human body and how sex between men and sex between women work, with illustrated and labeled graphs.

In spite of the controversial source material, Elster states the book is not going anywhere.

DailyMail.com reached out to Elster and Booker T. Washington Middle School for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication

'We do have 'This Book is Gay' in our library catalogue, and we have no plans to remove it,' Elster wrote.

The incident sparked outrage among some on social media who urged the school to reconsider and even take action against the principal.

'Remove Elana Elster IMMEDIATELY' wrote one person regarding the book.

'FIRE DR. ELANA ELSTER NOW!' said another Twitter user.

DailyMail.com reached out to Elster and Booker T. Washington Middle School for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Despite backlash, some who have read and reviewed the book have called it 'extremely helpful.'

'Easy to read and very helpful for anyone that is part of the lgbtq community or knows someone that is,' wrote one Amazon reviewer.

'I found this book to be informative, funny and well done. I would warn readers that there is one chapter where gay sex is totally explain in a open and frank way. If that is not something for you, maybe a different book would be for you,' said one person.
The same individuals immediately slammed Trump for the same thing last year

Liberal media personalities are dismissing and making excuses for President Joe Biden following the discovery of classified documents at his think tank in Washington, D.C.

These same personalities immediately tore into Donald Trump after it was revealed that he took classified materials from the White House to his residence at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

Biden, for the second day in a row, dodged questions about the classified documents found at the Penn Biden Center just one mile from the White House.

The Justice Department has opened an inquiry aimed at helping Attorney General Merrick Garland decide whether to appoint a special counsel like the one investigating Trump.

Several liberal media personalities are dismissing the discovery of classified documents at President Joe Biden's Washington, D.C. think tank  even after immediately slamming former President Donald Trump for the same thing months ago

'We all know that Trump is a liar and a thief. We know that. So, it's not that big a jump to say that he obstructed, and he lied,' The View co-host Joy Behar said during Tuesday's show.

She urged people, however, not to jump to those same conclusions with Biden, a Democrat.

'We don't think Biden is a liar and a thief, so we give him the benefit of the doubt,' she said.

The View co-host Joy Behar said people need to give Biden the benefit of the doubt because he isn't Trump, who she claims is a 'liar and a thief'

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow also tried to distance Trump's case of taking classified documents from Biden's, claiming the current president's situation 'does not sound like it is an adversarial process at all.'

'A brief flurry of excitement on the right about this process when the news broke about the Penn Biden Center. The reason it was only a brief flurry of excitement is because, in President Biden's case, he and his lawyers appear to have actually done the right thing when it comes to these classified documents,' Maddow said during her show's Monday evening broadcast.

'Again, this was not, as it was in Trump's case, the Archives desperately seeking the return of the material that Trump was blowing off, and Trump was blowing off those requests, and ultimately, blowing off the subpoena to return those documents,' she added.

'These appear to be documents that were inadvertently held at the Penn Biden Center, discovered by Biden's attorneys.'

Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough (center) got into a discussion with the panel of co-hosts on Tuesday morning where he posed sarcastic questions that displayed the difference in handling of the case between Biden and Trump

Biden, who is in Mexico City for a meeting of the 'Three Amigos,' ignored questions shouted to him by reporters during his sit-down with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday.

'Mr. President, did you mishandle classified documents?' a member of the press corps shouted at him.

He merely smiled and stayed silent as White House staff escorted journalists from the room.

The cache of documents found at the president's think tank covered topics including Ukraine, Iran and the UK, CNN reported. The boxes also contained personal Biden family documents, including materials about Beau Biden's funeral arrangements.

Biden, for the second day in a row, dodged questions about the classified documents found at his think tank in Washington DC. He simply smiled at reporters' questions during his meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (left)

How the Biden documents were discovered NOVEMBER 2: 10 documents were found while Biden's attorneys were packing up the DC think tank office to leave. The files were said to be in a folder inside a locked closet, in a box with other unclassified documents. NOVEMBER 8: The midterm elections see Biden and his party perform better than expected. NOVEMBER 18: The Justice Department announces that Jack Smith, former chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague, will lead an investigation into Trump's storage of classified documents in his Florida home. JANUARY 9: The Justice Department announces an investigation has been launched into how the classified documents ended up at Biden's think tank. Biden says he was unaware there were any classified documents being held there, and his supporters point out that his own lawyers handed them over - noting that Trump's team fought to keep hold of his stash. Advertisement

The files were discovered when Biden's lawyer saw an envelope that indicated it contained personal files, opened it and saw there were classified documents inside.

The lawyer closed the envelope and called the National Archives, the news network reported.

Biden's team turned over several boxes out an abundance of caution, even though many contained personal materials, a source told CNN.

MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough got into a back-and-forth with his co-hosts posing questions over whether Biden's team acted in the same manner as Trump's when it came to complying with turning over the documents.

'But, but, but, but, the DOJ, obviously, just like in the Trump case. So, they had to go into long, drawn-out negotiations, right?' Scarborough questioned. 'To try to get these Biden documents back like they did with Trump, a long-drawn-out negotiation over months. They had to do that, right?'

'Actually, Joe, no, they didn't. The Biden team turned over the documents the very next day after they discovered them,' said panel member Jonathan Lemire.

Scarborough continued this dialogue with a series of sarcastic questions.

CNN's Don Lemon slammed the right preemptively, claiming that the case of Biden's documents will be 'politicized.'

This is going to be politicized, I imagine it has already been politicized by those on the right and former president,' the host said.

Meanwhile, Republicans demanded to know why Biden had classified documents from when he was vice president wasn't revealed until after the midterm elections - with one calling it a 'cover up.'

'When you cover up something before an election,' Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning, 'that is probably a point that needs to be highlighted.'

He said the fact the White House didn't say 'a darn thing till after the election looks political me.'

The White House announced late Monday that Biden's lawyers discovered 10 classified documents in his former office at a Washington think tank on November 2.

That was six days before the midterm election on November 8, when Republicans won control of the House but not by the landslide many had predicted.

The announcement of such a discovery likely would have a been a political explosion in the election, akin to the FBI announcing in 2016, 11 days before the election, the discovery of additional Hillary Clinton emails.

The delay in announcing the Biden discovery has sparked fury among the GOP, and many warned they expect the Justice Department to treat Biden like the agency is treating its probe of former President Donald Trump and the documents he had at Mar-a-Lago.

GOP Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, who is set to become the House Oversight Chairman, said he plans to send a letter to the National Archives on Tuesday demanding answers.

Comer said he had questions about why the two presidents were being treated differently.

'I'm wondering is Joe Biden's personal residence gonna be raided by the FBI,' he said on Tuesday.

He said he was asking the National Archives about the documents in the possession of both former presidents.

'But we're just trying to find out exactly what went on at both Mar-a-Lago and the Biden's.'

Republican Rep. Don Bacon (left) called it a 'cover up' while Republican Rep. Jim Jordan (right) said: 'Maybe the American people should have known about it'

And Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the incoming House Judiciary chairman, wouldn't say if he would investigate the matter.

He said on Tuesday that his committee was focused on 'what the whistleblowers are saying - talking to us about just the political nature of the Justice Department.'

He pointed out that scope could end up being 'far reaching.'

And he said Trump was a victim of a double standard.

'I think everyone sees the double standard there, you know, plus, plus the country got to know about what happened 91 days before the election with President Trump,' he noted. 'This happened a week before the election. We didn't know about it before.'

Additionally, GOP Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, the freshly installed Chair of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, wrote to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines requesting an immediate review and damage assessment on the documents.

'This discovery of classified information would put President Biden in potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act. Those entrusted with access to classified information have a duty and an obligation to protect it. This issue demands a full and thorough review,' he wrote.

Democrats, meanwhile, were careful in their response.

'It's a concern whenever classified documents are somewhere they shouldn't be. But we see no evidence of deliberate intent, or obstruction of justice, as we see in the case of Donald Trump and Mar-a-Lago,' said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who was on many of the panels investigating Trump.

And Rep. Pete Aguilar of California accused Republicans of 'hypocrisy' and said Biden followed the 'established process' in that he turned over the documents as soon as they were discovered.

'The president is handling this the way that he should,' he said.

Joe Biden has refused to answer questions about misplacing confidential documents at his think tank while he was vice president

Attorney General Merrick Garland has asked the US attorney in Chicago to review 10 files discovered at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, DC, six days before the midterms in November

A police car is seen outside former President Donald Trump's residence in Mar-A-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida on August 8 last year, while the FBI searches for confidential papers from the White House

A photo of the documents seized during the August 8 FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate

Former President Donald Trump posted on social media that Biden's home should be 'raided' for more classified documents

The documents are dated to Biden's service as vice president for President Barack Obama.

President Biden and his White House legal team doesn't know what is in the documents, CNN reported.

Biden didn't know the documents were there and was only made aware of them when his personal lawyers informed the White House counsel's office.

Attorney General Merrick Garland's Justice Department is investigating the matter and deciding whether to appoint a special counsel, like the one investigating Trump's hoarding of sensitive documents.

Garland selected US Attorney General for the Northern District of Illinois, John Lausch, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, to review the ten classified documents discovered at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.

Trump was among the many Republicans demanding answers and said it was time for Biden to have a special counsel too.

The former president on Monday claimed that his own home was raided by the FBI for having classified documents stored there.

'When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified,' he wrote on social media.

A special counsel would give the White House a certain type of political cover, allowing officials to refuse Republican requests for an investigation by saying the Justice Department was investigating.

Jack Smith, chief to the DOJ's public integrity section, was appointed special counsel in charge of the Trump classified documents investigation.

Biden slammed Trump in the wake of the FBI raid for having classified documents in his private South Florida residence.

'How that could possibly happen? How anyone could be that irresponsible? And I thought what data was in there that would maybe compromise sources and methods?' he said to CBS' 60 Minutes. 'And it just  totally irresponsible.'

Under the Presidential Records Act, all documents from a president's administration must be turned over to the National Archives - that includes the vice president, which Biden served as at that time.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday night expressed disbelief at the timing of the discovery.

'Oh really? They just now found them? After all these years?' he said to reporters on Capitol Hill.

'President Trump had never been in office before and had just left, came out. Here's an individual [who] spent his last 40 years in office and still had this from the vice president.'

'It just shows that they were trying to be political to President Trump,' he added.

Biden was in Mexico City on Monday for a meeting with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador when the announcement was made. He refused to answer shouted questions as to how the documents ended up inside the offices.

As the press in Mexico City was being ushered out of the meeting room, one reporter yelled out: 'Mr. President, any response to the discovery of classified documents?'

The president did not respond.

The classified materials included some top-secret files with the 'sensitive compartmented information facility' designation, also known as SCIF, which is used for highly sensitive information obtained from intelligence sources.

The White House special counsel said in a statement on Monday: 'The White House is cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice regarding the discovery of what appear to be Obama-Biden admin records, including a small number of documents with classified markings.'

The office said the documents were in a 'locked-office' and the National Archives retrieved them the day after their discovery.

Biden used that Washington D.C. office from 2017 until the start of the 2020 presidential campaign. His lawyers were packing it up as they prepared to vacate the space.

It is unclear what the classified documents contain, but their discovery follows the raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort last year and comes as Republicans begin their investigations into the Biden family.

'The documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the archives,' special White House counsel Richard Sauber said in the statement. 'Since that discovery, the president's personal attorneys have cooperated with the archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden administration documents are appropriately in the possession of the archives.'

The White House emphasized Biden's attorneys found the documents and promptly turned them over to the Archives.

In Trump's case, the Archives realized documents from his administration were missing and requested their return.

Trump eventually gave 15 boxes of materials to the agency, which discovered classified documents among them. When federal investigators suspected the former president was holding onto more documents, they got a judge's permission to search Mar-a-Lago.

That search took place in August and turned up more documents.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August after paying nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest and testifying at criminal trial of the Trump Organization

The company-provided perks included rent on his Manhattan apartment, car leases for him and his wife, and private school tuition for his grandchildren

Weisselberg admitted the Trump Organization gave him perks and bonuses instead of pay raises to save on taxes

Longtime Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg has been jailed for five months for dodging taxes on $1.7 million in job perks.

The 75-year-old is set to serve his sentence at the notorious Rikers Island in New York City after admitting to the 15-year scheme where executives received bonuses and perks instead of a higher salary to save the company and themselves huge sums of money in taxes.

The company-provided perks included rent on his Manhattan apartment, car leases for him and his wife, and private school tuition for his grandchildren.

Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August after paying nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest and testifying at the criminal trial of the Trump Organization, which was convicted on all counts it faced.

In return for his testimony, he was offered the five-month sentence as part of a plea deal.

Longtime Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg has been jailed for five months for dodging taxes on $1.7 million in job perks. He is pictured in a Manhattan court on Tuesday before he was put behind bars

Weisselberg walked into court with his attorney in a fleece jacket and pants as he prepared to be jailed for pleading guilty to financial crimes

Judge Manuel Merchan, who handed down the sentence, said he was hesistant to put Weisselberg away for only five months.

'Were it not because I made that promise, I would not be imposing a five-month sentence. I would be imposing a much greater sentence,' he said in court.

'Most significantly was the $6,000 payroll payment to Mr. Weisselbergs wife and the reason I find that so offensive is that it was driven purely by greed,' Merchan added.

Merchan said Weisselberg had put his wife on the payroll so that she could 'one day benefit from social security payments she was not entitled to.'

Many convicts in New York City facing one year or less behind bars head to Rikers Island, which lies between the New York City boroughs of Queens and the Bronx and houses more than 5,900 inmates.

Weisselberg will be eligible for release after just three months if he behaves behind bars. He will have to complete five years of probation when he is free.

Those days will probably not be easy for Weisselberg at a jail known for violence, drugs and corruption. Nineteen inmates there died last year.

'You're going into a byzantine black hole,' said Craig Rothfeld, a prison consultant helping Weisselberg prepare for lockup.

Rothfeld spent more than five weeks at Rikers in 2015 and 2016 as part of an 18-month sentence for defrauding investors and tax authorities when he was chief executive of the now-defunct WJB Capital Group Inc.

He now runs Inside Outside Ltd, which advises people facing incarceration. Another client is Harvey Weinstein, the former Hollywood movie producer convicted twice of rape.

During questioning by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger on Tuesday in a New York state court in November, Weisselberg testified that starting around 2005, the Trump Organization paid the $7,000 to $8,000 monthly rent on his Manhattan apartment, as well as his utilities, phone and parking garage bills.

Weisselberg said rent and accompanying expenses grew to about $200,000 a year. He said if the Trump Organization gave him a raise to cover those expenses, it would have cost the company twice as much to account for his resulting taxes.

After being sentenced, Weisselberg will likely be driven to Rikers and trade his street clothes for a uniform and sneakers with velcro straps.

Rothfeld said he hopes Weisselberg will be segregated from the general population, and not placed in a dorm with inmates who may not know him but will know his boss, who is seeking the presidency in 2024.

'Certainly Mr. Weisselberg's 50-year relationship with the former president is on all our minds,' Rothfeld said.

A spokesman for the city's Department of Correction said the agency's mission is 'to create a safe and supportive environment for everyone who enters our custody.'

Rikers is scheduled to close in 2027.

Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August after paying nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest and testifying at the criminal trial of the Trump Organization, which was convicted on all counts it faced

Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty in August, admitting that from 2005 to 2017 he and other executives received bonuses and perks that saved the company and themselves money. Pictured: Weisselberg is pictured with President Trump in January 2017 inside the lobby of Trump Tower, New York City

After being sentenced, Weisselberg will likely be driven to Rikers Island prison (pictured) and trade his street clothes for a uniform and sneakers with velcro straps

Weisselberg was the star government witness against his employer.

He told jurors that Trump signed bonus and tuition checks, and other documents at the heart of prosecutors' case, but was not in on the tax fraud scheme.

Though no longer CFO, Weisselberg remains on paid leave from the Trump Organization. He testified in November that he hoped to get a $500,000 bonus this month.

Weisselberg testified that the company is paying his lawyers. It is paying Rothfeld as well, a person familiar with the matter said. Rothfeld declined to comment.

Trump was not charged and has denied wrongdoing. The Manhattan District Attorney's office is still investigating his business practices.

Merchan will also sentence the Trump Organization on Friday. Penalties are limited to $1.6 million.

Weisselberg remains a defendant in New York Attorney General Letitia James' $250 million civil lawsuit alleging that Trump and his company inflated asset values and Trump's net worth.

Rothfeld said he advised Weisselberg not to go outside at Rikers because of the risk of violence in courtyards, and not to interject himself into conversations between other inmates. 'The goal is to keep to yourself,' Rothfeld said.
The far-right influencer known as 'Baked Alaska,' who streamed live video while he stormed the US Capitol, has been sentenced to two months behind bars for joining the mob's attack on the building.

Anthime Gionet, 35, declined to address the court at Tuesday's hearing in Washington DC, where US District Judge Trevor McFadden sentenced him to 60 days in prison followed by two years of probation.

But after the hearing, where McFadden slammed Gionet's conduct as 'pretty shocking,' the defendant boasted to reporters that he had no regrets, saying he planned to write a book behind bars.

Gionet incriminated himself and other rioters with the video he streamed to a live audience of roughly 16,000 followers. The 27-minute video showed him saying 'unleash the Kraken, let's go!' and encouraging other rioters to stay in the Capitol.

Anthime 'Baked Alaska' Gionet, who livestreamed himself storming the US Capitol in the January 6 riot, arrives at his sentencing hearing in Washington DC on Tuesday

Gionet incriminated himself and other rioters with the video that he streamed to a live audience of roughly 16,000 followers from inside the Capitol

'You did everything you could to publicize your misconduct,' the judge told Gionet. 'You were there encouraging and participating fully in what was going on.'

The judge allowed Gionet to remain free until he must report to prison. After his sentencing, Gionet told reporters that he views his sentence as a 'win' and said he plans to write a book while in jail.

Despite his guilty plea, Gionet said he didn't think he was breaking the law on January 6, 2021 and doesn't regret being at the Capitol.

'I have grown immense amounts,' he said outside the courthouse. 'But I still hold firm that I was there because I believe the election was fraudulent, and I believe people should have a right to speak freely as long as they are being peaceful.'

Inside an office for Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, Gionet filmed himself picking up a telephone and pretending to report 'a fraudulent election,' parroting former President Donald Trump's baseless claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

'We need to get our boy, Donald J. Trump, into office,' Gionet added.

Inside an office for Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, Gionet filmed himself picking up a telephone and pretending to report 'a fraudulent election'

Gionet joined others in chanting, 'Patriots are in control!' and 'Whose house? Our house!' Before leaving, he profanely called a Capitol police officer an 'oathbreaker.'

Gionet pleaded guilty in July to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing inside a Capitol building.

Gionet had faced a maximum of six months of imprisonment under federal guidelines. Prosecutors had recommended sentencing Gionet to 75 days of incarceration, three years' probation and 60 hours of community service.

Gionet previously worked at BuzzFeed before he used social media videos to become an influential figure in far-right political circles.

He was scheduled to speak at the white nationalist 'Unite the Right' rally in 2017 before it erupted in violence on the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan was originally scheduled to sentence Gionet.

Sullivan recently withdrew from Gionet's case and several others for reasons that aren't specified in court filings, although he took 'senior status' and retired from full-time duty nearly two years ago.

Anthime 'Baked Alaska' Gionet arrives for his sentencing with an iced drink from Starbucks

Despite his guilty plea, Gionet told reporters he didn't think he was breaking the law on January 6, 2021 and doesn't regret being at the Capitol

Gionet celebrated online when his case was reassigned to McFadden, a Trump nominee.

On a live stream, Gionet praised McFadden as 'a very awesome judge who is a pro-Trump judge and one of the judges that let one of the guys off innocent in his trial.'

McFadden acquitted a New Mexico man, Matthew Martin, of riot-related charges in April 2022 after hearing trial testimony without a jury. Martin is the only January 6 defendant who has been acquitted of all charges after a trial.

More than 900 people have been charged with federal crimes related to January 6.

Nearly 500 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanor offenses, and over 350 of them have been sentenced.

Federal authorities have used Gionets video to prosecute other rioters, including three men from New York City.

Antonio Ferrigno, Francis Connor and Anton Lunyk pleaded guilty last year and were sentenced to home confinement. Gionets livestream showed them in Merkleys office.

Defense attorney Zachary Thornley argued in a court filing that Gionet 'never crossed the line from being a protestor to a rioter.' Thornley described his client as 'sort of a guerrilla journalist.'

'He was there to document. That's what he does,' the lawyer told the judge.

Federal prosecutors said in a court filing (part of which is above) that Gionet had recorded a 27-minute live video of himself inside the Capitol

McFadden also ordered Gionet to pay a $2,000 fine and $500 in restitution. The judge said the January 6 riot was the 'culmination of a petty crime spree' by Gionet

Many internet platforms, including Twitter, suspended Gione's accounts before January 6.

At the Capitol, he was livestreaming video using a fringe service called DLive. He told authorities that viewers paid him $2,000 for his livestreams on January 5 and January 6.

Under Elon Musk's ownership, Twitter has reinstated accounts belonging to Gionet and other far-right figures.

Gionet, who grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, was arrested in Houston less than two weeks after the riot and jailed for five days. He moved from Arizona to Florida after his release on bond.

McFadden also ordered Gionet to pay a $2,000 fine and $500 in restitution. The judge said the January 6 riot was the 'culmination of a petty crime spree' by Gionet.

Gionet was previously sentenced to 30 days in jail for misdemeanor convictions stemming from a December 2020 encounter in which authorities say he shot pepper spray at an employee at a bar in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Gionet also was convicted of a criminal damage charge and fined $300 for damaging a Hanukkah display in December 2020 outside the Arizona Capitol.

McFadden noted that Gionet recorded his crimes to drum up social media followers and money.

'That is a very disturbing vocation, sir,' the judge told him.

'Without him going to prison, he won't stop what he's going,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Franks said.

Gionet initially balked at pleading guilty to the January 6 charge during an earlier hearing.

Sullivan refused to accept a guilty plea by Gionet in May after he professed his innocence at the start of what was scheduled to be a plea agreement hearing.
Two masked thieves have made off with a stash of cigarettes and vapes after jumping over a service station counter and threatening a worker with a large knife and gun.

Victoria Police said the men entered the service station on Ballarat Road in Maidstone, west Melbourne, at about 10.10pm last Wednesday.

CCTV footage shows one of the men - wearing an orange high-visibility jacket and a motorbike helmet - rushing toward the worker and jumping over the counter while swinging a large kitchen knife.

While he cornered the worker, a second man - wearing a yellow high-visibility jumper with the hood pulled over his face - also jumped the counter and pointed a handgun at the worker.

CCTV footage shows two men robbing a service station's cigarette and vape supply by threatening the worker with a large kitchen knife and handgun

The men then started raiding the store's cigarette and vape supply all while the man in orange continued to point his knife menacingly at the store worker.

Both the offenders then jumped back over the counter and fled from the service station with the whole robbery lasting less than a minute.

The man in yellow, who carried the gun, is described as being of Caucasian appearance and about 20 to 25 years old.

The second male, who carried the large kitchen knife, is also described as being of Caucasian appearance and about 20 to 25 years old.

Anyone with information about the robbery is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
So, he printed out dozens of his own photos and turned them into a picture book

The Mayor of El Paso took one look at the empty streets around the Greyhound Bus terminal where migrants had once slept, and the trickle of new arrivals crossing the Rio Grande river, and realized that President Joe Biden may leave his border city with the idea that the crisis was over.

So, he took matters into his own hands.

Oscar Leeser, a Democrat who has clashed with the Biden administration over its handling of the border crisis, printed out a selection of images he had taken with his phone.

'To ensure President Biden received an accurate and full picture of what El Paso has been dealing with since August, I met with him privately and presented him a binder with photographs of my personal visits to the different migrant crossing and gathering areas over the last 6 months at different times of the day and night,' he said.

El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said he wanted to make sure that President Joe Biden had the full picture of how the border crisis was impacting his city. So, he gave him these pictures

The picture book contains dozens of images that Biden didn't see during his visit, including lines of migrants - hundreds strong at times - who had just crossed from Mexico

'This included crossing points with thousands, sleeping areas on the street and people sleeping at El Paso International Airport.

'It was important for me that he see these images, which were not part of his scheduled stops.'

The images, obtained by DailyMail.com, offer a powerful account of how a city on the frontlines is coping with the more than two million people who tried to cross from Mexico into the United States last year.

They resemble images from humanitarian crises in war zones or amid famine.

Dozens of new arrivals are wrapped in aluminum blankets as they wait in front of the border wall for transportation to a processing center in the dark of night.

In another, a group of young men are dropping down from the Mexican side of the border as they prepare to cross into the U.S.

In one picture, sleeping figures lie wrapped in blankets issued by the American Red Cross. Other images make clear they are camped out at the city's airport.

The pictures show a humanitarian crisis unfolding on American soil. Here a man sleeps beneath an American Red Cross blanket at El Paso's airport

Travelers passing through the airport in recent weeks have been confronted by this sight as the number of arrivals surged at the end of 2022

Families wait to be processed by U.S. agents after arriving on American soil

El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser's pictures include images of migrants preparing to cross from Mexico

And it shows the pressure on border agents, with long lines of migrants waiting to be processed after being picked up by U.S. officials.

Yet, Biden saw none of that during his whirlwind visit on Sunday  his first to the border since taking office.

He spent most of his time at the Bridge of the Americas entry port, where more than 100,000 people cross back and forth legally to Mexico every week.

He was shown how sniffer dogs root out contraband.

Critics pointed out that he did not meet any migrants. And just before his visit, officials cleared out migrant camps from downtown, where hundreds of newly arrived people were sleeping at night.

Biden was making his first visit to the southern border since becoming president. Here he is seen talking to El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser along the U.S./Mexico border fence in El Paso

In December, this area was filled with migrants sleeping on the streets. But Saturday, the same streets had no sign of the migrants who had camped there after a clearance operation

During his tour, Biden was shown how border officers search vehicles for drugs, money and other contraband at the El Paso port of entry on the Bridge of the Americas

Leeser said there was no attempt to sanitize the city for a presidential visit.

'The areas in which the migrants have gathered have been routinely cleaned by the city as a matter of practice,' he said.

'If we hadn't been doing that, we would have created a health hazard.'

Instead, he said the operation was made possible when the flow of arrivals slowed.

'The difference wasn't the presidents visit; the difference was the decrease in numbers of individuals crossing.

'Wed seen days with crossings as high as 2,500 a day, and we are now seeing 500.

'The decrease in numbers leads to less crowded areas which optimizes our cleaning efforts.'

El Paso saw some of the heaviest traffic at the end of last year, when migrant numbers surged all along the border.

El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said Biden 'reviewed the binder carefully.' He said he also gave it to a delegation of U.S. Senators who visited a day later

Biden was not taken to areas where migrants are processed. But El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser's pictures show the crowded facilities where agents handle hundreds of arrivals every day

Arrivals hoped to take advantage of the proposed end of Title 42  a Trump-era restriction  which ultimately remained in place.

The issue has dogged Biden in office, with Republicans accusing him of running an 'open border' policy. In the 12 months before October, Border Patrol encountered 1.7 million migrants trying to make their way into the U.S.

Last week, Biden unveiled a new crackdown on arrivals as part of an effort to prepare for the eventual end of the regulation.

Leeser said he hoped that would bring the number of arrivals down. And he said Biden took a good look at the collection of photographs.

'The president reviewed the binder carefully and we discussed federal support for our ongoing efforts,' he said.

'I can tell you that the president was fully aware the issues, but seeing it through my eyes as Ive seen it for the last 6 months gave him an added perspective.'
Elon Musk has requested that a judge order the relocation of an upcoming shareholder case trial from San Francisco due to his worries that the jury may be biased against him.

Musk asks the judge to move the trial to West Texas in a Friday filing because of the "local negativity" in the Bay Area that surrounds him and his enterprises, The Verge writes.

The Filings Argue That The Media Coverage Of The Lawsuit Has Made Matters Worse

Musk is accused of manipulating Tesla's shares in a shareholder class action suit that sprang from his now-infamous 2018 tweet that says he had the "funding secured" to take Tesla private.

In the weeks that followed the tweet, Tesla's stock saw extraordinary highs and lows, which led to a $40 million fine from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The purpose of the impending trial is to determine if Musk's tweet from 2018 had an impact on Tesla's stock price, and if the company and its CEO should be held accountable for alleged damages.

As a result of recent local media attention, the jury pool in the District is more inclined to have preconceived notions that are unfavorable to Musk's usage of Twitter, the filings claimed.

According to Musk's lawyers, potential jurors who, as a result of this coverage, have negative ideas about Musk's usage of and connection with Twitter generally will not be able to separate this general bias from the case.

It further asserts that local officials frequently "encourage" rallies against Musk and his San Francisco headquarters, which furthers this "prejudice" and leads to an unfair trial.

Because of that the CEO and his band of defenders are worried that these biases will make the jury unable to reach an impartial evaluation, The Guardian reports.

Tesla's stock trading was temporarily suspended, and after the tweets, shares were extremely volatile for weeks, according to CNBC.

In 2020, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX transferred his home to Texas, and in 2021, his electric vehicle business moved its headquarters to Austin.

It can be remembered that the case's federal judge, Edward Chen, decided last year that Musk intentionally misrepresented his intentions to take Tesla private on Twitter.

Read More: Tesla Alleged To Have Violated Labor Laws; NLRB Files New Complaint

Musk's Recent Controversial Twitter Layoffs Also Became A Concern

The filing claims that Musk's botched takeover of Twitter already produced significant bias among people affected by the job layoffs, in addition to blaming "inflammatory" local media coverage.

Additionally, attorneys for Tesla and Musk contend that since assuming control of Twitter, a social media platform based in San Francisco, the CEO has received a lot of unfavorable attention in California.

Since the acquisition occurred, Musk has named himself CEO of Twitter and fired and laid off thousands of workers in a haphazard manner.

In the past, Musk and his counsel have maintained that his remarks about a potential takeover of Tesla in 2018 did not break the law, CNBC details.

The CEO of Tesla has asserted time and time again that he struck a handshake agreement to take Tesla private at $420 per share with investors from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

However,iIt was implied by text texts found during a different trial in 2022 that Saudi PIF investors had not entirely committed to funding a Tesla deal.

Related Article: Tesla To Slow Down Production At Shanghai Plant In January
The former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan said he didn't see how Prince Harry's public revelation of his 25 Taliban kills would help his healing process.

Colonel Richard Kemp, 63, said Prince Harry had distorted the truth about the way the British army fights and was trying to justify his service to 'the woke elements'.

The Duke of Sussex claimed in his memoirs to have killed 25 enemy fighters during two tours of Afghanistan - calling his victims 'chess pieces' rather than people as a means of bearing the emotional strain of taking dozens of lives.

Prince Harry justified revealing his Taliban kill-count to US Magazine People because soldiers should discuss 'parts of our service that haunt us'.

Prince Harry has done a glossy cover interview with People magazine, one of the Sussexes' favoured US publications

Colonel Richard Kemp, who commanded Operation Fingal in Afghanistan in 2003, told MailOnline that he didn't think revealing the number would help 'any healing process he thinks he needs'

Harry also told People that he speaks openly about his time in Afghanistan - and killing insurgents - 'for my own healing journey' and 'in the hopes it will help others'.

But Colonel Richard Kemp, who commanded Operation Fingal in Afghanistan in 2003, told MailOnline that he didn't think revealing the number would help any 'healing journey' and that it given the Taliban more fuel for propaganda.

'I don't really see how making that sort of public statement is going to help whatever healing process he thinks he needs.

'I don't think that saying that he has killed 25 people is a terrible thing to say. I am sure it's factual and everybody knows that he was out there as an attack helicopter crewman and therefore that his job would have been to kill the enemy.

The Colonel, who commanded British troops in Afghanistan in 2003, said he was concerned about claims made by the Prince about training procedures

'The biggest problem I have with what he said is the way he said he was trained to describe the Taliban and to think of the Taliban as less than human,' the Colonel explained.

The former commanding officer added that veterans were frustrated with some of Prince Harry's claims about training procedures.

Veterans, he said, were particularly worried about Prince Harry's description of the enemy as like 'chess pieces'.

'It gives the wrong impression of the way the British army fights and it feeds into jihadists' propaganda. We've already seen examples of how, already, within days, they've started to exploit that.

'That's the dangerous part of this. The majority of veterans that I have been in touch with are quite horrified by what he's been saying.'

He added that Prince Harry's motivation to reveal his kill count might be more complicated than just his personal healing journey.

'He probably spoke about the business of brainwashing or soldiers being trained to see the enemy as less than human, I think in some ways as a kind of justification for him in the circles he now moves.

'Most of those people - the woke elements - they know he was fighting in Afghanistan and he's justifying his actions by saying he was essentially brainwashed by the British army into doing it. So I think that's more likely to be a motivation rather than some kind of therapeutic treatment for himself.'

Other critics, including senior figures in the British Army, have said his admission is a breach of the unwritten code that soldiers do not count 'notches on their rifles'.

Others said Harry had betrayed ex-comrades by risking their safety, his own and that of the Royal Family.

Justifying his decision to tell millions that he killed 25 fighters as an Apache helicopter gunner, Harry told People, a favoured US magazine of the Sussexes': 'I know from my own healing journey that silence has been the least effective remedy. Expressing and detailing my experience is how I chose to deal with it, in the hopes it would help others.'

Prince Harry on patrol through Garmisir, where he was posted in Helmand province in 2008. Critics of his memoirs have said his revelation handed the Taliban a propaganda victory

Harry's claims, including that he saw Taliban fighters as 'chess pieces' during operations, have prompted anger from the Armed Forces community

Former military commanders, pilots, aid workers and diplomats condemned the remarks, which they claimed handed the militants a propaganda victory.

He also faced the ignominy of being branded a 'big-mouth loser' by the Taliban itself.

But Harry told People: 'This is something each soldier has to confront, and in the nearly two decades of working alongside service personnel and veterans, I've listened to their stories and have shared mine.

'In these conversations, we often talk about the parts of our service that haunt us  the lives lost, the lives taken. But also the parts of our service that heal us and the lives we've saved.

'It's a duty, a job, and a service to our country  and having done two tours of duty in Afghanistan for my country, I've done all I could to be the best soldier I was trained to be.

'There's truly no right or wrong way to try and navigate these feelings.'

He added: 'My relationship with Meghan has opened my eyes to so much I fear I otherwise would have never fully understood'.

The People Magazine interview was released on Tuesday afternoon, with social media users remarking on how the magazine's photo shoot appears to have brightened his blue eyes and thickened his hair.

One critic said pictures of Harry, which include him walking on a wooden terrace and leaning against some patio doors in an open blue shirt and dark slacks, looked like a 'faux fashion photo shoot'.

Harry is also wearing a black leather cord necklace. Some claimed it is identical to the one he says was broken by his brother William in an alleged fight at Kensington Palace during a row over Meghan's 'difficult' and 'abrasive' behaviour in 2019.

Prince Harry is seen on Monday leaving his Manhattan hotel and heading to record an episode of Stephen Colbert's show, accompanied by an armed guard with a Glock gun lock box

It comes as it has been revealed today:

Paul Burrell, 64, a former footman to the Queen, has said he didn't recognise the Prince that he once knew.

Mr Burrell worked for Princess Diana for ten years after working for the late Queen.

Appearing on Australian breakfast show Sunrise, Mr Burrell said: 'I first met him in his mummy's tummy. I don't recognise the young man I see today. That's not the boy I knew.

'What I see now is an angry, petulant, privileged prince who is constantly blaming other people and not taking accountability on his part.'

Mr Burrell appeared on Australian TV this morning after being attacked by Harry for 'milking' his mother's death

The Duke of Sussex accused Mr Burrell of 'milking' Princess Diana's death for money (pictured together in 1997)

'She would be angry at these personal, vindictive revelations which don't just undermine Harry, but his country, his family, the institution  which his mother was very proud of  and his late grandmother's legacy,' he said.

Harry has also been accused of reducing the royals to a laughing stock ahead of an appearance on the satirical The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, due for broadcast in the US on Tuesday evening.

It was recorded in New York on Monday, with the royal ushered in and out of the studio by armed bodyguards including a British former policeman carrying a Glock pistol case.

Harry was asked by People about how his family might view his book.

He has previously admitted that he didn't think they would read it.

The Duke said: 'I don't want to tell anyone what to think of it and that includes my family. This book and its truths are in many ways a continuation of my own mental health journey. It's a raw account of my life  the good, the bad and everything in between.

EXCLUSIVE: Tailor at centre of Meghan and Kate's bridesmaid dress row speaks out The tailor at the heart of the bridesmaids' dresses drama at Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding has spoken out (pictured centre: Tailor Ajay Mirpuri) Advertisement

'My hope has been to turn my pain into purpose, so if sharing my experience makes a positive difference in someone's life, well, I can't think of anything more rewarding than that'.

And speaking about the chances of reconciliation, he added: 'I've said before that I've wanted a family, not an institution  so of course, I would love nothing more than for our children to have relationships with members of my family, and they do with some, which brings me great joy'.

Prince Harry and his memoir have been ridiculed by Stephen Colbert ahead of the broadcast of their US TV interview on Tuesday night, with the comedian comparing his life to Harry Potter and joking the new book is available as a royal commemorative plate.

There were gales of laughter as the Duke of Sussex was called 'His royal Harryness' and also seen downing tequila shots in an interview in New York.

In a series of interviews in the US and UK to promote his memoir Spare, which is released today, he has shared intimate details of his life including losing his virginity, his use of drugs and killing 25 Taliban, as well as private conversations with his family and the deepening rift over Megxit.

But even the usually supportive liberal US media is tiring of Prince Harry's complaints. The New York Times called his remarks 'repetitive and tiresome' and suggested the 'tide seems to be turning' in US attitudes towards the Sussexes.

And in a trailer for tonight's show, Stephen Colbert appeared more focused on poking fun at the royal and his bitter rift with his brother, and scathing gags about Britain and the royals including the late Queen.

After playing a clip where Harry describes his pain at William trying to avoid him at Eton, the Late Show presenter said to roars of laughter: 'That's heartbreaking. To be rejected by his older brother at school even though that magic hat sorted them into the same house. What do you think? Hufflepuff? Gryffindor?'

Harry is promoting his book on US TV - this time with Late Show host Stephen Colbert - who appears ready to lampoon the prince and his life

Mr Colbert compared Harry's school days to Hogwarts and also poked fun at the Royal Family and Britain

In another tease Mr Colbert said Spare is available in hardback, audiobook and as a 'commemorative plate'

In another tease Mr Colbert said Spare is available in hardback, audiobook and as a 'commemorative plate' - a joke at the expense of Harry and other royals whose weddings and anniversaries are marked with limited edition tableware and crockery.

In a further dig at the Royal Family, Colbert says: 'Stock up on corgis and steal a priceless cultural treasure from one of your colonies because The Late Show is going imperial.'

Harry's book also contains anecdotes that also appear to poke fun at his own family including hanging a trinket likeness of the Queen on a Christmas tree.

Spare reveals that Meghan gave Harry an ornament of the Queen that she had bought from a local store in California.

Harry writes in his book that it was 'Granny's face to a T' and hung it straight on the large Christmas tree in their California home.

Toddler Archie was running around and knocked the tree's stand, which caused the ornament to fall off and smash into pieces.

Harry also said he sought help from a medium who said she could prove she was talking to his late mother from beyond the grave because Diana was 'giggling' at Archie breaking the ornament.

And in the couple's Netflix documentary, released last month, a Meghan appeared to mock her own efforts at following royal protocol as she recounted the 'surreal' moment she first met the Queen - performing a deeply exaggerated curtsey.
A Queensland father-of-three has been jailed for the 'reprehensible' assault and torture of a woman for hours while he held her captive in a hotel room.

Trent Wayne Lawson, 38, of Hervey Bay, faced Brisbane District Court on Tuesday for sentencing after pleading guilty to common assault, wilful damage, stealing and torture.

Crown prosecutor Farook Anoozer said NSW-born Lawson escalated assaults against the 48-year-old woman at two inner-Brisbane hotels between September 21 and 23 in 2021.

'This was a protracted attack on the victim who was virtually held captive by the defendant in a hotel room. He punched and kneed her,' Mr Anoozer said.

'It only stopped when she mustered the courage to open the door and yell for help. The punching and kneeing went on for at least two hours. It was unprovoked.'

A judge described Trent Wayne Lawson's assault and torture of a woman as 'reprehensible'

The victim suffered a broken eye socket and required reconstructive surgery with the insertion of a metal plate and two screws in her skull.

Lawson also forced her to give online banking details and transfer $290 to his account, damaged her mobile phone and left the hotel room taking all her clothes and medication.

Mr Anoozer said the court needed to impose a sentence with a strong personal deterrence for Lawson as he was a mature man with a history of violence and had committed his latest offences while on parole.

Lawson's barrister said his client had been abused in childhood and had become addicted to methamphetamine and heroin as a teenager.

'(The offending) was a result of misguided jealousy, alcohol and drug use,' the barrister said.

'Since being in custody his work ethic has been encouraging ... He can be a contributing member of society upon release. He's not yet a lost cause.'

Trent Wayne Lawson (pictured) pleaded guilty to common assault, wilful damage, stealing and torture of a woman in Brisbane in 2021

Judge Michael Burnett said Lawson's offending had a significant effect on the vulnerable victim's mental and physical health.

'It is reprehensible offending over a short period against a woman who was older than you and less able to defend herself. I note that you are a large man,' Judge Burnett said.

He said it was up to Lawson whether to stay off drugs and use his skills as an electrical apprentice to contribute to society or spend his time in jail.

Lawson was sentenced to six years jail with his parole eligibility date set to Tuesday.

He will remain in custody pending the outcome of any application for release.
The NYPD evacuated the World Trade Center station in New York City on Tuesday afternoon after a 'suspicious package' was found in the building.

Cops put out an urgent warning just before 3.30pm urging people to keep clear of the Oculus transportation hub because of the package, which they now believe is a pressure cooker.

It's believed the cooker was left in the last car of a PATH train from Newark in New Jersey, which sat at the station for over an hour before it was found.

But at 4pm police gave the all-clear and said the package was no longer a concern.

The World Trade Center station was evacuated after a suspicious package was found

Members of the Army were seen at the Oculus transportation hub following the scare. Witnesses were evacuated and heard helicopters flying over the building

Earlier in the day, witnesses say they were rushed out of the station in the Big Apple's Financial District amid the evacuation alert.

The NYPD said: 'Due to a police investigation please avoid The Oculus at this time.'

There were no PATH trains running to or from the World Trade Center. But from 4pm, the service was working again.

Footage from the scene showed police, bomb squads, and members of the Army enforcing a cordon as frantic commuters scrambled out of the building.

Emergency vehicles, including NYPD vans and helicopters, were seen outside the area as police probed and evacuated the station.

The Oculus - which is the transportation hub that houses the World Trade Center's subway and PATH stations - is one of the buildings erected following the Twin Tower attacks in 2001.

PATH Trains confirmed the line suspension earlier: 'HOB-WTC remains suspended. NWK-WTC is operating NWK-EXPL. PAPD continues to investigate an incident at WTC.'

There was a cordon in place inside the Oculus, the building that houses the World Trade Center's subway and PATH stations

Commuters were able to get back on PATH trains from 4pm, when the service resumed
Mum revealed her son's simple request when he got home from his adventure

Autistic boy who sparked frantic police search when he vanished is back home

The dad of a non-verbal autistic boy who vanished during a family day out has choked back tears while reliving the harrowing ordeal as his son's adorable request after being found was revealed.

Daniel Huxtable, 11, disappeared while visiting Sydney's Sea Life Aquarium with his grandparents in Darling Harbour on Tuesday.

NSW Police launched a large-scale search across Sydney which involved Polair, a geo-targeted SMS campaign, reviewing CCTV and tracking the location of Daniel's iPad.

Amid fears he may have fallen into the harbour, Daniel was found safe and sound on north shore line train at St Leonards several hours later, not far from his northern beaches home.

Relieved parents David and Alison were still emotional while recalling the nightmare on Wednesday morning.

Daniel Huxtable was reunited with his parents hours after he went missing during a family day out in Darling Harbour on Tuesday

I'm actually just choking up again to be honest,' Mr Huxtable told the Today show.

'I got the call and sort of just headed down to the aquarium.

'I was holding it together OK but then the few times that we were asked to describe what he was wearing to a few people, it all just started to become real and at that point it really took hold. So, yeah, it was terrifying.

'You feel hapless and helpless.'

His wife added: 'There's no words to describe the relief after the mental exhaustion and everything that we went through.

The aquarium and Darling Harbour precinct was at the time packed with hundreds of families enjoying the school holidays.

While his parents were frantic with worry, Daniel was unfazed about his time alone, walking and catching trains across the city.

David and Alison Huxtable (pictured with their daughters) described son Daniel's disappearance as the scariest days of their lives

All he wanted was a bowl of ice-cream and to go to the beach with his dad when he got home, according to mum Alison.

The next morning, he was jumping on the trampoline, oblivious to the panic caused hours earlier.

'If you saw a neurotypical child without mum and dad they'd clearly be distressed, ask for help but Danny was just having a regular day,' Ms Huxtable said.

'He was walking with purpose and looked like he knew where he was going.

'That's why no-one stopped to check. He looked like he was where he was supposed to be. We're so grateful that he was found.'

Polair was deployed during the large-scale search amid fears the non-verbal autistic boy had fallen into the water at Darling Harbour

Police made 51 decisions during their extensive search with resources stretched everywhere between the CBD and Hornsby.

'In essence, we followed CCTV, PolAir was up, the public were good after the message went out, we were able to get information from that,' Inspector Wayne Ashworth said.

'Luckily Daniel was just riding up and down on the trains,'
Singh had been on the run for four years before his arrest in December

Toyah Cordingley's accused murderer is set to return to Australia to face trial over the young woman's death four years ago.

Rajwinder Singh, 38, signed a consent application to be extradited to Australia from India.

'I know the consequences and nature of the case and am willing to go to Australia and face the trial,' the application signed by Singh read.

He is accused of murdering Ms Cordingley, 24, on Wangetti Beach, in far north Queensland, in October 2018.

The 38-year-old appeared before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in New Delhi on Tuesday, local time, to record an official statement.

Toyah Cordingley's accused murderer will return to Australia to face trial over the young woman's death four years ago

Singh told the magistrate he was aware he could face a life sentence if convicted by an Australian court.

The written statement is the latest step toward Singh's extradition from India to Australia.

The decision pre-empts a legal battle that could have dragged on for years in India's court system which is clogged with some 40 million cases.

The magistrate is expected to pass an order approving the extradition on Friday.

The order and an 'inquiry report' will then be sent to the Ministry of External Affairs to advise the extradition can proceed as it does not violate any aspect of India's extradition law.

The Ministry will examine the inquiry report before it green-lights the process of sending Singh, who is in Tihar Jail, back to Australia.

An Indian male nurse (centre, Rajwinder Singh) accused of killing Toyah Cordingley has asked to be extradited to Australia so he can fight the allegation

'In the four years that he was on the run in India, he had no contact with his wife and children for fear of being caught,' public prosecutor Ajay Digpaul told AAP.

'This seems to be the primary motive for wanting to return.'

Singh, an Australian citizen who was born in India, appeared relaxed in court on Tuesday.

The prime suspect in the killing, he was arrested in December by Delhi police after a four-year manhunt that followed his escape from Australia just hours after Ms Cordingley's body was found half-buried in sand dunes on Wangetti Beach.

The extradition legal team says Singh could be back in Australia by the end of February.

Ms Cordingley's body was found half-buried in sand dunes on Wangetti Beach in October, 2018

The Indian government has already provisionally consented to Australia's call for Singh's extradition but the request needs to be signed off by the court.

Australian police want to question Singh over whether he stabbed Ms Cordingley after an argument over her dog barking at him.

Australian police said Ms Cordingley, a pharmacy worker, suffered 'visible, violent injuries'.

Her dog was found tied up nearby.

Singh, who worked as a nurse and lived in Innisfail, has a wife and three children in Australia and has told his legal team in India that he had 'gone to the beach for some quiet time carrying some fruit and a knife for cutting fruit'.
The retailer has not released any additional information about the company

Council on American-Islamic Relations flagged the boots to Walmart this week

Walmart has pulled a pair of boots from its website after they were flagged by a Muslim civil rights group.

The Harsuny Men's Tactical Military Hiking Ankle Boot Outdoor Trekking Shoes were on display for sale on the store's 'Marketplace', where they were clearly labeled with the letters 'KKK.'

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) flagged the boots to Walmart on Saturday, 'respectfully' asking for the item to be removed.

The Harsuny Men's Tactical Military Hiking Ankle Boot Outdoor Trekking Shoe with 'KKK' emblazoned on the tongue was yanked from Walmart's website over the weekend

The company removed the product, which they said was 'listed by an outside third-party seller' and was 'inconsistent' with Walmart's 'values'

CAIR said they were notified of the boot via an email tip. They did not know for how long the boots had been available.

KKK is typically used as a short-form reference to the Ku Klux Klan, the white supremacist group that primarily targeted African Americans in the wake of the American Civil War.

In a press release, CAIR wrote, We thank Walmart for dropping an online listing for oddly/poorly named 'KKK' boots after we brought this to their attention earlier today.'

The were initially available for about $50 in black and tan, both with 'KKK' emblazoned in red lettering on the tongue.

A spokesman for the company said the boots were 'listed by an outside third-party seller and removed because the item is inconsistent with [the company's] values and violates Walmart's prohibited product policy.'

They continued: 'We have a process in place designed to prevent third-party sellers from offering inappropriate items on our platform.'

'Still, at times, inappropriate items make their way onto our platform. We are reviewing how this happened and will apply what we learn to further improve our rules and processes to prevent the sale of inappropriate merchandise.'

The boots, which have been yanked from the multi-billion dollar company's marketplace, were available in black and tan

KKK is typically used as a short-form reference to the Ku Klux Klan, the white supremacist extremist group that primarily targeted African Americans in the wake of the American Civil War

CAIR brought the boots to Walmart's attention after receiving an email tip about the oddly lettered boots. The Muslim civil rights organization thanked the company for promptly removing the shoes from its marketplace

Bootgate is not the first time Walmart has found itself apologizing for racially insensitive merchandise. In 2020, the store was pressured into discontinuing lines of merch that read 'All Lives Matter'

Walmart did not reveal the name of the company that made the boots. It is unclear if the company is called Harsuny, or has any sort of racially-motivated agenda.

It is also unclear what, if anything, the offensive lettering on the shoes stood for. But it is not the first time the retailer has come under fire for offensive merchandise.

In 2020, the massive retailer agreed to stop selling 'All Lives Matter' clothing items, in the wake of George Floyd's death.

And that PR glitch occurred following an incident that included the store displaying a Mississippi state flag in its store.

The flag included a confederate symbol that state lawmakers have since voted to remove.
A former White House director said Joe Biden's classified document discovery killed Donald's Trump Mar-a-Lago case.

The View co-host, Alyssa Farah Griffin, 33, declared the discovery a 'huge win for Trump' as it will put pressure on US Attorney General Merrick Garland, 70, to not indicate the former president over the hundreds of classified documents found at his Florida mansion in August.

'I want to be clear the facts are different than the Trump case, however, I think this is a huge win for Trump,' she said on The View on Tuesday. 'Because if you're Merrick Garland, who is already extremely cautious and doesn't want to break the longstanding precedent of not indicting a president, it's very hard to make the case that Donald Trump should be indicted for this.

'Even though the facts are different, when he can argue: "Well, now the vice president also took home classified documents." I think this kills the case.'

A 'small number of documents with classified markings' were found at the Penn Biden Center in a locked closet as people were preparing to leave vacate the space, the White House announced on Monday. The documents derived from the time that he was vice president.

The Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement is a University think tank located in Washington.

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Alyssa Farah Griffin, 33, declared the discovery of Biden's classified documents as a 'huge win for Trump,' although the former Trump White House Director of Strategic Communications said the former president 'should be indicted'

A 'small number of documents with classified markings' were found at the Penn Biden Center in a locked closet as people were preparing to leave vacate the space, the White House announced on Monday. Donald's Trump's Mar-a-Lago mansion was raided in August, where hundreds of documents were seized

The former Director of Strategic Communications - who worked for Trump in 2020 - said the only difference about the cases is 'obstruction.'

Fellow co-host Sunny Hostin interrupted to say: 'Obstruction is a big deal and facts matter.' Hostin went on to point out that the former president 'refused' to turn over the document and kept them in easily accessible areas.

'He had top secret information, including things that would have put people's lives in danger, including nuclear documents, and there were 300 documents found, so I think you cannot compare one to the other. It's like comparing apples to orangutans.'

Griffin countered that the legal standard did not change just because the number of documents was significantly reduced.

'The legal standard is not where you keep the classified documents, the only place it could be is a SCIF [Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility], so even if you put a lock on the door, that doesn't legally change the fact that you did not transport them securely,' she said.

'It does legally change the intent element,' Hostin, who received a law degree from the University of Notre Dame, countered.

Sara Haines, the other conservative viewpoint on The View, said there wasn't enough information out about the documents Biden held to conclude how serious the situation was.

Sunny Hostin said 'obstruction is a big deal' and said the number of documents should be taken into account and that the intention of taking the documents were different

Sara Haines, the other conservative viewpoint on The View, said there wasn't enough information out about the documents Biden held to conclude how serious the situation was, but did agree with Griffin that she doesn't 'think this was good for the case against Donald Trump'

However, she did agree with Griffin that she doesn't 'think this was good for the case against Donald Trump.'

Joy Behar, a strong liberal voice on the show, pointed out that Trump kept his 'love letters' to Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin and was 'cozied up with dictators all over the world.'

She said those relationships and the ability to potentially hand over extremely sensitive material was a 'much greater sin than forgetting [the papers] were in that particular' spot.'

Despite working for Trump in 2020, Griffin agreed that 'Trump should be indicted' because 'Mar-a-Lago was infiltrated by Chinese spies.'

Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

Republicans on Tuesday demanded to know why the fact President Biden had classified documents from when he was vice president at his think tank wasn't revealed until after the midterm elections with one calling it a 'cover up.'

'When you cover up something before an election, that is probably a point that needs to be highlighted,' Republican Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning.

He said the fact the White House didn't say 'a darn thing till after the election looks political me.'

A 'small number of documents with classified markings' were found at the Penn Biden Center in November, but it wasn't announced until Monday

Trump had several hundred documents seized at Mar-a-Lago in August (pictured) and has denied any wrongdoing

The White House announced late Monday that Biden's lawyers discovered 10 classified documents in his former office at a Washington think tank on November 2.

That was six days before the midterm election, where Republicans won control of the House but not by the landslide many had predicted.

The announcement of such a discovery likely would have been a political explosion in the election akin to the FBI announcing in 2016, eleven days before the election, the discovery of additional Hillary Clinton emails.

The delay in announcing the Biden discovery has sparked fury among the GOP and many warned they expect the Justice Department to treat Biden like the agency is treating its probe of former President Donald Trump and the documents he had at Mar-a-Lago.
Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Banks introduced a bill on Tuesday to codify qualified immunity for police officers across all 50 states.

The former Republican Study Committee chairman first brought the bill to the House floor in August 2020, in response to nationwide unrest that summer as Black Lives Matter protesters and other activists clashed with police.

Banks' bill, the Qualified Immunity Act, would codify existing Supreme Court precedent that shields police officers from civil lawsuits 'from the same criminals they put behind bars,' the congressman said in a statement.

The qualified immunity statute gives police and other government officials 'breathing room to make reasonable mistakes,' his legislation's text states.

The legislation failed to come for a vote in the Democrat-controlled Congress led by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Banks introduced a bill aiming at codifying qualified immunity

His previous effort to introduce the legislation was blocked from the House floor under Speaker Nancy Pelosi's leadership

Meanwhile, Democrats acted that year to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which among other reforms would have actually rolled back qualified immunity.

Banks' bill has a far higher chance of passing the Republican-controlled House in the 118th Congress - but it would face an uphill battle in Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's chamber.

'Indianas law enforcement officers risk their lives every day to keep our families and communities safe,' Banks said in a statement.

'Subjecting officers to frivolous, unending lawsuits from the same criminals they put behind bars would be a miscarriage of justice and bankrupt almost every police department in the country.'

The 2020 summer protests came in response to the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer.

The ensuing summer of protests were mostly peaceful but indelibly marked by images of vandalized public buildings, smashed store windows and burning police cars in areas where tensions erupted between cops and demonstrators.

The Minneapolis Third Police Precinct is set on fire on Thursday, May 28, 2020, during a third night of protests following the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody

San Francisco police seen during a protest on May 31, 2020. 'Law enforcement officers risk their lives every day to keep our families and communities safe,' Banks said in a statement introducing his bill

Ending qualified immunity for police officers ended up being one of the more controversial reforms demanded by progressives - one that's been fiercely lobbied against by right-wing groups and police unions.

Police reform activists argue that it gives law enforcement officers unfair protections that put them above the law.

But supporters of qualified immunity say it's a necessary shield to allow representatives of the government to perform their work to their fullest ability.

'The doctrine of qualified immunity protects government officials carrying out official acts from being sued unless the official violated a persons statutory or constitutional rights,' said Fraternal Order of Police President Patrick Yoes.

'This is especially important to law enforcement officers, who need this protection in order to perform discretionary functions fundamental to law enforcement and public safety.'

The Supreme Court ruled that government employees were entitled to qualified immunity in 1982, and has upheld the precedent in several cases since.

The most recent came in October 2022, when the high court declined to take up a case challenging the qualified immunity defense of a Michigan police officer who shot someone driving away in a car.

Banks' legislation would codify the qualified immunity doctrine in federal law, which would remove the onus of its existence off of the Supreme Court.
A 'high profile' man accused of raping a young woman is unlikely to be publicly identified for at least a year due to a law that is only in place in Queensland.

The man has been charged with two counts of rape over the alleged incident in October, 2021.

He is due to face Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Under Queensland law, the identity of the man cannot be revealed as the anonymity of accused serious sex offenders is protected until they are committed to stand trial.

Legal expert, Sam Macedone, from Macedone Legal, said he believes the Queensland-specific law will be changed by the end of this year to fall into line with other Australian states.

Legal expert, Sam Macedone, from Macedone Legal, said the man accused of rape wouldn't likely face trial for a year, which means he will remain anonymous

'No doubt the reason for (the law) is, or has been, that public opinion can sometimes sway juries eventually when the matter goes to court,' he told the Today Show on Wednesday morning.

'But this is a law that only at the moment exists in Queensland, and I think that by the end of this year, it will go.'

While the accused man is facing court on Wednesday, Mr Macedone said the matter would unlikely proceed to trial until at least 2024.

'Here in NSW, it can take anything up to a year or 14 months. In Queensland, I'm not really sure, but I doubt very much that he'd get to trial inside of a year,' he said.

The lawyer said public opinion was 'a lot stronger' when it came to allegations of rape, as opposed to other serious crimes such as murder.

'They tend to form an opinion rather quickly, whether you're guilty or not, it doesn't really matter,' he said.

'Once they hear the facts and the charge they make up their mind, and it's because of that that this law was introduced - to keep people in a position where they end up getting a fair trial.

'But that's going to change now.'

While the man's name cannot be revealed, he has been described as a 'high profile' figure in Australia.

Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman announced in November that the law protecting the identity of accused rapists would be changed this year.
A newborn baby has been left fighting for his life after his pregnant mother was allegedly shot dead by her ex-fiance after she dumped him in Minnesota.

Messiah was hospitalized after Kyla O'Neal, 31, was gunned down inside her car allegedly by Donte Raphael McCray, 32, in Lakeville, Minneapolis.

The youngster was left with no brain function but his family said they were 'holding on to faith' as he remains in intensive care.

O'Neal was shot dead in the parking lot of the Amazon warehouse where McCray worked in Lakeville on Sunday night.

Messiah was hospitalized after Kyla O'Neal (pictured), 31, was gunned down inside her car by Donte Raphael McCray, 32, in Lakeville, Minneapolis

O'Neal was shot dead in the parking lot of the Amazon warehouse where McCray (pictured) worked in Lakeville on Sunday night

The youngster was left with no brain function but his family said they were 'holding on to faith' as he remains in intensive care. Pictured: Cops on the scene

The expectant mother was fatally shot after she tried to end their relationship, having been rushed to a nearby hospital before passing away.

Her baby was delivered and has been fighting for his life but, suffering from traumatic brain injury.

McCray, who worked at the Amazon Fulfillment Center, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter.

His criminal record shows a judge ordered in May he not possess any firearms because of a criminal conviction. He was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.

The expectant mother was fatally shot after she tried to end their relationship, having been rushed to a nearby hospital before passing away

The victim's distraught mother, Katina O'Neal said her daughter 'didn't deserve this,' and payed her grandson will pull through, CBS News reported

The victim's distraught mother, Katina O'Neal said her daughter 'didn't deserve this,' and payed her grandson will pull through, CBS News reported.

'I can't lose both of them, not right now, no,' she said.

Katina said her grandson 'lost a lot of oxygen to the brain.' 'He has no brain functioning right now,' she said.

'I'm holding onto faith. I'm praying. God got the last word, so hopefully He gives him to me.'

Police said when officers responded to the 911 call, the gunman-ex-fiance was there with another one of their children, KARE News reported

Kyla had three other children and one of those children was a daughter she shared with McCray.

Grief-stricken family members described the young mother as outspoken and driven, who had a promising future.

'All she ever thought about doing was making a life for her and her kids,' she said, 'She was looking forward to the baby's birth,' CBS News reported.

Police said when officers responded to the 911 call, the gunman-ex-fiance was there with another one of their children, KARE News reported.

'When we have a situation where a pregnant female has been critically injured, it just adds another whole layer of stress and emotion to that call because now, we've got another human being we're trying to save as well,' Police Commander William Gerl said.
You have to think twice before you click on a new Pokemon card game online that promises to give you non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Because although it is very tempting to do so, it could contain malicious software.

Currently, hackers are using a legitimate-looking Pokemon game to install the NetSupport remote access tool (RAT) and gain control of the victim's device.

According to Neowin, the scheme was initially uncovered by analysts at ASEC. The threat actors are marketing the fake game as a new NFT card game that allows users to play with Pokemon cards and gain profits through their NFT investments.

Hackers Use the Popularity of Pokemon and NFT to Lure Victims

At the time of writing, the website "pokemon-go[.]io" is still online. The website claims to be home to a new Pokemon NFT card game. It allows users to play Pokemon cards with NFT investment profits.

Since both Pokemon and NFTs are quite popular, it is easy for operators of the malicious portal to lure an audience to the site. And they've done it through mail spam, social media posts, etc.

According to BleepingComputer, users who click on the "Play on PC" button automatically download an executable that appears like a legitimate game installer. However, in reality, the NetSupport RAT is installed on the victim's system.

Once the file is executed in the system of the device, it creates a folder in the %APPDATA% path. It also creates hidden NetSupport RAT-related files that's why it's difficult to remove the malware.

Moreover, the file installed in the user's device also creates an entry in the Startup folder. With this, the malware can run even after every boot.

According to the analysts at ASEC, there was also a second site used in the malicious campaign. The other website was "beta-pokemoncards[.]io." However, it has since been taken offline.

The activities of the websites started in December 2022, according to BleepingComputer.

Read Also: Pokemon Sun And Moon Guide: How To Catch Dhelmise Easily

Hackers Use NetSupport RAT for Their Malicious Activities

The NetSupport RAT is a legitimate program that is used to give system administrators remote access to users' computers. Because of this, hackers usually use it hoping that it will evade security software.

Once the NetSupport RAT is installed in the user's device, the hackers can remotely connect to a user's device to steal data, or install other malware. They can even attempt to spread further on the network.

NetSupport Manager is commonly used by hackers as part of their malicious campaigns. For instance, Microsoft issued a warning in 2020 about phishing actors that were using COVID-19-themed Excel files that dropped NetSupport RAT onto the recipients' computers.

Meanwhile, there was a campaign in August 2022 that targeted WordPress sites with fake Cloudflare DDoS protection pages that installed NetSupport RAT and Raccoon Stealer on the victims' devices.

NetSupport Manager supports remote screen control as well as screen recording, system monitoring, and remote system grouping for better control. It also supports plenty of connectivity options, including network traffic encryption.

Given these functions, if it is infected with malware, it could lead to severe consequences. To avoid being a victim of such scams, do not download or install software from websites you don't trust.

Refrain also from opening an email attachment or link that you got from someone you don't know. Moreover, always ensure that your devices and anti-malware software are updated.

Related Article: A New Pokemon Named Lechonk Has Been Unveiled and Fans From the Philippines are Having a Field Day
The self-proclaimed 'Fat Doctor' has claimed people aren't simply obese because of their diet and there is no proof weight loss has any health benefits in an exchange with LBC's Nick Ferrari (left). In one of the wildest segments, Dr Asher Larmie (right and inset) denied the presenter's love for red wine and hatred of exercise was to blame for his larger frame. Mr Ferrari told LBC's listeners: 'I'm fat because I drink too much red wine and I don't exercise enough.' But Dr Larmie, a trans, non-binary GP based around Hertfordshire, interrupted and replied 'that's absolutely not true', much to Mr Ferrari's amusement. 'You are not fat because of what you eat and how much exercise you do. That is the line that everybody is led to believe', added the GP, who has built a following of fat fanatics online. Mr Ferrari replied: 'Doctor if I left you now and ran up and down Leicester Square for three hours then went home and had a piece of lettuce and then came and did the tomorrow and the day after that and the the day after that I would start to look like a supermodel.' But Dr Larmie dismissed this too, telling the presenter such efforts were useless as he would regain the weight within the first year adding 'the body will always return you to your natural set point weight'.
Texas Republican Rep. Pat Fallon officially filed the articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas.

The resolution, which Texas Republicans promised to bring forward under their border plan introduced last Congress says Mayorkas 'engaged in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with his duties' and failed to maintain operational control of the southern border.

Republicans behind the plan to impeach Mayorkas have maintained have long maintained that he lied before Congress in an April hearing when he was asked if he had operational control of the border and responded, 'We do.'

'Secretary Mayorkas's willful actions have eroded our immigration system, undermined border patrol morale, and jeopardized American national security. He has violated the law and it is time for him to go,' Fallon tweeted last Tuesday as he promised to introduce impeachment.

Texas Republican Rep. Pat Fallon officially filed the articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas

Republicans behind the plan to impeach Sec Mayorkas have maintained have long maintained that he lied before Congress in an April hearing when he was asked if he had operational control of the border and responded, 'We do'

Mayorkas told ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday he has no intention of resigning and is prepared for any Republican investigations that arise.

The articles have been referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Not all Republicans are on board with impeachment - some believe Democrats made it too political under the last Congress and want to return it to a nonpartisan process.

The articles come during a big week for border matters under the Biden administration - over the weekend President Biden visited the southern border in El Paso, Texas for what is believed to be the first time ever.

The visit came just three days after Biden announced new plans regarding migration and was just a few-hour stop on his way to the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico City, Mexico this week.

These are the photographs that El Paso's Democratic mayor handed Biden - so he could see the full scale of the crisis before migrants were cleared from the city for choreographed trip

Another of the photographs that El Paso's Democratic mayor handed Biden - so he could see the full scale of the crisis before migrants were cleared from the city for choreographed trip

In a turn of events that would have shocked those following White House moves only months ago, Biden announced last week he would expand the use of Title 42 - the Trump-era CDC health policy that allows the immediate expulsion of migrants his administration spent months trying to undo.

Title 42 can now be used against migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela, though Biden also created another legal pathway for nationals of those countries to request asylum.

The program would allow 30,000 migrants every month to fly or enter the U.S. through a port of entry if they apply ahead of time for asylum on a smartphone application.
Bryan Kohberger, the suspect accused of killing four University of Idaho students, said the murders were 'really sad,' according to police officers in Pennsylvania, who said that Kohberger appeared nervous.

Kohberger, 28, is accused of murdering Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin on November 13 in the quiet college town of Moscow, Idaho.

While he was being extradited from his home in Pennsylvania, a police source said Tuesday that Kohberger 'seemed really nervous.'

The source added: 'He was narrating to himself everything that was happening. At one point, he was saying something to himself like 'I'm fine, this is okay.' Like he was reassuring himself that this whole thing wasn't awful.'

Bryan Kohberger, the suspect accused of killing four University of Idaho students, said the murders were 'really sad,' according to police officers in Pennsylvania, who said that Kohberger appeared nervous

At one point, Kohberger even offhandedly said 'it's really sad what happened to them,' the source told People Magazine.

The anecdote matches what a source at the Latah County Jail in Moscow has said of Kohberger: 'He keeps to himself, he's away from the other prisoners. But he will make small talk with the guards and seems to be getting used to the place.'

Kohberger, 28, was arrested December 30 in connection with the murders of Chapin, 20, Kernodle, 20, Mogen, 21, and Goncalves, 21. All four victims were stabbed with a fixed-blade knife.

He denies the charges, despite DNA from the scene matching a sample taken from his house, and says he will prove his innocence in court.

While police have laid out some of their evidence against him, no motive for the killings has yet been suggested.

Kohberger is due back in court on Thursday. Last week, he was denied bail after a brief hearing in Idaho following his extradition from Pennsylvania, where he was arrested.

FBI agents staked out his home for days before swooping in to arrest him.

Their smoking gun was the DNA evidence against Kohberger; a sample found on the button snap of a knife sheath left at the scene was a 99.98 percent match to DNA taken from his family home, that could only belong to him or his father.

The Monroe County Correctional facility in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, where Kohberger spent time before being extradited to Idaho

(L-R) Dylan Mortensen, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen (on Kaylee's shoulders), Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Bethany Funke

Kohberger is due back in court on Thursday. Last week, he was denied bail after a brief hearing in Idaho following his extradition from Pennsylvania, where he was arrested

He denies the charges, despite DNA from the scene matching a sample taken from his house, and says he will prove his innocence in court

At the time of the murders in November, Kohberger was living seven miles from the scene, studying at the University of Washington's Pullman campus.

His white Hyundai Elantra also matches the car seen driving in the area on the night of the attacks, and police say he suspiciously turned off his cell phone in the hours surrounding the attack in an alleged effort to evade detection.

Kohberger has not yet submitted a plea or a full defense, but his public defender in Pennsylvania said he was eager to prove his innocence.

He maintains the support of his family, who joined him in court for his first appearance.

Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show Michael Kohberger at the family's Pennsylvania home Sunday, dressed in a jeans and gray hoodie emblazoned with the words 'life is good' on the back

Shannon Gray - the attorney representing Kaylee's family - says Kohberger didn't even know any of the victims.

'No one knew of this guy at all,' Gray said in an interview with Business Insider.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed in court last week, Kohberger visited the students' home on multiple occasions.

'It appears from the affidavit that he was in the area of the house on several occasions. That's all we know,' Gray added.

Kaylee's family previously revealed her fears that she was being stalked, but no stalker has ever been identified.
Cardinal George Pell has died in Rome at the age of 81 after complications from hip replacement surgery, the Vatican has confirmed.

The Cardinal is reported to have successfully undergone the operation and was chatting with his anaesthetist when he went into sudden cardiac arrest.

Medics were unable to revive him.

His death comes just days after he attended the funeral of Pope Benedict in Rome last week.

Pell, Australia's most senior Catholic, was ordained a priest in 1966, became a bishop in 1987, and was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996 and Archbishop of Sydney in 2001 before he was appointed as a Cardinal in 2003.

But Pell both dealt with sex abuse allegations in the church, and against himself, over an almost two decade period, before he was convicted of historical incidents in 2018.

Cardinal George Pell has died in Rome at the age of 81 after complications from hip replacement surgery, the Vatican has confirmed

Cardinal George Pell had returned to the Vatican in 2020 after his convictions were overturned and was at Pope Benedict's funeral last week in his last public appearance

In 2018, it was claimed in court that in 1996, while still dressed in his robes after celebrating Sunday mass, he had exposed himself and masturbated in front of a 13-year-old choirboy, then raped that boy's 13-year-old friend.

Pell called those claims a 'product of fantasy' and 'absolute rubbish' but he served 404 days in prison of a six year jail sentence before the conviction was overturned on appeal by the High Court of Australia in 2020.

ABC journalist Louise Milligan, who exposed the allegations against the cardinal, on Wednesday said his death would be 'triggering' for his alleged victims.

'George Pell is dead. This will be a very triggering day for a lot of people,' said Milligan, a reporter for the ABC's Four Corners program.

'Thinking of them.'

Cardinal George Pell was at the centre of sex abuse allegations for almost two decades and in 2018 he was convicted of historical incidents which he strenuously denied

The father of one of the altar boys he allegedly molested said he will press on with a civil case against the Catholic Church, but rued his lost chance to cross-examine the cardinal.

'The claim will continue against the church and whatever estate Pell has left behind,' Lisa Flynn, Shine Lawyers Chief Legal Officer, said on the father's behalf.

'A civil trial likely would have provided the opportunity to cross examine Pell, and truly test his defence against these allegations.

'There is still a great deal of evidence for this claim to rely on, and the court will be asked in due course to make its ruling on that evidence.'

Prior to his criminal court case Cardinal Pell was one of the highest ranked cardinals in the Vatican after he impressed church leaders with his handling of historical allegations of child sexual abuse by priests.

As Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996, he established the 'Melbourne Response' to handle and investigate child sex abuse complaints which was hailed as a world-first.

In 2013 he was appointed as a member of the Council of Cardinals by Pope Francis and overhauled the church's finances as Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy where he earned the nickname as 'the Vatican's Treasurer'.

Cardinal George Pell (pictured with Pope Benedict XVI in 2008) was one of the highest ranked cardinals in the world and nicknamed the 'Vatican's Treasurer'

However Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found that he knew of child sexual abuse by clergy by the 1970s but did not take adequate action to address it.

Ballarat-born Pell said at the time he was 'surprised' by the findings and insisted the commission's views were 'not supported by evidence'.

He returned to the Vatican in 2020 after his convictions were overturned and prayed over the body of Pope Benedict XVI in St Peter's Basilica last week.

In his final interview, Cardinal Pell spoke emotionally about the death of the Pope who resigned from the role in 2013 at the age of 85 because of his ill health.

'I was very sad,' Cardinal Pell said. 'As a matter of fact, I was surprised how sad I was.

'I knew he was sick and I knew he was dying.

'[But] I was rather pleased as I thought I had heard he was rallying and was disconcerting the experts and going to live a little bit longer.

'I'd known him well enough, admired what he was about. I thought he was very good for the church.

'It was sad to see another wonderful stage in church history ending.'

Dr Miles Pattenden of Australian Catholic University said Cardinal George Pell's death would come as 'a great shock to all Australian Catholics' but said he was a divisive figure

Australian Catholic University's Dr Miles Pattenden said the cardinal's death would come as 'a great shock to all Australian Catholics' but said he was a divisive figure.

'It was a very unexpected death - we knew Cardinal Pell was a fairly old man, but there had been no news about him being in ill health,' he told ABC News.

'So this is a very sad day for many people.'

But he added: 'George Pell was one of the most conservative figures of his generation and in the global church.

'He was sometimes a somewhat abrasive figure and people didn't always warm to him.

'He was a staunch defender of traditional positions on morality, and also on questions of liturgy.

'That won him many admirers within the church - and just as many opponents.'

WHAT WAS CARDINAL PELL ACCUSED OF? Cardinal George Pell was accused of molesting two choir boys in the late 1990s when he was Archbishop of Melbourne. He served 13 months in prison, before being acquitted in 2020 after the High Court quashed his convictions for child sexual assault. 'My trial was not a referendum on the Catholic church, nor a referendum on how church authorities in Australia dealt with the crime of paedophilia in the Church,' he said upon his release. 'The point was whether I had committed these awful crimes, and I did not.' In documents unsealed after his case, the child abuse royal commission found that it was 'implausible' that senior church figures hadn't told Cardinal Pell child sexual abuse was happening in the Archdiocese of Ballarat. There had been concerns these findings would prejudice a jury. The royal commission found: 'We are also satisfied that by 1973 Cardinal Pell was not only conscious of child sexual abuse by clergy but that he also had considered measures of avoiding situations which might provoke gossip about it.' Cardinal Pell denied ever knowing of children being abused in the church when he worked there, including by paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale. Advertisement

He said the child sex abuse court case would have been emotionally-draining and anguished for both the cardinal and alleged sex abuse victims.

But he said Cardinal Pell came out of prison with even stronger belief in God.

'That must have been a very difficult and emotionally draining experience for him just as it was for all the victims of clerical sexual abuse over the years,' he said.

'Pell wrote three volumes of journals from his time in prison which I have read and they certainly indicate a man who went through considerable anguish and suffering.

'But he also found faith in Jesus because of that.'

Dr Pattenden said the cardinal's legacy would be mixed among followers.

'He has many admirers but also there are many people who hold him, at least indirectly, responsible for many of the problems which have assailed the Australian church over the past 20 or 30 years,' he said.

'They wish that he'd been called to account in a fuller way for some of his decisions as Archbishop.'

Cardinal George Pell's legacy will be mixed among followers as he was a divisive figure, says Australian Catholic University's Dr Miles Pattenden

The Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli paid tribute to Cardinal Pell on Wednesday after news broke of his death.

'Cardinal Pell was a very significant and influential church leader both in Australia and internationally, deeply committed to Christian discipleship,' he said.

'At this immediate moment, let our prayers go out to the God of Jesus Christ whom Cardinal Pell wholeheartedly believed in and followed, that he may be welcomed into eternal life.

'Our prayers of comfort and condolence are also with his family, especially his only surviving sibling, David Pell.'

Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher added: 'This news comes as a great shock to all of us.

'Please pray for the repose of the soul of Cardinal Pell for comfort and consolation for his family, and for all of those who loved him and grieving him at this time.'
A major counter-terrorism investigation has been launched after several kilograms of uranium was seized at Heathrow airport.

The deadly nuclear material - which could potentially be used in a dirty bomb - arrived on a flight from Oman, in the Middle East, on December 29.

The shipment was addressed to an Iranian-linked firm in the UK, it is understood.

Sources said the uranium was not weapons-grade - and so could not be used to manufacture a thermo-nuclear weapon.

But the security services are understood to be investigating whether the undeclared package could have been destined for an improvised nuclear device, known as a dirty bomb.

Such a device - which has long been a nightmare scenario for counter-terror experts - combines conventional explosives with nuclear material to disperse a lethal radioactive plume.

The package originated in Pakistan before arriving at Heathrows Terminal Four aboard an Oman Air passenger jet from Muscat, sources told The Sun.

A shipment of uranium has been seized at Heathrow airport

The undeclared material was discovered on December 29 on a passenger flight which arrived from Oman

Police have not made any arrests.

A source told the Mail: The package contained kilos of uranium - but it was not weapons-grade.'

Separately, a source told The Sun there is an overwhelming 'concern over what the Iranians living here wanted with non-disclosed nuclear material'.

An unnamed source told the publication: 'The race is on to trace everyone involved with this rogue non-manifested package.

'Security bosses are treating this with the seriousness it deserves. Protocol was not followed and this is now an anti-terror operation.'

Specialist scanners picked up on the undeclared parcel as it was transported to a freight shed.

Specialist scanners picked up on the undeclared parcel as it was transported to a freight shed

Border Force agents isolated the shipment in a radioactive room and, upon determining it was uranium, called in counter-terror police.

Met Police told MailOnline: 'We can confirm officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command were contacted by Border Force colleagues at Heathrow after a very small amount of contaminated material was identified after routine screening within a package incoming to the UK on 29 December 2022.'

Commander Richard Smith said: 'I want to reassure the public that the amount of contaminated material was extremely small and has been assessed by experts as posing no threat to the public.

'Although our investigation remains ongoing, from our inquiries so far, it does not appear to be linked to any direct threat.

'As the public would expect, however, we will continue to follow up on all available lines of enquiry to ensure this is definitely the case.

'However, it does highlight the excellent capability we and our partners have in place to monitor our ports and borders in order to keep the public safe from any potential threats to their safety and security that might be coming into the UK.'

'No arrests have been made at this time and officers continue to work with partner agencies to fully investigate this matter and ensure there is no risk to the public.

'The material has been identified as being contaminated with uranium.'

Specialist scanners picked up on the undeclared parcel as it was transported to a freight shed. Pictured: A nuclear storage facility

A Home Office spokesman said: We do not comment on live investigations.

Hamish De Bretton-Gordon, former commander of the UKs nuclear defence regiment, said: Uranium can give off very high levels of poisonous radiation. It could be used in a dirty bomb.

The good news is the system worked and it has been interdicted.

Forensic teams are understood to still be examining the nuclear material.

As long ago as 2003 the then head of MI5 warned that it was only a matter of time before a dirty bomb or chemical weapons attack was launched on a major Western city.

Eliza Manningham-Buller said intelligence reports suggested renegade scientists had given terrorist groups the information they needed to create such weapons.

My conclusion, based on the intelligence we have received, is that we are faced with a realistic possibility of some form of unconventional attack that could include chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack, she said.

Sadly, given the widespread proliferation of the technical knowledge to construct these weapons, it will be only a matter of time before a crude version of a CBRN is launched on a major western city.

In 2004 British security services arrested Dhiren Barot, a Muslim convert who planned to assemble and use dirty bombs in the UK and the US to kill members of the public.

He was jailed for 30 years.

Sources said the uranium was not weapons-grade - and so could not be used to manufacture a thermo-nuclear weapon

The Home Office-backed ProtectUK website, which offers advice on terror threats, currently says: A UK attack plot using a radiological weapon is highly unlikely because there are significant challenges in acquiring suitable radioactive sources, which are subject to controls.

Last year, Former Washington official Robert Joseph told MailOnline Iran is a nuclear weapons state with enough uranium to build 'one, if not two' bombs.

He said: 'The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has documented that Iran has 60% of enriched uranium, enough for at least one if not two bombs.

'We have been saying for years 'they're approaching this breakout point and we've really got to negotiate with them.' They're there.'

Joseph was the chief negotiator to Libya in 2003 and is credited with convincing Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to give up his nuclear weapons programme.

MP Matthew Offord said at the time Iran were 'regularly testing ballistic missiles, and they are seeking to get enough uranium that they are able to produce a weapon'.
A cheerful, reflective and defensive Cardinal George Pell paid tribute to the late Pope Benedict XVI in his final television interview just eight days before his shock death.

The most senior Australian to serve the Catholic Church died in Rome at the age of 81 on Wednesday after complications from hip replacement surgery, the Vatican has confirmed.

Cardinal Pell looked frail but appeared upbeat last week when he sat down with Colm Flynn, Vatican Correspondent for EWT News looking back on his memories of Pope Benedict XVI who died earlier this month.

Mr Flynn also quizzed Cardinal Pell about his own legacy and regrets in a separate interview for the BBC.

In the wake of his sudden death, Mr Flynn said Cardinal Pell had been in good form and that the pair had arranged to meet up again in the near future.

Cardinal George Pell looked frail but cheerful in what would be his final interview

I met with Cardinal Pell just a few days ago to ask him about his memories of the passing of Pope Benedict. He was in good form and we had arranged to meet on my return from Florida. https://t.co/QsURiVA7Lt  Colm Flynn (@colmflynnire) January 10, 2023

The six-minute interview began with the Cardinal recalling his initial reaction to the news of the former Pope's death on New Year's Eve aged 95

'I was very sad, as a matter of fact I was surprised how sad I was' Cardinal Pell said.

'I knew he was sick and I he was dying. I was pleased as I thought I heard he was rallying.'

'I'd known him well enough. admired what he was about. I thought he was very good for the church.'

One of his fondest memories of Pope Benedict XVI was his visit to Australia in 2008 for World Youth Day, which was attended by half a million young people from 200 countries.

Cardinal Pell describe the late Pope one-on-one as the complete opposite of the 'absurd' caricatures his enemies had of him.

'He was a quiet, gentle, and pious man, an absolute gentleman,' he recalled.

Cardinal George Pell's fondest memories of Pope Benedict XVI (left) was his 2008 Australian visit for World Youth Day celebrations

For the BBC, I asked Cardinal George Pell about his legacy and regrets. pic.twitter.com/ouKbyomYlP  Colm Flynn (@colmflynnire) January 10, 2023

He admitted the late Pope did have some faults.

'He wasn't the greater administrator, greatest executive, not a natural politician but he did what he was supposed to and that is to strengthen the faith of his brothers.'

Cardinal Pell was at the centre of sex abuse allegations for almost two decades and in 2018 he was convicted of historical incidents which he strenuously denied.

In a separate interview for the BBC, he was quizzed by Mr Flynn about his own legacy and his name being associated with the historical allegations after he died.

'That explains why I'm talking to you, which is a good thing,' Cardinal Pell said.

'My only concern is to get the truth out there.

'It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things too much of what people think about me.'

George Pell stands next to the body of late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI lied out in state inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican on January 3. The Australian Cardinal would also die a week later

'It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things too much of what people think about me,' Cardinal Pell (pictured) told Colm Flynn in a separate TV interview days before his death

'But I am keen that the church is not judged unfairly.

'God knows the church has a lot to be guilty about, especially paedophilia and the terrible crimes, there was so much of it but truth is in the interest of everyone, especially the victims.'

A defensive Cardinal Pell also revealed he had no regrets in his time as leader and how he handled abuse allegations within the Catholic church.

'On every occasion I received a complaint, I immediately referred to the mechanisms set up,' he said.

'In most diocese in Australia there are no convictions this century and it is quite misleading to suggest nothing was done by the church leadership until the Royal Commission.'

Cardinal George Pell (pictured in 2002) was also grilled about his own legacy and regrets

When quizzed if enough had been done, Cardinal Pell replied 'More could be have done but we met the substantial responsibilities in terms of applying standards.'

'Truth is the only defence for all of us and it is a tragedy. The church has contributed immensely to the suffering but we've been serious in trying to do something about it.'

Cardinal Pell is reported to have successfully undergone his hip replacement operation and was happily chatting with the anaesthetist when he went into sudden cardiac arrest. Medics were unable to revive him.

Pell, a conservative Catholic, was at the centre of Australia's most high profile claims of childhood sexual abuse.

He was ordained a priest in 1966, became a bishop in 1987, and was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996 and Archbishop of Sydney in 2001 before was made a cardinal in 2003.
High-profile ABC investigative reporter Louise Milligan - who exposed child abuse allegations against George Pell - has broken her silence about the Cardinal's death.

Cardinal Pell died in Rome at the age of 81 after suffering complications from a hip replacement surgery, the Vatican confirmed on Wednesday.

'George Pell is dead. This will be a very triggering day for a lot of people,' said Milligan, a reporter for the ABC's Four Corners program.

'Thinking of them.'

Cardinal Pell died in Rome at the age of 81 after suffering complications from a hip replacement surgery, the Vatican confirmed on Wednesday

Investigative reporter Louise Milligan has said the death of Cardinal George Pell will be 'triggering' for some people

Cardinal Pell was sensationally charged over historic allegations of child sexual abuse in June 2017, which he always strenuously denied.

It was alleged in court that in 1996, while still dressed in his robes after celebrating Sunday mass, Cardinal Pell exposed himself and masturbated in front of a 13-year-old choirboy, then raped that boy's 13-year-old friend.

In 2018, Pell was convicted by a jury at trial. He served 404 days in prison of a six-year sentence before the conviction was overturned on appeal by the High Court in 2020.

Milligan was awarded a Walkley Book Award for her book Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell, which centred on his accusers.

She spoke to one man who alleged he'd been molested by the cardinal in 1996 in a Melbourne cathedral.

One of the Cardinal's accusers died of a heroin overdose in 2014 at the age of 31.

Milligan was called as a witness in the committal which preceded Cardinal Pell's trial. At the time she said she had been 'beaten' by the process of being cross-examined in court.

Speaking to the ABC after the news broke of the Cardinal's death, Milligan said he was a very 'polarising' person.

'He said incredibly inflammatory things at times, at one point comparing abortion to paedophilia, saying abortion was worse than paedophilia,' she told the program.

'And you cannot ignore his role in the institutional failure of the church, of survivors of institutional clerical abuse.

'The Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse found Cardinal Pell knew about multiple paedophile clergy.'

Milligan was awarded a Walkley Book Award for her book Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell, which centred on his accusers

Milligan said the Cardinal left behind a 'very sombre history'.

The journalist said the news wouldn't be easy to hear for Cardinal Pell's accusers.

'When George Pell was convicted, there was this assumption that the (alleged) victims would be, I suppose, feeling happiness, feeling vindicated,' she said.

'Maybe there was a sense of justice. But there was also a sense of bringing them back to the place, the terrible, terrible place.

'This is the end of a very dark chapter in the life of the Australian church which is connected to the life of the international church.

'For victims and survivors, including complainants who made allegations against him, it still brings up all of that pain.'

Cardinal Pell was once one of the highest ranked cardinals in the Vatican

Prior to the court case Pell was one of the highest ranked cardinals in the Vatican after he impressed with his handling of historical allegations of sexual abuse by priests.

The Cardinal is reported to have successfully undergone his hip surgery and was chatting with his anaesthetist when he went into sudden cardiac arrest.

Medics were unable to revive him.

The 81-year-old was ordained a priest in 1966, became a bishop in 1987, and was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996 and Archbishop of Sydney in 2001 before was made a cardinal in 2003.
An award winning hedge fund manager hanged himself after becoming stressed about the financial implications of coronavirus, an inquest has heard.

Guy Rushton, 36, who was married with children, was found in a barn near his 3.5million Wiltshire home less than two weeks after he was discharged from a psychiatric hospital.

The 292million hedge fund he managed had lost around 180million in value due to the effect the global pandemic was having on the stock market, according to reports.

His wife told an inquest that as a result he was feeling 'uncertain about the future' and 'extremely stressed'.

He had previously suffered with high blood pressure whic his family attributed to pressure of being sole manager of the high-stakes fund.

But his condition worsened when business was hit by the Covid pandemic, particularly because he had his own money in the fund too.

He was prescribed anti-depressants and made a previous suicide attempt in April last year before going missing on May 20.

Guy Rushton (pictured), 36, who was married with children, was found in a barn near his 3.5million Wiltshire home less than two weeks after he was discharged from a psychiatric hospital

Mr Rushton worked at London-based asset management firm Polar Capital and was the sole manager of his UK Absolute Equity Fund.

But his company announced in April 2020 that he was unwell and his 292million fund - launched in 2014 when he joined the firm - would be wound up as he was unable to return to work, according to The Times.

He had become stressed and anxious as the fund had lost more than a third of its value - around 180million - as global stock markets took a huge hit due to the coronavirus pandemic.

At the start of this year, he and his wife, Alannah, who had been married for five years, bought a 3.5million manor in a Wiltshire village, which came with 130 acres of land.

But Mr Rushton, originally from Leeds, was found dead by police in a barn on the property, hours after being classified as missing on May 20.

In a statement to the inquest his wife said he 'experienced high stress due to a number of factors', including that he was the sole manager of the fund and as such unable to take days off.

He then found out he was suffering from raised blood pressure in October 2019 and this contributed to him being 'extremely stressed about work'.

Added to this, she said that Covid-19 hitting the headlines made him feel 'uncertain about the future' as he was 'anxious about the value of his own money invested in the fund'.

Furthermore, Mrs Rushton added that she was due to give birth in the second week of March 2020 and this made her husband even more anxious. She said: 'Moving up to that period he was extremely stressed and not sleeping.'

He was prescribed anti-depressants, but tried to take his own life in April 2020.

His wife said: 'He had referred to attempts on his life as rehearsals and said he would never actually kill himself.'

He voluntarily admitted himself to Green Lane psychiatric hospital in Devizes, Wiltshire, on May 5 but was discharged six days later.

Mrs Rushton added that he was having 'anger outbursts' and 'alluding to never being around'. She raised these concerns with the mental health services.

The day before he died, Mr Rushton transferred a 'significant amount of money' to his wife's account then the next day he made her his legacy contact on Facebook.

He went for a walk but did not come back. Police were called and they searched for him with a drone and a helicopter until he was found in a barn near the family home.

Speaking over a video link at the inquest in Salisbury, Wiltshire, Mrs Rushton's brother Will Russell asked questions of mental health professionals who dealt with Mr Rushton.

The family were concerned as to why he had been discharged from the psychiatric hospital and why he had not been detained at any point under the Mental Health Act, despite being classed as having a high risk of self harm.

Bronwen Esdaile, from Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Service, said Mr Rushton 'appeared to be very agitated or depressed and very very anxious', while suicidal thoughts and panic attacks 'were being experienced on a daily basis'.

'The symptoms he was manifesting were largely as a result of his situation with his work and the associated stress,' she said.

When he was discharged from the psychiatric hospital, she said this was because he found the environment 'intimidating', he was 'isolating' himself and 'he didn't seem to be settled on the ward'.

She said they 'saw no reason to detain him' under the Mental Health Act, despite concerns raised by the family.

She said that although his suicide risk was high when he was discharged, 'he was still engaging [with the service], although not to the extent that we would have liked'.

Wiltshire and Swindon assistant coroner Ian Singleton adjourned the inquest for a conclusion after asking the family for further representations.

For confidential support call Samaritans on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org
Tragic victim scheduled to appear in a Melbourne court on Wednesday

Shylah had been working at the show and had been on her break at the time

Despite the tragedy, the offending rollercoaster ride opened just days later

She is now awake and has been moved out of intensive care but is unable to talk

Victorian detectives are set to dump theft charges against tragic rollercoaster victim Shylah Rodden a day after they were revealed by Daily Mail Australia.

Shylah remains bedridden at the Royal Melbourne Hospital where she has been recovering since a rollercoaster ploughed into her at the Melbourne Royal Show on September 24.

Court sources have told Daily Mail Australia the charges are listed to be withdrawn when they front the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

It is understood the charges related to allegations that occurred before the 26-year old's accident.

Shylah Rodden was charged with theft before her tragic accident in September

Horrifying footage shows Shylah Rodden (pictured in black) moments before being hit by the Rebel Coaster at the Melbourne Royal show on September 24

Despite her dire condition, public court records revealed Shylah was due to appear in court on Wednesday alongside lawyers from Melbourne's SLKQ Lawyers.

A police spokeswoman refused to comment on Shylah's case when question by Daily Mail Australia, but suggested the matter could be up for review.

'All circumstances are taken into consideration for each individual matter when determining if prosecution will proceed,' she said on Monday.

'We won't be providing comment for this particular matter as it is before the court.'

The backflip is sure to come as some relief to Shylah's devastated family, who continue to carry on a bedside vigil that began in September.

Hospital staff told Daily Mail Australia just days before Christmas that Shylah remained in a stable condition after being brought out of a medically-induced coma in November.

The allegations surrounding the charges will likely remain a mystery as court documents are traditionally not handed over to the media upon charges being withdrawn.

It was revealed last year Shylah had endured a tumultuous life, which had seen her previously convicted over dishonesty matters.

Shylah faces years of rehabilitation after suffering a massive brain injury when she was flung nine metres into the air by the fast-moving ride while trying to retrieve a dropped phone.

Shylah Rodden (pictured) is due to appear in court on theft charges despite being seriously injured by a rollercoaster

Shylah Rodden faces a long battle to recovery after being hit by a rollercoaster in September

Shylah's father Alan Rodden told Daily Mail Australia soon after the incident that his daughter had suffered life-changing injuries.

'I can't talk to my daughter. She's going to be in a coma for quite a while,' he said.

'The injuries are horrific. Horrific. She's brain damaged. It's pelvic, her arms, legs, back, neck - there's hardly a thing that's not broken. I just can't work out how the hell so much damage has been done.

'Even the doctors have said they haven't seen anything as bad as this for a long time.'

While Shylah's condition is classed as stable, close friends of hers have told Daily Mail Australia she remains trapped in her body, unable to communicate with anyone.

A Melbourne Royal Show spokeswoman claimed 'the safety and well-being of our visitors to the show continues to be our number one priority' (pictured, the Royal Melbourne Show)

Her supportive family remain committed to caring for her upon her eventual release from hospital.

The Rodden family endured a nightmare end to 2022 and face further anguish just days into the new year.

Trolls have mercilessly added to the family's grief, with people continuing to slam Shylah's actions after each and every article on her is published.

So vile has been the abuse, a video of Shylah being hit by the rollercoaster went viral after being posted on TikTok accompanied by ridiculous music.

A GoFundMe fundraiser established to help with Shylah's recovery has now raised more than $23,000 and remains open despite reaching its $20,000 target.

The money is just a drop in the ocean to what will be needed to keep Shylah comfortable for the remainder of her life.

A friend in close contact with Shylah and her family told Daily Mail Australia the money raised from the fundraiser would go towards helping Shylah's long road to recovery.

'People are under the impression that this money is just for her family. But people need to know this money is for Shylah's recovery,' the friend said.

'This money will go towards her therapy, her rehabilitation, things they need to change around the house for showering and toilet needs.'

Questions over the height of fences around the ride (pictured) remain unanswered by Show management

On the day she was struck by the rollercoaster, Shylah had been working at a friend's stall at the Melbourne Royal Show.

The pair had been on a break when they decided to go on a few rides to kill time.

It is understood Shylah dropped her phone while on the rollercoaster and police believe she walked onto the tracks of the high-speed ride to retrieve the device.

Government sources told Daily Mail Australia last year that whatever drove Shylah to jump onto the tracks was not a concern of the safety watchdog.

It is understood WorkSafe is investigating what the ride's operators were doing when Shylah made her way onto the tracks.

'Her toxicity levels are not relevant to the investigation into whether the duty holder was doing everything reasonably practicable to provide a safe and healthy workplace,' a source told Daily Mail Australia.

A WorkSafe inspection concluded that The Rebel Coaster was 'safe' to re-open just days after the accident, allowing operators to re-open the ride to the public.

The move was slammed at the time by Shylah's family, who branded it 'shameful'.

A Melbourne Royal Show spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia at the time that WorkSafe had declared the ride was safe to be re-opened.
A father who built a 100,000 luxury treehouse without planning permission after he was diagnosed with eye cancer has been given a retrospective green light for the project.

John Kitson, 42, built the luxurious one-bedroom 'Cornish Treehouse' property in a secluded woodland in Morval, near Looe - a modern elevated wooden structure with wifi available from 195-a-night.

The father-of-three built the luxury holiday accommodation without the approval of the council after the shock cancer diagnosis left him fearing he would never see it completed.

Mr Kitson constructed the treehouse as a means of financing an estate he manages, but having an official plan would have 'limited' his ability to make artistic decisions as work progressed.

John Kitson (pictured) built the luxurious one-bedroom 'Cornish Treehouse' property in a secluded woodland in Morval, near Looe

The modern elevated wooden structure, which comes with wifi available, can be rented from 195-a-night

But he later admitted he was a silly bugger for ignoring planning regulations.

Speaking in October, he said: 'I just didn't want to wait, I didn't want to f**k around waiting months for planners and not be able to see the finished build.

'I think that as part of the urgency for wanting to get on with it - it's a difficult area to talk about.

'It puts things into context a little. There are more things to life and I didn't know if I'd be around to see the end frankly when we started.

'It's a very weak justification and that doesn't justify what I've done but it was the reason for wanting to get on with it.

However, he has now been given retrospective planning permission from Cornwall Council after garnering support among the local community.

The treehouse is a modern, elevated wooden structure with wifi and is available from 195 a night - advertised as a 'cosy couples retreat'.

John, a former suits salesman, has long maintained that he regrets making life difficult for the local planning office, especially after being told his diagnosis was not as severe as first thought.

Despite not seeking planning permission, he says that he did consult locals on the build - meeting no real opposition.

He says he is now 'one happy boy' after the application was approved with conditions on January 3.

The treehouse has mains electricity and running water and is rented out as holiday accommodation advertised as a 'cosy couples' retreat'

The one-bedroom property has been given retrospective planning permission by Cornwall Council

Mr Kitson initially constructed the treehouse as a means of financing an estate he manages in Cornwall

The modern-looking bath room in the treehouse - John says it was his dream project and started building during the pandemic

John, a former suits salesman, has long maintained that he regrets making life difficult for the local planning office

Despite not seeking planning permission, he says that he did consult locals on the build of the treehouse

John said: 'Its very encouraging and a very rewarding thing to do and weve got lots of happy faces visiting. Weve also received a lot of emails of support since the planning application went in.

'I spoke to my tenants before I started building, and explained what I planned to make. They didnt have any issues with it. People here see it and see the effort, a lot of locals know people who worked on the treehouse.

'I tried to use local businesses, like a former tree surgeon I know who made the bed and sink for the treehouse for example.

'I genuinely believe in the sustainability agenda, and so we designed the treehouse to incorporate a lot of local wood that we had to fell due to a rather unpleasant tree disease.

' Its designed to give minimum possible impact to the local area and the environment, we used no concrete for example. If you are building a house, you know exactly what youre going to do before you do it. This was a bit like painting a picture.

'You know what you want in the end, but you dont quite know how youre going to get there. I wanted to chop, change, adapt and rebuild to make it perfect.'

Local residents had until December to comment on the unapproved build.

More than 20 members of the public also wrote to the council to comment on the build, with comments generally being positive.

One local resident noted: 'I live in the parish and have a holiday letting cottage not far away, its hard to make a living out of holiday letting.

John, a Morval parish councillor, built the treehouse - that has mains electricity and running water - on the estate he managed during the pandemic

John had initially feared that he would never see his finished creation after the cancer diagnosis threatened to blind or kill him

But he is slowly recovering and has to undergo an MRI scan every six months to ensure the cancer has not spread

'How good to see an innovative idea for tourism and from the visitors comments pays. I can see why visitors like it and it blends in well with the surroundings, cant be seen unless you know its there.

'We are loosing holiday lets at an alarming rate locally. I hope this one gains officer support!'

Another individual, who stayed in the treehouse last month, wrote: 'Having just stayed here, we found the place an absolute delight, it was very private, the interior was of a very high standard and I feel it is a asset to the estate and its setting.

'Its not going to cause any traffic problems and will encourage a little more tourism to a much needed area, just wish there were more people to have the inspiration and innovative ideas to create such an amazing relaxing experience.

'It would be an absolute shame that any planning was revoked on this delightful treehouse.'

John, a Morval parish councillor, built the treehouse - that has mains electricity and running water - on the estate he managed during the pandemic.

The Morval estate hosts over 20 families, ranging from farmers to pensioners according to John - including some who have lived on the site for more than 50 years.

He took over the family estate after the death of his grandparents in 2009.

John says the plan is to pass on the costs of maintaining his estates money pit 200-300-year-old buildings to holiday-goers - rather than existing tenants.

He continued: 'We wanted to raise an income to try and raise money without asking our tenants on the estate to pay for site maintenance, especially with the cost of living and various tree diseases weve had on site.

'I just dont want to pass those costs on to tenants. We looked at a wind turbine, but that would have annoyed all the locals and would have been far more disruptive compared to this treehouse.'

John had initially feared that he would never see his finished creation after the cancer diagnosis threatened to blind or kill him.

But he is slowly recovering and has to undergo an MRI scan every six months to ensure the cancer has not spread.

He said: 'Thankfully my cancer is not as bad as I thought, I thought I had a secondary tumour somewhere on my pancreas but thankfully Im in the clear.

'When I first got checked up I never thought it would be anything serious, but within days I was in London and then Liverpool for treatment.

'I admit its not relevant for planning, but from a personal point of view it focuses your mind a bit if the worst did happen.'
Although Apple is not yet making an official announcement about opening flagship stores in India, the tech company has already started hiring retail store workers in the country, The Verge reported.

This implies that the Cupertino-based tech giant could soon open its first flagship locations in the world's second-biggest smartphone market possibly as soon as this quarter, according to The Financial Times, which first reported the news.

Job Listings Show That Apple Needs Workers For 12 Different Job Roles

Based on the company's recent job listings, it will need workers for 12 different job functions in various locations within India. Some of the positions that need to be filled are store leaders, senior managers, technical specialists, business experts, Genius Bar workers, and more.

Since a typical Apple Store has at least 100 employees, the 12 listings imply hundreds of job openings for workers in India. In addition, flagship locations can have up to 1,000 workers.

One of the job functions on Apple's website, the "market leader," describes managing teams "across Apple Stores."

This could indicate that the company is planning to put up several locations aside from the widely reported 22,000-square-foot location, which is set to open in Mumbai as early as March.

In addition, according to reports, Apple is also working to bring a 10,000 to 12,000-square-foot store in New Delhi. Along with this are several other stores in the country. However, as of writing, it's unclear when they will be opened.

Meanwhile, on LinkedIn, at least five employees in Mumbai and New Delhi have announced that they have been hired for the yet-to-be-announced stores.

One said that she had been hired as Lead Genius while another said she had been named a Senior Manager.

In a post on the social networking site, Apple's head of recruiting in India, Renu Sevanthi, "celebrated" several of the announcements.

Read Also: Apple Could Shift Some iPad Production to India To Diversify Supply Chain

Earlier Reports Suggest That Apple is Planning to Expand Stores in India

Apple did not immediately comment regarding the matter. Likewise, the company did not confirm plans to open its first stores in India, according to The Financial Times.

However, in February 2020, CEO Tim Cook told investors that Apple Store is planning to expand to India the following year. According to Cook, he was not content to leave retail sales to franchise partners.

Later that year, the company's online store debuted in India, greeting online shoppers with "Namaste." Despite this, physical stores did not emerge in the country.

The plans to put up physical stores in India were delayed due to the Covid pandemic. It also got pushed back for the second time last year.

As Apple attempts to diversify manufacturing from China, the expansion is an important move for the company. It will give momentum to its production operations in India.

According to supply chain experts, Apple has the ambition to control all aspects of the customer experience, starting from Apple-designed chips in its phones to Apple Store retail clerks.

In 2015, Cook visited and met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to reports, he lobbied to open an Apple Store in the country.

However, based on a protectionist rule, foreign companies selling goods directly to consumers in India must source 30 percent of components locally.

But since then, the rules have been relaxed. In addition, in 2017, Apple suppliers began assembling iPhones in India.

Related Article: Apple Could Possibly Move 25% of iPhone Production to India by 2025, Analysts Say
While the jumbo and its crew safely returned to Earth, MailOnline looks at what went wrong with its rocket

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The first ever orbital space launch to take off from UK soil failed dramatically last night, after Virgin Orbit revealed that an 'anomaly' had prevented its rocket from reaching orbit.

A modified Boeing 747 jet, named 'Cosmic Girl', took off from Spaceport Cornwall at 22:02 GMT to reach an altitude of 35,000 feet (11 km) above the south of Ireland - the designated launch zone.

While it successfully released the 70-foot-long (21 m) LauncherOne rocket from underneath its wing - which was carrying nine satellites ready for deployment - technical issues meant it was never able to reach orbit.

MailOnline explains exactly what did - and what didn't - happen last night, from the takeoff at Newquay to the moment we received the news of the devastating failure.

The first ever orbital space launch to take off from UK soil failed dramatically last night , after Virgin Orbit revealed that an 'anomaly' had prevented its rocket from reaching orbit

All appeared to go to plan for Britain's first orbital launch up until the moment LauncherOne's second stage engine was fired. This was due to happen when the rocket was between 310 to 745 miles above the Earth, and the engine would kick off a series of burns to circularise its orbit

TIMELINE: HOW VIRGIN'S CORNWALL SPACE LAUNCH WENT WRONG 22:02 GMT: Virgin Orbit's Cosmic Girl space plane takes off from Spaceport Cornwall 23:10 GMT: After reaching its launch zone just off the coast of Ireland, Cosmic Girl deploys the rocket attached to its belly 23:11 GMT: The rocket heads past Portugal as it ascends to space 23:18 GMT: Virgin appears to suggest on Twitter that the mission has succeeded in reaching orbit 23:50 GMT: But it then emerges that an 'anomaly' has occurred which prevented the rocket from deploying its payload of satellites into orbit 23:55 GMT: Cosmic Girl returns to Cornwall Spaceport as disheartened spectators watch on Advertisement

What happened?

Cosmic Girl took off from Cornwall Airport with hundreds of members of the public watching and over 75,000 viewing a live stream of the event.

Rather than the iconic vertical launches we're accustomed to from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, this one had been a horizontal launch because it involved a plane taking off and releasing a rocket mid-air.

Named in tribute to the Rolling Stones' 1981 hit 'Start Me Up', the mission involved a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft and Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket.

The interior of the main deck had been gutted of all seats and overhead bins to reduce the weight, and the upper deck - the former premium and economy cabin - had been converted into a small mission control room.

It had been packed with nine small satellites designed to carry out a range of functions, including testing new equipment to image the Earth.

At about 23:10 GMT, Cosmic Girl reached an altitude of 35,000ft over the Atlantic Ocean and, while angled skyward about 27, the LauncherOne rocket was released from under its wing.

This made the plane bank hard to the right, taking it away from the moment the rocket ignited its first stage engine after four seconds of freefall.

It was heading in the direction of Portugal as it ascended at 8,000 mph, before seemingly breaking through the Earth's atmosphere.

This first stage burn took the rocket into basic orbit, before the second stage separated from the first stage.

However, at some point during the firing of the rocket's second stage engine, and with the rocket travelling at a speed of more than 11,000 mph, the system 'experienced an anomaly'.

The second stage was unable to reach the required altitude to maintain low-Earth orbit or deploy its satellites.

At 23:18 GMT, Virgin Orbit tweeted that LauncherOne had 'successfully reached Earth orbit', but deleted this about half an hour later.

Richard Branson's firm posted a second, more sombre, tweet at 23:46 GMT announcing that an 'anomaly' had occurred that prevented the rocket from reaching orbit.

Cosmic Girl, piloted by a Royal Air Force pilot, returned to a somewhat lukewarm reception at Cornwall Spaceport at about 23:55 GMT.

While the fate of LauncherOne is currently unclear, it was thought the rocket would either burn up on re-entry to earth or land over water.

Shortly after the launch, Virgin Orbit tweeted: 'LauncherOne has once again successfully reached Earth orbit!'

The Virgin Orbit mission to deploy satellites into space failed on Monday night after an 'anomaly' prevented the rocket from reaching its destination height

The company later said that it had deleted its tweet about reaching orbit 'as we find out more' about what happened

A modified Boeing 747 jet, named 'Cosmic Girl' (pictured), took off from Spaceport Cornwall at 22:02 GMT to reach an altitude of 35,000 feet (11 km) above the south of Ireland - the designated launch zone

Matt Archer, from the UK Space Agency, said the second stage of the launch suffered an 'anomaly', which the cause of was under investigation.

'In effect the rocket has not reached the required altitude to maintain its orbit or deploy the satellites and therefore the mission was unsuccessful,' he said.

'Over the coming days, there'll be an investigation involving the Government and various bodies, including Virgin Orbit, to make sure we understand what caused that technical failure and again we'll work out what to do next following that.'

He said the first stage burn would have got the rocket into basic orbit but a second stage was needed to put it 311 miles (500km) above the Earth.

'That didn't happen tonight and what you have seen is that it has reached space but hasn't reached the required orbit,' he said.

'While it is obviously disappointing that the mission wasn't successful, actually we're really proud of the fact that we've delivered so much here and we've created the conditions for launch here.

'We've seen that we can do it and we will look to do it again.'

At some point during the firing of the rocket's second stage engine, and with the rocket travelling at a speed of more than 11,000 mph, the system 'experienced an anomaly'. Pictured: The moment the rocket ignited

The second stage was unable to reach the required altitudes to maintain low-Earth orbit or deploy its satellites

WHAT SATELLITES WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DELIVERED TO SPACE? Virgin Orbit was supposed to be sending two UK governments cubesats  measuring about 12 inches long, 8 inches wide and 4 inches deep  into space along with seven other payloads as part of a mission named Prometheus-2. A number of the satellites were designed to carry out research and development, proving technologies for use on later operational spacecraft. The cereal box-sized Cubesat 1' and 'Cubesat 2' spacecraft were supposed to test new equipment to image the Earth, as well as new types of radio. The hope was that they would be able to monitor the transmission environment and one day be used to detect the communications of smugglers or illegal fishers at sea. Advertisement

What was supposed to happen?

All appeared to go to plan for Britain's first orbital launch up until the moment LauncherOne's second stage engine was fired.

This was due to happen when the rocket was between 310 to 745 miles above the Earth, and the engine would then kick off a series of burns to circularise its orbit.

As the second stage reached space, a hatch was supposed to pop open and its nose cone would be jettisoned to expose the payload of satellites.

The second stage was then meant to eject the satellites into low-Earth orbit, which included two UK government 'cubesats'.

The cubesats measuring about 12 inches long, 8 inches wide and 4 inches deep  into space along with seven other payloads as part of a mission named Prometheus-2.

Built by In-Space Missions Ltd, based in Hampshire, and designed with Airbus Defence and Space, Prometheus-2 is a collaboration between the Ministry of Defence and international partners, including the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

A number of the satellites were meant to carry out research and development, proving technologies for use on later operational spacecraft.

The cereal box-sized 'Cubesat 1' and 'Cubesat 2' spacecraft were designed to test new equipment to image the Earth, as well as new types of radio.

Ahead of the launch, science minister George Freeman said: 'This really is a genuinely big moment for UK science & Technology, a momentous occasion: the first time in history that there has even been a satellite launch from European soil.

'It's the delivery of our first major milestone in my UK Space Industry Strategy I set out 18 months ago.

'It's a big sign of UK commitment to be a fully integrated player in the rapidly emerging commercial Space sector.'

Named in tribute to the Rolling Stones' 1981 hit, the mission involved a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft and Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket

The two-stage orbital launch vehicle, LauncherOne, was dropped at 35,000ft (11,000 m) over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland carrying nine satellites

The release of LauncherOne made the plane bank hard to the right, taking it away from the moment the rocket ignited its first stage engine after four seconds of freefall. Pictured: Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket after release by a plane

LauncherOne was supposed to catapult its onboard satellites into space at 8,000 miles per hour (pictured in an artist's impression)

What have Virgin Orbit and Spaceport Cornwall said?

Early on Tuesday morning, Virgin Orbit issued a statement which said: 'Out of five LauncherOne missions carrying payloads for private companies and governmental agencies, this is the first to fall short of delivering its payloads to their precise target orbit.'

'While we are very proud of the many things that we have successfully achieved as part of this mission, we are mindful that we failed to provide our customers with the launch service they deserve,' chief executive Dan Hart added.

'The first-time nature of this mission added layers of complexity that our team professionally managed through; however, in the end a technical failure appears to have prevented us from delivering the final orbit.'

Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall, spoke of her devastation at the mission failure.

'This isn't the first time we've been knocked, this is the biggest definitely, but I feel okay and we'll get up and we'll go again,' she said.

'It hasn't gone exactly to plan but we've done everything that we said we were going to do at Spaceport.

A repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft, named Cosmic Girl, carrying Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, takes off from Spaceport Cornwall

A long exposure captures the Virgin Orbit plane Cosmic Girl over Beacon Cove and Newquay as it heads out to launch the UK's first satellites on Monday night

'We're feeling awful, to be honest  I'm not going to lie.

'It's gutting and we all heard at different times and when we got together there were tears, and it was very upsetting.

'We are family and we've been through a lot together. So, when you go through something like this as a family at least you have that support, and we all understand one another.

'There's not much more I can say other than it's gutting but everybody's okay.'

In a separate statement, she added: 'Today we inspired millions, and we will continue to look to inspire millions more. Not just with our ambition but also with our fortitude.

'Yes, space is hard, but we are only just getting started.'

What has the reaction been like?

Disappointment was clear among spectators who had gathered to witness the historic launch in person after Virgin Orbit relaid the failure of the mission.

It had been hoped that the launch would officially mark the UK entering the space race more than 70 years after the British Space Programme was established in 1952.

The mission was a collaboration between the UK Space Agency, the Royal Air Force, Virgin Orbit and Cornwall Council.

In the past, satellites produced in the UK had to be sent to spaceports in other countries to make their journey into space.

The historic launch was originally supposed to take place before Christmas but owing to technical and regulatory issues it had to be pushed into 2023.

Earlier, spectators whooped and danced to Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones as the jet took off, with people climbing onto each other shoulders to witness a moment which had promised to deliver the birth of a home-grown space launch industry.

A further 75,000 people watched online via a live stream on Virgin Orbit's YouTube channel.

Spectators whooped and danced to Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones as the jet took off, with people climbing onto each other shoulders to witness a moment which had promised to deliver the birth of a home-grown space launch industry. A further 75,000 people watched online via a live stream on Virgin Orbit's YouTube channel. Pictured: Spectators gathered at the airport for the launch

British astronaut Tim Peake branded the mission's outcome as 'disappointing' and said: 'Getting to space is hard and valuable lessons will be learned'

British astronaut Tim Peake branded the mission's outcome as 'disappointing' and said: 'Getting to space is hard and valuable lessons will be learned.'

But the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Grant Shapps, remained optimistic, telling Sky News that 'Space is difficult.'

He added: 'The great thing about this technology is that no one was harmed, the pilots came back in the aircraft. It didn't work. No doubt they'll pick themselves up, dust themselves off and they'll go again.'

The minister remained hopeful for the Newquay site as well as other potential spaceports in Britain.

'There's another six locations in the UK, including a couple in Scotland, in Wales, so there's a big chunk of money and export and jobs to be had from international space,' he said.

Disappointment was clear among spectators who had gathered to witness the historic launch in person after Virgin Orbit relaid the failure of the mission

The historic launch was originally supposed to take place before Christmas but owing to technical and regulatory issues it had to be pushed into 2023

So, what's next?

A probe has begun to understand exactly what went wrong during last nights devastating Start Me Up mission.

Grant Shapps said the Government would work closely with Virgin Orbit to investigate the failure.

In a statement to MPs, the Business Secretary said: 'Last night, Virgin Orbit attempted the first orbital launch from Spaceport Cornwall.

'Unfortunately, the launch was unsuccessful.

'We will work closely with Virgin Orbit as they investigate what caused the failure in the coming days and weeks. While a failed launch is disappointing, launching a spacecraft always carries significant risks.

'Despite this, the project has succeeded in creating a horizontal launch capability at Spaceport Cornwall and we remain committed to becoming the leading provider of commercial small satellite launch in Europe by 2030, with vertical launches planned from Scotland in the next year.'

Dan Hart, Virgin Orbit CEO, said: 'We will work tirelessly to understand the nature of the failure, make corrective actions, and return to orbit as soon as we have completed a full investigation and mission assurance process.'

Once the cause of this failure has been established, the site is targeting two unmanned commercial space flights a year from this year. However, it has a licence for up to 12.

The development of Spaceport Cornwall is expected to create around 150 jobs and allow the UK to compete in the global market for deploying small satellites into Earth orbit

Cornwall horizontal's launch site is one of three spaceports in the UK that aim to start satellite launches in 2023, with two more in Scotland due to come online later this year. Space Hub Sutherland and SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands are vertical spaceports, meaning they perform more conventional ground launches with a rocket

Virgin Orbit, which has performed three commercial flights in the US, wants Cornwall to be its first base outside America.

Cornwall horizontal's launch site is one of three spaceports in the UK that aim to start satellite launches in 2023, with two more in Scotland due to come online later this year.

Its development is expected to create around 150 jobs and allow the UK to compete in the global market for deploying small satellites into Earth orbit  an industry forecast to be worth 3.9 billion by 2030 which Branson is hoping to tap into.

Mr Hart previously told MailOnline that human spaceflight was 'not currently part of the company's plans' for the Newquay facility.

But he said Spaceport Cornwall could be used to send probes to Mars, Venus and the moon within the next three or four years.

'Lunar missions and smaller craft bound for Venus and Mars could be launched [from Spaceport Cornwall] within the next three or four years,' he added.

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It was supposed to mark the dawn of a new space era for Britain but instead ended in devastating failure.

Virgin Orbit's 70ft LauncherOne rocket was successfully launched from the wing of a modified 747 jumbo jet, only to suffer an 'anomaly' as it accelerated to space at 11,000mph.

LauncherOne never reached its target altitude to release a payload of nine satellites into orbit and was ultimately lost  either burning up in the Earth's atmosphere or breaking apart over the north Atlantic.

Sir Richard Branson's cash-strapped company is now fighting for survival as it hurriedly probes what went wrong and why the first ever satellite mission launched from UK soil ended in failure.

It was supposed to mark the dawn of a new space era for Britain but instead ended in devastating failure. Virgin Orbit's 70ft rocket was successfully launched from the wing of a modified 747 jumbo jet, only to suffer an 'anomaly' as it accelerated to space at 11,000mph

Sir Richard Branson's cash-strapped company is now fighting for its survival as it hurriedly probes what went wrong and why the first ever satellite mission launched from UK soil ended in failure

Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said engineers would 'work tirelessly' to establish the cause of the problem, but shares in the firm plummeted by as much as 30 per cent as the drama unfolded in front of the eyes of the world.

This loss of more than $200 million (164 million) comes just months after Virgin Orbit raised 'substantial doubt' about its future amid dwindling cash supplies.

Branson's Virgin Group was forced to inject $25 million (20 million) into Virgin Orbit at the start of November, just days before the company reported a net loss of $139.5 million (117 million) for the first nine months of 2022.

CAN VIRGIN ORBIT SURVIVE THE FAILED CORNWALL LAUNCH? Cash-strapped Virgin Orbit is now fighting for its survival as it hurriedly probes what went wrong and why the first ever satellite mission launched from UK soil ended in failure. Shares in the firm plummeted by as much as 30 per cent as the drama unfolded in front of the eyes of the world. This loss of more than $200 million (164 million) comes just months after Virgin Orbit raised 'substantial doubt' about its future amid dwindling cash supplies. Branson's Virgin Group was forced to inject $25 million (20 million) into Virgin Orbit at the start of November, just days before the company reported a net loss of $139.5 million (117 million) for the first nine months of 2022. British taxpayers' money was among the 20 million that has so far been thrown at the Spaceport Cornwall project. Advertisement

British taxpayers' money was among the 20 million that has so far been thrown at the Spaceport Cornwall project, from a consortium including the local council, Virgin and the UK Space Agency.

Its development was expected to create around 150 jobs and allow the UK to compete in the global market for deploying small satellites into Earth orbit  an industry forecast to be worth 3.9 billion by 2030 which Branson is hoping to tap into.

However, this failure has somewhat poured cold water over such aspirations.

The company has so far remained tight-lipped over what happened  beyond saying that an 'anomaly' occurred  but the UK Space Agency said the issue had cropped up during the second stage of the launch and its cause was under investigation.

'In effect the rocket has not reached the required altitude to maintain its orbit or deploy the satellites and therefore the mission was unsuccessful,' Matt Archer, the agency's launch programme director, told reporters at Spaceport Cornwall.

'Over the coming days, there will be an investigation involving the Government and various bodies, including Virgin Orbit, to make sure we understand what caused that technical failure and again we'll work out what to do next following that.'

Mr Archer could not confirm whether the rocket had burnt up or fallen back to Earth but said that if it did, it would have come down over unpopulated areas or possibly the Atlantic Ocean.

Virgin's 747 space plane Cosmic Girl returned safely to Cornwall Spaceport following the failed launch.

Spaceport Cornwall had set a target of carrying out two unmanned commercial space flights a year from this year, but it is unclear at this stage whether another launch will happen in 2023.

Deputy CEO of the UK Space Agency, Ian Annett, was optimistic that further missions would happen within the next 12 months. However, he cautioned that the failure shows 'how difficult' getting into orbit actually is.

'We get up, we go back, we try again, that's what defines us,' Mr Annett told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said engineers would 'work tirelessly' to establish the cause of the problem, but shares in the firm plummeted by as much as 30 per cent as the drama unfolded in front of the eyes of the world

Devastating: Britain's historic first ever orbital space launch on UK soil dramatically failed last night, after Virgin Orbit revealed that an 'anomaly' had prevented its rocket from reaching orbit. Pictured is the moment the rocket ignited

LauncherOne never reached its target altitude to release a payload of nine satellites into orbit and was ultimately lost  either burning up in the Earth's atmosphere or breaking apart over the north Atlantic

There was huge excitement at Newquay Airport ahead of the first orbital space launch on British soil yesterday evening

Disappointed: Cosmic Girl returned to a somewhat lukewarm reception at Cornwall Spaceport at about 23:55 GMT on Monday as disheartened spectators looked on

Spaceflight expert Michael Baylor, the creator of the Next Spaceflight app, voiced concerns about cash-strapped Virgin Orbit following the failed launch

TIMELINE: HOW VIRGIN'S CORNWALL SPACE LAUNCH WENT WRONG ON MONDAY 22:02 GMT: Virgin Orbit's Cosmic Girl space plane takes off from Spaceport Cornwall 23:10 GMT: After reaching its launch zone just off the coast of Ireland, Cosmic Girl deploys the rocket attached to its belly 23:11 GMT: The rocket heads past Portugal as it ascends to space 23:18 GMT: Virgin appears to suggest on Twitter that the mission has succeeded in reaching orbit 23:50 GMT: But it then emerges that an 'anomaly' has occurred which prevented the rocket from deploying its payload of satellites into orbit 23:55 GMT: Cosmic Girl returns to Cornwall Spaceport as disheartened spectators watch on Advertisement

Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall, also said that the site would 'of course' try to launch again in the 'near future', although she did not set any timeline of when this might be.

The nine satellites that were lost were insured so their manufacturers and operators will be compensated.

Mr Hart said Virgin Orbit would return to orbit 'as soon as we have completed a full investigation'.

He added: 'We are mindful that we failed to provide our customers with the launch service they deserve.

'The first-time nature of this mission added layers of complexity that our team professionally managed through; however, in the end a technical failure appears to have prevented us from delivering the final orbit.

'We will work tirelessly to understand the nature of the failure, make corrective actions, and return to orbit as soon as we have completed a full investigation and mission assurance process.'

Considering taxpayers' money has gone towards the launch, that investigation will also include a number of government departments, the UK Space Agency said.

Branson also has Virgin Galactic, which is based in the US and focused on space tourism.

In 2021, Branson flew to the edge of space and back in his Virgin Galactic rocket plane  beating Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Space X's Elon Musk in the billionaire space race.

It is not the first time Virgin Orbit has suffered a failure.

The company, whose launch system has only been in operation for just over two years, ran into issues during its maiden mission but followed it up with four successful flights.

Virgin Galactic also suffered a series of setbacks and tragedies, including losing co-pilot Michael Alsbury in a crash in California's Mojave Desert in 2014, before Branson reached space 18 months ago.

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However, those more open to uncommitted sex reported fewer of them

They found that women see more things as relationship dealbreakers than men

Getting dumped is never great, but if it appears to come out of the blue, this can make it even harder to accept.

Fortunately, scientists have revealed the six biggest 'red flags' in relationships, to help you get to the bottom of what may have gone wrong.

These are being clingy, promiscuous, unmotivated, apathetic, 'gross' and addicted to drugs.

'What people want may only be one part of mate choice, with people also eliminating potential partners possessing dealbreakers,' the researchers wrote in their study, published in Personality and Individual Differences.

Scientists have revealed the six biggest 'red flags' that people see as relationship dealbreakers. These are being clingy, promiscuous, unmotivated, apathetic and 'gross'

Being clingy is one of the biggest turn offs in the short-term, and the researches say this is because it inhibits a partner's nonparental reproductive efforts (stock image)

THE SIX BIGGEST 'RED FLAGS' REGARDED AS RELATIONSHIP DEALBREAKERS Gross - The person has poor personal hygiene, smells bad, is 'unattractive' or has health issues like STDs. Addicted - The person has alcohol or drug problems, smokes or has a criminal past. Clingy - The person is controlling, clingy or too jealous. Promiscuous - The person has sex with too many people or has dated too many people. Apathetic - The person is inattentive or uncaring, untrustworthy or dismissive of your interests. Unmotivated - The person lacks ambition, has poor financial prospects, is too passive about life or has different moral views to you. Advertisement

In the study, researchers analysed existing research on relationship dealbreakers which listed 49 of them.

They asked 285 university students to indicate which of these would make them lose interest in a short or long-term relationship.

This revealed that lack of interest was likely to put an end to a long-term relationship, as this shows a lack of parental ability.

However, being clingy is one of the biggest turn offs in the short-term, and the researchers say this is because it inhibits a partner's nonparental reproductive efforts - in other words, casual sex.

Unsurprisingly, poor personal hygiene was also a significant dealbreaker for relationships of any length.

The researchers, from Charles University in the Czech Republic, University of Colorado in the USA and University of Padua in Italy, wrote: 'From an evolutionary point of view, our dealbreakers confirm long-standing theories on what is important in a potential partner.

'People want mates who are fertile (i.e., not smelling bad, not having STDs, being attractive) and good parents (i.e., being trustworthy, ambitious, attentive, caring) of our offspring.

'Of course, certain characteristics are more problematic following a short-term (e.g., clingy, jealous, controlling) than a long-term (e.g., unfaithful) mating strategy.'

A 2015 study from Western Sydney University identified the original 49 relationship dealbreakers, but did not perform further analysis.

However, the international team hypothesised that the actual list of dealbreakers would be smaller than that, and would be composed of features that 'impose costs on people'.

This could include threats of sexually transmitted disease, relationship threats like infidelity and personality problems like insecurity.

Students rated each of the 49 'dealbreakers' from a previous study on how strongly they regarded them as a dealbreaker in short-term and long-term relationships. The researchers used statistical analysis to classify all the dealbreakers into six main factors (pictured)

It was found that older women see more items that fell under 'Gross' or 'Unmotivated' as dealbreakers than younger women (stock image)

For their new study, they recruited the students, with an average age of 22, to help narrow them down.

They completed three tests, where the first two highlighted how important different traits were to them and how open they were in a relationship.

The third involved them rating each of the 49 items on how strongly they regarded them as a dealbreaker in short-term and long-term relationships.

They were presented as 'bits of information you learn about a person that might make you lose interest in the potential partner'.

Finally, the researchers used their responses and statistical analysis to classify all the dealbreakers into six main factors.

Deal breakers in long-term relationships (ranked) Apathetic Gross Clingy Addicted Unmotivated Promiscuous Advertisement

Deal breakers in short-term relationships (ranked) Gross Clingy Apathetic Unmotivated (for women)/Promiscuous (for men) Promiscuous (for women)/Unmotivated (for men) Advertisement

Poor hygiene and unattractiveness both fell in the 'gross' category, and the researchers say this could be because they reveal information about the potential mate's health.

They also found that women had more dealbreakers in each of the six categories than men did.

'Because women have higher rates of obligatory investment in offspring, women tend to maintain higher standards,' they wrote.

It was also found that older women see more items that fell under 'Gross' or 'Unmotivated' as dealbreakers than younger women.

Participants who were more open to uncommitted sex reported fewer relationship dealbreakers.

This was seen particularly in the context of short-term relationships for all factors except 'Clingy'.

Indeed, participants with high 'mate value' - ie view themselves as valuable partners - reported more dealbreakers than others in both long and short-term relationships.

The researchers wrote: 'Mates who are clingy or addicted to drugs should be unappealing to those with high mate value because those with high mate value can afford to reject those who have low value.'

As many previous studies have looked deeply at 'dealmakers' - a partner's upsides - the researchers suggest that further work should look into whether these compliment of compete with dealbreakers.

'The traits that people do not want in a mate may serve as initial culling features, operating before affirmative processes take over,' they wrote.

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The comet last passed by Earth in the Ice Age and won't again for 50,000 years

NASA said on January 12 it will be making its closest approach to the Sun

Sky watchers will be able to see Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in January and February

A new comet discovered in 2022 will be visible from Earth later on this month

Eagle-eyed stargazers will get the opportunity to see a once-in-a-generation green comet in the coming weeks.

The coloured comet, called C/2022 E3 (ZTF), was discovered in March last year while inside Jupiter's orbit.

The iceball will make its closest approach to the sun on January 12, according to NASA.

Between the end of this month and the start of February, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will then whizz by our planet, lighting up the night sky for the first time in 50,000 years.

Look up this month! C/2022 E3 (ZTF), which was discovered in March last year while inside Jupiter's orbit, will make its closest approach to the sun on January 12 and Earth on February 2

KEY FACTS: COMET C/2022 E3 Last visible from Earth: The Ice Age Closest approach to the sun: January 12 Closest approach to Earth: February 2 Next visible: 50,000 years time Distance at closest approach: 26.4 million miles (42.5 million kilometres) from Earth Discovered: March 2022 Spotted by: The Zwicky Transient Facility in California Will it be visible to the naked eye? Possibly Where to look: In the morning sky, to the northeast Advertisement

Stargazers will be able to tell the difference between the comet and surrounding stars as it will have a streaking trail of dust following it.

A glowing green coma, in other words a cloud of gas, will be clinging around it.

This gas is formed as the comet passes close to the sun, causing its ice to change state.

Comets are known for being unpredictable, but the brightness of C/2022 E3 according to its current trend should make it easy to spot with binoculars or a telescope.

Those without specialist equipment, however, should not worry as it may even be visible to the naked eye if the skies are dark enough later on this month.

However, Byrce Bolin, who discovered the comet last year, 'secretly hope[s] it will disintegrate' as 'that's where the more interesting science is'.

He told the Boston Globe: 'Comets are the cats of the solar system; they do whatever they want.

'Like cats they have fluffiness. Comets have been observed to have peculiar behaviors, like fragmenting or disintegrating.

'But there is not really a strong correlation between the distance to the sun and the kind of disintegration events that occur. It could break apart on its way in before it ever comes close to the sun, or even after.'

The NASA postdoctoral program fellow said that he and Caltech senior staff scientist Frank Masci were at the California Institute of Technology's Palomar Observatory when artificial intelligence flagged the comet was unknown.

If the unaided eye can spot this newly discovered comet, it will be the first time since NEOWISE soared by Earth in 2020, although it won't be anywhere near as spectacular.

Comets are notoriously unpredictable, but if this one continues its current trend in brightness it should be easy to spot with binoculars or a telescope

NEOWISE, formally known as C/2020 F3, was visible in July 2020, leaving a long, misty tale behind it

NEOWISE, formally known as C/2020 F3, was visible in July 2020, leaving a long, misty tale behind it.

The fireball could be seen as it came as close to 64 million miles (103 million kilometres) away from Earth.

Neither C/2022 E3 or NEOWISE, however, will be as bright as the 1997 Hale-Bopp comet that outshone the Moon in the night sky.

Astronomers don't expect Comet C/2022 E3 to visit Earth again for at least another 50,000 years, having last been visible during the Ice Age.

This puts the comet's last sighting at the time of Neanderthals and around the Paleolithic Age.

The reason the comet takes such a long time to pass by the Earth is because it has an orbit around the sun that passes through the outer reaches of the solar system, according to the Planetary Society.

Observers in the Northern Hemisphere will find the comet in the morning sky, as it moves swiftly from the northeast to northwest and passes between the Little and Big Dippers during January

In terms of passing our planet, it won't be in any way close. In fact, the nearest it will come to Earth is 26.4 million miles (42.5 million kilometres) on February 2.

Observers in the Northern Hemisphere will find the comet in the morning sky, as it moves swiftly from the northeast to northwest and passes between the Little and Big Dippers during January.

Preston Dyches from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a video shared by the US space agency: 'This comet isn't expected to be quite the spectacle that Comet NEOWISE was back in 2020.

'But it's still an awesome opportunity to make a personal connection with an icy visitor from the distant outer solar system.'

In March 2022, astronomers discovered the new space rock using the wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility in California. It is pictured here in the centre of this image

Stargazers in the Southern Hemisphere will have to wait a little longer to catch a glimpse, however, as Comet C/2022 E3 won't be visible for them until early February.

The new space rock was discovered in March 2022 after scientists used the wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility in California.

Since then, the new long-period comet has brightened substantially, sweeping across the northern constellation Corona Borealis in predawn skies.

In December, scientists managed to get the first detailed photograph of the new comet, revealing its brighter greenish coma and yellowy dust tail.

Comets are made of ice, gas and rock  often described as giant space icebergs  that tend to originate in the outer solar system and move in on a long orbit.

The comet reaches the sun this month, before looping around and making its closest approach to Earth

The other major type of space rock, called asteroids, tend to be made of metal or rock and can come from anywhere in the solar system  including a large grouping of asteroids situated between Mars and Jupiter.

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Not content with winning the billionaire space race and experiencing the feeling of weightlessness himself, Sir Richard Branson wants to conquer low-Earth orbit and make it his own.

The Virgin founder plans to carry out his first space tourism mission from the US later this year and has grand visions of tapping into the 4 billion satellite industry, in part with the help of the new 20 million Spaceport Cornwall.

But those aspirations were dealt a bitter blow on Monday night when Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket, which had hitched a ride on a specially-adapted 747 jumbo jet that took off from the Newquay site, failed to reach orbit and was ultimately lost.

It is not the first time Branson's Virgin Orbit or Virgin Galactic space ventures have endured failed launches, and it probably won't be the last  but how does their success rate compare to the likes of SpaceX, Blue Origin and NASA's now retired Space Shuttle programme?

Lagging behind: Analysis by MailOnline reveals that Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson trails billionaire rivals Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos when it comes to launch success rate percentage. His company has had seven failed launches and 74 successful missions, compared to six and 201 respectively for Musk's SpaceX and one and 22 for Bezos' Blue Origin. NASA's Space Shuttle programme carried out 133 successful launches, losing Challenger in 1986 and Columbia on re-entry in 2003

In 2021, Sir Richard Branson flew to the edge of space in his Virgin Galactic rocket plane  beating Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Space X's Elon Musk in the billionaire space race

CAN VIRGIN ORBIT SURVIVE THE FAILED CORNWALL LAUNCH? Cash-strapped Virgin Orbit is now fighting for its survival as it hurriedly probes what went wrong and why the first ever satellite mission launched from UK soil ended in failure. Shares in the firm plummeted by as much as 30 per cent as the drama unfolded in front of the eyes of the world. This loss of more than $200 million (164 million) comes just months after Virgin Orbit raised 'substantial doubt' about its future amid dwindling cash supplies. Branson's Virgin Group was forced to inject $25 million (20 million) into Virgin Orbit at the start of November, just days before the company reported a net loss of $139.5 million (117 million) for the first nine months of 2022. British taxpayers' money was among the 20 million that has so far been thrown at the Spaceport Cornwall project. Advertisement

The bad news for Branson is the answer is not that favourably.

Analysis by MailOnline reveals that the Virgin owner trails billionaire rivals Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos when it comes to launch success rate percentage.

He sits at 91.35 per cent, while Musk's SpaceX has logged an impressive 97.1 per cent and Bezos a more than respectable 95.65 per cent.

NASA no longer carries out its own launches  instead relying on Russia and now private companies such as SpaceX following the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011.

But for comparison, that programme had a launch success rate of 98.51 per cent.

There were 133 successful Space Shuttle missions but a total of 14 astronauts perished following the loss of Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003.

For the purpose of this analysis, a launch was deemed a failure if it did not achieve its main objective, there was a serious malfunction, or the rocket/craft was lost.

Branson's most high-profile and catastrophic space launch failure occurred in 2014, when Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo crashed in California's Mojave Desert, killing co-pilot Michael Alsbury and seriously injuring pilot Peter Siebold.

The craft was flying a manned test when it split into pieces.

Investigators later concluded that the crash was caused by structural failure after Alsbury unlocked a braking system early.

Branson said at the time that he was 'shocked and saddened' by the 'tragic loss'.

Then Virgin Galactic CEO and president George Whitesides added: 'Space is hard, and today was a tough day.

'We are going to be supporting the investigation as we figure out what happened today and we are going to get through it.'

It is one of five launch failures in the 19-year history of Virgin Galactic, compared to 70 successful missions.

Branson, 72, had believed in 2004 that commercial space travel was just three years away, but a string of failures followed which plunged the future of Virgin Galactic into doubt.

In 2007, three people were killed and several others seriously injured when a tank of nitrous oxide detonated and destroyed a test stand.

Devastating: Britain's historic first ever orbital space launch on UK soil dramatically failed last night, after Virgin Orbit revealed that an 'anomaly' had prevented its rocket from reaching orbit. Pictured is the moment the rocket ignited

LauncherOne never reached its target altitude to release a payload of nine satellites into orbit and was ultimately lost  either burning up in the Earth's atmosphere or breaking apart over the north Atlantic

A further four years after that Virgin's SpaceShipTwo malfunctioned during re-entry, although its pilots managed to correct the problem.

There were also two minor hiccups in 2016 involving attempts to carry out the first glide flight for the company's VSS Unity space plane, while in 2021 the craft was temporarily grounded by the US Federal Aviation Administration.

The regulator investigated Virgin Galactic after Unity slightly deviated from the airspace that had been reserved for it during Branson's momentous flight to space in July of that year.

The Federal Aviation Administration later lifted a no-fly order on Virgin Galactic in September 2021.

Virgin Orbit, which was formed in 2017 and has a launch system that has been in operation for just over two years, has now experienced gremlins on 33 per cent of its flights.

Branson's most high-profile and catastrophic space launch failure occurred in 2014, when Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo crashed in California's Mojave Desert, killing co-pilot Michael Alsbury and seriously injuring pilot Peter Siebold

The craft was flying a manned test when it experienced what Virgin Galactic described at the time as 'a serious anomaly'

WHAT CAUSED VIRGIN GALACTIC'S 2014 CRASH THAT KILLED ONE PILOT AND INJURED ANOTHER? Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo - a plane designed to run the first ever passenger flights into space - split into pieces as it fell to Earth over California's Mojave Desert during a test flight in October 2014. The crash killed 39-year-old pilot Michael Alsbury and seriously injured co-pilot Peter Siebold, 43, while debris from the disintegrated aircraft was spread over a wide area. The vehicle broke up after Alsbury unlocked the craft's tail wing braking system early, which led to a sudden increase in aerodynamic forces as it passed through the sound barrier. Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo - a plane designed to run the first ever passenger flights into space - split into pieces (right) as it fell to Earth over California's Mojave Desert during a test flight in October 2014 A 2015 NTSB report found that the co-pilot unlocked the so-called feathering system early at Mach 0.92 instead of the intended speed of Mach 1.4. The feathering system helps to increase drag and slows the spacecraft down for re-entry. Simply unlocking the spacecraft's brakes shouldn't have applied them, but investigators said that might have happened anyway as a result of aerodynamic forces. The crash killed 39-year-old pilot Michael Alsbury and seriously injured co-pilot Peter Siebold, 43, while debris from the disintegrated aircraft was spread over a wide area The resulting stress may have contributed to the spacecraft's destruction. Investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said no safeguards were built into system to overcome the error of the co-pilot. Advertisement

As well as the misfiring of the first orbital space launch on British soil last night, its maiden mission in the US also failed, while in between were four successful flights.

The inaugural mission in 2020 went wrong a few seconds after the ignition of the LauncherOne rocket. It was blamed on a premature shutdown of the first stage engine, caused by a break in a propellant feed line, and meant the rocket did not reach orbit.

But spaceflight is notoriously hard, so what about Virgin's rivals?

The videos of SpaceX's reusable rocket boosters either exploding on the launchpad or while attempting to land on a drone ship have been much publicised.

It took the company about four years of trying before a Falcon 9 rocket successfully touched down unscathed in 2015, with SpaceX dramatically scaling up its launch capabilities since then.

Musk's company has now sent 201 rockets up to space, having had five attempted lift-offs go wrong and one partially fail.

The videos of SpaceX's reusable rocket boosters either exploding on the launchpad or while attempting to land on a drone ship have been much publicised

Musk's company has now sent 201 rockets up to space, having had five attempted lift-offs go wrong and one partially fail

SpaceX is the market leader in terms of quantity and its Dragon spacecraft is currently being used by NASA to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Musk's great rival Jeff Bezos  who was beaten into space by Branson by just nine days in 2021  is somewhat playing catch-up, despite having also sent several celebrities on suborbital flights aboard his New Shepard rocket.

He may have a better success rate than Branson, but that doesn't tell the whole story.

Blue Origin has only carried out 23 flights of its New Shepard rocket so far and had one failure  which is why Bezos' success rate is up at 95 per cent.

That mishap came only a few months ago, when the rocket company was forced to abort a space mission mid-flight.

Its uncrewed booster malfunctioned around a minute after leaving the launchpad in Texas in September, the second such 'anomaly' Blue Origin has experienced in its 22-year history.

The first occurred in 2015, when a New Shepard booster crashed instead of landing.

However, its uncrewed capsule successfully reached suborbital space and returned safely, so the mission was only a partial failure.

Blue Origin has only carried out 23 flights of its New Shepard rocket so far and had one failure  which is why his success rate is up at 95 per cent. That mishap came only a few months ago

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos was beaten into space by Branson by just nine days in 2021

It should be pointed out that spaceflight is never easy and despite Branson's failures he is still right at the forefront of the race to regularly fly tourists to space, once again hoping to emerge victorious over rivals Bezos and Musk.

Virgin Galactic's next research flight  Unity 23  is expected to happen this summer, although it has been repeatedly delayed, and commercial flights will start after that.

Despite its failure in Cornwall, Virgin Orbit is scheduled to carry out two more satellite launches in the Mojave Desert in January and February, along with four others later in 2023.

Both the UK Space Agency and Spaceport Cornwall have said Virgin Orbit will try another launch in the 'near future', but no timeline has been provided by Branson's company.

It says it will 'work tirelessly' to establish the cause of the failed UK launch, but questions remain over the viability of the cash-strapped company's future.

Shares in Virgin Orbit plummeted by as much as 30 per cent as the drama unfolded in front of the eyes of the world last night, wiping $200 million (164 million) off the firm's value.

At the start of November, Branson's Virgin Group was forced to inject $25 million (20 million) into the company just days before it reported a net loss of $139.5 million (117 million) for the first nine months of 2022.

NASA launched 133 successful Space Shuttle missions but seven astronauts perished in the Challenger disaster in 1986

The Space Shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry in 2003, killing all seven astronauts onboard

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Virgin Orbit's failed space launch EXPLAINED: How LauncherOne rocket carrying nine satellites experienced an 'anomaly'
Cause of this anomaly will be looked at in coming days and weeks, Shapps said

Mission failed due to an 'anomaly' that prevented the rocket from reaching orbit

Virgin Orbit is working with the government to find out why the attempt to launch a rocket into orbit from UK soil ended in failure last night, Business Secretary Grant Shapps has said.

After taking off from Spaceport Cornwall at 22:02 on Monday night, Virgin Orbit's modified Boeing 747 plane flew to 35,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean.

Once there, the plane successfully jettisoned the LauncherOne rocket containing nine small satellites for various paying customers.

However, an 'anomaly' prevented the rocket from reaching its orbit, according to Sir Richard Bransons space firm, meaning all the satellites were lost.

In a statement to MPs on Tuesday, Business Secretary Grant Shapps said the government would work closely with Virgin Orbit to investigate the failure and the cause of the 'anomaly'

Virgin Orbit's attempt to launch a rocket from UK soil ended in failure on Monday night. Pictured, the repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft, named Cosmic Girl, takes off from Spaceport Cornwall at Cornwall Airport, Newquay while carrying Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket

How Monday's launch ended with a 'disappointing failure' 22:02 GMT: Virgin Orbit's Cosmic Girl space plane takes off from Spaceport Cornwall 23:10 GMT: After reaching its launch zone just off the coast of Ireland, Cosmic Girl deploys the rocket attached to its belly 23:11 GMT: The rocket heads past Portugal as it ascends to space 23:18 GMT: Virgin appears to suggest on Twitter that the mission has succeeded in reaching orbit 23:50 GMT: But it then emerges that an 'anomaly' has occurred which prevented the rocket from deploying its payload of satellites into orbit 23:55 GMT: Cosmic Girl returns to Cornwall Spaceport as disheartened spectators watch on Advertisement

Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said the government would work closely with Virgin Orbit to investigate the failure and the cause of the 'anomaly'.

'Last night, Virgin Orbit attempted the first orbital launch from Spaceport Cornwall,' he said in a statement to MPs on Tuesday.

'Unfortunately, the launch was unsuccessful.

'We will work closely with Virgin Orbit as they investigate what caused the failure in the coming days and weeks.

'While a failed launch is disappointing, launching a spacecraft always carries significant risks.'

Monday's launch was going smoothly until the LauncherOne rocket experienced the 'anomaly', the cause of which will be looked at.

Whatever exactly the cause, it meant LauncherOne was unable to reach orbit as intended.

Virgin Orbit said in a statement: 'With the rocket travelling at a speed of more than 11,000 miles per hour, the system experienced an anomaly, ending the mission prematurely.'

LauncherOne was carrying a number of satellites with a variety of civil and defence applications, including for the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Unfortunately, the unsuccessful orbit resulted in loss of the satellites, as the rocket likely burnt up on re-entry to Earth and landed on water.

Matt Archer from the UK Space Agency, said the satellite load was insured and Virgin Orbit would recover its losses.

'The rocket will probably break up, not all of it will burn up, but certainly that's what they will be tracking at the moment and making sure that it is coming down safely,' he said.

'The trajectory that it was on shouldn't be anywhere near land.'

Virgin Orbit's launch last night was what is know as a horizontal launch, as it involved a specialised plane that took off horizontally, just like a commercial liner.

The first ever orbital space launch to take off from UK soil failed dramatically Monday night, after Virgin Orbit revealed that an 'anomaly' had prevented its rocket from reaching orbit

All appeared to go to plan for Britain's first orbital launch up until the moment LauncherOne's second stage engine was fired. This was due to happen when the rocket was between 310 to 745 miles above the Earth, and the engine would kick off a series of burns to circularise its orbit

LAUNCHER ONE FLIGHTS From US soil - May 25, 2020: Failure - January 17, 2021: Success - June 30, 2021: Success - January 13, 2022: Success - July 2, 2022: Success Flights took off from Mojave Air and Space Port, California From UK soil - January 9, 2023: Failure Flight took off from Spaceport Cornwall Advertisement

Vertical launches contrast with a rocket launching vertically upwards, typically performed by NASA and private space firms such as SpaceX.

Shapps said Virgin Orbit's UK project has already been a success in that it's demonstrated a horizontal launch capability at Spaceport Cornwall, which only opened in September.

Spaceport Cornwall is located at Cornwall Airport Newquay, an active civilian airport with passenger flights around the UK and Europe.

Shapps also said the UK remains committed to 'becoming the leading provider of commercial small satellite launch in Europe by 2030'.

British taxpayers' money was among the 20 million that has so far been thrown at the Spaceport Cornwall project, from a consortium including the local council, Virgin and the UK Space Agency.

Unfortunately for Branson, shares in his firm plummeted by as much as 30 per cent after the drama unfolded.

It had been hoped that the launch would officially mark the UK entering the space race more than 70 years after the British Space Programme was established in 1952.

In the past, satellites produced in the UK had to be sent to spaceports in other countries to make their journey into space  including Australia.

Rockets have been sent up from UK soil before, but not to put satellites from orbit.

Virgin Orbit now intends to reattempt the launch from Spaceport Cornwall, although it hasn't specified exactly when.

Spaceport Cornwall is located at Cornwall Airport Newquay, an active civilian airport with passenger flights around the UK and Europe

A view of the repurposed Boeing 747 aircraft carrying the LauncherOne rocket under its left wing, as final preparations are made at Cornwall Airport Newquay on January 9, 2023 in Newquay

Spaceport Cornwall: The UK's first spaceport Spaceport Cornwall is a new UK spaceport just outside of Newquay, officially opened in September 2022. Spaceport Cornwall is located at Cornwall Airport Newquay, an active civilian airport with passenger flights around the UK and Europe. It will be one of the only places in the world where you can be on a passenger airplane and look out your window to see a launch to space about to happen. The UK Civil Aviation Authority issued the first ever UK spaceport licence to Spaceport Cornwall in November. The first launch from the port, operated by Virgin Orbit, is now scheduled for December 14. Advertisement

Steve Double, MP for St Austell and Newquay, said the failure of LauncherOne to reach orbit was 'disappointing' but claimed it was still a 'great achievement'.

He said in a statement released on Tuesday: 'While it is disappointing that the satellites didn't quite reach their intended target because of a technical failure, it reminds us that space is not easy and, if it was, everyone would be doing it.

'We have achieved so much and I am confident we will go again in the coming weeks and be successful.'

British astronaut Tim Peake also branded the mission's outcome 'disappointing' and said: 'Getting to space is hard and valuable lessons will be learned.'

Among the satellites that have been lost were two cubesats owned by the Ministry of Defense's (MOD) Defense Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL).

Co-funded by Airbus Defence and Space who designed them jointly with In-Space Missions, they were going to support MoD science and technology activities both in orbit and on the ground through the development of ground systems focused at DSTL's site near Portsmouth.

DSTL tweeted: 'We are saddened at the loss of LauncherOne and share the disappointment of all who have worked so hard to get us this far.

'We will work with our partners to enable continuation of our research programme.

'This is [a] poignant reminder that working in the space domain is difficult.'

British astronaut Tim Peake branded the mission's outcome as 'disappointing' and said: 'Getting to space is hard and valuable lessons will be learned'

The Ministry of Defense's (MOD) Defense Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) tweeted: 'We are saddened at the loss of LauncherOne'

Virgin Orbit's specially-adapted 747 jumbo jet with a rocket attached to its belly took off from Cornwall Spaceport at 22:02 GMT. A live stream of the mission was available to view via the company's YouTube channel (pictured)

Can Virgin Orbit survive the failed Cornwall launch? Cash-strapped Virgin Orbit is now fighting for its survival as it hurriedly probes what went wrong and why the first ever satellite mission launched from UK soil ended in failure. Shares in the firm plummeted by as much as 30 per cent as the drama unfolded in front of the eyes of the world. This loss of more than $200 million (164 million) comes just months after Virgin Orbit raised 'substantial doubt' about its future amid dwindling cash supplies. Branson's Virgin Group was forced to inject $25 million (20 million) into Virgin Orbit at the start of November, just days before the company reported a net loss of $139.5 million (117 million) for the first nine months of 2022. British taxpayers' money was among the 20 million that has so far been thrown at the Spaceport Cornwall project. Advertisement

Another satellite that did not enter orbit was DOVER, developed by RHEA Group in the UK  the company's first satellite in its 30-year history.

The satellite, co-funded through the European Space Agency's (ESA) Navigation Program (NAVISP) and built by Open Cosmos of the UK, was created as a pathfinder for resilient global navigation satellite systems.

Emma Jones, UK business director at RHEA, said: 'RHEA is very disappointed in the failure of LauncherOne but we still see this mission as a success.

'We have a very innovative mission design that will be recreated, and we know the UK space sector can work together to deliver against tight timescales and demonstrate the passion, drive and commitment of the UK space community.

'Although disappointing, it is just a stepping stone to the next success.'

Monday night marked Virgin Orbit's first attempt to launch from UK soil, but the firm has already conducted several successful consecutive orbital missions with LauncherOne in 2021 and 2022 in the US.

The last one took place in July to deploy payloads for the US Space Force.

Another mission in January successfully launched seven satellites for customers including the US Department of Defense and British firm Spire.

It's worth bearing in mind that the maiden LauncherOne flight back in 2020 was also deemed a failure when it did not reach space, due to a premature shutdown of the first stage engine.

All of these prior launches took off from Mojave Air and Space Port, California, but Monday's was the first to launch from British soil.

Spectators whooped and danced as the plane took off from Spaceport Cornwall, with people climbing onto each other shoulders to witness a moment which had promised to deliver the birth of a home-grown space launch industry. A further 75,000 people watched online via a live stream on Virgin Orbit's YouTube channel. Pictured: Spectators gathered at the launch site

A person dressed as an alien with a handmade sign reading 'take me home' is pictured at Spaceport Cornwall on Monday

A long exposure captures the Virgin Orbit plane over Beacon Cove and Newquay as it heads out to launch the UK's first satellites (unfortunately the objective failed)

The historic launch was originally supposed to take place before Christmas but owing to technical and regulatory issues it had to be pushed into 2023.

Virgin Orbit is a company within the Virgin Group, the conglomerate founded by Sir Richard Branson in 1970.

On Twitter, Branson himself addressed the failure on Tuesday afternoon by retweeting Virgin Orbit's official statement and thanking teams for all their 'hard work'.

Virgin Orbit was formed in 2017 to develop the air-launched LauncherOne rocket, which had previously been a project of Virgin Galactic.

It later agreed to launch space flights from Spaceport Cornwall, which could also one day act as a launch pad for fee-paying space tourists to depart on sub-orbital 'pleasure flights'.

Spaceport Cornwall may not be the only UK spaceport for long; it will be joined by two other UK spaceports, Space Hub Sutherland and SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands.

As well as Spaceport Cornwall, there are two other UK spaceports aiming to start operations. The one in Cornwall is a horizontal launch site, meaning it uses a carrier aircraft, such as a Boeing 747, for launches before deploying rockets when the aircraft is airborne. Conversely, Space Hub Sutherland and SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands will be vertical spaceports, meaning they will perform more conventional ground launches with a rocket

Both these Scottish locations will be vertical spaceports, meaning they'll perform more conventional ground launches with a rocket.

However, these two are yet to become operational and are still being built.

Another four spaceport locations in the UK have been proposed in Western Isles, Campbeltown and Prestwick, Scotland, and another in Snowdonia, Wales.

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Twitter has taken the number one spot in 'US News' on Apple's App Store for the second time since Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover in October.

Apple ranks apps based on user reviews and ratings, and as of Tuesday, Twitter has a 4.6 rating and several comments thank Musk 'for restoring free speech.'

Twitter bounced between sixth and seventh when the $44 billion officially closed last year, but climbed to number one on November 9 and again on Monday.

Since Musk named himself Chief Twit, the lowest the platform has ranked was 11 - and it happened just days after the app sat at the top slot in November.

It is unclear what caused the recent climb for Twitter, but the move follows Musk's release of the Twitter Files that could keep users on the hook for the latest news.

Elon Musk's Twitter is ranked as the number one app for US News in Apple's App Store. This is the second time Twitter has been at the top since Musk took over in October

Musk's role as CEO has been a rollercoaster - industry experts have gone as far as to call it his 'Twitter Circus.'

However, the billionaire acknowledged his faults in an interview last month with All-In Podcast.

'My error rate in being the Chief Twit will be less over time, but in the beginning, we'll obviously make a lot more mistakes because I'm new to... hey, I just got here, man,' Musk said.

'I think we'll have fewer gaffes in the future,' he added. 'I think we're actually executing well and getting things done.'

And the lasted rise of Twitter in the App Store suggests the app and Musk are heading in the right direction, first reported on by Teslarati.

Data.Ai compiled graphs showing Tesla's progress in the App Store starting on October 12, 2022.

On October 28, two days after the purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk was finalized, Twitter went from seventh to sixth in the App Store for the best US News apps.

And then it hit number one for the first time several weeks after that was immediately followed by the nose dive to eleventh.

Around the time Twitter sat at number one in November, Musk released an updated version of its iOS app that allowed users to pay a monthly fee for the coveted blue checkmark.

However, Musk pulled the feature just days after due to a flood of celebrity and company impersonators who wreaked havoc on the site - and the world.

Then on November 24, Musk said the relaunch of the monthly subscription would not roll out until the next month.

And this may have been the reason for Twitter's nose dive to the eleventh spot, as the two occurred around the same time.

Musk has recently been pulling back the current on how Twitter was operating before his takeover, sharing a series of Twitter Files.

The Twitter Files began on December 2 after Musk promised to release the company's internal dialogue regarding the suppression of the New York Post's Hunter Biden laptop story.

Musk released unvetted documents to journalists Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss and Michael Shellenberger.

Data.Ai compiled graphs showing Tesla's progress in the App Store starting on October 12, 2022

Apple ranks apps based on user reviews and ratings, and as of Tuesday, Twitter has a 4.6 rating and several comments thank Musk 'for restoring free speech'

The leaks have now gone beyond the Hunter Biden story to show how the company worked with the FBI to suppress free speech.

The files also show Twitter shadow-banned conservatives, despite claiming they did not, and how the FBI urged the former staff to delete pro-Trump tweets.

And on Monday, the latest dump of Twitter Files shows Pfizer board member and former FDA head Scott Gottlieb used his influence to pressure Twitter to flag a tweet that cast doubt on Covid-19 vaccines.

Musk's role as CEO has been a rollercoaster - industry experts have gone as far as to call it his 'Twitter Circus.' However, the billionaire acknowledged his faults in an interview last month

Documents leaked to controversial reporter Alex Berenson allege that Dr Scott Gottlieb leaned on the social media company to obscure a relatively innocuous post that cast doubt about the Pfizer vaccine's effectiveness and suggested natural immunity was more effective.

The tweet - made by a former Government health official - was subsequently slapped with a 'Misleading' label, despite the debate around immunity still dividing scientists to this day.

While it is unclear if the latest dump of Twitter Files has anything to do with Twitter sitting at the top of the App Store, users appear to be excited to see it unravel on the social media platform.

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They share the red sofa together to present the morning news to the nation.

And in a new interview, BBC Breakfast star Naga Munchetty, 47, jokingly claimed her co-host Charlie Stayt, 60, 'wears a wig.'

Charlie jested that the question about whether he wears a toupee is 'an ongoing debate' and revealed that Liza Minnelli, 76, once pulled his hair 'just to test it.'

It's an ongoing debate: In a new interview, BBC Breakfast star Naga Munchetty, 47, jokingly claimed her co-host Charlie Stayt, 60, 'wears a wig'

Speaking to RadioTimes, the duo were asked 'about that other perennial question,' to which Naga responded: 'Oh, you mean, ''Does Charlie wear a wig?'' I always say 'Yes he does,' she quipped, while laughing.

Charlie added: 'It's an ongoing debate. It's even been addressed by Liza Minnelli, who leaned forward and pulled my hair just to test it. I suppose it goes back to the idea of being a family for the audience.

'You're in their living room, or kitchen, for a long time each day and they have the right, in a nice way, to engage with you.'

Naga agreed, explaining: 'Newscasters used to be seen as distant figures, people who sit down and tell you the news, but now its about being relatable.

No way! Charlie jested that the question about whether he wears a toupee is 'an ongoing debate' and revealed that Liza Minnelli, 76,(pictured in 2015) once pulled his hair 'to test it'

'Actually in terms of hair, I think we are the only duo in telly where the woman has shorter hair than the man.'

In October 2022, Naga admitted she was branded 'b***dy useless' by bosses in the early days of her career.

Read all about it: The full interviews is available in Radio Times

The TV presenter said she had copy 'thrown at her' and left the office in 'floods of tears' back when she was a print journalist.

Talking to Radio Times, Naga said that the harsh treatment made her better at her job in the long-run, saying: 'I did go home many a day in tears, but equally, I learnt not to make mistakes, that mistakes werent acceptable.'

Naga said the incidents made her do her research 'twice as well and to the best of her ability,' explaining: 'That fear of making a mistake meant that you did your research twice as well, and to the best of your ability.

She recalled: 'I remember when I first decided I wanted to explore being on air, I was told, "You are quite sensitive."

'You do take criticism quite hard and you dwell on things. You need to toughen up". And I did.'

MailOnline contacted the BBC for more information at the time.
The Indigenous boy who broke Australia's hearts in distressing footage will hit the big screen alongside one of the world's biggest stars as his own movie career takes off.

Quaden Bayles, 12, is yet to start high school but already has a thriving life as a movie star and influencer, less than three years after he was bullied so badly he wanted to die.

The Queensland boy made headlines in early 2020 when his mum Yarraka posted a heartbreaking video of him sobbing and asking for 'rope' to kill himself after being bullied at school due to his dwarfism.

High-profile names around the world and back home rallied around Quaden, including Oscar-winning filmmaker George Miller, who gave him a role in his latest blockbuster Furiosa, the fifth film in the Mad Max franchise.

It will tell the backstory of Fury Road's fearsome heroine Furiosa, played in an earlier movie by Charlize Theron.

Quaden will star alongside Australian Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth and actress Anya Taylor-Joy when the action blockbuster hits the cinemas in May 2024.

Quaden Bayles (pictured on the red carpet in August) starred along side Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy in his latest movie

Quaden's new career move follows successful forays onto Instagram and TikTok. He recently met Indigenous rapper The Kid Laroi

'Cant wait to watch on the big screen next year,' Quaden told his 273,000 Instagram followers on Monday.

He was quickly inundated with message of support.

'Going to be an epic film my bro, you absolutely rocked your role,' a follower commented.

Another added: 'Congrats Quaden. You are such a wonderful young man. Cant wait to see this myself.'

Furiosa was filmed in New South Wales and was expected to become the biggest movie ever to be made in Australia. Filming wrapped up in September.

Furiosa won't be Quaden's first appearance on the big screen.

His acting debut was an extra alongside Hollywood heavyweights Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton in Miller's most recent film Three Thousand Years of Longing.

Quaden Byales (pictured with mum Yarraka) celebrated his 12 birthday in December

At the premiere in August, Quaden stole the show on the red carpet.

'I love acting, I want to do heaps,' Quaden told NITV News at the time.

'I can't believe I'm in Mad Max. I never knew what it was, my brother was the one who showed me what it was and it blew my eyes.

'I was like ''wow that's crazy'', and I love working with George Miller.

'It's a really great job for me because of what I've been through.'

The filmmaker described his young star as 'very film savvy' and skilled.

'Like everyone else, I saw the footage that his mother put up. I was incredibly moved by it,' Miller said.

'And I thought, ''If one good thing can happen out of bullying''... and we offered him a little part in the movie. He's wonderful to work with.'

'It was good for us and it was good for him,' Miller said. 'And he did such a good job that's he's got a small role in Furiosa.'

It's been less than three years since footage of a distressed Quaden made headline worldwide

Quaden was born with achondroplasia, a type of dwarfism.

In 2020, harrowing footage was shared of Quaden sobbing uncontrollably and asking for a knife to kill himself after being bullied at school.

'I just want to stab myself in the heart... I want someone to kill me,' he cried

He was then trolled again over the viral video, being falsely accused of being an 18-year-old actor who had lied about his age as part of a scam to raise money.

Quaden was just nine-years old-at the time.

He was pictured looking happy and care-free as he celebrated his 12th birthday last month.

'Cant believe my baby boy is 12 years old and off to high school next month,' his mum wrote.
The wife of TV personality Grant Denyer has been praised for her fearless reaction to finding a deadly brown snake in her family's backyard.

The eastern brown snake is highly venomous and is responsible for about 60 per cent of human snake-bite deaths in Australia.

Grant posted a video on Instagram on Monday of his wife Chezzi shooing away the reptile with a pair of barbecue tongs while he and their three daughters, Sailor, Scout and Sunday, took shelter inside the house.

Chezzi Denyer, the wife of TV personality Grant Denyer, has been praised for her fearless reaction to finding a deadly brown snake in her family's backyard. She shooed the reptile away with a pair of barbecue tongs (circled) after it approached the family dog

The footage shows a quick-thinking Chezzi grabbing a broom and tongs then confronting the snake, which was getting uncomfortably close to the family dog, outside their back door.

'When Mr Brown comes to visit, trust the chick who had snakes as a kid to take care of it,' a proud Grant captioned the footage on Instagram.

In the video, Grant could be heard in the background shouting, 'Do you see it, Chez? Its coming for the stairs.'

Grant (left) posted a video on Instagram on Monday of Chezzi (right) dealing with the snake while he and their three daughters, Sailor, Scout and Sunday, took shelter inside the house

'Just a mum trying to cook dinner on time when the kids spot a big snake coming for the dog,' Chezzi replied calmly.

The snake eventually retreated to the paddock and Chezzi then returned inside to serve dinner for her family.

The Denyers' famous friends praised the mum of three for her reaction to the snake.

In the video, Grant could be heard in the background shouting, 'Do you see it, Chez? Its coming for the stairs'

The snake eventually retreated to the paddock and Chezzi returned inside to serve dinner for her family

The Morning Show host Larry Emdur commented: 'Bro, firstly I love it how you scream for Chezzi (what a brave husband and protective father you are).'

'Mum is so brave I love you, mum!' added Lisa Wilkinson.

If confronted by a snake do not approach it or try to contain it yourself. Call a professional snake catcher in your area or the WIRES Rescue Line on 1300 094 737.
China's Jilin sends trade delegation to expand business opportunities in Russia

Xinhua) 09:47, January 10, 2023

A worker checks a vehicle at the assembly line of FAW-Volkswagen in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, May 16, 2022. (Xinhua)

CHANGCHUN, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A trade delegation, composed of over 30 representatives from foreign trade enterprises and government in northeast China's Jilin Province, has recently departed for Russia to expand business opportunities there.

The delegation will spend approximately 10 days carrying out economic and trade negotiations and investment promotion activities with Russian industry associations and enterprises in fields such as coal, seafood, agricultural products, auto parts and cross-border e-commerce.

Li Zhuang, an official with the Jilin provincial department of commerce, said the economic and trade activities will help Jilin's enterprises deepen cooperation with their Russian peers, and export high-quality specialty products to the Russian market.

From January to November 2022, Jilin's trade volume with Russia increased by 74 percent year on year.

Over the past month, Jilin has sent several economic and trade delegations to the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and other countries to attract more business orders and foreign investment to the province.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
2023 has just begun. As the year started, rumors about upcoming smartphones are already circulating online. Although it's too early to know what's exactly in store for the smartphone industry in 2023, we can make some guess about what to look forward to this year.

For instance, we may expect the iPhone 15 lineup in September. And it could possibly arrive with USB-C charging for the first time. If Samsung will stick to its typical release cycle, the Galaxy S23 series could be the first new smartphone that we'll see in 2023.

While we still have to wait to actually these smartphones, we bring you some of the most anticipated units that will arrive this year.

1. iPhone 15 Lineup

Usually, Apple launches its new iPhone lineup during its event in September. We expect the same pattern to continue this 2023. One of the biggest changes coming to the iPhone 15 is the adoption of USB-C charging. Last year, the European Union mandated that all new phones sold in the region must support USB-C charging by 2024 and according to Apple, it would comply with these rules.

We're also likely to see some other changes such as camera upgrades and a new processor. The iPhone 15 Pro models are said to sport a periscope lens and an A17 Bionic chip, as per CNET.

Meanwhile, according to TF International Securities Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple may do more to distinguish the iPhone 15 Pro from the regular iPhone 15 just like what the company did in the iPhone 14 lineup.

2. Samsung Galaxy S23 Lineup

Based on the circulating rumors, Samsung could bring noteworthy upgrades to the camera and design of the Galaxy S23. These are the two areas that have been a big focus for the South Korean tech giant.

We can expect the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra to have a 200-megapixel camera, according to rumors. If this is true, this is a huge jump from the Galaxy S22 Ultra's 108-megapixel main sensor.

In addition, the South Korean tech giant might also tweak the design of the regular S23 and S23 Plus to closely match that of the S23 Ultra model. In terms of performance, the upcoming Samsung flagships are said to sport Qualcomm's latest mobile chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

Read Also: Brief History of Biometric Identification in Smartphones

3. Google Pixel 7A

If Google will continue its tradition, it is possible that the company will launch a cheaper version of the Pixel 7 known as the Pixel 7A in the spring or summer time frame. According to rumors, Pixel 7A could have a screen with a higher refresh rate of 90Hz. In addition, it will support wireless charging, something that is absent from the Pixel 6A.

The Pixel 7A could be powered by a Tensor G2 processor. It's the same processor that powers the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. Likewise, if Pixel 7A would follow in the same footstep of the Pixel 6A, it could have a camera setup that includes wide and ultrawide sensors.

4. Google Pixel Fold

Over the years, we've been hearing about the Google Pixel Fold. Based on recent rumors, we could be seeing the device in Q1 2023, or in May 2023.

So far, according to Tech Radar, the Google Pixel Fold might have a 7.6-inch foldable OLED screen, a 5.8-inch cover display, and a Tensor, or more likely a Tensor G2 chipset. According to one leak, the device might sport 64MP / 12.2MP / 10MP rear camera combination.

5. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5

The next Samsung foldable flagship to come into the market is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. However, we may have to wait for a while as we're not expecting to see it until August 2023.

According to an early leak, it will be powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and it will have similar cameras to the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Related Article: 5 features to expect in future smartphones
Neil Jones revealed he was left homeless in Finland when he was younger as he detailed how he 'used those low times' to find success.

The Strictly Come Dancing professional, 40, found himself at breaking point when he was just 16 after moving away from home to pursue a dancing career.

When he found himself unable to pay the bills, the BBC star ended up on the streets in a vulnerable position before a local charity helped him find accommodation.

'They got me off the streets': Neil Jones revealed he was left homeless in Finland when he was younger as he detailed how he 'used those low times' to find success

Speaking for a new initiative on behalf of homeless charity Centrepoint, Neil detailed how he 'overcame the challenges' and used them to fuel his passion for dancer.

He said: 'My breakthrough moment was when a homeless organisation offered me safe accommodation and got me off the streets so I could focus on my dancing.

'Since then, I've used those low times to push me to succeed.'

'I've used those lows to push me to succeed': The Strictly Come Dancing pro, 40, found himself at breaking point at just age 16 after moving away from home to pursue a dancing career

Opening up: When he found himself unable to pay the bills, the BBC star ended up on the streets in a vulnerable position before a local charity helped him find accommodation

The World Champion dancer, who has won 45 titles so far, only recently opened up about his experience being homeless and didn't even tell his own mum until two years ago.

It comes as Neil was seen departing a London studio following a busy first day of rehearsals for the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour.

He kept casual in a pair of black jogging bottoms and trainers as he pulled the hood up on his dark jumper.

Incredible: Speaking for a new initiative on behalf of homeless charity Centrepoint, Neil detailed how he 'overcame the challenges' and used them to fuel his passion for dancer

Homeless: The World Champion dancer, who has won 45 titles so far, only recently opened up about his experience being homeless and didn't even tell his own mum until two years ago

The BBC professional was joined by co-star Amy Dowden who was all smiles as she flashed her toned midriff in a beige crop top and long black skirt.

The beauty, 32, kept warm in dark tights and added a green flannel shirt over the top of the number as she toted her belongings around in a large rucksack.

Amy rocked a pair of black Nike trainers with the ensemble as she carried a crossbody bag as well as a padded coat.

The star swept her highlighted tresses back in a chic up do while carrying a hot beverage following the busy day of rehearsing.

It comes as Neil and Amy Dowden (pictured) was seen departing a London studio following a busy first day of rehearsals for the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour on Monday

Chic: The BBC professional was all smiles as she flashed her toned midriff in a beige crop top and long black skirt

Meanwhile Dianne Buswell wowed in metallic gold tight leggings which she teamed with a coordinated long sleeve top and gilet.

The Australian dancer, 33, left her long red tresses loose as she carried a large designer bag over her shoulder while departing the studio in black lace up boots.

Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour kicks off it's arena tour on January 20 in Birmingham before concluding on February 12 in Glasgow.

Out and about: The star swept her highlighted tresses back in a chic up do while keeping warm under a green flannel shirt and fur coat
Vogue Williams attempted to bar husband Spencer Matthews from her My Therapist Ghosted Me podcast tour after he hesitated on coming to the opening night of the new leg next month.

The model, 37, who married former Made In Chelsea star Spencer, 34, in 2018, is opening her show with her comedian co-host Joanne McNally, 39, at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, Ireland on February 16.

But after Spencer paused for just a second when she asked him if he'd be at the opening night, Vogue told Spencer on her new episode of their podcast Spencer & Vogue: 'You know in February I start my tour so it's actually going to be quite a fun month for me, February,' before asking him: 'Are you going to come over for it? For the first night?'

Banned! Vogue Williams, 37, attempted to bar husband Spencer Matthews, 34, from her My Therapist Ghosted Me podcast tour

Hesitating a second, Spencer replied: 'Well possibly, yes. When is it?'

Stunned, Vogue matter-of-factly stated: 'No, you're not invited now.'

A shocked Spencer asked: 'What do you mean? I'm saying possible which...'

Born to perform: She is opening her show with her comedian co-host Joanne McNally, 39 (pictured), at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, Ireland next month

At which point Vogue cut in, exclaiming: 'I'm going to get you barred!'

Using an Irish term for a person who always acts from who acts from self-interest, Vogue explained: 'Because you're always a me feiner.'

Attempting to reassure her, Spencer said: 'No, no. I'd like to come to your show,' to which she firmly told him: 'You're not invited.'

Astounded, Spencer spluttered: 'If... well... let me tell you something. I could waltz into that show without a ticket. How much do you want to bet?'

Vogue defiantly insisted: 'I will tell them I refuse to go on stage if you let that little... that little s**t in.'

Spencer protested: 'I guarantee you, I'll bet you any amount of money that you want, I'll sign the whole house over to you.

'If I can't get in the My Therapist Ghosted Me show without a ticket, let me tell you something. I'll f**king cartwheel it in.

'The door will part like the Red Sea. They'll literally go oh my God! I can't believe you came!'

Grabbing her phone to call her manager, Vogue said: 'OK lets ask Louisa. I'm going to ring her,' to which Spencer replied: 'Tell Louisa that I don't want a ticket.'

Attempting to show how series she was, Vogue told Spencer: 'We're putting 5,000 on this for charity.'

Wedding bells: Vogue and Spencer married in 2018 (Vogue is seen with their son Otto, eight months)

Spluttering in shock again, Spencer babbled: 'Ok, well, it's not until. Ok, yeah. That's fine.'

After her manager hung up within seconds without answering the call, a disappointed and amused Vogue said: 'Everyone's f**king burning me today.'

Finding the situation hilarious, Spencer laughed: 'That's so pathetic I just spoke to Louisa!', to which Vogue attempted to fight back: 'She's on a call, she's on a call.'

Family affair: They also share children Theodore, four, Gigi, two (pictured), living at their plush home together

It is unclear whether the couple did later get through to their manager and if they donated money to charity.

MailOnline has contacted a representative for the pair for comment.

The couple got married in 2018 and they share children Theodore, four, Gigi, two, and Otto, eight months, together.

They posed for a sweet family snap last month during a winter break as their offspring dressed in matching red checked outfits.

Happy times: Vogue Williams couldn't contain her smile as she posed for a sweet family snap on Instagram with husband Spencer Matthews and their three children last month

Vogue cut a stylish figure in a back figure hugging maxi dress as she held her youngest son Otto as they family posed in front of a lake.

The media personality added a pair of black shoes to the number and styled her long blonde tresses poker straight swept over to one side.

Meanwhile, Spencer looked dapper in a white roll neck jumper and black jeans as he added a smart beige blazer over the top.

Vogue shared a gallery of snaps to her a million followers and penned: 'Merry Christmas everyone'.
Anna Kendrick revealed to Dax Shepard that she wasn't sure if his wife Kristen Bell liked her or not.

Kendrick, 37, appearing on Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast Monday, made the revelation after Shepard, 48, told her that she was the only person he's observed Bell, 42, exhibit jealousy toward.

Shepard said, 'I've known Kristen for 15 years - she has only had jealousy over a single human and it's been you - I never saw it, it blew my mind. Kristen was like, "Who is this other short person?" "Oh, so she can sing like that too." "Oh, I'm already here, we got another one?"'

The latest: Anna Kendrick, 37, revealed to Dax Shepard, 48, that she wasn't sure if his wife Kristen Bell, 42, liked her or not while appearing on the Armchair Expert podcast Monday

Shepard made clear Bell's jealousy toward Kendrick did not take a negative tenor, but more of one of appreciation of her talents.

'In the whole 15 years, she's had nothing but benevolence for everyone and she monitored you, recognized how brilliant you were, lost some roles to you and slowly processed the whole thing and has nothing but wonderful feelings for you,' Shepard said. 'You're the only person that ever made her jealous that I witnessed.'

He added: 'I asked her if I could tell you that today and she said, "Oh my God yes, of course."'

The Portland, Maine native said she was genuinely surprised by the revelation, saying, 'I really feel like I have a comically shocked look on my face ... that is bizarre.'

Both actresses were snapped with one another at an October 2012 event in NYC

The stars posed with one another at a June 2010 event at Soho House in LA

The Oscar-nominated actress continued: 'Man I had been debating, depending on how this conversation went, sort of saying, gosh, I actually have a funny thing with your wife where I never felt like she liked me.'

The Up in the Air actress delved into detail about why she believed there was a rift with Bell.

'I do think that a massive percentage of that is just genuinely, when it comes to really sweet angelic blonde girls,' she said. 'I just assume they think I'm weird, they think I'm this weird little troll. I don't think of Kristen as short, I think of her as this angel - she's just so sweet and I feel so rough around the edges that I was like, she must not like me.'

The discussion took place on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast Monday

Kendrick said her perception had nothing to do with the way Bell treated her, but something she thought of on her own.

'Maybe there was some energetic thing there,' Kendrick said. 'In all likelihood, there wasn't, but it was just my typical thing of certain women who look a certain way scare me and I just assume they won't like me. I definitely don't have the reputation she has of being just the sweetest little honey bear, absolutely not my reputation.'

Shepard later clarified to Kendrick that he never saw anything from Bell to indicate a rift with Kendrick.

'I have to be ultra clear with you, she never disliked you,' Shepard said. 'I just want to say that for the record. Never disliked, jealous, which I'd never seen.'

Kendrick described the misconception as 'unfathomable' and 'fascinating,' calling Bell 'unbelievably talented and successful at all the things.'
Janelle Monae looked chic in a black and white sweater dress and a coordinating hat as she arrived at SiriusXM Studios in New York City on Monday.

The songstress, 37, wore a sweeping trench coat before joining Andy Cohen on his pop culture radio show Radio Andy.

The day before, her Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery co-star, Daniel Craig, 54, presented her with the Best Supporting Actress award at the National Board of Review Gala for her performance in the Netflix mystery film.

Monochromatic: Janelle Monae, 37, looked chic in a black-and-white sweater dress and a hat as she arrived at SiriusXM Studios in New York City on Monday

For her grand entrance, the eight-time Grammy nominee wore a black turtleneck underneath her striped frock.

She completed her cool ensemble with a pair of semi-sheer, black tights and patent leather knee-high boots.

Over her shoulders, she wore a long, black trench coat with structured shoulder pads.

Bundled up: The songstress wore a sweeping trench coat before joining Andy Cohen on his pop culture radio show Radio Andy

For accessories, she wore a black top hat over her strawberry blonde hair tied into a low bun.

She donned a pair of statement dangling earrings and gold rings.

For makeup, she rocked a bold, red lip and a fierce cat-eye look.

Chic: She wore a pair of sheer, black tights and patent leather knee-high boots

Recently, the star gave a critically-acclaimed performance as twins Helen and Andi Brand in Glass Onion.

The Knives Out sequel, which premiered on December 23, is now streaming exclusively on Netflix.

Since its release, the movie has become the third most-watched film from Netflix.

The sequel to Rian Johnson's drama mystery began streaming after a one-week limited theatrical release.

Radio show appearance: For accessories, she wore a black top hat over her strawberry blonde hair tied into a low bun; posed with Andy Cohen

During the holiday debut, the film garnered 82.1 million hours viewed and has now reached 209.4 million hours of viewing time.

The story follows detective Benoit Blanc - played by the former James Bond actor - as he attempts to solve a mystery in Greece involving a tech billionaire and his rich friends.

Since the release, the film has received widespread praise and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture in the Musical/Comedy category.

Monae's co-star Craig was also nominated for a Best Actor in a Motion Picture award in the Musical/Comedy category.
Victoria Beckham's high end fashion company reportedly has racked up a total of 66.3million of debt since its launch.

The 48-year-old fashion designer launched her fashion label in 2008 with a small collection of dresses. It swiftly grew to an extensive range that now includes handbags, coats, shoes and accessories.

According to The Mirror, the latest accounts for Victoria Beckham Holdings Ltd show it made losses of 5,887,036 in 2021, down from 8,581,944 in 2020.

Finance: Victoria Beckham's high end fashion company reportedly has debts of 66.3million since its launch in 2008

This means overall losses for the firm now stand at 66.3m since its launch in 2008 and directors of the firm - including Victoria and her husband David - were not paid a dividend.

The study says: 'The loss for the year, after taxation and minority interests, amounted to 5,887,036 (2020 - loss of 8,581,944

'During the 2021 financial year the ultimate shareholders provided additional loans of 0.6m to the group.'

The luxury fashion business has expanded to Europe and the Middle East, with the annual accounts saying the brand was also expanding into new products, with the launch of leather goods and the VB Body range.

Brand: According to The Mirror, the latest accounts for Victoria Beckham Holdings Ltd show it made losses of 5,887,036 in 2021, down from 8,581,944 in 2020

A company spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The shareholders continue to support and invest in the business for growth. The balance sheet is good, there is no bank debt.'

CEO, Marie Leblanc added: '2021 saw the successful repositioning of Victoria Beckham Limited and 2022 is set to be an even stronger year.

'We have entered a new chapter for the business and our energy is focused on accelerating growth and taking the brand to its full potential.

'With the successful launch of leather goods in 2022 and the continuous acceleration of sales growth in Beauty, we have high expectations.'

Store: The 48-year-old fashion designer launched her fashion label in 2008 with a small collection of dresses. It swiftly grew to an extensive range that now includes handbags, coats, shoes and accessories

Despite the big losses, the Beckham's global empire has reportedly doubled its profits. Annual accounts filed with Companies House in London showed the pair made 11.6m in the year ending December 2020 despite the pandemic  compared to 4.5m in 2019.

In accounts submitted in 2021, auditors warned of 'significant doubt' about Victoria's fashion company's ability to continue operating when it was reported that the company had racked up debts of more than 46 million since it launched.

Friends of the star said at the time that she is determined to continue with her company even though her detractors have dismissed it as a vanity project.

One said: 'This is what gives Victoria her identity, she loves it and despite its obvious obstacles, she is a grafter and hugely passionate about it.'

Power couple: Despite the big losses, the Beckhams global empire has reportedly doubled its profits - racking in 11.6 million in 2020

In February 2021, it emerged that Mrs Beckham's beauty range she set up in 2019 had suffered a loss of 4.7 million.

A spokeswoman for Mrs Beckham said: 'Whilst 2019 was a challenging year, the business halved its losses - a significant step in the road to profitability. The launch of the hugely successful beauty line in the same year helped drive overall revenues up 7% on 2018 and both businesses are focussed on profitable growth.

'The showcase of the recent AW21 fashion collection has been well-received by fashion critics and the beauty business has seen multiple sell-out products in recent months.'
Reality television star-turned-porn gran Mishel Karen has taken aim at Channel 10, claiming the producers of The Bachelors are using polyamorous relationships as a gimmick to get more ratings.

In a shock twist, the matchmaking show has encouraged the female contestants to swap partners and date all three leading bachelors - Felix Von Hofe, Jed McIntosh and Thomas Malucelli.

The former Married At First Sight star, 51, said the twist was just a way for the producers to 'push the limits and get more views and make more money' all while totally misrepresenting real-life polyamorous relationships.

Reality television star-turned-'porn gran' Mishel Karen, 51, (pictured) slammed The Bachelors producers on Monday for using polyamory as a money-grab in the latest season

'Many of the girls [on the show] are shocked about the situation not just the audience. So are the producers doing this for good or for money?' she said.

'If this was a legit way of exposing different forms of relationships in a healthy way then the contestants would have already known and be open to this type of relationship.

'Why not show a healthy poly relationship without scandal and hype?'

In a shocking twist, the matchmaking show has encouraged the female contestants to swap partners and date all three leading bachelors - Felix Von Hofe, Jed McIntosh and Thomas Malucelli (all pictured)

Karen also went on to slam Married At First Sight producers, saying their attempt at representing same-sex relationships with Tash Herz and Amanda Micallef failed for the same reason.

'MAFS did the same sex [pairing] with two people who would never ever like each other in a trillion years. Then public perception is that same-sex relationships just dont work! Not too much real about Reality TV,' she said.

However, there are others who think the diversity on The Bachelors 2023 is positive.

The former Married At First Sight star said the twist was just a way for the producers to 'push the limits and get more views and make more money' while misrepresenting real-life polyamorous relationships

AICA's Best Female Porn Star of 2022 Charlie Forde said: 'Its great to see diversity in relationship types on a major platform.'

'Polyamory is not for everyone, but it should be respected by everyone and hopefully this will educate more people on what it is like and how it feels to be polyamorous.'

Meanwhile Sexpo Australia CEO Kevin Mack said polyamory is much more common than people think, especially in urban areas of US, Canada, South Korea and Australia.

However, there are others who believe the diversity on The Bachelors 2023 is positive to see. AICA's Best Female Porn Star of 2022 Charlie Forde said: 'Its great to see diversity in relationship types on a major platform'

He said a 2022 USA study showed one in five adults have engaged in consensual non-monogamy at some point in their lives.

'A survey of 340 polyamorous adults shows their polyam relationships lasting an average of eight years.'

Polyamorous relationships typically involve a committed couple who are each free to explore other relationships with the goal of achieving greater emotional connection.
Adrian Portelli threw Sharon Johal and Ankur Dogra a lifeline after they failed to sell their home during The Block auctions last year, snapping up their property just days after the controversial finale.

Now, 'Mr Lambo', 33, is set to give away the $4.25million mansion or $3million 'tax free' cash in his latest raffle through his promotions company LMCT+.

Offering four raffle packages, which range from $20 to $500, the multimillionaire has given participants the choice to take the Gisborne home or the cash if they win.

Controversial Block bidder Adrian Portelli is set to give away Sharon and Ankur's $4.25m home from the show or $3 million in cash for FREE in his latest raffle through his promotions company LMCT+

'This is our biggest ever giveaway and if you do not want the house, you can take $3million in tax free cash to build your own dream life for you and your family,' he wrote on the raffle's website.

'This is going to be drawn in just a few weeks, so dont wait. Grab a package and lock your name into the draw and when Adrian makes that phone call, what are you going to chose? The Block house? Or the $3million cash alternative?'

Second prize will see someone gifted a 2022 Ford Everest Sport while third prize wins a $5,000 gift card for LMCT+ partners.

Portelli snapped up Sharon and Ankur's home after he missed out on buying Omar Slaimankhel and Oz Abu Malik's record-breaking house

Winners of the raffle will be drawn on January 29 during a Facebook stream.

Portelli snapped up Sharon and Ankur's home after he missed out on buying Omar Slaimankhel and Oz Abu Malik's record-breaking house.

The flashy businessman helped drive up the price of Omar and Oz's reno when he went toe-to-toe with Block royalty Danny Wallis.

Offering four raffle packages, which range from $20 to $500, the multimillionaire has given participants the choice to take the Gisborne home or the cash if they win

His aggressive bidding style pushed Wallis into paying an eye-watering $5,666,666.66 for the five-bedroom property, leading to rumours he was a 'dummy bidder' in cahoots with the western Sydney mates.

Portelli put his money where his mouth is by splashing out $4.25million on Sharon and Ankur's house in a post-auction private sale.

It meant the couple, who just days before were facing a major financial loss, pocketed a profit of $170,000.

The flashy businessman helped drive up the price of Omar and Oz's reno when he went toe-to-toe with Block royalty Danny Wallis

That in addition to the Ford Everest they won on the show, they walked away with a quarter of a million dollars.

Portelli later posted a video on Instagram Stories in which he addressed 'all the critics' who doubted him, and thanked his 'haters' for the free publicity.

'For all the critics and the haters, thank you. A big shout-out for creating a platform for me to absolutely smash this out of the park. Marketing 101, baby. Let's go!' he said.
A raunchy extract from Prince Harry's new memoir Spare left the hosts of Australia's Today show visibly repulsed on Wednesday.

The controversial book recounts Harry and Meghan Markle's steamy reunion in a London hotel room after spending weeks apart in the summer of 2016.

Co-anchors Brooke Boney and Alex Cullen gagged as they listened to reporter Lara Vella read the cringeworthy passage aloud live on air.

A raunchy extract from Prince Harry's new memoir Spare left the hosts of Australia's Today show Alex Cullen (left) and Brooke Boney (centre) visibly repulsed on Wednesday. Reporter Lara Vella (right) read the passage aloud after getting her hands on a copy

'I knocked and suspended breathing while I waited. The door flew open. That smile,' Vella began, quoting Harry's account of the tryst.

'Her hair was partly covering her eyes, her arms were reaching for me. She pulled me inside and thanked her friend in one fluid motion, then slammed the door quickly before anyone saw.'

The cameras cut to Boney and Cullen wincing with second-hand embarrassment.

The extract recounts Harry and Meghan Markle's steamy reunion in London after spending weeks apart in the summer of 2016. (Pictured: the Duke and Duchess of Sussex kissing at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club in Windsor, England, on July 26, 2018)

Vella pushed on: 'I want to say we hung a "do not disturb" sign on the door, but I don't think there was enough time.'

Boney squealed and recoiled in horror at Harry's racy revelation, as Cullen blurted out: 'Is this a Mills & Boon novel? Is this R-rated? Woah!'

Composing herself, Boney added: 'In the audiobook he reads that... so imagine him saying that in his voice in your ear.'

Boney squealed and recoiled in horror at Harry's racy revelation, as Cullen blurted out: 'Is this a Mills & Boon novel? Is this R-rated? Woah!'

Boney shuddered at the thought of Harry recounting the tryst himself in the audiobook version

'You're driving along in the car, maybe going for a walk with the dog [and] Harry's saying that...' she continued, before lurching forward and gagging.

'You're pulling over for that bit,' Cullen suggested, as Boney added: 'I think I'm going to be sick.'

The Duke of Sussex's headline-grabbing autobiography offers a trove of controversial revelations about his wilder years, including admissions about his past drug use and mental health battle.

The Duke of Sussex's headline-grabbing autobiography offers a trove of controversial revelations about his wilder years, including admissions about his past drug use and mental health battle. (Pictured: Harry and Meghan in New York City on November 10, 2021)

It also includes claims the Prince of Wales physically attacked Harry and teased him about his panic attacks, and that the King put his own interests above Harry's and was jealous of the Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales.

Harry, who was known as 'Captain Wales' in the military, also wrote that he killed 25 Taliban fighters during his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.

He said did not think of those killed 'as people' but instead 'chess pieces' he had taken off the board.
Travis Barker wore a trendy bomber jacket on Monday as he headed to his studio in Los Angeles during a rainstorm.

The 47-year-old drummer wore a black Vetements x Alpha Industries hooded racing-inspired bomber jacket that featured a parachute material exterior, neon yellow lining and multiple logos.

The husband of Kourtney Kardashian, 43, wore the lightweight jacket over a white T-shirt along with black pants.

Trendy jacket: Travis Barker wore a trendy bomber jacket on Monday as he headed to his studio in Los Angeles during a rainstorm

He completed his look with Old Skool black Vans sneakers and a dark blue beanie.

Travis also accessorized with a thick chain necklace and carried his cellphone.

The Blink-182 drummer collaborated on the 2022 album Mainstream Sellout with Machine Gun Kelly, 32, that continued Kelly's transition into the pop-punk genre.

Mainstream Sellout has been nominated for Best Rock Album at the upcoming 65th annual Grammy Awards.

Wet weather: The 47-year-old drummer wore a black Vetements x Alpha Industries hooded racing-inspired bomber jacket that featured a parachute material exterior and neon yellow lining amid wet weather in Los Angeles

Travis and reality star Kourtney Kardashian, 43, got engaged in October 2021 before getting married first in a drunken Las Vegas wedding with an Elvis impersonator on April Fool's Day 2022 followed by a glamorous wedding at a castle in Italy in May.

Kourtney has children Mason, 13, Penelope, 10, and eight-year-old Reign with her ex-partner Scott Disick, 39.

Travis meanwhile shares son Landon, 19, and daughter Alabama, 17, with his ex-wife and former beauty queen Shanna Moakler, 47.

Cute couple: Travis and reality star Kourtney Kardashian, shown last November in West Hollywood, California,, got engaged in October 2021 before getting married first in a drunken Las Vegas wedding with an Elvis impersonator on April Fool's Day 2022 followed by a glamorous wedding at a castle in Italy last May

Shanna also has daughter Atiana, 23, from her previous relationship with former boxer Oscar De La Hoya, 49, and Travis has continued to play a stepfather role in her life.

Kourtney rose to fame on the E! reality series Keeping Up With The Kardashians and several spin-off series from 2007 to 2021.

She currently stars on the The Kardashians that premiered last April on Hulu, followed by a second season that premiered in September.

Season three of The Kardashians currently is in production.
Kimberley Garner left little to the imagination as she posed for sizzling Instagram snaps in a racy khaki bikini while soaking up the sun in Anguilla on Monday.

The former Made In Chelsea star, 31, showed off her incredible figure in the tiny string two piece as she held a gold body chain.

She turned heads while posing against a wall showcasing her peachy bottom as she faced away from the camera.

'Island girl': Kimberley Garner left little to the imagination as she posed for sizzling Instagram snaps in a racy khaki bikini while soaking up the sun in Anguilla on Monday

The TV personality played with her long blonde tresses which cascaded past her shoulders in loose waves.

Kimberley applied a flawless palette of makeup to showcase her beauty including a swipe of dark pink lipstick and bronzed cheeks.

She once again showed off her sensational figure while soaking up the sun on the beach in a short clip of her walking towards the sea.

Hot! The former Made In Chelsea star, 31, showed off her incredible figure in the tiny string two piece as she held a gold body chain

Peachy display: She turned heads while posing against a wall showcasing her peachy bottom as she faced away from the camera

Kimberly flashed her glowing tan while facing away from the camera in the skimpy bikini in the picturesque location.

The beauty added the Charlies Angels theme over the top as she flicked her blonde locks in the sea breeze.

She captioned the post: 'Island girl'.

The UK based reality star launched swimwear line Kimberley London in 2013 and it has continued to flourish over the years.

Incredible: The TV personality played with her long blonde tresses which cascaded past her shoulders in loose waves

Sensational: Kimberley applied a flawless palette of makeup to showcase her beauty including a swipe of dark pink lipstick and bronzed cheeks

But despite enjoying success as a business owner, Kimberley previously admitted to pretending she was an intern after establishing her first business as a teenager, because nobody took her seriously.

She told MailOnline: 'I think people sometimes think that Im only the face, but I am responsible for every bit of the business.

'I was 18 when I started my first company - I came up with an idea, stayed up for days learning how to register the company and teaching myself. It became very successful overnight.'

Having fun: She once again showed off her sensational figure while soaking up the sun on the beach in a short clip of her walking towards the sea

Soaking up the sun: Kimberly flashed her glowing tan while facing away from the camera in the skimpy bikini in the picturesque location

She explained: 'However, as I was only 18, no one ever imagined it was mine. I was a young blonde girl with a soft voice.

'No one would take me seriously or realise it was my company. So, I pretended to be the Intern!

'I handled all the meetings, phone calls, and emails for the company. When it became a success, I put all the revenues into starting Kimberley London.'
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has contacted Tesla with inquiries on Elon Musk's tweet that said he would take away a crucial safety measure from the company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system.

The NHTSA is gathering data as part of a larger probe of Tesla's Autopilot, which has been implicated in more than a dozen accidents with stationary emergency vehicles.

The Investigation Follows Years Of Skepticism Against The FSD

In response to a request by Tesla shareholder Omar Qazi, Musk tweeted on December 31 that Tesla would release an over-the-air software upgrade in January that would remove the driver monitoring notice.

According to The Verge, Musk tweeted his support for Qazi's suggestion that FSD Beta users with more than 10,000 miles should have the option to disable the "steering wheel nag."

This response has called on the attention of regulators since Tesla has been under the regulator's observation for a long time now.

It can be remembered that regulators and safety experts have pleaded with Tesla for years to upgrade driver monitoring in its vehicles.

The CEO has even acknowledged that accidents employing Autopilot are caused by complacency.

Still, he previously rebuffed recommendations from his own engineers to provide the company's vehicles more effective driver monitoring.

In order to ensure that drivers pay attention while using hands-free driving features, automakers like General Motors and Ford presently sell automobiles with camera-based eye-tracking systems.

Tesla, on the other hand, makes use of torque sensors that are built into the steering wheel to make sure that drivers have their hands ready.

However, some drivers have manipulated the system to believe their hands are on the wheel by using weights and other devices.

Researchers could "drive" a Tesla Model Y for several kilometers while seated in the backseat by using a hefty chain to imitate hands on the steering wheel.

Read More: Elon Musk Wants To Move Shareholder Lawsuit From California To Texas Due To 'Local Negativity'

The FSD Is Also Looking Into Tesla's Alleged False Advertising

According to The Verge, autopilot, a driver assistance technology, is now a standard feature on all Tesla vehicles.

Customers can purchase the Full Self-Driving option for $15,000 more, which Elon Musk has repeatedly claimed will one day provide Tesla owners fully autonomous capabilities.

Note that the FSD is still a "Level 2" sophisticated driver-assistance system, which means the driver must remain totally focused on controlling the car while it is moving.

Due to complaints of FSD malfunction and other safety issues, Tesla has run into trouble with the federal government.

With 16 wrecks, 15 injuries, and one fatality, the NHTSA is looking into incidents in which Tesla drivers were using Autopilot when they struck stationary emergency vehicles.

It is important to remember that after the government upgraded its probe earlier this year, the automaker is now potentially facing a recall of Autopilot, FSD, or both.

In the past, customers have filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that it misled them about the capabilities of its vehicles and regulators have accused it of fraudulent advertising.

However, as a result of Musk's efforts to downplay the limitations of Tesla's autonomous driving technology, he has so far mostly escaped any major repercussions.

Related Article: Man May Have Intentionally Driven His Tesla Off a Cliff to Kill His Family
Australian model Elyse Knowles proudly showcased her baby bump on Tuesday, a day after announcing her second pregnancy.

The 30-year-old shared a photo on Instagram of herself wearing a mismatched bikini and open burgundy shirt while at the beach with her one-year-old son Sunny.

Her growing tummy was on display as she placed a hand on Sunny's head at a cliffside location, possibly near her home in Byron Bay.

Australian model Elyse Knowles (pictured with her son Sunny) proudly showcased her baby bump on Tuesday, a day after announcing her second pregnancy

The former Myer ambassador pulled her pulled blonde locks into a loose bun and concealed her gaze behind a pair of sunglasses.

The expectant mother is halfway through her pregnancy, and has said Sunny is excited to become a big brother.

'Very, very grateful for baby number two,' she wrote in her pregnancy announcement on Monday.

The expectant mother (pictured with her fiance Josh and their son Sunny) is halfway through her pregnancy, and has said Sunny is excited to become a big brother

The boho blonde confirmed the news on Instagram by sharing a photo of herself with her bump on show.

Together with fiance Josh Barker, they welcomed their first child, Sunny, in February 2021.

The child arrived shortly after their secret engagement.

Together with fiance Josh Barker, they welcomed their first child in February 2021

Prior to motherhood, Elyse and Josh won the 2017 season of Channel Nine renovation show The Block.

The reality stars moved from Melbourne to Byron Bay in 2019 seeking a quieter life.

In May 2020, they purchased a $2.3million beachside house in the NSW coastal town, which they have since renovated.
Tom Hanks was accompanied by his furry feline co-star Smeagol as he attended a screening of his new film A Man Called Otto at Dotdash Meredith in Manhattan on Monday.

The actor, 66, was accompanied by his wife Rita Wilson and their youngest son Truman for the latest event to promote the dramedy.

Tom - who just weighed in on the nepo-baby debate - opted for a black pinstripe suit with a blue necktie while Truman, 26, wore a Tarantino-style black suit with a black necktie to the family film festivities.

Adorable! Tom Hanks was accompanied by his co-star Smeagol The Cat as he attended a screening of his new film A Man Called Otto at Dotdash Meredith in Manhattan on Monday

Posing for snaps at the swanky event, Tom carried his on-screen pet Smeagol, who was perfectly dressed for the occasion with a matching tie.

Mariana Trevino - who plays Marisol - and Rachel Keller - who plays Sonya - were both delighted to see Hanks holding his feline friend.

Meanwhile Rita coordinated with her real-life leading men in a black embroidered suit over a matching camisole and pumps selected by stylist Maryam Malakpour.

Wilson collaborated with Colombian crooner Sebastian Yatra on the duet Til You're Home for the movie soundtrack, which Decca Records dropped on December 30.

Family business: The actor was also accompanied by his wife Rita Wilson and their son Truman at the swanky film event

Cute! Tom's castmates Mariana Trevino (2-R) and Rachel Keller (R) were both delighted to see Tom holding his feline friend

Dressed to impress! Posing for snaps at the swanky event, Tom carried his on-screen pet Smeagol, who was perfectly dressed for the occasion with a matching tie

Still going strong! Tom and Rita co-produced the dramedy which has a 67% critic approval rating (out of 121 reviews) and a 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes

Suited: Tom opted for a black pinstripe suit with a blue necktie while his 26-year-old son wore a Tarantino-style black suit with a black necktie to the family film festivities

Hanks stars as the titular grumpy old man in Marc Forster's Pittsburgh-set dramedy, which has only earned $12.7M of its $50M budget back since opening in limited US theaters on December 30.

A Man Called Otto is technically a remake of the 2016 Swedish film A Man Called Ove, which was based on Fredrik Backman's 2012 book of the same name.

Meanwhile, Truman scored his first major speaking role playing the younger version of Otto Anderson.

Hanks normally remains behind the camera, working as a DP assistant on Steven Spielberg's West Side Story as well as a film loader on Wes Anderson's upcoming movie Asteroid City, which will star his famous father.

Sleepless in Seattle alum: Rita coordinated with her real-life leading men in a black embroidered suit over a matching camisole and pumps selected by stylist Maryam Malakpour

Multi-talented: Wilson collaborated with Colombian crooner Sebastian Yatra on the duet Til You're Home for the movie soundtrack, which Decca Records dropped on December 30

Wider release starting Friday! Hanks stars as the titular grumpy old man in Marc Forster's Pittsburgh-set dramedy

Rare acting gig: Truman scored his first major speaking role playing the younger version of Otto Anderson

The grandparents-of-three are also parents of 32-year-old rapper-fitness trainer Chet Hanks - who celebrated one year of sobriety on September 13 after brushes with the law, a rehab stint, and cultural appropriation.

And Tom has two older children - Colin, 45; and Elizabeth Ann, 40 - from his nine-year marriage to the late Samantha Lewes, which ended in 1987.

'Look, this is the family business. This is what we've been doing forever. It's what all of our kids grew up in,' Hanks told The Sun last Wednesday of the nepo-baby debate.

'We have four kids. They're all very creative. They're all involved in some brand of storytelling. And if we were a plumbing supply business or if we ran the florist shop down the street, the whole family would be putting in time at some point - even if it was just inventory at the end of the year.'

It's all who you know! Hanks normally remains behind the camera, working as a DP assistant on Steven Spielberg's West Side Story

Rapper and fitness trainer: The grandparents-of-three are also parents of 32-year-old Chet Hanks - who celebrated one year of sobriety on September 13 after brushes with the law, a rehab stint, and cultural appropriation

The two-time Oscar winner continued: 'The thing that doesn't change no matter what happens, no matter what your last name is, is whether it works or not. I mean, that's the issue anytime any of us go off and try to tell a fresh story or create something that has a beginning and a middle and an end.

'Doesn't matter what our last names are. We have to do the work in order to make that a true and authentic experience for the audience. And that's a much bigger task than worrying about whether anyone's going to try and scathe us or not.'

Hanks told The Sun last Wednesday of the nepo-baby debate: 'Look, this is the family business. This is what we've been doing forever. It's what all of our kids grew up in'

The Pinocchio star and his family made sure to pose for a cast and crew photo with David Magee, Renee Wolfe, Fredrik Wikstrom Nicastro, Mike Birbiglia, Marc Forster, Alessandra Perez, Christiana Montoya, Kelly Lamor Wilson, and Mack Bayda.

Earlier that same day, Tom headed inside the Ed Sullivan Theater while carrying a suit bag in order to pre-tape his appearance on Monday night's episode of CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

A Man Called Otto director Marc Forster donned an all-black suit and posed with his producing partner Renee Wolfe, who bared her belly in a cropped turtleneck and matching pants.

Smile! Hanks and his family made sure to pose for a cast and crew photo with (from L-R) David Magee, Renee Wolfe, Fredrik Wikstrom Nicastro, Mike Birbiglia, Marc Forster, Alessandra Perez, Christiana Montoya, Kelly Lamor Wilson, and Mack Bayda

Airing tonight! Earlier that same day, the Pinocchio star headed inside the Ed Sullivan Theater while carrying a suit bag in order to pre-tape his appearance on Monday night's episode of CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Mexican-born Mariana Trevino - who plays Otto's new neighbor Marisol - sparkled in a plunging blue Jenny Packham gown selected by stylist Jeanann Williams, which she accessorized with jewelry from Brilliant Earth.

Tokyo Vice star Rachel Keller - who plays Otto's late wife Sonya - wore a black long-sleeved midi-dress featuring white lace sleeves and black platform heels.

Nine-year-old Christiana Montoya wore a black ruffled dress and Alessandra Perez wore a pink ruffled dress to promote their roles as Marisol's daughters Luna and Abbie.

Dynamic duo: A Man Called Otto director Marc Forster donned an all-black suit and posed with his producing partner Renee Wolfe, who bared her belly in a cropped turtleneck and matching pants

Cascading: Mexican-born Mariana Trevino - who plays Otto's new neighbor Marisol - sparkled in a plunging blue Jenny Packham gown selected by stylist Jeanann Williams, which she accessorized with jewelry from Brilliant Earth

Chic: Tokyo Vice star Rachel Keller - who plays Otto's late wife Sonya - wore a black long-sleeved midi-dress featuring white lace sleeves and black platform heels

Ruffled twosome: Nine-year-old Christiana Montoya (L) wore a black ruffled dress and Alessandra Perez (R) wore a pink ruffled dress to promote their roles as Marisol's daughters Luna and Abbie

Suiting up were comedian Mike Birbiglia and transman activist Mack Bayda, who play Dye & Merica Real Estate Agent and Malcolm in the movie, respectively.

Cinematographer Matthias Koenigswieser rocked retro boots and a silver chain with his all-black attire.

Kelly Lamor Wilson (who plays Shari Kenzie) bared her bedazzled black bra beneath a cream pantsuit while Elle Chapman (who plays Sarah, Train Ticketer) wore a silky pink pantsuit.

Screenwriter David Magee pulled triple duty writing, executive producing, and playing Dye & Merica Rep '83 in A Man Called Otto.

Gents: Suiting up were comedian Mike Birbiglia and transman activist Mack Bayda, who play Dye & Merica Real Estate Agent and Malcolm in the movie, respectively

DP: Cinematographer Matthias Koenigswieser rocked retro boots and a silver chain with his all-black attire

Well suited: Kelly Lamor Wilson (L, who plays Shari Kenzie) bared her bedazzled black bra beneath a cream pantsuit while Elle Chapman (R, who plays Sarah, Train Ticketer) wore a silky pink pantsuit

Gray day: Screenwriter David Magee pulled triple duty writing, executive producing, and playing Dye & Merica Rep '83 in A Man Called Otto

Sherri host Sherri Shepherd gleamed in a silver-sequin long-sleeved mini-dress and matching bowed stilettos.

A Man Called Otto screening was a family affair for Emmy nominee Lou Diamond Phillips, who brought along his wife Yvonne Boismier and their 15-year-old daughter Indigo Sanara.

Speaking of which, two-time Emmy nominee Tovah Feldshuh wore a burgundy double-breasted coat and matching booties alongside her 34-year-old daughter Amanda Levy Ryzowy wearing a retro fur coat.

And Just Like That star Karen Pittman was every bit the lady in red in her lacy bustier beneath a matching coat and pumps.

The View alum: Sherri host Sherri Shepherd gleamed in a silver-sequin long-sleeved mini-dress and matching bowed stilettos

La Bamba alum: A Man Called Otto screening was a family affair for Emmy nominee Lou Diamond Phillips, who brought along his wife Yvonne Boismier and their 15-year-old daughter Indigo Sanara

Funny Girl thespian! Two-time Emmy nominee Tovah Feldshuh wore a burgundy double-breasted coat and matching booties alongside her 34-year-old daughter Amanda Levy Ryzowy wearing a retro fur coat
The new season of Channel 10's The Bachelors is about to be rocked by a scandal unlike anything viewers have seen before.

One of the women had to be tested for STDs on a number of occasions after she spoke to the other female contestants about her sexual history, Daily Mail Australia can reveal.

Producers decided STD screening was necessary after introducing a new 'fantasy suite' to encourage sexual activity between the suitors and contestants.

The new season of Channel 10's The Bachelors is about to be rocked by a scandal unlike anything viewers have seen before. (Pictured: Felix Von Hofe kissing a contestant)

'[She] had to get tested again and again because [she] claimed to have f**ked a porn star and revealed that to everyone in the house,' a source said.

'All the producers were worried about her getting close to the Bachelors. They were worried the mansion would turn into this super-spreader [event].

'They needed to protect their Bachelors basically.'

One of the women had to be tested for STDs on a number of occasions after she spoke to the other female contestants about her sexual history. (Pictured: Thomas Malucelli)

The production insider also let slip that another contestant had to seek medical care during filming because of a 'fungal toe infection'.

While contestants have been getting physical since the show's inception, the addition of a fantasy suite - which was referred to a 'sex room' by the women in the house - has opened the door to a whole new level of intimacy.

In a franchise first, all three Bachelors will now able to invite the contestants back to their penthouse located at the Q1 resort on the Gold Coast.

This is where the contestants go if they want to have a secret tryst. There is a giant bed, a hot tub, and a few sex toys to add some excitement.

Season 10 started with leading men Felix Von Hofe, Jed McIntosh and Thomas Malucelli going on a blind date with each of their participants before inviting them to live in the Bachelor mansion.

The Bachelors continues Tuesday at 7:30pm on Channel 10
Simu Liu shared sweet photos alongside his girlfriend Allison Hsu on Monday evening.

The 33-year-old Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings actor stood in the middle of a city street together snuggled up in the picture.

Simu donned an army green jacket over a light blue t-shirt, and he added off-white pants to the ensemble.

Sweet: Simu Liu shared sweet photos alongside his girlfriend Allison Hsu on Monday evening

Digital marketing manager Allison wrapped her arm around Liu's strong arm. She wore a bulky black coat and matching jeans.

The happy couple shared a laugh in the photos while standing near a row of motorcycles.

He captioned the photos, 'thanks for making me feel tall :).'

Snuggled up: The 33-year-old Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings actor stood in the middle of a city street together snuggled up in the picture

Comment: Several of the couple's famous friends and fans commented on the photo including comedian Chelsea Handler who wrote, 'Cute couple'

Several of the couple's famous friends and fans commented on the photo including comedian Chelsea Handler who wrote, 'Cute couple!'

The couple went official on December 1 as they made their red carpet appearance at the premiere of Christmas horror flick Violent Night in Los Angeles.

Previously, Liu was romantically linked to actress Jade Bender, 25.

The pair never addressed romance rumors but walked the red carpet together at the 2022 ESPY Awards at the end of July.

However, by September, Liu had announced that he was single.

'Resistance scum': The couple have since spent a significant amount of time together with the pair hitting Disneyland with his family

Court-side date: On that same day, the pair took in a Los Angeles Clippers game at Crypto.com Arena (pictured December 2022)

The couple have since spent a significant amount of time together with the pair hitting Disneyland with his family.

Liu first took a sweet family photo with his mother and father in front of a crowd of stormtroopers posing behind them.

For this outing, he wore a black bomber jacket over his white tee-shirt and black trousers combo. His parents donned in two different shades of blue sweaters and trousers.

On that same day, the pair took in a Los Angeles Clippers game at Crypto.com Arena.
Sam Burgess and Lucy Graham could barely keep their hands off each other on Monday as they went on a lunch date in Coogee.

The loved-up couple wore matching white Birkenstock sandals as they strolled through the streets of the coastal town.

Hiding his eyes behind a pair of dark shades, the former rugby player, 34, donned a green shirt and white shorts before slipping on a silver watch.

Sam Burgess, 34, (right) and Lucy Graham (left) could barely keep their hands off each other on Monday as they went on a lunch date in Coogee

The athlete appeared at ease despite his current fight to clear his name of his most recent driving offence which saw him allegedly test positive for cocaine.

Meanwhile, his new fashion designer girlfriend slipped into a very tight white crop top and tiny denim shorts which sat high on her waist.

Beneath her form-fitting shirt could be seen the ties of a blue bikini top, hinting that the lovebirds may have planned a beach trip or some poolside relaxation.

The loved-up couple wore matching white Birkenstock sandals as they strolled through the streets of the coastal town

Hiding his eyes behind a pair of dark shades, the former rugby player donned a green shirt and white shorts before slipping on a silver watch

The glamorous Leeds hairdresser clipped a simple silver chain around her neck before pushing her light brunette tresses back from her face with a pair of glasses.

At lunch Graham ordered a bottle of water before the couple headed back out after a bite to eat.

On the way back to the car, the pair were seen sharing a laugh before Burgess cuddled up to his new belle.

The athlete appeared at ease despite his current fight to clear his name of his most recent driving offence which saw him allegedly test positive for cocaine

Meanwhile, his new fashion designer girlfriend slipped into a very tight white crop top and tiny denim shorts which sat high on her waist

Beneath her form-fitting shirt could be seen the ties of a blue bikini top, hinting that the lovebirds may have planned a beach trip or some poolside relaxation

The glamorous Leeds hairdresser clipped a simple silver chain around her neck before pushing her light brunette tresses back from her face with a pair of glasses

It comes after details of Burgess' 'poor' driving record re-emerged as he vowed to fight to clear his name for the second time within two years.

The rugby league and union dual international denied taking any illicit drugs or driving while suspended after he was arrested by police during a random breath test in the Sydney suburb of Kingsford last month.

Police alleged registration checks revealed Burgess had a suspended licence before he allegedly returned a positive result for cocaine during a roadside drug test.

Burgess was seen getting into the back of a vehicle after he allegedly tested positive for driving under the influence of cocaine recently

At lunch Graham ordered a bottle of water before the couple headed back out after a bite to eat

On the way back to the car, the pair were seen sharing a laugh before Burgess cuddled up to his new belle

He claimed to have independently attended an accredited testing facility for a further test which found no drugs in his system.

He also claimed his full licence was returned to him following a 10-month suspension.

Prior to Thursday's arrest, Burgess had racked up 35 previous traffic offences since arriving in Australia from the UK in 2010.

It comes after details of Burgess' 'poor' driving record re-emerged as he vowed to fight to clear his name for the second time within two years

The rugby league and union dual international denied taking any illicit drugs or driving while suspended after he was arrested by police during a random breath test in the Sydney suburb of Kingsford last month
A female contestant on The Bachelors has been told she won't be getting her $5,000 'good behaviour fee' after she went rogue after filming and appeared on a rival dating show, Daily Mail Australia can reveal.

A source at Warner Bros. has let slip FIFO worker Jessica Tomlinson, 24, was informed she is not eligible for the payment after attending a friend's Married At First Sight wedding.

She will also be prohibited from posting promotional photos nor will be allowed to take part in any media rounds to promote the show.

The Bachelors star Jessica Tomlinson has been told she won't be getting her $5,000 'good behaviour fee' after she went rogue after filming and appeared on a rival dating show

'Jessica won't be sent any promotional photos for her Instagram account, won't be allowed to do any press,' the insider claimed.

'Most of Jess' scenes have all been sliced and her time on air will be heavily edited down'.

A source at Warner Bros. has let slip FIFO worker Jessica Tomlinson, 24, was informed she is not eligible for the payment after attending a friend's Married At First Sight wedding

According to the insider, Jess has a 'laughable edit' at an eviction in the coming weeks, and her suitor Jed McIntosh does not give her a rose.

Jessica's contract with Warner Bros. states she must not appear on any other television or media program of any nature without written consent from the network.

Upon learning of her appearance on MAFS, producers called up Jessica for an explanation, before telling her she won't be eligible for her one-off payment.

Ten had to make last minute edits to The Bachelors after learning how involved Jessica will be in the new series of MAFS - which will air on January 30. Jessica pictured left filming MAFS

'Jessica was devastated. She had no idea she was going on the show, it was all a surprise. They came at her hard,' said a friend.

Warner Bros. decided to further punish Jessica by leaving her out of the official cast announcement on Instagram.

It comes after Daily Mail Australia revealed that Ten had to make last minute edits to The Bachelors after learning how involved Jessica will be in the new series of MAFS - which will air on January 30.

'Channel 10 are completely livid with the last-minute change after they noticed Nine was heavily featuring Jess in the ads for one of the MAFS weddings,' said the insider

'Channel 10 and Warner Bros. are completely livid with the last-minute change after they noticed Nine was heavily featuring Jess in the ads for one of the MAFS weddings,' said the insider.

Back in October, Daily Mail Australia exclusively revealed that that one wedding will descend into chaos on Married At First Sight after Jessica accused her former best friend's groom of hooking up with her Bachelor co-star just days before walking down the aisle.

Jess was seen pulling bride Bronte Schofield aside to let her know that her she recognised her partner Harrison Boon and that he shouldn't be trusted.

'Jessica couldn't believe it when she realised it was the guy her co-star was hooking up with and felt it was right to confront Bronte about it on her wedding day,' the insider explained.

'Jessica was desperate to get her five minutes of fame and decided to tell Bronte on camera by pulling her a side and essentially sabotaging the wedding.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Channel 10 for comment.
Lala Kent got emotional while discussing her ex-fiance, Randall Emmett, in the new trailer for the upcoming season 10 of Bravo's Vanderpump Rules.

The reality TV star, 32, broke down in tears after her boss Lisa Vanderpump, 62, asked her, 'Whats happening with Randall?' following the recent allegations made against him being at the center of an FBI investigation for 'suspected child exploitation and pedophilia.'

'I wanna know why people are accusing him of the things theyre accusing him of,' Kent - who shares 1-year-old daughter Ocean with the movie producer, 51 - replied through tears.

Emotional: Lala Kent broke into tears while discussing her ex-fiance, Randall Emmett, in the new trailer for the upcoming season 10 of Bravo's Vanderpump Rules

Emmett has since denied that the FBI has been investigating him, and dismissed the claims as 'cancel culture.'

After the news of the alleged investigation was made public last week, fans questioned why the filmmaker had 'any custody' of his youngest child.

Kent - who has previously accused her ex of infidelity and abuse - replied to one Instagram user, 'If you havent dealt with the family court system you wouldnt understand.'

Allegations: It comes following the recent allegations made against him being at the center of an FBI investigation for ' suspected child exploitation and pedophilia'; Pictured 2019

Emmett has staunchly denied Kent's claim that he 'tackled' her during a spat when she confronted him about allegations that he was unfaithful to her.

Emmett is also a father to daughters London, 12, and Rylee, 9, whom he shares with ex-wife Ambyr Childers, 34.

Childers is currently seeking 'sole legal and physical custody' of the girls 'for a variety of reasons.'

The embattled producer slammed the allegations against him in a defiant Instagram video he uploaded Thursday.

Serious: The star, 32, started crying after her boss Lisa Vanderpump, 62, asked her, 'Whats happening with Randall?' following the recent allegations made against him, 51

Why: 'I wanna know why people are accusing him of the things theyre accusing him of,' Kent - who shares 1-year-old daughter Ocean with the movie producer - replied through tears

His post came the day it emerged that his ex-wife Ambyr, was granted a temporary restraining order against him last month.

In a filing late last month, Childers claimed the FBI had contacted her to ask about Emmett's 'suspected activities with child exploitation and pedophilia.'

However, in his new Instagram video, Emmett dismissed the allegations as 'cancel culture' and claimed he had obtained 'confirmation' that 'the FBI has never been investigating me and isn't investigating me because there's nothing to investigate.'

'Happy Friday, everybody,' he began his new video this Thursday. 'I am at a place where I felt I had to come on here and say something that actually was the truth versus, you know, the last 11, 12, 14 months that the things have been said about me. Everything under the sun, you know  narcissist, cheater.'

Difficult: After the news of the alleged investigation was made public last week, fans questioned why the filmmaker had 'any custody' of his youngest child. Kent replied to one Instagram user, 'If you havent dealt with the family court system you wouldnt understand'

Emmett declared: 'But at the end of the day, you know, I took the high road because I have three beautiful girls that I didnt wanna be out there. I didnt wanna have to do this. But at this point, you know, the lies have been stretched so far.'

He claimed: 'We spent today getting confirmation, because we knew there was no truthfulness to any of this, that the FBI has never been investigating me and isnt investigating me because theres nothing to investigate.'

Emmett, whose producing credits include The Irishman, argued that 'unfortunately in this culture, you can just say whatever you want and then it gets written about and then that's, you know, considered "truth" in this cancel culture.'

Embattled producer: Emmett slammed the allegations against him in a defiant Instagram video he uploaded Thursday

His side: Emmett claimed to have 'confirmation' that 'the FBI has never been investigating me and isn't investigating me because there's nothing to investigate'

'You're seen': The day of Emmett's self-defense on Instagram, Kent posted cryptically to Insta Stories: 'Keep telling yourself whatever you need to to help you sleep at night'

He asserted: 'I've been a dad for a long time, I have custody of all my children and I have custody of all my children because Im a good father and Im a good person. And at the end of the day, you know, that is whats the most important thing.'

Emmett concluded: 'At the end of my life, no matter what happens, Im gonna look my three daughters in the face and theyre gonna know their dad was a great father.'

Nearly two months after she first sought a restraining order against ex-husband, Childers was finally granted one three days before Christmas.

Emmett was ordered to stay 100 yards away from Childers who he was married to for eight years from 2009 to 2017, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Developments: His post came the day it emerged that his ex-wife Ambyr Childers (pictured) was granted a temporary restraining order against him last month; Pictured 2022

He was also forbidden from contacting Childers, unless it is a, 'brief and peaceful interaction' about visitation for London and Rylee.

Childers' first request for a domestic violence restraining order was denied due to lack of evidence, though she submitted a new request - after, she claims, she was contacted by the FBI.

She alleged in the request, filed in late December, that she was contacted by the bureau on December 6, who asked her about Emmett's, 'suspected activities with child exploitation and pedophilia.'

She said in the declaration that the call from the FBI caused, 'extreme destruction and disturbance of [her] emotional calm and peace of mind.'

Suspected: She claimed in the request, filed in late December, that she was contacted by the FBI on December 6, who asked her about Emmett's, 'suspected activities with child exploitation and pedophilia'; Pictured 2022

She added that she was disturbed because their daughters, 'are often alone' with their father.

Childers continued in the request that she doesn't want to, 'run the risk' of her children being with Emmett if, 'federal law enforcement serve either an arrest or search warrant on him or on his premises.'

The Los Angeles Times also reported that they spoke with three additional individuals who claimed the FBI contacted them about Emmetts activities.

While Childers' request for a temporary restraining order was granted, a hearing for her domestic violence restraining order will take place on January 12.
Australians appear to be losing interest in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle following the Duke's bombshell interviews for his controversial memoir Spare.

Channel Seven aired Harry's explosive interview with ITV's Tom Bradbury on Monday night while Channel 10's The Project featured his latest tell-all interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

Network Seven pulled in just 487,000 viewers while Ten managed to secure 327,000 viewers.

Damning figures show Aussies are losing interest in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after the Duke trashed his family in 'truth bomb' interview

The results are significantly less than Harry's interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

The interview aired on Channel 10 and was watched by 1.366million metro viewers.

In his explosive new memoir, Harry claimed his wife Meghan Markle was left 'on the floor sobbing' by a row with sister-in-law Kate Middleton over Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid's dresses.

Seven aired Harry's explosive interview with ITV 's Tom Bradbury on Monday night while The Project featured his latest tell-all interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper. Seven pulled in just 487,000 viewers while Ten managed to secure 327,000 viewers

He also discussed how his penis became 'frost nipped' during his trip to the North Pole and revealed he is uncircumcised.

Amid other revelations, the royal confessed he took cocaine, ketamine, cannabis and Nepalese hashish temple balls and said he sought help from a medium who said she could prove she was talking to his late mother from beyond the grave because Diana was 'giggling' at Archie breaking an ornament of the late Queen.

The Duke of Sussex, who was known as 'Captain Wales' in the military, also wrote that he killed 25 Taliban fighters during his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.

The results are significantly less than Harry's interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. The interview aired on Channel 10 and was watched by 1.366million metro viewers

He said did not think of those killed 'as people' but instead 'chess pieces' he had taken off the board.

He has since declared he and Meghan will never move back to the UK and become working members of the Royal Family - just hours after using another bombshell U.S. interview to rubbish suggestions that the couple give up their official titles.

In his interview with the CBS network, Harry swerved a question by Anderson Cooper who asked him why, given his clear antipathy to the monarchy, do he and Meghan not just renounce their titles as Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

'And what difference would that make?' was his only answer.
Peacock has announced the official cast for season four of Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip and OG Housewives Caroline Manzo and Alex McCord are set to be two major blasts from the past.

The New Jersey matriarch, 61, and the NYC alum, 49, will be joined by Atlanta's Eva Marcille, 38, and Phaedra Parks, 49, Beverly Hills veterans Brandi Glanville, 50, and Camille Grammer, 54, and Orange County mavens Vicki Gunvalson, 60, and Gretchen Rossi, 44.

Morocco is currently bracing itself as the ladies of Bravo are about to bring their world-class drama overseas to Marrakech after the hit spinoff series ruffled feathers in Thailand for season three.

Blasts from the past: Peacock has announced the official cast for season four of Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip and OG Housewives Caroline Manzo (Left, 61) and Alex McCord (right, 49) are set to be two major blasts from the past

Bravo made the announcement by cheekily referencing an iconic line that Housewives MVP Luann de Lesseps levied at Alex McCord in season four of the New York City franchise.

The network tweeted: 'What is that, is that a buffalo coming down the stairs? No, its the official #RHUGT 4 cast and theyre headed to Marrakech!'

Glanville, Parks, Gunvalson, and Marcille are all returning to Ultimate Girls Trip as they were featured in season two's romp in The Berkshires.

But it is Manzo, McCord, Grammer, and Rossi who have sent a collective gasp of excitement through Housewives fandom as the four women have long been absent as official castmembers of their respective franchises.

New Jersey matriarch: After serving motherly might for the first five seasons of RHONJ, Caroline departed the table-flipping franchise in 2013 to lead her own series called Manzo'd with Children, which aired for three seasons

Alex is back! McCord is perhaps the biggest blast from the past as she held an apple for the first four seasons of RHONY before leaving the show in 2011

Gretchen is game: Fans of RHOC are certainly ready for an update on Gretchen Rossi, 44. The blonde bombshell has spent nearly a decade in the Bravo wilderness

Beverly Hills veteran: Since officially losing her diamond in 2012, Camille Grammer, 54, has appeared off and on as a 'Friend' of the RHOBH cast

'CAROLINE MANZO RETURNS,' trumpeted one fan on Twitter.

'ALEX OMFGGGGG,' tweeted one 'McCordian'  aka Alex McCord lovers.

After serving motherly might for the first five seasons of RHONJ, Caroline departed the table-flipping franchise in 2013 to lead her own series called Manzo'd with Children, which aired for three seasons.

Alex is perhaps the biggest blast from the past as she held an apple for the first four seasons of RHONY before leaving the show in 2011.

She left the country with her legendary husband Simon van Kempen, 58, and their two rambunctious sons  Francois, 20, and Johan, 18  moving Down Under to Simon's native Australia.

'LITTLE MCCORDINATORS, WE WON,' tweeted one Alex superfan.

Atlanta MVPs: RHOA alums Eva Marcille (right, 38) and Phaedra Parks (left, 49) are set to return for another season of Ultimate Girls Trip after being fan favorites of season two

Not their first rodeo: RHOBH's Brandi Glanville (left, 50) and Orange County maven Vicki Gunvalson (right, 60) are both set to return after bringing the drama in the second season of Ultimate Girls Trip

And when it comes to Gretchen Rossi, fans of RHOC are certainly ready for an update.

The blonde bombshell has spent nearly a decade in the Bravo wilderness, raising her daughter with the infamous Slade Smiley, 49  Gretchen's partner of 14 years.

But the inclusion of Camille Grammer could cause the most fireworks, as Kelsey Grammer's ex-wife is a longtime frenemy of the bomb thrower from Beverly Hills, Brandi Glanville.

Since officially losing her diamond in 2012, Camille has appeared off and on as a 'Friend' of the RHOBH cast.

We dont like each other,' Glanville said of Grammer during an episode of Virtual Reali-Tea podcast. 'But lets do this again, lets have fun.'

Season four of Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip is expected to premiere later this year.
She's the glamorous real estate agent competing for Jed McIntosh's heart on the new season of The Bachelors.

And during Tuesday's episode, Tash Candyce left a lasting impression on the 25-year-old drummer when she surprised him with an unplanned kiss.

The wild moment happened when he was trying to woo Jessica Tomlinson - and it soon took a left turn.

She's the glamorous real estate agent competing for Jed McIntosh's heart on the new season of The Bachelors. And during Tuesday's episode, Tash Candyce left a lasting impression on the 25-year-old drummer when she surprised him with an unplanned kiss. Both pictured

After learning that several of her co-stars have kissed Jed, Tash soon decided she wanted in on the action.

'I share toys, I don't share boys,' she told the other women.

'I know what I want and I get it,' she told cameras.

Tash was then seen sneaking up on the Bachelor before planting a kiss on him, leaving both Jed and her co-stars lost for words.

The wild moment happened when he was trying to woo Jessica Tomlinson - and it soon took a left turn

After learning that several of her co-stars have kissed Jed, Tash soon decided she wanted in on the action. 'I know what I want and I get it,' she told cameras

'Oh wow, okay!' a stunned Jed replied.

Jed then brushes off the incident, saying: 'She's alright... but I'll stay here.'

'She just goes for it. Everything she does is very open. I was there for the ride,' he explained to cameras.

'Oh wow, okay!' a stunned Jed replied. He then brushes off the incident, 'She's alright... but I'll stay here,' he said.

'She just goes for it. Everything she does is very open. I was there for the ride,' he explained to cameras

Also known as Natasha Zuanetti, Tash has previously dated two Bachelorette contestants, once appeared on First Dates, and was infamously lined up to star on Married At First Sight before backing out at the eleventh hour.

Tash pulled out of MAFS to pursue a relationship with Michael Turnbull, who was the runner-up on Sam Frost's debut season of The Bachelorette in 2015.

Tash and Michael went public with their relationship in September 2018, before getting engaged two months later.

The 30-year-old, also known as Natasha Zuanetti, has previously dated two Bachelorette contestants, once appeared on First Dates, and was infamously lined up to star on Married At First Sight before backing out at the eleventh hour

'I was so surprised, I didn't know what to expect,' Natasha told WHO magazine after her boyfriend proposed.

They ended their engagement in February 2019, but had reconciled by August.

Daily Mail Australia understands Tash will discuss being in a relationship with a former Bachelor, but Turnbull's name won't be mentioned.
Actors Park Eun-bin and Kim Min-ha are seen in the above photos provided by their agencies. Yonhap



Korean actors Park Eun-bin and Kim Min-ha will attend the 28th annual Critics' Choice Awards to be held in Los Angeles on Sunday (U.S. time), their agencies said Tuesday.



The two actresses will take part in the ceremony as main actors of their TV series, "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" and "Pachinko," respectively, as both were nominated in the best foreign language TV series category.



"Extraordinary Attorney Woo" is a Korean legal drama about a lawyer who is brilliant with an outstanding memory but lacks social skills and empathy due to being on the autism spectrum. The drama aired on local cable channel ENA and available on Netflix.



"Pachinko" is an Apple TV+ original series based on the 2017 bestselling novel by Korean-American author Lee Min-jin about four generations of a Korean family living in Japan.



In the film category, Korean director Park Chan-wook's romance thriller "Decision to Leave" was nominated for best foreign film.



Last year, the Netflix sensation "Squid Game" won the best non-English language TV series and its lead actor Lee Jung-jae won the best actor award in a drama series. (Yonhap)


Channel Seven is still searching for contestants for the next season of My Kitchen Rules after casting began last September.

The show's official Instagram page shared a casting call message on Tuesday.

According to the online audition form, fans keen to test out their culinary skills must be over the age of 18 and apply in teams of two.

Channel Seven is still searching for contestants for the next season of My Kitchen Rules after casting began last September. Pictured: MKR 2022 judges Manu Feildel and Nigella Lawson

Applicants also must have a pre-existing relationship as friends, partners, or relatives.

'If you love cooking, entertaining, fun and adventure, then MKR is the place for you,' the application says.

'The search is now on for all new teams to take part in the experience of a lifetime.'

Producers have suggested to MKR stars-of-the-future that they include an audition video of their team with the application.

MKR returned in 2022 after a two-year hiatus to underwhelming ratings despite the presence of celebrity cook, Nigella Lawson as a guest judge, who left the show mid-season. Pictured: The casting announcement for MKR 2023 as seen on the show's official Instagram

MKR returned in 2022 after a two-year hiatus to underwhelming ratings despite the presence of celebrity cook, Nigella Lawson as a guest judge.

Nigella replaced disgraced celebrity chef Pete Evans, who was axed from the Seven network in 2020 amid the show's falling ratings and a number of public scandals for Pete.

Before its premiere celebrity chef Manu Feildel promised fans that MKR would be a much sweeter show than its last few seasons.

The finale last August was a ratings hit, with 643,000 fans tuning in to watch contestants Janelle and Monzir (pictured) pocket the $100,000 prize money and walk away season winners

For most of its history, MKR was known for the infighting among the contestants, and no season would be complete without a handful of 'villains'.

But the French bon vivant, 47, told TV Tonight the show was going 'back to basics' in 2022 in order to deliver a more family-friendly product

Meanwhile, the finale last August was a ratings hit, with 643,000 fans tuning in to watch contestants Janelle and Monzir pocket the $100,000 prize money and walk away season winners.
Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T stayed warm while filming scenes for Law and Order: SVU in New York City on Monday.

Hargitay, 54, walked arm-in-arm with the 63-year-old actor/rapper  who's been her co-star for 23 years  during the cold nighttime shoot.

It comes after the actress recently sent fans wild after her character, Detective Olivia Benson, finally revealed her feelings for her former partner Elliot Stabler during the mid-season finale of the popular series.

Bundled up: Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T stayed warm while filming scenes for Law and Order: SVU in New York City on Monday

Hargitay and Ice-T braved the weather by wearing thick coats, as they filmed for the crime drama series, which is currently in its 24th season and is the longest-running primetime U.S. live-action series in the history of television.

Mariska  who's the daughter of Hollywood legend Jayne Mansfield  sported a black and white wool coat belted at the waist.

Underneath the coat the Hollywood veteran wore black pants, a matching top and black boots.

Arm-in-arm: Hargitay, 54, walked arm-in-arm with the 63-year-old actor/rapper  who's been her co-star for 23 years  during the nighttime shoot

The actress' brunette strands were parted in the middle and lightly curled.

The beauty accessorized the look with a dainty gold necklace and earrings, and accentuated her naturally stunning features with just a hint of blush and lipstick.

Meanwhile Ice-T  who plays Detective Odafin Tutuola on the series  looked handsome as ever in a navy peacoat, which he paired with black loafers.

Fan favorite: Both stars braved the cold weather by wearing thick coats, as they filmed for the popular crime drama series, which is currently in its 24th season

Chic: Mariska - famous for her portrayal of Detective Olivia Benson - sported a black and white wool coat belted at the waist

Good times: The pair appeared to have a good time while filming, with Hargitay laughing it up as they exited a building, and gently patting her co-star on the back

The actor sported a closely buzzed hairdo and rocked his usual neatly groomed facial hair.

The pair appeared to have a good time while filming, with Hargitay laughing it up as they exited a building, and gently patting her co-star on the back.

At another point the two seemed to be in a important discussion as they stood in the middle of the street.

Not pictured on set was Mariska's long-time and hunky co-star, Christopher Meloni, who recently returned to the show as NYPD detective Elliot Stabler.

Lovely: The actress' brunette strands were parted in the middle and lightly curled, and she paired her look with chunky black boots

Handsome: Meanwhile Ice-T - who plays Detective Odafin Tutuola on the series - looked handsome as ever in a navy peacoat, which he paired with black loafers

Speaking of reuniting with Meloni, Mariska told People during a joint interview about their careers: 'Never been better. I mean if you had told me I'd have the career I have at this time in ... the twilight of my life.'

'Its just a dream come true,' Meloni said. The actor added they were 'very lucky' to have such enduring on-screen chemistry.

'It's effortless, and it's weird, and I always look at it as some sort of gift,' Mariska said. 'So much of it has to do with our shared sense of humor, shared perspective, our now history.'

In addition to SVU, Meloni also appears in Law & Order and in the new spin-off, Law & Order: Organized Crime.

Season 24 of Law & Order SVU is currently airing Thursdays on NBC.
Rachael Lee is continuing to spend time with Sydney bricklayer Blake Hillen following her split from ex, Braith Anasta.

Rachael took to Instagram on Tuesday to share clips of herself enjoying an idyllic Mollymook break alongside Blake and her sister, Bridgette Lee.

Bridgette appeared to be with her significant other, Max Ayshford.

Rachael Lee has enjoyed a Mollymook getaway with her hunky Sydney bricklayer Blake Hillen following her split from NRL star Braith Anasta. Pictured: Rachael Lee

On their getaway, the group appeared to be having the time of their lives playing games in the backyard of a beautiful beach house.

'Look at the rigs on them,' Bridgette said in on clip, focusing the camera of her iPhone towards Rachael and Blake.

Rachael also showed the foursome enjoying an elegant dinner together at a restaurant with them looking to be in good spirits.

Rachael and Blake have not confirmed they are in a relationship.

On their getaway, the group appeared to be having the time of their lives playing games in the backyard of a beautiful beach house. Pictured: Blake and Bridgette

Rachael shared photos with Sydney-based bricklayer Blake Hillen during the Christmas period saying they had gotten a puppy. Pictured: Rachael and Blake

Rachael shared photos with Sydney-based bricklayer Blake Hillen during the Christmas period saying they had gotten a puppy.

The model and the tradie are reportedly spending 'a lot of time' together following her split from Braith.

A source told Daily Mail Australia in December Rachael and Blake, who lives in the Sutherland Shire, have been 'inseparable' since Lee announced her shock split with the NRL star.

'I've spotted Rachael spending a lot of time the shire. I've seen her on a number of occasions with Blake, she looks very smitten around him,' said the source.

Blake featured in a number of the photos as they foursome enjoyed a beachside getaway. Seen here with Max

'Just last weekend they were away with Racheal's sister Bridgette and her boyfriend.'

While the nature of their relationship is yet to be confirmed, Blake has left comments on Lee's Instagram account.

Rachael has also left several comments on Blake's Instagram posts.

Rachael Lee has welcomed a new puppy into her family named Archie during the Christmas period, with her tagging Blake. Both pictured

Little is known about Blake, however photos shared to his public Instagram profile show that he is an identical twin and father of two.

He enjoys the great outdoors and spending time in the ocean.

In addition to being a bricklayer, he is a keen boxer and holds a number of titles.

Rumours of Rachael and Braith's split had been swirling for months

It comes after Rachael confirmed her split with Braith after she moved out of the home they shared last year.

Rachael, who shares daughter Gigi, 4, with the former Roosters player, unfollowed Braith on Instagram and removed any mention of his name in her account bio.

She was also spotted several times without her engagement ring and spending most of her free time partying with her friends and sister Bridgette.

Braith also has an eight-year-old daughter Aleeia with ex-wife Jodi Gordon, while Rachael has a son, Addison, 11, from a previous relationship.
Sarah Marie Fahd has announced she is closing down her online clothing store for children after only two years.

TMRW Kids was launched by the 33-year-old Gogglebox Australia star and her husband Matty in 2021.

Posting to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday, Sarah told her followers that she was offering 60 per cent off all purchases.

Sarah Marie Fahd has announced she is closing down her online clothing store for children after only two years. Pictured: The Gogglebox Australia star and her three-year-old son Malik

The beautiful reality star thanked her fans and followers for their support and included snaps of bargain items like kids pyjamas in the share.

With TMRW Kids the couple said they wanted to create an ethically sourced, fashion-forward and affordable clothing line for Australian children.

'We wanted to create an online space that curated, high quality items, while supporting Aussie business that offers trendy and eco-friendly labels,' Matty told Daily Mail Australia in 2021.

The news comes just two weeks after Sarah and Matty announced they were expecting a second child.

TMRW Kids was launched by the 33-year-old Gogglebox Australia star and her husband Matty in 2021. Pictured: Sarah announces bargains for her store on her stories

They already have a their three-year-old son, Malik, who was sometimes featured as a model for TMRW.

'Our family is growing! We're so excited to welcome a new Fahd to the family in 2023,' the couple announced to their stories on December 27.

'Malik has already started prepping to be a big brother, reciting endless lists of the things he will be playing with his new sibling and writing up the 'Bulldogs for Dummies' playbook.'

The news comes after Sarah and Matty announced in December that they were expecting a second child. Pictured: Sarah and husband Matty

They continued: 'Bane [their dog] was asked to participate in this photo but instead chose to piss on the front porch (thankfully out of shot). Play the circus music, warm up the cuddles and bring on 2023!'

The couple tied the knot in 2018 after four years of dating, and they welcomed their son Malik, in November 2019.

In November, 2022, Sarah and Matty celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary.
Logan Paul has reportedly thanked an animal sanctuary after they 'rescued' his former pet pig Pearl when she was 'abandoned', more than two years after the YouTuber owned her.

The YouTuber, 27, is said to have emailed nonprofit organisation The Gentle Barn, based in Santa Clarita, California, to thank them for re-homing his former pet.

Logan owned Pearl a few years ago and shared snaps of them to social media, saying he thought she was a 'mini pig' when he bought her but she then grew to a huge size.

Rehomed: Logan Paul has reportedly thanked an animal sanctuary after they rescued his former pet pig Pearl when she was 'abandoned'

He claimed Pearl lived with him until April 2020 when he moved to Puerto Rico, when he rehomed the pig to a horse ranch in Santa Clarita, before she moved to the ranch across the street, according to TMZ, quoting from an email the website said they had obtained.

However, The Gentle Barn took to Instagram on Monday to share a video of Pearl, claiming she was 'lucky to be alive' and had been 'irresponsibly' rehomed.

TMZ reported that Logan, who founded viral energy drink Prime with KSI, contacted the animal sanctuary after learning of Pearl's fate and offered to 'contribute to her care again', thanking them for rescuing her.

The original post by The Gentle Barn showed Pearl being brought into the animal sanctuary, claiming the pig was 'lucky to be alive'.

@thegentlebarn Pearl was found alone in a field next to another pig who had passed away. She came to us with tattered ears and a potentially life-threatening infection in her uterus that has since been healed. She's clearly been through so much trauma that we can't begin to imagine, but she's now safe with us at The Gentle Barn. From what we've been told, it's believed she was purchased originally from a breeder by an influencer. People often buy "mini pigs" or teacup pigs for clout online, believing they will stay small. When they inevitably grow very large and have many unexpected needs, they're sadly discarded. While we don't know everything she's been through in her past, we know her life is now filled with friends, nutritious foods, the highest quality care, and so much love. #pigrescue #animalrescuestory #abandonedanimals #pigsoftiktok #farmanimalrescue #thegentlebarn  Where is My Mind? - Piano Version - The Blue Notes

Rescued: The YouTuber, 27, is said to have emailed nonprofit organisation The Gentle Barn, based in Santa Clarita, California, to thank them for re-homing his former pet

In writing over the video, they explained: 'We got a call about a pig abandoned in a field, she was found with another pig who had passed away. She's lucky to be alive. We were told she belonged to a famous YouTuber and was irresponsibly rehomed.

'All we know for sure is she ended up abandoned and scared with mangled ears and a broken heart.

'So we brought her to our sanctuary with a promise that she will never be alone again. Welcome home, Pearl.'

In an accompanying caption, The Gentle Barn claimed she was found with a 'potentially life-threatening' infection.

New home: The Gentle Barn took to Instagram on Monday to share a video of Pearl, claiming she was 'lucky to be alive' and had been 'irresponsibly' rehomed

They penned: 'She'll NEVER be alone again. Pearl was found abandoned in a field next to another pig who had died.

'She came to us with tattered ears and a potentially life-threatening infection in her uterus that has since been healed. She's clearly been through so much trauma that we can't begin to imagine, but she's now safe with us at The Gentle Barn.

'From what we've been told, it's believed she was purchased originally from a breeder by an influencer. People often buy 'mini pigs' or 'teacup pigs' for clout online, believing they will stay small.

'When they inevitably grow very large and have many unexpected needs, they're sadly discarded.

'While we don't know everything she's been through in her past, we know her life is now filled with friends, nutritious foods, the highest quality care, and so much love.

Gratitude: According to an email TMZ said they obtained, Logan contacted The Gentle Barn after learning of Pearl's condition and offered to contribute to her care again

Former pet: Logan owned Pearl a few years ago and shared snaps of them to social media, saying he thought she was a 'mini pig' when he bought her but she then grew to a huge size

'It's thanks to your support that we're able to say yes to rescues like Pearl. Thank you for being a part of our work to rescue and rehabilitate animals with nowhere else to go.'

According to an email obtained by TMZ, Logan contacted The Gentle Barn after learning of Pearl's condition and offered to contribute to her care again.

In the email, Logan is said to have thanked the organisation for rehoming Pearl and said it was 'shocking and heartbreaking' to learn of her fate as he offered to support them.

A source close to Logan reportedly also told TMZ that Logan was very upset to learn of Pearl's condition.

MailOnline has contacted Logan's representatives for comment.
Mo Gilligan will return as host for The BRIT Awards 2023.

Returning to the helm for the second time, the comedian, 34, will present the ceremony at the O2 Arena on 11 February.

Mo was announced as BRIT host on Tuesday, ahead of Thursday's list of 2023 nominations.

Taking the helm: Mo Gilligan will return as host of this year's BRIT Awards

The Masked Dancer judge Mo said: 'Hosting the BRITs last year was one of the most phenomenal moments of my life.

'Ive been so honoured to get to know the incredible team behind the biggest night in music and so proud to bring our amazing audiences even closer to their favourite artists. I promise you, were going to go even bigger this year Let's go.'

Nominations for the 2023 BRIT Awards will be announced later this week, via an exclusive live stream on the official BRITs channels, hosted by TV and Radio broadcaster Vick Hope along radio host and alternative music champion Jack Saunders.

He's back! Returning to the helm for the second time, the comedian, 34, will present the ceremony at the O2 Arena on 11 February

Vick and Jack have also enlisted the help of a team of celebrities to help announce this years key categories.

Olympian Tom Daley, YouTubes Yung Filly, Euro 2022 winner Jill Scott and Goggleboxs Joe and George Baggs are among the names revealing this years nominations across their own social channels.

The celebrities have been handed locked BRITs boxes to keep safe before revealing their categories on the day of the live stream. You can follow their progress with @BRITs across the next week.

Exciting: Nominations for the 2023 BRIT Awards will be announced this coming Thursday, via an exclusive live stream on the official BRITs channels, hosted by Vick Hope

This year the BRIT award has been designed by Slawn, the Nigerian-born, London-based artist known for his large-scale canvases filled with a blend of caricature like pop figures and bold colourful forms.

Meanwhile, R&B girl group FLO have already been announced as the winners of the 2023 Rising Star award, celebrating another future star of British music.

Tickets for the public are now on sale.

The BRIT Awards 2023 with Mastercard will take place on Saturday 11th February - the first time the show will be held on a Saturday in its history - and will broadcast live on ITV1 and ITVX - from The O2 arena.
Tanya Manhenga has 'postponed' the final term of her biomedical science degree to star on Love Island.

The 22-year-old student told MailOnline she hopes to finish her three-year course at Manchester Salford and pursue a career as an embryologist after she finds a boyfriend in the South African villa.

She signed up for the show after receiving a call from ITV casting producers at university and has since packed a total of 50 bikinis to wear as she stars in the winter series, which is being presented by new host Maya Jama.

Influencer Tanya says her ideal man is 2022 Islander Dami Hope, who's in a relationship with former co-star Indiyah Polak, but she would have also settled for Ikenna Ekwonna or Ovie Soko, from the cast of 2019.

Tanya Manhenga has 'postponed' the final term of her biomedical science degree to star on Love Island

The 22-year-old student told MailOnline she hopes to finish her three-year course at Manchester Salford and pursue a career as an embryologist after she finds a boyfriend

Tanya said: 'I am definitely going to finish because I have just one little term left of my degree that I've deferred and that's something that I wouldn't just leave because I've dedicated time and effort to it and I'm not just going to stop because I went on Love Island.

'You never know what's going to happen when you finish the show. If there are opportunities there, I will definitely take them but it will have to be something amazing for me to leave what I was doing before.

'It's a three-year course that I did at Manchester Salford and I really enjoyed it, surprisingly because I did it very last minute.

'If Love Island wasn't there or even afterwards I would have continued to finish my degree and then I would have done embryology and working with IVF and helping people have babies.

'That's the only job that I really wanted because it's the most rewarding to me. I want to wake up and do something rewarding that's helping someone.'

Tanya signed up for the show after receiving a call from ITV casting producers at university and has since packed a total of 50 bikinis to wear as she stars in the winter series

The new Islander has spent weeks preparing for her villa debut and says she has packed 50 bikinis in the hope of impressing any potential suitors.

She said: 'Before I came, I counted and I have 50 bikinis. As long as you look good it doesn't really matter the number but every single bikini I have looks colourful, bright, that's what I have. You never know how long you're going to be in there so you need to be prepared.'

And Tanya already knows what she's looking for after taking inspiration from past Love Island series.

She added: 'I would have gone for Dami because he dresses so good. His dress sense was unreal.

'I would have also gone for Luca because he was giving mysterious vibes in the beginning, tattoos, he was really fit. Ikenna as well, love a tall guy. Ovie as well, oh my God, yes. He was unreal.'

Influencer Tanya says her ideal man is 2022 Islander Dami Hope, who's in a relationship with former co-star Indiyah Polak

Unlike many former Islanders, Tanya applied for the series and was shocked to receive a call from ITV asking if she was still up for the experience.

Tanya says she replied: 'Yes! I am still single, please, help.'

She explained: 'I was tired of dating and dating and dating and these boys just wasting my time so I was like what a better way to find love than on Love Island? Let's see if it actually works.

'I put my name on the application and I forgot about it for a month. Then I was at uni one day and I got a call from someone at ITV asking if I was still interested.'

Unlike many former Islanders, Tanya applied for the series and was shocked to receive a call from ITV asking if she was still up for the experience

This year, for the first time in Love Island history, the social media profiles of the Islanders will remain 'dormant' during their time on the show.

The big change has been decided by ITV producers following years of friends and family struggling to cope with the levels of trolling received as their loved ones appear in the villa and have their phones confiscated, leaving them to run their socials from home.

Tanya admits she was unconvinced at first but now sees the benefits in her Instagram profile, which already has 20K followers, being 'paused' during her TV stint.

She said: 'I thought is it a good thing, is it not a good thing? But then I looked at it in a way of obviously you can't stop trolls.

'If it's going to reduce the potential amount of trolls that you're going to get then I'm all for it.

'A lot of people are worried about getting followers but I just think if you're going to get followers, you're going to get followers anyway it's not about that to begin with, it's Love Island and an experience to have fun but I'm not worried.

'I really like the idea, to pause it. People can get the chance to know me without feeling like they know me because my friends are posting all the time.'
Lana Jenkins hopes to follow in pal Michelle Keegan's footsteps by finding a reality TV boyfriend during her stint on Love Island.

The makeup artist, 25, who former Coronation Street actress Michelle called 'one of the nicest girls you'll ever meet', is longing to find the man of her dreams after her relationship with I'm A Celeb runner-up Owen Warner left her heartbroken.

Michelle, 35, told her 6.3million Instagram followers on Monday 'so our girl is going into Love Island. Go and smash it darling' after the pair formed a close friendship when Lana worked backstage for six months on Sky series Brassic.

She says she's ready to find a longterm partner, as Michelle has done with husband, ex-TOWIE star Mark Wright, after being single since her romance with Owen fizzled out after the pandemic ended and the world reopened again.

Lana Jenkins hopes to follow in pal Michelle Keegan's footsteps by finding a reality TV boyfriend during her stint on Love Island

Lana said: 'I worked with Michelle on Brassic, which runs for six months at a time so I've spent a lot of time with Michelle. She's beautiful inside and out so that's really lovely to hear.'

The new Islander reflected on her previous romance with Hollyoaks actor Owen, who came second on the latest series of I'm A Celeb, and says she's grateful to have experienced heartache because now she's able to recognise red flags.

She explained: 'I've had three relationships and my last one I felt like I was in love. So, I went through love and heartbreak, which is fine everyone goes through it.

'I came out of it and I'm thankful because you grow and you learn lessons. I feel like I grew as a person and now that I've come out of it and been single for this period of time, I feel like I know exactly what I want and red flags, green flags, and all the flags.

'I am looking for a certain type of person now and someone that's going to be forever potentially.'

The makeup artist, who former Coronation Street actress Michelle called 'one of the nicest girls you'll ever meet', is longing to find the man of her dreams

Lana explained that her connection with Owen, famed for his romances with Stephanie Davis and Chloe Ferry, didn't last after the soap star confessed to not being ready for a longtime relationship.

She said: 'We had a lockdown relationship, which was really lovely and we spent a lot of time together.

'When things started opening up, we were on different paths and in our case it happened to be the timing wasn't right.

'He wasn't ready for a serious relationship and looking back, I probably wasn't either. It's taken me this long to think now I do, I'm ready for it.'

The MUA is hoping being fluent in Spanish will help her to entice a new boyfriend after she spent a decade of her childhood living abroad.

Lana explained that her connection with Owen, famed for his romances with Stephanie Davis and Chloe Ferry, didn't last after the soap star confessed to not being ready for a longtime relationship

She said: 'It's a little sexy thing isn't it for boys so maybe I can use it if I'm not getting enough attention. If all else fails, use a bit of Spanish.

'My parents moved there for work when I was four-years-old so I was young and didn't have a clue what was going on. I was moved into a Spanish speaking school. I was fluent in about six months but that's because no one else spoke English.'

After working for five years behind the scenes as a makeup artist including for big events such as the Soap Awards, Lana admits she's already experiencing 'imposter syndrome' and is daunted by the prospect of being front of camera.

She said: 'It's something that has never happened before so it's a weird concept for me to be in front of the camera but after a while I'll forget that they're there.

'I plan on being myself anyhow. It's a weird thing to think of myself on TV and I've got a bit of imposter syndrome, you know when you're a bit like what's going on? Should I actually be here? I won't see the show so I'm not too worried about cameras, I'm excited more than anything.'
The Bachelors has its first breakout star and her name is Bella Johnston.

During Tuesday night's episode, the bubbly bronde had fans in hysterics when she joked about loving 'champagne, d*ck and oysters', and it wasn't long before she was heralded as the 'saviour' of the struggling reality show.

Bella, 27, felt compelled to overshare with the nation when she noticed an oyster bar on a group date with Bachelors Felix Von Hofe, Jed McIntosh and Thomas Malucelli.

The Bachelors' Bella Johnston (pictured) revealed the three things she loves in life are 'Champagne, d*ck and oysters' during Tuesday's episode

'I notice that there's actually an oyster bar. I mean, there's, like, three things I love in my life - champagne, d*ck, oysters. All of it is in the room,' she said excitedly.

'Whatever happens today. I think it's brilliant,' she finished.

Bella soon became an instant hit on social media, with fans quick to praise her racy remark.

Bella, 27, felt compelled to overshare with the nation when she noticed an oyster bar on a group date with Bachelors Felix Von Hofe, Jed McIntosh and Thomas Malucelli

'I notice that there's actually an oyster bar. I mean, there's, like, three things I love in my life - champagne, d*ck, oysters. All of it is in the room,' she said excitedly.

'Whatever happens today. I think it's brilliant,' she finished

'Then Bella became the saviour of the series,' one viewer wrote, clearly impressed by the contestant's boldness.

'Oysters, champagne & d*ck! Bella is a girl after my own heart. But like, babe, find better d*ck. Or better yet, get a vibrator,' another added.

'Champagne, d*ck, oysters, I stan you Bella,' another fan enthusiastically wrote.

Bella become an instant hit with viewers, with many praising her for her bold taste

'CHAMPAGNE DICK OYSTERS. My new, New Year's resolution,' another wrote.

Meanwhile, not everyone shared Bella's taste.

'Champagne, dick & oysters. That woman is all class,' yet another added.

Other fans were a little less impressed with the exuberant display

'"There's three things I love in my life: Champagne, d*ck, oysters. And there are all three in the room.'  And people say Australia has no culture,"' wrote one more.

'I love champagne, dick and oysters' Well Felix is a total d*ck and there are champagne & oysters so I guess you hit the jackpot!' another added.

The Bachelors continues Wednesday at 7.30pm on Channel 10
Joey Essex was open-mouthed on Lorraine on Tuesday after she made a racy sex innuendo in response to a flirty comment.

The former TOWIE star, 32, was on the show to talk about his upcoming Dancing On Ice stint and playfully told the host he was losing his 'Lorraine virginity'.

Joey was stunned, however, when Lorraine, 63, replied with an even naughtier joke after telling him to 'behave himself'.

Surprised: Joey Essex was open-mouthed on Lorraine on Tuesday after she made a racy sex innuendo in response to a flirty comment

The cheeky exchange started when Joey said: 'I've got an exclusive. I'm just about to lose my Lorraine virginity. I've never been on here before.'

To which she replied: 'You're kidding? You have so, behave yourself! You can be on me anytime, anytime.'

Lorraine then went to Andi Peters to host a competition segment in Egypt, but the presenter was so surprised by the host's quip to Joey and told them both to: 'Leave it now'.

Cheeky: The former TOWIE star, 32, was on the show to talk about his upcoming Dancing On Ice stint and playfully told the host he was losing his 'Lorraine virginity'

Uncomfortable: Lorraine then went to Andi Peters to host a competition segment in Egypt, but the presenter was so surprised by the host's quip to Joey and told them both to: 'Leave it now'

He said: 'Learn from an older, more experienced man like myself Joey, I lost my Lorraine virginity a long time ago - and I'm still here.'

Later in the show, Lorraine said: 'Look you said you were a Lorraine virgin, didn't you? You're not.

'Our viewer James has pointed this out to me, I got a text to say you were on the show but it was a long time ago.'

As they showed Joey a clip from his appearance in 2016, he said: 'Oh I'm not a Lorraine virgin.'

Joey is set to take to the skating rink with professional skate partner Vanessa Bauer.

The stars are currently rehearsing the fifteenth series ahead of Sunday's debut fronted by Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.

It comes after Vanessa shut down the growing rumours of a romance between her and Joey, after they had previously said to have been 'super flirty'.

Cheeky: The cheeky exchange started when Joey said: 'I've got an exclusive. I'm just about to lose my Lorraine virginity. I've never been on here before'

Naughty! To which she replied: 'You're kidding? You have so, behave yourself! You can be on me anytime, anytime'

Touche! Joey couldn't believe Lorraine's cheeky reply

Blast from the past: Lorraine then told Joey he appeared on her show back in 2016 (pictured)

She shared that they are 'just friends', before adding that they're having 'a lot of fun' preparing for the competition.

Speaking to The Sun, Vanessa was asked whether there was any truth to rumours of a blossoming relationship between her and Joey.

'We are just skating partners,' she firmly said, while responding the same to any chance of romance in the future.

Working hard: The stars are currently rehearsing the fifteenth series ahead of Sunday's debut fronted by Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield

And turning the conversation to the upcoming series of the skating competition, the brunette continued: 'Dancing on Ice couldn't go any better right now, Joey is progressing really fast and he's working hard.

'He takes Dancing on Ice extremely seriously; I was a bit worried at the beginning that he was going to joke around too much. But we are having a lot of fun and at the same time we are training so hard.'
A promotional image for Invest Seoul / Courtesy of Invest Seoul



By Anna J. Park



Invest Seoul, the city government's investment arm, will be hosting a series of events in Hong Kong later this week to promote the city as Asia's financial hub and to facilitate networking for local fintech firms.



First off, the investment center will hold a two-day promotion of Seoul from Jan. 11 to 12 on the sidelines of the 16th Asian Financial Forum (AFF) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). The AFF is an annual networking platform hosted jointly by the Hong Kong government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), attracting tens of thousands of visitors annually from some 80 countries and regions.



Since this year's AFF is the first offline event in three years due to COVID-19, many global financial firms, including HSBC, UBS and Bank of China, along with over 130 fintench startups and companies from all around the world, are expected to show up to build up their connections.



Invest Seoul will operate a booth at the HKCEC, arranging one-on-one meetings with global financial companies to inform them of Seoul's business environment as well as the city's incentive programs bestowed for any global financial firms that aim to open up branches in Korea's capital city. Cooperating with the Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI), the center also plans to conduct various surveys to figure out global financial companies' business trends and their needs when choosing cities for opening up branches.



On Jan. 13, Invest Seoul will host its Seoul Fintech Networking event at Hong Kong's Regal Hotel to attract investment for Korea-headquartered fintech-based asset management companies and blockchain firms, inviting global investors, Hong Kong's fintech association and financial firms.



"Invest Seoul will be aggressively promoting Seoul to global firms considering further advances into Asia," said Gu Bon-hi, director of Invest Seoul. "We aim to convince investors of Seoul's attractiveness as a new financial hub, while establishing a pro-Seoul investment network."


They enjoyed a month off from anchoring the ITV Daytime show from December 9th until January 9th.

And on Tuesday, This Morning's Phillip Schofield, 60, and Holly Willoughby, 41, angered viewers as they sulked while wine experts enjoyed fondue in a hot tub in the Swiss Alps for a sommelier segment.

Wine expert Helen McGinn and fashion writer Kat Farmer indulged in wine tasting while at luxury ski resort, while back in the London TV studio the anchors seethed with jealousy.

Fuming: On Tuesday, This Morning's Phillip Schofield, 60, and Holly Willoughby, 41, angered viewers as they sulked while wine experts enjoyed fondue in a hot tub in the Swiss Alps

Sinking lower and lower into the sofa as the Boutique Hotel Glacier Swiss Alps segment went on, Holly and Phil were visibly bitter.

'I am so jealous' admitted Phil, with Holly added: 'I am absolutely dripping with envy. I don't know what I'm most jealous of: The wine, the scenery, the Swiss chocolate, the cheese.'

And although some This Morning fans saw the funny side of the interaction, many viewers were left unimpressed, with the hosts having just returned from their month-long winter break.

Lush! Wine expert Helen McGinn and fashion writer Kat Farmer indulged in wine tasting while at luxury ski resort, while back in the London TV studio the anchors seethed with jealousy

Seething: Sinking lower and lower into the sofa as the Boutique Hotel Glacier Swiss Alps segment went on, Holly and Phil were visibly bitter

Holly enjoyed a 1,000-per-night family ski holiday at a luxury chalet in the French Alps over the festive period, while Phil visited Copenhagen, Denmark.

One person tweeted: 'What are those two pulling faces for theyll have been on holiday during Xmas they had a month off #ThisMorning.'

Another fumed: 'Never at "Work" hardly BUT them two smarmy F***ers are jealous...it beggers belief !!! #ThisMorning.'

Unreal: Helen and Kat relaxed in their swimwear with the most stunning backdrop behind them

Jealous! 'I am absolutely dripping with envy. I don't know what I'm most jealous of: The wine, the scenery, the Swiss chocolate, the cheese' admitted Holly

'Oh look at holly and Phil pretending to be jealous , 9 holidays a year and working for 2 and a half hours a day is just terrible #thismorning,' added a third.

Someone else tweeted: 'Holly & Phil looking p**sed off theyre not there despite just returning from the worlds longest Christmas break! #ThisMorning.'

'Holly and Phil sat there annoyed, not like you two cant afford to jet off at any time, spare a thought for those who cant afford to eat x #thismorning,' wrote an annoyed viewer

Unimpressed: And although some This Morning fans saw the funny side of the interaction, many viewers were left unimpressed

'#ThisMorning Why is Phil and Holly pulling faces, especially Phil he's been in Belgium for nearly 3 weeks,' noted someone else.

Some other This Morning fans were concerned about the juxtaposition of placing money-saving segments amid the cost-of-living crisis, alongside multiple luxury getaways.

One viewer tweeted: One minute @thismorning are sharing money saving tips to help ease the energy crisis and the next, they're showing two women in a hot tub in the alps tasting different wines. How tone deaf can they get.'

Winter break: Holly enjoyed a 1,000-per-night family ski holiday at a luxury chalet in the French Alps over the festive period

Adventures: Phil visited Copenhagen, Denmark during his month-long This Morning break

Someone else fumed: 'Aah & in between the horribly inappropriate luxury holiday & wine segments we have a gov. uk ad telling us its our fault our bills are high #ThisMorning.'

'Mauritius. Swiss Alps. Egypt. Do you know how to read? Specifically rooms. #ITV #ThisMorning,' wrote another.

It comes after Holly enjoyed a 1,000-per-night family ski holiday at a luxury chalet in the French Alps over the festive period, while Phil visited Copenhagen, Denmark.
She recently enjoyed a lavish winter break in Mauritius at a five-star hotel.

And Amanda Holden waved goodbye to the sun and battled the rain in London on Tuesday as she departed work at Heart FM.

The presenter, 51, wowed in a dog tooth mini skirt as she showed off her sun-kissed legs following her luxury 1.7K a night African getaway.

Chic: Amanda Holden, 51, waved goodbye to the sun and battled the rain in London on Tuesday as she departed work at Heart FM

Despite the weather, Amanda was all smiles as she shielded herself with a large umbrella and briskly walked home from the studio.

She opted for a cream turtleneck knit with gold buttons across the shoulders and a pair of suede stilettos.

To complete her classic look, the television personality carried a nude handbag and styled her blonde hair straight.

Out and about: The presenter wowed in a dog tooth mini skirt as she showed off her sun-kissed legs following her luxury 1.7K a night African getaway

Downpour: Despite the weather, Amanda was all smiles as she shielded herself with a large umbrella and briskly walked home from the studio

Amanda was joined by her Heart FM co-star Ashley Roberts, 41, who opted for a long wool coat with a striped maxi dress.

Ashley completed her outfit with a pair of heeled leather boots and a miniature croc print handbag.

It comes after Amanda kicked off her new year with a bang as she has been soaking up the sun on a 1.7k a night holiday in Mauritius.

Glowing: To complete her classic look, the television personality carried a nude handbag and styled her blonde hair straight

Keeping warm: Amanda was joined by her Heart FM co-star Ashley Roberts, 41, who opted for a long wool coat with a striped maxi dress

Sophisticated: Ashley completed her outfit with a pair of heeled leather boots and a miniature croc print handbag

The Britain's Got Talent judge stayed at the luxurious five-star LUX Grand Baie situated on the northern shore of the island.

The hotel featured four swimming pools, three bars, a private beach and a stunning spa.

When food is included, room prices can reach 3,000-a-night thanks to its prime location on the beach.

Amanda rang in the new year at the holiday hotspot, along with her husband Chris Hughes and their two daughters, Lexi, 16, and Hollie, 10.
Claire Sweeney kicked off 2023 in paradise, jetting to Barbados for a winter sunshine break.

The TV star was full of confidence as she flaunted her curves in a blue bikini during a dip in the ocean at her luxury resort last week.

Showing off her holiday tan, Claire cooled off with a swim during her beach day with son Jaxon, seven, and friends.

Fun in the sun: Claire Sweeney kicked off 2023 in paradise, jetting to Barbados for a winter sunshine break where she enjoyed a dip in the sea at her luxury resort

Claire looked fab in her halter-neck aqua-coloured swimwear with gold detailing, which highlighted her bronzed figure.

She styled her blonde hair into a casual up do to keep cool, and added a touch of makeup for the low-key day in the sun.

Claire has been sharing snaps from her luxury getaway on Instagram.

Stunning: The TV star was full of confidence as she flaunted her curves in a blue bikini during her fun day with friends and family at the beach

Fancy a dip: Showing off her holiday tan in her skimpy swimwear, Claire cooled off with a swim, holding hands with a pal

While away, Claire has also been enjoying meals out at Mango Bay restaurant, where she rang in the New Year and the famous Lonestar.

The star has been holidaying with a group of friends and her son Jaxon, who is her son from a past relationship with her ex Daniel Reilly.

Last year Claire revealed her weight loss secrets ahead of starring in Cabaret All Stars and wanting to look her 'physical best.'

Full of confidence: Claire looked fab in her halter-neck aqua-coloured swimwear with gold detailing, which highlighted her bronzed figure

Beach chic: She styled her blonde hair into a casual up do to keep cool, and added a touch of makeup for the low-key day in the sun

'The plan is to start going to the gym and hot yoga five days a week, because it's amazing for weight loss and strengthening my core.'

While she has been open about her fitness regime, Claire has always insisted she doesn't put too much pressure on herself and has previously 'embraced being overweight'.

During a March 2022 appearance on ITV's Lorraine, Claire revealed of her secrets to looking and feeling good: 'I think it's just dressing appropriately, I changed my hair slightly. Just embrace it and enjoy being you.

Time out: The star has been holidaying with a group of friends and her son Jaxon, who is her son from a past relationship with her ex Daniel Reilly

Busy year: Last year Claire revealed her weight loss secrets ahead of starring in her hit show Cabaret All Stars and wanting to look her 'physical best'

Confident: While she has been open about her fitness regime, Claire has always insisted she doesn't put too much pressure on herself

Happy: During a March 2022 appearance on ITV's Lorraine, Claire revealed of her secrets to looking and feeling good: 'Just embrace it and enjoy being you'

'I'm a stone overweight at the moment but that'll come off. Don't beat yourself up over things.'

Loraine replied: 'You're a wise woman. Far too many of us put things off - thinking I'll wear that when I lose a stone. Wear it now!'

Laughing, Claire said: 'Get your suck-in knickers on and wear a frock!'
Emily In Paris fans were shocked to discover she had previously dated Lucien Laviscount.

And Kerry Katona praised the 'talented and charming' actor, 30, as she responded to the huge social media response after an old photoshoot of the couple went viral.

The Atomic Kitten star, 42, who met Lucien on Celebrity Big Brother in 2011, said their 'fling' was 'just a bit of fun' and she isn't surprised he's being tipped to play the next James Bond as she spoke in an interview on Tuesday.

'He's talented': Kerry Katona, 42, praised Lucien Laviscount, 30, as she responded to the huge social media response after an old photoshoot of the couple went viral on Tuesday

Speaking to OK! magazine, Kerry explained: 'Apparently my OK magazine cover from 2011 with my former Celebrity Big Brother housemate Lucien Laviscount has gone viral on social media! Lucien was very charming and obviously easy on the eye, and it was all just a bit of fun.'

Since his appearance on the reality TV series, Waterloo Road star Lucien went on to play main character Emily's love interest in hit Netflix drama Emily In Paris.

Kerry confirmed she has seen the show, adding: 'I have seen Lucien as Alfie in Emily In Paris on Netflix - hes a great actor, so its no wonder he is being tipped to be the next Bond.'

Throwback: The Atomic Kitten star, who met Lucien on Celebrity Big Brother in 2011, said their 'fling' was 'just a bit of fun' and she isn't surprised he's being tipped to play James Bond

'People were even joking that I could have made a good Bond girl - and that just made me giggle!' she laughed.

According to a source, Lucien caught the eye of James Bond boss Barbara Broccoli and is being lined up to become the new 007 to replace Daniel Craig.

The debonair Burnley-born actor, 30, whose first role was as a child model for Marks & Spencer when he was ten, is also deemed to be the perfect age to play Bond.

Smooch: Speaking to OK! Kerry explained: 'Lucien was very charming and obviously easy on the eye, and it was all just a bit of fun'

Ms Broccoli has made it clear she wants the next actor to portray the character for 15 years, which rules out former favourite Idris Elba, who turned 50 in September.

It is also thought that Ms Broccoli and her team are keen to have an ethnic-minority star to play 007 so the franchise is reflective of modern society.

However, some executives are fearful Laviscounts appearance on reality show Celebrity Big Brother in 2011, when he finished in fifth place, will tarnish his chances of getting the job because previous Bonds have been more highbrow.

New role: According to a source, Lucien caught the eye of James Bond boss Barbara Broccoli and is being lined up to become the new 007 to replace Daniel Craig (pictured last month)

Cast: He joined Emily In Paris for its second series when his British banker character swept leading lady Emily off her feet (pictured on set with Lily Collins)

A source said: Lucien ticks all of the boxes. He is a super talented actor, is extremely handsome and in the past 18 months has won lots of new fans since he joined Emily In Paris.

Bond bosses are already saying how you can see him in the 007 tuxedo, how dapper and fitting to the role he will look.

But, there is a sticking point, and that is Big Brother. Lucien appeared on the show at a time when his acting career was not as high-profile as it is now, but he was very popular then and has a fan base now which stretches generations. That is a dream for Barbara who is very taken with him.
Kate Hudson has been looking back this week.

When speaking to W magazine the 43-year-old Oscar nominee shared details about her first kiss when she was just a young teenager.

'It was at a party. We were friends. It was Chris wants to kiss you, and I was like, Oh great. And then we did, and it was really sweet,' said the beauty whose current partner is Danny Fujikawa.

Pucker up: Kate Hudson has been looking back this week. When speaking to W magazine the 43-year-old Oscar nominee shared details about her first kiss when she was just a young teenager

A happy kiss: Seen in the 2003 film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days with Matthew McConaughey

The daughter of Goldie Hawn elaborated even more.

'We kissed, we hung out, and then I was likemaybe Im not ready for this,' added the actress who rocketed to fame when she starred in Almost Famous in year 2000.

'Maybe I need to be alone and independent. I think it foreshadowed the rest of my life,' she then said.

She also talked her recent hit film Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

Intimate: With Gael Garcia Bernal in the 2011 film A Little Bit Of Heaven

Smoochy: With Heath Ledger in the 2002 film The Four Feathers

A little more PG: Seen here kissing Thierry Lhermitte on the head in the 2003 film Le Divorce

Kate added that her entrance on screen was particularly dramatic.

'The pool scene! As my clothes fall off! You know, I dont shy away from an entrance. Thats part of why I wanted to be an actress,' said the looker who has three kids.

'Theres something thrilling about moments like that,' she noted.

'This is a girl whos been tucked and nipped, and Im sure shes getting every machine all over her body.

Kissy with her first husband: Kissing Chris Robinson at the premiere of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days at the Cinerama Dome in 2003

'So while the rest of the cast were having their Aperol Spritzes on the beach in Greece, I was staring at them longingly going, "When is the bikini scene going to be done?"'

W Magazines 2023 Best Performances Portfolio, part of their annual Best Performances issue on stands February 7, celebrates 32 incredible actors at the forefront of cinema.

The feature was curated by Ws editor-at-large, Lynn Hirschberg, and photographed by Jamie Hawkesworth and styled by W Magazines Editor-in-Chief, Sara Moonves.
Brad Pitt could relate to his Babylon character.

The 59-year-old actor stars in the 1920s set film as the world-weary silent film star Jack Conrad, and Brad shares a similar viewpoint to his alter ego.

'Sadly enough, that melancholy may be my natural mode of being, some congenital melancholy,' the Oscar-winning actor told W Magazine's Great Performances issue.

Relate: Brad Pitt, 59, said he could relate to his Babylon character. He told W Magazine , 'Sadly enough, that melancholy may be my natural mode of being, some congenital melancholy'

'But no, I think there's a weariness that takes over with the character as he moves on. There's a world-weariness that I can certainly relate to a little bit,' the ex of Angelina Jolie added.

Brad continued, 'At this time, more of us are trying to tear each other down than help each other up. I get a little weary.'

The Troy actor explained that he immediately connected with the script from director Damien Chazelle.

World-weary: The 59-year-old actor stars in the 1920s set film as the world-weary silent film star Jack Conrad and Brad shares a similar viewpoint to his alter ego. 'There's a world-weariness that I can certainly relate to a little bit'

Pitt said, 'I'd been following Damien since Whiplash. The script came, and it was 180 pages. I said, "This thing is a masterwork. But what's going to get cut?" Because it's really hard to get 120 pages in there.

'And he said, "Nothing. I'm going to pace it a minute a page. I'm going to have it moving.'''

Brad praised the filmmaker for the way he tells the story and pointed out that his musical background has an influence on his approach behind the camera.

Cover: Brad is gracing one of the covers of W Magazines first issue of 2023, Volume 1, Best Performances. It hits stands February 7, 2023

He said, 'You know Damien's films; there's a rhythm  a syncopation  to the scenes.

'The way he puts it together and doles out the information. There's always the kind of movement that I think comes from his early days as a jazz drummer. I find that I'm looking for that in life, you know? We all need to find the music in the day.'

W Magazines first issue of 2023, Volume 1, Best Performances hits stands February 7, 2023.

Masterwork: Brad called the script for Babylon a 'masterwork' and praised director Damien Chazelle for the way he tells the story and pointed out that the Whiplash director's musical background has an influence on his approach behind the camera

The Best Performances portfolio is an annual feature curated by Ws editor-at-large Lynn Hirschberg and highlights stars at the forefront of cinema, from industry legends and icons to those whose phenomenal talent is ushering in a new wave of stardom.

Brad is only one of the stars on the cover of the Best Performance issue.

Other stars with their own covers include Cate Blanchett, Michelle Yeoh, Zoe Kravitz, Michelle Williams, Brendan Fraser, Taylor Russell, Daniel Craig, Jennifer Lawrence, among others.

In the same issue he said that his favorite on-screen moment of passion was on the nighttime soap opera Dallas.

He had cowboy energy: Brad appeared on four episodes of Dallas between 1987 and 1988 as Randy, the boyfriend of Shalane McCall's character Charlie Wade; he said his favorite sex scene was rolling around on that show

'It would have been in the show Dallas. I had to roll around in the hay in a barn. I don't think I had a line. I was just rolling and frolicking,' said the actor whose last film was Bullet Train; his next movie is Babylon with Margot Robbie.

Brad appeared on four episodes of Dallas between 1987 and 1988 as Randy, the boyfriend of Shalane McCall's character Charlie Wade.

Shalane became his real-life girlfriend; she was only 15-years-old at the time. McCall is now 50-years-old.

His love: Shalane became his real-life girlfriend; she was only 15-years-old at the time. McCall is now 50-years-old

The leads of the series were Larry Hagman and Linda Gray.

He also shared that he crashed a wedding once.

'It was on the set of Mr. & Mrs. [Smith],' he said. The film was his debut with Jolie, whom he co-parents six kids with.

'We were filming down in this Deco building downtown, and up in the penthouse above, we kept seeing people going up and down. It was a wedding party, so I crashed it. And they were okay with it. [Laughs]'
Sarah Beeny was treated to breakfast in bed by her husband on Monday as he marked her 51st birthday.

The presenter and TV property expert shared a snap to Instagram of her porridge with blueberries arranged in a smiley face as a sweet treat from her partner Graham Swift.

The celebratory breakfast comes just days after Sarah - who revealed in August she had cancer - had her last chemotherapy session.

Celebrations: Sarah Beeny was treated to breakfast in bed by her husband on Monday as he marked her 51st birthday

Captioning the post of her breakfast, Sarah wrote: 'Birthday brekkie in bed!!!! Graham bring particularly lovely today!! Xxx.'

The post was met with several messages from her fans and showbiz pals wishing her a happy birthday.

Sarah's birthday joy continued from her elation on Friday as she revealed that she had 'no more chemo' left to do.

Something to smile about: The presenter and TV property expert shared a snap to Instagram of her porridge with blueberries arranged in a smiley face as a sweet treat from her partner Graham Swift

How lovely: Captioning the post of her breakfast, Sarah wrote: 'Birthday brekkie in bed!!!! Graham bring particularly lovely today!! Xxx'

Alongside a picture of her sons' CD cover, Sarah wrote 'Not sure what is making the sun shine the most  2 days into steroids (happy pills!!!)  no more chemo or @the_entitled_sons releasing their best song yet

'YES Friday IS a good day xx #finishedchemo #HEAVENKNOWS @nickyjohnston (sic)'.

It comes after Sarah revealed her last chemotherapy session was cancelled because her liver numbers were too high and her white blood cell count was too low.

Great news: Sarah's birthday joy continued from her elation on Friday as she revealed that she had 'no more chemo' left to do

She sent Happy New Year wishes to her followers as she revealed she was forced to miss out on partying this year.

Sarah told how she has been 'laying around like a Dowager Duchess' since the cancellation but assured fans she has started to feel bit brighter.

The Property Ladder presenter shared a photograph of a mug of coffee and some biscuits which had been delivered to her by her son Billy, 18.

Update: It comes after Sarah revealed her last chemotherapy session was cancelled because her liver numbers were too high and her white blood cell count was too low

Alongside the snap, she wrote: 'Been delivered the perfect tray this morning by the brilliant Billy Swift!! Happy slightly late New Year to everyone...

'Been laying around like a Dowager Duchess a bit since last Chemo on 30th was cancelled because liver numbers too high and white blood cells too low

'Just as you think you're there.. bit less Eeyore now and hoping bloods better this week. Hope you all were partying for me!!! Thank you all for your lovely messages!'

Sarah has been sharing updates over the festive period and last week she took to Instagram to post a snap of herself planting flowers in empty loo rolls with one of her her sons, Charlie, 16.

Sweet: The Property Ladder presenter shared a photograph of a mug of coffee and some biscuits which had been delivered to her by her son Billy, 18

In the sweet image, she beamed from ear-to-ear while wearing a pink knitted hat and an orange polo neck sweater as she posed with her child.

In her caption, she wrote: '@_charlie_swift_ its just not that wierd [sic] a thing to do with empty loo rolls.. just you wait till all the flowers pop out..!!! X

'Thanks to the wonderful @somersetwreathsandgarlands for the idea and lovely seeds - youre simply the best!!! And @alpacamyhat for the lovely warm hat!! X'

Busy bees: In her caption, she wrote: '@_charlie_swift_ its just not that wierd [sic] a thing to do with empty loo rolls.. just you wait till all the flowers pop out..!!! X'

It comes after Sarah was praised by her fans as she visited the Institute of Cancer Research to learn about genetics amid her own battle with the disease.

The broadcaster took to Instagram to share a photograph of herself with Professor Clare Turnbull as she visited the cancer research organisation.

She sported a white ICR lab coat as she posed alongside the NHS consultant in clinical cancer genetics as she spent the morning at the institute.

'Inspiring': It comes after Sarah was praised by her fans as she visited the Institute of Cancer Research to learn about genetics amid her own battle with the disease

Sarah, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in July, was praised by her 248,000 followers as 'amazing' and an 'inspiration' for raising awareness for cancer research.

Taking to the comments section, one person wrote: 'Love the way you are researching the heck out of this insidious disease xx.'

While another added: 'Looking fabulous Sarah and great to be talking to breast cancer/genetics professor Clare Turnbull.'

A third said: 'They do great work!', to which Sarah replied with: 'So interesting!!! Genetics research is mind blowing!!'

Family: Sarah is also mother to sons Charlie, 16, and Billy, 18, with her husband of 19 years Graham Swift

A fourth commented: 'Sarah you are a pioneer too and an amazing lady,' and another added: 'Hang on in there Sarah, a great inspiration to so many. Keep on going.'

The Institute of Cancer Research in London is one of the world's most influential cancer research organisations and looks into cancer genetics, cancer biology and personalised medicine.

Alongside her post, Sarah wrote of her visit: 'Absolutely fascinating to talk #genetics with the brilliant Professor Clare Turnbull this morning - thank you so much @icr_london loved wearing a lab coat! Xx #cancerresearch #breastcancerawareness #breastcancer.'

The Macmillan Support Line offers free, confidential support to people living with cancer and their loved ones. Call 0808 808 00 00 for support.
Ollie Locke has claimed Britain is 'completely backward' when it comes to IVF and fertility, in which relevant laws haven't changed in 24 years.

The Made In Chelsea star, 35, and his husband Gareth, also 35, recently shared that their surrogate had suffered a third heartbreaking miscarriage on the E4 show.

And now speaking on the Monday Mile podcast with Aimee Fuller, he explained how difficult the process is in the UK, which had prompted them to take their quest for a baby abroad.

Difficulties: Ollie Locke, 35, has claimed Britain is 'completely backward' when it comes to IVF and fertility, in which relevant laws haven't changed in 24 years

He told the Olympic snowboarder, 31: 'Britain is incredibly difficult, completely backward, they haven't changed the laws on IVF in 34 years and they don't plan on doing so for another three years.

'The reason people go abroad to do it is because if you want an egg donor, you can't see their face which is completely ridiculous. And so you have to choose from someone based on what you feel they might look like.

'You know they have green eyes and weigh this much and might be this tall... but you can't see their face, which seems absolutely mad to me.

Sad news: The Made In Chelsea star (pictured) and his husband Gareth, also 35, recently shared that their surrogate had suffered a third heartbreaking miscarriage on the E4 show

'In America, you can meet them, discuss it and have a contract where you go, "Thank you very much for the eggs." It's a transaction.

'Then there will be no more rights whatsoever so they won't have any rights to the children or anything like that. In England, it's somewhat more difficult.

'If theoretically, our surrogate, who is not biologically related to the baby, in the end she can find to keep it because she gave birth to it.'

Ollie went on to reveal he would love to adopt a child, however has been put off by a negative experience his friends in Spain.

He explained: 'I've spoken to loads of people about it and one of the biggest things they say is, "Why don't you adopt? There are so many children that need adopting."

Tragedy: Made In Chelsea stars Ollie and Gareth Locke have shared the heartbreaking news that their surrogate had suffered a third miscarriage

Speaking out: Ollie appeared on former Winter Olympian turned broadcaster Aimee Fullers Monday Mile podcast to speak about his troubles

'They're absolutely right and if the government made it slightly easier to do that it would be great. Gay friends of mine did it in Spain, this is heartbreaking, and the little girl is now seven. The mother got in contact and they had to give the girl back.

'These lovely guys have no idea who this woman is except from that she gave birth to her and they've had to give her back.'

During December's Bali Special of Made In Chelsea, Ollie and Gareth shared the heartbreaking news that their surrogate had suffered a third miscarriage.

Ollie admitted he felt 'demasculated' that they had been unable to conceive.

It came just days after Ollie and Gareth had announced that their surrogate had fallen pregnant after their third round of IVF, after the couple suffered a miscarriage at six weeks pregnant last year during their first round of fertility treatment.

Ollie said: 'We just can't believe it's happened again.'

Gareth added: 'This is our third time. Every time it's like... ''Oh well next time surely it's going to happen.'' It feels like every time you're going to have to redo it, it just feels like it's a bit, a step further away.'

In the first episode of MIC's Bali Special, Ollie had shared with pals his hope that their surrogate would fall pregnant after having an embryo implanted.

Later in the episode, during a lavish beach party, he delightedly told friends: 'You may know that last week we put an embryo in our surrogate, and under the Balinese magic jungle, we want to say that we are pregnant again!'

As their delighted co-stars popped a bottle of champagne in celebration, an emotional Gareth could be seen wiping away tears.

However, despite the joy that they could be expecting another baby, Ollie and Gareth - who have been together since 2018 and married since 2020 - revealed in the following episode that their surrogate had miscarried.

Not this time: The couple had revealed just days earlier that their surrogate had fallen pregnant, following a successful round of IVF

Speaking to Emily Blackwell and Miles Nazaire, Ollie admitted: 'We just can't believe it's happened again.'

Gareth then added: 'This is our third time. You know it's like, 60 per cent. 70 per cent chance whatever and every time it's like... ''Oh well next time surely it's going to happen.''

'It feels like every time you're going to have to redo it, it just feels like it's a bit, a step further away.

'Obviously we're in a very fortunate position, we can go again. But you know it's not, it's not easy.'

Over the moon! Later in the episode, he and Gareth announced to their friends that their surrogate was pregnant

Emotional: However, despite the joy that they could be expecting another baby, Ollie and Gareth revealed in the following episode that their surrogate had miscarried

Shocking: Speaking to pals Emily Blackwell and Miles Nazaire, Ollie admitted: 'We just can't believe it's happened again'

Ollie then candidly said: 'Can I tell you something really savage as well? And this is a weird, personal thing, and I know this isn't how I should be feeling.

'And I know this, but I get so embarrassed. I haven't even called my dad yet. Because I'm embarrassed by...

'And I'll tell you the reason is, weirdly, I feel demasculated. And I know that's really silly, but this is me talking frankly to you guys, and I know I shouldn't feel like that, but I feel embarrassed that it hasn't worked for us.

'And it's so stupid, but I'm just waiting for long enough, for someone to tell dad, so I don't have to.

'But embarrassment is such a weird emotion, to have when it's actually like, that should be the last of your thoughts.'

Miscarriage: Gareth then added: 'This is our third time. You know it's like, 60%. 70% chance whatever and every time it's like... ''Oh well next time surely it's going to happen''

Back in December 2021, Ollie and Gareth revealed that their first attempt at having a baby via a surrogate was unsuccessful, after she miscarried at six weeks.

Ollie explained that after finding out they were pregnant in November, their surrogate sadly miscarried at six weeks.

He wrote: 'Trigger Warning. This is the last thing I want to be writing, but this is sadly a part of our journey.

'In early November our life changed in the most extraordinary and wonderful way, those two perfect lines shone through a pregnancy test telling us we were pregnant and Gareth, myself, our surrogate and our families were all ecstatic.

On hold: 'It feels like everytime you're going to have to redo it, it just feels like it's a bit, a step further away,' Gareth continued

Tough time: Ollie then admitted that he feels 'demasculated' after his surrogate had a miscarriage

'After a difficult year, a little bean growing inside the best person you could ever imagine was the most wonderful early Christmas present we could ever have imagined.

'Through the course of nature, at six weeks and two days it stopped growing and had gone.'

Ollie went on to say that it is not the 'end of the road' for the couple, saying they will continue to 'move forward' towards fatherhood and are looking towards a 'silver lining'.

He continued: 'This not going to be the end of the road, in fact we have some wonderful plans and we will continue to move forward towards the remarkable gift of fatherhood.

'All of your support has been amazing and I have read every DM you have sent and thank you for being so kind to Gareth, myself and our heavenly surrogate!

'With the greatest sadness we will always continue to look towards a silver lining, which is the shining beacon of a community that we have found who are all going through the same journey as us, trying to have the family they so wish and deserve. Your support has been remarkable!'

The miscarriage comes after their first attempt to have a baby via IVF was unsuccessful last year.

Ollie, who met his partner Gareth a decade ago before they started dating in 2018, also said they don't want any other couple to go through the heartbreak and financial challenges that they have.

He said: 'As we move forward I will promise I will do everything in my power to try and bring attention to help in changing the British laws to make it easier for people desperately trying to have a family!

'The rules which haven't been reassessed in over 30 years are wildly unfair, currently firmly against gay equality and beyond archaic.

'Why would any government grant equal marriage, but make it so heartbreakingly difficult and frighteningly expensive to have a family, I will do everything in my power to open up the conversation of a modernisation in legislation change!

'I love you all and let's hope 2022 is a year that we all deserve, with such enormously loved babies brought into this world!

'Myself and Gareth decided with great support and love from Channel 4 and Monkey Kingdom to play last night's final scene as we feel this is a part of our journey which we will continue to share with you, all whist sending love and strength to those going through this at the same time.'
John Stamos marked the one-year anniversary of his friend Bob Saget's passing, at the age of 65, with an emotional tribute to his late costar on Instagram.

On Monday, the 59-year-old actor, best known for portraying Jesse Katsopolis on the comedy Full House alongside Saget for eight years, shared footage of them goofing around on the set of their hit series.

In the recording, Stamos can be heard saying, 'We'll never have another show like this,' before his pal interjected: 'My agent told me I'll never have another show!'

Still grieving: John Stamos marked the one-year anniversary of his friend Bob Saget's passing, at the age of 65 , with an emotional tribute to his late costar on Instagram

'We really love each other... There's not one fight in six years, we really get along, I look forward to seeing everybody,' Stamos marveled.

The You star went on to caption the video with a Charlie Chaplin quote, which read: 'A day without laughter is a day wasted.'

'Its hard sometimes Bob without you, but well try. Well keep loving and will keep hugging just like you want us to,' he continued.

Behind-the-scenes: On Monday, the 59-year-old actor, best known for portraying Jesse Katsopolis on the comedy Full House alongside Saget for eight years, shared footage of them goofing around on the set of their hit series

Funny: In the recording, Stamos can be heard saying, 'We'll never have another show like this,' before his pal interjected: 'My agent told me I'll never have another show!'

The father-of-one continued: 'I cant believe its been a year, time flies when youre grieving I guess.'

His comment section was flooded with loving comments from many of his more than 3.8 million Instagram followers, wife Caitlin McHugh and former Full House costars.

'Love you so much,' his on-screen niece, Jodie Sweetin, wrote beneath Stamos' post while Candace Cameron Bure wrote: 'Isnt this the truth.'

In memory: The You star went on to caption the video with a Charlie Chaplin quote, which read: 'A day without laughter is a day wasted' (seen in 2019)

'Its hard sometimes Bob without you, but well try. Well keep loving and will keep hugging just like you want us to,' he continued; seen in December 2022

Saget's widow, Kelly Rizzo, 43, also commemorated the anniversary of his death on social media.

Her spouse died from a head trauma at The Ritz-Carlton, Orlando in Florida after he apparently hit the back of his head on something.

His death stunned his global community of fans, not to mention his family who said he was the happiest he had ever been when he died.

Hit sitcom: Stamos is best known for portraying Jesse Katsopolis on the comedy Full House alongside Saget for eight years between 1987 to 1995 (seen in 1989)

'One Year. Our hearts are so heavy. How could I not have talked to or seen my loving husband in a whole year?' she wrote on Instagram.

Kelly said she accepted the 'reality' of his death,' but it 'still seems unreal when I see photos or videos of him so full of life.'

She played the Ben Folds song, The Luckiest, underneath the video, explaining that it was one of Bob's favorite songs, and the theme wrapped up how her feelings.

Sad: Saget's widow, Kelly Rizzo, 43, also commemorated the anniversary of his death on social media.

'But there is one thing I carry with me every single day that makes this survivable,' she continued. 'I AM THE LUCKIEST. I am the luckiest that I got to be his wife. I am the luckiest that I got to live with his warmth, and laughter, and brilliance, and love.'

In an essay for People Kelly wrote, 'Complicated, brilliant, compassionate, hilarious, neurotic, opinionated, loving, adorable, complex, determined, loyal and sweet. He taught me so much about how to be a better person, how to love ourselves and others more completely.'

She also wrote of the support she had from Bob's daughters, Aubrey, 36, Lara, 33 and Jennifer, 30, in dealing with the pain of his loss, telling the outlet they were 'true miracles and angels and the gratitude I have that we have each other is immeasurable.'

Head trauma: The comedian was only 65 when he died from head trauma n his Orlando, Florida hotel room after he apparently hit the back of his head on something

Former Full House co-stars Dave Coulier, 63, and Candace Cameron Bure, 43, also posted their own tributes.

Dave wrote of how they hit it off the first time they met and became like brothers.

'At some point today, I'll think about how much I miss him and Ill shed some tears. Then Ill hear Bobs voice, and itll make me laugh. Enjoy the gifts of life while theyre still here with you.'

Brothers: Full House co-star Dave Coulier, 63, wrote of how they hit it off the first time they met and became like brothers. 'At some point today, I'll think about how much I miss him and Ill shed some tears. Then Ill hear Bobs voice, and itll make me laugh'

Candace posted a flashback photo and wrote of just now being able to revisit the good times with her TV dad. 'I stayed up for hours watching videos of Bob on my phone. Videos I couldnt watch a year ago because it hurt too much.'

'Last night they made me laugh,' she explained. 'They comforted me and warmed my heart. I watched them over and over and laughed so hard. I miss him so much and Im grateful he was my friend for so many years. I love you, Bob.'

Both ended their messages encouraging readers to 'hug... like Bob.'
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Jonah Hill opted for casual comfort donning shorts and flip flops alongside his stylish girlfriend, Olivia Millar, as the couple enjoyed a shopping outing to a children's store called Kokonut Kids in Hawaii on Tuesday.

The talented comedian, 39, has been publicly seen with the business owner since last year in August.

The 21 Jump Street actor, who recently cut down on media appearances, will jump back onto the screen later this month in Netflix's upcoming film, You People, which also stars Eddie Murphy.

Relaxing getaway: Jonah Hill, 39, and his girlfriend, Olivia Millar, were spotted during a shopping outing in Hawaii at Kokonut Kids on Tuesday

For the daytime outing, Jonah slipped into a pair of colorful, teal shorts along with a short-sleeved, plain white T-shirt from Hobie Surf Shop that gave a glimpse of tattoos on both of his arms.

The talented actor, who recently celebrated his birthday last month in December, additionally donned a pair of flip flops that coincided with the color scheme of his shorts.

He threw on an eye-catching, orange cap with The Vitamin Barn printed on the front, which is a local shop and eatery located in star-studded Malibu.

The Wolf Of Wall Street star accessorized his look with a simple black watch on his left wrist to help him keep track of time during their shopping trip as they explored the tourist destination.

Taking in the sights: The couple, who were spotted together last year in August, explored the tourist destination to kick off their Tuesday

Keeping it casual: The Superbad star opted for a pop of color to his ensemble for the day, wearing teal shorts along with a vibrant, orange cap to cover his locks

Olivia, who walked closely by Jonah's side, also showed off her own sense of stylish comfort as the happy pair picked up a few items from a shop.

She donned a white, bikini top and added a high-waisted, purple flowy skirt that contained floral patterns throughout the fabric.

The co-founder of the vintage clothing shop, Chasseresse, also wore a pair of off-white flip flops to complete her overall outfit.

A greenish-blue tote bag made of fuzzy material was easily slung over her left shoulder to hold a few item she needed during the day. She further accessorized her look with fashionable, beaded necklaces while holding a pair of sunglasses in her right hand.

Her dark brunette locks were parted in the middle, and flowed down in natural waves past her shoulders. Olivia was seen carrying a small gift bag in her left hand after a purchase amid the couple's shopping trip.

Vacation mode: Jonah's girlfriend, Olivia, donned a white, bikini top and added a high-waisted, purple flowy skirt that contained floral patterns throughout the fabric

Shopping day: The two lovebirds were spotted exiting a shop as they explored the tourist destination after the actor recently limited his media appearances last year in 2022

Jonah will soon be back on the screen, much to the delight of his fans, in the upcoming Netflix romantic-comedy titled, You People, which is set to premiere on the streaming site later this month on January 27.

The premise of the movie, 'Follows a new couple and their families, who find themselves examining modern love and family dynamics amidst clashing cultures, societal expectations and generational differences,' according to an IMDB synopsis.

Alongside Jonah, who took on a leading role and also co-wrote the project, other cast members include comedian Eddie Murphy, Nia Long, X-Files alum David Duchovny, and Lauren London.

Hill has taken a break from making media appearances, including the promotion of You People, reported Deadline.

Upcoming project: Jonah will soon be back on the screen in the upcoming Netflix romantic-comedy titled, You People, which is set to premiere on the streaming site later this month on January 27

Taking a break: According to Deadline , Hill has taken a break from making media appearances, including the promotion of his upcoming projects; seen in February 2019 in Berlin

According to the publication, the Forgetting Sarah Marshall actor explained the reasoning behind his decision in a statement last year in August, while also opening up about his latest Netflix documentary called Stutz, which was released in November 2022.

'Through this journey of self-discovery within the film, I have come to the understanding that I have spent nearly 20 years experiencing anxiety attacks, which are exacerbated by media appearances and public facing events,' he expressed.

The talented actor continued that despite his projects, 'you wont see me out there promoting this film, or any of my upcoming films, while I take this important step to protect myself.'

Jonah movingly added, 'If I made myself sicker by going out there and promoting it, I wouldnt be acting true to myself or to the film. I usually cringe at letters or statements like this but I understand that I am of the privileged few who can afford to take time off. I wont lose my job while working on my anxiety.'
Containers for exports and imports are stacked at a pier in Korea's largest port city of Busan, Jan. 1. Yonhap



Korea posted the first current account deficit in three months in November as exports sharply dwindled amid growing worries over a global economic recession, central bank data showed Tuesday.



The country's current account shortfall amounted to $620 million in November, swinging back from a surplus of $880 million a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).



It marked the first deficit in three months and also represented a setback compared with the same month a year earlier when the country logged a surplus of $6.82 billion.



During the January-November period, the country's cumulative current account surplus stood at $24.37 billion, sharply down from a surplus of $82.24 billion tallied in the same period a year before, the data showed. The BOK earlier predicted an annual surplus of $25 billion for 2022.



The deficit came as exports dwindled amid growing worries over a recession prompted by aggressive monetary tightening in major countries and stringent coronavirus curbs in China, one of the country's largest markets.



Korea exported $52.32 billion worth of goods and services in November, down 12.3 percent from a year earlier. Semiconductor sales, among other things, fell 28.6 percent on-year in November, customs-cleared data showed.



By destination, exports shipped to China plunged 25.5 percent on-year in November as Beijing's strict antivirus curbs hampered access to the world's most populous market.



Imports, meanwhile, inched up 0.6 percent on-year to $53.88 billion in the month. This caused the goods balance to post a deficit of $1.57 billion in November, the second straight shortfall in the area. It also swung back from a surplus of $6.07 billion a year earlier.



Falling freight rates and increasing outbound travel bolstered by eased virus curbs also led to an increase in the service account deficit in November.



The service account, which includes outlays by Koreans on overseas trips and transport earnings, posted a shortfall of $340 million in November, compared with a surplus of $50 million in October. It was also larger than the previous year's shortfall of $270 million in the sector.



The primary income account, which tracks wages of foreign workers and dividend payments overseas, logged a surplus of $1.43 billion in November, down from the previous month's surplus of $2.26 billion.



The amount, however, increased from a year earlier when it stood at $1.17 billion on less dividend payouts, according to the data.



The outlook for December's current account remains uncertain amid falling exports and increasing trade deficit.



In December, Korea's exports came to $54.99 billion, up 9.5 percent from a year earlier, while imports expanded 2.4 percent to $59.68 billion, according to government data.



As a result, the country posted a trade deficit of $4.69 billion last month. (Yonhap)


A Today show reporter couldn't resist taking a swipe at Prince Harry on the day his highly anticipated memoir Spare was released in Australia.

Gabrielle Boyle was filming a live cross from the Dymocks bookstore in Sydney's CBD on Wednesday morning when she joked she would need a 'stiff drink' to get through the Duke of Sussex's book.

She made the remark after noting the lack of crowds outside the George Street store, which was surprising given the round-the-clock publicity blitz surrounding the release of Spare.

Today show reporter Gabrielle Boyle (pictured) couldn't resist taking a swipe at Prince Harry on the day his highly anticipated memoir Spare was released in Australia

The segment began with Today host Lara Vella asking Boyle: 'Gabby, book shops here are hoping for long lines. Is anyone outside yet?'

Boyle laughed awkwardly as she looked around at the deserted street, and replied: 'Well, not yet, Lara. It's a few hours [to go] yet.'

Later, she said Dymocks was offering customers a free hot drink with every purchase, before adding pointedly: 'I reckon if I had to read that entire book, I would need a free stiff drink.'

This quip made Vella and co-host Alex Cullen burst into laughter back in the studio.

Boyle (right, with Lara Vella, left, and Brett McLeod, centre) was filming a live cross from the Dymocks bookstore in Sydney's CBD on Wednesday morning when she joked she would need a 'stiff drink' to get through the Duke of Sussex's book

Harry recently said he and wife Meghan Markle (right) will never move back to the UK

'Gabby, I think you speak on behalf of many people here,' Vella said, to which Cullen added: 'Whisky on the rocks.'

Today crossed back to Boyle inside Dymocks' flagship store an hour later.

Despite the lack of customers queuing up outside, she said Dymocks had already sold 600 pre-orders and stocked up on 'thousands and thousands of copies'.

However, she baulked at the price of the book: $45.

'If you're wondering how much it costs to get a copy of this, well, here at Dymocks it's retailing for $45, but at some retailers it's going for $60,' Boyle said.

'Sixty bucks for the privilege of reading this,' she added, as Cullen scoffed back at Today show headquarters.

'I don't really want to pay $45 for the privilege... I'll be downloading the audiobook and listening to it while doing the dishes.'

Harry's headline-grabbing autobiography Spare, which hit shelves on Tuesday, was boosted into the record books with 400,000 hardback, e-book and audio format copies being snapped up, its publisher said.

This makes it the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever.

She made the remark after noting the lack of crowds outside the George Street store, which was surprising given the round-the-clock publicity blitz surrounding the release of Spare. (Pictured: a stock photo of Spare on sale in Spain)

Despite the lack of customers queuing up outside, Boyle said Dymocks had already sold 600 pre-orders and stocked up on 'thousands and thousands of copies'

The book includes claims the Prince of Wales physically attacked Harry and teased him about his panic attacks, and that the King put his own interests above Harry's and was jealous of the Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales.

In a U.S. broadcast promoting the book, Harry branded Duchess of Cornwall the 'villain' and 'dangerous', accusing her of rehabilitating her image at the expense of his.

Larry Finlay, managing director of Transworld Penguin Random House, said: 'We always knew this book would fly but it is exceeding even our most bullish expectations.

'As far as we know, the only books to have sold more in their first day are those starring the other Harry [Potter].'

Harry's headline-grabbing autobiography Spare, which hit shelves on Tuesday, was boosted into the record books with 400,000 hardback, e-book and audio format copies being snapped up, its publisher said. This makes it the fastest selling non-fiction book ever. (The Duke of Sussex is pictured with Good Morning America anchor Michael Strahan on January 3)

As the duke continued a run of high profile promotional interviews, he said he 'would like nothing more' than for his children to have relationships with the royal family.

His remarks about his son and daughter came despite the criticism he has levelled at his brother William, father Charles and stepmother Camilla.

In his first print interview about his autobiography, he told U.S. magazine People that Archie, three, and 19-month-old Lili did have a connection with some of the Windsors, whom he did not name, saying this brought him 'great joy'.

He also described his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, as his 'guardian angel' and said she is with him 'all the time'.

Bookshops in the UK opened early on Tuesday to offer Harry's book  but queues were sparse after leaks ahead of the publication, with industry experts predicting Spare would be one of the best-selling pre-order titles of the past decade.

Scenes outside Australian booksellers were equally muted.
She rose to fame on the 2020 winter Love Island series.

And Demi Jones was still commanding attention as she attended Disney+'s Welcome To Chippendales launch event on Tuesday.

The reality star, 23, put on a leggy display in a pair of black leather shorts and a busty black top as she posed up a storm at The Windmill in Soho, London.

Work it: Demi Jones put on a leggy display in black leather shorts and a busty top at Disney+'s Welcome To Chippendales launch event in Soho on Tuesday night

She flashed her toned and tanned pins and boosted her frame with a pair of strappy black heels while beaming for the cameras.

Demi wore her red tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for a typically glamorous makeup look for the night out.

Also at the event was fellow Love Island alum Lucinda Strafford who wore a shiny yellow top and high-waisted jeans while toting a Dior bag.

Glowing: Demi wore her red tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for a typically glamorous makeup look for the night out

Posing: She flashed her toned and tanned pins and boosted her frame with a pair of strappy black heels while beaming for the cameras

Diversity stars Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely also attended and both wore comfortable all-black ensembles.

This comes as Demi looked happier than ever as she announced she was cancer free before Christmas, just seven months after being diagnosed.

She posed next to the entrance sign for Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth as she broke the news across social media.

Style: Also at the event was fellow Love Island alum Lucinda Strafford who wore a shiny yellow top and high-waisted jeans while toting a Dior bag

Glamorous: She cut a stylish figure in her outfit and sported a bronzed makeup look at the event

She wrote alongside the snap: 'I'M CANCER FREE!!!! I did it! I got my full body scan results back and there's not a single cancer cell left in my body.

'It's been such a difficult year mentally and physically for me with my surgeries and treatment but I'm beyond grateful for everyone's kindness and support over this past year.

'I will continue to be an advocate for cancer awareness and all my love and strength goes out to those who continue to fight this awful disease, here's to a healthy and happy 2022.'
She is used to commanding attention when out and about.

And Megan Barton Hanson put on a very busty display as she attended Disney+'s Welcome To Chippendales launch event on Tuesday.

The former Love Island star, 28, gave a glimpse of her ample assets in a plunging gold mini dress as she posed up a storm at The Windmill in Soho, London.

Woah! Megan Barton Hanson put on a very busty display as she attended Disney+'s Welcome To Chippendales launch event on Tuesday

She also flashed plenty of leg in the thigh-skimming number which was cinched in at the waist and teamed with sheer tights.

Megan boosted her height with shiny gold heels and accessorised with a stylish black Dior bag as she smiled away.

The blonde beauty wore her light tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for lashings of makeup complete with a light pink lip.

Cleavage: The former Love Island star, 28, gave a glimpse of her ample assets in a plunging gold mini dress as she posed up a storm at The Windmill in Soho, London

Pose: She also flashed plenty of leg in the thigh-skimming number which was cinched in at the waist and teamed with sheer tights

Elsewhere Demi Jones put on a leggy display in a pair of black leather shorts and a busty black top.

She flashed her toned and tanned pins and boosted her frame with a pair of strappy black heels while beaming for the cameras.

Demi wore her red tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for a typically glamorous makeup look for the night out.

Also at the event was fellow Love Island alum Lucinda Strafford who wore a shiny yellow top and high-waisted jeans while toting a Dior bag.

All smiles: The blonde beauty wore her light tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for lashings of makeup complete with a light pink lip

Work it: Elsewhere Demi Jones put on a leggy display in a pair of black leather shorts and a busty black top

Glowing: Demi wore her red tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for a typically glamorous makeup look for the night out

Posing: She flashed her toned and tanned pins and boosted her frame with a pair of strappy black heels while beaming for the cameras

Diversity stars Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely also attended and both wore comfortable all-black ensembles.

This comes as Demi looked happier than ever as she announced she was cancer free before Christmas, just seven months after being diagnosed.

She posed next to the entrance sign for Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth as she broke the news across social media.

Style: Also at the event was fellow Love Island alum Lucinda Strafford who wore a shiny yellow top and high-waisted jeans while toting a Dior bag

Glamorous: She cut a stylish figure in her outfit and sported a bronzed makeup look at the event

Double denim: Samira Mighty wore a jacket and jeans for the event

Chic: She looked effortlessly stylish in her ensemble

New couple? Tom Malone and Saffron Barker attended together after sparking dating rumours

Gym-honed: Saffron flaunted her abs in a red and pink suit

Ladies: Emily Faye Miller (left) and Saffron Barker posed together

Duo: AJ Pritchard (left) and his brother Curtis attended the London launch of new Disney+ series Welcome To Chippendales

Coupled-up: Neil Jones, 40, and Chyna Mills, 24, looked cosy as they posed arm-in-arm at the the London launch of new Disney+ Original Limited series Welcome To Chippendales

Happy couple: Former Love Island star Chyna could be seen grinning as she stood alongside her beau as she gave a glimpse at her midriff while wearing a black one shoulder top

She wrote alongside the snap: 'I'M CANCER FREE!!!! I did it! I got my full body scan results back and there's not a single cancer cell left in my body.

'It's been such a difficult year mentally and physically for me with my surgeries and treatment but I'm beyond grateful for everyone's kindness and support over this past year.

'I will continue to be an advocate for cancer awareness and all my love and strength goes out to those who continue to fight this awful disease, here's to a healthy and happy 2022.'

Muscly: TOWIE star James Lock wore a tight white T-shirt

Handsome: He was showing off his many tattoos

Attendees: Diversity stars Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely also attended and both wore comfortable all-black ensembles

Posing up a storm: The dancing duo made the most of the event

Cool: Perri wore a black shirt and smart trousers with trainers
Rebel Wilson was spotted this week dashing around Los Angeles with her fashion designer girlfriend Ramona Agruma.

For her latest outing Rebel, 42, bundled up against the January chill by wrapping herself in a wintry chic white hoodie covered with what may have been faux fur.

The Pitch Perfect star's latest sighting comes just two months after she shocked her fans with the announcement that she had welcomed a daughter via surrogacy.

Legging it: Rebel Wilson was spotted this week dashing around Los Angeles with her fashion designer girlfriend Ramona Agruma

The Bachelorette star revealed that she is the proud mother of a bouncing baby girl, whom she has named Royce Lillian.

'I cant even describe the love I have for her, shes a beautiful miracle!' Rebel effervesced in her Instagram post breaking the news.

'I am forever grateful to everyone who has been involved, (you know who you are), this has been years in the makingbut particularly wanted to thank my gorgeous surrogate who carried her and birthed her with such grace and care. Thank you for helping me start my own family, its an amazing gift. The BEST gift!!'

Rebel froze her eggs years ago, and in the process of preparing for motherhood a fertility doctor remarked: 'You'd do much better if you were healthier.'

The look: For her latest outing Rebel, 42, bundled up against the January chill by wrapping herself in a wintry chic white hoodie covered with what may have been faux fur

The advice, she told People, prompted her to embark on a 'Year Of Health' that saw her drop nearly 80lbs and shed her previous public image.

Meanwhile Ramona is based in Los Angeles and heads up a sustainable fashion brand called Lemon Ve Limon, which she founded in 2021.

She and Rebel had already been dating for months before the Australian actress announced the relationship and came out of the closet this past June.

'I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince... but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess,' wrote Rebel on social media.

Baby mine: The Pitch Perfect star's latest sighting comes just two months after she shocked her fans with the announcement that she had welcomed a daughter via surrogacy

It then emerged that she took the romance public in order to beat the Sydney Morning Herald to the punch after they found out about Ramona and gave Rebel two days to comment before they published a story outing her.

Andrew Hornery, a gossip columnist for the paper, wrote a piece slamming her for deciding to 'gazump' his scoop by coming out of the closet herself.

The columnist, who is gay himself, found himself facing a deluge of backlash and subsequently apologized for the 'tone' of his article.

'Disney Princess': She and Rebel had already been dating for months before the Australian actress announced the relationship and came out of the closet in June

'As a gay man I'm well aware of how deeply discrimination hurts,' he wrote. 'The last thing I would ever want to do is inflict that pain on someone else.'

Rebel has since remarked on social media that the newspaper's 'actions did cause Ramona and I a lot of distress, and while weve remained classy, there are still pains from having to rush this news publicly which we are dealing with.'

However she noted: 'We moved on, focusing on all the absolutely amazing new things in our life, though! Sending love to everyone.'
Her own engagement to former NRL star Braith Anasta ended in heartbreak when the pair decided to split up late last year.

But Rachael Lee is relishing in the news her sister Bridgette is engaged to her long-time partner, Max Ayshford.

Her sister's beau got down on one knee and proposed to Bridgette in Mollymook on Tuesday.

Her own engagement to former NRL star Braith Anasta ended in heartbreak when the pair decided to part ways late last year, but Rachael Lee is relishing in the news her sister Bridgette is engaged to her long-time partner, Max Ayshford

Rachael and her new boyfriend Blake Hillen were present for the big moment as they enjoy a fun-filled beach trip with the happy couple.

Rachael posted several pictures of the proposal on her Instagram page and wrote in the caption: 'The most perfect true love Ive ever seen. My two best friends are getting married!

'Ive never seen a love so pure and magical then these two, I look at you both together w such happiness, knowing this love will last a lifetime.

Her sister's beau got down on one knee and proposed to Bridgette in Mollymook on Tuesday

In some pictures, eyebrow specialist Bridgette showed off her unique engagement ring - a diamond-shaped rock attached to a diamond band

'Congratulations to forever xxx love you both always xxx'

In some pictures, eyebrow specialist Bridgette showed off her unique engagement ring - a diamond-shaped rock attached to a diamond band.

The foursome appear to be having the time of their lives on the trip.

Following the exciting proposal, Bridgette posted a clip of the gang playing games in the backyard of a beautiful beach house.

'Look at the rigs on them,' Bridgette said in on clip, focusing the camera of her iPhone towards Rachael and Blake.

Rachael also showed the foursome enjoying an elegant dinner together.

Rachael and her new boyfriend Blake Hillen (pictured) were present for the big moment as they enjoy a fun-filled beach trip with the happy couple

Following the exciting proposal, Bridgette posted a clip of the gang playing games in the backyard of a beautiful beach house

Rachael and Blake's relationship appears to be getting quite serious, with Rachael recently sharing photos with Sydney-based bricklayer Blake during the Christmas period saying they had gotten a puppy.

The former personal trainer and the tradie are reportedly spending 'a lot of time' together following her split from Braith.

A source told Daily Mail Australia in December Rachael and Blake, who lives in the Sutherland Shire, have been 'inseparable' since Lee announced her shock split with the NRL star.

'I've spotted Rachael spending a lot of time the shire. I've seen her on a number of occasions with Blake, she looks very smitten around him,' said the source.

'Just last weekend they were away with Racheal's sister Bridgette and her boyfriend.'

Rachael has also left several comments on Blake's Instagram posts.

Rachael Lee welcomed a new puppy into her family named Archie during the Christmas period, with her tagging Blake. Both pictured

Little is known about Blake, however photos shared to his public Instagram profile show that he is an identical twin and father of two.

He enjoys the great outdoors and spending time in the ocean.

In addition to being a bricklayer, he is a keen boxer and holds a number of titles.

Rachael confirmed her split with Braith after she moved out of the home they shared last year

It comes after Rachael confirmed her split with Braith after she moved out of the home they shared last year.

Rachael, who shares daughter Gigi, 4, with the former Roosters player, unfollowed Braith on Instagram and removed any mention of his name in her account bio.

She was also spotted several times without her engagement ring and spending most of her free time partying with her friends and sister Bridgette.

Braith also has an eight-year-old daughter Aleeia with ex-wife Jodi Gordon, while Rachael has a son, Addison, 11, from a previous relationship.
Neil Jones and Chyna Mills put on a cosy display as they posed arm-in-arm at the the London launch of new Disney+ Original Limited series Welcome To Chippendales on Tuesday.

Strictly Come Dancing professional Neil, 40, wore a black T-shirt which left his tattoos on display along with a pair of matching black trousers.

Former Love Island star Chyna, 24, could be seen grinning as she stood alongside her beau as she gave a glimpse at her midriff while wearing a black one shoulder top under a black jacket which she wore on her shoulders.

Coupled-up: Neil Jones, 40, and Chyna Mills, 24, looked cosy as they posed arm-in-arm at the the London launch of new Disney+ Original Limited series Welcome To Chippendales

She wore a pair of black trousers and added a few inches to her stature by opting for a pair of heels.

Chyna stood with a drink in her hand as they pair posed for pictures at the glitzy bash.

Neil, who used to be married to his Strictly professional co-star Katya Jones, and Chyna took their relationship public in August last year when they enjoyed a romantic trip to Paris.

Posing up: Strictly Come Dancing professional Neil wore a black T-shirt which left his tattoos on display along with a pair of matching black trousers

Their outing comes after Neil revealed he was left homeless in Finland when he was younger as he detailed how he 'used those low times' to find success.

The twinkle-toed star found himself at breaking point when he was just 16 after moving away from home to pursue a dancing career.

When he found himself unable to pay the bills, the BBC star ended up on the streets in a vulnerable position before a local charity helped him find accommodation.

Happy couple: Former Love Island star Chyna could be seen grinning as she stood alongside her beau as she gave a glimpse at her midriff while wearing a black one shoulder top

Speaking for a new initiative on behalf of homeless charity Centrepoint, Neil detailed how he 'overcame the challenges' and used them to fuel his passion for dancer.

He said: 'My breakthrough moment was when a homeless organisation offered me safe accommodation and got me off the streets so I could focus on my dancing.

'Since then, I've used those low times to push me to succeed.'

The World Champion dancer, who has won 45 titles so far, only recently opened up about his experience being homeless and didn't even tell his own mum until two years ago.
Pinup beauty Barbara Palvin seems to be ready for Valentine's Day which does not arrive for another month.

On Tuesday the Hungarian model could be seen on Instagram posing in lacy red bras and undies as she added lace bunny ears.

The three image carousel is part of the new Victoria's Secret campaign.

Red wonder: Pinup beauty Barbara Palvin seems to be ready for Valentine's Day which does not arrive for another month

Letting her silky dark brown locks cascade freely over her shoulders, the Budapest native sharpened her features with scarlet lipstick.

She is currently involved with Dylan Sprouse, 30, who shot to fame with his twin brother Cole on the Disney Channel sitcom The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody.

Barbara and Dylan have been together since 2018 and rang in the fourth anniversary of their relationship this June.

A looker: On Tuesday the Hungarian model could be seen on Instagram posing in lacy red bras and undies as she added lace bunny ears

They first met a party, after which he sent her a direct message on Instagram - which she neglected to reply to for six months.

'I took my time,' she told W. 'I knew I wasnt in a good mind-set at the time, and maybe deep inside I knew that it could be something more.'

Cole also declined to press the issue for the half a year it took her to reply, because: 'not one to chase. If I get left on read after putting out my number, f*** that. Im crying internally, but outwardly.'

Thrice as nice: The three image carousel is part of the new Victoria's Secret campaign

Eventually however she did decide to respond, and she discovered they had a chemistry that manage to slice through the fact that, as Barbara put it: 'Theres a little language barrier for me, so I was never good with texting or flirting.'

She spilled: 'With Dylan, everything seemed so easy. We had the same interests, and jokes were hitting at the right spot, and he didnt think I was disgusting or anything.'

They moved in together in New York in 2019 and lived there for about two years before upping stakes and relocating to Los Angeles in late 2021.
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Fighters for a Free North Korea, an anti-Pyongyang activist group, prepares to fly a balloon containing anti-Pyongyang leaflets in the South Korean border city of Paju in this December 2021 file photo. Yonhap



Korea's unification ministry has asked a North Korean defectors' group to refrain from carrying out a campaign to send anti-Pyongyang leaflets using drones, according to a ministry official Tuesday.



The request came after Park Sang-hak, head of the Fighters for Free North Korea (FFNK), said Monday that the group plans to fly unmanned aerial vehicles soon carrying leaflets critical of the North across the inter-Korean border.



"To abide by related laws, take into account inter-Korean situations and protect people's lives and safety, there is a need (for activists) to refrain from staging leaflet campaigns that could cause unnecessary risks," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.



The conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration warned that it would suspend a 2018 inter-Korean agreement designed to reduce military tensions if the North violates the South's territory again in the wake of North Korea's latest drone infiltrations into the South.



The unification ministry said last week it has begun a legal review on whether it is possible to resume loudspeaker broadcasting and the distribution of anti-Pyongyang leaflets in case the military accord is suspended.



By law, the government has banned the sending of propaganda leaflets across the border, with violators subject to face a prison term of up to three years or a fine of 30 million won ($24,160).



Meanwhile, the number of North Korean defectors coming to the South stayed below 100 for the second straight year in 2022 due largely to the North's tight border controls over COVID-19, according to the ministry.



The number of such North Korean defectors reached 67 last year, slightly up from 63 in the previous year. But the 2022 tally was 72.4 percent down from 229 recorded for 2020. (Yonhap)


Workers help travelers fill out an electronic declaration of their COVID-19 health status in the international arrivals area at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, Monday, Jan. 9. AP-Yonhap



The Chinese embassy in Korea has suspended issuing short-term visas for Korean visitors, it said on Tuesday, the first retaliatory move against nations imposing COVID-19 curbs on travelers from China.



The embassy will adjust the policy subject to the lifting of Korea's "discriminatory entry restrictions" against China, it said on its official WeChat account.



A Chinese embassy official confirmed the new measure.



The announcement comes a day after Foreign Minister Qin Gang expressed concern about the restrictions in a telephone call with his Korean counterpart Park Jin, according to China's foreign ministry.



"Our government's enhanced quarantine measures on travelers from China are based on scientific and objective evidence," Lim Soo-suk, a spokesperson for Seoul's foreign ministry, told a regular briefing following the announcement.



"We have been transparently exchanging related information with the international community, and have also been communicating with the Chinese side."



Korea began requiring travelers from China to undergo a PCR test upon arrival from last week, joining a growing list of countries imposing border restrictions amid concern over infections following China's decision to end its zero-COVID policies.



Effective Thursday, arrivals are also required to provide a negative PCR result, taken within 48 hours of the beginning of the journey to Korea, or a rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours, while short-term visa issuance has been suspended for Chinese nationals until the end of the month.



On Thursday, Korean police tracked down a Chinese man who went missing while awaiting quarantine after having tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival.



Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Monday the country's border measures should focus strictly on the safety of its citizens.



The latest tension dampened share prices of Korean companies with heavy exposure to business with China, sending cosmetics makers LG H&H and Amorepacific down by more than 2% each in late afternoon trade after early gains. (Reuters)


The search has been completed and nothing suspicious was found, said Jamnagar Collector Sourabh Pardhi (ANI)

Jamnagar: Police on Tuesday said nothing suspicious was found on the Azur Air Moscow-Goa international flight which was diverted to Jamnagar airport in Gujarat after a bomb threat.

The National Security Guard (NSG) and local police teams completed checking the aircraft on Tuesday morning after the flight made an emergency landing here on Monday night, they said.

The plane is likely to leave from the Jamnagar airport for its destination in a couple of hours, the police said.

The Moscow-Goa flight with 236 passengers and eight crew members was diverted to the Jamnagar airport on Monday night following a bomb threat. It had made the emergency landing at 9.49 pm, officials said.

All the passengers and crew members were evacuated safely, they said.

The NSG teams from Ahmedabad and Delhi joined the local police in carrying out the search operation of the plane, including the luggage of passengers, and the process was completed on Tuesday morning, Jamnagar Superintendent of Police Premsukh Delu told PTI.

Nothing suspicious was found on the flight, he said.

The bomb disposal squad of local police began checking the flight on Monday night. Later, the first NSG team arrived from Ahmedabad at around midnight. Another NSG team arrived from Delhi at around 3 am, Delu said.

"The NSG has completed the checking of the flight. The luggage is being loaded and the plane is likely to leave at around 11.30 am," he said.

Jamnagar Collector Sourabh Pardhi told PTI, "The Jamnagar Air Force base informed us about the bomb threat. Perhaps the threat was received by the Goa ATC (Air Traffic Control). The search has been completed and nothing suspicious was found."
Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar. (Photo:@TelanganaCS)

Hyderabad: Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar was on Tuesday reinstated to the Andhra Pradesh cadre, as the Telangana High Court quashed a 2015 order of the central administrative tribunal (CAT) that allowed Kumar to continue in the Telangana state cadre.

The High Court also refused to give Kumar the three weeks he sought to approach the Supreme Court. He is to be relieved from the Telangana cadre.

Following the bifurcation of the undivided Andhra Pradesh, Somesh Kumar was allotted to Andhra Pradesh by the Union department of personnel training (DoPT) in 2014. Aggrieved by it, Kumar approached the CAT in 2015. Faulting the allocation guidelines, the tribunal allowed him to continue in Telangana.

Challenging the order in the Telangana High Court in 2017, the DoPT asked how the tribunal could interfere in administrative issues like the allocation of IAS and IPS officer cadres, as the power is vested with the Union of India.

The case was pending since then and was taken up by the division bench headed by Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan in the second quarter of 2022. The arguments concluded on July 7, 2022, and the judgment was issued on Tuesday.

The division bench of Justice Bhuyan and Justice Surepalli Nanda allowed the DoPT petition and quashed the CAT order. In its 89-page order, the High Court held the CAT grossly erring by interfering with the DoPTs allocation. The bench said that the tribunal had misconstrued the cadre allocation guidelines.

The court agreed with the Union government`s contentions that an All India Service officer is bound to serve in any part of India. An IAS officer cannot claim, as a matter of right, that he will serve in a particular state and has no vested right to serve in a particular state.

Kumar contended that his allocation to the AP cadre was illegal and arbitrary because the two representations he made to the Centre before cadre allocation, requesting his allotment to the Telangana state cadre, were not considered and his objection to the tentative allocations were not also considered and remained unresolved.

He submitted that he had not been given a chance to swap cadres because no officer of his batch in the unreserved quota was available in Telangana. Hence, he requested a swap with an officer of the next batch.

His main contention was that the then Chief Secretary of undivided Andhra Pradesh, Dr P.K. Mohanty, who was on the advisory committee for cadre allocation, had acted with malicious intent, to ensure that his daughter Swetha Mohanty (IAS 2011 batch) and son-in-law Rajpat K. Saini (IAS 2007) were allotted to Telangana.

Kumar challenged the guidelines framed by the Centre based on the recommendations made by the Dr Pratyush Sinha committee, stating that they were contrary to the statute governing the service conditions of AIS officers and ultra vires the Constitution.

The Chief Justice bench said that the CAT had taken the view that allowing options for swapping to one set of officials and denying the same to another set was an irrational classification. Further, the bench said the CAT was not justified in holding that the AIS officer allocation guidelines, on the undivided cadre of AP between the two successor states, was illegal, arbitrary and violative of the All India Services Act, 1951.
United States charg daffaires and acting interim ambassador A. Elizabeth Jones interacts with select media at the US Consulate in Hyderabad on Tuesday. (Photo: Twitter@USCGHyderabad)

Hyderabad: On a brief visit to Hyderabad, United States charge daffaires and acting interim ambassador A. Elizabeth Jones, said there were few niggles in the Indo-US relationship and, with the two countries being natural partners, there was the positivity that together the two nations could achieve a lot.

She was interacting with a select media group at the US Consulate in the city, after a visit to the Spanish mosque here and an event at the Paigah tombs to announce aid for the restoration of several monuments.

She promised that the US was giving priority to reducing the waiting lines for visitor visas, especially for the large student community, with rapid staffing initiatives and finishing touches being given to the new US Consulate facility to be inaugurated later this year to ensure Indians could visit the US.

We have given top most priority to students to get visas. Families and students across India, and especially from the two Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, are very keen on visas. We have given a lot of priority to ensure over 2,00,000 students got visas. We are continuing our efforts to hire and train new staff, and bring them on board across our facilities to ensure visas services are optimised, Ambassador Jones said.

On the importance of Hyderabad, Jones said, The state of Telangana at large, and Hyderabad in particular, exemplifies the Indo-US relationship. I earlier visited the facility where Lockheed-Martin and Tata work in the defence space in a joint venture. American businesses have invested billions of dollars in Hyderabad and have created hundreds of thousands of jobs here. Businesses in both countries are continuously exploring more opportunities.

Ambassador Jones, with over 38 years in the US Foreign Service, and prior stints in several countries in Europe and Asia, including Germany, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Egypt, said that the US respected Indias sovereignty and expected all countries to respect Indias territory.

We cannot and will not interfere in India, China border issues but are happy that the two countries are resolving their issues through bilateral engagements and dialogue, she said.

Welcoming Indias presidency of the G20, she said, The actual interactions and dialogues have to start, but this year will be marked by several significant bilateral events. India has already expressed its broad vision for it. There will be several senior official-level engagements, including at Cabinet rank. Everyone is looking forward to Indias presidency.

She also spoke about the crucial Quad engagements, and the two plus two (2+2) bilateral talks, saying, India and America have strong and growing partnerships in energy, environment, global warming, trade, defence, people-to-people engagements, and that the partnership was also crucial for the world, as it can be a force for a larger good.

As part of Quad, we took vaccines made here in India, in Hyderabad, to not just benefit the people of our two countries, but many countries, she said. There are many joint military exercises, including naval exercises in the eastern Indian waters, which showcase the importance the US gives to India as a partner.

Refusing to call Indias stance on the Russian-Ukraine war disappointing, she said, In relationships between countries, no country tells another what it must do. We respect Indias stance, even if sometimes we may disagree with it. But Prime Minister Narendra Modis advice that in this era, war is no solution and that talks must resolve all differences with Russia is very welcome. Similarly, Indias aid and support to Ukraine has been very useful.

On the issue of the lack of a full-time formal Ambassador to India for two years, she said, We give the utmost importance to our relationship with India. It is just the way the US system works that we could not have a full-time, formally cleared appointee as Ambassador but it speaks of the strength of our bilateral ties, that because of clear policy directives of both governments, so many developments have continued to happen. The process of naming an Ambassador is on, though I cant say when it will happen.

United States President Joe Biden had last Tuesday re-nominated Eric Garcetti, the former mayor of Los Angeles, as ambassador to India, the White House said, after sending the nomination to the Senate.

In conclusion, she said, it was almost unique to Americas relationship with India that there are no major disagreements on any front and the bonds continue to become stronger and better.
Supreme Court (Photo: PTI)

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government has moved the Supreme Court seeking that the apex court direct Centre to expedite division of assets and liabilities between residuary AP and Telangana as per the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. AP pointed out in its plea that even as erstwhile Andhra Pradesh got bifurcated to form the new state of Telangana way back in June 2014, apportionment of assets and liabilities under the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act has not been done so far despite repeated efforts by the AP government.

The plea underlined that assets and liabilities specified in Schedule IX having 91 institutions and Schedule X having 142 institutions of AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, and another 12 institutions have been apportioned between the two states.

Non-division of these assets valued at 1,42,601 crore is only benefitting Telangana, as 91 per cent of these assets were situated in Hyderabad, the erstwhile capital city of AP, which is now the capital of Telangana.

The AP government listed in its plea how resources of erstwhile AP had mostly been invested for developing infrastructure in and around Hyderabad. The value of Schedule IX institutions is estimated to be 24,018.53 crore. Of these, assets worth 22,556.45 crore (93.9 per cent) are located in Telangana. The value of Schedule X institutions is 34,642 crore and assets worth 30,530.86 crore (88 per cent) are located in Telangana. The remaining 12 institutions are valued at 1,759 crore and they are all located in Telangana.

AP contended that non-apportionment of these assets has led to several issues, which have adversely affected the residuary state and violated the fundamental and other constitutional rights of AP people. Nearly 1,59,096 employees working in these institutions since 2014 are facing adverse conditions. Those employees who have retired from these institutions have not even got their terminal benefits.

Moreover, all these institutions perform a series of activities. Non-division of their assets between AP and TS in affecting the very functioning of these institutions and having an adverse impact on people.

Andhra Pradesh has asked Supreme Court to declare that Telanganas inaction on division of assets is violating the fundamental rights of the people in AP.
The Bhadrachalam Police on Monday seized laddus, found to contain fungi, from the Sri Ramchandra Swamy temple in Bhadrachalam File Image

Hyderabad: The Bhadrachalam Police on Monday seized laddus, found to contain fungi, from the Sri Ramchandra Swamy temple in Bhadrachalam after a check by food inspectors on complaints filed by devotees who purchased the prasadam.

Temple executive officer B. Sivaji said that they had prepared 2 lakh laddus for devotees for Vaikunta Ekadasi on January 2. But, there was not much rush at the temple and laddus have been kept for sale since January 2, he said, adding that while devotees had levelled allegations, he had not received any complaint.

Following the police visit, the temple staff staged a protest, alleging that the cops had entered the premises wearing shoes and demanded an unconditional apology. The police refused to comment on the claim.
Telangana High Court. (File Photo: PTI)

HYDERABAD: A two-judge bench of Telangana High Court on Monday dismissed a writ appeal objecting to a no-confidence motion against the upa-sarpanch of Kolathur gram panchayat in Medchal Malkajgiri district. A single judge had earlier dismissed a writ petition filed by the upa sarpanch, Pirelli Jaipal Reddy, against whom the no-confidence motion was placed.

Eleven ward members had declared that they had no confidence in Reddy. It was contended on his behalf that reasons for holding the meeting was not disclosed in the statutory notice that was issued. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji observed that it was not necessary to disclose reasons of no confidence, and that more than half of the ward members attended the meeting and had voted against him was enough to prove that democratic process was followed.

Pay enhanced stipend to practitioners of alternative medicines, HC to state

A two-judge bench of Telangana High Court on Monday directed authorities to release the enhanced stipend amount to medical practitioners and house surgeons into ayurveda, unani and homoeopathy under Ayush. The state government filed an appeal against the orders of the court directing it to release enhanced stipend to those practicing under Ayush on par with allopathic doctors.

Ayush doctors claimed that right from 2016 they were not paid stipend on par with allopathic doctors, who were getting enhanced stipend from May 2020.

The bench held that there was no valid reason for not enhancing stipend on par with allopathic doctors. It also observed that recently the Centre had increased the stipend amount and the stand taken by the state government was discriminatory. It was pointed out that even the apex court had held that classification was discriminatory.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji, observed that the mode of treatment could not qualify as intelligible difference between the two modes of practice. The bench also observed that special emphasis should be given for development of indigenous alternative medicines. The panel directed the state government to release enhanced stipend within three months.

HC sets aside cancellation of stall owners licence by RTC

Justice Lalitha Kanneganti of Telangana High Court on Monday set aside an order of TSRTC, which cancelled the licence issued to a stall owner inside the Jubilee bus station, Secunderabad. The petitioner Hajnale Baswaraj questioned the action as it was a violation of principles of natural justice.

According to the corporation, its staff had inspected the stall on May 18 and found the petitioner selling unauthorised items like gutka and khaini to drivers of Karnataka buses. They stated that they had exercised powers under employment contract, which empowered termination in such instances.

The judge pointed out that if RTC had exercised such power it should have served three-month notice first. The court found the impugned notice as being in violation of principle of natural justice and set aside the termination order. However it was made clear that this did not inhibit authorities from taking action in accordance with the law.

Status quo on Greenlands land dispute between private parties and govt

Justice Lalitha Kanneganti of Telangana High Court on Monday continued an order of status quo with regard to 3,500 square yards of land at Greenlands here. The judge was dealing with a writ petition filed by Chandralekha B. and Rajesh Jain complaining of illegal interference on their property by the state government.

The government stated that the land in question did not belong to the petitioners and that the property in question did not fall within the compound wall of the said survey number. It was also pointed out by advocate general B.S. Prasad that consequent to a writ petition in 1993, the petitioners, on advice, filed a civil suit, which they abandoned in 2005.

While Chandralekha claimed ownership, Jain claimed to have entered into an agreement of sale with the initial owner. Though an interim order was granted initially, it was modified to status quo after hearing arguments. The judge extended the order and posted the matter to after vacation.
The apex court clubbed all the petitions with the Green Bench. (ANI File Photo)

Anantapur: The Supreme Court has transferred petitions pertaining to Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) of D Hirehal mandal in Anantapur district to the Green Bench on Tuesday. A controversy over the fixing of borders between AP and Karnataka was on and the CBI had filed cases on illicit mining of iron ore.

The AP government had recently told the Supreme Court it has no objection to resumption of iron ore mining in Bellary reserve forest, where it was banned in 2010 over encroachment of forest land and other alleged violations, primarily by the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) of former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy.

However, petitions over seven more mining leases of reserve forests in Bellary district of Karnataka in Anantapur district borders were pending with Green Bench. The apex court clubbed all the petitions with the Green Bench.

Counsel for the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), Mukul Rohathgi, informed the Supreme Court bench that the issue was not connected with the border area issues and mining would be done only within AP.

The bench also referred to the Australia Underground Mining issue and said it was not able to say how deep the mining can be done. The bench also observed there was destruction of reserved forests along the state borders.

Tapala Ganesh, who has been fighting over the lack of clarity over the survey along the state borders of AP and Karnataka hoped the clubbing of similar cases with Green Bench can help in providing the clarity he has sought.
Telangana High Court. (DC Photo)

Hyderabad: The Telangana government and the SIT argued before the court that the accused and suspect persons in poachgate were adopting forum shopping tactics to conceal facts in the case. They were challenging the orders of a single judge bench which had transferred the probe to the CBI and quashed the SIT.

Representing the government, Dushyanth Dave, senior counsel at the Supreme Court, said that the probe should not be transferred to the CBI on mere apprehensions, surmises and conjectures. He was presenting his argument before the division bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji in the virtual mode.

He refuted the contentions of the accused Ramachandra Bharathi, K. Nandu Kumar and D.P.S.K.V.N. Simahyaji, who had argued that the state government and SIT appeals were not maintainable before the High Court because the petitions before the single judge were to be viewed as criminal jurisdiction.

Senior counsel told the division bench that they had filed writ petitions before the single judge and stated that there would be violations to their rights if the police conducted the probe. They requested transfer of the case to any independent agency. But they were taking different stands in the appeals filed by the government, setting aside the claim of violation of their rights and arguing that the writ petition before the single judge was criminal in nature.

Their prayer before the single judge was of a civil nature, like violation of personal rights. The single judge did not exercise power under criminal nature. The court observed that this type of crime was very serious. Now, they are arguing that the single judge had passed orders under criminal jurisdiction. Such stands are nothing but forum shopping tactics, Dave argued.

Further, citing several judgments of the Supreme Court, which had stated that the transfer the cases shall not be on mere apprehensions, Dave asked where was the link the accused and the single judge found that the Chief Minister was given CDs by the investigating officers. He asked how did the accused get a confirmation that the Chief Minister had intervened in the SIT probe.

Based on surmises and conjectures, they inferred that the Chief Minister was involved in the case, senior counsel Dave argued.

Senior counsel Uday Holla and S.D. Sanjay representing Karimnagar-based advocate Bhusarapu Srinivas and Tushar Velampally, who were named as suspects in poachgate, argued that the SIT had raided houses with more than 30 police personnel. They said the police, who also part of SIT, were under the administrative control of the Telangana government which is headed by the Chief Minister. So there was a chance of a biased probe by the SIT.

As counsels for the state government and P. Rohith Reddy sought more time to submit their rejoinders, the court adjourned the case to Tuesday.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. (Photo: PTI)

HYDERABAD: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's apparent "failure" to initiate disciplinary action against dissident functionaries in Haryana and Rajasthan has started raising eyebrows.

Regardless of the newly appointed party presidents' huffing and puffing over "cracking the whip," the organisation has not been able to take any action against three MLAs in Rajasthan who were served notices for not attending the CLP meet. Also no action was taken against Haryana MLA Kiran Chaudhary for allegedly cross voting during the Rajya Sabha election in June last year leading to the defeat of party candidate Ajay Maken.

Maken had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court in June challenging Kartikeya Sharma's victory and directly named senior party leader Kiran Choudhary for purposely making a tick against writing 1 in the box against his name. We had seen the ballot number on which the tick mark was made and checked its serial number, and therefore, there was no doubt that the rejected vote was that of Kiran Choudhary," Maken said. But clearly no tangible action has been taken by the party in this regard since June last year.

No action has been taken on the show cause notices given to State Minister Shanti Dhariwal, chief whip Mahesh Joshi and RTDC chief Dharmendra Rathore. Several leaders from the state wanted that a closure to the leadership issue is dealt with but till now even under a new national president there is no clarity on the state. Interestingly, the then general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan Ajay Maine resigned from his post of Rajasthan in-charge for the party lamenting against inaction. The three MLAs who are also office bearers in the Rajasthan government were accused of revolt and instigating fellow MLAs to resign and not attend the legislature party meeting called by the Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in September last year for leadership change.

First they waited for the elections of the Congress president in October last year then they waited for the elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. Then they waited for the Bharat Jodo Yatra to leave the state. Yet a final decision evades both the states.
The Supreme Court on Monday said religious conversion is a serious issue which should not be given a political colour.

The top court sought assistance of Attorney General R Venkataramani to decide a plea for stringent steps to control fraudulent religious conversions.

A bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar asked him to appear in the plea, seeking measures to check on religious conversions through "intimidation, threatening, deceivingly luring through gifts and monetary benefits", and assist as amicus curiae.

Also Read | Joshimath subsidence: SC asks petitioner to mention on Tuesday for urgent listing of PIL

Hearing a PIL by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, the bench told the AG, "We want your assistance. Religious conversions by force, allurement, etc. There are ways and ways, anything by allurement, if that is happening, then what should be done? What are the corrective measures?"

Senior advocate P Wilson, appearing for Tamil Nadu, termed the plea by Upadhyay as a "politically motivated" PIL. He said there was no question of such conversions in the state.

Taking objection to his remark, the bench told Wilson, "You may have different reasons to be agitated like this. Don't convert court proceedings into other things. We are concerned for the entire state. If it is happening in your state, it is bad. If not, good. Do not see it as targeting one state. Do not make it political."

Also Read | Supreme Court rejects plea against formation of committees for examining UCC related issues

The court ordered renaming the cause title 'In Re: Issue of Religious Conversion' as lawyers objected to the petition filed by Upadhyay in his own name.

Upadhyay claimed legal vacuum on the issue has led to deployment of unethical predatory conversion strategies to convert socially and economically backward citizens.

On December 5, the top court had observed that religious conversion should not be the purpose of charity and forced religious conversion is a "serious issue" which is against the spirit of the Constitution.
Sogang University Professor Emeritus Kim Yong-duk shows off some of his books. / Courtesy of Royal Asiatic Society Korea



By Steven L. Shields



For 30 years, Sogang University Professor Emeritus Kim Yong-duk has been delving into the history of the Korean Peninsula. He's discerned population movements, conducted artifact comparisons and investigated burial customs. Most notably, he has cracked the code of "Idu," the use of Chinese characters to record the proto-Korean languages by using the sounds of the characters rather than their inherent meanings.



The closeness of China geographically and in commerce and political influence meant that the Chinese language and writing system was widespread. Commonly shared vocabulary that had a Chinese source could be written with the appropriate character. There were many native words used by the dozens of states that occupied the territory that is now Korea. Like modern English (or many other languages), the proto-Koreans had different words for the same things, but most could be understood across the region. The absence of a native writing system posed challenges to the early people and kingdoms on the Korean Peninsula.



Then, how did the proto-Koreans write native-language words in written or engraved records? They used Chinese characters because that was the standard written language in the region 2,000 years ago. But in the case of native proto-Korean words, they sometimes had to use a Chinese character for its sound value rather than its meaning. Sound values have changed over time, as have Chinese characters. Through linguistic reconstructions by Chinese linguists, Dr. Kim has sorted out the proto-Korean words, compared them with records and historical data from Chinese, Japanese and early Korean sources and discovered details about Korea's past that had previously been unrecognized.





These tombs, in Seokchon-dong in southeastern Seoul's Songpa District, are proposed to be Baekje nobility, but are possibly of Michuhol origin. / Courtesy of Steven L. Shields



He has uncovered connections between a small state in the Incheon area with early Gaya and Baekje. Through his detailed studies of ancient Chinese and Japanese records, he posits that this small state, Michuhol (or Michi), was a stronger neighbor to early Baekje. Dr. Kim believes the two fortresses in southern Seoul near Olympic Park were not both Baekje cities. Pungnaptoseong (Wiryeseong) was the second major city of Michi, while nearby Mongchontoseong was the central city of the Baekje state. In their earliest histories, both states were not kingdoms in the modern sense but, like the Gaya states in the far south, were headed by "lords," "strongmen" or "chieftains." Over time, governments developed and institutions emerged. By convenience, many refer to the earliest leaders as "kings."





A model shows the two earthwork fortresses in southeastern Seoul's Songpa District, with Mongchontonseong in the foreground, and Pungnaptoseong in the background. The model is in the Baekje Museum at Olympic Park in Seoul. / Courtesy of Steven L. Shields



Dr. Kim brings a wealth of teaching experience, scientific research methodology and a detective's heart to his quest for understanding. He is fluent in Japanese and English and reads ancient and modern Chinese. With more than five books to his publishing credit, Dr. Kim argues that the accepted narrative of some of Korea's early history may not be as straightforward as some believe.



Michi and Baekje began consolidating other smaller states, or chiefdoms, into their spheres of influence. Some two millennia ago, more than 50 of these smaller states were on the peninsula. Michi moved down the peninsula's west coast and made confederations with several of the Gaya states. Then, in its boldest move ever, Michi began colonizing what is now Japan, both in Osaka and the modern-day Tokyo region.



By the early fourth century, Michi and Baekje confederated, and Baekje became the historical name for the much bigger state. The political power, influence, economic wealth and trade with China and Japan were significant. The colonies in Japan were ruled by a regent of the Baekje "king," usually the designated crown prince or successor. Dr. Kim argues he has enough evidence to declare, with a high degree of certainty, that the well-known King Muryeong of Baekje was, in fact, king of Japan as regent of his father and became the 25th king. In 2001, Japanese Emperor Akihito publicly acknowledged the imperial family's descent from the Baekje people.





Steven L. Shields poses with schoolchildren at King Muryeong's tomb in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province. / Courtesy of Steven L. Shields
Police have seized sandalwood worth Rs 16.5 lakh by arresting a four-member gang in western Bengaluru. The suspects have been booked under the Karnataka Forest Act.

Three policemen from the Kamakshipalya police station  assistant sub-inspector Srinivasa and head constables Channappa and Manjunath  found two men loitering suspiciously next to a mini-goods vehicle (KA 02/AH 8868) parked at a desolate place near Kaveripura Gudde on January 6.

They questioned the men and searched their vehicle. To their astonishment, the policemen found 20 sandalwood logs inside.

The sandalwood weighs 330 kg.

Police detained the two men, who have been identified as Siddappa K V, 27, from Meenakshi Nagar in Kamakshipalya, and Harish K N, 34, from Magadi taluk, Ramanagara district. Siddappa was the vehicle driver and Harish was his friend.

Siddappa told police about his other friend Ponnaraj, 35, who hired his vehicle to bring goods from Magadi.

On January 5, Siddappa, Ponnaraj and Harish travelled to Magadi and met a 29-year-old Laggere resident named Dhruva Kumar there.

According to Siddappa, Ponnaraj and Kumar took his vehicle and returned four hours later. They asked Siddappa and Harish to keep the logs in their possession and bring them to Kaveripur Gudde on the evening of January 6. Siddappa explained that they had come to the place and were waiting for Ponnaraj and Dhruva.

Police later tracked down Ponnaraj and Kumar, who claimed to have bought sandalwood from a third party. Police have taken them into custody for further questioning.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said a high-level inquiry would be instituted on the metro tragedy that killed a woman and her child in Bengaluru.

Bommai directed authorities to go after senior officials connected with the incident.

Senior officials, not lower-rung, must face action. I have said that anybody directly involved must be suspended, Bommai told reporters.

A case must be booked on the contractor companys chief, not junior people, Bommai added. Hyderabad-based NCC Ltd or Nagarjuna Construction Company is the contractor.

A high-level inquiry must be done, the nature of which will be decided on Wednesday, Bommai said.

Tejasvini, 28, and her son Vihan, died from injuries they suffered after the staging column of a metro pillar collapsed along the Outer Ring Road in East Bengaluru on Tuesday. The family of four was riding a scooter - her husband Lohit Kumar and another child survived.

The question is, why did the incident happen? How was work happening in such unsafe conditions? Who is responsible for this? And, how do we make sure technical mistakes are addressed so that it doesnt happen again? Bommai said.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric called for an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) on Monday to address riots in Brazil where supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed top government buildings.

Boric, speaking alongside Colombia President Gustavo Petro outside La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, called Sunday's riots "unacceptable" and also condemned "complicit silence."

"This situation is worrying for our countries, our region has to have a clear position," Boric said, adding that the meeting's goal is that the "rest of the countries in the region can take a stance."

Petro and Boric, both left-wing presidents who took power last year, have emphasized their support for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who took office on Jan. 1 after defeating Bolsonaro.

Petro, a former rebel and Colombia's first leftist president, compared the attack to the 1973 Chilean coup against Salvador Allende.

"Today there are those who'd like to bring us back to the times of Allende," Petro said, noting a historical resistance to left-wing governments in the region.

"We just saw it in Brazil, but it's not just in Brazil," Petro said. "It's time to say what happened here in this place 50 years ago won't happen again."

The leaders also spoke about cooperation on aerospace technology, immigration and renewable energy, with a focus on green hydrogen.

The OAS, which has 35 member states, promotes peace and economic development in the Americas.

Boric and Petro also requested that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issue an opinion on the obligation of states regarding fundamental rights in the face of climate change.
China's new Foreign Minister Qin Gang in the first phone call with his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Beijing is concerned about the safety of its workers based in Pakistan and urged him to take "strong" security measures to protect them.

Qin, who recently succeeded Wang Yi, had a phone call at the request of Bilawal on January 9, a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement here said on Tuesday.

Besides customary references to special ties between the two all-weather allies and China's wish to improve the relations further, Qin "stressed that with the Chinese New Year just days away, the Chinese side is highly concerned about the safety of Chinese citizens in Pakistan and hopes that the Pakistani side will continue to take strong security measures".

Also Read  Int'l community pledges $8.57 bn to Pakistan on flood damage at UN conference in Geneva

Bilawal assured Qin that "the Pakistani side will spare no efforts to protect the safety of the Chinese personnel, institutions, and projects in Pakistan, the statement said.

The security of hundreds of Chinese personnel working on various projects of the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has become a subject of concern for Beijing in recent years.

The CPEC aims to connect Pakistan's Gwadar port in Balochistan with Chinas Xinjiang province. India has objected to the CPEC as it traverses through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

China apprehends renewed attacks on its citizens during the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival, to be celebrated for a week from January 21.

Pakistan has pressed army contingents to provide security for the Chinese workers.

In April last year, three Chinese teachers were killed in a suicide bombing attack at Karachi University, which was carried out by the separatist outfit Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).

The BLA is opposed to Chinas investments in Balochistan and has accused the all-weather allies of exploiting the resource-rich province. Some of the other attacks were also attributed to radical Islamic militant outfits like the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which was blamed for orchestrating the bomb attack on a bus carrying Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project at Dasu in 2021.

Thirteen people, including nine Chinese nationals, were killed and 23 others injured in the attack, which sent shockwaves in China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed "deep concern" over the security of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan on the CPEC projects when Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met him here in November last year.

With the recurring attacks on its citizens, China is reportedly pressing Pakistan to permit Chinese security agencies to provide security for their personnel which, according to media reports, Islamabad is resisting, as it meant boots on the ground for the Chinese armed forces.

Besides the recurring attacks, China is concerned about Pakistans perennial economic problems especially, the declining balance of payments situation, prompting Beijing to step in to bail out Islamabad to avert a crisis similar to Sri Lanka.

The International Monetary Fund said last year that Pakistan's total non-Paris Club bilateral debt currently stands at about $27 billion, of which Chinese debt is worth about $ 23 billion.

The Chinese side said it is ready to work with the Pakistani side to follow the important common understandings reached by the leaders of the two countries, deepening the traditional friendship between China and Pakistan, and jointly building a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.

Bilawal added the ironclad brotherhood between China and Pakistan is the "North Star" guiding Pakistan's foreign policy towards China.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday urged his visiting US counterpart Joe Biden to put an end to decades of "disdain" by the United States towards Latin America.

"It is time to end this oblivion, this abandonment, this disdain for Latin America and the Caribbean," Lopez Obrador told Biden and his team at the start of bilateral talks in Mexico City.

Biden defended Washington's record, saying it had spent "tens of billions of dollars" in the past 15 years alone that had benefited the region.

"The United States provides more foreign aid than every other country just about combined," he said.

"Unfortunately, our responsibility just doesn't end in the Western Hemisphere," he added.
Pakistan's top election body on Tuesday issued bailable arrest warrants for former prime minister Imran Khan and other top leaders of his party in a contempt case.

The case is based on statements issued by top Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja.

A four-member ECP bench headed by Nisar Durrani issued warrants against Khan and his close aides - Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar.

The election watchdog had issued notices against them in August and September last year in the exercise of its powers of contempt after the PTI leaders repeatedly bashed the commission and Raja over what they claim is their partisan policy and their alleged favouring of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Also Read  Imran Khan alleges Qamar Javed Bajwa wanted to get him killed



At the previous hearing, the ECP had given the PTI leaders a last chance to appear before it.

During the hearing on Tuesday, the commission rejected the pleas for their exemption from appearance and issued arrest warrants against surety bonds worth Rs 50,000 each.

The bench adjourned the hearing till January 17.

Khan has been asking the ECP chief to resign for allegedly failing to play the role of a neutral election commissioner. The chief rejected the calls by asserting he was working as per law.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed his ministries to slash five per cent of their estimated expenditure allocated in this year's Budget as Sri Lanka's Treasury was facing an acute shortage of funds, exacerbating fears that the cash-strapped country's economic crisis could be even worse than previously anticipated.

Sri Lanka is in the midst of its worst economic crisis since its independence from Great Britain in 1948, triggered by a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves.

Also Read: Sri Lanka to restart trade deal talks with India, China and Thailand, says official

In April last year, Sri Lanka declared its international debt default due to the forex crisis.

Speaking during a media briefing on Tuesday, Cabinet spokesperson and Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardena said President Wickremesinghe has informed the cabinet that the Treasury was facing a severe shortage of funds.

Gunawardena explained the income that could have been earned through taxes within the first few months of 2023 was greatly reduced owing to the ongoing economic crisis from last year.

"The economic crisis is worse than what we had anticipated," he said.

On Monday, the President has instructed that Cabinet to slash 5 per cent from all proposals submitted by the ministries allocated in the 2023 Budget, he noted.

Gunawarde said issues have arisen regarding the payment of government employees salaries for the months of January and February, adding that disbursing this month's Samurdhi allowance would also get delayed by a couple of weeks.

President Wickremesinghe, who is also Sri Lanka's finance minister, said last year that a fresh and an out-of-the-box approach was required to provide impetus to the febrile economy.

Also Read: Reconstruction work of century-old railway track in northern Sri Lanka begins under India's assistance

Sri Lanka, which is trying to secure a $2.9 billion bridge loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has been trying to to get financial assurances from its major creditors -- China, Japan and India -- which is the requisite for Colombo to get the bailout package.

Last week, Wickremesinghe said he was hopeful of obtaining the IMF bailout package in the first quarter of this year.

Sri Lanka begun debt restructuring talks with its creditors since September last year as warranted by its agreement with the IMF.

Wickremesinghe earlier said India and Sri Lanka held "successful" talks on debt restructuring and the country will also begin discussions with China.

The Sri Lankan government in May last year appointed international legal and debt advisors for debt restructuring after the country declared its international debt default for the first time in history.

Due to the forex shortage, Sri Lanka was unable to afford key imports, including fuel, fertilisers and medicines, leading to serpentine queues.
Kathmandu will seek a balanced relations with both New Delhi and Beijing, Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said on Tuesday, even as the ruling coalition led by him maintained silence on the countrys boundary dispute with China, but vowed to retrieve its territories allegedly occupied by India.

Dahal, a.k.a. Prachanda, who took over as the prime minister on December 26 last, won the trust vote in the Pratinidhi Sabha, with 268 of the 275 lawmakers in the lower house of Parliament of Nepal supporting the confidence motion moved by him and only two voting against it. Not only the ruling coalition, led by Prachandas Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and K P Sharma Olis Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist), but the Nepali Congress, the main opposition party, also voted in favour of the motion moved by the prime minister.

Prachanda later said that his governments foreign policy would be guided by the national interest of Nepal. He said that Nepal would seek balanced and friendly relations with all countries, including its two neighbours  China and India.

Read | Dahal's opportunism spells trouble for Nepal

The ruling coalition, however, pledged in its Common Minimum Programme that it would retrieve the territories that Nepal claimed as part of its own, but accused India of illegally occupying. The Common Minimum Programme, which was formally made public just a day before the trust vote, had no reference to Nepals territorial dispute with China.

New Delhis relations with Kathmandu had suffered a setback after the Olis government had in 2020 ratcheted up Nepal-India dispute over Lipulekh-Kalapani-Limpiyadhura area in 2020  at a time when the Indian Army had been resisting the Chinese Peoples Liberation Armys aggressive moves in eastern Ladakh. Oli had also got a new map, showing nearly 400 sq kms of Indias areas as part of Nepal, endorsed by parliament of his country, apparently at the behest of China.

The relations between New Delhi and Kathmandu had returned on track after Oli had been dethroned and Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress had taken over as the prime minister in July 2021, with support from the CPN (MC), which had broken its alliance with the CPN (UML).

Prachanda, who had led an ultra-leftist insurgency in Nepal from 1996 to 2006, had once worn on sleeves his ideological allegiance to the Communist Party of China. He had chosen to visit China first after becoming the prime minister of Nepal in 2008, although all of his predecessors in the past half-a-century had come to India on first official visits as premiers. When he had taken over as the prime minister for the second term in 2016, Prachanda, however, made it a point to visit India first and sought to strike a balance between Nepals ties with China and India.

The 68-year-old recently hinted that he would visit New Delhi first to commence his foreign visits during his third prime ministerial term.

What however caused unease in New Delhi is the re-emergence of Oli as the king-maker holding the key to the survival of the government led by Prachanda.

The NC and the CPN (MC) had a pre-poll alliance for the parliamentary elections held in November 2022 and they won 89 and 32 seats in the Pratinidhi Sabha respectively.

Prachanda, however, broke his CPN (MC)s alliance with the NC as Deuba was not ready to allow him to take over as the prime minister for the first half of the five-year-tenure of the government. He then took support of the Olis CPN (UML) to form the government and take the top office in Kathmandu.
In a Japanese city once famous for forging samurai swords, craftsmen sharpen and polish kitchen knives, but even at full tilt their small factory can't keep up with global demand.

The export value of knives and other bladed tools like scissors hit a record high in Japan last year, partly thanks to a home-cooking boom sparked by the pandemic.

Japanese knives are also winning more converts among aspiring and professional chefs, who prize their delicate precision, sleek finish and long lifespan.

Katsumi Sumikama, head of Sumikama Cutlery in the central city of Seki, puts the popularity down to a "combination of technology and traditional craftsmanship".

To achieve the formidably sharp edge needed to make perfect sushi or cut precise slices of Wagyu beef, the company uses machines that guarantee accuracy to one-thousandth of a millimetre, then artisans finish the job by hand.

But even at full capacity, "we can't keep up", Sumikama told AFP.

"We're seeing demand stronger than pre-pandemic levels in all countries."

Seki's renowned blade expertise dates back to the 14th century, when the city became a major producer of swords thanks to its rich natural environment.

"The clean water, charcoal and raw materials were ideal for sword-making," Sumikama said.

High-quality iron made from ironsand was forged into a tough sword by folding red-hot metal multiple times, and moulded into a curved shape by plunging it into cool water.

When samurai were ordered to abandon their swords in 1876, the industry faltered, but after World War II the city began producing pocket knives for export.

Business boomed at first, with the fixed yen-to-dollar rate a boon for mass exports to the United States.

But when that policy ended in the 1970s and China began making cheaper products, Japan could no longer compete.

"There were difficult times," Sumikama said.

"Seki's blade-makers decided they needed a new direction."

At the time, German products, including knives by Zwilling, dominated the market for high-end knifeware, and luxury Japanese offerings were few and far between.

In the 1990s, Sumikama went all in -- launching a full line-up of top-of-the-range kitchen knives that cost up to several hundred dollars each.

To emphasise their made-in-Japan pedigree, his company adds a wavy two-tone finish to the metal that evokes the traditional appearance of samurai blades, and a kanji-character logo.

Despite their elegant appearance, Sumikara said he faced scepticism from both within and outside the company that his expensive knives would sell.

"We were trapped in the idea that Japanese products... would not be accepted by consumers unless they were cheaper than German products," he said.

But the line was a success and the company now sells their luxury knives in more than 50 countries.

The export value of kitchen bladed tools hit a record 12 billion yen ($90 million) in 2021, a 30 percent jump from around nine billion yen the previous year, according to Japan Customs.

French chef Olivier Oddos, whose Tokyo restaurant boasted a Michelin star between 2014 and 2021, has been a devotee for more than two decades.

Japanese kitchen knives now have a "truly worldwide" reputation, he told AFP in his restaurant's small kitchen.

"I know a lot of French chefs who have come to Japan, and every time they buy Japanese knives. Sometimes they even buy them for their whole team," he said.

Oddos says the formidable sharpness of the Japanese blades makes all the difference.

"It cuts perfectly. It cuts straight. It's regular," he said, adding it "changes the quality of the cooking".

Japanese knives have to be maintained regularly with sharpening stones, but "if you take good care of them, they have a pretty exceptional lifespan", Oddos said.

Daisuke Kumazawa owns Kama-Asa, a shop that has operated on Tokyo's famous Kappabashi kitchenware street for over a century.

He says Japanese knives have exploded in popularity overseas in the last decade along with a growing interest in Japanese food.

Chefs want quality blades to do "delicate work", he said.

The products are so popular that he opened a Paris branch four years ago.

But he has also noted a pandemic rise in interest.

"Probably because they were at home more often, more people wanted to take time to cook, and cook better," he said.

At Kama-Asa, assistants explain dozens of different knives to a steady stream of Japanese and foreign customers.

Kumazawa wants buyers to think about Japanese knives as more than a simple kitchen tool.

"We want them to know why they are good -- the essence of the knife, the thoughts of the craftspeople behind the knife."
With Season 2 of the business reality show Shark Tank India now on air, many are wondering what happened to startups that won funding last year.

At least 12 Bengaluru businesses had pitched their ideas in the TV round in 2022 to a panel of investors comprising Aman Gupta, Anupam Mittal, Ashneer Grover, Namita Thapar, Vineeta Singh, Peyush Bansal and Ghazal Alagh. Metrolife contacted a few who won investments.

NOCD

The no carbs energy drink startup secured Rs 50 lakh at 15% equity and Rs 30 lakh in debt from Vineeta but let go of the deal eventually.

Co-founder Siddharth Mishra says: Our monthly sales grew rapidly  from Rs 7-8 lakh to Rs 50-60 lakh after the episode aired (in January 2022). Our valuation jumped from Rs 10 crore to Rs 60 crore. The cash flow was streamlined, so we made a strategic decision not to give away equity.

NOCD had a presence in just Karnataka and Maharashtra, but its footprint is now wider, covering other states. It has also launched a new product. The show gave us visibility, virality, and business numbers, which was a challenge during the pandemic. Plus, we gained respect in the startup community, he says.

Tagz Foods

Grover and Namita offered Rs 1.2 crore for an equity of 2.75% to this new-age, healthy snack brand.

It was selling no-fried, no-baked popped potato chips, and dips when its episode aired. In nine months, it was able to add categories like chocolates and cookies, and four manufacturing units, and expand to 24 Indian cities and countries such as Kuwait, UAE, Australia and Bhutan as a relatively known brand, co-founder Anish Basu Roy says.

When we opened a consumer stock option plan, 5,400 people participated, he recalls, proudly. The startups TV appearance continues to stream on apps and social media, and the new season has reignited interest in older participants. This marketing exercise would have required an investment of at least Rs 5 crore from their end, Roy admits.

However, public memory isnt perpetual, and so small brands need to capitalise smartly on the launch pad the show provided, he says. We had to ramp up our capacities and figure out supply-chain complexities rapidly, he says.

Thinkerbell Labs

The team demonstrated the worlds first self-learning Braille device, Annie, on TV. Clinching Rs 1.05 crore for 3% equity from investors Bansal, Namita, and Mittal brought them credibility.

CTO Dilip Ramesh explains: We are a B2B (business-to-business) company but we started getting requests to create customer-centric variants.

The access to resources has opened up. In terms of mentorship, the investors and their teams help us leverage their network of experts and manufacturers. They are approachable, he says.

It has also spread the word in a way that saves the company time. We used to spend a lot of time introducing ourselves and explaining Braille literacy and Annie at business meetings. Now people know us, he says. Likewise, the team now offers fewer explanations to the security personnel when it carries the device at airports.

The companys newsletter sums up 2022 as a mega year: Time magazine named Polly, the US variant of Annie, as one of the best inventions; Solve, an initiative by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, identified them as one of the most impactful startups; their brand ambassador, the 11-year-old Prathamesh Sinha, demonstrated Annie to Prime Minister Narendra Modi; Annie is in 23 new schools. The startup team of 10 has grown to 35.

The State Plate

A platform to source and deliver regional food products across India, it won a deal of Rs 40 lakh for 3% equity and Rs 25 lakh debt from Bansal.

We experienced a 180-degree shift in supplier response. Earlier, we would run behind them to ask them to join our marketplace. Now, they chase us and offer discounts, says co-founder Muskaan Sancheti.

Talking of intangible benefits, she says Shark Tank India participants have formed citywise WhatsApp support groups and help out with problems ranging from technological to logistical. Similarly, Shark Bansal arranged a visit to his warehouse in Delhi for the company to see how large-scale orders are processed.

Despite the overnight fame, Muskaan says the hustle is still on, the company is wading through highs and lows and is aiming to become profitable.




The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a 40-year prison sentence for a 37-year-old man convicted of stalking and brutally murdering his ex-girlfriend in 2021 after the couple broke up.







Kim Byung-chan stabbed his ex-girlfriend in her 30s multiple times at her studio apartment in central Seoul in November 2021. He had stalked her since their breakup in the second half of 2020.







At the time of her death, the victim was under police protection after filing four complaints against Kim. A restraining order against him was also in place.







A district court handed Kim a 35-year prison term, but the Seoul High Court increased his sentence by five years, saying the defendant was not seriously remorseful. (Yonhap)


In a major push to hydropower, Arunachal Pradesh government on Tuesday decided to hand over five stalled hydropower projects to central PSUs with a target to produce 2,820 MW electricity and generate annual revenue of Rs 500 crore.

The state government had earlier signed agreements with private power developers for implementing the projects but the contracts were terminated following long delays in execution of the same. The state Cabinet on Tuesday decided to hand over the Naying hydropower project (1,000 MW) and Hirong project (500 MW) to the Northeastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO). It was decided to hand over the Emini hydro project (500 MW), Amulin (420 MW), and Minundon project (400 MW) to the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL), a central PSU for execution.

"These projects will see an investment of Rs 40,000 crore in the next five to seven years and would generate green power of 2,820 MW and provide revenue of around Rs 500 crore per year in free power and around Rs 100 crore for Local Area Development. The Cabinet approved the indicative procedure for transferring the stalled hydropower projects from the independent power producers to CPSUs in order to unlock the potential," the state government said in a statement issued after the Cabinet meeting.

Also Read | Rajnath Singh visits Arunachal Pradesh, his first after Tawang clash, inaugurates 28 infrastructure projects

The private players did not go ahead with the work fearing cost escalation mainly due to strong protests by various organisations in neighbouring Assam. The agitators fear that these hydropower projects would have serious impact in the downstream areas in Assam. They also demanded that the projects be scrapped and instead mini multi-purpose hydro projects be taken up in order to avoid adverse impacts of the large dams on the ecosystem and humans.

The agitation stalled work on the 2,000 MW Subansiri lower project on Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border between 2011 and 2019. The work on the project, however, is in its final stage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 19 last year inaugurated 600 MW Kameng hydro project and said that harnessing hydropower in Arunachal Pradesh is a priority of the government. Work on the country's biggest hydro project on the Dibang river (2,080 MW) is also likely to commence soon.

The government on Tuesday, however, did not talk about possible adverse impacts and said that an action plan has been prepared to commence the work on 13 priority projects with 12,343 MW capacity. This would lead to an investment of Rs 1.5 lakh crore and would provide a revenue of Rs 2,000 crore to the frontier state as free power and around Rs 350 crore per year for local area development, said the statement.

"The hydropower would contribute majorly towards Indias commitment of increasing non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW. Hydropower is a major source of renewable energy and if harnessed would bring in all round socio economic development of the area through massive investment in infrastructure as well as provisions such as free power, local area development fund, employment, contracts and business opportunities, social sector development such as health and education," said the statement.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that we must strive to be successful in sectors for which India is now unknown. The next 25 years are crucial, we must become the most powerful nation in the world, Shah said, during the inauguration of a light and sound show at the Red Fort. Union culture minister G Kishan Reddy, minister of state for culture Meenakshi Lekhi and Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena were present, too.

The sound show, titled Jai Hind showcases stories of Indian history from the 17th century onwards. Running into an hour, the show is divided into three parts, and features key episodes from Indian history, including the rise of the Marathas, the 1857 War of Independence, the rise of the Indian National Army and the INA trials, the fight for Independence etc.

Officials from the Archeological Survey of India said that the show uses various forms of performance art, including projection mapping, live action films, light and immersive sound, actors, dancers and puppets. The show will be showcased at different monuments inside Red Fort, including the Naubat Khana, Deewan-e-Aam, Deewan-e-Khas, and can be viewed by over 700 people at once. The light and sound show, officials said, is part of the culture ministrys Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav programme, which is a year-long celebration of the Indian Independence on the 75th year.

As part of the function, the ASI has till now opened four new museums at the Red Fort, the Yaad-e-Jallian museum, the Museum on 1857, Azaadi ke Diwane and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Museum.
More than a week after a major terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri, authorities on Monday handed over self-loading rifles (SLRs) to the ex-servicemen acting as village defence guards (VDGs) in Dhangri village, officials said.

This is for the first time that the VDGs, who were earlier known as Village Defence Committee (VDC) members, were given sophisticated rifles anywhere in the Jammu region, where they play a pivotal role in rooting out terrorism by standing shoulder-to-shoulder with police and other security agencies.

Earlier, the VDCs were only equipped with .303 rifles. There were demands for replacing the outdated rifles with sophisticated weapons to tackle the threat of terrorism more effectively.

Seven people, including two children, were killed and 14 injured when the terrorists attacked the village earlier this month.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police held a special camp in Dhangri on Monday. It was attended by Rajouri Deputy Commissioner Vikas Kundal and Senior Superintendent of Police Mohammad Aslam, among others.

Around 40 ex-servicemen living in the area and identified by a panchayat-level committee were given SLRs along with 100 bullets each at the camp, the officials said, adding that most of these ex-servicemen had served in the Army and volunteered themselves to act as VDGs.

Read | 18 detained as search operation continues to crack Rajouri terror attack case

"We are thankful to the district administration for giving us the SLRs, which have a better firing range, and giving us an opportunity to serve as VDGs," ex-serviceman Roshan Lal said.

He said all the VDGs, especially the ex-servicemen, are ready to work in coordination with the security forces to counter terrorists.

Sarpanch of Dhangri Dheeraj Sharma thanked Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha's administration for fulfilling their demand.

He said during his visit to the village after the terror attack, Sinha had promised to provide new weapons.

"Our demand is fulfilled.... Although the number of weapons is less than what was projected, we are still thankful. We expect that more weapons will be provided in the coming times," Sharma said.
Even as the dust over his walking out in a huff from the Assembly yet to settle down, Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi has stoked yet another controversy by replacing the state governments emblem with that of the Union Government in invitations sent out for Pongal celebrations at the Raj Bhavan.

The Tamil invitations, sent out to VVIPs and other dignitaries, also address Ravi as Tamizhaga Aalunar (Governor) instead of the standard Tamil Nadu Aalunar. However, the English version calls him the Tamil Nadu Governor.

The change in parlance in Tamil and skipping the state emblem is a significant development as the invitations sent out to dignitaries in 2022 for a tea party on the occasion of Tamil New Years Day referred to Ravi as Tamil Nadu Aalunar (Governor). It also has the state symbol which is the gopuram (tower) of Andal Temple in Srivilliputhur.

Also Read: 'Get out Ravi' posters spotted in Chennai amid Tamil Nadu CM-Governor stand-off

The development comes days after Ravi told a meeting that Tamizhagam was a more appropriate name for the state than Tamil Nadu, inviting criticism from almost all political parties, including AIADMK, BJPs ally.

CPI-M MP from Madurai and Sahitya Akademi award winning author Su Venkatesan shared photos of the 2022 and 2023 invitations sent to him by the Raj Bhavan on Twitter and pointed out that this years invite only has the emblem of the Union Government.

He (Governor Ravi) has refused to use the state symbol because the name Tamil Nadu is part of it. Likewise, shall we expect that the Governor will vacate his rented accommodation (Raj Bhavan) and leave Tamil Nadu? Venkatesan asked.

Also Read: How Governor Ravi came under the DMKs line of fire

During the swearing-in ceremony of Udhayanidhi Stalin as minister on December 14, the Governors office had used emblems of the state and Union governments. The Pongal invitation issue also had its resonance in social media with many asking the Governor to leave the state if he doesnt like to use the name Tamil Nadu.

Though it is a widely used parlance, there has always been opposition to the suggestion that the state should be renamed as Tamizhagam from Tamil Nadu. Governor Ravi almost toed the BJPs line on this issue as the party has always felt the literal translation of the word nadu which means country will lead to secessionist tendency among people of the state.

However, the proponents of Tamil Nadu say the name reflects the geographical area of the homeland of Tamils and in no way means that it is a separate country. They also recalled late Chief Minister C N Annadurais speech in the Assembly in 1967 in which he said, Tamil Nadu is a state which is part of India. It is not an independent country because of the name.

The demand to rename the then Madras state first surfaced in the 1950s after states were reorganized on linguistic basis and was vociferously raised after a Congressman from Virudhunagar, Sankaralinganar, died in October 1956. He died after fasting for three months demanding renaming of the Madras state.

The then fledgling DMK, which was occupying the opposition benches, moved a resolution in the Assembly on May 7, 1957, demanding that Madras be renamed as Tamil Nadu. However, the resolution was defeated as only 42 members voted in favour with the then Chief Minister K Kamaraj opposing the move and his Congress MLAs voting against it.

Despite several attempts by DMK and other parties, the resolution could not be passed in the Assembly due to Congress steadfast opposition to renaming of the Madras state. But the DMKs emphatic victory in 1967 overthrowing the Congress, made Tamil Nadu a reality.

Annadurai moved a resolution in the assembly on July 18, 1967, proposing renaming of Madras state as Tamil Nadu, and his speech by uttering Tamil Nadu thrice on the floor of the House. The resolution was passed, and Tamil Nadu came into being on January 14, 1968.
Dear madam,

My name is Nikita Kumar and I have done my B.E and executive MBA. I'm 32 years old. I started off as a software engineer in Infosys from September 2012 to December 2017 and then moved to the HR field from 2018 January till date. I work as a generalist. I'm looking to move abroad and here are my questions. Which country is best to move to? Is Australia a good option? At this age, is it good to take a study loan and go for studies After studies is it good to start as a fresher again at this age?

Nikita

Dear Nikita,

While the easiest route to any country is through a student visa, at this stage in your life when you have already completed your masters too, you have to prove to the universities and the visa officers that you are a genuine student and that the course you choose to pursue is necessary for your career advancement.

Countries that are open to migration are Australia, New Zealand and Canada. You could apply for a job directly and try to move to one of these countries. If you want to take the student route, choose a program very carefully and write a strong statement of purpose stating how the programme is going to help you in your career. I would not recommend student loans at this age. Apply to a program that offers good funding. It is absolutely fine to start afresh at any point in our lives. Age is not a bar to make new beginnings.

***

Dear madam,

I want to pursue business analytics, data analysis, data science or international business. My preferred location is UK or Germany. Please guide me.

Abdul Majeed

Dear Abdul,

You need to write the IELTS academic test as a requirement for both of these countries. In addition to this, it will help if you enrol at the Goethe Institute to learn German. Although your programme in Germany will be in English, it helps to know the local language when you plan to spend a couple of years studying there. It will also strengthen your resume. Applications to both UK and Germany have to be submitted online. Research the universities in both countries before you decide on them.

Five important points to keep in mind while choosing your university:

The reputation of the university: Pick a university that is known for its quality of education, faculty, research facilities, student satisfaction and placement opportunities.

Subjects offered: While most universities will offer most subjects, choose the one that offers what you want.

Tuition fee and scholarships: Choose a university that is reasonably priced and offers merit-based scholarships and financial assistance. In Germany, most universities do not charge tuition fees.

Living expenses and work opportunities: UK allows you to work for 20 hours per week during weekdays and 40 hours per week during weekends and holidays.

Visa regulations and stay-back options: Both Germany and UK offer post-study stay-back options.

***

Dear madam,

How are Medical studies in Maldives rated? What are the other options available for cheap medical studies?

Sandhya

Dear Sandhya,

Other than India, Countries that are affordable for medical studies are Germany, Georgia, Russia, China, Philippines, Poland, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Maldives National University offers MBBS programs. Indian students must have qualified NEET Exam for MBBS admissions in Maldives if they want to be eligible to return to India and practice.

***

Dear madam,

I am in my second PU now. I want to apply for design courses at the best of universities in the world. What should I aim for and how should I prepare? Please guide me.

Raghav

Dear Raghav,

All design schools would require you to submit a portfolio. Start putting together around 10 of your best works. The portfolio should be concise and show critical awareness and the ability to select work that best represents your strengths. Prepare a digital portfolio keeping the resolution high as most universities will want you to upload the portfolio online. Apart from the portfolio, you need a well-written personal statement clearly specifying your career goals and why you wish to pursue the particular course you are applying to. Some of the best design schools in the US are Rhode Island School of Design, Parsons, the New School for Design, Pratt Institute, D School Stanford University, School of Visual Arts New York City, Institute of Design Chicago, and Savannah College of Art and Design. In Europe, well-known design schools include the Royal College of Art London, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design Denmark, the University of the Arts London, Aalto University Finland, Glasgow School of Art Scotland and Politecnico di Milano Italy.

(The author is a Bengaluru-based career counsellor. Send your queries to dheducation@deccanherald.co.in)
Derry based software as a service (SaaS) firm, Foods Connected, is investing heavily in its business as it seeks to target new export markets. The investment will lead to the creation of 45 new, well-paid roles.

Foods Connected provides SaaS based tools to help food-based companies manage their complex supply chains. It has developed a total of 25 different modules in key areas such as Supplier Compliance, Food Safety & Quality, Specifications & NPD, Traceability and Procurement & Supply Chain.

Visiting the company in Derry, Invest Northern Ireland Interim-CEO, Mel Chittock said: Foods Connected is already trading in the UK, Ireland, European and Australian & New Zealand markets.

It now set its sights on new markets in the US, Middle East and South Africa. Our trade team based in South Africa is already working with the company to help it assess the opportunities this market can offer.

To support its growth, the company is creating 45 new roles across software development, sales & marketing and technical roles. With an average salary over 41,000, the new jobs will generate over 2million in annual salaries to the local economy.

The company plans to increase its headcount in the North West from 62 to 107 by the end of 2023.

Roger McCracken, Managing Director at Foods Connected said: We set up the business 10 years ago with just three people. We now employ 71, including nine in Australia, and with this latest investment plan to grown to a total of 116 employees by the end of 2023.

In 2020 the senior management team took part in Invest NIs Ambition to Scale programme which really helped us clarify our future direction for the business and set in place clear strategic targets. These include developing our software solutions, growing our export markets and developing our business as a great place to work. These 45 new roles, which will all be based in Derry, will help us realise these targets.

This is an exciting time for us and we hope is just the start of further growth for the business.
A new exhibition focusing on the vital role played by women in the Northern Irish Peace process will launch this week in Derry's Tower Museum.

The Peace Heroines of Northern Ireland exhibition explores the collaboration of local women working across borders, political and religious divides.

The exhibition will tell the story of both individual peace heroines and collectives, such as the Derry Peace Women, the Women's Coalition and the special dynamic between the Shankill Women's Centre and the Falls Road Women's Centre.

The project was initially launched in Stormont in 2022, and the exhibition will be shown at a number of locations marking the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in 2023.

Welcoming the opening, the Mayor of Derry and Strabane, Councillor Sandra Duffy, said it captured an important chapter in our history. "Women have always had a leading role in Derry's history, helping to keep families and communities together during some of the darkest times of the Troubles.

"They kept local industry going in the factories, supported homes, brought up children and drove social and political change in the most economically and politically turbulent times. I am delighted to see their contribution to peace recognised in this important exhibition.

"These real heroines were an inspiration to so many young women, myself included, who are proud to take up the mantle and continue their work for positive change and peace in our society."

Peace Heroines is part of the Herstory programme, which was established in 2016 to elevate the stories of women past, present and future. This new Herstory project is created in partnership with the National Museums NI, the Republic of Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs Reconciliation Fund, The Ireland Funds of GB and The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Herstory Founder and project curator Melanie Lynch, explained the inspiration behind Peace Heroines: "When I met with Ireland's former Ambassador to the UN Geraldine Nason-Byrne she explained to me that the role of women in the Northern Ireland Peace Process is a key United Nations case study.

"I reached out to our school contacts and they confirmed that this essential story is not taught on the official school curriculum in Northern Ireland or the Republic. Our new Peace Heroines project aims to change that and introduce students and the public to these legendary activists and inspire the next generation of peace builders. It's time to write herstory into history."

The exhibition features nine vibrant, largescale individual portrait paintings by the artist FRIZ. The subjects are women who have made an indelible mark on the Northern Ireland peace process, including Monica McWilliams, Pearl Sagar, Linda Ervine, Pat Hume, May Blood, Ann Carr, and Saidie Patterson.

Speaking ahead of the launch, Curator of the Tower Museum, Roisin Doherty said: "We are delighted to host this significant collection of artworks that acknowledge the immense contribution made by women who at great personal cost dedicated their lives to lobbying for change and promoting cross community relations.

"Whilst the exhibition aims to present a diverse range of opinions and identities, it also captures the shared concerns and goals of local women who wanted to create a better future here and how they went about creating platforms for positive dialogue.

"There is a strong focus on the peace building work carried out by local women, which complements our own collection showcasing the work of civil rights champions such as Bridget Bond and other local peace heroines."

The Peace Heroines Exhibition will open in the Tower Museum on Friday, 13th January at 12noon and remain on display until the 24th March 2023.
Edit: An earlier version on this story referred to Errigal Group as a 'Dungiven based company'. The group's NI office is based in Dungiven but the company itself is based in Monaghan. It has been edited to reflect this.

A construction company with its NI office in Dungiven, Errigal Group, announces plans for 150 million investment in Enkalon Business Park in Antrim.

The Company says the proposed new development has the potential to create 1000 new jobs in the local area once completed and operational.

It says another 200 jobs could be created during construction.

Joint Managing Director of Errigal Group, Cormac McCloskey, said the project will modernise the business park.

When it was first built, the Enkalon Business Park was one of the largest and most modern industrial parks in Europe and made a significant economic contribution to the local area.

Our aim is to revitalise the site, restoring it to its former glory and bringing it up to date with the latest technology and design.

Errigal Group acquired the Enkalon Industrial Estate in April 2019.

Since then it has carried out 2M of additional upgrade works. The site as it stands is fully leased to key tenants as warehousing, distribution and showroom space.

The company has also set up an off-site manufacturing unit to service construction projects in Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe.

The site currently employs over 400 people across all the business units with the number projected to grow in 2023.

The park redevelopment announcement comes following the annual Northern Ireland Economic Conference, hosted recently in Antrim.

During the conference Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Councils Chief Executive, Jacqui Dixon outlined ambitious plans for achieving 1Bn investment and the creation of 2500 jobs in the area by 2025.

Errigal Groups development plans will contribute significantly to these objectives.

A community drop-in consultation will take place on Wednesday 15th February 2023, from 1:00pm  7:00pm, at Holiday Inn Express, Ballymena Road, Antrim. Additionally, a virtual consultation will run from Monday 30th January  Friday 10th March.
An inquest into the death of a young woman in Co Antrim has heard about some of her final conversations.

Shona Gillan, 18, went missing after leaving her mothers house in Antrim on March 3 2021.

Her body was found at the Six Mile Water river three days later on March 6.

Police at the time ruled out that she had taken her own life and said they were not treating the death as suspicious.

Ms Gillans ex-girlfriend Morgan Irvine gave evidence to an inquest into her death at Antrim Courthouse on Tuesday.

Ms Irvine detailed how the pair had known each other for several years after Ms Gillans mother had given her somewhere to stay when she had been homeless.

They became involved in a relationship in February 2020 but had broken up a few weeks before Ms Gillan died, the inquest heard.

In her statement to police, which was read to the hearing, Ms Irvine said they had been arguing a lot over the phone but had not seen each other in person since the day they split up.

Ms Irvine said she had been due to travel to Antrim to see Ms Gillan the day after she went missing.

Our relationship had been through ups and downs but prior to us breaking up, we had been arguing a lot. We stayed in contact by phone and I moved to Belfast, she said in her statement to police.

She said that on March 3, Ms Gillan had texted her in the morning as usual to see if she was OK.

Ms Irvine explained that she had struggled with drug and alcohol issues and that Ms Gillan regularly checked in to see how she was.

Later that night, Ms Irvine said Ms Gillan phoned her several times between 7pm and 10pm.

The first time I spoke, we argued and I texted her to stop phoning me, she said, explaining that she could hear people shouting in the background during the call.

She said that a man they both knew had been getting Shona riled up to argue with me.

In the course of several conversations, she said the pair agreed to meet up the next day in Antrim.

Ms Irvine said she told Ms Gillan to go home and call her when she did because she was worried about her, describing her as having sounded extremely drunk, slurring her words and crying.

I asked Shona where she was but she wouldnt tell me because she knows I would try to find her and help her, I didnt hear from Shona again, she said.

I tried to phone Shona later on that night, I tried her mobile a couple of times between 11pm and 1am, the phone rang but Shona didnt pick up.

The next morning I texted Shona to see if she was OK but got no answer. Her mother rang me on the Thursday to see if Shona was with me, and I told her I hadnt seen her.

I sent more messages over the next day or two but got no reply, and I didnt hear from her again.

On the day her body was found, her mother phoned me to let me know. I couldnt believe it, I was very upset.

Coroner Joe McCrisken said the inquest had previously heard that Ms Gillan had been socialising in an area around the Six Mile Water river on the evening of March 3, which he had visited as part of his investigation.

He said the people Ms Gillan was with that night had told the inquest that she had told them she was going to Belfast for a party.

Ms Irvine said Ms Gillan had wanted to come to Belfast but she would not let her.

I said I would come to Antrim the next day, I told her I would ring her as soon as I was going to get the train, but the next day when I tried to phone her she didnt answer so I didnt get the train, she said.

The inquest continues.
Tata has been trying to take over Taiwans Apple manufacturer Winstron for some time now and the mega-conglomerate will finally be able to manufacture iPhones in India if the deal closes. Tata is also taking over Winstrons 2.2 million-square-foot factory, 50 kilometres away from Bangalore which includes 10,000 workers including engineers.

According to a report by the Economic Times, sources aware of the deal leaked the news to Economic Times but asked to keep their names confidential as the deal is not public yet. However, Winstron is not entirely leaving manufacturing behind. The company will continue as a service partner to Apple in India but Tata will hold the majority stake if this deal closes as per the terms of both companies. On the other hand, the other two Apple manufacturers in India, Foxconn and Pegatron Corp are also expanding their business.

If it all goes according to plan then the deal should be closed in March. Tata will take over Winstrons position, which gives it government incentives as well. The next cycle of incentives will begin on April 1st which is the start of India's financial year, said a person familiar with the deal. Although, the deal between Tata and Winstron is not announced officially. By all accounts, the deal will be a game changer for Apple due to the problems going on with the manufacturing of products in China amid COVID tensions.

Tata is also planning to open 100 Apple stores all over the country with the first one opening in Mumbai.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
Lawmakers enter the office of the National Intelligence Service in Seoul, in this Oct. 26, 2022, file photo. According to civic groups and other sources on Tuesday, NIS officials and police have been investigating allegations that some liberal activists, including party officials, helped promote anti-government activities after taking orders from North Korea's ruling Workers' Party. Newsis



Party officials, activists suspected of carrying out orders from Pyongyang



By Jung Min-ho



When South Korea's largest labor umbrella group called for an end to the alliance with the U.S. and conscription during weekend rallies before Aug. 15 National Liberation Day last year, some observers questioned what those demands have to do with improving workers' rights.



The National Intelligence Service (NIS) and police now suspect that the messages chanted in the Seoul streets might have come directly from Pyongyang and that it was orchestrated by regime sympathizers engaged in espionage activities here at its behest.



According to civic groups and other sources on Tuesday, NIS officials and police have been investigating allegations that some liberal activists, including party officials, helped promote anti-government activities after taking orders from North Korea's ruling Workers' Party.



Over the past several weeks, the investigators have raided the homes and offices of the key suspects in Jeju, Jinju, Jeonju and Changwon.



It all began in July 2017 when a former high-ranking official of the Progressive Party allegedly met a North Korean agent in Siem Reap of Cambodia, where the South Korean was told to create a secret organization on Jeju Island and was informed how to communicate with North Korean officials.



It is alleged that the official later conspired with two other activists to organize a group, through which they helped stage anti-U.S. protests and supported certain election candidates. They are suspected of communicating with North Korean officials for more than five years. Taking control of "the Jeju 4.3 unification committee" under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the anti-U.S. protest organizer, suspending military exercises between Seoul and Washington and protesting the procurement of high tech weapons are among the orders they allegedly received from the North.



The investigators suspect that they used steganography, a means of concealing messages or information within other ordinary-looking text or data, to report their activities to the officials in North Korea.



The suspects and the organizations suspected of having connections with them have denied the accusations.





Investigators raid the home of the official of the Progressive Party's office on Jeju Island, Dec. 19, 2022. Newsis
Apple is expected to roll out its new flagship series in 2023. The iPhone 15 series will reportedly be launching in September 2023 and Apple has made some real changes to the Apple iPhone 15 Pro series. As usual, there are rumoured specifications of the iPhone 15 Pro on the internet, lets have a look at them:

iPhone 15 rumoured specifications

iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are said to come with a whole new design according to the fact that Apple changes the design of iPhones after every three years. The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max might come with a Titanium frame just like Apple Watch Ultra did. It is also rumoured that iPhone 15 Pro will be lighter in weight than its predecessors. The iPhone 15 Pro series is also most likely to roll out with solid-state buttons which are powered by haptic engines. The Dynamic Island will be present just like its predecessors, according to the leaks. Another one of the more interesting leaks is that Apple is also going to switch to the USB-C type port from the lightning port due to the recently announced European law which mandates USB-C type ports in all electronic devices.

According to a report by TrendForce, iPhone 15 Pro series might roll out with A17 Bionic Chipsets while the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus will roll out with the A16 Bionic chipsets. The A17 Bionic is rumoured to be a 3nm chipset which is believed to be a more powerful chipset but also a more power-efficient chip. Along with that, iPhone 15 Pro series could roll out with iOS 17 as well.

There are not many rumours about the camera of the iPhone 15 Pro on the internet but Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities, said that iPhone 15 Pro might sport a periscope telephoto lens. He also stated that the iPhone 15 Pro might feature an 8MP primary camera.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
Known tipster Ice Universe recently leaked a poster from the Samsung Columbia website that confirmed that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S23 series will be launched on February 1, during the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked Event. The poster had the tagline Epic moments are on the coming,

Now, a new leak from Ice Universe has revealed that T M Roh, the President of Mobile Experience Business, will also be launching a Galaxy dedicated chip during the event.

Samsung could reveal a new chipset

In April, TM Roh talked about a dedicated chip being developed just for Galaxy handsets. This chipset was believed to be on par with the Google Tensor chip in terms of the AI capabilities that it would allow the brand to incorporate into the smartphone. At the moment, most premium smartphones from Samsung are powered by Exynos chips, while the brand also uses Snapdragon Socs for a few models in China and North America. According to insiders, though, all Samsung Galaxy S23 devices have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor that has been overclocked.

Samsungs new chipset: what do we know?

Insiders have hinted that the high-end chipset being developed by Samsung will be using the second or third generation of 3nm GAA manufacturing technology. This technology is also used by Samsung Foundry. Apart from this, the features of the chipset have not been revealed. Samsung MXs engineering team includes more than a thousand specialists and an Apple semiconductor expert. If the chip lets up being successful, we may see a gradual phasing out of the Exynos chipset.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
OnePlus is expected to launch a new phone in the 2023 lineup, the OnePlus Ace 2. OnePlus has recently launched the OnePlus 11 in China and it will be launched in India on February 7. Rumours state that the OnePlus Ace 2 will launch in India and in other markets as the OnePlus 11R. In a report by Mysmartprice, a picture of a CMIIT certificate which has been issued in China has surfaced on the internet and it is believed that it is issued for the OnePlus Ace 2.

There is no official announcement about the phone launch or the specification but some details of the OnePlus 11R have surfaced on the internet.

OnePlus 11R leaked specifications

The design of the phone will be very similar to the OnePlus 11 with the only difference being a circular camera island on the back which holds three small camera rings along with a small flash ring. The phone could come in two colour options  Black and Silver and has a plastic frame.

It is expected to come with a 6.7-inch Curved AMOLED display with a 1.5K resolution of 27721240 pixels. The leaks say that the display will support a 120Hz refresh rate.

The device is expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 with ColorOS 13.1 in China and Android 13 OS in India out of the box. It will come in three variants reportedly; 8GB/128GB, 12GB/256GB and 16GB/512GB.

Talking about the camera leaks, the OnePlus 11R is going to sport a triple camera setup with a 50-megapixel primary camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide lens and 2-megapixel macro sensor. It could have a 16-megapixel selfie shooter placed under a punch hole in the front.

The OnePlus 11R will pack a 5000 mAh battery and 100-watt fast charging support as per the leaks. The expected price range of the OnePlus 11R would only differ up to 5000 from the OnePlus 10T. The base variant of the OnePlus 10T costs 44,999 on Amazon right now.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
Xiaomi is gearing up to launch a new affordable smartphone known as the POCO C55, according to a known tipster, Kacper Skrzypek. The smartphone will be the latest offering from the brand in the entry-level segment and will join the likes of other affordable models within the C series.

POCO C55 will launch soon

It is believed that the POCO C55 will be an affordable entry-level phone due to the letter C in its name. There have been plenty of C series smartphones that have been released without a fingerprint sensor and with low storage options. The upcoming POCO C55, on the other hand, is believed to offer a fingerprint sensor on the back. This smartphone has 64 GB and 128 GB storage options. This would make it an entry-level smartphone that offers good basic features that wont make consumers feel as though they are missing out quite a bit.

POCO C55 specifications (expected)

It is believed that the POCO C55 will have a 6.71-inch IPS display with a 60Hz refresh rate. It will run on the Helio G85 chipset and offer a 5000 mAh battery with 10W fast charging. The smartphone may have a 50 MP primary camera along with a 5 MP selfie camera. It will be available in two variants - 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, and 6GB RAM with 128 GB storage.

The POCO C55 is the Redmi 12C, rebranded!

The Redmi 12C has been rebranded as the POCO C55 and will be seeing a global launch. The features are, therefore, likely to be quite similar. It is believed that the POCO C55 will be priced at around $100 which is 8,172.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
According to inside sources, Apple has green-lit the production of the Apple iPhone 15 in China and is also planning to speed up the manufacturing timeline in India too. The New Product Introduction (NPI) process that the company initiates generally starts in the first quarter of every year. This allows Apple to understand how the production process will be carried out when the new iPhone models have been finalised.

Foxconn is manufacturing the Apple iPhone 15

It is believed that Foxconn has commenced the trial production of the upcoming Apple iPhone 15 models. At this point, it is focussing on ironing out any production issues to prevent the kinds of delays we had seen when the Apple iPhone 14 was being manufactured. Some of the critical parties who are a part of the process include suppliers as well as manufacturers, and the process includes testing new machines and making sure that the quality assurance process is fine-tuned.

Apple wants to reduce the manufacturing gap between India and China

Apart from starting the NPI process, Apple may also be taking a few steps to reduce the overall gap between India and China production timelines. Apple generally starts the production process in China six to nine months before doing the same in India. However, this is going to change in the coming future as the tech giant wants to establish stronger relationships with its Indian partners. The idea will be to reduce the gap by a few weeks and even shift 5% of the production of smartphones to Indian factories.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
Red couplets to welcome coming Spring Festival in E Chinas Jiangxi

People's Daily Online) 09:48, January 10, 2023

People display Chinese character Fu, which means good luck in English, at a park in Quannan county, Ganzhou, east Chinas Jiangxi Province, Jan. 8, 2023. (Photo/Yin Qiqi)

People displayed the Chinese character Fu, which means good luck in English, at a park in Quannan county, Ganzhou, east Chinas Jiangxi Province, Jan. 8, 2023.

With the Chinese Lunar New Year around the corner, the county organized members of the local calligrapher association and calligraphy enthusiasts to write red couplets for residents free of charge. They went into communities, sending their best wishes to residents for the coming Spring Festival.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Du Mingming)
Jeon Joo-hwan, a 31-year-old stalking murder suspect and Seoul Metro employee, is escorted by police officers from Namdaemun Police Station to prosecutors in Seoul in this Sept. 21, 2022 file photo. Yonhap



The prosecution on Tuesday demanded the death penalty for a former subway worker charged with killing a female colleague he had stalked in a public restroom at a subway station.



The suspect, Jeon Joo-hwan, was indicted for stabbing the victim to death in the ladies' room at Sindang Station in Seoul on Sept. 14. He was charged with revenge killing.



During a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, the prosecution demanded the capital punishment, citing he is considered at high risk for recidivism.



The prosecution also requested the court order Jeon to wear an electronic tracking device for 30 years.



The killing took place one day before a court was set to sentence him on charges of stalking her.



The two had known each other since entering Seoul Metro, the operator of Seoul's subway system, in October 2021.



Jeon told police he committed the murder out of resentment toward her after prosecutors demanded a nine-year prison sentence for him in the stalking case in August.



In late September, Jeon was sentenced to nine years in prison for stalking, illegally filming and threatening the victim. He appealed the ruling. (Yonhap)


ICICI Bank loan fraud: Court orders release of Kochars from judicial custody

The Bombay High Court on Monday ordered the release of former ICICI chief executive officer Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar from judicial custody. The CBI had, on 23 December, arrested by the couple for alleged involvement in a loan fraud case pertaining to the Videocon Group

The high court found the arrest inappropriate and illegal. "We have held that the petitioners' arrest was not in accordance with provisions of law and this warrants their release," the court observed,

A division bench of justices Revati Mohite Dere and PK Chavan ordered their release on a cash bail of Rs1 lakh each with one or more sureties of the same amount.

The bench said the duo shall cooperate with the probe and attend the CBI office as and when summoned. The court also asked the Kochhars to surrender their passports to the CBI.

The HC had, on Friday, reserved its order on the petitions filed by Chanda Kochhar and Deepak Kochhar over the issue of alleged "illegal arrest" by the CBI.

The Kocchars had termed their arrest "illegal" on the ground that the CBI had not obtained any court sanction to arrest them. The couple then moved the court challenging their arrest by the CBI in connection with the bank loan case.

The CBI had, in 2019, filed an FIR against Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar and Videocon's Venugopal Dhoot along with Nupower Renewables (NRL) managed by Deepak Kochhar, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries Limited as well as another private company Supreme Energy as accused in the Rs3,250 crore loan fraud case involving ICICI Bank and the Videocon Group.

In the FIR filed under Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the CBI had alleged that ICICI Bank sanctioned Rs3,250 crore credit to Videocon Group companies in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, RBI guidelines and the banks own credit policy.

The investigating agency also alleged that as a part of a quid pro quo, Dhoot made an investment of Rs64 crore in Nupower Renewables through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL), and transferred SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar through a circuitous route between 2010 and 2012.
Students attend a class at an elementary school in Seoul in this May 2, 2022 file photo. Yonhap



The government plans to dramatically extend the after-school care and education program for elementary school students in an effort to help relieve the burden of child care for working parents, officials have said.



Under the extension plan announced by the education ministry on Monday, after-school child care programs provided by elementary schools will be extended to the early morning hours from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m, and to 8 p.m., officials said.



Currently, only about 30 percent of the elementary school classrooms provide child care after 5 p.m., making it hard for working parents to balance child care and career.





Students attend a class at an elementary school in Chuncheon, 75 kilometers northeast of Seoul, in this June 28, 2022 file photo. Yonhap
Two Dundalk bands have been nominated for the RTE Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year 2022.

Just Mustard have been nominated for their album Heart Under while The Mary Wallopers have been nominated for their self-titled debut The Mary Wallopers.

The shortlist for the prize, in association with IMRO & IRMA, was announced yesterday on RTE 2FMs Tracy Clifford Show.

The Irish Album of the Year 2022, along with the four prizes above, will be announced live from Vicar St on RTE 2FM in a special show 7-11pm on Thursday 9th March.

The show will feature live performances from some of the shortlisted acts, further details on the line-up to be announced soon.

The winning AOTY act will receive 10,000, a prize fund which has been provided by The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). All shortlisted acts will receive a specially commissioned award.

Commenting, Adam Fogarty, Head of Music, RTE 2FM, said Its been another year of quality music from Irish artists which were looking forward to celebrating on 2FM.

The new prizes, particularly Irish Artist of the Year and Irish Breakthrough Artist, along with Irish Song of the Year will ensure that we get to put an even bigger spotlight on incredible Irish artists and recognise their achievements over the last twelve months.

The full shortlist is as follows:

Anna Mieke  Theatre (Anna Mieke under license to Nettwerk Music Group)

Aoife Nessa Frances  Protector (Partisan Records)

CMAT  If My Wife New Id Be Dead (CMATBABY)

Dermot Kennedy  Sonder (Island)

Fontaines D.C.  Skinty Fia (Partisan Records)

Just Mustard  Heart Under (Partisan Records)

Pillow Queens  Leave the Light On (Royal Mountain Records)

Sorcha Richardson  Smiling Like An Idiot (Faction Records)

The Mary Wallopers  The Mary Wallopers (The Mary Wallopers)

Thumper  Delusions of Grandeur (Reckless Records)
The second part of an exhibition exploring the role of Kilmainham Gaol in Civil War state executions opened on 8 January, the centenary of the executions of five young former Free State soldiers who were condemned to death on charges of treason. The exhibition includes the last letters of one of these men, Sylvester Heaney, which are on public display for the first time.

In the final months of 1922, Terence Brady, Leo Dowling, Sylvester Heaney, Anthony OReilly and Laurence Sheeky were stationed on guard duty at Baldonnell Airfield. It seems they had grown disillusioned with the Free State cause and had been secretly approached by members of a Leixlip-based anti-treaty flying column who wanted their assistance with a plan to attack the Airfield and seize the arms stored there. While that plan never went ahead, the men nevertheless decided to desert from the Free State Army and join the anti-treaty side.

On 1 December 1922, 22 members of the Leixlip anti-treaty flying column, including the five former soldiers who had recently joined them, were captured by the Free State Army. The prisoners were brought to Wellington Barracks on Dublins South Circular Road for interrogation.

Some of the ex-Free State soldiers were still wearing the remnants of their National Army uniforms and, in the end, the five of them were identified as deserters. Now referred to as The Leixlip Five, they were then transferred to Kilmainham Gaol to face a military court martial on 11 December at which they were found guilty of treason and condemned to death. They were to spend their final weeks as prisoners of Kilmainham Gaol before their execution at 8am on 8 January 1923.

The official statement issued by the Army made no mention of the exact location of the 8 January executions. A republican propaganda leaflet issued at the time assumed that they had been shot in Kilmainham Gaol, while many later sources said they were executed in Portobello Barracks.

However according to their official death certificates, Sheeky, Heaney and OReilly were killed in Keogh (formerly Richmond) Barracks while Dowling and Brady were executed in Kilmainham Gaol. Significantly, Dowling and Brady were initially buried in Kilmainham Gaol, while the other three were interred in a burial ground in Arbour Hill Barracks.

In October 1924, the Free State government ordered that the remains of all of those who had been executed during the Civil War be returned to their families. The bodies of Leo Dowling and Terence Brady, as well as the four men shot in Kilmainham on 17 November 1922, were exhumed from the Gaol.

A similar operation took place in Arbour Hill and other barracks and prisons around the country. The bodies were then returned to their families who could finally give them a proper funeral.

This little-known story of The Leixlip Five forms the second part of an exhibition which explores the use of the Kilmainham Gaol as a place of execution during the Civil War. The first part of the exhibition opened on the centenary of the first executions of the Civil War which took place in Kilmainham Gaol on 17 November 1922.

ABOVE: the letters feature in the exhibition (Image: Courtesy of the OPW)

The highlight of this second part of the exhibition is a remarkable collection of letters written by Sylvester Heaney in Kilmainham Gaol in the weeks prior to his execution. These poignant and heart-breaking letters are on loan to the Office of Public Works and Kilmainham Gaol Museum from his family and the Museum is honoured to be displaying them to the public for the first time.

In the letters he writes about his loneliness in prison, particularly at Christmas, and in a letter to his sister, Martha, he asked if she would send him some of the Christmas pudding so he could feel like he was sharing in the festivities with them.

His last letter to his mother ended with the lines: I cannot say much only tell all my Sisters and Brothers to say a prayer for me and I shall meet you all in the next world. I was foolish but it cannot be helped now.
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Louth Library Service will be hosting a talk entitled Co. Louth Cumann na mBan and the Civil War by historian Ailbhe Rogers, in conversation with Louth County Council Historian in Residence Dr Thomas Tormey.

It will be held in Dundalk Library on Friday, January 20th at 3pm as part of the Louth County Council Decade of Centenaries Programme.

Ailbhe Rogers is a local part-time historian from Togher, Co. Louth. She holds a BA in History and Nua-Ghaeilge, and an MA in Irish History  both from Maynooth University.

She has published and lectured widely during the Decade of Centenaries on the subject of women during the Irish revolutionary era.

She works as a library administrator in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.She has also made contributions on the subject to various history publications including County Louth and the Irish Revolution, 1912-1923 (2017) edited by Donal Hall and Martin Maguire, published by the Irish Academic Press.

All are welcome to attend, with no booking required.

The talk and discussion can also be watched online.

A space may be saved by scanning the QR code or by clicking on the Crowdcast webpage https://www.crowdcast.io/louthlibraryservice.

The talk can also be view back at a later time.

The event is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 initiative.

This talk remains part of our 2022 Decade of Centernaries Programme talks.

The public can contact Dundalk Library at 042-9353190 for further information.
Sunrise on Sunday was the backdrop for the centenary commemoration of the execution of 19-year-old Louth man Sylvester Heaney at the Republican plot at St Patricks Cemetery Dundalk.

The event, which was chaired by Sinn Fein councillor Pearse McGeough, was attended by over 40 people, including the grandnephews of Mr Heaney, who was known to his family as Sylvie.

A wreath was laid at the Republican plot, where Mr Heaney is buried and those in attendance heard from Louth TD Ruairi O Murchu, who outlined some of Mr Heaneys background.

Mr Heaney, who was from Dillonstown and was the eighth child in the family of 12 to Bernard and Julia Heaney, who had lived in Hill Street before moving to Dillonstown.

Mr Heaney had initially joined the National Army but had, Deputy O Murchu said, become utterly dissatisfied with the Free State and decided, like many others, to make his stand.

He was stationed in Baldonnell Aerodrome. The Leixlip Flying Column of the IRA was involved in a number of attacks on infrastructure, primarily to disable communications in this region.

A plan was conceived to attack the aerodrome towards the end of 1922 and, having been postponed twice, there was a third mobilisation when the unit acquired a number of rifles and a machine gun and information had been provided. A number of National Army soldiers, including Mr Heaney, joined the IRA.

But it was ultimately unsuccessful and Mr Heaney, along with four other former soldiers, were captured and became known as the Leixlip Five. They were court martialled for treason and sentenced to death.

Deputy O Murchu said: The State did not say where the executions took place. Each one of those executed left a family who had to live with the huge pain during a very difficult time in Irish history.

Eventually, Mr Heaney's body was reinterred at the Republican plot in Dowdallshill, alongside five other executed men, but the funeral was marred by controversy when the firing party at the reinterment was attacked by National Army forces.

Mr Heaney left behind a number of letters, including to his mother and his sister, Martha. He told Martha he was not afraid and asked her to send some Christmas pudding so as to think of those at home.

O Murchu said:

"Sylvester Heaney died a martyr like many others. We must remember that they died to try to bring about a better Ireland, a united Ireland.We have an opportunity today that we may not have had over the last 100 years to deliver an Ireland that they died for.

Two other events, marking further executions, are to take place on January 13 and 22 at Dundalks old gaol and at Dundalk barracks.
Coastal and marine communities, including Louth could be in line to benefit significantly from offshore renewable electricity projects.

Under a new framework published by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD, generators of offshore wind will be required to make substantial annual contributions to community benefit funds.

Louth currently has two wind parks proposed off its shores; the Oriel Wind Farm and the Setanta Wind Park.

A key feature of the new framework, known as the Community Benefit Fund Rulebook for Generators and Fund Administrators, is that generators must start making contributions from the early stages of the offshore wind project, i.e., prior to commencing operation.

This means that coastal and marine communities could start to benefit from as early as 2025 and could look forward to receiving benefits for up to 25 years in total.

Contributions to these funds will be determined by the amount of energy generated, with 2 required to be paid for every MWh of electricity generated over the lifetime of the support period. Given the anticipated high levels of offshore generation, the amounts involved are expected to be very substantial  approximately 4 million per annum from a typical 500MW offshore wind project, and almost 20 million per annum from all projects expected to deploy via the first auction for offshore wind under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (ORESS 1).

The community benefit fund process has been collaboratively developed following extensive consultation with communities and industry. This has been supported throughout by the participation of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), which will be providing a critical role in the monitoring and compliance of the funds.

The move follows on from the November 2022 launch of the first offshore competition under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (ORESS 1). ORESS auctions in the coming years will procure further offshore wind capacity to reach our 2030 target of 7GW, while also maintaining community benefit provisions to ensure that hosting communities continue to benefit from the enormous potential of offshore renewable energy.

Minister Ryan said:

Local coastal and marine communities will play a central role in facilitating and supporting the development of Irelands offshore renewable electricity ambitions as a vital component in meeting Irelands commitments under the 2023 Climate Action Plan.

In addition to the jobs, opportunities and business off-shore wind will help generate on-shore, this community benefit fund, built into the off-shore programme, ensures that community life and fabric more broadly can also be enhanced and supported.

Never has it been more vital that we use our vast offshore wind resource to create renewable energy and ensure the security of our own energy supply. The development of our offshore wind energy capacity will eventually eradicate our dependence on imported fossil fuels and bring an unprecedented reduction in CO2 emissions for a climate neutral future.

The rulebook sets out the basis of the working relationship between each generator and the professional fund administrator it must appoint to undertake the implementation of the fund for their respective projects.

It provides details on how each fund must be established and conducted to be properly representative of the local community, including fishers, seafood culture, tourism, the wider blue economy, and maritime heritage.

The fund administrator will undertake the day-to-day operation of the fund on behalf of the local community, while decision-making on the allocation of funds remains within the community itself.
Park Kyoung-seok, co-head of the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, speaks during a protest at Hyehwa Station in Seoul, Jan. 4. Yonhap



Seoul Metro, the operator of the subway system in Seoul, has filed a damages suit against a disability rights advocacy group over its subway-riding protests, city officials said Tuesday.



The city-run company filed the suit with the Seoul Central District Court on Friday seeking damages of 601.45 million won ($484,000) for train delays and other losses caused by 75 illegal protests staged by the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (SADD) since Dec. 3, 2021, they said.



The group staged subway-riding protests at major stations in central Seoul, demanding an increased government budget to protect the rights of people with disabilities.



Wheelchair-bound activists have repeatedly boarded and disembarked trains disrupting metro services during the morning rush hour.



Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon late last month declared a zero-tolerance policy against their protests, warning of stern legal actions.



In late 2021, Seoul Metro filed a lawsuit against SADD, claiming 30 million won in compensation.



Last month, the Seoul Central District Court issued a mediation, calling for Seoul Metro to install more elevators at subway stations and SADD to stop protests. The court ruled SADD must pay Seoul Metro 5 million won for every five-minute delay in subway operations in the future.



The group accepted the compromise, but Seoul Metro and the city government rejected it.



SADD resumed the protests last month, and the company early last week warned of an additional lawsuit.



Last Wednesday, the group said it will suspend protests until Jan. 19 and demanded a meeting with Mayor Oh.



Oh accepted the offer, but the two sides have yet to agree on the details of the proposed meeting. (Yonhap)






Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Tuesday urged the central government to come up with measures to give local governments more leeway in pursuing their own policies.







"Even if it is not a special autonomous province, all local governments should be able to take the initiative in implementing their regional development policies with high autonomy," Han told a Cabinet meeting.







Han's remarks came as the Cabinet meeting deliberated plans on whether the central government would grant Gangwon and North Jeolla provinces special autonomy.







Han said the central government should "lay the foundation for local governments to develop their capabilities as partners in carrying out state affairs."







Korea's exports are forecast to see a 4.5 percent fall in 2023, hit by a global economic slowdown and weak chip prices.







Han called for relevant ministries to make all-out efforts to prop up exports and maintain growth momentum.







"The role of exports is very important in the face of a mixed crisis," Han said. (Yonhap)


In the period from 1 January to 6 January 2023 the net position of the Eurosystem in foreign currency (asset items 2 and 3 minus liability items 7, 8 and 9) decreased by EUR 0.5 billion to EUR 348.5 billion.

The net balance of open market operations and standing facilities (asset item 5 minus liability items 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 and 4) fell by EUR 308.3 billion to EUR -2,764 billion, owing mainly to the changes in the level of the deposit facility (liability item 2.2).

Claims on non-euro area residents denominated in euro (asset item 4) decreased by EUR 5 billion to EUR 11.9 billion, mainly owing to maturing Eurosystem operations providing euro liquidity to non-euro area central banks (further details can be found on the ECBs website under Central bank liquidity lines).

Base money (liability items 1, 2.1 and 2.2) increased by EUR 267.4 billion to EUR 5,860.1 billion.

The change in the revaluation accounts (liability item 11) was due to the finalisation of the revaluation of the Eurosystems assets and liabilities in the context of the financial year 2022.

The table below provides the detailed breakdown of securities held for monetary policy purposes (asset item 7.1) into the different portfolios. All portfolios are accounted for at amortised cost.
A UNIQUE organisation helping schools deal with traumatised children has been forced to open a waiting list in the wake of overwhelming demand for its services in Cork.

Trauma Responsive Education has already liaised with 16 schools in the Cork area struggling to cope with children displaying the effects of severe trauma.

Marie Delaney from Crosshaven, an educational psychologist who has previously worked with educational staff in post-conflict areas of Iraq and Lebanon, set up the social enterprise two years ago with Lisa McSherry.

A consultant for the pharmaceutical industry, Ms McSherry was equally passionate about improving educational outcomes for traumatised children.

The pair say they are in dire need of government funding as more teachers and special needs assistants begin to recognise heart breaking signs of trauma in their students.

Marie and Lisa combined their experiences of neuroscience, educational psychotherapy, attachment theory, and positive psychology to help equip teachers working with affected children.

Marie expressed concern that symptoms of trauma can often be misdiagnosed as ADHD, resulting in some children faring poorly in the education system.

Ms Delaney said she has seen this first-hand after working with prisoners, the majority of whom have either left school early or experienced literacy issues.

The reality is that many children are misdiagnosed, Ms Delaney said.

With any trauma, a childs brain goes on the alert for danger which means they are constantly scanning their horizons and wondering where the danger is coming from. In school they cant settle to do their own work and are scared by the children behind them.

This often presents itself as ADHD resulting in some children being misdiagnosed. In many cases children just need safe and secure surroundings with safe adults that listen and understand them.

She honed in on how the pandemic resulted in long-term issues for many children.

You have children with parents in prison whose struggle was [exacerbated] during Covid because they werent able to visit them. There are areas where it would not be uncommon for a number of students to have family in prison.

Lisa McSherry told of how concerns had been raised by parents attempting to cope with family trauma.

If you are a child from a family, who historically has been involved in crime, you can be treated differently, Lisa explained.

There was one parent who didnt know how her child would cope after their father was responsible for a very severe crime that was committed locally. She was extremely worried about how this was affecting her childs behaviour and treatment in school.

AWARENESS

Marie said it can be helpful for school staff to have awareness around challenging behaviours demonstrated by children.

There was one school who told us about how part of the building had been closed off, Marie said.

The students were told not to go down there but the Ukrainian students went down to have a look. The school was shocked because they had been so well behaved prior to this. Nonetheless, for these students to feel safe they needed to know what was down there.

In their world it could have been a big threat but its understandable that this might be mistaken for defiance. This might not be what you want in a school but its important to understand where its coming from. In this situation, the childrens experiences of war taught them that nothing comes from waiting and you have to push yourself to the front of the queue.

Trauma, Lisa explained, can take many forms.

If gardai have been there the night before to take someone away then the childs mind is going to be preoccupied, Lisa said.

Its all about acknowledging that rather than always assuming that they are being difficult. Assessing the situation and asking yourself what can that be? is also important. The question to ask isnt what is wrong with you? but rather what has happened to you?.

It is difficult to respond in the moment when you have a class of 30 children in front of you. The idea is to shift the mindset.

RISKS

She spoke of how traumatised children are at a significantly higher risk of developing an addiction later in life.

Safety connection and belonging are the main needs of someone affected by trauma. You can belong to your school community and feel connected to the people in it. If you havent got an attachment you are going to attach to something. That attachment could be a gang or a drug depending on the extent of the trauma.

Marie said she feels that diversity is currently lacking in the education system.

This isnt the life a lot of teachers have had, Marie said. A major issue is the lack of diversity in teaching.

Co-Founders / Directors at Trauma Responsive Education with Marie Delaney and Lisa McSherry, at the Republic of Work, South Mall, Cork. Picture: Jim Coughlan.

They have succeeded in the system but children with trauma have had a very different experience.

For many children, the system in itself is traumatic because it doesnt suit everyone.

She is urging people to put aside their judgement.

One has to look at the pattern of behaviour a child might have got used to from adults, Marie said.

People think that those with addictions cant be good parents but thats actually not true. There are times when they are present with their children and other times when they are not.

You have to be careful not to put any blame on parents or families because everyone is the doing the best they can with the resources they have.

Ms Delaney described how trauma in children is very often misunderstood.

Sometimes schools dont understand what trauma is. When many people hear of trauma relating to children they think of kids who have come from a war zone or who were involved in a serious accident.

Its the other stuff going on underneath the surface that causes the same reactions in a childs brain.

While issues such as bereavement, domestic abuse, or separation can affect any family we cant ignore that poverty also has a devasting effect. Scarcity of food is essentially a trauma and we need to recognise that.

She warned that while some well-meaning incentives might benefit some children, they can often isolate children with trauma.

Attendance awards might seem great but there are children who missed days because they had to travel long distances to visit their daddy in prison or had to visit a parent in hospital. Nothing is ever as clear cut as any of us  who are not fully involved in it  think.

Meanwhile, Lisa urged teachers and SNAs not to blame themselves for a childs trauma.

Staff can sometimes get upset because they feel they have to fix the childrens lives but its not about fixing them, Lisa said.

Its really about someone being there for you to hear your story and see the good in you. We have to remember that while a childs protective behaviour may be disruptive it might have been keeping them alive outside of the safety of a school setting.

Teachers and SNAs might have their own biases. Like all of us they are only human, but its about catching yourself and stopping it when you recognise that thought process.

To find out more or to contact

Trauma Responsive Education visit https://trauma-ed.com.
TROOPER Shane Kearney from Killeagh who suffered a serious head injury when his convoy came under attack while travelling to Beirut last month is stable and is no longer critical the Defence Forces has confirmed.

A spokesperson for the Defence Forces said that Trooper Shane Kearney has responded very well to treatment in Beaumont Hospital.

Tpr Shane Kearney continues his recovery in Beaumont Hospital. He is responding very well to treatment and is no longer critical with his condition now described as stable.

The medical staff are satisfied with his continued and steady progress."

"The Defence Forces and Tpr Shane Kearneys family wish to thank everyone for all the support that they continue to receive, the spokesperson added.

Irish Defence Forces Private Sean Rooney, from Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal, was killed when the convoy came under attack while travelling to Beirut on December 14.

Pte Rooney was buried with full military honours which included the firing of a volley of 21 shots and the playing of the Last Post.

He was awarded a number of honours posthumously, including a peacekeeping medal from the UN and an appreciation medal from the Lebanese armed forces.

Private Shane Kearney, 23, suffered a serious head injury during the attack. Two other peacekeepers were treated for minor injuries.

The soldiers were part of 121st Infantry Battalion, comprising 333 Irish troops, which was deployed in November to south Lebanon as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

The Killeagh native returned to Ireland just before Christmas in a specially equipped, contracted medical aircraft which landed at Baldonnell.

The young peacekeeper was then taken by ambulance to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin for ongoing medical treatment.

Private Kearney joined the Defence Forces in October 2018, and his home Unit is 1 Cavalry Squadron in Collins Barracks Cork.

He previously served overseas with the 117 Infantry Battalion UNIFIL.

Following the attack, a vigil was held in St John the Baptist Church, Killeagh on December 15.

It was led Fr Tim Hazelwood and attracted a huge attendance, which comprised the local community and members of the Defence Forces. The Taoiseach was represented by his Aide de Camp.

Three investigations into the attack are currently underway, by Unifil (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), the Defence Forces, and a third by the Lebanese government.
Brian Looney, former editor of the Irish Examiner, has died aged 63.

Mr Looney passed away at a nursing home in his native Cork.

Mr Looney was a well-known and popular figure in the Irish media. In a long journalism career, his first roles were with the Limerick Weekly Echo, the Irish Press and the Irish Independent.

He was then named editor of The Kerryman, launching a hugely successful redesign of the regional title.

Mr Looney was named editor of the Cork Examiner in the mid 1990s, and oversaw the paper's transition to a national title, the Irish Examiner.

Former Irish Examiner editor Brian Looney has died aged 63.

Former editor of the Irish Examiner, Tim Vaughan, said: "Brian transformed the Examiner at a critical time in its history, in the mid-'90s, when it needed the vision and ambition that he had in spades.

"That ambition for what the newspaper could be, what it could achieve, was the mark of a real leader  and, almost 30 years later, it still lives on in the success of the Irish Examiner.

"He was a big-intellect, big-picture guy who knew what needed to be done  and he had the talent, drive, and fortitude to get it done.

"Brian was also brilliant at spotting and mentoring promising young journalists, many of whom hold senior positions across Irelands newspaper and broadcast media today.

"I will remember Brian for his wicked sense of fun and that wonderful roguish smile of his  and the kindness and generosity he showed to many people."
Copycat websites increasingly surface on the web stealing customers cash and damaging e-tailers branding and trustworthy reputations. Until now, most brands tolerated the threat but seemed powerless to prevent it; that scenario may be starting to change.

Digital perpetrators offer bogus sales on products and services to get consumers to place orders on fake online brand websites. Victims provide payment details but never receive the merchandise. These scam sites look almost identical to real business websites, making them hard to spot.

To combat this e-commerce thievery, some cybersecurity experts suggest that businesses and marketing officials get proactive solutions to find and remove fake websites. Additionally, by creating social media accounts on all social platforms, marketing teams can protect their brands image, whether the account is being actively used or not for marketing.

Marketers are tasked with building customer relationships and trust to get customers to be loyal and transact with them, according to Josh Shaul, CEO of Allure Security and co-author of Practical Oracle Security: Your Unauthorized Guide to Relational Database Security.

They have to do it at more than arms length. But marketing teams are not set up to deal with what happens when their brand and digital presence are stolen and used in ways they do not want. That is a big problem, Shaul told the E-Commerce Times.

He added that preventing fake websites is not the marketing departments job, either. That usually is up to the legal entities if corporate leaders approve.

Scams Cause Misplaced Blame

E-commerce has changed dramatically over the last couple of years. Bad actors set up fake websites or create bogus social media profiles, and they lure victims with a text or a direct message on social media.

That approach is nothing new. But many more people are online today who are unaware of such pitfalls, noted Shaul. Consumers tend to view such scams as complicit behavior by retailers.

From the consumers perspective, when they get sucked into a phony website, they do not question the sites authenticity or consider that some criminal has stolen this brands identity and is using it to run a scam.

Instead, many people view the brand as the culprit when they discover they are victimized. They spread the word to their friends to avoid doing business with that brand, offered Shaul.

Such situations are nightmares for the brand and its marketing organization to clean up. In addition, the brand cannot recover the cost of lost sales and reputation damage.

It is a problem that maybe you could ignore in the past but cannot anymore because of its severity today, he observed.

Build a Rapid Response Bridge

The job of marketing professionals is to build the brands story and grow the consumers trust. Shaul argues that it is not to constantly focus on doing reputation repair when bad actors steal brand equity using a bogus website for their own profit.

That bridge will better connect everybody in the organization around the same objective  protecting the brands integrity. All entities want to protect customers from fraud.

Security teams today are absolutely the right functional area to own this problem because they have the infrastructure to deal with website problems, said Shaul. But they are overburdened with too many projects and do not have enough budget.

He maintains that a real-time rapid response strategy to an emerging incident like a bogus website would go a long way to cooperatively minimizing the worsening problem.

Marketers, Ante Up Some Budget

Shaul believes that constructing a bridge of cooperation among marketers, company leaders, and security teams will ease the mounting friction. He added that disparities in each departments operating budgets cause much of the conflict.

Sharing his view from the security side, he addressed what is often resentment from network security teams. He alleged that marketing departments get a ton of money while they also make a ton of mistakes that security teams must clean up.

Marketing gets lots of money to pay for advertising and branding. Security budgeting usually comes up short because the brand does not view it as a money-maker. The cost inflicted by impersonated websites is not part of the equation.

I think the easy answer I alluded to is the marketing community saying, We have a common interest in protecting the brand and our customers by stopping these things. You guys have the skill set, but you do not have the tools and the funding. We have the funding; let us buy you the tools,  explained Shaul.

Customer Relations Calamity

Brands suffer more damage when customers are scammed on a fraudulent website. The victim loses money from a phony transaction, and the brand loses customer retention, which means ongoing sales losses.

People do not know that others also got scammed. Dealing with each victim is a one-on-one situation for the brand that grows into many injured parties vowing not to favor that brand again.

Brands begin to recognize a more widespread problem exists when hundreds of customer service callers a week complain that they never received the merchandise they ordered.

The situation becomes even more negative for the brands customer service reps, suggested Shaul. They have to deal with telling the victim the company is not responsible for refunding their lost money because a crook stole the brands identity.

Brands Risk Retaliation

The impact varies depending on the type of vendor being impersonated. On the banking side, research shows that 38% of victims of bank website fraud leave the bank entirely. Shaw noted that a local bank in New Hampshire is seeing some 30 or 40 scams targeting their customers weekly.

Often fake website scams gain traction with advertisements on a trusted website. So you are clicking along on Facebook or maybe Bloomberg reading the news, and an ad pops up, explained Shaul.

An unsuspecting person sees a link to a popular product at a near-giveaway price, and clicking the link brings the victim to a look-alike website. That results in defrauded consumers losing all trust in the brand that conned them out of money.

E-commerce retailers need to look at the overall impact of losing control of their brand. It is a big thing, and it is not a stretch to realize that when somebody starts to use your brand against you, it has a big impact on your business very quickly, he said.

Whose Problem Is It?

Brands have not made this a higher priority for several reasons. According to Shaul, companies have tried to solve the problem over the years but failed.

He admitted that business leaders have grown accustomed to dealing with impersonation scams, and there is just complacency there.

Another issue is who owns this problem. Is it a marketing problem? Is it a security problem, or is it a fraud problem? He added that it is a little bit in the crosshairs of all those different departments.

That lack of clear ownership does not mean the problem gets ignored. But it gets de-prioritized, Shaul lamented. Companies do almost nothing right now in cybersecurity that is not mandated by regulatory requirements or by insurance.

How Brands Can Fight Back

Shaul added that brands have success stories in getting ahead of this problem. The process involves getting security to the point where it can identify and respond to these scams quickly.

Scammers have to set up on the internet, get victims to come into their scam, and trick them into giving up their data. That all has a timeline that is sometimes quick and other times not.

According to Shaul, some cybersecurity firms, like Allure Security, have developed new digital tools to help brand security teams find and respond to incidents in real time. Part of this new toolset needs to employ more artificial intelligence to hunt down fake sites by learning to recognize tiny anomalies in the logo or content.

One tactic that Shaul preaches to e-commerce brand managers is to create a strong social media presence. This stratagem is critical even if the brand execs do not want to engage there.

Its not optional, in my view, for a brand manager to participate in some of these [social media] things, he said.

Businesses that fail to claim their brand on those platforms open the door to anybody to impersonate that identity. It only takes a subtle change in the URL for bad actors to siphon traffic away from legitimate retail sites.
Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

Activists take part in a demonstration against against the eviction of the settlement of Luetzerath close to a bucket excavator looms behind next to the Garzweiler II open cast coal mine on January 8, 2023 near Erkelenz, Germany. Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images

A group of around 200 climate activists are now all that stands between an abandoned German village and an expanding coal mine.

The Garzweiler opencast mine in Western Germany is in the process of expanding into the village of Lutzerath to access more lignite coal in the midst of an ongoing energy crisis. But environmental campaigners have set up tree sits and barricades to stop the expansion, despite calls from police to evacuate this week.

If they dig for this coal, theyre taking down climate goals, theyre throwing the Paris agreement in the bin, protester Dina Hamid said, as BBC News reported. People are dying now from the climate crisis. If we want to save lives, if we dont want this to keep happening, we need to save every bit of coal, every bit of fossil fuel in the ground.

The struggle over Lutzeraths fate is not new. The village has long been in the sights of RWE, the energy company that owns the existing mine, which currently covers 35 square kilometers (approximately 13.5 miles) and produces 25 million tonnes of coal annually. Protestors began setting up camp in 2020, when Lutzerath farmer Eckardt Heukamp gave them permission to use his fields, as Innovation Origins reported. Environmentalists have sued to protect the village multiple times, but the courts have consistently sided with RWE. The German government under Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz has also signed an agreement with RWE sacrificing Lutzerath, but stopping it from swallowing five other villages and committing it to phasing out coal power in western Germany by 2030 instead of 2038, as AFP reported. The homes in Lutzerath have been abandoned and the land is now the property of the company, BBC News noted.

RWE has a right to the brown coal lying underneath Lutzerath. We have to accept that as a rule of law, Tim Achteryer, co-chair of North Rhine-Westphalia (NWR)the German state where the mine and village are locatedtold German newspaper the Tagesspiegel, as Innovation Origins reported.

Tensions are bound to come to a head this week, however, as police announced Monday they would begin to clear the village as early as Wednesday. Regional authorities further said they wanted to send 10 to 15 units of around 100 police officers to evict the activists, as AFP reported.

Its going to be a very exciting week around here, Dirk Jansen, the managing director of BUND NRWthe NRW Friends of the Earth branchtold Innovation Origins.

The fight for Lutzerath has gained urgency as Russias invasion of Ukraine has left Germany scrambling for fuel, leading it to sacrifice some of its climate goals to resuscitate previously retired coal plants, as AFP noted. While the country got record amounts of energy from renewables in 2022, it fell short of its targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Environmentalists still believe the country could be doing more to mitigate the climate crisis, and disagree that Lutzerath is an acceptable loss. Around 2,000 people attended a demonstration in the village on Sunday, and another is planned for January 14, AFP reported.

Were expecting thousands of people, Jansen told Innovation Origins. We are really busy creating momentum. This sparks a discussion about climate change and the phasing out of coal and the role of Die Grunen (The Greens) within the German government. A lot of people feel they are not doing enough.

The Green party in Germany is part of the coalition government behind the deal with RWE, BBC News explained.
People visit the new Wall of Remembrance during a special event ahead of the official dedication of the wall at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, U.S., in this July 26, 2022 file photo. Reuters-Yonhap



Korea's veterans ministry said Tuesday it will pore over and correct reported spelling errors and other mistakes on a U.S.-based monument engraved with the names of soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.



The New York Times has reported the Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is estimated to have 1,015 spelling errors of veterans' names, while omitting and incorrectly including hundreds of names, citing researchers of an online project on the conflict.



"There must not be even a single error on the Wall," the ministry said in a statement. "By taking an exhaustive review in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense and Korea's defense ministry, (we) will swiftly confirm any errors and rectify them if there are any."



The ministry said the engravings were made based on a list of names provided by the two governments.



Funded mostly by Korea, the Wall of Remembrance was unveiled in July last year as an addition to the Korean War Veterans Memorial.



The monument displays the names of 36,634 American soldiers killed during the war, along with those of 7,174 Korean Augmentation to U.S. Army personnel, known as KATUSA. (Yonhap)


Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

SparkCharge, an electric vehicle charging system and network developer, has developed a mobile charging station to service vehicle fleets, a first-of-its-kind product that serves as part of the companys Charging as a Service (CaaS) network. SparkCharge recently debuted the mobile charging fleet services solution at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023.

The mobile charging station will help vehicle fleet owners to quickly and more affordably transition to electric vehicles over fossil fuel-powered alternatives. Instead of installing multiple charges to service an electric vehicle fleet, owners can log into the system portal, then input the address of the vehicles. From there, the owner schedules a date and time for the charging service.

SparkCharge was founded in part to expedite electric vehicle adoption and accessibility for everyone, Josh Aviv, founder and CEO of SparkCharge, said in a statement. Electrifying a fleet doesnt have to be expensive or timely  our turnkey EV fast charging solutions allow businesses to make the switch from gas-powered vehicles to battery-electric, enabling them to be in compliance with green initiatives while lowering overall operations and maintenance costs.

SparkCharge already offers a mobile charging system and network for individual EVs, an idea backed by investors on the show SharkTank in 2020, as reported by CNBC. The idea is to make EV charging as simple as ordering food through an app.

Now, the company is scaling up to offer the same service for vehicle fleets. According to SparkCharge, its service can be set up for new consumers in as few as 14 days, depending on location. The service is grid-free and requires no infrastructure installation by fleet owners or operators. If the fleet grows, the owners are able to scale up the service, and they can choose to charge select vehicles or the entire fleet during scheduled charging services.

According to the company, the charging stations operate on a battery, which means they can also deliver charging during power outages.

Currently, SparkCharge for individual vehicles is only available in 15 major U.S. cities and for fleets in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Dallas, Boston and Washington, DC with plans to expand throughout the country and in Europe to service charging deserts.

In an interview with U.S. News & World Report, Aviv noted that many charging stations are only available in wealthier neighborhoods or communities. Aviv hopes that SparkCharge can make EV fleets and ownership more accessible.

All-electric fleets are really the gateway to EV ownership, Aviv said. If more people had the ability to drive an EV without having to worry about how or when to charge their rental, it can help more people be comfortable with converting from a gasoline-powered engine to an all-electric vehicle.

Avivs hope for SparkCharge is to make the clean energy transition easier and more affordable for businesses, ultimately encouraging more companies and individuals to switch to electric vehicles.
Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

When world leaders come together to solve environmental problems, it actually can make a difference.

A new report from a United Nations-backed panel of experts found that the hole in the ozone layer is on track to close completely within four decades, as long as current policies to phase out ozone depleting substances remain in place.

Ozone action sets a precedent for climate action. Our success in phasing out ozone-eating chemicals shows us what can and must be done  as a matter of urgency  to transition away from fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gases and so limit temperature increase, World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas said in a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) press release emailed to EcoWatch.

The ozone layer is important because it protects plants and animals from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, as The Washington Post explained. UV-B rays in particular can cause cancer and eye damage in humans and make it harder for plants to grow and store carbon dioxide.

In the 1980s, however, scientists observed that the ozone layer was thinning because of the release of ozone depleting chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were commonly used as solvents and refrigerants, The Guardian noted. To address this, world leaders agreed to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987, according to the UNEP. It helped lead to the phase out of 99 percent of these substances, and has achieved the backing of every country on Earth. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist David Fahey told The Guardian it should be considered the most successful environmental treaty in history.

Fahey was a lead author of the new report that bolsters this view. The Scientific Assessment Panel to the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Substances quadrennial assessement report was presented at the 103rd meeting of the American Meteorological Society on Monday.

It concluded that the ozone layer should recover to 1980 levels by around 2040 for most of the globe, around 2045 for the Arctic and around 2066 for Antarctica.

There is good news for the climate crisis, too. To replace CFCs, many industries began to use another substance called hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), according to UNEP. However, it turns out that these chemicals are potent greenhouse gases. To address this, world leaders agreed to the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase out 80 to 85 percent of HFCs by the late 2040s. Because of this agreement, the world is set to avoid an extra 0.3 to 0.5 degrees Celsius of warming by 2100, the latest report found.

The impact the Montreal Protocol has had on climate change mitigation cannot be overstressed, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Environment Programmes Ozone Secretariat Meg Seki said in the UNEP press release. Over the last 35 years, the Protocol has become a true champion for the environment. The assessments and reviews undertaken by the Scientific Assessment Panel remain a vital component of the work of the Protocol that helps inform policy and decision makers.

There are still some things that could interfere with the ozone layers recovery. One is if world leaders decide to address the climate crisis by sending particles that reflect sunlight into the top part of the atmosphere, according to The Washington Post.

The Antarctic ozone hole is the poster child of ozone depletion, Paul Newman, one of four co-chairs of the Scientific Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol, told The Washington Post. Stratospheric aerosol injections will probably make it a little bit worse.

And while the success of the Montreal Protocol and Kigali Amendment does offer some hope for the ability of international cooperation to resolve environmental crises, Fahey noted that the hole in the ozone layer was a different scale of problem from climate change, both because carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for longer and because it is used so much more widely in society.

CO2 is another order of magnitude when it comes to its longevity, which is sobering, he told The Guardian. Getting every person on the planet to stop burning fossil fuels is a vastly different challenge.




A look at production and export of China's main aquaculture products

An eFeedLink Hot Topic





Based on the statistics of the General Administration of Customs, China exported 3.74 million tonnes of edible aquatic products in 2021, with an export value of US$21.539 billion.

Main export destinations were Japan, the United States, South Korea and the Philippines. The export value of shrimp, eel, tilapia and large yellow croaker were ranked the highest in 2021.

Shrimp

China has become the world's largest importer of oriental shrimp in recent years due to a surge in domestic consumption. In 2021, China exported 190,000 tonnes of shrimp products worldwide, a year-on-year increase of 13.5%. This amount included 115,800 tonnes of small shrimps and oriental shrimp, 26,000 tonnes of small shrimps, 21,600 tonnes of small shrimp meat, 11,220 tonnes of oriental shrimp meat and 7,600 tonnes of freshwater crayfish meat.

In the same year, China exported 103,000 tonnes of shrimp products to Asia, a year-on-year increase of 19.1%, and 30,000 tonnes of shrimp products to North America, a year-on-year decrease of 18.3%. Shrimp products exported to South America were 25,000 tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 73.0%.

Tilapia

Data show that China's output of tilapia in 2021 totaled 1.6626 million tonnes, an increase of 7,200 tonnes compared with 2020.

The country's tilapia production mainly concentrates in regions with high temperatures like Guangdong, Hainan and Guangxi. In 2021, Guangdong's tilapia production topped with a total volume of 738,000 tonnes, accounting for 45% of the national tilapia output, followed by Hainan, with an output of 316,700 tonnes. Guangxi ranked third in tilapia production, with an output of 253,600 tonnes.

Tilapia is exported in the form of live tilapia, fresh or chilled tilapia and frozen tilapia. According to Chinese customs data, the export volume of frozen tilapia in 2021 totaled 78,800 tonnes, fetching an export value of US$171.7643 million.

In 2021, Fujian Province recorded the largest export volume and value of frozen tilapia in China. Its export volume was 35,005.42 tonnes, and the export value totaled US$99.3768 million.

Guangdong Province was the second largest exporter, with an export volume and value lower than those of Fujian Province by 11,186.03 tonnes and US$57.5956 million, respectively.

Third on the list is Hainan Province, with an export volume and value of 18,275.55 tonnes and US$27.4778 million, respectively.



- David Lin, eFeedLink
Kim Man-bae, the owner of the asset management company Hwacheon Daeyu, is released from Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, 25 kilometers south of Seoul, in this Nov. 24, 2022 file photo. Newsis



The Hankyoreh newspaper has decided to dismiss a senior reporter for borrowing money from a key culprit in a high-profile development scandal.



The newspaper said Tuesday it decided to fire the reporter during a personnel committee meeting the previous day for violating a duty of integrity and fairness required for journalists, as well as the company's ethics code and work rules to avoid conflicts of interests with news sources.



The reporter, whose identity was withheld, had borrowed a total of 900 million won ($722,311) from Kim Man-bae, who is standing trial in connection with the apartment development project in the city of Seongnam, since 2019, according to the newspaper.



The amount is 300 million won more than the 600 million won that the reporter earlier claimed to have borrowed.



The company said it will expand its fact-finding mission on the case to include outside figures.



Kim, the key culprit, is the largest shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, an asset management company at the center of the highly lucrative project.



He was indicted in 2021, along with his accomplices, on charges that include bribery, embezzlement and breach of trust. Two close confidants of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, were also indicted late last year for taking bribes from them.



The dismissal came one day after Ryu Yi-geun, the Hankyoreh's chief editor, stepped down from the position to take responsibility for the improper money transaction. The company's CEO and President Kim Hyun-dae and two other board members said Monday they will step down as soon as candidates for the next CEO are picked next month.



The newspaper made a public apology Friday for the money transaction. (Yonhap)


This December 2021 file photo shows then Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung bowing deeply in an apology over allegations involving his son. (Yonhap)



Police have reopened an investigation into sex trafficking allegations against the eldest son of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung at the request of the prosecution, following their earlier decision to clear him of the charges, police officials said Tuesday.



The reinvestigation into Lee's 31-year-old son, Dong-ho, has been under way at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency in Suwon, 50 kilometers south of Seoul, though the same police agency acquitted him of the prostitution charges three months ago, the officials said.






Apple will reportedly use in-house wireless chips in iPhones by 2025 Broadcom and Qualcomm may get the boot in two years.

Apple's long-rumored plans to use its own wireless chipsets in iPhones may be solidifying. Bloomberg sources claim Apple is not only prepping its first cellular modem (now slated for late 2024 or early 2025), but is working on a combination Bluetooth and WiFi chip to replace the Broadcom chip that handles those duties. That part would arrive in 2025, according to the tipsters.

The company is also said to be working on a follow-up that would combine the Bluetooth, cellular and WiFi functionality in a single design. A move like this could both simplify production and save space in the iPhone's tightly packed chassis.

Apple and Qualcomm have already declined to comment. We've asked Broadcom for comment. Qualcomm said in November that it would supply the clear majority of iPhone cellular modems for 2023 models, but that it expected a "minimal contribution" from Apple hardware in its fiscal 2025. Broadcom chief Hock Tan, meanwhile, said in December that he believed Apple would continue to use his firm's components.

While the exact reasoning for the transition wasn't mentioned, it's no secret that Apple started designing its own silicon to have more control over its products and reduce dependence on companies that might not always be on friendly terms. The tech behemoth notably got into a bitter royalty dispute with Qualcomm that led to a costly settlement, and Broadcom is known to strike hard bargains. Apple-made parts wouldn't completely avoid problems like these, but they could reduce the chances of third parties effectively holding Apple captive.

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There's still no guarantee things will go according to plan, provided the rumor is accurate. Earlier scoops suggested Apple could switch to its own cellular chips as soon as 2023, and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims Apple cancelled a fourth-gen iPhone SE that would use the company's first internally-designed modem in 2024. If there are development troubles, Apple may have to lean on Broadcom and Qualcomm for a while yet.
Meta is taking more steps to limit potentially harmful ad campaigns. The company is placing more restrictions on advertisers' ability to target teens. From February onward, Facebook and Instagram will no longer let marketers aim ads at teens based on gender  only age and location.

In March, Meta will expand the ad preferences in Facebook and Instagram to let teens see fewer sales pitches for a given topic. Teens could already hide the ads from specific advertisers, but this gives them the choice of automatically downplaying whole categories like TV dramas or footwear.

The social media giant has put ever-tighter restrictions on the content teens can access. In 2021, Facebook and Instagram barred advertisers from using teens' interests to target ads. Instagram also made accounts private by default for teens under 16, and this year limited sensitive content for all new teen users. Meta has likewise limited the ability of "suspicious" adults to message teens on both platforms.

This is the second major ad policy change in a week. Just a day before, Meta rolled out an AI-based system meant to reduce discriminatory ad distribution. The technology is launching as part of a settlement with the federal government over charges that Facebook let companies target ads based on ethnicity, gender and other protected classes.

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As with those earlier efforts, Meta has a strong incentive to act. The attorneys general of 10 states are investigating Instagram's effects on teens, while the European Union recently fined Meta the equivalent of $402 million for allegedly mishandling privacy settings for younger users. Governments are concerned that Meta might be exploiting teens' usage habits or exposing them to threats, including content that could lead to mental health issues. The new protections won't solve these problems by themselves, but they might show officials that Meta is serious about curbing ads that prey on teens.

Update 1/10 2:39PM ET: Meta says it already prevents ads from targeting teens based on follows and likes. We've updated the story accordingly.
NASA is still willing to fund unusual concepts in its bid to advance space exploration. The agency is handing out $175,000 initial study grants to 14 projects that could be useful for missions in and beyond the Solar System. The highlight may be TitanAir, a seaplane from Planet Enterprises' Quinn Morley that could both fly through the nitrogen-and-methane atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan and sail its oceans. The "flying boat" would collect methane and complex organic material for study by sucking it in through a porous leading edge.

A project from UCLA's Artur Davoyan, meanwhile, could speed up missions to the outer edge of the Solar System and even interstellar space. His design (shown at middle) would propel spacecraft by producing a "pellet-beam" of microscopic particles travelling at very high speed (over 74 miles per second) using laser blasts. The concept could dramatically shorten the time it takes to explore deep space. Where Voyager 1 took 35 years to reach interstellar space (the heliopause, roughly 123AU from the Sun), a one-ton spacecraft could reach 100AU in just three years. It could travel 500AU in 15 years.

Artur Davoyan

Other efforts are sometimes similarly ambitious. MIT's Mary Knapp has proposed a deep space observatory that would use a swarm of thousands of tiny satellites to detect low-frequency radio emissions from the early universe, not to mention the magnetic fields of Earth-like exoplanets. Congrui Jin from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln has envisioned self-growing habitat building blocks that could save space on missions to Mars, while Lunar Resources' Peter Curreri has devised pipelines that could shuttle oxygen between Moon bases.

These are all very early initiatives that aren't guaranteed to lead to real-world tests, let alone missions. However, they illustrate NASA's thinking. The administration is funding the projects now in hopes that at least one will eventually pay off. If there's even partial success, NASA could make discoveries that aren't practical using existing technology.
Instagram has revealed a home screen refresh, due in February, that axes the Shop tab and moves the Create button back to the center of the bottom navigation bar. The social network's Adam Mosseri said shopping will still exist in your feed, Reels, Stories and ads  because of course it will  its just not a dedicated tab anymore. The change may also be part of a larger strategy shakeup. The Information claims an internal memo in September indicated Instagram would cut many of its shopping features. Instead, the site would concentrate on commerce efforts "more directly tied" to ad revenue. Simply put, the shopping push doesn't appear to have helped.

Who exactly was browsing the randomized world of Instagram shopping ads for their next purchase, anyway? My shopping tab currently shows me a $10,000 oven, a vegan cheese selection box and stabilizers for a childrens bike. I guess Id take the fake cheese.

 Mat Smith

The Morning After isnt just a newsletter  its also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

The biggest stories you might have missed

Module 3 variants include standard and wide-angle FOVs as well as autofocus.

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Raspberry Pi has launched the Camera Module 3 with big improvements, including higher resolution, infrared, HDR, autofocus, a wide-angle field of view and more. Not counting an interchangeable lens model introduced in 2020, it's the company's first new camera module in six years. Where the previous module had fixed autofocus, Module 3 has built-in powered autofocus capability. That makes it a bit thicker (up to 12.4mm compared to 9mm) but more versatile, letting you focus on objects ranging in distance from 5cm (2 inches) to infinity.

Continue reading.

These are our favorites, already.

A new laptop is an expensive purchase that warrants some thought. Despite continued chip supply woes, companies are still making a ton of new laptops, and theres plenty of choice. While most laptops with top of the line specs can cost around $1,800 to $2,000 these days, you can still get a good system for under $1,000. Then again, if you do most of your work in a browser (lots of online research, emails and Google Drive), then a Chromebook might be a cheaper alternative. We lay out the best options.

Continue reading.

A new deal allows farmers to repair their own equipment.

Jon G. Fuller/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The right to repair isnt limited to replacing your smartphone battery. Tractor and farm-vehicle maker John Deere has resisted right-to-repair regulation, but it's now willing to make some concessions. Deere & Company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) that lets US farmers and independent repair shops fix equipment, rather than requiring authorized parts and service centers. Why now? President Biden ordered the Federal Trade Commission to draft right-to-repair regulation in 2021. If Deere didnt act, it risked legal battles that could limit where and how it does business in the country.

Continue reading.

The re-entry comes as officials hope to cut back on space debris.

NASA's 38-year-old dead satellite has returned to Earth without incident. The Defense Department confirmed the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) re-entered the atmosphere off the Alaskan coast at 11:04 PM ET on January 8th. The ERBS traveled aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984 and was only expected to collect ozone data for two years. It was actually retired in 2005  over two decades later.

Continue reading.
Pound Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) Fluctuated amid Prolonged Industrial Action

The Pound Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate traded erratically on Monday as talks broke down once again between union bosses and government ministers.

At time of writing the GBP/AUD exchange rate is around $1.7557, relatively unchanged from this mornings opening levels.

Pound (GBP) Undermined by Protracted Industrial Action

Meanwhile, the Pound (GBP) failed to muster much strength to open the week as talks once again broke down between union bosses and ministers. Prolonged walkouts over pay disputes have weighed heavily on the UK economy since the summer of discontent.

The latest talks have ended in a stalemate once again as Health Secretary Steve Barclay offered an insulting one-off extra payment linked to productivity increases. Unite, one of the unions that represent ambulance workers, has repeatedly tried to sit down with ministers to resolve the issue of low pay. Onay Kasab, National Lead Officer for Unite, reported that the talks did not go well, adding:

Unfortunately, the government have missed yet another opportunity to put this right. We came here in good faith. What they want to talk about is productivity. Our members are working 18-hour shifts. How you become more productive with that I do not know. (The) government have missed yet another opportunity to put this right and what will happen is that a strike action will be taking place on 23 January.

Elsewhere, further troubling warnings from the Resolution Foundation kept a lid on any potential gains for Sterling. A further fall in living standards is expected as the poverty thinktank expects a drop of 2000 in income for millions of households in 2023. The cost-of-living squeeze could worsen as the UK is set to endure the longest and worse recession in the G7. The report added:

When combined with a weak recovery from 2024 onwards, (it) would leave typical household incomes still below pre-pandemic levels even by 2027-28.

Australian Dollar (AUD) Supported by Positive China News

Meanwhile, the Australian Dollar (AUD) found some modest strength as Beijing have continued to ease their Covid restrictions. As of Monday, the travel ban has been lifted as Chinas borders have finally reopened. 75% of its pre-Covid levels of tourism are expected to be restored this year after almost three years of closures. Ralph Hamers, Chief Executive at Swiss bank UBS, said:

The ending of the zero-COVID policy is going to have a major positive impact on domestic spending. We believe there is a lot of opportunity for those committed to investing in China.

Further adding to the positive news of China potentially ending its ban on Australian coal imports, the risk-sensitive Aussie could continue its climb on the back of improving global market sentiment.

GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Forecast: Protracted Industrial Action to Keep Sterling Down?

Looking ahead, the Pound Australian Dollar exchange rate could be left to domestic and market sentiment in lieu of economic data. Until talks prove fruitful, the UK is braced for further industrial action, threatening to derail the already shaky economy.

Meanwhile, AUD investors will be keeping a close eye on developments in China. If the reopening remains successful and business can finally start to return to normality, the Aussie could climb on improving sentiment.
People line up at an immigration office on Monday in Beijing, where they can renew their passports and travel outside mainland China. Yonhap



China calls South Korea's COVID test requirements 'discriminatory'



By Jack Lau



Beijing stopped issuing short-term visas for South Korean nationals on Tuesday, just days after South Korea imposed stricter COVID-19 measures on travelers from China.



"The Chinese embassy and consulates in South Korea will suspend the issuance of short-term visas to China for South Korean citizens for visits, business, travel, medical purposes, transit and general private matters," the Chinese embassy in Seoul said Tuesday in a statement on social media platform WeChat.



"The measures above will be adjusted, depending on the cancellation of South Korea's discriminatory entry restrictions on China."



Since Jan. 5, South Korea has required travelers from China to submit COVID test results before and after their flights. Those who tested positive after their flight will be quarantined. The country also limited the number of short-term visas issued to visitors from China and banned additional flights.



The measures will be reviewed at the end of February, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).



South Korea introduced stricter measures as did other countries, including Australia, India, Canada and the United States, imposing fresh entry restrictions on travelers from China following the spike of COVID patients in the country.



The Chinese government has been opaque about its COVID-19 data, making it difficult to assess infection risks travelers from the country might bring.



On Friday, the KDCA said it had strengthened surveillance of cases from China.



China's new foreign minister Qin Gang told his South Korean counterpart in a Monday phone call that he expressed concern over South Korea's entry restrictions.



"I hope that the South Korean side would uphold an objective and scientific attitude," Qin was quoted by the Chinese foreign ministry as saying.



South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said in the call that the measures were imposed based on scientific grounds, according to a readout from the South Korean foreign ministry.



During a regular policy briefing, Lim Soo-suk, a foreign ministry spokesman, said South Korea will strengthen communication with China through diplomatic channels regarding the visa issue.



"South Korea will send its message to China again and work closely with the country (to resolve the problem)," Lim told reporters.



China stopped publishing its daily COVID-19 case tallies in late December. However, reports of a widespread outbreak in the most populous country in the world have stoked fears that new variants of the virus might emerge.



China's zero-COVID policy, which has been in place for nearly three years, ensured that the Chinese population was not as impacted by the more deadly alpha and delta variants. But the stringent measures of citywide lockdowns and mass testing also made sure that the population did not develop herd immunity through infection.





People wearing masks walk outside a crematorium on Jan. 4 in Beijing, China, where cases have ballooned after China ended its long-held zero-COVID policy. EPA- Yonhap
A teacher who fails to give parents and guardians advance notice of human sexuality instruction may be punished if the Montana Office of Public Instruction turns a legislative priority into a signed bill.

As proposed by OPI, educators who dont alert parents within 48 hours of related lessons or events would be subject to a gross neglect of duty penalty.

OPI spokesperson Brian OLeary said Friday the agency that oversees Montana public schools is still seeking a sponsor to carry a bill with such language.

The language OPI drafted would amend legislation from the 2021 session that requires a school to provide parents at least 48 hours notice if they are teaching or otherwise providing information about human sexuality.

Among other changes, OPI requests the addition of a violation section, which identifies administrative penalties for educators as a letter of reprimand, suspension, license revocation, or denial of teaching certificate, required by Montana law.

OLeary said due process would be in place for the teacher; the Montana Board of Public Education would determine the actual disciplinary action through a hearing.

He said the violation section focuses on license discipline and is needed because a penalty mirrors the responsibility in the bill.

Superintendent (Elsie Arntzen) has spoken to many parents and school districts around the state as well as the School Board Association on the implementation of the current language, OLeary said in an email. She also spoke with the sponsor of the bill on the intent of the language. These discussions led the superintendent to pursue amendments to the bill for clarification.

The Montana School Boards Association could not immediately be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

The bill that passed in 2021 defined human sexuality instruction as including a long list of items, such as human sexual anatomy, intimate relationships, gender identity, contraception and other subjects.

The law applies not just to teaching, but to otherwise providing information about human sexuality.

In its draft language, OPI also requests that schools provide parental notice when students, not just educators and administrators, offer human sexuality materials in curriculum or at an event or assembly.

Additionally, the language would require notification no more than 10 days prior to the event or lesson  in addition to the current requirement to notify parents no less than 48 hours in advance.

Superintendent Micah Hill of Kalispell Public Schools said an opt-out policy has always been in place for sex education in middle school and high school. (He said elementary schools arent affected in a significant way.)

In 2021, SB 99 flew under the radar a bit. He said it wasnt enacted right away, and schools didnt recognize the impact it would have at the classroom level at first.

But since it took effect, he said schools are in touch with parents more frequently.

Were communicating more regularly whats going on within our classrooms, which isnt necessarily a bad thing, Hill said.

However, he said the legislation is based on a manufactured crisis in education that isnt applicable in Montana, and as such, its a little bit of an overreach on the part of the legislature.

Unless its challenged, he said the law might be something schools live with. He said administrators such as himself arent heavily affected, but the legislation has shifted a burden onto teachers.

For example, he said an English teacher presenting Romeo and Juliet now wants to know if the lesson requires advanced notice: There is a love scene in the play. Does that constitute sex education?

And he said government instructors will teach mock Congress and request students present draft bills. Since abortion is in the news, he said, a student may want to present a mock bill to restrict abortion in Montana: Where does that put the teacher?

He said OPI hasnt given specific guidance, and lawyers have tried to do so on a case by case basis: Were just left to figure it out on our own.

He said the attorneys interest is to uphold the intent of the law and reduce liability for the district, and it hasnt been a huge issue in Kalispell.

(But) theres a nuisance factor to it, Hill said.

OLeary said draft language has been sent to legislators. OPIs changes do not seek to more narrowly tailor cases in which schools must give parental notification.

OPI trusts our local control with school districts following and implementing the Montana state teaching and learning standards set forth by the Board of Public Education, OLeary said.

He also noted OPI itself is affected and complying: OPI is also following the law in SB 99 by offering parents transparency in the questions and an opt-out option for the Youth Risk Behavior Survey due to some questions focusing on human sexuality.

The survey assists educators and health professionals in determining the prevalence of health-risk behaviors as self-reported by Montana youth and was initiated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1988, according to OPI. It aims to identify the leading causes of mortality, morbidity, and social problems among youth.
Fairfield, MT (59436)

Today

Cloudy with snow. Low 29F. E winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 90%. 1 to 3 inches of snow expected..

Tonight

Cloudy with snow. Low 29F. E winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 90%. 1 to 3 inches of snow expected.
The University of Montana law school announced dean finalists after an initial failed search last school year. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)

Three internal and one external candidate are finalists for dean of the law school at the University of Montana.

The three internal finalists are:

Lucy France, longtime UM legal counsel,

Interim Dean Elaine Gagliardi, and

Kari Hong, whose resume notes she is an adjunct professor at UM for spring 2023.

Hong also worked at Boston College Law School from 2012 to 2021, most recently as an associate professor with tenure, according to her resume.

The fourth finalist is Eric Christiansen, former interim dean of Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco, according to his resume.

His resume notes he first worked there as a professor of law in 2009 and has held other leadership positions including associate dean for international programs and partnerships.

UM will hold forums with the four finalists for dean of the Alexander Blewett III School of Law in the next three weeks, and it provided a schedule and links to their resumes (see below).

Lucy France

Frances resume notes she has served as general legal counsel for UM since 2013 and is part of the campus senior leadership team. Previously, she held the position of director of Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action at UM, according to her resume.

She has a law degree from UM and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley.

France is identified in a lawsuit alleging gender discrimination by UM.

UM has denied the claims.

In 2021, female plaintiffs including three former executives and one current faculty member sued UM in a possible class action case.

The lawsuit names only John Doe 1-50 as individual defendants.

However, in its narrative, it mentions France as a UM leader who it alleges failed to keep the campus safe and retaliated against former Dean of Students Rhondie Voorhees, a plaintiff in the case.

Ms. France made decisions, took actions, and guided and/or advised senior administrators, including the President towards decisions that put the safety of the campus, students, and community members, especially women, at risk, the lawsuit said, citing examples.

France declined comment Monday via email. UM has said it is committed to providing an environment free of discrimination and believes the claims are baseless and without merit.

Prior to working at UM, Frances resume said she worked at Missoula law firm Garlington, Lohn and Robinson from 1995 through 2008, the last five years as a partner.

She worked as an adjunct instructor at the law school in fall 2013 and served as a clinic supervisor there from 2013 to the present, according to her resume.

She has served as a board member and a finance and audit committee member for the National Association of College and University Attorneys. Her presentations include Leveling the Playing Field: Sex, Race, LGBTQA+ and Pay Equity.

Her resume also notes she was the 2019 recipient of the J.B. Speer Award for Distinguished Administrative Service at UM.

Elaine Gagliardi

Gagliardi first worked at UM in 1995 as a visiting assistant professor, according to her resume. She previously worked in private practice.

Prior to stepping in as interim dean, Gagliardi served as associate dean from 2007 to 2010 and as associate dean of students from 2014 to 2017.

She teaches courses including business transactions and estate planning, and she is a co-author of numerous articles, books and book chapters, such as How to Save Time and Taxes Handling Estates.

Gagliardi earned the George M. Dennison Presidential Faculty Award in 2017 and was also honored with the Harry J. Rudick Memorial Award for Distinction in the Graduate Tax Program, her resume said.

Her resume lists other awards shes received for scholarship, service and professionalism at the law school, along with other administrative positions held at UM and seminar presentations given.

In addition to a law degree from UM, Gagliardi has a degree in economics from Yale University and a Master of Laws in taxation from New York University.

Kari Hong

Hong, whose resume said she has a degree from Columbia Law School, has worked in private practice and spent some time teaching. As an adjunct at University of San Francisco Law School, she developed and taught a course called Marriage Law, in which the historical foundations of marriage equality were examined, her resume said.

At Boston College, she taught criminal law and immigration, among other subjects, and she founded the Ninth Circuit Appellate Program clinic, her resume said. She said the National Jurist/PreLaw Magazine named that clinic one of the nations most innovative clinical programs.

She lists significant litigated cases in her resume, including a 2021 immigration case, Cheneau vs. Garland, at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The case reversed precedent and joined the Second Circuit in holding that a child of a U.S. citizen derives citizenship when, before age 18, they form an objective intent to remain in the United States, her resume said.

Her legal analysis and commentary have appeared in CNN, USA Today and the Washington Post, among other publications, her resume said.

Eric Christiansen

Christiansens resume said he led the $24 million quasi-autonomous law school at Golden Gate University for 15 months and oversaw a $2 million budget restructuring.

He also served as founding institute director for Golden Gate Universitys Comparative Law Institute, where he oversaw the international visiting scholars program. His resume said he is a recognized international scholar.

In 2016 and 2017, Christiansen was a Senior Fulbright Research and Teaching Scholar in Spain for the U.S. Department of State, his resume said.

Hes served as a peer reviewer for the South African Journal of Human Rights and the Harvard Law Journal in Islamic Law.

His nonprofit executive experience includes work with the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, AIDS Emergency Fund, NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, and Food Bank Client Services.

He has a law degree from New York University School of Law, Master of Arts in divinity from the University of Chicago, and Bachelor of Arts in theology from University of Notre Dame.

UM searches for dean

Last school year, a search for dean of the UM law school failed. UM brought candidates to campus for interviews but did not seal the deal with any finalists.

UM launched the search after Paul Kirgis stepped down as dean in fall 2021. His resignation as dean followed allegations he and Sally Weaver, former associate dean of students, discouraged students from taking reports of sexual harassment and assault to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX, which handles sexual misconduct on campus.

The dean and associate dean denied the allegations.

Weaver also stepped down as associate dean, and her contract expired last May.

Interview schedule From UM: The Office of the Provost has announced four finalists  (and) the next step in the process is on-campus visits with the candidates on January 17, January 25, January 30, and February 1. The Office of the Provost will host an open community forum with each candidate on those dates from 12-1 p.m. at the Law Building in Room 101 and on Zoom. The list of candidates and Zoom links are below. More information about the process is available here. Kari Hong Open Forum: 12-1 p.m. Tuesday, January 17 , Law School building, room 101 Zoom link: https://umontana.zoom.us/j/95970183078?pwd=NHRwek9uaVR0aVgxakIrZmtCS0luUT09 Passcode: 875973

Eric Christiansen Open Forum: Open Forum: 12-1 p.m. Wednesday, January 25 , Law School building, room 101 Zoom link: https://umontana.zoom.us/j/95412652825?pwd=eDdGTGErSThxeXVMcDNYeHBQczBZUT09 Passcode: 257544

Elaine Gagliardi Open Forum: Open Forum: 12-1 p.m. Monday, January 30 , Law School building, room 101 Zoom link: https://umontana.zoom.us/j/99534153293?pwd=ajZ6Q1JjbHBEQjhpMDVVME1ja3JQUT09 Passcode: 358732

Lucy France Open Forum: Open Forum: 12-1 p.m. Wednesday, February 1 , Law School building, room 101 Zoom link: https://umontana.zoom.us/j/96194317692?pwd=ZnZVVEUwK0tFaDB0NzJJbFd0dVRQZz09 Passcode: 987128



The post University of Montana names law school dean finalists, internal candidates appeared first on Daily Montanan.
A Las Vegas man is the latest person to plead guilty in a Montana prostitution case involving a 16-year-old girl that stretched across three states and involves federal charges.

Cecil Jerome Hatchett, 32, pleaded guilty Jan. 6 in federal court in Billings to transporting the girl with intent to engage in prostitution.

He could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,00 fine. A plea deal between the U.S. Attorneys Office and defense attorneys recommend a five-year prison term. Hatchett will be sentenced May 4.

According to prosecutors, police responded to possible prostitution activity at the Quality Inn in Billings.

The investigation resulted in charges against 29-year-old Ashley Stella, who drove the girl from Nevada to Montana, and Mark Jay Albrecht, 65 of Gillette, Wyoming, who pleaded to guilty to a federal prostitution charge earlier this month.

Stella was sentenced to eight years in prison last year and is serving time at federal detention center in Seattle, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Stella, of Reno, Nevada, was sentenced to eight years in prison for conviction of transportation of a minor to engage in prostitution. Albrecht, of Gillette, Wyoming, pleaded guilty on Jan. 4 to prostitution near military and navy establishments, a misdemeanor. He will also be sentenced in federal court in May. A plea deal in that case calls for the Wyoming man to get six months in prison, according to the U.S Attorney for Montanas office.

The Quality Inn in Billings is near an armed forces recruitment center which allowed for some of the federal charges.

Police said a rental car driven by Stella and the girl from Reno, Nevada to Montana was in Hacketts name, according to prosecutors.
Farmers could spend as much as 628m extra on nitrogen and phosphate fertilisers made using gas during 2023, according to new analysis.

Although gas prices have fallen slightly, they remain high and so do the prices of fertilisers which require a lot of energy to make or even use gas as an ingredient.

Previous Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) analysis found that farmers paid an extra 760m for fertiliser over the course of 2021 and 2022 due to high gas prices.

According to new analysis published today, the ECIU suggests farmers could be paying an extra 1.1 billion for fertilisers from 2021-2024 due to these high prices.

The latest fertiliser price data shows that farmers are entering 2023 continuing to face extremely high prices for high-carbon fertilisers made using gas.

Global fertiliser prices peaked in March-May 2022 around the time of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, then fell back over the summer.

But in late 2022-early 2023 they have shown little response so far to falling gas prices.

Responding to the new analysis, Matt Williams, land use analyst at ECIU, said farmers were staring down the barrel of another tough year.

"The price of fertilisers made from gas remains at historic highs meaning Britains farmers could pay hundreds of millions of pounds extra this year compared to more normal prices.

Government agencies are already warning of a repeat of last years summer drought. Helping farm businesses survive and protecting the UKs food security will mean supporting farmers.

"Boosting access to low-carbon alternative fertilisers, and rewarding them for restoring trees and hedges that can absorb carbon and hold water will help reduce drought impacts."

Last summer, the NFU said growers had no confidence in purchasing inputs due to a "complete lack of transparency" in the fertiliser market.

The union urged the government and industry to build more transparency in the market to drive resilience and bolster UK food security.

To achieve greater transparency, suppliers must publish fertiliser prices 'immediately' to help farm businesses plan for next years crop.
Hartpury College in Gloucestershire remains a top choice for agriculture education as student numbers rise again, figures show.

Hartpury College is hailing a bumper crop of agriculture student enrolments, with enrolments up by over 17% on the previous year.

Over 400 students there are studying agriculture, land-based technology or countryside management through a diploma or apprenticeship in the subject area.

In addition to an increase in overall student numbers, the department has also seen an increase in female agriculture students.

Claire Whitworth, deputy principal at Hartpury, said the college was 'thrilled' to see more students opting for a career in the agricultural sector.

Its great to see an increasing number of students from a non-farming background pursuing a career in agriculture, as well as seeing more female students taking advantage of the growing opportunities that now exist.

Weve invested heavily in our agri-tech facilities during recent years. These facilities, combined with high-quality teaching and close co-operation with business, make us a beacon for agriculture education.

Hartpurys 360-hectare estate is home to a commercial farm that supplies big industry names, such as Muller, as well as a 2 million agricultural technology centre.

The further education college also includes 400 hectares of arable land across five sites, designed to help students build a technical skillset.

It comes after agricultural educator Janet Swadling, who heads the skills body the Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH), was awarded an OBE in the Kings New Year Honours list 2023 for services to farming and education.

The chair of Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) was also honoured for services to Scottish farming and business.
This image provided by the Seoul city government shows Seoul Partners House, a three-story building in Seoul's Yongsan District. Yonhap



Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon plans to move into an official residence located just a few hundred meters away from the residence of President Yoon Suk Yeol, officials said Tuesday.



In late March Oh will move into the top floor of Seoul Partners House, a three-story building in Hannam-dong owned by the Seoul city government, following a remodeling process, city officials said.



Since taking office in April of 2021, Oh has been commuting from his private home in eastern Seoul.



Oh's official residence is about 300 meters away from Yoon's official residence.



City officials said the relocation plan is aimed at enabling the mayor to promptly respond to emergency situations, such as the deadly crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood last year. (Yonhap)


Moroccos apparel exports to Europe have registered a robust growth during the first ten months of 2022. The shipment was higher than the export of 2021 and preceding years. Due to its proximity, Europe is a major market for Moroccos apparel exports. Trade activities between Morocco and Europe have shown impressive growth and have tripled in last decade.

Moroccos apparel exports to Europe stood at $3.265 billion in the first ten months of 2022. It had exported the products worth $2.460 billion in 2021, according to Fibre2Fashions market insight tool TexPro. The shipment increased to $3.269 billion in 2018 from $3.047 billion of 2017. But it slipped to $3.110 billion in 2019. The shipment further slowed down in the COVID year of 2020, when it was recorded at $2.985 billion. The export further slipped to $2.460 billion in 2021. But the outbound shipment recorded robust growth in 2022.

On a quarterly basis, the shipment peaked in Q2 2022 when it reached $974.068 million against $873.408 million in Q1 2022 and $810.604 million in Q2 2021. Morocco has exported garments worth $300.526 million in October 2022.

Morocco's apparel exports to Europe have registered a robust growth during the first ten months of 2022. The shipment was higher than the export of 2021 and preceding years. Due to its proximity, Europe is a major market for Morocco's apparel exports. Trade activities between Morocco and Europe have shown impressive growth and have tripled in last decade.

As per TexPro, Morocco exports most of its apparel production to Europe. It is the sole market for Morocco with more than 98 per cent share. In 2021, the country had exported 98.06 per cent of its total apparel shipment of $3.329 billion to Europe.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
stood at $5,040.5 million during January-November 2022, which grew by 12.8 per cent over the exports of $4,466.7 million in the same period of the previous year, as per statistics released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Its garment exports dropped by 8.3 per cent in November 2022 due to the slowdown in the world economy.

During the first 11 months of 2022, textile exports from the island nation increased by 2.3 per cent year-on-year to $323.9 million. However, exports of other made-up textile articles stood at $106.1 million during the same period, registering a negative growth of 10.6 per cent, according to the central banks report titled External Sector Performance.

Textiles, garment, and other made-up textile articles exports together accounted for 56.91 per cent of all industrial exports from Sri Lanka during the period under review, the report showed. The exports of all textile products totalled $5,470.5 million in January-November 2022, which was 11.6 per cent higher than the shipment during the same period last year.

Sri Lanka's garment exports stood at $5,040.5 million during January-November 2022, which grew by 12.8 per cent over the exports of $4,466.7 million in the same period of the previous year, as per statistics released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Its garment exports dropped by 8.3 per cent in November 2022 due to the slowdown in the world economy.

In October 2022, garment and textile exports from the South Asian nation declined by 9.7 per cent year-on-year to reach at $449.8 million. Category-wise, garment exports decreased by 8.3 per cent to $417.8 million, while textile exports fell 21.3 per cent to $24.5 million. The exports of other made-up textile articles were down by 35 per cent to $7.5 million.

On the other hand, imports of textiles and textile articles rose by 3.4 per cent to $2,864.3 million, while clothing and accessories imports were up by 1.4 per cent to $200.8 million during January- November 2022.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
Bangladesh will attract more UK investment if business-related complexities are done away with, British prime minister's trade envoy to Bangladesh Rushanara Ali recently told commerce minister Tipu Munshi in Dhaka. If bilateral trade rises, there will be scope for cargo vessel operations, she said. Munshi sought UK investment in special economic zones and hi-tech parks.

Made in Bangladesh is a popular brand in the United Kingdom and many British businesses are interested to invest in Bangladesh, especially in the education and services sectors, Ali said.

Investment procedures have been simplified in Bangladesh while the country has been offering a gamut of facilities to attract foreign investment, Munshi was quoted as saying by Bangladeshi media reports.

Bangladesh will attract more UK investment if business-related complexities are done away with, British prime minister's trade envoy to Bangladesh Rushanara Ali has told commerce minister Tipu Munshi. If bilateral trade rises, there will be scope for cargo vessel operations, she said. Munshi sought UK investment in special economic zones and hi-tech parks.

There is huge scope for British investment in the country's energy, railway, telecommunications, information technology, pharmaceuticals, light engineering, services, education and readymade garment sectors, the minister added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 9, 2023 / Sappi Limited has partnered with EcoVadis, a global leader in third-party evaluations of business sustainability performance, to benchmark and assess the sustainability practices of Sappi's suppliers and encourage their commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

"Sappi's purpose is to build a thriving world by unlocking the power of renewable resources to benefit people, communities, and the planet," says Tracy Wessels, General Manager, Group Head of Sustainability, Sappi Limited.

"By working together in partnership with EcoVadis and our valued suppliers, we can better identify risk, assess social and environmental performance, and encourage commitment to sustainable choices and the Sustainable Development Goals throughout our value chain," Tracy says. "This partnership reinforces the expectations we set out in our supplier code of conduct and provides a platform to build transparency and collaborate."

The EcoVadis methodology focuses on 21 sustainability criteria that are grouped into four categories: environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. These criteria align with international sustainability standards.

EcoVadis's actionable sustainability scorecards provide detailed insight into environmental, social, and ethical risks across 200 purchasing categories and 160 countries. More than 75,000 businesses are on the EcoVadis network, all working with a single methodology to evaluate, collaborate, and improve sustainability performance to protect their brands, foster transparency, innovate, and accelerate growth.

"We are extremely pleased to work with Sappi, a multinational company demonstrating their leadership and expanding their sustainability commitments by engaging their value chain in the sustainability performance improvement journey," says Emily Rakowski, CMO of EcoVadis. "Having undergone the rating process themselves in all three of their regional entities and achieving Platinum-level performance, Sappi is setting a great example for their suppliers to follow."

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Sappi North America on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Sappi North America

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/sappi-north-america

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Sappi North America

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734595/Sappi-Partners-With-EcoVadis-to-Assess-Suppliers-Sustainability-Performance
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - January 9, 2023) - TriSummit Utilities Inc. ("TSU") announced that it has agreed to issue $200 million of senior unsecured medium-term notes (the "Offering"). The notes carry a coupon rate of 5.02% and mature on January 11, 2030.

The Offering is expected to close on or about January 11, 2023. The net proceeds resulting from the Offering will be used (i) as to approximately $135 million, to partially finance the acquisition by a subsidiary of TSU of ENSTAR Natural Gas Company, the Alaska Pipeline Company, the Norstar Pipeline Company, Inc. and a 65 percent indirect interest in Cook Inlet Natural Gas Storage Alaska, LLC from SEMCO Energy, Inc., a subsidiary of AltaGas Ltd., which remains subject to certain customary closing conditions; and (ii) as to the remainder, to repay amounts outstanding under TSU's Canadian syndicated revolving credit facility and associated operating credit facility, which amounts were incurred in the normal course of business to fund the working capital requirements of TSU.

The Offering is being made through a syndicate of investment dealers co-led by CIBC Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets and Wells Fargo Securities Canada, Ltd. under TSU's Short Form Base Shelf Prospectus dated January 4, 2023 and Prospectus Supplement dated January 6, 2023.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release. This press release is not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States (including its territories and possessions, any state of the United States and the District of Columbia) or any other jurisdiction outside Canada. This press release does not constitute or form a part of any offer to buy or sell any securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction outside of Canada. The securities of TSU have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws. Accordingly, these securities may not be offered or sold within the United States or to a U.S. person unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or except pursuant to exemptions from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. There will be no public offering of securities in the United States.

About TriSummit Utilities

TSU is a Canadian company with natural gas distribution utilities and renewable power generation assets. TSU serves approximately 133,000 customers across Canada, delivering low carbon energy, safely and reliably.

For more information visit: www.trisummit.ca.

For Further Information Contact:

TriSummit Utilities Inc.

communications@trisummit.ca

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This press release contains forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "seek", "propose", "estimate", "expect", and similar expressions, as they relate to TSU or an affiliate of TSU, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to, among other things, the Offering, the closing of the Offering and the use of proceeds from the Offering. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect TSU's current views with respect to future events based on certain material factors and assumptions and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, changes in market, competition, governmental or regulatory developments, general economic conditions and other factors set out in TSU's public disclosure documents. Many factors could cause TSU's actual results, performance or achievements to vary from those described in this press release, including without limitation those listed above. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this press release as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, sought, proposed, estimated or expected, and such forward-looking statements included in, or incorporated by reference in this press release, should not be unduly relied upon. Such statements speak only as of the date of this press release. TSU does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

All dollar amounts are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.



NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150783


Sumit Dayal

SINGAPORE, Jan 10, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - Avendus, one of India's leading institutional financial services companies, announced the appointment of Sumit Dayal as Independent Non-Executive Director in Singapore today. He will provide guidance and corporate governance oversight as a Board member to Avendus Capital Pte. Limited (Singapore).A seasoned banker with over 30 years of corporate and investment banking experience, spent 16 years as Managing Director and headed various business units of Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore and Hong Kong. He also spent over 13 years in multiple roles in Bank of America across client risk and client coverage based in India, Singapore, and Hong Kong in the past.Commenting on the appointment, Gaurav Deepak, Co-founder and CEO, Avendus Capital said, "We are delighted that Sumit has decided to join Avendus Singapore. We're confident that his exceptional experience and advisory will be of immense value to the franchise as we focus on making Singapore a strong base to grow our institutional franchise in Investment Banking, Institutional Equities and Wealth Management."Sumit Dayal, Independent Non-Executive Director, Avendus Capital Pte. Limited said, "I am delighted to join Avendus. It's an institution that has been built on very strong fundamentals and one that I have admired immensely. I am looking forward to working with the firm to further deepen its linkages in the APAC region."About AvendusAvendus Group is a leading financial services firm with presence in the areas of Investment Banking, Wealth Management, Credit Solutions and Asset Management. Established in 1999 in Mumbai, India, Avendus is today present in 10 cities across India, US, UK and Singapore. Avendus partners with the Indian entrepreneur ecosystem to provide differentiated solutions that enable clients to meet their strategic aspirations.Avendus Capital, the investment banking arm, is consistently ranked among the top investment banks in the country on the back of its in-depth domain understanding and a best in the class track record of domestic and cross-border transactions. Avendus' wide range of clients is testimony to its ability to serve its corporates throughout their life cycle -- from growth stage funding to large-sized transactions and M&A advisory.Avendus Capital Inc located in New York is an Avendus Group entity offering M&A and Private Equity syndication services to clients in the US.Avendus Capital Pte Limited located in Singapore is an Avendus Group entity undertaking Fund Management business in Singapore.For more information, please visit www.avendus.com.Source: AvendusCopyright 2023 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Passengers wait in line to board a plane to China at the Incheon International Airport, Tuesday. AP-Yonhap



China's abrupt suspension of short-term visa services for Koreans has dashed long-term recovery hopes for the country's travel industry, industry insiders said Tuesday, amid likely cancellations of trips to the neighboring country due to the measure.



The Chinese Embassy in Seoul made public the decision in a post on its WeChat account earlier in the day, citing an "instruction" from Beijing for its embassy and consulates to stop issuing visas, including visits for trade, tourism and medical care purposes.



The decision was made in protest of Korea's new coronavirus entry restrictions imposed on Chinese travelers from last week.



Local travel agencies have expressed concern over Beijing's tit-for-tat travel measure, saying it could lead to postponements of travel services to China.



"While the measures will have a limited effect in the short term, they could have a negative long-term impact on the industry if tensions between China and Korea continue to escalate," said Cho Il-sang, a spokesperson for Hana Tour Service Inc., one of the largest tour agencies in Korea.



According to Cho, airliners have been planning to add more flights to China around late March, expecting tourism demand to China rebound by then. "Today's measures are likely to postpone the industry's plans to revive tourism to China this year," he said.





Passengers arriving from China enters a COVID-19 testing center at the Incheon International Airport, Tuesday. AP-Yonhap


ACN Newswire is a media partner of Exito's 16th Edition of Cyber Security Summit to be held in Kenya on 10th February 2023.

Nairobi, Jan 10, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - After successful 15 editions of Cyber Security Summit, Exito is all set to host another milestone event- which serves as an ideal platform to enhance insights of Kenya's Cyber Security Models for Tomorow. The Cybersecurity Summit is an invitation-only in-person event exclusively for cybersecurity leaders from leading businesses, institutions and government establishments in Kenya. The Summit, which is in alignment with Kenya's Vision 2030, will discuss challenges, policies and strategies towards building a cyber resilient Kenya. The Summit will also highlight the various tech-disruptions for overcoming new risks inherent in digital businesses, and incorporating a culture of information security in all institutions and organizations.At the Cyber Security Summit Kenya, you will hear Cyber Security thought leaders talk about the action plans, strategies and best ways to build next-gen digital cyber vault and cyber crime resilient Kenya. You will also have panel discussions, fireside chats, Industry keynotes, solution showcases and interactive workshops to discuss how to build a stronger and secured cyber infrastructure in Africa.The summit will feature leading over 150+ CISO's, CIO's, Heads of Digital Transformation, IT Infrastructure, Cyber security, Information and Communication Technologies and other experts in this domain, this platform will equip you with the essential tools to risk-proof your businesses.Speakers like Faith Katua, Advocacy Director, ISACA Kenya Chapter, Fredrick Endeki, Head of ICT, KMTC Machakos Campus, Ministry of Health, Republic of Kenya, Faith Nyaga, Senior ICT Officer, Water Resources Authority, Republic Of Kenya, David Kitonga, Head Information Security, Jamii Telecommunication Ltd, Amit Saxena, CIO, Ramco Plexus Ltd, Hartnell Ndungi, Chief Data Officer, Absa Bank Kenya PLC, Anastasia Chege, Head Of Technology Risk And Security, Kenya Airways, Makale Benson, Head Of ICT Service Operations, I&M Bank Kenya among many others will be sharing their experiences and expertise at the summit.Event registration has commenced for Delegates and Sponsors.- The delegates will be exposed to in-depth, trend-forward sessions & workshops - practical takeaways and ideas to keep you ahead in the digital economy.- The sponsors will be able to create an overwhelming branding in the event along with meeting their prospects and displaying the products.- Hundreds of seasoned marketers, strategists, designers, and more to network and connect with. Meet your customers, vendors, expert resources, friends and colleagues on the 10th of February.Register now to engage at this grand event as the slots are filling up fast.To know more about the event, www.cybersecuritysummit/kenyaAbout Exito:We are a global B2B business events company focused on crafting bespoke solutions and contexts by designing platforms that create new business opportunities for our clients across concepts and industries.We cherish the trust over the last 12 years garnered from our partnering organizations globally, and with a growing team of young, vibrant, and creative individuals, Exito aims at success and perfection!Source: ExitoCopyright 2023 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
LYSAKER, NORWAY / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / TECO 2030 (OSE:TECO)(OTCQX:TECFF) ISIN: NO0010887516) has completed selection of all major component suppliers and procured necessary parts for the first fuel cell modules (FCM400). This means the FCM400 development is close to completion and the first units are ready for assembly.

Picture text: TECO 2030's Fuel Cell Module 400 (FCM400) is the building block of TECO 2030 Fuel Cell System, which is purposely developed for heavy-duty marine applications.

The layout release entails a freeze of all functional components to allow for further resimulation and fine detail solutions to be executed. The first FCM400 will be assembled at AVL's facility in Graz, Austria during Q2, before its scheduled operation in the advanced testbed for complete simulation. The fuel cell development project now shifts from design engineering to the build and validation phase. The FCM400 will complete advanced testbed operations during Q3 2023.

The FCM400 is the building block in TECO 2030's Fuel Cell Power System and is a key driver towards achieving zero emissions while operating marine and heavy-duty applications. The system is designed for an electrical capacity of 400kW.

"The milestone proves maturity of the product details and is a step towards reaching our final product design. In other words, a clear indication of development progressions as we move into a new step in the development project timeline, according to our schedule" says Tore Enger, Group CEO, TECO 2030. "Zero emission fuel cell power sources for heavy duty and marine applications are very soon ready for market introduction, and we are ready to provide clients with fuel cells performing like never seen before. The FCM400 will undoubtedly become a propulsion game-changer in the marine industry," Enger concludes.

Contact:

TECO 2030: Tore Enger, Group CEO of TECO 2030, +47 920 83 800, tore.enger@teco2030.no

About TECO 2030:

Europe's first Giga production facility of hydrogen PEM fuel cell stacks and modules in Narvik, Norway. The production capacity will be built up through 2023 and early 2024, targeting an output capacity of 120 MW of fuel cells in 2024, 400 MW in 2025 and 1.6 GW in 2030.

TECO 2030 is a Norwegian based clean tech company developing zero-emission technology for the maritime and heavy industry. We are developing PEM hydrogen fuel cell stacks and PEM hydrogen fuel cell modules, that enable ships and other heavy-duty applications to become emissions-free. The company is listed on Euronext Growth on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker TECO and in New York, OTCQX under the ticker TECFF. TECO2030 is a spinoff from TECO Maritime Group, a group that has provided technology and services to the global shipping industry since 1994. For more information, please visit www.teco2030.no.

SOURCE: TECO 2030 ASA

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734566/TECO-2030-Completes-First-FCM400s-Component-Procurement
Regulatory News:

MotorK Plc (AMS: MTRK) ("MotorK" or the "Group") announces today that it has purchased the following number of ordinary shares in the Company.

This is part of a repurchase program announced on July 18, 2022. MotorK intends to buy back its own ordinary shares by way of off-market purchases on Euronext Amsterdam and via block trades up to a maximum aggregate value of 3,000,000 (the "Programme"). The authorization will expire following the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held in 2023.

Aggregate Information

Date Transactions Number of Ordinary Shares Total Consideration () Average price

( per share) Minimum price

( per share) Maximum price

( per share) 02/01/2023 Purchase 3,122 3,684 1.18 1.18 1.18 03/01/2023 Purchase 0 0 0.00 04/01/2023 Purchase 3,855 4,626 1.2000 1.20 1.20 05/01/2023 Purchase 3,765 4,490 1.1927 1.19 1.20 06/01/2023 Purchase 3,374 3,996 1.1844 1.18 1.19 Total Weekly 14,116 16,797 1.19 1.18 1.20 Cumulated to date 469,717 726,422

The Programme is implemented within the limitations of the authority granted by the General Meeting on July 18, 2022. Any shares so repurchased shall be treated as cancelled pursuant to section 706(b) of the Companies Act 2006.

The Group has entered into non-discretionary instructions with Kepler Cheuvreux SA ("Kepler Cheuvreux") to conduct the Programme on its behalf and to make trading decisions under the Programme independently of MotorK.

REGULATED INFORMATION

This press release contains information that qualifies or may qualify as inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014/EU)

ABOUT MOTORK PLC

MotorK (AMS: MTRK) is a leading software as a service ("SaaS") provider for the automotive retail industry in the EMEA region, with over 400 employees and eleven offices in eight countries (Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Portugal, the UK, Belgium and Israel). MotorK empowers car manufacturers and dealers to improve their customer experience through a broad suite of fully integrated digital products and services. MotorK provides its customers with an innovative combination of digital solutions, SaaS cloud products and the largest R&D department in the automotive digital sales and marketing industry in Europe. MotorK is a company registered in England and Wales. Registered office: 5th Floor One New Change, London, England, EC4M 9AF Company Registration: 9259000. For more information: www.motork.io or www.investors.motork.io.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005413/en/

Contacts:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Etienne Jacquet

etienne.jacquet@motork.io

+33 6 22 18 39 09

MotorK Investor Relations

MotorK Corporate Communications

press@motork.io
Senior management is strengthened with three strategic appointments

Additional recruitment will support industrial growth and the R&D strategy for bio-based, low-carbon solutions

Regulatory News:

AFYREN(Paris:ALAFY), a greentech company that offers manufacturers low-carbon, bio-based products through its unique fermentation technology based on a completely circular model, announced the appointment of three new members to its management team as well as new hires to support its development in France and abroad and to step up its R&D activities.

Three strategic appointments

Ursula Feulner Director for Industrial Project Management

Ursula joins AFYREN's operations team and will lead the upstream phases of industrial projects, including the construction of new plants. AFYREN benefits from her long experience with the SUEZ Group, where she had various roles closely related to the management of industrial projects in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia, and worked in risk management for a number of strategic projects.

Lea Bassegoda Human Resources Director

Lea joins AFYREN to supervise the expansion of its teams. After several years in France and the United States with LVMH and then Danone, she will use her skills and solid experience to build a global Human Resources policy within the group and to structure the organization in line with the company's culture and strong values.

Christophe Dardel Strategic Partnerships Director

Christophe has come onboard to identify and lay the groundwork for future international factory projects and related strategic partnerships. He has long and solid international experience acquired at several companies, and in particular with Royal DSM for more than 15 years. As a former member of the Executive Committee, Christophe was in charge of the development of the DSM Dyneema unit, which experienced strong organic growth through the establishment of several factories and key partnerships around the world.

An active recruitment policy in support of industrial expansion and a reinforced R&D strategy

In 2022, more than 10 new employees, with complementary profiles and skills, joined AFYREN to support the company's industrial development in France and abroad.

The new hires, notably for the R&D team, reflect AFYREN's desire to continuously develop and optimize the best sustainable solutions for its customers and partners.

New employees are also being recruited in engineering and project management to support the existing operational teams and to prepare for AFYREN's international expansion, including the design of future plants. Employees are also being added to the regulatory, administrative and financial teams to ensure compliance and the operational quality of AFYREN's products and processes.

The AFYREN group now has more than 100 employees, 60 of whom work at the AFYREN NEOXY factory in Carling Saint-Avold in the Grand Est region of France, with nearly 45 at the Lyon and Clermont-Ferrand sites, half of whom are entirely dedicated to Research Development activities.

About AFYREN

Founded in 2012 to respond to industry's growing need to reduce the use of petroleum derivatives as ingredients, AFYREN produces biomolecules from the reuse of non-food biomass. AFYREN's production replicates the properties of equivalent petroleum-based molecules that are widely used in human and animal nutrition, cosmetics, flavors and fragrances and fine chemicals. By offering natural alternatives to these strategic markets, AFYREN is engaged in a low-carbon economy and proposes a truly circular approach, with the use of local biomass and the choice of strategic locations as close as possible to its customers. Resulting from 10 years of research, AFYREN's disruptive innovation won the 2030 Global Innovation Contest in the "Plant proteins and plant chemistry" category and was selected in the French Tech 120 in 2020 and 2021. In 2018, AFYREN committed to its industrial project by creating the AFYREN NEOXY joint venture with Bpifrance's SPI fund. AFYREN NEOXY is dedicated to the first industrial production of AFYREN natural organic acids in the Grand Est region. In 2022, the AFYREN NEOXY factory opened its doors in 2022. AFYREN and AFYREN NEOXY now employ nearly 100 people at their sites in Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand and Carling Saint-Avold.

In 2021, AFYREN listed on Euronext Growth exchange in Paris, raising a total amount of 70.4 million euros with the objective of accelerating its industrial development (ISIN code: FR0014005AC9, ticker: ALAFY).

Find out more on AFYREN.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005667/en/

Contacts:

AFYREN

Communication

Caroline Petigny

contact@afyren.com

Investor Relations

Mark Reinhard

investisseurs@afyren.com

NewCap

Investor Relations

Theo Martin Mathilde Bohin

Tel: +33 1 44 71 94 94

afyren@newcap.eu

Bogert-Magnier Communications Press relations

James Connell

Tel: +33 6 2152 1755

jim@bogert-magnier.com
This Announcement contains inside information as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this Announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Thor Explorations Ltd. (TSXV: THX) (AIM: THX) ("Thor Explorations" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an operational update for the Segilola Gold mine, located in Nigeria ("Segilola"), and for the Company's mineral exploration properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso for the three months to December 31, 2022 (the "Quarter" or "Q4") as well as full year operational highlights ("FY 2022").

Segilola 2022 Operational Highlights

Gold production at the top end of the FY 2022 guidance range of 90,000 to 100,000oz of gold: 26,331 ounces ("oz") during the Quarter at an average grade of 3.51 grammes per tonne ("g/t") of gold ("Au") 98,006 oz for FY 2022 - the Company's first full calendar year of production

Senior debt reduced to $28.4 million as at 31 December 2022

Acquisition of additional exploration tenure, expanding Nigeria portfolio to 1,542 square kilometers ("km 2 ")

") Planning for fast-track drilling programs on near mine and regional targets finalized to commence in January 2023

Underground drilling program commenced

Douta Exploration Highlights

A successful 26,000 metre of reverse circulation ("RC") drilling program was completed to upgrade certain areas of the existing resource and to target higher grade parts of the deposit

Wide zones of near surface, high grade oxide mineralisation identified

New discovery of the Sambara Prospect

FY 2023 outlook and catalysts

FY 2023 production guidance range set at 85,000 to 95,000 oz of gold weighted towards the second half of the year. This is an increase versus the 76,900 oz of production expected for 2023 in the mine plan included in the 2021 Competent Person's Report ("CPR")

H1 2023 drilling programs: Resumption of drilling at Segilola aimed at increasing resources for potential future transition to underground operation Step-out drilling at Douta project in Senegal, aimed at further increasing existing resource Continuation of drilling at Segilola regional targets Initial program at the Company's new Malete prospect

Drilling results pending from satellite targets at the Douta Project

40,000 metre drilling program planned to further advance the Douta Project

Completion of the Douta preliminary feasibility study ("PFS")

Applications for and acquisition of identified prospective exploration properties in Nigeria

Continued exploration programs across exploration portfolio in Nigeria

Segun Lawson, President & CEO, stated:

"The Company has delivered yet another strong quarter at Segilola, resulting in an excellent first calendar year of operations as a gold producer, achieving a production of 98,006oz of gold, at the top end of our guidance."

"Importantly, we have achieved a major strategic objective in successfully ramping up to a steady state, low-cost production platform at Segilola and we are continuing to advance potential exploration opportunities both regionally and underground at Segilola."

"Continuing high grade drill results from our Douta project in Senegal underline the potential that we see in this asset, and we are working to move this project forward to development."

"Now that Segilola is at steady state operation, the Company is also focusing on our growth strategy in Nigeria where we have an aggressive drill program on a number of targets and continue to evaluate potential opportunities, to leverage our technical capabilities and first mover advantage."

Production Summary



Units

2022



Q4 2022



Q3 2022



Q2 2022



Q1 2022





Total

























Mining





























Total Mined Tonnes

16,106,033



4,296,494



4,018,431



4,031,584



3,759,524

Waste Mined Tonnes

15,048,436



3,974,073



3,793,249



3,747,504



3,533,610

Ore Mined Tonnes

1,057,996



322,421



225,182



284,079



226,314

Grade g/t Au

3.56



3.51



4.43



3.63



2.68

























Processing



















Ore Processed Tonnes

929,760



254,824



241,434



211,582



221,900

Grade g/t Au

3.45



3.38



3.58



3.66



3.18

Recovery %

95.1



95.0



95.5



95.5



94.1

Gold Recovered oz

98,006



26,331



26,523



23,785



21,343



Exploration

The Company is pleased to announce the expansion of exploration tenure to a total area of 1,542km2 at the Segilola Gold Project in Nigeria. This tenure comprises 16 granted permits that are 100% owned by Thor together with nine granted permits held under options agreements with seven third parties.

In addition to near-mine exploration, activities on the ground have focussed on two main areas:

Western Prospects

Malete Project Area

Western Prospects

The Western Prospects are located 15 kilometres ("km") due west from Segilola and comprise two exploration permits that are held under option agreements. Sampling by the Company of of in-situ material from artisanal workings that are located on north-west oriented shear zones has returned rock chip assays of 65.1g/t Au at the Aayelle North pit, 38.2g/t Au from the Igala pit, 12.48g/tAu from the Aayelle pit and 8.55g/tAu from the Epe pit (Figure 2). A systematic drilling program is due to commence in January of 2023 to test these targets.

Malete Prospect

The Malete Prospect is located in Kwara State 150 km directly north-north west from Segilola and comprises a total of seven permits that cover a combined area of 239 km2 (Figure 3). To date, most exploration activity has taken place within Thor's original exploration permit, EL34429. Base on geochemical sampling two targets that warrant drill-testing have been delineated: Dandele North and Dandele South. The newly acquired permit located immediately to the southeast is notable as it contains a significant gold-bearing structure located at Awn. This structure has previously attracted large-scale artisanal mining.





Figure 1: Thor Explorations Nigeria Exploration Tenure Map

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7003/150773_0ea817bb2433183c_002full.jpg





Figure 2: Malete Tenure Map showing Structural Interpretation

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7003/150773_0ea817bb2433183c_003full.jpg





Figure 3: Western Prospects Tenure Map showing Geochemical sampling Results

To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7003/150773_0ea817bb2433183c_004full.jpg





Figure 4: Douta Project location map

To view an enhanced version of Figure 4, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7003/150773_0ea817bb2433183c_005full.jpg





Figure 5: Makosa Drillhole Location Map

To view an enhanced version of Figure 5, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7003/150773_0ea817bb2433183c_006full.jpg

Further details can be found on the Company's website: www.thorexpl.com

About Thor Explorations

Thor Explorations Ltd. is a mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of mineral properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Thor Explorations holds a 100% interest in the Segilola Gold Project located in Osun State, Nigeria and has a 70% economic interest in the Douta Gold Project located in south-eastern Senegal. Thor Explorations trades on AIM and the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "THX".

THOR EXPLORATIONS LTD.

Segun Lawson

President & CEO

Webinar

Thor will be hosting a webinar to further expand on the above operating update on Monday, January the 16th at 12.30pm GMT (7.30am EST).

To join the webinar, please use the login details below:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82830303897?pwd=cWxWUUQ0UjJFbGs4UWZhZ2lUd01BQT09

Meeting ID: 828 3030 3897

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For further information please contact:

Investor Relations

Ibu Lawson

Email: ibu.lawson@thorexpl.com

Canaccord Genuity (Nominated Adviser & Broker)

Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / James Asensio / Thomas Diehl

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7523 8000

Hannam & Partners (Broker)

Andrew Chubb / Matt Hasson / Jay Ashfield / Franck Nganou

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7907 8500

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Tel: +1 416 822 6483

Email: investor.relations@thorexpl.com

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Tel: +44 207 138 3203

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To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150773
January 10, 2023,Oslo, Norway: Based on a preliminary review, PGS expects to report Revenues and Other Income according to IFRS for Q4 2022 of approximately $217 million, compared to $210.4 million in Q4 2021. The Company expects Revenues and Other Income on a percentage-of-completion basis ("Produced Revenues") for Q4 2022 of approximately $251 million, compared to $174.3 million in Q4 2021.



PGS will in connection with the Q4 2022 financial statements disclose alternative performance measures ("APMs") on a percentage-of-completion basis, including Produced Revenues, to reflect MultiClient value creation. PGS will measure its revenues on a produced basis for its internal management reporting and consequently this will also be the basis for Segment Reporting in financial statements. The definition and reconciliation of Produced Revenues is provided at the end of this update*.

Contract revenues ended at approximately $111 million in Q4 2022, compared to $64.3 million in Q4 2021. MultiClient late sales revenues were approximately $92 million in Q4 2022, compared to $80.9 million in Q4 2021.

MultiClient pre-funding revenues based on IFRS were approximately $9 million in Q4 2022, compared to $60.0 million in Q4 2021. Estimated MultiClient pre-funding measured on percentage-of-completion basis ("Produced Pre-funding Revenues") in Q4 2022 was $43 million compared to $23.9 million in Q4 2021.

"Our Q4 Produced Revenuesincreased 44% year-over-year andare another confirmation of an improving marine seismic market. MultiClient late sales were strong in the quarter, driving full year 2022 late salesto approximately$327 million, which is the second-best year on record, and almost 50% higher than 2021. Followingrelocation of most of our vessels early in the quarter, production has been strong. Contract rates continue to improve, and our Q4 contract revenues are the highest since Q4 2014. MultiClient Produced Pre-funding Revenuesreflect strong industry support ofongoing projects, as well as good sales from projects where imaging is not yet completed," says President & CEO Rune Olav Pedersen.

PGS routinely releases information about 3D vessel utilization after the end of each quarter. The table below summarizes Q4 2022 vessel allocation:





Approximate allocation of PGS operated 3D towed streamer capacity



Quarter ended



December 31,



Quarter ended September30, 2022 2021 2022 Contract seismic 63% 44% 60% MultiClient seismic 12% 14% 28% Steaming 16% 3% 9% Yard 3% 7% 3% Stacked/Standby 6% 32% 0%



The Q4 2022 vessel statistics includes six active 3D vessels. All cold-stacked** vessels are excluded from the statistics. The comparative periods are also based on six active 3D vessels.

The Company provides this information based on a preliminary summary of Q4 2022 numbers. The Company has not completed its financial reporting and related consolidation, review and control procedures, including the final review of all sales against the established revenue recognition criteria. The estimates provided in this release are therefore subject to change and the Q4 2022 financial statements finally approved and released by the Company may deviate from the information herein.

PGS will publish its Q4 2022 earnings release and capital markets day presentation on Thursday January 26, 2023 at approximately 07:00am Central European Time (CET). Presentation of the Q4 2022 results and capital markets day material is scheduled to start at 09:00am CET the same day.

*From January 1, 2022, PGS changed its Segment Reporting measurement to simplify external and internal reporting.

PGS will in connection with the Q4 2022 financial statements disclose alternative performance measures ("APMs") on a percentage-of-completion basis. PGS will report Produced Revenues, Produced EBITDA and order book relating to future production. PGS will measure its revenues on a produced basis for its internal management reporting and consequently this will also be the basis for Segment Reporting in financial statements. PGS believes that the introduction of these APMs will improve transparency and provide better information financial statement users.

The APMs reflect the difference between recognizing MultiClient pre-funding revenues under IFRS compared to alternatively measuring such revenues on a percentage-of-completion basis as the project is progressing, which is a non GAAP measure. IFRS 15 reporting generally recognizes revenue from MultiClient pre-funding agreements at the "point in time" when the customer receives access to, or delivery of, the finished data.

Adjustments between IFRS revenues and Produced Revenues for each quarter in 2022 and 2021 are shown in the table below:

2021 2022 $ Million Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 MultiClient pre-funding revenues, IFRS 80 63 45 60 15 96 19 9 Less Revenue for projects with IFRS performance obligations met during the quarter for completed projects







80 63 45 60 15 96 19 9 Add Revenue recognized on a POC basis during the quarter 46 29 35 24 19 33 37 43 Produced MultiClient Pre-funding Revenues 46 29 35 24 19 33 37 43



**The term "cold-stacked" is used when a vessel is taken out of operation for an extended period of time. Costs are reduced to a minimum, with the vessel preserved for a long idle time, all or most in-sea seismic equipment removed from the vessel, and typically the Company does not have available crew to operate the vessel.



FOR DETAILS, CONTACT: Bard Stenberg, VP IR & Corporate Communication

Mobile: +47 99 24 52 35



***

PGS ASA and its subsidiaries.

***

The information included herein contains certain forward-looking statements that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, projects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future. These statements are based on various assumptions made by the Company, which are beyond its control and are subject to certain additional risks and uncertainties. The Company is subject to a large number of risk factors including but not limited to the demand for seismic services, the demand for data from our multi-client data library, the attractiveness of our technology, unpredictable changes in governmental regulations affecting our markets and extreme weather conditions. For a further description of other relevant risk factors we refer to our Annual Report for 2021. As a result of these and other risk factors, actual events and our actual results may differ materially from those indicated in or implied by such forward-looking statements. The reservation is also made that inaccuracies or mistakes may occur in the information given above about current status of the Company or its business. Any reliance on the information above is at the risk of the reader, and PGS disclaims any and all liability in this respect.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act

--END--
Bregal Sagemount ("Sagemount"), a leading growth-focused private equity firm, today announced a strategic growth investment in Enhesa (the "Company"), a leading provider of regulatory and sustainability intelligence worldwide. As part of the transaction, Sagemount will acquire ICG's minority stake in Enhesa, with existing investor CGE Partners ("CGE") retaining its majority stake in the Company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

With its global headquarters in Brussels, Belgium and U.S. headquarters in Arlington, VA, Enhesa empowers multinational corporations worldwide to help create a more sustainable future by positively impacting the environment and ensuring the health and safety of their employees and customers. Bringing together some of the world's most comprehensive data sets, AI-powered analytics, and renowned subject matter experts in the areas of global operations, product, and chemicals management compliance and sustainability, Enhesa provides actionable compliance intelligence in over 40 languages across more than 300 jurisdictions, supported by a team of over 100 in-house legal experts. Navigating the fast-changing regulatory landscape, Enhesa helps corporations meet their compliance and sustainability needs with confidence, now and in the future.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with Sagemount as we enter our next stage of growth," said Peter Schramme, CEO of Enhesa. "With their and CGE's support and deep industry expertise, we believe we are well-positioned to further invest in our current offerings as well as accelerate new content coverage, use cases, and customer verticals."

"We see tremendous growth ahead for Enhesa as a result of the Company's strong product-market fit and tangible customer ROI," said Pavan Tripathi, Partner at Sagemount. "Enhesa has an impressive track record of consistently retaining and growing its customer relationships as well as expanding new content offerings and jurisdictional coverage through both organic and inorganic growth initiatives. We are excited to be working with Peter, the Enhesa team, and CGE."

David Greenbaum, Vice President at Sagemount, added, "For enterprises that operate, manufacture, and sell globally, Enhesa is by far the leading third-party content provider, allowing companies to monitor relevant Environmental, Health, Safety ("EHS") and other regulations across the enterprise significantly faster and more accurately than internal teams or disparate, regional third-party content providers."

"We have enjoyed a highly successful partnership with Enhesa since acquiring the Company in 2020. Under CGE's ownership to date, Enhesa has meaningfully scaled its business, expanded its industry-leading regulatory compliance content set from EHS to also include Product Compliance and Sustainability Intelligence, and completed five strategic add-on acquisitions," CGE commented. "We look forward to continuing to support Enhesa in its next chapter of growth alongside Sagemount."

Sagemount's investment was led by Pavan Tripathi, Sandeep Swaminathan, David Greenbaum, Harrison Boyajian, and Stephanie Li. Sagemount was advised by Raymond James and Goodwin Procter. Enhesa and CGE were advised by Houlihan Lokey and Travers Smith.

About Enhesa

Enhesa is the leading provider of regulatory and sustainability intelligence worldwide. Headquartered in Brussels, with offices in Washington, DC, Williamsport, PA, Toronto, the United Kingdom, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Portugal, Enhesa empowers multinational corporations worldwide to create a more sustainable future by positively impacting the environment and ensuring the health and safety of their employees and customers. Bringing together some of the world's most comprehensive data sets, AI-powered analytics, and renowned subject matter experts in the areas of global operations, product, and chemicals management compliance and sustainability, Enhesa provides actionable compliance intelligence in over 40 languages across more than 300 jurisdictions. Navigating the fast-changing regulatory landscape, Enhesa helps corporations meet their compliance and sustainability needs with confidence, now and in the future. For more information on Enhesa, go to the firm's website at www.enhesa.com.

About Sagemount

Bregal Sagemount is a leading growth-focused private capital firm with more than $6.0 billion of capital raised. The firm provides flexible capital and strategic assistance to market-leading companies in high-growth sectors across a wide variety of transaction situations. Bregal Sagemount has invested in over 70 companies in a variety of sectors, including software, information data services, financial technology specialty finance, digital infrastructure, healthcare IT, and business consumer services. The firm has offices in New York, Palo Alto, and Dallas. For more information, visit the Sagemount website: www.sagemount.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About CGE

CGE Partners is a European mid-market investment fund. CGE invests in tech-enabled businesses facilitating the transition to a more digital, renewable, secure, and compliant future, providing capital and expertise to accelerate expansion in global markets. For more information, visit the CGE website: https://cge-partners.com/.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005348/en/

Contacts:

Stephen Fishleigh

BackBay Communications

+44 203-475-7552

stephen.fishleigh@backbaycommunications.com



Jeremy Milner

BackBay Communications

+1 401-862-9422

jeremy.milner@backbaycommunications.com
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / Ximen Mining Corp. (TSXV:XIM)(FRA:1XMA)(OTCQB:XXMMF) (the "Company" or "Ximen") announces that it is proceeding with its plan to do underground mine exploration development at its Brett Property, located near Vernon in southern British Columbia.

Perspective view of Brett conceptual mine model. New development (blue) will extend from old workings (orange). Also shown are diamond drill holes and assays greater than or equal to 3.0 grams per tonne gold.

The proposed development program includes:

excavation of diamond drill stations in the existing drift,

a 50 meter cross-cut from the exiting drift with a drill station,

200 meter drift parallel to the Main Zone, with stub drifts into the zone

drill stations in the new drift, and

a 50 metre cross-cut and diamond drill station from the new drift.

The new mine development will provide access for underground drilling and explore the Main Zone to the northwest. This development will follow the Main Zone and provide points from which to test parallel structures by underground diamond drilling. It is anticipated that this program will result in definition of mineralized zones for underground bulk sampling. A permit application for the work has been submitted and is now in the early stage of review. The Ministry has requested the Company to provide the following:

Metal Leaching / Acid Rock Drainage Plan including results from initial sampling

Water Management Plan

Reclamation and Closure Plan

Erosion and Sediment Control Plan

Invasive Plant Management Plan

Bat Management Plan

Wildlife Management Plan

Geotechnical

Mine design by Professional Engineer, including a refuge station

Ground Control Management Plan by Professional Engineer

Clarification and details of rehabilitation of underground workings

Plans and sections, along with a cost estimate, for the proposed final portal closure

Mine Waste Dump design and management plan

The Company has committed to provide the requested plans and information.

The Brett epithermal gold property is located west of Vernon, in southern B.C. Surface exploration at the project has been delayed over recent years first due to the pandemic and then due to access issues resulting from wildfire and flooding events. Airborne magnetic and LIDAR surveys were the only activities conducted recently.

The current geological model is a low-sulphidation epithermal gold-silver deposit with vein-hosted and disseminated mineralization associated with faults and Tertiary dikes that intersect volcanic tuff layers.

Since its discovery in 1983, a total of 160 surface diamond drill holes (20,945 meters) and several reverse circulation holes have been completed on the property. Most of the drilling targeted the Main Zone, where high-grade gold is hosted in quartz-carbonate veins associated with a northwest-trending fault zone in argillic and silica-altered volcanic rocks of the Eocene Penticton Group. The Main Zone is a northwest trending fault that disrupted previously mineralized veins and host rocks. The veins contain visible gold and show textures characteristic of an epithermal deposit, including bladed calcite (see photos).

To date, surface exploration has delineated multiple mineralized zones. Along the Main Zone, the TR-21, Bonanza Zone, RW vein, North Extension Zone were identified. The Tuff Zone also lies along the Main Zone at depth below the TR-21 and Bonanza zones. Parallel zones were also discovered, including the TR-1, Stockwork, 490 and Border zones. East of the Main Zone the New Discovery and East Zones were discovered. Bordering all these are the Gossan and West Zones, which are large areas of altered rocks with gold geochemical anomalies.

The Bonanza Zone was the focus of previous work. Significant mineralization in the Bonanza Zone is substantiated by several diamond drill holes, including hole 87-29, which intersected 25.24 grams per tonne gold over a length of 8.62 meters (historic data).

Reverse circulation hole R88-11 intersected 69.52 g/tonne gold (2 ounce per ton) over 71.6 metres (historic data) in the Bonanza Zone. This result prompted underground development to test the possibility of developing a high-grade gold mine. In 1994-5, an underground adit was driven 250 m to access the Bonanza Zone. A raise was driven up from the drift to intersect the RC88-l1 within the shear zone. A sub-drift was driven about 15 meters above the level of the main drift, and the raise was continued another eight meters following the RC hole. This work failed to outline high-grade mineralization and it was concluded that the large intercept in hole RC88-11 was due to down-hole contamination. Further underground exploration done in 1995-96 included a 54-meter by-pass drift driven around a section of the old drift, and a connection to one of two raises driven earlier.

Also in 1996, a surface bulk sample was collected from the RW and TR-21 zones, located just north and south of the Bonanza Zone. A total of 291 tonnes at an average grade of 27.74 grams per tonne gold and 63.7 grams per tonne silver was smelted in Trail (Brett 2017 NI 43-101 report).

Metallurgical test work indicates the mineralization is amenable to gravity-flotation recovery. In 1995, a 4 kg sample with a head grade of 20.3 grams per tonne gold and 50.3 grams per tonne silver was tested (BC Assessment Report 25351). Gravity concentration recovered significant amounts of the gold and silver; the gold recoveries ranged from 55.1 % to 60.36 % and the silver recoveries from 20.3 % to 20.9 %. Flotation of the gravity concentration tails improved the overall gold and silver recoveries to 91.3% and 72.8%, respectively.

Screen capture of Brett 3D mine model showing drill intercepts and historic workings. Note location of historic hole RC88-11.

Since acquiring the property, Ximen has conducted two surface drilling programs. The 2014 program discovered two new gold-bearing zones, with results including 34.18 g/t Au over 0.9 m from one zone and 16.7 g/t Au over 1.5 m from the second. Significant intervals of bulk tonnage gold mineralization were also intercepted, including 1.77 g/t Au over 31m, 1.88 g/t Au over 16.55m and 0.82 g/t Au over 33m. Significant intercepts from 2016 were 18.95 g/t Au over 1m, 3.13 g/t Au over 1.1 m, 13.35 g/t Au over 0.58 m and 5.7 g/t Au over 0.5 m in holes 1, 2, 11 and 17.

Samples collected by Ximen in 2014 were analyzed by Activation Laboratories Ltd. (Actlabs) in Kamloops, B.C. Actlabs is an ISO 17025 accredited laboratory. Samples were analysed for gold by Fire Assay with AA finish on a 30 gram sample. Samples that returned greater than 2 ppm Au by FA/AA were subsequently tested by metallic gold assay on a 500 gram sample of pulverized material.Other elements were determined by a multi-element suite using ICP-MS, and for mercury by cold vapour-FIMS.

Samples collected by Ximen in 2016 were submitted to ALS Canada Ltd. and analyzed for gold, silver, and a 32-element package by ICP analysis. This ALS facility is certified to standards within ISO 9001:2008 and has received accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025:2005. Analyses for gold were by Fire Assay and Inductively Coupled Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES). Silver and other elements were analyzed in a multi-element package using four-acid digestion and determination using ICPAES. Selected samples were also analyzed for gold by Fire Assay - Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). High grade gold samples were analyzed for gold by Fire Assay and Gravimetric Finish and re-analyzed for silver by four-acid and ICP-AES.

The Company has granted 5,000,000 stock options at an exercise price of $0.15 to its directors, officers, employees and consultants. The options are exercisable for five years and will be cancelled 30 days after cessation of acting as director, officer, employee or consultant of the Company. The stock options are not transferable and will be subject to a four-month hold period from the date of grant and any applicable regulatory acceptance.

Readers are cautioned that historical records referred to in this News Release have been examined but not verified by a Qualified Person. Further work is required to verify that historical records referred to in this News Release are accurate.

Dr. Mathew Ball, P.Geo., VP Exploration for Ximen Mining Corp. and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, approved the technical information contained in this News Release.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Christopher R. Anderson"

Christopher R. Anderson,

President, CEO and Director

604 488-3900

Investor Relations:

Sophy Cesar,

604-488-3900,

ir@XimenMiningCorp.com

About Ximen Mining Corp.

Ximen Mining Corp. owns 100% interest in three of its precious metal projects located in southern BC. Ximen's two Gold projects, The Amelia Gold Mine and The Brett Epithermal Gold Project. Ximen also owns the Treasure Mountain Silver Project adjacent to the past producing Huldra Silver Mine. Currently, the Treasure Mountain Silver Project is under an option agreement. The option partner is making annual staged cash and stocks payments as well as funding the development of the project. The company has also acquired control of the Kenville Gold mine near Nelson British Columbia which comes with surface and underground rights, buildings and equipment.

Ximen is a publicly listed company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol XIM, in the USA under the symbol XXMMF, and in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin Stock Exchanges in Germany under the symbol 1XMA and WKN with the number as A2JBKL.

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval and the exercise of the Option by Ximen. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the possibility that the TSX Venture Exchange may not accept the proposed transaction in a timely manner, if at all. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Ximen Mining Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734620/Ximen-Mining-Conceptual-Mine-Model-Underground-Exploration-Plan-for-Its-100-Owned-Brett-Epithermal-Gold-Project--Vernon-BC
All-new hub strategically placed to further strengthen relationships with StoreDot's US OEM partners and future customers

Facility is set to accelerate StoreDot's development of semi solid battery technology and battery material research

US team of researchers is led by global Chief Science Officer Dr. David Lee with plans to recruit extensively from world class local talent pool

with plans to recruit extensively from world class local talent pool StoreDot's XFC batteries and systems are currently undergoing testing programs with multiple electric vehicle manufacturers

Company remains on target for mass production of '100in5' cells by 2024 delivering at least 100 miles of range in just five minutes of charging

HERZLIYA, Israel, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- StoreDot, the pioneer of extreme fast charging battery technology for electric vehicles, today announces further global expansion with the official opening of its first US research facility in Irvine, California, USA.





The new lab facility will be used to speed up StoreDot's development of semi-solid battery technology and battery material research. Its location was chosen to access the wealth of talent in the West Coast of the US and to strengthen the company's relationship with US-headquartered electric vehicle manufacturers.

The US team is headed by StoreDot's global Chief Science Officer Dr David Lee with ambitious plans to rapidly expand the company's US-based R&D expertise. Dr Lee and his team will work in tandem with StoreDot's Israel-based R&D headquarters, enabling it to scale up globally and remain firmly on track for its 100inX strategic technology roadmap. Announced last year, the roadmap will see the delivery of mass produced battery cells capable of 100 miles of range in five minutes of charge by 2024, 100 miles in three minutes by 2028 and 100 miles in two minutes by 2032.

StoreDot Chief Science Officer Dr David Lee, "With the growing activity of testing programs around the globe, the opening of our new US R&D innovation hub is further evidence of our rapid expansion. Now that we have an operational US base, we are looking to harness the world-class talent pool here to bolster the development of our leading XFC technology and its future generations. It's an honor to be leading this team which will work closely with our Israel headquarters and bring new skills and scientific capabilities to the company as we scale-up our business and transitioning to mass production."

StoreDot is currently yielding positive feedback from multiple global car makers after shipping 300 Wh/kg in EV form factor for real-world testing last year. These cells achieve a world-leading consecutive extreme-fast charging of above 1,000 cycles demonstrating a Silicon-dominant chemistry with no battery degradation due to XFC.

It has a growing network of strategic global partnerships and investors, spanning the entire battery ecosystem. To date it has received investments from global automotive manufacturers including Daimler, Ola Electric, Polestar, VinFast and Volvo Cars.

About StoreDot:

StoreDot is the pioneer and leader of extreme fast charging (XFC) electric vehicle batteries that overcome the critical barriers to mainstream EV adoption - range and charging anxiety. The company has revolutionized the conventional Li-ion battery by designing and synthesizing proprietary organic and inorganic compounds, optimized by Artificial Intelligence algorithms, making it possible to charge an EV in under ten minutes - the same experience as refuelling a conventional combustion engine car.

Through its '100inX' product roadmap, StoreDot's battery technology is delivering 'Range on DemandTM': 100 miles charged in 5 minutes in 2024, 100 miles charged in 3 minutes by 2028, and an extreme energy density solution enabling 100 miles to be charged in 2 minutes by 2032. StoreDot's strategic investors and partners include Daimler, BP, VinFast, Volvo Cars, Polestar, Ola Electric, Samsung, TDK, and its manufacturing partner EVE Energy. In 2022, the company achieved a world first by demonstrating a live extreme fast charging of an EV battery cell in 10 minutes, capable of over 1000 consecutive charging cycles. StoreDot is on target for mass production readiness of 100in5 technology by 2024.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1979915/Dr_David_Lee.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/storedot-expands-globally-with-opening-of-california-innovation-hub-to-accelerate-development-of-semi-solid-state-batteries-301716842.html
China-Laos Railway reports robust cargo transport volume

Xinhua) 09:51, January 10, 2023

Containers on the first banana train heading to China via the China-Laos Railway are seen at the Vientiane South Station in Vientiane, Laos, on Dec. 6, 2022. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

KUNMING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- As of Jan. 2, customs authorities in Kunming in southwest China have handled over 2.23 million tonnes of cargo transported via the China-Laos Railway since the service was launched 13 months ago. The cargo transported was worth nearly 14.57 billion yuan (about 2.13 billion U.S. dollars).

In December alone, Kunming customs handled the 286,000 tonnes of import and export cargo transported via the railway, up 6.04 times from the first month of the service, with a value of 616 million yuan, up 6.2 times.

"Since the opening of the China-Laos Railway, the types of import and export goods handled by our company have greatly increased. Our business volume has increased 40 percent year on year, and our market competitiveness has been significantly improved," said Zhang Xianzhou, head of an international logistics company in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province.

The China-Laos Railway, which kicked off operations in December 2021, stretches over 1,000 km, linking Kunming, capital of China's Yunnan Province, with Vientiane in Laos.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
By Lee Nan-hee



Regarding family, love and marriage, sometimes I think about and wonder what the most important one is. In particular, whenever I read the Bible (New Testament) I can't help but feel that Jesus seemed not to care about whether his disciples as well as people who came to him were married or had typical, normal families. He just seemed to have loved and liberated those people from bondages such as diseases, hunger, disputes and social stigmatization. The same goes for the apostle Paul. It appears that not only Jesus but also Paul never thought much about various types of families, and that they never looked down on people who seemed to have diverted from social norms and conventions.



According to Galatians 3:26-28, Paul asserted that "you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ, and that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." This sounds like a grand Magna Carta or a statement of liberation and freedom of all people in Jesus Christ.



To apply this verse to our current society, it would read as follows: When you belong to God, having faith in Jesus Christ, God does not care whether you are a Korean or African, rich and free or poor and a slave, you get married or stay single, are straight or not. I believe that this is the case, as Jesus' father, God was usually dubbed God of orphans and widows in the Old Testament. Do these sound too revolutionary? Maybe they would to some conservative folks.



In addition, what caught my attention with respect to these issues were verses from Acts 16:11-15. They describe incidents and conversations between the apostle Paul and a woman named Lydia. Lydia was depicted as a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira and a worshiper of God. At that time of around A.D. 50, when the color of clothes signified social classes, purple cloth meant high class and nobility. Thus, I can speculate that Lydia was associating and dealing with high-class people like kings or blue bloods. On top of that, to my surprise, dealer meant her occupation. In the 1st century, in Israel and nearby regions around the Mediterranean Sea, women were not allowed to have occupations, as they were a kind of possession of men. Thus, Lydia's story was very much outstanding and eye-opening. Moreover, she was said to invite Paul, opening her home to Paul and his associates.



In this jaw-dropping story, Lydia played an active, subjective role. She appeared to take the lead. As a result, she as well as members of her household were baptized. What was striking to me also in this depiction was the fact that the writer of the Bible never mentioned what kind of family Lydia had, namely, whether Lydia was married or single or a widow, or who the members of her family were. What mattered the most to the writer of the Bible, who was actually none other than Paul himself or his close associates, was the fact that Jesus' good news of love and liberation was sent, and received by the people in the leading city of Philippi, a Roman colony through that remarkable woman Lydia. That is to say that the gospel was spread to a gentile world, a Roman colony so that more people could live happier, freer lives.



Social conventions and norms change. In a sense, they are all products of culture and history. In other words, they are neither infallible nor invincible. The same goes for theology as well as feminist theology. Feminist theology has drastically changed ever since it began in the late 19th century. There is not only a right and perfect feminist theology. I hope that feminist theology as well as social norms regarding family could be open to and keep up with reality so that more and more people can live happier, freer lives in Jesus Christ.





Dr. Lee Nan-hee studied English in college and theology at Hanshin University.


Chris Caldwell of United Renewables speaks with venture Capitalist Amory Poulden on the subject of Climate Change and business.

DOUGLAS, Isle of Man, Jan. 10, 2023.

'This may be a little bit of a controversial opinion, but I really hate the term ESG,' Poulden explained. 'You are taking disparate strands of qualitative data, trying to quantify it, and then trying to establish an absolute metric across different pools, which is inherently dangerous.'

Put on the spot by podcast host and entrepreneur Chris Caldwell on the subject of how to measure sustainability amongst small companies, Poulden- who was Venture Principle at Shell Ventures before starting his own climate-focussed fund in 2022 - warned against 'some of my peers in the venture industry' following the ESG mainstream. It 'tends become a tick-box exercise at best, and at worst starts to push the company into quite a process-heavy modeland becomes meaningless.'

Climatetech venture investing reaches record highs globally

Poulden's comments on his industry come in the context of a boom in climate start-ups raising venture funding. Over $37 billion of venture capital was deployed into the climatetech market in 2021, a 250% increase over pre-pandemic levels.

In a sign of the global health of the market, the US was the top market for cleantech VC activity last year, followed by Europe; whilst China still holds the top spot for overall funding in the period since 2010.

Founders call for focus on qualitative impact

Both Caldwell - CEO and founder of green energy firm United Renewables- and Poulden were clear on the importance of supporting young businesses dedicated to solving the climate crisis. However, Poulden was clear on the need to judge start-ups qualitatively upon, 'the impact that they can have in that particular sector,' rather than rely on benchmarks designed for other kinds of companies.

Conversations on Climateis a joint production of United Renewables and the London Business School Alumni Energy Club, which hosts leading academics and business leaders in conversations around sustainability.

The latest episode, featuring Amory Poulden of D2 Fund is available here.

All previous episodes can be found here.

Conversations on Climatebrings world-leading thinkers from business and academia together to share their expertise on the subject of climate change. Previous guests include Sir Andrew Likierman, Julio Dal Poz, Professor Jean-Pierre Beno it , Professor Ioannou, Tara Schmidtand Professor Dan Cable.

All previous episodes can be found here. Related articles can be found here.

CONTACT Isabella Hawke - Sales and Marketing Consultant

COMPANY United Renewables

PHONE +447624457139

EMAILIIhawke@unitedrenewables.co.uk

WEB unitedrenewables.co.uk/resources

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/59a060c1-bce0-452b-a94b-b2aad7302f31
Objective: to help customers to achieve their sustainability goals

PARIS, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bureau Veritas is delighted to announce the opening of a "Net Zero" centre of excellence to support customers in their efforts to reduce energy consumption, decarbonise their activities, and ensure the traceability of their declarations. This project is supported by Envision Digital's technology. The centre will help organisations to achieve significant progress towards their "Net Zero" commitments, thanks to digitised, verifiable and certifiable processes. Thanks to its collaboration with Envision Digital, Bureau Veritas will benefit from the expertise of a world leader in carbon footprint reduction and monitoring.

To help organisations reduce their carbon footprint and ensure the level of transparency that is required today, Envision Digital, the technological leader in artificial intelligence and IOT (AIoT) for Net Zero targets and decarbonisation, and Bureau Veritas, world leader in testing, inspection and certification, are combining their expertise to develop an integrated service offer for energy management and carbon monitoring, that will be hosted in a "Net Zero" centre of excellence.

This centre will propose solutions in three areas:

Real time certification of carbon emissions to ensure credibility and facilitate extra-financial data reporting (CSRD, ESG, etc.)

to ensure credibility and facilitate extra-financial data reporting (CSRD, ESG, etc.) Attaining the energy and carbon goals defined while optimising costs (monitoring and optimisation of carbon emissions, results-based commitment on expected savings, etc.)

(monitoring and optimisation of carbon emissions, results-based commitment on expected savings, etc.) Funding the investments required for carbon emission monitoring (supply of sensors, platform installation, energy-carbon management service) via the energy savings certificates scheme, for which Bureau Veritas is one of France's leading experts via its Capital Energy subsidiary.

"This centre of excellence is being created in response to an increasingly demanding regulatory context and sharp rises in energy costs. The centre represents a fundamental innovation for our customers, because it will enable them to attain their "Net Zero" targets faster. It is further proof of Bureau Veritas' commitment to helping its customers to be more efficient and credible in the implementation of sustainable solutions. As an independent third party, we will be proposing services & solutions for today's energy and ecological challenges, assisted by Envision Digital, leader in its field," explained Jacques POMMERAUD, EVP Africa, France & Government Services at Bureau Veritas.

"The EnOS digital platform that we are making available to the Bureau Veritas teams is based on our AIoT technology, combining an IoT platform with advanced expertise in artificial intelligence for decarbonisation. In the current situation of strong energy and environmental tension, this solution enables evaluation and optimisation of customers' energy consumption and carbon footprint, to accelerate the transition to a carbon-free economy. Thanks to the know-how of world leader Bureau Veritas, our customers will have access to the services of a shared carbon centre of excellence, encouraging an overall approach and dedicated to the implementation of practical, efficient and innovative solutions," added Maher CHEBBO, Managing Director of EMEA at Envision Digital.

From one end of the chain to the other [see diagram below], Bureau Veritas and Envision Digital will be proposing a secure, modular, digital decarbonisation system to their customers, along with overall technical assistance; this model is already in place throughout the world.





The creation of this carbon centre of excellence represents a further milestone in the joint efforts made by the two companies since 2021, when their partnership was first announced.

About Bureau Veritas

Bureau Veritas is a world leader in laboratory testing, inspection and certification services. Created in 1828, the Group has more than 80,000 employees located in more than 1,600 offices and laboratories around the globe. Bureau Veritas helps its 400,000 clients improve their performance by offering services and innovative solutions, in order to ensure that their assets, products, infrastructure and processes meet standards and regulations in terms of quality, health and safety, environmental protection and social responsibility.

Bureau Veritas is quoted on Euronext Paris and is part of the following indexes: CAC 40 ESG, CAC Next 20 and SBF 120. Compartment A, ISIN code FR 0006174348, stock symbol: BVI. To find out more www.bureauveritas.com. Follow us on Twitter (@bureauveritas) and LinkedIn.

About Envision Digital

Envision Digital is the world's leading Net Zero technological partner for companies, governments and cities. Our mission is to accelerate the development of decarbonised energy, thus improving quality of life for the human race everywhere. Our digital platform, EnOS, manages more than 200 million IoT objects and 560 GigaWatts of electricity. Our modular, integrated IIoT solutions use AI to reduce carbon footprints, minimise costs, improve return on investment and simplify reporting and regulatory compliance processes. Envision Digital currently employs 1,000 people and has 14 offices in the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway China, Japan and the USA, with its head office in Singapore.

For more information, please visit www.envision-digital.com/.

*EnOS, Envision Digital's proprietary AIoT operating system, connects and manages over 240 million connected objects and 560 gigawatts of energy assets worldwide. Its monitoring solution, Carbon Envision Ark, earned Envision Group a place on Fortune magazine's "Change The World" list in 2021.

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The Company has helped the brand created by Jo Malone CBE to achieve exceeded-expectations sales in the Chinese market

SHANGHAI, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- S'YOUNG International ("S'YOUNG", "the Company"), the initiator of CP cooperation model, a digital-driven open platform for global beauty brands to connect with the Chinese market, has expanded its partnership with Jo Loves ("the brand"), the newest brand from legendary fragrance entrepreneur, Jo Malone CBE. Jo Loves has been supported locally by S'YOUNG and achieved significant results in the Chinese market despite challenging conditions.

Faced with the evolving consumer views and general market conditions in China, S'YOUNG team shares a clear vision with the brand. The Company works closely with Jo Loves team to promote what is genuinely a unique brand and serves as the brand's China Partner, focusing on brand-building, product management, and marketing, rather than merely being a salesperson.

The innovative fragrance collection, Jo Loves, crafted by Jo Malone CBE personally, is being specifically marketed toward Gen Z consumers. In 2020, Jo Loves was midway through an international rollout when the pandemic hit. As Jo Malone CBE said in the interview with Vogue Business, she believes that instead of fancy offices and meeting rooms, a brand requires "creativity, a great team, great partners" to achieve success.

Jo Loves' higher-than-expected sales numbers in China are made possible with support from S'YOUNG. Through a combination of crafting the brand narrative based on deep insights, as well as extensive marketing and operational experience, S'YOUNG has helped Jo Loves impress the Chinese consumers with a customized strategy. On this year's International Women's Day, Jo Loves' best-selling perfume, Mango Thai Lime, exceeded one-million-yuan sales within just 5 minutes in a live-streaming campaign organized by S'YOUNG, now it has become the top-selling imported perfume on Tmall, China's biggest business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce platform.

S'YOUNG International empowers global beauty brands to connect with the Chinese market by focusing on cultural localization, effective operations, advertising and distribution. The 4,000+ team has worked with more than 50 major international brands, including KIKO, CELLEX-C, MEMO PARIS, MESOESTETIC, ZELENS, LUMENE as well as reaching strategic cooperation with the Johnson & Johnson Group to assist in the e-commerce execution of its full line of consumer goods in China, including Dr. Ci:Labo, Listerine, Neutrogena, and more.

For more information, please visit: https://syoungintl.com/ .

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LONDON and DURHAM, N.C., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Phastar announced today the acquisition of S-Cubed ApS, a specialist biometrics and data visualization company. The deal takes the PHASTAR group to around 550 people worldwide and strengthens the company's position in the Nordic region.

Andrew MacGarvey, CEO of Phastar, commented, "I am pleased we have been able to bring S-Cubed into the Phastar family. In doing so, we solidify our presence in the Nordic region and add significant capability in data visualization. The S-Cubed team shares the Phastar values and bringing the two businesses together benefits both the organizations, and their respective customers. Phastar continues to grow, and I am excited to start the New Year with an enhanced offering for our customers."

Scott McGregor, Managing Director S-Cubed, said, "We are delighted to bring S-Cubed into the Phastar group. As we learned more about Phastar and the management team, it became apparent that our philosophies were closely aligned. In addition, being part of a global entity will allow us to deliver increased services in the Nordics. We look forward to making our successful data visualization product available to a wider customer base."

One of life science professionals' most significant challenges is the increased number and variety of clinical data sources in a multi-provider, decentralized, digitally enabled environment. In addition, emerging, scalable telemedicine solutions such as apps, AI-enabled sensor devices, and virtual doctor-patient consultations have changed the requirements for data curation, storage, and analysis tools.

The capability to aggregate large volumes of data from disparate data sources in diverse formats requires robust systems and tools. In addition, these systems need to have the capacity to provide a bespoke solution and repeat processes routinely and reproducibly to ensure those who need it have access to real-time data for effective decision-making.

Over the last ten years, both organizations have built data analytics and visualization tools to address the growing industry needs, allowing individuals to spend more time gaining a deep understanding of the data, and addressing data anomalies and less time trying to analyze data in sub-optimal formats. The fusion of S-Cubed's expertise in building and implementing Qlik tools for the pharmaceutical industry and Phastar's Phizual platform will provide an environment that facilitates the use of visualization and analytical tools in a regulated manner, addressing the needs of the present and future.

About Phastar

Phastar is a multiple-award-winning specialist biometrics contract research organization that is accredited as an outstanding company to work for. We offer statistical consulting, clinical trial reporting, data management, and data science services by providing expert consultants, and managing and delivering in-house projects, FSP-style arrangements, and preferred partnerships. Phastar's number one priority is to ensure that the work produced is of the highest quality. Every project we undertake utilizes unique internal processes which is designed to ensure optimal quality.

In 2019, Phastar won the prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise, following our impressive growth and retention for over a decade. In addition, in 2021, we were accredited as an outstanding company by Best Companies, for our commitment to employee engagement and workplace satisfaction. We offer flexible working, involvement in company-wide process improvement and ESG initiatives, structured training and development plans, and a truly supportive, fun, and friendly environment.

For further information on Phastar contact tellmemore@phastar.com

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Self-Driving Vehicles, Fossil Fuel Drilling and AI Among Hottest Areas for R&D Activity; Applications Hit an All-Time High, According to Annual Analysis by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. patent grants issued in 2022 dropped to their lowest level since 2018, and South Korean electronics titan Samsung took the top spot from longtime leader IBM as East made gains on West among the Top 50 patent assignees during the past year. Nonetheless, patent applications hit an all-time high in 2022 as the United States emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic - a harbinger for a resurgence in innovation and grants over the next one to two years.

These are among the findings by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, which compiles and tracks data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and other patent-issuing agencies around the globe. The data can be found in the newly published 2022 U.S. Top 50 and IFI Global 250 patent rankings.

Samsung Takes the Lead from IBM

Samsung came in atop the annual IFI Top 50 patent earners with longtime leader IBM in second place. This is the first time a company other than IBM has been in the top slot since 1993. Based on the data, IBM's U.S. patent grants decreased in 2022, going from 8,681 in 2021 to 4,398 last year, a nearly 50 percent regression. But even Samsung, with 6,248 grants, saw a moderate decline (2 percent) from the prior year.

Still with one of the strongest U.S. patent portfolios, IBM's new placement on this year's list is attributable, according to IBM's blog, to its heightened focus since 2020 on prioritizing open source, collaboration and partnerships, and advancing the state of the art around the company's key technology areas including hybrid cloud, AI, quantum computing, semiconductors and security.

Following Samsung and IBM, the top 10 patent earners were Taiwan Semiconductor, Huawei Technologies, Canon, LG Electronics, Qualcomm, Intel, Apple and Toyota Motor.

The past year marks the third straight to see declines in patent grants, since the start of the pandemic. Across the board, U.S. patent grants declined just over 1 percent from 2021, representing a vigorous rebound following a 7 percent dip the prior year. Grants dropped from 327,321 to 323,015. Published patent applications, meanwhile, hurtled from 410,092 in 2021 to a record 417,922 last year, a 2 percent increase and the continuation of a five-year run of rising USPTO requests. Highlights from the full analysis and an overview of trends appear on the IFI website.

"Everything was trending upward until COVID hit, but grants have been declining. This might be due to the fact the USPTO faces a growing backlog of applications, some 700,000 currently, up from 540,000 unexamined patents in 2018," said Mike Baycroft, CEO of IFI CLAIMS Patent Services. "But the continued growth in applications is encouraging for innovation. First comes the filing, then typically 12-18 months later the application becomes public, then in another 18 months the grant is issued, so we expect to see a post-COVID upturn in the next couple of years."

A West-to-East Shift in the Top 50

Looking at the Top 50 alone, IFI's data noted a shift from West to East. In addition to Samsung's ascendance, Asian-based companies on the list earned 14 percent more patents than Western countries in 2022 (41,055 vs. 35,365), far eclipsing Asia's edge in 2021 of just 1 percent. Japan, China and South Korea alone accounted for 40,114 patents, compared to 32,130 for United States companies.

A total of three Chinese companies made the Top 50: Huawei at #4, BOE Technology Corp. at #11, and Guangdong Oppo sliding into the #43 spot, formerly occupied by its national counterpart Advanced New Technologies, which fell off the list in 2022.

U.S. Awards Majority of Patents Outside America

A stunning 56 percent of U.S. grants in 2022 did not go to U.S. firms. American companies, however, led among patent grantees, earning 142,703 patents, or 44 percent of all patents issued by the USPTO (vs. 46 percent in 2021) and more than three times as many as its closest national competitor, Japan (46,504). Chinese firms were third, with 24,538 grants during the last 12 months. South Korea (22,359) and Germany (14,746) rounded out the top five countries represented. Of the five countries to see an uptick in patent grants in the past year, China was the only one with double-digit growth, standing head and shoulders above the rest with almost 19 percent more than in 2021.

U.S. Stalwarts Lose Position

Among U.S. companies, GE (-11), Texas Instruments (-7), AT&T (-9), Boeing (-8), Ford (-4), Microsoft (-6), Intel (-2), and Apple (-2) fell lower on the Top 50 list, while Dell (+18), and Hewlett-Packard Development Co. (+12) gained considerably in the rankings. Applied Materials and Capital One both entered the top 50 at #44 and #45, respectively. Amazon and Halliburton Energy Services were the only American companies that held their positions from the prior year, with Amazon earning 1,863, down 4 percent, and Halliburton earning 906, up 4 percent. The biggest non-American risers in the Top 50 were Japan's Murata Manufacturing Company (#38) and Brother Industries (#49), which both leaped 10 spots from 2021.

Autonomous Vehicle Tech is Hot; Earth Drilling Keeps Rocking

Technology related to autonomous vehicles (e.g., self-driving cars) ascended to the No. 1 spot among IFI's Fastest Growing Technologies list last year, despite failing to crack the top 10 classes the year before. "Drive Control Systems for Autonomous Road Vehicles" saw a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 64.3 percent for the period 2018-2022. Of note is that while "Computing Based on Biological Models" dropped to No. 4 from its perch at No. 1 last year, Artificial Intelligence research has pervaded multiple patent categories, including Earth Drilling, "Quantum Computers" and "Machine Learning."

Rounding out the top Fastest Growing Technologies were "Electrical Digital Data Processing" (CAGR 33.9%); "Special Features Related to Earth Drilling Including AI and Simulation Models" (CAGR 32.5%); "Computing Based on Biological Models" (CAGR 32.1%); and "Electrically Operated Smoking Devices" (CAGR 31.3%). Interestingly, "Cigars, Cigarettes" also made the Top 10 (CAGR 28.3%). Who would have thought in 2022 that patents for Earth Drilling and Cigars/Cigarettes would be among the fastest growing categories?

IFI noted that "Special Features Related to Earth Drilling," which focuses on helping improve earth drilling for oil and gas had moved up from 6th in 2021 to 3rd in 2022. This led IFI to look at U.S. grants for "Green" patents which appear to outpace Earth Drilling by more than 2 to 1. Upon closer inspection IFI found that the majority of grants (66%) in the Green class are for mitigating technologies needed to battle effects of fossil fuels. Only about one-third of Green patents are for truly renewable energies (solar, wind, green hydrogen, water, etc.) where 2022 data show that Earth Drilling grants actually outpaced them by 27 percent.

"As far as patent activity is concerned, we're not yet seeing a shift toward renewable energy, and some of the fast growing sub-technology areas are focused on improving and more efficiently harvesting traditional fossil fuel sources," said Baycroft.

To view the full report, visit the 2022 Top 10 Fastest Growing Technologies.

Japan and Panasonic Dominate Total Global Patent Holdings

As of Jan. 3, 2023, Japanese companies owned more than one in three of all worldwide patent "families," with 1.5 million or 40 percent of the Global 250. China is second with 25 percent and the U.S. is third with 16 percent. Panasonic leads the IFI Global 250 list with 94,341 patent families, and Samsung was just behind. Hitachi, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Canon rounded out the top five.

A patent family is a collection of global patent filings related to a single invention. As a result, a patent for the same invention filed in multiple jurisdictions is only counted once. The IFI Global 250 list is a look back at total active patent families owned by a single company, not just patents earned in any given year.

Japan also had 92 representative companies (37%) on the Global 250, well ahead of the U.S. (55 companies; 22%) and China (45 companies; 18%). Germany, France and South Korea had far fewer representative companies in the third, fourth and fifth positions.

IBM was the highest-ranking American company on this list, coming in at No. 16 with 43,014 patent families. Other U.S. concerns on this list included Microsoft (30th; 31,563 families), GE (38th; 27,008), Intel (44th; 23,758), Alphabet/Google (46th; 22,935) and Amazon (76th; 13,519).

Patent activity provides valuable insight into companies' R&D activity for researchers, analysts, and investors. It speaks to productivity and IP strategy, and frequently reveals technology trends and the competitive landscape within various industries. Often the true value of a company lies with its intellectual properties, so examining patent assets is a key tool in gauging the intangible assets of publicly traded companies.

To create your own analysis, visit the IFI CLAIMS Live 1000, a free tool which uses data from the top 1000 companies that received patents across multiple countries and patent jurisdictions. The tool shows live data and offers interactive features that allow users to create and sort their own lists using a variety of filters.

About IFI CLAIMS Patent Services

IFI CLAIMS Patent Services uses proprietary data architecture to produce the industry's most accurate patent database. The CLAIMS Direct platform allows for the easy integration of applications, other data sets, and analysis software. Headquartered in New Haven, Conn., with a satellite office in Barcelona, Spain, IFI CLAIMS is part of Digital Science, a digital research technology company based in London. For more information, visit www.ificlaims.com.

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HELSINKI (dpa-AFX) - Finland's industrial production declined for the second straight month in November as output decreased across all sectors, and demand shrunk, data from Statistics Finland showed on Tuesday. Industrial production decreased a working-day-adjusted 3.1 percent year-on-year in November, following a 0.2 percent drop in October. Among the main industries, the mining and quarrying output fell sharply by 26.7 percent annually in November, and production in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply contracted by 7.0 percent. Output produced in the manufacturing sector declined by 1.8 percent. On a monthly basis, industrial production fell 1.2 percent in November, following a 2.3 percent decrease in the prior month. Separate data from the statistical office showed that manufacturing new orders dropped 8.9 percent annually in November, after a 5.9 percent growth in October. The chemical industry declined 5.6 percent and the paper industry fell 3.7 percent. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / Kingfisher Metals Corp. (TSXV:KFR)(FSE:970)(OTCQB:KGFMF) ("Kingfisher" or the "Company") announces drill results from the 100% owned 511 km2 Goldrange Project. Goldrange is located approximately 25 km south of the town of Tatla Lake in the Chilcotin region of Southwest British Columbia.

Highlights

The Western Target Area has limited surface exploration due to steep terrain and returned up to 2 m of 4.4 g/t Au

The highest concentration and grade of intercepts in the Western Target Area appear to vector to the Pad 400 Target Area, with a more than 200 m gap in drilling

Similar to other drilled regions of the Cloud Drifter Trend, broad anomalous gold was intercepted often centered on focused high-grade structures

Dustin Perry, CEO states "Drilling of the Western Target Area returned anomalous gold mineralisation that increases in strength towards the center of the soil anomaly where our best results have come to date. We await results from the Eastern Target Area, the Langara Zone, and the four final holes of the program drilled near the highlight intercept of 2.9 g/t Au over 40 m in GR22-018."

The Goldrange Project covers a significant deformation zone with numerous precious metal veins across the project. Mineralization at Goldrange occurs within the orogenic Yalakom Gold Belt, which is host to the Bridge River District that includes the past-producing Bralorne Mine. Several areas of historical hand mining are located within the project that date back to the 1930s.

The 2022 drill program (Figure 1) at the Goldrange Project was designed to follow up on the initial 2021 program as well as test a much broader area across the Cloud Drifter Trend. The five drill holes of the 2022 program (Tables 1 and 2) included within this release are located at the western boundary of the Cloud Drifter Trend soil anomaly. Remaining drill hole results from the Cloud Drifter and Langara zones are pending.

Western Target Area

Drill holes at the Western Target Area, located 200-400 m west of the Pad 400 Target Area, focused on domains of high multi-element soil geochemical anomaly coupled with a coincident conductivity and chargeability anomaly. Geological mapping in 2020 identified an Fe-oxide alteration body uphill of this soil anomaly that contains Fe-oxide veins interpreted to reflect the reaction of sulfide minerals with meteoric water and air. The Western Target Area has seen little exploration to date due to the steep nature of the terrain.

Highlight intercepts from the Western Target Area are listed in Table 1 and plotted on Figure 2.

Figure 1: Diamond Drill Hole and Section Locations in the Cloud Drifter Zone

Hole From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au g/t GR22-023 84.5 86.5 2 1.36 GR22-023 131.3 131.8 0.5 1.57 GR22-024 64.5 75.5 11 0.34 GR22-024 89.5 94.5 5 0.52 GR22-025 47 67 20 0.30 GR22-025 213 218 5 0.41 GR22-026 78 79 1 2.49 GR22-026 112 114 2 1.34 GR22-026 246 247 1 2.15 GR22-026 315 318 3 0.91 GR22-026 350 357 7.1 1.55 incl. 350 352 2 4.37 GR22-027 no significant intervals

*True widths are not known at this time. All widths reported are drilled widths.

Table 1: Highlight Drill Intercepts, Western Target Area

Hole Easting (m) Northing (m) Elevation (m) Depth (m) Azimuth Dip GR22-023 388185 5705655 1572 252 354 57 GR22-024 388257 5705646 1583 285 333 54 GR22-025 388257 5705646 1583 348 333 74 GR22-026 388122 5705481 1700 502 30 56 GR22-027 388122 5705481 1700 498 300 55

Table 2: Diamond Drill Collars (NAD 83 - Zone 10)

Figure 2: Sections from Western Target Area

Exploration Update

A total of 29 diamond drill holes, over 7,545 m, have been completed in the Cloud Drifter Trend. Drilling at the Western Target Area included 5 holes over 1,884 meters and drilling at the Eastern Target Area included ten holes over 1,986 meters. Drilling at the Pad 400 Target Area included 2,082 m over 10 holes. Four drill holes at the Langara Zone have been completed over 1,594 meters. Results are pending for the Eastern Target Area, the Langara Zone, and four remaining holes at the Pad 400 Target Area.

Deep penetrating induced polarization (IP) geophysical surveys were completed at the Eastern Target Area at the Cloud Drifter Zone as well as at the Day Trip Zone. These surveys expand both the lateral and depth extents from previous survey coverage. Geophysical and RAB drill results will be released once final data is received.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QAQC)

All drillholes in this release are NQ sized (47.6 mm diameter). A continuous series of one-metre-long half-split core samples was taken down the entire length of each drill hole. Sample lengths were reduced to a minimum of half a meter to avoid crossing lithologic contacts or other features deemed important by Kingfisher's geologists.

Unlabelled certified reference materials (CRM) were inserted systematically throughout the sample sequence along with blanks and duplicate samples. In addition to the systematic insertion of duplicates, duplicates were also collected from conspicuously mineralized samples. Half-split core samples for duplicates were further split into quarter core samples before submission for analysis. Upon receipt of duplicate analyses, the results from each of the quarter cores were averaged before integration into the assay database. The total number of blanks, duplicates and CRM samples equals approximately 5% of the total samples taken.

Core samples were shipped to MSALABS, located in Langley, British Columbia for preparation and analysis. MSALABS is an ISO17025 and ISO9001 accredited laboratory and is independent of Kingfisher and its Qualified Person. Samples were prepped using the SPL430, CRU-220 and analyzed for 48 major and trace elements with ICP-MS after a four-acid digestion (method code IMS-230). Following sample preparation, a 500 g split from each sample was sent to MSALABS Val-D'Or location for Au analysis using Chrysos PhotonAssayTM (method code CPA-Au1). Selected samples were also subjected to Au fire assay and gravimetric check assays. A 30 g split from each check assay sample was analyzed for Au using a lead collection fire assay fusion that was digested and analyzed using AA (method code FAS-111). A 30g split from the check assay samples that assayed >10 ppm Au was analyzed using a lead collection fire assay fusion with a gravimetric finish (method code FAS-415).

Qualified Person

Dustin Perry, P.Geo., Kingfisher's CEO, is the Company's Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has prepared the technical information presented in this release.

About Kingfisher Metals Corp.

Kingfisher Metals Corp. (https://kingfishermetals.com/) is a Canadian based exploration company focused on underexplored district-scale projects in British Columbia. Kingfisher has three 100% owned district-scale projects that offer potential exposure to high-grade gold, copper, silver, and zinc. The Company currently has 103,057,272 shares outstanding.

For further information, please contact:

Dustin Perry, P.Geo.

CEO and Director

Phone: +1 778 606 2507

E-Mail: info@kingfishermetals.com

Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Mineralization hosted on adjacent and/or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Company's property. This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information in this news release relate to, among other things: formulation of plans for drill testing; and the success related to any future exploration or development programs.

These forward-looking statements and information reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant operational, business, economic and regulatory uncertainties and contingencies. These assumptions include; success of the Company's projects; prices for gold remaining as estimated; currency exchange rates remaining as estimated; availability of funds for the Company's projects; capital, decommissioning and reclamation estimates; prices for energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services (including transportation); no labour- related disruptions; no unplanned delays or interruptions in scheduled construction and production; all necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals are received in a timely manner; and the ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive.

The Company cautions the reader that forward-looking statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release and the Company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic; fluctuations in gold prices; fluctuations in prices for energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services (including transportation); fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar); operational risks and hazards inherent with the business of mineral exploration; inadequate insurance, or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks and hazards; our ability to obtain all necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in a timely manner; changes in laws, regulations and government practices, including environmental, export and import laws and regulations; legal restrictions relating to mineral exploration; increased competition in the mining industry for equipment and qualified personnel; the availability of additional capital; title matters and the additional risks identified in our filings with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com). Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described, or intended. Investors are cautioned against undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.

SOURCE: Kingfisher Metals Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734631/Kingfisher-Reports-Drill-Results-from-Western-Boundary-of-Cloud-Drifter-Trend
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / FireFox Gold Corp. (TSXV:FFOX)(OTCQB:FFOXF) ("FireFox" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Andor Lips to its board of directors. Dr. Lips is an experienced geologist who resides in the Netherlands. Dr Lips holds advisory and board positions across the globe. HCF International Advisories, Western Tethyan Resources, 79th Group, Spectral Industries, and Verde Magnesium are a few of the groups that are benefiting from his expertise in strategic, technical, financial and governance matters.

Prior to his current consulting and advisory activities, he worked for Eldorado Gold as VP European Strategy & Corporate Sustainability. He also held prior positions with the Commodity Discovery Fund (Fund Manager), ING Bank N.V. (Senior Banker), Lydian International Ltd (Technical Director), and BRGM (Senior Geologist and Program Manager) whilst also providing external expert advice to the European Commission over the past decade. Dr. Lips earned his PhD and Master's degrees in Structural Geology and Geodynamics at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

FireFox also announces the resignation of Mr. Timo Maki as a director of the Company. The Company would like to express its heartfelt appreciation to Mr. Maki for his contribution to the board of directors. FireFox wishes Mr. Maki every success in his future endeavors.

Dr. Lips commented about joining the FireFox team, "It is a great pleasure to join FireFox in these exciting times. The large landholding that FireFox has secured across the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt is phenomenal. This area has always been on my radar since my initial compilations at BRGM of the mineral potential across Europe. Combined with our deep Finland expertise and locally based management team, the company holds all the key ingredients for future success."

FireFox chairman, Patrick Highsmith, added, "We believe it is of great value to bring independent technical directors to the board of FireFox. Andor is a geologist who comes to the team with a substantial track record of success across industry, finance, and government. His experience in banking and investment funds further enhances the value of his perspective. We look forward to a tremendous 2023."

Issuance of Share Purchase Options

In association with this appointment and in keeping with its intended annual calendar, FireFox also reports that its board of directors has approved the grant of 3,900,000 incentive stock options to certain directors, officers, staff and consultants in recognition of their respective contributions to the development of the Company. This grant of options is subject to the terms and conditions of the Company's incentive stock option plan, which has been approved by shareholders, and approval by the TSX Venture Exchange and regulatory authorities. The options are valid for five years from the date of issuance and exercisable at a price of $0.12 per share, a 9% premium to the closing price of the stock on Friday, January 6, 2023.

About FireFox Gold Corp.

FireFox Gold Corp is listed on the TSX Venture Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FFOX. FireFox also trades on the OTCQB Venture Market Exchange in the US under the ticker symbol FFOXF. The Company has been exploring for gold in Finland since 2017 where it holds a huge portfolio of prospective ground.

Finland is one of the top mining investment jurisdictions in the world as indicated by its multiple top-10 rankings in recent Fraser Institute Surveys of Mining Companies. Having a strong mining law and long mining tradition, Finland remains underexplored for gold. Recent exploration results in the country have highlighted its prospectivity, and FireFox is proud to have a Finland based CEO and technical team.

For more information, please refer to the Company's website and profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Carl Lofberg"

Chief Executive Officer

CONTACT:

FireFox Gold Corp.

Email: carl@firefoxgold.com

Telephone: 778-938-1994

Forward Looking Statements

The information herein contains forward looking statements that are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences include: changes in world commodity markets, equity markets, the extent of work stoppage and economic impacts that may result from the COVID 19 virus, costs and supply of materials relevant to the mining industry, changes in government and regulations affecting the mining industry.

Forward-looking statements in this release may include statements regarding: the Company's prospects for exploration success and its current and future work program, including the extent and nature of exploration to be conducted in 2023. Although we believe the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, results may vary. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the expectations of FireFox as of the date of dissemination and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking statements and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. FireFox does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable laws.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR DISSEMINATION DIRECTLY, OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES.

SOURCE: FireFox Gold Corp

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734574/Firefox-Gold-Welcomes-Dr-Andor-Lips-to-Its-Board-of-Directors
Singapore, Singapore--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Consulting agency 10X Ecommerce focuses on direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands using founder Xenon Tan's newly created framework.

Xenon Tan

The S.I.A. (Sales, Influencers, and Ads) Framework aims to help e-commerce business founders run an online store simpler.

10X Ecommerce provides specialized consulting services to help online retailers with their online presence. They offer a range of services from improving websites, establishing a business' sales process, and setting up paid advertising campaigns. With the growing need for online retail, e-commerce consulting businesses have become increasingly popular. They can provide the expertise needed to create a successful online retail platform.

"At the age of 19 years old, I had my first taste of E-commerce with a small online clothing brand. I didn't know what I was doing exactly - but I remembered clearly the adrenaline rush of excitement I felt when my phone notification came in the first online sale!" 10X Ecommerce founder Xenon Tan said. "I want e-commerce founders to experience the same feeling and make it a regular thing. I felt it was my mission to help fill the market gap for DTC brands as there is a huge knowledge gap in e-commerce among brand founders. I believe it is my calling to equip brand founders with real tangible skills to scale their online stores to the next level," he continues.

About 10X Ecommerce

10X Ecommerce offers a fully comprehensive consulting service that solves problems and innovates for e-commerce businesses in areas not limited to web design, product management, marketing, and customer service. 10X Ecommerce is contributing to the growing e-commerce industry, providing brand owners with skills and knowledge. 10X Ecommerce has generated $57 million for over 300 clients since its inception.

Contact details

Contact Name: Xenon Tan

Email: hello@10xecommerce.asia

Website: https://www.10xecommerce.asia

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150250


Bipartisan cooperation, national consensus are prerequisites



This year marks the 78th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan, but the relationship between the two countries could hardly be worse. Over nearly eight decades, genuine reconciliation did not grow more possible but became tougher to realize. Why?



People will see part of the reasons in a public debate at the National Assembly tomorrow. The open forum, organized by the foreign ministry and the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union, will discuss ways to resolve the long-standing issue of compensating surviving South Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor.



Korean diplomats will likely explain their "solution" at the public hearing and seek "the participants' understanding."



As far as it's known, the Yoon Suk Yeol government plans to compensate victims with donations from Korean businesses without the participation and formal apology of the Japanese government or companies.



That will satisfy none  victims, opposition parties and the public.



Reconciliation and cooperation between Korea and Japan are needed for regional and global economies and security. As the old saying goes, however, haste wastes any bilateral maneuvers. Just look back eight years ago: the former Park Geun-hye administration tried to apply a similar approach to former sex slaves to Japanese soldiers in a 2015 agreement.



It was worse than doing nothing. Faced with hostile public opinion, the following Moon Jae-in administration had to virtually nullify the accord. President Yoon is right to regain the "lost five years" in bilateral ties, but he is wrong if he repeats his conservative predecessor's mistake.



Tokyo blames Seoul for "moving the goalpost" whenever political power changes hands here. However, as Koreans see it, Japan's political leaders ruined hard-won accords at the last minute. Then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made no moves to "restore the dignity of victims" under the agreement, only stressing its "complete and irreversible" settlement. No Korean leader can accept such brazen-faced behaviors.



This time, too, the Japanese government does not admit the historical fact of forced labor. For example, Tokyo has not kept its promise to write expressly about Korean forced laborers' toils and sacrifices on the so-called Battleship Island after registering it on UNESCO's Cultural Heritage list.



Japanese officials say they would express some regrets if their Korean counterparts made victims accept the solution. However, the order must be the other way around. As former President Park said, an assailant and a victim cannot change their position no matter how much time goes by.



After watching what President Yoon has done recently, however, one can hardly know who's the injurer and the injured.



"The Korean side has kept asking to have a summit, so we had to meet," Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told the Japanese media after a brief summit with Yoon in New York last November. "We will watch how they do it from now on." It was a thinly veiled demand to resolve the forced labor issue. Most Koreans will find it difficult to understand why their leaders must endure such humiliation. All this traces back to the lousy agreement of 2015.



Korean leaders who tried to hastily put history behind them, whether due to economic needs or diplomatic pressure, were wrong. Former President Park Chung-hee fastened the first button incorrectly 58 years ago, and his daughter also bungled it eight years ago. The incumbent president needs not  and must not  follow their leads. He must show the U.S. and other countries how Japan and its rightwing leaders are blocking Seoul's efforts to restore a healthy relationship.



As in everything else, internal unity is a prerequisite. Yoon must meet with opposition politicians to form a united front and seek the public's support. The Korean government and businesses can pay the victims first, provided their Japanese counterparts will follow with similar gestures, however symbolic they might be.



If Yoon pushes ahead with what a victim described as the "0-100 defeat," bilateral ties will move back by decades, not years.








The 14th HKTDC Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair opened today and continues for two days (10 and 11 January) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.



Local and international trade associations and government organisations participating in our fair with their own pavilions at the fairground, presenting a range of exquisite wines.



The first certified kosher Czech whisky is made with the best local ingredients and diluted with local spring water.

HONG KONG, Jan 10, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the 14th HKTDC Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair (Special Edition) opened today and will run for two days (10 and 11 January) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). This year's Wine & Spirits Fair is the HKTDC's first wine event bringing tasting sessions back after a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic. The two-day physical fair is only open to industry buyers and business matching meetings will be set up onsite between buyers and exhibitors to deepen business relationships and open more prospects in the sector.HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Sophia Chong said: "For the first time since its launch in 2008, the Wine & Spirits Fair is held in January to kick off the wine industry event season in 2023, offering plenty of opportunities for buyers and exhibitors to give their business a boost in the new year. The fair features more than 100 local and international exhibitors, showcasing their fine wine, liquor, baijiu, beer, sake and other alcoholic beverages from around the world, including Argentina, Australia, Mainland China, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Scotland and the United States. Local and international trade associations and government organisations participating in our fair with their own pavilions at the fairground, include the Hong Kong Wine and Spirits Association (HKWSA), Hong Kong General Chamber of Wine & Spirits (HKGCWS), Craft Beer Association of Hong Kong (CBAHK), Beverage and Food Community (BNFC), National Tax Agency Japan and Fukuoka Prefectural Government."According to the latest wine industry data from the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV), as of 2021, the mainland was the world's seventh-largest wine consumer. Hong Kong started its zero-wine duty policy in 2008 and has since become the first free wine port among major economies, boosting wine imports. Hong Kong and the mainland also signed a cooperation agreement in 2010 to facilitate customs clearance for wine exported from Hong Kong to the mainland. Since November 2017, these measures have been extended to every port in the 42 mainland Customs Districts, further fortifying Hong Kong's position as Asia's wine trading and distribution hub. The value of Hong Kong's wine exports for 2021 reached HK$1.595 billion (US$204 million), a 77% year-on-year rise. Most exports in Hong Kong are re-exports of imported wines, with Asia the major market. The mainland and Macao, which together accounted for nearly 66% of 2021 exports, are the major destinations for Hong Kong. In addition, Hong Kong is the third-largest sake export market after the US and mainland.Tradition and technology combine for fine winemakingOverseas and local exhibitors exhibit a variety of fine wines at the Wine & Spirits Fair. Rymill Coonawarra from Australia (booth: S425-03A) brought the 2018 Classic Cabernet Sauvignon from the Coonawarra region in Australia, which is made with carefully selected locally grown Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in French oak barrels. This wine was given a high rating of 95 points by Jane Faulkner in the Halliday Wine Companion 2021; Hong Kong Beer Co., Ltd. (Booth: S423-01) at the CBAHK pavilion presented locally brewed NO LIMITS PALE ALE beer, which is loaded with premium Cryo Pop, Citra, Idaho 7, and Azacca hop cultivars to achieve maximum citrus and tropical fruit flavours and aromas. The Hong Kong local beer has won Silver Medal, Brussels Beer Challenge 2022 and Bronze Medal, International Beer Cup 2022.Specialty wines from rare production regions highlight unique flavoursAt the HKWSA Pavilion, PD Jemmuelson Ltd (Hong Kong) (booth: S226-05) displayed Yuchun Junmai Sake from Taiwan, made with domestic top-grade penglai rice under "pure rice brewing", presenting the flavour of Taiwan; T'z Limited (Hong Kong) (booth: S222-08) at the HKGCWS pavilion presented Trebitsch Single Malt Whisky, the world's first Czech single-malt with international kosher quality certification. Trebitsch is first and only company in the Czech Republic that specialises in whisky production. The whisky is made with the best local ingredients and diluted with local spring water.Grasping the health trend and reshaping tastesArrive Sake Gold (Junmai Daiginjo) demonstrated by TANAKA Shuzoten Inc. (Japan) (booth: S421-15), an exhibitor at the Japan pavilion, is a rare vegan-certified Japanese sake. It is made with luxurious Yamada-Nishiki, the highest grade of sake rice produced in Hyogo Prefecture. The sake has a gentle and full-bodied ginjo aroma; Katsuya Syuzo Partnership Company (Japan) (booth: S428-02) of Fukuoka pavilion presents Honoka sake, light and easy-to-drink, meeting the needs of young people and women who prefer a light taste.Fine wines from around the worldLocal exhibitor Everrise International Trading Co Ltd. (booth: S422) exhibits Kweichow Moutai, the state guest baijiu that is highly sought after in the mainland market. The baijiu has won a number of international awards and has gradually become a new hot pick among consumers. The other local exhibitor, Hong Kong Craft Distilling Co. Limited (booth: S423-03), featured 100% locally brewed N.I.P Rare Dry Gin distilled from 21 different types of traditional gin herbs and raw ingredients with distinctive Hong Kong flavours.Events and seminars to promote industry exchangesA series of exciting activities will be arranged, including Hong Kong Wine Industry Outlook 2023 (With HKWSA); Taking off: A Flight of Local Beer and Cider (With CBAHK); Insider's Guide to Wine Authentication (With HKGCWS); Mystic Island Winery - An Exceptional Chinese Vineyard (With Wine & Spirits) introduces fine wines from Yantai, Shandong; and the 4th Miss SAKE Hong Kong Inauguration Ceremony to promote exchanges between industry players.Websites- Wine & Spirits Fair: http://hkwinefair.hktdc.com/- Product highlights and photo download: https://www.hktdc.com/event/hkwinefair/en- Photo download: https://bit.ly/3k8PPfuAbout HKTDCThe Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 to promote, assist and develop Hong Kong's trade. With 50 offices globally, including 13 in Mainland China, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a two-way global investment and business hub. The HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to create business opportunities for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the mainland and international markets. The HKTDC also provides up-to-date market insights and product information via trade publications, research reports and digital news channels. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Twitter @hktdc and LinkedIn.Media enquiriesPlease contact the HKTDC's Communications & Public Affairs Department:Kate Chan, Tel: +852 2584 4239, Email: kate.hy.chan@hktdc.orgAgnes Wat, Tel: +852 2584 4554, Email: agnes.ky.wat@hktdc.orgSource: HKTDCCopyright 2023 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Roscan Gold Corporation (TSXV: ROS) (FSE: 2OJ) (OTCQB: RCGCF) ("Roscan" or the "Company") is pleased to announce positive drilling results (Figures 1 and 4) from an additional program consisting of 41 Reverse Circulation ("RC"), 14 Air Core (AC) and 2 Diamond Drilling ("DD") holes totaling 6,153 meters (m) at our Southern Mankouke Zone.

The results confirm additional mineralization and the continuity of mineralization between the main mineral resources of MS1 and its satellite at MS3. In addition, significant mineralization near the surface and in the fresh rock at depth, allows for a southern pit shell extension with the capturing of these potential additional ounces.

Drilling Highlights:

Mankouke South

1.1 gpt gold over 29m from drill hole RCMan22-0094 from 8m including 5.15 gpt gold over 1m from 32 m and 1.55 gpt gold over 31m from 103m including 5.36 gpt over 4m from 107m

gpt gold over from drill hole from 8m

1.07 gpt gold over 29m from drill hole DDMan22-140 from 0m including 3.8 gpt gold over 3m from 0m

gpt gold over from drill hole from 0m

1.39 gpt gold over 16m from drill hole DDMan22-139 from 80m and 1.64 gpt gold over 10m from 328.5m

gpt gold over from drill hole from 80m

1.27 gpt gold over 15m from drill hole RCMan22-0089 from 69m I ncluding 4.87 gpt gold over 2m from 72m

gpt gold over from drill hole from 69m

1.23 gpt gold over 9m from drill hole RCMan22-0091 from 10m and 1.94 gpt gold over 4m from 115m including 4.05 gpt over 1m from 118m

gpt gold over from drill hole from 10m

1.42 gpt over 6m from drill hole RCMan22-0085 from 163m Including 5.03 gpt gold over 1m from 167m

gpt over from drill hole from 163m

1.02 gpt gold over 8m from drill hole RCMan22-0090 from 155m

1.13 gpt gold over 6m from drill hole RCMan22-0082 from 138m including 4.41 gpt gold over 1m from 142m and 1.82 gpt gold over 6m from 160m including 4.08 gpt gold over 2m from 160m

gpt gold over from drill hole from 138m

Mankouke Central

3.43 gpt gold over 23m from drill hole RCMan22-0107 Including 5.19 gpt gold over 13m from 7m

gpt gold over from drill hole

1.76 gpt gold over 8m from drill hole RCMan22-0108 from 33m

1.4 gpt gold over 10m from drill hole ACMan21-1253 from 0m

1.46 gpt gold over 9m from drill hole RCMan22-0104 from 0m

1.11 gpt gold over 10m from drill hole ACMan21-1255 from 22m

Notes: 1: True width yet to be determined, 2: Table 1 - Assay Highlights, 3: 0.5gpt used as cut-off with 4m internal dilution for drill holes, and 4: No top-cut.

Nana Sangmuah, President and CEO, stated, "These additional infill drill results and step out drill results point to further growth in our resource footprint declared in our maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE). We are encouraged by the continuity and high-grade mineralization at our flagship Mankouke South target, which should be the core for establishing an economic stand-alone project at Kandiole. The ~ 30Mt of the resource estimation established so far at Kandiole, indicates that this project is on track to be a potential low strip high-margin oxide operation with potential for significant sulphide feed at depth, which should bolster project economics".

Mankouke South (MS1-MS3)

The last drilling campaign at Mankouke South confirmed a strike length of gold mineralization of 1.1 km, with 150m in the thickest portion, and with 360m vertical depth. The gold mineralized body of Mankouke South represents 66% of the total resource estimates of the Kandiole project with an average gold grade of 1.6g/t at 0.5 g/t cut-off (June 8, 2022, Press Release) within a pit of 315m for the deepest part and with an average strip ratio of 2.7:1.

These gold intercepts add to the upside potential of current mineral resources within applied $1,500 USD pit shell design (June 8, 2022, Press Release), as well as in the MS1-MS3 connection in the Southern part. The next drilling program goal will be the development of these gold extensions to include them into the next resource estimation update.

The gold results, along with the felsic intrusive occurrence carrying the mineralization, support the thesis of continuity of the model at depth, bringing together MS1 and MS3 into one mineralized body, which remains open. The gold is also associated with a brittle structure, yielding a strongly altered brecciation visible, for example in the DDMan22-139.

The North-West fence exploration indicates a possible extension of gold mineralization in the NW direction at MS3.

The structural and airborne geophysics interpretations, in addition to the extrapolation of the Siribaya mineralized parallel zones (Zone A and B) in the southern permit, suggest a possible gold mineralization duplication in the unexplored zone at East of MS1. Several reconnaissance holes are planned.

Mankouke Central

The Mankouke Center gold mineralization, located 4km North from Mankouke South, occurs as the thick gold enrichment at the surface (35m width) and a possible continuity of the mineralization root of this to the East.

At Mankouke Central the gold mineralization strike length reached 420m. The root is pinching around 90 m vertical depth. The mineralization could pinch, as in Mankouke South, in the base of the clastic sediment package, and resumes at depth, around the felsic intrusion, where the fractured to the brecciated zone is mineralized.





Figure 1: Plan View of the Mankouke South Drilling (MS1, MS2 and MS3)

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4821/150739_d6d19c0b74809a0e_001full.jpg





Figure 2: Cross Section Depicting Depth Extension with RCMan22-0094 at MS1 Section 1375600

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4821/150739_d6d19c0b74809a0e_002full.jpg





Figure 3: NW-SE Cross Section, link between MS1and MS3

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4821/150739_d6d19c0b74809a0e_003full.jpg





Figure 4: DDMan22-139 photo gold intercepts

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4821/150739_d6d19c0b74809a0e_004full.jpg





Figure 5: Plan view of Mankouke Center drilling

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4821/150739_d6d19c0b74809a0e_005full.jpg





Figure 6: Mankouke Center cross section 1380600N

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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Geology

The pull-apart basin disseminated gold mineralization type, repeated from Siribaya/Mankouke South/Mankouke Central/Kabaya and further the Oklo's deposits in the continuous structural corridor, well-marked on the airborne geophysics magnetic and electromagnetic surveys, demonstrate a major regional structure occurrence over more than 40 km, open toward the South and the North, underneath the upper Proterozoic sandstone. The gold-bearing structure size at the surface suggests a deep sheared zone favoring the acid intrusions comings accompanied by the different hydrothermal phases carrying alteration and gold. Some additional deep holes are needed to evaluate the high-grade gold potential along this major structural corridor.

The Mankouke South disseminated gold mineralization is located within the brittle zone above a footwall unit of finely banded and alternating graphitic shale and limestone referred to as the carbonaceous bedded mudstone. The gold mineralization is associated with faults zones, quartz veins, and breccias, as well as a strong alteration, mainly albite, silicification, ankerite, and chlorite, with sulfite occurrences (pyrite, arsenopyrite). In MS1, as well as MS3, the felsic intrusion seems to play a major role in gold mineralization.

The gold mineralization at Mankouke Center is also disseminated in the clastic sediment unit strongly saprolitized, mainly associated with debris flow lithology in the vicinity of a felsic intrusion.

Drilling and Analytical Protocol

Roscan uses Geodrill Reverse Circulation (RC) to drill until maximum 170m to reach the target and Foraco to drill diamond hole, using PQ size rods in the saprolite and HQ size in the fresh rock.

The DD and RC samples have been sent for preparation to the ALS Laboratories in Bamako, Mali and assayed at their analytical facilities to Ouagadougou for 1 kg Bottle Roll for DD and 2kg Bottle Roll for RC with atomic absorption finish including tail analysis by 50g Fire Assays for results more than 0.05ppm. AC samples were prepared by Bureau Veritas Bamako and sent to Bottle analysis at their Abidjan Laboratory. Roscan applied industry-standard QA/QC procedures to the program using reference materials, blanks, standards, and duplicates.

Mankouke South

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) gpt Au Comment ACMan21-1187 0.0 2.0 2.0 0.54 Laterite 6.0 10.0 4.0 1.47 Laterite ACMan21-1188 56.0 58.0 2.0 0.59 Fresh Rock ACMan21-1234 10.0 12.0 2.0 0.99 Overburden ACMan21-1238 14.0 16.0 2.0 1.31 Overburden ACMan21-1252 10.0 12.0 2.0 2.24 Laterite ACMan21-1253 0.0 10.0 10.0 1.40 Laterite ACMan21-1254 0.0 10.0 10.0 0.63 Laterite ACMan21-1255 0.0 6.0 6.0 0.87 Laterite 14.0 16.0 2.0 0.52 Saprolite 22.0 32.0 10.0 1.11 Saprolite ACMan21-1256 0.0 12.0 12.0 0.77 Laterite - Saprolite ACMan21-1257 0.0 8.0 8.0 0.88 Laterite - Saprolite DDMan22-139 72.0 74.0 2.0 0.95 Saprolite 80.0 96.0 16.0 1.39 Saprolite 99.0 100.0 1.0 0.64 Saprolite 114.0 115.0 1.0 2.07 Saprolite 127.0 128.0 1.0 1.96 Saprolite 136.0 137.0 1.0 0.55 Fresh Rock 139.0 141.0 2.0 0.90 Fresh Rock 147.5 151.5 4.0 1.62 Fresh Rock including 147.5 148.5 1.0 4.76 Fresh Rock 175.5 177.5 2.0 3.25 Fresh Rock 249.5 250.5 1.0 1.43 Fresh Rock 259.5 260.5 1.0 0.65 Fresh Rock 264.5 266.5 2.0 0.69 Fresh Rock 328.5 338.5 10.0 1.64 Fresh Rock including 334.5 335.5 1.0 3.98 Fresh Rock DDMan22-140 0.0 29.0 29.0 1.07 Laterite-Saprolite including 0.0 3.0 3.0 3.80 Laterite-Saprolite 39.0 40.0 1.0 1.39 Saprolite 93.0 95.0 2.0 2.99 Saprock 105.0 106.0 1.0 0.62 Saprock 110.0 112.0 2.0 0.80 Saprock RCMan21-0071 122.0 129.0 7.0 0.54 Saprolite - Saprock-Fresh Rock RCMan21-0072 58.0 60.0 2.0 0.48 Saprolite 74.0 75.0 1.0 0.80 Saprolite 90.0 92.0 2.0 1.25 Saprolite 105.0 108.0 3.0 0.59 Saprolite RCMan21-0073 59.0 65.0 6.0 2.49 Saprolite including 60.0 61.0 1.0 9.08 Saprolite 135.0 136.0 1.0 0.72 Fresh Rock 138.0 139.0 1.0 2.19 Fresh Rock RCMan21-0075 34.0 35.0 1.0 0.54 Saprolite RCMan21-0076 11.0 12.0 1.0 1.04 Laterite RCMan21-0077 30.0 31.0 1.0 0.72 Saprolite 100.0 101.0 1.0 0.85 Fresh Rock 103.0 104.0 1.0 0.54 Fresh Rock 110.0 113.0 3.0 0.99 Fresh Rock 153.0 163.0 10.0 0.68 Fresh Rock RCMan22-0078 33.0 41.0 8.0 0.75 Saprolite 46.0 47.0 1.0 0.98 Saprolite



Table 1: Drillhole Highlights at Mankouke South





Mankouke South

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) gpt Au Comment RCMan22-0079 34.0 39.0 5.0 1.81 Saprolite including 34.0 35.0 1.0 4.79 Saprolite RCMan22-0080 49.0 52.0 3.0 0.87 Saprolite RCMan22-0081 52.0 53.0 1.0 0.56 Saprolite 141.0 142.0 1.0 8.33 Fresh Rock 146.0 147.0 1.0 0.53 Fresh Rock RCMan22-0082 138.0 144.0 6.0 1.13 Fresh Rock including 142.0 143.0 1.0 4.41 Fresh Rock 160.0 166.0 6.0 1.82 Fresh Rock including 160.0 162.0 2.0 4.08 Fresh Rock RCMan22-0084 135.0 136.0 1.0 1.36 Saprolite RCMan22-0085 154.0 157.0 3.0 1.83 Fresh Rock including 154.0 155.0 1.0 3.68 Fresh Rock 163.0 169.0 6.0 1.42 Fresh Rock including 167.0 168.0 1.0 5.03 Fresh Rock RCMan22-0087 109.0 110.0 1.0 1.37 Fresh Rock 133.0 136.0 3.0 1.19 Fresh Rock RCMan22-0088B 72.0 77.0 5.0 0.51 Saprolite 89.0 97.0 8.0 0.58 Saprolite-Fresh Rock 102.0 104.0 2.0 0.75 Fresh Rock RCMan22-0089 11.0 12.0 1.0 0.51 Laterite 15.0 17.0 2.0 1.43 Saprolite 29.0 30.0 1.0 0.60 Saprolite 47.0 48.0 1.0 1.36 Saprolite 53.0 65.0 12.0 0.66 Saprolite 69.0 84.0 15.0 1.27 Saprock - Saprolite including 72.0 74.0 2.0 4.87 Saprock RCMan22-0090 8.0 9.0 1.0 0.56 Laterite 62.0 64.0 2.0 1.51 Saprock 155.0 163.0 8.0 1.02 Fresh Rock RCMan22-0091 10.0 19.0 9.0 1.23 Laterite - Saprolite 43.0 44.0 1.0 1.06 Saprolite 61.0 62.0 1.0 0.55 Saprock 81.0 82.0 1.0 0.54 Fresh Rock 115.0 119.0 4.0 1.94 Fresh Rock including 118.0 119.0 1.0 4.05 Fresh Rock 123.0 124.0 1.0 0.66 Fresh Rock 166.0 167.0 1.0 0.60 Fresh Rock RCMan22-0094 3.0 4.0 1.0 0.60 Laterite 8.0 37.0 29.0 1.10 Laterite including 32.0 33.0 1.0 5.15 Saprolite 103.0 134.0 31.0 1.55 Saprock-Fresh Rock including 107.0 111.0 4.0 5.36 Saprock including 122.0 124.0 2.0 2.74 Fresh Rock RCMan22-0095 12.0 13.0 1.0 0.90 Mottled Zone RCMan22-0096B 27.0 28.0 1.0 1.20 Saprolite



Table 2: Drillhole Highlights at Mankouke South





Mankouke Center

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) gpt Au Comment ACMan21-1253 0.0 10.0 10.0 1.40 Saprolite ACMan21-1254 0.0 10.0 10.0 0.63 Saprolite ACMan21-1255 0.0 10.0 10.0 0.68 Saprolite 22.0 32.0 10.0 1.11 Saprolite ACMan21-1256 0.0 12.0 12.0 0.77 Saprolite ACMan21-1257 0.0 8.0 8.0 0.88 Saprolite RCMan22-0098 37.0 39.0 2.0 0.49 Saprolite 93.0 95.0 2.0 1.09 Saprolite 102.0 103.0 1.0 0.94 Saprolite RCMan22-0099 10.0 12.0 2.0 0.50 Saprolite 29.0 31.0 2.0 1.39 Saprolite 69.0 71.0 2.0 0.97 Saprolite RCMan22-0100 73.0 76.0 3.0 3.86 Saprolite RCMan22-0102 1.0 3.0 2.0 1.43 Saprolite RCMan22-0103 0.0 8.0 8.0 0.97 Saprolite RCMan22-0104 0.0 9.0 9.0 1.46 Saprolite RCMan22-0105 0.0 6.0 6.0 1.35 Saprolite RCMan22-0106 0.0 9.0 9.0 0.61 Saprolite RCMan22-0107 0.0 23.0 23.0 3.43 Saprolite including 7.0 20.0 13.0 5.19 Saprolite 33.0 36.0 3.0 1.74 Saprolite 39.0 41.0 2.0 1.27 Saprolite RCMan22-0108 15.0 17.0 2.0 1.18 Saprolite 33.0 41.0 8.0 1.76 Saprolite



Table 3: Drillhole Highlights at Mankouke Center





Mankouke South

Hole ID X Collar Y Collar Zcolar Section AZM DIP EOH ACMan21-1187 262312 1376548 177 1376550 270 -50 66.0 ACMan21-1188 262278 1376548 177 1376550 270 -50 66.0 ACMan21-1234 262260 1376626 174 1376625 270 -50 70.0 ACMan21-1238 264100 1376658 143 1376660 270 -50 80.0 ACMan21-1252 264075 1376227 145 1376230 270 -50 64.0 ACMan21-1253 263349 1380699 184 1380700 90 -50 80.0 ACMan21-1254 263400 1380700 187 1380700 90 -50 80.0 ACMan21-1255 263400 1380800 186 1380800 90 -50 80.0 ACMan21-1256 263350 1380800 182 1380800 90 -50 80.0 ACMan21-1257 263298 1380703 181 1380700 90 -50 80.0 DDMan22-139 262701 1376050 170 1376050 270 -60 346.5 DDMan22-140 262638 1375700 171 1375700 270 -60 152.5 RCMan21-0071 262600 1376050 172 1376050 90 -65 163.0 RCMan21-0072 262526 1376176 172 1376175 270 -50 160.0 RCMan21-0073 262532 1376126 173 1376120 270 -50 160.0 RCMan21-0074* 262678 1376377 169 1376375 270 -50 150.0 RCMan21-0075 262498 1376276 172 1376275 270 -50 175.0 RCMan21-0076 262574 1376325 169 1376325 270 -50 170.0 RCMan21-0077 262628 1376100 171 1376100 270 -50 170.0 RCMan22-0078 262696 1376050 171 1376050 90 -75 134.0 RCMan22-0079 262672 1376100 171 1376100 90 -60 130.0 RCMan22-0080 262529 1376127 173 1376125 270 -70 170.0 RCMan22-0081 262580 1376126 172 1376125 270 -70 170.0 RCMan22-0082 262632 1376125 171 1376125 270 -70 170.0 RCMan22-0083* 262529 1376075 173 1376075 270 -70 170.0 RCMan22-0084 262582 1376076 172 1376075 270 -70 136.0 RCMan22-0085 262629 1376077 171 1376075 270 -70 170.0 RCMan22-0086* 262650 1376475 168 262650 270 -50 160.0 RCMan22-0087 262550 1376473 168 262550 270 -50 170.0 RCMan22-0088 262101 1376473 172 262101 270 -50 100.0 RCMan22-0088B 262106 1376473 172 262106 270 -50 110.0 RCMan22-0089 262201 1376476 173 262201 90 -53 105.0 RCMan22-0090 262104 1376523 171 262104 90 -50 170.0 RCMan22-0091 262201 1376528 172 262201 90 -50 168.0 RCMan22-0092* 262301 1376526 171 262301 90 -50 95.0 RCMan22-0093* 262372 1376528 171 262372 90 -50 120.0 RCMan22-0094 262624 1375600 169 262624 270 -65 150.0 RCMan22-0095 262574 1375598 169 262574 270 -50 139.0 RCMan22-0096 262655 1375551 168 262655 270 -60 150.0 RCMan22-0096B 262656 1375555 168 262656 270 -60 147.0 RCMan22-0097* 262599 1375551 168 262599 270 -50 57.0 RCMan22-0097B 262595 1375553 168 262595 270 -50 130.0 Mankouke Center ACMan21-1253 263349 1380699 187 1380700 90 -50 80.0 ACMan21-1254 263400 1380700 186 1380700 90 -50 80.0 ACMan21-1255 263400 1380800 183 1380800 90 -50 80.0 ACMan21-1256 263350 1380800 178 1380800 90 -50 80.0 ACMan21-1257 263298 1380703 190 1380700 90 -50 80.0 RCMan22-0098 263581 1380550 186 1380550 270 -65 170.0 RCMan22-0099 263539 1380598 185 1380600 270 -75 160.0 RCMan22-0100 263574 1380500 184 1380500 270 -70 155.0 RCMan22-0101 263312 1380566 159 1380565 90 -50 50.0 RCMan22-0102 263364 1380566 163 1380565 90 -50 50.0 RCMan22-0103 263337 1380649 178 1380650 90 -50 50.0 RCMan22-0104 263382 1380649 181 1380650 90 -50 50.0 RCMan22-0105 263352 1380849 174 1380850 90 -50 50.0 RCMan22-0106 263401 1380849 177 1380850 90 -50 50.0 RCMan22-0107 263413 1380603 178 1380600 90 -50 50.0 RCMan22-0108 263461 1380650 183 1380650 90 -50 50.0 * no significant results



Table 4: Drillhole ID at Mankouke





Qualified Person (QP) and NI43-101 Disclosure

Greg Isenor, P. Geo., Director for the Company, is the designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and verified that the technical information contained herein is accurate and approves of the written disclosure of same.

About Roscan

Roscan Gold Corporation is a Canadian gold exploration company focused on the exploration and acquisition of gold properties in West Africa. The Company has assembled a significant land position of 100%-owned permits in an area of producing gold mines (including B2 Gold's Fekola Mine which lies in a contiguous property to the west of Kandiole), and major gold deposits, located both north and south of its Kandiole Project in West Mali.

For further information, please contact:

Nana Sangmuah

President & CEO

Tel: (902) 832-5555

Email: info@Roscan.ca

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, including those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150739
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Blackrock Silver Corp. (TSXV: BRC) (the "Company" or "Blackrock") is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned Nevada subsidiary, Blackrock Gold Corp. ("Blackrock Gold") has entered into an option agreement (the "Option Agreement") with Tearlach Resources Limited (TSXV: TEA) and its wholly-owned Nevada subsidiary, Pan Am Lithium (Nevada) Corp. (collectively, "Tearlach") pursuant to which Tearlach has been granted the option to acquire, in two stages, up to a 70% interest in the lithium minerals in certain unpatented mining claims forming a portion of the Company's Tonopah North project (the "Tonopah North Project") in Esmeralda County and Nye County, Nevada, upon incurring cumulative exploration expenditures of US$15,000,000 and the completion of a Feasibility study within 5 years. Information concerning the discovery of lithium during the Company's first exploration drill program on the Tonopah North Project was announced in the Company's news release dated October 25, 2022.

Andrew Pollard, President and Chief Executive Officer of Blackrock, commented: "This deal creates significant value for Blackrock shareholders by pairing our emerging lithium discovery with a world-class lithium technical team while retaining shareholder upside in potential new silver and gold discoveries on our underexplored Tonopah North project. Tearlach has an impressive team with recognized expertise specifically relating to lithium claystone deposits, and has proposed an aggressive exploration plan that will see up to US$15,000,000 spent as the project is quickly drilled and advanced towards development studies. This transaction allows Blackrock shareholders to gain an interest in an active lithium project while allowing the Company to focus its resources on our high-grade precious metal discoveries. With one of the highest-grade undeveloped silver-gold resources in the world at the adjacent Tonopah West1 project, a new bonanza gold & silver discovery at Silver Cloud, and this transaction, which provides for advancement of our lithium interests, Blackrock is poised for significant growth across our entire project portfolio, and is emerging as a player within the domestic green energy metals space."

Morgan Lekstrom, Chief Executive Officer of Tearlach, commented, "With initial mapping completed and a world-class-Nevada based team with significant geological and processing experience in lithium-bearing clays, we have a roadmap to accelerate and aggressively drill. We plan to drill a much larger core program and advance to the resource estimate while concurrently running engineering and process models."

Option Agreement

Under the terms of the Option Agreement, Tearlach has the right to explore for, and the exclusive option (the "First Option") to earn a 51% interest in, the lithium minerals from the topographical surface to 650 feet below the surface of a portion of the Tonopah North Project (the "Optioned Zone") by incurring expenditures for exploration and development work on the Tonopah North Project ("Expenditures") in the aggregative amount of at least US$5,000,000 consisting of: (i) at least US$500,000 in Expenditures on or before January 9, 2024; and (ii) at least US$4,500,000 in Expenditures on or before January 9, 2026 (collectively, the "Initial Earn-In").

Subject to Tearlach completing the Initial Earn-In, under the terms of the Option Agreement, Tearlach shall have the option (the "Second Option") to elect within thirty (30) days of completing the Initial Earn-In to earn an additional 19% interest in lithium minerals in the Optioned Zone for an aggregate interest of 70% by: (i) expending an additional US$10,000,000 in Expenditures; and (ii) by bearing the costs of preparation of a National Instrument 43-101 compliant bankable feasibility study for the development and construction of a lithium mine on the Tonopah North Project (collectively, the "Additional Earn-In"), with such Second Option terminating if not exercised by Tearlach by January 9, 2028.

In addition, pursuant to the Option Agreement, Tearlach has agreed to pay the Company the sum of US$100,000 in cash on or before April 30, 2024, failing which the Company shall have the right to terminate the Option Agreement.

The exploration and development rights conferred to Tearlach under the Option Agreement in respect of the Tonopah North Project are exclusive to lithium minerals in the Optioned Zone. Subject to the terms of the Option Agreement, Blackrock retains and reserves the rights to explore for, develop and mine all minerals (including gold and silver) other than lithium on the entire Tonopah North Project, including the Optioned Zone.

Joint Venture

Upon Tearlach completing the Initial Earn-In and exercising the First Option, Tearlach and Blackrock Gold shall enter into a definitive mining joint venture agreement (the "Joint Venture Agreement") in respect of the management and ownership of the Optioned Zone of the Tonopah North Project (the "Joint Venture"). After completion of the Additional Earn-In, Tearlach may elect to exercise the Second Option, upon which its participation interest in the Joint Venture shall increase by an additional 19% to a total of 70%. The parties to the Joint Venture shall contribute to future Expenditures in accordance with their respective participating interests as prescribed in the Joint Venture Agreement.

Pursuant to the Joint Venture Agreement, if at any time a party's participating interest in the Joint Venture is diluted to below 5%, the diluted party shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the Joint Venture and its participating interest in the Joint Venture shall be converted to a non-administrative, non-executive and non-working mineral production royalty of two percent 2.0% of the gross revenues from the sale of lithium minerals and lithium mineral products produced from the Tonopah North Project.

Subject to the terms of the Joint Venture Agreement, Tearlach shall be the initial manager of the Joint Venture and shall have control of the activities and operations of the Joint Venture.

Figure 1: Tonopah North/ Tearlach Blackrock JV Map

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About Blackrock Silver Corp.

Blackrock is a junior precious metals focused exploration company that is on a quest to make an economic discovery. Anchored by a seasoned Board, the Company is focused on its Nevada portfolio of properties consisting of low-sulphidation epithermal gold & silver projects located along the established Northern Nevada Rift in north-central Nevada and the Walker Lane trend in western Nevada.

For further information, please contact:

Andrew Pollard, President & CEO

Blackrock Silver Corp.

Phone: 604 817-6044

Email: andrew@blackrocksilver.com

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements concern, without limitation, the exercise of the First Option and the Second Option and the transactions contemplated thereby, including the completion of the Initial Earn-In and the Additional Earn-In, the entering into the Joint Venture, Tearlach's statements as to its exploration and development plans, the Company's strategic plans, timing and expectations for the Company's exploration and drilling programs, estimates of mineralization from drilling, geological information projected from sampling results and the potential quantities and grades of the target zones. Such forward-looking statements or information are based on a number of assumptions, which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things: conditions in general economic and financial markets; accuracy of assay results; geological interpretations from drilling results, timing and amount of capital expenditures; performance of available laboratory and other related services; future operating costs; and the historical basis for current estimates of potential quantities and grades of target zones. The actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of risk factors, including the timing and content of work programs; results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties; the interpretation and uncertainties of drilling results and other geological data; receipt, maintenance and security of permits and mineral property titles; environmental and other regulatory risks; project costs overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; availability of funds; failure to delineate potential quantities and grades of the target zones based on historical data, and general market and industry conditions. Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statements were made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements included in this news release if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as otherwise required by applicable law.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

1 Source: S&P Global Company reports as of December 30, 2022. Silver equivalent (AgEq) resources and grade reflect only silver and gold (M&I and I) resources(excludes base metals) for deposits larger than 40 million ounces AgEq.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150802
Columbia University Professor and seasoned operations executive bring decades of industry, technical and advisory experience in battery sector

FREYR Battery (NYSE: FREY) ("FREYR" or "the Company"), a developer of clean, next-generation battery cell production capacity, has appointed Jason Forcier and Dr. Dan Steingart as independent members of the Company's Board of Directors effective December 21, 2022, and January 9, 2023, respectively. The appointments are intended to fill vacancies created by the departures of Jeremy Bezdek and Jon Christian Thaulow from FREYR's Board of Directors.

On January 9, 2023, FREYR's Board appointed Dr. Dan Steingart as an independent director of the Company, effective January 9, 2023. Dr. Steingart is the Stanley-Thompson Professor of Chemical Metallurgy at Columbia University where he is also the co-director of the Columbia Electrochemical Energy Center. Over the last decade, his research in energy storage has been adopted by various industries and has led directly or indirectly to five electrochemical energy-related startup companies. Additionally, Dr. Steingart has served as Chief Scientist/Advisor to ElectraSteel since 2020, Co-Founder of Liminal Insights Inc. since 2015 and Industry Advisor to Sila Nanotechnologies Inc. since 2016.

"I want to extend a warm welcome to Dan as he joins our Board of Directors," commented Torstein Dale Sjtveit, FREYR's Founder and Executive Chairperson. "Dan brings impressive technical and industry credentials to the FREYR Board as a distinguished electrochemistry expert, a highly respected professor and research scientist at one of the world's foremost academic institutions, and a valued advisor to start-up companies in the energy sector. Our entire team is looking forward to his stewardship through the next phase of FREYR's growth as a global industrial partner of choice in the clean battery space."

"I am excited to be joining the FREYR Board of Directors during a crucial time in the battery industry," remarked Dr. Dan Steingart. "Having observed the company's remarkable progress to date, I believe that FREYR is uniquely positioned to scale a cost-effective battery technology as demand for clean energy storage and mobility accelerates. I have long admired the operating team and am proud to be aiding them on their journey."

As previously announced, Jason Forcier joined FREYR's Board of Directors on December 21, 2022. Mr. Forcier currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of SVP Worldwide. Mr. Forcier's previous experience includes positions as Chief Operations Officer and other senior manufacturing, supply chain and quality roles at Vertiv Holdings Co from 2017 to 2022; and eight years at A123 Systems, a global manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries, where he was the Chief Executive Officer from 2013 until 2017 and member of the board of management.

"Jason's experience leading and establishing manufacturing operations in the lithium-ion battery and other industries will be invaluable to FREYR as we commence production in Norway and the U.S.," remarked Sjtveit. "We are delighted to welcome Jason and his unique skill set to our Board of Directors, and we look forward to his contributions as we establish giga scale production of clean, next-generation batteries."

Mr. Forcier's appointment to the Board of Directors coincided with Jon Christian Thaulow notifying FREYR's Board of Directors of his intention to tender his resignation as a director of the Company effective December 21, 2022.

As announced by the Company on December 23, 2022, Jeremy Bezdek joined FREYR as the Company's Executive Vice President of Global Corporate Development and President of FREYR Battery U.S. Mr. Bezdek joined FREYR from his prior position of Managing Director, Strategic Platforms at Koch Industries. Prior to joining FREYR, Mr. Bezdek spent over 26 years with Koch Industries companies in a variety of executive and leadership roles. On January 8, 2023, he notified FREYR's Board of Directors that he will be tendering his resignation as a director of the Company and as a member and chairperson of its Compensation Committee as he assumes his new responsibilities at FREYR.

In addition, to fill the vacancy on the Compensation Committee created by Mr. Bezdek's resignation, the Board appointed Jason Forcier, an existing independent director of the Company, as a member of the committee effective January 9, 2023. The Board also appointed Mimi Berdal, a current director on the Board and a member of the Compensation Committee, as chairperson of the committee, effective January 9, 2023.

"On behalf of the FREYR Board of Directors Peter Matrai, Olaug Svarva, Mimi Berdal, Daniel Barcelo, and Monica Tiuba, we thank Jon Christian and Jeremy for their enormous contributions to the Company during a pivotal stage in FREYR's journey," added Sjtveit. "Their counsel and dedication have been instrumental to FREYR's commercial and industrial development, and we are grateful for the privilege it has been to serve with them."

About FREYR Battery

FREYR Battery aims to provide industrial scale clean battery solutions to reduce global emissions. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, FREYR's mission is to produce green battery cells to accelerate the decarbonization of energy and transportation systems globally. FREYR has commenced building the first of its planned factories in Mo i Rana, Norway and announced potential development of industrial scale battery cell production in Vaasa, Finland, and the United States. FREYR intends to install 50 GWh of battery cell capacity by 2025 and 100 GWh annual capacity by 2028 and 200 GWh of annual capacity by 2030. To learn more about FREYR, please visit www.freyrbattery.com

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included in this press release, including, without limitation, statements regarding FREYR's growth as a global industrial partner of choice in the clean battery space, FREYR's position to industrialize a next-generation technology as demand for clean energy storage and mobility accelerates, and the establishment of giga scale production of clean, next-generation batteries are forward-looking and involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results.

Most of these factors are outside FREYR's control and difficult to predict. Information about factors that could materially affect FREYR is set forth under the "Risk Factors" section in (i) FREYR's Registration Statement on Form S-3 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on September 1, 2022, as amended, and (ii) FREYR's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 9, 2022, and available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005315/en/

Contacts:

Investor contact:

Jeffrey Spittel

Vice President, Investor Relations

jeffrey.spittel@freyrbattery.com

Tel: (+1) 281-222-0161

Media contact:

Katrin Berntsen

Vice President, Communication and Public Affairs

katrin.berntsen@freyrbattery.com

Tel: (+47) 920 54 570
The Business Research Company's global market reports are now updated with the latest market sizing information for the year 2023 and forecasted to 2032

LONDON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Companies in the market are focusing on developing miniature ventricular assist devices (VADs), which are small-sized devices that can be implanted in the heart. For example, in 2018, Calon Cardio-Technology, a UK-based medical technology company, developed MiniVAD, a miniaturized VAD, to be implanted directly into the left ventricle of a failing heart. The MiniVAD featured a smaller, lighter pump that requires less invasive surgery and causes less damage to the blood. The company planned to carry out human trials for this more cost-effective, low-weight device among 50 patients.





The global ventricular assist device market size reached a value of nearly $1.70 billion in 2022, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.3% since 2017. The ventricular assist device market is expected to grow from $1.70 billion in 2022 to $3.00 billion in 2027 at a rate of 12.0%. The ventricular assist device market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.0% from 2027 and reach $5.29 billion in 2032.

Learn More On The Ventricular Assist Device Market Report

The Rise In Aging Population Will Drive The Ventricular Assist Device Market

The ventricular assist device market analysis identifies the growth in aging population to propel the growth of the ventricular assist device market. As the population ages, number of diseases are also increasing. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are one of the most common diseases in the aging population. These diseases involve the heart or blood vessels and include hypertension, rheumatic heart disease, heart failure, and heart attack. For instance, according to the World Health Organization, by 2030, 1 in 6 people in the world will be aged 60 years or over.

Ventricular Assist Device Market Growth Restrain - Side Effects Caused By Ventricular Assist Devices

As per the ventricular assist device market forecast, the side effects associated with ventricular assist devices are expected to restrain the growth of the ventricular assist device market during the forecast period. Major, non-surgical, adverse events and complications with the LVAD (left ventricular assist device) include bleeding complications, device thrombosis, ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, renal impairment, multi-organ failure and infections, which have been the primary causes of death in some series.

Ventricular Assist Device Market Segments

The global ventricular assist device market is segmented -

1) By Product: Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs), Right Ventricular Assist Devices (RVADs), Biventricular Assist Devices (BIVADs)

2) By Type: Pulsatile Flow, Continuous Flow

3) By Design: Transcutaneous Ventricular Assist Devices, Implantable Ventricular Assist Devices

4) By Application: Bridge-to-Transplant (BTT) Therapy, Destination Therapy, Bridge-to-Recovery (BTR) Therapy, Bridge-to-Candidacy (BTC) Therapy

5) By End User: Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centers, Cardiology Centers

Request A Free Sample Of The Ventricular Assist Device Market Report

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Cardiac Assist Devices And Equipment Global Market Report 2023 - By Type (Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD), Intra-Aotic Baloon Pumps, Total Artificial Heart), By Application (Hospital Pharmacies, Ambulatory Surgical Centres, Emergency Services), By Modality (Transcutaneous, Implantable) - Market Size, Trends, And Market Forecast 2023-2032

Interventional Cardiology Devices And Equipment Global Market Report 2023 - By Type (Angioplasty Balloons, Angioplasty Stents, Catheters, Plaque Modification Devices, Other Interventional Cardiology Devices), By Age Group (New-Born (0-30 Days), Infant (31 Days-1 Year), Children (1-18 Years), Adult (18+ Years)), By Application (Hospitals, Clinics, Cardiac Catheterization Labs, Ambulatory Surgical Centers) - Market Size, Trends, And Market Forecast 2023-2032

Cardiovascular Devices Global Market Report 2023 - By Type (Cardiovascular Surgery Devices And Equipment, Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) Devices And Equipment, Interventional Cardiology Devices And Equipment, Defibrillator Devices And Equipment, Peripheral Vascular Devices And Equipment, Prosthetic Heart Valve Devices And Equipment, Electrophysiology Devices And Equipment, Cardiac Assist Devices And Equipment), By End User (Hospitals And Clinics, Diagnostic Laboratories, Other End Users), By Type Of Expenditure (Public, Private), By Product (Instruments/Equipment, Disposables) - Market Size, Trends, And Global Forecast 2023-2032

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/miniature-ventricular-assist-device-development-is-a-key-trend-in-the-ventricular-assist-device-market--by-the-business-research-company-301717660.html
TORONTO, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Quantum Minerals Ltd. ("First Quantum" or "the Company") (TSX: FM) today issued the following update regarding the status of the Cobre Panama mine operated by its subsidiary Minera Panama, S.A. ("MPSA").



Engagement between First Quantum, MPSA and the Government of Panama ("the Government") continues regarding the long-term future of the Cobre Panama mine. The Company remains ready to reach an agreement that is fair and equitable to both parties.

First Quantum and MPSA are prepared to agree with, and in part exceed, the objectives that the Government outlined in January 2022 related to revenues, environmental protections and labour standards. This includes a minimum of US$375 million per year in Government income, comprised of corporate taxes and a profit-based mineral royalty of 12 to 16 percent, with downside protections aligned with the Government's position. This minimum payment structure is a benefit to the Government that First Quantum believes is both unique and unprecedented in the mining industry. Under the newly proposed profit-based royalty, the government would receive revenue that is multiple times higher than under both the existing contract and the current Panama Mining Code. The proposed royalty rates would be amongst the highest, if not the highest, paid by copper miners in the Americas.

"We are ready to reach a mutually beneficial agreement that provides the legal certainty that we need to help promote the sustainable development of Panama, safeguard our thriving Panamanian workforce and protect our investment," said Tristan Pascall, Chief Executive Officer. "First Quantum and its predecessor have invested at least US$10 billion to build one of the world's largest, safest and most advanced copper mines. This investment was enabled by the assurance and expectation that Panama supported the project through a long-standing, comprehensive agreement from 1997 that covered taxation, including mining royalties, and other arrangements. Since we became involved, we have met all of our obligations and Cobre Panama is now a business that provides benefits to all Panamanians. We are doing everything possible to support our employees and their families, local communities, the country of Panama and the Company's investors and stakeholders."

As previously announced, MPSA is working through a number of steps to address the resolution from the National Directorate of Mineral Resources of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries requiring MPSA to suspend commercial operations at Cobre Panama. MPSA will deliver a plan to put the mine under "care and maintenance" to the Government for review and response. At this time, the timing and impact of any care and maintenance regime enacted by the Ministry remain uncertain. In the interim, operations at Cobre Panama continue as normal, with no disruption to production as yet.

The Company will host a conference call and webcast to discuss developments in Panama regarding the status of the Cobre Panama mine on Tuesday, January 10, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. (EST).

Conference call and webcast details:

Toll-free North America: 1-800-319-4610

Toll-free International: 1-604-638-5340

Webcast: www.first-quantum.com (http://www.first-quantum.com)

A replay of the webcast and transcript of the conference call will be available on the First Quantum website.

For further information, visit our website at www.first-quantum.com (http://www.first-quantum.com) or contact:

Bonita To, Director, Investor Relations

(416) 361-6400 Toll-free: 1 (888) 688-6577

E-Mail: info@fqml.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Certain statements and information herein, including all statements that are not historical facts, contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements in this news release include statements as to economic effects of the proposal put forward by MPSA, the long-term future of the Cobre Panama mine and the Company's openness to further dialogue with the Government of Panama and goal of finding a mutually acceptable resolution. With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, the Company has made numerous assumptions, including as to the effects of the proposal put forward by MPSA. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. These factors include, but are not limited to, political stability in Panama, potential social and environmental challenges, and events generally impacting global economic, political and social stability. There may also be other factors that cause actual results, performance, achievements or events not as anticipated, estimated or intended, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed in the Company's Annual Information Form. The Company undertakes no obligation to reissue or update forward-looking statements or information as a result of new information or events after the date hereof except as may be required by law.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / Faraday Copper Corp. ("Faraday" or the "Company") (TSX:FDY)(OTCQX:CPPKF) is pleased to provide an exploration update at its Copper Creek project in Arizona, USA.

Highlights

Commenced a 10,000-metre ("m") Phase II Drilling Program on October 30, 2022, with the objectives of expanding the mineral resource, delineating high-grade zones and testing new generative exploration targets.

on October 30, 2022, with the objectives of expanding the mineral resource, delineating high-grade zones and testing new generative exploration targets. Drilling to date has intersected massive copper sulphide over approximately 15 m (from 234 m) as an extension to the Copper Prince breccia (Figure 1). Assay results are pending.

(Figure 1). Assay results are pending. Established a dedicated, generative team to focus on new discoveries outside of the Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE").

Identified twelve generative target areas outside of the MRE (Figure 2).

outside of the MRE (Figure 2). Identified eight priority exploration targets in proximity to the MRE which have the potential to expand the mineral resource footprint (Figure 2).

which have the potential to expand the mineral resource footprint (Figure 2). Over 400 breccia occurrences have been mapped at surface, of which 14 have been included in the MRE and a total of 35 have one or more drill holes in them. Breccias offer the potential to host high-grade, near-surface copper mineralization (Figures 3 and 4).

Thomas Bissig, VP Exploration, commented, "We are excited to initiate a generative exploration program at Copper Creek with the aim of making new discoveries in this under-explored district. The large number of previously untested breccia and porphyry occurrences offers significant exploration upside. As part of the Phase II Drill Program, we have initiated reconnaissance drilling on several regional targets as well as drill testing near-resource opportunities."

Figure 1: A portion of drill core from Phase II drill hole FCD-22-013 showing massive copper sulphide from the Copper Prince breccia at the Copper Creek Project (assay results are pending)

Figure 2: Structural model and target areas at the Copper Creek Project

Figure 3: Copper oxide mineralization exposed at the Hilltop breccia target at the Copper Creek Project

Figure 4: Copper oxide mineralization exposed at the Rum breccia target at the Copper Creek Project

Generative Exploration Target Areas

A dedicated exploration team has been established to evaluate targets outside of the mineral resource area. Field work is ongoing including mapping, sampling and reconnaissance drilling. Additionally, a detailed review of previous geophysical data is underway to evaluate the collection of additional geophysical data as well as an airborne spectral survey.

A newly developed structural model (Figure 2) highlights that the hydrothermal breccias and porphyries follow two principal northwest trends. The eastern trend is interpreted to follow the main Holy Joe thrust fault and contains the breccias and porphyry mineralization included in the MRE. The western trend shows alteration characteristics consistent with a less deeply eroded part of the mineral system and is interpreted to follow a second order northwest striking thrust fault and remains under explored. High-grade breccia-hosted mineralization is known to occur in the southeastern extension of the western trend to the south of the Copper Creek Project, highlighting the prospectivity of this trend.

Following is a brief description of each exploration target area, as outlined in Figure 2. All results referenced below are available in the Faraday drilling database.

Rum and Gin Breccias

This target area, with dimensions of 1.5 km by 0.7 km, is located 1.3 km to the northwest and along strike from the mineral resource area in the hanging wall of the inferred Holy Joe thrust fault. The target area follows a northeast trending magnetic low that is coincident with a zone of sericite alteration and subtle northeast-trending Z-Tipper Axis Electromagnetic ("ZTEM") geophysical conductivity anomaly. Topographically the target area occupies a bowl-shaped depression where more than 15 breccias with abundant iron oxide outcrop at surface. Copper oxide mineralization can be observed at surface near the Rum breccia (Figure 4). Two historic drillholes (RUM-1 and R-1-1X) intersected near-surface copper mineralization with grades of 1.07% over 48.8 m from surface and 0.82% over 27.4 m from 32 m.

Area 51

This target area is situated in the hanging wall of the inferred Holy Joe thrust fault's southeasterly continuation from the mineral resource area and covers an area of 250 m by 400 m. Surface geochemistry reveals several anomalous copper, molybdenum and bismuth values spatially associated with mapped breccia outcrops. The area straddles the boundary between magnetic highs and lows.

Mulberry Zone

This target area, with dimensions of 800 m by 400 m, is the southward continuation from known mineralization. It is on a magnetic low area explained by widespread sericite-clay alteration. Surface rock samples show strong copper anomalies in this area. Historical drilling was limited and includes three, near-vertical drill holes with isolated copper grades above 0.3% in drill hole NE-1.

SE Area

This target area is characterized by Proterozoic sedimentary rocks intruded by the Copper Creek batholith. Localized, structurally controlled copper oxide mineralization is exposed at surface. This area may be prospective for sedimentary rock-hosted mineralization. Historical drilling is limited in the area.

SW Area

Located northwest along strike from known mineralization to the south of Copper Creek, this area features several breccia outcrops with localized, but compelling, surface copper anomalies with 10 rock samples with 0.1% to >1% copper values. A Titan-24 Induced Polarization ("IP") geophysical survey identified a prominent chargeability anomaly approximately 200 m below surface. A single hole drilled nearby intersected 9 m to 14 m intervals of 0.28% to 0.54% copper, with individual samples up to 1.5% copper below 960 m depth in drill hole REX-10-046.

SW Wedge

This target area contains a high concentration of mapped breccias along a northwest structural trend and at intersections with northeast striking fractures. Some subtle surface copper anomalies along with a 300 m northwest oriented Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic ("VTEM") anomaly are observed, whereas the target area lies at the southern margin of a prominent east-west ZTEM conductivity anomaly. Historical drilling is limited in the area.

Pisco

This target area is located immediately west of the mineral resource area and includes numerous breccias, some of which are tourmaline-rich and widespread sericite alteration is present in the area. Limited old mine workings are evident from waste piles. Historical drilling (REX-14-079) did not focus on the breccias but intercepted low-grade copper mineralization associated with early halo veins and weak potassic alteration in granodiorite porphyry.

Prospect Canyon Hanging Wall

This target area is located in the hanging wall of an interpreted secondary thrust fault paralleling the inferred Holy Joe thrust fault to the east. The area is characterized by elevated ZTEM conductivity response in the 250 m depth slice of the inversion model. Circular magnetic lows characterize the breccias, which is likely the result of the associated hydrothermal alteration.

Prospect Canyon Footwall

This target area is characterized by an abundance of breccias and porphyries apparently controlled by cross cutting structures. The target area is located in the footwall of a postulated secondary thrust fault paralleling the inferred Holy Joe thrust fault to the east. Anomalous copper occurs in some targeted vein samples. The area is a magnetic low in a northwest trend which coincides with clay-sericite alteration.

Bluebird

This target area is named after the historical Bluebird mine which exploited vein-hosted polymetallic silver-copper-zinc-lead mineralization and is located in the footwall of the inferred Holy Joe thrust fault. East to northeast trending veins including early halo veins crosscut granodiorite. Surface geochemistry includes some of the highest-grade copper rock samples, but these appear to be restricted to narrow veins and limited alteration. Breccias are rare in this area.

S-23 and Sycamore

These two target areas have similar characteristics, and both locate in the footwall of the inferred Holy Joe thrust fault to the southeast of Bluebird. Northeast trending veins are common but only limited surface geochemical anomalies are associated with early halo veins. Similar to the Bluebird area, breccias are rare in this area. Historical drilling did not intersect significant mineralization, but drill holes were largely vertical and not designed to intersect northeast trending vein zones.

West Expansion of Keel

A prominent ZTEM conductivity anomaly extends from the American Eagle area westward. There is currently no adequate drill coverage testing the westward extension of the ZTEM conductivity anomaly at depth. Phase I drill hole FCD-22-007 (included in the news release dated October 18, 2022) intersected high-grade mineralization in the western part of Keel, highlighting the potential for mineral resource expansion to the west.

Gap between Keel and American Eagle

Keel and American Eagle currently form two separate underground resource footprints. This appears, in part, to be the result of limited drilling between the two areas. Intersecting high-grade copper mineralization has the potential to link the underground mineralization into a single continuous footprint.

Roots of Old Reliable

The Old Reliable breccia is hosted in Glory Hole volcanics near the intrusive contact to the Copper Creek batholith. Drilling is densely spaced, focused on the breccia, but is limited to about 230 m below surface. The westward dipping contact of the volcanics with the intrusion is a zone of weakness along which mineralization may have been focused. This area has not been drill-tested and provides a compelling target for high-grade breccia or porphyry-hosted mineralization below Old Reliable.

Hilltop Breccia

The Hilltop breccia measures 90 m by 50 m in surface exposure and crops out at the top of a hill immediately northeast of the mineral resource area. Copper oxide mineralization is present at surface (Figure 3). A near-vertical, historical drill hole was collared approximately 50 m east of the Hilltop breccia and intersected 15.24 m of 0.25% copper from 3 m in drill hole CC-02. The Hilltop breccia has never been drilled.

Superior Breccia

Three historical drill holes (S-1, S-2 and S-3) targeted this prominent breccia outcrop approximately 400 m northwest of the Copper Giant breccia. The drill holes intersected narrow zones of breccia but did intercept porphyry with D-type veins and sericite alteration. Only one of those holes (S-1) has geochemical data but no significant copper was intercepted. The geometry of the Superior Breccia remains to be defined at depth.

Rye Breccia

The Rye breccia includes several breccia outcrops approximately 300 m north of the Superior breccia. These breccias have never been drilled but feature compelling geochemical anomalies at surface with 12 rock samples ranging from 0.1% to 6.5% copper.

Post Office West Breccia

The Post Office breccia has one historic drill hole (PO-1R) with marginal copper grades. Two additional breccias are mapped 100 m and 200 m to the southwest of the Post Office breccia and only one of those has a drill hole (HN-8). This hole was drilled vertically and intercepted approximately 60 m of 0.3% to 0.5% copper from 44 m.

American Eagle Breccia

The American Eagle breccia was the site of small-scale historical mining. The breccia geometry is not well-understood due to the limited drilling compared to other breccias. Copper grades are variable and currently not consistent enough to have this area included in an open pit mineral resource.

Phase II Drill Program

The Copper Creek Phase II Drill Program was initiated on October 30, 2022 with 10,000 m of planned drilling. The program objectives include:

Commencing reconnaissance drilling on new targets outside of the MRE;

Expanding the MRE; and

Better delineating high-grade mineralized zones.

Geological mapping and collection of field data has been initiated and will guide the drilling program. Approximately 20% of the Phase II drilling will be aimed at newly identified target areas.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Faraday's VP Exploration, Dr. Thomas Bissig, P. Geo., who is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

About Faraday Copper

Faraday Copper is a Canadian exploration company focused on advancing its flagship copper project in The United States of America. The Copper Creek project, located in Arizona, is one of the largest undeveloped copper projects in North America with open pit and bulk underground mining potential. The Company is well-funded to deliver on its key milestones and benefits from a management team and board of directors with senior mining company experience and expertise. Faraday trades on the TSX under the symbol "FDY".

For additional information please contact:

Stacey Pavlova, CFA

Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications

Faraday Copper Corp.

E-mail: info@faradaycopper.com

Website: www.faradaycopper.com

To receive news releases by e-mail, please register using the Faraday website at www.faradaycopper.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward Looking Statements

Some of the statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking statements" and are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Faraday to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements and forward-looking information specifically include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the future drilling of the Copper Creek property, the exploration potential of the Copper Creek property, and the expected timing for and scope of the Company's drilling programs at Copper Creek.

Although Faraday believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in any way construed as guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include without limitation: market prices for metals; the conclusions of detailed feasibility and technical analyses; lower than expected grades and quantities of mineral resources; receipt of regulatory approval; receipt of shareholder approval; mining rates and recovery rates; significant capital requirements; price volatility in the spot and forward markets for commodities; fluctuations in rates of exchange; taxation; controls, regulations and political or economic developments in the countries in which Faraday does or may carry on business; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, competition; loss of key employees; rising costs of labour, supplies, fuel and equipment; actual results of current exploration or reclamation activities; accidents; labour disputes; defective title to mineral claims or property or contests over claims to mineral properties; unexpected delays and costs inherent to consulting and accommodating rights of Indigenous peoples and other groups; risks, uncertainties and unanticipated delays associated with obtaining and maintaining necessary licenses, permits and authorizations and complying with permitting requirements, including those associated with the Copper Creek property; and uncertainties with respect to any future acquisitions by Faraday. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining, including environmental events and hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance to cover these risks as well as "Risk Factors" included in Faraday's disclosure documents filed on and available at www.sedar.com.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such an offer or solicitation in such jurisdiction. This press release is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, a prospectus, an offering memorandum, an advertisement or a public offering of securities in Faraday in Canada, the United States or any other jurisdiction. No securities commission or similar authority in Canada or in the United States has reviewed or in any way passed upon this press release, and any representation to the contrary is an offence.

SOURCE: Faraday Copper Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734616/Faraday-Copper-Intersects-Massive-Copper-Sulphide-and-Provides-Exploration-Update-at-the-Copper-Creek-Project-in-Arizona
Offshore wind analyst Aegir Insights closes its first round of external funding with financing from Denmark's independent state loan fund, Denmark's Export Investment Fund.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005587/en/

Offshore Wind Analyst Aegir Insights Receives Financing From Denmark's Export Investment Fund, formerly the Danish Green Investment Fund. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The growth loan from Denmark's Export Investment Fund is a recognition of both the robustness of Aegir Insights as a business, and the company's role in furthering the energy transition through modern, data-driven and adaptable intelligence for the offshore wind sector.

As part of the investment process, Aegir Insights was evaluated across several ESG criteria and committed to continuous improvement and transparent reporting.

Scott Urquhart, CEO of Aegir Insights, says: "I am proud of what we have accomplished together with our investors and industry partners, and excited to accelerate our journey as a differentiated analytics business founded on deep industry experience, proprietary models and cutting-edge data. Our solutions for offshore wind investments are helping to deploy more capacity, faster and at lower cost. We believe focus on ESG and transparent reporting will translate into better business performance for both Aegir and our customers."

Michael Zollner, Chief Commercial Officer responsible for SMEs for Denmark's Export and Investment Fund says: "Aegir Insights presents an advanced analytical tool a software that can accelerate the transition toward green solutions by saving both time and resources for other projects within the construction of offshore wind turbines. To Denmark's Export and Investment Fund, Aegir Insights presents a unique example of how to make the transition to greener solutions good business, with their scalable solution, which has the potential to broadly share knowledge within the industry, as well as catalyze positive, green change."

The loan from Denmark's Export Investment Fund supplements the equity funding received in October, where renowned energy sector leader Jon Erik Reinhardsen along with two other private investors provided funding for Aegir Insights' continued growth journey.

Jacob Winning Lehmann, Chairman at Aegir Insights, says: "We welcome Denmark's Export Investment Fund as a funding partner to Aegir Insights. The loan provided marks an end to our first external funding round, and we are really happy that we in less than three months have secured seed financing for our efforts leading towards a potential Series A funding round in 2023."

The funding will assist Aegir Insights in accelerating tech- and software development plans as well as growing its organization. BearingPoint Capital advised Aegir Insights on the external financing round.

About Aegir Insights:

Smarter, faster, greener.

Aegir Insights provides premium commercial analytics and models to help inform investment strategy and capital allocation for leading players in the offshore wind and power-to-x (PtX) sectors. Aegir Insights' differentiated strategy includes its technology-led approach in cooperation with clients and academia, and its senior team having deep industry experience from leading developers including Orsted, Vattenfall,Vestas and Siemens. Aegir Insights also serves as a trusted government advisor in development of offshore wind and PtX markets.

Learn more about Aegir Insights here: www.aegirinsights.com

About Denmark's Export Investment Fund:

Denmark's Export Investment Fund is the result of a merger of Denmark's Export Credit Agency (EKF), the growth fund Vaekstfonden and the Danish Green Investment Fund.

Learn more about Denmark's Export Investment Fund here: www.eifo.dk

BearingPoint Capital:

BearingPoint is an independent management and technology consultancy with European roots and a global reach. The company operates in three business units: Consulting, Products, and Capital. Consulting covers the advisory business with a clear focus on selected business areas. Products provides IP-driven digital assets and managed services for business-critical processes. Capital delivers M&A and transaction services.

BearingPoint's clients include many of the world's leading companies and organizations. The firm has a global consulting network with more than 13,000 people and supports clients in over 70 countries, engaging with them to achieve measurable and sustainable success.

Learn more about BearingPoint Capital here: www.bearingpoint.com

Jon Erik Reinhardsen:

Jon Erik Reinhardsen is a Norwegian business executive currently holding positions including Chairman of the Board of Equinor ASA, board member of Telenor ASA, and other senior appointments.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005587/en/

Contacts:

Signe Soerensen

Communication Manager

+45 8190 8153

signe.soerensen@aegirinsights.com
CD-210 returns 26.8m @ 1.6g/t AuEq, including 4.5m @ 5.3g/t AuEq

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / Meridian Mining UK. S (TSX:MNO)(Frankfurt/Tradegate:2MM)(OTCQB:MRRDF) ("Meridian" or the "Company") is pleased to report the granting of the highly prospective Alamo exploration licence ("Alamo"). Alamo hosts multiple open copper-gold soil geochemical targets, VTEM anomalies, and large alteration systems ("Figure 1"). Meridian's initial reconnaissance and field portable XRF readings have identified untested gossans associated with both BP soil survey areas and newly identified large alteration systems. Field work is ongoing.

Meridian reports multiple strong drill results from the Cabacal gold-copper VMS deposit, where the latest infill drilling continues to define strong coherent layers of high-grade gold, copper and silver mineralization ("Figure 2") from Cabacal's Northwest Extension ("CNWE"). Results include 26.8m @ 1.6g/t AuEq from 72.7m including 4.5m @ 5.3g/t AuEq from 95.0m (CD-210); 25.0m @ 1.2 g/t AuEq from 37.0m including 2.6m @ 7.9g/t AuEq from 41.0m (CD-211), and 35.1m @ 1.0g/t AuEq from 47.1m including 3.3m @ 7.6g/t AuEq from 78.8m (CD-216) ("Table 1"). These results continue to strengthen Cabacal's open-pit potential and enhance opportunities for a high grade starter pit; further assays are pending.

Highlights Reported Today

Alamo exploration title, hosting some of Cabacal's largest exploration targets, has been granted; Alamo is along trend from the Santa Helena massive sulfide Cu-Au-Zn-Ag deposit; First field work program identifies copper gossans associated with principal target areas; Targets within trucking distance of the Cabacal gold-copper resource [1] area;

Cabacal continues assaying multiple high-grade gold-copper layers; and

CNWE's existing and new high-grade trends remain to be covered by the ongoing drill program.

Dr. Adrian McArthur, CEO and President comments : "With the granting of the Alamo licence, Meridian has been given the keys to one of the most prospective zones within the VMS belt and the opportunity to test more of Cabacal's greenfields upside. We can now launch a systematic program of soil geochemical surveys and geophysics to define future high priority drill targets. The Company is also very pleased with the ongoing infill drill program, as it continues to increase definition of high-grade trends which will be a key driver in unlocking early value in the development of the Cabacal gold-copper rich VMS deposit. Having recently completed a successful capital raise for gross proceed of CAD 5.9M, Meridian is well financed to further Cabacal's field work and complete the PEA."

[1] Meridian News release of September 26, 2022

Alamo Exploration Licence Granting

The Alamo exploration licence (867407/2008) has had its interim exploration report approved and has been renewed for a second three-year term. Alamo is part of the Cabacal Purchase Agreement[2]. Its approval opens an extensive frontier along the southeast extension of the Mine Corridor, immediately along strike for the Santa Helena VMS deposit. The licence covers an area of 9,813 Ha, measuring 15km north-south and 10km east-west at its maximum extent. BP historically initiated but left open, soil geochemical surveys over the licence, leaving large Copper-Gold trends open to the south-east.

Meridian commenced engagement with local landholders for exploration access agreements and initiated field reconnaissance in mid-December. Gossanous float was located along strike from the Santa Helena Mine associated with the projection of the BP Cu-Au-Zn soil anomalies compiled from historical records. Gossanous float was also located in the vicinity of the VTEM conductivity cluster and WorldView 3 satellite target in the southwest quadrant of the licence, where soil sampling has yet to be undertaken. Portable XRF readings detected anomalous copper and zinc readings, with laboratory analytical data pending. The early detection of gossan is encouraging and expanded programs of rock chip sampling, soil sampling, and surface geophysics are planned for 2023, continuing after the new year recess, to define drill targets in this new licence area.

The licence was partially covered by a 2007 VTEM helicopter geophysical survey, providing detailed aerial magnetic and conductivity data. The conductivity trend marking the mine corridor position is evident extending southeast from the Santa Helena VMS deposit. A series of conductivity clusters at a similar threshold to the VTEM anomaly detected over the Cabacal deposit are distributed over a trend of ~4km, commencing ~2.3 km from the limit of the Santa Helena historical resource. These anomalies lie close to where an onlapping younger cover sequence of the Aguapei Group overlie the basement sequence, with basement potentially locally covered by a sedimentary veneer. A second cluster of VTEM anomalies is located in the southwest quadrant of the licence area, where two NW-SE trending conductivity corridors extend over ~1.1 and 2.8 km respectively. These anomalies overlap with large alteration systems mapped by Meridian's 2021 WorldView 3 remote sensing satellite survey. Additional WorldView 3 alteration systems are located in the eastern sector of the licence area, in regions not covered by the VTEM survey or the historical soil sampling program.

[2] Meridian News releases of August 26 and November 9, 2020

Figure 1: Location of Alamo licence, on the southeastern extension of the mine corridor, showing extent of geochemical coverage, WorldView 3 Satellite targets, soil coverage, and VTEM anomalies. Gridded conductivity image in the background, with the darker blue areas marking conductive trends.

Cabacal's Infill and Extensional Drill Program

Drilling at Cabacal continues to focus on extending and infilling the multiple higher-grade zones of the deposit which will be targeted for early development. Today's results continue to build on the recommended 25mx25m infill drill pattern for the CNWE's starter zone study area.

CD-210 retuned 71.5m @ 0.8g/t AuEq (0.5 g/t Au, 0.2% Cu & 0.7g/t Ag) from 28.0m depth, including 26.8m @ 1.6g/t AuEq (0.9g/t Au, 0.5% Cu & 1.6g/t Ag) from 72.7m, including 4.5m @ 5.3g/t AuEq (4.4g/t Au, 0.7% Cu & 2.7g/t Ag) from 95.0m. The hole is positioned 25m down-dip from CD-101, which retuned 36.2m @ 1.3g/t Au, 0.2% Cu & 0.9g/t Ag from 54.6m including 7.8m @ 5.4g/t Au, 0.6% Cu & 1.8g/t Ag from 83.0m[1], and up-dip from CD-187, which returned 25.3m @ 0.8g/t Au, 0.1% Cu & 0.4g/t Ag from 15.0m[2]. CD-207, a further hole down-dip from CD-187, has retuned 46.2m @ 0.6g/t AuEq (0.4g/t Au, 0.2% Cu & 0.4g/t Ag) from 9.0m, including 10.0m @ 1.7g/t AuEq (1.7g/t Au, 0.1% Cu & 0.1g/t Ag) from 33.0m. Further on-section drilling is required to constrain grade up- and down-dip. The results continue to highlight the wide footprint of mineralization easily accessible to open-pit development.

Another strong result delivered from recent drilling in the starter pit study area includes CD-216, which returned 35.1m @ 1.0g/t AuEq (0.7g/t Au, 0.2% Cu & 0.5g/t Ag) from 47.0m, including 3.3m @ 7.6g/t AuEq (6.0g/t Au, 1.1% Cu & 2.5g/t Ag) from 78.8m. The result is 25m up-dip from CD-100, which returned 50.8m @ 0.8g/t Au 0.5% Cu & 1.3g/t Ag from 41.9m, including 15m @ 1.3g/t Au, 1.0% Cu & 2.5g/t Ag from 75.2m[3]. The CD-216 result is much stronger than results immediately along strike (CD-1053, CD-189[4]), highlighting the importance of the 25x25m closure pattern. Additional drilling is being programed to test the shallow up-dip potential from this position.

[3] Meridian Mining news release of May 3, 2022

[4] Meridian Mining news release of October 19, 2022

The latest results also include encouraging results in the down-dip infill holes from the 25x25m infill drill pattern for the CNWE's starter zone study area, amongst which include:

CD-211: 25.0m @ 1.2g/t AuEq (1.0g/t Au, 0.1% Cu & 0.8g/t Ag) from 37.0m, including; 2.6m @ 7.9g/t AuEq (8.0g/t Au [5] ) from 41.0m; and

(1.0g/t Au, 0.1% Cu & 0.8g/t Ag) from 37.0m, including; CD-209: 45.6m @ 0.5g/t AuEq (0.4g/t Au, 0.1% Cu & 0.1g/t Ag) from 12.0m, including; 10.0m @ 1.4g/t AuEq (1.4g/t Au, 0.1% Cu & 0.2g/t Ag) from 29.0m.



The immediate strike projection of the CD-211 position remains to be tested with the modern angled drilling program.

Additional drilling is planned to both infill and extend the drilling pattern on peripheral areas of the deposit (both up-dip, down-dip, and along strike) where the resource is currently inferred or unclassified. Drilling has commenced to test the strike projection of the CD-193 position, with assays pending. This will test for potential extensions to shallow copper-gold mineralization. The CD-193 returned 15.6m @ 1.6 g/t AuEq (0.4 g/t Au, 0.8% Cu & 1.3 g/t Ag) from 42.0m, including 7.5m @ 3.0g/t AuEq (0.8g/t Au, 1.5% Cu & 2.1g/t Ag) from 48.9m6.

Resource drilling will be interspersed with periodic exploration drilling, with an initial focus in the C2-A target area to the south-east of Cabacal. Assays are pending from CD-218, a hole drilled as an initial test of a satellite IP / geochemical target over 600m along strike from the C4-A Gold-Silver precious metal discovery zone. Exploration agreements have been confirmed with various landholders in this region to conduct further exploratory drilling and the Company will liaise with the landholders to confirm optimal timing of drilling within the current wet-season conditions. Cabacal's drilling activity is now in its annual recess until late January when the two rigs will recommence the infill, extensional and exploratory drilling program.

[5] Meridian Mining news release of April 26, 2022

[6] Meridian Mining news release of November 21, 2022

[7] Grade difference in Au vs. AuEq grade due to factor for metallurgical recovery, reference to Notes.

Figure 2: Resource enhancement program, highlighting target corridors for resource conversion with recent post-resource intersections illustrated.

Figure 3: Cross section showing new results from CD-210 and CD-207 in relation to the resource block model coloured by AuEq.

About Cabacal

In November 2020, Meridian signed a Purchase Agreement to acquire 100% ownership of certain licences covering the historical Cabacal and Santa Helena mines and the along-strike licences, from two, private Brazilian companies ("Vendors"). Subsequently, Meridian expanded its land tenure to today's 50km of strike length. Cabacal had two historical, shallow, high-grade selectively mined underground mines that cumulatively produced ~34 million pounds of copper, ~170,108 ounces of gold, ~1,033,532 ounces of silver and ~103 million pounds of zinc via conventional flotation and gravity metallurgical processes.

Meridian has defined an open trend of shallow copper-gold mineralization centred on the Cabacal Mine. This mineralization trends Northwest-Southeast, sub-crops along its Northeast limits, dips to the southwest at 26 and is up to 90m thick; presenting excellent open-pit geometry and mineral endowment. Meridian is currently focused on infill drilling along a 2,000m corridor along this trend.

Cabacal's base and precious metal-rich mineralization is hosted by volcanogenic type, massive, semi-massive, stringer, and disseminated sulphides within units of deformed metavolcanic-sedimentary rocks ("VMS"). A later-stage sub-vertical gold overprint event has emplaced high-grade gold mineralization truncating the dipping VMS layers. It was explored and developed by BP Minerals/Rio-Tinto from 1983 to 1991 and then by the Vendors in the mid-2000's. This historical exploration database includes over 83,000 metres of drilling, extensive regional mapping, soil surveys, metallurgy from production reports, and both surface and airborne geophysics. The majority of Cabacal's prospects remain to be tested.

Cabacal has excellent infrastructure with access by all-weather roads, clean electricity provided by nearby hydroelectric power stations, and local communities provide mining services and employees. Cabacal consists of 1 mining license, 1 mining lease application, and 7 exploration claims which total 44,265 hectares. The September 2022 Cabacal mineral resource estimate consists of Indicated resources of 52.9Mt @ 0.6g/t Au, 0.3% Cu and 1.4g/t Ag and Inferred resources of 9.0Mt @ 0.7g/t Au, 0.2% Cu & 1.1g/t Ag (0.3 g/t AuEq cut-off grade), with strong optionality for targeting higher grade mineralization using a 0.5 AuEq cut-off for the future development studies.

About Meridian

Meridian Mining UK S is focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development activities in Brazil. The Company is currently focused on resource development of the Cabacal VMS gold-copper project, the regional scale exploration of the Cabacal VMS belt, the exploration in the Jauru & Araputanga Greenstone belts all located in the state of Mato Grosso, and exploring the Espigao polymetallic project in the State of Rondonia Brazil.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Meridian Mining UK S

Dr. Adrian McArthur

CEO, President, and Director

Meridian Mining UK S

Email: info@meridianmining.net.br

Ph: +1 (778) 715-6410 (PST)

Technical Note

Drill holes have been drilled HQ through the saprolite and upper bedrock and then reduced to NQ - mineralized intervals represent half HQ or NQ drill core. Samples have been analysed at the accredited ALS laboratory in Lima, Peru. Samples are dried, crushed with 70% passing <2mm, split off to give a mass of approximately 250g, and pulverized to >85% passing 200#. Routine gold analyses have been conducted by Au-AA23 (fire assay of a 30g charge with AAS finish). High-grade samples (>10g/t Au) are repeated with a gravimetric finish (Au-GRA21). Samples with visible gold identified during logging are analysed by screen fire assay method Au-SCR21. Samples are held in the Company's secure facilities until dispatched and delivered by staff and commercial couriers to the laboratory. Pulps are retained for umpire testwork, and ultimately returned to the Company for storage. The Company submits a range of quality control samples, including blanks and gold and polymetallic standards supplied by ITAK and OREAS, supplementing laboratory quality control procedures. True widths are approximately 80-90% of downhole lengths and assay figures and intervals rounded to 1 decimal place.

Gold equivalents are calculated as: AuEq(g/t) = (Au(g/t) * %Recovery) + (1.492*(Cu% * %Recovery)) + (0.013*(Ag(g/t) * %Recovery)), where:

Au_recovery_ppm = 5.4368ln(Au_Grade_ppm)+88.856

Cu_recovery_pct = 2.0006ln(Cu_Grade_pct)+94.686

Ag_recovery_ppm = 13.342ln(Ag_Grade_ppm)+71.037

Recoveries based on 2022 metallurgical testwork on core submitted to SGS Lakefield.

Qualified Person

Dr. Adrian McArthur, B.Sc. Hons, Ph.D. FAusIMM., CEO and President of Meridian as well as a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release.

Stay up to date by subscribing for news alerts here: https://meridianmining.co/contact/

Follow Meridian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeridianMining

Further information can be found at: www.meridianmining.co

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information or forward-looking statements for the purposes of applicable securities laws. These statements address future events and conditions and so involve inherent risks and uncertainties, as disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in under the heading "Risk Factors" in Meridian's most recent Annual Information Form filed on www.sedar.com. While these factors and assumptions are considered reasonable by Meridian, in light of management's experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, Meridian can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Meridian disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or results or otherwise.

Table 1: Dill results reported today.

SOURCE: Meridian Mining UK S

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734612/Meridian-Updates-on-Granting-of-lamo-Licence-and-Cabaals-Strong-Drill-Results
LONDON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hexaware is actively realigning its service lines to enhance its offerings and serve customers better. A monumental step in this regard is the creation of a Digital and Software services unit that will combine all digital core transformation, custom product & application development, and platform-based development services into a single unit. This unit will include 'Mobiquity' an end-to-end digital consultancy acquired by Hexaware in 2019, to address every dimension of a digital business from marketing to IT, providing strategy, experience design, product engineering and cloud native development. This new unit will be an important part of Hexaware's strategy going into 2023.





To lead this new unit, Hexaware has onboarded Sanjay Salunkhe as President of Digital and Software. Before joining Hexaware, Sanjay served as the Managing Director for D&SE and CEO of Capgemini's global business line for Digital Engineering and Manufacturing Services. Over the course of his more than 25 years as an IT leader, he has established and scaled business units that deliver significant top and bottom-line results to accelerate impact in the digital, software, and hi-tech engineering industries.

Sanjay is a strong advocate of adopting highly collaborative working partnerships with customers, which will mesh well with Hexaware's focus on customer service excellence. In past endeavours, his vision has helped customers succeed with the digital transformation of value chains and enabled the building of successful products and services for an increasingly connected world.

R Srikrishna, CEO and Executive Director, Hexaware Technologies said, "We welcome Sanjay and wish him the best in his new role here at Hexaware. We believe that he will be instrumental in manifesting our go-to-market strategy of building great products and will contribute to strengthening our digital and software capabilities."

About Hexaware

Hexaware is a global IT, BPS and consulting services company empowering businesses worldwide to realize digital transformation at scale and speed.

Learn more about Hexaware at http://www.hexaware.com. Take an immersive 360 virtual tour of our campuses worldwide at https://www.hexawareimmersive.com

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/530945/Hexaware.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hexaware-welcomes-sanjay-salunkhe-to-lead-new-digital-and-software-unit-301717444.html
Hyundai Motor's IONIQ 5 / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group



By Kim Hyun-bin



Hyundai Motor's IONIQ 5 topped the list for the best-selling electric vehicle (EV) in the domestic market last year, according to industry officials, Wednesday.



Last year's annual domestic sales of EVs reached a record high as five domestic automakers exceeded 120,000 vehicles sold. The share of the EV market occupied by Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp. reached 97 percent among domestic automakers, and as they plan to introduce new EVs this year, continuous growth is expected.



Domestic sales of EVs by five domestic automakers, including Hyundai Motor, Kia Corp., GM Korea, Renault Korea, and SsangYong Motor, were tallied at 123,027 vehicles. This figure marks the highest sales performance ever and a record increase of 67 percent compared to 2021.



Among them, Hyundai Motor and Kia's domestic sales of EVs last year reached 119,791 cars.



The best-selling EV last year was Hyundai Motor's IONIQ 5, recording 27,399 vehicle sales. Second place was the Kia EV6, which sold 24,852 vehicles. Both vehicles are made based on Hyundai Motor Group's EV platform, E-GMP.



The third and fourth places were occupied by Hyundai's Porter Electric (20,418) and Kia's Bongo EV (15,373). The rise in sales is due to EVs having lower charging costs than diesel vehicles and the small price difference due to the domestic EV subsidy system.



GM Korea sold 2,606 EVs, which is a 156-percent increase over the previous year. Renault Korea sold 516 EVs and SsangYong Motor sold 114 vehicles.



The EV subsidy system is also expected to be reorganized in a way that could be somewhat advantageous to domestic carmakers.



The Ministry of Environment is reviewing a plan to include the establishment of a direct service center for each company to be considered for EV subsidies from next year. If there is no direct service center, which is the case for foreign carmakers, the subsidy of up to 2.5 million won will be reduced, which is a measure designed to benefit domestic carmakers.






Acquisition to enable creation of a fully integrated, enterprise-wide capability to discover, design and develop next-ge neration immunotherapies at scale by leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies across BioNTech's therapeutic platforms and operations

Builds on multi-year strategic collaboration between BioNTech and InstaDeep which included the formation of an AI Innovation Lab in 2020 and completion of dozens of joint projects

Acquisition expected to add approximately 240 highly skilled professionals and a global network of research partners in the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science based in the world's leading global technology hubs

BioNTech to pay an upfront consideration of approximately 362 million in cash and BioNTech shares, to acquire 100% of remaining InstaDeep shares following BioNTech's Series B investment in 2022

InstaDeep to operate globally from London headquarters as a BioNTech company post-closing, which is expected in the first half of 2023, subject to regulatory approval

MAINZ, Germany, and LONDON, United Kingdom, January 10, 2023 - BioNTech SE ("InstaDeep") today announced that they have entered into an agreement under which BioNTech will acquire InstaDeep, a leading global technology company in the field of artificial intelligence ("AI") and machine learning ("ML"). The transaction includes a total upfront consideration of approximately 362 million in cash and BioNTech shares to acquire 100% of the remaining InstaDeep shares, excluding the shares already owned by BioNTech. In addition, InstaDeep shareholders will be eligible to receive additional performance-based future milestone payments up to approximately 200 million. The transaction follows BioNTech's initial equity investment as part of InstaDeep's Series B financing round in January 2022.

The acquisition supports BioNTech's strategy to build world-leading capabilities in AI-driven drug discovery and development of next-generation immunotherapies and vaccines to address diseases with high unmet medical need. The transaction will combine two organizations with a common culture and is expected to add approximately 240 highly skilled professionals to BioNTech's workforce, including teams in AI, ML, bioengineering, data science, and software development. Through the acquisition, BioNTech will grow its network of global research collaborators in the field and expand its footprint in key talent hubs across the United States, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

With the acquisition of InstaDeep, validated and novel BioNTech-trained AI- and ML-based models are planned to be embedded across BioNTech's discovery platforms and connected, through InstaDeep's DeepChain platform, to an integrated automated lab infrastructure. This has the objective to enable high-throughput design and testing of novel drug candidates at scale. In addition, BioNTech plans to develop novel AI and ML technology solutions which it aims to apply across key strategic and operational functions.

The acquisition builds on a successful track record of increasing collaboration between the two companies since 2019: In November 2020 , the companies announced a multi-year strategic collaboration and joint AI Innovation Lab to apply the latest advances in AI and ML technology to develop novel medicines for a range of cancers and infectious diseases. The companies have jointly developed multiple end-to-end AI-based applications trained on public and proprietary datasets across a wide variety of scientific domains. These include projects to enhance neoantigen selection, ribological sequence optimization for BioNTech's RiboCytokine and RiboMab platforms as well as the development of an Early Warning System to detect and monitor high risk SARS-CoV-2 variants, based on their ability to escape immune defenses and transmissibility potential, defined as fitness, which was announced in January 2022 .

"Since the inception of BioNTech, we have focused on leveraging computational solutions to create personalized immunotherapies that can reach a wide patient population," said Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D., CEO and Co-founder of BioNTech. "The acquisition of InstaDeep allows us to incorporate the rapidly evolving AI capabilities of the digital world into our technologies, research, drug discovery, manufacturing, and deployment processes. Our aim is to make BioNTech a technology company where AI is seamlessly integrated into all aspects of our work."

BioNTech recognized the growing importance of AI and ML capabilities early on. For example, the fully individualized neoantigen specific immunotherapy approach. These algorithms have been further enhanced in collaboration with InstaDeep.

"AI is progressing exponentially and our mission at InstaDeep has always been to make sure it benefits everyone. We are very excited to join forces and become one team with BioNTech, with whom we share the same culture of deep tech innovation and focus on positive human impact," said Karim Beguir, CEO and Co-Founder of InstaDeep. "Together, we envision building a world leader that combines biopharmaceutical research and AI with the aim to design next-generation immunotherapies that enhance medical care - thus, helping fight cancer and other diseases."

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Upon closing, InstaDeep will operate as a UK-based global subsidiary of BioNTech. InstaDeep is expected to become the centerpiece of a growing portfolio of initiatives around AI and ML at BioNTech. In addition to BioNTech-focused projects, InstaDeep will continue to provide its services to clients around the world in diverse industries, including in the Technology, Transport & Logistics, Industrial, and Financial Services sectors.

About BioNTech

Biopharmaceutical New Technologies is a next generation immunotherapy company pioneering novel therapies for cancer and other serious diseases. BioNTech exploits a wide array of computational discovery and therapeutic drug platforms for the rapid development of novel biopharmaceuticals. Its broad portfolio of oncology product candidates includes individualized and off-the-shelf mRNA-based therapies, innovative chimeric antigen receptor T cells, bispecific immune checkpoint modulators, targeted cancer antibodies and small molecules. Based on its deep expertise in mRNA vaccine development and in-house manufacturing capabilities, BioNTech and its collaborators are developing multiple mRNA vaccine candidates for a range of infectious diseases alongside its diverse oncology pipeline. BioNTech has established a broad set of relationships with multiple global pharmaceutical collaborators, including Genmab, Sanofi, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, Regeneron, Genevant, Fosun Pharma, and Pfizer. For more information, please visit www.BioNTech.com .

BioNTech Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" of BioNTech within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include, but may not be limited to, statements concerning: the expected impact of this proposed acquisition on BioNTech's and InstaDeep's business; the timing of the closing of the proposed acquisition; the creation of long-term value for BioNTech and InstaDeep shareholders; potential synergies between BioNTech and InstaDeep and their businesses; the ability of the DeepChain protein design platform to engineer new mRNA sequences for protein targets; the ability of the SARS-CoV-2 Early Warning System to predict potential high-risk variants; the ability of AI and ML to advance drug discovery and development of new drug classes; the ability of AI and ML to quicken and scale up the delivery of next generation of diagnostics and therapeutics; the ability of ML and edge analytics to identify novel predictive biomarkers, inform patient selection, and accelerate the development of therapeutic programs; the ability to utilize AI and ML applications to further optimize manufacturing and supply chain processes, including by using robotics and autonomous decision-making; and BioNTech's efforts to combat COVID-19. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on BioNTech current expectations and beliefs of future events, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the possibility that the proposed transaction may not close, the reaction to the proposed transaction of InstaDeep's business partners, the reaction of competitors to the proposed transaction, the retention of InstaDeep employees, BioNTech's plans for InstaDeep, the future growth of InstaDeep's and BioNTech's businesses and the possibility that integration following the proposed transaction may be more difficult than expected; the risk that InstaDeep's collaborations will not continue or will not be successful; risks related to InstaDeep's ability to protect and maintain InstaDeep's intellectual property position; risks related to InstaDeep's capital requirements, use of capital and unexpected expenditures, including InstaDeep's ability to manage operating expenses or obtain funding to support planned business activities or to explore and establish strategic alternative transactions; risks related to InstaDeep's ability to attract and retain personnel; and the ability of AI and ML to produce improvements in the drug discovery and development process or deliver efficiencies in drug manufacturing, logistics and supply chain.

For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see BioNTech's Quarterly Report on Form 6-K for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, filed with the SEC on November 7, 2022, which is available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov . All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and BioNTech undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.

About InstaDeep

InstaDeep is a leader in decision-making AI systems with headquarters in London, and offices in Paris, Tunis, Lagos, Dubai, Cape Town, Berlin, Boston and San Francisco. InstaDeep was founded in 2014 in North Africa and has been named for three consecutive years to CB Insights' influential AI 100 ranking, which showcases the 100 most innovative private artificial intelligence companies in the world. It was also named in 2022 as one of Europe's 100 most promising B2B companies by the Financial Times-backed media site Sifted. With expertise in both machine intelligence research and concrete business deployments, InstaDeep gives its partners a competitive advantage in an AI-first world. Leveraging its extensive know-how in GPU-accelerated computing, deep learning and reinforcement learning, InstaDeep products, such as its DeepChainTM protein design platform, tackle the most complex challenges across a range of industries. InstaDeep has also developed collaborations with global leaders in the AI ecosystem, such as Nvidia and Google Cloud and has published joint research with DeepMind.

CONTACTS

BioNTech:

Media Relations

Jasmina Alatovic

+49

Investor Relations

Sylke Maas, Ph.D.

+49

InstaDeep:

Media Relations

Liz Johns

+44 (0)797 005 7603

l.johns@instadeep.com

D'Arcy Doran

+44

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1 Program for personalized cancer vaccines initiated by BioNTech in 2012; in collaboration with Genentech (a member of Roche Group) since 2016.
Experts from IAR Systems highlight the most critical aspects to improve productivity, maximize ROI and successfully develop high-quality embedded software.

UPPSALA, Sweden, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Who knows the most about the pitfalls of embedded software development when aiming for a fast time-to-market and return on investment (ROI) than experienced practitioners from the world leader in embedded software and services? Now, IAR Systems offers embedded developers a free e-book, which gathers the know-how and experience of long-standing experts. "The 12 Fundamentals of Embedded Software Development" is a comprehensive case study on what to consider when aiming for high-quality code and successfully marketable and profitable software.

The growing complexity of embedded software projects and the pressure on developers to create applications quickly and cost-efficiently are no secret. IAR Systems e-book openly addresses the challenges for embedded developers and offers hands-on advice with "12 Fundamentals" they should know. Moreover, the e-book discusses how to lower costs on a product's bill of materials (BOM) through code performance, how to increase productivity with DevOps, and how to speed up the safety certification process for embedded software effectively. This case study specifies a concrete cost calculation for the ROI and total cost of ownership (TCO).

"The 12 Fundamentals of Embedded Software Development" were penned by a group of experts at IAR Systems with many years of technical expertise and industry experience. Rafael Taubinger, Senior Product Marketing Manager, is the principal author and was assisted by four contributors: Anders Holmberg, CTO of IAR Systems; David Kallberg, FAE Manager EMEA; Shawn Prestridge, FAE Manager US; Hyun-Do Lee, Sales Manager. They all bring their different perspectives and expertise on embedded software development.

"Making our collective knowledge available in a compact format like an e-book was gratifying for us," said Rafael Taubinger, Senior Product Marketing Manager at IAR Systems and principal author of the e-book. "In the form of a case study, we could also get concrete use cases. So with this, we hope to provide developers with the most important and helpful insights for successful software projects."

IAR Systems e-book "The 12 Fundamentals of Embedded Software Development" is free to download at https://www.iar.com/globalassets/e-book.pdf.

Editor's Note: IAR Systems, IAR Embedded Workbench, Embedded Trust, C-Trust, C-SPY, C-RUN, C-STAT, IAR Visual State, I-jet, I-jet Trace, IAR Academy, IAR, and the logotype of IAR Systems are trademarks or registered trademarks owned by IAR Systems AB. All other product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

CONTACT:

IAR Systems Contacts

Rafael Taubinger, Senior Product Marketing Manager, IAR Systems

Tel: +46 18 16 78 00 Email: rafael.taubinger@iar.com

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/386/3695273/1770726.pdf PR_EBook_12Fundamentals_EN_final https://news.cision.com/iar-systems/i/pr-e-book,c3131705 PR E book

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/free-e-book-from-iar-systems-the-12-fundamentals-of-embedded-software-development-301717766.html
SEATTLE (dpa-AFX) - As per media reports, Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) is planning to close three fulfilment centers in 2023, located Hemel Hempstead, Doncaster and Gourock in West Scotland. This move is anticipated to affect 1,200 positions. As per a company spokesperson, the affected employees will be offered jobs at other locations. Also, Amazon is planning to open two fulfilment centers creating 2,500 positions over the next three years. Last week, Amazon said it plans to eliminate over 18,000 jobs, more than initially planned, citing uncertain economy. The decision was part of the company's annual planning process for 2023 with a focus to build a stronger cost structure. On January 3, 2023, Amazon.com, Inc., Toronto Dominion (Texas) LLC, as administrative agent, and the other lenders entered into a Term Loan Agreement, which provides Amazon with an unsecured $8.0 billion term loan that will mature in 364 days, but may be extended for an additional period of 364 days. On January 5, the Board of Amazon.com approved and adopted amendments to the company's Bylaws to: reflect recent amendments to, and align certain provisions with, the Delaware General Corporation Law; implement procedural and disclosure requirements for director nominees and shareholders proposing director nominees and other business for consideration at the company's annual or special meetings of shareholders, including to address SEC's recently adopted universal proxy card rules; address the conduct of annual or special meetings of shareholders; and make technical and conforming revisions and clarifications. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VACAVILLE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / Athena Gold Corporation (OTCQB:AHNR) (CSE:ATHA) ("Athena" or the "Company") is pleased to announce assay results from its Fall 2022 drill program (the "Program") at its 100% owned Excelsior Springs Project ("Project") located approximately 45 miles southwest of Goldfield in Esmeralda County, Nevada. Nine vertical and angled holes totaling 800 meters were completed on patented and unpatented claims comprising the Project.

Fall 2022 Drill Program Highlights

DH 22-01: These combined intercepts yielded the thickest high-grade gold interval to date on the project and confirmed an eastern extension to mineralization encountered in drill hole DB23.

The first interval intercepted 6.05 gold g/t and 17.4 silver g/t over 27.4 meters starting at 39.5 meters, including 10.2 Au g/t and 30.8 Ag g/t over 10.7 meters.

A second deeper interval was intercepted starting at 77.7 meters grading 4.97 Au g/t and 14.4 Ag g/t over 13.7 meters.

DH 22-02: These intercepts confirmed a western extension to mineralization found in drill hole DB23.

The first interval intercepted 4.49 Au g/t and 27.3 Ag g/t over 15.2 meters starting at 41.1 meters, including 7.29 Au g/t Au and 44.2 Ag g/t over 9.1 meters.

A second deeper interval was intercepted starting at 68.6 meters grading 1.20 Au g/t and 7.7 Ag g/t over 7.6 meters.

DH 22-01 + 02: Confirmed a new near surface high-grade oxide gold discovery in the newly named Western Slope Zone.

The Western Slope zone sits on the edge of an untested sizeable geophysical anomaly which requires additional interpretation.

DB-23 is now confirmed as a "discovery hole" as we have repeated it in step-outs in each direction in our Fall 2022 program. The company feels that the Excelsior Springs project is an important discovery in Nevada given its close proximity to major gold producers in the Walker Lane trend.

Initial analysis is that the Western Slope could be at the "tip" of an Intrusion-Related Gold ("IRG") system that could potentially expand at depth and contain millions of ounces similar to other Tintina-Style gold deposits.

John Power, President, and CEO of Athena, commented,

"2022 proved to be a great year for Athena with our discovery hole DB-23 and follow-up drilling confirming the impressive, near surface gold mineralization both east and west of the DB-23 intercepts. This new discovery has been named the "Western Slope" after one of the historic claim names for this area and remains open up and down dip and along potential strike length extensions of at least 130 meters to the west and 300 meters to the east.

Our new high-grade drill holes together with the drill holes without significant mineralization help us better understand the strike and dip at the Western Slope Zone. Now that we better understand the strike and dip, we have high expectations for our 2023 drill program that is planned for early spring. We look forward to getting back on the ground and expanding the footprint of high-grade oxide gold mineralization.

I would like to extend our sincerest appreciation to our consulting technical team of Dave Beling, P.E., and geologists Ken Brook and Don Strachan who collectively have over 150 years of mining and exploration experience. These individuals have all contributed greatly to one of the shallowest and highest-grade gold discoveries in Nevada during 2022 by a junior mining company."

Figure 1 depicts the East-West cross section looking north at drill holes DB-23, 22-01 and 22-02.

Figure 2 shows the DH traces for DB-23 and new drill holes 22-01 and 22-02 in the Western Slope Zone.

It is important to note that in the Western Slope zone (DB-23, 22-01 and 22-02) all drill holes intercepted high-grade mineralization approximately 40 meters below the surface. For reference, our initial program completed in Spring 2022 discovered high grade gold in hole DB-23 in a 33.5 meter intercept of 5.15 Au g/t and 8.9 Ag g/t, including a 16.7 meter intercept of 10.03 Au g/t and 17.3 Ag g/t, and a 10.6 meter intercept of 15.3 Au g/t and 26.5 Ag g/t. These intercepts started at a depth of 41.1 meters in this 500 angled hole located at the Western Slope zone which is about 140 meters east of the mineralization in the Main Buster zone. See press release of June 29, 2022.

The following table includes the drill and assay data for the nine holes completed in the Fall 2022 Drill Program:

Figure 3 shows the new drill hole collar locations in relation to DB-23. Azimuths are not shown above but are included in the table herein.

Geology of the Western Slope Zone

At Excelsior Springs, the Athena technical team is seeing structurally controlled zones which host granodiorite to rhyolite dikes along with quartz veins and breccia zones. At the Western Slope zone, there are two zones of gold mineralization in the three discovery holes hosted by altered, calcareous siltstones which are cut by quartz veins and zones of quartz-calcite-cemented hydrothermal breccias. The lower portions of the holes encountered clay-sericite-altered intermediate to felsic composition intrusive rocks. Athena's technical team also believes the precious and base metals were initially deposited as sulfides and subsequently oxidized by descending meteoric or surface waters. The Western Slope zone remains open at-depth, untested up-and-down dip and along potential strike length extensions of at least 130 meters to the west and at least 300 meters to the east.

Excelsior Springs: An Intrusive-Related Gold System

Prior to our 2022 Western Slope discovery, Excelsior Springs was said to have the potential of being a major multi-million- ounce intrusion-related gold ("IRG") deposit like those in the Tintina Gold Province of Alaska/Yukon by renowned Economic Geologist, Dr. Richard Sillitoe[i].

Management believes the Western Slope Zone is a high-grade gold zone in an IRG system. The Western Slope sits at the edge of the IP anomaly that could be interrelated.

Due to a downturn in the metal's market, the IP anomaly was never followed up on due to the previous owner failing to raise the capital to continue the exploration process. Athena is grateful for the opportunity to follow up on the IP anomaly.

Figure 4 shows Athena's land boundaries and results of an initial induced polarization survey completed in 2011. The red star shows the location of the Western Slope Zone.

Walker Lane Trend

Excelsior Springs is a new discovery in Nevada's famous Walker Lane trend where a gold rush is currently underway. Major gold producers Anglo-Ashanti Gold, Kinross Gold, Centerra Gold and developer Augusta Gold are all active in the southern portion of the Walker Lane and have significantly expanded their presence over the last year.

Figure 5 - Map of Walker Trend.

Future Exploration Plans

Future exploration on the Project will focus on systematic drilling of the western slope zone and further defining the southwestern IP anomaly. An in-depth exploration program will be prepared and communicated to the market over the next few weeks with 2023 drilling targeted to commence in early Spring.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Procedures were implemented to assure Quality Assurance Quality Control (QAQC). All drilling was performed using reverse circulation methods with samples collected at 5-foot intervals. Representative sample splits were securely stored for shipment, with chain of custody documentation through delivery to American Assay Laboratories, an independent ISO-certified laboratory in Reno, Nevada. Mineralized commercial reference standards and coarse blank standards were inserted every 20th sample in sequence to assure acceptable levels of confidence of the drill hole assays. When laboratory reports of the assays are received, QAQC protocols are immediately augmented to ensure dependability of the drill hole assays.

As the Excelsior Springs Project advances, additional QAQC measures will be implemented including selected duplicate check assaying on pulps and coarse rejects at a second accredited assay laboratory. All results will be analyzed for consistency.

Qualified Person

Donald G. Strachan, Certified Professional Geologist (CPG #10376 AIPG), is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed the scientific and technical information that forms the basis of this press release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Strachan is independent of the Company and was responsible for the site management and technical aspects of the Program.

About Athena Gold Corporation

Athena is engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets. Its objective is to locate and develop economic precious and base metal properties of merit and to conduct additional exploration drilling and studies on the Project.

For further information about Athena Gold Corporation and our Excelsior Springs Gold project, please visit www.athenagoldcorp.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

John Power

Chief Executive Officer and President

Contact:

Phone: John Power, 1(707)-291-6198

Email: info@athenagoldcorp.com

Jason Libenson

President and CCO

Castlewood Capital Corporation

1(647)-534-9884

Email: jason@castlewoodcapital.ca

Cautionary Statement to U.S. Investors

This press release references NI 43-101, which differs from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators that establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can legally extract or produce. Pursuant to SEC Industry Guide 7 under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, a "final" or "bankable" feasibility study is required to report reserves. Currently Athena has not delineated "reserves" on any of its properties. Athena cannot be certain that any deposits at its properties will ever be confirmed or converted into SEC Industry Guide 7 or any successor rule or regulation compliant "reserves". Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the historic Buster Mine or Western Slope gold zones will ever be confirmed or converted into reserves or that it can be economically or legally extracted.

The SEC has adopted amendments to its disclosure rules to modernize the mineral property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These amendments became effective February 25, 2019, with compliance required for the first fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and historical property disclosure requirements for mining registrants that were included in SEC Industry Guide 7, which was rescinded from and after such date and replaced with disclosure requirements known as S-K 1300.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding future exploration plans and the completion of a phase 2 drill program at the Project, future results from exploration, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "potential", "scheduled", or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this press release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that there will be investor interest in future financings, market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future exploration and development of the Company's projects in a timely manner, QAQC procedures at the Project were followed, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the exploration and development of the Company's projects and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws.

The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, the estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the inability of the Company to obtain the necessary financing required to conduct its business and affairs, as currently contemplated, the timing and amount of estimated future production, the costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, requirements for additional capital, future prices of precious metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in future financings, accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents, approvals or authorizations, including of the Canadian Securities Exchange, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, and other factors and risks that are discussed in the Company's periodic filings with the SEC and disclosed in the final long form prospectus of the Company dated August 31, 2021.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this press release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise.

[i] (Dr. Richard Sillitoe has been an economic geological consultant for over 40 years and has worked in over 70 countries. He is best known as a porphyry-epithermal specialist but is well versed in all styles of gold and base metal mineralization. In 2002 he was the first non-American President of the Society of Economic Geologists. He is the author of over 100 economic geological articles and also two books. In 2019 he was awarded the SGA-Newmont Gold in recognizing the importance of his work).

SOURCE: Athena Gold Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734634/Athena-Gold-Confirms-and-Extends-Shallow-High-Grade-Oxide-Gold-Discovery-with-Multiple-Intercepts-Including-1002-Au-GT-Over-107-Meters-at-Its-Excelsior-Springs-Project-in-Nevada
COQUITLAM, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / Surge Battery Metals Inc. (the "Company" or "Surge") (TSXV:NILI)(OTC PINK:NILIF)(FRA:DJ5C) is pleased to report that the Company has acquired a 100% interest in 71 additional mineral claims resulting from a recently completed staking program. The Nevada North Lithium Project now comprises 243 mineral claims with a total area footprint of approximately 1,946 hectares or 4,810 acres. The land package is 100% owned and completely free of royalties.

Recently announced drill results (see News Release dated Jan. 3, 2023)News Release dated Jan 3, 2023) have demonstrated the potential for a significant lithium discovery at the Nevada North Lithium Project located in Elko County about 73 Km north-northeast of Elko Nevada.

The maiden drilling program, consisting of eight widely spaced drill holes, has identified strong lithium values (up to 5950 ppm) associated with a series of stacked blue-green clay layers up to 120.4 meter or 395 feet thick. To date mineralization, as evidenced by drilling, has a strike length of approximately 1,620 meters or 5,315 feet. Width of the mineralization is not as well determined since the holes are mostly on a north-south alignment because of topography and access but is at least 400 meters and soil anomalies indicate it is likely much more. The mineralization appears to be open to further development given the dimensions of a widespread lithium soil anomaly shown on the accompanying map.

Mr. Greg Reimer, Company President & CEO states: "The results of our maiden drill program have returned impressive lithium values over a significant area giving rise to optimism that we may have discovered a major lithium deposit in an area of northern Nevada not previously recognized for its lithium potential.

The company is now planning for the 2023 field season which will include additional drilling when ground conditions allow. Mineralogical and spectral analysis will be applied to the 2022 drill cuttings along with in-depth reviews of surface and sub-surface geochemistry as part of this phase of work."

Qualified Person as Defined Under National Instrument 43-101: Alan J. Morris of Spring Creek, Nevada, a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed, and approved the technical aspects of this news release.

About Surge Battery Metals Inc. surgebatterymetals.com

The Company is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company active in the exploration for lithium in Nevada and for nickel-iron alloy in British Columbia and whose primary listing is on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company's maintains a focus on exploration for high value battery metals required for the electric vehicle (EV) market.

Nevada Lithium Projects

The Company owns a 100% interest in 243 mineral claims located in Elko County, Nevada. The Nevada North Lithium Project is in the Granite Range southeast of Jackpot, Nevada, about 73 km north-northeast of Wells, Nevada. The target is a lithium clay deposit in volcanic tuff and tuffaceous sediments of the Jarbidge Rhyolite package.

In addition, the Company has a Property Option Agreement to earn an undivided 80% interest in 16 mineral claims, comprising 640 acres located within Nevada's San Emidio Desert, known as the Galt Property. Recent mineral exploration on the Galt claim group includes 51 playa sediment samples collected for chemical analysis at ALS Geochemistry in Vancouver, B.C. Results of aqua regia leaching of the samples show 68 to 852 parts per million lithium (mean 365 ppm), 5.3 to 201 ppm cesium (mean 72 ppm) and 35 to 377 ppm rubidium (mean 180 ppm). Results from two seven-foot-deep auger holes show lithium, cesium, and rubidium concentrations in the range of 143.5 to 773 ppm Li, 56.8 to 102.5 ppm Cs and 155 to 272 Rb.

Finally, the Company owns a 100% interest in 663 ha (1,640 acre) property in the Teels Marsh Project located in Mineral County, Nevada. The property is in an active region for both lithium exploration and production.

Nickel Projects, Northern BC

The Company has a Property Option Agreement to earn an undivided 80% interest in certain mineral claims from Nickel Rock Resources Inc. The Project (The Surge Nickel Project) consists of two non-contiguous mineral claims groups consisting of six mineral claim blocks located in northern British Columbia. One claim in the Mount Sidney Williams area (claim HN4), covers 1863 hectares immediately south of and adjacent to the Decar Project, currently being advanced by FPX Resources, and 5 claims in the Mitchell Range area, northeast of Decar, (N100 Group) covering 8659 hectares. Three of the claims are subject to 2% NSR, including the (HN4 claim and the two southernmost claims of the N100 claim group). Both projects target the nickel-iron alloy mineral "Awaruite", hosted by serpentinized intrusive rocks of the Trembleur Ultramafic Unit

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

"Greg Reimer"

Greg Reimer, President & CEO

Contact Information

Email: info@surgebatterymetals.com

Phone: 778-945-2656

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements which include, but are not limited to, comments that involve future events and conditions, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Except for statements of historical facts, comments that address resource potential, upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt and security of mineral property titles, availability of funds, and others are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not guaranteeing future performance and actual results may vary materially from those statements. General business conditions are factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from forward-looking statements.

Figure 1: Soil Sample Results - Lithium

SOURCE: Surge Battery Metals Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734582/Surge-Battery-Metals-Expands-the-Nevada-North-Lithium-Project-Land-Package
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / Intrepid Metals Corp. (TSXV:INTR) ("Intrepid" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an exploration program update on its Mesa Well Copper Property (the "Property"). The update follows the October 4, 2022 news release where Intrepid expanded its land holdings within the project area and commenced its initial exploration on the Property. The Property is favourably located within the Laramide Porphyry Belt of south-eastern Arizona between BHP's San Manuel-Kalamazoo Deposit and Freeport McMoRan's Safford Deposit.

The phase one exploration program consisted of additional rock sampling to enhance Intrepid's understanding of the historical Copper ("Cu") prospects and workings, a detailed mapping program to determine location of the Eagle Pass Fault within the Property, and a reconnaissance mapping program on the tertiary volcanics and sedimentary rocks. In addition, both historical core and new rock samples were examined using a portable Sample Core IP Tester ("SCIP") manufactured by Instrumentation GDD Inc. to assess the rationality of the initially proposed large dipole-dipole induced polarization ("IP") geophysical survey.

"We were very pleased with the results from our initial exploration program at Mesa Well," said Ken Brophy, CEO of Intrepid. "The SCIP work program was very valuable as the results revealed the originally contemplated IP survey would not have been an appropriate geophysical survey to use to help define priority drill targets based on the overlying conductive units above our target areas. Our team is currently evaluating our next steps which may include a broadband, full component magneto-telluric survey prior to drilling. We remain excited to drill Mesa Well in 2023 and wish to ensure we take appropriate steps to ensure success from the initial drill campaign."

Mesa Well Property

The Mesa Well Property is located approximately 100 kilometers ("km") northeast of the city of Tucson, Arizona, USA and is road accessible year-round. The Property is situated within the heart of the Laramide Copper Porphyry Belt with multiple deposits that contain over 5 million tons Cu. Mesa Well is located between BHP's San Manuel-Kalamazoo Deposit (50km to the west), Freeport McMoRan's Safford Deposit (55km to the east) and Asarco's Ray Deposit (85km to the northwest). The mines (present and past producing) and deposits referenced in the Laramide Copper Porphyry Belt provide geologic context for the Mesa Wells Property, however, is not necessarily indicative that the Property will host similar grades or tonnages of mineralization.

The Mesa Well Property covers approximately 6500 acres and is interpreted to contain a structurally dismembered, Laramide age Cu-Molybdenum ("Mo") porphyry deposit that may have been rotated approximately 90 degrees from its original upright position. The roots of the interpreted mineralized system are exposed in the footwall of the Eagle Pass Fault, which suggests there is potential for a Cu-Mo rich portion of the system concealed beneath the upper plate of the Eagle Pass Fault. Alteration and mineralization observed at surface is consistent with this target concept. Previous drilling by Vale in 2009 on the Mesa Well Property intersected alteration and mineralization that increases in intensity toward the northwest.

Dr. Chris Osterman, P. Geo, a consultant of the Company, is a Qualified Person ("QP") as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Dr. Osterman has reviewed and is responsible for the technical information disclosed in this news release.

RSU Grant

The Company also advises that it has granted 1,000,000 restricted share units ("RSUs") to a director and officer of the Company. 100% of the RSUs vest on January 9, 2024.

Vancouver Resource Investment Conference

Ken Brophy, CEO of Intrepid Metals, will be attending the 2023 Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) from January 29-30, 2023, in the Vancouver Convention Centre West Building. During the conference, over 100 keynote speakers will take the stage to discuss commodity forecasts and investment opportunities in the exploration, development, and mining industries. To schedule a 1x1 meeting with Intrepid's management team, please email invest@intrepidmetals.com.

About Intrepid Metals Corp.

Intrepid Metals Corp. is a Canadian exploration company focused on exploring for potential high-grade copper, silver, lead, and zinc mineral projects in proximity to producing mines in south-eastern Arizona, USA. The Company has acquired several drill ready projects, including the Tombstone South and the Mesa Well properties. Historical drilling at Tombstone South has identified high-grade mineralization and shares geological similarities to the Taylor Deposit, which was purchased for $1.3B in 2018, and Mesa Well is situated within the heard of the Laramide Copper Porphyry Belt. Intrepid is actively looking to acquire additional projects in Arizona and the American Southwest and has assembled an exceptional team with considerable experience in evaluating and developing exploration projects within North America. Intrepid is traded on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V) under the symbol "INTR". For more information, visit www.intrepidmetals.com.

INTREPID METALS CORP.

On behalf of the Company

"Ken Brophy"

CEO

For further information regarding this news release, please contact:

Ken Brophy

CEO

604-681-8030

info@intrepidmetals.com

Caroline Sawamoto

Investor Relations

invest@intrepidmetals.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Such forward-looking statements relate to: (i) future exploration plans; (ii) drill target details and expected timing of future drilling; and (ii) the exploration potential of the Property.

In certain cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "occur" or "be achieved" suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, intentions or statements about future events or performance. Forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the results of exploration activities, expectations and anticipated impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, commodity prices, the timing and amount of future exploration and development expenditures, the availability of labour and materials, receipt of and compliance with necessary regulatory approvals and permits, the estimation of insurance coverage, and assumptions with respect to currency fluctuations, environmental risks, title disputes or claims, and other similar matters. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.

Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include risks inherent in the exploration and development of mineral deposits, including risks relating to the ability to access infrastructure, risks relating to changes in commodity prices, risks related to current global financial conditions, risks related to current global financial conditions and the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's business, reliance on key personnel, operational risks inherent in the conduct of exploration and development activities, including the risk of accidents, labour disputes and cave-ins, regulatory risks including the risk that permits may not be obtained in a timely fashion or at all, financing, capitalization and liquidity risks, risks related to disputes concerning property titles and interests, environmental risks and the additional risks identified in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's reports and filings with applicable Canadian securities regulators.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed or accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Intrepid Metals Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734568/Intrepid-Metals-Announces-Exploration-Update-on-Mesa-Well-Property


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A pair of Earth-observing missions by NASA has enabled researchers to detect and track carbon dioxide emission changes from a single facility, using the world's fifth-largest coal-fired power plant as a test case.



A case study involving Europe's largest coal-fired power plant shows space-based observations can be used to track carbon dioxide emissions and reductions at the source.



In the recent study, researchers used space-based measurements from NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) 2 and 3 missions to quantify the carbon dioxide discharged hundreds of miles below at Belchatow Power Station in Poland, the largest single emitter in Europe. Analyzing the plant's emission plumes from several satellite overpasses between 2017 and 2022, they detected changes in carbon dioxide levels that were consistent with hourly fluctuations in electricity generation. The team was able to detect that temporary and permanent unit shutdowns for maintenance or decommissioning reduced the plant's overall emissions.



The findings prove that space-based observations can be used to track CO2 emission changes at a local scale, the scientists said.



Launched in 2014, NASA's OCO-2 satellite maps natural and human-made carbon dioxide emissions on scales ranging from regions to continents. The instrument samples the gas indirectly by measuring the intensity of sunlight reflected off Earth's surface and absorbed by carbon dioxide in the column of air from the ground to the satellite. OCO-2's spectrometers are tuned to detect the specific signature of CO2 gas.



Spare components from that mission were used to create OCO-3, an instrument that has flown on the International Space Station since 2019. OCO-3 was designed with a mapping mode that can make multiple sweeping observations as the space station passes over an area, allowing researchers to create detailed mini-maps from a city-scale area of interest.



Emissions from large facilities such as power plants and refineries account for about half of global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. Belchatow Power Station, in operation since 1988, is the largest lignite-fired power plant in the world, with a reported capacity of 5,102 megawatts. Lignite (brown coal) typically leads to higher emissions per megawatt generated than anthracite (hard coal). The Polish government has drafted plans to close the plant by the end of 2036.



Because of the mapping mode observations of OCO-3, NASA data could be used more extensively in quantifying CO2 point-source emissions in the future.



Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
AMSTERDAM, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- King Street Capital Management ("King Street"), a leading global alternative investment firm, announced it has completed the sale of Pharos (the "Property"), an iconic office asset in the Netherlands.





The announcement follows King Street's initial purchase of Pharos in January 2016 as part of a larger portfolio of six office assets located in close proximity to train stations in key Dutch regional cities. The Property, which was originally constructed in 2004, sits in Hoofddorp, an established office market of the Amsterdam Metropolitan area, with superb connectivity to Schiphol Airport and Amsterdam. Together with its operating partner, King Street extensively renovated the Property from 2018 to 2020, transforming it into an appealing multi-tenant office. Pharos has approximately 25,057 square meters of leasable area and is currently 89% leased to a diversified international tenant base.

"We are pleased to have completed the business plan on this project, which further supports our investment mandate of transforming well-located real estate in key European cities into high-quality, modern and sustainable assets," said Paul Brennan, Managing Director and Co-Head of Real Estate at King Street.

With a focus on sustainability, health and well-being, Pharos has received both A+ EPC and BREEAM In-Use Excellent ratings. Furthermore, the building offers tenants top quality common space and meetings rooms, a spacious atrium, an organic restaurant featuring fresh locally-grown organic food, an outdoor terrace, fitness facility and ample parking.

Additional information on the Property can be found at https://pharoswork.com/

About King Street

King Street is a global alternative investment firm founded in 1995 that manages approximately $22 billion in assets across public and private markets. The firm marries rigorous fundamental research with tactical trading and differentiated sourcing capabilities to identify misunderstood and complex investment opportunities across asset classes, up and down the capital structure. For more information, please visit www.kingstreet.com.

Media Contacts

For King Street

Prosek Partners

Pro-kingstreet@prosek.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1834844/King_Street_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/king-street-sells-sustainable-modern-office-asset-in-hoofddorp-301717741.html
Concerned by Venator's Alarming Long-Term Financial Underperformance, Massive Shareholder Value Destruction, Apparent Lack of Strategic Direction and Opaque Approach to Shareholder Engagement

Has Attempted to Engage with the Board for Past Seven Months and Experienced Delay Tactics and Gamesmanship

Believes Substantial Value Can Be Realized at Venator but the Current Board Lacks the Credibility and Skill Sets Needed to Evaluate Paths Forward without New Independent Shareholder Perspectives

Will Not Hesitate to Pursue All Available Avenues to Protect Best Interests of All Shareholders

Today J&T MS 1 SICAV (together with its affiliates, "J&T"), which owns approximately 14.3% of Venator Materials Plc ("Venator" or the "Company") (NYSE: VNTR), making it the Company's second-largest shareholder, sent a public letter to Venator's Board of Directors (the "Board"). The letter outlines J&T's concerns regarding the Board's apparent unwillingness to meaningfully engage with J&T, as well as the Company's stark financial and stock price underperformance and apparent lack of strategic direction. J&T also stresses that the incumbent Board appears to have squandered its credibility with investors and should not be trusted to chart the course forward for Venator without additional independent shareholder representation.

The full text of the letter follows:

January 10, 2023

Dear Members of the Board:

As you know, J&T MS 1 SICAV (together with its affiliates, "J&T" or "we") is the second-largest shareholder of Venator Materials Plc ("Venator" or the "Company"), with an approximately 14.3% ownership stake. We are writing to express our serious concerns about the direction the Company has taken under the watch of the current Board of Directors (the "Board"), and to reiterate our belief that additional independent shareholder representation is urgently needed in the boardroom.

To be clear, J&T is not an "activist" fund, and we generally do not go public with our concerns about a company. However, after trying to reach a resolution privately for seven months and being met with apparent delay tactics and gamesmanship, we believe we have no other recourse. We now feel compelled to make our views known in order to protect our own investment and that of our fellow public shareholders.

The current Board, which is dominated by affiliates of SK Capital Partners ("SK Capital") and Huntsman Corp. ("Huntsman"), has overseen massive value destruction. Venator's share price has fallen from its peak of $25.501, shortly after its August 2017 IPO, to less than a dollar today. Despite this drastic decline, we believe the Company has failed to articulate a go-forward strategy to restore confidence among investors and, consequently, the stock has continued to languish. In our view, the Board has not succeeded in representing the best interests of all shareholders and driving value creation.

The situation has become so dire that the Company received written notice in November of 2022 that it faces a potential delisting from the New York Stock Exchange. Additionally, the Company announced the same month that it had retained restructuring experts Alvarez Marsal to advise it "on a range of operational and financial actions."2 Given the deteriorating situation and the Board's poor oversight, we believe that the incumbent directors have forfeited the right to maintain the status quo and chart the path forward for Venator.

We first reached out to the Company in May of 2022 and made clear our desire to be a long-term shareholder of Venator and engage constructively with the Board. We have since tried to work with you on a plan to refresh the Board, initially proposing a Board observer position for myself as a representative of a major shareholder as well as an additional new director. After you indicated that you had no intention of creating a Board observer role, we proposed myself as a director candidate and noted we would also suggest an additional candidate. At that point, you indicated that the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (the "Committee") "remains open to considering new candidates" for the Board and that it welcomed "information" around these proposals. Subsequently, I submitted a director questionnaire and additional information; however, you replied that the "Committee concluded that the size of the current Board is sufficient and provides effective governance." This fact pattern underscored by the reality that our engagement was purely with management and at no time with any non-management director indicates to us a lack of any sincere intention on the part of the Board to consider the addition of new independent shareholder representatives.

Further, in our view, the appointment of Miguel Kohlmann another affiliate of SK Capital who replaced independent director Kathy Patrick as a director in August 2022 seems to have been a purely defensive maneuver designed to avoid giving a significant independent shareholder representation on the Board. We strongly disagree with your conclusion that the current Board provides effective oversight at the Company and is properly constituted. We believe the incumbent directors are not truly independent, and that shareholder-driven change is desperately needed to bring fresh perspectives and credibility to the Board.

We believe an objective review of the current Board's track record demonstrates the urgent need for change. We highlight the following:

The Current Board Has Overseen Massive Value Destruction

Venator share price has declined precipitously since its IPO. The Company's share price is down 96% since its IPO price in August 2017, and 78% since the January 4, 2021 announcement that SK Capital's representatives had joined the Board. 3 Additionally, Venator's total shareholder return ("TSR") is negative 71% and negative 80% for the past one- and three-year periods, respectively. 4 Frankly, in our view, Venator is by far the worst financially performing titanium dioxide producer and one of the worst in the entire chemical sector.

The Company's share price is down 96% since its IPO price in August 2017, and 78% since the January 4, 2021 announcement that SK Capital's representatives had joined the Board. Additionally, Venator's total shareholder return ("TSR") is 71% and 80% for the past one- and three-year periods, respectively. Frankly, in our view, Venator is by far the worst financially performing titanium dioxide producer and one of the worst in the entire chemical sector. The Company has had negative cash flow since its IPO. Through the third quarter of 2022 without the aid of one-time proceeds from the Tronox litigation Venator's cash flow was negative $220 million. This inability to produce positive cash flow has likely hindered reinvestment in the Company.

Through the third quarter of 2022 without the aid of one-time proceeds from the Tronox litigation Venator's cash flow was $220 million. This inability to produce positive cash flow has likely hindered reinvestment in the Company. Venator has delivered severely low gross margins. The Company's average gross margin between 2019 and 2021 was only 9% despite the Company's claims that it has a strong exposure to the high-margin specialty segment, and appears to have been used to cover SG&A alone, rather than to build a base for shareholder returns. Moreover, gross margin was negative in the third quarter of 2022.

The Company's average gross margin between 2019 and 2021 was only 9% despite the Company's claims that it has a strong exposure to the high-margin specialty segment, and appears to have been used to cover SG&A alone, rather than to build a base for shareholder returns. Moreover, gross margin was negative in the third quarter of 2022. The Company's efforts to improve the business' performance have failed. Unfortunately, Venator was unable to capitalize on an upturn in the market for titanium dioxide in 2021. In fact, Venator reported a lower adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin that year than in 2019. Its adjusted EBITDA margin was only 8.1% in 2021 and it reported a negative cash flow over the 2019 to 2021 period. Its closest peers, meanwhile, were boasting record earnings. For example, over the 2019 to 2021 period, Chemours delivered a 60% increase in titanium segment adjusted EBITDA, while Tronox delivered a 54% increase and Kronos delivered a 19% increase. Venator, on the other hand, delivered a disappointing 7% decrease in total adjusted EBITDA during that same period.

Venator Has No Apparent Plan and Has Poorly Communicated with Investors

Venator has failed to articulate a go-forward strategy. Updates are only communicated to shareholders through obligatory SEC filings, while the Company offers no financial guidance and has held no investor days, leaving us to question whether the Board and management has any strategy to address the Company's underperformance.

Updates are only communicated to shareholders through obligatory SEC filings, while the Company offers no financial guidance and has held no investor days, leaving us to question whether the Board and management has any strategy to address the Company's underperformance. Venator's actions seem limited to reactive steps. Management and the Board seem to only tackle problems when they arise with each new downcycle. Examples include the hiring of Alvarez Marsal once the Company was on the brink of being delisted and the presenting of multiple "business improvement programs," which, despite being heralded as successes by Venator, have not made any material impact on EBITDA.

Management and the Board seem to only tackle problems when they arise with each new downcycle. Examples include the hiring of Alvarez Marsal once the Company was on the brink of being delisted and the presenting of multiple "business improvement programs," which, despite being heralded as successes by Venator, have not made any material impact on EBITDA. The Company's lack of meaningful engagement with us demonstrates a disregard for shareholder input. As noted above, our discussions with the Company have only been at the management level and have left us with the impression that we were experiencing gamesmanship rather than genuine constructiveness. Though Venator management and its advisors at points have offered us selective access to MNPI, we believe a non-disclosure agreement that restricts us without providing the full information available to a director would not be sufficient. Moreover, information is not the only thing we need it is important that we have the opportunity to influence VNTR's turn-around strategy.

As noted above, our discussions with the Company have only been at the management level and have left us with the impression that we were experiencing gamesmanship rather than genuine constructiveness. Though Venator management and its advisors at points have offered us selective access to MNPI, we believe a non-disclosure agreement that restricts us without providing the full information available to a director would not be sufficient. Moreover, information is not the only thing we need it is important that we have the opportunity to influence VNTR's turn-around strategy. Venator has been accused of misleading shareholders. For example, the Company was accused of downplaying the extent of the damage caused by its Pori plant fire around the time of its IPO, resulting in a class action suit by shareholders.5

The Current Board Is Emblematic of Poor Corporate Governance and Lacks Independence

The Board lacks diversity of experience. Venator's directors all come out of and have experience in the chemical industry. A public Company such as Venator, especially as it embarks on evaluating paths forward, should have additional perspectives on the Board, including individuals with experience in areas such as corporate governance, finance, operations, cost reduction and capital markets. For example, Venator's peers such as Tronox and Chemours have boards comprised of individuals with a range of experience not solely in chemicals. We strongly believe that this lack of diverse experience has manifested itself in the absence of a well-laid-out strategy.

Venator's directors all come out of and have experience in the chemical industry. A public Company such as Venator, especially as it embarks on evaluating paths forward, should have additional perspectives on the Board, including individuals with experience in areas such as corporate governance, finance, operations, cost reduction and capital markets. For example, Venator's peers such as Tronox and Chemours have boards comprised of individuals with a range of experience not solely in chemicals. We strongly believe that this lack of diverse experience has manifested itself in the absence of a well-laid-out strategy. The Board is dominated by SK Capital representatives and lacks diversity of thought. SK Capital acquired $100 million worth of the Company's shares from Huntsman in December of 2020 to become a nearly 40% shareholder, and its representatives and/or affiliates currently hold five of the eight Board seats. Yet, the Company's financial performance has only worsened under these directors' watch. Without a well-articulated plan and based on our prior engagement with the Company we contend that SK Capital is running Venator like a private company, as evidenced by its eschewing engagement with shareholders.

SK Capital acquired $100 million worth of the Company's shares from Huntsman in December of 2020 to become a nearly 40% shareholder, and its representatives and/or affiliates currently hold five of the eight Board seats. Yet, the Company's financial performance has only worsened under these directors' watch. Without a well-articulated plan and based on our prior engagement with the Company we contend that SK Capital is running Venator like a private company, as evidenced by its eschewing engagement with shareholders. The Board lacks independence. Director Peter Huntsman, whose company struck a deal with SK Capital for it to acquire Huntsman's remaining interest in Venator in December of 2020 (with 40% of Huntsman's stake sold at the time and a 30-month option for SK Capital to purchase the remaining 9%), should have initiated a process to resign from the Board then. Another director, Daniele Ferrari, is a former Huntsman executive and senior director at SK Capital. Yet, Ferrari is chair of Venator's compensation committee while CEO Simon Turner (himself a former Huntsman executive) earned between $5 million and $10 million a year despite the Company's underperformance. Finally, Miguel Kohlmann, who was appointed to Venator's Board in August 2022 is also affiliated with SK Capital serving as a director of Archroma, an SK Capital portfolio company.

Based on conversations we have had with non-affiliated shareholders, we believe many share our views. We strongly urge you to immediately add myself and another independent director to be nominated by us to the Board. I have roughly 20 years of experience ranging from internal consulting, operational restructuring and simplification, corporate finance and in addressing governance issues. In our view, this insular Board would greatly benefit from a fresh perspective with experience outside of the chemical industry and from a director who approaches problems with a shareholder mindset.

If the Board continues to refuse to constructively engage with us, we are prepared to exercise all of our rights as shareholders to hold each individual director accountable.

Sincerely,

Martin Seycek

Member of the Supervisory Board, J&T MS 1 SICAV

About J&T MS 1 SICAV

J&T MS 1 SICAV is a Czech-based investment structure, established by long-term business partners Michal Snobr, an experienced investor in capital markets and energy sector expert, and J&T FINANCE GROUP SE, a leading private banking and financial group in CEE, via its investment fund J&T ARCH INVESTMENTS.

1 Stock price at market close on October 26, 2017. Source: Bloomberg.

2 Q3 2022 Venator Materials PLC Earnings Call, November 18, 2022.

3 As of market close on January 6, 2023. Source: Bloomberg.

4 As of market close on January 6, 2023. Source: Bloomberg.

5 "Chemical Maker Downplayed Massive Damage at Facility Before IPO, Investors Claim," Courthouse News Service, February 21, 2019, https://www.courthousenews.com/chemical-maker-downplayed-massive-damage-at-facility-before-ipo-investors-claim/.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005394/en/

Contacts:

Investors:

Martin Seycek

martin.seycek@hamaga.cz

Media:

Longacre Square Partners

Dan Zacchei Joe Germani

dzacchei@longacresquare.com jgermani@longacresquare.com
Only leading certificate authority worldwide to achieve this

BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / GMO GlobalSign (https://www.globalsign.com/en), a global Certificate Authority (CA) and leading provider of digital signing, identity and security solutions for the IoT, today announced the company has achieved several new ISO certifications. These certifications provide our customers with a guarantee that GlobalSign has implemented the Information Technology industry's best-practice security methods. GlobalSign is the only CA in the world to achieve this level of ISO certification.

GlobalSign has now achieved ISO 27701:2019 for Privacy Information Management System (PIMS) and ISO 27017:2015 for Cloud Security. ISO 27701:2019 helps to provide a standard for data privacy controls, which, when coupled with an Information Security Management System (ISMS), allows GlobalSign to demonstrate effective privacy data management. ISO 27017:2015 is a cloud security standard that enables an internationally standardized framework to help reduce the risk of data breaches and build customer trust by showing GlobalSign's commitment to information security. The standard also provides expert guidance to our customers who utilize our cloud-based services. With these new certifications, current and prospective customers can be confident that GlobalSign's products, solutions and services are safe, reliable and trustworthy. ISO's standards on everything from road safety and toy safety to secure medical packaging reduce product failures, helping to make the world a safer place.

"GlobalSign's achievement of these four renowned ISO certifications demonstrates our willingness to do what it takes to guarantee quality results. These ISO certifications have already increased GlobalSign's credibility with existing customers across the world and resulted in solidifying our relationships with them," said Arvid Vermote, Chief Information Security Officer, GlobalSign.

Vermote adds: 'GlobalSign's extensive list of ISO certifications adequately shows our dedication to implementing benchmark best practices for our prospective customers."

GlobalSign first achieved certifications for ISO27001 (Information Security Management) and ISO22301 (Business Continuity Management) in October 2019, making it one of the first CA's in the world to retain them.

About GMO GlobalSign

As one of the world's most deeply-rooted certificate authorities, GlobalSign is the leading provider of trusted identity and security solutions enabling businesses, large enterprises, cloud-based service providers, and IoT innovators worldwide to conduct secure online communications, manage millions of verified digital identities and automate authentication and encryption. Its high-scale PKI and identity solutions support the billions of services, devices, people, and things comprising the IoT. A subsidiary of Japan-based GMO GlobalSign Holdings K.K and GMO Internet Group, GMO GlobalSign has offices in the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit https://www.globalsign.com.

Media Relations Contact

Amy Krigman

Director of Public Relations - West

Phone: 603-570-7060

Email: amy.krigman@globalsign.com

SOURCE: GlobalSign

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734466/GlobalSign-Now-Certified-on-Four-ISO-standards




POSCO E&C Hauterre Bangbae / Courtesy of POSCO E&C
Arctoris is delighted to announce that our Co-Founder and COO, Tom Fleming, is among the first members of the new UK Young Academy a network of early career researchers and professionals established to help tackle local and global issues and promote meaningful change.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005642/en/

Arctoris' Co-Founder and COO, Tom Fleming, joins first UK-wide Young Academy (Photo: Business Wire)

As part of the first cohort of 67 members, announced today (10 Jan) by UK and Ireland National Academies, Tom will have the opportunity to help shape the strategy and focus of this new organisation, based on areas that matter to them.

Along with their fellow members from across academia, charity organisations and the private sector, they will have the chance to inform local and global policy discussions, galvanising their skills, knowledge, and experience to find innovative solutions to the challenges facing societies now and in the future.

The UK Young Academy has been established as an interdisciplinary collaboration with prestigious national academies: the Academy of Medical Sciences, British Academy, Learned Society of Wales, Royal Academy of Engineering, Royal Irish Academy, Royal Society of Edinburgh, and the Royal Society. It joins the global initiative of Young Academies, with the UK Young Academy becoming the 50th to join the Young Academy movement.

Dr Martin-Immanuel Bittner, Co-Founder CEO of Arctoris and member of the Die Junge Akademie of Germany said: "We are proud to support Tom in his appointment to the newly formed UK Young Academy. Young Academies play an important role in bringing together different disciplines and voices across academia and industry to address the challenges of today. This will afford Tom an opportunity to push forward Arctoris' mission of advancing healthcare in a broader context."

The successful applicants officially took up their posts on 1 January 2023, and membership runs for 5 years. It is expected that the next call for applications will open in 2023.

ABOUT UK YOUNG ACADEMY

The UK Young Academy is part of a growing international initiative to give young, early-career innovators, professionals, academics and entrepreneurs a voice for the advancement of issues that are important to them. The UK Young Academy gives its members the chance to have their perspectives, knowledge and insights represented as part of the wider landscape of academic and professional bodies in the UK.

ABOUT ARCTORIS LTD

Arctoris is a tech-enabled drug discovery company headquartered in Oxford, UK, and Boston, MA. Arctoris combines its unique automation platform, Ulysses, with advanced machine learning approaches and a world-class team of seasoned drug hunters to guide and rapidly progress its wholly owned and partnered drug discovery programs in oncology and neurology. For latest updates, visit www.arctoris.com and follow Arctoris on LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005642/en/

Contacts:

UK Young Academy

For media enquiries, contact Royal Society press office:

Amrita Pal, Press Officer

amrita.pal@royalsociety.org press@royalsociety.org



Arctoris

Media enquiries:

media@arctoris.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Forum Energy Metals Corp. (TSXV: FMC) (OTCQB: FDCFF) ("Forum" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that drilling has resumed after the Christmas break on its 100% owned Wollaston uranium project, located 10km south of Cameco's Rabbit Lake Uranium Mill and 30km south of Orano/Denison's McClean Lake Uranium Mill in the Northeastern Athabasca Basin (Figure 1). Three holes were completed in December totaling 855.5 metres and 95 samples were collected for geochemical analysis at SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Forum has budgeted for a further 3000 metres to be drilled during this drill campaign.

Gravity crews are on site to conduct surveys over priority targets identified by an airborne time domain electromagnetic survey completed last year (Figure 2). Approximately 3700 gravity stations are to be collected over the main conductive trends at a 100x100m station spacing.

Figure 1: Location Map of the Wollaston Project.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4908/150801_7d96498474b3e960_003full.jpg

Figure 2: 2023 gravity survey areas overlying a TDEM channel data image (dB/dt channel 20) showing the main conductive trends on the Wollaston Project.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4908/150801_7d96498474b3e960_004full.jpg

Rebecca Hunter, PhD., P.Geo., Forum's Vice President of Exploration and Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.

About Forum Energy Metals

Forum Energy Metals Corp. (TSXV: FMC) (OTCQB: FDCFF) is a diversified energy metal company with uranium, copper, nickel, and cobalt projects in Saskatchewan, Canada's Number One Rated mining province for exploration and development, a strategic uranium land position in Nunavut and a strategic cobalt land position in the Idaho Cobalt Belt.

For further information: https://www.forumenergymetals.com/

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Forum's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include but are not limited to: uncertainties related to the historical data, the work expenditure commitments; the ability to raise sufficient capital to fund future exploration or development programs; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; changes commodity prices, litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological or operational difficulties or an inability to obtain permits required in connection with maintaining or advancing its exploration projects.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Richard J. Mazur, P.Geo.

President & CEO

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.

For further information contact:

Rick Mazur, P.Geo., President & CEO

mazur@forumenergymetals.com

Tel: 604-630-1585

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150801
Demonstrates Denodo's success in helping companies using AWS to integrate, manage, and deliver distributed data for analytical workloads

Denodo, a leader in data management, today announced that it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Data and Analytics ISV Competency status. Attaining this status differentiates Denodo as an AWS Partner that has successfully demonstrated deep expertise in data integration, management, and delivery of distributed data for business intelligence and advanced analytics for enterprise and medium-sized companies using AWS services.

As cloud adoption continues its rapid climb, driven by pandemic-induced changes in data consumption users can no longer wait for weeks for data to be delivered. Taking advantage of Denodo's native connectivity to Amazon Redshift, Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS), Amazon EMR, and Amazon Athena, companies can integrate petabyte-scale data in real time to gain a unified view of the business. The Denodo Platform for AWS accelerates time-to-insight and data services with ready-to-use logical data management powered by data virtualization, accelerating the cloud migration journey.

"Denodo is thrilled to achieve the AWS Data and Analytics ISV Competency status," said Suresh Chandrasekaran, executive vice president at Denodo. "Our AWS footprint is enormous hundreds of our customers run the Denodo Platform on AWS, access various AWS services through Denodo, and purchase the Denodo Platform in AWS Marketplace. This competency distinction recognizes the work we have done with AWS over several years."

A complex data landscape, consisting of cloud data lakes, Internet of things (IoT) architectures, NoSQL, and software-as-a-service (SaaS), fuel the needs of modern hybrid cloud analytics, machine language (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI). However, it can be time consuming, and at times practically impossible, to explore and understand all of the available data within a company, as has been found in Denodo's Global Cloud Survey 2022. Denodo's advanced data catalog can easily document existing datasets and quickly surface them to business users in a self-service manner.

As Jim Mellon, head of Architecture at Syngenta, points out, "We brought in the Denodo Platform to build a self-service data platform on AWS for our data consumers. With data spread across different geographical boundaries, leveraging Denodo's data virtualization solution helped us quickly connect multiple disparate sources at least 4x faster than with traditional data integration technologies and centralized data authorization and protection. Across the enterprise, we have seen a 35x jump in the number of users accessing the data platform, leading to wide adoption of data-driven decision-making."

The Denodo Platform for AWS is available in AWS Marketplace, and Denodo offers a free trial of Denodo Professional for AWS for 30 days.

Please tweet: News: @denodo the dataintegration and datamanagement leader achieves @AWS Data and Analytics ISV Competency Status. datavirtualization

About Denodo

Denodo is a leader in data management. The award-winning Denodo Platform is the leading data integration, management, and delivery platform using a logical approach to enable self-service BI, data science, hybrid/multi-cloud data integration, and enterprise data services. Realizing more than 400% ROI and millions of dollars in benefits, Denodo's customers across large enterprises and mid-market companies in 30+ industries have received payback in less than 6 months. For more information, visit www.denodo.com or call +1 877 556 2531 (US) +44 (0) 20 7869 8053 (UK) +65 6950 7489 (Singapore).

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005422/en/

Contacts:

Media Contacts

Chris McCoin or Richard Smith

McCoin Smith Communications Inc.

508-429-5988 (Chris) or 978-433-3304 (Rick)

chris@mccoinsmith.com or rick@mccoinsmith.com
HOUSTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HONX, Inc. (" HONX ") constructed, owned, and operated an Oil Refinery, formerly known as Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corporation (" HOVIC "), from 1965 to 1998 on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Workers at this Oil Refinery (and family members and others who came into contact with these workers) may have been exposed to asbestos.

Anyone who believes they have a claim against HONX for an asbestos-related illness must submit a claim by March 17, 2023, to be eligible for compensation.

Virtually all oil refineries built before 1980 used or contained products with asbestos. Asbestos is a fiber which was used as insulation in wires, pipes, boilers, generators, steam traps, pumps, valves, electrical boards, gaskets, packing material, turbines, compressors, cement, and cement pipes.

Asbestos-related illnesses can be very serious or fatal and include diseases such as mesothelioma, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, esophageal cancer, pharyngeal cancer, stomach cancer, asbestosis, and pneumoconiosis. Even if an individual's exposure to asbestos was many years ago, this notice could affect them as asbestos-related illness can occur decades after the exposure to asbestos.

Individuals could have been exposed to asbestos if they or a family member worked at the Oil Refinery as an employee or contractor, or in any other role. Individuals also could have been exposed by coming in contact with another person who worked at the Oil Refinery (for example, if asbestos was brought home on a spouse or parent's clothing). Claims may also be filed on behalf of a family member who is deceased, incapacitated, or a minor.

For anyone who may have been exposed to asbestos from the Oil Refinery and has been diagnosed with or is experiencing symptoms of an asbestos-related illness, the deadline to submit a claim is March 17, 2023at 5:00 P.M. (Central Time). Claims can be filed online at www.St.CroixClaims.com. Paper claim forms can be downloaded from the website or requested by calling 1-855-345-6272 (toll-free) or 949-236-4562 (international). Individuals can also get more information by contacting the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors at HONXClaimantInfo@akingump.com. Completing a claim form can take as little as five minutes.

Workers at the Oil Refinery (and their family members and others who came into contact with these workers) who have been diagnosed with or are experiencing symptoms of an asbestos-related disease, must submit a claim to preserve their right to compensation from HONX. Workers at the Oil Refinery (and their family members and others who came into contact with these workers) who have never been diagnosed with or experienced symptoms of an asbestos-related disease should consult with an attorney.

Media Contacts

E-mail: TeamHonx@stretto.com

Phone: 855.345.6272 (Toll-Free) or 949.236.4562 (International)

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/honx-inc-bankruptcy-establishes-deadline-for-filing-claims-related-to-current-asbestos-injury-301717686.html
2023-dated collector and bullion coins to feature transitional effigy until permanent obverse is chosen for all Canadian coins

OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Royal Canadian Mint has dedicated its 2023 Proof Silver Dollar to celebrating the inspiring life of Canada's first woman journalist, Kathleen "Kit" Coleman. Born in County Galway, Ireland and emigrating to Canada in 1884, Kit Coleman first joined the Toronto Daily Mail as a Women' Editor and later became North America's first accredited woman war correspondent, gaining international fame for her coverage of the aftermath of the Spanish-American War. She also helped establish the Canadian Women's Press Club, and served as its first President. Her fascinating journey is told through the artistry of Pandora Young, who used Kit's silhouette as the canvas upon which the main chapters of her life are richly illustrated on the reverse of the coin.





Pandora Young has fashioned another portrait of the pioneering journalist on the 2023 $100 Pure Gold Coin. The reverse features Kit Coleman writing at her desk. Behind her is a map showing North America and Europe, with dotted lines retracing her epic travels across both continents.

The Mint is also introducing an updated obverse design that will appear on 2023 collector and bullion coins until a new permanent obverse is adopted on Canadian coins. The Susanna Blunt-designed effigy of Queen Elizabeth II is accompanied by a special marking consisting of a vertical inscription of the dates "1952" and "2022", separated by four pearls symbolizing the four effigies that have graced Canadian coins throughout the reign.

Other products launching today include:

The 2023 Treasured Silver Maple Leaf series of Premium Bullion in Special Packaging, offered with a 1 oz. 99.99% Pure Silver Coin, or a 1/10 oz. 99.99% Pure Gold Coin;

The 2023 $200 Pure Gold Coin - Celebrating Canada's Diversity- Knowledge and Interconnection; featuring an abalone element surrounded by a design by Haida artist Yahl 'Aadas ( Cori Savard );

Pure Gold Coin - Celebrating Canada's Diversity- Knowledge and Interconnection; featuring an abalone element surrounded by a design by Haida artist Yahl 'Aadas ( ); The 2023 $2,500 Pure Gold Coin - Vantage Point - Bald Eagle, by Robert Bateman ;

Pure Gold Coin - Vantage Point - Bald Eagle, by ; The 2023 $20 Fine Silver Coin - Celebrate Love, designed by Jori van der Linde ;

Fine Silver Coin - Celebrate Love, designed by ; The 2023 $10 Fine Silver Coin - Welcome to the World!; and

Fine Silver Coin - Welcome to the World!; and The 2023 Gift Sets, featuring specially-designed one-dollar coins for: Born in 2023; Happy Birthday; and O Canada.

Mintages, pricing and full background information on each product can be found on the "Shop" tab of www.mint.ca. Images of the coins are available here.

These products can be ordered as of today by directly contacting the Royal Canadian Mint at 1-800-267-1871 in Canada, 1-800-268-6468 in the US, or at www.mint.ca. They are also available at the Royal Canadian Mint's boutiques in Ottawa and Winnipeg, at participating Canada Post outlets, and through the Mint's global network of dealers and distributors.

About the Royal Canadian Mint

The Royal Canadian Mint is the Crown corporation responsible for the minting and distribution of Canada's circulation coins. The Mint is one of the largest and most versatile mints in the world, offering a wide range of specialized, high quality coinage products and related services on an international scale. For more information on the Mint, its products and services, visit www.mint.ca. Follow the Mint on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

media are asked to contact: Alex Reeves, Senior Manager, Public Affairs, Telephone: 613-884-6370, reeves@mint.ca

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980161/Royal_Canadian_Mint_ROYAL_CANADIAN_MINT_INTRODUCES_TRANSITIONAL.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/royal-canadian-mint-introduces-transitional-effigy-on-2023-proof-silver-dollar-celebrating-pioneering-woman-journalist-kathleen-kit-coleman-301717255.html
Zaandam, the Netherlands, 10 January 2023 - Ahold Delhaize today announces that Natalie Knight, CFO since 2020, has informed the company that she will pursue another career opportunity in the United States of America, and will leave Ahold Delhaize. A six months' notice period applies. The search for a successor has started.



Frans Muller, President & Chief Executive Officer Ahold Delhaize said: "Although her time at Ahold Delhaize has been short, I respect Natalie's decision to move her family back to the United States after more than 25 years in Europe. During her tenure here, Natalie has had a positive impact on our company, driving greater alignment across the Finance function, fueling our Save for our Customers program and taking financial reporting and communication to the next level. Her passion for sustainability and diversity has supported advancing these topics across our business. I look forward to our continued collaboration through the next months as we further implement our Leading Together Strategy."

Natalie added: "It has been an honor to serve this great company and its associates during a time when the COVID-19 pandemic showed us the importance of grocery retail in the communities we serve. I am proud that throughout it all, we've been able to deliver not only strong financial results but also ensure financial stability of the company, advance e-commerce profitability and increase our future-focused investments such as sustainability. I look forward to continue working with Frans and the team to ensure a smooth transition and to help identify my successor."

Further announcements will be made in due course.

Cautionary notice

This communication contains information that qualifies as inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

This communication includes forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts may be forward-looking statements. Words and expressions such as to leave, will, decision, continue(d), next few months, further, ensure, look forward, transition, due course or other similar words or expressions are typically used to identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and that may cause actual results of Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. (the "Company") to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in the Company's public filings and other disclosures. Forward-looking statements reflect the current views of the Company's management and assumptions based on information currently available to the Company's management. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and the Company does not assume any obligation to update such statements, except as required by law.

For more information

Press office: +31 88 6595134 / media.relations@aholddelhaize.com (mailto:media.relations@aholddelhaize.com)

Investor relations:?+31 88 659 5213 / investor.relations@aholddelhaize.com (mailto:investor.relations@aholddelhaize.com)

Social media: Instagram: @Ahold-Delhaize | LinkedIn: @Ahold-Delhaize | Twitter: @AholdDelhaize?

About Ahold Delhaize

Ahold?Delhaize is one of the world's largest food retail groups and a leader in both supermarkets and e-commerce. Its family of great local brands serves 55 million customers each week, both in stores and online, in the United States, Europe, and Indonesia. Together, these brands employ more than 413,000 associates in 7,452 grocery and specialty stores and include the top online retailer in the Benelux and the leading online grocers in the Benelux and the United States.?Ahold?Delhaize brands are at the forefront of sustainable retailing, sourcing responsibly,?supporting local communities and helping customers make healthier choices. The company's focus on four growth drivers - drive omnichannel growth, elevate healthy and sustainable, cultivate best talent and strengthen operational excellence - is helping to fulfil its purpose, achieve its vision and prepare its brands and businesses for tomorrow. Headquartered in Zaandam, the Netherlands,?Ahold?Delhaize is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam and Brussels stock exchanges.















Attachment
Emma, the world's leading online sleep brand, drew the line on 2022 performance and the results are spectacular! As the #1 mattress brand worldwide, Emma is making history in U.S. and Canada markets with 10x+ growth compared to 2021 and one of the most successful affiliate programs in 2022, during perhaps the most difficult year for the mattress industry.

Secrets to Success:

Specifically designed for plus-sized sleepers with a focus on comfort, the new Emma CliMax Hybrid was created to celebrate body neutrality and our intimate moments in bed. Available at an unbeatable price and endorsed by some of the most prestigious publishers and buyers alike, the CliMax helped skyrocket the brand's sales.

Emma is also offering excellent deals to both buyers and affiliates, as well as the needed creatives for affiliates to spread the word about their deals. In partnership with AMNavigator.com Emma built a 100% parasite-free, professionally managed affiliate program on ShareASale where publishers get all the help they need to sell and earn.

These efforts helped Emma live up to its name as the world's leading online sleep brand and become one of the top brands in North America, with its affiliate program ranking among the top #150 in ShareASale, the largest North American affiliate marketing network, especially during peak season.

According to Benjamin Quiroga-Rivera, Co-Founder of Emma Sleep, "We are very encouraged by these early, exceptional results. Our journey to success is only beginning and our sleep scientists, engineers, and marketing teams are working around the clock to continually develop better products and streamline the process so that we can further improve our offers to both customers and our affiliate partners."

The Emma Sleep products are available for purchase via the Emma U.S. and Canada websites. Every purchase comes with a 365-night trial, a 10-year warranty, and next-day free shipping across the two countries. More details on Emma products and current offers are available on the company website, Instagram, and Facebook.

About Emma The Sleep Company (EMMA SLEEP GmbH)

Emma The Sleep Company is a founder-managed company and the world's leading direct-to-consumer sleep brand. Founded in 2013 by Dr. Dennis Schmoltzi and Manuel Mueller in Germany, the company is active in more than 30 countries and achieved a turnover of EUR 645 million (USD 731 million) in 2021, a growth rate of 59 percent from the previous year. Emma products are sold via an omnichannel approach, including online, marketplaces, and more than 3,500 brick-and-mortar stores. Emma successfully collaborates with over 200 retailers. Emma's 850+ team members are working across the world, with offices in Frankfurt (Germany), Manila (Philippines), Lisbon (Portugal), Mexico City (Mexico), and Shanghai (China).

For more information about Emma The Sleep Company, please visit team.emma-sleep.com/press.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005207/en/

Contacts:

Media; emmasleep@devriesglobal.com
The World's Elite Grandmasters Will Compete for a $1.4M Purse in Five Over the Board Events During the 2023 Season

The Grand Chess Tour (GCT), a circuit of international events, each demonstrating the highest level of organization for the world's best players, will return again in 2023. Tour participants will compete for a total prize fund of $1.4 million over the course of the 2023 season. The prize money for each of the two classical tournaments will be $350,000 and $175,000 per event for rapid and blitz. In addition, a bonus prize fund totalling $175,000 will be awarded to the top three overall tour finishers.

The 2023 tour will include eight full tour players and additional wildcards will be selected for each tournament. The Superbet Chess Classic will kick off the 2023 tour in Bucharest, Romania and the Sinquefield Cup will close out the tour from November December in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.

Between the two classical events are three rapid and blitz events scheduled to be Warsaw, Poland, Zagreb, Croatia and Saint Louis, USA.

The major sponsors of the 2023 Grand Chess Tour are Superbet Foundation, SuperUnited, and Saint Louis Chess Club.

2023 Grand Chess Tour Tournament Name Tournament Date Tournament Location Superbet Chess Classic Romania May 4 May 16 Bucharest, Romania Superbet Rapid Blitz Poland May 19 May 26 Warsaw, Poland Super United Rapid Blitz Croatia July 3 July 10 Zagreb, Croatia Saint Louis Rapid Blitz November 12 November 19 Saint Louis, USA Sinquefield Cup November 19 December 3 Saint Louis, USA

"Fans can expect another exciting year of classical and rapid and blitz tournaments among the world's best chess players," said GCT Executive Director Michael Khodarkovsky.

The full format and list of full tour players and wildcards of the 2023 Grand Chess Tour will be announced soon. Please visit grandchesstour.org and follow GCT social media for more information and all the latest news regarding the tour.

About the Grand Chess Tour

The Grand Chess Tour is a circuit of international events, each demonstrating the highest level of organization for the world's best players. The legendary Garry Kasparov, one of the world's greatest ambassadors for chess, inspired the Grand Chess Tour and helped solidify the partnership between the organizers. All Grand Chess Tour events will comply with local and regional COVID-19 restrictions. For more information about the tour, please visit grandchesstour.org.

About the Superbet Foundation

Founded in 2019, Superbet Foundation is a nonprofit organization. Its role is to coordinate Superbet Group's CSR activities and to connect with civil society organizations and the general public. Through its activity, the Foundation strives for a better world, with healthy and educated people and by supporting various projects it wants to inspire people to hold unbreakable moral values. It supports projects in domains like education, health, culture, performance in sport and, most notably, in chess. Since 2019, chess has become one of the backbones of Superbet Foundation by organizing its first tournament of the Grand Chess Tour in Bucharest. The Foundation is committed to turning GCT tournaments into a tradition for the Romanian and Polish chess communities. For more information, visit superchess.ro.

About the Saint Louis Chess Club

The Saint Louis Chess Club is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to making chess an important part of our community. In addition to providing a forum for the community to play tournaments and casual games, the club also offers chess improvement classes, beginner lessons and special lectures.

Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of chess, the Saint Louis Chess Club is committed to supporting those chess programs that already exist in area schools while encouraging the development of new in-school and after-school programs. For more information, visit saintlouischessclub.org.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005475/en/

Contacts:

For more information, please contact:

Rebecca Buffington

GCT Public Relations

Email: press@grandchesstour.org
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Phenom Resources Corp. (TSXV: PHNM) (OTCQX: PHNMF) (FSE: 1PY0) ("Phenom" or the "Company") wishes to announce that it is evaluating the merits of a potential transaction to transfer its gold assets into a new Canadian subsidiary ("SpinCo") that would then be spun out to the Phenom shareholders. The intent of the transaction is twofold: (i) to return Phenom to being a dedicated vanadium investment vehicle; and (ii) to position SpinCo to operate as an independent company that would seek a separate public listing and would focus on advancing the gold assets currently owned by Phenom.

Phenom makes no assurance that a spinout will occur as it would be subject to many conditions that include SpinCo satisfying stock exchange listing requirements, the assessment of legal and tax consequences, determining the specific details of such a transaction, receipt of Phenom shareholder approval, receipt of all regulatory and other required approvals, the availability of financing for SpinCo and market conditions. In the coming weeks, Phenom will provide further details when they become available.

Paul Cowley, President and CEO of Phenom, states: "Phenom Resources is moving toward a pure vanadium play with a proposed spinout of its gold assets. The Company intends to focus on resource expansion, engineering and metallurgical studies on our flagship Carlin Vanadium Project in Nevada, as well as other vanadium related opportunities. The Carlin Vanadium project hosts the largest highest grade primary vanadium resource in North America and has a PEA dated May 2020.

"The vanadium demand landscape is changing with its demonstrated superior attributes over lithium in the expanding stationary battery market and by the significant growth and commitment by China to vanadium redox flow battery implementation in its electric grid over the last five years. The world is following. Vanadium prices have been on the rise for the last 3 months, now at US$8.90 per pound V2O5. The Company has significant vanadium related plans to carry out in 2023. The Company also has significant plans in 2023 for its gold assets, which by spinning out could be funded and advanced independent of the Company's vanadium activities.

"While Phenom Resources is still working out the details, structure and timing to effect the proposed spin out, we feel it's important at this time to communicate the Company's intended future direction."

ON BEHALF OF PHENOM RESOURCES CORP.

per: "Paul Cowley" CEO & President

(604) 340-7711 pcowley@phenomresources.com www.phenomresources.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking information

Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking" statements. All such statements involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to vary from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, they should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and they will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions on the date of this news release, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities regulations.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150786
Hyundai Oilbank's Daesan factory in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province / Courtesy of Hyundai Oilbank





Hyundai Oilbank CEO Chu Young-min
Highlights:

ION Energy will meet with investors and government officials at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 10-13, 2023;

Focus on sharing ION Energy's compelling value proposition as Mongolia's first lithium brine explorer, strategically located next to the world's leading battery manufacturer; and

ION executives will be at Stand FMF 27, where industry leaders across the mining value chain can learn about the Company's ongoing exploration work, including finding the highest-grade lithium brine known to have been collected in Mongolia, assayed at 918 mg/L lithium.

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - ION Energy Limited (TSXV: ION) (OTCQB: IONGF) (FSE: 5YB) ("ION" or the "Company"), Mongolia's first lithium brine explorer and developer, is very pleased to be participating in the Future Minerals Forum being held from January 10-13, 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ION Energy will be exhibiting at Stand FMF 27. Ali Haji, CEO & Director of ION Energy, and Aneel Waraich, Director of ION Energy, will both be present, with a focus on sharing ION's story, alongside furthering potential partnerships for the Company's current and future projects.

"I'm excited to be in Riyadh this week, as the Future Minerals Forum will facilitate new partnerships for ION Energy. We applaud the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for bringing together global mining leaders, to encourage the future growth of our industry, and to bring together opportunities from across Middle East, Africa and Asia," said Ali Haji, CEO & Director of ION Energy. "With the world experiencing notable supply constraints in much-needed lithium resources, ION Energy welcomes the opportunity to share how we're moving quickly to help address this global issue, poised to become a disruptor on the battery metals scene, and an ideal candidate for investment from countries from these regions."

About The Future Minerals Forum

The Future Minerals Forum offers unrivalled mining business in a dynamic, emerging part of the world. These vast lands of untapped resource endowment comprise minerals vital to a growing and prosperous world economy. The conference and exhibition will promote strategic leadership and technical knowledge sharing, showcase advanced technologies and innovations, and facilitate new partnerships. These countries are open for business, are actively seeking true investment partners and want to work with mining experts across the spectrum to transform the industry. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with its well-established infrastructure, G20 status and central geographic location, is pleased to convene this critical summit to advance the mining goals of countries across the Middle East, Central Asia and North and East Africa.

About ION Energy Ltd.

ION Energy Ltd. (TSXV: ION) (OTCQB: IONGF) (FSE: 5YB) is committed to exploring and developing Mongolia's lithium salars. ION's flagship, 81,000+ hectare Baavhai Uul lithium brine project, represents the largest and first lithium brine exploration licence award in Mongolia. ION also holds the 29,000+ hectare Urgakh Naran highly prospective Lithium Brine licence in Dorngovi Province in Mongolia. ION is well-poised to be a key player in the clean energy revolution, positioned well to service the world's increased demand for lithium. Information about the Company is available on its website, www.ionenergy.ca, or under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

For further information:

COMPANY CONTACT: Ali Haji, CEO & Director, ali@ionenergy.ca, 647-871-4571

MEDIA CONTACT: Siloni Waraich, siloni@ionenergy.ca, 416-432-4920

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, the Company's objectives, goals or future plans, statements, potential mineralization, exploration and development results, the estimation of mineral resources, exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of market conditions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from ION Energy's expectations include, among others, uncertainties relating to availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, risks related to international operations, the actual results of current exploration activities, delays in the development of projects, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined as well as future prices of lithium, and ability to predict or counteract potential impact of COVID-19 coronavirus on factors relevant to the Company's business. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150835
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Dynasty Gold Corp. (TSXV: DYG) (FSE: D5G1) (OTC Pink: DGDCF) ("Dynasty" or the "Company") is pleased to release assay results from its Phase 1 2022 maiden drill campaign at the Thundercloud gold property located 47 kilometres southeast of Dryden, in northwestern Ontario. These are the best assay results ever reported from Thundercloud, and constitute new discovery of wide zones and high-grade gold-bearing quartz veins requiring further delineation.

Significant Assay Highlights:

DP22-02 intercepted 1.31 g/t Au over 121 m from 102 m; Including 15.06 g/t Au over 9 m: Including 43.47 g/t Au over 3 m.





DP22-03 intercepted 7.35 g/t Au over 51 m from 88.5 m, contains the longest intercepts with the highest gold grades to date; Including 13.01 g/t Au over 28.5m: Including 25.66 g/t Au over 12.5 m: Including 101 g/t Au over 3 m: Including 246 g/t Au over 1.5 m.





DP22-04 intercepted 0.764 g/t Au over 40.5 meters from 120 m; Including 8.61 g/t Au over 3 m: Including 25.1 g/t Au over 1.5 m.



Assay Results:

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) DP22-01 9.0

25.5

30.0 25.5

30.0

252.0 15.5

4.5

222.0 0.104

0.269

0.0815 DP22-02







Including

Including

Including 0

77.0

83.0

102.0

189.0

189.0

190.5 77.0

83.0

102.0

223.50

214.5

198.0

193.5 Not sampled

5.0

Not sampled

121.0

25.5

9.0

3.0

0.072



1.31

5.37

15.06

43.47 DP22-03



Including

Including

Including

Including



And 0

88.5

111.0

112.5

118.5

118.5

139.5

148.5 88.5

139.5

139.5

125.0

121.5

120.0

148.5

154.5 Not sampled

51.0

28.5

12.5

3.0

1.5

Not sampled

6.0

7.35

13.01

25.66

101.1

246.0



1.90 DP22-04





Including

Including 0

20.58

120.0

144.0

147.0 20.58

120

160.5

147.0

148.5 Not sampled

Negligible values

40.5

3.0

1.5



0.764

8.61

25.1

"We are thrilled with these outstanding results in our first drill program on the property. They are the highest gold grades, the longest and the widest intercepts ever drilled at the property. These drill results indicate a much bigger resource potential with higher grades at Thundercloud. The data will assist in building a structural model for a NI 43-101 resource update, and future drill target planning for resource expansion," states Ivy Chong, President and CEO.

These 4 near-surface shallow holes were drilled in the southeastern and south-central portions of the known Pelham area. The first hole was drilled on the eastern edge of a magnetic low that may represent a fault boundary, with no significant gold mineralization in it. Holes 2, 3, and 4 were drilled in untested areas of magnetic "highs" identified in the drone magnetic survey conducted in summer 2022. These three holes discovered a new area of very high-grade gold mineralization in quartz-veined mafic metavolcanics and overlying volcanic flow breccias ("conglomerates"). Quartz-veined rocks contained up to 246 g/t Au (7.91 ounces per ton) over a 1.5 m core length. The Company will sample the entire hole 3 in the coming months. The focus of the next drill program will be to outline the extent of this high grade mineralization in previously unexplored areas.

The host rocks at Thundercloud are metamorphosed mafic volcanic strata and local overlying flow breccias intruded by two phases of intrusive gabbros. Much of the low-grade gold mineralization found at Thundercloud is associated with a "cloud" of disseminated pyrite. Higher-grade gold mineralization is found locally with quartz veining and local sulfide enrichments. The Company regards this as a previously unexplored zone of high-grade gold mineralization worthy of further drilling. In addition, the property has several other mostly unexplored areas of high magnetization that could be explored in the future.

"Current assay results obtained by Dynasty Gold from the Thundercloud Property are particularly of interest in that the results clearly indicate that the Property has potential for both large-tonnage with high-grade and vein deposits. Although only four holes were completed, intercepts such as 121 m of 1.31 g/t Au and 101 g/t over 3 m are selected examples of each type with more present in the data set. Additional work obviously is required to establish economics but the nature of the indicators to date are encouraging," said Roman Shklanka, Director.

The Company thanks its dedicated team, contractors and the First Nations whose efforts have made this drill program a success. It also likes to acknowledge the contribution by the Ontario Junior Exploration Program ("OJEP") to the Company for the $60,000 grant towards furthering exploration on Thundercloud.

Quality Assurance & Quality Control

The Company's exploration program was supervised in the field by Richard R. Redfern, M.Sc., CPG. The core samples were personally delivered by the George Downing Estate drillers from the drill rig to Dynasty personnel at the Company's field office in Dinorwic, Ontario, where they were logged geologically and sample intervals selected. The cores were securely transported and diamond sawed in the presence of the Company's consulting engineer, Dr. Bing Wang, Ph.D. P.Eng., and personally delivered to the ALS Global Geochemistry Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba by Redfern and Wang for processing. ME-ICP61 33 elements package was used for assaying. Oreas standards and blanks were inserted into the sample stream to check on the comparative accuracy of the gold assays received. Gold fire assays and 4-acid-dissolution geochem analyses were conducted on the samples at the ALS Global Geochemistry Laboratory in Vancouver, B.C, and all gold values higher than 10 g/t were re-assayed by using Au-GRA21 gravimetric fire assays.

The technical information in this release has been reviewed and approved by Richard R Redfern, M.Sc., CPG, a director of Dynasty Gold and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

About Dynasty Gold Corp.

Dynasty Gold Corp. is a Canadian exploration company currently focused on gold exploration in North America with projects located in the Manitou-Stormy Lake greenstone belt in Ontario and in the Midas gold camp in Nevada. The Company is currently advancing its Thundercloud gold deposit which contains 182,000 oz gold. The 43-101 Mineral Resource report and related press release with details on the resource are available on the Company's website and were filed on www.sedar.com. The 100% owned Golden Repeat gold project in the Midas gold camp in Elko County, Nevada, is surrounded by a number of large-scale operating mines. In addition, Dynasty owns a 70% interest in the Hatu Qi2 gold mine in the Tien Shan Gold belt, Xinjiang, China, with which it is in legal dispute with Xinjiang Non-Ferrous Industrial Metals Group and its subsidiary Western Region Gold Co. Ltd. For more information, please visit the Company's website www.dynastygoldcorp.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DYNASTY GOLD CORP.

"Ivy Chong"

_________________________________

Ivy Chong, President & CEO

For additional information please contact:

Vancouver Office:

Ivy Chong

Phone: 604.633.2100. Email: ichong@dynastygoldcorp.com

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150812
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / Edison International

Energized by Edison

By Casey Wian ENERGIZED by Edison Writer

Perhaps the biggest challenge along Southern California Edison's path to a clean energy future is making sure the electric grid is ready to handle the rapid electrification of transportation, buildings and other sectors of the economy. Jun Wen, an SCE Grid Strategy senior advisor, is part of a group working to proactively prepare the grid for a high electrification future.

"California is leading the way on electrification. I am involved in preparing the grid to expand its capacity to meet the increased demand for electric power and doing so in the most cost-effective way," she said. Wen has been part of several SCE teams working toward the goal of reducing the company's carbon emissions to "net-zero."

"Jun was involved in a team that was for the first time trying to describe how technologies can change the role of the utility in the clean energy space," said Erik Takayesu, SCE senior vice president of Asset Strategy and Planning.

Wen has a doctorate in electrical engineering and power electronics from UC Irvine, as well as master's and bachelor's degrees from Tsinghua University in China. Throughout her nearly 15-year career at SCE, she has worked on teams dominated by men. Now that may be changing industrywide.

Wen was recently nominated by SCE and ultimately chosen to be part of a prestigious global team of female energy industry professionals dedicated to advancing efforts to decarbonize electric power worldwide and empowering women in the industry through mentorship and leadership experiences. It's sponsored by CIGRE, the French acronym for the International Council on Large Electric Systems based in Paris.

"I think one of the reasons I was fortunate enough to be selected was SCE's reputation as a clear leader in the clean energy space. Climate change is a global issue, and I really want to share the things we are doing with representatives from the other 15 countries that are participating," Wen said. "I'm very excited to help bring other women leaders along."

"These women are putting their heads together to understand the hurdles we face today and provide recommendations to overcome them tomorrow," said Mandy Olson, engineering director of electric transmission and distribution at Burns & McDonnell and a member of CIGRE. "We all know our world is changing rapidly. Even with all hands on deck, we have our work cut out for us to transition to a cleaner grid while maintaining reliability and accommodating increased demand."

"The goal for SCE here is to help bring together best practices from around the globe," Takayesu said. "It is very relevant to what we're trying to do as a company."

Wen says her most significant takeaway from working with CIGRE's Women in Energy group is "the urgency of the climate change issues shared by all countries. We have seen extreme heat, drought and flooding in California, the U.S. and around the world. It made me really appreciate the statement from our recent Climate Adaptation Vulnerability Assessment that "the cost to invest in climate adaptation now is far less than the cost of inaction."

Concrete actions planned by the CIGRE Women in Energy group include producing a series of articles on climate change, the first focusing on cyclones, floods and landslides targeted for publication next month, and the second on wildfires and extreme heat.

For more information about clean energy, visit edison.com/clean-energy.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Edison International on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Edison International

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/edison-international

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Edison International

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734667/Empowering-Women-Toward-a-Clean-Energy-Future


OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Canada is acquiring a new fleet of 88, state-of-the-art 5th Generation F-35 Lightning II fighter jets to enhance its capability to meet the national and international security threats.



Announcing this, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said, 'As our world grows darker, with Russia's illegal and unjustifiable attack on Ukraine, and China's increasingly assertive behavior in the Indo-Pacific, this project has taken on heightened significance - especially given the importance of interoperability with our allies.'



'The F-35 is the best in the world, providing unmatched interoperability to America, Canada and the additional 15 nations that have selected the fighter. It is a global game-changer. Through power-projection, the F-35 is at the tip of the spear for deterrence. Its forward presence will continue to ensure that potential adversaries choose diplomacy over armed conflict,' said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, program executive officer, F-35 Joint Program Office.



Through an agreement finalized with the U.S. government and Lockheed Martin, The first of the US-made war planes is expected to enter the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2026.



The full fleet will become operational by 2033 or 2034, the Canadian government said in a press release.



The F-35 Lightning II is regarded as one of the best fighter jets in the world. The single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft is designed to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.



The F-35 strengthens Canada's operational capability with its allies as a cornerstone for interoperability with NORAD and NATO. As a critical node in the 21st Century Security mission space, the F-35 gives pilots an advantage against enemies.



F-35 fighter jets currently operate from 27 military bases worldwide. Canada will become the ninth nation acquiring the fifth-generation fighter aircraft.



Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Strategic leadership appointment advances the company's next stage of growth and execution following an impressive 2022

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 10, 2023, the cloud-native logging and security analytics company, today announced the leadership appointment of Brian Froehling to Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). With 20+ years of experience driving revenue growth, Froehling will oversee Devo's global sales, channel, solution engineering, and revenue operations teams as the company looks to further expand into new regions and industries.



"Coming off a strong 2022 that saw Devo achieve a $2 billion valuation, we're excited for Brian to join the team as we enter our next stage of growth," said Marc van Zadelhoff, CEO of Devo. "We've more than tripled our revenue, customers, and employees in the past two years, and Brian's extensive experience and proven track record perfectly position Devo for continued momentum into the coming year as we look to further make the autonomous SOC a reality for enterprises around the globe."

Froehling comes to Devo with a highly-esteemed resume, working across large-scale and pre-IPO enterprises to accelerate revenue growth. He most recently served as Executive Vice President, Head of Sales at Brightcove, where he ran $220 million in sales globally. Before that, Froehling was Vice President of Sales at CA Technologies, overseeing product sales for DevOps, Agile, and Cybersecurity solutions.

"Backed by incredible investment partners, a talented team and unparalleled technology, Devo has created a security analytics platform that addresses customers' needs and arms security leaders to take confident action to protect their business," said Froehling. "As we head into 2023, I'm looking forward to working with the leadership team to empower even more enterprises to optimize and re-calibrate their approach to security with Devo as their trusted and favored partner."

Froehling's hiring is on the heels of an impressive fiscal year for Devo. In addition to its $100 million Series F fundraising round in June of 2022, the organization acquired LogicHub and Kognos to further bring to life its vision for powering the autonomous SOC, and closed five new multi-million-dollar customers in the past four months.

Devo also earned recognition in the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for SIEM and the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide SIEM 2022 Vendor Assessment , and entered a multi-year strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services .

To learn more about how Devo is bringing the autonomous SOC to life and offering a wider array of security analytics solutions, visit Devo.com .

About Devo

Devo is the only cloud-native logging and security analytics platform that releases the full potential of your data to empower bold, confident action. With unrivaled scale to collect all of your data without compromise, speed to give you immediate access and answers, and clarity to focus on the signals that matter most, Devo is your ally in protecting your organization today and tomorrow. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with operations in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, Devo is backed by Insight Partners, Georgian, TCV, General Atlantic, Bessemer Venture Partners, Kibo Ventures and Eurazeo. Learn more at www.devo.com .

Devo Media Contact:

Megan Wittenberger

megan.wittenberger@devo.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9ce5615a-fccc-4949-a16b-eb81192acf7c




NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / Founded by Bill Gates in 2015, Breakthrough Energy recently announced it will grant its first Catalyst project funding to LanzaJet's Freedom Pines Fuels SAF plant in Soperton, Georgia.

Andrea Decore, Vice President, Low Carbon Fuels and GHG Offsets at Suncor, says the Breakthrough Energy announcement is big news. "The award came after a rigorous review by Breakthrough Energy, so it's a real vote of confidence for LanzaJet, its SAF technology, and Suncor's investment."

Breakthrough Energy Catalyst brings together corporate and philanthropic organizations to advance potential technologies by funding first-of-a-kind commercial-scale projects. It focuses on four key areas for Catalyst funding, one of which is SAF.

In 2020, Suncor invested in LanzaJet's alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) SAF technology and their Freedom Pines Fuels SAF commercial demonstration facility. Japan-based Mitsui & Co. and LanzaTech were also early investors, with British Airways and Shell following. The Freedom Pines Fuels plant has also received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund.

Projected to be operational at the end of 2023, LanzaJet's Freedom Pines Fuels project is the firm's first commercial-scale SAF plant and will be the first in the world to produce ATJ SAF, which has the potential to lower emissions by at least 70 per cent compared to fossil jet fuel. Once fully operational, the plant will play a critical role in scaling SAF production and bringing lower-cost sustainable fuels to market.

Andrea points out that, "Aviation accounts for approximately two to three per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions annually. As a 'drop-in' fuel, SAF can be blended up to 50 per cent with conventional jet fuel and offers an important way to quickly decarbonize aviation with existing aircraft in use around the world."

The LanzaJet process can use any source of sustainable ethanol for SAF production, including ethanol produced from municipal solid waste, agricultural residues, industrial off-gases and biomass.

The demonstration facility is expected to produce nine million gallons of SAF and one million gallons of renewable diesel annually, roughly doubling current SAF production in the U.S. To put that into perspective, the facility is projected to produce enough SAF to fuel more than 1,300 Boeing 737-800 jets per year.

Construction of the Freedom Pines Fuels project is underway with completed modules due to ship to the site near Savannah, Georgia before the end of 2022.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Suncor Energy on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Suncor Energy

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/suncor-energy

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Suncor Energy

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734671/LanzaJet-Gains-Altitude-With-Significant-Project-Funding
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Silk Road Energy Inc. (TSXV: SLK) reports that it has entered into an option agreement to acquire a 100 percent interest in the Doran-South Lithium Property located approximately 200 km east of Red Lake in northwestern Ontario and contiguous with Doran lithium property it recently optioned (see December 19, 2022 news release).

The Doran-South Lithium property abuts the southwest corner of the Doran Property. Doran-South and Doran are located 60 kilometres east of Green Technology Metals Inc.'s Root Lake Lithium Project which is at an advanced stage of exploration. The Doran Lithium Property sits along the same terrane boundary fault structure as the Root Lake Lithium discovery.

Granite intrusives with a fertile geochemistry were observed by the Ontario Geological Survey (OGS) adjacent to the boundary fault neighbouring the Doran property. These intrusives are often associated with lithium-bearing pegmatite.

"Doran-South is a natural complement to the Doran Lithium Property and is strategically located," said Michael Judson, Chairman and CEO. "High lithium content in lake-bottom sediments, second-order structures and mineralization are found on the same trend as the Doran property."

The area surrounding the Doran-South and the Doran Lithium properties was explored by the OGS for its potential to host significant lithium deposits. As they had at the Doran property, the OGS discovered at the Doran-South property elevated levels of lithium oxide in lake-bottom sediment samples. The OGS considered this a positive criterion for the presence of lithium mineralization in the area.

As noted in an earlier press release, satellite photo images of Doran property show both white linear and irregular spotted clusters of outcrops which may be interpreted as pegmatite intrusions, a potential host rock for lithium mineralization.

Doran-South Lithium property consists of approximately 1,820 hectares. This is in addition to the company's first lithium property acquisition, the Doran Lithium property, which Silk Road is acquiring by issuing 900,000 shares, at deemed price of 0.06 per share, and by making cash payments over the next three years for a total of $111,000. The Doran Lithium property consists of 3,474 hectares in close proximity to the English River-Uchi Terrane boundary and is also adjacent to a second order faults. The presence of these structural and tectonic elements is significant since to date most significant lithium discoveries occur adjacent to terrane boundaries and second order fault structures.

Silk Road is acquiring the Doran-South Lithium property by issuing 1,000,000 shares, at deemed price of $0.06 per share, and by making cash payments over the next year of $50,000. There are no work commitments on the properties. The agreement is subject to TSX and other regulatory approvals.

Silk Road Energy will act as sole operator of the project. The vendor will hold a 1.5% Net Smelter Royalty (NSR) on the property that can be purchased by Silk Road for $3 million.

Silk Road is launching a non-brokered private placement of common share units of the company at a price of $0.05 per unit for gross proceeds of up to $500,000. Each Unit will consist of one common share of the company and one half common share purchase warrant.

Each warrant will entitle the holder to acquire a common share at $0.10 per common share for twenty-four (24) months following the issuance of warrants.

The net proceeds from the issue and sale of the common shares shall be primarily used for working capital and general and administrative expenses. This private placement is expected to close on or about January 31, 2023.

This offering is conditional upon receipt of required regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The securities issued pursuant to the offering, as well as any compensation options issued to finders, will be subject to four months and a day statutory hold period in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.

Qualified Person:

Edward Procyshyn, P.Geo, a qualified person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

For more information please contact:

Michael C. Judson, Chairman & CEO

Silk Road Energy Inc. (doing business under the name Record Gold)

T. +1-514-865-5496

Website: www.recordgoldcorp.com

Cautionary Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes", an or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would" , "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to: approval of the Private Placement and obtaining a full revocation order. This forward-looking information reflects the Company's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to the Company and on assumptions the Company believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to: the market acceptance of the Private Placement; the ability of the Company to obtain a full revocation order and the receipt of all required approvals in connection with the foregoing. Forward looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; general capital market conditions and market price for securities; and the delay or failure to receive board, shareholder, court or regulatory approvals. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Except as required by law the Company does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change.

The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

The Units and the securities comprising the Units have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirement. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities nor shall there be any sale of securities in the Unites States, or any other jurisdiction, in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. Securities laws

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150846
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / Colton and classmate Brett Monson act as news anchors during a tour of KHQ television studio in Spokane while learning about working with the media.

Photos courtesy of AgForestry

Rayonier Forest Engineer III, Colton Cooley, shares his personal experience as an AgForestry Leadership Program participant. The program is designed to cultivate leaders within Washington State who work in the agriculture, forestry, and natural resource industries.

Colton Cooley grew up in a small forestry town in Oregon. With generations of family-owned logging and tree farming businesses, a career in forestry was a natural choice. His love for the industry led him to Rayonier as a Forest Engineer III.

After receiving a sponsorship from Rayonier, Colton took the leap and was chosen as a participant in the highly competitive AgForestry Leadership Program. He graduated in April 2022.

The intensive 18-month leadership development program is geared toward those who work in the agriculture, forestry and natural resource industries. During his time in the program, Colton says it was both a life-changing and eye-opening experience.

About the AgForestry Leadership Program in Washington State

According to Program Director Hannah Poush, the program provides an opportunity for individuals to focus on themselves as a leader.

"The AgForestry Leadership Program prepares mid-level career adults with practical leadership opportunities and rounds them with a support network," explains Hannah. "From there, they can take the leadership skills they gain and put them to use. Leadership can be messy and lonely at times. You need people in your corner who aren't necessarily in your organization. Our program provides a safe space where participants can mold and perfect their leadership skills prior to taking it out into the world."

The program is divided into three modules, each focusing on a specific leadership-focused topic.

Module One - Personal Leadership

In this module, participants are challenged to rethink assumptions and consider what their individual leadership philosophy is. They are asked to self-evaluate who they are and who they want to become as a leader.

"One of my favorite moments was when Colton got up to give his speech," says Hannah. "He told the room to 'do the things that make you uncomfortable.' Clearly, he was not comfortable giving a speech, and he even told the room that. But he did it anyway. Colton lives what he preaches, and that is what is so special about him."

Assignments and seminars during Module One include:

Attend 3 Seminars (in Pullman, Spokane and Wenatchee)

LPI 360 Assessment

DiSC Personality Profile

5-minute persuasive speech

Assigned reading

Required journaling

Module Two - Leadership in Public Policy

The primary goal of Module Two is to immerse program participants in the public policy culture and history at the local, state, and federal government levels. Class members visit three different locations during this module, gaining a more diverse perspective as it applies to leadership within government.

"Many program alums will tell you that this was one of their big 'ah-ha' moments," says Hannah. "They learn that the public policy sector is not an untouchable process. It offers empowerment and the realization that anyone can be involved in the issues and challenges surrounding policy-making."

While visiting Washington D.C., Colton met with Congresswoman Kim Schrier.

"Colton absolutely shone," Hannah says with a smile. "This was when he really started stepping out of his box and realized his ability and confidence in speaking. I remember him walking through that experience of his abilities. Kim genuinely wanted to learn from him. His classmates commented on how well he did in that meeting."

Assignments and seminars during Module Two include:

Attend 3 Seminars (in Seattle, Olympia and Washington D.C.)

Required journaling

Assigned articles and podcasts prior to seminars

Begin working on group policy projects

Module Three - Leadership and Systems Thinking

During Module Three, participants travel and are exposed to various issues prominent within the state of Washington.

"We want class members to be exposed to regions of the state and become familiar with issues we face," says Hannah. "With issues that are contentious, we want to offer opportunities to understand various and diverse perspectives. Our hope is class members gain an appreciation for these complexities."

Social issues, transportation systems, forest products, and key water systems are among the topics discussed and observed during Module Three.

In addition to state-level travel, class members must embark on an international trip. Colton spent two weeks in Puerto Rico, where he immersed himself in the culture and got to know the people there.

"It was inspiring to hear their stories," Colton explains. "Despite all they had been through with the hurricanes and earthquakes, the people held so much pride for their country."

Assignments and seminars during Module Three include:

Attend 6 Seminars (In Longview, Tri-Cities, Vancouver, Tacoma, Walla Walla and an international location)

Required journaling

Assigned articles and podcasts prior to seminars

5-minute persuasive speech

Continue work on group policy projects

Begin work on personal leadership philosophy

The History of the AgForestry Leadership Program

In the '60s and '70s, times were unsettling as the Washington "Fish Wars" took place. Native American tribes and commercial fishing industries were at odds over fishing land. From this turmoil, tribal elder Billy Frank Jr. and an Ellensburg rancher-turned-politician, Stu Bledsoe, forged a relationship and decided to find a way to work together. This ultimately led to the Timber/Fish/Wildlife Agreement (TFW) in the 1980s. The agreement laid the foundation for the collaborative management of natural resources between organizations, tribes and agencies in the state of Washington.

While working on TFW, Stu saw the need for quality leadership between industry and public policy. From his desire to grow leaders who could collaborate and communicate, a natural resources leadership program was born in Washington State - the AgForestry Leadership Program.

Colton's AgForestry Experience Testimonial

We asked Colton about his experience with the AgForestry Leadership Program.

Rayonier: How would you describe your experience working through the AgForestry Leadership Program?

Colton: My life has changed thanks to the program. I gained a new perspective on leadership and now have the confidence to speak up and share in my role at Rayonier. Before coming to the program, I had no political experience or any interest in it. Part of the program is teaching its participants how laws are passed and enforced. I learned that our legislators are just people that want to make a difference. They are easy to talk to if you reach out.

During my time in the program, I was expected to attend all seminars, give my full attention, and participate equally in our group projects. The intensity of the program was tough, don't get me wrong. I had to work around the challenges of managing time with my family, work and the program. But you get out of the program what you put into it.

And as for my classmates, they were an awesome group of people. Everyone, at some point, was a mentor for each other. It went both ways. I was humbled to be with such a quality group of people. And the best part is, we stay in touch. I met some of my best friends through the program.

R: What part of the program left the biggest impression on you?

CC: There were many experiences that left an impression on me. But one of the big ah-ha moments was when we visited the state penitentiary in Walla Walla, Washington. Part of the process is learning that there are issues outside of your professional life. We attended a Crime and Corrections Seminar, hearing from professionals in the corrections industry talk about issues with the system in Washington state. They spoke about what the state does for the system and how it runs. It was eye-opening to learn how that actually affects us because the people within the penitentiary eventually get out and become our neighbors. So the question then is what do we do to productively help get those people back into society? We were consistently faced with challenging questions that got us thinking.

R: How has the AgForestry Leadership Program helped set you up for success in your role at Rayonier?

CC: When I expressed interest in the program, Rayonier was very supportive. They want you to grow as an employee for their organization, but also as a leader and community member. Because of their support and my involvement in the program, I've gained the confidence to sit in a meeting and share my thoughts and opinions with the room. I also better understand how I learn and communicate with others. These are all critical skills to becoming a better leader.

After sharing my experience with my supervisor and co-workers at Rayonier, the company has been getting more involved with the AgForestry Leadership Program. Rayonier strives to challenge its employees with professional development, and I think they saw that this program benefited me.

R: Tell us about the forestry tour you personally organized for your class.

CC: Our class, unfortunately, went through the program during the pandemic. Because of this, we missed out on field tours, one of which would have highlighted the forestry side of the industry. I wanted to showcase forestry and share the industry with those who do not work in that space. So I reached out to Hannah Poush, our Program Director, and asked her if I could organize a forestry tour. She didn't hesitate before she said "Yes!" I reached out to several people in the industry that I knew were alumni of the program and received huge support from the network. In March of 2022, we went on a tour of a seedling nursery, a mill in the area, and an export facility at the Olympia Court.

It just goes to show how powerful the forestry network is.

R: What was your group's public policy project?

CC: As a group, we wanted to do something that would make an impact. We all got along well, but we had different viewpoints and ideas. We knew we wanted to make a difference and landed on the issue of insurance. Many farmers do not have the same access to doctors as people in most cities. In addition, their [often rural] internet access typically is not fast enough for online medical visits. An emergency order that was meant to help had been issued by the governor during COVID, however "audio-only" services were excluded from reimbursable telemedicine services.

We got traction very quickly! Each group member spent time reaching out to individuals for support, and one even submitted a written testimony. Through it all, we learned how to track the bill through the legislature and how the process works. Afterward, we wrote a report for the bill and presented it at the graduation seminar. We received positive and constructive feedback. It was a satisfying and empowering experience.

R: What advice do you have for someone considering the program?

CC: My advice would be to do your research. This program isn't something to be taken lightly as it requires quite a bit of time and commitment. Figuring out how to juggle life, family, work and the program was the most challenging part for me. Those new to the program need to consider this and answer the question, 'Can I handle that?' You only get out of the program what you put into it. Dedicate yourself and you'll do just fine.

Rayonier's involvement with the AgForestry Leadership Program

Because of this opportunity, Colton has gained the confidence he needs to succeed in his role at Rayonier.

"I am grateful to Rayonier and thankful for their support," says Colton. "They got their value!"

In addition to sponsoring Colton's participation in the program, Rayonier is also a sponsor of the overall organization.

"Cultivating leaders for Washington State's natural resource industries is a team effort," explains Vicky Scharlau, AgForestry Program's Executive Director. "AgForestry is only successful with key partners in agriculture, fisheries and forestry. Rayonier plays an important role representing the forestry industry, and we appreciate them for standing up and leaning into the value and significance of adult leadership development."

How you, too, can follow in Colton's footsteps

If you are interested in learning more about the program, check out the AgForestry Program Prospects Page on their website. There you will find Program FAQs, an application, contact information and a schedule to chat with an AgForestry Staff member if you have any further questions.

To be eligible for the program, the following requirements must be met:

You must have lived or worked in Washington State for at least one year.

Because this is an intensive program, you must receive approval from your employer. An Employer Release form will need to be filled out by your employer.

Remain employed in agriculture, forestry or any other related natural resources industry career for the duration of the program.

Attend an AgForestry Q&A session via Zoom. Dates, times and registration can be found on the Prospects Page of the website.

Those who are passionate about what they do are strongly encouraged to apply. "If you want to grow in your skills and confidence to make a difference, this program is for you," says Hannah.

Applications for Class 45 are open from January 15 to April 15, 2023.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Rayonier on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Rayonier

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/rayonier

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Rayonier

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734677/Rayonier-Forester-Completes-Intensive-and-Prestigious-Agforestry-Program
OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - The United States, Mexico and Canada have signed a North American Declaration on Partnership for Equity and Racial Justice. The declaration was signed by the foreign ministers of the three countries on the sidelines of the North American Leaders' Summit in Mexico City, Mexico. It aims at promoting anti-racist, inclusive, democratic and equal societies in these three countries. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said anti-indigenous, anti-black, anti-Asian, and anti-Semitic hate have sharply risen in Canada. Muslim communities in Canada have experienced several horrific, deadly Islamophobic attacks in recent years. 'We're establishing a trilateral racial equity and inclusion expert network to share knowledge, to share best practices for advancing equity and racial justice,' said U.S. Secretary Of State Antony Blinken. He announced that in April, the United States will host the first-ever Cities Summit of the Americas in Denver. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility will be a key part of the discussions there. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico City to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries and create a more prosperous and secure future for North America. The two leaders also reviewed security cooperation under the Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communities and discussed increased cooperation to prosecute drug traffickers and dismantle criminal networks, disrupt the supply of illicit precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, shut down drug laboratories, and prevent trafficking of drugs, arms, and people across the U.S.- Mexico shared border. President Biden and President Lopez Obrador reaffirmed their commitment to implement innovative approaches to address irregular migration, pursuant to the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / Its Mariana US LLC is a successful and profitable company that is dedicated to positively impacting people's lives, through providing useful information, tips and knowledge. Originally, the company was founded in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2017 but now their work has expanded throughout the country, and it is even known internationally!

The head behind this successful business is Mariana Umana, a well recognized content creator, blogger and mother. Mariana stands out from the crowd because she provides useful information and she talks about "real motherhood", without romanticizing many of the challenges women typically face in motherhood.

One of the main purposes of Its Mariana US LLC is to help all mothers to enjoy a real, honest motherhood, and to create a space where all of them can feel well supported and helped.

"Through Its Mariana Us LLC I help many people, and many mothers, to go through motherhood in a positive way. I teach about positive parenting, baby led weaning, sleep routines and much more. But the most important thing is that people in my community know that they are not alone", Mariana shares.

Its Mariana Us LLC also has a blog, through which useful and effective information and knowledge is shared for all people. The company shares life experiences, lessons, tips and really useful information which significantly helps improve the lives of all the people who read it.

But that 's not all! This year Mariana will launch another brand, called Magic Words, which is going to be dedicated especially to families and has the objective of promoting positive parenting.

"Magic Words is a great dream that will finally come true in 2023. I don't want to say too much because I want it to be a surprise, but this brand will be very important for all parents who want to raise their children in a respectful and positive way. It will bring very useful and, above all, new tools to the market", Mariana explains.

These two companies, Its Mariana Us LLC and Magic Words, have a large following. Their mission is mainly to create valuable content for all mothers and families who are interested in enjoying positive and respectful parenting, where the emotions of both parents and children are validated. That's exactly what the company Its Mariana Us LLC has been doing for more than 5 years, with great success! In addition, the vision of these businesses is to become leading companies in the United States and in the world, as well as to be recognized for the high quality of their work and for everything they contribute to the lives of their extensive community.

About Its Mariana US LLC:

Its Mariana US LLC is a successful and profitable company that is dedicated to positively impacting people's lives, through providing useful information, tips and knowledge. The company was founded in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2017.

CONTACT:

Paula Henderson

561-768-4444

phendersonnews@gmail.com

SOURCE: Its Mariana US LLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734685/Its-Mariana-US-Is-a-Successful-Company-Created-by-Mariana-Umana-That-Is-Focused-In-Helping-People-And-Making-a-Positive-Impact-In-Todays-Society




Shin Hanul nuclear reactors in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province / Korea Times file
Infineon Technologies AG (FSE: IFX OTCQX: IFNNY) today announced that Micross Components, Inc. ("Micross") has entered a definitive agreement to purchase Infineon's HiRel DC-DC converter business including its hybrid and custom board-based power products. This sale will enable Infineon to extend its focus and investments on core semiconductor developments for the high-reliability market, while deemphasizing businesses that require more customized product offerings for the high-reliability industry. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of calendar year 2023.

"Infineon is pleased to have reached an agreement with Micross to provide a more strategic home for our HiRel DC-DC converter business," said Bob LeFort, President of Infineon Technologies Americas. "We believe this sale is in the best interest of both companies; our customers, employees, and shareholders. This transaction enables Infineon to remain focused on the HiRel business areas that benefit from Infineon's leading semiconductor technologies. We look forward to working with Micross to ensure a seamless transition for our customers and employees."

Vince Buffa, Chairman and CEO of Micross, said, "We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Infineon on their HiRel DC-DC converter business and to have the opportunity to partner with their highly experienced team which further expands Micross' design capabilities. We are excited about the significant proprietary power management IP that combined with their state of the art manufacturing capabilities and product portfolio leads the way for advancement of innovative solutions. We will be better positioned to produce an even wider range of high-quality products for our customers. Together, we plan to pursue a number of compelling opportunities to further realize our exciting growth prospects, all while upholding excellent quality and service to our customers."

The HiRel DC-DC converter business is a leading provider of high reliability DC-DC power conversion solutions for the toughest environments, including outer space, and will operate under the Micross Hi-Rel Products business segment. These DC-DC converter products are complete power solutions, including main power converter, control circuits, filters and housing.

"We are dedicated to our customer and partner base, and will continue to leverage our existing resources and talent to develop innovative solutions together," said Chris Opoczynski, Sr. Vice President and General Manager, HiRel Business Line, Infineon Technologies. "In our retained HiRel businesses, Infineon will strengthen its focus on these target applications, along with others that demand the highest reliability and highest performance. We are committed to the mission-critical space, defense, and aerospace industries."

About Infineon

Infineon Technologies AG is a global semiconductor leader in power systems and IoT. Infineon drives decarbonization and digitalization with its products and solutions. The company has around 56,200 employees worldwide and generated revenue of about 14.2 billion in the 2022 fiscal year (ending 30 September). Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX) and in the USA on the OTCQX International over-the-counter market (ticker symbol: IFNNY).

Further information is available at www.infineon.com

This press release is available online at www.infineon.com/press

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About Micross

Micross (https://www.micross.com) is a leading global provider of mission-critical microelectronic components and services for high-reliability markets. Micross provides a wide range of product and service solutions to customers, including Die Wafer services, Advanced Interconnect Technology, Custom Packaging Assembly, Component Modification Services, Electrical Environmental Testing and other high-reliability products and services. In business for more than 40 years, Micross' extensive high-reliability capabilities serve the Aerospace Defense, Space, Medical and Industrial markets, among others. Micross possesses the sourcing, packaging, assembly, engineering, test and logistics expertise needed to support applications throughout their entire program life cycles.

For more information about Micross, please visit www.micross.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005369/en/

Contacts:

Public For the Business and Trade Press: INFXX202201.048e

Gregor Rodehuser (Headquarters)

Tel.: +49 89 234 28481

gregor.rodehueser@infineon.com

Judy Davies (Americas)

Tel.: +1 408 6216212

judy.davies@infineon.com

Chi Kang David Ong (Asia-Pacific)

Tel.: +65 6876 3070

david.ong@infineon.com

Lin Zhu (Greater China)

Tel.: +86 21 6101 9199

lin.zhu@infineon.com

Yasuyuki Kamiseki (Japan)

Tel.: +81 3 4595 7079

yasuyuki.kamiseki@infineon.com

Investor Relations:

Tel: +49 89 234 26655

investor.relations@infineon.com
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Social media feeds are filled with influencers showing off their luxury travel lifestyles. From incredible hotel rooms that overlook the Amalfi coast, and gourmet meals in Hong Kong, to relaxing spa experiences at 5-star hotel properties, getting inspired by incredible experiences in exotic locals is easier than ever. For those looking to follow in the footsteps of the social media elites, finding perks and deals at luxury properties can be a challenge. Now, Comperk.com, a luxury travel booking site, is changing that. With Comperk.com, travelers receive exclusive complimentary perks and upgrades when they book their hotel stays, all for the same price as booking a hotel only.

Booking a luxury hotel on Comperk.com is fast and easy. There are no memberships or annual fees and guests receive 24/7 support backed by a full service luxury travel agency. Comperk.com has the largest bookable database online with over 3000 luxury hotels worldwide - all with exclusive perks. After each stay is booked, a customized e-mail introduction is sent to hotel management laying out each guest's special requests and ensuring the same white glove service and consideration that VIPs receive when they travel.

"We built comperk.com with one goal in mind, to make sure that all travelers could easily experience the joy of a luxury hotel stay with all the perks," explains comperk.com CEO, David Melkonian. "For so many, travel has become incredibly stressful. After airport delays, and airline chaos, there is nothing more soothing than arriving at a beautiful hotel, being welcomed like a VIP, and opening the door to an upgraded, large and comfortable room, and indulging in complimentary dining, all for the same price as a booking a regularly priced room would have cost when booked directly through a hotel."

Every hotel room booked on comperk.com comes with complimentary perks at no additional cost of guests. Perks vary, but most of the more than 3000 hotels on comperk.com offer guests complimentary daily breakfast for two, a $100 USD hotel credit, room upgrade (subject to availability), and early check-in/late check-out privileges.

The full service luxury travel experts can also help facilitate luxury air and ground transportation and can book unique and memorable experiences and tours anywhere in the world. Comperk.com is like having a personal concierge at your fingertips.

For more information, the newest luxury hotel perks, and travel inspiration visit comperk.com on mobile or desktop. For personalized VIP service, call +1 424 272 5121 or email travel@comperk.com.

Get the latest news and connect with Compark.com on social media by following @comperkhotels on Instagram.

For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact:

David Melkonian

+1 424 272 5121

travel@comperk.com

Contact Information:

David Melkonian

Founder

travel@comperk.com

4242725121



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DUBLIN / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT), a global leader in healthcare technology, has been named to the 2023 Rankings of America's Most JUST Companies by JUST Capital, along with media partner CNBC, for its commitment to serving its employees, customers, communities, the environment, and shareholders.

Notable contributions that resulted in Medtronic's overall ranking and outperformance against peers on the JUST 100 list include the company's focus on:

Community and customers. Medtronic develops revolutionary solutions that put people first and partners with global health systems to accelerate patient access to care. By combining the power of healthcare technology with strong partnerships, Medtronic is working to help put health equity within reach, tackling some of the most challenging health disparities - from heart disease and cancer to diabetes.

Medtronic develops revolutionary solutions that put people first and partners with global health systems to accelerate patient access to care. By combining the power of healthcare technology with strong partnerships, Medtronic is working to help put health equity within reach, tackling some of the most challenging health disparities - from heart disease and cancer to diabetes. Putting employees first. Medtronic has taken strategic actions to move faster toward zero barriers to equity, including shifting to a leader-led model for inclusion, diversity and equity (ID&E), building stronger accountability across the organization, setting new five-year organization diversity representation goals, measuring beyond representation, and being more transparent publicly about progress.

Medtronic has taken strategic actions to move faster toward zero barriers to equity, including shifting to a leader-led model for inclusion, diversity and equity (ID&E), building stronger accountability across the organization, setting new five-year organization diversity representation goals, measuring beyond representation, and being more transparent publicly about progress. Environmental sustainability. In FY22, Medtronic announced a new ambition to be net zero across its value chain by FY45. In FY22, the company achieved 35% reduction in operational greenhouse gas emissions intensity compared to its FY20 baseline, toward its goal of 50% by FY25.

"For more than 60 years, the Medtronic Mission has guided our work and inspired our workforce to transform the lives of millions of people each year," said Geoff Martha, Medtronic chairman and chief executive officer. "Being recognized as a JUST 100 company demonstrates progress in our commitment to do right by our communities - from our employees, to healthcare providers, to the 76 million patients we support each year - as we strive to be the world's leading healthcare technology company."

The JUST Rankings are the only comprehensive evaluation of how the nation's largest corporations perform on the issues that matter most to Americans today, including creating jobs in the U.S., paying a fair, living wage, acting with integrity at the leadership level, supporting workforce retention and training, protecting worker health and safety, providing benefits and work-life balance, protecting customer privacy, minimizing pollution, and more.

For the annual Rankings, JUST Capital collects and analyzes corporate data to evaluate the 1,000 largest public U.S. companies across 20 issues identified through comprehensive, ongoing public opinion research on Americans' attitudes toward responsible corporate behavior. JUST Capital has engaged with more than 160,000 participants, on a fully representative basis, since 2015.

More information about Medtronic's social impact and sustainability efforts can be found in the 2022 Integrated Performance Report and by visiting http://www.medtronic.com/ourimpact.

About Medtronic

Bold thinking. Bolder actions. We are Medtronic. Medtronic plc, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is the leading global healthcare technology company that boldly attacks the most challenging health problems facing humanity by searching out and finding solutions. Our Mission - to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life - unites a global team of 90,000+ passionate people across 150 countries. Our technologies and therapies treat 70 health conditions and include cardiac devices, surgical robotics, insulin pumps, surgical tools, patient monitoring systems, and more. Powered by our diverse knowledge, insatiable curiosity, and desire to help all those who need it, we deliver innovative technologies that transform the lives of two people every second, every hour, every day. Expect more from us as we empower insight-driven care, experiences that put people first, and better outcomes for our world. In everything we do, we are engineering the extraordinary. For more information on Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), visit www.Medtronic.com and follow @Medtronic on Twitter and LinkedIn. Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Medtronic's periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results.

Contacts:

Erika Winkels Public Relations +1-763-526-8478

Ryan Weispfenning Investor Relations +1-763-505-4626

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Medtronic on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Medtronic

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/medtronic

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Medtronic

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734700/Medtronic-Named-One-of-Americas-Most-Just-Companies-by-Just-Capital-and-CNBC
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

For immediate release

10 January 2023

FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES

The Company announces that it has today purchased 200,000 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 844.66 pence per Ordinary Share. Such shares will be held in treasury by the Company.

The transaction was made pursuant to the authority granted at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 9 February 2022.

Following this transaction, the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury is 12,036,092; the total number of Ordinary Shares that the Company has in issue, less the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury following such purchase, and therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 212,955,211.

The figure of 212,955,211 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for calculations of interests in the Company's voting rights in accordance with the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

For and on behalf of

Frostrow Capital LLP

Company Secretary

For further information, please contact:

Victoria Hale

Frostrow Capital LLP

Tel: 020 3 170 8732
In accordance with article L233-8 of commercial law, Wavestone informs its shareholders that as of

December 31, 2022, its capital was composed of 20,196,492 shares representing 32,531,943 voting rights according to article 223-11 of the AMF.

About Wavestone

In a world where knowing how to drive transformation is the key to success, Wavestone's mission is to inform and guide large companies and organizations in their most critical transformations, with the ambition of a positive outcome for all stakeholders. It's an ambition anchored in the firm's DNA and embodied in the signature "The Positive Way."

Wavestone draws on about 4,000 employees across Europe - where it is a leading independent player in consulting, the United States and Asia.

Wavestone is listed on Euronext Paris and recognized as a Great Place to Work.

Wavestone

Pascal Imbert

CEO

Tel.: +33 (0)1 49 03 20 00



Justine Brosset

Financial Communication

Tel.: +33 (0)1 49 03 20 00 Actus

Mathieu Omnes

Investor and Analyst Relations

Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 67 36 92



Deborah Schwartz

Press relations

Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 67 36 35

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / Stillwater Critical Minerals (formerly Group Ten Metals) (TSX.V:PGE; OTCQB:PGEZF; FSE:5D32) (the "Company" or "SWCM") is pleased to announce the first tranche of results from work completed in 2022 on its 100%-owned Stillwater West platinum group element, nickel, copper, cobalt, and gold ("PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au") project adjacent to Sibanye-Stillwater's mining operations in Montana, USA.

A series of news releases are planned to report the results of work on key objectives including expansion of the 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate (the "2021 MRE"), integration of Platreef geologic models, and field campaigns including geophysical and geological field programs both within and outside defined deposit areas. Additional updates are also expected from on-going carbon sequestration testing and other initiatives the Company is currently advancing.

Pine Target Highlights

Rock chip samples taken across approximately two meters of exposed shear in a trench at the Pine target in 2022 returned high-grade gold, palladium and platinum mineralization with an average of 9.0 g/t Au, 0.69 g/t Pd, and 0.69 g/t Pt (see Table 1). Significant nickel and cobalt values are also reported, consistent with past results from this area.

(see Table 1). Significant nickel and cobalt values are also reported, consistent with past results from this area. Work in 2022 also included the acquisition of historic core to support the advancement of drill-defined high-grade mineralization at Pine towards completion of an NI-43-101-compliant resource. Mineralization at Pine was not included in the five deposits delineated by the 2021 MRE at the Chrome and Iron Mountain target areas, up to nine kilometers east of Pine within the Stillwater Igneous Complex.

Historic drilling at Pine returned values of 16.94 g/t 3E (16.19 g/t Au, 0.24 g/t Pt, 0.50 g/t Pd) over 7.98 meters and 31.02 g/t 3E (28.7 g/t Au, 1.06 g/t Pt, 1.27 g/t Pd) over 2.6 meters in the area of the 2022 trench samples (see Table 2, Figure 1, and news releases on June 4, 2019, and January 25, 2019).

in the area of the 2022 trench samples (see Table 2, Figure 1, and news releases on June 4, 2019, and January 25, 2019). Mineralization remains open to expansion in all directions including towards very high-level gold-in-soil anomalies extending up to two kilometers west of Pine, in addition to the adjacent high-level palladium, platinum, and nickel-copper soil anomalies shown in Figure 1.

Elevated gold values are also demonstrated in high-grade drill results two kilometers east of Pine at the Chrome Mountain deposit area (see May 3, 2022, news release reporting 13.2 meters of 2.31% Ni, 0.82 g/t Au, 0.43 g/t Pd, 0.25 g/t Pt, 0.35% Cu and 0.115% Co), and nine kilometers east at the Iron Mountain deposit area (see May 29, 2020, news release announcing identification of a "gold suite" of pathfinder elements that co-occur in high-grade samples).

IMAGE 1: Pine Target Location Over Metals in Soils and 2021 Mineral Resource Areas

IMAGE 2: Pine Tareget Location Showing 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate and 3D Induced Polarization Geophysical Survey Results

Table 1 - Assay results from 2022 trench samples at the Pine Target, Stillwater West project

Table 2 - Highlight mineralized drill intercepts from the Pine Target, Stillwater West project

Notes to reported values:

Ni and Pd equivalents are presented for comparative purposes using conservative long-term metal prices (all USD): $8.00/lb nickel (Ni), $4.00/lb copper (Cu), $24.00/lb cobalt (Co), $1,000/oz platinum (Pt), $2,200/oz palladium (Pd), and $1,800/oz gold (Au). Nickel Equivalent in Table 1 is determined as follows: NiEq% = [Ni% x recovery] + [Cu% x recovery x Cu price/ Ni price] + [Co% x recovery x Co price / Ni price] + [Pt g/t x recovery / 31.103 x Pt price / Ni price / 2,204 x 100] + [Pd g/t x recovery / 31.103 x Pd price / Ni price / 2,204 x 100] + [Au g/t x recovery / 31.103 x Au price / Ni price / 2,204 x 100] Nickel Equivalent in Table 2 is determined as follows: NiEq% = [Ni% x recovery] + [Cu% x recovery x Cu price / Ni price] + [Co% x recovery x Co price / Ni price] Palladium Equivalent is determined as follows: PdEq g/t = NiEq x 0.401 In the above calculations: 31.103 = grams per troy ounce, 2,204 = lbs per metric tonne, and 100 and 0.01 convert assay results reported in % and g/t. The following recoveries have been assumed for purposes of the above equivalent calculations: 85% for Ni and 90% for all other listed metals, based on recoveries at similar nearby operations. Intervals are reported as drilled widths and are not believed to be representative of the true width of mineralization.

Dr. Danie Grobler, Vice-President of Exploration for SWCM, commented, "The Pine samples display an anomalous suite of shear zone hosted mineralization with elevated Au, Ni, Co and PGEs. These shear zones appear to trend in an NNW direction, forming an exciting and important target for advancement. The host rock is intensely sheared and altered Bronzite Cumulate with disseminated to massive chromite and possibly formed the focus for a cross-cutting post-magmatic hydrothermal alteration event. Recently identified precious and base metal in soil anomalies at the Gold Ridge and Pegmatoid Ridge targets to the west of Pine are coincident with large, intense anomalies in geophysical surveys and have not been explored in the past."

Michael Rowley, President and CEO, commented, "Our expanding understanding of high-grade gold and platinum group element mineralization, alongside the wealth of critical minerals that the Stillwater district is known for, highlights the surprisingly underexplored nature of the lower Stillwater Igneous Complex and the potential that exists for the advancement of multiple world-class ore bodies across the 32-kilometer span of the Stillwater West project. We look forward to additional reports on recent work including our updated mineral resource estimate as those results become available, and beyond that to announcing our 2023 plans for continued expansion in this iconic American district."

About the Pine Target

The Pine target is situated in the Wild West target area, approximately two kilometers west of deposits at the Chrome Mountain area, and nine kilometers west of deposits at the Iron Mountain area (see Figures 1 and 2). It is on the western side of the 12-kilometer-long resource area that contains the five deposits modeled in the 2021 MRE and has been detailed by Induced Polarization (IP) geophysical surveys conducted by the Company in 2020 and 2021. As shown in Figure 2, the broader Pine target area is characterized by an intense multi-kilometer-scale IP geophysical signature.

Results to date demonstrate very high-grade gold, palladium and platinum mineralization in drilling, soils and rock sampling, in addition to significant battery metals - in particular nickel and cobalt.

Work in 2022 focused on a geological sampling and mapping program, and the acquisition of some of the drill core from the 1983 and 2004 drill campaigns with the objective of finalizing drill targets and advancing drill-defined high-grade gold with PGE-Ni-Cu mineralization towards completion of an NI43-101-compliant mineral resource. At present, seven drill holes from 1983 and 2004 define a precious metals-rich mineralized zone that is 150 meters strike with an average width of 15 meters that has been tested to a depth of 90 meters (see Table 2 and news releases from June 4, 2019, January 25, 2019, and May 13, 2020). Mineralization remains open to expansion in all directions including towards very high-level gold-in-soil anomalies extending up to two kilometers west of Pine, in addition to the adjacent high-level palladium, platinum, and nickel-copper soil anomalies.

High-grade gold plus platinum group elements values have also been reported from drilling and surface samples at the Chrome and Iron Mountain deposit areas in addition to large-scale nickel, copper and cobalt bulk tonnage mineralization.

Pine is one of several priority targets for follow up exploration in 2023.

Mineral Resource Update and Integration of Platreef Geologic Models

The update to the 2021 MRE is entering the final stages of completion with release anticipated early in 2023. The updated models are driven by the integration of geologic models from the Platreef district of South Africa's Bushveld complex, and the most recent 14-hole expansion drill campaign which returned multiple wide and high-grade battery and precious metal intercepts in wide step-outs from known mineralization at the three most advanced deposit areas within the 12-kilometer core of the project.

Significance of the Platreef Deposit Model

The Stillwater Igneous Complex is well-known to parallel South Africa's Bushveld Igneous Complex, and developments at the Stillwater complex have generally paralleled those at the Bushveld, highlighting their significant geologic similarities. For example, Sibanye-Stillwater's high-grade J-M Reef deposit was discovered by the direct application of geologic models developed during discovery of the high-grade Merensky reef deposit in the Bushveld.

More recent developments on the Bushveld have focused on the Platreef deposits, in the northern limb of the Bushveld, which depart from the conventional narrow reef-type mines that dominate global platinum group element mining with the occurrence of thick mineralized horizons that support bulk mining techniques and include much higher battery metal content. The mines of the Platreef are among the largest and most profitable in the world, and their mix of commodities offers an attractive internally hedged suite of in-demand critical minerals that is globally very rare. Starting with Anglo American's PGE-Ni-Cu Mogalakwena mines in 1993 and continuing today with Ivanhoe's underground Platreef mine, these mines have demonstrated the world-class nature of these bulk-tonnage, critical mineral systems within the Bushveld complex.

Platreef-style deposits also compare very favorably in an environmental sense as they contain nickel sulphide mineralization that is capable of producing nickel metal with a much smaller footprint than nickel recovered from laterite deposits, which currently represents the majority of global nickel supply. Additional environmental benefits are possible through reaction of atmospheric carbon dioxide with certain ultramafic rocks present in Platreef-style deposits. Testwork is underway to evaluate the potential for commercial-scale carbon sequestration during a possible mining operation Stillwater West.

About Stillwater West

Stillwater Critical Minerals is rapidly advancing the Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au project towards becoming a world-class source of low-carbon, sulphide-hosted nickel, copper, and cobalt, critical to the electrification movement, as well as key catalytic metals including platinum, palladium and rhodium used in catalytic converters, fuel cells, and the production of green hydrogen. Stillwater West positions SWCM as the second-largest landholder in the Stillwater Complex, with a 100%-owned position adjoining and adjacent to Sibanye-Stillwater's PGE mines in south-central Montana, USA1. The Stillwater Complex is recognized as one of the top regions in the world for PGE-Ni-Cu-Co mineralization, alongside the Bushveld Complex and Great Dyke in southern Africa, which are similar layered intrusions. The J-M Reef, and other PGE-enriched sulphide horizons in the Stillwater Complex, share many similarities with the highly prolific Merensky and UG2 Reefs in the Bushveld Complex. SWCM's work in the lower Stillwater Complex has demonstrated the presence of large-scale disseminated and high-sulphide battery metals and PGE mineralization, similar to the Platreef in the Bushveld Complex2. Drill campaigns by the Company, complemented by a substantial historic drill database, have delineated five deposits of Platreef-style mineralization across a core 12-kilometer span of the project, all of which are open for expansion into adjacent targets. Multiple earlier-stage Platreef-style and reef-type targets are also being advanced across the remainder of the 32-kilometer length of the project based on strong correlations seen in soil and rock geochemistry, geophysical surveys, geologic mapping, and drilling.

About Stillwater Critical Minerals Corp.

Stillwater Critical Minerals (TSX.V:PGE | OTCQB:PGEZF) is a mineral exploration company focused on its flagship Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au project in the iconic and famously productive Stillwater mining district in Montana, USA. With the recent addition of two renowned Bushveld and Platreef geologists to the team, the Company is well positioned to advance the next phase of large-scale critical mineral supply from this world-class American district, building on past production of nickel, copper, and chromium, and the on-going production of platinum group and other metals by neighboring Sibanye-Stillwater. The Platreef-style nickel and copper sulphide deposits at Stillwater West contain a compelling suite of critical minerals and are open for expansion along trend and at depth, with an updated NI 43-101 mineral resource update expected early in 2023.

Stillwater Critical Minerals also holds the high-grade Black Lake-Drayton Gold project adjacent to Treasury Metals' development-stage Goliath Gold Complex in northwest Ontario, which is currently under an earn-in agreement with an option to joint venture whereby Heritage Mining may earn up to a 90% interest in the project by completing payments and work on the project. The Company also holds the Kluane PGE-Ni-Cu-Co critical minerals project on trend with Nickel Creek Platinum's Wellgreen deposit in Canada's Yukon Territory.

About the Metallic Group of Companies

The Metallic Group is a collaboration of leading precious and base metals exploration companies, with a portfolio of large, brownfield assets in established mining districts adjacent to some of the industry's highest-grade producers of silver and gold, platinum and palladium, and copper. Member companies include Metallic Minerals in the Yukon's high-grade Keno Hill silver district and La Plata silver-gold-copper district of Colorado, Granite Creek Copper in the Yukon's high-grade Minto copper district, and Stillwater Critical Minerals in the Stillwater PGM-nickel-copper district of Montana. The founders and team members of the Metallic Group include highly successful explorationists formerly with some of the industry's leading explorers/developers and major producers. With this expertise, the companies are undertaking a systematic approach to exploration using new models and technologies to facilitate discoveries in these proven, but under-explored, mining districts. The Metallic Group is headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and its member companies are listed on the Toronto Venture, US OTC, and Frankfurt stock exchanges.

Note 1: References to adjoining properties are for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily indicative of the exploration potential, extent or nature of mineralization or potential future results of the Company's projects.

Note 2: Magmatic Ore Deposits in Layered Intrusions-Descriptive Model for Reef-Type PGE and Contact-Type Cu-Ni-PGE Deposits, Michael Zientek, USGS Open-File Report 2012-1010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Michael Rowley, President, CEO & Director

Email: info@criticalminerals.com Phone: (604) 357 4790

Web: http://criticalminerals.com Toll Free: (888) 432 0075

Quality Control and Quality Assurance

2022 rock chip samples were analyzed by ACT Labs in Vancouver, B.C. Sample preparation: crush (< 7 kg) up to 80% passing 2 mm, riffle split (250 g) and pulverize (mild steel) to 95% passing 105 m included cleaner sand. Gold, platinum, and palladium were analyzed by fire assay (1C-OES) with ICP finish. Selected major and trace elements were analyzed by peroxide fusion with 8-Peroxide ICP-OES finish to insure complete dissolution of resistate minerals. Following industry QA/QC standards, blanks, duplicate samples, and certified standards were also assayed.

2004 drilling was conducted by SWCM's QP while working for Premium Exploration. 1983 drill results are considered historic and have not been independently verified by SWCM.

1980s assay data was obtained from a 1986 report by geologist R.J. Warchola titled "A Hydrothermal Gold Occurrence on Chrome Mountain, Stillwater Complex, Montana" published in the Montana Geologic Society and Yellowstone Bighorn Research Association Joint Field Conference and Symposium: Geology of the Beartooth Uplift and Adjacent Basin: YBRA 50th Anniversary Edition, 1986; and a 1984 internal report by R.J. Warchola titled "Geologic Report on the Pine Claim, Sweetgrass County, Montana February 1984"

Mr. Mike Ostenson, P.Geo., is the qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, and he has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Forward Looking Statements: This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization, historic production, estimation of mineral resources, the realization of mineral resource estimates, interpretation of prior exploration and potential exploration results, the timing and success of exploration activities generally, the timing and results of future resource estimates, permitting time lines, metal prices and currency exchange rates, availability of capital, government regulation of exploration operations, environmental risks, reclamation, title, and future plans and objectives of the company are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Although Stillwater Critical Minerals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include failure to obtain necessary approvals, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, risks associated with regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, uninsured risks, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the companies with securities regulators. Readers are cautioned that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral exploration and development of mines is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Stillwater Critical Minerals and the risks and challenges of their businesses, investors should review their annual filings that are available at www.sedar.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.

SOURCE: Stillwater Critical Minerals

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734704/Stillwater-Critical-Minerals-Reports-High-Grade-Gold-and-Platinum-Group-Elements-with-Battery-Metals-at-the-Pine-Target-Stillwater-West-PGE-Ni-Cu-Co-Au-Project-Montana-USA
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / For the third consecutive year, Southern Company earned a score of A- for its 2022 CDP Climate Change Disclosure , demonstrating leadership for the North American region and thermal power generation sector. The score is at the Leadership level, recognizing the company demonstrates "best practice in strategy and action" relative to key disclosure frameworks.

CDP, a global nonprofit, manages an environmental disclosure system for companies and municipalities. Southern Company values the CDP Climate Change Disclosure as one avenue for engaging with stakeholders, providing transparency around the Company's strategy and progress toward its greenhouse gas reduction goal of net zero emissions by 2050. By completing CDP's annual request for climate change disclosure, Southern Company is demonstrating the accountability vital to tracking progress toward a thriving, sustainable future.

"Southern Company consistently demonstrates its commitment to stakeholder engagement through comprehensive data disclosure, in-depth reports and direct communication through a variety of formats," said Tom Fanning, chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company. "Our A- score from CDP, particularly considering enhanced disclosure requirements by CDP this year, is indicative of this commitment."

Highlights of Southern Company's 2022 CDP Climate Change Disclosure, which is based on 2021 data, include:

Reporting all major sources of greenhouse emissions for Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions. The Company's Scope 3 emissions reporting was expanded in 2022 to include additional categories and contributions to previously reported categories, such that all relevant Scope 3 emissions are now disclosed.

Third-party limited assurance of the 2020 and 2021 Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions data.

Disclosure of revenue share associated with no- and low-carbon generation for electric operations.

Description of analysis of physical and transition-related climate risks included in ongoing planning processes as part of Southern Company's net zero transition plan.

Response to CDP's new module on biodiversity, reflecting the company's commitment to natural resources stewardship and conservation efforts.

Please visit the Southern Company's website for additional sustainability data, downloads and reports .

About CDP

CDP is a global environmental impact non-profit, providing a platform for companies, cities, states and regions to report information on their climate, deforestation and water security impacts. CDP was founded in 2000 with the ambition of transforming capital markets by making environmental reporting and risk management a new business norm. When CDP launched the concept of environmental disclosure in 2002, it had just 35 investors signing its request for climate information, and 245 companies responding. Today more than 18,700 of the world's largest companies, representing half of global market capitalization, disclose information on climate change, deforestation and water security through CDP. They do so at the request of over 680 financial institutions with over US$130 trillion in assets, and over 280 major purchasers with over US$6.4 trillion in procurement spend. Visit www.cdp.net to find out more.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Southern Company on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Southern Company

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/southern-company

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Southern Company

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734721/Southern-Company-Continues-To-Receive-High-Marks-for-Environmental-Transparency
CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Arizton's latest research report, the FLAP data center market will grow at a CAGR of 3% from 2021-2027. The investments in the FLAP market is driven by digitalization, the adoption of advanced technologies, and increased connectivity. The availability of free cooling and support from local government increase investments in the data center market. Governments in the FLAP market are focused on installing and generating renewable energy sources in data center facilities. For instance, Telehouse, a subsidiary of KDDI, announced aims for achieving net zero emissions by 2026.





FLAP Data Center Market Report Scope

Report Attributes Details Market Size (2027) USD 5 Billion Market Size (2021) USD 4.3 Billion CAGR (2021-2027) 3 % Market Size (Area) 2.84 million sq. Feet (2027) Market Size (Power Capacity) 582 MW (2027) Historic Year 2019-2020 Base Year 2021 Forecast Year 2022-2027 Key Prominent Vendors Data Center Construction Contractors & Sub-Contractors: 2bm, AECOM, Arup, APL Data Center, Artelia, ARC:MC, Atkins, BENTHEM CROUWEL ARCHITECTS, BladeRoom Data Centres, Bouygues Construction, CAP INGELEC, Deerns, Designer Group, Dornan, DPR Construction, Eiffage, EYP MCF, Future-tech, HDR Architecture, ICT Facilities, INFINITI, ISG, JCA Engineering, JERLAURE, ISG, Kirby Group Engineering, KLEINUNDARCHITEKTEN, KMG Partnership, Linesight, LPI Group, Lupp Group, Mace Group, Max Bogl Group, Mercury, Metnor Construction, MiCiM, M+W Group, NWA, Oakmont Construction, PM Group, Red Engineering, Reid Brewin Architects, Royal HaskoningDHV, Salute Mission Critical, Skanska, SPIE UK, STO Building Group, STS Group, Sudlows, Turner & Townsend, Waldeck, Winthrop Engineering & Contracting, and Zech Group Support Infrastructure Providers: 3M, ABB, Airedale, Alfa Laval, Carrier, Caterpillar, Climaveneta (Mitsubishi Electric), Condair, Cummins, D'Hondt Thermal Solutions, Delta Electronics, Eaton, ebm-papst, FlaktGroup, Grundfos, Guntner, GS Yuasa International, HITEC Power Protection, Honeywell International, Johnson Controls, KOHLER-SDMO, KyotoCooling, Legrand, Mitsubishi Electric, Munters, Nlyte Software, Perkins Engines, Piller Power Systems, Riello UPS, Rittal, Rolls-Royce, Schneider Electric, Siemens, STULZ, Socomec, Trane Technologies, and Vertiv Data Center Investors: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Ark Data Centres, China Mobile International (CMI), Colt Data Centre Services, CyrusOne, DATA4, Digital Realty, Echelon Data Centres, EdgeConneX, Equinix, Global Switch, Iron Mountain, Kao Data, Keppel Data Centres, Maincubes, NTT Global Data Centers, Microsoft, NewTelco, Netwise Hosting, Serverfarm, T5 Data Centers, Telehouse, Vantage Data Centers, and VIRTUS Data Centres New Entrants: CloudHQ, Global Technical Realty (GTR), and Yondr Market Dynamics Growth in Cloud Services Adoption Procurement of Renewable Energy in the FLAP market. Growth and Improvement in Submarine and Inland Cable Connectivity Adoption of Big Data Services and IoT driving Data Center Investments Page Number 187 Customization Request If our report does not include the information you are searching for, you may contact us to have a report tailored to your specific business needs https://www.arizton.com/customize-report/3633

Click Here to Download the Free Sample Report

Key Highlights

Telecom operators Vodafone, EE, Three UK, O2, Telefonica Deutschland, VodafoneZiggo, KPN Mobile, T-Mobile, and Deutsche Telekom are some of the major operators deploying 5G network services across the FLAP market.

The local governments of the cities in the FLAP market are taking steps to develop data centers in the region. For instance, the Frankfurt planning department makes new policies to protect data centers from moratoriums by promoting carbon-neutral renewable energy in data centers.

planning department makes new policies to protect data centers from moratoriums by promoting carbon-neutral renewable energy in data centers. The FLAP market is a well-established data center market in Western Europe . Factors such as the availability of land (Free Trade Zones and Special Trade Zone), submarine cable, inland connectivity, internet exchanges, renewable energy, and free cooling are expected to drive market growth in the coming years.

. Factors such as the availability of land (Free Trade Zones and Special Trade Zone), submarine cable, inland connectivity, internet exchanges, renewable energy, and free cooling are expected to drive market growth in the coming years. FLAP market has the presence of Google, AWS, Microsoft, IBM, Alibaba, Oracle Tencent , and OVHcloud. For instance, in May 2022 , Alibaba Cloud launched its third data center in Frankfurt , which is expected to support digital transformation growth across Europe .

Why Should You Buy This Research?

Market size available in the investment, area, power capacity, and FLAP market revenue.

Assess the revenue share between retail and wholesale colocation across the FLAP market.

Assessment of the data center construction cost breakup across the FLAP market.

Study of the macroeconomic and microeconomic factors across the FLAP market.

An assessment of the data center investment in the FLAP market by the data center operators.

Investments in the area (square feet) and power capacity (MW) across locations in the FLAP market.

A detailed study of the existing FLAP data center market landscape, an in-depth industry analysis, and insightful predictions about industry size during the forecast period.

Snapshot of existing and upcoming third-party data center facilities in the FLAP market.

Facilities Covered (Existing): 259



Facilities Identified (Upcoming): ~29



Coverage: 4 Cities



Existing vs. Upcoming (Area)



Existing vs. Upcoming (IT Load Capacity)

Data center colocation market in the FLAP

Market Revenue & Forecast (2021-2027)



Retail Colocation Pricing

The FLAP market investments are classified into power, cooling, and general construction services with sizing and forecast.

A comprehensive analysis of the latest trends, growth rate, potential opportunities, growth restraints, and prospects for the industry.

Business overview and product offerings of prominent construction contractors, support infrastructure providers, and investors operating in the industry.

A transparent research methodology and the analysis of the demand and supply aspects of the industry.

The report includes the investment in the following areas:

Electrical Infrastructure

UPS Systems



Generators



Switches & Switchgears



PDUs



Other Electrical Infrastructure

Mechanical Infrastructure

Cooling Systems



Rack Cabinets



Other Mechanical Infrastructure

Cooling Systems

CRAC and CRAH Units



Chillers Units



Cooling Towers, Condensers, and Dry Coolers



Economizers & Evaporative Coolers



Other Cooling Units

General Construction

Core & Shell Development



Installation & Commissioning Services



Engineering & Building Design



Fire Detection & Suppression



Physical Security



Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)

Tier Standard

Tier I & Tier II



Tier III



Tier IV

Cities

Frankfurt



London



Amsterdam



Paris

Major Vendors

Data Center Construction Contractors & Sub-Contractors

2bm

AECOM

Arup

APL Data Center

Artelia

ARC:MC

Atkins

BENTHEM CROUWEL ARCHITECTS

BladeRoom Data Centres

Bouygues Construction

CAP INGELEC

Deerns

Designer Group

Dornan

DPR Construction

Eiffage

EYP MCF

Future-tech

HDR Architecture

ICT Facilities

INFINITI

ISG

JCA Engineering

JERLAURE

ISG

Kirby Group Engineering

KLEINUNDARCHITEKTEN

KMG Partnership

Linesight

LPI Group

Lupp Group

Mace Group

Max Bogl Group

Mercury

Metnor Construction

MiCiM

M+W Group

NWA

Oakmont Construction

PM Group

Red Engineering

Reid Brewin Architects

Royal HaskoningDHV

Salute Mission Critical

Skanska

SPIE UK

STO Building Group

STS Group

Sudlows

Turner & Townsend

Waldeck

Winthrop Engineering & Contracting

Zech Group

Support Infrastructure Providers

3M

ABB

Airedale

Alfa Laval

Carrier

Caterpillar

Climaveneta (Mitsubishi Electric)

Condair

Cummins

D'Hondt Thermal Solutions

Delta Electronics

Eaton

ebm-papst

FlaktGroup

Grundfos

Guntner

GS Yuasa International

HITEC Power Protection

Honeywell International

Johnson Controls

KOHLER-SDMO

KyotoCooling

Legrand

Mitsubishi Electric

Munters

Nlyte Software

Perkins Engines

Piller Power Systems

Riello UPS

Rittal

Rolls-Royce

Schneider Electric

Siemens

STULZ

Socomec

Trane Technologies

Vertiv

Data Center Investors

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Ark Data Centres

China Mobile International (CMI)

Colt Data Centre Services

CyrusOne

DATA4

Digital Realty

Echelon Data Centres

EdgeConneX

Equinix

Global Switch

Iron Mountain

Kao Data

Keppel Data Centres

Maincubes

NTT Global Data Centers

Microsoft

NewTelco

Netwise Hosting

Serverfarm

T5 Data Centers

Telehouse

Vantage Data Centers

VIRTUS Data Centres

New Entrants

CloudHQ

Global Technical Realty (GTR)

Yondr

Click Here to Download the Free Sample Report

Check Out Some of the Top-Selling Related Research Reports:

France Data Center Market - The France data center market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.97% from 2022 to 2027. France data center market is also witnessing an increase in adoption and investments in cloud computing services. For instance, large enterprises, healthcare, automobiles, logistics, gaming, BFSI, and education are moving their on-premise services to cloud-based services. France is connected with around 18 submarine cables connecting to major markets worldwide. Several upcoming submarine cables, such as 2Africa, Africa-1, Blue, SeaMeWe-6, and Medusa Submarine Cable System, will be ready for service in the coming years.

Germany Data Center Market - The Germany data center market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.36% from 2022 to 2027. The Government of Germany is making a continuous effort to improve the digital economy of the country. By 2025, the German government wants to invest $3.09 billion in AI research and development. Cloud operators and colocation operators highly dominate the industry. Also, the Germany data center market is witnessing the entry of a new investor, Yondr, who plans to build a facility in the country.

United Kingdom Data Center Market - The United Kingdom data center market will grow at a CAGR of 2.42% from 2022 to 2027. The UK data center market is among the major markets in Western Europe, aided by factors such as the significant increase in data center investments, government strategies, growing connectivity, digitalization, and others. The UK's government has launched several digitalization initiatives, including National AI Strategy, UK Digital Strategy, National Data Strategy, and IoTUK. The Government of the UK joint ventured with Ark Data Centres and formed a Crown Hosting Data Centres. In addition, the government invested around $300 million into the Crown Hosting Data Centres to provide the physical data center space for public sectors.

Europe Data Center Market - The Europe data center market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 5% from 2022 to 2027. Most large data center operators are investing in expanding their presence in the Western European market. For instance, in 2021, Equinix announced the completion of its AM7 data center in Amsterdam, with an area of around 44,000 square feet. In April 2021, Edgecore announced a data center in Berkshire, UK, with around 78,000 square feet. In March 2021, Vantage Data Centers announced a data center project in Newport, Wales, with around 260,000 square feet, driving the industry growth.

Table of Content

Existing & Upcoming Third-Party Data Centers in FLAP

Historical Market Scenario

250+ Unique Data Center Properties

Data Center IT Load Capacity

Data Center White Floor Area Space

Existing Vs Upcoming Data Center Capacity by Cities

Cities Covered

Frankfurt



London



Amsterdam



Paris

List of Upcoming Data Center Facilities

Investment Opportunities in FLAP

Investment Opportunities in FLAP

Investment by Area

Investment by Power Capacity

Data Center Colocation Market in FLAP

Colocation Services Market in FLAP

Retail vs Wholesale Data Center Colocation

Market Dynamics

Market Drivers

Market Trends

Market Restraints

Market Segmentation

Electrical Infrastructure: Market Size & Forecast

Mechanical Infrastructure: Market Size & Forecast

General Construction Services: Market Size & Forecast

Breakup of Construction Cost

Tier Standard Investment

Tier I & II

Tier III

Tier IV

Geography Segmentation

Frankfurt

Microeconomic & Macroeconomic Factors for Germany Market



Investment in Frankfurt



Investment by Area



Investment by Power Capacity



Colocation Service Market in Frankfurt



Retail vs Wholesale Data Center Colocation



Colocation Pricing (Quarter Rack, Half Rack, Full Rack) & Add-on

London

Microeconomic & Macroeconomic Factors for the UK Market



Investment in London



Investment by Area



Investment by Power Capacity



Colocation Service Market in London



Retail vs Wholesale Data Center Colocation



Colocation Pricing (Quarter Rack, Half Rack, Full Rack) & Add-on

Amsterdam

Microeconomic & Macroeconomic Factors for the Netherlands Market



Investment in Amsterdam



Investment by Area



Investment by Power Capacity



Colocation Service Market in Amsterdam



Retail vs Wholesale Data Center Colocation



Colocation Pricing (Quarter Rack, Half Rack, Full Rack) & Add-on

Paris

Microeconomic & Macroeconomic Factors for France Market



Investment in Paris



Investment by Area



Investment by Power Capacity



Colocation Service Market in Paris



Retail vs Wholesale Data Center Colocation



Colocation Pricing (Quarter Rack, Half Rack, Full Rack) & Add-on

Key Market Participants

Construction Contractors

Support Infrastructure Providers

Data Center Investors

New Entrants

Appendix

Market Derivation

Quantitative Summary

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Kelowna, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Strathmore Plus Uranium Corporation (TSXV: SUU) (OTC Pink: SUUFF) ("Strathmore Plus" or "the Company") is pleased to announce the initiation of a non-brokered private placement to raise proceeds of $500,000 or 1,250,000 units, up to a maximum of $2,000,000 or 5,000,000 units, (each "Unit"), at $0.40 per Unit (the "Offering"). Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company and one-half common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Full Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share of the Company at a price of $0.50 per share for a period of 24 months following the date of issuance.

The Company may pay finder's fees in connection with the Offering in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. Proceeds from the Offering will be used for general working capital purposes.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

The securities issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a four month hold period from the date of issue of the units. The Offering remains subject to the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Strathmore Plus Uranium Corp.

Strathmore Plus is a uranium exploration company, focused on in-situ recoverable uranium deposits in the State of Wyoming.

Strathmore Plus Uranium Corp.

Contact Information:

Investor Relations

Telephone: 1 888 882 8177

Email: info@strathmoreplus.com

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Dev Randhawa"

Dev Randhawa, CEO

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150923
Conroe web design firm Jeremy McGilvrey helps business owners grow and scale with innovative custom websites and sales funnels

Conroe, Texas--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Top-rated Conroe web design company Jeremy McGilvrey has introduced its conversion-focused web and sales funnel design services for companies eager to grow and scale.

Jeremy McGilvrey, A Web Design Agency Announces Web Design Services In Conroe, Texas



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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Customers looking for high-converting websites and sales funnels seek out Jeremy McGilvrey because of the firm's substantial experience, results-driven designs, and customer-friendly satisfaction guarantee. The team is committed to producing cutting-edge website and sales funnel designs that are aesthetically pleasing, simple to use, and customer-centric, giving each visitor the feel of a personalized viewing experience.

Clean, modern design is the cornerstone of Jeremy McGilvrey's Conroe web design firm, creating a user-friendly surfing experience. With this strategy, the client's value proposition and brand messaging are given the spotlight they deserve, which encourages customers to browse the website for longer and interact in more meaningful ways.

Every site is additionally optimized for mobile viewing, driving more conversions. 73.1% of web designers cite non-responsive sites as the leading reason people leave sites. In light of this, Jeremy McGilvrey's team is hyper-focused on increasing conversions by rigorously testing each site in a variety of viewing environments to ensure that it looks great, loads quickly, and functions flawlessly, ensuring that clients never lose valuable leads as a result of frustrating website experiences.

While every design by Jeremy McGilvrey is attractive, the backend is equally sophisticated, designed so that clients can get the user data they require to run effective marketing campaigns and fully comprehend the impact of their websites.

According to Jeremy McGilvrey, "Clean, contemporary website designs sensitive to users' demands and viewing conditions are no longer just a business advantage - they're a business imperative. Our team of creative designers understands this necessity and employs future-forward designs that simplify browsing while assisting brands in establishing their online authority so they can benefit from a never-ending supply of leads and conversions to grow and scale their businesses."

Jeremy McGilvrey collaborates with innovative designers worldwide to produce the highest-converting websites and funnels. Every designer is vetted to verify their knowledge of strategies that lead to conversions, ensuring that every website and sales funnel sells for its clients, even while they are asleep.

Customers also trust the Conroe web design company because of its remarkable satisfaction guarantee - the only one like it on the market. If a customer isn't happy with the outcomes of their site or funnel, they get 100% of their money back. This unwavering guarantee reflects the firm's conviction and success in producing sales funnels and websites that help businesses grow.

A leading Conroe web design firm for over ten years, Jeremy McGilvery's web design agency has won recognition from Forbes, Entrepreneur, ClickFunnels, HuffPost, and NBC, in addition to receiving high marks from hundreds of pleased clients.

Visit Jeremy McGilvrey Conroe Web Design Company for more information.

Media Contact:

Contact: Jeremy McGilvrey

Address: 1 Riverway Ste. 1724, Houston, TX 77056

Phone: (713) 300-3778

Email: Hi@JeremyMcGilvrey.com

Website/URL: https://www.jeremymcgilvrey.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150910
A supporter of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro holds a flag depicting him during a demonstration against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in Brasilia, Brazil, Jan. 8. Reuters-Yonhap



The United States has a Jair Bolsonaro problem.



The far-right former Brazilian president flew to Florida two days before his term ended on Jan. 1, having challenged the results of the Oct. 30 runoff election that he narrowly lost to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. On Sunday a violent movement of election-denying Bolsonaro supporters stormed Brazil's presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court.



After watching supporters of former U.S. leader Donald Trump storm the U.S. Capitol two years ago, Democratic President Joe Biden is now facing mounting pressure to remove Bolsonaro from his self-imposed exile in suburban Orlando.



The White House said on Monday it had yet to receive any requests from the Brazilian government regarding Bolsonaro's status, but the former Brazilian president's presence on U.S. soil has put Biden in a corner, with few good options.



By letting him stay, Biden invites criticism that the United States is harboring a man accused by his successor of fomenting anti-democratic violence. But forcing out the former president of an allied state who entered the country in good faith with a top-tier visa poses awkward questions about due process.



"Bolsonaro should not be in Florida," U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro, a Democratic lawmaker in Congress, said on CNN on Sunday. "The United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. He should be sent back to Brazil."



Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, echoed those views.



"The U.S. must cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida," she tweeted on Sunday.





Opponets of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro participate in a demonstration on Paulista avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Jan. 9. EPA-Yonhap



Fractious relationship



Bolsonaro had a fractious relationship with Biden, and was already on weaker ground back home in Brazil after losing broad protections from prosecution when he stepped down as president. Those probes could lead to his arrest or prevent him from running for office, Reuters reported last week.



In Washington, a person familiar with the matter said there would likely be no decision on Bolsonaro's visa status until there is a clearer picture of what happened.



John Feeley, who was the U.S. ambassador to Panama from late 2015 to 2018 when the Central American nation sought the extradition of its former President Ricardo Martinelli, said the most immediate threat to Bolsonaro would come if his U.S. visa were revoked.



"The United States  or any sovereign nation for that matter - may remove a foreigner, even one who entered legally on a visa, for any reason," Feeley said. "It's a purely sovereign decision for which no legal justification is required."



Martinelli was extradited from the United States back to Panama in 2018, three years after Panama's Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for him.



Three U.S. sources said Bolsonaro had almost certainly entered on an A-1 visa, which are reserved for heads of state, diplomats and other government officials.



Normally the A-1 is canceled after the recipient leaves office. But with Bolsonaro having left Brazil before his term ended, they suspected his A-1 was still active.



One of the officials, who has experience with the cancellation of visas for former heads of state, said there is no set time limit on how long someone can stay in the United States on an A-1.



"We're in uncharted territory," the official said.



In response to Reuters questions, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said anyone in the United States on an A-1 visa no longer engaged in official business must depart the country within 30 days, or apply for a change of immigration status. Price said he could not comment on an individual's visa status, but was speaking in general terms about visa rules.



"If an individual has no basis on which to be in the United States, an individual is subject to removal by the Department of Homeland Security," Price said.





Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a meeting with Governors at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, on Jan. 9, a day after supporters of Brazil's far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro invaded the Congress, presidential palace, and Supreme Court. AFP-Yonhap
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Ophir Gold Corp. (TSXV: OPHR) (OTCQB: KPZIF) (FSE: 80M) (the "Company" or "Ophir") is pleased to announce that further to its news releases of December 13, 2022 and December 15, 2022, the Company has completed the unit portion of its previously announced non-brokered private placement through the issuance of 15,500,000 units ("Units") of the Company at a price of $0.10 per Unit for gross proceeds of $1,550,000 (the "Offering").

Each Unit consists of one common share (each, a "Common Share") in the capital of the Company and one Common Share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant") of the Company. Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at a price of $0.20 for a period of twenty-four (24) months from the closing date of the Offering.

All securities issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a hold period of four months plus a day from the date of issuance and the resale rules of applicable securities legislation. The proceeds of the Offering will be used for exploration work on the Company's Breccia Gold Property and general working capital purposes.

In connection with the Offering, the Company paid certain eligible persons (each, a "Finder"): (i) a cash commission in the aggregate of $17,360; and (ii) an aggregate of 173,600 finder warrants (each, a "Finder Warrant"). Each Finder Warrant is exercisable into Common Shares at a price of $0.10 per Common Share until January 10, 2025.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

About the Company

Ophir Gold Corp. is a gold exploration company focused on the exploration and development of its flagship property, the past producing Breccia Gold Property located in Lemhi County, Idaho. The Company has an option to earn a 100% interest in the Property over a three-year period from Canagold Resources Ltd. (formerly Canarc Resource Corp.) and DG Resource Management Ltd.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Shawn Westcott"

Ophir Gold Corp.

For further information, please contact:

Shawn Westcott, CEO

Phone 1 (604) 365 6681

swestcott@ophirgoldcorp.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risk related to the failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150926
Fractal Homes, a London, UK-based startup offering fractional home ownership across Europes capital cities, raised $30M in Seed funding.

The round was led by White Star Capital with debt participation from a London-based private credit fund.

Co-founded by Wadih Abou Bechara and Labib Kaddoura, Fractal provides second home co-ownership for Middle Eastern buyers. Through its integrated technology, the platform allows clients to own, use and sell fractional interests in properties across European cities, starting with London. The company is focused on capturing cross border flows into prime residential European real estate, offering ownership in properties at an accessible price and on a fully managed basis for the buyers.

The company intends to use the funds to scale its UK operations with selective hiring ahead of a targeted expansion in the Middle East next year. The debt capital will go towards the acquisition of luxury properties in sought-after destinations in West London  such as Knightsbridge, Notting Hill, Chelsea, Kensington and Mayfair. Expansion into other holiday and business destinations, such as Paris and Madrid are targets for future growth. The company also sees potential in ski resorts as well as Mediterranean beach destinations.

Fractal plans to grow its HQ in London, with a particular focus on sales, marketing, and engineering hires. It is also looking to expand its presence abroad next year with a base in Abu Dhabi.

FinSMEs

10/01/2023
Mendoza Ventures, a Boston, MA-based female and Latinx-founded Venture Capital firm, held the first close of its $100M Third Early Growth Fintech fund.

The initial close was led by Bank of America, including Grasshopper Bank and other investors. Bank of America supported the fund as part of their commitment to advancing racial equality and economic opportunity, of which over $400M is allocated to investments in mission-focused venture funds.

Run by husband and wife Adrian and Senofer Mendoza, Mendoza Ventures is a fintech, AI, and cybersecurity venture capital firm focused on investing in diverse and female-led startups.

Started in 2016 with the launch of its pilot fund, the firm launched its Fund II in 2019. Fund IIs capital allocation was dedicated for 80% to underrepresented founders (defined as female, immigrant, person of color, or LBGTQ).

FinSMEs

10/01/2023
Nanoprecise Sci Corp Raises USD $10 Million in Series B Investment

Nanoprecise Sci Corp, an Edmonton, Canada-based provider of AI-based condition monitoring & prescriptive maintenance solution, raised $10M in Series B funding.

The round was led by Export Development Canada, with participation from Honeywell Ventures, NSK Ltd., and EC Mergers & Acquisitions.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the international deployment of its solutions.

Led by CEO Sunil Vedula, Nanoprecise Sci is an automated AI-based predictive maintenance solution provider that specializes in the implementation of Artificial Intelligence and IIoT technology for predictive asset maintenance and reducing the carbon footprint of manufacturing plants. The company is defining the industrys service standard for the monitoring & analytics of all types of industrial machines, through their leading energy efficiency & health analytics platform for industrial assets. Nanoprecise works with companies across various sectors to help drive their Industry 4.0 journey.

FinSMEs

10/01/2023
Vaxess, a Cambridge, MA-based life sciences company developing a shelf-stable vaccine patch with potential for self-application, raised additional $10M in funding.

The round was led by RA Capital, The Engine, and Mission BioCapital.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its development efforts.

Led by Michael Schrader, CEO, Vaxess Technologies is developing the MIMIX sustained release patch technology, a way to administer vaccines and therapeutics. For vaccines, the controlled release simulates the pace of a natural infection, helping the body produce a slow, strong, and enduring ramp-up of immune response, ultimately boosting a vaccines effectiveness. Engineered for stability, its patch does not require refrigeration and can be shipped to and applied in low resource settings.

In December, Vaxess published the initial results from its phase 1 trial of the MIMIX-Flu vaccine patch. The trial, conducted in 45 healthy patients, evaluated H1N1 influenza antigen from Vaxesss partner, GC Biopharma Corp., delivered via the MIMIX Patch. The company enrolled healthy adult volunteers ages 18-39 to evaluate the safety, reactogenicity, tolerability, and immunogenicity profiles for two influenza vaccine dose levels, fractional H1 vaccine dose level 7.5 g and standard H1 vaccine dose level 15 g vs placebo.

FinSMEs

10/01/2023
On the afternoon of January 9, 2023, President Xi Jinping held a video meeting with Czech President Milos Zeman.

Xi Jinping pointed out that over the past 10 years, he and President Zeman have met and talked many times, exchanged in-depth views on bilateral relations and governance experience, and upgraded the China-Czech relationship to a strategic partnership. The two sides have jointly promoted bilateral economic and trade relations and personnel exchanges. Czech exports to China have nearly tripled, and in 2019, the number of Chinese tourists to the Czech Republic increased 250 percent from 2013. China values the development of China-Czech relations, regards the Czech Republic as an important strategic partner, and is ready to work with the Czech side for the steady growth of bilateral relations and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

Xi Jinping stressed that China is promoting the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, and will continue to pursue high-level opening up, which will surely provide new opportunities for all countries, including the Czech Republic. The two sides should be firm in their respect for each other's core interests and major concerns, strengthen multi-level and high-quality exchanges and communication, tap deep into the potential of each others complementarity, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges. China will roll out more practical measures to promote cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC). China's policy on Europe remains stable. Xi Jinping expressed his hope that the Czech side will continue to actively promote China-CEEC cooperation and the sustained and sound development of China-Europe relations.

Zeman said that he fully agrees with President Xi Jinping's remarks on Czech-China relations and cherishes his friendship with President Xi Jinping. The Czech side is ready to make joint efforts with the Chinese side to strengthen cooperation in such fields as economy, trade and investment, overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, resume personnel exchanges, and bring great vitality to Czech-China relations. The Czech side is ready to play an active role in promoting the sound development of Europe-China relations.

Wang Yi, He Lifeng and others were present at the event.
French president Emmanuel Macron, right, welcomes Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as he arrives for a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Jan. 9. AFP-Yonhap



Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday pledged more security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific as Kishida made his first visit to France since taking office.



Japan holds the 2023 presidency of the Group of Seven industrialized countries, and Kishida on Monday kicked off a tour of fellow bloc members France, Italy, Britain, Canada and the United States.



At a joint press statement with Macron on Monday evening, the Japanese premier said he was looking forward to more cooperation with France in the Asia-Pacific region.



"France is a leading partner for the realization of a free and open Indo-Pacific," said Kishida, who became premier in October 2021.



"As unilateral attempts to change by force the status quo in the East and South China Sea intensify and the security environment becomes increasingly tense, we wish to continue to cooperate with France," he said, alluding to joint military drills.



Japan's government approved a major defense policy overhaul last month, including a significant spending hike, as it warned China posed the "greatest strategic challenge ever" to its security.





French President Emmanuel Macron and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida deliver a joint statement at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Monday, Jan. 9. AP-Yonhap
A Corvallis man already serving time in state prison has been sentenced to nearly eight additional years in prison for sex crimes against minors.

Braden Michael Kingsley-Current, 23, was sentenced to 95 months in prison during a Benton County Circuit Court hearing Monday, Jan. 9.

Judge Matthew Donohue sentenced Kingsley-Current for charges in two separate cases.

The defendant pleaded guilty to charges of attempted second-degree rape and second-degree sexual abuse in one case. He pleaded guilty to 12 counts of second-degree encouraging child sexual abuse in a different case.

Court documents in the first case allege in July 2019 Kingsley-Current sexually abused and raped a minor younger than 14.

Court documents for the other case said Kingsley-Current possessed or accessed multiple visual recordings with sexually explicit conduct involving child abuse in September 2019.

Probation violations

Kingsley-Current committed these crimes while on probation for convictions in a different case. According to Oregons online court database, in 2018, Kingsley-Current was convicted of second-degree encouraging child sex abuse and attempted first-degree sodomy.

The judge granted Kingsley-Current seven years of probation for these convictions. According to previous Mid-Valley Media coverage, Kingsley-Current was 15 years old when prosecutors charged him as an adult in 2015. This case dragged through the court system as Kingsley-Current was put on house arrest and not sentenced until 2018, according to previous Mid-Valley Media reports.

In June 2019, Kingsley-Current was convicted of felon in possession of a firearm.

A few months later in October 2019, a Benton County Circuit Court judge revoked Kingsley-Currents probation and as a result, sentenced the defendant to time in prison. He was set to be released for those sentences Jan. 13.

More sex crimes

During Mondays arraignment, Kingsley-Current appeared virtually from the Oregon State Correctional Institution. He told Donohue since he has been in prison, he has earned his GED, enrolled in college classes and is on track for a plumber apprenticeship.

Prosecutor Amie Matusko asked Donohue to impose a total sentence of 95 months while defense attorney Mike Flinn asked for a lesser sentence of 75 months between the two cases.

Its pretty impressive what hes done in prison, Flinn said. Things are on the right track for him.

Donohue ended up following the states recommendation, citing the fact there were multiple victims involved in the cases.

Related stories:
American dream or American nightmare?

10:09, January 10, 2023 By Xin Ping ( Xinhua

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- It is not a good time, perhaps, for scientists not born American to be famous in the country they now call home. Those of Chinese origin have learned it the hard way.

Last November, Xiafen (Sherry) Chen, a hydrologist and American of Chinese descent, won a historic settlement of about 1.8 million dollars from the U.S. government for her wrongful prosecution and subsequent termination from the National Weather Service, after years of fighting for her rights.

Justice may have prevailed for Chen, whose life was turned upside down when she was arrested in 2014 for allegedly providing sensitive information about American dams to China. What she actually did was accessing a database for her work with a password widely shared in her office.

The lack of evidence for espionage eventually led the Department of Justice (DOJ) to drop the charges against Chen in March 2015.

The investigation let the cat out of the bag. The security unit installed by the Commerce Department at Chen's workplace that produced the faulty alert was found "engaged in broad patterns of unfounded, discriminatory investigations aimed at Chinese-American and other employees."

For "political correctness" in the United States, racial slurs are unacceptable to the public, but not necessarily in algorithms or in some people's minds. Minor conflicts or mere stress could let out the deep-seated fissure between people of different races. And outright racism is even pronounced in the sci-tech sector where fierce competition between China and the United States is underway.

Due to arrogance and ignorance, some U.S. politicians are bent on suspecting China of stealing whenever the latter makes scientific breakthroughs. In such a poisonous environment, the American scientists of Chinese origin have become a target.

The administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump, for example, launched a so-called China Initiative to combat "China's espionage" and suspected American scientists of Chinese heritage of "stealing" intellectual property and tech secrets from the United States to China.

According to the MIT Technology Review, over the three years under the China Initiative, more than 150 defendants were prosecuted in 77 cases. Only 25 percent of the cases that involved Chinese American scientists were "convicted."

But enough harm was done, whatever the result of each case might be. The surveillance of scientists has directly hampered the ongoing research of the Chinese American scientists concerned. The suspension of funds and grants from the government and even termination from work has brought financial and psychological stress to the experts. Moreover, the misguided and often hostile narrative has hindered their future research with Chinese counterparts.

In the United States, professionals who are old enough know how toxic McCarthyism was. Many apolitical experts were involved and even purged based on flimsy evidence when the United States and the Soviet Union were in the Cold War featuring ideological confrontation and all-out competition. But even the arbitrary legal judgment back then is nothing compared to blatant racial profiling nowadays in the United States.

In fact, 88 percent of defendants in cases brought by the DOJ under the China Initiative were of Chinese heritage. Hardly had any of these scientists thought that they would dream an American dream like this before setting foot on the so-called land of opportunity.

In terms of distrusting their own people, Trump is certainly not an "aberration." Way before Trump made his way into U.S. politics, Lee Wen Ho, a Los Alamos National Laboratory physicist from Taiwan, was accused of stealing secrets concerning the U.S. nuclear arsenal in 1999.

Lee spent nine months in solitary confinement, only to be acquitted of espionage. The judge apologized to Lee for the "demeaning, unnecessarily punitive conditions" and denounced officials for having "embarrassed our entire nation."

Fast-forward to early 2022, the DOJ again dropped charges of espionage against MIT Professor Chen Gang and University of Tennessee Professor Hu Anming without incriminating evidence. But nothing could ever make up for the damage to their reputation as well as human dignity.

The meddling of politics with a heavy racist undertone has generated widespread fear and led to a noticeable exodus.

In 2021, more than 1,400 U.S.-based Chinese scientists switched their affiliation from American institutions to Chinese ones, according to a study by scholars from Harvard, Princeton and MIT.

That figure marked a 21.7-percent jump from 2020 and more than doubled that of 2011. The walkout of scientists means that many have woken up from their American nightmare.

Throughout much of its history, the United States had embraced scientists worldwide regardless of their backgrounds, because it is well aware that it can hardly become what it is today without the best brains in the world.

However, in recent years, U.S. politicians have abused the convenient concept of national security to get ahead of its competitors on the path of sci-tech advancement.

It is high time that U.S. politicians stopped undercutting the scientific endeavor for the common good of humanity as well as themselves. Otherwise, the United States will lose its appeal with further brain drain.

(Xin Ping is a commentator on international affairs, writing regularly for Xinhua News Agency, Global Times, CGTN and China Daily. He can be reached at [email protected])

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
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A Horror Icon Has Died

Five-time Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Owen Roizman has died.

By Chad Langen |

Owen Roizman

According to Variety, Owen Roizman, the five-time Academy Award-nominated cinematographer responsible for shooting classic films like Tootsie and The Exorcist, has passed away. A spokesperson for the American Society of Cinematographers announced in a Twitter statement that Roizman, who was 86 at the time of his death, had been battling an undisclosed illness. The news of his passing comes right on the heels of the death of another industry icon, Earl Boen.

As a child, Owen Roizman wasnt interested in pursuing a career in Hollywood, even though his father was a cameraman himself. Upon hearing about the film industrys possible wages, however, he became money hungry. As a teenager, he spent his summer breaks working at a camera rental store in New York City and later became an assistant to cinematographer Gerald Hirschfield.

After shooting several television commercials, Owen Roizman made his feature film debut as a cinematographer on the 1970 movie Stop! The Bill Gunn-directed drama tells the blistering story of four beautiful people, two strange marriages, and a murder. To this day, the movie has never been released but has had screenings at various museums and film societies.

The following year, Owen Roizman served as director of photography for his second film, William Friedkins The French Connection. The critically-acclaimed crime drama earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography, and it set the style for several of Roizmans future projects. Starring Gene Hackman, Roy Schneider, and Fernando Rey, the movie won multiple Academy Awards including Best Picture.

In 1973, Owen Roizman nabbed another Oscar nomination for his visuals on The Exorcist. The terrifying film saw him reunite once again with William Friedkin to deliver one of the most iconic genre offerings in history. The story centers on a mother who seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter after shes possessed by a mysterious entity.

In addition to his frequent collaborations with William Friedkin, Owen Roizman often worked with legendary director Sydney Pollack. He took on the visuals of Pollacks most famous projects including Tootsie, Havana, and The Electric Horseman. The filmmaking duo also teamed up on Three Days of the Condor and Absence of Malice.

Although he was certainly most active during the 1970s and 1980s, Owen Roizman continued to work as a cinematographer throughout the early 90s. He served as director of photography for high-profile flicks like The Addams Family, Grand Canyon, and Wyatt Earp. The latter, which stars Kevin Costner, earned him yet another Academy Award nomination for stellar camerawork.

Kevin Costner in Wyatt Earp

Owen Roizman hung up his camera following his work on 1995s French Kiss, but he kept a presence in the industry. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences from 2002 to 2011, representing the Cinematographers Branch. In 2017, he received an Academy Honorary Award at the 9th Governors Awards ceremony.

Prior to his death, Owen Roizman lived in the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Mona Lindholm, their son Eric and Roizmans sister Frankie. Our thoughts go out to his family during this difficult time.
Washington D.C., Jan. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) began accepting applications through the Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) program as part of the Biden-Harris Administrations commitment to expanding access to resources for Veterans and other underserved populations. The improvements in the customer experience for Veteran entrepreneurs and business owners made by VetCert will build upon the $25 billion in government contract spending with service-disabled Veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) in Fiscal Year 2021.

"The SBAs new Veteran small business certification program is designed with our commitment to deliver exceptional support for our skilled entrepreneurs from Americas military community, said Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman . Supporting these Veteran entrepreneurs with access to government contracting will ensure they can continue their valued service to the American people, whether working in manufacturing, retail, R&D, or helping us build critically needed infrastructure to promote Americas long-term growth, job creation, and wealth generation. Small businesses owned by Veterans are eligible for key benefits and well-deserved support because of their owners selfless service to our nation, said Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Certification is a critical part of that process, and I encourage all eligible Veterans to submit their verification applications to the Small Business Administration starting today.

The transfer of Veteran certification responsibility from the Veterans Administration (VA) to the SBA aligns with the Biden Administration's focus on stronger interagency collaboration. The two agencies working closely together to accomplish a complex task benefits not only the Veteran community but the nation as a whole.

When federal agencies work together toward a common goal, great things can be accomplished, said Larry Stubblefield, Deputy Associate Administrator for the SBAs Office of Government Contracting & Business Development. The collaboration between the SBA and the VA means that Veterans, who have dutifully served our country, will be well served on their entrepreneurial journey and Veteran business owners will have additional opportunities in the federal marketplace.

The program will be the Agencys primary certification vehicle for all Veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs) and SDVOSBs, important classifications that enable those businesses to qualify for sole-source and set-aside federal contracting awards. Certified VOSBs are eligible to compete for sole-source and set-aside contracts at the Department of Veterans Affairs, while certified SDVOSBs can compete for sole-source and set-aside contracts government-wide. The Agency began accepting applications on January 9, 2023. As the SBA moves forward to ensure more Veteran entrepreneurs have access to economic opportunities, Administrator Guzman has granted a one-time, one-year extension to the current Veteran small businesses verified by the Veterans Administration Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) as of January 1, 2023.

The SBA is implementing several improvements to streamline the certification experience for Veteran entrepreneurs. These include:

Providing Veterans with a central support platform for their small business certification needs.

Providing reciprocal certification for businesses with remaining eligibility in the women-owned small business (WOSB) and 8(a) programs.

Creating a more business-friendly approach by streamlining the application process and aligning ownership and control requirements across the VetCert, 8(a), and WOSB programs.

All changes to the certification process, along with new eligibility requirements may be viewed at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/11/29/2022-25508/veteran-owned-small-business-and-service-disabled-veteran-owned-small-business-certification

Background on the Veteran Small Business Certification Program

To be eligible to apply for the Veteran Small Business Certification Program, an applicant must:

Be considered a small business, as defined by the size standard corresponding to any NAICS code listed in the businesss SAM profile.

corresponding to any NAICS code listed in the businesss SAM profile. Have no less than 51% of the business owned and controlled by one or more Veterans.

For certification as a SDVOSB, have no less than 51% of the business owned and controlled by one or more Veterans rated as service-disabled by VA.

For those Veterans who are permanently and totally disabled and unable to manage the daily business operations of their business, their business may still qualify if their spouse or appointed, permanent caregiver is assisting in that management.

Eligible new applicants certified by the SBA after January 1, 2023, will receive the standard three-year certification period.

Firms verified by the VA Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) as of January 1, 2023, are automatically granted certification by SBA for the remainder of the firms eligibility period. The SBA has granted a one-time, one-year extension of certification to current VOSBs and SDVOSBs. This additional year will be added to the existing eligibility period of a current participant.

The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act grants a one-year grace period for self-certified SDVOSBs until January 1, 2024. During the grace period, businesses have one year to file a certification application with the SBA. Self-certified SDVOSBs that apply before January 1, 2024, will maintain eligibility until the SBA makes a final eligibility decision.

Beginning January 1, 2024, both Veteran and service-disabled Veteran small business owners will need to be certified to compete for federal contracting set-asides unless an application from a self-certified firm is pending an SBA decision.

For the latest information on the Veteran Small Business Certification program, visit www.sba.gov/vetcert , reference the programs FAQs , or email vetcert@sba.gov .

###

About the U.S. Small Business Administration
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per a new report for Future Market Insights (FMI), demand for inlay papers is projected to surge by US$ 296.2 Mn in 2033 from US$ 173.4 Mn in 2023. The market is anticipated to witness growth at a CAGR of 5.5% in the next ten years from 2023 to 2033.



Inlay paper is becoming more popular in the digital world due to digital transformation happening all over the world. Radiofrequency identification inlays are gaining traction in the market as many manufacturers are producing RFID inlays with multiple designs integrated with different materials suitable for various industrial and retail applications.

Dry or wet inlays are embedded into the final finished products. Companies are manufacturing high frequency and ultra-high frequency RFID inlay papers to suit numerous industrial applications. There are various applications that are set to be benefited from inlay papers, including the internet of things, near-field communication smart posters & billboards, logistics & supply chain, transportation, and event tickets.

Request Sample Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-16371

RFID inlay paper is set to be increasingly used in warehouses and inventory control for product tracking. Many countries have switched to RFID-tagged passports for saving information related to the passport-holding person.

RFID inlays and tags are widely used in shipping and logistics because it is the best low-cost solution available for identifying goods. The retail industry is set to acquire a large portion of the market for inlay paper because of digitalization of information related to numerous products.

Retail products are expected to be tagged with an RFID inlay tag or label, and the product details are likely to be saved in the chip, which is gathered by scanning products. All these applications due to digitalization are creating new growth opportunities for the inlay paper market.

Key Takeaways from the Inlay Paper Market

The global inlay paper market is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 5.1% during the historical period from 2018 to 2022.

during the historical period from 2018 to 2022. The U.S. inlay paper market is anticipated to exhibit nearly 82% of share across North America by 2023.

of share across North America by 2023. New Zealand inlay paper market is estimated to expand 1.5 times the current value during the forecast period from 2023-2033.

times the current value during the forecast period from 2023-2033. Based on product type, the wet inlay paper segment is set to hold around 80% of the inlay paper market share by the end of 2023.

of the inlay paper market share by the end of 2023. In terms of end use, the retail segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.3% during the estimated time frame.





Digitalization of all industrial segments, growing concerns over digital security, and data theft are some of the major drivers for the inlay paper market. Key companies are developing unique inlay papers to help prevent data theft.  Says an FMI analyst.

Ask an Analyst @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-16371

Product Identification and Material Tracking Applications of Inlay Paper to Create New Growth Opportunities

Logistics and transportation is the most prominently growing industry in the current times. Identification of goods is set to be the most important part of the shipping industry. High volumes of goods are being transported all over the world and the related data is also huge.

Application of inlay paper infused with RFID technology will create a major hold over the data. For the packaging of goods, RFID tags can be easily labeled on shipping containers. This would help the shipping industry to functionalize the process of product identification.

Similarly, the manufacturing industry can apply inlay paper tags in their inventory and other manufacturing products. Application of inlay papers will be of great help in inventory management, which will in turn, reduce the labor cost and simplify the entire process.

RFID inlay paper can be customized according to the application of inlay paper. Inlay paper application in manufacturing units, inventory control, shipping, and logistics will reduce the manual material tracking time and labor cost. It would also automate the process of material tracking.

Inlay paper would help create future market value by its increasing application in numerous finished products. For instance, in automobiles, it would help in the process of part identification by applying RFID inlay paper. Inlay paper will also play a very important role in product identification in the shipping and manufacturing industries, and will be beneficial in time management and cost reduction.

Competition Landscape: Inlay Paper Market

Lahnpaper GmbH, HID Global Corporation, Avery Dennison Corporation, Barry-Wehmiller Companies, Zebra Technologies Corporation, and Arizon RFID Technology Co. are key players operating in the global inlay paper market. Also, some of the other noticeable players in market include Alien Technology, LLC, Smart Packaging Solutions N.V, Tageos, Invango Information Technology Co. Ltd, Shenzhen DTB RFID Co., Ltd., Metalcraft Inc., Paragon Group Limited, PPG Industries Inc., and others.

Report Customization available @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-16371

Inlay Paper Market Outlook by Category

By Material:

Synthetic Paper

Recycled Paper

By Product Type:

Wet Inlay Paper

Dry Inlay Paper

By End Use:

Retail

Stationery

Banking

Logistics & Transportation

By Region:

North America

Latin America

Europe

South Asia

East Asia

Middle East & Africa

Oceania





Table of Content

1. Executive Summary

1.1. Global Market Outlook

1.2. Demand-side Trends

1.3. Supply-side Trends

1.4. Technology Roadmap Analysis

1.5. Analysis and Recommendations

2. Market Overview

2.1. Market Coverage / Taxonomy

2.2. Market Definition / Scope / Limitations

3. Market Background

3.1. Market Dynamics

3.1.1. Drivers

3.1.2. Restraints

3.1.3. Opportunity

3.1.4. Trends

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Have a Look at Related Research Reports of Packaging

Kraft Paper Machine Market Size: The kraft paper machine mainly consists of three sectional systems namely forming section, press section, drying section and lastly the calendar section

Flexible Packaging Paper Market Share: The flexible packaging paper market is on track to grow at an estimated CAGR of 4% during 2022-2032

Machine Glazed Kraft Paper Market Trends: The global machine glazed kraft paper market is estimated at US$ 9.3 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach US$ 14.5 Bn by 2030

Rice Paper Stand Up Pouch Market Analysis: The rice paper stand-up pouch market is estimated at US$ 56.5 Billion in 2022 and secure a value of US$ 101.2 Billion 2032

Paperboard Jars Market Outlook: The global paperboard jars market is anticipated to witness a CAGR of nearly 3% during the forecast period from 2022 to 2032

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Perth, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QUARTERLY REPORT INVESTOR WEBINAR / CALL

Perth, Western Australia/January 10, 2023/ Perseus Mining Limited (ASX/TSX: PRU) is hosting an investor webinar and conference call to discuss its December 2022 Quarterly Results, which are anticipated for release around 8:30am AEDT on Tuesday January 24, 2023.

CALL DETAILS

Australia: Tuesday 24 January 2023



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Register for the investor webinar at the link below:

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A recording of the conference call will be made available via Perseuss website at www.perseusmining.com.

This announcement was approved for release by Jeff Quartermaine, Managing Director and CEO.
NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cere invites you to heat things up in the bedroom with the worlds first doctor-developed Enchantment Gel scientifically proven to please. Expertly crafted by globally recognized physician duo Dr. Amir Marashi and Dr. Kimberly Lovie, the Cere collection pioneers the science-based self-love revolution. The physician-founded brand is the first to introduce a selection of sleek tools developed with a womans unique anatomy and physiology in mind. Cere Enchantment Gel takes romance to the next level in a matter of minutes with a potent formulation featuring ingredients that promote clitoral blood flow.



There are so many arousal gels and creams on the market, with an equally diverse collection of opinions as to whether or not they actually work or are safe to use, shares Dr. Marashi, Our formula is made with naturally-based compounds. We proved its efficacy by using ultrasound to analyze blood flow before and after using the gel. This allowed us to see the gel working in real time, on the sonogram screen. This is the first arousal gel to have its efficacy demonstrated with this technique.

When it comes to the safety and efficacy of arousal gels, not every choice is created equal. To create their one-of-a-kind formula, Dr. Marashi - an OB/GYN and sexual medicine specialist - alongside Dr. Lovie - a Harvard and Yale-trained physician, chemist, and engineer - drew on over three decades of combined expertise. The finished gel, a product of five years of research, is a blend of pulse-pounding l-arginine and l-citrulline to increase blood flow, plus calming chamomile. They published a research study on their gel in a peer-reviewed medical journal . Dr. Lovie also presented these results to the medical community at the 23rd Annual Fall Scientific Meeting of the International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM)/ Sexual Medicine Society of North America (SMSNA) in Miami in 2022.

Cere Enchantment Gel is the only formulation on the market that is:

Physician-developed by top medical experts who are knowledgeable about female physiology, and are doing groundbreaking research on the clitoris. Lab-proven to increase blood flow, according to advanced ultrasound research that reveals consistent, proven results. pH-balanced and optimized for female reproductive health.



The luxurious Enchantment Gel ($67 for 1 fl.oz.) is designed to upgrade both solo and partner play for all genders. See why doctors all over the nation endorse Cere pleasure products and shop the science-based collection at getcere.com . Follow @GetCere on Instagram for sexual wellness tips, sensational product releases, and exciting brand updates. Cere - Enjoy yourself. Doctors orders.TM

About Cere:

Cere is pursuing an end to the pleasure gap with the first-ever pleasure product brand designed by physicians. Founded by Dr. Amir Marashi, an internationally acclaimed OB/GYN and vaginal surgeon, Cere is helping people find and reach their most pleasurable parts, eradicate sexual shame, and put an end to orgasm inequity. Ceres pleasure tools were developed alongside Dr. Kimberly Lovie, a Harvard and Yale-trained physician, chemist and engineer, through a multi-faceted approach that leveraged their collective understanding of anatomy and engineering to put sexual health at the forefront of every persons health. Shop the full offering at getcere.com . Follow @GetCere on Instagram for sexual wellness tips, sensational product releases, and exciting brand updates. Cere - Enjoy yourself. Doctors orders.TM

Media Contact:

Jessica Kopach-Paulson

Paulson P2R Inc.

jessi@p2rinc.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/051065cc-487d-41f5-be36-1746c4bc4c60
TORONTO, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Goodfood Market Corp. (Goodfood or the Company) (TSX: FOOD) has teamed up with Aloette Go to bring Michelin-inspired recipes to Canadians' doorsteps this winter.



As Canada's number one meal-kit brand, Goodfood delivers farm-fresh ingredients and chef-curated recipes to empower Canadians to eat and live better. The new partnership with one of the country's top restaurants, Aloette and takeout counterpart Aloette Go, further demonstrates the brand's commitment of bringing homegrown ingredients and high-quality dishes into consumers' kitchens nationwide.

Goodfood and Aloette Go will offer two delicious meal-kits developed in collaboration by Aloette Executive Chef Solomon Mason and Goodfood Head Chef Jordana Rebner. The Aloette Wagyu Burger meal-kit is inspired by one of Aloette's most iconic dishes, and will be available to order for a limited time only by Goodfood subscribers across the country.

As an industry leader in an ever-evolving food scene, it's important for us to continue finding ways to stay relevant and excite our customers, said Solomon Mason, Executive Chef, Aloette Go. With more Canadians cooking at home, we're thrilled to partner with Goodfood to bring Aloette Gos elevated experience to them and help make meal-time more enjoyable."

The newest venture by Toronto-based Alo Food Group, Aloette Go, offers a high-quality takeout and delivery experience each time, highlighting fan-favourites from its sister restaurant, Aloette. Alo Food Group also owns Alo and Alobar Yorkville, two of the first restaurants to receive a Michelin Star in Canada in September. Now, with easy-to-follow recipe cards and pre-portioned ingredients, Goodfood has not only made it easier than ever to cook like a Michelin Chef, but is allowing those outside of Toronto to enjoy Aloette Gos delicious dishes for the first time.

"At Goodfood, our priority is to make cooking and eating an exciting activity that sparks joy and brings people together, rather than cause stress," said Jordana Rebner, Head Chef, Goodfood. "Partnering with Aloette Go to offer our subscribers a unique home-cooking experience allows us to deliver on our promise to make meal-time more enjoyable, which is especially relevant during these winter months, a time when we could all use a little more joy in our lives!"

Featuring fresh locally-sourced ingredients, Goodfood subscribers were able to order the Aloette Seared Scallops meal-kit in late December, and are now able to order the Aloette Wagyu Burger meal-kit with Seared Halloumi and Pickle Mayo until Wednesday February 1st. To learn more, Canadians can visit makegoodfood.ca and order their own Michelin-inspired meal-kit by Goodfood and Aloette Go.

About Goodfood

Goodfood (TSX: FOOD) is a leading digitally native meal solutions brand in Canada, delivering fresh meals and add-ons that make it easy for customers from across Canada to enjoy delicious meals at home every day. The Goodfood team is building Canadas most loved millennial food brand, with the mission to create experiences that spark joy and help our community live longer on a healthier planet. Goodfood customers have access to uniquely fresh and delicious products, as well as exclusive pricing, made possible by its world class culinary team and direct-to-consumer infrastructures and technology. We are passionate about connecting our partner farms and suppliers to our customers kitchens while eliminating food waste and costly retail overhead. The Companys administrative offices are based in Montreal, Quebec, with production facilities located in the provinces of Quebec and Alberta.

About Alo Food Group

The Alo Food Group creates and operates restaurants of regard in Toronto. Since the opening of Alo -- our fine-dining flagship -- in 2015, we have aimed to make luxuries approachable while elevating time-honoured favourites. We offer our guests a continuing relationship in venues where the deliciousness of the food is met by a passion for hospitality. Along with Alo, our portfolio of restaurants includes Aloette (2017); Alobar Yorkville (2018); Salon (2019), an intimate space for private dining; and Aloette Go (2021), a take-out-and-delivery-optimized version of the original.

Contact:

Jessica Hoffeldt

Agnostic

jhoffeldt@thinkagnostic.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fe42155e-3569-49a4-837b-33b7f782e0e1
New York, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Aircraft Seating Market Research Report 2022-2032" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06379953/?utm_source=GNW



This research offers company profiles of some of the major competitors in the worldwide Aircraft Seating Market market as well as information on their current competitive environment.



JAMCO

Zodiac Aerospace

Collins Aerospace

Lufthansa Technik

Stelia Aerospace.





COVID-19 Impact on Aircraft Seating Market

Throughout the COVID-19 epidemic, we are working nonstop to support and expand your business. We will provide you with a coronavirus impact study across industries based on our experience and knowledge to assist you in getting ready for the future.

Many industries, markets, and enterprises are under a great deal of stress as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, which has caused significant economic suffering and uncertainty. However, by working together, the entire world can overcome these difficult times. We strive to deliver exact market intelligence by doing in-depth research into how this pandemic will affect various industries.

Were working hard to support your companys growth and survival amid the COVID-19 epidemic. We will provide you with a coronavirus impact study across industries based on our experience and knowledge to assist you in getting ready for the future.



Market segment by Region, regional analysis covers

 North America (United States, Canada, and Mexico)

 Europe (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, and Rest of Europe)

 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia)

 South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Rest of South America)

 Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa, and Rest of Middle East & Africa)



The Aircraft Seating Market report also contains an analysis on:



Aircraft Seating Market Segments



By Class:

Business Class

Economy Class

Premium Economy Class

First Class



By Aircraft Type:

Regional Transport Aircraft

Narrow Body Aircraft

Business Jets

Wide-Body Aircraft



By End Use:

OEM

Aftermarket

MRO





The Aircraft Seating Market report provides answers to the following key questions:

 What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the global?

 Which are Trending factors influencing the market shares of the top regions across the globe?

 What is the impact of Covid19 on the current industry?

 What are the market opportunities and threats faced by Aircraft Seating Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06379953/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
Ottawa, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Insulin is a type of chemical your body needs to keep the glucose level in the blood normal. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not produce any insulin. Type 1 diabetes affects children, teenagers, and adults. However, it is mostly diagnosed at an early age. The treatment for type 1 diabetes aims to keep the blood sugar level in a normal range by providing insulin to the body time-to-time. Type 1 diabetes requires external support of insulin. The parenteral route of administration is widely used in treating type 1 diabetes, whereas the oral route of administration works better for type 2 diabetes. A blood sugar test helps diagnose type 1 diabetes.



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The global type 1 diabetes market is growing with rapidly increasing research for advanced drugs, developing healthcare infrastructure, geographic expansion of major key players, and increasing investments by key pharmaceutical players. The increasing awareness of the consumption of nutritional products to keep blood sugar levels in the normal range has propelled the growth of the global type 1 diabetes market in recent years. Insulin pumps, insulin pens, and blood glucose meters are a few tools that are used in the treatment of type 1 diabetes. Doctors and healthcare providers widely prefer rapid insulin analog. The rapid-insulin analog is prescribed to take 15 minutes before the meal, which works faster to maintain the blood glucose level in type 1 diabetic patients. Along with hospitals, home care setting for treating type 1 diabetes has gained importance in recent years. The home care setting allows patients to keep track of their blood glucose levels regularly.

The Covid-19 pandemic showed adverse effects on the global type 1 diabetes market in the initial lockdown phase due to a disrupted drug supply chain. However, the growing demand for remote glucose monitoring devices and increased awareness for self-health care during and post-Covid pandemic have boosted the growth of the global type 1 diabetes market.

Regional Snapshot:

North America is a leading region in the global type 1 diabetes market owing to the increasing prevalence of diabetes in children and teenagers. The U.S. and Canada are significant contributors to the growth of the type 1 diabetes market in North America. The presence of substantial market key players such as Eli Lilly, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Abbott Laboratories, and Macrogenics has boosted the growth of the type 1 diabetes market in North America. Europe has seen an alarming increase in patients with type 1 diabetes in recent years. Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Braun Melsungen, and Astra Zeneca are critical players in the type 1 diabetes market, making Europe the second largest market among all regions.

Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing region in the global type 1 diabetes market. The cost reduction of diabetes treatment to almost free diabetes treatment for the poor population in India has boosted the number of patients visiting government hospitals. Asian countries have experienced a growth in type 1 diabetic patients over the last decade. Moreover, China and India are the most important contributors to the development of the type 1 diabetes market. Japan is the leading country for the management of diabetes via public health policies owing to the disease management program implemented in the public healthcare sector. Astellas Pharma, Sanofi, Novo Nordisk, and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals contribute to the type 1 diabetes market in Asia Pacific.

Diabetes and other chronic conditions have become a severe problem in Latin America. The rapidly developing healthcare infrastructure will likely increase the demand for advanced diabetes management techniques in the region. Moreover, Brazil is experiencing significant growth in the type 1 diabetes market owing to the improved distribution of insulin, comparatively well-established healthcare infrastructure, and recent developments in the diabetes industry. For instance, BIOMM, a leading biotechnology company in Brazil, announced Nemera Advapens launch under the trade name Lifepen to combat the risks of hypoglycaemia in July 2021.

The progressive nature of type 1 diabetes in the Middle East has increased the demand for advanced insulin delivery systems. Saudi Arabia will likely show significant growth in the type 1 diabetes market during the forecasted period of 2023-2032. Rising involvement by prominent key players from other regions in the developing healthcare infrastructure of low- or middle-income countries in Africa is likely to fuel the type 1 diabetes market in Africa. For instance, in December 2022, Eli Lilly Company and Eva Pharma announced a collaboration to deliver affordable human insulin for type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients in low-to-middle-income countries in Africa. The partnership aims to provide insulin to one million diabetic patients annually.

Report highlights:

Advancement in healthcare infrastructure will boost the growth of the type 1 diabetes market globally.

North America leads the global type 1 diabetes market with the highest revenue share. In contrast, Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing region.

Strict approval regulations and side effects caused by drugs are likely to restrain the growth of the type 1 diabetes market.

The rapid-insulin analog segment is experiencing the fastest growth in the global type 1 diabetes market.

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Scope of the Report

Report Attributes Details Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2032 By Insulin Analog Rapid-Acting Insulin

Short-Acting Insulin

Long-Acting Insulin By Devices Insulin Pump

Insulin Pen

Blood Glucose Meter

Others By End User Hospital

Research Institutes

Home Care Key Players Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Abbott Laboratories, DiaVasc, Inc., Biodel, Inc., Sanofi, Merck, Astellas Pharma, Mannkind Corporation, and others

Market dynamics:

Driver:

Increasing prevalence of type 1 diabetes in children

Type 1 diabetes is primarily genetic and occurs if any family member has a history of type 1 diabetes. But a few external factors that are considered in triggering the complications of type 1 diabetes patients are: change in lifestyle, rapid adaptation to the sedentary lifestyle, and consumption of fast food or preserved food products that contain harmful sweeteners. Rates of children and teenagers with type 1 diabetes are increasing, showing significant growth in the demand for advanced insulin in the global type 1 diabetes market. Type 1 diabetes is a long-term health condition that can cause psychological complications that also impact the immunity system in children. Thus, the pediatric unit in the healthcare sector is focused on managing diabetes in children. Type 1 diabetes in children is not reversible; the only cure for the condition is maintaining blood sugar levels in the normal range by providing insulin timely. The alarming increase in type 1 diabetes in children is a driving factor for the growth of the global type 1 diabetes market. It provides opportunities for research and development of novel drugs for treatment.

Restraint:

High cost associated with the diagnosis and treatment of type 1 diagnosis

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition that requires ongoing observation. Prolonged treatment and numerous tests for the diagnosis of diabetes are not affordable for everyone. The high cost associated with the diagnosis and treatment of type 1 diabetes is likely a major restraint on the market's growth. Especially the cost factor becomes a challenge for countries where the treatment of diabetes is not insured which is likely to gain financial constraints. The high cost of treatment can be attributed to ongoing research and development of novel insulin/drugs for the treatment. The cost of anti-diabetic medications and insulin has become a barrier to the treatment, hampers the market's growth. However, government policy interventions related to pricing medications and insulin can combat this restraint.

Opportunity:

Technological advancement in tools and techniques for the treatment of type 1 diabetes

The increasing prevalence of type 1 diabetes demands technologically advanced tools for the better treatment of diabetes. Advanced technology in the diabetes market has shown significant effects on the management of diabetes. The improvement in continuous glucose monitoring systems, insulin delivery systems, and rapid insulin analogs are substantial factors considered in technological advancement for treating type 1 diabetes. Developing healthcare infrastructure requires advanced tools and techniques for better patient outcomes in managing diabetes. Thus, technological advancement in treatment options for the management of type 1 diabetes brings lucrative opportunities for investors, researchers, and manufacturers that contribute to the growth of the global type 1 diabetes market.

Challenge:

Side effects caused by the medications/drugs in the treatment of type 1 diabetes

The prolonged treatment of type 1 diabetes comes with adverse effects on health. Risk of liver disease, tiredness, kidney complications, and continuous upset stomach are a few side effects caused due to prolonged type 1 diabetes medications. Some side effects caused by diabetes medications are temporary, but some can result in serious health risks. The potential side effects caused by medicines for type 1 diabetes bring challenges for the global type 1 diabetes market to grow.

Related Reports

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Recent Developments:

In December 2022, Abbott announced that their FreeStyle Libre 3 sensor is now compatible with the mylife Loop solution from Ypsomed and CamDiab. Together, these companies aim to make a smart, automated process to deliver insulin based on real-time data.

In December 2022, a pair of researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine received an award worth $3.2 million from the National Institute of Health (NIH). The award is granted to test a treatment for type 1 diabetes that does not require several injections of insulin daily.

In November 2022, a global leader in healthcare technology, Medtronic, announced the U.S. launch of the Medtronic Extended infusion set. This infusion set aims to deliver insulin from an insulin pump for type 1 diabetic patients, which is required to change once in three days.

In August 2022, a global leader in insulin pump technology, Insulet, announced the full market release of Omnipad 5. It is an automated insulin delivery system and can be used for type 1 diabetic patients above six years old.

In October 2021, Eli Lilly & Company announced a strategic collaboration with Cipla in India. During the partnership, Eli Lilly has planned to transfer its rights to sell and promote Humalog and Trulicity in India to Cipla. The collaboration aims to increase Eli Lilly's distribution of diabetic medications in the country.

In June 2020, Medtronic received an award of $337 million for enhancing the research and development activities for diabetes treatment.

In June 2020, Tandem Diabetes Care and Medtronic signed a collaborative agreement that reflects a patent cross-license agreement for slimx2 electronic glucose pump developed by Tandem Diabetes Care and MiniMed 670G developed by Medtronic company.





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JERSEY CITY, N.J., Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vision Energy Corporation (OTCQB:VENG) (Vision Energy or the Company) announces the incorporation of new Dutch subsidiaries to accommodate strategic initiatives for prospective partners, operators and launching customers for its integrated Green Energy Hub development in North Sea Port of Vlissingen, the Netherlands.



The Company has incorporated Vision Hydrogen BV as a project development company to develop, own and operate the Companys planned Ammonia Cracking Facility, for back-cracking imported green ammonia to hydrogen gas as a service. It is planned that the Ammonia Cracking Facility will integrate with the Companys import, storage and handling terminal development in Vlissingen via a short pipeline enabling dedicated storage and handling capacity for imported green Ammonia feedstock, subject to additional studies and obtaining all requisite permits and approvals.

On December 2, 2022, the Company entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Linde Engineering in connection with a mutual interest to participate in co-investment, development and operations associated with Hydrogen production through Ammonia back-cracking (please refer to Company News Release December 12, 2022). Vision Hydrogen BV plans to commence pre-feasibility, pre-development and initial permit preparation efforts in consultation with Linde Engineering to define the land area required for the facility, and to allocate suitable lands for detailed development and engineering.

The Company has also incorporated Evolution Terminals Operating BV, a dedicated operating entity to jointly own and operate logistics infrastructure under a joint operating agreement on behalf of the terminal in the event that the terminals tank storage assets are owned by more than one strategic equity partner, and Evolution Terminals SPV II BV, a special purpose vehicle to be utilized for joint ownership of specific storage assets with a strategic launching customer or partner.

About Vision Energy

Vision Energy is a forward-looking energy company developing assets and solutions for the commercial, industrial and transportation sectors. Leveraging its proven track-record in site and asset procurement, accelerating development and permitting processes, plant design, and grid integration to facilitate low-carbon energy production, supply and distribution. The Company pursues reliable offtake relationships and operating partnerships with energy industry participants and end users seeking carbon abatements across feedstock and fuels. Vision Energy is committed to providing low carbon energy solutions with the highest yield, and where possible, projects are designed to leverage existing gas and power infrastructure to integrate and facilitate import and or distribution of reduced-carbon energy to domestic and global supply chains.

Vision Energy

95 Christopher Columbus Drive,

16th Floor Jersey City, NJ

07302 USA

visionenergy.com



Investor Contact

Scott McGowan

Phone: 310.299.1717

ir@visionenergy.com



Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as forecast, anticipate, believe, estimate, expect and intend, among others. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, and actual results could differ materially. The Company does not undertake an obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement. The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof.
NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ignoring cues from the general population, tech evangelists have praised the benefits of "the metaverse" for one and all; however, a new study from BlueLabel shows most people don't actually care.

The study surveyed 1008 people, collecting data from those between ages 18 and 84, and revealed respondent usage among 19 of the most popular metaverses today. It also examines the motivation for using the metaverse (i.e., for enjoyment and to earn income) as well as respondent spending and earnings.

Conducted during early December 2022, reveals the following data:

Just over half of all respondents (52%) reported that they do not engage with the metaverse in any fashion.

in any fashion. Metaverse use is widely distributed among the 19 platforms included in the survey, with Minecraft being the most popular (17%) , followed by Fortnite (10%) , and Roblox (8%) decisively in 3 rd place.

, followed by , and Just 1.5% of respondents reported using HorizonWorld , Meta's own metaverse platform.

, Meta's own metaverse platform. All respondents' earnings average $1548, but the median and mode are each $0.

Follow the link here to view the complete study: https://www.bluelabellabs.com/blog/metaverse-statistics/

About BlueLabel

BlueLabel is an award-winning, remote-first team of 120 strategists, designers, and developers, operating around the globe.

Partnering with Fortune 500 companies and funded startups that want to grow, BlueLabel designs and develops digital products that transform businesses.

Contact Information:

Matteo Gasparello

Director, Marketing

matteo.gasparello@bluelabellabs.com



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SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Inherent Biosciences, the first Utah company commercializing a diagnostic in the emerging biotech field of epigenetics, has teamed up with Posterity Health, the only virtual Male Fertility Center of Excellence that offers personalized care, educational resources, and effective treatments to address male fertility.

Partnership enables Inherent to offer its Path Fertility branded Sperm Quality Test (SpermQT TM ) directly to consumers

) directly to consumers SpermQT is a new epigenetic sperm quality test that looks inside the head of the sperm to examine gene function

1 in 8 couples experience infertility and up to 50% of infertility is due to male factors. Many men go undiagnosed and when men go undiagnosed, women are put through procedures that will not work. Inherent and Posterity are elevating the standard of care and improving access to care for men, shifting some of the burden of infertility from women. Together the companies offer a comprehensive diagnostic and treatment offering now available directly to male patients trying to conceive.

Patients can order SpermQT and receive a virtual telehealth consultation from the male fertility specialists at Posterity Health so they can understand their test results and determine the best path forward. In addition, patients can order the comprehensive IUI Assessment which includes a semen analysis, SpermQT and telehealth consultation to predict the likelihood of success with intrauterine insemination (IUI).

"Inherent Biosciences is pioneering innovation in male reproductive health," said Pam Pure, CEO of Posterity Health. "We are committed to evaluating and incorporating cutting edge technologies like SpermQT into our clinical services to offer patients the most comprehensive, technology enabled care and accelerate their path to parenthood."

Unlike Sperm DNA Fragmentation testing, which measures physical breaks in one or both of the DNA strands of the chromosomes contained within the sperm, SpermQT leverages epigenetic technology to assess gene function. Epigenetics is the study of how behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way genes work and does not involve alterations in the DNA sequence or DNA strands.

"Semen analysis alone, as well as DNA fragmentation testing have limitations," said Kristin Brogaard, PhD, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Inherent Biosciences. "DNA fragmentation testing is primarily recommended when there are recurrent miscarriages. SpermQT captures a subset of men with subfertility who are missed by semen analysis alone or DNA fragmentation testing. We are thrilled to partner with Posterity to make SpermQT more accessible to patients."

About Inherent Biosciences - Inherent Biosciences, Inc. is a biotechnology company pioneering epigenetic medicine for complex diseases. Gene dysregulation, a hallmark of complex disease, has been difficult to detect and treat, until now. The company's epigenetic platform detects dysregulation across multiple genes and related pathways to pioneer a new category of diagnostics and therapeutics that leverage epigenetics, biology's inherent mechanism for gene regulation, to radically transform how we diagnose and treat complex diseases like infertility. Learn more at www.inherentbio.com or connect on LinkedIn.



About Posterity Health - Posterity Health is the only Male Fertility Center of Excellence. The company provides an extensive portfolio of technology-enabled male fertility services, including at-home diagnostics, virtual visits and in-person consults focused on improving a man's fertility status. The company seeks to educate, engage and treat men, shifting the burden of conceiving from solely the woman and creating a unifying experience for the couple. Posterity Health is committed to making male fertility management a core part of men's health. To learn more, visit www.posterityhealth.com.

Contact Information:

Andy Olson

CEO

andy@inherentbio.com

(509) 496-1204



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New York, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Green Hydrogen Market - A Global and Regional Analysis: Focus on Application, Technology - Analysis and Forecast, 2022-2031" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06127014/?utm_source=GNW

64 billion by 2031, registering a CAGR of 68.9% between 2022 and 2031 in terms of value.



Green hydrogen is a hydrogen-produced fuel obtained from the electrolysis of water with electricity generated by renewable energy sources.Hydrogen is one of the prominent energy carriers that can be used in different applications, such as oil and gas, industrial feedstock, mobility, and power generation.



Various countries and regions, including Europe, the U.K., China, South Korea, Japan, Canada, South Africa, and the U.S., have adopted net zero objectives. These developments of national and international "net zero" objectives has been one of the most noteworthy characteristics of climate policy in recent years. Renewables and batteries can help to decarbonize power generation and the automobile industry. Heating may also be decarbonized in some areas by using heat pumps driven by renewable energy.



Market Lifecycle Stage



The green hydrogen market has been developing significantly since early 2000, and much has been attributed to the technological advancements in this field.The ecosystem of the green hydrogen market comprises technology suppliers, green hydrogen producers, and end users.



The market is still developing, with Europe at the forefront, followed by other regions such as North America, Asia-Pacific, the U.K., China, and Rest-of-the-World.



Industrial Impact



 Green hydrogen is one of the gases with an increase in demand from the petroleum refining industry due to its function in different refining processes such as hydrocracking, hydroisomerization, hydrodealkylation, and hydrodesulfurization, and it has a high impact on the oil and gas sector.

 Furthermore, green hydrogen has a moderate to high impact on the industrial feedstock sector, as green hydrogen is used in the production of ammonia, methanol, steel, and other industrial products.



Impact of COVID-19



The COVID-19 pandemic considerably impacted the production of green hydrogen because of country-wide shutdowns of manufacturing sites, labor shortages, and disruptions in supply and demand chains globally, which distorted the market.The supply of green hydrogen declined in industrial sectors such as industrial feedstock and oil and gas.



Amid the pandemic, major announced projects got delayed; however, they are expected to gain traction with economic recovery during the post-pandemic period.



Market Segmentation:

Segmentation 1: by Application

 Oil and Gas

 Industrial Feedstock

o Ammonia

o Methanol

o Steel

o Others

 Mobility

 Power Generation

 Others



Oil and gas is anticipated to be one of the prominent end-use markets for green hydrogen during the forecast period 2022-2031.



Segmentation 2: by Technology

 Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Electrolyzer

 Alkaline Electrolyzer

 Anion Exchange Membrane

 Solid Oxide Electrolyzer



Based on technology, the green hydrogen market is estimated to be led by alkaline electrolyzer during the forecast period, 2022-2031.



Segmentation 3: by Region

 North America - U.S., Canada, and Mexico

 Europe - Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, and Rest-of-Europe

 China

 U.K.

 Asia-Pacific and Japan - Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, and Rest-of-Asia-Pacific

 Rest-of-the-World



In the global green hydrogen market, Europe and North America are anticipated to gain traction in terms of green hydrogen production, owing to the continuous growth in the oil and gas industry and the presence of the worlds largest manufacturers in those regions.



Recent Developments in Green Hydrogen Market



 In August 2022, Linde inaugurated the worlds first hydrogen refuelling system for passenger trains in Bremervorde, Germany. The companys hydrogen refuelling system has been designed and constructed with the ability to integrate future on-site green hydrogen generation.

 In March 2022, Air Liquide received support from the French State, subject to final validation by the European Commission, to launch its Air Liquide NormandHy large-scale renewable hydrogen production project. This electrolyzer of an initial 200 MW capacity, which should notably provide renewable hydrogen to TotalEnergies Normandy refinery and will use Siemens Energy technology.

 In November 2022, Air Products and Associated British Ports (ABP) partnered to bring the first large-scale, green hydrogen production facility to the U.K. The facility would import green ammonia from production locations operated by Air Products and its partners around the world. This would be used to produce green hydrogen, which would decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as transport and industry.



Demand - Drivers and Limitations



Following are the demand drivers for the green hydrogen market:

 Increasing Awareness Regarding Green Hydrogen

 Low Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) Electricity Cost



The market is expected to face some limitations due to the following challenges:

 High Cost of Production

 Limited Dedicated Transport Infrastructure



How can this report add value to an organization?



Product/Innovation Strategy: The product segment helps the reader understand the different technologies involved in the green hydrogen market.The technology segment includes a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer, alkaline electrolyzer, anion exchange membrane, and solid oxide electrolyzer.



Moreover, the study provides the reader with a detailed understanding of the green hydrogen market based on application, including oil and gas, industrial feedstock, mobility, power generation, and others. The government imposing stringent regulations related to carbon emissions is fuelling the demand for green hydrogen.



Growth/Marketing Strategy: The green hydrogen market has seen major development by key players operating in the market, such as business expansions, partnerships, collaborations, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures.The favored strategy for the companies has been business partnership and collaboration to strengthen their position in the green hydrogen market.



For instance, in July 2019, Linde and Beijing Green Hydrogen Technology Development Co., Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The businesses are collaborating on several green hydrogen initiatives, including hydrogen technology research and development and the deployment of green hydrogen transportation solutions for Chinas inaugural hosting of the Winter Olympics in 2022.



Competitive Strategy: Key players in the green hydrogen market analyzed and profiled in the study involve green hydrogen manufacturers and the overall ecosystem.Moreover, a detailed competitive benchmarking of the players operating in the green hydrogen market has been done to help the reader understand how players stack against each other, presenting a clear market landscape.



Additionally, comprehensive competitive strategies such as partnerships, agreements, acquisitions, and collaborations will aid the reader in understanding the untapped revenue pockets in the market.



Key Market Players and Competition Synopsis



Green hydrogen is mainly being utilized in the oil & gas, and mobility industry.At present, hydrogen production mainly relies on natural gas and coal, accounting for 99 percent of production.



Electrolysis produces approximately 1 percent of global hydrogen. At present, renewable energy does not produce a large amount of hydrogen, and green hydrogen is mostly limited to demonstration projects.



Key Companies Profiled



 Linde

 Air Liquide

 Air Products Inc.

 ENGIE

 Uniper SE

 Siemens Energy

 Green Hydrogen

 Cummins Inc.

 Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation

 Nel ASA

 SGH2 Energy Global, LLC

 PLUG POWER INC.

 Aker Horizons

 HY2GEN AG

 Fusion-Fuel



Countries Covered

 North America

 U.S.

 Canada

 Mexico

 Europe

 Germany

 France

 Spain

 Italy

 Russia

 Rest-of-Europe

 U.K.

 China

 Asia-Pacific

 Japan

 South Korea

 India

 Australia

 Rest-of-Asia-Pacific

 Rest-of-the-World

 Middle East and Africa (MEA)

 South America

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06127014/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
English French

Nanterre, 10 January 2023

Cobra IS, a VINCI subsidiary, wins a contract to design, build and

install two windfarm energy converter platforms in the North Sea

Two offshore windfarm energy converter platforms for a German operator

Total capacity of 4 GW

An overall contract value worth more than 4 billion





The consortium made up of Dragados Offshore  a subsidiary of Cobra IS  and Siemens Energy has been awarded by Amprion Offshore a contract to design, build and install the LanWin1 and LanWin3 offshore windfarm energy converter platforms in the North Sea.

The converter platforms will collect the alternating current generated by several wind farms and convert it into high voltage direct current (HVDC), which will then be reconverted into alternating current at onshore stations approximately 400 km away. The onshore stations are also covered by the contract.

The construction of these platforms will take place at Dragados Offshores yard in Cadiz, Spain, and will generate over 2,000 jobs, providing workload until 2029.

With transmission and transport capacity of 2 GW each, i.e. a total of 4 GW, these platforms will be able to power a major city of 4 million people like Berlin. They are among the first of such capacity to be developed in northern Europe and are scheduled to be commissioned in 2029 and 2030.

Dragados Offshore is already executing four other offshore converter projects of this nature for German operators, under contracts that involve design, procurement, construction, transportation, installation and commissioning in the North Sea.

The project falls within the German energy transition plan, which seeks to build a major offshore wind farm energy generating network.

About VINCI

VINCI is a global player in concessions, energy and construction businesses, employing more than 260,000 people in some 100 countries. We design, finance, build and operate infrastructure and facilities that help improve daily life and mobility for all. Because we believe in all-round performance, above and beyond economic and financial results, we are committed to operating in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. And because our projects are in the public interest, we consider that reaching out to all our stakeholders and engaging in dialogue with them is essential in the conduct of our business activities. VINCIs ambition is to create long-term value for its customers, shareholders, employees, partners and society in general. www.vinci.com









This press release is an official information document of the VINCI Group.

PRESS CONTACT

VINCI Press Department

Tel: +33 (0)1 57 98 62 90

media.relations@vinci.com





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JEFFERSONVILLE, N.Y., Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jeffersonville Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQB - JFBC) announced today that a special cash dividend in the amount of ten cents ($0.10) per share on the common stock of the company was declared at the January 10, 2023 meeting of the Board of Directors. The dividend is payable on January 31, 2023 to stockholders of record at the close of business on January 24, 2023.



"The Company performed very well in 2022 due to solid loan growth and low core funding costs. In addition, Federal Reserve rate increases contributed significantly to interest earned on reserves," said George W. Kinne, Jr., President and CEO. The Board of Directors is pleased that with our positive results and strong capital position, they are able to reward our loyal shareholders with this special cash dividend."

Jeffersonville Bancorp is a one-bank holding company, which owns all the capital stock of Jeff Bank. Jeff Bank maintains ten full service branches in Sullivan and Orange County, New York located in Anawana Lake Road/Monticello, Eldred, Callicoon, Jeffersonville, Liberty, Livingston Manor, Monticello, Port Jervis, White Lake, and Wurtsboro.

For More Information, call: 845-482-4000
CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verano Holdings Corp. (CSE: VRNO) (OTCQX: VRNOF) (Verano or the Company), a leading multi-state cannabis company, today celebrated the commencement of adult use cannabis sales in Connecticut at the Companys Zen Leaf Meriden dispensary. The Company welcomed Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull, Social Equity Comissioner Paul Robertson, Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati, and other distinguished guests at Zen Leaf Meriden to commemorate the end of cannabis prohibition in Connecticut.



Legal cannabis in Connecticut will have a positive impact on the economy and local communities, and were honored to celebrate this moment in the Constitution State, said George Archos, Verano Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Our Verano, CTPharma and Zen Leaf teams are proud to stand with Connecticut residents in celebrating the end of cannabis prohibition. Thank you to Governor Ned Lamont, the Department of Consumer Protection, local communities, our team members, medical cannabis patients and advocates for making this historic day in Connecticut a reality.

Along with the Companys Zen Leaf Meriden dispensary, Veranos Connecticut operations include CTPharma, a state-of-the-art, 217,000 square foot cultivation and processing facility in Rocky Hill, and Caring Nature in Waterbury, a medical dispensary that will soon commence adult use sales under the Zen Leaf retail banner.

In conjuction with the launch of adult use sales, current business hours at Zen Leaf Meriden are Monday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information about Zen Leaf cannabis dispensaries, visit ZenLeafDispensaries.com.

About Verano

Verano is a leading, vertically integrated, multi-state cannabis operator in the U.S., devoted to the ongoing improvement of communal wellness by providing responsible access to regulated cannabis products. With a mission to address vital health and wellness needs, Verano produces a comprehensive suite of premium, innovative cannabis products sold under its trusted portfolio of consumer brands, including Verano, Avexia, BITS, Encore, MUV and Savvy. Veranos portfolio encompasses 14 U.S. states, with active operations in 13, including 14 production facilities comprising over 1,000,000 square feet of cultivation capacity. Verano designs, builds, and operates dispensaries under retail brands including Zen Leaf and MUV, delivering a superior cannabis shopping experience in both medical and adult use markets. Learn more at www.verano.com.

Contacts:

Media

Verano

Grace Bondy

Manager, Communications

Grace.Bondy@verano.com

Investors

Verano

Julianna Paterra, CFA

Director, Investor Relations

Julianna.Paterra@verano.com

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Companys beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Companys control. Generally, such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, future, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, projects intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, will continue, will occur or will be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve and are subject to assumptions and known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual events, results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future events, results, performance, and achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements herein, including, without limitation, the risk factors described in the Companys registration statement on Form 10, as amended, and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except as may be required in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice regarding forward-looking information and statements.

###

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IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Glidewell Clinical Education is introducing a new promotion for free hotel accommodations for those who attend a live course in one of their state-of-the-art training centers in Irvine, California, or Louisville, Kentucky. This offer aims to relieve some of the financial load for attendees who are not local to the education centers.

One of those facilities is the brand new flagship Glidewell Clinical Education Center located within the Glidewell campus in Irvine, California. "With more dentists seeking in-person training than ever before, we recognized that we needed to expand our facility," says Dr. Neil Park, vice president of clinical affairs at Glidewell. This elite training center features spacious meeting areas, modern amenities, and fully equipped operatories and surgical suites for live surgical and restorative demonstrations. Located within the Glidewell campus, the 10,360-square-foot education center was designed for hosting an array of continuing education (CE) programs, including hands-on workshops, lectures and symposia.

Dr. Park adds: "With our new education center, we're happy to be able to host an array of affordable, practical, cutting-edge CE programs on implant dentistry, restorative dentistry, dental sleep medicine and more." These live courses provide attendees access to world-class presenters, a firsthand look at various dental techniques and valuable hands-on experience that lets them incorporate their new skills into their practices right away.

With this new free hotel stay promotion, Glidewell aims to extend its educational outreach to dentists around the nation. This offer is available with the payment of a doctor's full tuition for any in-person course at Glidewell facilities in Irvine, CA, and Louisville, KY, only. One-day courses are eligible for one free hotel night and two-day courses are eligible for two free hotel nights with the hotel selection being at the sole discretion of Glidewell.

Glidewell has continually added new educational resources for dental practitioners since its establishment in 2011. In addition to live courses, dentists can earn CE credits from weekly webinars, online CE courses and Glidewell's Chairside Magazine, which readers can access in print and online.

For a full list of upcoming live courses in 2023, clinicians can visit glidewellcecenter.com. To register for the free hotel promotion, doctors must call 866-791-9539. To learn more about the different clinical education resources available at Glidewell, clinicians can visit glidewell.com/education or call 866-791-9539.

Contact Information:

Eldon Thompson

Sr. Director of Marketing

mail@glidewell.com



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Image 1: Glidewell Clinical Education Announces Free Hotel Stay Promo for Live Continuing Education Courses





Dentists nationwide can now qualify for free hotel accommodations when attending a live in-person Glidewell continuing education course in California or Kentucky.









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TORONTO, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Since opening its doors in 2021, ChickQueen has quickly gained a reputation as a go-to spot for delicious and flavorful sandwiches and fried chicken. Customers from all over have been traveling to ChickQueen to try their unique blend of Middle Eastern and South Asian spices, and the buzz about ChickQueen's sandwiches continues to grow.



"We are thrilled by the response we have received from our customers," said Amir Waheed, owner of ChickQueen. "We are so glad that people are enjoying our sandwiches and we look forward to continuing to serve the GTA community and beyond."

With a wide range of options to choose from and a commitment to providing the best fast food experience possible, ChickQueen offers something for everyone. From fried and grilled chicken sandwiches to fried chicken, grilled chicken, tenders and sides, there is something on the menu for every taste.

In addition to their delicious food, ChickQueen is known for their friendly and knowledgeable staff and welcoming atmosphere. Customers can expect to be treated to a top-notch experience every time they visit.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to try ChickQueen's delicious sandwiches. Head to their locations in Toronto or Mississauga today and see what all the buzz is about. Here are some of the top seller sandwiches.

Tandoori Sandwich:

This delicious sandwich features a 100% chicken breast filet that has been marinated in a secret recipe for a full 48 hours and then double hand-breaded for the ultimate crunch. The chicken is fried to golden perfection and tossed in unique tandoori spices, giving it a flavor that is out of this world.

But the taste doesn't stop there - the Tandoori Sandwich is served in a seedy bun and topped with homemade tandoori sauce, making it the perfect balance of savory and spicy.





Double Crunchy Sandwich:

This mouthwatering creation features two juicy chicken patties that have been marinated in our secret recipe for a full 48 hours, resulting in a flavor that is truly unparalleled. The Double Crunchy Sandwich also includes a cheese slice and signature homemade chili mayonnaise, all served on a soft and fluffy brioche bun. Whether you're in the mood for a quick lunch or a satisfying dinner, the Double Crunchy Sandwich is sure to hit the spot.





Grilled Suppreme Sandwich

This savory sandwich features a succulent grilled chicken patty that has been marinated in a secret recipe for a full 48 hours, ensuring a burst of flavor in every bite. In addition to the mouthwatering chicken, the Grilled Suppreme Sandwich also includes a cheese slice, spicy jalapenos, and signature homemade chili mayonnaise, all served on a deliciously long seedy bun.





Since opening its first location in 2021, ChickQueen has gained a loyal following. It's no surprise that ChickQueen is expanding, as the restaurant's delicious food and excellent customer service have earned it a reputation as a go-to destination for quick and tasty meals. With six more locations set to open in 2023 and two already under construction, it's clear that ChickQueen is on the rise.

About ChickQueen

The brand started its restaurants in Dubai, expanded its reach over time, and has more than 270 outlets worldwide. The expansion of ChickQueen is the brands development plan, and they will expand their restaurants further to other regions. The restaurant will serve everything from chicken to sandwiches, tenders, and wings. They also serve special meals for families and kids. Drinks, desserts, and dipping sauces will make mouth-savoring dishes more delicious.

Contact:

info@chickqueen.ca



Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/255789d1-6382-439d-a177-939c321b34de

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c5974c87-9a74-4f42-ad38-e65161f83714

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6d6cf65f-9936-4640-b6eb-d1809108c9b4

These photos are also available via AP PhotoExpress.
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP (GPM) reminds investors of the upcoming February 3, 2023 deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the class action filed on behalf of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired The Gap, Inc. (Gap or the Company) (NYSE: GPS) securities between November 24, 2021 and July 11, 2022, inclusive (the Class Period).



If you suffered a loss on your Gap investments or would like to inquire about potentially pursuing claims to recover your loss under the federal securities laws, you can submit your contact information at www.glancylaw.com/cases/the-gap-inc/. You can also contact Charles H. Linehan, of GPM at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or via email at shareholders@glancylaw.com to learn more about your rights.

On April 21, 2022, after the market closed, the Company announced that the CEO of Old Navy, Nancy Green, had stepped down. On this news, Gaps stock price fell $2.57 per share, or 17%, to close at $11.72 per share on April 22, 2022, thereby injuring investors.

Then, on May 20, 2022, The Wall Street Journal published an article stating that Old Navys inclusive, extended sizing campaign, BODEQUALITY, had resulted in too many extra-small and extra-large items and too few of the rest, a mismatch that frustrated customers and contributed to falling sales and a management shake-up. The article also pointed out that Old Navy accounts for 54% of Gaps sales and roughly 80% of the profits, and that Gap had warned that spring quarter sales would fall short of expectations because of troubles at Old Navy. On this news, Gaps stock price fell $0.86, or 7.7%, to close at $10.33 per share on May 23, 2022, thereby injuring investors.

Then, on May 27, 2022, the Company released its first quarter 2022 financial results, admitting that the results had been impacted by execution missteps in size and assortment at Old Navy related to BODEQUALITY, as well as global supply chain disruptions. On this news, Gaps stock price fell 4.9% to close at $11.03 per share on May 31, 2022.

Then, on July 11, 2022, after market hours, Gap announced that its President and CEO was stepping down from her position and had resigned from the Board of Directors. On this news, Gaps stock price fell $0.44, or 5%, to close at %$8.32 per share on July 12, 2022, thereby injuring investors further.

The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Companys business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) there were execution missteps in size and assortment at Old Navy related to BODEQUALITY which were adversely impacting Old Navys margins and financial results; (2) contrary to the Companys statements, there were inventory risks relating to BODEQUALITY that were actually existing that were adversely affecting the Companys operations; and (3) as a result, Defendants positive statements about the Companys business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.

If you purchased or otherwise acquired Gap securities during the Class Period, you may move the Court no later than February 3, 2023 to request appointment as lead plaintiff in this putative class action lawsuit. To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to the pending class action lawsuit, please contact Charles Linehan, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to shareholders@glancylaw.com, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

Contacts

Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP, Los Angeles

Charles Linehan, 310-201-9150 or 888-773-9224

shareholders@glancylaw.com

www.glancylaw.com
Los Angeles, California, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman, PC has changed its name to Wisner Baum, LLP. The announcement comes as the award-winning plaintiffs firm enters its 50th year in practice.

Vice president R. Brent Wisner, Baum Hedlunds lead trial attorney, will serve as Wisner Baums new managing partner. At the age of 39, Wisner is perhaps the youngest attorney in America to take the reins of a nationwide plaintiffs law firm of Baum Hedlunds size and stature.

Wisners age belies an incredible track record of success in major cases after only 11 years practicing law. He is the youngest attorney in U.S. history to win a multi-billion-dollar jury verdict. In 2019, he earned a massive $2 billion jury verdict against Monsanto (Bayer). The groundbreaking verdict came less than a year after obtaining the first Roundup cancer verdict of $289 million against Monsanto in 2018. So far, he has negotiated mass tort settlements in excess of $1 billion.

Wisner has earned numerous awards and recognition, including Civil Plaintiffs Trial Lawyer of the Year by the National Trial Lawyers, Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar by Law360, one of Americas 50 Most Influential Trial Lawyers by The National Law Journal, and a West Trailblazer by The American Lawyer. Wisner has also been featured in the Daily Journals Top Plaintiffs Lawyers and Top 100 Lawyers in California for several consecutive years.

I am honored to have the opportunity to lead this firm into its next chapter and eager to continue the legacy that Michael Baum, Paul Hedlund, Clark Aristei, and Ron Goldman built, says Wisner. Standing on the shoulders of giants, and I am very optimistic that the firms best days are ahead of us.

Michael L. Baum, who served as the firms managing partner from 1993 to 2022, will continue his work at Wisner Baum as one of the firms three senior partners. Under Baums stewardship, the firm grew from a small boutique law firm to one of the nations leading plaintiffs litigation firms that is now known for its cutting edge, superior legal work. Baum Hedlunds success in challenging cases and precedent-setting legal rulings has helped shape the law for the benefit of those harmed in commercial transportation accidents and by dangerous pharmaceuticals and consumer products.

Staying true to their mission of raising public awareness about important safety issues, in the majority of their mass tort litigation, Baum Hedlund has succeeded in getting troves of documents out from under seal and shared with various entities, including regulatory agencies in the EU, the FDA, Congress, DOJ, academics, media and the public.

Baums ceaseless advocacy in pharmaceutical and consumer fraud litigation has brought Baum Hedlund international attention and acclaim.

When I became an attorney in 1985, we were the new kids on the block. We only had dreams of achieving the success we now enjoy, Michael Baum says. Our ethos from the beginning was pure and simple: we wanted to use the law to help people who had been wronged and make the world a better place. As much as we have grown over the years, that philosophy has remained, and out of it grew a culture that has attracted talented lawyers like Brent who share the same mission. He is exactly the kind of lawyer and leader that will take this firm to new heights. Wisner Baum is in good hands.

The firm also announced the retirement of longtime vice president, secretary, and senior shareholder, Ronald L. M. Goldman, who retired today, on his 60th lawyer anniversary. The other named partnersPaul J. Hedlund and J. Clark Aristeiretired from the firm in 2018. Aristei passed away in 2021.

Wisner Baum Leading Several Major Litigations in 2023

Wisner Baum has a busy 2023 as the firms attorneys prepare for several major bellwether trials involving Zantac and heavy metals in baby food.

First Zantac Trial in February 2023

R. Brent Wisner will serve as co-lead counsel in the first ever Zantac trial, which is scheduled for February 27, 2023 in Oakland, California. He also serves on the plaintiffs leadership in the consolidated Zantac cases in California state court (Ranitidine Product Cases JCCP 5150, Example Case No. RG20061705) where Wisner has concentrated the firms Zantac litigation, avoiding some of the pitfalls encountered in the consolidated federal litigation. The cases allege Zantac (generic: ranitidine) manufacturers failed to warn consumers that the drug can degrade into a cancer-causing substance called N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) when taken as directed.

First Toxic Baby Food Trial in May 2023

Wisner Baum will try a first-of-its-kind baby food case on May 2, 2023. Wisner will co-lead the case with attorney Pedram Esfandiary to represent plaintiffs Melissa and Lorenzo Cantabrana in N.C., a minor, v. Hain Celestial Group, Inc. et al., Superior Court for the State of California, County of Los Angeles (Case No. 21STCV22822). Wisner and Esfandiary previously worked together during the Monsanto litigation.

Gardasil HPV Vaccine Case Leadership

Wisner Baum is also co-leading the Gardasil human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine litigation on behalf of claimants throughout the country who allege they sustained severe auto-immune injuries after receiving Gardasil. Last year, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) issued an order to consolidate dozens of Gardasil claims in an MDL before a federal judge in North Carolina. The order allowed Gardasil cases filed throughout the country to move into coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings. The federal judge overseeing the Gardasil MDL 3036, Example Case No. Case No. 3:22-cv-00397) appointed Wisner Baum senior partner Bijan Esfandiari to serve as co-lead counsel for plaintiffs.

About Wisner Baum

Wisner Baum represents over 18,000 clients in a broad range of practice areas, including accidents involving aviation, trucking, buses and trains, wildfire claims, school shootings, police misconduct, class actions, whistleblower claims and mass tort litigation involving Monsantos Roundup, Zantac, talcum powder, Gardasil vaccines, ECT and IVC filter medical devices.

The Wisner Baum team, which is composed of 108 staff, including 17 attorneys (three of counsel),will continue to be dedicated to ensuring justice and maximum compensation for its clients. The firm has earned a reputation for breaking new legal ground, holding Fortune 500 companies accountable, influencing public policy, and raising public awareness about important safety issues.

Wisner Baum has successfully won more than $4 billion in verdicts and settlements.

Law360 recognized the firm with the 2021 California Powerhouse award and praised the firm as being driven by a long-standing sense of responsibility to represent the little guy or gal against powerful corporate interests as a means to enact greater change. The firm has also been recognized in (among many others):

Best Lawyers in America

U.S. News - Best Lawyers Best Law Firms, 2014-2023

Martindale-Hubbell, the highest AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating available

Elite Trial Lawyers Mass Tort Trial Team of the Year, 2018, 2019

The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers

Product Liability Practice Group of the Year, 2020, Law360

Verdicts Hall of Fame, The National Law Journal

Many of the countrys top legal publications have recognized Wisner Baum for notable verdicts and settlements. Some of these accolades include:

Largest California Product Liability Jury Verdicts Two Years in a Row 2018-2019

Top 10 National Jury Verdicts Two Years in a Row 2018-2019

Top 10 Most Impressive Plaintiff Verdicts 2019

Top 10 Illinois Product Liability Jury Verdicts 2017

Top 10 Illinois Wrongful Death Jury Verdicts 2017

Top 50 Illinois Jury Verdicts 2017

Top 100 National Wrongful Death Jury Verdicts 2017

Read More About Wisner Baum in Our Blog

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HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Erdene Resource Development Corporation (TSX: ERD | MSE: ERDN) (Erdene or the Company) is pleased to announce the execution of Strategic Alliance and Investment Agreements with Mongolian Mining Corporation (MMC) for the development of its Bayan Khundii Gold Project. This Strategic Alliance brings together Mongolias pre-eminent precious metals explorer with an exceptional national miner in a partnership to unlock the riches of the Khundii Minerals District (KMD).



Highlights

MMC is Mongolias largest internationally traded mining company, listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx: 975).

Erdene holds three mining licenses and an exploration licence in the KMD in southwestern Mongolia that host high-grade, open pittable gold deposits, and silver, copper, lead, zinc and molybdenum resources.

MMC to invest US$40 million in return for a 50% equity interest in Erdenes Mongolian subsidiary, Erdene Mongol LLC (EM), holding the Khundii and Altan Nar mining licenses and the Ulaan exploration license through a three-stage transaction.

Erdene will retain a 50% equity interest in EM and a 5.0% Net Smelter Return (NSR) royalty on all production from the Khundii, Altan Nar and Ulaan licenses, as well as any properties acquired within 5 kilometres of these licenses, beyond the first 400,000 ounces gold recovered.

The first stage of the transaction, to be completed in January 2023, sees MMC invest US$5 million in EM to finance exploration, and an updated Feasibility Study (FS) and Life of Mine (LOM) Plan for the Bayan Khundii Gold Project.

The second stage of the transaction will see MMC invest an additional US$5 million upon delivery of the updated FS to complete pre-development and exploration work in advance of a Bayan Khundii construction decision.

The third stage of the transaction will see MMC invest a further US$30 million once EM has reached a construction decision, providing equity capital for the Bayan Khundii Gold Project, targeting close in Q3 2023.

Erdene will appoint EMs Chief Executive and Chief Exploration Officers and MMC will appoint EMs Chief Operating and Chief Financial Officers.

Erdene maintains a 100% interest in its large Zuun Mod Molybdenum-Copper deposit and Khuvyn Khar Copper project, located approximately 30 kilometres east of Bayan Khundii, and adjacent to a planned railway development.



Quote from the Company

We are extremely pleased to announce our Strategic Alliance with MMC, Mongolias leading private-sector mining company, said Mr. Peter Akerley, Erdenes President and CEO. The combination of our exploration expertise and their mining experience and execution capability will ensure the success of the Bayan Khundii Gold Project and the expansion of the Khundii Minerals District for the benefit of all stakeholders. This alliance transforms our Company, establishing a clear path to unlock the riches of the Khundii Minerals District.

Quote from Mongolian Mining Corporation

We are excited to partner with Erdene on exploration activities and to fund further development of their projects in Mongolia, said Dr. Battsengel Gotov, Executive Director and CEO of MMC. Our partnership will be important in unlocking new opportunities for the Mongolian minerals sector which will further increase the industrys contribution to the economy.

Summary of Strategic Alliance

Under the Strategic Alliance and Investment Agreements, MMC will invest US$40 million in Erdenes wholly-owned subsidiary, EM, in a three-stage transaction to acquire a co-controlling equity interest in the company. Erdene will retain a 50% equity interest in EM, as well as a 5.0% NSR royalty over all licenses held by EM, and those acquired within 5 kilometres of the existing licenses, following 400,000 ounces of gold production. The key terms of the Strategic Alliance are as follows:

Stage 1  To Be Completed in January 2023  MMC advances US$5 million to EM to finance an updated FS and LOM Plan for the Bayan Khundii Gold Project, and to conduct exploration on the Khundii, Altan Nar and Ulaan licenses.

Stage 2  Targeting Q2-2023  MMC will advance a further US$5 million to EM upon delivery of the updated FS and LOM Plan to complete pre-construction works and follow-up exploration in the Khundii Minerals District.

Stage 3  Targeting Q3-2023  MMC will advance a final US$30 million following a positive construction decision to fund the equity component of the Bayan Khundii Gold Project.



Funds invested by MMC in EM during Stages 1 and 2 will be in the form of convertible loan instruments. Upon completion of Stage 3, MMCs investment in EM will be registered as a 50% equity interest in the company with the Mongolian State Registration Office.

Erdene will have the right to appoint EMs Chief Executive Officer and Chief Exploration Officer and MMC will appoint EMs Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

Until conclusion of Stage 3, EM will be governed by a Steering Committee of four members, two of which will be appointed by Erdene, and two of which will be appointed by MMC. Upon conclusion of Stage 3, EM will be governed by a Board of four directors, two of which will be appointed by Erdene and two of which will be appointed by MMC. Erdene will remain the operator of the Bayan Khundii Gold project until the completion of the third phase. After Stage 3, the board of EM will assume joint responsibility for EMs operations, with MMC focusing on development and production and Erdene leading exploration.

Erdene maintains a 100% interest in its subsidiary Anian Resources LLC, the entity that holds the Zuun Mod Copper-Molybdenum mining license located approximately 30 kilometres east of the Bayan Khundii Gold Project.

About Mongolian Mining Corporation

Mongolian Mining Corporation (MMC) is the largest, private producer and exporter of high-quality washed hard coking coal (HCC) in Mongolia. MMC owns and operates the Ukhaa Khudag (UHG) and the Baruun Naran (BN) open-pit coking coal mines, both located in Umnugovi Aimag (South Gobi Province), Mongolia. The shares of MMC are listed on the main board on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx: 975), and the company has a current market capitalization of approximately US$300 million.

MMCs largest beneficial shareholder is MCS Group, one of Mongolias leading conglomerates. MCS has operated in Mongolia for 30 years, and currently has operations in engineering, energy, communications, property, mining, consumer goods, health, and hospitality. MCS employs approximately 10,000 staff in Mongolia and is one of the Countrys largest private taxpayers. MCS is committed to further developing and enriching the Mongolian economy through its pursuit of responsible corporate excellence and progressive technology.

Khundii Minerals District

The discovery of the Khundii (Valley) Minerals District is the result of more than 17 years of exploration work by Erdene in a previously underexplored region of southwestern Mongolia. During this time, Erdene has defined the Altan Nar and Bayan Khundii epithermal gold deposits, the Ulaan and Dark Horse gold prospects, the Zuun Mod Mo-Cu porphyry deposit, as well as several prospects and advanced exploration projects. Collectively, these discoveries form the core of the KMD, covering an area approximately 50 by 100 kilometres, elongated northwest.

The KMD is located within the Trans Altai Terrane of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The CAOB extends 2,500 kilometres from the Ural Mountains to eastern China and hosts numerous world-class porphyry and porphyry related copper and gold deposits. These deposits include one of the worlds largest gold deposits, Muruntau, in Uzbekistan and Rio Tintos well-known Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit located approximately 650 kilometres east of the KMD, in southeast Mongolia.

The area covered by the Strategic Alliance area includes the Bayan Khundii, Altan Nar Ulaan and Dark Horse gold deposits and prospects, located within the Nomin Tal (Altan Nar), Khundii (Bayan Khundii and Dark Horse) and Ulaan licences. Collectively, these deposits include Measured and Indicated resources of 903K ounces of gold, 2.3M ounces of silver, 64M pounds of lead and 70M pounds of zinc, together with Inferred resources of 221K ounces of gold, 866K ounces of silver, 49M pounds of lead and 52M pounds of zinc, as reported in NI 43-101 technical reports. Further technical studies are underway and the Company is targeting reporting gold equivalent resources of two million ounces from these licenses.

The initial development is focused on the Bayan Khundii deposit which hosts 585,100 ounces of 2.19 g/t gold Measured and Indicated (M&I)2 and 35,900 ounces of Inferred resources at 2.18 g/t gold. Within the M&I resource, a Proven and Probable open-pit reserve totals 409,000 ounces at 3.7 g/t gold3 (press release here ), providing significant potential for reserves growth with the development of the remaining M&I and Inferred resources1.

In July 2020, Erdene announced the results of an independent FS for the Bayan Khundii Gold Project ( press release here ). The FS results include an after-tax Net Present Value, at a 5% discount rate and a US$1,400/oz gold price, of US$100 million, and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 42%. The FS envisions an open pit mine at Bayan Khundii, producing an average of 63,500 oz gold per year, for seven years, at a head grade of 3.71 g/t gold, utilizing a conventional carbon in pulp processing plant. Erdene will undertake an updated Feasibility Study for Bayan Khundii in early 2023. Production from Bayan Khundii is expected to commence in late 2024.

About Erdene

Erdene Resource Development Corp. is a Canada-based resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious and base metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. The Company has interests in three mining licenses and an exploration license in Southwest Mongolia, where exploration success has led to the discovery and definition of the Khundii Minerals District. Erdene Resource Development Corp. is listed on the Toronto and the Mongolian stock exchanges. Further information is available at www.erdene.com. Important information may be disseminated exclusively via the website; investors should consult the site to access this information.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information regarding Erdene contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance, or other statements that are not statements of fact, including statements regarding the timing and completion of the three stages of the Strategic Alliance and the future plans and objectives for EM and the KMD under the Strategic Alliance. Although Erdene believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of factors and assumptions which have been used to develop such information but which may prove to be incorrect.

Erdene cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, most of which are beyond its control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what Erdene currently foresees. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the ability to satisfy the conditions to the completion of the Strategic Alliance, the ability to obtain required third party approvals, market prices, exploitation, and exploration results, availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the current date and is subject to change after that date. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENTS OF THIS RELEASE

Erdene Contact Information

Peter C. Akerley, President and CEO, or

Robert Jenkins, CFO

________________

1 For details of the Mineral Resources see Erdenes Q2/2021 results press release, dated August 16, 2021, and the Companys Q2 2021 MD&A, available on the Companys website or SEDAR.

2 M&I: 232,700 ounces of 2.39 g/t gold Measured and 352,400 ounces of 2.08 g/t gold Indicated

3 P&P: 165,000 ounces of 4.4 g/t gold Proven and 256,000 ounces of 3.4 g/t gold Probable; For details of the Mineral Reserves see Khundii Gold Project NI 43-101 Technical Report, Tetra Tech December 4, 2019 available on the Companys website or SEDAR
MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- From quad biking, desert camping and camel riding to snorkelling, windsurfing and kayaking on the Nile, there is no shortage of adventure to be had in Egypt. According to Inspiring Vacations, leading provider of the best travel experiences around the world from tours of Cape York to Egypt tours, besides awe-inspiring monuments, there are plenty of natural wonders to explore in the oldest tourist destination on earth.

Inspiring Vacations says the gorgeous coastline offers endless experiences for thrill seekers during tours to Egypt. Edged by coral reefs teeming with tropical fish, the Sinai Peninsula and Red Sea offer opportunities for both experienced divers and beginner snorkellers. Shipwreck diving, sailing and kayaking on the Nile are also popular, offering visitors a great way to take in Egypt from a new perspective.

Inspiring Vacations says windsurfing and kitesurfing are also popular coastal pastimes in Egypt. Beginners can start out in one of the Red Sea's lagoons while seasoned surfers will love the expansive flat waters and waves. Duhab and Hurghada are common destinations while further south Soma Bay and Safaga are also popular due to their lengthy, idyllic beaches.

Away from the water, Inspiring Vacations says there are still plenty of adventures to be had. Egypt's quad biking excursions are perfect for adrenaline seekers, with the opportunity to ride to world-famous sites such as the Pyramids of Giza and the Luxor Temple or reach some otherwise hard-to-find markets and camps.

From camel riding at the Pyramids of Giza to desert camping in the Western Sahara, visiting the secluded Nubian villages and mountain trekking on Mount Sinai, Inspiring Vacations offers the best in guided tours Egypt-wide with something for everyone.

To discover more and explore travel experiences around the world including Egypt adventures and tours to Cape York, visit Inspiring Vacations today.

Contact Information:

Inspiring Vacations

Marketing Manager

bookme@inspiringvacations.com

1300 88 66 88



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This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

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Brewmaster Doug Drost beams with pride as he taps a glass of his award-winning Belgian ale in Stokers Brewery and Biergraten.

He had good reason to be proud.

Stokers Divine Belgian Strong Golden Ale has taken first place in the Belgian style category in the craft brewing competition at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.

Brianna Boyce, a friend, accepted the award Saturday evening during ceremonies at the farm show. Drost was unable to attend because the craft brewery in Tamaqua is open Saturday nights.

Drost, 58, whos been brewing for about 25 years, said he uses traditional ingredients, including Belgian candi sugar, in brewing the golden ale.

It has a golden effervescent appearance and rises to a mountainous rocky white head, he said, placing a freshly drawn glass on the bar. Its aroma has a soft, perfume-like character with fruity esters reminiscent of apples and pears.

The award-winning ale, one of 21 beers crafted at Stokers, is available year-around at the brewery, 36 Mauch Chunk St.

Lani Tovitch and Hazleton area friends, Izzy Williams and Jessica Boyle, are big fans of craft breweries.

Weve been to craft breweries from upstate New York to Virginia, Tovitch said on a recent Friday at Stokers. And Stokers is the only one we come back to on a regular basis.

Partial to Stokers Peppermint Chocolate Porter, Tovitch praised Drost for his dedication.

Hes always here, and hes good at what he does, she said. He has 21 beers on tap, and theres not a bad one among them.

Williams favors Stokers New England Hazy and Juicy IPA, while Boyle is partial to the Blood Orange Hefeweizen, a German wheat beer.

He knocks the others out of the water, said Boyle, a McAdoo accountant.
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Just because its winter, doesnt mean dining events go dormant.

In fact, we narrowed the array of events to three upcoming youll want to consider:

Here they are, in chronological order:

Whiskey tasting

Allentowns newest bar and restaurant Pennsylvania Rye Co. will be hosting its first whiskey tasting event at 7 p.m. Jan. 18.

Youll have the opportunity to learn more (and taste) offerings from Iowas premier rye whiskey distillery, Templeton Distillery.

Pennsylvania Rye Company is at 536 Hamilton St., Allentown.

Reservations, info: https://www.paryeco.com/

ArtsQuests Souper Bowl XIII will once again warm up guests with soups from the areas best restaurants and caterers, from noon to 3 p.m. Feb. 5 at Musikfest Cafe in the ArtsQuest Center.

Souper Bowl XVIII

A winter tradition, ArtsQuests Souper Bowl XIII will once again warm up guests with soups from the areas best restaurants and caterers, from noon to 3 p.m. Feb. 5 at Musikfest Cafe in the ArtsQuest Center.

The Valleys top restaurants, caterers and culinary students will bring their tastiest soups in categories such as cream-based, meat-based, most unique, seafood-based, vegan and of course the democratic Peoples Choice.

Those who attend get to sample all the soups and choose their favorite, with the winner taking home the title of Peoples Choice Souper Bowl Champion. A panel of judges also scrutinizes the soups, choosing winners in the other categories.

How much: General admission, $34 through Jan 29; $39 Jan. 30 to the event start; for ArtsQuest members, $29 through Jan. 29.; $34 Jan. 30 to event start; VIP admission, $59 through Jan. 29, $64 Jan. 30 to event start; ArtsQuest members, $54 through Jan 29 11:59 p.m.; $59 Jan. 30 to event start. VIP admission includes one hour early start, free drink ticket good for any Yuengling beer, Franklin Hills wine, or soft drink; entry in a special VIP-only raffle for a variety of ArtsQuest tickets; and entry in raffle to win gift cards from participating restaurants.

Tickets, info: https://www.steelstacks.org/event/13323/souper-bowl-xiii/

Valentines Charcuterie Workshop

What says love more than a good charcuterie board?

Allentowns Sherman Street Beer Co. will be hosting a how-to class on building a charcuterie board tied to the theme of Valentines Day, at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 7.

The menu will include meats, cheese, dips, fruits, vegetables, homemade chocolates, trail mix and other surprises. The workshop will cover how to select a complimentary variety of meats, cheeses, fruits, nuts and other accompaniments as well as discuss knife cuts, edible flower creations and food pairings.

How much: $50, including all supplies and beer.

Sherman Street Beer Co. is at 1825 E Tremont St, Allentown.

Info: https://www.facebook.com/shermanstreetbeer
Berks County will be the countrys first pilot site for a new national COVID-19 home testing and treatment program.

The program is run by the National Institutes of Health and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response through the U.S. Department of Human Services. The state Department of Health will help administer the program.

The program is designed to learn more about home-test-to-treatment programs and how they can be used as a defense against COVID.

The Department of Health is committed to creating health equity across Pennsylvania, Dr. Denise Johnson, acting secretary of health and physician general, said in a statement announcing the pilot program. The home-test-to-treat pilot program is a step toward that goal, and we are excited that Berks County was chosen as the first in the nation to pilot this important program.

A total of 8,000 Berks residents will be able to enroll in the program, which will provide testing, telehealth consultations and the delivery of anti-viral medication at zero cost to eligible community members. Information on how to enroll will provided soon, according to the state Department of Health.

Once enrolled, participants will be eligible to receive at-home rapid tests by mail. If they test positive for COVID-19, they will be invited to participate in a telehealth consultation with a medical provider and can receive, at no cost to the participant, antiviral medication delivered to their home or for pick-up at a local pharmacy.

Participants should not wait until they are sick to sign up for the program.

The county of Berks is honored to be selected as the first community to pilot this nationwide program, said Stephanie Weaver, the countys public relations officer. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the county has further developed partnerships within our community that allow us to implement exciting new programs like this.

We hope our residents will take advantage of these new, free resources and in turn be better prepared to detect and treat COVID-19 when it strikes.

To participate in the program, individuals must be at least 18 years old, have an email address, speak English or Spanish and consent to participate in the pilot program.
Stellantis and Australia-based Element 25 signed a binding agreement for Element 25 to supply battery-grade, high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) to Stellantis for use in electric vehicle (EV) battery packs. The five-year agreement calls for shipments to begin in 2026, a total volume of 45 kilotons, and options to extend the supply term and volumes.

Performance of the parties under the binding term sheet is conditioned on satisfactory completion of technical due diligence and a feasibility study.

Element 25 will source the material from its Butcherbird project in Western Australia and plans to construct a processing facility in the United States. Stellantis will make an equity investment in Element 25.

The Butcherbird Manganese Deposit is Australias largest onshore manganese resource comprising large tonnages of near surface manganese oxide ore in seven deposits. The Project also offers some excellent infrastructure advantages with a gas pipeline and main bitumen highway passing directly adjacent to and through the mineralized envelope.

The geology and hence mining at Butcherbird are simple, according to the company. The ore zone at Yanneri Ridge is at surface, dips shallowly to the north resulting in a very low strip ratio estimated at 0.2:1. The uniform grade distribution means that the entire ore zone is mined for processing, with no need for grade control or selectivity.





The current 2019 JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate completed by IHC Robbins following a major infill drilling programin 2018 and stands at 263 million tonnes at 10% Mn.

In December 2022, E25 announced that it had appointed Worley Group to lead the engineering studies for localization for an HPMSM processing site in the US. Ernst & Young will advise on potential federal, state and local funding support for a US-based HPMSM Facility. Sarawak Malaysia remains a favorable location for a second E25 HPMSM facility subject to approval of federal government incentives.

The processing circuit proposed for the HPMSM facility is based around taking E25 manganese ores and converting them via a proprietary hydrometallurgical process developed by Element 25.

The comminution circuit will take ROM Manganese ores from Butcherbird and reduce them to P90 < 2mm. This circuit will consist of a small cone crusher and rolls crusher and small drum plant capable of processing approximately 10 tph. Following reduction to less than 2mm, the manganese ore will be leached in a multi-stage tank leach circuit.

Once leached the PLS will be purified by addition of various reagents wherein the base metal contaminants within the PLS will drop out of suspension and will be filtered from the polished leach solution. The polished leach solution will be crystallized in a multi-stage crystallization process to produce HPMSM.

Process residues will be either re-purposed in nearby industrial applications or disposed of in an appropriate facility. Liquids will be neutralised by addition of limestone and disposed into approved waste-water systems.

The agreement with Element 25 reinforces Stellantis electrification strategy, which includes securing substantial supplies of raw materials for battery electric vehicle (BEV) production. Manganese is a key stabilizing element in the cathode of EV batteries.

As part of its Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, Stellantis plans to reach 100% of passenger car BEV sales mix in Europe and 50% passenger car and light-duty truck BEV sales mix in the United States by 2030. Stellantis plans to become carbon net-zero by 2038, with a 50% reduction by 2030.

Stellantis plans to invest more than 30 billion through 2025 in electrification and software development, while targeting to continue to be 30 percent more efficient than the industry with respect to total Capex and R&D spend versus revenues.
A Bethlehem man who was accused of kidnapping a woman in 2021 pleaded guilty to that charge, along with stalking, theft and harassment, the Northampton County district attorneys office said Tuesday.

Ruben Carrion Melendez, 29, was arrested Oct. 12, 2021, near the Holland Tunnel in New Jersey hours after he forced Krystal Rivera into a car at the QVC warehouse at 3419 Commerce Center Blvd., Bethlehem, according to court records.

According to police:

Witnesses saw a black car racing around the warehouse parking lot following a white car and eventually forcing it off to the side of the road. The driver of the black car, later identified as Melendez, opened the other cars drivers side door, forced Rivera, the driver, into the passenger seat and intentionally crashed her car into a light pole.

Melendez got back into his car, drove to the rear of Riveras car, got out, pulled her into his vehicle by her hair and quickly drove away.

Port Authority police later saw Melendezs car on the Interstate 78 ramp heading toward the Holland Tunnel and tried to box in the car. Melendez tried to drive around one of the police cars, ramming into the cruiser before coming to a stop, officials said.

According to the Northampton County district attorneys office:

Melendez was also identified by a thumbprint found on a tracking device on a womans car, which Bethlehem police received a complaint about in September 2021. The woman said she was also receiving text messages from an unknown number mentioning her location. A search warrant for the number found a username that matched Melendezs. The tracking device was also registered to Melendez.

At the time of the offense, the woman had a protection from abuse order against Melendez.

Earlier in September, police responded to a domestic disturbance in Bethlehem after Melendez had left. The woman told police that he hit her in the face, grabbed her cellphone and left.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 29.

Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at ejones@mcall.com.
Google launched the first QPR2 beta last month, letting participating Pixel owners test upcoming Pixel Drop features before they are released on a future OTA update. This week, Google is rolling out the latest version of the beta build with bug fixes, new emoji, and other tweaks. Pixels dating back to the Google Pixel 4a are eligible to participate in this beta round.

The new tweaks to the OS included with QPR2 Beta 2 include the latest Unicode 15.0 with a handful of new emoji and theres a new Google Home icon under device controls. Meanwhile, the lava lamp effect on the media player is no longer present.

A bug that caused the System UI to sometimes crash has been addressed in this build. A fix was also issued for a bug that caused the video camera to stay stuck in the slow-motion shooting mode after switching back to a Normal video mode.

Be advised that there are indeed a few known issues with the latest QPR2 build, as can be expected from any Beta release of any OS. Recent apps is known to freeze when the devices orientation is switched while in this window. You may experience the Settings app crash after entering and exiting PiP (Picture-in-picture) mode after changing the screens orientation. Finally, the System UI is susceptible to crashing due to a null pointer exception.

The next Pixel feature drop is scheduled to arrive in the start of March. Interested Pixel owners should head to Googles Android Beta landing page. Head to the Source link to see the QPR2 Beta2 release notes.

Source
Huawei introduced the Freebuds 5i to the international markets right before the holiday season in December. And today, three weeks after the announcement, it the TWS earbuds are finally on sale in Italy and Spain for 100, while users in the UK can pre-order them at the online store for 90.

The Freebuds 5i arrived as a massive update over the previous Freebuds 4i with improved ANC and longer battery life while keeping the light body. They also come with an attractive pebble-like case, that we loved in our review.

Users in the UK can directly purchase the Freebuds 5i starting from January 16 - until then, it is only pre-orders on the Huawei Store. The earbuds can also be bought from Amazon, Argos, and Currys from the beginning of February.

Customers who pre-order in the UK will get a 10 early-bird coupon for the companys online store, while users in Continental Europe are getting a free travel case for the Freebuds 5i.
Firefighters responded late Monday afternoon to a fire at a Whitehall Township diner.

Black smoke was coming out of the Jordan Parkway Diner, 1162 MacArthur Road, just before 5 p.m., according to Lehigh County dispatchers. The fire was put out in about 50 minutes, dispatchers said.

Rush hour traffic was able to pass by the scene as authorities did not close any roads.

Investigators were called to the scene around 6 p.m.
Huawei P60 and P60 Pro rumored to launch in March with better cameras, screens and batteries

The Huawei P50 series is over a year old  the phones were released in August 2021  but the company has not given up on a new P-series flagship. According to new leaks the Huawei P60 and P60 Pro will launch in March this year and will bring improved cameras, better screens and biger batteries.

The Huawei P60 Pro will allegedly have a 6.6 120Hz OLED display, its resolution will be 1,440 x 3,200px, compared to 1,228 x 2,700px on the P50 Pro. It will use high frequency PWM dimming (1,920Hz). The panel will be sourced from BOE and there will be a 32MP selfie camera punched into it.

The rear camera will feature a 50MP main sensor (a new Sony IMX888), while the ultra wide will be upgraded to a 50MP sensor (possibly the IMX858, up from 13MP). The telephoto camera might use the same 64MP sensor (OmniVision OV64B).

The vanilla Huawei P60 will have a different setup. Its main camera should use the 52MP IMX789, a 1/1.35 sensor with 1.12m pixels. It will be joined by a 50MP ultra wide (IMX858) and a 16MP tele camera (IMX351?).



Huawei P60 Pro rumored specs  A new design language for the P60 series

The cameras on the two phones will be based on the in-house XMAGE imaging system. The variable aperture that we saw on the Mate 50 Pro will make an appearance on both phones, according to rumored info.

That same info claims that the P60 Pro will be powered by a 4G version of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset and a 5,500mAh battery with 100W wired and 50W wireless charging. For comparison, the P50 Pro had a Snapdragon 888 4G and a 4,360mAh battery with 66W/50W charging.

The Huawei P60 series is expected to adopt some features from the Mate 50 series like the Kunlun toughened glass for the screen (the phones will also have an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance). Also, they should support satellite communication, though that will use the BeiDou constellation and may have limited support outside of China (as is the case with the Mate 50 phones).

Huawei is yet to set an official date or even confirm that the P60 series is coming, but if the March target is correct, we should start seeing official info soon.

Source 1 (in Chinese) | Source 2 | Via
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January is National Get Organized Month  so dont sweat it if you dont have your New Years resolution fully fleshed out yet, weve got the whole month to get our goals in order and enjoy the promise of the new year.

This time of year can be tricky, and you might feel a lot of pressure around taking stock of different areas of your life, and what you did or didnt accomplish in the past year.

As a recovering overachiever who spent most of 2022 stuck in cycles of burnout and anxiety, Ive learned that practicing self-compassion should always be a priority.

Theres definitely a culture that romanticizes working hard, being super productive and excelling in school or work  often at the expense of our mental or physical health.

You cant pour from an empty cup, so try not to beat yourself up if this past year didnt go the way you had planned or if you didnt meet all of the goals that you wanted to.

To start off with a healthy mindset about getting organized, take a moment to honor yourself and your goals, and to celebrate what makes you happy.

Maybe youre taking a beachside run at sunset, before jotting down some general goals for the year while endorphins hit. Maybe youre getting cozy, lighting a candle and playing some music while making a list of your favorite ways to practice self-care this year.

Once youre in a calm and focused headspace, here are some ideas you can try to get organized!

Determine and commit to a planning systemDetermining a planning system that works for you and your lifestyle is a useful first step. Using a planner to help map out your time in monthly, weekly, and daily chunks can make a huge difference in your productivity. If youre a visual learner, it can feel like a stress reliever just to see your time mapped out in an easy way that you can keep track of.

Take some time to search around for a planner that works for you  there are options that range from undated or academic calendars, and planner layouts vary widely.

Think about your goals for using a planner: do you want to keep a closer eye on your budget and financial planning? Are you looking to break down your goals into doable, daily steps? Or is your priority managing appointments?

Whatever your preference, a quick Google search with some keywords will likely yield dozens of results. If youre looking to shop locally, check out Coffee & Manifest at Agana Shopping Center or Sadie Ann Art.

One of my personal favorites is the Passion Planner, which can be ordered online (you can also request a digital sample to see if the layout works for you). I really like the way that the planner has space for monthly reflections (sort of combining a planner and a journal/diary), but the real showstopper is the Passion Roadmap feature, which invites you to break down your goals in 3 months, one year, three years, and lifetime chunks while thinking about step-by-step game changers that will help you reach the goals.

Make an in/out listThis is a trendy internet thing, but its pretty fun to try it out for yourself. Make a list of whats out for this year, i.e. habits or practices that you want to leave behind, and whats in  habits or things that you want to bring with you into the new year. This can be as simple or profound as you want, but its a useful practice to just quickly jot down the first things that come to mind to get in touch with your intuition.

If youre having trouble focusing or if goal setting feels too overwhelming, this exercise can help you identify some of the simple things that you want to get out of the year.

Once youve identified your in/out list, you can do some journaling reflection or break down the goals into steps ala Passion Planner. This could also be fun to try out with a group of friends during a game night or happy hour!

Practice accountabilityGoal setting is all well and good, but whos gonna send you that text making sure you actually made it to the gym that morning? Practicing accountability is key to executing your goals, and it can help you figure out if your goals are realistic (i.e. do they allow you to prioritize your mental and physical health?).

Try finding an accountability buddy to keep you on track. My boyfriend and I are both in grad school right now, and the tough journey toward getting our PhDs requires both discipline and patience. Its helpful to check in with each other on both a weekly and daily basis to hammer out our goals.

Its just as important to have an accountability buddy who can be honest with you about when you need to take a break, step back and celebrate how far youve come.
A Boeing 737-800 aircraft, carrying Santa Claus as a passenger, is towed into the United Hangar to the cheers and applause during the United Fantasy Flight celebration in Tiyan, Barrigada, in this December 2022 file photo. United Airlines is offering a $25,000 relocation incentive for local residents interested in job opportunities with the airlines Denver hub. A career fair will be held from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Jan. 17 and Jan. 18 at the Hyatt Regency Guam.
A lack of quorum postponed Tuesdays voting of new board directors for the Guam Visitors Bureau as well as the ratification of the third amended bylaws.

The total number of votes available was 495, but only 157 GVB members were present in person and online to vote, GVB Vice President Gerry Perez said.

At least 248 members were needed to be present for the voting to occur, he said.

It will be inappropriate to proceed with voting for directors when we do not have legally a quorum, Perez told the PDN after the GVB meeting.

No date has been set for another meeting.

The proposed new bylaws include a provision that essentially removes the board from making decisions related to GVBs annual multi-million budget.

The "board may agree or disagree with the proposed budget" but it will be up to the GVB president or general manager to include any changes from the board before submitting the proposed agency spending plan to the Bureau of Budget and Management Research.

Under the proposal, control over the bureau budget would be handed to the general manager, former Gov. Carl Gutierrez. Like his predecessors, Gutierrez holds the ceremonial title of GVB president.

Currently, the GVB president or general manager needs board approval before sending the proposed annual budget to the Legislature.

A committee that GVB formed last year listed the 10 highlights of the proposed third amended bylaws, with the last item marked as "new."

The new item talks about the budget process. Committee members that include Gutierrez and GVB legal counsel Joe McDonald said the new provision ensures that budgets comply with the GVB Act and the Executive Budget Law.

"The GM will generate a proposed budget that will be presented to the board. The board may agree or disagree with the proposed budget and may give official comment on it for the corporations books and records. The GM will then send the proposed budget with any changes he believes is necessary because of the boards review to (Bureau of Budget Management and Research)/the governor for their review/comment and eventual legislative action," the committee said.

Most of the proposed changes that the committee said are "improvements and enhancements" are meant to make the bylaws consistent with the law that created GVB and other Guam laws, such as meeting the requirements of the open government law with public notice and an adopted agenda for every GVB membership meetings.

The GVB board has not met since May 2022, after the board voted to suspend all meetings until the existing bylaws are reviewed.

In March 2022, Gutierrez accused the board of violating the open government law by meeting in private.

He also accused them of being unethical, saying they vote on GVB initiatives and programs that benefit their businesses. By the nature of their GVB membership, board members work for tourism-related businesses.

After that, board meetings were marked by verbal tussles between Gutierrez and the board, until the board decided to suspend all meetings.

Nominees for the board election are:
The government of Guam will need at least a 40-year lease from the Navy to qualify for financing to build a medical campus on military land in Mangilao, according to the Guam Economic Development Authority.

A standard lease from the Navy is only for as long as 10 years, said GEDA Administrator Melanie Mendiola, which is why the proposed lease for the Eagles Field site must be approved by the assistant secretary of the Navy.

GovGuam currently has a two-year license to access the 102-acre site, where the governor plans to build a new government medical campus and public hospital.

Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson, commander of Joint Region Marianas, last week said the Navy could sign a lease early this year after the proposed agreement is reviewed and approved at a higher level.

A Guam law from October 2021 allows the governor to sign a contract to finance, design and build a new government health care center, which will include a new Guam Memorial Hospital and new facilities for the Department of Public Health and Social Services and the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center. The law authorizes up to $35 million per year in lease payments, for up to 40 years.

GovGuam also plans to build a new $32 million military-funded public health biosafety lab at the medical complex, on the southeast corner of the property.

Mendiola on Monday said the proposed lease could be at no cost to the government of Guam, provided the medical campus and the hospital are built to meet certain military needs. Military leases typically require payments based on fair market value, according to Mendiola.

Nicholson has mentioned the possibility of requiring the site to have a helipad for military aircraft.

Other possibilities include capabilities for a mass casualty event, Mendiola said. The main hospital could include the capabilities to hook up to oxygen and other utilities from outside the brick-and-mortar hospital facility in the event of a temporary clinic, such as what we saw on a small scale at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mendiola said the medical campus may involve private partnerships, such as allowing a private pharmacy or clinic to operate at the site, so GovGuam wants subleases to be quickly processed.

We are asking for consideration of what can be approved locally versus what must be approved federally prior to development, she said. We have multiple requests that require the review and concurrence of the (Assistant Secretary of the Navy).
If youve lived on Guam long enough, you know that the holiday season usually means the end of the wet season  and the end of our peak period for tropical cyclone activity in the Marianas.

It also signals that transition to the dry and windy season. Were now well on our way into the middle of January and the heart of dry season. Right? It is the dry season isnt it?

Wait  why is it so wet lately? This has been the million-dollar question for a few weeks.

Several weather systems have brought rounds of wet and windy weather to the region since just before Christmas. Some of these systems have been weak trade wind systems pushing through the Micronesia region while others have been pushing down over the islands from the north.

Shear lines

These systems from the north come in the form of shear lines and are typical this time of year, extending southwestward from cold fronts that pass through the north Pacific well north of the Marianas. Its the extension of the cold front that has reached the tropics, with temperature and moisture being virtually the same on both sides of the boundary.

In the weather office, we know shear lines as our winter weather-makers. Fair weather usually exists on the south side while showery and windy weather exists on the north side.

The actual boundary can be tens of miles wide from north to south, or a hundred or more miles wide, with clouds, gusty winds and light to heavy showers.

These can be especially tricky to forecast as they can hover in place with little or no northward or southward movement, or they can meander over several islands for several days before dissipating.

I recall seeing a shear line several years ago that sat over Rota for much of a day, bringing showers and overcast skies, while Guam, Tinian and Saipan were mostly sunny.

These shear lines can also pack a punch at the surface. Strong winds along and north of the boundary generate large swell and wind waves that eventually reach shore. Even if a shear line doesnt reach Guam, the large waves associated with it can travel to Guam, generating hazardous surf, strong rip currents and hazardous seas for mariners.

Ocean hazards

This can be treacherous for beachgoers, who, on a sunny day expect the beach to be a great place to spend time, only to find out the currents are strong and can sweep you out over the reef.

Now if you recall these last couple weeks, its been a little wet. Up until these last few days, showers tend to be light and moderate: Enough to get things wet then they move on  and to prevent you from painting your roof (my one goal for two weeks).

These last several days have been much wetter. This was courtesy of a surface wave moving through Micronesia and the shear line dropping southward over the Marianas.

Record breaking

Sunday received record-breaking rainfall for the day at the Guam International Airport with 2.97 inches of rain for the day, surpassing the previous record for the day, Jan. 8, set in 2002 with 2.29 inches. Despite the wet weather, the dry season is "here" with our climatological driest month of the year, March, right around the corner.

On average, we receive around 5.34 inches of rain in January. So far, weve received 4.34 inches (as of early Monday morning). Our driest month, March, receives an average of 2.77 inches.

When in doubt

If you like the drier weather, hang tight, its coming; and perhaps Ill get my roof painted soon. And remember, if youre planning a trip to the beach: When in doubt, dont go out.

Keep up to date with the latest weather forecasts and conditions at www.weather.gov/gum.
The push to reduce business privilege taxes is back with the 37th Guam Legislature.

Sen. Jesse Lujan over the weekend introduced legislation to roll back business privilege taxes, or BPT, from 5% to 4%. Hes also introduced a measure to suspend the BPT applied to the sale of food and medicine for 12 months.

Consumers and businesses need to be given as much relief as possible, as soon as possible, to combat the ever-rising cost of goods and services we are subjected to, Lujan said in a news release.

Local business privilege taxes were hiked to 5% back in 2018, in the wake of corporate tax cuts from the Trump administration that led to a fiscal crisis for the government of Guam. The Trump tax cut was projected to reduce GovGuam revenue by $67 million in fiscal 2018 alone, PDN files show.

Small businesses that make between $50,000 and $500,000  around 90% of businesses on Guam  already enjoy a BPT rate of 3%. Bill 3 would allow that small business rate to remain in place.

But the top 10% of revenue-generating businesses in Guam make up a considerable chunk of the total $60 million in revenue that a single percentage point of BPT brings in, Bureau of Budget and Management Research Director Lester Carlson told lawmakers last year.

Bill 3 doesnt identify a way to offset the potential revenue loss. However, rolling back the BPT is a big priority for Republicans in the Legislature this term, and minority whip Sen. Telo Taitague has pointed to the estimated $55 million a year that GovGuam no longer has to pay in Earned Income Tax Credit reimbursements annually as a way to cover the cost of a rollback.

Carlson, meanwhile, has floated taxing online sales as a way to make the BPT rollback palatable to the Leon Guerrero administration.

Food, medicine

Lujan has also pitched a 12-month suspension of the BPT applied to the sale of food and medicine through his Bill 4.

This should immediately provide relief for consumers at grocery stores, mom-and-pop stores or any place people purchase food. It should also very quickly help diners and restaurants of all types, reduce expenses, the senator said in a statement.

Only nonprescription drugs would be counted as medicine by the bill.

Jones Act waiver

A waiver of the century-old Jones Act is also on Lujans mind as a way to combat rising prices.

Only ships built in the U.S. and carrying U.S. flags may move from one U.S. port to another under the Jones Act, a maritime law from 1920. The law was meant to decrease foreign competition for U.S. traders but has been pointed to by those in Hawaii and the territories as an artificial driver of prices.

Guam has an exemption from the U.S.-built requirement, but Lujans Resolution 2 would also ask for an exemption to allow foreign-flagged vessels to travel between ports to Guam.

It would act as an official request for a 24-month exemption from the Guam Legislature to the Secretary of Homeland Security and Secretary of Defense.
Bethlehem Area School Board is weighing whether it wants to invest nearly $30 million or more to update three aging elementary schools, or choose a more cost-effective option by knocking them down and building from scratch.

The district has multiple choices for how to proceed with improving, renovating or rebuilding the elementary schools  Thomas Jefferson, William Penn and Fountain Hill  but administrators said all paths forward must keep community interests front and center.

Whatever we do, we want to maintain the elementary neighborhood concept, Jack Silva, assistant superintendent and chief academic officer, said at Mondays school board meeting. Thats one of our secret sauces here in Bethlehem, that our community likes the idea of having a neighborhood school feel.

Thomas Jefferson, which sits at 404 North St., and William Penn, located at 1002 Main St., were built in 1972. The two schools are about one mile apart from each other on the citys North Side. Fountain Hill, which was built in 1937 with additions in the 70s and 90s, is tucked away in the districts southwest corner at 1330 Church St.

All three have been on the districts list of schools needing improvements or new construction since 1990  the first year BASD had a capital improvement plan. Every other school in the district has been renovated or built anew since then, Superintendent Joseph Roy said; there are 22 schools in the district.

According to the districts capital improvement plan, Thomas Jefferson would require about $6.6 million in recommended improvements, which is about 86% of the estimated cost if the district were to fully renovate the entire building (assuming a cost of $200 per square foot). At William Penn, improvements are projected to cost about $7.3 million, which is about 94% of the estimated cost for full renovation.

At Fountain Hill, recommended improvements total $15.1 million, or about 92% of the price tag for a full-scale renovation.

The three elementary schools need new HVAC systems for heating, ventilation and air conditioning. (The district has used COVID-19 federal relief dollars to replace HVAC systems at other elementary schools throughout the district, but because these three may be torn down, BASD has held off.)

Arif Fazil, president of DHuy Engineering Inc., said Thomas Jefferson, William Penn and Fountain Hill all also need upgraded electrical and plumbing systems, as well as additional classroom windows for natural light and better setups to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

All three schools also have open-concept areas, which the board has discussed needing to modernize.

Thomas Jefferson and William Penn need larger gymnasium and cafeteria spaces, Fazil said. Fountain Hill has a decently sized gym, but its cafeteria  in the basement of the building  is not ideally located, he added.

At William Penn, which was built in the 1970s, improvements are projected to cost about $7.3 million.

With the price of needed improvements nearing the cost of full-scale building renovations in each case, School Director Karen Beck Pooley said the board must consider the value of the existing buildings and ask, Do you renovate? Or now is it time to talk about new construction?

On the North Side, the district might demolish Thomas Jefferson and William Penn to build two new buildings in their place at each property. Or with the help of redistricting to keep student populations low, the district could instead demolish the buildings and construct one new building for the two student populations (where the school would be located has not yet been determined).

BASD could also build onto existing schools, such as nearby Lincoln Elementary, and draw new boundaries to direct additional North Side students there; however, the board and administrators are hesitant to pursue options that would increase student class sizes. The current average for district elementary class size is 20 students.

We dont want a 1,000-student elementary school solution, Mark Stein, chief facilities and operations officer, said.

William Penn has a total enrollment of 238 students, Thomas Jefferson has 224 students and Fountain Hill has 513.

The options for Fountain Hill are not as numerous given its location on the edge of the district and its larger student population. The district can either proceed with renovations, or demolish the current structure and construct a new building on the same property.

When the district decides how to proceed, any building project costs will either be funded through a debt servicer, or through the districts capital reserve fund, which currently sits at $27 million.

When the new Nitschman Middle School building was constructed in the last decade, students remained in the old building while the new structure was being built behind it on the same property.

Thomas Jefferson Elementary, which was built in the 1970s, has 224 student enrolled. It needs $6.6 million in recommended improvements.

In the cases of Thomas Jefferson, William Penn and Fountain Hill, the properties are not big enough to proceed with this strategy. The district will have to phase the projects to make sure students have a place to learn while construction is happening.

Because of this, phasing limitations will be one of the biggest challenges, Roy said.

You cant just have a building delivered in three weeks, and were in business  it takes some planning, Stein said, adding the construction process will inevitably be disruptive to students.

School Board President Michael Faccinetto said he is hopeful all three projects are able to move forward at the same time. The construction projects will take multiple years to complete, and the board may not arrive at a decision for how to proceed until next year.

At the end of 2022, the district held meetings to gather faculty and community input on the projects at Thomas Jefferson and William Penn.

Silva and Stein said school and local community members told them what theyd like to see at any new North Side schools: staff parking lots, separate entrances for community centers, private spaces for social-emotional learning and delicate topics, and dedicated rooms for arts and technology.

They also received feedback that communities want to keep student enrollment low and faculty members want to continue to have collaborative environment options.

The district will gather feedback from staff at Fountain Hill later this month, and then a subsequent community forum will be planned in order to hear from the public and families.

Morning Call reporter Jenny Roberts can be reached at 484-903-1732 and jroberts@mcall.com.
Published on 2023/01/10 | Source

New still added for the upcoming Korean movie "The Point Men" (2020)

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Synopsis

Based on the true events of the Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan.

A group of Korean tourists is taken hostage by an extremist Taliban group in Afghanistan. The Korean government dispatches Jae-ho (Hwang Jung-min), known as one of Korea's most skilled diplomats, in order to handle the situation. Once he arrives, he asks for the Afghan government's cooperation and uses every means possible to free the hostages. However, his efforts go in vain. Due to his failure, he's forced to work with Dae-sik (Hyun Bin), a special agent who is an expert on the Middle East. As they begin making their move to get to the Taliban, the first hostage death occurs. With nowhere else to turn, the two become unlikely allies in a race against time to save the rest of the hostages.

Release date in Korea : 2023/01/18
The new year has brought Wilson no closer to seeing its largest, blighted commercial complex with a redevelopment plan.

But officials hope to accelerate things regarding the old Dixie Cup plant via legal action.

During Monday night councils meeting, borough solicitor Stanley J. Margle III said he will seek a hearing date in Northampton County Court to obtain a conservatorship for the former Dixie Cup manufacturing facility. Council unanimously voted in November to allow Margle to pursue legal action, he said.

Under a conservatorship, a community can make the same decisions that a property owner can, but the municipality does not hold title to the land. Instead, it would look to force the owner, Wilsonpark Ltd., to sell the property.

Its a tool the borough had been exploring, then held off pursuing, after Wilsonpark reached a sales agreement last year with a New Jersey developer to sell the giant complex on South 24th Street.

But in November, several months after borough officials failed to persuade Northampton County Council to approve a property tax break to satisfy the developers plans for renovating the property, Mayor Donald Barrett suggested Margle revisit the conservatorship concept to force a sale.

Its a matter that we know is going to be contested, Margle said, and from a municipalitys point of view, it is not by any means a slam dunk. He said a conservatorship is different from the borough seeking to take the private property under eminent domain  something borough officials have said they do not want.

But Margle said borough officials have explored and exhausted its options. He said a conservatorship might be the only one we have left to obtain expeditious relief to the citizens, estimating it could take three to six months.

Joseph Reibman, who has operated the property under the Wilsonpark partnership, said since reposting the property on the commercial real estate market last summer, he has received a lot of inquiries, and we are working through those. Reibman also said he hopes to announce another buyer in the next couple of weeks but declined to be more specific.

Its a complicated project that, done right, it will be an asset to the community, he said.

Reibman, who was not at Mondays meeting, did not sound willing to accept a conservatorship.

I would say that, given the current state of things, it would make no sense for the borough to [pursue a conservatorship], Reibman said. It would be expensive for them and may be counterproductive.

Deal falls through

Reibman, of Salisbury Township, had an agreement of sale last year with New Jersey developer Nick Tsapatsaris, who said the deal hinged on Wilson, Wilson Area School District and Northampton County providing a tax break.

The Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance program was approved by the borough and school board, but Northampton County Council voted 8-1 in August against the proposal, questioning the need to subsidize a warehouse operation. Tsapatsaris, who had planned a mixed use with a small percentage of residential units and commercial that included last mile logistics later withdrew from the sales agreement.

Since then, according to Margle and borough council meeting minutes, the county economic and development office offered to help the borough find an alternative developer, but it hinged on the borough and school district repealing its LERTA plans. Margle said he reached out to county council as to why repealing LERTA was necessary but received no response.

Christopher T. Spadoni, county council solicitor, referred questions to the county administrations economic and community development office. Spokesperson Becky Bartlett said any action by council requires a council response, and, We dont have any comment and dont have anything we are doing with [the Dixie] project right now.

A conservatorship happened in recent years in Bethlehem, when city officials went to court to shift ownership of the former Goodman building and an adjacent lot on East Third Street that had been vacant for years. The Goodman owner, Alvin Kanofsky, bought the building and neighboring lot in 1986 and briefly operated a flea market there before it sat vacant for more than 15 years, its electricity and water long shut off.

Kanofsky, who died in September 2019 at age 80, fought Bethlehems 2016 designation of the property as blighted. But the city won a court battle and was named in January 2017 as conservator of the property even as Kanofsky retained ownership.

The main difference between the Goodman building and our situation with the Dixie is there is a live, active owner, Margle said.

Armando Moritz-Chapelliquen, a Wilson resident who wants the community to have input on how the former Dixie plant is developed, hopes borough leaders keep the lines of communication open with residents.

Moritz-Chapelliquen, who was reached after Mondays meeting, said he has been compiling a survey of residents ideas on how to proceed with redevelopment and hopes to release results this year. He said he has gotten feedback from people who have lived their whole lives in the borough to recent transplants who wonder what is going on with the property.

We should, as stakeholders, put our heads together and do something together, he said, citing government, the private sector and residents.

Opened in the 1920s, Dixie Cup operated at the site about six decades. Since closing paper cup manufacturing about 40 years ago, the building under Reibman and Wilsonpark has housed storage and distribution, with parking lots and advertising space being rented to outside concerns.

But much of the industrial campus has been vacant, a shell overlooking South 25th and Butler streets, with a rusted, big symbol of a Dixie cup atop the building complex.

Morning Call journalist Anthony Salamone can be reached at asalamone@mcall.com.
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Mikkonen on Monday wrote in a tweet that the deep-rooted problems in the security industry must be weeded out, pointing to recent news reports.

MINISTER of the Interior Krista Mikkonen (Greens) has asked the National Police Board to compile a report on how the police is monitoring the operations of security companies and individual security guards.

The public must be able to trust that operators in the security space are professional, regardless of whether were talking about authorities or the employees of security companies. Training and monitoring is necessary to make sure no excess use of force of abuse of the position occurs, she underscored.

Mikkonen said she requested the report last week, adding that decision-makers would use it as a basis for examining the need for measures.

In Espoo on Saturday, a woman died after being apprehended and held on the floor by four security guards in Iso Omena Shopping Centre. Eyewitness accounts indicate that the woman was held on the floor on her stomach, with one also saying the woman asked someone to call 112, the Finnish emergency number, according to Helsingin Sanomat.

Jyri Paasonen, a researcher specialising in the security industry at the University of Vaasa, told the newspaper that based on a video and photos of the incident the security guards appeared to use force to apprehend the woman in a measured fashion.

Forcible measures are justified because you can see resistance on the video, he said on Sunday.

The death is being investigated as negligent homicide by Western Uusimaa Police Department. Securitas, the employer of the security guards, has also launched an internal inquest into the incident.

Police in December revealed that several security guards are suspected of a series of more than 20 offences that are believed to have taken place between May and December 2022. Among the offences under investigation are numerous assaults, illegal threat, defamation, secrecy offence and illegal use of narcotics.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: Kremlin denies new mobilization

Xinhua) 10:45, January 10, 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Western Military District training ground in the Ryazan region on Oct. 20, 2022. (Kremlin press release)

Peskov denied media reports of a further Russian mobilization in its special military operation in Ukraine.

MOSCOW/KIEV, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis:

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday denied media reports of a further Russian mobilization in its special military operation in Ukraine.

He stressed that the Russian authorities, rather than social media, should be the primary source of information.

- - - -

A report from the National Bank of Ukraine showed that the country received a record 32.1 billion U.S. dollars from its foreign partners last year, with the United States being the largest financial provider to Ukraine.

Citing the report, the government-run Ukrinform news agency reported Monday that Washington offered 12 billion dollars of financial aid in 2022, followed by the European Union with 8 billion dollars and the International Monetary Fund with 2.7 billion dollars.

The international financial aid enabled Ukraine to support its foreign exchange reserves, which have reached 28.5 billion dollars as of Jan. 1, the report noted.

- - - -

Russia launched a massive missile strike in retaliation for a deadly attack by Kiev against Russian troops in the first minutes of the New Year, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a daily report on Sunday.

Over the past 24 hours, Russian reconnaissance units had confirmed that Russian forces struck one dormitory housing over 700 service members and another with over 600 soldiers in the city of Kramatorsk in Donetsk, said the report.

- - - -

On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that 50 Russian servicemen, who were in mortal danger in captivity, were returned from territory controlled by Kiev following negotiations.

The ministry added that Russian military transport aircraft would deliver the released soldiers to Moscow for treatment and rehabilitation.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
Two days before Christmas, as temperatures across the Lehigh Valley plunged into a deep freeze, the electricity went out in a Northampton County mans home.

To power his appliances, 71-year-old Joel S. Kotulka fired up a generator in his garage  a mistake that would cost him his life.

Kotulka was found unresponsive Christmas Day in the garage of his home in the 300 Block of Old Allentown Road, Bushkill Township, where the generator was running, according to Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek. His death was attributed to carbon monoxide toxicity, and the manner of death was ruled an accident.

Although the Valley experienced above-average temperatures over the past week, the weather is expected to again turn frigid. As residents prepare to crank their heat, officials are working to spread awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning, educating residents about how to best avoid an accidental death.

Each year, carbon monoxide poisoning kills 480 people and sends another 15,200 people to hospital emergency rooms, according to the American Red Cross. Inhaling the gas can cause shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, lightheadedness or headaches. High levels can cause death within minutes.

The one thing everyone can do, and hopefully everyone is doing, is we preach the carbon monoxide detectors, Allentown fire Capt. John Christopher said. Carbon monoxide itself is colorless, odorless, tasteless  the only way youre going to know if you have an incident is if you have that detector.

Late last year, 32 adults and children were treated at Valley hospitals after a carbon monoxide leak at Happy Smiles Learning Center in Allentown. Testing showed a gas concentration of 700 parts per million, more than three times the threshold that can cause death. The leak was attributed to malfunctioning heating exacerbated by blocked vents.

Reached by phone Thursday, the owner of the day care declined to comment, referring all inquiries to an attorney.

There have been less than a dozen accidental deaths over the last seven years linked to carbon monoxide poisoning in Lehigh County, county Coroner Daniel A. Buglio said. While uncommon, instances of accidental death due to carbon monoxide toxicity do occur in the Valley, oftentimes during colder months.

During 2012s Hurricane Sandy, a Lower Macungie Township woman died from the fumes from a portable gas generator left running in the garage attached to her home. Before that, a 63-year-old South Carolina man was killed in 2008 after an exterior plastic canopy for a masonry project caused carbon monoxide from hot water heaters to back up into an Upper Macungie Township hotel. Four other hotel guests were sickened.

We try to show people that carbon monoxide deaths are very preventable, Buglio said. And I think our local fire departments, emergency management  every agency in Lehigh County, are very good at doing that.

Preparedness and maintenance can go a long way to prevent a death from carbon monoxide, experts say. Its important to check appliances and any associated vents, chimneys and exhausts each year.

Your precautions lay in your preparedness, Christopher said.

While purchasing and installing carbon monoxide detectors are often the first step residents can take to prevent a fatal accident, maintaining those detectors is also important.

With all your detectors, they all have a test switch test button and you should be testing those monthly to make sure theyre in working order, Christopher said. I think we tend to forget about that with the extended life batteries.

There are also options for detectors with 10-year sealed batteries, which can be cost-effective, he said. Renters should check their lease to see if their landlord is responsible for maintaining detectors.

And, its important to be cognizant of recalls and detectors found not to function properly.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in September warned consumers that HECOPRO digital display carbon monoxide detectors were failing to detect the poisonous gas.

Carbon monoxide sensitivity tests performed on the detectors found that they failed to alert when exposed to pre-determined concentrations of carbon monoxide (400 ppm), in violation of relevant safety standards, according to the agency. If a consumer installs a CO detector that does not alert to the presence of carbon monoxide, and carbon monoxide enters the home, the consumer will not be warned of the presence of this harmful gas, making injury or death very likely.

Officials urged residents with these detectors in their homes to dispose of them and install new ones.

Because detectors are cheaper than two decades ago, firefighters are now more often called for false alarms, Christopher said. But hes OK with that.

The reason being is its just that more people are getting the detectors, he said. Its not that I dont think there are more incidents. Its just that detectors are more readily available.

Officials recommend installing a carbon monoxide detector on each floor of living space. For households that may only have one, Christopher recommended it be placed near a bedroom, or somewhere it will wake up sleeping residents.

And, if using a generator during severe weather, placement is important to ensure proper ventilation, he explained.

They have an exhaust. Theyre going to be leaving out carbon monoxide, Christopher said. So you want to be careful where you put them.

If a carbon monoxide detector goes off in a home, its best to evacuate, he said.

Well go through and well hopefully mitigate the problem, find out where its coming from, shut down either the appliance or the heating unit or whatever is causing it, Christopher said. But you want to treat it just as this as a smoke alarm. You want to get out of the house to safety and call us. Well come out and well do our thing.

Morning Call reporter Molly Bilinski can be reached at mbilinski@mcall.com.
Cabinet members responsible for energy-related issues yesterday found an agreement to cover 50 per cent of monthly electricity costs exceeding 90 euros for the coldest four months of the year  November to February.

THE FINNISH GOVERNMENT will unveil its proposal for a scheme to compensate households for high electricity costs for comments without an agreement on all the details, report YLE and Helsingin Sanomat .

The compensation will be available to households paying over 10 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity and be capped at 700 euros a month. Its amount will be calculated based on electricity costs incurred in November and December.

The ministers also outlined that the scheme should not cost more than roughly 400 million euros.

Both YLE and Helsingin Sanomat on Monday reported that the five ruling parties wrangled over the share of electricity costs to be covered by the government, with calls for raising the share over 50 per cent arising from especially the Social Democrats and Left Alliance. The Centre and Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, though, insisted on not raising the share over concerns about the possibility of overcompensation.

The latest calculations indicate that compensating for 6070 per cent of electricity costs would cost over 500 million euros, according to Helsingin Sanomat.

The daily newspaper also wrote that the negotiations protracted as the ruling parties mulled over means to help households that have renewed or are set to renew their electricity contracts during or after December. The more support is earmarked for this large group of households, the less funding will be available for the main compensation scheme.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
Centria University of Applied Sciences is a Finnish higher education institution that offers both bachelors and masters studies in English. Study selection consists of several bachelor's degree programmes in the fields of business, engineering and health care.

The best thing about Centria is the atmosphere and community. You can't really explain it. You have to experience it yourself.

Centria is known for its flexibility and tight-knit community in which every fourth student comes from outside Finland. Students represent dozens of nationalities and numerous languages can be heard on campus daily.

Straightforward cooperation with working life

As study groups at Centria are relatively small, teachers become familiar with students. An unnecessary hierarchy doesnt exist. If youd like to brainstorm with the rector, you may join him in the campus cafe for a cup of coffee.

 Centria feels like a team. In a year I got to know counsellors, teachers, tutors and other people. It always feels like I am being heard, there is always someone ready to help you, says Business Management student Kawtar Tahaoui.

The curricula of Centrias degree programmes have been renewed in cooperation with the working life of the region. Because of Centrias nimble size, cooperation with working life is straightforward and continues throughout studies. Students participate in projects, visit companies, and get their foot in the door during practical training. Centrias career services make sure that students have the skills to craft great job applications to land their dream job after graduation.

 The biggest inorganic chemical industry ecosystem in Finland (KIP) is in Kokkola and I plan to apply to some position there in the future. So, studying at Centria is also going to help you get a job after studies as Central Ostrobothnia is an area full of industry, Kawtar notes.

Centria offers the possibilities of a big university but the community of a small one.  The best of both worlds.

Brilliant campuses for studying and beyond

Campuses with English-conducted studies are in romantic and cosy towns on the beautiful west coast, in Kokkola and Pietarsaari. They have all the services you need and a tight community to socialize in. At the same time the gorgeous Finnish nature and the Baltic Sea are right there when you need to take a breath.

Ahmed Shafin studies at Centrias Business Management degree programme that focuses on Enterprise Resource Planning. He is also a freelance content creator who loves capturing the Finnish nature.

 Because of my studies, I have the opportunity to stay in this beautiful seaside town, and I want to take advantage of this opportunity to show the world the beauty of Kokkola, he says.

The main campus in Kokkola offers a modern study environment with outstanding library services, modern lecture rooms and equipment for studying independently and with friends. The campus is also an excellent hang out spot so you might find yourself on campus long after lectures are over.

As studies are a combination of theoretical studies and applying theory to practice, a large part of the teaching happens in workshops, simulations, and laboratories. Centria has excellent dedicated laboratories for chemical engineering and IT students as well as simulation spaces for health care students.

UAS with appeal

The education powerhouse has numbers to show for its success. Centria was the most appealing UAS in Finland in 2022. This means that it had the most applicants per one study place amongst all Finnish universities of applied sciences. Centria also made a new record in the number of applicants during the joint application 2022.

In the annual survey for graduating students in Finland, Centrias masters students have assessed their education as the best amongst universities of applied sciences in Finland for several years in a row.

Support from the start

Centria offers international students an information package after they have confirmed their study place. The academic study year starts in the autumn with orientation days where students meet each other, their teachers and student tutors who will be helping and guiding them. Centria also has a specialist for helping international students in the early stages of their studies.

 My goal is to help students feel at home and hopefully to eventually make a life here, find a job and settle down. I help with everything to do with arrival, integration, housing, living, meeting people and finding meaningful things to do, describes Sofia Behluli, Specialist in Learning Services at Centria.

Should you study at this special UAS, Centria is sure to leave a heart-shaped mark in your soul while equipping you with expertise in your chosen field.

The next application period for Centrias English-conducted bachelors programmes is open 4.-18.1.2023. Masters programmes are available for application in February. More information here.

HT
The Education Ambassador of Finland, Dr Mika Tirronen, Director of Global Sales, and Partnerships at EduCluster Finland (Quality Partner) Mark Barratt, and Honorary Consul of Finland, Mumbai, Shreyas Kirtilal Doshi were also present at the event.

The highlight of the program was the performances by the students, which reflected their extensive talent and capabilities. The school advocates the Finnish education concept, which is internationally acknowledged for producing high-ranking student performance, while nurturing the well-being for the whole learning community. The exclusive, boutique-style school focuses on interactive and application-based learning, and is owned and operated by Goenka Global Education, an enterprise that is committed to offering holistic and transformative education through innovative and experiential learning environments.

In her speech at the event, the Chief Guest, Madame Ambassador said, "It is the right time to have a Finnish school in India, since India too is transforming with their New Education Policy 2020. We have similar ideas of curiosity-based learning and promoting equality through education - it resonates with the Finnish way of learning. Finland is well known for certain attributes in our pedagogical thinking like our activities, curiosity-based learning, and student-oriented growth curriculum, making it one of the most future-ready education systems globally. This is a

The principal, Minna Repo said, "Our dreams come true with hard work, creativity and determination. At Finland International School Pune, we believe that learning, similar to social dreaming, happens when people come together - when one's ideas takes another's even further. It is my wish, and dream, that this school continues to be a hub of innovation and skill development, so that the young generation can make their dreams come true."

Shashank Goenka, Managing Director, Goenka Global Education said, "Goenka Global Education has always strived to inculcate new thinking and thought processes, and by partnering with EduCluster Finland, we hope to do exactly that. The Finnish way of learning can help introduce educational reforms and bring about personalized learning for the growth and development of students in India. This event is our attempt at celebrating learning that is student-centric, and celebrates creativity and collaboration."

Mark Barratt, Director of Global sales and partnerships at EduCluster states, "EduCluster Finland is a pioneer in taking the Finnish education system overseas, and is synonymous with high-quality teaching and state-of-the-art facilities. We collectively train both local and Finnish teachers to make the process seamless, so that we can learn from one another. Our highly motivated teachers are dedicated and provide authentic Finnish-experiential learning beyond academics, that nurtures curiosity and empowers children to think independently."

Finland International School (FIS) Pune follows the famous Finnish National Core Curriculum enriched by Indian elements. According to the approach, academic skills alone are not enough in this rapidly changing globalised world, but in addition, the students are equipped with competencies to apply the knowledge whenever and wherever.

HT

Source: ANI / PRNewswire
The municipal authority that sells water to East Bangor users has lifted its boil-water advisory, its solicitor said, despite the borough continuing to post on its website that affected customers should still boil their water.

Peter Layman, attorney for the East Bangor Municipal Authority, said Friday that customers whose telephone numbers the authority had were notified about the advisory being lifted around Thanksgiving. He said he was not aware about the boil-water notice still appearing on the boroughs website and said he would notify officials to remove it.

Im glad you mentioned it, Layman said.

About 100 customers  roughly one-fourth of East Bangors 400 users  had to resort to boiling their water since late spring, after officials spotted leaks in a 400,000-gallon reservoir cover according to the authoritys meeting minutes. The cover was installed in 2020.

No contaminants were found, but authority officials said Pennsylvania mandates closing a system if a leak could potentially produce polluting substances.

Officials at the authoritys October meeting said they planned to have the giant cover replaced, with the reservoir filled and tested, before Thanksgiving.

The advisory affected residents in the Locke Heights area of East Bangor, including on South Broad Street, Peter Jacob Drive and Rutt Road.

Customer James Chase said he received word Nov. 18 that the advisory had ended. No further glitches since then, said Chase, who resorted to boiling water every morning. Some residents, Chase said, had been receiving large deliveries of water.

In general, residents under such an advisory boil water from their faucets for at least one minute for drinking, preparing food or brushing teeth, or buy bottled water.

The East Bangor authority serves about 400 customers. Most of its customers are served from a separate system in neighboring Upper Mount Bethel Township. Connecting the reservoir customers to the other system would have risked not having enough water for firefighting, officials previously said.

Morning Call journalist Anthony Salamone can be reached at asalamone@mcall.com.
Stephen Baratta, a longtime Northampton County judge who resigned last month with five years left in his term, made it official Tuesday: He will seek to unseat District Attorney Terrence Houck.

Both are Democrats, and the campaign has already begun months ahead of the primary election, with Baratta and Houck sparring over who is better to serve, and Barattas filing last week of a complaint about one of Houcks lieutenants.

We have a crisis with gangs, gun violence, and controlled substances killing our youth; yet the District Attorney has no plan other than wait in his office for law enforcement to arrest someone, Baratta said in a statement. Its not enough. In todays world, our District Attorney needs to be active in the community, bringing education, community programming, and creative use of governmental resources to protect and restore our community.

Houck, who said he plans this week to announce his reelection bid, chastised Baratta.

He would have no idea what goes on in this office, Houck said in a telephone interview. The good news here is the choice is clear: Voters can choose to elect a person who has dedicated his career to victims, their families and justice, versus a political opportunist who is patently unfit for the job and is willing to lie to secure the position.

Houcks lying accusation involves a request for investigation Baratta emailed last week to several recipients, including news organizations, Northampton County officials and the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

In a lengthy memo, Baratta contends theres a conflict of interest with Houcks first assistant district attorney, Richard H. Pepper, maintaining a private law practice while working as a full-time prosecutor. He also accused Pepper of improperly representing someone accused of harassment.

Both the first assistant and I have been in front of [Baratta], and this false claim was never made, Houck said. This is just his attempt to impugn a 50-year member of our bar association.

Baratta said later Tuesday the county Home Rule Charter prohibits elected officials and employees from working for compensation elsewhere. Houck disagrees.

If he cant get his facts straight and make proper decisions when a persons reputation and livelihood are at stake, how can anyone trust him? Houck said.

Baratta said his conflict complaint is not a linchpin of his campaign, adding he wants to focus on the operation of the district attorneys office. But he also said its an issue about good government.

Barattas conflict allegation is somewhat similar to what happened in Bucks County, when a former second-in-command in the district attorneys office made hundreds of deliveries for DoorDash while on the job. Houck said Peppers work is 100% outside Peppers work for the county.

Houck, who previously worked in Bucks and Lehigh counties in assistant district attorney roles before moving to Northampton, said workers were encouraged in Bucks County to seek other work, but only on their time off.

Baratta said in Lehigh County, where Gavin P. Holihan was named the countys first assistant district attorney, Holihan had to give up his private law practice. The district attorneys office confirmed that assistant district attorneys are precluded from doing outside work.

Some county prosecutors allow attorneys to work outside the office, according to attorney Daniel J. Siegel, who chairs the Pennsylvania Bar Associations Committee on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility. But he could not comment on specifics in Northampton County, and he said the county charter doesnt fall under ethics rules governing lawyers statewide.

In addition, Siegel said, conflicts can sometimes be waived.

We get many inquiries about conflicts, because there are so many gray areas, he said.

Spokesperson Stacey Witalec said the Disciplinary Board of Pennsylvania, which handles cases involving attorneys, would not confirm or deny having Barattas complaint.

They have nothing further to offer on this matter, she said.

Northampton County administrators had no comment on Barattas complaint, spokesperson Becky Bartlett said. A message was left for Kerry L. Myers, Northampton County Councils president, who chairs councils courts and corrections committee.

It has been unusual in either Lehigh or Northampton counties to see a sitting district attorney face a primary election campaign. John Morganelli, the former Northampton district attorney, served decades in office before being elected a county judge in 2019. Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin has served since 1998.

Baratta, 66, was first elected to the bench in 1997. In 2007, he was retained by voters for a second 10-year term, followed by another 10-year-retention term five years ago.

The Bethlehem resident grew up in Bangor and is a 1974 graduate of Bangor Area High School. He earned a bachelors degree in 1978 from Lafayette College and, three years later, received a law degree from Fordham University in New York City.

Houck, also 66, of Forks Township, won the open seat in 2019 to replace Morganelli, having been the countys district attorney for 13 of the 28 years that Morganelli served.

No Republican has announced their candidacy for the district attorney post. Pennsylvanias primary election is May 16.

Morning Call journalist Anthony Salamone can be reached at asalamone@mcall.com.
A nursing strike that has disrupted patient care at two of New York Citys largest hospitals entered its second day Tuesday, with a union official saying progress was being made toward a possible settlement at one of the institutions.

The two hospitals, Montefiore Medical Center and Mount Sinai Hospital, were postponing nonemergency surgeries, diverting ambulances to other medical centers, pulling in temporary staffers and assigning administrators with nursing backgrounds to work in wards in order to cope with the walkout of as many as 7,100 nurses.

Progress was being made toward a settlement at Montefiore, Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, a union official and a nurse at the Bronx hospital system, said Tuesday.

On the picket line outside, nurses said they had to strike because chronic understaffing leaves them caring for too many patients.

Were tired now  overwhelmed. Nurses are burned out, said Saffie Sesay, an emergency room nurse at the hospital. Its just getting worse.

Meanwhile, as of midday, negotiations hadnt yet resumed at Mount Sinai Hospital, on Manhattans East Side. Hospital spokesperson Lucia Lee expressed hope that talks could soon resume with the union, the New York State Nurses Association.

The impact is being felt, she said of the walkout.

Montefiore and Mount Sinai are the last of a group of hospitals with nursing contracts that expired simultaneously. The union initially warned that it would strike at all of them at the same time, but the other hospitals reached agreements as a Monday strike deadline approached. All include raises of 7%, 6%, and 5%, respectively, over the next three years.

Nurses on the picket lines stressed that staffing levels are a bigger issue than pay. New York Citys nurses were hailed as heroes in the spring of 2020 when the city was an epicenter of deaths from COvID-19. Now, they say they are being burned out by poor staffing levels that have been a problem for years.

Remember, even prior to (the) pandemic were already short of staff, said Mount Sinai nurse Nagie Pamphil. She said nurses in her unit are now expected to care for twice as many patients as they can safely handle.

Thats impossible, she said.

Montefiore said it had agreed to add 170 more nurses. Mount Sinais administration said the unions focus on nurse-to-patient ratios ignores the progress we have made to attract and hire more new nurses, despite a global shortage of healthcare workers that is impacting hospitals across the country.

Relatives of some patients at Montefiore had mixed opinions on patient care during the ongoing strike.

Shivie Tahal said his daughter had a longer wait than usual for an appointment and the waiting area appeared fuller.

It felt like there wasnt enough people working, said Tahal, whose wife is a nurse at another hospital but isnt on strike. He hoped that the dispute works out for the best for both parties  the patients and the nurses.

Barbara Roman said her 10-year-old daughter was admitted Monday afternoon with respiratory problems. She said staffing seemed adequate.

If theres a little less staff on the floor, it doesnt matter as long as shes getting the care she needs, Roman said, adding that her daughter did.
PITTSBURGH  News flash: Wild predators eat other animals.

Viewers of a webcam that shows nesting eagles in Pittsburgh on Tuesday saw the adult eagles bring a cat to the nest to feed two young eaglets. Some viewers were disturbed that the image was caught on camera which, in most instances, is viewed by those eager to track the progress of the nesting birds.

But Rachel Handel, a spokeswoman for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the feeding behavior was perfectly normal.

Handel writes on Facebook that, While many may cringe at this, the eagles bring squirrels, rabbits, fish (and other animals) into the next to eat multiple times each day.

Handel says the group couldnt determine if the cat was a pet or feral or if the eagles had killed it or the cat was already dead.

Live-streaming nest cameras in Pennsylvania have gained in popularity the last several years. One of the most popular has been the Codorus Park eagles nest camera, which this year captured the hatching and later death of one eaglet. The second egg still had not hatched as of April 14, and the Pa. Game Commission warned it may not be viable; the eagles were still seen on Thursday attempting to incubate the egg.

Information from: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Associated Press
Ashley Coleman is ready for the tough job of being a voice for one of the Lehigh Valleys marginalized groups, she showed in her introduction Monday as executive director of Allentowns Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center.

Coleman, who grew up in Emmaus and previously was an LGBTQ advocate in Philadelphia, said her first goal was to brainstorm with the staff and community about pressing needs.

I want to hear, What do we need right now? And Im excited to not only make those changes, but to build with you. Lets create together. Lets get our hands dirty, she said.

What she said next is a good indication of what kind of leader Coleman is going to be for the regions LGBTQ community.

And lets kind of give it to those folks that dont want to see us all succeed, she said. Collectively, we are going to succeed and make sure that we are safe and secure and taking care of one another.

Coleman has big shoes to fill to replace Bradbury-Sullivans founding executive director, Adrian Shanker.

Shanker led the center since it opened in 2014. He built it into a resource that gained state and national prominence before he resigned early last year to take a similar role in California. Shanker since has joined the Biden administration as a senior adviser on LGBTQ health equity.

Bill McGlinn served as Bradbury-Sullivans interim executive director during the search for Shankers successor. He said of Coleman on Monday:

She has a deep understanding of the role an LGBTQ+ community center can play in advancing the health and well-being of the complex and wondrous community we are privileged to serve. I have complete confidence in Ashleys readiness and ability to serve as an inspirational leader and assist in realizing the next chapter of our center.

Coleman previously served as executive director at Galaei in Philadelphia, which defines itself as a radical social justice organization for queer, trans, Black, Indigenous and people of color. She also was senior events manager at Mazzoni Center, an LGBTQ health care organization in Philadelphia.

She learned to be an advocate when she was 13, as a middle schooler in Emmaus in 1997.

She worked with her school to create an LGBTQ youth group, and then worked to build a youth group at Emmaus High School.

It was difficult at first, she told me. It was also during a time period where you couldnt bring a same-sex partner into the prom. So I had to go and get special permission to bring my girlfriend to the prom with me and I got that taken care of. Now were seeing so much progress in the last 20 years, which has been really incredible. Theres so much more we can do.

Coleman, who has moved back to the Lehigh Valley, said she wants to work with schools to create unified gay-straight alliances where students from different districts can come together. She said its important for students to have a place where they can connect and feel safe.

It changed my life, she told me. Being at LGBTQ centers  saved my life and changed my life. It made me the woman I am today.

Coleman said during the news conference that she accepted the position at Bradbury-Sullivan because she was impressed with the center, the staff and the community.

She said she had never been in the building before applying for the post, and when she got there, It felt like a big hug. I felt like it was home.

She is back home, where her advocacy started decades ago. And now shes in a position to do much, much more, for many more people.

Morning Call columnist Paul Muschick can be reached at 610-820-6582 or paul.muschick@mcall.com
Nobu Hotels has announced a 23rd January opening for Nobu Hotel Marrakech - the global lifestyle brand's first hotel venture into Africa. An all-suite property, Nobu Hotel Marrakech will be home to 71 spacious suites, destination dining including Nobu Restaurant and Bar and a panoramic Rooftop with guest pool, stylish restaurant, and sushi bar. For wellness, the hotel will also house one of Nobu Hotels' largest spas.

Proud to be a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Nobu Marrakech is located in the heart of Marrakech's "Golden Triangle" in the Hivernage district. The hotel is moments from the city's cultural heart, where rich heritage, exotic souks and the vibrant Djemaa el-Fna will meet Nobu's unmistakably Asian flair.

The interiors of the five-star Nobu Hotel Marrakech pays homage to the building's past, while adding Nobu's modern Japanese style. Upon arrival, guests are greeted by a warm, open, and inviting contemporary space adorned with local artwork, intricate detailing, and handmade fixtures, acting as a tribute to the country's craftsmen and the architectural identity of Marrakech.

The 71 suites will be split across three floors, each embodying the Japanese concept of Kokoro, embodying the spiritual connection with the destination. Suites will include 44 Junior Suites, 6 Deluxe Junior Suites, 18 Deluxe One Bedroom Suites, 2 Miyabi Suites and 1 Nobu Suite, each with views of North Africa's Atlas Mountain range or Koutoubia Mosque - Marrakech's biggest mosque.

With its own private entrance, DJ deck and poolside terrace the Nobu Restaurant and Bar will feature Nobu signature dishes including Black Cod Miso and Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno will be served alongside new dishes created by Chef Nobu Matsuhisa, using locally sourced flavours and ingredients.

The Rooftop will be centred around a distinctive circular pool and boast 360 views of the city including the old city walls surrounding the Medina district. The Rooftop restaurant will feature a Nobu sushi bar, and daily selection of seasonal Moroccan and Mediterranean dishes.

Housing the one of the most expansive spas in any Nobu Hotel, the Pearl Spa will offer an impressive 2,000 square metre space where guests can escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Guests will also be able to enjoy the spa's relaxation areas, a heated indoor swimming pool, hammams, Jacuzzis, steam baths and saunas as well as a VIP Spa Suite and a gym alongside a Beauty & Hair Salon.

Hotel website
Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor, the iconic 90-year-old luxury hotel on the doorstep of the ancient Khmer archeological sites of Angkor, has appointed Joseph Colina as its new General Manager.

The American national brings nearly two decades of experience with Accor to his new posting in Siem Reap. Colina most recently served as General Manager of MGallery Sapa in northern Vietnam. He also previously worked as Hotel Manager for Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, after launching his career in the U.S. with positions in Washington, D.C., Chicago and elsewhere.

The hotel reopened its doors in June 2022 following a major restoration project and pandemic-related closure that shut the hotel for nearly three years. Under the guidance of the Raffles Hotels group, Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor is once again at the forefront of travel to Southeast Asia. The hotel was recognized last year by the U.S.-based publication Travel + Leisure as one of the world's top 500 hotels.

Nearly all of the hotel's 119 guest rooms and suites were fully refurbished in the restoration, including with all-new Italian tiling and fixtures in the bathrooms. One of the hotel's most distinctive attributesits classic metal and timber elevator in the lobbyremains, as does the vintage ambience of The Elephant Bar.

Colina takes the reins amid other significant changes at Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor, including the launch of the Khmer fine-dining restaurant 1932 and the addition of the Raffles Marquee, an elegant events space overlooking a lush green lawn.

Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor originally opened in 1932 and is a national treasure whose storied history is a testament to Cambodia's colorful past. The hotel was originally built as a rest stop for archeologists and adventurers seeking to explore the ancient kingdom of Angkor Wat.
The Mark Hotel is pleased to announce that Mr. Etienne Haro has been appointed as the hotel's new General Manager as of January 1, 2023.

With over 20 years of international experience in luxury hospitality, Mr. Haro has held leadership positions at some of the most prestigious hotels around the world. He began his award-winning career in Food & Beverage and Finance at The Caledonian in Edinburgh, Scotland, later moving to the Middle East and Asia, directing the operations of market-leading luxury hotels. His extensive experience includes roles as Executive Assistant Manager of the iconic Burj Al Arab in Dubai, and most recently, as the Director of La Mamounia, the legendary palace of Marrakech, awarded Best Hotel in the World by Conde Nast in 2021. Mr. Haro is joining The Mark Hotel at an especially exciting moment, as the property was the only New York hotel recently selected for Conde Nast Traveler's Gold List 2023. The Annual Gold List highlights global editors' all-time favorite hotels around the world that exemplify the gold standard of service and hospitality.

Mr. Haro is a graduate of EHL Hospitality Business School where he received a Master of Business Administration. He holds a degree in Hospitality Management from the Luxury Hotel School in Paris and has received certifications in luxury brand management from the London Business School and Bocconi University in Milan. A native of France, Mr. Haro is fluent in both English and French. An established leader in luxury hospitality, he has been consistently recognized for his unwavering dedication to the highest standards of service, attention to detail and guest satisfaction

View Etienne Haro's LinkedIn Profile

Etienne Haro is a graduate of EHL in Lausanne - Switzerland
Dubai, UAE  UAE-headquartered Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), the worlds largest alliance of independent hotels brands, has become a founding member of the new international loyalty entity, Global Loyalty Organisation (GLO).

Launched this month, UK-based GLO is a global professional network of specialists in loyalty, rewards, consumer engagement and loyalty innovation, uniting companies across travel, hospitality, retail, finance as well as technology. Its key objectives are to promote partnerships, growth, and loyalty innovation among members. With the help of GLO News - a platform which shares insights, provides interviews & chat for members - loyalty technology expertise, roundtables, conferences and training, the organisation is supporting members in growing businesses, building stronger brands, and deepening relationships with their customers.

As a founding member of GLO, Global Hotel Alliance, a fast-growing alliance of 40 hotel brands with more than 800 hotels across 100 countries, brings a wealth of international experience to the network, with its successful loyalty programme, GHA DISCOVERY, expanding to more than 23 million members globally since its December 2021 relaunch.

Global Hotel Alliance is one of a select group of leading loyalty and rewards players joining GLO with others including aviation giants Star Alliance and Air France/KLM, as well as Loyalty Juggernaut, a provider of next-gen enterprise solutions that power loyalty programmes for multinational brands.

Kristi Gole, Head of Product at Global Hotel Alliance, has been appointed a GLO advisory board member, a role where she will share her knowledge and experience to promote innovation in the loyalty industry.

Loyalty is our business, and it is exciting to play a pivotal role in creating and growing an organisation that is dedicated to this sector on a global scale, Gole said.

We are looking forward to sharing our insights with GLO and helping to shape the discussion about the future of loyalty.

For more information visit Global Hotel Alliance and GHA DISCOVERY

GHA DISCOVERY is complimentary to join, and travellers can sign up online or download the GHA DISCOVERY app and register on their mobile phones. Travellers can also connect with GHA DISCOVERY on Instagram and Facebook.

About Global Hotel Alliance (GHA)

Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) brings together a unique collection of independent hospitality brands with GHA DISCOVERY, a multi-brand loyalty programme leveraging a shared technology platform. Through membership in GHA, brands expand their global reach, drive incremental revenue, and reduce dependence on third-party channels, all while maintaining management independence and individual positioning. GHA represents a collection of 40 brands with more than 800 hotels in 100 countries serving 23 million members. The award-winning GHA DISCOVERY programme generates over $2 billion in revenue and more than six million room nights annually. GHAs brands currently include Anantara, Araiya, Avani, Campbell Gray, Capella, Corinthia, Discovery Destinations, Divani, Doyle, Elewana, Fauchon, GLO, JA Resorts, Kempinski, Leela, Lungarno, Marco Polo, Mysk, NH Hotels, NH Collection, nhow, Niccolo, Nikki Beach, NUO, Oaks, Outrigger, Pan Pacific, PARKROYAL COLLECTION, PARKROYAL, Patina, The Residence by Cenizaro, The Set Collection, Shaza, Sukhothai, Sun International, Tivoli, Ultratravel Collection and Viceroy. For more information, visit globalhotelalliance.com

About GHA DISCOVERY

Launched in 2010, GHA DISCOVERY is the worlds largest loyalty programme for independent hotel brands, featuring more than 800 hotels, resorts, and palaces across 40 brands. Members enjoy VIP recognition, thoughtful benefits and generous rewards at home or away. GHA DISCOVERY members earn and spend DISCOVERY Dollars (D$), an exclusive rewards currency. They also enjoy member-only Experiences curated by each hotel, plus they have access to properties close to home, without a stay, through member-only Local Offers. For more information, visit ghadiscovery.com

Andrea Krenn

Global Hotel Alliance (GHA)
We're excited to share that Duetto GameChanger has been named 2023s #1 Revenue Management System (RMS) by Hotel Tech Report. This is the second year in a row that Duetto has been named the worlds best RMS.

Duetto also received three other accolades at the HotelTechAwards 2023. In total, the cloud-based hospitality technology company was awarded the following:

Best Revenue Management System (#1)

Top 10 Best Places to Work (#2)

Finalist Business Intelligence (#3)

Top 10 Hoteliers Choice Award (#7)

Each year 2.5 million hotel industry professionals use HotelTechReport.com to make informed technology purchasing decisions. The HotelTechAwards determine the best hotel software products across every category based on customer feedback and key proprietary data signals such as integration compatibility, organizational health, market share, partner network strength, and customer support quality.

Duetto achieving a top spot on this year's HotelTechReport.com Best Places to Work list is completely connected with its win as Best Revenue Management System of 2023. Duetto's intense focus on its people and culture is what enables the firm to go well beyond the mandate of a software company and to become an extension of their hotel clients' revenue management organizations. If there's anything the hotel industry has learned these last few years, it's that 'business as usual' doesn't exist anymore. Working with a company like Duetto that engages in customer-led innovation is critical to succeeding in highly volatile markets. Jordan Hollander, CEO of Hotel Tech Report

Heres what some of our reviewers had to say about Duetto:

The Duetto Gamechanger product has customizable features that can apply to nearly any hotel. The system drives RevPAR by recognizing the importance of distribution, flexibility and user interface. Behind the system is an army of revenue management specialists with proven results. - Area Director of Revenue Management (United States of America)

We have worked with Duetto for 5 years now, and we are very happy with the system. On a daily basis, the system gives us accurate information and works good in connection with our PMS system. Especially the Scoreboard system gives us detailed business intelligence information that we can use for our daily work. - Director of Revenue Management (Netherlands)

The forecast can be done within 5 mins and is quite accurate. Pricing recommendations make sense, easy to manage, control, and monitor. - Corporate Director Revenue Management (Thailand)

The authentic voice of the customer decides the winners of the annual HotelTechAwards - ranking hotel software solutions based on users experience in buying, implementing, and using those solutions, said Hollander. Were thrilled to highlight the value that the worlds leading software solutions deliver to their customers. By building a platform around the voice of the people actually using these hotel tech solutions, were able to deliver actionable, peer-to-peer insights that potential buyers can trust. Winning a HotelTechAward is the highest achievement in the industry because its based on data.

Everything we do at Duetto starts with the customer. Their reviews, both via the Hotel Tech Report platform and through direct feedback to us, are the fuel that helps us drive forward with product development. To be awarded the Best RMS in the World for the second year in a row is a huge honor, as this not only points to the continued evolution of our product but also underscores the high levels of satisfaction Duetto users have in working with us. And of course, none of this is possible without our amazing team here at Duetto. Being recognized as a Best Place to Work shows how our team spirit continues to grow and positively impacts everything we do. David Woolenberg, CEO, Duetto

The HotelTechAwards are often referred to as "the Grammys of Hotel Tech" and winners have been selected from more than 200 of the top technology products around the world. The HotelTechAwards are the industry's only data-driven awards platform with winners determined not by a handful of judges or popularity votes but by product reviews from a global community of verified hotel technology users across more than 120 countries.

About Hotel Tech Report

HotelTechReport.com helps 267k hoteliers each month to understand the changing hotel technology and digital transformation landscape. We help hoteliers make smarter decisions about which technologies to adopt, keeping scalability and adaptability in mind. Hotel Tech Report helps hoteliers uncover the value propositions of emerging technologies and how they align with the needs of your property stakeholders and guests.

About Duetto

Duetto delivers a suite of SaaS cloud-native applications for hospitality businesses to optimize every booking opportunity for greater revenue impact. The unique combination of hospitality experience and technology leadership drives Duetto to look for innovative solutions to industry challenges. The software as a service platform allows hotels, casinos, and resorts to leverage real-time dynamic data sources and actionable insights into pricing and demand across the enterprise.

More than 4,000 hotel and casino resort properties in more than 60 countries have partnered to use Duetto's applications, which include GameChanger for pricing, ScoreBoard for intelligent reporting, and BlockBuster for contracted-business optimization.

In both 2022 and 2023, Duetto was named the world's #1 revenue management system in the HotelTechAwards.

For more information, please visit http://www.duettocloud.com/.

Sarah McCay Tams

Director of Marketing Communications
Executive Summary

America's most important engine of human meritocracy is facing its biggest challenge ever. A generation of talent is leaving the hotel industry as brands are betting on franchising, delegating human capital management to hundreds of third-party managers who lack an employer brand. Reorganization, incremental improvements, and digitalization of the workplace are necessary but insufficient to fill 3 million annual openings. Radical innovation, supported by innovative technologies, is required to bring the hotel industry's human capital back to equilibrium. It starts with reimagining the role of HR from administrator to the creator of employee-first platforms such as talent marketplaces that advance meritocracy and accelerate diversity. CEOs and Boards of Directors can usher in the new paradigm with deal-making focused on establishing talent exchanges within the hospitality industry and like-minded organizations in adjacent service industries.

Hotel Industry as an Engine of Meritocracy and Growth

Few industries have a track record of generating economic impact and providing upwards mobility as hospitality. Overall, immigrants own 29 percent of all restaurants and hotels, more than twice the 14-percent rate for all businesses, according to U.S. census data. Consider the success of people of South Asian origin in the U.S. hotel industry. A majority of these owners are Gujarati, hailing from India, Pakistan, Uganda and elsewhere. It started in 1942 when a man named Kanjibhai Manchhu Desai left Gujarat, India in search of new opportunities. He was joined by two Gujarati farmworkers, and they took over a 32-room hotel in Sacramento, California, after the propertys Japanese-American owner was forced to report to a World War II internment camp. It was far from an overnight success and white competitors, especially in the rural south, put not-very-subtle American-Owned signs outside many of their hotels. They gradually expanded by acquiring more properties across states, focusing on the economy segment. By the 1980s, the second-generation kids of these immigrants started expanding the frontiers of their parents businesses. By 2007, they owned over 21,000 of the 52000 hotels in the U.S., or 42% of the market. Furthermore, they have expanded their management companies and launched real estate funds and publicly traded investments in full-service hotel segments in the U.S. in Canada led by Hersha Hospitality Management, Noble Investment Group, Vista Hospitality, and others. There were two key factors in their success: flexible handshake loans between members of the tribe to acquire hotels and a reliance on family as a key source of labor. Once a family purchased a motel, they would live there, and the family members would do all the tasks needed to run it, from cleaning rooms to checking in guests. There are many other examples of how the hospitality industry has created economic opportunity and upwards mobility. Refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia first arrived in Orange County by way of Camp Pendleton in 1975. Among them, there was a man named Ted Ngoy who would later be known as the "Donut King." This niche business created an economic pipeline for newly arrived refugees from Cambodia. By the 1990s, there were approximately 1,500 Cambodian-owned doughnut shops in California alone.

Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to replicate the success of these immigrants today, even on a regional scale. This is not because informal sources of capital have dried up, and not due to difficulties with the supply chain or more regulations. Its because costs are prohibitive. Today, most hotel and restaurant chains have divested real estate and are imposing brand standards resulting in higher capital costs and higher fees. Anti-immigration sentiments are adding to a severe labor shortage, unionization is spreading across the service sector and most chains have walked away from their role in developing talent and acting as the lead human capital manager for their respective industries. Consequently, profit margins are being squeezed, capital costs are higher and labor is more expensive and scarce.

Brutal Facts of the Hospitality Labor Markets in 2023

As we enter 2023, hotel operators are on a losing streak in the talent markets. The same industry that has made significant progress over the past decade capturing the customer with direct bookings has lost 20% of labor market share to other industries. Ironically, these very savvy investors and operators have inadvertently made things worse for themselves by treating HR tech as an afterthought. Most operators continue to invest in advertising and social media on "big tech" 3rd party job sites and ATS platforms that use their funds to grow their own databases and perpetuate control of the talent markets. The good news is that much of this is within the industrys power to change. The first step is to collect facts, analyze the problem's root causes, and quantify the gap between current strategies and the desired outcome. Consider these five brutal facts regarding the labor crisis confronting hospitality operators in the U.S. as we enter 2023:

Fact One: There are currently 1.6 million job openings in U.S. hotels and Quit rates are 2x the national average.

Job Openings and National Quit Rates vs. Hospitality Photo by Mogul Hospitality Corp

Fact Two: U.S. hospitality must hire 2.9 million people a year to reach equilibrium, including 1.3 million replacement hires.

U.S. Hotel Labor Market 2023 Photo by Mogul Hospitality Corp

Fact Three: Even in an optimistic labor market recovery with aggressive recruiting and labor efficiencies, the gap is still 2.4 million.

How can the industry retain and attract sufficient talents to close this shortfall? Consider an optimistic perspective where college graduates with fewer employment prospects join hotels in larger numbers (organic growth), the industry successfully adjusts its labor model to become more flexible, pay more competitive wages and eliminate some positions through efficiencies and service reductions. Lets do the math and see where that takes us.

Bottoms up Organic growth: Hiring new associate and bachelors degree college graduates, including hospitality schools. Challenge: even if hotels capture an additional 10% of the entire market of 2 million annual new hires, their turnover is 50%. Number: 100,000 gains with aggressive assumptions that market share is taken from tech, retail, and other sectors that may suffer from a recession and structural changes which reduce the attractiveness of these sectors.

Hiring new associate and bachelors degree college graduates, including hospitality schools. Challenge: even if hotels capture an additional 10% of the entire market of 2 million annual new hires, their turnover is 50%. Number: 100,000 gains with aggressive assumptions that market share is taken from tech, retail, and other sectors that may suffer from a recession and structural changes which reduce the attractiveness of these sectors. Increasing Pay to Recapture Talent: Capitalizing on the recession and closing the pay gap versus other industries to convince those who have left hospitality to return, including those who work in the Gig economy. Challenge: research says people left for culture, flexibility, and inadequate compensation. There is no evidence that changing compensation alone will work. That said, lets assume hotels increase pay by 20% and owners agree to offer supervisors and above more cash incentives such as profit sharing. Number: 200,000 hiring gains with aggressive assumptions that market share is taken from tech, healthcare, Uber, Airbnb, etc.

Capitalizing on the recession and closing the pay gap versus other industries to convince those who have left hospitality to return, including those who work in the Gig economy. Challenge: research says people left for culture, flexibility, and inadequate compensation. There is no evidence that changing compensation alone will work. That said, lets assume hotels increase pay by 20% and owners agree to offer supervisors and above more cash incentives such as profit sharing. Number: with aggressive assumptions that market share is taken from tech, healthcare, Uber, Airbnb, etc. Efficiencies Through Digitalization : Eliminating front-line positions using technology like mobile apps for check in and consolidating departments such as front desk, housekeeping, and restaurants. Challenge: most jobs and pricing power are in full-service, group, and luxury hotels that require service. Number: 100,000 hiring gains.

: Eliminating front-line positions using technology like mobile apps for check in and consolidating departments such as front desk, housekeeping, and restaurants. Challenge: most jobs and pricing power are in full-service, group, and luxury hotels that require service. Number: Attracting Talent from Other Industries Hit Hard by the Recession:

An example is retail, which shed 25,000 in August 2022 alone and continues to shed jobs heading into 2023. Challenge: other than the economy sector, hotels have a mixed record of hiring retail, even in functions such as finance. Training costs are higher than anticipated, and turnover risks are extremely high. Furthermore, delivery and logistics businesses, including Uber, are growing with average hourly pay, adjusted for taxes, of 2-3X hourly wages in hotels. Number: 100,000 hiring gains

In conclusion, these optimistic scenarios generate an incremental 500,000 employees. Where does that leave us? Even with the optimistic scenario, the current strategy leaves a gap of 2.4 for the U.S. hotel sector.

Fact Four: The top 16 hotel operators are in a class of their own. Almost half of the top 80 largest hotel operators, representing 70% of branded properties, have abysmal talent and diversity scores.

We analyzed the quality of talent at the top 80 hotel operators, addressing 12,000 hotels and developed an algorithm to rank talent, from the frontline employees to General Managers.

Mogul's Talent Ranking Methodology Source: Mogul Hospitality Corp

We summarized our findings in the Talent Share Matrix Chart that shows a companys share of elite talent on the x-axis and the number of properties managed on the y-axis. We classified high-performing hotel operators from a talent perspective, into two buckets: High Potentials (talent scores above the median, high growth, and below-average portfolio size and growth) and Stars (talent scores above the median, high growth, and above-average portfolio size and growth). A few hotel operators are Stars with quality talents that stand above the rest alongside a few notable, small brands and management companies. However, over 50% of the branded hotels are managed by underperforming management companies with below-average talent scores and less than one-star performer per property, whose average tenure is under 24 months.

Talent Share Matrix: Top 80 U.S. Hospitality Employers by Size Photo by Mogul Hospitality Corp

What about progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion? We also ranked the top 80 hotel management companies for diversity  the proportion of elite talent who are women and minorities in their property level supervisor and above ranks over five years (2017-2022). We then performed regression analysis to ascertain the correlation between the quality of talent and diverse elite talent for the same employers. There is a 92% correlation between a change in the companys quality of talent score and its diversity talent score. We analyzed these results by brand segment (i.e., economy vs. luxury), product type (i.e., resort vs. airport hotel), and the results were within a 10% confidence interval.

Correlation Between Change in Talent Score and Change in Diversity Score Photo by Mogul Hospitality Corp

If managerial diversity was a performance KPI with equivalent importance to revenue indexes, many of these operators would be out of business. Furthermore, owner operators  who in theory have the most stakeholder alignment  rank among the worst in DEI. This demonstrates that aside from brands, most of whom are publicly traded or owned by institutional investors, the industry has not made significant strides in diversity at the property management level.

Fact Five: Radical innovations  the broader adoption of the hybrid work model, wholesale changes in job qualifications, and a paradigm shift in hospitality recruiting - could generate an additional 1 million talents, closing the labor shortage to 1.4 million.

Semi-Qualified Hidden Workers: People with service industry experience who are either unemployed, employed part-time or have left the workforce and screened out by legacy HR tech due to the flawed recruiting process and ATS filters that require a college degree. Based on a recent Harvard Business School and Accenture study, we estimate the potential gain to be 500,000 people . The challenges include significantly increased recruiting, training, learning, and development costs of 5-10x per employee to $5,000 per year for the front line.

People with service industry experience who are either unemployed, employed part-time or have left the workforce and screened out by legacy HR tech due to the flawed recruiting process and ATS filters that require a college degree. Based on a recent Harvard Business School and Accenture study, we estimate the potential gain to be . The challenges include significantly increased recruiting, training, learning, and development costs of 5-10x per employee to $5,000 per year for the front line. Legal Immigration: Qualified hospitality workers such as those trained by hotel chains in countries such as Mexico, the Caribbean, Ukraine, India, and China, where large numbers are seeking to exit. We estimate the potential gain to be 100,000 supervisors and above . The additional costs including visa sponsorship, relocation and housing, and assistance with language barriers, cultural adjustment, and other assistance to be $35,000 per employee.

Qualified hospitality workers such as those trained by hotel chains in countries such as Mexico, the Caribbean, Ukraine, India, and China, where large numbers are seeking to exit. We estimate the potential gain to be . The additional costs including visa sponsorship, relocation and housing, and assistance with language barriers, cultural adjustment, and other assistance to be $35,000 per employee. Hybrid Work Models: People with service industry experience who need to work from home to take care of family or who had intentionally left the hospitality industry to pursue the hybrid work model that is now the norm in other sectors such as technology and professional services. What if the industry changed its labor model to permit finance, accounting, human resources, revenue management, purchasing, and even General Manager to be hybrid? This would also enable department heads and supervisors on the property to demonstrate their leadership potential. We estimate the potential gain, including attracting new talent into the industry, to be 400,000. Additional costs include accelerated training and development, but there are also potential savings in labor, benefits, and other costs.

While they would be expensive and risky, these radical innovations could generate an additional 1 million talents, closing the gap to 1.4 million. There is only one option to close this gap to 500,000 or less: increasing retention to 75%.

The Solution: Building a Talent Engine of the Future

Clearly, addressing the labor/talent crisis in hospitality requires more than stewardship: significant innovation, including new processes and technologies, is needed to increase retention and attract new talent into the industry in parallel. Hotel operators continue to bet on legacy HR tech, including job sites, ATS platforms, and static internal job boards. These passive platforms filter out 80% of hidden workers and use generic AI that delivers inaccurate matches. Research also confirms that across industries, internal job boards have failed to advance meritocracy because they are not widely used by over half of women, minorities, and individuals outside a companys privileged social networks.

What does the future look like?

On the employer side, imagine a Talent Engine actively pulls in individuals who are hidden workers, legal immigrants, and a hybrid workforce. It uses data and algorithms to help organizations identify stars within their organization who are ready to take on the promotion. For example, it may be the Front Office Manager who is ready to be Director of Rooms or that new Director of Rooms youve just hired who outperformed within a brief time and is ready to be a General Manager.

On the talent side, envision employees having fun using the Talent Engine as a portal for learning and development. It becomes their platform for personal branding, accessing career development opportunities, as well as discovering and charting career paths that can be advanced by experiential learning. Talents can showcase their strengths and accomplishments. They can also demonstrate that they are ready for a lateral move or promotion.

Components of A Hospitality Specific Talent Engine Source: Mogul Hospitality Corp

The Talent Engine is powered by AI and data science, and includes the following modular components:

Data Science & Operations  Building scalable solutions to source, rank, and appraise elite talents with leading employers; Writing and testing algorithms that use data science and AI to predict matches between diverse talents and employers in service industries.

External Marketplace  Matching diverse supervisors and above talents from service industries with career opportunities at leading hospitality employers; Includes full-time, contract, part-time, and gig opportunities.

Internal Marketplace  Matching diverse supervisors and above talents from inside multi-unit organizations with career advancement opportunities, including lateral and promotions, across departments, functions, business units, and geographies.

DEI  Closing the diversity gap by sourcing diverse elite and rising talents - 50% women, 33% minorities, and LGBT supervisors - from within and outside hospitality. Providing diverse candidates with career opportunities both internally and externally

Talent Mobility  Providing tools to accelerate career paths, including assessments for elite and rising talents to access both lateral and promotion opportunities inside organizations.

Talent Marketing  Inspirational contents, including GM interviews, talent tier awards, and marketing campaigns that share human stories and promote careers in hospitality. Employers can also create communities based on sponsored content or be organic.

Algorithms, AI, and Ethics  Developing and testing algorithms that generate predictions of talent rankings, tiers, and matches  using data science to generate employer rankings for the overall quality of talents and DEI by company type, region, and brand segments.

Communities/Mentors  Enabling talents to share their stories, chart career paths, form peers and connections, and engage in hospitality-specific communities both internally and externally, including mentorship, references, and reviews.

Talent Discovery  Innovative applications that source hidden workers and talents from outside hospitality, including those outside the traditional workforce, engaging these hidden workers in the external marketplace, learning zone, and communities.

Learning Network/Zone  Providing a hub for experiential learning, including courses and certificates from leading industry providers and employers, and providing an empowering platform for user-generated content from industry professionals sharing best practices and innovations.

Talent Sharing  Brokering talent exchanges between complementary organizations from different geographies or adjacent industries, including both short-term exchanges and long-term talent-sharing deals, enabling fluid movement of people between business partners.

The Path Forward: From Steward to Market Maker

It is widely acknowledged that the hotel industry is not known for R&D or being an early adopter of new technologies. Building a platform where hospitality employees, who represent 300 million worldwide and generate 10% of global GDP, garner recognition and fair compensation for their contribution to the business seems like a daunting task. But the industry is prolific at deal-making and has an impressive track record of integrating new technologies, including reservation systems, channel managers, and loyalty program partners. On the customer side of the service profit chain equation, hoteliers have proven that experimentation is a critical enabler of management processes that build culture. Successful implementation of a Talent Engine similarly requires licensing, integrating, and partnering with many innovative technologies, including start-ups.

The process must be supported by a transformation in the composition and role of the HR function from a top-down planner to a facilitator of a bottoms-up transparent marketplace that includes internal and external talents. CEOs and Boards should incentivize internal mobility into HR, which must be seen as part of a larger systems approach to executive talent management. Within HR, there should be roles for brand marketers, strategists, deal makers, and technology integrators. It starts with the realization that one of the most effective ways to promote retention, career ambition, and internal mobility is to champion a free market approach by managers, starting at the highest levels of the corporate organization, and incorporate it into the operating units of the organization, regardless of whether they are managed or franchised. But to do this, it is necessary to change the corporate organizational structure and key management processes of the HR function.

The current composition and structure of HR are not set up to innovate. Rather than a tenure-based appointment like academia, HR executives should have term limits like those imposed on certain government offices. HR should become a passage rite for every senior executive to be a C-suite leader. Departments such as talent acquisition, training and development, compensation and benefits, and organizational learning should require 23-year rotations that include the highest performing directors and VPs from technology, operations, marketing, and other functions, across business units and geographies.

Once corporate HR is reset, the entire corporate office, including strategy, corporate development, finance, and legal, needs to move boldly toward cutting talent sharing deals within the industry and with complementary organizations in other service sectors. For example, a hotel brand or operator in part of the industry value chain, such as Extended Stay America (ESA), could develop career paths and exchange talent with a complimentary hotel brand that manages full-service properties, such as Hilton. Talent-sharing exchanges would attract and retain new team members better suited to starting their careers in the budget or limited-service segment and, conversely, those ready to move to full-service or luxury operations. Talent exchanges could also extend into other complementary industries. For example, Hilton could develop a talent exchange platform with Starbucks where its best-in-class regional managers could become food and beverage operators at full-service and luxury hotels. As talent exchanges are implemented in retail, education, and healthcare industries, they could help manage labor supply and demand changes by developing a multi-disciplinary workforce.

By partnering with software companies to build a Talent Engine, hospitality leaders can create a virtuous talent cycle: an employer brand that attracts people and strengthens the industry by providing career opportunities, both inside organization and externally. By adopting this new perspective, the industry can begin to attract people who are looking for growth and value culture as much, if not more, than compensation. Continuously linking culture, leadership, and mobility can increase the talent pool and retention. The result of these efforts can be an organization that can confidently invest in its people who reach their human potential and become industry leaders themselves.
There may have been a time where revenue management was a sort of day-to-day, "let's just change rates and put minimum stay restrictions on" kind of activity. We are now operating in a new era. For competitive hotels, old school revenue management has given way to the stewardship of a holistic commercial strategy. In that light, we were interested in understanding the role of upselling in new school revenue management, so we reached out to some industry experts.

Total Customized Revenue Management (TCRM) is the one of the hospitality industrys leading resources for Revenue Management services for both independent and branded hotels. In the last ten years, they have worked with over 500 hotels in over 250 markets, providing short-term task force to long-term outsourced revenue management including training and mentoring to system optimization audits; technology sourcing to new system builds and implementations.

We recently caught up with David Beaulieu, CHBA, CHIA, Executive Director of Strategic Accounts and Kathryn Baker, CRME, Chief Operating Officer for TCRM, to find out more about what they do, and where automated upselling fit into their view of commercial strategy.

What exactly does an outside revenue management services and consulting company do for hotels?

Kathryn: We have a lot to offer, but I think I'll start out by just saying we're really a full-service revenue management and commercial strategy company. We may be known for providing taskforce interim support in revenue management or long-term outsourced revenue management for our clients but we also can provide any number of consulting projects, whether that's a system configuration, transition properties, training in systems, or revenue management theory, mentoring - lot of different assessments as well. We do analyses on comp sets, channel cost, market feasibility - anything that touches revenue management commercial strategy is something we can do.

There are a lot of hotels that who don't do much revenue management, and there are a lot that have internal revenue management teams. What are the conditions in which a hotel is going to reach out to your organization?

David: Typically, for hotels that don't have a revenue management team in-house or maybe at the corporate level, and they are lacking in that resource, they will reach out to us. Primarily we find this in the independent hotel space, because it's sometimes difficult to attract the right type of talent with that systems' knowledge which we possess with our team. Then on the branded side, oftentimes we do, as Kathryn indicated, task force or interim revenue management support, and that's where they have the in-house talent, but maybe they are going through a transition, somebody has resigned and we're filling in internally for that position.

We hit the ground running pretty quickly, and we go through a multiple step process to ensure that we're not missing anything. We're sort of like looking under every rock, if you will.

Revenue management covers a huge array of different sort of revenue and distribution channels. Do you think upselling is something that has only recently been introduced into overall revenue management strategy as a serious source of revenue? And is that because of technology?

Kathryn: I think the larger brands have had access to technology for longer than independent hotels that support upselling and upgrading ahead of time, before arrival, right? And before the last few years, upselling was largely a manual process at a hotel or resort. And we don't like that. Nobody likes that, right? I've seen it be successful, just a handful of times when it's a manual process but there's got to be somebody really leading the charge on that, on property. And then when that person leaves, so there goes that process.

David: We've always believed that certain room types go unsold at hotels - And typically what happens is people at the front desk will upgrade their customers to those better room types at no extra charge. What we really like about a product like ROOMDEX is that it has the forecasting capability to determine which room-types, or "up-sellable" inventory would be available in the dynamic pricing. That, to us, was a key differentiator among other services or products that are out there.

Kathryn: Automated upselling is just a game changer. And, as David said, the idea that it is "yieldable" makes it so much more comfortable, not just for revenue managers, but for general managers and front office managers, because you're not having to just say that you can upgrade from a standard king to a suite for $40. You can have that be dependent upon the demand at the time, and that's so meaningful. Even in the past, when I've seen a little more basic technology address upselling, it wasn't "yieldable" and so therefore was seldom utilized. It was something that would maybe just be put into place in times of very low demand because a hotel was being optimistic that they'd be able to sell all their room types at the full rate. Doesn't happen that way most of the time. So now with something like ROOMDEX, we can feel comfortable upselling even in times of high demand.

When it comes to hotels that are not using an upselling platform, is it because there is it an operational resistance? Is it a resistance based on new technology? Or is it that they haven't considered it before?



David: I think there's multiple factors that could explain why sometimes there's a resistance. Sometimes it could be perhaps the hotel doesn't feel like they have the right inventory. Maybe most of their rooms are standard inventory room types, and they don't have enough of the upgradeable room types, so they just decide, "You know what, there's not a product out there for us." But oftentimes there's other things that you can upsell besides an upgradeable room type, you can do early check-in or late checkout or some other merchandisable things. Sometimes it can be that the people at the hotel that don't believe in the technology or perhaps they feel like they're better at doing it themselves at check-in. It's not just one thing; we've encountered several different reasons in the past.

In the past, with legacy systems, that were sort of a one stop shop for everything, the IT guy would oversee procuring the technology and everyone would just use whatever the platform was. Now we live in an era of the cloud PMS, with free trials available you can plug and play. With that in mind, what is the current role for revenue managers in terms of technology acquisition?

Kathryn: I absolutely feel this falls under the umbrella of revenue management commercial strategy, right? We're now in an era that is really elevated, commercial strategy and revenue management, to the executive level - and with that comes a greater reliance on the person that's in that role to not just get us through the day, but to look to the future and proactively finding ways to maximize not just room revenue, but all revenue. That's really what we're here to do. I absolutely feel like this is a revenue manager's job or a director of revenue management or a director of commercial strategy, to constantly be on the lookout for the new technology that supports the strategies that they want to implement at their property.

David: I agree with that, and I think that with the directors of revenue or the revenue leaders at the hotels being involved, you'll see a higher adoption rate as well. Because oftentimes, to your point earlier, where you said, in the past it was directors of IT or some commercial or chief information officer who was sort of pushing down the technology to the user level, there's not always going to be an adoption rate there. But, if it's coming from the field and it's the field that's going to use it, I think you'll see a higher adoption rate.

Do you feel that because we had two years of very low occupancy that there is more of a push by ownership to find additional revenue sources or to increase efficiency? Or has everyone just kind of written off the last couple years and is back to business as normal?

Kathryn: The smart hotels are definitely looking towards the future and open to doing things in a different way, which is going to mean adopting new technologies and automating processes that in the past have been manual. That's the way we're headed. I think there are certainly some that are going to kind of dismiss the past couple years. Our ideal client and, luckily a lot that we do work with currently, want us to bring them the next great technology that's going to make them more money.

In revenue management we're used to our role being that we must sell all the time - we have to sell our strategies, we have to sell our ideas and our recommendations to the executive team at the properties, and our clients. This is no different. And I think a lot of directors of revenue management, revenue leaders, they know how to do that.

What would you say to other revenue managers who are out there, when they're considering upselling platforms? What are the key considerations?

David: I would say, first they should assess their own hotel product and what is capable of being upsold and merchandised. And then look at the products that are out there that have the features to be able to promote those attributes that they have at their hotel - the ability to send a confirmation email and an upsell request in advance of arrival, the ability to allow for "yield-able" inventory so that you don't have a fixed rate because you may be leaving money on the table if you're not asking enough for that particular upsell, or perhaps you're overcharging and you're not upselling enough because of it.

If you were speaking to an audience of hotel managers or hotel management companies, what would you say about your company's approach to strategy in revenue management?

Kathryn: Yes, very good question. So, at TCRM, we know that commercial strategy is not just one or two big things that are going to change the revenue picture of a hotel or resort. It's often a lot of smaller strategies. So, an upsell software, or any other single revenue innovation, is not going to be the one thing that's going to jump your revenues 50% year over year. But it is a piece of an overall strategy that we should always be looking at. There's so many individual programs and strategies and channels and tools, and we have to constantly be making sure that we're looking at all the available ones and picking the right ones for our properties. I think it's a matter of not dismissing something because you don't think that it's important enough, because it is a piece of the puzzle.

About ROOMDEX, INC

ROOMDEX is the technology leader in the hotel upselling software space. Its hotel upsell software automates, monetizes and ultimately simplifies the hotel room upgrade process by putting the power of choice in the hotel guest's hands.

ROOMDEX Upsell Automation uses hotel reservation, guest data and its proprietary True AvailabilityTM and Dynamic Pricing algorithms to deliver personalized digital offers, greatly enhancing the guest experience. The hotel upsell tool relieves hoteliers of the labor time required by other upselling solutions while delivering high margin revenue and a substantial ROI.

ROOMDEX is now the exclusive provider of ABS Upselling. Attribute-based selling re-imagines hotel inventory merchandising, delivering a unique and improved guest satisfaction and increased hotel revenue.

ROOMDEX leverages hotel operational and software experience gained by our team members while in leadership roles at companies such as MICROS (now Oracle Hospitality), Nor1, Duetto, StayNTouch and Shiji to develop our innovations in hotel automation, dynamic pricing, operational availability and attribute-based selling. Since founding in spring of 2020, ROOMDEX has signed hundreds of hotels across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Website https://www.roomdex.io

Twitter: @ROOMDEX

Facebook: facebook.com/roomdexinc

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/roomdex

Youtube: click here

Paul Peddrick

ROOMDEX, Inc.
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Recent decisions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the two biggest pharmacy chains are bringing the post-Roe v. Wade landscape more clearly into focus. America is becoming a country where abortion is a crime in some states but just a normal part of health care in others.

This week, the FDA announced that retail pharmacies will be allowed to dispense mifepristone and misoprostol, drugs used to induce abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. Until now, the pills could be obtained only directly from the prescriber or, under temporary pandemic-era rules, from mail-order pharmacies. The two biggest pharmacy chains  CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.  quickly confirmed they would seek to become certified to sell the drugs, often known by the brand name Mifeprex.

The revised rules are a move in the right direction, at least for states where abortion is still legal. But the rule change amounts to a rather tentative step. The FDA should have gone further and dropped the needless hurdles that will complicate retail pharmacies efforts to dispense the medication.

Because more than half of abortions in the U.S. are induced by pills (as opposed to a surgical procedure) any change to how the medication is prescribed will be hugely influential for tens of thousands of people. And together, CVS and Walgreens control roughly 40% of the market for prescription drugs sales. But in the 13 or so states where abortion has either been criminalized or severely restricted, drugstores will be exceedingly unlikely to dispense these pills, even though they are also used to treat miscarriages.

Under the old guidelines, medical providers who prescribed the pills  whether the brand-name offering from Danco Laboratories or the generic from GenBioPro  had to stock the medication themselves and sell it directly to patients. That means access was mostly limited to abortion clinics. That isnt how most prescriptions work. When you need antibiotics or blood pressure medication, your doctor doesnt sell it directly to you. He or she submits it to a pharmacy, where you pick it up.

The old FDA rules meant that some women had to drive hundreds of miles to their nearest abortion clinic just to pick up a prescription. While telehealth and mail-order pharmacies improved access for some women, it wasnt a viable solution for people with limited internet access or who worried about others in their household seeing their mail.

The new guidelines do away with the requirement that prescribing doctors dispense the pills directly, which makes it more likely that more providers will start prescribing them. They make permanent some pandemic-era rules that allow pills to be dispensed following telehealth appointments. And the announcements by Walgreens and CVS mean it is much more likely that more people will be able to get these medications directly from a corner drugstore; Walgreens brags that 78% of the U.S. population lives within 5 miles of one of its stores, and 85% of Americans live within 10 miles of a CVS.

But the FDAs new rules compel pharmacies to jump through additional hoops to be certified to dispense Mifeprex. While CVS and Walgreens seem willing to go through the hassle, the certification requirement isnt medically necessary. Pharmacies dont need to go to these lengths to dispense, say, Viagra. The additional regulation might scare away smaller pharmacies from stocking the drugs, which arent terribly profitable.

The certification requirement also puts a stigma around use of these pills. It could foster doubt among the public about the drugs safety  after all, if the drugs were safe, why would they need additional regulation?

Abortion medication has been used in the U.S. for more than 20 years and has been shown to be safer than Tylenol. (And, for that matter, safer than Viagra.) For birth control pills, antibiotics or blood pressure medication, a pharmaceutical license is enough. Special certification is typically only required for drugs known to have serious side effects, such as thalidomide, which is used to treat leprosy and cancer but causes severe birth defects. The FDA should have said that a pharmaceutical license was sufficient to dispense abortion pills.

The FDA could also have taken this opportunity to extend the window of authorization for Mifeprex, which currently only extends to 10 weeks of pregnancy. The World Health Organization says the drugs are safe to use through 12 weeks.

That two-week gap could be the difference between having access or not for some women; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 12.2% of abortions happen between nine and 13 weeks. Moreover, although abortions after 13 weeks make up less than 7% of abortions, one of the biggest reasons is a lack of access earlier; women seeking abortions after 13 weeks are more likely to have struggled to find a provider, come up with the money or both. Making pills easier to get earlier is one of the best ways to reduce later abortion.

Although the FDA didnt go as far as it could have  or even as far as the science would dictate  the rule changes will make it easier for women to access early abortion in the states where it is legal.

But in an era of intense political polarization, the only way science-based agencies like the FDA can stay above the fray and continue to command public trust is to hew closely to the facts. That means not layering political red tape onto medically safe drugs.

Sarah Green Carmichael is a Bloomberg Opinion editor. Previously, she was managing editor of ideas and commentary at Barrons and an executive editor at Harvard Business Review, where she hosted HBR IdeaCast.
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OLLI Instructors Preview Winter Semester Classes of All Interests

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Berkshire Community College offers over 20 classes in science, history, social studies, literature, and the arts.

The membership organization held a virtual open house for its 2023 winter semester last week, with fifteen instructors giving an overview of their courses to potential students.

"We're here to be a community of people committed to learning and having fun, and we are over 1,450 members. We are the largest Lifelong Learning Program in Massachusetts," Executive Director Carol Allman-Morton explained.

"We offer five semesters of peer-led courses each year taught by volunteer instructors and also offer regular events, speakers, and programs to connect the members of our Olli community with each other and with the world."

The courses run from Jan. 17 to March 6. They are a mixture of remote and in-person classes at BCC.

OLLI is targeted at learners ages 50 plus but anyone can join. Annual membership is $60 and $30 for the summer.

Participants will hear from historical societies of surrounding towns in John Dickson's six-session course "Conversations with Berkshire Historical Societies."

This is the second round of the class with the first occurring last year covering the Stockbridge Munsee Mohicans, Sheffield, North Adams, West Stockbridge, Lenox, and Pittsfield. Early on, Dickson began to receive emails requesting the coverage of other communities and it became clear that he would have to do a second round of the class.

"One thing I've noticed last year and this year in these conversations with local historical societies: we are really blessed, as many areas are not just Berkshire County, but we're really blessed with people who have taken this on as a hobby of learning about their own town," Dickson said.

This semester will cover Monterey, Tyringham, Sandisfield, Richmond, Adams, Lee, and Stockbridge. It will be conducted over Zoom aside from one class that is planned to be held at the Adams Public Library in the Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall.

"It is just a spectacular historic building and room, and I'm told that the room is the exact same way with the same chairs that it was when it was it was built," he added about the hall.

"So I thought if we're doing a class on local history, we've got to do it from here and let people see this wonderful view."

Dickson disclosed that the Sandisfield conversation will focus on a little-known Jewish colony in the town that began in the early 1900s.

"We're going to look at the early settlement at first the original inhabitants, spend a lot of time on these towns in their early days pre nationhood and then move into these towns that were many of them instrumental in the Revolutionary War and the French and Indian War, as well," he explained.

"We're going to talk about industry in these towns and moving pretty much into the 20th century, but not very far into the 20th century."

The class will be held on Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Michael Feldberg will tackle the role of organized religion in our nation in his course titled "Religious Freedom in America: Of, For, or From?"

"What I'm interested in and what I hope you're interested in is understanding the role that organized religion is playing in our social life, in our politics, in our legal system, in our culture, and how in some ways religion has gone from being an individual right to a weaponized political force in American society," he explained.

"We all know that we have a right to religious freedom. It's in the First Amendment, the first words of the First Amendment, but very few of us see that right in exactly the same way."

Feldberg said that for some, this means freedom to worship and believe as they wish, for some, it comes with the expectation that a person's values will be reflected in public policy and law, and for others, it is freedom from religion.

He pointed out that these controversies are historically based on many examples in the nation's past.

"My hope is that we'll be able to see this history in a way that enlightens our understanding of the cultural conflicts we're having today in the United States," he said.

The five-session course will be offered in person on Tuesdays from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Jeannie Woods will be offering part two of her class "American Dreams: Plays About The American Immigrant Experience" virtually on Tuesdays from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. over six sessions.

Students will examine three contemporary plays that dramatize the tension between assimilating to American culture and preserving ones native culture, the daily battle against discrimination, and the courage it takes to carve out a new life and identity in a strange and often hostile land.

Woods explained that the students requested a second installation and that Dr. Katherine Kidd, who is teaching "Imperial Reckoning: Rethinking Britain's Imperial Legacy" this semester, will be joining as a Zoom manager to help facilitate discussions.

"The previous American Dreams class began with an examination of how transnational immigration has been represented in American dramatic literature. In that course, we read five plays from the early 19th century up to the 1980s which related to immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Poland, China, and Puerto Rico," Woods noted.

"Part two of American Dreams will examine three contemporary plays. Note that we're covering fewer plays so we can have a more in-depth discussion of each script. Like the previous plays, these stories dramatize the tension between assimilating to American culture and preserving one's native culture, the daily battle against discrimination, and the courage it takes to carve out a new life and identity in a strange often hostile land."

"Moving Out" by Lisa Loomer, "Disgraced" by Ayad Akhtar, and "Aliens with Extraordinary Skills" by Saviana Stanescu will be covered this semester.

For those interested in the sciences, Bryan McKersie will be teaching "CRISPR and the Gene Editing Revolution" on Mondays from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Peter Bluhm and Tony Segal will offer "Science Conversations" on Fridays over Zoom from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. to discuss news in the Tuesday "Science Times section of the New York Times and other publications.

"I started my career in biotechnology research, first as a professor at the University in Canada and then leading international research projects for a company and North Carolina," McKersie said.

"But since I retired, which was 10 years ago, there's been a revolution and a paradigm shift in biology because gene-editing technology now allows us to change the genes which exist in any organism, including ourselves."

He explained that this technology has been having a profound effect on medicine, agriculture, and environmental protection.

The first few classes will go over basic principles in genetics (that is intended for non-biologists) and then it will discuss the applications of gene editing and how it impacts people's lives.

The course will go into how gene editing is used to treat debilitating diseases and will dive deeper into the ethical and moral arguments for and against it.

"Not only can this technology be used to treat genetic diseases that can be used to cure genetic diseases by changing the genetics of our children and our grandchildren forever. We can make these changes to eradicate these diseases to make stronger athletes, more aggressive soldiers, to give our children superpowers against various sub-viral diseases. But the question is should we?" McKersie said.

"Are we on the verge of a new eugenics program which identifies desirable and undesirable people? Will we be creating Huxley's Brave New World? So the question is how do we achieve the benefits from this technology and avoid its misuse and most importantly, who decides?"

Arts appreciators can take "Creative Card Making 101" with Linda Goff on Thursdays from 1:30 to 3 p.m. over Zoom or "Treasures of Chamber Music - Form, Function, and Secret Delights" with Harriet Wetstone on Tuesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in person.

"Chamber music is so different from our orchestral music. Orchestral music involves large ensembles with many players, so many different instruments, all following the leadership of one conductor," Wetstone explained.

"Chamber music is composed for a small group of musicians, each having their own voice planning an equally vital role in the success of what is best described as a musical conversation. Chamber music is so much smaller in scope than orchestral music, nonetheless, it's more difficult to compose, more demanding to perform."

For the full winter semester course list and more information on Olli, visit www.berkshireolli.org.




South Africa: Racial incidents tarnish the tourism industry

Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu says acts of racism are a blight on the South African tourism sector.

This after a video emerged on social media in December wherein two teenage black boys were attacked and assaulted by a group of white adults at a swimming pool at Maselspoort Resort, just outside Bloemfontein, on Christmas day.

Three men, Kobus Klaassen, Johan Nel and Jan van der Westhuizen were subsequently arrested and charged with crimen injuria and common assault.

Klaassen faces a further charge of attempted murder after being seen holding one of the boys underwater.

This has tarnished tourism in the country.

No racial group should take advantage of the industry to discriminate and act violently against any other racial group in indulging in any niceties presented by this industry, Sisulu said.

The Minister noted that the resort has not yet condemned the attack and highlighted that the tourism industry needs to undergo further transformation.

It is an industry that must be deracialised including its ownership.

Tourism provides us an immediate communication platform to sell to the world the beautiful nation we are and our commitment to become a prosperous destination full of offerings for the visitors, she said.

Sisulu recently visited the family of the boys who were attacked and expressed governments condemnation of the incident.

I am sorry that during our leadership your family experienced such discrimination. We apologise that we as government couldnt protect you from such people, Sisulu said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-01-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
COVID restrictions on Chinese travelers unnecessary: Danish health authorities

Xinhua) 10:59, January 10, 2023

Photo taken on Oct. 11, 2021 shows "The Infinite Bridge" in Aarhus, Denmark. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

To help prevent infection, free antigen testing is being offered to those arriving in Denmark on direct flights from China.

COPENHAGEN, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Restrictions on Chinese travelers entering Denmark are unnecessary, the Danish Health Ministry said on Monday.

"There is no binding requirement for testing before entering Denmark from China," the Ministry said following an assessment of potential COVID-19 measures.

To help prevent infection, free antigen testing is being offered to those arriving in Denmark on direct flights from China.

Passengers queue up to go through entry procedures at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in east China's Shanghai, Jan. 8, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

The Danish Epidemic Commission said on Monday that there is currently "no significant risk of COVID-19 spreading from China to Denmark, or significant risk of the introduction of new virus variants, as there is high population immunity in Denmark."

An earlier assessment by the Statens Serum Institut (SSI), the Danish national center for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, came to the same conclusion.

Tourists visit Great Tang All Day Mall in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Dec. 30, 2022. (Photo by Zou Jingyi/Xinhua)

Danish Minister of Interior and Health Sophie Lohde is expected to provide an updated report at a meeting with members of the Epidemic Committee in the Parliament on Tuesday.

"The government will follow the recommendations of the SSI and the Epidemic Commission," Lohde said.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
UPDATED 04.04.23 Journalist Ihsane El Kadi, founder and director of Algerian online station Radio M and the Maghreb Emergent media, was arrested on 24 December and placed in pretrial detention over funding charges on 29 December. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) calls on the Algerian authorities to release El Kadi and reverse the decision to close the two news outlets he owns.

On 24 December, El Kadi, who is a vocal critic of the government, was arrested in the city of Zemouri, east of the capital Algiers, by six police officers in civilian clothes and allegedly taken to the Directorate General of Internal Security in Algiers, according to reports published onMaghreb Emergent.

The secret services searched the headquarters of Interfaces Medias, the company that publishes Radio M and Maghreb Emergent, and confiscated equipment, including studio cameras, computers and other technical equipment in the presence of El Kadi. The premises of the two news outlets were sealed by the security services.

Both news outlets published an article on 25 December, claiming that their critical reporting of Algerian President Tebbounes second term and organisations affiliated with the popular movement opposing him were likely to be the reason for El-Kadis arrest.

On 29 December, El Kadi was placed in pretrial detention, charged with receiving foreign funding for the media he runs and allegedly undermining state security, according to his lawyers. French newspaper Le Monde, quoting Maghreb Emergent, reported that the journalist was being prosecuted under Article 95bis, which provides for a prison sentence of between five and seven years for "anyone who receives funds, a gift or an advantage... to carry out or incite to carry out acts likely to undermine the security of the state, the stability and normal functioning of its institutions, national unity, territorial integrity, the fundamental interests of Algeria or public security and order.

El Kadis arrest, which comes on top of the closure of media outlets and the convictions of other Algerian journalists in recent months, is part of a government clampdown on the media. The IFJ reiterates its concern about the media situation in the country and calls on the Algerian authorities to commit to press freedom and allow journalists to work freely without fear of reprisals.

IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: "Our colleague Ihsane El Kadi has been arrested for doing nothing more than his job. His pretrial detention is unacceptable and a blatant attack on media freedom. We call for his immediate and unconditional release."

On April 2, Ihsane El-Kadi was convicted to five years in prison with two years suspended. The authorities also ordered the shut down of both his website and Radio M for allegedly threatening state security.
This article highlights Indias current trade trends as well as long-term projections that peg Indias export valuation at US$1 trillion by 2030. While discussing recent trade agreements and the opportunities to boost trade, we provide a detailed explainer of export-import procedures in India and the process of setting up a trading company. It must be noted that the current procedures are governed by the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20, which has been extended till March 30, 2023.

Indias trade statistics have amplified exponentially in the recent years, with financial year 2021-22 (FY 2022) recording the highest ever value of merchandise exports. The government is buoyant about hitting the US$500 billion export target in FY 2023 through rupee-denominated trade and various recent bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs), such as those signed with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Australia.

To make Indian exports globally more competitive, India also recently released National Logistics Policy, which provides for seamless integration of multiple modes of transportation by leveraging technology, processes, and skilled manpower. The policy, which is in line with PM GatiShakti National Master Plan, will give a massive boost to Indias US$200 billion logistics sector, thereby enabling smooth movement of goods both domestically and internationally.

Indias trade trends and outlook

Indias aggressive policy push, coupled with large scale infrastructural augmentation, has resulted in increased volume of exports and imports in the last few years. Some of Indias top trading partners include the United States (US), which surpassed China in the previous fiscal to emerge as Indias largest trading partner. UAE, too, has emerged as one of Indias top trading partners on the back of increasing oil trade.

In FY 2022, merchandise exports from India reached a new high at US$417.81 billion, marking a surge of 43.18 percent over the US$291.18 billion recorded in FY 2021. During the same period, Indias merchandise imports soared to US$610.22 billion, an increase of 54.71 percent over the U$394.44 billion registered during FY 2021.

Indias Top Trading Partners in FY 2021-22 (in US$ Million) Country Export Import Total trade Trade balance US 76,167.01 43,314.07 119,481.08 32,852.94 China 21,259.79 94,570.57 115,830.36 -73,310.78 UAE 28,044.88 44,833.48 72,878.36 -16,788.60 Saudi Arabia 8,758.94 34,100.58 42,859.52 -25,341.64 Iraq 2,403.27 31,927.05 34,330.33 -29,523.78 Singapore 11,150.61 18,962.19 30,112.80 -7,811.58 Hong Kong 10,984.80 19,096.61 30,081.41 -8,111.81 Indonesia 8,471.51 17,702.83 26,174.34 -9,231.31 Korea Rp 8,085.03 17,477.20 25,562.24 -9,392.17 Australia 8,283.13 16,756.17 25,039.30 -8,473.04 Germany 9,883.34 14,968.10 24,851.43 -5,084.76 Switzerland 1,348.57 23,392.32 24,740.89 -22,043.76 Japan 6,176.77 14,399.77 20,576.54 -8,222.99 Belgium 10,084.37 9,951.65 20,036.02 132.72 Malaysia 6,995.04 12,424.20 19,419.24 -5,429.16 Bangladesh 16,156.37 1,977.93 18,134.30 14,178.44 UK 10,461.29 7,017.78 17,479.07 3,443.51 South Africa 6,085.29 10,965.81 17,051.10 -4,880.52 Netherland 12,543.69 4,478.10 17,021.79 8,065.59 Thailand 5,751.30 9,332.59 15,083.88 -3,581.29 Qatar 1,837.75 13,193.70 15,031.45 -11,355.95 Nigeria 4,663.17 10,291.58 14,954.75 -5,628.40 Vietnam 6,702.67 7,438.52 14,141.19 -735.85 Italy 8,180.76 5,048.47 13,229.22 3,132.29 Russia 3,254.68 9,869.99 13,124.68 -6,615.31

Indias top exports

The top exports of India are engineering goods, gems and jewelry, petroleum products, drugs and pharmaceuticals, organic chemicals, electronic goods, etc.

Indias import basket primarily comprises petroleum and crude products, electronic goods, gold, machinery and electrical appliances, pearls, stones and semi-precious metals, transport equipment, etc.

Export-import procedures in India

Foreign trade in India is promoted and facilitated by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The DGFT issues the authorization to exporters and monitors their corresponding obligations through a network of 38 regional offices. The DGFT also implements the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), which is notified by Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992.

Presently, the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 has been effective since April 1, 2015  having now been extended till March 30, 2023.

Procedure to set up an export-import unit in India

Establishing a unit : To start the export business, first a sole proprietary concern, partnership firm, or a company has to be set up as per procedure.

: To start the export business, first a sole proprietary concern, partnership firm, or a company has to be set up as per procedure. Opening a bank account : A current account with a bank authorized to deal in foreign exchange should be opened.

: A current account with a bank authorized to deal in foreign exchange should be opened. Obtaining permanent account number (PAN) : It is necessary for every exporter and importer to obtain a PAN from the Income Tax (IT) Department.

: It is necessary for every exporter and importer to obtain a PAN from the Income Tax (IT) Department. Obtaining importer-exporter code (IEC) number : As per the FTP, it is mandatory to obtain the IEC for export and import from India. An application for IEC is filed online with the DGFT as per ANF 2A, and an online payment of application fee of INR 500 through net banking or credit/debit card must be made along with submission of requisite documents as mentioned in the application form.

: As per the FTP, it is mandatory to obtain the IEC for export and import from India. An application for IEC is filed online with the DGFT as per ANF 2A, and an online payment of application fee of INR 500 through net banking or credit/debit card must be made along with submission of requisite documents as mentioned in the application form. Registration cum membership certificate (RCMC) : Exporters are required to obtain RCMC granted by the concerned Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), Federation of Indian Export Organization (FIEO), Commodity Boards, or authorities in order to avail authorization to export-import or any other benefit or concession under FTP 2015-2020. RCMC is also required to avail the services and guidance from EPCs.

: Exporters are required to obtain RCMC granted by the concerned Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), Federation of Indian Export Organization (FIEO), Commodity Boards, or authorities in order to avail authorization to export-import or any other benefit or concession under FTP 2015-2020. RCMC is also required to avail the services and guidance from EPCs. Covering risks through ECGC: Risks involved in international trade owing to buyer or country insolvency can be covered by an appropriate policy from the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation Ltd (ECGC). Where the buyer is placing order without making advance payment or opening Letter of Credit, it is advisable to procure credit limit on the foreign buyer from ECGC to protect against risk of non-payment.

Export-import documentation in India

All the export or import applications must be filed with the DGFT. As per the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20, following are the mandatory documents needed for an EXIM unit to export or import from India:

Mandatory documents for export and import in India Export Import Bill of Lading, Airway Bill, Lorry Receipt, Railway Receipt, Postal Receipt Bill of Lading, Airway Bill, Lorry Receipt, Railway Receipt, Postal Receipt in Form CN-22 or CN-23 Commercial Invoice cum Packing list Commercial Invoice cum Packing list Shipping Bill, Bill of Export, Postal Bill of Export Bill of Entry

Apart from the above-mentioned mandatory documents, additional documents like certificate of origin and inspection certificate may be required on case-to-case basis.

Other important export import procedures and documentation include the following:

GST Return Forms (GSTR 1 and GSTR 2) and GSTR Refund Form

Exchange Control Declaration

Bank Realization Certificate

RCMC

How to import goods in India?

Obtaining import license and quota

The importer must attach the following documents to their application form:

Receipt which shows that import license fee has been paid.

Certificate from a Chartered Accountant (CA) showing the total value of goods to be imported.

Verification certificate for income tax

The Indian Trade Classification  Harmonized System (ITC-HS) allows for the free import of most goods without a special import license. Most items fall within the scope of Indias export-import policy regulation of Open General License. This means that products can be freely importable without restrictions and without a license unless they are regulated by the provisions of the policy or applicable laws.

However, certain goods that fall under the following categories require special permission or licensing.

Imports of items not covered by Open General License are regulated and fall into three categories:

Banned or prohibited items : These goods are strictly prohibited from import and include tallow fat, animal rennet, wild animals, and unprocessed ivory.

: These goods are strictly prohibited from import and include tallow fat, animal rennet, wild animals, and unprocessed ivory. Restricted items requiring an import license

Canalized items: Canalized items can only be imported via specific transportation channels and methods or through government agencies such as the State Trading Corporation (STC). These include petroleum products, bulk agricultural products, such as grains and vegetable oils, and some pharmaceutical products.

Following authorities are responsible for issuing import license for respective commodities:

Department of Electronics for computer and computer-related systems

Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIIT  Technical Support Wing) for organized sector units registered under it, except for computers and computer-based systems

Ministry of Defense for defense-related items

DGFT for small-scale industries not covered above

Obtaining foreign exchange

Before placing any order, the importer must apply to the Exchange Control Department (ECD) of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the release of requisite foreign exchange. The importer should forward the application through their bank. The ECD verifies the application of the importer, and if found valid, sanctions the foreign exchange for the particular transaction.

Placing an order

The importer may either place the order directly or through an agent. In case of canalized items, they must obtain the imports through the canalizing agency. The importer cannot directly import such canalized items. They have to place an order with the canalizing agency who shall import and supply the same.

Dispatching Letter of Credit

After getting the confirmation from the supplier regarding the supply of goods, the importer requests their bank to issue a Letter of Credit in favor of the supplier.

Appointing clearing and forwarding agents

The importer must make arrangements to appoint clearing and forwarding agents to clear the goods from the customs.

Receipt of shipment device

At this stage, the importer receives the shipment advice from the exporter, which states the date on which the goods are loaded on the ship. This shipment advice helps the importer to make arrangements for clearance of goods.

Receipts of documents

The importers bank receives the documents from the exporters bank. These documents include bill of exchange, a copy of Bill of Lading, certificate of origin, commercial invoice, consular invoice, packing list, and other relevant documents. The importer makes payment to the bank (if not paid earlier) and collects the documents.

Bill of Entry

Every importer is required to begin by submitting a Bill of Entry under Section 46 of the customs Act, 1962. This document certifies the description and value of goods entering the country. The Bill of Entry should be submitted as follows:

The original and duplicate for customs

A copy for the bank

A copy for the importer

A copy for making remittances

Under the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), no formal Bill of Entry is required (as it is recorded electronically) but the importer is required to file a cargo declaration after prescribing particulars required for the processing of the entry for customs clearance. Bills of entry can be one of three types:

Bill of Entry for home consumption: This form is used when the imported goods are to be cleared on payment of full duty. Home consumption means use within India. It is white colored and hence often called the white Bill of Entry.

This form is used when the imported goods are to be cleared on payment of full duty. Home consumption means use within India. It is white colored and hence often called the white Bill of Entry. Bill of Entry for warehousing: If the imported goods are not required immediately on arrival at port, importers may store the goods in a warehouse without the payment of duty under a bond and clear them from the warehouse when required on payment of duty. This enables the deferment of payment of the customs duty until goods are actually required. This Bill of Entry is printed on yellow paper and is thus often called the yellow Bill of Entry. It is also called the into bond Bill of Entry as the bond is executed for the transfer of goods in a warehouse without paying duty.

If the imported goods are not required immediately on arrival at port, importers may store the goods in a warehouse without the payment of duty under a bond and clear them from the warehouse when required on payment of duty. This enables the deferment of payment of the customs duty until goods are actually required. This Bill of Entry is printed on yellow paper and is thus often called the yellow Bill of Entry. It is also called the into bond Bill of Entry as the bond is executed for the transfer of goods in a warehouse without paying duty. Bill of Entry for ex-bond clearance: The third type is for ex-bond clearance. This is used for clearance from the warehouse on payment of duty and is printed on green paper.

Extra documentation may be required if a Bill of Entry is filed without using the Electronic Data Interchange system. These are:

Signed invoice

Packing list

Bill of Lading or delivery order/air waybill

GATT declaration form

Importer/CHA declaration

Import license wherever necessary

Letter of Credit/bank draft

Insurance document

Industrial license, if required

Test report, in case of chemicals

Ad hoc exemption order

Duty Exemption Entitlement Certicate (DEEC) / Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) in original, where applicable

Catalogue, technical write up, literature in case of machineries

Spares or chemicals as may be applicable

Separately split up value of spares, components, and machinery

Certificate of Origin, if preferential rate of duty is claimed

Delivery order

The clearing agents obtain the delivery order from the office of the shipping company. Once the payment of freight, if any, is completed.

Clearing of goods

The clearing agents are required to pay the necessary dock or port trust dues and obtains the Port Trust Receipt in two copies. Thereafter, the clearing agent approach the Customs House and presents one copy of Port Trust Receipt, and two copies of Bill of Entry to the customs authorities. The customs officer endorses the Bill of Entry Forms and one copy of Bill of Entry is handed back to the importer. The importer then pays the customs duty and clears the goods. In case, the customs duty is not paid, then the goods are stored in the bonded warehouses. As and when the duty is paid, the goods are cleared from the docks.

Payment to clearing and forwarding agent

Once the goods have been cleared from the docks, the importer makes the necessary payment to the clearing agent for his various expenses and fees.

Payment to exporter

The importer is obligated to make payment to the exporter who usually draws a bill of exchange. The importer has to accept the bill and make payment.

How to export goods from India?

Once an exporting unit has been incorporated and an IEC and RCMC has been obtained, exporters must also get inspection certifications.

According to the Export (Quality and Inspection) Act of 1963, it is critical to ensure the effective functioning of Indias export trade. The Indian Export Inspection Council will assist in obtaining inspection certificates.

The following steps must be followed to successfully export products from India.

Authorised Dealer (AD) Code registration

AD code must be registered with any scheduled commercial bank in India before filing any export bill. The scheduled bank will generate the AD code using the IEC code. In addition, the exporter must register their IEC and AD codes with customs officials. The AD code is used to determine whether or not export proceeds have been realized.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) registration

Every exporter can register with their GSTIN in Part A of Form GST REG-01 on the shared platform, regardless of their turnover. Exports of goods and services are classified as zero-rated supplies under GST. If GST is paid at any point of supply against exports from India, a trader may either export without the payment of IGST under bond or letter of undertaking, or may pay the IGST and claim refund later.

Product and market selection

Apart from a few goods on the restricted or prohibited list, the rest of the products can be freely exported. Following a thorough examination of the trends in the export of various items from India, a proper selection of the product(s) to be exported can be made.

Furthermore, after researching market size, competition, quality criteria, payment arrangements, etc., the overseas market should be chosen.

Identifying buyers and providing sample products

Participation in trade fairs, buyer-seller meetings, exhibitions, business-to-business (B2B) portals, and web browsing are efficient mechanisms to locate buyers. Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), and overseas chambers of commerce can also assist in securing potential target buyers. Once they have been identified, providing customized samples to meet the needs of foreign buyers can assist in the gaining of export orders. FTP 2015-2020 provides for unlimited exports of genuine trade and technical specimens of freely exportable commodities.

Obtain the services of a freight forwarder

The goods can be transported by sea, land, or air. The following three factors determine the freight rates:

Mode of transport

Port of arrival

Quantity of shipment

Proforma invoice (PI)

Following the initial discussion with the customer, the exporter should send the buyer a proforma invoice with details such as quality, goods description, payment method, mode of shipping, packing material etc. When the buyer receives the proforma invoice, they must approve it before moving on to the next phase.

Shipping instructions (SI)

Depending on the nature of the goods, they must be shipped according to specified guidelines. Items which are hazardous, perishable, etc. must be shipped following various international treaties. The freight forwarder provides shipping instructions after learning about the many aspects of the shipment.

Commercial invoice (CI)

A commercial invoice is similar to a standard sales invoice and should be prepared when the buyer has confirmed the export order.

Labelling, packing, and marking

Export items must be labelled, wrapped, and packed following the buyers precise instructions. Address, package number, port and place of destination, weight, handling instructions, and other markings offer identification and information about the cargo packed.

Certificate of origin

While clearing customs, the customs authority seeks the certificate of origin, which establishes the products origin. The name and address of the exporter, characteristics of the goods, package number or shipping marks, and quantity, if applicable, are generally included on a certificate of origin.

Shipping bill

A shipping bill is generated when the commercial bill, PI, or other documents are submitted. The shipping bill must then be lodged with the appropriate port. The shipment bill can be submitted via the ICE gate website. Following receipt of the shipping bill, the assessing officer must verify the accuracy of the information supplied and the exportability of the products as per procedure.

Let export order (LEO)

Once the evaluating officer is satisfied, a Let Export Order will be issued.

Loading of goods in container

The shipping bill and LEO must be provided to the shipping agent, who will then contact the Proper Officer to request shipping permission. Customs officials supervise the loading of commodities onto the ship.

Bill of Lading (BL)

After the items have been loaded, the carrier vessel issues a BL. It specifies the items name, means of transportation, mode of payment, and packing content, among other things. BL will be given to the buyer of the products to claim the items when they arrive in their country.

Insurance

A marine insurance policy covers the danger of loss or damage to the products while they are in transit. Exporters generally arrange insurance for CIF contracts, whereas buyers obtain insurance for cost and freight (C&F) and Free On Board (FOB) contracts.

Export general manifest (EGM)

Within a week of the cargo sailing, shipping lines or agents submit the EGM to customs. The EGM contains a list of all goods loaded or present on the ship as it sailed away from the port and serves as the final confirmation of the goods physical export. This also aids in the approval of duty exemptions.

Submission of documents to bank

Following shipment, the paperwork must be presented to the bank within 21 days for forwarding to the foreign bank for payment arrangements.

The following documents should be submitted:

Invoice

Packing List

Airway Bill/Bill of Lading

Bill of exchange

Certificate of origin

Declaration under Foreign Exchange

Letter of Credit

Document transmission from bank to bank

The negotiating bank will examine the shipping documents and forward them to the importers banker so that they can clear the consignment. It is expected of such authorised dealers to assure receipt of export proceeds, which must be communicated to the RBI by quarterly returns.

Receipt of bank certificate

Once payment is received, authorised dealers will issue bank certificates to the exporter, and only with the issuance of the bank certificate will the export transaction be completed. Exporters are required to negotiate shipping documentation exclusively through approved Reserve Bank dealers. Only through this system can the RBI secure receipt of export revenues for products transported out of the country.

This article was first published on October 3, 2022 and last updated on October 19, 2022.
Customs department officials at Mumbai airport arrested a passenger with 2.81 kg of cocaine worth over Rs 28 crore on Monday. The drugs were hidden inside a duffle bag of the traveller.

#WATCH | Mumbai Airport Customs y'day arrested an Indian pax carrying 2.81 Kg cocaine worth Rs 28.10 Cr, concealed in a duffle bag. Probe shows that pax was lured to carry drugs by persons whom he met only over social media. He was honey trapped to indulge in smuggling: Customs pic.twitter.com/oCxBG5F2CP  ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2023

In a video shared by news agency ANI, Customs officials can be seen tearing the bag to recover the drugs which were hidden under a layer of the bag.

The traveller claimed that he was lured into carrying the contraband by a person he met on social media. The passenger was honey trapped to smuggle the cocaine, cited a Customs official as saying.

The incident comes close on the heels of Customs officials seizing heroin and cocaine worth Rs 47 crore at Mumbai international airport and arresting two persons who were trying to smuggle in the drugs on Friday.

The seizure was carried out in two separate cases. In one case a man arrived on a Kenya Airways flight from Johannesburg in South Africa via Nairobi in Kenya. In the second case the drug smuggler arrived on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) contingent was given a grand welcome as it landed at the Hyakuri Air Base, about 80 km northeast of Tokyo, on Tuesday for the inaugural joint Air Exercise between India and Japan that kicks off on January 12.

A traditional water cannon salute was given to IAFs frontline Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft, four of which are participating from the Indian side, along with two C-17s and one IL-78, in Exercise Veer Guardian-2023 to be held till January 26.

The Indian contingent also includes Squadron Leader Avani Chaturvedi who is the first IAF woman fighter pilot to participate in an air exercise abroad.

Hyakuri Air Base Commander, Major General Ishimura Takahisa, who welcomed the IAF contingent along with Indias Ambassador to Japan Sibi George, affirmed that both countries will continue to promote defence cooperation in order to maintain and strengthen Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) region.

The Japan Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) will be represented by four Mitsubishi F-2 multirole fighters and four F-15 aircraft at the joint exercise.

The Hyakuri Air Base, located in the Omitama City of Ibaraki Prefecture, is the only base in the Tokyo metropolitan area that has a combat air wing.

It was home to the former Navy Hyakurigahara Air Corps, which was established in 1938. In 2010, Hyakuri Airport was shared and the Ibaraki Airport terminal building was completed.

In 2019, Japan Air Forces 302nd Squadron (F-4) was moved to Misawa Air Base and upgraded to the F-35A. One year later, the reconnaissance squadron was abolished and the 3rd Squadron (F-2) moved from Misawa Air Base to Hyakuri Air Base.

As India and Japan celebrated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, Chief of Air Staff Vivek Ram Chaudhari visited the key JASDF base in May last year at the invitation of JASDF chief Shunji Izutsu.

Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari was given a detailed presentation by Base Commander Ishimura on the units, equipment, etc. during his visit.

As reported by IndiaNarrative.com earlier, both countries had decided to hold their first air-combat exercises following the 90-minute bilateral between visiting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Japanese counterpart Yasukazu Hamada in Tokyo on September 8.

Held at the headquarters of the Japanese Defence Ministry ahead of the second India-Japan 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial, the discussion finalised a roadmap to step up bilateral defence cooperation and engage in more military exercises. This also included the holding of the first joint fighter jet drills, reflecting the growing security cooperation between the two sides.

This exercise will thus be another step in deepening strategic ties and closer defence cooperation between the two countries, the Indian Defence Ministry said in a statement last week.

The inaugural exercise will include the conduct of various aerial combat drills between the two Air Forces. They will undertake multi-domain air combat missions in a complex environment and will exchange best practices. Experts from both sides will also hold discussions to share their expertise on varied operational aspects.

Exercise Veer Guardian will fortify the long-standing bond of friendship and enhance the avenues of defence cooperation between the two Air Forces, said the Defence Ministry.

Also Read: Indian woman fighter pilot set to script history during exercises in Japan next week
After two episodes of passenger misconduct on flight AI-142 from Paris to New Delhi on December 6 of last year, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a show cause notice to Air India's Accountable Manager on Monday.

The show cause notice said enforcement action "should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations."

Twitter

One passenger was drunk, smoking in the lavatory, and not paying attention to the crew.



When a female passenger used the restroom, another passenger reportedly discharged himself on her empty seat and blanket.

A press release from the DGCA says that the organization first asked Air India for an incident report on January 5.

Representational Image

"After perusal of the reply submitted by Air India through email dated January 6, prima facie, it emerges that provisions related to the handling of unruly passengers as per DGCA CAR Section -3, Series-M, Part-VI have not been complied with," the press release said.



DGCA said: It has been noted that the airline's response has been "lackadaisical and delayed."

"In view of this, DGCA has issued Show Cause Notice to the Accountable Manager of M/s Air India as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations. However, to follow the principles of natural justice, they have been given two weeks to submit their reply to DGCA, and based on that, further action will be taken," the release said.

Representative Image

DGCA has issued Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) Section -3, Series-M, Part-VI on 'Handling of Unruly Passenger' and Cabin Safety Circular 02 of 2010 on 'Unruly Passengers/Passenger Rage/Passenger Misconduct incidents reporting procedure.'



(With agency inputs)

(For the latest trending stories, keep reading Indiatimes)


Points at issue are likely to include the role of a $25 million humanitarian fund that was set up by the reinsurers in 2017  none of the victims in the current suit have tapped into this, Marks said; reinsurers may contend that this does not mean there has been zero interest expressed in the fund by represented families  despite a denial of coverage by the reinsurers and Bisa.
Over 200 medicinal products are currently out of stock in Ireland, leaving pharmacists scrambling to find alternatives for sick people.

Cases of Covid, flu and RSV have continued to rise sharply over the last two weeks, seeing a sharp rise in demand.

However, that demand together with issues in the supply chain has led to 212 products being unavailable, latest research has shown.

The medicines experiencing shortages are for use across a range of health conditions, including respiratory and bacterial infections, strep throat, pneumonia, pain relief and blood pressure.

There is a major shortage of over-the-counter (OTC) cough syrups for both adults and children, with pharmacists left scrabbling for alternatives.

Sprays for sore throats, dissolvable paracetamol powder, and soluble aspirin are also widely unavailable.

The Medicine Shortage Index, prepared by industry experts, Azure Pharmaceuticals, analyses the most up-to-date data published by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA).

The analysis found that common medicines such as Amoxicillin and Penicillin, used to treat bacterial infections, and Cefalexin, commonly used to treat respiratory infections, are all currently unavailable from any supplier or source.

The shortage of Clarithromycin, used to combat strep throat and pneumonia, is also causing growing pressure as the three suppliers of the medicine  who account for over 50% of the market  are now also out of stock.

Commenting on the latest Index analysis, managing director of Azure Pharmaceuticals Sandra Gannon said:

For the second month running, we are seeing the scale of medicine shortages in Ireland and resulting impact on patients and those who care for them.

It is the continuation of a trend that was first evident at the end of 2019 and has been continually worsening in the period since.

At a time when we are desperately trying to keep people out of our hospitals and provide adequate care in the community, leaving patients without access to their vital treatments has huge knock-on implications for the current crisis in our emergency departments.

"Existing high-level of sicknesses and hospital demand pressures risk being exacerbated further by the medicines shortages problems."

On measures which could be taken to tackle the problem, Ms Gannon added:

Opening the door to alternative sources for medicines which are currently single-source dependent needs to be fast-tracked. Medicines will continue to follow the best prices, and until Ireland can better compete globally in this regard, the shortages were seeing will continue.

"It is also time to reflect on the learnings of Covid, broaden our manufacturing base, and de-risk our dependency on particular markets.

The HSE's chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry moved to assure the public that the HSE had all the drug supplies it needed.

We have available stock, he said when asked about the shortage of over the counter medications on RTE radio.

While there was a shortage of some over the counter items, the most important medicines were antibiotics and the HSE could confirm that it had the supplies it needed.
An obsessed US actor persistently sent unwanted messages to an Irish doctor for almost 20 years after a three-week relationship when she was in America on a J1 visa, a judge has heard.

Dublin District Court was told that for two decades, Steven Spenneberg, 54, constantly sent gifts and messages declaring his love to the woman he had last seen in 2004.

However, she did not reply and it allegedly "escalated" to a threatening voicemail message and his arrival in Ireland when he turned up at her family home in Co Cork on New Year's Eve.

The out-of-work actor and radio broadcaster of Oakshire Drive, Los Angeles, was charged with harassing the woman, 40, from May 2020 until January 3 this year.

Judge David McHugh refused bail.

The court heard she spent years blocking his emails and social media messages.

The complainant told a bail hearing she was in fear after the accused left her a voicemail saying "desperate people do desperate things".

Garda Shauna Ferncombe from Donnybrook station arrested the accused in Dublin and charged Mr Spenneberg, who made no reply.

Voicing witness interference and flight risk concerns, Garda Ferncombe said the woman met Mr Spenneberg when she was on a J1 visa working in San Diego in 2004.

Three-week relationship

They had been in a three-week relationship when she was 21, and he was 35.

She returned in September 2004 to study medicine, and the accused allegedly began phoning and emailing, "declaring his love for her". The court heard she never replied, but he kept sending messages by fax, email and social media on Bebo, MySpace, Instagram and Facebook.

Judge McHugh heard she "blocked him on all platforms" and had to delete her email and social media accounts due to the online harassment.

After she qualified and began working in a clinic in 2012, he allegedly went to "disturbing lengths to contact her through her job".

The court heard it made her feel violated, embarrassed, exposed and threatened.

The court heard in 2015, he created a work email account and sent her a message titled "Explanation from me". It was alleged he fantasised about living with her.

The judge was told it caused the woman distress and affected her career and gardai contacted him to ask him to stop.

It was alleged that in June last year, he left a voicemail saying, "I lost my fucking job, I can't live here anymore, I'm fucking tired of this game".

The court heard he also said he was desperate and "desperate people do desperate things".

The garda said it "escalated", and on New Year's Eve, he flew from the US to Shannon and headed straight to her family home. Her mother asked if he had been the American contacting her daughter.

She suggested he visit the Western Way, which he did for two days, but gardai later him arrested in Dublin.

The court heard he told officers that brought him closer to the complainant.

'Romanticised fascination'

The garda believed he had a "romanticised fascination".

In cross-examination, defence solicitor Brian Keenan put it to the garda that the allegations were at the lower end of the scale and the case would be dealt with at the district court level and not in the circuit court with broader sentencing powers.

The officer replied the Director of Public Prosecution had not yet decided on the trial venue. She added that regardless of whether he was threatening, there had been persistent contact since 2004 and he was "obsessed".

The garda said the woman knew him for three weeks, but after nearly 20 years, he is a "complete stranger".

Mr Keenan described his client, who is single, as "desperate and lonely".

The court heard he had a return flight booked for January 13, but while gardai had his passport, they were concerned he would leave if granted bail.

The officer said an offer to stay away from parts of the country did not ease her concerns.

Giving evidence from behind a screen and out of sight of the defendant sitting just a few feet away, the woman became visibly upset.

She told the court, "it has been horrific, actually; it has altered the course of my life".

She told the court she felt threatened; it impacted her medical research work and that she could not have an online presence. She claimed he also contacted her through work despite efforts to block him, and she feared for her safety.

She said, "I knew him for three weeks 20 years ago" and she referred to the voicemail message.

The Kentucky-born actor did not address the court and was of limited means, the judge heard. He has not yet indicated a plea.

The solicitor said Mr Spenneberg would abide by any condition imposed by the court.

However, Judge McHugh refused bail and remanded him in custody to appear again on January 13, pending the DPP's directions. Legal aid was granted.
An Irish humanitarian has said his trial in Greece over smuggling-related charges is deeply damaging to the European Union.

Sean Binder said the trial was an attack on the idea of human rights and the rule of law but added he was confident of being found innocent in a fairly run trial.

Mr Binder also said he has received racist messages and death threats for helping people who were crossing the Mediterranean to Europe, but emphasised the need to understand the fears people have about migration.

The Kerryman is one of 24 migrant rescue volunteers on the Greek island of Lesbos charged in 2018 with a range of offences including misdemeanour counts of espionage-related offences, illegal access to state communications and assisting criminal activity.

Building support and solidarity among MEPs today for search and rescue workers like Sean Binder who face spurious charges in Greece while Europe turns a blind eye to abuses on our borders 



Not my first time getting stopped by French cops mind you! #DropTheCharges pic.twitter.com/LAOOsa4f8Y  Grace O'Sullivan MEP (@GraceOSllvn) December 13, 2022

The defendants deny any wrongdoing, maintaining that they had wanted to help save lives when Lesbos was overwhelmed by refugees and migrant arrivals from nearby Turkey.

Mr Binder, a trained rescue diver from Castlegregory, was in Lesbos to volunteer with Emergency Response Centre International, a Greek non-governmental organisation.

Despite the NGO working closely with police and the coastguard, he was arrested and charged in August 2018 and placed in pretrial detention for almost four months, alongside people accused of murder.

Amnesty International and other organisations have criticised the Greek authorities for using the farcical and baseless charges to make an example of humanitarian workers.

The trial of Mr Binder and others over misdemeanour charges is set to begin on Tuesday, although the felony charges could take up to 15 years longer to be brought to trial in the Greek system.

If they really thought that we were the criminals they accuse us of being, and if they really thought they had the evidence to back it up, then they would have brought this trial as quickly as possible because they want us behind bars

Mr Binder told the PA news agency that he eager for the trial to begin, but fears it will be drawn out further.

The misdemeanour (trial) had to happen effectively now, otherwise theyd lose the opportunity, wile for the felony trial, that can take another 15 years.

And given the tactics so far by the prosecution to make this take as long as possible, we fear that we wont be receiving the felony indictment any time soon, which presents possibly a silver lining.

Because if they really thought that we were the criminals they accuse us of being, and if they really thought they had the evidence to back it up, then they would have brought this trial as quickly as possible because they want us behind bars.

The case was last adjourned in November 2021 and it is possible Tuesdays hearing could result in another adjournment.

Mr Binder added: I am desperate to get to trial, we are desperate to get to trial.

The vast majority of the time I sat at the shoreline for seven hours in complete darkness, looking at the sea, holding a bottle of water and a blanket. And then to be arrested for doing really a small act of kindness, it is nothing more than that, is shocking

It is just a material fact that using WhatsApp doesnt make you a spy. It is a fact that helping people at risk of drowning is not smuggling. It is a fact that just because you happen to operate at a charity, you are not a money-launderer. The arguments, the facts pulled, the evidence brought forward by the prosecution and the police investigation is so weak.

For example, the prosecution alleged that I committed smuggling on 12 occasions, the majority of those occasions, I was not on the island of Lesbos. It would be impossible for me to be in two places at once  one, at the border pulling people across it, and once for example, on my graduation at university.

So Im relatively confident that when we get to trial, and if it is indeed a fair trial, that I will be found innocent.

The fundamental thing about this is that what I did isnt all that special  we have this view that search and rescue is going out to sea and pulling people out of the water, and while that happens on occasion, the vast majority of the time I sat at the shoreline for seven hours in complete darkness, looking at the sea, holding a bottle of water and a blanket.

And then to be arrested for doing really a small act of kindness, it is nothing more than that, is shocking.

I mean, it is terrifying that the Greek state and the European Union  because it happens all across the union  will criminalise a 24-year-old for holding a bottle of water rather than doing what its supposed to do, which is abide by its own laws.

Every bit of international law, every bit of European Human Rights Convention requires what I did, and more. The hypocrisy of the situation is deeply damaging to the EU as a whole.

Its an attack on the idea of human rights and the rule of law.

A beach on Lesbos where life jackets have been left by migrant arrivals (Alamy/PA)

Mr Binder said Emergency Response Centre International had won awards and worked with the Greek authorities, even lending them equipment.

In an ideal world, there would be no need for search and rescue. In a better world, the authorities would be doing it. In the reality in which we live, a medic from one of the best-funded EU agencies has to email a 24-year-old volunteer to supply them with medical equipment.

Mr Binder also spoke about the hate mail he gets from people who accuse him of not being Irish and argue that migrants should have been left to drown.

He said that people say nasty things such as that people should be left to drown, and that what he did was criminal.

I get some hate mail from Ireland, for example, that Im not Irish.

People who send me racist messages, often times, Ill troll them back. When people say Youre not Irish, Ill respond in Irish and make fun of them in Irish.

I also send a follow-up message saying Look, I get that youre angry and that youre upset.

And theres always an underlying view that is legitimate, and its important that weve to look past the racism and the initial anger and to find out why are you telling me this?'

Mr Binder says hes powering through, but if all 24 are found guilty, the consequences would be far greater and far more worrying.

Its one thing if I go to prison, because Im just one person and it doesnt really matter. But if the 24 of us go to prison for doing what everybody else does, and would do, that really, really does matter.
Mariners in Cork and Kerry have been warned about the possibility of debris falling from the sky tonight off the south-west coast of Ireland.

The warning, issued by the Department of Transport, comes into effect between 10pm and 1am and is in connection with a mid-air launch of a satellite-carrying rocket from Virgin Orbit.

The rocket will be fired into the sky from a 747 jet around midnight and head in a southerly direction.

The warning from the department explains: "The Department of Transport has been advised that Virgin Orbit plans to establish a space launch hazard area off the South-West Coast of Ireland on January 9 2023 and January 10 2023 between the hours of 22:00 and 01:00.

"Virgin Orbit LLC will be conducting a satellite launch attempt originating from the UKs Spaceport Cornwall. The rocket launch vehicle will be deployed by air over water near the Southern Coast of Ireland.

"Where the launch attempt proceeds as planned, no debris will enter the marine hazard area set out in the co-ordinates below and the map at Appendix 1. However, there is a low probability for the vehicle to produce dangerous debris if a mishap were to occur.

Mariners are advised to avoid the marine hazard area during and leading up to the launch period due to possible dangerous conditions from potential rocket debris

A specially adapted 747 aircraft will carry the rocket at Spaceport Cornwall, at Cornwall Airport.

"Virgin Orbit will be taking every step possible to monitor the area during the launch attempt. Mariners are advised to report any debris or pollution sightings as a result of any mishap due to launch." it concludes.

Start me up

If all goes to plan the launch will take place at Spaceport Cornwall as part of the Start Me Up mission. Named in tribute to The Rolling Stones' 1981 hit, the mission involves a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft and Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket.

The 747, dubbed Cosmic Girl, will take off horizontally from the new facility while carrying the rocket. Around an hour into the flight the rocket will ignite its engine and take multiple small satellites, with a variety of civil and defence applications, into orbit. They will be the first satellites launched into space from Europe.

Fears of Irish fishers

However, Patrick Murphy of the Irish South & West Fish Producers Association told RTE's News at Onethat "'if a mishap were to happen'" that means "that it explodes and everything that's up there comes flying down on top of heads of people in the area."

Mr Murphy said the Irish fishing fleet and the environment need to be offered greater protection. "We need it from our Ministers - Eamon Ryan who is a Green Minister - to allow this to continue - a rocket up into the air, burning carbon - it flies in the face of the message being given out."

He said the rocket's launch will impact on the ability of members of the South & West Fish Producers Association to make a living. "Do they expect us to steam for miles - to steam this area would take half a day, so you're out of the area in case something might happen. It's not just about tonight, it's on for the 13th January or the 15th again, there's no clear communications on this.

There's been no clear communication (from the Dept or Virgin Media). It's the same as with the Russian military" exercises, we don't seem to be getting this communication right between the various departments.

"You wouldn't get permission to launch this over Dublin or any other populated area, there's areas of the sea that they could do this as well - out into international waters. You don't put people's lives in danger when you have an alternative and we believe there's an alternative," Mr Murphy said.

"This is dangerous, If it explodes - any marine traffic is at risk. There's a lot of traffic out there, a lot of boats. You can't just put down the shoe and go 50 miles to your left or right, we have boats that fish and shoot the nets for six hours at a time. This will really discommode boats

Meanwhile, the National Space Centre at Elfordstown EarthStation near Midleton in Cork, will be offering ground control data in support of the mission.

We are thrilled to be working with our partners Leafspace and Goonhilly to provide TT&C for this historic launch from Cornwall, said CEO Rory Fitzpatrick.

Interestingly, while it will be a first for the British, it will be the third time weve provided ground control data for a space launch at the NSC. Weve previously supported RocketLabs Electron rocket launch and we also provided groundstation services for South Koreas recent Nuri rocket launch for Contec.

Members of the public keen to witness the spectacle may get a glimpse from Cork or Kerry if they look to the southern horizon just after launch.

It was originally hoped the launch could take place before Christmas but owing to technical and regulatory issues it had to be pushed into 2023.
Burma Myanmar Junta Battalion Commander Among Casualties in Karen State Battles

Resistance Special Operation Force troops parade after raids on junta military battalions in Kyainseikgyi Township last week. Photo - S.O.F

Karen resistance forces say a regime battalion commander was among 45 junta soldiers confirmed killed or wounded in coordinated attacks on three battalions in Kyainseikgyi Township, Karen State last week.

At 4 am last Wednesday, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and three Peoples Defense Force groups raided Battalions 32, 283 and 284 stationed near the town of Kyainseikgyi, the Red Dragon Column, which took part in the attack, said on Monday.

The KNLA is the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU).

Resistance forces managed to seize the battalions base and torch the infantry barracks, some officers quarters and vehicles before they were forced to retreat by junta airstrikes, the groups said.

A video released by the Cobra Column resistance group shows its fighters entering a military battalion compound at the base as advance units secure the perimeter.

The commander of Infantry Battalion 284 was among 45 junta troops killed or wounded during the nine-hour raid, according to Red Dragon Column.

The group said seven of its own troops were killed and 13 others wounded in the attack.

The junta issued a statement claiming that resistance forces had only burned down abandoned military buildings near the battalion bases fence before retreating in the face of a counterattack by regime soldiers and their families.

It added that regime troops had also seized bodies of resistance fighters, calling them terrorists, along with weapons and ammunition. However, the statement made no mention of junta military casualties. The wife of the Battalion 284 commander was reportedly seized by resistance fighters but then escaped during the airstrikes.

KNLA and allied PDFS also killed 90 junta soldiers and allied Border Guard Forces (BGFs) in six days of attacks from Dec. 31 to Jan. 5 on BGF outposts along the Phayathonsu road in Kyainseikgyi Township, according to the Lion Battalion Commando Group, which coordinated the attacks.

Resistance forces managed to seize two BGF outposts despite the regime retaliating with heavy artillery and airstrikes. Nine resistance fighters were killed and 15 injured in the intense fighting, said a resistance Special Operation Force that took part in the raids.

Meanwhile the KNU reports that between December 22 and 28, a total of 56 regime troops were killed and 40 wounded in 11 clashes inside KNLA Brigade 6 territory.
Burma Myanmar Junta Continues to Target Women and Children: NUG

Junta police use force against a pregnant woman in Yangon on February 27, 2021. / The Irrawaddy

At least 265 children and 414 women have been killed by Myanmars regime since the 2021 coup, according to the Ministry of Women, Youths and Children Affairs of the civilian National Unity Government (NUG).

The NUGs ministry reported this week that 13 percent of the victims are female and nearly 9 percent are under-18s, including infants.

It said in the resistance stronghold of Sagaing Region, where regime troops and Pyu Saw Htee militia allies conduct regular arson attacks on civilian homes, 92 under-18s and 171 women had been killed.

Magwe, Mandalay and Yangon regions also reported high numbers of deaths of children and women.

The regime has been deliberately and relentlessly committing widespread atrocities against civilians, including torture, massacres, burning alive, using civilians as human shields, aerial bombing and shelling residential areas and looting and burning houses, which United Nations representatives have called war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Around 2,711 people had been killed by the regime by December 7 last year, while more than 17,000 people, including government leaders, have been detained, reported the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners that monitors the junta.
Burma Myanmar Junta Revokes Pardon for Freed Australian Economist Sean Turnell

Sean Turnell

The Myanmar military regime has revoked its pardon for recently released Australian economist Sean Turnell for criticizing it in his media interviews and social media posts, according to a leaked internal junta announcement.

Turnell formerly served as an economic adviser to now detained Myanmar democracy figure Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government. The junta arrested the economist following the coup in February 2021, accusing him of possessing state secret information. Turnell pleaded not guilty but a regime court in Naypyitaw sentenced him to three years imprisonment in September last year. He was released in November amid the juntas amnesty in consideration of bilateral relations and on humanitarian grounds, the regime said at the time.

Upon arriving in Australia, the economist said in a thank you message on Facebook that despite his joy at being reunited with his family, he was acutely aware that the 53 million people in Myanmar continue to suffer under a regime that is about as unrepresentative of them as is possible to imagine.

He added, It is a tragic and terrible thing that the nicest people I have encountered anywhere are ruled over by such knaves and fools.

In media interviews he warned that the coup has severely damaged Myanmars economy and that the regime wouldnt give up power easily. He also revealed the inhumane treatment he experienced in prison along with other political detainees such as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, whom he met during their trial proceedings and who urged him to tell everyone the truth about Myanmar.

For the regime, it was all too much.

On Dec. 6, in an unpublicized announcement leaked on social media, the junta said its pardon for the economist had been revoked as he had violated the condition that he would have to serve the remainder plus the new prison sentence should he commit an offense again by making false statements about Myanmar via his social media accounts and in interviews with the media while he was still on probation.

Turnell confirmed to The Irrawaddy that the statement was real and official.

I received the notice of it a week or so ago, he said.

He declined to comment further on the revocation for fear of repercussions to friends and colleagues in Myanmar.

When time is right I will respond very fully. Its a real dilemma this one!! he added.
Burma Myanmar Junta Troops Burn Nearly 150 Houses in Sagaing

Pan Nyo village in Myaung Township on Monday. / Civil Defense and Security Organization of Myaung

Around 150 houses were looted and burned by Myanmar junta forces in Myaung Township, Sagaing Region, on Monday, according to resistance forces.

On Saturday, around 100 troops and Pyu Saw Htee militia allies arrived by motorboat and occupied Pan Nyo village at the confluence of the Ayeyarwady and Chindwin rivers, according to the Civil Defense and Security Organization of Myaung resistance group.

We didnt attack while they were looting but we felt compelled to act when they started torching houses. That stopped the whole village being burned down, Ko Nway Oo of the organization told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

Resistance forces from Myaung and Myinmu in Sagaing Region and Mandalay and Magwe regions attacked the troops, forcing a retreat by motorboat. Loot was left piled on the riverbank.

Two militia members were killed and there were no resistance casualties, Ko Nway Oo said. A resident died in a burning house.

Around 150 of more than 800 village houses were burned down, he said.

Several thousand villagers from Pan Nyo and neighboring villages have fled their homes amid ongoing regime shelling from across the Ayeyarwady.

In May last year, regime forces burned down 14 houses in Pan Nyo.

Faced with near-daily attacks, the junta continues to burn people alive, massacre civilians and use civilians as human shields. It shells and carries out airstrikes on civilian areas and uses sexual violence.
War Against the Junta Myanmars Revolutionary Forces Prepare to go on the Offensive

Special commando training under the NUGs Western Regional Command.

Myanmars resistance forces have evolved into a Peoples Army over the past year. Now, as 2023 starts, the resistance is preparing to speed up the revolution and go on the offensive to hammer the junta.

It has been almost two years of resistance since the Myanmar military seized power on February 1, 2021. The revolution started with homemade rifles in Kalay Town in Sagaing Region in late March 2021, when regime troops crushed an anti-coup protest camp. From Kalay, armed resistance spread across the whole country.

The parallel National Unity Government (NUG) organized resistance forces nationwide into the Peoples Defense Forces (PDF) three months after the coup. There are now more than 300 PDF battalions, according to the NUG, while there are still some resistance forces that operate independently. Moreover, there were around 401 Local Defense Forces (LDF) as of April 2022.

Currently, resistance forces are fighting the military regime in northern Kachin State, western Chin State, eastern Kayah State, southeastern Karen State, the central Anyar region  which comprises Mandalay, Sagaing and Magwe regions  and southern Tanintharyi Region.

PDF goals for 2023

PDFs leaders are planning to change the mission and fighting strategy of the resistance this year in order to bring a successful end to the revolution. After beginning the revolution with homemade weapons, the PDFs are preparing to go on the offensive.

Ko Tay Zar , a spokesperson for Moe Nyo Revolution Force, said that the revolution must be completed in 2023 because the public are very tired. Moreover, PDF fighters want to reunite with their families also.

The whole country must be liberated this year, Ko Tay Zar told The Irrawaddy.

For that reason, special commando training has been given to resistance forces. Furthermore, PDF leaders in resistance strongholds have already stockpiled arms and ammunition for 2023 in advance.

We are determined to fight until the end. But if we get (international) assistance like from the United States, the revolution will be successful quickly, a spokesperson for Yesagyo Yaylaekyun Guerrilla Force told The Irrawaddy.

The NUG, ethnic armed organizations and revolutionary forces have issued statements to speed up the revolution and topple the military dictatorship in 2023. The acting president of the NUG, Duwa Lashi La, said in his New Years speech that 2023 will mark the turning point in the war against military rule and called for continuous revolution.

Three members of the Northern Alliance  the Taang National Liberation Army, the Arakan Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army  announced that they will continue to do what needs to be done to fight the military dictatorship.

General N Ban La, the chair of the Kachin Independence Organization, the political wing of the powerful Kachin Independence Army which is fighting the regime, also stated in his New Years speech that the Myanmar military is the enemy of the entire people and that the enemy must be attacked.

Some PDFs in ethnic regions and central Myanmar were able to control some of their areas last year after fierce fighting. They will try and expand their control this year.

Chin State

Chin State is a hotbed of armed resistance against the junta and is home to at least 27 armed groups, formed by mostly young people from different backgrounds, according to the Chinland Joint Defense Committee. Clashes between the Myanmar military and ethnic Chin resistance groups are taking place in Mindat, Kanpetlet, Hakha, Thantlang, Paletwa and Matupi townships in Chin State.

All of these townships, except for the towns themselves, are controlled by the resistance, according to the Chin Defence Force (Kanpetlet).

A representative of Chin Defense Force (Mindat) said that they have already prepared a plan for 2023 to attack the regimes military bases, and have presented it to their allies and the NUG.

The representative said that even though most of Chin State is now under the control of revolutionary groups, the entire revolution was not yet successful. If the revolution is to be more successful, the NUG should give more leadership and support to revolutionary groups at the grassroots level.

If the NUG provides us with arms and ammunition, we can really expand the liberated areas and help and fight for other regions until those areas are liberated, the representative told The Irrawaddy.

Anyar Region (central Myanmar)

The Anyar region has suffered the most from the regimes arson attacks. Over 70 per cent of junta arson attacks have taken place in central Myanmar, the stronghold of the resistance movement.

It is estimated that there are 15,000 PDF and 20,000 LDF fighters in Anyar alone, according to a report by the Tagaung Institute of Political Studies.

U Myat Ko, a representative of the Chindwin Yoma Allied Forces, said that they plan to attack in order to take control of townships in 2023. Chindwin Yoma Allied Forces comprises 24 resistance groups in Sagaing Region with 4,000 members, who are fighting the regime in Sagaing, Mandalay and Magwe regions and Karen State.

Like other PDFs, Chindwin Yoma Allied Forces still lack enough weapons. However, they will use homemade weapons in their missions. Their fighters have been given special commando training since the end of last year.

Last year, we resisted the military offensive. Now, everything is ready to fight the military in 2023, U Myat Ko told The Irrawaddy.

Moe Nyo Revolution Force is based in Sagaings Myinmu Township and has more than 200 fighters. 40 of them have received special commando training in order to step up their missions. The Force has also changed its fighting tactics this year. It has conducted several ambushes with mines on military convoys traveling the Sagaing-Myinmu Road. Now, they plan to launch attacks as well as ambushes.

Currently, Moe Nyo Revolution Force has enough fighters and can produce all the weapons that it needs.

Ko Tay Zar, spokesperson for Moe Nyo Revolution Force, told The Irrawaddy that they wont retreat from confrontations anymore and will take the battle to junta forces.

The leader of Black God Guerilla Force said that they carried out at least 25 fighting missions last year and are ready to cooperate with powerful resistance forces this year. Black God has around 75 fighters and are based in Magwes Myaing Township.

We want NUG officials to visit us on the ground and do everything they can to help us, he told The Irrawaddy.

Kayah State

Kayah State is a resistance stronghold with more than 15,000 fighters in at least 12 resistance groups fighting alongside the Karenni Army, the armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Party. Among those groups, the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), which is led by young people, is the most powerful, with more than 7,000 members including female fighters.

KNDF and allied resistance groups conducted 341 battles last year and captured some Myanmar military bases. During those battles, 797 regime soldiers were killed and 93 injured, according to the KNDF.

Bo Kyaut Saung , the battalion commander of Moebye PDF, said that his group has reviewed the experiences of last year and plans to speed up the fighting in 2023.

There is a weakness in terms of strategy and ammunition. But our human strength and morale are really strong. So we will be more effective in 2023 than last year, Bo Kyaut Saung told The Irrawaddy.

The Karenni Revolution Union, which comprises six resistance forces, hope to be able to fight as urban guerrillas to prevent the juntas planned general election from going ahead in 2023.

Ko Lin Lin, a spokesperson for Karenni Revolution Union, said: As we started our revolution as urban guerillas, we want to continue that this year in order to control our territory.

PDF requirements for 2023

All the above PDFs said that their main weakness is a shortage of weapons and ammunition. Some PDFs have received support from the NUG, but it isnt enough. Other PDFs have not received any support from the NUG.

We want to request the NUG to ensure that the flow of weapons improves because there is little support as we are in the middle of Myanmar, a representative of Yesagyo Yaylaekyun Guerilla Force said.

Ko Lin Lin urged the NUG to provide revolutionary forces with weapons. There are a lot of armed groups in Karenni. So NUG officials need to interact with those forces, he said.

PDF leaders also urged the NUGs Ministry of Defense to organize more LDFs. They added that if the resistance unites to fight, the revolution will be over quickly.

NUG defense minister U Yee Mon said in his New Years speech that the NUG and allied groups are determined to achieve decisive results for the revolution this year and have drawn up a one-year plan to implement that.

He added that they are planning to supply weapons to all PDF battalions as funding has already exceeded expectations.

There are good foundations needed if the revolution is to succeed in the second year of the resistance, said U Yee Mon.
Guest Column For UNs Migration Agency, Business as Usual With Myanmar Junta

Junta Minister U Ko Ko Hlaing of the Ministry of International Cooperation receives Dragan Aleksoski, chief of mission of the International Organization for Migration Myanmar, at the ministry in Naypyitaw on Dec. 20, 2022. / GNLM

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Myanmar Crisis Response Plan 2023, which was updated on Dec. 14, 2022, has all the right jargon and sounds impressive unless one thinks about it for two minutes. It is about the IOM searching for a total of US$37.2 million for Myanmar and raises some questions.

In The Vision, which is not really a vision, the only concrete contribution the IOM seems to claim is data on population movement. This is followed by general objectives, a section on the context, the IOMs coordination and their capacityi.e., stating the problem and why the IOM should be funded to help solve it. This is the standard proposal format. Not acquiring funding will have serious consequences. IOM jobs may be lost and it wont look too good for chief of mission Dragan Aleksoski.

Looking at the first objective as an example one can see the devil is in the detail.

Save lives and respond to needs through humanitarian assistance and protection USD21,800,000, 49,000 people targeted.

This doesnt state the type of humanitarian assistance or the geographical area that will receive this assistance. The plans breakdown of this objective doesnt answer these questions either. To quote directly from the plan:

Basic Needs, including Food 5,000,000

Camp Coordination and Camp Management 500,000

Direct Health Support 8,700,000

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Humanitarian Response 900,000

Protection 1,300,000

Shelter, Settlements and Non-Food Items 2,800,000

Provision of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Emergencies 2,600,000.

This raises questions as to who, where, how, what, etc. The what is answered in broad strokes in the following breakdown (again quoting directly):

Basic needs, including food

IOM Myanmar, in close coordination with relevant clusters and the cash working group, will assist IDPs [internally displaced persons] and vulnerable communities affected by conflict or disasters with targeted and tailored food, emergency livelihoods and/or cash assistance based on identified needs. This will include:

Provision of in-kind food assistance in locations where this is an identified needs of the community and IOM has a comparative advantage with regards to access, taking into account market access and the affordability, availability and accessibility of food.

Provision of multi-purpose cash assistance as part of a mixed modality approach in locations where this is the preference of communities, and where there is market accessibility, functionality and affordability of key items identified as part of needs assessment.

FUNDING REQUIRED $5,000,000

Neither here, nor anywhere in this document, is there any mention of the geographical area to be targeted or how the aid will be delivered and to whom. It is also difficult to think of where the IOM has a comparative advantage with regards to access. Furthermore, the IOM has a lack of experience of food aid in Myanmar. It is not exactly their mandate but most UN agencies compete for the same funds irrespective of whether they have a competitive advantage in a particular field.

Based upon Aleksoskis two visits to Naypyitaw and his lack of any visit to the National Unity Government (NUG), one suspects that the IOM will continue to engage with (i.e., support) the junta in what they perceive as playing it safe. Aleksoski paid a courtesy call and presented his Letter of Accreditation to Union Minister for Foreign Affairs U Wunna Maung Lwin in Naypyitaw on September and then, as also reported in the New Global Light of Myanmar (NGLM), visited Junta Minister U Ko Ko Hlaing of the Ministry of International Cooperation in Naypyitaw on Dec. 20, 2022. During the courtesy meeting, they shared their views on matters pertaining to the support of the IOM to the people of Myanmar in the field of migration and the update on the progress of IOM programmes in Myanmar. (NGLM)

So, for the IOM chief of mission, it seems to be business as usual with the illegitimate mafia-like junta, treating them as the legitimate government and thus supporting their claim for legitimacy.

There are other questions to ask of the IOM and other UN agencies. What percentage of the money required goes to IOM overheads? From experience one would expect between 30 and 45 percent. What does will support mean, and if the IOM is just supporting, are they really necessary? What advocacy is the IOM doing to support displaced people, e.g., those facing deportation from Thailand? How many people have been deported from Thailand per month? Will the IOM publicly engage with the NUG and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), especially bearing in mind the Burma Act? What is the IOM chief of missions justification for business as usual with the junta? Has there been any independent cost/impact assessment of the IOMs work in Myanmar? The IOM needs to answer such questions. These questions have been emailed to Aleksoski but he is on leave so there has been no response. However, they were also forwarded to the acting chief of mission but still no response.

On Dec. 15, the United States Senate approved the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This includes the Burma Act, which advocates giving non-lethal assistance to and engaging with the NUG, EAOs and Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs). One presumes Aleksoski read this but still, a few days later, instead of visiting the NUG or EAOs, he reported to the illegal military regime.

The author has been informed that people from some UN agencies have met with the NUG and some EAOs as well as the junta and asked for all these visits to be kept confidential. The junta obviously doesnt respect this and makes full propaganda use of the various and increasing UN visits. Surely by now the UN realizes that any meeting with the junta will be public and exploited by the military and so they should make NUG and EAO meetings public. The UN Country Team (UNCT) should take the lead on this.

Aleksoski has worsened the already terrible reputation of the UN with the people of Myanmar by engaging in business as usual with the junta. Some people are even refusing aid from what are seen as collaborators with the junta. The people of Myanmar see this engagement with the junta as being for their own selfish reasons and not to support the vulnerable in the country. To try and change this perception, the UN must follow the Burma Act recommendations and engage and support the NUG, EAOs and PDFs with nonlethal aid, especially cross border [?]. The UNCT needs to take the lead on this and it needs to be monitored by the US and other donor countries. Unfortunately, UN agencies cant be relied on to do the right thing for the people of Myanmar unless it is in their own interests.

Paul Greening is an ex-UN senior staff member with over 20 years experience in six Asian countries working for six UN agencies and four INGOs. He worked in Sittwe, Rakhine State for the IOM from 2017 to 2020 and since then has been involved in advocacy against the illegal attempted coup and supporting those who have suffered from it.
GUEST OPINION: With everything becoming digital today, traditional paper certificates are no longer an option. The majority of LMSs can now generate certificate templates.

A certificate template is similar to a certificate layout filled with necessary information like the employee's name and the specifics of the training program. These certificate templates are available for instructors to choose from when awarding certificates to learners. Certificates may be given to everyone or according to a score. Nowadays, certificates serve as a highlight for the learner's accomplishments and as proof of their level of competency. As a result, the modern LMS now includes an essential component known as an LMS certificate of completion. This article emphasizes the value and benefits of certificates and why adding them to your eLearning courses is a smart option. However, before we move ahead, we must comprehend these certificates and badges.

What Exactly Are Certificates?

The industry standard for confirming qualifications, training, skill sets, and expertise has quickly evolved to include certificates.

An individual's professional accomplishments and qualifications can be verified using certificates, a new type of digital credentials. These certificates contain critical features like:

Issue date, explicitly stating the precise time the certificate was issued

Information about the course, including a summary of what was covered and expertise gained from it

The description of the organization or company issuing the certificate

The certification recipient's name, the company's logo, or a personalized seal

A specific URL where anyone can review each certificate's validity online

A unique license number for each certificate

5 Reasons Why Adding Certificates To Your E-Learning Courses Is A Smart Option

1. Goal-Oriented Training

Training that is goal-oriented for the employees is facilitated by presenting certificates as the course is completed. In the eyes of the employees, certification is a symbol of pride. It indicates their knowledge and understanding of that particular skill or curriculum if they complete the training. However, to receive an organization-issued certificate for online training, the employee must satisfy specific criteria outlined by the company.

2. A Rise In Employee Motivation

The certificate acts as a kind of incentive for the employees. They are eager to finish the course as soon as possible and receive their certificate. The learners' urge to get the certificate inspires them to learn more. For employees to develop their skills and abilities and advance their careers, they view it as an award. As they go through the training, they can keep an eye on their growth and skill level and evaluate themselves.

3. Greater Training Success

Training sessions offer all the information employees require and serve as a comprehensive learning unit encompassing all the essential takeaways. Learners can only access the learning programs relevant to their goals and objectives, so they are not required to finish an entire section of your online training course. As a result, it offers employees a better learning environment.

4. Track Learners' Performance

You can monitor the performance of the employees by using online training certifications. LMS platforms allow you to track certifications through in-depth reports by analyzing the learners' learning strategies. You can also deliver the training in short courses to precisely define the learners' performance level. Additionally, if necessary, you can assure the employees' performance.

5. An Increase In The Credibility Of Your Organization

Certificates symbolize success and mastery, demonstrating a person's competence and commitment to excellence. This reflects the organization's overall confidence and raises your organization's credibility. Your company's reputation is improved when employees perform better and adhere to the expectations from your training materials.

Bottom Line

Training certifications are precious assets for employees to meet their corporate role. Learning standards are met, improvement areas are focused on, and knowledge and skill expansion are all made possible with certification in your training. Adding LMS certificates to your eLearning courses is thus an intelligent decision.
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On October 13th, 2022, an Indonesian man, wearing a golden suit with a black velvet peci (Indonesian traditional cap), stood in front of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. Before him, a black leather case with a sticker that read: Black Pete is racist. [referring to the black companion of Saint Nicholas in Dutch folklore] He looked the judges straight in the eye when he spoke: I am delighted to stand here in front of indigenous, white native counselors. It is unknown whether they were indeed indigenous to the Dutch land, but that was not the point. By reversing the use of the word inlanders (natives) to address representatives of the Dutch legal system, after all a white institution of power, he reminded them of the condescending way that Indonesians were treated during colonial times. For Indonesians, the word inlander is a slur, perhaps similar to what the n-word means to people of African descent. He continued to explain that within the 350 years of Dutch colonial rule, Indonesians were never given the legal rights that he now got.

The man is named Jeffry Pondaag and he is the founder and chair of the Komite Utang Kehormatan Belanda (KUKB, Committee of Dutch Honorary Debts). It was not the first time that he made use of the rights that his ancestors did not have. His organization is known for the successful court cases against the Dutch state regarding the 1947 massacre in the West Javanese village of Rawagede. After they won the first series of lawsuits in 2011, they continuously brought more cases to the Dutch court.

For years, Pondaag fought for the rights of his fellow Indonesians who were brutally murdered, tortured or raped by the Dutch (colonial) army during the countrys independence war that lasted from 1945 until 1949. His efforts did not go unnoticed.

The gruesome facts that the cases brought to light also alarmed historians and journalists who wondered whether this was just the tip of the iceberg. Clearly, the KUKB court cases opened a Pandora box and put the sensitive topic of Dutch war crimes against Indonesians back on the agenda. However, instead of being acknowledged for his crucial role, Pondaag is often ignored and sidelined from discussions in the Netherlands, as he is considered too radical.

What bersiap stands for

In the court case of October, however, the accused was not the Dutch state, but the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. In January 2022 KUKB had reported the Rijksmuseum, the curator Harm Stevens and director Taco Dibbits to the police. Their crime? The persistent use of the term bersiap in the exhibition Revolusi Indonesia Independent (February 11  June 5, 2022), which focused on the Indonesian independence war.

Not just Rijksmuseum but Dutch historians in general use the word bersiap to indicate an outburst of anti-colonial violence that took place during the early phase of the revolution in 1945-46. In the Dutch context bersiap stands for brutalities that were committed by Indonesians against Dutch, mixed-race Indo-Dutch and those who collaborated with the Dutch.

However, according to KUKB, the whole concept of bersiap is a Dutch colonial invention that only exists within Dutch history books. They maintain that the bersiap as historical period  often described as an isolated event in time of unilateral anticolonial violence from Indonesians against the Dutch  does not exist. During the same months that the Dutch claim that there was bersiap, Dutch and Allied forces committed acts of violence as well. The term also feeds the denial of the colonizers who do not want to see themselves as aggressors, occupiers of other peoples land. Instead, the Dutch interpretation of bersiap creates the impression of a regular conflict where two rival nations are equally guilty of the violent escalation. Bersiap thus stands for the colonial frame of both sides.

Exposing anti-colonial violence in the Dutch context also ties in with racist orientalist ideas of Indonesians being generally kind and submissive but nevertheless capable of sudden and (at least for the colonizers) unexpected brutalities. Take for example the 1989 publication of Dutch historian Lou de Jong in which he explained the bersiap through the nature of the Javanese, whom he described as being known for their smoldering aggressiveness that could pop up unexpectedly. More recently the headline of an op-ed piece in Dutch daily NRC read: I need to understand the blood-thirsty Indonesian fighter. As if bloodthirstiness and not the re-occupation was the motivation for Indonesians to take up arms against the Dutch.

At first, the Dutch Public Prosecutor (OM) rejected KUKBs police report, based on the argument that the bersiap could be explained in different ways and that the term was not inherently offensive to Indonesians in general. They deemed it a non-legal issue that had to be solved through open debate within society. KUKB then submitted a complaint. Via a special legal procedure, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal was forced to examine the case and set up court hearings to listen to all parties involved. KUKB maintained that the Rijksmuseum had insulted Indonesians as a group.

Lack of Indonesian representation

At the court hearing, Pondaag was accompanied by another Indonesian, Dida Pattipilohy, then secretary of the foundation. The appearance of two Indonesians in front of a Dutch court is quite exceptional. Indonesians are hardly represented in the Netherlands where they form a very small minority. Instead, those who identity as Indische Nederlanders (Dutch-Indies people) are dominantly present. They are of mixed Indo-European descent whose ancestors, during colonial times, were legally assimilated to Europeans. Their special legal status, which equaled Dutch citizenship, is the reason that they left Indonesia after the country became independent in 1945.

Jeffry Pondaag, chairman of the Komite Utang Kehormatan Belanda (KUKB) and Dida Pattipilohy, then secretary of the KUKB, in October 2022 after the hearing of their case against the Rijksmuseum by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal  Marjolein van Pagee.

Another big minority group present in Dutch society are people who identify as Moluccan. They originate from the East Indonesian province of Maluku. During colonial times, their fathers or grandfathers collaborated with the Dutch by joining the colonial army. They in fact helped to commit the crimes that KUKB brought to court.

As a result of the dominance of pro-colonial groups, the voices of the formerly oppressed, such as the Indonesian relatives represented by KUKB, are often not taken into account in public debates in the Netherlands. The attitude of the Rijksmuseum and the handling of this case illustrated this clearly.

An important point is that curator Stevens, and also director Dibbits, were informed about the problems with the Dutch concept of bersiap beforehand. In June 2021, after Pondaag had criticized another Rijksmuseum exhibition, Stevens invited him, Pattipilohy and her 96-year-old mother for a talk. During this meeting the plans for the upcoming exhibition Revolusi were extensively discussed. Again and again they emphasized that the idea of the bersiap as a separate period did not exist for Indonesians, as 350 years of Dutch colonialism had preceded 1945, which were followed by a bloody re-occupation war that lasted until 1949.

In fact, KUKB only went to the police after an op-ed piece by an Indonesian guest curator caused a stir. In January 11, 2022, one month before the opening of the exhibition, Bonnie Triyana published an opinion piece in Dutch daily NRC in which he announced that the Rijksmuseum would not use the term bersiap anymore because of its racist connotation. It did not seem that Triyana was just sharing his personal opinion, because the next day, during the online press conference when curator Harm Stevens was asked why he had chosen to avoid the term bersiap in the exhibition, he did not deny that this was the case. He only assured that they were nevertheless paying attention to the topic of anticolonial violence as such.

The point is that the museum officials did receive Triyanas piece up front and did not distance themselves from him, until the situation got out of hand and they received angry messages from right-wing people, accusing them of following the woke-agenda.As opposed to Pondaag, Triyana (who lives in Indonesia) is not at all seen as radical. He does not seem the type to have deliberately caused this controversy. He was perhaps as shocked by the responses in Dutch society as the museum staff itself. But it was Triyana who was thrown under the bus by the museum officials as if he had done something wrong. After the Federatie of Indische Nederlanders (FIN, Federation of Dutch-Indies people) reported him to the Dutch police, the Rijksmuseum publicly distanced itself from Triyanas statement. Director Dibbits, perhaps afraid of bad publicity, said that it was just Triyanas personal opinion. He went on to deny that the term was racist and promised they would continue to use it. He also explicitly stated that the Rijksmuseum was not woke. All this led to KUKBs decision to report Rijksmuseum to the police.

Taking sides

This is where the pain is: Dibbits immediately listened to Dutch-Indies people with openly colonial ideas, but dismissed Indonesians who addressed racism. The latter is a continuation of colonial racist hierarchies where Dutch-Indies people were closer to the colonizers than Indonesians, who were considered inlanders, natives, people you did not have to reckon with.

Last weeks rejection of the bersiap-case shows that this goes much further than Dutch-Indies people and prevailing colonial ideas. This is about a white system of power not willing to face the facts: the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, the Rijksmuseum, the Dutch Public Prosecutor, they are closing ranks, not used to empowered Indonesians who stand up and use the law in their advantage. The short text of the verdict by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal only echoes the simplistic arguments that the Prosecutor had used in defense of the Rijksmuseum. No single word about the sensible arguments that KUKB had put forward during the hearing. Pondaag responded: the Dutch praise themselves for having a democratic constitutional state, but what I see is that white natives protect each other and ignore what Indonesians say.

MARJOLEIN VAN PAGEE Marjolein van Pagee is an independent historian based in the Netherlands, specialized in the history of the Dutch occupation of Indonesia. She is the author of Banda. De Genocide van Jan Pieterszoon Coen (Banda. The Genocide of Jan Pieterszoon Coen, 2021). Van Pagee is the founder of the Histori Bersama Foundation, an online platform that provides Dutch-English-Indonesian translations of articles on Dutch colonialism in Indonesia. Since 2012 she actively supports the work of the KUKB foundation. Before the Court of Appeal of Amsterdam, she both testified as an expert witness and defended the KUKB.
Song Hye Kyo and Song Joong Ki made a huge buzz in the second half of 2022 for their blockbuster K-dramas "The Glory" and "Reborn Rich."

With this, viewers lauded the former couple for their "genre-switch" as they step out of their comfort zone.

To recall, the two top stars are known for their hit rom-com series such as "Sungkyunkwan Scandal" for Song Joong Ki and "Full House" for Song Hye Kyo as well as delivering top-notch performances in melodrama serries like "That Winter, The Wind Blows" and "Descendants of the Sun" which stars the duo.

Interestingly, for their return to the small screen, Song Hye Kyo and Song Joong Ki stunned fans with a different performances playing the main characters in the revenge series.

Will Song Hye Kyo and Song Joong Ki Say Goodbye to Melodrama Series?

As cited by a local media outlet, it seemed like the top stars are breaking away from their usual genre.

For Song Joong Ki, his recent K-drama "Vincenzo" centers around the Italian mafia consigliere, Vincenzo Cassano, who returned to South Korea with a mission of getting hidden gold but was caught up after he becomes involved in a riff against a group of corrupt companies known as Babel.

It was then followed by the revenge drama "Reborn Rich" which focuses on Yoon Hyun Woo being killed and reincarnated as the youngest chaebol Jin Do Joon.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Song Hye Kyo's Photos in Her Teens Cause Frenzy - Here's Why

The Song Joong Ki-led K-drama was definitely among the most-watched K-dramas of 2022 leaving the first season with a spectacular viewership rating.

As for Song Joong Ki's ex-wife, Song Hye Kyo, headlining "The Glory" is her first-ever revenge drama where it depicts the grievance of Moon Dong Eun who was victimized by bullies during her high school years, causing her to give up her dreams to become an architect.

However, years later, she returned with plans to get back at the perpetrators who victimized her.

With Song Hye Kyo and Song Joong Ki starring in different genres, the report pointed out that there's no need for the two to have a "genre-switch" but the important thing is to have a story that viewers can relate to or be entertained through the beautiful storyline and amazing cast lineup.

What's Next for Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo After 'Reborn Rich' and 'The Glory'?

With "Reborn Rich" still undecided if the show will return with a new season, Song Joong Ki stars in multiple movies this 2023.

Apart from the long-awaited premiere of "Bogota: City of Lost" the South Korean heartthrob will headline "Hwaran" and "Ro Ki Wa."

As fo Song Hye Kyo, she will reprise her role in "The Glory Season 2" premiering on March 2023 as well as team up with Han So Hee in the thriller mystery series "The Price of Confession."

KDramastars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
"Reborn Rich" starring Song Joong Ki, Lee Sung Min, and Shin Hyun Bin is among the most talked about series of 2022; however, some see the show as K-drama with the worst ending.

In a report, community portal DC Inside, did a survey, titled "Drama with the worst ending that you remember?" where viewers voted on which K-drama they think fit in the category.

Unfortunately, the JTBC series topped the chart for one reason.

'Reborn Rich' Hailed as the 'K-drama With Worst Ending'

The 16-part episode K-drama made a record-breaking viewership after "Reborn Rich" surpassed the reign of "SKY Castle" as the second highest-rated K-drama in cable TV history and is now next to "The World of the Married" starring Kim Hee Ae, Han So Hee and Park Hae Joon.

At the height of the drama, cast members especially veteran actor Lee Sung Min and Kim Kang Hoon, who played the young Song Joong Ki were lauded by netizens for their exceptional acting.

There's no denying that the JTBC series was among the most talked about K-drama of 2022 but some viewers were disappointed with the finale and voted it as the K-drama with the worst ending.

The results were announced on January 9 with the survey held from January 2 to 8. With 14 percent of votes, "Reborn Rich" took the top spot.

To recall, the series made a huge mark in 2022, unfortunately, the Song Joong Ki-led series was criticized after airing its finale episode.

At the time, netizens expressed how they were dismayed with the show's ending, pointing out the absurd development that it didn't meet viewers' expectations.

On the other hand, some were satisfied with the ending and even hopeful that the series will return with a sequel after "Reborn Rich" concluded with an open ending.

K-drama With Worst Ending: 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' Lands Second Place

After "Reborn Rich" the ENA series "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" starring Park Eun Bin took the second spot with 14 percent.

The drama follows the story of 27-year-old Woo Young Woo, played by Park Eun Bin, who despite being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder managed to graduate at the top of her class and enter a prestigious law firm.

Joining the actress are Kang Ki Young and Kang Tae Oh.

As for "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" viewers were dismayed by the sudden love story at the end, pertaining to the characters of Park Eun Bin and Kang Tae Oh.

Entering third place is the coming-of-age series "Twenty-Five Twenty-One" with 13 percent.

Headlined by Kim Tae Ri and Nam Joo Hyuk, viewers were hooked by the drama's interesting plot and chemistry but some were disappointed with the show's ending, especially with the breakup.

READ MORE: Park Eun Bin Beats Song Joong Ki After Securing THIS Title

KDramastars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
The University Health Network has issued a "code grey" and says it is experiencing outages across its networks. Toronto General Hospital is shown on April 5, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ives
There are 27 patients waiting on a bed at St Luke's Hospital today, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO). Twenty were on trolleys and seven were on wards.

It's down from yesterday's figure of 28. According to the INMO, stronger public health advice around mandated mask-wearing must be offered amid a surge in RSV and other respiratory illnesses.

This comes as 534 patients are without beds in Irish hospitals today. INMO General Secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said:

We are once again calling on the Chief Medical Officer to issue stronger public health advice in relation to mandated mask-wearing. It is or view that it is the responsible thing for policymakers and Government to do at this vital juncture when hospitals are not coping and peoples lives are at a higher risk.

We know that there is a surge in the spread of RSV, particularly in the Midwest. Our hospitals, especially those in the Midwest and on the Western seaboard, cannot sustain additional pressure from avoidable illnesses.

It is time for stronger advice on simple and inexpensive measures such as mask-wearing and handwashing. It shouldnt be this difficult to issue strong advice in this regard when we are being warned about rising cases of flu, RSV and new COVID variants. Recent evidence from the USA has confirmed that new Covid variants are leading to increased hospitalisations.

We know that we will be seeing continued pressure on our acute hospital system until the end of February at the very least. While we have seen decreases in those on trolleys in some of our larger hospitals, we are seeing high numbers of patients on trolleys in some of our smaller hospitals which is having a devastating impact. There must be no relaxation of the curtailment of non-elective care at this point.

National agreements have been brokered since 2016 to maintain patient and staff safety in our emergency departments. It is clear that this is not being honoured in many hospital sites at this time. The HSE must insist that hospitals follow the lead of sites like Waterford University Hospital in ensuring that all measures that can be taken to drastically reduce overcrowding are implemented.
The pass rate for vehicles at the Kilkenny NCT Centre is 57.18%, newly released figures have shown.

Deansgrange in Dublin had the highest pass rate with 62.65% of cars passing there.

Abbeyfeale was the next highest, with 60.58% of cars passing with Killarney at 59.87% and Portlaoise at 59.81%.

The lowest pass rate was in Derrybeg NCT Centre in County Donegal which had a pass rate of just 40.01% while only 45.83% of cars passed their tests at the centre in Carlow.

Cars tested in Cavan town and Clifden in Galway also didn't have a high success rate, with just 42.25% and 43.96% of cars passing inspection in the last 12 months, respectively.

A total of 1,396,024 cars were tested last year. This was down on the 1,418,852 inspections carried out in 2021.

In total, 14 testing centres had pass rates of below 50pc, while the national average was 54.29pc in 2022.

This figure was a little over 1.5pc up on the previous year.
The Taoiseach has said that it makes sense to increase the housing targets due to Irelands growing population and the war in Ukraine.

It comes after the government held a housing conference where stakeholders including developers, approved housing bodies and charities discussed ways to tackle the housing crisis.

Despite a raft of housing policies, there have been five consecutive months of record homelessness figures and spiralling house prices.

Average private rents doubled in the 10 years to 2021, and in recent months there has been evidence of a slowdown in the number of housing commencements, threatening a hit to future supply.

The Irish Government has warned that it faces a challenge to tackle the severe shortage of housing, exacerbated by a slowdown during the pandemic, a rise in the cost of materials due to inflation, and the surge in asylum seekers this year.

Speaking at Government Buildings in Dublin, Leo Varadkar said that the conference was being held in order to delve deep and dig deep into housing at the very start of his second term as premier.

On how to reduce the number of people in emergency accommodation, Mr Varadkar said: There were lots of concrete proposals and lots of good ideas. I think its fair to say that there wasnt unanimity on those ideas.

Some people suggested the eviction ban being extended, others wondered that there could be negative consequences to that. Some people argued for prioritising people who are in emergency accommodation and social housing, others pointed out the negative consequences and unintended consequence that can arise from that.

So I think its fair to say that a lot of ideas were put forward, but there wasnt enough unanimity around what what could be done.

He also said that nothing is off the table to try and increase supply and bring down the rising homeless figures.

He added: We want to see us turn the tide on rising homelessness this year, we want to see the numbers fall, and fall sustainably in 2023 and 2024.

I dont want anyone to doubt that the political will does not exist to solve this problem. Everyone in government is very much appraised by how important this issue is to our constituents, our peer groups, our family and friends.

We know that it is our responsibility as a government to turn this around and the political will is there to do it. Unlike five, six, 10 years ago, the money is there to do it too  housing budget this year is 4.5 billion (euro).

We understand the extent to which its holding the country back in so many different ways. Im very much determined to make 2023 a year of action and a year of delivery when it comes to housing.

The Governments Housing for All plan sets out a target of 28,000 homes in 2023, excluding student accommodation.

Ministers have said repeatedly that they expect to exceed their target of 24,600 homes for 2022; despite the fact that these targets are based on population figures from the 2016 census.

The Government has admitted previously that closer to 40,000 homes a year are needed to meet demand; the current plan aims for an average of 33,000 homes being constructed between now and 2030.

We do anticipate the Housing Commission, which I met last week, will furnish us with advice on whether we need to increase those housing targets, Mr Varadkar said.

I think, given the rising population and given the fact that a large number of people that come from Ukraine, many of them will stay, it makes sense for me that we will need to revise upwards those targets.

But targets are still just targets, and the important thing is not that we meet them, its that we exceed them and its already in our plans to scale up to 40,000 by the end of the decade.

But if we can scale up to 40,000 a year or more before the end of the decade, of course we want to do that.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Housing Minister Darragh OBrien said the event was very informative.

When asked about his comments that there was a chronic shortage in the delivery of private, social and affordable homes in the 10-12 years previous, Mr OBrien said its not an implicit criticism at all of the Fine Gael government in office at the time.

If you look at 2015, the capital budget in housing was 400 million, while this government, this coalition government, has a budget of 4.5 billion this year, thats how significant this increase is.

Mr Varadkar added: Its just a simple statement of fact. There was a period, and I was in government during that period for most if it anyway, between 2010 and 2015/2016, where there was under investment in everything, not just housing, in public infrastructure in general because the country was in a major recession.

Mr Varadkar said that the fall in commencements in recent months will impact on the number of new homes being built in 2024, and part of the purpose of meeting was to discuss these issues.

Theres a number of reasons why its happening, partially because interest rates are going up, the cost of finance has gone up, and were going to try and find ways, as government, to de-risk that so that those developments can get under way.

He also said that he certainly never took the view that co-living developments were going to be the solution to the housing crisis, and that it was seen as an option for people who dont want to house share.

Mr Varadkar also said that he would be focusing on the national development plan, the cost-of-living crisis, and the Northern Ireland protocol.
Students from six Kilkenny schools will be amongst the 1,100 school students will travel to Dublins RDS on Wednesday for the 59th BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE).

The event, which showcases research and innovation in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), will be in person this year for the first time since the pandemic, following two virtual exhibitions.

Irish president Michael D Higgins will officially open the 2023 exhibition at a ceremony for the students, teachers and exhibition partners.

The ceremony will also be streamed live on the BTYSTE website and on Facebook Live from 2pm.

Speaking ahead of the exhibition, President Higgins said: May I offer my best wishes and good luck to all of the students participating in this years BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, and may I pay a special tribute to all those teachers and parents who have been such an essential source of encouragement as well as all those who have played a role in organising this years event.

What a great time it is to be a young scientist  challenging, yes, but so potentially fulfilling to know that the choices you make will have effects that are important, not just for your own time but for the very possibility of life in its diverse forms, on our vulnerable planet.

May I suggest to all of you that as a young scientist, you will be at your best, achieve the greatest fulfilment for yourself and others, when you locate your contribution within a commitment to be concerned and contributing global citizens.

Organised by BT Ireland, the exhibition has become one of the leading school STEM exhibitions in Europe, attracting over 100,000 student participants since the first event in 1965.

Shay Walsh, managing director of BT Ireland said: BT Ireland is delighted to provide this platform for school students to share their extraordinary ideas.

During our 23 years as custodian, I am always amazed by the high calibre of the projects on show, addressing some of the major challenges our world is currently facing.

I wish the students the best of luck this week, and hope they take brilliant memories from this unique exhibition.

For anyone looking for inspiration and a tonic in January, Id encourage them to visit and be uplifted by these young people and their talent.

At the heart of the exhibition are the 550 projects from 212 schools which span the categories of technology, biological and ecological sciences, social and behavioural sciences, and chemical, physical and mathematical sciences.

Following judging by the 80-plus judging panel, the BT Young Scientist & Technologist of the Year 2023 will be announced at an awards ceremony on Friday January 13 at 5.30pm.

The overall prize winner or winners will receive the BTYSTE perpetual trophy and be presented with a cheque for 7,500 euro.

The winner will go forward to represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists in Brussels in September.
Just over 50 years later Fr Benedict (Benny) OShea, now Monsignor, returned to the Church of St Nicholas in Windgap to celebrate a thanksgiving Mass with his family, fellow clergy, neighbours and friends to mark his Golden Jubilee.

Fr Benny was also joined in concelebrating Mass by his clerical friends and some of his classmates from their six years in St Kierans College that went to serve in Ossory, United States, Scotland and England.

They included Fr Jim Murphy, St Canices; Fr Dan Bollard, Thomastown; Fr Eugene OSullivan, Scotland and Clara; Fr Ian Doyle, Castlecomer; Fr Liam Cassin, Aghavillar; Fr Willie Dalton, Callan and an tAthair Fearghus O Fearghaill, Windgap. Fr Benny also recalled their classmate Fr Eamon Tobin, who died in pandemic times in Florida.

From a family with three generations of clergy and the last ordained priest in the parish, his relations and friends travelled from as far as Australia and London with the readings and prayers being read by his grandnephew and grandnieces.

Reflecting on nervously celebrating his first Mass in the parish after his ordination on June 11, 1972, it was one of the first and great celebrations in the recently opened New Church and was followed by a personal blessing for all the attendance.

Fr Benny recalled his parents Michael and Bridget, along with his uncle, Fr Jack (John) who was an inspirational figure and died in London just six months short of his own Golden Jubilee and his aunt Sr Monica (Agnes) with the Cistercians in Glencairn.

Also the clergy who led the church and the changes in Bearna na Gaoithe in his youth Fr Pat Darcy, Fr Geoff Brennan and Fr Garret Phelan.

After his ordination Fr. Benny reflected on his first posting in St Josephs parish in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton and his work in the then largest Catholic School in England the Cardinal Newman School in Hove.

After serving in different parishes in the diocese he worked on the missions in Peru with Fr Liam Byrne. While there they served a parish of 35,000 people spread out over 120 camps and villages, the only access being by horse or mule.

Thanking everyone for their great support in every form over the years, and having travelled the world he is still in awe of the sight of the stars and galaxies that can be seen clearly in the night sky around Garryricken on his visits home to his extended family members brothers John, Pat, sister Marie and aunt Chrissie.

On Saturday, June 11 last year Fr Benny marked his Golden Jubilee in the pandemic restricted times in the diocese of Arundel and Brighton in his parish church of Our Lady of Lourdes Church and St Patricks Church on Steyning Road, Rottingdean.

Fr Benny, who has recently retired from regular parish work, will celebrate his farewell Mass in his parish on January 29 and will continue to work in the welfare area.

The beautiful and historic event on Saturday morning was followed by a social get together with Fr Benny attending the Walsh Cup match in John Locke Park on Sunday.
World welcomes China's resumption of outbound tourism

Chinadaily.com.cn) 13:53, January 10, 2023

Chinese passengers arrive at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Samut Prakan, Thailand, Jan 9, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

China has resumed outbound tourism after downgrading COVID-19 management measures from Class A to B starting on Sunday. The global tourism market has responded warmly to this change and actively welcomed Chinese tourists.

According to Ctrip data, as of Jan 5, overseas travel orders for the seven days during Spring Festival had surged by 540 percent and the average order cost had increased by 32 percent over the same period last year. It is expected that overseas tourist destinations will welcome a large number of Chinese tourists during the holiday.

Industry experts predict China's move will boost the development of global tourism and stimulate economic recovery, as well as promote people-to-people exchanges.

Brighter prospects for tourism

According to United Nations World Tourism Organization, China was one of the world's major outbound tourism contributors before the outbreak of the pandemic. The optimized COVID-19 policy will have a positive impact on the development of tourism in China as well as the world.

Steve Saxon, who leads McKinsey's Travel, Logistics &Infrastructure Practice in China, said China averaged about 12 million outbound air passengers per month in 2019, and predicts that figure will recover to about 6 million per month by the summer.

Tourists visit the Angkor Wat in the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia on Dec 17, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said that China's upcoming reopening of its borders will revitalize the kingdom's economy and tourism.

"When China reopens its borders, flights will increase many times, so we hope to welcome about 2 million Chinese tourists again (in 2023)," Hun Sen said.

He added that the Southeast Asian nation is very pleased to welcome the return of Chinese tourists, saying that their presence is vital to the country's tourism and economic growth.

Saudi Arabia's Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb said that he hopes more Chinese tourists would visit and learn about Saudi heritage, culture, and people.

A boy rides a camel at the place of Elephant Rock in Alula, Saudi Arabia, Nov 5, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]

"China is one of Saudi Arabia's main trade partners, and we have been enjoying Chinese culture and heritage for many years, especially the delicious food that can be found everywhere in Saudi Arabia. Now, we want the Chinese to come," the minister said.

Shop owners in Khan el-Khalili, one of the most famed tourist bazaars in the Egyptian capital Cairo, are expecting the return of Chinese tourists after China opened up its borders beginning Sunday.

"Before the spread of COVID-19, the business was good as large numbers of tourists, especially Chinese, flocked here," said Amr Dahi, who sells precious stones and copper artifacts in the centuries-old market.

Mohammed Saleh, owner of a traditional Egyptian restaurant in Khan el-Khalili, said Chinese people are very friendly.

Tourists ride camels in front of the Great Pyramids plateau in Giza, Egypt, Dec 22, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

"We are so happy to hear the good news," said Amir Ben Aribia, general manager of the Tunisian travel company Tunisia Blue Sky.

With Chinese tourists accounting for 90 percent of the company's business before the pandemic outbreak, Ben Aribia has been closely following the adjustment of China's COVID-related policies.

The orderly resumption of outbound travel for Chinese tourists will be "a major boon to New Zealand's tourism industry," said Lisa Li, managing director of New Zealand's largest travel agency.

About 1,000 Chinese tourists arrived in New Zealand in the week early last month, a significant increase from three months earlier, according to the country's statistics agency Stats NZ.

People sit outside a restaurant in the Medina of Tunis, Tunisia, May 27, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

Tourism Minister Stuart Nash said about 150,000 Chinese tourists were expected to visit New Zealand in 2023. "Our regions have already seen a boost in tourism spending and this looks set to continue in the summer months."

Welcoming Chinese tourists

Thailand on Monday welcomed the arrival of thousands of Chinese tourists in its capital of Bangkok, the first group following China's optimization of COVID-19 strategy which took effect on Jan 8.

At the Suvarnabhumi Airport, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and other senior officials welcomed 269 tourists from the Chinese city of Xiamen, who were greeted with flowers and gift bags.

Thailand tourism sector has recently estimated that about 300,000 Chinese tourists will come to Thailand in the first quarter of this year.

People pose for pictures in celebration of the New Year at the foot of Skytower in Auckland, New Zealand on Jan 1, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

Etihad Airways is set to strengthen air connectivity between the UAE and China. "Etihad Airways is delighted to add a second weekly passenger service to Shanghai following the further relaxation of COVID-related travel measures," said Martin Drew, senior vice-president of Global Sales &Cargo at Etihad Aviation Group.

Combined with a weekly service to Beijing and a twice-weekly service to Guangzhou, this will provide travelers with five weekly nonstop flights between Abu Dhabi and China.

Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh said the first thing the tourism sector should do is to take immediate measures to improve the quality of services to attract Chinese tourists.

President of the Vietnam Travel Association's Union Cao Tri Dung said it is important to resume the regular flight and charter flight networks, and strengthen the promotion of destinations in localities that have direct flights from China or are close to China in proximity.

Vietnamese airlines are permitted to resume regular flights to China like in the pre-COVID-19 period.

Chinese passengers are welcomed by Thai officials at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Samut Prakan, Thailand, Jan 9, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

Pakistan is not just looking at inviting Chinese tourists to Pakistan, but also looking at sending Pakistani tourists to China, said Aftab ur-Rehman Rana, the managing director of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation. The decision to hold the Pakistan-China Year of Tourism Exchanges in 2023 will greatly help improve people-to-people contacts and especially promote tourism cooperation, he added.

"For Pakistan, the opening of Chinese tourism is a very positive sign," Rana said, adding that Pakistan has made a lot of preparation to welcome Chinese tourists.

The government has been working on improving the availability of information on both sides as well as producing new literature on major tourist destinations in the Chinese language, so that the Chinese tourists know well about Pakistan, he said.

Rosemary Anderson, the national chair of hospitality industry body, Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa, said there are ways in which SA can make itself a more attractive destination for Chinese tourists such as offering payment platforms, like WeChat Pay and Alipay, being aware of when Chinese holidays take place, learning key phrases in Mandarin, and training tourist guides to speak Mandarin.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
Russian artillery fire down nearly 75%, US officials say, in latest sign of struggles for Moscow
The Ukrainians are set to begin training on the Patriot missile system in the United States as soon as next week. The training program will take place at Fort Sill in Oklahoma (pictured here).
The Vatican has agreed to open a new investigation into the disappearance of a teenage girl in the 1980s, which has captivated Italians for decades.
Ambassadors attend Foreign Minister Park Jin's briefing on Korea's new Indo-Pacific strategy at the ministry headquarters in central Seoul, Dec. 28. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs



By Nguyen Vu Tung





Ambassador of Vietnam to Korea Nguyen Vu Tung / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
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Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 10 (ANI/NewsVoir): Suneel Galgotia and Dhruv Galgotia, Directors of Galgotias Infra sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Arun Veer Singh, Chief Executive officer, Yamuna expressway Industrial Development Authority.

Galgotias Infra through this MOU has signed a proposed investment worth 510 crores within the next 3 years in warehousing, hotel, housing and hospital projects in Aerocity near Noida International Airport, Yamuna expressway.

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"The investments proposed by Galgotias Group will ensure employment to more than 2200 people directly and around 6000 people indirectly from the start of construction to completion," says Dhruv Galgotia.

The investments by the Galgotias Group will be primarily done in a phased manner in the Aerocity near the Noida international Jewar airport.

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The area around the Noida international airport is turning out to be infrastructurally better than Gurgaon offering comfort, convenience and a sustainable experience to homebuyers, students and passengers and visitors.

The hotel investment by Galgotias Infra will be a whole new concept featuring intelligent technologies like smartphone access and services especially designed to cater to the evolving demands and expectations of global leisure, student and business travelers. Students and parents will also benefit from the education hub already developed in the area.

"We are taking forward the vision of our Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of making the state of Uttar Pradesh into a true knowledge superpower," says Chancellor Suneel Galgotia.

Galgotias group is also planning phase-wise investments in warehousing, hospital, IT park and student housing and has already invested heavily in bringing world-class quality education to Uttar Pradesh.

Best Regards,

Mona Dhingra

Executive - Media and Operations

+91 9729860887

mona.dhingra@newsvoir.com

This story has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

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Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 10 (ANI): The Reserve Bank of India (RBl) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 3 lakh on the Shirpur Peoples' Co-operative Bank, Shirpur, in Maharashtra for contravention of or non-compliance with certain directions issued by the central bank.

This penalty has been imposed in the exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, taking into account the failure of the bank to adhere to the aforesaid directions issued by the central bank.

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This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers, RBI said.

These RBI directions were to urban cooperative banks (UCBs) on 'Exposure Norms and Statutory / Other Restrictions - UCBs', Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) and Know Your Customer (KYC), according to the central bank's statement released on Monday evening.

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The inspection report of the of bank based on its financial position as on March 31, 2019, and as on March 31, 2020, revealed that the bank had had sanctioned advances to a group of borrowers above permissible limit, had not complied with Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) norms, and did not have a robust software to identify and monitor suspicious transactions, in contravention of/non-compliance with the aforesaid directions issued by RBI.

Based on the same, a notice of RBI was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why a penalty should not be imposed for non-compliance with the directions.

After considering the bank's replies, oral submissions made during the personal hearing and additional submissions made thereafter, RBI came to the conclusion that the aforesaid charges of non-compliance with its directions were substantiated and warranted the imposition of a monetary penalty. (ANI)

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New York [US]/ Toronto (Ontario) [Canada]/ Pune (Maharashtra) [India], January 10 (ANI/PRNewswire): Synechron, Inc., a leading global digital transformation consulting firm, announces that it has now fully integrated its subsidiary, Attra, a payments technology services and solutions provider headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, into the larger Synechron brand. Attra, which Synechron acquired in December 2020, is now Synechron Payments and serves as Synechron's most recent business domain.

Prasad Guntupalli, formerly Co-founder and Executive Deputy Chairman of Attra, will continue in his role as head of Synechron Payments and has assumed the title of Managing Director. Since its acquisition, Attra has benefited from combined synergies with Synechron, and achieved 62% growth as a company.

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Attra's team of over 2,500 payments technology experts, working across the banking & finance space, will continue to provide best-in-class services across the payments value chain. Synechron Payments will offer expert consulting, software lifecycle, application development & maintenance, and quality engineering services to clients worldwide. This capability will be available across all Synechron business centers globally.

Now that this integration is complete, the Attra brand name will be retired. All business operations, practices, offices, employees, and client commitments have been fully transitioned, becoming a vital part of Synechron's global business operations. Attra's clients will continue to work seamlessly with their existing teams, as all current Attra's contracts with clients will be assumed by Synechron.

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Attra and Synechron have spent the last 24 months taking an integrated approach and solving complex problems for the financial services industry which span a range of payments solutions. Together, the firms have expanded competencies for full lifecycle banking and payments platform technology services. Attra has 27 years of experience in providing a comprehensive suite of services and solutions in cards, next-generation payments, and core banking services, successfully having completed numerous engagements for banks, financial institutions, third-party payment processors, and other payment companies around the globe.

In addition, Synechron has further leveraged Attra's core technology specialisms focused on digital transformation through Intelligent Automation, IT Infrastructure, Mainframes & Cloud, UI/UX, Mobility & Channels, Information Management, and Performance Engineering & Cybersecurity. These world-class services complement Synechron's range of recently redefined business services, which are aimed at helping financial services and big technology companies address operational needs. Synechron's core business now includes end-to-end Consulting, Design, Data, Cloud, and Engineering.

Attra's Accelerator program joins Synechron's own collection of award-winning Accelerator solutions, by being incorporated into its 76 business-focused applications across nine programs in its self-funded FinLabs. The full roster of clients will now be able to tap Synechron's enhanced and expanded set of digital transformation capabilities.

Faisal Husain, Synechron Co-founder and CEO, said, "We are pleased to have the talented and dedicated Attra team members around the globe officially join our enriched company as we advance our core mission to bring digital innovation to our clients. Amid a rapidly evolving business landscape, we have important work to do in helping organizations navigate the changes needed to build the foundations for their future business ambitions."

Prasad Guntupalli, Managing Director of Synechron Payments, said, "We are excited to be integrated under one name and leadership structure as we continue our important work. As one firm, under one unmatched brand, our like-minded teams can provide a more robust digital transformation toolkit of real-world solutions. Our combined strengths will help financial services, banking and technology companies empower their operations and realize their digital realities."

At Synechron, we believe in the power of digital to transform businesses for the better. Our global consulting firm combines creativity and innovative technology to deliver industry-leading digital solutions. Synechron's progressive technologies and optimization strategies span end-to-end Consulting, Design, Cloud, Data, and Engineering, servicing an array of noteworthy financial services and technology firms. Through research and development initiatives in our FinLabs we develop solutions for modernization, from Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence to Data Science models, Digital Underwriting, mobile-first applications and more. Over the last 20+ years, our company has been honored with multiple employer awards, recognizing our commitment to our talented teams. With top clients to boast about, Synechron has a global workforce of 14,000+, and has 40 offices in 17 countries within key global markets. For more information on the company, please visit our website or LinkedIn community.

For more information please contact:

Media contact:

Rashmi JoshiAssociate Director - Global Marketing & CommunicationsSynechronMedia@synechron.com

This story has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content in this article. (ANI/PRNewswire)

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Patna, Jan 10 (PTI) A 1,200-year-old sculpture of Lord Vishnu, kept in the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)'s sculpture shed at Datiana in Patna district has been stolen by thieves, an official said.

The Patna circle of the ASI has brought the matter to the notice of its Headquarters in New Delhi and an FIR has also been lodged, the official said.

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"The incident took place on the intervening night of December 25-26, 2022. The sculpture of Lord Vishnu kept in the Sculpture Shed at Datiana, Patna, was stolen. The sculpture was stolen from the shed after cutting/breaking of its gate",Goutami Bhattacharya, Superintending Archaeologist (ASI, Patna circle) told PTI.

"The intact sculpture was broken leaving the left side of the image depicting a standing female deity/attendant in its place. The sculpture of Vishnu in sthanaka mudra (standing position) is made of black stone with one face and four arms. Two arms have been and the other two are holding a Chakra (wheel) and Gada (mace).

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"The sculpture is shown standing on lotus pedestal wearing a kirita-crown and flanked by two female deities/attendants along with ayudha purusha on both sides which are mutilated. The sculpture measuring 100 cm x 60 cm x 20cm is assignable to the Pala period and it must be around 1,200 year old", said Bhattacharya.

The Superintending Archaeologist said the matter has been brought to the notice of the police and an FIR was lodged at Vikram Police Station in this regard. The ASI headquarters in New Delhi has been informed about this matter, she said.

Meanwhile, two 'ashtadhatu' idols of goddess Sita and Lakshman were reportedly stolen by thieves from Ram-Janaki temple at Kheda village in East Champaran district on Sunday night.

Local police officers are conducting searches to nab the thieves and recover the stolen idols.

According to the priest of the temple, he noticed that two idols were missing from the temple when he entered the temple to clean and wash it on Monday morning.

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New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) Police on Tuesday recorded the statements of two crew members of the Air India flight on which a man allegedly urinated on an elderly woman co-passenger, officials said.

Delhi Police had summoned nine crew members of the flight and all of them have now recorded their statements, they said.

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The crew members were to join the probe on Monday but were not in Delhi, they said.

"Statements of the two crew members on board the alleged Air India flight on November 26 were recorded on Tuesday. In their statements, the duo narrated the sequence of event that unfolded on the day of incident," said a senior police officer.

Also Read | Kerala: Court Sends Man to Prison for Cumulative 66 Years for Sexually Assaulting Minor Niece in Idukki.

Police are also trying to approach other passengers who were on the flight to get their statements, they said.

The statements of the crew members will help establish the sequence of events, he added.

According to police, the accused, Shankar Mishra, allegedly urinated on a woman co-passenger in an inebriated condition in the business class of the Air India flight from New York to Delhi on November 26 last year.

Delhi Police registered an FIR against him on January 4 on a complaint given by the woman to Air India and arrested him from Bengaluru on Saturday.

A court later sent the accused to judicial remand for 14 days while rejecting a plea by police for his custody.

During interrogation, Mishra told police that he does not remember anything about the incident since he was sleepy. It was only when other passengers on the flight told him about his act, he apologised to the victim, officials had said on Saturday.

Mishra admitted that he was under the influence of alcohol. He claimed that while travelling in the US, he and his friend took turns driving a car and he did not get proper sleep, a senior police officer had said.

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By Dhiraj Kumar

New Delhi [India], January 10 (ANI): Rajvinder Singh, accused of murdering a woman in Australia in 2018, said to a Delhi court that he is willing to go to Australia to contest his case.

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On the last date of the hearing on January 7, he had moved an application to give his consent to be extradited to Australia.

His statement has been recorded in Delhi's Patiala House Court on Tuesday.

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Link Metropolitan Magistrate Anamika recorded the statement of Rajvinder Singh in the presence of his counsel Love Deep Gaur. Advocate Ajay Digpaul special public prosecutor for Central Government was also present.

He was arrested by Delhi special cell on November 25, 2018, in this murder case.

The court listed the matter for consideration on January 13.

Rajvinder Singh in his recorded statement said: "He is willing to go to Australia. He has no objection if he is extradited. He is ready to face the trial in Australia. He is aware of the extradition proceedings and their consequences. He also said he is aware a case is pending against him in Australia".

Special public prosecutor Ajay Digpaul submitted that Rajvinder's statement is to be recorded only.

Rajvinder is accused of murdering an Australian woman in Queensland, Australia in 2018. Earlier he had said that he wanted to go to Australia to contest the case there.

"I didn't kill the woman. I wanted this case to be investigated by the Australian police. On a question, why did he flee from Australia? He said he is going to explain everything before the court there".

Legal Aid Counsel (LAC) Love Deep Gaur moved the application on behalf of Rajvinder Singh.

On December 24, Rajvinder Singh expressed his "desire" before the Court to go to Australia and contest the case there. He is facing an extradition inquiry in India.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Nabeela Wali had said that "you (Rajvinder) don't have legal counsel, therefore cannot record your statement today."

On November 25, Court remanded Rajvinder Singh to judicial custody.

He was produced before Patiala House Court by the Delhi police special cell on November 25.

Earlier a non-bailable warrant was issued for the arrest of Rajvinder by the court.

According to sources Rajvinder was in Australia for 10 years and was working as a male nurse. The woman who was allegedly killed by him was unknown to him.

He also got Australian citizenship after marrying an Australian woman citizen.

The Queensland police had offered a record one million dollar reward, the largest ever offered by the department, for giving information about the accused.

On November 4, 2022, the Australian High Commission informed in a tweet made the announcement of a Million dollar reward for the arrest of one Rajwinder Singh, an Indian-origin Australian citizen, who had committed the gruesome murder of an Australian lady on November 21, 2018, in Queensland, Australia, and had been absconding ever since. INTERPOL had issued Red Corner Notice (RCN), Control No. A-2639/3-2021 regarding the said accused.

The CBI/INTERPOL, New Delhi had issued a non-bailable warrant, under The Extradition Act, against his name from the Patiala House Court on November 21 2022.

On November 25, 2022, at 06:00 pm, based upon inputs shared by CBI/INTERPOL and Australian counterparts, in an intelligence-based operation, the accused was apprehended near GT Karnal Road and arrested by Special Cell u/s 41(1) Cr PC. The accused is being produced before the concerned court as per law for further proceedings. (ANI)

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Idukki, January 10: A court on Tuesday sentenced a man to a cumulative 66-year imprisonment for sexually assaulting his minor niece at her house here. The Idukki Fast Track Court judge T G Varghese gave the man (38) varying jail terms for the 66 years under the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Rajasthan Shocker: Neighbour Lures Five-Year-Old Girl With Candy, Rapes Her in Jaipur; Arrested.

But, the convict would concurrently serve 20 years imprisonment, said Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Shijo Mon Joseph. The court imposed on him also a fine of Rs 80,000 and directed the district legal service authority to pay Rs 50,000 for rehabilitation of the victim, he said. Pune: Social Worker from UP's Ghaziabad Raped At Gun-Point, Accused Arrested.

The man raped his niece who was 17 years old in 2021 by offering her alcohol and making her unconscious, said the prosecutor.

(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], January 10 (ANI): As many as three people sleeping on the pavement including a woman were injured by a cluster bus that went out of control, informed officials on Tuesday.

The cluster bus went out of control near Delhi's Rohtak Road Sarai Rohilla railway station.

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According to the initial investigation by the police, the accident happened due to the brake failure of the bus.

Police reached the accident spot and an investigation is underway.

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Further details are awaited. (ANI)

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New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) A Delhi court on Tuesday denied bail to three members of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) accused in a money laundering case related to alleged terrorist activities.

Special Judge Shailender Malik dismissed the applications of Mohd. Ilias, Abdul Muqeet and Mohammad Perwez Ahmad seeking statutory bail claiming the probe agency had adopted delaying tactics and not filed the charge sheet within the legally stipulated time.

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The accused were arrested on September 22, 2022 and are currently in judicial custody. The ED had filed the complaint against them on November 19, 2022.

"Evidently, the (prosecution) complaint (ED's equivalent of a charge sheet) was filed within 60 days of the arrest of the accused, the judge noted while declining bail to them.

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He said the ED had moved an application with the prayer for withholding the identity of certain witnesses named in the complaint, and due to that the copy of the complaint and related documents could not be provided to the accused.

The counsel for the accused told the court since no prosecution complaint or related documents were supplied to the accused within the outer limit period of 60 days, in law complaint was not filed within the time frame and the accused had indefeasible right to be released on bail.

ED's Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta opposed the bail application, saying the charge sheet was filed in time and the accused have no right to be released on bail.

He said the ED carrying out further investigation on certain other facets of the case did not mean that the charge sheet was incomplete.

Having considered the submissions at bar and taking note of the fact that complaint in this case was filed in the court on November 19, 2022 which was within the period of 60 days since the arrest of the accused persons by the ED. In such situation no doubt due to certain lapses / misunderstanding, since ED had mentioned name of certain witnesses whom they had otherwise kept under the category of protected witnesses," the judge said.

In such a situation, merely because the copy of the prosecution complaint and documents could not be supplied to the accused does not raise any ground for their release on bail, he said.

"Right of statutory ball/ default bail to my understanding arises only when investigating agency failed to file the charge sheet within the statutory period since the date of arrest of the accused, which has not happened in the present case," the judge said.

Even otherwise mere taking liberty to carry out further investigation on certain further evidence/ other facets of the investigation also does not give any right for the accused to claim bail, he said.

The ED had filed a charge sheet through Advocate Mohd. Faizan Khan against the three accused and the PFI, claiming Ahmed was the president of the Delhi unit of the proscribed outfit while Mohd. Ilias was its general secretary and Abdul Muqeet the office secretary.

The case relates to alleged laundering of Rs 120 crore over several years.

The PFI was banned by the Centre in late September last year over its alleged links with terror activities.

The ED had filed the case based on an FIR lodged by the NIA for alleged terrorism-related activities punishable under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The ED had alleged that the accused and other members associated with the organisation indulged in collecting funds by way of donation, hawala, banking channels, etc. which were being used for unlawful activities and commission of various offences.

The anti-money laundering agency alleged its probe found bogus cash donations and bank transfers were made. Funds were alleged to have also been transferred to India from abroad through a clandestine channel under a conspiracy hatched by the office bearers of the PFI over the years, the ED said.

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New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) Delhi government will soon operate premium intercity buses for commuters travelling between the national capital, NCR cities and neighbouring states, an official statement said on Tuesday.

The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) Board has also decided provide free charging facilities to its employees owning electric two-wheelers and grant its contractual staff leave on three national holidays, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said in the statement.

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In its board meeting held recently, the DTC gave in-principal approval to running premium buses within Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) and intercity operations, the statement said.

The DTC had been planning to introduce high quality premium buses on longer routes for sometime. It has approved the running of battery or CNG-operated premium buses on NCR routes within 200 km, it said.

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For intercity bus operations, the DTC will be running Bharat Stage (BS) VI buses for routes covering more than 200 km.

"All the buses will be equipped with CCTVs, GPS, panic buttons and other features providing convenient and safer travel for long distance commuters," Gahlot said.

The DTC board, in order to encourage the use of e-two wheelers by its employees, approved providing free charging facilities at its depots.

Additionally, the employees will be able to avail loan from financial institutes empanelled by the Delhi Financial Corporation (DFC) according to the provisions of the Delhi EV Policy, 2020, for buying electric two wheelers, it said.

Delhi government is already providing a purchase incentive of Rs 5,000 per kWh of battery capacity with a maximum incentive of Rs 30,000 per vehicle (two wheeler).

The DTC has a workforce of nearly 38,000 employed across the city working at depots and offices, the statement said.

According to a survey conducted among DTC employees, it was found that 45 per cent of the staff were using two wheelers to reach office, it said.

As range (mileage after full charge) anxiety has been one of the major challenges for an individual while buying an electric vehicle, free charging facilities at the offices and DTC bus depots will give confidence to employees using electric vehicles, it added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Gurugram, Jan 10 (PTI) A man was arrested in connection with the alleged murder of his lover's husband here, police said on Tuesday.

Dharmesh Yadav (42), a property dealer, was shot dead on October 30 last year at an under-construction building in sector 22 here allegedly by one Mohammadin, a resident of Sambal in Uttar Pradesh. According to police, Mohammadin, who was arrested in November last year, was hired to kill Yadav by his wife Neetu in collusion with her lover, Bablu Khan.

Also Read | Army to Get Made-In-India HELINA Anti-Tank Missile, VSHORAD Missile System.

Khan was arrested from Uttar Pradesh on January 4. A country-made pistol and 239 grams of gold jewellery was seized from him, police said.

Following the murder, Khan had gone into hiding and travelled to Nepal and southern India to avoid arrest, police said.

Also Read | Mumbai: Four Waiters Arrested on Charge of Beating Customer Over Heated Argument in Andheri East.

Gurugram police had declared a reward of Rs 25,000 on him.

"The accused was arrested and send to six days police remand. He has confessed to the murder. The gold jewellery was given to him by his lover and the wife of the property dealer," said ACP Preet Pal Singh Sangwan.

According to police, Neetu had illicit relations with Khan and the duo hatched the plan of murdering Yadav and grabbing his property.

Six criminal cases, including gang rape and carrying illegal arms among others, are registered against Khan in Uttar Pradesh, they said.

Meanwhile, police have also arrested Khan's brother for criminal conspiracy.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Gurugram, Jan 10 (PTI) A woman and her fiance were injured after they were allegedly thrashed by bouncers of a club in Sector 29 here, police said on Tuesday.

An FIR has been registered at the Sector 29 police station, they said.

Also Read | Punjab Government Making Efforts To Eliminate Sand Mafia, Says Mining Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer.

The woman, Jawahar Nagar Colony-resident Anjali in her complaint, alleged that she had gone to the club on Monday night with Chetan Tokas, a resident of Delhi's Munirka, when the incident happened, police said.

"It was around 2 am when we both started leaving the club after paying our bills. One of the bouncers at the club started fighting with Chetan. When I defended him, others, including female bouncers, started beating me.

Also Read | Delhi Model of Development To Be Adopted, Says Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh.

"They pushed us and kept kicking and punching and finally dragged us out of the club. The name of the one bouncer was Sandeep. The police were informed and they took us to the hospital," the woman's complaint stated.

The medical examination of the duo was conducted. The doctor told the police that Chetan received five and Anjali suffered injuries at seven places, officials said.

Following the complaint, an FIR has been registered under sections 323 (causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code at Sector 29 police station, police said.

"We are verifying the facts and have also sought footage of CCTV cameras installed in the club. Action will be taken as per the law," said Rakesh Kumar, additional Station House Officer at Sector 29 police station.

Sumit Kumar, manager (operation) of the club denied that such an incident had taken place and said they were cooperating with the police in the investigation.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai, Jan 10 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to defer the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) JEE Mains examination scheduled this month.

A division bench of Chief Justice S V Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne held that it would not be appropriate to postpone the pan-India examination in response to a Public Interest Litigation as it would affect lakhs of IIT aspirants.

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The PIL was filed by child rights activist Anubha Sahai who wanted the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains to be deferred till March. The petition challenged the National Testing Agency's (NTA) December 15 notification scheduling the examination between January 24 to 31, 2023.

The petitioner contended that the schedule was announced at a very short notice. In the past, exam dates were declared three or four months in advance, giving enough time to students to prepare, Sahai said.

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The HC, however, refused to grant any relief.

"If any orders are passed today directing postponement of January exams, the same may have cascading effect on future exams also. The extraordinary circumstances do not appear to exist for restraining respondents from holding January examination. Lakhs of students must have been preparing for exam," the court said.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, who appeared for the NTA, opposed the PIL.

Since 2019, JEE Mains exams are being scheduled in two sessions, in January and April, he said.

If a student does not fare well in January, he or she can take the exam again in April for improvement and the better score is considered, the ASG said.

If a student does not appear in January, there is still no bar on appearing in April, Singh added.

The court said it was not in favour of interfering with the schedule as lakhs of students would have already started their preparations.

"Your PIL may affect 50,000 students, but not five lakh students. A Supreme Court judgment says that even if an educational policy is not good, the courts ought not to intervene," it said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Visual of the chartered flight arriving at the Dabolim airport (Photo:ANI)

Dabolim (Goa) [India], January 10 (ANI): The Moscow-Goa chartered flight which made an emergency landing in Gujarat's Jamnagar yesterday due to an alleged bomb threat, arrived at its destination at Dabolim airport on Tuesday afternoon.

The flight had left the Jamnagar airport earlier today after a thorough search operation by National Security Guard (NSG), police and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) teams, in which nothing suspicious was recovered.

Also Read | PM @narendramodi to Inaugurate 26th National Youth Festival in Hubbali, Karnataka on 12th   Latest Tweet by Prasar Bharati News Services.

The Jamnagar Collector had said that the alleged bomb threat onboard the Moscow-Goa chartered flight was a hoax call.

The flight was diverted to Gujarat's Jamnagar after Goa ATC followed an alleged bomb threat on Monday.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh: Four-Year-Old Boy Falls Into Borewell in Hapur, Rescue Operation Underway.

Jamnagar Collector Saurabh Pardhi said a thorough search operation was conducted by National Security Guard (NSG), police and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) teams but nothing suspicious was found.

"A thorough search operation was conducted by NSG, police and BDS teams. Hand baggage and check-in baggage of passengers was also checked. The flight has been cleared (for takeoff), after formalities it will depart for its destination, Goa. It was a hoax call," said the Jamnagar Collector.

Premsukh Delu, Jamnagar SP, said, "Around 9 pm, the district control received a call from ATC after which the district police and bomb disposal team reached the airport and launched a rescue operation. A total of 236 passengers and eight crew members were on the flight. After all the passengers and the crew members were evacuated they were checked thoroughly. The NSG team also reached on the spot."

He further said that the flight landed around 9.50 pm on Monday and the search operation was carried out till 9 am on Tuesday.

"Passengers, plane and luggage were thoroughly checked. We have not found anything suspicious," he added.

Jamnagar Airport director confirmed that the security agencies found nothing suspicious onboard the private flight.

Earlier, the security agencies cordoned off the airport for 9 hours.

They said all passengers were safely evacuated and escorted to the lounge inside the terminal building.

The Russian Embassy issued a statement saying they were alerted by the Indian authorities about the alleged bomb scare on the Azur Air flight en route from Moscow to Goa.

"The Embassy was alerted by Indian authorities about an alleged bomb scare on Azur Air flight from Moscow to Goa. The aircraft made an emergency landing at Jamnagar Indian Air Force Base. Everyone on board is safe; authorities conducting an inspection of the aircraft," said the Russian Embassy in a statement. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], January 10 (ANI): The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, on Tuesday, staged a protest against the proposed launch by BJP workers of a book titled 'Siddu Nija Kanasugalu' (The Real Dreams of Siddaramaiah), which is critical of former Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah.

The KPCC staged the protest outside the Congress Bhavan in Bengaluru.

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"When there is no achievement to speak of, the opposition leaders use the weapon of cheap tricks which is nothing but an evil tactic used by BJP," KPCC tweeted on its official Twitter handle.

The book was scheduled to be launched yesterday by the BJP workers in Bengaluru's Town Hall area. The event was reportedly cancelled after the KPCC members and Siddaramaiah supporters protested against the launch on the site.

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"By launching the book defaming the former CM of Karnataka, BJP is merely doing silly politics. We demand the authorities to stop the launch of the book," Congress workers demanded.

KPCC working president R. Ramalinga Reddy, along with Siddaramaiah and Congress supporters were present in the protest.

The former Karnataka CM, Siddaramaiah, has been on the news for lambasting the Basvaraj Bommai government for the rejection of the state's tableau by the Centre for Republic Day parade in the national capital. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], January 10 (ANI): Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty has ordered an inquiry into the incident of an alleged objectionable depiction of a 'terrorist' in a musical programme in a government-organised function. He directed the Director of Public Education to probe the matter and submit reports.

The minister further barred the NGO from participating in future state functions for this objectionable depiction of a 'terrorist' in a musical programme. "Matha Perambra that presented the musical programme will not be given a chance in future," said Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty.

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The controversy arose after a person played the role of a 'terrorist' dressed as per the conventions of a particular religion during a musical programme organised by the Matha Perambra, an arts NGO, at the inauguration of the State Youth Festival last week.

According to sources, the controversy over the alleged 'dress' and the portrayal of the 'terrorist' erupted over a Facebook post one day after the event.

Also Read | Delhi: Cash Van Guard Shot Dead by Armed Assailant Near Jagatpur Flyover, Money Looted.

This incident sparked reactions in the political arena of Kerala.

CPIM State Secretary M V Govindan said that "CPIM or government will not take a stand against any religion or faith." CPIM Kozhikode District Secretariat is also conducting an inquiry into the incident at its level.

Congress leader K Muraleedharan demanded CM Pinarayi Vijayan should apologise to the people for this controversy.

"CM has the moral responsibility to answer this controversy. The Education Minister was in Kozhikode when the School Art festival was going on," he said.

According to the director of Matha Perambra they don't have any political inclinations.

"We don't endorse any political view. Here, in this organisation, people with different political views work together. The alleged scene was created unintentionally. At the end of the programme, minister Muhammad Riyas even shook hands with the performers," he said. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) Liquor traders have urged the Delhi government, which is coming up with a new excise policy for 2022-23, to allow private players in the retail business for better customer experience and competing with towns like Gurugram and Noida.

The Delhi Liquor Traders Association (DLTA) has also recommended that the new excise policy should bring down the legal drinking age from 25 at present to 21 years.

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The DTA has submitted its recommendations to Delhi Excise minister and top officials of the government.

After withdrawal of the Excise Policy 2021-22 amid allegations of corruption, the Delhi government formed a committee to come up with a fresh Excise policy.

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The committee is yet to submit its preliminary report to the government.

In a detailed letter, the association stated that allowing spacious liquor shops by private players and keeping them open at shopping malls and prominent markets till 1 am will ensure that customers of Delhi do not look for fill in Gurgram, Noida and Faridabad.

After withdrawal of the liquor policy 2021-22, private licensees quit the retail business and the Delhi government undertakings opened vends across the city from September last year.

The city currently has around 550 small-sized liquor stores run by four Delhi government corporations. The number is planned to be raised further to 700.

The association said that Delhi has hands on experience of government only, private only and government plus private models of liquor trade and it appears that the latter was the best.

"In our fair opinion, the existence of both government and private stores is a much better option for the Delhi government, not only in terms of revenue collection but also to give better facilities to consumers with first-class infrastructure," association president Naresh Goyal said.

While the government liquor stores can fail any attempt of monopoly in retail business, the private players can help minimise migration of consumers to NCR towns by coming up with spacious retail outlets in all high-end luxury markets and shopping malls offering a wide variety of brands, with self-service facilities, said the association.

The liquor traders' body has also recommended keeping the number of 'dry days' in the city to a minimum and at par with the border cities to prevent flight of consumers from the city.

(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, January 10: The Supreme Court on Tuesday posted for February 14 the hearing on a batch of petitions filed by rival Shiv Sena factions led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray.

The pleas pertain to the political crisis that followed the bulk desertion of rebel Sena MLAs and eventually resulted in the demise of the Uddhav-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Maharashtra Political Crisis: Uddhav Thackeray Faction of Shiv Sena To Seek Adjudication of Cases by Seven-Judge Bench in Supreme Court on January 10.

The apex court will, from February 14, start hearing arguments on whether the matter should be heard by a seven-judge bench or a five-judge bench. Earlier, on December 13, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Uddhav faction, told the apex court that he would argue in favour of the reference of the matter before a seven-judge bench.

"It has been agreed that Mr. Sibal shall circulate a brief note of his submission on proposed reference to a seven-judge bench. The note shall be submitted two weeks in advance to Governor of Maharashtra and private respondents," the bench stated in its order. Maharashtra Political Crisis: We Are Ready to Lay Down Our Lives to Protect Balasaheb's Ideology, Says Eknath Shinde; Supreme Court To Hear Rebel MLAs Plea Against Disqualification Notices Tomorrow.

The top court also noted that other parties can also make a note of their submissions. On July 13, 2016, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, during a hearing in the Nabam Rebia case, held that the Speaker cannot initiate disqualification proceedings when a resolution seeking his removal is pending.

Earlier, the Uddhav faction submitted in the apex court that an unconstitutional government was running Maharashtra. In August, the top court's three-judge bench had referred the issues in the petition, filed by rival groups of Shiv Sena in relation to the Maharashtra political crisis, to a five-judge Constitution bench.

It had said some of the issues might require the consideration of a larger Constitution bench. The bench also asked the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Rahul Narwekar, not to take any action on the new disqualification notices issued against the members of the Uddhav Sena.

Several petitions filed by both factions of the Shiv Sena are currently pending arbitration by the top court.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Xinjiang sees more market entities among better business environment

Xinhua) 15:57, January 10, 2023

A staff member puts goods onto shelves at a supermarket in Tianshan District of Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Nov. 28, 2022. (Photo by Zhou Peng/Xinhua)

URUMQI, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region had a total of nearly 2.24 million market entities as of the end of November 2022, local authorities said.

It registered a year-on-year increase of 4.7 percent, according to the regional market supervision and administration bureau.

Xinjiang has taken a series of measures to optimize its business environment. Recently, Xinjiang has released a three-year action plan to improve its business environment and attract more market entities.

Li Changxiu, an official with the regional development and reform commission, said that they would continue to publicize business environment policies and measures among market entities, to stimulate their development vitality and provide support for the high-quality development of the local economy.

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
Bengaluru, Jan 10 (PTI) Vijay Kumar had no inkling that the traffic jam he was caught in on the Outer Ring Road near HBR Layout here would wipe out two of his family members.

Also Read | Shiv Sena 'Rebel' MLA Nitin Deshmukh Who Changed His Mind in Guwahati, Gets ACB Notice Now.

A steel rod centering of the Metro Rail collapsed, killing Vijay Kumar's daughter-in-law Tejaswini (28) and two-and-a-half year old grandson Vihaan, and injuring his son Lohith Kumar and his granddaughter on Tuesday.

Lohith was riding a two-wheeler to drop his children at a nursery school and his wife at her office this morning when the tragedy struck.

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I was not aware that the pillar has collapsed. I thought it was natural to often get stuck in traffic congestion, but not the pillar that felled my grandson and my daughter-in-law, Kumar told reporters.

He said his son had been calling him to say something, and that he took the service road to reach the spot via Nagawara Road. The injured were rushed to the hospital where the doctors declared mother-son dead.

I am in deep sorrow. This has caused me unbearable loss, Kumar said.

He said safety precautions were given a go-by as there was no reinforcement provided to the iron rod casing of the pillar.

When the Metro Rail work is on, no one should be allowed to venture at least 30 metres close to the pillar, but vehicles ply within 5 and 10 feet, which only shows how unscientific the safety measures have been in place, Kumar alleged.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Ramgarh, Jan 10 (PTI) Military training of the first batch of 'Agniveers' has started in Punjab Regimental Centre (PRC) in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district, a senior officer of the regiment said on Tuesday.

Terming it a new chapter in the history of the Indian Army as well as the centre, the Commandant of PRC Brigadier Sanjay Kendpal while talking to media persons here, said the PRC was fully prepared for providing military training to the first batch of 217 'Agniveers' with upgraded infrastructure, incorporating state of the art technology simulators, infrastructure faculty development programme,

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The PRC, one of the oldest regiments of Indian Army, prepared a scientifically driven approach to inculcate gradual yet rigorous military training to young 'Agniveers'.

The training programme at PRC which began on January 2, has been enmeshed with activities to improve the physical and mental endurance of the trainees, the PRC said in a statement.

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The statement said PRC is fully geared up and aware of the onerous responsibility bestowed on it to organize and amalgamate the young 'Agniveers' into a well trained, motivated and disciplined lot of 'Soldiers citizen', who will also form an important ingredient of "Nation Building Process".

The regimental and the Indian Army ethos and traditions imbibed by a soldier are the driving force behind selfless service to the nation. Keeping this in mind, the training curriculum aims to infuse 'Agniveers' with these values during their journey as they mature into young soldiers, the PRC statement added.

The Ministry of Defence had, in June 2022, unveiled the 'Agnipath' scheme, which is a pan-India merit-based recruitment programme for enrolling soldiers, airmen and sailors.

Under the scheme, 'Agniveers' will be recruited between the ages of 17.5 and 21 years.

They will be provided with an opportunity to serve in the armed forces as 'Agniveer' for a period of four years, including a training period.

(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/Jamnagar/Panaji, Jan 9 (PTI) A Moscow-to-Goa flight made an emergency landing at Gujarat's Jamnagar airport on Monday night following a bomb threat, police said.

All the 236 passengers and crew members were evacuated safely and the plane is being checked by local authorities along with police and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS), Inspector General of Police (Rajkot and Jamnagar Range) Ashok Kumar Yadav said.

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"The plane going from Moscow to Goa was forced to make an emergency landing at the Jamnagar airport due to a bomb threat. After landing, all 236 passengers and crew members were deboarded safely. Police, BDDS and local authorities are searching the entire plane," he said.

An official of the Russian embassy in New Delhi said the embassy was alerted by the Indian authorities about the alleged bomb scare on the Azur Air flight en route from Moscow to Goa.

Also Read | Moscow-Goa Chartered Flight Makes Emergency Landing at Jamnagar Airport in Gujarat After Bomb Threat.

"The aircraft has made an emergency landing at the Jamnagar Indian Air Force base. Everyone on board is safe. The authorities are conducting a thorough inspection of the aircraft," the official added.

Meanwhile, a Goa Police officer said the flight that took off from Moscow and was supposed to land at the Dabolim airport in the coastal state was diverted to Jamnagar due to a bomb scare.

The Goa Police has beefed up security in and around the Dabolim airport as a precautionary measure, he added.

"The international flight from Moscow, which was supposed to land at the Dabolim airport, was diverted to Jamnagar due to a bomb scare," Deputy Superintendent of Police (Vasco) Salim Sheikh told reporters at Panaji.

All the emergency services are kept on standby at the airport, while senior police officers have held a meeting with the airport officials.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chennai, Jan 10 (PTI) The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday sought to categorically make it clear the Governor should only read out from the document prepared by the state government to be delivered as his customary address to the Assembly and that it had no place for their personal opinions or objections.

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According to Article 176 of the Constitution, the Governor's address, made during the opening day of the first session of the year, is one that "highlights the state government's policies, schemes and achievements," it said.

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The government's clarification came in a statement in response to a section of media over the Monday episode where state Governor R N Ravi skipped certain portions in his address to the legislature, and made some other remarks, following which Chief Minister M K Stalin piloted a resolution against the deviations.

"The tradition is that the Governor should read out the address prepared by the (state) government as per the Constitution. In this address, there is no place for the Governor's personal opinions or objections. Moreover, this is not his personal address but that of the government," it said.

Many governors in the past had conformed to this practice, it said.

The draft address was sent to the Raj Bhavan in the morning of January 6 and was sent again the same day later following some corrections.

The Governor's office suggested certain changes following which another draft was sent to his office late by the next day, the statement read.

On January 8, it was returned to the government with the Governor's approval, it added.

There was no truth in certain claims that the Governor was asked to skip a few sections that he wanted to be removed, citing the draft had gone for printing, the government insisted.

"Nothing of that sort happened. The file on governor's approval (for the draft address) was received at 11.30 am on January 8. But it was sent for printing by 12.30 am on January 9," it added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], January 10 (ANI): Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation has issued notices to the contractors and engineers concerned in connection with the collapse of an under-construction metro pillar in Bengaluru, and said that an internal technical team would investigate the matter.

A woman along with her toddler were killed after an under-construction metro pillar collapsed in the city. The woman's husband and daughter were hospitalised following the incident with injuries.

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"Notices are being issued to the contractor and the concerned Engineers. 11Sc will be requested to investigate and provide a report. An internal technical team will also investigate the matter," a release said.

The Corporation said that support money would be given to the family of the deceased.

Also Read | Mumbai: Four Waiters Arrested on Charge of Beating Customer Over Heated Argument in Andheri East.

"Cost of treatment of injured persons & support of Rs 20 lakhs will be given to the family of deceased," it said.

BMRCL said that it stands with the distressed family.

"A lady and a boy child was injured and they were immediately rushed to the Altius nearby hospital for treatment and unfortunately their lives could not be saved. BMRCL is deeply saddened by the unfortunate incident and stand with the distressed family," the release said.

Earlier today, the father-in-law of the woman who died in the incident on Tuesday alleged that the contractor in charge of the Metro pillar construction in Bengaluru, where the collapse of an under-construction metro pillar claimed two lives.

Speaking to ANI, Vijayakumar, father-in-law of the woman who died in the incident, demanded the construction work to be stopped immediately.

"The contractor in charge of the Metro pillar construction clearly didn't take safety measures. The construction activity should be stopped immediately because it is running without safety," he said.

"If a bus or some other vehicle carrying passengers would have crossed that point, there could have been more casualties. Our world has been destroyed. I demand the government to provide safety measures at the construction sites," Vijayakumar added.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA Sowmya Reddy demanded the resignation of Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai after an under-construction metro pillar collapsed in Bengaluru's Navagara claiming two lives.

"Karnataka Chief Minister must resign. It's a clear case of poor work and people have succumbed to it," Congress MLA Sowmya Reddy said on pillar collapse in Bengaluru

"It's very shocking that an under-construction pillar fell on a woman and child. Until now there were pothole deaths now pillars are collapsing. This is a clear case of violation, negligence and corruption of the BJP govt," Reddy added.

An under-construction metro pillar collapsed near Nagavara on the outer ring road in Bengaluru, killing a woman and her toddler son, police said earlier today. The woman's husband and daughter were hospitalised with injuries.

Reacting to the incident, the Chief Minister said that the government would provide compensation to the grieving family.

"We will inquire how the incident happened, and provide compensation to the affected family," he said. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, January 10: After a passenger complained of finding a stone in her in-flight meal on an Air India plane, the airline on Tuesday said it has taken serious note of the incident and will initiate strict action against the caterer.

On January 8, a female passenger took to Twitter saying she found a stone in her in-flight meal onboard AI 215 and also shared pictures. The flight was from Delhi to Kathmandu. Air India Urination Horror: Couldve Handled These Matters Better, Committed To Take Action, Says CEO Campbell Wilson.

"Air India has taken serious note of the incident where a passenger found stone in her in-flight meal on AI 215. We sincerely regret this incident and have apologised to the passenger," an Air India spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday. "We have taken up the matter with the caterer and will be initiating strict action against the caterer," the spokesperson said.

Tagging Air India, the passenger Sarvapriya Sangwan, on January 8, tweeted, "You don't need resources and money to ensure stone-free food Air India (@airindiain)".

Sharing pictures of the in-flight meal that was served, she said this was the food served on flight AI 215. "Crew member Ms Jadon was informed. This of kind of negligence is unacceptable," she added.

Responding to the tweet, Air India tweeted saying that "this is concerning and we're taking this up immediately with our catering team". "Please allow us some time to get back. We appreciate you bringing this to our notice," the airline said in the tweet on January 8. Air India Urinating Incidents: Airline CEO Campbell Wilson Asks Staff To Report Any Improper Behaviour on Aircraft to Authorities at the Earliest.

In recent days, Tata group-owned Air India has also come under the scanner of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for not reporting incidents of passenger misbehaviour on two international flights. The regulator has also issued show-cause notices to the airline.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Jaipur, Jan 10 (PTI) The 83rd All India Presiding Officers' Conference, beginning in Jaipur on Wednesday, will deliberate on issues such as the need to maintain a harmonious relationship between the legislature and the judiciary and India's G-20 presidency and the role of legislatures in it.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar will inaugurate the conference in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will chair it, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said on Tuesday.

Also Read | Joshimath | We Are Talking to the Hotel Owner Via CDO Chamoli After Certain Issues Were   Latest Tweet by ANI UP/Uttarakhand.

Dhankhar arrived in Jaipur on Tuesday for the conference, being held in Rajasthan after a gap of 11 years.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh, besides presiding officers of legislative bodies from across the country, will attend the event.

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"During the two-day conference, presiding officers of legislative assemblies and legislative councils from all over the country will brainstorm on various matters ranging from India's leadership of the G-20 to harmonious relations between the legislature and the judiciary," the Lok Sabha Secretariat said in a statement.

Under the chairmanship of Birla, a detailed discussion was held on Tuesday on the agenda of the conference.

It was decided in the meeting that during the conference, there will be a detailed discussion on India's leadership of G-20 and the role of legislatures in it, the statement added.

"It is important that in the next one year, along with other G-20 countries, India plays the role of a guide in the direction of democratic empowerment in countries around the world," the Secretariat said.

Discussions will also take place on making Parliament and legislatures more effective and accountable, according to the statement.

Birla said the responsibilities and authority of the legislature, judiciary and the executive are properly defined in the Constitution.

"It is necessary that these three organs work in a harmonious manner as per the spirit of the Constitution," he added.

Discussions will also be held on further efforts to bring all legislatures of the country on a single digital platform, the Lok Sabha secretariat said.

This will ensure quick and easy exchange of information and innovations being done in the legislative bodies across the country after all the legislatures come onboard the digital Sansad platform, it added.

The All India Presiding Officers' Conference (AIPOC) is the apex body of the legislatures in India that completed its hundred years in 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed the inaugural session of the 82nd AIPOC in 2021 in Shimla. The first conference was held in Shimla in 1921.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chennai, Jan 10 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday ordered a four per cent hike in Dearness Allowance for permanent employees in temples under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department.

Also Read | Watch Our Special Program #NewsNight for the Comprehensive Analysis of Top National &   Latest Tweet by DD News.

Effective January 1, 2023, the DA would be increased to 38 per cent from 34 per cent, benefitting about 10,000 employees entailing an additional annual expenditure of Rs 7 crore, an official release here said. It is applicable to permanent employees in temples, under the HR and CE, that have an annual income of Rs 1 lakh and more.

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The Chief Minister also ordered increasing the Pongal festival bonus to Rs 3,000 from Rs 2,000 to all categories of temple personnel including full time, part time and daily wage workers. It would lead to an additional expenditure of Rs 1.5 crore this year.

Recently, the DA for State government employees was increased by 4 per cent, from 34 per cent to 38 per cent.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai, Jan 10 (PTI) Two men were arrested by Mumbai Police while another is on the run after a 49-year-old beautician alleged gang rape in a flat in Ahmedabad city, an official said on Tuesday.

According to the police, the woman knows one of the accused very well and they often used to play cards together.

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"On last Friday, the man asked the woman to accompany him in his car to Ahmedabad to play cards. The woman went with him as she knew him. Two male friends of the main accused also joined them. After reaching a flat in Ahmedabad, the trio consumed alcohol and raped the woman," a Vile Parle police station official said quoting the First Information Report.

The FIR was registered under the Indian Penal Code sections for rape and gang rape on Saturday after the victim reached her home in Mumbai and narrated her ordeal to her husband.

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While two accused were arrested on Saturday, their friend is on the run, the official added. They all are residents of various suburbs in Mumbai.

Further investigation is underway.

(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, Jan 10 (PTI) The builders in Delhi-NCR met Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Tuesday to express concerns over a ban on construction activities.

They also urged that normal work that does not cause air pollution should be permitted to protect the interest of labourers and homebuyers.

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Representatives of realtors body CREDAI-NCR met the minister to air their concerns and also submitted a memorandum highlighting the impact of the ban and suggesting possible solutions.

Amid a sudden spike in air pollution due to foggy weather, the Centre's air quality panel on Friday directed the implementation of curbs under stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi-NCR, including a ban on non-essential construction and demolition work.

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In a letter to the minister, CREDAI-NCR (Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India-NCR) President Manoj Gaur urged that construction activities be excluded from GRAP so that the entire real estate sector, labourers, vendors, and ancillary industries can get relief.

"Since construction activity once stopped, takes more than 15 to 30 days to resume full-fledged operations, hence practically construction is banned for the last 2.5 months and once the ban gets lifted, it will take another 15 to 30 days in resuming full-fledged operations as before," Gaur said.

This is causing huge losses to the entire realty sector, ancillary industries and all other stakeholders, he pointed out.

"Practically, all the activities except demolition, excavation, dry stone cutting, etc do not cause any pollution and even if they cause a little-bit then that is within 5 to 10 metres i.e. inside the construction site itself, and does not pollute the entire city. Hence, these activities shall be allowed in any case," Gaur argued.

The association pointed out that the first impact of this ban is directly on the labourers working on construction sites.

Labourers become unemployed and often go back to their native states, the CREDAI-NCR president said.

The ban on construction activities also leads to a delay in completing real estate projects and thereby affecting property buyers.

Gaur suggested that the RERA-registered projects should be considered public interest projects and excluded from the ban on construction activities.

The association suggested that the activities which cause pollution should be allowed periodically, from February to November only.

Lalit Aggarwal, vice-chairman of Signature Global, said there is no doubt that pollution has become a big challenge, especially in the National Capital Region.

"However, ad hoc blanket ban on all construction activities has its own problem and impact. Not only does it delay the project, it also adds to the cost of construction," he said.

"Given that, most projects have a completion deadline as per RERA compliance, even more for projects in affordable housing segment where there is a statutory timeline of four years to complete the project, such bans every year cumulatively delay the project significantly," Aggarwal said.

He hoped that the government will provide some flexibility either in the RERA deadlines or allow those activities which do not create pollution like painting, plumbing and wiring among others.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Hamirpur, Jan 10 (PTI) Bilaspur's Him Ira market -- run by self-help groups -- selling local rural and homemade products is fast emerging as the main market for the people in the district.

About 15 self-help groups of the district sell local products in this market on the 5th and 20th of every month. The market was launched by the District Rural Development Agency under the National Rural Livelihood Mission.

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Besides earning their livelihood, this group enhances the taste of the kitchen for the residents by bringing the products obtained from the village soil. Turmeric, Sira, various spices, badiya, different types of pickles, gram flour, amla, Jamun, neem powder and many other types of village products are sold in these markets.

The products sold in the fortnightly market meet the criteria of quality and cleanliness as well as provide full nutrition, due to which the demand and trust of these products have increased among the people.

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People like the products and the sales have increased and we have got success in increasing our livelihood through this medium, said Jagdamba Devi (Shiv SHG), Sapna Devi (Om Namah Shivay SHG) and Lata Devi (Jagriti self-help group).

Apart from this, permanent shops have been allotted to self-help groups under the National Rural Livelihood Mission at Ghumarwin, Jhanduta and Shri Naina Devi, which has been named Him Ira Haat.

To increase the livelihood of the group, a small counter has been opened in the district post office for the sale of products manufactured by the group.

Self-help groups in ITI Bilaspur and Jhandutta provide pure food in the Him Ira canteen, said Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Rai.

Efforts are also being made to recognise the taste and aroma of local products at the national level, Rai added.

Local products were also sold at stalls in various fairs and festivals in Bilaspur and other districts of the state.

These products are also attracting people from other states. Through Saras Mela, not only the promotion of the product is being done, but self-help groups are also sent to Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh and other regions of the country, officials said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], January 10 (ANI): Under the Finance Track of India's G20 Presidency meeting of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) Working Group of G20, Manfred Auster, a G20 delegate from Germany on Tuesday said that they are looking forward for India's G20 presidency with high expectations.

The German delegate said that India is the best place to take an important role in investment from the world.

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"We're looking for India's G20 presidency with high expectations. 'One Earth, One Family, One Future' looks promising. Germany & India have a strategic partnership. India is the best place to take an important role in investment from the world," Manfred Auster told ANI.

The first meeting of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) Working Group of G20 under the Finance Track of India's G20 Presidency began with a symposium through an engaging session on the role of digital public infrastructure to augment digital financial services.

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Moreover, a G20 delegate from Indonesia lauded India's digital and financial sector and said that the country is very good.

Speaking to ANI, Andreas Hotmanri, a G20 delegate from Indonesia said, "We must focus on digital public infrastructure to promote financial inclusion. When it comes to investment in the digital sector and financial sector, India is very good."

Further, Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh, Andalib Elias told ANI, "Bangladesh has done a lot in terms of financial inclusion, this is the best platform for us to learn more, Here, the focus is on how we can use digital platforms for financial inclusion. We're thankful to India for invitation."

According to G20 India's statement, the working group would discuss ways to improve financial system infrastructure, pursue policies conducive to harnessing emerging technologies, facilitating remittance flows and reducing the cost of remittance transfers, financial literacy and consumer protection, digital financial literacy and bridging the digital divide, among others.

During the first month of the Presidency of G20, meetings were held in Udaipur, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. There were cultural programs and excursions held during the meetings in Udaipur, Mumbai, and Bengaluru and so it would be an opportunity for Kolkata to showcase its rich culture, cuisine, and heritage sights. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Toronto, Jan 10 (PTI) Indian-origin Cabinet minister Ranj Pillai will on January 14 take oath as the tenth premier of Canada's territory of Yukon, becoming the second politician of Indian heritage to head a region in the country, according to a media report on Tuesday.

Pillai, whose roots can be traced from Kerala, was on January 8 unanimously chosen as the leader of Yukon Liberal Party, the party said in a statement on its website.

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Pillai was the only candidate in the running when nominations closed on January 7, Yukon News reported.

I am honoured and humbled to be acclaimed as the leader of the Yukon Liberal Party. We have so much to be proud of and I'm very excited for what the future of the Yukon holds, Pillai tweeted on Tuesday.

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The Yukon government's executive council office said Pillai and his Cabinet will be sworn in on the coming Saturday afternoon in a public ceremony in the foyer of the Jim Smith Building.

He will become just the second premier in Canadian history of Indian heritage, following Ujjal Dosanjh who held that post in the province of British Columbia between 2000 and 2001.

There are 10 provinces and three territories in Canada.

Pillai said in a statement issued by his campaign after the announcement that he was "committed to working hard, seeking common ground, acting strategically, and to fiercely defending the interests of the Yukon".

"I look forward to serving all Yukoners as our dedicated team continues to make this territory one of the best places to call home, he said.

The leader also thanked outgoing Premier Sandy Silver for his leadership and dedication.

Premier Silver -- the longest-serving current premier in the country who has been party leader since 2012 and led the party to victory in two elections -- announced on September 9 last year that he would step down from the helm after the party found a new leader to take over the premiership.

The current MLA for Porter Creek South, Pillai was first elected to the Yukon Legislative Assembly in the 2016 territorial election.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Gilgit-Baltistan [POK], January 10 (ANI): The locals and traders of Gilgit Baltistan (GB) in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) are holding protests against heavy taxation laws, illegal land occupation, and load shedding imposed by the regime in the province, Pakistan's vernacular media outlet Baad-e-Shimal reported.

The locals have raised concerns over the re-imposition of Gilgit Baltistan Revenue Tax 2022, which was earlier revoked after several discussions between the people and authorities, the report said.

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A report from Pakistan's vernacular media outlet Baad-e-Shimal highlighted protests over load shedding, flour crisis and ownership of Khalsa Sarkar land.

These protests over concerns raised by the Baltistan residents have been intensifying with each passing day, the report said, adding that Pakistan's military establishment continues to exert coercive claims over the land and resources of the area.

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Before this, local traders and members of various political and social organisations observed a shutters'-down strike on December 28 in different parts of Gilgit-Baltistan, with markets closed and vehicles off the roads. Most of these demonstrations were held in Skardu, Gilgit, Hunza and Ghizer

Pakistan has been openly misusing the 'Khalsa Sarkar' laws for land-grabbing in GB, the report claimed, adding that the law states that the federal government could claim 'ownership of barren or uncultivated land' in GB, even if it was collectively owned by the local community.

The Pamir Times tweeted on December 30 tweeted, "Massive protest demonstrations held in different parts of #Gilgit-#Baltistan yesterday against the "Khalsa Sarkar" colonial law, imposition of taxes and the wheat and power crisis."

The chairman of National Equality Party Jammu Kashmir Gilgit Baltistan and Ladakh (NEP JKGBL) said, "Ppl of #GilgitBaltistan protest for the 8th consecutive day at Yaadgaar #Skardu against #Pakistan on the issues of illegal land occupation, cutting subsidies, increasing electricity prices, black laws & imposing unfair taxes. #Pakistani govt & media have closed their eyes & ears."

According to a fact-finding report by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan last year, the Khalsa Sarkar system violated international human rights standards, including the 'UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples', which protects indigenous peoples' "rights to their collective bio-cultural heritage as a whole, including traditional knowledge and resources, territories, and cultural and spiritual values and customary laws." (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], January 10 (ANI): British Kingdom High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis on Monday held a meeting with Gujarat Chief Bhupendra Patel in Gandhinagar to discuss collaboration with the new government on climate, education, and sport.

Ellis lauded the contribution of Gujarati diaspora to the UK-India Living Bridge. He tweeted, "Excellent meeting @Bhupendrapbjp to discuss collaboration with the new government on climate, education and sport. The Gujarati diaspora make an immense contribution to the UK-India #LivingBridge."

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Meanwhile, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel in a tweet stated, "Met the British High Commissioner in India Mr. @AlexWEllis at Gandhinagar. Discussed with him about 15 meetings to be held in Gujarat under the G20 Summit." Notably, India officially assumed the G20 presidency on December 1.

Meanwhile, Alex Ellis welcomed the signing and exchanging of letters for formalizing the Young Professional Scheme, calling it another "element in strengthening" ties between India and UK. He tweeted, "Another element in strengthening #LivingBridge which supports the flow of ideas and talent."

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On Monday, the High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram K Doraiswami, and Matthew Rycroft, the permanent secretary at the Home Office of the UK signed and exchanged letters for formalising the Young Professional Scheme at an event in London.

The High Commission of India in London tweeted, "HC @VDoraiswami & PUS Home @MatthewRycroft1 signed & exchanged the letters for formalising the Young Professional Scheme at an event @HCI_London today. Further details and implementation date will be shared soon. @MEAIndia @PIBHomeAffairs @ukhomeoffice @DoC_GoI @ANI @DDNewslive."

"Delighted to agree the Young Professional Scheme today with High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami. YPS is an important step in strengthening migration + mobility relationship, Matthew Rycroft stated in a tweet.

Earlier in November, British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis said that PM Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart Rishi Sunak announced the launch of the young professional scheme at the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington, Jan 10 (PTI) The United States, Canada and Mexico have described the violence by former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro's supporters as an attack on democracy and said they stand with Brazil as it safeguards its democratic institutions.

On January 8, reportedly thousands of demonstrators stormed the Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace in capital Brasilia, a week after the inauguration of Bolsonaro's leftist rival, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

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"Canada, Mexico, and the United States condemn the January 8 attacks on Brazil's democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power. We stand with Brazil as it safeguards its democratic institutions, US President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a joint statement issued on Monday.

"Our governments support the free will of the people of Brazil. We look forward to working with President Lula on delivering for our countries, the Western Hemisphere, and beyond, the leaders who are meeting in Mexico said in the statement.

Also Read | Senegal Road Accident: 40 Killed, Dozens Injured in Bus Crash in Gniby Region, President Macky Sall Announces Three-Day National Mourning.

Later, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters in Mexico City that the democratic institutions of Brazil will hold and the will of the people of Brazil will be respected.

The freely-elected leader of Brazil will govern Brazil and will not be deterred or knocked off course by the actions of these people who have assaulted the instruments of governance in Brasilia, including the Congress, the presidential palace, and the Supreme Court, he said.

"So, we think Brazilian democracy is resilient, strong, and will come through this, the top US official said.

In response to a question, Sullivan said the Biden administration has not received any official requests from the Brazilian government regarding the status of former president Bolsonaro.

"We're not, as far as I know, in direct contact with Bolsonaro. So, I cannot speak definitively about his whereabouts. We have not, as of now, received any official requests from the Brazilian government related to Bolsonaro," he said.

"Of course, if we did receive such requests, we would treat them the way we always do: We would treat them seriously, Sullivan said.

Reportedly, the far-right former Brazilian president flew to Florida two days before his term ended on January 1.

"Questions related to visas, as you all know, are the province of the State Department. They are governed by legal modalities. We are careful about not speaking about individual visa cases in public and certainly not from the White House. So, I would have to defer to my colleagues at the State Department on that issue, he said.

The US has not, as of yet, received any official request from the Brazilian government related to this issue. If and when there is a request, it will be dealt with it, Sullivan said.

"If and when we have any information to provide, we will do it. But I anticipate that that information will end up getting provided by the State Department, not coming from me at the National Security Council or coming from the White House, he said.

At a separate news conference here, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said Brazil's democratic institutions have America's full support.

"As we always are, we are standing by for any requests for assistance from our Brazilian partners, from Brazilian authorities, whether those come through diplomatic channels, whether they come through law enforcement channels," he said.

"We will of course respond to those requests as appropriate. The United States and Brazil, we are close partners. We work together day to day on any number of matters and issues. Oftentimes, those are matters of law enforcement," Price said.

Both countries have well-honed processes in place to cooperate where requests are made for information or potentially for action on the part of Brazil to the United States, he said.

In this (Bolsonaro) case, "we have not yet received any requests for information or for action, Price said in response to a question. PTI / LKJ

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai, January 10: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) released the Chartered Accountancy (CA) Final and Intermediate examination 2022 results today, January 10. Candidates who appeared for the ICAI CA Inter and Final exams 2022 can check their results by visiting the official website of ICAI at icai.nic.in.

The CA Final examinations were held from November 1 to November 16, 2022, while the CA Intermediate exams conducted from November 2 to 17 in offline mode. Besides declaring the CA Inter and Final exams 2022 results, the ICAI also declared the toppers list. CA Final, Inter Result: ICAI Declares CA Final, Intermediate November 2022 Results at icai.nic.in, Know How To Check and Download Score Card.

Harsh Choudhary from Delhi secured all India rank (AIR) 1 in the CA Final exam 2022 which was held in November 2022. Choudhary secured 618 marks out of 800. Diksha Goyal from Karnal topped the CA Intermediate 2022 exam with 693 marks out of 800.

CA Final Toppers 2022:

Harsh Choudhary from Delhi secured AIR 1 with 618 marks

Shikha Jain from Indore secured AIR 2 with 617 marks

Ramyashree from Mangaluru also secured AIR 2 with 617 marks

Mansi Agarwal from Delhi secured AIR 3 with 613 marks

CA Inter Toppers 2022:

Diksha Goyal from Karnal secured AIR 1 with 693 marks

Tulika Jalan from Mumbai secured AIR 2 with 677 marks

Saksham Jain from Jaipur secured AIR 3 with 672 mars

Earlier, the ICAI in an official notification said, "The results of the Chartered Accountants Final and Intermediate Examination held in November 2022 are likely to be declared on Tuesday, the 10th January, 2023 and the same can be accessed by candidates on the website icai.nic.in."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 10, 2023 09:59 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Palghar, January 10: A man allegedly kidnapped an eight-year-old boy in Maharashtra's Palghar district to teach a lesson to the child's aunt for rejecting his advances, police said on Tuesday. The district rural police rescued the boy within four hours of the abduction and arrested the alleged accused from Silvassa in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli on Monday, an official said. Mumbai: Jealous Lover Attacks Two Youths With Chopper for Talking to His Ex-Girlfriend in Powai, Booked.

The accused allegedly abducted the boy, a resident of Talasari, from a school ground around 8.30 am on Monday, District Superintendent of Police Palghar Rural Balasaheb Patil said.

The parents approached the police after the boy was not found at school, following which a case under section 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code was registered with the Talasari police station, the official said. Mumbai Shocker: Drunk Man Rapes Wife, Inserts Plastic Object in Her Private Part in Mulund; Arrested for Unnatural Sex.

During the probe, the police found that the accused had been in love with the boy's aunt, who had spurned his advances, he said. Based on intelligence and technical inputs, the police traced the accused to Silvassa, inspector Ajay Vasave of Palghar police station said. The boy was rescued and reunited with his parents, he said, adding that further probe is underway.
Maharajganj, January 10: In a bizarre incident, a Class 8 student forced his way into the house of a Class 6 girl, and applied 'sindoor' (vermilion) on her forehead at knife point in Maharajganj district.

The 16-year-old boy has been detained by the police after the girl's father lodged a report. Station house officer, Maharajganj, Ravi Kumar Rai, said the boy, along with a friend, reached the house of the 14-year-old girl. Uttar Pradesh Shocker: Minor Girls Nose Chopped Off by Miscreants for Resisting Rape in Kanpur.

"The girl was sweeping the floor when the boys scaled the boundary wall of her house. One of them put a knife on the girl's throat and applied vermilion on her forehead," Rai said. The girl got terrified and raised an alarm but before anyone could reach there, the boys managed to escape. When the girl's father, who is a driver, returned home after work, she narrated her ordeal to him," the SHO said.

The girl's father lodged an FIR on charges of outraging modesty, threatening, and voyeurism, and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. Rai said that on the basis of CCTV footage, the motorcycle on which the boys had reached the girl's house was identified. Uttar Pradesh Shocker: Minor Boy Smashes 9-Year-Old Boy's Head With Brick After Tiff in Madrasa.

"A police team traced the boy and picked him up. His father owns a footwear shop," he added. The boy was produced before a child welfare committee and has been kept in a juvenile home.

Rai said that the boy showed no remorse for the act and said that he loved the girl and wanted to marry her. According to police, the boy had been constantly harassing the girl by stalking and proposing to her for the last three months.

When the girl's parents came to know about it, they admitted her to another school but did not lodge a police complaint.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 10, 2023 09:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
A five-judge bench, headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, asked Attorney General R. Venkataramani, representing the Centre, that the settlement was arrived at a particular stage of time, and can the court say that 10 years hence, 20 years hence, or 30 years hence, open the settlement on the basis of fresh documents?
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has asked Tesla about a tweet by its CEO Elon Musk that the electric car-maker will remove the driver monitoring warning from its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software.
New Delhi, January 10 : Chinese smartphone brand iQOO has launched its new flagship smartphone  iQOO 11 in India. The iQOO 11 will be competing with the innumerable premium smartphone models in the highly competitive and lucrative smartphone market of India.

The new iQOO 11 comes braced with powerful specs and a unique design to woo the Indian smartphone users in the premium segment. The company claims the iQOO 11 to be the worlds fastest smartphone. Lets take a deeper look at this new smartphone. iPhone 15 Reportedly in Early Trial Production Phase, Check Out Other Interesting Details About Apples New iPhone Here.

iQOO 11 smartphone  Design, Specifications & Features :

The iQOO 11 comes with a unique styling inspired by the BMW Motorsports racy cars and flaunts racy stripes on its rear panel. BMW Motorsport is also iQOOs premium partner as per the company website.

The smartphone gets a 6.78-inch HDR10+ AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate.

The iQOO 11 boasts of packing in Qualcomms Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor under its hood, which the company refers to as the Monster. The iQOO 11 is the first smartphone in India to get powered by the Qualcomm flagship processor.

The device gets up to 16GB of RAM alongside the convenience of up to 8GB of virtual RAM. Theres up to 256GB of internal storage.

The iQOO 11 smartphone runs on the latest Android 13 OS that topped with the FunTouchOS skin.

The handset comes with a triple camera setup at its rear that comprises of a 50-MP Samsung GN5 primary lens thats teamed up with a 13-MP telephoto camera and an 8-MP ultra-wide snapper. To handle the selfie and video calling requirements, it offers a 16-MP front facing camera.

The iQOO 11 draws its juice from a 5000mAh battery pack with 120W fast charging support.

The iQOO 11 comes with a 30x zoom supermoon feature that is dedicated to capture stunning moon shots.

The phone features an in-house V2 imaging chip to offered enhanced low-light photography and gaming experience.

The device gets a dual x-linear motors to improve haptic feedback, allowing gamers to use four fingers instead of two to play games.

The smartphone also gets endowed with vapor chamber liquid cooling system to prevent the device from overheating and ensure better performance.

The device also comes with a smart temperature sensor feature, to quickly adopt to changing temperature for a consistent heavy-duty performance. Realme 10 (4G) Smartphone Launched in India; Check Price and Details Here.

iQOO 11 Price & Availability in India

The iQOO 11 premium smartphone has launched at a starting price of Rs 59,999 for the 8GB+256GB variant, while its 16GB+256GB variant is tagged at Rs 64,999. The smartphone will be available at a lower price of Rs 51,999 and Rs 56,999 for the two variants availaing bank offers on Amazon. Amazon Prime subscribers also get a flat Rs 1000 discount during the Prime Early access sale that begins on January 12.

The device can be purchased on Amazon and from the iQOO stores from January 13 onwards. The iQOO 11 is available in two colour scheme options names as  the Alpha and the Legend.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 10, 2023 07:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Mexican-American congresswoman from Florida, retaliated against MSNBC on Sunday for what she termed a "hit piece" attempting to portray her as a "white supremacist."

its important that we journalists avoid placing too much emphasis on a representative of Mexican descent whos signed on to a political movement that began with the demonization of Mexicans.



- @MSNBC pushing a twisted lie  Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) January 8, 2023

In a tweet, Luna cited a post by MSNBC opinion columnist Julio Ricardo Varela and stated that it promoted a "twisted lie." A Luna's communications staff member, Edie Heipel, released a screenshot of her email after examining an NBC universal email to see whether the writer had requested comment.

When @MSNBC publishes a bogus hit piece on @realannapaulina and you check to see if they reached out for comment like responsible journalists



 pic.twitter.com/5tL9wnbGj6  Edie Heipel (@ediemheipel) January 9, 2023

A message left for Varela went unanswered.

Wow. @MSNBC is really trying to paint me as a white supremacist? Honestly Im pretty sick of left leaning media focusing so much on my race. Its sad to see how triggered the left is over the fact that Im conservative.  Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) January 8, 2023

According to Fox News, Varela disparaged Luna's relationship with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and compared her to a "Latina version of Rep. Lauren Boebert," a Republican congresswoman from Colorado.

READ NEXT: Still No House Speaker as Kevin McCarthy Fails to Win Speakership Again Amid Republican Infighting

MSNBC's Article Against Florida Mexican-American Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna

The most Latino Congress ever is more progressive - and more MAGA, according to a piece on MSNBC.

A picture of Luna appeared with a different headline when the piece was first released: "Opinion: A MAGA Latina House member is not as shocking as you'd think," per Florida's Voice.

The article states that while Luna's election to the House of Representatives is interesting, the media must avoid concentrating too much emphasis on a lawmaker of Mexican heritage who is joined by a political organization that began by demonizing Mexicans.

Additionally, the writer claims that Turning Point USA is a "MAGA white supremacist cult" and that Luna has collaborated with them.

"A Latina version of Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Luna, according to a summary of her career in the Tampa Bay Times, followed the MAGA playbook to gain political fame. She has ties to chief Kevin McCarthy opponent, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and has worked with what I consider to be a MAGA white supremacist cult: Turning Point USA," according to MSNBC Reporter Julio Ricardo Varela.

Charlie Kirk established Turning Point USA as a non-profit organization to identify, educate, train, and organize students to advocate for freedom.

Luna was the National Hispanic Outreach Director of Turning Point USA, where she previously worked with Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens.

Anna Paulina Luna Is Part of a Group of House Conservatives Who Flipped Their Vote to Elect Kevin McCarthy

Florida Mexican-American congresswoman, Anna Paulina Luna, made news this week for being one of 20 conservative House members who opposed the election of U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, as Speaker.

The organization and McCarthy negotiated for over a month before presenting their legislative amendments and reaching a "good faith" agreement.

Most of the House later switched their support to McCarthy, making him the new Speaker.

Possible reforms include allowing conservatives to introduce legislation and amendments, allowing any member to seek to oust Speaker McCarthy if he "goes back on promises," and capping expenditure for the next decade.

On Monday night, a vote will be taken on the new House rules package.

READ MORE: Joe Biden Will Finally Visit the US-Mexico Border for the First Time Since Becoming POTUS: Here's When

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Written by: Bert Hoover

Watch: What's really motivating the 'anti-Kevin' crowd? - From MSNBC
A series of classified documents involving U.S. President Joe Biden during his days as the vice president of the United States has resurfaced. The president's attorneys have acknowledged the matter.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped the U.S. attorney in Chicago, John Lausch, to launch a probe regarding the classified documents, according to a source.

It was not immediately clear what the documents are about and why they were taken to Biden's private office.

The classified documents were found in November while the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a Washington, D.C.-based office the president used when he was an honorary professor with the University of Pennsylvania, was closing out.

Richard Sauber, special counsel to President Biden, noted that the documents' discovery was made by the president's lawyers.

Nearly 10 documents were found at the Washington, D.C. office. These were then handed over to the National Archives.

Sauber said that the White House is currently cooperating with the National Archives and Justice Department.

READ NEXT: Texas: Greg Abbott Gets Brutally Honest on Scary Effects of Title 42 Abolishment

Joe Biden Classified Documents

President Joe Biden recently became aware of the existence of the documents when his lawyer reported the said materials to the White House counsel's office in November.

One source noted that the president is unaware of the contents of the classified documents. But that the classified materials did not contain any nuclear secrets.

The classified documents were "housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space" in Washington, D.C., according to Sauber.

The Justice Department, National Archives, and the think tank have yet to comment on the matter.

Donald Trump Comments on 'Biden Classified Documents' Issue

Former U.S. President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social social media platform to comment on the recently discovered classified documents.

Trump said on his post that the documents found "were definitely not declassified," then asked when the Federal Bureau of Investigation will raid the "many homes of Joe Biden."

The Justice Department is currently investigating Trump's handling of highly sensitive classified documents that he retained at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida after he left the White House in January 2021.

The FBI then raided Trump's Florida residence in August and seized around 100 classified documents.

Classified Documents Probe

Sauber said that the Biden classified documents were voluntarily turned over to the officials. Meanwhile, Trump was pressed to return the materials to the National Archives.

Trump's lawyers handed over 38 classified documents when the former president was issued a subpoena to do so. However, an FBI seizure found more than 100 classified documents that were not returned to the authorities.

Sauber said in a statement that the classified documents from Biden's vice president days were not under any "previous request or inquiry by the Archives," adding that the president's lawyers have since cooperated with the Justice Department and Archives to ensure that the records from Biden's vice presidency during Barack Obama's administration are "appropriately in the possession of the Archives."

A source familiar with the matter said that the difference between Trump's and Biden's case is the "voluntary notification" and "number of documents."

The person added that although that may be the differences, both cases of classified documents "went somewhere it shouldn't have."

READ MORE: COVIDtests.gov: More Free COVID-19 Test Kits Available on Federal Government Website | Here's How You Can Order

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WATCH: BREAKING: DOJ reviewing potentially classified documents at Biden center, White House says - from ABC7 Chicago


In the months leading to the Brazilian elections, the United States was warned that then-Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro might try to pull off a Donald Trump-style coup attempt. A few days after Lula was sworn in, Bolsonaro supporters did just that.

Now, U.S. President Joe Biden is getting pressure to kick Bolsonaro out of the United States as the Brazilian ex-president is staying in Florida, near his "good friend," Donald Trump.

This also comes as Brazil announced that they are launching an investigation to see who was the true mastermind behind the Bolsonaro supporters' attack on the country's Congress, Supreme Court, and the presidential palace.

Much like Donald Trump, Bolsonaro refused to acknowledge that he lost the elections and has been spreading misinformation that the elections were stolen in favor of the winner and current president, Lula. He had also been teasing that the people might also try a coup similar to Donald Trump's January 6 insurrection.

Brazil Government Cracks Down on Jair Bolsonaro Supporters Who Stormed Capital

After thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the Brazilian capital and overran Congress and the Supreme Court before surrounding the presidential palace, Brazilian authorities went on a counter-offensive and swiftly arrested many of the rioters.

The rioters were camped near a military building as they tried urging the military to help them oust Lula and install Bolsonaro as president. However, authorities soon raided that camp and arrested approximately 1,200 Bolsonaro supporters,

READ MORE: Lula Slams' Vandals and Fascists' Behind Brazil Congress Attack, Promises Punishment for Attackers

The raid happened on Monday, and on that same day, Brazilian authorities announced that they have launched an investigation to look into who was really behind that shocking uprising, though many believe that this was Bolsonaro all along.

Many of these rioters believed that Bolsonaro should have won the elections because of faulty election equipment, which was one of the many excuses Donald Trump had tried to give to his supporters, something Bolsonaro also did. However, neither Trump nor Bolsonaro could back their claims.

According to the Associated Press, Bolsonaro's son had been meeting with Donald Trump and his notable allies, including Steve Bannon and Jason Miller, prior to the uprising in Brazil.

Joe Biden Urged to Expel Jair Bolsonaro Back to Brazil

Reuters reported that Bolsonaro was hospitalized for abdominal pain in a local hospital in Orlando, Florida. This happened a day before his supporters stormed several government buildings in Brasilia.

The far-right leader had been suffering stomach problems since getting stabbed before the 2018 Brazilian elections. He left Brazil just as Lula took power, refusing to do the ceremonial handing of the Presidential sash to his successor.

However, now that his supporters have launched a coup in Brazil, U.S. President Joe Biden is facing increased pressure to expel him from the country and back to Brazil where he might face justice.

According to NBC News, these calls to have Bolsonaro expelled came from Democrats, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Corte of New York, Joaquin Castro of Texas, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Mark Takano of California.

Biden has not yet talked to Lula about the situation, with White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, admitting that there still have been no requests for extradition from Brazil regarding their former president.

READ MORE: Brazil: Electoral Committee Rejects Jair Bolsonaro Demand to Invalidate Votes, Overturn Elections

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WATCH: Calls to extradite Jair Bolsonaro - ABC News
President Joe Biden and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are in Mexico City for the North America Leaders Summit hosted by Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. After formalities and a show of friendship, AMLO issued a challenge to the U.S. president.

According to the Associated Press, delegations from Mexico and the United States had a tense meeting in an ornate room at the Palacio Nacional. AMLO reportedly challenged Biden to end an attitude of "abandonment" and "disdain" for Latin America and the Caribbean during that meeting, which took place on Monday.

The Mexican president also challenged Biden to improve life across the Latin American region as he holds the "key" in his hands. This comes as more and more migrants flee their countries across Latin America and the Caribbean due to political persecution, economic crisis, or just life being hard. Many of these immigrants flee to the United States but often go to Mexico first and try their luck at the U.S.-Mexico border.

AMLO reportedly also complained that too many of the United States's imports came from Asia, as not many were produced in the Americas.

"We ask ourselves, couldn't we produce in America what we consume?" he reportedly told Biden.

On the other hand, the U.S. president stated that they have already sent billions of dollars in foreign aid, saying, "unfortunately, our responsibility just doesn't end in the Western Hemisphere."

READ MORE: Mexico: President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Tells Citizens to Reject Gifts From Drug Cartels

Joe Biden, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Justin Trudeau to Talk About Economy, Immigration, and Drug Cartels

These high-level talks between the leaders of the three biggest North American countries will be mostly about trade, but one of the main things on the agenda is the drug cartels.

Two Mexican officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity have told Reuters that the main plan is for Mexico to reduce the amount of fentanyl going across the U.S.-Mexico border while the United States will try to reduce the number of guns being smuggled into Mexico. American firearms are usually used by the drug cartels to conduct heinous acts around Mexico.

The three leaders are also discussing handling the influx of immigrants from Central and South America. They aim to crack down on smugglers, known as coyotes, who profit from persuading migrants to trek across the border in order to improve their lives or escape persecution.

North American Leaders Summit to Also Talk About Lessening Reliance on China

The supply chain issues brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have exposed that North America will suffer should it continue its reliance on Chinese-made goods.

Now, the three North American leaders are talking about how to tackle this issue, with NPR pointing out that "nearshoring" may be talked about by AMLO, Biden, and Trudeau. This means that the three countries will try to produce goods on their own and lessen their dependence on China. This will lead to a bigger trade relationship between the three North American countries now that goods are produced nearer, thus mitigating supply chain issues.

READ MORE: El Mencho's Notorious Jalisco Cartel Hands Out Christmas Gifts to Children During a Parade in Mexico City of Guadalajara

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WATCH: Summit of North American leaders in Mexico City | DW News
The Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger's motive has yet to be revealed to the public and law enforcement authorities, including several other things that still raise a question regarding the Idaho murder case.

A probable cause affidavit was recently released, with investigators using DNA evidence, surveillance footage, and cell phone records to commit Kohberger to the crime.

One retired FBI agent, Bobby Chacon, believed that law enforcement officials do not necessarily need to determine the Idaho murder motive to secure a murder conviction.

Chacon noted that the motive was the least important thing he did as most murder statutes do not need to prove why somebody did the crime.

The former FBI agent added that his main determination as an investigation was who did the crime and how he can prove it.

Chacon said that motive was the least import unless it is a "blunt defense motion, a defense assertion," or self-defense.

Cell phone records show that Kohberger's phone was near the area where the murders occurred at least 12 times before November 13.

READ NEXT: Idaho Murder Suspect Bryan Kohberger Spotted in Victims' Vigil Days After Killings

Bryan Kohberger Affidavit

Authorities argued that the Idaho murder was a "targeted" attack. However, they did not release what led them to that conclusion nor who or what the target was.

The 19-page affidavit regarding the case did not also detail any connection, if there is any, between Kohberger and his murder victims.

The four victims were all students at the University of Idaho while Kohberger was getting in criminal justice Ph.D. at Washington State University.

Kohberger was just 15 minutes away from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman.

It was unclear whether the victims knew Kohberger.

Meanwhile, Kaylee Gonclaves' father, Steve Gonclaves, said that he had found an unnamed connection between Kohberger and his daughter. However, Steve noted that he was not ready to reveal the possible connections.

Investigators believe that Kohberger stalked the victims' home at least 12 times before the November murder.

Gonclaves told friends and family that she believed she had a stalker before she was killed.

Moscow Police said that they had been unable to confirm nor confirm the claims about the details of the stalker.

Idaho Murder Case

Police responded to a report they received around 11:58 a.m. on November 13. Moscow Police found the four Idaho students dead on the second and third floors of the home.

The three other victims were identified as Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chaplin. Chaplin did not live in the home but was dating Kernodle.

Meanwhile, two other roommates survived the murder, and police said they believe they slept through the killings. However, one roommate claimed that she had seen Kohberger inside their home.

Police said that some of the victims had defensive wounds and each person was stabbed multiple times. Law enforcement also found no evidence of sexual assault.

Investigator Police Cpl. Brett Payne noted that the Idaho murder suspect's DNA was found on a knife sheath at the crime scene.

However, the Idaho murder weapon used has yet to be found.

READ MORE: Idaho Murders: Surviving Roommate Did Not Call 911 After Chilling Encounter With Killer Suspected to Be Bryan Kohberger

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WATCH: Hunt for Knife Bryan Kohberger Allegedly Used in Idaho Student Murders Continues: Cops - from Law&Crime Network


Inspector General Will Fletcher of the Chicago Board of Education said that 470 students had filed sexual harassment accusations against Chicago Public Schools staff that year.

The study describes incidents in which school staff sexually harassed, assaulted, or intimidated children.

According to the Chicago schools watchdog report, an ex-member of the Junior ROTC staff was found to have had sexual contact with a high school student, even though the youngster was only 16 years old.

After learning of the probe, the employee threatened the child and her family's lives if she helped investigators.

Meanwhile, during driver's ed class, a male instructor at the high school exposed himself to a female student in the 11th grade.

A youngster informed two teachers about the occurrence, but they needed to follow their legal obligation to notify the school administration.

When no one believed the girl's account of the incident, she turned to social media. After another student came forward with similar complaints against the instructor, the latter was arrested and ultimately resigned.

These are just some of the reported Chicago sexual harassment in school, according to CPSOIG 2022 Annual Report.

READ NEXT: Ohio Teacher's Aide Charged With Rape After She Repeatedly Had Sex With 12-Year-Old Student at Her Home

CPS Spokeswoman Responded to Chicago Schools Watchdog's Report

Mary Fergus, a spokesperson for CPS, commented on Fletcher's findings.

"As a District, we take seriously our responsibility to serve our families with integrity and to address individuals who breach CPS policies and the public's trust - and hold them accountable," Fergus stated in an email. "CPS will continue to ensure our District policies and procedures support the highest ethical standards to ensure our valued team members act in the best interest of our students."

Any supervisor or employee who suppressed or ignored an allegation of abuse was recommended for disciplinary action by the OIG.

Sexual harassment, monetary misappropriation, fraud, bullying, and other improper behavior accounted for 1,825 of the 2022 complaints.

A total of 725 cases were investigated, said Illinois Policy.

School in Kansas Charged to Pay Roughly $1M to Student Sexually Harassed by Teacher

In another story, a former student of Hogan Preparatory Academy had won a $950,000 judgment against the school for sexual harassment and inappropriate touching by a teacher when she was 11 years old.

The court had ruled that a Kansas City charter school must compensate a former student about $1 million because she was sexually assaulted by a middle school teacher when she was 11.

The former Hogan Preparatory Academy student said that her instructor, Douglas Bliss, had singled her out and assaulted her.

According to NPR Kansas, a jury in Jackson County Court ruled in favor of the former student on accusations of discrimination, assault, and punitive damages brought against the charter school and awarded her $950,000 in compensation Friday.

In 2020, the plaintiff, a student named D.W., filed a complaint.

This decision follows a December ruling by the Missouri Charter Public School Commission that placed Hogan Prep on academic probation due to low test scores and an inability to retain teachers.

The commission mandated the temporary closure of the charter school over staffing and safety issues in November.

Second-semester submissions also called for a safety plan from the charter school.

READ MORE: Florida: Latina Congresswoman Slams MSNBC for 'Twisted Lie,' Trying To Paint Her as 'White Supremacist'

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Written by: Bert Hoover

Watch: Surviving Sexual Assault in High School | The Scarlet Letter Reports - From Refinery29
California mayor Sheng Thao was inaugurated on Monday as the new Oakland mayor, promising to build a safe, more affordable, and more equitable city.

Thao is a progressive and was elected mayor of Oakland, California after she beat moderate former councilmember Loren Taylor by less than 700 votes.

Thao noted that her main priorities as the new Oakland mayor are homelessness and crime. Homelessness is reportedly a personal matter for her.

The new California mayor said she experienced homelessness after leaving an abusive relationship and was six and a half months pregnant at the time.

She and her unborn son slept in her car and couch-surfed for months. Thao also admitted to having depended on social services for most of her life.

READ NEXT: California Tesla Driver Arrested After Intentionally Driving off Cliff in Attempt to Kill His Family, Himself

California New Mayor Sheng Thao's Homelessness Response

Sheng Thao spoke during her inauguration amid the pressure from unhoused residents at the Wood Street encampment.

Wood Street is California's largest homeless encampment, with 300 residents. However, occupants are facing planned eviction from the camp.

The city was scheduled to start evicting residents on Monday. However, a judge granted a temporary restraining order to halt the evictions.

The city aims to clear out the site as a 170-unit affordable housing project as it is preparing to break ground and has warned of losing a "significant amount" of the needed grant funding if it does not start before the end of the month.

The city and encampment residents will go back to court on January 18. Thao noted that she would work on protecting renters who are "one illness and one missed paycheck" from losing their homes.

The newly inaugurated mayor further noted that she promised to make public land available for housing construction.

Thao is also building 30,000 new housing units for the next eight years. Included in her plans is to fill the staff within the city government and hold town halls throughout the city to get feedback from residents.

Oakland has experienced an increase in homelessness to 24% in the past three years, bringing the number to about 5,000 people in 2022.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao

Sheng Thao was born to Hmong refugees who fled Laos due to genocide during the Vietnam war. She then grew up living in poverty in Stockton, California, being the seventh child out of 10 children.

The first Hmong American mayor helped pass legislation extending paid leave policy and make Oakland the first Californian sanctuary city as a city councilmember.

When she was campaigning, she vowed to strengthen renter protections, create recreational vehicle parking sites for those who live in their cars, and expand violence prevention services.

The Oakland mayor said her political career was an accident after needing money for her son's new clothes.

Thao said that she found a program called APAP, which allowed her to earn $1,000 to intern with at-large councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, from whom she learned the policies that legislators passed.

READ MORE: California Gov. Gavin Newsom Asks Federal Aid Amid Power Cut Due to Storms

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WATCH: Watch: Oakland Mayor-Elect Sheng Thao Speaks at City Hall - From NBC Bay Area




At least 13 Peruvians died Monday as protests seeking immediate resumption of elections in rural areas in southeast Peru still loyal to ousted President Pedro Castillo.

According to Associated Press, 12 people died amid a clash between police forces and demonstrators in Juliaca, close to the Bolivian border. Peru's top human rights agency has demanded an inquiry into the fatalities.

Since the turmoil started in early December after Castillo's dismissal and detention for an unsuccessful attempt to dissolve Congress and prevent his impeachment, this is the highest death toll.

According to reports, a 17-year-old was among 12 people killed in Juliaca. A protest blocking a roadway in the adjacent city of Chucuito caused the death of the 13th victim.

Dina Boluarte, Castillo's successor and his former running mate, has backed a proposal to move the 2024 elections for president and congress initially scheduled for 2026.

She also supported a judicial probe if security forces acted with excessive force.

However, despite attempts to calm the unrest, it has returned forcefully in some of Peru's poorest regions, where support for Castillo's unconventional administration had previously been highest, following a brief respite over the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

Around 13% of Peru's provinces reported demonstrations on Monday, with many having barricades that prevented trucks from transporting products to market.

The death toll in clashes with security forces now climbed to 34 as of Monday, while hundreds more have been treated for injuries.

READ NEXT: Peru: Ousted President Pedro Castillo Jail Appeal Junked by Judges

Peru Bars Evo Morales Amids Increasing Tension

Evo Morales, the socialist ex-president of Bolivia, was denied entry to Peru. Morales criticized this decision as an assault aimed to divert attention away from Peru's human rights violations.

On Monday, the government of Peru issued a statement announcing its intention to ban Morales and eight other Bolivians, all of whom remain unnamed, Al Jazeera reported.

That comes after weeks of violent demonstrations in Peru against Dina Boluarte.

Pedro Castillo, who had been in power for less than two years, attempted to illegally dissolve Congress in December, setting up a new political crisis in the South American nation before an impending impeachment vote.

The southern areas of Peru, which have historically been left-leaning strongholds along the border with Bolivia, have been the sites of some of the most significant pro-Castillo rallies.

Dina Boluarte Says She Couldn't Grant Protesters' Demands

The Peruvian Ombudsman Office said the police and military forces should not be attempting to mediate the confrontations, as that was the responsibility of Congress and the central government.

It urged protesters to desist from damaging property or hindering the transit of ambulances. It demanded that police comply with international norms in using force and that investigations be conducted into the fatalities.

According to an earlier report from Monday, an infant died while being transported by ambulance from the town of Yunguyo to a nearby hospital due to a roadblock.

Dina Boluarte said she could not grant any of the demonstrators' critical requests during a "national accord" meeting with leaders from the country's regions and other political institutions earlier on Monday, US News reported.

She urged people to "reflect" on their lives.

"The only thing that was in my hands was moving forwards the elections, which we have already proposed," she noted. "What you are asking for is a pretext to continue generating chaos in the cities."

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has announced that it will visit Peru from Wednesday to Friday, making stops in Lima and other towns to assess the situation.

READ MORE: Chicago School Watchdog Claims Reports Roughly 500 Sexual Harassment Complaints From Students Against Employees

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Anti-Government Protests Continue in Peru - From AP Archive
Controversial Representative-elect George Santos of New York seems to be in deeper trouble after reports surfaced that his campaign fundraiser allegedly impersonated Kevin McCarthy's top aide to help raise campaign money.

Santos is reportedly not only under fire from Democrats but also from his Republican colleagues.

According to CNBC, a member of the Santos campaign team allegedly impersonated McCarthy's chief of staff to secure donations from top Republican donors.

People with knowledge of the matter told CNBC that during the 2020 and 2022 election cycles, a man claiming to be McCarthy's chief of staff, Dan Meyer, emailed and called wealthy donors.

However, a GOP donor who contributed to Santos' campaign said that man turned out to be Sam Miele, a member of Santos' political team, who worked as a fundraiser for the then-congressional candidate.

A Republican political strategist close to GOP donors and the Republican Jewish Coalition's leadership admitted that Santos duped them.

The freshman New York representative is reportedly banned from any of the group's future events after it was found that he faked having Jewish lineage.

In a letter to his Republican Jewish Coalition colleagues, board member Eric Levine wrote that the lying congressman "deserves to be humiliated and held in contempt."

Levine admitted that they endorsed Santos because he claimed to be Jewish and even donated to his campaign.

READ NEXT: Republican Representative-Elect George Santos Admits to Lying About His Career, College

Kevin McCarthy Campaign Knew About George Santos Campaign Using Their Name for Fundraising

The New York Post contacted Kevin McCarthy's representatives and asked about George Santos' campaign fundraiser pretending to be the now House Speaker's chief of staff.

McCarthy's lawyer Elliot Berke told the outlet that they found out about this issue last year and confronted the Santos campaign team about it.

"When this issue came to our attention last year, I raised it with the Santos campaign and felt it was resolved to our satisfaction," he noted.

The Santos campaign team reportedly paid Sam Miele almost $100,000 to fundraise for them.

He was paid $50,000 during Santos' failed 2020 House campaign and then $42,000 for his successful 2022 run for the House.

George Santos Got Booed When Voting for Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker

The GOP drama behind the House Speakership vote has overshadowed George Santos' first day on the job as New York representative.

One of his first acts was to vote for the next House Speaker, and he sided with Kevin McCarthy. However, as he cast his vote, "boos" were heard on the House floor.

According to The Independent, the jeers came from the Democrats' side of the aisle. Several House Democrats, including home-state colleague Ritchie Torres, have been very vocal in asking either he resign or be removed from Congress.

However, the embattled lawmaker has doubled down and pledged to stay as a member of the House.

As Latin Post previously reported, Santos was shunned by fellow Republicans on his first day. He was seen sitting alone and not talking to anybody on the House floor.

Federal prosecutors are now investigating Santos, with the U.S. Attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York looking into his finances and financial disclosures.

The Republican district attorney for Nassau County is also reviewing the alleged embellishments on his resume.

He is also in trouble in Brazil, as Brazilian authorities plan to revive fraud charges against him. It is related to a 2008 incident involving using a stolen checkbook and a false name.

READ MORE: House Republicans Shun Embattled Rep.-Elect George Santos on First Day in Congress

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WATCH: George Santos Accused of Breaking Campaign Finance Laws - From CBS Evening News
Prince Harry was seen in New York City on Monday surrounded by security guards, one armed with a gun, as he headed to a studio for an interview with The Late Show's Stephen Colbert.

As he promoted his "Spare" memoir, which reveals new details on the royal family's bitter internal feud, the Duke of Sussex taped another interview.

Daily Mail reported that his book is scheduled to come out on January 10. He was seen out with a security guard carrying a Glock lockbox, which is used to carry guns and ammunition.

The younger British prince said he has become even more concerned for his security since he moved to the United States, noting that he feels "vulnerable."

Harry was blocked under U.K. law from having private armed guards with him in the country, which prompted him to take legal action against British officials.

In his filing, Harry noted that preventing him from having armed security is "unlawful" and "unfair."

He said this is one reason that pushed him to sign lucrative deals in the United States so he could pay for private armed security.

READ NEXT: Taliban Accuses Prince Harry of 'War Crimes,' Killing Innocent People After Revealing He Killed 25 Fighters in Afghanistan

Prince Harry Returning to the Royal Family

Prince Harry has previously described how it was difficult to get out of the royal family. Now, he does not believe that he and his wife, Meghan Markle, could return to the British monarchy as working royals.

Harry was asked on "Good Morning America" if he and his family could return to the British royal family, to which he answered that he did not think "it's ever going to be possible."

The duke noted that even if there is an agreement or arrangement between him and his family, a "third party" will do everything to ensure that will not happen.

Harry said there would be no one to stop them from returning, but it would be "unsurvivable."

The duke recently released claims against his stepmother, Queen consort Camilla, alleging that she tried to "rehabilitate" her image at his own cost.

He also referred to his stepmother as the "third person" within his parents' marriage. Harry also said that Camilla's willingness to create connections with the British press made her "dangerous."

Royal Family Responding

The royal family has yet to comment on Prince Harry's claims in his interviews with ABC's "Good Morning America" and CBS's "60 Minutes."

Lawyers for Buckingham Palace asked the two networks to see Harry's full interviews before they would comment on the duke's claims. However, both programs declined the request.

GMA said in a statement that it had received a message from a law firm representing the Palace while they were on air, asking the producers to hand out "a copy of the entire interview."

However, producers refused as they do not practice it as an organization as "a matter of policy."

"60 Minutes" host Anderson Cooper noted at the end of the interview that the media outlet reached out to the Palace for comment.

Cooper said the palace representatives demanded the report before airing it. The program host said that it was "something we never do."

READ MORE: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Royal Titles Could Be 'In Danger' With New Monarch as King Charles - Royal Expert

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Prince Harry's Book 'Spare' Reveals Deep Divides, Infighting - From TODAY
For over two years, the Navy had closely watched Ovidio Guzman Lopez, the son of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera. It was so close that they even fended off his assassination in Mexico City, plotted by the Arellano Felix cartel.

Citing an investigation report by the Navy and the Attorney General's Office, Borderland Beat reported that Ovidio stayed at a hotel in Mexico City's Napoles neighborhood in October 2021.

El Chapo's son was reportedly in the city to meet with alleged federal authorities. Ovidio, who only had two security escorts at the time, moved around in a Land Rover and a bulletproof Mercedes Benz.

He was reportedly followed by five Arellano Felix cartel hitmen, who had been sent from Tijuana by cartel leader Pablo Erwin, alias "El Flaco, to kill Ovidio.

They ended up in Mexico City on October 15 and stayed near the hotel where El Chapo's son was. The hitmen managed to take two photographs of Ovidio from a vehicle.

One of the gunmen, who was only identified as Aaron' N,' reportedly sent an image and voice mails directly to the cartel's boss, Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix, alias "El Pelon," to report all of Ovidio's movements.

Audios sent by Aaron were intercepted after he was arrested and detained by the Secretary of Citizen Security along with the other three suspects.

An Arellano Felix cartel member identified as "El Viejito" was depositing money to the hitmen daily. However, the assassination attempt failed as the five gunmen were arrested at the Vermont intersection on October 28.

The audios and photos saved by Aaron reveal the entire plot of the Arellano Felix cartel. Since then, the Navy never lost track of El Chapo's son arrested last week in Sinaloa state after hours of confrontations with the army.

From this investigation, authorities also learned that Ovidio was no longer leaving Culiacan in Sinaloa as Ovidio and his three brothers, known as Los Chapitos, reportedly found out about the thwarted attempt.

So they decided to stay in the capital of Sinaloa. The Arellano Felix cartel is allegedly a rival of El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel.

READ NEXT: El Chapo's Son, Member of Sinaloa Cartel, Arrested After Chaotic, Messy Chase in Mexico

Extradition of El Chapo's Son Ovidio Guzman Lopez to U.S. May Take Years

A Mexican federal judge stopped the extradition process of Ovidio Guzman Lopez to the United States on Friday.

According to Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, the 32-year-old son of El Chapo needs to resolve charges in his native country before the extradition, Vice reported.

Lawyers and former U.S. law enforcement officials involved in extraditions from Mexico told the outlet that the wait could vary from several months to years, or it may never even happen as the process is plagued by corruption and painfully slow, particularly in cases involving narco suspects with helpful information to share with investigators.

Who Are El Chapo's Sons Known as Los Chapitos?

The four sons of El Chapo, known as Los Chapitos, had reportedly assumed leadership roles in the Sinaloa Cartel after their father was arrested and extradited to the U.S.

The Los Chapitos are Joaquin Guzman Lopez, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar. Under their leadership, the Sinaloa Cartel has continued to be one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels.

The U.S. State Department has already offered $5 million rewards for any information that could help federal agents arrest El Chapo's four sons.

The State Department said the Los Chapitos are high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel and are each subject to a federal indictment for their involvement in the illegal drug trade.

Their father's former right-hand man, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, was reportedly the Los Chapitos' internal enemy number one.

El Chapo's sons have also been at odds with their uncle, Aureliano "El Guano" Guzman. El Chapo's brother is also a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel.

READ MORE: Brazil: Videos Show Jair Bolsonaro Fanatics Destroying Brazil Congress, Presidential Palace in Scary Protest

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Rise & Fall of the Arellano Felix Organization - From WorthTheHype
A Laois musician is among the members of a up and coming band just annnounced on the IMRO Album of the Year shortlist.

The RTE Choice Music Prize, in association with IMRO and IRMA has announced its shortlist for Irish Album of the Year 2022.

The prestigious prize this year includes three new prizes and Irish Song of the Year announcements later this week on 2FM.

The shortlist for this years RTE Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year 2022, in association with IMRO & IRMA, was announced on Monday, January 9 on RTE 2FMs Tracy Clifford Show.

Among the ten finalists is the high octane, irreverent and hugely talented trad band The Mary Wallopers, which includes talented Portlaoise woman Roisin Barrett, daughter of Joe and Sheila Barrett.

Roisin plays bass guitar with The Mary Wallopers (below in action).

The band whose hits include Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice (watch the video below), released their debut album last October and have tours scheduled across Ireland, Europe and North America for 2023.

The full shortlist is as follows:

Anna Mieke  Theatre (Anna Mieke under license to Nettwerk Music Group)

Aoife Nessa Frances  Protector (Partisan Records)

CMAT  If My Wife New Id Be Dead (CMATBABY)

Dermot Kennedy  Sonder (Island)

Fontaines D.C.  Skinty Fia (Partisan Records)

Just Mustard  Heart Under (Partisan Records)

Pillow Queens  Leave the Light On (Royal Mountain Records)

Sorcha Richardson  Smiling Like An Idiot (Faction Records)

The Mary Wallopers  The Mary Wallopers (The Mary Wallopers)

Thumper  Delusions of Grandeur (Eva Magical Music Sounds)

2FM celebrated the announcement of the shortlist with All Irish All Day from 6am to midnight. 2FMs Tracy Clifford Show will broadcast a week of Choice Music Prize announcements and activities, including further details on the three new prizes and Irish Song of the Year.

Irish Artist of the Year  shortlist Tuesday 10th January

Irish Breakthrough Artist  shortlist Wednesday 11th January

Classic Irish Album  further details Thursday 12th January

Irish Song of the Year  shortlist Friday 13th January

(the public vote for SOTY will open at the end of the week):

Adam Fogarty is Head of Music, RTE 2FM.

Its been another year of quality music from Irish artists which were looking forward to celebrating on 2FM. The new prizes, particularly Irish Artist of the Year and Irish Breakthrough Artist, along with Irish Song of the Year will ensure that we get to put an even bigger spotlight on incredible Irish artists and recognise their achievements over the last twelve months.

The Irish Album of the Year 2022, along with the four prizes above, will be announced live from Vicar St on RTE 2FM in a special show 7-11pm on Thursday 9th March. The show will feature live performances from some of the shortlisted acts, further details on the line-up to be announced soon.

Tickets are on sale now via https://www.ticketmaster. ie/choice-music-prize-tickets/ artist/1541435

The 18th annual RTE Choice Music Prize will once again celebrate the best in Irish recorded music. The Prize has become one of the music-industry highlights of the year since its inception in 2005. The Irish Album of the Year award is chosen from a shortlist of ten albums by a panel of eleven Irish music media professionals and industry experts. The list of judges is listed on http://www. choicemusicprize.ie

The winning AOTY act will receive 10,000, a prize fund which has been provided by The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). All shortlisted acts will receive a specially commissioned award.

RAAP, Culture Ireland, FMC and Minding Creative Minds are also official project partners of the RTE Choice Music Prize.

Through its funding of the Music From Ireland programme, Culture Irelands support of the RTE Choice Music Prize will be directed towards shortlisted artists, as well as assisting the RTE Choice Music Prize Conversations.
A man who was arrested on suspicion of being intoxicated in Portlaoise has had the case against him dismissed.

Joe Collins, 47, of 4 Meehan House, JFL Avenue, Portlaoise was arrested on the Dublin Road in Portlaoise on August 22, 2020.

Garda Ryan Price said he saw the man swaying on the footpath from side to side on the date in question. Garda Price said he arrested the defendant out of concern for his welfare at 11pm.

A fixed charge penalty notice was later issued but never paid, he told the sitting of Portlaoise District Court.

Garda Price said the footpath was narrow and the defendants behaviour was causing traffic to slow down.

I arrested him in case he fell in front of traffic, explained Garda Price.

Solicitor Philip Moran said his client had told him the incident had occurred during the Covid lockdown. He said his client instructed him that he was on his way to get a takeaway pizza.

He states that you asked him why he was out and where was he going? said Mr Meagher. The man responded by asking why the question was being put to him.

Perhaps you thought he was being a little cheeky? Mr Meagher suggested.

Denying this, Garda Price said no Judge, that wouldnt be true.

Mr Meagher said his client offered to take a breathalyser at the Garda station.

When asked if he recalled this, Garda Price said if he stated that in the custody area I would have noted it.

Mr Meagher said the man had been arrested for being intoxicated to such an extent he was a danger to others or himself and yet there was no evidence of slurred speech or a smell of alcohol.

Judge Andrew Cody agreed that there wasnt enough evidence of intoxication. He dismissed the case.
Twice a day, around a dozen older prisoners gather in a workshop to repair old bicycles for refugees, restore broken furniture and build benches to raise money for a cancer charity.

The group of men, who range in age from 55 and into their 80s, are nearing the end of their prison sentences and are preparing for life outside the prison walls in Dublin.

The group of prisoners are part of a Mens Sheds initiative set up in the Training Unit located on the grounds of the Mountjoy prison campus in north Dublin.

The shed, established with the help of the Irish Mens Sheds Association, aims to help prisoners improve mental health and prepare them for their older years outside prison through communal work.

Brian Cahill, chief officer at the Training Unit, said the motivation behind the prison Shed is similar to the hundreds that have been set up across Ireland.

Mr Cahill, who oversees the workshops alongside assistant governor David Mulligan, said it includes prisoners preparing to leave prison and those who have a record of good behaviour.

We were organising workshops and things for the boys to do to keep them busy. One of our priorities was giving them things to occupy the mind, Mr Cahill said.

We saw what they were doing at Mens Sheds and saw that the age profiles were similar.

We are not training these men the way we would other prisoners for job interviews, but instead getting them ready to take care of themselves and ease into retirement.

Really nice film from @Fingalcoco and the men in the Ballbriggan Men's Shed, well done to all involved  https://t.co/EJXK36RYKJ  Irish Men's Sheds Association (@IrishSheds) January 5, 2023

We felt Mens Sheds was inclusive and non-judgmental and gets them active and making them interested in things.

The men can relax, learn things and improve their mental health.

So the governor and myself put together a programme and spoke to the men about what they would be interested in.

There were around seven areas they were interested in, and they suggested things from modelmaking to making frames for their artwork.

They started off slowly and we then built it up. We now have 12 men operating twice a day, a morning session and an afternoon session.

The prisoners make items including art frames, benches and pallet art, and also help restore furniture.

They have a very busy programme and its working really well, there is great camaraderie.

They take on small targets and have realistic goals and feel great when they finish a product.

The Irish Mens Sheds Association also introduced the Unit to the Irish Cancer Society, and prisoners are now making benches for the charity, which will be placed around parts of Dublin.

These are community-based projects and its a way for the men to interact, Mr Cahill added.

We also organised a local bike shop to send some bikes that need minor repairs and cleaning. The men fix them up and we pass them on the Red Cross who will distribute them to Ukrainian refugees and others around the country.

The IMSA welcomes this publication. From the earliest Sheds in Ireland over ten years ago; to todays flourishing network of nearly 400 Sheds nationally, Sheds have consistently championed and advanced SDGs within communities across the land. https://t.co/4toq9mERYj  Irish Men's Sheds Association (@IrishSheds) January 5, 2023

The Mens Shed has been really successful and the whole ethos is to help them socially, regardless of their abilities or training.

Some of these men come from labour and professional backgrounds but they come together to work at this.

Its very relaxed and they sit down together and have produced some great things.

A lot of the other workshops in the prisons are extremely busy places, have a high turnover and focus on getting prisoners getting workings skills, whereas this is a bit more relaxed and more social.

These men may never have spoken to each other before and are now getting involved and sharing and are learning new skills and getting involved in community projects.

It will help them with communication and social skills when they leave.
More than 1,100 school students will travel to Dublins RDS on Wednesday for the 59th BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE).

The event, which showcases research and innovation in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), will be in person this year for the first time since the pandemic, following two virtual exhibitions.

Irish president Michael D Higgins will officially open the 2023 exhibition at a ceremony for the students, teachers and exhibition partners.

The ceremony will also be streamed live on the BTYSTE website and on Facebook Live from 2pm.

Speaking ahead of the exhibition, President Higgins said: May I offer my best wishes and good luck to all of the students participating in this years BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, and may I pay a special tribute to all those teachers and parents who have been such an essential source of encouragement as well as all those who have played a role in organising this years event.

What a great time it is to be a young scientist  challenging, yes, but so potentially fulfilling to know that the choices you make will have effects that are important, not just for your own time but for the very possibility of life in its diverse forms, on our vulnerable planet.

May I suggest to all of you that as a young scientist, you will be at your best, achieve the greatest fulfilment for yourself and others, when you locate your contribution within a commitment to be concerned and contributing global citizens.

Organised by BT Ireland, the exhibition has become one of the leading school STEM exhibitions in Europe, attracting over 100,000 student participants since the first event in 1965.

Shay Walsh, managing director of BT Ireland said: BT Ireland is delighted to provide this platform for school students to share their extraordinary ideas.

During our 23 years as custodian, I am always amazed by the high calibre of the projects on show, addressing some of the major challenges our world is currently facing.

I wish the students the best of luck this week, and hope they take brilliant memories from this unique exhibition.

For anyone looking for inspiration and a tonic in January, Id encourage them to visit and be uplifted by these young people and their talent.

At the heart of the exhibition are the 550 projects from 212 schools which span the categories of technology, biological and ecological sciences, social and behavioural sciences, and chemical, physical and mathematical sciences.

Following judging by the 80-plus judging panel, the BT Young Scientist & Technologist of the Year 2023 will be announced at an awards ceremony on Friday January 13 at 5.30pm.

The overall prize winner or winners will receive the BTYSTE perpetual trophy and be presented with a cheque for 7,500 euro.

The winner will go forward to represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists in Brussels in September.
A family-resource centre (FRC) is needed for the Clane-Maynooth Municipal District (MD).

Thats according to Labour Party councillor Angela Feeney, who made her opinion known at the latest MD meeting, which was held on Friday, January 6.

Cllr Feeney called on her fellow local representatives to support her motion, in order to 'serve the needs' of the MD.

Social Democrats Cllr Aidan Farrelly backed her motion, saying: "I have experience working in FRCs, and I agree that they bring many benefits to local communities."

Kildare County Council (KCC) said it recognises that North Kildare, including Celbridge, does not have an FRC, and added that the issue has been discussed at many forums, including with Tusla), who core-fund all FRCs in Ireland.

CAVEAT

However, KCC stressed that due to 'the absence of national funding, it is not possible to establish a new centre.'

"While the council can support local communities to make an application for an FRC, this is only possible when national funding is available," KCC added.

In its report in response to Cllr Feeney's motion, KCC also pointed out that the last round of FRC funding to expand the number of existing centres was back in 2018.

The council further said that, during this time period, County Kildare was successful in doubling the number of FRCs from two to four.
If it takes a hive of bees to make a pot of honey it took a majority of politicians to ensure the survival of an important bee species in County Kildare.

Aras Chill Dara was hardly buzzing for the last meeting of KCC members of the year but the place was a hive of activity as they moved to protect the Irish honey bee.

All other species can buzz off apparently - because this bee is already extinct in parts of Europe but not here (at least not for the time beeing).

Little wonder then that the councillors made a bee line for a motion tabled by a number of colleagues .

Some of the councillors did drone on a bit but there was overwhelming support for an idea that county Kildare become a conservation area for the honey bee.

This matter was the subject of a presentation by the Native Irish Honey Bee Society at the recent meeting of the Climate Action SPC.

County Kildare has already signed up to a strategy to support beekeepers and this will in turn lead to healthy and sustainable bee populations.

A similar motion was adopted by Louth County Council in March .

According to KCC official Joe Boland this means KCC is highlighting a important biodiversity issue.

Honey-tongued Green Party councillor Peter Hamilton said the bee (apis mellifera mellifera) is unusual and valuable and is the most productive and most sustainable for the Irish climate.

He said the support amounts to a strong statement of intent on behalf of the honey bee.

Read more Kildare news
The Office of Public works is to embark on a clean up operation at a historic site in Naas.

Cllr Anne Breen asked Kildare Kildare Council for an update on the conservation work being carried out at Jigginstown House on the Newbridge Road.

A Naas Municipal District meeting was told that this has raised this issue with the OPW and the council has been provided with the details of the key point of contact for conservation of national monuments and will follow up on the matter.

The meeting heard that the OPW will focus on this early in 2023.

Over three years ago councillors were told that no timeline is available for the opening of the historic castle, outside Naas, to the public.

The OPW is engaged in a long term project to stabilise and consolidate the physical fabric of the building and to preserve as much of the building fabric as is physically possible.

And while local councillors are keen to see the site developed as a visitor centre, it has emerged in 2019 that there is a problem with access to do some of the work following the creation of a new access off the ring road.

There have been calls for the site to take on a similar role to the Irish Emigration Museum.

Brigid Loughlin, Kildare County Councils Heritage Officer, said at the time that the OPW is keen to get back on site and previous delays in progressing the work were due to a shortage of funds.

Completed in 1637 at a cost of six thousand pounds, Jigginstown Castle (also known as Jigginstown House) was the brainchild of then Lord Deputy of Ireland Thomas Wentworth, who was executed in London in 1641.

It was built with the intention of becoming a royal palace prior to Wentworth being charged with treason.

Jigginstown Castle was never lived in and fell into decay. The castle is almost 100 metres long and has a series of cellars. The building has a first floor and two corridors.

Read more Kildare news
Bank of Ireland has announced plans to invest 11.5m million across its nationwide branch network in 2023, with the Naas branch in Kildare part of the upgrade plans.

The planned network investments include refurbishments and enhancements to the branch network, upgrading of branch services including ATMs in a number of locations, and ongoing maintenance works.

Additional works as part of the 11.5m investment will also include the installation of new external and internal ATMs in a range of branches, and the improvement of facilities for colleagues in over a dozen branches.

As part of this investment, Bank of Ireland also plans to install energy efficient LED lighting in each of its 169 branches in 2023, including all six of its Kildare branches.

This will achieve over 50% in energy savings from a reduction in lighting energy consumption, as the organisation looks to become more energy efficient and reduce its total energy consumption.

Commenting on the planned investment in its Kildare branch network, Susan Russell, Director, Retail Ireland said:

Our branch network of 169 locations across Ireland, including the six branches we operate in Kildare, is a very important part of how we serve our customers - whether that be for routine cash, cheque and coin transactions or more detailed conversations about loans, mortgages and pensions.

Thats why we continually invest in this network, and 2023 will be no exception. Im especially pleased that our Naas location will be upgraded during this year, and that we are also making further investments in ATM technology in our branches nationwide.

This announcement follows the Banks recent publication of plans for the largest single investment in its iconic College Green buildings in more than 200 years. As well as extensive repairs, upgrading and restoration work, the planned 36 million investment over five years includes improved facilities for customers and workspaces for colleagues.
Kildare County Council has welcomed the announcement that Naas has again topped the rankings as the cleanest town in Ireland by Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) in their most recent survey.

Maynooth also performed strongly, coming in tied second with Kilkenny.

An Taisce, who conduct the surveys on behalf of IBAL, described the main street of Naas as exceptionally well presented and maintained and praised the town for attaining a level of cleanliness and presentation that should inspire local authorities across the country.

Cllr Evie Sammon, Mayor of the Naas MD welcomed the announcement saying: Its a wonderful start to the New Year for Naas, and to retain the title again is fantastic.

"Were very proud of our Main Street in Naas and to have it acknowledged as exceptionally well presented and maintained is a great honour.

This award is all down to the work of Naas Tidy Towns volunteers who are out picking litter and cleaning the streets from dawn until dusk every day.

"Its also an acknowledgment of volunteerism and of the cooperation between Naas Tidy Towns and Kildare County Council, in particular the Environment Department of the Council. Congratulations to all.

The national IBAL litter survey showed cleanliness improvement levels of 6% nationwide, with three quarters of the 40 cities and towns surveyed being deemed clean, compared to just over half, this time last year.

For An Taisce reports of individual areas see www.ibal.ie/anti-litter-league
The Government is to reviews fines, enforcement, microchipping and the provision of dog wardens as part of a crackdown on dog attacks in local communities.

A working group is to examine all the issues, including the promotion of responsible dog ownership and licences, over coming days in a bid to protect people and animals.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue and Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys met on Monday to discuss how their departments can address shared concerns regarding dog control and ownership.

Ministers @McConalogue and @HHumphreysFG met to discuss how their Departments can address shared concerns regarding dog control and ownership. They have agreed to establish a working group that will examine issues promoting dog ownership and licenses. https://t.co/2nleN5psuM pic.twitter.com/YB3Vz7itYX  Dept of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (@agriculture_ie) January 10, 2023

The meeting came after a number of incidents in recent months, including the case of nine-year-old Alejandro Miszan, who was attacked by a dog in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, on November 27.

He suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment.

Mr McConalogue and Ms Humphreys said they will consult and engage with relevant stakeholders to update them regularly on the progress of the group.

He said: As two ministers with primary responsibility in the area of dogs, Ms Humphreys and I held a very constructive meeting with a focus on working closely together in the time ahead.

There is a clear commitment from both of us to tackle this issue and ensure that the law is as robust as possible to ensure that both people and animals are safe.

Our dogs are more than pets, they are our companions and loyal friends. However, the harrowing scenes we have witnessed recently show the threat dogs can pose if they are not properly controlled by their owners.

Both Minister Humphreys and I will work proactively on this in the time ahead.

Ms Humphreys said: Attacks by dogs can have a devastating impact on families, as we have seen during a number of deeply disturbing incidents in recent weeks.

While the issue of dog control crosses a number of different government departments, as well as our local authorities, it is vital that we get to grips with this issue.

Thats why, as a first step, Minister McConalogue and I have decided to set up a working group which will consider all relevant legislative and enforcement issues in relation to dogs.

This review will bring all the key players together to consider what action can be taken to keep both people and animals safe.
Talented Longford duo K Muni & ND (Kofi Appiah and Nevlonne Dampare) are among six contenders bidding to represent Ireland at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool in May.

'Down in the Rain' by K Muni & ND is described by the artists as a testament to their determination.

The song chronicles a difficult period in their careers when their music wasn't getting the attention they believed it deserved.

Through 'Down in the Rain', the artists encourage listeners to never give up on their aspirations no matter how tough the road may seem.

It would mean the world to us to represent Ireland," they say. "We remember watching Eurovision as kids with our families, so to think we could have the people of Ireland, our people, tuned in to cheer us and our country on is incredible."

K Muni & ND will perform on a special Late Late Show on Friday, February 3, where the winner will be chosen by a combination of National Jury, International Jury, and Public vote.

Liverpool will host the 67th Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine, and the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will take place in the Liverpool Arena next to the River Mersey on Saturday May 13, with Semi-Finals on Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11.

The six songs bidding to represent Ireland were selected from hundreds of entries received by RTE following a callout for submissions last year.

The six songs are;

1- Too Good for Your Love ; Performer: ADGY

2 - Midnight Summer Night ; Performer: CONNOLLY

3 - We are One ; Performer: Wild Youth

4- Wild ; Performer: Leila Jane

5 - Down in the Rain ; Performer: K Muni & ND (Kofi Appiah and Nevlonne Dampare)

6 - Hawaii ; Performer: Public Image Limited

Michael Kealy, RTE Eurovision Head of Delegation, said: "I am really impressed by the quality and standard of the six acts we have in our Eurosong final this year. The Eurovision Song Contest is a global phenomenon, and the competition is getting harder every year, but whichever of our six finalists gets to represent Ireland in Liverpool in May I've no doubt they will represent us brilliantly, winning new fans all over the world."
ICOS, the policy and representative body for the co-operative sector, has invited farmers nationwide to take part in a survey around challenges and opportunities for Irish agriculture, relating mainly to sustainability and the bioeconomy. The research is funded by the Golden Jubilee Trust, the philanthropic trust whose objective is to improve and develop all aspects of Irish agricultural and rural life.

All farmers from all sectors and all farm sizes are invited to take part. The survey is online, entirely confidential and takes about 10 minutes to complete. Farmers can simply visit the news section of the ICOS website to take part, or can also use this direct link here: https://questionpro.eu/t/AB3uw4GZB3vYMW?custom1=2

The research project follows from a recent gathering of co-operative industry leaders and environmental experts at an initial national bioeconomy workshop, organised by ICOS, which discussed the progress already being achieved by the industry and the potential for this to be further accelerated. From that meeting, ICOS is establishing a co-operative framework for Irish co-operatives to share information and best practice on sustainability and the bioeconomy. The results of the research will be combined with the recommendations of the national bioeconomy workshop and the co-operative framework intended to drive strategy and a series of measures that ICOS will deliver in 2023 and onwards.

John Brosnan, Bioeconomy Executive of ICOS said, Its essential for us to hear directly from farmers in every community across Ireland so that their views can be included in our future co-operative processes aimed at ensuring the sustainability of Irish agriculture now and for the future. This forms part of our larger research programme into farmer attitudes and intentions on sustainability measures and the bioeconomy generally which has been supported by the Golden Jubilee Trust.

Implementing projects centred around bioeconomy principles will allow for greater value to be unlocked from the food, feed, fibres, chemicals, fuels and energy that we can derive from our land, crops and natural resources. What was once considered a waste is now a valuable by-product or co-product. By moving towards new business models, the win-win of helping climate, biodiversity and water quality can be coupled with greater economic return and sustainability for farmers and agriculture in general.
Irish peacekeeper Shane Kearney is no longer critical and is now in a stable condition in a Dublin hospital, the Defence Forces have confirmed.

The 22-year-old was seriously wounded when the armoured UN vehicle he was travelling in was ambushed by a group of armed attackers in Lebanon last month.

The Irish UN peacekeeper was injured in the shooting incident which left Private Sean Rooney, 24, dead.

Trooper Kearney, from Killeagh, Co Cork, was medically evacuated from Lebanon to Ireland and continues to recover in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.

In a statement, the Defence Forces said: He is responding very well to treatment and is no longer critical with his condition now described as stable.

The medical staff are satisfied with his continued and steady progress.

The Defence Forces and Trooper Shane Kearneys family wish to thank everyone for all the support that they continue to receive.

The funeral of Pte Rooney, from Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal, took place last month.
Pro-Bolsonaro activists taking selfies in front of the Congress building in Brasilia, Sunday, January 8, 2023. ERALDO PERES / AP

Online, the warning signs were more than evident. The assault on the Brazilian Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential palace by supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday, January 8, left numerous tracks of its evolution on social media.

Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes In Brazil, an 'unprecedented' attack on democracy

On Twitter, more than 10,000 accounts since Friday have shared the expression "Festa da Selma"  a pun on an expression evoking a "party with the war cry"  according to researcher Arcelino Silva Neto, from the University of Sao Paulo. A thinly veiled message to summon Jair Bolsonaro's activists who believe the Brazilian election was rigged to come to Brasilia to demonstrate their discontent, just as "Stop the steal" was the slogan of the American rioters on January 6, 2021.

On Telegram and WhatsApp, demonstrators went beyond mere slogans to exchange practical instructions  maps of the Brazilian capital, addresses of meeting points, itineraries, advice... In the pro-Bolsonaro groups, Brazilian journalists were able to document dozens of messages giving the itineraries and timetables of the "freedom caravans," buses to take the demonstrators to the capital, located in the heart of the country, far from the big cities.

Blocked on social media

Meta, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, announced late Sunday that it had activated a special plan for high-risk events, and deleted a large number of messages calling for taking up arms or attacking official buildings. "We consider these events to be at risk, which means we will also remove any posts that encourage or condone these actions," Meta spokesman Andy Stone said on CNN. "We're actively monitoring the situation and will continue removing content that violates our policies."

On Instagram, TikTok or Telegram, the rioters also posted numerous clips from inside official buildings, sometimes posing in the offices of officials or MPs, or showing shocking footage of police officers apparently encouraging them. In the afternoon, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered all major social media to block messages promoting violence.

These attacks also seem to have found a strong echo in pro-Trump spheres in the United States. There were several English hashtags supporting the demonstrators on Sunday, while American far right figures, such as Steve Bannon, posted false claims that the Brazilian election had been rigged.

Critical moderation issues

In Brazil, even more than in other countries, moderation of social media has been a major issue for a decade. In a region where the overwhelming majority of citizens use WhatsApp and several social media on a daily basis, Bolsonaro activists early on formed structured groups to spread false information and electoral propaganda online. In recent years, moderation of social media in the country has been the subject of a bitter legal battle. In 2020, the Brazilian Supreme Court, itself a victim of smear campaigns by Mr. Bolsonaro's supporters, forced Facebook to close several accounts of people close to the former president.

The Supreme Court had even taken a radical decision in March 2022. Considering that the messaging system Telegram, with very little moderation, was not doing enough to fight the disinformation that flourished on its platform, the Court had ordered the outright blocking of the application, before reversing its decision. In the meantime, the founder of the messaging service, Pavel Dourov, had apologized, claimed it was a simple misunderstanding, and promised to put in place various moderation measures. Essentially symbolic, these did not prevent the massive distribution on Sunday of instructions for the rioters.

Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Brazil election: A disinformation machine in full swing

Above all, between Lula's election on October 30 and the latest riots, another social medium has reversed its moderation practices in the country  Twitter. Since the takeover at the end of 2022 by Elon Musk, the company has fired most of its moderators, as well as all the employees of its Brazilian subsidiary, except for a few salespeople, according to information from the Washington Post. Among those fired were eight employees in Sao Paulo specifically responsible for fighting misinformation and incitement to violence. The platform also reinstated the accounts of several known Bolsonaro supporters and conspiracy activists, including Congressman Gustavo Gayer.

A change of policy that is by no means accidental. Since his arrival at the head of Twitter, Mr. Musk has made multiple concessions to the Brazilian far right, accepting in several messages the idea that Twitter employees in Brazil tended to favor the left. Mr. Bolsonaro, who had met with Mr. Musk in May 2022, had welcomed his takeover of the social network. "This is the beginning of a relationship that will end in marriage," he joked after the meeting.

Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Historian Alexis Levrier on Elon Musk: 'Absolute freedom of speech always benefits the far right'

Damien Leloup Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.
The Djiboutian poet and writer Chehem Watta. DR

Chehem Watta, 60, is a poet and writer. The nomadic society from which he comes is one of his main sources of inspiration. In the 1980s, he was among the first students to come to France to train in psychology at the request of his country, Djibouti. He went on to work in senior administration as well as for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Introducing our series From Dakar to Djibouti, a tour of the Africa-France relationship

As a teenager, you came to France to study. Why did you make this choice?

Simply because it was natural. I was educated before decolonization in a French public school. When I finished high school, my parents wanted me to work. I preferred to continue my studies. This was not possible in Djibouti because there was no university. The only choice was to go to France.

Under what conditions did you leave?

In French universities, Djiboutians were looking to enroll where there were compatriots who could help them out. Personally, I did not have a scholarship and my family could not support me. My parents, nomadic pastoralists, were responsible for the transhumance of their animals and I could not count on them. In a family of 17 children, I was the last, and the only one to go to school. I had to manage on my own. In France, Djiboutians welcomed me and supported me a lot.

What did France mean to you?

It was the land of prestige. At that time, people did not go to the United States or Canada. After 120 years of colonialism, there were still very strong ties between France and Djibouti; France was where young people wanted to go. It was also a guarantee for finding work in the civil service, which is still the main source of employment in Djibouti today.

Once in France, what was your first impression?

Life was difficult. You had to find your place and it was every man for himself. Only our compatriots really helped us. I landed in Chaumont, in central-eastern France, and like everyone else I was surprised by the cold. A friend of mine put us up in his house and eight of us slept in a small room. Soon enough, we dropped out because we couldn't afford to pay for the agricultural high school anymore. With some friends, we went to Paris, where there were more Djiboutians. But for me, it still wasn't enough. I had to go back to Djibouti and work in the national education system in order to be able to come back to France a little later. The Djiboutian government gave me a scholarship on the condition that I study psychology because there were no psychologists in the country. I accepted, and I lived in France under difficult but acceptable conditions.

How do you view the relationship between France and your country today?

It has gone through several periods. During the first 10 years after independence [in 1977], we maintained a very strong relationship, particularly because our neighbors, Ethiopia and Somalia, had territorial claims on our young republic. Our politicians, therefore, signed a defense and cooperation agreement with France. That was the guarantee of our security. The relationship was very strong on the academic level as well, because there were many technical advisors. This relationship was to Djibouti's disadvantage, but we needed this France that shone on the international scene. People dressed in French fashion in stores like Le Petit Paris or L'Oriental Store. Djiboutians waited up until 10:00 pm for the Antenne 2 [France 2, a national French television channel] news, and all the French political debates spread into homes, offices, and cafes.

'France reduced its military presence and people felt like they were being abandoned'

But as in all relationships, there were ups and downs. In the early 1990s, there was some turbulence with Paris, mainly because of the civil war [from 1991 to 1994, between the government and Le Front Pour la Restauration de l'Unite et la Democratie (the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy), headed by opposition leader Ahmed Dini]. France then reduced its military presence and people felt like they were being abandoned. It should be noted that many Djiboutians rented their houses to French soldiers and lost an important source of income. Restaurant owners also lost a number of customers with the departure of the soldiers.

The political authorities then wanted to diversify their partnerships and turned to the Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia, but also to Ethiopia, with which we had important trade links. Our cooperation with France was therefore reassessed. In this pivotal period, we also turned to Turkey. The United States, China and Japan set up military bases in Djibouti. Emmanuel Macron's official visit [in March 2019] did good between our two countries. Djiboutians missed hosting a French president. I think this visit will revitalize our cooperation.

France is losing its influence in Africa. Why do you think this is?

This is especially the case in West and Central African countries. In Djibouti, France is neither detested nor detestable. But it is true that there are other players and that during this political, economic and linguistic opening with the Arab-Muslim world in particular, France's influence has been diluted. France has almost become a partner like any other, even if we continue to speak French and have a deep attachment to the language.

What marked the Djiboutians of my generation was Francophonie [a loosely united group of nations in which French is the first, or significant, language]. It imprinted itself on our imaginations and allowed us to enter into literature. In the mid-1990s, the Centre Culturel Arthur Rimbaud invited great writers, not only French but also Francophones. It received Andrei Makine, author of Testament Francais, the Ivorian Ahmadou Kourouma, author of Soleil des independances ("The Suns of Independence") and Allah n'est pas oblige (Allah Is Not Obliged), the Senegalese Aminata Sow Fall... They were invited by the education ministry and the Centre Culturel Francais, and it was a real party in the colleges and high schools. It was the golden age of Francophonie in Djibouti, a magnificent overture for Africa.

Then, investments in the cultural sector were reduced and France lost its prestige. In another area, I also think that visa restrictions have tarnished France's image. Traveling or studying abroad can create very strong relationships with a country.

How can this trend be reversed?

Djibouti has become a French-speaking island surrounded by English- and Arabic-speaking countries. Continuing to speak and write French is a breath of fresh air. We should revitalize cooperation and the Institut Francais should work with our national cultural institutions. In Djibouti, the French presence is not politicized. We must take advantage of this.

Pierre Lepidi Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.
Olivier Dussopt, Labor Minister, during a visit to lEcole dIngenieurs de lInstitut Catholique dArts et Metiers in Toulouse, October 21, 2022. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP

The French government is framing the issue as though there are no other options. In official statements, it has repeatedly emphasized that, in order to "save" the pension system, "we must gradually increase the retirement age." Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Tuesday, January 10, proposed raising the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030 in a major reform to the pension system.

Long before it was announced, the potential increase in the retirement age is already causing significant controversy, with opposition from labor unions, left-wing parties, the far right and some individuals on the right. Opponents of the reform argue that the government led by Mr. Macron and Ms. Borne is overstating the issue in order to justify measures that disproportionately impact low-income individuals and places a burden on the working population, without considering alternative solutions.

Read more Pension reform: French government fails to win over public opinion

The Pensions advisory council (COR) published a report in September 2022 which revealed that, while the pension system returned to surplus in 2021 (+ 900 million) and is expected to remain in surplus in 2022 (+ 3.2 billion), it is predicted to return to a deficit as early as 2023. The duration and severity of the deficit will depend on the assumptions and estimates used in the analysis. The report also highlighted that it does not validate the rhetoric that puts forward the idea of uncontrolled dynamics of pension spending, but emphasized the need for attention to the longer-term sustainability of the pension system.

According to the report, under the most favorable scenario, with a productivity growth rate of 1.6% per year, it is possible that the deficit could be absorbed by the mid-2030s. However, if current rules and practices are maintained, the elimination of the deficit would be delayed until the mid-2050s. The report emphasized this would only occur with a productivity rate of +1.6% per year. If the productivity growth rate were to be 0.7% or even 1% (the average value observed over 2009-2019), the pension system would remain in the red.

'Deficit is not out of control'

In addition to the findings of the (COR) report, it's important to also consider the September 2022 recommendations of the committee monitoring the pension system (CSR), which is responsible for providing expert recommendations. The CSR highlighted the need for addressing the financial balance of the system and presented various options for addressing the deficit. These options included raising the legal retirement age, but the committee did not recommend any one particular path, emphasizing that the final decision was a matter for the political authorities.

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A PUB in west Limerick was ordered to close its kitchen area after a HSE inspector visited the premises just before Christmas.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has confirmed a closure order was served on the proprietor of Casey's Pub, Raheenagh, between Newcastle West and Dromcollogher, following an inspection which was carried out on December 2, 2022.

The order, which according to the FSAI website, remains in place only applies to the kitchen area and a number of storage rooms at the premises which were being used for food preparation.

A report from the HSE inspector, published this Tuesday, shows concerns emerged during the visit about the size and physical condition of the kitchen area.

"A small kitchen without adequate working space was used to store and prepare food. This lack of space did not permit good food hygiene practices, including protection against contamination as raw and ready to eat food were stored beside each other," states the report.

"The kitchen had no windows or mechanical ventilation to prevent condensation. The ceiling board was broken with loose exposed plaster board over open food and a chopping board for sandwiches, with a direct risk of the shedding of particles into food," it added.

The inspectors also expressed concerns about the lack of adequate hand-washing facilities and the use of store rooms for food preparation.

"One very old store room of which loose natural stones and mortar formed part of the wall structure and which was crumbling. There was no ceiling, the roof was exposed wooden beams and wiring, covered in cobwebs and dust; the structure did not avoid or minimise the risk of air-borne contamination for food ingredients stored here," states the report.

During the visit, the inspector noted that an open bucket of ash from a fireplace was being stored beside a tray of eggs and tinned beans. An adjacent keg store with cold room was also used being used for food storage and production.

"There were two hot oil fryers for meat products and chips and a tureen of hot soup balanced on a beer keg," stated the inspectors.

According to the FSAI, Casey's pub was one of six premises across the country which were served with closure orders during December.
PLANS for Limerick's newest Greenway have been "seriously delayed" after design officials said a new route must be found following a "shock" Irish Rail announcement.

In June 2022, the Mid-West Road Design Office appointed consultants to look at the feasability of having a Greenway along the Limerick to Rathkeale rail corridor.

The plan was to have a shared Greenway either "along or adjacent" to the existing rail track.

The announcement that Irish Rail planned to reopen the line to Foynes took us by surprise. It was a bolt from the blue," an official from the Mid-West Road Design Office said.

Speaking at a meeting of the Adare/Rathkeale Municipal district, he said there are restrictions relating to running a Greenway alongside a live track, such as separation distances.

"The rail corridor is not as attractive as it was. Back in June, Irish Rail were nowehere to be seen. We thought, let's do what we did in Rathkeale to Abbeyfeale in terms of a Greenway. The landscape has changed now. We have to look elsewhere," he said.

The official pondered whether there are some sections where a potential Greenway could run parallel to the track, and stated that private land poses "even more restrictions."

A completed report is due to be submitted to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), containing proposals on whether the plans can be progressed.

"The fact that Irish Rail decided to reopen the line throws us a curveball," he added.

Cllr Kevin Sheahan (FF) stated that due to the fact that the Shannon Estuary is designated as a Tier 1 Harbour, the EU through Brussels were legally obliged to establish a road or rail link.

"The funding came from Brussels, and this was the condition. How could you not know? This had to happen. This is not the first time state bodies have denied each other information," Cllr Sheahan added.

Cllr Bridie Collins (FF) said there have been promises for this Greenway for the last two to three years, and that significant money has been spent.

She asked if a 150,000 grant for a feasability study to link the Rathkeale Greenway to Adare is now wasted and if the project is now "at an impasse."

"It is not wasted. The plan now is to stress test every route corridor and there will also be a public consultation where we will look at the problems and a possible route. New consultants will also be appointed for phase one," he said.
New Delhi: Shipment of made-in-India television (TV) sets grew 33% sequentially to reach a total of five million units in the three months ended September, as per an industry report by Counterpoint released Tuesday. The share of locally made TVs out of the entire TV shipments in India in Q3 2023 was 100%, the report added.

Analysts at Counterpoint attributed the growth to festival season sales that spurred demand for TVs.

The TV market showed high QoQ (quarter-on-quarter) growth due to the festive season, which drove the consumer demand, increasing the local manufacturing shipments as well," said Prachir Singh, senior research analyst at Counterpoint.

Singh pointed out that top five manufacturers accounted for more than 55% of the locally made TVs during the quarter. Dixon, Radiant, and Bhagwati were the top TV manufacturers in India.

In September, Dixon became the first Indian company to get a sub-licence from Google to make LED TVs on Android TV platforms. Radiant, which makes TVs for multiple Indian and global brands, announced plans to invest 100 crore to double manufacturing capacity last year. Bhagwati makes TVs for brands such as Realme.

The Counterpoint report also noted that shipment of made-in-India wearables, including smartwatches and truly wireless stereo (TWS) headphones, also showed robust growth. For instance, the share of locally made TWS grew to 37% in Q3 from 16% in the previous quarter.

Foxconn subsidiary Bharat FIH, Padget, Avishkaran, and Optiemus were the top four TWS manufacturers with a combined market share of close to 90% of locally made TWS devices. In the smartwatch segment, Optiemus was the number one local manufacturer accounting for more than 90% of the shipments. Optiemus makes TWS and smartwatches and its customers include homegrown brand Noise and Samsung subsidiary Harman.

In the tablet segment, locally made tablets accounted for 31.5% of the overall shipments during the quarter. Samsung, Dixon (makes tablets for Lenovo) and Wingtech (makes tablets for Lenovo and Samsung) accounted for more than 90% of tablet manufacturing in India.

Electronics manufacturing in India is still not on the same scale as in China. Most smartphone and wearables manufacturers in India are assembling products from semi-knocked down (SKDs) kits that are imported from China, Taiwan, and other regions.

However, many wearable manufacturers are working to change that. For instance, Optiemus told Mint last October that it will start PCB assembly in 2023 and later expand to batteries, displays, and microphones.

The Indian governments production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme which provides tax exemptions on local manufacturing has also led many brands in the smartphone and PC segment to expand local assembly. India is mulling a separate PLI for wearables and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Under the Made-in-India theme, local manufacturing aims to even go beyond smartphones to cover segments like audio products, wearables, and EVs. More and more efforts are being made to make the country a significant player in the global value chain," said Priya Joseph, research analyst at Counterpoint.

Counterpoint has forecast that more companies in the wearable segment will increase their capacities as new brands also want to take advantage of local manufacturing.
The Cleveland Public Library kicked off its special celebration this week with a proclamation and reception Friday.
These companies have been waiting for this moment to release products they've been working on for some time.
Sinn Fein TD for Longford Westmeath Sorca Clarke has said that the Minister for Health must show real leadership and take the lead in tackling the crisis in public hospitals in the Midlands.

Deputy Clarke called for a series of measures which would marshal all available healthcare resources across the entire system to alleviate pressure on acute hospitals and improve management of emergency care.

She said that this means the Health Minister must convene daily meetings with HSE leadership and regularly engage with regional management to ensure all public and private healthcare resources are being used to the best effect.

Teachta Clarke said, I am deeply concerned by the huge pressure that Midlands Regional Hospital Mullingar is under. Staff at the hospital are doing their very best, but are struggling to cope and far too many people in the midlands are being left on trolleys for far too long, instead of receiving the timely care they need.

"The Minister for Health needs to convene daily meetings with senior HSE management to ensure that all available public and private healthcare resources are being used to the best effect.

The Minister should also engage frequently with regional management in CHO8 to ensure they are fully supported to use all capacity in their areas to support emergency departments.

Best practice from other hospitals should be followed where appropriate including prioritising emergency and urgent care, redeploying staff from elective care to emergency departments, and using hospital capacity normally reserved for day-case and elective care to provide surge capacity.

The health service must maximise the use of smaller and private hospitals to provide elective care and surge capacity, where appropriate, to alleviate pressures on major acute hospitals.

The Minister should maximise the deployment of senior doctors and appropriate specialists to emergency departments and wards to ensure that experienced decision makers are available at all times.

There must be greater collaboration between community healthcare and acute hospitals to ensure that recovery and transitional care beds are available in the community for speedy discharges and the provision of care outside of hospitals where appropriate.

There must also be greater engagement with GPs, especially those providing out-of-hours services, to better support primary care which is also overwhelmed with respiratory infections.

It is clear that there is an emergency care crisis in acute hospitals and people in Longford Westmeath are rightly concerned by the government's slow response.

This level of overcrowding is due to Government failure to sufficiently invest in healthcare capacity and staffing over the last decade.

Hospitals should operate at 80-85% capacity outside of winter to ensure we have capacity for surges, yet we had a summer trolley crisis this year. Most hospitals have been operating at near or above 100% capacity year-round, which meant that this crisis was not only predictable but inevitable.

"Sinn Fein will continue to press the Minister for Health on these issues, to ensure that the change required is delivered urgently. Patients and health staff in Longford Westmeath deserve better. The government must act now."
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Columnists Press Releases
(Alliance News) - nanosynth group PLC on Tuesday said it plans to raise GBP400,000 through a placing of 222.2 million new shares at a price of 0.18 pence each.

nanosynth is a Nottingham-based firm that specialises in the synthesis and application of nanoparticles to create new products and improve on existing ones.

The placing price represents a 36% discount to the share closing price of 0.28p on Monday, being the last business day before the announcement.

The company's shares were down 31% at 0.19 each in London on Tuesday morning.

The placing shares equate to around 8.4% of the company's currently issued share capital.

nanosynth said the funds raised from the placing will be used for "working capital purposes" and to accelerate the company's near-term commercial opportunities.

Chief Executive Mark Duffin said: "I am pleased that we are able to raise money to further our commercial objectives. We are receiving considerable interest from major household brands for our nanoparticle technology and these funds will enable the Company to advance the progress of these discussions."

By Sophie Rose, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - Sancus Lending Group Ltd on Tuesday said it hired Tracy Clarke as its interim chief financial officer, while it will close its Guernsey office and cease operations in Gibraltar.

Shares in Sancus were up 11% to 1.50 pence each in London on Tuesday afternoon.

The property finance company has appointed Clarke as interim CFO for an initial 12 month period.

Emma Stubbs will step down as CFO after 10 years at Sancus, staying on until March 31 to ensure an orderly handover.

Sancus said Stubbs played an important role in planning its turnaround strategy and thanked her for service.

Clarke has been a non-executive director at Sancus since last March and is currently managing director of Carlton Management Services Ltd.

Sancus said the board's intention is to appoint a permanent CFO in due course and review arrangements in 12 months.

It will also relocate its group finance to Jersey from Guernsey in the first half of 2023, as part of wider strategy to reduce its five offices to three in London, Dublin and Jersey.

Sancus said this will provide the group with consolidated centres reflecting its three core geographic areas: the UK, the Republic of Ireland and offshore.

It said it will continue to participate in lending opportunities within the Guernsey market.

Sancus has also decided there are not sufficient enough quality lending opportunities to justify continuing its operations in Guernsey beyond 2022.

This will result in cost saving, risk reduction and allow dedicated resources to focus on its core markets, it claimed.

The company's outlook for 2023 is "cautious[ly]" optimistic, saying it is well-positioned to take advantage of the continued retrenchment of banks and alternative lenders from development financing, providing attractive opportunities for the alternative lenders that can remain active.

This is alongside its recently successful corporate financing.

By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
All the alarm bells for the Brooklyn Nets went off yesterday when Kevin Durant's knee gave way after a nasty collision with Jimmy Butler.

The Miami Heat player was unable to stabilise himself after a drive to the basket and fell on the Nets player, having lost control.

He quickly took his hand to his left knee, but held on for two more possessions before heading to the locker room.

After a first look, the franchise's medical team has given him an examination on his return to Brooklyn.

Fortunately for the player and for the Nets, tests ruled out a major injury.

He has suffered a lateral ligament sprain. Durant will undergo a re-evaluation in two weeks and there is optimism that he won't spend much longer than that on the treatment table.

Injury with a history

Last season, the forward missed six weeks of competition and a total of 21 games with a similar injury to his other knee, but this time the Nets believe he won't reach that length of absence.

Kobe's advice

He talked about what Kobe Bryant said to him when he suffered that first knee injury.

"He told me not to be a fucking cry baby," the Nets player explained.

"It's going to be fine. You'll go back to the way you were," the Los Angeles Lakers legend added.

"When my mind didn't know what I was doing it was a good thing to hear that. Especially how it ended and how Kobe's career went after that," Durant said.
Shemar Moore, an American actor and former model, is best known for his roles as Derek Morgan on the police drama "Criminal Minds" and Malcolm Winters on the soap opera "The Young and the Restless".

In addition to his 2017 debut as a series regular on CBS' "S.W.A.T.," he has acted in a number of movies, including "The Brothers" (2001) and "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" (2005). From 1999 to 2003, Moore also served as "Soul Train's" host.

Shemar Moore was born Shemar Franklin Moore in Oakland, California, on April 20, 1970. His father, Sherrod, was a military veteran who served time at San Quentin jail while Shemar was a young boy, and his mother, Marilyn, worked as a business consultant. When Moore was a little child, his mother moved them to Denmark; a few years later, they migrated to Bahrain; Marilyn, who had a degree in mathematics, was able to get employment as a teacher.

Shemar attended a private British school while living in Bahrain, and the family returned to the United States in 1977, settling first in Chico, California, and later in Palo Alto. After graduating from Gunn High School, Moore studied at Santa Clara University with a degree in communication and a minor in theatre arts.

Shemar Moore's net worth

Shemar Moore has an estimated net worth of $22 million. While still in college, Moore started working as a model and joined DNA Model Management in New York City. He appeared on the cover of the "Men's Fitness" magazine's March 2009 issue. He made his television debut in 1994 on the CBS soap opera "The Young and the Restless," playing photographer Malcolm Winters until 2005. In 2014 and 2019, he temporarily returned to the role, and he also appeared as the character in a 1997 episode of "The Nanny."

Shemar appeared as a guest star on several shows while he was the star of "The Young and the Restless," including "Living Single" (1995), "The Jamie Foxx Show" (1996), "Arliss" (1997, "Chicago Hope," "Moesha," and "Malcolm & Eddie," among others. He made his big-screen debut in the 1997 movie "Hav Plenty," and in the action movie "Never 2 Big" and the television movie "Mama Flora's Family," both of which were based on novels by Alex Haley and David Stevens, he had a prominent role. Before departing the show in 2003, Moore hosted 111 episodes starting in 1999.
Chinese medical experts on key COVID-19 concerns through FAQs

Xinhua) 16:13, January 10, 2023

BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- In response to questions of public concern regarding China's fight against COVID-19, Xinhua reporters have interviewed experts with the State Council inter-agency task force for COVID-19 response to provide answers.

Q1: Will XBB subvariants cause large-scale outbreaks?

In the last three months, imports of novel coronavirus subvariants BF.7, BQ.1 and XBB were detected in China, where the BQ.1 and XBB subvariants have not developed into dominant subvariants, said Xu Wenbo, director of the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC).

Currently, the BA.5.2 and BF.7 subvariants are the two dominant strains in China, according to the China CDC. Neutralizing antibodies in individuals infected with the two strains will remain at a relatively high level for about three months and are expected to provide people with effective cross-protection against other Omicron subvariants, including XBB.

The possibility of a large-scale epidemic caused by the Omicron XBB subvariant is low in the short term in China, noted the China CDC.

Responding to online reports of vomiting and diarrhea caused by XBB, Li Tongzeng, a chief doctor with the department of respiratory and infectious diseases at Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University, said symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea may occur in some people infected with the novel coronavirus and will usually ease in one to three days.

The XBB strain has not been found to be more likely to invade the cardiovascular and digestive systems, according to Li.

Q2: Is it necessary to get COVID vaccine jabs after being infected?

According to Wang Huaqing, chief expert for the immunization program of the China CDC, the immunity generated from infection is less potent than the immunity jointly generated from infection and vaccination, so it is advised to get vaccinated.

The interval between one's contraction of the novel coronavirus and vaccination against the virus -- shall be not less than six months -- Wang said.

The expert called on individuals who have met the conditions for COVID-19 vaccination to receive booster vaccine jabs in accordance with the procedures, in order to gain better protection.

Q3: How to properly monitor one's blood oxygen?

Wang Guiqiang, director of the infectious disease department of Peking University First Hospital, said the blood oxygen levels of high-risk groups, namely the elderly and people with underlying diseases, require extra attention.

Xu Kaifeng, deputy head of the department of respiratory and critical diseases of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, said patients with respiratory diseases should pay extra attention to whether their blood oxygen saturation had significantly fallen, as a saturation rate of under 90 percent might suggest serious lung damage, in which case the patients must seek treatment immediately.

A number of localities in China are currently offering finger-clip oximeters to the elderly and other groups of people who are more vulnerable to COVID-19, as well as guiding them to test their blood oxygen saturation at home.

A circular recently issued by the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19 asked local authorities to equip primary-level medical and elderly-care facilities with adequate devices including oxygen packs, oxygen cylinders and oxygenators, so that outpatients, patients at home and elderly people at elderly care facilities, could receive oxygen-related treatment in time.

Q4: Why would some patients retest positive for COVID-19 after recovering from the coronavirus?

Retesting positive for COVID-19 after recovering is different from being infected with the coronavirus for a second time, said Wang Guiqiang with Peking University First Hospital.

The repetition of positive test results is mostly caused by test methods and intermittent detoxification of the body, and whether one has really retested positive or not should be verified by nucleic acid tests, he said.

Most of those who retested positive for COVID-19 had no symptoms and only a few would have residual symptoms such as coughs, Wang added.

Q5: How to ensure the supply of medical resources in rural areas?

Chinese authorities recently released a work plan to step up COVID-19 response in rural areas, ordering localities to ensure the smooth operation of rural COVID-19 response systems, treatment of severe cases, and better protection for the elderly and children against the virus.

It asked local authorities to provide multi-level medical and healthcare services according to the conditions of patients, in order to protect the safety and health of rural residents to the greatest extent possible.

Nie Chunlei, head of the Department of Primary Health under the National Health Commission, said the State Council inter-agency task force for COVID-19 response had established a system for coordinating the supply of drugs and other key medical supplies on a daily basis.

Currently, priority is given to the supply of medicine in rural areas, in particular rural medical institutions, Nie said.

"Competent departments have rolled out policies to help relevant enterprises expand capacity, accelerate drug production, and better coordinate supply and demand," Nie said, adding that the use of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the combination of Chinese and Western medicine, are encouraged to help community-based medical institutions better meet the needs of patients.

Q6: Will the passenger flow during the Spring Festival holiday travel rush lead to the large-scale spread of COVID-19?

"The virus transmission in 'small places' now is not as rapid as that in big cities, but the spread there lasts long," said Zhang Wenhong, head of the Center for Infectious Diseases with the Shanghai-based Huashan Hospital of Fudan University. He expected places with passenger inflows to see a surge of inbound infections.

Mao Dezhi, deputy head of the Department of Rural Cooperative Economy under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, urged people who are returning to the rural areas to take personal protection steps on the journey, to wear masks during their initial contact with the elderly and children, and to avoid crowds in the rural areas.

Moreover, Mao urged rural residents to actively participate in local COVID-19 response and help build a stronger community-based COVID-19 control network.

"If necessary, please provide timely help to your neighbors by sharing your spare drugs and medical supplies," Mao said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
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
The Department of Veterans Affairs has formalized the process for employees to opt out of providing abortion care for religious reasons.

In guidance sent out Friday, the department specified that employees can ask their supervisor or a "reasonable accommodation coordinator" for a religious exemption to the VA's recently implemented abortion policy. The department also released the forms coordinators and physicians will use during the request process.

"VA's goal is to meet the needs of veterans while protecting VA employees' statutory rights, including those that protect their religious exercise and beliefs," the department said in a fact sheet accompanying the guidance.

Read Next: Army Expanding Course for Overweight and Low-Scoring Recruits in Bid to Fill the Ranks

"Physicians (MD and DO), residents, fellows, and medical students (physician trainees) may, for any reason, opt out of performing induced abortions, receiving or providing training in the performance of induced abortions, providing referrals for such training or such abortions, or making arrangements for training or performance of induced abortions," the fact sheet added.

The release of a formal religious exemption process comes after a nurse practitioner at the Olin E. Teague Veterans' Center in Temple, Texas, filed a lawsuit in December that alleged a supervisor twice brushed off her request for religious accommodation, at one point telling her to "just wait" for the VA to put an exemption process in place. The lawsuit does not say she had been asked to provide abortion care, but argued she could be asked to "at any time."

The lawsuit, filed by conservative Christian legal group First Liberty Institute on behalf of the nurse, Stephanie Carter, asked the court to block the abortion policy at the Texas facility and argued the policy violates Carter's religious liberties because her beliefs prevent her from working "in a facility that performs abortion services for reasons other than to save the life of the mother because, in her view, unborn babies are created in the image of God and should be protected."

The VA announced in September it would for the first time offer abortions in cases of rape, incest or where the life or health of the mother is at risk from the pregnancy, adding that employees whose religious beliefs prevent them from participating in abortions would be able to opt out of services related to the procedure.

The change came in response to the June Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that overturned 50 years of nationwide abortion rights and allowed states to ban the procedure. Since the ruling, at least 17 states have outlawed or severely restricted most abortions, while a handful of others have been blocked by courts from implementing bans at least temporarily.

Under the new guidance, which officials stressed is not a change in policy but rather a formalization of existing practices, managers are supposed to temporarily excuse employees from abortion care while their exemption requests are being processed.

The process for requesting a religious exemption to the VA's policy will differ somewhat based on the employee's job and what specific law applies to them, but in general will involve working out a request with a supervisor and a reasonable accommodation coordinator, which is an existing position in human resources, according to the guidance. The initial request can be made to either the coordinator or a supervisor and can be done in any form, including in person, over email or on the phone.

If a physician makes a request under what's called "Coats-Snowe," a federal law that allows doctors to opt out of providing abortions, the request must be automatically granted.

If requests are made under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on religion, or the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which says the government cannot "substantially burden" a person's exercise of religion, supervisors will need to weigh whether the work can be given to a different staff member or if the employee making the request can be reassigned.

"From day one, Secretary [Denis] McDonough has made clear to all employees that their religious beliefs are protected here at VA," VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes said in a statement. "VA continues to provide accommodations for VA employees who wish to opt out of providing abortion counseling or services."

The formalization of the religious exemption request process comes as Republicans take control of the House after promising to target the VA's abortion policy.

One of the first bills the GOP House majority has pledged to take up would ban federal funding for abortions and performing the procedure at federal facilities except in cases of rape, incest or when the mother's life is danger, essentially making permanent the so-called Hyde Amendment that is included in annual appropriations bills and that the VA argues does not apply to the department.

Republicans have also vowed to reintroduce a resolution that would overturn the VA policy.

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.

Related: VA Abortion Policy Faces Congressional, Legal Challenges
Applications to join the Air Force Academy's class of 2027 skyrocketed last year, following a year when the school saw a dive in applications from young men and women during the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 10,000 students had applied to be part of the class of 2027 as of the Dec. 31 deadline. That's a 21% increase from the more than 8,300 applicants who wanted to join the class of 2026 the year before, according to Air Force Academy spokesman Dean Miller. The school said last year's low application numbers were due, in part, to the pandemic limiting how many in-person events it could hold for high school students.

"USAFA Admissions was able to conduct and attend more in-person recruiting events for this next class of future leaders," Col. Arthur Primas Jr., director of admissions for the academy, told Military.com in an emailed statement Tuesday. "We believe our ability to directly influence young men and women, both on campus and in the communities, played a significant role in the increase in applications this year."

Read Next: The Old Air Force Tape Test Is Officially Dead. Long Live the New Tape Test.

Military.com reported in August that applications to all of the service academies dropped significantly for the class of 2026 that began school this past fall -- declines ranging from 10% to nearly 30% -- as the military continues to grapple with recruitment issues amid a national dip in college enrollment during the pandemic.

The more than 8,300 applicants to join the Air Force Academy's class of 2026 marked a 28% drop from the prior pool of more than 11,600 applicants from the class of 2025.

"A lot of schools did not allow us access to a lot of gatherings and a lot of conferences. ... A lot of those things were canceled," Primas told Military.com in August. "So we really had to shift for the class of 2026 onto a virtual platform."

The decline in service academy applications mirrors a trend seen in the civilian world. Undergraduate enrollment declined by more than 662,000 students -- 4.7% -- from spring 2021 at civilian colleges, according to a report by the nonprofit National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

Overall, the country's undergraduate student body dropped by nearly 1.4 million students, or 9.4%, during the two years of the pandemic.

Officials at the Air Force Academy said they're competing for the same students as other universities, and were feeling those same effects for the class of 2026.

"As the Air Force Academy admissions office, we obviously have to stay in tune with the higher education enterprise and those trends ... because this is a four-year institution and we are all competing for the same talent," Primas told Military.com in August. "So, we believe, part of it is those that may feel like college is no longer part of their future career path."

The Air Force Academy wasn't the only service academy seeing the decline. The U.S. Naval Academy saw a 20% application drop for the Class of 2026, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point saw about a 10% decrease from the prior year.

Officials from both schools pointed to pandemic-related recruitment issues as the main reason for the decline in applications and were not concerned about interest in the service academies waning.

"We do anticipate based on census data that we will see (along with all institutions of higher education) a decrease in applicants in the next several years -- but do not see a decrease in the quality of those applicants," Francis J. DeMaro Jr., a West Point spokesman, told Military.com in August. "We do not translate this as a decreased interest in West Point or Service Academies as a whole, but more of a dynamic of the higher education landscape at this time."

The application deadline for West Point and the Naval Academy's class of 2027 is Jan. 31.

-- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.

Related: Applications to Service Academies Plummet Amid Recruitment and Pandemic Woes
The incoming chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is previewing upcoming fights over "wokeness" in the military while the new House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman is already demanding documents on several subjects from the Department of Veterans Affairs after the Republican conference formally chose them to lead key congressional panels.

In a closed-door meeting Tuesday, House Republicans officially appointed committee leaders for the just-commenced congressional session, including Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., as Armed Services chairman and Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., as Veterans Affairs chairman.

Rogers and Bost faced no challengers to becoming chairmen, so their ascension to the top of the panels was never in doubt. But the GOP conference's vote made their jobs official, and for Rogers, it comes after he made headlines in a dramatic moment during last week's battle over the speakership.

Read Next: More Than a Dozen Special Operations Soldiers at Center of Drug Trafficking Probe

In a statement after Tuesday's meeting, Rogers said he will focus on both preparing the military to face threats from adversaries such as Russia and China, and probing policies that advance a "social agenda" in the military.

"Initiatives that service a social agenda but don't advance our national security will be scrutinized," Rogers said. "Those in charge of these initiatives will come before the committee to explain how they will protect our national security. We will leave no stone unturned in holding the Biden administration accountable."

Republicans, including Rogers, have previously vowed to use their House majority to target Pentagon policies they call "woke," a term they apply to a wide range of policies they disagree with, from efforts to make the force more welcoming to minorities and women to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Republicans already successfully repealed the vaccine mandate in last year's defense policy bill, but have now pledged to fight to reinstate service members who were discharged under the mandate.

Rogers is perhaps most known as one of Congress' top proponents for the Space Force, having co-sponsored a proposal for a space military branch two years before the Space Force became a reality.

He has also been known as a mild-mannered lawmaker who rarely makes waves. But that reputation didn't mesh with what happened when he got into a confrontation with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on the House floor last week.

After Gaetz voted "present" in the 14th round of voting for the next House speaker, again denying Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the job, Rogers charged up to Gaetz and reportedly shouted something along the lines of "you're finished," prompting Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., to pull Rogers away by his chin and shoulders.

Gaetz is a member of the Armed Services Committee and had reportedly sought to chair an Armed Services subcommittee as one of his conditions to support McCarthy for speaker. Choosing subcommittee chairs is typically the purview of committee chairmen, and Rogers, who is also on the Republican Steering Committee that assigns members to committees, had previously threatened to strip anyone who opposed McCarthy of their committee seats.

McCarthy eventually won the speakership on the 15th round of voting after enough Republicans voted present to lower the threshold needed to win, and both Rogers and Gaetz have indicated they have made up.

"@RepMattGaetz and I have a long and productive working relationship, that I am sure will continue," Rogers tweeted Sunday. Rogers also told reporters Tuesday that Gaetz "made clear he doesn't want" to chair a subcommittee.

Meanwhile, Bost said in his own statement Tuesday he plans to build on "bipartisan successes" from previous years during his tenure as Veterans Affairs Committee chairman.

"In order to do that, we need to hold the Biden administration accountable and restore regular order," Bost said. "This will help us bring VA into the 21st century with commonsense legislation and oversight for the next generation of warfighters, without leaving behind today's veterans."

As his first act as chairman, Bost sent VA Secretary Denis McDonough a letter requesting a slew of documents by Jan. 27, including detailed plans on implementing a new digital system to administer GI Bills benefits, an Institute for Defense Analyses report commissioned by the VA on the electronic health record modernization program's life cycle cost estimate and a comprehensive master plan to expand housing for homeless and at-risk veterans at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center.

"As chairman, I am committed to overseeing implementation of the landmark, bipartisan expansions of veterans' health care and benefits in recent years, while rooting out mismanagement and waste of taxpayer dollars," Bost wrote. "In order to do that, I rely on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to honor the committee's requests for information and documents within its jurisdiction in a timely fashion."

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.

Related: Republicans Vow to Put 'Woke' Military in Crosshairs if They Win in November
At least 13 soldiers assigned to U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, are under investigation for drug trafficking, the service announced Monday.

"Illegal activity by any member of the Special Operations Forces community undermines everything we stand for as an organization," a statement from Special Operations Command said. "As a professional and disciplined force, we are committed to addressing harmful behaviors that affect our people -- our most important asset -- and upholding the high standards of conduct displayed by the vast majority of SOF members every day."

There have been no charges or arrests yet, according to a service spokesperson.

Read Next: Army Expanding Course for Overweight and Low-Scoring Recruits in Bid to Fill the Ranks

Fort Bragg is in so-called Corridor H, a designation from the Department of Justice of eight different parts of the country in which drugs, particularly fentanyl, are heavily trafficked. That corridor encompasses I-95, a highway that stretches from Miami to Houlton, Maine.

Since 2015, there have been at least 16 drug overdose deaths at Fort Bragg, according to internal Army documents reviewed by Military.com. Of that, at least two were junior enlisted soldiers training to become Green Berets who overdosed on cocaine laced with fentanyl.

Deadly drug overdoses have spiked across the country since 2019, largely due to the introduction of fentanyl, a cheap synthetic opioid that is often mixed with other drugs. Fentanyl is similar to morphine, but up to 100 times more powerful. In 2020, there were 91,799 drug overdose deaths in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The size of special operations has also grown from roughly 46,000 personnel in 2001 to about 73,000 in 2021, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. That report, ordered by Congress, found that the rapid growth is at least partly responsible for some oversight issues.

Oversight of special operations has slowly increased on Capitol Hill as the Pentagon has leaned heavily on its elite units in the counter-terrorism campaigns following 9/11. Units that are tasked with operating in the dark face few checks and balances, compared to conventional forces, in environments that are not shrouded in secrecy, such as day-to-day operations on American soil.

An internal review of Special Operations Command conducted in 2019 found severe issues with ethics in the community, finding that the culture of elite units' extreme focus on mission accomplishment allows misconduct and unethical behavior to often go unchecked.

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.

Related: Get Ready for Fort Liberty: The Pentagon Begins Changing Confederate Base Names
Read the original article on Business Insider.

US Navy forces recently intercepted a fishing vessel smuggling thousands of AK-47 rifles from Iran to Yemen, the US military said on Tuesday.

The vessel, which was crewed by six Yemeni nationals, was sailing through the Gulf of Oman on January 6 when it was caught, US 5th Fleet said in a statement. A team from the patrol coastal ship USS Chinook discovered and boarded the ship with support from fellow Cyclone-class patrol ship USS Monsoon and the guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans. Navy forces found that the ship was carrying 2,116 AK-47 assault rifles.

The vessel was traveling along a route historically understood to be used for the transfer of lethal aid to Yemen's Houthi rebels  a violation of a UN Security Council resolution and international law, 5th Fleet said.

Iran is the main backer of the Houthis, who have fought a devastating years-long civil war against Yemen's internationally recognized government. The bloody conflict has previously been characterized by experts as a proxy war between regional foes Iran and Saudi Arabia, which leads a military coalition in support of the government.

Thousands of AK-47 assault rifles sit on the flight deck of guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) during an inventory process, Jan. 7, 2023. U.S. naval forces seized 2,116 AK-47 assault rifles from a fishing vessel transiting along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen. (U.S. Navy photo)

US Central Command's Gen. Michael Kurilla said in a statement that the "illegal flow of weapons from Iran through international waterways has a destabilizing effect on the region."

"We are committed to the security and stability of the region and the enforcement of international law," Kurilla, who is the CENTCOM commander, added. "Alongside our partner forces, CENTCOM will deter and interdict this kind of lethal material into the region whether it comes by air, land, or sea."

Over the past few months, US forces have intercepted several vessels transferring lethal aid from Iran to Yemen. In November, 5th Fleet seized a "massive amount" of explosive chemical material that can be used to fuel ballistic missiles. A few weeks later, the service said it recovered more than 50 tons of ammunition and rocket parts.

The recent shipment "is part of a continued pattern of destabilizing activity from Iran," Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, who commands US Naval Forces Central Command, US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, said in a statement.

"These threats have our attention. We remain vigilant in detecting any maritime activity that impedes freedom of navigation or compromises regional security," he added.

Malign Iranian activities have been reported in waters off the coast of Middle East countries multiple times in recent weeks  sometimes leading to run-ins with US Navy and US Coast Guard vessels. In December, for example, an Iranian patrol vessel tried to use spotlights to blind the bridges of US Navy ships as they were operating in international waters.
This mine is located near the S. K. Dill property and about a half a mile north of Little River. The property was prospected several years ago by James Frank and Son, of Augusta, Ga., and three or four auriferous quartz veins were located and exposed by them in pits or shafts. The deepest openings were made on a vein in the northeast part of the property designated as vein No. 1. The two other veins near each other were found in the southern part of the property and designated as veins Nos. 2 and 3. The property was visited in company with Mr. Edward Frank soon after this prospecting was done and the veins examined and samples taken for assay. Since that time the mine has passed into the possession of Mr. Walter Phelps, of Baltimore, Md., who erected a small stamp mill on the property and prosecuted additional development work. When the McDuffie gold belt was traversed during the course of field work in 1908, no mining operations were in progress at this locality and it was not revisited. At the time of examination previously mentioned, vein No. 1 bad been exposed by Mr. Frank in two shafts and several shallow cross cuts. In the south shaft, which was about :fifteen feet deep, the vein showed a thickness of approximately a foot near the surface and two feet at the bottom of the shaft. The north shaft was twenty-five feet deep when examined. Near the surface the vein was about ten inches in thickness, and widened gradually to two feet or more at the bottom of the shaft. The general strike of the vein as indicated by the line of openings is about N. 10 E, with an easterly dip. The vein quartz contained considerable amounts of iron pyrite and galena. The two veins spoken of as occurring in the southern part of the property had been expo&ed at time of visit in several shallow pits or shafts. Vein No. 2 was open to inspection in only one shaft, the others being full of water. As seen in this shaft, which was fifteen feet deep, the vein had a maximum thickness of about fifteen inches at the bottom of the shaft and was thinner at the surface. Vein No.3 showed a width in several pits towards the south of about seven inches and the quartz contained large amounts of iron pyrite and considerable chalcopyrite. In one pit towards the north, the vein was about two feet wide, but badly shattered. In the more northerly situated pits the vein quartz contained less sulphides than that examined in the pits to the south.

An effort to locate the Julia Mines was unsuccessful. Jones states that the mine is half a mile north of Little River; probably they are covered by the waters of Clark Hill Reservoir.

Select Mineral List Type Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical Elements

Detailed Mineral List:  Chalcopyrite Formula: CuFeS 2 Reference: Minerals of Georgia: Their properties and occurrences. Robert Cook GGWRD Bull 92  Galena Formula: PbS Reference: Minerals of Georgia: Their properties and occurrences. Robert Cook GGWRD Bull 92  Gold Formula: Au Reference: Minerals of Georgia: Their properties and occurrences. Robert Cook GGWRD Bull 92  Pyrite Formula: FeS 2 Reference: Minerals of Georgia: Their properties and occurrences. Robert Cook GGWRD Bull 92  Quartz Formula: SiO 2 Reference: Minerals of Georgia: Their properties and occurrences. Robert Cook GGWRD Bull 92

Gallery:

List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification Group 1 - Elements  Gold 1.AA.05 Au Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts  Chalcopyrite 2.CB.10a CuFeS 2  Galena 2.CD.10 PbS  Pyrite 2.EB.05a FeS 2 Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides  Quartz 4.DA.05 SiO 2

List of minerals for each chemical element O Oxygen O  Quartz SiO 2 Si Silicon Si  Quartz SiO 2 S Sulfur S  Galena PbS S  Pyrite FeS 2 S  Chalcopyrite CuFeS 2 Fe Iron Fe  Pyrite FeS 2 Fe  Chalcopyrite CuFeS 2 Cu Copper Cu  Chalcopyrite CuFeS 2 Au Gold Au  Gold Au Pb Lead Pb  Galena PbS

References

Sort by Year (asc) Year (desc) Author (A-Z) Author (Z-A) In-text Citation No.

Jones, S. P., (1909), Second report on the gold deposits of Georgia: Georgia Geological Survey Bulletin 19; 100-102. Hurst, V. j., Crawford, T. j., and Sandy, j., (1966), Mineral Resources of the Central Savannah River Area: Washington, D. C., U.S. Dept. Commerce Econ. Dev. Admin., v. 1, 240.

Other Databases

Link to USGS MRDS: 10305969

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
One of the most decorated African rappers and Ghanaian music landlord, Sarkodie has incurred the wrath of his fans and many Ghanaians in the music industry.

Real name Michael Owusu Addo was recently in the news for the wrong reason.

The rapper described his haters and social media critics as "animals" for not seeing and acknowledging his worth in the music industry.

In a tweet that garnered mixed reactions, the Ghanaian musical landlord wrote, "Nobody doing it like moi ... forgetti "na omo aa omo tan me no omoy3 mmoa," to wit, those who hate me are animals.

The rappers rage follows a video of himself and his team, together with his security team and security guards of the Black Star Line Festival, in a hot exchange at the entrance of the event on Friday, January 7.

The video was recorded at a point where the most decorated African rapper was being prevented from entering the Black Star Line Festival event spearheaded by Chicago-based Ghanaian rappers, Vic Mensa and Chance the Rapper.

Sarkodie was later allowed entry and was among the artists such as T-Pain, Jeremih and others who lighted the concert.

But in reaction, a female fan of the rapper in an interview with a Kumasi-based Youtube channel could not believe a well-respected entertainer with a pedigree like Sarkodie could utter such words against the very people who have been putting him on his toes since he started

She then called on him to quickly take down the tweet and apologize for the unwarranted insult.

Watch the ladys assertion in the video below;
Adebowale Debo Adedayo, known in the comic space as Mr. Macaroni has advised Nigerians to beware of vote-buying politicians.

The comedian said politicians who will try to influence people with money instead of rich policies are nothing to write home about in terms of a countrys administration.

In a tweet on Tuesday, January 10, Mr. Macaroni stated that however huge the amount or gift from politicians may be, will only leave citizens to suffer in the long run because of the wrong decision made.

"Dear Nigerians, Please, let us sensitise ourselves and our neighbors. Do Not let anyone collect your PVC or take a picture of it in exchange for money!!! That money wont last 4 days. But the suffering will last 4 years and more. Abeg," he said.

He continued, "Any Politician offering you money in exchange for your vote is not going to serve you. They are only investing. If they get into office, they will loot the Nations treasury, which rightfully belongs to the people. Do not vote for thieves and looters! They are destroyers."

The Federal State is preparing to elect a new set of leaders who will take over from the current Buhari-led administration on Saturday, February 25, 2023.

Mr. Tinibu Ahmed, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, is set to face strong competition from Mr. Peter Obi, leader of Nigeria's biggest opposition party, the People's Democratic Party (PDP), in the presidential race.
Popular Nigerian media personality Moet Abebe condemned age falsification.

The vocal broadcaster said it is silly and shameful for anybody to hide his or her real age for whatever reason.

In a Snapchat story, Miss Abebe intimated that people with such attitude need to put an end to it because it makes no sense.

Lol lying about your age I feel is so silly... like lie about anything but your age... like didn't ppl grow up with you? Makes O sense but ayyyyyyy wetin I sabi???? she quizzed.

According to reports, the rants are part of a dispute involving a BBNaija star, Chinenyenwa Desire Okoebor, also known as Chi Chis new age.

Chi-Chi is reported to be 23 years old today, Tuesday, January 10.

Officially worlds chichis day 23 and blessed, the 23-year-old reality TV star wrote with stunning photos of herself on the photo-sharing app (Instagram).

However, Chichi's new age was met with mixed reactions as cybernauts dug up the reality TV star's throwback photos from 2014, which were posted on her Facebook page.

Per some of the photos, Chichi, who claims to be 14 years old, was already looking much older than a 14-year-old, eliciting a variety of reactions from netizens, with many criticising her.
10.01.2023 LISTEN

BENGALURU / January 10, 2023:Women with early-stage cervical cancer can go for treatment options like conization and trachelectomy that can preserve their fertility if they wish to have children. If already pregnant when diagnosed in early stages, they can continue with the pregnancy and deliver by C-section. However, those suffering from late-stage cervical cancer may have to opt for IVF if they wish to become pregnant. This was said by Dr. Vidya V Bhat, Medical Director, RadhaKrishna Multispecialty Hospital, Bengaluru, to mark the ongoing Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.

The doctor said: Hysterectomy is the preferred surgical treatment in cervical cancer from Stage 1 to Stage 2a. That is when the cancer is limited to the cervix and uterus only. Uterus-saving surgeries like Conization and Radical Trachelectomy can be done only in early stages.

Cervical cancer is highly preventable and curable if caught early. Nearly all cervical cancers can be prevented by HPV vaccination and routine cervical cancer screening. Yet, there is no popular acceptance of immunization among women in India, with the immunization rate hovering below 10%.

HPV vaccination is a safe and effective way to prevent cervical cancer. Because HPV is transmitted sexually, the HPV vaccine offers optimum protection when given before a person becomes sexually active. Routine HPV vaccination is recommended for girls starting at age 11 or 12 years. HPV vaccination is recommended up to age 26 years. Some adults between 27-45 years of age, who are not already vaccinated, may get the HPV vaccine after talking with their doctor about their risk of new HPV infections, said Dr. Vidya V Bhat.

She added: Routine cervical cancer screening with HPV test and PAP smear test is also an important way to prevent cervical cancer. Because HPV vaccination doesnt protect against all HPV types that can cause cervical cancer, one should get oneself screened at regular intervals. It is recommended that women undergo PAP smear test once every 3 years and HPV DNA test every 5 years.

The incidence of cervical cancer in India is 18 per 100,000 population, accounting for 18.3% of all cancers in the country. It peaks between 35-65 years of age. Women from poor socio-economic status are especially affected, according to the doctor. Symptoms of cervical cancer include watery or bloody vaginal discharge which may be heavy, continuous and foul smelling, vaginal bleeding after intercourse or between periods, and post-menopausal bleeding.



Recounting the various challenges in treatment of cervical cancer, Dr. Vidya V Bhat said that most women in India are neither immunized nor screened for the disease. The condition is especially prevalent among women of low socio-economic status, and most of them come for treatment at an advanced stage. Healthcare providers in rural areas are not properly trained about different screening methods. In addition, treatment for advanced stage of the disease is available only at tertiary centers, which are not easily accessible for most women in the country.

Dr. Vidya V Bhat added: Infection from HPV, which is a group of 150 related viruses, is the most important risk factor of cervical cancer. Women who become sexually active at a young age, especially before 18 years of age, and those who are using oral contraceptives for a long time are also susceptible to this disease.
10.01.2023 LISTEN

The youth wing of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the Zebilla constituency in the Upper East Region has taken steps to reunite all 19 wards making up 157 branches across the constituency for victory in 2024.

The Zebilla Youth Organiser, John Akutam and his deputy Asaki Zakari aka Airforce 1 have organised a historic youth meet, eat, drink and interact dinner.

John Akutam addressing his colleague's youth at the dinner thanked all the youth branches in the constituency for voting for him in the just-ended election.

He promised to do his best to make sure the youth are well recognised in all initiatives such as employment.

According to him, he will strategise ways to mobilise to canvass votes for the party come 2024.

John Akutam used the platform to call on the leaders of the party not to forget the sacrifices made by the youth to secure power for them in 2024.

He added that the sacrifices made by the youth in the constituency must be consolidated by securing victory in 2024.

John Akutam stressed that there shall be vigorous house-to-house, village-to-village and town to town campaigns to canvass massive votes to enable the NDC to return to power in 2024 to save Ghana from the current hardship.
The Member of Parliament for Builsa North, James Agalga is sceptical about calls for an amendment to Article 78(1) of the constitution to prevent the president from appointing ministers from Parliament.

Some Ghanaians have called for the amendment of Article 78(1) of the 1992 constitution which mandates the president to appoint a majority of ministers from Parliament.

The concerned Ghanaians say this provision of the constitution defeats the principle of separation of powers and limits Parliament's supervisory powers over the executive.

But in an interview with Citi News, the Member of Parliament's constitutional and legal affairs committee, James Agalga says this must be done with caution.

If you look at the constitutional resolution of the country, you find that the 1979 constitution made it impossible for the President to nominate Ministers from within Parliament. In that sense the Legislature was strictly separate from the Executive arm of government. Somehow in the 1992 constitution, we thought that the fusion principle was best for us.

For now the 1992 constitution allows for a combination of the two while maintaining the presidential system. But then we need to ask ourselves, if that system actually favours us, let us carefully review it, he added.

By Citi Newsroom
Gunmen attacked a train station in southern Nigeria, kidnapping about 30 people and wounding others, before police managed to rescue several people, officials said on Monday.

Kidnapping for ransom is a major problem in Nigeria where gunmen known locally as bandits carry out mass abductions, mostly in the northwest, though violence has spilled over to other regions.

Gunmen opened fire on Saturday evening on the train station in Edo state, 360 km (223 miles) east of Lagos, before kidnapping people waiting for a train to southern Delta State, police said.

Edo State Information Commissioner Chris Nehikhare said 32 people had been abducted.

One person managed to escape, lowering the toll to 31, and six more were rescued on Monday, as police and local hunters tracked the remaining captives.

"The six persons are: a 65-year-old man, a nursing mother with her baby, a six-year-old girl and two siblings; aged two and five years old," he said in a statement.

"We are confident that the other victims will be rescued soon."

President Muhammadu Buhari, a former army commander who promised to make Nigeria safer, steps down after an election next month, and insecurity will be a major challenge for whoever replaces him.

Armed criminals have repeatedly targeted schools, communities and highways in northwest and central states, kidnapping dozens of people at a time and holding them in forest camps to negotiate ransoms.

In one of the country's most high-profile attacks, in March last year, gunmen with explosives blew up the tracks and raided a train travelling from the capital Abuja to the northwestern city of Kaduna.

Eight people were killed and dozens more kidnapped and held for months. The train service only resumed eight months later after the final hostages were released.

The military is battling a 13-year-long jihadist insurgency in the northeast, bandit militias in the northwest and separatist tensions in the southeast.

In July last year, gunmen bombed their way into Kuje prison on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital Abuja, freeing hundreds of inmates in an attack claimed by Islamic State-allied jihadists.
Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba on Monday appointed Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze as the new prime minister, tasking him to form a new government in the oil-rich republic.

A presidential decree said outgoing premier Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda, 59, will now serve as vice president, whose role is to "assist" the head of state though it allows for no interim role as president.

A former defence minister and former mayor of the capital Libreville, she became prime minister in July 2020 and was the first woman to lead a Gabonese government.

Bilie-By-Nze, 55, is a close ally of the president and has held several ministerial jobs since 2006.

Later on Monday he announced a government composed of 45 ministers with no reshuffles in the key positions.

The decree listed no reason for the changes, which come ahead of presidential and legislative elections in mid-2023.

President Ondimba in 2009 took over from his father Omar Bongo Ondimba, the central African country's ruler for 41 years, and is widely expected to run for re-election.
Former Chief of Staff under the erstwhile John Dramani Mahama-led NDC administration, Prosper Douglas Bani has waded into the ongoing brouhaha surrounding a music video shoot at the Jubilee House by American rapper Meek Mill.

He condemned the oncular act, calling it a threat to the security of the seat of government.

Speaking in an interview with Accra-based Joy News on Monday, January 9, he also condemned the appearance of Meek Mill at the meeting with President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo.

Wearing summer shorts and T-shirts was something he said could never have been tolerated by former President John Dramani Mahama.

"They should keep the seat of government as a security space, and that is how we managed the place under President John Dramani Mahama," he stated.

"It was one that was dignified, one that had respect, and you couldn't come to the Flagstaff House when I was Chief of Staff to see the President in summer shorts, in T-shirts, and not properly dressed to meet the highest office holder of the land," he noted.

According to Mr. Bani, "there are certain activities you cannot undertake within the space of the presidency, and to record a musical video in sensitive places around the presidency is rather unfortunate."

The American pop star who visited Ghana for the Afro Nation musical concert visited the President at the Jubilee House.

Days later, a video posted by the rapper on his social media handles shocked many how he had access to shoot an R-rated music video at some security zones of the Jubilee House.

This generated a huge backlash against the presidency and the American rapper compelling him to apologise.
The nickname that President Akufo-Addo gained for clearing all his appointees of wrongdoings even before state bodies in charge of investigations conclude their work, Clearing Agent, has been entrenched by his recent comment on the operations of Akonta Mining, former President John Dramani Mahama has said.

Mr Mahama described President Akufo-Addos comment as shocking and impudence.

This comes after President Akufo-Addo exonerated Akonta Mining Company Limited from any wrongdoing.

Mr Akufo-Addo stressed that the Company is not involved in any illegal mining anywhere in Ghana.

In a remark after concerns about the menace came to the fore at the 28th National and 16th Biennial Congress of the National Union of Ghana Catholic Diocesan Priests Association held in Koforidua, he said Let me respond briefly to the chairperson on the issue of illegal mining.

I want to assure him and all of you that Akonta Mining is not engaged in any illegal mining anywhere in Ghana as we speak.

Further, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has through the agency of the Forestry Commission with the assistance of the military made the effort to cordon off all 294 sites of forest reserves in the country and rid them of illegal mining as we speak.

President Akufo-Addo was responding to a concern expressed by the chairperson of the occasion, Ing. Ken Ashigbey, regarding Akonta Mining Company Limited's supposed infraction of the laws to mine in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve in the Western North Region.

Despite having a mining lease, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in October, 2022 stopped Akonta Mining Company Limited, owned by New Patriotic Party's Ashanti Region Chairman Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, from mining in the forest reserve.

READ ALSO: Asawase : NDC members call on nat'l leadership to douse brewing tension

The issue is under investigation by the Special Prosecutor.

Commenting on this in a statement, Mr Mahama said That penchant by the president to absolve his appointees and other close associates of any wrongdoing as he has done with the ongoing investigations into the operations of Akonta Mining Company is a serious dent on the already deteriorating image of the Office of the President.

As though proud of that dishonourable badge, 'the clearing agent', Nana Akufo-Addo has yet again justified the appropriateness of his nickname with the seeming presidential exoneration of Akonta Mining, a company owned by a member of his political party (NPP) and accused of illegal gold mining in the country's forest reserves.

The shocking impudence is how and when he even did that at a public event called by the country's catholic clergy.

Below is the full statement:

It is unacceptable that President Nana Akufo-Addo has consistently put pressure on state anti-corruption institutions by announcing clearance of appointees and companies that are under investigation for wrongdoing.

That penchant by the president to absolve his appointees and other close associates of any wrongdoing as he has done with the ongoing investigations into the operations of Akonta Mining Company is a serious dent on the already deteriorating image of the Office of the President.

As though proud of that dishonourable badge, 'the clearing agent', Nana Akufo-Addo has yet again justified the appropriateness of his nickname with the seeming presidential exoneration of Akonta Mining, a company owned by a member of his political party (NPP) and accused of illegal gold mining in the country's forest reserves.

The shocking impudence is how and when he even did that at a public event called by the country's catholic clergy.

Fortunately, and unfortunately, we are told by the owner of Akonta Mining that the Minister has explained to him they were forced to unwillingly act against his company because of public pressure from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), CSOs and NGOs. He also very alarmingly said the President called him ostensibly to appease him over Government's action and that the Office of Special Prosecutor cannot touch him.

This is a sad commentary for a country that has in the past been held up in Africa as the poster boy for rule of law and democratic governance.

This sad development also erodes the years of hard work, which has earned Ghana international appeal in climate change and sustainable development discourse globally.

In addition, the President's comment cannot be allowed to override or become a substitute for the statutory mandate granted the investigative bodies of Ghana by the Constitution.

Such acts fly in the face of justice and the fight against corruption, and of course erodes the faith of our citizens in our democracy.

As enjoined by our National Anthem to cherish fearless honesty and resist oppressors' rule, we must all as citizens support the anti-corruption institutions to carry out their duties fairly and courageously without undue interference by any influences.

John Dramani Mahama

Tuesday January 10, 2023.

3news.com
Ex-President John Dramani Mahama

10.01.2023 LISTEN

Former President, John Dramani Mahama has reacted to President Akufo-Addos pronouncement that Akonta Mining is not involved in illegal mining.

The mining firm owned by New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi was cited for illegal mining when it was found to be operating without a license in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve last year.

Speaking at an event organised by the Ghana Catholic Diocesan Priests' Association in Koforidua on January 4 where the issue came up, President Akufo-Addo provided an update on the reported illegal mining activities of Akonta mining.

According to him, the mining firm as of now is not engaged in illegal mining in any part of the country.

I want to assure him and all of you that Akonta Mining is not engaged in any illegal mining anywhere in Ghana as we speak, the President noted.

Responding to the declaration in a statement today, ex-President John Dramani Mahama says it appears President Akufo-Addo is proud of the clearing agent badge.

As though proud of that dishonourable badge, the clearing agent, Nana Akufo-Addo has yet again justified the appropriateness of his nickname with the seeming presidential exoneration of Akonta Mining, a company owned by a member of his political party (NPP) and accused of illegal gold mining in the countrys forest reserves.

The shocking impudence is how and when he even did that at a public event called by the countrys catholic clergy, the leading member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) said.

John Dramani Mahama is of the view that it is unacceptable that President Nana Akufo-Addo has consistently put pressure on state anti-corruption institutions by announcing clearance of appointees and companies that are under investigation for wrongdoing.

Below is the full statement by Mahama on the matter:

It is unacceptable that President Nana Akufo-Addo has consistently put pressure on state anti-corruption institutions by announcing clearance of appointees and companies that are under investigation for wrongdoing.

That penchant by the president to absolve his appointees and other close associates of any wrongdoing as he has done with the ongoing investigations into the operations of Akonta Mining Company is a serious dent on the already deteriorating image of the Office of the President.

As though proud of that dishonourable badge, the clearing agent, Nana Akufo-Addo has yet again justified the appropriateness of his nickname with the seeming presidential exoneration of Akonta Mining, a company owned by a member of his political party (NPP) and accused of illegal gold mining in the countrys forest reserves.

The shocking impudence is how and when he even did that at a public event called by the countrys catholic clergy.

Fortunately, and unfortunately, we are told by the owner of Akonta Mining that the Minister has explained to him they were forced to unwillingly act against his company because of public pressure from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), CSOs and NGOs. He also very alarmingly said the President called him ostensibly to appease him over Government's action and that the Office of Special Prosecutor cannot touch him.

This is a sad commentary for a country that has in the past been held up in Africa as the poster boy for rule of law and democratic governance.

This sad development also erodes the years of hard work, which have earned Ghana international appeal in climate change and sustainable development discourse globally.

In addition, the President's comment cannot be allowed to override or become a substitute for the statutory mandate granted the investigative bodies of Ghana by the Constitution.

Such acts fly in the face of justice and the fight against corruption, and of course erodes the faith of our citizens in our democracy.

As enjoined by our National Anthem to cherish fearless honesty and resist oppressors rule, we must all as citizens support the anti-corruption institutions to carry out their duties fairly and courageously without undue interference by any influences.

John Dramani Mahama

Tuesday January 10, 2023.
10.01.2023 LISTEN

Leading member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama has expressed shock at the pronouncement by President Akufo-Addo that Akonta Mining is not involved in illegal mining in any part of the country.

In a statement, the ex-President has stressed that It is unacceptable that President Nana Akufo-Addo has consistently put pressure on state anti-corruption institutions by announcing clearance of appointees and companies that are under investigation for wrongdoing.

Akonta Mining, the company owned by New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi was cited for illegal mining when it was found to be operating without a license in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve last year.

Speaking at an event organised by the Ghana Catholic Diocesan Priests' Association in Koforidua on January 4 where the issue came up, President Akufo-Addo provided an update on the reported illegal mining activities of Akonta mining.

According to him, the mining firm as of now is not engaged in illegal mining in any part of the country.

I want to assure him and all of you that Akonta Mining is not engaged in any illegal mining anywhere in Ghana as we speak, the President noted.

In his statement on the matter today, John Dramani Mahama says the President's comment cannot be allowed to override or become a substitute for the statutory mandate granted to the investigative bodies of Ghana by the Constitution.

According to him, such acts fly in the face of justice and the fight against corruption, and of course erodes the faith of our citizens in our democracy.

Below is a copy of the full statement:

It is unacceptable that President Nana Akufo-Addo has consistently put pressure on state anti-corruption institutions by announcing clearance of appointees and companies that are under investigation for wrongdoing.

That penchant by the president to absolve his appointees and other close associates of any wrongdoing as he has done with the ongoing investigations into the operations of Akonta Mining Company is a serious dent on the already deteriorating image of the Office of the President.

As though proud of that dishonourable badge, the clearing agent, Nana Akufo-Addo has yet again justified the appropriateness of his nickname with the seeming presidential exoneration of Akonta Mining, a company owned by a member of his political party (NPP) and accused of illegal gold mining in the countrys forest reserves.

The shocking impudence is how and when he even did that at a public event called by the countrys catholic clergy.

Fortunately, and unfortunately, we are told by the owner of Akonta Mining that the Minister has explained to him they were forced to unwillingly act against his company because of public pressure from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), CSOs and NGOs. He also very alarmingly said the President called him ostensibly to appease him over Government's action and that the Office of Special Prosecutor cannot touch him.

This is a sad commentary for a country that has in the past been held up in Africa as the poster boy for rule of law and democratic governance.

This sad development also erodes the years of hard work, which have earned Ghana international appeal in climate change and sustainable development discourse globally.

In addition, the President's comment cannot be allowed to override or become a substitute for the statutory mandate granted the investigative bodies of Ghana by the Constitution.

Such acts fly in the face of justice and the fight against corruption, and of course erodes the faith of our citizens in our democracy.

As enjoined by our National Anthem to cherish fearless honesty and resist oppressors rule, we must all as citizens support the anti-corruption institutions to carry out their duties fairly and courageously without undue interference by any influences.

John Dramani Mahama

Tuesday January 10, 2023.
10.01.2023 LISTEN

Paul Anim Inkoom, the former President of the Junior Common Room (JCR) of the Commonwealth Hall at the University of Ghana, suspended for three academic years, has indicated plans to seek legal advice to deal with the matter.

Management of the university suspended four former JCR executives of the commonwealth hall for three academic years.

According to the management, the students organized meetings of the JCR in August last year which provided a platform for the delivery and publication of defamatory and false statements against the Vice Chancellor, Pro-Vice chancellor and other senior officers of the university.

On 18th and 19th August 2022, some former Junior Common Room (JCR) Executives of the Commonwealth Hall organised or allowed the organisation of meetings of the Junior Common Room (JCR) of Commonwealth Hall.

These meetings provided a platform for the delivery and publication of false, reckless and defamatory statements against Senior officers which brought the offices of the Vice-Chancellor, the Pro Vice-Chancellor as and the university as a whole into disrepute.

The disciplinary board for junior members that conducted the interview found the four to have breached some statutes and regulations of the University and recommended sanctions against them.

Speaking to Citi News, Paul Anim Inkoom said they would decide together with their lawyers by the close of the week what action to take.

We have our legal team going through everything. Our position allows us to have JCR meetings whether emergency or general and so that is what happened. But as to the details during that period, our lawyers are making some considerations.

By Citi Newsroom
Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has heaped kind words on the former Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen.

The union described him as a national icon, a statesman and a global asset.

With over 10 years of service at the Trade and Industry Ministry under two governments, Alan Kyerematen surprisingly sent in an official resignation letter on January 5, 2023, to end his stay at the Ministry.

His unexpected resignation set the political space agog with divided opinions on why he stepped down from such an enviable position in government.

As the official mouthpiece of the Traders Union in Ghana, the leadership of GUTA issued a press statement celebrating the Industrial expert at the Ministry of Trade and Industry .

An official communique from the leadership of GUTA described the outgoing Trade and Industry Minister as an excellent leader, and a political genius.

The Ghana Union of Traders Associations (GUTA) is deeply saddened by the news of the sudden resignation of the Trade and Industry Minister, Hon. Alan Kyerematen.

All those who know him and happen to have come in contact with this affable gentleman will attest to the fact that he is an astute politician, a very humble public servant, versed in his area of duty, coupled with excellent human relations which have endeared him to all who have happened to meet him on matters of trade and industry, especially, those of us in the private sector.

We can confidently say that he has performed excellently and left an indelible footprint that will ever remain in our memories. So we see him as an asset not only to Ghana but also to the sub-regional and continental blocs, as well as the entire globe, parts of the Press Statement from GUTA reads.

READ ALSO: US and UK ministers boycott Saudi summit

Hon. Alan Kyerematen was first appointed as a Trade Minister from 2003-2007 under HE John Agyekum Kuffuor before his return to the same seat from 2017 to 2023.

His rich experience in the Trade and Industry Ministry saw him elevated to various global platforms on international Trade and Industrial drive initiatives.

It is our hope and prayer that, the next person to be appointed to replace him will also, emulate such sterling performance of his or her immediate predecessor and work with full commitment and dedication to service.

We wish Hon. Alan well in all his endeavours, the conclusion part of the Statement reads.

In Ghana, the flagship One District One Factory is one of several brain works of the former Trade and Industry Minister.
No one should be supreme except Allah. Yup, not even the raja-raja are supreme. If they do wrong, then we have to say that they had done wrong. The s...

5 days ago
Prof. Vladimir Antwi-Danso

10.01.2023 LISTEN

The Dean of Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFSC), Prof. Vladimir Antwi-Danso has reacted to the controversial music video shot by American rapper Meek Mill at the Jubilee House.

During his visit to Ghana in December, the popular US musician paid a visit to the Presidency where he held talks with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

He also shot a music video with 'curse words' which has now gone viral since Sunday night.

Speaking to 3FM in an interview on Tuesday, January 10, Prof. Vladimir Antwi-Danso said his thinking is that clearance was given for the video shoot.

According to him, it would be stupid if there was no clearance given to Meek Mill for him to shoot the music video at the Jubilee House.

I strongly suspect clearance might have been given. If not it would have smacked of laxity and stupidity on the part of our security, Prof. Vladimir Antwi-Danso shared.

Meanwhile, in the heat of the matter, Meek Mill has pulled down the post containing his music video shot at the Jubilee House.

He has also apologised to Ghanaians and assured that he never meant to disrespect the country or anyone.

To the people of Ghana no video I drop is ever meant to disrespect the people of Ghana . The fastest way to make connection is thru music and I wanted to do that with displaying art  im in my 30s from America and didnt know much about the lifestyle here.

My apologies to the people if any disrespect! We still gonna push to make the connection between black people in America and Africa  what Im trying to do is more than a video and you should see coming soon! My apologies to the office also, Meek Mill stressed.
American rapper, Meek Mill, says he will continue to promote unity between Africans in different parts of the world, despite criticisms of a music video he made during his visit to the office of the President of Ghana.

Meek Mill, became the target of attacks on social media on Sunday, January 8, 2023, after he released a video of his visit to the Jubilee House, with his music in the background.

The video, which went viral almost immediately, was considered by some people as disrespectful, and a breach of the protocol at the Presidency.

Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency in the Volta Region, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, called it a desecration of the highest office of the land, adding that the music in the background contained some obscene lyrics.

Meek Mill has however pulled the video down and tweeted an apology to the people of Ghana.

According to him, he did not mean to be disrespectful to the leadership and the people of Ghana.

He also pledged to help strengthen the relationship between Africans on the continent and African Americans.

My apologies to the people if any disrespect! We still gonna push to make the connection between black people in America and Africa  what lm trying to do is more than a video and you should see coming soon! My apologies to the the office also!

Officially known as Robert Rihmeek Williams, Meek Mill was born on May 6, 1987, in Philadelphia, USA.

His visit to Ghana is the first time he has ever stepped foot in Africa.

According to the former boyfriend of famous female rapper, Nicki Minaj, he is part Ghanaian, part Ivorian and part Nigerian.

In December 2020, Meek Mill made headlines in the hip-hop world by announcing his intention to settle in Ghana with his family. He wanted to buy a house and live with his family in Ghana.

Meek Mill was one of the main performers at the Afro Nation Festival held at the Black Star Square in Accra from December 28 to December 29, 2022.

After the show, he said he would like to sign a Ghanaian artist to his own record label, Dream Chasers (DC), adding that he has never felt so loved in his life.

During his interaction with President Akufo-Addo, Meek Mill spoke about his life and the challenges he faced while growing up as a young black male in America.

He also promised to use his talent and influence to inspire young people to stay positive and have the confidence to achieve their goals in life.

citinewsroom
Citi News has gathered that barring any last-minute changes, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Afriyie Akoto will tender his resignation letter to President Akufo-Addo later today, Tuesday, January 10.

The reasons for his resignation are not immediately known, but sources have revealed that the Minister wants to focus on his Presidential bid ahead of the 2024 elections.

The Minister is expected to meet President Akufo-Addo later today to hand over his resignation letter.

His decision comes days after Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen resigned from his position to focus on his presidential ambitions.

Owusu Afriyie Akoto served as a Member of Parliament for the Kwadaso Constituency in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region for two terms.

In Parliament, he held the position of Deputy Ranking Member and subsequently the substantive Ranking Member for the Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs until 2017 when he was appointed the Minister for Food and Agriculture.

In November 2022, in the midst of economic challenges and rising food prices, Afriyie Akoto implemented the controversial Planting for Food and Jobs policy at the premises of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to sell cheaper foods to Ghanaians.

By Citi Newsroom
10.01.2023 LISTEN

An Accra Circuit Court has remanded two persons into Police custody for stealing and abetment of crime.

The accused persons are: Anthony Abeiku, a 22-year-old fuel attendant, and Mahuya Ibrahim, a 65-year-old scrap dealer.

An accomplice in the case, one Ahmed, is currently on the run and has also been charged with three counts of stealing and abetment of crime.

They all pleaded not guilty.

The case has been adjourned to January 16, 2023.

Earlier, the defence counsel prayed to the court for bail.

Prosecuting, Police Chief Inspector Samuel Ahiabor opposed to the grant of bail for the accused persons.

The prosecution argued that, Abeiku was an ex-convict, who, allegedly had been involved in series of criminal cases and also, would be a flight risk, when granted bail.

He prayed that, the accused persons be remanded into Police Custody to assist Police to conclude investigations.

The trial judge, Mrs Kizita Naa Quashie, upheld the prosecution's prayer.

The prosecution said, the complainant Parry Kwadwo Adade was a banker, who lived at Sakumono Estate whilst all the accused persons lived at Ashaiman.

It said on June 7, 2022, Mr Adade returned from work and noticed that someone had broken into his room.

The prosecution said Mr Adade also realised that his items, including one 55 inches Samsung TV, worth GHC 5,000.00, a 40 inches TV worth GHC 3,500.00, a Dell Laptop worth GHC 5,000.00, a Tablet valued at GHC 2,000.00 and three wrist watches with GHC 3,000.00 had been stolen.

It said, Mr Adade reported to the Police at the Sakumono District branch and investigation was conducted into the matter with messages sent across in search of the suspects.

The prosecution said, on December 24, 2022, Abeiku, who had finished his prison term at Nsawam Prison, was arrested for partaking in series of robbery and stealing cases with Ahmed within Accra, Ashaiman, and Tema and its environs.

It said the accused admitted his offence and also disclosed that Ahmed had been involved in many criminal cases and had been held in other Police stations after his return from Nsawam Prison some months ago.

The prosecution said Ibrahim admitted that, he had been a regular buyer from Abeiku and Ahmed's stolen goods after operation .

It said the case was still under investigation as the accused persons were assisting the Police to trace their accomplices, check other places they had operated, victims and the whereabouts of the stolen items.

GNA
Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Ghanas Parliament, Dr. Clement Abas Apaak has slammed American rapper Meek Mill for claiming he shot the music video at the Jubilee House at the blank side of the security.

Meek Mill, in a portion of his apology note in the late hours of Monday, January 9, claimed he got no permission from the Jubilee House, contrary to what was widely speculated.

According to him, the camera and other apparatus used were very small and left no hint of a video shoot, making the Jubilee House intelligence unit unaware of what happened.

"I dont think they knew it was video footage when we asked to shoot it's a small camera and one kid  in America, we didnt know this existed and was excited to show because they dont show Ghana on our media much! So Ill take responsibility for my mistake! Not intentional," he wrote in defence of the Presidency amid widespread trolls.

But the Builsa South legislator says the explanation given by the American rapper is a lie. He indicated that the security of the Jubilee House is not weak that they couldnt see a movement that depicts a video shoot.

The former presidential staffer alleged that the pop star must have given the security personnel some amount as a bribe, hence the reason he was allowed to carry on with his act.

"Mr. Meek Mill, stop telling lies," yelled the MP, stressing, "I worked as a Presidential Staffer at Ghana's Presidency; it's NOT possible to do what you did on the blind side of the Presidency: it's the highest security zone in Ghana. How much did you pay Mr. Meet Mill?"
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara has said he hopes Cote d'Ivoire and Mali can move on from the diplomatic crisis sparked by the arrest last year in Bamako of a contingent of Ivorian soldiers, accused by Mali of being mercenaries.

Forty-six Ivorian soldiers arrived in Abidjan last weekend, having been pardoned by the neighbouring country's junta.

The troops, whose detention triggered a bitter diplomatic row between the countries, were arrested on 10 July 2022, on arrival in the Malian capital Bamako.

Mali accused them of being mercenaries, while the authorities in Cote d'Ivoire and the United Nations insist they were flown in to provide backup security for the German contingent of the UN peacekeeping mission.

On 30 December, a Bamako court sentenced the soldiers to 20 years in prison, while three women among the original 49 arrested received death sentences in absentia.

The military personnel were convicted of an "attack and conspiracy against the government" and of seeking to undermine state security.

They were also found guilty of possessing, carrying and transporting weapons and munitions of war [] with the aim of disturbing public order by intimidation or terror.

Last Friday, Mali's junta leader Assimi Goita pardoned all 49.

Regional tensions in wake of army coup

Relations between Mali and its West African neighbours were strained before the arrests, since elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was toppled in August 2020 by officers angered at failures to end a jihadist insurgency.

Ivorian President Ouattara has frequently criticised Mali's junta.

After the troops were detained, the UN acknowledged some procedural "dysfunctions" admitting that certain formalities had not been followed.

The Ivorian presidency also admitted "shortcomings and misunderstandings".

The row escalated in September, with Mali calling on Cote d'Ivoire to acknowledge its responsibility and express regret for deploying the soldiers.

Bamako also called on Cote d'Ivoire to hand over several individuals wanted in Mali.

The Ivorian government rejected both demands .

"This hostage-taking will not be without consequences," Ouattara warned at the time.

The tensions led Mali's interim prime minister, Abdoulaye Maiga, to denounce a "synchronisation of actions" against Mali at the UN General Assembly in September.

He attacked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for having declared that the Ivorian soldiers were not mercenaries.

He also criticised ECOWAS chief Umaro Sissoco Embalo, as well as the heads of state of Cote d'Ivoire and Niger.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has shared his thoughts on the apology issued by American rapper Meek Mill after Ghanaians lashed out at his music video shot at the Jubilee House.

In the heat of the matter, Meek Mill on Monday pulled down the post containing his music video shot at the Jubilee House on social media.

He has also apologised to Ghanaians and assured he never meant to disrespect the country or anyone.

To the people of Ghana, no video I drop is ever meant to disrespect the people of Ghana . The fastest way to make connection is thru music and I wanted to do that by displaying art  im in my 30s from America and didnt know much about the lifestyle here.

My apologies to the people if any disrespect! We still gonna push to make the connection between black people in America and Africa  what Im trying to do is more than a video and you should see coming soon! My apologies to the office also, Meek Mill stressed.

Reacting to the apology, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says he believes Meek Mill is being sincere and should be forgiven.

It does appear Meek Mills multiple apologies to Ghanaians are quite sincere & should be accepted by all, the North Tongu MP said in a post on Facebook on Tuesday.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa added, My only serious reservation, however, is his claim that he engaged in all that deplorable desecration & major security breach on the blind side of officials.

Is the President safe? Is Ghana safe?

This has, without a scintilla of doubt, further justified earlier demands for urgent investigations & severe sanctions.
France and Germany joined other European nations on Monday in summoning their Iran envoys in protest against Tehran's deadly crackdown on demonstrations and the latest executions of anti-government protesters.

The Islamic republic has seen a wave of violent civil unrest since the September 16 death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, following her arrest for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code for women.

Authorities have carried out four executions in connection with the demonstrations, sparking global outrage.

The Iranian judiciary on Monday said it had sentenced to death three more people accused of killing members of the security forces during protests.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters the Iranian ambassador had been called to her ministry "to make unmistakably clear that the brutal repression, the oppression and the terrorising of its own population as well as the most recent two executions will not remain without consequence".

The German minister said it was "key" that the European Union remain united and not "close our eyes" to human rights violations in other nations.

"We must not be resigned but should make clear again and again that we stand by the people who want nothing but to live in freedom and security," she said.

Firm condemnation

France's foreign ministry said it was summoning the Iranian charge d'affaires "to convey our firmest condemnation of these executions and the current repression in Iran".

Dozens of Iranians, most of them religious seminary students, gathered Sunday outside the French embassy in Tehran, protesting against cartoons of the Islamic republic's supreme leader published by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

The magazine last week published caricatures of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in support of the protests in Iran.

"We followed with utmost attention the protest organised yesterday in front of the French embassy in Tehran, which was in no way spontaneous," the French foreign ministry said.

More rallies against the Iranian regime have been held in England and France in recent days, while protest continued inside Iran.

'Appalling'

On Saturday, Iran executed Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, convicted of killing a paramilitary force member in November, in Karaj west of Tehran.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Saturday's executions "appalling" and urged Iran to stop carrying out the death penalty "and to release those arrested on false grounds".

Two other men, Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard, were put to death in December after being convicted of separate attacks on security forces.

Iran has blamed the unrest on "hostile" foreign forces, and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Monday that authorities had been dealing "seriously and justly" with those implicated in the "riots".

Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) said Monday at least 109 protesters now in detention have been sentenced to death or face charges that can carry capital punishment.

In an updated death toll, IHR said Monday that 481 protesters have been killed, including 64 minors, since the unrest began.

Other European countries including Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands have also summoned Iranian diplomats in protest at the latest executions.

(With newswires)
A regional force fighting jihadists in Mozambique has opened an investigation over a video purportedly showing some of its troops mistreating corpses, the South African military said on Tuesday.

The clip circulating on social media depicts some soldiers hurling a corpse over a pile of burning rubble, where at least another body is already strewn.

A soldier pours a liquid over the body as others, including one sporting a South African uniform, watch and film the scene on their mobile phones.

Details of the incident were not immediately clear. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said it was believed to have taken place in November in Mozambique.

South African troops were deployed in the country's restive north under the auspices of the SADC regional bloc in 2021 to shore up the Mozambican military in the fight against Islamist militants.

The SANDF issued a statement saying the SADC force commander had ordered an investigation into a "despicable act" that had entailed "throwing deceased bodies."

"The SANDF does not condone in anyway the acts committed in the video and those who are found guilty of such acts will be brought to book," it said.

South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party described the incident as an "embarrassment" for the country.

It called on the government to launch its own investigation to clarify among other things whether the bodies belonged to civilians or combatants.

"There are international standards and regulations for dealing with the bodies of the dead in a dignified and human way even in a conflict zone," shadow defence minister Kobus Marais said in a statement.

"What is shown on the video is unacceptable and must be rejected in the strongest possible way."

More than 4,500 people have been killed and almost a million have been forced to flee their homes since Islamic State-linked militants launched an insurgency in Mozambique's gas-rich Cabo Delgado province in 2017.

The government has regained control over much of the region since the deployment of thousands of troops from SADC countries and Rwanda.

But attacks and incursions from the jihadists continue.
Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe, a leading member of the ruling NPP

10.01.2023 LISTEN

A leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, sees Mr. Ken Ofori-Attas appointment to the Trade and Industry ministry as a wrong move by government.

Mr. Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen tendered his resignation letter as Minister of Trade and Industry on January 5, 2023.

The President appointed Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister as the caretaker minister of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

When asked in an interview on the Accra-based Joy News channel who he would have chosen for the post, the statesman said any person could have been assigned and not the embattled Finance Minister.

Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe argued that an already failed minister can no way manage a double ministerial position effectively.

If I were the President, I wouldn't appoint a minister who has failed abysmally to take over Ministry of Trade and Industry after Alan Kyeremanteng resignedThat is embarrassing, he stated.
After months of talks, Belgium has agreed a deal with French power firm Engie on extending the life of two nuclear reactors for a decade.

Brussels in March announced it was delaying its long-planned exit from nuclear energy for 10 years as Russia's war on Ukraine sent power prices soaring. Belgium had planned to be nuclear-free by 2025.

The accord with Engie comes after months of fierce negotiation with the Belgian authorities over key questions such as how to set up the joint venture running the reactors and capping costs for the disposal of nuclear waste.

Engie said the "agreement in principle constitutes an important step, and paves the way for the conclusion of full agreements in the upcoming months.

"It also provides for the immediate start of environmental and technical studies prior to obtaining the authorisations related to this extension," it said.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told a press conference that "work can start tomorrow for the extension of the two most recent reactors".

Gradual phasing out

Wedged between nuclear-powered France and gas-and-coal-dependent Germany, Belgium has relied on an ageing stable of seven nuclear reactors operated by Engie for about half of its electricity needs.

The promise of a gradual phase-out of nuclear power has been enshrined in Belgian law since 2003 and the decision to delay the moratorium was fiercely resisted by the Greens party.

The plan outlined last year saw Belgium's fragile coalition government agree to extend the operating lives of the Doel 4 reactor near the port city of Antwerp and Tihange 3 near Liege until 2035.

The move came after years of squabbling over the wisdom of the country's nuclear exit.

Belgium's Greens had made an exit from nuclear power in 2025 a condition when they joined a seven-party coalition that was painfully cobbled together in 2020, more than a year after inconclusive elections.

But after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February and the surge in energy prices, the party agreed to consider an alternative scenario.

Nonetheless, the country has stuck to a plan to shut down two older reactors.

(With newswires)
Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa (L) and William Ruto (R) at a joint press briefing in Nairobi on 9 November, 2022. SIMON MAINA/AFP via - Source:

10.01.2023 LISTEN

Trade volumes between Kenya and South Africa have always been minimal compared to each country's engagement with its other major trading partners. But in recent years, leaders of the two countries have been taking steps to stimulate trade. South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa was on the same mission late last year when he addressed the Kenya-SA Business Forum in Nairobi. We asked trade and foreign policy analyst Paul Odhiambo and economist XN Iraki about the trade obstacles between the two countries and how these can be overcome.

What are the major imports and exports between South Africa and Kenya?

Paul Odhiambo: Kenya's exports to South Africa (in 2020) included gold, soda ash and cut flowers. In 25 years, the exports of Kenya to South Africa increased at an annualised rate of 0.49%, from US$30.7 million in 1995 to US$34.6 million in 2020.

Kenya also unveiled its plans to start exporting meat to South Africa from December 2022.

South Africa exported US$513 million to Kenya in 2020. The main products exported from South Africa to Kenya were coal briquettes, delivery trucks and semi-finished iron. Over the last 25 years, South Africa's exports to Kenya increased at an annualised rate of 2.94%, from US$249 million in 1995 to US$513 million in 2020. The two countries have rarely traded in services with each other.

What are the obstacles to trade between Kenya and South Africa?

XN Iraki: Johannesburg and Nairobi are geographically close to each other, about a four-hour flight. But traders face administrative barriers selling across different trading blocs. That is because South Africa is a member of the Southern African Customs Union while Kenya is in the East African Community . These blocs apply external tariffs and other administrative measures that restrict entry of non-members into their markets.

History has also played a role in weakening trade between the two states. Kenya did not support South Africa's liberation from apartheid in the same way that, say, Tanzania did (by training and harbouring freedom fighters). The lukewarm relationship that has characterised past diplomatic engagements implies South Africa may not have forgiven Kenya for that history.

Another challenge revolves around the items of trade. South Africa mainly exports minerals , which Kenya may not need. Similarly, Kenya exports agricultural commodities like tea and coffee that South Africa has been able to order easily from its neighbours .

In addition, Kenya has traditionally looked to the west for trade, and more recently to China . South African traders will have to compete with the now established trade channels of rivals from these traditional partner states.

And finally, simple things like visa requirements also hurt trade flow. For a long time, Kenyans have had to pay visa fees and provide proof of sufficient funds and return flight tickets to be allowed to travel to South Africa.

What are the unexploited opportunities?

Paul Odhiambo: Kenya and South Africa have huge untapped potential for trade. Kenya ran a trade deficit of KSh40.1 billion in 2021  that's the difference in value between what Kenya bought from South Africa (KSh44.07 billion) and the KSh3.96 billion worth of goods that it sold there.

Kenya could export a lot more to South Africa, if it explored the existing market opportunities. It has lots of agricultural products like avocados, tea, coffee and pineapples which could be exported to South Africa once market entry barriers are reviewed to boost fair competition with products from neighbouring states. Those barriers include stringent quality standards . As an example, Kenya exported to South Africa tea worth US$1.07 million in 2021. It could export coffee, avocados and other tropical fruits and spices which it produces in plenty as these have a market in South Africa.

South Africa's services sector is also opening up for trade. For example, South Africa will need teachers of Kiswahili because it recently unveiled plans to introduce the language as a taught subject in its classrooms.

How should the two states improve their trade relations?

XN Iraki: The recent visit by President Ramaphosa signals that South Africa is keen to build on the memorandum of understanding on trade and investment that the two states signed in 2016.

They should also strive to operate within the same economic bloc. The move by the East African Community, Southern African Customs Union and the Common Market for Southern and Eastern Africa to harmonise their tariffs under the African Continental Free Trade Area is a major step towards eliminating some of the barriers to trade between the two states. The continental market deal is also expected to harmonise quality standards for traders across Africa.

At a bilateral level, visa requirements should be removed or processing of the documents made more efficient. The recent decision by President Ramaphosa to reciprocate an approach that allows South Africans to visit Kenya visa-free for up to 90 days in a calendar year was a step in the right direction.

The two countries should also have their citizens learn about one another in schools. The decision to introduce Kiswahili in 90 South African schools as an optional subject was a welcome move. Having recently been approved as one of the official languages of the African Union, Kiswahili may have a wider appeal among the population of member states such as South Africa .

Likewise, more cultural and educational exchange would help deepen the trade ties between the two states.

In all, Kenya should focus on exploiting the existing untapped potential so as to drive the exports.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

By XN Iraki, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, University of Nairobi And

Paul Odhiambo, Foreign Policy Analyst, The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)
A regional force fighting jihadists in Mozambique said on Tuesday it had opened an investigation over a video apparently showing some of its troops burning corpses.

The clip circulating on social media depicts some soldiers hurling a corpse over a pile of burning rubble, where at least another body is already strewn.

A soldier pours a liquid over the body as others, including one wearing a South African uniform, watch and film the scene on their mobile phones.

Details of the incident were not immediately clear.

In a statement, the southern African force in Mozambique said it "take(s) note of the viral video clip... depicting members wearing apparent SADC member states military uniform burning bodies of the deceased".

The force's commander has convened a board of inquiry to "thoroughly investigate" the matter but is "unable to confirm that the incident occurred within his area of responsibility," the statement said.

Regional troops were deployed in Mozambique's north in 2021 under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The mission, in which South African troops are the mainstay, aims to shore up the Mozambican military in the fight against Islamist militants.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said the "despicable act" in the video entailed "throwing deceased bodies."

It is believed to have taken place in November in Mozambique, the SANDF said.

"The SANDF does not condone in anyway the acts committed in the video and those who are found guilty of such acts will be brought to book," it said.

South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party described the incident as an "embarrassment" for the country.

It called on the government to launch its own investigation to clarify among other things whether the bodies were of civilians or combatants.

"There are international standards and regulations for dealing with the bodies of the dead in a dignified and human way even in a conflict zone," shadow defence minister Kobus Marais said in a statement.

"What is shown on the video is unacceptable and must be rejected in the strongest possible way."

More than 4,500 people have been killed and almost a million have been forced to flee their homes since Islamic State-linked militants launched an insurgency in Mozambique's gas-rich Cabo Delgado province in 2017.

The government has regained control over much of the region since the deployment of thousands of troops from SADC countries and Rwanda.

But attacks and incursions from the jihadists continue.
Former Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Kweku Asomah Cheremeh has been appointed Ghanas High Commissioner to India.

This has been announced by the President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

The President confirmed this during a meeting with the Sunyani Traditional Council as part of his two-day tour of the Bono Region.

The President admonished Kweku Asomah Cheremeh to work hard to help the country get back on track to progress and prosperity.

You must familiarise yourselves with these objectives, which are at the core of my second term mandate. You represent the surest way out of the pandemic which will press the country back onto the path of progress and prosperity, buoyed on by the rapid transformation of the structure of the economy, the President noted.

President Akufo-Addo while congratulating the new High Commissioner to India also charged him to give his best to make him and the country proud throughout his service.

Meanwhile, Akwasi Ameyaw Cheremeh, the younger brother of Kweku Asomah Cheremeh has also been appointed Board Chairman for the Bui Power Authority.

He will execute that role in addition to his service to the people of Sunyani West Constituency as their Member of Parliament.
It has become a certainty when people direct you to the Bird app to cool off your stress.

A certain conversation on Twitter involving two Kenyan netizens had thousand cracking their jaws.

A Kenyan lady, identified by her handle as "Auntie wa Harrier," decided to take her shot at a guy who happened to be a doctor she got attracted to.

The incident, as the lady narrates, happened at a point where she spotted the young man who was riding a motorcycle while in a car. According to her, she saw the guy as sexy in his jeans trousers.

The lady then took to the microblogging app to express how she felt about the man, hoping he would feel the same way and reach out to her on the app.

"Saw this biker..and I just thought he looks so damn sexy in those jeans...how he walks..his poses..whoever you are..saw you at ola energy parklands..you looked at me didn't say a word. Just know I think you look so fine, nicebody..," she tweeted.

The guy, identified through his Twitter bio as a Cadillac doctor with the handle Future Husband, claimed to be the biker. He rejected the ladys proposal, saying: "Hello. I saw you and chose to ignore you. I'm happily married."
Rwanda can no longer offer refuge to people fleeing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, President Paul Kagame has said, stoking further tension between the central African neighbours.

Persistent fighting in the east of the mineral-rich DRC pits federal troops against rebels from the M23 group, which has captured swathes of territory.

The DRC, along with the United States and several European countries, has repeatedly accused Rwanda of backing the Tutsi-led rebels from M23, although Kigali denies the charge.

Tensions have soared and thousands have fled the battles into neighbouring states, including Rwanda.

In November, the UN said around 72,000 Congolese had crossed into Rwanda.

There is one type of refugee that I think we are not going to accept," Kagame said in reference to the Congolese refugees.

"We cannot keep hosting refugees for which later on we are held accountable in some way, or even insulted and abused about, he told the Senate in the capital Kigali on Monday.

"This is not Rwanda's problem. And we are going to ensure that everybody realises that it is not Rwanda's problem," he vowed.

"I am refusing that Rwanda should carry this burden," he said.

No end to bloodshed

Kigali has repeatedly blamed Kinshasa for the crisis and accused the international community of turning a blind eye to DR Congo's alleged support for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a mainly Rwandan Hutu rebel movement implicated in the genocide of Tutsis in 1994.

Kigali sees the FDLR as a threat which justifies incursions into the DRC.

Rwanda has also accused the DRC  where presidential elections are due next December  of using the conflict for political purposes as well as of "fabricating" a November massacre of at least 131 civilians.

A UN probe blamed the deaths on M23 rebels.

A tentative ceasefire and the deployment of Kenyan forces through the East African Community (EAC) have so far failed to halt the bloodshed.

The UK government has signed a deal with Rwanda to fly illegal arrivals there before their asylum claims are even considered.

If eventually granted refuge, they will remain in Rwanda rather than return to the UK.

(with AFP)
1 January 2023 marked the centenary of the birth of Ousmane Sembene , the Senegalese novelist and filmmaker hailed as the father of African cinema . Over the course of five decades Sembene published 10 books and directed 12 films across three distinct periods. He has been celebrated for his beautifully crafted political works, which range in style from the psychological realism of Black Girl in 1966 to the biting satire of Xala (The Curse) in 1974.

Since his death in 2007, Sembene's status as a pioneer has been further cemented. But the sheer variety and richness of his work, his ability to reinvent himself as an artist, has often been overlooked. On the occasion of his centenary, it's worth looking at what made him such a remarkable creative presence.

The novelist: 1956-1960

Unlike many of his literary peers, Sembene did not come to writing via the colonial education system. In fact, he left school early and was largely self-educated. He was born into the minority Lebou community in the southern Senegalese region of Casamance. His father was a fisherman. He later moved to the colonial capital of Dakar.

After serving in the French Army in the Second World War, he moved to France in 1946. Employed as a dockworker in Marseilles in the 1950s, he developed a love of literature through the library of the communist-affiliated trade union, the Confederation Generale du Travail . His first novel, The Black Docker (1956), self-consciously explores the difficulties faced by a working-class black writer seeking to become a published author.

Sembene's most celebrated novel, God's Bits of Wood (1960), is a fictionalised account of the 1947-1948 railway strike in colonial French West Africa. A sweeping epic, set across three different locations with a host of characters, the book illustrates Sembene's Marxist , pan-Africanist vision of anti-colonialism. He believed the overthrow of colonial powers could best be achieved through alliances between workers across national and ethnic divides. Sembene later in life. Seyllou/AFP via Getty Images

God's Bits of Wood is often described as the classic Sembene text, politically committed and realist in style. However, it proved to be the high water mark of his exploration of literary realism .

In 1960, he returned to Africa after more than a decade in Europe to tour a continent emerging from colonial domination. He famously stated that, sitting on the banks of the Congo River watching the teeming masses, most of whom could not read or write, he experienced an epiphany. If his novels were inaccessible to many Africans, cinema was the answer. He set about becoming a filmmaker.

Novelist and filmmaker: 1962-1976

After studying cinema in Moscow, Sembene directed his first short film, Borom Sarret (The Wagoner), in 1962. A day in the life of a lowly cart driver, the film provides a stinging critique of the failures of independence in Senegal, cast as the transfer of power from one ruling elite to another. Like most Francophone African countries, Senegal had gained its independence in 1960. It would be governed for the next two decades by the Socialist Party, led by the poet Leopold Sedar Senghor , who sought to maintain close political and cultural ties to France.

Between 1962 and 1976, Sembene published four books and directed eight films, works of an incredible aesthetic diversity. Indeed, this may rank as the single richest period of artistic productivity of any African writer or director in the postcolonial era. Sembene chalked up a series of pioneering firsts by a black African director: first film made in Africa (Borom Sarret), first feature film (Black Girl), first film in an African language ( Mandabi ).

He began to gain international renown but there was little opportunity to see his work at home. Mandabi (The Money Order), for example, won a prize at the Venice Film Festival but was not released in Senegal, where it was criticised by the government for presenting a negative vision of the country.

Between 1971 and 1976, Sembene made his most ambitious trilogy of films: Emitai , Xala and Ceddo . They were driven by strong storylines. But most important to Sembene was a film's ability to condense social, political and historical realities into a series of searing images. These often blurred the boundaries of space and time.

In Ceddo he collapsed several centuries of history into the life of one Senegalese village, leading to a struggle for power between animism , Christianity and Islam . The latter asserts its dominance through the barrel of a gun, a controversial stance in a country that was over 90% Muslim by then. Ceddo was banned by Sembene's arch-enemy, Senghor. He would not make another film for over a decade.

Wilderness years to a late flowering: 1976-2004

After a decade spent largely in the creative wilderness, Sembene experienced a late flowering from the end of the 1980s onwards. This saw him reach a new generation of audiences. His later works were less ambitious aesthetically but no less powerful.

His masterpiece Moolaade (2004) was a scathing denunciation of female genital mutilation in rural West Africa. In it, the forces of change oppose conservative, patriarchal authority. The images of the women's radios being burned by the men in front of the village mosque are a stark visual representation of this conflict. As in his earlier films, what matters is fundamental power relationships, not a closely observed realism that depicts the world as it is but cannot imagine how to change it.

Sembene today

Since Sembene's death, we have learned more about his life and career through the painstaking work of his biographer Samba Gadjigo , who also co-created the documentary Sembene! (2015). Sometimes what the Senegalese writer and academic learned has been negative  not least Sembene's theft of the idea for the film Camp de Thiaroye (1988) from two young Senegalese creators. But that's a necessary part of overcoming the overly reverential accounts that sometimes pass for discussion of Sembene's career.

The recent opening of the Sembene archive at the University of Indiana offers scholars further opportunity to deepen their understanding of his life and work.

Those unfamiliar with Sembene should grab a copy of God's Bits of Wood or find recent DVD editions of classic films such as Black Girl or Xala (whose opening sequence is, in my view, among the best five minutes in all of African cinema). My personal favourite is his tragi-comedy Mandabi, recently re-released in a newly restored print. Under the guise of a simple story about a poor man trying to cash a money order, Sembene weaves a brilliant critique of capitalism and the power of money to undermine social and family bonds.

In Paris, the Cinematheque Francaise is marking the centenary of Sembene's birth with a retrospective of his films.

Sembene's films still matter today not only because of the ongoing relevance of many of the social and political issues they dealt with. But also because he was able to create a film language that spoke powerfully to audiences around the world.

He forged a career that lasted five decades when many of his contemporaries struggled to make more than a handful of films. That creativity and longevity helped to shape African cinema in complex ways: contemporary directors may follow in Sembene's footsteps or choose to reject his politically committed style  but his legacy cannot be ignored.

David Murphy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

By David Murphy, Professor of French and Postcolonial Studies, University of Strathclyde
10.01.2023 LISTEN

The Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) has injected an initial amount of two million Ghana cedis into the ten-million-cedi Centre of Excellence in E-Vehicle and Industrial Welding Technologies project being undertaken at the Sunyani Technical University (STU).

The project seeks to build capacity for the university in its niche area of Electrical and Electronics Engineering for the production of E-vehicles and E-batteries from local materials and technologies.

When completed, the centre will offer an opportunity for training and research in electric vehicle manufacturing to enable Ghana to join the global transition from the use of fossil fuel vehicles to clean energy usage in vehicular operations in the country.

The Vice-Chancellor of STU, Ing. Prof. Kwadwo Adinkrah-Appiah, in an exclusive interview with our reporter in Sunyani said the construction of the first phase of the project is expected to start this month as the contractor will soon commence work.

He explained that the first phase of the project primarily entails the construction of the physical structures that would house the equipment and the machinery while the second phase would encompass the furnishing of the building with the equipment and machinery meant for the project.

Ing. Prof. Adinkrah-Appiah paid glowing tribute to the GNGC for its swift and timely intervention, which has ensured that the project becomes a reality in due course.

He was optimistic that Ghana Gas and other corporate organisations would support the University to mobilise the remaining GHS8million which is estimated to be the cost of the state-of-the-art equipment to be installed at the center upon the completion of phase 1 of the project.

2022 Monumental

Touching on how STU fared last year, the Vice-Chancellor described the year 2022 as quite monumental in the history of STU.

We successfully celebrated our 55th Anniversary with a lunch of an Endowment Fund to raise funds for the implementation of the 40-year master plan for the university. We equally chalked several successes in many areas of the University's development including the re-construction of one of the main entrances of the institution, painting of all physical structures on campus, renovation of student hostel facilities, the introduction of more 4-year degree programmes and Masters degree programmes, and forming of more international collaborations etc, he stated.

The Vice-Chancellor also mentioned the grand durbar and fundraising dinner held in November as part of the Universitys 55th anniversary, which brought together students, staff, alumni, industry captains and other stakeholders of the University as well as the signing of articulation agreement with University of Maryland Eastern Shore, UMES, to give opportunity for BTech graduates from STU to pursue PharmD degree in the US as some of the high-points of STU in the past year.

We also held capacity building workshops for all our Senior Members in contemporary research under the sponsorship of the Scholarship Secretariat of Ghana. These high points have contributed to the institution's development as they have helped build capacity especially for the faculty, Ing. Prof. Adinkrah-Appiah added.

We'll continue to build upon these foundations in order to achieve the University's vision of becoming the university of choice in Ghana and Africa for raising the next generation of industry captains for national, regional and global transformation, he emphasised.
Hundreds of Haitian immigrants are currently being detained by other countries because they entered illegally, several sources have confirmed. Haiti's degraded situation is causing Haitians all over the world to suffer.

There is a quote written by the Haitian writer and politician Werley Nortreus that describes the real situation in Haiti that causes Haitians to leave their country. The Haitian writer and politician Nortreus wrote a quote about the situation in Haiti that many people admire. Nortreus once said,  Haiti has become a hell for the poor .

For some time, Haiti's current situation and division among Haitian officials have caused many Haitian citizens to escape by boat just to be detained. Many Haitian leaders blame the current Haitian Government for negligence and not giving the people what they want.

It seems difficult to get Haiti out of its miserable situation because the Haitian leaders refuse to sit together to find a good plan for Haiti. It is easy to get the country out of all of that, but the Haitian leaders must accept and take into consideration every plan that is presented to them. I come up with a plan that I think is necessary for the country. I am asking the Haitian elites and leaders to accept and add the new amendments that integrate young leaders into the country's politics in the constitution before the new elections. This has long been neglected by the Haitian Government, causing Haitians to leave the country. That's why I come up with a plan that I think will help solve the country's problems, said Haitian politician Werley Nortreus and founder of Jeunes Dirigeants Haitiens Progressistes.

Several other Haitian leaders say it is the neglect of the Haitian Government that causes all these Haitians to leave their country to go to other countries illegally. The Haitian Government refused to give them what they asked for.

The majority of Haitians, especially the youth, demand new amendments to the country's constitution that gives younger leaders a chance in their country's politics, but the Haitian Government has not yet said anything about it. According to a note that came out, the current Haitian Prime Minister chosen by the former Haitian President wants a transition that will probably not be good for the country at all.

Currently, several countries such as the United States, Turks and Caicos, Chile, Turkey, Dominican Republic, and other countries in the Caribbean have detained many Haitians trying to enter their countries illegally, according to several sources. More than 150 Haitian migrants landed in southern Florida Tuesday on board a sailing boat, the latest in a wave of migration to the southern US state, local media said. The US Border Patrol confirmed on social media that "a sailing vessel involving numerous migrants made landfall" in Key Largo, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Miami.

Other authorities in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) say that law enforcement and immigration resources caught another additional nearly 300 Haitian migrants intercepted in the Caribbean territorys waters. Three overloaded boats carrying 275 men, women, and children were detained near the small self-governing British territory between 23 December and 2 January.

With elongated maritime borders our resources are stretched because a small island state in the end will only have so much capacity or capability it can deploy, said the TCI governor. As of Tuesday, 3 January, 184 people had been repatriated to Haiti, the immigration director said. The US Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Investigations, which has agents temporarily based in the TCI, are supporting an investigation into the boat crossing.

The Haitian Government does not comment on these issues. For now, these Haitian immigrants are being kept in detention. There is no word yet on whether they will be deported or still detained.

These kinds of problems have always existed since before the former Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated. For now, it seems that these same problems are still continuing under the Government of the current Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
10.01.2023 LISTEN

The public has been urged to seek security advice before fixing burglar proofs in their buildings.

Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) noted that the move will help to save lives and properties during fire outbreaks without hindrances.

The Ashanti Regional branch of the GNFS PRO, DOIII Peter Addai gave the advice during an interview on Otec Fms morning show Nyansapo, hosted by Captain Koda.

DOIII Peter Addai, on Tuesday, January 10, 2023, observed that some human lives and properties have been lost during fire outbreaks as a result of people trapped by burglar-proof.

Burglar-proof systems that can be easily removed during fire outbreaks and emergencies should be preferably used to prevent deaths and loss of properties.

"Inasmuch as you are securing your properties, your lives must also be safeguarded by putting up security measures that will enable you to exit emergency scenes without any external help.

The citizenry should not compromise on their safety to that of security of their properties, he warned.

DOIII Peter Addai also advised property owners to fix smoke detector devices as means of signing warnings of eventual fire outbreaks.

The early detection and warning by the device safes a lot of lives and properties, he noted.
The Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr George Boakye has assured the chiefs and people of Bomaa in the Tano North municipality that the curfew in the area will be lifted tomorrow January 11 after an assessment by the security apparatus.

According to him, if everything is okay after the assessment by the security apparatus the curfew will be lifted for lives to return to normal in the area.

He said for now the curfew is better than the sporadic shootings in the area over the installation of a rival chief by one Aduana group.

He said the 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew was to save the situation from further escalating in the area.

He noted that what happened on Sunday, January 8, 2023, at about 11 p.m. when news broke that a rival chief had been enstooled was an eyesore hence the decision to impose the curfew to save lives and properties.

The regional minister gave this assurance while speaking in an interview on the Ghana Yensom morning show hosted by Odehyeeeba Kofi Essuman on Accra 100.5 FM on Tuesday, January 10, 2023.

According to him, what triggered the chieftaincy conflict was a decision to organise the burial of the late chief Nana Kwafo over the weekend only for another rival group to go and enstool a new chief.

Earlier, the Ahafo Regional Minister, George Boakye in collaboration with the members of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) and in consultation with the Interior Minister and the National Security Minister imposed a curfew on Bomaa in the Tano North Municipality.

The curfew according to a statement signed by Mr Frimpong Andrews, the Personal Assistant to the Minister, was to be in force from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day pending periodic assessments and reviews.

The decision of the Ahafo REGSEC according to the statement was necessary following violent clashes that claimed one life and caused injuries to five others on Sunday night.

In recent times, there has been chieftaincy disputes between two factions in the town.

Mr George Boakye and top security officials in the Region as well as Ernest Kwarteng (MCE, Tano North), Yaw Osei Boahene (MCE, Asunafo North) have since visited the community to assess the situation at firsthand.

The Minister and his entourage visited the family of the deceased to commiserate with them on their loss and charged the security officials to continue full investigations until justice is served.

They also touched base with the traditional leaders of the two stakeholder groups in the town to appeal for calm.

Source: Classfmonline.com
A 22-year-old Ivorian, Frank Dakurisere, has appeared before the Enchi District Magistrate court for unlawful entry, stealing and causing harm.

The accused, who is a labourer, pleaded not guilty to all the charges and the court presided over by Mr Lawrence Buanor Buer granted him a GH10,000.00 bail with three sureties.

He is expected to reappear before court on Wednesday, January 11, 2023.

The facts of the case as presented by Detective Police Inspector Joseph Kwadwo Agyare said the complainants were a farmer and student, and both lived at Kokoase in the Aowin Municipality with the accused person.

He said on November 25, 2022, at about 12:00 am, while the complainant was fetching water to fill her container for domestic use, she chanced on Frank coming out of her neighbours room but for fear of attack, she did not confront him, and he left.

Detective Inspector Agyare said after a while, the accused returned to the complainant's house with a wooden pestle and hit her hip after which he bolted.

The Prosecution told the court that the complainant shouted for assistance and her husband who was then in the room came to her aid and rushed her to the Enchi Government hospital for treatment.

He said the complainants husband later apprehended Frank from his hideout and handed him over to the police in Enchi.

Detective Inspector Agyare said during interrogation at the police station, they found a wrist watch on Frank, which the complainant identified as her neighbors.

He said the exhibit was retrieved from Frank and after investigations he was charged with the offences.

GNA
10.01.2023 LISTEN

Member of Parliament for the North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has expressed doubts about the government's ability to secure debt forgiveness from its creditors.

He believes the government's effort to continue with some projects considered non-essential such as the National Cathedral will thwart any debt forgiveness requests.

The government suspended payments on most of its external debts in December last year as it strives to plug its balance of payments deficit.

According to the Finance Ministry, it will not service debts including its Eurobonds, commercial loans, and most bilateral loans, calling the decision an interim emergency measure.

Reacting to government's advances toward debt forgiveness requests, the Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament said the move will not succeed unless the president takes some stringent measures.

We were declared a Highly-indebted poor country. In less than 20 years after we got debt forgiveness, see where we are now. Are we not ashamed of ourselves?

They are not even ashamed to go around seeking debt forgiveness on chartered flights. We are appealing for debt forgiveness but are building a cathedral. If the President does not change his ways, we will not get the debt forgiveness we seek.
A group calling itself Care for Free and Fair Elections has commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for reminding the Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure inclusiveness going into the 2024 general elections.

The group in a statement signed by its Executive Director, David Kumi Addo, and dated January 10, 2023, said: "We commend H.E. President Akufo-Addo for urging the Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure a credible electoral process and have respect for the will of the people."

The group, however, said the presidents inability to condemn EC's affinity for disenfranchising eligible voters makes for sad reading.

The statement noted that the attempt by the EC to lay in parliament Elections Regulation of Voters, Regulations 2021 seeks to eliminate all other sources of identification apart from the Ghana card.

This, the group said, will disenfranchise a substantial number of eligible voters.

It said a similar decision by the EC occurred in 2020.

The decision to compile a new voters register against the wish of citizens met stiff opposition.

This sparked agitations and demonstrations that nearly disrupted Ghanas stability. The presidents inability to call the attention of the EC to the fact that, the powers conferred on the Commission by Article 45 of the 1992 Constitution is not a Carte Blanche to act capriciously.

A law should not purport to curtail the fundamental right of citizens to vote in elections, it added.

It further said the inability of the EC to rescind unpopular decisions is viewed with suspicion and construed as a lack of respect.

Citing an example, the group stated that the decision to prevent the people of Santrocofi, Akpafu Likpe, and Lolobi (SALL) from voting in the 2020 parliamentary elections left them with no representation in parliament.

It said the military invasion and the prevention of the movement of some citizens from one community to another in the Brong region to register during the 2020 registration exercise was a result of the ECs decision not to create registration centers close to the people to enable them to register and subsequently cast their vote and turning IPAC into a forum for information dissemination is worrying.

It indicated that IPAC was created as a platform for dialogue and consensus building to ensure harmony between the EC and stakeholders in Ghanas political spectrum but today, IPAC has become an avenue for information distribution.

It said the presidents inability to rebuke the conduct of the EC that infringes on the Constitutional right of citizens is disturbing as it comes to question the genuineness of the presidents call on the EC to ensure the inclusiveness of all stakeholders in the electoral process to avoid questioning the integrity of Ghanas elections

Source: Classfmonline.com
Mr Emmanuel Evan Mensah, a witness in the trial involving Dr Ato Forson, a Former Deputy Minister of Finance and two others, says the financing agreement between Stanbic Bank and the Government of Ghana was cancelled.

I am unable to say why the financing agreement between Stanbic Bank and Government was not signed, he said.

Mr Mensah gave his evidence in chief after, which the defence cross examined him in Accra.

Dr Forson, a Former Deputy Minister of Finance, was granted a self-recognisance bail of GH3 million for allegedly willfully causing financial loss of 2,370,000 euros to the State.

He is also facing an additional charge of Intentionally misapplying public property contrary to section 1 (2) of the Public Property Protection Act, 1977 (SMCD 140).

Dr Sylvester Anemana, a Former Chief Director at the Ministry of Health in the case, was also granted a bail of GH1 million with three sureties one of whom shall be a public servant not below the rank of a director.

Mr Richard Dzakpa, a businessman, also in the trial, was granted a GH5 million bail with three sureties one of whom must be justified with documents of a landed property.

Asked that in his experience as a finance professional at the Ministry of Finance, could a Letter of Credit (LC) be lawfully established without approval from the Minister of Finance, he answered in the affirmative.

Dr Abdul Aziz Bamba, Counsel for Dr Forson asked the witness how the alleged authorisation was done by the then Former Deputy Minister of Finance and Mr Mensah said it was a written letter.

The witness confirmed the letter in open court and was given the opportunity to read in open court.

The Counsel said the letter indicated on the face value that it was written for the Minister of Finance, and the witness agreed.

Asked following the cancellation of the agreement, what other financing options were available to the government at that time, the witness said there were so many options.

The witness said one of the options was to look for replacement for the Stanbic agreement, while also consulting cabinet and approval from Parliament for other options.

Mr Mensah said another option was to postpone the whole agreement entirely, while looking at government coffers to finance the purchase of the ambulances.

The Counsel suggested to the witness that, the Minister of Finance could approve any other alternative financing options, but Mr Mensah disagreed.

He explained that because each option had processes and that the Minister could not solely approve them, and stressed he had to follow due processes, including going to Parliament for approval.

Mr Alex Owureidu Dankwa, lawyer for Dr Anemana, in a cross examination, suggested to the witness that the agreement was never signed, and the witness agreed.

The case was adjourned to Jan. 17, 2023, for continuation.

GNA
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on the Church to pray for Ghana, himself, and his administration to surmount the current economic challenges confronting the nation.

I plead strongly with the church to bear the nation and me continually up in prayers. As God's children, we may be tempted to allow struggles to define our worth. However, our ultimate victory is guaranteed. We may stumble along the way, but we will always be more than conquerors, he said.

The President made the call at a Special New year Eucharist Service held on his behalf by the Archbishops, Bishops, and Clergy of the Anglican Church of Ghana at the Jubilee House Accra on Tuesday.

Prayers were offered for the President and his family, the Vice President, the government, and for peace and tranquility to prevail in the country, and for Ghanaians to have the patience to support the Government as it sought solutions to take the country out of the current economic crisis.

The Special Mass was attended by the First lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the Chief of Staff, Madam Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, and some senior government officials.

President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that he was confident that Ghana's economy would bounce back stronger in 2023.

He reiterated his belief that with the spirit of fairness hard work, integrity and reconciliation, the best days of Ghana lie ahead of us.

Even though we are presently confronted with difficulties in economic performance, I do not doubt our collective resolve to work our way out of these challenges and put our nation back onto the path of progress and prosperity, he said.

Most Rev. Dr Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith, Primate and Metropolitan Archbishop, of the Anglican Communion, Internal Province of Ghana, in his homily, themed New Mercies, New Love and New Hope for Ghana, said God's love for Ghana remained sure and rang true.

Your excellency, we wish to assure the Government and the people of Ghana that God's faithfulness remains sure for our nations. Despite the challenges and the times that the world finds itself, God's promises still ring true, His mercies are new every morning.

God is still God. Let all the people of Ghana know that God is still God, and He directs all our affairs, and we should bless the Lord in all circumstances despite our challenges.

The Primate said the building of the National Cathedral was enough testimony of President Akufo-Addo's devotion to God and no matter the Naysays, it will happen

Your excellency, you and other world leaders, King David faced the same challenges that we are still experiencingthe murmuring of the people, the lamentations from the crowds, the abuse and lack of understanding of the issues that are clear to all, yet David stood resolute in his conviction amid opposition.

The God of Ghana is our refuge, let us keep faith with our President in all times. Ghana will not perish; Ghana will recover, and Ghana will reclaim every lost territory. I entreat all Ghanaians to pray for Ghana and for favour for the leadership of the nation.

Let the people of Ghana understand that with God all things are possible. If we trust Him, the economy will bounce back, he said.

He urged market women, traders, commercial drivers and businesspeople to complement the efforts of the Government by reducing the process of goods and services.

GNA
Thousands of people turned out in the Gambian capital on Tuesday for the official funeral of a pro-democracy activist who died in custody in 2016 following a protest against former dictator Yahya Jammeh.

Mourners lined the streets of Banjul as police passed by carrying the flag-draped coffin of Solo Sandeng, in a ceremony that revived memories of Jammeh's brutal rule.

The dictator held sway over the tiny West African state for 22 years until he was defeated in presidential elections in December 2016 by political newcomer Adama Barrow and fled to Equatorial Guinea.

Sandeng died in custody in April 2016 at the age of 57 after organising a protest calling for the return of democracy.

His death was a catalyst for uniting the country's fractured opposition and driving a wave of pro-democracy protests which ultimately led to Jammeh's fall.

Justice Minister Dawda Jallow paid tribute to Sandeng, describing him as "a man who paid the ultimate price in fighting for the cause he genuinely believed in.

"He has left an indelible mark in the political history of this country.

"His legacy will continue to live on in the history of our democratic transition as a nation."

The coffin was placed before a huge Greek-style arch in Banjul that Jammeh built in the 1990s and which has been re-dedicated to the memory of his victims. Sandeng was later entombed at a site in the suburbs of the capital.

His body was exhumed in March 2017. Six members of Jammeh's National Intelligence Agency (NIA) were convicted of his murder in July 2022, with the agency's former director being sentenced to death.

The Gambian authorities have charged Jammeh with murder, rape, torture and corruption.

However, he retains substantial clout back home.

Barrow's government, which won elections in 2016 and again in 2021, has yet to fully implement recommendations made by a truth and reconciliation commission in in 2021.
10.01.2023 LISTEN

As part of my final paper last year to acquire my MA, I wrote an intensive research paper entitled: ANALYZING THE EFFECT OF INDUSTRIAL SECTOR ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIBERIA (2000-2020). This paper was 40% economical and 60% more developmental due to the complexities of development issues trending in Liberia. The paper examined the effect of the industrial sector on the development of Liberia. The specific objectives of the study were to analyze the trend of GDP per capita and its determinants, and to determine the effect of the industrial sector on the economic development of Liberia.

Before the civil war in Liberia, manufacturing and construction accounted for around 20 percent of the GDP; that figure dropped to 10 percent by 2000. Manufacturing was dominated by iron-ore production and rubber processing, but domestic and industrial consumption goods were also produced. The size of the local market in Liberia is very small (the United States market is 15,000 times larger in terms of purchasing power), and this makes investment to produce goods for domestic consumption in Liberia unattractive. The largest industries in the nation are forestry, mining, energy, and communications. Rubber and timber have been the main export products from Liberia since the civil war ended.

There are 5 major sectors in industry sectors of development and the raw materials industry is the primary sector of any economy from this development perspective. Fortunately, rubber is key in this effect and this is where the Jeety Rubber LLC comes in. As many of us are aware, industrial development plays a pivotal role in economic uplift. It raises the productive capacity of the people and creates ever-increasing employment opportunities. The lack of industrial development and its socioeconomic impacts in Less Developed Countries has continued to be a problem. And Liberia is no exception to this problem.

For over 100 years of effective and revenue maximization in Liberia dating back as far as 1926, the Firestone Liberia LLC has raised billions of USD in revenues from the Liberian economy . Yet, failed to build a single sub-company to process and produce rubber materials like tires, hand gloves, bucket and many usable materials that can be made from rubber. Under the largest rubber company in Liberia, Liberia has become an export substitutional country for over 90years even though Firestone primary responsibilities are:

Investment in the Liberian Economy

Sustainable Local Employment

Providing Social Development, etc.

These and many more are enough reasons to frown at their operations in Liberia.

With their low contributions to the Liberian economy contextually as it should be, were now witnessing a new era in the industry with the coming of a branded and well-structured rubber company called Jeety Rubber LLC.

In the picture below with Liberias President George Weah is Indian businessman and Philanthropist, Mr. Upjit Singh Sachdeva commonly known as Jeety. This businessman is now constructing a US$25 million Rubber Processing Factory in Margibi County to produce tyres for the first time in Liberia since the coming into existence of the Firestone Rubber Company. This company that is being constructed by Jeety will have many facilities for smooth operations. It is being built on 132,000 sq ft of land in Margibi City. Initially, businessman Jeety intended to have established this company in Ivory Coast, Abidjan, but the President of Liberia, Dr. George Weah, who in his wisdom wanted more private sector jobs into the country, pleaded with Jeety to build the company in Liberia. The concession agreement was signed in December of last year with good appealing clauses that will favour the company as well. This is a massive development from an employment service spectrum that should be celebrated by all Liberians.

THE BENEFITS TO THE CITIZENS OF LIBERIA??

Liberia has a large but unskilled work force  the unemployment rate is estimated to be around 80%, with a large youth population 60% of its population is under the age of 2 and low adult literacy levels estimated to be at 55.5% from my development research.

Under the Sirleafs Administration, the Government recognizes that in the short term, mass employment opportunities will need to be created for unskilled to semi-skilled workers as a means of immediate poverty alleviation but also as a way of creating a stable political environment and inclusive growth. These opportunities will be offered in the labor intensive sectors such as mining, forestry, rubber and agriculture. The Government however recognizes that Liberia is not immune to the forces of globalization  and that it will eventually shape the demands on Liberias labor force, and also require Liberia to respond to the opportunities it will present, particularly as Liberia competes with other countries to insert itself into value chains which are increasingly international and competitive.

Employment Health Education Local Community development Social transformation Investment in the Liberian Economy Infrastructural development etc..

Isnt the above worth celebrating for the people of Margibi County and Liberia at large? I believe youll agree with me that it is indeed a massive development and we hold a big thank you to the Weahs administration for this endeavours. Like Jeety, we encourage all private investors and companies operating in Liberia to adapt to the Liberia Development First ideology. This is significant to our growth and development as a country. Thank you, Jeety. Youre a man on a mission to see Liberia being developed industrial wise and we congratulate your kind. Well discuss the above benefits to the citizens of Liberia relative to the Jeety Rubber LLC in our next piece. Liberia is developing. Liberians will benefit.

About the author:

Amara is a Public Health Advocate| Researcher| Development Practitioner | Youth Developer| PR Specialist | Policy Analyst| Political Pundit| Content Creator | Writer| YALI Fellow |A.C.E Fellow 2022| MA in Development Studies. He can be reached via email: [email protected]/[email protected] or +231778344724/886595786/+250781555612.
Senior Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Dr Stephen Takyi has appealed to government to augment the human and logistical capacity of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) for efficient delivery of their services.

"Government must ensure firefighters are well equipped with the needed logistics in order for them to do their job effectively.

"Fire fighting in contemporary societies demand more human and modern resources and so it will be difficult for the fire officers to work as expected without the constant supply of modern equipment," he stated.

The lecturer at the Planning Department of KNUST said this on the Kumasi based OTEC 102.9 FM's morning show "Nyansapo", on Tuesday January 10, 2023.

Dr Stephen Takyi underscored the important role of security agencies and urged the country to support them.

"The role of security services in this instance the GNFS in the socio-economic department of our country is enormous and cannot be overlooked and therefore ought to be appreciated.

"Government must be concerned about logistical constraints faced by the service in the discharge of its duties and ensure these security services are well motivated in their work," he emphasised.
10.01.2023 LISTEN

International Diplomatic Consultant Farouk Al Wahab has called for the resignation of National Security and Interior ministers for allowing American rapper Meek Mill access to the Jubilee House and looking on for the foreigner to breach several security protocols at the seat of government.

Mr Al Wahab is of the view that as the first gentleman of the land, the protection of the President must be the topmost priority for the two ministers.

So, if their prime duties are compromised, then they must bow their head in shame and honourably resign.

The president has no question to answer but all the heat and questions must be directed to Kan Dapaah and Ambrose Dery because the National Security Minister coordinates all the security agencies including BNI, Police, Military and Immigration, so if the security clearance was not issued by the National Security Minister , the American gangster wouldn't have been granted access to shoot skit at the Jubilee House.

The American Rapper visited Ghana during the Yuletide to perform at some concert and later proceeded to the seat of government to shoot a skit.

Video clips of the shoot recently popped up, triggering public uproar on both traditional and social media as most Ghanaians described the situation as unfortunate and a crack in the presidential security detail.

The American rapper, in a tweet, apologized for any disrespect his video may have caused and later deleted it from his Instagram page.

But while expressing his view on Akoma FM's current affairs and political show GhanAkoma on Tuesday, January 10, International Diplomatic Consultant Farouk Al Wahab told host of the show Aduanaba Kofi Asante Ennin that the incident is a disgrace to Ghana hence heads must roll especially that of the National Security Minister and Interior Minister. [They] must be sacked if they do not resign honourably to instill discipline in the security details of the presidency.

Some prominent figures have also since expressed disgust on how the American rapper gained full access to the Jubilee House to shoot videos.

Member of Parliament for North Tongu Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has called for urgent investigations to sanction whoever deserved to be punished.

-3news.com
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto has resigned.

Report available to this portal indicated that he tendered his resignation letter to President Akufo-Addo today, Tuesday, January 10.

The Minister says he wants to focus on his presidential bid ahead of the 2024 elections.

This comes days after Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen resigned from his position to focus on his presidential ambitions.

Owusu Afriyie Akoto served as a Member of Parliament for the Kwadaso Constituency in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region for two terms.

Profile of Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto

Honourable Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto graduated from the University of Ghana (Legon) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture. He obtained his M.Sc. and PhD degrees in Agricultural Economics from the University of Cambridge, England.

He worked as an Economist, Senior Economist, Principal Economist and Chief Economic Advisor over a period of 18 years at the International Coffee Organization (ICO) in London, England. He has also worked as a consultant to the World Bank and the United Nations on Soft Commodities (Cocoa, Coffee, Sugar). Between 1995 and 2007, he was the CEO of two international commodity companies, Goldcrest Commodities Limited and Plantation Resources Limited both based in Ghana.

In 2007 he was appointed the Chairman of the NPP manifesto committee and was the principal author of the Partys Manifesto for the 2008 elections. He was subsequently elected as Member of Parliament in 2008. He spent two terms as Member of Parliament for Kwadaso Constituency in Kumasi, Ashanti Region. In Parliament, he held the position of Deputy Ranking Member and subsequently the substantive Ranking Member for the Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs until 2017.

In 2017 he was appointed the Minister for Food and Agriculture.

In this role he has spearheaded the design and implementation of the Government of Ghanas popular and transformational agricultural flagship programme, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ). Under the leadership of Hon. Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto Ghana has been transformed into the breadbasket of the West.

In 2019, Ghana was ranked fourth on the African continent by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) in its Global Food Security Index (GFSI). In that year (2019) the sector grew strongly by 4.7% followed by 7.4% at peak of the covid in 2020 and 8.4% in 2021  the highest annual performance in the Fourth Republic. This sterling performance compares with the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programmes (CAADP) benchmark target of 6% growth of agriculture for the attainment of national food security.

Maize production reached 3.4 million tonnes in 2021 from 1.7 million tonnes in 2016, and rice production nearly doubled to 1.2 million metric tonnes from 665,000 metric tonnes in 2016 under the PFJ.

Under his leadership an Act of Parliament established the Tree Crop Development Authority in 2020, to coordinate and promote the development of six tree crops  cashew, rubber, oil palm, coconut, mango and shea. At full development, these selected crops have the combined potential of generating an additional USD12 billion per annum to supplement the annual USD2 billion from cocoa.

He has also initiated a Bill in parliament for the establishment of the Grains Development Authority and has already prepared a memorandum for cabinet consideration of the Bill which will substantially increase loanable funds to agriculture and its value chains. Also in the pipelines are draft Cabinet memoranda for the establishment of Horticultural Development Authority and Poultry Development Authority.

He oversaw the re-launch of the National Cocoa Rehabilitation Programme through which a total farm area of 56,343 hectares has been fully treated across the cocoa growing regions as of 30th September 2022. As a result of the success of the programme, thousands of farmers who had abandoned their cocoa farms due to the devastating effect of the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease (CSSVD) have returned to their farms.

Since 2017, Hon. Dr. Akoto has directed substantial budgetary resources to the construction and rehabilitation of 12 irrigation schemes of which 6 are above 90% complete, five between 45% to 70% level of completion and Pwalugu dam is currently at a level of 5%. Together, these irrigation projects will make available 31,415 hectares of land for all year-round crop production when completed.

Through his initiative, measures taken by Government to address major marketing problems in the agriculture sector include the construction of 80 warehouses of 1000 metric tonne capacity each for food storage and to reduce post-harvest losses.

In his bid to accelerate the process of agricultural modernization, he, instituted several bilateral arrangements that resulted in the importation of assorted agricultural machinery including tractors, power tillers, planters, threshers, combine harvesters and hand-held equipment for smallholder farmers at a total of over $100 million. These farm equipment and machinery are being sold at subsidized rate of 40% to farmers and agro processors.

Dr. Akoto has implemented the construction of three greenhouse training centres with attached commercial unit at Dawhenya, Akumadan and Bawjiase for training youth in high-quality vegetable production. These vegetables are sold to high-end shops such as Palace Mall, Shoprite, Starbites, KFC and Burger King in Tema, Accra and Kumasi.

For his transformational leadership, the Hon. Dr. Akoto has won several awards and appointments of recognition. In February 2019, AFRICAN SEEDS which is the intergovernmental Seed Agency of the African Union, conferred on him the title of SEED CHAMPION OF AFRICA.

In the same 2019, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of the Inter African Coffee Organisation (IACO), a pan-African organisation promoting the interest of coffee producers on the continent.

He is the immediate past Chairman of the ECOWAS Specialised Ministerial Technical Council for Agriculture (CTMS Agric) and, was unanimously appointed Chairman of the Steering Committee for the newly established Cote dIvoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative.
The GJA President Mr. Albert Kwabena Dwumfour has heaped praises on the founder and shareholder of Adom Group for his unwavering commitment to bridging the housing deficit gap in the country through the construction of affordable houses for the public.

He said the yeoman's job being executed by the Group is helping majority of Ghanaians who, ordinarily could not have owned houses, to now own their own house.

The GJA President was speaking as the Guest Speaker at the Thanks Giving Service of the Adom Group (Adom City Estate) in Accra on Saturday under the theme: Aseda Kesie.

Let me begin by commending the Founder and Shareholder of the Adom Group and the entire management for the good works they are doing in the area of building affordable houses in the country, the GJA President stressed.

He explained that such good works of the Group go to compliment the efforts of government in solving the housing challenges of the country, hence the need to support the group to thrive.

He explained that the private sector [of which the Adom Group is a part] is the engine of growth hence supporting such companies also creates jobs for the youth.

Mr. Dwumfour therefore expressed his commitment to support companies such as the Adom Group whose business he said is contributing to the growth of the economy.

He later appealed to the founder and shareholder of the Adom Group to support Journalists by contributing towards the Journalists Support Fund and capacity building for Journalists in the area of real estate development.

Touching on Thanksgiving, Mr. Dwumfour called on Journalists to make thanksgiving to God their priority as there is more blessings in thanksgiving.

According to him, thanksgiving to God does not only result in blessings but also helps one to surmount all their predicaments.

Buttressing his point with Psalm 95:2-3, Mr. Dwumfour emphasized that Thanksgiving is like yeast on bread dough which increases the dough, adding that thanksgiving also increases the blessing of the thanksgiver.

He further noted that thanksgiving is a formal public expression of gratitude to God and it operates by the law of sowing and reaping hence all and sundry must make it a point to give thanks regardless of the challenges.

I always told people that when you give, the likelihood of you receiving it back from God is higher. This is my personal experience Mr. Chairman, any time I give thanks to God, God provides me with more than I could ever have imagined. God surrounds me with people who always look out for me and people who bless me every day with kind words and actions, the GJA President emphasized.

On his part, the Founder and Shareholder of Adom Group, Dr. Bright Adom stressed that the Thanksgiving service is to thank God for protecting the staff and the company throughout 2022 without any misfortune.

He explained that his vision to bridge the housing deficit of the country through the provision of affordable housing can be achieved through thanksgiving adding that God rewards those who give him thanks.

Dr. Bright revealed that his company will soon begin the construction of a sky-rise building in Achimota and Frafraha.

Quality is important and cannot be compromised. We will pursue quality with affordability. That is where we have carved a niche for our brand in the industry.

"Our brand stands for quality, innovation and leadership. That is our pledge! We will provide Value for Money (VFM) & Added Value for Money (AVFM) that are critical and expedient to keep the Adom Brand ahead of its peers.

"We will continue to be a leader in affordable housing and break frontiers to provide affordable luxury houses, apartments in specific locations in Ghana, Dr. Adom emphasized.

The MD of Adom Group Rev. Joseph Opoku Adjei touched on the need for the Group to be supported to continue to deliver affordable housing to the citizenry.

This he said is the only way the burden of houses on Ghanaians can be minimized.
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January 10, 2023

Ukraine And Russia Agree - Russia Is Fighting NATO

Russia and Ukraine have publicly agreed on a fundamental and important issue.

The question is who Russia is fighting in Ukraine.

During an interview with a Ukrainian TV station the Oleksii Reznikov, the defense minister of Ukraine, answered that the Ukraine has "already become a de facto member of the NATO alliance."

The interview, given four days ago, is available on Youtube. English language subtitles can be generated by autotranslate. The sentence pictured above comes at about 1:25 minutes in.

Sputnik, which seems to be the only international outlet that has picked up on this, has more (from ~11:05 min):

At the NATO Summit in Madrid in June 2022, it was clearly delineated that over the coming decade, the main threat to the alliance would be the Russian Federation. Today Ukraine is eliminating this threat. We are carrying out NATOs mission today. They arent shedding their blood. Were shedding ours. Thats why theyre required to supply us with weapons, Reznikov said ... The official said Kiev was being constantly reminded by its Western partners that it, like a real shield, is defending the entire civilized world, the entire West, from the Russians, and said that he personally has recently received holiday greeting cards and text messages from Western defense ministers to that effect. Reznikov expressed absolute certainty in Ukraines eventual entry into NATO, saying he was convinced that this is an absolutely realistic possibility... Of course they wont accept this political decision via consensus before our victory. This is clear. But after the victory, after all this ends and some kind of peace arrives, NATO countries, first and foremost, will be interested in the construction of this security architecture. They have seen their own weak spots, they have seen who is strong and powerful. Today they are teaching us but tomorrow our officers, sergeants and even privates will be teaching them how to fight the Russians. Russia remains one of the threats to NATO, and for Europe as a whole.

Reuters reports today that the Russian government agrees with the core of Reznikov's view:

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev is seen by diplomats as one of the major hardline influences on Putin, who has promised victory in Ukraine despite a series of battlefield setbacks. "The events in Ukraine are not a clash between Moscow and Kyiv - this is a military confrontation between Russia and NATO, and above all the United States and Britain," Patrushev told the Argumenti i Fakti newspaper in an interview. "The Westerners' plans are to continue to pull Russia apart, and eventually just erase it from the political map of the world," Patrushev said.

...

Asked about Patrushev's remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said NATO and the United States were part of the Ukraine conflict. "De facto they have already become an indirect party to this conflict, pumping Ukraine with weapons, technologies, intelligence information and so on," Peskov told a regular news briefing.

As both sides now seem to agree on the real participants of the conflict we can assume that they will later also come to an agreement about its outcome. That however will still take a while.

The heavily fortified Ukrainian strongholds in Bahkmut (Artyomovsk) and Soledar are about to fall. The long fight over these cities has come at a high price particularly for their defenders. All the reserves the Ukrainian command has thrown into them have been ground up by massive Russian artillery applications.

Other reserves the Ukrainian army is still training up are waiting for new supplies of 'western' weapons. But what has been newly promised, mostly infantry fighting vehicles (aluminum cans), will only become available in late spring. The most likely plan the Ukrainian command will want to pursue is a move south towards Mariupol (bottom right) to severe the Russian land connection to Crimea.

There is however only a small chance that such a move during spring could be successful. Until then Russia has the time to make its own moves.

Posted by b on January 10, 2023 at 15:30 UTC | Permalink

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NielsenIQ Owner Invests $175m in Data Firm Tredence

Data science and AI solutions company Tredence has raised $175m in Series B funding from Advent International, to fuel its growth. Full financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.



Headquartered in San Jose, CA and with additional offices in Foster City, Chicago, London, Toronto and Bangalore, Tredence describes the focus of its data science solutions as the 'last mile... between insight creation and value realization'. This includes business intelligence for marketing, sales, supply chain, operations, pricing, and mapping the customer decision journey; and the firm employs around 1,800 people.



Advent, which is the majority shareholder in the merged NielsenIQ / GfK, takes a minority stake in Tredence and a seat on its board, while existing investor Chicago Pacific Founders retains a 'meaningful' shareholding.



Tredence CEO Shub Bhowmick (pictured), who founded the firm in 2013 with Sumit Mehra and Shashank Dubey, comments: 'Advent's global reach, deep sector expertise, and vast experience in scaling businesses like ours through organic and inorganic growth will be invaluable to us as we look to drive continued business innovation. Tredence was founded to help clients solve some of the most complex challenges across industries through pragmatic innovation and continuous experimentation. CPF has been a value-added partner over the last few years, and we are excited to be joined by Advent on this journey'. Advent says it is 'very excited to partner with Tredence in the next chapter of growth as they build a $500m revenue organization'.



Web site: www.tredence.com .




Chinese, Bangladeshi FMs meet on ties

Xinhua) 16:25, January 10, 2023

DHAKA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with his Bangladeshi counterpart Abdul Momen briefly at the airport in the Bangladeshi capital early Tuesday on further improving bilateral relations.

At a stopover on his way to a visit to African countries, Qin said both sides spoke highly of the friendship between China and Bangladesh.

Both countries agreed to strengthen communication and exchanges in the new year so as to jointly push forward their bilateral ties.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
We are still not out of the pandemic although there are signs of its abating. Sun Tzu in his Art of War posits one must know oneself as much as one knows ones enemy.

by Dr Ruwantissa Abeyratne

Victory comes from finding opportunities in problems. Sun TzuThe Art Of War

If 2022 was the year in which we misbehaved, 2023 must surely be the year we dust the tomes of past wisdom and seek some relevance and intelligence in our lives. The year past: of folly at war and talk of the use of nuclear weapons; threats of fire and fury; acts leading to economic dominance without any forethought or perception of consequences; pyrrhic victory by violent suppression of protests, can all be subject to cautious reflection and reference to the words of sages of the past.

Soldiers from the Ming Dynasty Departure Herald, from the Jiajing reign period in China (1522-1566), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

In the context of the most serious situation in Ukraine, one is reminded of the words of Sun Tzu (771-256 BC) a Chinese sage, philosopher and strategist who specialized in military wisdom and is credited as the author of The Art of War  a lasting repository of military strategy for winning a war  which is now considered not only influential in military warfare but also used as a manual for corporate competitive strategy. Sun Tzu said:  the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting; in the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity; victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price; victory comes from finding opportunities in problems. Sun Tzu also said: if fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it; if fighting will not result in victory, then you must not fight even at the rulers bidding he will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight if you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.

We are still not out of the pandemic although there are signs of its abating. Sun Tzu in his Art of War posits one must know oneself as much as one knows ones enemy. The problem is that, as Albert Camus reflects in his novel The Plague, we do not seem to know ourselves and our vulnerabilities and choose to ignore red flags not only in the face of epidemics and disease but also when confronted with other existential threats. Politically, grave and ominous threats that portend danger to the global community are ignored as minor irritations that will go away. Covid -19 taught us that we need determination, self-reliance and optimism in the face of hardship. We have to believe despite all the evidence to the contrary, that we could restore a sense of community to a world torn by conflict and that despite all personal tragedy, we have a sense of control over our own destiny.

Most importantly, with the entropic perturbations of 2022  be it geo-political; economic; or social and communal  individually and collectively we have to get a better handle on our reason for being or the sense of direction, purpose, and dignity in our lives. Firstly, we must teach ourselves collective humility. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the bestselling author of The Black Swan, in his book Antifragile introduces us to the intriguing and well-reasoned concept called Antifragile  that any system which depends on predictability and presumption is fragile  and that some things benefit from shocks and they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder and stressors. According to Taleb black swans (which as we all know are a rarity) are large-scale unpredictable and irregular events which can either devastate those that are fragile and dependent on certain rigid stability or energize risk-takers and flexible persons into action.

Secondly, we must establish a structured and logically reasoned way to find our reason for being whether in the context of our personal lives or corporate existence and survival. For this, we have to seek the wisdom of Japan. Often, we spent our time trying to climb the ladder of success. There is a Venn diagram  created by British entrepreneur Marc Winn in 2014 with four circles, each with a statement: what you love; what the world needs; what you are good at?; and what you can be paid for? At the point where these four circles all intersect is the Japanese word Ikigai which stands for reason for being. Ikigai is similar to the French term raison detre.

Jeffrey Gaines, writing in 2020 said: The concept of Ikigai is said to have evolved from the basic health and wellness principles of traditional Japanese medicine. This medical tradition holds that physical well-being is affected by ones mentalemotional health and sense of purpose in life. Japanese psychologist Michiko Kumano (2017) has said that Ikigai is a state of well-being that arises from devotion to activities one enjoys, which also brings a sense of fulfilment. Michiko further distinguishes Ikigai from transitory pleasure (hedonic, in the ancient Greek sense) and aligns it with eudaimonia  the ancient Greek sense of a life well lived, leading to the highest and most lasting form of happiness.

In 2023 we must seek the fulfilment that Ikigai represents, whether we are political leaders or corporate employees; parents or progeny; professors or students; doctors or patients. Leon Ho says: having a sense of purpose is a fool-proof way to a fully satisfactory life. It leads to ease in prioritization, strengthens morals and values, aligns all your life goals, and helps you stay focused. The clarity in life is only possible if you have your sense of purpose sorted.

In 2023 we must be more aware of Sun Tzus teachings of knowing our limitations; not being impulsive in taking decisions; not overestimating or underestimating the serious business of living. At the same time, we have to be non-traditional, lateral thinkers who take existing usage and change the way things are. We have to see through the obvious and question the vertical thinking of traditional intelligence. We have to upend conventional wisdom and predictability. In 2023, self-interest  both collectively and individually  will keep increasing; fear will spread even further than at the present time.

There is no better time than now to follow the strategy of Sun Tzu and the wisdom of Ikigai.

Dr. Abeyratne teaches aerospace law at McGill University. Among the numerous books he has published are Air Navigation Law (2012) and Aviation Safety Law and Regulation (to be published in 2023). He is a former Senior Legal Counsel at the International Civil Aviation Organization.
The new year brought two New Years babies to Rutherford County hospitals.

Victoria and James Hunt of Herndon, Ky., welcomed James Eli Hunt into the world at 12:51 a.m. on Jan. 1 at TriStar StoneCrest Medical Center in Smyrna. He weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces and measured 21 inches in length at birth.

James Eli takes his first name from his father and his middle name from Victorias grandfather.

James Eli is the couples first child. They said they had a long pregnancy journey, and finally had their baby through in vitro fertilization.

After the four-and-a-half-year journey that we had in trying to have him, we didnt really care when, we just relished in the fact that he was, James said. We are just blessed that he came out healthy.

The Hunts were introduced to Dr. William Kellett and Dr. Christopher Sizemore by Victorias best friend, who also had a baby using IVF. The Hunts said they felt so comfortable with the doctors and their staff that they would gladly make the two-hour trip from their home again.

Victoria was supposed to be induced on Dec. 29, but that ended up getting pushed back. James said Victoria was about 39 weeks and three days along when James Eli decided to make his appearance.

The Hunts said they are open to having another child and have even considered adoption.

Were willing to put forth the time and effort, but if hes our one and only, thats fine with us, said Victoria.

The Hunts credit the staff at the Kentucky Fertility Institute in Louisville for their baby.

God shined down his blessing and his knowledge on them and gave us Baby James Eli, said James.

Victoria added, The staff just gave us a lot of hope.

Another baby was welcomed just after the start of the new year at Ascension St. Thomas Rutherford.

A girl was born at 12:12 a.m. on Jan. 1. She was 20.25 inches long and seven pounds, 11 ounces at birth. Her parents are Ariel and Michael Colvin of Murfreesboro. They declined an interview request.
The arrangements for Gangsta Boo's funeral have been made.

WMC-TV reports that the Three 6 Mafia rapper, born Lola Mitchell, will be laid to rest on January 14 from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Brown Baptist Church in Memphis.

The Commercial Appeal reports that Echo Hattix, a representative of Echoing Soundz, confirmed that tickets are required to attend the service at 980 Stateline Road East, Southaven, Mississippi.

According to the Eventbrite information, guests may bring their tickets in person or via mobile device. Inside the church, cameras and recording devices will not be permitted.

"Lola 'Gangsta Boo' Mitchell lived a life like no other and will forever be remembered as the Queen of Memphis for her world-changing music and persona," the funeral announcement read.

"As a trailblazer and an irreplaceable presence, she birthed a forever legacy in the music scene of Memphis and the entire world," it also said.

As previously reported by BET.com, Gangsta Boo was found dead in a friend's home on January 1 at 4 p.m. local time. Her official cause of death remains unknown, but authorities have noted that there are no indications of foul play.

READ MORE: Louis Tomlinson, GF Eleanor Calder Breakup: Former 1D Star Engaged Before Split?

She was 43 years of age. The police report that the investigation into the death is ongoing.

In 1995, when the rapper, born Lola Chantrelle Mitchell, joined the group, its name was changed from Triple Six Mafia to Three 6 Mafia. That same year, she appeared on their debut album, Mystic Stylez, which became a cult classic, a landmark of southern hip-hop, and a defining example of the horrorcore genre, with lyrics exploring gore and the occult.

On the 20th anniversary of its release, Complex critic Justin Ivey wrote that the album "paved the way for an entire subgenre of Memphis rap and would influence artists for decades." Gangsta Boo's delivery is "commanding, taking control of any track when she arrives," according to the publication. It ushered in a period of mainstream success for the band.

They released "Chapter 1: The End" in 1996 and signed with Sony to release "Chapter 2: World Domination" the following year, which was certified gold with over 800,000 US sales. Gangsta Boo's debut solo album, Enquiring Minds, was released by the group's own label, Hypnotize Minds, in 1998. The album reached No. 15 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart and produced the enduring hit "Where Dem Dollas At."

READ ALSO: Harry Styles' Ex Olivia Wilde Spotted Flirting With This A-List Actor, 6 Weeks After Their Split

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Plaque and decals for winners are now available to be claimed

Drop by the Marianas Variety office at Alahaihai Ave., Garapan to pick up. For more information, call our Sales Representatives at (670) 234-9272.
At the end of 2022 Russia put the Suvorov (K-553), its sixth Borei class SSBN (nuclear ballistic missile sub) into service. Suvorov is the third of the marginally improved Borei B SSBNs, which carry the same 16 Bulava SLBMs (Sub Launched Ballistic Missiles) of the Borei A. There are four more Borei Bs under construction and two more on order for delivery in 2030 and 2031.

The Boreis were the first post-Cold War Russian SSBN. The first began construction in 1996 but took 17 years to complete. The problem was that the capabilities of Russian shipyards collapsed during the 1990s because skilled engineers and workers were free to find better paying jobs and did so on a large scale. As a result, the Boreis currently being built will take about eight years to get into service. The last Soviet era-SSBNs, the Delta IV class, took three or four years to complete. The seven Delta IVs entered service between 1984 and 1990 and six of them were refurbished a decade ago so they could remain in service until enough Boreis were ready.

Delays getting the Boreis into service were made worse because problems with their new SLBMs these boats continued after the first Borei was ready for service. There were so many missile delays that the older Delta class SSBNs had to stay in service longer than they were designed for. That meant these Deltas were unable to go to sea as often, a problem that was partially solved by refurbishing six of them. As a result, Russia has had few SSBNs at sea during the last decade. The four Boreis now in service and at sea just about compensates for the growing inability of the Deltas to stay out for long periods. In ten years, all ten Boreis will be in service and the refurbished Delta IVs will no longer be needed.

The fourth Borei was also the first improved Borei, or Borei A design, and construction took longer, and cost more, than planned. One feature, adding four more SLBM launch tubes, was deleted. Borei A includes improved electronics and changes to the hull and propulsion system to make the boat quieter and more maneuverable. There are now additional sonar arrays on the sides of the boat in addition to the usual one in the bow (front). There were significant changes to the propulsion system to improve maneuverability at low speeds. The hull now has a sleeker form without the usual noticeable bump behind the sail (small superstructure on top of subs) of older Russian SSBNs. One morale-enhancing new feature is a small (four-seat) sauna. There are also larger and more comfortable crew quarters. These changes made the Borei-A look more like Western SSBN as well as perform like one. These changes made to create Borei A were so expensive that the navy can only afford to build ten Boreis.

The Boreis are essential to replace the aging Delta IVs. In many ways the Cold War-era Delta IVs were a superior design. 43 Deltas were put into service between 1972 and 1990. There were actually four distinct models (Delta I, II, III and IV) that varied in size (7,800 to 13,500 tons) and capabilities. Russia had already built a class of subs to replace the Deltas - the enormous (24,000 ton) Typhoon/Akula class SSBNs. Those proved too expensive to build and operate. Six of them entered service between 1981 and 1989, and to save money, all were retired or scrapped by 2009. One Typhoon is still around to test new SLBM designs. Thats because the missile tubes on the Typhoon are so large that they can easily be modified to handle any new SLBM design.

The problems with the Typhoons were a foretaste of worse problems with the Borei and other large subs and surface ships planned. The shipyards could not get it done. Part of the problem was growing corruption, which played a role in destroying the Soviet Union, as well as a shortage of qualified managers, engineers and construction workers to design, develop and build these new ships. Because of all that Russia has had to cope and adjust its plans. In the 1990s it was decided that subs were more important than surface vessels and that meant, once all the budget and construction management problems manifested themselves after the 1990s, the subs always had priority. This led to the cancellation of several large surface ship construction plans and many modifications for submarine construction and use. More subs were retired as they became too old and expensive to operate. Money was always found to keep construction of new subs, especially SSBNs, going. There was also more patience for dealing with the seemingly endless flaws found in the new subs and their weapons. Priorities took priority.

The first three new Borei Class boats were supposed to be based in the Pacific but was changed with only two in the Pacific. One reason for that was the lack of money to refurbish and reactivate the Chizha Test Range near Archangel. This facility was used to monitor ballistic missile or SLBMs test-fired from east to west. The test range on the Pacific coast has been upgraded so that ballistic missiles and SLBM testing could continue and be accurately monitored to measure success, and accuracy, of test warheads. To continue testing the Bulava one of the Boreis had to be assigned to the Northern Fleet.

During the Cold War, most of Russias SSBNs were based in the north, at several bases east of the Norwegian border and facing the Arctic Ocean. But now Russia is spending over $350 million to expand and improve its submarine base on the Kamchatka Peninsula on its Pacific coast. This will enable its new SSBNs to threaten China, as well as the United States.

The Boreis are the first new Russian boomers (naval slang for SSBNs) to enter service since 1990 when the last Delta IV entered service. Borei is the first arguably new Russian sub design since the end of the Cold War. Subsequent Boreis benefited from all those delays with the first Borei and were built much more quickly.

The Boreis are closer in design to the Delta IVs and American Cold War SSBNs.. The Boreis are 170 meters (558 feet) long and 13 meters (42 feet) in diameter. Surface displacement is 15,000 tons, and 16 Bulava SLBMs are carried. Work on the Yuri Dolgoruky was delayed for several years because the first missile being designed for it did not work out. A successful land-based missile, the Topol-M, was quickly modified for submarine use. That should have worked but it didnt and failed in many frustrating ways. This "Bulava" (also known as R-30 3M30 and SS-NX-30) SLBM was a larger missile, cutting the Boreis original capacity from 20 to 16 missiles. The boat also has four torpedo tubes and twelve torpedoes or torpedo tube-launched missiles. There are also tubes for launching smaller countermeasure devices that look like torpedoes. The Bulava has a max range of 10,000 kilometers with six warheads and 8,000 kilometers with ten warheads.

The Boreis have a crew of 107, with half of them being officers. This is a common Russian practice when it comes to high tech ships like nuclear subs. Each Borei A boat cost at least two billion dollars, in part because money was spent on improved crew quarters. That was necessary to attract enough skilled, and volunteer, sailors to run these boats. The high cost of Boreis, by Russian standards, is partly because many factories that supplied parts for Russian subs were in parts of the Soviet Union that are not now within the borders of post 1991 Russia. New factories had to be built. All components of the Boreis and their missiles are to be built in Russia.

Without the Bulava, the only alternative was to redesign the Boreis to use the existing R-29 Sineva SLBM. Sineva is the last liquid fuel Russian SLBM in service and is used in the older Delta class SSBNs. This redesign would have cost billions of dollars, and delayed the Boreis entering service by several years. To many, switching to the older, but more reliable, Sineva missiles seemed like a reasonable move. Liquid fuel missiles are more complex than solid-fuel missiles, even though they use fuel that can be stored for long periods inside the missile. Unable, for a long time to develop the technology for solid-fuel rockets, Russia made the most of this and developed some very effective "storable liquid fuel" rockets. It was only near the end of the Cold War that Russia finally mastered solid-fuel rocket construction techniques. But only one solid-fuel SLBM entered service, the huge 90-ton R-39 for the massive Typhoon SSBNs.

Borei boats have missile tubes designed to hold the Bulava (which is 12.1 meters long and two meters in diameter). The Sineva is 14.8 meters long and 1.8 meters in diameter. The additional length of the Sineva would have required substantial revisions in the existing Borei design and the two still under construction in 2018. The only existing solid fuel SLBM that works, and is carried in the larger Typhoon, is the R-39, and it is huge (16 meters long and 2.4 meters in diameter). Much too large even for a rebuilt Borei.

These delays in getting Bulava to work reliably resulted in a lot of embarrassing changes. Thats because, in early 2012, Russia announced that its SSBNs would resume long-range "combat patrols" within a year. On schedule, the Russian Navy finally accepted its first Borei (Yury Dolgoruky) for service on December 30th, 2012. Thus, it appeared that the newly commissioned Yury Dolgoruky would be the first Russian SSBN in many years to make a long-range cruise, as soon as it had a working SLBM to arm it. Mass production of Bulava began in 2013, with the goal of producing at least 124 of them. Yury Dolgoruky finally made its first combat patrol in 2015, although it was understood that only about half of the 16 Bulava SLBMs carried would work if launched. Since then, the Bulava SLBM is considered combat ready but only if you accept that about half of them may not work.

The Russian Navy has made a mess of its SSBN force and has done slightly better developing new SLBMs. This is all about what kind of SSBN force Russia will have in the future and what those SSBNs will be capable of. At the moment the answers seem to be diminished and not much.

The Delta IV refurb included the SLBM tubes and launch equipment so the Delta IV could handle the latest (MU2) version of the R-29 missile. Most of the improvements in the R-29MU2 include the third stage, which can now carry 12 warheads, each able to hit a different target. Alternatively, the R-29MU2 can carry eight warheads and numerous decoys and penetration devices to assist in deceiving anti-missile systems. The upgrade extended the life of the Delta IV 3-4 years, which means that by the late 2020s only one Delta IV will still be in (limited) service and, depending on how much money is available, as many as ten Boreis.
A Russian language video recently appeared in which the new T-72B3M model was introduced and described. While the official most modern Russian tank is the T-90M, it is not the tank Russian crews prefer. The favorite is the T-72B3, which is as effective as the T-90 and lacks a lot of the additional features on the T-90 that dont work, complicate operation of the tanks and the crews must maintain. The T-90 is for export customers and no Russian troops use the T-90 in peacetime. The new B3M model was described as having a lot more ERA blocks and other forms of protection. No mention was made of a solution to the T-72 vulnerability to top attack ATGMs that have caused the loss of nearly a thousand T-72s and T-90s in Ukraine. This vulnerability has existed since the auto-loader was introduced. While the auto-loader increased rate of fire for the 125mm main gun, and reduced crew size by one man, it also put many tanks shells in the crew compartment where the propellent charges and shells were vulnerable to any fire because it could cause the turret to explode, killing the entire crew.

Top attack ATGM warheads were introduced in 1988 by Sweden. The concept caught on with ATGM manufacturers and even the Russians eventually adopted it. For the Russians, top-attack ATGMs were not a wonder weapon because Western tanks did not use autoloaders and stored tank gun ammo in a special compartment at the rear of the turret. This ammo storage space has a blowout panel that directs an explosion in the ammo compartment towards the rear of the tank, not the crew compartment. Moreover, Western tanks had more effective turret top protection which usually defeats Russian top-attack ATGMs.

In Ukraine, the Russian tank top-attack vulnerability came as a surprise to Russian crews and soon the senior Russian commanders were dismayed at this revelation. Some Ukrainian troops, who had used Western top-attack ATGMS against Russian tanks in Donbas before the 2022 invasion, suspected that this vulnerability was widespread. No one believed the vulnerability was universal until all those invading Russian tanks had their turrets explode. This phenomenon soon caused many Russian tank crews to abandon undamaged T-72s and T-90s that were then captured by the Ukrainians who used them. Used against the Russians, the captured tanks were much less vulnerable to top attack because Russian forces did not have top-attack ATGMs as effective as the Western models. Ukrainian troops would still like to obtain Western tanks like the Leopard 2 and M1 but so far none of these have been sent to Ukraine.

Despite all this the T-90 remains a prestige model that is considered the best Russian tank available. Russian troops received the first batch of the new T-90M tank in early 2020. Those T-90Ms were supposed to appear in the May victory (over Germany in World War II) day parade. But that was canceled in April, despite being the special 75th Anniversary, because of the covid19 virus risk. Neighboring Belarus went ahead and held its parade. Belarus, like Sweden and a few other nations, did not impose a covid19 quarantine, which was later found to be the best approach. Russian tank troops did not miss the T-90M because it was intended to please foreign (export) users of the T-90 and the M model was described as an essential upgrade.

The T90M was indeed a major upgrade of the original T90A as it incorporated lessons learned from the use of T-90As in Syria. The T-90M also addressed new developments in anti-tank weapons as well as introducing a more effective 125mm main gun and improved APS (active protection system). In terms of electronics, there is a new fire day/night control system plus digital communications that enable T90Ms to instantly exchange fire-control and other sensor data with each other in combat. There is also a new generation of ERA (Explosive Reactive Armor) that is designed to better defeat high-speed metal penetrator shells as well as dual-warhead HEAT (shaped charge) missiles and tank shells. This new generation Relikt ERA also includes protection for the top of the turret and rear deck (engine space). The need for better protection against top-attack dual-warhead shaped charge warheads was discovered the hard way in Syria. Relikt ERA is believed to provide at least 50 percent more protection than the current Kontakt-5 ERA found on existing T90As and the latest T-72s. The new 282-1 125mm gun is the same one used in the new T-14 tank. This version of the smoothbore 125mm gun is longer and stronger and uses a more capable and reliable auto-loader. More powerful high-speed armor piercing shells can be used and the barrel lasts longer.

The need for an updated T90 became urgent after what happened to T90s sent to Syria in 2016. While the T90A incorporated a lot of new technology, it was still a 1980s project meant to incorporate T-80 features into many upgrades of the T-72. The T-90 was actually another such upgrade but so extensive that in the early 1990s it was rebranded as the T-90.

There was a major reality check after Russia gave Syria 30 T-90As in early 2016. These were immediately put to work fighting various rebel factions. What the Russians failed to note was that some of these rebels had the American TOW wire-guided missile. While the T-90A has defenses against most ATGMS, especially the ones that are laser-guided, these defenses were less effective against the wire-guided TOW. That was because the T-90A ATGM defenses consist of two systems. One is a dazzler that is connected to laser sensors on the tank. If the sensors detect a laser beam hitting the tank, the dazzler sends out a laser that disrupts the targeting laser and causes the ATGM, if it is headed for the front of the tank, to miss the target The second ATGM defense offers some protection against TOW because it consists of plates of ERA which explodes when hit by the HEAT warhead used by ATGMs. HEAT forms a super-hot plasma when it strikes something and the plasma can melt through most armor. The ERA explosion disrupts the formation of the plasma and prevents much of the penetration of the tanks metal armor. During the first incidents of ERA use against TOW, crews were seen abandoning the tank, even though the vehicle was shaken but not penetrated. Syrian crews came to fear even laser-guided missiles and would sometimes turn and try to get behind a building when the laser sensors alerted them that an ATGM was incoming. This was often a fatal mistake because it meant the dazzler was no longer aimed at the laser beam, which was now aimed at the side of the tank, which did not have ERA. The ATGM hit and the tank was destroyed. Worse, more recent models of the TOW have a top attack dual warhead to defeat the ERA by detonating as it goes over the tank and penetrating the thinner armor on top, which until the T90M lacked ERA protection. Many missiles without top attack do have dual warheads which are designed to defeat ERA. This involves the first warhead detonating the ERA while the second warhead goes off and does a lot of damage. Even with the better ERA on the T-90M, some of these dual warhead ATGMs can penetrate side and rear armor.

Even though the rebels didnt have many top attack TOW missiles, Syrian troops, or at least their Russian and Syrian advisors, adapted and proceeded more cautiously when it was suspected that they were facing ATGMs, especially TOWs. Despite these precautions, six of the Syrian T-90s were lost to ATGMs since they first arrived in 2016. Another three T-90s were captured by rebels. Two of these were destroyed while being used by the rebels and the third one was recaptured. This highlights another problem the Syrian and Iraqi army shares; poorly trained and led troops. At this point, the Syrians avoid using their T-90s in close proximity to the enemy and the T-90s are less frequently seen in combat.

Iraq bought a large number of T90s and began receiving them in 2017. Against remaining ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) forces in Iraq, the T90s had bad experiences similar to what happened earlier in Syria. Russia attributed a lot of the T90 problems in Syria and Iraq to poorly trained and led crews. This is a valid complaint which the Russians have been using since the 1970s. But some of those Arab crews were quite good, survived combat and reported some very real problems with their Russian tanks.

The T-90 is one of many upgraded T-72s available on the market. Until 2003 the Iraqi Army operated hundreds of older T-72s, which proved no competition for the American M1. The T-90 has been produced in large quantities since the 1990s but not for Russia. It is mostly an export item. The T-90 was a late 1980s project that simply incorporated new features that had worked on the T-80, a failed replacement for the T-72. There were a lot of other new techs available and so many of those were incorporated into this new T-72 that it got a name change. Originally it was designated the T-72BU, but when Russia finally began production in 1993, it was renamed the T-90 in order to help with export sales. That succeeded in making the tank an export success with most (nearly 90 percent initially) of those produced going to export customers. In fact, India and Algeria each have more T-90s in service than Russia. Worse, the Russian Army quietly put over a third of its 550 newly-built T-90s into reserve.

While the T-90 was loudly proclaimed to be the next-big-thing, Russian officers and tank crews preferred the refurbished T-72s in the form of the T-72B3. These proved to be cheaper and more reliable than the T-90s, something that got little publicity. While all the upgrades (new engine, gun, fire control and protection) made T-72B3s nearly as expensive as the T-90A, it was preferred by the troops and the older officers quietly agreed that it was a better tank than the new T-90/T-72BUs. This apparently has something to do with the design of the T-72BU and the decline in manufacturing quality in the Russian defense industry after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. Since the T-72B3 was introduced in 2013 it has been produced in far greater numbers than any other tank and that continues. Especially telling was how T-90As began to be taken out of service (and put in reserve) as soon as enough T-72B3s became available. At the same time, the most popular Russian tank for export customers is the T-72B (a B3 with fewer of the upgrades). While T-72Bs cost nearly two million dollars each, they can be delivered in a few months after the contract is signed. The T-72B3 has been so popular with Russian troops that the government began giving it more publicity in the state-controlled mass media. The Iraqis dont really care about the superiority of the T-72B3 because the T-90As are easier to obtain, do the job (usually fighting irregulars) and have large profits built in that allow for generous bribes to Iraqi officials who approve the purchase orders.

A potential problem with the T90M is that it incorporates even more very expensive equipment and is believed to cost nearly as much as the radical new T-14. The major reason the T-14 has not been produced in large numbers is the high-cost (over $5 million) per tank and the fact that it has no combat experience.
By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Bird Song of the Day

Western Kingbird, Lake, Oregon, United States. Dawn song from willow tree [This is the dawn song or Regularly Repeated Vocalization following BNA and W. J. Smith.]

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Politics

But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? James Madison, Federalist 51

Heres food for thought, had Ahab time to think; but Ahab never thinks; he only feels, feels, feels Herman Melville, Moby Dick

So many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital. Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles

Biden Administration

Biden team eyes end of Covid emergency declaration and shift in Covid team [Politico]. Senior Biden officials are targeting an end to the emergency designation for Covid as soon as the spring, after debating doing so last summer and taking a pass, three people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO. Should they do so, such a move would represent a major pivot point in the countrys battle with the pandemic. The decision, which has not yet been finalized amid more immediate efforts to manage a recent spike in Covid cases, would trigger a complex restructuring of major elements of the federal response  and set the stage for the eventual shifting of greater responsibility for vaccines and treatments to the private market. It would kickstart a transition away from the White House-led crisis operation and toward treating the virus as a continuous long-term threat. And for President Joe Biden, who campaigned on eliminating the virus, it would symbolize a measure of progress toward an early pledge that has proven far more difficult than anticipated to keep.  What battle? Bidens Education Department just proposed a new way to make monthly student-loan payments more affordable and manageable than ever before' [Business Insider]. Wowsers.  the department said that the new IDR plan would require borrowers to pay no more than 5% of their discretionary income monthly on their undergraduate student loans  down from the current 10%, and it would also prevent interest from adding onto a borrowers principal balance. Rather than creating an entirely new plan, as a fact sheet said, the department will amend the Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) plan, which was created in 2016 to calculate borrowers monthly payments based on their discretionary income.  The Secretary of Education is Miguel Cardona. We dont hear much from him. Is it too much to ask that this effort wont be butchered like all the others? Joe Bidens claim to presidential greatness [Financial Times]. My stomach is cast-iron. But Bidens effectiveness as president stems in large part from his Reaganite ability to set a clear direction for policy and then to delegate. The Democrats on Capitol Hill have done the heavy lifting to get legislation through Congress. The presidents national security staff have organised policy on Ukraine. Biden has presided but he has not tried to micromanage policy. A second term may seem too much of a stretch. But throughout his political career, Biden has shown a capacity to surprise and confound his critics. Dont bet against him doing it again.  Im sure they juice him up before they wheel him out. That doenst matter. Biden is still the best politician in the Democrat Party. Whos better?

2024

Fulton special grand jury completes Trump investigation [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]. The Fulton County special grand jury that has spent the last eight months examining potential criminal interference in Georgias 2020 presidential election has completed its work and is being dissolved, according to the judge overseeing the high-profile panel. In a brief order issued Monday, Fulton Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote that the grand jury has fulfilled its duties to his satisfaction. McBurney also scheduled a hearing on Jan. 24, during which parties  including the Fulton District Attorneys office that advised the jury, the news media and, presumably, investigation targets  will argue whether the grand jurys report should be made public. Jurors recommended that their report be published, McBurney said.

Republican Funhouse

McCarthys concessions spur fears of potential default, government shutdown [The Hill]. The concessions Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) agreed to in a bid to appease conservative rebels set up showdowns this year with Senate Democrats and President Biden on the debt limit and the annual spending bills  heightening the danger of a national default or a government shutdown, political strategists say. McCarthys promises all but guarantee a standoff with Senate Democrats and Biden later this year, particularly those to attach spending cuts to legislation to raise the debt limit and to cap discretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels. Democrats have refused to negotiate adding spending cuts or other fiscal reforms to any debt limit legislation over the past decade.  More auto-kinbaku-ji. And youll pry the debt limit out of liberal Democrats cold, dead hands, exactly as with the filibuster. Unpacking the House GOPs new rules: A handy guide to the changes [Politico]. Republicans have killed Democrats pay-as-you-go rule, often shorthanded as PAYGO. It had required legislation that would add to the deficit to be offset with tax increases or spending cuts. The GOP has replaced PAYGO with what its calling CUTGO, which requires mandatory spending increases to be offset only with equal or greater decreases in mandatory spending  no new taxes allowed. The GOP last put this into place in the 112th Congress. That doesnt mean that deficit-increasing tax cuts are off the table. The CUTGO rule only requires offsets if bills would increase mandatory spending within a five-year or 10-year budget window. For example, Republicans could pass extensions of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, some of which have set to expire in 2025 (while others already have). Episode 240  We Need To Talk About Kevin (w/ Thomas Frank) (podcast) [Bad Faith]. Whenever something crazy is going down in Congress, Thomas Frank is here to talk about it. We chatted while the Capitol was stormed on 1/6, and now the historian, writer, and populism expert returns to Bad Faith as the House Republicans struggle to meet the 218-vote threshold to elect a Speaker. Inside: discussions about the parallels between this historical moment and the ones Frank has written about, the wisdom of Force The Vote, and whether Briahna is right to be jealous of the rogue Republicans in this moment.  Good to see Frank out and about.

Democrats en Deshabille

Patient readers, it seems that people are actually reading the back-dated post! But I have not updated it, and there are many updates. So I will have to do that. lambert I have moved my standing remarks on the Democrat Party (the Democrat Party is a rotting corpse that cant bury itself) to a separate, back-dated post, to which I will periodically add material, summarizing the addition here in a live Water Cooler. (Hopefully, some Bourdieu.) It turns out that defining the Democrat Party is, in fact, a hard problem. I do think the paragraph that follows is on point all the way back to 2016, if not before: The Democrat Party is the political expression of the class power of PMC, their base (lucidly explained by Thomas Frank in Listen, Liberal!). It follows that the Democrat Party is as unreformable as the PMC is unreformable ; if the Democrat Party did not exist, the PMC would have to invent it. If the Democrat Party fails to govern, thats because the PMC lacks the capability to govern . (PMC modulo class expatriates, of course.) Second, all the working parts of the Party reinforce each other. Leave aside characterizing the relationships between elements of the Party (ka-ching, but not entirely) those elements comprise a network  a Flex Net? An iron octagon?  of funders, vendors, apparatchiks, electeds, NGOs, and miscellaneous mercenaries, with assets in the press and the intelligence community. Note, of course, that the class power of the PMC both expresses and is limited by other classes; oligarchs and American gentry (see industrial model of Ferguson, Jorgensen, and Jie) and the working class spring to mind. Suck up, kick down. * * * Russian trolls on Twitter had little influence on 2016 voters [WaPo]. Russian influence operations on Twitter in the 2016 presidential election reached relatively few users, most of whom were highly partisan Republicans, and the Russian accounts had no measurable impact in changing minds or influencing voter behavior, according to a study out this morning. The study, which the New York University Center for Social Media and Politics helmed, explores the limits of what Russian disinformation and misinformation was able to achieve on one major social media platform in the 2016 elections. My personal sense coming out of this is that this got way overhyped, Josh Tucker, one of the reports authors who is also the co-director of the New York University center, told me about the meaningfulness of the Russian tweets. Now were looking back at data and we can see how concentrated this was in one small portion of the population, and how the fact that people who were being exposed to these were really, really likely to vote for Trump, Tucker said. And then we have this data to show we cant find any relationship between being exposed to these tweets and peoples change in attitudes.  Hilarity ensues, because of course all this was obvious from the very beginning. And its been out in plain sight all the time; the Times, after all, published an archive of Russian memes. Who could believe they would influence anyone? Besides credulous liberal Democrats, I mean.There was Buff Bernie; And who could forget: We will beat it together sorta sums up the whole sorry RussiaGate saga, doesnt it? Anyhow, now that we see that these 9/11 airplnes missed the Twin Towers completely, can we now cauterize the cancerous organs of state security that metastasized all over our First Amendment rights? Not a chance! Heres the study Exposure to the Russian Internet Research Agency foreign influence campaign on Twitter in the 2016 US election and its relationship to attitudes and voting behavior [Nature]. . Using longitudinal survey data from US respondents linked to their Twitter feeds, we quantify the relationship between exposure to the Russian foreign influence campaign and attitudes and voting behavior in the 2016 US election. We demonstrate, first, that exposure to Russian disinformation accounts was heavily concentrated: only 1% of users accounted for 70% of exposures. Second, exposure was concentrated among users who strongly identified as Republicans. Third, exposure to the Russian influence campaign was eclipsed by content from domestic news media and politicians. Finally, we find no evidence of a meaningful relationship between exposure to the Russian foreign influence campaign and changes in attitudes, polarization, or voting behavior. The results have implications for understanding the limits of election interference campaigns on social media.  Greenwald comments: The findings from the survey itself are even more striking. It only took 6 years for "data" to prove the obvious: in an election where oligarchs spend trillions; CIA/FBI/DHS are involved; major media corporations are doing everything possible, a few Twitter bots are irrelevant. pic.twitter.com/YIo8n7pf0F  Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 9, 2023 A meta-SCAD?

Our Famously Free Press

Berensons Twitter Files effort sank like a stone: 1/ My first #TwitterFiles report: how @scottgottliebmd  a top Pfizer board member  used the same Twitter lobbyist as the White House to suppress debate on Covid vaccines, INCLUDING FROM A FELLOW HEAD OF @US_FDA! Thanks @elonmusk for opening these files.https://t.co/UbHlmtjELP  Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) January 9, 2023 Partly, no doubt, because who wants to attack a sanctified institution like Pfizer, but also because Berenson wrote four tweets and then blog-whored his site! (Every other Twitter Files report has been written in full on Twitter. So I dont know what makes Berenson special. Like I said, they should have put a reporter on it. Which Berenson, sadly, once was.)

#COVID19

Lambert here: I am but a humble tapewatcher, but unlike Eric Topol, Im not calling a surge, because the last peak was Bidens Omicron debacle, and after an Everest like that, whats left? Topols view is the establishment view: Hospital-centric. Mine is infection-centric. I do not see the universal acceleration or doubling in cases that I would expect to see based on past surges.

I am calling a Something Awful. Its gonna be bad, in some new way, and we dont know how, yet (but see here for immune system dysregulation, which is looking pretty awful). Wastewater has taken off in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, right on time, two weeks after Thanksgiving. Those are not only in themselves large cities, they are all the sites of international airports (reminiscent of the initial surge in spring 2020, which emanated, via air travel, from New York). Wastewater is a leading indicator for cases, which in turn lead hospitalization (and death). In addition, positivity has reached its highest level ever, at least at Walgreens, and BQ.1* has taken over, closely followed by XBB, and both are immunue escape variants. UPDATE The rise of XBB in the Northeast is very concerning. The effects of all our holiday travel should be playing out in the next two weeks, and we are one week in.

Stay safe out there!

 The coronavirus is speaking. Its saying its not done with us. [Eric Topol, WaPo]. [XBB1.5,] the new dominant strain shows that the virus is always evolving to spread more quickly and infect us more efficiently. That should serve as a wake-up call for the country to re-invest in new vaccines, treatments and pandemic monitoring. Americans can take some comfort in the combined immunity from the countrys massive numbers of infections, reinfections, vaccinations and boosters. That should blunt the effect of XBB.1.5. Still, we have already seen the levels of covid hospitalizations in the United States reach their highest level in almost 11 months, and were not done with this wave yet. The implications of XBB.1.5 are also much bigger than just this formidable variant. The virus is talking to us, and it is telling us it has many more ways to evolve. It is revealing that it not only can fake out or elude our immune response, but can also get better at penetrating our cells. What will happen next? Will we see a whole new family of variants arise that are distinct from the omicron family? It is entirely possible Weve moved from complacency to frank capitulation at just the wrong time. If XBB.1.5 is telling us one thing, its that we cant be oblivious. Were all tired, but were up against a force that isnt. We have the intelligence, resourcefulness and ingenuity to finally get ahead of the virus, but politics and unwillingness to invest are holding us back. We cannot afford that gridlock.  Assuming good faith, of course.

 XBB.1.5 is the latest COVID-19 subvariant: What you need to know [Yahoo News]. XBB.1.5 has a few mutations in it which may give it some growth advantage over other variants, [Toronto epidemiologist Isaac Bogoch] explains. So far, its been found in over 30 counties, including Canada. However, while it appears to have some growth advantage, its not to the same extent that it was initially thought to have. A few weeks ago, the CDC projected XBB.1.5 to represent over 40 per cent of all COVID samples in the United States, he says. It was actually downgraded based on more places reporting data to represent closer to 20 per cent of sequence samples. While XBB.1.5 been shown to wiggle around our protective immunity and cause reinfection, Bogoch says its not seeing the degree of exponential growth it was initially thought to have.  So, my hermeneutic of suspicion regarding CDC projections turns out to be right (yet again). Now, XBB.1.5 is growing impressively fast, as the CDC variant charts (below) show. Just not as fast as CDC projected.

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 SARS-CoV-2 replication in airway epithelia requires motile cilia and microvillar reprogramming [Cell (ChrisRUEcon)]. Important. From the Abstract: Using primary nasal epithelial organoid cultures, we found that the virus attaches to motile cilia via the ACE2 receptor. SARS-CoV-2 traverses the mucus layer, using motile cilia as tracks to access the cell body . Depleting cilia blocks infection for SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses. SARS-CoV-2 progeny attach to airway microvilli 24 h post-infection and trigger formation of apically extended and highly branched microvilli that organize viral egress from the microvilli back into the mucus layer , supporting a model of virus dispersion throughout airway tissue via mucociliary transport . Importantly, Omicron variants bind with higher affinity to motile cilia and show accelerated viral entry. Our work suggests that motile cilia, microvilli, and mucociliary-dependent mucus flow are critical for efficient virus replication in nasal epithelia.  First time Ive heard a mechanism for nasal infection described. Here is the graphical abstract:

So us nasal spray stans might not have been wrong! More

 Stanford Medicine scientists pinpoint COVID-19 viruss entry and exit ports inside our noses (press release) [Stanford Medicine]. Somebody just coughed on you. On a plane. At a dinner party. In a supermarket line. If only there were a morning after nasal spray that could knock out respiratory viruses ability to colonize your nose and throat. In a study publishing today in the print issue of Cell [above], Peter Jackson, PhD, a Stanford Medicine professor of pathology and of microbiology and immunology, and his colleagues brought that possibility closer to reality by pinpointing the routes that SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 virus, takes to enter and exit cells in our nasal cavity.  Our upper airways are the launchpad not only for infection of our lungs but for transmission to others , Jackson said.  A morning after nasal spray is the exact use case for the Vaill CoviTRAP nasal spray developed in Thailand (see NC here, and  not to be unfair to Jackson  here: A smallish Southeast Asian country was able to develop this technology, secure approval, produce, and bring it to market while we in the rich West sat on our pasty white fundaments and, to put it politely, twiddled our fingers. Ye Gods!).

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 Circulating Spike Protein Detected in PostCOVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Myocarditis [Circulation]. n = 16. Immunoprofiling of vaccinated adolescents and young adults revealed that the mRNA vaccineinduced immune responses did not differ between individuals who developed myocarditis and individuals who did not. However, free spike antigen was detected in the blood of adolescents and young adults who developed post-mRNA vaccine myocarditis, advancing insight into its potential underlying cause.  The spikes are bad. No reason little spike factories cant have a special way to be worse (in some individuals). A laypersons summary, well worth a read

Spikes Out: A COVID Mystery [MedScape]. In 12 out of 16 kids with myocarditis, the researchers were able to measure free spike protein in the blood  that is to say spike protein, not bound by anti-spike antibodies. These free spikes were present in  wait for it  zero of the 45 control patients. That makes spike protein itself our prime suspect. Jaccuse free spike protein! Of course, all good detectives need to wrap up the case with a good story: How was it all done? And heres where we could use Agatha Christies help. How could this all work? The vaccine gets injected; mRNA is taken up into cells, where spike protein is generated and released, generating antibody and T-cell responses all the while. Those responses rapidly clear that spike protein from the system  this has been demonstrated in multiple studies  in adults, at least. But in some small number of people, apparently, spike protein is not cleared. Why? It makes no damn sense. Compels me, though. Some have suggested that inadvertent intravenous injection of vaccine, compared with the appropriate intramuscular route, might distribute the vaccine to sites with less immune surveillance. But that is definitely not proven yet. We are on the path for sure, but this is, as Benoit Blanc would say, a twisted web  and we are not finished untangling it. Not yet.  No mechanism yet. But with studies like this, and the nasal study above, it does seem that we are getting closer to an account.

 Investigation of the effect of COVID-19 on sperm count, motility, and morphology [Journal of Medical Virology]. From the Abstract: Two groups were selected (100 men had and recovered from COVID-19, and 100 men never had COVID-19) spermiograms from both groups were analyzed in accordance with the World Health Organization standards. The sperm concentration of the COVID-19 negative group was significantly higher than those in the COVID-19 positive group. No statistically significant difference was detected between the groups for sperm motility and morphology. It was observed that men with COVID-19 had decreased sperm concentrations suggesting that COVID-19 may have a negative effect on male fertility. However, in the long term, more comprehensive studies with a large sample size are needed to understand better the changes in sperm concentration.  More study needed.

* * *

 Maskstravaganza: Long-haul flight passengers should wear face masks: WHO [Bloomberg]. Passengers on long-haul flights should be advised to wear masks and its not unreasonable for Europe to adopt travel restrictions as COVID-19 cases surge in China and the US, World Health Organization officials said. A threat could come from a new variant of concern anywhere, anytime, Hans Kluge, the WHOs regional director for Europe, said at a briefing in Copenhagen.  We dont advise passengers to put on their seatbelts, or advise them to place their seatbacks and traytables in their upright and locked position. We require it. Why this incredible weakness, this flaccidity, on measures to protect the publics health?

* * *

* * *

 Effectiveness of influenza vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers in Qatar [Journal of Infection and Public Health]. n= 30,774. This matched, test-negative, case-control study was implemented on a population of 30,774 healthcare workers (HCWs) in Qatar during the 2020 annual influenza vaccination campaign, September 17, 2020-December 31, 2020, before introduction of COVID-19 vaccination. Recent influenza vaccination is associated with a significant reduction in the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity.  Granted, this is the 2020 strain. It had occurred to me that for the current variants, Covid protection from flu vaccine might be a factor in this winters oddly behaving numbers. However, my impression is that total flu vaccination is down (CDC and search are not especially helpful on this). If so, so much for that theory. Readers?

* * *

Transmission

Here is CDCs interactive map by county set to community transmission (the red map, which is the map CDC wants only hospitals to look at, not you.) The map is said to update Monday-Friday by 8 pm:

At least Alabama isnt all blue anymore.

The previous map:

NOTE: I shall most certainly not be using the CDCs new Community Level metric. Because CDC has combined a leading indicator (cases) with a lagging one (hospitalization) their new metric is a poor warning sign of a surge, and a poor way to assess personal risk. In addition, Covid is a disease you dont want to get. Even if you are not hospitalized, you can suffer from Long Covid, vascular issues, and neurological issues. That the green map (which Topol calls a capitulation and a deception) is still up and being taken seriously verges on the criminal.

Positivity

From the Walgreens test positivity tracker, published January 10:

-2.1.%. Still down.

Wastewater

Wastewater data (CDC), January 6:

Too much grey. New York city down. Really?!

January 2:

NOT UPDATED And MWRA data, January 5:

Lambert here: Both North and South are down. However, not all the students are back; BU classes begin January 19; Harvards January 22.

Variants

Lambert here: Its beyond frustrating how slow the variant data is. Does nobody in the public health establishment get a promotion for tracking variants? Are there no grants? Is there a single lab that does this work, and everybody gets the results from them? [grinds teeth, bangs head on desk]. UPDATE Yes. See NC here on Pango. Every Friday, a stately, academic pace utterly incompatible with protecting yourself against a variant exhibiting doubling behavior.

NOT UPDATED Variant data, national (Walgreens), December 23:

Lambert here: BQ.1* dominates, XBB moving up fast. Note all the BQ subvariants; its almost like somethings encouraging them, like maybe a policy of mass infection. Sure hope none of em get lucky, like XBB.

NOT UPDATED Variant data, national (CDC), December 17 (Nowcast off):

BQ.1* takes first place. XBB coming up fast. (For BQ.1/XBB and vaccine escape, see here.) Here is Region 2, the Northeast, where both BQ.1* and XBB are said to be higher, and are:

Holy moley, XBB.1.5! (Makes clear that Region 2 (New England) varies greatly from the national average. Wouldnt it be interesting if we ended up with different variants dominating different parts of the country.

 As a check, since New York is a BQ.1* hotbed, New York hospitalization, updated January 5:

A retreat from the steady rise I have found so concerning.

 Hospitalization data for Queens, updated December 31:

I dont know whether this is a genuine jump or a backward revisions, but Ive been waiting for Queens to move after the holidays, because (I assume) a lot of LGA/JFK workers live there, or at least commute through there.

Deaths

Death rate (Our World in Data):

Total: 1,121,298  1,121,097 = 201 (201 * 365 = 73,365 deaths per year, todays YouGenicist number for living with Covid (quite a bit higher than the minimizers would like, though they can talk themselves into anything. If the YouGenicist metric keeps chugging along like this, I may just have to decide this is what the powers-that-be consider mission accomplished for this particular tranche of death and disease).

Lambert here: Deaths lag, so we have a nice little jump here as a consequence of whatever it is weve been going through.

Its nice that for deaths I have a simple, daily chart that just keeps chugging along, unlike everything else CDC and the White House are screwing up or letting go dark, good job.

Stats Watch

Small Business Optimism: United States Nfib Business Optimism Index [Trading Economics]. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index in the United States declined to a six-month low of 89.8 in December of 2022, marking the 12th straight month below the 49-year average of 98 as sales and business conditions are expected to deteriorate. Expectations for better business conditions over the next six months worsened by 8 points to -51%. Also, the net percent of owners who expect real sales to be higher worsened by 2 points to -10%. On the positive side, 41% of owners reported job openings that were hard to fill, down 3 points but historically very high.

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Tech: Social Quitting [Cory Doctorow, Locus]. When economists and sociologists theorize about social media, they emphasize network effects. A system has network effects if it gets more valuable as more people use it. You joined Facebook because you valued the company of the people who were already using it; once you joined, other people joined to hang out with you. Network effects are powerful drivers of rapid growth. Theyre a positive feedback loop, a flywheel that gets faster and faster. But network effects cut both ways. If a system gets more valuable as it attracts more users, it also gets less valuable as it sheds users. The less valuable a system is to you, the easier it is to leave.

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Todays Fear & Greed Index: 50 Neutral (previous close: 47 Neutral) [CNN]. One week ago: 36 (Fear). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jan 10 at 2:30 PM EST.

MMT

Moslers man with a gun theory:

In preparation for my review of @stefeich's Currency of Politics, slowly entering the rabbit hole of theories of money. First stop, the Yap island and this incredible story in relation to its  "currency", as recounted by Keynes' 1915 "The Island of Stone Money". pic.twitter.com/adVJDgwr6V  Pavlos Roufos (@PRoufos) January 9, 2023

Groves of Academe

University administrators have lost their minds:

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK: The word 'field' and phrases such as 'going into the field' or 'field work' could be considered anti-black or anti-immigrant pic.twitter.com/FSxY2E7Jwi  Matt Orfalea (@0rf) January 10, 2023

Besides the general idiocy, the wee problem is that practicum and field work are not synonyms. From Websters, practicum:

A course of study designed especially for the preparation of teachers and clinicians that involves the supervised practical application of previously studied theory

Field work:

2: work done in the field (as by students) to gain practical experience and knowledge through firsthand observation 3: the gathering of anthropological or sociological data through the interviewing and observation of subjects in the field

Conservatives take aim at tenure for university professors [Associated Press]. The trend reflects how conservative scrutiny of instruction related to race, gender and sexuality has extended from schools to higher education. But budget considerations also play a role. Tenured faculty numbers have been declining even in more liberal states. Universities are hiring more part-time, adjunct instructors amid declines in financial support from state governments.  Plus more administrators, naturally. See above.

Zeitgeist Watch

Man Needs Sex and Violence, Not Top-Down Meaning' [Richard Hananias Newsletter]. I have to use a screenshot here because Substacks HTML is horrid. See especially the highlighted portion:

Or could it be  hear me out  that decreased happiness had something to do with a million people dying?

Class Warfare

Rapid wage growth at the bottom has offset rising US inequality [PNAS]. From October 2022, still germane. US earnings inequality has not increased in the last decade. This marks the first sustained reversal of rising earnings inequality since 1980. We document this shift across eight data sources using worker surveys, employer-reported data, and administrative data. The reversal is due to a shrinking gap between low-wage and median-wage workers. In contrast, the gap between top and median workers has persisted. Rising pay for low-wage workers is not mainly due to the changing composition of workers or jobs, minimum wage increases, or workplace-specific sources of inequality. Instead, it is due to broadly rising pay in low-wage occupations, which has particularly benefited workers in tightening labor markets. Rebounding postGreat Recession labor demand at the bottom offset enduring drivers of inequality.  Hence, liberal Democrats busting unions. Handy chart:

Over the last years, wages in the US have grown more strongly for low-income households (1st quartile) than for high-income households (4th quartile), thereby contributing to a decline in wage inequality. pic.twitter.com/KVfbhM7CzO  Philipp Heimberger (@heimbergecon) January 9, 2023

This does not mean, of course, that the absolute levels low-wage occupations are anything like livable or humane.

News of the Wired

I am not feeling wired today.

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Contact information for plants: Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) find out how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi and coral are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. From Katiebird:

Katiebird writes: I dont know if you can tell from this photo  This morning, we had fog down to the ground and freezing cold  32 degrees. It made the trees look like we had an ice storm but it was just frozen fog

Readers, please send me more plants!

* * *

Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the annual NC fundraiser. So if you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldnt see anywhere else, please do not hesitate to express your appreciation in tangible form. Remember, a tip jar is for tipping! Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know Im on the right track with coverage. When I get no donations for five or ten days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals:







Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated:

If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you!
We though wed give a mini-progress report on a set of filings against a series of European corporate governance train wrecks, including Bayer, Volkswagen, UBS and Credit Suisse via the latest filing, that of a New York state court appeal in Ezrasons on behalf of Barclays, PLC v. Rudd, et al, embedded at the end of this post. These suits aim to haul the top brass of these companies into New York court to splain themselves. The deep pockets are their D&O policies. Triggering large payouts would provide some solace to much-abused shareholders, and potentially more important, lead policy issuers to become more stringent, say by setting higher minimum conduct standards, which if violated would void the coverage.

These filings have been moving very slowly through the New York courts thanks to Covid. They are also complex, which works to the advantage of defendants, at least in lower courts. As we saw in the foreclosure crisis, judges dont like cases that make them feel stupid. These filings are all derivative lawsuits, where the plaintiff, usually a shareholder is not suing in his own name, but is petitioning the court to asset rights of the corporation that its board and executives have refused to use on behalf of shareholders. As we explained in an earlier post:

Each suit targets an epic level of value destruction, but they are not shareholder suits. They are derivative lawsuits, in which a shareholder steps in to act on behalf of a company that has been done wrong, typically by key members of its management and board. Important advisers may also be targets.

Shareholders in European companies often assume they have no recourse in the case of executive misconduct because their shareholder agreements often restrict the grounds on which shareholders can sue to pretty trivial items, like not getting dividend payments, and the courts are often unsympathetic to non-native plaintiffs.

The filing below describes the legal foundation of these cases (and also notes, despite the very clear statutory and case law basis for them, New York state lower courts appear regularly to reject derivative suits, only to get slapped down on appeal). If a company does business in New York, as a so-called foreign corporation (and foreign corporation is any non-New York business entity), it agrees to be bound by the laws of New York.

Companies like Barclays argue that home county law, for them English law, governs all shareholder-related matters. Here is the argument against that position:

Erroneously invoking the so-called internal-affairs doctrine, the lower court chose to apply English law, which confers standing to bring derivative actions only to members shareholders whose names are entered in the companys register of members. The lower court held that Plaintiff-Appellant Ezrasons, Inc. (Plaintiff), a New York based holder of Barclays common stock, lacked standing to sue under English law because Plaintifflike virtually all U.S.-based investorsowns Barclays shares in street name. In so holding, the lower court failed to apply 1319 of New Yorks Business Corporation Law (BCL), which imposes New Yorks gatekeeping rules governing shareholder derivative actions, including BCL 626, on all derivative actionswhether they involve domestic or foreign corporations. And the lower court took away the protection for investors grafted into BCL 626 by the New York Legislature: conferring standing to bring derivative actions to all holder[s] of shares  or of a beneficial interest in such shares. N.Y. BUS. CORP. LAW 626(a). The lower courts disregard of 1319 is an error. Indeed, 1319, together with other provisions in the BCL and the New York Banking Law (BL), constitute a statutory scheme (collectively, the Foreign Corporation Statutes) to apply select provisions of New York substantive law to foreign corporations (including foreign banks)as if they are incorporated in New York. On the books since 1963, this statutory scheme regulates certain discreet aspects of the internal affairs of foreign corporations that choose to conduct business in New York by mandating the application of certain BCL provisions to those foreign corporation[s] , [their] directors, officers and shareholders. N.Y. BUS. CORP. LAW 1319(a). And one such provision is BCL 626New Yorks procedure for shareholder derivative action[s] brought in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor. BUS. CORP. LAW 1319(a)(2) (quoting 626s title). This legislative intentto regulate foreign corporations doing business in New Yorkis clearly manifested in 1319s text and its bill jacket materials. The Foreign Corporation Statutes reflect the New York Legislatures judgment in balancing the interests of shareholders, management, employees, and the overriding public interest. Robert S. Stevens, New York Business Corporation Law of 1961, CORNELL L. REV., Vol. 47, Issue 2, 141, at 172 (Winter 1962). This statutory scheme operates as a window to the legal worldproviding a convenient and sophisticated legal system for the adjudication of disputes involving actors in modern world commerce, including foreign corporations, large and small. The courts are dutybound to enforce these statutory provisions and to effectuate the intent of the Legislature. See Irvine v. N.Y. Edison Co., 207 N.Y. 425, 434 (1913). Here, the Legislatures imposition of New Yorks laws on foreign corporations doing business here is particularly important in light of New Yorks statusrecognized by the courtsas the legal, commercial, and financial center of the world. See Carlyle CIM Agent, L.L.C. v. Trey Res. I, LLC, 148 A.D.3d 562, 564 (1st Dept 2017). In fact, for over a century, our appellate courts have faithfully implemented the Legislatures scheme to regulate foreign corporationsUnder this consent regime, this Court in Culligan Soft Water Co. v. Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC issued two on-point holdings that control the outcome of this appeal:  New Yorks Foreign Corporation Statutes trump the internal-affairs doctrinea common-law rule selecting as governing law the law of the place of incorporation on matters peculiar to the relationships between the corporation and its officers, directors, and shareholders; and

 as mandated by 1319, 626 governs derivative actions brought on behalf of foreign corporations in New York courts.

Hopefully you are persuaded! But there is much more on the legal argument front, for those who like that sort of thing.

Even though this filing is not designed to argue facts, it includes them for sake of completeness. The allegations are not pretty. Starting on page 19:

The verified FAC [First Amended Compliant] details how certain current and former directors and officers of Barclays (collectively, Defendants) permitted, or engaged in, a decade of wrongdoing emanating from Barclays Manhattan headquarters. E.g., R899890 (294313). The FAC alleges Defendants violated their duties as officers and directors of Barclays under 174 and 178 of the ECA, which require them to exercise reasonable skill and diligence and make them liable to Barclays for any act or omission involving negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust. R777 (91); see also R953964. Defendants misconduct led to severe punishment by the New York Attorney General (NYAG) and the NYDFS, as well as federal regulators, costing Barclays $18 billion in fines and penalties. R899 (311). The resulting carnage left Barclays stock selling for less than the price of a pack of cigarettes. The enormity of the damages to Barclays and the egregiousness of the underlying decade-long corporate miscreant require that DefendantsBarclays wayward fiduciariesbe called to account. Controlled by Defendants, however, Barclays is powerless to bring suit against them. These circumstances present a classic case for a shareholder derivative actiona form of action that has been endorsed by New York courts since the 1800s. See, e.g., Attorney-General v. Utica Ins. Co., 2 Johns. Ch. 371, 389 (N.Y. Ch. 1817) (recognizing the jurisdiction over corporations and persons who  exercise the corporate powers to hold them accountable to this court for a fraudulent breach of trust). Barclays suffered a criminal conviction, more nonprosecution agreements, censures and the ouster of two Board Chairs and CEOs at the insistence of regulators. R741742 (1820); R744746 (2226). In addition, Defendants years of misconduct emanating from Barclays New York operations resulted in massive penalties imposed by the NYAG and NYDFS, as well

as federal authorities:  August 2010: $300 million, NYAG and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Money laundering. R817819 (162163).

 June 2012: $452.5 million, DOJ. LIBOR manipulation. R823 (174).

 Mid-2013: $453 million, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Manipulation of U.S. power market. R833 (192).

 September 2014: $15 million, SEC. Systemic [c]ompliance [f]ailures. R834835 (194).

 May 2015: $2.4 billion, NYDFS. Conspiring to manipulate Forex trading. R836837 (197).

 May 2015: $710 million, DOJ. Guilty plea for Forex manipulation in New York. R837838 (198).

 May 2015: $242 million, U.S./New York Federal Reserve. Unsafe and unsound practices, deficient policies and procedures. R838839 (200).

 November 2015: $150 million, NYDFS. Forex misconduct in New York. R840 (202).

 July 2016: $105 million, SEC and NYAG. Dark-pool violations. R840841 (203).

 August 2016: $100 million, NYAG. Interest-rate manipulations. R841 (204).

 May 2018: $97 million, SEC. Overcharging clients. R843 (207).

 March 2018: $2 billion, DOJ. Fraud in sales of toxic securities. R844 (209).

 September 2019: $6 million, SEC. Violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. R848 (218).

 December 2018: $15 million, NYDFS. Unsafe banking practices. R876 (261). This litany of wrongdoing at Barclays is the result of Defendants negligence and breach of duty in New York.

The worst is that this sort of rap sheet, and attendant fines, are not unusual for large international banks. And the legal and regulatory actions have virtually no effect. The fines are paid by the companies, so in the end the shareholders. The only sort of actions that shake these miscreants a bit are restrictions on acquisitions and dividends, since they have a more lasting effect on share price and therefore executive pay.

So well keep an eye on these actions and wish for their success.
It may give him the impetus he needs to overcome opposition at home and rebuild ties with Brazils regional neighbors.

As most NC readers no doubt know by now, the state of Florida is playing host to Brazils former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who looked on from afar on Sunday as hundreds of his supporters stormed Brazils three most important government buildings. Many had been bussed in to the capital from towns and cities across the country. Some had spent weeks camping out in front of the barracks in Brasilia begging for the army to break with democracy and stage a military coup while they planned their capitol invasion.

It didnt quite work out that way: by Tuesday night, 1,500 of the demonstrators had been arrested, some of them by the army, and the camp dismantled.

Amazingly, the Bolsonaro supporters invasion of Brasilias Congress, presidential palace and supreme court building appears to have been modelled upon the failed so-called DC insurrection of Jan 6, 2020. Just as in Washington DC, thousands of demonstrators marched through the center of the capital accompanied by an incredibly laissez-faire federal police force. Once the demonstrators reached the Square of the Three Powers (Praca dos Tres Poderes), the officers guarding the three government institutions were overwhelmed with disarming ease.

But there also appear to be important differences between the insurgencies of DC and Brasilia:

The protests in Brazil targeted all three of the countrys most important government buildings, the presidential palace, Congress and the supreme court building, whereas the Jan 6 insurrection exclusively targeted the Capitol.

It being a Sunday, neither Brazils Congress nor the Supreme Court were sitting, while Brazils recently reelected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, popularly known as Lula, was out of town.

Nobody died in the storming of Brasilia, whereas in DC at least seven people lost their lives in connection with the Jan 6 attack.

It is hard to imagine any of Sundays events going down without the prior knowledge, involvement and participation of at least some of the local security forces as well as the local governor and his security chief (more on them later). After all, thousands Bolsonaro supporters were able to march five miles unimpeded to the Praca dos Tres Poderes, then enter the buildings and lay waste to their contents. As the Brazil Report notes, Brasilia was designed and built to make this sort of assault all but impossible.

How a pro-Bolsonaro mob stormed Brasilia Brasilia is a city built to avoid this sort of assault. Distances are vast and the heart of the capital is a huge open space that makes it easier for authorities to repress violent mobs pic.twitter.com/jUoiRGNqbX  The Brazilian Report (@BrazilianReport) January 9, 2023

As all this was happening, Lula was visiting Araraquara, a city in the state of Sao Paulo, to inspect flood-hit areas there. From there, his team issue a tweet laying much of the blame for the chaos in Brasilia on Bolsonaro:

[The insurrectionists] took advantage of the silence of Sunday, to do what they did. And you all know there are various statements from the former president encouraging this. And that is also his responsibility as well as that of the parties that supported him.

Aproveitaram o silencio do domingo, quando ainda estamos montando o governo, para fazer o que fizeram. E voces sabem que existem varios discursos do ex-presidente estimulando isso. E isso tambem e responsabilidade dele e dos partidos que sustentaram ele.  Lula (@LulaOficial) January 8, 2023

Lula immediately signed an emergency decree, in effect until Jan. 31, allowing the federal government to oversee security in the area instead of local officials. Within a few hours of the decrees signing, the buildings were evacuated and order was restored.

Lula also lambasted the local security forces for their role in the debacle. You will see in the images that [police officers] are guiding people on the walk to Praca dos Tres Powers, Lula said in a conference. We are going to find out who the financiers of these vandals who went to Brasilia are, and they will all pay with the force of law.

For Lula, Sundays riots could be the perfect parting gift from Bolsonaro (assuming, of course, that he actually played a direct role in the debacle, something that is reasonably safe to assume but is yet to be proven beyond doubt), for two main reasons. The first is that it gives Lula the perfect justification for cleaning house, most importantly in the civil service, judiciary and military.

1. Cleaning House

This is not going to be an easy task, given that Brazil is more polarized than ever and Bolsonaros Liberal Party (PL) managed to gain dozens of additional seats in the general elections. Together with its allies, it now holds a majority in Congress. Whats more, during his presidency Bolsonaro vastly increased the militarys role in government by appointing active-duty and reserve military officers to important civilian posts in his administration. As The Intercept reported a year ago, it is unlikely to want to give that up:

Not since the military dictatorship of 1964 to 1985 has the army enjoyed such power. The military has used Bolsonaros presidency as a vehicle to reclaim political power more subtly than in the past while also more effectively shielding itself from public resentment Military officials ascended to top appointments in government. Some of them were revealed to be at the center of the Bolsonaro administrations most brazen public corruption schemes and anti-democratic actions. So far, the military appointees have avoided prosecution, or even much scrutiny, perhaps thanks to not-so-veiled threats to Congress and members of the media.

Reining in the generals while keeping the army more or less on board is likely to be a delicate, dangerous balancing act, but a necessary one given the levels of support Bolsonaro enjoys within sections of the military. The army already played a key role in Lulas sentencing and imprisonment on corruption charges in 2018. The day before a Supreme Court ruling on Lulas case, Brazilian Army General Eduardo Villas Boas sent out a tweet that was widely interpreted, including by Amnesty International, as a threat to use military force if the court ruled in Lulas favor.

For the moment, it seems that congress, the courts and the army are closing ranks with Lula against Bolsonarism. The police have already arrested 1,500 people linked to the failed coup and dismantled the Bolsonaro supporters camp in Brasilia. On Monday evening Lula walked from Congress, to the Supreme Court to the Presidential Palace hand in hand with all 27 Brazilian governors  something that was unthinkable just a few days ago.

Also on Monday, Brazils Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes suspended for 90 days the governor of Brasilia, Ibaneis Rocha Barros Junior, who supported Bolsonaros reelection bid and is now accused of crimes against national security. According to Moraes, Rocha not only made public statements defending a free political demonstration in Brasilia, but also ignored all appeals by the authorities to carry out a security plan.

Even more damning, on Monday Jan 2, one day after Lula was sworn into office and six days before the riots, Rocha Barros appointed Bolsonaros former justice minister and close confidant, Anderson Torres, as head of public security for the Federal District. On Sunday afternoon, Rocha Barros dismissed him, just before he himself was ousted.

But Torres wasnt even in Brazil at that point, having flown to Florida two days before the riots. According to the newspaper, O Estado de S. Paulo, Torres traveled to Orlando, where Bolsonaro is.

Brazilian federal prosecutors have asked the Supreme Court to issue an arrest warrant for him and other public agents responsible for acts and omissions leading to the breach.

As for Bolsonaro himself, he denies any involvement in inciting or organizing the riots. In a statement cited by the Wall Street Journal, he mildly denounced the riots while comparing them to left-wing protests that occurred across Brazil in 2013 and 2017:

Peaceful demonstrations, within the law, are part of democracy. However, vandalism and the invasion of public buildings like todays acts, and like those practised by the left in 2013 and 2017, are an exception.

But Bolsonaros case is hardly helped by his own words and actions. spent the past two years lauding the achievements of Brazils dictatorship while expressing a desire for greater involvement of the armed forces in election oversight. In the long lead-up to Brazils tightly contested general election, in October, Bolsonaro repeatedly threatened to outright ignore the results if they didnt go his way. Which they didnt.

In a press conference on July 2, 2021, Bolsonaro declared:

I am giving advance warning to the judges of the Supreme Court. I will give the presidential sash to whoever beats me at the polls fairly, but not with fraud.

And that is exactly what happened. On December 31, 2022, just two days before he was meant to hand over the presidential sash to Lula, Bolsonaro boarded a plane for Florida. And he is unlikely to return any time soon.

After losing the election by the slimmest of margins, Bolsonaro had every reason to want to get out of dodge, at least while Lula is in charge. He faces multiple criminal investigations, including into the systematic destruction of the Amazon under his watch and his governments deadly mismanagement of the pandemic. The latter inquiry has already unearthed evidence of serious irregularities, including allegations that senior officials were taking bribes to purchase overpriced doses of an Indian-made vaccine, Covaxin.

It certainly seems curious that not only did the pro-Bolsonaro rioters destroy valuable artwork in the Planalto Palace; they also appear to have swiped hard drives, documents, and weapons from offices within the palace.

2) Bringing Latin America Together

The invasion of the capital has also, however briefly, united almost all of the governments of Latin America against right-wing authoritarianism. Just about every head of state in the region, with the notable exception, I believe, of El Salvadors Nayib Bukele and Guatemalas Alejandro Giammattei, has expressed support for Lulas government and condemnation of the events of Sunday, Jan 8. They include the heads of state of Uruguay, Ecuador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. Again, this would have been unthinkable just a few days ago.

The reason why this is important is that one of the key foreign policy goals of Lulas new government is to open a new chapter of regional cooperation and integration in Latin America  something that has been tried many times before and largely failed.

One of Lulas first actions since taking office was to confirm the return of Brazil to CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), an intergovernmental mechanism for dialogue and political agreements. It was set up in Caracas in 2011 with the implicit goal of deepening Latin American integration and reducing the influence of the United States on the politics and economics of Latin America. Lula will officially ratify his decision to rejoin at CELACs seventh summit, to be held in Buenos Aires on Jan 24.

As readers may recall, Mexicos President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (aka AMLO) proposed using CELAC as a vehicle to create in Latin America something similar to the European Economic Community, the six-member economic association formed in 1957 that would eventually evolve into todays 27-member European Union. But he also emphasised the need to respect national sovereignty and adhere to non-interventionist and pro-development policies as well as ensure that any resulting structure is in accordance with our history, our reality, and our identities.

In his speech at the sixth CELAC summit, held in September 2021, AMLO reiterated his hopes that CELAC would eventually supplant the widely reviled Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS) as the main institution for intra-regional relations. He also invited Mexicos North American trade partners, the US and Canada, to join. Both are already observer states, as too is China.

However, as I noted at the time, its virtually impossible to even imagine senior representatives of the US and Canadian governments sitting around a table with leaders of countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, let alone debating regional policy with them. Lest we forget, just last summer the Biden Administration scored a major diplomatic own goal by refusing to invite the same three countries to the 9th Summit of the Americas, in Los Angeles, which resulted in a number of other heads of state refusing to attend.

Now, the Biden administration will have to contend with the diplomatic blowback from the arrival of Bolsonaro and his lackey Torres in Florida just days before Sundays insurrection. A number of members of the progressive caucus, including AOC, have already called for Bolsonaro not be allowed refuge on US soil.

This places the Biden administration in a bit of a bind, since the US has always served as a refuge for US-aligned heads of state and coup plotters in Latin America. Plus, lest we forget, the US Justice Department had an important hand in the now-disgraced Operation Car Wash in Brazil, which led to the downfall of Dilma Rousseffs government, the imprisonment of Lula just as he was preparing to run for office again, and the eventual election of Bolsonaro.

More Criticism of OAS

Speaking at an event yesterday, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard heaped further opprobrium on the OAS: [It] is a disaster. And Im not talking about [Luis] Almagro  secretary general of the OAS  hes worse, but the OAS is a disaster.

As I noted in my last article about CELAC, in September 2021, bringing Latin America and the Caribbean together is likely to be a gargantuan, perhaps impossible, task:

Since the Bolivarian wars of independence in the early eighteen hundreds Latin Americas disparate nation states have been wracked by division, due to political ideology, territorial disputes and, most of all, colonial interference. Recent attempts at integration, such as the Pink Tide-inspired initiatives of the early 2000s  ALBA and UNASUR  ended up achieving little, while the US-backed proposals of the 2010s, such as the Pacific Alliance, the Lima Group, and PROSUR, have fallen flat The governments of Peru, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba fully support AMLOs proposal of sidelining OAS. But not everyone is on board. The governments of Uruguay, Ecuador, Chile and Colombia, all closely aligned with Washington, oppose the move. Further complicating matters, says [the Jacobins Kurt] Hackbarth, is the fact that any new union would have to contend with a morass of existing commitments. The ink is barely dry on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the sequel to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) tying Mexico to the United States and Canada (and which was supported by AMLO himself). But that is far from all. Of the twenty countries with which the United States has free-trade agreements, over half are with Latin America, including virtually all of Central America, as well as Colombia, Chile, and Peru. Several more, including Mercosur, have agreements in force or in process with the European Union.

That all being said, one of the biggest obstacles to achieving consensus was Bolsonaros decision, in 2020, to pull out of CELAC on the grounds that it promotes undemocratic countries, which was a bit rich given his well-documented contempt for democratic processes and institutions.

But now, Bolsonaro is out of the picture and his successor as Brazils president is determined to build on AMLOs vision of Latin American integration. For the first time in decades, Latin Americans two super states, Brazil and Mexico, accounting for roughly 60% of total GDP of Latin America and the Caribbean, appear to be rowing in the same direction. And the farcical coup of Jan 8 may well give Lula the impetus he needs to overcome opposition at home and rebuild ties with Brazils regional neighbors.
Yves here. Textbooks, like dictionaries, help anchor orthodox thinking and usage. Evidence that textbooks are becoming even more hesitant in discussing climate change suggests that big corporate pushback and doubt-sowing is succeeding.

By Caroline Preston, a deputy managing editor at The Hechinger Report who helps oversee K-12 and higher ed coverage. Produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education; cross posted from Undark

Evidence is mounting fast of the devastating consequences of climate change on the planet, but college textbooks arent keeping up. A study released last month found that most college biology textbooks published in the 2010s contained less content on climate change than textbooks from the previous decade, and gave shrinking attention to possible solutions to the global crisis.

The study, conducted by researchers with North Carolina State University, was based on an analysis of 57 college introductory biology textbooks published between 1970 and 2019. The researchers found that coverage of climate change increased over the decades, to a median of 52 sentences in the 2000s.

But that figure dropped in the 2010s, to a median of 45 sentences. Thats less than three pages, according to Jennifer Landin, an associate professor of biological sciences at North Carolina State University and a co-author of the study.

Its really a very small amount of content, she said. I certainly think we can go into more detail explaining the relationships between carbon, where this carbon is coming from, how it relates to fossil fuels, where fossil fuels come from. There are all these elements that we can address that I think are being glossed over.

Landin and her co-author, Rabiya Ansari, provided some hypotheses for the decline in climate change content. One reason could be political backlash: Increased media attention on the topic in the 1990s and 2000s, with the Kyoto Protocol  the international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions  U.N. climate conferences, and the film An Inconvenient Truth, led to growing controversy around climate change and rising climate denialism. Textbook publishers often try to avoid controversy in order to win approval for their books from education boards, the authors noted.

Another reason could be the expertise of textbook authors. The share of authors with backgrounds in cellular or molecular biology increased over the last decade among the books studied, whereas those specializing in ecology and science communications (who might be more likely to emphasize climate change) declined, Landin said.

The study identified other trends, too. Coverage of climate solutions dropped to just 3 percent of the total content on climate change, from a peak of about 15 percent in the 1990s. Information on climate change was increasingly left to the final pages of textbooks; in books from the 2010s, that material didnt appear until readers had made it through nearly 98 percent of the text, compared with 85 percent in books from the 1990s.

That was probably the most depressing part of this study, said Landin. If the instructors are going over the book in order, theres a good chance that that gets dropped or glossed over.

Tyler Reed, senior director of communications with the publisher McGraw Hill, whose textbooks were among those studied, wrote in an email that titles published before 2020 are now outdated and have been updated. He wrote that introductory biology classes must cover a tremendous amount of material on a range of topics, and that the company has strategies in place, including a peer review process, to ensure that its using up-to-date data on climate change.

Ansari, who helped co-author the study while an undergraduate student at North Carolina State, said she was shocked by how little space textbooks gave to climate change, although the findings were consistent with her own educational experience.

As a student attending public K-12 schools in Durham, North Carolina, in the 2010s, Ansari said her classes rarely touched on climate change. When she got to college and started talking with peers about global warming, she said, I realized we all had misinformation or we were lacking information regarding it, in terms of whats causing it and what actions we can take.

The study did identify some ways in which climate change content had improved in recent years, namely in describing the consequences of warming temperatures. Textbooks in the 70s and 80s focused primarily on describing the mechanics of the greenhouse effect, whereas books published in later decades contained significantly more information on harms such as sea level rise, risks to human health, species loss, extreme weather, and food shortages.

Landin said she was encouraged by these changes and wanted to credit textbook authors for adding information on how warming temperatures are reshaping life on Earth. But she urged publishers and authors to focus more on actionable solutions to climate change  which exist and are already helping to rewrite the most dire climate projections.

Ansari, 23, said young people, some of whom feel hopeless in the face of the climate crisis, need greater awareness of tools for alleviating it.

They are just like, Its too late, she said, referring to her peers and their parents. And I will say, No, no, theres always something we can do.

She added, But they werent given that information in their education system.
January 10, 2023: Turkey continues to maintain its military forces in Libya and thereby block efforts to hold national elections and bring an end to eleven years of civil war. The key problem is an illegal treaty signed by the Tripoli GNA government that granted Turkey some of Greeces offshore oil and natural gas rights in an area between Libya and Turkey that ignores existing, and internationally recognized, claims on that area. Turkey and Greece are both NATO members and NATO backs Greece in this matter.

In early 2020 the Turks had sent enough troops to rescue the GNA (Government of National Accord), a failed UN and Moslem Brotherhood-backed government. The GNA failed to attract a national following and by late 2019 a local military leader with a locally recruited army of trained and better disciplined soldiers was doing what UN diplomacy and threats could not. The eastern force, the LNA (Libyan National Army) has been around since 2015, when it was formed in eastern Libya and proceeded to eliminate rivals, especially Islamic radical groups, throughout the country. In early 2019 all that the GNA had left was the traditional capital (Tripoli) and the nearby (to the east) coastal city of Misrata. Both cities are dominated by dozens of rival militias, many of them seeking an Islamic government but mainly looking out for themselves.

The LNA went after Tripoli in early 2019 and slowly pushed back the desperate militias, who would lose their independence and lucrative criminal enterprises if the LNA succeeded. The UN condemned the LNA and ignored Turkey shipping in weapons and military advisors to assist the GNA. By the end of 2019 Turkey was threatening to send in combat troops and warships to blockade Libyan ports. The Turkish support violated the UN arms embargo on Libya, as does the support Russia, Egypt, the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and a few other countries have provided for the LNA. The LNA agreed to a ceasefire and national elections. The Turks and thousands of their Syrian Arab mercenaries are still there and are prepared to stay indefinitely. Egypt, for the first time in centuries, finds hostile Turkish troops next door and is not pleased.

Russia still has forces in Libya to support the LNA in eastern Libya. Russia no longer actively opposes the Turkish presence. Instead the Russian troops in Libya, which include a contingent of Wagner Group military contractors, maintain access to an airfield where transports from Russian can refuel before flying further south t0 Mali or CAR (Central African Republic) where Wagner has lucrative contracts with local governments to keep those governments in power. In CAR that includes the ability to take control of some very lucrative mining operations.

Combat in Libya has largely disappeared because of the stalemate imposed by the Turkish occupation forces.

January 5, 2023: In Egypt a conference between the two rival governments ended in an agreement to resolve differences over elections and hold those elections as soon as possible. The Tripoli faction was represented by the chairman of the High Council of State while the Tobruk faction sent the speaker of their parliament. This conference did not come up with a timeline, only that both sides would work out problems delaying national elections. Thats what everyone has been working on for over a year. The obstacle is the Turkish occupation force, which insists that its treaty with the Tripoli government over offshore water rights. Turkey needs Libya to affirm those righting so Turley has a claim on offshore petroleum and natural gas. Not what Libya produces, but potential underwater deposits in waters between Libya and Turkey. The Tripoli (GNU) government illegally signed an agreement with Turkey in order to get Turkish intervention. There is no united government of Libya so the GNU could not pledge Libya to support the Turkish claims. Greece and the UN as well as most NATO nations oppose Turkey on this issue. Turkey will protect its offshore exploration and extraction operations with its navy and air force. Turkey believes Greece wont be able to get other NATO members to assist in blocking Turkish oil and natural gas operations in the disputed waters. Both Turkey and Greece are NATO members but the NATO agreement doesnt cover a situation like this and the Turks are taking advantage of that. The UN believes this deadlock will lead to partition, with Libya becoming two nations. Each will have some of the oil but most will belong to the Tripoli faction.

January 4, 2023: The Central Bank reported that Libyan 2022 oil revenues were $22.2 billion. This is up about one percent over 2021 revenues. His oil income supports the Libyan population of seven million. About a third of the oil income goes towards salaries for 2.3 million government employees. Thats nearly all of the 2.4 million Libyans in the workforce. The rest of the oil income takes care of infrastructure and other essentials to keep Libya going. This includes hiring foreigners to do a lot of the work. There is also a lot of corruption, often at the expense of the government that only has oil income to disperse. Not all of the proceeds from oil sales reaches the government because the corruption occurs where the oil is produced and transported to seaside terminals for shipment to foreign customers. Its been that way for over fifty years. Even while the A junior army officer, Moammar Kaddafi, took over in 1969 and controlled the government, the oil revenue and most of the corruption until 2011, when there was a rebellion and he was killed. For the last 12 years everyone has been fighting over the oil income. Before the discovery of oil, Libya was a very poor country, or just a region, with far fewer people, a status it had maintained for thousands of years.

December 29, 2022: Russia appointed a new ambassador to Libya and this one will support the Tripoli government rather than the one in Tobruk. Because of the unstable situation in Tripoli the new Russian ambassador will be temporarily based in adjacent Tunisia.

December 3, 2022: In a letter to the UN, Greece officially rejected the Turkey-Libya hydrocarbon memorandum. Greece maintains the Turkish-Libyan deal encroaches on the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) demarcation agreement between Greece and Egypt and therefore violates Greeces sovereign rights. Egypt also opposes the Turkey-Libya deal. The Arab world condemns Turkish actions in Libya because it is a reminder of centuries of Turkish rule over Arabs. Turkey may have underestimated Arab hostility towards this new presence in Libya. This revives Arab memories of past Turkish treatment of Libya. The Turks first showed up there in the 1550s as the Ottoman Empire conquered the coastal towns and cities of what is now Libya. Eventually the Turks advanced inland but there was no real incentive to because south of the coast it was mainly desert and, before oil was discovered and developed in the 1960s, there was little of economic value down there. Empires have bills to pay and tend to keep their soldiers where the money is. Arabs believe the Turks are back for more plunder. From the 1550s to 1910 Libya was technically a province of the Ottoman Empire. In reality Libya was mainly run by local strongmen who were often Turks gone native. In 1911 Italy took advantage of the Turks weak control and invaded. By 1912 Italy controlled what is now Libya. The Italians sent in colonists and brought the industrial revolution to Libya. Italian rule ended in 1943 when Italy, an ally of Germany during World War II (1939-45), surrendered to the allies.
(Natural News) German Ethics Council (DE) Chair Alena Buyx said any plans to investigate the German governments policy regarding the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) is dangerous to democracy. According to Buyx, anyone who advocates a fundamental review of COVID-19 policy and demands personal and legal consequences is an enemy of democracy.

The search for the guilty is often sparked by concrete losses. This need is understandable, but insanely toxic, she said. It has a deep effect on polarizing society, and it is dangerous to democracy.

Sometimes it seems more about feelings of revenge, about atonement. A search for guilty parties driven by revenge and anger is a dangerously simple one, so no solution, it does not help at all. (Related: VP of German Parliament calls for full investigation into covid vaccine injuries and deaths.)

Buyx also touched on unrequited solidarity and lack of re-appraisal during her Die Zeit interview. She remarked that she has no problem asking for an apology for not having enough focus on the boys from the DE.

Buyx, who chairs the DE, serves to provide the needed ethical reasons to justify the German government imposing lockdowns and vaccine mandates that infringe on peoples health freedoms. She was the staunchest advocate of draconian COVID-19 protocols and even wanted to gradually escalate them. Moreover, she nodded and said nothing when the topic turned to the tyranny of the unvaccinated during a prior interview.

The DE chair has also refused to apologize to those who chose not to get injected with the COVID-19 vaccine.

Not only has the economic and mental health damage been immense, but so has the loss of life resulting from COVID-19 measures, especially the vaccines, the Daily Expose pointed out. Injuries have run into the tens of thousands. Excess mortality has skyrocketed.

Hence, its little wonder today those responsible for having promoted and enacted these damaging measures are now politically behaving like the reckless hit-and-run drunk driver who wakes up the next day, realizing something awful has happened and hopes no one will notice and it will just all go away.

No forgiveness for COVID amnesty seekers

The Expose mentioned that Buyxs remarks were similar to calls for pandemic amnesty made by Brown University professor Emily Oster.

In an Oct. 31 article published in the Atlantic magazine, Oster called for people to put these fights aside and declare a pandemic amnesty. She continued: Dwelling on the mistakes of history can lead to a repetitive doom loop as well. Lets acknowledge that we made complicated choices in the face of deep uncertainty, and then try to work together to build back and move forward.

Osters call was met with derision and disagreement.

The article is about as pathetically transparent as it is self-serving, wrote attorney and author Michael Senger in a Nov. 1 piece on his Substack.

No, you dont get to advocate policies that do extraordinary harm to others against their wishes, then say We didnt know any better at the time. Ignorance doesnt work as an excuse when the policies involved abrogating your fellow citizens rights under an indefinite state of emergency while censoring and canceling those who werent as ignorant.

Dr. Joseph Mercola, meanwhile, penned a Nov. 8 reply to Oster that equally applied to Buyx.

As the COVID-19 lies are now being exposed at exponential speed, some of those proven wrong are getting nervous. So nervous, in fact, theyre now pleading for amnesty and to just let bygones be bygones, he wrote.

There can be no amnesty for COVID-19 narrative pushers as people proven right are still being persecuted as misinformation spreaders, and illegal government censorship continues without abatement. Granting amnesty to individuals who have been wrong from Day 1, without a single apology, is an untenable proposition. The price society has paid for their errors is far too great for that.

Pandemic.news has more stories about Germanys COVID-19 response.

Watch this video about the December 2021 anti-lockdown protests in the German state of Bavaria below.

This video is from the Puretrauma357 channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Germany criminalizes anti-lockdown protests using delta variant spread as an excuse to crush liberty.

German resistance: Unvaccinated Germans stand by their decision not to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

German newspaper APOLOGIZES for pushing COVID lockdown hysteria and harming society.

Harrison Smith: Emily Osters pandemic amnesty suggestion deserves a big NO.

No amnesty for COVID narrative pushers.

Sources include:

Expose-News.com

TheAtlantic.com

MichaelPSenger.Substack.com

TakeControl.Substack.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) says Republicans and Democrats must come together in the new Congress to fight Big Tech censorship online.

(Article by Autumn Johnson republished from NewsBusters.org)

Issa joined Fox Business last week to discuss revelations from internal Twitter files that the U.S. government pressured the company to engage in one-sided censorship. Twitter owner Elon Musk announced shortly after he purchased the company that its internal files would be released in the name of transparency.

Issa echoed his message calling for an immediate investigation on Twitter. We learned from Twitter that Big Government and Big Tech conspire to limit free speech, Issa tweeted later along with a clip of the interview. Congress must now get the truth from Google, Facebook, and the rest.

We learned from Twitter that Big Government and Big Tech conspire to limit free speech. Congress must now get the truth from Google, Facebook, and the rest. pic.twitter.com/MogDKbwtp2  Rep. Darrell Issa (@repdarrellissa) January 3, 2023

Issa praised Musks decision to release the files and said Congress must take action to learn the extent of the federal governments collusion with Big Tech social media platforms, including Facebook and Google. In order to accomplish that, Issa said Republicans and Democrats need to come together in an effort to find the truth.

There has to be a representation of both parties, he said, noting that an investigation into the depths of the governments manipulation of social media platforms must take place as soon as possible.

In the interview, Issa said he was surprised that Twitter caved to government pressure to censor certain content without putting up a fight.

Issa added that Congress might have to play a game of cat and mouse to get more information from the companies as to how they complied with government directives and why.

Notably, Issa slammed Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff for pressuring Twitter to ban a journalist and called the action a violation of the First Amendment.

He has been a very successful operative for Democrats using his position heading the Intelligence Committee, Issa said in the interview.

MRC Free Speech America reported last week that Twitter denied the request, but journalist Matt Taibbi said almost everyone elses requests were granted. Twitter also received requests from state government agencies as well as officials from agencies within the federal government.

Read more at: NewsBusters.org
(Natural News) Shortly after the controversial Brazilian presidential election that saw leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, commonly referred to simply as Lula, take power from conservative President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilians flooded the streets in protest of what they strongly believe was a subversion of their democracy by the socialist leader and his allies in government, joining together in prayer and calling on the military to fix what they asserted was a leftist takeover of their nation.

(Article by Eric Simmons, MPA republished from BigLeaguePolitics.com)

These patriotic Brazilians, unwilling to see Brazil fall to convicted criminal Lulas designs for their nation, recently occupied Three Powers square in Brazils capital, filing into the buildings that house Congress and the Supreme Court, along with the presidential palace, in another round of vastly peaceful protests. The protestors, along with Bolsonaro, insist that problems with electronic voting are responsible for inaccurate results  a claim increasingly common in Western nations that handed the federal government of Brazil over to pro-China socialist Lula.

The protests reignited quickly one week after Lulas inauguration and months after citizens concerns about election fraud had been ignored by government officials, military leaders and an international community happy to see Bolsonaro  a staunch opponent of globalism and the international COVID regime  removed from his leadership position.

Those who participated in the initial nationwide protests months ago were punished economically, as has been the case in Western nations where peaceful protests were deemed inconvenient, by having their bank accounts frozen  a move condoned by the same Supreme Court that freed Lula from jail, clearing the way for his presidential run.

Watch: Massive gathering in Brazil led by President Jair Bolsonaro praying the Our Father:

In an effort to avoid being targeted by the new leftist regime taking power, President Bolsonaro was forced to flee Brazil, seeking safety in the United States, where he is reportedly staying with beloved UFC legend Jose Aldo in his Florida home.

Speaking to the nation as president during his inauguration, Lula made what most considered to be threats against members of Bolsonaros conservative government, declaring, Those who erred will answer for their errors, citing the rule of law as justification for retribution against his political opponents.

The concerns about what is happening in Brazil  the most strategically important ally the United States has in Latin America and one of the few Christian nations left in the entire world  have been voiced by pundits here in the U.S. for some time now. Chinas growing influence in the region has left Brazil as one of the last dominos in the United States sphere of influence to favor the U.S. over the ever-expanding Chinese government.

Lula himself has praised China, asserting that Brazil must align more closely with the CCP government and praised their authoritarian solutions to COVID-19.

Youll need to be signed in to your YouTube account to see the video below, as Google has marked its content as graphic footage:

Bolsonaro has distanced himself from the protests in Brazil, telling his followers that protests are a part of democracy, but that going into government buildings was crossing a line.

 Manifestacoes pacificas, na forma da lei, fazem parte da democracia. Contudo, depredacoes e invasoes de predios publicos como ocorridos no dia de hoje, assim como os praticados pela esquerda em 2013 e 2017, fogem a regra.  Jair M. Bolsonaro 2??2?? (@jairbolsonaro) January 9, 2023

The peaceful protestors are being branded as terrorists in the international media, with many having already been arrested as the protests cleared out.

Socialists in the U.S. Congress are jumping on the incident, siding with the leftist leader Lula and  in a sudden departure from their pro-refugee positions  calling for Bolsonaro to be sent back to Brazil.

I stand with @LulaOficial and Brazils democratically elected government. Domestic terrorists and fascists cannot be allowed to use Trumps playbook to undermine democracy. Bolsonaro must not be given refuge in Florida, where hes been hiding from accountability for his crimes. https://t.co/ywOCTMgRxM  Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) January 8, 2023

Nearly 2 years to the day the US Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad attempt to do the same in Brazil. We must stand in solidarity with @LulaOficials democratically elected government. ?? The US must cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida. https://t.co/rzsZl9jwZY  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 8, 2023

The future of Latin America may hang in the balance of the critical power struggle unfolding in Brazil. And, coming on the heels of January 6  a day referred to by many in the U.S. as Patriots Day  these protests are a reminder to the new Republican House that election integrity needs to be the most important issue on the agenda in order to maintain and restore confidence that electronic voting and unethical partisans are not influencing the outcomes of elections here in the U.S.

Read more at: BigLeaguePolitics.com
(Natural News) During the last 300,000 years, there have been numerous near-extinction events affecting the entire human population of the planet. But the genetic structure and capacity to develop higher functions and capabilities characteristic of humans have survived numerous catastrophes and played their crucial role in saving and rebuilding civilization.

(Article by Rhoda Wilson republished from Expose-News.com)

However, there is a new threat: genetic manipulation. The current proliferation of biotechnology, which essentially relies on artificial gene editing is unprecedented in human history. Will we survive it?

Has reckless biotechnology experimentation initiated a global extinction event?

By Dr. Guy Hatchard

During the last 300,000 years, there have been numerous near-extinction events affecting the entire human population of the planet. These include massive volcanic eruptions like Mount Toba in Indonesia (72,000 years ago) and Taupo in New Zealand (300,000 years ago). They also include tectonic events like the Alika mega slide in Hawaii (120,000 years ago). Climatic changes have also affected human populations like the onset of the late Wisconsin ice age 26,000 years ago and its ending 10,000 years ago. Meteor events have also played a role. One probably caused the younger dryas climate catastrophe 12,900 years ago. Heinrich events, whereby massive icebergs disrupt ocean currents, have also occurred many times.

Award-winning geneticist Professor David Reich of Harvard is an expert in the DNA profiles of ancient human remains. In his 2018 book Who We Are and How We Got Here, Reich explains that the genetic record of ancient humans that he has examined in the subcontinent demonstrates that in addition to global catastrophes  referred to as Adam and Eve events  local near-extinction events are more common than we previously realised. In other words, natural catastrophes of various sorts can almost wipe out whole populations which must then recover and rebuild from the surviving genetic base.

Reich also found that the particular aspects of the human genome commonly understood to support language acquisition and tool technology are far older than previously thought. They have been with the human race for at least one million years and possibly more than five million years. In other words, the genetic structure and capacity to develop higher functions and capabilities characteristic of humans have survived numerous catastrophes and played their crucial role in saving and rebuilding civilization.

In fact, the intact preservation of our shared inherited genetic structure is both the foundation of the human race and the guarantee of its survival and continuance. Even successive plagues of global illness throughout the ages such as the plague of Cyprian 250-271, the Black Death 1346-1353, and many others including infectious pandemics, whose causes are now lost in history, did not degrade our genetic structure. Our immune system, guided by our genetics, learns from them and works out how to respond to future threats to health of a similar nature.

Genetic manipulation threatens our long-term survival

With this background, we can begin to understand just how much of a threat genetic manipulation could pose to our long-term survival. Our genetic structure contains our survival toolbox, but this toolbox is like no other. All the tools are connected together in a self-interacting whole fully integrated with the fundamental laws of nature as partially described by physics, chemistry, etc. Moreover, it is an automatic toolbox, it doesnt require a technologist to open and operate it. DNA repairs and renews itself daily and reproduces its functions through successive generations. Tinker with it at your peril.

Here are some of the features of genetic structures we have described in detail in previous articles, which can be maimed by gene technology:

We know very little about how our genetic makeup and structure support consciousness, especially the higher functions that define us as humans.

Genetic edits are passed on to future generations, and mistakes spread widely and cant be recalled.

The entire functioning of our physiology and the living world around us depends on DNA. DNA is the controlling apex of a hierarchy of bio intelligence.

DNA has evolved over millions of years in tandem with a network of mutually supportive food sources which also depend on the same genetic structure.

Our DNA has no historical evolutionary context to tackle man-made, artificially designed and/or manufactured pathogens/toxins which can consequently overwhelm our immune defences and our physiological stability.

Contrary to popular conceptions, genetic evolution is not entirely random, studies have shown species evolution follows similar paths in widely separate environments. The implication of this is clear: DNA functions are not necessarily robust when edited.

The reproductive and repair capabilities of organisms can be degraded by genetic editing. There is accumulating evidence that this is the case as a result of covid-19 mRNA vaccination which modifies the way our genome expresses itself in affected cells.

Living systems defy the second law of thermodynamics, the rule that in closed systems any energy transformation results in loss  often referred to as the arrow of time. How exactly living systems manage to reverse this law is unknown. Thus the fundamentals of evolution could be put at risk by genetic modification.

The current proliferation of biotechnology, which essentially relies on artificial gene editing followed by cloning and the application of selected genetic constructs on a massive scale, is unprecedented in human history. It is completely unique. It has been entered into on the basis of a rudimentary, incomplete, and often faulty understanding of genetic functions. Crucially there is no clear reliable conception of the final outcomes.

The covid pandemic has given us a glimpse into what can go wrong and how rapidly that might happen. It is no stretch to theorise that humans might have initiated a previously unknown type of sudden extinction event in which our genetic survival toolbox has been compromised. There is now growing evidence that immune function is compromised by repeated mRNA interventions, a defect that may be passed on to future generations.

Read more at: Expose-News.com
(Natural News) Suppose youve ever wondered why the mainstream media appears to be all in with promoting climate change. In that case, part of the reason is that most people in the media are far-left sycophants, and they are all in with the authoritarianism that climate change policies usher in.

But there is a financial aspect to their allegiance as well, according to a new investigative report.

The Associated Press, one of the largest and most widely published newswire services on the planet, admitted last year that it had managed to secure $8 million to promote climate change-related stories and content. This far-reaching initiative will transform how we cover the climate story, the newswires executive editor crowed at the time.

Theres no doubt that has been the case, writes Daniel Greenfield for Frontpage Magazine:

The philanthropic quid-pro-quo saw five organizations fund the APs dedicated team of more than two dozen journalists to cover climate issues that the wire service would then plant in papers around the country to terrify Americans into supporting green taxes and subsidies. The Associated Press did not bother to explain to its readers or the newspapers that run its stories why these organizations were impelled to throw millions at it except sheer benevolence.

Nor did it explain why they might be particularly interested in convincing Americans that the climate sky is falling and that our economy must be dismantled and greened: raising energy prices and putting millions out of work.

One of those five organizations, Quadrivium, was created by James Murdoch and his wife, who left the Murdoch (of Fox and Fox News origins) family over disagreements with conservative news coverage. The organization says it hopes to reach a majority of the public in order to generate urgent action on the bipartisan passage of a US climate strategy.

The idea being pushed is called the carbon rebate plan, and it involves taxing Americans via their carbon emissions with the promise of repaying some of the money back to them. It comes from an organization called the Climate Leadership Council, whose board includes James wife, Kathryn Murdoch. The groups partners include major banks like JP Morgan, Santander, and Goldman Sachs, as well as energy companies BP, Shell, and Conoco, the latter of whom believe, for some reason, that theyll be spared from bankruptcy if they go along with the lunacy.

Media organizations like the AP begin to play their role with climate change propaganda pieces like Carbon tax plan worthy of bipartisan support. The newswires editorial board described the CLC as a group of venerable Republicans while laughably claiming that taxing Americans for the benefit of special climate interests is a quintessentially conservative plan  though conservatives and Republicans, in general, push for tax cuts and minimum government in everyones lives.

Serious journalism would ask questions or at least mention some of this in passing. The AP instead acts as a mouthpiece without even enough lingering self-respect to disclose any of that, Greenfield writes.

As for the Murdochs, they have invested in several projects that include pushing leftist climate policies, all of which empower government and companies over hapless consumers who are expected to simply go along with the scheme. Most of the convincing revolves around scaring people to death with false claims of how cattle flatulence and SUVs have put the earth on a short-term timetable to destruction. And, of course, every warning becomes more dire.

But the AP doesnt mention any of this, as Greenfield notes.

The AP is taking money from organizations heavily leveraged in green investments to promote the need for green investments. And it fails to disclose the financial interests that its funders have in promoting global warming hysteria, he writes, adding: The next time you see an AP story about climate change, you know whos paying for it.

Sources include:

FrontpageMag.com

ClimateAlarmism.news
(Natural News) Luke Erwin, a social media influencer from Australia, exposed the many problems that come with owning a Tesla, specifically a Tesla Model 3, in a TikTok video that has since gone viral.

Erwin, who has over 1.2 million followers on his Tiktok account, is best known on the social media platform for videos of giving back to people in his home country. Last month, he got a Tesla Model 3, one of the worlds top-selling electric vehicles (EVs)  he immediately regretted his purchase. (Related: Trial involving Teslas autopilot could decide if tech or driver is responsible for fatal crashes.)

One of the main flaws Erwin pointed out is that the inside of the vehicle can get boiling hot because of the sun shining directly into the car through the cars glass roof. He said the roof helps reduce cabin noise and makes the car feel brighter and spacious with extra headroom. Unfortunately, the glass roof does not open as a typical sunroof would.

Because of this, Australias hot summers feel even hotter in the car. In fact, when filming this video for his TikTok account, Erwin appeared hot and sweaty as he spoke directly to the camera.

Erwin further noted how weird it was that Tesla owners had to pay to unlock feature upgrades. He talked about how self-driving features like Smart Summon or Full Self-Driving required additional payments of between AU$5,000 to AU$10,000 ($3,441 to $6,881) to unlock.

Erwin did praise some features of the car, including its front-mounted touchscreen that helped control all of the cars features, including its Sentry Mode feature that allows owners to continuously record from cameras on all sides of the car. The car also had a wireless smartphone charging pad for mobile phones and USB-C outlets in the center console.

Difficulty of charging EVs biggest issue with Tesla Model 3

One of Erwins main concerns with the Model 3 is Teslas Superchargers, which provide Level 3 quick-charging at designated stations  but only if Tesla owners are willing to pay. Erwin was led to believe that charging a Tesla would be free and was surprised that this was not the case.

If you think the Tesla Superchargers are cheap or free, theyre actually not, he said. To charge this car would cost about $30 [$21] for 30 minutes to 100 percent.

I think my biggest disappointment was I thought that all the charging was free until I got the car and found out the Tesla Superchargers actually charge like crazy, he added.

Erwins concerns regarding charging EVs come as Tesla drivers all over Australia have been forced to wait in 90-minute queues at charging stations, especially in the states of Victoria and New South Wales, where the number of EV charging stations has not caught up with the number of electric cars that have been purchased in recent months.

There are 11 petrol stations in Wodonga, multiple outlets for every major brand, and only one place to charge EVs, which is just outside the council offices, said one resident in the city of Wodonga on the border between New South Wales and Victoria.

In a follow-up video, Erwin noted how stressful it was to plan trips because he would have to stay close to a nearby Supercharger. Id rather own a petrol car again, he said.

Learn more about electric vehicles and their deficiencies at RoboCars.news.

Watch Luke Erwins full video detailing all of the terrible things about the Tesla Model 3.

This video is from the Daily Videos channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

German police officers chase Tesla on autopilot, driver literally asleep.

Consumer Reports poll: Gas-powered cars more reliable than EVs.

Maintaining an electric vehicle has become far TOO EXPENSIVE for Canadians.

EV NIGHTMARE: Man spends 15 hours to travel 178 miles, proving EVs are unsuitable for long-distance travel.

Hurricane Ian exposes EV weakness: Lithium batteries are prone to catching fire.

Sources include:

WesternJournal.com

DailyMail.co.uk

TechTimes.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) A noted legal group has filed a lawsuit against the state of California over a law signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in September that bans physicians, under penalty of law, from discussing what liberal bureaucrats have deemed COVID-19 misinformation.

According to the language of the legislation, Assembly Bill 2098 authorizes the Medical Board of California and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California to designate the dissemination of misinformation of disinformation related to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus as unprofessional conduct. In addition, the legislation does not take into consideration the growing body of evidence demonstrating that the mRNA shots can be even minimally harmful or life-threatening.

Two physicians represented by the Liberty Justice Center filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the Medical Board of California and the Attorney General of California, according to a report from UncoverDC.

Mark McDonald, MD, a Los Angeles psychiatrist, and Jeff Barke, MD, an Orange County primary care physician, also filed papers seeking a preliminary injunction to protect their free speech rights as the case unfolds, the outlet quoted a press release from the legal group as saying. Some legal experts believe that the California legislation is a violation of the Constitutions freedom of speech clause under the First Amendment, amounting to what has been described by doctors as a giant gag order to physicians which could lead to an exodus of doctors from the Golden State.

Science is not static. By its very nature science is constantly evolving and the subject of unending debate, the Liberty Justice Center press release continued.

That was accepted in medical and academic circles prior to the politically driven reactions to COVID-19. However, over the past two years, politicians and public health officials have named themselves the arbiters of scientific consensus, the release from the legal organization continued.

Now, a new California law places even more power in the hands of bureaucrats to determine acceptable medical treatments and advice. Assembly Bill 2098, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 30, 2022, authorizes the Medical Board of California to pursue professional sanctions and even license revocation against doctors who share information about COVID-19 that challenges the scientific consensus,' it added.

The legal group further explained:

Under the terms of the new law, Assembly Bill 2098, the Medical Board is authorized to punish doctors who share misinformation with their patients, and then defines misinformation as anything that is contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus. Of course, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and other public health authorities have constantly shifted their public presentation of the scientific data. Governor Newsom himself closed schools and even outdoor spaces policies now widely acknowledged as unscientific and harmful.

Two doctors are standing up against the power grab by California bureaucrats to protect physicians free speech rights and to ensure they can advise their patients without interference.

Drs McDonald and Barke with Liberty Justice have filed this bill against CA AB2098. McDonald is the author of United States of Fear and Freedom from Fear with Dr. McCullough back-cover. These doctors are taking the correct bold step to break this grip of totalitarianism. pic.twitter.com/g8U7IEWXtu  Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH (@P_McCulloughMD) October 5, 2022

In an interview in October with KUSI, Barke called the legislation unAmerican and totalitatarianism.

The law says misinformation means false information that is contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus, contrary to the standard of care. So scientific consensus is what this bill talks about, he told the outlet.

You know, the reality is theres no such thing as scientific consensus. Unless, of course, you censor all the doctors that disagree with the government, which is exactly what theyre trying to do. Science is the opposite of consensus. Its challenging consensus, he added.

Heres hoping their lawsuit is successful  before California loses doctors it cant afford to lose.

Sources include:

UncoverDC.com

LibertyJusticeCenter.org
(Natural News) In 1994, Pfizer agreed to pay $20 million to settle claims with the federal government that the company lied to get federal approval for its mechanical heart valve, which ended up killing hundreds, possibly thousands of people.

According to the terms of the settlement, $10.75 million would go to the Department of Justice and $9.25 million to monitoring patients who received the device at Veterans Administration hospitals or pay for its removal. (Related: Pfizer has a shockingly long history of engaging in illegal activities and human experimentation.)

The mechanical heart valve in question is the Bjork-Shiley convexo-concave heart valve. Pfizer acquired the valve after acquiring Shiley Laboratories, the company that originally manufactured the valve and held the patent. From 1979 to 1986, when the valve was finally taken off the market after years of reports of fatal defects, about 86,000 Bjork-Shiley valves were implanted into patients all over the world.

By 1992, at least 300 people in the United States had been killed by the defective heart valve, which could fracture and possibly kill the recipient.

Thousands more people from all over the world would undergo reoperations to replace the valves within years following Pfizers settlement with the federal government. Dozens, possibly hundreds of these people would end up dying, either as a result of complications caused by the replacement surgery or due to defects in the valves themselves.

Pfizer paid an additional $215 million to 51,000 recipients of Bjork-Shiley valve

Pfizers deal with the government was strongly criticized by consumer rights activists, who urged government officials to bring criminal charges against the Big Pharma company. They also tried to lobby the government for steeper penalties against the multibillion-dollar corporation.

While these efforts were unsuccessful, it should be noted that Pfizer did not just pay $20 million. In 1992, two years before Pfizer reached a settlement with the federal government, a federal judge in Cincinnati sided with about 51,000 recipients of the defective heart valve who had come together to levy a class-action lawsuit against the Big Pharma company.

Pfizer made an offer to pay $215 million in the settlement, in addition to other benefits. Despite pleas from many of the lawyers in the class action suit, the judge agreed to the settlement.

According to the terms of the settlement, $75 million would be set aside for research into better techniques for identifying which heart valve recipients are at greater risk of experiencing fractures. Between $90 million to $140 million of the payout would go to heart valve recipients for medical or psychological consultations as well as compensation to the patients and their spouses.

This works out to paying between $2,500 to $4,000 per patient. In todays dollars, this would amount to $5,310 to $8,496 per patient. Ross, who was 68 in 1992, noted that the offer of up to $4,000 was just a drop in the bucket for Pfizer.

You never know what is going to happen, she said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. You try to make the best of it, but you are always living in fear. I feel so violated to think that they could put something in my chest that wasnt perfect.

Learn more about Pfizer and other Big Pharma companies and their illicit activities at BigPharmaNews.com.

Watch this clip from InfoWars featuring Dr. Robert Malone, the inventor of mRNA technology, talking about Pfizers long criminal record.

This video is from the channel Towards The Light on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Following release of Pfizers latest booster COVID shots, excess deaths in Japan are up 400%.

Look whos talking: Skeptics of COVID-19 vaccine safety branded criminals by nefarious Pfizer CEO.

THREAD #PfizerFiles  the true history of Pfizers repeated criminal behavior and destruction of human lives.

Albert Bourla, Pfizers CEO, found guilty of making disgracefully misleading statements about child vaccination.

Pfizer trial data reveal that vaccinated people are 400% more likely to die from fatal cardiac arrest.

Sources include:

NYTimes.com

PubMed.NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

LATimes.com

AHAJournals.org

Kanekoa.Substack.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) It should be no surprise to anyone who pays attention to such foreign developments that China is, at some point, going to invade democratic Taiwan because the Chicom tyrants who run the mainland believe, for some reason, that the island democracy is part of greater China, though nothing could be further from the truth.

The latest evidence for this came in the form of massive military exercises involving fighter and bomber aircraft as well as dozens of warships, according to reports on Sunday.

Chinese state-owned media Global Times posted on Twitter: BREAKING: PLA Eastern Theater Command held cross-service joint alert patrol & combat drills in waters, aerial areas around Taiwan island on Sunday focusing on land attack, sea assault, in a move countering collusion between external forces and TW secessionists: spokesperson.

BREAKING: PLA Eastern Theater Command held cross-service joint alert patrol & combat drills in waters, aerial areas around Taiwan island on Sunday focusing on land attack, sea assault, in a move countering collusion between external forces and TW secessionists: spokesperson pic.twitter.com/R57NQQnwo4  Global Times (@globaltimesnews) January 8, 2023

Conservative podcaster Jack Posobiec noted on Twitter: BREAKING: China just launched a massive sea and air combat exercise around Taiwan island They say their goal is to counter external forces colluding with Taiwan secessionists.'

The Post Millennial reported further:

The drills come days after Bidens National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, spoke with Steve Inskeep, host of NPRs Morning Edition, on Thursday and said that it will take hard work to avoid military conflict with China over Taiwan, a self-governed country that China claims is part of its greater domain under their one-China principle.

The one-China principle originates out of the Peoples Republic of China and states that Taiwan is part of greater China. The one-China policy is the diplomatic positioning from the US and allies that acknowledge Taiwan as technically a part of China, even while diplomatic relations exist with the internal government of Tawain, called the Republic of China.

According to CNN, which quoted Taiwans defense ministry, China sent 28 warplanes across the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Sunday as Beijing conducted its first large-scale military exercises around the island this year.

The 28 Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) planes were among 57 spotted near Taiwan, the ministry said, adding they included J-10, J-11, J-16 and Su-30 fighters, H-6 bombers, three drones and an early warning and reconnaissance aircraft, the report noted further.

In response, Taiwan scrambled its own fighters, as well as warships and activated land-based missile systems, since it is never certain what Chinas intentions really are.

The exercise focused on land strikes, sea assaults and other subjects, aiming to test the troops joint combat capability and resolutely counter the collusive and provocative acts of the external forces and the Taiwan independence separatist forces, according to a statement posted on the state-run China Military Online.

Chinas military drills came on the heels of a U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Chung-Hoon, transitioning the Taiwan Strait, the narrow waters separating the island from the mainland. The U.S. warship transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state, a US 7th Fleet statement said, adding that its route demonstrates the United States commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Chinese state media also noted that the large-scale drills came in response to the Biden regimes commitment to a potential $180 million arms deal with Taipei. The sale of vehicle-launched anti-tank munition-laying systems serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipients continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability, a US State Department statement said in a statement.

Sources include:

CNN.com

ThePostMillennial.com
(Natural News) Carey Woodruff, executive vice president of the Foundation for American Christian Education (FACE), slammed the countrys woke system that allowed the use of education as a political tool.

During her Jan. 5 appearance on the Brighteon.TV program America Unhinged, she explained to theologian and program host Dr. John Diamond how the neutral yet deceptive curriculum in the education system  especially in public schools  is taking the youth down the wrong path.

It is important for people to understand that there was an intentional effort to change how our country was run to take us away from being the freest country in the world and they used education as a political tool to accomplish that, she pointed out.

According to Woodruff, education is formative of the individual in forming Christian character, self-government and conscience to sustain the nations liberty. Thus, Americas youth needs to understand history so theyll know where the nation should go and what should be done moving forward.

It is essential that our education is putting the Bible as the foundation of all learning and that our children are understanding the sovereignty of God and all of human life. That is going to allow our young people to choose the right kind of people to put in office, who are going to protect Gods laws, who are going to honor life and who are going to do the right things, said Woodruff, whose interests include furthering the restoration of American Christian education.

We are teaching the principles of liberty, the Christian history of the Constitution and renewing the mind for teaching and learning. We also work with pastors to encourage them to use principle approach education and eliminates a lot of the confusion on making decisions based more on emotion instead of the biblical truth.

Diamond agreed with his guest, saying: Theres nothing in a public school about science, about history that is real. Its all fables and lies, especially to create good little communists and good little atheists. A guest said the other day on the show, public education is the devils youth group.' (Related: Michigan high school student sues school for suspending him for privately talking about Christian beliefs.)

Woodruff lamented that even some Christian schools are falling prey to progressive methods of education, with some teachers emerging out of college with these methods that do not produce biblical reasoning. Despite this, she expressed optimism about FACEs recent efforts.

Weve got about 42 schools that are opening in the next year and a half that we have been working with over the last two years to get established. And our vision is for teaching centers, not just K-12 schools because we do recognize that we need to be teaching the whole community.

Parents need to take responsibility for primary direction of their childrens education

Dr. Calvin Beisner, founder of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation (CASC), also joined Diamond on the program. According to its website, CASC is a network of evangelical Christian scholars  dedicated to educating the public and policymakers about Biblical earth stewardship.

Education has become a business, a racket where you pay $50,000 a year, said Beisner, agreeing with the theologians remarks about the topic of education being a money-making venture. It would be easy to sit down and record what a teacher is saying, have the book on a PDF and upload it  and thats almost like free education.

What we need is parents to be taking full responsibility for the primary direction of their childrens education, whether thats homeschooling or schooling, through your private Christian school or whatever. Then, we need to join hands with people who bring expertise in various different subjects that the parents themselves dont have.

Diamond agreed with Beisner on the issue of education being parents primary responsibility. While this can be outsourced, it is not without risks, the America Unhinged host continued.

You better be very sure who youre outsourcing that, too, because were outsourcing our education to basically the devils youth group at this point. So we need to rethink the education system.

Watch the full Jan. 5 episode of Dr. John Diamonds America Unhinged with Dr. Calvin Beisner and Carey Woodruff below. Catch new episodes of the program every weekday at 9-10 a.m., every Saturday at 8-9 a.m. and ever Sunday at 9-10 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related stories:

VA Education Department updates model policies for public schools, requires adherence to students BIOLOGICAL SEX.

VA Education Department finalizing policies to ensure transparency of sex education materials for public schools.

Disney doubles down on promoting pedophilia, wants all children GROOMED in public schools.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

FACE.net

CornwallAlliance.org
(Natural News) After much political wrangling, the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) was finally able to procure records about covid vaccines from the United Kingdoms Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency (MHRA) showing that AstraZenecas viral vector injection spreads DNA throughout recipients bodies.

The biodistribution capacity of the AstraZeneca jab, records show, includes everything from the sciatic nerves, to bone marrow, liver, lungs, and spleen. In short, the shots contents do not remain localized at the site of injection as is still being claimed.

The MHRA initially denied requests to see these records, likely because they are damning. ICAN resubmitted its request with a narrower scope and was able to obtain this much information, at least.

Nobody is really taking the AstraZeneca injection anymore anyway in the UK after it was discovered to cause blood clots. (Related: Much of Europe banned the AstraZeneca jab for the same reason.)

After one million yellow card injury reports were issued, the AstraZeneca injection was pulled entirely from the market, leaving Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) as the only other viral vector injection currently on the market.

Whilst the mRNA vaccines used RNA, protected in a lipid nanoparticle, the viral-vector vaccines encoded the genetic instructions to build the coronavirus spike protein in DNA, explains The Expose. DNA is more stable as it is double-stranded whilst RNA is only single stranded.

So, AstraZeneca took these DNA genetic instructions and placed them inside another virus  a chimpanzee adenovirus. This adenovirus had been modified so that it could enter human cells but not replicate inside them or cause disease. However, once in a human cell, it could deliver its payload  the DNA instructions.

Once that DNA makes its way into the nuclei of human cells, the encoded instructions are read and used to create messenger RNA (mRNA) before leaving and allowing other cell molecules to read it.

The best way to stay healthy is to leave your natural immune system alone

While the mRNA injections from Pfizer and Moderna leave behind potentially harmful lipid nanoparticles that just float around indefinitely, the J&J and AstraZeneca varieties leave behind an attenuated chimpanzee virus  the long-term effects of which are still unknown.

The latter two shots are more similar to the former two than many people realize, it is important to note. Despite using viral vector technology, J&J and AstraZeneca still instruct human cells to translate mRNA for the purpose of building spike proteins.

These coronavirus spike proteins are built and expressed on the outside of the human cells which then cause an immune response, The Expose explains. Antibodies are trained to recognise the spikes and killer T cells try to destroy any cells containing these new instructions.

Remember these are human cells which the vaccine is training your body to attack and kill. We are constantly growing new cells to replace destroyed ones but some, for example cardiac cells, never regrow. So, ideally you dont really want to be killing these off and training the body to attack them in the future.

If the contents of these shots really stuck around close to the injection site as claimed, any long-term damage from all this might  emphasis on the word might  remain minimal. The fact that they spread all around the body and lodge into vital organs, though, is nothing short of concerning.

Another shocking revelation from the documents was a heavily redacted discussion of two individuals who developed serious immune-mediated neurological demyelinating conditions following vaccination,' the report concludes.

The documents say that there was no evidence of a causal relationship but the adverse event was then added as an important potential risk in the vaccines risk management plan.

More related news about covid injections can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

Expose-News.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Like all wars, Russias invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago has spawned a wave of new and innovative ways to kill other human beings, as both sides adapted to standard weapons platforms and looked for ways to defeat them.

And while the use of drones as killing platforms predates the Ukraine war, uses and tactics involving the use of the devices have dramatically advanced over the past roughly 11 months.

The Associated Press reported this week that the longer the fighting lasts, the faster a long-anticipated technology trend will move, bringing about the worlds first fully autonomous fighting robots to the battlefield, inaugurating a new age of warfare.

The longer the war lasts, the more likely it becomes that drones will be used to identify, select and attack targets without help from humans, according to military analysts, combatants and artificial intelligence researchers, the AP added.

If  or rather, when  this happens, experts say it will usher in a revolution in military technology that was as monumental to warfare as was the machine gun, which actually began with the hand-cranked Gatlin guns at the end of the American Civil War (which also ushered in other advances, such as the rifled bullet, improving accuracy, and the cartridge, which signaled the end of the musket).

Already, Ukraine is employing semi-autonomous attack drones on the battlefield as well as counter-drone weapons that utilize artificial intelligence, the report added. And while Russia is also claiming to be employing AI weaponry, so far, those have yet to be confirmed. Still, there are no confirmed cases where any country has deployed a fully robotic combatant on a battlefield that has killed humans entirely on their own. But experts warn those days are coming sooner rather than later, and it could be either country that deploys them.

Many states are developing this technology, Zachary Kallenborn, a George Mason University weapons innovation analyst, told The Associated Press. Clearly, its not all that difficult.

The AP notes that liberal activists arent going to be happy:

The sense of inevitability extends to activists, who have tried for years to ban killer drones but now believe they must settle for trying to restrict the weapons offensive use.

Ukraines digital transformation minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, agrees that fully autonomous killer drones are a logical and inevitable next step in weapons development. He said Ukraine has been doing a lot of R&D in this direction.

I think that the potential for this is great in the next six months, he told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

Unfortunately, the development of autonomous systems will also come as a result of manpower shortages. Ukraine is much smaller, population-wise, than Russia, and President Vladimir Putins army is getting beaten up badly, with more than 100,000 lost thus far, according to reports, which is making the war very unpopular in his country and will complicate efforts for him to recruit enough men to refill depleted ranks.

Lt. Col. Yaroslav Honchar, a Ukrainian military officer, is a co-founder of the combat drone innovation nonprofit Aerorozvidka. In a recent interview near the front lines in the countrys east, he said human soldiers cannot make decisions and process information nearly as fast as a machine. He added that while Ukrainian military leaders and the countrys civilian leadership currently do not permit the use of fully autonomous lethal weapons, that may change in the future, especially if Russia continues targeting the countrys infrastructure and neighboring Belarus joins forces and sends troops into Ukraine as expected.

We have not crossed this line yet  and I say yet because I dont know what will happen in the future. said Honchar, whose group has led drone innovation in Ukraine, converting cheap commercial drones into highly lethal weapons.

These systems will make their debut on some Ukrainian battlefield in the not-too-distant future. Count on it.

Sources include:

APNews.com

MilitaryTech.news
(Natural News) To get them out of what he says is an abusive situation with their mother, an Ecuadorian father of two young daughters has officially changed his gender to female, effectively increasing his chances of custody success.

Since mothers hold the upper hand in Ecuadorian law, Rene Salinas Ramos, 47, figured that becoming a mother himself might help him get his two girls back  and the LGBTQ lobby is furious about it.

What Ramos is attempting to do is take advantage of a 2015 law that allows Ecuadorians to legally change their gender. By doing this, Ramos has become a woman, allowing him the same special benefits as his wife in terms of gaining custody of his children.

The laws say that the one who has the right is the woman, Ramos told La Voz del Tomebamba. As of this moment, I am female. Now Im also a mom, thats how I consider myself.

I am very sure of my sexuality. What I have sought is that I want to be a mother, so that I can also give the love and protection of a mother. Being a father in this country, Ecuador, is punished and Im only seen as a provider.

(Related: Transgenderism is also being used as a weapon to separate gender dysphoric children from loving parents who want to protect them from the Cult of LGBT.)

If you become trans for the wrong reasons, the LGBTQ cult will reject you

Diane Rodriguez, one of Ecuadors most prominent trans activists, spoke out against Ramos, deciding that he is not worthy of taking advantage of the countrys trans laws because he is not a real trans.

This mans private matter, to obtain custody of his daughters, isnt the spirit of the law, Rodriguez scoffed, deliberately failing to refer to Ramos using she and her pronouns.

The first ever trans Assembly person in Eduador, Rodriguez feels as though Ramos is not really trans enough because he decided to change genders for the specific reason to gain back custody of his children.

A judge, Rodriguez declared, will not comply with Ramos demands because it does not make sense that you have changed your gender in the identity document without being a trans person, only with the objective of taking advantage to obtain custody.

We are afraid that in the Assembly things will go backwards and they will start legislating against us, Rodriguez further complained in a statement.

In response to the various accusations being made against him, Ramos stated that his decision to become trans is not against a person, not to harm anyone, but rather to fight against this system that has stigmatized the fact of being born a man.

Rodriguez, in return, stated that she does not believe Ramos will be successful  and hopes he is not  because in her view, suddenly, natural biology is a real thing now that a real man stands to win in a case against a real woman, which apparently cannot be allowed.

The law doesnt say anything about the best interests of children, Rodriguez scoffed. I understand that in his situation, in desperation, he chose to change the gender on the identity document. But no, it wont have any effect.

Were this the other way around and Ramos ex-wife was trying to assume custody of the couples children in order to transition them, then Rodriguez and the trans lobby would probably be celebrating the effort and pushing for Ramos to be stripped of his fatherhood rights.

If you enjoyed reading this story, more like it can be found at Gender.news.

Sources for this article include:

VICE.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Physician and U.S. Army Maj. Sam Sigoloff told ReFounding America host Dr. Peter Breggin that the lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) in the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines are the true pathogen.

I think some of this may be ossification on purpose, he said during the Jan. 4 episode of Breggins program on Brighteon.TV. The spike protein is probably somewhat dangerous and pathogenic, but I believe that their true pathogen  and the weapon itself  is the LNP.

Sigoloff, a board-certified family physician, mentioned that LNPs were known as hydrocarbon chains way back in 2014. These LNPs, he explained, are basically two hydrocarbon chains connected together with phosphorus and some other complex group.

People exposed to these nanoparticles could develop disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). The LNPs also suppress the immune system and cause all sorts of problems.

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), DIC is a rare but serious condition that causes abnormal blood clotting throughout the bodys blood vessels.

The NHLBI also mentioned that DIC is usually caused by inflammation from an infection, injury or illness, adding that it is a rare complication of COVID-19. It also mentioned that severe immune reactions  such as after getting injected with the COVID-19 vaccine  can cause DIC.

Sigoloff has also warned people from taking the Novavax COVID-19 shot because it might also contain LNPs.

I would encourage you not to take it because we dont know whats in it. They say theres cholesterol in it. Well, thats how they described the lipid nanoparticles that were originally put in Pfizer and Moderna. They called it cholesterol globs.

Two ingredients in mRNA shots bypass the blood-brain barrier

According to Sigoloff, two ingredients in the mRNA vaccines  DSPC and DSPE  have both been patented to get medications through the blood-brain barrier. The two ingredients are found in the LNPs used to deliver the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to the body.

The blood-brain barrier tis he barrier between the cerebral capillary blood and the interstitial fluid of the brain. Sigoloff said: These LNPs are specifically patented to go through that. This whole idea that it was supposed to go in the arm and stay on the arm that was a lie from the start.

Moreover, he mentioned that the COVID-19 shots being safe for pregnant women was a big lie. He noted that the research study used for its approval specifically excluded pregnant and breastfeeding women. (Related: Fertility warning: 34 cases of spontaneous miscarriage and stillbirth reported after experimental mRNA vaccines.)

The Army major and physician said the mRNA and spike protein have already been found in breast milk. Thus, it is also advised to never get a partner pregnant for at least 60 days after exposure to the LNP.

Follow BiologicalWeapons.news for more stories about the COVID-19 mRNA injections.

Watch the Jan. 4 episode of ReFounding America with Dr. Peter Breggin and Maj. Sam Sigoloff below. ReFounding America airs every Wednesday at 6-7 p.m. and every Saturday at 1-2 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related stories:

ReFounding America with Peter Breggin: Dr. Jim Thorp reveals corruption surrounding COVID vaccines  Brighteon.TV.

Doug Billings asks: Are mRNA lipid nanoparticle vaccines truly safe?  Brighteon.TV.

Scientists warn that mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna are causing BLOOD CLOTS.

Josh Sigurdson: COVID-19 vaccine rollout led to biggest genocide in the history of humanity.

Molecular biologist: Human genome poisoned by mRNA vaccines can be passed on to future generations.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

NHLBI.NIH.gov
(Natural News) In an unexpected turn of events, Germany has released bombshell data showing that the likelihood of excess mortality not being a factor of the covid vaccination program  meaning the chance that all this excess death is just one big random coincidence  is one in 390,632,286,180, or basically zero.

German autopsy data shows an exceptionally high rate of highly unusual tissue inflammation inside the bodies of people who died not long after getting injected  tissue inflammation that, prior to the release of covid jabs, had never before been observed by pathologists.

The A Midwestern Doctor Substack explained, and Great Game India later reported, that the inflammation seen in the corpses was identified as the kind that leads to death. And in it was found to be none other than covid jab spike proteins  but no SARS-CoV-2 virus, most notably.

This implies that the virus itself was not a factor; the only probable source of the spike protein was the jab, the article explained. (Related: Nearly all data that governments used throughout the scamdemic to justify lockdowns and face masks was falsified.)

The most current and most definitive study on the subject, according to the article, a study that looked at 35 people who died suddenly within 20 days of getting injected, showed that 25 of them, a majority, died from causes that continue to be linked to the injections.

Five people died from myocarditis, which could have been caused by the shot, Great Game India revealed. The COVID jab was proven to be the unequivocal cause of the myocarditis that led to their deaths in three of those five cases.

German insurance data agrees: People are dying in growing numbers because of getting injected

According to A Midwestern Doctor, the results of that study are very important for convicting the vaccines if it can also be proven that a large number of unexpected deaths are occurring following vaccination  something that excess mortality data definitively shows.

German insurance provider data corroborates it as well. BKK, a German health provider covering about 10.9 million people, has reported disturbing statistical patterns as of late that point to covid jabs as the cause of excess mortality spikes.

This concerning safety signal prompted  the AfD [Alternative for Germany, a conservative political party]  to file the German equivalent of FOIA [Freedom of Information Act request] for the rest of the insurance data , A Midwestern Doctor reported.

Recently AfD obtained AOK Sachsen-Anhalts data, which once analyzed, demonstrated that many of the conditions we associate with COVID-19 injuries noticeably increased when the vaccination campaign initiated  [C]onditions which rose five-fold or more were.

Another health insurance company known as KBV, which covers 72 million Germans, likewise produced data showing substantial increases in sudden and unexpected deaths following the unleashing of covid shots.

A Midwestern Doctor performed some calculations to determine the likelihood of this all being a matter of chance. Those calculations show that there is no other logical explanation for all this excess death than the jabs, plain and simple.

Given [the] numbers, it is very difficult to argue that these events were not caused by something, he or she writes. In this regard, we are also quite fortunate that while the vaccines were rushed to the market over a period of time far too short to establish safety, that process still took a year.

Because of this lag, it is possible to refute the commonly cited argument that these changes were due to COVID-19 or the lockdowns, as these only occurred in 2020 

The latest news about covid injections and the damage they cause to human health can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

GreatGameIndia.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Pfizers unauthorized 1996 trial of an experimental meningitis drug on 200 Nigerian children still haunts the world 27 years on. According to analysts, the Nigeria case showed how foreign drug trials are often unregulated, dangerous and unreliable.

Investigative journalist @KanekoaTheGreat posted a Twitter thread of how Big Pharma has wronged humanity with its depopulation efforts in the guise of curing diseases. One tweet touched on the 1996 illegal drug trial in Nigerias Kano state, which was conducted without informing parents that their children were subjects of a medical experiment. Eleven children died and many others were left with serious injuries.

The parents of four Nigerian children who died in the drug trial were the first awardees of a $175,000 compensation in 2009 after more than a decade of legal battle against the drug company. The payout was issued after the parents submitted DNA samples to prove that the four casualties were indeed their children.

A June 2010 report by CBS News said the Trovan case may be related to the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) investigation over lack of supervision for drug trials, which was helmed by the Office of the Inspector General under the Department of Health and Human Services.

It found that the FDA looks at only one percent of trials conducted outside the U.S., with the regulator using data from these flawed trials as a basis for approving medicines taken by Americans. It also discovered that the FDA only has two people in charge of inspecting drug factories in all of China.

Moreover, the New England Journal of Medicine warned in 2009 that foreign drug trials could cause injuries to U.S. patients because foreign test subjects may have different genetic or environmental responses to drugs. It also noted that trials overseas were plagued by ethical dilemmas as they often recruit poor, uneducated patients who lack other healthcare alternatives. (Related: Fraud, negligence and criminal acts: A closer look at Pfizers scandalous history.)

Pfizers scandalous drug trial results in vaccine hesitancy in Kano

The scandalous drug trial in Kano left a bitter memory for many residents. It discouraged them from any and all kinds of vaccinations, including that for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

Since that incident of paralysis and deaths of children, I can never trust any vaccines or medicines from Europe, Abubakar Salisu, a resident of the Gwagwarwa suburb in Kano, told Premium Times in December 2022.

He refused to get the COVID-19 injection and advised anyone against getting it. According to Salisu, some of his fellow residents think Europeans are trying to initiate Africans with the vaccines. Our people believe the Europeans are on a mission to plant a device in our body through their vaccines, he said.

Aliyu Musa, a resident of the Unguwa Uku neighborhood in Kano, said many parents were left with paralyzed children as a result of being administered the experimental drug Trovan without their consent.

Im one of those yet to take the COVID-19 vaccine and it will remain like that, said Musa. My family and I will not take the vaccine because we dont trust the producers.

A taxi driver in Kano said: As long as its a vaccine or medicine from the westerners, I will not accept it. They cant be trusted. The taxi driver added that he feels personal anger because his family was directly affected by the Pfizer disaster.

Visit BigPharmaNews.com for more news about Pfizers failed drug trials.

Watch this video that discusses Pfizer paying the biggest fine for healthcare fraud in history.

This video is from the SILVIEW.media channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Pfizer to Pay Tens of Millions for Deaths of Nigerian Children in Drug Trial Experiment.

Bill Gates reportedly offered a $10 million bribe to use Nigerian children in coronavirus vaccine experiments.

Pfizer, which ran vaccine experiments on Nigerian children, gets fast track approval for its coronavirus vaccines by the FDA.

Sources include:

ThreadReaderApp.com

CBSNews.com

TheGuardian.com

PremiumTimesNG.com

Brighteon.com
According to a recent report, Texas remained at the top list of lightning events in the United States. In addition, the country recorded an increase in lightning activity in 2022.

Lightning conditions could be life-threatening. As a result, forecasts emphasized severe weather conditions with severe thunderstorms.

Experts and meteorologists observed the emergence of lightning in the United States to monitor the possible increase compared to last year.

According to AccuWeather's recent report, Vaisala Xweather looked into lightning activity and trends in different states.

The 2022 report showed that the United States recorded about 198 million lightning events in 2022, based on Vaisala Xweather's report.

In addition, the 2022 annual lightning report showed that the country's lightning events appeared normal.

The observance of lightning activities in the country is essential, especially the fatalities and the impact of hurricanes.

On the other hand, AccuWeather and the Vaisala Xweather revealed that Texas maintained at the top of recorded lightning events this year. The report explained that the 2022 emergence in Texas had only 27.7 million lightning events, unlike 41.9 million in 2021.

The report showed the top lightning count states include Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Alabama, and Missouri.

Meanwhile, the report also noted that Hurricane Ian, which had a catastrophic impact on the United States in 2022, produced about 34,000 lightning events, according to meteorologist at Vaisala Xweather Chris Vagasky.

Life-threatening situation

As mentioned, lightning events could bring risks or life-threatening situations. According to the CDC's Natural Disasters and Severe Weather Tips, knowing the lightning safety tips is essential.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service and NOAA reported that 19 people died due to lightning in the United States, adding to the increase in lightning events and lightning fatalities.

Know the weather conditions

CDC's lightning tips emphasized the importance of staying updated with the weather and severe thunderstorms. In addition, the report said it is best to reschedule your trip or outdoor activities when there is a threat of lightning, especially if there is no safe shelter to hide during lightning emergence.

Stay indoors or find the nearest shelter

If you hear the thunder roars, you must find the nearest shelter and avoid open structures. Instead, find safe places like shopping centers, offices, or homes.

It is best to return to shore immediately when you are in open water, including ponds, lakes, and rivers.

In addition, be mindful of electronic equipment, making sure your home has surge protectors. Keeping away from power lines or anything that conducts electricity would prevent risks of lightning.

Also Read: Significant Snow Could Unload in the Northeast, Midwest, Ohio Valley, and Mid-Atlantic Next Week

Remember that most storms, hurricanes or severe weather conditions could unload severe thunderstorms and lightning events.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service added that people should avoid doors and windows when thunder roars.

Staying inside a safe shelter for 30 minutes during severe thunderstorms would be the best action. In addition, being in a safe shelter would reduce the risks of being struck by lightning.

Related Article: Milder to Colder Weather Pattern to Continue Until the Weekend in Portions of Texas

For more similar, don't forget to follow Nature World News.
According to a recent news report, trains on SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line were affected after a reported water main break on the 29th, affecting the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia.

Motorists traveling to the said area should anticipate delays due to water flooding the train lines near the SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line.

According to NBC Philadelphia's recent report, the 16-inch water main was affected, resulting in water disruptions in nearby properties. Authorities immediately dispatched the Philadelphia Water Department to assist with the water disruptions and flooding.

Due to the travel delays and the train service being disrupted, the shuttle buses were deployed to help daily commuters.

On the other hand, AccuWeather explained that Philadelphia recorded one of the longest snow droughts for about 60 days.

Bay Area Storm

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service (NWS) said that the relentless storm unloading heavy rain and damaging winds would continue in portions of California.

Many residents prepared for the second round of the storm. In addition, the weather report advised that residents in the affected areas should understand a flood warning and a flood watch.

According to the NWS Bay Area, a flood watch was issued when possible flooding could occur. Meanwhile, a food warning unfolds when there the flood is about to happen or happening.

The storm in California has been the main concern for weather agencies due to potential flooding and flash floods. The storm could also blow away trees and power lines, resulting in possible power outages.

The weather forecast added that motorists and people should keep up with the weather developments.

Possible snow in the Northeast and Midwest

In addition, the weather forecast added that potential snow could unfold in portions of the Midwest and Northeast this month.

According to AccuWeather's latest forecast, rain and snow could unload this week or starting Wednesday.

The forecast added that chilly weather conditions are expected in Toronto, Detroit, Pittsburg, Syracuse, Boston, and New York.

Meanwhile, the weather starting Wednesday will be rainy in portions of Cleveland and Louisville.

Residents in Bangor and Boston could expect snow showers.

Motorists in the Northeast and Midwest should monitor the current weather conditions, especially since rains could also occur.

The weather will be seasonably cold this week in the Northeast. In addition, AccuWeather reported that wintry weather conditions could unleash from Thursday to Friday.

Also Read: Heavy Rain to Continue in Portions of California Next Week

The forecast in the midweek showed that rain could unload in Atlanta, Nashville, Washington D.C, and New York. On the other hand, Detroit, Bangor, and Montreat could expect snow.

The second week of January will have rain and heavy snow in the United States. Weather agencies monitor current weather conditions, especially on the West Coast and in California.

As the year begins, it is best that homeowners should check their homes for potential repairs in preparation for any storms. Weather reports emphasized the importance of having an emergency disaster plan for families and keeping emergency kits.

Related Article: Chilly to Freezing Weather to Unfold in Los Angeles This Week; People Advised to Avoid Prolonged Exposure to Colder Temperatures

For more similar, don't forget to follow Nature World News.
Once construction is finished, Florida wildlife officials are eager to welcome Manatees to their new rehabilitation facility. Their ongoing efforts while they wait include the sea cows' first feeding trial.

It is not simple to care for a malnourished manatee; it may need constant monitoring, such as three times a day of tube feeding, to nurse it back to health.

$3000 a Month Per Animal

According to Sandra Torres, a ZooTampa spokeswoman, the entire rehabilitation procedure can take more than a year and can cost about $3,000 per month for each animal. Even with less effort, recovery times can be months long.

Wildlife biologists assert that despite an unprecedented famine event increasing demand for further long-term care for manatees in Florida, there is ample space across the state to house the animals.

2021 Die-Off

More than 260 manatees have required rescue across the state since the die-off started in early 2021, according to the most recent information from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The majority of those rescues took place in and around Indian River Lagoon in Brevard County, on Florida's Atlantic coast, which was the die-off focal point. Manatees are unable to find a reliable food source in that area due to the loss of seagrass brought on by pollution. In the past two years, there have been over 700 animal deaths.

Terri Calleson, the leader for Florida's manatee recovery for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, estimates that there are 79 manatees currently being treated in rehabilitation centers in Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and Puerto Rico. 84% of those are discovered. Space is available for more at Florida facilities, ZooTampa, SeaWorld in Orlando, and the Jacksonville Zoo.

According to The Guardian, advocates, led by the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, assert that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) committed a serious mistake in 2017 when it downgraded the status of the enormous aquatic mammals from endangered to merely threatened, which has put the sea cows at risk.

New Rehab Center

Biologists are optimistic that they can meet demand as the threat of colder winter water to manatees grows, especially since construction on the new rehabilitation facility is soon to be completed and a large number of sea cows will soon be released. If the water is below 68 degrees Fahrenheit, the manatees can become stressed.

Calleson is positive about the current situation of Florida in terms of intensive care space given that it is winter.

All of this enables biologists to capture an extra 40 to 50 manatees, according to Calleson.

Read also: Endangered Status Petitioned for Manatees Dying by Pollution-Caused Starvation in Florida

$20 Million Fund for Manatee Care

According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida's environmental agency received a $20 million grant last year to increase the number of manatee care facilities and enhance manatee rescue and recovery efforts. According to Calleson, 25 manatees will pass away in rehabilitation centers in 2021, up from 20 last year.

The year 2021 saw a record 1,101 manatee deaths statewide, more than any other year in state history. The most recent data from the Florida Wildlife Commission show that there were nearly 800 more deaths in 2017.

Significant and widespread ecosystem restoration, the ideal solution to the issue, is still years away. However, state and federal wildlife officials decided to feed lettuce to wild manatees last winter in a unique feeding trial to help reduce the unprecedented near-term mortality.

Feeding Trial

During the three-month trial last year, from December to March, wildlife biologists removed about 100 tons of romaine and butterleaf lettuce from the Florida Power & Light Cape Canaveral Clean Energy Center in Brevard County, a popular location for manatees to enjoy the warmer unnatural power plant discharges. Approximately 35,000 pounds of lettuce have already been delivered to biologists this year, according to Thomas Van Trees, the Florida Wildlife Commission incident commander.

Van Trees said that the team is put into full operational mode, especially with the impending cold front that the region is receiving, Tampa Bay Times reports.

Related article: Manatee Family Rescued by ZooTampa After Deadliest Year for Manatees in Florida
The latest report raised concerns over the alarmingly and historic low-level water in the Great Salt Lake in Utah, urging lawmakers for urgent emergency measures that could help save the lake from megadrought.

The Great Salt Lake has been a home for marine ecosystems and benefits nearby communities.

In addition, the water from the lake is essential for agricultural supply.

Prolonged drought

However, recent reports showed that Great Salt Lake suffered from prolonged megadrought with little to no rain.

The lakebeds can be seen from afar, showing the noticeable drought.

As a result, the historically low-water levels have been the primary concern of many scientists and conservationists.

In the latest article published in CNN, the report emphasized that the Great Salt Lake needs urgent measures to save it from disappearance. Without any immediate plan, the lake could disappear in five years.

The report added that the lakebeds are being exposed due to megadrought, adding health concerns among nearby communities.

CNN explained that the dust could harm health, impacting and causing respiratory risks.

Being vital to communities and the economy, the report showed that the alarming low-water level could affect the marine ecosystem, health, and the economy dependent on the lake.

The long-term impact could have a widespread effect on the economy, noting that the Great Salt Lake has been a key for about $1.3 billion annually.

The loss from the river also shows the same number.

Reports explained that the lake lost 73% of its water due to worsening climate change.

The demand for more water can be associated with increasing temperatures or warming conditions.

In addition, the excessive water usage of the Great Salt Lake contributes to the problem.

Meanwhile, climate change is also a critical factor in the Great Salt Lake decline due to prolonged drought in the southwestern United States.

Also Read: Scientists Emphasize Protecting and Studying Forests to Fight Climate Change

Urgent measures

According to the report published in Brigham Young University's College of Life Science, the report explained that the environment and health in Utah could be impacted without immediate actions to increase water flow.

The Great Salt Lake has been key to biodiversity.

In addition, it helps to have better air quality and address water pollution. If the lake disappears, it will impact wildlife in the area. Especially it is considered a home for about 10 million migratory birds.

Urgent measures and coordination with lawmakers are crucial to save the Great Salt Lake.

Moreover, according to the report, it is essential to increase trust and coordination among farmers, communities and policymakers.

Furthermore, scientists urged the importance of million acre-feet per year helping to save and reverse the lake's decline.

The report also explained the importance of emergency conservation measures in mitigating the potential disappearance of the lake.

Meanwhile, the The Guardian reported that saving water could avert the potential collapse of the lake.

Water conservation and cost-effective use of water are essential. Therefore, the cooperation of all stakeholders is key to success in the initiative to better the lake's situation.

Related Article: Utah's Great Salt Lake Reaches at Historic Low-Level Due to Megadrought; Agricultural Water Supply in Surrounding Communities Could Suffer

For more similar stories, don't forget to follow Nature World News.
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Mary Schenk reports from Wednesday's detention hearing: FBI agents went to the girls home on Nov. 10 to interview her and she admitted being in a chat room app in which another user asked for volunteers to call in shooting threats to schools in Urbana. That user even supplied an audio recording telling willing callers what to say.
'Scott loved Vermilion County. He really tried  even though he thought a lot of them probably werent going to vote for him, he really felt a responsibility to them' Stacy Bennett tells Tom Kacich.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide, as well as hundreds of radio and TV stations. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
"Perhaps if more of our community spoke with the boldness of Dr. Cha-Jua and those like him, then being seen as radical would be normalized and not considered an anathema in our space," Bethel AME Pastor Terrance Thomas writes.
In the past two decades, researchers have made great strides in uncovering how children learn math, but little of that new knowledge has trickled down to teachers, according to a new book on math education.

The gap between research and practice is particularly unfortunate, given the current state of American students' math skills, said Nancy Krasa, co-author of How Children Learn Math: The Science of Math Learning in Research and Practice.

American children are not doing well at math. In 2019, only about one-fourth of high school seniors scored at or above the proficiency level in math. And all indications are that this has only gotten worse with the learning loss associated with the COVID-19 pandemic." Nancy Krasa, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychology, The Ohio State University

But there is a way to meet this challenge, according to Krasa, who is a licensed psychologist specializing in children with learning difficulties, including those who have trouble with mathematics.

"The scientific research on how children learn math has exploded in the past 20 years, with thousands of new studies focused on how children come to understand numbers and various other aspects of math," she said.

"The problem is that little of this work has been accessible to teachers on the front line."

Krasa said she and her co-authors, Karen Tzanetopoulos and Colleen Maas, wrote How Children Learn Math to bring the latest discoveries in math learning to teachers and parents and give them research-based ways to teach the fundamentals to young students. The book focuses on toddlerhood through the learning of fractions.

A good example of one of the new discoveries is learning spatial skills. The importance of spatial skills in early math is one of those crucial findings that hasn't made it to early education teachers, Krasa said.

Most people think of spatial skills in terms of geometry, but recent research suggests that a person's spatial skills are associated with their math skills more generally.

"That's something most teachers would have no idea about, but the results are remarkably consistent," she said.

"What is not yet entirely clear is how they are related -; why do people with good spatial skills have an easier time with math?"

One hypothesis is that humans think of numerical quantities along a mental number line, as if they existed in space. One real-life classroom application is that a physical number line in the classroom, if properly used, may help teach young children about numbers.

But research shows that children begin developing spatial skills even before they get to school. One way very young children learn spatial skills is by playing with blocks.

One study Krasa and her co-authors mention in the book found that when mothers and their 3-year-olds build with blocks together, the amount of spatial language, related gestures, and planning support the mothers provide predicts the children's math skill in first grade.

The impact of playing with blocks and its effects on spatial skills goes well beyond the early grades.

Another study found that children's preschool block-building skills predicted their high school math course selections, math grades and standardized math scores.

One implication of recent research is that children should be screened for spatial skills early in life, just as they are for reading skills, Krasa said. The good news is that "spatial skills are trainable, especially if we can identify those who need help early."

Another important finding of recent research is the importance of language in learning mathematics, she said.

"Math language is very abstract. Students may understand math concepts better with familiar terms, such as 'and' instead of 'plus', for example."

"Also, math is not separate from reading. Research has shown that children with reading disabilities, particularly dyslexia, are at a great risk for math failure."

One study found that of children who had been diagnosed with a developmental language disorder in kindergarten, 55% had serious math difficulties by the fifth grade  more than 10 times the rate found in the general population.

Despite the alarming statistics about math knowledge among American children, Krasa said working on the book has convinced her that the situation is not hopeless.

"I believe that with the proper supports, all children in the normal range of intelligence can learn math. Even with challenges like poverty, reading and language disability, weak spatial skills and attentional issues, they can learn and understand the fundamental concepts," she said.

The key is that students have to begin early, or, if they don't, they have to go back and begin with the fundamentals. Math skills and concepts that students learn in high school are built on those from elementary school  and those are built on skills learned in preschool and at home.

That means many of the problems that students face in high school find their roots in early math education.

"If we're going to get it right, we have to start from the beginning," Krasa said.

The U.S. failure in math education is not the fault of teachers, she said. They are doing the best they can given their training and the challenges they face.

"We want teachers to have the latest research on how children actually learn math so they can help turn things around. That's why we wrote this book."

The book offers activities that are easily understandable for teachers and parents, but that aren't currently being used in most classrooms, she said.

These new approaches are desperately needed.

"Clearly, something is not working in math education in this country. We could be doing much, much better," Krasa said.
The risk for poor glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes can be predicted with confidence by using machine learning methods, a new study from Finland finds. The most important factors predicting glycemic control include prior glucose levels, duration of type 2 diabetes, and the patient's existing anti-diabetic medicines.

The researchers examined glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes in North Karelia, Finland, over a period of six years. Patients' glycemic control was determined on the basis of long-term blood glucose, HbA1c. Three HbA1c trajectories were identified from the data, and based on these, patients were divided into two groups: patients with adequate glycemic control, and patients with inadequate glycemic control. Using machine learning methods, the researchers examined the association of patients' baseline characteristics, clinical- and treatment-related factors and socio-economic status with glycemic control. The baseline characteristics included more than 200 different variables.

The results showed that by using data on the duration of type 2 diabetes, prior HbA1c levels, fasting blood glucose, existing anti-diabetic medicines and their number, it is possible to reliably identify patients with a persistent risk for hyperglycemia at any point of their disease. In other words, inadequate glycemic control can be predicted from data that is routinely collected as part of diabetes monitoring and management.

The primary objective of treatment in type 2 diabetes is to maintain good glycemic control in order to prevent complications associated with the disease. According to the Finnish Current Care Guidelines for Diabetes, glycemic control should be followed up annually, making it possible to monitor the long-term trajectory of the disease. Early identification of patients with poor glycemic control is of paramount importance in order to target treatment to those in need and to intensify it at the right time. Delayed intensification of treatment increases the risk of complications, which is also reflected in higher costs of care.

The study utilized data from the electronic patient information system of the Joint Municipal Authority for North Karelia Social and Health Services, Siun sote, from registers maintained by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, as well as from Statistics Finland's open postal code database, Paavo. A total of 9,631 people with type 2 diabetes were selected for the study cohorts. The study was carried out in collaboration between the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Oulu, and it was funded by the Finnish Diabetes Association, the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland, Kuopio University Hospital (VTR funding) and the HTx project funded by the EU Horizon 2020 program (https://www.htx-h2020.eu/).
More than 90% of the world's population is projected to face increased risks from the compound impacts of extreme heat and drought, potentially widening social inequalities as well as undermining the natural world's ability to reduce CO2 emissions in the atmosphere - according to a new study today from Oxford's School of Geography.

Warming is projected to intensify these hazards ten-fold globally under the highest emission pathway, says the report published in Nature Sustainability.

In the wake of record temperatures in 2022, from London to Shanghai, continuing rising temperatures are projected around the world. When assessed together, the linked threats of heat and drought represent a significantly higher risk to society and ecosystems, than when either threat is considered independently, according to the paper, by Dr Jiabo Yin, a visiting researcher from Wuhan University and Oxford Professor Louise Slater.

These joint threats may have severe socio-economic and ecological impacts which could aggravate socio inequalities, as they are projected to have more severe impacts on poorer people and rural areas.

According to the research, 'The frequency of extreme compounding hazards is projected to intensify tenfold globally due to the combined effects of warming and decreases in terrestrial water storage, under the highest emission scenario. Over 90% of the world population and GDP is projected to be exposed to increasing compounding risks in the future climate, even under the lowest emission scenario.'

By using simulations from a large modeland a new machine-learning generated carbon budget dataset, we quantify the response of ecosystem productivity to heat and water stressors at the global scale." Dr Jiabo Yin, visiting researcher from Wuhan University

He maintains this shows the devastating impact of the compound threat on the natural world - and international economies. He says, limited water availability will hit the ability of 'carbon sinks' - natural biodiverse regions - to take in carbon emissions and emit oxygen.

Professor Slater says, 'Understanding compounding hazards in a warming Earth is essential for the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG13 that aims to combat climate change and its impacts. By combining atmospheric dynamics and hydrology, we explore the role of water and energy budgets in causing these extremes.'

According to Dr Yin, the work has wide-reaching implications across the broad fields of sustainability, including climate science, hydrology, ecology, water resources, and risk assessment.
Research led by Queen Mary University of London, King's College London and the Francis Crick Institute has identified a protein that makes melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, more aggressive by giving cancer cells the ability to change the shape of their nucleus  a characteristic which allows the cells to migrate and spread around the body.

The study, published today in Nature Cell Biology, modeled the behavior of aggressive melanoma cells that are able to change the shape of their nucleus to overcome the physical constraints that cancer cells encounter when they migrate through tissues. The study found that these aggressive melanoma cells harbored high levels of a protein called LAP1 and that increased levels of this protein were linked to poor prognosis in melanoma patients.

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that can spread to other organs in the body. Cancer spread or 'metastasis' is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. While metastasis has been extensively studied, the mechanisms by which it occurs are poorly understood. The findings from the study shed new light on a mechanism of melanoma progression and could pave the way for the development of new ways to target melanoma spread.

The study

The study was co-led by Professor Victoria Sanz-Moreno from Queen Mary's Barts Cancer Institute and Dr Jeremy Carlton from King's College London and The Francis Crick Institute, and primarily funded by Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust and Barts Charity.

In the study, the team challenged aggressive and less-aggressive melanoma cells in laboratory experiments to migrate through pores in an artificial membrane that were smaller than the size of their nucleus. The aggressive cells were from a site of metastasis in a patient with melanoma, and the less-aggressive cells were from the original or 'primary' melanoma tumor of the same patient.

To metastasise, cancer cells need to break away from the primary tumor, travel to another part of the body and start growing there. However, the dense surroundings of a tumor make this physically difficult for cancer cells.

Cells contain a large, stiff structure called the nucleus that stores the cell's genetic information, but which also restricts the ability of a cell to move through the tight gaps in the tumor's environment. For cancer cells to squeeze through these gaps, they need to make their nucleus more malleable.

Imaging conducted after the migration experiments showed that the aggressive cells were able to move through the pores more effectively than the less-aggressive ones by forming bulges at the edge of their nucleus called 'blebs'. Genetic analyses of the melanoma cells revealed that the aggressive cells that formed the blebs contained higher levels of the LAP1 protein, which sits within the membrane that surrounds the nucleus (called the nuclear envelope).

Dr Jeremy Carlton, whose laboratory is interested in understanding the dynamics of membrane-bound structures within cells, said:

"The nuclear envelope is tethered to the underlying nucleus, and our investigations show that the LAP1 protein loosens this tethering, allowing the nuclear envelope to bulge away and form blebs that make the nucleus more fluid. As a result, the cancer cells could squeeze through gaps that would normally stop them."

When the team blocked the production of the LAP1 protein in aggressive cells and re-challenged them to migrate through pores in laboratory experiments, they found that the cells were less able to form nuclear envelope blebs and less able to squeeze through these gaps.

The team also observed the same pattern of LAP1 expression in melanoma samples from patients. LAP1 levels were higher in tissue samples taken from sites of metastasis in melanoma patients compared to the levels found in primary tumors. The patients that had high levels of LAP1 in the cells around the edge of the primary tumor had more aggressive cancer and poorer outcomes, suggesting that the protein could be used to identify subpopulations of melanoma patients that may be at higher risk of aggressive disease.

Professor Sanz-Moreno, whose research group is interested in understanding how cancer cells communicate with their environment to promote their growth and spread, said:

"Melanoma is the most aggressive and deadly type of skin cancer. By combining the expertise of my laboratory with that of Dr Carlton's, we have gained new mechanistic understanding of how LAP1 contributes to melanoma progression, and have shown that LAP1 is a key regulator of melanoma aggressiveness in laboratory and patient models."

"Because LAP1 is expressed in such high levels in metastatic cells, interfering with this molecular machinery could have a big impact on cancer spread. There are currently no drugs that target LAP1 directly, so looking to the future we would like to investigate ways to target LAP1 and nuclear envelope blebbing to see if it is possible to block this mechanism of melanoma progression."

The team would like to investigate whether nuclear envelope blebbing driven by LAP1 occurs in other cells that make up and move through a tumor's environment, such as immune cells, to determine if this process in other cells helps or hinders the progression of cancer.

Dr Iain Foulkes, Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Cancer Research UK, which partly funded the study, said:

"Studies like this one are a perfect example of why Cancer Research UK is passionate about funding research that furthers our knowledge of what cancer does to the biology of our bodies, in addition to research that focuses on what's happening in the clinic.

This new understanding of how the nucleus of a melanoma cell can become more fluid to move around the body is useful for building our knowledge of how cancer works and opens up a new avenue of investigation into ways to make it harder for cancer to spread."

The first author of the study, Dr Yaiza Jung, conducted the work as part of her PhD funded by The Francis Crick Institute and King's College London.
In a recent study published in the Scientific Reports journal, researchers in Brazil assessed the association between post-acute sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (PASC) and physical inactivity.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections have wreaked havoc across the globe, resulting in critical disease outcomes and hospitalizations. Studies have highlighted the high incidence of PASC symptoms among COVID-19 survivors, which has burdened health systems worldwide. This condition is termed 'long COVID' and is described as the disease experienced by individuals having a history of suspected or confirmed COVID-19. Researchers have observed that physical inactivity is an independent risk factor associated with impaired functional status, depression and anxiety, musculoskeletal disorders, and all-cause mortality. Hence, it is essential to determine any PASC-related risk factors that COVID-19 survivors may suffer due to physical inactivity.

Study: Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 associates with physical inactivity in a cohort of COVID-19 survivors. Image Credit: Lightspring / Shutterstock

About the study

In the current study, researchers examined whether COVID-19 survivors' PASC was related to physical inactivity. The study is a part of a prospective and multi-disciplinary cohort study called the Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da USP (HCFMUSP) PASC Initiative involving COVID-19 survivors. All eligible patients were 18 years or above and hospitalized as inpatients for a minimum of 24 hours. These patients were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection between March 2020 and August 2020 and were invited for a follow-up visit from October 2020 to April 2021.

A follow-up evaluation was conducted between 6 and 11 months after hospitalization for these patients. Participants were interviewed in a semistructured manner about their sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, occupational history, and self-evaluated medical history. A battery of objective physical assessments and laboratory tests were also conducted on these patients. Physical activity was also assessed at the time of the follow-up visit via the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ) that determined the patient's physical activity in the previous seven days. The team also created an adjusted model that controlled for confounders, gender, admission to the intensive care unit, invasive mechanical ventilation required, length of hospital stay, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.

Results

The study cohort involved 749 eligible patients who attended the follow-up assessment. The cohort included 53% males aged 5613 years and 9% patients belonging to low, 50% middle, and 40% high socioeconomic classes. Almost 37% of the patients reported smoking during baseline evaluation. Furthermore, the predominance of current hypertension was 58%, type 2 diabetes was 35%, and obesity was 17%. Additionally, 55% and 37% of the patients needed intensive care and invasive mechanical ventilation. Notably, only 40% of the study cohort satisfied the physical activity recommendations.

Among patients who displayed physical inactivity, 51% reported none, 62% reported a minimum of one, 58% had between one and four, and 71% experienced five or more PASC-related symptoms. Furthermore, among physically inactive patients, 77% had dyspnea, 69% reported fatigue, 66% had severe joint/muscle pain, 66% had insomnia, 65% reported post-traumatic stress disorder, 65% exhibited memory impairments, 65% had anxiety, 62% had depression, 65% reported loss of taste, and 63% experienced loss of smell.

Multivariate-adjusted logistic regression analyses (odds ratio [(95% CI]) of the association between persistent symptoms related to COVID-19 (Severe muscle/joint pain, fatigue, post-traumatic stress, insomnia, dyspnea, memory impairments, depression, anxiety, taste loss, and smell loss) with physical inactivity (< 150 min/week of moderate-to-vigorous activity). *Unadjusted P < 0.05; # adjusted P < 0.005 (Bonferroni correction).

The adjusted model revealed that patients with one or more persistent symptoms had a higher chance of being physically inactive than those who did not suffer from any persistent symptoms. Additionally, patients with five or more persistent symptoms had a higher likelihood of being physically inactive than those with no persistent symptoms. Adjusted models also highlighted that severe joint/muscle pain, fatigue, post-traumatic stress, insomnia, and dyspnea correlated with a higher likelihood of physical inactivity. Interestingly, depression, memory impairments, anxiety, and smell and taste loss were not significantly correlated to physical activity.

Conclusion

The study findings showed that PASC was significantly associated with physical inactivity. The novel data presented here warrant further research to confirm which organ system pathologies related to COVID-19 may contribute to the incidence of physical inactivity and facilitate the early identification of recovering SARS-CoV-2-infected patients who could benefit from therapies that treat inactivity. Considering the potential effect of physical inactivity on overall mortality and morbidity, the researchers believe that the healthcare system, medical professionals, and policymakers should focus on treating COVID-19-related physical inactivity.
Most of the 30 volunteers who work at the 130-bed, for-profit East Cooper Medical Center spend their days assisting surgical patients  the scope of their duties extending far beyond those of candy stripers, baby cuddlers, and gift shop clerks.

In fact, one-third of the volunteers at the Tenet Healthcare-owned hospital are retired nurses who check people in for surgery or escort patients to a preoperative room, said Jan Ledbetter, president of the hospital's nonprofit Volunteer Services Organization. Others relay important information from hospital staffers to expectant families. "They're kept extremely busy," Ledbetter said. "We need to have four of those volunteers a day."

At hospitals across the U.S., volunteers play an integral role. So much so that when volunteers were barred from East Cooper at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, staff nurses assumed the volunteers' duties in the surgical waiting room. Like paid employees, hospital volunteers typically face mandatory vaccine requirements, background checks, and patient privacy training. And their duties often entail working in regular shifts.

At HCA Healthcare, the world's largest for-profit hospital system, volunteers includeaspiring medical providers who work in patient rooms, in labs, and in wound care units, according to the company's magazine.

Over centuries, leaning on volunteers in medicine has become so embedded in hospital culture that studies show they yield meaningful cost savings and can improve patient satisfaction  seemingly a win-win for hospital systems and the public.

Except, there's a catch.

The U.S. health system benefits from potentially more than $5 billion in free volunteer labor annually, a KHN analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Independent Sector found. Yet some labor experts argue that using hospital volunteers, particularly at for-profit institutions, provides an opportunity for facilities to run afoul of federal rules, create exploitative arrangements, and deprive employees of paid work amid a larger fight for fair wages.

The federal government instructs that any person performing a task of "consequential economic benefit" for a for-profit entity is entitled to wages and overtime pay. That means profit-generating businesses, like banks and grocery stores, must pay for labor. A Chick-fil-A franchise in North Carolina was recently found guilty of violating minimum wage laws after paying people in meal vouchers instead of wages to direct traffic, according to a Department of Labor citation.

Still, volunteer labor at for-profit hospitals is commonplace and unchecked.

"The rules are pretty clear, and yet it happens all the time," said Marcia McCormick, a lawyer who co-directs the Wefel Center for Employment Law at Saint Louis University. "It's a confusing state of affairs."

In a statement, HCA spokesperson Harlow Sumerford said coordinators oversee hospital volunteers to ensure they are participating in appropriate activities, such as greeting and assisting visitors. Tenet Health spokesperson Valerie Burrow did not respond to a question about how the company ensures that its volunteer activities comply with federal labor laws.

Ben Teicher, a spokesperson for the American Hospital Association, whose members include more than 6,000 nonprofit, for-profit, and government hospitals, did not respond to a question about whether the organization offers guidance to hospitals regarding the legal uses of volunteers.

Meanwhile, the pandemic made the importance of hospital volunteers more apparent. In March 2020, volunteer programs nationwide were largely disbanded, and the volunteers' roles were filled by staff members  or left unfilled  when hospitals closed their doors to everyone except employees, patients, and a few visitors. Volunteers were welcomed back once vaccines became widely available, but many didn't return.

"We've lost so many volunteers," said Ledbetter, who runs the volunteer group at East Cooper Medical Center. "They found something else to do."

On South Carolina's Hilton Head Island, Vicki Gorbett, president of the island's hospital auxiliary, estimated 60% of the group's volunteers who left during the pandemic haven't returned. Much larger hospital systems, some of which boast hundreds or thousands of volunteers, have been affected, too.

"We're building back from the absolute bottom," said Kelly Hedges, who manages volunteers at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Hedges was furloughed for the better part of six months when hospital volunteers were sent home in March 2020. She estimates there are about 600 volunteers at MUSC's hospital campus in Charleston now, down from 700 before the pandemic.

"During a labor crisis, this is a department you want in operation," she said.

While hospital volunteer programs reboot across the country, labor experts say using volunteers may expose some medical facilities to liability.

The Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits "employees"  defined broadly as people an employer "requires or allows" to work  from volunteering their time to for-profit private employers. The same law also requires these employees to be paid no less than the federal minimum wage.

These regulations make it "very, very difficult" for a volunteer to donate time to a for-profit hospital, explained Jenna Bedsole, an employment attorney in Birmingham, Alabama.

The right to be paid isn't waivable, McCormick said, meaning that even those volunteers who don't consider themselves employed may be entitled to compensation. However, the U.S. Department of Labor is "stretched pretty thin" and doesn't enforce the rules that apply to for-profit companies, except in extreme circumstances, she said.

She cited a court ruling in 2017 that found people who volunteered at consignment events for Rhea Lana  a for-profit company that organizes the resale of children's clothing  were employees who should be paid.

But in most cases, McCormick said, it is difficult to determine the outcome of enforcement actions against for-profit companies.

"The Department of Labor sends a letter to the putative employer warning them that it thinks the FLSA is being violated," she said, "and it may not take any other action. And it only issues news releases for big cases."

Companies are more likely to be targeted for the inappropriate use of unpaid interns, she said.

But this isn't to say that, in some cases, individuals can't donate their time in a for-profit setting. In a for-profit nursing home, the federal government has said, people may volunteer without pay if they're attending "to the comfort of nursing home residents in a manner not otherwise provided by the facility." That might include reading to a resident, for example.

One-off charitable opportunities are also possible. A choir group could host a concert in a hospital lobby without violating the law, or a community organization could serve hospital staffers an appreciation lunch.

Beyond that, for-profit "hospitals potentially expose themselves to risk of civil liability," Bedsole said, which could add up in terms of back pay due to employees, fines, and legal fees. If hospital volunteers provide essential services, there is a danger they could be held liable, she said.

Nonprofit hospitals must follow federal labor laws, too.

At the small, nonprofit Baptist Memorial Hospital-Leake in Carthage, Mississippi, the coordinator of volunteers, Michelle McCann, can't use a volunteer in any role that matches an employee's job description. She said she's also prohibited from asking a hospital employee who is off the clock to volunteer their time for a job similar to their own.

"We'd have to pay them for the hours," said McCann, national president of the Society of Healthcare Volunteer Leaders.

Nonprofit hospitals are required to provide a benefit to their communities, such as offering charity care, in exchange for their special tax status. But when it comes to making money, the differences between for-profit and nonprofit hospitals are often negligible to the casual observer, said Femida Handy, a professor of social policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

"When you go to the hospital, do you ask for the tax status?" she asked.

Sam Fankuchen, CEO of Golden, a company that develops software used to organize volunteer labor, said the pandemic hastened a change in public opinion. "Just because an organization is nonprofit, it doesn't necessarily mean they're 100% dedicated to the greater good," he said. "Some nonprofits are better run than others."

Most volunteers are simply trying to figure out how and where they can help in the best possible way, he said.

"The consideration about the tax structure is secondary," said Fankuchen, whose software is used by hospitals and other businesses. "The big picture is that hospitals exist to deliver care. I think it's reasonable that they have volunteer programs."

Jay Johnson, support services manager at Trident Medical Center in North Charleston, South Carolina, coordinates roughly 50 volunteers who contribute an estimated 133,000 hours annually to the for-profit hospital, which is owned by HCA Healthcare.

Trident's volunteers are widely beloved by the staff, he said.

"We actually had a ceremony for them when they came back" when restrictions loosened, Johnson said. Beyond that, volunteers benefit from premium parking spaces and free lunches "to really make sure they're appreciated," he said.

Trident volunteers are required to be vaccinated and undergo a background check. Then, they are assigned to the areas that best match their interests.

Breast cancer survivor Pat LoPresti for example, volunteers in Trident's Breast Care Center. Volunteering provides a sense of purpose and an opportunity to socialize, said LoPresti, a retiree who met her husband, another volunteer, while volunteering at the hospital.

"I started volunteering there because they could use me," LoPresti said. "It's such a privilege to help people in a time when they need it."
In a recent study published in Cell, researchers investigated the history of Scandinavia for the period from the Roman period (between 1.0 CE and 400.0 CE) to the present, spanning over 2,000 years.

Novel hierarchies emerged in Scandinavia during the period of migrations of individuals (400 CE to 550 CE), with social, economic, and religious power accumulated among elite individuals who profited from networking with Romans. Long-distance mercenary and trading activities improved their status and economic profiles. However, the effects of the migration of Anatolian Neolithic farmers, European Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, and early Bronze Age groups from the Steppe into Scandinavia after the Bronze Age on the genetic pool of Scandinavia have not been well-characterized.

About the study

In the present study, researchers studied the genetic history of Scandinavia over 2,000 years between the Roman Age and the current times.

Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data of 48 and 249 novel and ancient genomes, respectively, and genotypes of 16,638 modern Scandinavians, were analyzed. Assessment sites included burial sites in chambers and boats, sites such as the Kronan Swedish warship (12 persons) that sank near an island off the southeastern Swedish coast in 1676 CE, and the Sandby borg ringfort.

Individuals were categorized as belonging to five periods of time, which were: the pre-Viking period between 1.0 CE and 749.0 CE, the Viking period (between 750.0 CE and 949.0 CE), the Late Viking period (between 950.0 CE and 1099.0 CE), the Medieval period (between 1100.0 CE and 1349.0 CE), and the period after the Medieval period, between 1350.0 CE and 1850.0 CE.

The gene pools of Scandinavians were separated chronologically and geographically to infer the type and extent of events shaping it for the study period. WGS data of 64 and 13 new and previously documented individuals were generated, from which the team excluded ten individuals with autosomal coverage below 0.1 and six individuals with lesser coverage of genetically-associated individuals with the kinship of third-degree. The team estimated deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) contamination for mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) and the X chromosome.

PCA (principal component analyses) were performed based on genotypes for 168,599 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among 9,052 modern persons of 67 populations of west Eurasia. To identify genetic flow from Europe into different Scandinavian groups, three populations of modern individuals were selected as proxies for different European regions, including British-Irish individuals for western Europe, Sardinians for southern Europe, and Lithuanians for eastern (Baltic) Europe.

Further, ancient Norwegian and Swedish individuals were split sub-region-wise as the northern, central, and southern, with the island of Gotland as a distinct region. The team also investigated probable gender bias in the genetic flow into Scandinavian regions. The geographical pattern of Uralic-related ancestry among modern Scandinavian individuals was explored by calculating an f4-statistic [f4(X, Mbuti, Finnish, and Danish]. The Finns and Danes represented the northern and southern ends of the cline, respectively, and X represented 19 and 21 counties in Norway and Sweden, respectively, and Finns also represented a Uralic-origin population.

Results

A considerable increase in gene flow from multiple sources into Scandinavia was observed in the Viking period (especially in south Sweden). There was a probable female bias in inserting eastern Baltic and British-Irish origins among Scandinavians. Genetic descent from the British-Irish Isles in the study period showed long-term effects on the Scandinavian gene pool, such that modern Scandinavians showed more British-Irish descent compared to the Pre-Viking period individuals from similar regions.

The findings were concordant with the extent of Norse actions in the British-Irish islands between the eighth century and the 11th century Empire of the North Sea, including the kingdoms of Norway, England, and Denmark. British-Irish individuals who migrated to Scandinavia in the period varied from slaves who were forcibly migrated to Christian monks and missionaries who migrated voluntarily. A definitive example of British-Irish genetic flow in the late Viking period was the case of sal002, a female of British-Irish descent with high social status, who was buried in a boat in central Sweden.

The findings indicated minimal genetic flow from the British-Irish Isles into Scandinavians before the Viking period; however, the case of VK213, a Danish female of British-Irish descent, buried with no objects during the fifth century, was an exception. More individuals of eastern Baltic descent in the Viking period were identified in central Sweden and Gotland. However, a noteworthy decline of eastern Baltic origin was observed among modern Scandinavians.

The observed north-south clinal pattern of genomic variation among Scandinavians during present times was majorly due to the northwardly increasing Uralic origin present in the Viking period and perhaps even before. The Kronan warship crew members clustering with current-time Finnish exemplified the types of migratory forces for continued Uralic origin among Scandinavians.

The massive changeover within a short time could be due to the intervening genetic flow from different areas with a lesser such origin and previous limitations on reproduction based on social hierarchies stratified by origin relative to the Gaelic and Norse origins during the initial settlement generations in Iceland.

Another explanation could be that individuals of a specific origin could have been over-represented in the records concerning those who were alive in that period in that region, e.g., due to origin-associated differences in funeral customs. However, based on the evidence obtained, it seems difficult to determine the explanation that would most precisely justify region-wise reductions among individuals of eastern Baltic or British-Irish descent.

Conclusion

Overall, the study findings highlighted the impact of migration on the Scandinavian gene pool across 2000 years for the period between the Roman Age and the present. The long-term Scandinavian history appears to be characterized by genomic flow from differently-originated populations, with a profound impact of the Uralic origin in the north-south cline.
Through a three-year partnership that seeks to enhance the healthcare journey of older adults, West Health and Sharp Memorial Hospital will work together to create a new integrated geriatric care model spanning the entire health care continuum, from the emergency department and operating room to primary care.

As a central outcome of the partnership, Sharp Memorial and West Heath will create a roadmap of how their successful, age-friendly practices can be implemented across a health system and will share their techniques, lessons learned and programmatic details in a way that can be adopted by others nationwide.

In collaboration with Sharp Memorial Hospital, we're bringing together incredible advancements in geriatric care that have, until now, been largely siloed within medical specialties such as emergency medicine or surgery. By coordinating senior-friendly care across the entire health system, we'll be amplifying those advancements and helping older patients achieve the best-possible healthcare experience." Shelley Lyford, CEO and Chair of West Health

Diane Wintz, M.D., a Sharp-affiliated critical care specialist and medical director of the Trauma Program at Sharp Memorial Hospital, helped forge the alliance with West Health after observing throughout her career how older patients often struggle to recover from traumatic injuries or illnesses. These patients typically enter the healthcare system through the emergency department or for a planned operation, and some experience loss of function and independence after discharge.

"Injuries and illnesses in older patients can have immediate, permanent consequences on their independence and mobility," Dr. Wintz says. "We see the best results when there's an exceptional level of teamwork across departments and specialties. We want to see emergency teams, surgeons, pharmacists and primary care providers taking collaboration to a whole new level for our older patients."

Seeing the value of coordination among teams, Dr. Wintz already started an interdisciplinary "Generational Care" program at Sharp Memorial Hospital, under the John M. Sachs Family Center for Generational Health, which will serve as a foundation for the new partnership.

In addition to heightening medical coordination, the partnership will focus on ensuring older patients have access to aggressive, accelerated therapy sessions and are treated in a way to prevent delirium or other cognitive issues, Wintz says.

The program is just the latest chapter in a movement championed by West Health to improve healthcare for older adults. Maintaining dignity and independence are paramount, West Health's Lyford notes.

With support from West Health, all hospital emergency rooms in San Diego-;including Sharp's Emergency Departments-;have already achieved Geriatric Emergency Department accreditation by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and have committed to providing emergency care that takes into consideration the unique needs of older adults.

West Health is also a leader in the development of California's Master Plan for Aging. By joining with organizations such as Sharp, West Health can apply funding and expertise on projects that have meaningful and long-lasting impact on patient care.

"Our population is rapidly shifting; by 2030, the number of older adults in San Diego will be 80 percent higher than the decade earlier," says Tim Smith, senior vice president and CEO of Sharp Memorial Hospital. "These are valued members of our community who deserve the best-possible care. But, the needs of older patients are quite different than those of the average adult, and that's what's driving our commitment to create new and better standards of care."

Notably, Sharp expects to be the first health system in San Diego County to earn the Geriatric Surgery Verification from the American College of Surgeons, Smith says. This is in addition to Sharp's recent certification from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement as an "Age-Friendly Health System."

"West Health and Sharp Memorial are reimagining what successful system-wide care can look like for older-adult patients, and we'll share the model with the world in the hopes others will make the same transformation," Lyford says. "Already, hospital systems are seeing the positive impact of geriatric specialty care in emergency settings and operating rooms. Just think of the impact when that level of care extends throughout the entire system in an intentional and coordinated manner."
Mr Sun (fourth right) unveils Hong Kongs initiatives to attract enterprises, investment and talent to Friends of the Philippines Foundation representatives.

Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun (first right) visits a training facility under the Technical Education & Skills Development Authority.

Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun today said his three-day visit to Manila has delivered fruitful results, strengthening the collaboration with the Philippine Government on the protection of Filipino domestic helpers working in Hong Kong.

Mr Sun paid a courtesy call on Philippine Secretary of Migrant Workers Susan Ople yesterday.

He welcomed the establishment of the Department of Migrant Workers that will fully operate this year as a one-stop executive arm that will handle issues related to overseas Filipino workers.

Over the past two days, Mr Sun called on Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo, Officer-in-charge of Social Welfare & Development Department Eduardo Punay, as well as Secretary of Labour & Employment Bienvenido Laguesma.

He updated the senior officials on Hong Kong's initiatives to enhance protection of foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) employment rights and welfare, and employment agency regulation, as well as explored areas to strengthen collaboration.

Mr Sun reaffirmed the great importance Hong Kong attaches to protecting FDHs and expressed his appreciation for their contribution to Hong Kong families and society.

He also noted the full relaxation of inbound control arrangements since December 29 last year, which will enable more helpers to come to Hong Kong to work, while some working in the city can return to their home countries for a break.

This afternoon, Mr Sun and his delegation visited a training facility under the Technical Education & Skills Development Authority to take a closer look at the training of care workers in the Philippines and its scope of competencies, quality assurance and recruitment arrangements.

He then lunched with Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian today, during which he updated the ambassador on the latest labour market and economic situation in Hong Kong.

While in the Philippines, Mr Sun also met representatives of the Hongkong Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc, Friends of the Philippines Foundation and Chinese business leaders there.

Apart from updating them on the array of new measures to attract talent set out in the Chief Executives Policy Address, notably the Top Talent Pass Scheme, he stressed that he is seeking their support in publicity to attract talent to Hong Kong.
Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau (right) meets Vietnams Minister of Planning & Investment Nguyen Chi Dung in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau today continued to meet the Vietnamese political and business community to promote Hong Kong's vast business opportunities during his trip in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Noting that Hong Kong and Vietnam have enjoyed cordial relations over many years, Mr Yau said at a business forum and networking luncheon that their bilateral trade has grown significantly at an average annual growth rate of 11.8% from 2017 to 2021, and Vietnam has become Hong Kong's seventh largest trading partner.

Hong Kong has made a request to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) of which Vietnam is a member.

Mr Yau said Hong Kong's prospective membership in the RCEP will further deepen the bilateral relations between Hong Kong and Vietnam, and bring more business and investment opportunities to both places.

He also shared his insights with more than 300 guests, including government officials and representatives from the local business sector, on the latest trade and economic developments in Hong Kong, especially the new measures to attract enterprises and investments as well as Hong Kong's unique advantages under "one country, two systems".

A Hong Kong business delegation jointly organised by a number of Hong Kong chambers of commerce also attended the event.

Mr Yau added that Hong Kong's financial and professional services adhere to the best global practices and standards. He encouraged Vietnam's businesses to make use of Hong Kong's excellent services and platform to expand in the region, in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Mainland and beyond.

He then met Vietnam's Minister of Planning & Investment Nguyen Chi Dung and Minister of Science & Technology Huynh Thanh Dat to exchange views on issues of mutual interest and explore collaboration opportunities.
Chinese Food Festival highlights taste, culture in Stockholm

Xinhua) 16:53, January 10, 2023

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Food Festival was held in the Swedish capital Sunday afternoon, that featured delicious Chinese food and related food culture show to the locals.

The event, held at Berns -- the first hotel in Sweden to provide Chinese food in the 1940s -- in central Stockholm, was hosted by the China Cultural Center in Stockholm and co-organized by the Sweden Chinese Restaurant Association.

Over 200 guests, including representatives from the Swedish government, business circle and academia, tasted signature dishes such as the chrysanthemum fish, the braised pork belly (or Dong Po Rou), traditional Chinese snacks such as Tangyuan, Mahua (or fried dough twist), and Jian Bing Guozi (or Chinese crepes).

The venue was decorated with themed food sculptures, which were made of ingredients such as harps, carrots, papayas and pumpkins, symbolizing good luck, prosperity and happiness.

"Chinese food is rich in variety, which reflects the colorful life of the Chinese people and embodies the cultural connotation of 'people-oriented, conforming to nature, and aspiration for harmony'," Cui Aimin, China's ambassador to Sweden, said in his opening remarks.

"Chinese cuisine is well-known for its rich flavors and great diversity, and it's very impressive," said Susanne Andersson, chief executive officer of the state-owned marketing company Visit Sweden.

"Before the (COVID-19) pandemic, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Sweden had quadrupled in a decade," she said, adding that as China further optimized its COVID-19 response measures, "more and more Chinese tourists will come to Sweden again in the near future and enjoy Swedish food culture."

(Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun)
Agencies | Riyadh

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Saudi Arabia will not impose limits on the number of pilgrims for this year's Haj, a Saudi minister said Monday, after three years of restrictions to curb the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The number of pilgrims will return to what it was before the pandemic, without any age limit," Minister of Haj and Umrah Tawfiq Al Rabiah told reporters in Riyadh.

The pilgrimage  one of the five pillars of Islam, and which all able-bodied Muslims with the means are required to perform at least once  is scheduled for June.

In 2019, about 2.5 million people took part in the rituals. For the next two years numbers were drastically curtailed due to the pandemic.

In 2022, nearly 900,000 pilgrims, including some 780,000 from abroad, were welcomed to Makkah and Madinah.

At that time, they had to be aged under 65, as well as have a vaccination against Covid-19 and present a negative test.
Agencies | Mexico City

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Iran could be contributing to war crimes in Ukraine by providing drones to Russia, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said yesterday.

Their weapons are being used to kill civilians in Ukraine and to try to plunge cities into cold and darkness which, from our point of view, puts Iran in a place where it could potentially be contributing to widespread war crimes, Sullivan told reporters during a trip by President Joe Biden to Mexico.

The US has imposed sanctions on companies and people it accused of producing or transferring Iranian drones that Russia has used to attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

The White House said last week that the US is also considering ways to target Irans production of the unmanned weaponised aircraft through sanctions and export controls.

Death penalty

Meanwhile, Iran has sentenced to death three people accused of killing three members of the security forces during the protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, the judiciary said yesterday.

The Islamic republic has been rocked by civil unrest since the September 16 death of Kurdish Iranian Amini, 22, following her arrest for allegedly violating Irans strict dress code for women.

The latest sentences, which can still be appealed, bring to 17 the total number of people condemned to death in connection with the more than three months of protests. Four of those convicted have been executed and two others are on death row after their sentences were upheld by the countrys supreme court.
MX-30 EV sales will expand to all retailers nationally

Zircon Sand exterior paint and a new black leatherette interior option will be available on the 2023 Mazda MX-30

2023 MX-30 goes on sale in February with a starting MSRP1 of $42,650

RICHMOND HILL, ON, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ - Mazda Canada Inc. today announced the 2023 Mazda MX-30 EV will be arriving in all Canadian retail stores this spring. The MX-30 EV maintains Mazda's core values in engaging driving dynamics and distinct design to help owners create an emotional bond with the electric crossover.

2023 Mazda MX-30 EV (CNW Group/Mazda Canada Inc.)

Equipped with Mazda's e-Skyactiv technology and a 35.5 kWh lithium-ion battery, the MX-30 helps add driving enjoyment to a typical drive around the neighborhood. Designed to meet the needs of most urban residents, the MX-30 is ideal for daily commuting with a Transport Canada-estimated range of 161 kilometres on a full charge. The MX-30's modern styling is distinctly Mazda, while also bringing unique design features such as freestyle doors and a floating center console to express the openness of the vehicle. The use of cork in the interior adds warmth and pays homage to Mazda's heritage as a cork manufacturer.

MAZDA MX-30 GS

The 2023 Mazda MX-30 GS is well-equipped with many standard features that drivers and occupants will further enjoy and have peace of mind with the ownership of this electric vehicle crossover. The 8.8-inch large center display features the latest Mazda Connect system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, along with and a complimentary three-month trial of SiriusXM satellite radio.. All MX-30 models offer many i-Activsense safety features including Mazda Radar Cruise Control with Stop and Go, Blind Spot Monitoring with Rear Cross-Traffic Alert, Smart City Brake Support Front, Pedestrian Detection (forward sensing), Smart Brake Support Front, Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keep Assist, Driver Attention Alert, and High Beam Control. Every MX-30 model also includes complimentary Mazda Connected Services for two years, providing the ability for the owner to monitor and control the state of the vehicle remotely by logging into the MyMazda app, with features such as remote climate control, locking/unlocking the doors remotely, and sending directions to the Mazda Navigation system.

Drivers and occupants will appreciate the standard heated front seats, black leatherette seats with light grey fabric, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, heated steering wheel, and heated door mirrors with turn signal lamps. Additionally, the seven-inch digital gauge display, eight-way adjustable driver seat, four-way adjustable passenger seat, rearview camera with rear parking sensors, 18-inch silver finish aluminum alloy wheels, LED headlights, LED daytime running lights, LED rear combination lights, and Mazda Advanced Keyless Entry are among the many standard features. MX-30 GS is available in Arctic White, Jet Black Mica, Machine Grey Metallic or Polymetal Grey Metallic as single-tone exterior paint options.

MAZDA MX-30 GT

The 2023 Mazda MX-30 GT enhances the experience inside the vehicle with Bose 12-speaker premium audio, 360 View Monitor with front parking sensors, auto-dimming rearview mirror with HomeLink wireless control system, power moonroof, 10-way power driver's seat with power lumbar support, memory driver's seat, and a conventional power outlet socket for convenient device plug-in or charging. Outside of the vehicle, additional features include front wiper de-icer, Adaptive Front-lighting System, auto levelling headlights, exterior mirrors with reverse tilt-down function, exterior mirrors linked with memory seat function, auto-dimming driver's side exterior mirror, and signature lighting on taillights.

The additional i-Activsense safety features with this package include Smart Brake Support Rear & and Smart Brake Support Rear Crossing, pedestrian detection (rear sensing), Traffic Jam Assist, Emergency Lane Keeping with Road Keep Assist, and Emergency Lane Keeping with Blind Spot Assist, which enhances Blind Spot Monitoring by providing steering assist to help keep the vehicle in its own lane if the driver attempts to change lanes while another vehicle is detected in the blind spot. When travelling at speeds below 10 km/h (6 mph), Front Cross Traffic Alert produces an audible and visual alert on the instrument panel to help warn the driver when the front sensors detect vehicles approaching from the front left or right side of the vehicle at speeds above 5 km/h (3 mph)2.

The 18-inch aluminum alloy wheels are finished with a bright silver color. Black leatherette seats with dark grey cloth are standard, while two other options are available in either Pure White with light grey fabric or Vintage Brown with dark grey fabric, with all options featuring fabric using 20% recycled threads. Standard colours for MX-30 GT are single-tone Arctic White, Jet Black Mica, Machine Grey Metallic or Polymetal Grey Metallic, while premium multi-tone paint options are available in Ceramic Metallic, Soul Red Crystal Metallic, or Zircon Sand Metallic, each featuring the roof painted Brilliant Black.

MSRP3 FOR THE 2023 MX-30 EV IS AS FOLLOWS:

MX-30 GS $42,650 MX-30 GT $47,650

Premium Colour Options:

Single-tone Polymetal Grey Metallic $250 Single-tone Machine Grey Metallic $350 Multi-tone Zircon Sand Metallic $500 Multi-tone Soul Red Crystal Metallic $700 Multi-tone Ceramic Metallic $700 Pure White / Light Grey interior $200 Vintage Brown / Dark Grey interior $200

Mazda Canada Inc. is responsible for the sales and marketing, customer service and parts support of Mazda vehicles in Canada. Headquartered in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Mazda Canada has a nationwide network of 163 retail stores. For additional information visit Mazda Canada's media website at www.media.mazda.ca.

Follow Mazda Canada's social media channels through Twitter and Instagram at @MazdaCanada and Facebook at Facebook.com/MazdaCanada.

___________________________________ 1 MSRP does not include $1,995 for freight & PDE, taxes, title or additional fees. Retailers set actual sale prices. 2 Front Cross Traffic Alert warns you to the danger of vehicles approaching from your front sides when you begin to pull away from a stop. It is not a substitute for safe and attentive driving. There are limitations to the range and detection of the system. Please see your Owner's Manual for further details. 3 MSRP does not include $1,995 for freight & PDE, taxes, title or additional fees. Retailers set actual sale prices.

SOURCE Mazda Canada Inc.

For further information: Chuck Reimer, Mazda Canada Inc., [email protected]; Sandra Lemaitre, Mazda Canada Inc., [email protected]
KASLO, BC, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, Brittny Anderson, MLA for Nelson-Creston, Johnny Strilaeff, President and CEO of Columbia Basin Trust, Suzan Hewat, Mayor of Kaslo and Erika Bird, Chair of the Kaslo Housing Society, announced details of a joint investment of more than $2.4 million to support the construction of 10 affordable homes in Kaslo.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) (CNW Group/Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation)

The Penny Lane apartment building, currently under construction, is located conveniently at 334 A Ave, close to the downtown area with easy access to amenities. This three-storey building has been designed to reflect the heritage neighbourhood, and will include 10 affordable homes for single-parent families, seniors, individuals with low-to-moderate incomes, and individuals living with disabilities. Each unit will include laundry and storage facilities, and there will be two fully accessible units on the ground floor. The building will also incorporate solar renewable energy generation, fibre optic cable installation, and construction training opportunities.

Funding provided for this project includes:

$686,000 from the federal government through the National Housing Co-investment Fund (NHCF) and $21,000 in seed funding;

from the federal government through the National Housing Co-investment Fund (NHCF) and in seed funding; $1.05 million from the provincial government through the Community Housing Fund and approximately $93,000 per year in operating funds;

from the provincial government through the Community Housing Fund and approximately per year in operating funds; $304,500 from the Columbia Basin Trust;

from the Columbia Basin Trust; $324,000 from the Village of Kaslo in land equity; and

from the in land equity; and $108,000 from the Kaslo Housing Society.

Quotes:

"Everyone deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. That is why our government is pleased to provide funding to support the creation of these 10 new affordable homes for families, seniors and those living with disabilities. By working with our partners to invest in affordable housing, like right here in Kaslo, we are providing more Canadians access to quality and affordable homes in thriving communities. This is another example of our government's National Housing Strategy at work."  The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion

"I'm grateful to see the federal government partner with us on the first-ever BC Housing funded development in Kaslo. Our government will continue to explore opportunities and partnerships to deliver housing in small and rural communities."  Brittny Anderson, MLA for Nelson-Creston

"We continue to hear from residents and communities that affordable housing is a priority in the Columbia Basin region. These 10 new units will increase the housing options in Kaslo and include solar renewable energy generation, fibre optic cable installation, and provide construction training opportunities. Thank you to all the partners involved, and especially the efforts of Kaslo Housing Society, as they have been working hard for many years towards this important project."  Johnny Strilaeff, Columbia Basin Trust President and Chief Executive Officer.

"The Village of Kaslo Council and staff were pleased to work with the Housing Society to support this much needed housing project for our community. Together we identified the site, an under-utilized Village property located in the heart of the community, which allowed the project to advance quickly. This was a great example of what can be accomplished with hard work, determination, and wonderful partners. We are proud to have played a role in the Penny Lane housing project and I think the residents of these new housing units will be happy to have a place to call home!"  Suzan Hewat, Mayor of Kaslo

"The Kaslo Housing Society's project to build a 10-unit apartment building could never be realized without the support of the National Housing Co-investment Fund and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. It's amazing to me how virtually every level of government  municipal, regional, provincial, and federal  has supported and contributed to our vision of secure, affordable housing in our rural village. Aside from access to nutritious food, shelter is fundamental to the well-being of all of us. Having myself grown up in a housing development spearheaded by CMHC, I know that the provision of comfortable and affordable homes creates a legacy that will last for generations, as will our building. We look forward to welcoming tenants early next summer."  Erika Bird, Chair Kaslo Housing Society

Quick facts:

The National Housing Co-Investment Fund (NHCF) is a $13.2 billion program under the National Housing Strategy (NHS) that gives priority to projects that help people who need it most, including women and children fleeing family violence, seniors, Indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, those with mental health or addiction issues, veterans, and young adults.

is a program under the National Housing Strategy (NHS) that gives priority to projects that help people who need it most, including women and children fleeing family violence, seniors, Indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, those with mental health or addiction issues, veterans, and young adults. Budget 2022 proposes to advance $2.9 billion in funding under the NHCF to accelerate the creation of up to 4,300 new units and the repair of up to 17,800 units.

Canada's National Housing Strategy (NHS) is a 10-year, $72 -plus billion plan that will give more Canadians a place to call home.

is a 10-year, -plus billion plan that will give more Canadians a place to call home. NHS is built on strong partnerships between the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, and continuous engagement with others, including municipalities, Indigenous governments and organizations, and the social and private housing sectors. This includes consultations with Canadians from all walks of life, and people with lived experience of housing need.



All NHS investments delivered by the federal, provincial, and territorial governments will respect the key principles of NHS that support partnerships, people, and communities.

British Columbia's Community Housing Fund is a 10-year provincial investment of $1.9 billion to build more than 14,000 affordable rental homes for families and individuals with low and moderate incomes.

Community Housing Fund is a 10-year provincial investment of to build more than 14,000 affordable rental homes for families and individuals with low and moderate incomes. More than 8,800 of these homes are already open, under construction or in development.

The Columbia Basin Trust supports the efforts of the people of the Columbia Basin to create a legacy of social, economic, and environmental well-being.

Related links:

As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. CMHC's aim is that by 2030, everyone in Canada has a home they can afford and that meets their needs. For more information, please visit cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.





authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. CMHC's aim is that by 2030, everyone in has a home they can afford and that meets their needs. For more information, please visit cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook. To find out more about the National Housing Strategy, please visit www.placetocallhome.ca.

SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

For further information: Media contacts: Brittany Hendrych, Office of the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, [email protected]; Media Relations: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, [email protected]; Ministry of Housing - Province of British Columbia, Media Relations, 236 478-0251; BC Housing, Media Relations, [email protected]
SAULT STE MARIE, ON, Jan. 9, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, alongside Terry Sheehan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour and Member of Parliament Sault Ste. Marie, Ross Romano, Member of Provincial Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie, Mayor Matthew Shoemaker, Justin Marchand, Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services, and Helen Stewart, President, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25  Sault Ste. Marie, announced a combined investment of nearly $132 million to support the construction of over 380 units.

The first project will build more housing for veterans and will be operated by Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25. It aims to replace the existing building with a nine-storey accessible tower, which will encompass 107 units, of which more than 30 percent will be below market rent. The building will have amenities for the tenants, their families, and the community, including a restaurant, meeting rooms, a hall, and a gathering place. This project received $ 32.1 million in federal funding through the National Housing Co-Investment Fund (NHCF) and $1.9 million from Veteran's Housing Ontario Inc.

The second portfolio of projects will be owned and operated by Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services (OAHS), with nine projects serving communities across Ontario, creating 276 affordable units to support Indigenous peoples. Some projects will support Indigenous people who are experiencing or at risk of chronic homelessness, while others will support at-risk Indigenous youth and women and their children. This portfolio of projects will receive nearly $ 87 million in federal funding through the NHCF. Approximately $3.7 million has also been committed by the federal government and the Province of Ontario through the Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative (OPHI) bilateral agreement to build 45 units in Sault Ste. Marie and London, as well as $7.2 million from OAHS in the form of land and cash equity.

Construction of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 project is expected to be completed by December 2023, while construction of the OAHS portfolio of projects is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Quotes:

"Every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. With this announcement, we are supporting of the needs of Indigenous Peoples, veterans, youth, and women and their children in Sault Ste. Marie and other communities across the region. This funding will make it possible for hundreds of Indigenous people and veterans in Ontario to access new homes, taking a crucial step towards addressing the need for affordable housing in these communities. This is one of the many ways our government's National Housing Strategy is ensuring that no one is left behind."  The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion

"It has been a pleasure working with staff from the local Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services office and with the volunteers from the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25, here in Sault Ste. Marie, along with so many other great community stakeholders, to get us here today. Having access to safe, supportive, and affordable homes will help bring positive change to our communities. In collaboration with our provincial and municipal partners and local stakeholders, we are working to ensure that all people in Sault Ste. Marie and in communities across our province and across Canada, have safe and affordable housing." Terry Sheehan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour and Member of Parliament Sault Ste. Marie

"I am pleased to see the strong relationships we have built with all levels of government and Indigenous partners including Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services lead to such positive results. We will continue to work hard to tackle Ontario's housing supply crisis and ensure all Ontarians can find a home that meets their needs and budgets."  The Honourable Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

"Today's announcement continues our government's record of helping Ontarians find the safe and supportive housing they need. I look forward to seeing these projects completed and know they will make a real and positive impact in the lives of Ontarians."  The Honourable Michael Parsa, Associate Minister of Housing for Ontario

"I am so proud of all the hard work that has been done by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 and Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services. These critical projects could not come at a better time based on the current housing supply crisis. I can't wait to see the continued progress on the Legion project in the coming year and look forward to working with the team at Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services to see their projects move forward."  Ross Romano, Member of Provincial Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie

"The need for affordable housing is immense, and the lasting impacts it can have on homeowners and their families are profound and capable of transforming communities. It is paramount that all levels of government collaborate to ensure people have access to home ownership opportunities, and the City is pleased to work with our government and community partners in support of these important projects."  Matthew Shoemaker, Mayor of Sault Ste. Marie

"Working together, among all levels of government, is essential to address the housing needs of Indigenous people living in urban and rural areas. Safe, affordable, and culture-based housing is the foundation for healthy communities. The nine developments announced today, across Ontario, demonstrate that the task of building up our communities requires positive and productive partnerships to get the job done of successfully housing people in a good way."  Cora McGuire-Cyrette, Board Chair, Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services

"The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25, its Property Development Committee chaired by Col. Clyde Healey, and every Veteran and member within our area, thanks all of the government agencies responsible for getting us to this place. We absolutely thank Sam Biasucci from Sal-Dan Developments and Veteran's Housing Inc. for bringing our dream to fruition. We believe that this project will allow us to service veterans and the community for many years to come."  Helen Stewart, President, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25  Sault Ste. Marie

Quick facts:

The National Housing Co-Investment Fund (NHCF) is a program under the National Housing Strategy (NHS) that gives priority to projects that help people who need it most, including women and children fleeing family violence, seniors, Indigenous peoples, people living with disabilities, those with mental health or addiction issues, veterans, and young adults.

is a program under the National Housing Strategy (NHS) that gives priority to projects that help people who need it most, including women and children fleeing family violence, seniors, Indigenous peoples, people living with disabilities, those with mental health or addiction issues, veterans, and young adults. The Government of Canada's National Housing Strategy (NHS) is an ambitious, 10-year plan that will invest over $72 billion to give more Canadians a place to call home.

National Housing Strategy (NHS) is an ambitious, 10-year plan that will invest over $72 billion to give more Canadians a place to call home. OPHI provides flexible funding to address local housing priorities and improve access to affordable housing options. The initiative helps to increase affordable housing supply and improve the state of repair of community housing stock.

OPHI is a program under the CMHC-Ontario Bilateral Agreement. This 10-year agreement provides more than $5.75 billion to protect, renew and expand community housing, support Ontario's priorities related to housing repair, construction and affordability, and deliver direct affordability support to Ontarians who need housing.

to protect, renew and expand community housing, support priorities related to housing repair, construction and affordability, and deliver direct affordability support to Ontarians who need housing. The Ontario government has also increased supports under the Indigenous Supportive Housing Program (ISHP) from $13.3 million in 2021-22 to $30 million this fiscal year. This program provides housing assistance and support services to Indigenous people who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness, especially those experiencing chronic homelessness, youth homelessness, and homelessness following transitions from provincially funded institutions.

Related links:

The OAHS' Sault Ste. Marie project consists of 52 units that will be jointly managed by OAHS and the Metis Nation of Ontario .

project consists of 52 units that will be jointly managed by OAHS and the Metis Nation of . As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing needs, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of the Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. CMHC's aim is that by 2030, everyone in Canada has a home they can afford and that meets their needs. For more information, please visit cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing needs, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of the Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. CMHC's aim is that by 2030, everyone in has a home they can afford and that meets their needs. For more information, please visit cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook. To find out more about the National Housing Strategy, visit: www.placetocallhome.ca

Check out the National Housing Strategy Housing Funding Initiatives Map to see affordable housing projects that have been developed across Canada. Ontario is committed to increasing housing supply across the province, while getting the best value for taxpayers. Cutting red tape will bring housing to market faster  leading to lower housing costs and helping people keep more of their hard-earned dollars. For more information on affordable housing in Ontario , visit ontario.ca/affordablehousing or follow us on Twitter.

SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

For further information: Brittany Hendrych, Office of the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, [email protected]; Media Relations, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, [email protected]; Victoria Podbielski, Office of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, [email protected]; MMAH Communications Branch, [email protected]
WARMAN, SK, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ - Flax Council of Canada is announcing the upcoming resignation of their President Wayne Thompson as he has taken a new position with Western Grains Research Foundation.

Flax Council of Canada wishes to thank Wayne for his contribution as President over the past two years. Thompson's leadership has led the Flax Council of Canada through a transition in membership and direction. Over the course of Thompson's tenure, the Flax Council of Canada has worked towards eliminating trade barriers and building strong government relations to benefit the flax industry.

Erwin Hanley, the board chair, said he would like to thank Wayne for helping the Flax Council of Canada deliver on its mission and vision and wish him nothing but success in his future endeavours."

"Over the past two years, it has been a fantastic opportunity to serve the Board of Directors and be part of the Flax Council of Canada," says Thompson. "I believe that Flax Council of Canada has a bright future and will continue to be an important association for the benefit of the Canadian flax industry."

Over the next several months, the Board will work with Ralph Kikkert at Strive to conduct a thorough search to find Flax Council of Canada's next President. It is our priority to find a dynamic leader with a true passion for Flax Council of Canada's mission.

Please contact Ralph Kikkert at [email protected] or 905-512-0347 if you or someone you know would consider taking on this new opportunity to further the cause for the Canadian flax industry and take Flax Council of Canada to the next level. Interested candidates can find more information at www.flaxcouncil.ca or send their resume to [email protected].

Backgrounder

The Flax Council of Canada is a national not-for-profit membership-based organization which promotes Canadian flax and flax products for nutritional and industrial uses in domestic and international markets. Established in 1986 with full representation from flax growers, trades, and processors, the Flax Council promotes the advancement of flax and flax products representing the Canadian flax industry in Canada and around the world. Located in Saskatoon, the Flax Council of Canada works with like-minded partners (government, associations, processors, crushers, exporters, and producers) to reduce trade barriers and provide information about flax to consumers, end-users, and interested parties.

SOURCE Flax Council of Canada

For further information: media, please contact: Wayne Thompson, Chief Executive Officer, Phone: (306) 229-8170, Email: [email protected]
Funding supports the expansion of YMCA mental wellness programs

TORONTO, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ - Young people have been disproportionally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with social isolation, virtual learning challenges, job insecurity, and financial hardship worsening their mental health and well-being.

Today, the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, and the Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, announced nearly $7 million in funding to YMCA Canada. The funding will support the scaling up and expansion of the "Y Mind" and "Mind Medicine" evidence-based, youth-informed, early intervention programs across Canada.

The programs are intended for young people aged 13-30 years of age who are experiencing mild to moderate anxiety and/or depression, and aim to support the development of effective coping skills and improvements to participants' overall well-being. Y Mind introduces them to evidence-based tools and connects them with peers and experienced professionals. Mind Medicine, an adapted version of Y Mind, has been developed specifically for Indigenous young people, and will be implemented in partnership with Indigenous-serving organizations and communities.

This announcement is part of a $100 million investment provided in Budget 2021 to support projects that promote mental health and prevent mental illness in populations disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quotes

"It is essential that we increase the resources and remove the barriers to mental health supports for young people in Canada, especially those in underserved communities who have been disproportionately facing the negative impacts of the pandemic. Today's funding to the YMCA will help young people across Canada know that it's okay to not be okay, and that through these evidence-based, youth-informed programs, more supports will be available."

The Honourable, Carolyn Bennett

Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, and Associate Minister of Health

"The pandemic was an extremely tough time for all Canadians, but our young people were disproportionally impacted, and many are still struggling with their mental health and wellness. For years, the YMCA in Toronto and across Canada have worked tirelessly to improve mental health supports for youth and marginalized communities. Today's funding will help more youth who experience anxiety and depression access the tools they need and deserve. We will continue support our young people because it is simply the right thing to do."

The Honourable Marci Ien

Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, and Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre

The link between mental wellness and overall well-being is clear. We are grateful for the support from the Public Health Agency of Canada to help us expand access to our low-barrier and inclusive Y Mind and Mind Medicine programs. This funding will improve the lives of thousands of teens and young adults across Canada who are struggling with their mental wellness."

Peter Dinsdale

President & CEO, YMCA Canada

Quick Facts



The Government of Canada is committed to supporting the mental health of people in Canada through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

is committed to supporting the mental health of people in through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Y Mind was developed by the YMCA of Greater Vancouver (now YMCA BC) in response to a need for free and accessible mental wellness support. It is an innovative, youth informed, early intervention program that helps teens and young adults manage stress and anxiety.

(now YMCA BC) in response to a need for free and accessible mental wellness support. It is an innovative, youth informed, early intervention program that helps teens and young adults manage stress and anxiety. The YMCA will partner with at least seven Indigenous serving organizations over the next year to deliver the program.

More information about Y Mind can be found at ymca.ca/ymind, including an inquiry form to learn more about Y Mind options in your area. Funding will be provided to 20 YMCA Associations in nine provinces

Mental health promotion and mental illness prevention are critical components for wellbeing and can help reduce demands on the health care system. Community-based projects focussed on mental health promotion have the potential to improve health outcomes over the life course.

Renison University College, at the University of Waterloo , is hosting a Knowledge Development and Exchange Hub for Mental Health Promotion (KDE Hub) to support the projects funded through this investment helping to build a community with shared interests in optimizing mental health promotion and mental illness prevention across Canada .

, is hosting a Knowledge Development and Exchange Hub for Mental Health Promotion (KDE Hub) to support the projects funded through this investment helping to build a community with shared interests in optimizing mental health promotion and mental illness prevention across . The Wellness Together Canada portal provides free access to educational content, self-guided therapy, moderated peer-to-peer support, and one-to-one counselling with qualified health professionals. If you or a loved one is struggling, you can access the Wellness Together Canada portal, or call 1-866-585-0445 or text WELLNESS to 741741 (adults) or 686868 (youth).

Kids Help Phone is also available 24/7 with e-mental health service offering free, confidential support to young people in English and French.

Associated Links

SOURCE Public Health Agency of Canada

For further information: Maja Staka, Senior Communications Advisor and Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, Carolyn Bennett, 343-552-5568; Media Relations, Public Health Agency of Canada, 613-957-2983, [email protected]; Public Inquiries: 613-957-2991, 1-866-225-0709
A leading Ontario institution will be able to increase its services to the Francophone community in Welland

WELLAND, ON, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ - The French and English languages are a treasure for our country. Institutions like Foyer Richelieu Welland serve an official-language minority community and contribute to the sustainability of French. The Government of Canada recognizes the importance of helping these communities create and maintain strong institutions, by assuring their vitality.

Today, the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, announced support of more than $2.7 million for Foyer Richelieu Welland to build a new community and cultural centre. She was accompanied by Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament (Niagara Centre).

This new Government of Canada investment will allow for the construction and development of a community and cultural centre that can accommodate at least 500 people each day. This centre will be designed to encourage gatherings and will improve services to Francophones by offering things such as:

various training courses in French in fully equipped meeting and training spaces;

support and respite services in French for caregivers;

a cultural program, including community shows; and

a social program, including cooking classes and community barbecues to bring people together in the new space.

These programs and services will be available to all users, including residents, day hospice and day centre participants, and their families.

This project will directly contribute to the vitality of Welland's Francophone community. In addition, it will raise community awareness of the aging population and will encourage intergenerational integration.

The project began in October 2020. Since then, the Government of Canada has provided more than $4.7 million to this project through the Community Spaces Fund.

Quotes

"The Foyer Richelieu Welland is an anchor in the Francophone community. Today's investment will allow the centre to expand its services to Francophone seniors and their loved ones. These new services will help prevent isolation by giving them the opportunity to meet and interact in their own language while providing a healthy and pleasant living environment."

The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

"The construction of this new community centre will give our Francophone community in Niagara Centre new momentum. Foyer Richelieu Welland continues to be a strong anchor for the community. I'm thrilled to announce this added investment of $2.7 million, totaling $4.7 million for this project, which will contribute to its growth, strengthening health and well-being, as well as our community's French culture and heritage."

Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament (Niagara Centre)

"The federal investment will improve the daily lives of residents because the community will come to their home. This centre will create a community within a community where Francophones in Niagara and Southern Ontario can come together and celebrate their wonderful culture in a multi-generational environment."

Sean Keays, CEO, Foyer Richelieu Welland

"This investment will improve our centre for another generation by preserving our culture and our language for Francophone seniors in Southern Ontario."

Muriel Thibault-Gauthier, President of the Board, Foyer Richelieu Welland

Quick Facts

Foyer Richelieu Welland is a non-profit organization located in Welland, on the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario. Its mission is to provide services to Francophones with long-term care needs.

Budget 2021 provided funding of $80 million over a two-year period (202122 and 202223) to help build, renovate and develop educational and community spaces serving official-language minority communities. This funding is in addition to the $67.2 million over five years provided in the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023 to support school and cultural infrastructure building projects in official-language minority communities. A portion of these investments is allocated to the Community Spaces Fund.

The Community Spaces Fund enables non-profit organizations working in minority communities to develop spaces to offer community and cultural activities and services in their language. These meeting places, conducive to exchanges, will contribute to the individual and social development of the community. Creating these living spaces builds organizational capacity and supports community revitalization.

On March 1, 2022, the Government of Canada introduced an improved bill aimed at substantive equality of official languages in Canada to adapt the Official Languages Act to a changing society. Among other things, this bill aims to remedy the decline of French in Canada, clarify and enhance the section of the Official Languages Act concerning the promotion of official languages, and support official language minority communities.

On February 19, 2021, Minister Melanie Joly outlined the Government of Canada's intentions to modernize and strengthen the Official Languages Act and related instruments in the document English and French: Towards Substantive Equality of Official Languages in Canada. The document proposes a range of changes and new measures to reach a new linguistic balance in Canada.

The document represents an ambitious reform with 56 proposals that affect almost every part of the Act. Of these, 33 are legislative amendments to strengthen sections of the Act.

The third guiding principle of this reform document concerns the importance of supporting official-language minority community institutions.

Associated Links

Foyer Richelieu Welland

Community Spaces Fund

An Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada's Official Languages

Official languages reform document: English and French: Towards a substantive equality of official languages in Canada

Budget 2021

Action Plan for Official Languages 20182023: Investing in Our Future

SOURCE Canadian Heritage

For further information: (media only), please contact: Marianne Blondin, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, [email protected]; Media Relations: Canadian Heritage, 819-994-9101, 1-866-569-6155, [email protected]
TORONTO, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ - Lend For All Canada is proud to announce that it has helped over 100,000 Canadians secure access to funding in the past year. This milestone news is a testament to the company's commitment to providing Canadians with the financial resources they need to achieve their goals.

Lend For All Canada works directly with leading loan and financial services providers to offer Canadians access to the best possible loans and rates depending on their circumstances. The company's goal is to help people achieve their financial goals by providing them with all the resources they need to find the perfect financial solution. Whether you're looking to consolidate debt, make home improvements, or finance a big purchase, Lend For All Canada has a loan solution that can meet your needs.

"Lend for all has been truly amazing during my financial hardship. They have sent me several offers to consolidate my debts and get the financial help that I needed. I would recommend Lend for all to everyone that needs to get a loan, even if your credit is less than perfect.

I can finally feel at ease that I'm getting the help that I desperately need to get out of debt. Thumbs up for team Lend for all.," said Jacques from Alberta in a client review.

Lend For All Canada's user-friendly website makes it easy for Canadians to apply for loans online. The company's wide range of loan options and competitive rates make it the go-to destination for online loans in Canada. In addition to offering a variety of loan options, Lend For All Canada also provides customers with the support and guidance they need to make informed financial decisions.

"They offer a great service and an easy online loan application," mentioned in the another client review by Selena from Nova Scotia.

In the coming year, Lend For All Canada plans to continue expanding its services and helping even more Canadians secure the funding they need. This year, over 100,000 Canadians have benefitted from reaching out to Lend For All Canada, and next year they're aiming to help even more. With such an easy online application process, you can see why.

To learn more about Lend For All Canada and to easily apply for a loan online, visit lendforall.ca .

SOURCE Lend for All Canada

For further information: Lend for all Canada, [email protected], 1-800-532-4505




The Kogi State Government has accused the Ohinoyi of Ebira Land, HRM Ado Ibrahim of fulfilling his earlier threats of snubbing President Muhammamdu Buharis visit when he was in the state to commission projects.





The State Government through the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affair had issued a query to the first class monarch, accusing him of insubordination.





Clearing the air on the issues surrounding the issuance of a query to the royal father, the Kogi State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Barr. Salami Momodu Ozigi in a statement on Monday, said he paid the monarch a visit in his palace to inform him of the historic presidential visit, but he, (Ohinoyi) threatened to boycott the projects commissioning.





Explaining further, he said, I personally paid a visit to Ohinoyi of Ebiraland and I duly informed him of the programme of event.





Although he responded negatively that he would not attend, I persuaded and entreated him to kindly attend in view of the importance of the project and especially, the personality of the president that would commission the project.





It is now known to all sundry that he made good his negative disposition not on any account of ill health or circumstances beyond his control, but a deliberate act of disloyalty and insubordination to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Executive Governor of the State.





While noting that, the official visit of the president to Kogi State to commission projects was not limited to Okene alone, the Commissioner said the president, Kogi State Council of Chiefs, His Royal Majesty, Matthew Alaji Opaluwa Oguche Akpa, Attah Igala led other monarch and all 1st Class Chiefs from both East and West Senatorial Districts and from their far domains were all on ground to receive the president at the designated venue in Lokoja.





He recalls that the reconstructed palace of Ohinoyi of Ebiraland which was commissioned by the president has all along been the official palace of successive Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, but wondered why the respected monarch has continued to use his personal residence as palace.





It is on record that when President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR visited Okene in the year 1984 as a Military Head of State, it was in the same palace that he was received by the then Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, late Alh. Sanni Omolori. The palace has been remodeled and reconstructed to a magnificent edifice that every son and daughter of Ebiraland could be proud of.





Albeit, the current Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, His Royal Majesty, Alh. Dr. Ado Ibrahim CON opted, on his own, to stay in his personal house and use it as a palace, that does not erase the fact that there is an official palace built over the years for Ohinoyi of Ebiraland. It was for this reason that when the idea to reconstruct the palace to make it befitting for the revered stool of Ohinoyi of Ebiraland was muted, he (Ohinoyi of Ebiraland) was sufficiently consulted and he gave his consent.





The Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, whose private residence is a few meters away from the venue of the commissioning of the palace and being the principal beneficiary of the project to stay put in his house while all the Graded Chiefs within the Central Senatorial District were present in solidarity with him to honour and receive the President, he stated.





He added that the present administration in Kogi State led Alh. Yahaya Bello is a responsive and responsible government and will not allow any person or group of persons no matter how highly placed to ridicule, humiliate and cast aspersion on or disdain the genuine intention of this administration to usher unprecedented development in the State.





Actions that are tailored towards disloyalty, insubordination and that which tends to affect the peace, security, good image and cohesion of the State will not be treated with levity. This administration will continue to ensure that this State is governed by the rule of law, respect for authority and humanity and the guarantee of equal rights for all citizens.





Let the general public be rest assured that the government will handle this matter with utmost objectivity devoid of any sentiment. The panel that will be set up to look into the matter will be dispassionate, diligent and rational and will ensure fairness, equity and justice.
The Department of State Service, DSS, and its Director General have been dragged before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, for the arrest of rights activist, Meliga Godwin, over a press conference he addressed condemning the agency for the planned arrest of the Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele.

Meliga Godwin, the President of Middle Belt Youth Forum, on December 19, 2022, addressed the media where he condemned the DSS for its attempt to obtain an ex-parte order to arrest and detain the CBN Governor over alleged terrorism charges.

At the press briefing, the activist condemned the actions of the DSS and described it as a hatchet job.

He was later arrested by the operatives of the DSS on January 8, 2023.

However, in a motion on notice for the enforcement of his fundamental rights with suit No: FCT/HC/CV/1034/2023, filed by his counsel, Mr Chibuzo Ezike, the applicant is asking the court to order his unconditional release by the DSS.

One of his counsels, Mr Okere Kingdom who addressed journalists in court alleged that the applicant has been incommunicado since his arrest and detention.

The applicant prayed the court release him from detention and also make an order directing the DSS and its Director General to pay him the sum of N500 million in damages and public apology in two national dailies for illegal arrest and detention.

He further prayed the court to declare his arrest and detention from January 8, 2023, till the time of filling the suit as a breach of his fundamental rights, unconstitutional and of no effect.








Johnny Chukwudi Metchie, Assistant Commander General of the Nigerian Hunters and Forestry Security Service (NHFSS) in charge of Technical Services, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the Hunters and Forestry Security Service Bill into law.





He said the bill is a sure way of deterring terrorists and other criminal elements from using the forests to commit atrocities against the people of Nigeria.





Recall that suspected terrorists on Saturday, attacked a train station in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State to Warri in Delta State and abducted scores of passengers who were waiting to board a train, leaving many injured.





Reacting to the incident on Monday, Metchie told newsmen that it has become an urgent matter for President Buhari to sign the Bill into law which would empower Forest Guards to bear arms and protect farms and forests as is the case in many other countries.





He said that one of the most effective ways to curb the menace of bandits and other terror activities, is to recruit, arm and empower young men and women as hunters and forest guards to make it difficult for criminals to operate from the forests.





Metchie noted that when the Bill is signed into law, the Hunters and Forestry Security Service would take over the protection and safeguard of forests across the country.





According to him, one of the greatest gifts President Buhari would leave for his successor, is to sign the Bill into law, as such would make the fight against insecurity easier for the new administration.





He said- The incident that happened in Edo last Saturday, where many passengers waiting to board a train were attacked and abducted is very unfortunate and regrettable.





While I condemn the dastardly act and sympathise with victims and their families, I want to use this opportunity to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, sign the Hunters and Forestry Security Service Bill into law. The Bill is before Mr. President just waiting for his assent.





I have lived in many countries, including those in Europe, United States, Canada and others. In these countries, even in South Africa, the forests are protected by Forest Guards and Hunters. And this helps tremendously in curbing activities of criminals, especially those that use the forests as hideouts to carry out nefarious activities.





When bandits and other terrorists strike, where do they take their victims? It is the forests and farms. They take their victims to the forests because they are aware that there are no authorised security personnel there. When the Bill is passed into law, it would empower the hunters and forest guards to bear arms, motivate them to work and defend their fatherland, knowing that they have the backing of the government.





I believe that President Buhari is a patriotic citizen and a statesman. I want to think and believe that the President wants to leave lasting legacies for his predecessor. He should therefore save the incoming administration the burden of sending the Bill to the lawmakers by signing it into law himself without wasting more time.





Two other areas signing the Bill into law would benefit the country are food security and employment. Today, prices of food items are on the rooftops. The reason is that insecurity has forced many farmers out of the bush.





The presence of armed forest guards would assure farmers that their farms and produce are safe. In addition, with the signing of the Bill into law, state governments would be motivated to recruit thousands of young people into the service which would drastically reduce unemployment with a double effect of reducing the number of people going into crime, Metchie added.
The gunmen who abducted 31 Edo train passengers on Saturday have allegedly demanded N620m ransom for their release.

It was gathered on Monday that the criminals had presented their demands to the families of the abductees.

The Executive Director, Esan Youth for Good Governance and Social Justice, Benson Odia, disclosed that the kidnappers were demanding N20m for each victim.

This was as the police anti-terrorism squad and the Nigerian Railway Corporation on Monday met to strategise on ways to rescue the train passengers.

Speaking with newsmen Odia stated that the demand was absurd, calling on the authorities to intensify efforts in rescuing the 31 hostages in the custody of the kidnappers.

He also said that the Minister of Transportation, Muazu Sambo and the Managing Director, Nigeria Railway Corporation, Fidel Okhiria were at Igueben to assess the situation.

Odia said the authorities promised to deploy helicopters on Tuesday to locate where the victims were kept in the bush.

He said, I can tell you that the kidnappers have demanded N20m, totalling N620m. This is absurd and I dont know where poor people will be able to raise that amount of money.

The Edo state police spokesman, Chidi Nwabuzor could not confirm the veracity of the claim.

However, the Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, disclosed that six victims had been rescued, adding that efforts were ongoing to rescue the remaining 26 victims.

The commissioner in a statement noted that Governor Godwin Obaseki had given directives that the criminals should be arrested.

He added that two wanted kidnappers who were not connected to the present case have been arrested and would also help the police in their investigation.

The statement read, Following the directive from Governor Godwin Obaseki that the kidnappers that attacked the train in Igueben on Saturday be smoked out of their hiding and the persons abducted be rescued, we are happy to announce that six persons have been rescued.

The six persons are: a 65-year-old man, a nursing mother and her baby, a six-year-old girl and two siblings; aged two and five years old.

We commend the efforts of the rescue team in the bushes and their support staff that have been working tirelessly since the incident occurred to ensure the kidnapped passengers are rescued and reunited with their families.

We are confident that the other victims will be rescued soon as the highly motivated security personnel are in high spirits and have doubled down on the hot chase of the kidnappers.

As events unfold in the bushes, be assured that we will keep you posted and we crave the support of all stakeholders, particularly the media, to stay with the facts and avoid sensational reports that could further inflict emotional pain on the families and friends of the victims who are already in distress. Operation Bush Combing continues, Nehikhare added.

Also, the NRC MD, in an interview with Channels TV on Monday, said the agency had got approval to acquire sophisticated security systems.

On whether lessons were learnt from the attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train, he stated, We learned a lot from the last attack.improved our security by increasing the number of personnel; vigilantes, army, police, and some technology but we are not there yet.We have to continue to improve and make sure that we get the required result.

On Itakpe-Warri, we have engaged the local community to protect and also support the security architecture we have in place.

So, I think we have improved but there is nothing that cannot be sabotaged with the will and determination of the saboteurs.
Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources, says he would not mind buying petrol at N300 a litre.

Sylva said this on Monday at the governments accountability series titled PMB administration scorecard 2015-2023.

The event is designed to showcase the achievements of Buharis administration since he came into power in 2015.

Sylva, during his presentation, said other countries sell their products at higher prices than in Nigeria, hence, N300 per litre is not too high.

Frankly, if you ask me I will say I wont feel bad (buying fuel for N300) knowing the actual situation. And if you compare Nigeria to other countries, then you will also understand. Then you convert the N300 to other currencies, you will probably understand, he said.

A lot of you travel to the United Kingdom and the United States. How much do you buy petroleum products? Even in Saudi Arabia and in the Arab countries that produce crude oil, convert to naira, you will find out that we are not doing too badly.

SUBSIDY REGIME NOT SUSTAINABLE

Likewise, Sylva said if the cost of petroleum products were market-driven, investors would not continue to shy away from investing in the downstream oil sector.

He added that investors will not come to the country under the subsidy regime, but said they would be willing to put their money into the sector when the market is free.

Under a subsidised regime, who is going to invest? If you build a refinery, how is your refinery going to make profit under a subsidised regime? But if you have a market-driven situation, youll see that a lot of investors will come, he said.

And the more refineries we have, this problem of access to petroleum products will be a thing of the past.

Sylva further reiterated that petrol subsidy was not sustainable and also not profitable.

The management of the supply situation under this subsidy regime is not easy. We must all agree [that] so much money is being burnt on our cars. But somehow we have to seek funds in order to keep the country wet, he said.

Sometimes, if you really think deeply, you begin to wonder what magic they are doing to even be able to keep this country wet, considering that you buy something, lets say for N10 and you are to sell it at a loss.

And then you are expected to go back and buy the same thing and come back and sell at a loss, so that at every point in time you are looking for more money to continue to buy it because you are mandated to sell it at a loss. If you are a businessman, look at it from that perspective, that you are in a business where you are mandated to sell at a loss to the population.

FG SHOULD BE COMMENDED FOR IMPROVING SECURITY IN NIGER DELTA

Sylva further noted that the federal government should be applauded for improving security in the Niger Delta, which has contributed to increased oil production.

The minister said the federal government has strengthened real-time tracking of supply and distribution, thereby, improving security in the operating environment.

On the achievement of the ministry, Sylva said it was able to pass landmark legislation such as the deep sea and inland basin act and the petroleum industry act (PIA), adding that it was also promoting indigenous participation by facilitating crude access and ease of license approval.

The projected 5 percent reduction in crude oil production costs was also achieved and exceeded during the period, he said.

In addition, the minister said kerosene was no longer within the direct purview of the federal government, since the price has now been deregulated, admitting however, that it remains the fuel of the less-privileged.

Sylva also listed the gas flare commercialisation programme  which he said was at the final stage of awarding the flare points to potential winners  as one of the achievements of the present administration.
Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, says he would not impose his choice of a presidential candidate on members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

Ortom also denied having declared support for Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the opposition party.

He was reported to have expressed support for Abubakars presidential bid in a meeting with PDP stakeholders in Benue on Monday.

But reacting through Terver Akase, his adviser on media and publicity, Ortom described the report as false and mischievous, adding that the report was authored for selfish purposes.

We read a fictitious online report which claimed that the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, and his colleagues in the G5 have resolved to work for the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to win the 2023 election, the statement reads.

The report is not only false but also mischievous as it is targeted at embarrassing the five governors who have chosen the path of justice, fairness, and equity. Manufacturers of the said report were apparently on a desperate mission to score a cheap political point.

The report could not mention the place and date of the said meeting of G5 Governors. The writers only sought to take advantage of the crisis within the PDP for their selfish purposes. Governor Ortom and other members of the G5 have not endorsed the said presidential candidate.

Ortom said when he finally announces his choice of presidential candidate he will not impose it on the PDP members in the state.

When the Governor met with the expanded state caucus of PDP yesterday, January 9, 2023, at the Benue Peoples House, Makurdi, his message to them was crystal clear that the national leadership of PDP has failed to utilise its internal conflict resolution mechanism which has led to the crisis rocking the party.

The Governor said during the meeting that if the crisis is not resolved before the elections, he would be left with no other option than to take a stand on the matter. He added, however, that he wouldnt impose his decision on members of the party in the state.

Stakeholders present at the meeting commended the Governor for his patriotic disposition and pledged to line up behind him. Those who spoke on behalf of zones A, B, and C, as well as for women and youths, all said Governor Ortom has shown the character of a dependable leader who puts the interest of his people first.

The stakeholders pledged to find ways of resolving the internal crisis rocking the party while assuring the Governor that they would continue to stand with him through thick and thin. Governor Ortom did not address the press after the meeting. The online report is, therefore, fake and should be disregarded.

Known as G5, five PDP governors  Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), and Ortom  have been absent from the campaign rallies of Abubakar and are demanding the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu as the national chairman of the party.

The demand for Ayus resignation is on the grounds that the partys presidential candidate and national chairman cannot be from the same region.

The governors said they will reveal who they intend to support as president before the end of January.
Former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) has traveled out of the country for a routine medical check-up and is expected back in the country after the general elections.

He was said to have jetted out of the country on Saturday to Germany for his routine medical checkup.

NE reliably gathered that he left from the Minna International Airport to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja where he was flown in a private Jet out of the country.

He was said to have been accompanied on the trip by his second son, Aminu and another Security personnel. An impeccable source told our Correspondent that the former Military President is presently in Switzerland.

It is not however known whether his immediate family members will join him in Germany later.

One of the Spokespersons of the General, Alhaji Mahmud Abdullahi confirmed the development adding that the journey was purely for his routine medical check-up.

The journey is the normal medical routine check-up. There is no cause for alarm. The medical checkup had been long overdue and he has to go now.

What Nigerians need to do is to pray for him and wish him well, Mahmud stated.

When asked whether it was a deliberate attempt by the former Military leader to avoid participating in the forthcoming general election and avoid any controversies, Mahmood simply said, I am not aware of that.

There had been pressure on him in the past months and it is time for him to go and rest and go for his checkup.

When asked whether it was a deliberate act by Babangida to avoid the general election and avoid any controversy, Mahmud simply said, the General is not envisaging any controversy.

What type of controversy. I believe that he traveled to Germany over the weekend for the medical check-up, he declared.

According to him, the former Military President is not envisaging any controversy before and after the elections. All I know is that he is scheduled for a check and this is what he has gone for, he affirmed.




Orji Kalu, chief whip of the senate, says he is ready to stand surety for Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), if he is released from custody.

Kalu spoke on Political Paradigm, a recorded Channels Television programme, that was aired on Tuesday.

The former governor of Abia said he could either keep him at his home in Abuja or in Abia where he would counsel him.

I will stand surety for him if the federal government wants to release him to me. I can keep him in my compound here in Abuja or Igbere (in Abia) and counsel him, the senator said.

I made his father the traditional ruler of their place when I was governor. Im close to them but they didnt listen to me but that will not make me abandon them.

I will not abandon them.

In October, the court of appeal in Abuja struck out the terrorism charge filed against Kanu.

The appellate court held that Kanus extradition from Kenya to Nigeria to stand trial was illegal.

But the government is yet to release the IPOB leader, but filed an appeal before the supreme court, as well as an amended charge before the federal high court.

Meanwhile, before the recent court proceedings, Kanu jumped bail in 2017.

Enyinnaya Abaribe, senator representing Abia south, was one of his sureties when the IPOB leader was granted bail  after 18 months in custody.

The federal high court had ordered Abaribe to either produce Kanu or forfeit a N100 million bail bond.

In 2018, the Department of State Services (DSS) aarrested the lawmaker, but he was released after four days in custody.

In 2021, after Kanu was re-arrested, Abaribe had said he would stand as surety for the IPOB leader if he was asked to.

Speaking on the previous incident, Abaribe said Kanu fled for his life, adding that there is a difference between jumping bail and escaping for your life.

The first circumstance was that the judge said they needed a senator to be part of his sureties. So if a judge says that again, I dont see why I wont. I am a senator and I come from the south-east, the lawmaker had said.

I dont think we will run away from our responsibility. Hes our son. Hes from our state.




Wilson Ndubuisi Uwadiegwu, who was accused of killing his wife, Ogochukwu Uwadiegwu Anene, has claimed that hes innocent of the allegation.





He revealed that he had an argument with his wife because of bread but he doesnt have a hand in her death.





In an interview with BBC News, Uwadiegwu, who noted that he didnt beat Ogochukwu, said he provided the money for the bread but his wife asked for more things he couldnt afford.





It was then that my wife began to abuse me, saying all sorts of things. I got angry, and I broke a mirror that injured my wifes hand that moment. I beat up my son because he joined his mother to insult me.





It was only once I hit my wife, and its been a long time. I was in the village when they called me to say my wife wasnt well, I came back home and took her to the hospital where she was later confirmed dead.





It was reported that Ndubisi Uwadiegwu beat his wife, Ogochukwu to death over a loaf of bread.





The deceased brother Chukwuebuka Anene said the incident occurred in December in Enugu State. She asked her husband to give her money to buy bread but the man said he had no money. He said the woman then used her money to buy the bread for the children, only for the husband to finish all. That led to an argument between the couple which later resulted in a fight. In the process, the man hit his wife with a mirror and beat up his 14-year-old son who was trying to settle the fight.





She called to complain about feeling unwell while crying on the phone. After examination, Doctors stated that her muscle had torn and that she had internal bleeding, and she was referred to University Teaching Hospital, Enugu State but on getting to the hospital she died.





Chukwuebuka said Ogochukwus husband, Wilson wanted to begin the burial arrangements immediately but the family objected and demanded an autopsy to determine what killed her.
The federal government says Nigeria may stop the importation of petroleum products by the first quarter of 2024.

Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources, said this on Monday at the governments series titled PMB administration scorecard 2015-2023.

The series is designed to showcase the achievements of Buharis administration since he came into power in 2015.

Sylva said by the first quarter of 2023, the 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) Port Harcourt refinery would be partly rehabilitated, and ready for production.

Our promise has been that the 60,000 bpd plant within the Port Harcourt refinery by the end of Q4 2022, it is being completed and is going to be started by Q1 2023 as promised, he said.

The minister said in addition to several modular refinery projects in the country, the 650,000 (bpd) Dangote refinery is also expected to be operational by the end of 2023.

Sylva said with the combined production of the Port Harcourt refinery, Dangote refinery, and the modular refineries, Nigeria would end the importation of petroleum products.

He disclosed that the federal government had intentionally acquired a 20 percent stake in Dangote refinery to ensure local supply of production from private refineries.

We have taken 20 percent equity in Dangote Refinery. We have also taken 20 percent equity in Azike refinery. In Walter Smith refinery, we took 30 percent and in Duport, weve taken more than 20 percent. Duport refinery has already concluded construction and it only remains to start operations. Im sure within the next one month, they would start operations, he said.

We are hoping Dangote refinery comes on stream this year and once our own rehabilitated refineries start to work, we will be able to get the country wet (with petroleum products).

Sylva added that the government is currently addressing the crude access challenges faced by modular refineries.

Also speaking on the issue of under-recovery payments, the minister reiterated the federal governments position that the subsidy system was no longer sustainable.

According to Sylva, the huge amount of money spent on subsidy could be used for other development projects that would have a positive impact on many Nigerians.

He added that the removal of subsidy would increase investment in the oil sector, as many private investors would be willing to invest in building refineries.

Last year, Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, had said the federal government would halt the costly petrol subsidy in June 2023.

As such, the countrys initial projection to spend N6.7 trillion as subsidy payments for full the year was trimmed to N3.35 trillion for half year.

Meanwhile, in August 2021, the federal executive council (FEC) approved the sum of $1.48 billion for the rehabilitation of both Warri and Kaduna refineries.

The Warri refinery will resume operations by December 2023, according to Desmond Inyamah, acting managing director, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC).

Also, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd. has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a South Korean conglomerate to rehabilitate the Kaduna refinery.




Osun State Police Command has confirmed that Dr. Samson Akinbamide Adegoke, the Acting Rector of the Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke, was involved in an armed attack on Monday evening.





Yemisi Opalola, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Command, confirmed the attack to newsmen on Monday





According to her, Yes, we have heard about it. We are currently investigating it and we will soon fish out the culprits.





Opalola stated that investigations to unravel the masterminds behind the attack were still ongoing.





It was reported that unknown gunmen had attacked Adegoke, the Rector of the institution on Monday evening.





The armed attack occurred at Eti-Oni junction a few kilometres to the institutions gate.





His vehicle was riddled with bullets.





It was also alleged that the attackers aimed for his life, however, he escaped unhurt.





Adegoke was appointed Rector of the institution by former governor Adegboyega Oyetola after the July election before his appointment was reversed to acting role.
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Pictured from left are college-bound students: Catherine Nollie (a senior at Edgewater High who is going to Columbia University), Jatorria Dixon (a senior at Evans High who is going to Vanderbilt), and Gabriel Centeno (a senior at Colonial High who is going to Princeton). The three are pictured at Elevation Financial in Orlando on Dec. 7. All are from low-income families and are working with Elevation Scholars, a local group that helps low-income, high-achieving students get into and pay for college. Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/TNS
Kathy Hochul delivers an inaugural address Jan. 1, 2023, at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany. (Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)
The Joy of Sex Ed

In the post-Roe era, kids are turning to social media for reproductive health care advice
Faimon Roberts III covers rural communities in Louisiana. His work is supported by a reporting grant from the Microsoft Journalism Initiative and is administered by the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

He can be reached at froberts@theadvocate.com.
Bookings for Umrah are set to see exceptional growth for the coming year, with pilgrim arrivals from focus markets including Egypt, Algeria, India, Turkey, Malaysia, Iraq and Jordan, in addition to Indonesia and Pakistan.



This was revealed by Hajj and Umrah tour operator Mawasim, part of Almosafer - Seera Groups travel platform at the 2023 Conference & Exhibition for Hajj and Umrah Services (Hajj Expo), the largest conference and exhibition for Hajj and Umrah services.



The company has has recorded strong growth in Umrah bookings, with its new offices in Indonesia and Pakistan driving significant growth in pilgrim arrivals, it said.



At Hajj Expo, organised by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, Mawasim is showcasing its competencies and proven track record in delivering seamless Umrah services for pilgrims from around the world. The company reported strong growth in the last two quarters of 2022, despite the late start of Umrah, welcoming nearly 31,000 pilgrims from 43 countries and working with over 214 agents.



Pilgrims accounted for a total of 81,730 room nights across 114 hotels with the largest number of bookings coming from Pakistan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Singapore and Egypt.



With travel restrictions limiting Umrah arrivals from inbound markets during the pandemic, pilgrims have returned to make the most of their spiritual trips to Makkah and Madinah with group trips averaging 8 days and 40 passengers per booking.



The increase in Umrah travel follows recent reforms in Saudi Arabia permitting visitors to perform Umrah on any visa, in addition to general visa policies that have eased access to the Kingdom with residents of the GCC now being able to obtain a visa on arrival.



Mawasims successful integration of Maqam, the official global distribution platform of the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, has led to an increase in online adoption from its customers, with Mawasims online portal offering users a seamless experience.



The Maqam portal has generated demand for Mawasims Umrah+ packages, which provide pilgrims with an enhanced all-in-one trip combining Umrah and leisure. Umrah+ offers city tours of Makkah, Madinah and Taif, which are amongst the most popular activities. There is a growing appetite from pilgrims to explore such attractions in their Kingdom during their visit.



Mawasim is now also live on the Nusuk platform on both individual and business channels. Nusuk is the first-ever official planning, booking and experience platform, developed as part of the Pilgrimage Experience Program under Vision 2030, which creates an Umrah itinerary to Makkah, Madinah, and beyond. Travellers from all over the world can easily organise their entire visit, from applying for an eVisa to booking hotels and flights.



Muzzammil Ahussain, EVP of Almosafer, said: Hajj Expo 2023 is an excellent opportunity to connect with stakeholders in the industry and to work together to enhance the Hajj and Umrah travel experience. We are showcasing our track record in driving strong bookings from international markets by operating with our extensive network of agents. We look forward to strengthening our role as a strategic partner in enhancing bookings, and our latest data reveals that demand for Umrah travel continues to grow. We will continue to meet this demand by expanding our offering and leveraging our decades of experience to ensure that every pilgrim experiences an unforgettable journey.



Data from Almosafers consumer segment, the Middle Easts leading travel brand, also highlights the growing demand for Umrah travel, with an increase in hotel and flight bookings for the cities of Makkah and Madinah on its platforms. GBV for these two cities has increased by 30% in 2022 compared to 2019.  TradeArabia News Service
Mexico to host regional Summit 'Three Amigos'

Mexico City, Jan 10 (UNI) The 10th North American Leaders Summit, also known as the Three Amigos Summit, with the participation of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will take place in Mexico City on January 10.

The three leaders are scheduled to discuss security cooperation and economic partnership, as well as strengthening coordination on global and regional issues. The parties will also discuss such issues as climate change, migration, health care, citizen security, and poverty alleviation.

The summit of North American leaders first took place in Texas in 2005. After a hiatus of several years, the Three Amigos met in 2021 and vowed to take steps to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, enhance North American competitiveness and address migration and security issues.
Google is now rolling out the first update of 2023 for the Pixel Watch. While this month's update focuses on security improvements, it also addresses a bug that affected third-party watch faces. The update should be available now as RWD9.220429.073.

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Google has announced a new software rollout for the Pixel Watch, with the company seemingly set on distributing monthly updates for its first smartwatch. According to the company's support page, all Pixel Watch models are eligible, with RWD9.220429.073 distributed globally and RWD9.220429.073.J1 for smartwatches sold in Japan and Taiwan. Currently, Google hopes to have finished this month's rollout by the end of this week.

This month's changelog is rather sparse, with only one major change from December's build. Supposedly, RWD9.220429.073 addresses an issue that caused the Pixel Watch to switch from AOD mode to standby mode after 15 minutes when using third-party watch faces. This month's update brings the Pixel Watch onto the January 2023 security patch though, an overview of which Google provides in its latest Android Security Bulletin.
Although there are no numbers mentioned, one Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra teaser that surfaced in China reveals that the next-gen device will come with "megapixels that'll make you say wooow" and highlighted the fact that a "wow resolution is coming." Another warm-up video revealed that "Stunning night photos are coming" as well.

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Last month, all the alleged specs of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra surfaced online thanks to the Chinese TENAA regulatory body, including references to what could be a 200 MP main camera. A set of images showing dummy units was also shared back then, so it is not surprising to hear once again that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is coming with a triple camera setup on the back. However, this time a warm-up video is involved and, although it lacks technical specs, the hints are quite obvious.

The "official warm-up video" shared earlier today on Twitter by popular leakster Ice universe (@UniverseIce) starts with the "Made for mooonlight" headline which makes it very clear that a triple camera is involved. The following sequences say "Capture the night" and "even in low light," while the final text reads "Stunning night photos are coming" before the movie moves on to a full screen "sooon" that highlights the triple-camera setup once again.
MANILA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos has appointed Carlito Galvez as the new defense secretary after the resignation of the former defense chief, a presidential official said on Monday.

In a statement, Presidential Communications Office officer-in-charge Cheloy Garafil said Marcos has accepted the resignation of Defense officer-in-charge Jose Faustino.

Galvez, a military general and former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff, has accepted the position, she added.

The new defense chief was an adviser to the president on peace, reconciliation and unity before the latest nomination. Under former President Rodrigo Duterte's administration, Galvez was also named chief implementer of the fight against COVID-19, or vaccine czar that was in charge of the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

The Philippines has seen leadership personnel adjustment in defense and military since the new year. Last Friday, Marcos appointed General Andres Centino as the new chief of staff of the AFP, replacing the outgoing Lieutenant General Bartolome Bacarro.
Syria's Idlib de-escalation zone not attacked in past day

Damascus, Jan 10 (UNI) The Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group (banned in Russia) has not shelled Syria's Idlib de-escalation zone over the past 24 hours, Maj. Gen. Oleg Yegorov, deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, said at a briefing.

"No shelling attacks have been registered in the Idlib de-escalation zone over the past 24 hours," Maj. Gen. Yegorov said.

The Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides and Control over the Movement of Refugees in the Syrian Arab Republic was established in February 2016.
Pete Korellis retired as CEO after 40 years with one of the largest roofing companies in Chicagoland, Korellis in Hammond.

He previously owned the family-owned roofing firm dating back to 1960, but transferred the ownership to employers as a succession plan. Korellis joined the company, which was founded by his father, George Korellis, after graduating from college in the mid-1980s.

He worked to shift Korellis from a residential business to serving the bigger commercial and industrial customers that are common in the Calumet Region. The company now offers an array of roofing, sheet metal, carpentry and masonry services.

Our first big job was for Ford Motor Co. in 1984, Pete Korellis said. The Chicago Assembly Plant was re-tooling to start production of the brand-new Taurus. That project was the catalyst for Korellis rising to the top in the roofing industry.

He worked to build up the organization with lifelong friend and business partner Jeff Tharp, who retired in July.

This is a big company, and a lot of people rely on Korellis to support their families. Jeff and I grew into it, Korellis said. When I came to work full-time, there were eight employees.

Korellis now employs more than 220 workers during the peak construction season in the summer.

Korellis worked with his father every day for many decades. George Korellis continued to work for the company he founded, in a limited capacity in later years, until his death in 2015.

My dad and I never butted heads while working  we never argued or yelled at each other. We may have disagreed about things but we never held a grudge or let it come between our relationship, he said. In my opinion, the reason so many family businesses seldom last through generations has more do to with the founder not willing to let go and change. The next generation comes in with motivation, drive and energy and it gets squashed due to their resistance to change or not giving up responsibilities. I give my dad all the credit because he never said, I told you so. I had some big mistakes and we learned from them and kept going.

Korellis, long known as Korellis Roofing, moved its headquarters several times over the years but always remained in Hammond. It is now located at 133 169th Ave. by Elmwood Cemetery and the Erie Lackawanna Trail.

The city expressed its appreciation for Korellis' dedication to it.

The truth is, it's companies like Korellis and people like Pete who make our jobs as public officials much easier, Hammond Chief of Staff Phil Taillon said. This company employs many people and makes this community stronger. On behalf of Mayor McDermott and the city of Hammond, thank you so much for everything youve done for this city.

John Ziolkowski will take over as CEO of the company. He's served as president of Korellis since April 2021.

It has been great to have a tremendous role model and mentor like Pete that believes in all his employees. I made a promise to follow the great foundation established by George and Pete Korellis, and I stand by that each day, Ziolkowski said.

Korellis plans to spend more time with family moving forward, including with a grandchild he's expecting. He will remain chairman of the board, running quarterly meetings on the business' direction and strategy.

He said he'll miss the people at the company.

"Seeing our company employees doing well in life, buying homes, sending kids to college, retiring  just being able to watch our people grow and develop is extremely gratifying," he said. "There is nothing more honorable that a business can do than to employ people  pay them good wages and give them good benefits so they can provide a good living for their family.
Hikers will be able to swoop in to see majestic bald eagles at The Forest Preserve District of Will Countys annual Eagle Watch.

The free event celebrates America's national bird, a raptor once on the verge of extinction but now thriving in the wild again, including along the Little Calumet and Kankakee Rivers.

People can see bald eagles fish and hunt for waterfowl on the Des Plaines River from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Four Rivers Environmental Education Center at 25055 W. Walnut Lane in Channahon.

Forest Preserve staff have their fingers crossed for frigid weather because the colder the temperatures, the more likely eagles will gather around the open waters of the Des Plaines River near Four Rivers. And when they do gather, it's a wonderful sight to see these massive birds soaring around the Four Rivers area, said Jess McQuown, a Forest Preserve program coordinator.

Theyre one of the few birds that can coast in the air, said Jess McQuown, a Forest Preserve program coordinator. And theyre so distinct because they're big and theyre ferocious predators. They dive and catch fish with their feet and watching it is pretty magical. Its like watching an adventure movie.

People also can see Victor E., a bald eagle who will appear for live indoor raptor presentations. Milton, Wis.-based Hoos Woods Raptor Center will do two 45-minute bird presentations with the eagle and four owls at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. A 20-minute meet and greet also will take place at 12:30 p.m.

You're guaranteed to see an eagle one way or another because of the bird presentations, McQuown said.

The Forest Preserve will lead 40-minute guided hikes to search for eagles at 11:50 a.m., 12:55 and 2:20 p.m., teaching people more about the birds that rebounded from just 400 breeding pairs in the 1960s to more than 316,000 today in the lower 48 states.

People also can hike the McKinley Woods site on their own to try to catch a view of the eagles.

The Forest Preserve will host 15-minute Talon Talks at noon, 1 and 2:30 p.m. People can learn more about the eagles of the world, eagle eyes and the bald eagle's recovery.

Eagle Watch also will include family crafts, an Eagle Eye Scavenger Hunt and food from Lil Debs Mobile Eats.

Illinois hosts more wintering bald eagles than any other state outside of Alaska. An estimated 3,100 eagles winter in 27 Illinois counties each year, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

For more information, visit ReconnectWithNature.org.
GARY  A 24-year-old man was shot to death in downtown Gary.

Gary police officers were dispatched to a report of shots fired in the 400 block of Massachusetts Street, said Public Information Officer Lt. Dawn Westerfield. That's near the Hudson Campbell Fitness Center and City Hall just east of Broadway.

Officers arrived and found the slain man, Westerfield said.

"This is believed to be an isolated incident," Westerfield said.

The Lake County coroner's office pronounced the victim dead at the scene and later identified him as Gary resident Jalen Hurd. The cause of death was gunshot wounds, and the manner of death was a homicide.

Gary Metro Homicide is investigating the fatal shooting.

Anyone with any information about the case is urged to call 219-755-3855 or the Crime Tip Line at 866-CRIME-GP.
A civil lawsuit targeting a LaPorte County man convicted in the torture death of his 4-year-old son accuses the Indiana Department of Child Services of placing the child in the hands of his known abusive parents and then closing the case on the child, who had been in the agency's care since birth.

"Three days after Judah's birth (on June 17, 2017), he was placed in a kinship placement and not allowed to go home with his parents from the hospital," according to the suit filed by the estate of Judah Morgan against his father Alan Morgan.

"In April 2021, DCS removed Judah from foster care and placed Judah, for the first time in his life, in the home of his parents," the suit says.

The LaPorte County prosecutor's office has since determined that in the six months leading up to Judah's Oct. 11, 2021 death  "from the moment that Judah was placed by the DCS in his parents' home"  he was neglected and endangered, the suit claims. "Despite that fact that Judah was a neglected and endangered child, in June of 2021, DCS closed its case involving Judah."

Brian Heinemann, deputy director of communications for the DCS, said when contacted Tuesday morning, "We do not have an agency statement at this time. Ill reach out if that changes."

A recently released DCS report revealed that the number of Hoosier children dying from abuse or neglect grew 20% in 2021, with a similar-sized drop the previous year.

The complaint in the Morgan case was filed Thursday by Jenna Hullett, personal representative for Judah's estate. She is represented in the legal action by Mishawaka-based attorney Charles Rice.

The suit claims as a result of the "reckless, careless, negligent and wrongful acts and omissions of other persons and the intentional acts of Alan Morgan, Judah Morgan was beaten, tortured and eventually murdered on October 11, 2021."

It seeks judgment against Alan Morgan and an unspecified amount of money for damages, including attorney fees.

Alan Morgan, who had pleaded guilty to murder, an amended felony battery charge and a felony count of resisting law enforcement from another criminal case, was sentenced in late November to 70 years behind bars.

A forensic pathologist said during the sentencing hearing that the case was one of the worst offenses of that type he has seen in his 28 years on the job.

Video footage from inside the family's Hamlet home shows Alan Morgan repeatedly punching his son, repeatedly holding the boy up by his neck and dropping him on the floor and leaving him alone for hours in a cold and dark basement, a police officer said. The basement had no furniture and officers found remnants of duct tape apparently used to bind the child.

The criminal case against Judah's mother, Mary Yoder, 27, is still pending. She was charged with Level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death, Level 5 neglect of a dependent involving cruel confinement, Level 5 felony domestic battery and two counts of Level 6 felony neglect of a dependent, court records show. She also faces misdemeanor counts of cruelty to an animal and failure to make a report, court records show.

The civil suit claims Judah was a "child in need of services" and a ward of DCS from the time of his birth until the year of his death. He was born with drugs in his system, the complaint claims.

"Six weeks prior to Judah's birth, allegations of physical abuse and neglect of Judah's older siblings by Judah's parents were substantiated," the suit says.

The DCS is "the state agency responsible for the safety and well being of Hoosier children who come into contact with the state's child welfare system," the complaint says.
EAST CHICAGO  Authorities have identified a man who was shot to death Sunday night at a gas station in East Chicago.

Kelley Holmes, 26, was killed after being shot twice in the chest and pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Lake County coroner's office. The cause of death was gunshot wounds, and the manner of death was a homicide.

East Chicago police were dispatched about 6 p.m. Sunday to the 4500 block of Indianapolis Boulevard after getting a Shotspotter alert of 12 gunshots in the area, Chief Jose Rivera said.

Holmes was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m., shortly after first responders arrived on the scene, according to the coroner's office.

The East Chicago Criminal Investigation Division and Crime Scene Investigators are investigating the fatal shooting.

Anyone with any information to share can contact Detective Lt. Brian Paine at 219-391-8318 or bpaine@eastchicago.com.

Anonymous tips can be made by calling 219-391-8500.
GARY  A man was shot by his brother inside his home in Gary, according to police.

At about 1:25 p.m. Sunday, Gary Police Department officers were dispatched to St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago where a gunshot victim from Gary was being treated.

Police interviewed a 31-year-old man who said he was shot by his brother on the 500 block of Durbin Street in Gary, according to a police report.

He suffered a non-threatening gunshot wound to the calf, according to the report.

Gary police officers went to the home, but the suspect had left.

The department's violent crime detectives are investigating the case.

Anyone with any information about the case is urged to call 219-755-3855 or the Crime Tip Line at 866-CRIME-GP.
GARY  A 48-year-old Gary man was found slain in his home Sunday.

Arthur Peretti was killed in a house on the 7100 block of W. 22nd Avenue in Gary, according to the Lake County coroner's office. His home address was listed as the same as the location of the slaying.

The cause of death was unknown, and the manner of death was a homicide, according to the coroner's office.

Gary Police Department Detective Lieutenant Dawn Westerfield said he was killed by strangulation.

"Officers responded for a death investigation, the circumstances were unknown until the autopsy was completed," she said. "Gary metro homicide is investigating."

A Medicolegal Death Investigation team was dispatched to the fatal victim's home at 5:50 p.m. Sunday. He was pronounced dead at the scene within an hour, at 6:43 p.m., according to the coroner's office.

Anyone with any information about the case can call 219-755-3855 or the Crime Tip Line at 866-CRIME-GP.
CROWN POINT  More than 700 years after the first Christmas tree was put on display, folks gathered recently to burn down a whole bunch of those trees.

For the first time since 2020, the City of Crown Point, Geisen Funeral Home and Geisen-Pruzin Funeral and Cremation Services sponsored a public Twelfth Night Christmas tree bonfire.

In what Geisen owner Larry Geisen described as a celebration like no other, natural holiday trees from around the community were gathered at the Lake County Fairgrounds for a fiery farewell.

Geisen and the city have partnered for 21 years on this annual celebration.

Weve been part of this community for 155 years, said Larry Geisen, and this is just another way of giving back. This is an opportunity to get everyone together and close out the holiday season.

Geisen estimated that 150-200 trees were brought to the fairgrounds or placed at residences for city crews to recover.

A few weeks prior to Christmas, the city paid tribute to one German tradition with the lighting of the Christmas tree outside the historic Lake County Courthouse. This time, the city honored another German tradition that may have originated in the Baltics in the 16th century in Riga, Latvia.

According to thevibes.com, this Baltic pagan tradition of tree burning was picked up by German traders, who developed the Christmas tree into its modern form and then helped spread the tradition at ports along the Baltic Sea.

Riga townspeople would drag the tree trunk through the streets before taking a torch to it. In medieval times, people put the trees in their homes before taking them out to burn.

According to the cultural center in Riga, the tree stump symbolizes everything that went wrong that year. As part of the winter solstice observance, people gathered all their bad thoughts, wrongdoings or health issues into these logs. The trees ablaze signified a fresh start to the new year.

The worlds first decorated Christmas tree is reported to have been put on show in Riga in 1510, reportedly decorated by members of the merchants guild with artificial roses. Merchants then danced around the tree before setting it on fire.

At the fairgrounds, members of Crown Point Fire Rescue set the trees on fire and then remained on the scene to safeguard the burn area outside the Industrial Building.

Matt Wise, a firefighter-paramedic, attended with his son, James, 3, who like many children and adults was attending his first holiday tree bonfire.

This is a great way to get the community together and wrap up the holidays, Wise said.

Michelle Coin, of Lowell, came with husband James and children Austin and Allie, both 10.

We always have a good time, the mom said, and we love being outside.

I just want to see the fire and the trees burn, Austin added.

Jen Saternus, of Crown Point, brought her children, Adyson, 7, and Peyton, 10. We come every year to keep the tradition going.

Saternus claimed to know where her tree was in the large pile. She brought it to the fairgrounds and attached a marker to it.

Pam Howard, of Crown Point, filled a few vehicles, bringing her two adult sons, their wives and her four grandchildren. It brings the family together for a good time, she said.

As to closing the holiday season, Howard knows what she wants: Sunshine and warmth. Spring is coming.

Twelfth Night refers to an old Christian celebration 12 days after Christmas, which would be Jan. 6. It marks Epiphany, a Christian festival that holds different meanings in the Eastern and Western churches.

Though not celebrated as much today, it was largely observed in Elizabethan England. In celebrating Epiphany, Christians were celebrating the revelation of God as Jesus in the flesh. The feast, known as Theophany in Eastern Orthodox churches, also commemorates the Magis visit to the Christ child.

While Christians celebrate the holiday on one day, Protestant churches celebrate the feast through Ash Wednesday.

Stephanie Elmore, of Crown Point, brought her three children, Samantha, 10, Connor, 12, and Camden, 14. This was their first tree burn.

Patricia Cornejo, of Crown Point, came with nephew Lucas, 1. This is our first burn, and we just want to be part of the community, Cornejo said. This is a night with the family.

Katie and Dev Duncan, of Crown Point, came with daughters Zoey, 7, and Ryleigh, 5. We heard about this. Weve never been to one, and we wanted to check it out, Katie Duncan said.

I want to watch the bonfire, Zoey added.

Amy Cashen, of Highland, brought her son Eric and granddaughter Lizzie, 6, of Crown Point.

I just want to see the big flames, said Lizzie, a first-grader at Solon Robinson Elementary.

Gallery: The Times Photos of the Week Descent of the Holy Spirit Orthodox Church celebrates Orthodox Christmas Descent of the Holy Spirit Orthodox Church celebrates Orthodox Christmas Descent of the Holy Spirit Orthodox Church celebrates Orthodox Christmas Descent of the Holy Spirit Orthodox Church celebrates Orthodox Christmas Descent of the Holy Spirit Orthodox Church celebrates Orthodox Christmas gary police chief Michigan City at Crown Point boys basketball Michigan City at Crown Point boys basketball Michigan City at Crown Point boys basketball Michigan City at Crown Point boys basketball Michigan City at Crown Point boys basketball Giant mural depicts Hobart history, businesses, schools Candidate filing for municipal primary election Candidate filing for municipal primary election Candidate filing for municipal primary election Candidate filing for municipal primary election Candidate filing for municipal primary election LPCommission2.JPG Interfaith Clergy Council's annual Emancipation Proclamation Service of Freedom Interfaith Clergy Council's annual Emancipation Proclamation Service of Freedom _34A0644[1].JPG _34A0678[1].JPG _34A0549[1].JPG _34A0597[1].JPG Gallery HTML code
The family settled in Chicago, where Charles  he changed his name after arriving  learned English and became a committed reader. Recalling the faculty at Oak Park and River Forest High School in suburban Chicago, where he spent his senior year, he told Mr. Bruckner of The Times: They did remind you all the time this was the high school of Ernest Hemingway, and that made you wonder who you were. But if they found you were interested in reading they just kept handing books to you.

His parents could not afford to send him to college, but he attended night classes at the University of Chicago while working as a proofreader and office boy for The Chicago Sun-Times. He moved to New York in 1958, where he worked odd jobs while composing poetry at night. I always wrote in English, he said, since I wanted my friends and the girls I was in love with to understand my poems.

His first two poems to appear in print were in The Chicago Review in the winter 1959 issue, when he was 21. He was drafted into the Army in 1961 and spent two years as a military policeman in Germany and France. He found his voice, he said, upon his return.

Before the Army I had become too literary, buttoned down, in tweeds, pipe-smoking, all that, he said. After the Army I had a much humbler view of myself. I started thinking about a remark of the painter Paul Klee, that if a young man is to accomplish something he has to find something truly his own. Well, I had a kind of minimalist urge, and so I started writing poems about the simplest things. Household objects: a knife, a fork, a spoon, my shoes.

In 1964 he married Helen Dubin, a fashion designer. She survives him, along with their daughter, Anna Simic; their son, Philip; a brother, Milan Simich; and two grandchildren.
THE BANDIT QUEENS, by Parini Shroff

Women were built to endure the rules men make, Parini Shroff writes in her debut novel, The Bandit Queens, which covers a litany of grim realities in rural India: poverty, hunger, alcoholism, domestic violence, sexual assault and a caste system, to name a few. This might sound depressing, but Shroff manages to spin all of the above into a radically feel-good story about the murder of no-good husbands by a cast of unsinkable women.

The leader of the pack is Geeta, whose abusive husband, Ramesh, abandoned her five years earlier without so much as a goodbye. Now the whole village thinks she murdered him; neighbors give her the wide berth bestowed to any social pariah. But, for the most part, the isolation that comes with the reputation of self-made widow suits Geeta  or at least shes convinced herself that it does.

Intent on funding a jewelry-making business that will cement her independence, Geeta joins a microloan group with several village women. Shes proud to focus on her craft  as opposed to homemaking or social jockeying  and insists on eating no ones salt but her own. In fact, shes almost saved enough money for a refrigerator, which will change everything, including how others saw her.

To make sense of her lot in life, Geeta has adopted as her guiding light Phoolan Devi, a young woman who became known throughout India as the Bandit Queen after she killed 22 men  her tormentors and rapists  in a single day. Part historical figure, part legend, Phoolan completed her jail sentence and became an activist and member of Parliament before being assassinated at age 37. To Geeta, she is an inspiring example of a woman who managed to wrest control of her life: The Bandit Queen didnt wait for help, she was help.
More than a decade ago, a woman traveled from Upper Saddle River, N.J., to Manhattan, crossing the Hudson River to see her gynecologist, Robert A. Hadden. After a routine checkup with a nurse in the room, Mr. Hadden left. Moments later, he returned alone, she testified on Monday, and sexually assaulted her.

I was flabbergasted, testified the woman, who was identified by the pseudonym Kate Evans in court. I was amazed. I was petrified.

She was not the only woman enticed by Mr. Hadden to cross state lines so he could abuse her, a prosecutor said during an opening statement in Mr. Haddens trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan. In all, Mr. Hadden is accused of persuading four patients to travel from Pennsylvania, Nevada and New Jersey to New York State for what they believed would be routine examinations.

In 2016, Mr. Hadden pleaded guilty in a separate case in state court after being accused of sexual abuse by 19 patients, but was spared prison time in a deal that brought scrutiny for former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. Mr. Hadden has not worked as a doctor since 2012, when he was an obstetrician-gynecologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and also on staff at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
Why Has America Fallen So Hard for Harry and Meghan?
A Brooklyn judge accused of making racist and homophobic remarks about court workers, fellow judges and others has agreed to give up her seat on the bench, officials said on Monday.

The judge, Harriet L. Thompson of Brooklyn Surrogates Court, was set to face a misconduct hearing next week. In a legal filing, a top New York judge wrote that Judge Thompson said that being gay is an abomination to mankind and that Hispanic people had a deceitful trait that goes way back to biblical times.

Those comments and others, most of which Judge Thompson, 67, denied making but which an inspector generals inquiry substantiated, helped form the basis of a formal complaint filed against her last year with the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

The complaint also said that she had failed to administer Surrogates Court matters in a timely way since taking her seat in 2019. Surrogates Court, sometimes called widows and orphans court, oversees matters involving the dead, such as estates, wills and trusts.
The Hudson River bike path in Lower Manhattan was transformed that sunny Halloween day in 2017: There were mangled bicycles, their riders lying unconscious or dead, screams filling the air and survivors staggering around wounded as they searched for relatives and friends.

It was a scene of destruction and horror, a federal prosecutor told a Manhattan jury on Monday at the opening of the trial of Sayfullo Saipov, the man accused of driving a rental truck down the path, killing eight people and wounding more than a dozen others, all in the name of the Islamic State.

Mr. Saipov ran over them, crushed their bodies, sent them flying into the air, left them bleeding to die, the prosecutor, Alexander Li, said in Federal District Court in Manhattan.
Rufo often talks about the long march through the institutions, a phrase coined by the German socialist Rudi Dutschke in 1967 but frequently attributed to the Italian communist Antonio Gramsci. Thwarted in their hope of imminent revolution, the new left of Dutschkes generation sought instead to bore into political and cultural institutions, working within the system to change the basic assumptions of Western society. Rufos trying, he said, to steal the strategies and the principles of the Gramscian left, and then to organize a kind of counterrevolutionary response to the long march through the institutions.

This grandiose project has several parts. Rufo has been unparalleled in fanning public education culture wars, whipping up anger first against critical race theory and then against teaching on L.G.B.T.Q. issues. This year, he is turning his attention to diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and, with his colleagues at the Manhattan Institute, will soon unveil model legislation to abolish such programs at state schools. In New College, he sees a chance to create a new type of educational institution to replace those hes trying to destroy. When we spoke, he compared his plans to Elon Musks takeover of Twitter.

Later this month, Rufo said, hell travel to New College with a landing team of board members, lawyers, consultants and political allies. Were going to be conducting a top-down restructuring, he said, with plans to design a new core curriculum from scratch and encode it in a new academic master plan. Given that Hillsdale, the template for this reimagined New College, worked closely with the Trump administration to create a patriotic education curriculum, this master plan will likely be heavy on American triumphalism. Rufo hopes to move fast, saying that the schools academic departments are going to look very different in the next 120 days.

The values of the people who are already at New College are of little concern to Rufo, who, like several other new trustees, doesnt live in Florida. Speaking of current New College students who chose it precisely for its progressive culture, Rufo said: Were happy to work with them to make New College a great place to continue their education. Or wed be happy to work with them to help them find something that suits them better.

Of course, as both leftist revolutionaries and colonialists have learned over the years, replacing one culture with another can be harder than anticipated. New College students may not go quietly. Steve Shipman, a professor of physical chemistry and president of the faculty union, points out that tenured professors are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, which makes it hard to fire them unless theres cause. People like Rufo are making statements to make impact, Shipman said. And I really dont know how viable some of those statements are on the ground.
On TikTok and YouTube, videos claiming voter fraud in Brazils recent elections have been recirculating for days.

On the WhatsApp and Telegram messaging services, an image of a poster announcing the date, time and location of the protests against the government was copied and shared over the weekend.

And on Facebook and Twitter, hashtags designed to evade detection by the authorities were used by organizers as they descended onto government buildings in the capital, Brasilia, on Sunday.

One day after the thousands of people broke into government buildings to protest what they falsely claim was a stolen election, misinformation researchers are studying how the internet was used to stoke anger and to organize far-right groups ahead of the riots. Many are drawing a comparison to the Jan. 6 protests two years ago in the United States, where thousands broke into the Capitol building in Washington. In both cases, they say, a playbook was used in which online groups, chats and social media sites played a central role.
The authorities have not definitively tied the shootings to politics or ideology.

Police officials asked the courts to seal all paperwork related to the case, Chief Medina said. He said that the authorities had numerous search warrants and were waiting for additional evidence.

No one was hurt in the shootings, four of which happened in December and two that took place this month. The shootings involved four homes, a workplace and a campaign office associated with two county commissioners, two state senators and New Mexicos newly elected attorney general.

The police had provided details last week on five of the shootings. On Monday, they said that they were also investigating a shooting that occurred in early December and caused damage to the home of Javier Martinez, a New Mexico state representative set to become the State Legislatures next speaker of the House.

Mr. Martinez said he had heard the gunfire in December, and recently discovered the damage after he heard of the attacks related to the other elected officials. He decided to inspect the outside of his home, KOB reported.

In addition to the Albuquerque Police Department, the New Mexico State Police and Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office are investigating the shootings.
CARPINTERIA, Calif.  As rain lashed Southern California on Monday night, parts of Los Angeles County experienced flooding  an unusual twist for a typically dry, sunny place where people tend to worry about droughts.

A flash flood warning for southwestern Los Angeles County that had been issued before 7 p.m. expired early Tuesday. The warning affected nearly 8 million of the more than 10 million residents in the county, the most populous in the United States.

The full extent of flooding in the Los Angeles area was not immediately clear in the predawn hours of Tuesday morning. Californias Central Coast, where officials had ordered evacuations on Monday in a coastal enclave of Santa Barbara County, appeared to be the hardest hit area of a state that has been battered in recent weeks by powerful waves of moisture, known as atmospheric rivers.

But the Weather Service had warned on Monday evening that downtown Los Angeles, Malibu, Hollywood and Beverly Hills were among the places that would experience flash flooding. And as more than an inch of rain fell in some areas of the county that night, early images showed cars partially submerged by floods near downtown. The Los Angeles Fire Department also told an NBC affiliate that firefighters had rescued two people who were trapped inside a vehicle at the bottom of a sinkhole that opened in the Chatsworth area, north of downtown L.A.
The White House statement said that it is cooperating with the department but did not explain why Mr. Bidens team waited more than two months to announce the discovery of the documents, which came a week before the midterm congressional elections when the news would have been an explosive last-minute development.

It also came shortly before Mr. Garlands Nov. 18 appointment of Jack Smith as a special counsel to take over the criminal investigation into Mr. Trumps failure to return a large number of classified documents that were sent to his Florida residence and club, Mar-a-Lago, when he left office  even after being subpoenaed.

At the time, Mr. Garland cited the fact that Mr. Trump had just announced he was running for president again, and that Mr. Biden had indicated that he is likely to run as well, as justification to transfer control of the investigation to Mr. Smith. (An attorney general retains final say over whether anyone is charged with a crime by a special counsel.)

Mr. Trump jumped on Mondays disclosure. When is the FBI going to raid the many houses of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. These documents were definitely not declassified.

What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? Whats their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source. Learn more about our process.

That appeared to refer to Mr. Trumps disputed claim that before leaving office he declassified all the documents the F.B.I. found when it searched Mar-a-Lago in August. No credible evidence has emerged to support that claim, and his lawyers have resisted repeating it in court, where there are professional consequences for lying. In any case, the potential charges the F.B.I. cited in its search warrant affidavit do not depend on whether intentionally mishandled documents were classified.
In 2022, a remarkable thing happened: In the heat of an election in which Republicans seized on the publics fears of crime, support for capital punishment barely moved, if at all.

Murders increased across the United States in 2020 and 2021, and Americans were clearly worried about what they were hearing. According to Gallups annual crime survey, 78 percent of the public said there was more crime in the U.S., approaching levels not seen since the 1990s.

And when it came to local crime, the publics concern reached a height unmatched in Gallups data since 1972. The percentage of Americans who said they at least occasionally feared being murdered jumped by seven percentage points.

But when Gallup asked respondents if they favored the death penalty for people convicted of murder, the number ticked up by a single point, a statistically insignificant blip.
A longtime ally of Mr. Trump, Mr. Giuliani effectively ran the former presidents attempts to overturn his defeat in the presidential race and has for months been a chief focus of the Justice Departments broad investigation into the postelection period. His name has appeared on several subpoenas sent to former aides to Mr. Trump and to a host of Republican state officials involved in a plan to create fake slates of pro-Trump electors in states that were actually won by Joseph R. Biden Jr.

In one of its final acts, the Jan. 6 committee referred Mr. Giuliani and others, including Mr. Trump, for prosecution by the Justice Department. Still, the emergence of the subpoena, which was reported earlier by CNN, was the first time evidence had surfaced suggesting that Mr. Giuliani had become directly embroiled in the inquiry into the part that Mr. Trump played in the events leading up to Jan. 6.

Mr. Giulianis subpoena was issued about two months after prosecutors blanketed more than 40 other figures from Mr. Trumps White House with subpoenas. In 2021, the Justice Department seized Mr. Giulianis cellphones and computers as part of a separate investigation into his efforts to dig up dirt on Mr. Biden in Ukraine.

How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause. Learn more about our process.

While acting as Mr. Trumps lawyer, Mr. Giuliani undertook an array of efforts on his behalf.

He promoted a baseless conspiracy theory that a cabal of international actors had hacked into voting machines produced by Dominion Voting Systems and used them to rig the election for Mr. Biden  despite the fact that an internal memo from the Trump campaign had determined earlier that many of the outlandish claims about Dominion were untrue.

Mr. Giuliani also made persistent claims that the voting had been marred by widespread cheating and irregularities at a series of informal legislative hearings in key swing states around the country. But when he personally appeared in court in Philadelphia to defend a lawsuit challenging the election, he acknowledged to the judge in the case that the suit had not alleged that fraud had actually occurred.
WASHINGTON  House Republicans, in one of their first legislative moves, voted to cut funding for the Internal Revenue Service on Monday, as conservative lawmakers try to kneecap President Bidens $80 billion overhaul of the beleaguered agency.

The measure does not have the votes to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, let alone receive approval from Mr. Biden. It passed the House, 221 to 210 along party lines, with every Democrat in opposition and Republicans applauding upon passage.

But the legislation serves as an opening salvo from the new Republican majority, which is seeking to undercut the policy accomplishments of Democrats over the past two years, when they controlled both Congress and the White House.

The Biden administration issued a statement of policy on Monday confirming that the president would veto the measure and dismissing it as a reckless bill. Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said that this is a giveaway to the multimillionaires and big corporations, and Democrats wont let it happen.
Gibraltar Spring Short Story Competition 2023

Gibraltar Cultural Services, in conjunction with the Gibraltar Chronicle and the Department of Education, has announced the launch of the annual Spring Short Story Competition 2023.

The competition is open to Gibraltarians and residents of Gibraltar. Participants may submit one piece of work of any subject matter.

There will be six categories as follows:

A. School Years 4 to 5 (250 - 350 words)

B. School Year 6 to 7 (250 - 350 words)

C. School Years 8 to 10 (450 - 550 words)

D. School Years 11 to 13 (500 - 1000 words)

E. Adults (aged 18 and over) (story must not exceed 1,000 words)

F. Spanish (open to all ages) (story must not exceed 1,000 words)

Prizes are as follows:

The Ministry of Culture prize for the Overall Winner  1,000

1st Prize: English Language (adult)  500

1st Prize: Spanish Language (open to all ages)  500

Additionally, the winner in each school category will receive a voucher and a pen, kindly donated by the Gibraltar Chronicle, plus a trophy from the Ministry of Culture. The winning entries will be printed in the Gibraltar Chronicle.

Entry forms and rules are available on www.culture.gi/forms, or at the John Mackintosh Hall reception.

Completed forms and entries are to be submitted via email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or handed in at the John Mackintosh Hall reception.

The closing date for receipt of entries is Friday 3rd March 2023.
WASHINGTON  The Justice Department has appealed a ruling that held federal government officials responsible for a 2017 mass shooting at a church in Texas that killed 26 people, arguing that the government should not be held liable for its failure to update the national firearms background check system.

The appeal, filed on Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, came nearly a year after a federal judge awarded $230 million in damages to survivors and families after holding the government 60 percent liable for the rampage at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

In a ruling in February, Judge Xavier Rodriguez of the Federal District Court in San Antonio found that Air Force officials had failed to submit crucial records, including a domestic violence conviction by a military court, that would have prevented the killer from obtaining the semiautomatic rifle used in the shooting from a licensed gun dealer.

Late last year, after an attempt at mediation with lawyers for the families of those killed and 22 others injured in the attack, the government withdrew from negotiations and decided to appeal the decision. That angered the families, their lawyers and gun control groups, who saw the case as a critical test of the Biden administrations commitment to addressing the governments responsibility to keep weapons out of the hands of mass shooters.
Mr. Lula, the new president, is a leftist but is not a communist. And independent security experts said there was no evidence of irregularities in the 2022 vote. A separate analysis by Brazils military found just one potential vulnerability in Brazils fully digital voting system, which would require the coordination of multiple election officials to exploit, a scenario that security experts said was extremely unlikely.

Mr. Lula, who had campaigned on unifying the divided nation, is now faced with investigating and prosecuting many of his political opponents supporters just a week into his presidency. The authorities said that roughly 1,500 protesters had been detained by Monday evening, and that they would be held until at least the investigation was finished.

On Monday, Mr. Lula spoke with President Biden, who conveyed the unwavering support of the United States for Brazils democracy and for the free will of the Brazilian people, White House officials said. Mr. Biden invited Mr. Lula to the White House in early February. (It took more than 18 months for him to meet with Mr. Bolsonaro at a summit in Los Angeles.)



In a televised speech on Monday night, Mr. Lula said that his government would prosecute anyone who had attacked Brazils democracy on Sunday. What they want is a coup, and they wont have one, he said. They have to learn that democracy is the most complicated thing we do.

He and many of Brazils top government officials then walked together from the presidential offices to the Supreme Court, crossing the same plaza that a day before was thronged with mobs calling for the overthrow of his government.
At least 1,200 protesters were detained for questioning in the wake of the storming of Brazils capital buildings, a spokesman for the civil police said on Monday, as the authorities began dismantling the tent city where supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right former president, had been camping out since he lost Octobers election.

The detentions came a day after one of the worst attacks on the countrys democracy in the 38 years since the end of the military dictatorship. Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters broke into government buildings in the capital, Brasilia, on Sunday to protest what they falsely claim was a stolen election. In the weeks after the vote, Brazils military and independent experts said they found no credible evidence of fraud.

Brazils justice minister, Flavio Dino, had said late Sunday that at least 200 people had been arrested in connection with the riots, though another official put that figure at more than 400.

The protesters had been camped outside the army barracks in Brasilia, according to Darbas Coutinho, a spokesman for the civil police. They would be questioned by law enforcement officials, and some could be charged with committing crimes against democratic institutions or attempting to unseat a democratically elected government, he said.
Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous nights highlights that lets you sleep  and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.

A Full Ali-Frazier

After 15 rounds of voting, Kevin McCarthy was sworn in as speaker of the House of Representatives early on Saturday morning.

Jimmy Kimmel called it a full Ali-Frazier, saying it was the political equivalent of handing your kid an iPad to shut him up.
While in Afghanistan, he killed 25 Taliban fighters

Most soldiers cant tell you precisely how much death is on their ledger, Harry writes of his tours during the war. My number: 25.

He added: While in the heat of combat, I didnt think of those 25 as people. You cant kill people if you think of them as people. They were chess pieces removed from the board, Bads taken away before they could kill Goods. Id been trained to other-ize them, trained well. On some level I recognized this learned detachment as problematic. But I also saw it as an unavoidable part of soldiering.

Harry describes suffering anxiety and panic attacks

Fear of public speaking morphed into a fear of crowds, and then full-blown anxiety attacks on the cusp of his 30th birthday. In the book, Harry sees the afflictions as a form of PTSD, attributing them to both his military service and the death of his mother. When he told his father what was happening, Charles said: I suppose its my fault. I shouldve got you the help you needed years ago. Harry writes: I assured him that it wasnt his fault. But I appreciated the apology.

And a nasty case of frostbite

A trip to the North Pole left Harry with some discomfort. Upon arriving home Id been horrified to discover that my nether regions were frostnipped as well, and while the ears and cheeks were already healing, the todger wasnt, he reports. When home remedies  like applying Elizabeth Arden cream  did not work, he finally saw a doctor.

Meghan convinced him to return to therapy

One evening during their courtship, Meg said something I took the wrong way, so I snapped at her, spoke to her harshly  cruelly. Meghan left the room. I went and found her upstairs. She was sitting in the bedroom. She was calm, but said in a quiet, level tone that she would never stand for being spoken to like that. Harry writes:

She wanted to know where it came from.



I dont know.



Where did you ever hear a man speak like that to a woman? Did you overhear adults speak that way when you were growing up?



I cleared my throat, looked away. Yes.

Harry told Meghan hed tried therapy, but it hadnt helped. No, she told him. Try again.

Charles told Harry there wasnt money to support him and Meghan

The exchange between father and son when Harry announced his intention to marry did not go as expected.

Does she want to carry on working?



Say again?



Does she want to keep on acting?



Oh, I mean, I dont know, I wouldnt think so. I expect shell want to be with me, doing the job, you know, which would rule out Suits  since they film in  Toronto.



Hmm, I see. Well, darling boy, you know theres not enough money to go around.



I stared. What was he banging on about?



He explained. Or tried to. I cant pay for anyone else. Im already having to pay for your brother and Catherine.

Harry writes: Pa didnt financially support Willy and me, and our families, out of any largesse. That was his job. That was the whole deal. We agreed to serve the monarch, go wherever we were sent, do whatever we were told, surrender our autonomy, keep our hands and feet in the gilded cage at all times, and in exchange the keepers of the cage agreed to feed and clothe us.
The riots in Brazil on Sunday had echoes of the Jan. 6 attack: Protesters stormed government buildings in the capital. Outnumbered police officers fired what appeared to be pepper spray and tear-gas canisters. The demonstrators persisted for hours, lashing out at what they falsely claim was a stolen election.

The comparison is inevitable, and its useful in some ways to make sense of what has happened in the Western Hemispheres two most populous democracies. But there are major differences between the Jan. 6 attack and Brazils riots. In todays newsletter, I want to help you understand both the similarities and the differences.

The similarities

The resemblance between the Jan. 6 attack and the Brazil riots is clear: In both, a right-wing leader  Donald Trump in the U.S., Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil  suggested for months that if they lost a coming election, it would be rigged. Then, when they lost, their supporters embraced the claims, using violence to try to overturn the voting results.

Without question, Bolsonaro looms over it all, said my colleague Jack Nicas, the Brazil bureau chief for The Times. It is similar to what Trump did in some ways.
Despite a third year of La Nina, a climate pattern that tends to suppress global temperatures, Europe had its hottest summer ever in 2022. Eastern and Central China, Pakistan and India all experienced lengthy and extreme heat waves, and monsoon floods in Pakistan ravaged much of the country.

Overall, the world is now 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.1 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than it was in the second half of the 19th century, when emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels became widespread.

If you draw a straight line through temperatures since 1970, 2022 lands almost exactly on where youd expect temperatures to be, one researcher said.

The U.S.: Carbon emissions inched up last year, even as renewable energy surpassed coal power.

Resources: Heres a primer on the basic science behind climate change and photos of the crisis.
In an acknowledgment that it may have pushed too hard on its domestic theme parks for profit, angering some of its most loyal customers in the process, Disney revised policies related to ticketing, hotel parking, ride photos and annual passes on Tuesday.

Disney, for instance, will no longer charge $15 to $25 per vehicle, per night for guests registered at the 30 hotels and resorts it owns at Walt Disney World in Florida. The company started charging for hotel parking in 2018. At the time, Frommers called the move a surprising money grab.

Disney will also make Disneyland in California cheaper to visit by significantly expanding the number of days when adult tickets sell for $104, the lowest price, according to Josh DAmaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. He said the number of $104 days would now represent about two months of the year at Disneyland, which charges $179 for adults on the most desirable dates.

We want to make sure our fans are feeling the love, Mr. DAmaro said. Were listening to them, and were trying to adjust.
Assigned to cover the re-election campaign of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Miles Cohen, a young ABC News reporter, found himself stymied. The governor would not grant him an interview. Aides barred him from some campaign events and interrupted his conversations with supporters.

When Mr. Cohen was finally able to ask a question about the governors handling of Hurricane Ian, Mr. DeSantis shouted him down  Stop, stop, stop  and scolded the media for trying to cast aspersions. The DeSantis campaign then taunted Mr. Cohen on Twitter, prompting a torrent of online vitriol.

So on election night, Mr. Cohen decamped to a friendlier environment for the news media: Mar-a-Lago, where former President Donald J. Trump greeted reporters by name. He came up to us, asked how the sandwiches were and took 20 questions, Mr. Cohen recalled.

Mr. Trump, who heckled the fake news in his speech that evening, elevated media-bashing into a high art for Republicans. But ahead of the next presidential race, potential candidates like Mr. DeSantis are taking a more radical approach: not just attacking nonpartisan news outlets, but ignoring them altogether.
The failed attempt to launch satellites into space from Britain for the first time has dealt a harsh blow to the countrys emerging space program.

Britains space-business community was full of optimism on Monday, with a ticket-paying crowd looking on as a modified Boeing 747 carrying a rocket stuffed with nine satellites took off from an airport in Cornwall in southwest England.

It was just before midnight when things soured. The rocket successfully separated from the plane and fired its first-stage engine. But, at a speed of more than 11,000 miles an hour, the rocket experienced an anomaly, ending the mission prematurely, according to Virgin Orbit, the California-based company behind the launch.

A spokeswoman for Virgin Orbit said Tuesday afternoon that the company had not yet completed its analysis of the flight data but it appeared that the rocket never reached orbit, and that the second stage, which carried the satellites, had mostly burned up on re-entry off the west coast of Africa.
Mayor's Awards 2023 - Call for Nominations

His Worship the Mayor, Mr Christian Santos GMD invites nominations from members of the public for the next conferral of Mayors Awards to be held provisionally at the end of March 2023.

The Mayors Awards have become a permanent fixture in Gibraltars annual civic calendar and serve to highlight the extraordinary achievements of members of our community.

Having started as a lifesaving award for members of the essential services displaying a high degree of valour, the scope of the awards was later widened to include persons who have served Gibraltar in a distinguished manner, over a prolonged period and/or for a specific event or achievement. Nominees will have made a difference to our society.

The Nomination Form can be downloaded from the website of the Mayor of Gibraltar at www.mayor.gi or collected from the Mayors Office at City Hall.

The completed Form must be returned to the Mayors Office or sent via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Friday 3rd February 2023.

Once all the nominations are received, the Awards Committee will convene to select the Award recipients.
Winter is trolling the Kremlin.

If Vladimir Putin thought he could freeze out Ukraines allies by cutting off the cheap Russian gas that Europeans have used to heat their homes, Mother Nature seems to have had other plans.

The first half of this winter has been exceptionally warm across much of the continent. That has reduced the demand for gas for home heating and kept reserves in surprisingly good shape.

It helps that Europe has the money to buy gas elsewhere. And Europeans have helped themselves by tightening their energy belts. More on that later.

First, consider the wild weather.

The beginning of the new year was exceptionally warm. Jan. 1 was warmer than any January day since daily temperature records began in 1940, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, a group of climate researchers supported by the European Union.
Then, in writing or through discussion with a partner, respond to the following prompts:

What do you notice? What images were most striking and why? Based on what you see and hear, what do you think the demonstrations are about?

What do you wonder? What questions do you have about these images and the attack in Brazils capital?

What connections can you make between these protests and what you already knew about Brazil or what you learned about the country through the quiz? What connections can you make between the attack and other historical events?

Questions for Writing and Discussion

Read the featured article, then answer the following questions:

1. Why did thousands of Mr. Bolsonaros supporters storm Brazils Congress, Supreme Court and presidential offices?

2. Why are many on the right in Brazil convinced, despite the lack of evidence, that Octobers presidential election was rigged? How has Mr. Bolsonaro helped to stoke these fears?

3. What has been Mr. Lulas response to the Jan. 8 attack? How has Mr. Bolsonaro, who is believed to be in Florida, reacted to the attack on government offices?

4. Who are the pro-Bolsonaro protesters who stormed government offices, and why have many been camped out in Brasilia and other major cities across Brazil for over 60 days? How did they storm the countrys capital buildings? What did they do when they got inside?

5. At his inauguration in January, Mr. Lula said that uniting Brazil, Latin Americas largest country and one of the worlds biggest democracies, would be a central goal of his administration. The article notes, The invasion of the capital suggests that the nations divisions are more profound than many had imagined, and it saddles the new president with a major challenge just one week into his administration. What are the divisions in Brazil and how might Mr. Lula seek to bridge and heal them?
Asian Americans have typically formed a crucial and reliable voting bloc for Democrats in recent years, helping the party maintain its political dominance in liberal states like New York.

But Republicans shattered that presumption in November when they came within striking distance of winning the governors race in New York for the first time in 15 years, buoyed in part by a surge of support among Asian American voters in southern Brooklyn and eastern Queens.

Now, Democrats are trying to determine how they can stem  and, if possible, reverse  the growing tide of Asian American voters drifting away from the party amid a feeling that their concerns are being overlooked.

Interviews with more than 20 voters of Asian descent, many of them Chinese Americans who had historically voted for Democrats but did not in 2022, found that many went with the Republican candidate for governor, Lee Zeldin, even if begrudgingly, largely because of concerns about crime.
Representatives Daniel Goldman and Ritchie Torres, both Democrats of New York, filed an official complaint on Tuesday asking the House Committee on Ethics to investigate Representative George Santos, the Republican who admitted to lying about his background after a report last month in The New York Times.

The congressmen requested that the House committee explore whether Mr. Santos, a first-year lawmaker representing parts of Long Island and Queens, broke the law when he filed his required financial disclosures late and without key details about his finances.

Congressman Torres and I feel its incredibly important to make sure that the integrity of the House and the integrity of its members are put front, first and foremost, said Mr. Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who represents parts of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The complaint by Mr. Goldman and Mr. Torres, made just days after Mr. Santos took his oath of office, adds significant pressure to a novice lawmaker already surrounded by controversy and facing calls to resign.
The state will require hospitals to follow stricter standards for evaluating and admitting patients, and it will create dozens more teams of outpatient care coordinators so hospitals can hand those patients off and ensure continuity of care.

We have underinvested in mental health care for so long, and allowed the situation to become so dire, that it has become a public safety crisis as well, said Ms. Hochul. This proposal marks a monumental shift to make sure no one falls through the cracks and to finally and fully meet the mental health needs of all New Yorkers.

Ms. Hochul will make the announcement during her State of the State address in Albany on Tuesday afternoon, her first since being elected to a full four-year term in November. The governors agenda is expected to focus heavily on improving public safety, as well as tackling housing affordability by expanding home construction statewide  pressing issues that defined her election.

Several elements of the governors mental health plan were requested by Mayor Eric Adams of New York City in November when he announced his own policy to help people with severe, untreated mental illness, by force if necessary. Mr. Adams had asked the state to require hospitals to consider patients long-term history and ability to adhere to outpatient treatment when deciding how long to hold them, and to improve coordination between hospitals and community caregivers.

The Adams administration greeted Ms. Hochuls plan warmly. We applaud this bold slate of proposals and look forward to continue building on our progress and tackling these issues in partnership with the governor in the months ahead, Kate Smart, a spokeswoman for Mr. Adams, said in a statement.
ALBANY, N.Y.  Making crime and affordability the cornerstones of her State of the State address, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York on Tuesday sought to offer a road map to address the vexing and deep-rooted problems that are facing most metropolitan areas across the country, and are acutely felt in New York City.

Many of her plans seemed squarely aimed at helping New York City navigate its pandemic-era recovery, as Mayor Eric Adams wrestles with residents fears over street and subway crime, as well as a visible increase in New Yorkers who are homeless and mentally ill.

Indeed, Ms. Hochul saved some of her loftiest rhetoric to describe her proposals to overhaul the states approach to mental health, an issue championed by Mr. Adams, promising a monumental shift to make sure no one falls through the cracks. She said she would order hospitals to free up 850 inpatient psychiatric beds and enact changes to provide more care to people after they are discharged.

Ms. Hochul, a Democrat who was elected to a full term in November, committed to hiring more prosecutors and proposed to give judges more latitude when setting bail, a move that seems likely to revive a bitter yearslong debate in Albany about criminal justice reforms.
Longtime Albany watchers say the State of the State usually follows a time-tested formula. Most years, said Blair Horner, the executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, a lot of the speech is largely self-congratulatory for the governor and the lawmakers. Theres usually a portion that has interesting regional implications as a way to get The Buffalo News to write about something in Buffalo or The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle to write about something in Rochester.

Also, he said, the speeches are usually short on details and the bad news doesnt show up until the budget  which will follow in a few weeks. The M.T.A.s cratering finances, there probably wont be much mentioned about that, he said, referring to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the subways and buses in New York City as well as the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro-North Railroad.

What to Listen For

Hochul indicated in her inauguration speech on New Years Day that public safety and housing affordability would be her top two issues as she tries to address the wave of discontent that carried her Republican challenger, Lee Zeldin, to within 6 percentage points of defeating her in November.

Democrats in Albany  who hold veto-proof supermajorities in the Assembly and the State Senate  will listen for hints that Hochul, a moderate, is open to policy concessions to progressives. It remains to be seen whether she will seek changes to the states bail laws, which progressives might oppose.

Another question is whether she will mention the fight over her nomination of Hector LaSalle to be the states chief judge. At least a dozen state senators have already said they would vote against his confirmation.
Robert C. Moller, a former New York City police detective who as a State Department diplomat spent two decades shielding visiting U.N. delegates from the idiosyncrasies of New York City and vice versa, died on Dec. 6 at his home in Freehold Township, N.J. He was 85.

The cause was a degenerative brain condition called progressive supranuclear palsy, his son Thomas Moller said.

As if Mr. Mollers job in the police Intelligence Division wasnt perilous enough, his subsequent portfolio as the host countrys liaison for some 50,000 United Nations envoys and staff would have tested the patience of any referee or pacificator.

Mr. Moller (pronounced MOE-ler) gently pressured deadbeat countries to reduce what they owed in rent, parking fines and overdue utility bills (including $86,000 that Uganda and Cameroon owed Consolidated Edison). He helped expand the jurisdiction of U.S. courts to garnish the wages of United Nations workers who miss alimony and child support.
His ties to the Trumps are also becoming tenuous. After a decades-long entanglement with Mr. Weisselberg, who got his start as a bookkeeper for Mr. Trumps father in the 1970s, the Trump Organization has parted ways with him as of Tuesday, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

He has been on paid leave and recently received his annual bonus from the company for last year, one of the people said. He is expected to receive a broader severance package as well.

The company has good reason not to alienate Mr. Weisselberg. While his testimony helped convict the Trump Organization, a cardinal sin for the family and those close to it, he has refused to turn on Mr. Trump to assist Mr. Braggs broader investigation into the former president.

Mr. Weisselberg, who initially held the title of controller and eventually became chief financial officer, also logged decades of service in which he created the Trump Organizations accounting department and helped bring the company back from the brink of bankruptcy. And as the district attorneys inquiry remains active, with prosecutors interested in Mr. Weisselbergs help as they investigate Mr. Trump for his role in hush-money payments made to a porn star during his 2016 presidential campaign, it would be risky to cast him aside.

After the sentencing, Mr. Gravante said on the courthouse steps that Mr. Weisselberg deeply regrets the lapse in judgment that resulted in his conviction, and he regrets it most because of the pain it has caused his loving wife, his sons and wonderful grandchildren, adding that he also regrets the harm his actions have caused to the Trump Organization and members of the Trump family.
[MUSIC PLAYING]

ezra klein

Im Ezra Klein. This is The Ezra Klein Show. [MUSIC PLAYING] How do you introduce Dan Savage? Oof. I think its fair. I think its maybe inarguable to say hes the most important sex advice columnist in the country  and has been for a long time. Theres a good profile of him in Slate from a bit back that wrote, quote, In the three decades since the column debuted, Savage Love which is the name of his sex advice column  has morphed from a crude stunt into the most important text in contemporary American sexual ethics. I think thats right: the most important text in contemporary American sexual ethics. But whats so important about it, I think, is that Savage, in his columns and in his podcast, the Savage Lovecast, has been this crucial bridge between the gay, queer and straight communities, at a time when sexual and relational norms in all of them are changing and cross-pollinating. And this has been a time of a lot of change and a lot of cross-pollination. I think it is hard, if you are just living through this  as we all are  to really step back and recognize how different things have become in such a short period of time. Legal  not just legal  constitutional same-sex marriage; the rise of app-based dating, which I dont think weve really apprehended how different that is to completely turn around the fundamental question of dating from scarcity to abundance  or at least abundance of choices, if not always people; much more openness  in part due to Savage  towards various forms of ethical non-monogamy. Were seeing so much more fluidity and possibility and freedom. And that has come with a lot of anxiety and unhappiness and second-guessing. You would think wed be in this space of unbelievable sexual and relational abundance, and instead, people are talking about sex recessions. App-based dating may have given people more choice, but are they happier? Are their relationships stronger? It doesnt seem so. And I think the tension here is that we now have the freedom to live our sexual and relational lives really differently, but Im not sure that we have, or that many of us have, the skills or the expectations or the communication needed to navigate that freedom smoothly. And, in a way, Ive always thought thats really the deeper topic Savage writes about. Sex is sort of a way into that for him. So I want to bring him on the show to discuss it. As always, my email, ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com. [MUSIC PLAYING] Dan Savage, what a pleasure to have you on the show.

dan savage

Im shocked to be here.

ezra klein

[LAUGHS] I like that. Thats how I want people to feel when we begin. So I want to start with a bit of a grand sweep. Youve been writing, I think, the most important sex and probably relationship advice column in America for 30 years. What are the biggest changes in that period, to you, in our sexual and relational landscape?

dan savage

When I started writing Savage Love in 1991, kink wasnt as widely understood, gender wasnt as widely understood, and the possibility of structuring your own relationships in a way that worked for you, rather than in a way that worked for your parents or grandparents, wasnt something that straight people had embraced. And Im gay, and one of the things that was unique about Savage Love, when I started writing it, was it was sex advice for straight people written by a gay dude, and I got a lot of angry letters in the first couple of years from people projecting onto me, as a gay person, their ignorance of gay people as straight people. Like, they didnt know anything about gay people or gay relationships, and they just assumed I would know nothing about straight people and straight relationships, as if my parents werent straight, as if my siblings werent straight, as if I didnt fake being straight for a while, and didnt make a very close study of what a straight person acted like, wanted, and did, in an attempt to pass myself as straight. Gay people know what straight people are like. And if theres been any change in the last 30 years that I think is the most significant is this great cultural cross-pollination between gay life and straight life that really drove home that things we thought of as particular to gay communities, gay subcultures, gay life were not choices gay people were making, and a lot of things that we associated with straight people, straight life, were not choices that straight people were freely making, and that, once people were more free to make their own choices, a lot of gay people acted a lot more straight, and a lot of straight people began to act a lot more gay.

ezra klein

Weve been thinking, to pull back the curtain on this a bit, about doing a relationships episode for a while, and what keeps tripping us up is that most relationship books are bad. And one of the reasons I was excited when we thought of having on is that, one, I realized that a lot of just the language people use around me now comes from you, comes from your column, comes from your readers  you know, monogamish, and GGG  and all these things youve brought to the discourse, but beyond that, something that I think youve had a huge influence on is being this bridge from gay and queer and kink culture to straight dating culture, in a way that has actually made  at least since I moved to San Francisco, I see it much more  straight dating culture very different. What are some of those differences? Youve mentioned that there was this kind of bridge that opened up, but what came over it?

dan savage

The idea that monogamy is a choice a couple makes, and a choice a couple can revisit, that monogamy shouldnt be a default setting, it should be something that you opt into and can opt out of over the life of a relationship. When I first came out as gay and began to meet gay couples, I was surprised. You know, I moved into dating and relationships with expectations and wants that had been handed to me, and I was surprised by the numbers of gay couples I met who were writing their own script and doing their own thing. And, at first, I found that threatening, and then I got used to it, and then I saw the logic and the utility of it, in that you should do what works for you and for you two as a couple, and that should be a conversation. I think thats primarily what came over it. I dont think everybody is monogamish or open now. If theres anything that Ive really tried to hammer home over the years, its to attack these myths, these lies that were told when were children that being in love means you arent going to want to sleep with anybody else. Not true. Being in love, if youve made a monogamous commitment, might mean you dont sleep with anybody else, out of respect for your partner, and the choice you made, and the choice you made together, but youre still going to want to sleep with somebody else, and expecting that other person to pretend they dont want to sometimes, that they arent tempted, and getting angry whenever you stumble over evidence that your partner might be attracted to somebody else, which isnt me giving permission to people to be insensitive or cruel about sometimes finding other people attractive, if youre in an exclusive relationship, but its such an engine of conflict. Thats what I began to see when I first started getting a lot of letters from straight people, that these expectations  that love meant you didnt sleep with anybody else at all, true and lasting relationships were monogamous relationships, it created so much stress and tension, and it wound up ending a lot of really good relationships and imperfect ones. And monogamy is sort of my hobbyhorse. Monogamy is literally the only thing humans attempt where perfection is the only metric of success.

ezra klein

You should meet some vegans.

dan savage

[LAUGHS] Well, I guess theres that too.

ezra klein

Sorry.

dan savage

Ive met a few. We have some for Christmas Eve dinner every year. Its very complicated. But, you know, if perfection is your measure of success, youre setting yourself up for failure and disappointment in a committed, long-term, sexually exclusive relationship. You know, the worlds greatest chef sometimes burns an omelet. Still the worlds greatest chef. Shaun White is the worlds greatest snowboarder, has fallen down and gotten up and still been Shaun White. worlds greatest snowboarder. If youre with somebody for 50 years and you find out they cheated on you once, they were terrible at monogamy, they failed at monogamy, they never loved you, it wasnt a real relationship. We believe these things and then they destroy not open relationships, they destroy monogamous relationships that are imperfect, as all relationships are. And, if anything, if theres any windmill I tilted against that I feel like I knocked over, it was that one.

ezra klein

I was looking at a poll preparing for this that I thought was both kind of funny and revealing. It was a YouGov poll from 2020, and it found that 12 percent of adults said theyd had some kind of sexual experience outside their partnership with their partners consent  which is higher than I thought it would be, actually  and 18 percent said theyd had a sexual experience outside the partnership without their partners consent. And we know, in polling, people are not going to admit to that in full numbers, so its probably higher. So its not just that there is monogamy and non-monogamy, but theres also the shade of people who say theyre monogamous and arent.

dan savage

Yeah, people doing what they need to do sometimes to stay married and stay sane, and everybody looks at that, and its suddenly white hats and black hats, and the person who cheated is a terrible person. I like what Esther Perel has said  that sometimes, the victim of the affair is not the victim of the marriage. I also like what Ive said, that, sometimes, cheating is the least-worst option for all involved. You know, whenever I say Im the guy who sometimes gives people permission to cheat, a lot of people jump down my throat, because they just think that must be awful. And then a lot of the examples that I cite, things that have come up in my column, are, you know, someone whos in a long-term, committed relationship with a person who is chronically ill, and the sexual part of their relationship has ended. And is it the right thing to tell the person who wants to have sex outside that relationship  thats about care and nurturing and commitment, but not about sex anymore? Am I supposed to tell that person, well, do the right thing and leave? Do the right thing and get a divorce? Dont, like, slip out to discreetly get a sexual need met so that you can be there fully for your partner and not resent your partner for how deprived you feel of any sort of sexual outlet. Go do that discreetly and then be there. And thats me somehow being against relationships, against commitment, and thats me sort of wrestling with reality  that life is long and that, sometimes, contingencies have to be made. I would just say, in that 18 percent, everyones going to hear that figure and think, oh, these serial adulterers, oh, these awful people, lying and cheating and running around behind their partners backs. If youre in my position, where you get a lot of letters and emails and calls from people who are in very difficult circumstances, where they have a very human, reptile brain need, that theyre kind of going crazy, and its harming their relationship that this need is unmet, I think, represented in that 18 percent figure to a very significant degree. But when we talk about the 18 percent who have slept with somebody else without their partners consent, what we see are cads, and what we see are terrible people. We see cheaters as theyre presented to us in film and television and novels. And realities are very different.

ezra klein

I dont think Ive ever known anybody cheating on their partner  and not that they so often admit it to me  where they were happy, which just speaks a little bit to your point. I mean, I may be a bit more of a moralist on this than you. I may have not fully absorbed the Savage wisdom, but Ive been a confidant on situations like this before, and theyre always very tough. People  sometimes theyre not  I do want to say, sometimes, people are not doing what they need to do, theyre just doing what they would like to do. But oftentimes, these things are in context where my advice is, well, you guys should have broken up. But its very easy to be outside of a relationship saying that everything that has been built should be ended. And inside relationships, its much more complicated, and how people got to a point where theyre sort of miserably unable to talk about their own unhappiness with each other, and trying to find too much outside is  I mean, often the tragedy, and to Perels point, the crimes occurred before. This is a culmination.

dan savage

Yes, and a need. You know, sex is bigger than we are, and we pretend that were in control of sex, and were in charge of sex. Sex built us and is building whatever comes after us. Through the processes of natural selection and spontaneous mutation, here we are. And we like to pretend that we get to define sex. I think we negotiate with sex from a position of relative powerlessness, and it has to be channeled. It cant be dammed up, and that includes sexual desire, which is about a lot more than sex, even in the context of a committed relationship. Im not against monogamy. This is usually when somebody jumps up to say, youre against monogamy. Im in a long-term, committed, open relationship. Were approaching our third decade together, and I still get people who are monogamists, who will say to my face, well, I couldnt do what you and Terry do, because I value commitment too highly, and I look at them, and Im like, how many decades do we have to be together before we get some credit for commitment?

ezra klein

I always think sex is a word here that obscures so much more than it reveals. Already, when people talk about men, where its like sex is just as if you need to play basketball once a week to get your energy out, where, particularly in relationships, and in long relationships, what people want, it often seems to me, is much more complicated. Sex is this stand-in  or this way people are finding the feeling of being desired or of desire or of novelty or of love and security. And different kinds produce completely different things, right? This is a big Esther Perel point  of this kind of competition between the need for security and the need for novelty. But it always has seemed to me, we have this discourse about sex as if simply having sex as if you can tally it up on a little marker sheet, where  people have a lot of trouble, in my experience, saying what needs they actually need fulfilled, because theyve not typically been given a lot of language for whats behind that gigantic thing blotting out the sun of emotional needs that we always talk about instead.

dan savage

And that those two things, sexual and emotional needs, can be on parallel tracks, but theyre on separate tracks, and just the freedom to acknowledge that in the context of a committed relationship can make it easier to be in a committed relationship. Im not the enemy of monogamy. I see the benefits of monogamy for many people, around sexual exclusivity, paternal security, protection from sexually transmitted infections. There are advantages to monogamy. There are advantages to some degree of permitted, controlled sexual freedom in the context of a committed relationship. But I recognize that you have a zone of erotic autonomy, and so do I, and to not try to control that, to create some space and freedom inside the relationship for that makes that less of a potentially damaging chaos agent that could destroy the relationship. Theres a really interesting study out of the Netherlands looking at marriage. Netherlands is the place thats had marriage equality for the longest  gay marriage for the longest. And interestingly, they found, despite peoples assumptions, that gay male couples are the least likely to divorce; straight couples were more likely, lesbian couples most likely. Lesbian couples and straight couples most likely to be monogamous; gay couples least likely to be monogamous. Correlation aint causation, but it would seem that gay male couples are doing something right by diffusing the bomb that explodes so many straight and lesbian relationships, which is this desire for outside sexual contact, for autonomous sexual experiences, for the affirmation of your desirability by others whose job it isnt to affirm your desirability, and that can redound to the benefit of your committed relationship, to your primary partnership. And you look at this study, and you read it, and you think, well, maybe gay couples are doing something right here, and I think, as more gay people have come out, and more straight people have gotten to the gay people that they knew, or gotten to know gay people who they didnt know, theyve seen that at work in our relationships. And more straight people have at least entertained the thought of there being different possibilities, which, in a way, ironically, is the stated fear of social conservatives from the 70s and 80s, when I was a kid  that gay people led these hedonistic lifestyles, and straight people were going to be tempted to adopt gay, hedonistic lifestyles. And weve kind of seen that come to pass. Its just straight people took everything gay people were doing and gave it new names. I dont know if I can swear on your podcast, but gay people had tricks and fuck buddies, and straight people renamed that as friends with benefits and hooking up. Theres just so much from gay culture that straight people just adopted wholesale and renamed, and that was what Jerry Falwell Sr.  who would be very shocked at Jerry Falwell Jr.s behavior  was worried about, and it came true.

ezra klein

Weve been talking a bit about unhappiness that afflicts married or long-term, committed partnerships, but one of the motivations for this chat, for me, has been that theres been this spate of books over the past couple of years with names like Bad Sex and Rethinking Sex and The Right to Sex, and Ive done podcasts with some of these people, like Amia Srinivasan and Maggie Nelson and Erika Bachiochi. Theres an interesting moment here of questioning where the sexual revolution got us, and particularly questioning where it is left people, not so much in committed partnerships but who are struggling with this kind of expansive freedom to not be in committed partnerships, and Im curious of your sense of that. Whats behind a lot of the discontent right now, and how do you read it?

dan savage

I read Right to Sex. I also read the writer for The Washington Post.

ezra klein

Oh, Christine Emba.

dan savage

I had her on my show for Rethinking Sex: A Provocation. It is interesting. I have felt for  you know, Im sort of identified with the sex positivity movement, and Ive never really tossed that term around a lot to describe myself or what I do. I was really thrilled to read all the way through Chrine Embas book, Rethinking Sex, and get to a place where she quoted something I said, that was basically, there needs to be a limiting principle. You can have sex with too many people. You can have sex too often, and that kind of puts you at a greater physical risk, and can do a psychic damage. Ive never been, the solution for everybodys unhappiness is just for everybody to have more, and tons, and lots of different partners. I think thats a part of the sex positivity movement, the Mary Poppins idea that enough is as good as a feast. You know, these books are being written by women. A lot of the young feminists that are written about in The Right to Sex, who are re-evaluating and rethinking and embracing writers like Andrea Dworkin are women and young women, who find the sexual marketplace to be dehumanizing. And that may be an element of the current sex culture that there needs to be a correction for, a counter-reformation, maybe. I think, when sex is bad, odds are it was worse for, bad for the woman. So it doesnt surprise me that a lot of these books were written by women, and I think the critique in these books about a lot of whats been sold to people as sex positivity is just calibrating the settings so that they work for men. And Ive always thought Andrew Sullivans point about, when you look at gay male sex culture versus lesbian sex culture, sometimes, that you can see some sort of essential difference between men and women. And men approach sex, straight men approach sex without, I think, an awareness of the implied violence, the threat that a lot of women will say yes to sex because they dont feel empowered to say no, and that can result in a lot of women having sex that they didnt enjoy, that left them feeling terrible, and the guy doesnt even realize, right, because hes so thoughtless about it, because he hasnt projected himself into the womans experience. As a gay man, as a man who has sex with men, I think I have some appreciation for what its like to have sex with men, and for what men are. A lot of men dont, and I think that results in a lot of bad sex for a lot of women. And like Ive said, I think we do need some sort of counter-reformation that corrects for and raises some awareness of insensitivities around the relative vulnerability that a woman experiences in a sexual encounter with a man, relative to the mans experience or even perceptions of the power differential that exists.

ezra klein

You had an interesting point in there that I was reflecting on while you were talking about how most of these books have been written by women, and I get the sense  this is an unproven hypothesis  I dont get the sense that young men are super happy out there. And you mentioned, you see it in the data that young men are not having a lot of sex. Theyre also having a lot of mental problems. Theres been this huge rise of the incels, and Amia Srinivasans this is written in direct response to, or at least the title essay is in direct response to incel stuff. And I sometimes think, on both sides, that it gets to this idea that one thing that we have told people is that sex can solve more problems than it actually can. I always thought theres a weird thing that would happen repeatedly in conversations about incels, where somebody would say, and then get a ton of crap, I think correctly, for saying, well, should we just give them sex workers? Should there be some kind of right to a sex worker? And even if you could do that  and even if that was not incredibly dehumanizing to sex workers  I think its completely clear that what these people wanted was not actually intercourse; it was status. It was the sense of having a position in society where people wanted you and would desire you and would think you had worth, enough worth that they would choose you freely. And solving that need is way harder than answering the question of how can we possibly get you laid. And, similarly, I think, what a lot of people are looking for in relationships that doesnt get well-answered by hook-ups is these kind of secondary needs about what the gaze of another person means to me as a person. And I dont know, reading some of these books, Ive had this thought, and Im curious if it rings true to you, that we just have had a lot more sexual revolution than relational revolution, or relationship revolution. I mean, we do talk about monogamy versus polyamory versus ethical monogamy and non-monogamy more, but in terms of how we relate to each other, we just seem way behind the amount of freedom we have suddenly achieved.

dan savage

I completely agree. I am one of those people, though, who have suggested that I dont think its a solution to incels to hand sex workers to them. I have a lot of friends, unlike a lot of people who write about these things, who are sex workers. The last thing I want to do is lock one of my friends whos a sex worker in a room with a violent misogynist incel. That said, downstream, in a culture where we destigmatized sex work and destigmatized paying for sex, in that very clear way of, like, handing over of money for sex, people who, in addition to feeling emotionally unfulfilled, emotionally unsatisfied, then also stew in sexual deprivation, it might be a balm. I think all relationships, if you really peel the layers back far enough, are, at some point, transactional. I pay for it with my husband. I dont pay for it with cash money. I pay for it with time, attention, affection, concern, making sure he goes to see the doctor when he needs to go see the doctor. Theres a reason married people live longer. If I stopped paying in like that, if I stopped caring about him, if he stopped paying in like that, stopped paying me with those same ephemeral, intangible, but very important things, our relationship would collapse. We see transactional relationships everywhere, and if you know people who are sex workers, a lot of what theyre paid for is not sex, its time, its attention, its focus, and if we have a culture that tells people that, if you ever had to pay for it with cash, youre a loser, or a monster, or both, it makes the one outlet that some people may have, the one way that some people may pay for it, that other people who are also paying for it might not pay for it, it closes that lane down. Its not a solution for people who are right now on Reddit, you know, celebrating violence against women, because theyre so angry about being low status, right? Its a solution that could roll out over a generation or four, where we have less incels, less violence, less misogyny 100 years from now than we do now, if we could all just recognize  just like we should all recognize that being in love and in a committed monogamous relationship doesnt mean your partner isnt interested in the waiter  if we could also recognize that all relationships, all sexual relationships, all emotional relationships are, on some level, transactional, and, therefore, we shouldnt stigmatize the ones that are more evidently transactional.

ezra klein

So I agree on the not stigmatizing, but I want to hold, Im so interested in this word transactional, and Im trying to watch whats happening in my own head on it, which is  Which is just fancy for we all pay for it. You know, I know, but this is what has come to my mind on this. I dont know if, with more time to think about it, I would hold here, but Im gonna go with my instinct, which is, I think this is a place where our market metaphors are so dominant that that feels right, even as it feels to be wrong, which is, I wonder why the word there isnt actually still relational, which is to say, I mean, on some level, everything has an exchange, and everything has a dynamic, and things you give, and things you get, but, one thing, I have transactional, truly transactional relationships in my life, and what makes them transactional is the ability to fairly, cleanly walk away. One of the weird things about being a parent and having child care is you have people who are embedded in your life in this unbelievably important familial role and, also, you pay them, and it creates this very intense and noticeable tension between the transactional level of the relationship and the fact that they love your child, and you love your child, and you love them for loving your child, and its this whole thing. And this is a little bit what I mean when I say, sometimes, I think that we have over-theorized and over-worked on sex and under-theorized and under-worked on relationships. Because, in some ways, it seems cleaner to say the relationship is transactional, but whats so frustrating and real about them, to me, is how often theyre not.

dan savage

But maybe one of the things you exchange in that transactional, committed relationship is the difficulty of extracting yourself from it, of extricating yourself from it. One of the things that Terry has given me is marriage, and one of things Ive given him is marriage, which upped the stakes, right, and made walking away from this relationship  created a degree of difficulty that has disincentivized walking away from this relationship, and that is one of the things that we have exchanged.

ezra klein

And its a beautiful thing, really, about marriage. I had a friend who used to say  that I heard him say, and Ive always felt its true, that, before he and his partner got married, youd be arguing over, you know, the curtains in the house, and it wasnt clear if youre arguing about the curtains or arguing about whether or not you should break up, and after you get married, until a certain really, really intense point, you really are arguing about the curtains, and theres both difficulty and beauty in that.

dan savage

Mm-hmm. Yeah, Im not against love, and I dont think love is 

ezra klein

Im not putting you in it against love. Im just thinking aloud with you.

dan savage

Im not against love, and I think there is some there there, but its so hard to pin down. Its so subjective. Its so personal. Its so hard to describe. We can only describe sort of the physical worlds and actual actions and deeds that are attendant to it, right? But I know its there, and I know its a thing itself too. I also know that its an idea. I also know its a lie. A love story is something that two people create together. Its a myth two people create together and then recommit to and are always sort of editing and reshaping and retelling. And it has a power. Stories have power. Even that, though, the telling and retelling of that story, is something we give each other in a relationship and something that gives us a feeling of meaning and safety and contentment as individuals, but also, then, as that  you know, we are all individuals. A couple is an idea. A couple is something two individuals agreed to pretend to be together, right?

ezra klein

I love that. I think thats so unbelievably true.

dan savage

You know, you think about, so many of the problems of sex in a long-term relationship is trying to recapture the magic and intensity and passion of the beginning, and so much of the sex advice-industrial complex is about lying to people and telling them they can, right, or that they should, and that its possible. And a long-term relationship, by weight of  and were not really even talking now about, you know, Rethinking Sex, The Right to Sex. The problem of connection, and how atomized people are these days, and the difficulty, particularly younger people are having, in finding each other and the paradox of choice  if theres too many different kinds of mustard in the mustard aisle at the grocery store, people walk down that aisle and dont get mustard, even if it was on their list, because they cant choose, and, really, the internet has created for many people that  and so its not all people who feel low status, who feel cheated, who feel unmarketable for some reason. A lot of people who are, you know, in the mustard aisle of, like, dating apps, and want to pick a jar of mustard and would like to have mustard at home whenever they want it cant quite bring themselves to do it, and I think all of these problems and how we figure out how to address them are better problems to have than what people pine for, which are when women didnt have options, when women werent legal adults, when women couldnt have credit cards or bank accounts or sign leases, when women were property, and a lot of men wound up in relationships with women who were there under duress, and we called that marriage, right? And thats not the case anymore. And how do we control for that? How do we control for high-status men churning through as many women as they can get, just like high-status gay men used to be able to churn through a lot of male partners, and then how do we control for low status or low social skills? You know, when I talk to incels, and Ive talked to incels  Ive gotten on the phone with some people privately  you think of that movie, I think, The Sessions, with Helen Hunt. Its about a sex worker going to see a profoundly physically disabled client, and everyones like, oh, thats wonderful. Thats complicated, because we have weird, screwed-up feelings about sex work and whether its legitimate, whether its work or not, whether it should be legal or not, safe or not  thats the argument when it comes to the legality of sex work. Its not whether its going to exist or not, or its going to be safe, or riskier than all jobs are. And we recognize that, if somebody is profoundly physically disabled, that the attention and affection of a sex worker is a wonderful thing to be provided, sometimes even by family, to that person. Well, a lot of the incels that Ive actually spoken to are profoundly socially disabled. I think that disability, when somebody who has profound social disabilities sees a sex worker, we should be able to recognize that, that need for affection, that need for sex, this route to obtaining it and the improvement of the quality of life of that person, its legitimate. Its legitimate. And it is a net good, and we should make that easier  not, you know, through federal subsidies, you know, the Department of Sex Work. We should make that easier by eliminating the stigma and giving people who do sex work or see sex workers the benefit of the doubt, and then also to recognize in people who see sex workers, to recognize ourselves, to recognize the ways in which, even in our own committed relationships, there are still these transactional elements. That doesnt mean theres not affection. Everyone I know who is a sex worker who has long-term clients, those are relationships of real, lasting affection. Those are long-term relationships. And yet we want to knock those relationships down to purely transactional; we want to call them crimes; and then we refuse to recognize in our own relationships the transactional elements that might help us empathize with people who have no other outlet except a sex worker.

ezra klein

Theres so much richness in that answer, but I want to go back to something you said early in it that struck me as one of the truest sentences Ive ever heard, which is, Every couple is an idea. And, in a way, all of us are ideas, and another way of framing some things Ive been saying here is that a big part of sex is how it changes or affirms or validates, or undermines our idea of ourselves. But you also see in relationships, and in couples, this line, you know, that people often have many marriages to the same person, and I think thats true, but its always been a very unclear line, what it means. But I think what youre saying is a much clearer way of saying it, that what will often happen in a marriage, and its happened in mine, is that the first idea of the couple stops being true, and thats a very, very, very difficult place, when that idea stops being true, when the story you told is no longer the story that fits, and couples that survive and thrive can find another idea of themselves 

dan savage

Yes.

ezra klein

 some other story that they now inhabit, and theyre proud of, and they like. But its also true for individuals. A lot of life is having a story that you believe of yourself and that other people believe enough about you that you can move through the world in a way that you recognize who you are, and recognize how you are seen, and you are OK with what you see in that recognition. Im curious, though, because this seems like a skill, and I want to actually speak about skills here, but that we dont really have, which is to know explicitly how to tell what stories we are telling, and to also know how to change them, know how to make them amenable to editing, to difference, to new chapters. How do you think about that?

dan savage

Well, the difficulty is you have to be telling the same story together  that if your revision isnt also your wifes revision, or the new way that youre telling the story. If youre imposing it on your partner, or its just in conflict with the story that theyre telling about the relationship, its going to be a very dysfunctional relationship. Its going to fall apart. Thats the hard part. You know, Ive been with my husband for almost 30 years. Weve had very different stages and eras of our relationship. Its more like layers of sediment. Its more like digging up Troy than it is just, like, scrapping the story and telling a new one. Theres just this new city built on top of the old city, but the old city is still under there somewhere. The hard part is, you know, when youre in conflict  and Terry and I have stared into the abyss. Weve gone into couples counseling. Weve been in bitter conflicts, screamed the word divorce in each others faces, and then we came to a new understanding of who we were going to be to each other and how that was going to work, and we began to inhabit that new story and tell that new story together. And that only works if you can do it together. Can I jump back for a second 

ezra klein

Please.

dan savage

 because something occured to me when you were asking that question about, like, we see  its a cliche, you know, the powerful C.E.O who goes to see the dominatrix, right, the right-on feminist woman who wants, during sex with a partner that she chose, and she feels safe and comfortable with, wants her hair pulled and wants to be called a slut, the gay guy, whos out and proud, and is turned on during sex, with someone he chose, to have homophobic hate words hurled at him during sex. These are all cliches. These are all truisms about sex. And the paradox is this is not who I am. Like, I am not a dirty slut who should have her hair pulled. This is not who I am. By leaping into that, in fantasy or role play or experience, it almost affirms and solidifies who you are the rest of the time, the 99.9999 percent of the time, when that is not happening. Theres something about sex where we want to transgress against our ideas of self. Theres also something thats dangerously powerful about sex, where we want to transgress against the story were telling as a couple, that there is something about being in a long-term, committed relationship, and theres something about sex where, sometimes, you want to be not you, and that can then extend to, sometimes, you want to violate who youre perceived to be, the couple that  you want to violate who your partner thinks you are. How do you put those things in harness to serve the relationship, as opposed to tear the relationship apart, is a real, varsity-level, high degree of difficulty thing to do. Honestly, really, to incorporate honestly into the relationship, most people incorporate that stuff dishonestly into the relationship, and I dont mean that most people cheat in a relationship, but that most people have that zone of erotic autonomy, or those times when they tiptoe up to the edge, and then they dont jump over, when they see how they could transgress, and that makes the adrenaline pump, and that makes us feel like individuals again, and I think thats so important, right, and even just respecting your partners privacy. Ive talked to so many people who have no respect for their partners privacy, as if their privacy is a violation of the idea of the couple, their partner having privacy. And this road so many people are on, these expectations so many people have about what it is to be a part of a couple are cancers that grow on their relationships until they kill them.

ezra klein

I think theres something really interesting there in the way sex is a space where we will do things or inhabit things we would not say, and then I want to complicate the we here. So I moved out to San Francisco four years ago, and I was coming from D.C., where I had lived for 14 years, and thats a pretty head-spinning difference in relational and sexual cultures, to say the least. Well, one thing here that has been striking is my community here, its much more queer than it was. Its much less likely to be monogamous than it was. I know people who are more in the kink community, which is not something I knew much about before. And for a bit, I was, like, really struck by all the category changes and differences in definition and rules. And then, after some time of just knowing everybody, what I came to think was that the big difference out here is communication styles, that the way people will talk about what they want and negotiate their relationship or negotiate something within kink for themselves or  its, like, stuff that I wouldnt have even spoken about the thing, much less actually ask for the thing with a person whose opinion of me I was concerned about. And I think theres so much attention 

dan savage

We have to put a pin in that. We need to revisit that.

ezra klein

Yeah, we will. Theres so much attention on, like, what kind of sex lives people should have and what kinds of relationships they should have and are they polyamorous or monogamous, but I actually think this is more, in a weird way, important, about how people communicate, thats so much the base layer of all the relationships, and can you even know what story your partner is telling? Its so different to listen to people who are actually negotiating everything out and are used to doing that that that was by far the biggest, like, revolution in what I realized was possible.

dan savage

And I want to claim credit for that  not me personally, not because of my column  gay people.

ezra klein

I think thats right, though.

dan savage

Ive always said, as a provocation myself, gay people have more sex, know more about sex, and are better at sex than straight people are, and then that makes straight people get defensive and recoil, and then I tell them why thats true. We have to communicate. A man and a woman consent to sex and go to bed for the first time  thats usually when the conversation about sex stops, because whats going to happen is a default setting and is assumed. Much to the detriment of both of their experiences, often, those assumptions can result in people having the kind of bad sex that Christine Emba writes about a lot. When two men go to bed together for the first time, they consent to sex, it is the beginning of a conversation, because there is no default setting. Whats going to happen? Whos going to do what to whom? My first sexual experiences with other men  and, you know, I lost my virginity with a woman, so my first sex experiences werent with men  my first sexual appearance with a man, the guy looked at me and said, what are you into? I call them the four magic words, What are you into? And at that moment, you can rule anything in, rule anything out. You can ask for what you want. Youve been asked to ask for what you want, because your partner cant assume, right? I have had experiences where both people ask that question at the exact same time, and then look at each other and say, jinx, right? What are you into? Ha, ha, ha, jinx, and then you have that conversation. Some straight people have that conversation. Most dont, because they can avoid it. Gay people dont have that conversation because were more highly evolved. We dont have that conversation because were better. We have that conversation because we must. And thats what you see in San Francisco. You see a lot of people, straight people, who have embraced What are you into? as the start of a conversation about a relationship and about a sexual relationship, and its made them better at sex. Its made them better at relationships. You know, I dont want to say gay people are necessarily better at relationships, but that study out of the Netherlands, other studies, have shown that gay men are often slower to commit, but once they commit, less likely for the relationship to end, and I think its because of those conversations and because of that question.

ezra klein

But I think this is part of why there is so much unhappiness right now for a lot of people, and I feel this, even. So, I met my wife, not then my wife, right before the rise of app dating, so online dating was still a little bit weird, and within five years, it would be all anybody I knew did. And so this crazy thing happened, which is that the fundamental scarcity of your love life, like, how do you find a person to date  youve met your friends friends. Youre not good at hitting on people parties. Like, what are you gonnna do?

dan savage

You meet people at work, or you used to.

ezra klein

Right. It upends, and all of a sudden, people have this insane amount of choice. And I thought, from the outside of this, I mean, this is gonna be a wonderland. Like, how great? And then, you know, nobody was happy, and people get tired, and they seem to be meeting  you know, a lot of pain attached there too. Its not like theres been some great shift in our societal happiness or the quality of our relationships or anything. And I do think this is a place where maybe the problem got mistaken, that theres so much more freedom and possibility and choice, and those things all seem really great, but you need a lot of skills, and particularly communication skills, to navigate that. And we got all these new options and possibilities, and no upgrade or change in skills and, to some degree, no change in expectations. And those things are in a level of conflict with each other that seems to me to be making a lot of people miserable.

dan savage

Well, the better people are at communicating their desires, their wants, their boundaries, the less likely they are to wind up in a situation where theyre having  you know, bad sex happens to everybody, but less likely to wind up in a situation where youre having sex or in a relationship that isnt making you happy. You know, the people out there who arent having sex usually have a problem with communicating, with asking, with telling, and one of the things I wanted to jump back to is that thing you said that it can be difficult to share your actual wants and desires when the stakes are high. I cant remember exactly how you put it. Thats often a problem in relationships. You know, people put up their Potemkin village version of themselves and then they get into a committed relationship, and they havent actually revealed who they are sexually and what they want sexually. They didnt start with that. And now, if revealing those things about yourself is a threat to the relationship potentially  you fear it might be  you dont. You kick that can further down the road, and then it becomes harder and harder to reveal it. But I guess Im not really answering your question. Yeah, everyone is unhappy all the time. Internet dating has been really interesting. You know, Terry and I predate that. Terry and I both have other partners that we did meet on the internet, so we have some experience with what the internet is like, and some people are paralyzed by the amount of choice that they have, you know, the mustard aisle problem. I think thats preferable to the lack of choice that people used to endure before the sexual revolution, before the internet came along, and we need  you know, we have new problems to address, and we have new problems to correct for, and some people are miserable because they havent made a choice, right, and they need to be encouraged to perhaps make a choice, and sometimes having someone or something is better than having no one or nothing. And there is no perfect partner. Theres no lid for every pot. You know, theres no the one, which is a thing I talk about in my column all the time. Theres a .73 that you round up to the one, and thats about the best you can do. And some people find that dispiriting. I think thats kind of lovely, because not only are you rounding that person up, but you know that theyre rounding you up too, and I think thats a gift, and you should take it. [MUSIC PLAYING]

ezra klein

I want to take a moment here on communication culture, because, as you were saying that, something that was occurring to me is, you think about this in terms of sex, but I actually want to think about it in terms of relationships, and Ill put it on myself, that one of the hardest things for me has been getting to a point where Im not offended by needing to ask for what I need, right, getting over the fantasy that other people are going to know what it is I need at a moment, or that, if it is not natural for them to provide it, that that is some kind of problem with them. And this is a place, I think, where expectations are very destructive, but getting to a point as a person where you, frankly, know what you need, that you are willing to ask for it enough times that other people can understand it or be reminded of it, and that youre not so worried about everybody elses reactions to that, that youre not paralyzed when making the ask, because other peoples discomfort is more unbearable than your own or than your own possible feeling of humiliation or what happens if you ask and it cant be offered, and it got me thinking about, I watched, as part of preparing for this, a conversation you did with Esther Perel on YouTube. Its on YouTube, and people should check it out. Its fantastic. The two of you have a long thing about what sex ed could and should be like in your perfect world, and it left me thinking a lot about how theres no relationship ed, and nobody even really talks about one, to say nothing of just how we talk to each other 

dan savage

Which is what sex ed should be.

ezra klein

Which is probably what sex ed should be, but its not even just sex. Its friendships. Its work. Its our whole democracy. Just being good at communication is so bedrock, and we just kind of turn people out into the world and are like, hope for the best, like, good luck to you.

dan savage

Yeah. I dont know what I have to say there except that I completely agree. I would add to the ability to ask for what you need is also the ability to see what youre capable of giving, to know what youre capable of giving, and, sometimes, the ability to be patient, because you may ask for something and not get a yes right away or get it right away, or you know, youre told you to wait or be patient, youll get it soon, or eventually, this weekend, or, you know, Im moving toward that, or not yet, which is often something people hear when they ask to open a relationship, is maybe, and thats a conversation we need to keep having. So, yeah, ask for what you need, know what you can give and know that the answer isnt always going to be yes. Theres a thing I talk about in my column and on my podcast all the time called the price of admission, which is theres a price of admission you pay to be in any relationship, and if theres something thats a price of admission that youre unwilling to pay, then you shouldnt be in that relationship. But, you know, if theres no price youre willing to pay to be in a relationship, youre not going to ever be in a relationship. You know, in addition to being a myth, a story, a relationship is a never-ending compromise.

ezra klein

I think of this as the deepest level of your work, which is this constant pressure youre putting on peoples expectations and constant light youre trying to shine on it.

dan savage

To have realistic expectations.

ezra klein

Yes.

dan savage

If people have unrealistic expectations, then theyre constantly disappointed. And this can get very, like, metaphysical, peoples expectations. I do not expect, when I go home, to find a clean kitchen, because the people I live with are not gonna do dishes, so I am never crushed when I get home and the first thing I have to do is dishes. Im just like, price of admission that I pay to be in these relationships, and thats fine. And the trick to paying the price of admission is you dont bitch about it. You know, you pay the price, you ride the ride. If you dont want to pay the price, dont get on the roller coaster. But dont buy a ticket to that roller coaster and then complain the whole time youre on the ride about how much it costs. At a certain point, you just get off or you dont get on that ride. And in addition to encouraging people to have realistic expectations, people have to take responsibility for the choices that theyve made, for the tickets theyve purchased, and be with the people that theyre actually with, and if they dont want to be with that person or people, they shouldnt be. I do want to jump back, though, to this what sex ed should be, because I think this is so important and maybe people listen to your show who have some control of this, and, oh my God, on the seizing of school boards across the country and the current sex panic, you know, about groomers, any information being provided to kids about sex, sexuality, identity. Reproductive biology you can cover at a half an hour. Its simple. Where people get hurt having sex is communication, is negotiation, is talking somebody into having sex with you, is making sure that you have their consent, is making sure that youve clearly communicated whether they have yours and feeling empowered to have those kinds of negotiations and conversations. That is where people get hurt. That is where sex goes wrong. How to put a condom on a banana, you can do that. Sexually transmitted infections, you can cover the ones people need to worry about in 10 extra minutes. Everything else is difficult and hard, because feelings come into play, insecurities come into play, expectations, realistic and unrealistic, come into play, and thats where people get in trouble. And the people we often have the hardest time talking about with sex are our sex partners. How did we construct that, and how do we deconstruct that, that corner weve painted ourselves into, that the person we feel least free being ourselves with and opening up with about who we are sexually and what we want is somebody that we are about to have sex with for the first time, or somebody weve been having sex with for 20 years?

ezra klein

How do you get better at communication? I mean, even as youre saying that, it occurred to me, if I wanted to get stronger, I know who I can go pay. If I want to eat better, I know who I can go pay. If I want somebody who can teach me how to rock climb, I know who can go pay. Like, I know where to look in the  I was gonna say the yellow pages, but thats only because Im 1,000 years old now  but in Google.

dan savage

And I got the reference, so Im much older than you, actually.

ezra klein

Yeah, its tough. But communication, its everything, I mean, on some level, and completely fuzzy out there. If youre somebody who wants to be a better communicator, where do you start?

dan savage

People know how to ask for what they want, you know, from a waiter. People know how to ask, often, for what they want from a sex worker. You know, one of the things, when it comes out, as it has, people who call me to write me, their partner was seeing a sex worker, and was doing with the sex worker, something they never asked the partner to do with them, and it was because they werent afraid that the sex worker would leave them. And, usually, when people have a hard time communicating about sex, desire, intimacy, relationships, theres this fear of rejection, fear of being judged, fear of being left. Early in a relationship, you should embrace rejection, and you should run at that fear. You have to be willing to risk it. Thats how you become a better communicator. You cant ask for what you want if youre not willing to risk losing what you have. And what you might risk losing is this person that you just met on an app that youre getting along with and youd like to see naked and you risk communicating, not in a, like, if you come home with me, were gonna do four things from column A, four things from column B, and one thing from column C, but just, like, being actually who you are. In some ways, you have to straddle this creation of the Potemkin self, your best self, and your real self. You have to do both at the same time, and that can be difficult. And Im not trying to dodge your question here. Its just about disinhibiting around the fear of rejection  that, if this person isnt right for you, give them a chance. Allow them to give you a chance. There may be things that you dont agree on. You know, everything wont be on the menu, but so much is, and so much does work that, you know, youre willing to let go of some things and round them up. Theyre going to round you up. Youre willing to pay certain prices of admission. But you have to be willing to risk rejection, and thats why people have a hard time communicating. So, if you were going to open the yellow pages in 1972 and try to find where to go to get strong, you look for the gym. You just have to  theres no willing-to-risk-rejection coach in the yellow pages, but thats what you have to be willing to do, and thats inside you. And thats really about prioritizing your needs, your comfort, what you want, and finding somebody who wants enough of what you want, and enough of what you are, and vise versa, that it would work out long term, which is not to say that  one of the things I like to talk about is that we overemphasize the importance or the primacy of long-term relationships. We have many more short-term relationships, and we should want those to be successes too. I dont think a relationship has to end with somebody in a box at a funeral home for it to have been a success, but death is our only standard of success. You know, a relationship is the only thing that we regard as a failure of everyone involved gets out alive. Imagine if we applied that standard to restaurants or flights, right? If its a high-conflict relationship and a terrible divorce, and nobody can stand each other or speak to each other again, if there was abuse, emotional, physical, yeah, that relationship needed to end and was probably experienced as a failure, particularly by the person who was abused. If two people get out of a relationship and theres affection and respect, even a friendship, even if it ended, it was a success. And if we just looked at all of our relationships, we have so many short-term relationships, and we work so hard at making the L.T.R.s a success that we neglect making the S.T.R.s a success, and all an L.T.R. is an S.T.R. that worked out.

ezra klein

Its easy, I think, when we talk about communication, to talk about us talking, right? When I say, How do I communicate? I think what people hear is, How do I talk better? But the flip of that is, how do I listen better? How do I actually hear what youre saying when youre talking to me?

dan savage

I have met people, some people poisoned by, maybe, the discourse around sex, who are all about what they want and asking for what they want, demanding what they want and expecting what they want and not about hearing what their partner wants, and not regarding their partners wants, needs, insecurities as as legitimate as their own. Its like that definition of pornography, you know it when you see it. You know, when youre talking with somebody whos asking for what they want, you know when that person is also interested in what you want, and finding the center of that Venn diagram, where you can establish all the compatibilities  sexual compatibility, emotional compatibility, you know, long-term prospect, what you want out of life compatibilities, and you want to be that person, and to be that person who can ask for what you want, but also give and listen, you have to be self-critical, you have to check in with friends, you have to listen to your exes, you have to identify patterns. You know, if youve had a long string of terrible relationships, at some point, you have to look at that and go, well, Im the common denominator. What am I doing wrong? And people have a hard time with that kind of communication, internal communication, self criticism. And you have to ask yourself what you want and how youre getting in the way of it. [MUSIC PLAYING]

ezra klein

I want to ask you about something we touched on at the beginning, which is, first, a bridge that youve been a big part of, from the L.G.B.T.Q. community to the straight community, but also, now, the way thats changing and just the underlying structure that is changing. So, I think the polling on this is really, really interesting. So, Gallup says 2.6 percent of baby boomers identify as some sort of L.G.B.T.Q., 10.5 percent of millennials do, and 20 percent of Gen Z does, and that 20 percent is doubled in a fairly short period of time. What do you think accounts for those radically higher rates?

dan savage

These are things that will get me in trouble for saying out loud. There has been this explosion in sort of more finely sized sexual orientations, identities. How many pride flags are there now? I have lost count. And younger people may be more comfortable identifying as not straight, identifying as queer, in ways that, you know, as a result of relationship styles or interests, that, when you, or I, or people who remember what the yellow pages are, or were, hear the word queer, we think same-sex relationships, for the most part, and a lot of people who identify as queer in that 20 percent of Gen Z arent necessarily in  or interested in or ever going to be in  same-sex relationships. Demisexual is someone who cant experience sexual attraction in the absence of some sort of emotional connection, which describes a lot of people, right, who arent gay or lesbian or bi or trans, necessarily. It also describes a lot of people who are gay, lesbian, bi, and/or trans. And asexuality is a real thing, really, a hardwired sexual orientation for about 1 percent of the population.

ezra klein

Can you say what asexual is for people who dont know?

dan savage

Someone who doesnt experience sexual desire. And, you know, it is a spectrum. Everything is a spectrum, right? So there are some people who are asexual who experience minimal sexual desire. There are some people asexual who have sexual relationships, because sex meets a need that is not about sex. Its incredibly complicated. That said, most people who are asexual who are in relationships or would like to be in relationships are still interested in romantic relationships, even if theyre not sexual relationships. So theres a lot of people being shipped under the queer label now that yellow pages types like you and me cant easily identify, cant see under that umbrella, right, but they are, and thats great. Welcome. Im all for the most expansive definition of queer as possible, and anybody who wants to identify as whatever they want to identify as can identify as that. I see people on the right freaking out about, you know, at this rate, everybodys gonna be queer in 100 years, and then were going to go extinct as a species, because were going to forget which hole babies come out of, I guess. A lot of these people who identify as queer, and may be legitimately so, when it comes down to sex and relationships, are gonna end up in having sex that social conservatives would be comfortable with and having relationships that most social conservatives would be comfortable with, and most social conservatives would assume theyre not having if theyre queer-identified, when they actually are. Youre in San Francisco. How many people do you know who identify as queer who are opposite sex and married? Or however they identify in other ways, are technically opposite sex, and in marriages, they may or may not be monogamous. Its really high, and thats wonderful, I guess.

ezra klein

This is sort of the motivation for the question, in a way, which is that  and I feel, again, like Im 2,000 years old when I start asking questions motivated by, well, I was talking to some teens, but at least among people Ive met out here, straight is not an aspirational identity. Like, its sort of something where youre like, yeah, yeah, sorry, you know? [LAUGHS]

dan savage

Yeah.

ezra klein

And its a really interesting  thats why Im kind of asking your thoughts on it. Its a really interesting change to me that has happened in my lifetime, and seems to be growing, where 

dan savage

Well, its just like Christian. Like, so many people  nones are the fastest growing category of believers, people who dont believe in anything.

ezra klein

Oh, not Christian nuns, but N-O-N-E-S.

dan savage

N-O-N-E-S, nones.

ezra klein

Yes, people who dont have a  Yeah.

dan savage

I remember Christian nuns. I was taught by them. And a lot of these people are still sort of nominally Christian, they just dont want to publicly associate with what Christianity, politicized Christianity, has come to mean in our culture, thanks to odious people like Jerry Falwell Jr. and Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council. They dont want to be affiliated with that. And I think the same process is sort of played out with straight. Theres a lot of people who feel like straights brand is toxic. There used to be a greater stigma attached to being perceived as not straight, and in certain subcultures, certain milieus, that polarity has flipped.

ezra klein

This gets to something that I sometimes hear from my queer friends and particularly my more politically radical queer friends, which is that we were talking earlier about the ways in which a lot of gay culture has migrated to straight culture, but theres a feeling that its gone the other way too, that there was a more radical set of family formations, of kinship, not just non-monogamy, but ideas about how you would structure, you know, families of choice, and how you would structure social networks, and what it would mean to be in a relationship and that, in the fight for gay marriage, there was a lot of what gets called assimilation but that a lot of that got pushed to the margins, and a lot of that experimentation stopped happening. I sometimes get asked how having children changed my politics, which I have all kinds of answers for, but the main thing its done more recently is really persuade me that something is completely wrong in how we do family  that its a pretty new experience for so many people to live so far from the rest of their family. I have a four-year-old and a one-year-old, and at this moment, we dont live near any family.

dan savage

Thats really hard.

ezra klein

And its completely insane.

dan savage

Mm-hmm.

ezra klein

And my colleague David Brooks has written a great piece in The Atlantic a couple of years back on this, like, the nuclear family, like, this kind of golden age of the nuclear family, was a couple-decade-long aberration. Before that, you had big extended families that lived together, and then, after that, what you have is richer people buying extended families, through purchasing a lot of household help and child care and so on, and poor people really struggling. And we do, I think, have a constant ferment around questions of sexual revolution, and weve been talking about relational revolution, but it just seems to me that two people is too few to raise a family. Now, maybe one answer is you live near your family, if you can, and if that works for your job, and if your parents are healthy, and able to help, and, I mean, there are all kinds of qualifications there. But in many ways, I keep waiting for this thing social conservatives keep warning me is coming, which is more experimentation in how we do family, more experimentation in how we do child raising. I mean, I do know people out here who, they live in poly households, and six people raise two kids, and its not so much about whos sleeping with whom, its really about the parenting.

dan savage

Yeah.

ezra klein

And just something just has seemed off to me as a parent for some time  its just we have so little community, and we seem trapped in this view that this kind of atomization is OK, or we paper over it with money, and I dont know, I dont feel like, in 100 years, were gonna be doing it this way. I dont know how were gonna be doing it, but this seems crazy.

dan savage

We werent doing it this way 100 years ago. I grew up in a multigenerational household, grew up in a two-flat apartment building, which is an apartment building that only has the two apartments in it, on the North Side of Chicago, and my grandparents, and aunts, and uncles lived downstairs, and my mom, and dad, and my three siblings lived upstairs. There were a lot of people around, and everybody helped raise the kids, and some of my aunts and uncles were still kids themselves when we were very little children. That worked. There were downsides. You know, you were always who you were as a child. You were always under the gaze of your parents, grandparents. We overcorrected when we atomized, and the pressure it puts on two people, alone, just a couple to raise kids, like, Hillary Clinton was right, it really does take a village, and we have to ask ourselves, what are the motives of the people out there trying to convince everyone that it should just be two people living in a suburban home in the suburbs? I blame the automobile. I blame the expressway for contributing to the atomization of the family. But, yeah, having family close by or having people in your life that are family, the family youve created, not biological kin or extended family, but the family of choice that people talk about in places like San Francisco and Seattle, that makes parenting easier and more possible, and resetting those cultural norms around extended families and around not expecting that a couple can or should do everything  You know, one of the things my mom did when Terry and I first became parents, and she came to visit, was take our infant from us and push us out the front door and told us to take advantage, right? You know, one of things my mother told me when I became a parent was the only time you remember why you liked your partner enough to want to have children with them in the first place was when you were alone with your partner, away from your children. And that was possible for my parents, when we were little kids, because of my grandparents and aunts and uncles. And it was harder for us, because our family wasnt in Seattle with us. I completely agree with you. And not just in this way but in so many ways. Set up a system that makes parenting as miserable, isolating and punishing as possible, and then social conservatives sit around with their thumbs in their butts, wondering why so few people want to do this anymore. And its not just about child care. Its not just about professional child care, just about preschool or day care. Its also about mother-in-law apartments. Its about people living in denser places. The neighborhood I grew up in Chicago was very dense. It was one of the reasons why, you know, when an aunt and uncle moved out of my grandparents house, they moved down the block, and it was possible for them to move down the block and to stay in our lives and to be a relief for my parents, who had four kids.

ezra klein

And this is a place that goes back to your focus, sometimes, on expectations, where I have every supply of a flexible job, I make good money, my partner and, I, like have a good relationship, we split the parenting. The expectations youre given on this are completely insane, and basically every parent I know, you up talking for two minutes  I mean, Jessica Grose just wrote a book about this  you end up talking for two minutes, and people just climbing up the walls, and the part of the difficulty of it is this belief in the back of your head that, somewhere, somebody is doing this perfectly, right? Somewhere, it isnt feeling like this for them. And it isnt. You start to realize that. But its just a place where theres been so little experimentation. I mean, you were just mentioning density and housing. I think a big problem for liberals here is that, look, we can and should have universal pre-K and child care, and every part of the social state that can help people parent that is possible, and that we see in dozens and dozens of other countries, but it isnt going to solve all of this. Like, at some point 

dan savage

Oh, yeah.

ezra klein

 there is this question of just the community around the parent. I mean, Clintons book, in this way, is really prophetic. I should go back and read it again, because weve just completely lost it, and I did this conversation with Patrick Deneen some number of months ago, and hes a kind of hardcore, post-liberal conservative 

dan savage

Oh.

ezra klein

Very intense ideology happening over there.

dan savage

Yeah. Terrifying.

ezra klein

But I was thinking, after our conversation, about the way in which something that he understood correctly was that liberals had stopped having anything, really, to say about the family beyond social supports, and as such, they werent talking to people in a language they could hear, and I dont think where Deneen is going with this isnt going to talk to them in a language that makes sense either. I do think, there, we got to a point where, after how much discrimination, and how many wars for equality there were, a lot of folks got into a space of just wanting to show that they were accepting, and, also, they werent trying to change too much simultaneously, as opposed to saying, something has really gone wrong here, and we should be in a space of experimentation to try to create models where parenting is not something you inflict upon yourself, but something that works within the society that we have built.

dan savage

Yeah.

ezra klein

I have strong views about this. [LAUGHS]

dan savage

But I do too, and I listened to that conversation, and whenever you interview one of those people on the  I dont know what to call them  the far bizarro right, its a torment to me, because there are times when Im nodding along, like, we need more family support, we need more working  you know, bring back jobs and make it possible for a family to function, if it can, on one income. But we also need universal pre-K and day care, but it cant be 30 miles away, or 10 miles away. Its gotta be on the block. And one of the things youve been hammering away at is why liberals cant seem to run the cities that theyre in charge of anymore, and this block on constructing housing and denser neighborhoods, where places where people want to live and where the jobs are, and yet people who bought houses there 30 years ago are preventing the city where they live from continuing to be a city that functions and grows and where its possible for families to thrive, and, you kmnow, multiple generations of a single family to live in close proximity to one another. And its a problem.

ezra klein

It reminds me of something that came up at the beginning of that conversation, and people should go  sorry if you didnt listen to it. Its a conversation between me and Patrick Deneen. You can search it. But something he says at the beginning, when I was asking him, like, who are you talking to? Who is your enemy here? Because Im pretty sure its actually me, was what I was trying to get at. But, nevertheless, hes like, well, there are these people, these liberals in the legal academy that want to do away with the family, and maybe there are. But the thing thats interesting to me is that the thing that I see on the edge, and is the reason I brought this topic up in the context of the question of, was something lost in the experimentations of the queer community around marriage, is that the people I know who have expanded family quite a bit are in more marginal communities more often. I mean, I dont know many polyamorous households, but I know a couple that raise children, and it seems to work for them. I do have queer friends who tend to have much more kind of serious alloparenting among their communities, because theres just more people who are bought into that familys success, and theyve built more of a chosen  the approach to the friendship is more like a family than it is among many straight folks or straight couples. And I keep wondering about if that kind of thing is going to expand, because were not going to abolish the family. I find that to be a completely functionally ridiculous concern. But we do somehow need to expand it, and thats what we have not figured out.

dan savage

Or have we? Are the poly families or people engaged in alloparenting that you are seeing in the process of figuring it out? Have they figured it out? I think they have. You know, one of the things, whenever I listen to a conversation of yours with someone like that dude, I always wished youd ask them, and what are we going to do about the gay people who are already out and the queer families that are already formed? Because they seem to regard us as the enemy of family, as opposed  you know, we dont jump out of cabbage patches. We dont emerge fully formed from the back rooms of gay bars at 18. Were part of these families that he pines for and the kind of family structure that he pines for, and once we were free to start creating our own, we did. We want to be a part, you know, queer people, of this familial project, and yet were regarded, by the people arguing that liberals are the enemies of the family, our presence is somehow a threat to the family, or antithetical to the idea of family, and I would like to know what their fix is, what theyre going to do about us, and they never answer that question.

ezra klein

I dont think they have an answer, but I will ask you what your answer on the opposite is. What are the principles of family, the ideas of family, that you have seen in your community that, if you were a parenting columnist and not a sex and relationships columnist, youd be trying to push across the bridge?

dan savage

[LAUGHS] Parenting comes up a lot. Well, in a way, you know, I think it takes more than two people, and sometimes a lot more than two people, and thats often my advice to people about their sex lives. That also would be my advice two people in a sexually exclusive relationship who are attempting to parent. It cant just be the two of you. You have to bring other people in, other family members, if theyre nearby, and if youre going to have kids and start a family of your own, you need a network of chosen family to help you do this, because its so, so hard.

ezra klein

I think thats a good place to end. Always our final question. What are the three books youd recommend to the audience?

dan savage

I gave this so much thought. The Ethical Slut, by Dossie Easton and Janet Hardy. Im sure, since moving to San Francisco, youve probably heard this book mentioned, or seen it on a shelf somewhere. It was published 25 years ago, and its sort of the Code of Hammurabi where ethical non-monogamy is concerned.

ezra klein

They should make that the blurb.

dan savage

[LAUGHS] I read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich when I was a kid, and Ive regretted a couple of times but William Shirer, who wrote Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, he was a foreign correspondent in Berlin in the 30s. He worked with Edward R. Murrow, and after the collapse of the Nazi regime, he wrote Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, with access to the Nazi archives. Its a fascinating book. But he also wrote something called Berlin Diary, which was published in 1941, without the benefit of hindsight, which is diary entries as hes witnessing the rise of fascism and totalitarianism in Germany, and I dont think I need to tell your audience why I think that book is so relevant to this moment, and I recently reread it, and its chilling. And then one that I dont think people would expect from me is A Royal Affair: George III and His Scandalous Siblings, by Stella Tillyard. George III, of course, was the King of England during the American Revolution. I love royal histories, royal biographies. Im sort of a closet monarchist  except Im always saying into microphones Im a closet monarchist, which I guess means Im not a closet monarchist. [LAUGHS] But everyones always trying to make, in popular media, and films, and television a kind of proto-feminist hero of Marie Antoinette, which she just is not. George IIIs youngest sister, Caroline Matilda, is that proto-feminist hero, and Stella Tillyard wrote a group biography about all of George IIIs siblings, but the focus is Caroline Matilda, and she lived openly in a polyamorous triad. She had a child by her husband the King of Denmark  she was the queen of Denmark  and a child by her lover, wore mens clothing, went out riding, and everything the American founding fathers did, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, banning cruel and unusual punishment, Caroline Matilda did first as a teenage girl in Denmark and Queen of Denmark in the 1760s. And that Americans dont know her  Ive been trying for a decade to make a TV show about Caroline Matilda happen, without much success, but Stella Tillyards book is amazing, and if you like real biographies, even if you dont, its such a tremendous read. In some ways, the title is a little salacious for the kind of original source history that Stella Tillyard wrote about Caroline Matilda and her siblings. If youre embarrassed by the title, just take the cover off the book but read the book.

ezra klein

I would definitely watch that. So, Prestige drama producers who are listening, and programmers, you know where to go. Go to Dan Savage. Dan, this has been such a pleasure. Thank you.

dan savage

Thank you. Thank you. It was a real honor. [MUSIC PLAYING]

ezra klein
BAPS devotees from various countries in Africa presented a creative programme titled, Africas Timeless Tribute: BAPS Africa Day before thousands assembled at the Pramukh Swami Maharaj Nagar (PSM Nagar) on Monday.

Following the special programme, Mahant Swami Maharaj and dignitaries from around the world paid tribute to PSMs ability to inspire spirituality, temples, and humanitarian service in Africa and around the world.

BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha has deep roots in Africa. Over 100 years ago, BAPS founder Shastriji Maharaj had encouraged devotees living in East Africa to gather and worship regularly.

Yogiji Maharaj, the spiritual successor to Shastriji Maharaj, was the first guru to travel to Africa in 1955 and later in 1960. He consecrated temples in Mombasa, Kampala, Jinja, and Tororo. It was his wish that a grand traditional stone Hindu mandir be built on the continent.

PSM, whose birth centenary is being celebrated by millions in Ahmedabad, fulfilled his wish by building a traditional stone Hindu mandir in Nairobi in 1999.

Along with the world-famous Nairobi temple, BAPS 25 other temples in Africa, including in Dar-e-salaam and Mwanza in Tanzania, and Johannesburg and Lenasia in South Africa, foster Hindu faith and traditions across Africa.

BAPS Africas head swami Priyavratdas offered a prayer to Mahant Swami Maharaj and said, In five years, BAPS Africa will complete 100 years. We want to offer our respects through humility, tolerance, and PSMs motto  in the joy of others lies our own. He added, May all of Africa become prosperous, may devotees become prosperous.
But he also committed to advancing discrete spending bills rather than another massive omnibus, like the one in December, restoring something of the order of the budget process. And he proved willing to cut into the core of the speakers authority by surrendering control over some seats on the crucial House Committee on Rules.

That committee determines how bills will be taken up on the floor, how much time they will get and whether and what sorts of amendments will be allowed. It is more skewed toward the majority party than the other House committees and has been under the thumbs of House speakers for decades. Surrendering seats on that committee to a faction of the party is an extraordinary and highly consequential concession.

It may matter more as a model for future factional negotiations than for its immediate effect. In the current House, Republicans have an exceedingly narrow majority and do not have the option of deferring to a president and Senate majority of their party. This divided Congress is therefore unlikely to advance major legislation and will need some foresight and luck even to avoid a disastrous debt-ceiling crisis.

But frustrated legislators of both parties can draw a crucial lesson: A determined group of members that picks its moment well can drive meaningful institutional change if it holds together and shares a vision of a less consolidated Congress.

Observers of todays Congress tend to think that the party coalitions are too fractious and that the institution is too unwieldy. But the opposite is closer to the truth: Each party is now too cohesive to allow for much meaningful negotiation within or between the parties over substantive policy priorities.
I was seduced by Cate Blanchett in Tar. The 1980s ecological disaster in White Noise felt eerily familiar to me in our time of climate change. I was struck by how dark Guillermo del Toros Pinocchio was compared with the Disney animated version I saw as a child in South Jersey in the early 1960s.

As I do every year, Ill tune in to the Golden Globes tonight and the Oscars in March. Ill be curious to find out if my picks will win best picture or other awards.

Many people enjoy movies. But people are often surprised that I do, too, because I am legally blind. I dont watch a film the way a sighted person does, but the experience opens up a whole world for me.

Like many other people who are legally blind, as I have been my whole life, I do have some vision. I see colors, I see motion, and I see faces, though I may not recognize whose faces they are unless they are very near. I can write on my iPad and computer and read on my Kindle if I enlarge the font enough. I can watch movies or TV if Im close to the screen.
To the Editor:

Re She Showed a Prophets Image, and Divided a College Campus (front page, Jan. 8):

After a student complained that her art history professors showing of a 14th-century image of the Prophet Muhammad (one shown regularly in art history classes) was deeply offensive to Muslims, the professor was told by school officials that her services next semester were no longer needed.

Never mind that Erika Lopez Prater was teaching appropriate course material, or that she had given ample warnings, both in class and on her syllabus, that if any student found images of holy figures insensitive to contact her with any concerns or to feel free to leave the class before they were shown. Or that her department chair initially backed her 100 percent.

She was dismissed because adjuncts are disposable; they can be fired, for anything. But the administration of Hamline University, where Dr. Lopez Prater taught, should know all too well how needed adjuncts are. Like so many colleges and universities across our country, they worry about shrinking enrollments and growing costs. Adjuncts are cheap; they teach at a fraction of the salary of full-time faculty.

The ratio of adjunct to full-time faculty in American colleges is shockingly high. They are a way to penny pinch in a climate where administrative salaries drain budgets and where parents are fed up with astronomical tuition costs.
Things are looking up for Kevin McCarthy! Last week it took 15 agonizing roll call votes spread over five days of public humiliation for him to get elected to his dream job as speaker of the House. This week it took him just one drama-free vote on Monday to pass a package of operating rules for the 118th Congress. Better still, no Republicans started shrieking threats at one another on the House floor or had to be manhandled into submission. This qualifies as a solid win for the newly, narrowly elected speaker. Alas, the same cannot be said for anyone interested in a sane, functional Congress.

To claim the gavel, Mr. McCarthy had to prostrate himself before a rump faction of right-wing extremists. Conveniently for members of this chaos caucus, as one of their Republican colleagues dubbed them, kowtowing is one of his top talents. Some of the rebels demands got written into the rules package. Other, touchier ones were hashed out behind closed doors in the sort of back-room deal that anti-establishment Republicans are forever railing against. Even some of Mr. McCarthys own troops were miffed. We dont have any idea what promises were made or what gentlemans handshakes were made, Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina bemoaned on Face the Nation.

So much for transparency and accountability.

Known unknowns notwithstanding, its already depressingly clear that the Houses new Republican majority will be at the mercy of its right flank. And while it is tempting  and fun  to blame the whole mess on the gelatinous Mr. McCarthy, there are larger forces at play. For years, the G.O.P. has been pursuing an increasingly antimajoritarian approach to political power; it seems only fitting that House Republicans are now facing tyranny of the minority in their own conference.

Some of the concessions made to Mr. McCarthys opponents pack more destructive potential than others. Among the official measures is a requirement that any increase in the debt ceiling be matched by reductions in federal spending, possibly including cuts to Social Security and Medicare. This is madness. A debt default could prompt a global financial meltdown. Merely threatening one can lead to Americas credit rating being downgraded, as happened during the Obama administration. Only dangerously irresponsible people play chicken with the debt limit.
When Dr. Kalmus and I decided to make our statement during the lunch plenary session, I knew that we risked being asked to leave the stage or the conference. But I did not expect that our research would be removed from the program or that I would lose my job. When I began participating in climate actions with other scientists in 2022, senior managers at Oak Ridge asked that I make it clear to the public and the media that I spoke and acted on my own behalf. I followed these guidelines to the best of my ability, including at the A.G.U., where Dr. Kalmus, a scientist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and I did not mention our institutions in our statements.

The retaliation I faced from the A.G.U. and Oak Ridge ultimately highlights a disappointing reality: that established scientific institutions will not even support scientists interrupting a meeting for the climate. Im all for decorum, but not when it will cost us the earth.

I used to be a well-behaved scientist. I stood quietly on melting permafrost in Utqiagvik, Alaska, and measured how much greenhouse gas was released into the atmosphere. I filled spreadsheets and ran simulations about how warming temperatures would increase the carbon emissions from soil.

To do my job, I dissociated the data I was working with from the terrifying future it represented. But in the field, smelling the dense rot of New England hemlock trees that were being eaten by a pest that now survives the warming winters, I felt loss and dread. Only my peers read my articles, which didnt seem to have any tangible effects. Though I saw firsthand the oncoming catastrophe of climate change, I felt powerless to help.

I did, however, believe that if scientists told the truth about the climate emergency, our scientific institutions would get out the message to policymakers, government officials, the media and the public. But they didnt  at least not sufficiently  even as carbon emissions continued to rise and the climate continued to warm.
In such cases we are in grammar territory rather than word territory, something linguists call grammaticalization. The nouns that help represent numbers, for instance, are no longer the living ones in the dictionary that they began as. They have gone dead and become mere rules. They still sound like their original versions, but when used with numbers in expressions such as three bodies of eel, they are just fence posts. They were once living wood, part of a tree reaching for the sky, but they became grammatical lumber, merely corralling the words they modify from one another.

Or take another example of lexical evolution in English: you guys, as a way of referring to or addressing more than one person. Some have objected to using it to address women or to address men and women at the same time. They argue that guys  a noun with a masculine heritage  implies that maleness is a default category. But then, as many of us have witnessed, often women use you guys among themselves as readily as do men, and they have done so now for several decades.

Thats because for many English speakers, guys has evolved from its heritage meaning of men to just people. Like heads with cattle and tua with tables, it is still pronounced the same way as its progenitor word. But you guys has morphed into a new meaning: a blank, functional way of referring to or addressing more than one human being, an option for the plural you that English otherwise lacks.

One more aspect of the squishiness of the relationship between words and meanings is how sheerly arbitrary they can be. How a word comes to express a particular meaning rather than another one is often no more subject to analysis than why a dropped slice of toast lands on the floor jam-side down one time but jam-side up another. Think of the difference between two words that are variations on the same one: human and humane. No one can say precisely why humane took on a more refined and particular meaning and human did not. Roll the dice again and it could have come out the other way, just as awful once had the same meaning as awesome  i.e., full of awe  but soured into its current meaning, leaving the use of awfully in expressions like awfully good as a memento to its origins. Or did you ever notice, as my partner pointed out to me recently, that if you place the emphasis in the word intersection on the first syllable, it would be more readily understood as a place where you brake your car, but if you place the emphasis on the third syllable, it is more likely to be interpreted as a point of commonality between subjects or lines in space?

Again, the cloud metaphor for words is instructive. In an eternal spin and churn cloaking the globe, the clouds endlessly shift, blend, split off new offshoots, evaporate and are born anew. Under this analogy, meanings are the solid landmasses down below. At any given point, a cloud has a particular shape and hovers over a particular area. But it may change over time. Next thing you know, character no longer means a written symbol, as both Shakespeare and Henry James used it. In The Ambassadors, Strether sees familiar handwriting and James notes that he had dozens of well-filled envelopes superscribed in that character. But gradually the word wafts over to a related meaning: that which marks a person out as distinct in a way similar to what a written character does  ones, as it were, personal character. Evolving further, individuals with a remarkable aspect about them start being referred to as characters, and we have yet another new meaning.

This mutable and sometimes random essence of language may seem shabby or untoward compared with the schematic, tamed one we are taught. But in the end, real language is dynamic. The fun is in looking back at how things have changed and always having an ear open to what might be next.

John McWhorter (@JohnHMcWhorter) is an associate professor of linguistics at Columbia University. He is the author of Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now and Forever and, most recently, Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America.
FRONT PAGE

A graphic with an article on Saturday about widening highways to ease traffic misstated the name of a department used as a source for information about Interstate 45 in Houston. It is the Texas Department of Transportation, not Houston Department of Transportation.

PAGES A2-A3

A Wordplay column on Monday about two crossword constructors misstated the number of New York Times Crossword puzzles that Andrea Carla Michaels has constructed. She has contributed 80 puzzles, not 70.

NATIONAL

An article on Saturday about the Biden administrations move to tighten limits on deadly air pollution implied incorrectly that fine particulate matter is solely composed of soot. Although fine soot is one form of fine particulate matter, it is not the only form.

An article on Sunday about a 6-year-old accused in a school shooting misidentified the agency at which Andrew Block served as a former director. It was the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, not the Virginia Department of Justice.
Jillian White

Chief executive and founder of a consultancy addressing bias in appraising

Ms. White, 41, has been a certified appraiser for 20 years. She estimates that of 75,000 appraisers in the United States, shes one of about 300 Black women actively working in the industry. Part of the issue is the appraisal industrys training structure: In addition to the cost of education, most states also require aspiring appraisers to find a mentor to spend hundreds of hours or more training them. For Black people  and particularly Black women  looking to enter the profession, the lack of mentors within their communities is often a dead end.

Ms. White said she is driven to serve as an adviser for young women eager to enter the industry. Formerly the head of growth for Aloft, an appraisal start-up, she recently launched her own consultancy to help homeowners understand their rights if they feel their home was appraised unfairly.

When I look back on my career, I can definitely say things have gotten better in terms of the opportunities presenting themselves as I become more established. But when I think about my early days, its only in hindsight that I see just how many odds were stacked against me in terms of even being able to become an appraiser.

My new venture is a combination of consulting, educating and speaking. Its about putting out content that educates the homeowner on what to do if you get an appraisal back and it is low and you think it is due to bias or any other reason.
MALTA, Mont.  Around 200 chocolate-brown bison raise their heads, following the low growl of a pickup truck slowly motoring across the sagebrush-studded prairie.

Snorting and quietly bellowing, their feral odors riding the wind, they slowly trot across the prairie hills, eager to maintain distance from the truck.

This knot of bison  colloquially referred to as buffalo, though they are not the same species  is part of a project to rebuild a vast shortgrass prairie not only to return large numbers of bison here, but also to eventually restore the complex and productive grassland ecosystem the animals once engineered with their churning hooves, waste, grazing and even carcasses.

When you have large numbers on the landscape, they impact everything, Scott Heidebrink, the director of bison restoration for American Prairie, a nonprofit conservation group, said of the animals. There are ways that bison were impacting the landscape that we havent even thought about.
Stars gathered on Sunday night at Cipriani 42nd Street, with its towering marble columns and soaring ceiling, for the National Board of Reviews annual film awards gala, where they were toasted for their work in some of last years buzziest films. But it was another awards show later in the week that was on everyones mind.

The Golden Globes  which NBC refused to air last year after an investigation by The Los Angeles Times documented financial and ethical lapses at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and revealed that it had no Black members  are returning on Tuesday night, after the foreign press association outlined its plans for reform. And the question now is which of the nominees will show up.

Im intrigued as to how its going to go, said the director Martin McDonagh, whose Irish drama The Banshees of Inisherin was nominated for a pack-leading eight Globes, and who said he planned to attend. I have some thoughts on it that, if I get up there, I might express. I think its the start of a process that hopefully is trending in the right direction.
Teenagers have increasingly grappled with the role of technology on their mental health and well-being. In recent years, lawmakers have criticized social media platforms like Instagram for exacerbating eating disorders and scrutinized how the sites have been used to sell illegal substances such as fentanyl-laced drugs to adolescents.

The effect of online pornography on teenagers has been less examined, but parents and politicians have been locked in fierce debates over tech safety and whether discussions around pornography should take place in schools or at home. Last fall, sex education courses in Idaho were falsely portrayed in posts and an article as promoting pornography. Tweets linking to the false report provoked outrage online and were mentioned on Fox News. In Louisiana, a new law will require age verification for pornography sites.

We cant sweep this topic under the rug just because its uncomfortable to talk about, said Jim Steyer, the founder and chief executive of Common Sense Media, who plans to present the report this week to officials at the White House and at federal agencies. Pornography is a huge part of the lives of children who have digital access like never before, and we need to have a national conversation about it.

Part of the issue is that online pornography is a highly lucrative industry, giving it a firm foothold. While there is little data on the size of the online pornography industry, one estimate from Alec Helmy, the founder of the trade publication XBIZ, which surveys payment processors, puts revenues for adult influencers and platforms at at least $15 billion in 2022. He estimated revenues from internet pornography in 2012 were $5 billion.

In recent years, online pornography has evolved into a business in which thousands of people have their own streaming, texting and photo channels that are promoted on sites like Instagram and hosted on platforms like OnlyFans and PornHub, Mr. Helmy said.
Ben Platt, the Tony-winning star of Dear Evan Hansen, will return to Broadway next month to lead the cast in a revival of Parade, a musical about an early-20th-century lynching of a Jewish businessman in Georgia.

The revival, directed by Michael Arden (a two-time Tony nominee, for revivals of Once on This Island and Spring Awakening), had a seven-performance run at New York City Center last fall. Platt plays Leo Frank, a factory boss convicted of killing a young girl in a case tainted by antisemitism; Micaela Diamond, who previously played the youngest version of the title character in The Cher Show on Broadway, will co-star as Franks wife, Lucille.

The show, with songs by Jason Robert Brown and a book by Alfred Uhry and co-conceived by Hal Prince, had a brief run on Broadway that opened in 1998; it was commercially unsuccessful, but won Tony Awards for both book and score. The history it depicts is real: Frank was convicted in 1913, lynched in 1915 (at age 31), and in 1986 he was posthumously pardoned.

The musicals exploration of antisemitism has made it more timely now, when there is rising concern about the issue in the United States and beyond. The City Center production garnered uniformly strong reviews: in The New York Times, Juan A. Ramirez called it the best-sung musical in many a New York season.
SAN FRANCISCO  An unrelenting series of pounding storms over at least 11 days has left no part of California untouched  flooding towns from north to south, loading inland mountains with snow and transforming the often dry Los Angeles River into a raging channel.

At least 17 people have died in the downpours, which started in late December and stretched into the new year. And more rain is expected.

As of Tuesday morning, amid the latest round of rain, nearly 100,000 residents were under evacuation orders or warnings, state officials said, and about 220,000 utility customers were without power. More than 400 public and charter schools were closed. Hail pelted San Francisco, which was under a flood warning. In Central California, rescuers searched for a 5-year-old boy who was swept out of his mothers arms as their car was swamped by fast-rising floodwaters on the way to school.

Extreme weather has plagued many parts of the country this fall and winter  deep freezes, hurricane-like blizzards, tornadoes, drastic temperature swings. But few places have been as savaged by the changing climate these last weeks as California.
Monday was supposed to be Kyle Doans first day back at kindergarten after the holiday break.

The 5-year-old had been recovering from leg surgery in November, when doctors removed a metal rod from an earlier fracture, said his father, Brian Doan, in an interview on Tuesday. Kyle was eager to get back to playing with friends, but, worried about his recovery, his parents told him to wait until the first day of school in January.

He was on his way to do just that on Monday morning with his mother, a special-education teacher at the same school in San Miguel, Calif., when their car was overtaken by fast-rising floodwaters.

Nearby residents heard his mothers screams and were able to grab her, but Kyle was carried away.

My wife told me that my son said, Dont worry, Mommy, as the car was swept away, Mr. Doan recalled, his voice breaking, as the search for Kyle continued. My wife feels awful because she would have rather they saved him, but she was the closest one they could get to. They did what they could.

Rescuers were forced to suspend their search on Monday afternoon as weather conditions in San Luis Obispo County made it too dangerous. They resumed on Tuesday morning at about 10:30 a.m., hoping that a brief respite in the storms would allow them to locate Kyle before the next band of rain arrived.
The White House has stressed that the circumstances are different  that Mr. Biden had neither been notified that he had official records nor been asked to return them, and his team promptly revealed the discovery to the archives and returned them within a day.

Mr. Biden on Tuesday said he takes classified documents seriously and that his team had immediately contacted the National Archives to turn over the materials. Were cooperating fully  cooperating fully  with the review, he said.

He also distanced himself from the matter, suggesting that someone else had brought the files there without his knowledge.

After I was briefed about the discovery, I was surprised to learn that there are any government records that were taken to that office, he said at news conference in Mexico, where he appeared with Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the president of Mexico, and Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister.

But I dont know whats in the documents, Mr. Biden said.

The Justice Department review is aimed at helping Attorney General Merrick B. Garland decide whether to appoint a special counsel, like the one investigating Mr. Trumps failure to return all of the sensitive documents he kept at Mar-a-Lago, according to two people familiar with the matter.
It might be tempting to focus on the 2024 presidential election now that the midterms are in the rearview mirror, but dont sleep on 2023: key races for governor, mayor and other offices will be decided.

Their outcomes will be closely watched for signs of whether Democrats or Republicans have momentum going into next years presidential election and congressional races  and for what they signal about the influence of former President Donald J. Trump.

Virginia and New Jersey have noteworthy state house elections, and in Wisconsin, a state Supreme Court race will determine the balance of power in a body whose conservative majority routinely sides with Republicans. Heres what to watch:

Kentucky governor

Of the three governors races this year, only Kentucky features an incumbent Democrat seeking re-election in a state that Mr. Trump won in 2020. The race also appears packed with the most intrigue.

Gov. Andy Beshear won by less than 6,000 votes in 2019, ousting Matt Bevin, the Trump-backed Republican incumbent in the cherry-red state that is home to Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate G.O.P. leader.
WASHINGTON  A District of Columbia court wrestled on Tuesday over whether Donald J. Trump was acting within his capacity as president when he made disparaging comments about a writer who had accused him of rape more than two decades ago.

The arguments, made over more than two and a half hours before nine judges, largely focused on technical legal issues related to when, under District of Columbia law, a person should be interpreted as acting as an employee of an organization  in this case, the federal government  rather than a private individual.

How the court rules will likely determine the future, if any, of the case brought by the writer, E. Jean Carroll, who has sued Mr. Trump for defamation. Any decision could also have broader consequences for other government officials because a federal law essentially protects them from being sued for actions within the scope of their jobs.

No decision is expected for several weeks, and it was unclear from the arguments how the court was leaning.
Psychedelic therapy has experienced a groundswell of enthusiasm over the past decade as research mounts showing the mind-altering drugs can be useful for treating depression and other mental health disorders. (The therapy is still illegal in most places and is primarily done in underground sessions, abroad or through clinical trials.) However, there is scant evidence about whether psilocybin  the psychoactive ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms  and ayahuasca might be helpful for processing grief and trauma specifically.

Dr. Joshua Woolley, director of the Translational Psychedelic Research Program at the University of California, San Francisco, is optimistic about the drugs potential. Can psychedelics help with the experience of grief? I would say probably yes, he said.

But other experts are less bullish on the idea of using them for trauma. The actual evidence is really lacking, said Dr. Shaili Jain, a PTSD specialist at Stanford University and author of The Unspeakable Mind. Its very early, and we still dont know the long-term side effects. We are not there yet.

Grief Versus Prolonged Grief

Grief is not a mental illness; it is a normal human experience that comes after the loss of a loved one. Sadness, anger and disbelief that the person is dead  something that Harry described in his book  are all typical responses to the profound pain of death and can last for months or years. However, if the grief has not improved at all after a year and is affecting a persons ability to function, a diagnosis of prolonged grief, sometimes called complicated grief, might be warranted.

What we see with prolonged grief is that the grief becomes very entrenched, that things look the same for this person today as they did the day after the death, said Mary-Frances OConnor, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Arizona and author of The Grieving Brain. For a person whos adapting more typically, a year after a loss, theyre still going to have sadness. Theyre still going to miss the person whos gone. But you can see this trajectory of change where they have started to restore a life that feels meaningful to them.
Hours after the riots concluded, Mr. Moraes suspended Mr. Rocha from his job as governor for at least 90 days.

Mr. Moraes, a Supreme Court justice who is also Brazils elections chief, has become one of the nations most powerful officials in recent years after his fellow justices expanded his authority to combat what they call an unusual threat to Brazils democracy posed by Mr. Bolsonaro and his supporters.

In the run up to last years election, Mr. Moraes and fellow justices jailed several of Mr. Bolsonaros supporters without trial for threatening Brazilian officials or institutions, and Mr. Moraes has forced tech companies to suspend the accounts of dozens of prominent right-wing voices.

Some on Brazils right have criticized the aggressive response to the riots, saying Mr. Moraes and other officials are overstepping their authority. Hamilton Mourao, a former Army general who was Mr. Bolsonaros vice president, criticized what he called indiscriminate detention of people suspected of taking part in the riots. The crackdown, he wrote on social media, shows that the new government, consistent with its Marxist-Leninist roots, acts in an amateurish, inhumane and illegal manner.

By Tuesday, the police had arrested 727 people in connection with the riots and were still questioning hundreds of others, the federal police said in a statement. Some 599 people who were detained for questioning had been released from custody.

Many rioters filmed themselves and others as they invaded the government buildings, giving authorities a body of evidence to build a case. Augusto de Arruda Botelho, Brazils justice secretary, said the police had also collected DNA samples and fingerprints from the buildings.

Flavia Milhorance and Yan Boechat contributed reporting.
LIMA, Peru  A young medical student in his work uniform, desperate, his family said, to help injured protesters. A 22-year old man who had finally saved up enough to study mechanics. An ice cream vendor returning home after a long day of work.

None took part in the demonstrations that have consumed Peru for a month. But all were killed in southern Peru on Monday, casualties in what became the deadliest day of clashes between protesters and government forces since the country erupted in violence last month.

In a matter of hours, at least 17 civilians and one police officer were killed in the chaos of demonstrations, according to the countrys ombudsman office, an extraordinary spasm of violence that complicated the new presidents attempt to stabilize the country.

The killings, in the city of Juliaca, near the border with Bolivia, drew widespread condemnation of Peruvian security forces, which appear to be responsible for most of the deaths, and have been accused by protesters and human rights groups of using lethal force indiscriminately against civilians.
Shanghai is being gripped by Chinas massive Covid wave, leading to a surge in hospitalizations and crowded funeral homes.

Local health officials said last week that up to 70 percent of the citys 26 million residents had been infected, and they expressed confidence that its outbreak had peaked.

But many of the citys hospitals are still overcrowded, particularly with older people. Funeral homes have been inundated with mourners.

Infections soared across China late last year, and the government abruptly lifted its strict, but ultimately futile, Covid restrictions in early December. Shanghai endured one of Chinas most grueling lockdowns last spring, with residents confined to their homes for more than two months.
DAVAO CITY, the Philippines  When President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. hugged his vice-presidential running mate Sara Duterte at her inauguration in June, it looked like a euphoric moment in the Philippines: two of the nations most prominent political families coming together in the name of unity after landslide election victories.

But the fact that she had decided to have her own ceremony separate from his and the behavior of her father, Rodrigo Duterte, the former president, spoke to the tensions near the surface.

As everyone embraced and shook hands with his daughter, Mr. Duterte grimaced, tight-lipped and impatient. He stood stiffly next to Mr. Marcos, his successor as president, during a photo op. Rather than hug any of the Marcoses there to congratulate his daughter on her vice-presidential win, Mr. Duterte walked away.
On top of that, Finnish is spoken by about 5.4 million people. Articles containing falsehoods that are written by nonnative speakers can sometimes be easily identified because of grammatical or syntax errors, Mr. Pekkala said.

While teachers in Finland are required to teach media literacy, they have significant discretion over how to carry out lessons. Mrs. Martikka, the middle school teacher, said she tasked students with editing their own videos and photos to see how easy it was to manipulate information. A teacher in Helsinki, Anna Airas, said she and her students searched words like vaccination and discussed how search algorithms worked and why the first results might not always be the most reliable. Other teachers also said that in recent months, during the war in Ukraine, they had used Russian news sites and memes as the basis for a discussion about the effects of state-sponsored propaganda.

Finland, which shares an 833-mile border with Russia, developed its national goals for media education in 2013 and accelerated its campaign to teach students to spot misinformation in the following years. Paivi Leppanen, a project coordinator at the Finnish National Agency for Education, a government agency, said the threat of Russian misinformation on topics such as Finlands bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization hasnt changed the basics of what we do, but it has shown us that this is the time for what we have been preparing.

Even though todays teenagers have grown up with social media, that does not mean that they know how to identify and guard against manipulated videos of politicians or news articles on TikTok. In fact, a study published last year in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology found that adolescence could be a peak time for conspiracy theorizing. A contributing factor could be social media, with its influence over young peoples beliefs about the world, the studys authors wrote.
Two dozen aid workers, including the Syrian refugee-turned-activist Sara Mardini, went on trial on Tuesday on charges of espionage over their roles in helping migrants after they arrived in Greece in the wake of Europes migration crisis of 2015 and 2016.

The case is being heard in a court on Lesbos, the Greek island that was at the forefront of the crisis, and comes as Greeces conservative government toughens its stance on migration and on groups working with migrants, in line with a hardening climate in Europe.

Bracing for general elections before the summer, the government has vowed to avert a repeat of the crisis, which led to more than a million Europe-bound migrants streaming through Greece and straining the countrys resources. Officials have pledged to fortify the northern land border with Turkey by extending a fence and adding guards.

Tensions between Greece and Turkey have been rising in recent months over a series of issues, including territorial disputes and migration, raising the specter of a conflict between the two neighbors, who have long had an uneasy relationship.
LONDON  Prince Harrys new memoir features an all-star cast of characters, from Granny (Queen Elizabeth II) to Pa (King Charles III) to Willy (Prince William). And then theres the mysterious trio of Bee, Wasp and Fly.

Those are the nicknames Harry has given to three senior courtiers in the British royal household, who he said handled the tensest negotiations between him, his wife, Meghan, and the royal family, including the deal under which they withdrew from public duties and moved to Southern California in 2020.

Harry never names the three officials, but he makes clear he blames them, almost as much as his father and brother, for failing to protect him and Meghan from a poisonous drip of negative stories in the London tabloids, which Harry said tormented the couple and precipitated their decision to break with the family.

For all its juicy details about royal sexcapades, shoving matches and drug use, the book, titled Spare and released Tuesday after days of hyperventilating promotion, may be most intriguing for its revealing, if at times cryptic, look at how the institution of the monarchy operates behind closed doors. Amid all his sharing, Harry does not name, or uses nicknames for, many of those he is disparaging.
The release of Prince Harrys memoir, Spare, was hotly anticipated in Britain, with revelations from leaked passages headlining newspapers across the country in recent days.

But as bookstores placed Spare in window displays and flung open their doors on Tuesday, reaction appeared muted in London under a rainy gray sky. Early-morning lines teemed with journalists, but regular book buyers were slower to file through the doors.

That seemed at odds with the interest that some booksellers said the memoir had drummed up and with the anticipation it had garnered online. Waterstones, Britains largest bookstore chain, said that it had seen some of the biggest preorders in a decade, and that unprecedented numbers of people had ordered the memoir for in-store pickup on Tuesday. The memoir also raced to the top of the list of best sellers on Amazons websites in Britain and the United States.

We expect Spare to be one of this years best sellers, John Cotterill, the nonfiction category manager for Waterstones, said in a statement on Tuesday, saying that the book added welcome interest to a usually quieter month.
BRUSSELS  NATO and the European Union, in their first joint declaration on security cooperation since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, underscored on Tuesday the continuing importance of the trans-Atlantic relationship, playing down calls from Paris for more European military independence.

Led by the United States, NATO remains the foundation of collective defense for its allies and essential for Euro Atlantic security, the declaration states. While the nations of the European Union should spend more and more cooperatively on military matters and build stronger armies, the declaration said, European efforts should correspond to NATOs strategy and not be in competition with it.

We recognize the value of a stronger and more capable European defense that contributes positively to global and trans-Atlantic security and is complementary to, and interoperable with NATO, the declaration said.

In a joint news conference after the signing, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen; the president of the European Council, Charles Michel; and the secretary-general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, praised the new language of cooperation between the two organizations, spurred by Russias attack on European security and international law.
More than 200 Russian doctors on Tuesday signed a petition to President Vladimir V. Putin imploring him to stop abusing Aleksei A. Navalny, Russias most prominent opposition politician, who is currently in jail, serving much of his sentence in a punishment cell.

In the letter, doctors from across Russia said they cannot stand aside and watch how Mr. Navalnys health is being deliberately harmed.

The detention conditions and the appearance of Aleksei Navalny make us greatly concerned for his life and health, said the letter, published by Aleksei Polupan, an anesthesiologist, and Aleksandr Vanyukov, a surgeon. From the medical point of view it is clear that Aleksei is not receiving sufficient medical help.

The letter, which doctors signed with their full names, was a rare example of public criticism of the Kremlin in post-invasion Russia, where the government has been tightening the screws on free speech. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, many professionals have been fired from their jobs for speaking out, or have faced criminal or administrative charges.
BRUSSELS  One day the war in Ukraine will be over. How and when remain the field of prophecy. But one of the most important questions will be how to ensure the future security of Ukraine  and by whom.

The possible answers are not easy and will depend on the outcome of the war. But what seems clear is that short of a Russian collapse and defeat, with Ukraine winning back all of its territory, any security guarantees are likely to be both partial and fragile.

But without something, officials and analysts suggest, it is hard to imagine investors pouring back into Ukraine to rebuild the country  or that another war would not flare in the future.

Much pivots on the hesitancy of the West itself, which wants to protect Ukraine but has shown that it does not want to fight for it, and that it does not want a direct military confrontation with Russia. Instead it has sought to thread a course between deterring Russia but not provoking it.
Britain is weighing whether to send a small number of tanks to Ukraine, a move that would reverse the Wests nearly yearlong resistance to deploying some of its mightiest firepower against Russia.

No decision has yet been made on whether the Challenger II tanks  reportedly as few as 10  will be donated to Ukraine. But such a move is being considered, an official spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters at a Downing Street briefing on Tuesday.

Mr. Sunak had spoken with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine a week earlier about what would be most effective in helping Ukraine, said the spokesman, who is not normally identified by name under the rules for the briefing.

Kyiv has demanded Western tanks almost since the start of the war to supplement the Soviet-era and Russian-made tanks that were in Ukraines stockpiles or supplied by other countries in Eastern Europe. Those tanks are not compatible with the size of ammunition that is used in most NATO states, leaving Ukraine constantly on the hunt for more munitions.
ROME  Four decades after the daughter of a Vatican employee vanished from a street in Rome while walking home from a music lesson, a case that has spawned endless theories by a transfixed Italian public is getting a fresh look, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

The Vaticans top prosecutor, Alessandro Diddi, said his office would try to give answers to the family of 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi, who was last seen on June 22, 1983.

Although Emanuelas survivors have pressed the Vatican for years for information, the prosecutors sudden decision to look into one of Italys most famous cold cases took them by surprise.

You have to explain why the case was reopened now, a lawyer for the family, Laura Sgro, said Tuesday. We hope that the prosecutors will is effectively real and will come to something soon.
JERUSALEM  When voters in Israel chose to return Benjamin Netanyahu to power they also elevated two people they didnt elect: his wife Sara and his son Yair, who have long been intertwined with his political career.

Ms. Netanyahu and Yair, 31, have helped shape Mr. Netanyahus election campaigns and rallied his base. But they have also been accused by critics of wielding undue influence over Mr. Netanyahu by pressuring him over policy issues, weighing in on political appointments and, in his sons case, even meddling in matters of national security.

Their habitual appearances in both the news media, in often sensational and lurid stories, and the Israeli courts have also added to the reality show-like atmosphere around the family.

Now, with Mr. Netanyahu, 73, in power again as prime minister of Israels most right-wing and religiously conservative government, even as he is standing trial on corruption charges, many Israelis fear that the unelected members of the family will play an outsize role in his political life and decision making.
Daisuke Samejima is a talented Japanese artist whose amazing spherical paintings look like the view through a fish-eye lens, regardless of the angle you see them from.

Painting a hyper-realistic rendition of an object, animal or human is difficult enough, but imagine doing it on a spherical canvas instead of a flat one. Apart from making sure that everything looks real to the untrained eye, the artist needs to consider the warping necessary to make everything look perfect regardless of what angle the sphere is viewed from. To be honest, photos just dont do Daisukes art justice, so its a good thing we also have videos of them

Photo: Daisuke Samejima/Instagram

Born in Hyogo, Japan, Daisuke Samejima attended Tama Art University in Tokyo and majored in oil painting with a Masters Degree in Art Science. He currently lives and works in the Japanese capital, but has had his works on display all over Japan, and also in London.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by  | Daisuke Samejima (@daisuke_samejima)

Samejimas ongoing spherical painting series is called Flatball. Most of the artworks are inspired by Google Street View-style versions of Japanese suburban landscapes, featuring houses, infrastructure, cars, and blue skies. What makes these works special is that they make you feel like youre looking through a fisheye lens or through a peephole.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by  | Daisuke Samejima (@daisuke_samejima)

More impressive still is that the spherical artworks offer a 360-degree view, so theres something to see from every angle. They can be a bit disorienting, but they are equally fascinating.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by  | Daisuke Samejima (@daisuke_samejima)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by  | Daisuke Samejima (@daisuke_samejima)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by  | Daisuke Samejima (@daisuke_samejima)
A South Carolina college professor is sounding the alarm on the use of advanced chatbots powered by artificial intelligence by students to complete various assignments.

Darren Hick, an assistant philosophy professor at Furman University, claims that one of his students used ChatGPT, an advanced AI-powered chatbot recently released by OpenAI and freely available to the public, to create a philosophy essay. While checking the essays turned in by his students, one caught his eye because of the unusual wording. It wasnt grammatically incorrect, but it wasnt language that a human college student would use. Hick compared it to the work of a very smart 12th grader, adding that the chatbots capacity to produce original works both terrorized and fascinated him.

Photo: Kenny Eliason/Unsplash

Its a clean style. But its recognizable. I would say it writes like a very smart 12th-grader, the college professor said. Theres particular odd wording used that was not wrong, just peculiar  if you were teaching somebody how to write an essay, this is how you tell them to write it before they figure out their own style.

Hick had tasked his students at Furman University with writing a 500-word essay on 18th-century philosopher David Hume and the paradox of horror, as a take-home test. While checking the essays, the philosophy professor noticed that one featured particularly rudimentary answers and an unusual style. He immediately suspected AI use, so he decided to test for it.

First, he plugged the text into a software tool created by the producers of ChatGPT, to determine if it had been produced by artificial intelligence. The result was a 99.9% likely match. Then Hick tried producing his own essay with ChatGPT using a series of questions he imagined his students would use. The result what similar to the suspicious essay, but not a direct match, as the AI-powered chatbot produces unique results every time.

Left with no other way to prove that the essay had been created by AI, Darren Hick confronted the student and managed to get a confession out of him. The suspect had indeed used the ChatGPT chatbot to produce the essay, and thus failed the class and was also turned over to the college dean.

After uncovering the truth, the assistant professor shared the experience on Facebook and was surprised to learn that other colleagues had caught their students doing the same thing. This left him wondering how he and others will be able to catch such cheating in the future, since AI-powered tools are only getting more advanced.

This is learning software  in a month, itll be smarter. In a year, itll be smarter, he said. I feel the mix myself between abject terror and what this is going to mean for my day-to-day job  but its also fascinating, its endlessly fascinating.

Cheating in school isnt what it used to be, thats for sure
5WPR picks up PR duties for healthcare point-of-sale platform PatientFi. 5WPR will be responsible for heading media relations for the brand, positioning it as the preferred healthcare financing alternative. PatientFi serves a national network of healthcare providers across plastic surgery, dermatology, dentistry, fertility, audiology and ophthalmology. "Our goal is to connect with healthcare providers and key stakeholders in fintech and we believe 5WPR's media expertise will enable us to better engage with these important audiences," said PatientFi vice president of marketing Katie Hernandez.

20Two Studio is named agency of record for Miraval Resorts & Spas. The agencys scope of work for Miraval will include media relations, influencer relations, brand partnerships and event support. Its pitching will target US media in sectors including travel, lifestyle, wellbeing and food & beverage, with a focus on the inclusive destination resort and spa brands innovative programs, spa treatments, cuisine, and wellbeing specialists. Miravals three full-scale resorts are located in Austin, Tucson, and the Berkshires.

The Pollack Group signs on to work with Customer Management Practice, a research, marketing and business development partner and resource hub for the customer management sector. The Pollack Group will assist CMP with increased brand awareness through a strong public relations strategy and implement a paid and organic social media initiative. It will also execute an influencer relations strategy to build branded engagement during the CMP's Customer Contact Week events throughout 2023. Between their extensive experience working with household brand names to their genuine passion for wanting to amplify our brand presence, it was an easy decision to choose TPG as our first PR agency, said CMP head of marketing Lauren Miller.

Brand Paradise has added Brooklyn Lighting & Grip to its roster. The San Juan, Puerto Rico-based agency has been retained to manage a fully integrated marketing and public relations program, including brand refresh, website design, social media, events and advertising. Brooklyn Lighting & Grip is a film and television lighting equipment rental company in New York.
A man sustained serious injuries when he was attacked in Co Down by a gang of masked men armed with hammers and iron bars.

The assault took place in The Brae in Ballygowan, close to the Blackwater Heights area, at around 7pm on Saturday night.

The injured man is aged in his 20s.

A PSNI spokesman said: We received a report of an assault shortly after 7.05pm that a man aged in his 20s had been assaulted by a number of masked men armed with hammers and iron bars.

The man sustained serious injuries to his arm, leg and head. He was taken to hospital following the assault.

Officers appealed for witnesses to come forward.

The incident was one of two assaults reported in Ballygowan over the weekend.

An 18-year-old man was assaulted outside a licenced premises in the Square area around 1am on Sunday morning.

He was taken to hospital where he remained in a stable condition on Sunday afternoon.

It is understood police are not linking the two assaults in Ballygowan.
Progress between the EU and the UK on post-Brexit data-sharing has been hailed as a positive step in ongoing talks to find a solution to the Northern Ireland Protocol row.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris met European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic in London on Monday, as London and Brussels try to find a way forward over post-Brexit arrangements in the region.

Both sides hailed an agreement in the area of data-sharing and EU access to British IT systems as a key step in resolving the row over the protocol, and which has left Northern Ireland without a devolved powersharing executive since early last year.

A joint statement, issued after the meeting, described it as cordial and constructive.

Thank you @MarosSefcovic for meeting @chhcalling and me in London. We share the same focus  finding the best outcome for Northern Ireland. Today's progress on data sharing marks a positive step in discussions on the NI Protocol. pic.twitter.com/vMSpK9OwlA  James Cleverly (@JamesCleverly) January 9, 2023

They underlined the EU and UKs shared commitment to protect the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement in all its parts, while protecting the integrity of both the EU single market and the UK internal market, it said.

They agreed that while a range of critical issues need to be resolved to find a way forward, an agreement was reached today on the way forward regarding the specific question of the EUs access to UK IT systems.

They noted this work was a critical prerequisite to building trust and providing assurance, and provided a new basis for EU-UK discussions.

The statement said that officials in London and Brussels would now work rapidly to scope the potential for solutions in different areas on the basis of this renewed understanding.

Glad to meet @JamesCleverly and @chhcalling. We agreed on the way forward on the EU's access to UK IT systems. This means a new basis for  discussions on the Protocol. Our teams will work rapidly to scope potential for solutions in different areas.  https://t.co/9clIka2nYG pic.twitter.com/qViyBAJcZ8  Maros Sefcovic (@MarosSefcovic) January 9, 2023

The men will take stock of progress next week.

Mr Cleverly, in a tweet after the meeting, said: We share the same focus  finding the best outcome for Northern Ireland.

Todays progress on data-sharing marks a positive step in discussions on the NI Protocol.

Downing Street said the data agreement was an important step forward and a foundation for building further trust.

But the Prime Ministers official spokesman said: There are still significant issues at the heart of the protocol that need addressing.

Mr Sefcovic called it a new basis for UK-EU discussions on the protocol, which has overshadowed Northern Irish politics since it was agreed as part of the Brexit deal in a bid to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.

But members of the unionist community are unhappy with the difficulties it creates for trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has refused to co-operate with forming a devolved Executive in Stormont until issues with the agreement are resolved.
Housing Minister Darragh OBrien said he was disturbed by protests held outside a centre in a north Dublin suburb where migrants were being housed.

Videos emerged on social media over the weekend of a crowd of people outside a building in Ballymun where families were living, chanting get them out.

One person was seen holding a sign saying Ireland is full.

Lord Mayor of Dublin Caroline Conroy, from Ballymun, said the scenes were embarrassing and upsetting, and she believed the protests had been orchestrated.

Its not what were about in Ballymun, she told RTE Radio.

She said members of the far-right were stoking anger with leaflet drops, but that community groups and schools had contacted her to express their upset at the protests.

Theres a lot of people that arent from Ballymun. There are people who are locals there, definitely, but an awful lot are far-right wing protesters.

So they are not locals behind the scenes here on this particular protest.

On Monday, Mr OBrien said he was concerned by the scenes over the weekend.

Im very disturbed by them, frankly, he said.

People have a right to protest, but in the appropriate place. They dont have a right to intimidate people either.

Weve been a welcoming country, and rightly so. We know from our own history what its like to be people whove had to leave our own shores due to oppression, due to war, due to famine.

And the vast majority of people living in Ireland here are people who support the effort to look after our friends from Ukraine and indeed from other countries where people are fleeing persecution.

So it concerns me to see that, to be very frank, and I think that if people have a different viewpoint, theyre entitled to it, but theyre not entitled to intimidate people.

Similar protests have been held in East Wall in recent months, with local people saying there was not enough consultation before migrants moved into an old ESB building.

As of January 2, Ireland is housing more than 51,955 Ukrainian people who have sought accommodation from the state and more than 19,300 asylum seekers  a significant increase in the numbers recorded in previous years.

About 1,500 Ukrainians and asylum seekers arrived in Ireland over the Christmas period, and despite a government pledge to stop housing people in tented accommodation, 88 people were in tents in Co Clare as of last week.

The Government has said that the numbers arriving in Ireland have resulted in the largest humanitarian effort in the states history.

This, coupled with the housing crisis, has put severe pressure on the states ability to house those in need of accommodation.

As of November, there were 11,542 people recorded as homeless  the fifth consecutive month where a new record high has been reached since the Department of Housing began recording the number of people in emergency accommodation.
UPDATED January 10 12.40pm: Martha has been located safe and well.

Gardai are seeking public assistance in tracing the whereabouts of a missing 7-year-old.

Martha Alite - described as being 4' 9" in height with a slim build, long blond hair and blue eyes - is believed to be in the company of an adult male relative.

Gardai believe that Martha was collected from her school in Firhouse, Dublin 24 yesterday (Monday January 9, 2023) at approximately 2pm by the relative in a taxi.

She was last seen wearing blue trousers, a blue jumper, blue canvas shoes and a blue and pink jacket at the time she went missing.

An Garda Siochana are not aware of Marthas whereabouts at this time.

Investigating Gardai are appealing to any taxi driver or any other person who may have had a male passenger that collected Martha from a school in Firhouse, Dublin 24 on Monday afternoon, to contact them.

Gardai believe Martha and her relative may have travelled to a domestic residence in Blessington, Co. Wicklow. Gardai are appealing to any taxi driver or any other person who may have driven Martha and another male passenger to or from Blessington to contact Gardai.

Gardai are also appealing to any accommodation provider who accommodated an adult male and Martha on the night of Monday January 9 to contact them.

Any person with any information on Marthas whereabouts is asked to contact Tallaght Garda Station on 01 666 6000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.

Gardai are also appealing to this adult male relative to urgently make contact with An Garda Siochana.
The Taoiseach has criticised protests held outside a centre housing migrants, including young children, saying there is no excuse for racism in Ireland.

Videos on social media in recent days show a crowd of people outside a hotel in Ballymun, in north Dublin, where families have been staying.

Chants of get them out can be heard and signs saying Ireland is full were held by some people taking part in the protest.

Leo Varadkar said he had been left disturbed by the incidents.

I just saw some of it in the coverage online. I dont think theres any excuse for racism of any form, he said.

Weve accepted maybe 70,000 people from Ukraine fleeing the war. Our response to that has not been perfect, but I am proud of the fact that we, as a country, have welcomed so many people into Ireland.

There are people that are coming from other parts of the world who are applying for international protection and they have the right to do so, we just need to make sure that those applications are processed as quickly as possible.

I just dont think theres any excuse for hatred being directed at anyone because of their nationality or their racial background or any other reason.

The protest in Ballymun is the latest in a number of similar protests, with demonstrations held in East Wall and other parts of Dublin.

Those taking part have criticised the Government and the provision of accommodation for people fleeing war and seeking protection in Ireland.

As of January 2, Ireland is housing more than 51,955 Ukrainian people who have sought accommodation from the state and more than 19,300 asylum seekers  a significant increase in the numbers recorded in previous years.

About 1,500 Ukrainians and asylum seekers arrived in Ireland over the Christmas period, and despite a government pledge to stop housing people in tented accommodation, 88 people were in tents in Co Clare as of last week.
The Irish foreign affairs minister has welcomed progress between the EU and the UK on post-Brexit data sharing.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris met European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic in London on Monday, in ongoing talks between London and Brussels to find a solution to the Northern Ireland Protocol row.

They reached agreement in the area of data sharing and EU access to British IT systems amid friction over the implementation of the post-Brexit arrangements, which has seen the DUP insist it will not take part in devolved government at Stormont until its concerns are resolved.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin welcomed the progress, adding this provides a new basis for EU-UK discussions.

It is important that joint solutions are found, he said, adding that he will be in Brussels on Tuesday for meetings around the protocol and other issues.

Mr Martin also spoke with Northern Ireland political leaders on the telephone on Monday.

He described good engagement, and said he is focused on getting the Stormont government back up and running.

The Stormont parties are due to meet Mr Heaton-Harris later this week around the latest collapse of the institutions.

Sinn Fein Stormont leader Michelle ONeill described a good call with Mr Martin.

She tweeted: We share a common commitment on way forward to get negotiated outcome on Protocol and immediate restoration of power-sharing.

Good call with Tanaiste @MichealMartinTD We share a common commitment on way forward to get negotiated outcome on Protocol and immediate restoration of power-sharing. My priority is to work with all parties & both Governments to achieve this in days and weeks ahead.  Michelle ONeill (@moneillsf) January 9, 2023

My priority is to work with all parties & both Governments to achieve this in days and weeks ahead.

Meanwhile DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson welcomed what he termed recognition in London, Dublin and Brussels that the protocol is a problem for unionists.

It was a mistake for the protocols authors to press ahead with an agreement that has harmed Northern Irelands constitutional and economic place within the United Kingdom, he said.

More and more voices now recognise the unanimous view amongst unionist MLAs.

We have an opportunity to get an outcome from these negotiations which replaces the protocol by arrangements that restore NIs place in the UK internal market and our constitutional position is respected.

I am committed to the restoration of Stormont, but such a restoration can only be durable if it is built on solid foundations which are supported by unionists and nationalists.

He described his telephone conversation with Mr Martin earlier as a useful conversation as the Republic of Ireland is an EU member state and fits as part of a wider programme of engagement with influential voices in London and Brussels.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said he discussed with Mr Martin the urgent need to restore the powersharing institutions at Stormont.

I had a productive call with the Tanaiste this morning, he said.

Our shared priority remains the restoration of the devolved institutions at Stormont. With crises facing the delivery of public services and household finances in every community, it is vital that the Assembly and executive are back up and running as soon as possible.
Two men have been arrested after the alleged theft of a car with a toddler inside in Melbourne's south-east on Sunday.
Britain says Russian troops and fighters of Wagner, a mercenary company, are likely now in control of the salt mining town of Soledar in Ukraine.
NEW YORK (AP)  Allen Weisselberg, a longtime executive for Donald Trump's real estate empire whose testimony helped convict the former presidents company of tax fraud, is set to be sentenced Tuesday for dodging taxes on $1.7 million in job perks.



New York Judge Juan Manuel Merchan is expected to sentence Weisselberg, a senior Trump Organization adviser and former chief financial officer, to five months in jail, in keeping with a plea agreement reached in August.



Weisselberg, 75, was promised that sentence when he agreed to plead guilty to 15 tax crimes and testify against the company, where hes worked since the mid-1980s.



When he begins serving his sentence, Weisselberg is expected to be locked up at New York Citys notorious Rikers Island jail complex. He will be eligible for release after little more than three months if he behaves behind bars.



As part of his plea agreement, Weisselberg must also pay nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest, which he said he has made significant progress paying. He must also complete five years of probation.



Weisselberg faced the prospect of up to 15 years in prison  the maximum punishment for the top grand larceny charge  if he were to have reneged on the deal or if he didnt testify truthfully at the Trump Organizations trial. He is the only person charged in the Manhattan district attorneys three-year investigation of Trump and his business practices.



Weisselberg testified for three days, offering a glimpse into the inner workings of Trumps real estate empire. Weisselberg has worked for Trumps family for nearly 50 years, starting as an accountant for his developer father, Fred Trump, in 1973 before joining Donald Trump in 1986 and helping expand the family company's focus beyond New York City into a global...
China's National Health Commission and the national administration of disease prevention and control recently held a virtual meeting themed around technical exchange for COVID-19 prevention and control with the World Health Organization (WHO).

The two sides communicated on the current state of the epidemic, medical treatment, acute care and continued vaccination. The two sides agreed to maintain technical exchanges to facilitate an early end of the pandemic.

China has convened multiple meetings with the WHO on technical exchanges less than a month after it optimized its COVID-19 response measures, which mirrors the country's sense of responsibility in coping with global public health crisis.

China follows a science-based approach in preventing and controlling COVID-19 and has been constantly fine-tuning its response measures in light of the evolving situation.

Facing the wide spread of the original strain and the Delta variant, which had high virulence, China took strict measures and earned valuable opportunities for the international community to fight the disease. It has made important contributions to the global COVID-19 fight.

Given the significantly weakened pathogenicity and virulence of the Omicron variant, as well as China's expanded capacity in treatment, testing and vaccination, the country downgraded its management of COVID-19 from Class A to Class B.

This is expected to make COVID-19 response more scientific, targeted and effective, better ensure normal work and life and meet people's demand for medical services, and reduce the impacts from the disease on economic and social development to the fullest extent.

It is generally believed by international personages that China's COVID-19 response is based on its understanding of the laws of how the virus evolves and spreads, and mirrors the country's commitment to seeking truths through scientific approaches.

China places people and their lives in the first place and works to ensure their safety and health to the fullest extent. It always upholds the vision of building a community of common health for mankind to contribute its share to the global fight against COVID-19.

Since the onset of the virus, China has always followed the principle of openness and transparency, maintaining practical communication and cooperation with the WHO and other countries and regions.

In the early days of the pandemic, China raced against the time to identify the pathogen and shared the genome sequences of the virus, which helped other countries and regions to get prepared.

The country also regularly reported its COVID-19 situation to the WHO and relevant countries and regions in a timely and proactive manner.

According to incomplete statistics, China has conducted over 60 technical exchange activities with the WHO since it proposed and established a technical exchange mechanism with the UN health body in January 2020.

In combating COVID-19, China has engaged in international cooperation and launched the largest global emergency humanitarian operation since the founding of the People's Republic of China, providing hundreds of billions of anti-pandemic items to 153 countries and 15 international organizations.

China was the first country to promise that it would make its COVID-19 vaccines a global public good, the first to support the waiver of COVID-19 vaccine patents, and the first to launch cooperation with other developing countries on vaccine production. It has provided more than 2.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to over 120 countries and international organizations.

Besides, the country has launched over 300 activities on technical exchange for COVID-19 prevention and control with 180 countries and regions, as well as over 10 international organizations, and sent 38 medical teams to 34 countries.

China has made important contributions to narrowing the global immunity gap and promoting global solidarity in fighting COVID-19, demonstrating its admirable sense of responsibility as a major country and winning wide applause from the international community.

A few other countries, in contrast, not only failed to cope with the virus at home, but also stigmatized others using the virus, labeled the virus and politicized origins tracing. They arbitrarily passed the buck and undermined global solidarity in fighting the disease.

Unfortunately, some Western media outlets turned a blind eye to such facts and blatantly defamed China that had made important contributions to the global fight against the virus, groundlessly tarnishing China's optimization of COVID-19 response.

Their practice totally deviates from the professional ethics of journalism, shows no respect to facts or science, and is irresponsible for history.

The WHO recently pointed out that the Omicron variant is so far the most contagious variant of the novel coronavirus. Facing the fast spread of the variant, every country has to take some time to adapt to the situation and constantly optimize its response measures.

The COVID-19 situation in China is within the country's expectation and controllable. Some parts of the country have got over the infection peak and are gradually resuming normal work and life. Relevant departments of China have made science-based evaluation on and made necessary preparations for possible infection peak in other parts of the country. China is confident in ensuring a smooth transition.

Global challenges need to be tackled with global efforts. All parties should make more efforts that help fight the pandemic both at home and globally, so as to remove the shadow of the pandemic as soon as possible.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)




Amazon plans to shut three warehouses in Britain in a move that will impact 1,200 jobs, but workers will be given the chance to transfer to other units, the online retail giant said on Tuesday. The company said it opened a consultation to close three older British warehouses this year in Hemel Hampstead, Doncaster and Gourock, sites employing 1,200 people in one of Amazon's biggest markets outside the United States.
The global economy will come perilously close" to a recession this year, led by weaker growth in all the world's top economies  the United States, Europe and China  the World Bank warned on Tuesday. In an annual report, the World Bank, which lends money to poorer countries for development projects, said it had slashed its forecast for global growth this year by nearly half, to just 1.7%, from its previous projection of 3%.
Prince Harrys latest Spare revelation has to do with his wife and his grandmother. The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex penned a..

Just Jared 08 Jan 2023
Lutzerath has become a battleground between activists and the government, with protesters angry over environmental policy. Economy Minister Robert Habeck from the Green Party has been criticized amid the dispute.
Abby Zwerner, 25, was able to guide her students to safety after the shooting before she sought medical help for herself, according to authorities.


Days before right-wing rioters stormed the capital, the call went out: ATTENTION PATRIOTS FROM ALL OVER BRAZIL. ON JANUARY 08 WE WILL BRING BRASILIA TO A HALT.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been admitted to hospital in Florida suffering with stomach pains. Brazil has so far said it has no plans to ask for the far-right politician to be extradited from the US.
NATO and the EU have played key roles since Russia's invasion, be it sending weapons to Kyiv or safeguarding security in the region. The two institutions said cooperation "is more important than ever."
A Syrian refugee and competitive swimmer whose story inspired a Netflix film has gone on trial in a smuggling-related case after participating in migrant rescue operations on a Greek island.
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said gay donors will be assessed on their individual risk behavior, rather than sexual orientation. Germany currently differentiates between gay and heterosexual men on the issue.
HYATTSVILLE, Md. (AP)  When Jamieson Brill answers a crisis call from a Spanish speaker on the newly launched national 988 mental health helpline, he rarely mentions the word suicide, or suicidio



Brill, whose family hails from Puerto Rico, knows that just discussing the term in some Spanish-speaking cultures is so frowned upon that many callers are too scared to even admit that theyre calling for themselves.



However strong stigma around mental health concerns is in English-speaking cultures, in Spanish-speaking cultures it is triple that, said Brill, who helps people navigate mental health crises from a tiny brick building tucked away in Hyattsville, Maryland.



Brill works in one of more than 200 call centers fanned out around the country tasked with answering an uptick in calls day and night from people considering suicide or experiencing a mental health emergency.



With bipartisan congressional support and just under $1 billion in federal funds, the 988 mental health helpline has quickly expanded its reach in the six months since it launched  raking in over 2 million calls, texts and chat messages.



The number of centers answering calls in Spanish grew from three to seven last year. A pilot line dedicated to LGBTQ youth started taking calls in September. And plans are underway to keep the momentum going, with the federal government adding Spanish language chat and text options later this year and aiming to expand those services to a 24/7 operation for the LGBTQ line.



When the around-the-clock phone launched last summer, it built on the existing network that staffed the old national lifeline, 1-800-273-8255. The new 988 number is designed to be as easy to remember as 911.



It couldnt have come at a more needed time: Depression rates in U.S. adults, overdose...
President Biden visited only "legacy fencing" built under the Obama administration during his Sunday trip to the border wall for the first time in his presidency
Facts First USA's David Brock said he will help the White House counter-punch against Republican-led investigations into President Biden and first son Hunter.
Lawmakers from both parties traveled to the southern border in the wake of President Biden's visit, and as the migrant crisis continues to rage in Texas and Arizona.
Londons roads remain the most congested in the world as life is returning to normal as the impact of the coronavirus..

Belfast Telegraph 10 Jan 2023
Downing Street has defended Rishi Sunak choosing to fly to Leeds when visiting a healthcare centre, arguing it was the most effective use of his time.
As Brazil reels from mobs of rioters swarming its seats of power, its former leader has decamped to a Florida resort, where supporters flocked to cheer on their ousted president (Jan.10) (AP Video: Daniel Kozin)


NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with veteran Republican Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas about how he's making sense of last week's chaos in electing Kevin McCarthy as House speaker.
The Catholic bishops of Brazil condemned the violent seizure on Jan. 8 of Congress, the presidents office, and the Supreme Court in Brasilia, the countrys capital.



According to Globo TV, these three branches of the Brazilian government are already under the control of law enforcement. There are also dozens of...
After a year of domestic economic volatility and international turmoil, China is focused on economic growth this year. And that means the country will further deepen reform and expand opening-up.



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Virgin Orbit was set to mark a new era of spaceflight for the UK, but we'll just have to wait a little longer.



The first..

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Toronto police arrested three 13-year-old girls, three 14-year-olds and two 16-year-olds, charging them with second-degree murder in a fatal stabbing.


Watch VideoThe White House is moving forward with a proposal that would lower student debt payments for millions of Americans now and in the future, offering a new route to repay federal loans under far more generous terms.



President Joe Biden announced the repayment plan in August, but it was overshadowed by his sweeping plan...
Director of Content and Operations

Spencer McKee is OutThere Colorado's Director of Content and Operations. In his spare time, Spencer loves to hike, rock climb, and trail run. He's on a mission to summit all 58 of Colorado's fourteeners and has already climbed more than half.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Najla Al-Mangouch, chairwoman of the 158th Ordinary Session of the Arab League Council of Ministers, Tuesday discussed the logistical and organisational preparations for the holding of the consultative meeting of Arab foreign ministers, scheduled to take place soon in the capital, Tripoli
Brussels, Belgium (PANA) - The European Council on Tuesday adopted a decision extending the mandate of the EU Capacity Building Mission in Mali (EUCAP Sahel Mali) until 31 January, 2025, and allocated it over 73 million for the period between 1 February 2023 and 31 January 2025
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - The UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday announced that it will co-host the inaugural Partnership for Healthy Cities Summit in London, on 15 March
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A total of 1,067 migrants were intercepted off the coast of Libya and returned to the country between 1-7 January, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced here Tuesday
Photo: (Photo : Pexel/Rodnae Production)

A growth rate of almost 5 percent in Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is expected for baby skincare products as demand strongly thrives in both the Middle East and Africa.

The market for baby care products is anticipated to flourish by a percentage rate of four and six-tenths for 2022-2030, specifically skincare products, according to The Brainy Insights.

It is expected to reach $28.5 billion by 2030 from $18.6 billion in 2021.

Products with a natural approach

This is highly possible as the market is primarily driven by health-conscious parents, prioritizing and ensuring to only use cruelty-free, gluten-free and vegan products. These parents are also leaning towards products made of botanical ingredients like calendula extracts, chamomile, rosemary, aloe vera extracts, coconut oils, olive oils, shea butter, and vegetable glycerin.

Moreover, the number of "affluent millennial parents" using premium and specialized baby skincare and haircare products is rising.

In 2021, it was seen that the most valuable factors parents look into when purchasing baby care products are their premium natural ingredients and the claims for being fragrance-free and antibacterial, as stated by Maxime Fougere, Lubrizol Life Science's global beauty marketing manager. Lubrizol Life Science is a company made to examine suitable ingredients and future trends for baby care products.

These factors will continue for the years to come.

Further, brands with a natural approach to baby care products will continue to appeal more to parents as it has since 2021.

The megatrends for parents are those products that reflect sustainability, nature, efficacy, and safety. Baby care products that are organic, vegan, and biodegradable have become popular and, for the years to come, will thrive in popularity, industry experts declared.

Read Also: The Surprising Link between Baby Allergies and their Skin

Parents willing to pay the premium price

Though organic and natural products are much more expensive, parents do not mind. They are eager to pay a premium price if it means safety for their kids.

Most organic and natural products are made of plant-based ingredients, which have soothing properties for a baby or a child's sensitive skin.

Moreover, scalp and hair care are also important for young parents who consider scalp and hair extensions of the skin. They prefer hair care products containing oils rich in vitamins D and E or avocado and jojoba as ingredients.

Thus, the well-established and even the regional players are more committed than ever to providing the safest, most natural, and most-effective products for infants and children.

Current key players in the market right now, as listed by Globe Newswire, are Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., KCWW, Beiersdorf, Procter & Gamble, Himalaya Wellness Company, Unilever, Weleda, Babo Botanicals, California Baby, Dabur India Limited, Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd., CLX (Burt's Bees), Earth Mama and Sebapharma.

On the other hand, the leading retailers of baby care products online are the prominent e-commerce giants Amazon, Walmart, and other company websites.

Related Article: TikTok Mom Cites the Health Benefits of Not Bathing Her Newborn Baby for One Month
Photo: (Photo : Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Sexual misconduct complaints from students in Chicago have increased in number.

Will Fletcher, the Inspector General of the Chicago Board of Education, revealed that students had filed 470 sexual harassment complaints against the Chicago Public School District workers in 2022.

The recently released sexual misconduct report includes complaints from students about being assaulted, groomed, abused, and threatened by school officials.

Sexual complaints against public school employees

The Sexual Assault Unit (SAU) resolved more than 600 cases of sexual assault in Chicago in 2022, an increase of over 300 cases compared to the number of cases resolved in 2021.

One of the cases they were able to resolve in their investigation was that of the incident of a female 11th grader student against her male teacher.

Illinois Policy reports that when they were both in the car during driver's education, the male high school teacher inappropriately exposed himself to a female student in the 11th grade.

According to Illinois Policy, "administrators only learned about the altercation because the girl took to social media when nobody believed her and another student came forward with allegations against the same teacher, who now faces criminal charges and has since resigned."

With the increasing number of reports filed, the SAU has made strategic adjustments to manage the high number of cases it is investigating without sacrificing the quality of its work.

The SAU has had significant achievements throughout the past four years.

As a result of claims brought forth by students, alumni, parents, employees, and other individuals, it has started 1,735 investigations.

The Child Protective Unit reports that the SAU has resolved 1,384 incidents that raised concerns of adult-on-student sexual misconduct and has found confirmed policy violations in 302 investigations.

High cases of sexual misconduct

While the number of allegations and confirmed cases of sexual misconduct is concerning within the District and impacted school communities, authorities in Chicago assure the public that there is no evidence that the rate of these occurrences is higher than in other districts around the country.

According to Chalkbeat, Mary Fergus, spokeswoman for Chicago Public Schools, their organization is taking the increasing reports of sexual misconduct seriously.

She added they are taking responsibility and accountability to address the problems presented.

Fergus also stated that they would continue to uphold the highest ethical standards for the Chicago Public Schools.

The spokeswoman assured that they would thoroughly investigate with fair judgment all the people involved in each case and hold the violators accountable for the appropriate consequences of their sexual misconduct.

Read Also: Parents Use Respectful Parenting as Approach to Produce Highly Successful Kids

Sexual Allegations Unit of Chicago

The Sexual Assault Unit was formed in October 2018 to help people resolve cases faster and more thoroughly in complaints related to sexual misconduct.

With authority over a wide range of sexual misconduct complaints and associated allegations involving K-12 students and school employees, the SAU remains the sole independent investigative body in the country.

The SAU has rapidly expanded into a group of more than 30 personnel who are each individually prepared to handle hundreds of allegations of sexual misconduct each year.

Related Article: New Jersey Art Teacher Faces Criminal Charges Alleged for Fentanyl Overdose
Photo: (Photo : Pexel/mikoto.raw Photographer)

A public school district is blaming tech giants for social media harm placed on students, which seriously affects their mental health.

The Seattle public school district filed a lawsuit Friday with the U.S. District Court against Big Tech companies - Alphabet Inc., owner of Google; Meta Platforms Inc., owner of Facebook and Instagram; and ByteDance, owner of Snapchat and TikTok, for allegedly being responsible for the "worsening mental health crisis" among their students, which are significantly affecting its schools' ability to implement their educational mission, Reuters reported.

Further, the complainants stated that these companies "purposefully" created and designed for young people to be addicted to their products. Thus, their actions have been a significant factor in the increase in teens' mental health crises.

First step to reversing the trend

"Defendants have successfully exploited the vulnerable brains of youth, hooking tens of millions of students across the country into positive feedback loops of excessive use and abuse of Defendants' social media platforms," the lawsuit stated, and all these are done for their profit, allegedly.

Seattle Public Schools superintendent, Brent Jones, issued a statement over the weekend expressing their confidence and high hopes in the lawsuit that he describes as the "first step toward reversing" the negative trend that these social media has created not only on their students but also on the children of Washington state and the entire country, as Geek Wire shared.

The complaint further explained how schools are pushed to take necessary steps to handle and treat students performing at their worst because of mental health problems. The complaint said that schools needed to train teachers to identify and address mental health challenges and their symptoms, hire trained personnel, and create additional resources so that children can be warned against the dangers of social media.

The lawsuit is seeking compensation for monetary damages and other penalties.

Read Also: Habitual Checking of Social Media May Impact Teen's Brain Development

Big Tech responses

In response to the lawsuit, Meta emailed Reuters, stating that they have crafted over 30 tools to support and help teens and their families and will continue to work closely with parents, policymakers, and experts.

Conversely, Google expressed that its platform has invested seriously in creating and promoting safe experiences for kids and teens alike. Parents know it has introduced "strong protections and dedicated features" that prioritize their children's well-being.

Snap also expressed that the well-being of the community is its top priority. They partner with mental health organizations to create in-app tools and resources for their users.

In an interview of The Wall Street Journal with Jonathan Haight, a New York University psychologist, entitled "The 'National Crisis' of Gen Z," he addressed the current state of today's younger generation and proclaimed that Americans born after 1995 reflect an "extraordinary high rates" of fragility, depression, anxiety, suicide and self-harm, all rooted in and caused by social media and a "victimhood" culture.

Related Article: Internet, Social Media Affect Your Teen's Mental Health; Why You Should Limit Their Social Media Use
Photo: (Photo : FREDERICK FLORIN / Getty Images)

Swimming instructor faces charges from the death of the 4-Year-Old boy drowning during classes.The swimming instructor, named Lexie Tenhuisen, now faces criminal charges from the drowning incident.

In June 2022, Tenhuisen was teaching swimming lessons in Hephzibah, Georgia, accommodating ten young children in his class.

Swim Instructor Charged of Drowning Death

According to People, the police recorded that a young kid named Israel "Izzy" Scott, who was just 4 years old at the time, managed to sneak his way to the deeper end of the pool without Tenhuisen's awareness at some point toward the end of the lesson.

She then confessed to the authorities that she was unaware that the child had vanished until her granddaughter made her aware of it. Tenhuisen's granddaughter was about to vacuum the swimming pool when she saw the lifeless body at the bottom of the pool.

The Burke County Sheriff's Office at first gave the impression that the boy's death by drowning was an incident and not the result of criminal activity.

However, further investigation revealed otherwise. D.A. Williams, on the other hand, has stated that he concurs with Scott's family and the Burke County Solicitor General's Office in their assessment that there should be legal repercussions.

The Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney, Jared Williams, signaled progress in the 4-year-old boy's drowning incident through a press release.

According to Business Insider, Williams stated that the death of Izzy Scott will not be in vain. He will not just be any other case of a file on a desk, but rather, he will be remembered by the whole community.

Williams added, "He is a symbol of how we should cherish our little ones and hold them tight."

The father also stated that every time a parent hands their young children to the care of other adults, that person then becomes responsible for the safety and well-being of the kid.

Read Also: New Jersey Art Teacher Faces Criminal Charges Alleged for Fentanyl Overdose

The 4-Year-Old Boy's Drowning

According to the allegations, Tenhuisen does not allow parents to visit the swimming area when their children are participating in lessons.

The remainder of the kids, including Tenhiusen, had already left the pool by the time the child, who was 4 years old, drowned; thus, no one witnessed the event.

According to the report filed, when Tenhuisen was informed that the boy was drowning, she immediately returned to the water in an effort to save him.

Tenhuisen, with the help of another parent who was also a registered nurse, conducted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the boy, but he was unresponsive.

The boy was immediately sent to the hospital for urgent medical needs but was then declared dead.

The swimming instructor told the police then that she was unsure of how things had gone prior to the incident.

Yahoo reports that while all of the kids were swimming altogether, the 4-year-old boy must have gotten too close to the drop-off of the deeper part of the pool. However, she admits that she did not recall or witness that happening since she was concentrating on looking at the other kids while they were playing in the pool.

Related Article: 7-Year-Old Girl Dies From Brutal Dog Attack in Louisiana; Dog Owner Faces Homicide Charges
Photo: (Photo : Matthew Horwood /Getty Images)

COVID- 19 cases are continuing to increase in number. With that, schools require students to wear masks.

The holiday season and the winter break had schools and local authorities predicting an increase in COVID-19 cases.

However, even before some schools started their winter break, a few areas in the country began mandating their students wear masks again.

According to ABC, in response to an increase in respiratory diseases, Pennsylvania and New Jersey school districts have announced that they will begin mandating the use of face masks among students and staff members starting after the holiday break.

Schools in Michigan and Massachusetts later announced the same mandate, while schools in Chicago require their students to take a rapid test before they resume after winter break.

Mask mandates in New Jersey schools

Many schools have begun requiring students to wear masks again to stop the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory infections.

These steps have been taken in response to increased COVID-19 cases reported nationwide.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data show that the number of weekly cases has climbed over the past five weeks from 309,272 to 402,525.

After returning from their holiday break, students in two different school districts in New Jersey will be expected to wear face masks inside the schools.

The Camden City School District, which has around 7,500 children enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade, will mandate the use of face masks inside schools for at least two weeks, or until January 17.

Paterson Public Schools announced that the new regulation would become mandatory beginning on January 3 for all their 25,000 students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

According to data from the CDC, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza infections are both at high levels. However, they appear to have peaked in the middle of November and December, and cases are now dropping.

Read Also: New Jersey Art Teacher Faces Criminal Charges Alleged for Fentanyl Overdose

Mask mandates in Chelsea Public Schools

Furthermore, Chelsea Public Schools also announced their new effort to prevent COVID-19, requiring students to wear masks on school premises. The decision was released to the community through a letter.

In the letter, the school explained that the decision was made because the CDC had deemed Suffolk County to be at "high risk" for the transmission of COVID-19.

As a result of this designation, it is strongly suggested that everyone wear a mask whenever they are inside the school premises.

All students attending Chelsea Public Schools will be required to wear masks beginning on Monday, January 9.

Masks are required to be worn at all times in school facilities, except while students are eating or drinking.

According to Dr. Almi G. Abeyta, "Mask wearing will continue to remain mandatory for any person visiting our school health offices and anyone returning to school from a five-day quarantine following a positive COVID-19 diagnosis."

Related Article: Parents Use Respectful Parenting as Approach to Produce Highly Successful Kids
Photo: (Photo : KENA BETANCUR / Getty Images)

A family of four from Mihcigan was in a fatal car crash after celebrating New Year's with their family.

Nate and Kathleen Ayers are a family from Michigan. With them are their children, Gideon, 3, and Gwen, only 11

At around 1:30 a.m. on New Year's Day, Nate and Kathleen Ayers, of Fruitport Township, were returning home from a Christmas/New Year's Eve celebration when a car in the other lane abruptly crossed the median and crashed into their vehicle.

Looking at the damages of their car, the front part of their vehicle got totally wrecked. Despite the brutal damage to their vehicle, all four of them were immediately rescued to safety by what appeared to be their guardian angels that day.

Michigan Family's Fatal Car Crash

On their way home, Nate was driving while her wife Kathleen was on her phone talking with her brother-in-law. As reported by iHeart, Nate stated that he was the only one who saw the car coming towards them.

He counted the incidents, stating it all happened so fast; they were just on their side of the road driving when the other car came crashing, and the next thing they knew, they were hit.

It might have been luck, but a pair of strangers who served as "guardian angels" to them immediately hopped off their vehicle and helped the Ayers family.

While Kathleen was on the phone with her brother-in-law during the crash itself, the call was disconnected upon impact. He then noticed the siren of the rescuers nearby and had the instinct to drive through the scene, assuming it was the Ayers family, which is why the call got disconnected.

Furthermore, family members of the Michigan family were quickly made aware of the accident due to modern technology and were quickly able to come help them out.

The crash-detection feature on Kathleen's iPhone immediately notified her emergency contacts and prompted her to call 911. After her brother-in-law arrived, her mother, Karen, soon followed along.

Read Also: Parents Use Respectful Parenting as Approach to Produce Highly Successful Kids

Car Crash Rescue From 'Guardian Angels'

This Michigan family's fatal car crash could have gotten way worse. However, by some sort of luck, they were immediately rescued and helped by strangers, family members, and rescue authorities.

Another stroke of luck that the couple had was the complete safety of their two young children.

As reported by Fox News, Nate Ayers stated, "The kids have shown no signs of any sort of physical injuries, but our three-year-old Gideon is quite sad that "the new car is broken" and keeps asking why it broke."

They claimed that Gwen had slept through the entire accident, while Gideon was more interested in finding out what had occurred.

Nate and Kathleen Ayers did not get the names of the first couple to come and console them, as the commotion caused by the incident prevented them from doing so. With that, Kathleen began her search for them on various social media platforms.

Kathleen Ayers asked members of a Facebook group on the 2nd of January whether they recognized the two people she had described and provided a description of them. She later found out that the two couples were Catherine Kloska and David Sumner.

The two families were able to meet and talk. The Ayers were able to express their gratitude for the help that they immediately gave during the accident.

Related Article: Chicago Reports 470 Sexual Misconduct Complaints From Students Against Public School Employees
Photo: (Photo : Getty Images/Jay Paul)

The shooting was not accidental. The kid shot his teacher intentionally using the handgun of his mother, police say.

In a news conference Monday, Virginia police stated that the six-year-old student who shot his teacher, Abigail 'Abby' Zwerner, at his classroom in Richneck Elementary School, Newport News used his mother's handgun, which was legally purchased, BBC News reported.

Authorities said that the kid carried the gun in his backpack to school, and intentionally fired on his teacher during class Friday.

What other information should the public know

The authorities narrated that they received a call about a teacher being shot at around 14:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Friday at Richneck Elementary School. When they arrived at the scene, they saw the six-year-old student being restrained by a school employee.

They also found a 9mm Taurus pistol near the student's desk, where his backpack, a mobile phone and one spent shell casing was also placed.

Police chief Steve Drew stated that the kid fired an intentional one round at his teacher, while she was giving a lesson.

Drew also said that they were able to speak to the teacher earlier on Monday and described her as a "trooper" and a "hero," adding that Zwerner kept on asking him about the well-being of her students who were in her classroom when the accident happened.

Zwerner received a shot through her hand and into her upper chest. Amazingly, she was still able to ensure her students' safety outside of the classroom before she made her way down to the office of the school administration, where she called for help.

The school was immediately placed under lockdown after the incident happened.

Lowanda Sample-Rusk was there to pick up her grandchildren, and she said she saw Zwerner appear in the school's front office's doorway. She called to her to say she had been shot and instructed her to call 911 before she fainted.

Another parent informed the Washington Post that the shooting happened after the Zwerner tried to confiscate the weapon from the six-year-old.

Read Also: Condition Improving for Virginia Teacher Shot by Six-Year-Old Child

Legal consequences of the kid

Chief Drew also stated that they were able to have a thorough interview with the child's mother and they confirmed that the pistol was legally bought and stored in their home.

The child, who remains to be unidentified, is still under custody and undergoing hospital evaluation. Authorities said that they will soon be seeking a temporary detention order.

According to CNN, It is still mind-boggling as to what legal consequences the kid may or may not face.

Associate professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, Andrew Block, expressed that "it is incredibly unlikely that it would lead to a successful prosecution," even if technically, it is possible for prosecutors in Virginia to file charges against a six-year-old kid.

Chief Drew emphasized that they will continue to investigate the incident and will conduct more interviews with local child services and other witnesses.

Zwerner is still in the hospital and is already in a stable condition.

Related Article: Oxford School Shooting: Suspect Showed Red Flags and Disturbing Texts to Parents Before Incident
Photo: (Photo : Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images)

Ian Somerhalder's second baby is officially on the way.

The pair revealed that they are expecting their second child by posting a photo on Instagram using Somerhalder's account.

The photo shows Reed carrying their 5-year-old daughter while caressing her pregnant belly.

The actor also added that while taking a photo of her wife carrying their daughter, he could almost not believe what he's seeing in the viewfinder.

Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed's Second Baby

In his Instagram post, Somerholder stated that he has always dreamed of having a large family, ever since he was young.

The Vampire Diaries actor did not hide his excitement and joy in expressing that baby number two is coming real soon and that they are soon to be a family of four.

The actor also recognized his wife's effort in bringing this child into the world, thanking her for the beautiful gift that's about to come into their lives.

He gave thanks to Reed in his caption, expressing gratitude for the gifts of family and love, and saying that there is nothing more beautiful.

Somerhalder adds what an amazing mother her wife has been to their family, working hard to make their dreams come true.

According to ET, Reed and Somerhalder originally became acquainted with one another while working on the set of The Vampire Diaries.

They went on to get married in 2015. They chose to keep their family life private after the birth of Bodhi in July 2017, so the public hasn't heard much about them since then.

Somerhalder later revealed to People magazine in August 2022 that he and Reed had relocated their family to a farm just outside of Los Angeles, where they have been living ever since.

Read Also: Parents Use Respectful Parenting as Approach to Produce Highly Successful Kids

Nikki Reed's Announcement

With the same photo, Nikki Reed also went to her Instagram account and posted an announcement to inform her fans with a message to her fans.

Reed stated that after years of praying, manifesting, and dreaming for another child to come into their lives, it has finally happened this year.

Reed said that this year she will be celebrating life. In Somerhalder's post, he asked everyone, including friends, family, and fans, to be respectful to their families during this time.

This is because the couple has been known to be very selective and private about what they share online about their child and their small family. Social media can of course be a very weird place especially to young children.

However, Reed says this news is too good not to share. The actress has long been known to have strong boundaries with the use of social media and what she puts out to the world.

She ends her post by saying, "Thank you so much for honoring that and for sending positivity, kindness, and love." Here's the original post from Reed:

Both the name and the gender of the baby have not yet been officially announced by the couple. As it can be noticed in both of their Instagram posts, the couple did not confirm how many months they are in the pregnancy.

Related Article: New Jersey Art Teacher Faces Criminal Charges Alleged for Fentanyl Overdose
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A new supply chain report this morning from Taiwan claims that Apple has confirmed that it will apply their Dynamic Island camera window to all four iPhone 15 series scheduled to be released in September. The number of models applied with the hole display will increase from 2 types of iPhone 14 series last year to 4 types in the iPhone 15 series this year.

Reportedly Samsung has ordered equipment from Phil Optics that will allow Apple to offer their Dynamic Island to more models later this year. This equipment is scheduled to be shipped to Samsung Display's Vietnam plant.

Face ID: Under Display Camera coming to iPhone 16

According to The Elec, "Apple is expected to make a big change to the lower lineup OLED in the iPhone 15 series this year, and to apply the 'Under Panel Face ID' function that hides Face ID under the screen from the Pro lineup next year in the iPhone 16 series.

The 'Under Panel Face ID' refers to a technology in which Face ID, which is required for face recognition, looks like a normal display when this function is not used. In this way, in the iPhone 16 Pro lineup, when the display screen is turned on, the hole for the Under Panel Face ID is not visible, and only the lens hole for the front camera is gathered to increase the sense of immersion. Early last year, some in the industry speculated that

Apple is expected to adopt an Under Panel Camera (UPC) sequentially after applying under panel Face ID to the front of the iPhone. UPC also has a front camera module mounted under the display, and when the camera function is not in use, the camera lens hole is not visible and the display function is supported. The application principle of under panel camera and UPC is the same.

A Rumor of this feature dates back to 2019. While the vast majority of Apple patents of under display cameras related to Touch ID recognition, Apple did reveal an invention in August 2021 of one way to achieve a no-notch Face ID camera.

India's Tata Electronics advances Negotiations to takeover of the Wistron Plant in India

(Click on image to Enlarge)

In late November 2022, Patently Apple posted a report titled "India's Tata Electronics is in Negotiations to Acquire Wistron's iPhone Plant." Today, in a second report from Bloomberg we're learning that Tata is nearing the takeover of the Wistron iPhone plant in Karnataka, southern India.

Tata Group has been in talks with Wistron for months and hopes to complete the acquisition by the end of March, two people familiar with the matter said. The two companies discussed various potential partnerships, but talks now center on Tata taking a majority stake in a joint venture. Tata will oversee key manufacturing operations with support from Wistron, they said. Tata aims to complete the due diligence process by March 31 so that Tata Electronics can formally take over Wistron's place in the government's incentive scheme

N Ganapathy Subramaniam, operating chief at Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., told Bloomberg TVs Rishaad Salamat and Haslinda Amin in an interview on Tuesday that while he wasn't directly involved in the negotiations, "it should be really good for India because this is going to create an opportunity in India to manufacture electronics and microelectronics. For more, read the full Bloomberg report.
Last night at the Walter Reade Theater in New York, Apple TV+ held the premiere event for the beloved psychological thriller Servant from M. Night Shyamalan and starring Lauren Ambrose, Toby Kebbell, Nell Tiger Free and Rupert Grint.

Attendees at the red carpet premiere included director and executive producer M. Night Shyamalan, stars Lauren Ambrose, Nell Tiger Free and Rupert Grint, as well as additional cast members Tony Revolori, Boris McGiver, Barbara Kingsley and Mathilde DeHaye.

Following the suspenseful season three finale, season four will bring the final chapter of the Turner story to an epic and emotional conclusion. Leannes war with the Church of Lesser Saints heightens, threatening Spruce Street, the city of Philadelphia and beyond. Meanwhile, the shattered Turner family must not only confront the increasing threat of Leanne, but the certain reality that Dorothy is waking up. As the Turner family brownstone continues to crumble, questions are finally answered: Who is Leanne Grayson and who is the child in their home?

Servant stars Lauren Ambrose, Toby Kebbell, Nell Tiger Free and Rupert Grint, who all reprise their roles for the final season.

Cover Image: Lauren Ambrose, Rupert Grint, M. Night Shyamalan and Nell Tiger Free attend the Apple TV+ Servant season four premiere at Walter Reade Theater.

In other related news, Apple Inc's vice president of services, Peter Stern, has informed colleagues that he is leaving the company. A prominent media executive, Stern oversaw an expansion of Apple's paid subscription businesses, particularly its television offering, Apple TV+. For more, read the full report here.

Archive: Apple TV News
With a group of friends (mostly neighbors and former neighbors), we are putting together a private bus tour for this summer to church history and general historical sites in England and just a bit of Scotland. (Some of the sites will probably play a role in our new Six Days in August film project, and its likely that at least one of our principal filmmakers from Witnesses and Undaunted and the Insights short-video series, and perhaps all three, will be in our party.) Our goal is to have a total of twenty-six people in the group, which currently leaves us space for about ten additional participants. We will be touring from 6-17 June 2023, beginning in Edinburgh and ending in London. I will not be the guide or lecturer on the trip, though my natural loquaciousness and overweening sense of self-importance will probably prevent me from remaining altogether silent. Airfare is high right now and the cost of the trip is not insubstantial, but we would welcome others joining us. Our Latter-day Saint tour guide in England is wonderful and very knowledgeable  my wife and I have known him for years now  and we hope to include a session at the Preston England Temple. We are leaving the basic touring of Edinburgh and London to individuals or couples to do as add-ons. We will have only one day, 17 June, programmed in London. That will allow you flexibility to add days as you want. If you are interested, we will need to know within the next couple of days. If you have any real interest please email my wife at dspegypt@gmail.com and she will give you the details. (Shell be on airplanes much of today, so please dont worry if theres a little bit of delay before she responds.)

P.S.  In an almost certainly futile attempt to head off the predictable attacks, permit me to state clearly that my wife and I will be paying our own way on this trip. Entirely. Neither the totality of the tour nor any portion thereof will be picked up for us by donors to the Interpreter Foundation, by the tithe payers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or by the Church itself or any entity connected therewith, nor by enslaved workers in Communist labor camps.

England is the land of two of my ancestral lines; Scotland is the home of another. And thats true of many American Latter-day Saints. Which puts me in mind not only of England but of ancestors.

Some time ago, driving back from a lecture, I listened to a selection from Sir Edward Elgars Enigma Variations on KBYU-FM. Afterwards, the host of the program related an anecdote about Elgar. It has stayed in my mind ever since:

Although he certainly ranks among the greatest of English composers, Sir Edward (1857-1934) was apparently quite shy and deeply modest.

So when, at some point late in the life of Queen Victoria (d. 1901), the monarch invited Elgar to some sort of event at Buckingham Palace, he waited until the last possible moment to respond. And then he declined, saying that he felt that the distinguished aristocrats gathered at the event would not wish it to be ruined by the presence of a mere piano tuners son and his wife.

Perhaps its because Im American and perhaps its because were living in a distinctly egalitarian age, but I find such a response  at least in the way he expressed it; not necessarily his disinterest in attending some sort of formal royal cocktail party, since I dont enjoy such events either  quite mystifying.

Sir Edward Elgar should not have felt himself outclassed in the presence of a mere bunch of aristocrats who had inherited money and titles from ancestors centuries before  ancestors who, in many cases, were essentially buccaneers, extortionists, and gang leaders. Instead of Elgar, a man whose music is still played and admired internationally, Lord Nondescript, Lady Lacktalent, and Sir Reginald Bland should have been the people feeling outclassed. They are, by and large, forgotten except as dusty entries in Burkes Peerage. And justly so.

Sir Edwards story reminded of a tale out of pre-Islamic Arabia. One of my favorites. Perhaps Ive told it here before, but, well, its my blog and Im going to tell the story again.

One of the great poets of the Arabic tradition is Antarah b. Shaddad, or Antar (AD 525-608). (As I type, Im overwatched by an image of him done by an Egyptian-artist friend.) He was the son, it is said, of a Bedouin chieftain and an Ethiopian slave. True, she had been a princess in her native land, but now she was a slave, and her son was half black. He didnt have the status of a freeborn Arab in that society.

There came a time when his fathers tribe was engaged in a fierce battle with a rival tribe, and the rivals were gaining the upper hand. Antarah was standing on a ridge overlooking the fight and, as he had been charged to do, minding the camels of the warriors. The work, as both he and they saw it, of a menial.

Finally, one of his half brothers managed to climb up the ridge and begged Antarah to join the fight. It has to be understood that the half brothers had long been among those who had mocked Antarah for his half-slave origin. But, of course, now that the situation was desperate they needed his help. Sorry, Antarah responded. Im a slave and a slaves son. Im not worthy to fight alongside you. Okay! came the reply. Youre free now! Please! Join us!

Antarah waded into the fight and, as you might expect  its why the story is told still today  routed the enemy. Eventually, his exploits in battle won him the epithet of the Bedouin Achilles.

But the story Im really after is this one:

Some years later, another Arabian aristocrat, encountering Antarah, mocked him as a person lacking a distinguished lineage. By this time, though, Antarah had achieved renown both as a warrior and as a poet. And his response to the man mocking him is classic:

You, he told him, represent the end of your noble line. I represent the beginning of mine.

When the Sadducees and Pharisees came to John the Baptist, secure in the nobility of their descent, he told them Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham (Matthew 3:9).
. . . And What is a So-Called Bible Difficulty?

This is Chapter One of a hoped-for book tentatively entitled, Anti-Bible: Refutations of XXX Alleged Biblical Contradictions. It lays bare some of the basic repeated fallacies that atheists and other skeptics employ in their attacks upon the internal logical consistency (and indirectly upon the inspiration) of the Bible.

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A common tactic of biblical skeptics is to question the veracity and historical trustworthiness of the New Testament based on alleged numerous contradictions therein. But most of these so-called problem passages can easily be shown to be noncontradictory and in fact, complementary. This is what might be described as the 1001 Bible contradictions ploy.

Anyone can go look up the definition of logical contradiction. The great Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) defined a contradiction as two statements that cannot both be true and cannot both be false. For extreme depth on the matter, see: Contradiction (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy), or Logical Consistency and Contradiction, by philosopher G. Randolph Mayes.

But how do anti-theist atheists habitually define a biblical contradiction? It seems that they regard this as any slightest shade of difference, or one passage not mentioning something or adding another detail. They are predisposed to see biblical conflicts and clashes and contradictions and so they see them.

In the desperation to find contradictions, any instance of a different report (not absolutely identical in all respects) is regarded as contradictory, when in fact this is not so at all, and obviously so, for anyone who will take a little time to reflect upon it. The following is an illustrative example of the sorts of things that atheists claim are contradictory:

1. Joe says he saw Bill walk up to the Dairy Queen and buy an ice cream at 3:10 PM on a hot Saturday afternoon. 2. Alice says she saw Ed walk up to the Dairy Queen and buy an ice cream at 4:10 PM. 3. John says he saw Kathy walk up to the Dairy Queen and buy an ice cream at 4:30 PM. 4. Sally says she saw Bill walk up to the Dairy Queen and buy an ice cream at about 3:15 PM, Ed buy an ice cream there at about 4:20 PM, and Kathy buy an ice cream there at about 4:45 PM.

Now, according to these conflicting and contradictory reports, how many people (at least) bought an ice cream at the Dairy Queen between 3:10 and about 4:45 PM on a hot Saturday afternoon? Was it 1, 2, 3, or 6? Actually, none of the above, because (in all likelihood) many more people went there during that time to buy ice cream. They just werent all recorded. But skeptical hyper-critics look at the above data (lets say they represent the four Gospels) and see a host of contradictions:

1. Joe contradicts Alice as to who visited there in an hours time. 2. Joe contradicts John as to who visited there in an hour and 20 minutes time. 3. Alice contradicts John as to who visited there in 20 minutes time. 4. Joe says someone visited at 3:10, but Alice claims it was at 4:10, and John says it was at 4:30. 5. Joe, Alice, and John cant even agree on who visited the Dairy Queen in a lousy span of only 80 minutes! They are obviously completely untrustworthy! Probably two or more of them are lying. 6. To top it all off, we have the utter nonsense of Sally, whose time for Bills arrival contradicts Joes report by 5 minutes! 7. Sallys time for Eds arrival contradicts Alices report by 10 minutes!! 8. Sallys time for Kathys arrival contradicts Johns report by 15 minutes!!!

And so on and so forth. This is the sort of incoherent reasoning which we get from so many skeptics of the Bible, who pride themselves on their reasoning abilities and logical acumen, over against us allegedly gullible, irrational orthodox Christians, who accept biblical inspiration. Many examples of this sort of nonsense can be easily located in the usual laundry lists of biblical contradictions which frequently appear in skeptical and atheist literature, often exhibiting the most elementary errors of fact or logic.

I shall now provide three brief examples of asserted contradictions that are not contradictions at all, from replies I made to all 194 entries on one skeptical site (citations from the site in italics):

2) The announcement of the special birth came before conception. Lk.1:26-31.

The announcement of the special birth came after conception. Mt.1:18-21. Luke details the Annunciation, which was Gods proposition to Mary, which she accepted (being willing to bear God in the flesh). Matthew gives an account from the perspective of Joseph. An angel tells him, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit (1:20). I dont see how two announcements about the same event, given to the two people involved, is any sort of contradiction. Its no more contradictory than a doctor informing a woman that she is pregnant, and the woman informing her husband that she is pregnant. Its simply two announcements from two people to two people about the same thing. No one would say that both are the same (one) announcement. 13) John [the Baptist] knew of Jesus before he baptized him. Mt.3:11-13; Jn.1:28,29.

John knew nothing of Jesus at all. Mt.11:1-3. Matthew 11:1-3 doesnt say he knew nothing of Him at all. John, while being persecuted in prison, simply wondered (it could have been for only ten minutes, for all we know) if Jesus was indeed the Messiah, and sent a message to Jesus through his disciples, to ask Jesus about that (which is quite different from knowing nothing . . . at all about Jesus). It was merely a temporary lack of faith, in his suffering (probably without food or sleep). It shows that John was a human being, like all of us, and like all the saints are. The Bible is realistic about human nature, and the faults and imperfections and weaknesses even of great and saintly persons. 15) It is recorded that Jesus saw the spirit descending. Mt.3:16; Mk.1:10.

It is recorded that John saw the spirit descending. Jn.1:32. They both saw the same thing. So what? If my wife and I both see a meteor lighting up the night sky, thats somehow a contradiction?! Remember, thats what all of these are supposed to be, according to our never-ending critics. (1)

Fair-minded and open-minded folks should be able to easily see through the shallowness of such absurdly supposed proofs. I had no problem refuting all 194 of them. The skeptical underlying assumptions are almost always assumed as axioms (reasons for this acceptance are deemed unnecessary), and the Christian assumptions are almost always frowned upon as irrational, impossible, etc.

We often hear, for example, the weak objection that Johns Gospel excludes a lot of the important events in Jesus life, which are recorded in the synoptic Gospels. But it obviously had a different purpose (it was more theological in nature, rather than purely narrative). In the world of biblical hyper-criticism, however, facts such as those are of no consequence. The usual predisposition is that contradictions are involved, per the above shoddy reasoning.

Oftentimes, falsely perceived contradictions in Holy Scripture involve different genres in the Bible, various meanings of particular words or ideas in widely divergent contexts, translation matters, and interpretational particulars: frequently having to do with the very foreign (to our modern western sensibilities) ancient Hebrew culture and modes of thinking (see my article, Difficulty in Understanding the Bible: Hebrew Cultural Factors [2-5-21]). I know these things firsthand, because I myself have offered  through the years and in this book  what I think are good resolutions or solutions to hundreds of proposed biblical contradictions.

Other times, a purported contradiction may simply be a matter of manuscript errors that crept in through the years. Of course, that sort of error is only in transmission, and is not part of the original text, so it wouldnt cast doubt on the non-contradictory nature of the original transcripts of the Bible (if indeed we can plausibly speculate that it was merely an innocent copyists error).

Sometimes, contradictions are alleged based on various arguments from plausibility. A common atheist tactic in discussions on biblical texts is to claim that all (or nearly all) Christian explanations are implausible or special pleading and suchlike. They very often assume what they need to prove, in thinking that all these texts are self-evident before we even get to closely examining them in context, checking the Greek and relevant cross-references, etc. But that issue is a very complex one. What different people find plausible or implausible depends on many factors, including various premises that each hold.

Its just as wrong and illogical for the atheist to use implausible as the knee-jerk reaction to everything a Christian argues about texts, as it is for the Christian to throw out truly implausible or unlikely replies. Both things are extremes. Neither side can simply blurt out implausible! or eisegesis! without getting down to brass tacks and actually grappling with the text and its interpretation in a serious way. We cant  on either side  simply do a meta-analysis and speak about replies rather than directly engage them. To prove that any explanation is implausible requires more than merely asserting that is is. Bald assertion is not argument. Its proclamation.

Ive been saying for years that atheists and other biblical skeptics approach the Bible like a butcher approaches a hog. Most  especially atheists, and particularly former Christian atheists  couldnt care less about actually resolving these alleged Bible difficulties, or giving the Bible a fair shake. The anti-theist sub-group of atheism only wants to tear Holy Scripture and Christianity down. It has little or no interest in defenses of an infallible, inspired Bible or discussions with those who submit them.

I have much firsthand experience of these tendencies, having engaged in several thousand attempted dialogues in atheist online forums (several of the most prominent and popular online), and sometimes in atheist groups in person.

Biblical skeptics, who see contradictions everywhere, and who never seem to have met a proposed one that they didnt like, are at the same time usually 1) abominably ignorant of the Bibles contents and interpretation, and 2) seemingly unfamiliar with classical logic or, say, a textbook of logic ( and in case anyone is wondering, I did take course on logic in college).

Few things bolster my Christian faith more than dealing with these alleged biblical contradictions: because the arguments are almost always so shallow and even laughable, that we see the Christian faith as far more rational and sensible. Observing (while I am making my own arguments) the Bible being able to withstand all attacks is incredibly, joyfully faith-boosting. Its the unique blessing we apologists receive for our efforts.

Because Bible skeptics have difficulty in proving actual biblical contradictions (by the dictionary definition of the word), what they do is collect a multitude of pseudo-contradictions which are not logical contradictions at all, and then rant and carry on that there are just so many!!! What they neglect to see is that a pack of a hundred lies is no more impressive or compelling than one lie. A falsehood is a falsehood. If a hundred proposed biblical contradictions are all refuted and shown to not be so, then the ones who assert them have not gained any ground at all. They havent proven their case one iota, until they prove real contradiction.

We Christians (and apologist types like myself) are obviously defending the Bible and Christianity and have our bias, just as the Bible skeptic also is biased in the other direction. But we need not necessarily assume anything (by way of theology) in order to demonstrate that an alleged biblical contradiction is not present. Thats simply a matter of classical logic and reason.

One need not even believe in biblical notion X in order to argue and assert that opponent of the Bible A has failed to establish internal inconsistencies and contradictions in the biblical account involving biblical notion X. One simply has to show how they have not proven that a contradiction is present in a given biblical text. Ive done this myself innumerable times through the years.

We are applying the accepted secular definition of contradiction: which is part of logic. Too many atheists want to act as if the definition of contradiction is some mysterious, controversial thing, that Christians spend hours and hours haggling over. Its not. Its very straightforward and its not rocket science.

If something isnt contradictory, its not a Bible problem in the first place. But atheists have at their disposal catalogues of hundreds of Bible problems  so that they can pretend as if they have an impressive, insurmountable overall case. This has been standard, stock, playbook atheist and Bible skeptic tactics for hundreds of years. They keep doing it because it works for those who are unfamiliar with critical thinking and logic (and the Bible).

Atheists and other biblical skeptics can reel off 179 alleged / claimed contradictions (as all Bible skeptics love to do: the mere appearance of strength). But this proves absolutely nothing because any chain is only as good as the individual links. Each one has to be proven: not merely asserted, as if they are self-evidently some kind of insuperable difficulty. One hundred bad, fallacious arguments prove exactly nothing (except that the one proposing them is a lousy arguer and very poor at proving his or her opinions).

One online atheist, to whom I have offered rebuttals many times, started out one of his articles by writing, How can Christians maintain their belief when the Bible is full of contradictions? Imagine if I said that about atheism?: How can atheists maintain their belief when atheism is full of self-contradictions? I do actually believe that, and think I have demonstrated it many times, but simply saying it [to an atheist] is no argument in and of itself. It has to be proven. The proofs in the pudding. Any serious argument will be able to be defended against criticism.

Closely related to this issue of alleged biblical contradictions is the matter of Bible difficulties. We should actually fully expect many Bible difficulties to arise from the study of the Bible, for the following reasons, as as bare minimum:

1. The Bible is a very lengthy, multi-faceted book by many authors, from long ago, with many literary genres (and in three languages), and cultural assumptions that are foreign to us. All complex documents have to be interpreted. When human beings start reading them, they start to disagree, so that there needs to be some sort of authoritative guide. In law, that is the Supreme Court of any given jurisdiction. The U.S. Constitution might be regarded as true and wonderful and sufficient, etc. But the fact remains that this abstract belief only lasts undisturbed as long as the first instance of case law in which two parties claim divergent interpretations of the Constitution. The Bible itself asserts that authoritative interpretation is needed to fully, properly understand its teachings: Nehemiah 8:1-2, 7-8 (RSV) And all the people gathered . . . and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had given to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding, . . . the Levites, helped the people to understand the law, while the people remained in their places. And they read from the book, from the law of God, clearly; and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. Mark 4:33-34 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. Moses was told to teach the Hebrews the statutes and the decisions, not just read them to the people (Exod. 18:20). The Levitical priests interpreted the biblical injunctions (Deut. 17:11). Ezra, a priest and a scribe, taught the Jewish Law to Israel, and his authority was binding (Ezra 7:6, 10, 25-26). 2. The Bible purports to be revelation from an infinitely intelligent God. Thus (even though God simplifies it as much as possible), for us to think that it is an easy thing to immediately grasp and figure out, and would not have any number of difficulties for mere human beings to work through, is naive. The Bible itself teaches that authoritative teachers are necessary to properly understand it. 3. All grand theories have components (anomalies / difficulties) that need to be worked out and explained. For example, scientific theories do not purport to perfectly explain everything. They often have large mysterious areas that have to be resolved. Think of, for example, the missing links in evolution. That didnt stop people from believing in it. Folks believed in gradual Darwinian evolution even though prominent paleontologist and philosopher of science Stephen Jay Gould famously noted that gradualism was never read from the rocks. Even Einsteins theories werent totally confirmed by scientific experiment at first (later they were). That a book like the Bible would have difficulties to work through should be perfectly obvious and unsurprising to all. 4. Christianity is not a simpletons religion. It can be grasped in its basics by the simple and less educated; the masses, but it is very deep the more it is studied and understood. Thus, we would expect the Bible not to be altogether simple. It has complexities, but we can better understand them through human study, just like anything else.

Having written this initial outline and description of my fundamental premises and presuppositions, and some of the common issues involved, I shall now proceed to an examination of xxx instances of alleged biblical contradictions.

Footnotes

(1) 194 Contradictions, New Testament: http://www.skeptically.org/bible/id6.html.

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Practical Matters: Perhaps some of my 4,000+ free online articles (the most comprehensive one-stop Catholic apologetics site) or fifty books have helped you (by Gods grace) to decide to become Catholic or to return to the Church, or better understand some doctrines and why we believe them.

Or you may believe my work is worthy to support for the purpose of apologetics and evangelism in general. If so, please seriously consider a much-needed financial contribution. Im always in need of more funds: especially monthly support. The laborer is worthy of his wages (1 Tim 5:18, NKJV). 1 December 2021 was my 20th anniversary as a full-time Catholic apologist, and February 2022 marked the 25th anniversary of my blog. PayPal donations are the easiest: just send to my email address: apologistdave@gmail.com. Youll see the term Catholic Used Book Service, which is my old side-business. To learn about the different methods of contributing, including 100% tax deduction, etc., see my page: About Catholic Apologist Dave Armstrong / Donation Information. Thanks a million from the bottom of my heart!

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Photo credit: aklara: digital-fractal-abstract-geometry-lines [public domain / Needpix.com]

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Summary: Introduction to my book about instances of alleged biblical contradiction. I summarize some of the main aspects and tendencies of the ongoing attempted dialogue.
The eighth online course from Under the Ancient Oaks is now open for registration. Tarot For Divination begins on January 26 and will run for eleven weeks.

Tarot began in Italy as tarocchi  a card game  in the late 1300s and early 1400s. It wasnt long before people began using the cards for fortune telling and divination. There is no original Tarot deck, just a bunch of very old decks  only a few are still in existence. The most popular deck of our era  the Waite-Smith deck  was created in the early 1900s by Golden Dawn members Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Colman Smith. Today there are hundreds if not thousands of Tarot decks, with more coming all the time.

This is a class in divination  in obtaining information through non-ordinary means so we can make better decisions. Divination doesnt tell us what we should do. Rather, it tells us if I do this, then heres what will happen. If that sounds good to you, keep going down that path. If you dont like what you see, do something to change the outcome.

This isnt esoteric Tarot. Its not The Fools Journey. Its not self-help through Tarot. This is divination: asking questions and getting answers.

There are many approaches to Tarot. This is Tarot as I understand it, as I practice it, as I read it. So this is how I teach it.

The Approach

Well start by talking about the history and theory of Tarot. Where did it come from? How does it work, or at least how do I think it works? Well talk about the process of reading Tarot: ask a question, draw cards, figure out what the cards are telling you.

Were going to spend a significant amount of time getting familiar with the cards. This begins with learning the consensus meanings. A couple years ago we argued about whether we should read Tarot with the standard meanings or whether we should read intuitively. Intuitive reading is great, but I had to learn the consensus meanings before I could develop the confidence to read intuitively. So thats what were going to do in this class.

Once we get familiar with the cards, well learn to read the cards. How do the images on the cards relate to the question that was asked? How do the cards relate to each other? Well talk about patterns and combinations, some of the spreads you can use, and how to pick the right spread for the right reading.

And well talk about ethics. Tarot can give you access to some very sensitive information. How do you use that information properly?

Teaching Decks

The primary deck for this class is the Robin Wood Tarot. This was the first deck I ever bought and it was the only deck I had for many years. I find it an easy deck to read with. I saw a review that said it was a very 90s Wiccan deck  I think thats a fair assessment. I like it because it keeps the structure of the more common Waite-Smith deck while using only modern Neopagan imagery.

Were also going to use the Waite-Smith deck and the Celtic Tarot.

In Module 0 I say that you must have at least one of these decks. While I do recommend that, if you prefer a different deck thats based on the Waite-Smith system, you should be fine. But the further a deck gets from the Waite-Smith structure, the harder its going to be to use in this class. And lets face it  some contemporary decks are more works of art than divination tools.

We wont be using the Tarot de Marseille. The Marseille Tarot is very popular right now. It is one of the older decks for which we have all 78 cards, but its not the original Tarot and its not the most authentic Tarot. Its a perfectly good deck, but its very different from the Waite-Smith system and I dont read well with it. So we wont be using it except for the occasional example. If you really want the Tarot de Marseille there are other people who teach it.

The Modules

0. Introduction (free)

1. Tarot: History and Theory

2. Reading Tarot  A Process

3. Major Arcana Part I

4. Major Arcana Part II

5. Swords

6. Wands

7. Cups

8. Pentacles

9. Patterns, combinations, and spreads

10. Ethics

11. The Art of Reading

UTAO Tarot Facebook Group

Each module will have homework. Students are encouraged (but not required) to post their homework in a new Under the Ancient Oaks Tarot Facebook that is for this course only. Post your readings and what you think theyre telling you. Its a chance for you to get feedback from a bunch of different people  and a chance to offer feedback on their readings.

I will be more active in this group than Ive been in the main UTAO Facebook group. I cant respond to every reading thats posted, but Im going to do my best to read them all, and also to weigh in when I have something to add that other people havent already brought up.

Participation in the Facebook group is voluntary, but it is highly encouraged.

Im always available answer class-related questions, either in the Facebook group or privately.

Class Logistics

As with all UTAO classes, Tarot For Divination will be on-demand. Video classes will be released once a week  do them at your own pace.

Module 0  the syllabus module  is available now. Module 1 will go up January 26 and a new module every week after that. I always include a disclaimer actual frequency may vary but Ive yet to miss a date, and I dont expect to be late this time either.

K.D. Echols has once again graciously agreed to provide written transcripts for those with hearing difficulties  and for those of you who like to read as well as listen.

Costs and Registration

Registration is open now. Send me an e-mail or use the contact form on the Under the Ancient Oaks website and tell me you want to sign up. Ill send you a PayPal invoice. Once you pay it, Ill register you for the class. Most times this will be done within 24 hours, but if you catch me while Im occupied it may take longer.

The cost is $150 for the entire course.

A limited number of scholarships are available for those experiencing financial difficulties. If youd like to apply for a scholarship, just ask. Ill take applications until January 21, and Ill hold all applications until then. Ill notify everyone of their application status by January 23. First priority for scholarships will go to those whove taken UTAO courses before.

If youre in good financial shape, I hope youll consider sponsoring a scholarship, in whole or in part. If you cant fund a full scholarship, perhaps you can fund a half or a third. Each sponsorship fully funds one scholarship student, and it also counts toward the paid registrations that determine how many scholarships I can fund.

This class is for everyone

This class is intended for anyone and everyone who wants to learn to read Tarot. Its geared toward beginning and intermediate readers  no previous experience is required. If youve never picked up Tarot cards, this is a good place to start.

No special psychic ability is required. If it was, I couldnt take the class, much less teach it. Learning to read Tarot gave me the confidence I needed to trust the psychic ability I do have (which, as best I can tell, is pretty much average). You may be surprised at what you can learn to see with structured practice.

Questions?

If you have any questions, contact me here or at any of the usual places.
A collision between two buses in central Senegal has left 40 people dead and dozens injured.



Preliminary investigations suggested that one of the buses suffered a burst tyre and collided head-on with an oncoming bus, officials said.



President Macky Sall has declared three days of mourning and has promised to take measures to improve road safety.



Traffic accidents are common in Senegal, but this was one of the deadliest in recent years.



Emergency services official Cheikh Fall told AFP news agency that 87 people were injured in the collision, near the central town of Kaffrine.



The wounded have been taken to hospital and a medical centre for treatment, he added.



Confirming the 40 deaths, Mr Sall said on Twitter that he was "deeply saddened by the tragic road accident".



"I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured."



Meanwhile, 21 people have died and 49 others have been wounded in a bus accident in Kenya.



The bus had just crossed the border from Uganda into Kenya when it crashed.



Ugandan regional police spokesman Rogers Taitika told AFP that the driver appeared to have lost control and veered off the road.



Those killed were mostly Kenyans, but included eight Ugandans, he was quoted as saying.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Single-use items like plastic cutlery, plates and trays will be banned in England, the government has confirmed.



It is not clear when the ban will come into effect, but it follows similar moves already made by Scotland and Wales.



Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said the move would help protect the environment for future generations.



Campaigners welcomed the ban, but called for a wider-ranging plastic reduction strategy.



Government figures suggest that 1.1 billion single-use plates and more than four billion pieces of plastic cutlery are used in England every year.



Plastic waste often does not decompose and can last in landfill for many years.



Although it might be useful in terms of food hygiene, it can also end up as litter, in turn polluting soil and water.



The confirmation of the move from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) follows a long consultation, which will be published on Saturday 14 January.



Each person in England uses an average of 18 single-use plastic plates and 37 items of plastic cutlery every year, according to Defra, while just 10% of those are recycled.



Ms Coffey is set to ban a range of single-use plastic items mainly relating to takeaway food and drink.



"I am determined to drive forward action to tackle this issue head on. We've already taken major steps in recent years - but we know there is more to do, and we have again listened to the public's calls," she said.



"This new ban will have a huge impact to stop the pollution of billions of pieces of plastics and help to protect the natural environment for future generations."



Similar bans have already been made in Scotland, while single-use plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds were already banned in England in 2020.



Scotland introduced a ban on businesses using a range of single-use plastic goods in June last year. Laws for a similar ban in Wales were approved in December and will come into force later in 2023.



This latest measure does not, however, cover items found in supermarkets or shops. The government said it would address those by other means.



Megan Randles, political campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said that the organisation welcomed the ban but further action was needed.



She said: "We're dealing with a plastic flood, and this is like reaching for a mop instead of turning off the tap."



She called on the government to deliver a "meaningful" strategy on how to reduce plastic use, which would also include stringent targets and "a proper reuse and refill scheme".

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) Kathleen Addy has joined the many Ghanaians calling on the government to implement stringent measures to prevent the increasing activities of illegal mining also known as Galamsey in the country.



Addressing the media at a press conference in Accra to commemorate Constitution Day, Madam Kathleen Addy categorically stated that the country is currently under serious terrorist threats which are linked with illegal mining activities in the Northern parts of the country.



Another threat to our democracy and our very existence is the destruction of our environment, primarily through the illegal activities of galamsey and through deforestation. If we carry on with illegal mining as we are doing now, we will very soon not be too far from the debilitating wars fought in Sierra Leon and Liberia in the 90s she stated.



She further urged the government and the various security agencies to clamp down on illegal mining activities to prevent terrorism, which may lead to a breakdown of law and order, proliferation of arms, emergence of warlords, and a total breakdown of society.



As witnessed in Liberia and Sierra Leone when the country reached its vulnerable stage as a result of the monetization of democracy facilitated by illegal mining it destroys the democracy system she added.



Meanwhile, Mr. Samuel Abu Jinapor, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources on several occasions has assured the governments commitment to the fight against illegal mining in the country which has resulted in the vast destruction of the countrys natural vegetation.



According to him, the fight against illegal mining is a collective effort and as such cannot be won without the support of important stakeholders like the queen mothers, chiefs, and the traditional authority.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor, has underscored the importance of the Ghana Chamber of Mines in the attainment of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos vision of making Ghana a mining hub of Africa.



According to the Hon. Minister, as the body that represents the interest of mining companies in the country, the Ministry recognizes that the Ghana Chamber of Mines is arguably the most important partner in the mining industry.



Speaking during a working visit to the Chamber on Tuesday, January 10, 2022, Hon. Jinapor emphasized the need for conscious, constant and fruitful deliberations between the Ministry and the Chamber so as to achieve the aim of making Ghana a Mining hub of Africa.



The Hon. Minister also sought the enhanced support of the Chamber in the fight against illegal mining.



He explained that the Chamber needs to take a leading role in the regulation of the Mining industry and that the Ministry with its open-door policy will welcome all proposals and assistance from the Chamber and all other stakeholders.



You are one of, if not the most important partner, for the ministry in mining industry. You control an overwhelming stake in the industry and contribute overwhelmingly to the national economy. As partners we have to find proper platform for engagements and I believe that, that is the spirit with which weve been working for the past two years. It is important that we see ourselves as partners, the Minister said.



For us to be able to derive the needed benefit from the sector, we must continue to see each other as partners. As partners, it is important that we have these kinds of constructive engagements, he added.



We are going to engage on how we can build the mining industry of our country to realize the vision of the president of making Ghana a mining hub of Africa, he reiterated.



The President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Mr. Joshua Mortoti lauded the Government for its plan to make Ghana a mining hub of Africa and assured of the total support of the Chamber in actualizing that vision.



He highlighted the immense contribution of the Chamber to the countrys economy.



The Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources responsible for Mining, Hon. George Mireku Duker in an interview with the media mentioned local content and taxes as some of the major challenges raised by the Chamber of Mines.



He disclosed that the Sector Minister, in response, requested that they furnish his outfit with further details of the above mentioned and recommended ways they can be addressed.



Hon. Duker said it was important for the Ministry and the Chamber to work together for the growth of the sector and the Ghanaian economy.



The meeting with the Chamber of Mines forms part of the Sector Ministers continuous agenda to engage key stakeholders and partners.





Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Members of the Concerned Drivers Association (C-DAG) have revived calls for the sacking of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta for incompetence.



Some months ago, a cross-section of the populace and professional bodies, including some 80 majority MPs as well as the minority MPs, called for Mr. Ofori-Attas removal as Finance Minister following the economic hardships the country was experiencing.



The President, Nana Akufo-Addo, appealed to the Majority MPs to allow Mr. Ofori-Atta to lead Ghana and IMF negotiations for an economic bailout and also to present the 2023 budget statement.



Months after the budget presentation and with the IMF negotiations still ongoing, which have led to a debt exchange programme, the Finance Minister is still at post.



The Concerned Drivers said in a statement: "We want to unreservedly state that we can no longer accept Ken Ofori-Atta as minister of finance, regardless, and any attempt to keep him shall be met with a fierce revolt."



According to the drivers, Mr. Ofori-Attas incompetence has sunk the countrys economy in the ditch and, therefore, he must be sacked.



Meanwhile, despite calls for his sacking, President Akufo-Addo has given Mr. Ofori-Atta additional responsibilities to act as Minister of Trade following the resignation of Mr. Alan Kyerematen.



Read details of the statement by the drivers below:



Concerned Drivers Association of Ghana(C-DAG)



Press Statement for Immediate Release



To All Media Houses



January 10, 2023



Sack Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta Now



Members of this association are demanding for the immediate removal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta.



His incompetence has been clearly written on the walls and Ghanaians feel the brunt of the outcome which is an unprecedented economic hardship.



His gross incompetency has sunk Ghana's economy into a ditch.



We are battling with the situation of a frail currency, high inflation rates and unstable prices for petrol. All these are factors that have made it difficult for us to live and take proper care of our families.



We would want to remind the President that he pleaded for his cousin to be allowed a stay in office because the IMF negotiations were ongoing.



As of now, negotiations are over and we are extremely sure that any other person can take over and supervise the IMF program as well as the ministry's activities.



We want to unreservedly state that, we can no longer accept Ken Ofori-Atta as minister of finance regardless and any attempt to keep him shall be meted with a fierce revolt.



To the majority side of Parliament, particularly to the 80 members who openly declared that their constituents want Ofori Atta removed, we wish to remind you that you are in Parliament not for yourselves but for the people.



Ghanaians have already passed the verdict on Ken Ofori Atta and you have no business but to make sure that he is removed from office.



We do not want to believe that, you backtracked your decision because of the alleged attempted bribe of you by a certain businessman.



We rather believe that you only softened your stance as a result of the President's plea and we'd want to believe that as of now you'll fully support our call for the sacking of the finance minister.



In the spirit of this, we expect that you ensure his removal before the end of this month.



Any failure on your part to effect the finance Minister's removal shall be deemed as a compromise because you were bribed and we shall not hesitate to invoke traditional curses on you from the resting place Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.



We shall also block the road anywhere we spot any of you and ensure that you are been hooted at.



Ghana is sinking and we believe it must take our collective effort to put the country back on track.



Thank You.



Conveners:



Eric Owiredu, Deputy Secretary



David Agboado, PRO



Paa Williams, National Chairman





Source: class fm









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Ghanas Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, on Friday, January 6th 2022, visited the Tamale Central Mosque for Quranic recitation and prayers, receiving a heros welcome over the successful refurbishment of the mosque.



The Vice President had undertaken, at personal cost, to complete the refurbishment of the historic mosque due to its state after over 50 years of existence.



Bawumia handed over the completed project to the leadership of the mosque including the Regional Chief Imam, Shaykh Abdul Salam.



The Vice President took to social media to outline his visit to Tamale on Friday.



This morning, I was at Tamale Central Mosque to participate in a Quranic recitation and prayers, led by the venerable Shaykh Babadua. The prayers were to give thanks for the successful completion of refurbishment works on the Tamale Central Mosque, which I undertook.



Later in the afternoon, I joined the Muslim Community for Jummah prayers, led by the Regional Chief Imam Shaykh Abdul Salam. I thank the Almighty Allah for giving me the strength to undertake the refurbishment of the mosque, as well as to all those who initiated and contributed to the process, especially, the leadership of the mosque. May Allah bless us all. Dr Bawumia said.



During the ceremony, the leadership of the mosque expressed gratitude to the Veep over his selfless act whilst the gathered masses hailed him as a hero.



In May 2020, the Regional Chief Imam and Alhaji Opha appealed to the Vice President to help pay for the cost of prior work done on the ground floor of the mosque by a Kumasi contractor.



The Vice President after a jummah (Friday) prayer in November 2020 at the Mosque paid the cost and announced his decision to complete the remainder of the works on the over 50 years old Mosque.



The Veep funded the refurbishment of the second and third floors, the minarets, the penthouse, lighting, painting, and other works.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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National Leaders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) completed the partys religious thanksgiving service with a visit to one of the major charismatic churches in Accra.



Led by National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the newly-elected leaders joined the congregation at Perez Chapel International for worship on Sunday, January 8, 2023.



Asiedu Nketiah, in an address, recounted how 2020 was a busy year for the party having elected over 400,000 party officers in over 47,000 elections nationwide.



That the party suffered no casualties through the entire process and having asked God for guidance and protection, it was right to return to church to thank God for being faithful to the NDC.



On behalf of the party, we present a token of GH20,000 to the church as thanksgiving to the Lord for how far he has brought us. Thank you very much and may God bless us all, Asiedu Nketiah said at the tail end of his address.



He subsequently handed the envelope with the sum to some officials of the church as leader of the church, Archbishop Charles Agyinasare looked on.



The Archbishop admonished the party in his address to at all times act in ways that project the interest of the nation over all other interests.



He also congratulated the new executives and prayed for them.

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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Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the Minister for Food and Agriculture has resigned according to reliable sources at the Presidency.



He tendered his resignation to President Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House on Tuesday.



This comes four days after Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, Trade and Industry Minister resigned from Akufo-Addo's government.



The Minister had a meeting with President Akufo-Addo where he submitted his resignation letter.



This is reportedly to enable him concentrate on his presidential ambition for the 2024 elections.



In November 2022, in the midst of economic challenges and rising food prices, Dr Afriyie Akoto implemented the controversial Planting for Food and Jobs policy at the premises of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to sell cheaper foods to Ghanaians.



Former NPP General Secretary Kwabena Agyapong, Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong and former Railways Minister Joe Ghartey have all declared their intention to contest the flagbearership of the NPP.



Meanwhile, the party is yet to come out with a date for the presidential primaries.



Political life



Afriyie Akoto first contested the Kwadaso constituency seat in 2004 and received 20 of the total votes cast by delegates. He lost to fellow political newcomer Josephine Hilda Addo, who won with 26 votes. Hilda Addo went on to win the constituency election in the 2004 general election. Afriyie Akoto again contested the 2007 constituency primary and beat the incumbent. He served two terms as the Member of Parliament for Kwadaso from 2009 to 2016. While at Parliament, Afriyie Akoto was the Deputy Ranking Member for the Committee on Food and Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs. He was succeeded by Samiu Kwadwo Nuamah when he lost the NPP parliamentary primary in 2015.



Agriculture Minister



In January 2017, President Nana Akufo-Addo nominated Afriyie Akoto for the position of Minister of Food and Agriculture. He was approved the same month.During his vetting, he made it known that investors from South Africa and the United States who had visited the Afram plains, Kintampo, and other places in the country were excited about the animal rearing opportunities those places offer and had expressed interest in investing in the sector.



Vision for the Ministry



As the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Afriyie Akoto promised to increase the percentage of farmers who use improved seeds for farming, which as of June 2017 stood at eleven percent. He asserted the 85 percent of farmers still use traditional seeds, which reduce their yields. He has also made it known that the government will be collaborating with the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute and the Grains Development Board to overcome the deficit in the supply of seeds for the Planting for Food and Jobs programme.



Cabinet minister



In May 2017, President Akufo-Addo named Afriyie Akoto as one of 19 ministers who would form his cabinet. The names of the 19 ministers were submitted to the Parliament of Ghana and announced by the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Prof. Mike Ocquaye. As a cabinet minister, Afriyie Akoto was part of the president's inner circle and aided in key decision-making activities in the country.





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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American rapper Meek Mill has deleted a promo video he posted on Instagram hours after he shared it with his followers on the platform and on Twitter.



Even though no reason has been given for the deletion, it is widely believed that it is from backlash arising from the fact that portions of the viral video were shot in and around the Jubilee House during his recent visit.



The Twitter link that led to the Instagram reel is still up but leads to a blank page.



In the said video, Meek Mill is captured in different places at the presidency, from the frontage, through the main corridors, in the main conference hall  at a point positioned behind the presidential lectern - and later in a sitting area rapping.



Social media users, especially on Twitter, were largely angered with what they describe as near desecration of the presidency, citing moral and security grounds.



Influencers on the platform have also attracted tonnes of comments that are largely critical of government for allowing such sensitive areas to be filmed for a music video.



Meek Mill, Jubilee House and White House were in the top trends from Sunday evening through to Monday morning.



It must be noted that a small portion of the commenters are justifying it, stating that it is not too much of a big deal.





Meek Mill in Ghana for Afro Nation cencert



Meek Mill enjoyed himself when he came to town last December as one of the guests at the Afro Nation concert.



From a quadbike riding session, claims of his phone having been pickpocket at an event, fighting off hoodlums before getting on stage to perform and meeting with the president at Jubilee House, these were some major highlights of his time in Accra.



Meek Mill is back in the United States but his name is back in the trends here in Ghana. Along with the presidencies of Ghana and the United States  Jubilee House and White House.



On late Sunday, January 8, 2023; the rapper posted an Instagram reel announcing that he was set to release a new track.



It set off a wave of critique directed at the presidency and the president over how easy it must have been for global showbiz people to have access to the president and even go as far as film what is effectively a security zone for business purposes.

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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Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has stated that he has reason to believe that American rapper Meek Mill has been sincere in his apology to Ghanaians.



In a Facebook post sighted by GhanaWeb, the MP has called on Ghanaians to forgive the rapper, who has been under heavy criticism for sharing snippets of a music video with shots from Ghanas presidency.



"It does appear Meek Mills multiple apologies to Ghanaians are quite sincere & should be accepted by all," he wrote.



The rapper, following widespread criticism coupled with allegations of him desecrating the Jubilee House, issued an apology to Ghanaians, saying he never meant to disrespect the country or the presidency.



"To the people of Ghana no video I drop is ever meant to disrespect the people of Ghana . The fastest way to make connection is thru music and I wanted to do that with displaying art  im in my 30s from America and didnt know much about the lifestyle here," his first apology shared in a series of tweets on Monday, January 9, 2023 said.



"My apologies to the people if any disrespect! We still gonna push to make the connection between black people in America and Africa  what Im trying to do is more than a video and you should see coming soon! My apologies to the the office also!" it read.



"I dont think they knew it was video footage when we asked to shoot its a small camera and one kid  in America we didnt know this existed and was excited to show because they dont show Ghana on our media much! So Ill take responsibility for my mistake! Not intentional," he added.



Despite asking that the rapper be forgiven for his gaffe, Mr. Ablakwa, who has asked for a probe into the incident and appropriate sanctions to be applied to culpable individuals, said the admission by Meek Mill has further justified his call.



"My only serious reservation, however, is his claim that he engaged in all that deplorable desecration & major security breach on the blind side of officials.



"Is the President safe? Is Ghana safe?" he questioned.





"This has, without a scintilla of doubt, further justified earlier demands for urgent investigations & severe sanctions," the opposition MP added.



Meek Mill shared the video on his Instagram page after he visited the presidency following his recent trip to Ghana.



In the video shared by the rapper on his Instagram page, Meek Mill is captured in different places at the presidency from the frontage, through the main corridors, in the main conference hallat a point positioned behind the presidential lecternand later in a sitting area rapping.



His critics have cited security and moral concerns about the rappers actions.



Meanwhile, Meek Mill has since deleted the video, which has gone viral on social media.







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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Sophie Brochu, listens to proceedings at an annual meeting in Montreal, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Brochu, the president and CEO of Quebec's electric utility, announced she will step down from her post on April 11.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Dan Albas is the Member of Parliament-elect for the riding of Central Okanagan Similkameen Nicola. This riding includes the communities of Kelowna (specific boundaries), West Kelowna, Peachland, Summerland, Keremeos, Princeton, Merritt and Logan Lake. You can reach Dan by calling 1-800-665-8711 or visit: DanAlbas.com
From January 6 through April 9, 2023, the Pepperdine Libraries will present Johnny Cash at Folsom and San Quentin, an exhibition of 23 photographs taken by Jim Marshall at Cashs legendary prison concerts in 1968 and 1969. The photographs will be on display at the Payson Library Exhibit Gallery on the Malibu campus. Over the course of his 50-year career, Marshall (19362010), a GRAMMY Awardwinning music photographer, captured images of iconic musicians such as Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, and Willie Nelson, as well as Cash. This exhibition features a selection of photographs from the 20182019 exhibition, The Prison Concerts: Folsom and San Quentin (Jim Marshalls Photographs of Johnny Cash), curated by the GRAMMY Museum.

In 2015, Pepperdine Libraries hosted another Cash photo exhibition, Johnny Cash in Black and White as Photographed by Leigh Wiener. Those photographs are available in the Pepperdine Libraries Digital Collections.

As part of the photo exhibition, the Universitys Center for Faith and the Common Good and the Pepperdine Libraries will jointly host Faith, Reconciliation, and Flourishing: A Symposium on Prison Reform on Thursday, January 12, from 4 PM to 5:30 PM in the Surfboard Room at Payson Library. Speakers will include Byron Johnson, executive director of the Center for Faith and the Common Good and Distinguished Visiting Research Professor of Religious Studies and the Common Good at Pepperdines School of Public Policy; Andrew Johnson, visiting scholar at the Center for Faith and the Common Good; Courtney Hook, visiting assistant professor of communication at Seaver College; Chaplain Ronald Olivier, director of chaplaincy at the Mississippi Department of Corrections; and Marshall Terrill, co-author (with Greg Laurie) of Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon.

A reception in the gallery will follow the symposium. Admission is free. For more information and to register to attend the symposium, visit the event registration website.
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published guidance on January 9, 2023, regarding how to evaluate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires federal agencies to assess the environmental impacts of major federal actions that could significantly affect the quality of the human environment, including infrastructure projects that are undertaken, funded, or approved by federal agencies.[1]

This interim guidance updates the CEQs 2016 guidance and, perhaps most significantly, states that agencies should quantify a projects reasonably foreseeable direct and indirect gross and net GHG emissions and monetize the social cost of those GHG emissions. The guidance also encourages agencies to avoid and mitigate GHG emissions to the greatest extent possible.

Background

Over the past decades, courts have developed a body of jurisprudence to require federal agencies to evaluate a proposed actions GHG emissions as part of the NEPA process and to consider how climate change may affect a project. In 2016, under the Obama administration, the CEQ issued final guidance to federal agencies regarding how they consider GHG emissions and climate change. Under the Trump administration, the CEQ rescinded the 2016 guidance and issued new draft guidance in 2019. In 2020, the CEQ adopted the first comprehensive revision of its NEPA-implementing regulations since these were adopted in 1978. The CEQ asserted that categorizing and determining the geographic and temporal scope of cumulative effects under the 1978 regulations has been difficult and can divert agencies from focusing their time and resources on the most significant effects. The 2020 regulations revised the definition of effects and removed the definition of cumulative impacts, which the CEQ stated does not preclude consideration of climate change impacts, but the analysis of the impacts on climate change will depend on the specific circumstances of the proposed action.

The day President Biden took office, he issued an executive order that directed the CEQ to rescind the 2019 draft guidance and to review, revise, and update the 2016 guidance. Under the Biden administration, the CEQ has also undertaken a revision of the 2020 NEPA regulations in two phases. The Phase 1 rule, which was finalized on April 20, 2022, added cumulative effects to the definition of effects (among other limited changes to the regulations). With respect to the potential impacts on NEPA review timelines, CEQ stated it is not aware of data supporting the claim that evaluation of direct, indirect, and cumulative effects necessarily leads to longer timelines, citing the CEQs list of GHG accounting tools as an example of modern techniques leveraging science and technology to make environmental reviews comprehensive yet efficient. The CEQ has indicated that it will propose a more comprehensive revision of the regulations in Phase 2 of its rulemaking, expected later this year.

Highlights of CEQs New Climate Change Guidance

Quantifying Reasonably Foreseeable GHG Emissions

The CEQ interim guidance states that agencies should quantify reasonably foreseeable direct and indirect gross and net GHG emissions increases or reductions, both for individual pollutants and aggregated in terms of carbon dioxide equivalence. NEPA reviews should present annual GHG emission increases or reductions, as well as net emissions over a projects lifetime, particularly for projects that have both increases and reductions. GHG emissions and reductions should be quantified for the proposed action and alternatives (including the no-action alternative, which serves as the baseline for considering effects). Agencies should, where relevant, identify the alternative with the lowest net GHG emissions or the greatest net climate benefits.

The guidance suggests that quantification will be possible in most circumstances. The CEQ states that GHG emissions quantification and assessment tools are widely available and in broad use, referring to its website for a list of some such tools. The guidance states that agencies should request or require project applicants to provide information needed to quantify GHG emissions. If GHG emissions quantification tools, methodologies, or data are not reasonably available (described by the CEQ as a rare instance), agencies should present a reasonable estimated range of quantitative emissions or, if even that is not possible, provide a qualitative analysis and explain why quantification is not possible.

On the controversial topic of indirect effects, the guidance states that upstream and downstream GHG emissions are often reasonably foreseeable. For projects that may result in changes to energy mix (such as fossil fuel or renewable energy), the CEQ encourages agencies to conduct a substitution analysis to provide information on how the proposed action and alternatives will affect the energy resource or energy mix, including GHG emissions.

The guidance expressly disapproves of NEPA reviews stating merely that a projects GHG emissions would represent only a small fraction of global or domestic emissions. This has been a common approach taken by agencies, and one on which courts have offered mixed opinions. See, e.g., Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice v. Federal Aviation Administration, 18 F.4th 592, 60607 (9th Cir. 2021); 350 Montana v. Haaland, 50 F.4th 1254, 125556 (9th Cir. 2022).

Invoking NEPAs concept of proportionality, the CEQ states that less detailed analysis may be appropriate for projects that would have net reductions of GHG emissions (such as certain renewable energy projects, like utility-scale solar and offshore wind) or only small GHG emissions. See 40 C.F.R.  1502.2(b) (Environmental impact statements shall discuss impacts in proportion to their significance.).

The guidance does not establish a significance threshold for when a projects GHG emissions necessitate preparation of a lengthier environmental impact statement rather than an environmental assessment.

Providing Context for GHG Emissions

The guidance states that in most circumstances, agencies should use the best available estimates of the social cost of GHGs to monetize the climate change effects of a projects GHG emissions. The social cost of GHGs is the estimated monetary cost of damages associated with an incremental increase in GHG emissions (such as temperature increase, sea-level rise, infrastructure damage, and human health effects). Estimates for the social cost of GHGs were published by an interagency working group under the Obama administration, withdrawn under the Trump administration, and issued again under the Biden administration.[2]

The CEQ states that NEPA reviews should provide the social cost of a projects GHG emissions even if no other costs or benefits are monetized, because it can help decision-makers and the public understand the effects of a projects GHG emissions. This has been a frequently litigated topic, and courts and the CEQ have not previously required agencies to use the social cost of GHGs to provide context for climate change effects outside of a cost-benefit analysis. See, e.g., 350 Montana v. Haaland, 50 F.4th 1254, 127072 (9th Cir. 2022); EarthReports, Inc. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 828 F.3d 949, 956 (D.C. Cir. 2016).

The guidance also states that agencies should explain how a proposed action and alternatives would help meet or detract from achieving climate action goals or commitments, including international agreements, federal governmentwide and agency goals and planning documents, and state, regional, and tribal goals. The guidance states that agencies should rely on scientific literature and modeling to help explain the real-world effectsincluding effects that will be experienced locally in relation to the proposed actionassociated with an increase in GHG emissions that contribute to climate change, such as sea-level rise, temperature changes, ocean acidity, and more frequent and severe wildfires and drought, and human health effects (including to underserved populations). The guidance further suggests that agencies can provide comparisons of a projects GHG emissions to metrics that may be more familiar to the public, such as household emissions per year or gallons of gasoline burned.

Considering Climate Change in Alternatives and Mitigation

The guidance states that agencies should use information from the NEPA process to help inform decisions that align with climate change commitments and goals, such as evaluating reasonable alternatives that would have lower GHG emissions. The guidance states that agencies should consider mitigation measures to avoid or reduce GHG emissions and, given the urgency of the climate crisis, agencies are encouraged to mitigate GHG emissions to the greatest extent possible. The guidance states that mitigation measures should meet appropriate performance standards to ensure they are additional, verifiable, durable, enforceable, and will be implemented.

Considering Effects of Climate Change on a Proposed Action

The guidance states that NEPA reviews should consider the projected future state of the environment and the effects of climate change on a proposed action based on the best available climate change reports, such as the National Climate Assessment. Agencies should consider how climate change can increase vulnerability to environmental effects and, in turn, exacerbate the environmental effects of a proposed action. The guidance recommends that agencies consider climate change risks during planning, siting, project design, and identification of reasonable alternatives. It states that where climate change risks are present, agencies should consider resilience and adaptation measures that could manage those effects, as well as whether those measures could have undesirable or unintended consequences. Further, the CEQ states that agencies should indicate whether a proposed action includes adaptation measures and, if so, describe those measures and the climate projections that informed them.

Environmental Justice Considerations

Consistent with the Biden administrations focus on environmental justice, the CEQs guidance includes environmental justice considerations relevant to evaluating climate change effects in the NEPA process. The guidance notes that environmental justice communities and other groups are more vulnerable to climate-related health effects and may face barriers to engagement. CEQ recommends that agencies use environmental justice experts and resources from the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council to identify approaches to avoid or minimize adverse effects on minority and low-income communities. The guidance states that agencies should engage environmental justice communities early in the scoping and project planning process to understand any unique climate-related risks and concerns. It also states that agencies should consider effects of climate change on vulnerable communities when designing a project and identifying alternatives. The guidance states that agencies should consider (1) whether certain communities experience disproportionate cumulative effects that raise environmental justice concerns, (2) whether the effects of climate change in association with the effects of a proposed action may result in disproportionately high and adverse effects on environmental justice communities, and (3) how impacts from the proposed action could potentially amplify climate change-related hazards that affect environmental justice communities.

Analysis and Implications

The CEQs new guidance goes significantly beyond the prior guidance document issued during the Obama administration, as well as beyond requirements established by courts. Some of the most notable developments include the following:

The CEQ expects that, in most circumstances, agencies quantify a projects reasonably foreseeable direct and indirect GHG emissions increases or reductions annually and over a projects lifetime. This could create an additional burden on agencies as well as project applicants (particularly for projects that will have substantial direct and/or indirect GHG emissions, such as fossil fuel projects or some transportation infrastructure), who can be requested or required to provide information that the lead agency needs to quantify emissions. However, the CEQ offers its blessing for NEPA reviews to have less detailed analysis for projects that will have net GHG emissions reductions, such as utility-scale solar and offshore wind projects.

The CEQs prior guidance document issued during the Obama administration, as well as the Trump administration proposed guidance, recommended using a projects GHG emissions as a proxy for its climate change effects without linking the effects analysis to cost considerations. The CEQs new guidance states that agencies should, in most circumstances, monetize the effects of a projects GHG emissions using the social cost of GHGs. And it suggests that agencies should, as relevant and helpful, use other practicesanalyzing consistency with climate action goals and commitments (including international agreements), explaining climate change effects (including those experienced locally in relation to the project) associated with a projects increase in GHG emissions, and providing comparisons of a projects GHG emissions to more familiar termsto contextualize the effects of a projects GHG emissions.

The CEQ encourages agencies to mitigate GHG emissions to the greatest extent possible.

The guidance does not establish or change legal requirements. Nevertheless, agencies will likely rely on the guidance when conducting NEPA reviews, and courts may give some deference to the guidance, as they did with prior CEQ climate change guidance documents. See, e.g., WildEarth Guardians v. Jewell, No. 1:16-CV-00605-RJ, 2017 WL 3442922 (D.N.M. Feb. 16, 2017); WildEarth Guardians v. Jewell, 738 F.3d 298 (D.C. Cir. 2013).

Next Steps

The CEQs new guidance on GHG emissions and climate change is effective immediately. The guidance states that agencies should use it for all new NEPA reviews going forward and should consider whether to apply it to ongoing NEPA reviews if it would inform the consideration of alternatives or help address public comments. The CEQ is accepting comments on the guidance for 60 days, due on or before March 10, 2023, and may revise the guidance in response to comments.

Endnotes

[1] 88 Fed. Reg. 1196 (January 9, 2023).

[2] 86 Fed. Reg. 24669 (May 7, 2021).

 2023 Perkins Coie LLP
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Even though Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has not announced her retirement yet, Rep. Katie Porter launched her campaign for the 2024 California Senate race.

Video announcement from Porter:

California needs a warrior in the Senateto stand up to special interests, fight the dangerous imbalance in our economy, and hold so-called leaders like Mitch McConnell accountable for rigging our democracy. Today, I'm proud to announce my candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2024. pic.twitter.com/X1CSE8T12B  Katie Porter (@katieporteroc) January 10, 2023

The California Senate race could be one of the most competitive in 2024 because the states primary system makes it likely that two Democrats will face off in the general election.

For More Stories Like This Get Our Newsletter:

Rep. Adam Schiff has already met with Sen. Feinstein and suggested that he will launch a campaign if she decides not to run again. Reps. Barbara Lee and Ro Khanna are other high-profile names who are likely to get into the race.

Porter is a strong fundraiser who just won a close and tough reelection contest. She would be a favorite to advance out of a primary and to the general election. A way too early first thought is that Porter and Schiff might be the favorites to be the top two voter-getters in a primary to advance to the general election.

It is the general election is Porter versus Schiff, California and the United States will be assured of getting a good senator who will fight for them and has already demonstrated the ability to govern.
I would like to piggyback on the recent letters sent in concerning the location of the SRS lab location. My opinion is that the downtown location is not a good fit for this facility. The lab location should be built at the Carrol Warner business park. Read moreLetter: SRS lab should be near site
General secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Monday stressed the need for ceaseless efforts to promote full and rigorous Party self-governance and ensure the implementation of decisions and plans made at the 20th CPC National Congress. Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while addressing the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). In the interests of the Party's long-term governance, the country's lasting prosperity and stability and the people's happiness, full and rigorous Party self-governance should be the Party's long-term strategy and constant priority, Xi said. The Party should continue to uphold strict principles, apply strict measures and foster a rigorous environment for its self-governance, and the Party's self-reform should be carried forward staunchly, he said. While pushing forward strict self-governance, efforts should also be made to encourage enthusiasm, initiative and creativity among Party members and officials, he added. Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi and Ding Xuexiang attended the meeting. Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CCDI, presided over the meeting. To do a good job of governing the country, the Party should do a good job of governing itself, Xi said, noting that the country will become strong only if the Party maintains its strength. Xi said that full and rigorous self-governance is an unceasing endeavor, and the Party should remain alert and determined to tackle the special challenges that a large political party like it faces. He stressed the importance of running the Party with systems and regulations, and improving the systems for exercising full and rigorous self-governance. Xi ordered strong political oversight to ensure the decisions and plans made at the 20th CPC National Congress are effectively implemented. Prominent problems should be found in a timely manner, Xi said, listing examples such as a failure to implement the decisions and prohibitions set by the central leadership, selective or compromised enforcement, protectionism in disregard of the overall interests, and blindly copying others' solutions. He ordered measures to effectively remove bottlenecks, obstacles and difficulties in implementation and enforcement, and to refine the mechanisms through which the Party Central Committee's major decisions and plans are implemented. Xi stressed that the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on improving conduct must be implemented with perseverance until it becomes a regular practice among Party members. High importance should be placed on strengthening Party discipline, and the requirement for strictness should be integrated throughout all processes ranging from the formulation of Party rules and the dissemination of Party discipline to discipline enforcement oversight, he said. This is to ensure that a high degree of self-consciousness can be developed among all Party members in terms of observing Party rules and discipline. Noting that the fight against corruption remains grave and complex, and the Party still faces uphill tasks in preventing new cases and rooting out existing ones, Xi urged enhanced efforts to address both the symptoms and root causes of the problem in a systematic way. Coordinated steps must be taken to see that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to become corrupt, Xi said. To keep pressure on officials so that they do not become corrupt, the deterrent effect of a zero tolerance policy and harsh punishment should be maintained, he said. Corrupt officials who show no sign of restraint should be punished. Corruption that involves both political and economic elements should be resolutely investigated and dealt with, he said. Action should be taken to prevent leading officials from acting for any interest group or power group, and to forestall any collusion between officials and businesspeople, or any infiltration of capital into politics that undermines the political ecosystem or the environment for economic development, he said. The launch of initiatives to uproot prominent sectoral, institutional and regional corruption is also imperative, Xi said. Efforts to ensure officials do not have the opportunity to become corrupt should be intensified, Xi said, calling for advancements in oversight mechanism reform and institutional development in key areas, and for improving institutions and mechanisms to curb corruption. More measures are needed to ensure that officials do not have the desire to become corrupt, Xi said, stressing the importance of promoting a culture of integrity in the new era. Simultaneous, coordinated and comprehensive steps should be taken to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to become corrupt, he noted. Improving the laws and regulations targeting bribery is important, as is meting out joint punishment for those offering bribes, Xi said, vowing to crack down harshly on political liars with so-called connections. Improving the total-coverage, authoritative and highly effective oversight system under the Party's unified leadership is essential to modernizing China's system and capacity for governance, Xi said. On refining this oversight system, Xi emphasized the leading role of Party committees, the continued efforts to reform the country's discipline inspection and supervision system, and the strengthened inspections that serve as a powerful tool. Xi noted that discipline inspection and supervision organs must remain loyal to the Party, take on tough and arduous tasks, and be adept at tackling their struggles. He stressed the need to raise awareness of upholding the rule of law, following procedures and producing evidence, and to make discipline inspection and supervision work more well-regulated, law-based and standardized. Discipline inspection and supervision organs should submit themselves willingly to oversight from all sides, manage their staff in a strict manner, and punish corrupt elements in the system harshly, so as to prevent being blind to their own problems, he said. Li Xi presided over the plenary session and called for the thorough study and implementation of the spirit of Xi's speech. He urged efforts to develop a deep understanding of the decisive significance of the "two affirmations," strengthen the "four consciousnesses," bolster the "four confidences," and ensure the "two upholds." He called for tireless efforts to exercise full and rigorous Party self-governance on China's new journey in the new era, advance the great new project of Party building in the new era, and provide a strong guarantee for a good start to the construction of a modern socialist country in all respects. Li delivered a work report on behalf of the CCDI standing committee on Monday afternoon. General secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 9, 2023. Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi attended the meeting. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling) General secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling) Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), delivers a work report on behalf of the CCDI standing committee during the second plenary session of the 20th CPC CCDI in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 9, 2023. The second plenary session of the 20th CPC CCDI opened Monday in Beijing. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)


The U.S. Department of Labor is cracking down on South Carolina businesses that employ minors, assessing penalties for violations of child labor laws.

A West Ashley trampoline park was the latest fined by the agency after it discovered that minor employees worked more hours than permitted under federal law.

Summit Adventure Park Charleston will pay $11,010 for allowing 30 teenagers between 14 and 15 years old to remain on the clock for more than 18 hours in a school week and past 7 p.m. on school nights, according to a Jan. 5 statement.

An unidentified employer told The Post and Courier that the Ashley River Road business owned by SC1 Summit LLC was "not interested" in commenting on Jan. 9.

Summit Adventure isn't the only South Carolina employer fined this month for child labor law violations.

An operator of nine fast-food restaurants in the Midlands and Upstate was penalized more than $47,000 for allowing 65 minor-aged employees to work outside of federally approved work hours, according to a Jan. 3 notice. The violations were at locations in Columbia, Greenville, Irmo, Laurens, Newberry, Orangeburg, Piedmont, Seneca and Walhalla.

Jamie Benefiel, the Labor department's Columbia division director, said employers can avoid violations and financial penalties by reading up on the regulations at Youthrules.gov and contacting the agency's Wage and Hour Division if they have questions.

"Employers must familiarize themselves with the requirements that come with hiring minor employees, Benefiel said.

DOL said it's been cracking down on child labor violations in the Southeast region. It assessed fines of more than $1 million for more than 190 violations by food-service employers in 2020 and 2021.

Previous South Carolina cases have included a Bojangles franchise in Aiken County and a Marco's Pizza operator in the Charleston area.
The United States and Britain have announced new sanctions aimed at Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov and Roman Abramovich. The penalties target the financial networks of two of Moscows wealthiest businessmen who are close allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Usmanov has been subject to U.S. and European Union sanctions since shortly after the Kremlins invasion of Ukraine last year. Abramovich, who amassed a fortune in Russias oil and aluminum industries, was forced to sell the Chelsea football club after he was cited last year. U.S. officials say the new designations aim to reinforce existing penalties and further disrupt Russias importation of critical technologies used in its war against Ukraine. Read moreUS, UK aim sanctions at Russian oligarchs' finance networks
COLUMBIA  A Catholic priest who previously served in the Charleston Diocese pleaded not guilty to federal sexual abuse charges during a Jan. 9 hearing in District Court.

Jaime Adolfo Gonzalez-Farias, 68, stands accused of abusing an 11-year-old child starting in fall 2020, traveling with the child from South Carolina to another state where he allegedly touched the child's genitalia, according to a federal indictment. He remains in federal custody.

Gonzalez-Farias was arrested Nov. 28 in Florida. The Chilean national had worked in South Carolina as a visiting priest of the Diocese of San Bernardo, Chile, between 2015 and 2020, The Post and Courier previously reported. He was ordained in 1990 and has held numerous positions in the church, including pastor, parochial vicar, administrator, chaplain and priest.

Officials with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston received a clear background check on Gonzalez-Farias in 2015 when he moved to South Carolina, the diocese previously told the newspaper in a statement.

In December 2020, Diocesan officials said they had learned of a sexual misconduct allegation involving Gonzalez-Farias and a minor, according to the statement. By that time, the priest had left the U.S. and returned to Chile. Whether the incident in question is the same one for he now faces charges remains unclear.

The diocese notified parishioners in January 2021 and Gonzalez-Farias was included in an August 2021 list from the Charleston Diocese of visiting priests with a credible allegation of child sexual misconduct.
This three-day itinerary is the culmination of the curated lists I've sent to friends and family (and friends, co-workers, and acquaintances of my friends and family), meaning its based on where I spend my time eating and drinking in and around Charleston.

Charleston is a sprawling city with high-quality cuisine throughout, but this list assumes that visitors want to spend most of their weekend near downtown.

For those making their second or third trip, consider checking out my Folly Beach favorite Jack of Cups Saloon; Istanbul Shish Kabob and Daddys Girls Bakery in North Charleston; or Estuary Beans & Barley on Johns Island, conveniently located next to Charleston Distilling Co.

A couple of items to note while reading my three-day itinerary: The busy schedule starts Thursday evening and concludes at midday Sunday. Most importantly, it assumes youre here to eat.

This itinerary is in no way an all-encompassing guide to dining in the Charleston area, but its a great place to start.

Thursday

DRINKS (Option 1): Revelry Brewing Co.

Many want to escape to a Charleston rooftop the second they arrive. Revelry Brewing Co., which opened in 2014 when breweries were still relatively new to downtown, sets itself apart with a dog-friendly rooftop and drinkable craft beers. While downtown development starts to crowd Revelry, a staple among locals, its still one of the top spots in the city for a picturesque sunset view.

DRINKS (Option 2): The Tippling House

Experienced sommelier Matthew Conway brought his wine knowledge to Charleston in October 2021, when he opened The Tippling House with his wife Carissa. Tucked inside a 151-year-old single house in the Cannonborough-Elliottborough neighborhood downtown, the quaint wine bar is steps away from some of downtowns top restaurants, including Bistronomy by Nico, Chez Nous and Chubby Fish.

Many of the wine bottles are under $50, making this an affordable pre-dinner stop that doesnt feel like one  especially if you order small plates of shrimp toast or Carolina Gold Rice arancini to nibble on.

DINNER: Chubby Fish

Witnessing the skill it takes to transform quality ingredients into well-manicured plates makes dining in elite Charleston restaurants dinner and the show. Chubby Fish offers that theatrical flair, but in a different way; the fleeting favorites on chef James Londons menu can completely change guests understanding of seafood.

Sustainable, rarely seen types of fish are a nightly standard, and London uses the whole fish. Come ready to share so you dont miss out on silky mackerel curry; bright, citrusy octopus and avocado salad; shrimp tempura-topped bone marrow; and crab tagliatelle.

The name may read Fish, but dont let that dissuade you from ordering the fall-off-the-bone lamb ribs with romesco sauce. Finish off with some locally made Life Raft Treats from Cynthia Wong.

Friday

BREAKFAST: The Harbinger Cafe & Bakery

The Harbinger Cafe & Bakery (and sister shop Harken Cafe) is filled with house-made baked goods, quiche and loaded toasts in the morning, seven days a week. Set up shop inside the cozy cafe that will be filled with locals working on their laptops or socializing over cortados and turmeric chai tea lattes. At least once a week, I stop in for a Cha Cha Cha Chia Bar (cinnamon, ginger and apricot-spiced oat bar) and iced maple latte.

LUNCH (Option 1): Hannibals Kitchen

Descendants of enslaved Africans who brought their cooking techniques to coastal plantations continue to pay homage to their ancestors cuisine at Gullah-Geechee restaurants like Hannibals Kitchen, which opened in 1985.

No trip to Charleston is complete without trying fresh fried whiting, okra soup, red rice and other essential Gullah dishes. Hannibals Kitchen is an exceptional place to do just that.

The downtown Charleston restaurant was named one of the Top 50 restaurants to visit in the United States by The New York Times, and for good reason. Start with the famous crab and shrimp rice before diving into pork chops, ribs and oxtails with rice.

LUNCH (Option 2): Rodney Scott's BBQ, Home Team BBQ, Lewis Barbecue

Charlestons pitmaster prowess is well-documented, with names like Rodney Scott and John Lewis bringing national attention to South Carolina barbecue. One size does not fit all, however, when it comes to barbecue flavors, meats and cooking techniques.

Barbecue must earn a spot on your itinerary, but the place you choose depends on what youre after.

For famous whole hog cooked over live coal direct-heat, Rodney Scotts BBQ is the place to be.

Those in search of Texas-style beef barbecue will want to sample Lewis Barbecues famous brisket.

Home Team BBQ, a block away from Lewis, has all the chef-inspired spins on traditional barbecue, along with pulled pork nachos, smoked chicken wings and boozy frozen drinks (Home Team also has locations in West Ashley, Mount Pleasant and Sullivans Island if you find yourself outside of downtown Charleston).

HAPPY HOUR (Beer): Edmund's Oast

Let me start by saying that you can't go wrong with a full lunch or dinner at Edmund's Oast, especially if the meal is finished with dessert from Heather Hutton. Guests can get a taste of the restaurant's savory side and house-made brews during its 3-5 p.m. weekday Sad Times Happy Hour. Korean chicken "dunkaroos," curly fries, and fish sauce and vinegar chips are all available for half the price, along with frozen drinks and house brews like Edmund's Oast's signature Peanut Butter & Jelly beer.

HAPPY HOUR (Cheap Beer): The Royal American

Weekends away can get expensive. Stop by The Royal American for $6 pitchers of Miller High Life while sitting on the patio that faces the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.

DINNER (Seafood): The Ordinary

Meals at the steakhouses frequented by big-city business moguls are worth cherishing. The wine is flowing, and sizzling steaks cut tableside are met with a celebratory response. Conversation echoes throughout what tends to be a buzzing environment. The Ordinary offers these elements, but Charlestons seafood is the star carrying the festivities.

Sky-high seafood towers arrive with local oysters, clams, pate, shrimp and caviar, while the rest of the menu is made up of cold and hot plates from executive chef Tori Schumacher. King mackerel with Carolina Gold Rice, okra gumbo with blue crab and, of course, the crispy oyster sliders are just a few of my favorites.

DINNER (Seafood Option 2): Bowens Island Restaurant

Its hard to argue with an evening at Bowens Island Restaurant, five minutes from Folly Beach. Enjoy cold beer and fresh oysters picked daily from the waters surrounding the 13-acre island while watching the sunset.

The 75-year-old James Beard Foundation American Classic is an essential introduction to steamed oysters, but don't expect white tablecloth service. At Bowens, piles of oysters are dumped onto half or full trays, and guests are handed oyster knives for self-shucking. This and the unmatched setting makes a meal here an immersive experience and prerequisite to a classic Lowcountry oyster roast.

DINNER (Land): Maison

It took me far too long to visit Maison for dinner. Its possible I was distracted by the Brooks Reitz empire (Melfis, Leons and Little Jacks) surrounding Maisons unassuming Upper King Street building. I eventually made it in for composed plates of roasted chicken, rabbit and steak frites.

Ive spent a mere four hours in France after missing a train to Brussels, but Maisons atmosphere is what I imagine a Parisian bistro would feel like inside. At Maison, moderately loud chatter can be heard at roundabout booths and tables where enthusiastic servers spill dish details before dipping out at just the right moment.

French onion soup croquettes and escargot laced with garlic, parsley and Dijon mustard-infused butter warm up your palate for whats to come with the main course: roasted chicken with Brussels sprout farci and black truffle, steak frites au poivre or a gorgeously plated daily special.

Finish off your elegant meal with chocolate mousse or powdered sugar-dusted honey orange madeleines, served fresh out of the oven.

Saturday

BREAKFAST: Daps Breakfast & Imbibe

Saturday brunch is less common than you might assume, even downtown, but Daps Breakfast & Imbibe brings the breakfast noise six days a week. From whimsical Fruity Pebbles pancakes to hearty egg sandwiches and burritos, there's something for everyone at Daps. Be sure to check out the chickpea sandwich, served with sweet sorghum Duke's Mayonnaise inside a fluffy English muffin.

LUNCH (Option 1): Berthas Kitchen

Albertha Grants legacy lives on at Berthas Kitchen, where youll find some of the best soul food in Charleston. Fried pork chops, lima beans, baked chicken, okra soup and cornbread are just a few of the staples offered.

Bertha's was named an American Classic by the James Beard Foundation in 2017, 11 years after Bowens Island earned the same honor. But thats not why you must eat here. Go for the inviting, energetic atmosphere and affordable homestyle cooking that has served Charlestons Neck Area for four decades.

LUNCH (Option 2): Xiao Bao Biscuit

Spring Street in downtown Charleston has become a hub for varying types of cuisine. Heading southwest, starting at Pink Bellies (Vietnamese) at the corner of Spring and King streets, youll run into Malagon (Spanish), Bistronomy by Nico (French Asian fusion), Pink Cactus (Oaxacan), Estadio (Spanish) and Bon Banh Mi (Southeast Asian).

Each of these eateries earns my stamp of approval, but Im sending you to Xiao Bao Biscuit, located in a repurposed gas station, for food from China, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and other Asian countries owner Josh Walker and his wife Doulan Walker-Li have visited together in the past 12 years.

Xiao Bao Biscuits okonomiyaki (savory Japanese cabbage pancake) might earn a spot on the Mount Rushmore of top dishes in Charleston. Order one for the table before diving into Sichuan pork and Mapo tofu, green curry fish or black bean fried chicken with a spicy papaya salad.

COFFEE: Babas

Its time for an afternoon pick-me-up, and Babas is the spot to go for espresso, matcha (perhaps with Babas house-made peanut milk) and strong iced coffee. With one location on Cannon Street and another north on Meeting Street, this European-style cafe puts time and effort into every aspect of its menu, from steeped-to-order chai tea lattes to very tall quiche and pickled shrimp salad. If the afternoon calls for cocktails, check out Babas espresso martini, which takes 24 hours to make.

DINNER (Option 1): Vern's

When people ask for a restaurant they should try in Charleston, Vern's immediately enters the conversation.

The highly anticipated restaurant, owned by Bethany and Daniel "Dano" Heinze, opened in July. Food and wine work in harmony at the neighborhood bistro, where Bethany worked tirelessly to curate a wine list that celebrates small producers committed to organic and biodynamic practices. Ask your server for help deciphering the list while glancing at the plates coming from the kitchen, such as tarragon butter sauce-soaked escargot, rabbit campanelli, house-made sourdough and black truffle bucatini.

Two to three small plates, two pastas and two mains is a fantastic way for a group of three to four to enjoy an evening at Verns. Make sure one of those entrees is the roasted chicken, a seemingly boring choice that is anything but. Tender meat, spiced skin and a sauce supplemented with brown butter makes Verns deconstructed roasted spring chicken the type of familiar yet comforting dish that is worth coming back for on a regular basis.

DINNER (Option 2): Jackrabbit Filly

Jackrabbit Filly is my go-to gift card purchase for food lovers, the place my family requests when visiting, the Chinese American cuisine thats unlike anything else Ive experienced in the South.

Spawned from Shuai and Corrie Wangs wildly popular Short Grain food truck-turned-pop-up, Jackrabbit Filly is more than worth the drive to the Park Circle neighborhood of North Charleston.

Shuais genius daily specials  a recent Zapps Voodoo potato chip-topped smoked Miss Paulas shrimp salad with buttermilk wasabi and ikura comes to mind  are a reason to visit with an open mind, but there are a couple must-haves. Karaage, Japanese fried chicken doused in lemon-scented Dukes Mayonnaise aioli and dusted with togarashi, should be shared with the table alongside the market fish tartare or corn fritters. Youll also want a plate all to yourself; I suggest the special, Dan Dan noodles or perhaps the spicy stir-fried gnocchi.

Go hungry, leave happy.

AFTER-DINNER DRINKS: Last Saint

Moody cocktail lounge Last Saint (from the crew that brought James Island Bar George) is currently concocting some of the best drinks in town. The setting is dark, classy, cozy and just the right amount of weird. Those looking for a quintessential King Street experience that isn't overbearing should visit Vintage Lounge. While Vintage is known for its wine selection, the cocktails are fantastic. Check out the New York Sour, French 75 or rotating drink of the week.

If you want to stay out in Park Circle post-Jackrabbit Filly, Stems & Skins offers a lengthy natural wine list, and Paddock & Whisky is the place to go for bourbon and craft cocktails, including one inspired by Notorious B.I.G.

Sunday

BRUNCH: Post House

You'll often find me in Mount Pleasant at Post House tucking into the fish sandwich. The convivial feel inside the renovated seven-room Post House Inn makes brunch here a Sunday morning slam dunk (brunch is also served on Saturdays).

Fish might not come to mind when you envision brunch, but the restaurant's tempura-fried daily catch with shredded lettuce and green tomato tartar sauce is an all-hours delicacy. The morning menu also features quiche, shakshuka and a bodega-style egg sandwich, among other options.

After brunch, take a stroll through the Old Village to the Pitt Street Bridge for views of Sullivans Island and downtown Charleston.

FAREWELL DRINKS: Graft Wine Shop

I almost kept this Sunday spot a secret, but I just couldnt leave one of my favorite places to spend a weekend afternoon in Charleston off the itinerary.

Good Neighbor Sunday at Graft Wine Shop (3-6 p.m.) is the coolest parking lot party youve ever attended. Its the place to try a new and exciting wine from Femi Oyediran and Miles Whites expansive list. Its the place to have one last meal from a local pop-up, like Dough Boyz Pizza or Co-Hog.

I know its been a busy weekend of eating and drinking, but you wont regret making this your last stop.
GREENVILLE  After months of heated debate and fierce opposition, a mixed-use development planned for West Greenville received final approval from City Council by a narrow margin.

An annexation and rezoning to make way for the 214-unit project off of Pendleton Street referred to as The Woven has made a winding path through the city's approval process over the course of months amid consistent pushback from surrounding residents.

The final vote to greenlight The Woven drew a large crowd to council chambers Jan. 9. Every seat was filled, forcing many to stand on the edges of the room and in the lobby just outside.

Between public comments and council discussion, consideration of the rezoning and annexation lasted roughly three hours before the 4-3 vote in favor.

Council members Ken Gibson, Lillian Brock-Fleming and Dorothy Dowe voted against the project. Mayor Knox White and Councilmen Wil Brasington, John DeWorken and Russell Stall voted in favor.

The concerns raised by opponents of the project boiled down to two main points of contention: how the new development would impact the cost of living in the surrounding Brandon Mill village and West Greenville; and how the five-story, two building project would fit into the existing fabric of the community.

In the face of ongoing opposition, the developer reduced the number of apartments from more than 250 in recent months and reduced the height in several places throughout the project. Still, neighbors said the buildings will dwarf the surrounding structures.

Margaret McGinty, who has been a regular attendee of Woven votes, argued the size and scale of the project would be detrimental to residents but was being pushed through to benefit developers and area business owners.

"It is too big and completely inappropriate for the site chosen," she said. "It is out of scale, out of character, out of style and altogether out of keeping with the surrounding neighborhoods."

Others have raised alarms as to how the project will impact low-income residents in the quickly gentrifying West Greenville neighborhood and beyond. According to a recently published Furman University project, West Greenville, a historically Black community, has lost 36 percent of its Black residents and seen a 45 percent increase in White residents over the past 30 years as redevelopment pressures increase in the area.

It's trend driven by a stark wealth disparity between Black and White Greenville residents, Furman sociology professor Ken Kolb told Council at the Jan. 9 meeting.

"The median White household in the city of Greenville now makes more than 2.8 times the annual income of the median Black household," he said. "Because of this racial income imbalance, even units pegged at affordable rates of 80, or 60, or even 50 percent of area median income as defined by HUD for our metropolitan area, would be out of reach for the median Black household."

Residents have consistently argued that the addition of the Woven project, which would also include roughly 30,000 square feet of commercial space in West Greenville's core commercial corridor, would exacerbate gentrification in the area.

Proponents of the project have pointed to the fact that 20 percent of the project, 44 units, would offer reduced rent. Of those, nine would be affordable to people making 80 percent of area median income, 26 would be accessible to people at 60-percent, and another nine would be within reach for people at 40 percent AMI.

Marion Brown, co-founder of low-cost housing preservation firm Affordable Upstate, told council during the Jan. 9 meeting the development would be a positive step toward addressing the city's affordability crisis.

"If Woven can deliver 44 units of affordable housing and generate any sign of life that we see a problem, we see that we need housing, I'm for it," he said.

The mayor also came out strongly in favor of the project.

"The scale and mass issue does concern me," White said. "But you have to have density if you want affordable housing."

Construction on the project is set to begin by the end of the year.
Terrorist groups continue to pose a major threat for America and its allies -- even if U.S. policymakers have shifted most of their focus to Russia and China. Read moreWe can't ignore the terror threat from Somalia -- or the southern border
The Oceanside Collegiate Academy Landsharks have dominated the soccer field this season, working their way up the rankings to the top spot in the nation. The boys varsity soccer teams work has paid off and as of April 6, the team was ranked first in the United States by MaxPreps.com. Read moreOCA boys soccer ranked first in the nation
CONWAY  Some 348 manufactured homes proposed for one of the fastest-growing areas of Horry County near Aynor received little opposition at a recent county Planning Commission meeting.

Sun Communities, a national owner and operator of manufactured housing communities, RV resorts and marinas, is seeking to rezone nine acres of an existing 87 acre-tract to build a subdivision located less than a mile from the intersection of U.S. 501 and S.C. 22.

The town of Aynor is the ninth fastest-growing town in the state. With a lack of developable land near the Grand Strand, developers are shifting their attention to inland, where thousands of homes have been constructed in recent years on mostly rural farmland.

The Michigan-based firm is no stranger to building in Horry County as its latest project was the Carolina Pines RV resort on S.C. 90, and before that Lakeside Crossing, an ages 55+ community near Conway Medical Center. No word if the proposed development, which received the commissions approval at the Jan. 5 meeting to send to County Council, will also be geared toward older adults.

You couldnt tell its a mobile home park if your life depended on it, said applicant Mike Wooten, president of DDC Engineers, who told the commissioners that Sun Communities leases out the lots to buyers of their homes. The home is theirs, they can move it, do whatever they want to, but the land continues to belong to Sun Communities.

Concerned citizens of the states fastest-growing county typically come to the public meetings in droves to voice their opinion about rezoning projects, however, only two people spoke at the meeting  concerned over access to the site and stormwater runoff.

Gerald Blackman was concerned over the potential effects of any stormwater runoff to a pond on a 35-acre tract he owns adjacent to the proposed development.

When they put that many homes in there, what are they going to do with the storm runoff and everything? Blackman said, while noting that he spends thousands of dollars maintaining it. Where is it going? In my pond, and Ill not have that.

Horry County resident Katrina Morrison asked how the development would be accessed and the need for turning lanes. Two entrances are proposed, one off of U.S. 501 and the other on Dog Bluff Road.

Well meet SCDOTs required guidelines for turn lanes, Wooten said. Well meet or exceed Horry countys stormwater regulations. Any water that is leaving the site now will be reduced.

I understand downstream peoples concerns about stormwater but your (Horry County) ordinances are well written.

Planning commissioners only give recommendations, so County Council will still have the final say if the proposed development is ultimately built.
If a regulatory agency suddenly gets a surge in complaints about a particular kind of violation, it seems natural that it would want to know why: Have businesses suddenly started violating the law more than they used to? Has someone launched a disinformation campaign about whats prohibited, Read moreEditorial: If SC Legislature doesn't want to protect car buyers, it should say so
COLUMBIA  State Sen. Mia McLeod's surprise announcement she is leaving the South Carolina Democratic Party to become an independent sent shock waves through the beleaguered party on the first day of the new legislative session.

And once again it stoked new internal criticisms.

McLeod, who represents the Democratic stronghold of Richland County in the Statehouse, ran unsuccessfully in a bruising primary against former congressman Joe Cunningham for the party's gubernatorial nomination last June and is an outspoken defender of abortion rights and raising the minimum wage to at least $15.

After seven months of prayer and reflection, Ive decided to leave the SC Democratic Party because it no longer espouses the values my constituents and I hold dear, she said in a Jan. 10 email to supporters.

McLeod, first elected to the Legislature in 2010, said her decision was not meant to disparage anyone who is a South Carolina Democrat but said Democrats party-focused approach doesnt work for her.

McLeods announcement was met with surprise  in some quarters praise and in others indignation  from her Democratic Senate colleagues, with many saying they were unaware McLeod planned to leave.

This is unexpected, said Sen. Vernon Stephens, D-Bowman, after the announcement email went out. No idea. No indication at all.

Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, said he was also unaware of McLeods thinking but predicted the move would have few legislative implications.

Shes clearly expressed that she wants some independence, but I expect that well continue to work well together, he said, pointing to the examples of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Maine's Angus King, who are both independents but are reliable Democratic caucus votes.

She may have some issue with the party, but I dont think shes got an issue with the caucus, Hutto added.

Sen. Mike Fanning, D-Great Falls, said McLeod has always had an independent streak.

Shes always been willing to speak out when the Republicans are wrong, he said. She spoke out when Democrats are wrong.

House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, a fellow Columbia Democrat, called on McLeod to resign and that her seat go to a special election.

Echoing his critique of her during last year's campaign, he said, "She has been MIA (missing in action) from the Senate for years, and now shell be MIA from the Democratic Party."

McLeods exit once again highlights fractures in a party that faithful say is divided and directionless following seasons of election defeats. McLeods critiques echo those of others who argue leadership is taking its base of Black voters, especially women, for granted while trying to appeal to moderates.

Im proud, Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Hopkins, a fierce critic of the partys leadership, said of McLeods decision.

In her announcement, McLeod said the Democratic Party of her youth worked alongside the NAACP and her parents' generation but that the party has now forgotten many who have sacrificed.

It hurts to admit how often Ive had to fight my own party, just to help my own people, she said.

McLeod said a recent party email that called Black voters the partys backbone, made her cringe because Ive experienced first-hand how the party treats Black voters and Black women who run statewide.

Trav Robertson, chairman of the state Democratic Party, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Rutherford, who endorsed Cunningham, accused McLeod of "trying to blame anybody other than herself for her own failures."

"The fact that voters didnt come out and vote for her in June is not their fault," he said. "Dont make that some larger problem about the treatment of any particular category of persons, including Black women."

Others were quick to point out the rift.

It reveals a larger issue that we have to address, especially when it comes to Black women within our party, said Brandon Upson, the chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party Black Caucus. We have to value them.

Yet, some see McLeods exit as the execution of a personal vendetta with the party after her 25-point loss in the primary for governor last year, rather than a principled stand. Cunningham and McLeod were seen as the frontrunners in the five-way race, but Cunningham ran away with the win. McLeod lost her home turf of Richland County by 19 points.

This is a selfish decision based on frustration from losing an election, nothing more. And in the Democratic Party we need solutions, not quitters, said Charleston-based Democratic political consultant Tyler Jones, who ran Cunninghams campaign.

McLeods contention the party establishment sidelined her in the primary can be refuted by the long list of lawmaker endorsements she scored in the primary, Jones said.

He added that McLeods decision makes the party look like we cant shoot straight and could even jeopardize the states bid for the first-in-the-nation presidential primary being sought nationally.

Upson dismissed those critiques. Ive never seen her be petty or vindictive, he said.

Others objected to the way McLeod chose to voice her concerns with the party.

I feel like Ive been victimized by a lot of different things as an African American woman, but I feel like the way you deal with it is youve got to keep the conversation going, said Rep. Annie McDaniel, D-Winnsboro, the chair-elect of the Legislative Black Caucus. You bring folks along with you so that you can be part of the positive change versus pulling away and allowing what you think is wrong to continue.

McLeod will not be able to win her heavily Democratic Senate district in 2024 as an independent, Jones said.

"Her political career is over, he stated bluntly.

The tumult within the party may not be over any time soon. Upson said he is mulling a challenge to Robertson, the party chair, at this years party convention. Hell announce his decision after the Democratic National Committees vote on the presidential primary calendar, he said.

As questions swirled about a decision that upended the Legislatures first day back in session, McLeod declined to take questions from reporters as she left the Senate.

My statement speaks for itself, she said.

Seanna Adcox contributed to this report.
A delegation from the Republic of the Philippines government's Migrant Workers Office, based in Los Angeles, California, is anticipated on island from Jan. 24 to 27 to meet with local construction companies and make recommendations on opening a local satellite office to improve the islands construction workforce, the Office of the Governor said in a press release.

The announcement comes after several concessions were made to expedite the process of approving H-2B visa applications, following a meeting between Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and Philippine lawmakers in December 2022, Adelup said in the release.

The Philippine delegation, consisting of four Philippine House representatives, led by Rep. Ron P. Salo, chairperson of the Philippine House Committee on Overseas Worker Affairs, visited Guam on a three-day fact-finding mission.

Salo and his colleagues committed to push for the creation of a specific attache for Guams applications, either based on island or "at the least" in Manila.

Support on H-2B visa matters stemmed from a better understanding of the plight facing Guams construction industry and the island's larger economy, alongside a direct view of how Guam treats his countrymen when they work here, Salo told reporters at a press conference near the conclusion of his visit.

The governor's administration and the visiting Philippine congressional representatives also said they will continue to work on a "country-specific" agreement between Guam and the Philippines that will help standardize and streamline labor requests.

"The current status now is (that) all these papers are getting validated. All the way in Los Angeles. And definitely,  the distance, as well as the length of time just to send those documents, would really add up to the processing,  as well as the cost ... that goes with it," Salo said during the press conference.

Processing workers resumes

The governor stated Tuesday in Adelup's release that the MWO had reported processing more than 1,000 job orders for 28 local employers as of last month, which Leon Guerrero said showed steady progress in efforts to improve the rate of local construction.

"The commitment from the Philippine government to help find solutions to our labor challenges gives me confidence that we will see results that lead to better outcomes for local contractors and our labor force in the near future," the governor added.

Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio stated that, as Guam prepares for the "significant expansion" of construction projects over the next ten years, bringing over workers from the Philippines will need to be more efficient and reliable.

"Last year, we welcomed a record-breaking number of H-2B workers and our administration continues to build on this historic progress," he added.

The Philippine delegation engaged in a roundtable discussion with Guam officials on key issues regarding the H-2B process.

Following their return home, the Philippine legislators filed an official report, recommending a labor office be opened on Guam, and that the neighbors continue to work on a country-specific agreement to standardize labor applications made by local companies to the Philippine government.
With the highly anticipated eighth edition of the All-Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) tagged Teranga Edition scheduled to hold in Dakar, Senegal, from Thursday, Senegalese-French actor and Comedian Ahmed Sylla, Cameroonian Actress and broadcaster Sophy Aiida and South African screen gem, model and presenter, Pearl Thusi, have been unveiled as the hosts.

The main ceremony will be held on Sunday at the 15,000-capacity Dakar Arena, Dakar, Senegal.

Commenting on the development, AFRIMAs Regional Manager for Northern Africa, Janette Haddadi, noted that the trio were a blend of wits, charisma and humour to help boost the experience of the awards ceremony.

She said, These are fantastic choices! They have the maturity needed for a global event like this, and they also have the humour, wits, and charisma needed to cater to all age brackets. The Teranga Edition is special, so we curated it to keep the magic alive at the show.

The organisers have also encouraged African music lovers to keep voting intensively for their desired winners, using the voting portal live at www.afrima.org and participating in the events on social media platforms.

The voting process determining winners at AFRIMA is audited by a globally renowned auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

As announced at the conference, the delegates are expected to arrive on Wednesday.

Event lineup

The AFRIMA ceremony is scheduled to kick-start fully on Thursday with a host country tour, school visit and gift presentation (as part of AFRIMAs Corporate Social Responsibility), and a welcome soiree in the evening Dakar.

The four-day event continues on Friday with the Africa Music Business Summit (AMBS) at the Grand Theatre in Dakar.

It is the largest gathering of creative professionals in the music industry, and it features workshops and panel discussions on issues and opportunities within the African music industry.

The event lineup will continue with the AFRIMA Music Village at the Grand Theatre, a free-to-attend concert featuring live performances from the biggest music stars across the continent.

On the eve of the awards ceremony, on Saturday, the events will begin with rehearsals, media engagements and a courtesy visit to the President of Senegal.

There will also be a live recording booth at the venue for musicians across all five regions of the continent and in the diaspora to explore collaborative recordings. The days activities will climax with a nominees exclusive party.

Finally, the 8th AFRIMA will wrap up on Sunday with the live awards ceremony broadcast by 104 TV Stations to over 84 countries worldwide.

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Popular online streaming network Netflix has announced the lineup of movies, series and original titles available this January.

Amongst them is the highly-anticipated Nigerian series Shanty Town, which will be available on the streaming platform from 20 January.

Shanty Town

Shanty Town tells the story of a group of courtesans who attempt to escape the grasp of a notorious kingpin  but political corruption and blood ties make freedom a near-impossible goal.

Created by Xavier Ighorodje, the series stars Ini Edo, Chidi Mokeme, Richard Mofe-Damijo.

Kings of Joburg

Also, the drama returns for a new season in Kings of Joburg season 2 on 27 January.

With its successful run with season one in 2020, the show created by Shona Ferguson tells the story of The Masire brothers ruling Johannesburgs criminal underworld. Still, a supernatural family curse and a tangled web of betrayal threaten to destroy them.

The South African series stars Shona Ferguson, Zolisa Xaluva, and Tsholofelo Matshaba.

Sexify

On 11January, Fans of Sexify can also catch the series second season. It follows the lives of three young entrepreneurs who must balance tumultuous personal lives, a bitter rival, and a demanding[wpc-weather investor with the future of their startup in flux.

Other titles

Since the first of January, you can watch the new season of The Way of the House husband, continuing the story of how everyones favourite ex-yakuza is with friends and family! Here, hes clipping coupons, planning penny-saving meals  and taking his job as a househusband seriously.

How I Became a Gangster started streaming on 4 January, following the life of an ambitious gangster who works his way up the ranks of Warsaws criminal underworld and ultimately takes his shot at the big time.

On the 5th, Woman of the Dead became available on the platform, showing what happens after a suspicious car crash tears a womans life apart.

The Pale Blue Eye made a grand entrance on 6 January, when a retired detective recruits an astute West Point cadet named Edgar Allan Poe to help him solve a gruesome murder mystery in the U.S. Military Academy.

Netflix also brings a new documentary for the fans titled MADOFF: The Monster of Wall Street. The series already started streaming on 4 January

Coming closely behind on the 10th, another documentary, Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, will begin streaming.

If youre looking for an excellent movie to curl up with the kids, Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight: Season 2 is your best choice this January, and it will be available for viewing on 12 January. A new season of Vikings: Valhalla is also coming to Netflix that same day.

Other titles available for viewing on Netflix include Far From Home, Dinner at My Place, The Griot, and Osuofia in London.

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Saudi Arabia is lifting restrictions imposed on the Muslim Hajj pilgrimage after the coronavirus pandemic forced a downsizing of the annual event for three years.

The minister in charge of the Hajj, Tawfiq al-Rabiah, said that the numbers of pilgrims would return to pre-pandemic figures with restrictions, including age limits, being lifted according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

Before the pandemic, around 2.5 million Muslims from all over the world usually gathered every year for the Hajj, Islams largest congregation, in the holy city of Mecca.

In 2020, only a few thousand residents in the kingdom performed the Hajj under strict social distancing measures, and in 2021, around 60,000 residents took part.

Last year, around one million pilgrims performed the Hajj as it was opened again for Muslims abroad.

Pandemic restrictions still meant an age limit of 65 years, however.

READ ALSO:

The Hajj, one of Islams five pillars, is a mandatory duty for all Muslims once in a lifetime if they possess enough financial resources and are physically capable of undertaking the journey.

It takes place annually from the eighth to the 12th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic lunar calendar.

(dpa/NAN)

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The Nigerian Association of Residents Doctors (NARD) has again threatened to commence a strike if the Nigerian government fails to meet its demands.

The association in a letter addressed to the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, on Monday, and signed by its President, Emeka Orji, said processes for the strike would commence if the demands are not met before its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting scheduled for 24 January.

Resident doctors are doctors undertaking training to become specialists/consultants. They make up the bulk of the doctors in Nigerias tertiary hospitals and when the NARD goes on strike, activities are crippled in such hospitals.

About six months ago, the association issued an ultimatum to the government on account of lingering unresolved issues affecting its members, including the irregularities in the new circular on the upward review of the Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF).

The doctors are demanding amongst other things, the immediate implementation, and payment of the new hazard allowance and arrears.

NARD said some arrears for 2014, 2015, and 2016 have remained unpaid despite several negotiations with the government.

It also listed the nonpayment of the consequential adjustment of the minimum wage to some of its members and delays in the upward review of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS).

The doctors also highlighted the failure of the government to clear salary arrears of members in state tertiary health institutions including Abia, Imo, Ondo, Ekiti, and Gombe States, and the non-domestication of the Medical Residency Training Act (MRTA) in most states across the federation.

Unmet demands

The doctors said although some of the demands have been addressed, many of them remain largely unresolved and have become sources of serious nationwide agitation.

We sincerely appreciate the efforts of the government through its ministries, departments, and agencies in resolving some of the issues raised.

However, many of them remain largely unresolved and have now become sources of serious nationwide agitation threatening industrial peace and harmony in the health sector.

NARD said the major ones amongst them are Omitted 2020 MRTF payment, irregularities in the new MRTF circular inconsistent with the Medical Residency Training Act, existing collective bargaining agreements and current economic realities and review of CONMESS salary structure.

Industrial action

The association said it will likely kickstart a nationwide industrial action if its demands are not met in time.

It said chaos may ensue if the government does not take steps to prevent the strike from happening.

We can confirm very clearly that if these issues are not sorted out before that meeting, our members will likely give us mandate to immediately kick start processes that will lead to a nationwide industrial disharmony in the health sector, the association wrote.

Addressing incessant strikes

In November 2022, the Nigerian government announced plans to review the salary structure of doctors and other health workers to forestall further industrial action.

Medical doctors and other health workers have downed tools many times in the past over the failure of the government to review the salary structure which they claimed had been due for renegotiation since 2014.

The government had promised to swiftly look into the issue and agree on a resolution. However, no major move has been made to address these issues.

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Nigerias secret police, SSS, said Monday morning that smear campaigns were being sponsored by some politicians within and outside the government against the Director General of the service, Yusuf Bichi, and his key officials.

The statement by the SSS came hours after a news report accusing Mr Bichis wife of improper conduct.

A statement by Peter Afunanya, the spokesperson of the service, noted that the campaigns are efforts of disgruntled elements to discredit the services uncompromising stance on some critical governance and policy issues.

The SSS stated that no amount of intimidation, harassment and blackmail will deter it from discharging its duties. It however said it would not idly watch a group of dissatisfied gangs undermine the service and its leadership and management.

Those behind the plot have engaged Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organisations to not only sustain but stage further rallies, road shows, and press conferences and use the occasions to discredit Mr Bichi, Mr Afunanya said.

Also, sections of the media have been briefed to implement the strategy through sponsored articles, commentaries and features to malign the DG, his family, and select officials of the Service.

The SSS, therefore, wishes to inform the public to be wary of these tendencies and ignore the antics of dark forces out to impugn the character of the DG. It restates its unalloyed support to the President on his resolve to continue to confront head-on, threats to national security as well as create the enabling environment necessary for the 2023 general elections to hold, Mr Afunanya added.

Mr Afunanyas statement is coming a day after Aisha, the wife of Mr Bichi, reportedly ordered the arrest of Abba Yusuf, the Kano State governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

Trouble started on Sunday night at the Mallam Aminu Kano airport after the motorcade of Mr Yusuf allegedly delayed Mrs Bichis convoy from gaining access to the VIP lounge.

Daily Trust reported that this action prompted Mrs Bichis security details to step into the situation to clear the path, which in the process led to an altercation between Mrs Bichi and the governorship candidate.

The politician was later reportedly arrested by SSS officials and barred from boarding the same scheduled flight as Mrs Bichi. He was later released after the flight had departed, according to the report.

Neither the politician nor the SSS have spoken about the incident.

Mr Afunanya did not respond to calls seeking comments on the issue involving the DGs wife Tuesday morning.

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday rejected an offer of N13.1 billion from a bidder for a forfeited property in Lagos State.

The property comprising 24 units of luxury flats located in Banana Island, an affluent part of Lagos State, was put on sale as a single unit in an ongoing auctioning exercise the EFCC is conducting on forfeited assets across the country.

The original owners from whom the assets were recovered were not disclosed.

But the commission had earlier obtained a court order for the forfeiture of a posh skyscraper linked to a former Minister of Petroleum Resources in the same part of Lagos.

EFCC said in a statement by its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, that there was no successful bid for the property in Lot 1 during the bidding exercise that took place in Abuja on Monday.

The statement said an unnamed bidder who turned in the highest bid of N13.1 billion for the property was disqualified for failure to include the stipulated 10 per cent of the bid amount.

Other bidders did not make the reserve price, the statement said.

As a result of the development, the secretary to the commission, George Ekpungu, announced that fresh bids would be opened for the property in Lot 1.

The bids will close by 12 pm on Friday, January 13, 2023, while the bid opening will be done the same day, the statement added.

Also, there were no successful bids in Lots 2 and 3, according to the EFCCs statement. Fresh bids were invited until Wednesday, January 11, 2023 and the bids will be opened on Thursday, January 12, 2023.

Competitive bidding

Speaking earlier while declaring the exercise open, Mr Ekpungu explained that the commission adopted the format of competitive bidding to ensure accountability and that the government gets the right value for the assets.

He said occupants of the property for sale had the Right of First Refusal even as he vowed that the commission would ensure that former owners of the forfeited properties did not attempt to repurchase the assets by proxy.

If you have information about any bid by owners of the assets, please let the Commission know, and we will take appropriate action, including possible prosecution, he said.

He commended the EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, for taking the bull by the horn in ensuring that those who had stolen the wealth of the country were denied the proceeds of crime and the assets disposed of for the benefit of all Nigerians.

The Director Public Affairs of the commission, Osita Nwajah, read out the guidelines for the sale which among others, forbade members of staff of the commission and persons who had or are being prosecuted in respect of the assets from participating in the process.

Requirements for bidding

He said before any bid could be successful, it must be equal or be above the reserve price, while each bidder was expected to enclose a bank draft for 10 per cent of the bid amount.

He said successful bidders had 15 working days from the bid opening to make full payment. Otherwise, the second highest bidder would be offered the asset.

The assets are grouped into nine lots with Mondays sale restricted to Lots 1, 2 and 3. Sale of properties in the other lots will continue until the final lot is disposed on Friday, 13 December 2023.

Proceeds of bids

Proceeds from the sale of the assets, according to the EFCC, would be paid into the Confiscated and Forfeited Properties Account at the Central Bank of Nigeria in line with Section 69(a) of the Proceeds of Crime ( Recovery and Management) Act, 2023.

The commission had on 24 December 2022, in paid advertorial published in five of the major newspapers in the country, announced the commencement of bids for over 100 forfeited properties across Nigeria.

The bids were expected to close at 12 p.m. on Monday, 9 January, while the bid opening starts at 2 p.m. same day at the National Open University, Jabi, Abuja.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the EFCC started the auctioning with forfeited cars weeks ago.

In December, the commission auctioned over 400 cars in Lagos.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how one of the auctions was marred by poor organisation in Abuja.

Late December, the commission announced its plan to auction landed assets including 61 units of luxury apartments, and plots of land across the country.

The assets seized as proceeds of crime were said to have been permanently forfeited by court orders.

EFCC said Mondays exercise was witnessed by among others, representatives of the Civil Society including David Ugolor, Executive Director, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ).

It said Mr Ugolor commended the EFCC for a transparent process but also urged the commission to ensure the guidelines were communicated to the public for the benefit of cynics who might be inclined to fault the process.

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The police in Rivers State, South-south Nigeria, said they have rescued 12 victims of child trafficking during a sting operation on two suspected baby factories in the state.

The police spokesperson in the state, Grace Iringe-Koko, said in a statement in Port Harcourt on Tuesday that the police also arrested four suspected operators of the baby factories.

She said the victims, consisting of two adult males and 10 pregnant women, including teenagers, were forcefully kept in the factories after they were brainwashed by the operators.

She said On January 7, at about 4:45 p.m., we received credible intelligence on the activities of a child trafficking ring in Igwuruta and Omagwa communities in Rivers.

Upon receipt of the intelligence, the commands C41 Intelligence Unit operatives raided two houses (factories) at Igwuruta and Omagwa communities where victims of child trafficking were kept.

In the operations, four suspected operators of the factories, including two men and two women were arrested by our operatives, she said.

Ms Iringe-Koko, a superintendent of police, who revealed the identities of the victims and suspects, said the suspected traffickers were led by a 40-year-old woman from Igwuruta community in the state.

According to her, the pregnant victims were aged between 15 and 29 at the time of their rescue.

Investigation reveals that when the victims are delivered of their pregnancies, the syndicate leader takes the babies and pays the victims N500,000.

All the victims confessed that they were lured into the illegal sale of their children because they were promised money to meet their financial challenges.

The case has been transferred to the commands Criminal Investigation Department while efforts are ongoing to track and arrest those who had already bought children from the factories, she added.

The command spokesperson said a Honda Pilot SUV with registration number: Lagos FST 607 AX was recovered from the leader of the syndicate.

She called on members of the public to come forward with credible information about the activities of criminals in their areas.

(NAN)

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The Benin City-based agribusiness company, Ellah Lakes, closed a deal with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and its subsidiary, Adani Staple Crop Processing Zone Food Company Limited, allowing supply of technical support services and participation in its seed multiplication programme.

Ellah Lakes, named after its founder, the deceased FJ Ellah, attained quoted company status in 1993 when it listed in Lagos. In 2016, the company stopped running its primary fish farming business, unable to break the sequence of loss-making reaching back to at least 2012.

It has heaped up further losses ever since, despite a takeover by new investors led by current CEO Chuka Mordi in 2019, even though the firm has branched out into the production and processing of oil palm, maize, cassava and soya as well as their derivatives.

The expansion under proposal is the latest in a string of new investments targeting revenue boost and loss cut.

It will help cultivate high-yielding soybean seed varieties on a 5-hectare expanse located in IITA Ibadan in its first phase. The initiative will be followed by production of the same crop on a 500-hectare plantation in Adani, Enugu State where, in September, it bought Adarice Farms and its associated assets from the state government for an undisclosed fee.

IITA is to back the seed multiplication move in the aspect of technical expertise in hopes that the improved seed variety will yield 150 per cent more than Nigerias average output per hectare, placing it on the same level as countries like Argentina and Brazil.

Mr Mordi said the deal is a symbolic and significant milestone for his companys line-up plans for developing processing zones across Nigeria.

Adani remains our flagship site and under the supervision of the IITA, we expect to accelerate progress in Enugu State, during the course of 2023, he added.

Last February, Ellah Lakes entered a pact with a project development company, Montserrado Investment Limited, with a view to building a 600-tons-of-cane-per-day sugar processing plant to run wholly on renewable energy.

Shares in Ellah Lakes have been stuck at N3.6 per unit since 26 August, having touched its one-year peak of N4 at the end of the third week of June 2022.

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The Kano State Government has announced the completion of its 10 megawatts hydropower plant at Tiga Dam.

The Managing Director of Kano Hydro and Energy Development Company (KHEDCO), Hadiza Tukur, told PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday.

Mrs Tukur said the power plant will serve the states water treatment plant at Tamburawa and the street lights in the metropolis, among others.

She said the power plant is awaiting certification from the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA).

In the power plant, we have two generators, one is vertical which will generate 8 megawatts of power capacity and the other one is horizontal which will generate two megawatts of power making ten megawatts That is why its called Tiga ten megawatts power generation station.

Everything is being completed pre-commission test is ongoing, what remains is the certification of the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA).

Another thing waiting for is also automation when its completed we are going to open the water and allow it to rotate the turbine we have gotten permission from the Hadejia Jamaare River Basin Development Authority.

The Eight megawatts are being tested without a load but in the next two weeks, we are going to test them with a load. The same applied to the two megawatts.

The transmission line has been fully completed from the Tiga power plant to the Tamburawa water works. We are generating at 33kv and also transmitting at 33kv but on reaching the water treatment plant we have a 33-11 step-down transformer.

In the control panel, there are two selections, one for the hydropower, and the other one for the Kano Electricity Distribution Company KEDCO, this is in case we decided to shut down the hydropower plan for maintenance.

ALSO READ: Nigeria invites bids for Zungeru hydropower plant concession

From the Tamburawa substation, one other line will move outside and is being linked to the 2.5 MVA transformer substation which is linked to the street line in the Kano metropolis.

God willing in the next four weeks the Tiga ten megawatts of electricity will be transmitted to the Tamburawa water plan and the street lights in Kano, with this, a lot of burdens will be reduced from the government, and there will no longer paying utility bill to water treatment plant and buying generators or buying diesel for the generator lightening the streets light, Mrs Tukur said.

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Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), has pledged to address Nigerias security challenges, if given the mandate in the 25 February election.

Mr Sowore said this in Lagos on Tuesday at the 5th One Man Art, organised by Bolaji Akinyemi.

He said Nigerians deserved to be protected by the government, irrespective of their ethnicity and religion.

Mr Sowore said that the insecurity in different parts of the country should challenge Nigerians to elect credible leaders in the general election.

The situation should challenge us to elect leaders that will priotise our safety and well-being.

If elected, my administration will invest in the protection of everyone, regardless of tribe and religion.

It is the presidents responsibility to ensure that the citizens are safe and secure, this, I will do if voted into power, he said.

The AAC candidate stated that the nation required leaders who were ready to make sacrifices in the interest of the citizenry.

We need leaders that are humble, devoid of greed, honest and ready to make sacrifices, he said.

Mr Sowore advised religious leaders in the country to do more in offering humanitarian services in order to support the less privileged and the physically challenged.

(NAN)

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Kashim Shettima, the vice presidential candidate of Nigerias ruling party, APC, has stated that his principal, Bola Tinubu, is healthier than him, brushing aside concerns the partys presidential candidate is not healthy enough to run the country.

Mr Shettima said this last week on a Facebook Live programme, Fashin Baki, hosted by public commentators, Bulama Bukarti, Nasir Zango, Abba Hikima, and Jaafar Jaafar.

The former Borno governor said he and Mr Tinubu are the best options for Nigerians in next months election.

Mr Shettima said their records as former governors showed they are credible candidates. Mr Shettima governed Borno State for eight years (2011 to 2019) while Mr Tinubu governed Lagos for eight years (1999 to 2007).

There have been concerns among Nigerians about Mr Tinubus health condition with many arguing that he regularly seeks medical treatment abroad, is not coherent with his speeches, and sometimes has shaky hands which some claim is a symptom of Parkinsons.

Mr Shettima, however, said his principal is healthy enough to run Nigeria.

Let me tell you clearly that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is hale and hearty. Politics aside, he is physically and mentally fit to be Nigerian president.

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is even healthier than me as I have diabetes and hypertension, which he has none. Even the early Parkinsons disease people talked about is just lack of sleep, Mr Shettima, 56, said on the Hausa programme.

He said the amount of work Mr Tinubu has had to do for the campaigns has denied him enough sleep, adding that once Mr Tinubu, 70, gets enough sleep, he will be physically and mentally okay.

Leadership is not like unskilled labour of carrying bags of cement, Mr Shettima added. Its more of a mental work than physical.

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He mentioned that former American Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Daniel Arap Moi of the US, Algeria, and Kenya respectively led their countries through economic prosperity while on wheelchairs.

The most important thing is his records and intellectual faculty which I believe is sound enough to move Nigeria forward.

The former Borno governor also spoke on the APCs plan to revitalise Nigerias educational sector, agriculture, and youth development.

On continuity in governance, he said they will continue with President Muhammadu Buharis legacy saying the northern region will not be sidelined from developmental projects of the administration.

Mr Tinubu is one of the 18 candidates seeking to replace Mr Buhari as president when the latter completes his second term in office on May 29, 2023.

Among the 18, Mr Tinubu and three others are considered major contenders. The three others are Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP.

The presidential election will hold on February 25.

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has distanced itself from a purported final list of candidates for the 2023 general elections released on Sunday.

The commission in a statement by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, in Abuja on Monday, said INEC did not release any list on Sunday.

The attention of the commission has been drawn to reports widely circulated by a section of the media today, Monday, January 9, that the final list of candidates was released on our website on Sunday, January 8.

The commission wishes to state categorically that no new publication of the final list of candidates was released as reported. The public should therefore discountenance the story.

Mr Okoye said that for the record, the final list of candidates for the 2023 general elections was published, at least, 150 days before the day of the election in compliance with the provision of Sec. 32(1) of the Electoral Act 2022.

Accordingly, the final list for presidential and national assembly elections was published on September 20, 2022, while that of governorship and state assembly elections was published two weeks later on October 4, 2022.

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These are clearly indicated as item eight on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Elections released by the commission on Feb. 26, 2022.

Mr Okoye said there could not be a final list of candidates with just 46 days to the general elections, except for names published as substitutions for candidates nominated earlier in compliance with the Court Order.

Moreover, some of the candidates that allegedly made the new final list are still in court and the matter is, therefore, subjudice.

Political parties, litigants and the public should be guided accordingly, Mr Okoye said.

(NAN)

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President Muhammadu Buhari says nobody can blackmail him on inexplicable wealth and illicit enrichment while in office, saying I do not have one square-inch outside Nigeria.

Speaking at a State banquet, Monday night, organised in his honour in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, the president restated his vow to serve God and Nigeria until his last day in office and beyond.

He advised Nigerians to remain patriotic, saying as I said more than 30 years ago, we have no other country than Nigeria, we must all stay here and salvage it together.

Noting that the most critical security challenge inherited by the administration nearly eight years ago was the potent and pervasive threat of terrorism, the president expressed delight that normalcy has returned to affected states in north-east Nigeria.

He recounted that the threat was particularly pervasive across the North East geopolitical zone with Yobe State as one of the most hit by the terrorists.

He, therefore, declared that he has fulfilled the commitment made to Nigerians in his May 29, 2015 inaugural address to frontally and courageously tackle Boko Haram terrorists and stabilize the country.

In the North East, God has helped us to clear Boko Haram, the economy has picked up and some people are asking me about the achievements of my promise to fight corruption.

Well, under this system fighting corruption is not easy. When I was in the military, as Head of State, I locked up some people because the Constitution says you must declare your assets and people who couldnt explain the differences in their assets, I locked them up.

In the end, I was also locked up. So, if you want to serve this country you must be prepared for the worst. But one thing that I am grateful to God for is that nobody can blackmail me. I do not have one-square inch outside Nigeria and I intend to stay in Nigeria when I retire from public office.

Reflecting on his journey to the presidency and re-election, the president said:

Between 2003 and 2019, I visited all the local government areas in this country. In 2019 when I attempted a re-election, I visited every state and the number of people that came out to see who this Buhari is and was is more than what anybody can pay or force.

So, I thank God that Nigerians understood me and I made a promise that I will serve God and Nigerians.

President Buhari commended Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State for taking advantage of the return of peace and security in the State to execute people-oriented projects.

Describing the governor as very competent and courageous, the president said he was lucky to have him in the saddle as the political leader in the State, supporting the federal efforts to decimate Boko Haram terrorist group.

The president also acknowledged the cooperation of Nigerias neighbours in the fight against insurgency, recalling that his first visit outside the country in 2015 was to Niger and Chad, to garner support on tackling the misguided sect.

President Buhari thanked the Governor and people of Yobe State, including Senate President Ahmad Lawan, for their warm reception during the State visit.

In his remarks, Governor Buni expressed delight at the Presidents inauguration of landmark projects in the state, including the Yobe International Cargo Airport, Damaturu ultra-modern market, Maternal and Child Health Complex at the Yobe State University Teaching Hospital, the 2600 Housing Estate in Potiskum and the Damaturu Mega School at new Bra-Bra.

He appealed to the president to approve the takeover of the Yobe State International Cargo airport by the Federal Government and the refund of N38 billion expended by the state government on the project.

Equally, he requested the takeover of the State University Teaching Hospital, including the Maternity and Child Health Complex.

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The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali, thanked the president for inaugurating a purpose-built, ultra-modern, and fully furnished State Command Headquarters; Police Secondary School; and Tertiary Police Hospital during the State Visit.

The IGP assured the President and Nigerians that the Nigeria Police are fully prepared for the upcoming 2023 General Elections and would remain apolitical in compliance with the presidential directive.

He disclosed that newly passed out constables are being posted on field operations to their Local Government Areas in line with Mr Presidents directives and ahead of their deployment for the General Elections.

In furtherance to this, we have exposed our personnel to specialized election security management trainings, developed Code of Conduct Handbook to guide the Police and other national security agencies that will be involved in the exercise, he said.

He added that the Force has also perfected the logistics and manpower mobilization framework, and fine-tuned the Election Security Operational Action Plan in conjunction with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Military, Intelligence Community, and other Sister Security Agencies.

The IGP thanked the President for the annual recruitment of ten thousand police Constables over a five-year period, adding that the Presidential consideration has significantly bridged the manpower gap in the Force and broadly strengthened their capacity to effectively police the electoral process.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

January 10, 2023

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The Faculty of Management Sciences, of Bayero University, Kano, on Tuesday, is hosting the International Conference and Doctoral Colloquium meant to deliberate on climate change and digital technology.

The Dean of the Faculty, Kabir Tahir-Hamid, a professor, told PREMIUM TIMES that the theme of the three-day event is Sustainable Transformation of Public and Corporate Management in the Digital Age: Perspectives, Challenges and Prospects.

He said the gathering intends to bring about a radical rethink on long-entrenched ways of doing things and traditional paths to development.

Technology has become a critical success factor and modern public and business organizations should see it as an integral part of their strategy if they are to thrive.

The conference will provide a platform for intellectual discourse on how to achieve sustainable development using digital technology in both the public and private sectors.

Strategically address issues about the transformation of Public and Corporate Management in the digital age and Chart a course on how to use emerging digital technology, perspectives and paradigms to improve all-inclusive sustainable economic growth and development.

To Identify strategies for meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Identify viable strategies for addressing poverty, unemployment, pollution, climate change, falling standard of living and inefficiencies in public and private management, he said.

The conference will bring together academics and practitioners in the field of Management Sciences, Digital Technology and beyond. Participation is also open to all interested members of the public, he added.

The conference also meant to ensure transparency in service delivery. When the government and private sectors use digital technology in service delivery it will result in multiple effects.

With about 300 papers presentation from scholars across the world, the presenters will speak on digital technology in addressing poverty rate in the country and the problem of unemployment rate in the country, the academician said.

Dignitaries expected at the event, include, the Vice Chancellor, of Bayero University, Sagir Abbas; Dean of Faculty of Management Science, Mr Tahir-Hamid; Chairman, of Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) Yusuf Kazaure and others.

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The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, on Tuesday, vowed that the judiciary on his watch would not be cowed into silence.

Mr Ariwoola, who assumed office last June, lamented that the rule of law has been assailed from all fronts in this country, especially by those who are supposed to uphold and guard it jealously.

The CJN, who was represented by a Justice of the Supreme Court, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, spoke on Tuesday at the conference of attorneys-general of states in Abuja.

It is no more news that our judicial officers and even court facilities have been variously attacked, molested, harassed and desecrated across the country.

The judiciary under my watch will not sit by the sidelines and watch the temple of Justice and ministers of Justice being flagrantly chastised and wiped into silence, the CJN said.

The judiciary has witnessed unprecedented attacks under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

These began with the historic night raid on judges homes in Abuja and other parts of the country by the operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) in 2016 over corruption allegations which all crumbled in court.

The administration, through an unconstitutional method, removed the then CJN, Walter Onnoghen, from office in 2019, a move widely seen as taken to intimidate the judiciary in the lead-up to the 2019 elections.

Notorious for scant regard for court processes, the Buhari administration disregarded repeated court orders for the release of Omoyele Sowore, a pro-democracy activist and Sahara Reporters publisher who was detained for calling for a Revolution Now nationwide against bad governance in 2019.

On 6 December 2019, PREMIUM TIMES reported that armed SSS operatives disrupted ongoing proceedings at the Federal High Court in Abuja in a bid to rearrest Mr Sowore, a presidential candidate in the 2019 and the 2023 elections, after the court ordered his release from custody.

As the SSS officials invaded the courtroom, the judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu, abruptly adjourned proceedings for the day as they pinned Mr Sowore to the ground.

The action was widely described as a lack of respect for the court.

In an apparent reference to various attacks on judges and courts, Mr Ariwoola cautioned, No one in this country is permitted under any guise to take the law into his or her hands simply because he or she has the guns to wield.

He urged the commissioners of justice not to let us (judiciary) down.

Mr Ariwoola added that judges must not suffer intimidation and heads of courts must be provided with adequate funding from state governors.

The CJN observed that so many things have gone wrong with the criminal justice chain. He called for concerted efforts in addressing them.

AGF solicits state govts support in fighting corruption

Speaking at the event, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, sought state governments collaboration with the federal government in tackling corruption.

He said the essence of the conference was to brainstorm on how best states chief law officers can partner with the federal government in addressing socio-legal issues in Nigeria.

There is no doubt that the support of the states is required for effective implementation and to increase the tempo of the war against corruption, he said.

The justice minister enumerated other areas of collaboration as the domestication or review and enforcement of legislations such as the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, Child Rights Act, among others.

He added that the fight against insecurity should not be left to the central government.

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Speaking on the theme of the conference, Enhancing Synergy Between the Federal and State Governments in the Administration of Justice in Nigeria, the AGF said attorneys-general of states should be guided by the law in the discharge of their duties.

The event was attended by attorneys-general from across the country and the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

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The presidential candidate of Nigerias ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, says the recent abduction of 31 persons at a train station in Edo State shows that Nigeria is yet to win the battle against insecurity.

Mr Tinubu, who is seeking to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, condemned the attack in a statement by his media aide, Tunde Rahman, on Tuesday.

The passengers were abducted at Igueben Station on Saturday while waiting to board the train to Warri, Delta State.

This is the second train abduction in less than one year. In March 2022, dozens of passengers were abducted by armed persons and several persons were killed in the attack.

Many of the kidnapped victims were later released after paying ransom to the kidnappers while others were released after negotiations between the government and the abductors.

Mr Tinubus party won the 2015 presidential election with a promise to end insecurity, particularly the insurgency in the North-east. However, despite the improvement in the situation in the North-east, insecurity has spread across the country.

The former Lagos State governor, who has consistently defended Mr Buharis record on security, said this abduction is a sad reminder that we have not completely won the war against insecurity and that there are still some agents of darkness lurking around the corner.

He added that I want to assure Nigerians we will win this war.

Mr Tinubu also prevailed on the federal government and Edo State Government to collaborate to ensure the rescue of the kidnapped victims.

Furthermore, Mr Tinubu said the creation of Anti-Terrorism Battalion Forces as proposed in his manifesto will help to address violent crimes across the country.

One of the reasons I am running for the presidency is to improve on security situation and tackle every form of insecurity in our country. We have a clear plan to end violent crimes and terrorism through our Anti-Terrorism Battalion Forces, investment in more security hardware and surveillance technology that will make our streets, neighbourhood and forests saver for socio-economic activities to thrive and bloom, he said.

The current administration has been commended for the investment in the rail sector, however, attacks on rail infrastructure and abductions remain a challenge to the sector.

In 2022, the Abuja/Kaduna train services were suspended for nine months after the abduction.

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An octogenarian and veteran Nigerian journalist, Dayo Duyile, is one of more than 2,251 postgraduate students to graduate from the University of Lagos (UNILAG) during the institutions forthcoming 53rd convocation ceremonies.

The ceremonies, which have been scheduled to commence on Friday, will, for the first time in many years, feature no single undergraduate among the graduands. The development is not unconnected to the prolonged industrial actions by the university workers that paralysed both academic and non-academic activities across major Nigerian public universities in 2022.

Meanwhile, apart from Mr Duyile, another 82-year-old grandmother, Obiageli Okonji, will also be receiving her Masters certificate.

While Mr Duyile will receive his PhD certificate in Mass Communications, Mrs Okonji will graduate from the Guidance and Counselling Department in the universitys Faculty of Education.

The universitys Vice-Chancellor, Folasade Ogunsola, revealed this on Tuesday during a media briefing as part of the activities marking the ceremonies. She said the convocation is special because it coincides with the 60th anniversary of the university.

Mrs Ogunsola, a Professor of Medical Microbiology, who was appointed the institutions pioneer female vice-chancellor in November 2022, would be conducting the first convocation ceremonies in her capacity as the helmswoman.

The vice-chancellor described as nostalgic Mr Duyiles feat, saying the media practitioner and scholar witnessed the foundation-laying ceremony of the university in 1962 as a reporter.

Convocation despite prolonged strike

The vice-chancellor, who said the prolonged industrial action by the workers in 2022 made it impossible for the university to graduate undergraduate students, thanked the workers for their dedication and commitment to the university project despite the industrial action.

She said despite the nationwide strike and without being paid, UNILAG workers still dedicated their time and energy towards ensuring the postgraduate students were attended to.

Mrs Ogunsola said: The eight months industrial strike action by employees of Nigerias public University system was a great setback to scholarship and if not for the doggedness of the Senate of the University we would not have been here today. To members of Senate here present, I salute your commitment and fidelity to the University which has ensured that we have graduating students to celebrate at this years Special Convocation Ceremony.

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As a result of these challenges, the University will be conferring only Postgraduate diplomas, Masters and Doctorate degrees as well as the University of Lagos Gold Medal honourary awards at this convocation. A total of 2,251 graduating students will receive their degrees, diplomas and certificates; out of this number, 67 will receive Postgraduate diplomas; 2,119 will receive Masters degrees while 65 will receive Doctorate degrees.

She said the ceremonies will begin on Friday with the inauguration of a telemedicine project at the universitys College of Medicine, Idi Araba. This will be followed by Mrs Ogunsolas investiture as the 13th vice-chancellor on Tuesday, and to be followed by the convocation lecture to be delivered by the Managing Partner of Grand Central Africa, Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu.

The vice-chancellor said the telemedicine project was facilitated by the universitys Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Lanre Tejuoso, who is also an alumnus of the university, and the medical college in particular.

Mr Fola Adeola, an industry expert, Co-founder of Guaranty Trust Bank and Chairman of FATE Foundation will be Chairman of the Lecture. Later in the evening at 5:00 p.m., the Convocation Play  Femi Osofisans Esu and the Vagabond Minstrels  will be presented by the Creative Arts Department, she added.

Excellence

Meanwhile, the vice-chancellor said the award of the overall PhD thesis will be presented to Ahmed Yinusa from the Mechanical Engineering Department, and that Mr Yinusa also won for the Faculty of Sciences.

The best Ph.D. Thesis in Humanities award goes to KIENKA, Rita Okorite who obtained her Ph.D. in Guidance and Counselling, Mr Ogunsola said.

She added that the university will also use the opportunity to reward hard work, dedication and commitment to professionalism and scholarship among members of the academia, saying; There will also be the conferment of Gold Medal Awards on two eminent personalities within the University community: Professor Johnson Olaleru, a celebrated Professor of Mathematics, and Professor Duro Oni, a Theatre Guru.

The celebration, she said, is in accordance with the provisions of the University of Lagos Act, which empowers the University to identify and honour deserving members of the society with proven integrity, who have distinguished themselves in their chosen careers and demonstrated significant contributions in raising the standard of the university through teaching, research, administration and service to the community.

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Some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government in Nigeria will spend an estimated N22 billion on generator maintenance in 2023, a PREMIUM TIMES analysis has shown.

The N22 billion will be spent on maintenance and fueling generators due to Nigerias unstable power supply.

The amount is spread across over 200 MDAs and is expected to be higher because many agencies did not indicate their generator expenses in the 2023 budget proposal.

Some of the institutions whose budgetary expenditures on generators were not listed in the governments budget document include the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Customs Service, and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), among others.

Nigeria has struggled with poor power supply for decades, often caused by generation and transmission problems. In 2022 alone, the countrys national grid collapsed eight times. To ease their operations, private businesses and government establishments often rely on alternative sources of electricity, mainly generating sets.

In 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari claimed Nigerians depend less on generators in their homes and businesses. But analysts disagreed with the position as many Nigerians continue to suffer from the ripple effect of poor power supply.

Nigeria has the lowest access to electricity globally, with about 92 million persons out of the countrys 200 million population lacking access to power, according to the Energy Progress Report 2022 released by Tracking SDG 7.

Manufacturers in Nigeria spend at least N3.5 trillion seeking alternative sources of power for their production.

Last June, the World Bank said that Nigeria will need about $100 billion in the next 10 years to tackle the challenges in its energy sector.

Details of expenditure

According to details of budgetary expenditures from ministries, departments and agencies, many MDAs are opting for alternative power supply. The nature of maintenance the MDAs plan to carry out on generator sets isnt immediately clear, but details show that billions of naira would be expended on generators.

The Nigerian Army tops the list of institutions with the biggest proposals with its N1.1 billion budgetary proposal for generator maintenance. A spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Onyema Nwachukwu, did not provide details of the planned expenditure when contacted in December.

Similarly, the Federal Road Safety Commission will spend N663 million on generator maintenance while the Nigerian Police formation would expend the sum of N591 million. Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital budgeted the sum of N303 million while the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control(NAFDAC) would expend the sum of N298 million.

The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria proposed N238 million; the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) will expend N277.8 million; the National Eye Center Kaduna proposed N230 million; and the Nigerian Navy plans to spend N224 million.

Other top spenders are the Federal University of Agriculture Umudike which budgeted N225 million; the University of Lagos with N218 million; the Nigerian Defence Academy with N211 million; Nigerian Film Corporation with N188 million; while the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation budgeted N160 million.

Failed, Wasteful spending

The former Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Sam Amadi, said budgetary allocation for generators by the government means its privatisation exercise failed.

The fact that the federal government is still budgeting a huge amount for generation cost and maintenance shows that the privatisation has not worked as expected. Overall the government is estimated to have spent about N2 trillion on the power sector post-privatisation, he said.

One of the objectives of the reform is to ensure that the government doesnt spend more on the power sector and channel the savings into other human development projects, he said.

He said the purpose of the privatisation has been defeated with the continuous budgetary allocations for power generation and distribution, two sectors that have been privatised.

Ijeoma Okereke-Adagba, a programme officer at the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, says the budgetary expenditure on generators constitutes a waste of national resources, especially now that the country relies on external sources to fund its budget.

Mrs Okereke-Adagba said the focus of the government ought to be on how to generate revenue to fund the budget and minimise wastage.

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The federal government Tuesday assured Nigerians that the 2023 general elections will hold as planned.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, gave the assurance in Abuja at the 17th edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023)

Mr Mohammed was reacting to a widely-circulated report, credited to an INEC official, Abdullahi Zuru, that the 2023 general elections face a serious threat of cancellation due to insecurity.

INEC has scheduled the presidential and the National Assembly election for 25 February and the governorship/state assembly election for 11 March.

Mr Zuru, who is the chairman of the Board of Electoral Institute (BEI), said at the validation workshop of election security training resources in Abuja on Monday, that election security was significant to the commission given the current insecurity challenges in various parts the country and the fact that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members constituted the core of the Polling Unit election officials.

He said that if the insecurity was not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder the declaration of election results and precipitate a constitutional crisis.

No cause for alarm

But Mr Mohammed said there is no cause for alarm over the fake report as all hands are on deck to ensure peaceful and credible conduct of the polls.

The position of the federal government remains that the 2023 elections will be held as planned. Nothing has happened to change that position.

We are aware that INEC is working with the security agencies to ensure that the elections are successfully held across the country.

The security agencies have also continued to assure Nigerians that they are working tirelessly to ensure that the elections are held in a peaceful atmosphere, the minister assured.

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NAN reports that the scorecard series was launched by the Ministry of Information and Culture in October last year to showcase the achievements of the Buhari administration.

Since the series started, 16 ministers have featured and presented the achievements of their ministries and the parastatal agencies under them.

The 17th edition featured the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, who also presented the strides that have been made in the countrys health sector.

(NAN)

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Quality policy making, planning and administration, and decision making are the bedrocks of stable and developed nations. But the eccentricities of governance in todays world have it that national development should be hinged on data that is well gathered and up to date. This is where a population census fits. With the coming 2023 population census, Nigeria might get to sort a big part of its national puzzle with data guiding its resource allocation

Data, big data, rules the world. Central to our collective prosperity are tonnes of ones and zeros that underline modern power brokering, policy formulation, and optimal decision making. Data is the first resource pulled in responsive governance, people-centred politicking, and the quest for national development.

Proper data management engenders sound policies, which make stable nations. Yet, data  the core of information and inference  is not just stumbled upon. There is a science (as there is an art) to the gathering of data. On the national and international fronts, data gathering and exploitation are more pronounced as nations seek stronger grasps of the panorama of people, territories, and social phenomena.

Throughout history, nations have needed to mine the data-rich ore that their citizenry presents and population censuses have always been the most reliable go-to. Population censuses have helped nations paint integrated pictures of ever-changing societies, whilst providing suitable and broad databases for comparison and projections of demographic and psychographic data.

Population censuses largely trump other statistical methods of gathering national data. With a population census, the social and economic features of the highest to the lowest administrative or geographical levels are revealed, the overlaps and intersections between the public and private sectors are laid bare, long periods of development are easily and accurately tracked, and recurring and dynamic patterns of national living are revealed. Indeed, a population census is a nations shot at mirroring and understanding itself.

Population censuses have spanned civilisations. History traces the root of population censuses to the 17th century, in the quest for better resource allocation. Ireland has been conducting population censuses since 1841. India had its first census in 1872, while the USA had its first in 1790. Africa too has not been out of the fray, with South Africa holding its first census in 1911 and Nigeria having its first in 1866.

Nigerias population censuses do not paint a great picture. From 1866 to 1991, censuses in Nigeria were marred by restrictions, tampering with figures for gerrymandering, deliberate falsification of census figures, disruptions caused by political instability, ethnic clashes, and a dearth of skilled personnel and technical know-how for data collection and management.

It is unthinkable that Nigeria keeps making its decision using a database as dated as 2006. The 2006 census pegs Nigerias population at 140 million. Today, the United Nations disagrees, estimating Nigerias population well above 200 million people, given its tracked population explosion. As such, it could be inferred that Nigeria does not have a clear estimation of its population. This has culminated in the adverse lag and failure

The last population census that Nigeria had in 2006 was deemed fair, in comparison to the previous ones, as it was the first population and housing census the country had. The 2006 census was carried out using the Global Positioning System and Satellite Imagery to map out Geo-Referenced EAs, and it was a first for Nigeria. Yet, claims of irregularities and falsified figures still soiled the 2006 census. Since 2006, Nigeria has failed to conduct another population census. Africas most populous country is four years behind its census. By implication, Nigeria is yet to mirror itself in over 15 years.

A new census has been slated for 2023 and some N532 billion has been budgeted for its execution. With the exigencies of previous censuses in Nigeria, and the yearnings for true growth and development by the Nigerian citizenry, it is, now more than ever, pertinent that the Nigerian government has a viable national database to work with.

It is unthinkable that Nigeria keeps making its decision using a database as dated as 2006. The 2006 census pegs Nigerias population at 140 million. Today, the United Nations disagrees, estimating Nigerias population well above 200 million people, given its tracked population explosion. As such, it could be inferred that Nigeria does not have a clear estimation of its population. This has culminated in the adverse lag and failure that human and developmental policies suffer in Nigeria.

The lack of a comprehensive and detailed data on its population also accounts for the lack of accurate demographic, social, and economic growth indicators, which hamper policy implementation in Nigeria. Vital indicators such as birth, mortality and population growth rates in Nigerias lowest administrative or geographical levels are missing. More so, the country has no concrete or viable record of immigrants. What it has been working with are estimates, with low degrees of precision.

Banking on the 2006 census, Nigeria lacks a viable database needed to build population and workforce projections, neither does it have a database needed to study social phenomena. This negatively spills over to policy analysis, national programme management, resource allocation, revenue estimation, governmental contracting, and the strides towards national equity and inclusion.

Nigeria needs a population census that would help it understand its people. Not only are the upper echelons of power brokers separated from the lower units in Nigeria, there exists an astounding unawareness of the realities of the grassroots that stems from the dearth of quality data on localities. As the 2006 census, to some extent, failed to capture Nigerians living in the innermost nooks of localities, the lives and modes of living of a good chunk of Nigerians remain undocumented.

Perhaps a new population census is the important step Nigeria is yet to take to tackle its housing problems. 2006 till 2022 is a long time. As such, the housing data gathered more than a decade ago needs to be updated to meet todays needs. Nigeria needs data on housing units, as well as their facilities and features, as they relate to living conditions. Updated data is also needed to work out well-defined housing policies.

As migration and immigration remain central to a nations population policy, Nigeria needs a population census that helps it grasp the estimates of its migrants and immigrants. Nigeria needs a database that provides clear and precise estimates of the distribution and characteristics of its immigrants and expatriates. With that, Nigeria will be able to build better workforce projections.

Perhaps a new population census is the important step Nigeria is yet to take to tackle its housing problems. 2006 till 2022 is a long time. As such, the housing data gathered more than a decade ago needs to be updated to meet todays needs. Nigeria needs data on housing units, as well as their facilities and features, as they relate to living conditions. Updated data is also needed to work out well-defined housing policies. New data is also needed to espouse indicators on house conditions and the extent of their relationship with public services.

A new population census will also provide Nigeria with a comprehensive modern framework for buildings, houses and households. This will ultimately bleed into the design and use of samples for conducting various household surveys. In turn, it will have a positive reflection of the accurate measurements of the various phenomena to be investigated, such as mortality, fertility, and migration, which are the basis of calculating population growth rates and estimates of a post-census population. A new population census would also help provide Nigeria with data on the features of the public and private sectors, so as to draw up housing plans and define various needs in the future.

Furthermore, Nigeria equally needs a clear definition of the conditions of economic and social enterprises in the public and private sectors, in terms of the legal status, economic activity and workforce size by gender and nationality. A population census is the best shot at getting this data.

Quality policy making, planning and administration, and decision making are the bedrocks of stable and developed nations. But the eccentricities of governance in todays world have it that national development should be hinged on data that is well gathered and up to date. This is where a population census fits. With the coming 2023 population census, Nigeria might get to sort a big part of its national puzzle with data guiding its resource allocation, revenue estimation, formulation of economic policies, provision of social amenities, and determination of population density.

Olatundun Tejuoso, a cultural aficionado and serial entrepreneur, writes from Lagos.

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The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa State, Aishatu Binani, on Monday, flagged off her campaign with a promise to pay all outstanding salaries and pensions if elected.

The campaign rally in Yola was attended by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr Buhari called on residents of the state to vote for the APCs presidential candidate Bola Tinubu and the partys governorship candidate, Mrs Binani.

If I am elected I will pay the outstanding gratuity for retired civil servants and I will facilitate job opportunities for our teeming youths in the state,

Civil servants and pensioners will receive their monthly benefits as at when due, Mrs Binani said at the event.

My administration if elected, will ensure the food security and that of life and properties, in the state, she added.

Meanwhile, Mrs Binani also solicited the support of the pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, and the wife of the Nigerian President, Aisha Buhari.

I am pleading for the people of Adamawa state to be a united force for the success of the party in the state. Im using this opportunity to call on Malam Nuhu Ribadu, Abdulrazak Namdas, and Aisha Buhari to come together as one united family.

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Fighting each other will not work, we have witnessed the consequences in 2019. Where ever you people are come and join me to work together, may Allah be pleased with you, Mrs Binani said.

Both Mr Ribadu and Mrs Binani are influential in APC Adamawa politics and both ran to become the partys gubernatorial candidate. After Mrs Binani was declared the winner of the contest, Mr Ribadu challenged the credibility of the primary that produced Mr Binani, which originally led to a court nullifying Mrs Binani and barring the party from replacing her.

The ruling was, however, dismissed by the Court of Appeal, which effectively made Mrs Binani the APC governorship candidate.

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A Federal High Court sitting in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Monday, asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to revoke the senatorial ticket of the Peoples Democratic Partys (PDP) candidate of Borno Central in the 2023 National Assembly election, Mohammed Kumalia.

The court ruled that Mr Kumalia, a two-term House of Representatives member, should be removed as the partys candidate for the district as he did not participate in the partys primary to choose its candidate for the election.

Mr Kumalia was named the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for Borno Central after Jubril Tatabe, who originally won the election was alleged to have voluntarily withdrawn from the race.

Mr Tatabe, however, went to court to challenge his replacement. He claimed that his signature was forged by those who presented his alleged letter of resignation from the race to INEC.

Despite Mr Tatabes objection to his replacement, INEC went ahead to publish Mr Kumalias name as the recognised candidate of the PDP for Borno Central.

Mr Tatabe who filed his challenge against the replacement of his name by INEC at the Federal High Court in Abuja prayed to the court to help him retrieve his mandate which he argued was snatched by some powerful member of his party.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Borno State also filed a separate suit at the Federal High Court in Maiduguri to challenge the candidature of Mr Kumalia insisting that he was not part of the primaries that produced the original opponent of their candidate, Kaka-Shehu Lawan, a former Attorney-General of Borno State.

The Borno APC and its senatorial candidate specifically approached the court seeking some declaratory relief by evacuating the action of the Borno PDP and INEC ordering the electoral body to cease recognizing Mr Kumalia as the opposition partys candidate, and also bar him from parading himself as such.

After weeks of hearing the lawsuit, the presiding judge at the Federal High Court, Maiduguri, Jude Dagat, ruled that both INEC and the PDP had grossly violated the Electoral Act by presenting and recognising a person that didnt participate in the primaries as a candidate for an election.

The judge in his ruling said what INEC did was very wrong because they dont have the right to accept a candidate that did not participate in a primary election as a candidate of the party.

Mr Dagat said the court is even more appalled that the replaced candidate had, in his defence, alleged that his signature was forged to affect his illegal replacement.

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The judge ordered that the PDP cannot sponsor or forward the name of the third defendant (Mr Kumalia) as its candidate for the aforesaid election, except that of the candidate that emerges from the valid primary election of the first defendant.

The judge also ordered that INEC should set aside the publication that named Mr Kumalia as the candidate of the party having not emanated from any valid primary election conducted by the first defendant.

The judge thereby issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining Mr Kumaila from parading himself as the senatorial candidate of the first defendant (PDP) for Borno central senatorial District in 2023 general elections.

Meanwhile, an Abuja High Court has fixed tomorrow, 10 January, as a day for giving a judgment on the suit filed by Mr Tatabe.

When reached for comment, Mr Kumalia said he would wait for the judgement of the Abuja court on Tuesday before making any statement.

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Following a protest by students of the university on Monday, the Registrar of the Taraba State University Jalingo, Joseph Bibinu, said the first Semester examination for the 2021/2022 Academic Session has been extended to 30 January 2023.

The registrar said this in a circular dated 10 January, the letter seen by PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday.

The letter said: all the staff and students, as well as the University community, should know that the first Semester examination for 2021/2022 had been shifted to January 30th, 2023.

Mr Bibinu further explained that the change of the date affects all students because the examination will be conducted for all students from 100 to 500 levels accordingly.

He also said that all the revisions for lectures will continue for the course content of all during the period.

Some of the students who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES said they were ready for the examination to commence immediately.

Although the examination was supposed to commence on Monday, 9 January, lecturers of the university said they will not conduct it until the state government pays their 10 months salary arrears.

After learning that their examination will not hold, the students started a protest blocking major roads across the state capital Jalingo.

The students allegedly destroyed some billboards carrying the posters of the state Governor Darius Ishaku

The police intervened and used tear gas to disperse the protesting students.

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On 20 July 2022, hundreds of terror victims loitered around the Kuta displacement camp in Niger State. Dozens of men climbed the decaying fences of the place; others sat discussing under baobab trees, watching this visiting reporter. Women, many of whom were nursing mothers, clustered behind the walls and in the rooms of the camp.

As you moved around this place, the personal effects of the people welcomed your gaze. Wooden mortars and their pestles; aluminium pots and plates; local attires, and plastic wares were found in the rooms. Outside, newly hung laundries were waiting to dry and children scampered around.

What turns out to be a settlement for nearly 2,500 displaced people is originally a public primary school facility in Kuta town. Now, the activities of the people uprooted by war from different parts of the state are hampering academic activities in the place.

When PREMIUM TIMES visited the school-turned-camp, it was difficult to establish if learning was taking place as many of the classrooms had turned homes for the displaced persons who said their hope of returning home needed to be clearer.

At 10 a.m., children in tattered school uniforms were seen sauntering around the premises. Their teachers were nowhere to be found. As insurgency and banditry consume interior communities of the state, thousands of victims seek refuge in more protected towns and settlements, including the Central Primary School of Kuta town. But as they trooped in, the chances of children seeking basic education were more undermined.

Sadly, Kuta residents described the place as the best and biggest school in the town before it became a settlement for displaced persons. Several parents whom PREMIUM TIMES interviewed on the streets of the town said they have had to withdraw their kids from the school because it has become overcrowded since IDPs started using the place.

My son used to attend this but I have now withdrawn him, Abdulwasiu Ganiu, a Yoruba-speaking resident of the Kuta area, told PREMIUM TIMES. Pupils can no longer get adequate learning here because they share the facility with thousands of people who ran away from the plagues of terror.

Mr Ganius comment mirrors the grudges of Kuta residents against the authority. More than 65 per cent of the classrooms were now occupied by terror victims, according to residents and camp officials. The overwhelming population of displaced persons also made many teachers of the school lethargic and discouraged parents who would want to enrol their children.

Most of the children of the displaced persons also attend the school, said Sheu Bello, a school teacher and Kuta resident. So many of the children are crammed in the few classes left in the school, making learning difficult for them.

Sending children out of school  for displaced persons

In Gwada, a town 20 minutes from Minna, the Niger State capital, the story is the same. The Gwada Model Primary School, the only basic public learning ground in the area, is now home to hundreds of displaced persons crammed in classrooms built for schoolchildren. Unlike the Kuta central primary school, where partial learning still takes place, schooling activities have been grounded indefinitely in the Gwada primary school.

A journey into the settlement of the displaced persons revealed a tale of terror rarely told by anyone. The children, as well as their parents, uprooted by Boko Haram terror in Kawure, a community in Shiroro, and other neighbouring towns and villages, are languishing in the camp without access to basic education.

At the Central Primary School, Erena, schoolchildren also share classrooms with displaced persons. About 20 classrooms in the school are equally divided between pupils and the people displaced by the rampaging violence in the state, according to officials in the camp.

Villagers from Kawure and other parts of the Shiroro area of the state have turned the school into their new settlements since armed bandits took over their homeland. A camp official, Kabir Erena, said that the pupils of the Central Primary School are suffering from the ripple effects of the activities of the displaced persons. He, however, noted that despite the current situation, academic activities  albeit ineffectively  are still ongoing in the school.

You know they (the IDPs) now share the 20 classrooms equally with the school, the camp official said. But these children are still going to school; they are even on a holiday now.

The terrorised persons in the schools converted to displacement camps have a common complaint: government abandonment. Our days of interacting with the IDPs confirmed their agitations. But the pains of some parents of pupils we spoke to was that leaving displaced and abandoned persons in the camps would only affect their childrens education, a claim PREMIUM TIMES found to be correct based on interviews with residents, officials and education experts. The situation in the camps still persists as of the time of this report.

Betrayed and abandoned by the government

In the Kuta IDP camp, Khadijah Abdullahi slept on the bare floor breathing heavily as passersby watched her pitifully. Her mother was said to have left the camp a few minutes earlier. The 6-year-old had been sick for days without any medical attention. Although she appeared to be deeply asleep with her two eyes shut, Khadijahs body gestures suggested she was critically ill and needed some urgent medical care.

But no one would bear the cost of her medical bill if she was taken to the hospital, said Saudau Aminu, an elderly displaced woman, narrating that Kadijahs father was killed by insurgents last year. Since then, her mother has been the only one caring for the girl.

At the edge of the camp, Ibrahim Maimako, a septuagenarian, trudged to meet his six children longing to find what would quench their hunger. The children, all out of school, said they had not eaten anything since the previous morning. At 1 p.m. on the day of our visit, what the children found to feed on were grains mixed with tiny stones packed from the leftovers of people in a nearby market. Mr Maimako and his children were winnowing stones out of the grains when PREMIUM TIMES asked him to tell his story.

Mr Maimako, once a prosperous farmer in the Zangoro area of Shiroro, became impoverished after several attacks by bandits on his community. Amid multiple violence, kidnapping and bloodshed by terror groups, the man lost his means of livelihood, making life miserable for him.

I remember how I used to make over N5,000 on a basket of yams after subtracting the other cost of production; we used to be very comfortable, the man said with teary eyes. The bandits attacked our village for over four years now; they destroyed all my means of income, including my growing farmlands and my crops such as rice, cassava, maize, yam, soya beans and vegetables.

Neary 2,500 IDPs sharing classrooms with school pupils  Official

The official in charge of the displacement camp in Kuta, Yusuf Bala, echoed the lamentation of the people. Mr Bala wore a sorry face while narrating how the government has abandoned the displaced persons under his watch at the expense of the schoolchildren.

In the camp, Mr Bala said, 2,424 internally displaced persons from various communities in the state have made the school their new settlement after the government kept them there with a promise to cater to them and restore peace in their homes.

The figure keeps increasing, the camp official said, as terror groups continue to displace residents from their homes in the interior parts of Shiroro. Now, over 1,705 children are living in terrible conditions too bad to afford education because they are in a school environment where academic activities have been halted.

He also said the number of children in the camp was three times higher than the number of men and women, adding that most of the displaced persons are from 17 communities in the Shiroro and Rafi local government areas of the state.

The population is not steady, Mr Bala said. During the rainy season, most men still find their way to go and farm, leaving women behind.

Asked about the problems faced by the IDPs in the camp, Mr Bala replied, saying: Our major challenge here is that we dont have food. We are in serious need of food.

On market days, he continued, most displaced women and children would go to the market to hunt for food. Most times, he said, they sweep the leftovers of grains on the ground, come back to the camp and turn them into food.

What they do is to separate the grains from the shaft theyve all packed, he said, a scenario PREMIUM TIMES witnessed from Mr Maimako and his kids. You will see rice, maize and millet; it is very terrible. They are not finding life here easy but they are only surviving by the grace of God.

Authorities not speaking 

The Director-General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Ibrahim Inga, failed to respond to our inquiries on the lamentation of displaced persons and a message seeking his reactions to allegations of negligence was ignored.

PREMIUM TIMES contacted a spokesperson for the education ministry in Niger State, Jibrin Usman, but he directed the reporter to the State Universal Basic Education Board, a government agency saddled with the responsibility of catering to primary educational institutions.

But then, Idris Kolo, SUBEBs spokesman, could not be reached via his known official line. A public service message this reporter sent to him was left unanswered.

The reporting for this story is supported by YouthHub Africa in collaboration with Malala Fund. The next of this reporting series on basic education in northern Nigeria explores how Kaduna displaced children find new hope in schooling despite insecurity.

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Gunmen on Monday abducted the president of a customary court in Edo State, South-south Nigeria.

The victim, Precious Aigbonoga, who is the President of Igueben Area Customary Court in Edo, was abducted on her way to the court, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

NAN reported that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Benin City has confirmed the incident.

The Chairperson of a local branch of the lawyers union in the state, Nosa Edo-Osagie, expressed sadness over the incident.

He described Mrs Aigbonoga as an easygoing, gentle, and hardworking judicial officer.

Customary courts are the lowest in the hierarchy of courts in Nigeria. Their focus is on resolving disputes around local customs.

The abducted legal officer, Mrs Aigbonoga, is the wife of a Peoples Democratic Party candidate for Etsako West State Constituency 1, Edo State.

Abduction of ex-lawmaker

Gunmen on Monday also abducted a former state lawmaker in Edo, Festus Edughele, in Ubiaja while on his way from Orhionmwon Local Government Area to Benin City.

A former speaker of the Edo House of Assembly, Festus Ebea has confirmed the abduction of his former colleague.

The latest incidents occurred after Saturdays terror attack on a train station in the state.

Thirty-one people were said to be missing  most likely abducted by the attackers of the train station, which the police said are herdsmen.

The victims were waiting to board a train from the Igueben Station in the Igueben Local Government Area of the state to Warri in the neighbouring Delta State.

The train station has been shut down by the Nigerian government after the attack.

The former speaker, Mr Ebea said the abducted former lawmaker had intended to take the train for Ubiaja but he could not do so since the train services had been suspended.

The family is aware of his kidnap, the police division in that area has been informed and we hope action will be taken to rescue him, he added.

NAN reported that the police spokesperson in Edo, Chidi Nwabuzor, did not respond to calls seeking comment on the abduction of the former lawmaker and the court president.

Abduction-for-ransom has become one of the prevalent crimes in many Nigerian cities.

The attack on the train station in Edo occurred about 10 months after terrorists attacked a moving train in Kaduna, North-west Nigeria. Some people were killed and dozens of other passengers kidnapped in the Kaduna incident.

Some passengers spent months with the kidnappers before they were released, either after their relatives paid ransom or after the government negotiated their release.

(NAN)

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The police in Anambra State, South-east Nigeria, have spoken about a teenage boy who died in their detention.

The teenager, Uchenna Okafor, died in Awkuzu Divisional Police Headquarters, Anambra State, on Wednesday.

He was arrested alongside two others in Awka, the state capital, on 23 December.

A social justice campaigner had, on Saturday, via her Twitter handle (@Ada_mummyya) claimed the deceased was arrested alongside two others for fighting with an undisclosed resident.

She also claimed that the parents of the three suspects were initially asked by the police to pay N50,000 for each of the arrested suspects  being money for damages.

But when Mr Okafors parents went to the station on Tuesday to pay the N50,000, according to @Ada_mummyya, they were asked to return on Thursday because the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) was not around.

The Twitter user further claimed that when the parents returned to the police station on Thursday, they were told that their son died on Wednesday night.

The police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed Mr Okafor died in police detention on Wednesday, but refuted other claims made by the Twitter user.

How the deceased died

The police spokesperson said other suspects in the police cell revealed that while they were sleeping, Mr Okafor, the deceased, started acting abnormally.

He screamed and hit his head on the wall before he slumped. He was taken to the hospital and was confirmed dead by the doctor, the police spokesperson said.

Mr Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police, also said Mr Okafor and two others were arrested by vigilante operatives and handed over to the police in the state.

He said they were arrested for armed robbery, and not fighting.

The victim of the robbery attack, according to Mr Ikenga, had identified the three suspects, prompting the police to detain them.

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The suspects inflicted serious wounds on the victims body during the attack, the police said.

The suspects statements were taken and they all confessed to the crime. They were detained with other (criminal) suspects in the cell, Mr Ikenga said.

The police spokesperson said no money was demanded or collected by the IPO or any policeman for the release of any suspect and that even Mr Okafors father attested to that.

Unfortunately, the Twitter handlers mendacious publication is aimed at inciting the public against the police.

Therefore, the command wishes to invite the Twitter handler, @Ada_mummyya to Anambra State Police Command by 11 a.m. on Wednesday 11/1/2023 to come with evidence and witnesses of persons (present) when the IPO demanded the sum of N150, 000 for (the suspects) bail, he said.

He said the evidence and the witnesses will enable the police to obtain facts about what transpired.

Autopsy and investigation

Mr Ikenga said while police await the arrival of the Twitter user at the police facility, an autopsy test would be carried out on Mr Okafors body to find out the cause of his death.

He said the police were investigating the incident and would soon make their findings public.

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The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali (IGP), has presented N43.2 million to families of 20 police officers who lost their lives in active service in Anambra State.

The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

Mr Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police, said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Echeng Echeng, presented the cheques to the families on behalf of the IGP.

The gesture is an initiative of the IGPs family welfare insurance scheme aimed at giving succor to the family of police officers who died in active service, he said.

The police spokesperson said the gesture was aimed at spurring officers to greatness while discharging their statutory duties with assurance that their welfare is of paramount importance to the administration of the (Nigeria Police) Force.

Mr Echeng thanked the IGP for his relentless efforts towards ensuring a good welfare package for personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, Mr Ikenga said.

The police commissioner urged the beneficiaries to use the money wisely by investing in a profitable venture in order to cater for the needs of people left behind by the deceased.

He said the IGP had sent similar funds to the police in the state which were shared to the beneficiaries accordingly

Police officers and officials of other security agencies have been the target of deadly attacks mainly in the South-east and South-south by gunmen said to be part of the Biafra agitation in the two regions.

The Indigenous People of Biafra, a group leading the agitation for the creation of an independent state of Biafra from the South-east and some parts of South-south, has been accused of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the two regions.

But the group has repeatedly denied its involvement in the attacks.

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Four persons, including a pregnant woman, were on Tuesday killed when gunmen invaded Eziani, a community in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigerias South-east.

The attack began at about 1 a.m., a resident told PREMIUM TIMES.

The gunmen were said to have shot sporadically when they stormed the community, killing the four victims.

The police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident in a statement on Tuesday.

Mr Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police, said police operatives have recovered the bodies of the victims.

The victims included three males and one female, according to the police spokesperson.

But he did not confirm that the female victim was pregnant.

Preliminary information reveals that the criminals, armed with AK-47 rifles, started shooting indiscriminately and unprovoked, unfortunately, bullets hit four unarmed civilian populaces, Mr Ikenga said.

He said the remains of the victims have been deposited in a morgue for preservation.

Increased attacks

Like other states in Nigerias South-east, security has deteriorated in Anambra State with frequent attacks by armed persons.

The attacks often target security agencies, government officials and facilities.

The latest incident occurred barely two weeks after gunmen bombed a police facility and set inmates free in the same council area of the state.

Gunmen, on 23 December, invaded two communities in the state, abducting one and killing another.

Three weeks ago, two youth groups in the state announced the arrest of over 80 suspected criminals from their hideouts in the state.

The Nigerian government has accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied their involvement in the attacks.

The separatist group is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south Nigeria.

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The Rector of Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke, Samson Adegoke, on Monday escaped a suspected assassination while traveling to Ilesa.

The rector was travelling in his official vehicle in company with his driver when they were attacked at 4 p.m. on the Esa-Oke/Ilesa road.

The assailants, who were in a Toyota Camry car, opened fire on the rectors vehicle but the driver refused to stop.

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Mr Adegoke said the unknown gunmen were after his life, adding that he immediately reported the incident to the police at Ijebu-Jesa.

Yemisi Opalola, the police spokesperson in the state confirmed the incident.

The matter was reported to our men and we are taking necessary steps, the police spokesperson said.

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Updated guideline offers the latest in evidence-based research to improve surgical success and reduce complications and postoperative pain

ROSEMONT, Ill., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) issued an update to the Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) for Surgical Management of Osteoarthritis of the Knee, which replaces the previous edition released in 2015. This CPG provides two new evidence-based recommendations and updates to 19 of the 38 recommendations. In addition to providing guidelines for specific surgical techniques and procedures for knee osteoarthritis (OA), the CPG also highlights important lifestyle considerations including diabetes, BMI and opioid use, all of which can play a role in surgical outcomes and complications.

OA is the most common form of arthritis in the knee and can have a severe impact on activity levels. This degenerative "wear and tear" typically occurs in people 50 years of age and older and is often associated with joint pain, stiffness and difficulty with purposeful movement. Surgical interventions, such as arthroplasty for symptomatic OA of the knee, is performed to relieve pain and restore function.

"We want to do everything possible to help our patients undergoing knee OA surgery experience favorable functional outcomes while reducing the risk of operative and postoperative complications, including pain or reoperation," said Ajay Srivastava, MD, FAAOS, co-chair of the clinical practice guideline workgroup and member of the AAOS Committee on Evidence-Based Quality and Value. "Updates to this CPG include a rigorous systematic process, resulting in a guide that provides physicians with the information needed for shared decision-making with their patients."

Highlights of the CPG include:

A strong recommendation that the optimization of perioperative glucose control (<126mg/dl) after total knee arthroplasty should be attempted in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with HgbA1C <6.5, as hyperglycemia can lead to less favorable postoperative outcomes and higher complication rates.

A strong recommendation showing that there is no difference in postoperative functional scores between patients with a BMI less than 30 and obese patients (BMI 30-39.9); however, there may be an increased risk of complications of surgical site infections in morbidly obese patients (BMI greater than 40).

A strong recommendation that there is no difference between patellar surfacing (kneecap replacement) or non-patellar resurfacing in TKA.

A new strong recommendation stating that there is no difference in composite/functional outcomes or complications between kinematic or mechanical alignment principles in TKA.

"A total knee replacement with kinematic alignment often incorporates a technological aspect such as a robot or a custom jig, which can potentially add cost to the surgery," said Dr. Srivastava. "Therefore, if the current evidence demonstrates no difference in outcomes, the extra cost might not be necessary."

The updated CPG continues to recommend multimodal pain management techniques and ways to reduce opioid intake including a new recommendation of moderate strength focused on counseling patients to avoid opioids prior to their TKA. Studies have shown a decrease in postoperative functional scores and increased pain scores and complications when opioids are taken prior to surgery. Additionally, a strong recommendation for peripheral nerve blockades for TKA can lead to decreased postoperative pain and opioid requirements with no difference in complications or outcomes, and a strong recommendation for periarticular local infiltrations used in TKA also lead to decreased postoperative pain.

"New evidence demonstrates the effectiveness of both pain management techniques, especially when used together, to decrease postoperative pain without increasing complications," said Jonathan Godin, MD, FAAOS, co-chair of the clinical practice guideline workgroup and member of the AAOS Committee on Evidence-Based Quality and Value. "However, if a surgical facility isn't able to perform a peripheral nerve blockade, I'd still encourage the use of an injection with local anesthetic around the knee capsule to decrease postoperative pain."

The use of robotics in TKA and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty are included in the CPG as new options and demonstrate no significant difference in function, outcomes, or complications in the short term between robotic-assisted and conventional surgery.

"What remains to be seen is the granular, midterm or long-term data pertaining to the use of robotics for these arthroplasty procedures," said Dr. Godin. "In five years, the next work group will have access to midterm outcomes, and it will be very interesting to see if this continues to hold true or not."

This CPG was prepared by the AAOS Surgical Management of Osteoarthritis of the Knee Guideline physician work group (clinical experts) with the assistance of the AAOS Clinical Quality and Value (CQV) Department (methodologists).

CPGs are not meant to be stand-alone documents, but rather serve as a point of reference and educational tool for both healthcare professionals managing patients knee OA and orthopaedic surgeons. CPGs recommend accepted approaches to treatment and/or diagnosis and are not intended to be a fixed protocol for treatment or diagnosis. Patient care and treatment should always be based on a clinician's independent medical judgment, giving the individual patient's specific clinical circumstances.

The full Clinical Practice Guideline for Surgical Management of Osteoarthritis of the Knee is intended for reference by orthopaedic surgeons and other physicians, and available through AAOS' OrthoGuidelines website and free mobile app. For more information on the development process for AAOS clinical practice guidelines, please view the Clinical Practice Guideline Methodology.

About the AAOS

With more than 38,000 members, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is the world's largest medical association of musculoskeletal specialists. The AAOS is the trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal health. It provides the highest quality, most comprehensive education to help orthopaedic surgeons and allied health professionals at every career level to best treat patients in their daily practices. The AAOS is the source for information on bone and joint conditions, treatments and related musculoskeletal health care issues and it leads the health care discussion on advancing quality.

Follow the AAOS on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

SOURCE American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
Leading Architectural Coatings Manufacturer Based in Canada Joins Association as a Manufacturer Member

FALLS CHURCH, Va. , Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The EIFS Industry Members Association (EIMA) is pleased to announce that ADEX Systems has joined the association as a manufacturer member.

"We are thrilled that ADEX is joining EIMA," said Steve Smithwick, the 2022/2024 president of EIMA and president of Master Wall, Inc. "ADEX Systems has been a major force in the EIFS industry for decades, and the company is a leading influence in the design and building professional community in Canada. Their participation, leadership, and perspective will help the entire EIFS industry solidify its position as the technically superior, energy-efficient, flexible and aesthetically-appealing wall system that we all know it is."

"With the growing demand for energy-efficient building solutions, now is the right time to join EIMA" -Rafael Bao Tweet this

Stephen Sears, EIMA's Executive Director and CEO said, "this is great news for both EIMA and our industry. For over a year, the Board worked diligently in developing a new strategic plan and dues structure. Now that those initiatives are complete, the timing for ADEX's membership couldn't be better."

Rafael Bao, President and CEO of ADEX Systems, Inc. is very pleased to join the association. "I have really liked what I have seen happening at EIMA recently, and we know that there can be tremendous benefit to pooling our resources for initiatives that benefit the entire industry," said Bao. "Since EIMA covers all of North America and there is growing demand for energy-efficient building solutions, we decided that now is the right time for us to join the group,"

ADEX Systems has been a leading Canadian manufacturer of quality architectural coatings and EIFS for over 30 years. The company's innovation and expertise within the EIFS industry - combined with its focus on customer service - have been ideally suited to address the demands of the design community and building professionals in Canada. ADEX's offices are located in Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Saguenay/Lac St. Jean, and the company's products are available at 55 distributorships throughout Canada.

EIMA's newest member will join Dryvit Systems, Inc., Master Builders Solutions, Master Wall, Inc., Parex USA, Inc., and Sto Corp as the manufacturer members of the association. In addition, EIMA's Board of Directors includes Gypsum Management and Supply, Inc., L&W Supply, Inc., Dow, Saint-Gobain ADFORS and James River Exteriors, Inc.

Founded in 1981, EIMA is a 501(c)(6) trade association comprised of leading manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, applicators, and architects involved in the North American exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS) industry.

For More Information:

www.eima.com

SOURCE EIFS Industry Members Association
NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Advanced Baby Monitor Market by Product, Distribution Channel, and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2023-2027 report has been published by Technavio. Market growth is estimated to accelerate at a CAGR of 10.75% and register an incremental growth of USD 480.9 million during the forecast period. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of growth opportunities at regional levels, new product launches, the latest trends, and the post-pandemic recovery of the global market. Download a PDF Sample Report

Regional analysis

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Advanced Baby Monitor Market 2023-2027

By region, the global advanced baby monitor market is segmented into Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa. Europe is estimated to contribute 32% to the growth of the global market over the forecast period. The improvement in living standards, an increase in urbanization, and a rise in internet and smartphone usage are driving the growth of the regional market.

Company profiles

The advanced baby monitor market report includes information on the key products and recent developments of leading vendors, including:

Dorel Industries Inc: The company offers advanced baby monitors through its subsidiary Dorel Juvenile

The company offers advanced baby monitors through its subsidiary Dorel Juvenile Hisense Ltd: The company offers advanced baby monitors such as Video Baby Monitor V24

The company offers advanced baby monitors such as Video Baby Monitor V24 iBaby Labs Inc: The company offers advanced baby monitors such as iBaby M2C Pro Baby Monitor.

The company offers advanced baby monitors such as iBaby M2C Pro Baby Monitor. JABLOTRON Group AS: The company offers advanced baby monitors such as Nanny breath monitor

The company offers advanced baby monitors such as Nanny breath monitor Koninklijke Philips NV: The company offers advanced baby monitors such as Philips Avent baby monitors, and Audio DECT baby monitors.

The company offers advanced baby monitors such as Philips Avent baby monitors, and Audio DECT baby monitors. Lorex Technology Inc.

Baby Control Digital

Cubo Ai

Motorola Mobility LLC

Nanit

Owlet Inc.

Safetosleep

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Snuza International Pty. Ltd.

Summer Infant Inc.

To gain access to more vendor profiles available with Technavio, buy the report!

Market dynamics

The market is driven by factors such as innovation in technology and product design and features leading to premiumization, an increase in awareness of SIDS in developed markets, branding, advertising, and promotions of advanced baby monitors. However, the lack of awareness and high price of advanced baby monitors is hindering the market growth.

Competitive analysis

The competitive scenario categorizes companies based on various performance indicators. Some of the factors considered include the financial performance of companies over the past few years, growth strategies, product innovations, new product launches, investments, and growth in market share, among others. Request a Sample

Market segmentation

By distribution channel , the market is segmented into offline and online . The offline segment accounted for the largest share of the market during the forecast period.

, the market is segmented into . The segment accounted for the largest share of the market during the forecast period. By geography, the market is segmented into Europe , North America , APAC, South America , and Middle East and Africa . Europe held the largest share of the market during the forecast period.

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Battery Market by Application, Type, and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2023-2027: The battery market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 17.22% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 229.86 billion. The shift in the automotive industry to EVs is notably driving the market growth, although factors such as the use of counterfeit batteries may impede the market growth.

Over The Top (OTT) Market by Content Type, Device, and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2023-2027: The over-the-top (OTT) market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 24.85% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 439.12 billion. The growing preference for cloud streaming services is notably driving the market growth, although factors such as the growing threat of cyberattacks may impede the market growth.

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What are the key data covered in this advanced baby monitor market report?

CAGR of the market during the forecast period

Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the advanced baby monitor market between 2023 and 2027

Precise estimation of the size of the advanced baby monitor market and its contribution to the parent market

Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

Growth of the advanced baby monitor market across Europe , North America , APAC, South America , and Middle East and Africa

, , APAC, , and and A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about vendors

Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of advanced baby monitor market vendors

Advanced Baby Monitor Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 167 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 10.75% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 480.9 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023(%) 10.24 Regional analysis Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution Europe at 32% Key countries US, China, Japan, UK, and Germany Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Baby Control Digital, Cubo Ai, Dorel Industries Inc., Hisense Ltd., iBaby Labs Inc., JABLOTRON Group AS, Koninklijke Philips NV, Lorex Technology Inc., Motorola Mobility LLC, Nanit, Owlet Inc., Panasonic Holdings Corp., Safetosleep, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Snuza International Pty. Ltd., Summer Infant Inc., The Holding Angelcare Inc., VTech Holdings Ltd., WiFi Baby, and Withings France SA Market dynamics Parent Market Analysis; Market growth inducers and obstacles; Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis for the forecast period Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Browse for Technavio "Communication Services" Research Reports

Table of contents:

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Distribution Channel



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Product



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 09: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 10: Parent market



Exhibit 11: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 12: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 13: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2022

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2022-2027

Exhibit 14: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 16: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 17: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

4 Historic Market Size

4.1 Global advanced baby monitor market 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 18: Historic Market Size  Data Table on Global advanced baby monitor market 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.2 Distribution channel Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 19: Historic Market Size  Distribution channel Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.3 Product Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 20: Historic Market Size  Product Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.4 Geography Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 21: Historic Market Size  Geography Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.5 Country Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 22: Historic Market Size  Country Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

5 Five Forces Analysis

5.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 23: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2022 and 2027

5.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 24: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2022 and 2027

5.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 25: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 26: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 27: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 28: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.7 Market condition

Exhibit 29: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2022 and 2027

6 Market Segmentation by Distribution Channel

6.1 Market segments

Exhibit 30: Chart on Distribution Channel - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Distribution Channel - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

6.2 Comparison by Distribution Channel

Exhibit 32: Chart on Comparison by Distribution Channel



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Comparison by Distribution Channel

6.3 Offline - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 34: Chart on Offline - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Offline - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 36: Chart on Offline - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 37: Data Table on Offline - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.4 Online - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 38: Chart on Online - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Online - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 40: Chart on Online - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Online - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.5 Market opportunity by Distribution Channel

Exhibit 42: Market opportunity by Distribution Channel ($ million)

7 Market Segmentation by Product

7.1 Market segments

Exhibit 43: Chart on Product - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 44: Data Table on Product - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

7.2 Comparison by Product

Exhibit 45: Chart on Comparison by Product



Exhibit 46: Data Table on Comparison by Product

7.3 Under-the-mattress - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 47: Chart on Under-the-mattress - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 48: Data Table on Under-the-mattress - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 49: Chart on Under-the-mattress - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 50: Data Table on Under-the-mattress - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.4 Diaper attachment - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 51: Chart on Diaper attachment - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 52: Data Table on Diaper attachment - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 53: Chart on Diaper attachment - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 54: Data Table on Diaper attachment - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.5 Smart wearable - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 55: Chart on Smart wearable - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 56: Data Table on Smart wearable - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 57: Chart on Smart wearable - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 58: Data Table on Smart wearable - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.6 Other formats - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 59: Chart on Other formats - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 60: Data Table on Other formats - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 61: Chart on Other formats - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 62: Data Table on Other formats - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.7 Market opportunity by Product

Exhibit 63: Market opportunity by Product ($ million)

8 Customer Landscape

8.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 64: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

9 Geographic Landscape

9.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 65: Chart on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 66: Data Table on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%)

9.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 67: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 68: Data Table on Geographic comparison

9.3 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 69: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 70: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 71: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 72: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.4 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 73: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 74: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 75: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 76: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 77: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 78: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 79: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 80: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 81: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 82: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 83: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 84: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 85: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 86: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 87: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 88: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.8 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 89: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 90: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 91: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 92: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.9 UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 93: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 94: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 95: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 96: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.10 China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 97: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 98: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 99: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 100: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.11 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 101: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 102: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 103: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 104: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.12 Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 105: Chart on Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 106: Data Table on Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 107: Chart on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 108: Data Table on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 109: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10.1 Market drivers

10.2 Market challenges

10.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 110: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2022 and 2027

10.4 Market trends

11 Vendor Landscape

11.1 Overview

11.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 111: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

11.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 112: Overview on factors of disruption

11.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 113: Impact of key risks on business

12 Vendor Analysis

12.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 114: Vendors covered

12.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 115: Matrix on vendor position and classification

12.3 Dorel Industries Inc.

Exhibit 116: Dorel Industries Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 117: Dorel Industries Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 118: Dorel Industries Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 119: Dorel Industries Inc. - Segment focus

12.4 Hisense Ltd.

Exhibit 120: Hisense Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 121: Hisense Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 122: Hisense Ltd. - Key offerings

12.5 iBaby Labs Inc.

Exhibit 123: iBaby Labs Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 124: iBaby Labs Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 125: iBaby Labs Inc. - Key offerings

12.6 JABLOTRON Group AS

Exhibit 126: JABLOTRON Group AS - Overview



Exhibit 127: JABLOTRON Group AS - Product / Service



Exhibit 128: JABLOTRON Group AS - Key offerings

12.7 Koninklijke Philips NV

Exhibit 129: Koninklijke Philips NV - Overview



Exhibit 130: Koninklijke Philips NV - Business segments



Exhibit 131: Koninklijke Philips NV - Key news



Exhibit 132: Koninklijke Philips NV - Key offerings



Exhibit 133: Koninklijke Philips NV - Segment focus

12.8 Lorex Technology Inc.

Exhibit 134: Lorex Technology Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 135: Lorex Technology Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 136: Lorex Technology Inc. - Key offerings

12.9 Motorola Mobility LLC

Exhibit 137: Motorola Mobility LLC - Overview



Exhibit 138: Motorola Mobility LLC - Product / Service



Exhibit 139: Motorola Mobility LLC - Key offerings

12.10 Nanit

Exhibit 140: Nanit - Overview



Exhibit 141: Nanit - Product / Service



Exhibit 142: Nanit - Key offerings

12.11 Owlet Inc.

Exhibit 143: Owlet Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 144: Owlet Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 145: Owlet Inc. - Key offerings

12.12 Safetosleep

Exhibit 146: Safetosleep - Overview



Exhibit 147: Safetosleep - Product / Service



Exhibit 148: Safetosleep - Key offerings

12.13 Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 149: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 150: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 151: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. - Key news



Exhibit 152: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 153: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. - Segment focus

12.14 Snuza International Pty. Ltd.

Exhibit 154: Snuza International Pty. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 155: Snuza International Pty. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 156: Snuza International Pty. Ltd. - Key offerings

12.15 Summer Infant Inc.

Exhibit 157: Summer Infant Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 158: Summer Infant Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 159: Summer Infant Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 160: Summer Infant Inc. - Segment focus

12.16 The Holding Angelcare Inc.

Exhibit 161: The Holding Angelcare Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 162: The Holding Angelcare Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 163: The Holding Angelcare Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 164: The Holding Angelcare Inc. - Key offerings

12.17 VTech Holdings Ltd.

Exhibit 165: VTech Holdings Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 166: VTech Holdings Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 167: VTech Holdings Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 168: VTech Holdings Ltd. - Segment focus

13 Appendix

13.1 Scope of the report

13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 169: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 170: Exclusions checklist

13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 171: Currency conversion rates for US$

13.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 172: Research methodology



Exhibit 173: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 174: Information sources

13.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 175: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
A recent interim distribution of $50 million represents a key milestone in one of the 20 largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history.

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gregory S. Milligan of Harney Partners has served as Court-Appointed Receiver for approximately 40 individuals and entities since 2018 in one of the largest securities Ponzi schemes in U.S. history, which included parallel criminal proceedings that resulted in the successful prosecution and conviction of defendants Kevin B. Merrill, Jay B. Ledford, and Cameron R. Jezierski by the U.S. government. From 2013 to 2018, Merrill, his co-conspirators, and their affiliated entities took in more than $394 million from more than 230 investors to purportedly purchase consumer debt portfolios. The recovery of the stolen money began in earnest on September 13, 2018, when Milligan was appointed Receiver by the United States District Court for the District of Maryland at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

As Court-Appointed Receiver, Harney Partners' Greg Milligan Led Efforts to Recover Assets for Defrauded Investors in $400 Million Ponzi Scheme

Merrill and his co-conspirators returned some $248 million to investors prior to their arrest, churning the monies in Ponzi-like fashion while claiming the returns were the result of debt portfolio collections and sales. The majority of investors, at least 160, lost 50% or more of their principal investment, with 74 investors losing 100% of their investment. By one expert analysis, the investment fraud perpetrated by Merrill and his co-conspirators ranks among the largest 20 such schemes in U.S. history.

Just before Christmas, Milligan made an interim distribution of $50 million to victims of the scheme after his distribution plan was approved by the Court on November 15, 2022. This interim distribution represents a 50% return to investors and Milligan expects to make one more distribution at the time the case is closed to further increase investor recoveries. A 50% recovery in a fraud of this manner and magnitude is remarkable.

"Too often, in a Ponzi situation there is very little or nothing to recover for the victims. The money is simply gone," said Milligan. "In this case, there were multiple operating businesses with significant value as well as other assets including 11 real properties, 34 vehicles, fine art, watches, other jewelry and luxury goods which formed the basis of a very large recovery and monetization strategy."

In support of the recovery, Milligan retained the law firm of Husch Blackwell, led by partners Lynn Butler, Buffey Klein, and Jameson Watts, who assisted Milligan in all aspects of asset administration, claims processing, plan development, and numerous litigation matters.

Milligan has also been assisted by others at Harney Partners including Jim Keane, Bill Patterson, Karen Nicolaou, Erik White, Wade Horst, and Davis Jackson.

This case is one of several high-profile fraud matters in which the Harney Partners team, including Greg Milligan, has led in recent years.

About

Harney Partners is a corporate advisory firm that provides independent, multi-disciplinary solutions for middle-market companies and their stakeholders. The firm specializes in restructuring and turnaround advisory (both bankruptcy and out-of-court), fiduciary services, transaction advisory, interim management, and forensic/litigation services. They serve clients nationwide from offices in Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Madison.

Media Contact:

Gina Budd

512-422-6571

[email protected]

SOURCE Harney Partners
The Partnership makes Authomize's Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) Platform available across the breadth of TD SYNNEX's partner network in North America and towards Authomize global expansion in 2023

TEL AVIV, Israel, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Authomize , the first Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) Platform for enterprise and mid-market, announced today a partnership with TD SYNNEX to bring its best-in-class solutions for protecting organizations from identity-based threat to customers. Authomize's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution enables organizations to automatically secure access privileges across their entire cloud stack, including IaaS, SaaS, and IAM solutions.

"TD SYNNEX is committed to uniting IT solutions that deliver business outcomes today and unlock growth for the future," said Scott Young, Senior Vice President, Strategic Procurement, TD SYNNEX. "With Authomize's ITDR platform added to our vast portfolio, we're able to enrich the breadth and depth of our offerings, so customers can do great things with technology."

"Authomize's first of its kind platform enables our customers to achieve, validate, and maintain a state of Least Privilege across all their cloud environments, detecting identity threats to their assets and providing actionable insights for faster remediations," says Thompson. "The industry demand for Authomize's market-ready platform presents an enticing opportunity that we are proud to be a part of."

"As one of the largest global IT solutions distributors, we are excited to build our relationship with TD SYNNEX at such a relatively early stage in our U.S. sales process," says Ariel Cohen, Authomize's Chief Business Officer. "We have already succeeded in signing with industry-leading joint customers and look forward to continuing to expand our sales in North America and beyond through this partnership."

For more information about how to purchase Authomize via TD SYNNEX, speak to your TD SYNNEX representative or speak directly to Authomize.

About TD SYNNEX

TD SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX) is a leading global distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem. We're an innovative partner helping more than 150,000 customers in 100+ countries to maximize the value of technology investments, demonstrate business outcomes and unlock growth opportunities. Headquartered in Clearwater, Florida, and Fremont, California, TD SYNNEX' 22,000 co-workers are dedicated to uniting compelling IT products, services and solutions from 1,500+ best-in-class technology vendors. Our edge-to-cloud portfolio is anchored in some of the highest-growth technology segments including cloud, cybersecurity, big data/analytics, IoT, mobility and everything as a service. TD SYNNEX is committed to serving customers and communities, and we believe we can have a positive impact on our people and our planet, intentionally acting as a respected corporate citizen. We aspire to be a diverse and inclusive employer of choice for talent across the IT ecosystem. For more information, visit www.TDSYNNEX.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

About Authomize

Authomize protects organizations from identity-based cyberattacks with the first Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) Platform. Authomize collects and normalizes data of identities, access privileges, assets, and activities from cloud services, applications, and IAM solutions in order to detect, investigate and respond to identity risks and threats. Customers use Authomize to gain visibility of actual access, achieve least privilege across cloud services and applications, secure their IAM infrastructure, and automate compliance and audit preparations. Backed by Innovation Endeavors, Blumberg Capital, Entree Capital and Microsoft's M12 venture fund, Authomize is headquartered in Tel Aviv and Austin. Learn more at www.authomize.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for news and updates.

Media Contact

Gabriel Avner

[email protected]

SOURCE Authomize
SAN DIEGO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A bold contemporary painting by Oakland artist Michael Robinson parodies Hollywood's self-importance and serves as a spoof of the cult film "From Dusk Till Dawn."

Titled "Inglorious," the acrylic on canvas painting is available for sale at Legends Gallery of La Jolla. With a Basquiat meets Dali feel, the painting makes other film references as well as to a song by the hard rock band Avenged Sevenfold.

"Inglorious" by bold contemporary painter Michael Robinson spoofs the cult film "From Dusk Till Dawn" and satirizes Hollywood.

Starring George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino, who play criminal brothers, From Dusk Till Dawn is an action, horror comedy that starts off more like a standard crime caper. But while laying low in a seedy bar near the Mexican border, the Gecko brothers soon learn the place is inhabited by vampires. They must survive there until dawn. Horror and hijinks ensue.

Robinson's canvas features a giant demon flanked by a coiled snake and a scary dog wearing a spiked collar. Around the dog, Robinson quotes a line by the character Jacob, a disillusioned former minister played by Harvey Keitel that says, "I won't be Jacob any more, I'll be a lapdog of Satan."

The painting continues the spoof by depicting a "Palm De Horror" instead of a Palm d'Or, the highest award given at Cannes. There's also a giant skull with the words intentionally misspelled to say, "Almost Famus," another film reference. Titled after another Tarantino film, Inglorious cites the classics "Citizen Kane," "Rashomon" and "Pulp Fiction," all of which have had the names scratched out.

"I grew up on movies, am a huge film buff who also loves spoofs and parodies, so this was a lot of fun" Robinson says. "It also gave me an opportunity to make light of Hollywood's self importance. When you watch the Academy Awards you get the sense that they didn't just make a film, they also cured cancer and world hunger."

Highly regarded for his love of bold colors and big ideas, Robinson counts as his major influences Kandinsky, Miro, and Klee.

Legends Gallery of La Jolla is located at 1205 Prospect Street Suite B. For specific hours, please visit the website or phone 1-858.456.9900. You can follow Michael on his Instagram account: @michaelrobinsonart.

Contact Tracy Robinson

925-285-0055

[email protected]

SOURCE Michael Robinson Art
PHOENIX, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SinglePoint is proud to announce that its subsidiary, Boston Solar, is near completion of the commercial rooftop solar installation of the MGM Music Hall at Fenway . Using photovoltaic (PV) power generation, a proven renewable energy source, the installation will benefit from location-based advantages as PV produces power where needed without additional energy transmission costs. Putting solar panels on a commercial rooftop at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway and other urban and suburban areas can help support local resilience and energy independence.

One of the key benefits of solar power for commercial buildings is its cost-effectiveness. With retail electricity rates at record levels, it is now more attractive than ever for businesses to switch to solar power. In addition, federal and local governments offer financial incentives and tax breaks to businesses and nonprofits that use solar energy, promoting it as an attractive energy option.

Daniel Mello Guimaraes, CEO & Co-Founder of Boston Solar, stated, "we are pleased to be proud partners of the Boston Red Sox and are committed to being the preferred residential and commercial solar installer in Massachusetts. Boston Solar will continue to strive for excellence and provide superior customer service and installations to our clients as we have for nearly 12 years."

Solar power is a reliable source of energy for commercial buildings. Unlike traditional energy sources such as coal and natural gas, solar power is not subject to price fluctuations or shortages. Businesses can rely on solar power to provide a consistent and stable energy source. Additionally, using solar power can help commercial buildings reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to the fight against climate change. By using solar power, businesses and nonprofits can reduce their environmental impact and play a role in protecting the planet.

As the use of solar power continues to grow, businesses and nonprofits are increasingly turning to this clean and renewable energy source to meet their needs while saving money.

Partner with the best solar Company in Massachusetts for your commercial solar project. Call 617-390-8792 or contact us to schedule a consultation.

A blog post by Boston Solar highlights an additional recap, and a synopsis of the installation is available to be viewed.

About Boston SolarProud Partner of the Boston Red Sox

Since its founding in 2011, Boston Solar has installed more than 5,000 residential and commercial solar arrays, powering thousands of homes and businesses in New England, primarily in Massachusetts. Boston Solar's mission is to provide superior clean energy products, exceptional customer service, and the highest-quality artistry in residential and commercial installations.

For five consecutive years, Boston Solar was named a Top Solar Contractor by Solar Power World magazine. In addition, Boston Solar has been recognized for its accomplishment as the recipient of the 2020 Guildmaster Award from GuildQuality, acknowledging Boston Solar's track record of demonstrating exceptional customer service within the residential construction industry. The Company is recognized by the Boston Business Journal and is listed as the "Largest Clean Energy Companies in Massachusetts" list. Boston Solar is a member of the Solar Energy Business Association of New England (SEBANE). The Company is headquartered at 55 Sixth Road, Woburn, MA 01801. Learn More at: www.bostonsolar.us.

About SinglePoint Inc. (OTCQB:SING)

SinglePoint is a sustainable lifestyle company in the solar energy and air purification markets. The Company plans to build the largest renewable energy solutions network and modernize the traditional solar energy and energy storage business model. SinglePoint continues to execute its acquisition strategy by exploring future growth opportunities in air purification, electric vehicle charging, solar as a subscription service, and additional energy efficiencies and appliances that enhance sustainability and healthier life. For more information, visit the Company's websites: www.singlepoint.com , www.bostonsolar.us , and www.boxpureair.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, besides statements of fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding revenue projections, financing opportunities, potential plans and objectives of the Company, anticipated growth, and future expansion, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Technical and other complications, which may arise, could prevent the prompt implementation of any strategically significant plan(s) outlined above. The Company undertakes no duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.

Investor Contact:

Tra-Digital IR

[email protected]

SOURCE SinglePoint Inc.
BOSTON, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Burns & Levinson partner Bryan Natale has been named to the Board of Directors of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA), Northeast Chapter effective January 1, 2023. He replaces Scott Moskol on the Board, who completed his year-long tenure as President and member of the Board of the TMA Northeast Chapter at the end of 2022.

Bryan Natale, a partner at Burns & Levinson in Boston, has been named to the Board of Directors of the Turnaround Management Association, Northeast Chapter effective January 1, 2023. Scott Moskol, who co-chairs the Financial Restructuring & Distressed Transactions Group at Burns & Levinson, completed his year-long tenure as President and member of the Board of the Turnaround Management Association, Northeast Chapter at the end of 2022.

As a member of the Board of Directors, Natale will guide the organization's mission to help businesses that are navigating critical turning points and transitions get to the next level. He has been involved in TMA for over 5 years, and most recently served as co-chair of the organization's Next Gen Committee.

"It has been an honor to serve on TMA's Board for the past 10 years and a privilege to lead the organization as its president last year," said Moskol. "The TMA's work is incredibly important to the businesses in this region, and Bryan will be an excellent steward of the organization in the coming years. He is a savvy business lawyer with extensive experience working with distressed acquisitions as well as advising venture capital and private equity funds facing turnarounds with their portfolio companies and will be a great addition to the Board of Directors."

At Burns & Levinson, Natale focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, growth equity investments, venture capital financings, distressed acquisitions, debt and equity financings, licensing and outsourcing, and securities and corporate governance as a partner in the firm's Corporate Group. He has industry sector experience in health care, technology and software, industrial and manufacturing, media and marketing, retail and consumer products, e-commerce, and financial services. His clients include private equity and venture capital funds, financial institutions, closely-held and venture capital-backed emerging growth companies, and privately-held middle market companies.

In addition to his work with TMA, Natale is involved with the Association for Corporate Growth (Boston Chapter) where he serves on the Deal Hunters Committee for Young Professionals. He received his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 2011 and his B.S. from Boston College in 2006.

About the Turnaround Management Association

The Turnaround Management Association (TMA) is the most professionally diverse organization in the corporate restructuring, renewal, and corporate health space. Established in 1988, TMA has almost 10,000 members in 54 chapters worldwide, including 34 North American chapters. Members include turnaround practitioners, attorneys, accountants, advisors, liquidators, consultants, as well as academic, government employees, and members of the judiciary.

About Burns & Levinson LLP

At Burns & Levinson, we provide high-level, client-centric and results-oriented legal services to our regional, national and international clients. We are a full-service law firm with 125 lawyers in Boston, Providence and London. Our areas of expertise include: business/finance, business litigation, divorce/family law, venture capital/emerging companies, employment, estate planning, government investigations, intellectual property, M&A/private equity, probate/trust litigation, and real estate. We partner with our clients to solve their business and personal legal issues in a collaborative, creative and cost-effective way. For more information, visit Burns & Levinson at www.burnslev.com .

Contact:

Amy Blumenthal Kristen Weller Blumenthal & Associates Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer 617.879.1511 617.345.3555 [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Burns & Levinson
Through Old National Bank's Partnership, the Community Access Platform Will Offer New Signature Programming, Financial Workshops and Digital/Media Literacy for Chicago Youth

CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CAN TV , Chicago's premiere hub for community access news, hyperlocal stories and educational resources, today announced a partnership with Old National Bank that will provide Chicagoans with financial and media literacy through an ongoing signature program, "In The Money," financial education workshops and a cohort for CAN TV's new Youth-Voice Digital Literacy and Storytelling Institute.

Old National Bank

"This partnership will greatly further our mission of giving local Chicagoans access to the stories and resources that matter most, and we couldn't be more appreciative of Old National Bank," said Darrious Hilmon, executive director of CAN TV. "'In The Money' is an incredible addition to our signature programming, and the financial workshops we will offer to the community will open new pathways for Chicagoans to access that essential education. And, thanks to the underwriting support of the Old National Bank Cohort, we'll also be able to equip the next generation of storytellers with journalistic skills and media literacy, so we can continue to make the newsroom a space that is inclusive of all voices."

As a result of the partnership, CAN TV this week will launch "In The Money," one of the newest signature programs from the media organization. Hosted by Kimberly Loftis, the president of CFO consulting service firm Loftis Consulting, and exclusively underwritten by Old National Bank, "In The Money" will discuss family wealth building from a thoughtful, fair and honest "kitchen table" approach, supporting Chicagoans through personal and family finance topics to build knowledge and achieve greater financial mobility.

Old National Bank's partnership will also go beyond television programming to further educational access for community members. The sponsorship will provide for a financial education workshop and panel discussion for CAN TV's nonprofit partners, community producers and content providers, and facilitate an Old National Bank cohort for CAN TV's Youth-Voice Digital Literacy and Storytelling Institute , a new program that seeks to close a generational divide between young people and traditional media with a specific focus on amplifying youth voices historically underrepresented within the traditional newsroom and media landscape.

"We are thrilled to partner with CAN TV and support the local storytelling and community engagement that this organization provides to Chicago," said Ben Joergens, Old National Bank Financial Empowerment Director. "Education surrounding financial wellness - for the individual or the family - is so important, but can feel inaccessible or obscure, especially for those who may be the first to 'make it' or are new to the conversation. Working with CAN TV, we're excited to develop new programming, resources and workshops to ensure everyone is able to build their financial toolkit and develop healthy practices."

"In The Money" will premiere on January 12 and will air weekly on CAN TV19 at 7:30 p.m. CT. The show will also air live and on-demand on cantv.org and the new can tv+ app available on Roku, Fire TV Stick, and iOS and Android devices. To learn more about CAN TV, visit www.cantv.org .

ABOUT CAN TV

For four decades, CAN TV has unlocked the voices of Chicagoans with community access news, hyperlocal stories and journalistic education and resources. Through signature and public programming, alongside educational opportunities that build media literacy, skill and independence, CAN TV takes community access to the next level, supporting local Chicagoans to hear and tell the stories that matter most. CAN TV's programming can be viewed on its five local cable channels (CAN TV 19, 21, 27, 36, and 42), the new can tv+ app available on streaming platforms including Roku, Fire TV Stick and iOS and Android devices. For more information on the organization and upcoming initiatives, events and programming specials, visit www.cantv.org .

ABOUT OLD NATIONAL

Old National Bancorp, the holding company of Old National Bank, is the sixth largest commercial bank headquartered in the Midwest. With approximately $46 billion of assets and $28 billion of assets under management, Old National ranks among the top 35 banking companies based in the U.S. and has been recognized as a World's Most Ethical Company by the Ethisphere Institute for eleven consecutive years. Since its founding in 1834, Old National Bank has focused on community banking by building long-term, highly valued partnerships with clients and in the communities it serves. In addition to providing extensive services in retail and commercial banking, Old National offers comprehensive wealth management, investment, and capital market services. For more information and financial data, please visit Investor Relations at oldnational.com .

MEDIA CONTACT

CHARISSE BARNACHEA

MEKKY MEDIA RELATIONS

847.404.5216

[email protected]

SOURCE CAN TV
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sticker Planet, a one-of-a-kind store selling only stickers, is set to celebrate National Sticker Day on January 13th, the birthday of Stan Avery. Avery was a rags-to-riches entrepreneur who invented the first self-adhesive label in 1935. Today, stickers come in all shapes, sizes and topics, and they bring joy to people of all ages. Sticker Planet invites you to join their celebration!

Sticker Planet's customers use stickers for crafting, scrapbooking, journaling, gift-giving and just plain fun! Tweet this Sticker Planet is a unique store in Los Angeles that sells only stickers and things that stick! Sticker Planet sells thousands of fun stickers for people of all ages. (PRNewsfoto/Sticker Planet)

Sticker Planet is a family business run by siblings Hilary and Richard Kraft who lovingly continue a unique concept started by their parents 30 years agoeverything they sell sticks! In a throwback to the sticker-crazed era of the 1980s, the store features three walls filled with thousands of fun stickers displayed on rolls and arranged by topic. Sticker lovers choose their favorite designs and purchase them by the sheet. Sticker Planet sells beautiful stickers on countless topics, plus plenty of other fun things that stick, both online and at their wondrous shop located inside the historic Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles.

"We have stickers on hundreds of different topics, from flowers to food to animals and much more," said co-owner Hilary Kraft. "We also sell sticker books and activity kits for kids, temporary tattoos that stick to the skin, and vinyl and wall decals. Our customers use stickers for crafting, decorating, scrapbooking, journaling, gift-giving and just plain fun. We're always finding new styles to sell."

Co-owner Richard Kraft adds, "It's wonderful to have a store that brings people joy. During the pandemic, we launched a website. It's fun to see people enjoying our huge selection of stickers that we now ship worldwide."

To celebrate National Sticker Day on January 13th, Sticker Planet is having a 24-hour flash sale, both at its retail store and online (www.stickerplanet.com). Customers will receive 10-25% off their entire purchase depending on the amount of their order, plus in the Los Angeles store there will be special free give-aways all day.

About Sticker Planet:

Sticker Planet is a family-owned business that has been selling creative, artistic stickers for people of all ages at the Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles since 1992. In 2020, the company launched an online store. Sticker Planet's motto is "The world's best stickers, all in one place." For information or online shopping visit: www.stickerplanet.com. Follow Sticker Planet at facebook.com/stickerplanetLA and instagram.com/stickerplanetLA.

SOURCE Sticker Planet
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Celebrity couple Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker are reaching out to Inland Empire's African American residents through a series of local public service announcements (PSAs) that encourage navigating family health matters, including COVID-19 vaccines.

Actors/entrepreneurs Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker, currently starring on ABC's "Station 19" and HBO Max's "And Just Like That," respectively, have been supporting health and wellness initiatives for years through their Kodjoe Family Foundation.

Celebrity couple Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker are reaching out to Inland Empires African American residents through a series of local public service announcements that encourage navigating family health matters, including COVID-19 vaccines.

Today they continue to help share fact-based health information with their community.

"The truth is, our community is still being hit hardest by this virus and vaccines lower our risk of getting sick or even dying of COVID-19," said Parker in one of the campaign segments, which were funded in partnership with San Bernardino County's COVID Equity Grant.

Nearly three years after the start of COVID-19 pandemic, the Inland Empire continues to report low vaccine rates, especially among Black residents, resulting in increased hospitalizations and deaths.

"We understand the concerns our Black and minority residents have in regards to the vaccine," said Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) Chief Medical Officer Dr. Takashi Wada. "It isn't enough to just tell community members to get vaccinated and that the vaccines work, we're inviting them to empower themselves through awareness and gathering information from trusted sources."

Like the celebrity couple of Boris and Nicole, Dr. Wada further encourages all Inland Empire residents to get the facts about COVID-19 vaccines and boosters directly from reliable sources such as official websites and licensed medical experts.

"The best thing you can really do to support the health and wellness of your family is to read the data and ask your doctors questions, so you CAN make sound decisions regarding the health and wellness of your family," Dr. Wada added.

Topics of the "Boris and Nicole" PSAs include various messages about protecting the Inland Empire community and family health as well as encouraging residents who have doubts to visit IEHP's COVID-19 website to gather accurate and timely information.

The announcements began running on KMIR Palm Springs stations and IE Spectrum stations and will continue through summer 2023.

About IEHP

With a mission to heal and inspire the human spirit, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) is one of the top 10 largest Medicaid health plans and the largest not-for-profit Medicare-Medicaid plan in the country. In its 26th year, IEHP is supporting more than 1.6 million residents in Riverside and San Bernardino counties who are enrolled in Medicaid or Cal MediConnect Plans and has a growing network of more than 7,400 providers and nearly 2,800 Team Members. Through dynamic partnerships with Providers and Community Organizations, paired with award-winning service and a tradition of quality care, IEHP is fully committed to their vision: We will not rest until our communities enjoy optimal care and vibrant health. For more information, visit iehp.org.

SOURCE Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP)
Molecule, the most modern cloud-native ETRM/CTRM software company, has been named a Rising Star and category leader by Chartis. The recognition distinguishes Molecule as a leading innovator.

HOUSTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chartis Research included Molecule in their Rising Star category in the latest RiskTech100 report and as a category leader in the CTRM report. This third-party recognition validates Molecule's market position and momentum in the risk management industry.

Chartis, a leader in risk and compliance technology research and analysis, publishes the RiskTech100. This report is globally acknowledged as the most comprehensive annual study of risk technology. The RiskTech100 report covers business and technology trends in the trading sector, how these trends influence risk management solutions, and how leading vendors like Molecule respond to the industry's latest demands.

The Rising Star recognition is reserved for the most innovative emerging companies in the industry. In the past 18 months, Molecule has earned both SOC-1 and SOC-2 certifications and launched new products for customers trading power and renewables.

"We built Molecule to be a market leading E/CTRM, so we're excited to see this recognition," says Sameer Soleja, Molecule's founder and CEO. "Although many people in the industry associate our type of software with high implementation costs and clunky design, our team works hard to provide a modern solution that is the antithesis of those nightmare experiences."

"As a category leader in our CTRM report, Molecule is a strong performer in this space," said Sid Dash, Research Director at Chartis. "Especially notable is how the company has revamped its infrastructure to focus on the commodities segment, which played a key role in Chartis recognizing Molecule as a Rising Star in its most recent RiskTech100 ranking."

About Molecule

Molecule makes the world's most modern, cloud-native ETRM/CTRM software. The company offers turnkey implementations, proactive customer support, and consumer-grade design so that customers can focus on their business of driving the global economy. The Molecule platform offers near-real-time visualization of financial models and reports  accessible anywhere with an internet connection. Molecule values trades and assets for over 25,000 physical and financial products, across 50+ commodities, including power, gas, crude, chemicals, agricultural products, and renewables. Learn more about Molecule at www.molecule.io.

Media Contact

Dustin Whipple

Phone: +1 832.464.4037

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Molecule Software
Owner of Chicago's Acclaimed Lexington Betty Smokehouse Announces the First of Multiple Premium Meat Product Releases for 2023

CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Spearheading the BBQ revolution from her hometown of Chicago as a leading pitmaster, Chef Dominque Leach who owns South Side's Lexington Betty Smokehouse (named "The Best BBQ in Chicago" by Good Morning America) with her wife Tanisha Griffin, has teamed up with Vander Farmers, a family-owned company and the leading source of F1 American Wagyu in the Midwest, to formally launch her own line of WAGYU DOGS nationally on Tuesday, January 10th. The premium gourmet product received the USDA stamp of approval to distribute in a retail setting and are available now online for nationwide shipping through Lexington Betty's online store.

Chef Dominique Leach of Lexington Betty Smokehouse Lexington Betty Smokehouse X Vander Farmers Wagyu Dogs

The release marks the first of multiple BBQ products to be announced for national distribution in 2023 by Chef Leach and Vander Farmers. Additionally, the LBS x Vander Farmers team are pledging a percentage of sales of all Wagyu Dogs sold for the first month of the launch to Chicago's 501C3 charity, Coffee, Hip Hop & Mental Health founded by Christopher LeMark, to help further mental health advocacy work across the city. "Mental health in the chef and restaurant industry is an important topic to me personally, knowing how hard it has been in my journey and what I've seen others endure as well, particularly in marginalized communities, which is why I'm supporting CHHAMH with this launch," says Leach.

The Lexington Betty Smokehouse x Vander Famers WAGYU DOG, which will retail for $18.99 per pack of 8, completely breaks the mold on the traditional hot dog. Made from premium F1 Wagyu beef (50% Japanese Black Cattle, 50% Holstein-Friesian Dairy Cow), the uncured and uncased dog has a heartier density and flavor without losing the beautiful snap you come to expect from a gourmet sausage. With a slightly salty-smokey and sweeter flavor profile than a normal hotdog due to the inherent and delectable marbleization of Wagyu, these dogs complement Chef Leach's famous BBQ sauce, can be dressed up with Tex-Mex ingredients like pico de gallo and jalapenos, or make for a show-stopping twist on the classic Chicago dog. (Product Fact Sheets available here.)

Leach, a classically trained chef turned nationally recognized pitmaster who was catapulted into the national spotlight on The Food Network's CHOPPED "Playing with Fire" season in 2021 as a judge/contestant, on Food Network Canada's FIRE MASTERS, has a personal mission to make the BBQ world more inclusive and hopes to inspire others like her to take on the field. "I want to reclaim a space in the BBQ cooking world and make it more inclusive for Black queer women, especially since it's been a male-dominated field for a long time and has lacked enough people who look like me. This line is exposing my craft in a whole new way, plus I get to honor my hometown of Chicago the true home of the dog. I couldn't be more thrilled to work with the wonderful Vander family again and excited to introduce the Wagyu Dog to everyone near and far," adds Leach.

Vander Farmers, located in Sturgis, MI, prides itself on producing premium meats through humanely raised cattle, radical transparency, and sustainable practices. Look for more announcements from Dominique and Vander Farmers soon.

*WAGYU DOGS are available at https://www.lexingtonbetty.com for nationwide shipping & at Lexington Betty Smokehouse, located at 756 E 111th St. Chicago, IL and in local retailers soon.

***Minimum Three Pack required for online orders starting at $56.97 (8 dogs per pack).***

Media Contact:

Christiana Forsberg

H2 Public Relations

[email protected]

P: 217-766-6926

SOURCE Vander Farmers
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) announced that Daniel Moisand, CFP has ascended to the role of chair of its Board of Directors.

In this leadership role, Moisand takes the reins of the professional body that certifies more than 95,000 financial planning professionals across the United States. Moisand was elected by his Board of Director peers in 2021 to serve as 2022 Board Chair-elect. On January 1, 2023, he began serving in his new Board chair role.

"It is an honor to lead the CFP Board," said Moisand. "CFP Board is continuously evolving to support the advancement of the financial planning profession, and I look forward to working with my fellow Board members to achieve CFP Board's strategic priorities as we continue to build awareness of CFP certification and access to CFP professionals  all for the benefit of the public."

The financial advice ecosystem widely recognizes CFP certification as the standard for financial planners. With that in mind, Moisand will guide the organization as it launches its first-ever comprehensive review of CFP Board's competency standards with the formation in 2023 of the Competency Standards Commission. During his term as chair, he will also preside over the beginning of a new initiative that will focus on increasing the number of college-bound students choosing financial planning as a degree major and career path.

"Dan is a longtime advocate for ethical, responsive financial planning, and he's been a strong supporter of our work at CFP Board for over 20 years," said CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE. "This year marks the 50th anniversary of CFP certification, and Dan's leadership will benefit both the financial advice ecosystem and the public as CFP Board looks to the opportunities and challenges in the year ahead."

Nationally recognized as one of the most influential professionals in financial planning, Moisand is a principal and financial advisor at Moisand, Fitzgerald, Tamayo, LLC, with offices in Orlando, Melbourne and Tampa, Florida. He has more than three decades of financial planning and investment experience and is one of America's top financial advisors for retirees and near-retirees.

During his career, he has made considerable contributions to CFP Board's work. From 1999-2001, he served on CFP Board's Board of Practice Standards, helping to draft and promulgate the first Financial Planning Practice Standards for CFP professionals. In 2008, he served as chair of CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission, reviewing and taking appropriate action with respect to alleged violations of the ethical and practice standards for CFP professionals. And, in 2020, he was elected to his first term to serve on the Board of Directors of CFP Board.

Moisand is a past national president of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and served as a Trustee of the Foundation for Financial Planning from 2014-2019. On behalf of FPA, he has led delegations of financial planners to Russia, China, India and Australia.

Moisand obtained his Bachelor of Science in finance from Florida State University and earned his CFP certification in 1994.

ABOUT CFP BOARD

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board sets standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CFP certification  one of the most respected certifications in financial services  so that the public has access to and benefits from competent and ethical financial planning. CFP Board, along with its Center for Financial Planning, is committed to increasing the public's awareness of CFP certification and access to a diverse, ethical and competent financial planning workforce. Widely recognized by the public, advisors and firms as the standard for financial planning, CFP certification is held by more than 95,000 people in the United States.

SOURCE Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.
AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Day Air Credit Union recently went live with Sync1 Systems LOS solution to enhance its indirect lending workflow and automation. "The implementation and conversion experience was handled with expert care and could not have been more seamless," expresses John Theobald, Day Air Credit Union's CLO.

Day Air logo

Since the conversion, Day Air's indirect auto volume has increased exponentially. The credit union largely attributes the increase in volume to its partnerships with Sync1 Systems and the creative integration with Open Lending. The credit union now has an improved, best-in-class integration with the Open Lending platform and more control over implementing credit union loan policy into Sync1 Systems' workflow engine. "A combination of the business rules library and decision/pricing tables has advanced our auto-decisioning capabilities beyond what we thought was attainable," said Theobald. "Add in the workflow automation for post-approval processing, and that approval processing, and that improves our dealer relationships and satisfaction."

Day Air Credit Union has leveraged the Sync1 Systems functionality to auto decision (approve, counter, and decline) in 84% of all auto loan transactions. Over 80% of all loan applications are decided in less than 30 seconds, allowing the credit union to win more deals in the highly competitive auto loan market. These results are reported using data from the first 90 days of production.

"We strive to lead the industry in innovation with our credit union and integration partners to enhance the overall lending experience for all stakeholders involved, which includes credit union resources, lending partner relationships, and ultimately the member experience. Day Air Credit Union is a great example of the success we continue to create with our credit union partners of Sync1 Systems," states Steve Maloney, CEO of Sync1 Systems.

Day Air Credit Union

Day Air Credit Union was founded in 1945 by 26 employees of the United States Air Force Depot  Gentile Station (later known as DESC), who came together as a group to help each other improve their individual financial situations. After much discussion, the original members decided to combine the words "Dayton" and "Air Force," creating the name we know, "Day Air."

The first office of Day Air Credit Union was located in a small room within the DESC facility, where an old cigar box held our member's funds. We moved twice within the DESC campus, finally settling into slightly larger quarters in Building One. In 1996, the credit union vacated the DESC campus, as the center was slated for closure. Today, Day Air has six full-service locations located throughout the Miami Valley. These locations offer professional, member-service-driven employees with convenient hours. https://dayair.org/

Sync1 Systems

Sync1 Systems is an Austin-based loan origination software focused on lending and digital experience.

We use the most effortless and smooth technology to transform the user experience and bring power to our partners for today's ever-changing digital landscape. Founded by a team of innovative experts, we understand the unique needs of our partners. Sync1 Systems exists to serve the needs of our partners, and lending is our core foundation, bringing a turnkey solution to the financial services industry.

https://www.sync1systems.com/

Media Contacts:

Steve Maloney

CEO Sync1 Systems

[email protected]

(512) 354-2784

Bruce Callen

CFO/CDO Sync1 Systems

[email protected]

(512) 354-7221

SOURCE Sync1 Systems
K-12 edtech company, Skyward, showcases districts engaging their communities through websites, social media, and videos.

STEVENS POINT, Wis., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The numbers don't lie: digital presence in schools matters. The National Center of Education Statistics reports that 89% of parents get information from newsletters, emails, or general notices from their children's school. Trade Press Services finds that 85% of employees are most motivated when internal communications are effective. Additionally, Statista analyzed that social media is used for communication in up to 90% of schools.

The bottom line is this: families want to hear from schools, employees appreciate regular updates, and the general community wants communication and transparency via accessible, easy-to-use tools.

Skyward, a school administration software provider committed to helping K-12 leaders spend less time on tasks and more time with students, has combed the internet to find the best examples of digital use in K-12 districts around the nation. By visiting www.skyward.com/learn, school leaders can find ways to incorporate tips from other district websites, social media, and video libraries to increase their own digital presence.

The end results? Increased engagement between schools, parents, and students, visibility and transparency in the community, and a strong culture of performance and success.

"K-12 leaders don't need to overthink a better digital presence  they can save valuable time by looking to other districts that are succeeding with keeping in touch with their stakeholders." said Ray Ackerlund, president of Skyward. "Today, everyone is online, and in order to keep their employees, parents, and communities engaged, districts need to use online tools available to them as their main means of communication."

One district practicing strong communication is Garland Independent School District (GISD) in Texas, who has seen a rise in community engagement using already-in-place digital tools.

"The days of sending home letters is slowly fading away," said Atticus Wisener of GISD. "Parents want more instant messaging. It's nice to get timely and immediate feedback on how your kids are doing in school. It stems from a core philosophy that you serve these children and families. Everyone values feedback, timeliness, and intelligent communication."

More than just a technology firm, Skyward is dedicated to continuous improvement that drives the success of its customers. Districts looking to improve or take that next step with their communication efforts can visit www.skyward.com/learn.

About Skyward

Since 1980, Skyward's SIS and ERP solutions have helped more than 2,500 school districts save time, connect with families, and empower success. By blending advanced technology guided by actual users with world-class support delivered with a personal touch, Skyward is the clear choice for K-12 leaders who want to spend less time on tasks and more time with students. To learn more about the next generation of K-12 administration software, visit www.skyward.com.

SOURCE Skyward
AMSTERDAM, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dutch healthtech startup Lapsi Health is developing sound-based medical technology (and software tools) to empower clinicians at the point of care and to enhance remote consultations. The company last raised in the beginning of last year, netting a 700K Pre-Seed Round in March 2022 and won the Eurostars 1M grant for the development of their deep tech.

Lapsi Health Founders (from left to right): Seamus Holohan (COO), JhonatanBringas Dimitriades (CEO), Diana van Stijn (Chief Medical Officer) and Rodrigo Alvez (CTO)

Today it's announcing an oversubscribed sequel: The Seed Series clocks in at $3.7M and will be used to continue their technology development, to acquire FDA certification and to begin commercialization activities in the USA.

Investors in this latest round for the 2022-founded startup are a mix of old and new backers: The Seed Series is led by Sahir Ali of Modi Ventures , a Texas-based family office that has recently stepped into the Venture Capital world with investments in the space of Artificial intelligence and Tech Bio. Modi Ventures is followed by some of the Pre-Seed investors of the company (Vendash, Bolwork) as well as some new investors (Israeli-Ukrainian software development company BeKey).

Jhonatan Bringas Dimitriades, CEO at Lapsi Health (named Health-tech Leader of the Year 2022 by Med-Tech World 2022 ), said: "During the year we released 4 generations of prototypes and two native applications. We have been able to validate our technology and showcase it in several venues worldwide and to several medical leaders. This helped us to secure the next step in the funding for our company, now with the goal of bringing our technology to the market during 2023".

The company has welcomed in their Advisory Board, several World healthcare leaders such as Craig Lipset, Rafael Grossman, Aline Noizet, Suzanne Terheggen, Carlos Sendon and Amir Lahav in the beginning of the year. In the last quarter of 2022, the company welcomed a new member of the Advisory Board, Junaid Bajwa, MD,Chief Medical Scientist at Microsoft. "With his vast med-tech experience, we will be able to develop and iterate even faster," said Jhonatan Bringas.

"As a patient, all of my encounters with my primary care provider and my pulmonologist involve listening to my lungs. Lapsi Health brings that capability with confidence for remote care as well as remote clinical trials. The technology will improve patient experience and outcomes while supporting the new normal for healthcare and clinical research," said Advisory Board Member and co-Chair of the DTRA, Craig Lipset.

"Data driven decisions are the next step to improving healthcare, patient empowerment, clinical intelligence and to make clinical research more democratized. These are the ideals that inspired us to create Lapsi Health." said Chief Medical Officer and co-Founder Diana van Stijn  a leading expert in digital therapeutics and paediatrics.

The founding team of Lapsi Health also includes: Seamus Holohan, COO and Rodrigo Alvez, CTO.

About Lapsi Health: In the last 10 months, the company has grown from 4 to more than 10 employees (including their Head of Engineering, Toni Leinonen, founder of Haltian and former lead within the team that developed the Oura Ring ) and 8 advisors. They were accepted by the Health Incubator Helsinki and therefore expanded their borders by opening an operative office in Helsinki, Finland, at the Terkko Health Hub. The company won the ultra competitive Eureka Eurostars in June and was accepted in September by the prestigious TechLeap program (the accelerator program for the best deep-tech Dutch companies and has HRH Prince Constantijn van Oranje Nassau, brother of the King of the Netherlands, as it's envoy). The next step will be market access and certifications, according to their Founding Team.

For more information about Lapsi Health, visit: www.lapsihealth.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lapsihealth

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1978150/Lapsi_Health_Founders.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1978161/Lapsi_Health_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Lapsi Health
DUBLIN, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Energy Management Systems Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By System; By Component; By Deployment; By Region; Segment Forecast, 2022 - 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global energy management system market size is expected to reach USD 108 billion by 2030, according to a new study. The report gives a detailed insight into current market dynamics and provides analysis on future market growth.



North America controls most of the global market and is expected to maintain its dominance in the coming years because energy management systems significantly improve energy performance compared to an initial energy baseline. They lead systematically (plan-do-check-act), resulting in ongoing energy efficiency improvement. They also create a policy for efficient energy use and maintain efficiency overall project return on investment. They also generate data to better understand and make decisions about energy consumption.



Furthermore, an energy management system is superior to ad hoc or traditional project-based approaches to improving energy performance because it involves implementing a systematic approach to energy efficiency. These systems typically comprise best practices in project management, energy monitoring, and energy awareness, as well as an energy policy that governs an organization's energy use and performance.



Within the organization, the energy management system raises awareness and commitment to energy, i.e., consumption, use, efficiency, and renewable sources. It improves organizations' ability to manage energy risks and their potential consequences in an efficient manner, as well as strengthens their competitiveness and reduces their vulnerability to energy price fluctuations and energy availability.



Thus, rapid use of this system across commercial, industrial, and public sector organizations fueled the market growth.



Furthermore, implementing energy management systems yields significant benefits other than energy and cost savings. Early adoption experiences have shown that adhering to the standard results in some non-energy benefits, such as increased productivity and lower maintenance requirements.



Significant energy and cost savings were achieved in many cases with little or no capital investment. This is because ISO 50001 promotes a cultural shift that engages and empowers employees to identify and address energy-saving opportunities as they arise. Companies achieve energy savings persistence by continuously monitoring and improving energy efficiency.



However, conforming to an internationally recognized standard, such as ISO 50001, provides the company with additional market value. Companies and organizations can demonstrate their commitment to sustainability to their customers, employees, investors, and regulators by obtaining ISO 50001 certification.



Companies and organizations can gain a competitive advantage by demonstrating their corporate citizenship. This can help to improve their brand, which directly benefits them.

Energy Management System Market Report Highlights

HEMS segment held the largest market share in the system segment as the demand for an automated household is rising.

Hardware held the largest segment in the services segment with rising diagnoses of infections and genetic illness.

Cloud-based energy management systems held the largest segment in deployment as it helps in boosting productivity and decrease carbon efficiency.

North America held the dominant position because of rising adaptation towards technology and advancements alongside environmental concerns.

held the dominant position because of rising adaptation towards technology and advancements alongside environmental concerns. Major players operating in the industry include Schneider Electric SE; Honeywell International Inc.; Siemens AG; Johnson Controls, Inc.; C3.ai, Inc.; GridPoint, General Electric; ABB; International Business Machines Corporation; Cisco Systems, Inc.

Market Dynamics

Drivers and Opportunities

Price Escalation and Fluctuations in Energy Consumption

Grid and Meter Smart Installation

Restraints and Challenges

Insufficient Level of Expertise

The publisher has segmented the energy management system market report based on system, component, deployment and region:



Energy Management System, System Outlook (Revenue - USD Billion, 2022 - 2030)

Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS)

Industrial Energy Management Systems (IEMS)

Energy Management System, Component Outlook (Revenue - USD Billion, 2022 - 2030)

Hardware

Software

Services

Energy Management System, Deployment Outlook (Revenue - USD Billion, 2022 - 2030)

Cloud

On-Premise

Energy Management System, Regional Outlook (Revenue - USD Billion, 2022 - 2030)

North America

U.S

Canada

Europe

Germany

UK

France

Italy

Spain

Asia Pacific

Japan

China

India

Australia

South Korea

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Argentina

Middle East & Africa

& South Africa

Saudi Arabia

UAE

Key Topics Covered:



1. Introduction



2. Executive Summary



3. Research Methodology



4. Global Energy Management Systems Market Insights



5. Global Energy Management Systems Market, by System



6. Global Energy Management Systems Market, by Component



7. Global Energy Management Systems Market, by Deployment



8. Global Energy Management Systems Market, by Geography



9. Competitive Landscape



10. Company Profiles



Companies Mentioned

Schneider Electric SE

Honeywell International Inc.

Siemens AG

Johnson Controls Inc.

C3.ai Inc.

GridPoint

General Electric

ABB

International Business Machines Corporation

Cisco Systems Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1s818l

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
DENVER, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ENGAGE Mobilize, Inc. (ENGAGE), a provider of intelligent field operations software, announced today that Mr. Scott Cilento has joined ENGAGE as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Cilento brings extensive knowledge of the petroleum supply chain and experience with SaaS transformation, business development and industrial operations. He was recruited to join ENGAGE by its board of directors.

Cilento's career started at NASA, where he managed the landing-to-launch operations for dozens of space shuttle missions Tweet this

Mr. Ryan Gurney, a member of the ENGAGE Board said, "Scott's experience provides an ideal blueprint for where ENGAGE is today and where we want to go. When the board began the CEO search, Scott was one of our first calls, and we could not be more excited that he has joined the team."

Cilento's career started at NASA, where he managed the landing-to-launch operations for dozens of space shuttle missions. In his time there, he gained significant experience leading and optimizing complex industrial field operations, which he has leveraged throughout his career.

After leaving NASA, Cilento served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at FuelQuest, a SaaS solution that helps manage and optimize fuel logistics. He was integral to its successful sale to Gilbarco Veeder-Root and stayed on for another five years under the Insite360 brand. Most recently, Cilento served as COO for a Michigan-based startup, FreightRoll, which automates workflows for the freight hauling industry.

Cilento shared his excitement and vision for ENGAGE saying, "After following the progress of ENGAGE over the past three years, I'm thrilled to be part of a team that is relentless about delivering value to oil and gas and industrial field operations."

About ENGAGE

ENGAGE streamlines complex field service workflows by unifying operators and oilfield service companies on a single digital platform  from ticket to invoice in real time. ENGAGE's flagship E-ticketing solution set the standard for fluids hauling and logistics efficiency and its capabilities have expanded to cover more than 250 oilfield service job types and electronic invoicing. Today ENGAGE offers E&P operators and oilfield service companies the potential to achieve new levels of operational efficiency, reduce costs, increase financial transparency and mitigate risk with intelligent field operations software.

Media Contacts

Samantha Reeves

[email protected]

(303) 809-7458

SOURCE Engage Mobilize, Inc.
Also ranked as a Top Franchise for 2023 by Franchise Business Review

MIAMI, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Estrella Insurance , a leading property and casualty insurance agency franchisor, has once again been named to Entrepreneur Magazine's 44th Annual Franchise 500, a highly respected and widely referenced guide to exceptional franchises. The 2023 ranking marks the 11th consecutive year the fast-growing company has landed on the coveted ranking.

The ranking, which evaluates franchisors on five aspects - cost and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength and financial strength and stability - compiled data from more than 1,320 franchisor submissions to create the 2023 ranking. Estrella landed in the top 20% at #217.

Additionally, leadership from Estrella announced the Franchise Business Review (FBR) also named the nationwide franchisor as a Top Franchise for 2023. FBR highlights the top franchises according to franchisee satisfaction ratings - an award CEO Nicolas Estrella, Jr. believes is a testament to the significant support Estrella provides business partners. Franchise owners are assisted with every step prior to opening, as well as with continual support from the management staff.

Estrella, Jr. adds: "Our franchisee partners are family - we've structured our model around support, training and marketing to help them succeed. We believe it's why we've seen double-digit growth for several years and don't see an end in sight. We're grateful for our partners and are honored to be recognized by Entrepreneur and Franchise Business Review."

These recognitions point to Estrella's commitment to its network of franchisees, he says. The organization provides franchisees with extensive training to maximize their profitability, as well as resources including marketing material and advertising material, onboarding support, financing options, multi-unit opportunities, and much more.

About Estrella Insurance

Miami-based Estrella Insurance is a property and casualty insurance franchisor and a trusted leader among consumers and insurance companies by providing simple, cost-effective insurance solutions across its auto, home, commercial, business, life, and health insurance portfolios. With more than 180 offices across the U.S., it is consistently ranked as a top franchise opportunity with a proven business model that allows owners to focus directly on customer support and community engagement. For more information on franchise ownership, visit www.estrellafranchise.com

SOURCE Estrella Insurance
Partnership Provides Long Term Financing to Grupo Fetz to support their expansion and Agribusiness development plan and delivery.

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ETHOS ASSET MANAGEMENT INC USA , announced a new long-term financing partnership with Grupo Fetz, a major player in the construction industry contributing to the development of Brazil. Ethos has committed to providing significant capital infusion that will continue for several years.

Carlos Santos, CEO of Ethos Asset Management Inc, stated,

The Fetz Group emerged almost four decades ago, initially operating in the field of civil construction, a sector where it gained credibility and success in the market, mainly in the agribusiness and sugar-energy sectors, striving for the quality of meeting deadlines. Today the group operates in civil construction, agribusiness (pork and beef market), Mining and Mineral Water extraction. Efficiency and integrity are our main values Ethos Asset Management (Ethos) is an independent, US-based company with global reach in resource mobilization and project financing. For more information, please visit https://www.ethosasset.com

"This is another wonderful moment for Ethos to be investing in a great and established successful company with a strong track record over 30 years in Brazil. We were immediately impressed with the team from Grupo Fetz, led by Founder and President Carlos Fetz and his immediate family, their passion, commitment and vision to improve the quality of the built environment in Brazil.

Grupo Fetz are equipped with state-of-the-art technology, constantly updated so that the most efficient techniques are available to the customer. Grupo Fetz believes strongly in investing in their human capital. Fetz's strength is due to the work of their managerial and professional structure, developing their staff and people to meet the company's objectives. This was a key factor that enabled Ethos to invest in Grupo Fetz."

Carlos Fetz, Founder and President, Grupo Fetz, stated,

"It was through networking with Renato Grander, that introduced us to this opportunity. Our company was very conservative, and going into international business wasn't our focus, until we met my namesake, Carlos Santos. It took many months to be aware of the entire procedure finalizing the negotiation, and today we're very grateful for having met Carlos Santos in person and having agreed to the negotiation. Here we are, to many more projects!".

Mayra Fonseca Couto, Ethos Chief Operating Officer - South America, stated,

"Investing in the Grupo Fetz project is a great honor for Ethos and emblematic because we will start this long-term partnership in the year they complete 40 years of solid and successful operation in the Brazilian market. A family group, with an extremely professional management and an example to be followed. It is a project that will contribute a lot to the agribusiness sector, especially to meet the growing demand in the pork and beef market, in a sustainable way and with great concern for the preservation of the environment. We are proud to be part of this history."

Claudia E. Schwerz, Ethos Associate, South America, stated,

"The demand and needs for food has grown tremendously all over the world, and with experience and expertise the FETZ GROUP has played and will continue to play an important role in this food chain by investing in expanding its operation in agribusiness by creating competitive advantage. It has been our pleasure and honor from Bridge Capital Partners to work with Ethos and FETZ Group to bring this unique disruptive financial model to Brazil".

About Ethos Asset Management Inc:

Ethos Asset Management (Ethos) is an independent, US-based company with global reach in resource mobilization and project financing.

For more information, please visit https://www.ethosasset.com

About Grupo Fetz:

"The Fetz Group emerged almost four decades ago, initially operating in the field of civil construction, a sector where it gained credibility and success in the market, mainly in the agribusiness and sugar-energy sectors, striving for the quality of meeting deadlines.

Today the group operates in civil construction, agribusiness (pork and beef market), Mining and Mineral Water extraction. Efficiency and integrity are our main values."

For more information, please visit https://fetz.com.br/

Contacts:

Carlos Fetz, Founder and President, Grupo Fetz:

Email [email protected]

Ethos USA:

Ethos Asset Management INC: Press Office [email protected]

+18585354814

SOURCE Ethos Asset Management Inc; Grupo Fetz
SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FAPON, a leading life sciences company, today announces that its senior executive management will attend the 41st Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, CA. Jielun ZHU, CFO & CIO of FAPON, will be making a corporate presentation on January 11 about FAPON's insights into the industry and its strategies.

This premier conference is the largest and most informative healthcare investment symposium in the industry, connecting global industry leaders, emerging fast-growth companies, innovative technology creators and members of the investment community. Discussions revolve around the latest updates and new trends in the healthcare industry.

FAPON aims to push the frontiers of science for a better, healthier world. To do that, it anticipates and accelerates to developments in biotechnology. Driven by innovation, FAPON focuses on three key lines of business: raw material solutions, the IVD ecosystem, and intelligent digital diagnosis & treatment. Supported by its strong global R&D, manufacturing, sales and service networks, FAPON's products reach 61 countries and regions, connecting over 1,500 business partners.

Jielun ZHU is an expert in finance and investment in the life science and healthcare industry with over 16 years of professional experience in investment banking and strategy consulting. As the CFO & CIO of FAPON, Jielun ZHU is in charge of financial management, capital market planning and execution, M&A, corporate venture investing and incubation at FAPON. He was the Managing Director and Head of Healthcare Investment Banking for Asia at Jefferies and formerly held various senior positions at UBS and Deutsche Bank. Before joining FAPON, Jielun ZHU served as the CFO of I-MAB Biopharma and supported the company in achieving numerous significant business and capital milestones.

About FAPON

Established in 2001 and with dual headquarters in Guangdong Province of South China, FAPON is committed to the research and development of in-vitro diagnostics (IVD), bio-therapies and precision diagnostics and treatment, and the provision of related products and services. Guided by "anticipation and readiness", one of its core values, FAPON focuses on three lines of business: raw material solutions, the IVD ecosystem, and intelligent digital diagnosis & treatment.

CONTACT: Tina Chen; [email protected]

SOURCE Fapon
DAYTON, Ohio, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovative Sterilization Technologies (IST)/ONE TRAY in Dayton, Ohio has announced that a Warning Letter issued in March 2019 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been closed. The FDA, as part of the warning letter review and correspondence, confirmed ONE TRAY's clearance contained a validated 48-hour storage period and has agreed that the company may use the specific language in the company's labeling consistent with the indications for use cleared in 2006. IST also attempted to remove the antiquated term "FLASH" without success, however, IST has agreed with the FDA regarding the uses for which the device may be labeled/marketed and commercialized. During the warning letter closure process, the FDA stated that, "a key distinction of Immediate Use Steam Sterilization (IUSS) is that it cannot and should not be stored."

ONE TRAY's 48-hour storage claim, which has been there from the beginning, has been acknowledged by the FDA.

Dave Billman, Chief Operations Officer stated, "We are pleased to announce a resolution with the FDA on this matter. ONE TRAY is the solution that drives efficiency for healthcare facilities. We are happy our storage claim, which has been there from the beginning, has been acknowledged by the FDA."

Removal of the warning letter

The warning letter closure follows the discussions surrounding sterilization terminology and acknowledges the storage of the ONE TRAY rigid sterilization container. FDA conclusions in the warning letter, which the company believes to include factual inaccuracies, does not take into consideration the following: current industry sterilization terminology, the scope of the

ONE TRAY 510k clearance, FDA's long-standing policy and guidance with respect to when to obtain clearance for device modifications, nor the years of interactions between the two parties (2014-current).

IST has been factual, and transparent in all FDA interactions since the commercialization of ONE TRAY. In addition, management of IST has maintained that the company's marketing has been within the scope of the industry definitions and followed FDA's guidance of the product in accordance with published FDA guidance documents. We are accordingly pleased to have resolved this long-standing compliance concern with the FDA.

Where do we go from here?

Since the commercialization of ONE TRAY in 2013, there have been more than 5 million uses with no reported medical device reporting (MDR) events. IST's products and processes have been repeatedly reviewed by the FDA, and all inspection observations have been addressed. Innovation comes with a lot of uphill battles, and IST has consistently taken on, and will continue to take on confidently, education supported by facts. Closure of the Warning Letter by the FDA shows compliance of IST and acknowledgment of the previously stated cleared validated 48-hour storage period.

If you have any questions regarding the closure of the ONE TRAY Warning Letter, please contact the company at 937.619.0138, visit onetray.com/fdawarningletter and send us a message, or email us at [email protected]. Follow the ONE TRAY IFU for use.

About IST - Innovative Sterilization Technologies (IST) was founded in 2013 with the goal of delivering products that ensure effective reprocessing efficiencies and economic savings in medical device sterilization. Our mission is to provide the highest quality sterilization container products supported by years of reliable service to our customers. We are committed to educating our industry on how new technology affects current practices and guidelines to help create an environment that benefits not only the user but supports our customers in their effort to provide One Standard of Care.

Media Contact

Kristy Schlachter

Director of Marketing

Phone: 937.619.0138

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE ONE TRAY
METUCHEN, N.J., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MouthWatch, LLC, an industry leader in teledentistry solutions and digital imaging devices , recognized the Fones School of Dental Hygiene at the University of Bridgeport as a telehealth pioneer in dentistry at its fifth annual Teledentistry Innovation Awards ("The Tellies") held November 28, 2022, in New York City.

MouthWatch launched The Tellies in 2018 to help drive visibility for individuals and organizations positively impacting the communities they serve by successfully implementing teledentistry as part of their patient care model.

As part of their clinical rotation experience, second-year students at the Fones School of Dental Hygiene provide dental care to their local Bridgeport community, including children, the homeless, senior citizens, veterans, and pregnant women using teledentistry and mobile clinics. Dr. Jennifer Boyce, Associate Director of Clinical Affairs at the Fones School of Dental Hygiene, accepts the 2022 Tellie Award from MouthWatch founder and CEO, Brant Herman, for her efforts leading the school's teledentistry and mobile dentistry community outreach efforts.

Dr. Jennifer Boyce, DMD, and Associate Director of Clinical Affairs at the Fones School of Dental Hygiene , accepted the 2022 Tellie in the Educational Institution category on behalf of the school and its outstanding use of teledentistry to provide free dental care to patients in the school's surrounding communities and to prepare the next generation of dental professionals for the growing use of telehealth.

"The Fones School of Dental Hygiene, led by Dr. Bois, and her efforts to expand access to dental care through the use of teledentistry, is a shining example of how when an academic institution combines passion with technology to connect with its community, everyone wins," said MouthWatch Founder and CEO, Brant Herman.

The Fones School of Dental Hygiene received a $225,000 grant in November 2021, as part of the American Rescue Plan to help improve access to oral health care for Bridgeport residents. This grant enabled the school to add a clinical rotation experience for students in teledentistry and mobile dentistry. Students have since provided care to children, the homeless, senior citizens, veterans, and pregnant women throughout the Bridgeport area.

The school plans to continue this clinical rotation for all its second-year students, as feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from both students and patients. Additionally, the school has developed a program to educate pregnant women about their heightened risk for oral health problems while also providing on-site dental treatments to those in need.

The 2022 Tellies recognized innovators in the following categories:

Dentists and Specialists

Dental Hygienists

Oral Health Programs

Educational Institutions

Dental Organizations

Additional 2022 Tellie award winners included Dr. Jin Xiao, Tiffany Grant, Floss and Gloss, and Apple Tree Dental. To learn more about the 2022 Tellie Award winners, visit the Teledentistry Innovation Awards website .

About MouthWatch, LLC

Headquartered in Metuchen, New Jersey, MouthWatch, LLC is a leader in innovative teledentistry solutions and intraoral imaging devices. The company is dedicated to finding new ways to constantly improve the dental health experience for both patients and providers.

In recent years, the company received the following significant awards and accolades: The 2020 and 2021 Cellerant Best of Class Award for TeleDent, the provider-focused, patient-friendly teledentistry platform. In 2021 and 2022, TeleDent also won Dentistry Today's Top 100 Products, Reader's Choice Top 25, Top Aesthetic and Restorative Products, and Top Innovative Products awards. The MouthWatch Intraoral Camera won Dentaltown Magazine's Dental Townie Choice Award in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

The company was also recognized as NJBIZ's 1-50 Employees Business of the Year and Inc. Magazine's 5000-Fastest Growing Private Companies in America. Technology Innovators Media Group recognized MouthWatch Founder and CEO, Brant Herman, as one of the Top 50 Healthcare Technology CEOs.

For more information, visit www.MouthWatch.com .

Media Contact:

Michael Ventriello

732-458-3497

[email protected]

SOURCE MouthWatch, LLC
CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Provi , the largest ecommerce marketplace for the beverage alcohol industry, today announced Bob Robbins as the company's new President and Chief Operating Officer. Robbins previously served in executive and leadership roles at Juul Labs, Constellation Brands, Beam Suntory, McKinsey & Company, and the U.S. Navy. He joins Provi with decades of strategic knowledge and expertise within and outside of the beverage alcohol industry, to further the company's mission of bringing greater efficiency to the beverage alcohol industry and the existing three tier system.

Bob Robbins, President and Chief Operating Officer, Provi

After serving as U.S. Navy Lieutenant Aviator for eight years, Robbins moved to McKinsey and Company where he consulted on strategic planning, organizational structure, and sales and marketing effectiveness for companies within the beverage alcohol industry. Robbins then ran wholesale contract negotiations, route-to-market strategy, sales operations, data analytics reporting, field sales and marketing in California at Beam Suntory.

Following his tenure at Beam Suntory, Robbins became VP, Sales Strategy for Constellation Brands. Within this role, he was responsible for commercial M&A, national incentive programs, all route to market strategy, and commercial annual planning. Most recently, Robbins served as President Americas and Chief Growth Officer for startup Juul Labs, seeing the team grow from 12 to 1,150 and valuation from $300 million to $38 billion in two years.

"I am thrilled to join Provi and continue the momentum of solving for a real industry-wide challenge," stated Robbins. "Throughout my career in the beverage alcohol industry, discovering and ordering products has been a tremendous pain point. I am looking forward to growing our footprint and bringing operational efficiencies to trade buyers, distributors and suppliers at scale."

As the President and Chief Operating Officer, Robbins, who reports directly to Provi's Founder and CEO, Taylor Katzman, will oversee the company's day-to-day operations and long-term growth. In this role, he will work with Provi's leadership team to execute core initiatives around retail, distributor and supplier programs.

"We are excited to welcome Bob to the team as we enter this next phase of our company," stated Katzman. "Bob's background and leadership approach will enable us to significantly accelerate our mission of creating a more efficient industry, while achieving operational excellence within our company. We are very proud of the impact we've been able to have on the industry and are eager to continue that positive change with industry leaders in the organization."

About Provi ( www.provi.com )

Provi is the largest online marketplace that simplifies the complex process of ordering wholesale alcohol by connecting buyers, distributors and suppliers. Active in key markets throughout the U.S., Provi's robust, online marketplace improves communication and efficiency for on- and off-premise buyers, distributors and suppliers. As of 2022, 10 percent of licensed retailers in the U.S. are on the marketplace. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Chicago, Provi has received a total of $125 million in funding, is valued at $750 million and has recently been named an Emerging Unicorn by Crunchbase. The company also received Built In Chicago's Best Places to Work recognition in 2022. In 2022, Provi joined forces with SevenFifty, which included the Beverage Media properties with industry legacy dating back to the repeal of prohibition, along with SevenFifty Daily , an award-winning industry publication discussing the beverage alcohol business and culture.

SOURCE Provi
- Collaboration with The William Harvey Research Institute and Queen Mary University of London

- PL-8177 displayed pro-resolving and anti-arthritic effects in rodents

CRANBURY, N.J., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Palatin Technologies, Inc. (NYSE American: PTN), a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class medicines based on molecules that modulate the activity of the melanocortin receptor system, today announced Frontiers in Immunology published a manuscript, "Pro-resolving and anti-arthritic Properties of the MC1 Selective Agonist PL8177", summarizing data demonstrating PL8177 provides therapeutic effects in inflammatory conditions, including arthritis.

Palatin, in collaboration with The William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, in London, UK, conducted the study to assess the immunopharmacology of a PL8177 in vitro and in a mouse model of inflammatory arthritis. Key findings included PL8177 activation of mouse and human MC1 receptors and that PL8177 displayed pro-resolving activity (enhanced macrophage efferocytosis) and counteracted the inflammatory profile of zymosan-stimulated macrophages, reducing the release of IL-1, IL-6, TNF- and CCL-2. In the context of joint inflammation, PL8177 reduced the clinical score, paw swelling and incidence of severe disease as well as the recruitment of immune cells into the arthritic joint.

"These results demonstrate that melanocortin-based therapies, and specifically those targeting the MC1 receptor (MC1r), are a promising strategy to manage chronic inflammatory diseases," said Carl Spana, Ph.D., President and CEO of Palatin. "This data adds to the robust body of pre-clinical and clinical safety and efficacy data for PL8177, demonstrating its anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving effects, including for inflammatory arthritis. We are excited to continue the PL8177 Phase 2 clinical trial for patients with ulcerative colitis, as well as other internal MC1r agonist development programs, to address unmet medical needs of the many patients suffering from inflammatory conditions."

The authors on the paper were Jose Garrido-Mesa and Bethan Lynne Thomas of The William Harvey Research Institute, John Dodd and Carl Spana of Palatin, and Mauro Perretti and Trinidad Montero-Melendez of The William Harvey Research Institute and the Centre for Inflammation and Therapeutic Innovation, Queen Mary University of London. The citation is https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.1078678.

Drugs targeting the melanocortin system have emerged as promising therapeutics for several conditions, including inflammatory diseases, obesity and sexual dysfunction, with several already FDA approved. As illustrated in the publication, melanocortins are peptides that have anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving effects. Many of these effects are mediated by the melanocortin receptor 1 as reported in several experimental settings. As such, MC1r can be a viable target for the development of new therapies that mimic endogenous pro-resolving mediators. Palatin has multiple MC1r agonist candidates in pre-clinical and clinical development.

Palatin is conducting a Phase 2 multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, adaptive design, clinical study of PL8177, with once daily (QD) oral dosing in adult UC subjects. The study is designed to enroll up to 28 adult subjects with active UC from approximately 22 sites. All subjects who meet the eligibility criteria will be randomized to receive either placebo or oral PL8177.

The PL8177-205 interim assessment is expected to occur in the first quarter of calendar year 2023, with final topline data anticipated in the second quarter of calendar year 2023. Additional trial information, including inclusion and exclusion criteria, can be found at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ via the identifier NCT05466890.

About PL8177

PL8177 is a synthetic cyclic heptapeptide with demonstrated efficacy in multiple animal inflammatory bowel disease models. PL8177 is a potent, selective agonist at the human melanocortin receptor-1, with sub-nanomolar affinity binding and EC 50 functional values. Palatin data demonstrates that the oral formulation of PL8177 was protected from degradation in the stomach and small intestine and delivered to the large intestine and colon over an extended period. In addition, orally administered PL8177 had a significant effect on resolving inflammation in a rat bowel inflammation model.

PL8177 in oral formulations has demonstrated repeated, robust efficacy in ulcerative colitis disease models. MC1r is found on epithelial cells and resident macrophages of the colon which are accessible from the lumen of the colon. Orally administered PL8177 is not systemically absorbed. PL8177 has the potential for excellent efficacy without safety concerns.

About Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic disease of the large intestine (colon), with inflammation and ulcerations that can cause significant abdominal pain, persistent diarrhea, loss of appetite and other symptoms. An estimated 1 million individuals in the United States are affected by ulcerative colitis, with over 350,000 diagnosed with moderate-to-severe disease. Existing treatments are not effective in a substantial portion of patients with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis, with certain severe cases resulting in surgical removal of the colon.

About Melanocortin Receptor Agonists and Inflammation

The melanocortin receptor ("MCr") system has effects on inflammation, immune system responses, metabolism, food intake, and sexual function. There are five melanocortin receptors, MC1r through MC5r. Modulation of these receptors, through use of receptor-specific agonists, which activate receptor function, or receptor-specific antagonists, which block receptor function, can have medically significant pharmacological effects. Many tissues and immune cells located throughout the body, including the gut, kidney and eye, express melanocortin receptors, empowering our opportunity to directly activate natural pathways to resolve disease inflammation.

About P alatin

Palatin is a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class medicines based on molecules that modulate the activity of the melanocortin receptor systems, with targeted, receptor-specific product candidates for the treatment of diseases with significant unmet medical need and commercial potential. Palatin's strategy is to develop products and then form marketing collaborations with industry leaders to maximize their commercial potential. For additional information regarding Palatin, please visit Palatin's website at www.Palatin.com and follow Palatin on Twitter at @PalatinTech.

Forward-looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts, including statements about future expectations of Palatin, such as statements about PL8177 clinical trials and results, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Palatin intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause Palatin's actual results to be materially different from its historical results or from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Palatin's actual results may differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements for reasons including, but not limited to, results of clinical trials, regulatory actions by the FDA and other regulatory and the need for regulatory approvals, Palatin's ability to fund development of its technology and establish and successfully complete clinical trials, the length of time and cost required to complete clinical trials and submit applications for regulatory approvals, products developed by competing pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, commercial acceptance of Palatin's products, and other factors discussed in Palatin's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Palatin is not responsible for updating for events that occur after the date of this press release.

Palatin Technologies and Vyleesi are registered trademarks of Palatin Technologies, Inc.

SOURCE Palatin Technologies, Inc.
DUBLIN, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Nasal Vaccines: Global Markets and Pipeline Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report examines trends and sales in the global market for nasal vaccines through 2027. Leaders in the industry and their vaccine portfolios, the need for nasal vaccine development, competitive intelligence and regional trends are discussed. The report includes a PESTEL analysis, that forms in part the base data for qualitative analysis and market estimates.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nasal vaccines are experiencing increased demand. Leading manufacturers in the vaccine industry are eyeing nasal vaccines as future revenue producers. This can be attributed to increasing government and regulatory support, which has also led to the rapid development of effective intramuscular COVID vaccines.

The emergence of coronavirus variants that can evade the immune response generated by existing vaccines has encouraged the research community and vaccine manufacturers to develop nasal vaccines that can be delivered as spray or drops into the nose and provide additional protection by stimulating mucosal immunity.



Nasal vaccines are anticipated to be a major game changer in blocking the transmission of diseases such as COVID-19. For instance, Indian vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech's intranasally administered COVID vaccine ais in Phase 3 clinical trials. The vaccine also received emergency use authorization (EUA) by the Indian Drug Authority in September 2022.

AstraZeneca's nasal spray flu vaccine is used globally in children and adults. In Russia, the Gamaleya institute has developed the Sputnik nasal vaccine for adults and is currently being tested on children between the ages of 8 and 12, and so far, has shown no side effects.



Nasal vaccines have certain advantages over the mainstay vaccines. In the present situation of waning and waxing COVID waves due to new variants, the medical profession needs noninvasive and less expensive alternatives to injectable vaccines. Nasal vaccines achieve both: They eliminate the use of needles, thus reducing the cost of vaccines and facilitating mass vaccination.

They also may increase vaccination compliance among individuals who are afraid of syringes. Because they can be delivered in spray form, nasal vaccines avoid the possibility of needle contamination. They are more cost-effective for low- and middle-income countries because the storage conditions required for these vaccines are less complicated than the cold storage facilities required for intramuscular vaccines.

Moreover, nasal vaccines are more effective against respiratory viruses, as they induce antibody production in the airway passages. Finally, nasal vaccines can be self-administered, relieving some of the pressure on overworked healthcare professionals. For viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 that can mutate rapidly, nasal vaccines are the best option as their spike proteins can be easily replaced to combat new versions of a virus.



The coordination between researchers, industrial resources, government support and conducive market forces will further propel the nasal vaccine market in the coming years. Researchers are optimistic about developing nasal vaccines to control the spread of the next pandemic, whether from COVID or another respiratory virus.

This would be unlike coronavirus vaccines, where it is difficult to identify the vaccinated asymptomatic carriers and therefore cannot block the virus transmission chain. However, the market is in dire need of the substantial funding required to accelerate the development of nasal vaccines.

The report examines all forms of nasal vaccines, such as nasal drops or sprays, but excludes intramuscular and oral vaccines. The report discusses nasal vaccines by type, such as live-attenuated, inactivated, protein subunit and viral vectors. The application areas covered include pediatric and adult. Primary care clinics, hospitals, pharmacies and others are the end-user segments covered.

Report Includes

23 data tables and 27 additional tables

A comprehensive overview and up-to-date analysis of the global market for nasal vaccines

Analyses of the global market trends, with historic market revenue data (sales figures) for 2019-2021, estimates for 2022, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2027

Highlights of the upcoming market opportunities and trends driving and restricting growth of the global nasal vaccines market and its sub-segments, and the major regions and countries involved in market developments

Estimation of the actual market size and revenue forecast for the global nasal vaccines market in USD millions, and its corresponding market share analysis by vaccine type, dosage form, patient group, end-user, and region

Discussion of new developments in the nasal vaccines market, underlying clinical trials for all phases and list of vaccines, and their regulatory approvals etc.

Identification of the major stakeholders and analysis of the competitive landscape based on recent developments, financial performance, and segmental revenues

Review of the new announcements, approvals, FDA clearances, partnerships and collaborations in the global nasal vaccines market

Detailed company profiles of the leading industry players, including

AstraZeneca plc

BioDiem Ltd

BlueWillow Biologics

Meissa Vaccines Inc

Serum Institute of India Pvt., Ltd

Key Topics Covered:

Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 Summary and Highlights

Chapter 3 Market Overview

3.1 Nasal Immune Response

3.2 Benefits of Developing Nasal Vaccines

3.3 Market Drivers

3.3.1 Rising Incidence of Respiratory Infections

3.3.2 Cost-Effective Alternative to Mainstream Vaccines

3.3.3 Increased Government Support and Favorable Regulations

3.3.4 Rising Awareness of the Need for Vaccination Programs

3.3.5 R&D for Nasal Vaccines

3.4 Market Restraints

3.4.1 Limited Immunization in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

3.4.2 Technical Drawbacks of Nasal Vaccines

3.5 Market Opportunities

3.5.1 Demand for Innovative Approaches to Combat Covid-19

3.6 PESTEL Analysis

3.7 Reimbursement Scenarios

3.8 Impact of Covid-19 on the Market for Nasal Vaccines

Chapter 4 Pipeline Analysis of Nasal Vaccines

4.1 Nasal Vaccine Product Pipeline

4.1.1 Product Pipeline, by Clinical Trial Phase

4.1.2 Product Pipeline, by Disease

4.1.3 Product Pipeline, by Vaccine Type

Chapter 5 Global Market for Nasal Vaccines by Type

5.1 Live-Attenuated Vaccines

5.2 Inactivated Vaccines

5.3 Viral Vector Vaccines

5.4 Protein Subunit Vaccines

Chapter 6 Global Market for Nasal Vaccines by Dosage Form

6.1 Nasal Sprays

6.2 Nasal Drops

6.3 Nasal Powders

6.4 Nasal Gels

Chapter 7 Global Market for Nasal Vaccines by Patient Group

7.1 Pediatric

7.2 Adult

Chapter 8 Global Market for Nasal Vaccines by End-user

8.1 Primary Care Clinics

8.2 Hospitals

8.3 Pharmacies

8.4 Other End-users

Chapter 9 Global Market for Nasal Vaccines by Region

9.1 North America

9.2 Europe

9.3 Asia-Pacific

9.4 Rest of the World (Row)

Chapter 10 Competitive Landscape

10.1 Announcements

10.2 Drug Approvals

10.3 Partnerships and Collaborations

Chapter 11 Company Profiles

Astrazeneca plc

Bharat Biotech International Ltd.

Biodiem Ltd.

Bluewillow Biologics Inc.

Codagenix Inc.

Changchun Bcht Biotechnology Co.

Cyanvac LLC

Intravacc LLC

Meissa Vaccines Inc.

Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute

Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/95qfzy

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

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Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Next-Generation Lithography Materials Market - A Global and Regional Analysis: Focus on Application, Material, and Region - Analysis and Forecast, 2022-2031" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global next-generation lithography materials market is projected to reach $1,005.3 million by 2031 from $85.7 million in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 29.46% during the forecast period 2022-2031.

The next-generation lithography materials market is expected to grow at a healthy growth rate, owing to the growing demand for cutting-edge microchips and semiconductors in smartphones and wearable technology.

According to International Data Corporation, smartphone shipments increased by 7.7% in 2021 compared to 2020. Smartphone players are implementing several technologies to reduce the weight and increase the features of smartphones to gain a strong foothold in the industry, creating a demand for next-generation lithography materials and technologies.

In addition, technological advancements, and increased investment in nanotechnology and nanodevices are driving the demand for nanolithography by creating a need for making structures on the nanometre scale, which in turn is complementing next-generation lithography materials' demand.

Furthermore, the U.S. government is making effective investments in nanotechnology through the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), a U.S. government R&D initiative that brings together federal departments and agencies with interests in nanomaterials research, development, and commercialization. Therefore, the aforementioned factors complement the NGL materials market growth.

Market Lifecycle Stage

Next-generation lithography is a process that transfers patterns from a photomask to a photoresist (light-sensitive chemical) on a substrate using light sources with wavelengths less than 193nm. The photoresist is either inherently sensitive to radiation or is formulated with a photosensitive compound that produces a reactive species when exposed to light.

Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL), which uses a wavelength of 13.5 nm, is currently the most widely used next-generation lithography technique. Other next-generation lithography techniques include electron beam lithography, nanoimprint lithography, focused ion beam lithography, x-ray lithography, and others.

Next-generation lithography technologies are gaining popularity. However, the high cost of next-generation lithography scanners and materials is a major barrier to its widespread adoption in several countries. Currently, Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography (ASML) is the only company providing EUV lithography machinery. However, with additional players entering the ecosystem in the coming years, the next-generation lithography materials industry is expected to expand significantly.

With a greater global emphasis on digital technologies such as 5G networks, artificial intelligence, and IoT, the shift to miniaturization of devices and enhancement of features opens significant sales and financing opportunities. This shift was prominently experienced in regions such as North America, Europe, and some Asian countries.

Impact of COVID-19

In 2020, the global lockdown caused by COVID-19 epidemic caused disruptions in manufacturing activity and supply networks, as well as production halts. However, due to changing consumer habits fuelled by the rise in remote work and distance learning, the demand for semiconductors increased.

As a result of this, semiconductor fabricators resumed production lines, with ease in lowdown restriction, to meet the growing demand for chips used in consumer electronics such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Furthermore, as digitization expands into every facet of daily life, demand for semiconductors continues to surge far beyond the global capacity for supply. This creates a need for expanding production and improving features of semiconductors, thus influencing advanced semiconductor materials demand including next generation lithography materials.

Market Segmentation



Segmentation 1: by Application

Automotive

Consumer Electronics

IT & Telecommunications

Others

In 2021, the consumer electronics sector segment dominated the overall next-generation lithography materials market in terms of value and volume, and it is expected to continue dominating the market till 2031.

Segmentation 2: by Material

Photoresist Material

Ancillary Material

The global next-generation lithography materials market is estimated to be led by photoresist material.

Segmentation 3: by Region

North America - U.S., Canada , and Mexico

- U.S., , and Europe - Germany , France , Sweden , Spain , and Rest-of- Europe

- , , , , and Rest-of- China

U.K.

Asia-Pacific and Japan - Japan , South Korea , Taiwan , India and Rest-of- Asia-Pacific

and - , , , and Rest-of- Rest-of-the-World

Asia Pacific and Japan led the next-generation lithography materials market in 2021 and is anticipated to uphold its dominance throughout the forecast period (2022-2031), owing to the presence of significant semiconductor players such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Recent Developments in the Global Next-Generation Lithography Materials Market

In August 2022 , JSR Corporation signed an investment agreement with the Lingang Special Area Government to establish a subsidiary in Shanghai . This is expected to expand JSR Group's business activities in the Chinese market relating to semiconductor materials. It is tentatively scheduled to begin operations in December 2022 .

, JSR Corporation signed an investment agreement with the Lingang Special Area Government to establish a subsidiary in . This is expected to expand JSR Group's business activities in the Chinese market relating to semiconductor materials. It is tentatively scheduled to begin operations in . In January 2021 , Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and DuPont de Nemours, Inc. established a semiconductor materials laboratory in Hsinchu, Taiwan . DuPont is expected to conduct semiconductor material research, development, and enhancement in collaboration with ITRI, as well as accelerate pilot testing and commercial viability to support DuPont's customers as they seek the next generation of semiconductors in Taiwan .

, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and DuPont de Nemours, Inc. established a semiconductor materials laboratory in Hsinchu, . DuPont is expected to conduct semiconductor material research, development, and enhancement in collaboration with ITRI, as well as accelerate pilot testing and commercial viability to support DuPont's customers as they seek the next generation of semiconductors in . In October 2020 , Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. invested around $278 million (30 billion) in photoresist manufacturing facilities in Japan and Taiwan . Shin-Etsu is expected to continue making facility investments to meet the rising demand for photoresists, which are critical in cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing, as well as technological advancements.

Demand - Drivers and Limitations



The following are the demand drivers for the next-generation lithography materials market:

Rising Proliferation of Feature Phones, and Tablets

Increasing R&D Activities on Next-Generation Lithography Materials

The market is expected to face some limitations due to the following challenges:

High Cost of Raw Materials

Limited Number of Players Offering Next-Generation Lithography Machinery

How can this report add value to an organization?

Product/Innovation Strategy: The product segment helps the reader understand the technology used in manufacturing next-generation lithography materials, including photoresist and ancillary material. Moreover, the study provides the reader with a detailed understanding of the next-generation lithography materials market by different application sectors (automotive, consumer electronics, IT & telecommunications, and others).

Growth/Marketing Strategy: The global next-generation lithography materials market has seen development by key players operating in the market, such as product launches, business expansion, partnership, collaboration, acquisition, and joint venture. The favored strategy for the companies has been expansion and collaboration to strengthen their position in the next-generation lithography materials market.

For instance, in February 2021, JSR Corporation joined Inpria Corporation's Series C funding round to support the company's initiatives for commercializing EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) photoresists.

Competitive Strategy: Key players in the global next-generation lithography materials market analyzed and profiled in the study involve next-generation lithography materials manufacturers and the overall ecosystem.

Moreover, a detailed competitive benchmarking of the players operating in the global next-generation lithography materials market has been done to help the reader understand how players stack against each other, presenting a clear market landscape.

Additionally, comprehensive competitive strategies such as partnerships, agreements, acquisitions, and collaborations will aid the reader in understanding the untapped revenue pockets in the market.

Key Market Players and Competition Synopsis

The companies that are profiled have been selected based on inputs gathered from primary experts and analyzing company coverage, product portfolio, and market penetration.

Some of the prominent names established in this market are:

Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd (TOK)

JSR Corporation

DuPont de Nemours, Inc.

Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd

Fujifilm Corporation.

Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.

Allresist GmbH

micro resist technology GmbH

Merck KGaA

Dongjin Semichem Co. Ltd.

Brewer Science, Inc.

SACHEM, INC.

Kayaku Advanced Materials, Inc.

Avantor Performance Materials Inc.

Irresistible Materials Ltd

Weifang Startech Microelectronic Materials Co., Ltd.

KemLab Inc.

Jiangsu Nanda Photoelectric Materials Co., Ltd

Shenzhen Didao Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/td386a

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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MEXICO CITY, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- To increase access to high quality and affordable medicines in Latin America and the Caribbean Region ("LAC") and address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at a global scale, IFC is providing a US$60 million multi-currency long-term loan to Genomma Lab Internacional, S.A.B. de C.V. ("Genomma"), a leading pharmaceutical company based in Mexico.

This is IFC's first multi-currency investment in the pharmaceutical industry anywhere in the world. The loan is expected to be disbursed in Chilean pesos, Colombian pesos, Peruvian soles, Mexican Pesos and U.S. dollars, to fund the company's working capital needs across Latin America. IFC's loan will help Genomma expand across LAC as well as increase the supply of affordable over-the-counter medicines and personal care products across the Region, and leveraging Genomma's state-of-the-art manufacturing complex.

Under its Global Health Platform (GHP), IFC's current investment is part of a systematic approach to the pharmaceutical sector in the region. A central pillar of the broader World Bank Group's response to COVID-19, GHP is a US$4 billion IFC program, which helps mobilize private investment to close the health care supply gaps in developing countries caused by the pandemic and to build resilient health systems.

Large segments of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean region do not have access to adequate health care insurance. An effective solution is Over-the-counter medicines (OTC), which represent an accessible source of health care globally. The OTC market is expected to increase more than 35% from 2020 to 2030. Though COVID-19 has further spurred the sector's growth, there are clear opportunities to expand access to OTC medicines.

"Genomma is facing significant demand for our products. IFC's financing will further allow us to further expand our in-house production, reducing costs and increasing people's access to affordable medications across Latin America," said Antonio Zamora-Galland, Chief Financial Officer of Genomma Lab.

"IFC's investment in a leading regional company will help strengthen the health systems by delivering quality and affordable over-the-counter medicines to lower-income populations across LAC, building future resilience," said Juan Gonzalo Flores, IFC's Country Manager for Mexico.

About IFC

IFCa member of the World Bank Groupis the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2022, IFC committed a record $32.8 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

About Genomma Lab Internacional

Genomma Lab Internacional, S.A.B. de C.V. is one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical and personal care products companies in Latin America with an expanding international presence. Genomma Lab develops, sells and markets a broad range of Premium branded products, many of which are leaders in the categories in which they compete in terms of sales and market share. The Company has a sound business model through a unique combination of a new product development process, consumer oriented marketing, a broad retail distribution network and a low-cost, highly flexible supply chain operating model. For more information visit: www.genommalab.com. Genomma Lab's shares are listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker "LABB" (Bloomberg: LABB:MM).

Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This report may contain certain forward-looking statements and information relating to the Company that reflect the current views and/or expectations of the Company and its management with respect to its performance, business and future events. Forward looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance or achievements, and may contain words like "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "envisages," "will likely result," or any other words or phrases of similar meaning. Such statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in this presentation and in oral statements made by authorized officers of the Company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: risks related to the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic, such as the scope and duration of the outbreak, government actions and restrictive measures implemented in response, material delays, supply chain disruptions and other impacts to the business, or on the Company's ability to execute business continuity plans as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic factors, such as interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; competition, including technological advances, new products attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development; the ability of the Company to successfully execute strategic plans; the impact of business combinations and divestitures; manufacturing difficulties or delays, internally or within the supply chain; significant adverse litigation or government action, including related to product liability claims; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including tax laws; changes in behavior and spending patterns of purchasers of products and services; financial instability of international economies and legal systems and sovereign risk. A further list and descriptions of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found within the Company's related filings with the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores. Any forward-looking statement made in this release speaks only as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Genomma Lab Internacional, S.A.B. de C.V.
Former GM of Adobe's commercial business will focus on accelerating global growth, improving efficiency and delivering excellent customer experience

SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Instructure , the maker of Canvas, today announced that Chris Ball has been named the company's new President and Chief Operating Officer, effective January 9. In the newly-created role of President and COO, Ball oversees the go-to-market strategy and customer lifecycle, including marketing, revenue operations, sales and customer experience. He will focus on driving efficiencies for growth and accelerating the execution of the company's mission of elevating student success, amplifying the power of teaching and inspiring everyone to learn together.

Chris Ball, President and COO at Instructure

Chief Revenue Officer Frank Maylett has informed the company that he intends to step down from the company. The date of Maylett's departure has not yet been determined.

"We're very grateful to Frank for leading the revenue organization through a pivotal period of change at Instructure. His contributions to the company are immeasurable," said Steve Daly, CEO of Instructure. "With Chris Ball leading the entire customer lifecycle, we look forward to building on that foundation and continuing to provide great value for educators and students. We're intentionally building a culture of success and Chris has a strong track record of scaling organizations. With his influence, we're looking forward to making an even greater impact on the education industry."

Ball brings 28 years of valuable experience leading high-growth, global, publicly-traded companies. Most recently, he was General Manager, Americas Enterprise (United States, Canada, and LATAM) of Adobe Systems Inc. During his tenure, Adobe surpassed $12.5B in annual revenues. Prior to Adobe, Ball served as the Entrepreneur In Residence at Lightspeed Venture Partners, a global venture capital firm focused on multi-stage investments in the enterprise, consumer, and health sectors. Prior to his time at Lightspeed Venture Partners, Ball spent over a decade at SAP, Americas as EVP & General Manager, running a variety of high-growth scale businesses, and held various executive management positions at several other publicly traded and venture-backed high-tech companies.

"Instructure has an enormous market opportunity to build on excellent products in the higher education and K-12 space worldwide," said Chris Ball. "I'm excited to join such a high-performing, mission-driven team committed to elevating learning and empowering educators."

ABOUT INSTRUCTURE

Instructure (NYSE: INST) is an education technology company dedicated to elevating student success, amplifying the power of teaching, and inspiring everyone to learn together. Today the Instructure Learning Platform supports tens of millions of educators and learners around the world. Learn more at www.instructure.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains "forward-looking" statements, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the potential, timing and examples of any strategic alternatives. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, but are based on management's expectations as of the date of this press release and assumptions that are inherently subject to uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements include the risk factors described in the Company's form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 23, 2022 and other documents filed with the SEC and could cause actual results to vary from expectations. All information provided in this press release is as of the date hereof and Instructure undertakes no duty to update this information except as required by law.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Brian Watkins

Corporate Communications

Instructure

801-610-9722

[email protected]

SOURCE Instructure
WICHITA, Kan., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine at Kansas Health Science Center, Kansas' first osteopathic medical school and located in downtown Wichita, has expanded its leadership team by appointing David Ninan, DO, as dean and chief academic officer and Kimberly Long, Ph.D., as the chief administrative officer.

Dr. Ninan has been serving as interim dean since July 2022. His selection as dean and chief academic officer follows a nationwide search and thorough review of candidates by the non-profit's search advisory committee.

Dr. Ninan joined the KansasCOM faculty in March 2021 as the assistant dean of curriculum innovation and education. His career in medical school education includes experience in curriculum development, classroom instruction, overseeing residency programs, and serving on a national review committee for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

"It became very clear that Dr. Ninan's authentic leadership, commitment to the development of an exemplary curriculum, and forward thinkingparticularly related to technology and residency placementis exactly what KHSC-KansasCOM needs at this moment in time and for the foreseeable future," said Tiffany Masson, Psy.D, president of KHSC-KansasCOM. "Dr. Ninan has demonstrated a strong commitment to the development of KHSC-KansasCOM and continues to bring new ideas that will only bolster our efforts toward having a long-lasting impact on our community."

Dr. Long is filling the newly created position of chief administrative officer after serving as associate dean for academic affairs. She was hired in April 2021. In this new role, Dr. Long will continue to work alongside Dr. Ninan in academic affairs with a focus on academic operations. In addition, she will oversee facilities and human resources and work to develop the next institutional strategic plan.

"I look forward to leveraging the many talents and skills Drs. Ninan and Long bring to their roles and to their continued collaboration to support the many areas of growth for KHSC-KansasCOM," Dr. Masson said.

About Kansas Health Science Center:

Kansas Health Science Center is a nonprofit organization committed to developing strong, innovative education programs in emerging areas of health care. KHSC opened the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2022 to positively impact the health landscape in Wichita and the state of Kansas through directly addressing the disparity in access to health care. KHSC is part of TCS Education System, a nonprofit, integrated system that works collaboratively to advance institutional sustainability, student success, and community impact. Learn more.

About Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine:

Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine's inaugural class started in August 2022. Implementing a curriculum that is student focused, patient centered, and community based, the mission of the nonprofit institution is to train the osteopathic physician of the future to provide effective, empathetic, and innovative care to optimize the health of patients and their communities. Located in downtown Wichita, KansasCOM is the first osteopathic medical school in the state of Kansas. Learn more.

SOURCE Kansas Health Science Center
DALLAS, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Experienced business litigation attorneys Brad Jackson and Cheryl Mann, assisted by associate attorney Patrick Fang, all of Dallas' The Law Offices of Brad Jackson, have won a judgment of more than $656,000 against the City of Dallas in a real estate dispute over a strip of valuable land along Mockingbird Lane. With the addition of prejudgment interest, the total amount due under the judgment exceeds $850,000.

Mr. Jackson and Ms. Mann successfully represented real estate developer 6101 Mockingbird, LLC in the lawsuit after the City of Dallas demanded a 10-foot strip of land as a condition of approving the owners' request for a plat to permit the redevelopment of two adjoining lots, which the company argued was an "illegal taking."

Mr. Jackson and Ms. Mann defeated the city's attempts to have the case dismissed by winning a key ruling from the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas that cleared the way for a trial.

The trial's first phase was conducted in September when the court found that the city was liable to the company for taking the land. The damages phase of the trial occurred in December, with a final ruling issued in favor of Mr. Jackson's and Ms. Mann's client on December 23.

In the final judgment, Hon. Judge Juan Renteria of County Court at Law No. 5 ordered the City of Dallas to pay $327,603 in actual damages plus prejudgment interest of 7 percent beginning Dec. 2, 2015. The city was additionally ordered to pay $328,617.50 in attorneys' fees and approximately $25,000 in fees for expert witnesses. If the city unsuccessfully appeals the case, it will be liable for 6101 Mockingbird's appellate attorney fees, potentially totaling nearly $100,000.

Based in Dallas, The Law Offices of Brad Jackson provides decades of experience representing clients in Texas and across the nation. Brad Jackson is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. The firm handles many types of business disputes, as well as cases involving serious personal injury and wrongful death. To learn more, visit http://www.bradjackson.com.

For more information, contact Bruce Vincent at 214-763-6226 or [email protected].

SOURCE Law Offices of Brad Jackson
 Legal Tech Alternative to Traditional Divorce Helps Couples Reach Agreement Without Attorneys During "Divorce Month"

LOS ALTOS, Calif., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the launch of the Silicon Valley-based legal tech startup, Resolution 8 Technologies, the maker of BlissDivorce, announces a substantial increase in site traffic and urgency to start the divorce process in January, better known to many legal experts as "Divorce Month." BlissDivorce is shaking up the traditional divorce process. The newly launched proprietary Digital Divorce Mediation technology has proven to have a 100% success rate in helping couples come to a complete divorce agreement without attorneys involved. Reasons can vary, but many credit that the thinking of hope in a new year will bring new beginnings and a fresh start.

"Within my practice, I typically see a rise of filings by about 30% during the first couple months of the year. Examining divorce rate trends and after 30 years of practicing as a family law attorney, the psychological effects of the new year, and the nature of the holiday season, we can better understand why we see choosing now as the time that makes sense for them. The holidays can be a time of reflection, during which couples may realize that their marriage is no longer working. Many people feel pressure to have a happy marriage and to create the "ideal" family environment. Couples who are unhappy in their relationships may feel that they cannot break the news to their families until after the holidays are over," said Randy Kessler, Family Law Attorney, Law Professor, Media Contributor, and Advisor of BlissDivorce. "There are some couples where both opposing parties absolutely need attorney representation and might not be a fit for BlissDivorce. Those might include a very high-conflict spouse who is unwilling to make compromises or very high net-worth individuals who own multiple businesses and need the assistance of financial forensics. But typically, most couples want to exit their marriage less painfully, quickly, and cost-effectively. I have seen BlissDivorce and our proprietary Digital Divorce Mediation technology work successfully for many couples who may have complicated issues like child custody and visitation, alimony, division of financial assets and debts, and personal property," he continued.

Legal Tech Alternative to Traditional Divorce Helps Couples Reach Agreement Without Attorneys During "Divorce Month" Tweet this

While the average divorce in the U.S. costs $26,000 BlissDivorce is only $3,700 plus state-required filing fees. BlissDivorce offers a low down payment option of $499 to get started and an installment plan of 4 interest-free payments.

"We hear from our customers and BlissDivorce mediators that the stress and pressure of the holidays can spur people to finally make the decision to file for divorce. Couples may know their relationship is in trouble and have a 'New Year's Divorce Resolution.' This, combined with the fact that we make divorce less complicated, less time-consuming, and less expensive, are reasons we have seen a rise in demand," said Scott Seidewitz, CEO and Co-founder of BlissDivorce. "Our technological breakthrough of helping couples reach a full divorce agreement without attorneys has made our startup 'the buzz' in legal tech. And, if a couple still has a few issues to work out for any reason, they can meet for up to five hours with a skilled mediator over Zoom at no additional cost. BlissDivorce comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so couples who think hiring an attorney is their only choice don't have any risk trying us out," he continued.

With BlissDivorce, it's finally possible to help couples reach a complete divorce agreement without attorneys so they can move on to the next chapter of their lives. For more information, visit www.blissdivorce.com.

About BlissDivorce :

BlissDivorce is a DIY online divorce platform with patent-pending Digital Divorce Mediation technology that helps couples reach a full divorce agreement without hiring attorneys. We provide a personalized experience that guides users through the process so they can move on in less time, with less conflict, and for a lot less money. BlissDivorce is available in California, with plans to expand nationally. For more information, visit www.BlissDivorce.com .

For media inquiries, please contact [email protected].

SOURCE The BlissDivorce Online Platform
D Magazine honors Higdon among Dallas' top personal injury attorneys

DALLAS, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The trial firm Lyons & Simmons LLP is pleased to announce partner Stephen Higdon has been named to D Magazine's Best Lawyers Under 40, the annual listing of North Texas' leading young lawyers.

Higdon is honored for his personal injury work representing plaintiffs. This is his third selection to the annual listing.

The Best Lawyers Under 40 list is compiled based on peer nominations, followed by a close review from an independent panel of distinguished attorneys working in conjunction with D Magazine's editors. The 2023 edition is published as part of the magazine's January 2023 issue.

Higdon has extensive courtroom experience handling a wide range of civil litigation in cases involving catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, and complex business litigation. He was part of the trial team that secured a recent $10.1 million medical negligence verdict against Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Flower Mound and part of the firm's record-setting trial team that received the prestigious John Howie Award in 2021. He has been recognized by Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers on the Texas Rising Stars listing each year since 2019, as well as Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch since 2021.

Higdon earned his law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law and his undergraduate degree from Southwestern University. He started his legal career clerking for the Hon. Michael H. Schneider in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas where he was responsible for hundreds of complex civil and criminal cases and participated in trials ranging from product liability to complex business disputes.

About Lyons & Simmons LLP

Dallas-based Lyons & Simmons, LLP is a trial boutique representing clients in wrongful death, personal injury, products liability, and complex "bet-the-company" business litigation matters across the country.

Media Contact:

Rhonda Reddick

800-559-4534

[email protected]

SOURCE Lyons & Simmons
Nation's Fastest-Growing Pizza Brand* Jumps 19 Spots Year-Over-Year, Prioritizes Nationwide Expansion in 2023

TOLEDO, Ohio, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Marco's Pizza, the nation's fastest-growing pizza brand*, was recognized as No. 51 on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500, the world's first, best, and most comprehensive franchise ranking. The 44th annual Entrepreneur Franchise 500 is a highly sought-after honor in the franchise industry. Marco's moved up 19 spots, previously ranking No. 70 in 2022. Recognized as an invaluable resource for potential franchisees, the 2023 Franchise 500 ranks Marco's for its outstanding performance in areas including growth, financial strength and stability, and brand power.

At the crux of Marco's ongoing growth is its renowned high-quality pizza which has provided the basic foundation to scale. The 1,100-plus unit brand opened more than 90 stores and awarded 140 franchises in 2022. In the last six years, Marco's has doubled its store footprint and has no intention of slowing down. With vast whitespace across the country, company leadership has identified 4,200 potential U.S. locations.

"We have our dedicated teams at the corporate office and franchisee store-level to thank for our growth and strong performance over the past year," said Tony Libardi, Co-CEO & President of Marco's Pizza. "Their tenacity and drive to succeed speaks volumes, and the No. 51 recognition we're receiving from Entrepreneur is a direct result of their hard work. 2023 is poised to be a remarkable year for Marco's as we build on our achievements, inch closer toward major brand milestones, and grow our nationwide presence."

Alongside growth, Marco's has surpassed $1B in annual systemwide sales and continues to prioritize maximizing franchisee profits with strong unit-level economics. Nation's Restaurant News Top 500 Report shows Marco's achieved the highest percent year-over-year sales change (+18.2%) when compared to the nation's top 4 pizza brands, making Marco's the No. 5 pizza brand in systemwide sales in America**.

Now, Marco's has its sights set on becoming the No. 4 brand in pizza as it experienced a 12.8% increase in year-over-year Average Unit Volume (AUV), and the Top 50% of Marco's franchised stores generated $1,198,201 AUV for 2021***.

"The past year underscores the extraordinary opportunities that the franchise industry presents for entrepreneurs of all levels," says Entrepreneur editor in chief Jason Feifer. "The companies named to our 44th annual Franchise 500 list represent some of the most innovative, creative, and trusted brands across many industries and highlight what it takes to build the kind of momentum that drives long-lasting success."

In Entrepreneur's continuing effort to best understand and evaluate the ever-changing franchise marketplace, the company's 44-year-old ranking formula continues to evolve as well. The editorial team researches and assesses several factors that go into the evaluation including costs and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability. Each franchise is given a cumulative score based on an analysis of more than 150 data points, and the 500 franchises with the highest cumulative scores become the Franchise 500 in ranking order.

Over its 44 years in existence, the Franchise 500 has become both a dominant competitive measure for franchisors and a primary research tool for potential franchisees. Marco's position on the ranking is a testament to its strength as a franchise opportunity.

With prime territories available, Marco's provides a full development support system, including technology and tools to help identify the right territories for expansion plus expertise in financing, real estate, construction management, and field operations, to assist franchisees and multi-unit operators. According to FRANdata, a leading research and advisory firm that analyzes the franchise market, Marco's 2022 FUND Score of 895 is in the top 1% of all evaluated franchise systems and is the 2nd highest score among all evaluated food franchises.

For more information on Marco's Pizza franchise opportunities, visit https://www.marcos.com/franchising/ or call 866-731-8209 to speak with Shannon Iverson, Vice President of Franchise Sales.

To view Marco's Pizza in the full ranking, visit www.entrepreneur.com/franchise500. Results can also be seen in the January/February 2023 issue of Entrepreneur, available on newsstands January 17th.

ABOUT MARCO'S PIZZA

Marco's Pizza is one of America's Top 10 Favorite QSR Brands according to the 2022 Market Force Information Study. Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Marco's Pizza is the fastest-growing pizza brand in the United States*. Marco's was founded in 1978 by Italian-born Pasquale ("Pat") Giammarco and thrives to deliver a high-quality pizza experience, known for its dough made from scratch and its three fresh signature cheeses. The company has grown from its roots as a beloved Ohio brand to operate over 1,100 stores in 34 states with locations in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Most recently, Marco's Pizza was ranked No. 51 on Entrepreneur Magazine's 2023 "Franchise 500" ranking. Other recent accolades include a high ranking on Newsweek's 2023 "America's Best Customer Service" in pizza chains list, ranked No. 40 on QSR's Top 50 and has been featured six consecutive years on Nation's Restaurant News' prestigious "Top 500" ranking.

*Marco's Pizza is the fastest-growing pizza brand based on year-over-year unit growth, according to 2021 NRN Top 500 U.S. Restaurant Ranking LSR Pizza Segment.

**Marco's is now the 5th largest pizza brand in systemwide sales, according to 2021 NRN Top 500 US Restaurant Ranking LSR Pizza Segment."

***Based on the Average Unit Volume of the top 50% of our Franchised Stores for fiscal year 2021. Based on fiscal year 2021, 146 of 389 Franchised Stores in the category (38%) met or exceeded this average. This information appears in Item 19 of our current FDD  please refer to our FDD for complete information on financial performance. Results may differ. There is no assurance that any franchisee will perform as well.

SOURCE Marco's Pizza
McNair Interests forms McNair Living as they see strong residential development opportunity in intergenerational communities

HOUSTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- McNair Interests the private investment firm and real estate developer, announces investment in and creation of McNair Living. After deploying over a half billion dollars toward innovative new construction starts in multi-family, retail and hotel development over the last half decade, McNair Interests is turning their real estate investments headlong into developing ageless residential developments through McNair Living.

"We launched McNair Living in early 2022 to build and invest in developments where people of every age and ability can live in community together," said Cary McNair, CEO of McNair Interests. "We've asked two of the most experienced executives in the industry to lead our McNair Living platform, with a focus to develop communities that encourage growth, engagement, and lifelong learning." McNair Interests selected real estate entrepreneurs and senior living thought leaders, Ryan Haller and Les Strech, to lead McNair Living. With Americans living longer, healthier, and more active lives, traditional senior living environments seems to have lost all appeal. With pickleball courts across the country encircled by long lines of waiting participants and lifelong learning initiatives at universities in high attendance the desires of aging Americans have experienced a fundamental shift.

McNair Living has a multi-brand strategy that is led by their" Varcity" brand.

Varcity is developing intergenerational residential communities on or near university campuses with intimate university tie ins, including logo rights. Varcity developments allow alumni and local lifelong learning lovers to make the university campus home again and reengage in campus living through classes, sporting events and programmed mentoring opportunities for current students to tap into their wisdom. Varcity has Big Ten and SEC campuses for their inaugural projects scheduled to break ground in early 2024 that will expand into another half dozen campuses by 2026. McNair Living is headquartered on the University of Kentucky's campus, offering a daily reminder of the life and energy in a university environment that should benefit more than the 1822-year-olds.

With the American awakening around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in commerce, sports, and most every secular outlet, McNair Living is leading the residential awakening of age diversity on college campuses. For years, companies and educational institutions have ramped up their DEI efforts through more organized and measurable initiatives. Universities, however, have unintentionally become some of the most ageist residential environments in the country. The momentum that McNair Living is experiencing seems to be directly linked to them offering a tangible solution - changing the way we see aging by promoting architecture and programming that amplifies lifelong learning with a "what's next" type of mentality. Varcity's communities also engage a mutually beneficial relationship among their resident older adults, the university, and the students by emphasizing how older adults' life experience and knowledge can enlighten younger generations as well as the energy, comradery, and sense of purpose that students can bring to the Varcity residents.

The late Bob McNair, McNair Living's namesake, was a fervent believer in the value of lifelong learning and education, underscored by his quote in 2002 stating, "If you're going to have a satisfactory standard of living, you're going to have to be competitive in this world, and you can't be competitive if you don't have a good education." Bob and Janice McNair through their McNair Foundation have given millions of dollars to higher education across the country, including funding the McNair Scholars Program. Today, McNair Interests, a brand synonymous with thoughtful design, iconic properties, and modern sophistication, has a portfolio of current real estate assets under management of over $3 Billion with assets that include mixed-use, multifamily residential, hospitality, single-family, office, life science labs, industrial, and ranchland conservation assets.

About McNair Living:

McNair Living is a wellness real estate company that develops bespoke apartments villas, condos and single family residential as a part of master planned communities. McNair Living often partners with America's most prestigious universities to build and operate on-campus developments. The company provides residential living that eliminates generational separation and reinvents campus life. The company's designed environments have plenty of attitude with open spaces, interaction with nature and floor plans to suit people's needs. Their goal is to create more inclusive living environments in regard to one's quest for longevity. The company has a new way of thinking about aging and a commitment to curbing ageism. McNair Living believes that bringing together older and younger people will help solve some of the most pressing societal issues of our time.

Contact:

Jenn Jimenez

571-243-6865

[email protected]

SOURCE McNair Living
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Melmark has partnered with Swinerton Builders and Ossa Design Studio to design and build a new school facility at its service division in Charlotte, North Carolina. Groundbreaking for the school building, which will provide state-of-the-art and fully accessible learning and working environments, took place on Tuesday, December 6. Construction of Melmark's new school is expected to be complete by the spring of 2023 and will allow the organization to increase census from 22 to 72, providing opportunities for school districts, students, and families in need of clinically sophisticated services. The new school building will also increase job opportunities for those seeking to work with highly skilled leaders in special education.

Melmark's cross-divisional senior leadership team gathered to take part in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Melmark school building in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"Over the past five years we have been proud to serve students in this region. We have partnered with school professionals, families, and other stakeholders to share information about the highly specialized special education programming Melmark is renowned for. There is a steady, growing need for our services and this new school building will support spacious, well-designed classroom environments with innovative tools for learning and skills building. This growth in NC reflects our mission and strategic goal to serve children in diverse and inclusive communities who need and deserve Melmark's specialized special education services to reach their best outcomes," said Rita M. Gardner, M.P.H., LABA, BCBA, CDE Melmark President and CEO.

The Melmark School is a Department of Public Instruction (DPI) approved Exceptional Children's Program specialized in serving students, ages five to 22, who require an intensive, individualized educational approach with a behavioral framework designed in an educationally appropriate learning environment. Students who attend the Melmark School have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders and other intellectual and developmental disabilities, which may be secondary to complex behavioral profiles.

The new building will be a 31,000 square foot, one-story structure designed to meet the student population's accessibility needs and ADA requirements. The new building will provide grade-level access to classrooms and other resources in 14 classrooms, clinical support spaces, offices, and fully accessible restrooms. A lunchroom will provide more meaningful social interaction opportunities for students, and offer a larger space for professional development and training as Melmark continues to emphasize a highly skilled workforce.

During the groundbreaking ceremony, Gardner thanked the generous donors bolstering the organization's financial commitment to this new building and the gold standard Melmark is known for in the field of evidence-based special education services. "This project recognizes that the exceptional quality of Melmark's special education programs must be matched with a similar quality school environment," said Gardner. She added, "It recognizes that resources at the point of care for the children and adults Melmark serves is at the heart of the organization's mission. We believe every child has a right to their Free and Appropriate Public Education and we are extraordinarily proud to provide exceptional educational services for both North and South Carolina children."

The school is being constructed through philanthropic support, with donations from families, corporate partners, foundations, event proceeds, and other major donations. For information about supporting the project, contact [email protected].

Melmark is a not-for-profit organization providing clinically sophisticated evidence-based special education, residential, vocational and therapeutic services for children and adults with autism spectrum disorders, developmental and intellectual disabilities, acquired brain injuries and other neurological and genetic disorders. All specialized special education services are based on the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA) and are designed based on each student's individual needs.

Recognized as one of the leading providers in the country, Melmark has a combined staff of over 1,200 at its service divisions in Pennsylvania, New England, and the Carolinas and serves 1,000 individuals from across the country. To learn more, visit www.melmark.org.

Ossa Design Studio is a multidisciplinary design firm providing services with contractors to create impactful experiences through design. Visit www.ossastudio.com for more information.

Swinerton provides commercial construction and construction management services throughout the United States. Founded in 1888, Swinerton is 100% employee-owned and is the preferred builder and trusted partner in every market it servesproudly leading with integrity, passion, and excellence. Swinerton is headquartered in Concord, CA with regional offices in Spokane and Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Clara, Los Angeles, Santa Ana, and San Diego, CA; Honolulu, HI; Denver, CO; Dallas and Austin, TX; Atlanta, GA; Charlotte and Raleigh, NC; and New York City, NY. Visit www.swinerton.com for more information.

If you would like more information, please contact Lindsay Casavant at [email protected].

SOURCE Melmark
Largest-ever meeting of its kind praises the role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 60 government ministers and delegations responsible for their countries' minerals and metals strategies attended the second Ministerial Roundtable hosted by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources in the largest-ever meeting of its kind. The Roundtable, which took place today in Riyadh, will be followed by the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) 2023, which runs between 11  12 January 2023. FMF is conducted under the auspices of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

Largest-ever meeting of its kind praises the role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabias Vision 2030 (PRNewsfoto/Future Minerals Forum)

21 international organizations also participated in the Roundtable, including the World Bank, the United Nations, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, a 400-member NGO dedicated to nature conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources.

His Excellency Bandar Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources opened the meeting with a speech in which he welcomed participants and highlighted that the meeting reflected the vital role mining plays in shaping our transition to a sustainable future and equitable economic development. While the focus was on the super-region that stretches from Africa to Central Asia, he said: "I think it's safe to say that mining interests all over the world are following what we discuss."

His Excellency Al-Khorayef added: "When we convened the first Ministerial Roundtable a year ago, we intended to increase awareness of the potential for mineral-driven economic development across our region. We wanted to place this vast mineral heartland on the world's net-zero transition stage. In our second event, interest has only increased. This shows our joint commitment to the net-zero transition and a resource-efficient, resilient and responsible future. It also demonstrates the challenge this change poses to our generation."

Several ministers will participate in the conference sessions, most notably HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Minister of Energy; HE the Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih; HE the Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Bandar Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, and HE the Vice-Mining Affairs Khalid Al-Mudaifer.

Confirmed speakers include leading energy, minerals and metals industry leaders and think tank experts, including: Mike Henry, CEO of BHP; Andrew Liveris, Chairman of Lucid Motors; Roy Harvey, President and CEO of Alcoa; Gerd Muller, Director General UNIDO; and Robert Wilt, CEO of Ma'aden.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980978/FMF_Largest_Meeting.jpg

SOURCE Future Minerals Forum
WEST COLUMBIA, S.C., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- M&P Specialty Insurance , the industry leading provider of insurance and risk management services to the crane and rigging, steel erection, heavy haul, house raising and structural moving industries, today announced the completion of a nearly one-year long major rebranding initiative.

As a result of this rebranding initiative, the company will bid farewell to the "&" symbol in its name, and will become MP Specialty Insurance. The company, also as a result of the rebranding project, unveiled a new and simplified version of its company logo. Dawning new signature green and blue colors, this is the first new iteration of the company's logo since its inception in 2002.

"MP Specialty Insurance is committed to excellence," said Jason McElrath, President of MP Specialty Insurance. "Just as we must evolve and meet the needs of our customers as times change, so, too, should our branding elements. We're excited to launch these components today, and to announce the streamlining of our name, and look forward to continuing our work with our customers across the United States."

MP Specialty Insurance was founded in West Columbia, South Carolina in 2002. Since, the company has grown significantly and now services more than 250 customers across the United States. MP Specialty Insurance and its founders bring more than 40 years of industry experience to the service of its customers, and the company is licensed in all 50 states.

Lexington-based The Inspyre Group helped lead MP Specialty Insurance through the rebranding initiative, and continues to consult the company on its corporate branding and marketing programs and practices.

For more information on MP Specialty Insurance, please visit www.mpspecialty.com .

SOURCE MP Specialty Insurance
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien on Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 174 being heard today by the U.S. Supreme Court:

"Workers in America have the fundamental right to strike, and American workers have died on picket lines to protect it. The ability to withhold your labor is the one powerful tool throughout the history of unionization that has ensured workers can improve their working conditions.

"This right is now on trial at the Supreme Court. The anti-worker case before the Court is undemocratic and disregards long-standing legal precedent. It is about corporations using the legal system to try to deny workers their inherent power. Regardless of the outcome, Corporate America will fail in such pursuits because American workers will never be broken.

"For both the American worker and our entire country, the Supreme Court must affirm the lower court's ruling that the legality of the strike falls exclusively within the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board.

"The right of workers to strike must be preserved and protected."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org to learn more. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.

Contact:

Kara Deniz, (202) 497-6610

[email protected]

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Conversion to equity signals continued investor confidence in the web-based language translation software market and provides continued growth opportunities for Pairaphrase.

BIRMINGHAM, Mich., Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprise language translation software company Pairaphrase announced today its equity deal with Red Cedar Ventures, a Michigan State University (MSU) Foundation-funded venture capital firm.

Its online translation software product obtained pre-seed funding from the firm in the form of a convertible note in 2019 when it was one of five companies accepted into that year's MSU Conquer Business Accelerator program. Red Cedar Ventures has decided to convert its note to equity.

Enterprise language translation software company Pairaphrase announced today its equity deal with Red Cedar Ventures. Tweet this

Funding from RCV has allowed Pairaphrase to expand its marketing efforts and add multiple platform enhancements to continue its mission to solve the world's translation challenges. Over the past 2 years, Pairaphrase's annual revenue has grown 30%.

"We are thrilled to continue to see the progress of the company and excited about next steps. We appreciate all the support including Red Cedar Ventures as an equity partner. This opportunity will help catapult Pairaphrase toward further growth and provide our users with the best translation management system possible," says Pairaphrase CTO & CMO, Rick Woyde.

Red Cedar Ventures' vision is to be the leading Mid-Michigan Venture Fund providing economic impact for the region and the state with new jobs, new companies, and value-added partnerships.

"We always appreciate supporting and investing in Michigan growth-oriented startups like Pairaphrase, said RCV's Executive Director Jeff Wesley. Watching the team grow through the Conquer Accelerator and mentoring them through the years prior has set the stage for continuing to convert our investment and see the company through the next stage of its commercial growth."

About Pairaphrase

Pairaphrase puts advanced translation technologies into the hands of everyday business users to reduce the time and costs associated with the production of secure, high-quality translations. For more information about Pairaphrase, please contact Rick Woyde at [email protected] or visit https://www.pairaphrase.com.

About Michigan State University Research Foundation

Established in 1973 as an independent non-profit, the Michigan State University Research Foundation is committed to the commercialization of cutting-edge technologies invented by MSU faculty, staff, and students. The MSU Foundation's overarching goal is to support research, innovation, and entrepreneurship at the University. Additionally, the MSU Research Foundation operates Spartan Innovations, Red Cedar Ventures, Michigan Rise and incubator facilities to help drive economic development. More information on the organization's notable achievements, services, leadership, and history are available at www.msufoundation.org.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Rick Woyde, CTO & CMO

Pairaphrase LLC

[email protected]

SOURCE Pairaphrase
Inbound passengers arrive at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in east China's Shanghai, Jan. 8, 2023. From Sunday, China starts managing COVID-19 with measures designed for combating Class B infectious diseases, instead of Class A infectious diseases. (Xinhua/Ding Ting) BEIJING, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- At around 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, flight NZ289 from New Zealand landed at the Pudong International Airport. It was the first international inbound flight to arrive in Shanghai after China downgraded its management of COVID-19, meaning those on board would not be subject to quarantine. Shaly Rauss, a German passenger on the flight who lives in Shanghai, went to New Zealand for a holiday three weeks ago. "I felt so lucky. We booked tickets one year ago. I did not know then that this would happen. We were expecting quarantine but now we don't have to quarantine. I feel very happy," she said. China now manages COVID-19 with measures against Class B infectious diseases, instead of Class A infectious diseases, in a major shift of its epidemic response policy. This downgrade in management policy will facilitate the smooth and orderly cross-border travel of Chinese and foreign nationals, enhance international exchanges and cooperation, and also help boost the global economy. On Jan. 9, Shandong Airlines will fly its first inbound flight under the new measures, from Seoul to Jinan, Shandong Province. "This shift brings convenience for cross-border travel. We are now fully promoting the resumption and opening of international and regional routes," said Wu Wanyuan, director of the media center of Shandong Airlines. According to a recent survey conducted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, 91 percent of foreign enterprises and business associations surveyed strongly supported China's optimization of epidemic policies, while 99.4 percent of the foreign companies surveyed were bullish about the prospects of China's economic development in 2023. "China's adjustment and optimization of epidemic prevention measures and orderly resumption of international flights provide favorable conditions for the recovery of the international air transport market," said a spokesperson for the China Air Transport Association. China's relevant air transport enterprises are making careful preparations to increase international capacity in an orderly manner, actively and steadily promote the resumption of operation of international passenger flights, and meet the needs of international personnel exchanges and economic and trade cooperation, the spokesperson added. The country is also witnessing a tourism recovery. According to the latest data from China's online travel service provider Tuniu, inter-provincial travel is expected to return to its dominant role in tourism consumption during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday this year, with inter-provincial travel orders accounting for nearly 70 percent of the total. Sun Qian, a tourist from Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province, is on vacation with her daughter in Sanya, a resort city in Hainan Province. "There are obviously a lot more visitors in Sanya than in the previous two years, and people are having a great time and are feeling safe here," she said. A report from Trip.com Group showed a 45 percent year-on-year increase in travel product bookings for the Spring Festival holiday period and a 53 percent increase in per capita travel spending as of Thursday. "With the new measure officially implemented, we are full of confidence in a tourism recovery," said Zhang Lei, deputy general manager of a tourism service company in the city of Qufu, Shandong Province.
New Series Has Improved Signal Quality for Public Safety, LMR, Trunking, Other Uses

IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pasternack, an Infinite Electronics brand and a manufacturer of wireless network antennas, recently introduced a new series of VHF/UHF dipole, collinear and Yagi antennas for a variety of applications, including public safety, land mobile radio (LMR), trunking, military communications and amateur radio.

Pasternack Releases New VHF/UHF Dipole, Collinear and Yagi Antennas.

The new line of VHF/UHF exposed dipole arrays, omnidirectional collinear and Yagi antennas feature multiple gain options with fixed and adjustable dipole configurations. Their ruggedized designs guarantee reliable performance in all environmental conditions. The antennas are DC grounded for lightning protection, feature high-power handling of over 200 watts and cover frequencies of 135 MHz to 512 MHz.

The individual folded and straight dipole antennas allow for minimal storage and efficient transportation. Additionally, these pre-configured dipole arrays include internalized cabling, making for quick and simple deployments.

All components for Pasternack's VHF/UHF antennas are offered in optional prefabricated arrays with fixed -wave or -wave spacing from the mast.

"Our new series of VHF/UHF dipole, collinear and Yagi antennas is designed to cover broad bandwidths, improve signal quality and handle high-power input," said Kevin Hietpas, Antenna Product Manager.

Pasternack's new VHF/UHF dipole, collinear and Yagi antennas are in-stock and available for same-day shipping. For inquiries, contact Pasternack at +1-949-261-1920.

About Pasternack:

A leader in RF products since 1972, Pasternack is an ISO 9001:2015-certified manufacturer and supplier offering the industry's largest selection of active and passive RF, microwave and millimeter-wave products available for same-day shipping. Pasternack is an Infinite Electronics brand.

About Infinite Electronics:

Based in Irvine, Calif., Infinite Electronics offers a broad range of components, assemblies and wired/wireless connectivity solutions, serving the aerospace/defense, industrial, government, consumer electronics, instrumentation, medical and telecommunications markets. Its brands are Pasternack, Fairview Microwave, L-com, MilesTek, ShowMeCables, NavePoint, INC Installs, Integra Optics, PolyPhaser, Transtector, KP Performance Antennas, RadioWaves and Aiconics. Infinite serves a global customer base with deep technical expertise and support, with a broad inventory available for immediate shipment, fulfilling unplanned demand for engineers and technical buyers. It is a Warburg Pincus portfolio company.

Press Contact:

Peter McNeil

Pasternack

17792 Fitch

Irvine, CA 92614

(978) 682-6936

SOURCE Pasternack
ATLANTA, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical information technology and diagnostics company PERSOWN, Inc. is addressing the global burden of sepsis with the launch of the open platform SMASH-H (Sepsis Monitoring and Alerting System for Hospitals and Homes), powered by healthcare analytics from SAS. SMASH-H will provide hospitals access to a common set of predictive models designed to enhance existing IT platforms, monitoring tools and diagnostic products. Sepsis is a common reason for hospital admission and readmission, with estimated incidence of 6%.

Sepsis has one of the highest mortality rates of any hospital condition, estimated at 15% to 30%.

Sepsis is a common reason for hospital admission and readmission, with estimated incidence of 6%.

$24 billion was spent treating sepsis in the United States , more than any other condition. 1

PERSOWN to launch SMASH-H, a near-real-time Sepsis Monitoring and Alerting System for Hospitals and Home powered by SAS Tweet this

"It is the #1 cost and cause of death for hospitals," says Eric Doherty, President at PERSOWN. "When patients spiral down with sepsis, their risk of death increases 1% every 10 minutes."

SMASH-H will process any changes to a patient's health data on 10-minute intervals using a suite of powerful SAS artificial intelligence tools to provide time-series predictive analytics. This will deliver the highest-quality actionable information to the hospital's current visual monitoring and alerting software. "With SAS' trustworthy AI, machine learning and cloud-based capabilities, our partners like PERSOWN are developing solutions that have a measurable impact on improving health outcomes," said Steve Kearney, Global Medical Director at SAS.

SMASH-H will enable collective wisdom of the world's clinical practitioners to be shared in real time to enable all medical staff to serve their patients with the best possible information in the hospital and post-discharge. "There is a particular opportunity on the ambulatory side to reduce sepsis readmission rates by reducing transaction friction times," said Joseph Colorafi, MD, a board-certified physician in clinical informatics and pulmonary medicine. "By focusing on high-performance, clinically validated predictive models, sepsis time-zero can be identified earlier and lead to significant reduction in inpatient sepsis mortality rates to the 10-12% range."

PERSOWN is a proud inaugural member of the Sepsis Innovation Collaborative, with the goal of sharing unified data for analyzing best practices. "We are calling on medical professionals and administrators around the world to register and gain priority access for their patients as initial participants on SMASH-H," says Billy Meadow Chairman and CEO of PERSOWN.

PERSOWN seeks collaborative hospitals from around the world to launch the platform for clinical researchers and treatment protocol analytics. Please click here to learn more and register.

About PERSOWN

We endeavor to maximize global health by integrating state-of-the-art Point-Of-Care diagnostics and health information technologies.

The Use of Patient Monitoring Systems to Improve Sepsis Recognition and Outcomes: A Systematic Review. Bryan M. Gale and Kendall K. Hall , 2020

PERSOWN Contact: Eric Doherty

[email protected]

SOURCE PERSOWN, Inc.
CINCINNATI, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pope Consulting, a pioneer in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) education and consulting, is offering wide access to its award-winning virtual learning program, The Inclusive Workplace. The company has also updated its brand to better reflect the DEI service and opportunities it provides to help organizations strengthen relationships among people of diverse backgrounds and experiences.

The Inclusive Workplace is an online, interactive DEI program that helps participants gain insight into DEI issues within their organization and builds a workplace culture that embraces diverse ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives. The program was recently awarded three Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards for 2022. A one-hour, self-paced program, The Inclusive Workplace is the first of many online DEI courses Pope Consulting will offer to meet rapidly growing interest and needs from organizations and non-profits. The program is also available to individuals looking to strengthen their own cultural competencies for professional and personal goals.

"We've seen a lot of important change and growth over the course of Pope Consulting's nearly 50-year history, but nothing that compares to the groundswell of interest in DEI that we're now hearing from organizations," said Merlin Pope III, president and second-generation leader of the family-owned business. "We've kept pace with those needs, evolving our content and now delivery options so we can support organizations wherever they are on their DEI journey. This is an investment that not only fosters a healthier, more satisfying work environment, but also leads to greater productivity and an improved bottom line."

The company's brand refresh presents a new look and feel along with updated messaging that aligns with the level of sophistication and experience Pope Consulting provides to its clients.

To access The Inclusive Workplace, visit Pope Consulting's new website at PopeConsulting.com.

About Pope Consulting

A champion and pioneer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion education for nearly 50 years, Pope Consulting is the resource of choice for organizations of all sizes in all industries, helping them create inclusive workplace cultures that allow every team member to feel seen and valued, strengthening the bottom line in quantifiable ways.

Inclusive cultures. Empowered People. Learn more at PopeConsulting.com.

Media Contact:

Merlin Pope III

President, Pope Consulting

513.939.9531

[email protected]

SOURCE Pope Consulting
SEATTLE, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- New research1 from leading travel app Expedia reveals the over-scheduled holiday season has prompted many Americans to plan a "nothing-cation," a trip where warm weather and relaxation are the main attractions. According to a survey of 4,000 U.S. travelers conducted during December, more than a third (34%) report feeling burned out from the holidays, and nearly everyone surveyed (96%) plans to spend a portion of their next trip doing absolutely nothing.

Algarve Costa Rica Koh Samui

Expedia internal data confirms January is one of the top months for researching and booking beach vacations, which is a favorite trip type for nothing-cationers. On average, about a quarter of getaways planned during the first month of the year are to beach destinations, and many hotspots including Cancun, Riviera Maya, Punta Cana and Oahu are already seeing double-digit increases in demand compared to the same time in 2019.2

"There's a time and place for an action-packed vacation itinerary, but our data shows the first trip after the hectic holiday season calls for a more relaxed agenda," says Melanie Fish, head of Expedia Group brands public relations. "For most travelers, getting the most out of their next vacation means setting aside dedicated time for nothing. One trick to avoid unnecessary stress while planning a nothing-cation is to bundle flights, hotel and car rental on the Expedia app, which not only saves you time but more than 10% off the price on average."

When nothing is really something:

According to Expedia's research, nearly half (47%) of travelers say they like to start off the new year with a trip on the calendar to look forward to, as a remedy for feeling anxious (31%) or tired of cold and rainy weather (34%) in January. Furthermore, most (62%) agree that "doing nothing" is their favorite part of vacation and consider it time well-spent (61%).

Parents of young children (4 years old and under) are particularly in need of a nothing-cation, reporting higher levels of post-holiday burnout than average (49% compared to 34%). For them, a successful nothing-cation consists of watching movies in bed, reading and ordering room-service rather than dining out.

Plan a nothing-cation to remember:

Travelers will have a chance to win $4,500 in Expedia points on January 18, 2023, by following @expedia on Tiktok, to use on a nothing-cation of their own.

Ready for some nothing-cation inspiration? Expedia's travel experts compiled a shortlist of idyllic tropical destinations far from the crowds and perfect for days spent doing a whole lot of nothing. Head over to the Expedia Explore blog to learn more, including recommendations on where to stay.

About Expedia

Expedia is one of the world's leading full-service travel brands, with a mission of helping travelers get the most out of every trip they take by providing everything they need all in one place and, above all else, feel supported every step of the way.

Our commitment to insights matched with our unprecedented scale allows us to understand our travelers better than anyone else, delivering exactly what they need, when they need it. Our personalized experiences backed by incredible technology enable us to deliver the widest selection of product offerings across accommodations, transportation, activities and experiences, helping you get the most out of your journey.

Use our mobile app or visit expedia.com to plan your journey with us.

 2023 Expedia, Inc., an Expedia Group company. All rights reserved. Trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners. CST: 2029030-50

Follow Expedia on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube.

1In partnership with OnePoll. Surveyed 4,000 respondents from December 14 - 21, 2022. The survey was conducted online using panel members who are credited to participate in surveys. Focused on U.S. working adults.

2Based on air and conventional lodging demand for US travelers.

*Savings apply to bookings made on Expedia.com. Discounts are valid until the trip start date.

SOURCE Expedia
Digital tokens may be used to reduce buyers' scope 3 emissions

DENVER, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PureWest Energy, LLC ("PureWest"), an independent natural gas company based in Wyoming's Green River Basin, today announced a request for proposals (RFP) for the purchase of low-methane, freshwater-friendly certified natural gas. Buyers will also receive blockchain-based Certified Environmental Tokens (CETs) containing the environmental attributes associated with the certified gas, made possible through PureWest's recently announced collaboration with EarnDLT ("Earn") and Project Canary.

Administered by Earn, a blockchain-based emissions accounting system, CETs provide buyers with a comprehensive and irrefutable accounting of the environmental performance associated with producing PureWest gas, 100% of which receives Project Canary environmental risk TrustWell  assessments. Using book and claim accounting, buyers may use these digital tokens to offset their own environmental impacts, including reducing scope 3 emissions.

Each CET includes an accounting of PureWest's scope 1 methane emissions. The remaining emissions may be offset by registered voluntary carbon offsets. PureWest has also calculated its scope 2 emissions using an independent third party. Scope 2 emissions can be prorated for an associated volume of gas and may also be offset. These scope 1 and 2 carbon-neutral CETs, which package certified gas with registered carbon offsets, are a rigorous and defensible way for buyers to reduce their scope 3 emissions further.

RFP responses are due by 5:00 p.m. PST on January 31, 2023. The RFP and bid instructions are available on the PureWest website at: https://purewest.com/

PureWest invites interested bidders to learn more by registering for a virtual event featuring presenters from Project Canary, and Earn, on January 26, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. PST: https://projectcanary.zoom.us/webinar/register/1716727657775/WN_jt2w15CkQIetm8DK_MNJpQ

About PureWest

PureWest Energy, LLC is a private energy company focused on developing its long-life gas reserves in Wyoming's Green River Basin where the Company controls more than 114,000 net acres in and around the prolific Pinedale and Jonah Fields. PureWest is focused on achieving ever-higher ESG performance as part of its commitment to stakeholders and has an industry leading methane intensity rate of 0.05%, more than two years with zero motor vehicle incidents, and PureWest's employee led community investment program. Additional information is available at PureWest.com .

Media Contact

Kelly Bott, SVP  ESG, Land & Regulatory

[email protected] , 303.645.9809

SOURCE PureWest
The addition of a new site will provide a more streamlined and user-friendly experience in understanding the company.

AVON, Mass., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- New Year, New Website! Ranfac Corp. is excited to announce the launch of its new website, featuring a modern design and comprehensive range of products and services. The new site provides an updated look-and-feel and simplified navigation to make it easier for users to find information about the company.

Ranfac Lobby

The site will take you on a virtual tour of the state of the art 40,000 square foot facility located in Avon, MA. With an easy-to-navigate portfolio of Ranfac products, case studies, and testimonials, you are given insight into our long-standing commitment to quality  "We get your product to the point". You will also find an updated careers page with listings of job opportunities and the total rewards package that Ranfac has to offer. The new website will also serve as an entry point to the company's social media channels, providing additional opportunities for customers to learn more about Ranfac and stay updated on its latest news.

Ranfac Corp. is committed to providing users with a convenient and user-friendly experience. The new website is designed to make it easier for customers to find the information they are looking for quickly and efficiently, as well as help them stay in touch with the company's mission.

"Our goal with the new website is to open our doors to visitors in a way that is only surpassed by physically visiting our facility", said Harlan Adler, President of Ranfac.

Ranfac Corp. is pleased to offer this new website as part of its commitment to providing customers with the best possible experience. The new site is now live and can be accessed at www.ranfac.com. When visiting, join the mailing list to stay up to date on new company developments, case studies, and more. Ranfac looks forward to continuing to bring high quality products and services to its customers.

For more information, visit www.ranfac.com or contact [email protected]

SOURCE Ranfac
Self-Driving Vehicles, Fossil Fuel Drilling and AI Among Hottest Areas for R&D Activity; Applications Hit an All-Time High, According to Annual Analysis by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. patent grants issued in 2022 dropped to their lowest level since 2018, and South Korean electronics titan Samsung took the top spot from longtime leader IBM as East made gains on West among the Top 50 patent assignees during the past year. Nonetheless, patent applications hit an all-time high in 2022 as the United States emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic  a harbinger for a resurgence in innovation and grants over the next one to two years.

These are among the findings by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, which compiles and tracks data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and other patent-issuing agencies around the globe. The data can be found in the newly published 2022 U.S. Top 50 and IFI Global 250 patent rankings.

Samsung Takes the Lead from IBM

Samsung came in atop the annual IFI Top 50 patent earners with longtime leader IBM in second place. This is the first time a company other than IBM has been in the top slot since 1993. Based on the data, IBM's U.S. patent grants decreased in 2022, going from 8,681 in 2021 to 4,398 last year, a nearly 50 percent regression. But even Samsung, with 6,248 grants, saw a moderate decline (2 percent) from the prior year.

Still with one of the strongest U.S. patent portfolios, IBM's new placement on this year's list is attributable, according to IBM's blog, to its heightened focus since 2020 on prioritizing open source, collaboration and partnerships, and advancing the state of the art around the company's key technology areas including hybrid cloud, AI, quantum computing, semiconductors and security.

Following Samsung and IBM, the top 10 patent earners were Taiwan Semiconductor, Huawei Technologies, Canon, LG Electronics, Qualcomm, Intel, Apple and Toyota Motor.

The past year marks the third straight to see declines in patent grants, since the start of the pandemic. Across the board, U.S. patent grants declined just over 1 percent from 2021, representing a vigorous rebound following a 7 percent dip the prior year. Grants dropped from 327,321 to 323,015. Published patent applications, meanwhile, hurtled from 410,092 in 2021 to a record 417,922 last year, a 2 percent increase and the continuation of a five-year run of rising USPTO requests. Highlights from the full analysis and an overview of trends appear on the IFI website.

"Everything was trending upward until COVID hit, but grants have been declining. This might be due to the fact the USPTO faces a growing backlog of applications, some 700,000 currently, up from 540,000 unexamined patents in 2018," said Mike Baycroft, CEO of IFI CLAIMS Patent Services. "But the continued growth in applications is encouraging for innovation. First comes the filing, then typically 12-18 months later the application becomes public, then in another 18 months the grant is issued, so we expect to see a post-COVID upturn in the next couple of years."

A West-to-East Shift in the Top 50

Looking at the Top 50 alone, IFI's data noted a shift from West to East. In addition to Samsung's ascendance, Asian-based companies on the list earned 14 percent more patents than Western countries in 2022 (41,055 vs. 35,365), far eclipsing Asia's edge in 2021 of just 1 percent. Japan, China and South Korea alone accounted for 40,114 patents, compared to 32,130 for United States companies.

A total of three Chinese companies made the Top 50: Huawei at #4, BOE Technology Corp. at #11, and Guangdong Oppo sliding into the #43 spot, formerly occupied by its national counterpart Advanced New Technologies, which fell off the list in 2022.

U.S. Awards Majority of Patents Outside America

A stunning 56 percent of U.S. grants in 2022 did not go to U.S. firms. American companies, however, led among patent grantees, earning 142,703 patents, or 44 percent of all patents issued by the USPTO (vs. 46 percent in 2021) and more than three times as many as its closest national competitor, Japan (46,504). Chinese firms were third, with 24,538 grants during the last 12 months. South Korea (22,359) and Germany (14,746) rounded out the top five countries represented. Of the five countries to see an uptick in patent grants in the past year, China was the only one with double-digit growth, standing head and shoulders above the rest with almost 19 percent more than in 2021.

U.S. Stalwarts Lose Position

Among U.S. companies, GE (-11), Texas Instruments (-7), AT&T (-9), Boeing (-8), Ford (-4), Microsoft (-6), Intel (-2), and Apple (-2) fell lower on the Top 50 list, while Dell (+18), and Hewlett-Packard Development Co. (+12) gained considerably in the rankings. Applied Materials and Capital One both entered the top 50 at #44 and #45, respectively. Amazon and Halliburton Energy Services were the only American companies that held their positions from the prior year, with Amazon earning 1,863, down 4 percent, and Halliburton earning 906, up 4 percent. The biggest non-American risers in the Top 50 were Japan's Murata Manufacturing Company (#38) and Brother Industries (#49), which both leaped 10 spots from 2021.

Autonomous Vehicle Tech is Hot; Earth Drilling Keeps Rocking

Technology related to autonomous vehicles (e.g., self-driving cars) ascended to the No. 1 spot among IFI's Fastest Growing Technologies list last year, despite failing to crack the top 10 classes the year before. "Drive Control Systems for Autonomous Road Vehicles" saw a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 64.3 percent for the period 2018-2022. Of note is that while "Computing Based on Biological Models" dropped to No. 4 from its perch at No. 1 last year, Artificial Intelligence research has pervaded multiple patent categories, including Earth Drilling, "Quantum Computers" and "Machine Learning."

Rounding out the top Fastest Growing Technologies were "Electrical Digital Data Processing" (CAGR 33.9%); "Special Features Related to Earth Drilling Including AI and Simulation Models" (CAGR 32.5%); "Computing Based on Biological Models" (CAGR 32.1%); and "Electrically Operated Smoking Devices" (CAGR 31.3%). Interestingly, "Cigars, Cigarettes" also made the Top 10 (CAGR 28.3%). Who would have thought in 2022 that patents for Earth Drilling and Cigars/Cigarettes would be among the fastest growing categories?

IFI noted that "Special Features Related to Earth Drilling," which focuses on helping improve earth drilling for oil and gas had moved up from 6th in 2021 to 3rd in 2022. This led IFI to look at U.S. grants for "Green" patents which appear to outpace Earth Drilling by more than 2 to 1. Upon closer inspection IFI found that the majority of grants (66%) in the Green class are for mitigating technologies needed to battle effects of fossil fuels. Only about one-third of Green patents are for truly renewable energies (solar, wind, green hydrogen, water, etc.) where 2022 data show that Earth Drilling grants actually outpaced them by 27 percent.

"As far as patent activity is concerned, we're not yet seeing a shift toward renewable energy, and some of the fast growing sub-technology areas are focused on improving and more efficiently harvesting traditional fossil fuel sources," said Baycroft.

To view the full report, visit the 2022 Top 10 Fastest Growing Technologies.

Japan and Panasonic Dominate Total Global Patent Holdings

As of Jan. 3, 2023, Japanese companies owned more than one in three of all worldwide patent "families," with 1.5 million or 40 percent of the Global 250. China is second with 25 percent and the U.S. is third with 16 percent. Panasonic leads the IFI Global 250 list with 94,341 patent families, and Samsung was just behind. Hitachi, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Canon rounded out the top five.

A patent family is a collection of global patent filings related to a single invention. As a result, a patent for the same invention filed in multiple jurisdictions is only counted once. The IFI Global 250 list is a look back at total active patent families owned by a single company, not just patents earned in any given year.

Japan also had 92 representative companies (37%) on the Global 250, well ahead of the U.S. (55 companies; 22%) and China (45 companies; 18%). Germany, France and South Korea had far fewer representative companies in the third, fourth and fifth positions.

IBM was the highest-ranking American company on this list, coming in at No. 16 with 43,014 patent families. Other U.S. concerns on this list included Microsoft (30th; 31,563 families), GE (38th; 27,008), Intel (44th; 23,758), Alphabet/Google (46th; 22,935) and Amazon (76th; 13,519).

Patent activity provides valuable insight into companies' R&D activity for researchers, analysts, and investors. It speaks to productivity and IP strategy, and frequently reveals technology trends and the competitive landscape within various industries. Often the true value of a company lies with its intellectual properties, so examining patent assets is a key tool in gauging the intangible assets of publicly traded companies.

To create your own analysis, visit the IFI CLAIMS Live 1000, a free tool which uses data from the top 1000 companies that received patents across multiple countries and patent jurisdictions. The tool shows live data and offers interactive features that allow users to create and sort their own lists using a variety of filters.

About IFI CLAIMS Patent Services

IFI CLAIMS Patent Services uses proprietary data architecture to produce the industry's most accurate patent database. The CLAIMS Direct platform allows for the easy integration of applications, other data sets, and analysis software. Headquartered in New Haven, Conn., with a satellite office in Barcelona, Spain, IFI CLAIMS is part of Digital Science, a digital research technology company based in London. For more information, visit www.ificlaims.com.

SOURCE IFI CLAIMS Patent Services
New training center to be located at San Jacinto College's Generation Park Campus

HOUSTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- San Jacinto College (San Jac) and McCord Development have signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) in Ireland for San Jacinto College to finalize definitive agreements to be the exclusive provider of NIBRT-licensed training programs in the southwestern and southeastern United States. The planned San Jacinto College Biotechnology Center, located in Generation Park, will train the captive local workforce and attract industry from across the country, helping to solidify Houston's role as a leading hub for life science manufacturing. Subject to definitive agreements based on industry feedback, San Jacinto College will be NIBRT's sixth global partner and second in the United States.

Generation Park Life Science Company Campus; Image Courtesy of McCord

The Center will offer students hands-on experience in a pilot-scale bioprocessing center that includes upstream, downstream, and fill-finish facilities, as well as specific curriculum in cell and gene therapy and other innovative and developing industry sectors. With this practical experience, students will have immediately transferable skills on cutting edge equipment used in today's most advanced biomanufacturing operations.

"Building on San Jacinto College's established track record of working with industry to develop need-specific training and accreditation centers, the partnership with NIBRT represents an opportunity to train the workforce that Houston's biopharma industry needs to sustain its rapid growth," said Brenda Hellyer, Chancellor of San Jacinto College. "We also expect to contribute to the global market by training people eager to enter this growing industry from around the United States and beyond."

The San Jac Biotechnology Center at Generation Park will not only include curriculum but will ultimately be housed within a state-of-the-art and multifunctional facility equipped with cutting edge industrial bioprocessing equipment. The Center's activities will be guided by an advisory committee comprised of experts from Houston's leading life science institutions and industry partners. San Jac and NIBRT have undertaken a comprehensive stakeholder engagement effort to ascertain the current industry and institutional needs for life science workforce training. Findings from the study will shape the curriculum and the initial sizing of the facility to house the hands-on component of the training. NIBRT's existing facilities include a bioprocessing pilot plant, operated in a realistic good manufacturing practice (GMP) simulated and operational manufacturing environment. This unique combination of world-class facilities and leadership will provide students at the Center with an unparalleled learning environment.

"We are thrilled to be in advanced discussions with San Jacinto College and McCord Development to bring our world-class training curriculum to Houston," said Darrin Morrissey, NIBRT's Chief Executive Officer. "Their commitment to excellence, combined with our industry leading curriculum and talented student population, ensures the proposed center's success."

In a recent study commissioned by the Greater Houston Partnership, Newmark Consulting Group identified the presence of a robust trained workforce pipeline as a critical component to regional success in attracting and retaining life science companies. With the addition of the San Jacinto College Biotechnology Center along with proficiency from NIBRT, coupled with the region's existing industry-leading expertise in cell and gene therapy, biologic drug development, and molecular diagnostics, as well as a continuous supply of new talent from local universities, Houston is primed to become a global leader in biomanufacturing.

"San Jacinto College's Biotechnology Center at Generation Park is the catalyst our region needs to fill the gap in our existing life science ecosystem and accelerate biomanufacturing in Houston," said Ryan McCord, President of McCord Development.

About NIBRT

The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) is a global centre of excellence for training and research in bioprocessing. NIBRT serves about 4,000 industry professionals worldwide at its world-class headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. This facility is purpose built to closely replicate a modern bioprocessing plant with state-of-the-art equipment. NIBRT offers a quality training and research experience not previously possible anywhere in the world.

About San Jacinto College

Surrounded by monuments of history, evolving industries, maritime enterprises of today, and the space age of tomorrow, San Jacinto College has served the people of East Harris County, Texas, since 1961. San Jacinto College is among the top five community colleges in the nation, as designated by the Aspen Institute for Community College Excellence in 2021 and was named an Achieving the Dream Leader College of Distinction in 2020. The College is a Hispanic-Serving Institution that spans five campuses, serving approximately 41,000 credit and non-credit students annually. It offers more than 200 degrees and certificates across eight major areas of study that put students on a path to transfer to four-year institutions or enter the workforce. The College also works with companies to provide specialized and customized training to their employees. San Jacinto College's impact on the region totals $1.3 billion in added income, which supports 13,044 jobs.

For more information about San Jacinto College call 281-998-6150, visit https://www.sanjac.edu/.

About McCord Development

McCord is a Houston-based opportunistic real estate company with a longstanding track record of creating substantial value through the acquisition, development, and management of office, industrial, land, single family, and multifamily assets. McCord is the developer of Generation Park, a 4,300-acre master planned commercial district and houses SJC's Generation Park Campus. McCord is focused on developing Houston's biomanufacturing cluster at Generation Park given its strategic location between the Port of Houston and Bush International Airport, curated mixed use environment and ample land for expansion. Since 1973, McCord has acquired or developed over $2 billion in successful projects across the United States. To learn more, visit https://www.mccord.com.

SOURCE McCord
U.S. customers, including migrant workers, Korean residents, and international students, can transfer money to over 50 countries at a fee that is 90% lower than those offered by traditional methods

SentBe to provide a higher level of global money transfer services in the U.S. market based on the company's success in the Asia market

SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SentBe, Korea's leading fintech company, today announced the official launch of its international money transfer service in the U.S., a significant move in the company's global expansion. Customers, including migrant workers in the U.S., can now send U.S. dollars to more than 50 countries with greater ease and at a lower rate than existing remittance options.

SentBe Brings Cross-border Money Transfer Service to the United States.

Established in 2015, SentBe specializes in foreign exchange services, and its personal remittance service of the same name SentBe was launched in 2016. Traditionally, the global money transfer process is complex, expensive, and slow. However, using the SentBe service via the mobile app or website, users can transfer money in real time or up to one day to 50 countries at a tenth of the cost of traditional methods. While traditional remittance methods through banks can only take place between other banks, SentBe provides various receipt methods depending on user's preferable options.

With its customer-centric approach in cross-border remittance services, SentBe was able to quickly grow its presence in Southeast Asia. In 2020, SentBe became the first Korean fintech company to launch personal remittance app services in Indonesia and Singapore, further consolidating its position as one of the leading remittance service providers in APAC. Now with SentBe's service available in the U.S., customers in the region can remit money to 50 countries including China, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Canada, the U.K., France, and Korea.

According to the World Bank, the U.S. is the largest outbound remittance market in the world with $72,669 million transferred by individuals a year in 2021. The U.S. is the fourth country where SentBe's cross-border remittance services have been introduced, following Korea, Indonesia, and Singapore.

"SentBe has been widely used by migrant workers across Asia, and the success in the region is based on our emphasis on removing cross-border barriers and bringing convenience to customers," said SentBe CEO, Alex Seong-Ouk Choi. "We are bringing the same experience to the U.S., one of the largest financial markets in the world, and we will continue to expand our services to other markets including Canada, Australia and countries in Europe."

To launch U.S. market services, SentBe formed a task force and has laid the foundation for international money transfer business by collaborating with certification agencies, government ministries, traditional financial institutions and fintech partners in the U.S. In addition, the company conducted a thorough technical verification process to create a smooth remittance experience for users in the US.

In 2019, SentBe was the first Korean company to acquire a cross-border money transfer service license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). In December 2021, SentBe also received approval for the Singapore Payment Gateway (PG) license, which enables the company to offer B2B PG service that sends remittances from Singapore to other countries. SentBe's licenses in Singapore, a prominent hub of financial and foreign exchange markets in the region, signify its effort to expand its business in the global market.

SentBe also owns a proprietary technology called Automated FX Hedging System (AHS). AHS minimizes foreign exchange risks through currency hedging, allowing remittance services to be used at lower fees. SentBe is the only Korean fintech company to feature its own L&C (Legal & Compliance) team of domestic and international lawyers that manage foreign exchange risks as well.

SentBe has recently been recognized for its position as a leading fintech company in the global market. In November 2022, CEO Alex Seong-Ouk Choi was named one of the Top 10 FinTech Leaders at the SFF Global FinTech Awards 2022, a key event of the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF). In October 2022, SentBe was included in the fourth cohort of Inclusive Fintech 50 (IF50), a global competition powered by the CFI, a think tank based in the U.S. The IF50 is a global innovation competition that aims to identify and elevate cutting-edge emerging inclusive fintech companies that have the potential to drive financial inclusion.

About SentBe

Established in 2015, SentBe is a global fintech company specializing in foreign exchange services with a mission of building borderless finance for more. With lower fees, faster transfer speeds, and simpler processes, SentBe is a national market leader in international money transfer, enabling individuals and businesses to send money over 50 countries. SentBe features diverse financial offerings including its C2C services, SentBe, as well as B2B with SentBiz, an international money transfer and payment service for businesses, and SENDA, a global e-commerce settlement API service.

In addition to its business success in Korea, Singapore and Indonesia, SentBe plans to expand its business to the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia. Based on its success in domestic and APAC markets, the company continues to solidify its position as a cross-border FX total solutions provider specializing in foreign exchange services. SentBe is the only company in the market that operates its own business impact team. The company is deeply committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by aligning its business tactics to these goals to solve financial problems that alienate migrant workers and businesses by 2030.

SOURCE SentBe
The report unveils SI Group's sustainability targets as it sets out its vision for the future

THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SI Group, a leading global performance additives company, has released its inaugural Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report. The report demonstrates SI Group's commitment to sustainability and defines its future targets as it elevates efforts to improve its social responsibility. Read SI Group's 2022 report and learn about its sustainability goals here: www.siigroup.com/sustainability.

This is SI Group's first ESG report and serves to illustrate its ongoing work and performance across five key areas:

Climate change and environmental impact

Safe operations

Sustainable procurement

Innovation and business practices

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)

The report has been developed in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and celebrates SI Group's current accomplishments in these areas. It also features SI Group's ambitious ESG targets, outlining the key metrics it plans to meet as it builds on its continual progress in this area. From striving for zero injuries and environment releases to prioritizing a more inclusive workforce, SI Group is using the report to unveil its vision for the future of the business.

"We are proud of our sustainability achievements. This report reflects credible progress in sustainability on our journey to becoming the global performance additives powerhouse," said David Bradley, President & CEO. "SI Group's drive for continuous improvement, paired with our commitment to sustainability as a fundamental component of our mission, positions SI Group to meet or exceed our ambitious targets."

About SI Group

SI Group is a global leader in the innovative technology of performance additives, process solutions, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and chemical intermediates. SI Group solutions are essential to enhancing the quality and performance of countless industrial and consumer goods within the plastics, rubber & adhesives, fuels & lubricants, oilfield, and pharmaceutical industries. SI Group's global manufacturing footprint includes 20 facilities on three continents, serving customers in 80 countries with approximately 2,000 employees worldwide. In 2021, SI Group received a gold award for corporate social responsibility by EcoVadis and is ranked among the top five percent of more than 50,000 worldwide companies. SI Group innovates and drives change to create value with a passion for safety, chemistry, sustainability, and extraordinary results. Learn more at www.siigroup.com.

Media Contact: Joseph Grande

ph: + 1.413.684.2463

[email protected]

SOURCE SI Group, Inc.
Limited-Edition SLYR Multi-Platform Gaming Headset and Dime 2 True Wireless Earbuds Feature UV-Reactive Graphics that Glow When the Lights Go Low

PARK CITY, Utah, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Skullcandy, the #1 selling brand in stereo headphones1 and true wireless earbuds2 under $100, announced today a limited-edition collaboration with Doritos, the #1 flavored tortilla chip brand3. The exclusive drop reimagines the Skullcandy SLYR Multi-Platform Gaming Headset and Dime 2 True Wireless Earbuds in Doritos Red with a zesty UV-reactive "blacklight" effect that looks right at home alongside dialed-in RGB setups. Ideal for gaming at home or on-the-go, the limited-edition Skullcandy x Doritos drop is available now for purchase exclusively on Skullcandy.com and will ship mid-February.

SKULLCANDY AND DORITOS BRING BOLD SELF-EXPRESSION TO GAMING WITH LATEST COLLABORATION

"Skullcandy and self-expression are synonymous and this drop is no different. Together with Doritos, we're adding a little flavor to a space traditionally saturated with muted colorways, allowing gamers to stand out from the competition," said Derek Steiner, Director of Global Brand Partnerships, Skullcandy. "The SLYR and Dime 2 are the ideal products for this collab, both accessible and packed with flavor so gamers can boldly be themselves. The duo provides the best of both worlds  SLYR for gaming at home and Dime 2 for on-the-go mobile sessions."

The newly-launched SLYR delivers rich, detailed audio, crystal-clear communication and all-day comfort. With premium audio drivers, SLYR delivers Supreme Sound and additional features designed to maximize the gaming experience. Next-level, in-game audio depth ensures that users not only hear enemies creeping up from behind, but also the roar of the crowd. The ultra-compact Dime 2 earbuds are easy to carry for gaming on the go, and packed with features, including built-in Tile-finding technology so users never have to worry about losing their buds.

Additional features of the Skullcandy x Doritos Limited-Edition drop include:

Skullcandy x Doritos Limited-Edition SLYR Multi-Platform Wired Gaming Headset  $69.99MSRP

UV-Reactive Glow Graphics

Skullcandy Supreme Sound - Unique audio-tuning process enables users to maximize the depth and detail of each sound

Multi-Platform Connectivity - Crystal clear audio on PC, Playstation, Switch and Xbox, leveling-up the listening experience on any platform. And with the 3.5mm audio cable, SLYR is the definition of 'plug and play'

Bi-Directional Mic - Improves voice pickup for enhanced communications and clarity in multiplayer settings

Mute & Volume Control - Easy-to-reach, on-board controls enable gamers to quickly mute and adjust volume without gameplay interference

Durable, Lightweight Design - Constructed from tough, lightweight materials including head-conforming memory-foam ear cushions wrapped in moisture wicking and breathable material for all-day comfort

Skullcandy x Doritos Limited-Edition Dime 2 True Wireless Earbuds  $34.99 MSRP

UV-Reactive Glow Graphics

Built-In Tile Finding Technology

12 Hours Total Battery Life

Microphone, Call, Track & Volume Controls

Auto Connect

IPX4 Sweat & Water Resistant

Micro-USB charging case with snap lid and integrated lanyard

Ultra-compact at just 2.45 inches long and 1.53 inches wide. The small, efficient battery cuts its carbon footprint to less than half that of other earbuds.

For more information on Skullcandy's gaming collection visit Skullcandy.com or follow the brand on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

1 The NPD Group, Inc., U.S. Weekly Retail Tracking Service; Average Sales Price Under $100; Jan. 3, 2021 - Jan. 1, 2022 combined.

2 The NPD Group, Inc., U.S. Weekly Retail Tracking Service; Band Type: No Wire/No Band; Average Sales Price Under $100; Jan. 3, 2021 - Jan. 1, 2022, combined.

3 Collaboration brokered by The Joester Loria Group, North American licensing agent for Doritos.

About Skullcandy

Skullcandy is the original lifestyle audio brand, born in 2003 on a chairlift in Park City, Utah. Fast forward to today where Skullcandy is on a mission "to unleash the visceral power of music for all." Skullcandy headphones and earbuds are created, tuned and tested to deliver music you can feel, specially engineered to provide a deeper, more immersive listening experience. The brand features The Workshop, home of custom, limited-edition audio products designed by artists and partners and hand-printed using state-of-the-art digital technology and a personal touch. Skullcandy supports charitable causes through its Music With A Mission program where dedicated campaigns and a portion of proceeds from limited-edition product sales help make an impact. Skullcandy designs, markets and distributes its audio products through a variety of distribution channels globally. The company's website can be found at www.Skullcandy.com.

About Doritos

Doritos believes there's boldness in everyone. We champion those who are true to themselves, who live life fully engaged and take bold action by stepping outside of their comfort zone and pushing the limits. Doritos is one of many Frito-Lay North America brands  the $19 billion convenient foods division of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate website, http://www.fritolay.com/, and on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/fritolay.

SOURCE Skullcandy
TULSA, Okla., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FortySix Venture Capital LLC (46VC) and The University of Tulsa (TU) announced today that technology developed by TU researchers has been licensed by 46VC for commercialization efforts.

Researchers at The University of Tulsa have developed a novel process for synthesizing and using sulfonamides and testing their efficacy and selectivity against human cancer cells, which could ultimately aid targeting therapeutic treatments for individualized patient applications.

Angus Lamar, Ph.D., and Robert Sheaff, Ph.D., who are both associate professors of chemistry and biochemistry, have been researching cancer at TU for several years funded by a grant from the Oklahoma Center for Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST). Together with their teams  which have included graduate and undergraduate students  the faculty members have been prolific in their discovery of novel technologies related to cancer screening and selection of effective anticancer agents. Based on the teams' research, the technology licensed has the capability to radically change the time and expense required to target therapeutics for the deadliest forms of cancer.

46VC and The University of Tulsa have executed a license arrangement that will accelerate the commercialization of these technologies. Under the arrangement, 46VC will undertake efforts to commercialize the technology by building a business team around the technology; secure the necessary regulatory approvals; and, ultimately, bring the technology to market.

"This agreement with 46VC provides an opportunity to see our research efforts lead to better, more effective chemotherapeutics targeting hard-to-treat cancers," Sheaff said.

Bill Lawson, Ph.D. and director of technology commercialization at The University of Tulsa, led the charge for TU in securing this licensing arrangement with support from faculty in the university's Collins College of Business, including Mike Troilo, Ph.D., and Chris Wright, Ph.D., whose interdisciplinary involvement carved the path for business plan development and venture capital investment.

"It's an outstanding day when The University of Tulsa takes a big step forward in making our inventors' intellectual properties accessible to everyone," Lawson said. "Drs. Lamar and Sheaff's findings can literally save lives."

Tracy Poole, co-founder and managing partner of 46VC, expressed interest in the technology less than one year ago and worked quickly to conduct diligence on the technology and determine whether 46VC could be helpful in commercialization efforts.

"We are very fortunate to have such a great research university in Tulsa," said Poole. "As early investors, we feel like we are in the right place at the right time to help push this technology forward. It is our job as early-stage investors to uncover tech transfer opportunities with our regional research universities and partners."

"This agreement demonstrates how The University of Tulsa is invested in supporting our faculty and students to commercialize their research and inventions," said TU President Brad R. Carson. "Great cities have great research universities and Tulsa is no exception."

The University of Tulsa and 46VC will begin working together to commercialize the important discovery immediately.

About The University of Tulsa

The University of Tulsa is a top 75 private, doctoral degree-granting, accredited, coeducational institution located in Tulsa, Okla. With 4,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students from around the globe, TU offers an inclusive world-class education. Research opportunities start the moment students step on campus. Innovation and entrepreneurship are emphasized in equal measure with foundational coursework and critical-thinking exercises. TU students, faculty and alumni solve problems, lead by example and make history. For more information, visit utulsa.edu.

For media inquiries regarding The University of Tulsa, please contact Mona Chamberlin, senior media relations director, at 918-631-2656 or [email protected].

About FortySix Venture Capital LLC

FortySix Venture Capital LLC is a venture capital fund manager based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. FortySix Venture Capital is currently raising capital for its Kinetic Fund which focuses investment in the areas of Health Tech, Energy Tech and Digital Transformation. FortySix Venture Capital has a regional strategy to invest in startups and technologies in the heartland region where it has unique access to deal flow and domain expertise. For media inquiries, please contact Tracy Poole, Managing Partner at 918-605-8321 or [email protected].

For more information on FortySix Venture Capital please visit the firm's website at www.46.capital

SOURCE FortySix Venture Capital LLC
Seasoned human resources executive joins the tech-driven dental company to evolve its People function and support quickly growing teams

NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tend, the first dentist that people actually look forward to, announced today the appointment of its first Chief People Officer, Cynthia Hiskes, to support its continued growth across the US.

Cynthia Hiskes has been appointed as Tend's first Chief People Officer

As the new CPO of the tech-driven dental services provider, Hiskes will steward Tend's People and Talent functions, overseeing all aspects of human resources, including talent recruitment, experience, retention, engagement and inclusion. Hiskes will play a pivotal role in evolving the People function as the company, which currently operates 23 dental studios across 5 major metro markets, continues its nationwide expansion and grows its workforce of over 650 employees.

"Tend has always been a people-first organization. We searched long and hard for a leader like Cynthia, who not only has best-in-class credentials across a wide range of global companies, but has a track record of scaling a leading tech-enabled multi-site healthcare organization," said Doug Hudson, co-founder and CEO of Tend.

"As we continue to grow the size and complexity of Tend's team, we're thrilled to add Cynthia to our executive team to lead programs where we attract, retain and develop the best talent in the industry, in addition to developing a world-class culture and employee experience. At Tend, we are member-obsessed, which starts with being employee-obsessed."

Hiskes was most recently the Chief Human Resources Officer at Oak Street Health, a leading primary healthcare provider that operates more than 160 locations across 21 states with the support of thousands of employees. She has also led People teams at globally recognized companies like Cars.com, Ferrara Candy Company and Rexam throughout her illustrious career.

"Throughout my career, I've always been captivated by opportunities to build transformative human resources functions that accelerate a company's trajectory to fulfill their business potential. Tend's team members are the reason behind the company's exponential growth thus far, and why tens of thousands of people across multiple markets have become loyal patients. I'm thrilled to be working with a world class team to continue building a disruptive and member-obsessed dental experience," said Hiskes.

Hiskes will be based out of Tend's Nashville hub, with frequent visits to additional markets as the company enters additional cities nationwide.

About Tend

Tend is the first dentist that people actually look forward to. Launched in October 2019, Tend was created to set a new standard for oral health by providing dentistry the way it should behassle-free, personalized, and straightforward, with a focus on patient happinessall in a calm, inviting, and thoughtfully-designed space. Founding CEO Doug Hudson is supported by over 650 talented team members in New York City, Nashville, Washington, D.C., Boston and Atlanta. In addition to operating 23 studios along the East Coast, Tend also offers a suite of dentist-designed consumer products to extend its mission into the daily lives of members. For more information, visit hellotend.com or download the Tend Dental app, available on all iOS and Android devices.

Media Inquiries

[email protected]

SOURCE Tend
During November cat lovers who adopted purrfectly impurrfect shelter cats were invited to share their own "happily furever after" story to inspire others by uploading a photo/video to FelineGenerous.com .

Elvis, Louie, Buddy, Miley and another Elvis are the five adorable winners selected out of over 5,500 submissions.

The winners will receive a year's supply of cat litter and the shelters they nominatedKern County Animal Services ( Bakersfield, CA ), Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary ( St. Pauls, NC ), Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue ( Denver, CO ), Open Arms Animal Shelter ( Louisa, KY ), and Yavapai Humane Society ( Prescott, AZ )will each receive $10,000!

EWING, N.J., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The ARM & HAMMER Feline Generous program today announced the winners of its "Happily Furever After" sweepstakes and the biggest single donation the program has given away to date. Purrfectly impurrfect shelter cats are often overlooked for adoption due to age, illness, appearance, being bonded pairs or having misunderstood personalities. During the month-long campaign, more than 5,500 photos/videos of these amazing cats living "happily furever after" were submitted and the lucky winners selected are Elvis, Louie, Buddy, Miley and another Elvis. Each winning pet parent will receive a year's supply of ARM & HAMMER cat litter and each shelter will receive the $10,000 donation prize. The winning shelters are Kern County Animal Services (Bakersfield, CA), Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary (St. Pauls, NC), Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue (Denver, CO), Open Arms Animal Shelter (Louisa, KY), and Yavapai Humane Society (Prescott, AZ).

The ARM & HAMMER Feline Generous program announced five winning purrfectly impurrfect cats living Happily Furever After and will donate $50,000 to their shelters.

Purrfectly Impurrfect cats typically require a little extra patience and care to get acclimated in their new home. They may need extra time in their own room to get familiar with their new surroundings or even modifications to overcome a physical limitation. The "Happily Furever After" campaign celebrates those who have gone above and beyond to make sure their purrfectly impurrfect shelter cats get the love and care they need to successfully transition into their new homes ready to live "happily furrever after!"

"It's incredible to see how many wonderful people have taken the time to make small modifications to help ease their shelter cats into their new homes," said Pam Johnson-Bennett, Certified Cat Behavior Consultant. "Seeing Miley, Buddy Louie and both cats named Elvis thriving is a reminder of how cats are amazingly adaptable and easily learn to adjust with just a little TLC and patience."

Happily Furever After Winners

Click here to download the winning photos and video. Additional photos available upon request.

Winner #1

Cat: Elvis

Location: Louisa, KY

Pet Parent: Beverly Pack

Elvis has Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH) which gives him his own special "sway in the hips" when he walks. He cannot jump or even use the litter box like most normal catsbut he has adjusted and so have I!!! It's actually what makes him such a wonderful member of my family. He is the proud "Foster Dad" to all the foster kittens we bring in from the local animal shelterhe cares for them, plays with them, nurtures them, teaches them the "cat stuff" they need to learn to be good kitties in their new homes. He LOVES all the babies we bring home for him to care for.

When he walks too fast or tries to run his legs just spread out underneath him. It's not unusual to find him all spread-eagle on the floor somewhere, or just lying on his back with all 4's in the air. He is such a funny boy!! This gentle, amazing boy loves everyone he meets and they just love himyou can't help but love him. His big green eyes will just melt your heart.

Shelter: Open Arms Animal Shelter

Location: Louisa, KY

WINNER #2

Cat: Louie

Location: Casco, MI

Pet Parent: Linda Miller

Louie is a real stinker [and has a misunderstood personality]...he was feral and scared of everything. After he was spayed and neutered, he has lived inside. Louie will fly through the house as soon as everyone has gone to sleep including my dogs. I can't leave food on the counter unless I'm standing right by it or it disappears. I've chased that boy more than once trying to get what he stole. I call Louie and Poppy (my Old English Sheepdog) .... "Bonnie and Clyde".... he throws the food down to her. It took quite a while for me to be able to touch him. He warms up a little more each day. He loves sleeping curled up with his mom, Lucy.

Shelter: Yavapai Humane Society

Location: Prescott, AZ

WINNER #3

Cat: Buddy

Location: Highlands Ranch, CO

Pet Parent: Janine Zarate

Buddy is a bit crazy overall  but that [misunderstood personality] is what makes her purrfectly impurrfect. She's scared to death of strangers. We joke that when she's in a situation she doesn't like, she mentally goes into her "happy place" until it's over. She loves prowling around at night, making noise by opening drawers and cabinets. Sometimes I walk into a room and it looks like a ghost just left after rummaging in everything. She loves her sister (a cat) and tries to snuggle with her as much as she can but ends up annoying her sister too much. She sleeps right next to me at night. She's 12, so she does spend most of the day sleeping in sun pockets on the floor or under the bed. But when she wakes up, she acts like a crazy kitten.

Shelter: Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue

Location: Denver, CO

WINNER #4

Cat: Miley

Location: Bakersfield, CA

Pet Parent: Chrystal Blanco

Little back story, one day at work I saw Miley on a live video from the shelter and thought she was the cutest ever. My wife called, and it turned out she was a bonded pair with her sister. We did not hesitate, give us both! Why would anyone separate them? Miley, is the sweetest! She's the one who will tell you when it's bedtime. Even though, she is the starter of the daily midnight zoomies. She loves to lay down with us and make her little biscuits in any blanket. She also has this little habit of sucking her paw since she was just a little baby. It's the cutest ever. She's a big baby! Loves all the attention. She and her sister remain inseparable. I'm glad we were able to keep them together. I love them!

Shelter: Kern County Animal Services

Location: Bakersfield, CA

WINNER #5

Cat: Elvis

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Pet Parent: Kathy Plover

Elvis has a misunderstood personality, even after 8+ years with me, he is still afraid of everything. Every time that I sit down, he wants to be on my lap. He starts kneading, purring up a storm while doing so. He likes to tear his crinkle balls apart, and can't be trusted with most material toys, as he will ingest parts of them. He's also been known to chew on clothing items left where he can reach them.

Shelter Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary

Location: St. Pauls, NC

"We're thrilled to recognize the many cat lovers and shelters that go above and beyond to put in the extra time, love and support to give purrfectly impurrfect cats the happily furever after they deserve," said Kelly Dalton, Senior Associate Brand Manager, ARM & HAMMER Pet Care. "We hope by sharing these heartwarming stories it will inspire others to adopt a purrfectly impurrfect shelter cat and give them a happily furever after."

The ARM & HAMMER Feline Generous program is an online platform that easily connects people to a network of local cat shelters across the country to help increase adoption and generate product and monetary donations, with a specific focus on cats who tend to be overlooked due to age, illness, appearance or misunderstood personalities.

To receive updates on future Feline Generous campaigns in 2023, please go to felinegenerous.com .

About ARM & HAMMER

For more than 170 years, ARM & HAMMER Baking Soda's familiar orange box has been a trusted fixture in both the refrigerator and home. The brand was founded in 1846 when Dr. Austin Church and John Dwight began to produce and sell sodium bicarbonate under the ARM & HAMMER brand name. Today, Church & Dwight, Co., Inc. manufactures a variety of cleaning, freshening and deodorizing products for the home, family, pets, and body under the iconic ARM & HAMMER brand name. For more information visit http://www.clumpandseal.com/ . Follow @armandhammercat to learn more or check out www.facebook.com/ArmandHammer .

About Church & Dwight Co., Inc.

Church & Dwight Co., Inc., headquartered in Ewing, NJ, manufactures and markets a wide range of personal care, household, and specialty products under the ARM & HAMMER brand name and other well-known trademarks like OxiClean.

SOURCE Church & Dwight Co., Inc.
This is the fourth consecutive year JUST Capital has honored Hershey's ESG commitments and impact

HERSHEY, Pa., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) today announced its inclusion on the annual ranking of America's Most JUST Companies by JUST Capital and media partner CNBC. The customer stakeholder group ranked Hershey as number one in the Food, Beverage and Tobacco industry, and 2023 marks the company's fourth consecutive year on the list. Each year, JUST Capital ranks the nation's largest corporations on their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, such as paying a living wage, supporting workforce development and demonstrating leader integrity. Hershey was named number 58 overall of the top 100 companies, moving up 26 spots from 2022.



"Embedded in how we make and sell our beloved brands is a responsibility to operate in a way that makes a positive impact for people, the planet and our communities. To be once again recognized by JUST Capital and the American public as a leader in responsible business among the nation's largest corporations is an honor," said Leigh Horner, Vice President of Global Sustainability and Corporate Communications, The Hershey Company. "We're particularly proud that those who enjoy our products see us as category leaders. This reflects not just our commitments but the actions and meaningful progress we are making on the topics most important to consumers."

The customer stakeholder group ranked Hershey as number one in the Food, Beverage and Tobacco industry. The Hershey Company today announced its inclusion as one America's Most JUST Companies by JUST Capital and CNBC for the fourth consecutive year.

Hershey's commitment to responsible and sustainable business continued in 2022 with progress across its ESG (environmental, social and governance) priorities including cocoa and responsible sourcing, its workforce, communities, the environment and youth. Highlights from last year include:

In 2023, Hershey will continue to advance its social impact. The company will bolster its partnership with non-profit partners to launch the Future CEO initiative  a new program which will partner young women from around the globe with Hershey executive leadership for mentorship and reverse mentorship experiences. This year also marks the five-year anniversary of Hershey's sustainable cocoa strategy, Cocoa For Good.

True to the legacy of its founder Milton Hershey, the company is dedicated to doing what's right for the planet, investing in its workforce, enhancing the livelihood of communities and providing a brighter future for children around the world. Learn more about these commitments and Hershey's ESG progress in its 2021 ESG Report.

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 19,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 100 brand names in approximately 80 countries around the world that drive more than $8.9 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher and Ice Breakers, and fast-growing salty snacks including SkinnyPop, Pirate's Booty and Dot's Homestyle Pretzels.

For more than 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed.

To learn more visit www.thehersheycompany.com.

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SOURCE The Hershey Company
HHC increases liquidity to over $800 million, reduces near-term debt maturities, and extends maturity profile to approximately 7.5 years

HOUSTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Howard Hughes Corporation (NYSE: HHC) has closed $1.3 billion in key financings across its national portfolio, increasing the company's liquidity to over $800 million. The recent closingswhich include refinancing of the company's Senior Secured Corporate Credit Facility and various financings across its national portfoliofurther bolster the company's balance sheet as well as its financial flexibility and demonstrate its ability to execute accretive financings in a challenging capital markets environment.

With the new financings, HHC was able to fully retire the company's Senior Secured Corporate Credit Facility, which had an outstanding balance of approximately $242.2 million. These financings include a non-recourse, five-year $200 million term loan secured by certain retail collateral in Ward Village and led by Bank of America, along with a limited-recourse, three-year $75 million term loan secured by 10-70 Corporate Center and One Mall North in Columbia, Maryland and led by J.P. Morgan.

The company has also refinanced assets in its Maryland and Texas regions. Two separate refinancings for projects in Downtown Columbia total $193 milliona $117 million loan for the multi-family apartment community Juniper and a $76 million loan for the Class-A office building 6100 Merriweather. Both were used to replace existing construction loans that faced initial maturities this year.

In The Woodlands, the company has refinanced its Creekside Park The Grove multifamily asset with a $57 million non-recourse, 10-year loan that replaces the $40 million construction loan originally on the property.

The company also closed on a new $200 million upsize loan for HHC's Bridgeland Credit Facility which increases the total facility to $475 million. The $200 million in additional capacity can be drawn on in the future based on historical and future reimbursable development spend (MUD receivables), enhancing HHC's liquidity.

In The Woodlands, the company closed on a new $50 million loan for Lakefront Northa Class-A office property that was originally unencumbered. This loan is non-recourse and has a 10-year term.

HHC also closed on three pivotal construction loans. In Honolulu, the company closed on a $264 million construction loan for the development of Ulana, the newest residential tower to break ground at Ward Village that is 97.1% pre-sold as of December 31, 2022. In Phoenix, the company closed on a $165 million facility that will fund horizontal development investments at Floreo, the 3,000-acre first village of Teravalis. In Bridgeland, HHC closed on a $54 million construction loan for Wingspan, the company's first build-for-rent residential development.

These new construction loans follow the company's August closing on a $392 million construction loan for the development of The Park Ward Village, the eighth residential tower at Ward Village which broke ground in October and is 91.9% pre-sold as of December 31, 2022.

"The financings speak to the inherent value of our assets and position The Howard Hughes Corporation to successfully navigate the various economic challenges that may lie ahead in the coming year," said David R. O'Reilly, Chief Executive Officer of The Howard Hughes Corporation. "Our closing of $1.3 billion in new loans over the past months across office, retail, multifamily and condominium projects speaks to the incredible capabilities of HHC's capital markets team and the strength of our national portfolio."

These refinancings further extend HHC's overall debt maturity profile, which already had limited near-term maturities owing to several successful refinancings and bond offerings over the past two years. In total, these new financings reduce debt maturities over the next 24 months to less than $155 million and extend the company's weighted average debt maturity to approximately 7.5 years and add meaningful liquidity to HHC's already robust cash position. The combination of these actions leaves HHC's balance sheet well positioned heading into 2023 with a total liquidity of over $800 million.

About The Howard Hughes Corporation

The Howard Hughes Corporation owns, manages and develops commercial, residential and mixed-use real estate throughout the U.S. Its award-winning assets include the country's preeminent portfolio of master planned cities and communities, as well as operating properties and development opportunities including: the Seaport in New York City; Downtown Columbia, Maryland; The Woodlands, The Woodlands Hills, and Bridgeland in the Greater Houston, Texas area; Summerlin, Las Vegas; Ward Village in Honolulu, Hawai'i; and Teravalis in the Greater Phoenix, Arizona area. The Howard Hughes Corporation's portfolio is strategically positioned to meet and accelerate development based on market demand, resulting in one of the strongest real estate platforms in the country. Dedicated to innovative place making, the company is recognized for its ongoing commitment to design excellence and to the cultural life of its communities. The Howard Hughes Corporation is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as HHC.

Safe Harbor Statement

Statements made in this press release that are not historical facts, including statements accompanied by words such as "will," "believe," "expect," "enables," "realize," "plan," "intend," "assume," "transform" and other words of similar expression, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's expectations, estimates, assumptions, and projections as of the date of this release and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are set forth as risk factors in The Howard Hughes Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Quarterly and Annual Reports. The Howard Hughes Corporation cautions you not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this release. The Howard Hughes Corporation does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events, information or circumstances that arise after the date of this release.

Contacts:

The Howard Hughes Corporation

Cristina Carlson, 646-822-6910

Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Communications

[email protected]

For HHC Investor Relations

Eric Holcomb, 281-475-2144

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations

[email protected]

SOURCE The Howard Hughes Corporation
Turkish technology company serving in the field of mobility to leverage bank-grade Harmonize platform for scalable, secure and fully-compliant management of digital assets

LAUSANNE, Switzerland , Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Togg , a global mobility technologies and ecosystem provider has selected METACO , the market-leading provider of digital asset custody orchestration technology to complex, global financial institutions, to underpin and secure the custody and governance of digital assets.

Being the first mobility company that offers digital asset custody wallets, Togg has a vision to become 'a global USE CASE MOBILITY provider' and believes that blockchain will be one of the key enablers of such a vision. Togg unlocks novel and sustainable opportunities for users through its digital ecosystem fully integrated with Blockchain. Togg Mobility Ecosystem, leveraging the Togg Blockchain Platform, emerges as a solution to address challenges around urban mobility and to lead the future where mobility services merge with smart technologies for a frictionless user journey.

The Togg Blockchain Platform is developing as an innovative Mobility-as-a-Service platform (MaaS) in which users can pursue a frictionless mobility experience. Built on the Avalanche C-Chain , Togg's blockchain solution enables users to exchange data across the ecosystem in a safe, secure and green manner. Togg aims to enable its Mobility Ecosystem users across Turkiye and Europe to benefit from a range of innovative use cases underpinned by smart contracts, which include tokenization of mobility services, assessment of CO2 footprint and NFT ownership.

Togg will leverage METACO's digital asset custody and orchestration platform, Harmonize  , to manage the secure custody and governance of digital assets with industry-leading compliance standards, already implemented by multiple Tier 1 banks operating in the digital assets sector. METACO's technology, which runs on IBM Cloud, provides institutional-grade storage for Togg treasury management, as well as an easy to use wallet solution for end-users. In addition, Harmonize provides a versatile smart contract management framework for the Togg ecosystem, providing end-to-end digital asset lifecycle management and full asset servicing support, including minting, burning, storage and transfer of NFTs.

M. Gurcan Karakas , Chief Executive Officer at Togg , commented, "We are designing an open mobility ecosystem that is interconnected and interoperable with others, such as smart home and smart city ecosystems. Blockchain enabled digital tokens allow data and other assets to be stored and transferred in a fast, secure, and green way. By leveraging technology from METACO, we make this possible, and take another step forward in redefining the global mobility ecosystem."

Alongside Harmonize, Togg will also be supported by IBM Cloud Hyper Protect Services . Built on IBM LinuxONE and running on IBM Cloud, this service is designed to provide companies with complete authority over their encrypted data, workloads and encryption keys  not even IBM as the cloud provider has access. When paired with METACO's Harmonize platform, this infrastructure can help digital asset custodians go to market fast, ensure assets are protected and achieve great results, such as scaling to millions of wallets.

Adrien Treccani , CEO and Founder of METACO, commented: "Togg is at the vanguard of innovation and technology development in Turkiye, offering compelling new benefits to its users through the integration of digital assets into operations. We're proud to partner with Togg to provide a platform that offers bank-grade security and compliance for the custody and management of these assets. This partnership demonstrates the continued momentum of METACO, as we move to expand our addressable market and become the technology partner of choice for leading global corporations seeking to embed digital assets into their business model."

METACO is a leading technology provider to financial institutions and corporations in the digital asset ecosystem with significant Tier 1 and Tier 2 bank implementations in various regulatory jurisdictions, including Switzerland, Germany, France, United Kingdom, United States, Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong. Its platform, Harmonize, delivers the most secure, compliant and flexible custody solution in the market, in combination with the end-to-end, secure orchestration of workflows and governance processes across the entire digital asset stack, with no single point of compromise.

About Togg

An intellectual property of Turkey, Togg is a globally competitive USE CASE MOBILITY brand. Togg was established on June 25, 2018 as a joint venture of Anadolu Grubu Holding A.S., BMC Otomotiv Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., Zorlu Holding A.S. and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB).

Togg started manufacturing at its Gemlik facility in 2022, as part of its focus on developing next-gen smart and connected EVs and the surrounding mobility ecosystem, for which the company also develops novel technologies, services, customer experiences, and business models. Togg aims to reach a production of 1 million by 2030 across five connected EV models, built over a common platform.

About METACO

Founded in 2015 in Switzerland, METACO is a technology company whose mission is to enable financial and non-financial institutions to securely manage their digital asset business and capitalize on the burgeoning digital asset economy.

The company's core product, Harmonize, is an orchestration system for digital assets. From cryptocurrency custody and trading to tokenization, staking and smart contract management, the platform seamlessly connects institutions to the new world of decentralized finance (DeFi).

METACO has established itself as the Tier 1 banking standard, trusted by and in live production with global custodians, exchanges, and private and universal banks. Its software, technology and infrastructure solutions enable financial institutions to store, trade, issue and manage digital assets, with the highest possible security and agility.

www.metaco.com

SOURCE METACO
Dr. Howard brings nearly 15 years of leadership experience within medical communications agencies

CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Vaniam Group today announced the hiring of Rebecca Davis Howard, PhD, as the company's first Executive Vice President of Virology and Rare Diseases. While Vaniam Group will remain the premier independent medical communications agency primarily focused on oncology and hematology, Dr. Howard will oversee the company's expansion into other blood diseases such as HIV, sickle cell, and beta thalassemia.

"For more than 15 years, Vaniam Group has established itself as a trusted partner for pharmaceutical companies focused on oncology and hematology," said Deanna B. van Gestel, Vaniam Group's founder and CEO. "However, our clients increasingly are asking us to manage their medical communications around their other specialty products and pipelines. Our past success is the result of our team's passion for understanding the therapeutic landscape, connecting with specialist healthcare providers, and communicating with clarity. These same qualities will continue to differentiate us as we expand into these other specialty diseases, helping our clients maximize the potential of their high-science pipelines."

Dr. Howard will oversee Vaniam Group's expansion into medical communications for HIV, sickle cell, and beta thalassemia. Tweet this

Jennifer Buffington Herzog, Vaniam Group's President, added: "Becky Howard has distinguished herself as one of the country's top leaders in the medical communications industry. She understands the science, she is at ease with experts across the medical community, and she knows how to position her pharmaceutical clients for success. More importantly, as a leader, she inspires and motivates her teams to do great work and grow their careers. I am thrilled to see her in action at Vaniam Group."

Dr. Howard responded: "From afar, I have watched Vaniam Group grow from a boutique agency to a powerhouse within the oncology and hematology space. I am honored to help expand into these additional disease areas, while maintaining what has always made Vaniam Group special: the science, the physician network, and the passion to impact patient lives. I look forward to working side-by-side with such a dynamic team."

Dr. Howard possesses nearly 15 years of experience driving results within the medical communications industry, most recently as the owner of the consultancy Oncology Acumen. Previously, she held leadership positions at Conisus, E Squared Communications, and Publicis Healthcare Communications Group. Dr. Howard earned her Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in molecular biology at the University of Central Florida; she received her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in cancer biology, with honors, from the University of South Florida's Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute.

About Vaniam Group

Vaniam Group is a people-first, purpose-driven, independent network of healthcare and scientific communications agencies committed to helping biopharmaceutical companies realize the full potential of their pipelines. Founded in 2007 as a virtual-by-design organization, Vaniam Group harnesses the talents and expertise of team members around the world. For more information, visit www.VaniamGroup.com.

Media Contact:

David Whitrap

[email protected]

SOURCE Vaniam Group LLC
Iconic brand celebrates 125 years with first US Market look at product & packaging innovations

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Walker's Shortbread is excited to reveal a newly reimagined logo, packaging redesign and announce the release of their updated Festive range holiday product offerings in honor of the brand's milestone 125th anniversary.

"Family owned and run since 1898, an important detail within our new logotype is the inclusion of an apostrophe to emphasize our pride in our heritage and create a stronger consumer association with our founder Joseph Walker whose signature is on our package and whose recipes we still use today," said Nicky Walker, Managing Director and 3rd generation member of the Walker's family. "Our inspiration for the new Festive range draws from our history and also reinforces our commitment to providing a diversified holiday product offering in order to meet a wider audience of consumers and their changing needs for gifting and entertaining in the holiday season ahead."

The updated Festive range is housed in a new-look, distinctive festive design and available in a multitude of new offerings as well as special gifting options such as stocking stuffers and assortment boxes. Holiday favorites such as our Festive Shapes, Gingerbread Men and our ever-popular Mince Pies will feature packaging with bright, illustrative holiday designs, showcasing a variety of ways that consumers can use Walker's Festive range for all their gifting, sharing and entertaining needs throughout the 2023 holiday season.

Continuing to enjoy sell-out success each year, the Walker's Shortbread advent calendar is returning for 2023. With a distinguished new look, the contemporary book-style design is adorned with Walker's iconic tartan, gold embossing and stylish snowflakes, featuring playful illustrations when opened, and packed with Walker's Shortbread favorites behind each door.

"It's a hugely exciting time for Walker's  as we honor the family's heritage with our new logo & packaging updates and celebrate 125 years," said Lisa Sherman, US Head of Marketing. "We're delighted to share our newly designed Festive range with you at this year's Winter Fancy Food Show and hope you'll enjoy the delicious shortbread baked in our Aberlour village bakery."

Attendees of the 2023 Winter Fancy Food Show in Las Vegas on January 15th - 17th can get the first look at the new Festive range hitting shelves this fall, as well as a sneak peek on additional 2023 product innovations by stopping by the Las Vegas Convention Center, West Hall and Booth #901.

About Walker's Shortbread

Walker's Shortbread has been the ancestral home to Scotland's highest quality shortbread for 125 years .

Established in Aberlour, Speyside, Scotland in 1898 by Joseph Walker, the company continues to be family owned and is now lead by the founder's grandchildren and great grandchildren who faithfully maintain the tradition of producing the finest shortbreads, biscuits, cakes and oatcakes while staying true to the original Walker's recipes. Walker's iconic shortbread recipe sets the global standard for shortbread with a simple but powerful philosophy of using only the highest quality of just four natural ingredients: creamery butter, flour, sugar and salt.

Known worldwide for its quality and excellence, Walker's has also been acknowledged with a Royal Warrant of Appointment in 2002 and 2017 to supply oatcakes and shortbread (respectively) to the Royal Family Household.

All Walker's products are free from artificial color, flavorings and preservatives, certified Kosher (OUD), and suitable for vegetarians; a wide range of gluten-free products are also available. Exported to over 120 countries worldwide, learn more about Scotland at its Finest at https://us.walkersshortbread.com .

SOURCE Walkers Shortbread
W&H is expanding its hygiene portfolio with the addition of a new Lexa Plus Class B sterilizer and a new, technologically advanced Assistina One maintenance device bringing added peace of mind to reprocessing and infection prevention for a dental practice's workflow

WINDSOR, ON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - The core of W&H's ambition is to develop state-of-the-art technology and tools that make dental practices' work safer, more efficient, and more patient-friendly. The new Lexa Plus sterilizer is a pre-vacuum, Class B sterilizer for the North American market. It provides more capacity, energy-saving fast cycles, automatic water filling, connectivity and traceability options offering full protection for doctors and their patients. The new Assistina One single port maintenance device ensures perfect care and performs the correct lubrication cycles crucial for the function and long service life of dental handpieces. The entire lubrication and spray channel cleaning process only takes 18 seconds, making the Assistina One the fastest maintenance solution in its class.

The W&H Lexa Plus pre-vacuum, Class B sterilizer provides more capacity, energy-saving fast cycles, automatic water filling, connectivity and traceability options offering full protection for doctors and their patients. The W&H Assistina One single port maintenance device ensures perfect care for long service life of dental handpieces. The entire lubrication and spray channel cleaning process only takes 18 seconds, making the Assistina One the fastest maintenance solution in its class. (CNW Group/W&H Impex Inc.)

Lexa Plus Sterilizer  More Incredible!

The Lexa Plus is built to offer more of all that counts in everyday dental infection control. Its color touch screen display offers an intuitive menu structure with a wide range of options to make daily work easier, faster, and more efficient. The large chamber capacity, short cycle times and excellent load drying offer additional efficiencies as well as more flexibility with the user-friendly tray and exclusive rack design.

Key Benefits

Eco Dry + : the innovative, patented Eco Dry + adapts the drying time to the mass of the load. This increases efficiency by reducing cycle times, increases the life span of instruments and optimizes energy consumption.

the innovative, patented + adapts the drying time to the mass of the load. This increases efficiency by reducing cycle times, increases the life span of instruments and optimizes energy consumption. Large capacity: a 7.4 gallon chamber enables Lexa Plus to reprocess up to 16.5 lbs. of wrapped and 18 lbs. of unwrapped instruments and is extremely flexible with its 5-tray rack.

a 7.4 gallon chamber enables Lexa Plus to reprocess up to 16.5 lbs. of wrapped and 18 lbs. of unwrapped instruments and is extremely flexible with its 5-tray rack. Advanced features: the automatic water filling feature allows a demineralized system to be connected to the sterilizer for optimum efficiency. More advanced connectivity capabilities allow for remote monitoring and advanced service support.

the automatic water filling feature allows a demineralized system to be connected to the sterilizer for optimum efficiency. More advanced connectivity capabilities allow for remote monitoring and advanced service support. EliTrace : an advanced documentation system offers full traceability, down to a single instrument for a high level of safety for both practice and patient and can be automatically saved to a USB stick.

an advanced documentation system offers full traceability, down to a single instrument for a high level of safety for both practice and patient and can be automatically saved to a USB stick. W&H Bowie & Dick test: a W&H branded Bowie & Dick daily test allows for a more enhanced traceability by linking the sterilization cycle with the test sheet.

Assistina One  the One that speeds up my daily operation

The Assistina One is designed for the needs of users in dental practices and intended to further simplify the maintenance process for greater efficiency. The Quick Connect by W&H feature is an innovative adapter solution that makes it quick and easy to switch between handpieces.

Key Benefits:

Sustainable and cost-efficient: up to 2,800 transmission instruments can be maintained with just one Care Set saving money, time and use of oil spray cans. It works exclusively with compressed air, so it can be put into operation quickly with no need for a power supply.

up to 2,800 transmission instruments can be maintained with just one Care Set saving money, time and use of oil spray cans. It works exclusively with compressed air, so it can be put into operation quickly with no need for a power supply. Easy to use: straight and contra-angle handpieces, turbines and air motors can be perfectly processed and maintained at the push of a button. The clear view of the chamber along with the fill level indicator on the side contribute to the intuitive operation of the device.

straight and contra-angle handpieces, turbines and air motors can be perfectly processed and maintained at the push of a button. The clear view of the chamber along with the fill level indicator on the side contribute to the intuitive operation of the device. Safe and clean: maintenance sets in a handy cartridge system means that oil and cleaning fluid can be easily and quickly changed with no mess. Manual refilling is a thing of the past. To ensure a safe and clean working environment, aerosols are also extracted from the chamber and the exhaust air is cleaned using a HEPA filter.

Schedule a Product Demonstration

For more information on the Lexa Plus sterilizer and the Assistina One maintenance device, schedule an appointment with a knowledgeable W&H Territory Sales Manager in your area.

About W&H

W&H Impex, Inc. located in Ontario, Canada is a subsidiary of W&H Group. Headquartered in Burmoos, Austria, the international W&H Group is a global leader in the development and manufacture of medical technology products. Passion and innovation are the motor of the company. High-quality product and service solutions, a modern corporate structure, a strong focus on research and development as well as social responsibility make W&H a locally and globally successful family business. More than 1,200 employees contribute to the production of hardware and software products for use in the dental, medical and veterinary industries.

SOURCE W&H Impex Inc.
NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The wind turbine components market size is forecast to increase by USD 39.18 billion from 2022 to 2027, at a CAGR of 6.76%, according to the recent market study by Technavio. The growth of the market will be driven by the rapid growth of the global wind power market, rising investments in clean sources of energy, and the presence of regulations that encourage power generation from renewable sources.

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Wind Turbine Components Market 2023-2027

Technavio categorizes the global wind turbine components market as a part of the global renewable electricity market within the global independent power and renewable electricity market. The parent global renewable electricity market covers companies engaged in generating and distributing electricity using renewable sources. The global independent power and renewable electricity market size include combined revenue generated by companies involved in the generation and distribution of independent power producers, gas and power marketing and trading specialists, and/or integrated energy merchants and renewable electricity. The market also includes manufacturers of raw materials and equipment used in the solar power market.

Charts & data tables about market and segment sizes for a historic period of five (2017-

2021) years have been covered in this report. Download the Sample Report

The market is segmented by application (onshore and offshore), product (wind turbine rotor blades, wind turbine gearboxes, wind turbine generators, wind turbine towers, and others), and geography (APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and Middle East and Africa).

Segmentation by application (onshore and offshore)

Onshore: The market share growth by the onshore segment will be significant during the forecast period. The onshore market is expanding due to the advancements that have made advanced technologies commercially viable as well as the decreased cost of energy produced by onshore wind power projects. The growth of the sector is partly driven by government funding for onshore wind farms. In addition to other market-based processes like tenders, auctions, and green certificates, the new installations were driven by a number of support mechanisms like the feed-in tariff and production tax credit. These factors are driving the focused market during the forecast period.

To get detailed insights about inclusions and exclusions, buy the report

Technavio has extensively analyzed 15 major vendors, including China High-Speed Transmission Equipment Group Co. Ltd., CS WIND Corp., Dongfang Electric Corp., Emergya Wind Technologies BV, EnBW Energie Baden Wurttemberg AG, ENERCON GmbH, Envision Group, Flender GmbH, General Electric Co., ISHIBASHI Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Max Bogl Wind AG, Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd., Sinoma Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Suzlon Energy Ltd., TPI Composites Inc., Vestas Wind Systems AS, XEMC Darwind BV, Xinjiang Goldwind Science and Technology Co. Ltd., ZF Friedrichshafen AG, and Siemens AG

Key benefits for industry players & stakeholders 

The report offers information on the criticality of vendor inputs, including R&D, CAPEX, and technology.

It also provides detailed analyses of the market's competitive landscape and vendors' product offerings.

The report also provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis of vendors to help clients understand the wider business environment as well as the strengths and weaknesses of key market players. Data is qualitatively analyzed to categorize vendors as pure play, category-focused, industry-focused, and diversified; it is quantitatively analyzed to categorize vendors as dominant, leading, strong, tentative, and weak.

Expand operations in the future - To get requisite details, ask for a custom report.

Customer landscape - Analysis of price sensitivity, adoption lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria by Technavio

One of the core components of the customer landscape is price sensitivity, an analysis of which will help companies refine marketing strategies to gain a competitive advantage.

Another key aspect is price sensitivity drivers (purchases are undifferentiated, the purchase is a key cost to buyers, and quality is not important), which range between LOW and HIGH.

Furthermore, market adoption rates for all regions have been covered.

Get a holistic overview of the wind turbine components market from industry experts to

evaluate and develop growth strategies. Download the Sample

Related Reports:

Offshore Wind Power Market by Type, Product Type and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2023-2027: The offshore wind power market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 17.59% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 30,744.65 million. The rise in global energy demand is notably driving the market growth, although factors such as competition from alternative energy sources may impede the market growth.

Portable Power Station Market by Application, Technology, and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2023-2027: The portable power station market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.59% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 179.21 million. The growing demand for uninterrupted and reliable power during power outages is notably driving the portable power station market growth, although factors such as long charging times for solar-powered portable power stations may impede the market growth.

Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research

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What are the key data covered in this wind turbine components market report?

CAGR of the market during the forecast period

Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the wind turbine components market between 2023 and 2027

Precise estimation of the size of the wind turbine components market and its contribution to the parent market

Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

Growth of the wind turbine components market across APAC, Europe , North America , South America , and Middle East and Africa

, , , and and A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about vendors

Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of wind turbine components market vendors

Wind Turbine Components Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 174 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.76% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 39.18 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 5.93 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 56% Key countries US, China, India, Germany, and Spain Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled China High Speed Transmission Equipment Group Co. Ltd., CS WIND Corp., Dongfang Electric Corp., Emergya Wind Technologies BV, EnBW Energie Baden Wurttemberg AG, ENERCON GmbH, Envision Group, Flender GmbH, General Electric Co., ISHIBASHI Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Max Bogl Wind AG, Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd., Sinoma Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Suzlon Energy Ltd., TPI Composites Inc., Vestas Wind Systems AS, XEMC Darwind BV, Xinjiang Goldwind Science and Technology Co. Ltd., ZF Friedrichshafen AG, and Siemens AG Market dynamics Parent Market Analysis; Market growth inducers and obstacles; Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis for the forecast period Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Browse for Technavio "Utilities" Research Reports

Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Application



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Product



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 09: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 10: Parent market



Exhibit 11: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 12: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 13: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2022

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2022-2027

Exhibit 14: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 15: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 16: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 17: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

4 Historic Market Size

4.1 Global Wind Turbine Components Market 2023-2027 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 18: Historic Market Size  Data Table on Global Wind Turbine Components Market 2023-2027 2017 - 2021 ($ billion)

4.2 Application Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 19: Historic Market Size  Application Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ billion)

4.3 Product Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 20: Historic Market Size  Product Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ billion)

4.4 Geography Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 21: Historic Market Size  Geography Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ billion)

4.5 Country Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 22: Historic Market Size  Country Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ billion)

5 Five Forces Analysis

5.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 23: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2022 and 2027

5.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 24: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2022 and 2027

5.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 25: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 26: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 27: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 28: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.7 Market condition

Exhibit 29: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2022 and 2027

6 Market Segmentation by Application

6.1 Market segments

Exhibit 30: Chart on Application - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Application - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

6.2 Comparison by Application

Exhibit 32: Chart on Comparison by Application



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Comparison by Application

6.3 Onshore - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 34: Chart on Onshore - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Onshore - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 36: Chart on Onshore - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 37: Data Table on Onshore - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.4 Offshore - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 38: Chart on Offshore - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Offshore - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 40: Chart on Offshore - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Offshore - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.5 Market opportunity by Application

Exhibit 42: Market opportunity by Application ($ billion)

7 Market Segmentation by Product

7.1 Market segments

Exhibit 43: Chart on Product - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 44: Data Table on Product - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

7.2 Comparison by Product

Exhibit 45: Chart on Comparison by Product



Exhibit 46: Data Table on Comparison by Product

7.3 Wind turbine rotor blades - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 47: Chart on Wind turbine rotor blades - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 48: Data Table on Wind turbine rotor blades - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 49: Chart on Wind turbine rotor blades - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 50: Data Table on Wind turbine rotor blades - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.4 Wind turbine gearboxes - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 51: Chart on Wind turbine gearboxes - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 52: Data Table on Wind turbine gearboxes - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 53: Chart on Wind turbine gearboxes - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 54: Data Table on Wind turbine gearboxes - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.5 Wind turbine generators - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 55: Chart on Wind turbine generators - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 56: Data Table on Wind turbine generators - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 57: Chart on Wind turbine generators - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 58: Data Table on Wind turbine generators - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.6 Wind turbine towers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 59: Chart on Wind turbine towers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 60: Data Table on Wind turbine towers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 61: Chart on Wind turbine towers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 62: Data Table on Wind turbine towers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.7 Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 63: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 64: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 65: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 66: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.8 Market opportunity by Product

Exhibit 67: Market opportunity by Product ($ billion)

8 Customer Landscape

8.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 68: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

9 Geographic Landscape

9.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 69: Chart on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 70: Data Table on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%)

9.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 71: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 72: Data Table on Geographic comparison

9.3 APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 73: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 74: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 75: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 76: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 77: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 78: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 79: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 80: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.5 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 81: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 82: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 83: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 84: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 85: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 86: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 87: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 88: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 89: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 90: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 91: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 92: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.8 China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 93: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 94: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 95: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 96: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.9 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 97: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 98: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 99: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 100: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.10 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 101: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 102: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 103: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 104: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.11 India - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 105: Chart on India - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 106: Data Table on India - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 107: Chart on India - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 108: Data Table on India - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.12 Spain - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 109: Chart on Spain - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 110: Data Table on Spain - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 111: Chart on Spain - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 112: Data Table on Spain - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 113: Market opportunity by geography ($ billion)

10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10.1 Market drivers

10.2 Market challenges

10.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 114: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2022 and 2027

10.4 Market trends

11 Vendor Landscape

11.1 Overview

11.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 115: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

11.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 116: Overview on factors of disruption

11.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 117: Impact of key risks on business

12 Vendor Analysis

12.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 118: Vendors covered

12.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 119: Matrix on vendor position and classification

12.3 China High Speed Transmission Equipment Group Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 120: China High Speed Transmission Equipment Group Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 121: China High Speed Transmission Equipment Group Co. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 122: China High Speed Transmission Equipment Group Co. Ltd. - Key offerings

12.4 CS WIND Corp.

Exhibit 123: CS WIND Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 124: CS WIND Corp. - Product / Service



Exhibit 125: CS WIND Corp. - Key offerings

12.5 Dongfang Electric Corp.

Exhibit 126: Dongfang Electric Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 127: Dongfang Electric Corp. - Product / Service



Exhibit 128: Dongfang Electric Corp. - Key offerings

12.6 Emergya Wind Technologies BV

Exhibit 129: Emergya Wind Technologies BV - Overview



Exhibit 130: Emergya Wind Technologies BV - Product / Service



Exhibit 131: Emergya Wind Technologies BV - Key offerings

12.7 EnBW Energie Baden Wurttemberg AG

Exhibit 132: EnBW Energie Baden Wurttemberg AG - Overview



Exhibit 133: EnBW Energie Baden Wurttemberg AG - Business segments



Exhibit 134: EnBW Energie Baden Wurttemberg AG - Key offerings



Exhibit 135: EnBW Energie Baden Wurttemberg AG - Segment focus

12.8 ENERCON GmbH

Exhibit 136: ENERCON GmbH - Overview



Exhibit 137: ENERCON GmbH - Product / Service



Exhibit 138: ENERCON GmbH - Key offerings

12.9 Envision Group

Exhibit 139: Envision Group - Overview



Exhibit 140: Envision Group - Product / Service



Exhibit 141: Envision Group - Key offerings

12.10 Flender GmbH

Exhibit 142: Flender GmbH - Overview



Exhibit 143: Flender GmbH - Product / Service



Exhibit 144: Flender GmbH - Key offerings

12.11 General Electric Co.

Exhibit 145: General Electric Co. - Overview



Exhibit 146: General Electric Co. - Business segments



Exhibit 147: General Electric Co. - Key news



Exhibit 148: General Electric Co. - Key offerings



Exhibit 149: General Electric Co. - Segment focus

12.12 ISHIBASHI Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 150: ISHIBASHI Manufacturing Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 151: ISHIBASHI Manufacturing Co. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 152: ISHIBASHI Manufacturing Co. Ltd. - Key offerings

12.13 Max Bogl Wind AG

Exhibit 153: Max Bogl Wind AG - Overview



Exhibit 154: Max Bogl Wind AG - Product / Service



Exhibit 155: Max Bogl Wind AG - Key offerings

12.14 Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd.

Exhibit 156: Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 157: Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 158: Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd. - Key offerings

12.15 Siemens AG

Exhibit 159: Siemens AG - Overview



Exhibit 160: Siemens AG - Business segments



Exhibit 161: Siemens AG - Key news



Exhibit 162: Siemens AG - Key offerings



Exhibit 163: Siemens AG - Segment focus

12.16 Sinoma Science and Technology Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 164: Sinoma Science and Technology Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 165: Sinoma Science and Technology Co. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 166: Sinoma Science and Technology Co. Ltd. - Key offerings

12.17 Suzlon Energy Ltd.

Exhibit 167: Suzlon Energy Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 168: Suzlon Energy Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 169: Suzlon Energy Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 170: Suzlon Energy Ltd. - Segment focus

13 Appendix

13.1 Scope of the report

13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 171: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 172: Exclusions checklist

13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 173: Currency conversion rates for US$

13.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 174: Research methodology



Exhibit 175: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 176: Information sources

13.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 177: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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SOURCE Technavio
Book profiles grassroots agents of change from different backgrounds and ideologies who are fighting back against the education bureaucracy

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Exploring the instruction of critical race theory in public schools  which has been popularized through controversial curriculum such as the 1619 Project  the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute today released The Great Parent Revolt, a new book that profiles ordinary people who have taken on the extraordinary task of defeating the most divisive doctrine to ever threaten America's children.

Pacific Research Institute

"This book tells the story of individual parents, students and school board members who are fighting the ideological indoctrination of critical race theory," writes co-authors Lance Izumi, Wenyuan Wu, and McKenzie Richards. "Almost none of them is an expert on political philosophy or social sciences but they are motivated by a common desire to stop a fringe and divisive dogma from preying on our society and its most fragile members: America's kids."

The Great Parent Revolt features interviews with parents, grandparents, educators, students and community leaders who have been impacted by the sweeping forces of thought conformity and political indoctrination in public schools. Among those profiled in the book are:

An African American widowed mother of five children who lives in poverty and who filed a federal lawsuit to strike down school-imposed critical race theory requirements





A 15-year-old son of an immigrant father and an American mother attending public school in San Francisco , who had a front-row seat to view the transformation of the classroom from a center for learning to a racial indoctrination camp





, who had a front-row seat to view the transformation of the classroom from a center for learning to a racial indoctrination camp A survivor of the Cultural Revolution in Communist China, who garnered national attention when she spoke out against policies that amounted to political indoctrination being promoted by her local school district that had similarities to what she experienced as a youth in China





A Muslim woman whose father marched with Mahatma Gandhi, who spoke out when her local school district wanted to change the admissions system of her son's school to a race-based system that would take away opportunities for Asian American students





A woman whose grandparents escaped from the Holocaust and another whose family fled Communism in Eastern Europe who teamed together to start an organization fighting antisemitism in California's proposed ethnic studies curriculum

The book also includes policy tools and strategies that frustrated parents and community members might employ in their local schools to stop the spread of critical race theory and classroom indoctrination.

The Great Parent Revolt is available now for purchase at Amazon.com or your favorite online bookseller.

If you would like to interview Lance Izumi about the book, please contact Emeline McClellan at (202) 970-9742.

The Pacific Research Institute (www.pacificresearch.org) champions freedom, opportunity, and personal responsibility by advancing free-market policy ideas. Follow PRI on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Media Contact:

Emeline McClellan

(202) 970-9742

[email protected]

SOURCE Pacific Research Institute
KFC veteran to optimize Zaxby's partnerships between suppliers and franchisees

ATHENS, Ga., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Saucy chicken chain Zaxby's welcomes Carl Mount as chief supply chain officer effective January 17. With 25 years of experience, Mount comes to Zaxby's most recently from Starbucks, where he served as senior vice president for supply chain operations. Prior to his Starbucks tenure, Mount was head of supply chain for KFC Global. At Zaxby's, Mount will manage partnerships across the supply chain industry to maximize the investments of franchisees.

Zaxbys welcomes Carl Mount as new chief supply chain officer.

"Having served in roles both in supply chain and procurement for global brands, Carl will help us optimize solutions that better serve our franchisees, team members and guests for maximum resiliency to supply chain challenges now and in the future," said Bernard Acoca, Zaxby's CEO. "I am excited to partner with Carl again and begin the new year with a strong leadership team that can continue executing our ambitious goals for growing Zaxby's in the QSR space."

Mount represents the latest addition to Zaxby's executive leadership team, which has been completely revamped since Acoca's arrival in January 2022 .

Mount has spent his career in the food and beverage industry, providing exceptional contributions across general management, manufacturing, logistics, and procurement functions for multibillion dollar companies, including PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Yum! Brands and Starbucks in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Mount was paramount in implementing processes and tools at Starbucks to generate real-time action, identifying and minimizing supply chain disruptions during the pandemic.

While at Yum! Brands, serving as the head of supply chain for KFC Global, he focused heavily on margin improvement for the company's three international brands, utilizing a playbook of collaborative tools between suppliers, franchisees and franchisor, ultimately improving margins by several hundred million dollars. Mount is well known in the industry for his ability to build teams and grow people capability. He and Acoca previously worked together at Starbucks.

Mount received his business degree at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and holds an MBA in finance from the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business. He serves as board chair for The USC Marshall Randall R. Kendrick Global Supply Chain Institute.

"I am thrilled to be joining Zaxby's at this point in its growth journey," Mount said. "I met with motivated franchisees and strong experienced leaders which ignited my passion for this brand. Having an opportunity to work with Bernard again was the icing on the cake. Supply chains are volatile and delicate; I look forward to bringing my experience to this team."

About Zaxby's

Founded in 1990, Zaxby's is committed to serving delicious chicken fingers, wings, sandwiches and salads with Southern hospitality and a modern twist. Zaxby's iconic Signature Sandwich received Thrillist's Fasties Award for Best Fried Chicken Sandwich in both 2021 and 2022. Zaxby's has grown to more than 900 locations in 17 states and is headquartered in Athens, Georgia. For more information, visit zaxbys.com or zaxbysfranchising.com .

Media Contact:

Jacob Teetzmann

Tombras

+1.423.494.3673

[email protected]

SOURCE Zaxby's
VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Zoomd Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: ZOMD) (OTC: ZMDTF) and its wholly-owned subsidiary Zoomd Ltd. (collectively, "Zoomd" or the "Company"), the marketing technology (MarTech) user-acquisition and engagement platform, is pleased to announce the participation of Amit Bohensky, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board, at the 9th annual AlphaNorth Capital Conference.

The 9th Annual AlphaNorth Capital Conference, to be held between January 20th and the 22nd, 2023, will provide participants (who are expected to be active top-level capital finance professionals and venture capital investors), through a day of scheduled 1:1 meetings, with an introduction to growth-stage companies from non-resource, technology, biotech and special situations.

For more information about the conference or to schedule a one-on-one meeting with Zoomd, please contact Lytham Partners [email protected] or directly at [email protected]

About ZOOMD

Zoomd (TSXV: ZOMD, OTC: ZMDTF), founded in 2012 and began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in September 2019, offers a site search engine to publishers, and a mobile app user-acquisition platform, integrated with a majority of global digital media, to advertisers. The platform unifies more than 600 media sources into one unified dashboard. Offering advertisers, a user acquisition control center for managing all new customer acquisition campaigns using a single platform. By unifying all these media sources onto a single platform, Zoomd saves advertisers significant resources that would otherwise be spent consolidating data sources, thereby maximizing data collection and data insights while minimizing the resources spent on the exercise. Further, Zoomd is a performance-based platform that allows advertisers to advertise to the relevant target audiences using a key performance indicator-algorithm that is focused on achieving the advertisers' goals and targets.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information please contact:

Company Media Contacts:

Amit Bohensky

Chairman

Zoomd

[email protected]

Website: www.zoomd.com

Investor relations:

Lytham Partners, LLC

Ben Shamsian

New York | Phoenix

[email protected]

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1039696/Zoomd_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Zoomd Technologies Ltd.
Glasses-free AR/VR Laptop Wins Highest Honor in Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence: Back to School



SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- zSpace , zSpace, a Silicon Valley education company, today announced it has recently been honored by Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence: Back to School 2022 for its Inspire AR/VR Laptop in the category of Secondary Education. This is the company's fifth win as an Awards of Excellence recipient.

The zSpace Inspire is an augmented and virtual reality laptop that does not require a head-mounted display or 3D glasses. A broad range of STEM, biology, chemistry, and Career and Technical Education coursework is available on the Inspire including, Agri-Science, Construction, Health Science, IT, Manufacturing, Transportation/Alternative Fuels, as well as applications for esports, modeling, and simulation. Learning these skills with the power of augmented and virtual reality from the zSpace Inspire brings education to life, allowing students to better understand hard-to-visualize concepts as well as practice navigating situations that would be too difficult, impossible, counterproductive, or too expensive in the real world.

"We continue to expand our higher education offerings with new tools from our partners because they've been so successful with the student and learning community," said Paul Kellenberger, CEO of zSpace. "Allowing students to experience these CTE courses in an AR/VR environment deepens their learning and boosts their achievement in earning industry credentials."

zSpace representatives will be available to discuss the Inspire and demonstrate its capabilities at the National Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC 2023) from January 24 to January 26 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, LA in booth 943.

About zSpace

zSpace, Inc. has been focused on immersive experiences since its inception and is a leading education company within the Metaverse. zSpace's evidence-based augmented/virtual reality platform provides innovative hands-on, experiential learning to improve achievement in science, math and career and technical education credentialing. Over 3,000 school districts, technical centers, community colleges and universities use zSpace to provide equitable access to instruction for millions of learners preparing for success in college and careers. Located in San Jose, California, it has more than 70 patents. zSpace was named "Cool Vendor" by Gartner, Inc., "Best in Show at ISTE" by Tech & Learning Magazine for three consecutive years and ranked two years in a row on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing companies. Visit www.zspace.com, or follow @zSpace on Twitter.

Media Contact:

Amanda Austin

zSpace, Inc.

[email protected]

408-498-4050 x4130

SOURCE zSpace, Inc.
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Partners for Sacred Places and the National Trust for Historic Preservation are delighted to announce that Lilly Endowment Inc. has renewed its support for the National Fund for Sacred Places, extending the program through 2027 and doubling the amount of capital grants available to congregations to more than $20 million. During the next five years, the National Fund will continue to support vibrant congregations that have buildings of historical significance and architectural character, and that play an essential role in meeting the larger spiritual, social, and economic needs of the communities they serve.

Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque, part of the 2022 cohort of the National Fund for Sacred Places. Arch Street Meeting in Philadelphia, part of the 2022 cohort of the National Fund for Sacred Places.

The National Fund for Sacred Places is a program of Partners for Sacred Places in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and provides financial and technical support for community-serving historic houses of worship across America, including $250,000 or more in capital grants. It is a collaboration that builds on the organizations' many years of experience in the field. For more than three decades, Partners for Sacred Places has been helping congregations use best stewardship practices with their historic facilities in order to strengthen, serve, and celebrate their communities for the common good. And the National Trust for Historic Preservation has been the nation's leading preservation organization for more than 60 years, a trailblazer in advocacy and grant-making to preserve America's diverse history.

Lilly Endowment made two grants to support the National Fund for Sacred Places program:

A grant of $5,769,305 to Partners for Sacred Places will support its leadership and administration of the National Fund program. Partners will use the funds to provide planning grants, technical support and education and training to congregations selected to participate in the National Fund for Sacred Places program.

to Partners for Sacred Places will support its leadership and administration of the National Fund program. Partners will use the funds to provide planning grants, technical support and education and training to congregations selected to participate in the National Fund for Sacred Places program. A grant of $22,995,211 to the National Trust will enable the organization to provide capital grants to approximately 80 congregations selected for the National Fund program. Capital grants may be used for repairs or restoration, which can include efforts to restore and maintain key artistic and architectural features of the churches.

"These grants are an affirmation that Lilly Endowment sees the impact the National Fund has on congregations and communities," said Bob Jaeger, president of Partners for Sacred Places. "The National Fund is not only about preserving historic houses of worship, which is enormously important, but also about building capacity within congregations so they can be self-sustaining and continue to serve their communities for many years to come. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to extend the program, serving many more congregations through 2027."

"The National Fund for Sacred Places is the only grant program of its kind in the nation and, year after year, the demand for funding grows," said Rachel Hildebrandt, director of the National Fund. "We are thrilled that we will be able to continue to serve America's most important and vital historic houses of worship, and to grow our program to serve a greater number of congregations in the years to come."

"The National Trust is proud to continue its collaboration with Partners for Sacred Places, and grateful to the Lilly Endowment for providing the generous support to make this work possible," said Paul Edmondson, President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "Over the past 7 years, the National Fund for Sacred Places has supported critical repair needs at nearly 100 houses of worship across the nation, each of which represents a historically significant architectural treasure and a cornerstone of the local communities they serve. We look forward to supporting many more congregations with these significant new resources available to congregations through the National Fund for Sacred Places."

Since 2016, the National Fund has awarded and pledged $18 million to 97 community-serving congregations representing 24 faith traditions in 36 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. So far, this grantmaking has resulted in more than $3 leveraged for every grant dollar invested in participating congregations.

Letters of intent for the next round of grants, which will be awarded in the fall of this year, are open on January 11, 2023, and due by February 24, 2023. Details about the application process, eligibility requirements, and selection criteria are available by visiting www.fundforsacredplaces.org.

About Partners for Sacred Places

Partners for Sacred Places is the only national, nonsectarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to the sound stewardship and active community use of America's older religious properties. www.SacredPlaces.org

About the National Trust for Historic Preservation

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded nonprofit organization, works to save America's historic places.

SavingPlaces.org

About Lilly Endowment Inc.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is a national private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J. K. Lilly Sr. and sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders' wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education, and religion, and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. The principal aim of the Endowment's grantmaking in religion is to deepen and enrich the lives of American Christians, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of diverse religious traditions by supporting fair and accurate portrayals of the role religion plays in the United States and across the globe. Visit lillyendowment.org.

Contacts:

Emilie Haertsch, [email protected], 215-567-3234, x20

Elliot Carter, [email protected], 301-873-8520

SOURCE Partners for Sacred Places
ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 11, 2018, a storm was wracking the city of Kodiak, Alaska as a mom-to-be underwent an ultrasound that revealed her cervix had opened at just 17 weeks, three days of pregnancy, over four weeks earlier than any baby has survived childbirth. Thanks to amazing doctors and the staff and volunteers of the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Fisher House, the family was able to hold off on having their baby boy for almost five weeks, giving him a chance. He's now 4 years old.

"I'm one of multiple kids," Courtney Spencer said. "My husband has multiple siblings, so it was very important. It was one of those things. I was mid-twenties and I'm like, 'Okay, I want to do the family thing.'"

Courtney and Colin started trying to have a child after Colin was already an eight-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard. But four years and a miscarriage later, fertility treatments were needed to conceive baby Percival, the micro preemie.

The troubled pregnancy required three early emergency room visits, one that took place before Percival even had a heartbeat. Then, on December 11, an ultrasound appointment during a storm revealed that Courtney's body was very close to going into labor, a process that almost certainly would have doomed baby Percival.

The wind was driving winter snow at 70 miles per hour on the little island of Kodiak as medical staff figured out how to get Courtney to JBER Hospital.

"At the time, I'm thinking, 'We're being medevacced to save the baby,' but I learned later that no, they didn't expect the baby to survive. They were just trying to save me," Courtney said.

A harrowing flight and ambulance ride later, a surgeon was able to protect the pregnancy with a "cervical stitch." But that made it crucial that neither mom nor baby move too much or else her water could still break or labor could start.

For almost five weeks, the Spencers lived at the JBER Fisher House as volunteers, staff, and other guests learned of their risky position and took steps to protect mom and baby.

"In Alaska, in winter, if you end up in the Fisher House, it's not little stuff," Courtney said. Other families in the house had lasting issues, like a couple that was learning to do clean dialysis for when they returned to their home "in the bush."

The Spencers grew close to these other families while Courtney was confined to bed.

"We spent Christmas there. We spent New Year's. The whole house kind of did a big New Year's Dinner. We all cooked."

"Well, I didn't, but everyone else did." Courtney directed her husband's cooking from her bed via text and photo messages. Colin helped cook a donated ham that they shared with other guests.

This whole time, the family was rushing to the emergency room for different issues about once a week, except for New Years'.

"We had two days in a row we went and one of them was on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. We rushed to the ER for different reasons."

By that point, the other guests were deeply invested in little Percival.

"You know, they were like aunts and uncles at that point. I don't know how to describe it because they were older and retired, but they're also former service members and they were who we lived with."

Percival came almost two weeks later on January 13 at 22 weeks, 2 days at 1 pound, 3 ounces. Colin waited at the neonatal intensive care unit to see his son and then rushed to his wife's side as she awoke to tell her, "He's okay. He's alive."

It was still much more likely than not that Percival wouldn't make it. So, Colin spent as much time as he could in the hospital visiting his wife and son, only returning to the Fisher House when he was kicked out.

But the days ticked by as the parents and their "aunts and uncles" at the Fisher House waited with bated breath. Percival kept fighting, kept surviving, until, on July 1, it was safe to send the whole family to the Fisher House, and then to send the whole family home.

Percival is now an energetic 4-year-old. The family currently lives in Boston but keeps in touch with those other Fisher House families who helped them welcome their little boy.

Fisher House Foundation is best known for its network of 94 comfort homes where military and veteran families can stay at no cost while a loved one is receiving treatment. These homes are located at major military and VA medical centers nationwide, and in Europe, close to the medical center or hospital they serve. Fisher Houses have up to 21 suites, with private bedrooms and baths. Families share a common kitchen, laundry facilities, a warm dining room and an inviting living room. Fisher House Foundation ensures that there is never a lodging fee. Since inception, the program has saved military and veteran families an estimated $547 million in out-of-pocket costs for lodging and transportation.

Fisher House Foundation also operates the Hero Miles Program, using donated frequent flyer miles to bring family members to the bedside of injured service members as well as the Hotels for Heroes program using donated hotel points to allow family members to stay at hotels near medical centers without charge. The Foundation also manages an awards program recognizing programs that support military and veteran communities and scholarship funds for military children, spouses, and children of fallen and disabled veterans.

For more information about Fisher House Foundation, please go to www.fisherhouse.org.

SOURCE Fisher House Foundation
Global executive search firm Amrop appoints a new team in Istanbul, marking its re-entry to the Turkish market

BRUSSELS, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With headquarters in Istanbul, the new Amrop Turkiye offers Executive Search and Leadership Advisory services across C-suite, Board and top management functions. They focus on a broad range of sectors including but not limited to the Industrial, Consumer, Retail, Life Sciences, Healthcare, Digital and Technology sectors.

The business has been operating in Turkiye since 1998. From their offices in Istanbul's prime business district, the firm serves a client base that includes Turkish and multinational corporations, as well as medium-sized family-owned companies.

Under the leadership of Irem Gogus, Managing Partner, the dynamic team of 13 also serves the Azerbaijan market. Irem Gogus has a strong track record working with multinationals as well as local companies seeking leadership talent to help them expand regionally and internationally. She has specialised expertise working with major global brands in the consumer goods sector, built from her previous experience in EMEA marketing and brand management roles at Reckitt Benckiser.

Irem said: "Amrop's vision and values are an exact match to what we, as a team, dreamed to build in Turkiye. Amrop's strong brand reputation, its global management structure, and its agile, dynamic international team motivated us with regard to this collaboration. I firmly believe that our team's experience of 25 years and our reputation as a trusted, quality-focused business partner will elevate Amrop's brand value even further in Turkiye. With Amrop, we will begin to support to our clients in new areas, providing end-to-end succession, recruitment, and leadership advisory services at C-suite and Board levels. In today's business ecosystem, where there is constant change and transformation in the global arena and where individuals and companies can succeed as far as they are able to adapt to the above, the Amrop Turkiye team is excited to help our clients prepare for that future."

Annika Farin, Chair of the global Amrop Partnership, said, "The Turkish economy has a strong potential to grow, gaining competitive ground in various sectors and building a vibrant economic climate trusted by international investors. Currently the eighteenth largest economy in the world, it aims to improve its ranking year by year. We see many opportunities and it is therefore the right moment for Amrop to re-enter the market. Now that we are on the ground again, growing and globalizing businesses in Turkiye and Azerbaijan can tap into Amrop's strong capabilities in senior talent acquisition and assessment. Having met Irem and her team, we saw their entrepreneurial drive and ambition, and commitment to our shared values  which made our decision very easy. We are delighted to welcome them to our global partnership."

About Amrop

Amrop is a global leadership advisory firm, offering retained executive search, board and leadership advisory services. We advise the world's most dynamic, agile organizations on identifying and positioning Leaders For What's Next - adept at working across borders, in markets around the world. Established in 1977, Amrop operates in Asia, EMEA and the Americas.

The Amrop Partnership SCRue Abbe Cuypers 3

1040 Brussels, Belgium

T. +32 471 733 825

E. [email protected]

Brigitte Arhold, COO

www.amrop.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1755576/Amrop_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Amrop
VERO BEACH, Fla., Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Snow flurries greeted guests and residents donned in their most fashionable attire as they arrived at the Winter Masquerade Ball hosted by Pelican Landing Assisted Living and Memory Care in Sebastian, Florida.

Pelican Landing Assisted Living and Memory Care hosts a Winter Masquerade Ball celebrating the season with dozens of residents, guests and family members in Sebastian, Florida.

As the twinkling of lights and live music filled the air, dapper gentleman and elegant ladies gathered for a magical evening to celebrate the holiday season. Guests enjoyed passed hors d'oeuvres in the wine bar and an exquisite seated dinner with a specialty dessert. As glasses clinked in the cheering of well wishes for the New Year, couples filled the dance floor, moving to the rhythmic tunes of the jazz band.

"We are embracing opportunities to celebrate all of the moments with our residents, from the traditions of the holidays and the baking of cherished family recipes to the mystique and glamour of a masquerade ball," says James Brassard, Senior Executive Director of Pelican Landing. "This is just one aspect of how we honor our seniors through our culture as a Watercrest Senior Living community.

These unique events are part of the Live Exhilarated program at Pelican Landing Assisted Living and Memory Care, a Watercrest Senior Living community. At Pelican Landing, residents are engaging in diverse and enriching programs whose benefits greatly exceed the traditional activities typically found in senior living communities. The Live Exhilarated program includes thoughtfully planned, multi-part programs inspired by individual resident's passions and interests which align with the seven facets of wholeness: Get Active, Be Curious, Get Connected, Be Uplifted, Get Creative, Be Social, Be Adventurous.

Pelican Landing is an award-winning senior living community recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a 2022-23 Best Assisted Living Community and Best Memory Care Community. U.S. News awards the designation of Best Senior Living only to those communities that achieved the highest possible rating for both Assisted Living and Memory Care.

Pelican Landing is ideally located at 13085 US Highway 1 in Sebastian, Florida, and offers 63 assisted living and 26 memory care apartments with attractive accommodations and outstanding care. For information, call 772-758-7354 or visit www.thepelicanlanding.com.

About Watercrest Senior Living Group

Watercrest Senior Living Group was founded to honor our mothers and fathers, aspiring to become a beacon for quality in senior living by surpassing standards of care, service and associate training. Watercrest senior living communities are recognized for their luxury aesthetic, exceptional amenities, world-class care, and innovative memory care programming offering unparalleled service to seniors living with Alzheimer's and dementia. A five-time certified Great Place to Work, Watercrest specializes in the development and operations of assisted living and memory care communities and the growth of servant leaders. For information, visit www.watercrestseniorliving.com.

SOURCE Watercrest Senior Living Group
SINGAPORE, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors (the "Board") of HistoIndex (the "Company") would like to announce the following changes in appointments to the Board with effect from 6th December 2022:

(1) Mr Sim Giok Lak's decision to step down as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board; and

(2) The appointment of Dr. David John Jeans CBE, as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board.

Since the incorporation of the Company, Mr Sim Giok Lak has guided HistoIndex with his wealth of industrial and corporate experiences. Mr Sim believes that the company has reached a stage of its growth to be led by someone who has greater depth in medical technology to take the company to the next stage of growth. The Board wishes to express its appreciation to Mr Sim for his invaluable contributions to the Company. He will remain as a Non-Executive Director on the Board as well as Non-Executive Chairman of Choutu Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary of HistoIndex that is based in Hangzhou, China.

Dr. David John Jeans was first appointed to the Board as a non-executive director on 17th May 2022. Dr Jeans has helmed senior leadership positions in international healthcare corporations such as Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson. He was previously the Chairman of Cardiff University, Deputy Chief Executive of the UK Medical Research Council, chaired the Trustee Board of MRC Technology, involved in the Science Advisory Council for Wales, and served as Trustee of the Francis Crick Institute. He is currently the Chairman of the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre in Scotland and in Singapore, John is a co-Chair of the Strategic Advisory Panel at the Diagnostics Development Hub (DxD Hub). In 2012, John was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his significant contributions to Life Sciences, Healthcare and Science.

Dr. Gideon Ho, Chief Executive Officer of HistoIndex commented "I want to express my immense gratitude to Mr. Sim for his years of mentorship and guidance. Dr. John Jeans, a renowned thought leader and visionary in the healthcare industry will continue with the foundation that Mr. Sim had laid down as we continue our growth trajectory as a leading AI digital pathology company."

Says John, ''I am excited to be appointed as the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board. Coupling HistoIndex's proprietary stain-free imaging and machine-learning algorithm in fibrosis and cancers, we are confident of initiating better outcomes for drug development and patient care."

About HistoIndex

Founded in Singapore, HistoIndex is a leading MedTech/Healthcare company that specializes in its proprietary integrated stain-free AI digital pathology platform. Enabled by Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) and Two-Photon Excitation (TPE) along with automated imaging analysis algorithms, the integrated platform accurately quantifies histological features and fine measurements that are critical for the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy in clinical trials. The stain-free AI platform is currently involved in multiple FDA clinical trials for Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH). In addition, it has benefitted more than 150 research and academic institutes, CROs and biopharma companies around the world in drug discovery and development efforts for fibrotic diseases and cancers.

SOURCE HistoIndex
RALEIGH, N.C., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- German startup automaker Sono Motors has made headlines with Sion, its solar-powered electric vehicle (EV). But while there is widespread enthusiasm in Europe and the U.S. surrounding the vehicle, the company recently announced that it had fallen short of its funding goal and would be raising money through a presale drive.

In a recently-released feature , Automoblog examines the promising technologies that have caught the attention of people across multiple continents, and the challenges that Sono Motors faces in getting to market.

Here are some of the key points:

Sion features several innovations in addition to its solar technology, including a moss-based air filtration system, a power and ride-sharing system, and a digital library of files to print or fabricate car components.

The company faces a number of challenges, including changing market conditions and U.S. government tax incentive policies.

Sono Motors has set the presale price point at 29,900 (around $31,925 ), which would make Sion one of the cheaper EVs on the market.

Automoblog also spoke with Sono Motors CEO Laurin Hahn for this article about the company's recent publicity tour in the U.S. and its plans to expand to the American market.

Automoblog is an online automotive resource that helps people make informed decisions about cars and car ownership. To learn more about the publication, click here .

Media Contact:

Jennifer Chonillo

[email protected]

(919) 283-9316

SOURCE Automoblog
PUNE, India, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With a focus on outsourced bookkeeping for small businesses, IBN Technologies, a leading player in outsourcing services for a range of clients in the US, offers insights for 2023 and beyond.

Bookkeeping for Small Businesses by IBN Technologies

Accounting standards and economical challenges are a part of some of the top challenges in bookkeeping for small business owners in 2023. As is common for any business, economic uncertainties directly impact budget estimates and with 2023 touted as THE recessionary year, lack of in-house finance and accounting expertise to meet required standards is only adding to the pressures of small businesses across industries.

While small business owners need to have a razor sharp focus on their core business strengths in order to sustain and grow, outsourcing is always handy when it comes to taking care of non-core business processes. Services like bookkeeping can be easily outsourced offshore in a hugely cost-effective manner, while maintaining the accounting standards to be met for bookkeeping for a small business.

With new year in focus, a lot of small businesses are worried around:

Getting ready for taxation (performing Cleanup  Catchup)

Revenue recognition (adjusting bad debts)

Assets management (as per IRS guidelines, recognizing capitalizable expenses)

Getting ready for 1099 deadline (performing vendor categorization and vendor payments reconciliation)

And a LOT MORE

"Small Businesses across industries in the USA trust the finance and accounting department of IBN Technologies with their bookkeeping processes because we work with our clients as partners and not typical vendors. We offer CERT certification for data security, access to 120+ certified bookkeepers on US accounting processes and software along with a 99.99% accuracy in delivered work  irrespective of whether a client engages with us on an hourly basis, part-time / full-time basis or have complete dedicated teams with us," says Mr. Ajay Mehta, CEO and Founder of IBN Technologies.

Whether exploring bookkeeping for ecommerce business or reasons to outsource bookkeeping of a retail store, the finance and accounting department of IBN Technologies, with its experience of over 22 years in the outsourcing industry, has the required expertise, knowledge and human resources for US GAAP's & IFRS processes.

Whether it is a retail business' need to cover data and information on procedure to pay, order to cash, record to report or an industry specific requirement, the team of bookkeepers at IBN Tech are ready to help the small business owner face any challenge when it comes to the bookkeeping processes. For eCommerce businesses, bookkeeping and accounting processes are a little different when compared to a traditional business. This clearly shows how a 'one size fits all' approach in bookkeeping for small business does not apply. And hence the finance and accounting department of IBN Tech emphasizes on a very focused approach to bookkeeping for each of its clients, based on the clients' industry of business.

Small Businesses avail the following benefits by outsourcing bookkeeping to IBN Tech:

Save Costs while bettering operational efficiency

Dedicated Resources and Access to Experts

Reports and Financial Analysis specific to a small business and industry it belongs to

Peace of Mind in terms of Accuracy and Accounting Standards

Quick Turnaround  An offshore team or team member can be available at your required time

With outsourced offshore bookkeeping for small business services by IBN, owners and founders can easily focus on their core business strengths to grow by prioritizing strategic initiatives.

Fill up the form on https://www.ibntech.com/contact-us/ and get in touch for any finance and accounting services related requirements.

About IBN Tech

IBN Technologies Limited ( https://www.ibntech.com/ ) is an outsourcing specialist company with clients in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Middle East, and India. The quality of IBN Tech procedures is guaranteed by ISO 9001:2015, 27001:2013 as well as a CMMI-5 certification. In its more than 22 years of existence, IBN has become a leading IT, KPO and BPO outsourcing specialized company in the Finance & Accounting, CPAs, Hedge Fund & Other Alternative Investment business, Banking, Travel, Human Resource & Retail Industry.

Contact Details:

Pradip Gore

[email protected]

+1  844  644  8440

USA:

IBN TECH LLC

1314 E. Las Olas Blvd #1104, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301

India: Global Delivery Center

IBN Technologies Limited

42, Electronic Co-Operative

Estate Limited Satara Road, Parvati, Pune, Maharashtra 411009

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980468/Bookkeeping_IBNTech.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1919376/IBN_Logo.jpg

SOURCE IBN Technologies
bp's 134 megawatt dc (107MWac) Arche solar project is now under construction in Fulton County, Ohio ; Power Purchase Agreement secured with Meta

At full capacity, Arche's renewable power could avoid more than 155,900 metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions annually  equivalent to 34,000 fuel-burning cars

Arche is expected to create around 200 jobs during construction and provide more than $30 million in revenue to benefit local public services over the life of the project

HOUSTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- bp announced today its 134MWdc (107MWac) Arche Solar project in Fulton County, Ohio is beginning construction, helping support the global transition to lower carbon energy. Arche is expected to create around 200 US jobs across the supply chain during construction and provide more than $30 million in revenue to benefit local schools and other public services over the life of the project.

bp's Arche Solar project shows how companies can create jobs, invest in the US economy and support net zero ambitions. Tweet this Workers at Arche Solar construction site in Fulton County, Ohio. (Credit: bp America)

bp has secured a power-purchase agreement (PPA) with Meta for the project, bringing together two major corporations to address greenhouse-gas emissions and support renewable-energy growth in the US. Once completed, Arche will generate enough clean energy annually to power the equivalent of more than 20,000 US homes.

bp America chairman and president Dave Lawler said: "This agreement shows how companies can create jobs, invest in the US economy, and at the same time support net zero ambitions and help the world reduce carbon emissions. It's another example of bp partnering to accelerate change and becoming an integrated energy company  one that can help corporations, countries and cities decarbonize."

bp's 50:50 joint-venture partner, global solar leader Lightsource bp, developed the project on behalf of bp and is managing construction.

Urvi Parekh, head of renewable energy at Meta, added: "We appreciate bp's partnership in helping keep our commitment to supporting our global operations with 100% renewable energy. In addition to adding new energy to the grid, we are proud that this project will bring additional jobs and investment to Ohio."

McCarthy Building Companies' Renewable Energy & Storage team was selected as the main contractor for the project, which will include installation of ultra-low carbon solar panels and smart solar trackers from US-based manufacturers First Solar and Nextracker, respectively.

The project is part of bp's plans to develop 20GW of net renewable generating capacity by 2025 and 50GW by 2030.

About bp

bp's ambition is to become a net zero company by 2050 or sooner, and to help the world get to net zero. bp is heavily investing in low carbon energy businesses in the US and globally, including bioenergy, e-mobility, renewables and hydrogen. bp has a larger economic footprint in the United States than anywhere else in the world, investing more than $135 billion in the economy since 2005 and supporting about 245,000 jobs. For more information on bp in the US, visit www.bp.com/us.

Contacts

bp press office, US

[email protected]

Cautionary statement

In order to utilize the 'safe harbor' provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the 'PSLRA'), bp is providing the following cautionary statement. This press release contains certain forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements  that is, statements related to future, not past, events and circumstances which may relate to one or more of the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of bp and certain of the plans and objectives of bp with respect to these items. These statements are generally, but not always, identified by the use of words such as 'will', 'expects', 'is expected to', 'aims', 'should', 'may', 'objective', 'is likely to', 'intends', 'believes', 'anticipates', 'plans', 'we see' or similar expressions. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will or may occur in the future and are outside the control of bp. Actual results may differ from those expressed in such statements, depending on a variety of factors including the risk factors set forth in our most recent Annual Report and Form 20-F under 'Risk factors' in bp's Annual Report and Form 20-F 2021 as filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and in any of our more recent public reports.

Our most recent Annual Report and Form 20-F is available on our website at www.bp.com, or can be obtained from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330 or on its website at www.sec.gov.

SOURCE bp plc
Report highlights personalized medicines ensuring greater efficacy for rare diseases and previously untreatable conditions

Promising therapeutic developments for HIV, Parkinson's disease, Crohn's disease, alopecia, multiple myeloma and breast cancer on horizon

LONDON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CLVT), a global leader in providing trusted information and insights to accelerate the pace of innovation, today announced the release of its annual Drugs to Watch report. In its 10th year, the Drugs to Watch report provides in-depth predictive analysis of drugs with the potential to transform treatment paradigms and serve unmet patient needs. The report serves as a key industry resource in an ever-evolving drug innovation landscape - with more than 70 drugs having been identified as Drugs to Watch. This year's analysis identifies drugs entering the market or launching key indications in 2023 which are predicted to achieve blockbuster status by 2027 or be clinical game changers for millions of patients worldwide. Clarivate analysts identified 15 late-stage experimental treatments that are each forecast to deliver annual sales of more than $1 billion within five years. These promising advancements include a broad spectrum of therapeutic developments for rare diseases and tough-to-treat conditions, including HIV, Parkinson's disease, Crohn's disease, alopecia, multiple myeloma and breast cancer.

The Drugs to Watch 2023 list from Clarivate primarily features treatments targeted to a particular biomarker, ensuring greater efficacy and less precious time lost searching for a drug or biologic that will arrest or reverse the progress of disease. Personalized medicines have begun to evolve from promise to reality, accounting for more than 25% of FDA approvals for the last seven years1. The rise of personalized medicine has resulted in success beyond oncology and rare diseases, facilitating therapies for formerly untreatable conditions.

The report also highlights potential blockbusters in Mainland China. Clarivate identified nine drugs that are likely to achieve $1 billion in Mainland China by 2030, including both global and domestically manufactured assets. Of the nine selected, eight are oncology drugs, reflecting healthcare reforms under Healthy China 20302 that have placed a focus on addressing the increasing cancer burden in Mainland China.

In addition, the report examines the industry's progress in addressing the diseases highlighted in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These goals address infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, neglected tropical diseases and water-borne diseases, as well as maternal mortality and non-communicable diseases like mental illness and substance abuse.

Among new drugs and biologics that have either won approval or are poised to, Clarivate has identified 15 treatments likely to achieve blockbuster status in the next five years or transform paradigms to meet unmet patient needs. The 2023 Drugs to Watch, are:

Bimekizumab (BIMZELX) developed by UCB- Bimekizumab is the first dual IL-17 A/F inhibitor to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Phase 3 trial results showed superior skin clearance outcomes than existing treatments. Its less-frequent dosing schedule and good safety profile will likely be attractive to clinicians and patients.

Capivasertib (AZD5363) developed by AstraZeneca- For patients with breast cancer, Capivasertib is a novel, highly potent, selective ATP-competitive pan-AKT kinase inhibitor that exerts similar activity against the three isoforms AKT1, AKT2 and AKT3. Positive data have emerged from early-phase trials, with clinical benefit to patients irrespective of their PIK3CA/AKT1/PTEN mutational status, and several phase 3 trials are now underway.

Daprodustat (GSK1278863/Duvroq) developed by GSK plc.- Daprodustat belongs to a novel class of oral treatments for chronic kidney disease (CKD)-related anemia and is a HIF-PHI developed to treat anemia associated with CKD, which has a high incidence rate and few effective, safe treatment options. Already available for CKD-related anemia in Japan, its uptake has been impressive.

Deucravacitinib (SOTYKTU/BMS-986165) developed by Bristol Myers Squibb- As a first-in-class oral, targeted agent that selectively inhibits tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2), a Janus kinase (JAK) family member that mediates cytokine-driven immune and inflammatory signals, it has the potential to fill a gap in the treatment armamentarium for plaque psoriasis.

Foscarbidopa/foslevodopa (ABBV-951) developed by AbbVie- Foscarbidopa/foslevodopa is a novel reformulation of the gold-standard Parkinson's disease treatment (carbidopa/levodopa) delivered via a subcutaneous pump for the treatment of motor fluctuations in advanced Parkinson's disease. In addition to serving a niche group of patients with high unmet need, it offers better efficacy than orally administered carbidopa-levodopa, dosing flexibility and a more convenient pump than existing and upcoming competitors.

LEQEMBI (BAN2401) developed by Eisai Co Ltd and Biogen Inc, and Donanemab (LY-3002813), developed by Eli Lilly and Company- LEQEMBI and Donanemab are poised to help treat early-stage Alzheimer's disease. Supported by landmark clinical data from a phase 3 trial, next-in-class anti-A monoclonal antibody (MAb) LEQEMBI has recently received accelerated approved by the U.S. and has ex-U.S. launches. Donanemab, and others in the class (e.g., Roche's gantenerumab), may follow suit pending the results of ongoing trials.

Lenacapavir (Sunlenca/GS-6207) developed by Gilead Sciences Inc.- Approved in Europe and under evaluation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), lenacapavir is the first-in-class, long-acting HIV-1 capsid inhibitor approved to treat multi-drug resistant (MDR) HIV in people who have been heavily treated, a patient population with unmet medical need. Also currently being investigated to treat HIV and for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), its infrequent dosing and self-administration will likely make it a favored choice in a population with treatment adherence challenges.

Mirikizumab (LY-3074828) developed by Eli Lilly and Company -Mirikizumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting the p19 subunit of IL-23, will likely be first-in-class for ulcerative colitis and the third in the class approved for Crohn's disease. Part of a set of emerging therapies with novel mechanisms of action, it will contribute to the growing market share held by these therapies.

Pegcetacoplan (EMPAVELI/ASPAVELI/APL-2) developed by Apellis Pharmaceuticals Inc. - Pegcetacoplan has launched already in the United States and Europe for Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), a rare hematological disease. As one of the few drugs to have completed phase 3 trials for GA, pegcetacoplan is expected to be the first drug to launch for geographic atrophy (GA)or "dry late age-related macular degeneration (AMD)," which has no approved pharmacotherapy.

Ritlecitinib (PF-06651600) developed by Pfizer Inc.- Ritlecitinib will likely benefit from its first-in-class status, rapid onset of action and expected label for both adults and adolescents, potentially providing an effective option to stimulate hair growth in a stigmatizing disease - Alopecia areata.

Sparsentan developed by Travere Therapeutics Inc - Sparsentan is a first-in-class, orally active, single molecule that functions as a high-affinity, dual-acting antagonist of both endothelin type A (ETA) and angiotensin II subtype 1 (AT1) receptors, which are associated with progression of kidney disease. Its development for IgA nephropathy and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) promises to halt that progression for many patients and fills a gap in the treatment armamentarium.

Teclistamab (TECVAYLI/JNJ-64007957) developed by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson - After receiving conditional approval from the EC (European Commission), teclistamab is the first-in-class bispecific antibody targeted to B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) to treat multiple myeloma. Ongoing phase 3 trials are expected to provide confirmation of clinical benefit in teclistamab's approved setting and lead to label expansions in other multiple myeloma patient populations, including in combination with other approved agents.

Teplizumab (TZIELD/PRV-031) developed by Provention Bio Inc- Teplizumab is the first immunotherapy to launch for T1DM and is a landmark drug given its potential ability to preserve beta cell function and delay the need for insulin treatment in those with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM).

Valoctocogene roxaparvovec (ROCTAVIAN/BMN-270) developed by BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc - Approved by the European Commission (EC) in August 2022, valoctocogene roxaparvovec is also poised to be the first gene therapy to launch in the United States for severe hemophilia A. Treatment benefit is expected to last for years, reduce the number of bleeding events, minimize the need for replacement factor VIII (FVIII) and negate the use of otherwise burdensome prophylaxis treatment.

Mike Ward, Global Head of Life Sciences and Healthcare Thought Leadership, Clarivate: "While R&D productivity remained a challenge for pharma in 2022, the FDA only approved 37 NMEs during the year, we might expect the approval rate to recover in 2023 to pre-pandemic levels. While oncology remains a key focus for the industry, as the latest edition of Drugs to Watch shows, we can also expect to see approvals and launches for medicines in other disease areas."

Despite the many urgent challenges life science companies will face in 2023, from patent cliffs to capital investment, the industry is on the cusp of unlocking revolutionary technologies that could greatly advance human health.

Access the Drugs to Watch 2023 report from Clarivate, here.

For more Drugs to Watch updates and analyses throughout the year, visit the Drugs to Watch web page and follow Clarivate for Life Sciences & Healthcare on LinkedIn and Twitter. #DrugstoWatch2023.

To learn more about how Clarivate can help healthcare companies inform and shape the drug discovery, development and delivery process, join Dr. Robert Poolman on Tuesday, January 10, 2023 for a presentation on integrating disparate datasets to maximize healthcare benefits for patients during 2023 Fierce JPM Week. For more information, visit: https://www.fiercejpmweek.com/fiercejpmweek/jpmweek-person-agenda.

To learn more about Clarivate data products, visit www.clarivate.com.

Methodology for the Clarivate Drugs to Watch 2023 Report

Increasingly, companies are targeting smaller patient populations with more targeted drugs, many of which will garner less revenue than the mass-market drugs that have traditionally formed the bread and butter of large pharmas but which stand to greatly advance patient care. Accordingly, Clarivate revised its methodology to recognize late-stage developmental therapeutics of clinical and commercial notes.

To identify this year's Drugs to Watch, Clarivate drew from the expertise of over 160 analysts covering hundreds of diseases, drugs and markets and eleven integrated data sets that span the R&D and commercialization lifecycle, including: Cortellis Competitive Intelligence, Disease Landscape & Forecast, BioWorld, Drug Timeline & Success Rates, Cortellis Clinical Trials Intelligence, Cortellis Generics Intelligence, Cortellis Deals Intelligence, Access & Reimbursement payer studies , Clarivate Real World Data and Analytics , Web of Science Derwent Innovation and other industry sources including biopharma company press releases, filings and peer-reviewed publications. Candidate drugs in phase 2 or phase 3 trials, at pre-registration or registration stage, or already launched early in 2022 were selected for analysis, including those pursuing new indications that could be particularly impactful; drugs launched prior to 2022 were excluded. The dataset was filtered for drugs that had total forecast sales of $1 billion or more by 2027. Clarivate experts and analysts evaluated each drug in its individual context, based on factors such as expected approval or launch dates, competitive landscape, regulatory status, trial results, market dynamics and other key factors, and added novel drugs that, while likely to fall short of blockbuster status, are poised to be therapeutic game-changers. Please note that Clarivate analysts generated the data shown in this report prior to December 15, 2022. The Drugs to Watch 2023 Report and the treatments referenced in this release are based on Clarivate's current expectations based on existing data, but actual results derived from the drugs named in the report and here may differ significantly.

Clarivate is committed to comprehensively supporting customers across the entire drug, device and medical technology lifecycles to advance human health. By combining patient journey data, therapeutic area expertise, artificial intelligence and analytics in ways that unlock hidden insights, data-driven decisions and accelerating innovation, Clarivate's end-to-end research intelligence is designed to enable customers to make informed evidence-based decisions.

About Clarivate

Clarivate is a global leader in providing solutions to accelerate the pace of innovation. Our bold mission information and insights that reduce the time from new ideas to life-changing inventions in the areas of Academia & Government, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Professional Services and Consumer Goods, Manufacturing & technology. We help customers discover, protect and commercialize their inventions using our trusted subscription and technology-based solutions coupled with deep domain expertise. For more information, please visit clarivate.com.

Media contact:

Catherine Daniel

Director External Communications, Life Sciences & Healthcare

[email protected]

1 Source: The Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC). PERSONALIZED MEDICINE AT FDA: The Scope & Significance of Progress in 2021. 2021. https://www.personalizedmedicinecoalition.org/Userfiles/PMC-Corporate/file/Personalized_Medicine_at_FDA_The_Scope_Significance_of_Progress_in_2021.pdf

2 Source: Peijie Chen, Fuzhong Li, Peter Harmer. Healthy China 2030: moving from blueprint to action with a new focus on public health. 2019. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31493840/

SOURCE Clarivate Plc
DURHAM, N.C., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading business consulting firm Clarkston Consulting announced today the promotions of Sarah Broyd and LaToya Lee Jones to Partner and Marcus McCray to Associate Partner. In their new roles, Broyd, Jones, and McCray will continue to deliver brilliant client service for global companies in the life sciences, consumer products, and retail industries. Additionally, these leaders will continue to focus efforts on driving innovation, growth, and development for the firm and its stewards in Atlanta and beyond.

"Despite the disruption in the market during the past several years, our firm has continued to grow and serve our clients, helping them navigate the change and thrive. Our stewards continue to display incredible fortitude and exceed client expectations time and time again. This resiliency and success stem from the hard work and dedication of our steward leaders," said Clarkston Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman Tom Finegan.

"Sarah, LaToya, and Marcus reflect that determination and commitment to excellence, and I am confident their leadership will strengthen our organization for years to come," Finegan continued.

Sarah Broyd , Partner

With projects spanning the consumer products, retail, and life sciences industries, Sarah Broyd brings a diverse array of experience to deliver value for her clients. Sarah is exceptionally experienced in creating efficiencies that ensure quality and cost-savings without sacrifices to speed-to-market, with a particular focus on clients in heavily regulated industries. In her work, Sarah provides expertise in change management, sales operations and trade promotion management, optimization of global quality programs, and enterprise resource planning. Sarah is based out of Atlanta, Georgia.

LaToya Lee Jones , Partner

For over two decades, LaToya Lee Jones has worked with global pharmaceutical, biotech, and consumer goods companies to manage complex, global program deployments. LaToya is widely recognized as an expert in Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) and Veeva technology. LaToya is the Chair Emeritus of Clarkston's Diversity Council, where she led and continues to provide guidance on initiatives related to Clarkston's diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and services. LaToya is based out of Atlanta, Georgia.

Marcus McCray , Associate Partner

Marcus McCray brings over 15 years of experience leading the implementation of quality systems, data management, business process redesign, and cloud-based CRM initiatives for clients in various sectors. In his most recent role as Client Solutions Executive, Marcus directed the delivery of projects for clients in the life sciences and consumer products industries. He also partnered with firm leadership on strategic initiatives to roll out tools and processes that enable efficient service delivery. Marcus understands his clients' visions and their business operations, enabling him to strategically tailor solutions to meet their specific needs. Marcus is based out of Atlanta, Georgia.

"Sarah and LaToya have demonstrated their ability to lead and advise during their tenures as associate partners. They both have strong track records of securing, growing, and managing strategic clients for the firm, while also guiding and mentoring our stewards internally. With Sarah and LaToya in the partner role, I am confident in Clarkston's ability to better serve our clients, our stewards, and our business," said President Mike Hackett.

Hackett continued, "Over his time at Clarkston, Marcus has provided brilliant service to our clients and been instrumental in developing business for the firm. Further, his portfolio of clients, mentorship of stewards, and commitment to firm building make him a strong addition to our leadership team. I have no doubt he will continue to provide that exceptional service to both our clients and our firm in his new role as Associate Partner."

About Clarkston Consulting

Businesses across the life sciences, consumer products, and retail industries partner with Clarkston Consulting to enhance strategic decision-making, improve operational efficiency, implement new technologies, and promote business growth and market diversification. Leveraging deep functional and industry expertise, our people discover, design, and deliver solutions that fit your business, your goals, and your future. At Clarkston Consulting, your purpose is our purpose. Learn more at clarkstonconsulting.com.

SOURCE Clarkston Consulting
Cortex Sustainability Intelligence releases industry report anticipating the sustainability trends CRE will face in 2023

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cortex Sustainability Intelligence released its official report featuring top commercial real estate leaders discussing the top sustainability trends the industry will face in 2023.

The CRE sustainability experts behind the Cortex Sustainability Intelligence platform  who have been working to decarbonize the built environment for over 8 years and now serve over 55 million square feet of office space across North America  spoke to leaders across the industry, such as GRESB, to predict trends informed from within the industry itself.

"The industry's response to the climate crisis is moving quickly and changes dramatically," said Bryan Bennett, founder and CEO of Cortex. "Part of how we accomplish Cortex's mission of decarbonizing the built environment is by providing access to the most impactful information all sustainability industry leaders need to be successful."

CRE Leaders Anticipate Shifts in Sustainability Trends

As a part of Cortex's goal in making the challenge of decarbonizing office buildings a more manageable (and profitable) feat to conquer, they enlisted the expertise of industry leaders from GRESB, Savanna Fund, and more.

"Everyone can agree that a low/no carbon industry is the goal. The more complex question is the speed at which an industry can practically progress," GRESB says, in the report.

Download the "CRE Leaders Predict Top 3 Sustainability Trends for 2023" Report

To download your own copy of Cortex's report detailing "CRE Leaders Predict Top 3 Sustainability Trends for 2023," please visit: https://get.cortexintel.com/report-cre-sustainability-trends-2023/

About Cortex Sustainability Intelligence:

Cortex Sustainability Intelligence's machine learning platform enables ESG leaders to achieve profitable decarbonization across the built environment. To learn more about Cortex, please visit: www.cortexintel.com

For more information, please contact Victoria O'Campo at [email protected].

Victoria O'Campo

Cortex Sustainability Intelligence

Senior Marketing Manager

[email protected]

SOURCE Cortex Sustainability Intelligence
HOUSTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Coterra Energy Inc. ("Coterra" or the "Company") (NYSE: CTRA) today announced it will host a conference call on Thursday, February 23, 2023, at 9:00 AM CT (10:00 AM ET) to discuss fourth-quarter 2022 financial and operating results. The Company plans to announce fourth-quarter 2022 results after the market closes on Wednesday, February 22, 2023.

Conference Call Information

Date: Thursday, February 23, 2023

Time: 10:00 AM ET / 9:00 AM CT

Dial-in (for callers in the U.S. and Canada): (888) 550-5424

Int'l dial-in: (646) 960-0819

Conference ID: 3813676

To access the live webcast, visit the "Events & Presentations" page under the "Investors" section of the Company's website at www.coterra.com. The replay will be archived and available at the same location after the conclusion of the live event.

About Coterra Energy

Coterra is a premier exploration and production company based in Houston, Texas with focused operations in the Permian Basin, Marcellus Shale and Anadarko Basin. We strive to be a leading producer, delivering returns with a commitment to sustainability leadership. Learn more about us at www.coterra.com.

SOURCE Coterra Energy Inc.
NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Torrid Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CURV) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws.

This lawsuit is on behalf of all persons who purchased Torrid common stock in or traceable to the Company's July 2021 initial public offering.

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: January 17, 2023

No obligation or cost to you.

Learn more about your recoverable losses in CURV:

https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/torrid-class-action-lawsuit-loss-submission-form?id=35420&from=4

Torrid Holdings Inc. NEWS - CURV NEWS

CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that Torrid Holdings Inc. made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) in the first half of 2021, Torrid had experienced a temporary surge in demand as a result of changed consumer behaviors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and government stimulus and that such ephemeral demand trends had dissipated and were not internally projected to continue following the initial public offering ("IPO"); (ii) Torrid was suffering from severe supply chain disruptions caused by the emergence of the Delta variant of COVID-19, which had first emerged in May 2021; (iii) Torrid was running materially below historical inventory levels as a result of supply chain disruptions; (iv) as a result, Torrid did not have sufficient inventory to meet expected consumer demand for its fiscal third quarter of 2021; (v) as a result, late inventory arrival had materially impaired the Company from effectively matching consumer buying trends, creating an undisclosed risk of increased markdowns and promotional activities necessary to sell undesirable inventory; (vi) Torrid's Chief Financial Office planned to retire shortly after the IPO; and (vii) as a result of the above, representations made in the Company's registration statement regarding Torrid's historical financial and operational metrics and purported market opportunities did not accurately reflect the actual business, operations, financial results, and trajectory of the Company at the time of the IPO, and were materially false and misleading and lacked a reasonable factual basis.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in Torrid you have until January 17, 2023 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

NO COST TO YOU: If you purchased Torrid securities during the relevant period, you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out-of-pocket fees.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FINANCIAL INTERESTS: For additional information about the CURV lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/torrid-class-action-lawsuit-loss-submission-form?id=35420&from=4.

ABOUT KLEIN LAW FIRM

J. Klein, Esq. represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. The Klein Law Firm is a boutique litigation firm with experience in a wide range of areas including securities law, corporate finance and commercial litigation. Since 2011, our experienced attorneys have achieved superior results for our clients with a personalized focus. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

CONTACT:

J. Klein, Esq.

535 Fifth Avenue

4th Floor

New York City, NY 10017

[email protected]

Telephone: (212) 616-4899

www.kleinstocklaw.com

SOURCE The Klein Law Firm
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- An uptake in high-profile data breaches and the exponential rise in digitization have redefined the dynamics in the cybersecurity industry. Stakeholders have become cagey towards data management practices and cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Lately, companies have started reporting on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, largely spurred by public opinion, regulatory requirements and soaring demand from stakeholders. ESG-focused businesses and organizational practices are expected to gain ground to maintain and achieve cyber resilience. With sectors such as fintech companies, oil and gas, financial services, public utilities and retail under immense pressure from the board of directors, investors and other stakeholders to be more transparent, industry players are expected to bank on sustainability.

Incorporating factors beyond financial into assessments of company performance have become paramount amidst a surge in cyberattacks. For instance, in November 2022, Microsoft reportedly blamed a Russian GRU hacking group for cyberattacks on transportation and other logistics industries in Poland and Ukraine. Moreover, surging cybercrime costs, such as lost productivity, destruction and damage of data, intellectual property theft, post-attack disruption, fraud, embezzlement and stolen money, have compelled stakeholders to rethink their strategies. Cybersecurity Ventures states global cybercrime costs could touch USD 10.5 trillion annually by 2025. World Economic Forum's Global Risks Perception Survey 2021-2022 listed environmental risks as the five most critical long-term threats.

Discover more regarding the practices and strategies being implemented by industry participants in the Cyber Security Industry ESG Thematic Report, 2023, published by Astra ESG Solutions

Notably, stakeholders are likely to foster ESG reporting practices to bolster transparency as cyber resilience has become a force to reckon with to augment sustainable earnings. Potential stakeholders envisage a sustainability portfolio as the top agenda amidst issues, including climate change and anti-corruption. Industry players are slated to keep ESG goals at the forefront for an expedition of inclusion, fairness and equitable access to opportunities and ensuring a regenerative and sustainable future.

Cisco Emphasizes Environmental Stewardship to Tap into the Growth Potentials

Cybersecurity firms have reinforced their position in the global landscape with an increased focus on the ESG pillars. Notably, environmental stewardship has come to the fore to steer the protection and responsible use of the natural environment sustainably. For instance, Cisco is guided by its corporate Environmental Policy and ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS). The company had 30 sites with ISO 14001 certification in the fiscal year 2021. In April 2021, Cisco announced it would be infusing USD 100 million to address the climate crisis and help reverse the climate change impact over ten years.

Furthermore, in the fiscal year 2022, it rolled out the Environmental Sustainability Specialization (ESS) to help channel partners promote product takeback, educate customers, boost their sustainability practices and move to circular business models. During the same period, the company came up with Cisco Green Pay to assist customers in building an environmentally friendly technology strategy to attain ESG goals. It has also furthered its investments in state-of-the-art technology to help users leverage grid decarbonization, monitor grid reliability, water and transportation systems and bolster the workplace. The U.S.-based company remained instrumental in leveraging employees to work from home with AnyConnect VPN, WebEx by Cisco and TelePresence.

Social Performance Gains Ground with McAfee Propelling ESG Profile

With cybercrime-as-a-service becoming pervasive, cybersecurity has become an invaluable part of the ESG for companies, regulators, investors and consumers. The high number of incidents has propelled the need for optimized security operations and a strong social pillar. For instance, Fortinet is gearing to train 1 million people in cybersecurity by 2026. It cashed in on advanced technologies, such as machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning to propel the design and growth of cybersecurity solutions and services.

In addition, pay parity has garnered headlines amidst growing women's participation in the corporate world and surging role in the global economy. To illustrate, in April 2022, McAfee celebrated three years of maintaining pay parity and claimed to be the first cybersecurity company to attain the policy. Besides, the representation of women was pegged at around 30.9% in 2021, up from 27.6% in the preceding year. The company has also upped its focus on diversity as 16.3% of new hires in the U.S. were underrepresented professionals (Black, American Indian, Hispanic / Latinx, multiracial and Pacific Islande) in 2021.

Get more insights about how key industry participants like Cisco Systems, Inc., Palo Alto Networks, McAfee, Inc., Broadcom, and Trend Micro Inc are identifying, analyzing and mitigating ESG risks and ensuring compliance

Companies have fueled their efforts to set audacious goals to communicate the company's development transparently, boost women's participation and design long-term sustainable programs that address social impact. To illustrate, around 31% of external hires for VP and above positions in Palo Alto Networks identify themselves as women. Besides, 78% of leadership teams have diverse representation and the company aims for 100% diversity by 2025. The company also bolstered safety in a hybrid work environment. In July 2022, Palo Alto Networks underpinned its Global Security and Safety team by hiring a Senior Global Environmental Health & Safety Manager. It has also underscored its position in the human rights field with "industry best practices" to analyze risks for cases of human rights violations in the supply chain.

Broadcom Fosters Governance Portfolio

Well-established companies are gearing to propel their ESG performance with a bullish approach toward governance policies. Stakeholders, stockholders and employees are expected to focus on the corporate governance framework for accountability and transparency. Prominently, in February 2021, Broadcom adopted the name Nominating, Environmental, Social and Governance Committee (NESG Committee), doing away with the term "Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee." The company found in its 2021 Employee Ethical Culture Survey that 96.1% of employees were acquainted with the efforts of the compliance and ethics function.

It also expedited compliance training as it noted that more than 99% of its employees completed the course in 2021. During this period, it rolled out the Global Compliance Ambassador program to solidify compliance culture. In essence, the U.S.-based company listed corporate governance, cybersecurity and data privacy, ethics and integrity and product quality in its 2021 ESG priorities.

Is your business one of participants of the global cyber security industry? Contact us for focused consultation around ESG Investing, and help you build sustainable business practices.

Key players are leaving to stone unturned to underscore social responsibilities and provide avenues of growth to stakeholders. In doing so, the Board of Directors at Fortinet established the Social Responsibility Committee to introduce the highest level of governance in CSR issues. The company uses corporate governance practices to ensure compliance with all laws and do business ethically. Besides, there has been a surge in independent directors across industry verticals as companies vie to enhance their sustainability portfolio. To illustrate, around 75% of board directors are independent at Palo Alto Networks, while approximately 50% of BoD are diverse with different race, gender, nationality or ethnicity. In the fiscal year 2022, the company established a Security Committee of the Board to boost oversight about security issues, such as cybersecurity.

The competitive landscape alludes to an increased focus on cybersecurity leaders emphasizing innovations and technological advancements. Forward-looking companies and governments are poised to foster their ESG practices to keep abreast with the trend. In October 2022, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) joined forces with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the interagency community to release cross-sector Cybersecurity Performance Goals (CPGs). Meanwhile, in 2021, Fortinet has a dedicated Human Rights Policy to propel ethical business and responsible product use.

Browse more ESG Thematic Reports from the Technology Sector, published by Astra - ESG Solutions

About Astra  ESG Solutions By Grand View Research

Astra is the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) arm of Grand View Research Inc. - a global market research publishing & management consulting firm.

Astra offers comprehensive ESG thematic assessment & scores across diverse impact & socially responsible investment topics, including both public and private companies along with intuitive dashboards. Our ESG solutions are powered by robust fundamental & alternative information. Astra specializes in consulting services that equip corporates and the investment community with the in-depth ESG research and actionable insight they need to support their bottom lines and their values. We have supported our clients across diverse ESG consulting projects & advisory services, including climate strategies & assessment, ESG benchmarking, stakeholder engagement programs, active ownership, developing ESG investment strategies, ESG data services, build corporate sustainability reports. Astra team includes a pool of industry experts and ESG enthusiasts who possess extensive end-end ESG research and consulting experience at a global level.

For more ESG Thematic reports, please visit Astra ESG Solutions, powered by Grand View Research

Need expert consultation around identifying, analyzing and creating a plan to mitigate ESG risks related to your business? Share your concerns and queries, we can help!

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LAS VEGAS, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Davinci Motor, a fast-growing Chinese manufacturer of high-performance robotic electric motorcycles, has made its first-ever appearance at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world's most influential global tech event. The company took center stage and showcased the seamless user experience delivered by its futuristic DC100 electric motorcycle, which has also seen its US debut.

Davinci DC100 at CES 2023.

"We are thrilled to be here at CES 2023. The huge North American market is primed for the introduction of new market entrants, and with the technical prowess and knowhow that has gone into the creation of the DC100, we are well-positioned to become a major player here within the next few years," said Qi Wang, COO of Davinci.

"Users of traditional gas-fueled two-wheelers no longer need to compromise on performance when switching to a greener mobility solution. Given that the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the US market has already reached a mature stage with strong coverage nationwide, users have also no need to suffer range anxiety, a traditional pain point in the electric mobility sector," added Qi Wang.

The North American electric mobility market represents a monumental opportunity for Davinci. Research from IMAC Group shows that the overall size of the North American electric motor market is slated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.5% to hit a total value of US$32.9 billion by 2027.

The Davinci team have produced an electric two-wheeler capable of rivalling traditional 1,000 cc motorcycles. The technical specifications of the DC100 are industry leading when compared with other players in the electric motorcycle sector, able to hit 60 mph (100 km/h) in just three seconds before hitting a maximum speed of 124 mph (200 km/h). When it comes to range, the DC100 really packs a punch, with a battery capacity of 249 mi (400 km). Likewise, level-3 DC fast-charging stations, an industry standard in the North American market, delivers riders with a full charge in just half an hour.

The innovative braking system, smooth forward and reverse and hill-start/decent assist control can deliver an effortless riding experience, while its Combined Braking System and Traction Control System ensure rider safety.

The models on display at CES 2023 also demonstrate the bike's innovative smartphone-based dashboard feature. During the show, attendees could take a "virtual test drive" using the model's groundbreaking interface systems. Riders need only to dock their smartphones with the DC100 to take control, with their handset screens serving as the dashboard.

About Davinci Motor

Founded in 2013, Davinci Motor is a technology innovative company committed to exploring the research and development of robotic vehicles, with a perfect combination of performance and ease of use. Davinci Motor's mission is to create an exceptional effortless joyful riding experience for all users and the DC100 will make you achieve that.

For more information, please visit www.davincimotor.com or follow us via:

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SOURCE Davinci Motor
The improved healthcare infrastructure, increase in unmet healthcare needs, rise in prevalence of neuromuscular diseases, and surge in demand for electromyography devices drive the growth of the global electromyography devices market.

PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Electromyography Devices Market by Product (Stationary EMG Systems, Portable EMG Systems), by Study Type (Nerve Conduction, Needle electrode examination (NEE)), by End-User (Clinics, Hospitals, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031". According to the report, the global electromyography devices industry generated $786.0 million in 2021, and is anticipated to generate $1.6 billion by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 7.9% from 2022 to 2031.

Download Free Sample Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/15187

Prime determinants of growth

The improved healthcare infrastructure, increase in unmet healthcare needs, rise in prevalence of neuromuscular diseases, and surge in demand for electromyography devices drive the growth of the global electromyography devices market. However, high cost of these devices restricts the market growth. Moreover, growth & innovations in the pharmaceutical industry for the manufacturing of electromyography devices owing to a massive pool of health-conscious consumers creates an opportunity for the electromyography devices market in the coming years.

Covid-19 Scenario

 The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic had a positive impact on the global electromyography devices market, owing to a significant rise in demand for electromyography devices during the lockdown.

 In addition, the rise in awareness regarding supply chain hindrance of pharmaceutical products and medical devices in companies and governments had driven the growth of the electromyography devices market in 2020.

The stationary EMG systems segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on product, the stationary EMG systems segment held the highest market share in 2021, accounting for around four-fifths of the global electromyography devices market, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. In addition, the same segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 8.2% from 2022 to 2031, owing to an increase in the prevalence of neuromuscular diseases, high adoption of stationary EMG systems for the diagnosis of neurovascular diseases, and increase in technological advancements in stationary EMG systems.

The nerve conduction segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on study type, the nerve conduction segment held the highest market share in 2021, accounting for more than three-fifths of the global electromyography devices market, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. In addition, the same segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 9.1% from 2022 to 2031, owing to a rise in the prevalence of neurological and muscular disorders, an increase in investment in research studies, and an increase in the use of nerve conduction studies.

Purchase Inquiry: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/15187

The clinics segment to grow at the fastest pace during the forecast period

Based on end user, the hospital segment accounted for the largest share in 2021, contributing to nearly two-fifths of the global electromyography devices market, owing to an increase in patient admission in hospitals, and the availability of trained medical staff in hospitals that help provide better services to patients. However, the clinics segment is expected to portray the largest CAGR of 9.3% from 2022 to 2031, owing to an increase in the geriatric population that is more prone to neuromuscular disease, and an increase in the number of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

North America to maintain its dominance by 2031

Based on region, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2021, accounting for more than one-third of the global electromyography devices market, and is likely to dominate the market during the forecast period, owing to the presence of electromyography device manufacturing companies in the region. However, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 8.5% from 2022 to 2031, owing to rise in contract manufacturing organizations in the region as well as growth in the purchasing power of populated countries, such as China and India.

Leading Market Players: -

AD Instruments,

IDscan Biometrics Ltd.,

CADWELL INDUSTRIES INC,

CLARITY MEDICAL PVT. LTD,

COMETA SRL,

Compumedics limited - official,

Medtronic plc,

Natus Medical Incorporated,

NIHON KOHDEN CORPORATION,

NORAXON USA INC

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PROVIDENCE, R.I., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- EpiVax, Inc. ("EpiVax") and Zoetis, are pleased to announce an exclusive collaboration to develop CircoMatch, a unique bioinformatics tool that predicts the coverage of Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV2) vaccines against field isolates of PCV2. The new tool provides a quick turnaround, powerful way to provide near real-time predictive effectiveness data so swine veterinarians and producers can make informed decisions in vaccination programs.

CircoMatch applies the EpiVax EpiCC (Epitope Content Comparison) tool and EpiVax PigMatrix algorithm in a custom-built website, which performs a detailed comparison between PCV2 vaccines and circulating field strains of the PCV2 virus. These proprietary computational tools allow for a practical prediction of effectiveness for existing commercial vaccines and may aid in the development of vaccines that are more efficacious across different viral variants.

EpiVax and Zoetis partner to develop a unique bioinformatics tool for Porcine Circovirus vaccine efficacy and design. Tweet this

PCV2 can cause significant production issues on farms, including suffering and weight loss in growing pigs caused by subclinical infections, reproductive failure in sows, generating significant economic losses to farmers. Current vaccines help in reducing pig mortality mitigating economic losses, however, due to continuous viral evolution, existing vaccines have varying effectiveness against the many emerging new field strains of PCV2. CircoMatch results in a quick turnaround, powerful way for Zoetis to provide veterinarians and producers with predictive effectiveness data so they can make informed decisions about their vaccination programs.

Zoetis and EpiVax will be sharing more details on this new collaboration during the upcoming Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases (CRWAD) meeting in Chicago, January 22-24, 2023.

About EpiVax:

EpiVax is a biotechnology company with expertise in T cell epitope prediction and rapid vaccine design. EpiVax's immunogenicity screening toolkits for therapeutics and vaccines are employed in advancing the research of a global roster of companies. For more information, visit www.epivax.com.

About Zoetis:

As the world's leading animal health company, Zoetis is driven by a singular purpose: to nurture our world and humankind by advancing care for animals. After 70 years innovating ways to predict, prevent, detect, and treat animal illness, Zoetis continues to stand by those raising and caring for animals worldwide -- from livestock farmers to veterinarians and pet owners. The company's leading portfolio and pipeline of medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and technologies make a difference in over 100 countries. For more information, visit www.zoetis.com.

Press Contact:

Katie Porter, Associate Director, Business Development & Marketing

EpiVax

[email protected]

SOURCE EpiVax Inc.
The Leading Sign, Graphics and Visual Communications Franchise Receives Recognition Following Record-Breaking 2022

CARROLLTON, Texas, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FASTSIGNS , the leading sign, graphics and visual communications franchise in the nation, announced today it has been ranked the #1 franchise opportunity in its category in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 for the seventh consecutive year. Recognized as an invaluable resource for potential franchisees, the Franchise 500 ranks FASTSIGNS as #62 overall for its outstanding performance in areas including unit growth, financial strength, stability, and brand power.

"After a year of record-breaking success for FASTSIGNS, receiving recognition as the #1 franchise opportunity for signage, graphics, and visual communication once again is a testament to the strength of our brand and the hard work of our franchisees," said Mark Jameson, chief development officer at Propelled Brands. "Demand for our services remains high and FASTSIGNS franchisees continue to be the go-to resource for visual communications in their communities. I look forward to seeing our momentum of growth continue this year by offering a variety of franchising options, from owning a franchise to adapting an existing sign business through a conversion or co-branding with a complementary business as we expand into new markets."

The recognition follows the brand's most successful year to date with FASTSIGNS building on a growing sales track record and surpassing $700 million in network sales for the first time in company history. FASTSIGNS has experienced strong growth and continues to expand the franchise network, awarding 20 franchises in 2022 to develop locations in markets such as Santa Clarita, CA, Ocala, FL, Gastonia, NC and Sioux City, IA. The impressive growth underscores FASTSIGNS' adaptability to a rapidly changing business environment and economy and the continued demand for signage and visual graphics making it a recession resistant business.

"FASTSIGNS has a broad range of products and services that are needed in all kinds of economic environments by a large variety of businesses and organizations," said Al Cothern, FASTSIGNS franchisee of West Palm Beach, Florida, who opened his first franchise during the previous recession in 2009. "FASTSIGNS helped me just by standing behind all the things they promised. The business model does work as they said it would, the marketing support is excellent, and the operational support provided by the business consultants is always there."

In Entrepreneur's continuing effort to best understand and evaluate the ever-changing franchise marketplace, the company's 44-year-old ranking formula continues to evolve as well. The editorial team researches and assesses several factors that go into the evaluation including costs and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability. Each franchise is given a cumulative score based on an analysis of more than 150 data points, and the 500 franchises with the highest cumulative scores become the Franchise 500 in ranking order.

"The past year underscores the extraordinary opportunities that the franchising industry presents for entrepreneurs of all levels," says Entrepreneur editor in chief Jason Feifer. "The companies named to our 44th annual Franchise 500 list represent some of the most innovative, creative, and trusted brands across many industries and highlight what it takes to build the kind of momentum that drives long-lasting success."

The total investment for a FASTSIGNS franchise is approximately $233,555 - $307,308 including a $49,750 franchise fee. Ideal candidates have a net worth of $300,000 of which $80K is liquid. Additionally, FASTSIGNS offers a special incentive for veterans and first responders, including paramedics, emergency medical technicians, police officers, sheriffs and firefighters, which includes a 50% reduction on the franchise fee -- a savings of $24,875.

FASTSIGNS is currently seeking qualified franchisees with an emphasis on existing businesses to co-brand or convert. Owners of sign businesses can convert the business into a FASTSIGNS center to benefit from the proven business model and support system, or add a FASTSIGNS center to an existing business to receive training and support from the franchise system for just $15,000 down.

To date, FASTSIGNS operates more than 760 locations in 46 states and eight countries. Of these FASTSIGNS franchisees, around 14% are veterans.

For information about the FASTSIGNS franchise opportunity, contact Mark Jameson ([email protected] or 214-346-5679).

To view FASTSIGNS in the full ranking, visit www.entrepreneur.com/franchise500 . Results can also be seen in the January/February 2023 issue of Entrepreneur, available on newsstands January 17th.

About FASTSIGNS

FASTSIGNS is a leading national visual ideas company that creates a wide variety of comprehensive sign and graphics solutions. With over 35 years of experience, FASTSIGNS helps you achieve more than you ever thought possible. We are the worldwide franchisor of more than 760 independently owned and operated FASTSIGNS centers. FASTSIGNS locations span across the United States, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Canada, Chile, Grand Cayman, Malta, the Dominican Republic and Australia (where centers operate as SIGNWAVE). FASTSIGNS is frequently recognized for franchisee satisfaction and through franchising awards which include being ranked #1 on Entrepreneur's Highly Competitive Franchise 500 List for the Seventh Consecutive Year for 2023 as well as being named a 2023 Best-in-Category Franchise by Franchise Business Review.

In 2021, Propelled Brands was formed, and is now the multi-brand franchisor for FASTSIGNS, NerdsToGo, MY SALON Suite and Salon Plaza brands. To learn more visit fastsigns.com. Follow the brand on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/fastsigns, Twitter @FASTSIGNS or Facebook at facebook.com/FASTSIGNS. For information about the FASTSIGNS franchise opportunity, contact Mark Jameson ([email protected] or call 214.346.5679).

SOURCE FASTSIGNS International, Inc.
SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fenixlight Limited will attend the 2023 SHOT Show on January 17-20 at The Venetian Expo in Las Vegas to make this year's show a BIG DEAL.

The SHOT Show is the world's most comprehensive trade show for professionals involved with shooting sports, hunting, outdoor, law enforcement, and armed forces industries. Fenix is excited to return to this year's show and expects to offer unique opportunities for attendees to experience the best in products and services first-hand.

At Booth #43326 and #14053, Fenix will be displaying its wide array of product offerings focused on weapon lights, tactical flashlights, and new headlamps for hunting. Fenix, the brand of top-notch lighting tools and tactical products, has been delivering the ultimate in quality, innovation, and performance.

Fenix has launched two new weapon lights in 2022, which have been well received. At the 2023 SHOT Show, Fenix's third weapon light will meet attendees for the first time, so it will be the best opportunity to experience the latest products up close.

In addition, attendees will be able to meet face-to-face with Fenix's team members and discuss opportunities to enhance inventory that will be devoted to driving the next selling season. Exhibiting at the SHOT Show is a big deal for the business. With all opportunities, Fenix dedicates to making great connections that are beneficial to everyone involved.

About Fenix

Fenix has more than 20 years of experience manufacturing and selling reliable and durable mobile lighting products including high-performance flashlights, headlamps, bicycle lights, camping lanterns and lighting accessories. Fenix products are widely used in professional fields such as outdoor, military, security, industrial, etc.

For additional information, visit Fenixlight.com.

Available for purchase at: Fenix-store.com and Fenixlighting.com.

SOURCE Fenixlight Limited
AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FileCloud is excited to announce the addition of Zero Trust File Sharing, which will provide yet another layer of hyper-security to the most robust content collaboration platform on the market.

FileCloud Zero Trust File Sharing

Zero Trust File Sharing in FileCloud will enable users to collaborate securely, not just with other employees, but also with external partners, vendors, and clients. This functionality goes beyond modulating share permissions or setting Data Loss Prevention (DLP) rules. Zero Trust File Sharing will be increasingly required for businesses and organizations that work with sensitive or protected data, including Confidential Unclassified Information (CUI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

The advent of cloud service technologies, remote access applications, and the vanishing network edge have exposed vulnerabilities in perimeter-based IT security models. The Zero Trust framework, based on a system of least privilege, offers a more resilient, flexible approach that enforces identity authentication, regardless of where or how the request for access is derived.

"With FileCloud's Zero Trust File Sharing, an enterprise can implement secure file sharing throughout their network as part of a larger Zero Trust strategy," Anis Abdul, CTO, at FileCloud said. "Zero Trust File Sharing will also support compliance with federal and global information security regulations as well as organization-wide cybersecurity policies that mandate limited access to sensitive data."

Recently, the U.S. Department of Defense has rolled out a Zero Trust Strategy and Roadmap, which will eventually cover all U.S. government departments and will likely be adapted by the private sector. Critical infrastructure sectors are strong candidates to integrate Zero Trust File Sharing as a means of securing their information systems from increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks carried out by nation states.

"FileCloud already works with several governments around the world to provide hyper-secure content collaboration, file sharing, and workflow automation," Ray Downes, FileCloud's CEO stated. "Many of the building blocks for a Zero Trust environment exist within FileCloud, including role-based access, audit logs, encryption, and granular permissions. Developing a Zero Trust File Sharing solution further augments the platform's capabilities when it comes to securing data, both within and beyond an organization's network perimeter."

FileCloud's Zero Trust support allows businesses to have an extra layer of security on top of FileCloud's built-in access controls. Zero Trust is achieved via Zip file structure and password-protection to secure data within the environment. The user will be able to create a share link to a file or folders and set a Zero Trust password.

Without this password, the data cannot be accessed, even if a direct link is shared or if a breach occurs. If the Zero Trust protected folder is accessed by any means, including social engineering tactics, the data itself is still protected by password-based encryption.

Authorized users accessing the data with the Zero Trust password will also be limited in their ability to modify or manipulate the data inside the Zero Trust folder. Based on the share permissions, recipients of the share link will be limited by read versus read-write share permissions.

Zero Trust File Sharing creates a user-driven, hyper-secure, file-sharing container that extends collaboration beyond an organization's IT perimeter as part of a comprehensive Zero Trust strategy.

Learn more about Zero Trust File Sharing by reading the FileCloud Release Notes or contacting the FileCloud Sales Team.

About FileCloud

FileCloud is a hyper-secure content collaboration platform (CCP) that provides industry-leading compliance, data governance, data leak protection, data retention and digital rights management capabilities. Workflow automation and granular control of content sharing across most enterprise platforms is fully integrated into the complete CCP stack.

The platform offers powerful file sharing, sync, and mobile access capabilities on public, private, and hybrid clouds. FileCloud is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is used by millions of users around the world, including top Global 1000 enterprises, educational institutions, government organizations, and managed service providers.

Media Relations Contact:

Noemi Toth

FileCloud

1 (888) 571-6480

[email protected]

SOURCE FileCloud
MIAMI, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers are building a computerized model that could inform new, highly targeted, and less painful treatments for people with lower urinary tract conditions.

With support from a $3 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health, Zachary Danziger, associate professor of biomedical engineering in the FIU College of Engineering and Computing, and his colleagues will use the model to investigate how the nervous system and urinary tract are connected.

They want to understand how electric stimulation of certain specific nerves could help people struggling with underactive bladders  one of the most common lower urinary tract problems without many treatment options  caused by different factors, such as aging, neurological disorders, Parkinson's disease and more.

We are looking to come up with a theory that says, 'If you do this to the nervous system around the bladder, then this will happen in the bladder,'" said Danziger, principal investigator of the grant at the College of Engineering and Computing. The nervous system controls many functions in the body, including the urinary tract. Controlling those nerves with electrical pulses could theoretically restore proper bladder function.

The challenge is that researchers must pinpoint the correct nerve to make it work. The nervous system is highly complex, and an electrical signal to the wrong nerve could have unintended consequences, like causing a random twitch, raising blood pressure or creating pain.

There are not many therapies available on the market for urinary tract issues today, said Danziger, an expert in this area of biomedical engineering.

"For people with underactive bladder where urine does not completely evacuate, the only current option for relief is to insert a catheter, which can be quite uncomfortable," Danziger said.

The scientists will create a digital twin of the urinary tract to create the framework. This completely computerized model of the bladder and its surrounding parts will help scientists focus costly experimental efforts.

"You can't do anything you want to a human for the sake of scientific progress. It's not ethical. For this reason, these digital twins of the body become essential," said Deniz Erdogmus, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern University and a member of the interdisciplinary team of researchers.

The research will come down to a heavy dose of interdisciplinary work. In the urinary tract system, some things can be explicitly defined by math, such as how much liquid goes into the bladder and how much goes out. However, some aspects are still unknown, especially concerning the urinary tract's neural controls. Here, artificial intelligence and machine learning will be used to connect the dots.

To read the full press release, click here

Media Contact:

David Drucker

(954) 401-3352

[email protected]

SOURCE Florida International University
Global flooring market is driven by expansion of the construction industry

Increase in infrastructure development projects projected to propel the industry in the next few years

WILMINGTOM, Del., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a research by TMR, the global flooring market was valued at US$ 333.6 Bn in 2021 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.4% during the forecast period from 2022 to 2031.

Any layer of finishing material used as a permanent covering for a floor structure is called flooring. It is employed to improve the aesthetic appearance of the flooring. Rugs, carpets, laminates, wood, ceramic tiles, rubber, and natural stone are examples of common flooring materials. Wood flooring continues to be popular for more than a century. Floorboards could be repeatedly sanded and recoated. This enables renovation of the old flooring. Vinyl flooring, laminate flooring, linoleum flooring, and hardwood flooring are some of the types of flooring that are available commercially.

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Growth of the construction industry and increase in redevelopment projects are propelling global flooring market expansion. Old constructions are being renovated and redesigned. This has increased the demand for visually appealing flooring. Eco-friendly flooring solutions are becoming more popular in green buildings, while ceramic tiles are chosen in residential structures due to low cost and simplicity. These factors are expected to propel flooring market growth in the next few years.

Global Flooring Market: Key Drivers

The global flooring industry is driven by increase in emphasis on the aesthetic appeal of houses and rise in introduction of new products. Customers are choosing flooring options that are inexpensive, efficacious, and eco-friendly. Luxury vinyl tiles are scratch- and slip-resistant, waterproof, and environmentally sustainable; hence, these are becoming more popular than hardwood or engineered wood materials. Luxury vinyl tiles also provide advantages such as simple cleaning, higher acoustics, and premium look. Demand for flooring items, such as area rugs, carpet tiles, and broadloom, is high in North America . Rugs and carpet tiles give floors a layer of protection.

. Rugs and carpet tiles give floors a layer of protection. The global construction industry has experienced rapid expansion due to urbanization. Surge in urban population in emerging countries, such as India , is driving the demand for residential flooring. Hence, emerging economies are anticipated to witness a spike in flooring market sales in the next few years.

Key Findings of Flooring Market

According to industry trends, the ceramic tiles segment is projected to account for significant share of the global flooring market during the forecast period. Ceramic tiles are inexpensive, easy to maintain, and toxic-free. The carpets & rugs segment is anticipated to witness robust growth in the next few years owing to rise in demand in urban regions across the globe.

The residential segment is expected to capture significant share of the industry from 2022 to 2031. The segment includes small residences, apartments, buildings, and housing constructions. Government subsidies for first-time homeowners in emerging and developed countries is fueling the residential segment.

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Flooring Market: Regional Dynamics

Asia Pacific held significant share of the global flooring market in 2021. The trend is projected to continue during the forecast period. The market in the region is driven by the expansion of the housing sector, increase in the urban population, and rise in disposable income.

held significant share of the global flooring market in 2021. The trend is projected to continue during the forecast period. The market in the region is driven by the expansion of the housing sector, increase in the urban population, and rise in disposable income. Europe is expected to account for sizeable share of the global flooring market during the forecast period. This is ascribed to rise in disposable income and surge in urban population.

Flooring Market: Competitive Scenario

The global flooring market is fragmented, with the presence of large number of companies. Industry participants have adopted strategies such as novel product launches, collaborations, and marketing techniques in order to enhance market share.

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Leading players in the global flooring market are:

Forbo Holding AG,

J&J Flooring LLC

Boral Limited, Inc.

Interface, Inc.,

LX Hausys, Tarkett S.A.

Mohawk Industries, Inc.

The Dixie Group, Inc.

Shaw Industries Group, Inc.

James Halstead Plc,

Armstrong World Industries

Global Flooring Market: Segmentation

Product

Resilient

Non-resilient

Soft Cover

Material

Carpets & Rugs

Wood

Soft Wood



Engineered Wood



Laminate

Vinyl Sheet & Tiles

Homogeneous



Heterogeneous



Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT)

Ceramic Tiles

Stone

Others

Application

Residential

Commercial

Others (transportation, industrial, etc.)

Regions

North America

Latin America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Middle East & Africa

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About Transparency Market Research

Transparency Market Research, a global market research company registered at Wilmington, Delaware, United States, provides custom research and consulting services. The firm scrutinizes factors shaping the dynamics of demand in various markets. The insights and perspectives on the markets evaluate opportunities in various segments. The opportunities in the segments based on source, application, demographics, sales channel, and end-use are analysed, which will determine growth in the markets over the next decade.

Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insights for thousands of decision-makers, made possible by experienced teams of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants. The proprietary data sources and various tools & techniques we use always reflect the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in all of its business reports.

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IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Generally, the rule of thumb is that if you have income from any source derived, then you are required to file and pay taxes. However, at the federal level, your filing requirement, whether you have to file a return is based on your filing status, age, and income level. Thus, if you do not have income greater than the standard deduction, you will not have a filing requirement. For instance, if you are single, under age 65, and earn less than $12,550, then you do not have a filing requirement. The level of income necessary to be required to file increases with age, and with a change in filing status, i.e., Married Filing Jointly, Head of Household, etc.

Common issues with non filers

Similarly, in the State of California for example, generally, if you are required to file a federal tax return, you also are required to file a State of California income tax return. In addition, like the federal level, threshold depends on dependents, age, and income. Furthermore, your requirement to file and pay California income taxes also applies if you are resident, including part-year resident, and even if you are a nonresident, but have income from a source in California.

What are the penalties for not filing your taxes?

At the federal level, the failure to file penalty depends upon whether you have a balance due on your return. The penalty applies when a taxpayer fails to file income taxes when due. The calculation of the penalty is five (5%) of the balance due for each month or part of the month that the tax return is late, from the due original due date, not the date of extension. However, the penalty does not exceed twenty-five (25%) of the unpaid taxes. In addition to the penalties due on the balance, interest accrues the on the tax due beginning on the due date as well. In California, the failure to file penalty follows the federal, except that the maximum penalty may be higher if the failure to file is due to fraud. The minimum penalty in California for individuals is $135 or 100% of the tax due on the return.

What enforcement options does the IRS and California have if taxpayers who fail to file their taxes on time?

The IRS and California can assess civil and criminal penalties depending upon the nature of the taxpayer's failure to file. Civil penalties can have significant consequences for taxpayers. For instance, the IRS and California may levy bank accounts or garnish wages. In addition, the IRS and California can seize property of the taxpayer. Furthermore, in order to help in its collection efforts, the IRS can even issue summonses to persons with information about preparation of unfiled tax returns.

As for criminal tax penalties, the IRS and California can pursue criminal tax enforcement for willful failure to file tax returns. For instance, if a taxpayer attempts to evade of defeat a tax, they can be charged with a misdemeanor. However, if the IRS can prove that the taxpayer committed an overt act, the penalty can be increased to a felony. A taxpayer convicted of a misdemeanor failure to file tax returns can be sentenced to up to 1 year and fined up to $25,000 ($100,000 for Corporations. Meanwhile a felony conviction can carry a sentence of up to 5 years, and a fine of up to $100,000 ($500,000 for Corporations). Thus, failure to file and pay taxes can have significant financial consequences as well as criminal punishment.

If you fail to file tax returns, the first thing you need to do is call the Tax Attorneys and CPAs at the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing, P.C., to advise you of your rights and how to navigate dealing with the IRS. In addition, you need to do is seek to get in compliance with tax responsibilities, and then to seek to resolve your delinquent tax liability. Finally, there are settlement options that may be available. Find out more information about your options when you have failed to file tax returns, by contacting the dual licensed Tax Attorneys and CPAs at the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing, P.C.

For a video on what is Spies Evasion see:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwvrPxhWSUQ&t=27s

Questions and Answers on Unfiled Back Taxes

Here is a link to our YouTube channel: click here.

Public Contact: Dave Klasing Esq. M.S.-Tax CPA, [email protected]

SOURCE Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing, PC
Engineering and design firm explores warfighter-focused challenges and innovations of tactical edge networking and communications

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fuse Integration, a warfighter-focused engineering and design firm, today announced the release of its white paper, JADC2: Tactical Edge Networking to Win in Great Power Competition, which outlines communications challenges facing the U.S. military at the tactical edge. It also highlights promising initiatives and innovative technologies designed to ensure that joint-force warfighters will be able to securely communicate with each other and with command centers, without having to consider interoperability limitations.

"U.S. and allied defense forces are facing an increasingly dynamic landscape across the globe. The race is on to ensure reliable, secure warfighter communications despite our adversaries' interference," said Sumner Lee, CEO of Fuse Integration. "We're eager to share this white paper, which starts and ends by placing the warfighter at the center of communication advancements  and the initiatives underway to support them in delaying, degrading or denying adversary aggression in the battlespace."

In a great power competition, the United States, China and Russia are competing to shape security norms, trade and technologies around the world. The Fuse white paper emphasizes that battles will not be won with "the most advanced technology or the biggest bombs." Instead, "the key to tactical edge missions and victories in the modern era is information dominance that enables decisive action."

In addition to designing products that deliver tactical edge communications, Fuse is actively demonstrating and delivering its tactical edge networking capability to defense clients. In October, Fuse successfully conducted another live-flight demonstration at the Office of Naval Research's Technical Concept Experiment, which replicated expeditionary operations in a contested littoral environment. Fuse next moves on to no less than three separate flight events within the first half of this year.

Visit the Fuse website to download the white paper.

About Fuse Integration

Fuse is a warfighter-focused engineering and design firm providing innovative communications, networking and computing solutions for defense customers. The company's virtualized network systems, tactical edge network and airborne networking gateway products improve the sharing of information, video, text and voice among warfighters throughout airborne, maritime and ground environments. Founded in 2010, Fuse is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business with headquarters in San Diego and a corporate office in Washington, D.C. www.fuseintegration.com

Contact:

Joyce Bosc

On behalf of Fuse Integration

301-717-9529

[email protected]

SOURCE Fuse Integration
HAMILTON, N.J., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Genesis Axis that manages the international Contract Research Organization (CRO) arm of Genesis Drug Discovery and Development (GD3), announced today that it has acquired Organochem. Located in Budapest, Hungary, Organochem provides a broad spectrum of smart chemistry products and services to support the design of new drugs and other bioactive products for pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients worldwide. In the United States, GD3 is managed by Genesis Global Group (GGG).

Organochem, Budapest, Hungary

This portfolio addition will enable the GD3 member companies to expand their full-service drug research and discovery offerings by augmenting their chemistry capabilities and accelerating the screening, selection, and the advancement of their industry partner's drug candidates. Organochem's skilled team of world-class chemists will work synergistically with GD3's existing platform of chemistry services around uHTS, computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry and structural biology.

"Joining the Genesis Axis and GD3 is a great opportunity for Organochem to join forces with a fully integrated CRO. This merger will allow us to provide our unique chemistry services to the drug discovery programs of major pharmaceutical companies in new parts of the world. Thanks to the professional knowledge and commitment of our employees, we expect significant development and growth of our highly specialized business lines as a member of Genesis Axis. This acquisition proves that Genesis Axis recognizes and highly values the results achieved by Organochem," says Zoltan Dalicsek, Ph.D., CEO of Organochem.

"We have an ongoing commitment to evolve our services for the worldwide pharmaceutical and biotechnology communities," says Dr. Eli Mordechai, CEO of Genesis Axis and GGG. "By adding Organochem's sector expertise and global reach, we continue to differentiate our capabilities and significantly enhance our catalog of chemistry services to better serve our industry partners."

"This newest addition to the GD3 portfolio adds complementary services allowing us to expand into new markets and continue to scale up globally," said Ben Bandaru, Ph.D., Director of Corporate Development for GGG. "The acquisition of Organochem aligns with GD3's mission for continued expansion into the global market and for creating an even more integrated and powerful global network for our industry partners."

"Organochem's scientists will join forces with our highly skilled synthetic and medicinal chemists in GD3 to advance our partners' programs," says Dr. Joyce Huang, Ph.D., CSO Chemistry of GD3.

About Organochem

Organochem is a supplier of special synthons, building blocks, a fragment-based library, and small, focused libraries to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and agrochemical industries. Organochem is committed to providing a broad spectrum of smart chemistry solutions to support the design of new drugs and other bioactive products. Its wide range of cost-effective services defined by profound science and its high-tech production facilities make Organochem a preferred partner in outsourcing discovery and development projects.

About Genesis Global Group and Genesis Axis

Genesis Global Group (GGG) (USA) and Genesis Axis (International) is a privately held collection of vertically integrated domestic and international companies that delivers deep expertise, objective solutions, customized products and unparalleled service spanning the sectors of biotechnology, health care, manufacturing, real estate, and hospitality. The purpose of GGG and Genesis Axis is to build a better and healthier world for people everywhere by pushing boundaries across multiple industries to provide businesses and individuals with insights and services rooted in innovation and uncompromising quality.

About Genesis Drug Discovery & Development

Genesis Drug Discovery & Development (GD3) is a fully integrated CRO providing services to support drug discovery programs of our clients from target discovery through IND filing and managing Phase I-IIII clinical trials. GD3 portfolio includes services for HTS and assay development, synthetic organic and medicinal chemistry, DMPK/in-vivo pharmacology and safety pharmacology, toxicology, and clinical trial services for the regulatory approval of novel drug medical device products.

To find out more, please visit www.gd3services.com.

Contact: Joyce Huang, Chief Scientific Officer, Chemistry

[email protected]

609.249.9577

SOURCE Genesis Drug Discovery & Development (GD3)
South Dakota families to hold more than 60 events during the thirteenth annual celebration of school choice

PIERRE, S.D., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gov. Kristi Noem has officially declared Jan. 22-Jan. 28 to be School Choice Week in South Dakota. Her official declaration of "South Dakota School Choice Week" marks the fourth year in a row that the Week has been formally proclaimed in the state.

Gov. Noem's proclamation comes on the heels of a year of historic school choice expansions nationwide. The proclamation highlights the importance of high quality education options for the economic vitality of South Dakota. It also recognizes the contributions and hard work of teachers, parents, and community leaders who invest in local schools.

"South Dakota School Choice Week" is timed to coincide with National School Choice Week, a weeklong national celebration of K-12 education that takes place during the last week of January. The full text of the proclamation can be found on the School Choice Week website at https://schoolchoiceweek.com/proclamations-2023/ .

For the Week, parents, schools, and other organizers have planned 68 activities across the state of South Dakota open houses, school activities, and much more  all of which aim to spark conversations about the opportunities parents have, or want to have, for their children's education.

More than 25,000 events have been independently planned for the week nationwide, raising awareness about school choices of every type.

"South Dakota families want to know all of the education options available for their children. During School Choice Week, they'll have their best opportunity all year to make a great choice for their child's schooling," said Andrew Campanella, president and CEO of the National School Choice Awareness Foundation. "Gov. Noem's proclamation recognizes how important options are to families across the state and reaffirms that all children should have access to the highest quality education possible."

National School Choice Week (NSCW) informs, inspires, and empowers parents to discover the K-12 education options available for their children, including traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and homeschooling. Every January, tens of thousands of schools, organizations, and individuals plan unique events and activities to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options in their communities. The Week is a project of the nonpartisan, nonpolitical National School Choice Awareness Foundation.

For more information, visit schoolchoiceweek.com/southdakota

SOURCE National School Choice Week
PARIS, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- GPA Global ("GPA") today announced the acquisition of Cosfibel Group ("Cosfibel"), one of the leading players in luxury promotional packaging, luxury gifting and merchandising solutions.

Cosfibel and its founder Alain Chevassus are renowned for their work with premium and high-luxury brands. From L'Oreal to Chanel, LVMH to Remy Martin, and La Duree to Damman, Cosfibel has established itself as one of the world's most acclaimed luxury packaging and merchandising providers. Based in France, with global service centres in 16 locations, and working across verticals such as beauty and personal care, wine and spirits, and fine foods, Cosfibel boasts an impressive client list of over 70 global brands.

This latest acquisition sees GPA further establish itself as a global leader in luxury packaging and advances GPA's goal of growing nearshore and onshore manufacturing capabilities. It creates a strong European foothold for GPA through Cosfibel's key manufacturing facilities in Spain, Portugal and Belgium. This growth in presence is key to GPA's strategy of helping clients shorten supply chains to increase speed-to-market, de-risk the supply of materials, and reduce carbon emissions.

Adam Melton, CEO of GPA, said: "I'm excited to welcome the Cosfibel team to the GPA family. Cosfibel's CEO, Marie Sermadiras, is a serial entrepreneur and she has joined GPA's executive leadership to help further GPA's expansion in Europe. Our global supply chain and manufacturing capabilities will enable us to better support Cosfibel's customers and increases our prominence in the beauty and food sector, while furthering our leadership in wine and spirits. Cosfibel has a talented global team and its founder Alain Chevassus will work with us in a senior advisory role."

Alain Chevassus, Cosfibel's founder and Chairman, added: "GPA is a great match for Cosfibel. I strongly believe this alliance will create a bright future for both our clients and teams."

Marie Sermadiras, Cosfibel's CEO, explained: "I am delighted to join forces with GPA. This alliance is a clear recognition of the fantastic work our teams have put in to grow and transform our business in a successful and sustainable way despite the challenges posed by a global pandemic. GPA and Cosfibel's complementary capabilities, creativity, and excellence in execution will enable us to grow even quicker, accelerate our diversification, and foster the transformation of the pack and gift industry."

The acquisition of Cosfibel is the second major acquisition by GPA with Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board ("Ontario Teachers'") as a shareholder, building on the recent acquisition of California-based Jenco Productions, which established a presence for GPA in Mexico and deepened its capabilities in the U.S. Ontario Teachers' acquired a co-control stake in GPA in September 2022.

Raju Ruparelia, Senior Managing Director, Private Capital, Asia-Pacific at Ontario Teachers' said: "We are impressed by Cosfibel's superior design capabilities and strong reputation in its core markets and industry segments. The combination with GPA will further develop Cosfibel's well-established European customer network as part of GPA's strong global platform. Ontario Teachers' is excited to see GPA continue to execute on its growth strategy by acquiring high-quality assets and partnering with strong management teams."

About GPA Global

GPA Global supports growth by thinking big. Beyond packaging. From design and pack engineering, to supply chain, automation and more, we invest in the capabilities needed to deliver seamless packaging solutions without limits.

Across three continents, 38 sites that are strategically positioned to put leading design & material innovation into the hands of our customers.

With a strong commitment to protecting people and planet we have been focused on the future since day one adding sustainable materials without increasing costs or using automation to improve production whilst reducing waste, caring for the environment is an investment in the future, and lives at the heart of our business.

Co-founded by Tom Wang and Adam Melton in 2007, the company is headquartered in North America and employs 3000+ people globally.

www.gpaglobal.net

About Ontario Teachers'

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers') is a global investor with net assets of $242.5 billion as at June 30, 2022. We invest in more than 50 countries in a broad array of assets including public and private equities, fixed income, credit, commodities, natural resources, infrastructure, real estate, and venture growth to deliver retirement income for 333,000 working members and pensioners.

With offices in Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, San Francisco, Singapore, and Toronto, our more than 400 investment professionals bring deep expertise in industries ranging from agriculture to artificial intelligence. We are a fully funded defined benefit pension plan and have earned an annual total-fund net return of 9.6% since the plan's founding in 1990. At Ontario Teachers', we don't just invest to make a return, we invest to shape a better future for the teachers we serve, the businesses we back, and the world we live in. For more information, visit otpp.com and follow us on Twitter @OtppInfo .

Cosfibel Group

Cosfibel is a European leader in the packaging and luxury gift industry with a team of over 200 experts worldwide.

With a host of multi-materials for packaging, textiles, and eco-responsible products, Cosfibel combines environmental requirements with luxury standards for secondary packaging in the form of cases and boxes, luxury bags, and a range of accessories.

Alain Chevassus founded Cosfibel in 2001 and has been the company's main shareholder. CEO Marie Sermadiras has operational leadership of the business, supported by Stanislas Peronnet, Deputy Managing Director, and Natali Spasenic, CFO.

www.cosfibel-group.com

Media enquiries

Please contact:

Nick Hurd, Chief Marketing Officer, GPA Global: [email protected]

Samantha Andrews, Global Marketing Director, GPA Global: [email protected]

Dan Madge, Director, External Communications, Ontario Teachers: [email protected]

SOURCE Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
Leader of growing firm's Dallas office honored four years in a row

DALLAS, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- For the fourth consecutive year, trial lawyer Grant Schmidt has been named to D Magazine's list of the "Best Lawyers Under 40." The annual list, published in the January 2023 issue, is compiled based on peer nominations, followed by close review by an independent panel of distinguished attorneys working in conjunction with the magazine's editors.

Mr. Schmidt is the managing partner of the Dallas office of Hilgers Graben PLLC a growing national firm of experienced litigators focused on commercial and intellectual property litigation, discovery counsel services and trademark law.

Before joining the firm, Mr. Schmidt was a partner in the Dallas office of Winston & Strawn. He was part of a high-profile trial team that secured the only acquittal in a health care fraud prosecution involving 21 separate defendants.

"This sort of honor is no surprise to us. The fact Grant works at this level and that his clients appreciate him for it, is one of the things that prompted us to make him a part of our practice," said Heather Hilgers, a founder of the firm.

Mr. Schmidt's background includes a clerkship with Judge Sam A. Lindsay of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas and a current role as president of the Federal Bar Association's Dallas Chapter. He earned his law degree from The University of Texas School of Law and his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Hilgers Graben PLLC is an elite nationwide litigation firm specializing in complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, discovery counsel services, and trademark services. The firm leverages low-cost locations and innovation to provide top-notch legal services while significantly driving down costs for its clients. It has been named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in America four times. The firm was named a "Best Law Firm" for 2022 and 2023 by U.S. News and World Report and Best Lawyers in America. The firm has offices in Lincoln and Omaha, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Miami and West Palm Beach, St. Louis, San Diego, and Washington D.C.

Media Contact:

Mark Annick

800-559-4534

[email protected]

SOURCE Hilgers Graben PLLC
GREENWICH, Conn., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Greenbriar Equity Group, L.P. ("Greenbriar") is pleased to announce the promotions of Noah Blitzer and Michael Wang to Managing Director. Both Mr. Blitzer and Mr. Wang are long-tenured members of Greenbriar's investment team and their promotions reflect their significant individual contributions to Greenbriar as well as the continuing growth and evolution of Greenbriar's senior leadership team.

Mr. Blitzer joined Greenbriar in 2011 and rejoined after business school. He has been particularly focused on the aerospace, aviation and defense sectors, including Greenbriar's investments in Align Aerospace, Alliance Ground International, Applied Aerospace Structures Corporation, Arotech, EDAC, PCX Aerosystems, STS Aviation Group and Whitcraft among others. Mr. Blitzer graduated from Brown University with a degree in Civil Engineering and Economics and received an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Wang joined Greenbriar in 2012. At Greenbriar he has focused across a number of Greenbriar's sectors with a particular emphasis on investments in the supply chain, logistics and distribution sectors, including Greenbriar investments in BDP International, Radwell International, SEKO, Wineshipping, and World Freight Company among others. Mr. Wang graduated from the Ivey Business School at Western University with a degree in Business Administration.

Noah Roy, a Greenbriar Managing Partner, said, "Both Michael and Noah are proven investors and business builders, trusted partners to our portfolio companies and have established themselves as leaders both within Greenbriar and more broadly in the sectors and industries we invest in. Their promotions also continue Greenbriar's long history of growing talent and leadership from within, reflecting our distinct culture and approach to working collaboratively together and with our portfolio companies. Michael and Noah personify this culture and commitment to Greenbriar, and we are delighted that they will continue to help lead Greenbriar in the years ahead."

About Greenbriar Equity Group

Greenbriar is a private equity firm with more than 20 years of experience investing in market-leading services and manufacturing businesses. With $9 billion of cumulative capital commitments, its investment strategy targets businesses led by experienced management teams capitalizing on strong long-term growth prospects that can benefit from Greenbriar's deep sectoral expertise, strategic insight, and operating capabilities. For more information, please visit greenbriarequity.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Catherine Clifford, Greenbriar

[email protected]

Nathan Riggs, Kekst CNC

[email protected]

SOURCE Greenbriar Equity Group
LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Erich Tomkinson of Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, Inc. recovers $8 million for client Samuel Howell during litigation.

On April 15, 2018, While riding his bike, Samuel Howell encountered a hidden/unmarked speed bump with no warning or caution at Malibu Country Mart. As a result of this incident, Howell went over the handlebars and sustained serious injuries, including a neck fracture and traumatic spinal column injury.

Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, Inc. Recovers $8 million for Los Angeles County Client

From the accident site, Howell was life-lighted to UCLA trauma center where he received an emergency surgery on his neck including a C2-C6 fusion and a C3-C5 laminectomy with decompression of the spinal cord. Howell spent the next 3 months in various recovery centers throughout LA learning how to walk again.

Howell still continues to have serious limitations of his upper extremities and will require assisted care for the rest of his life.

Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, Inc. aggressively fought against property owner, contractor and subcontractor of the subject speed bump for years. After years of heavy written discovery and almost a dozen different depositions of various employees for the defendants, it became clear that the subject speed bump was purposefully unmarked and camouflaged with its surroundings, putting aesthetics over public safety.

Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, Inc. tirelessly put pressure on the defense to secure a $8 million settlement for their client.

SOURCE Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, Inc.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HCI Equity Partners ("HCI"), a leading lower middle market private equity firm that focuses on partnering with founder-owned distribution, manufacturing and B2B service companies, announced today the promotions of Nate Novak to Principal; Ben Choi, Josh DiBiasi and Sam Hoehn to Vice President; Michael Allen to Senior Associate; and Emma Pollock to Senior Portfolio Operations Analyst.

Nate Novak, Principal, joined HCI in 2014 and has played a central role in evaluating and executing HCI's investment mandate. He has extensive experience in the building products and technical services markets, and currently provides deal leadership for HCI's Tech24 platform, which has closed 14 add-on acquisitions to date. Novak also supports the firm's WF Cabinetry and Regent Cabinetry deal teams.

Ben Choi, Vice President, joined HCI in 2022 and brings extensive experience from Sentinel Capital Partners, Houlihan Lokey and BB&T Capital Markets, as well as HCI portfolio company MSI Express. Choi is responsible for evaluating, executing and monitoring investments made by the firm and works with HCI portfolio companies MSI Express, SDS Rx and AmerCareRoyal.

Josh DiBiasi, Vice President, joined HCI in 2020 from Gladstone Capital Corporation where he was involved in underwriting and managing investments in a variety of industries. DiBiasi is responsible for evaluating, executing and monitoring current and prospective investments and is an active deal team member for WF Cabinetry and Regent Cabinetry. Josh played an important role in the exit of Summit Interconnect, which grew to be national leader in printed circuit boards for the aerospace and defense industry.

Sam Hoehn, Vice President, joined HCI in 2018 with prior experience at Northlane Capital Partners, Houlihan Lokey and BB&T Capital Markets. He has significant expertise in executing transactions in the aerospace and defense markets, helps lead HCI portfolio company Pacific Defense and is an active deal team member for MSI Express and TSM Corporation.

Michael Allen, Senior Associate, joined HCI in 2021. Prior to joining the firm, he was an Associate at Adams Street Partners in the Private Credit Group, executing debt and equity investments in middle-market companies across industries, and began his career as an Analyst at J.P. Morgan. Michael works with AmerCareRoyal and other HCI portfolio companies and is a significant contributor to the firm's business development and deal origination activities.

Emma Pollock, Senior Portfolio Operations Analyst, joined the HCI Operations team in 2022 after working at IBM as a deputy lead within the Federal Automation Innovation Unit. Emma works across the portfolio to assist in executing HCI's value creation activities, with a primary focus on technology, artificial intelligence, data analytics and automation.

"These promotions recognize the significant talent and contributions of six highly capable individuals at HCI," said Doug McCormick, HCI Managing Partner. "We believe HCI's success is a direct product of our ability to build cohesive teams and empower them to be successful. We're confident these team members will continue to grow in their new and expanded roles."

Dan Dickinson, HCI Managing Partner, added, "The commitment of these talented individuals has been essential to achieving HCI's goals. Their investment and operating experience paired with strong work ethic and trustworthiness has helped the firm continue to be a successful value-add partner to our portfolio companies. We greatly appreciate their work and congratulate each of them on these well-deserved promotions."

About HCI Equity Partners

HCI Equity Partners is a lower middle market private equity firm focused on partnering with family and founder-owned distribution, manufacturing and service companies. HCI is headquartered in Washington, DC. For more information, please visit www.hciequity.com.

Contacts:

Kelsey Clute, VP, Director of Communications, HCI

[email protected]

Lisa Baker, Lambert

[email protected]

SOURCE HCI Equity Partners
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- For several years there has been a steady increase in need for more autism spectrum disorder (ASD) treatment centers serving children in Philadelphia County. Research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, referencing a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimates that the current prevalence rate of ASD is about 1 in 44 children. Fortunately, Philadelphia County is now home to a brand-new Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) provider for children diagnosed with ASD. The mission of Helping Hands Family is to provide families with access to evidence-based ABA treatment and other autism services.

HHF's qualified ABA therapists are committed to delivering exceptional service to their families. Every child gets the undivided attention of therapeutic teams as they collaborate to create a treatment plan specifically designed to address each child's individual challenges and help them reach their goals. Using a collaborative approach, families are included in every step of the autism treatment process, from setting treatment objectives to tracking progress.

Positive reinforcement and other strategies are fundamental to ABA, a form of treatment that aims to address behavioral issues and enhance social skills, communication, and academic achievement in people with ASD, making it the therapy of choice. The American Psychological Association and the United States Surgeon General fully endorse ABA treatment for autism and established it as the pinnacle of treatment for individuals with autism.

Through an enthusiastic perspective and individualized approaches, the compassionate team at HHF helps each child succeed. Clinical Director Chelsea Smith, M.S., BCBA, LBS comments,

"As we grow in Philadelphia, my goal is to provide services focused on compassion for those we work with and striving to make ABA therapy fun and meaningful for everyone involved. Another big focus for our growth is collaboration to create a truly individualized approach that will lead to positive, valuable outcomes for the families we serve. I look forward to developing a well-rounded team in Philadelphia and bringing high-quality ABA services to the region."

About Helping Hands Family

Helping Hands Family (HHF) is a growing provider of Applied Behavior Analysis therapy in the Northeast. The HHF clinical team is comprised of autism professionals with decades of experience. They are devoted to delivering customized treatment plans through science-based programs to help children with autism progress socially and support new ways of interacting with the world.

Media Contact:

Colleen MacDonald

[email protected]

SOURCE Helping Hands Family
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2022 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report indicates that in 2020, the average number of veteran suicides per day was 17. One nonprofit supporting the veteran community and doing so with a focus on faith, is the Heroes to Heroes to Heroes Foundation . Watch Judy Elias of Heroes to Heroes explain in her own words, why she started the nonprofit to help veterans heal.

Heroes to Heroes notes that individuals who are connected to their faith are four times less likely to die by suicide than those who have no connection. Addressing moral injury - a psychological response that occurs in reaction to acting out or witnessing behaviors that go against an individual's values and moral beliefs - has been identified as a significant factor in suicide risk among veterans who have experienced combat situations.

Through the creation of a research-backed peer-support program, the organization aims to assist participants in establishing - or reestablishing - their faith. Their 28-month curriculum is informed by research conducted by Dr. Joseph Currier, a foremost expert in moral injury, interim clinical director at Veterans Recovery Resources, and professor of psychology at the University of South Alabama.



In 2018, Heroes to Heroes and Dr. Currier conducted a three-year study of the psychological and spiritual outcomes of program participants. Findings confirm that the organization offers a solution for veterans seeking reconnection, belonging and forgiveness, alleviating social and spiritual determinants of military-related moral injury, thereby reducing the risk of suicide in program participants. The research will be published in the Spring of 2023.

The Heroes to Heroes curriculum includes a 10-day journey to Israel - a land regarded as holy by three major faiths - in which program participants visit holy sites to connect with their spiritual selves, no matter their religion.



Over 350 lives have been saved so far and another 500 veterans sit on the waiting list to participate in the program. Heroes to Heroes offers a lifeline to veterans who may feel alone in their experience, disconnected from their loved ones, or hopeless.

CONTACT:

Korenna Wilson

[email protected]

SOURCE Heroes to Heroes Foundation
HONG KONG, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC Group) today announced the appointment of Alvin Wong as Chief Operating Officer  ICT Business, Solutions and Product, with immediate effect. He will oversee the end-to-end ICT business management of HGC Group and lead the team to further enrich the ICT and digital solution portfolio in local and overseas market, meeting the emerging needs in today's competitive digital world.

HGC Group appoints Alvin Wong as Chief Operating Officer  ICT Business, Solutions and Product to further spearhead the Groups ICT business

In this advancing role, Alvin will spearhead the growth of Group's ICT Business, focusing on its strategic direction and implementation as well as to oversee the day-to-day operations. This appointment has also highlighted HGC's commitment and continuous development in ICT solutions, leveraging the Group's comprehensive digital infrastructure, local & global telecom coverage and commitment from investors.

Alvin is a 30-year veteran of the ICT and telecommunications industries. Prior to this new role, he served as Executive Vice President of Solutions and Product Development of HGC Group, leading the solutions, product and presales units. He has also served as Commercial Director of HGC Group's Macroview Telecom, one of the largest Hong Kong-headquartered digital technology solution and managed service providers, since 2020. He has been acknowledged for the development of the firm's Managed Security Platform and market-leading one-stop solutions for managed cloud services.

Andrew Kwok, Chief Executive Officer of HGC Group, said, "ICT is an important growth engine and a crucial component in The Group's digital transformation journey from Telco to Techco. This appointment showcased our commitment in ICT business development and further reinforced our position as one of the leading telecom and ICT solutions providers in the region. Combining his expertise and extensive experience in ICT industry, Alvin is the ideal leader to spearhead the Group's long-term development and growth in ICT business. His tasks will be supported by teams of digital veterans, including a number of long-served colleagues and new joiners from local and overseas."

Alvin Wong, Chief Operating Officer  ICT Business, Solutions and Product of HGC Group said, "This is my honor being invited to expand my contribution to HGC Group on the development of ICT Business. Digital transformation is an inevitable journey for all enterprises to stay competitive in the rapidly changing business environment nowadays, which is crucial to optimize their resources and deliver better experience to their customers and employees. HGC Group, that combines experience, innovation, business acumen and passion, can deliver real values to our customers and partners in their transformation journey, and share the success together."

About HGC Global Communications Limited

HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC) is a leading Hong Kong and international telecom operator and ICT solution provider. The company owns an extensive network and infrastructure in Hong Kong and overseas and provides various kinds of services. HGC has 30 overseas offices, with business over 5 continents. It provides telecom infrastructure service to other operators and serves as a service provider to corporate and households. The company provides full-fledged telecom, data centre services, ICT solutions and broadband services for local, overseas, corporate, SME and mass markets. HGC owns and operates an extensive fibre-optic network, five cross-border telecom routes integrated into tier-one telecom operators in mainland China and connects with hundreds of world-class international telecom operators. HGC is one of Hong Kong's largest Wi-Fi service providers, running over 29,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in Hong Kong. The company is committed to further investing and enriching its current infrastructure and, in parallel, adding on top the latest technologies and developing its infrastructure services and solutions. In 2019, HGC Group completed the acquisition of Macroview Telecom Limited (Macroview), a leading digital technology solution and managed services provider. The addition of Macroview further accelerates HGC Group's digital transformation path and positioning as a pioneering ICT and digital services leader. HGC is a portfolio company of I Squared Capital, an independent global infrastructure investment manager focusing on energy, utilities and transport in North America, Europe and selected fast-growing economies.

To learn more, please visit HGC's website at: www.hgc.com.hk

SOURCE HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC)
CHICHESTER, England, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Rolls-Royce has achieved its highest-ever annual sales in 2022, delivering a total of 6,021 motor cars, up 8% on 2021, to clients in around 50 countries worldwide. This is the first time in the company's 118-year history that its sales have exceeded 6,000 in a single 12month period. The value of Bespoke commissions also reached record levels, while demand for all RollsRoyce models remains exceptionally strong, with advance orders secured far into 2023.

Torsten Muller-Otvos, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, announces a momentous year for the marque in 2022.

In 2022, Rolls-Royce achieved sales growth in almost all regions, with particularly strong year-on-year growth seen in the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, the USA and Europe. More importantly than volume alone, the value of clients' Bespoke commissions was higher than ever before.

The Middle East is the marque's leading region for Bespoke commissions, with many unique creations of particularly extensive and individual personalisation. In 2022, Rolls-Royce opened an invitation-only Private Office in Dubai, the first outside Goodwood, bringing the Home of Rolls-Royce closer to the marque's local clients. Further Private Offices will be introduced around the world in the coming months and years.

The Americas saw significant growth in 2022 and remains the largest single region for RollsRoyce, with almost all markets achieving higher sales than the previous year. Greater China is of vital strategic importance to Rolls-Royce and is the marque's second largest sales region. Ongoing headwinds there led to a single-digit drop in sales compared with 2021's record results, however this was successfully counterbalanced by increased sales in other markets.

Despite the serious geopolitical challenges affecting Europe, the region grew overall in 2022 with record sales in several markets, including the UK and Germany. The Asia-Pacific region also achieved higher sales than ever before.

Rolls-Royce's unprecedented success comes as, in January 2023, the company marks the 20th anniversary of the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood. Its transformation  from offering a single model, Phantom, and building just one motor car a day  to today's record figures is the result of a long-term strategy based on sustainable growth, careful management and planning, and the successful reinvention of the brand. The past decade, in particular, has seen RollsRoyce consciously refine and rejuvenate its brand and product portfolio to reflect its clients' changing requirements, tastes and demographics, while retaining its innate exclusivity and rarity. As both a true luxury house and an innovative, engineering-led company, RollsRoyce represents, as it always has, the very highest levels of craftsmanship, technology, luxury and creativity.

Read in full at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars PressClub.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980647/Torsten_Mueller.jpg

SOURCE Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The home healthcare market size reached USD 198.78 Billion in 2021 and is expected to register a CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period, according to latest analysis by Emergen Research. Rapidly increasing aging global population, rising prevalence of chronic diseases, and increasing number of new companies and start-ups offering products and services at competitive pricing are some of the key factors driving market revenue growth.

Population is ageing at a faster pace globally and therefore government of various countries is ensuring robust health and social systems through policy measures in order to provide proper healthcare facilities to the geriatric population. According to World Health Organization (WHO) by 2050, the world population of people aged 60 years and above will double and by 2050, two-thirds of the world's population above 60 years will live in countries with low- and middle-income. This is expected to increase the demand for home healthcare services and thereby drive the revenue growth of the market.

Request Free Sample Copy (To Understand the Complete Structure of this Report [Summary + TOC]) @ https://www.emergenresearch.com/request-sample/1084

Drivers:

Rising prevalence of chronic diseases globally is another factor expected to increase the demand for home healthcare services. According to United Nations between 2020 and 2030, about 500 million people would acquire heart disease, obesity, diabetes, or other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) linked to physical inactivity while governments of countries are working on developing systems for monitoring adult health and providing them incentives for home healthcare services, and currently, only 75 per cent of countries monitor adolescent activity. Home healthcare can help patients for the management of chronic diseases and help patients to save significant costs. This is expected to increase the demand for home healthcare and therefore drive the revenue growth of the market.

Restraints:

In recent times, there has been a surge in numerous products and services that can facilitate home healthcare. However, lack of public awareness and higher cost of products in developing countries have significantly hampered the revenue growth of the market. Additionally, poor network connectivity in developing countries has slower adoption of telehealth services. These factors are restraining the revenue growth of the market over the forecast period.

Growth Projections:

The home healthcare market is expected to register a CAGR of 8.3% over the forecast period and revenue is projected to increase from USD 198.78 Billion in 2021 to USD 405.11 Billion in 2030. Rapidly increasing aging global population, rising prevalence of chronic diseases, and increasing number of new companies and start-ups offering products and services at competitive pricing are expected to drive revenue growth of the market.

Emergen Research is Offering Limited Time Discount (Grab a Copy at Discounted Price Now) @ https://www.emergenresearch.com/request-discount/1084

Current Trends and Innovations:

Growing popularity of wearable diagnostic devices to track health vitals is currently trending in recent times and has significantly gained popularity. These devices have embedded sensors that can track biochemical and physiological parameters continuously. Additionally, it can track vitals such as heart rate, blood oxygen concentration, temperature, and others. Similarly, smartphones can be used to collect information and store it on remote servers for analysis. Such devices can further improve communication between patients and medical professionals. Wearable devices can significantly improve diagnosis and can help to establish a robust home healthcare system. This is expected to drive the revenue growth of the market.

Strategic Initiatives:

Major companies included in the market report are McKesson Medical-Surgical, Inc., Fresenius Medical Care AG, and Co., Medline Industries, Inc., AccentCare Inc., Kindred Healthcare, LLC. (LifePoint Health, Inc.), Amedisys Inc., LHC Group Inc., The 3M Company, Arkray, Inc., Baxter International Inc.

On August 24, 2022 , Fresenius Medical Care, has closed a three-way merger that include Fresenius Health Partners. The new business, which is operating under the name of InterWell Health brand, combines the value-based contracting and performance experience of Fresenius Health Partners with InterWell Health's clinical care models and its substantial network of 1,700 nephrologists.

Browse Full Report Description + Research Methodology + Table of Content + [email protected] https://www.emergenresearch.com/industry-report/home-healthcare-market

Scope of Research

Report Details Outcome Market Size in 2021 USD 198.78 Billion CAGR (20222030) 8.3 % Revenue Forecast to 2030 USD 405.11 Billion The base Year for Estimation 2021 Historical Data 20192020 Forecast Period 20222030 Quantitative Units Revenue in USD Billion and CAGR in % from 2022 to 2030 Report Coverage Revenue forecast, company ranking, competitive landscape, growth factors, and trends Segments Covered Products, Services, Ailments, and Region Regional Scope North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa Country Scope U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, U.K., Italy, Spain, BENELUX, Rest of Europe, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Rest of APAC, Brazil, Rest of LATAM, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa, Turkey, and Rest of Middle East & Africa Key Companies Profiled McKesson Medical-Surgical, Inc., Fresenius Medical Care AG and Co., Medline Industries, Inc., AccentCare Inc., Kindred Healthcare, LLC. (LifePoint Health, Inc.), Amedisys Inc., LHC Group Inc., The 3M Company, Arkray, Inc., and Baxter International Inc. Customization Scope 10 hours of free customization and expert consultation

Custom Requirements can be requested for this Report [Customization Available] @ https://www.emergenresearch.com/request-for-customization/1084

Emergen Research has segmented home healthcare market on the basis of product, service, ailments, and region:

Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 20192030)

Diagnostic Devices



Vital Sign Monitoring Devices





Weight Monitoring Devices





Glucose Monitoring Devices



Health Maintenance Device



Geriatric Assistance Devices





Nutrition Management Devices





Air Quality Devices



Locomotive Assistance Devices



Automated Wheelchair





Walking Assist Devices



Home pregnancy & Fertility Kits



Drug Delivery Devices



Pumps





Syringes



Dialysis Products



Continuous





Automated



Respiratory Equipment



Ventilators





Nebulizers





Oxygen Therapy Equipment

Service Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 20192030)

Rehabilitation Services



Infusion Therapy Services



Unskilled Care Services



Respiratory Therapy Services



Pregnancy Care Services



Skilled Nursing Services



Hospice & Palliative Care Services

Ailments Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 20192030)

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder



Diabetes



Hypertension



Asthma



Depression



Cardiovascular Diseases



Dementia



Parkinson's Disease



Bone & Joint Disease

Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2019 - 2030)

North America

U.S.



Canada

Europe

Germany



U.K.



France



Italy



Spain



Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China



Japan



South Korea



India



Australia



Rest of APAC

Latin America

Brazil



Mexico



Rest of LATAM

Middle East & Africa

& UAE



Saudi Arabia



Africa



Rest of Middle East

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SOURCE Emergen Research
Appointment reinforces commitment to enabling economic growth and a clean energy future for customers and communities across Ontario

TORONTO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Today, Hydro One Limited's (Hydro One) Board of Directors announced the appointment of David Lebeter as the company's new President and CEO. Mr. Lebeter is a highly regarded leader with deep industry experience, strong people leadership skills and proven results in improving safety, productivity, operational performance and customer experience.

Hydro One Limited appoints David Lebeter as President and CEO (CNW Group/Hydro One Limited)

With more than 40 years of experience in the utility and forestry sectors, he currently serves as the company's Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for transmission and distribution including construction, maintenance, vegetation management as well as system operations, asset planning and engineering. He is also responsible for Hydro One Remote Communities Inc., which serves remote communities in Ontario's far north. Before joining Hydro One, he held executive positions in safety and operations at BC Hydro and in the forest industry.

"David is a highly regarded leader with a proven record of building strong teams and improving safety, reliability, customer experience and productivity. With the support of the entire Board and a deep bench of leaders across Hydro One, David and his team will deliver greater value for customers, investors and all stakeholders and partners," said Timothy Hodgson, Chair of the Board of Hydro One. "As we decarbonize our economy to meet our collective climate change goals, Hydro One is well-positioned to enable Ontario's clean energy future while continuing to deliver exceptional customer service and support economic growth for communities across the province."

During his time at Hydro One, Mr. Lebeter has earned a reputation as a relationship builder who delivers results and as a strong advocate for safety, employee engagement and customer centricity.

"I am excited to lead this great company and a strong team as we continue to deliver on our strategy of focusing on reliability, safety, customers and Indigenous communities to build a stronger and more prosperous Ontario," said Mr. Lebeter. "I look forward to further engaging our employees, customers, Indigenous communities, investors and industry partners as we energize life for all Ontarians."

Mr. Lebeter's appointment is effective February 1 and his transition will be supported by Interim President and CEO William (Bill) Sheffield.

"On behalf of the Hydro One Board of Directors and the entire Hydro One family, I want to thank Bill Sheffield for his outstanding leadership and for continuing to deliver on our strategy as the Board of Directors identified the right candidate to deliver a growing capital program and lead Hydro One into the future," Mr. Hodgson added.

BIO: David Lebeter, Incoming President and CEO and Chief Operating Officer

David Lebeter was appointed President and CEO of Hydro One Limited in January 2023. Mr. Lebeter is a highly regarded leader with over 40 years' experience in the utility and forestry sectors and a reputation for driving improved safety, employee engagement, productivity, customer centricity and successfully delivering capital investments.

Mr. Lebeter has 18 years of experience in all facets of the electricity sector and was most recently the Chief Operating Officer of Hydro One Networks Inc., a role he assumed in January 2020, with responsibility for transmission and distribution, including construction, maintenance, vegetation management as well as system operations, asset planning and engineering. Under Mr. Lebeter's leadership, the company has improved safety, productivity, reliability and customer experience.

Before joining Hydro One, he held progressively senior positions in operations and safety at BC Hydro from 2005 to 2019, including leadership roles in generation, transmission, distribution and safety. During his tenure, he was responsible for improving safety, reliability, employee engagement and customer service, lowering costs and building trust with union leaders and Indigenous communities. Mr. Lebeter spent 23 years in the forest industry prior to joining the utility sector, working in leadership positions responsible for operations.

He has previously served as an Executive Board Member for Smart Grid Northwest, as an Operations Board Member for Western Energy Institute, and as the Chairman of the Distribution Council with the Canadian Electricity Association. He holds his ICD.D from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Mr. Lebeter holds a Bachelor's degree in Forestry from the University of British Columbia, and is a registered professional forester. In addition, Mr. Lebeter holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University.

Hydro One Limited (TSX: H)

Hydro One Limited, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is Ontario's largest electricity transmission and distribution provider with approximately 1.5 million valued customers, approximately $30.4 billion in assets as at December 31, 2021, and annual revenues in 2021 of approximately $7.2 billion.

Our team of approximately 9,300 skilled and dedicated employees proudly build and maintain a safe and reliable electricity system which is essential to supporting strong and successful communities. In 2021, Hydro One invested approximately $2.1 billion in its transmission and distribution networks, and supported the economy through buying approximately $1.7 billion of goods and services.

We are committed to the communities where we live and work through community investment, sustainability and diversity initiatives. We are designated as a Sustainable Electricity Leader by Electricity Canada.

Hydro One Limited's common shares are listed on the TSX and certain of Hydro One Inc.'s medium term notes are listed on the NYSE. Additional information can be accessed at www.hydroone.com, www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov.

Forward-Looking Statements and Information

This press release may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Words such as "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "attempt", "may", "plan", "will", "can", "believe", "seek", "estimate", and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking information. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or actions and involve assumptions and risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking information. Some of the factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from the results expressed, implied or forecasted by such forward-looking information, including some of the assumptions used in making such statements, are discussed more fully in Hydro One's filings with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada, which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Hydro One does not intend, and it disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking information, except as required by law.

SOURCE Hydro One Limited
Fund to Invest in Companies Led by a Female Chief Executive Officer or Board Chair

NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hypatia Capital Management LLC announced the launch of a new exchange traded fund yesterday, the Hypatia Women CEO ETF (NYSE: WCEO). Hypatia Women CEO ETF (the "Fund") seeks to provide capital appreciation. There is no guarantee that the Fund will meet its investment objective.

The fund is a series of the Two Roads Shared Trust by Ultimus. Larie Lydick, Vice President of ETF Product at Ultimus, commented on participating in the fund launch. "It was an honor to work with Patricia and the Hypatia team to help launch their new innovative ETF which invests in large women-led companies. I'm glad that the Hypatia team was able to leverage Ultimus' deep industry knowledge and introductions to the ecosystem to quickly go to market by launching the fund in one of our series trusts. They also took advantage of our Distribution Advantage program, led by Kevin Guerette, to understand the distribution landscape for their ETF. I look forward to working with the Hypatia team and their continued success."

Vident Investment Advisory will serve as sub-adviser to the Hypatia Women CEO ETF. "We are delighted to partner with Hypatia Capital on this first-of-its-kind strategy that seeks to provide exposure to female CEOs," said Amrita Nandakumar, President of Vident Investment Advisory.

"We believe investors are increasingly interested in the research that highlights the performance of female leadership. We are excited to launch the Hypatia Women CEO ETF to offer investors the chance to potentially diversify their portfolio from a gender perspective, invest their values, and use their investment dollars to create impact," said Patricia Lizarraga, founder and managing partner of Hypatia Capital.

Investors can learn more about the Hypatia Women CEO ETF by visiting www.wceoetf.com

About Hypatia Capital

Hypatia Capital Management LLC is part of the Hypatia Capital Group, founded in 2007, and is an asset management firm focused on female CEOs and balanced management teams.

Hypatia Capital's CEO-level female executive network includes over 1000 business leaders. For over a decade, Hypatia Capital has hosted the Private Equity CEO Roadmap Seminar, focused on providing the knowledge and contacts for senior female executives to navigate the private equity environment.

Hypatia Capital, through Hypatia Invests focuses on educating the general public on female focused investing opportunities in all asset classes.

Please visit www.wceoetf.com for more information.

About Ultimus

Ultimus Fund Solutions is a leading provider of full-service fund administration, accounting, middle office, and investor solutions to support the launching and servicing of registered funds, private funds, and public plans. The company offers customized structures designed for the unique needs of pensions, endowments, foundations, and other large institutions. Ultimus' deep commitment to excellence is achieved through investments in best-in-class technology, compliance programs, organization-wide cyber security efforts, and hiring seasoned professionals.

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio with offices in other major cities such as Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, Ultimus employs more than 925 seasoned accountants, attorneys, paralegals, application developers, fund administrators, compliance specialists, and many others with years of experience in the financial services industry. Servicing over 1,600 total traditional and alternative funds, Ultimus helps investment managers and fund families flourish in today's increasingly sophisticated and dynamic investment landscape. For more information, visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com

About Vident Investment Advisory (VIA)

Vident Investment Advisory (VIA), a subsidiary of Vident Financial formed in 2014, provides asset management and sub-advisory services to sponsors of index and active investment strategies. The firm offers a comprehensive suite of portfolio management, trading, operations, and capital markets functional expertise. VIA's extensive knowledge and innovation for a variety of ETF sponsors has made ETF management VIA's specialty. VIA's capabilities extend across multiple asset classes, including U.S. and international equities, fixed income, and commodities, as well as long/short, inverse, managed futures, and crypto futures strategies. For more information, please go to www.videntinvestmentadvisory.com.

Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of the fund before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the fund, and it should be read carefully before investing. Investors may obtain a copy of the prospectus by calling 1-888-338-3166 or clicking the link above. The fund is distributed by Northern Lights Distributors, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC, which is not affiliated with Hypatia Capital Management LLC nor affiliated with Vident Investment Advisory.

Important Risk Information:

Exchange-traded funds involve risk including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

The Adviser invests in securities only if they meet both the Fund's investment and values-based screening requirements, and as such, the returns may be lower than if the Adviser made decisions based solely on investment considerations.

The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund sharers, losses from trading in secondary markets, and periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. These factors may lead to the Fund's shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV.

The Fund is a new ETF and has a limited history of operations for investors to evaluate. The Adviser has not previously managed a mutual fund or an ETF.

16256589-NLD-01092023

Contact: Hypatia Capital: John Grenawalt

[email protected]

T + 1 212 472 7500

SOURCE Hypatia Capital
Decades-long event to place Jan 23-26 in New Orleans

HOUSTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Identity Automation , the digital identity platform for education, today announced it's scheduled to offer a range of insightful learning opportunities as well as demonstrations of its Identity and Access Management (IAM) platform, RapidIdentity, during this year's Future of Education Technology Conference ( FETC ).

Held January 23-26 in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, the following three events either include an Identity Automation ambassador or IAM technical expert:

Debunk Security Myths in Education

Healthy, proactive cybersecurity practices are essential, and it is up to all members of the education community to create innovative responses and safeguards. This session takes the discussion to the next level with an interactive game for all to participate

10-10:45 a.m. on Wed , January 25

, January 25 Future of EdTech Education Track

Room R8

Session #C079

Top Ed Tech Products for Information Technology and Management Systems Technology

Last month, the company announced that its RapidIdentity platform won a highly coveted 2023 District Administration Top Ed Tech Product Award. The platform is slated to be hosted and demonstrated during the session for a closer look at how RapidIdentity provides ongoing value to districts nationwide:

11:15-11:45 a.m. on Thursday , January 26

, January 26 Future EdTech Information Technology Track

Expo Booth #4000  Pitchfest Theater

Session #PFT12

RapidIdentity In-Booth Demo with Q&A

Following the "Top Ed Tech Products" presentation, Identity Automation is set to provide an in-booth RapidIdentity demonstration, further illustrating how the IAM platform has enhanced K-12 security for so many districts without impacting classroom productivity.

12-12:30 p.m. on Thursday , January 26

, January 26 Expo Booth #3722 (Identity Automation)

Complimentary snacks will be provided

To request an individual meeting time with an Identity Automation expert at the company's FETC Booth #3722, click here .

For more information on the FETC event, visit www.fetc.org .

About Identity Automation

Identity Automation provides identity and access management (IAM) solutions for K-12 and higher education. Its flagship platform, RapidIdentity, safeguards learning environments, maximizes instructional time, and minimizes the load on Information & Educational Technology teams. Technology leaders turn to RapidIdentity for its best-in-class security capabilities, time-saving automation, and flexible approach to managing digital identities. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Identity Automation is trusted by Chicago Public Schools, Miami-Dade County School Districts, Dallas ISD, Houston Community College, and hundreds of other institutions. To learn more about partnering with Identity Automation, visit www.identityautomation.com .

SOURCE Identity Automation
New Experiential Offering from illy Positioned to Meet Consumer Demand for Super Premium Coffee

NEW YORK and MIAMI, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- illycaffe, the super-premium coffee company from Trieste, Italy, announces it is extending its offering through a partnership with Reliant Coffee Services based in South Florida, specifically to meet growing demand for illy's unique 100 percent Arabica blend in sectors including luxury auto dealerships, residential buildings, Class-A offices, and hotels.

Reliant Coffee Services offer hospitality grade consumer facing automatic machines that transform bean to cup with barista quality levels.

illy tapped Reliant Coffee Services for its technological strength in providing a portfolio of sleek automatic machines in addition to reliable technical support and services for an array of locations and customers, which is essential to ensuring illy's quality beans are transformed into the perfect, fresh cup of coffee to enjoy.

Reliant Coffee commenced operations in 2017, and has offices in Florida and Chicago, and through their extensive distribution network, Services several markets throughout the U.S. including; New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston, etc.

"The opportunity to partner with illy creates new opportunities for Reliant across a portfolio of industry sectors, who are looking for a super-premium product and a brand that is known for beautiful aesthetics, superior quality, and sustainability credentials," said Marko Askic, Director of Business Development for Reliant Coffee LLC.

"Premium lifestyle destinations such as auto dealerships are recognizing the opportunity to support a first-class customer experience through illy coffee," said Jack Edwards, President of illy caffe North America. "Consumers continue to raise the bar when it comes to expectations including their coffee, and we continue to grow our leadership position by providing solutions and products for wide spectrum of hospitality environments."

About illycaffe

illycaffe is an Italian family-owned company, founded in Trieste in 1933. Its mission has always been to offer the best coffee to the world. Illycaffe produces a unique 100% Arabica blend, combining 9 of the best varieties in the world, selected by illycaffe: every day 8 million cups of illy coffee are served in over 140 countries around the globe, in the cafes, restaurants and hotels, in single-brand cafes and shops, at home. As a result of its innovations, illycaffe contributes to the coffee technology progress at global level. In 1991, the "Premio Ernesto Illy de qualidade sustentavel do cafe para espresso" was launched in Brazil for quality espresso coffee. Illycaffe has contributed to the sharing of the know-how, paying growers a premium price for the best quality selected by illycaffe. Since 2016, with the "Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award", the company has celebrated coffee growers all over the world that, according to illy, have produced the best sustainable coffee. Since 2013, the company has been in the list of the World Most Ethical Companies. In 2019, it enhanced its commitment to pursue a sustainable business model integrating the interest of people with the environment, adopting the status of Societa Benefit (Benefit Company) and adding this commitment into its own bylaws. In 2021, illycaffe was the first Italian company in the coffee sector to obtain the international certification as B Corp as a result of its commitment to comply with the highest standards of social and environmental performance. The company also founded the University of Coffee, which has the objective of sharing culture at all levels, offering a comprehensive and practical training to growers, baristas and coffee lovers. Everything that is "made in illy" is about beauty and art, the founding principles of the brand, starting from its logo, designed by artist James Rosenquist, up to illy Art Collection cups, decorated by over 100 international artists. In 2020, the company had 1291 employees and a turnover of  446,5 million. There are 261 illy single-brand shops in over 40 countries all over the world. In 2021, Rhone Capital became a minority shareholder of illycaffe with the aim of contributing to the company's international growth plans.

SOURCE illycaffe
DUBLIN, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Indoor Farming Technology Global Market Report 2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report provides strategists, marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the global indoor farming technology market.



The global indoor farming technology market is expected to grow from $26.46 billion in 2021 to $29.13 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.1%. The indoor farming technology market is expected to grow to $46.16 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 12.2%.

Reasons to Purchase

Gain a truly global perspective with the most comprehensive report available on this market covering 12+ geographies.

Understand how the market is being affected by the coronavirus and how it is likely to emerge and grow as the impact of the virus abates.

Create regional and country strategies on the basis of local data and analysis.

Identify growth segments for investment.

Outperform competitors using forecast data and the drivers and trends shaping the market.

Understand customers based on the latest market research findings.

Benchmark performance against key competitors.

Utilize the relationships between key data sets for superior strategizing.

Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high quality data and analysis

Major players in the indoor farming technology market are Advanced Nutrients, Agrilution GmbH, American Hydroponics, BrightFarms, General Hydroponics, Hydrodynamics International, Logiqs Vertical Farming, Netafim, Vertical Farm Systems, AeroFarms, Bowery Inc., Freight Farms, Metropolis Farms Inc., and Scotts Miracle Gro.



The indoor farming technology market consists of sales of indoor farming technologies by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that is a form of producing crops and plants inside the home by utilization of artificial control of light, environmental control such as humidity, temperature, gases and fertigation. Indoor farming is used to encourage local production of crops in cities and also to deliver fresh produce in city areas where plots of land are not readily available for cultivation and farming.



The main types of indoor farming technology are fruits and vegetables, flowers and ornamentals, herbs and microgreens. Fruit is a seed plant's mature ovary, which is normally generated from a flower. Fruits contain seeds, which help to continue the reproductive cycle.

A vegetable is an edible plant or portion of a plant that does not necessarily play a function in the reproduction cycle of the plant. These technologies have components such as hardware, software, services and integrated systems having facilities such as glass or poly greenhouses, indoor vertical farms, container farms, and indoor deep water culture systems. They are grown using aeroponics, aquaponics, and hybrid methods.



North America was the largest region in the indoor farming technology market in 2021. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period. The regions covered in the indoor farming technology market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, and Africa.



The indoor farming technology market research report is one of a series of new reports that provides indoor farming technology market statistics, including indoor farming technology industry global market size, regional shares, competitors with a indoor farming technology market share, detailed indoor farming technology market segments, market trends and opportunities, and any further data you may need to thrive in the indoor farming technology industry. This indoor farming technology market research report delivers a complete perspective of everything you need, with an in-depth analysis of the current and future scenario of the industry.



The rising adoption of vertical farming of agriculture is likely to contribute the growth of the indoor farming technology market. Some of the main advantages of vertical farming are optimized crop growth, reduced water usage, minimal dependence on external weather conditions or temperatures, decreased labor costs, and better energy conservation.

According to a forum, which is used for sharing farming experience, Europe is at a significant rise when it comes to vertical farming. Many countries compete to dominate this market, which results in the rise of many new farms.

For instance, in the U.K., Jones Food Company producing around 400 tons of vegetables, such as kale, coriander, and radish, per year using vertical farming. The company has around 5000 square meters of space for vertical farm in Europe. Therefore, adoption of vertical farming is driving the growth for indoor farming technology.



Strategic partnerships are shaping the indoor farming technology market. The companies that operate in unified endpoint management are undergoing partnerships. For instance, in the year 2020, Sananbio and Hode AgTech announced a strategic partnership for indoor farming projects in Qatar.

Sananbio is a joint venture by Sanan Optoelectronics, an LED manufacturer, and also the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an institute in plant science. Hode AgTech is committed to the development and worldwide promotion of agricultural technologies. With this partnership, they commit to building indoor farms and labs in Qatar and to giving fresh nutritionally dense food to Qatar.



The countries covered in the indoor farming technology market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Indoor Farming Technology Market Characteristics



3. Indoor Farming Technology Market Trends And Strategies



4. Impact Of COVID-19 On Indoor Farming Technology



5. Indoor Farming Technology Market Size And Growth

5.1. Global Indoor Farming Technology Historic Market, 2016-2021, $ Billion

5.1.1. Drivers Of The Market

5.1.2. Restraints On The Market

5.2. Global Indoor Farming Technology Forecast Market, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

5.2.1. Drivers Of The Market

5.2.2. Restraints On the Market



6. Indoor Farming Technology Market Segmentation

6.1. Global Indoor Farming Technology Market, Segmentation By Crop Type, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

Fruits And vegetables

Flowers And Ornamentals

Herbs And Microgreens

6.2. Global Indoor Farming Technology Market, Segmentation By Component, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

Hardware

Software And Services

Integrated Systems

6.3. Global Indoor Farming Technology Market, Segmentation By Facility Type, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

Glass or Poly Greenhouses

Indoor Vertical Farms

Container Farms

Indoor Deep Water Culture Systems

6.4. Global Indoor Farming Technology Market, Segmentation By Growing System, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

Aeroponics

Aquaponics

Hybrid

7. Indoor Farming Technology Market Regional And Country Analysis

7.1. Global Indoor Farming Technology Market, Split By Region, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

7.2. Global Indoor Farming Technology Market, Split By Country, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/uxeinc

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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SOURCE Research and Markets
TAIPEI, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Infortrend Technology, Inc. (TWSE: 2495), the industry-leading enterprise storage provider, is introducing its storage solution's HA (high availability) service to reinforce the hospital radiology information system (RIS) for non-disruptive operations. The HA service features active-active architecture to ensure failover redundancy, making it perfect for mission-critical data storage such as patient data, radiology imaging, billing information.

The RIS is a software system for storing and managing medical imaging data. It complements hospital information systems (HIS) and picture archiving and communication system (PACS) to expedite radiology workflow.

As a part of the storage solution, the HA service is critical in providing a stable and continuous workflow to guarantee complete RIS imaging processing without data storage interruption. The key reason is it ensures doctors can access patient data anytime to make an accurate real-time diagnosis during consultations or surgery.

To establish an HA service, the hospital RIS utilized two EonStor GS unified storage solutions in separate server rooms. With the dual active-active configuration, should the primary active system fail due to power interruption or other incidents, it will auto failover/ failback for the second active system to take over, with near-zero recovery time objective (RTO). The HA service provides zero recovery point objective (RPO) with the data mirrored onto both storage systems.

By introducing HA service to RIS, it improves the service level agreement (SLA) quality by avoiding re-imaging which results in excess costs for hospitals and wasted time for patients. This means patients can leave the hospital with a satisfied experience, making them more likely to return for their next consultation.

"With HA service complementing RIS to provide non-disruptive electronic medical services, it creates a win-win situation for medical organizations and patients," said Frank Lee, Senior Director of Product Planning.

Learn more about EonStor GS

Contact Infortrend to Make an Inquiry

About Infortrend

Infortrend (TWSE: 2495) has been developing and manufacturing storage solutions since 1993. With a strong emphasis on in-house design, testing, and manufacturing, Infortrend storage delivers performance and scalability with the latest standards, user friendly data services, personal after-sales support, and unrivaled value. For more information, please visit www.infortrend.com

Infortrend and EonStor are trademarks or registered trademarks of Infortrend Technology, Inc.; other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Infortrend Technology
Pivotal study to evaluate Embrace Hydrogel Embolic System for the embolization of arterial bleeds in the peripheral vasculature

BEDFORD, Mass., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Instylla, Inc., a privately held company developing next-generation liquid embolics for peripheral vascular embolotherapy, today announced the enrollment of the first patient in the HALT Study1 for the treatment of peripheral arterial bleeds. The HALT study is a Prospective, Multicenter Single-Arm Study to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of the Embrace H ydrogel Embolic System (HES) for the Embolization of A rterial B l eeding in Solid Organs and Peripheral Ar t eries.

According to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST), injury is a major public health problem accounting for over 150,000 deaths and over 3 million non-fatal injuries annually2. Traumatic injuries, specifically pelvic and hepatic injuries, are the leading causes of hemorrhage in trauma patients3. Transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) has played an increasingly significant role in controlling hemorrhage, with an efficacy rate of 81%-100% in unstable pelvic fractures for example4.

"We are excited to have enrolled the first patient nationally in the prospective HALT study,"commented Dr. David Tahour. Tweet this

Acute gastrointestinal bleeding has a mortality rate ranging from 4% to 10%. TAE facilitates highly selective embolization of bleeding vessels, with clinical success rates of 74.7%5 in treating acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

"We are excited to have enrolled the first patient nationally in the prospective HALT study, evaluating an innovative in-situ forming liquid embolic for hemorrhage control in patients," commented Dr. David Tahour, Chief of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center. "Embrace HES has demonstrated rapid and durable hemostasis in preclinical studies6 while reducing the risk of non-target embolization. I look forward to being involved with this innovative technology which will change the standard of care for future embolizations."

The HALT study is led by Dr. Suvranu Ganguli, Section Chief, Interventional Radiology, Boston Medical Center. The study is estimated to enroll 118 patients in up to 25 U.S. sites. Patients with upper GI bleeds, kidney, liver, or spleen end organ bleeds, spontaneous hematomas, or other peripheral arterial bleeds such as pelvic hemorrhage may be considered suitable for this study.

"I would like to thank Dr. Tahour and his team for their effort in achieving this significant clinical milestone," said Amar Sawhney, Instylla CEO. "We are excited to study the performance of the Embrace HES in this additional indication, which reflects the versatility of this novel liquid embolic."

About Embrace Hydrogel Embolic System:

Embrace HES is an investigational device intended to be used to embolize peripheral arterial bleeds in vessels  6 mm. Embrace HES consists of two injectable liquid precursors that solidify when simultaneously delivered into blood vessels, forming a soft hydrogel that fills the vessel lumens during the embolization procedure. The Embrace HES embolization uses no solvents, does not need sizing to the vessel diameter, and eliminates the possibility of catheter entrapment. Its main components are water and polyethylene glycol (PEG).

About Instylla:

Instylla, Inc. is a privately held company based in Bedford, MA, focused on developing next-generation liquid embolics for interventional radiology, with initial clinical applications in interventional oncology and peripheral hemostasis. The company's first product, Embrace HES, is designed for controlled, complete, and persistent embolization in these clinical conditions. Instylla was founded in 2017 by Incept LLC and is funded by several leading venture capital groups.

To learn more, please visit https://www.instylla.com/

1 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05364502

2 https://www.aast.org/resources/trauma-facts

3 Kord A, Kuwahara JT, Rabiee B, Ray CE Jr. Basic Principles of Trauma Embolization. Semin Intervent Radiol. 2021 Mar;38(1):144-152. doi: 10.1055/s-0041-1726004. Epub 2021 Apr 15. PMID: 33883812; PMCID: PMC8049756.

4 The role of arterial embolization in controlling pelvic fracture haemorrhage: A systematic review of the literature Papakostidis, Costas et al. European Journal of Radiology, Volume 81, Issue 5, 897 - 904

5 Empiric Transcatheter Embolization for Acute Arterial Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding: A Meta-Analysis Qian Yu, Brian Funaki, Rakesh Navuluri, Steven Zangan, Amanda Zhang, David Cao, Jeffrey Leef, and Osman Ahmed American Journal of Roentgenology 2021 216:4, 1-14.

6 Eric John Gandras, Timothy Jarrett, Raymond Lareau, Evaluation of a Hydrogel Liquid Embolic Agent in a Porcine Mesenteric Hemorrhage Model, Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Volume 33, Issue 6, 2022, Pages 653-659, ISSN 1051-0443, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvir.2022.02.022

Caution: Investigational Device. Limited by Federal (or US) law to investigational use only. Not available for sale.

SOURCE Instylla, Inc.
The New York-style pizza returns to Pizza Hut menus at participating restaurants nationwide starting February 1

PLANO, Texas, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Pizza Hut announces that its famous 16'' New York-style pizza, "The Big New Yorker," will return to its menu after its initial launch 24 years ago. The iconic pizza will be available at participating Pizza Hut restaurants nationwide for a limited-time only starting February 1, 2023. Hut Rewards members will get exclusive access to try the Big New Yorker starting January 31.

Its Back! Pizza Hut Announces the Return of The Big New Yorker, An Iconic Fan-Favorite Pizza from the 1990s Its Back! Pizza Hut Announces the Return of The Big New Yorker, An Iconic Fan-Favorite Pizza from the 1990s

The Big New Yorker is inspired by the spirit of New York with an XL pizza that is as big and bold as the city that never sleeps. Each 16" pizza features six oversized, foldable slices with crispy crust and bold flavors including sweet marinara sauce and Parmesan oregano seasoning on top to mimic an authentic New York pizzeria build. One order of The Big New Yorker extra-large pizza comes with double pepperoni, or one choose-your-own topping for a price starting at $13.99*. Orders can be customized with extra toppings or extra cheese for an additional charge.

Pizza lovers may remember the iconic menu item from when it was first introduced in 1999. Since being retired from the menu, there have been numerous different requests for Pizza Hut to bring back The Big New Yorker. In fact, the company has seen everything from social media accounts dedicated to its hopeful return, Reddit threads and even a Change.org petition with thousands of signatures to bring the pizza back on menus.

"The Big New Yorker was a huge hit when we launched it in 1999, setting the stage for future industry innovations like Pizza Hut Melts and Detroit-Style pizza," said Lindsay Morgan, Chief Marketing Officer at Pizza Hut. "At 30% larger than our large pizza, now is the perfect time to answer our customers' requests and bring back The Big New Yorker in a big way right before the big game next month."

Get ready to order the Big New Yorker starting February 1 at participating Pizza Hut restaurants and sign-up for Hut Rewards to be one of the first to try it. Click here to find your nearest Pizza Hut location.

*Prices and participation vary.

About Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut, a subsidiary of Yum ! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM), has more restaurant locations in the world than any other pizza company. Founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kan., Pizza Hut operates nearly 18,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. With easy order options including the Pizza Hut mobile app, website, and Amazon and Google devices, Pizza Hut is committed to providing an easy pizza experience  from order to delivery  and has Hut Rewards, the Pizza Hut loyalty program that offers points for every dollar spent on food any way you order.

Now more than ever, restaurants have an important role in helping to safely feed families. As the largest pizza brand in the world by store count, Pizza Hut is committed to doing its part. To help keep team members and customers safe, customers can get their favorite Pizza Hut pizza via three contactless offerings: curbside pickup, delivery, or carryout. After becoming the first national pizza brand to offer contactless curbside pickup, Pizza Hut launched The Hut Lane , a dedicated digital order pick-up window available at more than 1,500 locations across the country.

Pizza Hut is the creator of The BOOK IT! Program, which is the nation's longest running corporate supported literacy program. Building on that legacy, the program's BOOK IT! in the Community Initiative is designed to enable access to books and education resources, empower teachers and inspire a lifelong love of reading. The program is rooted in the foundation set by the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program which impacts more than 14 million students each year.

Pizza Hut is the Official and Only Pizza Sponsor of the NCAA.

For more information about Pizza Hut, visit www.pizzahut.com or http://www.pizzahut.com/c/content/sitemap .

Press Contact

ALISON BROD MARKETING + COMMUNICATIONS

[email protected]

SOURCE Pizza Hut
Cross-border executive brings extensive experience on binational issues

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of the San Diego-Tijuana Smart Border Coalition (SBC) is pleased to announce Joaquin Luken as the organization's next Executive Director.

"It is a great privilege to lead the Smart Border Coalition," said Luken. "At a time of great change in local, regional, state, national, and international economies, governments, and society, cross-border leadership is more imperative than ever to finding opportunities for continued prosperity in our region."

Luken was selected after a thorough search committee selection process led by binational business leaders Hank Morton, Steve Williams, Jose "Pepe" Larroque, Eduardo "Lalo" Acosta, and Elias Laniado. "Joaquin has a deep understanding of the U.S.-Mexico border region," said Steve Williams, who co-chaired the SBC selection committee. "His connection to stakeholders in the region will help grow SBC and the collaboration among binational leaders that is critical to our shared vision of a prosperous border region." SBC co-chair Larroque commented, "Joaquin is bilingual, bicultural, and binational. These are all critical to building the next generation of our binational region."

Luken has a B.A. in Business Administration from the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and a Certificate in Global Strategy & Management from the University of San Diego. He has extensive experience in business development and management, real estate, publishing, trade organizations, marketing, communications, sales, and program development on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico Border.

About the San Diego-Tijuana Smart Border Coalition (SBC)

The San Diego-Tijuana Smart Border Coalition (SBC) is a catalyst that brings together leaders of the San Diego and Tijuana private and public sectors to find ways to make border crossings between California and Baja California not only secure, but efficient and welcoming for people and cargo. The mission of the SBC is making travel and trade easier and more efficient through the ports of entry between San Diego County and the Tijuana Metropolitan Area. To learn more about the SBC please visit www.smartbordercoalition.com.

About the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (BPP)

The U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (BPP) is a binational membership organization whose mission is to support a network of organizations that build prosperity through leadership, collaboration, and philanthropy in the U.S.-Mexico Border region. Our member-driven agenda strengthens organizations already working actively to address issues of prosperity, equity and opportunity along both sides of the Border. To learn more about the BPP please visit www.borderpartnership.org.

Media contact: Susy Villegas

619-947-5742

[email protected]

SOURCE Smart Border Coalition
Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) signs an MOU with Fraunhofer IKTS of Germany and fuel cell component manufacturer Elcogen, based in Estonia and Finland

and fuel cell component manufacturer Elcogen, based in and MOU lays out a plan to develop a prototype of large-capacity solid oxide fuel cell systems

KSOE aims to acquire fuel cell manufacturing capabilities and water electrolysis technology to establish a hydrogen value chain

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), the intermediate holding company of HD Hyundai, will embark on a mission to develop fuel cell systems for ships and power generation and acquire technologies for green hydrogen production, in collaboration with Europe's largest research institute and a fuel cell stack manufacturer. KSOE announced on January 9 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Fraunhofer IKTS, a subsidiary of Germany's Fraunhofer, and the Finnish subsidiary of Elcogen of Estonia to develop solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and water electrolysis systems. The MOU was signed at the recently-held CES 2023 in Las Vegas.

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), the intermediate holding company of HD Hyundai, signs an MOU with Fraunhofer IKTS of Germany and Estonias Elcogen to develop SOFCs and water electrolysis systems on January 8 (local time) in Las Vegas during CES 2023. (From left: Hanna Grano-Fabritius, Managing Director of Elcogen; Sungjoon Kim, Senior Executive Vice President and head of KSOE's Advanced Research Center; Alexander Michaelis, Institute Director of Fraunhofer IKTS)

"HD Hyundai aims to establish a hydrogen value chain that encompasses the production, transport, storage, and use of eco-friendly hydrogen," said Sungjoon Kim, Senior Executive Vice President and head of KSOE's Advanced Research Center. "The MOU will allow us to acquire key technologies in the fields of green hydrogen production and fuel cell system manufacturing."

Fraunhofer IKTS is the largest applied research institute in Europe with 72 labs across Germany. It conducts research into high-performance ceramics and boasts world-class technological prowess in SOFC and water electrolysis. Established in 2001, Elcogen is a global leader in efficient, affordable solid oxide technology supplying solid oxide cells and stacks, which are the key parts of SOFC systems.

Under the agreement, KSOE will work with Fraunhofer IKTS and Elcogen to begin designing and prototype testing for large-capacity SOFC systems that are used in ships and power generation. KSOE and Fraunhofer IKTS have been collaborating since February 2022 for the basic design of SOFC systems.

SOFC produce electrical energy by inducing a chemical reaction between oxygen and a variety of fuels such as hydrogen, natural gas, ammonia, methanol, and biofuel. They are suitable for ship engines and cogeneration as they are highly energy-efficient and they can use waste heat generated from high-temperature operation (600~1000). SOFCs are considered the most advanced among all fuel cells developed to date.

In addition, KSOE plans to leverage Fraunhofer IKTS's water electrolysis technologies and Elcogen's capacity to produce the key components of fuel cells, in order to acquire technologies for producing eco-friendly hydrogen.

KSOE formed a consortium with the world-renowned energy company Shell and Doosan Fuel Cell in October last year to validate fuel cells for ships, and a test bed for the validation is currently under operation.

Photo caption: Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), the intermediate holding company of HD Hyundai, signs an MOU with Fraunhofer IKTS of Germany and Estonia's Elcogen to develop SOFCs and water electrolysis systems on January 8 (local time) in Las Vegas during CES 2023. (From left: Hanna Grano-Fabritius, Managing Director of Elcogen; Sungjoon Kim, Senior Executive Vice President and head of KSOE's Advanced Research Center; Alexander Michaelis, Institute Director of Fraunhofer IKTS)

About HD Hyundai

HD Hyundai is the world's largest shipbuilding and heavy industries conglomerate. HD Hyundai started as a shipbuilder in 1972 in a small fishing village in Ulsan, the southeast of South Korea. On the foundation of solid leadership in the shipbuilding industry, it is now progressing to become the most innovative solution provider in the heavy industry and energy sectors, ranging from shipbuilding, offshore engineering and construction equipment to the refinery, petrochemical, and smart energy management businesses. Marking its 50th anniversary, the group was renamed to HD Hyundai to change the paradigm of traditional shipbuilding industry and emphasize its presence in other industries.

Media Contact

Haeri Na ( [email protected] )

SOURCE HD Hyundai
New CIO will drive digital dexterity initiatives to improve efficiency, provide

an even better experience for Leaf Home customers, employees, and contractors

HUDSON, Ohio, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaf Home, a leading technology-enabled direct-to-consumer provider of home improvement products and solutions, today announced that Klarissa Marenitch has joined the company as Chief Information Officer (CIO). In her new role, Marenitch will focus on leveraging technology to maximize effectiveness and improve the customer experience. She will also drive digital transformation projects to ensure the Leaf Home team has the tools to improve efficiency and effectiveness at work.

Leaf Home welcomes Klarissa Marenitch as Chief Information Officer. Marenitch will focus on leveraging technology to maximize effectiveness and improve the customer experience.

Marenitch brings deep tech sector experience to her new role, particularly around leading digital transformation to facilitate greater efficiency on the job and enable e-commerce.

"At Leaf Home, we have an incredible opportunity to help North Americans protect and maintain their most valuable asset  their homes. I'm excited to be a part of such a fast-growing company and to have the opportunity to work with the amazing Leaf Home leadership team," Marenitch said. "In this new role, my mission is to leverage best-in-class technology and enable the company and its thousands of employees and independent contractors to deliver a fast and frictionless home improvement experience to millions of homeowners nationwide."

Prior to joining Leaf Home, she served as Global CIO at Hippo Enterprises, where she led multichannel digital engagement, enabled data management in the highly regulated insurance ecosystem, ensured efficient and secure operations, and played an integral role in the organization's transition to a publicly traded company.

Before that, Marenitch was hired as the first Global CIO at Anaplan, a high-growth SaaS company, where she led major transformations and scaled IT practices worldwide, mapping the long-term IT strategy, roadmap, and solutions suite required to support global operations and a highly distributed team. Marenitch also served as SVP, Technology (Connected Experiences) at Kohl's, where she directed digital transformation to achieve a consistent, high-conversion experience across multiple channels.

Earlier in her career, Marenitch served as Sr. Director, Technology, at Redbox by Verizon, where she managed application development and integration efforts to create streaming services and physical disks and transitioned two organizations into a single IT team using agile methodology. Before that, Marenitch led the effort to build Macy's first mobile app as part of a successful effort to enact an omnichannel retail strategy, contributing to $3 billion in growth at macys.com over two years.

"Home ownership is a core component of the American dream," said Interim CEO & President of Leaf Home Jon Bostock. "Klarissa embodies another part of that dream as an immigrant who came to the U.S. as a child from Moldova, a former Soviet bloc country. Through hard work, Klarissa earned the skills and experience that led her to join Leaf Home as the first female member of our C-suite, where she will make a fantastic role model. We look forward to working with Klarissa to improve digital operations and deliver the best possible experience for our customers, employees, and contractors."

About Leaf Home

Leaf Home is a leading technology-enabled direct-to-consumer provider of branded, innovative home solutions in North America. The company is on a mission to enhance the safety, enjoyment, and comfort of homeowners and their families by delivering seamless, transformative home solutions including gutter protection, home safety, water purification, and other home enhancement products. With its corporate headquarters in Hudson, Ohio, and locations across the U.S. and Canada, Leaf Home has become a trusted partner to over 1.1 million homeowners. Live Comfortable. Live Safe. Live Happy. For more information, visit www.leafhome.com.

Media Contact

[email protected]

SOURCE Leaf Home
 Next Stage in Planned National Expansion for Cannabis-Infused Brand 

SEATTLE, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Jones Soda Co. (CSE: JSDA, OTCQB: JSDA), the original craft soda known for its unconventional flavors and user-submitted photo labels, today announced the upcoming expansion of its new Mary Jones cannabis-infused beverage brand to the state of Washington following a successful June launch in California. Washington ranks in the top 10 cannabis markets in the U.S. as well as one of the first with legalization dating back to 2012, making it a priority market for establishing and growing the Mary Jones business.

The choice of Washington as the next step in building Mary Jones' national footprint also meets strong demand in Jones' home state, where the arrival of Mary Jones products has been highly anticipated by local dispensaries and cannabis users since the new brand was unveiled last spring.

Manufacturing and distribution will be handled by CompCanna Inc. and Washington-licensed cannabis processor Dogtown Pioneers, Inc. Compcanna developed the IP brand concept, Ray's Infused Lemonade, which is the #1 cannabis beverage brand in Washington, and with Dogtown has achieved a 95% penetration in dispensaries throughout the state. These strategic relationships will help speed the process of placing Mary Jones products on local dispensary shelves.

In both Washington and around the country, enthusiasm for the Mary Jones line is being driven in part by the brand equity and passionate fan base built by Jones Soda over the company's 26- year history. Jones' signature flavors, irreverent brand personality and highly engaged fans have positioned Jones to become a strong contender in the cannabis space.

Mary Jones will launch in Washington dispensaries in early 2023 with a full portfolio of products across beverages and edibles at both low and high dose options, matching the specific preferences in the market. Each of these products has already been developed by Jones' flavor scientists for the California market.

Mary Jones 10mg and 100mg THC-infused sodas will launch with fan-favorite flavors Root Beer, Berry Lemonade, Green Apple and Orange & Cream that taste just like the mainline Jones craft sodas that have been top sellers for over 25 years. As with Jones' craft soda line, Mary Jones will also feature new seasonal limited-edition flavors as well as those pulled from the archive of 150 flavors that Jones has created to date.

The 10mg sodas are packaged in single-serving 12 oz glass bottles sold in 4-pack carriers. The 100mg sodas will come in 16 oz resealable, child-resistant, multi-serve cans designed for paced consumption and/or social sharing with friends.

"Our home state of Washington is one of the country's most robust recreational marijuana markets with annual sales of roughly $1.5 in 2021 and a projected $2.5 billion in annual sales by 2025," said Mark Murray, President and CEO of Jones Soda Company. "Now that our Mary Jones business is off and running in California, bringing Mary Jones to Washington with a strong strategic partner like CompCanna makes perfect sense as we pursue our plans for international rollout in all recreational use markets."

Since launching in California, the Mary Jones line has surpassed internal expectations and market forecasts with placement in more than 250 dispensaries in just six months and enthusiastic reception from both consumers and budtenders, catapulting Mary Jones into the top three infused carbonated beverages and the state's fastest-growing cannabis brand. This strong position sets Mary Jones up for continued revenue growth in California, the world's largest legal cannabis market, with opportunities for distribution in as many as 250 additional dispensaries as well as new products and flavors that will be added to the portfolio on a regular basis.

"Compcanna is thrilled to be working with an exceptional brand like Mary Jones. Compcanna has long admired Jones Soda for the quality and breadth of their portfolio and because of Jones Soda's exceptional brand recognition in the state," said Rodney Boast, director at CompCanna. "With our cannabis brand development experience, successful relationships with licensed cannabis processors with established marijuana-infused production capabilities, extensive distribution network, seasoned sales team and deep knowledge of the cannabis landscape here, this is the perfect collaboration to quickly get Mary Jones products into the hands of local canna consumers throughout Washington."

The first Washington dispensaries to carry Mary Jones products will be announced on the storefinder page at www.gomaryjones.com shortly before launch.

About Jones Soda Co.

Jones Soda Co. (CSE: JSDA, OTCQB: JSDA) is a leading craft soda manufacturer with a subsidiary dedicated to cannabis products. The company markets and distributes premium craft sodas under the Jones Soda and Lemoncocco brands, and a variety of cannabis products under the Mary Jones brand. Jones' mainstream soda line is sold across North America in glass bottles, cans and on fountain through traditional beverage outlets, restaurants and alternative accounts. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. For more information, visit www.jonessoda.com , www.myjones.com , www.drinklemoncocco.com or https://gomaryjones.com

SOURCE Mary Jones
Estreet to keep association focused on social justice issues, better compensation for social workers

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Anthony Estreet, a professor and former chair of the Master of Social Work Program at Morgan State University and chief executive officer of a behavioral health company in Baltimore, will be the new chief executive officer of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) beginning February 6.

Estreet, PhD, MBA, LCSW-C, succeeds former CEO Angelo McClain, PhD, LICSW, who retired on December 31. Janlee Wong, MSW, who retired as executive director of the NASW California Chapter in 2020, will serve as interim CEO of NASW until Estreet takes the helm.

Anthony Estreet, PhD, MBA, LCSW-C

"We are delighted to have Anthony Estreet as our next CEO at NASW after doing an extensive search," said NASW President Mildred "Mit" Joyner, DPS, MSW, LCSW. "He has a wealth of experience in managing successful mental health services companies and is a respected thought leader in the social work profession. We are confident he will build on the successes of Angelo McClain and lead NASW's accomplished staff to take our association to greater heights."

Estreet earned a bachelor's in science in psychology from Bowie State University, a MSW in social work at Virginia Commonwealth University, a doctorate in social work at Morgan State University, and a MBA at the University Maryland-College Park. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the oldest intercollegiate African American fraternity.

He has been a professor and chair of the Master of Social Work Program at Morgan State University since 2013. Estreet is also founder and chief executive officer of Next Step Treatment Center in Baltimore, which provides substance use treatment and mental health services. He was vice president of the NASW Board of Directors but stepped down from that role after being considered a candidate in the search process. Estreet also served as president of the NASW Maryland Chapter and is an active member of the Council on Social Work Education and the National Association of Black Social Workers.

While at Morgan, Estreet was awarded more than $6 million in extramural grant funding for social work workforce development, research, and training. He also led the development and expansion of the first MSW program in the United States, and at a historically Black college or university, to have an area of specialized practice focused on addressing substance use disorders.

During his career, Estreet has also been tapped to turn around and expand an underperforming clinical program and speed up public health action to address HIV health disparities among men in Baltimore and Jackson, MS. Estreet has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, is a prolific national conference presenter and keynote speaker, and has two published books.

In his new role as CEO of NASW, Estreet says he plans among other things to increase membership, especially among student members; keep the association focused on addressing social justice issues, including racial equity and reproductive rights; and work to strengthen the social work workforce by expanding efforts to increase compensation for social workers.

"I am honored and humbled to be the next CEO of NASW," Estreet said. "I have been a member of this great organization since 2007. As a former member of the NASW Board I know NASW is committed to supporting social workers and the communities they serve. This organization has done phenomenal work especially in the past three years, including supporting social workers in the delivery of mental health services during the pandemic and addressing systemic racism. However, we have much more work to do, and I stand ready to work collaboratively to support our great profession."

Media Contact: Gregory Wright, [email protected]

SOURCE National Association of Social Workers
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will host a media teleconference at 9 a.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 11, to discuss results from the investigation of the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-22 external coolant leak and the forward strategy for uninterrupted human operations aboard the International Space Station.

Live audio of the call will stream on the agency's website at:

The Soyuz MS-22 crew ship is pictured on Oct. 8, 2022, in the foreground docked to the Rassvet module as the International Space Station orbited 264 miles above Europe. In the background, is the Prichal docking module attached to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. Credits: NASA

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Briefing participants include:

Joel Montalbano , International Space Station program manager, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston

, International Space Station program manager, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Sergei Krikalev, Human Space Flight Programs executive director, Roscosmos

Media interested in participating by phone must contact the Johnson newsroom no later than one hour before the start of the call at 281-483-5111 or [email protected].

The leak was first detected around 7:45 p.m. on Dec. 14, 2022, when pressure sensors in the spacecraft's cooling loop showed low readings. At the time of the leak, Roscosmos cosmonauts were preparing to conduct a spacewalk. The spacewalk was postponed, so no crew members exited the space station or were exposed to the leaking coolant.

NASA provided an additional inspection of the Soyuz exterior using the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm on Dec. 18. The agency and Roscosmos specialists have continued to closely monitor Soyuz spacecraft systems. NASA and Roscosmos are concluding their work together to develop a course of action following the analysis.

The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft carried NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin into space after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 21.

For updates, follow along on NASA's space station blog at:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

SOURCE NASA
401 distinct cloud apps shown to deliver malware; Microsoft OneDrive delivered 30% of all cloud malware downloads

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Netskope , a leader in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), today unveiled new research showing that over 400 distinct cloud applications delivered malware in 2022, nearly triple the amount seen in the prior year. Netskope researchers also found that 30% of all cloud malware downloads in 2022 originated from Microsoft OneDrive.

Cloud apps are widely used by businesses, a fact not lost on attackers, which view these apps as an ideal home for hosting malware and causing harm. The Cloud & Threat Report from Netskope Threat Labs examines how these cloud security trends are shifting and advises organizations on how to improve their security posture based on those shifts.

"Attackers are increasingly abusing business-critical cloud apps to deliver malware by bypassing inadequate security controls," said Ray Canzanese, Threat Research Director, Netskope Threat Labs. "That is why it is imperative that more organizations inspect all HTTP and HTTPS traffic, including traffic for popular cloud apps, both company and personal instances, for malicious content."

Rise in Uploads to Cloud Apps Means Rise in Malware-Delivered Downloads

The most significant change in cloud application use in 2022, compared to 2021, was the marked increase in the percentage of users uploading content to the cloud. According to Netskope data, over 25% of users worldwide uploaded documents daily to Microsoft OneDrive, while 7% did so for Google Gmail and 5% for Microsoft Sharepoint. The drastic increase in active cloud users across a record number of cloud applications led to a sizable increase in cloud malware downloads in 2022 from 2021, after remaining close to flat in 2021 compared to 2020.

The correlation between uploads and downloads among the most popular apps is no coincidence. Nearly a third of all cloud malware downloads originated from Microsoft OneDrive, with Weebly and GitHub coming in the next closest among cloud apps at 8.6% and 7.6%, respectively.

Cloud-Delivered Malware Is Increasingly More Prevalent Than Web-Delivered Malware

Industries have increased their reliance on cloud applications and cloud infrastructure to support business operations over the last several yearsa trend further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and a worldwide shift toward hybrid work. As a result, cloud-delivered malware is now responsible for a much higher percentage of all malware delivery than ever before, especially in certain geographic regions and industries.

In 2022, several geographic regions saw significant increases in the overall percentage of cloud vs. web-delivered malware compared to 2021, including:

Australia (50% in 2022 compared to 40% in 2021)

(50% in 2022 compared to 40% in 2021) Europe (42% in 2022 compared to 31% in 2021)

(42% in 2022 compared to 31% in 2021) Africa (42% in 2022 compared to 35% in 2021)

(42% in 2022 compared to 35% in 2021) Asia (45% in 2022 compared to 39% in 2021)

In certain industries, cloud-delivered malware also became more predominant globally, especially:

Telecom (81% in 2022 compared to 59% in 2021)

Manufacturing (36% in 2022 compared to 17% in 2021)

Retail (57% in 2022 compared to 47% in 2021)

Healthcare (54% in 2022 compared to 39% in 2021)

Cyber Preparedness: The Remote Workforce is Here to Stay

Companies have made considerable adjustments to enable remote and hybrid workplaces to flourish. While some industries sought to bring employees back to the office on a more frequent basis in 2022, remote work options appear to remain largely in place. According to Netskope data, user dispersionthe ratio of the number of users on the Netskope platform to the number of network locations from which those users' traffic originatesis 66%, the same percentage it was at the start of the pandemic over two years ago.

Remote and hybrid work dynamics continue to pose multiple cybersecurity challenges, including how to securely provide users access to the company resources they need to do their jobs and how to scalably and securely provide users access to the internet.

Netskope recommends organizations take the following actions to avoid increased risk of security incidents stemming from cloud- and web-delivered malware:

Enforce granular policy controls to limit data flow, including flow to and from apps, between company and personal instances, among users, to and from the web, adapting the policies based on device, location, and risk.

Deploy multi-layered, inline threat protection for all cloud and web traffic to block inbound malware and outbound malware communications.

Enable multi-factor authentication for unmanaged enterprise apps.

Get the full Netskope Cloud and Threat Report: 2022 Year in Review here .

For more information on cloud-enabled threats and our latest findings from Netskope Threat Labs, visit Netskope's Threat Research Hub .

About Netskope

Netskope, a global SASE leader, is redefining cloud, data, and network security to help organizations apply zero trust principles to protect data. Fast and easy to use, the Netskope platform provides optimized access and real-time security for people, devices, and data anywhere they go. Netskope helps customers reduce risk, accelerate performance, and get unrivaled visibility into any cloud, web, and private application activity. Thousands of customers, including more than 25 of the Fortune 100, trust Netskope and its powerful NewEdge network to address evolving threats, new risks, technology shifts, organizational and network changes, and new regulatory requirements. Learn how Netskope helps customers be ready for anything on their SASE journey, visit netskope.com .

Media Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE Netskope
NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Waterside Productions is pleased to announce the publication of A Bridge Not Too Far: Where Creativity Meets Innovation by founder and CEO of lebua Hotels and Resorts, and award-winning entrepreneur Deepak Ohri. Credited with elevating luxury hospitality in the Asian Pacific, Ohri is an innovator who has fought against cultural stereotyping and overcame his own failures in order to launch dozens of successful restaurants and bars, including one of the most famous and highest rooftop restaurants in the world  the Sirocco at the lebua at State Tower Hotel in Bangkok.

Deepak Ohri, founder and CEO of lebua Hotels & Resorts

Doug Gollan wrote of A Bridge Not Too Far in his recent article in Forbes that "in addition to sharing pearls of wisdom, it brings the reader inside for a self-critical and candid look at the ups and downs of the author, Deepak Ohri, who, while you may not know his name, you likely enjoyed some of the innovations he has popularized."

In addition, marketing legend, Dr. Phillip Kotler, put the book on his list of recommended reading and Brett Tollman, the CEO of The Travel Corporation, called it "a must-read for those who aspire to be innovative thinkers."

A Bridge Not Too Far follows Ohri from his childhood home - a modest, one-room flat in a lower middle-class area of New Delhi  to current day, exploring how those humble beginnings fueled his inventive entrepreneurial spirit and informed his human-centered approach to business and life. Ohri shares tidbits of advice and inspiration along with interesting anecdotes such as how he negotiated a unique marketing deal with the producers of Hangover II when they approached him about filming at lebua.

Under Ohri's leadership Iebua, a global collection of five-star hotels and fine restaurants in Thailand, New Zealand, and India, has been named the World's Leading All-Suite Hotel by World Travel Award, and is rated within the top 1 percent of companies in the world for customer satisfaction. Iebua recently celebrated the fact that their restaurants in Bangkok, Mezzaluna and Chef's Table, retained their two-star rating in the latest Michelin Star Revelation Thailand.

Ohri also serves as Executive in Residence in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center, at Florida International University.

In a world where profit is often placed over people, Ohri is committed to compassion, care, and creating powerful emotional connections that can last a lifetime.

SOURCE Waterside Productions
BOSTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Professor Russell Engler, Director of Clinical Programs at New England Law | Boston, has received the 2023 Pro Bono & Public Service Opportunities Section Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).

The award is given annually to those who have significantly advanced pro bono and public service in the law school setting over the course of their career. Engler accepted the award in San Diego on Thursday, January 5, 2023, at the AALS Annual Meeting.

Russell Engler Accepts AALS Lifetime Achievement Award Dean Lisa Freudenheim posing with Russell Engler as he accepts AALS Lifetime Achievement Award

Lisa Freudenheim, Dean and Professor of Law at New England Law | Boston, wrote in her nomination of Engler: "It is difficult for me to envision someone who has more consistently dedicated his entire career to access to justice issues than my colleague Russell Engler. It is at the core of his being, and behind every decision he has made in his trailblazing forty-year career.

"At our school, [Professor Engler] was the primary visionary and one of the founding faculty for our Center for Law and Social Responsibility, through which we created a home for faculty service projects. Much of the legal aid service work in which our faculty members engage would not have occurred without his initiative.[And] there are few in the Boston area legal community who have been involved in public interest and/or access to justice efforts who would not recognize [Engler's] contributions over the past three decades as indispensable."

Engler has been instrumental in shaping New England Law | Boston's clinical program through his leadership over the past three decades. He founded the school's immensely popular Public Interest Law clinic, which caters to a wide range of students, including those with no prior clinical law experience. Engler has been an innovative and inspiring presence within the law school, instigating curricular changes that have opened up student schedules so that they may engage in public service.

Engler joined New England Law | Boston as Director of Clinical Programs in 1993 after serving as Director of the Housing Law Unit at Brooklyn (NY) Legal Services, Corporation B. He has authored approximately 25 law review articles or book chapters related to access to justice and clinical legal education. His most recent work, appearing in the Boston College Law Review in 2021, paid tribute to late Chief Justice Ralph Gants of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, with whom Engler worked closely for many years.

ABOUT NEW ENGLAND LAW | BOSTON

New England Law | Boston was founded in 1908 as Portia Law School, the first and only law school established exclusively for the education of women. Today, New England Law offers its co-ed student body flexible, convenient programs that combine rigorous academics, dynamic community, and early access to practical experience, as well as a diverse, global alumni network spanning 29 countries, 50 states, and 99 practice areas. For more information, visit www.nesl.edu.

SOURCE New England Law | Boston
BEIJING, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from chinadaily.com.cn:

Thomas Neubert works as vice president of sales at a German company in Dalian, whose main products include assembly systems for the automotive industry.

The rapid development of new energy vehicles (NEV) has given him unwavering confidence in electric vehicles, which in turn made him to own his first electric vehicle. Thomas is full of praise for NEVs from his own experience and says the electric vehicle allows him to better understand the NEV industry.

Living in Dalian for nearly four years, Neubert and his wife often go to the Golden Pebble Beach to relax. It is an excellent place for them to do outdoor sports, including horse riding, he says.

Watch the video to find out more.

https://youtu.be/TvBUI1yBHH0

SOURCE chinadaily.com.cn
National survey by Common Sense Media provides new insights into how teens interact with online pornography, from how old teens were when they first encountered pornography to how it impacts their views on sex and sexual relationships.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Common Sense Media released a new research report that confirms some startling truths about how teens engage with pornography. The report, "Teens and Pornography," found that 73% of teen respondents age 13 to 17 have watched pornography onlineand more than half (54%) reported first seeing pornography by the time they reached the age of 13. And, for better or worse, online pornography is shaping their views about sex and sexual relationships, as nearly half (45%) of teen respondents said that they felt online pornography gives "helpful" information about sex.

Teens and Pornography

For this report, "online pornography" refers to any videos or photos viewed on websites, social media, or anywhere else on the internet that show nudity and sexual acts intended to entertain and sexually arouse the viewer. Researchers surveyed a demographically representative set of teens in the United States to better understand how they interact with online pornography. Teens were asked how often they viewed pornographic content, if they intentionally sought it out, themes in the pornography they have viewed, and how it has impacted their feelings toward sex and relationships. The report also emphasizes the importance of parents and caregivers initiating healthy conversations about their teens' interactions with online pornography.

"Engaging with pornography has been part of many teens' exploration of sex, but the unfettered access to pornographic content online has stoked concern, leaving parents wondering how to approach the topic with their kids," said James P. Steyer, Founder and CEO of Common Sense Media. "But this research confirms that it's time for parents to have conversations with teens about pornography, the same way we talk about safe sex and drug use, to help them build better knowledge and healthier attitudes about sex. Schools also play a crucial role in teaching kids how to critically interpret what they're seeing online."

The report's key findings highlight why it's imperative for parents and caregivers to talk with kids about pornography sooner rather than later.

15% of teen respondents said they first saw online pornography at age 10 or younger. The average age reported for first viewing pornography is 12.

The average age reported for first viewing pornography is 12. While the vast majority of respondents said they have seen pornography, nearly half (44%) indicated that they had done so intentionally , while slightly more than half (58%) indicated they had encountered pornography accidentally.

, while slightly more than half (58%) indicated they had encountered pornography accidentally. Unintentional exposure to pornography could be a common experience for teens , as 63% of those who said they have only seen pornography accidentally reported that they had been exposed to pornography in the past week.

, as 63% of those who said they have only seen pornography accidentally reported that they had been exposed to pornography in the past week. The majority of the teens who reported in this survey that they had seen pornography said they feel "OK" about the amount of pornography they watch (67%). Still, half (50%) reported feeling guilty or ashamed after watching pornography.

There were significant differences by gender in terms of intentional consumption. Overall, 52% of cis boy respondents said they had consumed pornography intentionally, compared to 36% of cis girls.

Overall, 52% of cis boy respondents said they had consumed pornography intentionally, compared to 36% of cis girls. Pornography may play a larger role in exploration for LGBTQ+ teens than for other teens. Two-thirds of LGBTQ+ teen respondents consumed pornography intentionally.

But parents and caregivers should be encouraged by some of the report's other findings, which confirm that teens are turning to adults for guidance about sex. Even as teens acknowledged learning about sex and sexuality from pornography, they were far more likely to say they had learned a lot about sex from a parent, caregiver, or trusted adult (47%) than from pornography (27%). And while less than half (43%) of the teens in the research reported they've had conversations about pornography with a trusted adult, most who had these conversations said it encouraged them to find other ways to explore their sexuality besides pornography.

"We hope that this data will push national, local, and family conversations about pornography past assumptions about what we think teens are doing to a fact-based foundation that accurately depicts teens' experiences," said Dr. Supreet Mann, Research Manager at Common Sense Media and co-author of the report. "In doing so, the parents, educators, and providers in children's lives can better meet their needs."

Methodology

Benenson Strategy Group (BSG) conducted a quantitative online survey of N = 1,358 teens age 13 to 17. This demographically representative national sample included n = 1,007 teens who have been exposed to online pornography. The sample also included n = 259 LGBTQ+ teens, which was achieved via quotas to ensure representation. Participants were recruited from online panels from September 12 to September 21, 2022. Note: It is not possible to calculate a margin of error for a non-probability-based sample. This study was approved by the Advarra IRB to provide additional protections for children as research subjects.

Find the full report here .

About Common Sense

Common Sense is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century. Learn more at commonsense.org .

Media Contacts

Lorena Taboas

[email protected]

(786) 521-4215

Lisa Cohen

[email protected]

(310) 395-2544

SOURCE Common Sense Media
Aviatrix Provides Advanced Cloud Networking, Security, and Operational Visibility as Foundation for NTT DATA Business Solutions' Intelligent Enterprise Network-as-a-Service for SAP in the Cloud Deployments

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Aviatrix, the pioneer of Intelligent Cloud Networking, today announced NTT DATA Business Solutions has deployed the Aviatrix Cloud Networking Platform as the technology underlying the Cloud Network-as-a-Service (NaaS). NTT DATA Business Solutions leverages Aviatrix to deliver business-critical SAP application services for enterprise customers and to overcome the networking, security, visibility, and multicloud limitations of native Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, and/or Google Cloud services.

"Migrating business-critical enterprise applications, such as SAP, to the cloud requires business-critical cloud infrastructure and expertise," said Andrie Jumari, Head of Cloud Infrastructure Services Malaysia, NTT DATA Business Solutions. "Our service infrastructure operations teams will support multiple cloud providers in a consistent way, with advanced capabilities not available across cloud providers. Aviatrix allows us to deliver a cloud NaaS to support enterprise SAP deployments in a unique way, like increasing customer satisfaction and SAP application up-time."

The Aviatrix Cloud Networking Platform offers service providers  both private, who manage multiple internal corporate lines of businesses, and public, who manage external customers  the advanced networking, security, and operational visibility they require to support business-critical applications. While cloud networking is often considered transparent by cloud consumers, infrastructure operations teams recognize the need for specialized expertise and underlying technology to deliver the agility, response times, and application uptime that business units and customers expect from cloud services.

"Multicloud networking is fundamental to enterprise cloud infrastructure today," said Nauman Mustafa, Vice President of Business Development and Global Service Provider Partners at Aviatrix. "NTT DATA Business Solutions is a globally recognized solution provider, delivering proven solutions for business-critical enterprise SAP applications in the cloud. It has been a pleasure working with our partners at NTT DATA Business Solutions to architect, deploy, and operate their cloud NaaS infrastructure in support of their Intelligent Enterprise SAP services."

About NTT DATA Business Solutions

NTT DATA Business Solutions drives innovation  from advisory and implementation, to managed services and beyond, continuously enhances SAP solutions to make them work for companies  and for their people. Aiming to help companies to transform, grow and become more successful, NTT DATA Business Solutions connects with a more than in-depth expertise for SAP solutions its clients business opportunities with the latest technologies  individually and across all business areas. As part of the NTT DATA group and as a global strategic partner of SAP, with close ties to other partners, NTT DATA Business Solutions gives clients and prospects access to innovative solutions and developments and thus makes an important contribution to innovation and long-term business success. NTT DATA Business Solutions employs more than 13,000 people in 30 countries.

About Aviatrix

Aviatrix, the pioneer of Intelligent Cloud Networking, optimizes business-critical application availability, performance, security, and cost with multicloud networking software that delivers a simplified and consistent enterprise-grade operational model in and across cloud service providers. Combined with the Aviatrix Certified Engineer (ACE) Program, the industry's first and only multicloud networking certification, innovative enterprises are transforming their business by upgrading their cloud networking with Aviatrix. Learn more at www.aviatrix.com.

SOURCE Aviatrix
MADRID, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PagoNxt Merchant Solutions, S.L. (" PagoNxt " or " Purchaser "), in connection with the all cash tender offers in Brazil (the " Brazilian Offer ") and in the United States (the " U.S. Offer " and, together with the Brazilian Offer, the " Offers ") by Purchaser for up to any and all of the outstanding (i) common shares, no par value (the " Common Shares "), preferred shares, no par value (the " Preferred Shares " and, together with the Common Shares, the " Shares ") and units, each composed of one Common Share and one Preferred Share (the " Units "), in each case of Getnet Adquirencia e Servicos para Meios de Pagamento S.A.  Instituicao de Pagamento, a company incorporated under the laws of the Federative Republic of Brazil (the " Company " or " Getnet ") and (ii) American Depositary Shares, each representing two Units (the " ADSs " and, together with the Shares and the Units, the " Securities ") of the Company, hereby announces that the Company has issued a call notice for an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the " EGM "), to be held on February 9, 2023 at 12:00 p.m., New York City time (2:00 p.m., Sao Paulo time), to resolve on, among other matters, the redemption by the Company of any Securities held by holders of Securities other than Purchaser, the Company or any of their directors, officers or affiliates (the " Unaffiliated Securities ") that remain outstanding (the " Squeeze-Out ") after the Offers.

The price in the Squeeze-Out shall be the price per Security payable during the initial offering period in respect of the Securities, as adjusted by the SELIC rate from the initial date of settlement of the Offers until payment of the Squeeze-Out price (which must be made within 15 days of the date of the EGM).

Pursuant to Brazilian law, the Brazilian Subsequent Offering Period will automatically expire following the conclusion of the EGM, provided that the Company's shareholders vote to approve the Squeeze-Out at the EGM. Accordingly, the U.S. Subsequent Offering Period will now expire at 5:00 p.m. New York City time (7:00 p.m. Sao Paulo time) on February 9, 2023, instead of at 5:00 p.m. New York City time (7:00 p.m. Sao Paulo time) on March 2, 2023.

Ignacio Narvarte Ichazo

Deputy Chief Executive Officer

PagoNxt Merchant Solutions, S.L.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "will" or words of similar meaning and include, but are not limited to, statements about the expected future business and financial performance of Purchaser, Getnet and their respective affiliates resulting from and following the implementation of the transaction described herein. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstance, including the satisfaction of closing conditions for the transaction, including regulatory approval, and the possibility that the transaction will not be completed. None of Purchaser or Getnet undertakes any obligations to update the forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, or any change in events, conditions, assumptions or other factors.

Important Additional Information and Where to Find It

This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell Getnet Shares, Units and ADSs. The tender offers for the outstanding Shares, Units and ADSs of Getnet were commenced on October 31, 2022 by Purchaser. The solicitation and offer to buy Getnet Shares, Units and ADSs is being made by Purchaser pursuant to a tender offer statement on Schedule TO that was filed with the SEC on October 31, 2022 (including an offer to purchase, related letters of transmittal and certain other tender offer documents) and a transaction statement on Schedule 13E-3 filed with the SEC on October 31, 2022, in each case, as amended or supplemented from time to time. In addition, Getnet filed a solicitation/recommendation statement on Schedule 14D-9 with respect to the tender offers on November 14, 2022. Investors and security holders are urged to read these materials carefully as they contain important information, including the terms and conditions of the tender offers. The offer to purchase, solicitation/recommendation statement and related materials have been filed with the SEC and investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of these materials and other documents filed by Purchaser and Getnet with the SEC at the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. Investors and security holders may also obtain free copies of the solicitation/recommendation statement and other documents filed with the SEC by Getnet at ri.getnet.com.br/en/.

SOURCE PagoNxt Merchant Solutions, S.L.
Company's Operations Expand to 32 Railroads Across the U.S.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Patriot Rail Company LLC, the nation's third-largest short line holding company, today completed the acquisition of Delta Southern Railroad, Inc. (DSRR), a short line railroad operating two line segments in Louisiana. The transaction closed following regulatory authorization.

DSRR operates over 40 miles of track between the two lines and serves two port facilities  Lake Providence Port and Madison Parish Port  located on the Mississippi River. DSRR interchanges with Kansas City Southern and Union Pacific Railroad. DSRR is well situated in a strong chemical and petrochemicals corridor, with a customer base comprising several large-scale chemical manufacturers as well as forest industry shippers. DSRR's lines are located on the Kansas City Southern "Meridian Speedway" and Louisiana Highway 20.

Including Delta Southern in Patriot Rail's growing network will enable further competitive options for rail shippers in Louisiana and across the country Tweet this

The acquisition of DSRR aligns with Patriot Rail's continuing growth emphasis to support rail customers across the U.S. The inclusion of DSRR in Patriot's portfolio will bring the company's operations to a total of 32 railroads, with a Patriot Rail presence across 23 U.S. states. DSRR will enhance Patriot's Louisiana footprint along with Patriot-owned Louisiana and North West Railroad (LNW), which is headquartered in Homer, Louisiana, and provides rail service from Gibsland, Louisiana, to McNeil, Arkansas.

"Including Delta Southern in Patriot Rail's growing network will enable further competitive options for rail shippers in Louisiana and across the country," said John E. Fenton, Patriot Rail's chief executive officer. "This strategic acquisition builds on Patriot Rail's continuing expansion and exemplifies our growth focus on quality rail assets to meet customer needs. We look forward to serving and working with rail customers on the DSRR to enhance freight traffic."

About Patriot Rail

Patriot Rail operates 32 regional and freight short line railroads, a scenic rail excursion train, and rail-related services companies with a presence in 23 states. Service capabilities include railcar storage, contract switching, transloading, railcar cleaning, engineering services, excursion railroads, real estate, and track access. Patriot Rail is also a direct partner in providing railcar repair and maintenance, railcar dismantling, and environmental services including centralized wastewater treatment. For more information, visit patriotrail.com.

Media Contact:

Jamie Caton

Patriot Rail

[email protected]

(303) 619-5169

SOURCE Patriot Rail Company LLC
NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Technavio, the global payroll outsourcing services market size is estimated to grow by USD 7,087.99 million from 2022 to 2027. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period. North America held the largest share of the global market in 2022, and the market in the region is estimated to witness an incremental growth of 54%.

For more Insights on market size Request a sample report

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Payroll Outsourcing Services Market 2023-2027

Payroll outsourcing services market - Parent Market Analysis

Technavio categorizes the global payroll outsourcing services market as a part of the global data processing and outsourced services market, which covers companies offering IT consulting and system integration services, application services, electronic data processing services, business process outsourcing services, infrastructure services, and Internet services.

Find insights on parent market & value chain analysis, and download an exclusive sample!

Payroll outsourcing services market - Five Forces

The global cloud data warehouse market is fragmented, and the five forces analysis covers

Bargaining Power of Buyers

The threat of New Entrants

Threat of Rivalry

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Threat of Substitutes

Interpretation of porter's five models helps to strategize the business, for entire details  buy the report!

Payroll outsourcing services market  Customer Landscape



The report includes the market's adoption lifecycle, from the innovator's stage to the laggard's stage. It focuses on adoption rates in different regions based on penetration. Furthermore, the report also includes key purchase criteria and drivers of price sensitivity to help companies evaluate and develop their growth strategies.



Payroll outsourcing services market - Segmentation Assessment



Segment Overview

Technavio has segmented the market based on product (hybrid and fully outsourced), type (mid-market, national, and multinational), and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa).

The market growth in the hybrid segment will be significant during the forecast period. Hybrid outsourcing offers various advantages to end-users. It allows organizations to maintain competence in terms of processes and quality while reducing costs and leveraging labor arbitrage simultaneously. Also, it helps organizations in adopting country-specific payroll management services. Many such advantages are driving the growth of the segment.

Geography Overview

By geography, the global payroll outsourcing services market is segmented into North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa. The report provides actionable insights and estimates the contribution of all regions to the growth of the global payroll outsourcing services market.

North America is estimated to contribute 54% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The rising adoption of low-cost payroll outsourcing services and the increased funding toward the development of infrastructure and connectivity across end-user industries are driving the growth of the regional market.

Download a Sample Report

Payroll outsourcing services market  Market Dynamics

Key factor driving market growth

The market is driven by the growing need for payroll cost visibility.

The expansion of manufacturing processes across geographies and the growing adoption of lean methodologies are increasing the demand for payroll visibility.

It provides a hassle-free environment for HR professionals to drive and develop strategic activities and reduce the time spent on administration and transactional duties.

The growing demand is driving vendors to develop solutions that promote self-service by employees in a bid to reduce administrative workloads.

All these factors are driving the growth of the market.

Leading trends influencing the market

The rise of multi-country and centralized outsourcing models is identified as one of the major trends in the market.

Many organizations, especially multinational companies are adopting payroll outsourcing strategies to maintain a competitive edge.

They are outsourcing payroll outsourcing services to companies that can handle all the recruitment functions using sophisticated methods such as benchmarking, best practices, and process improvement.

This trend among companies is expected to drive the demand for payroll outsourcing services market during the forecast period.

Major challenges hindering market growth

Data security risks are expected to challenge the growth of the market over the forecast period.

Outsourcing business operations to service providers increases the risk of data breaches and cyber theft.

Outsourced technical support companies require data centralization and universal access to maintain seamless operations. This increases the risk of data leakages regarding sensitive information such as names, social security numbers, addresses, salary details, health, and biometrics records of employees.

Organizations must choose service providers that conform to strict compliance and regulation policies regarding information sharing.

Such challenges are reducing the growth potential in the market.

Driver, Trend, and Challenges are the factor of market dynamics which states about consequences & sustainability of the businesses, find some insights from a sample report!

What are the key data covered in this payroll outsourcing services market report?

CAGR of the market during the forecast period

Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the payroll outsourcing services market between 2023 and 2027

Precise estimation of the size of the payroll outsourcing services market size and its contribution to the market in focus on the parent market

Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

Growth of the payroll outsourcing services market industry across North America , Europe , APAC, South America , and Middle East and Africa

, , APAC, , and and A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about vendors

Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of payroll outsourcing services market vendors

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Related Reports:

The regulatory affairs outsourcing market size is expected to increase by USD 4.63 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 12.15%. The growth of the pharmaceutical industry is notably driving the regulatory affairs outsourcing market growth, although factors such as delay in contractual obligations and upgrading new technologies may impede the market growth.

size is expected to increase by from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 12.15%. The growth of the pharmaceutical industry is notably driving the regulatory affairs outsourcing market growth, although factors such as delay in contractual obligations and upgrading new technologies may impede the market growth. The call center outsourcing market size in Europe is expected to increase by USD 3.73 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 3.53%. The increase in call center outsourcing by IT and telecom service providers is notably driving the call center outsourcing market growth in Europe , although factors such as shifting focus on developing countries as call center destinations may impede the market growth.

Payroll Outsourcing Services Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 170 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 5.8% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 7087.99 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 4.36 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 54% Key countries US, China, Australia, UK, and Germany Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Acara Solutions India, Accenture Plc, Alight Solutions LLC, Automatic Data Processing Inc, Ceridian HCM Holding Inc., Complete Payroll Solutions, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd., Workday Inc., Wipro Ltd., The Access Group, TalentPro, Safeguard World International LLC, Ramco Systems Ltd., Paycor Inc., Paycom Software Inc., Intuit Inc., International Business Machines Corp., Infosys Ltd., Hexaware Technologies Ltd., and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, market growth inducers and obstacles, fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, and market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Table of contents:

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Product



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Type



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 09: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 10: Parent market



Exhibit 11: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 12: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 13: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2022

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2022-2027

Exhibit 14: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 16: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 17: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

4 Historic Market Size

4.1 Global payroll outsourcing services market 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 18: Historic Market Size  Data Table on Global payroll outsourcing services market 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.2 Product Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 19: Historic Market Size  Product Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.3 End-user Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 20: Historic Market Size  End-user Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.4 Geography Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 21: Historic Market Size  Geography Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.5 Country Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 22: Historic Market Size  Country Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

5 Five Forces Analysis

5.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 23: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2022 and 2027

5.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 24: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2022 and 2027

5.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 25: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 26: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 27: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 28: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.7 Market condition

Exhibit 29: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2022 and 2027

6 Market Segmentation by Product

6.1 Market segments

Exhibit 30: Chart on Product - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Product - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

6.2 Comparison by Product

Exhibit 32: Chart on Comparison by Product



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Comparison by Product

6.3 Hybrid - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 34: Chart on Hybrid - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Hybrid - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 36: Chart on Hybrid - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 37: Data Table on Hybrid - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.4 Fully outsourced - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 38: Chart on Fully outsourced - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Fully outsourced - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 40: Chart on Fully outsourced - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Fully outsourced - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.5 Market opportunity by Product

Exhibit 42: Market opportunity by Product ($ million)

7 Market Segmentation by Type

7.1 Market segments

Exhibit 43: Chart on Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 44: Data Table on Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

7.2 Comparison by Type

Exhibit 45: Chart on Comparison by Type



Exhibit 46: Data Table on Comparison by Type

7.3 Mid-market - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 47: Chart on Mid-market - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 48: Data Table on Mid-market - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 49: Chart on Mid-market - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 50: Data Table on Mid-market - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.4 National - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 51: Chart on National - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 52: Data Table on National - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 53: Chart on National - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 54: Data Table on National - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.5 Multinational - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 55: Chart on Multinational - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 56: Data Table on Multinational - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 57: Chart on Multinational - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 58: Data Table on Multinational - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.6 Market opportunity by Type

Exhibit 59: Market opportunity by Type ($ million)

8 Customer Landscape

8.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 60: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

9 Geographic Landscape

9.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 61: Chart on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 62: Data Table on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%)

9.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 63: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 64: Data Table on Geographic comparison

9.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 65: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 66: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 67: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 68: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 69: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 70: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 71: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 72: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 73: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 74: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 75: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 76: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 77: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 78: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 79: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 80: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 81: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 82: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 83: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 84: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.8 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 85: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 86: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 87: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 88: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.9 UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 89: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 90: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 91: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 92: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.10 China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 93: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 94: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 95: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 96: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.11 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 97: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 98: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 99: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 100: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.12 Australia - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 101: Chart on Australia - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 102: Data Table on Australia - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 103: Chart on Australia - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 104: Data Table on Australia - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 105: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10.1 Market drivers

10.2 Market challenges

10.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 106: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2022 and 2027

10.4 Market trends

11 Vendor Landscape

11.1 Overview

11.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 107: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

11.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 108: Overview on factors of disruption

11.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 109: Impact of key risks on business

12 Vendor Analysis

12.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 110: Vendors covered

12.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 111: Matrix on vendor position and classification

12.3 Acara Solutions India

Exhibit 112: Acara Solutions India - Overview



Exhibit 113: Acara Solutions India - Product / Service



Exhibit 114: Acara Solutions India - Key offerings

12.4 Accenture Plc

Exhibit 115: Accenture Plc - Overview



Exhibit 116: Accenture Plc - Business segments



Exhibit 117: Accenture Plc - Key news



Exhibit 118: Accenture Plc - Key offerings



Exhibit 119: Accenture Plc - Segment focus

12.5 Alight Solutions LLC

Exhibit 120: Alight Solutions LLC - Overview



Exhibit 121: Alight Solutions LLC - Product / Service



Exhibit 122: Alight Solutions LLC - Key offerings

12.6 Automatic Data Processing Inc

Exhibit 123: Automatic Data Processing Inc - Overview



Exhibit 124: Automatic Data Processing Inc - Business segments



Exhibit 125: Automatic Data Processing Inc - Key news



Exhibit 126: Automatic Data Processing Inc - Key offerings



Exhibit 127: Automatic Data Processing Inc - Segment focus

12.7 Ceridian HCM Holding Inc.

Exhibit 128: Ceridian HCM Holding Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 129: Ceridian HCM Holding Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 130: Ceridian HCM Holding Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 131: Ceridian HCM Holding Inc. - Key offerings

12.8 Complete Payroll Solutions

Exhibit 132: Complete Payroll Solutions - Overview



Exhibit 133: Complete Payroll Solutions - Product / Service



Exhibit 134: Complete Payroll Solutions - Key offerings

12.9 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.

Exhibit 135: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 136: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 137: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 138: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. - Segment focus

12.10 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

Exhibit 139: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. - Overview



Exhibit 140: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. - Business segments



Exhibit 141: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. - Key news



Exhibit 142: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. - Key offerings



Exhibit 143: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. - Segment focus

12.11 Hexaware Technologies Ltd.

Exhibit 144: Hexaware Technologies Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 145: Hexaware Technologies Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 146: Hexaware Technologies Ltd. - Key offerings

12.12 Infosys Ltd.

Exhibit 147: Infosys Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 148: Infosys Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 149: Infosys Ltd. - Key news



Exhibit 150: Infosys Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 151: Infosys Ltd. - Segment focus

12.13 International Business Machines Corp.

Exhibit 152: International Business Machines Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 153: International Business Machines Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 154: International Business Machines Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 155: International Business Machines Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 156: International Business Machines Corp. - Segment focus

12.14 Intuit Inc.

Exhibit 157: Intuit Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 158: Intuit Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 159: Intuit Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 160: Intuit Inc. - Segment focus

12.15 Paycom Software Inc.

Exhibit 161: Paycom Software Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 162: Paycom Software Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 163: Paycom Software Inc. - Key offerings

12.16 Paycor Inc.

Exhibit 164: Paycor Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 165: Paycor Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 166: Paycor Inc. - Key offerings

12.17 Ramco Systems Ltd.

Exhibit 167: Ramco Systems Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 168: Ramco Systems Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 169: Ramco Systems Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 170: Ramco Systems Ltd. - Segment focus

13 Appendix

13.1 Scope of the report

13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 171: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 172: Exclusions checklist

13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 173: Currency conversion rates for US$

13.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 174: Research methodology



Exhibit 175: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 176: Information sources

13.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 177: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

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UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Technavio, the global pet monitoring camera market size is estimated to grow by USD 541.19 million from 2022 to 2027. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 17.4% during the forecast period. Moreover, the growth momentum will progress. APAC will account for 40% of the growth of the global market during the forecast period.

For more insights on market size, request a sample report

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Pet Monitoring Camera Market 2023-2027

Global pet monitoring camera market - Five forces

The global pet monitoring camera market is fragmented, and the five forces analysis covers

Bargaining power of buyers

The threat of new entrants

Threat of rivalry

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of substitutes

For an interpretation of Porter's five forces model  buy the report!

Global pet monitoring camera market - Parent market analysis

Technavio categorizes the global pet monitoring camera market as a part of the global electronic equipment and instruments market. The growth of the global electronic equipment and instruments market will be driven by factors such as the increasing demand for electronic test and measurement equipment and the growing demand for metrology equipment and services.

Find insights on the parent market and value chain analysis, and download an exclusive sample!

Global pet monitoring camera market  Customer landscape

The report includes the market's adoption lifecycle, from the innovator's stage to the laggard's stage. It focuses on adoption rates in different regions based on penetration. Furthermore, the report also includes key purchase criteria and drivers of price sensitivity to help companies evaluate and develop their growth strategies.

Global pet monitoring camera market - Segmentation assessment

Segment overview

Technavio has segmented the market based on product (one-way video and two-way video) and distribution channels (offline and online).

The one-way video segment will contribute significantly to market growth during the forecast period. This segment includes cameras specifically designed to monitor the actions and behavior of pets to keep them secure. The growth of this segment is attributed to factors such as high Internet penetration and rising smartphone adoption.

Geography overview

Based on geography, the global pet monitoring camera market is segmented into APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa. The report provides actionable insights and estimates the contribution of all regions to the growth of the global pet monitoring camera market.

APAC is estimated to account for 40% of the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The growth of the market in the region is attributed to factors such as the rising number of smartphone users, growing Internet penetration, rising income level, the increasing number of dual-income households, changing consumer lifestyles, rapid urbanization, improved information technology infrastructure, and an increasing working population. China and Japan are the key markets for pet monitoring cameras in APAC.

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Global pet monitoring camera market  Market dynamics

Key factor driving market growth

The rising concerns over the well-being of pets are driving the market growth.

Skin allergies, arthritis, brain aging, digestive disorders, and obesity are some of the common health problems faced by pets.

Moreover, pet thefts are rising across the world, especially in Europe .

. These factors have made pet owners more cautious, which is driving the need to monitor pets.

Pet monitoring products enable pet owners to monitor their pets from any location.

Thus, the growing concerns regarding pet thefts and pet health are expected to drive the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Leading trends influencing the market

4K resolution in pet monitoring cameras is a key trend in the market.

4K videos provide better clear videos with vivid colors. Cameras with 4K technology allow the extraction of frames from the video footage in playback mode.

videos provide better clear videos with vivid colors. Cameras with technology allow the extraction of frames from the video footage in playback mode. Hence, 4K resolution is expected to become a popular feature in pet monitoring cameras.

resolution is expected to become a popular feature in pet monitoring cameras. Thus, the adoption of 4K resolution in pet monitoring cameras will support the market during the forecast period.

Major challenges hindering market growth

Low adoption in developing countries is challenging market growth.

Several countries have strict regulations on the security and health of pets. For instance, in countries such as the US and the UK, owners have to comply with strict regulations.

However, countries such as India , Sri Lanka , China , Indonesia , and the Philippines do not have such strict regulations.

, , , , and do not have such strict regulations. Thus, the lack of attention to the safety of pets discourages pet owners from keeping pets or adopting pet monitoring devices, which is impeding the market growth.

Drivers, trends, and challenges have an impact on market dynamics, which can impact businesses. Find some insights from a sample report!

What are the key data covered in this pet monitoring camera market report?

CAGR of the market during the forecast period

Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the pet monitoring camera market between 2023 and 2027

Precise estimation of the size of the pet monitoring camera market and its contribution to the parent market

Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

Growth of the pet monitoring camera market across APAC, North America , Europe , South America , and Middle East and Africa

, , , and and A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about vendors

Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of the pet monitoring camera market vendors

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Pet Monitoring Camera Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 156 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 17.4% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 541.19 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 16.8 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 40% Key countries US, China, Japan, Germany, and UK Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Acer Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Arlo Technologies Inc, Centrica Hive Ltd., EZVIZ Inc., Furbo, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital, Lenovo Group Ltd., Neos Ventures Ltd., PetChatz LLC, Petcube Inc, PETKIT Ltd., Shenzhen Skymee Technology Co. Ltd, Vimtag Technology Co LTD, Wagz Inc., Wopet Pet Product Ltd., Wyze Labs Inc, Xiaomi Inc., and Zmodo Technology Corp. Ltd. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, and Market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

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Table of contents

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Product



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Distribution Channel



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 09: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 10: Parent market



Exhibit 11: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 12: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 13: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2022

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2022-2027

Exhibit 14: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 16: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 17: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

4 Historic Market Size

4.1 Global pet monitoring camera market 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 18: Historic Market Size  Data Table on Global pet monitoring camera market 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.2 Product Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 19: Historic Market Size  Product Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.3 Distribution channel Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 20: Historic Market Size  Distribution channel Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.4 Geography Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 21: Historic Market Size  Geography Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.5 Country Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 22: Historic Market Size  Country Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

5 Five Forces Analysis

5.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 23: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2022 and 2027

5.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 24: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2022 and 2027

5.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 25: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 26: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 27: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 28: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.7 Market condition

Exhibit 29: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2022 and 2027

6 Market Segmentation by Product

6.1 Market segments

Exhibit 30: Chart on Product - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Product - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

6.2 Comparison by Product

Exhibit 32: Chart on Comparison by Product



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Comparison by Product

6.3 One-way video - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 34: Chart on One-way video - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on One-way video - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 36: Chart on One-way video - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 37: Data Table on One-way video - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.4 Two-way video - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 38: Chart on Two-way video - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Two-way video - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 40: Chart on Two-way video - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Two-way video - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.5 Market opportunity by Product

Exhibit 42: Market opportunity by Product ($ million)

7 Market Segmentation by Distribution Channel

7.1 Market segments

Exhibit 43: Chart on Distribution Channel - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 44: Data Table on Distribution Channel - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

7.2 Comparison by Distribution Channel

Exhibit 45: Chart on Comparison by Distribution Channel



Exhibit 46: Data Table on Comparison by Distribution Channel

7.3 Offline - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 47: Chart on Offline - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 48: Data Table on Offline - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 49: Chart on Offline - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 50: Data Table on Offline - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.4 Online - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 51: Chart on Online - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 52: Data Table on Online - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 53: Chart on Online - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 54: Data Table on Online - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.5 Market opportunity by Distribution Channel

Exhibit 55: Market opportunity by Distribution Channel ($ million)

8 Customer Landscape

8.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 56: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

9 Geographic Landscape

9.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 57: Chart on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 58: Data Table on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%)

9.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 59: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 60: Data Table on Geographic comparison

9.3 APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 61: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 62: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 63: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 64: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.4 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 65: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 66: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 67: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 68: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.5 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 69: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 70: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 71: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 72: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 73: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 74: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 75: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 76: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 77: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 78: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 79: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 80: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.8 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 81: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 82: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 83: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 84: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.9 China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 85: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 86: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 87: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 88: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.10 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 89: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 90: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 91: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 92: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.11 UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 93: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 94: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 95: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 96: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.12 Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 97: Chart on Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 98: Data Table on Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 99: Chart on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 100: Data Table on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 101: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10.1 Market drivers

10.2 Market challenges

10.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 102: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2022 and 2027

10.4 Market trends

11 Vendor Landscape

11.1 Overview

11.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 103: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

11.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 104: Overview on factors of disruption

11.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 105: Impact of key risks on business

12 Vendor Analysis

12.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 106: Vendors covered

12.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 107: Matrix on vendor position and classification

12.3 Acer Inc.

Exhibit 108: Acer Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 109: Acer Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 110: Acer Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 111: Acer Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 112: Acer Inc. - Segment focus

12.4 Amazon.com Inc.

Exhibit 113: Amazon.com Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 114: Amazon.com Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 115: Amazon.com Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 116: Amazon.com Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 117: Amazon.com Inc. - Segment focus

12.5 Arlo Technologies Inc

Exhibit 118: Arlo Technologies Inc - Overview



Exhibit 119: Arlo Technologies Inc - Business segments



Exhibit 120: Arlo Technologies Inc - Key offerings



Exhibit 121: Arlo Technologies Inc - Segment focus

12.6 Furbo

Exhibit 122: Furbo - Overview



Exhibit 123: Furbo - Product / Service



Exhibit 124: Furbo - Key offerings

12.7 Hangzhou Hikvision Digital

Exhibit 125: Hangzhou Hikvision Digital - Overview



Exhibit 126: Hangzhou Hikvision Digital - Product / Service



Exhibit 127: Hangzhou Hikvision Digital - Key offerings

12.8 Lenovo Group Ltd.

Exhibit 128: Lenovo Group Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 129: Lenovo Group Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 130: Lenovo Group Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 131: Lenovo Group Ltd. - Segment focus

12.9 Neos Ventures Ltd.

Exhibit 132: Neos Ventures Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 133: Neos Ventures Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 134: Neos Ventures Ltd. - Key offerings

12.10 PetChatz LLC

Exhibit 135: PetChatz LLC - Overview



Exhibit 136: PetChatz LLC - Product / Service



Exhibit 137: PetChatz LLC - Key offerings

12.11 Petcube Inc

Exhibit 138: Petcube Inc - Overview



Exhibit 139: Petcube Inc - Product / Service



Exhibit 140: Petcube Inc - Key offerings

12.12 PETKIT Ltd.

Exhibit 141: PETKIT Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 142: PETKIT Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 143: PETKIT Ltd. - Key offerings

12.13 Shenzhen Skymee Technology Co. Ltd

Exhibit 144: Shenzhen Skymee Technology Co. Ltd - Overview



Exhibit 145: Shenzhen Skymee Technology Co. Ltd - Product / Service



Exhibit 146: Shenzhen Skymee Technology Co. Ltd - Key offerings

12.14 Vimtag Technology Co LTD

Exhibit 147: Vimtag Technology Co LTD - Overview



Exhibit 148: Vimtag Technology Co LTD - Product / Service



Exhibit 149: Vimtag Technology Co LTD - Key offerings

12.15 Wagz Inc.

Exhibit 150: Wagz Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 151: Wagz Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 152: Wagz Inc. - Key offerings

12.16 Wopet Pet Product Ltd.

Exhibit 153: Wopet Pet Product Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 154: Wopet Pet Product Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 155: Wopet Pet Product Ltd. - Key offerings

12.17 Zmodo Technology Corp. Ltd.

Exhibit 156: Zmodo Technology Corp. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 157: Zmodo Technology Corp. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 158: Zmodo Technology Corp. Ltd. - Key offerings

13 Appendix

13.1 Scope of the report

13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 159: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 160: Exclusions checklist

13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 161: Currency conversion rates for US$

13.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 162: Research methodology



Exhibit 163: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 164: Information sources

13.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 165: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pinnacle Clinical Research ("Pinnacle"), a portfolio company of LongueVue Capital ("LVC") and a leading site organization specializing in complex therapeutic areas, is pleased to announce its successful combination with South Texas Research Institute ("STRI" or the "Company").

Headquartered in Edinburg, Texas, STRI is a multi-location clinical site organization specializing in complex indications, including hepatology with a focus on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease ("NAFLD") and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis ("NASH"). The Company operates two of the leading NASH enrollment sites in the country and has an established reputation for superior patient recruitment and care focused on a diverse patient population in the clinically underserved Rio Grande Valley.

With this complementary merger, the combined Pinnacle and STRI platform expands its network and geographic footprint to six stand-alone and dedicated sites, enhances patient recruitment diversity, and increases scale. Dr. Rashmee Patil, a Yale graduate with medical training from New York University and Baylor College of Medicine, and STRI's Founder & CEO, will assume the role of CEO of the combined business.

"Having observed Dr. Patil and her team the last few years, I am pleased they are now part of the Pinnacle platform. STRI has demonstrated success enrolling diverse patient populations and is predominately focused on the Hispanic demographic who are historically underrepresented in clinical trials," said Pinnacle Chairman Dr. Stephen Harrison. "STRI's steadfast commitment to quality, compliance, and patient care is a strong synergistic fit."

"We are thrilled to announce the combination of STRI and Pinnacle," commented Dr. Rashmee Patil, Founder & CEO of STRI. "Our mission is to support the medical community in developing treatments for complex indications and to ensure that clinical trials enroll a diverse patient population affected by a particular disease state. We will continue to bring clinical trial opportunities to patients who have historically lacked access, and Pinnacle and LVC will aid in that mission to expand our reach and domain expertise."

"Since its 2020 inception, the STRI team has developed a best-in-class organization and opened two locations generating rapid growth," added Ryan Nagim, Managing Partner and Head of Healthcare at LVC. "We are excited to expand Pinnacle's market position and welcome Dr. Patil as the CEO of the newly combined Pinnacle and STRI entity."

"STRI's track record of executing clinical trials for complex indications, including NASH, uniquely positions it to provide immediate value and synergies to Pinnacle," added Dr. Adrian Otte, LVC's Life Science Operating Partner. He continued, "this business combination will further enhance Pinnacle's position as a thought leader in the sector."

Ryan Nagim and Dr. Adrian Otte were assisted by Principal Austin Rees, Director of Strategic M&A Kent McCarty, Senior Associate Erin Saer, and Associate Rankin Hobbs. LVC's legal counsel was provided by Norton Rose Fulbright (US) LLP.

To learn more information about Pinnacle and its services, visit www.pinnacleresearch.com

To learn more information about STRI and its services, visit www.southtexasresearchinstitute.com

ABOUT LONGUEVUE CAPITAL

Founded in 2001, LongueVue Capital is a New Orleans-based equity investment firm focused on providing transformational growth capital to middle-market companies, drawing upon its successful 20+ year track record of partnering with entrepreneurs and management teams to drive value creation. With over $850 million of committed capital spanning four funds coupled with 150 years of combined operating and investing experience, the LVC team is an ideal partner for middle-market companies at inflection points and seeking to maximize value for all stakeholders. LVC has made successful investments in a wide variety of industries including healthcare, life sciences, transportation and logistics, food and beverage, specialty packaging, consumer, and industrial services. For more information, please visit www.lvcpartners.com, and for media inquiries, please contact [email protected] or call 504.293.3600.

SOURCE LongueVue Capital
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Porte Brown LLC, www.PorteBrown.com, a Chicagoland accounting firm providing accounting, audit, tax, technology, and wealth management services, announces that Daniel Karnatz, CPA, CVA, has been admitted as Partner effective January 1, 2023.

Daniel Karnatz

Karnatz leads Porte Brown's estate and trust practice where he helps clients and professionals with estate and gift tax planning including the related tax preparation required. Karnatz operates out of the firm's Elk Grove Village office, and he has more than seventeen years of experience providing accounting, consulting, and income tax services for businesses and individuals. Karnatz is also involved in the Valuation and Transition Planning practice in which he provides business valuation and transition planning services for a variety of businesses across a wide range of industries.

Dan is a licensed CPA as well as a Certified Valuation Analyst. He graduated from Valparaiso University with a B.S. in Business Administration, double majoring in Finance and Economics.

"Dan's client-focused approach and his dedication to building a professional network of industry professionals are just a few of the positive attributes that made his transition to the partner group a unanimous decision," said Joe Gleba, CEO/Managing Partner. "His move to partner helps ensure the future success of Porte Brown and continues a 75-year legacy of continuity of leadership," Gleba continued. "Dan's direction will be vital in navigating the firm and our clients through the upcoming and anticipated estate tax law changes. His proactive approach will allow the firm to continue to innovate and enact new strategies that will promote growth and long-term success."

About Porte Brown

Porte Brown LLC is a full-service accounting and consulting firm headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village, Illinois. For more than 75 years, Porte Brown has focused on providing the highest level of service to individuals, businesses, and organizations throughout the region. In addition to the traditional accounting services such as tax planning and preparation, audit, business valuations, and retirement plan administration. Porte Brown also provides strategic consulting and leading-edge technology implementation for clients in cloud and non-cloud environments. Wealth management services provided by Porte Brown Wealth Management LLC.*

For more information, visit www.portebrown.com or call 847-956-1040.

*Wealth Management Services provided by Porte Brown Wealth Management LLC. Securities offered through Avantax Investment ServicesSM, Member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory ServicesSM. Insurance services offered through an Avantax affiliated insurance agency.

Contact:

Pam Metzger

[email protected]

847-956-1040

www.portebrown.com

SOURCE Porte Brown
In-depth analysis of over 110 million claims reveals the top conditions to watch for in the year ahead

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prealize, an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled predictive analytics company, today announced the release of its much anticipated, third annual State of Health Report.

Prealize's 2023 State of Health  In The Aftermath identifies the top at-risk conditions and utilization spikes that healthcare leaders and stakeholders across the industry must prepare to proactively address in the upcoming year. The report also presents predictive findings and explores the top contributing factors of many utilization increases.

As we approach the third anniversary of the global pandemic, a picture of our changing landscape has finally begun to crystallize. While the vast majority of Americans have quietly resumed a "new normal" for daily life, the world of healthcare lags behind, continuing its slow recovery. Though great gains have been made in COVID-19 vaccinations and treatment, rampant staffing shortages persist, care teams continue to burn out, and hospital operating costs have hit a historic high  while margins have reached an all-time low.

"This year's predictions reflect just how unequipped we are to handle the lingering and persistent effects of COVID-19. For the first time, we're tracking substantial connections between SARS-CoV-2 infection and extreme comorbidities, such as acute myocarditis or cardiorenal syndrome, said Linda Hand, CEO Prealize Health. "We are seeing the long-term effects of a system built on episodic care. These volume increases underscore the crucial need to invest our resources, energy, and focus in holistic and preventative care. Without investing in workflows and preventative care for the whole person, we cannot expect our national health to improve."

The report forecasts conditions that are predicted to be at risk for increased utilization in 2023. These include:

Prealize Health's predictive models forecast large spikes in cardiovascular utilization across the board . Conditions including cardiorenal syndrome (29% increase), cardiomyopathy (26% increase), cardiac block (20% increase), ischemic heart disease (19% increase), chronic heart failure (13%) and cardiac dysrhythmias (8%), and valvular disorder (7%) will be increasingly common in 2023.





. Conditions including cardiorenal syndrome (29% increase), cardiomyopathy (26% increase), cardiac block (20% increase), ischemic heart disease (19% increase), chronic heart failure (13%) and cardiac dysrhythmias (8%), and valvular disorder (7%) will be increasingly common in 2023. Behavioral Health, intellectual & developmental disorders, substance abuse and overdoses are predicted to increase. Care utilization for pediatric substance abuse is predicted to have a 24.5% increase, while intellectual & behavioral disorders are shown to have a 13.7% increase.





Care utilization for pediatric substance abuse is predicted to have a 24.5% increase, while intellectual & behavioral disorders are shown to have a 13.7% increase. Chronic Conditions, such as COPD, Diabetes, Obesity & Asthma will significantly increase. Prealize predicts a 21% increase in COPD utilization across all age groups. Diabetes is also expected to see a substantial uptick, up 13% from the year before, while obesity is predicted to increase by 11%. Asthma's prevalence is predicted to increase 6% year-over-year.





Prealize predicts a 21% increase in COPD utilization across all age groups. Diabetes is also expected to see a substantial uptick, up 13% from the year before, while obesity is predicted to increase by 11%. Asthma's prevalence is predicted to increase 6% year-over-year. A dramatic increase in obstetric emergencies for mothers that are covered by Managed Medicaid. For this population, the risk of pregnancy with complications is forecast to increase 33% in 2023. While time may reveal how limited care access will impact outcomes, generally higher levels of stress and depression, rising incidences of obesity and gestational diabetes, and a national disruption to family planning services may likely contribute.

In Prealize's annual analysis, another telling trend also emerged. Across care types, preventive primary care physician visits and specialty care visits tended to decrease in the weeks and months following a COVID diagnosis. In turn, just as preventive office visits decreased, the utilization of care for severe conditions increased. Based on these findings, it is more important than ever for health plans to seize the opportunity and help catapult the industry into the future of care delivery.

"With the industry at a crossroads, plans can lead the way by embracing predictive analytics to help forecast risk, mitigate costs, inform and motivate members, and equip caregivers with proactive and preventive care options," said John Coughlin, Vice President, Informatics & Analytics, Sentara Health Plans. "Predictive analytics is the best tool available for organizations looking to drive transformational change."

For more information on Prealize Health, and its insights, solutions and results, please visit prealizehealth.com.

Methodology

The 2023 predictions featured in this report are based on Prealize's analysis of data from more than 3.6 million lives and over 110 million claims between Jan 1, 2019 and Oct 31, 2022, the latest time frame for which claims data was available at press time. To ensure that the sample reflected the broader U.S. population, the analysis included patients of all ages across multiple lines of business, including Commercial, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and Managed Medicaid. To predict future healthcare costs and utilization at the individual level, Prealize uses advanced artificial intelligence, specifically proprietary supervised machine learning models, trained on four or more years of medical claims, prescription claims, lab data and population outreach data.

About Prealize

Prealize marries state-of-the-art AI-enabled data science with "next-best action" health insights. Based in San Francisco, the company was founded by two industry thought leaders from Stanford University. Committed to transforming healthcare from reactive to proactive, reducing healthcare costs and enabling more people to live healthier lives, Prealize partners with health plans, specialty care management companies, healthcare technology companies, employers, and providers across the nation to positively influence the health trajectory of millions of people. For more information, visit www.prealizehealth.com or email [email protected].

For More Information

John Gonda

616-309-4888

[email protected]

SOURCE Prealize Health
Join journalists from around the world covering the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting on March 14-18, 2023

BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 ACMG Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting will be in Salt Lake City, Utah on March 14-18, 2023. This annual medical and scientific conference continues to provide groundbreaking research and the latest advances in medical genetics, genomics and personalized medicine. The 2023 ACMG Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting will offer media a firsthand look at what is shaping the future of genetics and genomics in medicine and will offer a variety of engaging and interactive educational formats and types of sessionsfrom Scientific Sessions and Workshops to TED-Style Talks, Case-based Sessions, Platform Presentations and Short Courses.

Interview those at the forefront in medical genetics and genomics, connect with new sources, and get story ideas on the clinical practice of genetics and genomics in healthcare today and for the future. Learn how genetics and genomics research is being integrated and applied in medical and lab practice. Topics include artificial intelligence in genetics, gene editing, reproductive genetics, cancer genetics, direct-to-consumer genetic testing, exome sequencing, pre- and perinatal genetics, the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion in the study of genetics, biochemical/metabolic genetics, genetic counseling, health services and implementation, legal and ethical issues, therapeutics and more.

Credentialed media representatives on assignment are invited to cover the ACMG Annual Meeting on a complimentary basis. Contact Kathy Moran, MBA at [email protected] for the Press Registration Invitation Code, which will be needed to register at www.acmgmeeting.net. Abstracts will be available in March 2023 and will be published as a supplement to Genetics in Medicine Open.

It's time to Reconnect, Recharge and Renew at the 2023 ACMG Meeting! Join us to experience the continued transition of the specialty from a diagnostic field to one that is dominated by treatment and precision therapeutics.

Program Highlights:

2023 ACMG Awards and Presidential Plenary Session - OK, We're All

Sequenced. Now What?

Sequenced. Now What? R. Rodney Howell Symposium | Setting the Stage for Genomic Sequencing of

All Newborns

All Newborns Challenges in Interdisciplinary Testing for Monogenic Causes of Diseases

Innovations in the Delivery of Cancer Genetic Services to Medically Underserved Populations

How to Turn "Minority Tax" Into "Minority Capital" and Build an Academic

Career Based on DEI Work

Career Based on DEI Work Innovations in Genomic Diagnostics

The Intersection of Reproductive Autonomy and Disability Rights

Genetic Counselor Forum: What's in a Title? The Road to Faculty Appointments for Genetic Counselors and Titles in Other Settings

Tuesday Afternoon and Evening Corporate Educational Satellite Symposia

These activities are supported by independent educational grants from the companies noted below.

Implementing WGS for Newborn Screening: Perspectives from Pilot 4 Program (Illumina)

Discover a Novel Approach to late-onset Pompe Disease (LOPD) Treatment (Amicus)

Pulmonology and Medical Genetics: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Diagnosis and Management in Rare Disease (Sanofi)

Keeping Ahead of the Curve: Emerging Biomarker Strategies for Lysosomal Storage Diseases (Takeda)

Understanding the Diagnostic Odyssey of Alpha Mannosidosis (Chiesi Global Rare Diseases)

ACMG/SIMD Joint Sessions - Saturday:

That's Metabolic Now?!?

My NGS Panel is Positive for What? When Metabolic Disorders Are Identified on NGS Panels

Interactive Sessions Include:

Early Genetics Trainee/Mentor Luncheon

Laboratory Diagnostic Challenges

Medical Diagnostic Challenges (Adult and Cancer)

Pediatric and Prenatal Diagnostic Dilemmas

Plus:

The GENEius Challenge (a Jeopardy-style game - new!)

Workshops on Tuesday afternoon including ACMG/ClinGen/AMP/CAP Standards for Classifying Sequence Variants

Corporate Educational Satellite Symposia on Tuesday afternoon/evening

Trainee | Postdoctoral Fellow | Resident | Student Activities

Exhibit and Poster Hall, including a Career Fair and Exhibit Theaters

Social Media for the 2023 ACMG Meeting: As the ACMG Annual Meeting approaches, journalists can stay up to date on new sessions and information by following the ACMG social media pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and by using the hashtag #ACMGMtg23 for meeting-related tweets and posts.

The ACMG Annual Meeting website has extensive information at www.acmgmeeting.net and will be updated as new information becomes available.

About the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) and ACMG Foundation

Founded in 1991, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) is a prominent authority in the field of medical genetics and genomics and the only nationally recognized medical professional organization solely dedicated to improving health through the practice of medical genetics and genomics. The only medical specialty society in the US that represents the full spectrum of medical genetics disciplines in a single organization, the ACMG provides education, resources and a voice for more than 2,500 clinical and laboratory geneticists, genetic counselors and other healthcare professionals. ACMG's mission is to improve health through the clinical and laboratory practice of medical genetics as well as through advocacy, education and clinical research, and to guide the safe and effective integration of genetics and genomics into all of medicine and healthcare, resulting in improved personal and public health. Genetics in Medicine and the new Genetics in Medicine Open, a gold open access journal, are the official ACMG journals. ACMG's website, www.acmg.net, offers resources including policy statements, practice guidelines, and educational programs. The ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine works to advance ACMG educational and public health programs through charitable gifts from corporations, foundations and individuals.

Kathy Moran, MBA

[email protected]

SOURCE American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics
LIMASSOL, Cyprus, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PropellerAds, a leading advertising and marketing technology company based in Limassol, Cyprus, has announced the inauguration of a new office in Bangalore, India.

Let's take a closer look at PropellerAds' plans for its new office, what it means for local clients, and how it will impact the affiliate marketing and media buying industry as a whole.

PropellerAds

About the New PropellerAds Office in Bangalore

After years of being one of the leading advertising and marketing technology companies in India, PropellerAds has established a new office in the innovative city of Bangalore.

The new office will help the advertising and marketing technology company benefit from India's already well-established industry while enjoying the opportunity to work with regional experts.

PropellerAds is the latest addition to the list of cutting-edge companies with offices in Bangalore. India established itself as one of South Asia's largest tech markets and the addition of a powerhouse like PropellerAds will only bolster the nation's grip on the industry.

The Impact of the New Office on Regional Clients

The PropellerAds team is using the new office to support the growth of the Indian market. Furthermore, the advertising technology giant will also leverage this new location as a pivot and focus on the development of the entire region.

Local affiliates, brands, and other industry leaders will start experiencing benefits like improved research that will lead to the development of tools better suited to the local market by tapping into the technical knowledge of Indian developers.

Participation of PropellerAds in Local Events

PropellerAds is known, among other things, for its strong presence in AdTech and affiliate marketing events around the world.

Already a regular participant in events like the India Affiliate Summer, the marketing and advertising technology company is looking to contribute to every possible event that's relevant to the Indian market.

Moreover, PropellerAds has also organized its own events directed toward the local market, which was called the India Affiliate Summit Meetup.

"Opening an office in India went from a decade-long pipedream to a realistic objective for us, so we couldn't be prouder of finally being able to accomplish this goal," says Renz Gonzales, Head of Business Development.

About PropellerAds

PropellerAds provides powerful performance marketing solutions on a global scale for brands, agencies, and affiliates. Founded in 2011, the company is now one of the biggest traffic providers with more than 1 billion monthly audience reach and thousands of advertising campaigns launched daily, across desktop and mobile.

Media Contact:

Mari Yash

+35795989881

[email protected]

SOURCE PropellerAds
SHANGHAI, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- REPT BATTERO Energy Co., Ltd. ("REPT BATTERO" or "the Company"), a leading new energy solution provider backed by China's stainless steel and nickel giant Tsingshan Industry, has officially announced the launch of its global net-zero carbon strategy at The Seventh International Summit on Power Battery Application (CBIS2022) which was held on December 20 in Shanghai, China. The strategy aims to further advance industry transformation and promote global zero-carbon industry development.

Dr.Hou Min giving a presentation at CBIS 2022

In the context of the worldwide "green energy" revolution, major economies around the world are actively making the transition to realize a zero-carbon economy. Dr. Hou Min, vice president of REPT BATTERO, gave the keynote speech about "Power Battery Globalization Pattern in the Context of Low Carbon" at CBIS 2022, which introduced REPT BATTERO's first global zero-carbon declaration to the watching audience.

The speech emphasized REPT BATTERO's goal of achieving ultimate innovation and creating a zero-carbon product portfolio and solutions with industry-leading advantages, as well as the Company's commitment to meet the zero-carbon transformation demand of the global market.

With a tight timeline, REPT BATTERO aims to achieve the goals of carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, as a leader in the global new energy market.

"Looking ahead, REPT BATTERO will lead by example to support the rapid development of the global new energy market, promote the scaled application of clean energy and zero-carbon technologies, and become a key contributor in driving to achieve carbon neutral goals and address the climate change challenges," said Dr.Hou .

At CBIS 2022, REPT BATTERO received two awards of "Influential Enterprise of the Year" and "Innovation Enterprise of the Year" for setting an example with their global zero-carbon transition.

The REPT BATTERO Global Zero-Carbon Strategy

In the past five years, REPT BATTERO fastest-growing company in the new energy solutions industry, and it has brought green clean energy to about 600,000 households. As of October 2022, REPT BATTERO has delivered 7.3GWh of energy storage batteries, helping to reduce carbon emission by 7.5 million tons, and its power batteries have been installed in more than 300,000 vehicles, which reduced a total of 132,600 tons of carbon emissions.

Leveraging the strong foundation and global market advantages of Tsingshan Industry, REPT BATTERO aims to provide high-quality products delivering stable performance, with priorities in implementing strict quality control and constructing green factories to achieve zero-carbon across the full industry chain from upstream raw materials, manufacturing to supply chain and after-sales support.

REPT BATTERO has accelerated its carbon management and drafted greenhouse gas conversion standard and statistical logic to measure and control the full life cycle carbon emissions, and set the zero-carbon goal of realizing a life cycle assessment (LCA) of less than 50kg CO/KWh by 2026.

REPT BATTERO is building the next-generation zero-carbon factories combining intelligent energy management and green electricity to achieve carbon reduction targets and push forward the development of data-driven intelligent manufacturing.

The Company's production capacity in China has reached 32.7GWh, and it is currently constructing four new manufacturing bases in Wenzhou, Foshan, Jiashan and Liuzhou. REPT BATTERO will soon launch the construction of its bases in Indonesia and Europe, with the aim of achieving zero-carbon battery production capacity of 150GWh by 2025.

REPT BATTERO has filed for IPO listing in December 2022. The leading power battery company is now providing products and solutions to notable clients including Wuling Motors, Stellantis, Goodwe, and Sungrow, among others.

SOURCE REPT BATTERO Energy Co., Ltd.
Growing chain to become Nevada's best bet for healthy, fresh and affordable food in the new year

PHOENIX, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Salad and Go , an emerging QSR industry disruptor committed to revolutionizing fast food, announced today its entry into Nevada with the first location opening in Las Vegas at the beginning of the new year.

Salad and Go is bringing fresh and affordable finds into 2023 by providing Las Vegas with convenience and nutrition in a new way. Salad and Go's Las Vegas store is set to open Jan. 16 at 1135 E Craig Rd. The new store will mark the start of rapid brand expansion across the state of Nevada, further amplifying the brand's mission of providing fresh, nutritious food that is affordable and convenient for all.

Las Vegas marks a perfect new market entry for the brand as it's recognized for its diversity in culture, music, art, food, nightlife and more. Millions of visitors travel to Las Vegas each year for a unique experience, and Salad and Go will provide fresh, healthy meals for those in need of nutritious and delicious food.

"At Salad and Go expansion means more opportunities to share our mission with the world and provide nutritious and craveable options to more people. The new store opening in Las Vegas is special because it's our first location on the west coast, as much of our expansion until now has focused heavily on the south and southwest with more than 80 locations across Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma," said Charlie Morrison, CEO of Salad and Go. "Las Vegas locals and visitors alike can expect high-quality food, optimized drive-thru experiences, and exemplary guest service."

The brand has big plans for 2023 with expansion at the forefront of its initiatives. Salad and Go has plans to nearly double its 2022 footprint by the close of this new year, with more locations coming soon to Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, and Nevada.

Salad and Go is the one-stop-shop for food at any time of day, providing a variety of healthy meals including salads, wraps, breakfast burritos and soup as well as refreshing beverages including hand-crafted lemonades, teas and cold brew coffees. The chef-curated menu provides high-value, made-to-order options for guests with the quick and easy convenience of drive-thru service and affordability.

Coinciding with the new store opening in Las Vegas, Salad and Go is partnering with local food bank Three Square to provide around 1,000 fresh and nutritious meals to those in need. The meals prepared by the Salad and Go Las Vegas team during training week will be packaged and donated to serve individuals at various local organizations. Salad and Go is dedicated to its 'for ALL' mission, and the commitment and compassion for those in the communities is demonstrated not only at the stores but in the outreach, weekly donations and partnerships with nonprofits to support and fundraise for various worthy causes.

For more information about the brand as it continues growing across Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Nevada and beyond, visit https://www.saladandgo.com .

About Salad and Go

Salad and Go is on a mission to make fresh, nutritious food convenient and affordable for ALL. The concept is an industry disruptor, making meals that are not only convenient and affordable, but good for the guest and the local community. The use of raw, fresh ingredients in chef-curated recipes offer nutrient rich meals that are delicious and satisfying. All menu items at Salad and Go are made to order with quality, fresh ingredients. Built on a model of speed and efficiency, Salad and Go is able to serve made-to-order meals quickly and at exceptionally low prices. Salad and Go was founded in 2013 in Gilbert, Arizona. The company currently operates more than 80 locations across Arizona, Oklahoma and Texas.

SOURCE Salad and Go
Businesses report saving time using ActiveCampaign's leading CRM solution, allowing their team to sell more due to powerful sales automation technology

CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ActiveCampaign , the leader in marketing automation , email marketing and CRM , is enabling sales teams to save time, and instead of wrestling with their tools, spend the new found hours with customers and prospects. Businesses who are using ActiveCampaign's CRM report that their sales teams rapidly increase sales productivity . ActiveCampaign's CRM allows sales reps to save one day per week on admin work so they can focus on getting back to leads and closing more deals; saving companies an average of $11,000 per sales rep per year. One of the many companies saving dozens of hours per week with ActiveCampaign is PreviewMe, a video communication platform for sales and marketing teams.

Learn how sales automation can remove admin time for your team, close more deals and reduce churn to help you grow your business.

As PreviewMe grew, the manual and repetitive tasks grew too. Their team was using a combination of Excel spreadsheets, legacy CRM system Pipedrive, and other technology but none of these solutions connected, making for a cumbersome, disjointed process.

After implementing ActiveCampaign, PreviewMe's sales reps started saving one day per week by automating repetitive tasks , their team increased the open rate for marketing messages from 9% to 38%, and they achieved a click-through rate of nearly 8% from their video email signaturesa welcome improvement. This proved their audience really wanted to know the person behind the email, which has increased growth.

How PreviewMe Has Grown With ActiveCampaign For Sales

Increased sales: PreviewMe uses ActiveCampaign to test out marketing campaigns with each of their unique audiences , which allows them to target leads that engage with their content. By understanding prospects and automating the connection between marketing and sales, the PreviewMe team continues to see churn drop month over month and demo bookings increase.

PreviewMe uses ActiveCampaign to , which allows them to target leads that engage with their content. By understanding prospects and automating the connection between marketing and sales, the PreviewMe team continues to see churn drop month over month and demo bookings increase. Scaled through powerful and flexible sales automation: PreviewMe has separate sales and account management pipelines, each with their own unique tasks and workflows. They use automation to move deals as quickly as possible through the sales cycle and have built email marketing behind each stage. Through ActiveCampaign, all of the automation businesses like PreviewMe need is built in, businesses don't have to buy add-ons, or turn to costly enterprise CRMs laden with features they'll never use.

PreviewMe has separate sales and account management pipelines, each with their own unique tasks and workflows. They use automation to and have built email marketing behind each stage. Through ActiveCampaign, all of the automation businesses like PreviewMe need is built in, businesses don't have to buy add-ons, or turn to costly enterprise CRMs laden with features they'll never use. Capitalized on unexpected benefits: An unexpected benefit for PreviewMe was a nearly 8% click-through rate for video email signatures. In several instances, they didn't create the campaigns for people to actually watch their video email signatures; they created the campaign for people to read their content. But that informed them that people were curious about the person sending the email. PreviewMe followed up by developing automated promotions specifically designed for those who watched the videos, something that was impossible with the legacy system. Their old CRM system also didn't provide full visibility into click-through rates .

Experts Comment on Growing Through Sales Automation

"The goal of incorporating automation into your sales process should always be to improve the experience for your team by saving them time, and to improve the experience for the end customer by providing personalized communication," said Jason VandeBoom, founder and CEO of ActiveCampaign . "If you're using a static CRM, it isn't going to help you scale your business. From day one at ActiveCampaign, we built our platform and tiers to best serve the needs of our customers."

"The internal disconnect between sales and marketing has been bridged since using ActiveCampaign. Having processes all under one roof has been game-changing," said Sarah Worthington, head of growth at PreviewMe . "As a growth leader, I no longer spend hours checking deal status or tasks across multiple channels. Nothing slips through the cracks anymore, and we have consistent comms going out to potential customers and newly landed clients."

About ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign's category-defining Customer Experience Automation Platform (CXA) helps over 185,000 businesses in 170 countries meaningfully engage with their customers. The platform gives businesses of all sizes access to 900+ pre-built automations that combine transactional email and email marketing , marketing automation , ecommerce marketing , and CRM for powerful segmentation and personalization across social, email, messaging, chat and text. Over 70% of ActiveCampaign's customers use its 900+ integrations, including Microsoft, Shopify, Square, Facebook and Salesforce. ActiveCampaign is one of only 17 products with over 10,000 positive customer reviews on G2.com , scoring higher in customer satisfaction than any other solution in Marketing Automation, CRM and E-Commerce Personalization and is the Top Rated Email Marketing Software on TrustRadius. Pricing starts at just $9/month. Start a free trial at ActiveCampaign.com .

SOURCE ActiveCampaign
ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Second Front Systems (2F) , the public-benefit software company focused on accelerating the delivery of mission-critical software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions to government, announces the strategic $2 million investment from UK-based GALLOS Technologies Limited as a secondary close to its Series A funding round.

This funding will support 2F's entry into the UK market and position its fully managed and compliant DevSecOps platform Game Warden as a software bridge between the two allied nations.

"Our British and American armed forces operate closely from humanitarian assistance to crisis response. Yet, the lack of a common accreditation backbone creates an unacceptable gap between our information systems and operating effectiveness," said Peter Dixon, CEO at Second Front, who as a US Marine served alongside 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery in Afghanistan.

GALLOS' mission is to invest in and co-build companies in critical security technology areas, supporting them to become the next market leaders. By applying its unique insights, network, and capabilities with patient capital, GALLOS provides companies like 2F with an edge in accessing new markets and accelerating their growth.

"Second Front brings the promise of making both the UK defence, and larger still US defence market, addressable to UK SaaS companies," said Dean Jones, co-founder of GALLOS and former UK Special Forces and Royal Marines soldier. "We couldn't be prouder to partner with this fast-growing software company."

The investment builds on 2F's already oversubscribed Series A funding round, which will be used to expand its Game Warden platform's availability to additional environments and across multiple cloud providers. Game Warden is currently delivered on AWS GovCloud with production environments available in Impact Levels 2, 4, and 5.

This move will further position 2F as the market leader in rapidly onboarding cutting-edge SaaS into an increasingly addressable, and now international, public sector market.

For more information, visit www.secondfront.com

About Second Front Systems

Second Front Systems (2F) fast-tracks government access to disruptive, commercially-proven, software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications for national security missions. Leading software providers  ranging from publicly traded defense contractors to startups  and government agencies trust 2F's Game Warden DevSecOps platform and secure cloud hosting environment to accelerate their delivery and harness the cloud revolution at scale. Founded by former U.S. Marines, this public benefit, venture-backed software company is driven by firsthand experience of the dangers outdated technology poses in combat. For more information, visit https://secondfront.com/

About GALLOS

GALLOS Technologies invests in and co-builds early-stage startups in the cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data analytics, sensors, and autonomous systems (UAVs) sectors. GALLOS supports its investments by bringing unique security, science & technology, and commercial optimisation expertise, underpinned by a highly connected network and patient capital at scale.

GALLOS has assembled a world-class team with decades of Nation State level security experience and deep investment and commercial know-how to provide differentiable value. Key amongst these is our unique view of security which gives GALLOS insight into the technologies which can be brought to bear to help commercial and governmental clients manage the systemic security challenges they face.

Following an oversubscribed capital raise in July 2022, GALLOS is investing in high-potential, early-stage (pre-seed through to Series B) companies where it can apply its advantages to help them achieve greater success.

SOURCE Second Front Systems
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Premier trial firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon changed the firm's leadership in three key roles nationally and in Philadelphia and St. Louis. Beginning January 1, 2023, Shook Partner Adam Miller will co-lead the firm's highly lauded environmental and toxic tort litigation team and Partners Erin Leffler and Sue Werstak will lead the Philadelphia and St. Louis offices, respectively.

"All three of these partners have demonstrated an understanding of exceptional client service and are highly skilled lawyers," said Shook Chair Madeleine McDonough. "We are excited about the changes and grateful to Mark Anstoetter, who helped build the environmental practice, and Sean Wajert, who launched the Philadelphia office and expanded our northeast presence."

"All three partners demonstrate an understanding of exceptional client service," said Shook Chair Madeleine McDonough. Tweet this

These moves originate from recent growth and partner additions. In 2021, Shook expanded the firm's environmental services with the addition of a St. Louis office focused on this expanding area of law. Miller originally led the St. Louis office but now shifts to oversee Shook's nationally known Environmental and Toxic Tort Litigation Practice (ETT) with Partner Dave Erickson. Using their technical and legal experience, the Shook ETT team has tried 150+ cases to verdict since 2013.

"Adam is a very experienced and accomplished complex environmental and toxic tort trial lawyer. He has been leading trial teams on toxic tort cases since joining our firm," said Erickson, who has been with the firm more than 20 years and helped grow the Chambers-ranked practice. "I look forward to working with Adam in his new role as co-chair of our ETT practice group as we continue to grow and expand."

Leffler and Werstak join the ranks of other women and diverse Shook partners in office managing partner positions. Shook recently earned the Mansfield Rule Certification in promoting underrepresented attorneys. Nearly half of Shook's executive committee is composed of women and diverse attorneys, and women and diverse attorneys lead a number of the firm's city offices including Chicago, Hartford, Houston, Orange County and Tampa.

Werstak moved to Shook to help develop the St. Louis office nearly two years ago. She has more than two decades of experience defending companies in high-stakes litigation for a variety of industries including chemical, automotive, and food, beverage and agriculture.

Leffler joined Shook in the Philadelphia office which opened in 2012 serving clients in the tristate area and nationally. She represents national, regional and local businesses in complex commercial litigation, employment law and product liability litigation.

Mark Anstoetter recently retired after more than 30 years with Shook. Sean Wajert will continue to serve clients nationally from the firm's Philadelphia office.

To speak to a Shook attorney on these leadership changes, contact Shook Director of Communications Heather McMichael, 816.389.0419, or [email protected].

About Shook, Hardy & Bacon

Founded in 1889, Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. has 18 offices in the United States and London, with attorneys and professional staff serving clients in the health, science and technology sectors in areas ranging from product liability defense and commercial litigation to intellectual property prosecution and litigation, environmental and toxic tort, privacy and data security, and regulatory counseling.

SOURCE Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.
Collaboration offers potential access to hundreds of patients across several European Countries.

SIFI will focus its European market access and commercial activities on existing markets, and the new markets Germany and the United Kingdom .

SIFI expects a potential positive opinion by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use and New Drug Application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2023.

CATANIA, Italy, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SIFI, a leading international ophthalmic company headquartered in Italy, today announced that it has partnered with Avanzanite Bioscience (Avanzanite), a Dutch specialty pharmaceutical company, to exclusively commercialize and distribute AKANTIOR (polihexanide) in 26 Countries within the European Economic Area and Switzerland. Under the terms of the agreement, SIFI will handle all ongoing regulatory activities, whilst Avanzanite will focus on market access, distribution and commercial activities in those markets. The partnership will enable commercial access to AKANTIOR to an estimated 500 patients who suffer from Acanthamoeba Keratitis (AK) each year in these territories.

SIFI will focus and continue to invest in market access and commercial activities related to AKANTIOR on existing and new European Countries, such as Italy, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Romania and Turkey, whilst continuing to evaluate different options for the commercialization of AKANTIOR globally, including potential license agreements outside its core markets.

SIFI and Avanzanite also agreed to expand the Early Access Program (EAP) already in place for the big 5 European Countries to selected Countries within the scope of the license to Avanzanite.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) validated SIFI's Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for AKANTIOR in May 2022. SIFI expects a potential positive opinion of the EMA Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use in 2023. Detailed positive results and new data from the completed phase 3 trial were presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting in Chicago in October 2022.

Fabrizio Chines, SIFI Chairman and CEO, stated "We made significant investments on AKANTIOR throughout 15 years of rigorous research and are looking for ways to maximize our asset's potential. As we advance towards a regulatory approval in dozens of European Countries, we are excited to partner with Avanzanite, as this collaboration promises to accelerate access to our drug candidate to patients in several markets that are outside of our current commercial focus." Mr. Chines continued, "Avanzanite's management team brings a substantial track record in delivering orphan medicines to niche European markets, which we expect will result in an accelerated return on investment for SIFI."

Avanzanite's Founder and CEO, Adam Plich, stated, "Today's announcement bears all the hallmarks of what we're passionate about: Increasing access to orphan drugs for patients suffering from very rare diseases across Europe and optimizing economic returns for our partners. Plain and simple, through this alliance, Avanzanite is not only contributing to market access to those afflicted by the devastation of AK in European markets previously unapproachable to SIFI but is also unlocking additional revenue potential for the Company."

ABOUT Acanthamoeba Keratitis (AK): AK is a rare, severe, progressive parasitic corneal infection caused by Acanthamoeba, a free-living amoeba. Urgent medical intervention is required to save the patient's sight. The disease has shown resistance, leads to poor vision, blindness, or even eye loss and often requires single or multiple corneal transplant procedures. Patients report unbearable pain and extreme light sensitivity and can rarely work or lead normal lives until symptoms resolve. The incidence of acanthamoeba keratitis has been rapidly growing in recent years and it accounts for 50% of blindness among contact lens users.

ABOUT AKANTIOR: AKANTIOR (polihexanide) is an investigational anti-amoebic polymer that has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by both the European Medicines Agency ("EMA") and Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") for AK. It acts on both the trophozoites and cysts of the protozoan Acanthamoeba. It is formulated at a unique 0.8mg/ml high dose strength which makes it possible to administer as monotherapy eye drops in single-dose containers. Polihexanide is also being developed by SIFI for the treatment of fungal keratitis for which indication it also has FDA Orphan Drug Designation.

ABOUT SIFI: SIFI is a leading international ophthalmic company, headquartered in Italy, focusing on eye care since 1935. SIFI develops, manufactures, and markets innovative therapeutic solutions for patients with ophthalmic conditions. SIFI is fully committed through its R&D to improving the quality of life of patients, exporting treatments to more than 25 countries worldwide with a direct presence in Italy, Spain, France, Romania, Mexico, and Turkey.

ABOUT AVANZANITE BIOSCIENCE: Avanzanite is a commercial-stage pharmaceutical company, headquartered in the Netherlands, on a mission to redefine the commercialization of orphan medicines to improve patient access across Europe and beyond. Derived from the word 'Tanzanite'  one of the rarest and most underappreciated gemstones on earth  Avanzanite's economic goal is to offer end-to-end commercialization and distribution partnerships to research-based biopharmaceutical originators to unlock the full value of their orphan medicines in European markets. The Company's humanitarian goal stems from their commitment to enabling access to novel medicines for patients who suffer from orphan diseases regardless of where in Europe they may live.

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Media Contact:

+39 3336999669

[email protected]

SOURCE SIFI S.p.A.
SimX was awarded a multi-year $1.7M contract by the U.S. Space Force to develop virtual reality training simulations that will help prepare Pararescuemen, Combat Rescue Officers and flight surgeons to treat medical conditions in space and during astronaut recovery.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Virtual Advancement [1] of Learning for Operational Readiness (VALOR) program at SimX, Inc. has been awarded a multi-year program by the U.S. Space Force (USSF) to develop a novel VR medical simulation training capability for the astronaut recovery and space launch missions. This program seeks to enhance the unique, mission-critical clinical training provided to U.S. Air Force (USAF) Pararescue Specialist, Combat Rescue Officers, and flight surgeons enabling them to identify and treat a variety of medical conditions not seen in other contexts.

The developed PHSMCC curriculum will include a variety of mission profiles, including ocean personnel recovery missions such as the one depicted here. Image from a simulated virtual environment used in the curriculum; final quality is dependent on specific hardware configuration. (SimX, Inc. photo) USAF 58th Rescue Squadron Airmen participate in a live astronaut recovery training exercise using a simulated Dragon capsule in preparation for the NASA/SpaceX Demonstration Mission 2 launch. The new research program aims to augment these live exercises with novel VR simulation training capabilities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Dwane Young, Nellis AFB)

The initial $1.7M program commitment will focus on adapting the existing SimX Virtual Reality Medical Simulation System (VRMSS) to include space-specific components as well as unique medical scenarios outlined by the existing Pre-Hospital Space Medicine Care Course (PHSMCC). These will be developed in collaboration with and tested by the USAF 24th Special Operations Wing as well as the 1st Air Force, Detachment 3, Human Space Flight Support Operations. Funding for this program was provided through a SpaceWERX Phase II SBIR contract in partnership with Space Systems Command (SSC), with management of the effort by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Special Operations Forces and Personnel Recovery Division (AFLCMC/WIS), the Air Force program office supporting Special Warfare and Special Operations Command warfighters worldwide. Technical and subject matter expertise is provided by the 1st Air Force (AFSPACE). The simulation platform will run on the fully wireless HTC Focus 3 VR headset.

"The mission of the VALOR program is to adapt VR medical simulation training to enable high-quality, repeatable, and accessible clinical training for any scenario," said Karthik V Sarma, PhD, VALOR Principal Investigator and SimX CTO. "We're honored to have the opportunity to take the VRMSS to the next frontier by helping the DOD's elite medical personnel protect the health of our astronauts and space launch personnel."

These new capabilities aim to enable faster, more frequent, more effective and more cost-effective training for space operational medical support, enabling better medical outcomes for astronauts and space launch personnel. The developed capabilities will also be made available for commercial use to support the burgeoning commercial human spaceflight market and will initially include specific support for the Dragon and Orion capsules as well as a variety of launch scenarios and locations. A comprehensive training curriculum will be developed, including scenarios representing the unique physiological challenges of a deconditioned astronaut returning from a long-duration space flight.

"The mission impact of this project will be increased overall medical capability for global rescue forces responding to Human Space Flight contingency landings. These capabilities are critical for ensuring the highest standard of care is provided by our PJs as they prepare for the continued expansion of Human Space Flight operations," said Brent Maney of the Department of Defense Human Space Fight Support Office, and technical subject matter expert of the effort on behalf of the Department of the Air Force.

SimX has created an industry-leading virtual reality medical simulation platform (simxvr.com) that is used around the world and by top institutions including the Mayo Clinic, Stanford, Northwestern, University of Pennsylvania, the US Air Force, and many others. It allows trainees to work together in multiplayer virtual reality cases either together in the same space or from the comfort of their own homes. SimX developed a unique system that allows for a "holodeck-like" experience without dropdown menus or virtual selections. Trainees talk and interact with virtual patients the same way that they would in reality. The scalable SimX Scenario System allows for rapid development of new training materials and cases, and instant deployment to all learners. Learn more about the SimX System at simxvr.com http://simxvr.com/

Contact:

Michael Werner

619-952-1248

[email protected]

SOURCE SimX VR
Partnership will enable Sojern to scale-up their Travel Marketing Platform solutions by tapping into PUSHTech's clients

LONDON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sojern , the leading digital marketing platform built for travel, and PUSHTech , a CRM, marketing automation, sales and support platform, today announced a new partnership to better support hotel partners make the most of their first-party data.

"As Google looks to eventually phase out third-party cookies in Chrome, prioritising a first-party data strategy is more important than ever," said Josh Beckwith, Managing Director, Global Strategic Accounts, Sojern. "Our new partnership with PUSHTech and their ability to acquire, educate, engage and support customers from a single platform will allow Sojern to better leverage partners first-party data through CRM integration."

With a cookieless world coming, Sojern and PUSHTech's collaboration will better assist the travel industry in rethinking their data strategies. With 81 percent of hoteliers already seeing a lift in revenue as a result of implementing a first-party data strategy, strategic planning is vital to stay ahead of changes in the digital landscape. Well versed in helping partners build long-term strategies, Sojern's Travel Marketing Platform grants partners unmatched visibility into travel demand and intelligence for partners to maximise their budget. PUSHTech allows hotels to take control of their database, improve customer communications and increase direct sales.

"Our mission is to help businesses generate more effective, efficient and valuable communications with their customers through the use of automated and intelligent solutions. With a collective goal of better serving the hospitality industry we are pleased to announce our partnership with Sojern," David Ezquerro, Chief Revenue Officer, PUSHTech. "Working together means we can better maintain our philosophy of continuous innovation in the development of an automated marketing, sales and management platform."

As first-party data becomes critical to the hotelier's toolkit the mutually beneficial relationship will enable integration between Sojern's intelligent marketing platform and PUSHTech's platform, all while taking a privacy-forward approach to the safe and secure management of partner data. Hotel partners will benefit from maximised campaign performance, stronger customer relationships and increased revenue, overall increasing direct sales while continuously driving profitability.

About Sojern

Sojern is the leading digital marketing platform built for travel marketers. Powered by artificial intelligence and traveller intent data, Sojern provides multichannel marketing solutions to drive direct demand. 10,000 hotels, attractions, tourism boards and travel marketers rely on Sojern annually to engage and convert travellers around the world.

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SOURCE Sojern
CHONGQING, China, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In January 2023, the 13th China Three Gorges International Tourism Festival on the Yangtze River was held in Wanzhou District in southwest China's Chongqing. The Concert of World Great Rivers was held along the banks of the Yangtze River, so were other colorful supporting activities such as the Three Gorges food culture festival and Wanzhou grilled fish festival, greatly enhancing the overall brand image of the Three Gorges tourism.

The ancient Xishan bell tower, facing green waters and mountains, stands witness to Wanzhou's new development.

Wanzhou District is the "living room" of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. As an important coordinate of the great passage of the Yangtze River civilization, it has profound historical and cultural heritage. It is the poetic destination sung by the literati of all ages, and also a new starting point for the modern tourism of the Three Gorges, according to the Publicity Department of Wanzhou District.

The Yangtze River passes through the city, and the Three Gorges reservoir makes the waters in Wanzhou look like a traditional Chinese painting and a mysterious wonderland. Surrounded by a clear lake and green mountains, the 175-meter Yangtze River water line endows Wanzhou with an impressive view of a vast flat lake emerging from gorges, making the city one of China's most beautiful cities with a mountain-and-river landscape.

Profound culture and history could be found almost everywhere in Wanzhou. Through thousands of years, Bayu culture, Three Gorges culture and immigrant culture have blended and developed here, leaving countless scenic spots. Folk performances like local clapper talk, bamboo opera and drum opera carry on the cultural heritage and modern charm of the time-honored city.

Based on the 25-km riverside landscape, Wanzhou has turned the city into a national 5A scenic area, allowing citizens to live in the scenic area. The city's urban landscape design is a masterpiece of the changing times, as well as the determination and sincerity of Wanzhou people.

It's a good choice to start a tour of the Yangtze River section in Wanzhou from the Xishan bell tower. This landmark building, as famous as its counterparts of Shanghai customs house and Hankow customs house in Wuhan, has witnessed the history of the opening of port and trade in Wanzhou. Now the melodious bell is still in tune with the beat of the new era every minute.

Climbing up from the core business district of Gaosuntang, one can find dozens of tour inscriptions by famous scholars and sophisticated monks in the ancient dynasties on the walls of Literati Mountain Taibai. The mountain is a frequent place for tourists to visit. Climbing to the top of the mountain can not only offer a way to exert one's ambition, but also a panoramic view of Wanzhou.

During leisure time, one can ride along the banks of the river, watching the natural views as well as paddling activities. When night falls, one can boat on the water, listen to the twists and turns of Sichuan opera, and feel the unique charm of the famous city for Chinese folk art. One can also enjoy the new look of the Tiansheng City cultural travel block, whose sparking brightness is enough to let people linger.

There are many more surprises hidden in Wanzhou's streets. It's always satisfying to choose the famous three delicacies of grilled fish, steamed meat and sauce noodle, but the most popular food among young diners are the street snacks. Those humble stands, hiding in the depths of bustling areas, have been there for decades, with long queues of diners as proof of their delicious taste. Just find a restaurant to sit down, and enjoy the meals, wine, and midnight snack amid constant customer calls for more food, which make up the most unique local flavors in this city.

Today's Wanzhou, is embracing the whole world with openness. The operation of Zhengzhou-Chongqing high-speed railway, the Yangtze River golden cruise ship and the busy flights at Wanzhou Airport are giving new vitality to the golden route touring the Three Gorges via Wanzhou, which is the first renowned tourist route promoted overseas by China. More and more tourists from home and abroad are attracted to visit Wanzhou and enjoy the scenic views of the Three Gorges.

Image Attachments Links:

Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=437083

Caption: The ancient Xishan bell tower, facing green waters and mountains, stands witness to Wanzhou's new development.

SOURCE The Publicity Department of Wanzhou District
South Africa: South Africa condemns riots in Brazil

South Africa has issued a statement strongly condemning the events that took place in Brazil on Sunday.

Rioters stormed the Congress and Supreme Court buildings in the capital city, Brasilia.

According to media reports about 1500 people have been held over Sunday's riots. They came a week after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in after October's election that divided Brazil.

South Africa notes that the majority of the people of Brazil accepted the outcome of last year's free and fair general elections. The actions of the rioters will not succeed in undermining the will of the majority, said the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

It said South Africa reaffirms its recognition of, and confidence in, President da Silva's democratically elected government.

Political consultations with Turkey

Meanwhile, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr Naledi Pandor, will host her Turkiysh counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in Pretoria on Tuesday, for political consultations.

It is expected that the Turkiysh Ministers visit will enhance political and economic relations between the two countries and deepen understanding of regional and multilateral issues.

South Africa and Turkiye maintain strategic bilateral political, economic and cultural relations that were established in 1991.

Bilateral trade between the two countries has seen a gradual growth over recent years. During the period April to November 2022, South African exports to Turkiye increased by approximately 18 percent.

Turkiye remains a key investment partner for South Africa and has already invested in several projects with direct capital investment estimated at about R156.80 million over the past decade, said the department.

During the Investment Conference hosted in March 2022 by President Cyril Ramaphosa, Defy - owned by the Turkiysh based company Arcelik - declared a R317 million pledge towards its goods manufacturing plant in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.

In September 2022, Turkiye was the single largest country contributor at the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) Expo with 25 companies, doubling the space it had in 2018.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-01-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
(ECNS) -- Chinese tourists flocked to policy-friendly destinations such as Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia after the country eased restrictions on overseas travel.

Data from online travelling platform Ctrip shows since December 27, Thai hotel orders with a reservation time of over 20 day have accounted for 44 percent of the total hotel orders from mainland passengers. Some travelers have even placed an overseas hotel on New Year's Holiday in 2024.

According to a survey from the ITB China published in December, 76 percent of Chinese travel agencies listed Southeast Asia as the preferred destination after the restoration of outbound tourism.

Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand announced that inbound travelers from China wouldnt need pre-departure COVID tests.

"Now, we are deciding not to discriminate against any country, " said Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Jan. 4.

Anwar pointed out that 53,000 travelers from China visited Malaysia last December, adding that We didnt see any spike in infections in any country.

Thai Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that "This is an opportunity to restore our economy and recover from losses we suffered for nearly three years,

"There will not be any discrimination against a particular country because COVID-19 is spreading in all countries and the strains are similar. So, it should not be an issue of discriminating against any country, he added.

According to the National Immigration Administration, it resumed accepting and approval of Chinese citizens' applications for ordinary passports for the purposes of tourism and visiting friends abroad starting from Jan. 8.
The rise in technological advancements, consistent transformations in technology, and the rising trend of space tourism drive the growth of the global space tourism market.

PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Space Tourism Market by Type (Orbital and Sub Orbital), End Use (Government and Commercial): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2031". According to the report, the global space tourism industry generated $598.4 million in 2021, and is anticipated to generate $12.6 billion by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 36.4% from 2022 to 2031.

Prime determinants of growth

The rise in technological advancements, consistent transformations in technology, and the rising trend of space tourism drive the growth of the global space tourism market. However, the technical risks with these types of activities restrict the market growth. Moreover, the focus on research and development (R&D) initiatives by market players is creating many opportunities for the market growth in the coming years.

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Covid-19 Scenario

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the global space tourism market, owing to the implementation of the global lockdown.

The growth of the space tourism market was hampered by setbacks in the travel and tourism sector. It was believed that this could lengthen space missions and momentarily halt long-haul missions. There are now more options for supersonic and hypersonic flights because of the expansion of corporate jet travel and in-flight connectivity. When compared to other mediums, it has enabled the companies to realize the potential for time savings on long-haul flights.

The sub orbital segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on type, the sub orbital segment held the highest market share in 2021, accounting for nearly three-fifths of the global space tourism market, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period, as it allows individuals to experience weightlessness and observe space without actually exiting the Earth's orbit. However, the orbital segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 37.2% from 2022 to 2031. As more people become interested in space activity, there is a growing demand for orbital space tourism.

The commercial segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on end use, the commercial segment held the highest market share in 2021, accounting for nearly three-fifths of the global space tourism market, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. Seven out of the thirteen commercial spaceflight flights, which were carried out by various private and governmental entities, were completed successfully, thereby boosting the segment. However, the government segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 37.2% from 2022 to 2031. The International Space Station (ISS) is now open to non-astronauts thanks to NASA and other space agencies and international governmental entities. To promote space tourism in Low Earth Orbit, NASA has joined forces with Axiom and SpaceX in a triangular alliance. Such efforts boost the government segment.

North America to maintain its dominance by 2031

Based on region, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2021, accounting for more than two-fifths of the global space tourism market, and is likely to dominate the market during the forecast period. The area has a highly developed infrastructure and a sizable research and development base, which will enable it to dominate the global market in terms of revenue throughout the anticipated time. The market expansion has also been fueled by the sizeable presence of small and medium-sized businesses in North America that supply goods and services to industry titans like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic. Due to high-net-worth individuals' preference for space tourism and the expansion of technology investments in the area, the U.S. is anticipated to maintain its supremacy over the projection period. However, the LAMEA region is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 68.1% from 2022 to 2031. Factors such as growth in space activities and government initiatives & investments drive growth in LAMEA space industries.

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Leading Market Players: -

Blue Origin,

Virgin Galactic,

SpaceX,

Airbus Group SE,

Boeing,

ZERO-G,

Axiom Space,

Bigelow Aerospace,

Orion Span ,

, Space Adventures,

Space Perspective,

World View Enterprises,

Zero2Infinity



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DUBLIN, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Spain Tractor Market - Industry Analysis & Forecast 2022-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Spain has over 46.8 million food consumers and is the fourth-largest food market in Western Europe. It has more than 50% of its area under agricultural land, covering more than 2 million hectares despite its high population density.

The country witnessed a massive increase in farm mechanization, both in terms of agricultural and industrial productivity, driven by a technological revival in the last decade. The Spain tractor market plays a key role in farming as it eases the work and increases productivity.

Globally, the demand for organic products is rising because of the associated health benefits such as fewer or no chemicals and fertilizers, non-GMO yield, and ethical farming. Spain is the leader in organic farming in the EU.



In Spain, a significant ecosystem centered on agricultural innovation is being created. Many solutions are being developed to support a highly effective and sustainable agri-food system, from multinational corporations to start-ups and SMEs.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

The Spain tractor market grew by 9.3% in 2021 from 2020. The increase in crop production and machinery sales was due to a favorable climate and government support to farmers through incentives in 2021.

In 2020, Spain imported USD 1.5 billion worth of tractors, of which 22.0% was from Germany, 20.9% from France, and 13.8% from the Netherlands.

More than 2.3 million hectares of Spain are used for agriculture. Spain's Agricultural sector generated USD 54.65 billion in revenue, accounting for 12% of the total income of the European Union.

Spain's government plans to double the quantity and revenues from agricultural products exported by 2025, with the share of farming exports growing relatively slowly. The government identifies regions according to their current production of export foods and their potential to increase production with the help of new institutional reforms.

In 2020, Spain exported USD 1.4 billion worth of tractors. Around 34.4% were exported to Italy, 15.1% to Germany, and 10.5% to France.



MARKET TRENDS & OPPORTUNITIES

Use of Energy-efficient Machinery

The Positive Agriculture project aims to improve the living conditions of those who are a part of the agricultural supply chain and to provide essential equipment sustainably.

This aim joins an already announced objective to reduce total greenhouse gas (GHC) emissions by 40% by 2030 and zero emissions by 2040. The adoption of energy-efficient machinery in the Spain tractor market will enable the fulfillment of these objectives.

Assistance to Farmers through Loans & Subsidies

Agriculture is a significant source of income for Spain's economy. Therefore, the government sustains and empowers Spain farmers. The government launched several policies and missions to help farmers by providing them with financial assistance, better infrastructure, competitive crop prices, loan waivers, and subsidies.

Such factors also favor the growth of the Spain tractor market. The Rural Development Program of Spain Productivity Scheme provides funding for projects in the country that improve productivity in the farming and forestry sectors and helps create jobs and growth in the rural areas.

Use of Non-conventional Fuels in Tractors

Conventionally, farmers used diesel engine tractors known for their high power in the Spain tractor market. Due to machine technologies and engine advances, machines are now more efficient and can complete tasks with less power. The volatility in diesel prices hampers the budget management of farmers.

Manufacturers in Spain are now focusing on the development of alternate fuel-based tractors. Tractors that run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), propane, diesel, and kerosene are available these days. New Holland's methane-powered concept tractor has the performance and durability of its diesel equivalent with up to 30% running cost savings.

REGIONAL ANALYSIS



The Spain tractor market is currently in the growth stage, and manufacturers seek capacity augmentation in the country. Northern Spain still has little farm mechanization, and vendors can explore the province with a portfolio of medium-sized machinery suitable for hilly terrains. The demand for agriculture tractors in Central and Southern provinces was high in 2021. Strong demand for agriculture machinery is expected to come from the Eastern province, with a CAGR of 4.84% during the forecast period.



In the Eastern province, dry farming land is used to grow crops like wheat, barley, olives, and grapes. However, the irrigated land is much more productive and produces most of the Eastern province's agricultural output. The main crops grown in the irrigated zones are fruit, fodder, and corn (maize).

The combined penetration of mechanized implements and tractors in the Eastern zone is close to 32%, with manual and animal-driven tools comprising 38% and 30%, respectively. Wheat and barley are significant crops, constituting 28% and 16% of the total crop production in Eastern Spain.

VENDOR LANDSCAPE

In terms of units sold, John Deere and New Holland were the two largest manufacturers in the Spain tractor market. In 2021, John Deere was the highest-selling brand in the country, with more than 20% of the overall tractors sold.

tractor market. In 2021, John Deere was the highest-selling brand in the country, with more than 20% of the overall tractors sold. In March 2022 , John Deere launched the new electric variable transmission (EVT) for select 8 Series Tractors and a new JD14X engine for 9 Series.

, John Deere launched the new electric variable transmission (EVT) for select 8 Series Tractors and a new JD14X engine for 9 Series. AGCO and AgRevolution showcased new solutions from Fendt, Massey Ferguson , and Hesston by Massey Ferguson at the National Farm Machinery in Louisville, Kentucky , in February 2022 .

, and Hesston by at the National Farm Machinery in , in . In March 2021 , CNH Industrial partnered with Monarch Tractors, an Agri-technology company, to improve long-term sustainability and raise awareness among farmers of the importance of zero-emission agriculture.

, CNH Industrial partnered with Monarch Tractors, an Agri-technology company, to improve long-term sustainability and raise awareness among farmers of the importance of zero-emission agriculture. Massey Ferguson launched the MF 8S series tractors. This series of tractors is distinguished by a guard-u install engine and a neo-retro design. These machines are designed to advance smart farming technologies.

Key Vendors

John Deere

CNH Industrial

AGCO

Kubota

Other Prominent Vendors

SDF

JCB

Iseki Farm Implement Trading Co.

Arbos Group

Key Topics Covered:



1 Research Methodology



2 Research Objectives



3 Research Process



4 Scope & Coverage

4.1 Market Definition

4.2 Base Year

4.3 Scope of the Study



5 Report Assumptions & Caveats

5.1 Key Caveats

5.2 Currency Conversion

5.3 Market Derivation



6 Market at a Glance



7 Premium Insights



8 Introduction

8.1 Overview

8.2 Value Chain Analysis

8.2.1 Overview

8.2.2 Raw Material & Component Suppliers

8.2.3 Manufacturers

8.2.4 Dealers/Distributors

8.2.5 Retailers

8.2.6 End-Users

8.3 Agricultural Land Holding Structures

8.4 Common Agricultural Policy & the European Union Agricultural Expenditure

8.5 Import & Export Analysis

8.6 Technological Advances



9 Market Landscape

9.1 Market Overview

9.2 Market Size & Forecast



10 Horsepower

10.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine

10.2 Market Overview

10.4 50-100 Hp

10.5 101-150 Hp

10.6 151-200 Hp

10.7 201-300 Hp

10.8 Above 300 Hp



11 Drive Type

11.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine

11.2 Market Overview

11.3 2-Wheel-Drive

11.4 4-Wheel-Drive



12 Province

12.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine

12.2 Market Overview

12.3 Northern

12.3.1 Market Overview

12.3.2 Market Size & Forecast

12.3.3 Northern Spain Agricultural Tractor Market by Horsepower

12.3.4 Northern Spain Agricultural Tractor Market by Drive Type

12.4 Eastern

12.5 Central

12.6 Southern



13 Market Opportunities & Trends

13.1 Technological Advances in Tractor Technology

13.1.1 Gps Technology

13.1.2 Autonomous or Self-Driving Tractors

13.2 Shortage of Agricultural Labor

13.3 Use of Energy-Efficient Tractors

13.4 Use of Non-Conventional Fuels in Tractors



14 Market Growth Enablers

14.1 Assistance to Farmers Through Loans & Subsidies

14.2 Increased Agricultural Productivity & Exports

14.3 Increased Farm Mechanization



15 Market Restraints

15.1 Lack of Awareness of the Latest Innovations in Agricultural Equipment

15.2 High Demand for Used & Rental Tractors



16 Five Forces Analysis



17 Competitive Landscape

17.1 Competition Overview

17.1.1 Recent Developments by Top Players

17.1.2 Brand Loyalty

17.1.3 Recent Developments by Top Brands

17.1.4 Sales & Exports

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/gi45md

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
All-new hub strategically placed to further strengthen relationships with StoreDot's US OEM partners and future customers

Facility is set to accelerate StoreDot's development of semi solid battery technology and battery material research

US team of researchers is led by global Chief Science Officer Dr. David Lee with plans to recruit extensively from world class local talent pool

with plans to recruit extensively from world class local talent pool StoreDot's XFC batteries and systems are currently undergoing testing programs with multiple electric vehicle manufacturers

Company remains on target for mass production of '100in5' cells by 2024 delivering at least 100 miles of range in just five minutes of charging

HERZLIYA, Israel, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- StoreDot, the pioneer of extreme fast charging battery technology for electric vehicles, today announces further global expansion with the official opening of its first US research facility in Irvine, California, USA.

The new lab facility will be used to speed up StoreDot's development of semi-solid battery technology and battery material research. Its location was chosen to access the wealth of talent in the West Coast of the US and to strengthen the company's relationship with US-headquartered electric vehicle manufacturers.

Dr David Lee, Chief Science Officer and Head of US R&D Center at StoreDot

The US team is headed by StoreDot's global Chief Science Officer Dr David Lee with ambitious plans to rapidly expand the company's US-based R&D expertise. Dr Lee and his team will work in tandem with StoreDot's Israel-based R&D headquarters, enabling it to scale up globally and remain firmly on track for its 100inX strategic technology roadmap. Announced last year, the roadmap will see the delivery of mass produced battery cells capable of 100 miles of range in five minutes of charge by 2024, 100 miles in three minutes by 2028 and 100 miles in two minutes by 2032.

StoreDot Chief Science Officer Dr David Lee, "With the growing activity of testing programs around the globe, the opening of our new US R&D innovation hub is further evidence of our rapid expansion. Now that we have an operational US base, we are looking to harness the world-class talent pool here to bolster the development of our leading XFC technology and its future generations. It's an honor to be leading this team which will work closely with our Israel headquarters and bring new skills and scientific capabilities to the company as we scale-up our business and transitioning to mass production."

StoreDot is currently yielding positive feedback from multiple global car makers after shipping 300 Wh/kg in EV form factor for real-world testing last year. These cells achieve a world-leading consecutive extreme-fast charging of above 1,000 cycles demonstrating a Silicon-dominant chemistry with no battery degradation due to XFC.

It has a growing network of strategic global partnerships and investors, spanning the entire battery ecosystem. To date it has received investments from global automotive manufacturers including Daimler, Ola Electric, Polestar, VinFast and Volvo Cars.

About StoreDot:

StoreDot is the pioneer and leader of extreme fast charging (XFC) electric vehicle batteries that overcome the critical barriers to mainstream EV adoption  range and charging anxiety. The company has revolutionized the conventional Li-ion battery by designing and synthesizing proprietary organic and inorganic compounds, optimized by Artificial Intelligence algorithms, making it possible to charge an EV in under ten minutes  the same experience as refuelling a conventional combustion engine car.

Through its '100inX' product roadmap, StoreDot's battery technology is delivering 'Range on DemandTM': 100 miles charged in 5 minutes in 2024, 100 miles charged in 3 minutes by 2028, and an extreme energy density solution enabling 100 miles to be charged in 2 minutes by 2032. StoreDot's strategic investors and partners include Daimler, BP, VinFast, Volvo Cars, Polestar, Ola Electric, Samsung, TDK, and its manufacturing partner EVE Energy. In 2022, the company achieved a world first by demonstrating a live extreme fast charging of an EV battery cell in 10 minutes, capable of over 1000 consecutive charging cycles. StoreDot is on target for mass production readiness of 100in5 technology by 2024.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1979915/Dr_David_Lee.jpg

SOURCE StoreDot
As the first of its kind, the survey will provide critical knowledge on compensation in rural healthcare.

PORTLAND, Maine, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Stroudwater Associates, the nation's leading source for strategic, operational, financial, and clinical strategy for rural and community healthcare, has partnered with The National Rural Health Association (NRHA), a national nonprofit membership organization with more than 21,000 members, on a physician and advanced practice provider compensation survey specifically for rural organizations.

NRHA Logo

"While there is quite a bit of information about compensation in urban or suburban settings, the rural healthcare space severely lacks data in this arena," said Opal H. Greenway, J.D., MBA, Principal at Stroudwater Associates. "By partnering with NRHA, we'll have access to data from rural organizations that will be able to assist hospitals in making more sound compensation choices."

This survey will be the first of its kind and allow hospitals to use data to make more informed decisions when considering physician compensation and additional benefits.

"The obstacles faced by health care providers in rural areas are vastly different from those in urban areas," said Alan Morgan, CEO of NRHA. "It's critical that we understand how compensation looks in this space, and not use antiquated  and often inaccurate  standards that are set by our urban counterparts. This survey and its subsequent findings will be a step in the right direction that set hospitals up for success."

The survey opens on January 10th and will close at midnight EST on January 31st. To view and complete the survey, visit www.stroudwater.com/compensation-survey.

To learn more about Stroudwater, visit www.stroudwater.com.

To learn more about NRHA, visit www.ruralhealth.us.

About Stroudwater Associates

Founded in 1985, Stroudwater Associates is a leading national healthcare consulting firm with offices in Atlanta, Nashville, and Portland, Maine. We focus on strategic, operational, and financial areas where our perspective offers the highest value for rural hospitals, community hospitals, healthcare systems, and large physician groups. Stroudwater's team includes clinicians, managers, corporate officers, investment bankers, financial analysts, and content specialists with deep domain expertise.

Media Contact:

Ashley LaFleur

(618) 660-6963

[email protected]

SOURCE Stroudwater Associates
The Company has helped the brand created by Jo Malone CBE to achieve exceeded-expectations sales in the Chinese market

SHANGHAI, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- S'YOUNG International ("S'YOUNG", "the Company"), the initiator of CP cooperation model, a digital-driven open platform for global beauty brands to connect with the Chinese market, has expanded its partnership with Jo Loves ("the brand"), the newest brand from legendary fragrance entrepreneur, Jo Malone CBE. Jo Loves has been supported locally by S'YOUNG and achieved significant results in the Chinese market despite challenging conditions.

Faced with the evolving consumer views and general market conditions in China, S'YOUNG team shares a clear vision with the brand. The Company works closely with Jo Loves team to promote what is genuinely a unique brand and serves as the brand's China Partner, focusing on brand-building, product management, and marketing, rather than merely being a salesperson.

The innovative fragrance collection, Jo Loves, crafted by Jo Malone CBE personally, is being specifically marketed toward Gen Z consumers. In 2020, Jo Loves was midway through an international rollout when the pandemic hit. As Jo Malone CBE said in the interview with Vogue Business, she believes that instead of fancy offices and meeting rooms, a brand requires "creativity, a great team, great partners" to achieve success.

Jo Loves' higher-than-expected sales numbers in China are made possible with support from S'YOUNG. Through a combination of crafting the brand narrative based on deep insights, as well as extensive marketing and operational experience, S'YOUNG has helped Jo Loves impress the Chinese consumers with a customized strategy. On this year's International Women's Day, Jo Loves' best-selling perfume, Mango Thai Lime, exceeded one-million-yuan sales within just 5 minutes in a live-streaming campaign organized by S'YOUNG, now it has become the top-selling imported perfume on Tmall, China's biggest business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce platform.

S'YOUNG International empowers global beauty brands to connect with the Chinese market by focusing on cultural localization, effective operations, advertising and distribution. The 4,000+ team has worked with more than 50 major international brands, including KIKO, CELLEX-C, MEMO PARIS, MESOESTETIC, ZELENS, LUMENE as well as reaching strategic cooperation with the Johnson & Johnson Group to assist in the e-commerce execution of its full line of consumer goods in China, including Dr. Ci:Labo, Listerine, Neutrogena, and more.

For more information, please visit: https://syoungintl.com/ .

SOURCE S'Young Group Co., Ltd.
Paul Lee Promoted to Operating Partner of Tailwater Capital

Doug Prieto Promoted to CEO of Tailwater E&P

DALLAS, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tailwater Capital LLC ("Tailwater"), a private equity firm that takes a full immersion approach to investing in energy and growth infrastructure solutions, today announced the promotion of two senior leaders within the Tailwater family. Paul Lee, who previously served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Tailwater Capital, has been promoted to Operating Partner, where he will continue to play an integral role across Tailwater's investment initiatives, with a particular focus on cultivating and evaluating operated upstream opportunities. Doug Prieto, who previously served as President of Tailwater Royalties, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Tailwater E&P, LLC, a newly branded entity that combines its existing non-operated exploration and production (E&P) and royalties businesses. Lee and Prieto will serve in critical leadership roles within the Tailwater family and will work closely together across all upstream opportunities. Both promotions became effective in 2022.

The newly branded Tailwater E&P team will manage Tailwater's existing non-operated E&P investment platform, an owner of non-operated working interests in high-quality upstream oil and gas assets, and Tailwater Royalties, a buyer of oil and gas mineral interests in the Lower 48. In addition, Tailwater E&P will play a key role in the technical evaluation of the firm's midstream infrastructure and upstream investments. Tailwater E&P will work closely with Tailwater's investment professionals to support the firm's operated E&P strategy to develop a comprehensive upstream portfolio across operated, non-operated and royalties verticals within the E&P space.

The expanded E&P team will leverage complementary insights across all of Tailwater's businesses to identify proprietary investment opportunities for minerals, royalties and non-operated working interests in premier basins. The existing teams  comprised of cross-functional investment professionals, engineers, finance, business development and land professionals  will continue in their current roles.

About Tailwater Capital LLC

Dallas-based Tailwater Capital is a growth-oriented energy and growth infrastructure private equity firm with a strong track record of working constructively with proven management teams to deliver value-added solutions. Tailwater has raised more than $3.8 billion in committed capital since inception and the team has executed more than 100 transactions representing over $23 billion in value. For more information, please visit www.tailwatercapital.com.

Contacts

Jill McMillan

Managing Director, Communications & Public Affairs

Phone: 214-489-7047

Email: [email protected]

John Schaufele

Managing Director, Investor Relations & Fundraising

Phone: 214-489-7043

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Tailwater Capital LLC
The 2023 Total Talent Guide reveals how employers can level up compensation, benefit offerings, and company culture to win over talent in a new era of work

NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tandym Group, a leading national recruitment, contract staffing, consulting, and workforce solutions company, released its 2023 Total Talent Guide titled, Smarter Strategies + Salaries for a New Era of Work. Research from the report shows that while it's critical that companies understand today's salary landscape, they must be willing to go beyond competitive compensation to successfully engage top talent in today's unprecedented job market.

"Heading into 2023, the job market is sending mixed signals. Loud layoffs are making headlines, but many industries are eager to hireand cannot secure the talent they need fast enough," says Dave Muller, Executive Vice President of Tandym Group's Technology vertical. "Though market shifts will persist, the hiring environment will continue to be competitive for employers. Talent has become more selective than ever, and are no longer responding to old engagement strategies. We hope the information presented in this guide helps our partners future-proof their talent strategy."

Findings of the report include:

Job seekers are feeling confident:

91% of professionals who resigned during the Great Resignation, don't regret it



Nearly 30% of professionals plan on leaving their job within the next year

Compensation is a top engagement driver

43% of employees do not feel compensated in a way that motivates them to perform their best at work



57% of professionals would consider returning to a former employer for increased salary potential

Contractors feel left out

Nearly a quarter of contract employees do not feel included in their company's culture

Employees lack opportunities for career development

50% of employees do not see a path for career advancement with their current company

Addressing burnout and mental health must be a priority

64% of employees would like increased access to mental health resources at their company



41% of employees do not agree that their company promotes a healthy work-life balance

The compensation data presented in the 2023 Total Talent Guide is based on market research and other proprietary data collected by Tandym Group. The analysis reveals salary benchmark information for sectors including Technology, Human Resources, Legal, Financial Services, Accounting & Finance, Marketing & Creative, Healthcare, and Life Sciences.

The full report can be accessed, here.

About Tandym Group

Tandym Group is a leading national recruitment, contract staffing, consulting, and workforce solutions company with offices throughout the U.S. The company serves clients across a broad range of verticals, including Healthcare, Technology, Life Sciences, and Professional Services (which includes Accounting, Financial Services, HR/People & Operations, and Legal). For more information, please visit: tandymgroup.com.

Media Contact:

Stephanie Klemperer

[email protected]

212-871-0607

SOURCE Tandym Group
Open-air outlet leader employed strategies to advance overall health and safety initiatives for shoppers and employees

Greensboro, N.C., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. (NYSE: SKT), a leading operator of upscale, open-air outlet centers, today announced it has achieved the International WELL Building Institute's (IWBI) WELL Health-Safety Rating for Facility Operations and Management for all 36 properties in the company's portfolio.

"At Tanger, we know how important it is to build confidence that all our facilities are a safe place for communities to gather, and that we have policies and procedures that are designed to protect the well-being of our employees, retail partners and shoppers coming to the centers," said Leslie Swanson, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Tanger. "We are proud to have earned this certification and look forward to continuing to find innovative ways to improve health and safety across Tanger locations."

Informed by the WELL Building Standard and more than 600 building and health scientists, practitioners, representatives from the business community and other experts, the WELL Health-Safety Rating for Facility Operations and Management is a roadmap for driving resilience across both business policies and operational plans. This designation underscores Tanger's continuing commitment to be a safe and welcoming space for all.

Tanger used the WELL rating criteria to update its current policies and procedures across its national portfolio and at corporate headquarters. The nearly year-long process required inventory assessments as well as revisions to employee benefits, health resources, and operational protocols to ensure compliance across all centers.

The measures Tanger has taken to support health and safety are numerous and include creating enhanced sanitation procedures, implementing emergency preparedness programs, sharing health service resources, assessing air and water quality management and promoting health and well-being by cultivating a culture of health and safety through regular communications with stakeholders.

"Across the world, we've seen a massive dawning of awareness that our buildings and spaces can be a first line of defense against disease and enhance our resilience for the future. None of this would be possible without organizations like Tanger that have demonstrated commitment to people's health and safety by achieving the WELL Health Safety Rating across its centers and offices," said Rachel Hodgdon, President & CEO, IWBI. "This is a tremendous accomplishment, and I want to congratulate and thank Tanger for their significant contributions toward better buildings, more vibrant communities and stronger organizations."

The WELL Health-Safety seal will communicate a sense of confidence to all Tanger shoppers, employees, and brand partners that facilities are maintaining the most effective and up-to-date practices for safety and wellness. Tanger will continue to follow WELL guidelines and implement best-in-class procedures set by the organization each year. More information about the WELL rating is available at wellcertified.com/health-safety. To learn more about Tanger's centers, visit tangeroutlets.com.

About Tanger Factory Outlet Centers

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. (NYSE: SKT) is a leading operator of upscale open-air outlet centers that owns (or has an ownership interest in) and/or manages a portfolio of 36 centers with an additional center currently under development. Tanger's operating properties are located in 20 states and in Canada, totaling approximately 13.9 million square feet, leased to over 2,700 stores operated by more than 600 different brand name companies. The Company has more than 42 years of experience in the outlet industry and is a publicly-traded REIT. For more information on Tanger Outlet Centers, call 1-800-4TANGER or visit the Company's website at tangeroutlets.com.

About the International WELL Building Institute

The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation and the world's leading organization focused on deploying people first places to advance a global culture of health. IWBI mobilizes its community through the administration of the WELL Building Standard (WELL) and the WELL Health-Safety Rating, management of the WELL AP credential, the pursuit of applicable research, the development of educational resources, and advocacy for policies that promote health and wellbeing everywhere. More information on WELL can be found here.

International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL Portfolio, WELL Portfolio Score, The WELL Conference, We Are WELL, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rating, WELL Health-Safety Rated, WELL Performance Rating, WELL Performance Rated, WELL Equity Rating, WELL Equity Rated, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.

Media Contact

Kasie Wilson

KWT Global

[email protected]

[email protected]

SOURCE Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc.
Succeeding Tami Newcombe, Now President & CEO of Fortive's Precision Technologies Segment

BEAVERTON, Ore., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tektronix, Inc. has promoted Christopher Bohn to President of the global test and measurement company. Bohn most recently served as the Vice President Global Sales & Operations, where he was responsible for delivering global revenue growth and working cross-functionally to drive integration and customer focus between all revenue related functions.

Tektronixs New President, Chris Bohn, officially assumed the role January 1st, 2023

Tami Newcombe, who served as President of Tektronix for four years, has fully transitioned to her new role as President & CEO of Precision Technologies at Fortive Corporation, a position she's held since December 2021. Tektronix is an operating company within the Fortive portfolio of essential technologies for connected workflow solutions.

"Chris is the natural next leader of Tektronix. I am certain that he will continue  and progress  the remarkable growth journey that Tektronix is on," says Tami Newcombe. "Chris is a collaborative leader, who values teamwork and prioritizes the growth and development of his teams naturally bringing together people to leverage their unique skills, talents, and knowledge to achieve a common purpose."

Bohn brings to the role a breadth of commercial, strategic, and continuous improvement experience and expertise that he gained over 15 years in global roles of increasing responsibility across Fortive's two largest operating companies, Fluke and Tektronix.

"I'm extremely excited to continue the growth momentum at Tektronix by bringing outstanding solutions and services to our customers that help them accelerate technology advancements in the world," says Bohn. "For over 75 years, Tektronix has been at the forefront of helping customers bring new technologies to market and I'm happy to lead an organization with such a rich tradition of technology leadership."

"As an engineer, veteran, and business leader, I'm drawn not only to technological innovation, but also to the culture and processes that have supported successful companies," says Bohn. "That culture  and the business processes that enable growth in both revenue and innovation  are what truly set an organization apart. I'm proud that Tektronix continues to invest in the best people, products, performance, and quality for our customers."

From 2019 to 2021, Bohn served as the Vice President General Manager for Keithley Portfolio Solutions driving double-digit growth, a simplified product and software portfolio, and a customer-focused innovation roadmap that resulted in the most profitable period in its 75+ year history. Prior to joining Tektronix, Bohn worked for Fluke, leading numerous teams across Sales, Marketing and Customer Service functions.

Bohn is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering and served five years in the U.S. military. Bohn earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

About Tektronix

Tektronix, Inc., headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, delivers innovative, precise, and easy-to-operate test, measurement, and monitoring solutions that solve problems, unlock insights and drive discovery globally. Tektronix has been at the forefront of the digital age for more than 75 years. More information on our products and solutions is available at Tek.com.

Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , and LinkedIn to stay connected. Learn more from our engineers on the Tektronix blog and read our latest announcements in our Newsroom .

Tektronix is a registered trademark of Tektronix, Inc. All other trade names referenced are the service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

SOURCE Tektronix, Inc.
Significant addition to the firm's strategic communications capabilities

LONDON and NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Teneo, the global CEO advisory firm, today announced a significant addition to the firm's strategic communications capabilities with an agreement to acquire Tulchan Communications LLP ("Tulchan"), a leading independent M&A, financial and corporate communications advisory firm.

Tulchan advises a wide range of public and private companies, and their boards, on significant M&A transactions, IPOs and critical corporate reputation issues covering all major stakeholders. The firm also has a strong presence in Singapore where it has been established for over 10 years. Tulchan was founded by Andrew Grant, Senior Partner in May 2000 and today has over 70 professionals in London and Singapore.

The Tulchan senior team, who will all be joining Teneo as part of the transaction, have a diverse range of skills and backgrounds across media, investment banking, government and industry. They will become part of Teneo's Strategy and Communications team in London and Singapore, reporting into Nick Claydon (CEO of Teneo UK) and Lauren Chung (CEO of Teneo Strategy & Communications Asia-Pacific) respectively.

Following completion of the acquisition, Andrew Grant will become Chair of Teneo's UK Strategy and Communications business and Andrew Feldman, Tulchan's Managing Partner will become Vice Chair. They will work in partnership with Teneo's broader integrated team around the world across multiple business segments including Financial Advisory, Management Consulting, Risk Advisory and People Advisory.

Paul Keary, Teneo CEO said: "Today marks a significant milestone in the continued growth of Teneo. Andrew and the Tulchan team are deeply experienced and highly respected advisors who will help expand the breadth and depth of our M&A and c-suite advisory in London, Singapore and around the world. Following this transaction, our team will number over 1,600 professionals providing a wide range of integrated consulting services not found at any other advisory firm."

Nick Claydon, Teneo UK CEO said: "In a world of constant and unprecedented disruption, our clients are looking to us for experienced counsel as they navigate complexity. Tulchan brings a highly accomplished team with deep expertise in shareholder and stakeholder communications that will strengthen our financial and political offer, as well as many long-standing client relationships."

"Together we will provide clients with high quality advice to address their critical financial, societal and political challenges. The acquisition will strengthen our capabilities in London as a full-service advisory firm that meets our clients' needs. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues into the firm."

Andrew Grant, Senior Partner at Tulchan, said: "For more than twenty-two years, we have worked hard to build Tulchan into an advisory firm which both served the needs of our clients and of which we could be proud. I would like to thank all of my colleagues, past and present, and all of the clients, and their advisors, for whom we have acted for their support and confidence."

"In that time the environment in which companies operate has changed beyond recognition, and so has the shape and scale of our industry. We know that our clients are increasingly seeking a broader range of communication expertise, as well as international representation. Combining Tulchan with Teneo's platform, both in London and internationally, will transform the expertise we can bring to our clients, as well as offer outstanding new opportunities for our colleagues. We are looking forward to joining the Teneo team, working with our new colleagues and continuing to earn the respect and trust of clients now and into the future."

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer served as legal advisors to Teneo on the transaction. Tulchan were advised by Evercore and Macfarlanes LLP. The terms of the deal are not being disclosed. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close later this month.

ABOUT TENEO

Teneo is the global CEO advisory firm. We partner with our clients globally to do great things for a better future.

Our full range of advisory services includes strategic communications, investor relations, financial transactions and restructuring, management consulting, physical and cyber risk, organizational design, board and executive search, geopolitics and government affairs, corporate governance, ESG and DE&I.

For more information about Teneo, please visit teneo.com.

SOURCE Teneo
RRC's Sell-a-bration Conference Guarantees to Inspire

CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Residential Real Estate Council, the premier business organization for REALTORS and international real estate professionals, is preparing to celebrate the 35th anniversary of their annual conference, Sell-a-bration, February 8-10, 2023, in Atlanta, GA.

Originally labelled an annual national sales rally back in 1989, the conference began in Las Vegas and has been hosted in over 15 states totaling over 25,000 attendees. It is now known as the destination for residential real estate agents from all over the world, new agents, and veterans alike, to gather and share knowledge, build relationships, and get inspired. In its 35 years of existence, Sell-a-bration has stood out in the real estate industry as the best opportunity for peer-to-peer networking, quality educational sessions, and top-notch speakers. and this year will be no exception.

"In the crowded events industry, Sell-a-bration stands out as a consistent, top-notch global event with world-class education, high energy networking, and a welcoming and collaborative environment," says Jeff Hornberger, CEO of the Council.

Sell-a-bration attendees can look forward to educational sessions led by industry leaders, keynote speeches, and ample time to network including:

Opening keynote from Ben Kjar , NCAA All-American wrestler, professional speaker and real estate investor on "from Victim to Victor"





, NCAA All-American wrestler, professional speaker and real estate investor on "from Victim to Victor" Closing Keynote speech from Jia Jiang , author and owner of Rejection Therapy, a website that provides inspiration, knowledge and products for people to overcome their fear of rejection on "What You Can Learn from 100 Days of Rejection"





, author and owner of Rejection Therapy, a website that provides inspiration, knowledge and products for people to overcome their fear of rejection on "What You Can Learn from 100 Days of Rejection" 25 plus education sessions from over 40 top-producing agents on a multitude of relevant topics like inexpensive ideas to grow your business, mental fitness, running a team, generating organic referrals and dozens more





Special guest appearance and speech by Kenny Parcell , CRS, and President of National Association of REALTORS





, CRS, and President of National Association of REALTORS RRC Night Out where attendees and guests can mingle after house at New Realm Brewing Co. on the Atlanta Beltline, with open bar and food.





An opening Welcome Reception and a Closing Happy Hour for more chances to network over drinks and hors d'oeuvres

The Council will offer a virtual attendance option. Attendees can join Sell-a-bration from anywhere in the world offering an opportunity for all to stay up to date on the latest in residential real estate.

Registration is still open for Sell-a-bration 2023 at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, GA. RRC is offering a special promotion for first-time attendees for 20% off when they use code SABNEW. Participants who plan to attend are encouraged to register now as space is limited for specific events. For more information, including event registration, session selection, and hotel accommodations, please visit crs.com/sell-a-bration or contact RRC Customer Care at [email protected].

About the Residential Real Estate Council

The Residential Real Estate Council (RRC) seeks to empower real estate professionals to reach their full potential through education, networking, referrals and business resources. The organizational vision is to be the premier business development organization for REALTORS and international real estate professionals. The flagship designation, Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) is the gold standard designation for residential real estate professionals representing the top 2% on their market.

Media contact:

Kimberly Cure, Director of Communications

[email protected]

312-321-4428

SOURCE Residential Real Estate Council
Best Buy founder's family foundation donates $4 million and issues a $1.5 million matching challenge to support North America's only neurosurgery suite of its kind opening at Children's Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Children's Minnesota is thrilled to announce the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation donated $4 million to the health system's new pediatric hybrid intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) neurosurgery suite. The 2,970 square-foot iMRI surgical suite will be named after the foundation thanks to their lead gift, and opens next month at our Minneapolis hospital. Once operational, Children's Minnesota will become the first pediatric health system in North America with an iMRI suite equipped with both moving-scanner and moving-patient MRI technology in the same surgical space.

In addition to the multi-million-dollar donation, the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation launched a $1.5 million matching challenge happening now through Dec. 31, 2023. If the community gives $1.5 million exclusively to this challenge, the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation will match it to further support the new iMRI suite and the neurosciences program at Children's Minnesota.

"Our foundation is honored to support Children's Minnesota as they pioneer new ways  both technologically and clinically  to care for children across our region," said Mark Dienhart, president and CEO of the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation. "Part of our foundation's mission is to strengthen and support effective initiatives in health care that benefit all  this iMRI suite is now an important part of our mission."

"Children's Minnesota is deeply grateful for the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation's generous gift and continued support of the kids in our care," said Jenny Soderholm, president of the Children's Minnesota Foundation. "The namesake of this foundation is synonymous with innovation and philanthropy. As a nonprofit, Children's Minnesota relies on the generosity of our donors to power our hospitals and clinics, including this one-of-a-kind surgical suite."

Children's Minnesota's neurosciences program and radiology department will use the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation iMRI Surgical Suite to perform both brain and total spine scans mid-procedure all within the same surgical space. Here, experts will make updated, real-time, clinical decisions at the point of care based on each scans' results.

About Children's Minnesota

Children's Minnesota is one of the largest pediatric health systems in the United States and the only health system in Minnesota to provide care exclusively to children, from before birth through young adulthood. An independent and not-for-profit system since 1924, Children's Minnesota is one system serving kids throughout the Upper Midwest at two free-standing hospitals, nine primary care clinics, multiple specialty clinics and seven rehabilitation sites. As The Kids Experts in our region, Children's Minnesota is regularly ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a top children's hospital.

About the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation

Dick Schulze, founder of Best Buy, Inc., created his family foundation in 2004. The foundation primarily serves communities in Minnesota where the founder was born, raised his family, built Best Buy, Inc.  the world's largest consumer electronics retailer -- and in Florida where he now lives and works. The Schulze Family Foundation awards grants to nonprofits in the areas of human and social services, education (including college scholarships), and health and medicine.

SOURCE Children's Minnesota
The RYL Company is a wellness focused ready-to-drink tea delivering consistent and functional tea polyphenols, while offering addictive flavors without sugar or artificial ingredients

CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The RYL Company encouraging wellness enthusiasts to add more healthy, sustainable products to their shopping trips today announces its official launch across the Northeastern U.S. in Wegmans and select Whole Foods Market stores, with additional launches in Wakefern and nationwide Sprouts Farmers Market planned in the coming months.

Beverage industry executive Blodin Ukella, who grew up drinking tea as a wellness remedy in a Kosovo refugee family, founded The RYL Company after noticing a lack of crave-worthy options with healthy ingredients on the market.

RYL's indulgent taste profiles mimic nostalgic iced tea, while delivering similar health benefits of steeped tea. Tweet this

After raising $6.7 million from strategic investors and an intensive nine-month R&D process, The RYL Company invented proprietary "Ryl Polyphenol Technology"  a unique method and formula that delivers 200mg tea polyphenols consistently to each can. The line includes irresistibly indulgent taste profiles of nostalgic, well known iced tea, while delivering similar health benefits of homemade steeped tea, amidst being zero sugar, zero calories, and no artificial ingredients. RYL Tea is packaged in a fully recyclable aluminum can, challenging the traditional plastic-filled tea category.

The RYL Company debuts the line with four different flavors, perfectly sweetened by all-natural monk fruit and stevia leaf extract: Original Green Tea, Peach Black Tea, Raspberry Black Tea, and Lemon Black Tea. All products are Non-GMO Project Verified, OU Kosher, Gluten-Free, and Plant-Based.

"Wellness consumers are looking for more ways to eat and drink", The RYL Company's Founder & CEO, Mr. Ukella, comments. "At The RYL Company, we are focused on pioneering what we call the 'additive revolution' by bringing added value versus disruptive value to both consumers and retail partners. We're proud to deliver a trusted and transparent ingredient label via our proprietary Ryl Polyphenol Technology, and in parallel, add a delicious, functional wellness offering to the multibillion-dollar RTD tea category. Healthy can mean indulgence at the same time."

To buy online or for more The RYL Company information, visit https://www.drinkryl.com/, and @therylcompany on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.

ABOUT

Launched in January 2023 by beverage industry executive Blodin Ukella, The RYL Company takes inspiration from the traditional Albanian tea culture, and perfectly combines the real steeped tea benefits (the natural functionality of tea polyphenols) with delicious iced tea flavor and natural sweetness from monk fruit and stevia. Targeting the $95 billion (Statista data) global RTD tea market and a growing number of health-conscious Millennial and Gen-Z consumers, The RYL Company brings the category real health benefits and sustainability.

MEDIA CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE THE RYL COMPANY LLC
50 Best, the organisation behind The World's 50 Best Restaurants and The World's 50 Best Bars, announces its first global launch since 2009

LONDON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- 50 Best will launch the inaugural list of The World's 50 Best Hotels in September 2023, highlighting outstanding hotel experiences across the world that will shape the aspirations of millions of consumers, travellers and hoteliers.

The launch of The World's 50 Best Hotels will mark the pioneering brand's first official foray into travel and is another step in 50 Best's journey towards becoming the global reference point for the very best hospitality experiences across the world.

Tim Brooke-Webb, Managing Director of 50 Best, says: "Over the past 20 years we have become the market leader in providing the most reliable lists of expert-curated restaurants and bars on the planet. To us, it seems like a natural fit to complete the circle, uniting restaurants, bars and hotels. We want to create a unifying platform for the world's best hotels and the amazing individuals behind them but also for consumers, helping them to choose the truly best places to stay."

Mark Sansom, Director of Content for The World's 50 Best Hotels, continues: "We believe that there is a huge gap in the market for a truly egalitarian hotels ranking. Unlike other awards, there is no cost for entry, shortlisting or attendance."

The first-ever list of The World's 50 Best Hotels will be revealed at a live event in September 2023. The ranking will reflect the best travel experiences collated from 580 anonymous voters  a mix of hoteliers, journalists and experienced travellers  headed up by a group of Academy Chairs across nine regions globally. Voters are simply asked for their seven best experiences across the two-year polling period. Any hotel in the world is eligible for votes and they do not have to fit any criteria.

The Academy Chairs are as follows:

Cecilia Nunez, Latin America , the Caribbean

Danielle Demetriou , Japan , South Korea

Isabella Sullivan , Middle East , Africa

Jeninne Lee-St John , Southeast Asia

Kee Foong , China , Hong Kong , Taiwan , Macau

Lauren Ho , Europe

Michael Harden , Oceania

Yolanda Edwards , US, Canada

Zinara Rathnayake, South Asia

For more information on The World's 50 Best Hotels visit: theworlds50best.com/hotels

Media centre: https://mediacentre.theworlds50best.com/

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1973352/World_50Best_Hotels_Logo.jpg

SOURCE 50 Best
DUBLIN, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Alopecia Treatment Market - Forecasts from 2022 to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global alopecia treatment market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.44% to reach US$6,243.741 million by 2027, from US$3,539.835 million in 2020.



Increasing cases of the alopecia areata, which is considered one of the common autoimmune diseases and affects many individuals, leads to an increased demand for different types of medications to treat the condition. Alopecia areata is considered one of the common autoimmune diseases that result in hair loss in different body areas, including the scalp, face, and elsewhere.

The most common symptoms of this condition start during the childhood of all males and females and affect males and females of all ages. According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF) estimates, approximately 6.8 million people alone in the US and 147 million people worldwide suffer from or will suffer from this condition at some point in their lives. Alopecia areata patchy, alopecia areata totalis, and alopecia areata Universalis are the most common types of alopecia areata.

The Alopecia area has three types, including alopecia areata patchy, alopecia areata totalis, and alopecia areata Universalis, among others.

Although the condition alopecia areata is not curable, the condition can be treated as the hair follicles remain alive, and normal hair growth can be resumed if the treatment and medication are taken. Sometimes, however, hair growth can resume even without undergoing treatment or consuming medications. Hence, these factors lead to a surge in demand and cause the market's growth to propel over the forecast period.



Some individuals are consuming oral and topical medicals, including steroids, azathioprine, methotrexate, and ciclosporin, among others. These types of medications affect the immune systems of these patients and lead to the weakening of their immune systems, thus making them more prone to being infected by a coronavirus.

In addition, the use of topical medications such as creams, lotions, and steroidal injections will also need to cause an increase in the chances of contracting the coronavirus. Therefore, these factors lead to an increase in awareness among individuals to avoid using a medicine containing such components to mitigate the risk of coronavirus infection.



Product Offerings by Major Market Players in the Alopecia Treatment Market



Furthermore, the market players are also contributing significantly to meeting the increasing demand for alopecia treatment medications by different end-user industries by offering and launching a variety of different types of mediations medication, including oral and topical. This leads to a surge in their market share, improving their market share and thereby positively impacting the market growth over the forecast period.



Recently, in March 2020, Eli Lilly & Company and Incyte Corporation announced that they have had received the breakthrough designation for their new product called "Baricitinib," which facilitated the inhibition of JAK kinase to treat alopecia aerate, which is an autoimmune disorder that leads to hair loss on the in different areas such as the face, scalp, and body. The drug that has been developed will prevent the immune system from attacking the hair follicles and lead to the restoration of normal hair growth. The drug is pending approval and, if approved, it will be the first drug authorized by the FDA to be used as a treatment for alopecia areata.



Topical type treatment products are estimated to hold a considerable share over the forecast period due to their increased preference for oral treatment products.



Topical treatments or topical medications are defined as a type of medication applied to a particular place on the body. The topical medications are mostly applied on the skin or areas with mucous membranes and comprise a wide variety of classes such as creams, foams, gels, lotions, and ointments. An increasing number of consumers prefer topical medications to oral medications since topical medications are an easier and more convenient way to administer the correct dosage of the medication. It also has fewer risks of being abused by consumers. In addition, it also offers fewer chances of difficulties that are posed to the gastrointestinal tract as the absorption rate varies amongst different consumers.



The North American region is estimated to hold a significant share over the forecast period due to rising androgenic alopecia cases in high-income countries such as the US and the Asia Pacific region. It is estimated to increase its share over the forecast period due to investments being made into the healthcare sector.



The North American region is expected to hold a significant market share over the forecast period. Many leading pharmaceutical companies provide alopecia treatment products in this region and the well-established healthcare industry and infrastructure in the countries such as the US. In addition, there is faster adoption of alopecia drugs and treatments in this region owing to the onset of androgenic alopecia among the individuals in the US, which is attributed to the sedentary lifestyle they lead.



The Asia Pacific region is estimated to show promising growth prospects over the forecast period. This is attributable to the fact that several initiatives are being taken by the government, and many investments are being made poured into accelerating the development of the healthcare sector in countries such as India to make quality services available to the public.



Covid-19 Impact



The Alopecia Treatment Market was negatively impacted by the Covid-19 for a short period owing to the healthcare provided prior attention to the disease outbreak. All the focus is on treating the disease while halting all the other treatments for a while, which has impacted the market for the alopecia treatment.



Key Development



May 2022, THRIVE-AA1, the first of two Phase 3 trials to analyse the safety and efficacy of CTP543 in adult patients with severe alopecia areata, has yielded positive results for Concert Pharmaceuticals. THRIVE-AA2, a second Phase 3 trial, is currently underway.



January 2021, Follicum AB announced that the Phase IIa study with FOL-005 for hair loss treatment had finished and the patients involved in the study made their last visit to the clinics. The study looks at the safety and effectiveness of various doses of the potential drug FOL-005 in over 200 male subjects.



In March 2020, The US Food and Drug Administration has approved New Drug recognition for baricitinib for the therapies of alopecia areata (AA), an autoimmune condition that can end up causing unpredictable hair loss on the face, scalp, and other parts of the body, according to Eli Lilly and Company and Incyte Corporation.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Introduction

2. Research Methodology



3. Executive Summary



4. Market Dynamics

4.1. Market Drivers

4.2. Market Restraints

4.3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis

4.3.1. Bargaining Power of Suppliers

4.3.2. Bargaining Power of Buyers

4.3.3. Threat of New Entrants

4.3.4. Threat of Substitutes

4.3.5. Competitive Rivalry in the Industry

4.4. Industry Value Chain Analysis



5. Global Alopecia Treatment Market Analysis, By Condition Type

5.1. Introduction

5.2. Alopecia Areata

5.3. Alopecia Totalis

5.4. Alopecia Universalis



6. Global Alopecia Treatment Market Analysis, By Medication Type

6.1. Introduction

6.2. Oral

6.3. Topical

6.4. Others



7. Global Alopecia Treatment Market Analysis, by Geography



8. Competitive Environment and Analysis

8.1. Major Players and Strategy Analysis

8.2. Emerging Players and Market Lucrativeness

8.3. Mergers, Acquisitions, Agreements, and Collaborations

8.4. Vendor Competitiveness Matrix



9. Company Profiles

9.1. Concert Pharmaceuticals.

9.2. Eli Lilly and Company

9.3. Pfizer Inc.

9.4. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

9.5. GlaxoSmithKline plc

9.6. Cipla

9.7. HCell Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/6ttuuu

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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SOURCE Research and Markets
Leading Residential Cleaning Brand Celebrates Successful 2022 and Lets Life Shine by Focusing on Cleaners and Expanding Charitable Programs

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Two Maids, the leading residential cleaning franchise, announced today a total brand refresh and enhanced mission to focus on the people at the core of the brand's success. The refresh of their Two Maids brand, formerly Two Maids & a Mop, comes on the heels of a milestone 2022 that saw the franchise concept open its 100th location and a 22% increase in sales leading a network-wide revenue total of over $52 million.

The new Two Maids mission will put an enhanced focus on building deeper relationships with and empowering franchisees to enhance each franchise operator's commitment to their cleaners with opportunities for continued education and ongoing support services. Two Maids is also committed to strengthening their support of the communities the brand serves by aligning with two non-profit organizations, Cleaning for a Reason and the Alliance for Hope International.

Cleaning for a Reason provides free home cleaning to patients battling cancer, since 2006 they have provided free home cleaning for more than 47,000 patients with an estimated value of more than $15 million dollars. Two Maids is enhancing their long-standing relationship with Cleaning for a Reason by becoming an Elite Franchise Partner. Through the existing relationship with Cleaning for a Reason, Two Maids has served more than 1,700 patients by providing over $500,000 of free cleans over the last decade.

The Alliance for Hope International is one of the leading systems and social change organizations in the country focused on creating innovative, collaborative, trauma-informed, hope-centered approaches to meeting the needs of survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and their children, through several initiatives including a network of more than 150 family justice centers across the nation. Two Maids and the Alliance for Hope are coming together to develop a mutually beneficial relationship with a focus on supporting and caring for survivors of domestic violence, a deeply humanitarian issue that impacts over ten million people in the United States per year including both Two Maids cleaners and customers.*

"At the heart of our business Two Maids is built to serve. Our mission has always been about more than just clean homes, our franchise family deeply values our franchisee's cleaners and customers and know they are the core of what makes life shine," said Paul Ebert, president of Two Maids. "We have always strived to cultivate an uplifting company culture where ideas are heard and each associate feels cared for and supported. We believe in taking care of people  be it our franchisees, their cleaners, customers, or those in our communities who may need a little help."

Two Maids opened their 100th franchise location in the United States in Q3 of 2022 with additional openings in the following quarter and marking a 20% total increase from 2021.

"We are excited to launch our new look and tagline 'Let Life Shine,' we know that we will continue to exceed the expectations of our customers by providing them the same excellent customer service and clean homes that they expect from Two Maids." added Ebert. "At the same time our organization is taking this opportunity to establish our franchise locations as the preeminent place to work in the cleaning industry. We will do that by demonstrating that we are powered by caring, not only caring about improving the homes of our customers but the lives of the cleaners who are providing the service, and the communities that we serve."

To learn more about the Two Maids brand and franchise development opportunities, visit https://www.twomaidsfranchise.com/.

About Two Maids

Founded in 2003 in Pensacola, Florida, Two Maids currently operates in more than 80 markets across the United States. Designed to provide greater flexibility for customers, the brand offers multiple cleaning packages ranging from one-time cleans to routine services and takes pride in providing safe and reliable professional-grade cleaning supplies and products. Two Maids has received numerous accolades including being ranked on the 2021 Entrepreneur Franchise 500 list, for the third consecutive year, and named 2020's fastest-growing cleaning company in America by Inc. Magazine for the fifth time in the past seven years. For more information, visit www.twomaidsandamop.com.

*According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence: https://ncadv.org/STATISTICS#:~:text=On%20average%2C%20nearly%2020%20people,10%20million%20women%20and%20men.

Contact:

Sarah O'Connor-Guffey

Fish Consulting

954-893-9150

[email protected]

SOURCE Two Maids & A Mop
NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws.

Class Period: August 3, 2022 to November 7, 2022

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: January 10, 2023

No obligation or cost to you.

Learn more about your recoverable losses in UIS:

https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/unisys-corporation-loss-submission-form?id=35416&from=4

Unisys Corporation NEWS - UIS NEWS

CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that Unisys Corporation made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the Company's 2022 financial guidance was significantly overstated; (ii) accordingly, once the truth was revealed, it was likely that the Company would be required to negatively revise its 2022 financial guidance; (iii) in addition to the foregoing, material weaknesses existed in the Company's internal control over financial reporting; and (iv) as a result of all of the foregoing, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in Unisys you have until January 10, 2023 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

NO COST TO YOU: If you purchased Unisys securities during the relevant period, you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out-of-pocket fees.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FINANCIAL INTERESTS: For additional information about the UIS lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/unisys-corporation-loss-submission-form?id=35416&from=4.

ABOUT KLEIN LAW FIRM

J. Klein, Esq. represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. The Klein Law Firm is a boutique litigation firm with experience in a wide range of areas including securities law, corporate finance and commercial litigation. Since 2011, our experienced attorneys have achieved superior results for our clients with a personalized focus. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

CONTACT:

J. Klein, Esq.

535 Fifth Avenue

4th Floor

New York City, NY 10017

[email protected]

Telephone: (212) 616-4899

www.kleinstocklaw.com

SOURCE The Klein Law Firm
Company CEO Dr. Sanjay Doddamani Presented at J.P. Morgan Healthcare's Conference

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UpStream Healthcare, a risk-bearing primary care enablement company, was among a relatively short list of value-based providers to present at the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference. UpStream has a unique model of care developed over three decades by company founder, Fergus Hoban, of embedding pharmacists and nurses into primary care practices and in the community to improve the coordination of care. The company recently raised $140 million in series B funding that was noted by industry reports to be one of the largest raises in its category in the last quarter.

Dr. Sanjay Doddamani, CEO of UpStream, presents at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

Company CEO, Dr. Sanjay Doddamani, a physician, and former CMS official hailed their rapid growth as being reflective of the intense demand for a better clinical and financial model in senior focused care. UpStream reports growing from 250+ primary care providers (PCPs) in 2022 to over 1000+ PCPs across 3 states - from 4 to 24 counties in North Carolina and announcing new partnerships in South Carolina and South-Eastern Virginia.

With an impassioned voice, Doddamani said, "that without the necessary supports, many older, sicker patients with complex medical conditions struggle to fend for themselves and stay out of hospital."

He added, "We are a small company compared to some of our peers at this conference, but with a very big idea that older sicker adults can live more meaningful, independent lives without the burden of chronic disease. To get there, we go upstream by giving patients and the doctors caring for them, better resources, better care, and better economics."

The company reported doubling their revenue approaching $2 billion compared to last year and covers a total of approximately 180,000 Medicare-eligible patients. "We see reduced total costs for engaged patients at steady state between 20-30%," reported Doddamani. "Rather than several point solutions, ours is a platform approach. We use technology to risk stratify patients with greater medical needs, and then apply our pharmacist-led care teams to address their medical and social issues, closing gaps in care and focusing on improving medication adherence to control their underlying conditions."

At a time of great economic uncertainty, and recently announced federal cuts to physician reimbursement, UpStream is helping transition more primary care physicians from fee-for-service to value-based payments, adopting a graded payment that is tied to quality. Doddamani said, "UpStream reduces financial risk for doctors to embrace value-based care, while at the same time making the process more transparent. With dwindling margins and challenges to economic stability, two-thirds of primary care physicians have at some point considered selling their practices. It's time for a new model of care and financial dependency of solely fee-for-service."

About UpStream

UpStream Healthcare Company is a global risk, managed services organization providing physicians with the support and systems they need to improve healthcare for seniors. The company provides a powerful platform that allows physicians, pharmacists, and nurses to work together in primary care practices to achieve better outcomes and value. For more information, please visit UpStream.care.

SOURCE UpStream Healthcare
Valour Inc., a securities issuer wholly owned by NEO-listed Valour, has obtained the approval of a renewed EU-base prospectus covering digital assets ETP-products by the Swedish Regulator SFSA





For the month ending December '22, Valour's total assets under management (AUM) stood at $77.88M , with net sales increasing to $340.7M .

TORONTO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Valour Inc. (the "Company" or "Valour") ( NEO: DEFI) (GR: MB9) (OTC: DEFTF), a technology company and the first and only publicly traded company that bridges the gap between traditional capital markets, Web3 and decentralised finance, is proud to announce the approval of its renewed EU-base prospectus covering digital assets ETP-products by the Swedish regulator SFSA.

This expansion of Valour's product line is a significant step forward in the company's mission to make digital assets more accessible and facilitate their integration with traditional assets. These new products will allow investors to diversify their portfolios by combining digital asset exposure with other asset classes such as equities and commodities, and will also provide access to benefits of derivative tools like leveraged or capital protection investments. This is an exciting development for Valour as it continues its mission to make digital assets more accessible and facilitate their integration with traditional assets.

"We are pleased to be able to offer additional types of ETP securities to investors under the new base prospectus approval," said Olivier Roussy Newton, CEO of Valour. "This enables expansion of our product line and is a testament to our dedication to providing industry-leading investment opportunities and the necessary infrastructure, security, and collaboration to support the growth and maturation of digital assets. We are confident that these new securities will provide our investors with a unique opportunity to diversify their portfolios and capitalize on the potential of these innovative assets."

For the month ending December '22, Valour's total assets under management (AUM) stood at $77.8M, with net sales increasing to $340.6M. These figures indicate a healthy interest in Valour's suite of exchange traded products, and steady growth all round. During the past year, Digital-asset funds saw total net inflows of $433M of which Valour was able to capture almost a 10% market share.1

- Valour Total Accumulated Net Sales: $340'693'787

- Valour Net Sales for December: ($623'905)

- AUM for End of December: $77'882'607

Valour offers fully hedged digital asset ETPs with low to zero management fees, with product listings across European exchanges, banks and broker platforms. Valour's existing product range includes Valour Uniswap ( UNI ), Cardano ( ADA ), Polkadot ( DOT ), Solana ( SOL ), Avalanche ( AVAX ), Cosmos ( ATOM ), Binance ( BNB ), Enjin ( ENJ ), Valour Bitcoin Carbon Neutral , and Valour Digital Asset Basket 10 ( VDAB10 ) ETPs with low management fees. Valour's flagship products are Bitcoin Zero and Ethereum Zero, the first fully hedged, passive investment products with Bitcoin ( BTC ) and Ethereum ( ETH ) as underlyings which are completely fee free.

About Valour

Valour Inc. (NEO: DEFI) (GR: RMJ.F) (OTCQB: DEFTF) is a technology company and the first and only publicly traded company that bridges the gap between traditional capital markets and decentralised finance. Founded in 2019, Valour is backed by an acclaimed and pioneering team with decades of experience in financial markets and digital assets. Valour's mission is to expand investor access to industry-leading Web3 and decentralised technologies. This allows investors to access the future of finance via regulated equity exchanges using their traditional bank account and access.

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking information:

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to the Offering; the regulatory environment with respect to the growth and adoption of decentralized finance; the pursuit by Valour and its subsidiaries of business opportunities; and the merits or potential returns of any such opportunities. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but is not limited the acceptance of Valour exchange traded products by exchanges; growth and development of DeFi and cryptocurrency sector; rules and regulations with respect to DeFi and cryptocurrency; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Valour, Inc.
NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Technavio, the global vegan cosmetics market size is estimated to grow by USD 5,872.81 million from 2022 to 2027. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.5% during the forecast period. Moreover, the growth momentum will progress. Europe will account for 36% of the growth of the global market during the forecast period.

For more insights on market size, request a sample report

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Vegan Cosmetics Market 2023-2027

Global vegan cosmetics market - Five forces

The global vegan cosmetics market is fragmented, and the five forces analysis covers

Bargaining power of buyers

The threat of new entrants

Threat of rivalry

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of substitutes

For interpretation of Porter's five forces model  buy the report!

Global vegan cosmetics market - Parent market analysis

Technavio categorizes the global vegan cosmetics market as a part of the global personal products market, which covers products and companies engaged in research and development and the production of personal and beauty care products, including cosmetics and perfumes. Technavio calculates the size of the global personal products market based on the combined revenue generated by manufacturers of these products.

Find insights on the parent market and value chain analysis, and download an exclusive sample!

Global vegan cosmetics market  Customer landscape

The report includes the market's adoption lifecycle, from the innovator's stage to the laggard's stage. It focuses on adoption rates in different regions based on penetration. Furthermore, the report also includes key purchase criteria and drivers of price sensitivity to help companies evaluate and develop their growth strategies.

Global vegan cosmetics market - Segmentation assessment

Segment overview

Technavio has segmented the market based on distribution channel (offline and online) and type (skincare, hair care, cosmetics, and others).

The offline segment will contribute significantly to the market's growth during the forecast period. This segment comprises specialty stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores, clubhouse stores, and others. Offline shopping formats build trust among consumers. Cosmetics companies offer free samples to potential customers through their brand outlets. Consumers tend to purchase new cosmetics at retail stores. These factors have made the offline sales channel segment dominant in the vegan cosmetics market.

Geography Overview

Based on geography, the global vegan cosmetics market is segmented into Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa. The report provides actionable insights and estimates the contribution of all regions to the growth of the global vegan cosmetics market.

Europe is estimated to account for 36% of the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The UK, Germany , France , and Russia are some of the leading cosmetics markets in the region. Vegan cosmetics are not tested on animals. Many countries in Europe have banned the testing of cosmetics on animals. Thus, various cruelty-free cosmetics have been launched in the region. All these factors will drive the growth of the regional market during the forecast period.

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Global vegan cosmetics market  Market dynamics Key factor driving market growth

The promotional and marketing strategies employed by cruelty-free cosmetics vendors are notably driving the vegan cosmetics market growth.

Numerous cruelty-free cosmetics products are being launched across the world.

Vendors such as L'Oreal are investing in promoting and marketing cruelty-free cosmetics by acquiring small cruelty-free cosmetics brands.

In addition, numerous cosmetics startups are focusing on cruelty-free cosmetics.

Such factors are expected to drive the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Leading trends influencing the market

The growth of the e-commerce market is a key trend in the vegan cosmetics market.

Small or medium-sized cosmetics companies are leveraging e-commerce to promote their products.

the advent of social media, the increasing penetration of the internet, and the growing adoption of smartphones allow customers to access a wide range of cosmetics.

Such factors are expected to support the market's growth during the forecast period.

Major challenges hindering the market growth

Stringent guidelines for obtaining vegan or cruelty-free certification are impeding the vegan cosmetics market growth.

Cruelty-free certification assures consumers that a product is not tested on animals.

Some of the guidelines for obtaining the Certified Vegan logo are no use of animal products, no animal testing, no use of animal genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and details of the ingredient suppliers.

As a result, earning a vegan logo is cost- and time-intensive.

Therefore, cosmetics brands are hesitant to add cruelty-free products to their product portfolio.

These factors will challenge the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Drivers, trends, and challenges have an impact on market dynamics, which can impact businesses. find some insights from a sample report!

What are the key data covered in this vegan cosmetics market report?

CAGR of the market during the forecast period

Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the vegan cosmetics market between 2023 and 2027

Precise estimation of the size of the vegan cosmetics market and its contribution to the parent market

Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

Growth of the vegan cosmetics market across Europe , North America , APAC, South America , and Middle East and Africa

, , APAC, , and and A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about vendors

Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of vegan cosmetics market vendors

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The cosmetics market size is expected to increase by USD 78.89 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 5.36%. This report extensively covers the cosmetics market segmentation by type (skin care, hair care, makeup, fragrance, and others), end-user (women and men), distribution channel (offline and online), and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and the Middle East and Africa).

The online premium cosmetics market size is expected to increase by USD 15.26 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 7%. The rise in the aging population is notably driving the online premium cosmetics market growth, although factors such as the high cost of cosmetic skincare products may impede the market growth.

Vegan Cosmetics Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 163 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.5% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 5,872.81 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 5.75 Regional analysis Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution Europe at 36% Key countries US, Japan, UK, Germany, and France Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Coty Inc, Debenhams Plc, e.l.f. Beauty Inc., Kose Corp., LOreal SA, Lush Retail Ltd., MAV Beauty Brands Inc., Milk Makeup LLC, MO MI by Modern Minerals Inc., Natura International Inc., New Earth Beauty LLC, New Milani Group LLC, Pacifica Beauty LLC, PHB Ethical Beauty Ltd., PUIG S.L., The Estee Lauder Co Inc, Unilever PLC, and Yes To Inc. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, and Market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Browse for Technavio's consumer staples market reports

Table of contents

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Distribution Channel



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Type



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 09: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 10: Parent market



Exhibit 11: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 12: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 13: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2022

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2022-2027

Exhibit 14: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 16: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 17: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

4 Historic Market Size

4.1 Global cruelty free cosmetics market 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 18: Historic Market Size  Data Table on Global cruelty free cosmetics market 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.2 Distribution channel Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 19: Historic Market Size  Distribution channel Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.3 Type Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 20: Historic Market Size  Type Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.4 Geography Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 21: Historic Market Size  Geography Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.5 Country Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 22: Historic Market Size  Country Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

5 Five Forces Analysis

5.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 23: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2022 and 2027

5.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 24: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2022 and 2027

5.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 25: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 26: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 27: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 28: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.7 Market condition

Exhibit 29: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2022 and 2027

6 Market Segmentation by Distribution Channel

6.1 Market segments

Exhibit 30: Chart on Distribution Channel - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Distribution Channel - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

6.2 Comparison by Distribution Channel

Exhibit 32: Chart on Comparison by Distribution Channel



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Comparison by Distribution Channel

6.3 Offline - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 34: Chart on Offline - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Offline - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 36: Chart on Offline - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 37: Data Table on Offline - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.4 Online - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 38: Chart on Online - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Online - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 40: Chart on Online - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Online - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.5 Market opportunity by Distribution Channel

Exhibit 42: Market opportunity by Distribution Channel ($ million)

7 Market Segmentation by Type

7.1 Market segments

Exhibit 43: Chart on Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 44: Data Table on Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

7.2 Comparison by Type

Exhibit 45: Chart on Comparison by Type



Exhibit 46: Data Table on Comparison by Type

7.3 Skin care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 47: Chart on Skin care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 48: Data Table on Skin care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 49: Chart on Skin care - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 50: Data Table on Skin care - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.4 Hair care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 51: Chart on Hair care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 52: Data Table on Hair care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 53: Chart on Hair care - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 54: Data Table on Hair care - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.5 Cosmetics - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 55: Chart on Cosmetics - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 56: Data Table on Cosmetics - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 57: Chart on Cosmetics - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 58: Data Table on Cosmetics - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.6 Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 59: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 60: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 61: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 62: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.7 Market opportunity by Type

Exhibit 63: Market opportunity by Type ($ million)

8 Customer Landscape

8.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 64: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

9 Geographic Landscape

9.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 65: Chart on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 66: Data Table on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%)

9.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 67: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 68: Data Table on Geographic comparison

9.3 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 69: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 70: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 71: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 72: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.4 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 73: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 74: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 75: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 76: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 77: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 78: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 79: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 80: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 81: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 82: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 83: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 84: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 85: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 86: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 87: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 88: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.8 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 89: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 90: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 91: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 92: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.9 UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 93: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 94: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 95: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 96: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.10 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 97: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 98: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 99: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 100: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.11 France - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 101: Chart on France - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 102: Data Table on France - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 103: Chart on France - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 104: Data Table on France - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.12 Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 105: Chart on Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 106: Data Table on Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 107: Chart on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 108: Data Table on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 109: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10.1 Market drivers

10.2 Market challenges

10.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 110: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2022 and 2027

10.4 Market trends

11 Vendor Landscape

11.1 Overview

11.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 111: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

11.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 112: Overview on factors of disruption

11.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 113: Impact of key risks on business

12 Vendor Analysis

12.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 114: Vendors covered

12.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 115: Matrix on vendor position and classification

12.3 Coty Inc

Exhibit 116: Coty Inc - Overview



Exhibit 117: Coty Inc - Business segments



Exhibit 118: Coty Inc - Key offerings



Exhibit 119: Coty Inc - Segment focus

12.4 Debenhams Plc

Exhibit 120: Debenhams Plc - Overview



Exhibit 121: Debenhams Plc - Business segments



Exhibit 122: Debenhams Plc - Key offerings



Exhibit 123: Debenhams Plc - Segment focus

12.5 e.l.f. Beauty Inc.

Exhibit 124: e.l.f. Beauty Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 125: e.l.f. Beauty Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 126: e.l.f. Beauty Inc. - Key offerings

12.6 Kose Corp.

Exhibit 127: Kose Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 128: Kose Corp. - Product / Service



Exhibit 129: Kose Corp. - Key offerings

12.7 LOreal SA

Exhibit 130: LOreal SA - Overview



Exhibit 131: LOreal SA - Business segments



Exhibit 132: LOreal SA - Key news



Exhibit 133: LOreal SA - Key offerings



Exhibit 134: LOreal SA - Segment focus

12.8 Lush Retail Ltd.

Exhibit 135: Lush Retail Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 136: Lush Retail Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 137: Lush Retail Ltd. - Key offerings

12.9 MAV Beauty Brands Inc.

Exhibit 138: MAV Beauty Brands Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 139: MAV Beauty Brands Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 140: MAV Beauty Brands Inc. - Key offerings

12.10 Milk Makeup LLC

Exhibit 141: Milk Makeup LLC - Overview



Exhibit 142: Milk Makeup LLC - Product / Service



Exhibit 143: Milk Makeup LLC - Key offerings

12.11 MO MI by Modern Minerals Inc.

Exhibit 144: MO MI by Modern Minerals Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 145: MO MI by Modern Minerals Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 146: MO MI by Modern Minerals Inc. - Key offerings

12.12 Natura International Inc.

Exhibit 147: Natura International Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 148: Natura International Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 149: Natura International Inc. - Key offerings

12.13 New Earth Beauty LLC

Exhibit 150: New Earth Beauty LLC - Overview



Exhibit 151: New Earth Beauty LLC - Product / Service



Exhibit 152: New Earth Beauty LLC - Key offerings

12.14 New Milani Group LLC

Exhibit 153: New Milani Group LLC - Overview



Exhibit 154: New Milani Group LLC - Product / Service



Exhibit 155: New Milani Group LLC - Key offerings

12.15 Pacifica Beauty LLC

Exhibit 156: Pacifica Beauty LLC - Overview



Exhibit 157: Pacifica Beauty LLC - Product / Service



Exhibit 158: Pacifica Beauty LLC - Key offerings

12.16 PUIG S.L.

Exhibit 159: PUIG S.L. - Overview



Exhibit 160: PUIG S.L. - Product / Service



Exhibit 161: PUIG S.L. - Key offerings

12.17 The Estee Lauder Co Inc

Exhibit 162: The Estee Lauder Co Inc - Overview



Exhibit 163: The Estee Lauder Co Inc - Product / Service



Exhibit 164: The Estee Lauder Co Inc - Key news



Exhibit 165: The Estee Lauder Co Inc - Key offerings

13 Appendix

13.1 Scope of the report

13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 166: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 167: Exclusions checklist

13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 168: Currency conversion rates for US$

13.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 169: Research methodology



Exhibit 170: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 171: Information sources

13.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 172: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

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Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
There's only one catch: Reservations are required, and with reservations expected to fill quickly, guests are encouraged to sign up early at OpenTable.com. Participating Castles can be found at WhiteCastle.com/locations (scroll down to "Celebrate Valentine's Day at the Castle!").

"Valentine's Day is the day when White Castle becomes Love Castle, and we can't wait to celebrate it in person in 2023," said Jamie Richardson, vice president at White Castle. "It's an opportunity to gather with those we love and savor the flavor of all the Castle has to offer, all in a festive atmosphere with affordable prices that won't bust anyone's budget. This is what feeding the souls is all about, and we're excited that the tradition we have loved and missed is back!"

2023 marks the 32nd year that White Castle has observed Valentine's Day with a special celebration. The last in-person Valentine's Day dine-in experience in 2020  just a few weeks before COVID shut everything down  attracted more than 30,000 Cravers.

Special menu items available for Valentine's Day

The Love Cube meal for two, inspired by pandemic constraints in 2022, is back in 2023. This Valentine's Day exclusive, which is available while supplies last, features eight cheese sliders, two sharable sides and two small soft drinks. The Love Cube can be ordered for carry out and for dining in.

"Variety is the spice of life, and our special menu this year is full of variety that will make Valentine's Day memorable," Richardson said.

Adding to that variety is a brand-new, custom Coca-Cola Freestyle beverage, the Sprite Love Castle Potion. It is the marriage of the cool crispness of lemon-lime, a pop of cherry and a kiss of smooth, creamy vanilla. The one-of-a-kind liquid refreshment is available only on Feb. 14.

Cravers should leave room for a sweet nightcap. The Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake-on-a-Stick is the perfect treat to end the night. It features strawberry swirl cheesecake in a chocolate cookie crumb crust. Craver Nation members can get a buy one, get one (BOGO) dessert-on-a-stick coupon for use only in Castles between Feb. 10 and 14.

Cravers will fall head over heels with new Valentine's Day merch

Food isn't the only thing White Castle will be offering to tempt Cravers! It has a new line of merchandise specifically to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Love Castle silk robe: The soft-to-touch magenta garment featuring a red belt is perfect for lounging and relaxation 365 days a year.

Love Castle sunglasses: These heart-shaped glasses are the perfect accessory piece for your date-night attire.

White Castle T-shirts in two different designs: The Love Castle Candy Tee and the Love Castle Crave Tee crew neck shirts allow you to wear our heart on your sleeve.

These items can be purchased from White Castle's House of Crave, an online store featuring these and other White Castle-branded items.

About White Castle

White Castle, America's first fast-food hamburger chain, has been making hot and tasty Sliders since 1921. Based in Columbus, Ohio, the family-owned business owns and operates more than 350 restaurants as well as a retail division providing its famous fare in freezer aisles of retail stores nationwide. As part of its commitment to offering the highest quality products, White Castle owns and operates its own Slider Provider meat plants, bakeries and frozen-Slider retail plants. White Castle has earned numerous accolades over the years including Time magazine's "Most Influential Burger of All Time" (2014, The Original Slider) and Thrillist's "Best Plant-Based Fast-Food Burger" (2019, Impossible Slider). In 2021, Fast Company named the fast-food pioneer one of the "10 Most Innovative Dining Companies." White Castle, which earned the Great Place to Work Certification in 2021 and 2022, is known for the legendary engagement of its team members, more than 1 in 4 of whom have worked for the business for at least 10 years. White Castle is beloved by its passionate fans ("Cravers"), many of whom compete each year for entry into the Cravers Hall of Fame. The official White Castle app makes it easy for Cravers to sign up for the Craver Nation loyalty program, access sweet deals and place pickup orders at any time. They can also have their orders delivered using one of White Castle's delivery partners. For more information on White Castle, visit whitecastle.com.

SOURCE White Castle
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Woodruff Sawyer, one of the largest independent insurance brokerages in the US, announced today the release of the 2023 Cyber Looking Ahead Guide. Covering pricing, regulatory requirements, legal liability and risk mitigation trends, the Guide provides expert advice for any company purchasing cyber liability insurance in 2023.

National Cyber Practice Lead Dan Burke talks about the issues and trends companies will encounter as they buy cyber liability insurance in 2023

The good news is that leading into 2023 it appears that the cyber insurance market is normalizing. After two years of price increases and a downturn in the frequency of ransomware attacks, insurance carrier loss ratios are healthier now. While that doesn't translate into decreasing prices, it does point to prices moderating.

From a regulatory standpoint, companies doing business in California face new challenges with the newly enacted CPRA, which became operational on January 1, 2023. In addition, new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations are on the horizon with rules intended to improve cyber governance, enhance cyber risk oversight and drive more timely cyber incident disclosures.

At the same time, CISOs and C-Suite executives are increasingly liable for cybersecurity failures. While accountability isn't new, being held criminally liable is, making the need for comprehensive insurance coverage a must.

Dan Burke, Senior Vice President, and National Cyber Practice Leader notes, "The last few years have been challenging so we're all breathing easier with pricing normalization. Meanwhile, carriers remain highly concerned about the impact of widespread cyber events and we'll continue to see a focus on security controls, as carriers demand their customers invest even more in cybersecurity. Building a comprehensive cyber program is vital for all companies and that's where our expertise comes in  we're here to navigate, advise, and problem solve."

For deeper insights, advice, and our predictions for the cyber liability landscape in 2023, please join our free Cyber Insurance Trends: Looking Ahead to 2023 webinar on January 25, 2023, at 10 AM PST/1 PM EST.

About Woodruff Sawyer

As one of the largest insurance brokerage and consulting firms in the US, Woodruff Sawyer protects the people and assets of more than 4,000 companies. We provide expert counsel and fierce advocacy to protect clients against their most critical risks in property and casualty, management liability, cyber liability, employee benefits, and personal wealth management. An active partner of Assurex Global and International Benefits Network, we provide expertise and customized solutions where clients need it, with headquarters in San Francisco, offices throughout the US, and global reach on six continents. For more information, call 844.972.6326, or visit woodruffsawyer.com.

Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE Woodruff Sawyer
Doha, Jan 10 : Qatar on Monday announced providing $25 million to help Pakistan tide over the flood crisis, the official Qatar News Agency reported.

The dole was announced in a speech by Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sultan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi at the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan, held in Geneva.

Al-Muraikhi said that Qatar's support stems from its commitment to the spirit of international solidarity and cooperation, and their role in mitigating crises, the importance of meeting the needs and priorities of reform and reconstruction stages following the devastating floods.

The Minister pointed out that the conference was being held when the climate crisis is at the top of the global agenda, adding that it continues to have negative consequences, causing severe damage to various sectors and impacting hundreds of millions of people around the world.

"It was sad to see the scale of this devastating disaster, the loss of lives, and the painful scenes of destruction caused by the floods in Pakistan, along with displacement and suffering facing the people of Pakistan," Al-Muraikhi added.

The scale of this devastating crisis, the Minister said, is evidence and a reminder that climate change still constitutes an existential threat that emphasises the importance of international solidarity and cooperation, as well as taking urgent measures to address the challenges faced by the world.

Al-Muraikhi commended the Pakistani government and its response and endeavours made by the UN and all humanitarian actors to meet the urgent needs of the people as well as lauded the efforts made to prepare a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment.

The Minister pointed out that Qatar spared no effort to stand by Pakistan and in providing urgent relief aid to support those affected by the floods, out of its recognition of the importance of multilateral cooperation and in the commitment to values based on solidarity and partnership.

"In September 2022, Qatar also dispatched the first flight of the air bridge to support Pakistan fight the floods, and that flight was equipped with specialised mechanisms for search and rescue operations, as well as a medical team with integrated equipment," he said.
Gorakhpur, Jan 10 : Three persons have been arrested by the police in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur for allegedly being involved in the supply of illegal arms and ammunition, police said.

One of the accused, K.C. Tiwari, who claimed to be a student leader, was arrested from the Khorabar police station limits of Gorakhpur, and hand-made pistols and cartridges were recovered from his possession.

His name had surfaced during the questioning of former Samajwadi Party State Secretary Kunwar Pratap Singh's son Vijay Pratap, who was arrested in a celebratory firing case on January 6.

Gorakhpur Superintendent of Police (City), Krishna Kumar Bishnoi, said Tiwari, during his questioning, revealed the names of some others from Kushinagar district who were involved in the arms racket.

On the instructions of Gorakhpur Additional Director General of Police, Akhil Kumar, the police launched an operation and arrested one Guddu Kanaujia and Yadvendra Yadav from a village under the Gola police station.

A police official said that two hand-made pistols were recovered from the accused duo (Guddu and Yadvendra), who allegedly supplied illegal arms to buyers in the Maharajganj district.
Kanpur, Jan 10 : A man in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur, released from jail on bail in a case of molestation of a school girl, has been arrested again for allegedly molesting the victim and threatening her to withdraw the case, police said.

The accused, identified as Anas, was arrested by Kanpur police and sent to jail two years ago after a girl filed a molestation case against him.

The incident has taken place at a school and it was alleged that the accused had been stalking the girl.

The accused allegedly flirted with the girl in school and also tried to rape her, the police added.

When the girl informed her parents about the incident, her father approached the police and lodged a complaint.

On the basis of this complaint, Anas was arrested and later sent to jail, police officials said.

The police said that the accused was released on bail recently.

After his release from jail, he allegedly started following the girl at the school and molested her again. The accused allegedly threatened the girl and asked her to withdraw the case, the police added.

"The girl's family after coming to know about this approached the police and lodged a complaint. Following the complaint, a case was registered at Naubasta police station, and the accused has been arrested," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), Kanpur City, Ankita Singh, said.

"We went through the accused's criminal record and found three complaints lodged by the victim's family in the same matter. We are going to extern him from district limits," the ADCP added.
Bengaluru, Jan 10 : Various pontiffs representing influential mutts and religious centres have stressed the need for imbibing moral education in schools at an early age to children in the round-table conference held by the Education Ministry in the Karnataka Assembly in Bengaluru on Monday.

Nirmalananda Natha Swamiji of Aduchunchanagiri Mutt, Shivacharya Swamiji of Sirigere Mutt, Vishwaprasanna Theertha Swamiji of Pejawar Mutt, SriSri Ravishankar Guruji from the Art of Living and Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji from JSS Mutt gave their advice over the matter to the BJP government in Karnataka.

Renowned scientist Kasturi Rangan and Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri attended the round-table conference.

Srigere Mutt Shivacharya swamiji opined that moral education is needed more for politicians rather than school children.

"If politicians reform, half of the society would get reformed. If they go on the wrong path, who will save the civil society?" he said.

He added that he does not have a second thought on imparting moral education to children. But those who teach them should be given moral education first, he said.

He called upon Assembly Speaker Hegde Kageri to provide moral education to politicians and ensure change.

Swamiji said that for the first time in the country, the National Education Policy (NEP) is being implemented in Karnataka.

The trend of children treading on the wrong path is a concern. At an early age they should be given moral education. They need to be taught the morals of Ramayan, Mahabharat and Bhagvad Gita, he added.

Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji of Adichunchanagiri Mutt said that children should be given an opportunity to learn out of their choices at their home and school. It is a decade-old demand that the human values, etiquette, democracy and values of Sanatana dharma and moral education should be imparted to children.

He complimented State Education MInister, B.C. Nagesh for taking opinion from religious seers. He opined that students will face difficulty if they are made to learn advanced psychology and philosophies. They should be imparted stage-by-stage.

Vishwesha Theertha Swamiji of Udupi Pejawar Mutt said, "Children should be given activities like learning values and sports. They should have knowledge on truth, non-violence and character of giving. The children have been turned into rank machines. They should have interaction to learn etiquette." Through education, the children should respect others. The changes in the children could be brought from good conduct of parents and the society. The practice of teaching children through Panchatantra tales should begin again, he said.

The violence on television has to come down, animals should not be killed in front of children. The non-vegetarian food should not be displayed in a way that it is visible to all, it is better to keep it inside, Vishwesha Theertha Swamiji said.

Ravishankar Guruji of the Art of Living, who joined the meeting virtually mentioned that 600 shootouts have taken place in America. "Moral education is the need of the hour. The menace of drugs in north India is worrying. This is a concern and they are into bad addictions." He also stressed that the menace of drugs had increased in the neighbouring state. "There is no problem as such in Karnataka, but it is picking up in urban areas. The education of a child should be given in a happy environment." A child gives a smile 400 times in nurseries. As it grows the number is reduced to 17. Those indulged in violence are getting the status of hero, Ravishankar Guruji said.

"In our ages one who was calm and peaceful was given that status," he added.

Seminars should be organised not only for teachers but also for parents, he said.

Kasturi Rangan, the President of NEP, said that the role of gurus in forming the culture of the country is important. In this backdrop, the opinion of all participants in the round-table meeting becomes important.

Minister B.C. Nagesh said that for various reasons there is an erosion of values and the meeting is organised in this perspective.
Brasilia, Jan 10 : Some 1,500 people have been arrested in Brazil in the wake of the violent riots staged by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro who stormed the Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential palace in the country's capital.

Authorities arrested 1,200 people on Monday in addition to 300 detained on Sunday just hours after the riots took place, reports the BBC.

According to Justice Minister Flavio Dino, some 40 buses which had been used to transport protesters to the capital had been seized.

Also on Monday, heavily armed officers dismantled a camp of Bolsonaro supporters in Brasilia -- one of a number that have been set up outside army barracks around the country since the presidential election in October 2022.

Sunday's violence came exactly a week after Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in.

Lula, who was President between January 2003 and December 2010, defeated Bolsonaro by a narrow margin in the October 31, 2022 run-off election.

Wearing shirts in the colours of Brazil's flag -- yellow and green -- the protesters vandalised the buildings in capital Brasilia that house the South American nation's key democratic institutions, reports the BBC.

The police had to resort to firing tear gas when the demonstrators wrapped in the national flag surrounded the presidential palace.

The violence left behind widespread damage -- almost every window on the presidential palace building's ground floor had been destroyed, forcing crews to remove each pane of glass and replace it with a new one.

The cobblestone pavement outside the palace also showed signs of damage, with large patches torn out by the rioters.

In the nearby Congress building, valuable works of art, including several high-profile pieces, were reportedly damaged by water or defaced during the riot, the BBC reported.

Lula and the heads of Congress and the Supreme Court said they "reject the terrorist acts and criminal, coup-mongering vandalism that occurred" on Sunday.

Meanwhile, BrasAlia Governor Ibaneis Rocha has been removed from his post for 90 days by the Supreme Court after being accused of failing to prevent the riot and of being "painfully silent" in the face of the attack.

Rocha has apologised for the violence.

Heads of state around the world have also denounced the violence, with the leaders of the US, Canada and Mexico issuing a joint statement on Monday condemning "attacks on Brazil's democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power".

Late on Monday, President Joe Biden "conveyed the unwavering support of the US for Brazil's democracy" during a phone call with Lula, the White House said in a statement.

It added that the Brazilian leader had accepted Biden's invitation to visit Washington in early February.
Lucknow, Jan 10 : A young woman was attacked and injured by a pack of stray dogs in Lucknow when she was going to college.

This was the fourth attack by stray dogs within a month in the Uttar Pradesh capital and the third in 10 days at Swapnalok colony.

The victim, Shivanshi Singh, was rescued by neighbours and admitted to a private hospital from where she was discharged after treatment.

"I left my home for college and after walking some distance, a pack of more than a dozen dogs started barking at me. Out of fear, I tried to run away, but I fell on the ground. One of the dogs bit my left hand. Hearing my cries, neighbours came and chased the dogs away. I was not able to go to college to take the test," she said.

A five-year old boy was also attacked and bitten by a stray dog two days ago. He was chased by dogs a week ago.

Lucknow Municipal Corporation chief veterinary officer Abhinav Verma said: "After receiving complaints I directed my team to capture the dogs and about four dogs have been picked up for sterilisation.
Agra, Jan 10 : An Iranian national has been arrested from Achnera block of Uttar Pradesh's Agra district for living illegally in India.

The police said that Behrouz Wali Zadeh, 26, came from Delhi to visit Fatehpur Sikri.

The matter came to light after Zadeh, 26, landed in an argument with a tea seller, following which the police were called on the spot.

Later, police sought help from the local intelligence unit that found that his visa had expired on April 26, 2021.

SHO Anurag Sharma said, "An FIR has been registered under the Foreigners Act. Following court orders, he was sent to jail on Monday. Case details have been sent to the Iranian Embassy."
Washington, Jan 10 : A six-year-old boy who shot his teacher at a school in the US state of Virginia sued his mother's legally purchased handgun, police said.

The incident took place on January 6 at the Richneck Elementary School in the city of Newport News, about 112 km south of the state capital Richmond, the BBC reported.

Addressing reporters on Monday, the city's police chief Steve Drew said the child brought the pistol to school in his backpack and fired one round at his teacher, Abigail Zwerner, during class.

He added that the "shooting was not accidental, it was intentional".

The police called the 25-year-old Zwerner, who remains in hospital in a stable condition, "a trooper and a hero", adding that she has asked him repeatedly about the well-being of her students who were in the classroom at the time of the shooting.

Zwerner was struck through her hand and into her upper chest, Chief Drew said, adding that she then made sure her students were safely outside the classroom, before making her way down to the school's administration office to call for help.

"She turned around to make sure that every one of those students was safe," the BBC quoted the police chief as saying.

The police found a 9mm Taurus pistol in the class near the student's desk, along with his backpack, a mobile phone and one spent shell casing.

Chief Drew said police determined through an interview with the child's mother that the gun was bought legally and stored in their home.

The child, who has not been identified, was taken into custody immediately after the incident and is undergoing evaluation in hospital, police said, adding that they will seek a temporary detention order.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident, Chief Drew said, including conducting more interviews with witnesses and local child services.

The school will remain closed all week to give students and families "time to heal", he added.
Pilibhit : , Jan 10 (IANS) A 33-year-old man was killed and dragged away by an adult male tiger to a nearby sugarcane field in Tanda Bijesi village of the district.

The incident took place under Neuria police limits.

Local forest officials said that the missing man's body was recovered from the cane field, half eaten by the big cat.

The corpse of the victim, Gokul Malik, was later sent for autopsy.

According to his family, Malik had gone for work to neighbouring Bangawan village in Uttarakhand. When he did not return home on Sunday, his family started looking for him.

Divisional forest officer of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, Naveen Khandelwal, and wildlife division Sanjeev Kumar and police officers reached the spot to collect information.

A team of forest officials from Uttarakhand also visited the place.

Following the incident, forest officials have deployed three field teams to monitor the tiger's movement and the Wildlife Trust of India has installed four camera traps.

Officials said, "The tiger might have strayed from the Surai range and retreated to the forest. We are collecting more information about it. Pug marks were measured to be 13x13cm which indicates that it was an adult male tiger." Chief conservator of forest (Bareilly zone), Lalit Verma, said, "The tiger might attack another villager again. We are trying to monitor the movement for the next 48 hours through camera traps, field units. If we find the big cat near some other village, we'll immediately seek permission from the chief wildlife warden to tranquilise and relocate it to another forest."
San Francisco, Jan 10 : Social networking platform Instagram has announced that it will remove the shopping tab from the main bar at the bottom of the screen, starting next month.

Moreover, the button to create a new post will move down, reports The Verge.

However, the Reels tab, which is currently present in the front and centre on the navigation bar, will replace the Shop tab.

The company also said that shopping will still be a part of the platform even without its shortcut on the home feed.

"You will still be able to set up and run your shop on Instagram as we continue to invest in shopping experiences that provide the most value for people and businesses across feed, stories, reels, ads and more," the company said in its support page.

In September last year, the company had started testing a main feed without a shopping button and said it wanted to "simplify Instagram experience" for users, the report said.

Meanwhile, last month, Meta had introduced new sharing features including 'Notes' on Instagram, that would help users to feel closer to the people they care about.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Auckland, Jan 10 : French qualifier Gregoire Barrere survived an ace deluge from two-time champion John Isner and a move indoors due to Cyclone Hale to move into the second round of the ASB Classic, here.

The World No. 88 survived 28 aces from sixth-seeded Isner to advance 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-3, reports atptour.com.

Avenging a four-set loss to Isner in the second round of Roland Garros last year, Barrere cracked a clean cross-court service return winner off an aggressive Isner second serve in the eighth game of the third set to claim the only break of serve in the match.

Barrere notched just his fourth win in 23 outings against Top 50 opposition. He has never beaten a Top 50 player outdoors, but didn't need to today after matches were moved indoors due to torrential rain. Barrere was solid on his own serve, winning 84 per cent of first serves and 69 per cent of second serves. He did not face a break point.

The 28-year-old will next face countryman Constant Lestienne.

Isner, who already holds the record for most aces since records began in 1991, is now just 12 aces away from becoming the first man to reach 14,000 aces at ATP Tour and Grand Slam events.

In other early action, Marcos Giron rallied from a set down to defeat Argentine Federico Coria 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-5 to set a second-round meeting with fellow American JJ Wolf.
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 10 : Shashi Tharoor's popularity cuts across all classes of people in Kerala as he is the most sought after person, even in social groups. This phenomenon does not go down well with a majority of the top brass in the state Congress; the trend is now to 'call Tharoor to save Congress'.

Ever since he returned from Delhi after loosing to Malikarjuna Kharge, while many of his adversaries in the party expected Tharoor will beat a hasty retreat, they were wrong, as in Kerala, his stock went up significantly.

By now he has received a rousing welcome when he came calling to religious leaders and social leaders across the state.

What came as a rude jolt was when the powerful head of the Nair Service Society- Sukumaran Nair batted strongly for Tharoor and if that was not enough, the supreme head of the Orthodox Church, whom he called on the other day, also gave thumps up, and Tharoor stated that he will be concentrating more in Kerala.

And he has his next stop to speak at Asia's largest Christian convention next month to be held at Maramon in Pathanamthitta district which is organised by the influential Syrian Mar Thoma Church.

A media critic on condition of anonymity said that there has been a change in the way politics is now being viewed by the people here.

"That's the reason why Tharoor's stock has been increasing as people have realised that he has got the stuff unlike the run-of-the-mill politicians which no longer sells. Tharoor, who has seen it all, has decided to work on that and that's why you see huge crowds wherever he goes, while the traditional Congress leaders barring exceptions like Oommen Chandy, none others are able to draw the people," said the critic.

If Tharoor's stock has gone up, Congress leaders like leader of opposition V.D.Satheesan, his predecessor Ramesh Chennithala, state president K.Sudhakaran are feeling the heat that they have started to sense that Tharoor's gain will be their loss and if they do not play their cards well, things could go wary.

Many of those who came calling on Chandy at his residence after he returned from his treatment for throat cancer was seen telling him that he should now throw his weight behind Tharoor, as other leaders fail to evoke response from people.

Incidentally, Chandy was behind fielding Tharoor to oppose Kharge as Chandy, who successfully took on his arch rival in the party K.Karunakaran, felt that should be the launching pad for Tharoor into state politics and it now appears to have come correct.
Seoul, Jan 10 : The Chinese Embassy in Seoul on Tuesday announced the suspension of its short-term visa service for South Koreans in retaliation against the country's regulations travellers from the neighbouring country in the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.

In a post on its WeChat account, the Embassy said the decision was an "instruction" from Beijing, reports Yonhap News Agency.

China plans to "adjust" the measure in accordance with the situation in which South Korea cancels its "discriminatory entry restrictions against China", the mission added.

On January 2, South Korea made it mandatory for all arrivals from China to undergo a PCR test within the first day of their entry into the country.

Those who test positive for the virus must be quarantined for one week.

South Korea has also made it mandatory for those from Hong Kong and Macao to take a PCR or an antigen test before boarding their flights.
Washington, Jan 10 : US President Joe Biden has declared an emergency in California as winter storms continue to pummel the most populous state in the country.

According to a statement released by the White House late Monday, Biden has ordered federal assistance to supplement California, tribal and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from successive and severe winter storms, flooding and mudslides, reports Xinhua news agency.

The federal emergency declaration will authorize the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts.

On January 4, California Governor Gavin Newsom had decalred an emergency for the entire state which is home to around 40 million residents, due to the severe winter storms.

He submitted a request on Sunday to the White House for a presidential emergency declaration to support ongoing storm response and recovery efforts in the state.

Since late December, 12 people have died from storm-related impacts, including flooding, more than the number of civilians who lost their lives to wildfires in the past two years combined, according to a statement released by the governor's office.

"We are in the middle of a deadly barrage of winter storms -- and California is using every resource at its disposal to protect lives and limit damage," said Newsom in the statement.

"We are taking the threat from these storms seriously, and want to make sure that Californians stay vigilant as more storms head our way," the Governor added.

Winter storms continued to hit California with heavy rains, causing flooding, road closures and power outages in many regions across the state.

"California is expecting a stronger and more widespread atmospheric river that will bring strong winds, heavy rain, and thunderstorms," the Governor's office tweeted on Monday, adding that "this is serious -- stay safe, make the necessary preparations, and limit non-essential travel".

Nearly 100,000 homes and businesses in California were still without power as of Monday, according to PowerOutage.us, a website which collects live power outage data from utilities all over the country.

Tens of thousands of people across Northern California are dealing with continued power outages on Monday, as heavy rain and strong winds caused issues on roadways but spared the region from widespread devastation, reported KCRA-TV, a television station in Sacramento, the capital of the state.

Many school districts across the region and some individual schools facing power outages have canceled classes for Monday, the news outlet added.

No significant letup is expected in the recent very wet weather pattern that has been plaguing much of California and the ongoing heavy rains Monday afternoon across central California will be dropping into Southern California Monday night into early Tuesday, said the US National Weather Service (NWS).

The NWS noted that nearly all of California has seen much above average rainfall totals over the past several weeks, with totals 400-600 percent above average values.

"This has resulted in nearly saturated soils and increasingly high river levels. Additional heavy rains on Tuesday will exacerbate ongoing flooding and continue the risk of flash flooding and mudslides, especially across recent burn scar regions,.

"Dangerous life-threatening flash flooding across southern Santa Barbara county and central Ventura county through this evening as additional heavy rain moves into the area. Follow orders from emergency officials," the NWS tweeted on Monday afternoon.

Thousands of people were ordered to immediately evacuate Southern California's Montecito on Monday.

All residents in the community in Santa Barbara County were urged to "leave now" by local officials as "the heaviest rain is yet to come this afternoon and evening".

A total of 23 people were killed in January 2018 when a massive mudslide caused by heavy rains swept through the coastal community and destroyed 130 homes.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : A 46 year-old man was beaten to death with a hammer in Delhis Govindpuri area, police said, adding the accused has been apprehended.

According to a senior police official, at about 7.15 p.m. on Monday, a call was received about a man being beaten in the Tughlakabad extension area following which an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) was dispatched.

"When the police team reached the spot, they found that the injured had been shifted to Mazidia Hospital. Thereafter the police team reached the hospital and collected the medico-legal case (MLC) of Md Ayub who was declared brought dead," said the official.

"On enquiry, it was revealed that Ayub was assaulted by Shahil with a hammer causing head injury. Accordingly a case under section 302 (murder) of the IPC was registered at the Govindpuri police station." The body has been shifted to the AIIMS mortuary for post-mortem.

"The accused Shahil has been apprehended. Further investigation is in progress," the official added.
Patna, Jan 10 : Eight persons of a family were killed after a truck rammed a three-wheeler in Bihar's Katihar district, police said.

The deceased were natives of Kheria village and were on their way the Katihar railway station during the accident on Monday night.

According to the police, the truck was coming from the opposite direction was being driven at a very high speed and the visibility in the area was also low.

Roopak Ranjan Singh, the SHO of Khora police station, said that the victims died on the spot.

"We have recovered the dead bodies and sent for the post-mortem. The other family members of the deceased were informed about the accident," Singh said.

Of the eight victims, two were children, he added.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : India on Tuesday witnessed a marginal decline in Covid cases with 121 infections registered in the last 24 hours, against the previous day's 170 count, as per the Union Health Ministry data.

The active caseload has declined to 2,319 cases, accounting for 0.01 per cent of the total positive cases.

According to the data, the weekly positivity rate currently stands at 0.11 per cent, while the daily positive rate stands at 0.07 per cent.

The recovery of 172 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,41,47,174. Consequently, the country's recovery rate stands at 98.80 per cent.

Also in the same period, a total of 1,69,568 tests were conducted, increasing the overall tally to over 91.23 crore.

With 56,829 vaccines administered in the last 24 hours, the Covid-19 vaccination coverage exceeded 220.14 crore as of this morning.
Prague, Jan 10 : Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has been acquitted in the so-called 'Stork's Nest' subsidy fraud case along with his adviser, Jana Nagyova.

Prague Municipal Court judge Jan Sott ruled that neither individual was proven to have criminal liability in the matter, reports Xinhua news agency.

However, the public prosecutor can still appeal the decision.

Babis, one of the Czech Republic's most prominent businessmen and politicians, was accused of subsidy fraud by receiving about 2 million eurosin European Union (EU) funds earmarked for small and medium-sized businesses to build a resort known as the Stork's Nest, south of Prague, over a decade ago.

The judge ruled that the esort had been properly separated from Agrofert, Babis' business conglomerate, and did not compete with it in a relevant market, therefore it qualified as a small-to-medium-sized business in relation to the subsidies.

It was also found that the company was not separated from Agrofert with the sole intention of acquiring these funds.

Had he been found guilty, public prosecutor Jaroslav Saroch, who handled the case, proposed a three-year suspended sentence with a five-year probation and a fine of 10 million Czech crowns for Babis.

Nagyova would have faced a half-a-million crown fine.

"Not guilty! I am very happy that we have an independent judiciary and the court has confirmed what I have argued from the beginning: that I am innocent and have done nothing illegal," Babis said in a tweet late Monday.

The former Prime Minister has said that the criminal proceedings arose after he entered politics, arguing that the allegations against him were "politically motivated." Babis, also leader of the Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO), the largest single party in the country's lower house of Parliament, announced his presidential bid in October last year.

He is considered a front-runner in the presidential elections set for January 13-14.
Belagavi : , Jan 10 (IANS) BJP leaders and Hindu activists have objected to the conversion of a residential house into a mosque in Belagavi district of Karnataka.

The BJP and Hindu activists were alleging that a house in Sarathinagar of Belagavi which comes under the Belagavi Rural Assembly constituency has been turned as 'Fathima Masjid' and handed over to the Wakf Board.

The activists have held a meeting with the local residents in this regard and started a movement to vacate the masjid from the locality under the leadership of former BJP MLA Sanjay Patil.

Patil demanded that the district authorities and the corporation should vacate the mosque that has come up in a residential area illegally.

Locals said that the authorities have turned a blind eye to the development. Even as they are aware of the illegalities, they have been pressured by the Congress MLA of Belagavi Rural constituency Lakshmi Hebbalkar.

They maintained that though complaints have been raised for over one year, no action has been taken.

Sri Ram Sena Founder Pramod Muthalik stated that 'he has no objection to building a mosque according to law. But, he can't agree with the conversion of a residential house into a mosque'. He had given one week deadline for the mosque Locals said that the original owner had gifted the property to Moulana Abdul Kalam Educational and Charitable Society. Later it was converted into a mosque.

The corporation has issued a notice regarding the building license violation and carrying out religious activities in the property meant for residence. The Muslim leaders maintained that it was a property of the Waqf board.
Kolkata, Jan 10 : The Calcutta High Court Bar Association seems to be divided over attending the bench of the court's Justice Rajasekhar Mantha.

After a group of Trinamool Congress-leaning lawyers on Monday boycotted and blocked the entry point of Justice Mantha's bench and protested over some of his recent verdicts, a section of the Calcutta High Court Bar Association, on Tuesday, moved a formal proposal for boycotting the bench.

This section of the association claimed that the decision to boycott Justice Mantha's bench was taken at a meeting of the association and the decision was taken to maintain peace within the Calcutta High Court premises.

However, the Calcutta High Court Bar Association president and senior counsel Arunava Ghosh and the association's vice president Kallol Mondal claimed that the formal proposal does not hold any ground since the decision was taken at a meeting which was conducted in absence of the president and vice-president of the association.

Legal brains from the Calcutta High Court feel that if the stalemate on this count continues then the fate of a number of 400 cases pending at the bench of Justice Mantha will become uncertain.

Seeking the attention of the Calcutta High Court's Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava, senior advocate and CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya claimed that boycotting a bench of a Calcutta High Court's judge in such a manner is equivalent to the contempt of court.

Advising Bhattacharya to move a petition in the lines, the Chief Justice questioned whether the Calcutta High Court Bar Association does not have any role in the matter. "The country's oldest high court surely has a legacy of its own. The association should take responsibility for that," the Chief Justice observed.

On Monday morning, several posters slamming Justice Mantha were pasted on the walls of the latter's residence and adjacent places at Jodhpur Park in South Kolkata. In the posters, it was alleged that Justice Mantha was acting in a biased manner in favour of Suvendu Adhikari.

Justice Mantha was also slammed for his recent verdict of removing the shield of cohesive action by Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Maneka Gambhir, the sister-in-law of Trinamool Congress's national general secretary and party MP, Abhishek Banerjee in the posters.

Last month Trinamool Congress's state general secretary and the party's spokesman in Kolkata Kunal Ghosh launched a scathing attack against Justice Mantha after the latter gave protection to the Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari against FIRs.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : The India TV market grew exponentially in the festive season last year and 'Make in India' TV shipments grew 33 per cent (on-quarter) in the July-September period to reach 5 million units, a report showed on Tuesday.

Dixon led the 'Make in India' TV shipments, followed by Radiant.

In the electronic wearables category, the true wireless stereo (TWS) segment led in terms of local manufacturing with almost 37 per cent of its shipments being manufactured in the country, according to Counterpoint Research.

Bharat FIH led the 'Make in India' TWS shipments, followed by Padget, while Optiemus led the locally manufactured smartwatch shipments.

"The top five manufacturers contributed to more than 55 per cent of the locally manufactured TV shipments in Q3 2022. Local manufacturing continues to stay robust for segments like smartwatches, TWS, tablets and neckbands too," said senior research analyst Prachir Singh.

Bharat FIH, Padget, Avishkaran and Optiemus were the top four brands and cumulatively contributed to almost 90 per cent of the locally manufactured TWS shipments.

"In the tablets category, Samsung, Dixon and Wingtech contributed to more than 90 per cent of the locally manufactured shipments. However, in the smartwatch category, Optiemus dominated the local manufacturing and contributed to more than 90 per cent of the shipments," Singh added.

More and more efforts are being made to make the country a significant player in the global value chain.

"These efforts now also include semiconductor manufacturing. Many states like Gujarat have even come out with their own semiconductor policies and are bringing about associated reforms and policy changes," said research analyst Priya Joseph.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : A robbery bid failed after a woman cab driver gave a tough fight to unidentified assailants who smashed the car's window and tried to snatch her mobile phone, an official said here on Tuesday.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) Sagar Singh Kalsi said that on January 9, a police control room (PCR) received a call around 2 a.m. regarding an attempted robbery by breaking car's window. A police team was rushed to the spot.

"The cab driver, namely Priyanka, a resident of Samaypur Badli, told police that the glass of her cab was broken with a stone and an attempt made to snatch her mobile. She put up a tough fight forcing the attackers to flee," said the DCP.

However, she refused to tender any complaint.

"On the basis of DD entry and after taking suo motu notice, a case under section 393 (attempts to commit robbery) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at Kashmere Gate police station and an investigation is on," said the DCP.

A police official privy to investigation said that police teams are scanning CCTV cameras in the area to identify the culprits and to trace their route on which the unidentified assailants fled.
New Delhi, Jan 10: The Pakistan Taliban, following up on its relentless offensive against Islamabad, has announced a shadow government.

The Pakistan Taliban more formally called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), signalling that it aspires to form a full-fledged state, has announced that it was dividing the outfit into various "ministries", The Khorasan Diary Twitter handle revealed.

The TTP announced appointments for the ministries of Defence, Judiciary, Information, Political affairs, Economic Affairs, Education, and Intelligence along with the setting up of a fatwa issuing authority and a department for construction.

The "Defence Ministry" is headed by Mufti Muzahim. He is designated by the US State Department as a terrorist. The "ministry" is divided into North and South zones with the former including Peshawar, Malakand, Mardan, Gilgit Baltistan & Hazara "wilaya" and the latter DIKhan, Bannu, Kohat and Zhob "wilaya".

The geographical contours reveal that as of now the TTP is targeting the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as Gilgit-Baltistan as part of its future state.

The group also announced that it has established a "Special Isteshhadi Force". This is a squadron of suicide bombers. Given the psychological edge that the force provides, the TTP has released a new video "We are ready, Part-2", which spotlights the "Special Istishadi Force".

Besides, two operational camps are being set up under the "Al Farooq Foundation".

Significantly, the TTP's intelligence directorate is headed by the group's chief Noor Wali Mehsud himself. Separately, the TTP is trying to drive a wedge between Pakistani religious scholars and the state.

In a recent video, Mehsud urged the Pakistani ulema to refrain from labelling the TTP as terrorists. In a typical cloak-and-dagger game, he points out that the ceasefire will stay intact if the Pakistani government also upholds it.

The TTP made headlines recently by taking over a counter-terrorism centre in Bannu. Pakistani commandos could take back the Counter Terrorism Department (CDT) facility, located inside the cantonment after suffering heavy losses. Suicide bombers then struck inside capital Islamabad, marking a significant psychological victory.

There have been several other attacks including the killing of two ISI operatives working with the CDT.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
Hyderabad, Jan 10 : U.S. Charge d'Affaires, Ambassador Beth Jones on Tuesday announced a $250,000 U.S.-government project to support the conservation and restoration of Paigah tombs in Hyderabad.

Ambassador Jones visited the Paigah tombs complex and announced the project to support the conservation and restoration of six tombs built in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Supported by the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), it is the fifth such conservation project funded by the U.S. Consulate in Hyderabad. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture will implement the project.

"This may be my first visit to Hyderabad, but it is not the first time the U.S. government has supported the conservation and restoration of significant historical sites here in the city," she said.

"We are proud to be part of the Government of Telangana's efforts to conserve these magnificent monuments and I'm grateful to the Aga Khan Trust for Culture for all of its efforts here and throughout India." After announcing the new project, Ambassador Jones received a tour of the Paigah Tombs from Ratish Nanda, Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Trust for Culture India. They were joined by U.S. Consul General Jennifer Larson.

"I had the good fortune to inaugurate one of our earlier AFCP projects at the Qutb Shahi Tombs during my first week here in Hyderabad," added Consul General Larson. "By working together with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the State of Telangana, we are able to ensure the integrity of these unique cultural sites for generations to come." The U.S. Department of State created the AFCP in 2001 to demonstrate American values and respect for other cultures. Since its creation, the AFCP has provided financial support to more than 1,100 projects in 133 countries around the world.

Recently, the U.S. Embassy commemorated 20 years of cultural collaboration with India through the AFCP with guests from the Ministry of Culture, the private sector, and civil society at a special celebration in New Delhi on November 29.

The US has invested more than $2 million over the past two decades for the documentation, conservation, and restoration of 23 key historic sites and intangible heritage.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine a plea on January 16, seeking its intervention to declare the crisis in Uttarakhand's Joshimath as a national disaster.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud declined to list the plea for urgent hearing saying that everything important should not come to it directly.

The bench, also comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha said, "There are democratically elected institutions to look into it..." The bench told petitioner's counsel that everything important should not come to us and added that it will list it on January 16.

The plea contended that the incident had occurred due to large-scale industrialisation and sought immediate financial assistance and compensation for the Uttarakhand people.

The plea was mentioned by advocate Parmeshwar Nath Mishra, who was appearing for petitioner Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati.

The plea sought a direction to the National Disaster Management Authority to actively support Joshimath residents and emphasized that no development is needed at the cost of human life and their ecosystem.

On Monday, stressing that every minute is important, Uttarakhand Chief Secretary S.S. Sandhu directed immediate evacuation of people from the affected zone in Joshimath, which is facing land subsidence.

Earlier, a bulletin from the Disaster Management Authority Chamoli said that cracks have appeared in 678 houses so far while 82 families have been shifted to safe locations in the town. Sandhu held a meeting with the concerned departments at the State Secretariat to review the situation in Joshimath.
New Delhi, Jan 10: China's new ambassador to Nepal, Chen Song, who arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday to assume his office, has pledged to deepen 'strategic partnership' with the South Asian nation.

But the chances of achieving success are uncertain as strategic competition with India in South Asia, including Nepal, is red-hot.

In his arrival statement at the Tribhuvan International Airport, the Chinese diplomat said "I am ready to work closely with Nepali friends from all walks of life, gather wisdom and pool strength to bring more benefits to the two peoples, and jointly write a new chapter of the 'China-Nepal Strategic Partnership of Cooperation Featuring Ever-lasting Friendship for Development and Prosperity." The phrase 'China-Nepal Strategic Partnership of Cooperation Featuring Ever-lasting Friendship for Development and Prosperity' was first used in a joint communique issued after the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Nepal in October 2019. The two countries had elevated their relationship to a "strategic partnership" during the visit.

The ambassador also claimed that China-Nepal practical cooperation in various fields has been improved both in quality and efficiency in recent years under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Global Development Initiative (GDI). Contrary to the ambassador's claim, not a single project has been executed under the BRI in Nepal. The Himalayan nation joined China-led BRI in May 2017. Since then, the successive governments in Nepal have shown little interests towards executing BRI projects owing to debt trap fear.

With the new communist-dominated government came to power under the leadership of Maoist Chairman Prachanda late last month, China has nudged Nepal to expedite BRI projects.

In his statement, the ambassador also said that trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network, a strategic network, has gradually taken shape. The big network is also a part of the BRI which involves the building of railways and communication networks. A team of Chinese railway engineers is presently in Nepal to conduct the feasibility study of the cross-border railway to link China's Tibet with Kathmandu.

The ambassador's statement can be described as China's continued attempts to expand its influence in Nepal through various initiatives including the BRI, analysts said.

Chen, a senior Chinese diplomat, has replaced Hou Yanqi who returned to Beijing after completing her four-year controversial tenure in October last year.

Hou, who faced criticism for her overt and covert meetings to unify the communist parties during her stay in Nepal, has been appointed as China's ambassador to ASEAN.

Prior to this, Chen oversaw China's ties with South Asian countries including Nepal, India and Pakistan.

(Santosh Ghimire is India Narrative's Nepal correspondent based in Kathmandu) (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
Bhopal, Jan 10 : President Droupadi Murmu was welcomed by Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai C. Patel and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at Indore airport after she landed here on Tuesday.

The President arrived here to address the Indian diaspora on the occasion of 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

The President will facilitate over 50 overseas Indian and firms for their achievements, and building a better relationship between India and foreign countries.

According to the organising team of Madhya Pradesh government, over 3500 delegates from different countries, including, the US and the UK were received in Indore for three days of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas that started on January 8.

The President is scheduled to attend several programmes including meeting with delegates arrived from overseas nations. Murmu will also attend a welcoming meeting for Suriname Republic President Chandrika Prasad Santokhi and Guyana Republic President Mod. Irfan Ali.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the formal inaugural session on Monday reminding that - Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is held after every two years but this time it is being organised after a gap of four years - due to the Covid pandemic.
Tripoli, Jan 10 : The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that 1,067 migrants were rescued and returned to Libya in the past week.

"In the period of January 1-7, 1,067 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya," Xinhua news agency quoted the IOM as saying in a statement.

The rescued migrants included 53 women and 10 children, it added.

In 2022, 24,684 migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, the IOM revealed, adding 525 migrants died and 848 others went missing off the Libyan coast on the Central Mediterranean route.

Because of the insecurity and chaos in the North African country since the fall of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, many migrants, mostly Africans, have chosen to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores from Libya.

Rescued migrants usually end up inside overcrowded reception centres across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close them and release the migrants.
Srinagar, Jan 10: Even as hundreds of ex-servicemen acting as Village Defence Guards (VDGs) are being equipped with automatic weapons for the first time since the creation of Village Defence Committees (VDCs) in the Pir Panjal and Chenab Mountain ranges, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday reviewed the situation in the wake of terror attacks in Rajouri with senior BJP leaders from Jammu.

Shah assured the BJP leaders at the meeting in New Delhi that the VDCs in Jammu would be refurbished to ensure the protection of the minority communities. While Self Loading Rifles (SLRs) were being provided to the trained ex-servicemen, other VDGs would be trained in use of the automatic weapons by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Home Minister Shah convened the meeting with his party colleagues in the wake of the twin terror attacks which killed seven members of the minority Hindu community and left 11 more injured with the beginning of the new year. These selective target killings on 1st and 2nd January took place at Rajouri's Dhangri village after a long pause but just days after a grenade attack and the killing of four Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists in a chance encounter on the Sidhra outskirts of the Jammu city.

Significantly, the terrorists struck at a time when the Army chief Gen Manoj Pande was on an inspection of the forward positions on the Line of Control (LoC) in the Union Territory. Security and intelligence agencies, according to sources, have received reports that cadres of two Pakistan-based jihadist organisations were planning some attacks on members of the minority communities in some communally sensitive districts of Jammu ahead of Republic Day.

On Monday, the process of providing training and automatic weapons to the VDCs began with distribution of SLRs among the ex-servicemen at Dhangri. During his recent visit to the village, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had assured the residents that the VDCs would be refurbished with new capacity building and sophisticated arms. They have been complaining that before the carnage in Rajouri, VDCs in the area had been made virtually defunct and even the conventional .303 rifles had been taken away from the guards.

Around 40 ex-servicemen living in the area and identified by a Panchayat-level committee were given SLRs along with 100 bullets each at the camp at Dhangri on Monday.

According to the BJP leaders present in the meeting on Monday evening, the Home Minister asserted that any conspiracy to flare up terror in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch would be foiled, and the security and intelligence grids would be strengthened with deployment of additional troops in the sensitive areas.

Twenty companies of CRPF with 2000 personnel have been deployed in the border district of Rajouri after the carnage at Dhangri to ensure protection of the minorities.

"Every challenge thrown by the forces who want to disturb peace in Jammu and Kashmir will be met with effectively. All conspiracies to derail peace process will be thwarted. No one will be allowed to disturb peace in Rajouri and Poonch districts besides other parts of Jammu region," a BJP leader quoted Shah as saying in the 90-minute long meeting.

Shah, according to sources, assured his party guests that stringent action would be taken if it was established in the ongoing inquiry that the police didn't visit the site of the carnage for over 12 hours. An inquiry is currently underway to find how two children died and several others sustained injuries in the explosion of an IED that had been planted under a container inside a house targeted a night before.

Shah assured the BJP leaders that the terrorists involved in the twin attacks would be tracked down and brought to justice very soon as a wide search operation in Rajouri and the adjoining Reasi and Poonch districts was in progress. He told them that security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, especially in Rajouri and Poonch districts, was being monitored regularly by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

The BJP leaders also took up the issue of Kashmiri Pandit employees engaged under Prime Minister's package and Reserved Category employees posted in the Valley with the Home Minister. He assured them that the issue would be discussed threadbare with the UT Government and the salaries of the off-duty staff would be released.

Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Lok Sabha member from Kathua-Doda-Udhampur, Dr Jitendra Singh, BJP general secretary Incharge J&K, Tarun Chug, President of the party's J&K unit, Ravinder Raina, senior party leader Devinder Singh Rana, two former Deputy Chief Ministers, Dr Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta, and some former MLAs participated in the meeting.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
Mumbai, Jan 10 : Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is returning to the silver screen after 4 years with his upcoming spy-thriller 'Pathaan', multiple trailers of which were unveiled on Tuesday by its makers.

The Hindi trailer, which is under 3 minutes in length, starts off with the introduction of the film's antagonistic force in the form of John Abraham, who leads a terrorist organisation that works on contractual basis as per the film's narrative.

Image Source: IANS News

To stop him, the Indian security agencies seek help from SRK's titular character, who returns from his sabbatical for the sake of his motherland. Pathaan is ably supported by fellow soldier Deepika Padukone, who is seen sporting blonde hair in a sequence.

Image Source: IANS News

The trailer is laced with punchy dialogues and thrilling action sequences with SRK executing them flawlessly even at the age of 57.

Image Source: IANS News

Shah Rukh even shared the teaser with his fans on social media and captioned it: "Mehemaan nawaazi ke liye #Pathaan aa raha hai, aur pataakhen bhi saath laa raha hai! #PathaanTrailer out now! Releasing in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu on 25th January 2023," he captioned.

Image Source: IANS News

'Pathaan' belongs to the spy-universe of Yash Raj Films, and also sees the return of Ashutosh Rana's character from the Hrithik Roshan-starrer 'War'.

Image Source: IANS News

The spy-thriller universe of YRF comprises films like 'War', the Salman Khan-starrer 'Tiger' franchise and 'Pathaan'. The Tamil trailer of 'Pathaan' was unveiled by Thalapathy Vijay and the Telugu version was unveiled by Ram Charan.

Image Source: IANS News

The trailer is reminiscent of many well-known sequences from action films like 'Mission Impossible' franchise, the chase sequence in the thick cover of snow from another YRF movie 'Fanaa', aerial action sequences from 'War' and gunfight sequences from 'Tiger Zinda Hai'.

'Pathaan', which also stars Dimple Kapadia, is arriving in theatres on January 25, 2023.

Watch the trailer

-- Syndicated from IANS
New Delhi, Jan 10 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday grilled the Centre on how the settlement can be reopened, when Union Carbide has already paid over $ 470 million to the Bhopal gas tragedy victims, and also expressed concern over Rs 50 crore undisbursed funds.

A five-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked the Attorney General (AG) R. Venkataramani, representing the Centre, that the settlement was arrived at a particular stage of time, and can the court say that 10 years hence, 20 years hence or 30 years hence, open the settlement on the basis of fresh documents? Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing Union Carbide, said there is a new set of documents. The bench further queried the AG, can any fresh documents be permitted in curative petition? The bench -- also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, A.S. Oka, Vikram Nath, and J.K. Maheshwari - said no review was filed by the government and a curative petition was filed after a gap of 19 years. It added that the settlement is between two parties and one of the parties is the Union of India and it is not a weak party.

The AG replied that just have a look at the settlement, did it bring about a just conclusion? Justice Kaul asked the AG, what was the scope of such a curative petition, especially at this point in time? Venkataramani replied that there was an amendment to the settlement and "we are not asking for a settlement to be annulled".

Justice Kaul asked why Rs 50 crore were lying undisbursed. He further added this means that the people were not getting the money, and was the government responsible for the money not going to the people? The AG said the number of claimants had gone beyond what the review judgment had in mind. Justice Kaul said, "Attorney, please address us why and how not having filed a review a curative is moved?" The bench asked a specific query to the AG, how can settlement be reopened? Salve submitted: "Our position is very simple. There is a settlement and there is no reopener clause in a settlement." He added that in the settlement, relief and rehabilitation was expressly excluded and now, they are asking for it. The arguments in the matter will continue after lunch.

On October 11, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that it was keen to pursue its curative petition seeking enhancement of compensation to the Bhopal gas tragedy victims -- over the $470 million, which has already been paid by Union Carbide. The AG had submitted that it is a tragedy unfolding everyday and victims can't be abandoned.

Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, representing the victims, had argued that over the years, the tragedy's intensity has increased fivefold -- deaths, the number of victims, and the extent of injuries.

On September 20 last year, the Supreme Court asked the Centre's counsel to get instructions whether it wants to pursue its curative petition seeking enhancement of compensation to Bhopal gas tragedy victims - over the $470 million, which has already been paid by Union Carbide.

In 2011, a five-judge bench of the top court had issued notice to the Union Carbide Corporation, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemicals Co., US.
Bengaluru, Jan 10 : The ruling BJP in Karnataka has announced the seizure of properties of alleged criminal Santro Ravi on Tuesday amid attack by the opposition parties.

Congress had accused the BJP of aiding Ravi in getting bail, while JD (S) had alleged that BJP party is providing a safe haven to him.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai clarified that an investigation has begun regarding cases against Santro Ravi. "The action has been initiated for seizure of his property," he added.

Chief Minister Bommai further stated that he had ordered a comprehensive investigation against Santro Ravi. Many cases have been lodged against him, all during the tenure of the Congress. He was released when the grand-old party was in power.

Santro Ravi has a 20 years of history of crime. The probe will bring out his connections, collusions, links with ministers and the governments during this period, he said.

Home Minister Araga Jnanendra stated that a special team has been formed to nab Santro Ravi. Presently, the police are investigating his associates and he will be arrested soon. Every case lodged against him would be investigated, he added.

Odanadi NGO from Mysuru had complained to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Finance Minister Niramala Sitaraman to initiate action against Santro Ravi. They have also lodged a complaint with the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Meanwhile, photographs of Ravi with ruling BJP ministers and the Chief Minister's son have gone viral on social media. The photos of Santro Ravi with gold biscuits, bundles of money have been attached with the copy of the complaint.

Police sources explain that Santro Ravi aka K.S. Manjunath has 14 serious criminal cases against him in Bengaluru and Mysuru, including that of kidnap and rape of a minor. He is also linked to the PSI Recruitment scandal, the sources added.

He is allegedly involved in prostitution and vehicle theft cases and arrested under the Goonda Act. He was imprisoned for a year and after coming out continued with his criminal activities.

Santro Ravi owns huge bungalows in Mysuru, Sheshadripuram, Tilaknagar and other localities of Bengaluru. His wife had lodged a rape case against him and alleged that the accused had got her arrested in a false case.

The police department has probed this allegation and found that the inspector coming under the influence, arrested the victim. Home Minister Araga Jnanendra has stated that it has come to light that she was arrested in a false case. The report is ready and action will be initiated against the officer.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : The Saket Court on Tuesday extended the judicial custody of Aaftab Amin Poonawala, accused of murdering his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar, by another 14 days.

Poonawala was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Aviral Shukla, during which he demanded law books to study.

The court also directed the prison authorities to provide him with warm clothes.

On January 6, Poonawala moved an application in the court seeking release of his debit and credit cards, citing need for funds to purchase day-to-day items, as well as warm clothes.

Shukla had extended his judicial custody for four more days and ordered to physically produce him in the court on January 10.

Poonawala's application moved through his advocate sought to release funds from his bank account citing that he didn't have enough warm clothes to counter the winter chill inside the prison.

On December 23, 2022, the court had extended his judicial custody by 14 days.

The previous day, Poonawala had withdrawn his bail plea, claiming that he had applied for bail erroneously.

On December 17, he had claimed that he signed the 'vakalatnama', but did not know about filing a bail application.

Aaftab allegedly killed Shraddha on May 18 last year chopped her body into 35 pieces and dumped them at various places over a period of 18 days.

He was arrested on November 12, 2022.
Riyadh, Jan 10 : Saudi Arabia announced its plan to bring the number of pilgrims during the upcoming Haj season back to the pre-Covid level.

"The number of pilgrims will return to what it was before the pandemic, without any age limit," Minister of Haj and Umrah Tawfiq Al-Rabiah told reporters here.

He made the remarks during the opening ceremony of Expo Haj, a four-day conference-cum-exhibition on Haj and Umrah services held in Jeddah which will run until Thursday.

The Minister also revealed that the insurance cost for Umrah performers would be slashed by 63 per cent and by 73 per cent for Haj pilgrims.

The Haj season in 2022 was the first one to allow foreign pilgrims to perform after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, as the previous two seasons were limited only to domestic pilgrims.

About 60,000 fully vaccinated domestic pilgrims took part in the pilgrimage in 2021 and only 1,000 in 2020.

Following the last pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia extended the Umrah visa from 30 days to 90 days and allows its holder to move all around the kingdom.

In the pre-pandemic 2019 Haj season, about 2.5 million pilgrims had participated.
Hyderabad, Jan 10 : Ahead of their appearance at the Golden Globe awards evening in Los Angeles, 'RRR' director S.S. Rajamouli and NTR Jr are soaking in the love and affection of their fans in the city.

On Monday night, both Rajamouli and Tollywood's 'Man of Masses' NTR Jr attended the film's screening at LA's iconic TCL Chinese Theatre on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, where he was cheered by fans.

Image Source: IANS News

The iconic Chinese Theatre, which houses one of the world's biggest IMAX screens, witnessed an epic turnout of 'RRR' fans at the screening, whose tickets were sold out in 90 seconds.

Image Source: IANS News

NTR Jr was seen smiling and interacting with the swarms of fans who asked for selfies and chanted 'Jai NTR!'. It was a historic moment for an Indian film at the century-old Chinese Theatre.

Image Source: IANS News

Rajamouli and NTR Jr arrived in New York a few days ago and attended a screening of 'RRR' followed by a reception at the DGA theatre. Early on Wednesday morning, India time, viewers in India will be able to see them at the Golden Globes.

The historical magnum opus has been nominated for Best Picture - Non-English and Best Original Song (for 'Naatu Naatu').

Image Source: IANS News

Following the awards event, NTR Jr will begin shooting for his upcoming NTR30, directed by Koratala Siva of 'Janatha Garage' fame. The film is due for theatrical release on April 5, 2024.

He also has NTR31 on the cards. It will be helmed by 'KGF' director Prashanth Neel.

-- Syndicated from IANS
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 10 : T.N.Prathapan, the Congress Lok Sabha member from Thrissur, is the latest to have expressed his desire not to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Prathapan, a three-time legislator, had taken a break from electoral politics in 2016 and returned to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Thrissur which he won. On Tuesday, he expressed his desire not be considered for a second term in the Lower House.

"I feel that I was able to spend more time with the people while being a legislator. I have informed the party that I need not be considered again for this seat," said Prathapan.

Incidentally, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress-led UDF bagged 19 of the 20 seats, while the CPI-M could manage just one.

Adoor Prakash, who represents the Attingal Lok Sabha constituency when he won the polls, was a sitting legislator and by now he has made his intentions clear that he would not prefer a second term.

Despite completiong a hat-trick of wins from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, Shashi Tharoor has also stated that he wishes to devote more time in the state.

State Congress president K.Sudhakaran has also made his intent clear that he is not keen to contest his sitting Lok Sabha seat in Kannur.

A first time Lok Sabha member from the Kasargod (northern most district) seat, Raj Mohan Unnithan, who hails from the state capital city says it would be better to fight the 2026 Assembly polls, than the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Anto Antony and M.K.Raghavan have completed a hat-trick of wins from their respective constituencies - Pathanamthitta and Kozhikode, but so far have not spoken about their minds, while 60-year-old Kodikunnil Suresh a seven time Lok Sabha member, known for his closeness to the Gandhi family, however is unlikely to dabble in state politics, as all along he has been plying his trade in Delhi.

A media critic on condition of anonymity said Congress leaders are known for having a liking to posts and at the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, sitting legislators who were fielded felt that the Congress led UPA would regain power and had hoped to become Minister's.

" But that failed and now perhaps those who wish to return have Alost hopes to form a government at the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, while they are more confident that in 2026 assembly polls, the Congress will return to office and can expect to get important posts," said the critic who did not wished to be identified.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan said it's the party that decides who should contest and who should not. All that's being seen or heard means nothing as the party has not taken any decision.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday wrote a letter to Lt. Governor (L-G) V.K. Saxena asking him to urgently clear the appointment of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) Chairperson.

"The Chief Minister approved the appointment of Justice (retd) Rajeev Shrivastava of the Madhya Pradesh High Court as DERC Chairperson January 4 to succeed Justice (retd) Shabibul Hasnain after his retirement. Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has also given his consent as required under the Electricity Act. The Chief Minister sent the matter to L-G on the same day to decide whether he would differ with the decision of the Council of Ministers and whether he would like to invoke proviso to Article 239AA(4) of the Constitution," Sisodia said in the letter.

"Justice (retd) Rajeev Shrivastava has been an eminent judge of Madhya Pradesh High Court. He has had an outstanding career and impeccable record."Therefore, I find no reason why you would differ with the decision of Council of Ministers. On the contrary, I feel you would be pleased to endorse this decision. The Supreme Court has also said that the provision to Article 239AA(4) should be rarely invoked." Quoting the Supreme Court from the State (GNCTD) v Union of India &Anr., (2018) 8 scc 501 matter, Sisodia said: "However, should you desire to express difference of opinion, then I wish to remind you to kindly follow the process provided in Rule 49 of TBR.

"In last few days, there have been three occasions when you got your decision implemented by sending the file directly to the officers bypassing the Chief Minister and the Minister and got the officers to issue notification. When asked, your justification was that since it was written Administrator/L-G shall appoint in those provisions/ Acts, therefore, you directly exercised your powers bypassing the elected government.

"That's incorrect legal position Sir. On all transferred subjects, unless it is a quasijudicial or judicial matter where Hon 'ble LG has to act in his discretion, on all other matters, L-G is bound by the aid and advice of Council of Ministers. So, kindly do not send the file related to appointment of DERC Chairman directly to officers for issue of notification." Sisodia also underlined that there is a specific judgement of the Supreme Court on the issue of DERC.

In addition to its strong observations in the judgement of Constitution Bench, the Division Bench of Supreme Court has also reiterated the same position, he noted.

"Therefore, despite it being written that government means 'Lieutenant Governor' in Delhi Electricity Reforms Act, the Supreme Court has said that L-G is bound by aid and advice of Council of Ministers," Sisodia concluded in the letter.
Zagreb, Jan 10 : Businesses in Croatia must reduce prices by Friday or face government measures, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said.

Some economic entities took advantage of the introduction of the euro from January 1 "in a fraudulent manner", Plenkovic said, raising prices under the guise of rounding, reports Xinhua news agency.

The government "will not hesitate" to impose measures on businesses that do not comply, he said.

These will include abolishing subsidies and introducing taxes, Plenkovic said, adding that the rounding of prices harms both citizens and the government.

Since the introduction of the euro, the Croatian government has received numerous complaints from citizens about higher prices.

Croatia entered the eurozone and the European Union's border-free Schengen area on January 1.
Dharwad : , Jan 10 (IANS) In a horrifying incident, an elderly destitute woman was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs on Tuesday in Karnataka's Dharwad district.

The identity of the woman is yet to be ascertained.

According to police, the incident took place in the early hours at Uppina Betageri Khabarstan village. The woman eked out her livelihood by begging in the region.

The pack of dogs attacked her when she was sleeping near a building in the village.

The officers rushed to the spot and were making arrangements for her last rites.

The villagers condemned the authorities for not taking the dog menace seriously even after complaints. They are demanding that at least now, the issue of dog menace should be addressed. The police have taken up further investigation.
Washington, Jan 10 : A man is in custody due to possible links with at least one shooting at the homes or offices of Democratic officials in Albuquerque, the largest city in the US state of New Mexico, authorities said.

The unidentified suspect, who is said to be under 50, has not been formally charged in any of the cases, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) said.

The APD has recovered a firearm that was linked to one of the shootings, Xinhua news agency quoted APD Chief Harold Medina as saying at a news conference late Monday.

"We are trying to still link and see which cases are related and which are not related," said Medina.

"So until we get more details and we finish the process of seeing where the evidence leads up and getting returns on our warrants, this will be the extent of our information." Earlier on Monday, the APD reported that investigators are looking into a sixth shooting which happened in early December at the home of incoming New Mexico House Speaker, Democratic Representative Javier Martinez.

Including Martinez, six Democratic elected officials' homes or offices were shot at in December 2022 and January 2023.

It remains unclear if the shootings are all connected, though police say they've found "potential connections between some of the shootings".

However, Medina said it was "too early" to talk about motives behind the shootings, which were all directed towards homes or offices of Democratic officials.

During the shootings, multiple rounds have been fired into the doors and walls of the officials' homes or offices, in some cases while the officials were inside with their families.

No one has been hurt.

According to the APD, the first shooting occurred on December 4, 2022, at the home of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa.

Someone shot eight rounds at his house.

On December 10, ShotSpotter technology detected several gunshots in the area of New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez's former campaign office, where the Attorney General had already moved out following his November election.

A day later, the home of then Bernalillo Commissioner Debbie O'Malley came under fire.

More than a dozen gunshot impacts were identified on walls and the house.

Last week, state Senator Linda Lopez's home was hit by at least eight shots after midnight, and the police department's ShotSpotter system registered three shots fired at a downtown law office where state Senator Moe Maestas works.
London/New Delhi, Jan 10 : The UK rocket carrying satellites into space suffered an "anomaly" on Tuesday, abruptly ending the first foray into orbital launch from the UK territory.

Virgin Orbit, founded by Sir Richard Branson, said it was evaluating the information and would share more information when it could, reports the BBC.

A Virgin Orbit Boeing 747 carrying the 21 metre rocket took off from a spaceport in Cornwall, southwest England.

However, as the rocket was due to enter orbit and discharge its nine satellites, scientists found an "anomaly" that prevented the spacecraft from reaching the orbit.

The mission saw a repurposed 747 jumbo jet release the 'LauncherOne' rocket over the Atlantic to take nine satellites high above the Earth.

Matt Archer, the UK space agency launch programme director, said he was disappointed.

"The second stage engine had a technical anomaly and didn't reach the required orbit," he was quoted as saying.

Virgin Orbit and the UK government will probe the cause of the problem.

Melissa Thorpe, head of UK Spaceport, said "we put so much into this, everybody has and we're like a big family. So it is absolutely gutting".

Meanwhile, Indian businessman Anand Mahindra tweeted that we should admire the launch record of ISRO.

"I recognise that this was a very different type of orbital launch but it stills tells me how much more we should appreciate and admire the launch record of ISRO," he posted.
Patna, Jan 10 : A day after RJD MLA Vijay Kumar Mandal criticized Nitish Kumar over his ongoing Samadhan Yatra, he changed his version and declared it a development Yatra.

Sources said that Mandal has given a fresh statement on the direction of the RJD's top leadership. The RJD leadership is facing an uneasy situation with Nitish Kumar and the JD-U after former agriculture minister Sudhakar Singh called Nitish Kumar Shikhandi, night watchman and beggar. Hence the RJD has rebuked Mandal for his statement.

"Nitish Kumar is doing development Yatra in Bihar. He and Tejashwi Yadav are strongly running the Mahagathbandhan government in the state," Mandal said.

"My earlier statement on Monday was twisted by the media. Whatever I said was wrongly presented in the media," Mandal added.

Vijay Kumar Mandal, a RJD MLA from Dinara assembly constituency, while interacting with former minister and BJP MLA Jibesh Mishra said that the government of Nitish Kumar is becoming autocratic now and the BJP is responsible for it.

"You (BJP) stayed the maximum time with Nitish Kumar in the government in Bihar, so you are responsible for making his government autocratic. For public welfare, Lohia Ji (Ram Manohar Lohia) said the government and bread (Roti) need to change from time to time. If the government cannot be changed, it becomes autocratic and if we do not flip the Roti during cooking, it burns," Mandal said while interacting with Jibesh Mishra during a morning walk.

Jibesh Mishra on the other hand said that you (RJD and Mahagathbandhan) are responsible for making the Nitish Kumar government autocratic.

Mandal claimed that development in Bihar is below expectations in the last 17 years. The road infrastructure was developed due to the late Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Nitish Kumar is claiming credit for it. Even electricity reaching every village is due to the efforts of the UPA government.

Mandal appealed to Nitish Kumar to keep a check on bureaucrats. Corruption is rampant from the block level to the secretariat in Patna, he alleged.

"The issues of farmers are big in Bihar. If the Nitish Kumar government resolves it during the Samadhan Yatra, it will be a big achievement for him. At present, the financial condition of farmers is not good. They are not getting the MSP for their crops," Mandal said.

Earlier, Sudhakar Singh, the former agriculture minister of Bihar, during his tenure pointed to the massive corruption in his department and blamed Nitish Kumar for it. He also claimed that all employees and officers of the agriculture department were thieves and he was their king.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued summons and notice to 'Triller' -- an American video sharing app -- in a copyright infringement case filed by Indian production house Yashraj Films.

A single-bench judge Justice Amit Bansal was dealing with Yashraj's interim relief application seeking to restrain Triller from using its copyrighted material.

In its lawsuit, Yashraj has claimed that Triller has an extraction tool that allowed users to post audio-visual content or short videos using Yashraj's works.

The plea read: "The defendant illegally uploads, stores, reproduces, makes copies, creates new works embodying the plaintiff's works, commercially exploits, communicates to the public, makes a sound recording in respect of the plaintiff's works, adapts, modifies, synchronises and/or otherwise exploits or permits the aforesaid acts by users of the impugned platforms, without a valid license from the plaintiff." The bench listed the matter for next hearing on February 2.

According to Triller's counsel, the conflict between Yashraj and the social media company has been ongoing for some time, and he will follow the company's directions in this regard.

Triller's representative further claimed that the social networking platform has not ignored the issue and continues to remove content that violates copyright.

The lawsuit further claimed that even though some of the links mentioned in the warnings had been removed, Triller had not successfully complied with its takedown duty and that other of the links had persisted in being active or had appeared repeatedly.

"It is also pertinent to note that the impugned platforms contain various features, such as the audio extraction feature, which are beyond the limited role of an intermediary specified under Section 79 (2)(a) of the IT Act, thereby disentitling the Defendant from the 'safe-harbour' protection guaranteed to intermediaries under the IT Act," the plea stated.
Las Vegas, Jan 10 : Samsung Electronics is planning to release a human assistant robot named 'EX1' this year.

The company said that it sees robots as "a new growth engine," reports SamMobile.

"We plan to release a human assistant robot called EX1 within this year," Han Jong-hee, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, said at a press conference at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023.

The company already has a device named 'EX1' which is a decade-old digital camera, the report said.

Meanwhile, in January 2021, the tech giant had introduced its innovations in sectors ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) to robots at its press conference for the world's largest tech show.

At the online event, Samsung had unveiled its robots that were in development, including Samsung Bot Handy which can pick up objects after analysing their sizes, shapes and weights through advanced AI technology.

Moreover, the company introduced the upgraded version of its Samsung Bot Care, a robotic assistant that was unveiled at CES 2019.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Suva, Jan 10 : In his first televised address to the nation after becoming Fiji's Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka on Tuesday announced back-to-school support of $91 per child assistance to all those earning a combined annual income of $22,735 or less.

This is being done to ensure that children return to school without difficulty, Xinhua news agency quoted the Prime Minister as saying.

He added that this assistance is due to the hardship that many families are facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the contraction of the Fijian economy whereby a lot of people have lost their jobs.

According to Rabuka, the assistance will be funded via the existing budget.

They have allocated $22.7 million for this assistance through the redeployment of funds within the current budget, Rabuka added.

The Fijian government also assured that it will continue to provide free education and transport assistance to all eligible students as has been the practice, and the transports will be available to take students to school when the new school term begins on February 6 this year.

Recently, the new coalition government has also announced the change from four school term structure to three school terms this year.

Fiji is a South Pacific island nation with a population of around 900,000.

Its current poverty rate stands at 24.1 per cent.
Colombo, Jan 10 : Sri Lanka's treasury is running out of funds as the island nation's worst-ever economic crisis since its independence in 1948 continues, Cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena said on Tuesday.

Gunawardena told reporters that funds collected through taxes have seen a decline, reports Xinhua news agency.

As a result, the treasury is running short of funds to make payments, he said.

The spokesman said the economic crisis that hit the country in 2022 has affected the income of the treasury.

"The expected income by way of taxes during the first three months of 2023 is low. However, we need to pay public sector salaries. Payments are made by the treasury and not by our personal funds," he said He noted the President has informed all the ministries to slash their budget allocations for 2023 by at least 5 per cent.

Gunawardena said further steps to cut expenses will be taken to reduce the impact caused by the economic crisis.

The cabinet spokesman said the treasury gets funds from public taxes.

The country used to print money and obtain loans, but now it is unable to do that as no one is giving loans and they cannot print money, he added.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its repayments of loans last year and is now seeking approval from the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package to help the country recover from the crisis.
San Francisco, Jan 10 : Google has released the standalone "Switch Access" app on the Play Store, which was originally part of the Android Accessibility Suite.

The app allows users to interact with their Android device using one or more switches or a keyboard instead of the touchscreen.

"Control your phone or tablet using switches or the front camera. You can use switches to select items, scroll, enter text and more," according to the Switch Access about page.

"Switch Access can be helpful if you can't interact directly with your device," it added.

The app scans the items on users' screens and highlights each item until they make a selection.

Users can choose from a few kinds of switches -- Physical switches and Cameras Switches.

Physical switches include -- USB or Bluetooth switches, like buttons or keyboards and on-device switches, like volume buttons, while, Camera switches include facial gestures like -- open your mouth, smile or raise your eyebrows, look left, right or up, the apps about page mentioned.

To get started with the app, users will need to open their device's Settings app and then Tap Accessibility and then Switch Access.

Meanwhile, Google announced that it is bringing new features to smartphones that have not got operating system (OS) updates in years.

The company is releasing a tool called the "Extension Software Developer Kit" (Extensive SDK), which will allow developers to use features such as Android 13's new photo picker in applications running on some Android 11 and 12 versions.
Ulaanbaatar, Jan 10 : Mongolia welcomed a total of 290,400 foreign visitors in 2022, earning $350 million from the Covid-hit tourism sector, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism said on Tuesday.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of foreign visitor arrivals in Mongolia declined to only 33,000 in 2021, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying.

Mongolia has been taking various measures to promote the pandemic-hit tourism sector.

Particularly, the government recently made a decision to exempt citizens of 34 countries from visa requirements for up to 30 days until the end of 2025.

The country has also declared 2023 and 2024 as "Years to Visit Mongolia", and is expected to organise more than 90 events in 2023 to promote the ector.

The country has set a goal of welcoming at least 1 million foreign tourists and earning $1 billion from tourism in 2024.
Srinagar, Jan 10 : Hasnain Masoodi, Lok Sabha member from J&K's Anantnag constituency on Tuesday called for coordinated action to combat drug menace in Kashmir.

Addressing a meeting held with the district officers in Anantnag, Masoodi reviewed the steps taken by the district administration in connection with drug de-addiction and rehabilitation programmes.

It was stated in the meeting that about 500 victims suspected to be drug addicts stand identified in the district and every effort was made to de-addict the victims and prevent others developing the habit.

It was further stated a de-addiction and necessary facility for treatment of the victims were in place and operational at the district Headquarter.

The Lok Sabha member was informed that an aggressive public awareness campaign against drug abuse and drug addiction has been started by the administration and civil society groups and youth associated with the campaign.

Masoodi impressed upon the officers to take notice of the gravity of challenge and make coordinated efforts to combat the menace. Masoodi announced release Rs 10 lakh from MPLADS for setting up a rehabilitation centre for the drug addict victims.

The meeting also reviewed the progress made in elimination of Tuberculosis. It was stated that the district has made significant progress in eliminating Tuberculosis and necessary facilities were in place in all the PHCs for early diagnosis of the disease and timely treatment.

The district was likely to have the distinction of being one of the first few districts in the country to be declared Tuberculosis free.

Masoodi asked the District Tuberculosis Officer (DTO) to associate more officers and civil society leaders with the campaign to dispel the feeling of stigma and encourage screening and early diagnosis and make NTEP a success, an official press release said here.
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 10 : The 'Minnal Murali' star, Tovino Thomas, caught up with Team India's former captain and Chennai Super Kings skipper M.S. Dhoni during a book release at Kasargod in Kerala and turned emotional.

In his Instagram post, Tovino said: "Had a great experience spending time with Captain Cool. That very same persona we have seen on screen - cool, composed, and spontaneous brilliance is the man himself in person.

"We had great conversations and there was this typical ease with which he would say the most thoughtful things. I feel truly fortunate to have this opportunity. A great role model for all. Wishing more glitter to your illustrious journey" Tovino and Dhoni met at the Bekal resort in Kasargod near the historic Bekal fort where the movie 'Bombay' featuring Aravind Sami and Manisha Koirala was shot.

Dhoni and the Malayalam star had arrived for the release of the autobiography of noted techno educationist, Professor K.K. Abdul Gafoor. The Chennai Super Kings captain also presented a copy of the book, 'Njan Sakshi', to the superhero of 'Minnal Murali'.

The fans of both stars were elated and many wrote on their social media handles expressing best wishes to both. One of them exclaimed: "Oh my own superstars. Wish them the best." Another wrote: "Captain cool with our own superstar." In his latest movie, 'Ajayante Randam Moshanam', incidentally, Tovino plays a triple role.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Los Angeles, Jan 10 : Actress Margot Robbie insists she improvised her kiss with Brad Pitt in 'Babylon'.

The 32-year-old 'The Wolf of Wall Street' actress previously claimed it wasn't in the script of her latest film, in which she plays self-destructive silent film star Nellie LaRoy in the debauched Hollywood of the Roaring Twenties, reports aceshowbiz.com.

But Brad said in December that he asked its makers to write in his screen kiss with co-star Robbie.

Robbie told the new issue of W magazine: "In 'Babylon', Nellie kisses a lot of people. I actually improvised a kiss that wasn't in the script. We were doing a party scene, and Nellie goes up to Brad Pitt's character and Katherine Waterston's character, and I was like, 'F*** it.""I'm just gonna kiss them and see what happens. They were a little bit shocked. I don't know if it made it into the movie." Pitt said during an interview with Australian news show 'The Project' it was him who didn't want to pass the opportunity to kiss Margot.

He said: "No (it wasn't scripted.) I had asked for it, if we can write that in. You know, when was I going to get a chance to do this again? And we did it. I might add too that Nellie (Margot's character) kisses 15 people in this movie." Pitt is said to be dating jewellry executive Ines de Ramon, 32, after divorcing Angelina Jolie in 2019, while Margot has been married to 32-year-old film producer Tom Ackerley since 2016.

Margot told E! News about the kiss at the start of December: "That wasn't in the script, but I thought, 'When else am I gonna get the chance to kiss Brad Pitt? I'm just gonna go for it.' I said, 'Damien (Chazelle, the director), I think Nellie would just go up and kiss Jack (Brad's character)." "And Damien was like, 'Well, she could - wait, hold on. You just wanna kiss Brad Pitt.' And I was like, 'Oh, so sue me. This opportunity might never come up again.' And he was like, 'It does work for the character,' and I was like, 'I think so.'" She added that kissing Brad was "just great" and she thought "oh, great" when Damien asked them to do a re-take.

'Babylon' is described as a "tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess" which "traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood."
Kolkata, Jan 10 : Union Minister of State for Home Nisith Pramanik on Tuesday surrendered at a court in West Bengal's Alipurduar district in connection with his alleged involvement in a burglary case in two jewellery shops in Alipurduar in 2009.

In November last year, the Alipurduar District Third Court issued an arrest warrant against Pramanik, the BJP MP from Cooch Behar, in this connection. Thereafter, Pramanik approached the Calcutta High Court with a bail petition.

After hearing the matter in detail, the Calcutta High Court directed the Union Minister to be physically present at the Alipurduar District Third Court by January 12.

Obeying the high court, Pramanik surrendered at the said district court. He was there at the court for around 45 minutes. From the next hearing in the matter, as per the Calcutta High Court order, he will not have to be physically present at the court and instead be just represented by his counsel.

Coming out of the court, he said the opposition leaders in the state are constantly being framed in false cases by the current state government. "This is a political conspiracy to frame me," he said.

Initially the matter was heard by a court at Barasat in North 24 Parganas district. "However, later the case came before the Alipurduar Judicial Third Court. Again, after Pramanik became an MP in 2019, the case was transferred to the special court for MP/MLAs at Barasat. However, later the case was transferred to the Alipurduar Judicial Third Court following a directive of the Calcutta High Court." Pramanik had also contested the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections and got elected from Dinhata assembly constituency in Cooch Behar district. However, as the BJP lost, Pramanik chose to retain his Lok Sabha seat and resigned from the Assembly.

He started his political journey with Trinamool Congress. However, before the 2018 polls for three-tier panchayat system, he disassociated himself from the Trinamool and fielded his followers as independent candidates in 2018, many of whom got elected. Thereafter he joined the BJP and successfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Cooch Behar.

Earlier too, he got involved in controversies as in 2021, Congress's then Rajya Sabha member, Ripun Bora wrote a letter to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi alleging that Pramanik is a Bangladeshi and his nationality should be investigated. The BJP, however, dismissed these allegations as baseless.
Panaji, Jan 10 : Moscow-Goa Russian flight Azur Air ZF2401, which received a bomb threat, landed in Goa on Tuesday at around 3 p.m. with passengers onboard, saying they were lucky to be safe.

Goa-bound flight from Moscow made an emergency landing in Jamnagar airport on Monday night at 9.30 p.m. following the bomb threat. It was diverted to Jamnagar after an email warning of a bomb in the flight was received.

After landing at Dabolim airport in Goa, the Russian tourists said that they are lucky to be safe.

"Authorities thoroughly checked all our luggage and flight, but nothing suspicious was found. We are lucky as we are safe," one of the passengers said.

NSG and BDDS teams at Jamnagar had thoroughly checked the plane besides the luggage and hand baggage of the travellers but no suspicious object was found.

Passengers also said that they were provided all the facilities at Jamnagar after they were de-boarded there. "We spent around 9 hours outside the flight at the airport (Jamnagar). But we are happy now that we have reached here," another passenger said.
Bengaluru, Jan 10 : The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday rapped the BJP government in the state for not giving permission for seizure of properties of mining baron and politician Gali Janardana Reddy.

The bench has questioned the government why the decision regarding giving consent has not been taken for five years. "According to the government, not taking action might also be an 'action'. But, this is not acceptable to the court," the bench said.

The court had also asked the government to submit clarification regarding the issue. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had, on August 30, 2022, sought consent of the government to seize the properties of Janardana Reddy, alleging that the properties were amassed illegally.

However, the government has not given its consent so far. Following the development, the CBI had approached the court seeking directions to the government in this regard.

The CBI said that they had detected 219 new properties in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and investigations had shown that these properties were purchased through illegal sources of income.

The agency has also claimed that after its action, Janardana Reddy is allegedly selling properties in Kurnool and Rangareddy districts. Janardana Reddy has launched a new political party in Karnataka recently ahead of the Assembly polls and also started campaigning.
Surendranagar : , Jan 10 (IANS) The Surendranagar police are looking for pillion riders, who are skilled at stealing goods from running trucks on the highways. Last Saturday night these robbers stole Rs 1 crore worth of electronic gadgets from a running truck on the Limbdi-Rajkot highway.

Deputy Superintendent of Police C P Mundhva told media persons that his team is searching for two persons who jump on the truck, break the lock, get into the truck and steal goods from the running vehicle.

According to a a complaint lodged with the Limbdi police station, complainant Rajendrasinh Chavda, senior executive with Relay Express logistic and transport, said their truck with registration number Gj-13-V-6544 had uploaded goods from Ahmedabad and was heading towards Rajkot, when the goods were stolen from it.

Truck driver Habib Belim told the complainant, "From Limbdi square he had hardly driven six to seven kms, when another truck driver informed him that a pillion rider broke the lock and had entered his truck and had stolen goods." Next day after all the parcels were counted, they realised that from a total 719 parcels, 667 parcels were intact. The robbers had stolen items from 52 parcels, like laptops, tablets, 259 mobile phones, headphones, wrist watches and print rolls worth Rs one crore.
Mumbai, Jan 10 : 'Tere Bin Jiya Jaye Na' actor Saptrishi Ghosh is quite excited about playing a cop in Victor Mukherjee's 'Lakadbaggha'. He talks about the association with the director, his role, and about the support he got from his father to follow his passion for acting.

"I've worked with Victor Mukherjee a couple of times before for the web series 'Babbar Ka Tabbar', 'Love Lust' and 'Confusion'. He is a good friend, and we have a mutual admiration club. He called me one evening and told me about the film he is making and he wants me to play the cop. Although, initially, I was apprehensive," he says.

Talking about his role in 'Lakadbaggha', the actor says that the character did not require much preparation. Though, he says that he asked the director if a certain kind of body language or tone for dialogue delivery is needed to play this role.

"Victor, in fact, told me that he wants me to keep it as natural as possible. In fact, this cop was slightly different because he's different. Coincidentally, the name of my character also happens to be Saptrishi. I even asked Victor why he named him Saptrishi and he said that he couldn't think of any other name except this. So that's one thing that made me comfortable," shares the actor.

Saptrishi is also a voiceover artist. However, acting has always been his first love.

Saptrishi thanks his family for their support so far. "My father, who is no longer with us, has always been supportive. I wish he could see my film this time. But then wherever he is, I'm sure he's blessing me. So, I got a job in Dubai and was supposed to go there when I decided to become an actor and full-fledged voice-over artist. I still remember the long discussion with dad when he told me to follow my heart and gave me his blessings." "He also said that I must always remember that I don't have any godfather. I have to do everything on my own, work hard and work on my talent and depend on my luck." "I probably would have been a software engineer, because that was my qualification, or maybe a marketing executive and settled in the US or UK by now. Though, I'm very happy being an artist. And when your passion is your profession, there is no looking back. So yes, it's been a fantastic journey till now, and I'm looking for great times ahead," he wraps up.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : Amid the Joshimath land subsidence crisis, Minister of State (Independent Charge) at Earth Sciences Ministry Jitendra Singh on Tuesday stressed on the need to devise mitigation strategies to minimise human consequences of natural disasters.

The minister made the remarks at the Joint Indo-UK Academic Workshop in Delhi, where the UK delegation was led by Christina Scott, British Deputy High Commissioner to India at the British High Commission in New Delhi.

Singh said that it is a providential coincidence that the Joint Geoscience Workshop on "Earth Hazards" is happening at a time when India is dealing with the Joshimath incident in Uttarakhand, where the Ministry of Earth Sciences is involved in addressing the issue along with other agencies.

The minister said, "Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Earth Sciences has adopted pro-active stance and established 37 New Seismological Centers (Observatories) in the last two years and now India has 152 such centres for extensive observation facilities generating huge data base for outcome-oriented analytics." He noted that in next five years, 100 more such seismological centres will be opened across the country for improving the real time data monitoring and data collection. "India is moving closer to playing a critical role in seismological advancement and understanding," Singh added.

The minister underlined that there is a critical need for fundamental research on the physical processes that lead to failure of the brittle layers beneath the crust and sub-crust, to develop low-cost solutions to identify and quantify the geo-hazards over the vast regions and devise mitigation strategies that are appropriate to widely varying - and rapidly evolving - political, social, and economic contexts.

He also said that scientific understanding of the processes behind disasters has grown immensely over the past 50 years, and there is a need for strengthening further international collaborations like the Indo-UK initiative to fight such disasters in future.

Scott in her remarks said that building resilience to geo-hazards presents a major challenge that requires collaborative international action by researchers, policymakers, governments, private sectors, and civil societies.

"In this context, the UK earth scientists may significantly contribute to the current understanding of tectonic activity and its relation to geo-hazards in India," she added.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : Dutch DJ-producer Martin Garrix will embark on his expansive India tour, his firtst since 2018.

Fresh off the success of his Sentio World Tour and high-flying performances at Tomorrowland, Lollapalooza, UMF and Creamfields last year, the 26-year-old is primed for his sixth visit to India.

Billed as one of the "largest arena showcases to be witnessed in India" this year, the itinerary includes eight shows across eight major metros over a span of two weekends, presented by dance music festival, Sunburn.

The two-time MTV EMA winner and four-time World's #1 DJ will kick off his tour on March 3 in Bengaluru, followed by Hyderabad on March 4 and then head to Chennai on March 5.

To usher in the 'Holi' festivities, Garrix will perform in Pune in the first half of the day and then head to Mumbai to perform in the latter half of the day on March 8. He will then perform in Kolkata on March 10, followed by New Delhi on March 11 before culminating the tour in Ahmedabad on March 12.

Garrix said, "India is one of my favourite countries to perform at, so I'm super excited to finally return and party with all my fans. Hope to see you there!" Karan Singh, CEO, Sunburn, said, "We are thrilled to announce an eight-city Sunburn Arena tour with one of the biggest names from the global dance music circuit, Martin Garrix. We witnessed a stellar turnout at the DJ Snake Tour last year and it's only going to get bigger and better this year with live shows once again gaining a strong foothold in India."
Imphal, Jan 10 : A powerful bomb exploded in front of the residence of a top official of National Institute of Technology (NIT), Imphal on Monday midnight, partially damaging the house and adjoining structures, police said on Tuesday.

Police said that no one was injured as there was no one in the area when the handmade bomb went off at Nagamapal Kangjabi Leikai under Imphal police station.

The massive sound of the explosion could be heard in large parts of the Imphal area causing a panic among the people at midnight.

Window panes, and gate of the NIT official's house were damaged.

Police examining the CCTV footage of the area and it was suspected that two persons who came in a two wheeler had dropped the bomb.

Bomb and forensic experts on Tuesday inspected the area and initiated a probe.
Mumbai, Jan 10 : Actress Simaran Kaur, who started her career as a voiceover artist and acted in shows such as 'Aggar Tum Na Hote' and 'Aghori', will now be seen hosting a new travel show titled 'India's Best Resorts'.

Throwing light on the show, Simaran says: "It features the most luxurious and stunning travel destinations in our amazing country. It will capture a diverse experience of vacations that has never been explored by other shows. The best part is I love travelling and meeting new people. I wanted to do a travel show which is different. I want to assure all viewers that this show is a class apart from other travel shows." "From North to South from West to central India, we have covered 8 amazing destinations. Goa, Cintacor, Hampi, Chikmagalur, Pench, Gulmarg, Udaipur and Lonavala are the places where we have gone," she adds.

This show is being co-hosted by Harman Singha. Speaking about her equation with him Harman adds: "He is an amazing co-host, he has so much knowledge about travelling. He has a lot of experience of travel shows. I really learned a lot working with him." Simaran shares that it is often seen that when it comes to travelling, many often end up choosing foreign destinations. However, the show highlights many Indian locations that are worth travelling.

"I think we have romanticised international locations because the scenic beauty of these places has been shown to us either via movies, TV or social media. After watching our show, people will come to know about these amazing locations in India and I am definite a lot of Indian tourists will choose these very Indian locations for their next vacation." "I would say the USP of the show would be stunning properties, scenic natural beauty all around these places, amazing activities. The whole experience of travelling with the crew was so much fun. I got lost in the journey and found myself." She further talks about her favourite host and the one who inspires her: "I think a perfect host is someone who can entertain the audience while informing about the place and all the luxuries that these places offer. A host should be witty, a bit funny and should have a personality that keeps the audience engaged. Most importantly, a good host should be a great story teller." "I really used to like Ian Wright, the host of 'Lonely Planet'. The way he used to meet new people in new places, it was really heart warming." The actress, who is known for her voice for famous Nobita, shares about the places she is willing to travel.

"I want to visit Austria, especially Vienna, followed by New Zealand. They are both really beautiful places to visit and I would love them to my next travel destination. I have always loved to travel with my cousins and friends." 'India's Best Resorts' will be starting on January 8 on Zee Zest.
Kolkata, Jan 10 : Following continuing ruckus outside the court of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of Calcutta High Court on Tuesday and complaints against a section of lawyers of resisting their fellow professionals to enter his court, the judge finally issued a contempt of court rule.

Justice Mantha, besides issuing the rule, has also filed a suo moto petition against the agitating advocates creating obstruction in their fellow professionals appearing at his court.

The matter will now be heard by the division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj.

In the rule, Justice Mantha observed that the development was a reflection of rowdy activities and contempt of court.

Earlier in the day, Justice Mantha even summoned the court's officer-in-charge and asked him to deploy additional forces in front of his court to ensure that no one is obstructed from entering it. Accordingly, additional forces were deployed though that did not bring an end to obstruction of the advocates willing to enter.

Earlier in the day, senior advocate and the CPI-M Rajya Sabha member, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya condemned the action on part of the agitating lawyers and also pleaded to the Chief Justice to seek explanation from the agitators by issuing a rule.

Deputy Solicitor General Billwadal Bhattacharyya even suggested to the court to deploy central armed forces within the court premises to maintain the dignity of the court.
Mumbai, Jan 10 : Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon-starrer film 'Shehzada' wrapped up its shooting on Tuesday. The film also stars Ronit Roy and Manisha Koirala, both of whom took to social media to share the update with their followers.

Manisha took to the story section of her Instagram and uploaded pictures and a video from the film's wrap-up party. In the video. Kartik and Kriti can be seen along with the film's director, Rohit Dhawan.

Ronit also shared one of the pictures posted by Manisha in his story and expressed his gratitude as he wrote on the picture: "(It) was so lovely co-starring in this movie with you @m_Koirala. Hope to do it again soon. Thanks much for all the warm vibes."

Kriti also shared the story on her Instagram. 'Shehzada', which is directed by Bollywood star Varun Dhawan's sibling Rohit Dhawan, is Kriti's second film with Kartik. Prior to this, the two were seen in the 2019 film 'Luka Chuppi'.

Earlier, Kartik took to Instagram, where he shared a picture of himself dipping his feet in ice-cold water. He was also seen holding a large chunk of ice as he posed.

-- Syndicated from IANS
Shivamogga, Jan 10 : In a twist to the incident of the attempted attack on a Bajrang Dal activist, which has taken a communal turn, the accused has told the Karnataka police that the activist had been pestering his sister for a long time.

The police have taken three persons into custody for the attempt on the life of the Bajrang Dal activist in Sagar town of Shivamogga district.

Mithun Kumar, Superintendent of Police of Shivamogga, said that they have taken the main accused Sameer, Imiyaan and Mansoor into custody.

The prime accused has told the police that Bajrang Dal activist Sunil was pestering his sister for the last three months. He also told the police that Sunil had asked for the telephone number of his sister, Kumar stated.

Sameer said that the attempt was made in this backdrop. Despite many warnings from Sameer, Sunil continued troubling his sister. On Monday, Sunil who was on a bike met Sameer and chided him, Kumar said.

Sameer is a shepherd and carried a machete to cut branches from the trees for the sheep and used that weapon to attack Sunil, he stated. The role of his friends will become clear during the investigation, the SP said.

Meanwhile, Bajrang Dal and Hindu activists called for a bandh in Sagar town over the incident. Shops were closed and a protest march was taken out. The police have beefed up security in the town.

The 28-year-old Sunil, a resident of Upparakeri in Sagar, had managed to escape the attack by Sameer who allegedly tried to hit him with a machete and had even chased him on a bike.

Activists claimed that Sunil and Sameer had fought earlier over the issue of hijab and developed an enmity. Sameer had allegedly threatened Sunil on Sunday and tried to attack him on Monday.

Hundreds of Bajrang Dal activists had gathered before the Sagar police station and staged a protest condemning the incident on Monday.

Shivamogga district has witnessed bitter communal incidents in the past. Miscreants had hacked Bajrang Dal activist Harsha following the hijab crisis in Shivamogga city. The city had witnessed a series of stabbing incidents later.
Mumbai, Jan 10 : 'Suit Suit' and 'Lahore' hitmaker Guru Randhawa is back with another music video, this time in the form of 'Moon Rise' featuring himself and Shehnaaz Gill. The music video, directed by Gifty, presents a palpable chemistry between Guru and Shehnaaz.

Talking about the music video, Guru said, "I'm extremely happy to be releasing the music video of 'Moon Rise' after the amazing response that we got on the audio. I don't think there could be a better co-star than Shehnaaz for this song because she is such a fun loving person who lights up the entire mood. We had an absolutely amazing time while shooting with so many fun and frolic moments. I hope the audience enjoys watching the music video as much as we enjoyed shooting".

The melodious yet heartbreaking song has been composed and written by Guru Randhawa while the music production is done by Sanjoy.

Shehnaaz Gill of 'Bigg Boss' fame, who features alongside Guru in the video, shared her experience of shooting for the song.

She said, "Shooting with Guru was definitely a memorable experience, as it was our first time working together on something. We've known each other for a very long time and finally coming together for such a beautiful song was absolutely amazing. We had a lot of fun and pleasant moments while filming the music video and I'm looking forward to more such projects together in the future." The Director of this music video, Gifty said, "Both Guru Randhawa and Shehnaaz Gill have had amazing chemistry throughout the music video. Since both of them have cheerful personalities they looked amazing on the screen and their chemistry is phenomenal too. The two have done complete justice to the song." 'Moon Rise' is presented by music label T-Series and is available to stream on their Official YouTube Channel.
London, Jan 10 : Russia's leading rocket specialist Pavel Kamnev has died, becoming the fourth key defence official to perish in less than three weeks, a media outlet reported.

Kamnev, 85, was the scientific director of the Almaz-Antey Aerospace Defence Concern and the expert who developed deadly Kalibr missiles deployed by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, Daily Mail reported.

He was responsible for more than 20 weapons inventions and co-author of over 300 scientific and technical reports.

He worked until his death as scientific director of arms giant Almaz-Antey and chairman of Novator experimental design bureau where Kalibr missiles were created.

A video shows him being made a Hero of Labour by Vladimir Putin in 2016, the media outlet reported.

He lauded Putin for the 'highest appreciation' of his missile-making work 'so that our country can live in peace and security'.

He spoke before his Kalibr missiles were used to decimate infrastructure and civilian targets in Ukraine.

Last week the inventor of 'world's best' Angara rockets Vladimir Nesterov died aged 74.

He was the brains behind Putin's dreams of the Russian exploration of the moon and outer space.

He was chief designer for the light and heavy versions of the Angara but for the later years of his life was dogged by a criminal case launched by Putin's authorities into alleged fraud and embezzlement of more than 57 million pound.

He hailed the Angara as the "world's best" rocket system, and he was seen internationally as a leader in his field.

Nesterov's loss followed the 'sudden death' of Alexander Buzakov, 65, director general of Admiralty Shipyards, in charge of building new submarines armed with deadly Kalibr missiles, Daily Mail reported.

And on December 25 General Alexei Maslov, 69, former commander of Russian ground forces with close ties to Ukraine, died 'suddenly' the day after Vladimir Putin abruptly cancelled a trip to the tank enterprise where he worked as an international sales ambassador.

Buzakov had been healthy the day before he died, and 'nothing had been heard about Maslov's health problems' before he died, said Telegram channel Redacted number 6, Daily Mail reported.

At NATO, Maslov worked alongside Dmitry Rogozin, an official close to Putin who was abruptly removed in the summer as head of the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos.
By Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, Deputy Director General of the Information Office of the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and Spokesperson for the MND

Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), answers reporters' questions at a regular press conference on December 29, 2022.(Photo/mod.gov.cn)

(The following English text of the press conference is for reference. In case of any divergence of interpretation, the Chinese text shall prevail.)

I have one piece of news to announce at the top.

Since the successful conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), 12 military colleges and universities, including the PLA Army Engineering University, the PLA Naval Command College and the PLA Air Force Medical University, have organized activities to introduce the major achievements and significance of the congress for around 300 international military students from 43 countries, including Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Benin, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The military schools organized seminars, lectures, reading clubs and keynote speeches and invited international students to share their study and living experience and what they have learned and achieved in China from two different perspectives, namely "observing the world in China" and "observing China with a world view". International students from many countries expressed their congratulations on the success of the 20th CPC National Congress, and their appreciation and recognition of China's commitment to the path of peaceful development and the Chinese military's commitment to world peace. They also expressed willingness to be envoys of peace for their respective countries who know China and are friendly to China.

Question: At the beginning of this year, President Xi Jinping issued the annual training order to the armed forces. He emphasized that to transform and upgrade military training and build capable forces that can fight and win, the military should closely follow how technology and warfare evolve and what the opponents are doing, and promote greater coupling of operations and training with a systematic approach and technological application. Please share with us the general situation and features of the military training in 2022 and its features.

Answer: In 2022, following the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission (CMC), the military focused on improving combat readiness and continued to advance the projects of developing military training conditions in the 14th Five Year Plan to promote the transformation and upgrade of military training.

First, we have stepped up the efforts to promote greater coupling of operations and training, regularized front-line military training, improved military preparedness and deterrence, and enhanced capabilities of responding to real security threats at any time.

Second, the systematic approach to training has been refined. We have incorporated more political elements into strategic training which are more practical, flexible, and diversified, explored ways to organize and evaluate joint training at the theater command level in accordance with operational plans, and improve training in services and arms to provide a better support for joint operations and operation systems. The capability of the military for joint operations and all-domain operations based on the network information system has been further strengthened.

Third, technological application has improved the quality and efficiency of training. We have widely applied new concepts, technologies and means in training and promoted the use of training bases, simulation systems and online platforms. High technologies have been increasingly used as a way to diversify training methods and adjust to the evolution of warfare and opponents.

Fourth, the training conditions have been continuously improved. We have made great efforts to advance projects in the 14th Five Year Plan, pushed forward the construction of training bases and facilities and simulated blue forces. The overall layout of supportive infrastructure has been optimized, providing effective support for realistic training.

Question: It is reported that the Chinese military recently organized the "Constitution Publicity Week" themed "learning, publicizing and implementing the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress and promoting the comprehensive implementation of the Constitution". Please share with us more information.

Answer: December 4, 2022 marks the 9th National Constitution Day, and also the 40th anniversary of the promulgation of China's current Constitution. Following the decision of the 20th CPC National Congress on "carrying out intensive activities to raise public awareness of the rule of law", the military took advantage of the "Constitution Publicity Week" and made great efforts to popularize constitutional and legal knowledge, and improve the legal literacy of officers and soldiers. There are three things Id like to mention.

First, in terms of the main contents, we prioritized studying and publicizing Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military and Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, implementing the CMC chairman responsibility system, popularized the historical significance of the Constitution in the past 40 years, and relevant laws and regulations on supporting military operations, performing military duties, and protecting rights and interests of military personnel.

Second, in terms of the methods, we combined online and offline means to promote seven types of law popularization products, such as video animation, posters, and brochures on network platforms including military websites and APPs. We used regional educational bases for the rule of law and legal service stations and sent over 100 lecturers in small groups to primary level units for law popularization.

Third, in terms of the effectiveness of law popularization, we focused on both legal knowledge and real problem solution, and promoted the integration of the publicity and education on rule of law into military governance. To improve the quality and effectiveness of law popularization, we have properly handled legal disputes through a comprehensive use of legal aid, military-related rights protection, and public interest litigation, and answered more than 1,500 legal consultations from officers and soldiers.

Good laws ensure good governance, by which the state can enjoy stability. The military will fully implement the strategy of running the military in accordance with law, continue to advance the 8th five-year plan on publicity and education on the rule of law, promote law-based strict governance in the military in every respect, and accelerate the "three fundamental changes" in the governance of the military, so as to provide a strong legal guarantee for achieving the militarys centenary goal.

Question: President Xi Jinping recently paid a state visit to Saudi Arabia and attended the first China-Arab States Summit and the first China-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit. During the trip, President Xi proposed the eight major initiatives on China-Arab practical cooperation, which includes the cooperation initiative on security and stability. What will the Chinese military do to strengthen defense and security cooperation with the Arab countries?

Answer: The Chinese military and the militaries of Arab countries are important forces for maintaining world peace and stability. In recent years, China-Arab military relations have enjoyed rapid and sound development. The two sides have cooperated in good faith, built stronger strategic mutual trust and friendship, and achieved fruitful results in high-level exchanges, exchanges between services and arms, joint exercises and training, equipment and technological cooperation, and personnel training.

The Chinese military is ready to work with the militaries of Arab countries to implement the consensus reached in the China-Arab States Summit, work together to advance the Global Security Initiative, continue to deepen practical exchanges and cooperation, build a China-Arab community of shared future in the new era, and make new contributions to world peace and development.

Question: Recently, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese president, held talks with Thongloun Sisoulith, general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee and Lao president. In the meeting, President Xi underscored that the two sides should consolidate the foundation of security, jointly safeguard political security, and promote law-enforcement and defense cooperation. The China-Laos joint statement also mentioned strengthening defense and security cooperation and jointly safeguarding regional peace and stability. Please share more with us about the defense cooperation between the two militaries.

Answer: China and Laos are connected by the same mountains and rivers and are good neighbors, friends, comrades and partners who trust each other. Under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two parties and two countries, China and Laos have made solid progress in building a China-Laos community of shared future. In recent years, the China-Laos military relations have continued to grow. The two sides maintained frequent high-level interactions and achieved fruitful results in practical cooperation such as political work exchanges, joint exercises and training, medical service, personnel training and border defense exchanges. State Councilor and Minister of National Defense General Wei Fenghe recently held talks with Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister General Chansamone Chanyalath on the sidelines of the 9th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus). The two defense leaders had an in-depth discussion on issues of common interest.

The plumerias always bloom and the brotherhood always exists. To make new contributions to building a China-Laos community of shared future and promoting regional peace and stability, the Chinese military is willing to work with the Lao military to implement the important consensus of the party and state leaders, strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the two militaries in various fields, and support each other as always.

Question: It is reported that the Fifth China-Latin American and the Caribbean States LACDefense Forum was recently held via video link. Please share more with us about the event and China-LAC defense cooperation.

Answer: From December 13 to 14, the Fifth China-Latin American and the Caribbean States Defense Forum was successfully held in Beijing via video link. State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe attended the event and made a keynote speech. More than 60 defense and military leaders, senior representatives and experts from 24 LAC countries attended the event and made exchanges under the theme of "Peace and Cooperation". The event has the following outcomes.

First, it built stronger understanding. The Chinese side briefed the participants on the major achievements and significance of the 20th CPC National Congress, and helped LAC countries better understand China's path and philosophy. Both sides agreed to work together to implement the Global Security Initiative and jointly safeguard world and regional peace and security. Second, it deepened strategic mutual trust. The high-level dialogues and academic exchanges at the forum further deepened the strategic communication between China and LAC countries. Both sides expressed their willingness to jointly safeguard international fairness and justice and the security interests of developing countries. Third, it consolidated the consensus on cooperation. During the forum, the two sides discussed new ideas and measures for defense cooperation, and added new connotations to the community of shared future between China and LAC countries.

In recent years, under the guidance of the leaders of China and LAC countries, the two sides have made continued progress in military exchanges and cooperation including mutual visits, professional exchanges and personnel training, and explored cooperation in non-traditional security fields. China is willing to continue to work with the defense departments and armed forces of LAC countries to strengthen strategic communication, deepen exchanges and cooperation, and strive to form a new pattern of all-round, multi-tiered and wide-ranging defense cooperation between China and LAC countries.

Question: According to the PLA Daily, in 2022, the Chinese military acted on the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, made efforts to fulfill the international responsibilities as the military of a major country, actively carried out international military cooperation and achieved fruitful results. Please share with us more on this.

Answer: The year 2022 is of great significance in the history of the CPC and China. The 20th CPC National Congress was held successfully, and China has embarked on a new journey toward building a modern socialist country in all respects. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the Chinese military has promoted international military cooperation in line with Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military and Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, comprehend the decisive significance of establishing Comrade Xi Jinpings core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and defining the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and implement the CMC chairman responsibility system. To achieve the Partys goal of building a strong military for the new era, the Chinese military focused on improving combat readiness and made pioneering efforts in international military cooperation, which made a positive contribution to defending Chinas national sovereignty, security and development interests, safeguarding world peace and stability, and serving the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

First, international military cooperation serves the overall political and diplomatic interests of China. Since early 2022, under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping's head-of-state diplomacy, other CMC leaders have held meetings, talks or video calls with defense and military leaders of Russia, the United States, Cambodia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other countries to put into practice the achievements of head-of-state diplomacy in the military field. The Chinese military hosted the reception for the 95th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army, the second China-Africa Peace and Security Forum Ministerial Meeting, and the Fifth China-Latin American and the Caribbean States Defense Forum. During these events, the Chinese side actively introduced the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, and major initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping such as the Global Security Initiative and a community with a shared future for mankind. These efforts have enhanced understanding of other countries on China's policies and positions.

Second, it serves to safeguard national sovereignty, dignity and core interests. In response to the provocative actions or rhetoric made by the United States and other countries on issues concerning China's core interests and major concerns including Taiwan and the South China Sea, in addition to having resolute military operations to safeguard national sovereignty and security, the Chinese military also made solemn representations, performed countermeasures and punishments, and issued timely spokesperson remarks to make clear our attitudes and positions.

Third, it focuses on the militarys main responsibility of improving combat readiness. The Chinese military organized or participated in various joint exercises and training, international military games and joint patrols including Vostok-2022, China-Russia joint strategic air patrol, Joint Sea-2022, Falcon Strike-2022, and International Army Games-2022, which helped the Chinese military to deepen mutual trust and cooperation with the militaries of relevant countries, and played a positive role in improving realistic training.

Fourth, it serves to effectively maintain overall strategic stability. Over the past year, the Chinese military has faithfully implemented the Global Security Initiative, continued to deepen practical exchanges and cooperation between the militaries of China and Russia, and maintained the strategic cooperation between the two militaries at a high level. We have maintained the overall stability of the military relations between China and the United States, urged the US side to walk towards a same goal, implement the consensus of the heads of state, maintain smooth communication channels, properly handle disagreements and differences, and strengthen crisis management and control. We have maintained strategic communications between the defense departments and militaries of China and the EU. We have continuously deepened practical cooperation with neighboring countries in various fields, which played a positive role in promoting the building of a community of shared future with neighboring countries. We have strengthened defense and security cooperation with developing countries in Africa, Latin America and South Pacific. The Chinese military has also actively carried out cooperation in international arms control, and resolutely safeguarded Chinas national strategic interests and global strategic stability.

Fifth, the Chinese military actively participated in global security governance. We participated in various institutional meetings including the Defense Ministers' Meeting of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the ADMM-Plus, and the China-ASEAN Defense Ministers' Informal Meeting. We sent a senior military delegation to the Shangri-La Dialogue, attended the Moscow International Security Conference and other multilateral dialogue and cooperation mechanisms. We held the first "Shared Vision" international peacekeeping forum, and Beijing Xiangshan Forum Webinar, which helped strengthen the voice and influence of the Chinese military in the world.

Sixth, it serves to build a community with a shared future for mankind. The PLA Navy's hospital ship Ark Peace visited Indonesia to carry out Mission Harmony-2022 in November and provided medical service to local people. PLA Air Force Y-20 transport aircraft carried out humanitarian relief missions in Tonga, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Chinese military also actively participated in UN peacekeeping operations and vessel protection operations in the Gulf of Aden, providing public security goods to the international community.

The Chinese military is embracing the world for peace. In the face of historic changes of our world and times, the Chinese military will, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and aimed at realizing the militarys centenary goal, continue to expand and deepen relations with foreign militaries and strengthen practical exchanges and cooperation, so as to make new and greater contributions to world peace and common development.

Question: It is reported that during a meeting between US and Chinese defense chiefs, the US defense secretary talked about the importance of resuming military dialogues between China and the US. A US deputy assistant secretary of defense said recently at a seminar that China's suspension of military dialogues due to Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan is not conducive to timely communication between the two militaries to dispel doubts and reduce miscalculation. What is your comment on this, please?

Answer: We have noted the relevant reports. Right and wrong should not be confused. China's cancellation of three exchanges between the two militaries was a necessary countermeasure against the deliberate action by the US side to created a major crisis and gravely harm China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The cause and effect are clear, and the US side knows that. The US side has issued a number of negative policy documents and legislation concerning China, kept playing up great-power competition and the so-called "China threat", and grossly interfered in China's internal affairs. These acts further damaged the foundation and atmosphere for communication and exchanges between the two militaries.

It should be noted that the Chinese side attaches great importance to the China-US military relations, and communications between the two militaries at the working level are not stopped. However, the US cannot expect China to resume dialogues and exchanges when it keeps harming China's interests. Moreover, the US side should not mislead the public on the cause and try to blame China for the cancellation of some military exchanges. It is simply not fair. If the US side truly wants to have positive and constructive dialogues with the Chinese side, it needs to show sincerity with real actions, respect China's core interests and major concerns, and create conditions and atmosphere for the military relations to return to the right track.

Question: It is reported that the Chinese and Russian navies recently held the Joint Sea-2022 exercise. Please share with us relevant information and main features of the exercise.

Answer: According to the annual plan for military cooperation between China and Russia, the two navies held a joint exercise codenamed Joint Sea-2022 in waters to the east of Zhoushan and Taizhou from December 21 to 27. Adopting the red-blue force-on-force approach, the two sides conducted joint training on blockade and control, visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS), air defense, rescue, and anti-submarine. The exercise reflected the level of strategic mutual trust and the depth of operational and tactical coordination between the two sides, and further deepened the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.

The exercise has three features. First, it shows the close coordination between the two navies. The two sides sent surface warships, submarines, and naval aviation forces to predesignated waters and carried out maritime operations immediately after assembly at sea, which shows that the Chinese and Russian navies have formed a complete set of coordination methods, communication and liaison standards and joint training organization mechanism after 10 years of joint exercises. Second, it reflects the sense of responsibility of the two navies. With the exercise focusing on jointly protecting maritime security, the participating troop took diversified military operations to jointly protect strategic maritime passages, demonstrating the determination and ability of the two sides to jointly address maritime security threats and maintain international and regional peace and stability. Third, it reflects the professionalism and confidence of the two navies. The weather and sea conditions in the waters for the joint exercise have been adverse as affected by a cold wave. The vessels from both sides withstood the test of strong winds and waves, completed the established subjects with excellence while overcoming many difficulties in close cooperation, and demonstrated professional and tenacious conduct.

Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), answers reporters' questions at a regular press conference on December 29, 2022.(Photo/mod.gov.cn)

Question: It is reported that the PLA Navy recently held the Maritime Community With a Shared Future Forum for Commandants of International Naval Colleges and Academies at the PLA Naval Command College. Could you please share us more information about the forum?

Answer: From December 15 to 16, the PLA Navy held an international forum on the maritime community of shared future for commandants of naval colleges and academies via video link in Nanjing. The forum, under the theme of "Towards a Maritime Community of Shared Future: Educational Innovation, Opening-up and Cooperation Among Naval Academies", was hosted by the PLA Naval Command College. More than 50 representatives and military attaches from China and 27 countries attended the forum.

During the event, 29 Chinese and foreign schools had discussions on three topics, namely "function and orientation", "tradition and innovation", and "exchange and cooperation". The participants agreed that it is necessary to value and give full play to the important role of international cooperation among naval academies, strengthen exchanges in military education, and build a cooperation platform featured with "extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits". They underlined the importance to promote practical cooperation, carry out naval academic exchanges, expand the level and scope of cooperation, explore new ideas and measures for military talent cultivation, and promote defense and military modernization of respective countries. They said that in the face of the current complex and sensitive international situation, all parties should get better prepared in understanding and responding to changes, build consensus through cooperation, work hand in hand to address challenges, and make new and greater contributions to building a maritime community of shared future.

Question: It is reported that the Chinese military recently participated in relevant meetings of the Experts' Working Group (EWG) on Counter-terrorism and the EWG on Peacekeeping Operations under ADMM-Plus. Could you please introduce relevant information to us?

Answer: From December 6 to 7 and from December 13 to 14, the Chinese military sent delegates to participate in the regular meetings of the EWG on Counter-terrorism and the EWG on Peacekeeping Operations under the ADMM-Plus via video link. During the meetings, Chinese delegates shared their views and participated in the discussions. The meetings help deepen mutual trust and promote cooperation among participating countries.

The Chinese military will continue to actively participate in practical cooperation under the ADMM-Plus at all levels and in all fields, implement the Global Security Initiative with real actions, and make unremitting efforts to maintain regional peace and stability.

Question: It is reported that an international military personnel training webinar was recently held at the PLA Army Logistics Academy. Please tell us more about it.

Answer: The international military personnel training webinar was held at the PLA Army Logistics Academy from December 8 to 9. Nearly 100 participants from 17 countries gathered online and had extensive and in-depth discussions on the theme of Challenges and Responses of International Military Personnel Training in the New Era . Achieving the expected goal of sharing experience, pooling wisdom and promoting cooperation, the webinar forged the consensus on tackling new challenges, building new platforms, and boosting new development, and proposed constructive ideas and methods for establishing training systems, innovating management models, and expanding international communication, which was conducive to strengthening the bond and enhancing the quality of international military personnel training in the new era.

Question: It is reported that the Commander of the US Space Command recently called China a pacing challenge to the US for its continuously growing capabilities that hold Americas space assets at risk. Whats your comment on that?

Answer: The US believes that anyones growing capabilities pose a threat to itself. The logic behind is unreasonable. It is actually only an excuse for the US to weaponize space, turn it into a battlefield, and seek space domination. China strongly opposes such actions to spread the China threat theory in the space domain.

In fact, China is committed to peaceful utilization of space and preventing space weaponization and arms race, and promoting international cooperation in space. Not long ago, China announced that its space station would be open to all UN member states in an effort to create a space home for all mankind. This decision has been highly commended by the international community. It stands in sharp contrast to what certain country has done, namely defining space as a war domain, forming a space command and a space force, aggressively developing and deploying offensive space weapons, and conducting frequent military exercises and technological experiments. It is very clear who is preserving peace and promoting cooperation and who is stirring up competition and clamoring for confrontation.

China urges the US side to reflect on its negative moves in the space domain, stop hyping up China threat and space confrontation, and take an active part in international space arms control. China stands ready to work with all countries and regions that are committed to the peaceful utilization of space to strengthen exchanges and deepen cooperation, promote a community of shared future for mankind, and make greater contributions to lasting peace and common security in space and the advancement of human civilization.

Question: It is reported that Japan has recently revised the National Security Strategy (NSS), the National Defense Strategy (NDS) and the Defense Buildup Program (DBP). The three security documents labeled China as an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge. The documents say that Japan will possess counterstrike capability to strike missile launch sites on opponents territory, increase defense spending and include contents concerning the Taiwan question. Analysts say this marks a drastic shift in Japans post-WWII security policy. Whats your comment on that?

Answer: The China-related contents in these documents released by the Japanese government are fraught with distortions and biases. They deliberately exaggerate the so-called China threat and smear Chinas defense and military development and normal military activities. They constitute a grave interference in Chinas internal affairs and create regional tensions. China strongly opposes these contents.

Facts have proven that China is a partner and an opportunity to the development of other countries, and the Chinese military is a staunch force for world peace that has never challenged or threatened anyone. Japan, in contrast, has seriously violated its own pacificist constitution and exclusively defense-oriented policy in recent years. On the pretext of so-called external threats, it has massively increased defense spending, stepped up military technology research and development in such areas as space, missile defense and hypersonic weapons, and enhanced military cooperation with the US. It is seeking the so-called counterstrike capability, clamoring about nuclear sharing with the US, and following certain countries to build small group alliances targeting at others. Japan has become a real challenge to regional peace, security and stability.

Taiwan is Chinas Taiwan, and the Taiwan question is Chinas internal affair. In the past, Japan waged an aggressive war against China, which inflicted untold sufferings to the Chinese people, including the compatriots in Taiwan. These agonies and pains are still fresh in our memory. Japan recognized in the four political documents between China and Japan that the government of the Peoples Republic of China is the sole legal government of China, and that it fully understands and respects the Chinese governments stance that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory. The Taiwan question brooks no interference by Japan. What it should do is to remember history, reflect on its crimes, keep its commitments, and watch its words and deeds.

The next year will mark the 45th anniversary of the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship. History has told us that only when Japan sticks to peaceful development and truly respects other countries security concerns can it gain the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community. We urge the Japanese side to learn lessons from history, refrain from muddying the waters and pursuing selfish gains on Taiwan, do not walk the old beggar-thy-neighbor path that turns oneself into enemy of neighbors, and do more to preserve regional peace and stability.

Question: It is reported that the head of Taiwans foreign affairs department recently said that military threats from the mainland had become unprecedentedly serious as the number of military aircraft trespassing into Taiwans air defense identification zone has increased by five times since 2020. He said the mainland would find more excuses to rehearse attacks on Taiwan. Whats your comment on that?

Answer: The military operations conducted by the PLA are targeted at Taiwan independence separatist forces and external interference. The aim is defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Such military operations will happen where there are people who betray their motherland and seek to split the country. Instead of counting how frequently or how many times PLA aircraft fly, the Democratic Progressive Party authorities had better face up to history and reality and recognize the overwhelming trend of national reunification and what the people wish for. They should reflect on what they have done wrong to court foreign support, seek Taiwan independence by force, heighten cross-Strait confrontation and damage the cross-Strait relations.

It is a sacred duty of the PLA to safeguard national sovereignty and deter Taiwan independence separatists. Always bearing in mind its missions, the PLA will continue to improve military preparedness, be ready to smash any form of Taiwan independence schemes and interference by external forces, and resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

As the year 2023 is just around the corner, I would like to wish you all a very happy New Year. Thank you for following Chinas defense and military development in the past year, and for your trust and support for the press release of the Ministry of National Defense.

In the past year, China successfully held the 20th CPC National Congress, which made strategic arrangements for achieving the militarys centenary goal and defense and military modernization. The peoples military has strengthened training and enhanced military preparedness across the board and improved its strategic capabilities for defending Chinas sovereignty, security and development interests. We have taken an active part in international peacekeeping operations, and maritime vessel protection and humanitarian assistance missions, making our efforts to promote a community of shared future for mankind and demonstrating the warm power of the military of a responsible major country.

In the past year, the MND Information Office has released important information, clarified policy positions and answered media queries through regular press conferences, and spokespersons statements and remarks to deliver the PLAs voice in a comprehensive, timely and accurate manner. As a spokesperson for the MND and a messenger for the PLA, Im fully aware of my responsibility in this position and feel proud of my mission of speaking on behalf of the country and the military. But this is not a solo that I stage and command on my own  the powerful forces behind me are the true source of our strength.

Right at this moment, my colleagues in the military are still on duty at their respective posts. They are on high mountains and in remote borders, missing their families far away. They may encounter freezing winters and life-and-death moments but they smile in all the harsh conditions. They believe as firmly as I do that the minute we put on the uniform and pick up the gun, we must always be ready for the call of duty. Though they are serving across the country, be it rivers or mountains or coasts, they are at home. Today, lets take some time to hear their voices.

The year 2023 will be the first year of comprehensively implementing the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress. In the coming year, the peoples military will keep forging ahead with enterprise and fortitude, strive to achieve the militarys centenary goal, grow faster to become a world-class military, and achieve greater glories and victories on the new journey.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : After a series of letters between Delhi Lt Governor V.K. Saxena and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over "conflict-free governance" on Monday, the LG's office has refused an appointment till Friday, sources said on Tuesday.

"The LG had invited the CM for discussion over existing conflict over governance powers yesterday (Monday). CM had immediately written back accepting the invite and sought an appointment today (Tuesday). Refusing a timely appointment, LG Office said that the LG does not have time to meet the CM before Friday 4 p.m.," a source said.

The Delhi LG had written to Kejriwal on Monday for regular meeting "in the interest of consciously deliberative and conflict free governance of the city". "We used to meet regularly till October 2022, where after you expressed your inability to meet due to your preoccupation with State Assembly and Municipal Elections," Saxena had said in the letter.

"Now, that the same are over, it will be in the fitness of things that such meetings are resumed in the interest of consciously deliberative and conflict free governance of the City, in the interest of its people," he added.

Responding to this letter, CM Kejriwal had accepted the invitation, saying: "I will fix up a convenient time with your office."
New Delhi, Jan 10 : The Congress on Tuesday alleged that average number of Indians giving up their citizenship per day has grown 1.7 times in the last 8 years, while in the previous year, the number was highest.

The party alleged that the first 10 months of 2022 (January to October) saw the highest number of such case, as in 2014, 129,328 gave up citizenship at the rate of 354 persons per day, while in 2021, the total number was 163,370 or 448 persons per day and in 2022, it was 183,741 (up to October 31, 2022) or 604 persons per day, as per the Ministry of External Affairs.

"In people giving up Indian citizenship, most of them are people with high net worth. For 2022, around 7,000 people will have an annual income of Rs 8 crore. From hunger to happiness, if our global rankings are falling/consistently low, this is bound to happen," Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said.

The party asked the government to reveal the reasons for the rising numbers of those giving up their citizenship.

He also flagged the consistent high unemployment rate, saying that as per CMIE, it was more than 7 per cent for 8 months and more than 8 per cent for the remaining. For December 2022, it was 8.3 per cent overall and 10.09 per cent for urban India.

The other reason is the low GDP growth opportunities, Gourav Vallabh said, noting that due to twin shocks of demonetisation and flawed implementation of GST, GDP growth fell from 8.3 per cent in FY 2017 to 3.7 per cent in FY 2020, and after the 2020 lockdown, GDP further fell to (-) 6.7 per cent in FY 2021. For FY 2022, GDP growth rate was 8.7 per cent, but there is nothing to celebrate in this due to the low base for FY 2021, he added.

Vallabh said the largest number of poor people in the world, 228.9 million, lived in India in 2020, as per the report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : A cash van guard was shot dead and the money looted by an armed assailant near Jagatpur flyover in North Delhi on Tuesday evening, police said.

According to a senior police official, a police control room (PCR) call was received at around 5 p.m. regarding a firing incident and loot of a cash van, following which a police team rushed to the spot.

"At around 4.50 p.m, one cash van had arrived at ICICI ATM near Jagatpur flyover for depositing cash. One person came from behind and fired at the cash van guard and fled away taking the money," the official said.

"The guard was declared brought dead at the hospital. Police teams are on the spot," said the official.

More details are awaited
New Delhi, Jan 10 : Microsoft is planning to infuse $10 billion into OpenAI, the owner of popular AI platform called ChatGPT, that will value OpenAI at nearly $29 billion, the media reported on Tuesday.

News portal Semafor reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that it is still unclear if the deal has been finalised but "documents sent to prospective investors in recent weeks outlining its terms indicated a targeted close by the end of 2022".

Microsoft's $10 billion investment will see it get 75 per cent of OpenAI's profits "until it recoups its investment," the report mentioned.

"After that threshold is reached, it would revert to a structure that reflects ownership of OpenAI, with Microsoft having a 49 per cent stake, other investors taking another 49 per cent and OpenAI's nonprofit parent getting 2 per cent," the report claimed.

Microsoft and OpenAI did not comment on the report.

The tech giant had invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019.

Opened last month for the general public, ChatGPT has invited users to get feedback and learn about its strengths and weaknesses.

AI-driven ChatGPT gives human-like answers to questions and has become very popular on social media, with people asking it to write poems to essays.

Microsoft is now pushing ChatGPT applications for solving real-life problems.

The tech giant is also reportedly adding OpenAI writing tech to Office, providing users with a way to compose the text for projects by incorporating AI technology into its apps.

The company wants to incorporate AI created by OpenAI into Word, Outlook, Powerpoint, and other apps, The Information reported.
Chennai, Jan 10 : A 16-year-old school dropout in Tamil Nadu's Cuddalore was arrested by woman police station officials for repeatedly raping and impregnating a 14-year-old girl from the same locality, police said.

The 16-year-old boy was charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act. Police said that the boy and girl had dropped out of school and were living in the same area.

After the girl complained of stomach pain, her mother took girl to a government hospital and after conducting a few tests, she was found to be three months pregnant. When the doctors questioned her, she admitted to having a relationship with the boy who had repeatedly entered into a physical relationship with her.

The doctors registered a complaint with the Police who arrested the 16-year-old boy under Sections 5 and 6 of the Pocso Act. He was sent to the Cuddalore Government Observation Centre being a minor.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : A Delhi court discharged two persons -- a father and his son -- of charges of abetment to suicide, noting that mere demand for return of money can't be said to be an act of instigating or abetting or aiding in the commission of suicide by the deceased.

The accused would, however, face the prosecution for the offence punishable under Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The court was at the stage of framing charges in connection with the suicide of Vijender Singh, who took a loan of Rs 1.5 lakh and helped his friend in getting a loan of Rs 15 lakh from the accused, Dal Chand. It was alleged that Chand and his son Dinesh alias Titto Yadav had tortured Vijender, which led to him committing suicide.

The Additional Sessions Judge at the Tis Hazari Courts, Devender Kumar Sharma, said that the suicide note itself made it clear that there were no allegations of abetment to suicide.

"In the present case, there was demand for returning the loan amount and that has been attributed to be the sole reason for committing suicide by the deceased in his suicide note. However, in no manner, the mere demand for return of the amount can be said to be an act of instigating or abetting or aiding in the commission of suicide by the deceased. Even if it was coupled with the allegation that in case of non-payment of the loan amount, the accused would get the deceased sent to prison, it can not be said to be a direct or indirect act compelling the deceased to commit suicide," the court noted.

Advocate Ravi Bassi, who was appearing for Chand and Dinesh, argued that the deceased person's wife had levelled the allegation of abetment to suicide against his client six days after Vijender died.

"The mere demand for returning the loan amount cannot be treated as harassment. So by no stretch of imagination it can be presumed that Dal Chand abetted the deceased to commit suicide," Bassi said.

"The suicide note can only be treated to be anguish shown by the deceased against the accused and any demand for return of loan amount with interest can not be construed to be intentional on the part of accused to instigate the deceased to commit suicide," Bassi argued.

The court has now discharged the accused duo of abetment to suicide charges, but they will face prosecution under Section 506 of the IPC.

According to sources, on July 4, 2018, a PCR call regarding a hanging incident was received at the Punjabi Bagh police station. A police team was sent to the spot, where Vijender was found hanging from the ceiling. The police also recovered a suicide note from the spot.

Later, Sunil, the wife of the deceased, recorded her statement before the police.

She had told the police that at the instance of the deceased, Dal Chand had given a loan of Rs 15 lakh to Sharif Khan, who repaid only Rs 4 lakh.

Sunil had also told the police that the accused gave a loan of Rs 1.5 lakh to her husband. She had alleged that Dal Chand and his son Dinesh used to demand Rs 25 lakh from her husband and had also threatened him of dire consequences if he failed to repay the loan amount.

She had alleged in her statement that Dal Chand called her husband and told him to either return the money, or commit suicide, which led her husband to take the extreme step.

In the suicide note, the deceased had written that Dal Chand was charging 10 per cent interest on the given loan.

The police had then lodged a case under Sections 306/506 of the IPC against Dal Chand and Dinesh.

On July 27, 2018, the police had arrested Dal Chand who was sent to judicial custody. The police analysed the call details record (CDR) of Dal Chand and the deceased and it was learnt that they were in regular touch with each other, while Dinesh didn't call the deceased.

The police had filed the chargesheet and supplementary chargesheet in the matter in October 2018.

(Atul Krishan can be contacted at atul.k@ians.in)
New Delhi, Jan 10 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said that it has carried out a search in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case involving Abhay Kant Pathak, a 1987 batch ex IFS officer of the Odisha cadre.

He was working as Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Plan, Programme and Afforestation, government of Odisha during the relevant period.

The ED has seized a BMW 620D GT, a luxury car worth Rs 74.22 lakh in the matter.

"During investigation being conducted under PMLA it was revealed that Pathak had surreptitiously attempted to sell the said BMW car to a resident of Belagavi in Karnataka who was a dealer in old cars, working in Mumbai," the ED said.

The ED initiated the PMLA investigation on the basis of a FIR registered by the Vigilance Cell PS, Cuttack in Odisha for disproportionate assets (DA) amounting to Rs 9,35,42,594 of Pathak and his family members.

There were seven other FIRs and chargesheets registered by the Odisha police involving Pathak and his son Akash Kumar Pathak where they had been charged with duping gullible people in the name of providing jobs in Tata Motors.

The ED had earlier carried out a search operation on December 3, 2021 at the residence of Pathak in Bhubaneswar which resulted in the seizure of a Tata Harrier car worth Rs 15 lakh alongwith various incriminating documents and evidence (which was confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority).

"Subsequently, the ED has also issued a Provisional Attachment Order against Pathak and others wherein identified properties worth Rs 29.83 lakh belonging to them were attached (Provisional Attachment Order was confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority under PMLA)," the official said.
New Delhi, 10 Jan : The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has accorded acceptance of necessity for the procurement of HELINA anti-tank guided missiles, launchers and associated support equipment which will be integrated to the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).

The Brahmos launcher and fire control system (FCS) for the Shivalik class of ships and procurement of VSHORAD (IR Homing) missile system under design and development by DRDO have also been approved.

A senior Defence Ministry official said that the HELINA anti-tank guided missile is an essential part of weaponisation of ALH for countering enemy threats. Its induction will strengthen the offensive capability of the Indian Army, the official added.

At a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), held on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, acceptance of necessity (AoN) was accorded to three capital acquisition proposals, amounting to Rs 4,276 crore.

All the three proposals - two of the Indian Army and one of the Indian Navy - are under the 'buy' (Indian-IDDM) category.

According to Defence Ministry, the Defence Acquisition Council also accorded AoN for the procurement of VSHORAD (IR Homing) missile system under design and development by DRDO.

In view of the recent developments along the Northern borders of the country, there is a need to focus on effective air defence (AD) weapon systems, which are portable and can be deployed quickly in the rugged terrains and maritime domains.

Procurement of VSHORAD, as a robust and quickly deployable system, will strengthen the air defence capabilities.

The Defenfe Ministry also said that the Defence Acquisition Council granted approval for procurement of Brahmos launcher and fire control system (FCS) for the Shivalik class of ships and next generation missile vessels (NGMVs) for the Indian Navy.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday expressed dismay that the problem hadn't been brought up by the authorities for 15 years despite the fact that a significant number of documents and land records had vanished from the sub-registrar's office in the capital.

A bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh said that since numerous officials are accountable for the missing documents, she may order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into the situation.

"I am making it very, very clear that I may order a CBI inquiry into the case, because this is very, very shocking. Not possible that a truckload of documents from the sub-registrar's office can go missing like this. And 15 years later they register an FIR," she said.

The bench listed the matter for next hearing on February 8 and ordered that the Inspector General (IG) Registrations be physically remain present. It further directed the Principal Secretary, Revenue to join the proceedings virtually.

Justice Singh said that she wants a complete list of all the sub-registrars who were functioning during the period.

"The status of the police investigation and FIR registered be also placed on record," she ordered.

The court was dealing with a plea filed by a company called Monk Estates Private Ltd, which claimed that six sale deeds for certain agricultural land were registered in 1994. In February 1995, the petitioner was the beneficiary of mutations, and as a result, it acquired the original sale deeds.

The petitioner, however, lost the documents in 2013 and sought certified copies from the officer of the sub-registrar. The company deposited the required charges as well. In December 2013, the registrar told the company that they did not have the documents.

Later when the petitioner approached the Department of Delhi Archives, it did not have the copies as well.

The petitioner submitted a Right to Information (RTI) request in September 2021, which indicated that the records were unavailable and that the police had lodged a first information report (FIR) in May 2019. The petitioner was only handed two pages of the FIR.

After reviewing the petirion and the FIR, Justice Singh observed that the evidence demonstrate that the officials were aware that these records had vanished but waited 14 years before reporting it to the police.

"Considering that these documents could be misused for sale and purchase transactions, also raised serious concerns about the credibility and integrity of preservation of land records related to citizens itself. Despite having knowledge of all the facts, none of the authorities appear to be taking any action in this regard," she observed.
Kolkata, Jan 10 : The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday granted conditional approval to Trinamool Congress's state General secretary and spokesman Kunal Ghosh to travel abroad.

A division bench of Justice Jaymalya Bagchi and Justice Ajay Gupta permitted Ghosh to travel to Singapore to attend a function of a polytechnic college there from January 16 to January 31.

The bench, directing the Central Bureau of Invetigation (CBI) to return his passport for that purpose, also directed Ghosh to return the passport again to the central agency immediately after coming back from Singapore. At the same time, it asked him to submit a personal bond of Rs 5,00,000.

Having spent over two years behind the bars following his alleged connection with the Saradha chit fund scam and currently released on bail in 2016, Ghosh approached the division bench on January 2 seeking permission to travel to Singapore.

There were initial restrictions on him from travelling outside the state. However, later those were relaxed and the restriction was on overseas travels.

On Tuesday, the CBI counsel, however, objected to Ghosh's overseas travel claiming that since Ghosh is one of the prime accused in the Saradha Ponzi scam on which the central agency probe is on, he should not be given the permission to travel overseas.

"The CBI has identified some transaction links with some overseas banks in the Saradha scam. Some of these overseas banks are also based out of Singapore," the CBI counsel argued. However, the division bench did not finally accept the argument of the CBI counsel and allowed Ghosh to travel abroad.

--IANS src/vd

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Joshimath : , Jan 10 (IANS) With the situation in Joshimath getting worse, Minister of State (MoS) for Defence Ajay Bhatt on Tuesday assured the affected residents of all possible help.

Ealier in the day, the minister held a meeting with administrative officials at the Army base here.

In the town, over 670 houses have developed cracks due to land subsidence. Even roads in several places have caved in.

Bhatt met the affected people in Sunil Ward of the town and said that the Central and state governments are working on a war footing to get them out of the calamity.

The visit by the minister is being considered significant as the border with China is only 90 km away from the town and an army brigade there monitors the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Also, an ITBP battalion is stationed in Joshimath.

Indian Army and ITBP jointly monitor Auli and all the border lines in the vicinity. In 2022, the Indian and the US Army had conducted a major joint drill in Tapovan, drawing a protest by China.

Land subsidence has created a crisis on the existence of Joshimath, the town closest to the China border in Chamoli district. Due to the cracks in buildings, shops, roads and other structures, a sense of fear is prevailing among the residents.

On the instructions of the district administration, many residents have vacated their houses while a lot of people are still packing up to leave the town.
Imphal, Jan 10 : Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai reviewed the prevailing security situation, operational preparedness, and ongoing construction work of the border fence along the 400-km-long India-Myanmar border in Manipur, officials said on Tuesday.

Assam Rifles officials said that the Union Minister visited its field formations and forward company operating bases along the India-Myanmar border at Moreh and permanent vehicle check post at Khudengthabi in Tengnoupal district on Monday and Tuesday.

During the visit, Rai was briefed in detail by the various commanders on ground about the prevailing security situation and operational preparedness.

The Minister expressed his satisfaction on the security measures and operational preparedness of the Assam Rifles. He said that the Assam Rifles during its glorious history has contributed significantly to the maintenance of peace and harmony in the insurgency affected areas of the northeast and has performed exemplary work in preventing cross border smuggling and drug trafficking.

Interacting with the Assam Rifles troopers deployed along the border, he appreciated their untiring efforts in difficult and inhospitable conditions and commended them for carrying out people-friendly operations. The Minister also said that all ranks of Assam Rifles have to face many difficulties for the security of the country, therefore their welfare is paramount for the government.

Rai also complimented various Civic Action Programmes including medical camps, national integration tours, women empowerment and other activities run by Assam Rifles for local citizens which provide a foundation for the social upliftment of the northeast region.
Mumbai, Jan 10 : The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday lauded and 'saluted' Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for his principled stance vis-a-vis his state's Governor R.N. Ravi after what happened in the TN legislature on Monday.

The Governor, in his customary address in the Assembly, had omitted mention of the Dravidian model of governance and names of revered leaders like E.V. Ramasamy, known popularly as Thanthai Periyar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, B.R. Ambedkar, or former stalwarts and CMs of that state like K. Kamaraj, C.N. Annadurai, though he later named K. Karunanidhi.

The Governor had deviated from the speech cleared by the ruling alliance, which led to a ruckus in the Assembly, and he later walked out of the House before Stalin could complete reading out the resolution demanding to include only the government-approved and printed speech.

Stalin's act earned him the admiration and applause of senior NCP leaders in Maharashtra for his stand on the developments in Tamil Nadu.

State NCP President Jayant R. Patil said that India is a federal system of democracy where the states enjoy the same status as the Centre.

"However, attempts are being made to crush the Constitutional rights of the state by the Governors appointed by the Centre all over India. We fully support the strong stand taken by CM Stalin," said Patil.

Senior NCP leader Jitendra Awhad congratulated Stalin for his "firm stand of raising objection to the Governor's omissions on the spot, and for upholding the highest Indian traditions of not insulting the country's great personalities and icons".

"After the protests, the TN Governor walked out of the House, but it was heartening to see that CM Stalin did not even once attempt to call him back. He showed that any slight to icons like Thanthai Periyar or Ambedkar will not be tolerated. I salute CM Stalin for this," said Awhad.

In another strong reaction, NCP's national spokesperson Clyde Crasto said that the post of Governor is Constitutional, they are the guardians of the state and it's their duty to remain neutral.

"Therefore, after appointment as Governor, the incumbent must bear in mind that he doesn't belong to any party or try to tow the party line. TN Governor Ravi's behaviour in the Assembly does not behove well for his stature and the constitutional position that he represents," said Crasto.

Patil pointed out that a Governor's address is like a 'policy' document of the respective state government.

"The Governor must read out the speech approved by the state Cabinet. This practice has been going on since the Constitution came into existence. We support the strong stand taken by CM Stalin," Patil said.

It may be recalled that the TN Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution seeking to relax Rule 17, which demanded to include only the speech printed and approved by the government.

Members of the ruling DMK and its allies like Congress, VCK, MDMK and CPI-M had raised slogans against the Governor during his address, and he was not present when the national anthem was played.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)
Karnal, Jan 10 : As the Bharat Jodo Yatra completed its journey of 8 days in Haryana, Rahul Gandhi thanked the people for their enormous support and coined a new slogan -- Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Pehelwan.

Haryana has a huge number of wrestlers who have won medals for the country.

"I especially thank the lakhs who attended our public meeting in Panipat, and the large numbers of women and youth who participated in the Yatra, often braving the cold, fog, and even smog. We have seen the diversity of Haryana by walking through the green fields of Nuh and Karnal, vibrant industrial centres of Faridabad and Ambala, and historic sites of Indian culture such as Kurukshetra and Panipat," he wrote.

He said that he was honoured to join the residents of Ghasera in Nuh district to celebrate Mewat Diwas.

"Gandhiji's act of reassuring Mewatis during partition reminds us all of the true meaning of Bharat Jodo," he said.

Rahul Gandhi said that the people of Haryana are blessed with everything they need for a good life but alleged their potential is being wasted as the farmers of Haryana led the historic movement against the three black farm laws, and many were martyred. Still, the agricultural crisis endures.

"In the land of doodh, dahi and gur, it is a tragedy that farmers' children no longer want to be farmers. Yet, there are no other options for an aspirational youth. Haryana has the highest youth unemployment rate, and desperate youth look abroad for jobs," he said.

Haryanvi youth have long excelled in sports, but even this avenue is closing, with academies being shut down and public support diminished.

He alleged that people have been complaining that the government is systematically spreading division between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs; between farmers and non-farmers; and between people of different castes.

The governments of the past decades planted the seeds of development, which are yielding fruit now. Tragically, today's government is busy building a 'nafrat ka bazaar' (marketplace of hatred).
New Delhi, Jan 10 : With Joshimath having been declared a subsidence-hit zone amid sinking of land and threat of the entire town sinking under its own weight, state-owned NTPC has clarified that the tunnel for its Tapovan Vishnugad hydel project has nothing to do with the situation prevailing there.

"The tunnel of Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower project is also being held responsible for the landslide in Joshimath. It is clarified that the tunnel constructed by NTPC is not passing under Joshimath town," a statement issued by the NTPC said.

The statement came after local residents in Joshimath held protests against the tunnel work for the project, blaming it as one of the reasons behind the gradual sinking of the town.

The NTPC said that the tunnel has been constructed with the help of a tunnel boring machine and currently no blasting work is being undertaken by the company at the project, which is being constructed on Dhauliganga river in the hill state.

"NTPC wants to inform with full responsibility that the tunnel has nothing to do with the landslide happening in Joshimath. In such an odd situation, the company expresses its sympathy and sensitivity to the people of Joshimath," the statement added.

On January 8, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had held a high-level meeting to review the situation in Joshimath and directed several agencies to come up with a time-bound plan to rehabilitate the people of the town.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : RSS leader and Muslim Rashtriya Manch patron Indresh Kumar on Tuesday termed Congress Rahul Gandhi a "fake Hindu", claiming that he "doesn't have any knowledge and knowledge of civilisation".

He alleged it has become Rahul Gandhi's behaviour to speak profusely and urged him against such behaviour, which, he said, had led the people of the country to reject him.

Speaking at a mega blanket distribution programme organised by the Manch in Motia Khan here, he also criticised Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra.

On film "The Kashmir Files", the Sangh leader said that it had been "shortlisted" for for the Oscars, the world's biggest film awards and said it was a "true story". He claimed that he was a witness to those incidents at that time and he always raised these things but the Congress and "secular parties" never accepted it.

He said that the Manch will distribute blankets to about 2.5 lakh people, including 10,000 blankets in Delhi, of which 4,500 blankets have been distributed so far.
Kolkata, Jan 10 : Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who had been in the headlines during the entire 2022 for his judgements and observations in the multi-crore teachers' recruitment scam in West Bengal, said on Tuesday that attempts are being made to terrorise the judiciary in the state.

Reacting to the developments of the last couple of days over the continuing ruckus outside the court of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of the Calcutta High Court and complaints against a section of lawyers of resisting their colleagues from entering his court, Justice Gangopadhyay said that the recent developments are unprecedented in the history of the high court.

"I have been acting as a judge in the Calcutta High Court for the last five years. Before that, I had practiced as an advocate in the same court. But I have never witnessed such things before. There is a clear attempt to terrorise the judiciary in the state," Justice Gangopadhyay told mediapersons outside his court on Thursday.

However, he refused to name any particular political party as responsible for this ruckus. He also slammed the incident of posters slamming Justice Mantha being recovered from near the latter's residence in south Kolkata on Monday morning, saying that those responsible for this should be tracked and punished.

Criticising the recent developments, former Supreme Court judge, Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly (Retd) said that the great judicial system of the country is not that fragile that it will get affected by such acts of some 'rowdy' elements.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Police Commissioner, Vineet Kumar Goyal, said on Tuesday that the city police have started a detailed investigation to find out those responsible for the postering incident near Justice Mantha's residence.

No one has been arrested so far in the matter.

A political slugfest has also erupted over the developments relating to Justice Mantha's bench.

According to BJP's national vice-president and party MP Dilip Ghosh, understanding that the judiciary is becoming the principal hurdle for its 'misdeeds' and 'corrupt activities', the Trinamool Congress is now attacking the judges of the Calcutta High Court.

Rubbishing the claims of Ghosh, Trinamool MP Saugata Roy said that his party does not have any connection with the entire development.

"But it has to be seen why there are so many grievances against the verdicts of the judge concerned," he said.
Mumbai, Jan 10 : The Tamil trailer of the Shahrukh Khan-starrer 'Pathaan' will run in 'Thalapathy' Vijay's 'Varisu' and Ajit's 'Thunivu' as part of a unique collaboration.

Coming as they do from two of Kollywood's top stars, their movie releases promise an epic box-office clash in Tamil Nadu during the Pongal festival holidays.

Earlier in the day, Vijay unveiled the Tamil trailer of 'Pathaan' on his social media handle and conveyed his best wishes.

"Wishing @iamsrk sir and the team all the best for #Pathaan. Here is the trailer," Vijay tweeted.

In return, SRK tweeted, "Thank you my friend @actorvijay. You are Thalapathy for this humble reason, let's meet for delicious feast soon." Apart from Hindi, the YRF movie directed by Siddharth Anand, is slated to be released in Telugu, and Tamil as well on January 25.

'Varisu' vs. 'Thunivu', meanwhile, is being billed as the biggest clash in Tamil cinema in recent times as Vijay and Ajith are locking horns after eight years! Given the decibel level of the clash, the Pathaan trailer being played in both films means the SRK-starrer will grab the attention of Tamil moviegoers in this crucial upcoming holiday period.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : A Special MCOCA Court in Mumbai has awarded ten years rigorous imprisonment to three accused in a case related to the nexus between the underworld and gutka manufacturers. Don Dawood Ibrahim wanted to establish a gutka factory in Pakistan and they helped him in the matter.

The court while awarding jail terms to Jamiruddin Ansari, Mohd Farooq Mansuri and J. M Joshi also imposed a fine of Rs 15 lakh on each of them.

The CBI had registered the case on February 9, 2005 on the request of the Maharashtra government and took over the investigation of the case registered at the Sir JJ Marg police station, Mumbai.

It was alleged that during February-May in 2002, Ansari and Ibrahim had threatened to kill a businessman and his associate and forced them to purchase five gutka pouch packaging machines worth Rs 2.64 lakh from Rajesh Panchariya and sent them to Anees Ibrahim in Karachi, Pakistan through their associate Farooq Ahmed Mansoori in Dubai.

The case was transferred to the CID, Mumbai Police. After investigation, the Mumbai Police filed a chargesheet on January 24, 2005 against four accused.

The CBI conducted a thorough investigation. It was learnt that two more accused J. M. Joshi and R. N. Dhariwal were in nexus with Dawood Ibrahim. Dhariwal used his links with Dawood to settle a long-standing financial dispute with Joshi. As per the settlement Joshi was to receive Rs 20 crore from Dhariwal and in lieu Joshi was to provide all assistance (financial/technical/ operational) to Dawood in running an organized crime syndicate for establishing a gutka factory in Hyderabad, Sind Province, Pakistan.

The accused had also kidnapped an employee of Joshi in India and took him to Hyderabad, Sind Province and forcibly made him work for three years in the gutka factory (established/ financed/operationalized) in Pakistan by Joshi for Dawood.

Dhariwal was abetting the activities of the organized crime syndicate of Dawood by supplying gutka to a Dubai based company owned by Abdul Hamid Antulay (brother-in-law of Dawood) and Saleem Mohd Ghaus Sheikh. During the period from 1996 to 2001, Dhariwal supplied gutka worth of Rs 46.1 crore to his company, thereby providing gains to the organized crime syndicate of Dawood.

After investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet in 2016 against nine accused -- Zamiruddin Ansari, Rajesh Panchariya, Anees lbrahim Kaskar (absconder), Farooq Mansuri, J. M Joshi, R. M. Dhariwal, Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, Abdul Hamid Antulay (absconder) and Salim Mohd. Ghaus Shaikh (absconder).

Four out of the nine accused in the chargesheet are absconding.

Dhariwal died during the trial, thus the trial proceedings against him abated. Panchariya was earlier discharged by the trial court, against which the CBI has filed an appeal before the Mumbai High Court.

Further, two victims have been given compensation of Rs 2.64 lakh and Rs 1.32 lakh respectively.
Hyderabad, Jan 10 : Five members of a family, including three women, were killed after the car they were travelling in plunged into a canal in Telangana's Siddipet district on Tuesday, police said.

A car carrying six persons plunged into the KLIS Canal near Mallanna Temple on the outskirts of Munigadapa village of Jagdevpur mandal.

A Maruti Alto car, in which the family was travelling, fell into the canal after the driver apparently lost control over the vehicle. Police rushed to the spot and, with the help of locals, launched a rescue operation.

Four persons died on the spot while another person succumbed while being rushed to hospital. The sixth person who sustained critical injuries was admitted to the Government Hospital in Gajwel.

The accident occurred when a family from Bibi Nagar village of Bhuvanagiri Yadadri district was returning home after visiting Vemulawada Temple.

The deceased were identified Satttama, Sravanthi, Bhaviya Sri, Lokesh and Rajamani. The condition of Venkatesh is stated to be critical.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : As the crisis in Uttarakhand's Joshimath continues, the Union Home Ministry is keeping close tabs on the situation every moment, sources said on Tuesday.

Officials of the Border Management Department and the NDMA under the Ministry of Home Affairs have also reached Joshimath and will review the situation and submit their report to the Central government. The survey work of the buildings is also being done continuously.

According to information, a team of the NDRF and four teams of SDRF have reached Joshimath. People are also being shifted. An officer said that if needed, some areas will also be sealed.

The work of razing the dilapidated buildings, which have been declared unsafe to live in, has also started.

The land subsidence happening in Joshimath in Uttarakhand has become a matter of concern in the whole country.

So far 678 houses have developed cracks due to land subsidence in the town. Not only this, even the roads have caved in at many places. Water is continuously gushing from under the ground.

On Monday, State Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Sinha said, "The situation at Joshimath, where over 600 houses, several pathways and structures have developed cracks, was triggered by loosening of soil and its low-bearing capacity."
Jaipur, Jan 10 : Global issues like climate crisis, geopolitics, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Indo-China relations, agriculture, and energy will be discussed at the 16th edition of Jaipur Literature Festival scheduled to take place from January 19-23, said Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director, Teamwork Arts, the producer of the annual literature festival, while addressing a press conference at the Clarks Amer Hotel, the official venue for the event, here on Tuesday.

"The festival will host a few of the greatest literary minds, including Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah; International Booker Prize recipient Geetanjali Shree; author and translator Daisy Rockwell; author Deepti Kapoor; Booker Prize winning author Bernardine Evaristo; author Siddharth Mukherjee; Booker Prize winning Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka; celebrated poet, lyricist and author Gulzar; filmmaker and producer Onir; winners of 2022 JCB Prize for Literature Khalid Jawed and Baran Farooqi; and classical musician Hariprasad Chaurasia, among others," Roy said.

Also, the literary extravaganza will display 21 Indian and 14 international languages.

The speakers' list includes a large number of Rajasthan-based personalities, namely C.P. Deval, Nand Bhardwaj, Rima Hooja, Malchand Tiwari, Sandeep Purohit, Tripti Pandey, Devraj Singh, Ambika Dutt, Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, Anshu Harsh, Era Tak, Anukriti Upadhyay, Diya Kumari, and C.P. Joshi, among others, Roy said.

"Jaipur Literature Festival spreads and proliferates discerning debate and knowledge, presenting different perspectives on the complex issues of our times. In 2023, the festival will focus on themes such as climate crisis, geopolitics, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Indo-China relations, agriculture, and energy.

"The festival will continue to remain committed to its core values: To serve as a democratic, non-aligned platform ensuring inclusivity and freedom of speech. The past 15 editions have seen the iconic festival transform into a global literary phenomenon, having hosted nearly 5,000 speakers and artistes, reaching out to over 200 million people globally," Roy said.

For its 2023 edition, the festival will host about 400 speakers from across a vast array of nationalities, as well as recipients of major awards such as the Nobel, International Booker, Pulitzer, Sahitya Akademi, Baillie Gifford, PEN America Literary Awards etc.

It will feature a range of themes including the ongoing climate justice debate, great women writers and artists focusing on the female voice and identity, crime fiction, memoirs, translations, poetry, economics, tech morality and artificial intelligence, the global crisis in agriculture, Russia-Ukraine conflict, violence of the British Empire, cutting-edge science, India at 75, remembering Partition, geopolitics, art and photography, health and medicine, among others, said Roy.

This season, the festival pass for all the students will be available fro Rs 100, which will be applicable for all the festival days. The literary show will also live-stream some key sessions which will be available on the festival's microsite.
Chennai, Jan 10 : The traditional cock fight during the Pongal festival at Tamil Nadu's Tiruvallur district will be conducted in line with the restrictions imposed by the Madras High Court on Tuesday.

A division bench of Justices V.M. Velumani and R. Hemalatha has directed organisers of the cock fight to give an undertaking that they would follow the court's directives on a petition filed by M. Munuswamy of R.K. Pettai to direct the Superintendent of Police, Thiruvallur to consider his application for conducting a cock fight on January 17, 18, and 19 as part of the Pongal festival celebrations.

In its order, the bench said: "During the cock fight, no injuries should be caused to the birds. Birds should not be intoxicated with any alcoholic substance and no knives should be tied around the legs of the birds, with the tip dipped in poisonous substances." The court also directed to provide police protection and asked the organisers to bear the expenses for this. It also stated that veterinary doctors should ensure that no animal should be intoxicated.

The judges also directed that only owners of the cocks should be allowed to visit the premises of the cock fight and spectators should be given a separate place to watch the fight. The court warned the organisers not to allow any gambling at the event. It also banned communal songs being played during the cock fight and also asked the organisers not to erect flex boards in support of the cocks.

The court also directed the police to take necessary action if there were any violations of its directives.

In almost all villages of Tamil Nadu, cock fights are a major event in which blades and knives are tied to the legs of cocks which fight against each other. Often huge amounts are placed as bets for the winning cock and the court directive is a major blow to the organisers who are conducting the cock-fights.
Patna, Jan 10 : In wake of his unparliamentary remarks against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Bihar's ruling JD-U on Tuesday said it expects his RJD to take action against former Agriculture Minister Sudhakar Singh after Makar Sankranti.

"For every good work, we have to wait for Makar Sankranti. Let the Makar Sankranti get over, then we are expecting action from the RJD," JD-U Parliamentary Board President Upendra Kushwaha said.

"RJD top leadership have to observe what their MLA are giving statements publicly. Tejashwi Yadav himself says that such statements are non-tolerable but why he is tolerating it. I think he would be in a better position to answer," he added.

Sudhakar Singh had used words like Shikhandi, night watchman and beggar to attack Nitish Kumar. Even Tejashwi Yadav criticized his remark and claimed that he is acting like a BJP agent but Sudhakar Singh has not withdrawn his statements so far.

Another RJD MLA Vijay Kumar Mandal also targeted Nitish Kumar, saying that his government has become "autocratic" and his Samadhan Yatra has no meaning. Mandal however changed his statement on Tuesday and claimed that Nitish Kumar is doing development Yatra.

Reacting to the black flag shown to Nitish Kumar by a youth in Chapra, Kushwaha claimed that it was a handiwork of the opposition BJP. "BJP continuously targets Nitish Kumar but the people of Bihar are with him. Nitish Ji is standing firm and he is unaffected with the ploys of BJP," he said.
Jaipur, Jan 10 : Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who reached Jaipur to chair the 83rd All India Presiding Officers' Conference on January 11-12, on Tuesday presided over its Standing Committee in which detailed discussions were held regarding the agenda items.

It was decided in the meeting that during the Conference, there will be a detailed discussion on India's leadership of G-20 and the role of legislatures in the same.

"As the mother of democracy, India is a role model for the democratic nations from across the world. All countries look towards India for constitutional values and democratic traditions. In this context, it is important that in the next one year, along with G-20 countries, India plays the role of a guide in the direction of democratic empowerment in countries around the world," a statement said.

Birla also said that discussions will take place during the various sessions of the Conference on making the Parliament and legislatures more effective and accountable. Public issues can be resolved only when the legislature and the executive work with greater accountability and transparency towards the common man. The Presiding Officers of legislatures will also deliberate on how legislatures can play an effective role in the changing scenario, he said.

He also stressed that the Constitution has defined the responsibilities and authority of the legislature, judiciary, and executive, and it is necessary that these three organs work in a harmonious manner as per the spirit of the Constitution. During the Conference, delegates will also brainstorm on how to strengthen mutual relations while avoiding interference in each other's tasks.

During the Conference, discussions will also be held on further efforts to bring all legislatures of the country on a single digital platform. This will ensure quick and easy exchange of information and innovations being done in the legislative bodies across the country after all the legislatures come onboard the digital Sansad platform. This will also increase the efficiency and quality of communication between the legislators and the public, he said.

During the two-day Conference, the progress made in the direction of the resolutions passed in the Conferences held earlier will also be reviewed. This includes uniformity in procedures and rules in different legislatures, number of sittings in legislatures and attendance of members in meetings, strengthening of Committee system etc.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : The Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has decided to move the High Court against Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel's order declining prosecution sanction against AAP MLA S.K. Bagga in a corruption case being investigated by it, said an official source on Tuesday.

Bagga, the MLA from Krishna Nagar in east Delhi, is accused of seeking bribe from an AAP worker Raju Sachdeva on various pretexts on different occasions. However, when the ACB, which is investigating the case, approached the Speaker seeking prosecution sanction against Bagga, after going through the due diligence of investigative procedures, he refused to grant it, in an obvious attempt to save Bagga, the source added.

"Goel, in complete and blatant disregard of evidence verified substantively by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), sweepingly left Bagga off the hook by resorting to a partisan and questionable personal 'wisdom'," the source claimed.

In his complaint dated November 9, 2015, Sachdeva had alleged that Bagga took Rs 11,000, Rs 21,000 and Rs 25,000 from him many times and promised to get him a ticket from the AAP in the 2017 MCD elections. Thereafter, Bagga allegedly demanded Rs 2 lakh and again Rs 1 lakh from Sachdeva, but when he refused, Bagga asked him how he would contest the election if he was in such poor financial state.

Again in November 2015, Bagga had told him to organise a Diwali programme at Gandhi Park, New Govindpura, where he would get Arvind Kejriwal as the Chief Guest, and demanded Rs 5 lakh for this. When he did not pay the demanded Rs 5 lakh, Bagga refused to get Kejriwal as the Chief Guest, as per the source.

However, Sachdeva who had recorded the entire telephonic conversation with Bagga, handed over the same to Kejriwal, but no action was taken by him. Later, Sachdeva gave the audio recording to ACB, which registered an FIR on March 9, 2018, under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code.

During the course of investigation, voice samples of both Bagga and Sachdeva were taken by ACB and sent to FSL, Rohini, for examination.

The FSL report confirmed that the audio recordings were genuine and Bagga's voice sample matched with the audio recording. Accordingly, the ACB, on March 23, 2022, sought the permission of the competent authority i.e. the Assembly Speaker, for prosecuting Bagga under the PC Act, but he declined.

The matter was, thereafter, referred to the Law Department and it advised the Speaker's order be challenged before the Delhi High Court after seeking the LG's approval. The matter was subsequently placed before the CVO, who directed to place the matter before the Lt Governor for approval of the move to appeal.

The Lt. Governor has accordingly granted his approval to proceed with filing of appeal in the court against denial of prosecution sanction in the case.
Patna, Jan 10 : JD-U national President Lalan Singh on Tuesday said that Bihar Chif Minister Nitish Kumar has all the abilities of a Prime Minister but has never claimed to be the Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

"We never claimed that Nitish Kumar is a Prime Ministerial candidate of opposition parties in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The opposition parties will sit together to decide the leader. Our leader Nitish Kumar has only one aim to bring as many as opposition parties united to challenge the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll and lead the country," he said.

Nitish Kumar, after the formation of Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar, went to other states and met leaders of opposition parties including Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.

Reacting to the Sudhakar Singh matter, Lalan Singh said that it is the RJD's internal issue and its top leadership is capable of handling it.

On BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi's statements, he said that Sushil Modi is a big leader of his party. "He is a bigger leader as his party state wing did not invite him when (BJP chief) J.P. Nadda came to Bihar. He was not invited to go on the stage. He is giving a statement against Nitish Kumar to achieve some post in his party or in the Centre. His statement has fallen below expectations when he speaks against CM Nitish Kumar," Singh said.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : With a view to propagate the cause of safer roads for all, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is observing the Road Safety Week from January 11 to 17.

During the week, various activities will be organised throughout the country to create awareness among the general public and to give an opportunity to all stakeholders to contribute to the cause of road safety. This includes various awareness campaigns related to causes of road accidents and measures to prevent them. Various activities with school/college students, drivers and all other road users have also been planned.

The Ministry will conduct several activities including 'Nukkad Nataks' (street shows) and sensitisation campaigns at various locations in the capital. Further, essay writing and poster making competitions for school students, exhibition and theatre pavilion by corporates/PSUs/ NGOs actively working in the field of road safety, Walkathons and talks/interactions with senior officers will also be held at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Pusa, Delhi.

In addition, road owning agencies such as NHAI, NHIDCL etc. will conduct special drives related to compliance of traffic rules and regulation, pedestrian safety, eye check-up camps for drivers and other road engineering related initiatives throughout the Country.

The Ministry has also requested all MPs, state governments and related stakeholders (including corporates, PSUs, NGOs etc.) to actively participate in the event by conducting awareness campaigns about road safety, first responder training, ensuring strict enforcement of rules and regulations up to grass root levels and conducting other activities, workshops & advocacy programmes related to road safety.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : Delhi's Rohini court on Tuesday deferred the hearing on the bail plea filed by Ashutosh Bhardwaj, an accused in the Kanjhawala case.

Accused of tampering with evidence, Bhardwaj's bail plea was scheduled for hearing before Metropolitan Magistrate Sanya Dalal and has now been adjourned to January 12 due to the judge's absence.

Counsel representing Bhardwaj, had moved the plea on January 9 seeking bail on grounds that the offences are bailable in nature and that the accused has cooperated with the police post incident.

However, Atul Srivastava, an additional public prosecutor opposed the plea arguing that Bhardwaj had handed over the car involved in the accident to a co-accused, who did not possess a driving licence.

The court has sent six accused to 14 days judicial custody. Other than Bhardwaj, the other accused have been identified as Deepak Khanna, Amit Khanna, Krishan, Mitthun and Manoj Mittal.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : Two days after the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) took stock of the situation prevailing in Uttarakhand's Joshimath town due to land subsidence, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba reviewed the situation on Tuesday.

Gauba, official sources said, stressed at the meeting that the immediate priority should be complete and safe evacuation of all the residents in the affected zone, and precedence should be given to demolition of the vulnerable structures in a safe manner.

He also directed that all the studies and investigations related to geotechnical, geophysical and hydrological aspects, should be completed in a coordinated and time-bound manner.

Gauba assured Uttarakhand Chief Secretary S.S. Sandhu that all the Central agencies will continue to be available for any necessary assistance.

The meeting took place even as evacuation operations in Joshimath are in full swing, with people of the town being shifted to safer places.

Sandhu briefed the NCMC about the current situation in Joshimath and informed that the residents of the severely-damaged houses are being shifted to safer places.

Relief shelters have been identified in Joshimath and Pipalkoti to accommodate the affected families. Appropriate compensation and relief measures are being provided by the state government, official sources said.

Sandhu also said that the operation of Joshimath-Auli ropeway has been discontinued. Construction works in and around the Joshimath municipality area have also been stopped till further orders.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed to help the district administration in its relief and rehabilitation efforts.

The Member Secretary of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) informed the NCMC that a team of experts from CBRI, GSI, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, NIDM and National Institute of Hydrology visited the affected areas on January 6 and 7 to assess the situation. The team also interacted with the district administration to understand its requirements.

Union Home Secretary A.K. Bhalla apprised the committee that a high-level central team from the Home Ministry led by Secretary, Border Management, is currently in Joshimath to assess the situation.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Tuesday took exception to submissions by senior advocate Vikas Singh insisting on listing of a case.

"As a CJI, whatever I lay down is the practice. Do not try to dictate it to the CJI," he told Singh, who is also President of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

Singh had sought listing of a matter connected with the allotment of chambers to lawyers. Initially, the CJI said that he will try to list the matter. But, as Singh pointed out that the practice of the Supreme Court was to finish the board, he said: "We will list it, we have a very heavy board." However, Singh asked the court to list the matter on any day of this week. At this juncture, the Chief Justice expressed his discontent.

The Chief Justice, in November last year, had said that there was an enormous burden of workload on judges and there was also enormous stress in listing of the cases.
Patna, Jan : Two persons, including a minor girl, sustained injuries after they were being attacked by a tiger in Bihar's West Champaran district, officials said on Tuesday.

The victim, Sonam Kumari, 7, a resident of Sirisiya village under Naurangia police station, went to a nearby field on Monday night to bring some grass, and was attacked by a tiger roaming in the area. When she shouted for help, Subhash Mushar, who was working in the same agricultural field, rushed at her help. The tiger also attacked him, leaving him injured.

Following the attack, a large number of villagers assembled at the place and the tiger disappeared.

The victims were admitted in a sub-divisional hospital for treatment and they are out of danger. The local villagers claimed that the tiger may have strayed from the adjoining Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) and came into the residential area.

In October last year, a man-eating tiger was killed in West Champaran district by sharp shooters hired by the state Forest Department. That tiger had killed 11 persons in the region.
Patna, Jan 10 : Patna police on Tuesday registered an FIR against senior IAS officer Sanjiv Hans and former MLA Gulab Yadav for allegedly gang-raping a woman in Patna and New Delhi in 2021.

The FIR was registered in Rupaspur police station under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act following direction of a Danapur court, Rupaspur SHO Chandra Bhanu Kumar said.

"Keeping in view this case, Patna police appointed Circle Officer, Danapur Manju Kumari to investigate the case," he added.

The victim has been called to the police station to register her statement. During preliminary investigation, the Patna police found that Hans and Yadav were present with the victim in a hotel in New Delhi.

As per the claim of victim, she alleged that Yadav and Hans gang raped her in 2021. Yadav promised her to make a member of the National Commission for Women and asked her to meet him in his flat in Rukunpura locality in Patna, where he raped her.

The victim further alleged that he made the video of rape and blackmailed her.

"He blackmailed me and forced to meet in a hotel in New Delhi. When I went there, Hans was also present in the hotel room. They have served cold drink laced with sedatives and gang-raped me. They have made videos and blackmailed me several times," the victim claimed in her statement.

Her lawyer Ranjan Kumar Verma said: "The victim further claimed that she went to the police station in Patna and filed a complaint but an FIR was not registered. Eventually she went to Danapur court which directed Patna police to submit a primary investigation report. As Patna police did not present the investigation report, the case was dismissed. Then the victim reached Patna High Court in December 2022 and filed a case. Patna high court directed the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) to admit the case." "Due to the repeated rape, the victim became pregnant and she also gave the birth of a child. The victim claimed that the baby's father is Sanjiv Hans. Hence, we have demanded a DNA test of Sanjiv Hans to establish that he is the father of the child," Verma said.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : A special NIA Court in Ernakulam, Ernakulam, on Tuesday awarded seven-year rigorous imprisonment to Muhammad Polakanni in the ISIS Omar Al Hindi module case pertaining to the conspiracy and the consequent formation of the ISIS/Daish-inspired terrorist module, Ansarul Khilafa-KL, in early 2016 by certain youth from southern India, with the intention of furthering the objectives of ISIS.

The accused was held guilty under the relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The case was registered suo-motu by the NIA on October 10, 2016. The NIA said that the acused from Kanakamala in Kannur district had assembled to carry out terrorist attacks in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, targeting prominent persons, including judges, police officers and politicians, as also at places of tourist importance where foreigners, especially Jews, congregated.

"Investigation had established that accused Mohammad Polakanni, while being abroad, had become a member of the ISIS/Daish-inspired terrorist module and actively conspired over social media to conduct terrorist attacks in southern India. He had planned to physically join ISIS/Daish in Syria, and for that purpose, he had travelled to Georgia from Saudi Arabia in early 2018. He had planned to cross the Georgia-Turkey border to reach Syria and join the Islamic State," the NIA said.

Polakanni was arrested on September 18, 2020 from IGI Airport in Delhi on his return from Georgia.

With his conviction on Tuesday, a total of nine accused have been convicted in this case.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : The Aam Admi Party held a meeting at headquarters on Tuesday to discuss strengthening on its organisation in Odisha and Kerala ahead of the next Assembly elections there.

AAP MP and national Organisational General Secretary Dr. Sandeep Pathak addressed the office bearers from Odisha and Kerala during the meeting.

The party office bearers discussed the plans and strategies to strengthen the organisation at the grassroots level. AAP's election in-charge of Odisha Virendra Kadyan, Odisha convenor Nishikant Mohapatra, AAP's election in-charge of Kerala N, Raja, party functionaries and volunteers holding important positions were present in the meeting.

Pathak said: "Contesting elections, winning or losing elections is not important. If anything is important, it is to strengthen the organisation in both the states. A strong organisation only helps in understanding the problems and needs of the state at the grassroot level." He emphasised on connecting more people from those states to work on ground level.

The main objective of the meeting is to strengthen the AAP organisation in Odisha and Kerala. The more friends from Odisha and Kerala join AAP, the stronger the organisation will become, Pathak said.

"Maintaining trust between the party and the organisation is extremely important. So we would love to go ahead with the suggestions from all the colleagues. The people of Gujarat fought in the Gujarat elections, we were just a medium to help. Now you people have to fight the battle in Odisha and Kerala," he told party office bearers.
Bhopal, Jan 10 : The two-day Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas, held after a gap of two years, concluded in Madhya Pradesh's commercial capital Indore, on Tuesday.

Over 3,500 overseas Indians participated in the event.

The valedictory session of the 17th NRIs convention was attended by President Droupadi Murmu, who had arrived there early in the day from New Delhi.

She conferred Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards to 27 overseas Indians. The award is conferred on NRIs, PIOs, or an organisation run by NRIs in recognition of their outstanding achievements both in India and abroad.

In her address at the valedictory session, Murmu said the Indian diaspora has become an important and unique force in the global system and "grown into an energetic and confident community in every region".

She said the Indian diaspora has exhibited extraordinary dedication and hard work and overcome many challenges to achieve excellence in all walks of life including art, literature, politics, business, academics, philanthropy, and science and technology.

The President also met her Guyanese counterpart, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, and said there is immense scope for cooperation and collaboration between the two countries in the area of oil and gas.

During her meeting with her Surinamese counterpart Chandrikapersad Santokhi, she expressed India's commitment to extending technical cooperation and contributing towards capacity building and skill development in the South American nation, said a release from President Murmu's office.

The President of Suriname was the special guest of honour at the mega conclave of the overseas Indians and addressed the event on Monday.

Suriname is celebrating 150th anniversary of arrival of Indians in June 2023. Murmu wished the celebrations every success and was proud to note that despite the large geographical distance between the two countries, Hindi is widely spoken in Suriname.

"The cooperation between India and Suriname is progressing well. Regular high level visits are providing impetus to our growing relations," she added, as per the release.

The theme of this PBD Convention was "Diaspora: Reliable partners for India's progress in Amrit Kaal".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has formally inaugurated the event on Monday saying the world was watching towards India with hopes. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan addressed the concluding session of the conclave and expressed his gratitude to NRIs for coming to Indore.

"Indore prepared to host the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention as one prepares for a daughter's wedding. Now at the time of your departure, the heart feels heavy," he said. During two-day long event, Chouhan held several meetings with different delegates attending the event and business deals were also discussed.

Now, Indore city is preparing for the Global Investment Summit (GIS), commencing from Wednesday. The global business summit being organised by Madhya Pradesh government to convince Indian and overseas investors in the state.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that in three entries -- public order, police, and land -- of the State list, the Delhi government cannot legislate as per the Constitutions's Article 239AA (Special provisions with respect to Delhi).

Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, representing the Delhi government, submitted before a five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud that civil servants serving in the national capital territory (NCT) should be accountable to the people through the elected government. He argued that the government cannot function if it does not have control over services as the exclusion of civil servants will negate governance.

The bench, also comprising Justices M.R. Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and P.S. Narasimha, referred to three entries such as public order, police, and land of the State list of subjects where the Delhi government cannot legislate as per Article 239AA.

"You (Delhi government) will have to concede one thing that Entry 1 (public order), 2 (police) and 18 (land) (of the State list) are outside your purview," and if civil servants are posted with departments dealing with these, "then it will be outside your executive power also", it said.

Singhvi submitted: "There is a famous saying in Hindi 'Ek miyan mein do talwar nahi rah sakte (there cannot be two swords in one sheath)" as he emphasised that services were at the core of the dispute.

The top court is hearing the legal tussle between Delhi government and Centre on control of services.

During the day-long hearing, Singhvi said the civil servants should be accountable to the ministers, the minister is accountable to the legislature, and then finally the MLAs are accountable to the people. He also referred to the constitution bench judgment on the Delhi-Centre row and added that now no power has been left with the city government.

The top court will continue to hear the matter on Wednesday.
Joshimath, Jan 10 : The demolition work to raze structures damaged due to land subsidence in Uttarakhand's Joshimath saw a huge protest by locals, who were not ready to vacate their houses unless they are not paid 'proper' compensation for their losses.

A large number of police along with SDRF, NDRF personnel was deployed for smooth demolition on Tuesday but the locals turned down the administration's request to vacate buildings.

Two JCBs, a big crane and two tipper trucks, along with 60 labourers were brought in for demolition of two hotels -- Malari Inn and Mount View -- which have leaned towards each other. But, due to heavy protests, the demolition could not be started till late evening. However, water, electricity, telephone lines were removed from the area by the administration.

The affected residents are demanding 'proper' rehabilitation and compensation. They said that they will not vacate buildings until the government does not give them proper compensation and rehabilitation.

In support of the affected people, villagers also reached Joshimath and took out a procession.
Colombo, Jan 10 : The Canadian government has imposed sanctions on ex-Sri Lanka Presidents -- Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa -- over human rights violations during the 26-year long war against Tamil minorities.

"Canada is imposing sanctions against the following individuals who committed gross and systematic violations of human rights during Sri Lanka's civil conflict, which occurred from 1983 to 2009," the Canadian Foreign Ministry announced in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the sanctions, any assets belongng to Rajapaksa brothers would be freezed and they would not be allowed to enter Canada.

"The Special Economic Measures (Sri Lanka) imposed on listed persons a prohibition on any transaction (effectively, an asset freeze) by prohibiting persons in Canada and Canadians outside Canada from engaging in any activity related to any property of these listed persons or providing financial or related services to them," the Canadian Foreign Ministry stated.

"The individuals listed in the schedule to the regulations are also rendered inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act," the statement added.

Along with Rajapaksa brothers, sanctions were also issued on former Staff Sergeant of Army Sunil Ratnayake and Lieutenant Commander Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi. Ratnayake was convicted for the murder of eight Tamil civilians in Mirusuvil in Jaffna during the height of the war and was sentenced to death.

But Gotabaya Rajapaksa released him on Presidential pardon.

Former Navy intelligence officer Lieutenant Commander Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi is one of the main suspects in the abduction and disappearance of 11 youth in Colombo and suburban areas during last stages of war in 2008-2009.

He was also linked to the 2006 slaying of Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj.

Under the Presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were militarily defeated, and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was the powerful Defence Secretary, was instrumental in the war victory.

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) also charged human rights violation against the Sri Lankan government during the war and in March 2021, during the 46th UNHRC session in Geneva, the body's members put forward a resolution calling on the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to investigate human rights violations, including alleged war crimes, committed during the island nation's long-running civil war.
Hyderabad, Jan 10 : The US has no specific role in defusing tension between India and China over the border row and it has a clear stand that the territorial integrity of India must be honoured, said US Embassy Charge d'Affaires, Elizabeth Jones said on Tuesday.

She said that the US supports the efforts being made by both India and China to address the border issue.

"I don't see a specific role for the US," she said during an interaction with a select group of journalists here to queries if she foresees a role for Washington to defuse the tension in the wake of recent clashes on the Indo-Chinese border.

"We support the efforts that we hear about in public on part of both China and India to talk about difficulties that occurred at the border. This is appropriate and we support it.

"At the same time we are very forthright about the territorial integrity of India and we maintain stoutly that it must be honoured and respected," she added.

Jones also termed as absolutely appropriate the decision of India to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. "In international relations it's important not to tell other countries what to do but instead find ways to work together and we have done that," she said when asked if the US has gone soft towards India on the Ukraine conflict.

"In this situation in which India has made a choice to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine is absolutely appropriate. The Prime Minister has made the choice to speak that is not an era of war which is entirely appropriate and made it clear that a political solution is preferred," she added.

To another query, she said there was a very clear recognition on part of the US government that every country makes choices based on its interests and its values. "The US sees India as a partner of choice on issues that are important for well being for each of its people." "It's not realistic and certainly not possible for countries to dictate other countries how they behave. We can discuss common interests, we can talk about issues on which we don't agree and we can understand positions other countries take on a host of issues," she added.

Jones did not agree that the delay in appointing a full-time US Ambassador to India had any impact on the bilateral relations.

"Obviously it's much preferred to have a confirmed ambassador in every embassy but for reasons that are just part of the US system that confirmation did not happen for Mayor Eric Garcetti. However, very good news is that he has been renominated," she said.

She claimed that the trade and military to military cooperation between the two countries has gone up during the period and understanding about Ukraine has worked out well.

Stating that visa backlog is a concern for many Indians, she said Washington has made reduction of visa wait time a top global priority.

She said the US was deploying more resources than ever for visa applicants including recruiting staff from Washington and back office support from locations outside India. The target is to have the highest level of consular officials in India by December this year.

The US Charge d'Affaires said the student visa have already been given tremendous priority by the US. Last year a very big surge was made at all consulates and the embassy in New Delhi in August and early September to issue 125,000 student visas. "There is also a surge underway now to assure students who are applying now for spring semester get their visas in time." She said she discussed the issue with senior officials in Washington including the Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs. The process is underway for hiring and training additional visa counsellors for assignment to India for different consulates and consular sections in New Delhi. She said by summer, the number of visa counsellors and adjudicators will be higher than before the pandemic.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) in its board meeting on Tuesday gave in principal approval to the proposal of running premium buses within NCR and for intercity operations.

DTC had been planning to introduce high quality premium buses on longer routes. The board approved the same to be implemented on NCR routes under 200 km which may include electric or CNG buses.

For the intercity bus operations, covering more than 200 km, DTC will be operating Bharat Stage (BS) VI buses. All the buses will be equipped with CCTV, GPS, panic buttons and more, providing convenient and safer travel for long distance commuters.

Further to encourage the use of electric two-wheeler by DTC employees, the board also approved providing free charging facilities in DTC depots. The two-wheeler segment has been one of the priority segments of Delhi EV policy.

Delhi government is already providing a purchase incentive of Rs 5,000 per kWh of battery capacity with a maximum incentive of Rs 30,000 per vehicle (two-wheeler). DTC has a workforce of nearly 38,000 employed across the city working at depots and corporate office.

Additionally, the employees will be able to avail loan from financial institutes empaneled by Delhi Financial Corporation (DFC) as per the provision of Delhi EV policy 2020. To make the complete process hassle-free for the employees, the board approved the provision for the installment of the loan amount to be deducted directly from the salary of the employee.

In another decision, the board approved the benefit of three National holidays to be extended to contractual employees of DTC. This comes after the recommendation from the committee constituted in June 2022.

Commenting on the development, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said, "While new premium buses under DTC will provide convenience for longer journey commuters, the free EV charging facilities and benefit of three national holiday to contractual employees shows our commitment for providing best facilities and services for our staff and employees."
Jaipur, Jan 10 : As the country celebrated World Hindi Divas on Tuesday, the residents of Rajasthan continued pitching their demand seeking official status for Rajasthani language.

'Rajasthani Maange Rajbhasa' has been trending on Twitter for the last three days with thousands raising a demand for the recognition of Rajasthani language.

On Monday, thousands of youths gathered in Jaipur and took out a candle March seeking recognition for Rajasthani as an official language in the state. The youths gathered at the Shaheed Smarak on the day of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and appealed to the state government to announce Rajasthani as the state's official language.

The president of National Students' Union of India (NSUI), Abhishek Choudhary, former students' union president Ravindra Singh Bhati, JNVU students' union chief Arvind Singh Bhati, along with other student leaders took out the candle march from Shahid Smarak.

An agitation, 'Hello Mayad Bhasha Rau', was started by the Rajasthani Yuva Samiti seeking official status for Rajasthani language. The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was chosen by the Rajasthani Yuva Samiti for garnering the support of NRIs spread all over the world.

The Samiti had started this movement on Twitter, and soon it became one of the top trends on the social media platform.

Rajveer Singh Chalkoi, national advisor, Rajasthani Yuva Samiti, said the team has been actively touring all over Rajasthan for the last several months and connecting to the youths for the official recognition of Rajasthani language, and its effect is now visible as youths have started writing songs, plays, poems etc. in Rajasthani in their own way.

They have no hesitation in speaking Rajasthani on the stage, said Chalkoi.

Shubham Rewar from the Jaipur team of Rajasthani Yuva Samiti said that if Rajasthani language does not get the status of state language, the people of the state will launch an agitation.

The Samiti has made it clear from its official statement that if the government does not understand in time, the youths will go on a hunger strike. Earlier, at the Manak Alankaran event in Jodhpur, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had confirmed that he will meet the Rajasthani Yuva Samiti after the Gujarat elections and discuss what he can do in this matter. Hence the youth gathered in Jaipur from all over Rajasthan to remind the Chief Minister about the promise he made.

Rajasthani Yuva Samiti's political advisor, Rohan Rewar, said that if the government does not invite the Samiti for a meeting before January 23, the youths of entire Rajasthan will agitate with full force.

It needs to be mentioned here that the Rajasthan Assembly session will start from January 23. On the basis of Article 345, the state government can make a law and give official status to Rajasthani.
New Delhi, Jan 10 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a major logistics provider in connection with the terrorist-gangster nexus case, an official said on Tuesday.

The official said that the accused was identified as Chhotu Ram Bhaat, a resident of Haryana's Sirsa. He was placed under arrest on Monday evening.

Bhaat was the key logistics provider to gangsters. He was acting as a weapons supplier and was also providing hideouts to the gangsters of Bambiha group before and after the crimes.

On December 21, 2022, the NIA conducted searches at two locations in Sirsa (including the house of Chhotu Bhaat in Chautala village) to dismantle the emerging nexus between terrorists, gangsters and weapon suppliers based in India and abroad.

"A few of the most desperate gang leaders and their associates based in India and abroad, who are spearheading and carrying out such terror and criminal activities were identified and booked in two cases registered by the NIA in August, 2022," the official said.

This is part of the NIA crackdown on top gangster and their weapons suppliers based in Haryana and Punjab in general, he added.

The official said that the arrest was aimed at dismantling the illegal arms support infrastructure, apart from the hideouts of absconders of Bambiha-led terror-criminal syndicate.

"They were taking advantage of the border location of their hideout with Punjab. Further, investigations will continue to dismantle such terror networks as well as their funding and support infrastructure," the official said.

The NIA investigation are aimed at identifying "critical elements of the support infrastructure of terror-criminal syndicate and subsequently, taking decisive action against those involved".
Kiev, Jan 11 : Ukraine's foodstuff exports reached 17 million metric ton since August under a deal on the export of grain and fertilisers from Black Sea ports, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

In the past three days, five vessels loaded with 158,500 metric ton of agricultural products departed from Ukraine's ports for Egypt, Sri Lanka and other countries, the agency said on Tuesday, citing the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority.

At present, 98 ships are waiting for inspection in the Bosphorus, with 21 of them already loaded and 77 heading for loading, Xinhua news agency reported.

On July 22, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkey and the UN on grain and fertiliser exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict.

The deal, also known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was due to expire on November 19, 2022, was extended for another 120 days.
Jakarta, Jan 11 : More than 100 houses and other buildings were destroyed after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's eastern province of Maluku, an official and weather agency said.

Most of the damages occurred in the district of Kepulauan Tanimbar, the hardest-hit area, where 92 houses, an office building and a school building were damaged by the tremors, according to Abdul Muhari, spokesman of the national disaster management agency.

The earthquake also destroyed 32 houses and two education facilities in the district of Maluku Barat Daya, the spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday.

However, the damages did not force the residents in the districts to flee home, as only one person suffered from injury, Muhari said.

A coordinating meeting had been conducted to prepare emergency relief efforts, including preparation for the distribution of aid, such as rice, blankets, tents, medicines and others, he added.

The quake occurred at 12:47 a.m. local time with its epicentre located 148 km northwest of Kepulauan Tanimbar district and a depth of 131 km under the seabed, the country's meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency said as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

Three aftershocks from weak to moderate levels followed the main shock, according to the weather agency. The agency issued a tsunami alert for the province and the nearby province of Southeast Sulawesi. The tsunami did not occur.
Ankara, Jan 11 : Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar has warned Syrian opposition groups against "provocations" amid ongoing protests over normalisation talks between Ankara and Damascus.

Akar pledged his country will not take any actions against the Syrian rebels, and urged them to remain calm and "act with this awareness," according to the semi-official Anadolu news agency.

The Turkish Minister told reporters on Tuesday after a cabinet that the reconciliation efforts between the two neighbouring countries were "in good faith" and aimed to improve bilateral times and promote regional peace.

"We hope that (the talks) develop through mutual negotiations and turn into a situation that will contribute to peace and stability for the region," Akar said.

Turkey works to find a solution to the migration problem, he added, stressing the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland will be voluntarily in line with the decisions of the UN, Xinhua news agency reported.

Syrian, Turkish, and Russian Defence Ministers, along with Intelligence Chiefs, met in Moscow on December 28, 2022, marking the first high-level contact between Ankara and Damascus since the start of the Syrian conflict.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he might meet his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad to foster peace and stability in the region.

The two leaders have not met since the outbreak of a civil war in Syria in 2011, as Turkey has backed Syrian rebels politically and militarily during the 11-year crisis. Turkey also hosts nearly 3.7 million refugees from Syria.

Syrian rebels fighting to topple al-Assad have been protesting the normalisation talks between Ankara and Damascus.
Kiev, Jan 11 : The IAEA will send monitoring missions to nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Ukraine, the Ukrainian government-run Ukrinform news agency reported, citing a senior official.

"In the near future, these missions will be deployed at all NPPs," Oleg Korikov, Acting Chairman of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, was cited as saying on Tuesday.

The main purpose of the missions is to monitor the state of nuclear and radiation safety at the nuclear facilities amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Korikov said.

In particular, the IAEA staff will examine the impact of missile strikes against Ukraine on the nuclear plants, he noted.

At present, there are five nuclear power plants in Ukraine and four of them are functioning. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which witnessed a nuclear disaster on April 26, 1988, was completely shut down on December 15, 2000, Xinhua news agency reported.

In August 2022, the IAEA sent its monitoring mission to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, which has been controlled by Russian forces since March.
Staci Swiderski, CEO of Family Source Consultants I launched this agency out of compassion for helping hopeful parents create and grow their families. But more than that, I wanted to operate an agency that leads with professionalism, compassion, and robust personal experience.

Sixteen years in business isnt all that Family Source Consultants will be celebrating this month  the Chicago-based surrogacy agency has helped to bring over 1200 little miracles into the world  with many more on the way.

Those are just two of the reasons FSC was recently named as one of 2022s Best Surrogacy Agencies.

This agency is a success story that keeps growing - and for good reason.

Family Source Consultants established its first surrogacy and egg donation agency location in Chicago in 2007. It now operates three branches throughout the US, as well as a flourishing international surrogacy program that spans 34 countries across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Renowned as one of the leading surrogacy agencies in the US, FSC boasts an impressive 95% success rate for surrogacy: a statistic that sees nearly all its Intended Parents bringing home a baby via surrogacy.

But its not about the numbers, according to CEO and founder Staci Swiderski. Family Source was born out of a genuine desire to help others realize the joy of becoming moms and dads: a desire that is as strong today as it was then.

I launched this agency out of compassion for helping hopeful parents create and grow their families, Staci says. But more than that, I wanted to operate an agency that leads with professionalism, compassion, and robust personal experience.

That personal experience runs through the entire agency. Swiderski herself is a former Intended Parent, having grown her own family with the help of a surrogate. She later became an egg donor as a way of giving back to the world of third-party reproduction, which then inspired her to create Family Source Consultants.

With over 75% of FSC staff having had personal experience with third-party reproduction, clients are often able to work with a team member who has also been an egg donor, surrogate, or Intended Parent themselves. This shared connection and focus on empathy has certainly contributed to their being named one of the Best Surrogacy Agencies of 2022 by Very Well Family, an online parenting resource.

Swiderski says that FSC prides itself on quick and transparent communication, regardless of whether a client lives in the same state or on the other side of the world. Their staff includes speakers fluent in Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, and Japanese, and translators are sourced where necessary, ensuring all clients can communicate in their preferred language.

Inclusion is also central to the agencys philosophy. FSC welcomes couples and individuals from all races, sexual orientations, and religious and ethnic backgrounds. Half of their clientele are same-sex couples, along with over 200 international clients in the past five years alone.

As demand for third-party reproductive services continues to grow, FSC is looking forward to helping more moms and dads realize their dreams for years to come.

For more information about Family Source Consultants' Surrogacy and Egg Donation programs, please visit http://www.familysourceconsultants.com.

About Family Source Consultants

Family Source Consultants staff is comprised of former Intended Parents, Gestational Surrogates, Egg Donors, and reproductive experts; combined, our staff represents a passionate, professional, experienced, and dedicated group of individuals who are uniquely qualified to provide assistance in all facets of creating families via assisted and third-party reproduction techniques. It is our mission at Family Source to alleviate the pressures all parties are facing during their family-building journeys and to make the experience positive and fulfilling for everyone involved.
Collinear Group LLC, a Seattle based aerospace & defense engineering and consulting company has acquired Xylariam, LLC, also headquartered in Seattle Wa. Xylariam is a digital solutions company specializing in strategy, design, and development of modern software applications and platforms for enterprises and startups alike. Xylariam has been a long trusted strategic partner of ours, stated Saul Bankaitis, CEO of Collinear Group, LLC. The synergies of adding cutting-edge digital capabilities to our portfolio of solution offerings will significantly enhance our ability to accelerate our aerospace and defense customers digital transformation and new product development initiatives.

Xylariam has been adding to their portfolio and boast a robust start-up scoreboard, many of which are found in the aerospace industry, The need to innovate and re-imagine is greater than ever, especially in a vertical like Aerospace, said Xylariam Founder Andrew Hosch, but even more importantly we need to be creating on a strong foundation like that of Collinear Group.

Collinear Group brings intelligence and technology to challenges unique to engineering, manufacturing and certification, while Xylariam brings a strategic digital energy which when combined with the companies' shared close relationship will bring the best of each to the aerospace and defense industry.

Alexander Hutton, a leading Northwest middle-market M&A advisory firm, served as the exclusive financial advisor to Collinear Group.

About Collinear Group LLC - For more than 10 years, Collinear Group has been committed to being a market leader in providing innovative advisory, engineering, and digital solutions across the entire value chain of the aerospace and defense industry. From design and certification, to manufacturing and aftermarket operations - Collinear Groups unique blend of fast-track innovation, digitally integrated methods and regulatory experience has proven critical for todays complex and competitive aerospace and defense market.

About Xylariam LLC  Founded to fill a gap in how software projects are sourced and executed, Xylariams model leverages long-standing relationships with an international network of partners to deliver purpose-built software solutions. Xylariams goal is to take the risk out of software development and help enterprise companies get ideas launched from prototype into production. Their methods and global footprint have a proven history of new product development and digital transformation success at startups to Fortune 50 companies.

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Headquarters

707 South Grady Way, Suite 525

Renton, WA 98057

206.408.4402
SHRM President and CEO, Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP "At SHRM, our goal is to show that workplace environments with belonging and mental health support are good for employees and organizations. It's never been more important to build inclusive, empathetic and supportive workplace cultures given the current mental health crisis," said Taylor.

The Greater Orlando Society for Human Resource Management (GOSHRM) will host its first Mental Health Forum on Tuesday, January 24 at the Wyndham Orlando Resort and Conference Center in Kissimmee, FL. The Forum is A Well-being Gut Check for HR and medical professionals seeking best practices to tackle mental health challenges in todays stressful, post-pandemic workplace.

GOSHRMs goal in presenting the Mental Health Forum is to provide increased awareness and support for mental health concerns plaguing the current workforce. This highly anticipated event has limited capacity of 250 attendees and is expected to sell out. Attendees receive 4.5 SHRM and HRCI recertification credits. Register here.

The theme was carefully chosen by GOSHRMs Board of Directors because of increased concerns and stigma associated with mental health issues on the job. There is a real hesitancy among the HR community to talk openly about these issues, said GOSHRM President, Pamela J. McGee, SHRM-SCP, PHR, MBA. Our Mental Health Forum is designed to help break the silence and create a workplace culture that supports those who struggle.

The January 24th event features a celebrity keynote, an intimate fireside chat and power-packed panel sessions from a diverse group of distinguished subject matter experts. During his Keynote address, SHRM President and CEO, Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, will talk about Workplace Culture: Caring About the Whole Self.

"At SHRM, our goal is to show that workplace environments with belonging and mental health support are good for both employees and organizations. It's never been more important to build inclusive, empathetic and supportive workplace cultures given the current mental health crisis happening right now," said Taylor. Since we began this conversation last year, I am proud that SHRM and the SHRM foundation have taken this commitment forward. We aim to move the conversation into actionworking toward solutions for a better tomorrow for all. Success and the ability to thrive demands that workplaces support and take seriously belonging and mental health.

The program will be emceed by motivational humorist Jon Petz who will also host a fireside chat on mental health. Other highlights of the day include a session on The Opioid Crisis & the Workforce: How You Can Help presented by Andre Bailey, Dr. Kendall Cortelyou and Amber Addario of Project Opioid. GOSHRM Past President, Cheryl Brown Merriwether, and Executive Director of the International Center for Addiction and Recovery Education (ICARE), will moderate a panel on Creating a Community of Care: Mental & Behavioral Health Trends for the Post-Pandemic Workforce. Panelists include Tony Jenkins (Florida Blue), Dr. Nick Dewan (Guidewell) and Ashley Grimes (NAMI).

Visit GOSHRMs website here for the complete speaker schedule.

GOSHRM Celebrates Award-Winning 2022 with Focus on Opioid Addiction in the Workplace

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports over 107,000 Americans died of an overdose in the 12 months ending December 2021. 70% of illicit drug users are employed, and 67% of HR managers admit that substance misuse is a serious problem in the workplace.

Motivated by these startling statistics, GOSHRM submitted for and won both SHRMs 2022 Pinnacle Award and the HR Florida Chapter Excellence Award. These unprecedented accomplishments recognized GOSHRM at both the national and state level. The winning program was a collaborative effort between GOSHRM, ICARE, Project Opioid and CareerSource Central Florida to raise awareness and mitigate opioid addiction in the workforce.

Project Opioid partnered with CareerSource Central Florida (CSCF), a local workforce board, to provide training to local businesses in Central Florida. In March of 2021, CSCF launched Fostering Opioid Recovery through Training & Employment (FORTE). CSCF contracted with ICARE to design, develop and deliver the Certified Facilitator in Addiction Awareness for Human Resources (CFAA-HR) program. To ensure the success of this critical project, ICARE reached out to GOSHRM for assistance.

Covid was hugely challenging for GOSHRM, according to GOSHRM Past President Merriwether, Being able to partner with other community-based organizations to impact individual lives, (and by extension families, workplaces and our community at large) helped us pull together, commit to, promote, participate in and celebrate our collaborative accomplishments, she said. Together we created something of significance that had a positive impact, that was recognized at both the state level by the HR Florida Chapter Excellence award and nationally by SHRM through the Pinnacle Award.

The FORTE initiative continues into 2023, and as a result of the community collaboration, and has expanded beyond Central Florida to an international level.

GOSHRM Presidents Vision for 2023

My goal for GOSHRM is to guide the organization to be the leading HR point of contact for Central Florida to bring HR professionals and business leaders together to elevate the HR profession, said GOSHRM President, McGee. An example of this was our Pinnacle Award winning collaboration with Project Opioid, CareerSource Central Florida and ICARE. We will continue to look for other opportunities to collaborate and impact our community in 2023.

About GOSHRM

GOSHRM was founded in 1957 as the Central Florida Human Resources Association (CFHRA). It is one of the 575 local affiliate chapters of SHRM, and one of 28 local chapters in the State of Florida. GOSHRM has more than 600 HR and related professional members who represent and provide support to small, medium and large size employers across multiple counties in Central Florida. GOSHRMs Mission, Vision and Values are as follows:

MISSION - Elevate people and workplaces through education, connections and service.

VISION - Make Central Florida a workplace destination of choice.

VALUES  Offer Continuous Development to enhance each member's role as trusted advisers and valued business partners.

GOSHRM encourages the active participation of members and promotes interaction between chapter members, from students to long-time industry professionals, in an effort to better connect the HR community in the Greater Orlando area. GOSHRM is the only Society for Human Resource Management affiliated chapter in the greater Orlando area. For more information visit http://www.goshrm.org.

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"We are thrilled to support these critical infrastructure investments, which will provide communities in Illinois, as well as Texas, with access to American-made clean energy."

Solas Energy is proud to announce that the firm is now providing Owners Engineering Services (OES) and other related support to Swift Current Energys growing portfolio of solar and wind energy projects. This includes the 790 MW Double Black Diamond Solar project in Illinois and the 197 MW Castle Gap Wind project in Texas.

At Solas Energy, we make large renewable energy projects happen; when they do, families, local communities and entire regions benefit. We are pleased to join forces with Swift Current Energy to do exactly that for nearly one gigawatt of new renewable energy projects. We are thrilled to support these critical infrastructure investments, which will provide communities in Illinois, as well as Texas, with access to American-made clean energy, said Evelyn Carpenter, President and CEO of Solas Energy  US.

Phillip Westerby, Chief of Project Execution at Swift Current Energy added, As the developer and the long-term owner of our renewable energy projects, Swift Current Energy appreciates the wealth of experience and expertise Solas Energy contributes to our projects. Solas Energy shares our goal of creating renewable energy projects to create a sustainable future. We appreciate that Solas Energy also shares our focus on ensuring our projects come online safely, on time, and within budget.

Paula McGarrigle, President and CEO of Solas Energy  Canada shared, Renewable energy is one of the most effective tools we have to combat climate change. We are delighted to help communities transition to a clean energy future by supporting projects like these that will have a measurable impact on reducing carbon emissions.

In addition to OES, Solas Energys Project and Construction Management Division provides comprehensive solutions to support the development, construction, and operation of utility-scale wind, solar, and energy storage systems throughout North America. To date, the company has supported the development of more than 80 GW of clean energy projects, including gigawatt-plus installations.

About Solas Energy

Solas Energy is a leader in providing comprehensive strategy and consulting services for renewable energy solutions to support the clean energy transition throughout the US and Canada. The companys expertise spans the development and management of utility and commercial projects involving wind, solar, energy storage, grid modernization, hydrogen, biomass, and electric vehicles (EV). Solas Energy has over 20 years of experience in project development, construction management, and climate change advisory services. Solas Energy provides its clients with the technical expertise to help reduce the risk of complex engineering, financing, contracting, and other operations challenges associated with large-scale renewable energy project development and climate change policy. Solas Energy maintains offices in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, and Calgary, Alberta, Canada. More information about the company can be found on Solas Energys website.
Syner-G BioPharma Group (Syner-G), a leading provider of integrated pharmaceutical science and regulatory consulting services to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, today announced that Karen Casey has joined the organization as the chief people officer.

We are thrilled to welcome Karen Casey into the Syner-G family, shared Syner-G BioPharma Group CEO, Ron Kraus. We are a people business and to support our growth, we need an experienced leader to help build and retain a sophisticated workforce as well as build on our culture of excellence."

Casey has 27 years experience in human resources, operations and talent management spanning a variety of corporate sectors with a track record of building successful human resource functions. Her range of expertise includes building strategic HR functions across HR operations, talent management, and culture aligned with organizational strategy. Casey has a breadth of experience and demonstrated success across large, multinational consumer product companies and start-up organizations where she has created award-winning teams focused on company culture, talent acquisition, talent management and benefit design. She also ran her own consulting firm for 12 years.

I am excited to join Syner-G as an integral part of the leadership team, said Karen Casey, chief people officer. This is an exciting time in the biopharma industry, and I look forward to building from an incredible talent pool and educational environment at Syner-G.Read more about Karen Casey on LinkedIn here.

About Syner-G BioPharma Group

Based in Boston, MA, Syner-G is a leading provider of customized CMC, regulatory strategy, medical writing, regulatory submissions and publishing services, supporting pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies across the therapeutic spectrum and complete drug development lifecycle. For more information, please visit: https://synergbiopharma.com/
"It has been a great adventure to build this state-of-the-art museum worthy of Amelia Earharts legacy in her Atchison, Kansas, hometown," said Karen Seaberg, founder and president of the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation.

The Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation today announced the grand opening of the new Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum is set for Friday, April 14, 2023. Located at the Amelia Earhart Memorial Airport (K59) in Atchison, Kan.  birthplace of the world-renowned aviator who became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean  the Museum will become the first museum to blend STEM and historical storytelling to celebrate Earharts world-renowned legacy as a trailblazing aviator and innovator. More details about the Museums grand opening will be announced at a later date.

It has been a great adventure to build this state-of-the-art museum worthy of Amelia Earharts legacy in her Atchison, Kansas, hometown, said Karen Seaberg, founder and president of the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation. We look forward to celebrating the grand opening on April 14 when the new Museum will bring Amelias extraordinary story to life while inspiring visitors to boldly pursue their own dreams.

The Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum will offer a rare blend of historical storytelling and interactive STEM exhibits that surround the Museums centerpiece: "Muriel"  the worlds last remaining Lockheed Electra 10-E. Named after Earhart's younger sister, Grace Muriel Earhart Morrissey, "Muriel" is identical to the plane Earhart flew on her final flight around the world.

As the hometown to the one of the worlds most admired women, the City of Atchison is proudly looking forward to the grand opening of the new Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum that will become a popular destination  particularly for families, tourists, educators, students and aviators, said Atchison Mayor Lisa Moody. With the Museums unique location at the Amelia Earhart Memorial Airport, we look forward to welcoming visitors to Atchison from across the Midwest, the U.S and around the world.

The Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum is designed in partnership with Dimensional Innovations (DI), an award-winning, Kansas-based experience design firm. Each exhibit is carefully outfitted to meet National Curriculum Standards, Kansas Curriculum Content Standards, and Missouri Standards of Learning. Professionally developed Teacher Guides are available.

The Museum has been uniquely designed to reflect Amelias fearless spirit and celebrate her legacy of innovation, said Jacque Pregont, Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation board member. Visitors will journey through Amelias courageous life of defying odds, overcoming social and scientific obstacles, and ultimately using her achievements to encourage others to realize new possibilities.

Following the grand opening, the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum will apply to become an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. More about Museum is available at http://www.AmeliaEarhartHangarMuseum.org or follow AEHangarMuseum on Facebook,Instagram and Twitter.

About the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation

The Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation was formed in 2016 to honor the world-renowned aviation legacy of Amelia Earhart  whose dreams of flying began in her Atchison, Kan., hometown. The Foundation is dedicated to inspiring future aviation and aerospace leaders through the story of Amelia Earharts tenacity and determination to overcome obstacles on her journey to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to leading the capital campaign to build the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum, the Foundation led the effort to bring a new bronze statue of Amelia Earhart to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. to represent the State of Kansas in National Statuary Hall; the Foundation was the sole funder. A twin bronze statue will greet visitors at the entrance of the new Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum when it opens on April 14, 2023. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3). To learn more about the new Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum, visit http://www.AmeliaEarhartHangarMuseum.org
Amy Hysell named new Arizona Financial Credit Union CEO I am grateful for having spent most of my career here at Arizona Financial. I have seen this hyper-local credit union transform into a financial institution that continually improves its service offerings to assist our member-owners while keeping community at the heart of all we do, said Hysell.

Arizona Financial Credit Union is pleased to announce the promotion of Amy Hysell from executive vice president/chief innovation officer to president and chief executive officer effective January 1, 2023. With more than 25 years of experience at Arizona Financial, Hysell will continue to drive the credit unions soundness and growth throughout the state to bring diversified financial services to current and future member-owners.

During her eight years serving as CIO, Hysell led the integration of Arizona Financial with both Pinnacle Bank and Horizon Community Bank following acquisitions of both over the last four years. Since joining the credit union in 1996, she has held the positions of chief information officer, chief lending officer (consumer and commercial), business analysis officer, and has led risk management, card services, project management, research and development, and retail branches.

Amys contributions over the past three decades have been monumental in shaping Arizona Financials business operations and culture as we have continued to expand our footprint across the Valley and throughout Arizona, said Ronald Westad, former president and CEO of Arizona Financial. I cannot think of a more qualified and deserving individual to assume this role to lead this trusted financial organization into the future. The board of directors and I are confident that Amy will continue to build on the values that have been the foundation of our culture with a focus on doing whats right for our member-owners, team members and the community.

Hysell is also very active in supporting diversity and inclusion efforts within the organization and has served as the sponsor of PRIDE, Arizona Financials LGBTQ+ resource group, one of the credit unions five employee resource groups. Her leadership extends outside of Arizona Financial and into the community as a contributor to several local charities.

I am grateful for having spent most of my career here at Arizona Financial. I have seen this hyper-local credit union transform into a financial institution that continually improves its service offerings to assist our member-owners while keeping community at the heart of all we do, said Hysell. I am truly honored to take on this role as CEO as we continue our growth into all corners of this great state. I am ready for the opportunity.

Hysell attended Indiana State University and University of Phoenix.

About Arizona Financial Credit Union

Arizona Financial is a $3.3 billion not-for-profit financial cooperative providing consumer and small business banking services and expertise to more than 155,000 member/owners. Founded in Arizona in 1936, the credit union empowers members to take hold of their financial future through the delivery of leading-edge self-service tools and mobile apps, competitive rates on loans and deposits, robust home loan solutions, identity protection services, and SBA and commercial loans. Arizona Financial has a history of local community involvement and is the sponsor of the Live Nation Theatre venue and exclusive credit union partner of the Phoenix Rising FC. The credit union has 20 locations across metro Phoenix and western Arizona and is part of the CO-OP network that provides members nationwide account access at 5,000 credit union branches and 30,000 ATMs. Deposits are federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration.

For more information: ArizonaFinancial.org.
Blackbird.AI "Were on a mission to empower public and private sector organizations with ground breaking technology that enables trust, safety and integrity while also driving enormous strategic and competitive advantages.

Blackbird.AI, a global leader in narrative and risk intelligence, today launched the next generation of their Constellation Platform. Constellation is the worlds first risk analytics platform for conversational and social media data that has the necessary high fidelity signals required to make sense of platform manipulation, bots and harmful narratives that have made it very difficult for organizations to drive confident strategic decisions from social data as the information ecosystem has become more polluted and noisy.

This next generation of Blackbirds Constellation Platform enables unparalleled narrative comprehension to users, decoding emergent threats through the rapid deployment of Blackbirds novel and proprietary technology, to enable understanding and mitigation of novel info-cyberattacks. Organizations that deploy the Constellation Platform now have the most up-to-date capabilities they need to detect influence operations, while deploying proactive countermeasures in a timely fashion.

Were pleased to provide the next generation of our Constellation Platform to give our customers the advantages they need in the increasingly unpredictable and volatile information ecosystem. Were on a mission to empower public and private sector organizations with ground breaking technology that enables trust, safety and integrity while also driving enormous strategic and competitive advantages, says Wasim Khaled, Blackbird.AIs CEO and Co-Founder.

Constellation customers can perform everything from heat mapping communities of adversarial actors around a topic, a product, or around the organization itself to prioritizing mitigation workflows. As a result, responses to risk, misinformation, and manipulation that were previously unseen can be revealed. In addition, aggregation and summarization work that previously took hundreds of hours of human labor are significantly reduced.

The Constellation Platform provides ground breaking critical capabilities which include:



Speed to Insight  Process a wide range of conversational data across social media, dark web, and more, in near real-time, minimizing time to action.

Smart Narrative Discovery  Blackbirds automated risk discovery helps efficiently discover, surface, and prioritize all global high risk and fast-growing narratives that could be a potential threat to an organization.

High Resolution Understanding  Leveraging Blackbirds Signal Framework enables the Constellation platform to provide an entirely new class of proprietary risk signals and data analysis which is configured to the unique needs of individual organizations. The result is highly relevant insights that support both rapid understanding and strategic action.

Actionable & Measurable  By collating newly discovered insights, the platform is able to help organizations make informed decisions, while monitoring the effectiveness of counter-measurements.

Our partnership with Blackbird.AI and their category-defining innovation has accelerated The Weber Shandwick Collectives leadership in analytics-driven narrative strategy and issues management, said Chris Perry, Chairman at Weber Shandwick Futures. Identifying salient narratives and tracking their travel through networks are now critical inputs into our process for advising leaders of business and society on how to drive growth and protect their organizations.

Blackbirds world-class machine learning and network analysis technology, coupled with years of dedicated research and development, helps shrink the intelligence gap for public and private sector teams. At the platforms core is the Constellation Engine, which automates the most demanding aspects of detecting manipulation and related strategic decisioning. This enables users to better understand a multitude of risk avenues including:

Automated discovery of emerging narrative across millions of discussions across dozens of sources.

Heatmapping of narrative flow within information networks and their relative risk to an organization.

Insights into community and influencer impact within narratives of interest.

Flagging of synthetic amplification, including bot-like accounts and bot farms.

Detection of toxicity and hate speech.

If todays threat actors view offensive cyber operations as their right arm, then information operations are their left, says Richard Clarke, former White House cybersecurity advisor. A few well-placed pieces of disinformation can be used to manipulate markets or extort individual organizations. Blackbirds AI-driven platform can keep up with bad actors as they realize the potential for info-ops.

Governments and global organizations routinely make multi-billion-dollar decisions. They need far more than traditional media monitoring tools to fully understand the breadth and depth of impact from cyber-based disinformation and manipulation.

To learn more about Blackbird.AIs Constellation Platform and API, please visit us at http://www.blackbird.ai or contact us directly for a demo.

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About Blackbird.AI

Blackbird.AI helps organizations detect and respond to threats that cause reputational and financial harm. Powered by their AI-Driven Narrative & Risk Intelligence Constellation Platform, organizations can proactively understand risks and threats to their reputation in real-time. Blackbird was founded by a team of experts from artificial intelligence, and national security, with a mission to defend authenticity and fight narrative manipulation. Recognized by Forrester as a Top Threat Intelligence Company, the Blackbirds technology is used by many of the worlds largest organizations for strategic decision making.

Media Contact:

Albert Stichka

Elkordy Global Strategies

albert@elkordyglobal.com
Today, Vector Solutions, the leading provider of training and compliance-based software solutions for public safety agencies, announced a major education initiative. Two of its most important National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) training courses will be complimentary in honor of Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month. Vector Solutions is offering these courses free of charge during the month of January for fire service members in an effort to raise awareness about the critical health issues affecting firefighters.

Firefighting is an overall dangerous profession, not only on the fireground where the risks are obvious, but also in terms of the occupational hazard of cancer-causing substances. Over time, increasing evidence validates the risk of developing cancer for those in the fire service. Vector Solutions takes these risks seriously and is tackling the problem head on with its training management programs.

While being a firefighter is a calling for many men and women, its a profession that comes with tremendous risks, both mentally and physically, said Jonathan Cherins, CEO at Vector Solutions. In recent years weve learned more about the cancer-related health threats firefighters face, as well as the mental anguish they endure. Our team at Vector Solutions is in awe of the commitment and sacrifice these heroes make. Were pleased to make these courses available at no cost to help raise awareness on these critical topics.

Both courses are video-based online NFPA trainings compliant with NFPA standards. The courses include engaging interactions, real-life case studies, critical lessons and prevention strategies for first responders. NFPA 1851: Cancer-Related Risks of Firefighter provides a thorough understanding of fire-service related cancer risks for todays firefighter and fire personnel. NFPA 1500: PTSD in the Fire Industry provides a better understanding of PTSD, how to cope with symptoms and suicidal thoughts, and how to identify them in peers who may be struggling.

The Firefighter Cancer Support Network is excited to support the educational opportunities that Vector Solutions is bringing to Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month in January by offering two very important NFPA courses free of charge, said Bryan Frieders, FCSN CEO/President and retired Fire Chief. Cancer is the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths in the fire service. Together, through increased public awareness, support and education, we can provide firefighters the necessary tools and guidance to develop life-saving protocols for cancer prevention and to support those with a cancer diagnosis within their departments.

Vector Solutions is committed to raising awareness and keeping firefighters safe. As a part of this campaign to benefit the American Cancer Society and the Firefighter Cancer Support Network, Vector Solutions is pleased to donate $1 to the American Cancer Society and the Firefighter Cancer Support Network for every completion of the NFPA 1851: Cancer-Related Risks of Firefighting course. The donation is $1 per course completion up to $3,000 to each organization for every course completed before March 30, 2023.

Learn more about the complementary NFPA training from Vector Solutions here.

ABOUT VECTOR SOLUTIONS

Vector Solutions is the leading provider of award-winning, intelligent SaaS solutions that help organizations and individuals operate at the highest level and prepare for more challenging workplaces and environments. Providing industry-focused solutions that connect information and technology, its unique product set includes training management, continuing education (CE), compliance training, workforce scheduling, safety management, and more. Reaching approximately 31 million users and more than 35 thousand clients worldwide, Vector's mission is to serve everyday heroes by delivering intelligent software solutions that empower them to make safer, smarter, better decisions. For more information, visit http://www.vectorsolutions.com.
2023 Kia Carnival is Now Available at Chris Auffenberg Family of Dealerships

Cape County Motors, a local automotive dealership in Carbondale, Illinois, has included the 2023 Kia Carnival in its inventory, and the MPV is now available for purchase. This futuristic vehicle has a starting MSRP of $33,100 and offers a maximum seating capacity of up to eight passengers. At Cape County Motors, buyers can choose from five unique grades of the 2023 Kia Carnival, including LX, LX Seat Package, EX, SX and SX Prestige.

The 2023 Kia Carnival MPV has a flexible interior design to offer premium comfort for all passengers. For example, its second-row middle seat slides forward to give easy access to the front-row passenger. It can also turn into a table for use in the second and third rows. Moreover, the second-row seats of the 2023 Kia Carnival SX Prestige feature a one-touch relaxation mode, offering a full recline, comfortable headrests, raised power footrests and more to keep everyone cozy on the journey. Thanks to the flexible seating options, the 2023 Kia Carnival offers best-in-class storage space with an option to remove the second and third-row seats to make room for more cargo.

Buyers interested in learning more about the 2023 Kia Carnival can contact the team of experts at Cape County Motors by dialing 618-457-3391. Individuals can also visit the dealership in Carbondale, Illinois, for further information about this incredible MPV.
Altus Marketing, a Moore company, names Moore Executive Alex Edwards as senior vice president of Client Development. Altus Marketing is an industry leader in integrated direct marketing solutions for national and chapter-based nonprofits, ministries and membership organizations.

Naming Edwards as senior vice president of Client Development supports the companys continued growth in the food bank, rescue mission and any regional nonprofit divisions that Altus Marketing serves. In this new role, he will encompass new business, product development, strategic support with Account Directors, and a seat on the Altus Executive Leadership Team (ELT), leading client growth, development and providing outstanding customer service to current and future clients.

Before joining Altus Marketing, Edwards served as director of operations for Washington Intelligence Bureau, a Moore company. Prior to joining Moore, Edwards was vice president at RKD Group where, as part of the leadership team, he led strategy for new business development and client multichannel strategy.

Edwards has decades of experience planning and executing innovative nonprofit fundraising and marketing campaigns for food banks, animal welfare and rescue mission organizations. He has deep and diverse experience in strategic planning, business development and client service. In addition, Edwards has over 25 years of organizational, departmental and program leadership experience.

I look forward to the opportunity to continue to engage with leading nonprofits and grow new relationships to further support Altus Marketings mission to serve, said Edwards. I have been involved with food banks for over 18 years and have a deep passion for helping to provide access to free and nutritious food to those facing hunger. In this role, I can continue to support, work with and grow missions that do just that by leveraging the many resources that Moore offers.

Edwards is a skilled business development professional with a track record in sales growth and increasing market share. As a member of Altus Marketings leadership team, Edwards will be a lead strategist for new business development efforts, fostering meaningful client relationships and developing integrated, multichannel direct response programs for continued client and organizational growth to meet the needs of the clients that Altus Marketing serves.

Alex has ten years of leadership in new business efforts, conceptualization and delivery of multi-channel direct response programs, and providing outstanding customer service, said John Wilkinson, president of Altus Marketing. His extensive track record of winning new partnership opportunities and client-first philosophy make him the perfect fit for this role.

Learn more about Altus Marketing direct marketing solutions at altusmktg.com.

About Altus Marketing

Altus Marketing is an industry leader in integrated direct marketing solutions to national and chapter-based nonprofits, ministries and membership organizations. The organization delivers transformational growth for clients by combining strategic insight and creative innovation, backed by superior data and technology. Altus Marketing clients are sector leaders in domestic hunger and poverty relief, human services, health care, environmental protection, evangelism and veteran services.

About Moore

Moore is a data-driven constituent experience management (CXM) company focused on the integration of the donor experience across all platforms, channels and devices. Moore is the largest marketing and fundraising company in North America serving the nonprofit industry with approximately 5,000 employees across 43 locations. The company provides strategy, creative, production, media, data and analytic services powered by an ongoing investment in next-generation artificial intelligence and machine learning.
We have a rich legacy of empowering generations to build and grow as homeowners  now we are poised to help even more families thrive by increasing the number of homes we build and by amplifying our programming in the communities we serve."

Atlanta Habitat for Humanity announces that the organization received a $1 million grant from The Home Depot Foundation to build 10 homes in the next two years. This gift heralds the start of 40th anniversary commemorations for Atlanta Habitat.

The Home Depot was among the first group of corporations to make significant contributions to Atlanta Habitat homeowner education programs and community repair initiatives 20 years ago. This grant is the latest in a series of major gifts from The Home Depot Foundation through the years, making it possible for Atlanta Habitat to continue its mission of transforming generations through home ownership and neighborhood revitalization.

As Atlantas home prices continue to rise, The Home Depot Foundation is committed to ensuring more people have access to stable, affordable housing through our decades of work with Atlanta Habitat, said Shannon Gerber, executive director of The Home Depot Foundation. These 10 homes in the innovative Browns Mill Village community will provide opportunities for homeownership to more of our neighbors here in The Home Depots hometown. Were proud to partner with Atlanta Habitat and honored to help kick off its 40th anniversary celebration this year.

Atlanta Habitat built 28 new homes last year, and the organization plans to continue addressing the affordable housing gap by building a total of 40 homes in 2023 to honor 40 years of service.

THRIVE Challenge: Sponsor a New Home Build

As Atlanta Habitat begins a year of 40th anniversary recognitions, Chief Development Officer Candice Jordan invites corporations to participate in the THRIVE Challenge, a collective effort to positively impact affordable housing in the city of Atlanta.

Corporations are encouraged to sponsor the building of at least one new home, representing an investment of $100,000 (per home). With generous support from numerous companies throughout the year, Atlanta Habitat hopes to meet a goal of adding at least 10 additional home builds.

We have a rich legacy of empowering generations to build and grow as homeowners  now we are poised to help even more families thrive by increasing the number of homes we build and by amplifying our programming in the communities we serve, said Jordan.

When companies sponsor new home builds, they help change the lives of hard-working families. Home ownership is one important way families create stability and build wealth, factors that can change the trajectory of future generations.

About Atlanta Habitat for Humanity

Atlanta Habitat for Humanity transforms communities through neighborhood revitalization, education, innovative development, and partnerships. As one of Habitat for Humanity Internationals largest affiliates, Atlanta Habitat has made an estimated $40 million impact on affordable housing in neighborhoods across Atlanta and South Fulton County over the last five years. Since its launch in 1983, the nonprofit affordable home developer has served over 2,400 families (more than 6,000 individuals) with its first-time home purchase, rehab and critical home repair services and education programs. Visit http://www.atlantahabitat.org.

About The Home Depot Foundation

The Home Depot Foundation, the nonprofit arm of The Home Depot, works to improve the homes and lives of U.S. veterans, support communities impacted by natural disasters and train skilled tradespeople to fill the labor gap. Since 2011, the Foundation has invested more than $400 million in veteran causes and improved more than 50,000 veteran homes and facilities. The Foundation has pledged to invest half of a billion dollars in veteran causes by 2025 and $50 million in training the next generation of skilled tradespeople through the Path to Pro program.

To learn more about The Home Depot Foundation visit HomeDepotFoundation.org and follow us on Twitter @HomeDepotFound and on Facebook and Instagram @HomeDepotFoundation.

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Ron Wilson, in his first literary offering titled Joseph Akeroyd: rediscovering a prison reformer (published by Xlibris AU), combines the historical and contemporary experiences of prison reformers and prison education practitioners to provide unique insights into the complex yet compelling experiences in implementing reforms within prisons.

This book takes a closer look into the legacy of Joseph Akeroyd, the longest serving inspector general in Victorias penal system between 1924 and 1947. After many years of brutal punitive prison regime, Akeroyd brought his education inspired therapeutic approach into prison and prisoner management. These radical and innovative reforms occurred between and beyond two world wars and a major international economic depression. Whilst many of his reforms were not heralded at the time and for many years after, this biographical account celebrates these reforms and examines the relevance of these reforms in modern-day penology.

This book engages readers at several different levels, Wilson states. It 1) Reveals the oscillating and diverse political, judicial and community views on the functions of prisons; 2) Examines the challenging nature of prison reform, and the strategies reformers used to fight for and implement change; 3) The historical interrelationship between education in prisons and management of prisons; and 4) Provides real life stories and anecdotes to share sometimes humourous and tragic insights into the experiences of prison educators, prison management and prisoners.

It is the authors hope that the publication of Joseph Akeroyd: rediscovering a prison reformer will challenge readers to reflect on the role of education in prisons and gain insights on the challenges involved in prisoner education. Visit https://www.xlibris.com/en-au/bookstore/bookdetails/831097-joseph-akeroyd-rediscovering-a-prison-reformer to get a copy.

Joseph Akeroyd: rediscovering a prison reformer

By Ron Wilson

Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 278 pages | ISBN 9781664106499

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 278 pages | ISBN 9781664106505

E-Book | 278 pages | ISBN 9781664106482

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Ron Wilson has broad experience in education and vocational training for over 50 years having worked as a teacher, school principal, TAFE/polytechnic general manager. He held board leadership roles including deputy chair of the Adult Community and Further Education Board, member of Adult Learning Australia Board, and twice president of the Australasian Corrections Education Association. In 1996, Wilson was recognised with the Public Services Medal (PSM) in the Australia Day Honours for outstanding public service for introducing vocational education and training to Victorias prison system. Wilson completed a Ph.D. in management (RMIT), following his M.Ed. (educational leadership and management) and M.Ed. (educational research). Wilson has undergraduate degrees in arts (social sciences), education (physical education), a postgraduate diploma in special education, and a diploma in teaching (primary). For more details, visit diosmaconsultancy.net.au

Xlibris Publishing Australia, an Author Solutions, LLC imprint, is a self-publishing services provider dedicated to serving Australian authors. By focusing on the needs of creative writers and artists and adopting the latest print-on-demand publishing technology and strategies, we provide expert publishing services with direct and personal access to quality publication in hardcover, trade paperback, custom leather-bound and full-color formats. To date, Xlibris has helped to publish more than 60,000 titles. For more information, visit xlibrispublishing.com.au or call 1-800-844-927 to receive a free publishing guide.
The Books of the Old Testament in Your Palm: Brief Introductions to the Books of the Old Testament: an engaging opportunity to deepen ones understanding of the Old Testament. The Books of the Old Testament in Your Palm: Brief Introductions to the Books of the Old Testament is the creation of published author Ayuba Mshelia, PhD, who was born in Garkida, a village where the first Church of Brethren pioneers settled in the northeastern part of Northern Nigeria. Dr. Mshelia attended Ahmadu Bello University from 19711974, served in the National Youth Service for one year, and joined the university as a faculty member. He attended the University of Chicago for his masters degree from 19761977. In 1980, he enrolled in Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, for his PhD and graduated in 1985. Dr. Mshelia worked in the New York Citys Board of Education, as well as the City University of New York (CUNY) from 19872020 when he retired as a professor.

Dr. Mshelia shares, The book is about introductions to the books of the Old Testament of the Bible, which is a compendium of Gods divine Message to mankind that is uniquely written by forty divinely select people as His spokesmen. How many of these forty select men wrote the Tanakh or the Old Testament?

This synopsis is a guide to the types of questions asked in writing this book. Who, for example, is the author of the Torah or the Pentateuch? Are all the books written by one person? Or are there others? What are the themes and purposes of each book? Does the difference in the arrangement and number of books between the original Hebrew Tanakh and our Old Testament make any difference to its being canon or faith? What are the books of the kingdoms? Why dont you see such titles in the Old Testament?

What are the themes of some of the poetical books? For instance, why do good and righteous people suffer and the ungodly prosper? Does God care? How was the first ancient attempt of a holocaust foiled by Hadassah, also known as Esther, a beautiful Jewish orphan who became the queen of King Ahasuerus of Persia? What happened to the culprit? Why was the four-hundred-year period of the judges the most ungodly and apostate in Israels history. Why was the Davidic covenant threatened by Bathshebas marriage and Absaloms insurrection?

What is your take on Daniels seventy weeks prophecy? (Dan. 9:24). What does the phrase seven weeks, and threescores and two weeks mean to you as used in Daniels prophecy? What about A time, times, and a half (Dan. 12:7) appearing in Daniels prophecy? What does Ezekiels vision about the valley of the dry bones coming to life mean to Israel and to you as a believer?

The Old Testament begins with the story of creation and life but ends in Malachi (4:6) with a divine threat of a curse. Are you free from that curse as an individual or still under it?

These are the many compelling and poignant questions laboriously dealt with in the book.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Ayuba Mshelia, PhDs new book presents an articulate study of the Old Testament that will clarify on key questions that many students of the Bible have faced.

Consumers can purchase The Books of the Old Testament in Your Palm: Brief Introductions to the Books of the Old Testament at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about The Books of the Old Testament in Your Palm: Brief Introductions to the Books of the Old Testament, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
These exceptional leaders have a few things in common: a keen eye for hiring talent and a diligent focus on sustainable growth, said Stefan Swanepoel, executive chairman of T3 Sixty.

The Swanepoel Power 200 (SP 200), the definitive ranking of the residential real estate brokerage industrys executives and leaders, has named Gino Blefari, president and CEO of HomeServices of America, as the nations most powerful and influential person for 2023.

The annual report published today, marking its 10th year as the industrys most respected analysis of the scope, reach and leadership of the industry executives running the nations largest companies. Created and published by real estate consulting firm T3 Sixty, the ranking reflects eight distinct criteria used to evaluate the executives, including:



Achievements over the past 12  18 months

Size and reach of the companies they lead

Overall influence within the industry

Reaching the top slot for the first time  after several years as one of the top five  Blefaris ascent is marked by his steadfast leadership of HomeServices of America (HSA), part of the Berkshire Hathaway group of companies. At the helm of HSA since 2019, Blefari has kept the nations most profitable national real estate brokerage on a consistently profitable track.

The industrys second most powerful and influential executive is Gary Keller, the founder and executive chairman of kwx. Keller Williams Realty is the nations largest franchise brand by sales volume, transaction sides and agent count and the nations largest privately-owned real estate company. Keller is the only leader to have been named one of the top five most powerful people in residential real estate brokerage for the past 10 years.

The industrys third most powerful person in 2023 is Glenn Sanford, the founder and CEO of eXp World Holdings, the nations fourth largest brokerage and largest cloud-based real estate company. EXP is also the fastest-growing major real estate company in the nation.

Filling in the top ten executives and leaders are:



No. 4 - Ryan Schneider, CEO and president, Anywhere Real Estate

No. 5 - Richard Barton, co-founder and CEO, Zillow Group

No. 6 - Sue Yannaccone, president and CEO, Anywhere Brands

No. 7 - Hoddy, Helen and Hoby Hanna, company leaders, Hanna Holdings

No. 8 - Robert Reffkin, co-founder and CEO, Compass

No. 9 - Andy Florance, founder and CEO, CoStar Group

No. 10 - Phil Soper, president and CEO, Bridgemarq Real Estate Services

These exceptional leaders have a few things in common: a keen eye for hiring talent and a diligent focus on sustainable growth, said Stefan Swanepoel, executive chairman of T3 Sixty.

Highlights and Notable Moves

The SP 200 rankings consider leaders and executives across the entire residential real estate industry. In the 2023 list, 121 positions represent brokerages; 35 are from organized real estate; 35 represent technology companies, and 9 hail from other sectors of the industry such as media, networks and educational entities. Of the positions represented by brokerage leaders, 64 of 121 are associated with one of the national brands, with HomeServices of America, Anywhere Real Estate and RE/MAX leading the pack.

The five executives in organized real estate with the highest rankings are:



No. 13 - Bob Goldberg, the CEO of the National Association of Realtors (NAR)

No. 28 - Art Carter, the CEO of the California Regional Multiple Listing Service

No. 29 - Brian Donnellan, the CEO of Bright MLS

No. 30 - Bob Hale, the president and CEO of the Houston Association of Realtors

No. 35 - Katie Johnson, General Counsel and Chief Member Experience Officer for NAR

Rich Barton, CEO of Zillow, is the highest-ranking technology executive, while Sue Yannaccone, CEO of Anywhere Brands, is the highest ranked female executive and Phil Soper, president and CEO of Bridgemarq Real Estate, is the highest-ranking executive in Canada.

Other noteworthy moves include:



Gavin Swartzman, CEO of Peerage Realty Partners, moves up from No. 121 to No. 38, reflecting the companys massive growth, numerous acquisitions and significant sales volume growth.

Chris Kelly, executive vice president of HomeServices of America and president and CEO of Ebby Halliday Companies, who rises to No. 44 from No. 119, due to his expanding role at HSA.

Greg Rand, the executive vice president of Coldwell Bankers central region, jumps to No. 72 from No. 130 as he continues to expand the brands operations in the Midwest and Texas.

Talented leaders, said Jack Miller, CEO of T3 Sixty, are executives who can continue to right the ship even in untested waters, and the industrys top-ranked leaders have in the last year proven that they have earned their place at the helm.

Visit sp200.com for an overview of each leader.

Methodology

The rigorous and detailed process of determining the most powerful and influential leaders takes the T3 Sixty team more than three months, during which they assess more than 2,000 industry leaders against eight distinctive criteria:

1. Current office held and decision-making power

2. Tenure in the industry

3. Size of their organization

4. Financial resources of the organization

5. Significance and impact of their organization

6. Involvement in previous years top activities, acquisitions, etc.

7. Individuals other industry activities or affiliations

8. Individuals power and influence outside his or her organization

In working to identify and recognize those leaders and executives who have the most power and influence across the industry, we invest over 500 hours reviewing bios, annual activities of both the leaders and the companies they lead, key performance statistics, shareholder numbers, sales volumes and more, said Paul Hagey, Editor-in-Chief of the Real Estate Almanac.

Real Estate Almanac

The SP 200 represents the first of five annual data-backed, researched lists and rankings from T3 Sixtys Data division; together, these components make up the Real Estate Almanac  the most wide-ranging compendium of its kind in the residential real estate brokerage industry.

The following sections will also be published in 2023:



Organized Real Estate: A ranking of the nations largest MLSs and Realtor associations (February)

Technology: A list of the industrys leading technology products (March)

Corporations: A ranking of the nations largest holding companies and franchise brands (April)

Mega 1000: A ranking of the nations 1,000 largest brokerage companies (May)



About the SP 200

The SP 200 (Swanepoel Power 200), the first section of the annual Real Estate Almanac, ranks the nations 200 most powerful residential real estate brokerage leaders every year based on a variety of factors, including size of the company they lead, personal leadership and influence within the industry, track record, resources at their disposal and recent initiatives. First published in 2014, the 2023 SP 200 can be viewed online at sp200.com.

About the Real Estate Almanac

Every year, T3 Sixty analyzes and publishes a comprehensive report on the industry in the Real Estate Almanac. It is composed of five components, published sequentially online in the first five months of each year: executives (SP 200, January); organized real estate organizations (ORE 200, February); technology providers (Tech 500, March); holding companies, franchise brands and public companies (Enterprise, April); and the nations largest brokerage companies (Mega 1000, May). All research, analysis and rankings are compiled every year by the team at T3 Sixty. More information at realestatealmanac.com.

About T3 Sixty

T3 Sixty is the leading management consultancy in the residential real estate industry with business units in brokerage, technology, mergers and acquisitions, and organized real estate. The group also provides software and data, extensive research and reports, executive search and event management services. For more information, visit t360.com.
The Chevrolet Bolt EV and Chevrolet Bolt EUV may be eligible for a federal tax credit

Carl Black Orlando offers drivers electric vehicles such as the Chevrolet Bolt EV and the Chevrolet Bolt EUV. Electric vehicles may be eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit called the Clean Vehicle Federal Tax Credit. This tax credit incentivizes drivers to switch to electric vehicles, which give off fewer emissions and help protect the environment.

In order to qualify for the federal tax credit, a few factors must be in place. The vehicle must qualify as a New Clean Vehicle under the Clean Vehicle Credit. The drivers gross income must not exceed the income thresholds set for the tax credit. Drivers should consult their tax, legal or accounting professional for personal eligibility information based on income.

The Chevrolet Bolt EV is an electric car with a starting MSRP of $25,600 for the 2023 model year. On a full charge, this electric vehicle can drive up to 259 miles in one go. The Chevrolet Botl EUV has a starting MSRP of $27,200 for the 2023 model year. Its an Electric Utility Vehicle (EUV) with a cargo space of up to 56.9 cubic feet. This model can drive up to 247 miles with a full charge. There are over 40,000 public charging stations for Bolt EV and Bolt EUV drivers to use, and more are always being created.

Individuals who are interested in a new electric vehicle can visit the dealerships website,carlblackoforlando.com, to learn more, to view available inventory and to make an appointment at Carl Black Orlando.
Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind joins the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System Registered vendors can access bids, related documents, addendum and award information.

The Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind (CSDB) announced today that it has joined the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System, a regional purchasing group that helps local governments post, distribute and manage RFPs, quotes, addendums and awards online. Bidnet Directs Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System provides notification to registered vendors of new relevant solicitations, any addenda and award information from over 350 participating agencies from across Colorado and Wyoming. All potential CSDB vendors are encouraged to register online with http://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado/csdb to access upcoming solicitations.

CSDB joined the purchasing group in November 2022. In joining, CSDB has become the 365th participating local government agency utilizing the system to streamline the purchasing process. The Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System is a single, online location for managing sourcing information and activities and provides local Colorado and Wyoming government agencies a method to minimize costs and time delays associated with the procurement process. In joining, CSDB looks to save time, increase competition, and achieve cost savings.

CSDB now has access to an extensive vendor pool, thereby enhancing competition without increasing distribution costs. In addition to the existing vendors on the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System, all vendors looking to respond to bids with local government agencies can register online:

http://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado/csdb. CSDB invites all current vendors not already registered on the purchasing group to do so today. Vendor registration is easy and takes only a few minutes online.

Registered vendors can access bids, related documents, addendum, and award information. In addition, the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System offers a value-added service to notify vendors of new bids targeted to their industry, all addenda associated with those bids and advance notice of term contract expiration. A robust NIGP code category list allows vendors registering to find the correct codes and receive matched bids.

Vendors may register on the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System: http://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado. Bidnet Directs vendor support team is available to answer any questions regarding the registration process or the bid system at 800-835-4603 option 2.

Other local Colorado and Wyoming government agencies looking to increase their solicitation exposure, please contact the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System for a demonstration of the no-cost sourcing solution.

About the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind:

CSDB currently serves students and their families who are deaf, blind, or both. CSDB also provides outreach services to support students, families, and school districts throughout Colorado and coordinates the Colorado Home Intervention Program (CHIP) that serves deaf and hard-of-hearing students from birth to three years old within their home.

About Bidnet Direct:

Bidnet Direct, powered by mdf commerce, is a sourcing solution of regional purchasing groups available at no cost to local government agencies throughout the country. Bidnet Direct runs regional purchasing groups, including the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System, across all 50 states that are used by over 1,600 local governments. To learn more and have your government agency gain better transparency and efficiency in purchasing, please visit https://www.bidnetdirect.com/buyers
Elite Relocation Group - State-To-State Moves The key to a successful state to state move, as with any long-distance move, is to have a relocation partner you can count on.

Elite Relocation Group, one of the East Coasts leading relocation services companies, has seen a marked increase in state-to-state moves, particularly long-distance moves, as families and businesses leave the New York Tri-State area for less expensive parts of the country.

According to a chart provided by the Missouri Economic and Research Center (https://meric.mo.gov/data/cost-living-data-series), the New York Tri-State area has among the highest costs of living in the nation. Many families and businesses are relocating to southern states like the Carolinas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida where the cost of living is lower. In fact, Mississippi has the lowest cost of living in the United States.

As the cost of living in the Northeast seems to increase every month, said Michelle, CEO of Elite Relocation Group. Were continuing to see a mass departure from the New York Tri-State area to the south, to less expensive states. With so many people being able to work from home and with businesses also leaving the New York metropolitan area, employment in these states is not hard to find and housing is often less than half the cost.

According to the US Census Bureaus (https://bit.ly/3G04WiC) latest press release on the issue of internal migration, New York had the largest annual numeric and percent population decline, decreasing by 180,341 (-0.9%). Net domestic migration (-299,557) was the largest contributing component to the states population decline. The move south is highlighted by massive increases in Florida. Florida was the fastest-growing state in 2022, with an annual population increase of 1.9%, resulting in a total resident population of 22,244,823, the release said.

The Most Popular State to State Moves (as recorded by Elite Relocation Group in Q2 & Q3, 2022):



New York Tri-state area to Florida

New York Tri-state area to South Carolina

New York Tri-state area to North Carolina

New York Tri-state area to West Virginia

New York Tri-state area to Kentucky

New York Tri-state area to Alabama

New York Tri-state area to Tennessee

New York Tri-state area to Mississippi

The key to a successful state to state move, as with any long-distance move, is to have a relocation partner you can count on, Michelle said. You need a team of specialists who can ensure that your entire home arrives safely and on time, so you can begin your life in a new state stress-free and surrounded by everything you need. Long distance moves like these really shouldnt be a DIY project; there are too many moving parts and too much to do.

Elite Relocation Group is a nationwide family-owned moving company that is licensed, bonded and insured through the Department of Transportation (DOT). At Elite Relocation Group, their mission is to provide professional and stress-free interstate moving services and logistics for any situation no matter how big or small. They believe communication is the key to success.

# # #

If you would like more information about this topic, please contact No Name Given at 888-609-2096 or email at Info@eliterelocationgroupinc.com
Dallas plastic surgeon Dr. Rod J. Rohrich "It is a distinct honor and privilege to be invited to present this Endowed Lectureship, named for the internationally known and highly respected plastic surgeon, Dr. Joseph McCarthy." Dr. Rod J. Rohrich

Dr. Rod J. Rohrich, a board certified plastic surgeon in Dallas, Texas , was invited to deliver the Third Biennial Joseph G. McCarthy Endowed Lectureship at NYU.

Dr. Rohrich delivered his talk entitled, 'Consistency and Excellence in Plastic Surgery - A Career Pathway', to the NYU Langone Health Plastic Surgery faculty, fellows and residents to expound upon the amazing contributions by Professor Joseph McCarthy while he was the chair of NYU Plastic Surgery. The presentation delineated the pathway for developing consistency and excellence in all of plastic surgery. Dr. Rohrich used his surgical specialty of rhinoplasty as an example to show how he has done this during his over 35 year career in plastic surgery.

This endowed professorship is named for Dr. McCarthy, the past chair of the department of plastic surgery at NYU. Dr. McCarthy is only the second chair of NYU Plastic Surgery in the department's 57 year history. The current chair of the Department of Plastic Surgery at New York University, Dr. Edwardo Rodriguez, facilitated this endowed lectureship to honor Dr. McCarthy's lifelong contributions to the field of plastic surgery and to the Department of Plastic Surgery at NYU.

Dr. Rohrich also delivered grand rounds, Innovations in Plastic Surgery that Transformed Cosmetic Surgery, in which he exemplified the numerous innovations that have been the hallmark and trademark of plastic surgery as illustrated by his development of a natural facial rejuvenation procedure - the Lift and Fill Facelift which is based upon discovery of the facial fat compartment by Dr. Rohrich and his colleagues. This discover has further enhanced the understanding of the science of facial aging and has allowed plastic surgeons to better understand how to perform a more natural facelift procedure based upon the specific aging of each patient's face.

About Rod J. Rohrich, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Dr. Rod J. Rohrich is a board certified plastic surgeon in Dallas, Texas. He is considered one of the most influential plastic surgeons in this century. He was named the top plastic surgeon in America by Newsweek in both rhinoplasty and facelift surgery in 2021 and 2022. Dr. Rohrich is a Clinical Professor of Plastic Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. He was the first Chair of the Department of Plastic Surgery as well as the first plastic surgeon selected as a Distinguished Teaching Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He graduated from Baylor College of Medicine with high honors, and completed his plastic surgery training at the University of Michigan Medical Center and fellowships at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard (hand/microsurgery) and Oxford University (pediatric plastic surgery). He is Chair of the Dallas Rhinoplasty Meeting, Founding Chair of the Dallas Cosmetic Surgery and Medicine Meeting, Founding Member of the Alliance in Reconstructive Surgery, and a Founding Partner of the Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute.

He is the immediate (after serving for 18 years) past Editor-in-Chief of the most respected global peer reviewed plastic surgery journal  the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal. He is Founding Editor-in-Chief/Editor Emeritus of the first open access peer reviewed plastic surgery journal, PRS Global Open. Dr. Rohrich has published over 1000 peer reviewed articles and seven textbooks in plastic surgery including a best-selling medical book entitled The Facial Danger Zones. Dr. Rohrich recently published an innovative cosmetic surgery video atlas, Cosmetic Surgery by the Masters.

Dr. Rohrich also served as president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the largest organization of board certified plastic surgeons in the world. He repeatedly has been selected by his peers as one of America's best doctors. He received the ASPS Special Achievement Award and on three occasions has received one of his profession's highest honors, the Plastic Surgery Foundation (PSF) Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes his contributions to education in plastic surgery. In addition, he has been recognized by the PSF with the Plastic Surgery Foundation Distinguished Career Researcher Award for his contributions to plastic surgery research and innovations. He is also the recipient of the ASPS 2022 Honorary Citation.
We are excited to name Sheila and Kaumil to our partnership supporting the growth of our Tax Practice. They are outstanding examples of individuals who deliver on our brand promise  Investing in Relationships to Make a Difference - with each client interaction." Seth McDaniel, FD Managing Partner

Frazier & Deeter (FD), one of the nations Top 50 accounting & advisory firms, is pleased to announce that Sheila R. Anderson and Kaumil Shah have been named Partner. Both members of the firm have worked within FDs Tax Practice for the past two years.

We are excited to name Sheila and Kaumil to our partnership supporting the growth of our Tax Practice, said Seth McDaniel, FD Managing Partner. They are outstanding examples of individuals who deliver on our brand promise  Investing in Relationships to Make a Difference - with each client interaction.

Sheila R. Anderson contributes over 20 years of experience to the firms Credits & Incentives Practice. Her expertise includes providing Research & Development (R&D) Tax Credit and consulting services to companies ranging from the mid-size, privately held to the Fortune Global 500, across industries that include manufacturing & distribution, consumer products, food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, software and technology and automotive. She has extensive experience supporting R&D Tax Credit studies through IRS exam from audit kick off through resolution. Prior to joining FD, Sheila worked in a Big 4s National R&D Tax Credit Practice. She graduated from Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering; Sheila also holds an active CPA license.

I am thrilled and honored to be welcomed into the partnership at Frazier & Deeter, said Sheila. I look forward to furthering the strong relationships I have built with our team and clients and excited to continue supporting the growth and eminence of our credits & incentives practice.

Kaumil Shah contributes nearly 15 years of public accounting and advisory experience to the firm. He serves his clients tax planning and compliance needs, primarily focusing on high-net-worth individuals, closely held businesses and international tax. His experience includes the manufacturing & distribution, professional service, family office and not-for-profit industries. Before joining FD, Kaumil worked as a Senior Tax Manager at a regional firm and practiced law for several years. He graduated from UNC Charlotte with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and from American University as a Juris Doctor. Kaumil also holds an active CPA license.

I am very excited to continue working at a firm that values excellence and commitment to success through diversity and inclusion, noted Kaumil. I look forward to expanding on these values as a Tax Partner in the Charlotte market.

About Frazier & Deeter

Frazier & Deeter is an award-winning Top 50 accounting & advisory firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The firm provides a wide range of tax, audit, accounting and advisory services to serve the emerging needs of clients as they evolve. FD and its family of brands serve clients, from the Fortune Global 500 companies to growing small businesses, through six offices across the United States and the United Kingdom. The firm has been recognized repeatedly as a Best of the Best Accounting firm, a Best Firm to Work For and a Best Firm for Women in Leadership. FDs brand promise is Investing in Relationships to Make a Difference.
I am grateful for the support of our US Senators from Maryland for these innovative research centers. Building on Hoods academic strengths in these areas, the new facilities will enable students and faculty to address local and global challenges. said Hood President Andrea E. Chapdelaine, Ph.D.

Hood College will receive $1 million from congressionally directed spending via the Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, secured by U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), to fund two new centers: the Marlene Grossnickle Young 76, H14, P09 and Michael S. Young, P09 Data Driven Frederick Center (DDF) and the Biomedical Research and Training Center.

Funding for these projects comes from congressionally directed spending requested by Senators Cardin and Van Hollen and enacted as part of the fiscal year 2023 omnibus government funding bill.

Previously called earmarks, congressionally directed spending has returned for a second year after a ten-year hiatus, allowing members of Congress to present important projects in their state or district for consideration by the Appropriations Committee. Cardin and Van Hollen presented these projects to the Appropriations Committee as investments designed to benefit the State of Maryland and the Frederick community.

Together, Senators Cardin and Van Hollen secured $36.5 million in congressionally directed spending for education and workforce development projects throughout the state of Maryland in the FY23 omnibus. This funding further advances Hood Colleges Forging the Future campaign, which has raised nearly $64.7 million toward its $65 million goal.

On behalf of the Hood and Frederick community, I am grateful for the support of our U.S. Senators from Maryland for these innovative research centers. Building on Hoods historic and growing academic strengths in these areas, the new facilities will enable our students and faculty to help address both local and global challenges in partnership with Frederick biomedical research and manufacturing industries, government, businesses and nonprofits, said Hood College President Andrea E. Chapdelaine, Ph.D. Undergraduate and graduate students, as well as our partners employees, will acquire cutting-edge, high-demand skills that will address regional workforce needs, further strengthening the scope and quality of Hoods educational offerings.

Investing in STEM education is key to equipping Marylanders with the tools they need to tackle 21st-century challenges and compete for 21st-century jobs. The direct federal funding we delivered for Hood College will address both sides of that equation by enhancing research efforts and training students to succeed in industries of the future. With these funds, Hood College will help unlock more opportunity for students in our state, said Senator Van Hollen.

Im proud to support these two federal investments that bolster Hood Colleges ability to serve two identified needs for the Frederick community in supporting nonprofit organizations and the biomedical workforce, said Senator Cardin. This funding will help to establish these distinct centers that will have the dual benefit of training Hood College students with the skills necessary for the regions in-demand professions while providing a benefit to local community organizations.

For more information on Data Driven Frederick and the Biomedical Research and Training Center, click here to view the full release on Hoods website.

About Hood College

Hood College is an independent, liberal arts college, offering more than 30 bachelors degrees, four pre-professional programs, 19 masters degree programs, two doctorates and 10 post-baccalaureate certificates. Located in historic Frederick, near Washington, D.C., Baltimore and the I-270 technology corridor, Hood gives students access to countless internships and research opportunities.


We are delighted to have Rich and Alex join the firm. As lawyers and engineers, they add to the strength of our IP litigation practice and expand the groups depth into our Chicago and Dallas offices. Their dedication to their practices and clients is the perfect cultural fit for the firm.

Lathrop GPM LLP is pleased to welcome Richard Beem and Alex Shtraym to the firms Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group. Beem joins the Chicago office as a partner and Shtraym joins the Dallas office as an associate.

Beem has more than 30 years of experience with patent prosecution and patent litigation work. He advises clients in the chemicals and polymers, pharmaceutical, biomedical, software, computers, electrical, mechanical, and industrial industries, among others. Beems practice includes the preparation, filing and prosecution of patent and trademark applications, as well as litigation, including trials and appeals for both patents and trademarks, and hearings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). In addition to Chicago, he will also be working from the firms Dallas office.

Shtraym works with executives and product design teams to obtain patents, maintain patent portfolios, protect trademarks and avoid or minimize exposure to the intellectual property rights of others. He also routinely conducts examiner interviews and responds to Office Actions with amendments and arguments to advance prosecution through issuance.

Rich and Alex bring comprehensive practices to the firm, and Rich has obtained hundreds of patents for clients and handled numerous PTAB hearings and federal court litigation, said Loren Hansen, Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group Leader. Their experience will be an added benefit to our growing team and adds to the firms strong reputation in the IP Litigation space as we continue to serve clients nationwide.

Beem and Shtraym previously worked at Beem Patent Law Firm, which was founded by Beem in 2000.

We are delighted to have Rich and Alex join the firm. As lawyers and engineers, they add to the strength of our IP litigation practice and expand the groups depth into our Chicago and Dallas offices, said Cameron Garrison, Lathrop GPM Managing Partner. Their dedication to their practices and clients is the perfect cultural fit for the firm.

Beem earned his J.D. from the University of Houston, cum laude, in 1985 and his B.S. in chemical engineering from Iowa State University in 1979. He is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Texas, as well as the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Seventh Circuit, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (including trial bar), and the U.S. Supreme Court. Beem is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Shtraym earned his J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law in 2015 and his BASc in industrial engineering from the University of Illinois Chicago. He is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Texas, as well as the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

About Lathrop GPM LLP

Lathrop GPM is a full-service, Am Law 200 law firm with offices in Boston, Boulder, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Jefferson City, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Overland Park, St. Cloud, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. Our attorneys help businesses, organizations and individuals grow and succeed, anticipate trends, plan for challenges, and bring their visions to life. For more information, visit http://www.lathropgpm.com.


Throughout history, measurement and science have worked together to produce technological advancements.

Metrology Parts has announced the release of its latest resource A Comprehensive Guide to Measurement Standards. This resource provides an in-depth look at measurement standards by covering the importance of measuring, what is measured, metrological definitions, and the history of measurements.

The most common types of measurements are length, weight, volume, and time. Modern society is reliant on frequent quantifications, and due to Henry Ford applying measure standardization to the auto industry, measurements play a crucial role in manufacturing. Scientific metrology is the science of measurement while industrial metrology is when measurements are applied to manufacturing, and legal metrology is any measurement activity aimed to ensure fair trade and protect the consumer.

According to Metrology Parts, Throughout history, measurement and science have worked together to produce technological advancements. In 3000 BC, Egyptians used a cubit as the measuring standard, and in 1215 AD, the Magna Carta declared a uniform system to measure ale, wine, corn, and weights. In 1657, the pendulum clock received its patent which improved the accuracy of time measurements. In 1875, the Convention of the Metre was signed by 17 nations, and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures was established. In 1960, the International System of Units was created, and in 1971, the mole was added as the seventh SI base unit.

To learn more about measurement standards, please visit Metrology Parts here.

About Metrology Parts:

Metrology Parts has been in business for 33 years. Evolving into more than just the sales component by offering tech support after the purchase, we offer the right tool for the job along with staying on the cutting edge of information for our customers.
Marketing teams and non-technical users need the ability to create and update professional, standards-compliant web pages easily and effectively. This is what PageBuilder was designed to do.

Miva, Inc., a leading ecommerce software and service provider for mid-size and enterprise merchants, has released version 10.05 of its popular ecommerce platform featuring PageBuilder, a flagship feature for the easy creation and management of pages on Miva websites. The release provides industry-leading advances to the speed, flexibility, and effectiveness of the page building process, and is available now for all merchants on the Miva platform.

Designed for ease of use, PageBuilder is a visually-oriented page building and management tool with a powerful suite of efficiency features for online businesses.

PageBuilder was built specifically with the marketer in mind, says Brennan Heyde, Mivas VP of Product. Marketing teams and non-technical users need the ability to create and update professional, standards-compliant web pages easily and effectively. This is what PageBuilder was designed to do.

PageBuilder eliminates the need for HTML tags, CSS, or other programming code when creating web pages from the point-and-click admin panel. Users create pages by visually selecting elements from a library of the most popular ecommerce site components and adding them to pre-built layouts for important pages and promotions.

This economical solution requires no expensive third party plug-ins, with a comprehensive native feature set thats perfect for managing complex ecommerce promotions and multi-channel audiences.



Dramatically easier to use than conventional WYSIWYG page editors

Highly configurable pre-designed components and layouts for great looking pages

Easy control of SEO factors which increase search visibility

Save time by scheduling page components to launch at future dates

Sophisticated preview functions to test display & complex business rules

Repurpose designs as starting points for different uses throughout the year

Marketers want a tool that's easy to use, and fast to spin up beautiful content pages, but they also want the autonomy to do it without having to contact their developer, says Heyde.

PageBuilder adds unparalleled ease-of-use to Mivas powerful ecommerce platform, making it the premier solution for successful online selling. For businesses with large product catalogs, hybrid B2B/B2C audiences, and enterprise-level sales volume, PageBuilder supports faster workflows and total autonomy over sophisticated web page creation and management.

Miva CEO Rick Wilson celebrated the highly anticipated release. We are so excited to share the new tools we've built for our customers, Rick said. Our goal is to take the power of the Miva platform and put it in the hands of marketers. If you're a marketing person whose job is to launch new products, build landing pages, or keep the storefront up-to-date, we want to empower you to succeed without having to call your web developer. PageBuilder is going to make marketers jobs so much easier, productive, and creative, and I cant wait for our community to discover how.

For more information about Miva PageBuilder, please visit: https://www.miva.com/pagebuilder

To build a new store with Miva, schedule a product tour at: https://www.miva.com/miva-ecommerce-consultation

About Miva, Inc.

Miva offers a flexible and adaptable ecommerce platform that evolves with businesses and allows them to drive sales, maximize average order value, cut overhead costs, and increase revenue. Miva has been helping businesses realize their ecommerce potential for over 20 years and empowering retail, wholesale, and direct-to-consumer sellers across all industries to transform their business through ecommerce. Learn more at http://www.miva.com.
With the PNC Family Classroom and Gallery, thousands of students and families will have the opportunity to learn about the vast world of art and culture through the many programs and exhibits that the Tampa Museum of Art offers, said Chad Loar, PNC regional president for West and Central Florida.

The Tampa Museum of Art today announced a major contribution from PNC Bank consisting of $500,000 toward the Museums Centennial Campaign. This award will help to grow education and exhibition programming at the new PNC Family Classroom and Gallery, a new 1,680 sq. ft. space located in the Museums renovated and expanded Vinik Family Education Center.

Were proud to be longtime sponsors of this gem in the community, said Chad Loar, PNC regional president for West and Central Florida. With the PNC Family Classroom and Gallery, thousands of students and families will have the opportunity to learn about the vast world of art and culture through the many programs and exhibits that the Tampa Museum of Art offers.

The Museum currently serves approximately 14,000 children, adults and teens through on and off-site education programs across Hillsborough County and the Tampa Bay Region. As a result of the completed renovations, including the Education Center and expanded gallery spaces, the number of students the Museum serves each year will more than quadruple.

PNC Bank has long been generously invested in the success of the Tampa Museum of Art, said Michael Tomor, Ph.D., the Penny and Jeff Vinik Executive Director of the Tampa Museum of Art. We are excited to unveil the new PNC Family Classroom and Gallery as a place where museum visitors and their families can enjoy art-making activities on designated family days, as well as a flexible space for regional and student art exhibitions.

PNC Bank is also a sponsor of Museums for All at the Tampa Museum of Art. Museums for All is a signature access program of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, administered by the Association of Childrens Museums. The program encourages people of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum-going habits by providing free admission to individuals and families receiving food assistance (SNAP) benefits. Museums for All is part of the Tampa Museum of Arts broad commitment to seek, include, and welcome all audiences.

About PNC Bank

PNC Bank, National Association, is a member of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). PNC is one of the largest diversified financial services institutions in the United States, organized around its customers and communities for strong relationships and local delivery of retail and business banking including a full range of lending products; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. For information about PNC, visit http://www.pnc.com.

About the Tampa Museum of Art

Founded in 1920, the Tampa Museum of Art inspires visitors with engaging exhibitions and innovative educational programs that emphasize ancient, modern, and contemporary art. The Museum houses one of the largest Greek and Roman antiquities collections in the southeastern United States. As one of the regions most prominent museums devoted to the art of our time, the Museums permanent collection also embraces sculpture, photography, painting, new media, and more.

The Museums new Vinik Family Education Center offers expanded year-round studio art classes, lectures, and tours that allow children, teens, and adults to discover new perspectives and learn different art-making techniques. Likewise, through unique community partnerships, the Museum offers outreach programs that provide art-therapy-informed interventions and meaningful modes of self-expression to vulnerable segments of the population.

Located in the heart of downtown Tampa, the Tampa Museum of Art leads as both a cultural institution and a community museum dedicated to celebrating its home citys diversity. In 2021, the Museum embarked on an ambitious renovation and expansion to increase exhibition space and education facilities to accommodate growing community partnerships and allow more hands-on, up-close experiences for students and adults. The renovated spaces opened in 2022 and the Museum continues campaigning for its 51,000 SF expansion plan.

General Hours and Information

For tickets and information, visit TampaMuseum.org or call (813) 274-8130. Located at 120 W. Gasparilla Plaza. Tampa, FL 33602, the Tampa Museum of Art is open seven days a week, Monday  Sunday, 10 am  5 pm, and Thursdays from 10 am  8 pm.

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Ranking among the top .5% of all organizations in the staffing industry, while also maintaining our position among Entrepreneurs elite, is a testament to our strength as a company and our excellence as a franchise opportunity.

PrideStaff, a nationally franchised staffing organization, is pleased to announce that they were named a Top 500 Franchise by Entrepreneur for the eleventh year in a row. Since entering at number 319 on the 2013 Franchise 500 list, PrideStaff has made the list each year thereafter and ranked number 284 on the 2023 list.

Now in its 44th year, Entrepreneurs Franchise 500 ranking highlights the unique challenges and changes that have shaped the franchise industry over the last yearand how successful franchisors have succeeded in their competitive markets. This years list showcases how varied the franchise world has become, offering franchisees a multitude of choices from restaurants and employment agencies to automotive and retail.

In an effort to understand and evaluate varied franchises to create the worlds first, best, and most comprehensive ranking, Entrepreneur researches and assesses 5 key factors; costs and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability. Each franchise was scored based on more than 150 data points, and those with the highest cumulative ranking were included on the Franchise 500 list.

With each year, the Franchise 500 ranking becomes increasingly more competitive, especially with the challenges and uncertainties of the of more recent economical landscape. Being recognized on this distinguished list for over a decade straight proves what a superb opportunity franchising with PrideStaff presents, said PrideStaffs Senior VP of Franchise Development, Paula Pizarro, CFE. We credit our continued success to our unique franchise model; offering the best of local ownership, with national resources and support; our organizational agility, which allows us to pivot and thrive in any economy; our technological innovation, which gives us the ability to adapt in our rapidly-changing world; and our commitment to living Our Mission, to Consistently provide client experiences focused on what they value most, which keeps us focused on delivering exceptional results to our partners.

Ranking among the top .5% of all organizations in the staffing industry, while also maintaining our position among Entrepreneurs elite, is a testament to our strength as a company and our excellence as a franchise opportunity, continued Pizarro. We are thrilled to once again be ranked a top franchise, and were looking forward to growing our presence across the nation in the thriving staffing industry.

This latest designation is one of many accomplishments PrideStaff has achieved for franchise excellence within the last year. In addition to making the 2023 Franchise 500 ranking, PrideStaff also received recognition by being named to Entrepreneurs Top Franchise for Veterans for a fifth consecutive year, Entrepreneurs Top 100 Franchises for Less Than $150,000, and Franchise Times Top 500 Ranking for a fourth consecutive year.

The success of PrideStaffs approach is evident. By investing in the client and talent experience, PrideStaff has become the only staffing firm in the U.S. and Canada with over $100 million in annual revenue to earn ClearlyRateds coveted Best of Staffing 10-Year Client and Talent Diamond Awards for three consecutive years. The 10-year Diamond Award is earned by fewer than 0.5% of all staffing firms, placing PrideStaff in a truly elite group of companies that lead the industry in satisfaction.

About PrideStaff

PrideStaff operates over 85 offices in North America to serve more than 5,000 clients. With 40 plus years in the staffing business and headquartered in Fresno, CA, PrideStaff offers the resources and expertise of a national firm with the spirit, dedication and personal service of smaller, entrepreneurial firms. PrideStaff is the only nationwide, commercial staffing firm in the U.S. and Canada with over $100 million in annual revenue to earn ClearlyRateds prestigious Best of Staffing Diamond Awards nine years in a row, highlighting exceptional client and talent service quality.

For more information on our services, or for staffing franchise information, click here.
Our goal has always been to support entrepreneurs who are primed to create not only a successful business venture but one that is invested in the local communities they serve and built to last for years to come. - Express Employment International CEO Bill Stoller

Staffing giant Express Employment Professionals held onto the distinction of top U.S. staffing/recruiting franchise for the 12th consecutive year and 45th franchised company overall as announced today in Entrepreneurs annual 2023 Franchise 500 ranking.

Being chosen as the preferred franchise concept for the staffing/recruiting industry is a great honor to everyone in the Express network who works tirelessly to connect quality job seekers with reputable companies, Express Employment International CEO Bill Stoller said. Our goal has always been to support entrepreneurs who are primed to create not only a successful business venture but one that is invested in the local communities they serve and built to last for years to come.

According to Jason Feifer, Entrepreneur editor-in-chief, the past year underscores the extraordinary opportunities that the franchise industry presents for entrepreneurs of all levels.

The companies named to our 44th annual Franchise 500 list represent some of the most innovative, creative and trusted brands across many industries and highlight what it takes to build the kind of momentum that drives long-lasting success, he said.

Key factors that go into the evaluation include costs and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength and financial strength and stability. Each franchise is given a cumulative score based on an analysis of more than 150 data points, and the 500 franchises with the highest cumulative scores become the Franchise 500 in ranking order.

With more than 850 franchises internationally, in 2022, Entrepreneur further recognized Express as a Top Global Franchise, a Fastest Growing Franchise Worldwide, a Top Franchise for Veterans and gave the company a Best of the Best ranking. Forbes added to the recognition with awards for one of Americas Best Temp Staffing Firms and Best Large Employers, as well as one of Americas Best Professional Recruiting Firms.

From Staffing Industry Analysts, Express was named among the largest U.S. staffing firms, largest U.S. industrial staffing firms, largest U.S. office/clerical staffing firms, largest U.S. direct hire firms and largest global staffing firms.

As we prepare to celebrate our 40th anniversary year, Express is stronger than ever with lofty goals for the new year, Stoller said."

***

If you would like to arrange for an interview with Bill Stoller to discuss this topic, please contact Sheena Hollander, Director of Corporate Communications and PR, at (405) 717-5966.

About Bill Stoller

William H. "Bill" Stoller is chairman and chief executive officer of Express Employment International. Founded in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the international staffing franchisor supports the Express Employment Professionals franchise and related brands. The Express franchise brand is an industry-leading, international staffing company with franchise locations in the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

About Express Employment Professionals

At Express Employment Professionals, were in the business of people. From job seekers to client companies, Express helps people thrive and businesses grow. Our international network of franchises offers localized staffing solutions to the communities they serve across the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, employing 586,000 people globally in 2021 and more than 10 million since its inception. For more information, visit ExpressPros.com.
Schaus Dental Studio in Golden Valley, MN "BioRejuvenation dentistry is one of the most cutting-edge and promising approaches to restoring mouths to a healthy state. It is based on years of biological research, which shows that rehabilitating a patients mouth to an optimal position has lasting oral and overall health benefits."

Dr. Paul Schaus, the founder of Schaus Dental Studio, serving Hennepin County has launched a new website (https://www.schausdentalstudio.com), which highlights the practices specialty in BioRejuvenation services, and digital dentistry technologies. A former naval dentist, Dr. Schaus concierge practice in the suburbs of Minneapolis is at the forefront of emerging dental technologies, leveraging both the power of the human body and the power of technology to provide a premium patient experience.

Harnessing the bodys natural ability to heal and restore itself to optimal health lies at the root of BioRejuvenation dentistry. Dr. Schaus specializes in this proactive, yet conservative treatment which restores teeth to their original, youthful shape, all the while optimizing the function of the mouth.

"BioRejuvenation dentistry is one of the most cutting-edge and promising approaches to restoring mouths to a healthy state. It is based on years of biological research, which shows that rehabilitating a patients mouth to an optimal position has lasting oral and overall health benefits," Dr. Schaus said.

Using minimally invasive methods to restore the natural biology of each persons dental system, the goal of BioRejuvenation dentistry is to achieve a proper balance between the upper and lower teeth. Once this balance is achieved the need for costly restorations in the future is mitigated. Treatments involved in BioRejuvenation of the mouth and teeth may include treatment for TMJ disorders, bite alignment, and the restoration of individual teeth.

Ultimately, this rehabilitation results in relief from pain, improved dental function, and an aesthetically improved smile, all the while setting the stage for excellent oral health in the future. We promote BioRejuvenation because it allows our patients to break cycles of lifelong dental disease, he explained.

BioRejuvenation is supported and complemented by Digital Dentistry, which Schaus Dental Studio also embraces. "Advances in technology offer greater accuracy and precision for screening, diagnosis, implant surgeries and restorative techniques. They also offer a more comfortable, expedited experience for patients," Dr. Schaus said. Digital technologies used at Schaus Dental Studio include digital x-rays, intra-oral cameras, 3D digital scanning replacing impressions and computer-assisted design (CAD) of restorations and appliances.

In addition, digital screens are located in each practice area, which Dr. Schaus uses to educate patients about various problems, and what they can expect from various procedures. Wi-Fi is also available in the office, and patients can request appointments online by visiting the practices new website.

At Schaus Dental Studio, Dr. Schaus and his team provide preventative screenings and cleanings, and dental restorations including dental implants, crowns, and bridges. He also provides cosmetic treatments including teeth whitening, porcelain veneers, and dental implants.

For more information visit https://www.schausdentalstudio.com or call 763-525-0306. Schaus Dental Studio is located at 7575 Golden Valley Road Suite 240, Golden Valley, MN 55427.

About Paul V. Schaus DDS

Dr. Paul V. Schaus graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. He then entered the United States Navy Dental Corps, serving service members aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. His service included a deployment to the Middle East. Before opening Schaus Dental Studio in Golden Valley, Dr. Schaus had a private dental practice in Oak Grove, MN.
The PayBito CEO, Raj Chowdhury's views about FTX Collapse FTX collapse was a cautious stable movement. It is not a surprise that these companies are falling apart.

Fluctuating markets, exchange crashes, and the Terra fallout led to a crypto bloodbath throughout the previous year. However, the FTX crash, arguably the biggest crypto disaster in terms of capital loss, lacks an impact proportional to its magnitude. Raj Chowdhury expressed his displeasure with the gross mismanagement of investor assets that led to FTX squandering its $32 billion wealth to eventual bankruptcy. He also added that the impact of this isolated incident, which was years in the making, would not be reflected on other crypto exchanges and enterprises.

SBF was accused of using client assets to lend in risky trading bets before news of the FTX crash became public. The absence of crypto regulatory frameworks enabled access to these assets, and long-term misappropriation worsened the situation. SBF had once made a career out of crypto arbitrage, but this misutilization eventually led to his downfall. Exchanges like PayBito or Coinbase, which safeguards and segregates investor assets, will never deal with the issues faced by FTX.

There have been calls of crypto fraud against Bankman-Fried for transferring assets including customer funds exceeding $4 billion into his trading enterprise Alameda Research, whose assets included several illiquid altcoins along with FTXs native crypto token FTT. To make matters worse, hackers attacked the exchange, stealing at least $477 million.

The PayBito CEO, Raj Chowdhury, stated, FTX collapse was a cautious stable movement. It is not a surprise that these companies are falling apart. He had previously highlighted the need to improve security in crypto ventures, and how awareness and education on digital assets can prevent scams.

The former FTX chief was charged with 8 counts by US federal prosecutors after his arrest, including financial crimes, money laundering, and fraud. SBF may continue to plead not guilty, but it does not change the fact that FTX still owes money to over 1 million creditors and contributed to at least an $8 billion loss for the customers. The Bahamas-based crypto exchange had previously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

PayBito, which prioritizes investor asset protection, has garnered recognition as a provider of white-label crypto exchange solutions to institutional investors planning to leverage business growth opportunities from digital assets. It has enjoyed strategic alliances and collaboration with enterprises from over 26 nations including Sweden, South Korea, Australia, and more.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has decided to launch an investigation into the FTX implosion, with SEC Chair Gary Gensler reiterating the need for adequate safety measures for investor assets. The US Feds have also formed a special task force to trace stolen FTX assets. The lack of clarity around existing crypto laws pushes businesses to shift their trading operations offshore. The crypto community needs compliance laws not only for adherence and restoring investor confidence but also for framework standardization.
Rob Zeaske, newly-named CEO and President of The GroundTruth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to rebuilding journalism through its flagship programs, Report for America and Report for the World. Im delighted to be taking on this role with the organization and mission that Im so passionate about, Zeaske said. We have all the ingredients necessary to significantly grow our support of the local news ecosystem and Im eager to work with our partners in understanding how we can do more.

The GroundTruth Project, home of Report for America and Report for the World, is pleased to announce the selection of Rob Zeaske as its CEO and president, following a national search launched last summer. Zeaske will step into the role on Jan. 23, a return of sorts as he was the nonprofits chief operations officer from 2019-2020.

Zeaske is a seasoned executive and social entrepreneur who has rapidly grown multiple mission-driven organizations, most notably having served for more than a decade as CEO of Second Harvest, one of the nations largest hunger relief and nutrition organizations. There, he tripled the amount of food distributed, quadrupled annual philanthropic support, fostered deep cross-sector relationships, and led a $50 million capital campaign.

Rob is, without a doubt, the right leader for this moment in our organizations history. His record of successas measured by growth, financial strength, staff engagement and satisfaction, and impactis unparalleled. He brings a commitment to service, inclusion, journalism, and open societies, said Joanne Heyman, GroundTruth board chair, and the founder and CEO of Heyman Partners. On behalf of the board, I am thrilled that we have a leader of his caliber as we look to scale our groundbreaking journalism initiatives and meet the needs of communities across the country and globally.

Zeaske takes the helm as GroundTruth looks to significantly scale its flagship programs to tackle the growing decline in local news across the globe. Over the past five years, Report for America has placed 547 reporters and photographers, nearly half of whom are journalists of color, in more than 300 newsrooms across all 50 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. Report for the World, now in its second year, has doubled in size with some 30 corps members working in 17 newsrooms in eight countries across five continents.

Im delighted to be taking on this role with the organization and mission that Im so passionate about, Zeaske said. We have all the ingredients necessary to significantly grow our support of the local news ecosystem and Im eager to work with our partners in understanding how we can do more.

Zeaske most recently served as the director of Harvard Business Schools Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI). There, he oversaw SEIs strategy and operations, including MBA and executive education programming, alumni and practitioner engagement, and faculty research and curriculum support. In 2018, Zeaske was named one of the ten Most Admired CEOs'' by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelors degree in political science from Stanford University.

Zeaskes arrival follows the transition of GroundTruth founder Charles Sennott from CEO to editor-in-chief last fall, and Report for America co-founder Steven Waldmans stepping aside from his position as president to focus fully on the advancement of public policy through the Rebuild Local News Coalition, which he founded two years ago.

Through my time as a staff and board member I have gotten to know Steve and Charlie as visionaries and friends, Zeaske said. They have built an organization, a vision and a set of values that are innovative and impactful, and I cant thank them enough for their support during this transition and their willingness to stay active in the organization, including as board members.

The GroundTruth Project thanks Ann Davis Vaughan for serving as transition chair and the acting CEO during the search and for her continued role as a member of the board of directors.

Under her leadership, the organization focused on operational support for core programs and refined a number of key roles. Kevin Grant took on fundraising as chief development and partnerships officer, and Kim Kleman became executive director of Report for America. Additionally, Earl Johnson was promoted to vice president of recruitment and alumni engagement, and Teri Hayt became director of corps and newsroom excellence, both for Report for America.

About The GroundTruth Project:

The GroundTruth Project is an award-winning nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to rebuilding journalism from the ground up. GroundTruth serves under-covered communities by supporting the next generation of journalists to do on-the-ground reporting and to advance sustainability, innovation and equity in journalism worldwide. GroundTruths flagship programs  Report for America and Report for the World  place talented, diverse local reporters in the newsrooms that need them most.
Matthew A. DelMauro, MD A growing number of patients are requesting remote care, which is why the Body Sculpting Center of NYC now offers virtual consultations.

The Body Sculpting Center of NYC (https://www.bodysculptingcenternyc.com), located in Manhattan, New York announced today that the body sculpting plastic surgery practice will now offer patients remote / telehealth consultations from anywhere in the world. Dr. Matthew DelMauro, founder and medical director of the Body Sculpting Center of NYC, observed Since the genesis of the COVID-19 epidemic, there has been a consistent, unwavering need for virtual consultations at our clinic.

We understand that many of our patients continue to feel affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to in-person consultations, we want to offer telehealth consults from anywhere in the world to help ease our patients' concerns and help them get the medical care they need. A growing number of patients are requesting remote care, which is why the Body Sculpting Center of NYC now offers virtual consultations. The Body Sculpting Center of NYCs team has closely monitored the consistent rise in requests for remote care, which is why the practice chose to offer patients virtual consultations in addition to in-person visits.

Harvard Business Review reports that at least 69% of adults in the U.S. employed audio and video telehealth technology to engage with practitioners and patients remotely in 2020. Our board certified Manhattan, New York based body sculpting plastic surgeon and his dedicated team strive to create body sculpting results that reflect the needs and unique anatomy of each patient. In order to give our patients, the safest and most practical medical care possible, our NYC based aesthetic plastic surgeon, Dr. Matthew DelMauro, now offers patients virtual consultations (from anywhere in the world).

As a board certified NYC based aesthetic plastic surgeon, Dr. DelMauro and his Manhattan based Body Sculpting Center of NYC team regularly administer virtual consultations with prospective aesthetic surgery patients from all over the world, in order to ensure each individual is comfortable and confident in their healthcare experience.

About Us

Unique to Manhattan and the surrounding NYC areas, Body Sculpting Center of NYC (a fully accredited plastic surgery center) merges the safety and effectiveness of a top rated plastic surgery practice with the tranquility and opulence of a modern spa. We are true concierge plastic surgery with the most competitive pricing in Manhattan, NY. Our board certified NYC plastic surgeons particular expertise includes minimally invasive liposuction (liposuction 360), breast implants and breast reductions, fat transfer to the hips, breast, and shoulders, mommy makeovers, tummy tucks, male liposuction and body contouring, buttock lifts (BBL), body lifts and arm lift plastic surgery.

Body Sculpting Center of NYC

590 5th Avenue

Suite 1106

New York, NY 10036

(646) 257-2677

https://www.bodysculptingcenternyc.com
The featured speakers will showcase drug testing in humanized mouse models in two therapeutic areas: food allergy and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).

The drug development process strongly relies on the predictivity of preclinical mouse modeling. Humanized mouse models, i.e., mouse models that recapitulate human components are therefore highly valuable translational tools.

In this webinar, the featured speakers will showcase drug testing in humanized mouse models in two therapeutic areas: food allergy and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD):

1. Inflammatory bowel diseases, which include ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease, are characterized by a chronic inflammation of the intestinal tract. Even though conventional treatments such as immune modulators might improve the symptoms, a high number of patients do not respond to the available treatments. In the first part of the webinar, Dr. Ho Wang Yin, PhD, CIO will show how humanized mouse models help develop new therapies for IBD. She will provide an overview of chemically induced models of acute colitis (DSS and TNBS), the pros and cons of each model and a summary of typical study design.

2. Peanut allergy affects up to two percent of the pediatric population and is a high unmet medical need as peanut ingestion is the most common cause of food induced anaphylaxis in the US. Oral immunotherapy, the only US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved therapy, is lengthy and carries the risk of serious side effects. In the second part of the webinar, Dr. Wuillemin will demonstrate the efficacy of MY006, a passive immunotherapy developed thanks to Mabylons unique antibody discovery platform, for the treatment of peanut allergy in humanized mouse models.

Register for this webinar to explore the importance of using humanized mouse models for translational studies in inflammatory disorders.

Join Natascha Wuillemin, PhD, Executive Vice President Immunology at Mabylon AG; and Kiave-Yune Ho Wang Yin, PhD, Director of Innovation and Business development at TransCure bioServices, for the live webinar on Tuesday, January 24, 2023, at 11am EST (4pm GMT/UK).

For more information, or to register for this event, visit Why Use Humanized Mouse Models for Translational Studies in Inflammatory Disorders?

ABOUT XTALKS

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year, thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com

For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/

Contact:

Vera Kovacevic

Tel: +1 (416) 977-6555 x371

Email: vkovacevic@xtalks.com
Joseph D. Richardson Joseph is a tireless advocate for unions and workers and has demonstrated that he is committed to our fight for working people to be treated with dignity and respect, said Managing Partner Deborah R. Willig.

Philadelphia labor, employment, workers compensation and family law firm Willig, Williams & Davidson is pleased to announce that Joseph D. Richardson has been made a partner of the firm.

Joseph is a tireless advocate for unions and workers and has demonstrated that he is committed to our fight for working people to be treated with dignity and respect, said Managing Partner Deborah R. Willig. We look forward to his continued service on behalf of our union clients, as we work for fair wages, comprehensive health benefits, and for safe and equitable workplaces for all.

It is an honor to be named a partner in this firm, said Richardson. I am joining a group of incredibly dedicated and skilled practitioners who live by their commitment to working people and their families. I am proud to work with them in the struggle for economic and social justice for the working class.

Richardson concentrates on labor law, advising union clients on strategy and counseling them on collective bargaining matters. He writes frequently on the policies and decisions of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and their implications for workers and labor unions. He has been recognized for his excellence in labor and employment law by Thomson Reuters, which has named him to its list of Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Stars.

Before joining Willig, Williams & Davidson, Richardson spent seven years as a field attorney with the NLRB in San Francisco and Philadelphia investigating unfair labor practice charges and representing the Board in administrative hearings and injunction proceedings in U.S. District Court. He also represented his co-workers as an NLRB Union local president and served as a pro bono arbitrator for denials of service at homeless shelters in San Francisco.

Richardson earned his law degree from American University Washington College of Law, where he graduated magna cum laude, was awarded the Order of the Coif, and served as an editor on the Administrative Law Review. Prior to law school, he served five years in the Marine Corps, where he learned Arabic and was selected for an elite Marine reconnaissance unit.

About Willig, Williams & Davidson  Willig, Williams & Davidson (http://www.wwdlaw.com) is one of the largest and most respected union-side labor law firms in the United States. The firm has offices in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Jenkintown Pa., as well as Haddonfield, N.J., and Chicago, Ill. Founded in 1979, Willig, Williams & Davidson focuses on representing labor unions, employee benefit funds and individual working people and their families on a variety of legal fronts, including national, regional and local contract negotiations; election and campaign finance; dispute resolution through mediation, arbitration and litigation; family law matters; benefits law design and compliance issues; discrimination, overtime and unpaid wages, and other employment matters; prepaid legal services for union members; social security disability; and workers compensation matters in Philadelphia and beyond. Workers inspire us.
By Yan Yu

The Japan-US summit will be held in Washington DC in mid-January. This will be the first meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden at the White House since the former took the office. Japanese media expects that Fumio Kishida will explain to the US the revision of three security documents including the National Security Strategy (NSS), National Defense Strategy (NDS) and Defense Buildup Program (DBP) and the substantial increase in defense spending, with a view to further deepening the Japan-US alliance. The purpose of this move is self-evident: Japan aims to tie itself closer to the US chariot and pave the way for reviving its dream of becoming a major military power.

In December 2022, the Japanese government passed three security documents including the new NSS, and clearly stated that it will build a "counterstrike capability (capability to attack enemy bases)" and deploy the US-made Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles in 2026. At the same time, these documents propose to increase the total defense expenditure for five years from 2023 by about 43 trillion yen, which is 1.6 times the total defense expenditure for the current five years (2019 to 2023). Japan also plans to increase the ratio of defense spending and related budgets to Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) from about one percent to about two percent by 2027.

According to the revised documents, Japan will abandon the self-defense-only postwar principle and will break through many post-war restrictions. For instance, it may further relax the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology, expand arms exports, and deepen military-civilian integration. This immediately aroused the international community's concern about Japan repeating its mistakes and following the path of military power. As the Japanese anti-war peace organization Peace Vision Conference said in a statement, the three documents will make Japan a country capable of waging war again, which is an extremely dangerous move.

However, regardless of opposition at home and abroad, the Japanese government continued to gallop on the wrong path instead of coming to a halt. Japan claimed that this was a new beginning of the Japan-US alliance and that it would further strengthen military cooperation with the US. For all kinds of actions to show goodwill to the US by "arming itself", the Fumio government's ostensible reason is that it is worried about being "abandoned by the US" in the event of an emergency so it increased its defense to get more help from the US. However, its real purpose is to break the restrictions of the pacifist constitution, rely on the US for self-improvement and expand its military and prepare for war.

The US is happy to see the moves by Japan. The White House, the State Department and the Pentagon issued statements one after another to welcome the three security documents released by the Japanese government. However, the approval rate of Fumio Kishida's cabinet hit a new low at only 25 percent after the revision of the security documents. It is obvious that Japan's role in the US regional strategy will gradually shift from supporting the defense as a shield to serving as a spear after the revision of its security documents. This means that Japan will be further included in the strategic orbit of the US, and the possibility of Japan and the US joining hands to cause trouble in the region will continue to rise, which will undoubtedly bring serious security risks to Japan's neighboring countries and even the international community. Some Japanese scholars sharply pointed out that the three security documents represent a major turning point in Japan's defense policy that is shifting towards new militarism.

Historically, Japan has stepped into the wrong path of militarism, committed atrocities of aggression, expansion, and crimes against humanity, and brought serious disasters to Asia and the world. Now Japan is tying itself tightly to the US chariot, constantly seeking offensive capabilities and trying to break through the constraints of the pacifist Constitution, which will pose a major threat to world peace.

Editor's note: Originally published on paper.people.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
A group of 11 authors, in coordination with the Authors Guild, has filed suit in a U.S. District Court in Florida, alleging that a predatory publishing company is withholding "thousands of dollars" in unpaid royalties.

Filed on January 6, the complaint claims that Authors Place Press and its owner, Tony Ferraro, have failed to fulfill their contractual obligations and to pay or properly account for royalties. The suit also names the companys predecessor, Motivational Press, and its CEO, Justin Sachs, as defendants. According to court documents, Motivational Press was acquired by Ferraro in early 2019.

The case was spearheaded by lead plaintiff Karyn Schoenbart, the former CEO of the NPD Group and author of Mom.B.A.: Essential Business Advice from One Generation to the Next. With help from the Authors Guild, Schoenbart organized 10 more authors to join the action, which alleges that Authors Place Press and Motivational Press have repeatedly denied the authors demands for redress.

"This action is brought by a group of book authors against two predatory publishers. Defendants Authors Place and Motivational Press systematically failed to pay royalties to authors and for years delayed providing royalty statements to their authors. Over the past severa years, Plaintiffs demanded on numerous occasions unpaid royalties, royalty statements, and after reaching the limits of their frustration, a reversion of the publishing rights in their books," the complaint states.

It continues: "Defendants Ferraro and Authors Place, which is a successor-in-interest to defendant Motivational Press, at various times employed different tactics to stymie their authors. Sometimes they simply ignored the authors requests. Other times, they refused the requests. Still other times, they threatened authors with the destruction of their works or the discontinuation of purported efforts to market the authors works. Ferraro and Authors Place also demanded arbitrary payments from the authors to maintain the status quo. When authors demanded a reversion of the publishing rights in their books, Ferraro and Authors Place often demanded paymenteven where they owed royalties to the authors. These amounts were arbitrary (and inconsistent) too."

The suit claims copyright infringement, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment, and seeks a ruling that the authors book rights have reverted to the authors, as well as an accounting to determine the amount of unpaid royalties owed. This lawsuit should send a message to any publishers who think they can get away with underpaying or not paying authors, or otherwise taking advantage of them, said Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger. We will fight energetically for the rights of authors under the law.

The website for Authors Place Press states that the company is no longer in operation.
Author, historian, and educator Natalie S. Bober, best known for her biographies of poets, artists, and figures of early American history, died on December 29, 2022. She was 92.

Bober was born Natalie Birnbaum on December 27, 1930 in New York City, the daughter of Samuel, who worked in real estate, and Dolly, an editor, researcher, and indexer.

Bober noted in her autobiographical essay for Something About the Author that she had always read incessantly in her early years and that her first summer job, upon graduating from Hunter College High School at age 16, was at the main branch of the New York Public Library on 42nd Street. Bober believes she absorbed a love of England from her English grandmother, who lived with the family while Bober was growing up. As a girl, she cherished the stories her grandmother told her after school each day, over strong tea and freshly baked cookies. Bober credited her mother as an influence on her writing as well, explaining how her mother taught her how to do thorough and careful research, a skill that remained essential to Bobers work throughout her life.

Bober was attending Hunter College when she married Lawrence Bober, a banker, in 1950. She continued her studies, receiving her B.A. from Hunter in 1951, and later earned a M.S. from Hofstra University in 1966. In those intervening years, the couple welcomed three children and Bober had established a career as a teacher and a reading consultant, instructing junior high and college students.

In 1972, Bobers life saw a sizeable shift. She suffered a health issue involving her leg, which kept her off her feet for six months as she was in and out of the hospital undergoing testing and receiving care. During the long days away from her teaching job, Bober came across an article in Writer magazine about writing biographies for young readers and was intrigued by the idea. Her husband challenged her to give it a go, reminding her, Youve always wanted to write, she recounted in SATA.

She was soon fully immersed in her new pursuit and spent many months researching and writing about one of her favorite poets from her college coursework: William Wordsworth. Bober was additionally inspired by a trip to England she had recently taken with her husband where they visited Wordsworth country. As she crafted her drafts into a manuscript, she queried publishers with the project and 21 editors turned her down. The 22ndwhom Bober described as an Anglophile, at Thomas Nelson Publisherstook her on, publishing William Wordsworth: The Wandering Poet in 1975. The book was well received and as a result, Bober was soon researching the life of another favorite poet for what would become A Restless Spirit: The Story of Robert Frost (Atheneum, 1981). In 2008, a revised and expanded edition of the book, published by Henry Holt, was selected as the Vermont Reads book of the year.

In 1985, Bober and her daughter Elizabeth Bober Polivy (Betsy)as co-ownersopened Once Upon a Time, An Enchanted Childrens Bookstore, in New Rochelle, N.Y.

Later in the 1980s, Bober was asked to take a detour from profiling artists when her editor, Marcia Marshall, lamenting a dearth of good biographies about the early U.S. presidents for young readers, urged her to consider writing a book about Thomas Jefferson. Bober again accepted a writing challenge and this time, she wrote in SATA, I realized it was the best professional decision I had ever made.

Thomas Jefferson: Man on a Mountain (Atheneum, 1988) garnered critical praise and led to several exciting career opportunities. Bober and her husband were formally invited to Thomas Jeffersons 250th birthday celebration at Monticello in 1993. And Bober was asked to participate in filmmaker Ken Burnss documentary on Jeffersonshe was interviewed on camera and served as a consultantwhich first aired on PBS in 1997.

Bobers copious research on Jeffersonand the advice of her son Stephenled her take on another historical biography: Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution (Atheneum, 1995). That title was named the winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction and also won SCBWIs Golden Kite Award. In all, she published 11 books for young readers.

Bober was often asked by students and interviewers about her process for writing biographies. In SATA she shared an answer to that question. I never know where my research will lead me. As I try to catch the cadencethe rhythmof the lives Im investigating, I must study the past with a revealing searchlight, all the while looking for details like a hog digging for truffles. Im always after those dark, hidden morsels. The excitement comes from search and discovery, from recreating a life from details and making a story out of the chaos of reality.
Former Tattered Cover owner Joyce Meskis, who died December 22 at age 80, is being remembered not only as a pioneer in bookselling circles but as a staunch supporter of the First Amendment. Meskis purchased the Denver bookstore in 1974 and ran it for more than four decades, growing it from a single 950-sq.-ft. shop into one of the nations largest and most recognizable independents. At its height, Tattered Cover had four locations in the Denver metro area, and three more at Denver airports in partnership with Hudson Booksellers. The store remains in operation today under the leadership of Kwame Spearman.

The Denver Post wrote of Meskiss death: When future historians look back at the later 20th century and early 21st century, one of the most important people in [Denvers] history will be Joyce Meskis.

Dedications flooded onto the Tattered Cover Facebook page. Joyce was a literary lioness that evolved our industry in a way that few others had done before her, the bookstore posted in a statement on that page. She was also a friend and mentor to so many at Tattered Cover and around the globe.

Tattered Cover investor and former ABA CEO Oren Teicher first met Meskis in the late 1980s. She had a profound influence on everything I did for the next 35-plus years, Teicher said. Though she deserves attention for her commitment to free speech, at heart she was a bookseller, he added. She helped invent the modern indie bookstore, and led the way in establishing the best customer service while treating every employee with dignity and respect.

Teicher noted that Meskiss commitment to free speech was tied to her role as a bookseller. She was unalterably convinced that bookstores had a big role to play in defending the First Amendment, he explained, adding that Meskis believed it is up to customers to decide what content they want to read, and that it is bookstores role to provide access without passing judgment. That approach was highly controversial, but she never ever wavered or backed down. She advocated her views in a quiet and respectful manner, always listening to those who disagreed with her. She set a standard for integrity that was unmatched.

In her fight for freedom of expression, Meskis often worked in conjunction with the National Coalition Against Censorship, which issued a statement saying it was saddened by news of her death. NCAC also offered a summary of Meskiss activism, including the following achievements:

In 1981, she was a plaintiff in two cases that reached the Colorado Supreme Court, which struck down a state law banning the display of material deemed harmful to children and established that the Colorado Constitution provides broader protection for speech with sexual content than the First Amendment.

In response to growing censorship pressure in the 1980s, she urged ABA to provide additional support for anti-censorship groups and later led an ABA task force that created the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression.

In 1989, Tattered Cover joined other Colorado bookstores in pledging to continue to sell Salman Rushdies Satanic Verses, after the author became the target of terrorist violence.

In 1991, as ABA president, Meskis testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition to the Pornography Victims Compensation Act, which authorized the victims of sexual attacks to sue booksellers and other producers and distributors of books and other media that caused the attacks.

In 2000, police officers from a neighboring town arrived at Tattered Cover with a search warrant and demanded information on the book purchases of a customer suspected of making methamphetamine. A two-year battle ensued, ending at the Colorado Supreme Court, whose justices ruled unanimously that the search warrant was invalid and that any effort to obtain bookstore records without a hearing is unconstitutional.

During her career, Meskis won numerous awards, including the 1995 PEN/Newmans Own First Amendment Award, which included a check for $25,000money she used to establish the Colorado Freedom of Expression Foundation. She was also the recipient of the ABAs inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award.

As a bookseller, Meskis was quick to embrace emerging technologies, and as a result, Tattered Cover became one of the first stores in the U.S. to implement a computerized inventory system and a retail website. Still, her true love was the printed word. People may love their technologies, but ink on paper between boards is part of the pleasure of reading, Meskis said. Bookshops are the focal point in a community where reader and writer come together. Its important that publishers continue to recognize and acknowledge that.

Meskis described the rewards of bookselling as twofold: There is an incredible bubble that rises in me when I hear a customer, especially if its a child, say, Oh, wow, youve got that book. Its exquisitely gratifying, she said. Philosophically, she added, the social profit makes up for the struggle to make a financial profit. Being there for the community of readers that you serve and doing the very best that you can do to encourage and enhance the reading lives of the people in your community is how we can contribute to making a better world.

With Meskiss passing, Teicher observed, the Tattered Cover and the larger Denver communitylet alone the entire book industryhave lost a giant.
In a letter sent to agents and authors, Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch touched on a number of ongoing industry issues. Pietsch noted that, while sales in 2022 were down from 2021, they are still above where they were before the pandemic, and he expressed the hope that the habit of reading and listening to books that many people developed during the pandemic will buoy us all in the years ahead. And in a good news/bad news observation, Pietsch wrote that while printing schedules have returned to a more normal schedule, the increased costs of printing and shipping books stay with us.

On the copyright front, Pietsch pointed out that HBG is a named plaintiff in the lawsuit, filed in 2020, charging the Internet Archive with copyright infringement. The suit charges that the Internet Archive is using what Pietsch described as the made-up framework of controlled digital lending to engage in wholesale piracy of authors book. The case is still working its way through the courts, and a judge is expected to make a ruling on summary judgment motions later this year.

HBG has also been active in joining the fight against banned books, Pietsch said, citing the publishers support of efforts to fight for free expression conducted by such organizations as the Authors Guilds Banned Books Club, the National Council Against Censorships Kids Right to Read program, the New York Public Librarys Books for All campaign, the American Library Associations Unite Against Book Bans initiative, and PENs Countering Book Bans project.

HBGs sales and marketing campaigns continue to evolve, and Pietsch pointed to several new initiatives in these areas, including a greater use of personal author videos to promote titles; a significant expansion of its email lists and consumer sites to, among other things, expand direct-to-consumer sales of print books from HBGs website; and the growth of its speakers bureau. With the easing of the pandemic, HBG has resumed more in-person marketing events, Pietsch wrote.

HBGs Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts included partnering with We Need Diverse Books, the Hurston/Wright Foundation, Lambda Literary, and City College of New York, sponsoring and co-hosting a Hurston/Wright Writers Week Workshop. And Pietsch correctly pointed out that HBG is one of few publishers to publicly report our annual progress in these areas."

Finally, Pietsch noted that in the fall, HBG resumed in-person work, with teams together in the office two days a week. I feel strongly that this hybrid approach enhances the collaboration that weve missed during nearly three years of remote work, while retaining the flexibility and focus that we learned is possible working from home, he wrote. Our goal, as always, is to provide the best possible partnership to all our authors and agents, and to publish your books with the passion, expertise, and creativity they deserve.
In spring 2020, at the start of the pandemic, several publishing professionals from around the world launched a Facebook group called Publishers Without Borders. The founders included Simon de Jocas, the publisher at Montreal childrens illustrated book publisher Editions Les 400 Coups; Emma House, a U.K. publishing consultant; and Prashant Pathak, the publisher of Wonder House Books, a childrens publishing house in Delhi, India. They, along with 150 of their friends, used the group as a forum for socializing, sharing memes, and staying in touch about developments related to the pandemic.

Shortly thereafter, with publishers canceling plans to attend international events, membership jumped to 1,700. For many, PWB became an important place to stay connected to the broader global publishing community, particularly during the isolation of lockdowns.

I had numerous people reach out to me to say just how important Publishing Without Borders was to them throughout the pandemic, de Jocas told PW at the Guadalajara International Book Fair. Many people remarked on how important it was to share what was going on with their colleagues. One person even said that they were feeling suicidal, but being able to connect with people in the group helped save their life.

Today, PWB has grown to 4,800 members and new moderators were brought on board. While activity in the group related to the pandemic has tapered off, PWB has become a hub for international networking and education, offering webinars on such topics as diversity in the workplace and book market trends, as well as informational posts on fellowship and translation funding opportunities at international books fairs.

Using the group to transact business is strictly prohibited. We ask people who want to do business with each other to keep it off the Facebook group, where it is prohibited, and to instead use our LinkedIn page for that, said Pathak, who emphasized that the Facebook group remains focused on socializing.

Pathak has also become a central figure in organizing real-world meetups at book fairs through the creation of event-specific WhatsApp groups. This started with the 2021 Sharjah International Book Fair, where active members in the group were given black polo shirts embroidered with the group logo and their names, and, more recently, included book fairs in Guadalajara and Istanbul.

In 2022, PWB became, for a brief time, a forum where Ukrainian and Russian publishers confronted one another, though the increasingly caustic exchanges were soon curtailed. The group is now focused on offering support to colleagues in Ukraine, providing links to places to make donations and a means to make connections, and even going so far as to help organize transportation at the Polish border for Ukrainian evacuees. The PWB logo on Facebook includes the line No War, Only Peace and is surrounded by the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag.

PWB plans to extend its influence through mentorship. We have established a group of nearly 30 experts, who can advise people on various questions they have about the industry, and were encouraging others to offer mentorship to those who need it, de Jocas said. The PWB group experts include a wide range of industry leaders, such as Italian literary agent LeeAnn Bortolusi, Egyptian publisher Sharif Bakr, Latvian childrens book publisher Alise Nigale, City University of New York publishing certificate program director David Unger, Indian publishing executive Kumar Vikram, and Austrian publishing consultant Ruediger Wischenbart.

Our hope is that by providing a forum for connection, fun, and mentorship, we can offer our colleagues around the world a sense of community and continue to have a positive impact on their personal and professional lives, de Jocas said.
The 2023 Golden Globe Awards will take place Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif.

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The 80th annual ceremony will be held at The Beverly Hills and air at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.

Jerrod Carmichael will host the awards show, which is presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to recognize excellence in film and television.

The Banshees of Inisherin leads the film nominees, while Abbott Elementary tops the TV nominations.

How to watch

The Golden Globes will air Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST on NBC. The show will also be available to stream on Peacock.

Participants

Actor and comedian Jerrod Carmichael will host the awards show.

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Ana de Armas, Billy Porter, Jamie Lee Curtis Quentin Tarantino and Tracy Morgan will present awards, along with Claire Danes Hilary Swank , Jenna Ortega, Jennifer Hudson Salma Hayek and other stars.

Eddie Murphy will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award, while Ryan Murphy will be honored with the Carol Burnett Award.

Nominees

The Banshees of Inisherin leads the film nominees with eight nominations, including Best Picture -- Musical or Comedy. Abbott Elementary tops the TV nominees with five nominations, including Best Television Series -- Musical or Comedy.

Other nominees include Avatar: The Way of Water, Tar, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, The White Lotus and Euphoria.
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Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen renewed his threat to seize properties belonging to opposition Candlelight Party members and others who accuse him and the ruling party of stealing last years local elections.

Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia since 1985, made the threats on Monday while speaking at the opening ceremony for National Road No. 7 in Kampong Cham province, targeting Candlelight Party advisor Kong Koam.

The Candlelight Party secured around 19% of votes in last Junes nationwide local elections while Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party secured around 80% of the contested seats.

"What do you think? I want to ask you. There are two choices, one is using the law, the other is using a stick [violence]. Which one do you take? Hun Sen said during the speech.

I would like to warn you, we will not let you accuse us of being thieves for life. I want to tell you that we must end the culture of protest after the election, he said. The CPP cannot accept the word 'vote fraud. Whoever dares to say this, we must sue.

Kong Koam's son, Kong Monika, a senior official of the Candlelight Party, said that Hun Sens remarks threatening his father are meant to instill fear among the opposition.

The threats, blackmails and the seizure of other properties to stop them from criticizing the government and ruling party are dirty means, Kong Monika said.

For me, as a politician of the new generation, I want to see older politicians in Cambodia act as role models for the new generation of politicians, and the next generation of politicians can compete on an equal footing and have a free and fair electoral system, he said.

Activists and citizens told RFA that the legal threats will only serve to worsen the political climate ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for July 23.

[Hun Sen] became a dictator, who uses the law as a tool to persecute the opposition. Because he is afraid of losing the election through free and fair elections, former opposition lawmaker Oum Sam told RFA.

He is afraid that he will not successfully transfer power from him to his son, Hun Manet, he added.

Hun Sen has repeatedly dodged questions about whether he is setting up his son to succeed him as prime minister, but many in Cambodia fear that Hun Manet will take office after his father is no longer in office.

Courts used by Hun Sen

Cambodias court system has long been dominated by Hun Sen loyalists, and the prime minister has repeatedly used the judicial system to target his political opponents.

In one of the more prominent examples, Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who has challenged Hun Sens leadership in previous elections, has been barred from returning to Cambodia. The government has also targeted opposition members it accuses of supporting Sam Rainsys return.

The Candlelight Party was formed by various opposition groups seeking to compete in Cambodias communal elections. Previously, the Cambodian National Rescue Party was the main opposition, but it was dissolved by Cambodias Supreme Court in November 2017.

Dr. Meas Ny, a Cambodian social development researcher, told RFA that Hun Sens strategy could eventually backfire.

The ruling party should review its conduct, whether the results of such threats can gain popularity from the masses or not. Sometimes it does not mean that suppressing such threats is profitable, Mean Ny said. Sometimes the more frequent the threats, the greater the loss of popularity, and the concerns of the ruling party will only get worse in the future."

He added that the CPPs suppression will likely continue in the runup to the 2023 elections.

Courts in Cambodias capital Phnom Penh ruled in favor of the CPPs defamation claim against Candlelight Party Vice President Son Chhay after he told The Cambodia Daily that the 2022 election was rigged.

The courts ordered Son Chhay to pay damages of more than U.S.$1 million to the CPP and the National Election Commission. Son Chhay refused to pay, saying he stood by his right to make those comments. The courts then ordered the seizure of his two houses, one in Phnom Penh and another in Siem Reap. Son Chhay has since filed an appeal to Cambodias Supreme Court.

Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Nawar Nemeh. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
A security officer is cited as saying that a Chinese-made SIM card could track official movements over time.

China has denied a media report that it installed tracking devices in British government vehicles, dismissing the allegations as "sheer rumor" amid growing concerns over overseas infiltration by Beijing.

The i newspaper reported on Jan. 6 that a hidden Chinese tracking device was found in a government car after intelligence officials stripped back vehicles in response to growing concerns over spyware.

At least one SIM card capable of transmitting location data was discovered in a sweep of government and diplomatic vehicles which uncovered disturbing things, the report quoted a security source as saying.

"China has no need and no interest in collecting information on the location of British vehicles," a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London said in a statement posted to the embassy website.

"Some people in the U.K. would do well ... to stop spreading disinformation."

According to the i's source, the device had been inside a sealed part imported from a supplier in China and installed by the vehicle manufacturer, and could send back detailed data on the vehicle's movements over time, enabling whoever received it to establish a "rich picture of activity."

The embassy spokesperson said the report was a politically motivated attempt to "smear Chinese businesses" and "disrupt supply chains."

The report comes amid growing concerns over Chinese Communist Party infiltration of all aspects of British life, and after a decision by local officials not to allow China to build a "super-embassy" on the site of a historic building in east London.

British officials said in November they were planning a slew of measures aimed at curbing infiltration and influence operations by foreign governments, including probing recent attacks inside the Chinese consulate on a Hong Kong protester and amid warnings of growing Chinese Communist Party infiltration of British universities.

China last month recalled six of its diplomats from the United Kingdom, including a consul general who admitted to assaulting a Hong Kong protester inside the Chinese consulate in Manchester, following a request by the British government that they waive diplomatic immunity and agree to be questioned by Manchester police regarding the attacks on protester Bob Chan.

British Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael says Chinese surveillance equipment manufacturer Hikvision had built 'the most incredibly intrusive infrastructure that was used to oppress the Uyghur population [in Xinjiang] and the company now operates widely in this country.' Credit: Reuters file photo

'CCP espionage'

The i quoted ruling Conservative Party MP Alicia Kearns, who chairs the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, as calling for greater data resilience to counter the threat from a "tech totalitarian state."

"Our data reveals everything about us, from our locations, friendships and networks to our habits, vulnerabilities and activities  this information could be exploited by [Beijing] against government ministers and officials," she was quoted as saying.

"If these SIM cards have been duplicitously installed, then this is CCP espionage," she said in a reference to the Chinese Communist Party. "If the SIM cards are operationally standard, then it is a failure of security not to have removed them to protect the data of our government and sensitive government sites."

"It's clear with this revelation that parliamentarians may want to look more broadly at other technology products being imported from China, and the risks and vulnerabilities," Sam Goodman, policy and advocacy director of the London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch told Radio Free Asia.

"[The risk is of] the Chinese government just being able to spy, not just on officials, but on human rights activists, dissidents in exile in the U.K., but also ordinary citizens," Goodman said.

Hikvision's 'intrusive infrastructure'

Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael told parliament on Jan. 9 that Chinese surveillance equipment manufacturer Hikvision had built "the most incredibly intrusive infrastructure that was used to oppress the Uyghur population [in Xinjiang] and the company now operates widely in this country."

He said he had spotted a Hikvision surveillance camera in his constituency in the remote Orkney island group.

"Beyond any shadow of a doubt, if Hikvision has now got to St. Boniface Kirk in Papa Westray, it is pretty well everywhere, and that is something to which we need to attend, because, as with so many other technological developments, we have no idea where the data could get to through the back door," he said.

National security officials on the democratic island of Taiwan in October blamed surveillance cameras made by China's Huawei on the leaking of sensitive information about a visit to Thailand by its intelligence chief.

A Twitter account using the handle @andreny45652235 tweeted on Sept. 12 photos of Taiwan national security director Chen Ming-tong at the airport, along with an official customs document and a hotel bill. The same post was also shared on Facebook.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie.
The Philippines Supreme Court on Tuesday declared a 2005 South China Sea oil exploration agreement with China and Vietnam unconstitutional because it allowed foreign corporations to prospect for natural resources belonging to the Filipino people but without proper safeguards.

The ruling went against the Joint Seismic Marine Undertaking deal, which was signed 18 years ago by the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC), the China National Offshore Oil Corp., and the Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp. (PETROVIETNAM).

The court ruled that the JSMU is unconstitutional for allowing wholly owned foreign corporations to participate in the exploration of the countrys natural resources without observing the safeguards provided in Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution, the court said in a statement.

That section states that all lands of public domain, as well as waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora and fauna, and other natural resources are owned by the state.

The court released its decision while the justices were on a retreat in the northern mountain city of Baguio and as China sought to revive an oil exploration deal with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. His predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, terminated talks with Beijing as both nations continued to be locked in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

During a state visit to Beijing last week, Marcos and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to resume talks about oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea at an early date, both sides said.

It was not immediately clear how the Supreme Court ruling would affect that agreement.

Among those who joined Marcos on his visit to China was former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose administration signed the exploration deal with China and Vietnam.

The deal covered about 80% of Philippine territorial waters and was designed to conduct seismic exploration in an area encompassing nearly 150,000 square km. (57,900 square miles) west of Palawan island.

The ruling noted that a constitutional provision mandates that the exploration, development, and utilization of natural resources shall be under the full control and supervision of the state. Twelve justices approved the decision while two dissented and one abstained.

The state may directly undertake such activities, or it may enter into co-production, joint venture, or production-sharing agreements with Filipino citizens, or corporations or associations at least 60% of whose capital is owned by such citizens, it stated.

The Philippine government had argued that the provision did not apply to the JMSU because it covers only pre-exploration activities and not actual exploration.

The court shot down that argument, ruling that JMSU was executed for the purpose of determining if petroleum exists in the agreement area, which covers parts of the South China Sea.

CNOOC and PETROVIETNAM are wholly owned by Beijing and Hanoi, respectively. Corporate and embassy representatives did not immediately respond to RFA-affiliate BenarNews requests for comment.

The ruling stemmed from a petition filed in 2008 by two Philippine congressmen, Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casino, both members of Bayun Muna, a leftist party. They argued that the JMSU was illegal because it allowed foreign companies wholly owned by China and Vietnam to undertake large-scale exploration in violation of the constitution.

The deal expired that same year and was not renewed. Still, the new ruling could have an impact on exploration issues in the disputed waters.

A win for our countrys sovereignty. Bayan Muna filed this petition as far back as 2008 as China has been using [the] JMSU as cover in its unbridled exploration and incursion in our territory, particularly in the West Philippine Sea, former Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate said on Twitter.

The West Philippine Sea refers to Manilas territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Arroyo, an ally of Beijing, had pushed for the agreement in a bid to build and maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.

Her successor, Benigno Aquino III, filed a complaint against China before an international court, resulting in a ruling in 2016 that invalidated the sweeping claims of Beijing in the South China Sea. Beijing has since ignored the ruling.
Some 8% of people infected in the current wave have developed pneumonia, a top health official says.

Paxlovid, which is made by Pfizer pharmaceutical company, is an oral antiviral pill that is used to treat COVID-19.

Chinas state-backed media have accused U.S. "capital forces" of profiteering from the current wave of COVID-19, amid an ongoing shortage of antivirals and widespread reports of pneumonia since the lifting of restrictions last month.

"The U.S. tends to brag about ... its leading and generous role in the battle against the pandemic, [but] U.S. capital forces tend to show their business expansionism and insistence on maximizing their interests," the English-language Global Times newspaper said in a front-page editorial.

"For them, everything can be put on the trading table and profit always comes first."

The financial magazine Caixin quoted unnamed sources as saying that Pfizer hadn't lowered its price significantly beyond the 1,890 yuan (U.S. $280) it currently charges Chinese hospitals.

Paxlovid hasn't been included in China's national medical insurance program, as negotiations between China's National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) and Pfizer "failed because of the drug's high price," according to the Global Times.

Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla said on Monday that the company isn't considering allowing China to make generic Paxlovid, but was currently "in discussions" about the price of the drug.

"We have an agreement already for local manufacturing of [branded] Paxlovid in China," Bourla told a J.P. Morgan healthcare conference. "So we have a local partner that will make Paxlovid for us, and then we will sell it to the Chinese market."

China's Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical said on Tuesday it was "actively cooperating" with Pfizer to ensure the adequate supply of the drug in the Chinese market, where a single course of Paxlovid is currently changing hands for up to 50,000 yuan (U.S. $7,300), compared with the original price of 2,000 yuan (U.S. $295), Reuters reported.

Meanwhile Pfizer's Bourla said the company has shipped millions of courses to China since the lifting of disease controls and lockdowns sparked a mass wave of infections and deaths across the country.

Patients receive IV drip treatment at a community health service center in Shanghai, China, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. Credit: cnsphoto via Reuters 'You can't get this anywhere'

A medical devices agent from the eastern Chinese province of Anhui, who gave only the surname Liu for fear of reprisals, said the current shipments will only last a couple of months, however.

"They may have imported millions of courses of the emergency treatment [Paxlovid] in the last batch, but estimates show that will be gone by March 31," Liu said. "You can't get this medicine anywhere right now, no matter where you look for it."

"There are so many people with severe disease right now -- it took three friends to help source a five-day course of treatment for my father," she said.

Scholar Zhang Guangsheng, who has an in-depth understanding of China's medical insurance system, said only people in China with official connections can get hold of Paxlovid right now, with the drug beyond the reach of the general public.

He said the negotiations over the price of Paxlovid were misleading, however.

"They wouldn't buy it even if it were cheaper, because the medical insurance bureau is pretty corrupt and has form when it comes to these kinds of negotiations," Zhang said.

"They will never sign a low-price deal, but they will sign one at a higher price."

"They're not trying to save money for the government; they're trying to price-gouge as much as possible from the pockets of the general public," he said.

A healthcare industry insider who gave only the surname Wang said there are competing interests within China, such as the companies that make and sell a Chinese-branded version of the antiviral Azvudine.

"There's Azvudine and another drug that hasn't undergone clinical trials yet," Wang said. "There have been several rounds of discussions with Pfizer."

"The Chinese government's stance has basically been that they can sell their drug [in China] if they agree to share the formula," she said.

Ground-glass opacity

The negotiations come as the central province of Henan estimated that nearly 90% of its population has been infected with COVID-19 during the current wave, amid growing concerns over the high prevalence of ground-glass opacity in pneumonia patients with the disease.

Ground-glass opacity was widely seen in patients during the original outbreak of COVID-19 after it emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

Kan Quan, Henan provincial party chief for health, told a Jan. 9 news conference that the estimated infection rate in urban areas stood at 89.1% on Jan. 6, with rates of 88.9% in rural areas.

Some 8% of cases are developing into pneumonia, according to Jiao Yahui of the National Health Commission.

Jiao said in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV that the estimate was based on data from hospitals and other clinical settings in late 2022.

A healthcare worker in Shanghai who gave only the surname Wang said that local media reports have shown infection rates of at least 70% across China.

"Based on that, and on the 8% [estimate], that means 80 million people in China have developed pneumonia," she said.

She said ground-glass opacity also has far-reaching effects on a person's health.

"Even after recovery, your lungs will still be fibrotic, making it hard for you to take care of yourself," she said.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie.
No clear reason is given, but people suspect authorities want to prevent video recordings from being spread

A man speaks on the phone in front of the April 25 House of Culture, a venue of the Workers' Party of Korea congress in Pyongyang, North Korea.

North Koreans are no longer allowed to bring their cellphones into propaganda lectures, which are a regular, mandatory part of life there, sources in the country say.

While no explicit reason has been given, the sources told Radio Free Asia they suspect the government wants to prevent them from recording the content and sending it abroad.

When entering a public hall before a special study session reviewing recent government policy, one resident in South Pyongan province said she had to give up her cell phone for the first time.

The person who collected the phones was the head of the Socialist Womens Union of Korea, said the woman, who insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisals. She explained that this was to implement an order from the authorities to bar cellphones into any location where the party is conducting a policy study session.

After the session, the phones were returned to them, she said.

Attending propaganda meetings is required of all citizens. Whenever Pyongyang wants to push a new policy, emphasize certain ideological views or to spread a government-friendly narrative, citizens must gather in public halls or auditoriums and listen to a government official talk, or watch a film.

This is on top of weekly neighborhood watch unit meetings or other gatherings required by their government-assigned jobs.

Some wondered if the ban was due to a special security period before the leader Kim Jong Uns Jan. 8 birthday, while others complained it was simply another way authorities were trying to control their lives.

Privately, residents complained that there was not anything that could be leaked to the public, since the plenary meeting was public anyway.

What is it about the party policy meeting that is such a secret that it demands the peoples efforts and repeated struggle? the source said.

The cellphone ban is not only for special study sessions, but for regularly scheduled propaganda meetings too, a source from the northeastern province of North Pyongan told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

Workers cellphones were collected during one such routine meeting at the Rakwon Machine Complex, he said.

This is the first time that cellphones have been retrieved before entering a regularly held lecture given by the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Party, the second source said, adding that there was no explanation as to whether the measure was temporary.

It seems that this measure will continue at all lectures in the future, the source said. Residents are criticizing the behavior of the authorities, who they say only care about controlling their lives day and night.

Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
The three groups had met with a mediator from China to discuss reducing border conflict.

The Myanmar junta government holds talks with the delegations of the United Wa State Party, National Democratic Alliance Army, and Shan State Progress Party on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, in Naypyidaw.

Myanmars junta met with three armed ethnic organizations over the weekend as part of a wider campaign to enlist support for an upcoming general election dismissed by democracy watchdogs as a military ploy to maintain power.

Leaders from the United Wa State Party, National Democratic Alliance Army, and Shan State Progressive Party  three rebel groups that have largely remained neutral in the countrys post-coup fray  met with officials from the military regime for three days of talks ending Saturday in the capital Naypyidaw.

The three groups based in Shan state, near northeastern Myanmars border with China, discussed their political needs and building a Union based on democracy and the federal system with the junta, according to a report by the official Global New Light of Myanmar.

Agence France-Presse quoted a spokesperson for the SSPP as saying that the military asked us to let them hold free and fair elections in our area and that the group will not oppose junta-led polls there this year.

Democracy activists and Western governments have dismissed the likelihood of the juntas election  for which no date has been set  being free or fair. The military seized power from Myanmars democratically elected National League for Democracy government in a February 2021 coup and accused it of election fraud, although it has yet to present evidence of its claims. Political analysts say the junta intends to use a ballot to install a pro-military government.

While the junta has touted the weekend talks as a win, the three ethnic armies have been mostly aligned with the military and a peace process championed by the previous junta in 2011. While the trio have been involved in Myanmars decades-long conflict, they are not currently at war with the military and have even participated in peace negotiations and signed ceasefires with the government. Last month, the junta also met with five other smaller ethnic armies, who later issued a statement expressing support for the planned elections.

Other groups have condemned the ouster of the NLD and offered assistance and safe haven to anti-junta armed forces, including the Peoples Defense Force paramilitary group.

Wanting a seat at the table

Last year, Myanmars four most powerful armed ethnic groups  the Kachin Independence Organisation, the Karen National Union, the Karenni National Progressive Party and the Chin National Front  rejected an olive branch from the junta, saying there can be no peace talks until the military regime allows the countrys shadow government and the PDF to take a seat at the table. They said that by not offering all stakeholders the chance to participate, the junta showed it is unwilling to meet halfway.

The junta has rejected requests from ethnic leaders and the international community to let the NUG and PDF participate in the talks. Military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has repeatedly said that the junta will not talk with terrorists, and vowed to continue to crack down on the groups.

In addition to the four strongest armies, the other ethnic rebel groups to reject the invitation were the All Burma Students Democratic Front and the Lahu Democratic Union  two of the 10 groups that have signed a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government since 2015.

The United Wa State Party, the Shan State Progressive Party, and the National Democratic Alliance Army have agreed to join peace negotiations. So have the Arakan State Liberation Party, the Shan State Rehabilitation Council, the Karen National Peace Council, the Democratic Karen Army, the New Mon State Party and the Pa-O National Liberation Organization  all of which are members of the Peace Process Steering Team of Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement signatories.

The 10 groups that signed the NCA have suggested that the deal remains in place, despite an already flailing peace process that was all but destroyed by the coup. Previously, all 10 said they would not pursue talks with the military, which they view as having stolen power from the countrys democratically elected government.

Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing meets with the new Chinese Special Envoy Deng Xijun in Naypyidaw on Dec. 29, 2022. Credit: Myanmar military Chinese mediation

The meeting between the United Wa State Party, National Democratic Alliance Army, and Shan State Progressive Party and the junta over the weekend came a week after Chinas new special envoy to Myanmar, Deng Xijun, met with Min Aung Hlaing.

The two discussed matters including Myanmar's development, the status of peace talks with ethnic armed groups, Chinas investment in the development of Myanmar, cooperation and increasing relations between the two countries, according to an official announcement following their Dec. 29 meeting.

Deng had met with the three ethnic armies across the border in Chinas Yunnan province prior to his trip to Naypyidaw.

Thein Tun Oo, the executive director of Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, which is made up of former military officers, told RFA Burmese that China's mediation is key to achieving peace with the ethnic groups.

China's mediation and political support is necessary to some extent in solving the issues of the ethnic armed forces, especially those who operate in the border areas between China and Myanmar, he said. Negotiation between China and Myanmar and China and these [groups] is essential.

SSPP spokesperson Lieutenant Col. Sai Su told RFA amid the weekend talks that the groups visit to Naypyidaw was unrelated to the Chinese special envoy, although he acknowledged that Deng requested us to help stop the fighting that is happening across the country when he met with them in Yunnan. Sai Su said the ethnic armies said that they alone could not end the violence and that the junta must play a part.

Reviewing cross-border relations

China and Russia have maintained ties with the military regime in the aftermath of the coup while other nations have sanctioned the junta or reduced diplomatic ties in response to its subsequent crackdown on dissent.

But political analyst Than Soe Naing suggested that China sent its special envoy to Myanmar to better understand the latters affairs and whether it needs to change its policy amid rising international pressure on the junta.

The Spring Revolution led by NUG is gaining momentum. On the other hand, the international pressure has increased quite a lot on the junta, he said. I assume that China sent the new envoy to learn if it needs to change its policy towards Myanmar in such a situation.

On Dec. 21, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution that urges Myanmars military to stop the violence in Myanmar as soon as possible and to release all political prisoners, including deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The U.S. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) - 2023, which will support Myanmar's democratic forces, was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Dec. 23.

Other analysts noted that with hundreds of clashes having taken place along the China-Myanmar economic corridor since the coup, China appears concerned that continued instability could affect its investments in the country.

China seems to understand that  it is no longer possible for the Myanmar military regime to handle political situations in the same way as before, said political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe.

As a neighboring country, the stability of Myanmar's affairs may seriously impact its [investments]. Additionally, they seem to be aware that the changes in Myanmar's relations with western countries may affect China's interests more or less.

According to ISP-Myanmar, the value of foreign investment in Myanmar totaled more than U.S. $4 billion from February 2021 to April 2022, more than two-thirds of which was Chinese.

Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
Fleeing refugee camps in Bangladesh and Rakhine state, they were headed to Malaysia.

Rohingya women who were found near Myanmars Gadongalay Island in Ayeyawaddys Bogale township were detained and later arrested by local authorities, Dec. 20, 2022.

A court under the jurisdiction of Myanmars military junta has sentenced 116 Rohingya refugees to between two and five years in prison for traveling without documents after they left camps in Bangladesh and Rakhine state to try to get to Malaysia, sources in Myanmar told Radio Free Asia.

The 57 men, 47 women and 12 children were arrested Dec. 20 from two motorboats near an island off Bogale township in the Ayeyarwady near Myanmars southern coast. According to a previous RFA report, at the time of their arrest they were waiting for other boats to take them to shore in Bogale, and they planned to set sail from there to Malaysia.

The court has given out the prison sentences in two batches, a lawyer who has been helping the detainees told RFAs Burmese Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Those who left the refugee camps in Bangladesh got five years while those who left from Rakhine state received two years. He was not sure how many of the detainees came from Bangladesh.

Residents in Bogale told RFA that the authorities plan to send the 12 children to Hnget Aw San Youth Rehabilitation Center and Twante Youth Correctional Center in the Yangon Region while all the adult Rohingya are to be sent to Ayeyarwadys Pyapon prison.

Thirty-nine Rohingya men, women and children were detained at the Ledi Kwan security gate in Hinthada, Ayeyarwady region, Myanmar, on Jan. 2, 2023. Credit: Citizen journalist

Some of the detainees are ill and need medical treatment, a volunteer who is helping them told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

Some have fevers. Some are infected with skin diseases. They are also in need of clothes, the volunteer said.

According to the volunteer, another 100 Rohingya who were arrested in the regions Pyapon, Kyaitlatt and Daedaye Townships are still awaiting trials.

Once they serve their terms, authorities will return them to their place of origin, volunteers said.

A total of 237 Rohingya, 129 males and 108 females, serving prison terms in Insein Prison in Yangon Region were released under the military councils amnesty on January 4, 2023.

A volunteer who is helping Rohingya in the Rakhine state city of Sittwe said family members of convicted Rohingya have difficulties visiting them in prison because they dont have any documents to prove their citizenship and there are restrictions on their movement.

When the Rohingya who fled Rakhine State get sent to prison, their family members totally lose contact with them, the Sittwe volunteer said.

Although they are in Rakhine State, they are technically not citizens yet. So they cannot travel in the country, he said, adding that a select few are wealthy enough to bribe the right officials to visit their family members. But 99 out of 100 detained Rohingya are very poor and cannot afford that.

RFA records show that between December 2021 and Jan. 6, 2023, a total of 1,816 Rohingya who fled refugee camps in Rakhine State and Bangladesh have been arrested in Myanmar and 387 of them got prison sentences of two to five years.

Advocates for the refugees say that they should be returned to their places of origin instead of being charged as criminals.

More than 740,000 Rohingya fled Rakhine state following a military crackdown on the ethnic minority Muslim group that started five years ago and live in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Of the more than 600,000 that remained around 125,000 are living in camps in Rakhine.

Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Locals say they cant find a paralyzed woman whose house was burned down.

Locals return to put out fires in Pan Nyo village, Myaung township, Sagaing region after a three-day arson attack by junta troops that ended on Jan. 9, 2022.

An 80-year-old woman is missing after a three-day arson attack on a Sagaing region village, during which junta troops burned down 150 homes, locals told RFA.

Soldiers stormed Myaung townships Pan Nyo village on Saturday and started shooting, forcing most residents to flee for safety.

Locals said 80-year-old Tin Mi, who is paralyzed, was left behind by her family, who werent able to carry her to safety.

When the military column finally left on Monday night, some locals returned to put out fires, remove debris and look for survivors in the remains of their homes. Tin Mis house had been burned down and the men couldnt find her.

One Pan Nyo resident told RFA she saw smoke rising from various parts of the village over the three days the troops were there.

They burned the village after dividing it into four parts. Its not like the smoke was coming from a single location. Five locations were smoking, said the woman, who didnt want to be named for safety reasons.

At 5:30 p.m. [Monday], the military column departed. We still haven't returned. Some men from the village went back to put out the fires. They are looking for people who have gone missing.

Fires still burn in Pan Nyo village, Myaung township, Sagaing region on the night of Jan. 9, 2023 following a three-day arson attack by junta troops. Credit: Citizen journalist





Pan Nyo village is home to about 4,000 people, living in around 1,000 homes, according to locals. The majority of residents still havent returned and are hiding in nearby woods and mountains.

Myaung township People's Defense Forces entered the village on Monday morning, fighting a 30-minute battle with the junta troops, a PDF officer told RFA Tuesday.

Its the second time junta forces have stormed Pan Nyo. In May 2021, they set fire to 14 homes.

Sagaing region junta spokesman and social affairs minister Aye Hlaing has not responded to RFAs requests for comment on the latest incident.

In August 2022 a spokesman said junta troops did not burn down villages and blamed local militia.

More than 27,000 houses in Sagaing region have been burned down since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup, according to figures released last month by independent research group Data for Myanmar.

Armed conflict and arson forced more than 794,000 people  15% of Sagaings population  to flee their homes between Feb. 1, 2021 and Dec. 14, 2022, according to the Institute for Strategy and Policy, Myanmar.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.
Its base wargame scenario predicts the US would lose 3,200 troops and China 10,000.

A Chinese invasion of Taiwan would not succeed should the U.S. and Japan back Taipei but it would come at a high cost for all parties involved, the influential Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said.

In the report The First Battle of the Next War: Wargaming a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan launched on Monday, CSIS experts warned that the Taiwan-U.S.-Japan alliance could defeat a conventional amphibious invasion by China and maintain an autonomous Taiwan but they would lose dozens of ships, hundreds of aircraft, and tens of thousands of servicemembers.

Taiwans economy would be left shattered and the U.S. global position would also be damaged for many years, the report warned.

However, China would also suffer high losses that might destabilize Chinese Communist Party rule.

Chinese naval warships fire missiles during a live-fire military drill in the waters of the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea, off China's east coast, Aug. 7, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Stringer





War game simulation

Beijing considers Taiwan a Chinese province and Chinas leaders have become increasingly strident about unifying the island with the mainland, therefore a military invasion is not out of the question, the report said.

Some military leaders, such as U.S. Asia-Pacific commander Adm. Philip Davidson, forewarned that a Taiwan invasion would take place by 2027, the year the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army celebrates its centenary and Chinas paramount leader Xi Jinping comes to the end of his third term.

The CSIS project team developed a wargame for a Chinese amphibious invasion of Taiwan in 2026, using historical data and operational research, as well as analogies with past military operations such as the battles of Normandy, Okinawa, and the Falklands.

They ran 24 scenarios before coming up with the most likely one, a base scenario.

In it, Chinese forces would assault Taiwan from the air, then cross the Taiwan Strait for a landing invasion. That is when the U.S. and Japan could get involved to deter the Chinese amphibious fleet.

Eric Heginbotham, principal research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and one of the authors of the report, said the team had reached two conclusions:

First, under most circumstances, China is unlikely to succeed in its operational objectives, or to occupy Taipei. Second, the cost of war would be high for all involved, certainly to include the United States.

In most scenarios run by the CSIS project team, the U.S. Navy lost two aircraft carriers and 10 to 20 large surface combatants, together with approximately 3,200 troops. Thats about half the combined death toll from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

China however would also suffer heavy losses, with some 10,000 troops killed, and 155 combat aircraft and 138 major ships destroyed.

Its navy is in shambles, the core of its amphibious forces is broken, and tens of thousands of soldiers are prisoners of war, the report said.

Japan, too, is likely to lose a hundred of aircraft and dozens of ships.

Anti-landing spikes in Kinmen County, Taiwan. Credit: RFA





To defeat a Chinese invasion

The report suggested four conditions that need to be met to defeat a Chinese invasion, the first of which was that Taiwanese forces must hold the line.

Taiwan must resist and not capitulate. If Taiwan surrenders before U.S. forces can be brought to bear, the rest is futile.

The report noted that ground forces must become the center of Taiwans defense effort and recommended strengthening them.

The authors also argued that theres no Ukraine model for Taiwan and the island must start the war with everything it needs as the second condition because China can blockade and isolate the island to prevent timely involvement from the U.S. and its allies.

Whats happening in Ukraine should be an absolute wake up call for Taiwan, said Heginbotham from MIT.

The Taiwanese army is not the Ukrainian army, it is nowhere near well-prepared, he added.

The report recommended that the U.S. must provide Taiwan with the weapons it needed and in wartime, if the United States decides to defend Taiwan, U.S. forces must quickly engage in direct combat.

The two other conditions needed for a successful defense of Taiwan are: The United States must be able to use its bases in Japan for combat operations, and U.S. forces must be able to strike the Chinese fleet rapidly and en masse from outside the Chinese defensive zone.

However, the reports authors said that modeling an invasion does not imply that it is inevitable or even probable.

The Chinese leadership might adopt a strategy of diplomatic isolation, gray zone pressure, or economic coercion against Taiwan; even if China opts for military force, this might take the form of a blockade rather than an outright invasion, they said.

There was no immediate reaction to the report from either Taipei or Beijing, which in recent days has ramped up pressure on Taiwan with regular air incursions and military exercises around the island.

Back in October, Taiwanese defense minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said Taiwan is already preparing for a Chinese invasion.

We are building up our arsenal and preparing for war according to our own plan," Chiu told a legislative session.

An opinion poll run by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation (TPOF) in September found that 51.2% of Taiwanese respondents think China would win the war if Beijing decided to invade Taiwan tomorrow and only 29.6% see Taiwan coming out victorious.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on April 12 made another major push for modern and sophisticated U.S. weapons in a meeting at the Pentagon with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Shmyhal said Ukraine "still needs intensive military support -- more air-defense systems that minimize the impact of Russian air strikes, more heavy artillery, mortars, and ammunition for them" and asked that the Pentagon "reconsider the possibility of providing Ukraine with...longer-range missiles."

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensives, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Speaking to reporters alongside Austin, Shmyhal said Kyiv applauds the decision of the United States to join a coalition to provide Ukraine with tanks and Bradley and Stryker infantry fighting vehicles, but added, "For our counterattack to be successful, we require an increase in such supplies."

He noted that Ukraine has formed a fighter jet coalition and said, "We are inviting the United States to become its most important participant."

Ukraine for months has pressed the United States and its allies to provide fighter jets to match Russia in the air. The Pentagon has resisted over concerns about escalating the war. But Shmyhal said on April 12 that in modern warfare, air superiority is crucial, and America can "once again demonstrate its leadership by providing Ukraine with F-15 or F-16 aircrafts."

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said earlier in a statement that Austin and Shmyhal discussed security assistance priorities, such as air defense and artillery, and training for the Ukrainian armed forces.

The meeting came as Ukrainian forces continue are defending the eastern city of Bakhmut and preparing for an expected counteroffensive to retake Russian-occupied territory, and as Austin deals with the repercussions of the recent purported leak of classified documents.

Austin and Shmyhal discussed security assistance priorities, such as air defense and artillery and training for the Ukrainian armed forces, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said in a statement.

Austin shared with Shmyhal the key objectives of the next meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group scheduled for April 21 and "commended the bravery of the Ukrainian people and reaffirmed that the United States will continue its support for as long as it takes," Ryder said.

The contact group includes more than 50 countries that have supplied equipment to support Ukraine.

Austin said the United States will "continue to swiftly deliver security assistance through procurements and from our own stocks," adding that he is confident that Ukraine's allies will meet its defense needs "through this spring and beyond."

Ukraine has indicated it will soon launch a counteroffensive.

On the battlefield, Russia said its forces struck Ukrainian Army reserves trying to break through to Bakhmut, while the Ukrainian military rejected a Russian claim that its forces have captured more than 80 percent of the besieged city.

Ukraine says its forces repelled 72 attacks over the past day by Russian forces in the east as intense fighting continued around Bakhmut.

"Despite numerous losses in equipment and manpower, the enemy does not give up waging a war of aggression. It continues to focus its main efforts on conducting offensive operations in the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, and Maryinka area," the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in a statement on April 12.

Serhiy Cherevatiy, commander of Ukraine's ground forces, said the situation in Bakhmut was under control, adding Kyiv would not allow its troops to be encircled. The monthslong battle for Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region has turned into one of the bloodiest since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began.

Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed head of Crimea, announced that ceremonies and parades that normally take place on May 1 and May 9 have been canceled.

In addition, he boasted about the defenses of the Russian Army on the illegally annexed peninsula and said that the expected counteroffensive of the Ukrainian armed forces was not frightening.

British intelligence has said that in preparation for the counteroffensive the Russian military has built three lines of defense 120 kilometers long to protect the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, a strategic southern city that has been targeted by Ukrainian shelling in the past.

The document leak, which could be the most serious of U.S. military secrets in years, appear to include secret U.S. assessments of the war dating from late February into March.

One assessment dated February 23 and quoted by Reuters says Russia is unlikely to be able to take the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

"Russia's grinding campaign of attrition in the Donbas region is likely heading toward a stalemate, thwarting Moscow's goal to capture the entire region in 2023," reads the assessment.

Russia and Ukraine have questioned the veracity of the documents, while U.S. officials say some of the files appear to have been altered.

With reporting by Reuters
Welcome back to The Farda Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that tracks the key issues in Iran and explains why they matter. To subscribe, click here. www.rferl.org/a/31793259.html



I'm RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari. Here's what I've been following during the past week and what I'm watching for in the days ahead.

The Big Issue

Iran appears to be making headway toward renewing official ties with Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf states that in some cases have been publicly avoiding Tehran for decades.

The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia held talks in Beijing on April 6 in a significant step toward restoring diplomatic relations, which were cut in 2016 after protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran following Riyadhs execution of prominent Saudi Shi'ite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Iran also accepted an invitation from Saudi King Salman for President Ebrahim Raisi to visit Riyadh, while Tehran said it will send a similar invitation to the Saudi king. Meanwhile, a Saudi delegation traveled to Iran on April 9 to discuss the reopening of the embassy in Tehran and a consulate in Mashhad. The trip came as Iranian media reported on April 8 that a street sign near the Saudi consulate in Mashhad provocatively named after Sheikh al-Nimr had been quietly removed. An Iranian delegation also arrived in Saudi Arabia on April 12 to pave the way for the reopening of Iranian diplomatic missions there.

Iran is meanwhile taking steps to improve ties with other countries in the region, naming an ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) and working to decrease tensions with Egypt and Bahrain.

Why It Matters: Iran and Saudi Arabia appear to be pursuing implementation of last months Chinese-brokered agreement, possibly clearing the way for Tehran to de-escalate tensions with other countries that followed Riyadhs lead on a rupture seven years ago.



What's Next: Tehran and Riyadh could move surprisingly swiftly toward normalization, but its no sure thing. Abdolrasool Divsallar, a visiting professor at the Catholic University of Milan (UCSC), told me that the political environment between the two regional rivals could encourage the start of military and security talks within months.

But Divsallar also warned that opponents at home and abroad could still undermine the agreement. Hard-liners in Iran may act as a spoiler rather than as a supporter of the deal, he said, adding that Israel could do the same.

The regional tensions between Israel and Iran, on one side, andbetween Iran, Saudi [Arabia] and the United States, on the other side, are two dynamics that make this process very fragile, he said.

Divsallar also suggested that any normalization between Iran and countries with less appetite for a quick restoration of ties, for instance Bahrain, could take longer.

They feel more secure under the current status quo rather than immediately normalizing their ties with the Islamic republic and losing their leverage, he said, adding, They may wait to see a major change of policies.

Stories You Might Have Missed

Irans civil aviation sector has for years been under Western sanctions that prevent it from purchasing new aircraft or spare parts for repairs. Now, Russia's oldest airline, Aeroflot, has sent one of its passenger planes to Iran for repairs for the first time ever. Aeroflot reportedly ran into obstacles at home stemming from Western sanctions over Russias ongoing, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The RBK media group cited an Aeroflot representative and sources close to the company on April 11 as saying that an Airbus A330-300 had been sent to Tehran on April 5 to be repaired by specialists from Iran's Mahan Air.

Iranian pensioners staged protests in more than a dozen cities across Iran, demanding higher pensions amid soaring prices. Protests were reported on April 9 in Tehran, Ahvaz, Mashhad, Isfahan, Arak, Qom, Shush, Tabriz, and several other cities where retirees complained of poor living conditions and chanted anti-government slogans. Labor protests in Iran have swelled as the economy deteriorates following years of mismanagement compounded by crippling U.S. sanctions.

What We're Watching

Prominent Iranian female religious scholar Sedigheh Vasmaghi has challenged Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the Islamic republics mandatory hijab law.

In a letter published online, Vasmaghi asked about the reasoning behind Irans strict model for womens dress and said the Koran does not specify the need for women to cover their hair in public.

There is no evidence to show that during the time of the Prophet Muhammad women were harassed and punished for not covering their hair or even their bodies, Vasmaghi, who has published several books on Islamic jurisprudence, wrote.

Why It Matters: Vasmaghis letter is significant for its timing -- just days after Khamenei asserted that the removal of the hijab in public was religiously banned. But it is also important because it comes from a religious woman who wears the veil while opposing the mandatory hijab, which is seemingly being defied by a growing number of women.

That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you have.

Until next time,

Golnaz Esfandiari

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Wednesday.
The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan has added its voice to calls for the immediate reopening of Nagorno-Karabakhs land link with Armenia, which has been blocked by Azerbaijan for the past month.

The so-called Lachin Corridor allows supplies from Armenia to reach the 120,000 ethnic Armenians in the mountainous enclave, and has been policed by Russian peacekeepers since late 2020.

In a written statement to RFE/RLs Armenian Service, the U.S. Embassy reiterated previous warnings by the U.S. State Department that the Azerbaijani blockade sets back the peace process and undermines international confidence.

The U.S. diplomatic mission also said the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is trying to address the needs of displaced persons in Armenia. It did not elaborate.

Government-backed Azerbaijani protesters identifying themselves as environmentalists have blocked a section of the sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia since December 12 and are demanding that Baku be allowed to inspect illegal ore mines in Karabakh. Some activists have also called for the Russian peacekeepers to be replaced with an international force.

The Azerbaijani side insists that the road is open for humanitarian cargo, emergency services, and peacekeepers.

The authorities in Yerevan and Stepanakert have rejected the protesters' demands as a gross violation of the Russian-brokered agreement from November 2020 that suspended more than a month of intense fighting in the decades-old Armenian-Azerbaijani war over the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

That cease-fire ushered in a deployment of about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to the area and joint monitoring of the situation with longtime Azerbaijani ally Turkey.

Citing the continuing blockade, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan refused to meet with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov on December 23 for talks that were due to be hosted by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The Kremlin on December 29 expressed "concern" about rising tensions but said talks with the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides would continue.

The Russian Defense Ministry has said it is leading the talks on the resumption of full traffic along the Lachin Corridor.

Michael Carpenter, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna, tweeted over the weekend that the closure was "creating a grave humanitarian situation."

He thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross for providing "critical aid" but urged Azerbaijan and Russia "to restore access immediately."

Members of the National-Democratic Pole (NDP), an extra-parliamentary bloc made up of several fringe groups that claim to be a pro-Western political force in Armenia, allege that Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh are colluding with Azerbaijan and Turkey to keep the only road linking the region with Armenia blocked.



NDP activists have called for the Russian peacekeeping forces to be replaced with an international force and urged Armenia to quit the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-led defense bloc comprised of six former Soviet nations, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said the country would not host drills this year for the CSTO given current security concerns and questions about support from the Russia-led alliance.

"The Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia has already informed the CSTO joint headquarters in writing that we do not consider it appropriate to conduct such military exercises in the Republic of Armenia in this situation," Pashinian told reporters on January 10.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in a televised address on January 10 that Armenia would be the loser if the sides failed to strike a peace accord this year.

"We can live like this for a long time.... They (Armenia) don't want delineation, which means the border will pass where we deem it necessary," he said.

Aliyev also reiterated Baku's position that attacks Azerbaijan staged on Armenia last September were justified and necessary. Yerevan has described the cross-border attacks as unprovoked aggression, while Azerbaijan has said its soldiers responded after Armenian sabotage units tried to mine its positions.

Some 30,000 people were killed in a war in the early 1990s that left ethnic Armenians in control of the breakaway region and seven adjacent districts of Azerbaijan proper.



Azerbaijan regained all of the adjacent districts and seized some territory of Nagorno-Karabakh during the 2020 war in which close to 7,000 people were killed on both sides.



Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
PODGORICA -- It took eight years of construction, delays, and controversy, but Maria Kovijanic, who runs a small store along a stretch of a new $1 billion Chinese-funded highway outside the Montenegrin capital, is ready to reap the project's promised benefits. Valued as one of the world's most expensive roads, the first 41 kilometers opened in July 2022 and cuts through Montenegro's soaring mountains and over its deep gorges, with an estimated 60 percent of the highway made up only of tunnels and bridges. For a toll fee of 3.50 euros ($3.75), a previously arduous journey north has been turned into a roughly 25-minute trip along freshly paved asphalt until the stretch of road peters out at Matesevo, the village where Kovijanic runs her shop. She says the new, modern road is a game changer for her and other residents that live and own businesses along the highway, with the new section dramatically cutting down travel times and providing an alternative to previously congested and treacherous mountain roads in the small Balkan country of 620,000 people. "People here like [the highway] because it's a shorter way to Podgorica. Before we were going the long way through the canyon of Moraca," Kovijanic said. "A lot of people died on that road, so we are very happy with this highway."

Under the original plan inked in 2014, the initial 41 kilometers -- which was funded by a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China and built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) -- was to be part of a 163-kilometer highway to link the Montenegrin port city of Bar with neighboring Serbia. The project promised to transform the country into a transport hub for the wider region and bolster economic activity in the process. But the highway has found itself marred in scandal and still faces lingering questions about whether the remaining 122 kilometers of road will ever be completed.

The road project has also brought long-term economic risk by saddling Montenegro with debts to China that totaled more than one-third of the annual state budget, with the controversial venture being a prime example of what critics say are cursory Chinese lending practices fused with local corruption. Despite this controversy, polls have shown that only a minority in Montenegro see China or the financial risk brought by the highway as a concern, with many instead hoping that both will provide an economic boost to the country. "[The highway] is expensive, yes, but we needed this route," Kovijanic said. "If they [are able to] connect this highway with Serbia, [it] will be the best."

Grappling With A Price Tag Once hailed as an early success of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative -- the globe-spanning infrastructure initiative launched in 2013 by Chinese leader Xi Jinping -- the highway has since become a cautionary tale for how ambitious construction projects can go wrong. The loan was taken out by a previous government led by current President Milo Djukanovic, who continues to be a dominating force in the country's politics. Because Podgorica didn't hedge against currency swings and failed to include a turnpike in its original plans, the cost of the project continued to soar over the years, leading to the current debt problem and the ballooned $1 billion price tag attached to the first stretch of the highway. The project was also controversial from the start among local civil-society groups and the country's opposition, with the Network for Affirmation of the Nongovernmental Sector (MANS), a Balkan watchdog organization, raising corruption and transparency concerns over how construction contracts were distributed to Chinese and local companies.

Questions over total cost and how the project would generate revenue have also followed the highway since its conception. Under a new government in 2021, Montenegro's Capital Investments Ministry published two previously confidential international feasibility studies, which suggest that the estimated cost of the first phase of the highway was greatly exaggerated. One of those studies, compiled by British consultancy Scott Wilson Group, said it should cost $570 million, a little more than half of the current cost. This debt incurred from the highway also brought Podgorica to the edge of collapse and the country's leadership has since received relief and restructuring from a group of European and U.S. banks as Montenegro begins to repay its debt to China. Environmental concerns also followed its construction, with CRBC accused of damaging sections of the riverbank along the UNESCO-protected Tara River traversed by the highway, which Montenegro's Nature and Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) said was raised with the Chinese builders, but ignored. That laundry list of concerns looks set to follow the highway now that it's open. While many locals along the road say that the highway was busy in the summer, nearly six months after its launch the traffic appears to be light. Many roadside signs that show icons advertising shops, water, gas, and other services in rest stops are also now crossed out, highlighting a lower-than-expected demand.

Still, many Montenegrins believe that the highway can improve their lives. Milan Kalezic, who runs a tourism driving service in Podgorica, says that the stretch of road will be a boost for his industry by allowing easier and more direct access to ski resorts and better connections to smaller villages in the mountains, which could lead to greater community-based tourism in the country. "Now with the new highway, sometimes I take guests [to villages accessed by the highway] just for the food," Kalezic said. "Sometimes I go by myself [or] with my family just to have dinner." Down The Road Emerging from years of delays, scandals, and a debt crisis, the big question surrounding the highway is whether it can be completed as originally conceived. At the opening ceremony in July 2022, which was attended by representatives from CRBC and the Chinese Embassy in Podgorica, Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic spoke highly about the project's potential. "This investment will undoubtedly open up new directions of development and give the strongest impetus to the domestic economy," he said. "The highway is the beginning of the permanent connection of Montenegro with the world."

The highway itself is divided into three sections, and the current government has said that it hopes to finish building the full length of the highway and is reportedly exploring funding options with European lenders. An estimate released last year by the Capital Investments Ministry said the 23.5-kilometer-long second section of the road -- which would run from Matesevo to Andrijevica in eastern Montenegro -- would cost approximately $590 million. Vladimir Shopov, an expert on China's role in the Balkans at the European Council on Foreign Relations, says that both Podgorica and China will be looking to keep some distance from one another for the near future following years of scandal. Many questions still remain from this period. The 2014 loan agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China has been made public, but nearly all other documents relating to the highway have been classified as secret by Podgorica, which many experts believe is due to binding clauses in the Chinese contracts. "There is a transparency trap here," Shopov said. "Very few people actually know everything that exists in the contracts."
Ukrainian forces are still holding out in the eastern mining town of Soledar despite a massive Russian onslaught, Ukraine's deputy defense minister said late on January 10 after the British Defense Ministry said that Russian forces had likely captured most of the town.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said in a statement that heavy fighting to hold on to Soledar continued, but Ukrainian fighters were "bravely" defending the town.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensives, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

"The enemy disregards the heavy losses of its personnel and continues to storm actively," Malyar said. "The approaches to our positions are simply strewn with the bodies of dead enemy fighters," she said.

The head of Russia's Vagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, late on January 10 claimed his forces had taken control of the town, TASS said.



But in a statement quoted by Reuters, he said fighting was still going on in a "cauldron" in the center of the city.



"The number of prisoners will be announced tomorrow," he added, giving no further details.

RFE/RL cannot corroborate specific battlefield claims.

Capturing Soledar and its salt mines would have symbolic, military, and commercial value for Russia and would be Moscow's most substantial gain in months.

U.K. intelligence said in its daily assessment on January 10 that it believes Russia's "Soledar axis is likely an effort to envelop" the nearby city of Bakhmut from the north "and to disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication."

The British assessed that "in the last four days, Russian and [Vagner] forces have made tactical advances" into the historic salt-mining town "and are likely in control of most of the settlement."

They suggested that each side was "likely concerned" about the possible use by the enemy of 200 kilometers of disused tunnels from the Soledar mine running underneath the area.

The Ukrainian military previously said Russian forces redeployed to Soledar after failing to take the larger nearby town of Bakhmut.

Bakhmut and Soledar lie in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, which Putin claims to have annexed. Full control of it and the neighboring Luhansk region, the so-called Donbas, is Russian President Vladimir Putin's main priority at this stage in the war, analysts have said.

The Ukrainian military said Russian troops started regrouping after Moscow unilaterally called a cease-fire in observance of Orthodox Christmas over the weekend.

Amid the fierce fighting in the eastern Donetsk region, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made a surprise visit to the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, promising to send more weapons less than a week after Berlin pledged to send infantry fighting vehicles that Ukraine had been requesting.

Baerbock pledged further support before leaving Kharkiv, which was hit by Russian shelling after she left.



"The occupiers are striking again," Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synehubov said on Telegram, telling residents to stay in shelters.



Baerbock stressed that Ukrainians "should know they can rely on our solidarity and support," adding that Germany will keep supplying weapons "that Ukraine needs in order to free its citizens who are still suffering under the terror of Russian occupation."

Baerbock brought with her a package that includes power generators, 20 million euros ($21 million) for demining, and 20 million euros as financial help for the Starlink project ensuring Internet access for the population. She promised more weapons during her visit to Kharkiv but did not go into specifics.

Baerbock's unannounced trip came just days after Chancellor Olaf Scholz agreed to provide to Ukraine Marder infantry fighting vehicles, which Ukraine has long sought along with more advanced Leopard 2 battle tanks.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Germany's refusal to send the tanks was costing lives and pressed again for Germany to send them.

The "longer it takes to make the decision, the more people will die." he said.

"I have no doubt that Ukraine will receive German Leopard tanks. I think the German government understands somewhere deep in its soul that this decision will be made and the tanks will be transferred to Ukraine," he said.

As word of Baerbock's unannounced visit emerged, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held a telephone call with European Council President Charles Michel to make another urgent appeal to European powers to send weapons.

Zelenskiy said he informed Michel about the situation on the battlefield and the "urgent needs of Ukraine in armaments."

They also discussed expectations from a Ukraine-EU summit scheduled for February 3 in Kyiv with the participation of the heads of the 27 EU countries, he said.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and dpa
?? En vivo | El premier @AlbertoOtarolaP, acompanado de ministros de Estado, se presenta ante el Pleno del Congreso para solicitar el #VotoDeConfianza. https://t.co/HIDcmpnJyb
Based in San Diego, Ian Anderson writes contemplative features about food, drinks, travel, and culture. On the side, he authors left coast road trip guidebooks, and is currently at work on a collection of autobiographical essays, Stories from Before We Were Connected. He did not form British prog rock band Jethro Tull in 1967.

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Interfaith Community Services based in Escondido has announced that local philanthropists Jack and Caroline Raymond have pledged a $50,000 matching gift towards the social service agencys Housing 1000 campaign.

The campaign is Interfaiths pledge to end homelessness for 1,000 North County people before June 30, 2018.

Longtime supporters of Interfaiths housing programs, the Raymonds have played a major role in San Diegos philanthropic community for decades.

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For every dollar donated to the Housing 1000 campaign, the Raymonds will match the contribution dollar for dollar, up to $50,000.

Jack Raymond on Friday said he gave the matching gift because of the effectiveness of what Interfaith does.

They truly give a hand up to people in need, and they do it very cost effectively and well, he said.

Jack and Caroline have supported Interfaiths efforts to end homelessness across North San Diego County for the last several decades, said Greg Anglea, CEO of Interfaith Community Services in a news release. The Raymonds have been longtime supporters of Interfaiths housing programs, he said.

Interfaith is asking community members to consider giving to the campaign when making their year-end gifts these last few days of 2017.

For more information about the campaign, call (619) 851-4639 or email lhjolt@interfaithservices.org.

Interfaith is also looking for volunteers to participate in the annual Point-in-Time homeless count to take place on Jan. 26 in Escondido.

The Point-in-Time Count is a count of unsheltered and sheltered homeless persons on a single day in January. Interfaith facilitates the Escondido count efforts. Fifty or more volunteers are needed. They will be asked to complete a brief training prior to volunteering.

To volunteer, go to rtfh.volunteerhub.com/events/index on the web.

jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones
Talk to any parent of a teen these days, and the topic is sure to come up: Is it bad that theyre spending so much time on their phones? This question has been at the forefront of public interest lately, with former tech executives speaking out against the platforms they helped create and organizations such as the Center for Humane Technology sounding the alarm about too much screen time.

The way teens spend their leisure time has shifted radically since the first iPhone was introduced in 2007 and smartphones were owned by the majority of Americans in 2012. In my recent book, iGen, I found that the average 12th grader now spends six hours a day texting, online and on social media. Common Sense Media recently found that teens spend nine hours a day of their leisure time with screens. This is an enormous amount of time, so much that many teens are clearly overusing, and not just using, digital media.

Related: How parents can talk to their kids about using technology safely

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The enormity of the time taken up by digital media has also left less time for teens to interact with their friends in person and to get adequate sleep.

These trends have had serious consequences for teens mental health. In the period between 2012 and 2016, more and more teens began to say they felt useless and joyless  classic symptoms of depression. More started to say they felt anxious and overwhelmed. Clinical-level depression among teens increased by 50 percent, and the number of 10- to 14-year-old girls admitted to emergency rooms for self-harm (such as cutting) tripled. Most concerning of all, the suicide rate for teen girls doubled.

Overuse of phones may play a role in these trends. In a recent study, my colleagues and I found that teens who spent five or more hours a day (vs. an hour) on electronic devices were 66 percent more likely to have at least one risk factor for suicide such as depression, thinking about suicide or having attempted suicide in the past. Several studies rule out the idea that unhappiness leads to screen time, instead finding that screen time leads to unhappiness.

Teens who are interacting with friends online instead of in person are also not developing social skills. One study randomly assigned sixth graders to spend five days at a nature camp with no electronic devices allowed, while others continued their usual screen use. Those who spent just five days without screens were better able to read emotions on other peoples faces  a crucial social skill.

The overuse of digital media may create other issues as well. Some research links too much screen time to attention problems among children, and several studies find that those who spend many hours online achieve less in school. Teens who spend more time on electronic devices are also more likely to be sleep-deprived, which has serious consequences for both physical and mental health.

What should parents do? Several studies find that when parents limit childrens screen time at home, childrens behavior, school performance and sleep improves. Among teens, those who spend less than two hours a day online during leisure time are the happiest and the least likely to be depressed.

One way parents can limit screen time is to delay getting their children smartphones until later  say, at age 14 or the beginning of high school (the average age to get your first smartphone is now 10). Then the temptation of being online all the time is postponed until children are older (and if you feel your child needs a phone for safety, give them an old-school flip phone with no Internet access). After they have their own smartphone, put an app on it that limits its use. For example, have the phone shut down at bedtime on school nights so teens arent up late on their phones, and set time limits for certain apps (for example, a limit of an hour a day on Snapchat).

Schools can help too: The use of phones should be banned during the school day. Teachers say phones are a constant distraction in class. One study found that just having your phone nearby reduces your thinking power. In an increasingly competitive global economy, we want students to focus on learning, not on their phones.

Many students are also buried in their phones during lunch period, a time that could be used for social interaction. Instead, teens feel rejected and left out and miss out on what should be a time for developing social skills and making memories with friends.

Technology is here to stay, but that doesnt mean teens  or adults  need to spend most of their leisure time with screens. Use your phone for everything its good for  and then put it away and go live your life.

Twenge is the author of iGen: Why Todays Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy  and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood and professor of psychology at San Diego State University.
Members of 10th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to Mali conduct combat wound treatment drill in Gao, Mali, recently.

GAO, Mali, Jan. 10 -- The 10th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent to Mali recently conducted a combat wound treatment drill based on the needs of peacekeeping missions and situations in the mission area.

During the drill, the evacuation team quickly organized forward movement and emergency transfer, while the treatment team made preparations back in the hospital. The two teams cooperated closely to seize the golden treatment time, and strengthened the capability of whole-process treatment for the wounded.

According to Sun Qichang, a peacekeeper of the contingent, the drill was targeted at the frequent armed conflicts in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) Sector East recently. It further straightened out the process of quick transfer and emergency rescue, optimized the treatment plan to ensure timely and efficient medical treatment on battlefield.




"We continue to expect that sectors related to exports, such as mining and agribusiness, will remain the areas with the best performance this year, while other sectors, such as retail trade will show a more moderate performance," he said in statements to the Official Gazette El Peruano





"We would expect the Construction sector to have a lower performance due to a slowdown in public investment, and this occurs every time new authorities take over regional and local governments, as they execute two thirds of public investment, which is linked to the performance of Construction. Although real estate projects may still be slightly in motion," the Moody's officer added.





Reusche stated that Moody's forecasts 2.3% GDP growth for Peru this year, and that the country saw an expansion of 2.6% by the end of 2022.





"The forecast is mainly due to the slowdown in the global economy, but also considers some downside risks, depending on how private investment and business confidence react to all the political turmoil at the end of last year," he remarked.





"This year, we expect private investment to remain non-existent, unchanged, which is something positive, considering the outlook for the end of 2022, that is, we predicted that private investment would contract this year, especially when we noticed the political turmoil of last December," he said.





The Moody's analyst emphasized that the protests had a more direct impact on the development of economic activity, because they prevent the movement and traffic of people, services, and goods.





"We believe that political noise reduces the economy's growth potential; it has a more indirect effect, because it hits the expectations of the private sector, and this reduces the dynamism of private investment, which is one of the most important engines of the Peruvian economy," he underlined.





Reusche underscored that subsidies can be granted to the vulnerable population as long as tax revenues continue to grow robustly, but this is a short-term measure that helps complement the boost in public investment, although it should not be used very frequently.





"The granting of subsidies should be coming to an end because we see a more complicated outlook for tax revenues this year," he stated.





(END) DOP/CNA/RMB/MVB

The sectors linked to exports, such as mining and agribusiness, are believed to be the ones with the best performance this year, Moody's Investors Service Vice-President Jaime Reusche reported.Published: 1/10/2023
The jet observed by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is ejecting material away from MWC 349A at a blistering 500 km per second (311 miles per second) and is likely launched by a magnetohydrodynamic wind  a type of wind whose movement is dictated by the interplay between the stars magnetic field and gases present in its surrounding disk.

MWC 349A is a massive star some 3,900 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus.

Also known as SDSS J203245.51+403936.6, the star has a mass of 30 solar masses.

MWC 349A is one of the brightest radio sources in the sky, and one of only a handful of objects known to have hydrogen masers.

These masers amplify microwave radio emissions, making it easier to study processes that are typically too small to see.

It is this unique feature that allowed Sirina Prasad from the Harvard & Smithsonians Center for Astrophysics and colleagues to map MWC 349As disk in detail for the first time.

A maser is like a naturally occurring laser, Prasad said.

Its an area in outer space that emits a really bright kind of light.

We can see this light and trace it back to where it came from, bringing us one step closer to figuring out whats really going on.

The study authors were able to use the masers to uncover the previously unseen structures in MWC 349As immediate environment.

We used masers generated by hydrogen to probe the physical and dynamic structures in the gas surrounding MWC 349A and revealed a flattened gas disk with a diameter of 50 AU, approximately the size of the Solar System, confirming the near-horizontal disk structure of the star, said Dr. Qizhou Zhang, also from the Harvard & Smithsonians Center for Astrophysics.

We also found a fast-moving jet component hidden within the winds flowing away from the star.

The observed jet is ejecting material away from the star at a blistering 500 km per second.

According to researchers, it is probable that a jet moving this fast is being launched by a magnetic force.

In the case of MWC 349A, that force could be a magnetohydrodynamic wind  a type of wind whose movement is dictated by the interplay between the stars magnetic field and gases present in its surrounding disk.

Our previous understanding of MWC 349A was that the star was surrounded by a rotating disk and photo-evaporating wind, Prasad said.

Strong evidence for an additional collimated jet had not yet been seen in this system.

Although we dont yet know for certain where it comes from or how it is made, it could be that a magnetohydrodynamic wind is producing the jet, in which case the magnetic field is responsible for launching rotating material from the system.

This could help us to better understand the disk-wind dynamics of MWC 349A, and the interplay between circumstellar disks, winds, and jets in other star systems.

The researchers will present their findings this week at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS 241) in Seattle, Washington.

_____

S. Prasad et al. 2023. Using ALMA to Spatially Resolve Hydrogen Recombination Line Maser Emission from MWC 349A. AAS 241, program number: 474.04
The upcoming official visit to Laos by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will create momentum for Vietnam and its neighbour to strengthen their relations, a diplomat has said.

PM Chinh will pay an official visit to Laos and co-chair the 45th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Inter-governmental Committee from January 11-12.

The visit will be made at the invitation of Lao PM Sonexay Siphandone, according to an announcement of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung told the Vietnam News Agency that the visit aims to materialise foreign policies adopted at the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), focusing on government cooperation.

This is the first official visit to Laos by Chinh in his capacity as Prime Minister of Vietnam, also the first visit to Laos by a foreign high-ranking leader in 2023, he stressed.

It demonstrates the importance and the highest priority the Vietnamese Party and State give to consolidating and enhancing the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

During the visit, PM Chinh and his Lao counterpart are expected to compare notes on national and international issues of mutual concern, and seek solutions to challenges in the new situation, thus contributing to peace, security, stability and development in the region and the world at large.

They will discuss measures, including new, breakthrough ones, to consolidate the relations, giving a boost to the comprehensive cooperation this year.

Regarding the 45th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Inter-governmental Committee, to be co-chaired by the PMs, Hung said the two sides will look into major orientations, policies and measures to foster the collaboration in a more practical and effective manner.

They are expected to sign many important documents, he said, adding that the two PMs are also scheduled to wrap up the Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Solidarity Year 2022.

The ambassador stressed that thanks to the instructions of the two countries Party and State leaders, and efforts by their ministries, agencies, businesses and people, the relationship has been deepened, bringing great, practical interests to both nations.

Apart from politics, national defence and security and external affairs, the leaders have worked to enhance bilateral economic ties by exchanging experience in policy making, facilitating the operations of businesses and connecting the two economies, especially in transport infrastructure, according to the ambassador.

Hung held that Vietnam and Laos have substantial opportunities to step up international integration, the bilateral collaboration as well as cooperation with other countries, for peace, security, stability and development.

The diplomat expressed his belief that with the strong determination and great efforts of the two countries Parties, Governments and people, the relationship will be preserved and consolidated forever.
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The owner of several restaurants in Los Angeles intentionally didn't pay overtime to dozens of employeesand now has to pay up big.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has recovered $1,651,550 in back wages and liquidated damages from business owner Prapai Boonyindee, the government agency announced Jan. 3. The DOL said Boonyindee denied 83 workers overtime wages and created false records showing they worked no overtime hours when, in fact, they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek.



"Wage theft is used by unscrupulous restaurant-industry employers to increase their bottom lines at the expense of some of our nation's lowest-paid workers," Jessica Looman, principal deputy administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, said in a statement.

In addition to recovering $825,775 in overtime back wages and an equal amount in damages, the DOL assessed $62,167 in civil money penalties.

In fiscal year 2021, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $34.7 million for more than 29,000 workers in the food service industry.

SHRM Online gathered additional news on the topic.

Popular Eatery in California

Boonyindee is owner of the Thai restaurant chain Ocha Classic, which has six locations, and the Thai-Chinese restaurant Vim in Panorama City, Calif. The DOL investigation affected workers in every location, the agency said.

(Eater Los Angeles) and (DOL)



DOL Overtime Claims Are on the Rise

The DOL is recovering an increasing amount of damages in overtime claims as it goes after employers that are misclassifying workers or miscalculating overtime.

"I think the Biden administration has signaled a shift in focus away from compliance and toward enforcement," said Joseph Harris, an attorney with A.Y. Strauss in New York City.

Overtime claims are most often unintentional, Harris said, and typically arise as a result of misunderstandings about wage hour laws or technical violations.

(SHRM Online)

Other High-Profile Wage Cases



The $1.6 million Los Angeles restaurant case is the latest in recent months in which restaurant workers were owed tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid wages or tips. A number of other high-profile wage-theft cases include a Krispy Kreme case in November, in which the doughnut chain agreed to pay $1.2 million to more than 500 workers across its 242 stores nationwide, and a case in North Carolina where a restaurant kept a percentage of its employees' tips, violating the Fair Labor Standards Act. The restaurant then owed the workers the difference between their paid cash and the federal minimum wage of $7.25, which totaled $157,287.

(USA Today)

Overtime Rules Expected

2022 came and went without any proposed overtime rule from the DOL, meaning employers are still waiting to see what wage and hour changes are on tap. But that may change in the first half of 2023, as the Labor Department is expected to propose updates. President Joe Biden released his next regulatory to-do list on Jan. 4, detailing his ambitions in the coming monthswhich includes changes to overtime.

Employment law attorneys anticipate that the DOL will recommend higher salary-level thresholds for the white-collar exemptions to the rule. If so, more people would be eligible for overtime pay.

The last update was in 2019, when the DOL set the minimum salary threshold for overtime eligibility at $35,568. It went into effect in 2020.

(Bloomberg Law) and (SHRM Online)






The 14th edition of Aero India 2023 organized by the Ministry of Defence is all set to be held in Bengaluru from February 13 to 17. Aero India will provide a unique opportunity for the exchange of information, ideas, and new developments in the aviation industry. In addition to giving a fillip to the domestic aviation industry, it would further the cause of Make in India, the Ministry said recently.

Speaking at an ambassadors' conclave, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, Aero India-2023 would, hopefully, surpass the benchmark set in the previous edition with a larger presence of exhibitors and representatives of our friendly countries.

The defense minister pointed out that Indias national efforts towards Make in India are neither isolationist nor are they just meant for the country alone.

He also said that India does not believe in a hierarchical conception of a world order where a few countries are considered superior to others.Indias international relations are guided by the very essence of human equality and dignity, the minister said at the conclave to brief ambassadors about upcoming Aero India, billed as Asias biggest aerospace exhibition.

A total of 657 exhibitors have so far registered for the aerospace exhibition. With 588 being Indian exhibitors and 69 foreign investors from 24 countries.

Rajnath Singh meets ambassadors from 80 countries:

Upcoming Aero India 2023 would witness participation from at least 645 exhibitors from 80 countries, the Defence Ministry said, after Minister Rajnath Singh met ambassadors from these nations to brief them about the biennial air show. Describing the show as Asias premier aviation trade event, Singh appealed to the diplomats to use Aero India 2023 for increased collaboration with Indias military manufacturing capabilities, particularly in the areas of drones, cyber-technologies, Artificial Intelligence, and radars.

The air show which began in 1996 with a handful of companies, has grown in size over the years with more than 600 firms participating in the last two editions. The 14th edition of the show will be held at Yelahanka air base between February 13-17. The air show comes at a time when India is looking at options to buy more than 100 medium multi-role combat fighters for the Indian Air Force besides deck-borne fighters for the Indian Navy and hundreds of helicopters for the IAF, Indian Navy, Indian...

Indias defense exports have grown by eight times in the last five years with New Delhi exporting such items to over 75 countries. Aero India 2023, Singh said, would provide a unique opportunity for the exchange of information, ideas and new technological developments in the aviation industry. The previous edition witnessed the attendance of over 600 exhibitors physically and another 108 virtually from 63 nations. Singh said India would offer a partnership that comes with a variety of options and would accommodate national priorities and capacities

We want to build with you, we want to launch with you and we want to create with you. There is an old African proverb If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. We intend to go far and we want to do it together. We wish to create symbiotic relationships, where we can learn from each other, grow together and create a win-win situation for all.
Flipkart Internet, the marketplace arm of Walmart-owned eCommerce firm Flipkart, has received a cash infusion of about $90 million (Rs 722 crore) from its Singapore-based parent entity, according to regulatory filings accessed through business intelligence platform Tofler. The fresh capital came from two Singapore-based entities  Flipkart Marketplace Pvt Ltd and Flipkart Pvt Ltd. A resolution to infuse the capital  the first this year - was approved on December 29. In March 2022, Flipkart Pvt Ltd. A resolution to infuse the capital  the first this year - was approved on December 29. In March 2022, Flipkart Marketplace received over $553 million from Walmart.

Flipkart has several units in India for various businesses, including logistics. Flipkart Internets main source of revenue is commissions from sellers. It also offers advertising and other seller services to merchants. Flipkart Internet posted a 33% rise in operating revenue to Rs 10,476 crore in fiscal year 2022, while losses widened to nearly Rs 4,400 crore

The development comes at a time when rival Amazon India has shut down multiple businesses in India, such as food delivery, edtech and its distribution units, and fired employees at its local unit.

The company planned to fire at least a few hundred employees in India. According to reports last week, Amazon has fired 1,000 employees in India as part of its global layoffs.Flipkart recently separated PhonePe from the Flipkart group after the payments firm shifted its base from Singapore to India.PhonePe is raising new capital from Walmart and other investors that may see the total round size, including primary and secondary share sales, hit almost $2 billion.

Flipkart is also conducting a one-time payment of around $700 million to its staff for a stock options buyout as part of the PhonePe financing. Regulatory filings by Walmart in the United States showed that Flipkart spent about $1.1 billion from February 1, 2022 to July 31, 2022. PhonePes shift to India also resulted in Walmart paying most of the $1 billion as taxes to the Indian government.

Flipkart has been investing in its business units like grocery, social commerce vertical Shopsy, and travel platform Cleartrip to scale up new offerings from the group while maintaining leadership in core categories like smartphones, fashion, large appliances, and others. Flipkart also runs the online fashion platform Myntra.
?? En vivo | El presidente del Consejo de Ministros, @AlbertoOtarolaP, junto con los ministros del @MindefPeru, @MininterPeru, @Minsa_Peru y @MTC_GobPeru, emite un pronunciamiento del Gobierno. https://t.co/bkewSq7xoH
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After a sold-out season during its world premiere at the Sydney Opera House in 2019, the acrobatic artistry of Blanc de Blanc Encore returns to Sydney in a newly refurbished theatre, The Grand Electric, in Surry Hills.

After three years of being shuttered, the Cleveland Street theatre, formerly known as the Giant Dwarf, reopens on Wednesday thanks to the time, work and money invested by the Strut & Fret production company.

Cabaret performers in Blanc de Blanc Encore. Credit: Dean Sewell

The theatre began life as Transport House, an Australian Railways Union workers hall in the 1920s and then was used as a burlesque theatre around World War II, said Scott Maidment, Creative Director of the award-winning production house.

It then became home to Performance Space in the 80s and 90s before it moved to Carriageworks and most recently was the Giant Dwarf Theatre run by The Chaser guys, Maidment said.
The battle lines are drawn on Sydneys northern beaches between dog lovers and those who want the waters edge kept canine-free.

Many residents are hopeful dogs will finally get their day as Northern Beaches Council proceeds with an off-leash trial at two beaches on the northern end of the peninsula this year.

Julie Alexander and Warren Bingham with their dog Billie at the off-leash area at Bayview. Credit: Oscar Colman

The council is proposing a 12-month trial for an off-leash area during certain hours at the northern end of Palm Beach and the southern end of Mona Vale Beach.

Pressure is building for the trial to start in a council area with 105,000 households and 75,000 registered dogs. The canine population has increased by at least 6000 since 2020.
His Vatican roles included positions on the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under then cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI), on the Dicastery for Bishops, and serving Pope Francis on the Council of Cardinal Advisers (2013-18) and as the inaugural prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy (2014-19), in which his role was generally thought to be cleansing the Augean stables of the Vatican. Loading Regarded by friends and colleagues as a convivial companion with a sophisticated palate for wine, Pells public persona tended to be abrasive, his tone didactic. Many women, in particular, found him a bully. Watching Pell give evidence in 2016 to the royal commission, I wondered in The Age whether he was handicapped by his unfortunate demeanour: his slow, heavy delivery  deliberate, even ponderous  and unemotional expression can seem pompous, overbearing and unfeeling. But to orthodox Catholics, who increasingly tend to feel under pressure in a post-Christian society, Pell was a stalwart defender of the faith, unaffected by changing winds of ideology inside or outside the church, and quite happy to let criticism bounce off his broad shoulders. A man who did not shirk challenges, he tended not to be tolerant of those he saw as hostile, be it the media, left-wing causes or activists for change within the church, such as the Rainbow Sash Movement.

Loading One of Australias leading progressive Catholics, Paul Collins  historian, journalist and former priest  believes that Pell often simply got the tone wrong in contemporary debates, presenting stridently non-negotiable demands in the face of peoples genuine attempts to find a sense of meaning or morality in life. One example was the cardinals disdain for freedom of conscience  an established Catholic doctrine  as something many Catholics used to follow their own desires rather than the teaching of the church. Of course, this might have been true for some, Collins acknowledges, but it overlooked the genuine struggles of the faithful on such issues as contraception. George Pell, in Rome, gives evidence via video link to the Royal Commission in 2016. One attribute often unrecognised  but not by those who worked under Pell  was that he was an excellent administrator who left the Sydney archdiocese in a strong financial position. His skills, determination and undoubted financial integrity led Pope Francis to appoint him the first prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy where  against formidable Vatican opposition  he made significant improvements. He worked hard to clean up the scandal-plagued Vatican Bank, demanded a proper professional audit of Curial departments for financial transparency  thwarted by Archbishop Angelo Becciu from the Secretariat of State, who was later tried on corruption charges over a London property deal  and uncovered money squirrelled away into secret bank accounts by Vatican departments. From the start, as a priest in Ballarat, Pell had a strong involvement in education, which he continued in Melbourne. In Sydney, his record was exemplary: supporting the Australian Catholic University, founding the Notre Dame University campus in that city, strengthening university chaplaincy across the city and reviving the seminary.

One of his achievements was bringing Pope Benedict to Australia for World Youth Day in 2008, featuring one of the biggest masses in Australias history, when more than 400,000 pilgrims joined the Pope, Pell, 25 other cardinals, 420 bishops and a 300-strong choir at Randwick Racecourse. In 1996, he launched the worlds first compensation protocol for victims of clergy child abuse, the Melbourne Response, to a mixed reaction. It was undoubtedly a step forward from no complaints system at all, and it allowed survivors to make historic claims against clergy now dead. But it undermined the more generous national protocol, Towards Healing, adopted weeks later by every other diocese except Melbourne, and was regarded by survivor advocates as chiefly intended to protect the assets of the church, to control victims and to head off the Victorian government. It was alleged that Victorian then-premier Jeff Kennett told Pell if you dont fix it, I will  something Kennett later said he couldnt recall but might well have said. The royal commission later found that the Melbourne Response was not, in fact, properly independent, as claimed, from the church. George Pell addresses a Eucharistic mass at Sydneys St Marys Cathedral for mourners of the Bali bombing in 2002. Credit: Reuters As a vigorous and energetic archbishop in Melbourne (1996-2001) and Sydney (2001-14), there seemed no limit to what Pell might achieve. One biographer pictured him standing on the balcony at St Peters Basilica, arrayed in white, receiving the cheers of the faithful as the new pope. The first blip came in 2002 when he stood down as archbishop of Sydney while former Supreme Court judge Alec Southwell undertook an independent investigation into allegations that Pell molested a 12-year-old boy on a church camp at Port Phillip in 1961. He concluded that the complainant seemed to be speaking the truth from an honest recollection, but that Pell too was speaking the truth, and found that the complaint was not established.

His reputation was increasingly damaged by perceived failings in tackling clergy abuse. His handling of sex abuse cases in Sydney was widely criticised for using the so-called Ellis defence, which asserted there was no Catholic entity that could be sued, followed by a damaging appearance before the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into responses to sexual abuse in 2013, and a far worse one before the royal commission in 2016. He came across as wooden, unsympathetic and unwilling to accept responsibility for church failings, instead blaming  as so many witnesses did  the dead or demented who could not reply. Time and time again, he said it wasnt his job, it was someone elses, or he might have done something but no explicit request was made, so he did nothing. He even complained that he had been the victim of a conspiracy of silence by those who should have kept him informed. The royal commission found that his evidence was not credible and that his record was one of shameful failure. George Pell arrives at Melbourne Magistrates Court in 2017 to face historic sexual assault charges. After a first jury could not reach a verdict, a second convicted him. He was acquitted on appeal in 2020. Credit: Jason South Worse was to follow. In 2017, the Victorian police charged Pell with sexually molesting two 13-year-old choir boys in the sacristy of St Patricks Cathedral in 1996. Charges of molesting boys in a pool in Ballarat were withdrawn before trial. After a first jury could not reach a verdict, a second convicted him and in March 2019 he was sentenced to six years in prison. The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction, but the case went to the High Court, which in 2020 unanimously dismissed the charges. By that time, the cardinal had served 404 days in the Melbourne Assessment Prison and Barwon Prison.

Throughout this ordeal, Pell behaved with a stoic dignity, always maintaining his innocence. After his release he moved to his apartment in the Vatican, where most of his colleagues had never believed he was an abuser, and kept a relatively low profile. Eminent jurist and Jesuit Frank Brennan, the Rector of Newman College and not particularly a theological fellow traveller with the Cardinal, attended every day of the County Court trials and appeals. He described the alleged narrative of events as preposterous and said Pell should never have been charged. Cardinal Pell with Pope Benedict XVI at the World Youth Day event in Sydney in 2008. Credit: AP Brennan told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald: George Pell and I had our share of theological differences. He was no admirer of contemporary Jesuits, of whom I was one. I got to know him best when I attended his trials and appeals. I grew in admiration of his humour and humility  His prison journals revealed a Christian able to find grace in the midst of adversity and injustice. Cardinal Pell will be remembered as a formidable and articulate defender of traditional Catholicism, with an inclination towards the pre-Vatican II version, as a man who was highly intelligent, dedicated and occasionally ruthless in serving and protecting the Catholic Church. He relished his prominent role in Australias culture wars, but the extremes of such debates meant he was portrayed as a monster or a saint. He was neither all one, nor all the other.
The Herald examines the $63 billion metro network taking shape beneath Sydneys streets in what is one of the largest suburban rail projects in the world

The man who ran the New York subway and oversaw the opening of Londons most significant railway in a generation says a $63 billion metro train network being built in Sydney will spark an economic renaissance but warns the government must keep investing in the entire rail system.

Andy Byford, a former chief operating officer of Sydneys train network, said the high-frequency metro lines spanning the city would be transformative, generating economic spin-offs while spurring environmental benefits by enticing more people onto public transport.

Andy Byford, then-Transport for London commissioner, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Edward mark the completion of Londons Crossrail project at Paddington station in May 2022. Credit: AP

These schemes lead the way to an economic renaissance, and Im very confident that will happen in Sydney. There are myriad benefits, he said.

In terms of actual business impact, what we found elsewhere ... is apartment buildings becoming viable. Developers will take a punt on developing new communities where they may not have previously considered doing that.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 10, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani Armed Forces are located in territory of Armenia for already 30 years, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference, reminding that from the beginning of the 1990s the Azeri military occupied over 70 square kilometers of territory of Armenia, namely in Tavush and Ararat provinces.

Yes, also during the past one and a half years, from May of 2021 Azerbaijan occupied more territories of Armenia. Our position is that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces must withdraw from our territory. We will coherently utilize all diplomatic means to achieve this goal, PM Pashinyan said. He emphasized that it is important for the Armenian side not to become the reason of a new provocation, thus our actions proceed from this logic.
A toddler has been airlifted to a Sydney hospital after climbing onto a chair and falling 10 metres from an apartment balcony in Sydneys west.

The apartment block in Mount Druitt where the incident occurred. Credit: Rhett Wyman

A Careflight Rescue helicopter attended the scene at Hythe St in Mount Druitt along with three ambulance crews.

The toddler is now in a stable condition and undergoing further scans after being transported to the Childrens Hospital at Westmead.

NSW Ambulance Acting Inspector Mark Thomas said the boys fall was broken by bushes below the balcony.
Police release footage of petrol station hold-up in Melbourne's north west

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A neo-Nazi presence in Brisbane has been leaving disturbing  albeit nonsensical  promotional material in letterboxes around leafy inner suburbs calling on residents to join up.

A sample of one of the flyers distributed in Brisbane.

The suite of flyers, some seen by Brisbane Times, have been distributed in Auchenflower and Paddington over several days.

Bearing the names of established neo-Nazi groups, the leaflets contain conspiracist and hateful messages that are anti-Jewish and anti-immigrant.

One attempts to warn white Australians about being sterilised and then living in a box eating bugs. It follows similar drops at the Gold Coast last year.
A bipartisan group of United States politicians has written to President Joe Biden to strongly defend the AUKUS pact and insist American shipyards are up to the task of providing Australia with a stopgap supply of nuclear-powered submarines before the retirement of the ageing Collins-class fleet.

The nine members of the House of Representatives  both Democrat and Republican  were responding to a letter to Biden last month from two senior US senators warning the AUKUS pact risked pushing Americas industrial base to breaking point.

Nine US politicians insist it is possible to supply Australia with Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines.

Specifically, the senators explicitly warned against any plan to sell or transfer Virginia-class submarines to Australia before the US Navy meets its current requirements.

In their counter-letter, sent to Biden on Tuesday, the House members hail AUKUS as a multi-decade and multi-generational effort  one that is worth embarking on for the security of our nation and that of our allies in the Indo-Pacific.
Regional MPs want Australians to be able to connect to any mobile phone tower no matter which service provider they use, a shift opposed by telecommunications companies.

Indi MP and prominent independent Helen Haines said staying connected across vast distances was critical to the social and economic success of modern regional communities.

Indi MP Helen Haines says staying connected across vast distances is critical to the social and economic success of modern regional communities. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

People in north-eastern Victoria were often with providers not serviced in their local area, causing angst during natural disasters, stymieing economic activity and making tourists unhappy, she wrote in a submission to a federal parliamentary inquiry examining how to boost mobile phone connectivity in rural Australia.

The NSW, South Australian and Northern Territory governments have all made submissions to the inquiry complaining about poor social and economic outcomes caused by single-carrier mobile towers, which create patchy reception because some areas are serviced by towers that customers of only one provider, often Telstra, can use.
An investigation ordered by Canterbury-Bankstown council has cleared its own embattled mayor of wrongdoing after claims were raised in parliament of questionable development dealings involving corrupt ex-minister Eddie Obeid.

The report, released on Tuesday after a three-month investigation, found mayor Khal Asfour had no relevant relationship with Obeid or his son Paul, and found no evidence Asfour had failed to declare or manage any relevant conflicts of interest.

Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour. Credit: James Brickwood

The claims made in parliament centre on a block of land at the heart of a multibillion-dollar redevelopment of Bankstowns CBD.

The site, owned by a company formerly run by Obeid and members of his extended family, is mainly occupied by the dilapidated Bellevue function centre.
Singapore: In 2004, Bali-based Melbourne woman Janet DeNeefe founded the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival as a healing initiative in the aftermath of the 2002 terrorist bombings.

Its been going strong ever since, becoming one of the largest in South-East Asia and rebounding from the pandemic to draw more than 12,000 attendees in its return in physical form in October.

Miss Universe Indonesia Laksmi DeNeefe Suardana, pictured with her mother Janet DeNeefe, is farewelled from Jakarta airport before the pageant in the US. Credit: Instagram

Now, almost two decades after she launched the literary festival, DeNeefes daughter is taking Bali to the world, motivated by aiding a recovery of a different kind.

Laksmi DeNeefe Suardana, 26, is representing Indonesia at the Miss Universe pageant, which concludes on Saturday in New Orleans, US. She entered and won the domestic contest last year after being prompted by the suffering she saw wrought by COVID-19 on Bali.
MacManus, who is of the highest integrity, resigned when her part in the events became obvious to her. She said, I am very sorry to be leaving, but, as the person responsible for this unhappy chain of events, I cannot with honour remain in this position. Such is Camillas deep confidence in her that she was re-hired, and remains a key confidante of Her Majesty. The duke seeks to suggest that Camilla deliberately spilled the intimate details of her conversation with Prince William to Fleet Street, which is simply untrue. If he can get that wrong  and MacManus insists the responsibility was hers  then one wonders how much else in the book is real, as opposed to imagined. Loading The duke might also learn something from MacManuss impeccable behaviour: he appears incapable of accepting responsibility for anything in chronicling a clearly unhappy life in which every drop of misery has, it seems, been somebody elses fault. He might start by putting out a statement to acknowledge that the slur he has, by implication, cast on the Queen Consorts reputation was wrong, apologising for the mistake and the insult. The duke says that he and his elder brother  who, having escaped re-programming in American-style therapy, seems to be refreshingly normal by comparison  had agreed to welcome Parker Bowles into the family provided his father did not marry her.

How she could formally join the family without marrying into it is not explained but, again, perhaps they think of these things differently in America. Indeed, Harry goes so far as to say that he and his brother begged the then Prince of Wales not to marry Parker Bowles, in the dukes case partly out of fear that she would become a wicked stepmother. It could not be more appropriate that this grown man resorts to the language of fairytales because that appears to be how he sees his existence. Indeed, what we know of the book suggests that a fairytale might well be the best way of describing it. Its author, judging from his behaviour, is certainly away with the fairies. What we know of the book suggests that a fairytale might well be the best way of describing it. To be fair to both the Kings sons, it must have been profoundly distressing to be the product not just of a broken home, but of a home broken up more publicly than any in British history since Henry VIIIs, with its fragments exposed not just to Britain but to a morbidly fascinated world. And, human nature being what it is, it cannot have been easy to be asked to accept as their fathers inamorata, and later as his wife and their stepmother, a woman they and many Britons held responsible for breaking up the Kings first marriage.

Yet things did not turn out so badly: meeting Parker Bowles, according to the dukes book, was like, an injection. Close your eyes and you wont even feel it. One can only conclude that he means she was not, after all, so ghastly as he had imagined, and he and his brother came round to her in the end. Parker-Bowles and Charles in 1999. Harry says that he and his brother begged their father not to marry her. Credit: AP However, before that happy stage was reached, matters seemed to become ludicrous. As if he and his family were in an episode of the TV drama The Tudors, the duke writes that shortly after our private meetings with her, she began to develop her long-term strategy, a campaign directed at marriage and, with time, the Crown (with the blessing of our father, we supposed). One is struck by his use of the word Crown. Perhaps in his ignorance (of which there is abundant evidence) he means his stepmother had determined to become Queen Consort by whatever means, and would thus have the right to be crowned at the Coronation and to wear the consorts crown on state occasions, such as the state opening of parliament. But the term the Crown is to most people a synonym for the institution of monarchy, so one might think the duke was under the impression his stepmother intended to make herself head of state and thus control the institution. He may even be stupid enough to believe that.

If he was setting out not just to make money, but to damage the King, Queen and the Prince of Wales, he has almost certainly failed. The King would be justified if he disdained his sons complaints about media attacks on the Duchess of Sussex. The Queen Consort put up with a far worse media assault for more than 20 years, from long before the death of Diana, Princess of Wales until long after Parker Bowles became Duchess of Cornwall. She, and her husband, reacted to the medias abuse by not reacting at all: they stuck constantly to the policy of never apologise, never explain, and just got on with their lives and their public duties. Loading This strategy eventually brought an end to the unfair attacks: partly because the novelty wore off and the media became bored with persecuting the royal couple, but also because, through her example of uncomplaining and energetic public service, the Duchess of Cornwall won, first of all, respect, and then admiration for her sense of duty and her character. Just as the Duke of Sussex says that he and his brother came to accept her, so did the British public; and, of course, it was the express wish of the late Queen that her daughter-in-law should, in recognition of her contribution to the country, have the rank and style of Queen Consort when her son became King. That accolade more than counters any of the halfwittery and fantasy history that the duke expends on his stepmother in his bizarre book.

It is not least for that reason that what we have gathered so far from the dukes book about his view of the Queen Consort is unlikely to do her any damage at all: indeed, it is more likely to build further the sympathy and regard the public have developed for her. Loading Something similar applies to the Dukes whining about his brother and his father, the dignity of whose lack of response to these puerile torrents of unpleasantness serves as a powerful contrast to the dukes embarrassing emotional incontinence. They, at least, are behaving in the discreet and civilised way that allows the British public to respect and support their royal family. It is always dangerous to assume what the motives of others might be  a point the duke would do well to learn  but if he was setting out not just to make money, but to damage the King, Queen Consort and the Prince of Wales, he has almost certainly failed. His weapons of self-pity, disloyalty and indiscretion may indeed prove lethal. However, he is the chief and (with the possible exception of his wife) perhaps the only long-term casualty.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 10, ARMENPRESS. The European Union will impose new sanctions on Belarus as it keeps up the pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine and extends measures to those countries that support Russia, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.

"We will keep pressure on the Kremlin for as long as it takes with a biting sanctions regime, we will extend these sanctions to those who militarily support Russia's war such as Belarus or Iran," Reuters quoted von der Leyen as saying at a news conference. "And we will be coming forward with new sanctions against Belarus answering their role in this Russian war in Ukraine."
London: Prince Harrys Spare became the UKs fastest selling non-fiction book ever, its publisher said, after days of TV interviews, leaks, and a mistaken early release of the memoir containing intimate revelations about the British royal family.

Harrys book has garnered attention around the world with its disclosures about his personal struggles and its accusations about other royals, including his father King Charles, stepmother Camilla and elder brother Prince William.

Pedestrians pass a display in the window of a book shop in London. Credit: AP

We always knew this book would fly but it is exceeding even our most bullish expectations, Transworld Penguin Random House Managing Director Larry Finlay said in a statement on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT).

As far as we know, the only books to have sold more in their first day are those starring the other Harry [Potter].
Washington: Kevin McCarthy has overcome his first major test as the new Speaker of the US House of Representatives, after Republicans narrowly passed the concessions he offered right-wing rebels to get the job  including a deal that makes it easier for them to overthrow him.

Fresh from the bruising factional battle that paralysed the Congress for days, Republicans have united to push through a contentious rules package that will overhaul the way the House works, cut federal spending and fast-track consideration of laws to further restrict abortion.

Congress has been broken for a long time, McCarthy said after the package passed on Monday (Tuesday AEDT).

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, walks from his office to the House floor on his first day on the job. Credit: Bloomberg

Over the years, a concentration of power within the Speakers Office has kept lawmakers on the legislative sidelines. Lawmaking should be open to all members  not just a select few  so that the best ideas win.
Russia expected to take control of key Ukrainian town after fierce fighting

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PHILIPSBURG:--- WITU is calling on the Honorable Minister of ECYS drs. Rodolphe E. Samuel to do the right thing and finalize all outstanding payments owed to staff of the DPE National Summer School Program, Stuart Johnson President of the WITU stated.

The staff of the DPE National Summer School program sent a letter dated, December 5, 2022, to the Minister of Education drs. R. Samuel.

In the written correspondence the concerned staff made clear, the staff of the DPE National Summer School Program has not received the full agreed financial compensation for instructing the students at the DPE National Summer School Program of 2022.

In these times, teaching and non-teaching staff should not have to beg for communication or to get what is rightfully due to them, Johnson added.

The outraged staff in their written correspondence further stated, The lack of communication on this matter is insensitive. We are your St. Maarten public school teachers! We play a critical role in ensuring that our democracy works and the economy grows. We are disheartened by the disregard and poor treatment given to us under your administration. We are now requesting the remainder of the payment owed as per our agreement, as six months has passed since we had the DPE National Summer School Program.

Johnson in conclusion minced no words by saying, I look forward to the resolution of this matter within a very short period of time as discussions with the members could immediately lead elsewhere.

Click here to view letters between WITU and Ministry ECYS.
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- Persons interested in participating in the Color Walk 23 must register at Kooyman between 8:00 AM  6:00 PM, from Monday to Sunday.



Color Walk 23 will take place on Sunday, February 5 at 5:00 AM. The route will be from the Kooyman parking lot to the Collective Prevention Service (CPS) office at the Vineyard Building in Philipsburg.



Participants will receive a package with a T-Shirt, a Backpack with water, and a colour powder pack plus free giveaways once they complete registration.



The package can be picked up on January 28 and February 4 between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM at the offices of CPS, Vineyard Building.



The proceeds from the organization of the walk will go to the St. Maarten AIDS Foundation.



CPS, a department in the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (Ministry VSA), has joined forces with Kooyman along with other stakeholders to organize the Color Walk 23.
~ Labega admits to the claim in Tuesdays trial.~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Court of First Instance rendered its verdict in the case against Khalil Revan on Tuesday morning. Revan did not show up for the trial or verdict rendered on Tuesday. Qredits and the NRBP launched court cases against three politicians who received funding for specific projects which did not materialize.

The case against Revan was handled on December 13th, 2022, while the case against Dimar Labega was handled on Tuesday morning.

SMN News was not able to get the details of the default verdict that was rendered on Tuesday morning against Khalil Revan.

On Tuesday morning Dimar Labega attended the court hearing in the case that was brought against him since he is in default of paying back the NRPB and Qredits. Labega did not contest the claim that was brought against him. A decision of the court is expected in two weeks.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Troy Washington, N.V. GEBE's Temporary Manager/Special Representative has been using his family-owned construction company to do road works while being the head of the company. The conflict of interest has raised many concerns among employees of the company.

Washington Construction has been conducting several construction projects for GEBE. The company has been executing work for the Ministry of VROMI since the appointment of the temporary manager Troy Washington.

Washington holds a Masters degree in Finance, a Masters degree in Business Administration, and a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering and has worked for the Princess Juliana Airport prior to taking up the position at GEBE. In September 2022, the Council of Ministers appointed Washington until further notice.
Golden Rim drilling targets multiple high-grade gold zones at Kadaa?s Bereko prospect

West African gold explorer Golden Rim Resources Ltd (ASX: GMR; Golden Rim or the Company  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/golden-rim-resources-ltd/ ) is pleased to provide an update on the 10,000m reverse circulation (RC) drill program underway at its flagship Kada Gold Project (Kada) in Guinea.

Highlights

2,233m of RC drilling (17 holes) completed at Massan Prospect, including all Priority 1 holes.

RC rig has moved to Bereko Prospect, following up on multiple zones of high-grade mineralisation along a 5.5km-long bedrock gold anomaly. 1,318 meters (12 holes) have been completed as of 8 January 2022.

Trenching has commenced at Massan to enhance understanding on geometry and structural controls of mineralisation in the 930,000oz gold[1] Mineral Resource area.

Diamond drill rig will commence 3,500m drilling at Kada shortly.

First 9 RC holes dispatched to assay laboratory for analysis, results expected later this month.

Golden Rim has successfully completed Priority 1 RC holes at the Massan prospect, with 17 holes drilled for 2,233m completed to date (Figure 1). Seven holes were extended as mineralisation was noted at the planned depth of these holes.

The RC rig has moved to the Bereko Prospect and commenced drilling, with 6,000m planned along the 5.5km long bedrock gold anomalies, to follow up on multiple zones of mineralisation (including 11m @ 6.3g/t gold and 10m @ 5.6g/t gold) discovered in initial RC exploration drillholes completed in May 2022 (Figure 2). As of the 8 January 2022, 12 holes for 1,318 m have been completed at Bereko.

A diamond drilling (DD) rig is in transit to Kada and is expected to commence drilling shortly with 3,500m of diamond drilling planned across both the Massan and Bereko prospects.

Golden Rima?s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Strong, said:

aWe are delighted at the speed with which the drilling has commenced and the progress of our exploration program at our flagship Kada project in Guinea. RC drilling has averaged more than 1,000 metres per week at Massan. The RC rig has moved to the Bereko prospect, 9km north of the current Mineral Resource, allowing us to commence a trenching campaign at Massan to further improve geological confidence within the Mineral Resource area.

aA diamond drilling rig is scheduled to commence soon and is expected to provide us with vital structural information about the controls on mineralisation across both the Massan and Bereko prospects.

aWe are expecting our first assay results towards the end of January, and the two drill rigs and trenching will provide us with a steady stream of new results over the coming months.a

Diamond drilling and trenching to commence at Kada

At Bereko, diamond drilling will focus on confirming the width, grade and extensions of the highly significant gold mineralisation discovered in the initial RC drilling program and providing the structural information required for resource estimation.

Diamond drilling at Massan has three main objectives: test numerous zones of open mineralisation at depth (including below 29m @ 8.5 g/t gold in previous hole, KRC025); testing numerous deeper exploration targets identified by gradient-array Induced Polarisation (IP) and Pole-Dipole IP geophysical surveys completed in late 2022; and providing further critical structural information to progress the Mineral Resource towards an Indicated classification.

The first nine RC holes from Massan have been dispatched to the assay laboratory for analysis, with results expected to be received in late January 2023.

In addition, the Company has commenced a trenching campaign (six trenches for approximately 800m) in the Mineral Resource Area at Massan. This trenching is expected to provide important structural information to assist in geological modelling and help guide the location of planned infill drilling in the Mineral Resource.

[1] ASX Announcement: Kada Maiden Mineral Resource 930koz Gold dated 3 March 2022 (Inferred Mineral Resource of 25.5Mt at 1.1g/t gold for 930,000oz)

Contact Information:

Golden Rim Resources Ltd

ABN 39 006 710 774

Tim Strong

Chief Executive Officer

+61 3 8677 0829

tim@goldenrim.com.au

This announcement was authorised for release by the Chief Executive Officer of Golden Rim Resources Ltd.

Competent Persons Statements

The information in this report relating to previous exploration results and Mineral Resources are extracted from the announcements: Golden Rim identifies extensive additional oxide gold target areas at Bereko dated 14 July 2022; Golden Rim Hits 43m at 1.2gt Gold Outside Kada Mineral Resource dated 21 June 2022; Golden Rim Commences Infill Auger Drilling at Bereko Gold Prospects dated 25 May 2022; Golden Rim hits shallow high-grade oxide gold at Bereko dated 19 May 2022; Golden Rima?s Drilling Outside Kada Mineral Resource Area Delivers More Oxide Gold dated 11 May 2022; Kada Maiden Mineral Resource 930Koz Gold dated 3 March 2022; Golden Rim Discovers More Oxide Gold in Exploration Drilling at Kada dated 1 March 2022; Golden Rim hits 171.5g/t gold in sampling at Kada with multiple new targets identified dated 22 February 2022; Golden Rim Discovers Exciting New Zone of Oxide Gold at Kada a 66m at 1.0g/t Gold dated 17 February 2022; Golden Rim Expands Kada Bedrock Gold Corridor to 15km dated 30 July 2021; Major Bedrock Gold Corridor Extends to 4.7km at Kada dated 20 May 2021; Major 3.5km Bedrock Gold Corridor Confirmed at Kada dated 19 April 2021. These reports are available on the Companya?s website (www.goldenrim.com.au). The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in these announcements and, in the case of the Mineral Resource estimate, that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning estimate continue to apply and have not materially changed.

The information in this report that relates to exploration results is based on information compiled by Craig Mackay, a Competent Person, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Mackay is a full-time employee of the Company and has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the aAustralasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reservesa?. Mr Mackay consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this document are or maybe aforward-looking statementsa and represent Golden Rima?s intentions, projections, expectations or beliefs concerning among other things, future exploration activities. The projections, estimates and beliefs contained in such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Golden Rim, and which may cause Golden Rima?s actual performance in future periods to differ materially from any express or implied estimates or projections. Nothing in this document is a promise or representation as to the future. Statements or assumptions in this document as to future matters may prove to be incorrect and differences may be material. Golden Rim does not make any representation or warranty as to the accuracy of such statements or assumptions.

ABOUT GOLDEN RIM RESOURCES

Golden Rim Resources Limited is an ASX listed exploration company with a portfolio of advanced minerals projects in Guinea and Burkina Faso, West Africa and in Chile, South America.

The Companya?s flagship project is the advanced Kada Gold Project in eastern Guinea. Guinea remains one of the most under-explored countries in West Africa. Golden Rim has outlined a maiden Inferred Mineral Resource of 25.5Mt at 1.1g/t gold for 930Koz[1], the majority of which is shallow oxide-transitional gold mineralisation. Golden Rim is focussed on growing the Mineral Resource. Most of the 200km2 project area remains poorly explored and there is considerable upside for the discovery of additional oxide gold mineralisation.

The Company discovered and has outlined an Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 50Mt at 1.3g/t gold for 2Moz[2] at the Kouri Gold Project, located in north-east Burkina Faso. Kouri covers 325km2 of highly prospective Birimian greenstones. Exploration has successfully located several high-grade gold shoots.

In northern Chile, Golden Rim has the Paguanta Copper and Silver-Lead-Zinc Project. Historically a silver mine, the Company has outlined a Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 2.4Mt at 88g/t silver, 5.0% zinc and 1.4% lead for 6.8Moz silver, 265Mlb zinc and 74Mlb lead[3] at the Patricia Prospect. The Mineral Resource remains open.

At the adjacent Loreto Copper Project in Chile, Golden Rim has signed an Option and Joint Venture agreement with Teck Chile whereby Teck Chile can acquire up to a 75% interest in the project.

ASX:GMR

Market Capitalisation: A$11.8 million

Shares on Issue: 392 million

T + 61 3 8677 0829A |A E info@goldenrim.com.auA |A goldenrim.com.au

[1] ASX Announcement: Kada Maiden Mineral Resource 930koz Gold dated 3 March 2022.

[2] ASX Announcement: Kouri Mineral Resource Increases by 43% to 2 Million ounces Gold dated 26 October 2020 (Total Mineral Resource includes: Indicated Mineral Resource of 7Mt at 1.4g/t gold and Inferred Mineral Resource of 43Mt at 1.2g/t gold).

[3] ASX Announcement: New Resource Estimation for Paguanta dated 30 May 2017 (Total Mineral Resource includes: Measured Mineral Resource of 0.41Mt at 5.5% zinc, 1.8% lead, 88g/t silver, 0.3g/t gold; Indicated Mineral Resource of 0.61Mt at 5.1% zinc, 1.8% lead, 120g/t silver, 0.3g/t gold; Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.3Mt at 4.8% zinc, 1.1% lead, 75g/t silver, 0.3g/t gold).
Alpha Lithium Appoints Ausenco to Commence PEA for Lithium Carbonate Plant in Argentina

Alpha Lithium Corporation (NEO: ALLI) (OTC: APHLF) (German WKN: A3CUW1) (aAlphaa or the aCompanya  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/alpha-lithium-corp/ ), a company focused on the development of over 27,500 hectares of what may be the last, 100% owned, undeveloped lithium salar in the Salta region of Argentina, is pleased to report that after an extensive review and selection process, Australian-based Ausenco Limited (aAusencoa) has been selected to undertake a Preliminary Economic Assessment (aPEAa) of a proposed 50,000 tonne/year high-purity lithium carbonate production plant in Tolillar salar.

As a result of the Companya?s recent drilling program that included record drilling results (see December 19, 2022 news release), the Company has increased the size of the proposed plant to 50,000 tonnes/year of high-purity lithium carbonate with a minimum 40-year production life. According to public reports, lithium carbonate has sold on the spot market for an average of over US$70,000 for the last 12 months, and the market is generally expected to remain undersupplied for several years.

Alpha has prepared an internal financial model that will form the basis of the PEA, with all inputs, processes and results being confirmed by Ausenco as part of its engagement.

The Company continues to drill in Tolillar salar and expects to complete an updated 43-101 Resource Report in the coming weeks.

Brad Nichol, President and CEO of Alpha, commented, aAusenco is an elite engineering firm that has performed multiple PEAa?s for several large projects, including the Pozuelos / Pastos Grandes project that was sold in July 2022 for US$950 million. Their expertise involves all project areas extending to geology, mining, infrastructure and financial modelling. We are very fortunate to have Ausenco as our chosen independent engineering firm to perform this PEA.a Nichol added, aWe are equally excited to have the confidence, based on recent drilling, to increase the proposed size of our first high-grade lithium carbonate plant by 25% to 50,000 tonnes/year.a

Ausenco is based across 26 offices in 14 countries, with projects in over 80 locations worldwide. The firm encompasses deep technical expertise with a 30-year track record, to deliver innovative, value-add consulting studies, project delivery, asset operations and maintenance solutions to the mining & metals, oil & gas and industrial sectors. Ausenco has successfully completed studies for clients all around the world, including initial concept studies, pre-feasibility studies, and definitive studies used for assisting in the procurement of project financing. From hot, wet, tropical locations to dry, cold, high-altitude sites, Ausenco has designed efficient plants around the world and in the most challenging climates, including in the renowned Lithium Triangle.

The plant is being designed in two 25,000 tonne/year modules, the second module to be constructed after the plant has reached reliable, steady-state production, presumably several months after the initial module is operational. Ausenco will require approximately six months to complete the PEA, with final results of the study expected to be published in Q3 2023.

All operations and assets of the Company are in Argentina and are fully managed by Alpha Lithium Argentina SA (aAlpha SAa) utilizing local employees and consultants. Alpha has no operations or assets in Canada. Since initiating the first steps of an exploration program in 2020, Alpha SA has drilled more than one dozen wellbores, constructed an in-house brine chemistry research laboratory, developed a proprietary Lithium Carbonate production process that works in Tolillar with remarkable success, started construction of a pilot plant, and employed dozens of highly skilled Argentinian technologists, engineers, geologists, geophysicists and chemists, in addition to several students, accounting, managerial and HR professionals. The Company is grateful for, and reliant upon, the significantly large Argentinian team that has proven instrumental at generating value for shareholders.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF ALPHA LITHIUM CORPORATION

aBrad Nichola

Brad Nichol

President, CEO and Director

For more information:

Alpha Lithium Investor Relations

Tel: +1 844 592 6337

relations@alphalithium.com

www.alphalithium.com

In Europe:

Swiss Resource Capital AG

Jochen Staiger

info@resource-capital.ch

www.resource-capital.ch

About Alpha Lithium (NEO: ALLI) (OTC: APHLF) (German WKN: A3CUW1)

Alpha Lithium is a team of industry professionals and experienced stakeholders focused on the development of the Tolillar and Hombre Muerto Salars. In Tolillar, we have assembled 100% ownership of what may be one of Argentinaa?s last undeveloped lithium salars, encompassing 27,500 hectares (67,954 acres), neighboring multi-billion-dollar lithium players in the heart of the renowned aLithium Trianglea. In Hombre Muerto, we continue to expand our 5,000+ hectare (12,570 acres) foothold in one of the worlda?s highest quality, longest producing, lithium salars. Other companies in the area exploring for lithium brines or currently in production include Orocobre Limited, Galaxy Lithium, Allkem Ltd., Livent Corporation, and POSCO in Salar del Hombre Muerto; Orocobre in Salar Olaroz; Eramine SudAmerica S.A. in Salar de Centenario; and Gangfeng and Lithium Americas in Salar de Cauchari.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as \will\, \may\, \should\, \anticipate\, \expects\ and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company\-s expectations include the results of further brine process testing and exploration and other risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by applicable law.

No securities regulatory authority has reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.
Maple Gold Drills 10.3 G/T Gold Over 7.8 Metres, Including 41.1 G/T Gold Over 1 Metre, in the North Mine Horizon at Eagle

Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX-V: MGM) (OTCQB: MGMLF) (FSE: M3G)A (\Maple Gold\ or the \Company\  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/maple-gold-mines-ltd/ ) is pleased to report additional assay results from the Companya?s 2022 drilling at its 100%-controlled Eagle Mine Property (\Eagle\) located in QuAbec, Canada. The new results represent complete assays from five (5) follow-up holes for which partial results were previously reported (see news from December 13, 2022), targeting northwest extensions of the main mine horizon and along multiple sub-parallel gold horizons (see Figures 1 and 2). The Companya?s latest drilling in the northern splay of the main mine horizon (the \North Mine Horizon\) has returned the best intercept to-date from its 2022 program at Eagle.

Highlights:

Drill hole EM-22-015 intersected 3 g/t gold (\Au\) over 7.8 metres (\m\), including 41.1 g/t Au over 1.0 m in the North Mine Horizon.

Further up-hole, EM-22-015 intersected 3 g/t Au over 3.9 m, including 6.6 g/t Au over 2.0 m, demonstrating the potential for the North Mine Horizon to be wider than what was previously interpreted (see Figure 2).

The EM-22-015 intercepts are located down-plunge from historical high-grade, near-surface drill results from a geologically similar hole (E-19: 19.6 g/t Au over 7.9 m, as well as 17.5 g/t Au over 5.6 m further up-hole) in an area with limited drilling that remains open further down-plunge (see Figure 3).

EM-22-015 has now returned seven (7) separate intercepts over a 120 m interval starting from 142.5 m downhole.

Assays are still pending for roughly 20% of the Companya?s 2022 drilling at Eagle.

aDrill results continue to support the Companya?s view that multiple sub-parallel gold horizons exist beyond what was historically mined at Eagle and have expanded our target areas along a broader mineralized corridor over a stratigraphic thickness that now exceeds 100 metres in width,astated Matthew Hornor, CEO of Maple Gold.A aThere is an apparent concentration of >10 g/t gold starting near surface and extending down-plunge to the EM-22-015 intercepts along the North Mine Horizon in an area with limited drilling that remains open further down-plunge. This represents just one of several compelling follow-up targets that we are excited to pursue in 2023.a

Interpretation and Summary of ResultsA

Key assay results reported herein are from holes drilled at different orientations from the site of hole EM-22-005 (see news from June 20, 2022); three (3) starting from the same drill collar (EM-22-013, EM-22-015, EM-22-016) and one (1) wedge drill hole (EM-22-005W). The new results from EM-22-015 support the Companya?s model of multiple sub-parallel gold horizons, some of which are particularly high-grade (>10 g/t), extending from the southern splay of the main mine horizon (the \South Mine Horizon\) to beyond the North Mine Horizon over a mineralized corridor that now exceeds 100 m in width. These two horizons merge into a single main mine horizon in the central part of the Eagle property (see Figure 1).

Gold mineralization at Eagle is not only limited to the known main mine horizon, hosted in mixed epiclastic and pyroclastic rocks of the northern part of the Joutel-Raymond volcanic complex, but also extends into a sill-like microgabbro occurring close to the Harricana Fault, and sporadically into the Harricana sediments further to the north.

The EM-22-015 intercepts are located approximately 60 m down-plunge from historical hole E-19. Additional historical drill holes intersected >5g/t Au roughly 250 m further down-plunge, highlighting the grade and volume potential of this new zone that will be tested via follow-up drilling in 2023.

In contrast with the South Mine Horizon, which is hosted in a mixed package of fine-grained crystal tuffs and laminated sediments with the latter hosting most of the gold-bearing semi-massive sulfide mineralization cut by irregular ankerite-(quartz) veinlets, the North Mine Horizon is associated with coarser lapilli-tuffs that appear to have been quite permeable and allowed deposition of abundant matrix sulfide (see Plate 1) adjacent to and overlapping with the microgabbro further downhole. The distribution of these coarse tuffs adjacent to the microgabbro represent a favorable target that has relatively limited drilling to the northwest as well as down-dip and down-plunge (see Figures 2 and 3).

Intercepts >2 g/t Au have now been obtained at Eagle at downhole depths ranging from 109 to 1,234 m, which is indicative of the significant depth continuity of the system. Multi-element geochemistry, a first for the Eagle project, indicates that Au is associated with elevated silver (\Ag\) and that several additional elements can be used for targeting purposes as they provide for a significantly broader footprint than Au and Ag alone.

The Company completed a total of 28 drill holes corresponding to ~13,823 m at Eagle during 2022. Approximately 20% of the assays for the entire program are still pending. Additional assay results will be released on a periodic basis over the coming months once they are received and interpreted.

Outlook for Further Exploration at Eagle-Telbel

The Companya?s next steps will include a comprehensive review of all available data at Eagle, including incorporating results from the 2022 program into its 3D geological model, along with definition of priority targets for follow-up drilling in H1 2023. The Company also believes that continued drilling success at Eagle will relate positively to ongoing exploration on its joint venture ground at Telbel and along the entire Joutel Deformation Zone.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical data contained in this press release was reviewed and prepared under the supervision of Fred Speidel, M. Sc., P. Geo., Vice-President Exploration of Maple Gold. Mr. Speidel is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Speidel has verified the data related to the exploration information disclosed in this press release through his direct participation in the work.

Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC)

The Company implements strict Quality Assurance (\QA\) and Quality Control (\QC\) protocols at Eagle covering the planning and placing of drill holes in the field; drilling and retrieving the NQ-sized drill core; drill hole surveying; core transport; core logging by qualified personnel; sampling and bagging of core for analysis; transport of core from site to the Val d\-Or, QuAbec AGAT laboratory; sample preparation for assaying; and analysis, recording and final statistical vetting of results. Check assays for gold are being done on a sample subset at ALSa? laboratory in Val da?Or. For a complete description of protocols, please visit the Company\-s QA/QC webpage at www.maplegoldmines.com.

About Maple Gold

Maple Gold Mines Ltd. is a Canadian advanced exploration company in a 50/50 joint venture with Agnico Eagle Mines Limited to jointly advance the district-scale Douay and Joutel gold projects located in QuAbec\-s prolific Abitibi Greenstone Gold Belt. The projects benefit from exceptional infrastructure access and boast ~400 km2 of highly prospective ground including an established gold resource at Douay (SLR 2022) that holds significant expansion potential as well as the past-producing Eagle, Telbel and Eagle West mines at Joutel. In addition, the Company holds an exclusive option to acquire 100% of the Eagle Mine Property.

The district-scale property package also hosts a significant number of regional exploration targets along a 55 km strike length of the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone that have yet to be tested through drilling, making the project ripe for new gold and polymetallic discoveries. The Company is well capitalized and is currently focused on carrying out exploration and drill programs to grow resources and make new discoveries to establish an exciting new gold district in the heart of the Abitibi. For more information, please visit www.maplegoldmines.com.

ON BEHALF OF MAPLE GOLD MINES LTD.

\Matthew Hornor\

1. Matthew Hornor, President & CEO

For Further Information Please Contact:

Mr. Joness Lang

Executive Vice-President

Cell: 778.686.6836

Email: jlang@maplegoldmines.com

Mr. Jeff Uppal

Manager, Investor Relations

Cell: 778.977.4724

Email: juppal@maplegoldmines.com

In Europe:

Swiss Resource Capital AG

Jochen Staiger

info@resource-capital.ch

www.resource-capital.ch

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS PRESS RELEASE.

Forward Looking Statements:

This press release contains \forward-looking information\ and \forward-looking statements\ (collectively referred to as \forward-looking statements\) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation in Canada, including statements about exploration work and results from current and future work programs. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions, uncertainties and management\-s best estimate of future events. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company\-s expectations and projections. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to Maple Gold Mines Ltd.\-s filings with Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.com or the Company\-s website at www.maplegoldmines.com. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 10, ARMENPRESS. The new Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Imangali Tasmangambetov says the organization is capable of solving its objectives.

Despite all challenges, I am deeply convinced that there is no alternative to the CSTO, it is capable of solving the tasks set before it, Tasmangambetov, who assumed office on January 1, 2023, said through his spokesperson Vladimir Zaynetdinov to TASS news agency.

The CSTO Secretary General noted that the world is currently witnessing major geopolitical challenges.

We must solve very complicated political, economic and other issues. The CSTO is facing no less difficult issues. All these challenges and issues are impacting the key role of our organization, its reputation and ability to be an effective mechanism for ensuring regional security. Its future reputation and effectiveness depends on us and you, he said.
GoldMining Announces the Appointment of David Garofalo as Co-Chair

GoldMining Inc. (the \Company\ or \GoldMining\  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/goldmining-inc/ ) (TSX: GOLD; NYSE American: GLDG) is pleased to announce the appointment of David Garofalo as a director and co-Chair of the Company.

Amir Adnani, founder and Co-Chair of GoldMining, commented: \David brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in the gold mining industry, including leading the largest merger in gold industry history between Goldcorp and Newmont. His addition to our leadership team will be invaluable as we continue our value creation strategy, which recently has included the successful IPO of Gold Royalty and recent optioning of the Almaden Project.a

He added: aDavid has been a member of our advisory board since 2020 where we partnered to complete the IPO of Gold Royalty in 2021. I look forward to working closely alongside David as co-Chair as we continue to execute our strategy.\

Mr. Garofalo has worked in various leadership capacities in the natural resources sector over the last 30 years.A He has served as Chairman & CEO of Gold Royalty Corp since August 2020, President and CEO of Goldcorp Inc. from 2016 to 2019, President & CEO of Hudbay Minerals Inc. from 2010 to 2015, Senior Vice President, Finance & CFO of Agnico-Eagle Limited from 1998 to 2010 and as treasurer and other various finance roles with Inmet Mining Corporation from 1990 to 1998.

David was named Mining Person of the Year by The Northern Miner in 2012 and Canadaa?s CFO of the Year by Financial Executives International Canada in 2009.A A graduate of the University of Toronto (B.Comm.), he is also an FCPA, FCA, ICD.D.A He also serves on the boards of directors of the Vancouver Board of Trade and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

About GoldMining Inc.

GoldMining Inc. is a public mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of gold assets in the Americas. A Through its disciplined acquisition strategy, GoldMining now controls a diversified portfolio of resource-stage gold and gold-copper projects in Canada, U.S.A., Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. A The Company also owns more than 21 million shares of Gold Royalty Corp. (NYSE American: GROY).

Forward-looking Statements

This document contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations, including statements regarding the Company\-s strategies and future plans, including the proposed initial public offering of U.S. GoldMining Inc. A Forward-looking statements are based on the then-current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about the business and the markets in which GoldMining operates. A Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, fluctuating metal prices, economic conditions, unanticipated costs and expenses and uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future. A These risks, as well as others, including those set forth in GoldMining?s Annual Information Form for the year ended November 30, 2021, and other filings with Canadian securities regulators and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly. A Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. A There can be no assurance that forward-looking information, or the material factors or assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information, will prove to be accurate. A The Company does not undertake any obligations to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law.
Dallas Digital Marketing Team Offers Responsive Ecommerce Web Design & SEO

If youa?ve been looking to update your businessa?s website, you need to ensure it meets the expectations of todaya?s consumers. Mach 1 Design understands this need and offers you responsive and converting website design for your business in Dallas. The companya?s services include the creation of customized websites that will implement your businessa?s branding, while also attracting more visitors and increasing conversion rates. Visit https://mach1design.com/website-design-services for more information. By providing custom website design services, the Dallas company helps you to improve your online presence and easily connect with your target audience. Website quality is a key factor for the success of your company, and a bad user experience can be more detrimental to your business than not having a website at all. Mach 1 Design can build a professional and user-friendly website that attracts and converts visitors for your business. The digital marketing companya?s team of developers can rework your existing website or create a new one from scratch, integrating your branding into the design. Each website created by Mach 1 Design combines branded and engaging content with a fast and responsive user experience. This includes optimizing websites to be compatible with mobile devices, to ensure potential clients have a smooth experience whenever they visit your site. With over 25 years of experience designing and marketing websites, the company has both the expertise and industry insight to know what works. They have developed sites for clients in a wide range of industries, such as eCommerce brands, lawyers, doctors, roofers, plumbers, and builders. The company is based in Dallas, and its services are available for businesses of all sizes throughout Texas, including Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, Irving, Garland, and Frisco. As a full-service digital marketing company, Mach 1 Design also offers a wide range of additional services that include email marketing, local SEO, social media marketing, content marketing, PPC advertising, and digital MVP. A recent customer of the marketing company said, aOur website traffic is up 300%, and we are getting qualified leads. The site they built is excellent, and it does a great job of letting visitors understand who we are and what we do.a Get a responsive and engaging website for your Dallas business with expert marketing design services. For more information, you can visit https://mach1design.com or you can call (469- 536-8478)
YEREVAN, JANUARY 10, ARMENPRESS. The governments of Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) dont have differing positions over any issue, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference.

No, there are no such issues, at least by my impression, because we maintain permanent communication, and as of this moment I dont have any such issue recorded in my agenda, PM Pashinyan said when asked whether or not there are any issues around which Yerevan and Stepanakert disagree.
Azerbaijan must lift the blockade of Lachin Corridor and release the Armenian prisoners of war, Ambassador-at-Large Edmon Marukyan said.

January 10, 2023, 11:53 Armenian Ambassador-at-Large calls on Azerbaijan to respect intl law no matter how much gas & oil you have

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 10, ARTSAKHPRESS: Azerbaijan keeps 120,000 people of Nagorno Karabakh under siege for a month, and Armenian POWs for over 2 years, violating international law. Azerbaijan must lift the blockade of Lachin Corridor and release the POWs. International law must be respected no matter how much gas & oil you have, Marukyan tweeted.
Armenia is for now only recording the facts and not drawing any conclusions in conditions of Russia and the CSTO failing to give appropriate reaction to Azerbaijans aggression against the territory of Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference.

January 10, 2023, 14:10 CSTO Yerevan summit is over, but conversation isnt  Pashinyan on blocs failure to respond to Azeri attack

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 10, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: The idea that Russia is the number one security ally and guarantor of security of Armenia has been a cornerstone in the process of the formation of the Republic of Armenia. Weve also perceived and continue to perceive that issue in that way. And after the 44-Day-War of 2020 our primary concern was the following, that Azerbaijan will launch aggression against internationally recognized territory of Armenia. And this has been the main subject of our communications with Russia in the security sector. And I think this conversation was very concrete. And as a result of these conversations we had received official assurances that the borders of Armenia are red lines for our security allies and partners, Pashinyan said.

However, when the events in Sotk-Khoznavar took place in May 2021, the Azeri invasion into territory of Armenia, Armenia expected concrete actions from Russia and other security partners as part of previously reached agreements. And in response to Armenias appeals and applications, we received an argument that the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan are not demarcated. And in this context a substantial contradiction emerged, in this case where does that red line pass, and weve recorded this in interstate relations. In this context, the answer to this question has become very important for building future relations, Pashinyan said.

The Armenian PM emphasized that this red line de jure exists , it is the CSTOs area of responsibility in the region, particularly in Armenia. And during the CSTO summit in Yerevan our main objective was that not only do we have a problem in theory, but also in practice, to show and understand what the CSTOs area of responsibility is in Armenia. And we said, without officially recording this line we dont imagine adopting any document. This is the main content that remains on the table today. Meaning, the CSTO Yerevan summit is over, but the conversation is not. And this continues to be an agenda item for us, the Armenian PM said.

In recent period, while communicating with Western countries Azerbaijan is explaining its aggressive actions by saying that it has fears that Armenia and Russia are preparing joint aggression against Azerbaijan and that their actions are preventive. The Armenian Prime Minister described this as absurd, and added that on the backdrop of the events in Ukraine this narrative generates some interest and that is why Azerbaijan is developing this narrative in the West. And we are drawing the attention of our Russian partners on this fact, recording that in conditions of them not responding, it turns out that the Russian military presence in Armenia not only doesnt guarantee Armenias security but on the contrary creates threats for Armenias security. And we are not drawing conclusions from these facts, we are simply recording the facts for now, the PM said, adding that this has been a constant conversation with Russia.
The leaders of the coalition set, on Tuesday, the calendar for the adoption of the new education law, to be adopted by the Government until February 15, and the Parliament would debate and vote on it until March 15, told Agerpres.

According to some political sources, experts from the parties will work together with the Ministry of Education to complete the bill by February 1. The new education law should be adopted by the Government by February 15. Parliament would debate and vote on the bill, in both chambers, until March 15.

The leaders of the coalition had the first meeting of this year on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the National Meteorological Administration issued a Code orange warning of heavy rainfall valid until Wednesday evening in the counties of Prahova, Buzau, Vrancea and in the mountainous area of Dambovita county.

According to meteorologists, between January 10, 6:00 p.m. and January 11, 10:00 p.m., there will be heavy precipitation in the mentioned areas, and through accumulation, throughout the interval, precipitation amounts will generally be over 50. ..60 l/m2.

The precipitation will be in the form of rain in the low relief areas and snow at altitudes generally above 1000 m, where a consistent layer of snow will be deposited locally.

On the other hand, a Code yellow was issued for quantitatively significant precipitation and intensification of the wind in the mountains, valid from Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. until Wednesday at 10:00 p.m.

The Code yellow targets the north of Oltenia, Muntenia locality, as well as the south-west of Moldova, where it will rain quantitatively. The amounts of water, through accumulation throughout the interval, will exceed 25...30 l/m2 and on restricted areas 40...50 l/m2.

In the Southern Carpathians and in the south of the Eastern Carpathians, at altitudes generally above 1000 m, it will snow quantitatively and a layer of snow will be deposited. The wind will intensify in the high area, especially during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, with gusts of over 70...90 km/h, blowing the snow and reducing visibility.

The counties partially marked with Code yellow are: Caras-Severin, Hunedoara, Alba, Sibiu, Brasov, Covasna, Bacau, Ialomita, Dambovita, Ilfov and the municipality of Bucharest. Also, the counties of Mehedinti, Gorj, Valcea and Arges are fully under Code Yellow warning.

For the interval January 10, 10:00 a.m. - January 12, 10:00 a.m., the meteorologists issued, also on Tuesday, an information regarding quantitatively moderate precipitation, at first in the west, center and south of the territory, then in the other areas, and from the night from Wednesday to Thursday, their area will be restricted to the eastern and southeastern regions. Water quantities of 15...25 l/m2 and in some places more than 30 l/m2 will accumulate locally.

The precipitation will be in the form of rain in the low relief areas, mixed in the Western Carpathians, eastern Transylvania and Moldova and predominantly snow in the rest of the mountain area, where a layer of snow will be deposited. There will be isolated dust deposits.

Locally and temporarily the wind will intensify, with speeds in general of 45...55 km/h.AGERPRES
The Minister of National Defence, Angel Tilvar, on Tuesday met with the Romanian troops stationed at the Bemowo Piskie base, occasion on which he also met his Polish counterpart, Mariusz Blaszczak, discussing the security situation in the region, in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine, told Agerpres.

"Today, in Poland, I met with the Romanian troops deployed at the Bemowo Piskie base. I felt moved to be with the Romanian soldiers who, together with our allies, contribute to preserving a climate of peace and normality on NATO's eastern flank," Tilvar wrote on Facebook.

He showed that Romania and Poland have shown solidarity in relation to Ukrainian refugees.

"I also had a very good discussion with my counterpart, Mariusz Blaszczak, about the security situation in the region, in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine. Both Romania and Poland showed solidarity in relation to the millions of Ukrainian refugees who had to leave their homes and country and flee to avoid the war. We must be united in the face of Russia's aggression, and Ukraine must remain a sovereign and independent state, within internationally recognized borders," added the Romanian official.
Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu welcomed on Tuesday Ambassador of Brazil to Romania Maria Laura da Rocha, on the occasion of her completing the mission in our country, context in which he conveyed "the firm" support for the tenure of President Lula da Silva, legitimately elected with the observance of international standards in electoral matters.

Minister Aurescu reiterated that Romania firmly condemns "the recent attacks over the democratic institutions in Brazil" and underscored "the confidence in the resilience of Brazilian institutions," a Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) release sent to AGERPRES shows.

Furthermore, the two officials reaffirmed the attachment toward the fundamental universal values in the foreign politics of Romania and Brazil and reconfirmed the will to continue the good collaboration in a multilateral framework, for the promotion and defence of international order based on rules and on the principles of international law.

Minister Bogdan Aurescu thanked Ambassador Maria Laura da Rocha for her entire activity in Romania and wished her good luck in the secretary general office she is to assume in the upcoming period within the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Federative Republic of Brazil.
The UN Security Council holds a meeting on the chemical weapons issue of Syria, at the UN headquarters in New York, on Jan. 5, 2023. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

Resolution 2672 calls on all UN member states to respond with practical steps to address the urgent needs of the Syrian people, and welcomes ongoing efforts and encourages further initiatives to broaden the humanitarian activities in Syria.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution to confirm the re-authorization of cross-border aid deliveries into Syria for another six months, till July 10, 2023.

Resolution 2672 confirms Resolution 2642 of July 2022, which decides to extend the authorization for aid deliveries through the crossing at Bab al-Hawa on the border with Turkiye for six months till Jan. 10, 2023, and decides that a further extension of an additional six months will require a separate Security Council resolution.

Resolution 2672, which won the unanimous support of the 15-member council, requests the UN secretary-general to provide a special report on the humanitarian needs in Syria no later than June 10, 2023. It also requests the secretary-general to brief the Security Council monthly and to provide a report on a regular basis, at least every 60 days, on the implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2672, and on compliance by all relevant parties in Syria.

It further requests the secretary-general to include in his reports overall trends in unhindered and safe UN cross-line operations and on early-recovery projects and detailed information on the humanitarian assistance delivered through UN humanitarian cross-border operations, including their transparency, the distribution mechanism, the number of beneficiaries, operating partners, locations of aid deliveries at district-level and the volume and nature of items delivered.

The cross-border mechanism remains essential as cross-line operations, which deliver aid within Syria across front lines between Syrian government-controlled areas and areas outside government control, demand a whole different level of logistical support, said a UN spokesman on Friday.

Resolution 2672 calls on all UN member states to respond with practical steps to address the urgent needs of the Syrian people, and welcomes ongoing efforts and encourages further initiatives to broaden the humanitarian activities in Syria.

The resolution encourages the convening of a Security Council Informal Interactive Dialogue every two months with the participation of donors, interested regional parties and representatives of the international humanitarian agencies operating in Syria, in order to regularly review and follow up on the implementation of Resolution 2672, including progress in early-recovery projects.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says one cannot achieve real peace by begging for it. He said that peace must be earned.

January 10, 2023, 16:25 Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan believes in normalization of relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 10, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: We must act maximally responsibly, Pashinyan said at a press conference. There are threats, there are opportunities, and we must deal with all of it. Regarding begging for peace, I agree with you that one cannot have peace by begging for peace. One can have peace by earning it. There is a narrative that peace can be achieved by imposing peace. Our experience showed that this too doesnt happen. Peace must be earned, thats obvious. I definitely agree that peace cannot be achieved by begging, Pashinyan said when asked by a reporter.

Pashinyan added that peace can be achieved by somewhat changing the point of perspective, accurately assessing situations and realities, making maximally calculated steps, increasing Armenias role, visibility and significance, through higher level of institutional establishment and through changing relations in the region.

We can have peace if well be able to establish tolerant relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan, by forming an arena of certain agreements. And to develop our relations with Iran and Georgia. This is the formula to peace. And we must definitely utilize the resources of the international community that can help us in this issue. I believe in the normalization of relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey with one reason  because before doing something one must believe in it. If we dont, then why are we negotiating, are we pretending? Pretending to do negotiations wont lead to anywhere good, Pashinyan said.
The Grand Chess Tour (GCT), a circuit of international events, will be present for the fourth consecutive time in Bucharest, between May 4-16, according to a press release sent to AGERPRES.

As last year, the Grand Chess Tour will include two classical chess tournaments (Bucharest and Saint Louis) and three other rapid & blitz tournaments (Warsaw, Zagreb and Croatia).

The total prize pool of the GCT amounts to 1.4 million US dollars, of which 350,000 for the classical chess tournaments and 175,000 for the rapid & blitz tournaments. For the first time, the 2023 edition will also have a bonus prize fund worth 175,000 US dollars, which will be awarded to the top three overall GCT finishers.

The 2023 tour will include eight full tour players, and additional wildcards will be selected for each tournament. There will be 10-player Round Robin Tournaments. Most likely, the best-ranked Romanian chess players in the FIDE ranking - Bogdan Deac and Constantin Lupulescu - will participate again.

The tour's five tournaments are as follows: Superbet Chess Classic Romania (May 4-16), Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland (May 19-26), Super United Rapid & Blitz Croatia (July 3-10), Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz ( November 12-19) and Sinquefield Cup (November 19-December 3), in Saint Louis (Missouri/USA).
President Klaus Iohannis welcomes the signing of the third joint declaration on NATO-EU cooperation, showing that Romania strongly supports the consolidation of the security and prosperity of the Euro-Atlantic area.

"I welcome the 3rd Joint Declaration on EU-NATO Cooperation. Romania strongly supports the consolidation of the security and prosperity of the Euro-Atlantic area, based on EU-NATO complementarity and a joint vision for a peaceful future," Iohannis wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen signed the third Joint Declaration on NATO-EU Cooperation at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday. AGERPRES
Measures to support the immediate needs of social groups in difficulty, primarily aimed at Romanians who face an extreme level of social exclusion, are to be implemented by the government, minister of Investments and European Projects Marcel Bolos said on Monday, informs the relevant ministry in a press release.

"The data clearly show it, we are still facing a dominant form of poverty that can lead to food insecurity, in certain situations. These things mean that more than two million citizens will not be able to afford a decent standard of living for the year 2023. Precisely for this reason, at the level of the Government, we have devised a package of measures that are integrated and complementary, so as to ensure an efficient financial allocation of the interventions," said minister Marcel Bolos.

The Ministry of Investments and European Projects (MIPE) will continue to provide a 500-RON aid for clothing and supplies, with 405,000 preschoolers and students having benefited from it in the 2022-2023 school year, compared to 245,000 beneficiaries in the previous school year.

At the same time, MIPE is taking steps to implement a measure that will finance the granting of resilience vouchers to support the vulnerable population by improving living conditions through investments in community services that include the possibility of support in household/daily activities, as well as some services for house repairs.

In the spring of this year, MIPE will start the distribution of the 6th tranche of food packages under the "Granting of food aid packages" project, financed by the Assistance for Disadvantaged People Operational Programme (ADOP). The packages will reach 1,188,852 beneficiaries. The packages contain 12 basic foods (38 units) and come from producers in Romania.

The Social Dignity and Inclusion Operational Programme (SDI OP) will also cover assistance measures aimed at providing support for employment but also for those who require support in order to exercise their legal capacity.

"Assistive technologies (electric ramps, reading software for the blind, etc.) for people with disabilities have a high price that cannot be covered by the majority of those who need such a device. In the period 2014-2020, such devices were financed by the Operational Programme Human Capital (POCU), but only for some of the people between the ages of 18 and 64," the press release states.

Thus, over 7,000 people with disabilities, aged between 18 and 65, received vouchers in the amount of up to 5,000 euros to purchase equipment that would improve their lives and, at the same time, give them the chance at a remunerated activity: readers for the blind, wheelchairs, audio prostheses, elevators, various writing or drawing aids but also robotic manipulators, among others.AGERPRES
The General Inspectorate of the Border Police informs that on Monday, 72,237 people entered Romania through the border points, including 8,371 Ukrainian citizens.

According to a press release sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday, approximately 160,000 people, Romanian and foreign citizens, completed the control formalities at the border checkpoints throughout the country, both on the way in and on the way out of Romania, with 87,700 people and over 39,600 means of transport on the outbound.

Starting with February 10, 2022 (pre-conflict period), 3,278,502 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania.

The border police detected 43 illegal acts (23 crimes and 20 misdemeanors) in the areas under their jurisdiction - the crossing points and the green border - committed by both Romanian and foreign citizens, levying over 4,300 RON in fines in the process.

Assets of an estimated value of 23,000 RON were impounded.

The Border police denied the entry of 32 foreign citizens who did not meet the conditions provided by the law and 15 Romanian citizens were not allowed to leave for various legal reasons.
National Defence Minister Angel Tilvar and Chief of Defence Staff, General Daniel Petrescu, are on an official visit to Poland on Tuesday, the National Defence Ministry informs.

Their agenda includes meetings with Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak and with representatives of the leadership of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, as well as with the troops of the 'Sky Guardians' Romanian air defence detachment of the NATO Battlegroup deployed to Bemowo Piskie Training Area.

The visit of the Romanian officials to the Republic of Poland "represents proof of the excellent cooperation relations between the two countries, both within a bilateral and allied framework," the National Defence Ministry states. AGERPRES
The Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP) announced on Tuesday that in January subsidies totaling 20,266,257.50 RON were transferred to political parties, told Agerpres.

According to a press release of AEP sent to AGERPRES, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) received 7,802,916.12 RON, the National Liberal Party (PNL) - 6,614,908.15 RON and Save Romania Union (USR) - 3,565,957.01 RON.

Also, the Alliance for Romanians' Union (AUR) received 1,579,248.86 RON, the People's Movement Party (PMP) - 408,255.05 lei and Pro Romania - 294,972.31 RON.
About 20 local and international pharma companies said on Tuesday at a meeting with officials of the Romanian Ministry of Health and the National Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices that there are sufficient stockpiles of medicines containing ibuprofen, paracetamol, antivirals and antibiotics in Romania, including for use in children, and all pharma companies have increased production of these preparations since last year to meet demand, told Agerpres.

PRIMER - the Employers' Association of Industrial Manufacturers of Medicines in Romania - said in a statement that it had a discussion with the officials of the Ministry of Health and the National Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices on shortages of medicines that contain ibuprofen, paracetamol, antivirals (oseltamivir) and antibiotics (amoxicillin + clavulanic acid).

"Approximately 20 local and international pharma companies were present who confirmed with actual figures that there are sufficient stockpiles of these preparations, including for use in children. It was also explained that all pharma companies have increased their production of these preparations since last year precisely to do better and meet demand," the statement reads.

PRIMER says that in November and December, the monthly consumption of pediatric ibuprofen solutions was about 550,000 boxes, that of pediatric paracetamol solutions - 300,000 boxes, and that of paracetamol tablets - approximately 1.2 million boxes, up about 50% over the same period of 2021.

According to PRIMER, the meeting emphasised the need for correct communication regarding the existence of many brands that contain these substances and the recommendation that, when a brand of medicine is not found in a pharmacy, to accept with confidence the advice of the pharmacist for a substitute.

PRIMER also says that "in the pharmaceutical industry there are no different standards, all medicines, regardless of trade name, contain the same active substance with proven efficiency, quality and safety."

It adds that it is necessary to avoid panic buying and storing these products away as that could lead to real shortages.

Health Minister Alexandru Rafila said on Tuesday, after a meeting with pharmaceutical distributors, that there is no paracetamol or ibuprofen shortage in Romania, adding that a procedure will be established by which all pharmacies will be supplied with any available form of these drugs, regardless of the trade name.

"The conclusion is that there is no shortage of paracetamol or ibuprofen. At the moment, compared with other countries, Romania is not facing such problems as there are pharmaceutical companies manufacturing both substances here in our country that can be used in adults and in children," said Rafila.
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca met on Tuesday at the Victoria Palace of Government with representatives of state-owned gas company Romgaz to look into aspects related to gas production and the commissioning of new wells, a government release informs.

According to the cited source, the involvement of Romgaz in the Black Sea offshore projects, including Neptun Deep, was presented at the meeting, as well as the development of the project of the Iernut power plant with an installed capacity of 430 MW.

"The government attaches particular importance to investments that contribute to the strengthening of the country's energy security. As a national company, Romgaz has a key role in the implementation of the government's plans to achieve this goal. We need a fast pace in the implementation of these projects, and for this we set in place all the necessary instruments, both financial and legislative," declared the prime minister. AGERPRES
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca commends the signing of the third joint declaration on NATO-EU cooperation, showing that this declaration is meant to consolidate the transatlantic cooperation.

"I warmly salute the signing today of the third NATO-EU joint declaration, which consolidates transatlantic cooperation. Romania reaffirms its conviction that solidarity and cooperation are key elements to defending our security and common values. Together we are stronger!," Ciuca wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen signed the third Joint Declaration on NATO-EU Cooperation at the NATO Headquarters on Tuesday. AGERPRES
The illegitimate measures by which the National Penitentiary Administration undertook to reduce overcrowding in prisons will again result in Romania's condemnation by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the Trade Unions Federation of the National Penitentiary Administration (FSANP), psychologists and educators from the Deva Penitentiary argue in a statement.

"With the complicity of the National Penitentiary Administration, the Deva Penitentiary plans to repurpose the classrooms, the social assistance offices, the psychological offices and the library of the penitentiary's detention sections E5 and E6 into into detention rooms for inmates. The measure adopted by Deva Penitentiary and the National Penitentiary Administration affects the working conditions of penitentiary police officers and will inevitably render the prisoners' reintegration impossible, with serious consequences on the increase of recidivism in Romania. Citizens will become victims of unrehabilitated offenders and the Romanians will pay for the lack of vision and responsibility of penitentiary police decision-makers. Romania will again end up being condemned by the ECHR for being unable to ensure the social & educational activities and school training for inmates," FSANP said.

The modernization of the Deva Penitentiary detention sections E5 and E6 was completed recently; according to the project, the facility includes 4 classrooms and a dedicated secure break space for teachers, as well as a storage room for educational materials, a social assistance office, a psychological office and a library.

Due to insufficient working spaces, sometimes educators, social workers and psychologists are compelled to conduct their educational and psycho-social assistance activities in the hallways of the detention sections (work on their lap).

The teachers and educators tasked with carrying out school activities with the inmates declare themselves discontent with the inappropriate spaces offered by the management of the Deva Penitentiary. The teaching staff sent the director of the penitentiary a request to ensure optimal spaces for the inmates' educational needs, as specified and committed to by the Deva Penitentiary through the Cooperation Protocol concluded with the Hunedoara County School Inspectorate and the 'Transylvania Deva' Technological High School, but they did not receive a favorable response.

"Cosmin Dorobantu, president of the Trade Unions Federation of the National Administration of Penitentiaries, calls on the Justice Ministry to supervise the implementation by the National Administration of Penitentiaries of the decisions of the pilot ruling Rezmives and others vs. Romania handed down by the European Court of Human Rights, as the arbitrary and illegitimate measures of the management of the National Penitentiary Administration impinge on the working conditions of the prison police officers, the social reintegration of the prisoners, pave the way for a new condemnation of Romania by the ECHR, and will increase the rate of recidivism," the FSANP release states. AGERPRES
Many folks outside of New Jersey, and likely even some within the state, may have first heard the town of Millville mentioned when Mike Trout 
Romania will continue to make a substantial contribution to the implementation of the new priorities and guidelines under the Joint Declaration on EU-NATO Cooperation signed on Tuesday, "in the spirit of complementariness and synergy of the efforts of the two organisations," Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Tuesday.

According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE), Aurescu added that the NATO foreign ministers' meeting hosted in Bucharest at the end of November 2022, "prompted the adoption of this declaration, giving the opportunity to express support for deepening co-operation between EU and NATO", told Agerpres.

"Romania was one of the most active supporters of deepening co-operation between the two organisations, emphasising at all political levels the strategic significance of the adoption of the third NATO-EU joint declaration in the current security context. Romania is welcoming the message of unity and complementarity of the efforts that the new declaration promotes. The practical relevance of the areas addressed in the declaration reflects a high degree of complexity of the contemporary security environment, contributing to the consolidation of NATO's role in providing collective defence of its members and the Transatlantic Partnership," the Romanian chief diplomat also shows.

MAE shows that the signing of the new cooperation declaration, after the joint declarations adopted in 2016 and 2018, "follows the strategic coordinates of the decisions adopted by the North Atlantic Alliance at the Madrid Summit of June 2022, as well as the objectives agreed upon at the European Union level under the Strategic Compass adopted in 2022."

"In the current security context marked by the effects of the war of aggression launched by Russia against Ukraine, the approach of the two organisations is a substantial message regarding the attachment of NATO and the EU to democratic values and spirit. The NATO-EU cooperation platform was strengthened under this new declaration by emphasising areas of major importance in the current security context, such as geostrategic competition, resilience, protection of critical infrastructure, emerging and disruptive technologies, the security implications of climate change," according to MAE.
Romanian climber Adrian Ahritculesei has arrived at a research base in Antarctica on his way to Mount Sidley, as the young man of Petrosani has set his mind on completing a Volcanic Seven Summits climb and thus become the first Romanian man ever to achieve such a performance, his manager Stefan Adrian Jurca said on Tuesday.

"Adrian Ahritculesei is at the Union Glacier base in Antarctica, where temperatures are more friendly: -12/-13 degrees Celsius. Union Glacier is a research base where people can embark on expeditions to Mount Sidley, the highest volcano in Antarctica. (...). During the expedition and when approaching the summit, the temperature will vary between -29 and -31 degrees Celsius," said Jurca on social media.

From the Union Glacier base, Ahritculesei will fly on a small plane to Mount Sidley, after which he will follow a route of over 40 km during which he will carry his individual equipment by sled, told Agerpres.

"It takes some heavy carrying, considering the weather," said Jurca.

Ahritculesei left for Antarctica on January 4, where he set out to conquer Mount Sidley (4,285 m) and thus complete a Volcanic Seven Summits climb. The 38-year-old mountaineer of Petrosani arrived in the city of Punta Arenas, Chile, on January 6, where he met the organisers of his Antarctic expedition.

The climber is carrying along two bags of 20 kilograms each with essentials that allow him to survive the South Pole cold. His bespoke equipment, from the jacket to the sleeping bag, was manufactured on a special order in Romania.

The expedition is expected to take place January 6-21, and its costs amount to approximately 70,000 US dollars.

The Volcanic Seven Summits climb entails ascending the highest volcanoes on seven continents.

The first Romanian to climb all the seven summits is Crina "Coco" Popescu. She did it in 2012, when she was only 16 years old.
Head of the Tourist Information Center in Sovata Daniela Bereczki said that the investments made in the spa resort over the last 16 years, from European funds, as well as private investments, made it possible for it to be chosen as the best health and wellness destination (Health&Wellness) in Romania, according to the votes received from tourists, told Agerpres.

"Sovata is always awarded due to the changes that have occurred in this locality, in this wonderful resort. The last award is the one within the Termalia platform, 'Best Health&Wellness Destination 2022,' in November, from Poiana Brasov. This award is a very important one and very complex from my point of view, because it is not only about the tourist side, it is also about a state of well-being that nature itself can offer one, the specific treatments that this area can provide to all tourists who need that comfort, that state of well-being that only Sovata can provide. In the last 16 years, Sovata has undergone many transformations that meet the tourists' demands," Daniela Bereczki told the press.

She emphasized that the tourists' vote contributed a lot to Sovata winning this award, the diversity of services offered being of great importance.

The Sovata spa resort also won important awards in 2019, including the one for "The most complete spa resort" and in 2021 another Termalia award, in 2020 no galas were organized because of the pandemic.

According to the Center Regional Development Agency (ADR), until last summer, the pre- and post-accession funds attracted by the public administration in Sovata amounted to over 15 million EUR.

Sovata town mayor Fulop Laszlo Zsolt has recently stated that the local public administration and private investors have ongoing projects, in various stages of execution, with a total value of almost 20 million EUR, both in the town and in the spa resort.
The total value of bilateral exchanges between Romania and the United Mexican States, the most important market for Romanian products in Latin America, in the first ten months of 2022 was 315 million US dollars, an increase of 7% compared to the same period of the year 2021, according to a press release from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the City of Bucharest (CCIB).

From this amount, the export was worth 216 million US dollars, up by 5%, and the import was worth 99 million US dollars, up by 12%.

According to the quoted source, at the CCIB headquarters was a meeting of the president of the Bucharest Chamber, Iuliu Stocklosa, with Miguel Angel Suarez Meza, general manager of the Mexican company RUMEC International, an online platform for international trade, being at the same time a representative of the Pascual Boing company, producer and distributor of its own products (exotic fruits, soft drinks made from milk, etc.) both in Mexico and abroad, as well as that of the H2OSky company.

The main objective of the meeting was to identify opportunities for collaboration and enhancing the potential of the two business communities.

Miguel Angel Suarez Meza expressed interest in the direct delivery to our country of goods such as exotic fruits, coffee, cocoa and other organic products, of good quality and at competitive prices, provided by the Pascual Boing cooperative from Mexico. In his opinion, they can be processed in Romania and then exported to markets of interest, such as the United Arab Emirates. According to the cited source, an easy way for direct import is to use the online platform developed by RUMEC International.

Also through this modern tool, Romanian companies can sell their products and technologies (especially in the agri-food sector) on the Mexican market. In addition, Miguel Angel Suarez Meza used the opportunity to talk about the possibility of using in Romania an innovative technology for obtaining water from the atmosphere "Sky H2O - AWG" (Atmospheric Water Generation), made in California, successfully used in Mexico.AGERPRES
On Tuesday, authorities with the Nadlac II Border Crossing Point (PTF) stooped from entering the country a truck loaded with 19,720 kilograms of waste brought from Poland, which was to be unloaded at an economic agent in Prahova county, the load being returned to the sender because the legal conditions to enter Romania's soil were not met, told Agerpres.

According to the Arad Environmental Guard, the truck was checked by the commissioners of the institution and the border policemen, and it was established that the load consisted of copper, bronze and brass waste.

The recipient of the load, a company from Prahova county, does not own the waste recovery facilities, so the truck was not allowed to enter Romania, the driver being forced to return to the sender in Poland.
ST. LOUIS  A nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of the Gateway Arch will move to a bigger office in downtown St. Louis later this year.

The Gateway Arch Park Foundation, which also serves the Old Courthouse, Kiener Plaza and the Riverfront, will move in mid-2023 from Gateway Tower on Memorial Drive to Peabody Plaza, about three blocks west at 701 Market Street. The nonprofit will occupy 7,800 square feet, up from its current 5,085 square feet, according to a release.

We are excited to expand our presence in downtown St. Louis. Our new offices reflect our commitment to this area and will allow the foundation to grow our mission and the public spaces we serve, Ryan McClure, the nonprofits executive director, said in a statement.

The Gateway Arch Park Foundation is the philanthropic partner for the Gateway Arch and is working with the National Park Service on the renovations to the historic Old Courthouse. The foundation also holds a lease for the National Park Service at Gateway Tower while the renovations are taking place. That lease will also move to Peabody Plaza, officials said.

A lease for 10,000 square feet of space that houses the Archs collections and archives during the renovations will remain at the Old Post Office, at Sixth and Olive streets.

Whitney Allen and Rick Messey of commercial real estate firm CBRE were the brokers involved in the deal.

The foundation is the latest tenant to move to Peabody Plaza. Others include Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, architecture firm Arcturis and cafes Ukraft and Windows on Kiener Plaza.

New York-based Briar Meads Capital bought the building in 2020 for $35 million.
Yield: 6 cups

1 quart (4 cups) very thinly sliced peeled yellow onions

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

6 cups rich chicken stock

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

12 slices toasted bread or crostini to fit in soup bowls

3 cups grated Comte, Gruyere or Swiss cheese

Fresh chives for garnish

1. Thinly slice the onions and place in a large bowl. Toss to separate the rings and set aside.

2. Melt the butter in a 5-quart pot over medium low heat. Add the onions and salt.

3. Caramelize the onions very slowly over medium-low heat. It will take 30 to 50 minutes or more, stirring occasionally as needed.

4. As the onions cook they will release water, but if you notice sticking to the pan, add small amounts of water to prevent burning and release any flavorful pieces that develop on the bottom of the pan.

5. You want the onions to reach a deep brown  almost the color of bourbon. At that point they are fully caramelized.

6. Sprinkle the flour evenly over the cooking onions, stirring it in completely to evenly distribute the flour. You dont want lumps in the flour before you add the stock next.

7. Pour 2 cups of stock over the onions, whisking as you go. Add the remaining 4 cups of stock in 2 cups at a time, whisking still to make sure no lumps are forming that need to be stirred down.

8. Bring the soup to a simmer and allow it to cook for 30 minutes longer, stirring occasionally, then stir in the sherry vinegar and ground pepper.

9. Turn the broiler on to medium high.

10. Portion the hot soup into 6 oven-proof bowls. Arrange 2 pieces of toasted bread on the surface. Top each bowl with  cup of grated cheese, taking care to cover the bread.

11. Place under the broiler to melt the cheese. Keep a good eye on this as it only takes a few minutes, 2 to 4 minutes depending on the broiler.

12. Garnish each bowl with chopped chives.

Per serving: 622 calories; 34g fat; 19g saturated fat; 97mg cholesterol; 29g protein; 50g carbohydrate; 11g sugar; 3g fiber; 1,225mg sodium; 660mg calcium

To print the recipe, click here, then click the printer icon.
Although many credit the 1996 launch of Californias Menage a Trois wine brand as the beginning of the popular red blend category in the U.S., most of the red wines from France have historically been blends. Just look at Bordeaux, where cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and specific other grapes are almost always combined. Or in southern Frances Languedoc-Roussillon where grenache, syrah and mourvedre are often part of the mix. The following are two examples of full-bodied reds from the appellations of Saint-Emilion in Bordeaux and Saint-Chinian in Languedoc-Roussillon.

Chateau Belle Assise Coureau 2018, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, France

Bought  Costco, 8695 Olive Boulevard, in December for $13.79

Description  Grand cru wines from Saint-Emilion, one of the most prestigious appellations in Bordeaux, can be expensive. So being able to find such a high-scoring Saint-Emilion for less than $15 was a complete surprise. A blend of cabernet franc and merlot, this is a powerful but graceful red with lots of finesse. Rich and complex, it tastes of dark cherries, blackberries, oak, vanilla and a touch of leather and smoke. Although its ready to drink now, this red has supple tannins and will continue to improve with age. It would go well with steak and lamb.

Gerard Bertrand 2018 An 1877, Saint-Chinian, France

Bought  Costco, 8695 Olive Boulevard, in December for $9.99

Description  Wines from Saint-Chinian are not widely available in our market so this one is well-worth trying, especially because it scored 90 points from Wine Advocate and costs just under $10. The An 1877 refers to the first Saint-Chinian railway line that enabled wines to be transported from the Languedoc region. A blend of 60% syrah and 40% mourvedre that has been partially aged in oak, this is a meaty and spicy red with ample tannins that tastes of dark fruit and a touch of chocolate. Try it with a hearty stew such as boeuf Bourguignon.
Prince Harry has shared his account of what really happened between his wife Meghan Markle and sister-in-law Kate Middleton in the lead-up to the pair's wedding in 2018. Writing in his memoir Spare, the Duke of Sussex insists the fight was driven by Kate, who was seemingly annoyed that Meghan hadn't responded to her straight away about an issue with Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress.

Kate claimed Charlotte "cried when she tried it on at home", but wasn't willing to visit Meghan's tailor, who was on hand to make any changes to the dresses, all while the Duchess of Sussex was busy dealing with her a public row with her father Thomas Markle.

Prince Harry has revealed what really happened between Meghan and Kate when they fought before the pair's wedding. Photo: Getty

Harry writes that Meghan received a text from Kate four days before the wedding, saying the dresses would need altering, as they had been hand-sewn from measurements only without a fitting, so this "wasn't a big shock".

"Meg didn't reply to Kate straight away," he says. "Yes, she had endless wedding-related texts, but mostly she was dealing with the chaos surrounding her father. So the next morning she texted Kate that our tailor was standing by."

RELATED:

Harry shares that Meghan told Kate the tailor's name and that he was "at the palace," but "this wasn't sufficient".

He continues, writing that Kate complained, "Charlotte's dress is too big, too long, too baggy. She cried when she tried it on a home."

Meghan then responded, "Right, and I told you the tailor has been standing by since 8am. Here. At KP. Can you take Charlotte to have it altered, as the other mums are doing?"

Harry claims Kate said Charlotte 'cried when she tried [the dress] on at home' and refused to visit Meghan's tailor. Photo: Getty

Harry claims Kate replied, "No, all the dresses need to be remade," adding that she had spoken to her "own wedding designer" who had agreed with her.

Story continues

"Meg asked if Kate was aware of what was going on right now," he writes. "With her father. Kate said she was well aware, but the dresses. And the wedding is in four days!"

He also claims Kate had "problems with the way Meg was planning her wedding. Something about a party for the page boys? It went back and forth".

The Duke writes that his wife replied, "I'm not sure what else to say. If the dress doesn't fit then please take Charlotte to see Ajay. He's been waiting all day."

To which Kate is said to have simply replied, "Fine."

Harry says he arrived home not long after the conversation took place, to find Meghan "on the floor sobbing". He says that while he was "horrified" to see her so upset, he told her that "Kate hadn't meant any harm".

Harry says that he believed Kate hadn't meant any harm by the messages at the time but has since changed his mind. Photo: Getty

This was seemingly proven when the Princess of Wales paid the pair a visit the next morning with flowers and a card saying sorry.

There have been several versions of events about this argument between Meghan and Kate, with claims it was actually Meghan who made Kate cry. The suggestion had the Sussexes demanding their press office put out a correction, however, it was refused, with officials saying it would spark more questions about the incident and set a precedent of speaking about private matters.

SHOP

Meghan made sure to share her version of events during the pair's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.

Harry also addressed it once again in his interview with Good Morning America when he was asked for examples of how the palace put a negative spotlight onto Meghan as a way to protect the other royals.

"It's so petty but the bridesmaids' dresses," Harry told the interviewer. "While I was writing the book we were on version 29 or 30, all of which involved my wife supposedly making numerous people within my family cry which simply wasn't the case. For historical reference the truth needs to be there and it needs to come from me."

According to the Daily Mail, some sources have continued saying it was Meghan being difficult and Kate's flowers weren't an apology, but a "classy" gesture to "keep the peace".

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ST. LOUIS  Testimony about police coercion, unconstitutional errors and ineffective counsel are among the reasons Lamar Johnsons murder conviction and life sentence should be overturned, his defense has argued in one of the first court proceedings of its kind in Missouri.

State prosecutors have responded, in court and in writing, that none of the allegations raised in a recent court hearing are credible, that the original investigation was solid and Johnson should remain locked up.

The arguments were made in a December hearing, which was one of the first times a recent Missouri law, inspired by Johnsons legal battles, was put into action. The law allows prosecutors offices to ask the courts to overturn a conviction based on evidence of innocence, or a flawed investigation or trial.

Johnson was convicted of murdering Marcus Boyd in 1995 and sentenced to life in prison.

The Circuit Attorneys Office, now acting in Johnsons defense, submitted its final briefs in December. Its case is rooted in testimony from the eyewitness that he was coerced by police into identifying Johnson; the in-court confession of a man who said he, not Johnson, killed Boyd; and that the original investigation was shoddy.

The Missouri Attorney Generals Office sought to uphold the integrity of Johnsons 1995 prosecution during the December hearing and in its final written arguments, which were made public last week.

It alleges James Howard, who is already serving a life sentence for murder, confessed to the killing so he could take the fall for Johnson. Its a stance that former Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has argued since 2019, when he first began blocking Johnsons release.

The next step is the decision of 22nd Circuit Court Judge Mason, who presided over the five-day hearing and interjected throughout the arguments of lawyers on both sides. At times, he questioned the witnesses and the validity of their statements on the stand himself.

Most of the evidence presented during the hearing was first included in a 2019 report by City Attorney Kim Gardners office that attracted national momentum and support for Johnsons case, including from The Innocence Project and local attorneys.

The lead police investigator, former assistant prosecutor and other witnesses from Johnsons trial returned to court after nearly 30 years to answer some old and new questions, all acknowledging that some details were hard to recall after the lapse of time  something Judge Mason also noted.

Greg Elking, the star witness who testified that St. Louis police told him whom to identify in a lineup, also testified the cash and relocation expenses authorities gave him at the time influenced his testimony against Johnson, as he was in a financial bind, and that he also benefited from dismissed traffic tickets and warrants.

The state sought to discredit Howard, pointing out that he said he shot Boyd in the back of the head but that the victim was shot in the back of the neck. Plus, state prosecutors contended that according to Elkings description of the two gunmen, Howard is too short to have been the killer.

State prosecutors argued that Johnsons eyes were distinctive enough at night in a ski mask for Elking to identify him in a police lineup. In their post-trial brief, they included the photo of Lamar Johnsons eyes  a photo Judge Mason ordered taken in court on the last day of the hearing on Dec. 16. They compared the court image to police mugshots, circling Johnsons eyes, claiming they are noticeably slanted.

For the first time, Johnson testified in court about his alibi on the night of the murder and about his relationship with Boyd, whom he said was like a brother to him.

Johnson and his defense argued that police pinned the murder on Johnson with fabricated evidence because he lived a criminal lifestyle. They accused the prosecution of using the police-coerced testimony of a financially desperate drug user, a legacy jailhouse snitch and the lie of a former St. Louis officer who wrongly testified in 1995 that Johnson made admissions to the murder during questioning.

Johnson acknowledged he sold drugs in the south St. Louis neighborhood where he grew up and lived at the time of the murder, and that he associated with a neighborhood gang. He testified he was at his girlfriends house, about 3 miles away, at the time of the murder.
ST. LOUIS  Police detectives chased a car and arrested two men early Tuesday after the officers saw a man gunned down in the street in the city's Hamilton Heights neighborhood, authorities said.

Joseph Scott was shot just before 2 a.m. Tuesday, near his home in the 1400 block of Belt Avenue. Scott, 29, died at the scene.

St. Louis detectives were near Ridge and Belt avenues when they heard a gunshot. They saw Scott collapse in the street. Two suspects jumped into a GMC Yukon Denali and sped off, police said.

After a brief pursuit, detectives pulled the vehicle over near Theodosia and Arlington avenues and arrested two men, ages 57 and 54. Police said they found a gun the men had tossed from the car along the pursuit route.

The chase spanned about four blocks.

The homicide is the third of the year in St. Louis. A man was found shot to death in the Soulard neighborhood on Saturday, and a man was fatally shot Sunday afternoon in the Baden neighborhood.
ST. LOUIS  A woman was trapped in the basement of a burning home and critically injured Tuesday morning in St. Louis.

Firefighters rescued the woman from a home in the 3100 block of Watson Road, in the city's Lindenwood Park neighborhood. She suffered smoke inhalation and was rushed to a hospital in critical condition.

Battalion 3 reports: One occupant #rescued from the basement by #firefighters; transported urgently in critical condition by Medic 35. A second occupant was treated on the scene & refused transport.



Basement #fire extinguished. Fire investigators are on scene. #STLCity  St. Louis Fire Dept (@STLFireDept) January 10, 2023

The fire broke out about 3 a.m. Tuesday. A second occupant of the home got out safely and was treated at the scene for unspecified injuries, authorities said.

The likely cause of the blaze, officials said, was a space heater that apparently was being used in the basement to keep puppies warm. The animals survived.
WASHINGTON  Rep. Jason Smith, a self-proclaimed firebrand preaching a populist image of the GOP, has won the nomination to be chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

The 42-year-old St. Louis-born Republican, who represents the 8th Congressional District, is set up to gain a powerful gavel overseeing measures that impact federal revenue and spending, from the tax code and trade policy to Medicare and Social Security.

Once the House Republican Conference formally ratifies the steering panel selection, Smith will become the youngest-ever chairman of Ways and Means. Hell break the previous record set by former Rep. Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., who was just shy of 45 when he became chairman in 2015 before ending that year as speaker.

Smith said Monday that his pitch to Republicans was the record of his work as Budgets top GOP member and that providing for working-class Americans is my focus.

Smiths elevation could prove a boon to the St. Louis metro area where he now represents the eastern half of Jefferson County, including Arnold, Festus and Pevely. The large district, much of it rural, takes in much of south-central and all of southeastern Missouri, including the Bootheel.

Smith got the nod in a secret-ballot vote Monday of the Republican Steering Committee that nominates committee chairs. He pulled it off after being the last candidate to jump into the race and even as he jumps the line in seniority over competitors, Reps. Vern Buchanan of Florida and Adrian Smith of Nebraska.

In a statement after the vote, Smith called it deeply humbling and an honor to be selected.

With our new House Republican majority, we have made a commitment to the American people to build a stronger economy that gives everyone  not just the wealthy and politically-connected  greater opportunity to build a more prosperous future for themselves and their families, Smith said.

The vote went to a second ballot after no candidate won majority support on the first ballot. Adrian Smith, with the least number of first-ballot votes, was eliminated, leaving Jason Smith and Buchanan going head-to-head.

After the vote, Buchanan released a statement congratulating Smith, saying he looks forward to working with him on the panels expansive agenda. But he expressed regret at the big loss for Florida and its large House delegation.

Florida deserves a seat at the leadership table. Our party needs to move forward and show the country that were ready to lead, Buchanan said.

Adrian Smith released his own congratulatory statement after the vote, saying his competitors success means success for the entire (GOP) conference and  more importantly  for the American people.

Fundraising, relationships

Numerous factors likely played into the sixth-term Republican prevailing, including placing himself alongside Buchanan among top fundraisers to help the GOP win the House in November and his involvement in negotiations last week that helped Kevin McCarthy secure the speakers gavel.

Personal relationships, including with McCarthy, and his vision for the role were also likely among factors.

And hell need to use all his skills and relationships to navigate the thicket of fiscal policy coming Republicans way this year. On the top of the agenda is likely to be a nasty debt ceiling battle with conservatives demanding steep spending cuts in domestic programs as their price for raising the national borrowing cap.

Smith was the top Republican on the Budget Committee last Congress and planned to seek that panels top slot again if he didnt win Ways and Means.

Smith is known for animated speeches during committee meetings, and served as a top GOP voice opposing Democrats tax and spending plans over the last two years, helping Republicans hone their messaging against multiple budget reconciliation bills.

Do I bring a firebrand to the committee? Absolutely, Smith said in an interview last fall. But Im reflective of our party.

Cut from a different cloth

Smiths style and record led several Ways and Means Democrats to raise concern about bipartisanship if he won the gavel.

Rep. Dan Kildee of Michigan said last fall that his competitors had the demeanor to facilitate bipartisanship, but that Mr. Smith is cut from a different cloth.

Still, facing a Democrat-controlled Senate and White House, Smith said hes worked with committee Democrats and would continue to as long as it doesnt compromise his values.

Those values include using the panel to execute his vision of the Republican Party as one serving the working class over big corporations.

Hes said that hed pursue tax policies to incentivize domestic energy, food and health care production; hold hearings to review what worked and should be extended from the 2017 GOP tax code overhaul (PL 115-97); reconsider tax breaks for woke corporations; and aim to cut the trade deficit with China and other countries.

Smith said at a Punchbowl News event last year that he believed he could find true agreement with Democrats on issues like expanding the child tax credit.

Hes emphasized the need for work requirements on the benefit for families with children, while Democrats have pressed to open it more broadly, arguing that single mothers and grandparents who serve as primary caregivers might not be able to work, but should still get aid.

Ways and Means ranking member Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., congratulated Smith on his win.

We have worked together for years on some of the most consequential issues, and I look forward to continuing the committees tradition of rising above politics to do whats best for the American people, Neal said in a statement.

Smith has also pledged aggressive oversight as Ways and Means chairman, including of the nearly $80 billion in IRS funding to boost tax enforcement that Democrats delivered last year, leaks of taxpayer data and the Biden administrations efforts to negotiate a 15% global minimum tax on companies earnings.

With the IRS a particular target of Republicans, hes said hell set up a hotline for agency employees to report concerns to Congress.

When I talk about oversight, its going to be aggressive, Smith said in a December interview. The American people deserve answers and the American people deserve their government to be effective and to work for them, not their government to target them.

New precedent

Smith has also signaled he could use the gavel to seek tax records of President Joe Bidens family members, which would likely set up sharp clashes with Democrats.

After Ways and Means Democrats released former President Donald Trumps tax returns just before the last Congress ended, Smith said in a statement that the move would forever change the nature of congressional oversight.

Come January, Democrats will only have themselves to blame for this new precedent, as they have now given the incoming Republican majority the clear authority to use tools at the committees disposal to investigate whether President Biden and his family have enriched themselves off the Washington Democrats agenda, he said.

Biden and first lady Jill Biden have released their tax returns publicly, including their latest 2021 fillings, as have Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff.

Smith has also argued he has relationships throughout the GOPs 222-member conference that will help him navigate a narrow Republican majority  which already proved difficult by complicating McCarthys speaker bid.

To get the Ways and Means gavel, a majority of the House Republican Conference still has to approve Smiths nomination. Its unlikely theyd reject a pick from the steering committee, which is made up of more than 30 members including GOP leadership and representatives of different parts of the conference mostly based on geography. McCarthy and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., have extra votes.

If approved, Smith would succeed former Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, who retired from Congress after a six-year run atop the GOP side of Ways and Means that included shepherding through the partys 2017 law to cut the corporate tax rate and trim most individual income tax rates. Republicans conference rules limit committee chairs to serving three straight terms, meaning this would likely kick off a six-year run atop Ways and Means.

Smith will become the second Ways and Means chairman to represent Missouri in Congress. The first was Rep. John S. Phelps, a Democrat who held the gavel in 1858-59.

CQ-Roll Call editor Ryan Kelly and the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
UNIVERSITY CITY  Stormwater experts on Monday urged the city council here to adopt a list of flood-control recommendations, from the reduction of concrete and asphalt to a survey of high-risk homes to a public warning system for flash floods.

The presentation from the citys Commission on Storm Water Issues highlighted key findings about the flooding triggered by record-shattering rain last summer, as well as the dangers that flash floods pose to people and property.

Its incredible how sudden these things are, commission member Bob Criss, a professor emeritus at Washington University who studies flooding, told the council. The consequences are severe.

On July 26  when more than 9 inches of rain walloped the St. Louis area  University City was an epicenter of damage: Officials here estimated more than 300 homes or apartment units were condemned or declared unfit for human occupation due to the flash flooding, making it the worst-hit municipality in the region.

In the events aftermath, the citys stormwater commission  which includes engineers and professors who examine flooding issues  put together a study of the flood, in the hope that its findings can guide management decisions by the city. Data was gleaned from a network of sensors in the stream channel of the upper River Des Peres, but also through hundreds of hours surveying areas to assess how high floodwaters climbed  even using clues like how high leafy debris reached in chain-link fences.

That kind of precision, said commission member Eric Stein, is gold when it comes to making decisions. It allows officials to gauge which properties are hopeless and which should be considered for flood-proofing, he said.

The commission on Monday urged officials to act: Its members called for the urgent adoption of an early warning system that could notify the public of flash flood risks, much like Amber Alerts or other emergency notifications.

The commission also asked the city to strengthen codes for impervious surfaces, like asphalt, that do not absorb rainwater and divert it, instead, into local creeks such as the upper River Des Peres  setting it up to be overwhelmed and sprawl beyond its banks. Currently, more than 43% of the watersheds area is impervious, the commission said.

Another recommendation called for the city to require the disclosure of flood histories for homes and rental properties.

Additionally, the commission said a top priority should be for the city to budget about $35,000 to survey the height of the ground floors of all properties subject to flooding, which it said is needed to prioritize buyouts and flood-proofing recommendations.

Even a public information campaign about flood risks  such as a website and lecture series  could help bolster awareness in the community, commission members said.

The commissions experts warned that other big floods are an inevitability, particularly given the sensitivity of the upper River Des Peres watershed to rain. Criss has found the small, urbanized basin to be the most flash-flood-prone stream in Missouri.

That sensitivity can bring flood problems to nearby residents, even when rainfall is far shy of record-setting volumes. For example, multiple stream gauges in University City showed that the River Des Peres water levels rose more than 10 feet in a single hour after the onset of the storm  before most of the rain had yet fallen.

Most of the rise of the river happened in those first two hours, Criss said. The continued rain pushed the high water incrementally higher in the hours that followed.

Theres no engineering fix for that channel, Stein said. The basic problem is just overbuilding, and thats gone on for decades.

Its been unwise building practices that caused this, and now the bill has come due, he said.

Stormwater commission members said some of the recommendations have been suggested for years without adoption. Others, they said, could be enacted with no cost. And some  like the early warning system geared for flash floods  have been ready for more than a year.

Most of those recommendations are timely  theyre needed, said Stein. Some of these are long-standing and weve been recommending all along.

Some commission members said they are disappointed by past inaction but want to focus on solving problems instead of pointing fingers.

Still, minimizing flood risk is a challenge without cheap or easy solutions, said commissioners and city leaders, and one that will ultimately require a more unified, region-wide approach, since the issue extends far beyond University City.

This kind of stormwater problem is area-wide, said Stein. Its a hugely expensive thing to fix and it needs cooperation. ... Theres no structure for that.
City

 Jeramie Micheal Romeo, 32, 297 Seymour St., Auburn, was charged Jan. 6 with fourth-degree criminal mischief.

 Kenneth William Currier, 31, 7085 N. Division St. Road, Throop, was charged Jan. 6 with driving while intoxicated-first offense.

 Chad Peter Jennings, 27, 97 VanAnden St., Auburn, was charged Jan. 6 with aggravated criminal contempt.

 Cortez Purcell Peters, 34, 172 Perrine St., Auburn, was charged Jan. 6 with fourth-degree criminal mischief.

 Dajour Maleek Grimes, 24, 226 Seymour St., Auburn, was charged Jan. 7 with resisting arrest and second-degree criminal contempt.

 Spencyr Ahkiem Elliott, 26, 7 Spring St., Auburn, was charged Jan. 8 with driving while intoxicated-first offense and operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of at least 0.08%.

 Bishop Todd James Prenatt, 28, 6 Spring St., Upper Apt., Auburn, was charged Jan. 8 with first-degree criminal mischief and two counts of first-degree criminal contempt.

 Levon Edward Johnson, 43, 171 VanAnden St., Front Apt., Auburn, was charged Jan. 8 with endangering the welfare of a child, fourth-degree criminal mischief and second-degree menacing.

 Emmett Edward Hicks, 42, 128 S. Fulton St., Auburn, was charged Jan. 9 with aggravated family offense and second-degree criminal contempt.

 Hayden Fletcher Marshall, 33, 30 Barber St., Auburn, was charged Jan. 9 with first-degree criminal contempt.

 Joseph Erwin Nichols, 29, 66 Osborne St., Auburn, was charged Jan. 9 with endangering the welfare of a child.

 Dani Marie Jones, 24, 190 Genesee St., Apt. C, Auburn, was charged Jan. 9 with third-degree criminal mischief.

 Matthew Christopher Buchanan, 37, 6 Hamilton Ave., Apt. 2, Auburn, was charged Jan. 9 with petit larceny.

 Chad D. Bessett, 24, 101 Quill Ave., Apt H45, Auburn, was charged Jan. 9 with fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.

 Dorothy Joanne Kufhta, 39, 126 Osborne St., Auburn, was charged Jan. 9 with fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and sixth-degree conspiracy.

County

 Luis A. Carrasquillo-Pizarro, 32, 1824 E. Shore Drive, Ithaca, was charged Jan. 8 with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

 Ethan Alen Salisbury, 32, 16 Woodside Lane, Brutus, was charged Jan. 9 with endangering the welfare of a child and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

State

 Dominique A. Carney, 30, Yorkville, was charged Jan. 6 with second-degree promoting prison contraband and fourth-degree criminal possession of narcotics.

 Holden G. Phillips, 19, Camillus, was charged Jan. 6 with endangering the welfare of a child.

 Shawn P. Keefe, 34, Moravia, was charged Jan. 7 with driving while intoxicated-first offense and driving with a blood alcohol content of at least 0.08%.

 Brad R. Vargason, 40, Auburn, was charged Jan. 9 with second-degree obstructing governmental administration, resisting arrest and driving while intoxicated-first offense.

 Tameika L. Mayfield, 35, Niagara Falls, was charged Jan. 9 with second-degree promoting prison contraband.
RALEIGH, N.C.  Lynette Hardaway, an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump and one half of the conservative political commentary duo Diamond and Silk, died, according to the pair's Twitter account. She was 51.

Hardaway, known by the moniker "Diamond," carved out a unique role as a Black woman who loudly backed Trump and right-wing policies, earning fame first on the internet and then as a cable television commentator. Her promotion of COVID-19 falsehoods eventually got her dropped from Fox News but she landed on another right-wing cable platform.

She and her sister, Rochelle "Silk" Richardson, rose to prominence during the 2016 presidential campaign cycle when they appeared on stage in support of Trump, who embraced the two Black women amid widespread accusations of racism and sexism.

Hardaway's cause of death was not released. Trump, who called her death "really bad news for Republicans" in a Monday night post on his Truth Social platform, said it was "totally unexpected."

"Our beautiful Diamond of Diamond and Silk has just passed away at her home in the State she loved so much, North Carolina," Trump wrote. "There was no better TEAM anywhere, at any time!"

The pair's verified Twitter account asked people to "please pray for Diamond" in a November tweet but did not elaborate on the circumstances.

"The World just lost a True Angel and Warrior Patriot for Freedom, Love, and Humanity," the account wrote Monday night, linking to a memorial fundraising page.

A memorial ceremony will be announced.

The sisters, who called themselves Trump's "most outspoken and loyal supporters," said they switched political parties to support his first presidential bid, in which he carried only about 8% of Black voters in the 2016 general election. He invited them to his inauguration in 2017 and later to the White House.

In the introduction to their co-written autobiography, "Uprising," published in 2020, the pair wrote that they faced criticism throughout the 2016 campaign cycle from people who called them "sellouts" and worse names as they stumped for Trump. They said their time in the spotlight wasn't planned.

"We were just going along with our lives as usual, then we were thrust into this political arena all because we dared to speak out and speak up for what we believed," they wrote.

Raised in the Tar Heel state, the two amassed a following of 347,000 subscribers on YouTube and leveraged their internet stardom to land many network television appearances and regular roles at Fox News.

The network removed them from its list of contributors in 2020 after they came under fire for spreading false information about the pandemic and vaccines. The duo falsely suggested the coronavirus was manmade and the rising death toll was a media conspiracy to make the Trump administration look bad.

Twitter briefly locked their account for violating its coronavirus misinformation policy after they tweeted the baseless claim that "quarantining people inside of their houses for extended periods will make people sick."

Landing at Newsmax, a far-right cable news and digital media company, they hosted three seasons of their talk show "Diamond and Silk: Crystal Clear."
Missourians continually vote against their own best interest. Looking at the results of the last election youll find many low income counties from one side of Missouri to the other voting for candidates that want to restrict or eliminate the very entitlement programs that they rely on. You have to look no further than Mississippi County here in Missouri.

Mississippi County has one of the highest percentages of food stamp use in the state. People on food stamps are likely to be on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or Social Security. Recipients may be using a transportation service or nonprofit that is subsidized such as a developmental disability assistance service. All of these programs benefit those who are low income, so why do voters in such counties consistently vote for candidates who want to see these programs go away or be even more restricted?

Some do it because of religion. Republican politics have long been dominated by anti-abortion activists, and many religious voters vote Republican on this one issue alone. You have to look no further than last years Supreme Court Dobbs decision overturning abortion rights to see that the strategy has had some success.

Misinformation and social media have had a profound effect on the political opinion of voters. In 2019 Pew Research Center found that 54% of Americans got most of their news via social media. The lack of oversight on what can be posted has given many different types of entities a platform to spread lies and misinformation. Many unsuspecting Missourians believe what they are reading and are manipulated into an opinion that often has no basis in fact.

Combating this misinformation has not been successful, and there does not seem to be an end in sight. There is little hope of content moderation on China-based TikTok, for example, which is becoming globally the most popular platform by far. Other platforms such as Twitter show no signs of addressing their own sources of misinformation.

The Second Amendment is something many voters falsely believe could be taken away by Democrats. As a result, they cast Republican votes without considering the other issues that can directly affect their lives. I cannot find a Missouri Democrat who wants to repeal the Second Amendment. Banning assault rifles is the only issue I can find that Democrats seem to support.

Most gun owners do not own an assault rifle. Despite these facts, the misinformation continues to spread with little hope that it will be regulated or be subjected to oversight. Federal regulation may be the answer, but then the question is how and by whom. Without any exposure to information countering the falsities they read on social media, voters will continue to act on what they mistakenly believe to be the facts. Adding to the problem is an ongoing campaign to undermine public confidence in established news outlets from television networks to small local papers.

Most of these news outlets have teams of editors who check facts and make sure what is being published or broadcast has a basis in fact. Because of continued exposure to lies about these news organizations, voters have begun to question the authenticity of real news and facts, while putting their trust in social-media nonsense. What used to be considered your trustworthy town paper is now overshadowed by armchair pundits with a smartphone, two thumbs and a Twitter account.

All of these things combine into an epidemic of voters who are misinformed and vote against their own best interest. With some politicians and cable news networks latching onto these falsehoods in order to boost their own popularity, there is little chance of this changing anytime soon without some type of oversight or self-regulation by social media. Maybe one day, social media will become a more reliable source for news. But for now, its the Wild West.

Brad Baldwin is a retail management professional from Lake Saint Louis.
What has happened with Fanning School in the past year illustrates why St. Louis is a failed city. Fanning School is a historic building cited for reuse by the St. Louis school district. Then-Alderman Megan Green, now the aldermanic president, joined a developer in dictating a multifamily project at Fanning to be built in a residential neighborhood. The citizens surrounding the school were completely left out of the process until a finished proposal was announced. Concerns of the residents have since been completely ignored.

There are related problems. The Fanning neighborhood is also in a special security taxing district managed by citizen volunteers. They have tried to appoint replacements to maintain a quorum for months, but Green has refused to approve them. This taxing district is one of the entities that will decide on the tax abatements for the Fanning School project.

The Board of Aldermen requires new appointments to the taxing district board be approved by the alderman in question and then passed by the Board of Aldermen. Why? It has nothing to do with operational efficiency but everything to do with control. An independent citizen taxing board should be free from politics, but certain aldermen want to maintain the power to do as they wish.

No one knows why Green is representing the developer rather than the citizens she was elected to represent, but there is no question the system of governance used in St. Louis is not transparent and is subject to abuse by aldermen if they so choose.

Fanning neighborhood residents have gotten together and hired the private lawfirm, Menees and Meness, to challenge the decision on part of the city to grant a multifamily variance. City Counselor Sheena Hamilton responded with a legal brief that represents the Fanning developer as the citys client. Meanwhile the Fanning citizens who are defending a long-standing city zoning ordinance to ensure a quality city for all residents have to pay for their own legal help.

This is the essence of the problem. St. Louis city government represents corporations and developers but not the citizens. The city has opposed the welfare of Fanning residents throughout the whole process. The city puts on a big show of public participation, slinging data around as proof, but Fanning is the reality. There is a failure of democratic processes as the city excludes citizen involvement in any meaningful way. Meanwhile the city supplies almost unlimited resources to corporations and developers.

The city can find $200 million for the convention center to serve and attract corporate clients and tourists, but it does nothing to build attractive neighborhoods that could encourage visits to the city itself. Successful, healthy neighborhoods have to be a priority for raising children. Doing so would reduce crime significantly and improve the city for everyone including the new police chief.

What is common in the best-governed cities is that they value public input. They encourage and empower people to be part of a democratic process of building their own neighborhoods and city. In Minneapolis, there is the Core Principles of Civic Engagement program, which includes the belief that those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process. Minneapolis grew over 10% in the last decade. In Kansas City, there is an Office of Citizen Engagement, which promotes opportunities for residents to participate in meaningful and proactive ways in the Citys decision-making process. Kansas City has grown almost 10%. Both of these cities have an operating structure that includes the public.

What has happened in St. Louis? Working against the welfare of Fanning residents and the bribery scandal involving three aldermen would never happen in Minneapolis or Kansas City. The public is included by policy from the beginning in a clear, open process in those cities. St. Louis does not have a proactive and meaningful system of public participation. St. Louis population has dropped for decades, and it is on the bottom of a list of desirable cities in America. City-building has been infected and corrupted to serve aldermanic ends. The current system has failed St. Louis.

Adoption of a citizen driven, democratic, transparent and inclusive regulatory system of urban planning and development similar to ones used in cities throughout the world will begin to heal St. Louis communities, neighborhoods and environments. This will turn St Louis around, improve the quality of life of the citizens and give corporations and developers a healthy city for their investments. St. Louis can choose its own future.

Greg Michaud consults, writes about and lives in south St. Louis.
The defeated president had spent months falsely crying election fraud. His allies in right-wing media relentlessly spread conspiracy theories, hammering at the nations confidence in its own democracy. It came to a head one day in early January, as thousands of the presidents supporters stormed the seat of government, trampling police, breaking windows and doors and parading triumphantly through the halls of the Capitol.

The violent mob attack in Brazils capital city on Sunday wasnt merely a coincidental echo of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection in the U.S. Capitol. In real ways, it was inspired by the U.S. attack, patterned after it and even instigated with the help of some of the same Donald Trump allies who helped light the fuse here.

Exactly two years and two days after Trump and his mob attempted to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in Washington, thousands of Brazilian protesters loyal to defeated ex-President Jair Bolsonaro attacked Brazils Congress and other government buildings. The rioters wrought extensive damage. Hundreds were arrested.

Unlike Trump, Bolsonaro had already left office (and the country) before the attack. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in the Oct. 30 election, was sworn in Jan. 1. But the attackers, like their American counterparts, were intent on using violence to reverse the election.

Other parallels abound. Trump, long a fan of autocrats and fellow autocrat-wannabes, was a supporter of Bolsonaro, a right-winger known for anti-democratic rhetoric. Bolsonaro spent months before the election telling his supporters that any outcome other than his reelection would be fraudulent, a play right out of Trumps playbook. Bolsonaro, like Trump, refused to attend his successors inauguration, further entrenching his followers in their refusal to accept the election results.

The effort to destabilize Brazils democracy didnt just mirror Jan. 6; it was driven by the same poisonous populism  and even some of the same people. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon used social media to spread false conspiracy theories about fraud in Brazils election, just as he did regarding the U.S. election before the insurrection. Ali Alexander, another Trumpist who helped spur the insurrection, called on the Brazilian mob to Do whatever is necessary! to put Bolsonaro back in power  followed by a sick quip supporting impromptu Capitol tours.

Dear Brazil, please watch those vote counts at 3 a.m., Mark Finchem, the Trumpist election-denier who would later lose the race for Arizona secretary of state, said on social media in early October.

Trump himself has been notably silent about Brazils riot  just as he was damnably silent through most of the violence of the Jan. 6 insurrection. But the message should be clear anyway: that Trumps toxic brand of American would-be autocracy is now apparently being exported to other, more wobbly democracies is all the more reason to finally purge it from politics here.
Rep. Chip Roy, the hardline conservative Republican from Texas, says and does a lot of things that drive us up the wall. His recent, principled stand against the way Congress often blindly approves crucial and expensive spending bills isnt among them. He was absolutely correct to demand changes in bill-approval procedures in exchange for supporting Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House speaker.

Roy, former chief of staff to Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, couldnt be more different in substance and style from his former boss. Cruz sided with then-President Donald Trump and the 2020 election deniers, while Roy stood on principle and voted in the House to confirm Joe Bidens election, saying that Capitol insurrectionists deserved to be imprisoned. Bidens confirmation vote may well sign my political death warrant, but so be it, he said at the time. I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and I will not bend its words into contortions for personal political expediency.

Roy might emerge as one of those rare breeds in Washington: a politician guided by morals and principles, not unquestioning party loyalty. His ongoing source of outrage was the process by which a bipartisan majority in the House and Senate approved a $1.7 trillion spending package late last month with almost no debate or ability by lawmakers to review what they were voting on.

The spending bill was more than 3,000 pages long and filled with earmarks inserted by self-serving lawmakers. Almost no one in Congress had the staffing to sift through the bill and make informed decisions. Even if they had, Democratic and Republican leaders were too determined to force it through without lengthy debate. Rank-and-file members like Roy were effectively told to sit down and shut up. Roy refused.

Laid end to end, 1.7 trillion dollar bills would extend from Earth beyond the sun. It could pave every square inch of Rhode Island with dollars. American taxpayers deserve to know where their money is going and why.

With Roy and others leading the charge, Republicans on Monday began debating new House rules to restrict McCarthys power and force more careful reviews of big-spending packages. While thats a good thing, it could yield catastrophic results if it means bringing the government to a standstill whenever a few Republican rebels see something they dont like.

If lawmakers like Roy are truly committed to principle, they will be careful not to confuse bills that incur debt with bills that allow the government to pay for debts incurred in the past. And there comes a point when handing over power to one or two rebels to stall votes and even unseat the speaker becomes more of a destructive than constructive force. If they dont learn the difference, even more chaos will be forthcoming than what Americans witnessed last week.
FREYR Battery (NYSE: FREY) has appointed Jason Forcier and Dr. Dan Steingart as independent members of the Companys Board of Directors effective December 21, 2022, and January 9, 2023, respectively. The appointments are intended to fill vacancies created by the departures of Jeremy Bezdek and Jon Christian Thaulow from FREYRs Board of Directors.

On January 9, 2023, FREYRs Board appointed Dr. Dan Steingart as an independent director of the Company, effective January 9, 2023. Dr. Steingart is the Stanley-Thompson Professor of Chemical Metallurgy at Columbia University where he is also the co-director of the Columbia Electrochemical Energy Center. Over the last decade, his research in energy storage has been adopted by various industries and has led directly or indirectly to five electrochemical energy-related startup companies. Additionally, Dr. Steingart has served as Chief Scientist/Advisor to ElectraSteel since 2020, Co-Founder of Liminal Insights Inc. since 2015 and Industry Advisor to Sila Nanotechnologies Inc. since 2016.

I want to extend a warm welcome to Dan as he joins our Board of Directors, commented Torstein Dale Sjtveit, FREYRs Founder and Executive Chairperson. Dan brings impressive technical and industry credentials to the FREYR Board as a distinguished electrochemistry expert, a highly respected professor and research scientist at one of the worlds foremost academic institutions, and a valued advisor to start-up companies in the energy sector. Our entire team is looking forward to his stewardship through the next phase of FREYRs growth as a global industrial partner of choice in the clean battery space.

I am excited to be joining the FREYR Board of Directors during a crucial time in the battery industry, remarked Dr. Dan Steingart. Having observed the companys remarkable progress to date, I believe that FREYR is uniquely positioned to scale a cost-effective battery technology as demand for clean energy storage and mobility accelerates. I have long admired the operating team and am proud to be aiding them on their journey.

As previously announced, Jason Forcier joined FREYRs Board of Directors on December 21, 2022. Mr. Forcier currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of SVP Worldwide. Mr. Forciers previous experience includes positions as Chief Operations Officer and other senior manufacturing, supply chain and quality roles at Vertiv Holdings Co from 2017 to 2022; and eight years at A123 Systems, a global manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries, where he was the Chief Executive Officer from 2013 until 2017 and member of the board of management.

Jasons experience leading and establishing manufacturing operations in the lithium-ion battery and other industries will be invaluable to FREYR as we commence production in Norway and the U.S., remarked Sjtveit. We are delighted to welcome Jason and his unique skill set to our Board of Directors, and we look forward to his contributions as we establish giga scale production of clean, next-generation batteries.

Mr. Forciers appointment to the Board of Directors coincided with Jon Christian Thaulow notifying FREYRs Board of Directors of his intention to tender his resignation as a director of the Company effective December 21, 2022.

As announced by the Company on December 23, 2022, Jeremy Bezdek joined FREYR as the Companys Executive Vice President of Global Corporate Development and President of FREYR Battery U.S. Mr. Bezdek joined FREYR from his prior position of Managing Director, Strategic Platforms at Koch Industries. Prior to joining FREYR, Mr. Bezdek spent over 26 years with Koch Industries companies in a variety of executive and leadership roles. On January 8, 2023, he notified FREYRs Board of Directors that he will be tendering his resignation as a director of the Company and as a member and chairperson of its Compensation Committee as he assumes his new responsibilities at FREYR.

In addition, to fill the vacancy on the Compensation Committee created by Mr. Bezdeks resignation, the Board appointed Jason Forcier, an existing independent director of the Company, as a member of the committee effective January 9, 2023. The Board also appointed Mimi Berdal, a current director on the Board and a member of the Compensation Committee, as chairperson of the committee, effective January 9, 2023.

On behalf of the FREYR Board of Directors - Peter Matrai, Olaug Svarva, Mimi Berdal, Daniel Barcelo, and Monica Tiuba, we thank Jon Christian and Jeremy for their enormous contributions to the Company during a pivotal stage in FREYRs journey, added Sjtveit. Their counsel and dedication have been instrumental to FREYRs commercial and industrial development, and we are grateful for the privilege it has been to serve with them.
Today J&T MS 1 SICAV (together with its affiliates, J&T), which owns approximately 14.3% of Venator Materials Plc (Venator or the Company) (NYSE: VNTR), making it the Companys second-largest shareholder, sent a public letter to Venators Board of Directors (the Board). The letter outlines J&Ts concerns regarding the Boards apparent unwillingness to meaningfully engage with J&T, as well as the Companys stark financial and stock price underperformance and apparent lack of strategic direction. J&T also stresses that the incumbent Board appears to have squandered its credibility with investors and should not be trusted to chart the course forward for Venator without additional independent shareholder representation.

The full text of the letter follows:

January 10, 2023

Dear Members of the Board:

As you know, J&T MS 1 SICAV (together with its affiliates, J&T or we) is the second-largest shareholder of Venator Materials Plc (Venator or the Company), with an approximately 14.3% ownership stake. We are writing to express our serious concerns about the direction the Company has taken under the watch of the current Board of Directors (the Board), and to reiterate our belief that additional independent shareholder representation is urgently needed in the boardroom.

To be clear, J&T is not an activist fund, and we generally do not go public with our concerns about a company. However, after trying to reach a resolution privately for seven months and being met with apparent delay tactics and gamesmanship, we believe we have no other recourse. We now feel compelled to make our views known in order to protect our own investment and that of our fellow public shareholders.

The current Board, which is dominated by affiliates of SK Capital Partners (SK Capital) and Huntsman Corp. (Huntsman), has overseen massive value destruction. Venators share price has fallen from its peak of $25.501, shortly after its August 2017 IPO, to less than a dollar today. Despite this drastic decline, we believe the Company has failed to articulate a go-forward strategy to restore confidence among investors and, consequently, the stock has continued to languish. In our view, the Board has not succeeded in representing the best interests of all shareholders and driving value creation.

The situation has become so dire that the Company received written notice in November of 2022 that it faces a potential delisting from the New York Stock Exchange. Additionally, the Company announced the same month that it had retained restructuring experts Alvarez & Marsal to advise it on a range of operational and financial actions.2 Given the deteriorating situation and the Boards poor oversight, we believe that the incumbent directors have forfeited the right to maintain the status quo and chart the path forward for Venator.

We first reached out to the Company in May of 2022 and made clear our desire to be a long-term shareholder of Venator and engage constructively with the Board. We have since tried to work with you on a plan to refresh the Board, initially proposing a Board observer position for myself as a representative of a major shareholder as well as an additional new director. After you indicated that you had no intention of creating a Board observer role, we proposed myself as a director candidate and noted we would also suggest an additional candidate. At that point, you indicated that the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (the Committee) remains open to considering new candidates for the Board and that it welcomed information around these proposals. Subsequently, I submitted a director questionnaire and additional information; however, you replied that the Committee concluded that the size of the current Board is sufficient and provides effective governance. This fact pattern  underscored by the reality that our engagement was purely with management and at no time with any non-management director  indicates to us a lack of any sincere intention on the part of the Board to consider the addition of new independent shareholder representatives.

Further, in our view, the appointment of Miguel Kohlmann  another affiliate of SK Capital who replaced independent director Kathy Patrick as a director in August 2022  seems to have been a purely defensive maneuver designed to avoid giving a significant independent shareholder representation on the Board. We strongly disagree with your conclusion that the current Board provides effective oversight at the Company and is properly constituted. We believe the incumbent directors are not truly independent, and that shareholder-driven change is desperately needed to bring fresh perspectives and credibility to the Board.

We believe an objective review of the current Boards track record demonstrates the urgent need for change. We highlight the following:

The Current Board Has Overseen Massive Value Destruction

Venator share price has declined precipitously since its IPO. The Companys share price is down 96% since its IPO price in August 2017, and 78% since the January 4, 2021 announcement that SK Capitals representatives had joined the Board.3 Additionally, Venators total shareholder return (TSR) is negative 71% and negative 80% for the past one- and three-year periods, respectively.4 Frankly, in our view, Venator is by far the worst financially performing titanium dioxide producer  and one of the worst in the entire chemical sector.

The Companys share price is down 96% since its IPO price in August 2017, and 78% since the January 4, 2021 announcement that SK Capitals representatives had joined the Board.3 Additionally, Venators total shareholder return (TSR) is 71% and 80% for the past one- and three-year periods, respectively.4 Frankly, in our view, Venator is by far the worst financially performing titanium dioxide producer  and one of the worst in the entire chemical sector. The Company has had negative cash flow since its IPO. Through the third quarter of 2022  without the aid of one-time proceeds from the Tronox litigation  Venators cash flow was negative $220 million. This inability to produce positive cash flow has likely hindered reinvestment in the Company.

Through the third quarter of 2022  without the aid of one-time proceeds from the Tronox litigation  Venators cash flow was $220 million. This inability to produce positive cash flow has likely hindered reinvestment in the Company. Venator has delivered severely low gross margins. The Companys average gross margin between 2019 and 2021 was only 9% despite the Company's claims that it has a strong exposure to the high-margin specialty segment, and appears to have been used to cover SG&A alone, rather than to build a base for shareholder returns. Moreover, gross margin was negative in the third quarter of 2022.

The Companys average gross margin between 2019 and 2021 was only 9% despite the Company's claims that it has a strong exposure to the high-margin specialty segment, and appears to have been used to cover SG&A alone, rather than to build a base for shareholder returns. Moreover, gross margin was negative in the third quarter of 2022. The Companys efforts to improve the business performance have failed. Unfortunately, Venator was unable to capitalize on an upturn in the market for titanium dioxide in 2021. In fact, Venator reported a lower adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin that year than in 2019. Its adjusted EBITDA margin was only 8.1% in 2021 and it reported a negative cash flow over the 2019 to 2021 period. Its closest peers, meanwhile, were boasting record earnings. For example, over the 2019 to 2021 period, Chemours delivered a 60% increase in titanium segment adjusted EBITDA, while Tronox delivered a 54% increase and Kronos delivered a 19% increase. Venator, on the other hand, delivered a disappointing 7% decrease in total adjusted EBITDA during that same period.

Venator Has No Apparent Plan and Has Poorly Communicated with Investors

Venator has failed to articulate a go-forward strategy. Updates are only communicated to shareholders through obligatory SEC filings, while the Company offers no financial guidance and has held no investor days, leaving us to question whether the Board and management has any strategy to address the Companys underperformance.

Updates are only communicated to shareholders through obligatory SEC filings, while the Company offers no financial guidance and has held no investor days, leaving us to question whether the Board and management has any strategy to address the Companys underperformance. Venators actions seem limited to reactive steps. Management and the Board seem to only tackle problems when they arise with each new downcycle. Examples include the hiring of Alvarez & Marsal once the Company was on the brink of being delisted and the presenting of multiple business improvement programs, which, despite being heralded as successes by Venator, have not made any material impact on EBITDA.

Management and the Board seem to only tackle problems when they arise with each new downcycle. Examples include the hiring of Alvarez & Marsal once the Company was on the brink of being delisted and the presenting of multiple business improvement programs, which, despite being heralded as successes by Venator, have not made any material impact on EBITDA. The Companys lack of meaningful engagement with us demonstrates a disregard for shareholder input. As noted above, our discussions with the Company have only been at the management level and have left us with the impression that we were experiencing gamesmanship rather than genuine constructiveness. Though Venator management and its advisors at points have offered us selective access to MNPI, we believe a non-disclosure agreement that restricts us without providing the full information available to a director would not be sufficient. Moreover, information is not the only thing we need  it is important that we have the opportunity to influence VNTRs turn-around strategy.

As noted above, our discussions with the Company have only been at the management level and have left us with the impression that we were experiencing gamesmanship rather than genuine constructiveness. Though Venator management and its advisors at points have offered us selective access to MNPI, we believe a non-disclosure agreement that restricts us without providing the full information available to a director would not be sufficient. Moreover, information is not the only thing we need  it is important that we have the opportunity to influence VNTRs turn-around strategy. Venator has been accused of misleading shareholders. For example, the Company was accused of downplaying the extent of the damage caused by its Pori plant fire around the time of its IPO, resulting in a class action suit by shareholders.5

The Current Board Is Emblematic of Poor Corporate Governance and Lacks Independence

The Board lacks diversity of experience. Venators directors all come out of  and have experience in  the chemical industry. A public Company such as Venator, especially as it embarks on evaluating paths forward, should have additional perspectives on the Board, including individuals with experience in areas such as corporate governance, finance, operations, cost reduction and capital markets. For example, Venators peers such as Tronox and Chemours have boards comprised of individuals with a range of experience  not solely in chemicals. We strongly believe that this lack of diverse experience has manifested itself in the absence of a well-laid-out strategy.

Venators directors all come out of  and have experience in  the chemical industry. A public Company such as Venator, especially as it embarks on evaluating paths forward, should have additional perspectives on the Board, including individuals with experience in areas such as corporate governance, finance, operations, cost reduction and capital markets. For example, Venators peers such as Tronox and Chemours have boards comprised of individuals with a range of experience  not solely in chemicals. We strongly believe that this lack of diverse experience has manifested itself in the absence of a well-laid-out strategy. The Board is dominated by SK Capital representatives and lacks diversity of thought. SK Capital acquired $100 million worth of the Companys shares from Huntsman in December of 2020 to become a nearly 40% shareholder, and its representatives and/or affiliates currently hold five of the eight Board seats. Yet, the Companys financial performance has only worsened under these directors watch. Without a well-articulated plan  and based on our prior engagement with the Company  we contend that SK Capital is running Venator like a private company, as evidenced by its eschewing engagement with shareholders.

SK Capital acquired $100 million worth of the Companys shares from Huntsman in December of 2020 to become a nearly 40% shareholder, and its representatives and/or affiliates currently hold five of the eight Board seats. Yet, the Companys financial performance has only worsened under these directors watch. Without a well-articulated plan  and based on our prior engagement with the Company  we contend that SK Capital is running Venator like a private company, as evidenced by its eschewing engagement with shareholders. The Board lacks independence. Director Peter Huntsman, whose company struck a deal with SK Capital for it to acquire Huntsmans remaining interest in Venator in December of 2020 (with 40% of Huntsmans stake sold at the time and a 30-month option for SK Capital to purchase the remaining 9%), should have initiated a process to resign from the Board then. Another director, Daniele Ferrari, is a former Huntsman executive and senior director at SK Capital. Yet, Ferrari is chair of Venators compensation committee while CEO Simon Turner (himself a former Huntsman executive) earned between $5 million and $10 million a year despite the Companys underperformance. Finally, Miguel Kohlmann, who was appointed to Venators Board in August 2022 is also affiliated with SK Capital  serving as a director of Archroma, an SK Capital portfolio company.

***

Based on conversations we have had with non-affiliated shareholders, we believe many share our views. We strongly urge you to immediately add myself and another independent director to be nominated by us to the Board. I have roughly 20 years of experience ranging from internal consulting, operational restructuring and simplification, corporate finance and in addressing governance issues. In our view, this insular Board would greatly benefit from a fresh perspective with experience outside of the chemical industry and from a director who approaches problems with a shareholder mindset.

If the Board continues to refuse to constructively engage with us, we are prepared to exercise all of our rights as shareholders to hold each individual director accountable.

Sincerely,

Martin Seycek

Member of the Supervisory Board, J&T MS 1 SICAV

About J&T MS 1 SICAV

J&T MS 1 SICAV is a Czech-based investment structure, established by long-term business partners Michal Snobr, an experienced investor in capital markets and energy sector expert, and J&T FINANCE GROUP SE, a leading private banking and financial group in CEE, via its investment fund J&T ARCH INVESTMENTS.

1 Stock price at market close on October 26, 2017. Source: Bloomberg.

2 Q3 2022 Venator Materials PLC Earnings Call, November 18, 2022.

3 As of market close on January 6, 2023. Source: Bloomberg.

4 As of market close on January 6, 2023. Source: Bloomberg.

5 Chemical Maker Downplayed Massive Damage at Facility Before IPO, Investors Claim, Courthouse News Service, February 21, 2019, https://www.courthousenews.com/chemical-maker-downplayed-massive-damage-at-facility-before-ipo-investors-claim/.
Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC) announced today the appointment of Carolyn Handlon and James C. Reagan, CPA, to the companys board of directors. These appointments bring the boards total membership to 13, with nearly two-thirds of the board comprised of women and people of color.

We are pleased to welcome both Carolyn Handlon and James Reagan to SAICs board of directors, said Donna Morea, SAIC board chair. Both of these highly accomplished leaders are known not only for their stellar technical abilities in their fields, but also importantly, for their personal integrity and values. Their unique abilities will support SAICs unwavering commitment to delivering for our customers, employees and shareholders through the companys transformational, sustainable, long-term growth efforts.

Handlon will serve on the boards Audit Committee as well as the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Reagan will serve on the boards Audit Committee as well as the Human Resources and Compensation Committee.

Prior to her retirement in April of 2022, Ms. Handlon served as the Executive Vice President, Finance and Treasurer, of Marriott International, Inc. since July 1999 with over 35 years of leadership experience with the company including oversight of global investments and capital markets for Marriott. Prior to joining Marriott, Ms. Handlon worked for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and for the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Invesco Mortgage Capital.

Reagan has an extensive background as a senior finance executive with both private and publicly held companies in the defense and government services industries. Most recently, Mr. Reagan served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Leidos Holdings, Inc. from July 2015 until his retirement in July 2021.
Jury selection began Monday in the trial of an Auburn woman accused of murdering a Syracuse man outside a city tavern last winter.

Shameek Copes, 28, of 1 Jefferson St., Apt. 1, is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon for her role in the March 15 shooting death of John Wesley Smith III, 37, of Syracuse. Smith was killed in front of Swifty's Tavern on Perrine Street in Auburn around 1:40 a.m.

In a Cayuga County Court trial presided over by Judge Thomas Leone, 10 jurors were selected on Monday. The process for selecting the final two jurors and two alternate jurors will resume on Tuesday morning.

Rome Canzano, Copes' attorney, has previously expressed concern about being able to find an objective jury pool in the county because of the publicity of the case, but Leone rejected a motion for a change of venue during proceedings last year.

Copes is the sole defendant in this week's trial. Adrian Agee and Junnell Copes, both of Auburn, were arraigned in April on felony charges related to Smith's death, Cayuga County District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci said then. Agee was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm, hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence, while Junnell Copes was charged with criminal possession of a weapon. Junnell Copes is related to Shameek Copes.

Agee has pleaded guilty to weapon possession and the hindering prosecution charge. During the investigation, prosecutors have said, law enforcement recovered an "unrelated weapon," a loaded pistol, on Agee's property, adding that law enforcement also determined Agee hid the murder weapon in a public storm drain.

Auburn murder defendant pleads not guilty in Cayuga County Court AUBURN  An Auburn woman charged with murder in a March shooting death entered not guilty pleas in Cayuga County Court Friday morning.

Shameek Copes is facing maximum sentences of 25 years to life in state prison for the murder charge and 15 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision on the weapon count, running concurrently.

She became the primary suspect in Smith's death early in the investigation. On March 21, APD issued a news release saying they wanted to speak with Copes, who was called a "person of interest" at that point in the investigation. Days later, police declared Copes a suspect in Smith's shooting death, and she turned herself in to the Rock Hill Police Department in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on March 28 after an arrest warrant was issued.

At her arraignment when she was brought back to Cayuga County to answer to the charges, Grome Antonacci said Copes was caught on video shooting and killing Smith.

Smith's family has said he was attempting to deescalate a fight that night outside the bar. He is survived by four children ranging in age from 6 to 18.
Largest cluster of independent Canadian hospitals to collaborate on unified Expanse platform

CANTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Twenty-three hospitals in northeastern Ontario are creating a single electronic health information system to improve the delivery of safe, evidence-based patient-centered care. Three of the hospitals, Sault Area Hospital, North Bay Regional Health Centre, and West Parry Sound Health Centre, went LIVE with the MEDITECH Expanse-based ONE health information system (HIS) in 2019 with the other twenty hospitals now transitioning to the same system.

Built on the success of the three founding hospitals combined with the groundbreaking North Eastern Ontario Network (NEON) collaboration, these twenty-three hospitals have joined ONE Health Information Technology Service, a shared service organization. The transition to a single health information system will help to make delivering quality care more efficient and effective for health providers, as well as support safety improvements in patient care by linking healthcare professionals with up-to-date patient information.

The Expanse-based ONE HIS will be deployed in both acute and outpatient settings at participating hospitals (including Health Sciences North, a leading academic health science center). It is the largest cluster of independent Canadian hospitals to collaborate on a regional, shared MEDITECH electronic health record (EHR). The hospitals cover a geographic area of 400,000 km2 and serve a population of 560,000 people.

This is not an IT led project, but a clinically driven initiative to develop standardized, evidence-based best practices. All of us share a goal of providing exceptional patient care to our communities, said Dr. Derek Garniss, ONE Chief Medical Information Officer and emergency physician at Sault Area Hospital. By implementing Expanse together and establishing a shared health information session, ONE is transforming the way care is delivered to ensure that it is well informed, safe, and seamless throughout the region.

All ONE member hospitals have worked together throughout the project to standardize more than 450 order sets, nursing and physician documentation templates, drug administration times, medical directives, and dictionaries. Good governance practices were key to ensuring all hospitals were represented at the planning and decision-making tables, regardless of size. While the goal is to establish a system that standardizes care across all entities, flexibility is still necessary to meet the needs of different facility sizes and settings ranging from 20-500 beds.

This project is part of our ongoing commitment to delivering the highest quality patient care, research, teaching, and learning in our region, said Mark Hartman, Health Sciences North Senior Vice President of Patient Experience and Digital Transformation and the ONE Health Information Technology Service Chairperson. Expanse is delivering the technology to take us to the next level of care, and is laying the foundation for future advancements.

MEDITECH Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Helen Waters believes that collaborations similar to ONE will be crucial to establish cohesive strategies in the face of rising challenges in population health and care equity.

It is exciting to be part of a transformative change project of this scope, she said. We are proud to see that Expanse is helping to advance the care goals for Canadian healthcare organizations of all sizes, as well as supporting a diverse variety of patient populations.

Please visit MEDITECHs Canadian page for the latest news and customer highlights.

About MEDITECH

As Canadas preferred EHR solution provider for over four decades, MEDITECH is also the countrys leading supplier of complex health authority and multi-site clustered environments. Our Expanse EHR is driving clinical transformation, spanning every care setting while setting new standards for usability, efficiency, and outcomes. Visit ehr.meditech.com/global/meditech-canada for more information. You can also find MEDITECH Podcasts on your favorite listening app, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

About ONE (one person, one record, one system)

ONE Health Information Technology Services (HITS) is a new shared service organization supporting healthcare organizations to drive clinical transformations through the successful adoption and integration of technology systems that significantly improve the quality of patient- and family-centred care.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005733/en/

Media

Robin Montville, public and media relations manager, MEDITECH

[email protected]

Source: MEDITECH
Ewen to help lead Batterys growing London office and help pursue growth and private equity deals across Europe; firm also announces John Raguin as global EIR

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Battery Ventures, a global, technology-focused investment firm, promoted software investor Zak Ewen to the role of partner. Ewen is based in London and will continue to help spearhead the firms European software-investing efforts.

In its 40th year of operations, Battery is currently investing its 14th family of funds: Battery XIV and a companion fund, together capitalized at $3.3 billion, and the $530 million Battery Ventures Select Fund II, all of which closed last year.

Ewen, who originally joined the firm in 2010, focuses on private equity and growth-equity investments in software, information services and enterprise technology in the U.S. and Europe. He is currently involved with Battery portfolio companies Craftview, Easy Software, VertiGIS, Vita Mojo and Forterro, in addition to European software companies Vimcar and Avrios, in which Battery last week agreed to invest. Zak was previously involved with Batterys investment in low-code software company Mendix, acquired by Siemens in 2018.

Battery also announced that John Raguin, a veteran software-industry executive and the former CEO and president of Guidewire Software, will re-join the firm as an executive in residence. Raguin will offer operational guidance to Battery portfolio software companies in the U.S. and Europe, including working closely with Avrios and Vimcar. Raguin was previously an EIR at Battery from 2011 to 2013 and currently serves on the boards of Battery portfolio companies MadCap Software and CrunchTime! Information Systems.

We are excited to bring John back on board as an EIR, and also extremely proud to announce Zaks promotion to partner. Its a role he exemplifies in every sense, as Zak serves as a partner to technology entrepreneurs and management teams, to junior Battery team members and to others across the firms global offices, said Morad Elhafed, a general partner who works closely with Ewen on European investments. As a senior member of our London team, Zak has played an instrumental role in developing our technology investment strategy across Europe, one that we plan to accelerate in the years to come.

As partner, Ewen will help manage the London office as Battery expands its activities across Europe, an increasing focus for the firm. The firm and its portfolio companies have invested in more than 100 European-based companies since 2005. The Battery Ventures London office was established in 2016.

Just last year, Battery announced new European investments in restaurant-software company Vita Mojo and life-sciences technology company Titian, both based in the U.K, and Proemion, a telematics-platform company based in Germany. Battery also re-invested in European ERP software company Forterro after that companys sale to Partners Group and re-invested in U.K. lab-technology company SPT Labtech after that companys sale to EQT Private Equity.

Ewen holds a BS in economics and finance from Bentley University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

About Battery Ventures

Battery partners with exceptional founders and management teams developing category-defining businesses in markets including software and services, enterprise infrastructure, consumer tech, healthcare IT and industrial technology and life-science tools. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at all stages, ranging from seed and early to growth and buyout, and invests globally from offices in Boston, San Francisco, Menlo Park, New York, London and Tel Aviv. Follow the firm on Twitter @BatteryVentures, visit our website at www.battery.com and find a full list of Battery's portfolio companies here.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005122/en/

Rebecca Buckman

Marketing Partner, Battery Ventures

[email protected]

(650) 292-2077

Source: Battery Ventures
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Bregal Sagemount (Sagemount), a leading growth-focused private equity firm, today announced a strategic growth investment in Enhesa (the Company), a leading provider of regulatory and sustainability intelligence worldwide. As part of the transaction, Sagemount will acquire ICGs minority stake in Enhesa, with existing investor CGE Partners (CGE) retaining its majority stake in the Company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

With its global headquarters in Brussels, Belgium and U.S. headquarters in Arlington, VA, Enhesa empowers multinational corporations worldwide to help create a more sustainable future by positively impacting the environment and ensuring the health and safety of their employees and customers. Bringing together some of the worlds most comprehensive data sets, AI-powered analytics, and renowned subject matter experts in the areas of global operations, product, and chemicals management compliance and sustainability, Enhesa provides actionable compliance intelligence in over 40 languages across more than 300 jurisdictions, supported by a team of over 100 in-house legal experts. Navigating the fast-changing regulatory landscape, Enhesa helps corporations meet their compliance and sustainability needs with confidence, now and in the future.

We are thrilled to be partnering with Sagemount as we enter our next stage of growth, said Peter Schramme, CEO of Enhesa. With their and CGEs support and deep industry expertise, we believe we are well-positioned to further invest in our current offerings as well as accelerate new content coverage, use cases, and customer verticals.

We see tremendous growth ahead for Enhesa as a result of the Companys strong product-market fit and tangible customer ROI, said Pavan Tripathi, Partner at Sagemount. Enhesa has an impressive track record of consistently retaining and growing its customer relationships as well as expanding new content offerings and jurisdictional coverage through both organic and inorganic growth initiatives. We are excited to be working with Peter, the Enhesa team, and CGE.

David Greenbaum, Vice President at Sagemount, added, For enterprises that operate, manufacture, and sell globally, Enhesa is by far the leading third-party content provider, allowing companies to monitor relevant Environmental, Health, & Safety (EHS) and other regulations across the enterprise significantly faster and more accurately than internal teams or disparate, regional third-party content providers.

"We have enjoyed a highly successful partnership with Enhesa since acquiring the Company in 2020. Under CGEs ownership to date, Enhesa has meaningfully scaled its business, expanded its industry-leading regulatory compliance content set from EHS to also include Product Compliance and Sustainability Intelligence, and completed five strategic add-on acquisitions," CGE commented. "We look forward to continuing to support Enhesa in its next chapter of growth alongside Sagemount."

Sagemounts investment was led by Pavan Tripathi, Sandeep Swaminathan, David Greenbaum, Harrison Boyajian, and Stephanie Li. Sagemount was advised by Raymond James and Goodwin Procter. Enhesa and CGE were advised by Houlihan Lokey and Travers Smith.

About Enhesa

Enhesa is the leading provider of regulatory and sustainability intelligence worldwide. Headquartered in Brussels, with offices in Washington, DC, Williamsport, PA, Toronto, the United Kingdom, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Portugal, Enhesa empowers multinational corporations worldwide to create a more sustainable future by positively impacting the environment and ensuring the health and safety of their employees and customers. Bringing together some of the worlds most comprehensive data sets, AI-powered analytics, and renowned subject matter experts in the areas of global operations, product, and chemicals management compliance and sustainability, Enhesa provides actionable compliance intelligence in over 40 languages across more than 300 jurisdictions. Navigating the fast-changing regulatory landscape, Enhesa helps corporations meet their compliance and sustainability needs with confidence, now and in the future. For more information on Enhesa, go to the firm's website at www.enhesa.com.

About Sagemount

Bregal Sagemount is a leading growth-focused private capital firm with more than $6.0 billion of capital raised. The firm provides flexible capital and strategic assistance to market-leading companies in high-growth sectors across a wide variety of transaction situations. Bregal Sagemount has invested in over 70 companies in a variety of sectors, including software, information / data services, financial technology & specialty finance, digital infrastructure, healthcare IT, and business & consumer services. The firm has offices in New York, Palo Alto, and Dallas. For more information, visit the Sagemount website: www.sagemount.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About CGE

CGE Partners is a European mid-market investment fund. CGE invests in tech-enabled businesses facilitating the transition to a more digital, renewable, secure, and compliant future, providing capital and expertise to accelerate expansion in global markets. For more information, visit the CGE website: https://cge-partners.com/.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005348/en/

Stephen Fishleigh

BackBay Communications

+44 203-475-7552

[email protected]



Jeremy Milner

BackBay Communications

+1 401-862-9422

[email protected]

Source: Bregal Sagemount
Foodservice Manufacturing Veteran to Advise on Strategic Growth Opportunities

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- C.H. Guenther & Son LLC (CHG), a leading producer of branded and private-label food products, today announced the appointment of Lawrence (Larry) Oberkfell, an experienced foodservice industry leader, as Senior Advisor. In this role, Mr. Oberkfell will advise CHGs management team on growth opportunities and strategic initiatives in addition to supporting the team in identifying compelling opportunities for value-add acquisitions.

I am thrilled to join C.H. Guenther, a company Ive admired for its rich family legacy and history, said Mr. Oberkfell. CHG has long been recognized for its legacy of innovation, collaboration and the strength of its customer partnerships. I look forward to working closely with John and the CHG leadership team to help identify exciting growth opportunities across the business.

I am pleased to welcome Larry to the CHG family as we focus on executing our growth strategy, said John Buckles, President and CEO of CHG. With Larrys past experience working with family-owned businesses, he has the necessary skillset to drive growth while upholding CHGs deeply held family values and legacy. In our efforts to be a trusted partner for our customers, we will look to Larrys guidance to identify new ways to enhance our product offering and deliver exceptional value.

Larry will play a pivotal role identifying growth opportunities that further cement CHGs leadership position, including through strategic add-on acquisitions, said Terry Sutter, Operating Partner at Pritzker Private Capital. Larrys decades of leadership in the foodservice industry and extensive industry relationships make him ideally suited for this role. PPC looks forward to continuing our successful partnership with CHG as we innovate across the product portfolio.

Mr. Oberkfell has held executive roles in the foodservice and manufacturing industries for the past three decades. Most recently, he served as President and CEO of the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association. He held additional executive leadership roles at Schwan Food Company, Surebeam Corporation and Anchor Food Products, and served as an operating partner at GESD Capital Partners, where he oversaw the firms bakery portfolio. Mr. Oberkfell has held numerous board positions, including with the National Restaurant Association, and remains active in many industry-related groups such as the GS-1 Executive Committee.

About C.H. Guenther & Son

San Antonio-headquartered C.H. Guenther & Son is a leading food manufacturer that has delivered high-quality products and just baked from scratch flavor for nearly 170 years. Founded in Texas in 1851, the global company employs more than 3,700 people in 27 manufacturing locations in the U.S., Canada and Western Europe. CHG is a leading supplier of value-added grain-based and frozen food products for foodservice clients and select consumer markets. CHGs well-loved retail brands such as Pioneer, White Wings, Sun-Bird and Cuisine Adventures have been included at family meals for generations. CHG is owned by Pritzker Private Capital along with management and other co-investors. Visit us at www.chg.com.

About Pritzker Private Capital

Pritzker Private Capital partners with middle-market companies based in North America with leading positions in the manufactured products and services sectors. The firm's differentiated, long-duration capital base allows for efficient decision-making, broad flexibility with transaction structure and investment horizon, and alignment with all stakeholders. Pritzker Private Capital builds businesses for the long term and is an ideal partner for entrepreneur- and family-owned companies. Pritzker Private Capital is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). For more information, visit PPCPartners.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005616/en/

Dan Scorpio / Kyla MacLennan

H/Advisors Abernathy

(312) 640-3111 / (646) 939-3062

[email protected] / [email protected]

Source: C.H. Guenther & Son LLC
Innovators are invited to apply for grants of up to $3 million to scale solutions to housing challenges

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Wells Fargo Foundation is expanding its commitment to housing affordability through another $20 million competition with Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) to find housing solutions. The second Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge will once again focus on three categories: Financing, Construction, and Access and Resident Support. Innovators are invited to compete for grants of up to $3 million and two years of technical assistance to transform ideas into solutions that can be replicated in the real-world. Applications will open on Jan. 31, 2023, and submissions will be accepted until March 3, 2023.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005918/en/

Construction workers build a MiCASiTA home, one of six winners in the 2020 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge. The rural homeownership innovation is designed for regions where poverty persists, offering a more sustainable modular home that can expand as a homebuyers income, credit, and family grow. Photo: Enterprise

Recent research shows that millions of U.S. households are unable to find an affordable home, and nearly 7 million homes are needed for renters with extremely low incomes to attain housing stability in urban, suburban, and rural areas alike.

We cannot address the serious housing affordability gap in this country without improving access and creating cost savings that will help boost supply. The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge has proven that investing in pathbreaking innovations at the local level is a powerful way to build more equity and affordability in our communities nationwide, said Jacqueline Waggoner, president of Enterprises Solutions Division. We are proud to join Wells Fargo once again as we focus on uplifting and strengthening the most promising ideas to meet the urgent need for more affordable homes and better serve individuals and families across the country.

Wells Fargo created the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge to engage entrepreneurs and social innovators and advance ideas that can improve housing opportunities for millions, said Otis Rolley, president of the Wells Fargo Foundation and head of Philanthropy and Community Impact. We urgently need to reimagine access to quality affordable places to live in the U.S., which is so tightly linked to economic stability, physical and mental health, and ultimately generational wealth. This $20 million in funding effectively doubles our commitment to find creative solutions to this pressing problem.

The 2023 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge will consider Native, rural, suburban, Tribal, and urban solutions which have the potential to transform current practices and processes and lay the groundwork for increased housing affordability, access, and stability. Interested organizations can learn more about the competition and how to apply on Enterprises website. Additional resources will be available to help organizations prepare their applications, including an informational web session on Feb. 2, 2023.

A variety of entities are eligible to submit an application, including nonprofits, Tribal organizations, and mission-driven for-profit entities in 38 markets where Wells Fargo and Enterprise can provide additional infrastructure to support implementation and help scale the winning innovations: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Washington D.C., Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Through a three-round competition, winning innovations will be selected by a panel of judges including leaders from Enterprise, Wells Fargo, and nationally recognized community development and housing experts. The winners are expected to be announced in fall 2023, with the opportunity to take part in a multi-year initiative to share ideas and cultivate their innovations into solutions that can be applied in communities across the U.S.

History of the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge

Launched in 2020, the inaugural Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge attracted 800+ applications and ultimately awarded six organizations with $2.5 million in grants each to implement their wide-ranging solutions in housing construction, finance, and resident support and services. Currently, a free exhibition featuring those awardees, A Better Way Home, is on display at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., until May 8, 2023.

One of the 2020 Breakthrough Challenge winners is cdcb | come dream. come build. in Brownsville, Texas, which together with buildingcommunityWORKSHOP created a modular housing innovation called MiCASiTA  a more sustainable rural homeownership idea that allows families to grow the size of their home as their finances and dreams evolve.

The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge gave us the time and resources to get to work, said cdcb Executive Director Nick Mitchell-Bennett. And with that support, we now actually have a sustainable modular housing product that can be replicated and scaled.

About Enterprise

Enterprise is a national nonprofit that exists to make a good home possible for the millions of families without one. We support community development organizations on the ground, aggregate and invest capital for impact, advance housing policy at every level of government, and build and manage communities ourselves. Since 1982, we have invested $54 billion and created 873,000 homes across all 50 states  all to make home and community places of pride, power and belonging. Join us at enterprisecommunity.org | Twitter: @EnterpriseNow

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a leading financial services company that has approximately $1.9 trillion in assets, proudly serves one in three U.S. households and more than 10% of small businesses in the U.S., and is a leading middle market banking provider in the U.S. We provide a diversified set of banking, investment, and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through our four reportable operating segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth & Investment Management. Wells Fargo ranked No. 41 on Fortunes 2022 rankings of Americas largest corporations. In the communities we serve, the company focuses its social impact on building a sustainable, inclusive future for all by supporting housing affordability, small business growth, financial health, and a lowcarbon economy.

News, insights, and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.

News Release Category: WF-PESG: Philanthropy & ESG

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005918/en/

Enterprise Community Partners

Jordan Miller, 212-784-5703

[email protected]

Wells Fargo Foundation

Melissa Murray

[email protected]

Source: Wells Fargo & Company
Leadership Summit Takes Place During Data Center World in Austin in May

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Data Center World, the leading global conference for data center facilities and IT professionals and AFCOMs annual global gathering, today announces Erich J. Sanchack, Chief Operating Officer for Digital Realty, the largest global provider of cloud- and carrier-neutral data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, will deliver a keynote address at Data Center BUILD. Data Center BUILD is a new construction and design summit that brings together operators, decision-makers, experts and implementers to help drive smart decisions for data center growth and takes place in conjunction with Data Center World. The leadership summit provides information and connections needed to design and build data centers and takes place May 8-9 in Austin, TX.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005209/en/

Erich J. Sanchack, Chief Operating Officer for Digital Realty (Photo: Business Wire)

Sanchack is responsible for Digital Realtys global portfolio operations, global construction, colocation and interconnection service implementation, cybersecurity, government affairs, and supply chain operations. He has held multiple leadership roles across large portfolios, including CenturyLink IT Solutions, CenturyLink Federal Solutions, Lockheed Martin and Information Systems and Global Solutions/Defense. A former U.S. Marine Corps officer, Sanchack sits on the board of directors for the Data Center Coalition and the Northern Virginia Technology Council, the board of directors and executive committee for the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association/International, and the Armed Services Council for the Union League of Philadelphia. The Northern Virginia Technology Council recognized Sanchack with the 2020 Data Center Sustainable Champion Award and the Northern Virginia Technology Council named Sanchack a TECH 100 executive and Data Center Community Champion.

Building a data center is a highly complex, multi-year, multi-billion-dollar business with tremendous risk and potential rewards for each decision. Our summit will provide executives with the insights and technology solutions that will help drive smart decisions for data center growth, said Liz Cruz, Conference Director, Data Center World. We are pleased to bring industry leaders like Erich Sanchack to share insights on how to plan and build in this ever-changing environment for data centers.

The Data Center BUILD Advisory Board has created a cutting-edge program providing real answers for today's data center challenges. The members of the 2023 Board:

Ron Vokoun, Director of Critical Facilities, OAC Services

Ben Kaplan, Senior Vice President, Turner Construction

Nancy Novak, Chief Innovation Officer, Compass Data Centers

Mark Schultz, Construction Manager, Meta

Ali Greenwood, Executive Director, Cushman & Wakefield

Alan Howard, Principal Analyst, Omdia

Click here for additional information on Data Center BUILD and to register.

Media interested in attending, click here.

For additional information on exhibition or sponsorship opportunities, contact Susan Gillespie at [email protected].

Stay connected with Data Center World on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook.

About Data Center World

Data Center World is the global conference for data center facilities and IT professionals. It offers premier education, abundant networking, and the broadest access to best-in-class vendors. Designed to help data center and IT infrastructure professionals with challenging issues, Data Center World presents top quality knowledge without bias towards a specific vendor product or service. CIO Dive named Data Center World one of the top technology conferences to attend in 2023. Data Center World 2023 will be held May 8-11, 2023 in Austin, Texas. Data Center World is produced by Informa Tech.

About AFCOM

AFCOM advances data center and IT professionals by delivering comprehensive and vendor-neutral education and peer-to-peer networking to its members around the world. Through forward-looking research, AFCOM supports thousands of IT, operations, facilities, builders/designers and vendors working in the data center and IT infrastructure industry. In serving the data center industry for more than 40 years, AFCOM has earned recognition as the market leader in educating, connecting and guiding the data center community.

About Informa Tech

Informa Tech is a market leading provider of integrated research, media, training and events to the global Technology community. We're an international business of more than 600 colleagues, operating in more than 20 markets. Our aim is to inspire the Technology community to design, build and run a better digital world through research, media, training and event brands that inform, educate and connect. Over 7,000 professionals subscribe to our research, with 225,000 delegates attending our events and over 18,000 students participating in our training programs each year, and nearly 4 million people visiting our digital communities each month. Learn more about Informa Tech.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005209/en/

Media

Meryl Franzman

Data Center World

E: [email protected]

Source: Data Center World
GAINESVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Exactech, a developer and producer of innovative implants, instrumentation, and smart technologies for joint replacement surgery, is pleased to announce the first hip resurfacing surgery was successfully completed using the novel JointMedica Polymotion hip implant that is based on a metal-on-polyethylene articulation.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005732/en/

Exactech and JointMedica Announce First Hip Resurfacing Procedure with Polymotion Hip Implant (Photo: Business Wire)

This surgery was performed by hip resurfacing specialist Jim MacKenzie, MD, in Calgary, Canada, who is also celebrating a milestone accomplishment of 20 years of completing hip resurfacing procedures. The Polymotion hip implant addressed the unique pathology of the patients hip that could not be addressed with legacy, metal-on-metal hip resurfacing implants.

Many patients benefit from hip resurfacing. Having performed this procedure for more than 20 years, it is exciting to see new developments in the hip resurfacing space. I look forward to being able to provide this technology for my patients, said Dr. MacKenzie.

Exactech announced the acquisition of a minority interest in JointMedica Limited earlier in 2022. Both companies are collaborating to deliver the next generation of hip resurfacing to the global market through the Polymotion implant, which has yet to receive clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The implant system will become available in targeted markets on a country-by-country basis following regulatory clearances.

According to Exactechs Chief Strategy Officer Sharat Kusuma, MD, Historically, the concept of hip resurfacing has intellectually appealed to surgeons all over the world. In fact, Sir John Charnley, the credited inventor of the modern total hip replacement, intuitively performed hip resurfacing in his initial cohort of hip arthritis patients [rather than total hip arthroplasty]. Sir Charnleys early hip resurfacings failed due to inferior materials, not due to flaws in the procedure itself.

Dr. Kusuma continued, Exactech is thrilled to now partner with the credited inventors of modern hip resurfacing, Derek McMinn MD, FRCS, and Ronan Treacy, MD, FRCS, and JointMedica, to deliver the next generation of metal-on-advanced-polyethylene hip resurfacing to the market.

About JointMedica

JointMedica is an orthopaedic design and development Think Tank, intending to advance and disseminate new concepts which result in the creation of innovative orthopaedic implants. Our objective is to form close relationships with key orthopaedic surgeons, empowering the creation of products that are highly innovative while at the same time meeting the heightened expectations of patients along with the stringent quality and safety standards that apply to modern orthopaedic implants.

Visit www.jointmedica.com

Contact [email protected]

About Exactech

Exactech is a global medical device company that develops and markets orthopaedic implant devices, related surgical instruments and the Active Intelligence platform of smart technologies to hospitals and physicians. Headquartered in Gainesville, Fla., Exactech markets its products in the United States, in addition to more than 30 markets in Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific. Visit www.exac.com for more information and connect with us on LinkedIn, VuMedi, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Polymotion & POLYMOTION. Registered trademarks of JointMedica

Alteon. Registered trademark of Exactech

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005732/en/

Morgan Lee

Marketing Communications Senior Manager

[email protected]

Source: Exactech
Ms. Chu Thi Thanh Ha - Chairwoman of FPT Software chose "Happiness" as the focus of the companys human development strategy in 2023, for the multicultural IT company with more than 27,000 employees spanning 29 countries.

HANOI, Vietnam--(BUSINESS WIRE)--  century since its establishment and going out to the world, FPT Software and its leadership team have always considered people as the most valuable assets". Over the years, the company has resiliently stayed focused on building a culture with a people-centric work environment through various programs and initiatives, enabling employees to reach their highest potential.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005937/en/

(Photo: Business Wire)

Being themselves, the IT engineers release their creativity and increase innovations, improve work efficiency and prove their valuable work. Thanks to these management and workplace building philosophies, FPT Software has achieved several awards such as being among "Best Workplaces" in Vietnam and Asia, the U.S and Japan, recognised by the Great Place to Work Institute.

Explaining the reason for choosing Happiness as the big idea of human development strategy, the Chairwoman spoke sincerely: What I have achieved over the years for the company and its employees is not enough. A company that has grown to be world class needs a solid people foundation. But to be solid, the most important thing we have to do is to build an environment with soul. People must feel the company is like in their own home, colleagues are family, and feel happy in both their own work and mentality.

These concerns urge leaders of FPT Corporation and FPT Software to dig deeper and formulate new ways to bring better values to each employee.

In the middle of 2022, Mr. Truong Gia Binh  FPT Corp. Chairman led FPT Software to initiate the program Happy Employees - building the soul to generate new energy for the giant corp. How can we make each of our people feel truly happy? A good workplace does not only help you work better, but also supports your lifes happiness, said Ms. Chu Thi Thanh Ha, FPT Software Chairwoman.

Nowadays, no matter the size, companies mainly measure and track their development indexes in production and business. To create the best work environment, tracking and measuring happiness of employees should and needs to be done for the sake of the employees.

Because everyone's happiness is different, emphasized FPT Software's Chairwoman.

According to Ms. Ha, in a work environment, happiness can be composed based on 3 main factors. First, the core part is still work, how to promote the professional and open workplace, to harmonize peoples multi cultures, pushing forward creativity and raising work efficiency, achieving higher work quality.

Second is family, and FPT Software is the big family of employees, as each person spends more than a half of their time living and working at the office. We are only happy when the small and the large families are both happy.

In order to increase family happiness, we implemented a variety of programs to provide thorough care for employees' family members; such as Parent's Day  an opportunity to bring employees parents to visit their workplace, and then there are summer camps, success courses, practical English and computer science courses, etc. These ideas and activities help increase the happiness index of the family part, said Ms. Chu Thi Thanh Ha, FPT Software Chairwoman.

And finally, every individual of FPT Software is a talent. We set up FPT Software to be a "give it forward environment, said the Chairwoman.

The company encourages each staff member to "give" by sharing his/her own abilities and strengths with their colleagues. This makes up the third part of FPT's Happiness Index.

"I believe that these three indexes display the overall happiness of each member of our company," Ms. Ha affirmed.

FPT Software's advantage comes from being a multicultural, multi-experienced environment which spans across various countries and territories around the world. Most importantly, the company owns their own set of technologies which help create new values. As an example for the role of "technology" in creating happiness, Ms. Ha picked FPT TechDay 2022 with the theme of Accompany, which clearly demonstrated the impact of tech products and solutions on a persons development for a lifetime.

From the day one is born, grows up, learns and studies until one reaches adulthood, starts working and sets up a family, technology would accompany and help establish a happy life. With the technology in hand, Ms. Ha believes that FPT Software will quickly complete the "Happy Employees" program, which is piloting for more than 4,000 employees, completing the deployment platform, to initiate to the whole FPT Software around the world.

An important highlight of the "Happy Employees" program is FPT Softwares focus on the young GenZ and foreign employees working at the company.

According to Ms. Ha, GenZ is playing an increasingly important role, with their growing number in FPT Software's staff. The most important thing is to understand this group of youngsters because they respond quickly to the surrounding environment, along with the need to experience a rich and dynamic workplace. With such challenges, FPT Software must continuously innovate and create an energetic working environment with diverse experiences, providing cohesive activities to retain them.

GenZ was born in the era of the Internet, their relationships revolve around online communities, making it difficult to build real life communities. FPT Software's strategy is to design and promote direct engagement, connecting people to a shared experience in a space open to nature.

Recently, when initiating project Hola Park - the modern and green campus for IT engineers, FPT Software focused on creating green spaces along with weekly events to engage with the employees. The physical space in the middle of nature, which is what GenZ was lacking, created a harmonious rhythm of balance between online and offline.

For the multi-national team, as a global company, Ms. Ha focused on diversifying experiences and increased cross-culture understanding, especially in the nations which FPT Software presented.

One of the biggest challenges when starting a program as big as the "Happy Employees, is to have a deep understanding of employees and their needs. To make each employee be willing to share their difficulties, or even without saying it directly but their colleagues can still feel and touch their correct pain points. "I want this to be a program that brings real value, so each member of FPT Software can find the best version of themselves, to be taken care of and be adored within the company, Ms. Ha affirmed.

Aiming to become a world-class billion-dollar IT company by 2023, Chairwoman Chu Thi Thanh Ha believed that, a happy work environment along with combined Teams effort and Personals development, would make the solid foundation of a world-class company. FPT Software is on the path to become a place where each individual can be themself, be a part of a team, capable of dealing with global tech problems and make full use of opportunities, succeeding in all aspects of life including career path, development and family life.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005937/en/

Media

Mai Duong (Ms.)

FPT Software

PR Manager

Email: [email protected]

Dzung Duong (Ms.)

Corporate Branding Manager

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.fpt-software.com/newsroom/

Source: FPT Software
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Invitation Homes Inc. (NYSE: INVH) (Invitation Homes or the Company) announced today the signing of new partnership agreements with four trade schools in select Invitation Homes markets. Invitation Homes associates will work with these schools to raise awareness on the value an education in skilled trades can provide and highlight potential career pathways through volunteer efforts and engagement with students.

Its become clear over these past few years that our nations housing industry is facing a severe shortage of skilled trade workersa factor that is contributing to the growing housing challenges we face, said Dallas Tanner, president and chief executive officer of Invitation Homes. Were doing our part to help address this shortage by bolstering the institutions that train and prepare the skilled trades workers of tomorrow and showcasing the worthwhile opportunities these careers provide.

These partnerships are an integral part of the Companys skilled trades initiative, Invitation to SkillUp, which launched in 2021. Each engagement seeks to raise awareness on the value of a skilled trades education, while expanding access to these schools through need-based and minority scholarships and engaging Invitation Homes associates in working directly with students.

Skilled trades workers play an integral role in Invitation Homes daily operationsensuring that our homes are clean, safe and functional while acting as the most visible point of contact for the company through routine interactions with our residents, said Tim Lobner, Invitation Homes executive vice president of operations support. When we talk about creating a best-in-class experience for residents, its our maintenance professionals who uphold and advance our industry-leading standards and serve as some of our strongest brand ambassadors.

Through SkillUp, Invitation Homes is investing in the American workforce, supporting economic growth, contributing to the stability of infrastructure, and providing opportunities in an uncertain economic environment.

The four schools that have signed partnership agreements with Invitation Homes are:

Renton Technical College  Renton, Washington

Central Piedmont Community College  Charlotte, North Carolina

Manatee Technical College  Bradenton, FL

Center for Employment Training  Colton, California

The Company intends to continue to expand engagement with schools through its SkillUp initiative, with the ultimate goal of fostering trade school partnerships in each of the 16 markets in which Invitation Homes operates.

About Invitation Homes

Invitation Homes, an S&P 500 company, is the nation's premier single-family home leasing company, meeting changing lifestyle demands by providing access to high-quality, updated homes with valued features such as close proximity to jobs and access to good schools. The company's mission, "Together with you, we make a house a home," reflects its commitment to providing homes where individuals and families can thrive and high-touch service that continuously enhances residents' living experiences.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005910/en/

Investor Relations Contact:

Scott McLaughlin

844.456.INVH (4684)

[email protected]

Media Relations Contact:

Kristi DesJarlais

972.421.3587

[email protected]

Source: Invitation Homes Inc.
25 new solutions leverage 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors to deliver significantly increased performance and efficiency for mission-critical, AI, high performance computing (HPC) and containerized workloads

Lenovo delivers more than double the workload performance of the previous generation systems with new 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors1

New Lenovo ThinkSystem servers and ThinkAgile hyperconverged solutions help businesses simplify and consolidate IT with an AI-ready platform for virtualization, hybrid multi-cloud and sustainable computing

New Neptune Direct Water-Cooling solutions reduce power consumption for complex workloads to help customers achieve sustainability goals

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) unveiled 25 new ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile server and hyperconverged solutions powered by Intels 4th Generation Xeon Scalable Processors as part of its recently announced Infrastructure Solutions V3 portfolio. Designed to help accelerate global IT modernization for organizations of all sizes, the integrated solutions deliver advanced performance, efficiency and management capabilities specifically optimized for complex workloads, including mission-critical, AI, HPC and containerized applications.

In todays competitive business climate, modern infrastructure solutions that generate faster insights and more efficiently enable complex workloads from the edge to the cloud are critical across every major industry, said Kamran Amini, Vice President and General Manager of Server & Storage, Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group. With the performance and management improvements of the Intel-based ThinkSystem V3 portfolio, customers can reduce their IT footprint by up to three times2 to achieve greater ROI and more easily transform their infrastructure with one seamless platform designed for todays AI, virtualization, multi-cloud and sustainable computing demands.

As global data proliferation continues, businesses need a new IT architecture that spans client-edge-network-cloud-intelligence to help them innovate to meet ever-evolving customer needs. The next generation of Lenovo ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile servers and storage with 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors feature built-in accelerators that can help achieve more efficient utilization and power efficiency across the fastest-growing workloads that businesses depend on today. Additionally, the portfolio provides a unique open architecture with advanced management, superior reliability and extended security to help companies of all sizes work across diverse clouds while leveraging existing IT environments.

Doubling performance for mission-critical workloads

The next generation of Lenovo solutions with 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors accelerate data networking, AI inference and analytics, delivering improved performance to help businesses better manage, process and analyze the explosive growth of data. As the data demands for todays businesses exponentially increase, the new high-end ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile V3 servers are designed to more effectively power todays most demanding workloads across all industries, including in-memory databases, large transactional databases, batch processing, real-time analytics, ERP, CRM, legacy system replacements and virtualized and containerized workloads. The portfolio also enables faster system configuration setup compared to the previous generation with enhanced XClarity Controller (XCC2) software.

Solutions, like the new ThinkSystem SR850 V3, deliver the high performance, reliability and versatility needed to tackle high-intensity workloads in a dense, 4-socket 2U design, enabling businesses to quickly respond to expansion needs such as increased data management across manufacturing, healthcare and financial service applications. The server features predictive failure analysis, light path diagnostics and embedded tamper detection to avoid application failures and downtime for more secure data center operation.

Greater performance, less power consumption with new Neptune systems

Cooled by fifth generation Lenovo Neptune Direct Water- Cooling technology, Lenovos new ThinkSystem SD650 V3 and SD650-I V3 servers extend Neptune efficiency to a new generation of systems that enable customers to reduce power consumption up to 40 percent while still achieving maximum performance.

bp is excited to be an early experience site for Intels 4th Gen Xeon Scalable processor with Lenovo. With support for faster, next-generation DDR5 memory, PCIe 5.0 and Compute Express Link (CXL) 1.1, our new cluster will enable scientists to shorten their time to discovery. This technology will underpin our research efforts supporting bps net zero future, said Elizabeth LHeureux, head of HPC, bp.

Over the last decade, Lenovo has extended liquid cooling beyond CPUs and memory to PCIe, storage, and GPUs and more. The new systems leverage Neptune cooling for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) on select models, providing HPC applications up to four times more memory bandwidth and delivering up to 2.8 times generational performance improvement. HPC users will now have the latest generation Intel Xeon Max Series CPUs with HBM and Intel Data Center Max Series GPUs, all cooled by Lenovo Neptune to efficiently run the most demanding modeling and simulation workloads.

HPC workloads utilize system resources at much higher levels, over longer periods of time than other workloads. Lowering a supercomputers power usage without sacrificing performance comes with many benefits. Every watt of electricity consumed is converted into heat which must be removed from the system. In air-cooled systems, heat is removed by system fans, requiring even more power. With Neptune, liquid removes the heat, negating the need for power-consuming fans. This allows HPC users to attain greater performance while reducing the energy consumed and the environmental impact of the data center.

From Exascale to Everyscale, Lenovo is committed to enabling organizations of all sizes access the next era of supercomputing technologies to help them solve humanitys greatest challenges.

Enabling scalable and secure cloud agility for the modern IT era

Lenovo is accelerating edge-to-cloud deployment with turnkey solutions to enable a smarter digital transformation and help customers accelerate their business. Designed with security, scalability and agility in mind, Lenovos end-to-end cloud solutions are open, proven and ready to deploy. The new solutions provide pre-configured, pre-validated and cloud-ready systems with built-in lifecycle management to address customers most urgent needs. With the new Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions V3 portfolio, businesses can use an agile solution to grow and manage cloud platforms at scale while providing consistent cloud services.

By 2027, Gartner predicts that more than 90 percent of global organizations will be running containerized applications3. While these applications enable rapid prototyping, testing and deployment to the cloud, deployment across large-scale environments is often challenging. Orchestrators, like open-source Kubernetes, enable deployment automation at scale and are quickly becoming a requirement in many organizations to support the dynamic nature of modern cloud-native applications. Lenovos open cloud approach allows for best-in-class Kubernetes platforms and application services for container orchestration and delivery of cloud-native applications, enabling greater utilization of hardware infrastructure while improving operational efficiency.

The new Lenovo ThinkAgile V3 HX, MX and VX hyperconverged infrastructure solutions are pre-integrated with an open ecosystem of partners, including Microsoft, Nutanix and VMware software capabilities, and are available via TruScale Infrastructure as a Service for ultimate flexibility. Customers can combine the convenience of a cloud-like experience with the security and control of traditional on-premises solutions. With Lenovo Open Cloud-Automation (LOC-A) integrated software, deployment, provisioning and managing container infrastructure becomes effortless, enabling businesses to accelerate rollout with up to 81 percent faster deployment than standard IT, thereby increasing the time to revenue by average of 25 percent. For example, the Lenovo Cloud Native Solution for VMware Tanzu on ThinkAgile VX enables organizations to run and operate modern infrastructure with stability at scale while managing containers and virtual machines from the same control plane, improving resource utilization and shortening container development cycles.

Modern IT infrastructures must also be fortified against increasingly sophisticated security threats and support the highest levels of business continuity. The Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions V3 portfolio provides enhanced ThinkShield security and IT resiliency through an additional isolation layer of immunity against unauthorized access and malicious attacks. Lenovos Modular Root of Trust helps protect, detect and recover from cyberattacks and digital compromises with bolstered tamper-detection and monitoring embedded into the chip design, while Lenovo System Guard ensures heightened security between manufacturing, delivery and deployment with advanced hardware monitoring.

Visit https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/servers-storage/alliance/intel/ to learn more about Lenovos new ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile V3 solutions powered by 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors.

About Lenovo

Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a US$70 billion revenue global technology powerhouse, ranked #171 in the Fortune Global 500, employing 82,000 people around the world, and serving millions of customers every day in 180 markets. Focused on a bold vision to deliver smarter technology for all, Lenovo has built on its success as the worlds largest PC company by further expanding into key growth areas including server, storage, mobile, solutions and services. This transformation together with Lenovos world-changing innovation is building a more inclusive, trustworthy, and sustainable digital society for everyone, everywhere. To find out more visit https://www.lenovo.com, and read about the latest news via our StoryHub.

LENOVO, THINKSYSTEM, THINKAGILE, THINKSHIELD, NEPTUNE and TRUSCALE are trademarks of Lenovo. Intel, Intel Core and Xeon are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries. VMware is a trademark of VMware, Inc. 2023 Lenovo. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and COOL VENDORS is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

1 Based on Lenovo analysis of 2.3X improvement SR850 V2 to V3 as measured by 2017 SPEC Int Rate results and Intel projected performance increase on Sapphire Rapids. Actual performance will vary.

2 Consolidation ratio of 3.1 racks to 1 rack when comparing SR650V1 to SR650V3 based on 2017 SPEC Int Rate results.

3 Gartner Cool Vendors in Cloud-Native Computing, November 2022.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005412/en/

Worldwide

Zeno Group, [email protected]

Claire Simmons, [email protected]

EMEA

3 Monkeys Zeno, Lauren Phillipou, [email protected]

APAC

Shonali Chakravarty, [email protected], +91 9833059832

LATAM

Valkiria Suzuki, [email protected], +5511996563108

Source: Lenovo
With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information.

NIO files for NIOWATCH trademark in China

Chinese new energy vehicle startup NIO recently filed for an application to register the trademark NIOWATCH under the international classification of scientific instrument. The trademark is currently pending, according to Chinese corporate database Tianyancha.

Photo credit: NIO

SAIC MAXUS introduces new technology achievements including L4 autonomous MPV

On January 9, SAIC MAXUS revealed multiple technical achievements it established in the intelligent and electrified MPV field at its TECH DAY event. A number of core technical breakthroughs such as the industry's first smart cockpit technology for multi-person travel and China's first pure-electric L4 autonomous driving MPV were publicly presented for the first time. Moreover, the company also unveiled the MIFA 9, G90 and other MPV models riding on the Nebula pure electric platform and the Everest integrated electromechanical architecture.

Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen partners with Xinhua Net

On Monday, Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen, the joint venture between Dongfeng Motor and Stellantis, inked a strategic cooperation agreement with Xinhua Net, under which the automaker will make use of Xinhua Net's leading advantages in brand building, digital media services, communications technology services, and other fields to accelerate its transformation to a customer-centric auto company.

ARCFOXs KAOLA unique baby-care electric vehicle makes debut

On January 9, BAIC Groups ARCFOX launched the KAOLA intelligent electric vehicle, which demonstrates the automakers out-of-the-box design dedicated to baby-care scenarios.

Chinese LiDAR maker Benewake partners with Jabil for auto-grade LiDAR production, delivery

On January 9, Beijing-based LiDAR supplier Benewake announced via its WeChat account its cooperation with the American manufacturing services company Jabil for the manufacturing and delivery of Benewakes AD2 auto-grade LiDAR.

Tesla sells 55,796 China-made vehicles in December 2022

In December 2022, Tesla sold 55,796 China-made vehicles via wholesale, representing a 21.24% dip over the previous year, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

China's annual locally-made PV retail sales grow 1.6% YoY in 2022

China's full-year passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales amounted to 20.824 million units in 2022, edging up 1.6% from the previous year, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Changan Automobiles 2022 annual sales volume edges up 1.98% YoY

In the year 2022, Changan Automobiles annual auto sales amounted to 2,346,151 vehicles in total, edging up 1.98% year on year, the company announced on January 9.

JAC Group scores 55.88% YoY leap in 2022 annual export volume

In December 2022, Chinese automaker JAC Group saw its monthly auto sales slightly increased 2.02% from a year ago to 42,874 units, according to its announcement issued on January 10.

Geely-backed LIVAN Automobile scores 54% MoM surge in Dec. 2022 sales

LIVAN Automobile, the joint venture between Geely Automobile and Lifan Technology, announced on Tuesday its monthly sales reached 11,323 units in Dec. 2022, surging 54% month on month and surpassing the 10,000-unit mark for the first time.

Boschs venture arm sets up joint venture in China for all-electric, fuel cell CV business

Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH ("RBVC"), the corporate venture capital company of the Bosch Group, has set up a joint venture in China with Boyuan Capital, Foton Motor, SinoHytec, and Shenzhen Fuyuan Zhihui Investment Partnership (L.P.) ("Fuyuan Zhihui" is Chinese pinyin) for the R&D and production of all-electric and fuel cell commercial vehicles (CVs), according to a post on Bosch Group's WeChat account.
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Magellan Aerospace Corporation (Magellan) applauds the Government of Canada's announcement that it has reached a final agreement to acquire 88 F-35 fighter jets for the Royal Canadian Air Force. By selecting the F-35, Canada is continuing a relationship that was established between the original partnering nations for the development of the F-35.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005945/en/

Canada will purchase 88 F-35As for the Royal Canadian Air Force (Photo Credit : Lockheed Martin)

The announcement secures significant benefits to the Canadian aerospace industry. To date, Canadian companies have been awarded high value contracts as part of the F-35 global supply chain amounting to $2.7 billion USD as a result of Canadas partnership in the F-35 program. The Canadian economy is anticipated to benefit by more than $16.9 billion CAD over the life of the program. The actions taken by the government on the F-35 program will continue to deliver economic and technical advantages to Canada for decades to come.

As an international partner on the program, Canadas aerospace industry has had many first-of-a-kind opportunities to work directly on F-35 production and provided companies the leverage to adopt some of the most advanced technologies in the world. The formal F-35 selection secures Canadian industrys investment in the program and is expected to facilitate access to future sustainment opportunities.

Magellan sends congratulations to the Lockheed Martin team. Magellan has provided complex structural assemblies and other components for the global F-35 program since the initial system design and development phase.

Magellan is excited to continue its participation on the F-35 program that includes eight international partners  the U.S., United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Norway, Denmark, and Canada. Nine Foreign Military Sales customers are also procuring and operating the F-35  Israel, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Belgium, Singapore, Finland, Switzerland, and Germany.

About Magellan Aerospace Corporation

Magellan Aerospace Corporation is a global aerospace company that provides complex assemblies and systems solutions to aircraft and engine manufacturers, and defence and space agencies worldwide. Magellan designs and manufactures aeroengine and aerostructure assemblies and components for aerospace markets, advanced proprietary products for military and space markets, and provides engine and component repair and overhaul services worldwide. Magellan is a public company whose shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: MAL), with operating units throughout North America, Europe, and India.

Forward Looking Statements

Some of the statements in this press release may be forward-looking statements or statements of future expectations based on currently available information. When used herein, words such as "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "should", "intend", "believe", and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by the Corporation in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that the Corporation believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Many factors could cause the Corporation's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those described in the "Risk Factors" section of the Corporation's Annual Information Form (copies of which filings may be obtained at www.sedar.com). These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the Corporation's forward-looking statements. The Corporation has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005945/en/

Laura Podaima

Director, Corporate Communications

Magellan Aerospace

Ph. +204 228 3791

Source: Magellan Aerospace Corporation
D2s new location within Palo Verde Plaza is now the largest dispensary in Arizona.

D2 Dispensary:

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110006020/en/

D2 Dispensary's new lobby, located at 7139 E. 22nd Street, Tucson. (Photo: Business Wire)

WHAT: D2, a Tucson cannabis dispensary located in the Palo Verde Plaza will celebrate its Grand Opening on Tuesday January 10.

WHEN: Ribbon Cutting at 8:45, Tuesday January 10th, rolling media availability afterwards from 9am to 9pm.

WHERE: 7139 E 22nd St, Tucson, AZ 85710

CONTACT: Joe Wolf at 571.225.7281

BACKGROUND: The D2 Dispensary is now the largest dispensary by square footage in Arizona, providing licensed patients and recreational customers with an unrivaled experience. The new D2 even features a fully secure and indoor drive-through option, as well as a VIP area for Arizona medical marijuana patients. D2s drive-through option was featured by KVOA last week.

The D2 Dispensary Cannabis Destination + Drive Thru, an east Tucson cannabis store, is located at the intersection of 22nd Street and Kolb Road and is now serving licensed patients and 21+ recreational customers in one of the fastest growing parts of the city.

D2 will be open to media starting with the ribbon cutting ceremony at 8:45am, co-hosted by the Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce, then throughout the day on a rolling basis. D2 owners Moe Asnani and Chip Boyden will be available for interviews. Media will also have access to "try" the drive-through lane and speak to customers.

Contact Joe Wolf at 571.225.7281 if you wish to speak with staff or customers.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110006020/en/

Joe Wolf

571.225.7281

[email protected]

Source: D2 Dispensary
Results indicate that the Automated Pupillometer and NPi can be used for patient evaluation and triage in the Emergency Department without risk of confounding by key intoxicants of abuse

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A newly published clinical study shows that NeurOptics Automated Pupillometry and the Neurological Pupil index (NPi) remain unaffected by clinical intoxication, and therefore can be used for rapidly screening emergency room patients for brain injury or neurological injuries regardless of intoxicated state.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005401/en/

NeurOptics automated pupillometer has emerged as an important technology that provides a reliable measurement of pupil size and reactivity, expressed as the Neurological Pupil index (NPi). (Graphic: Business Wire)

The study, published in The Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians, was conducted in the Emergency Departments of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (PPMC) in Philadelphia, where 119 patients with confirmed clinical intoxication from ethanol, opioids, or other drugs of abuse were enrolled. The study examined the effect of different intoxicant drug classes on pupillometry metrics and assessed the potential benefit of pupillometry as a tool in the rapid assessment of clinically intoxicated patients in the Emergency Department (ED).

The results showed that although clinical intoxication did affect pupil size and other individual metrics of the pupillary light reflex, no statistical differences in the NPi were noted between those with intoxication versus control patients. NPi remained unaffected by clinical intoxication and therefore can potentially be used for ED patient evaluation without risk of confounding by key intoxicants of abuse.

With approximately 95,000 alcohol-related fatalities annually and over 70,000 opioid-related drug overdose deaths in 2021 alone, emergency medical service agencies and emergency departments face unique challenges associated with the rapid assessment, treatment, and monitoring for intoxication, said Benjamin S. Abella, M.D., Department of Emergency Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and lead study investigator. This is the first study of intoxicated patients in the Emergency Department setting to clearly demonstrate that the NPi is a reliable tool for assessing and triaging patients, and a useful indicator of neurologic function irrespective of intoxication, including those attributed to opioids.

NeurOptics automated pupillometer has emerged as an important technology that provides a reliable measurement of pupil size and reactivity, expressed as the Neurological Pupil index (NPi). NPi values range from 0 to 4.9, with scores under 3 considered abnormal. The NPi Pupillometer is the only monitoring device that reliably and accurately confirms if pupils are reacting normally or abnormally during the triage of Altered Mental Status (AMS) patients in the ED, supporting neurological examination in adult and pediatric patients across a broad spectrum of diagnoses, including post-cardiac arrest, traumatic brain injury, stroke, seizure, or other neurological events.

About NeurOptics

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., NeurOptics is the worldwide leader in pupillometry. Driven by a passion to help clinicians improve patient outcomes, NeurOptics develops and markets innovative technology for use in critical care medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, emergency medicine, and research. The NeurOptics NPi Pupillometer has been included in more than 100 clinical studies, adopted in over 600 hospitals in the U.S., and is represented in more than 30 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.NeurOptics.com. Follow NeurOptics on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005401/en/

Andrea Sampson, Sampson PR Group

562.304.0301, [email protected]

Source: NeurOptics
Organization Marks 25th Anniversary with a Future Focus

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The PR Council (PRC), which marks its 25th anniversary this year, announces that Ellen Ryan Mardiks, Chairman, Golin (Chicago), has been elected Chair of the Board of Directors. In this role, she will lead the efforts of the Board and provide strategic counsel to the PRC staff to achieve the organizations goal of helping agencies be successful now and in the future.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005926/en/

2023 PRC Executive Committee (L. to R.) Ellen Ryan Mardiks (Golin), Diana Littman (MSL U.S.), Brandon Wilson (Wilbron), Julie Colehour (C+C)

Our agencies have never been more vital, Mardiks said. This anniversary offers the perfect opportunity to celebrate our momentum as we fix our focus firmly on the future, she said, adding Were pivoting to the next great era in public relations, one where well make an even more significant and deeper impact on our clients business, and on our people and their careers.

Other Board Members elected to the Executive Committee include Diana Littman, CEO, MSL U.S. (New York) as Vice Chair; Brandon Wilson, President & CEO, Wilbron (Birmingham) as Treasurer; and Julie Colehour, Partner, C+C (Seattle), as Secretary. Kim Sample, PRC President, is also a Member of the Executive Committee.

The PRC Board is comprised of leaders representing agencies of all sizes, geographies, and specialties. Valarie De La Garza, CEO, Fenton (New York), Tiffany Guarnaccia, CEO and Founder, Kite Hill PR (New York), Brooke Hovey, Global President, BCW (New York), and Bob Osmond, President, Racepoint Global (Boston) have been elected Directors for three-year terms.

De La Garza, Guarnaccia, Hovey, and Osmond join directors continuing their terms: Rebecca Honeyman, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, SourceCode Communications (New York); Andy Pray, Founder, Praytell (New York); Josh Rosenberg, Co-founder and CEO, Day One Agency (New York); Maryellen Royle, Group COO, Communications, Evoke (Philadelphia); Kass Sells, Global COO and President of International, WE Communications (Seattle); Trisch Smith, Global Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Edelman (Washington, D.C.) and James Wright, Global CEO, Red Havas and Global Chairman, Havas PR Global Collective (New York). Joining to complete 2023 agency terms are Neera Chaudhary, CEO, imre (Baltimore), who replaces imre Founder and Executive Chairman Dave Imre; and Jasmine Flowers Mazyck, Managing Director, Flowers Communications Group (Chicago), who replaces FCG Founder and CEO Michelle Flowers Welch.

This group of industry leaders brings the highest levels of intellect and passion to help us deliver unparalleled value to our Member firms, said Kim Sample. While the past few years have proven the power of the PR discipline, our focus is on the future and ensuring PR agencies continue to assert their influence for the next 25 years.

About the PR Council

The PR Council is the only association dedicated to supporting agencies with a core competency in earned media. Through a combination of convening and advising, the PR Council aims to help Members -- the leaders of 140 of the countrys premier global, mid-size, regional and specialty firms -- work smarter. To mark its 25th Anniversary in 2023, the organization is future-focused on the most critical issues affecting PR agency leaders ability to attract and retain talent and grow client relationships and their firms.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005926/en/

Andi Hughes ([email protected])

Source: The PR Council
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The start of a new year brings the beginning of boat show season for the $170 billion U.S. recreational boating industry and the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), which represents 85 percent of the countrys recreational boat, marine engine and accessory manufacturers. The recreational boating industry is preparing to welcome an estimated two million Americans to dozens of boat shows between January and March to shop the latest boats as they continue prioritizing outdoor recreation. Boat retailers and manufacturers have historically generated between 30-to-50 percent of their annual sales at boat shows.

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An estimated 100 million Americans go boating each year as consumers continue to invest in the unique experiences that come from being on the water. (Photo: Business Wire)

Coming off a record year of extraordinary demand in 2021 led to the second highest ranked year in nearly two decades for recreational marine expenditures at $56.7 billion. New powerboat retail unit sales normalized in 2022, down an estimated 15-18 percent, to pre-pandemic growth years (2015-2019) with an estimated 250,000 new units sold, 25 percent above previous averages (2008-2014). Looking ahead to 2023, early indications point to continued healthy demand with new retail unit sales expected to remain on par with 2022.

This momentum comes as Americans demonstrate an ongoing prioritization of a life well-lived, spent enjoying outdoor experiences with family and friends and marine manufacturers continue strategically managing production and inventory pipelines following two years of supply chain bottlenecks. Segments driving growth in 2022 included entry-level boats such as personal watercraft, freshwater aluminum and fiberglass fishing boats, as well as pontoon boats that are less than 26 feet.

Last year was a healthy year for recreational boating with momentum coming off of record sales in 2021 due to continued demand and the fact that supply chain shortages prevented our industry from overproducing like we saw happen in other sectors over the past two years, said Frank Hugelmeyer, NMMA president. With boat shows fully returning following two years of limited events due to COVID, weve already seen encouraging sales reports within certain categories, coupled with consumers continuing to invest in the unique experiences that come from being on the water.

New data from the U.S. Department of Commerces Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), released in November, shows the outdoor recreation economy has seen record-breaking years, sustaining remarkable growth despite navigating a post-pandemic environment. In 2021, outdoor recreation generated $862 billion in economic output, accounting for 1.9 percent of U.S. GDP, making it a larger contributor than agriculture, extraction of oil and gas, and mining. Outdoor recreation also supported 4.5 million American jobs. Whats more, recreational boating and fishing are the number one contributor to the near-billion dollar outdoor recreation economy, surpassing RVing, hunting, and other outdoor activities.

With dozens of boat shows being held around the U.S., including Discover Boatings 10 show line-up this winter, manufacturers and dealers will unveil the latest product innovations and technologies, offer exclusive promotions and provide immersive boating activities to engage potential first-time boat buyers as well as millions of boaters look to come together during the off season.

Weve done extensive research to better understand boaters of today and tomorrow and local boat shows are a consistent favorite given the sense of community they create by bringing together boaters of all interests, access to all local dealers and new boat models in one place, the ability to board and buy boats, shop the newest gear, and be immersed in education and experiencesthey take pop-up retail and social meet-ups to the next level, said Ellen Bradley, senior vice president of marketing and communications for NMMA.

U.S. Recreational Boating by the Numbers

Unless otherwise noted, the following additional data are from the NMMAs 2021 Recreational Boating Statistical Abstract.

Annual U.S. sales of boats, marine products and services totaled $56.7 billion in 2021, up 12.7 percent from 2020.

Its not just new boats seeing strong sales; an estimated 1.15 million pre-owned boats were sold in 2021, up 9.2 percent over 2020.

The recreational boating industry is an economic driver supporting more than 690,000 American jobs and 35,000 American businesses.

Outdoor recreation accounts for 1.9 percent of U.S. GDP, generating $862 billion in gross economic output, of which recreational boating and fishing is the single largest segment with an attributed $50.4 billion, supporting 4.5 million American jobs. (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis)

Recreational boating is a uniquely American-made industry: Ninety-five percent of boats sold in the U.S. are made in America.

An estimated 100 million Americans go boating each year.

Recreational boating isnt just for the one percent. Sixty-one percent of boat owners have an annual household income of $100,000 or less.

Ninety-five percent of boats on the water in the U.S. are less than 26 feetboats that can be trailered by a vehicle to local waterways.

Leading the nation in sales of new powerboat, engine, trailer and accessories in 2021 were the following states:

Florida: $5.4 billion, up 3.7 percent from 2020 Texas: $2.4 billion, up 2.6 percent from 2020 Michigan: $1.5 billion, up 16.3 percent from 2020 North Carolina: $1.24 billion, up 2.8 percent from 2020 Minnesota: $1.2 billion, up 13.8 percent from 2020 New York: $1.16 billion, up 10.5 percent from 2020 California: $1.1 billion, up 17 percent from 2020 Wisconsin: $1 billion, up 17 percent from 2020 Georgia: $924 million, up 1.9 percent from 2020 Alabama: $898 million, up 7.4 percent from 2020

About NMMA: The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) is the leading trade organization for the North American recreational boating industry. NMMA member companies produce more than 80 percent of the boats, engines, trailers, marine accessories and gear used by millions of boaters in North America. The association serves its members and their sales and service networks by improving the business environment for recreational boating including providing domestic and international sales and marketing opportunities, reducing unnecessary government regulation, decreasing the cost of doing business, and helping grow boating participation. As the largest producer of boat and sport shows in the U.S., NMMA connects the recreational boating industry with the boating consumer year-round. Learn more at www.nmma.org and get engaged with us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Rebecca Egsieker

404.309.6415

[email protected]

Source: The National Marine Manufacturers Association
John Kristel to take the helm as interim CEO, continuing the foundation for Staxs growth and vision to be the leader in integrated payments worldwide

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Stax Payments, the all-in-one payment technology provider, today announced the appointment of John Kristel to interim Chief Executive Officer of the company, succeeding outgoing founders Suneera Madhani and Sal Rehmetullah.

Kristel currently serves as an operating partner with Greater Sum Ventures, Staxs control investor, guiding growth and operational strategies across its software portfolio. Before that, he served as CEO of CATALIS (formerly Government Brands), a software and integrated payments platform powering all levels and sizes of government across the U.S. and Canada. In the two decades prior, Kristel held CEO and COO leadership roles at various medical centers and health systems.

Kristel will lead in tandem with Staxs Chief Operating Officer, Tony Di Sarli, who joined the organization last fall to improve operational efficiencies and support in scaling the fast-growing business. Di Sarli previously worked in similar roles at SureSwift Capital and Volaris Group collectively for more than ten years, driving day-to-day operational excellence.

Im impressed by the spirit and opportunity that exist at Stax and look forward to working with the entire team in escalating Staxs mission to help businesses thrive, said Kristel. Stax is building an amazing legacy as a household name in payments, worldwide.

As interim CEO, Kristel will focus on further scaling the organization on the heels of tremendous organic and inorganic growth. In taking over the daily responsibilities, Kristel will drive Staxs focus to eliminate transactional friction between businesses and the customers they serve.

John is a trusted partner and well-respected leader with extensive knowledge of software and payments, and were pleased to leverage his expertise during this exciting time in the companys history, said Ross Croley, founder and CEO of Greater Sum Ventures. As Stax evolves through new roles, talent, and technologies, were eager to see it continue to shape the future of payments.

Under Madhani and Rehmetullahs leadership, Stax has grown to processing over $30 billion in payments and serving more than 30,000 businesses across the nation. Notably, Stax has led pioneering subscription-based pricing, developed the first omni-channel payments platform for card-present and not-present solutions, and launched API and Connect divisions. Most recently, Stax has made industry acquisitions including Payment Depot, Fusebill (now Stax Bill) and CardX, and secured a $245 million funding round last spring.

We couldnt be more proud of the success and accomplishments of the last decade with Stax, and well continue to follow the Stax journey with great interest and enthusiasm, said Madhani. Well continue to support Stax into the future and are excited for our own next chapter.

Rehmetullah added: Were so proud of the company weve built, the team were leaving it with, and the bright future ahead for Stax. Its been an amazing experience to create something so special and disruptive, a business model that is truly revolutionizing the payments industry.

In addition to Kristel, Stax has appointed additional members to the executive team, including:

Karim Noorali, Chief Risk Officer, comes to Stax from PayPal, where he worked for nearly 18 years supporting risk management and strategy. Noorali sees his role as taking on and managing risk, enabling customer growth, and helping own the end-to-end transaction.

comes to Stax from PayPal, where he worked for nearly 18 years supporting risk management and strategy. Noorali sees his role as taking on and managing risk, enabling customer growth, and helping own the end-to-end transaction. Jonathan Razi, Chief Product Officer, was previously CEO of CardX, a surcharging automation company that Stax acquired in November 2021. With 10 years of experience in the payments and surcharging space, Razi will lead product roadmaps and innovation at Stax. CardX will continue to be one of Staxs key product offerings.

was previously CEO of CardX, a surcharging automation company that Stax acquired in November 2021. With 10 years of experience in the payments and surcharging space, Razi will lead product roadmaps and innovation at Stax. CardX will continue to be one of Staxs key product offerings. Adam Gray, Chief Integration Officer, will be focused on navigating M&A integrations and ensuring smooth transitions for successful acquisitions. Gray joins Stax after serving in the VP role across business transformation, client success and corporate development at Abrigo, leading over 100 M&A integrations in his professional career to date.

To learn more about Stax, visit staxpayments.com.

About Stax Payments

Stax Payments is one of America's fastest-growing fintech companies, recognized by U.S. News and World Report, Inc., and Fortune for its radically simple payment technology. Stax Payments empowers more than 30,000 small businesses, large businesses, and software platforms through the industry's only all-in-one payments API. Stax's platform provides businesses and SaaS platforms the ability to manage their payment ecosystem, analyze data, and simplify their customer experience through fully integrated solutions. With access to everything they need to transact and help their customers transact seamlessly, the one-stop tool allows companies to move faster, think smarter, and make better business decisions through the power of payments. Stax has powered more than $30 billion in transactions.

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Kristin Alm

[email protected]

865-850-6087

Source: Stax Payments
Simeon Irvine to transition out of Syniverse mid-February

TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Syniverse, the worlds most connected company, today announced that Bill Sansalone will join Syniverse as its Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Sansalone replaces Simeon Irvine, who joined the company in 2019 as Senior Vice President of Business Transformation and was promoted to CFO in March of 2021. Bill Sansalones role is effective immediately. Simeon Irvine will work with Bill, Syniverses cross-functional leadership team, and the finance organization on transitional matters until mid-February.

Simeon has been a valued member of the Syniverse leadership team, making numerous contributions in our business transformation, and especially as an instrumental leader in completing our strategic investment partnership with Twilio in May of 2022, remarked Andrew Davies, Chief Executive Officer, Syniverse. Based in the U.K., hes admirably made these contributions, and many more, while working across both the European and U.S. time zones, no easy feat for anyone.

Bill Sansalone brings more than 40 years of experience in financial leadership roles in the telecommunications industry, having spent more than 37 years with Verizon. In his role, he will lead Syniverses global financial operations, including Business Performance, Reporting, and Controls; Strategic Sourcing; Audit and Tax; and Strategy functions. Based out of the companys global corporate headquarters, he will report directly to Andrew Davies, Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Sansalone progressively advanced in his career through the leadership ranks at Verizon in both the Wireless Division and Consumer Group, a division that provides consumer-focused wireless and wireline communication products and services. In his most recent role, he was Vice President, Financial Field Operations, Consumer. He led all consumer channel financial planning and sales channel analysis, sales quota setting, third-party agent compensation, and customer services financial support. His prior roles within the Wireless division include VP Field Finance Operations; Vice President, Commercial Finance; VP and Controller, Area CFO, and others.

Bill is an experienced, results-oriented, financial executive. Throughout his career, hes consistently driven measurable results with his strong business acumen  examining and quickly comprehending complex business situations to take decisive action to create investor and shareholder value, remarked Andrew Davies. Bill has a true talent for aligning people, processes, and technology to help an enterprise achieve its objectives. He will be a strong addition to our leadership team."

In addition to his many other qualifications, Bill Sansalone has worked as a strategic consultant and advisor with Syniverse in recent years. He has a thorough knowledge of the business financials and operational objectives as he steps into this role. Mr. Sansalone has an MBA in Finance and Economics from the University of South Florida, hes a Certified Public Accountant and is a member of multiple financial industry associations, including FICPA and AICPA.

I couldnt be more pleased to be joining the Syniverse team, remarked Bill Sansalone. Ive long since respected the work that Syniverse does to seamlessly connect the worlds multiplying networks, enterprises, and smart devices. I look forward to working closely with the entire leadership team and Syniverses tremendous employees, the many internal partner organizations, our investors, and our customers.

Supporting Resources

About Syniverse

Syniverse is the worlds most connected company. We seamlessly connect the worlds networks, devices, and people, so the world can unlock the full power of communications.

Our secure, global technology powers the worlds leading carriers, top Forbes Global 2000 companies, and billions of people, devices, and transactions every day. Our engagement platform delivers better, smarter experiences that strengthen relationships between businesses, customers, and employees.

For over 30 years, we have accelerated important advances in communications technology. Today we are an essential driver of the worlds adoption of intelligent connectivity, from 5G and CPaaS to IoT and beyond. Find out more www.syniverse.com.

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Journalists, bloggers & research analysts

Karen Wentworth

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Source: Syniverse
PHILADELPHIA, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Citizens Bank of Philadelphia announced today that its long serving President and CEO, Greg Mckee will retire on January 31, 2023. He will continue as a member of the Board of Directors.

Mckee will remain as President and CEO of Citizens Holding Company and a member of that Board of Directors.

This announcement is made at the conclusion of a diligent and thorough succession search that was done by a nationally recognized executive search firm engaged by the Banks Board of Directors. It is anticipated that a public announcement regarding the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer of the bank will be made within the next two weeks.

Mckee joined the Bank in 1982 and has been President and CEO since 2002.

McKee stated I am very appreciative of the loyalty and support of employees, customers, and shareholders. Without that, my career, and the things that have been accomplished would be considerably different. I look forward to the successes and accomplishments that the Bank and its management will achieve in the future.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and our Shareholders, I would like to thank Greg for his decades of loyal service and servant leadership to this institution, enabling the Bank to grow and serve Mississippi communities across our footprint, said Herbert King, Chairman of the Board. During his over 20-year tenure, the banks assets have grown $400 million to over $1.4 billion and has attracted and retained an outstanding group of leaders and staff that are dedicated to our mission.

The Citizens Bank of Philadelphia is headquartered in Philadelphia, Mississippi. The Bank currently has twenty-eight banking locations in fourteen counties throughout the state of Mississippi. In addition to full service commercial banking, the Company offers mortgage loans, title insurance services through its affiliate, Title Services, LLC and a full range of Internet banking services including online banking, bill pay and cash management services for businesses.

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Citizens Holding Company, Philadelphia

Phillip R. Branch, 601/656-4692

[email protected]

Source: Citizens Holding Company
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Vizgen, the life science company dedicated to improving human health by visualizing single-cell spatial genomics information, today announced the appointment of industry veteran Paul Rasmussen as Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan.

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Paul Rasmussen, Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan, Vizgen (Photo: Business Wire)

With the addition of Paul to our global team, Vizgen is well positioned to meet the growing demand for our market-leading MERSCOPE spatial genomics platform and open access datasets, said Terry Lo, President and CEO of Vizgen. Pauls proven track record in driving product and service adoption regionally speaks for itself and with the addition of our stellar group of partners, we are empowering scientists with a new lens to interpret research, which will ultimately impact human health.

A recognized Asia Pacific sales leader, Mr. Rasmussen was employed by NanoString Technologies for 13 years in a variety of roles. He most recently served as Director of APAC Life Sciences Operations. He previously worked at Applied Biosystems for 8 years. Mr. Rasmussen will be based in Singapore.

"This is a tremendously exciting time of growth for Vizgen, and I am thrilled for the opportunity to play a key role in leading their continued global expansion, said Mr. Rasmussen. Scientists are just beginning to realize the potential of spatial genomics and I look forward to working with Vizgen and playing a role in making spatial genomics a mainstay of laboratories everywhere.

About Vizgen

Vizgen is dedicated to pioneering the next generation of genomics, providing tools that demonstrate the possibilities of in situ single-cell spatial genomics, setting the standard for the spatial genomics field. These tools are enabling researchers to gain new insight into the biological systems that govern human health and disease with spatial context. The companys MERSCOPE Platform enables massively multiplexed, genome-scale nucleic acid imaging with high accuracy and unrivaled detection efficiency at subcellular resolution. MERSCOPE provides transformative insight into a wide range of tissue-scale basic research and translational medicine in oncology, immunology, neuroscience, infectious disease, developmental biology, cell and gene therapy, and is an essential tool for accelerating drug discovery and development. For more information, go to www.vizgen.com. For more information, go to www.vizgen.com. Connect on social media Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

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Media:

Holly Hancock

MacDougall Advisors

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Vizgen:

Brittany Auclair

Vizgen

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Source: Vizgen
FILE PHOTO: A logo of Airbus is seen at the entrance of its factory in Blagnac near Toulouse, France, July 2, 2020. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/

By Tim Hepher

PARIS (Reuters) -Airbus deliveries rose 8% in 2022, allowing the European planemaker to maintain its crown as the world's largest planemaker for a fourth year, despite being forced by clogged supply chains to abandon a more ambitious target.

The France-based company said it had delivered 663 jets or a net total of 661 after allowing for two Aeroflot jets previously caught up in Western sanctions against Russia.

It won 1,078 jet orders during 2022, or a net total of 820 after allowing for cancellations.

Boeing, which is recovering from the fallout of a safety crisis over its 737 MAX and industrial snags on its 787, earlier posted 2022 deliveries of 480 airplanes and said it had sold 935 aircraft or a comparable net total of 774 after cancellations.

Reuters reported last week that Airbus had provisionallydelivered as many as 663 aircraft in 2022.

Airbus last month abandoned a target of "around 700"deliveries for the year, saying the final outcome would not be materially below this. It had previously lowered the target from "around 720" jets because of supply chain problems.

Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury blamed the shortfall on the "complexity of the operating environment" but said Airbus would continue to ramp up production.

"We continue our ramp-up trajectory to deliver on our backlog," he said in a statement.

Demand for new aircraft is recovering as short-haul air travel rebounds after the pandemic and long-haul travel also begins to catch up.

Airbus and Boeing sold a combined gross total of more than 2,000 planes for the first time since 2017, before allowing for cancellations.

"The market is there and the recovery is real," Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer told reporters.

Faury warned, however, that supply chains would remain under pressure in 2023.

(Reporting by Tim HepherEditing by Bernadette Baum, Alexandra Hudson)
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- LIVAN Automobile, the joint venture between Geely Automobile and Lifan Technology, announced on Tuesday its monthly sales reached 11,323 units in Dec. 2022, surging 54% month on month and surpassing the 10,000-unit mark for the first time.

For the year of 2022, the automaker sold a total of 56,140 vehicles.

Since the incorporation in January last year, LIVAN Automobile is taking the fast track in development. On June 21, 2022, the automaker held an online ceremony to launch the brand "LIVAN", which the company said is the symbol of liberation, vision, pioneering, action and progress.

LIVAN Automobile has rolled out several models enabled by rechargeable and swappable batteries, like the LIVAN 9, and displayed them at such significant motor shows, such as Auto Guangzhou, Chengdu Motor Show, and Auto Chongqing.

The automaker has forged strategic partnerships with Cao Cao Mobility, GCL Energy Technology, and All Happy Families to build an ecosystem for battery swapping business.

LIVAN 9; photo credit: LIVAN Automobile

On Dec. 17, 2022, LIVAN Automobile put a heavyweight SUV model, the LIVAN 9, onto the market. Coming with four trim levels, the model features a post-subsidy price range of 109,900 yuan-129,900 yuan ($16,230-$19,190). It is equipped with a 52.56kWh-66.57kWh swappable battery pack, which offers a 380km-470km range under the CLTC test cycle.

LIVAN Automobile is also boosting the implementation of its global strategy, with the X3 PRO and the Maple 60s exported to Azerbaijan and Chile for the period beginning Nov. last year.
Alcoa Corporation (NYSE: AA) today announced a restructuring of its Executive Leadership Team to further improve the Companys rigorous focus on operational excellence, cost, and innovation.

The changes, effective February 1, 2023, will include the reassignment of responsibilities for two existing members of the Executive Leadership Team and the appointment of a new Chief Financial Officer.

William F. Oplinger, currently Executive Vice President (EVP) and Chief Financial Officer, will become EVP and Chief Operations Officer.

Molly Beerman, currently Senior Vice President and Controller, has been appointed EVP and Chief Financial Officer. She will also be the executive member to oversee Alcoas Information Technology and Automation Solutions team.

Renato Bacchi, currently EVP and Chief Strategy Officer, will take on added responsibilities to become EVP, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer, including overseeing Alcoas breakthrough research and development technologies.

This restructuring will ensure continued improvement and focus on Alcoas strategies to operate as a low-cost, margin-focused, sustainable producer, said Alcoa President and CEO Roy Harvey. The plan is fully aligned with our Companys purpose and vision to reinvent the aluminum industry, and it will integrate the corporate strategy team with our innovative and breakthrough technologies.

As part of the restructuring, John D. Slaven, current EVP and Chief Operations Officer, and Benjamin D. Kahrs, EVP and Chief Innovation Officer, will be leaving the Company.

John and Ben are tremendous professionals and exceptional leaders who have contributed significantly to Alcoas success, Harvey said. I thank them for their strong leadership and commitment to excellence, and we will continue to build on their achievements.

William F. Oplinger has served as Alcoa Corporations Chief Financial Officer since November 2016, when the Company completed a legal and structural separation from Alcoa Inc. (the Separation).

Oplinger has demonstrated expertise in finance and has prior operational experience, including previously serving as the Chief Operating Officer for Alcoa Inc.s Global Primary Products division, which includes assets now controlled by Alcoa Corporation. Prior to his role with Alcoa Corporation, he served three years as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Alcoas former parent company, which he joined in 2000.

Mr. Oplinger has a bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Virginia Tech and a Master of Science in Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon University.

Molly S. Beerman served as the Companys Vice President and Controller from December 2016 through October 2019, when she was promoted to Senior Vice President and Controller.

She served as Director, Global Shared Services Strategy and Solutions from November to December 2016. In 2016, she held a consulting role with Alcoa Inc., assisting in the plans for the Separation in November 2016. From 2012 to 2015, Beerman served as Vice President, Finance and Administration for a non-profit organization focused on community issues. Prior to that, she worked for 11 years for Alcoa Inc. in a variety of roles in the finance function and was the director of global procurement center of excellence from 2008 to 2012. Earlier in her career, she served in financial management positions at Carnegie Mellon University, PNC Bank, and Deloitte.

Beerman obtained a bachelors degree in Business Administration, Accounting from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. She is a Certified Public Accountant, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Renato Bacchi will take on added responsibilities to become Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer, including overseeing Alcoas breakthrough R&D technologies that support the Companys vision to reinvent the aluminum industry.

Bacchi was previously Senior Vice President and Treasurer of Alcoa Corporation from November 2019 through January 2022. In addition to responsibility for global treasury activities, Mr. Bacchi also had accountability for Alcoas Corporate Development function, which included evaluating the best uses of the companys capital, sourcing and executing acquisition and divestiture transactions, and joint ventures. Prior to that role, he was Vice President and Treasurer, which included managing risk, cash and relationships with creditors, rating agencies, and commercial banks.

Prior to the Separation of Alcoa Inc. into two separate companies in 2016, Mr. Bacchi was Assistant Treasurer of Alcoa. He joined Alcoa Inc. in 1997.

Bacchi graduated from Sao Paulo University (Brazil) with a degree in Electrical Engineering, and earned a Master of Business Administration degree from IbMec University (Brazil).
Ball Aerospace completed the spacecraft bus for the Weather System Follow-on-Microwave (WSF-M) satellite, the U.S. Space Force's next-generation operational environmental satellite system. Ball also finalized environmental testing on the Microwave Imager (MWI) instrument and has started final space vehicle assembly, integration and testing.

Upon delivery, WSF-M will provide mission data to Department of Defense's (DoD) environmental prediction systems that support all warfighter domains. In addition, it will broadcast real-time, actionable environmental intelligence to on-going military operations across the globe.

"The nearly simultaneous completion of the spacecraft bus and instrument testing mark a significant milestone for the WSF-M program," said, Hope Damphousse, vice president, Strategic Operations, Ball Aerospace. "We are moving forward with spacecraft integration of the MWI sensor, along with a government-furnished Energetic Charged Particle (ECP) sensor, which will be followed by a suite of space vehicle performance and environmental tests."

At the heart of the WSF-M payload is the Ball-built MWI sensor that takes calibrated passive radiometric measurements at multiple microwave frequencies to measure sea surface winds, tropical cyclone intensity and additional environmental data. The ECP sensor will provide critical space weather measurements. WSF-M was designed to mitigate three high-priority DoD Space-Based Environmental Monitoring (SBEM) gaps: ocean surface vector winds, tropical cyclone intensity and the space weather gap, low Earth orbit (LEO) energetic charged particles. It will also address three additional SBEM gaps: sea ice characterization, soil moisture and snow depth. Ball Aerospace was recently awarded the contract modification to develop and build the second WSF-M space vehicle, expected to be completed by late 2027.

Ball Aerospace has played key roles on numerous operational weather satellite programs. Its Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) instruments are operating on the Ball-built Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 satellites, launched in 2011 and 2017, respectively. OMPS is also on board the Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2), which launched on November 10, 2022. Ball is on contract with NASA to build two additional OMPS instruments for JPSS-3 and JPSS-4. The Ball-built Ion Velocity Meter (IVM) space weather sensors are flying on five of the six Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate-2 (COSMIC-2) satellites, a joint program with the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, Taiwan's National Space Organization, NOAA and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research that launched in 2019.

Powered by endlessly curious people with an unwavering mission focus, Ball Aerospace pioneers discoveries that enable our customers to perform beyond expectation and protect what matters most. We create innovative space solutions, enable more accurate weather forecasts, drive insightful observations of our planet, deliver actionable data and intelligence, and ensure those who defend our freedom go forward bravely and return home safely. Go Beyond with Ball. For more information, visit www.ball.com/aerospace or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.
A Boeing 737 Max aircraft during a display at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, Britain, July 20, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Cziborra

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Boeing Co reported a sharp jump in airplane orders and deliveries in 2022 but trailed Airbus for the fourth straight year as its European rival trounced the U.S. manufacturer more than tenfold in the Chinese market.

Boeing delivered 480 airplanes and won 774 net new orders after allowing for cancellations in 2022, while Airbus delivered 661 jets and won 1,078 jet orders during 2022, or a net total of 820 after allowing for cancellations.

In 2022, Boeing delivered eight airplanes to China while Airbus delivered more than 100. In July China's "Big Three" state airlines agreed to buy 292 300 Airbus jet, while Boeing said in September it would begin to remarket some of the more than 100 737 MAX jets earmarked for Chinese airlines.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo complained in 2021 that the Chinese government was preventing its domestic airlines from buying tens of billions of dollars worth of Boeing airplanes.

Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun said in October the planemaker hopes it will eventually be able to deliver more jets in China but "it is really hard for me to find signals that things are going to change in China and move in our direction."

In total last month, Boeing delivered 69 airplanes, including 53 737 MAX planes and 15 widebody airplanes and booked 203 new orders net of cancellations.

Boeing in 2021 delivered 340 planes and reported 479 net new orders. Boeing shares closed down 0.9%.

Boeing said its official backlog as of Dec. 31 rose to 4,578 airplanes including 3,628 737 MAX airplanes. About 80% of its deliveries in 2022 were for 737s. Boeing had gross orders of 935 for 2022 before cancellations and accounting adjustments.

Boeing's 2022 deliveries included 31 787 Dreamliners, including 10 handed over in December.

In August, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved the first 787 for delivery since 2021. Boeing halted deliveries in May 2021 after the FAA raised concerns about its proposed inspection method.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal said the company had worked hard to stabilize 737 production and resume 787 deliveries.

Last month, President Joe Biden signed legislation lifting a Dec. 27 deadline imposing a new safety standard for modern cockpit alerts for the MAX 7 and MAX 10 - two new versions of the U.S. planemaker's best-selling 737 MAX.

The MAX was grounded for 20 months after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people.

Without action by Congress, the two new MAX variants would need modern cockpit alerting systems to be certified by the FAA. Boeing has warned that this could jeopardize the futures of the airplanes. Boeing has more than 1,000 orders for the two MAX variants.

Last month, United Airlines said it was ordering 100 787s and 100 737 MAXs. Boeing said Tuesday that 10 MAX and 10 787 orders were previously listed as unidentified orders.

(Reporting by David ShepardsonEditing by Mark Potter, Bernadette Baum and David Gregorio)
By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -U.S. life sciences company Illumina on Tuesday challenged an EU antitrust order to keep biotech firm Grail separate, ratcheting up its fight against EU regulators which blocked a merger deal last year.

Following its veto, the European Union competition enforcer renewed an interim measure last October requiring Illumina to keep Grail as a separate entity so the company can unwind a takeover it had completed without waiting for the deal to get EU approval.

"Today, we appealed the European Commission's interim measures order to hold separate Illumina and Grail," Illumina said in a statement.

"We disagree that the Commission has jurisdiction to review the merger, and with the premise of the interim measures itself and with a number of its provisions, the Commission has exceeded its authority," it said.

The EU executive said in emailed comment it would defend its case in court.

Illumina has three appeals pending in the Luxembourg courts, Europe's top courts, against the EU enforcer's ruling that it jumped the gun by closing the deal without securing approval, the EU's subsequent veto and the EU decision to examine the case.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Barbara Lewis)
FILE PHOTO: Bitcoin investor Barry Silbert speaks at a New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) virtual currency hearing in the Manhattan borough of New York January 28, 2014. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

By Niket Nishant and Hannah Lang

(Reuters) -Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, called for the removal of Digital Currency Group Inc Chief Executive Barry Silbert on Tuesday, amid tensions between the high-profile executives in the wake of the FTX collapse.

Stamford, Connecticut-based Digital Currency Group (DCG) is the parent company of several high-profile crypto firms, including crypto asset manager Grayscale and Genesis, which brokers digital assets for financial institutions like hedge funds and asset managers.

The conflict comes after Genesis' crypto lending arm halted customer withdrawals in November when crypto exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy.

Winklevoss' Gemini offered a crypto lending product called Earn in partnership with DCG's Genesis Global Capital, and now says Genesis owes it $900 million in connection with that product.

In his open letter to the DCG board, Winklevoss said Genesis and DCG had "defrauded" some 340,000 Earn users.

"There is no path forward as long as Barry Silbert remains CEO of DCG," Winklevoss wrote. "He has proven himself unfit to run DCG and unwilling and unable to find a resolution with creditors that is both fair and reasonable."

In a statement, a DCG spokesperson called Winklevoss' allegations "malicious, false and defamatory" and said the company was "preserving all legal remedies in response."

This is another desperate and unconstructive publicity stunt from Cameron Winklevoss to deflect blame from himself and Gemini, who are solely responsible for operating Gemini Earn and marketing the program to its customers," said the spokesperson.

A Genesis spokesperson said in a statement that the company was disappointed that Gemini was "waging a public media campaign despite ongoing productive private dialogue between the parties."

"We remain focused on finding a solution for our borrowing and lending intermediation business and reaching the best outcome for all affected Genesis lending and Gemini Earn clients," said the spokesperson for Genesis.

EARLIER LETTER

The latest development comes a week after Winklevoss penned another open letter to Silbert, accusing him of engaging in "bad faith stall tactics."

DCG owes $1.675 billion to the crypto lending arm of its subsidiary Genesis, according to a November letter Silbert sent to shareholders.

That includes a $1.1 billion promissory note that appears to be connected with liabilities DCG assumed from Genesis after the latter was hit hard by the collapse of Singapore-based crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.

Winklevoss alleged in his letter on Tuesday that Silbert had misrepresented the liabilities DCG said it had assumed from Genesis related to the money that Three Arrows Capital owes Genesis.

"Beginning in early July 2022, Barry, DCG, and Genesis embarked on a carefully crafted campaign of lies to make Gemini, Earn users, and other lenders believe that DCG had injected $1.2 billion of actual support into Genesis," Winklevoss said.

Genesis slashed 30% of its workforce last week in a second round of layoffs in less than six months, citing "unprecedented industry challenges."

Gemini has formed a committee of creditors to recoup the funds it says it and others are owed from Genesis. That committee has hired Kirkland & Ellis as counsel and Houlihan Lokey as a financial advisor.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru and Hannah Lang in Washington; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Conor Humphries, Josie Kao and David Gregorio)
People walk outside of Jefferies Financial Group offices in Manhattan, New York, U.S., December 8, 2021. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

(Reuters) -Investment bank Jefferies Financial Group reported a 52.5% decline in fourth-quarter profit on Monday, hit by lower underwriting fees and volatile markets that dented income from its trading desks.

Still, the firm posted its second-best year for investment banking revenue, which was substantially above 2019 levels, chief executive officer Richard Handler and president Brian Friedman said.

The New York-based financial institution's results are often viewed as a prelude to earnings at Wall Street titans such as JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley, since the bank reports ahead of its rivals.

Investment banks are buckling under pressure from a dearth of deals as companies refrain from mergers and acquisitions due to higher borrowing costs and geopolitical uncertainties such as the fallout from the Ukraine war.

Friedman said the profit decline looked more stark compared with an "extraordinary" bonanza for dealmaking in 2021. "And yet, Jefferies had a reasonable year" relative to pre-pandemic levels, expanding its market share and climbing up league tables, he said in an interview.

Jefferies' total net revenue was down 18% at $1.44 billion, dragged lower by a 35% decline in investment banking and capital markets revenue.

The bank reported a profit of 57 cents a share in the three months ended Nov. 30, compared with $1.20 a year earlier.

Jefferies began reducing the size of its merchant banking portfolio last year in an effort to sharpen its focus on its key businesses. Revenue was more than double this quarter from a year earlier.

The unit, which includes Jefferies' investments in real estate, oil and gas and others, is one of the last remaining holdings of former conglomerate Leucadia National that bought the bank a decade ago.

(Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin and Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Lananh Nguyen; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Bradley Perrett)
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Amazon Prime Delivery is seen on the trailer of a truck outside the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, November 15, 2022. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc will widely roll out a feature by end-January that allows online merchants outside its platform to use the e-commerce giant's payment and delivery services, as it takes on rising competition from Canada's Shopify Inc.

'Buy With Prime', which was launched as an invite-only offering in April, will be widely available to U.S.-based merchants by Jan. 31, the company said.

It added that the product has increased shopper conversion rate by an average of 25%, meaning that many more people placed an order when 'Buy with Prime' was available versus when it was not.

Prime members, who pay $139 per year and drive most of Amazon's sales volume, can buy products from these merchants by clicking the 'Buy With Prime' button on their storefront.

The offering competes with the Shopify Pay feature offered by the Canadian company, which has emerged as an alternative for online merchants looking to directly sell products to consumers.

Several Amazon merchants, mostly small and medium-sized, started selling products directly to customers via their websites during the pandemic, citing high shipping costs and limited warehouse capacity.

CNBC had reported in September that Shopify was warning merchants trying to install 'Buy With Prime' button that the feature violates its terms of service.

(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
Tesla owners unhappy with the U.S. carmaker's price cuts discuss their situation at a Tesla delivery centre in Shanghai, China January 10, 2023. REUTERS/Brenda Goh

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Dozens of Telsa owners protested at a delivery centre in Shanghai on Tuesday, vowing to raise pressure on the electric car maker after it declined to offer them rebates on price cuts the U.S. firm made last week and that they missed out on.

Similar protests by Tesla owners have sprung up in cities including Henan, Wuxi and Hangzhou in recent days, according to owners and social media posts. Tesla has faced online backlash over previous price cuts in China before but nothing as widespread as the current spontaneous protests.

The groups protesting across China were in touch with each other and would continue to press Tesla to offer them some compensation, said Damon Yu, 29, who bought a Model Y in September.

The Shanghai facility had also been a target of a spontaneous protest on Saturday, a day after Tesla moved to slash prices for the second time in three months on its Model Y and Model 3 vehicles in China.

The latest discounts, an effort to drive sales in the world's biggest electric car market after signs last year that consumption was softening, took buyers by surprise.

"We trusted the brand so much that we cancelled our orders for other brands for Tesla," said Yu, who stayed with a group of about 25 protesters at the Tesla Shanghai facility late into Tuesday evening.

Several of the owners in Shanghai said they felt misled by Tesla sales staff who had urged them to close orders and told them that they would face higher prices in the new year.

"I havent been able to eat or sleep," said another owner who only identified herself by her last name, Feng. She said bought her Model 3 in December after Tesla sales staff came to her house to finalize loan documents and had pressured her to close. "I cannot accept this."

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the accusation.

TESLA SAYS NO COMPENSATION

Owners staking out a waiting area at the centre said Tesla had told them in a group chat on Monday that they would not be compensated. The company had told Reuters on Saturday it had no plans to offer compensation.

They demanded the company reverse the decision not to offer compensation.

A third Tesla buyer, who gave his surname as Gu, said he picked up his new electric vehicle on Monday and brought his three-year-old daughter with him to camp out at the Tesla facility all day on Tuesday in an attempt to get some of his money back.

"I lost 20,000 yuan ($2,948) in a matter of hours," he said.

Analysts have said Tesla's price cuts were almost certain to boost China sales, which tumbled in December, and force other EV makers to cut prices too. Tesla has also offered discounts in Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Australia.

As of Monday, Chinese customers were waiting longer to take delivery of some versions of the Model Y, the first sign the discounts were working to stoke demand.

The discounts were the first major move by Tesla since appointing its lead executive for Asia, Tom Zhu, to oversee global output and deliveries after the company fell short of its 2022 delivery target.

While established automakers often discount to manage inventory when demand weakens, Tesla operates without dealerships and transparent pricing has been part of its brand image.

($1 = 6.78 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Brenda Goh and Zhang Yan in Shanghai; Writing by Kevin Krolicki; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
HOUSTON, TX, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harris County is holding a third and final series of public meetings for residents and businesses in the Aldine region to help the County decide on infrastructure improvement projects.

WHAT: In partnership with Precincts 1 & 2, the Harris County Engineering department is conducting the Aldine Region Comprehensive Study (ARCS) aimed at reviewing and gathering public input on recommended projects for transportation, housing, parks & public space, culture & economic development, as well as community safety, public health, & quality of life. This third round of public meetings will focus on the top 20 projects ready for implementation; projects are ranked based on public feedback received.

WHEN/WHERE: The third round of public meetings will be held:

Tuesday, January 17, 2023  6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at North East Community Center (Indoor Grand Assembly Room)

Thursday, January 19, 2023  6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at North East Community Center (Indoor Grand Assembly Room)

Saturday, January 21, 2023  11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at James Driver Park Pavilion (Outdoors)

HOW: To register for this free event, visit https://htx-arcs.com.

WHO: The Harris County Engineering Department is leading the study and seeking public input to make recommendations to the Harris County Commissioners Court. The study area includes businesses and residents in Harris County Precinct 1 (Commissioner Rodney Ellis) and in Harris County Precinct 2 (Commissioner Adrian Garcia).

About the Aldine Region Comprehensive Study

The Aldine Region Comprehensive Study (ARCS) consolidates past planning efforts for community improvement to create a prioritized list of projects for Harris County to implement. The study area covers close to 40 square miles within the boundaries of I-45, I-69, north of I-610 North Loop, and south of Beltway 8/Sam Houston Tollway. The project study area consists of three management districts  North Houston District, Airline Improvement District, and the East Aldine Management District.

There have been several studies conducted for the Aldine Region over the last 20 years, offering a variety of recommendations for infrastructure and community improvement. Not all these recommendations have been implemented. Through public input and technical analysis, ARCS has revisited these past proposals and developed a prioritized plan for project implementation. For project area maps and additional information, visit https://htx-arcs.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Michael Zientek Carl Apple

HillDay Public Relations, Inc. Harris County Engineering Department, Director of Communication

OFFICE: 832-831-1836 OFFICE: (713) 274-3657

EMAIL: [email protected] EMAIL: [email protected]

Mike Zientek Harris County Engineering Department (832) 725-8506 [email protected]

Source: Harris County Engineering Department
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aluf Holdings, Inc. ("AHIX") ("Aluf") (OTC PINK: AHIX) today announced that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Tax Partners Group, LLC d/b/a Rapid Tax USATS (RTUSA), South Florida based leading edge provider of virtual income tax preparation, accounting, and advisory services for business and individuals.

Aluf paid approximately US$250 thousand to acquire TPG, funded through a combination of seller financing and equity (approximately $200 thousand). Approximately 800 thousand shares were issued from Treasury, priced at $.25 per share.

The acquisition of RTUSA is the next step in our ambitious growth strategy and launch of our Business Management Solutions Division, providing diverse solutions of Back-office, Staffing, Financial, and Technology Services. The timing for closing this acquisition couldnt be better, says Aluf CEO Sam Jakobs. With tax season just a few short weeks away, this acquisition means that we can now incorporate this expertise into our own service offering in our Business Management Solutions Division, continues Jakobs.

Rapid Tax USATS, first established in 2015, will continue to deliver a consistent level of excellence and will continue operating out of Alufs headquarters. As we build the RTUSA team, Alufs CFO, Teresa McWilliams, will remain acting managing director for RTUSA. This is an exciting acquisition for both Aluf and RTUSA, says McWilliams. Since announcing the LOI we have received an overwhelmingly positive response resulting in the growth of RTUSAs client base. We are looking forward to a lucrative tax season this year and beyond, continues McWilliams.

About Aluf Holdings, Inc.:Aluf Holdings, Inc. is a publicly traded holding company headquartered in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, engaged in acquiring, operating, and managing subsidiary companies in the development and sale of proprietary software and technology solutions. Our key strategy is to build a larger and more diverse company through strategic and managed acquisitions and growth. Our core focus includes biometrics, software, and hardware verticals. For more information go to www.aluf.com

About Tax Partners USA, LLC:Tax Partners USA, LLC, is located in Davie, Florida doing business as Rapid Tax USATS, providing year-round personalized tax, accounting, and business advisory services to corporations, small businesses and high net worth individuals nationwide. Our professional staff at Rapid Tax USA focuses on the unique personal and business needs of their clients and provides them with customized solutions to meet their goals.

Safe Harbor Statement:This release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E and/or 27E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are based upon assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been accurate and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including statements as to the future performance of the company and the risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in reports filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations or any of its forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause results to differ include, but are not limited to, the company's ability to raise necessary financing, retention of key personnel, timely delivery of inventory from the company's suppliers, timely product development, product acceptance, and the impact of competitive services and products, in addition to general economic risks and uncertainties.

Corporate Contact:Aluf Holdings, Inc.Teresa McWilliams, Chief Financial Officer866-793-1110

Source: Aluf Holdings Inc.
Beijing (Gasgoo)- In December 2022, Tesla sold 55,796 China-made vehicles via wholesale, representing a 21.24% dip over the previous year, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Compared to last November, the month when Tesla refreshed its monthly delivery volume via its Shanghai Gigafactory, the December result was almost halved.

In the last month of 2022, the U.S. electric vehicle maker saw 13,870 Shanghai-made vehicles shipped overseas, representing a 63.3% plunge over the earlier month. At the same time, retail volume of Tesla vehicles in China also dropped 32.91% from November to stand at 41,926 units.

However, according to data released by the CPCA, Teslas Model Y was among the Top 3 new energy passenger vehicle ("NEPV") models in China, in terms of December 2022 wholesales. Successively, the three hottest-selling NEPV models were the Wuling Hongguang MINIEV (73,009 units), the BYD Song (70,079 units), and the Model Y (35,750 units).

Photo credit: Tesla

In the full year of 2022, the cumulative wholesale volume of China-made Tesla vehicles added up to 710,865 vehicles, 271,095 units of which were sold in auto markets outside of China. Tesla Shanghai Gigafactorys annual export volume accounted for roughly 38.14% of its total wholesale volume in the past year.

Judging from the overall monthly retail volume of NEPVs in China, Tesla nabbed 6.6% of the local market in December 2022, which slipped 8.3 percentage points year over year. In the past month, Chinas locally-owned brands accounted for an impressive 70.6% of the entire NEPV retail volume, increasing 11.4 percentage points from the previous year. The market share of new energy vehicle startups dipped 4.5 percentage points from the earlier year to 13.5%.

In general, China's NEPV wholesale volume continued to reach for new highs in December. As the same as a month ago, in December, there were still 14 automakers who sold over 10,000 NEPVs through wholesale channels, and they accounted for 82.1% of the entire local NEPV wholesales record.

To be specific, the aforesaid 14 automakers were BYD (234,598 NEPVs), , SAIC-GM-Wuling (85,632 NEPVs), Tesla (55,796 NEPVs), Geely (44,550 NEPVs), Changan Automobile (39,185 NEPVs), SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle (30,685 NEPVs), GAC AION (30,007 NEPVs), Li Auto (21,233 NEPVs), NIO (15,815 NEPVs), Dongfeng eGT (11,740 NEPVs), Chery Auto (12,506 NEPVs), XPeng (11,292 NEPVs), Great Wall Motor (10,999 NEPVs), and SERES (10,180 NEPVs).

In 2022, NEPVs secured 27.6% of China's domestic PV sales, up 12.6 percentage points from 2021. The CPCA believes that the number stands to increase rapidly in the future. According to the association's projections, in 2023, China's sales volume of NEPVs will come around to 8.5 million units, which represented 36% share of the total PV market.
DALLAS, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Associa, the community management industrys largest company, is proud to have been named one of the nations Top 101 Best and Brightest Companies To Work For in 2022 by the National Association for Business Resources (NABR). Other firms sharing this prestigious designation include Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Sony Electronics, and T-Mobile USA. A total of 510 organizations were recognized nationwide from a total of 4,500 nominations. The winning companies were assessed by an independent research firm which reviewed a number of key measures relative to other nationally recognized winners. The Top 101 highest-scoring companies were further recognized for their excellence in a range of key areas, such as work-life balance; compensation; benefits and employee solutions; recruitment; and diversity and inclusion.

The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For competition identifies and honors organizations that display a commitment to excellence in operations and employee enrichment that leads to increased productivity and financial performance. The competition scores potential winners based on regional data of company performance and a set standard across the nation. The national program celebrates those companies that are making better business, creating richer lives, and building a stronger community as a whole. Organizations recognized nationally as a Best and Brightest Company to Work For will be featured in the online edition of Corp! Magazine and the Wall Street Journal.

We are proud to again be recognized as a National Best and Brightest Company to Work For, said Chelle OKeefe, Associa executive vice president and chief human resource officer. Customer service and employee engagement are two of our top priorities. This designation shows we are succeeding in our ongoing efforts to create a positive and supportive work environment.

About Associa

With more than 225 branch offices across North America, Associa is building the future of community for nearly five million residents worldwide. Our 11,000+ team members lead the industry with unrivaled education, expertise, and trailblazing innovation. For more than 43 years, Associa has brought positive impact and meaningful value to communities. To learn more, visit www.associaonline.com.

Stay Connected

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/associa

Subscribe to the Blog: https://hub.associaonline.com/

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/associa

Join us on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/associa

Tom Womack Associa 214.272.4107 [email protected]

Source: Associa
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CHATHAM, ONTARIO and TEL-AVIV, ISRAEL, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atlas Global Brands Inc. (Atlas or the Company) (formerly Silver Phoenix Resources Inc. Silver Phoenix) (CSE: ATL), a global cannabis company operating in Canada and Israel with expertise across the cannabis value chain, is pleased to provide a corporate update on leadership and retention of service providers.

Update on Chief Financial Officer of Atlas

The Board of Directors of Atlas (the Board) has appointed Peter Van Mol as Interim Chief Financial Officer effective January 10, 2023. Mr. Van Mol was a founder and became Chief Financial Officer of AgMedica, a party to the Atlas merger previously announced on January 4, 2023. Mr. Van Mol has over 30 years of corporate finance experience in the cannabis and agribusiness industries, including supporting ten-fold revenue growth at large diversified agricultural companies with operations across Canada. Mr. Van Mol is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Wilfrid Laurier University. Mr. Van Mol also serves as a Director of the Board.

Jason Cervi is expected to become Atlas Chief Financial Officer upon conclusion of a transition period. Mr. Cervi is currently the Head of Finance & Administration for Atlas. Mr. Cervi has over 20 years of experience working in large global publicly traded organizations with market capitalizations in excess of US$10 billion, across several highly regulated industries including health care, medical devices, and aerospace and defense with extensive background in building and leading high performing teams. Mr. Cervi has deep technical and operational knowledge and expertise in mergers and acquisitions and business integrations. Mr. Cervi is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a minor in Economics from DeGroote school of business at McMaster University.

Appointment of Corporate Secretary

The Board has appointed Natalie Douglas to the position of Corporate Secretary effective January 9, 2023. Ms. Douglas is a paralegal and has spent half her career working in-house for large corporations, and the other half working in a law firm environment. Her experience includes family law, employment litigation, intellectual property, securities, residential and commercial real estate, civil law, and corporate law. Ms. Douglas has supported corporate reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, and other corporate/commercial transactions in the cannabis, engineering, and consulting industries.

Atlas Investor Relations Provider

Atlas has entered into an agreement dated January 9, 2023 (the Agreement) with IR Labs Inc. (irlabs) to provide the Company with investor relations services, particularly with developing and managing a comprehensive investor relations and corporate communications program. Either party may terminate the Agreement at any time by providing the other party with 30 days prior written notice. irlabs has been retained on a month-to-month basis (commencing January 1, 2023) at a monthly fee of C$15,000 plus applicable taxes and reasonable out of pocket expenses for its services. The Company has also agreed to grant 200,000 incentive stock options to irlabs, at an exercise price of $1.00, vesting quarterly over a three-year period commencing from the date of grant. The options are subject to a four-month hold period in compliance with the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the CSE).irlabs contact person, address, email, and telephone number are as follows: Alyssa Barry (Principal and Co-Founder), 400-22 E 5th Ave., Vancouver, BC, V5T 1G8, [email protected], 1-833-947-5227.

irlabs is a dynamic investor relations firm that applies innovative strategies to create visibility, drive investor engagement and make an impact. Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, with team members located across North America, irlabs is industry and sector-agnostic and supports both private and public companies with their investor relations programs, corporate communications, and corporate governance. For more information visit www.irlabs.ca.

Atlas Liquidity Service Provider

The Company has also retained Generation IACP Inc. (GIACP) to provide services as a market maker in compliance with the policies and guidelines of the CSE and applicable legislation. Under the agreement, GIACP will receive a fee of C$7,500 plus applicable taxes per month payable quarterly in advance. The initial term of the agreement is six months from the date of execution, and the agreement will automatically renew for an additional six-month term unless Atlas provides written notice of termination to GIACP at least 30 days prior to the end of the term. Commencing on the first anniversary of the agreement, the fee payable to GIACP will automatically increase annually by 3.0%. No stock options are being granted and no compensation other than as stated above is payable in connection with the engagement. GIACP and the Company are unrelated and unaffiliated entities and at the time of the agreement, neither GIACP nor its principals have an interest, directly or indirectly, in the securities of the Company. GIACP will be responsible for the costs it incurs in buying and selling the Company's shares, and no third party will be providing funds or securities for the market-making activities.

GIACP, established in 1998, is a Toronto-based, independently-owned, investment dealer providing innovative solutions for institutional, corporate, and individual clients in Canada and abroad.

Stock Option Grants

The Company also announces that it has granted 600,000 restricted share units and an aggregate of 9,713,732 stock options to its directors, officers and consultants (the Awards). The options are exercisable at a price of $1.00 per share and have a term of five years from the date of grant. All options shall vest quarterly over the three-year period commencing from the date of grant. All restricted share units vest on the third anniversary of the date of grant. The Awards are subject to a four-month hold period in compliance with the policies of the CSE.

About Atlas Global Brands Inc.

Atlas Global Brands is a cannabis company operating in Canada and Israel with expertise across the cannabis value chain: cultivation, manufacturing, scalability, marketing, distribution and pharmacy. Atlas currently serves eight countries: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In addition to a differentiated product mix, the geographic dispersion of brands demonstrates additional diversification. Atlas currently operates two fully accredited and licensed cannabis facilities, including one EU-GMP facility.

Contact Information:Sheldon Croome Interim CEO 780-784-5920 [email protected]

Alyssa Barry Media and Investor Relations 1-833-947-5227 [email protected]

Forward-Looking Information:

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.

In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to: Information contained in forward-looking statements, including the anticipated benefits of the Transaction and were derived, in part, from making a forecast or projection, including management's perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, current information available to the management of the Company, as well as other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances. The Company considers its assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available but cautions the reader that their assumptions regarding future events, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, may ultimately prove to be incorrect since they are subject to risks and uncertainties that affect the Company and its business.

For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements made in this news release concerning the Company, see the risk factors outlined in the Filing Statement, which is available electronically on SEDAR (www.sedar.com ) under the Companys issuer profile. The forward-looking statements set forth herein concerning the Company reflect management's expectations as at the date of this news release and are subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Source: Atlas Global Brands Inc.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CHATHAM, ONTARIO and TEL-AVIV, ISRAEL, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atlas Global Brands Inc. (Atlas or the Company) (formerly Silver Phoenix Resources Inc. Silver Phoenix) (CSE:ATL), a global cannabis company operating in Canada and Israel with expertise across the cannabis value chain, is pleased to provide a corporate update on leadership and retention of service providers.



Update on Chief Financial Officer of Atlas

The Board of Directors of Atlas (the Board) has appointed Peter Van Mol as Interim Chief Financial Officer effective January 10, 2023. Mr. Van Mol was a founder and became Chief Financial Officer of AgMedica, a party to the Atlas merger previously announced on January 4, 2023. Mr. Van Mol has over 30 years of corporate finance experience in the cannabis and agribusiness industries, including supporting ten-fold revenue growth at large diversified agricultural companies with operations across Canada. Mr. Van Mol is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Wilfrid Laurier University. Mr. Van Mol also serves as a Director of the Board.

Jason Cervi is expected to become Atlas Chief Financial Officer upon conclusion of a transition period. Mr. Cervi is currently the Head of Finance & Administration for Atlas. Mr. Cervi has over 20 years of experience working in large global publicly traded organizations with market capitalizations in excess of US$10 billion, across several highly regulated industries including health care, medical devices, and aerospace and defense with extensive background in building and leading high performing teams. Mr. Cervi has deep technical and operational knowledge and expertise in mergers and acquisitions and business integrations. Mr. Cervi is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a minor in Economics from DeGroote school of business at McMaster University.

Appointment of Corporate Secretary

The Board has appointed Natalie Douglas to the position of Corporate Secretary effective January 9, 2023. Ms. Douglas is a paralegal and has spent half her career working in-house for large corporations, and the other half working in a law firm environment. Her experience includes family law, employment litigation, intellectual property, securities, residential and commercial real estate, civil law, and corporate law. Ms. Douglas has supported corporate reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, and other corporate/commercial transactions in the cannabis, engineering, and consulting industries.

Atlas Investor Relations Provider

Atlas has entered into an agreement dated January 9, 2023 (the Agreement) with IR Labs Inc. (irlabs) to provide the Company with investor relations services, particularly with developing and managing a comprehensive investor relations and corporate communications program. Either party may terminate the Agreement at any time by providing the other party with 30 days prior written notice. irlabs has been retained on a month-to-month basis (commencing January 1, 2023) at a monthly fee of C$15,000 plus applicable taxes and reasonable out of pocket expenses for its services. The Company has also agreed to grant 200,000 incentive stock options to irlabs, at an exercise price of $1.00, vesting quarterly over a three-year period commencing from the date of grant. The options are subject to a four-month hold period in compliance with the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the CSE).

irlabs contact person, address, email, and telephone number are as follows: Alyssa Barry (Principal and Co-Founder), 400-22 E 5th Ave., Vancouver, BC, V5T 1G8, [email protected], 1-833-947-5227.

irlabs is a dynamic investor relations firm that applies innovative strategies to create visibility, drive investor engagement and make an impact. Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, with team members located across North America, irlabs is industry and sector-agnostic and supports both private and public companies with their investor relations programs, corporate communications, and corporate governance. For more information visit www.irlabs.ca.

Atlas Liquidity Service Provider

The Company has also retained Generation IACP Inc. (GIACP) to provide services as a market maker in compliance with the policies and guidelines of the CSE and applicable legislation. Under the agreement, GIACP will receive a fee of C$7,500 plus applicable taxes per month payable quarterly in advance. The initial term of the agreement is six months from the date of execution, and the agreement will automatically renew for an additional six-month term unless Atlas provides written notice of termination to GIACP at least 30 days prior to the end of the term. Commencing on the first anniversary of the agreement, the fee payable to GIACP will automatically increase annually by 3.0%. No stock options are being granted and no compensation other than as stated above is payable in connection with the engagement. GIACP and the Company are unrelated and unaffiliated entities and at the time of the agreement, neither GIACP nor its principals have an interest, directly or indirectly, in the securities of the Company. GIACP will be responsible for the costs it incurs in buying and selling the Company's shares, and no third party will be providing funds or securities for the market-making activities.

GIACP, established in 1998, is a Toronto-based, independently-owned, investment dealer providing innovative solutions for institutional, corporate, and individual clients in Canada and abroad.

Stock Option Grants

The Company also announces that it has granted 600,000 restricted share units and an aggregate of 9,713,732 stock options to its directors, officers and consultants (the Awards). The options are exercisable at a price of $1.00 per share and have a term of five years from the date of grant. All options shall vest quarterly over the three-year period commencing from the date of grant. All restricted share units vest on the third anniversary of the date of grant. The Awards are subject to a four-month hold period in compliance with the policies of the CSE.

About Atlas Global Brands Inc.

Atlas Global Brands is a cannabis company operating in Canada and Israel with expertise across the cannabis value chain: cultivation, manufacturing, scalability, marketing, distribution and pharmacy. Atlas currently serves eight countries: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In addition to a differentiated product mix, the geographic dispersion of brands demonstrates additional diversification. Atlas currently operates two fully accredited and licensed cannabis facilities, including one EU-GMP facility.

Contact Information:

Sheldon Croome

Interim CEO

780-784-5920

[email protected]

Alyssa Barry

Media and Investor Relations

1-833-947-5227

[email protected]

Forward-Looking Information:

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.

In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to: Information contained in forward-looking statements, including the anticipated benefits of the Transaction and were derived, in part, from making a forecast or projection, including management's perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, current information available to the management of the Company, as well as other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances. The Company considers its assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available but cautions the reader that their assumptions regarding future events, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, may ultimately prove to be incorrect since they are subject to risks and uncertainties that affect the Company and its business.

For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements made in this news release concerning the Company, see the risk factors outlined in the Filing Statement, which is available electronically on SEDAR (www.sedar.com ) under the Companys issuer profile. The forward-looking statements set forth herein concerning the Company reflect management's expectations as at the date of this news release and are subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Boise, Idaho, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CBH Homes, a leading home builder in the Treasure Valley, made a difference in the lives of children in need this holiday season. The company purchased 1,200 Beanie Babies from an employee's mom's collection and donated them to children at St. Luke's Children's Hospital, Faces of Hope, and the Boys and Girls Club in Meridian and Kuna.

When my mom was ready to get rid of her giant Beanie Baby collection, I knew I had to tell CBH. Were always giving back and doing more for the community, said Kerry Lawson, Operations Manager at Vertical Components, Inc, CBH Homes Truss Manufacturing company.

The Beanie Baby donation was well received by the children and staff at the hospitals and youth centers. "It was heartwarming to see the children's faces light up when they received a Beanie Baby," said Zoe Brunelle, Director of Major Gifts for St. Luke's Childrens. "It was a small gesture that made a big impact on their day."

"We are always looking for ways to give back to the community, and what better way to spread holiday cheer than by bringing joy to the faces of these deserving children," said Ronda Conger, Vice President of CBH Homes.

CBH Homes is dedicated to making a positive impact in the community and plans to continue their efforts in the future. "We are grateful for the opportunity to give back and look forward to finding more ways to make a difference in the lives of those in need," said Conger.

CBH Homes is a locally owned and operated home builder with a reputation for building high-quality homes and creating positive relationships with the communities in which they build. This holiday season, they have proven once again that they are dedicated to making a positive impact in the lives of those around them.

About CBH Homes: CBH Homes has been building dreams for Idahoans for over 30 years, and for 19 of those, CBH Homes is Idahos #1 Builder, an Idaho Best Place to Work, now ranked #36 in the nation and proudly working with over 23,000 happy homeowners. Cbhhomes.com RCE-923

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CeCe Cheney CBH Homes 208.288.5560 [email protected]

Source: CBH Homes
Hotel Tech Report honors Cloudbeds with six awards, including Best Property Management System, Best Hotel Management Software, and Best Guest Messaging Software

San Diego, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (SAN DIEGO) January 10, 2023  Cloudbeds has been recognized for the fifth consecutive year as one of the industrys top technology providers by Hotel Tech Report, solidifying its position as a leading hospitality platform powering more reservations and happier guests for lodging businesses worldwide. The 2023 HotelTechAwards honors Cloudbeds with six total awards: Best Property Management System, Best Hotel Management Software, Best Guest Messaging Software, Channel Manager Finalist, Top 10 Peoples Choice, and Overall 10 Best Places to Work.

Were excited to be named a product leader again by Hotel Tech Report for the fifth time. The tremendous effort by our team to deliver award-winning technology and world-class service to our customers makes moments like these possible, said Adam Harris, CEO and Co-Founder of Cloudbeds. Winning top awards across multiple categories showcases the powerful capabilities of the Cloudbeds Hospitality Platform in helping our customers to increase revenue, streamline operations, and delight guests.

In 2023, Cloudbeds adds the new award of Best Guest Messaging Software to its list of honors, following the successful acquisition and launch of Whistle for Cloudbeds, an enhanced guest engagement solution giving lodging businesses the tools to deliver more meaningful contact and customized interactions throughout the entire guest journey from discovery to post-stay.

Each year 2.5 million hotel industry professionals use HotelTechReport.com to make informed technology purchasing decisions. The HotelTechAwards determine the best hotel software products across every category based on customer feedback and key proprietary data signals such as integration compatibility, organizational health, market share, partner network strength, and customer support quality.

"The ranking process is simple, transparent, and unbiased  judging is based on time-tested ranking factors developed specifically for the industry. Only verified hoteliers with hands-on experience using each product are allowed to participate in the voting process. This means that Cloudbeds users determined its wins, said Hotel Tech Report CEO, Jordan Hollander.

This recognition by Hotel Tech Report reflects the Cloudbeds commitment to building the platform that powers hospitality, enabling lodging businesses everywhere  no matter the size, type, or location  to grow, succeed, and thrive. The award-winning Cloudbeds Hospitality Platform seamlessly combines solutions for reservations, distribution, revenue management, guest acquisition, and guest engagement in a single unified system, enhanced by a marketplace of third-party integrations.

Cloudbeds expanded its platform in 2022 with the launch of Whistle for Cloudbeds and Cloudbeds Amplify, a done for your digital marketing solution designed to equip independent lodging businesses with the visibility and resources they need to compete effectively online to win more bookings.

Get a free demo of Cloudbeds here.

ABOUT CLOUDBEDS

Cloudbeds provides the platform that powers hospitality, driving streamlined operations, increasing reservations and revenue, and enabling memorable guest experiences for lodging businesses of all sizes and types across the globe. The award-winning Cloudbeds Hospitality Platform seamlessly combines solutions for reservations, distribution, revenue management, guest acquisition, and guest engagement in a single unified system, enhanced by a marketplace of third-party integrations. Cloudbeds was named No. 1 PMS, No. 1 Hotel Management System, and No. 1 Guest Messaging Software by Hotel Tech Report in 2023 and recognized by Forbes as one of Americas Best Startup Employers in 2022. For more information, visit www.cloudbeds.com.

ABOUT HOTEL TECH REPORT

HotelTechReport.com helps 267k hoteliers each month to understand the changing hotel technology and digital transformation landscape. We help hoteliers make smarter decisions about which technologies to adopt, keeping scalability and adaptability in mind. Hotel Tech Report helps hoteliers uncover the value propositions of emerging technologies and how they align with the needs of your property stakeholders and guests.

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Resumption of Rafale deliveries to France

(Saint-Cloud, France, January 10, 2023)  On 29 December 2022, Dassault Aviations Merignac plant delivered Rafale B359 (F3R standard) to the Direction Generale de lArmement (French defense procurement agency).

This event marks the resumption of Rafale deliveries to France after an interruption of four years.

The Rafale B359 is for the French Air and Space Force. It is part of the tranche 4 order for 60 aircraft awarded in 2009.

In accordance with the various Military Programming Acts, deliveries to France were interrupted for budgetary reasons.

The Rafale production line was then dedicated to export orders.

A further 27 Rafale are still to be delivered for tranche 4, plus 12 Rafale ordered by France in 2021 to make up for the 12 aircraft sold to Greece.

Tranche 5 should be awarded in 2023.

In the current strategic context, the Dassault Aviation group is particularly proud to be a partner in equipping and supporting the French air force, as it has done for more than a century.

* * *

ABOUT DASSAULT AVIATION:

With over 10,000 military and civil aircraft (including 2,500 Falcons) delivered in more than 90 countries over the last century, Dassault Aviation has built up expertise recognized worldwide in the design, development, sale and support of all types of aircraft, ranging from the Rafale fighter, to the high-end Falcon family of business jets, military drones and space systems. In 2021, Dassault Aviation reported revenues of 7.2 billion. The company has 12,400 employees. dassault-aviation.com

PRESS CONTACTS:

Corporate Communications Stephane Fort - Tel.: +33 (0)1 47 11 86 90 - [email protected] Mathieu Durand - Tel.: +33 (0)1 47 11 85 88 - [email protected]

HD photos: mediaprophoto.dassault-aviation.com

HD videos: mediaprovideo.dassault-aviation.com

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Source: Dassault Aviation
BATAVIA, Ill., Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- High Wire Networks, Inc. (OTCQB: HWNI), a leading global provider of managed security and technology enablement services, has secured an expanded three-year, $300,000 contract renewal to provide its Overwatch managed cybersecurity services for a global aerospace company.

The aerospace company provides critical logistics support for the airlines industry. While technology and digitization has brought many advantages to aviation, the complex environment creates special challenges for managing cyber vulnerabilities. It makes the airline industry an attractive target for cyber threat actors with a multitude of motivations, ranging from stealing data or money to causing disruptions and harm.

Recognizing these threats, the client expanded coverage of High Wires AI-powered managed extended detection and response (MXDR) cybersecurity services. MXDR provides the capability to manage, detect, and respond to any type of anomaly that warrant investigation. The client also broadened the scope of High Wires engagement to include managed endpoint solutions and other ancillary services across its network.

This expanded engagement with a leading global aerospace company demonstrates the critical importance and effectiveness of our Overwatch services, stated High Wire president and CEO, Mark Porter. As cyber threats continue to become more complex, we are seeing an increasing number of clients looking to add additional subscription services to meet their security needs and compliance requirements.

Underpinning this demand is the increasing need for the operationalization of cybersecurity. This involves the implementation of best practices that strengthen a companys cybersecurity infrastructure. When properly implemented by High Wires cybersecurity experts, it results in a strong security posture that can address advanced and continuously evolving cyberthreats.

This aerospace logistics client has embraced our defense-in-depth strategy of incorporating the management of multiple Overwatch cybersecurity tools, with this increasing their financial commitment by 40% compared to our initial engagement, added Porter.

Combining our managed endpoint services and other tools into a cohesive solution enables us to eliminate the noise and provide only high fidelity, high value alerts and incidents for review, stated Porter. This enhanced operationalization of their cybersecurity investment enables them to continuously evolve with the ever-quickening pace of cybertime and its intensifying cyber risk.

High Wires Overwatch Managed Security business has tripled over the past year, and it has deployed managed IT services for multiple Fortune 50 customers. The growth has been largely driven by the companys innovative MSP partner program whose membership now totals more than 200 worldwide, as well as the increasing demands of their customers for more effective cybersecurity solutions.

High Wires managed services address a global market that is expected to grow at a 13.8% CAGR to reach $680 billion by 2030. Its Overwatch platform addresses a global cyber security market that is projected to grow at a 13.4% CAGR to reach $376 billion by 2029.

About High Wire NetworksFor over 22 years, High Wire Networks, Inc. has been a trusted partner to VARs, MSPs, distributors, integrators, manufacturers and telecom providers, enabling them to minimize overhead while extending their delivery capabilities around the world. High Wires flexible workforce delivers vendor-agnostic technical field, professional and security services across more than 180 countries worldwide.

High Wire services include design, installation, configuration and support for unified communications, wired and wireless networks, cabling and infrastructure, and electrical systems. The companys Overwatch Managed Security platform enables the companys partners to deliver comprehensive cybersecurity that is easy to sell and easy to buy as an affordable subscription.

High Wire also offers a variety of on-demand, rapid-response solutions with service levels ranging from two hours to the next business day for onsite break-fix and remote technical support. With High Wire, its partners Get Work Done.

Learn more at HighWireNetworks.com. Follow the company on Twitter, view its extensive video series on YouTube or connect on LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking StatementsThe above news release contains forward-looking statements. The statements contained in this document that are not statements of historical fact, including but not limited to, statements identified by the use of terms such as "anticipate," "appear," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "hope," "indicate," "intend," "likely," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "project," "seek," "should," "will," "would," and other variations or negative expressions of these terms, including statements related to expected market trends and the Company's performance, are all "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on assumptions that management believes are reasonable based on currently available information, and include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company and its management. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performances and are subject to a wide range of external factors, uncertainties, business risks, and other risks identified in filings made by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in the company's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances upon which any statement is based except as required by applicable law and regulations.

Company ContactMark Porter, President and CEOHigh Wire NetworksTel +1 (952) 974-4000Email contact

Media RelationsSusanna SongVP of Marketing and CommunicationsHigh Wire NetworksTel +1 (952) 974-4000 Email contact

Tim RandallCMA Media RelationsTel +1 (949) 432-7572Email contact

Investor RelationsRonald Both or Grant StudeCMA Investor RelationsTel +1 (949) 432-7557 Email contact

Source: High Wire Networks Inc.
Perth, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QUARTERLY REPORT INVESTOR WEBINAR / CALL

Perth, Western Australia/January 10, 2023/ Perseus Mining Limited (ASX/TSX: PRU) is hosting an investor webinar and conference call to discuss its December 2022 Quarterly Results, which are anticipated for release around 8:30am AEDT on Tuesday January 24, 2023.

CALL DETAILS

Australia: Tuesday 24 January 2023Perth  6:00amSydney/Melbourne  9:00am Canada: Monday 23 January 2023Vancouver  2:00pm Toronto  5:00pm UK: Monday 23 January 2023London  10:00pm

Register for the investor webinar at the link below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_85uUKlsQRDaSiT7UPtFziw

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

To join the webinar via telephone, please use one of the following numbers and enter the Webinar ID: 885 2498 7374

For higher quality, dial a number based on your current location:

Location Australia Singapore Canada USA New Zealand United Kingdom Dial in Number +61 8 7150 1149 +61 3 7018 2005 +65 3165 1065 +1 778 907 2071 +1 669 900 9128 +64 9 884 6780 +44 203 901 7895

ASX/TSX CODE: PRUREGISTERED OFFICE:Level 2437 Roberts RoadSubiaco WA 6008Telephone: +61 8 6144 1700Email: [email protected] ABN: 27 106 808 986WWW.PERSEUSMINING.COM CONTACT:Nathan RyanMedia Relations+61 4 20 582 887 [email protected]

International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbGnDPlZM2

A recording of the conference call will be made available via Perseuss website at www.perseusmining.com.

This announcement was approved for release by Jeff Quartermaine, Managing Director and CEO.

Source: Perseus Mining Limited
NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Solomon Partners, a leading financial advisory firm and independently operated affiliate of Natixis, has expanded its Industrials investment banking group with the hiring of Kent Fisher who joins the firm as a Senior Advisor. Mr. Fisher brings in-depth knowledge of the aerospace and defense industries to the firm having spent 25 years in critical leadership roles with The Boeing Company, most recently serving as Chief Financial Officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Mr. Fisher will work closely with Larry Gelwix, who recently joined Solomon Partners to lead the firms industrials practice. The two previously worked together at Greenhill & Co.

At Solomon I will be utilizing my experience from Boeing and Greenhill to provide strategic and financial advice on significant transactions to entities across the aerospace and defense global landscape, Mr. Fisher said.

Mr. Fisher joined Boeing in 1996 after nine years at PricewaterhouseCoopers. During his tenure at Boeing, he worked in a variety of areas, including Finance, Marketing, Mergers & Acquisitions, Sales, Strategy and Supply Chain. He earned an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a bachelors degree in Economics from Pomona College.

Kent brings a tremendous amount of firepower to our team and will assist Solomon Partners in providing best-in-class financial advice to our clients in the aerospace and defense industries, Mr. Gelwix said. As CFO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and having led the corporate development team at Boeing, he successfully negotiated complex transactions and built a solid track record of finding solutions that benefitted all parties involved. Im looking forward to having him contribute his extensive knowledge to assist our clients.

About Solomon Partners

Founded in 1989, Solomon Partners, previously known as PJ SOLOMON, is a leading financial advisory firm with a legacy as one of the oldest independent investment banks. Our difference is unmatched industry knowledge in the sectors we cover, creating superior value with unrivaled wisdom for our clients. We advise clients on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, recapitalizations, capital markets solutions and activism defense across a range of industries. Solomon Partners is an independently operated affiliate of Natixis, part of Groupe BPCE. For further information, visit solomonpartners.com.

Media Contact: Kalen Holliday [email protected]

Source: Solomon Partners
CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verano Holdings Corp. (CSE: VRNO) (OTCQX: VRNOF) (Verano or the Company), a leading multi-state cannabis company, today celebrated the commencement of adult use cannabis sales in Connecticut at the Companys Zen Leaf Meriden dispensary. The Company welcomed Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull, Social Equity Comissioner Paul Robertson, Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati, and other distinguished guests at Zen Leaf Meriden to commemorate the end of cannabis prohibition in Connecticut.

Legal cannabis in Connecticut will have a positive impact on the economy and local communities, and were honored to celebrate this moment in the Constitution State, said George Archos, Verano Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Our Verano, CTPharma and Zen Leaf teams are proud to stand with Connecticut residents in celebrating the end of cannabis prohibition. Thank you to Governor Ned Lamont, the Department of Consumer Protection, local communities, our team members, medical cannabis patients and advocates for making this historic day in Connecticut a reality.

Along with the Companys Zen Leaf Meriden dispensary, Veranos Connecticut operations include CTPharma, a state-of-the-art, 217,000 square foot cultivation and processing facility in Rocky Hill, and Caring Nature in Waterbury, a medical dispensary that will soon commence adult use sales under the Zen Leaf retail banner.

In conjuction with the launch of adult use sales, current business hours at Zen Leaf Meriden are Monday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information about Zen Leaf cannabis dispensaries, visit ZenLeafDispensaries.com.

About Verano

Verano is a leading, vertically integrated, multi-state cannabis operator in the U.S., devoted to the ongoing improvement of communal wellness by providing responsible access to regulated cannabis products. With a mission to address vital health and wellness needs, Verano produces a comprehensive suite of premium, innovative cannabis products sold under its trusted portfolio of consumer brands, including Verano, Avexia, BITS, Encore, MUV and Savvy. Veranos portfolio encompasses 14 U.S. states, with active operations in 13, including 14 production facilities comprising over 1,000,000 square feet of cultivation capacity. Verano designs, builds, and operates dispensaries under retail brands including Zen Leaf and MUV, delivering a superior cannabis shopping experience in both medical and adult use markets. Learn more at www.verano.com.

Contacts:

MediaVeranoGrace BondyManager, Communications[email protected]

InvestorsVeranoJulianna Paterra, CFADirector, Investor Relations[email protected]

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Companys beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Companys control. Generally, such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, future, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, projects intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, will continue, will occur or will be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve and are subject to assumptions and known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual events, results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future events, results, performance, and achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements herein, including, without limitation, the risk factors described in the Companys registration statement on Form 10, as amended, and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except as may be required in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice regarding forward-looking information and statements.

###

Attachments

Zen Leaf Meriden 1 Verano Chief Operating Officer Darren Weiss welcomes Connecticut Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz during the commencement of adult use cannabis sales at Zen Leaf Meriden. Zen Leaf Meriden 2 Verano Chief Operating Officer Darren Weiss welcomes Connecticut Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz during the commencement of adult use cannabis sales at Zen Leaf Meriden.

Source: Verano Holdings Corp.
LOS ANGELESLightspeed Media is launching a series of new products and services designed to assist content creation and distribution with the use of artificial intelligence.



Among the new products is a management system, similar to TikTok, that allows creators to easily create and share images and short-form video content and drive traffic to any site. The system includes a range of innovative features, including an AI-powered recommendation engine that helps fans discover great new content and the best creators.



FireSoup.com is also launching as a new AI-driven fan-style creators network that gives content creators the ability to connect with their most dedicated fans and offer exclusive perks, such as early access to new content and special events, all with industry-leading payouts for creators up to 100 percent.



In addition to its new smart content management system and fan-style membership network, Lightspeed Media is also offering consulting services to help clients integrate the power of AI into their own online businesses. As part of the effort, Lightspeed Media will also provide instruction on ChatGPT, MidJourney, Dall-E2, Stable Diffusion, DeepFake, Lensa, and other cutting-edge AI tools to create stunning and engaging content.



The company's experts will also help clients tap into the wealth of data available to inform their content creation and distribution strategies. These services allow content creators to automate tasks, analyze audience data, and monetize their content in new ways.



"Lightspeed Media has a 20-plus-year history of award-winning innovation and adult industry leadership," said Steve Lightspeed, owner of Lightspeed Media. "With the launch of our new AI-powered products and services, we aim to empower content creators and site operators to take their content to the next level. Lightspeed Media is positioned to become the go-to platform for anyone looking to take advantage the amazing power of Artificial Intelligence in 2023.



For more information or to schedule a free consultation, visit Lightspeed-AI.com.
Carson City, NV, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ZICIX Corporations (OTC Pink: ZICX) Chairman, Mr. William A. Petty has received a progress report from its ZICIX President, Mr. Fernando M. Sopot that ZICIX+CTIP-FII has signed a contract with the International Federation of Chaplains, Inc. (IFCI) to undertake the development of the $20 million Senior Citizens Residence Project located at the site owned by the City Government of Newark, New Jersey of which the site address is at 861-869 Clinton Avenue, (Block 3016/Lot 25), Newark, New Jersey 07108.

IFCI is a non-profit organization based in Newark, New Jersey and West Orange, New Jersey. It is an international Christian organization with churches in the Dominican Republic and other places in the Latin American Countries.

A letter of Intent (LOI) to buy the said site location by IFCI was sent to the City of Newarks Department of Economic and Housing Development (DEHD) for its consideration and approval. The offer to buy was approved by DEHD in its letter to IFCI dated December 21, 2021. ZICIX+CTIP-FII assisted IFCI in all these arrangements, including the conditions imposed upon by DEHD to finally transfer the ownership of the property to IFCI. The process of transferring is now on-going.

In the meantime, since IFCI is a non-profit organization, and the operation and business of the Senior Citizens Residence Project is for profit, a special purpose entity (SPE) is organized which is named under Prime Residence for Seniors Corporation (PRSC) which will own the Project. On the other hand, IFCI being the eventual owner of the land, shall become one of the stockholders of PSRC, whereby IFCIs contribution as investments to PSRC, shall be the land plus cash.

In the contract between IFCI and ZICIX+CTIP-FII, the latters role, obligations and responsibilities are defined in the contract, in its role as the Project Developer. By technical definition, Project Developer is a group of professionals that manages the operation of a project, by being the lead of an oversight team, conducting research and creating plans that best suit the needs of the Project. Its role begins from assisting IFCI to create a vision for the property by ZICIX+CTIP-FII, until the Project is completed and turned over to IFCI and PRSC for its operation.

In addition, the Project Developer creates and proposes to the Project Owner, the right financial structure for the Project. In its capacity as the Financial Engineer for the Project, CTIP-FII will work alongside the Architectural and Engineering Design Group, the Construction Management Group, and the General Contractor, to research, develop project activities, schedules, and regular progress reports, including negotiating with other strategic investors/partners and a lender the right financial structure for the project, making sure that the terms and conditions are reasonable and acceptable to PRSC as the Project Owner.

CTIP-FII will supervise the development team daily to execute assigned tasks within set deadlines and adherence to the budget. CTIP-FII will act as the primary contact for the Project Owners queries and concerns. The role and responsibilities are further defined as follows:

What does Senior Housing mean?

Senior Housing is housing that is suitable for the needs of an aging population. It ranges from independent living to 24-hour care. In senior housing there is an emphasis on safety, accessibility, adaptability, and longevity that many conventional housing options may lack. (Source: nepahousing.org).

Senior Housing is designed for Independent Living also called Adult Retirement Communities as defined by the State of New Jerseys Division of Aging Services. The usual entrance age for this kind of facilities is 55 years old or older. These facilities are registered with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

Participants in the Project

The other participants in this Project with ZICIX+CTIP-FII as the lead team includes WSM & Partners, providing A & E services, Integra Consultants, a structural engineering consultant, Arco and Jayeff Engineering Co. providing construction management services, and another group that is expected to join as the General Contractor, the China Construction America, Inc., a wholly owned company by China State Construction and Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) rated as top 5 largest international construction company by the Engineering News Record (ENR).

Project Description

The Senior Citizens Residence Project is a 5-storey building with one underground basement that will be constructed in a lot area of about 12,400 sq. ft. while the footprint of the building is about 6,235.40, thus the total gross floor area of the 5-storey building will be 31,177 sq. ft.

The basement floor will include utility rooms and commercial kitchen. The first floor will include one outpatient clinic, a cafeteria, and a common area for various activities. All the residential units will be located at the second, third, fourth and fifth floors.

Purpose: This project focuses on serving senior citizens by providing a comfortable lifestyle such as providing various spaces and functions throughout the building for different activities, healthcare, and outdoor areas in a safe and controlled environment. Building Data: Each residential floor is composed of 4-one-bedroom units and 7 studio units. The units vary in size from 400 sq. ft. to 510 sq. ft. Notably, the first floor will host a clinic with a 900 sq. ft. space, a common area and a cafeteria (1,800 sq. ft.) and covered parking. The basement level will also be equipped with a complete commercial kitchen to serve the residence. The exterior architecture of the building complements the nearby buildings having partly brick facades, while keeping a contemporary and balanced form. Construction period: 24 months.

The Budgetary Cost

The total budgetary cost (development cost) estimates (BCE) are expected to be about $20,000,000,.00. The total number of residential units will be 44 at 11 units per floor starting at the second floor to the fifth floor. There will be a nice well decorated lobby at the ground floor including administration office and commercial spaces.

Funding Source

A company identified as Procida Funding LLC, among others, have submitted their financial terms sheet offering to fund the construction of the Project, on its entirety, until project completion. There are investors expected to join the project, in exchange for some ownership interest into PSRC.

At this early there are already mortgage lenders offering long term funding, which is called permanent mortgage, that will be the take-out mechanism to pay off construction loans, if there are any.

ZICIX+CTIP-FII investments

The contract between IFCI and ZICIX+CTIP-FII includes the option of ZICIX+CTIP-FII to invest into Project by acquiring partial ownership interest into PSRC.

ZICIX+CTIP-FII is currently having a portfolio of infrastructure projects under management of more than $825 million, involving construction of buildings, hospitals, public road projects, renewable energy, and the support to various Ministry of Health (MOH) in several countries for their Disaster Preparedness Plan, by supplying emergency vehicles to the Local Government Units (LGUs) through MOH.

About the Corporations:

ZICIX Corporation (OTC Pink: ZICX)  Originally founded as a service provider to the Healthcare industry, the ZICIX Corporation has recently been restructured with the intention of acquiring and developing technology applications designed for service companies in consumer, retail, and other industries. www.ZicixGroup.com.

CTIP First Investment, Inc. (CTIP-FII), a subsidiary and operating company of ZICIX Corporation. It is a private investment and providing investment banking services focused on Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode, and project development services, involved in undertaking development projects for both the Government and the Private Sectors respectively. CTIP-FII designs and brings the right financial engineering to project owners and creditors to fund development undertakings and permanent mortgage. www.ctip-fii.net.

Safe Harbor Act: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking Statements describe future expectations; plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as may, future, plan or planned, will or should, expected, anticipates, draft, eventually, or projected. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements because of various factors, and other risks identified in a companys annual report.

For additional information: Visit our website at www.Zicixcorp.com or call 830.331.0031. We are also on Twitter @ZICIXCorp.

Attachments

ZICIX+CTIP-FII SIGNS CONTRACT WITH IFCI TO DEVELOP $20 MILLION SENIOR CITIZENS RESIDENCE PROJECT IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY Role and Responsibilities ZICIX+CTIP-FII SIGNS CONTRACT WITH IFCI TO DEVELOP $20 MILLION SENIOR CITIZENS RESIDENCE PROJECT IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY Role and Responsibilities ZICIX+CTIP-FII SIGNS CONTRACT WITH IFCI TO DEVELOP $20 MILLION SENIOR CITIZENS RESIDENCE PROJECT IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY Conceptual design and location plan ZICIX+CTIP-FII SIGNS CONTRACT WITH IFCI TO DEVELOP $20 MILLION SENIOR CITIZENS RESIDENCE PROJECT IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY Conceptual design and location plan ZICIX+CTIP-FII SIGNS CONTRACT WITH IFCI TO DEVELOP $20 MILLION SENIOR CITIZENS RESIDENCE PROJECT IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY Conceptual design and location plan

Source: Zicix Corporation
Key achievements in 2022 included continued collaboration with global pharmaceutical firms working in neurodegenerative disease, new and ongoing commercial deployments spanning three continents, and completion of a fundraising round worth CAD 4.5 million

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Cognetivity Neurosciences Ltd.(CSE: CGN) (OTCQB: CGNSF) (FWB: 1UB)(the "Company" or "Cognetivity"), a technology company that has created a unique brain health screening platform for use in medical, commercial and consumer environments, has provided an update on its corporate achievements during 2022, which position the company for continued, rapid growth in 2023.

Key among Cognetivity's 2022 achievements was the strengthening of its collaborative relationships with some of the world's largest pharmaceutical firms. In particular, the company continued to work closely with global pharmaceutical giants developing treatments in the field of neurodegeneration.

These strategic alliances leave Cognetivity perfectly placed to support the dawning era of targeted therapies for neurodegenerative disease. In the first week of 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Leqembi" (lecanemab), which directly targets amyloid beta pathology, for the treatment of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease.

With 1 in 3 US seniors dying with Alzheimer's or another dementia, the global market for Alzheimer's disease is estimated to reach USD 25 billion by 2029. As powerful new treatments come to market for early-stage cognitive decline, huge demand is forecast for medical-grade cognitive testing, capable of identifying impairment at its earliest stages on a population-wide basis. This represents a perfect match for CognICA", Cognetivity's cutting-edge brain health platform, which was designed specifically to achieve high sensitivity to early-stage impairment and ease of large-scale rollout.

2022 brought new and continued deployments of CognICA spanning three continents. Clinicians and patients made use of CognICA again in the UK's National Health Service (NHS), North America and the Middle East, while the company also expanded into the East and Southeast Asian markets, establishing paid pilots with leading Singaporean senior healthcare network Lions Befrienders and Japanese insurance giant MS&AD.

The Middle East was a key area of commercial growth. The company reached commercial agreements with the main federal provider of public healthcare in the United Arab Emirates (UAE; Emirates Health Services), as well as the Dubai Health Authority and two of the largest healthcare networks in the UAE. One of those two deployments, with PRIME Health, has already been expanded following a highly successful trial period, with further expansion of the company's existing agreements expected in 2023. Cognetivity also established a number of paid pilots in the US last year, notably with a national US healthcare operator and the Florida-based primary and urgent care clinic Beyond Geriatrics.

Crucially, CognICA continued to display enormous breadth of applicability across its 2022 deployments, with customers spanning the public and private sectors, and core indications ranging from dementia and mild cognitive impairment to traumatic brain injury.

Last year also saw the company strengthen the foundations for its future expansion into important new indications, not least in mental health, with a mental health pandemic predicted by some to be the next global health crisis. During the previous 12 months, Cognetivity launched research studies in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with Baylor College of Medicine, and in sport-related concussion with Durham University. The company's scientific team also published a peer-reviewed article further validating CognICA's unique capabilities for brain health screening.

Another powerful sign of Cognetivity's positive growth came in October 2022, with the successful completion of the company's latest funding round. The round was oversubscribed, with a final amount exceeding CAD 4.5 million being raised, providing valuable funds for the company's continued commercial expansion and bringing in its first institutional investor, SAYACORP B.S.C. (c).

In November, the company also announced that Dr. Lance Black had joined its advisory board, having previously witnessed and been highly impressed by Cognetivity while overseeing the company's participation in the TMCx accelerator program. A Family and Flight Medicine physician who served in the US Air Force, as well as a biomedical engineer and medical innovator, Lance is a strong acquisition for the Cognetivity team, expected to provide valuable expertise of scaling innovation in the US healthcare market.

The value of CognICA's unique approach in the brain health space continues to be recognized in a variety of other ways. In December, for example, a policy paper published by the UK's leading dementia research charity, Alzheimer's Research UK, emphasized the importance of early detection in dementia diagnosis, citing CognICA as a case study of an innovative solution for use to drive positive change in primary care. Earlier in the year, Cognetivity received a 2022 UAE Innovates Award from the UAE Government - one of eight winners in a field of over 500 entrants - for its cutting-edge solutions in cognitive health.

2022 also saw Cognetivity strengthen its partnership with the world-leading data and interoperability platform provider InterSystems, which plays a key role in the company's NHS deployments. The company promoted its innovative solutions through keynote speeches at the InterSystems Global Summit in Seattle, as well as Roche Digital Innovation Week in Basel and HLTH 2022 in Las Vegas.

Reflecting on 2022 and the year to come, Dr. Sina Habibi, CEO of Cognetivity, said: "We are, once again, extremely proud of what we have managed to achieve in the past year - from a highly successful fundraise to the forging of new and ever-stronger relationships with our global network of customers and influential collaborators. We remain committed to our mission of revolutionising the measurement and management of brain health on a global scale, and improving the lives of millions of people across the world."

About Cognetivity Neurosciences Ltd.

Cognetivity is a technology company that has created a cognitive testing platform for use in medical, commercial and consumer environments. Cognetivity's ICA uses Artificial Intelligence and machine learning techniques to help detect the earliest signs of cognitive impairment by testing the performance of large areas of the brain. The ICA is currently available for clinical use in the USA, UK and Europe, with regulatory approval for other regions planned for 2022.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Sina Habibi"

Sina Habibi

Chief Executive Officer and Director

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:

Certain statements included in this news release constitute forward-looking information or statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including those identified by the expressions "anticipate", "assume" "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "should" and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Company or its management. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect current expectations regarding future results or events. This news release contains forward looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. Such statements are based on current expectations and various estimates, factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future. The Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by law. Readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements.

The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information: Please visit: www.cognetivity.com or contact: [email protected]; for media inquiries please contact [email protected].

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150763
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Coloured Ties Capital Inc. (TSXV: TIE) ("CTI" or the "Company") is pleased to provide the following update on the Company's lithium portfolio.

Quebec Pegmatite Corporation Holds Corvette Lithium District and Mazerac Lithium District Claims in Quebec

Quebec Pegmatite Corporation ("QPC"), a subsidiary of the Company, currently holds Quebec MERN mineral claims prospective for lithium in Quebec at their Vieux Comptoir Lithium Project and the Mazerac Lithium Project.

Vieux Comptoir Lithium Project is located between the Corvette Property of Patriot Battery Metal Inc. ("Patriot Battery") and the Adina Project of Winsome Resources Ltd. ("Winsome Resources"). The project area was targeted by the Company and the claims were acquired to obtain a strategic land position within the lithium prospective James Bay region. The Vieux Comptoir Lithium Project is adjacent to established lithium pegmatite occurrences and active successful projects:

Approximately 45 km east of Patriot Battery's Corvette Property where numerous Spodumene bearing pegmatites have been discovered, and recent drilling includes intersections up to 1.25% Li2O and 194 ppm Ta2O5 over 58.1 m. (https://patriotbatterymetals.com/portfolio/corvette/); and

Approximately 45 km west of Winsome Resources's Adina Project where early-stage explorations have identified outcropping pegmatites across the property returned results up to 4.89% Li 2 O.

(https://winsomeresources.com.au/investors-asx-releases/).

The Vieux Comptoir Lithium Project is located approximately 35 km from the nearest road and airstrip with property access by float plane or helicopter.

Corvette Property - Patriot Battery (TSXV: PMET)



Patriot Battery's Corvette Property is reported to be a large lithium discovery in James Bay region of Quebec.

On December 13, 2022, Patriot Battery reported an update on their Corvette Lithium Project:

Patriot Battery Metals Inc. (the "Company" or "Patriot") (TSXV: PMET) (ASX: PMT) (OTCQB: PMETF) (FSE: R9GA) is pleased to announce core assay results for twelve (12) additional drill holes (CV22-046, 055, and 057 through 066) from its 2022 drill campaign at its wholly owned Corvette Property (the "Property"), located in the James Bay Region of Quebec. The primary drill area is focused at the CV5 Pegmatite, located approximately 13.5 km south of the regional and all-weather Trans-Taiga Road and powerline infrastructure.

Blair Way, Company President, CEO and Director, comments:

"The Corvette Property continues to deliver with these latest assay results, which include some of our highest grades to date. In addition, the strike length of the CV5 Pegmatite system remains open in all directions with wide widths and strong grades encountered along its currently defined 2.2 km length. I am happy to be back on track with regular news releases of our assay results from the summer-fall drill program. With 38 holes yet to be received from the lab, and re-commencement of drilling in January, we will have continuous news flow on the Property for some time."



(https://patriotbatterymetals.com/patriot-drills-113-4-m-of-1-61-li2o-including-2-0-m-of-6-41-li2o-at-the-cv5-pegmatite-corvette-property-quebec/ )

Adina Project -Winsome (ASX:WR1)

On January 6, 2023, Winsome provided an update on its Adina Project with respect to its initial assay results from its drill hole AD-22-005. The intial assay results confirm the following significant lithium intercepts in drill hole AD-22-005:

1.34% Li2O over 107.6m from 2.3m to 109.9m, including: 1.52% Li2O over 20.7m from 2.3m to 23.0m 2.21% Li2O over 30.0m from 41.0m to 71.0m 1.05% Li2O over 26.5m from 71.0m to 97.5m 0.96% Li2O over 6.9m from 103.0 m to 109.9m

0.70% Li2O over 52.1m from 124.9m to 177.0m, including: 1.08% Li2O over 30.0m from 147.0m to 177.0m



Winsome Resources Managing Director, Chris Evans said:

"It is fantastic to see these impressive levels of lithium mineralisation in drill hole AD-22-005 which provide proof of the Company's previous visual estimates of mineralisation. Having an average of 1.34% Li 2 O for over 100m of pegmatite from surface speaks of a world-class lithium project and paves the way for the much expanded drill program we now have planned at Adina. It is also very encouraging for the other impressive pegmatite intersections and visual estimates from drilling of subsequent holes up until the Christmas break. We look forward to releasing these assays to the market as soon as they become available."

(https://winsomeresources.com.au/investors-asx-releases/)

Quebect Pegmatite Corporation Receives Conditional Approval for the Option of its Vieux Comptoir Lithium Project to Superior Mining International Inc.

On December 7, 2022, Quebec Pegmatite Corporation, a subsidiary of the Company announced that it entered into an option agreement (the "Option Agreement") with Superior Mining International Corporation ("Superior"), whereby Superior has the option (the "Option") to earn a 100% interest in the Vieux Comptoir Lithium Property in certain circumstances.

Under the terms of the Option Agreement, Superior may exercise the option to acquire 100% interest in the Property upon the issuance to QPC of the following share issuances:

7,000,000 common shares of Superior (the "Superior Shares") upon receipt of approval of the TSX Venture Exchange; 3,500,000 Superior Shares payable on the one year anniversary of the Option Agreement; and 3,500,000 Superior Shares payable on the eighteen month anniversary of the Option Agreement.

The Option Agreement remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

On January 5, 2023, the Company received conditional approval from the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") with respect to the Option Agreement. Closing of the Option is subject to meeting all customary closing conditions, including final approval from the TSXV.

Summary of Mazerac Lithium Project

On July 25, 2022, Coloured Ties reported that the Company had acquired 108 mineral claims, covering 55 square kilometers in the Cadillac-Pontiac region, about 50 km southwest of Val-d'Or. The claims are immediately adjacent to claims currently held by Winsome Resources and Vision Lithium Inc., a TSXV listed Lithium explorer. The Mazerac claims are accessible by a dense network of trails and other logging roads. The area also accessible through boat or seaplane within watershed of Decelles water reservoir, hosting the Rapid-7 hydroelectric dam of Decelles.

The general area has recently attracted many lithium prospecting and exploration companies such as Brunswick Exploration Inc. (TSXV: BRW), High Tide Resources Corp. (CSE: HTRC), Medaro Mining Corp. (CSE: MEDA), NeoTerrex Corporation (private company), Renforth Resources Inc. (CSE: RFR), Sayona Mining Limited (ASX:SYA), Vision Lithium Inc. (TSXV: VLI), and Winsome Resources.

The Cadillac-Pontiac area has gained attention due to recent discoveries of several high-grade spodumene prospects. The latest discovery of high-grade lithium prospects by Vision Lithium Inc, spurred several other exploration and drill programs within the Cadillac area. Since December 2021, approximately 4000 new claims have been registered in the greater Mazerac area and the Pontiac Sub province region, south of Val-d'Or and Rouyn-Noranda.

Other Lithium Portfolio

CTI holds the following investments in the Company's lithium portfolio aside from its 10,000,000 shares of Quebec Pegmatite Corporation:

Patriot Battery Metals Inc. (ASX: PMT) - The Company currently holds 1,951,200 common shares of Patriot Battery.

Hertz Lithium Inc. ("Hertz Lithium") - The Company currently holds 3,000,000 common shares of Hertz Lithium. Hertz Lithium has filed a preliminary long form prospectus on November 22, 2022 to qualify its initial public offering ("IPO"). It intends to complete the IPO by the end of first quarter of 2023 and begin trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol "HZ". Hertz Lithium owns the Lucky Mica Lithium project in Arizona Pegmatite Belt and also holds an option to develop lithium extraction patented technology in partnership with Penn State University.

Power Metals Corp. ("Power Metals") (TSXV: PWM) - The Company currently owns 3,000,000 common shares of Power Metals. Power Metals owns a 100% interest in the Case Lake Property. The Case Lake Property is located 80 km east of Cochrane, northeastern Ontario close to the Ontario-Quebec border. The Case Lake Property consists of 585 cell claims in Steele, Case, Scapa, Pliny, Abbotsford and Challies townships, Larder Lake Mining Division. The property is 10 km x 9.5 km in size with 14 identified tonalite domes. The Case Lake pegmatite swarm consists of six spodumene dykes: North, Main, South, East and Northeast Dykes on the Henry Dome and the West Joe Dyke on a new tonalite dome.

Recently, Winsome Resources acquired 7,500,000 common shares of Power Metals and 7,500,000 common share purchase warrants of Power Metals from Sinomine Rare Metals Resources Co Ltd. ("Sinomine") for total cash consideration of $2,000,000. Each warrant entitles the holder thereof to acquire one share of Power Metals at CAD$0.40 per share, expiring on 17 March 2025. Winsome Resources has also agreed to assume all of Sinomine's rights and obligations under the offtake agreement that was entered into between Sinomine and Power Metals dated March 16, 2022.

Winsome Resources Inc. (ASX: WR1) - The Company owns 50,000 common shares of Winsome Resources. Winsome Resources recently reported drill intercepts at its Adina Project in James Region of Quebec as summarized above.

Superior Mining International Inc. (TSXV: SUI) - The Company anticipates receiving 7,000,000 common shares of Superior (the "Superior Shares") upon closing of the Option. In addition, the Company anticipates receiving 3,500,000 Superior Shares payable on the one year anniversary of the Option Agreement and 3,500,000 Superior Shares payable on the 18 month anniversary of the Option Agreement, all subject to the approval of the TSXV.

Manning Ventures Inc. ("Manning") (CSE: MANN) - the Company holds 7,767,000 common shares of Manning. Manning is conducting exploration at Bounty Lithium Project. Bounty Lithium Project is located within the Eastmain Greenstone Belt in the James Bay Pegmatite District of west-central Quebec. It is prospective for hosting hard-rock, pegmatite-hosted lithium mineralization. The project now contains 62 pegmatite target areas, many with previously defined indicator-mineralogy and indicator-chemistry for hosting Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum style, spodumene-bearing pegmatites. Manning also has a 100% interest in the Dipole lithium project. The Dipole lithium project is located approximately 50 kilometres along strike from the recent Kraken lithium zone discovery by of Sokoman Minerals Corp. and Benton Resources Inc. The Kraken discovery spurred an early 2022 regional metallogenic study of Southern Newfoundland by Dahrouge Geological Consulting which resulted in findings suggestive of hosting Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum type pegmatite and/or Tungsten mineralization and acquisition of the Dipole Lithium Project.

Rockland Resources Ltd. ("Rockland") (CSE: RKL) - The Company currently owns 3,100,000 common shares of Rockland. Rockland carried out sampling at their Lithium Butte property in May 2022, comprising ten grab samples with a peak values of 4,080 parts per million lithium (ppm Li), with five grab samples of the tuff-breccia that had strongly developed clay alteration averaging 2,142 ppm Li. Additional sampling in July returned a continuous interval of 25.2 metres at 1,388 ppm Li, including 8.0 metres at 2,155 ppm Li and 0.7 metre at 3,540 ppm Li. Activities since July have included geological mapping, extensive.

Other assets. Coloured Ties also holds other public and private company investments and those are detailed on the Company's Issuer Bid Circular Filed on Sedar.com on December 8, 2023

Substantial Issuer Bid Deadline is January 17, 2023

The Company reminds shareholders that the previously announced substantial issuer bid (the "Offer") under which the Company will offer to purchase for cancellation up to $3,375,000 of its outstanding common shares (the "Shares") will expire on January 17, 2023, unless extended, varied or withdrawn. Shareholders who wish to tender their shares are urged to tender their shares in advance of the deadline to ensure efficient processing time.

The Offer is being made by way of a "modified Dutch auction", which will allow shareholders who choose to participate in the Offer to individually select the price, with a range of not less than $0.55 per Share and not more than $0.65 per Share (in increments of $0.01 per Share), at which they are willing to sell their Shares. Upon expiry of the Offer, the Company will determine the lowest purchase price (which will not be more than $0.65 per Share and not less than $0.55 per Share) (the "Purchase Price") that will allow it to purchase the maximum number of Shares tendered to the Offer, and not withdrawn, having an aggregate purchase price not exceeding $3,375,000.

ABOUT COLOURED TIES CAPITAL INC.

Coloured Ties Capital is a publicly traded Canadian-based venture capital firm focused on early stage investments in companies in the junior resources and break thru and disruptive technologies. Coloured Ties investment strategy is to invest early in multiple private and public companies across a variety of sectors that merit investments to advance promising ventures globally. Coloured Ties invests early stage, in promising projects where it can be the Founding or Early Stage investor and can additionally provide investees with advisory services and access to the company's ecosystem.

Entrepreneurs or prospectors or other listed companies seeking business partnership with Coloured Ties are invited to contact the Company for further information on our investment criteria and available opportunities.

For further info, please contact

Kal Malhi

Chief Executive Officer

[email protected]

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially. Except as required pursuant to applicable securities laws, the Company will not update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. More detailed information about potential factors that could affect financial results is included in the documents filed from time to time with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities by the Company.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release present the expectations of the Company as of the date hereof and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150814
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Destiny Media Technologies Inc. (TSXV: DSY) (OTCQB: DSNY), the makers of Play MPE, a cloud-based SaaS solution for promotional music marketing, today announced that the Company will hold a live webinar on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time) to discuss financial results for its first quarter ended November 30, 2022. The Company plans to release financial results for the quarter before market open on January 17, 2023.

The live webinar will include comments from President, Chief Executive Officer, Fred Vandenberg, and Director of Business Development, Allan Benedict.

Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Time: 2:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time)



Attendees are encouraged to register prior to the scheduled time at the following:

https://investors.dsny.com/investors/financials/

or directly on the REGISTRATION FORM by clicking here.

Attendees viewing the webinar can voluntarily submit either verbal and written questions during the live presentation. Attendee cameras will remain off throughout the presentation. Attendees' microphones will remain off unless the attendee voluntarily selects to engage in verbal questions similar to the format available on traditional conference call format.

The webinar format will provide the Company an opportunity to present visual information and provide attendees an opportunity for written questions.

For those without internet access, the webinar can be accessed via the following dial in details:

Direct dial in: +1 312 626 6799 or +1 253 215 8782

Webinar ID: 841 1993 0932

Attendees participating via dial in will not have access the webinar video stream, and will not have access to question and answer functions.

A recording of the webinar will be available after the event on https://investors.dsny.com/investors/financials/

About Destiny Media Technologies Inc.

Destiny Media Technologies Inc. ("Destiny"), provides software as service (SaaS) solutions to businesses in the music industry solving critical problems in distribution and promotion. The core service, Play MPE (www.plaympe.com), provides promotional music marketing to engaged networks of decision makers in radio, film, TV, and beyond. More information can be found at www.dsny.com.

Contacts:

Fred Vandenberg

CEO Destiny Media Technologies, Inc.

604 609 7736 x236

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150917
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Dynasty Gold Corp. (TSXV: DYG) (FSE: D5G1) (OTC Pink: DGDCF) ("Dynasty" or the "Company") is pleased to release assay results from its Phase 1 2022 maiden drill campaign at the Thundercloud gold property located 47 kilometres southeast of Dryden, in northwestern Ontario. These are the best assay results ever reported from Thundercloud, and constitute new discovery of wide zones and high-grade gold-bearing quartz veins requiring further delineation.

Significant Assay Highlights:

DP22-02 intercepted 1.31 g/t Au over 121 m from 102 m; Including 15.06 g/t Au over 9 m: Including 43.47 g/t Au over 3 m.





DP22-03 intercepted 7.35 g/t Au over 51 m from 88.5 m, contains the longest intercepts with the highest gold grades to date; Including 13.01 g/t Au over 28.5m: Including 25.66 g/t Au over 12.5 m: Including 101 g/t Au over 3 m: Including 246 g/t Au over 1.5 m.





DP22-04 intercepted 0.764 g/t Au over 40.5 meters from 120 m; Including 8.61 g/t Au over 3 m: Including 25.1 g/t Au over 1.5 m.



Assay Results:

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) DP22-01 9.0

25.5

30.0 25.5

30.0

252.0 15.5

4.5

222.0 0.104

0.269

0.0815 DP22-02







Including

Including

Including 0

77.0

83.0

102.0

189.0

189.0

190.5 77.0

83.0

102.0

223.50

214.5

198.0

193.5 Not sampled

5.0

Not sampled

121.0

25.5

9.0

3.0

0.072



1.31

5.37

15.06

43.47 DP22-03



Including

Including

Including

Including



And 0

88.5

111.0

112.5

118.5

118.5

139.5

148.5 88.5

139.5

139.5

125.0

121.5

120.0

148.5

154.5 Not sampled

51.0

28.5

12.5

3.0

1.5

Not sampled

6.0

7.35

13.01

25.66

101.1

246.0



1.90 DP22-04





Including

Including 0

20.58

120.0

144.0

147.0 20.58

120

160.5

147.0

148.5 Not sampled

Negligible values

40.5

3.0

1.5



0.764

8.61

25.1

"We are thrilled with these outstanding results in our first drill program on the property. They are the highest gold grades, the longest and the widest intercepts ever drilled at the property. These drill results indicate a much bigger resource potential with higher grades at Thundercloud. The data will assist in building a structural model for a NI 43-101 resource update, and future drill target planning for resource expansion," states Ivy Chong, President and CEO.

These 4 near-surface shallow holes were drilled in the southeastern and south-central portions of the known Pelham area. The first hole was drilled on the eastern edge of a magnetic low that may represent a fault boundary, with no significant gold mineralization in it. Holes 2, 3, and 4 were drilled in untested areas of magnetic "highs" identified in the drone magnetic survey conducted in summer 2022. These three holes discovered a new area of very high-grade gold mineralization in quartz-veined mafic metavolcanics and overlying volcanic flow breccias ("conglomerates"). Quartz-veined rocks contained up to 246 g/t Au (7.91 ounces per ton) over a 1.5 m core length. The Company will sample the entire hole 3 in the coming months. The focus of the next drill program will be to outline the extent of this high grade mineralization in previously unexplored areas.

The host rocks at Thundercloud are metamorphosed mafic volcanic strata and local overlying flow breccias intruded by two phases of intrusive gabbros. Much of the low-grade gold mineralization found at Thundercloud is associated with a "cloud" of disseminated pyrite. Higher-grade gold mineralization is found locally with quartz veining and local sulfide enrichments. The Company regards this as a previously unexplored zone of high-grade gold mineralization worthy of further drilling. In addition, the property has several other mostly unexplored areas of high magnetization that could be explored in the future.

"Current assay results obtained by Dynasty Gold from the Thundercloud Property are particularly of interest in that the results clearly indicate that the Property has potential for both large-tonnage with high-grade and vein deposits. Although only four holes were completed, intercepts such as 121 m of 1.31 g/t Au and 101 g/t over 3 m are selected examples of each type with more present in the data set. Additional work obviously is required to establish economics but the nature of the indicators to date are encouraging," said Roman Shklanka, Director.

The Company thanks its dedicated team, contractors and the First Nations whose efforts have made this drill program a success. It also likes to acknowledge the contribution by the Ontario Junior Exploration Program ("OJEP") to the Company for the $60,000 grant towards furthering exploration on Thundercloud.

Quality Assurance & Quality Control

The Company's exploration program was supervised in the field by Richard R. Redfern, M.Sc., CPG. The core samples were personally delivered by the George Downing Estate drillers from the drill rig to Dynasty personnel at the Company's field office in Dinorwic, Ontario, where they were logged geologically and sample intervals selected. The cores were securely transported and diamond sawed in the presence of the Company's consulting engineer, Dr. Bing Wang, Ph.D. P.Eng., and personally delivered to the ALS Global Geochemistry Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba by Redfern and Wang for processing. ME-ICP61 33 elements package was used for assaying. Oreas standards and blanks were inserted into the sample stream to check on the comparative accuracy of the gold assays received. Gold fire assays and 4-acid-dissolution geochem analyses were conducted on the samples at the ALS Global Geochemistry Laboratory in Vancouver, B.C, and all gold values higher than 10 g/t were re-assayed by using Au-GRA21 gravimetric fire assays.

The technical information in this release has been reviewed and approved by Richard R Redfern, M.Sc., CPG, a director of Dynasty Gold and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

About Dynasty Gold Corp.

Dynasty Gold Corp. is a Canadian exploration company currently focused on gold exploration in North America with projects located in the Manitou-Stormy Lake greenstone belt in Ontario and in the Midas gold camp in Nevada. The Company is currently advancing its Thundercloud gold deposit which contains 182,000 oz gold. The 43-101 Mineral Resource report and related press release with details on the resource are available on the Company's website and were filed on www.sedar.com. The 100% owned Golden Repeat gold project in the Midas gold camp in Elko County, Nevada, is surrounded by a number of large-scale operating mines. In addition, Dynasty owns a 70% interest in the Hatu Qi2 gold mine in the Tien Shan Gold belt, Xinjiang, China, with which it is in legal dispute with Xinjiang Non-Ferrous Industrial Metals Group and its subsidiary Western Region Gold Co. Ltd. For more information, please visit the Company's website www.dynastygoldcorp.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DYNASTY GOLD CORP.

"Ivy Chong"

_________________________________

Ivy Chong, President & CEO

For additional information please contact:

Vancouver Office:

Ivy Chong

Phone: 604.633.2100. Email: [email protected]

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150812
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Gelum Resources Ltd.(CSE: GMR) (OTCQB: GMRCF)("Gelum" or the "Company") reports that its common shares are now eligible for book-entry and depository services of the Depository Trust Company ("DTC"), to facilitate electronic clearing and settlement of transfers in the United States. Gelum currently trades on the OTCQB under the ticker symbol GMRCF.

DTC is a subsidiary of The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. which manages the electronic clearing and settlement of publicly traded companies in the United States. Securities that are eligible to be electronically cleared and settled through DTC are considered DTC eligible. This electronic method of clearing securities accelerates the settlement process for investors and brokers, enabling a security to be traded over a much wider selection of brokerage firms.

Gelum President, David Smith, stated, "Receiving our DTC eligibility is an excellent step that allows the Company to facilitate the trading, and efficient electronic transfer, of our common shares for U.S. shareholders and brokerage firms. This not only allows for faster execution of trades and improved liquidity of our common shares but will also help to broaden our US investors base."

About Gelum Resources Ltd.

Gelum Resources is a Company led by seasoned management and advisors in the mining and financial sectors. The Company currently has two objectives under management. The first is to define a multi-million-ounce economic gold deposit on the 9028-hectare Eldorado Gold Project, located within the Bralorne-Bridge River gold district, only 190 kilometres north of Vancouver and 74 km northwest of the town of Lillooet, B.C. The Bralorne mines historically exploited the largest, highest-grade, longest-producing lode-gold deposit in B.C. Management is proud to have developed an excellent working relationship with the Bridge River Indian Band (Xwsten) the project is within the traditional territory within the St'at'imc territory (Traditional Territory) in which Xwisten and its members assert, hold and exercise constitutionally protected Aboriginal Title and Rights ("Indigenous Title and Rights"). The Company plans to complete a 3000m drill programme this fall.

The second objective is to discover an alkalic porphyry and related skarn deposit within a prolific B.C. porphyry belt in the Interior Plateau region. The recently acquired ML property is accessible by 90% paved roads via Williams Lake, and the remainder by all-season dirt roads and secondary logging roads. The low to moderate relief allows year-round access and work. Airborne geophysics comprising magnetics and radiometrics was completed in early spring of 2022.

For further information please refer to Gelum Resources Corporate Presentation:

PowerPoint Presentation (gelumresources.com)

Additional detailed information is available on the Company's website at www.gelumresources.com, and for general Company updates, please follow us on our social media pages via Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

GELUM RESOURCES LTD.

David Smith, President

For further information about Gelum, please contact:

David Smith, President

([email protected])

or

Marla Ritchie, Corporate Secretary

([email protected]) / Phone: 604 484-1228

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE- Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information:

This press release may include 'forward-looking information', within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, about the business of the Company and its plans to list on the CSE. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company's management, including future plans for the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, investors should not unduly rely on the forward-looking information because the Company cannot assure that it will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150775
Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - Northern Graphite Corporation (TSXV: NGC) (OTCQB:NGPHF)(FSE: 0NG) (XSTU: 0NG) (the "Company" or "Northern") announces that it has entered into an agreement with Innovation et Development Manicouagan ("IDM") at Baie-Comeau, Quebec to evaluate sites for the construction of a planned 200,000 tonnes per year ("tpy") battery anode material ("BAM") plant in the industrial port zone of Baie-Comeau. The plant would be one of the largest in the world and would convert graphite concentrate from the Company's mines, as well as other producers, into anode material to supply existing and planned lithium-ion battery manufacturing plants throughout North America. Building a low-cost, large-scale conversion facility is a key component of Northern's strategy to empower the electric vehicle industry by creating an end-to-end North American graphite supply chain from the mine to the battery.

Hugues Jacquemin, Northern's CEO commented that, "Downstream processing is capital and energy intensive. It makes little sense for every graphite mine to develop its own capability. Northern intends to build a large-scale center of excellence based on our own production, but the participation of other graphite producers will be welcomed." He added, "The supply picture for natural graphite is marked by a significant dependence on China for both graphite mine production and downstream processing. Our proposed plant would solve both issues on an industry-wide scale by providing OEMs and battery makers with a transparent, ESG compliant supply of anode material to meet current and projected demand."

Pursuant to the agreement, Northern has a 12-month period to evaluate several sites around Baie-Comeau to determine their technical and economic suitability for the proposed BAM plant. The sites range between 200,000 and 450,000m2 in size and have direct rail and port access as well as green hydroelectric power that would result in one of the lowest CO2 footprints in the industry. Quebec's industrial rate for large power customers is one of the most competitive in the world. Baie-Comeau is located 400km from Quebec City in the Cote-Nord economic region and has direct rail and road access to the rest of North America as well as a deep water, all season port. It is eligible for Plan Nord incentives and other assistance is potentially available under programs offered by the Manicouagan region, the province of Quebec and the Canadian and US Governments. Construction of the proposed battery plant would be subject to identification and acquisition of an appropriate site, receipt of regulatory approvals and financing.

Marcel Furlong, Prefect of the Manicouagan Regional County Municipality (RCM), commented that, "The Baie-Comeau industrial port area has a lot of space, as well as numerous energy and logistical resources, thus facilitating the establishment of a project in the battery and anode material industry. The Manicouagan RCM was also recognized by UNESCO in 2007 as the 14th and largest World Biosphere Reserve in Canada. For the past 15 years, the region has been able to develop relations with various stakeholders in its territory, facilitating dialogue with businesses and allowing the development of important industrial projects such as the one proposed by Northern Graphite. We can only welcome this collaborative agreement and commit ourselves with confidence to the success of the BAM project in our territory."





Manicouagan-Uapishka World Biosphere Reserve Territory

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4186/150829_f089b332341c5aae_001full.jpg.

About Northern Graphite

Northern is a Canadian, TSX Venture Exchange listed company that is focused on becoming a world leader in producing natural graphite and upgrading it into high value products critical to the green economy including anode material for lithium ion batteries/EVs, fuel cells and graphene, as well as advanced industrial technologies.

Northern is the only significant graphite producing company in North America and will become the third largest outside of China when its Namibian operations come back online. The Company also has two large scale development projects, Bissett Creek in Ontario and Okanjande in Namibia, that will be a source of continued production growth in the future. All projects have "battery quality" graphite and are located close to infrastructure in politically stable countries.

For additional information

Please visit the Company's website at http://www.northerngraphite.com/investors/presentation/, the Company's profile on www.sedar.com,our Social Channels listed below or contact the Company at (613) 271-2124.

LinkedIn

YouTube

Twitter

Facebook

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "potential", "possible" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "will", "could", or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding, among others, the Company's intentions with respect to the planned construction of a battery anode material processing plant, bringing its Namibian operations back on line, advancing its developments projects to production, and developing the capacity to manufacture value added products. All such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by management based on their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors they believe are appropriate in the circumstances. However, these statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected including, but not limited to unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of other parties to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; unexpected failure or inadequacy of infrastructure and the failure of ongoing and contemplated studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued studies, development or operations; and the availability of adequate financial resources. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements.

Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based on what management believes are reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with them. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release.

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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150829
Oxford, Ohio and Denver, Colorado--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2023) - PsyBio Therapeutics Corp. (TSXV: PSYB) (OTCQB: PSYBF) ("PsyBio" or the "Company"), an intellectual property driven biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel psycho-targeted therapeutics being designed to improve mental health and neurological conditions, is pleased to announce the addition of life sciences veteran Ian Wisenberg to the Company's board of directors (the "Board") and as an independent member of the Company's audit committee.

Mr. Wisenberg's career spans over three decades in biotechnology international business with an emphasis in finance, capital formation, corporate and business development. Ian has been an integral leader charting innovation and growth across several Bridgewest Group biotech companies. As CEO and board director of BioCina Pty Ltd. ("BioCina"), an Australian-based biologics contract development and manufacturing organization ("CDMO"), he leads a highly accomplished team, recognized for its strong history as a multi-product biologics development and manufacturing.

Prior to taking the helm at BioCina, Ian was founder and Chief Business Officer of BioArdis, a preclinical biopharmaceutical development company, Chief Financial Officer at BioDuro, a CDMO which was acquired by Advent International in 2019, and previous to these roles ran a very successful global life sciences consulting practice, BioGlobal Consulting Group, which had an extensive client list of biotech and pharma companies in the USA and abroad. Ian is from Cape Town, South Africa, and attended the University of Cape Town.

In connection with the appointment of Mr. Wisenberg to the Board, he was issued the option (the "Option") to purchase 500,000 Subordinate Voting Shares (the "Shares") at an exercise price of C$0.05, being the closing price of the Shares on January 9, 2023, which are exercisable until January 9, 2028, subject to certain vesting conditions, pursuant to the Company's stock option plan which was approved by shareholders on August 11, 2022 (the "Plan").

The Company also announces that the Board has approved the repricing and expiry date extension of 8,945,800 Options previously granted pursuant to the Plan to certain employees, directors and consultants of the Company to mirror the pricing and expiry date of the grant to Mr. Wisenberg (the "Amended Options"). All of the Amended Options are subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") and the Amended Options issued to insiders are subject to disinterested shareholder approval at the Company's next shareholder meeting expected to be held in Q4 2023 (the "Special Meeting"). Additional information regarding the Amended Options will be available in the management information circular prepared in connection with the Special Meeting. Prior to the Amended Options receiving TSXV approval and disinterested shareholder approval, as applicable, the Amended Options are not eligible for exercise.

To retain valued team members in the context of a significant drop in the trading price of the Company's Shares on the TSXV over the past 24-months due to macro issues in the broader capital markets, certain of the outstanding Options no longer offer an adequate incentive to certain employees, directors and consultants of the Company, as currently priced at C$0.35. Recognizing that Option grants are a critical element of the Company's compensation policy, the Board is of the view that it is in the best interest of the Company to reprice the outstanding Options granted to certain employees, directors and consultants, to ensure the exercise price of the Options is more in line with the current market price of the Shares.

The Company wishes to clarify that further to its press releases dated January 5, 2023 that the Company announces its intention to apply to the TSXV to extend its previously announced non-brokered private placement offering of units of the Company (the "Units") consisting of up to 40,000,000 Units at a price of C$0.05 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to C$2,000,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit is comprised of one Share and one subordinate voting share purchase warrant (a "Warrant") exercisable at C$0.10 per Share for a period of 24 months following the closing date of the Offering. The expiry date of the Warrants may be accelerated by the Company at any time and upon 30 days' notice, if the closing price of the Shares on the TSXV is greater than C$0.20 for any 10 non-consecutive trading days following the date that is four months and one day after the date of issuance and prior to the expiry date of the Warrants. The Offering was initially announced in the Company's December 1, 2022 press release and the closing of the first tranche of the Offering was announced on January 5, 2023. The first tranche of the Offering was closed on January 5, 2023 (the "First Tranche"). Pursuant to the First Tranche, 12,665,612 Units were issued to purchasers at a price of C$0.05 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of C$633,281. Following the completion of the First Tranche, 27,334,388 Units remain available under the offering for aggregate gross proceeds of up to C$1,366,719. The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Offering for cGMP manufacturing, clinical trials and general corporate and working capital purposes.

About PsyBio Therapeutics Corp.

PsyBio Therapeutics is an intellectual property driven biotechnology company developing novel psycho-targeted therapeutics to being designed to improve mental health and neurological conditions. The team has extensive experience in drug discovery based on synthetic biology and metabolic engineering as well as clinical and regulatory expertise progressing drugs through human studies and regulatory protocols. Research and development is currently ongoing for naturally occurring psychoactive tryptamines originally discovered in different varieties of hallucinogenic mushrooms, other tryptamines and phenethylamines and combinations thereof. The Company utilizes a bio-medicinal chemistry approach to therapeutic development, in which psychoactive compounds can be utilized as a template upon which to develop precursors and analogs, both naturally and non-naturally occurring.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" ("forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that discusses predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements regarding: the ability of PsyBio to develop novel formulations to potentially treat neurologic and psychologic conditions and other disorders; the ability of PsyBio to launch clinical trials; the ability of PsyBio to build and protect its intellectual property portfolio of novel drug candidates; the ability to achieve cost competitive synthesis with reduced environmental impact over current production methods; the ability of PsyBio to move target candidates into scaled commercial manufacturing and regulatory application; the ability of the Company to close the Offering on the terms described herein, if at all; and the Company's anticipated use of proceeds from the Offering.

In disclosing the forward-looking information contained in this press release, the Company has made certain assumptions, including that: PsyBio will be successful in protecting its intellectual property; PsyBio will be successful in discovering new valuable target molecules; PsyBio will file one or more IND Applications with the FDA; PsyBio will be successful in obtaining all necessary approvals for clinical trials; PsyBio will be successful in launching clinical trials; the results of preclinical safety and efficacy testing will be favourable; PsyBio's technology will be safe and effective; a confirmed signal will be identified in PsyBio's selected indications; and that drug development involves long lead times, is very expensive and involves many variables of uncertainty. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations of any forward-looking information will prove to be correct. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: compliance with extensive government regulations; domestic and foreign laws and regulations adversely affecting PsyBio's business and results of operations; decreases in the prevailing process for psilocybin and nutraceutical products in the markets in which PsyBio operates; the impact of COVID-19; and general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking information contained in this press release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking information or otherwise.

PsyBio makes no medical, treatment or health benefit claims about PsyBio's proposed products. The FDA or other similar regulatory authorities have not evaluated claims regarding psilocybin and other next generation psychoactive compounds. The efficacy of such products has not been confirmed by FDA-approved research. There is no assurance that the use of psilocybin and other psychoactive compounds can diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. Vigorous scientific research and clinical trials are needed. PsyBio has not conducted clinical trials for the use of its intellectual property. Any references to quality, consistency, efficacy and safety of potential products do not imply that PsyBio verified such in clinical trials or that PsyBio will complete such trials. If PsyBio cannot obtain the approvals or research necessary to commercialize its business, it may have a material adverse effect on the PsyBio's performance and operations.

The TSXV has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE PsyBio Therapeutics Corp.

For further information, please contact:

Evan Levine

CEO, PsyBio Therapeutics Corp.

t: 513.449.9585

e: [email protected]

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150875
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - January 9, 2023) - TriSummit Utilities Inc. ("TSU") announced that it has agreed to issue $200 million of senior unsecured medium-term notes (the "Offering"). The notes carry a coupon rate of 5.02% and mature on January 11, 2030.

The Offering is expected to close on or about January 11, 2023. The net proceeds resulting from the Offering will be used (i) as to approximately $135 million, to partially finance the acquisition by a subsidiary of TSU of ENSTAR Natural Gas Company, the Alaska Pipeline Company, the Norstar Pipeline Company, Inc. and a 65 percent indirect interest in Cook Inlet Natural Gas Storage Alaska, LLC from SEMCO Energy, Inc., a subsidiary of AltaGas Ltd., which remains subject to certain customary closing conditions; and (ii) as to the remainder, to repay amounts outstanding under TSU's Canadian syndicated revolving credit facility and associated operating credit facility, which amounts were incurred in the normal course of business to fund the working capital requirements of TSU.

The Offering is being made through a syndicate of investment dealers co-led by CIBC Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets and Wells Fargo Securities Canada, Ltd. under TSU's Short Form Base Shelf Prospectus dated January 4, 2023 and Prospectus Supplement dated January 6, 2023.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release. This press release is not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States (including its territories and possessions, any state of the United States and the District of Columbia) or any other jurisdiction outside Canada. This press release does not constitute or form a part of any offer to buy or sell any securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction outside of Canada. The securities of TSU have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws. Accordingly, these securities may not be offered or sold within the United States or to a U.S. person unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or except pursuant to exemptions from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. There will be no public offering of securities in the United States.

About TriSummit Utilities

TSU is a Canadian company with natural gas distribution utilities and renewable power generation assets. TSU serves approximately 133,000 customers across Canada, delivering low carbon energy, safely and reliably.

For more information visit: www.trisummit.ca.

For Further Information Contact:

TriSummit Utilities Inc.

[email protected]

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This press release contains forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "seek", "propose", "estimate", "expect", and similar expressions, as they relate to TSU or an affiliate of TSU, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to, among other things, the Offering, the closing of the Offering and the use of proceeds from the Offering. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect TSU's current views with respect to future events based on certain material factors and assumptions and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, changes in market, competition, governmental or regulatory developments, general economic conditions and other factors set out in TSU's public disclosure documents. Many factors could cause TSU's actual results, performance or achievements to vary from those described in this press release, including without limitation those listed above. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this press release as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, sought, proposed, estimated or expected, and such forward-looking statements included in, or incorporated by reference in this press release, should not be unduly relied upon. Such statements speak only as of the date of this press release. TSU does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

All dollar amounts are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.



NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150783
FILE PHOTO: Boxes containing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the McKesson distribution center in Olive Branch, Mississippi, U.S. December 20, 2020. Paul Sancya/Pool via REUTERS

By Michael Erman

(Reuters) -U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders sent Moderna Inc a letter this week asking the drug company to halt planned U.S. price increases on its COVID-19 vaccine, saying price hikes could make the shot unaffordable for millions of Americans.

Sanders said in his letter that raising prices would be particularly egregious after the U.S. government provided around $1.7 billion to fund development of the vaccine. The letter was addressed to Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel.

"You propose to make the vaccine unaffordable for the residents of this country who made the production of the vaccine possible," wrote Sanders, who is set to become chairman of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions later this month. "That is not acceptable."

Moderna has not settled on a price yet, but Bancel has said that a range of $110 to $130 a dose for the vaccine once the United States moves to a commercial market for the shots is reasonable given the value they create.

The top end of that range is around eight times the price in the earliest U.S. contracts for the vaccine and nearly five times the roughly $27 a dose the government paid for booster shots last year.

"While we are still in discussions with stakeholders on the price of our COVID-19 vaccines, Moderna is committed to pricing that reflects the value that COVID-19 vaccines bring to patients, healthcare systems, and society," Moderna said in an emailed statement.

The company said that under the Affordable Care Act, its COVID-19 shots will continue to be available at no cost for most Americans.

Sanders is a democratic socialist whose presidential campaigns have pushed the U.S. Democratic Party agenda leftward. The Vermont senator has railed against high drug prices and backed Medicare-for-all, and his chairmanship of the HELP committee could put drug companies in his crosshairs.

Sanders wrote that Bancel and several of Moderna's founders have become billionaires after the vaccine's launch. He said the higher prices would cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars and make the shots too expensive for uninsured and underinsured Americans.

"Now, in the midst of a continuing public health crisis and a growing federal deficit, is not the time for Moderna to be quadrupling the price of this vaccine. Now is not the time for unacceptable corporate greed," Sanders wrote.

Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine sales were around $18.4 billion in 2022. That is expected to fall sharply next year even with the price increases, as demand for the shots has dropped off. The drugmaker said on Monday it expects a minimum of $5 billion in revenue from the shots this year.

(Reporting by Michael Erman in New JerseyEditing by Nick Zieminski and Josie Kao)
There was a moment of hesitation when Bearsunthe giant-headed mascot-like bear character created by Jesse Lariosremoved his glove and took up a pen in the Museum of Northern Arizona processing room. It was his second time in Flagstaff, but his first time in the special collections wing of the museum. On the table before Bearsun lay a deed of gift that would grant the museum ownership of Bearsuns battered leather moccasins.

The hesitation did not come from uncertainty in the gift. Rather, it came from uncertainty in the givers identity. Who should sign the official deed? Should the signature read Bearsun, or Jesse Larios?

Bearsun was in Flagstaff this weekend as he ran in full costume from New York to Los Angeles. The journey is a return home after he walked the opposite direction in 2021. On his website, Bearsun wrote that this Running Across America tour had been dedicated to everyone whos been having a hard time dealing with any mental illness, disease, physical health, finances, or feeling dis-attach from themselves.

But the moccasins were not from this most recent run. The moccasins that Bearsun hesitated to sign over to the Museum of Northern Arizona had been gifted to Bearsun over a year earlier when he entered the Navajo Nation during his 2021 walk across America. He wore the moccasins for over 200 miles, from Tuba City to Window Rock, until the rough use wore holes in the soles and caused the sidewalls to collapse. Now sitting in a museum processing box, the moccasins had been stuffed with cotton to keep them from falling in on themselves.

As a whole, Bearsuns 2021 walk across America, which he publicized on social media, raised over $85,000 for charities including National Breast Cancer Foundation, the Autism Society of America, the Environmental Defense Fund, and mental health awareness organization Active Minds. The feat also made Bearsun a more-than-human character in the public imagination.

On the Navajo Nation in particular, Bearsun became a celebrity of special significance. The Gallup Sun reported in 2021 that the Navajo community around Gallup had been discussing Bearsun for a month prior to his arrival. When that day came in August, the walking bear was met by a crowd of about 400 people comprised of infants, children, Navajo nation royalty, and elders. The same report relayed that many cancer survivors got up close and told Bearsun stories about their fights with cancer. Bearsun sat and met with many people.

Bearsun was even given a Navajo name: Shash JoHanaaei, which English might approximate as bear brother or bear teachings.

Perhaps it should have been Shash JoHannaaei to sign over the moccasins?

Who is Bearsun?

It is difficult to say where Jesse Larios ends and Bearsun begins, but there are some clear differences.

Whereas Larios is strictly human  a 34-year-old Los Angeles native with a love of animation and a job history in insurance data work  Bearsun is larger than life.

That was certainly the case for Shannonlynn Chester, a Dine/Navajo woman who first met Bearsun shortly after his first time through Flagstaff as he entered the Navajo Nation in 2021. At the time, she said there was already a small crowd of people drawn to him, coming to take part in what she perceived as a message of hope and positivity.

I think it's genius because we all know there is a human under there, Chester said. But putting a non-human image and face to what he's doing takes us away from those boxes and categories that we as people tend to put ourselves in.

He's bringing people together of all beliefs, she added. All ethnicities, all races, all genders, all nationalities, all of it, and its really incredible to see.

After meeting Bearsun in Arizona in 2021, Chester joined him for five days as they walked through the desert into New Mexico. In that time, they talked much.

When you spend time walking with someone out on the open road, theres a lot that goes through your mind, Chester said. The time she spent walking with Bearsun became a personal journey in which she learned the importance of mindset.

Its about having a vision or having a goal, Chester said. Having something in life that you want to accomplish, not giving up and just putting one foot in front of the other to get there.

Chester went on to join Bearsun through stretches in Oklahoma. She flew out to New York to celebrate the end of his walk across the America. She saw as throngs of people from all walks of life came to share steps on Bearsuns journey.

Bearsun represents humanity, Chester said. We're all in this together.

Through her ample time walking with Bearsun, Chester also got to know Larios  the man beyond the bear suit, whom she calls an extraordinary human being.

Who is Jesse Larios?

For the human Jesse Larios, Bearsuns 2021 walk across America was filled with loss.

When I was doing the walk, I lost my grandpa, he said. I lost my dad, I lost a few friends.

But as he walked, Larios was able to make sense of this loss, or at least put it on the back burner, as he journeyed across the continent.

But then, while walking and listening to all these people. It just spilled out, Larios said. That's what fueled the run.

The desire to run Bearsun back to Los Angeles and bring the character back to its starting point represents an effort to cleanse myself, Larios said. In some ways, Bearsuns fame has been a burden to the man behind the mask. The more-than-human Bearsun is capable of relationships of emotional exchange that the human Larios struggles to balance. He points to the pattern of depression among comedians to describe what hes felt.

[Comedians] are giving out happiness, Larios said. But they take in a lot of the bad. I feel like some of them don't know how to filter it out, so it leads to their death.

Bearsuns run back across America is thus Larios flight to peace of mind. But running, like an unfiltered mind, can also lead to death.

Death almost caught Larios before he could arrive at Flagstaff for the second time. He had been running through a stretch of no mans land on the Oklahoma panhandle, at the edge of the polar vortex that brought extreme cold to much of the United States. Wind chill dropped the temperature dropped into the negatives.

My lungs were hurting, Larios said. The cold air felt like sharp needles. But he kept running, knowing the exercise was keeping his body warm, until he could no longer endure. At this point, he stopped on the side of the highway and took off his bear helmet.

I went into a deep sleep, Larios said.

For a reason unknown to Larios, his body jerked awake, though it was paralyzed. He couldnt move, breathe, or open his eyes. He had forgotten everything and had no idea where he was or what was happening. For a moment, he believed himself to be dead.

Then, a surge of panic lifted Larios arm and he slapped himself across the face. He managed to roll over and get one eye open, but his vision was blurred.

I got my eyeballs on the dirt, and I just started smashing my face on the dirt, he said. I didn't know what was going on.

Larios managed to reclaim enough consciousness to start crawling out of the trench and back toward the road.

I laid my head on the highway, he said. He saw something in front of him, but in his addled state, it took him a while to realize what was staring back at him.

It was the bear head. He said. Then I realized: Oh. Im running.

In an explosion of effort that probably kept him from freezing to death, Larios put the bear head back over his own, and started sprinting down the highway. And then, he kept running  through to New Mexico, back across to the Navajo Nation into Flagstaff and the Museum of Northern Arizona where he paused to consider who had the right to give away mocassins that represented his journey. Who is the rightful owner of their story: Bearsun or Jesse Larios?

Whats next for Bearsun?

Ultimately, it was the name Jesse Larios that was signed onto the moccasins deed of gift. They will go into the Museum of Northern Arizona collection alongside turkey feather blankets, ancient ceramics and other works of art significant to the Indigenous peoples of the Colorado Plateau.

According to museum director of research and collection Tony Thibodeau, the moccasins will likely go on display at some point. Display among other works of art is fitting end for the weathered soles. Art, after all, is what motivated Larios to create Bearsun in the first place.

I wanted to create a story, to create a character, Larios said. But I wanted to do something different.

Bearsuns story  the walk from Los Angeles to New York and the subsequent run back across his own tracks  did not end in Flagstaff. He still has to hundreds of miles to go in which he will largely follow Old Route 66 out of northern Arizona and down into the Mojave Desert. This desert  one of Americas most formidable  still lies between Bearsun and his destination of Los Angeles. To complete the story, Larios will have to run across this desert, bear head over his own, with nothing but a 20-pound pack of food and water and two feet beneath him.

But if Los Angeles is the end for Bearsun, it certainly wont be for Larios. He imagines Bearsun was the beginning of a greater artistic work.

I'm still not done, Larios said. Theres this other part I still need to do.

You guys only saw from the outside, he added. Now I have to take everybody on the inside journey: whats happened inside the head of the bear.
Paid press release content from The Financial Capital. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation.

Saudi Arabia to Launches National IP Strategy



HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, launched the National Intellectual Property Strategy (NIPST), which aims to encourage, manage, and invest in intellectual property (IP) and protect it effectively on the national level, in order to support innovation and creativity, and keep up with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.

The launch of the strategy will strengthen the Kingdom's ability to create economically and socially valuable IP assets to meet national and to increase economic growth, by building a strong IP ecosystem.

IP is strongly related to objects of Vision 2030 that enable innovation and creativity, boost business, and helps a prosperous economy.

Through NIPST, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is looking to support the empowerment of innovators facilitate business based on IP, and achieve a society that respect creative efforts.

Contact Info:

Name: Abdulrahman alfarhan

Email: Send Email

Organization: Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property

Website: http://saip.gov.sa



Release ID: 89087849

If you detect any issues, problems, or errors in this press release content, kindly contact [email protected] to notify us. We will respond and rectify the situation in the next 8 hours.
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Justice and Jelly Belly announced a collaboration that will bring a sweet twist to the tween fashion space. The collection will be available exclusively at Walmart and Walmart.com and will feature Jelly Belly beans with Justice's iconic tween fashion.

The collaboration is a mix of bold designs, creative patterns, and Jelly Belly's famous candy motifs. Each piece was custom designed to incorporate the beloved Jelly Belly bean with the trend right pieces only Justice can offer the tween customer. The collection offers an assortment of clothing from denim to fleece match back items. This exciting collaboration is a perfect way for tweens to express themselves and show off their sweet style.

"This collaboration is an exciting combination of two beloved brands and is sure to bring a smile to our customer. We are delighted to launch this fun and playful side of Justice to the Walmart customer!"  Kat DePizzo, President Justice Design Lab.

Justice has long been a leader in the fashion industry, teaming up with iconic brands to create unique and stylish collections. Justice has collaborated with some of the most beloved brands to create lifestyle collections that appeal to all tweens. The Justice x Jelly Belly partnership brings together two iconic brands to create a truly special collection.

"We are thrilled to join forces with Jelly Belly to bring the collection to life in a brand-new way. We hope to bring a little whimsy to our customer and continues to cement Walmart as the tween fashion destination!"  Elizabeth McCusker, VP of Marketing at Justice.

"We are delighted to partner with Justice to bring to life Jelly Belly's iconic colors, personality and shape through limited edition designed apparel for tweens. The items are fun and exciting additions to any tween's wardrobe." says Jelly Belly's Global Vice President of Marketing Robert Swaigen.

Media Relations Contacts:Elizabeth McCuskerVice President, Marketing | Justice[email protected]

Jelly Belly:[email protected]

About Justice:Justice, owned & managed by Bluestar Alliance, is the premier tween girls' brand, building exciting and powerful connections through fashion and fun. We create apparel and lifestyle products that celebrate every girl's unique sense of self. From must-have trends to pop-culture, the Justice brand is all about inspiring and empowering every girl, every day. Your girl is the heart of Justice. Additional information about Bluestar Alliance can be found by visiting the corporate website, www.bluestaralliance.com.

About Jelly Belly Candy Company:US:With candy-making roots dating back to 1869, Jelly Belly Candy Company began making Jelly Belly jelly beans in 1976. Today, Jelly Belly products are sold all over the world and the company remains family-owned and operated by the fourth, fifth and sixth generations of the candy-making family. For more information about Jelly Belly and its confections, visit https://www.jellybelly.com/ or consumers can call (800) 522-3267 and retailers can call (800) 323-9380. Connect with the company online on Facebook and Instagram.

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SOURCE Bluestar Alliance LLC
SEATTLE, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- If you've ever thought about working for an airline, 2023 might be your year. Alaska Airlines is announcing plans to hire more than 3,500 new employees this year in a variety of roles and functions. As we continue to grow and bring dozens of new airplanes into our fleet, we need thousands of people to join the Alaska family.

From maintenance technicians to contact center agents, flight attendants to pilots, customer service agents to software engineers, we will have jobs available for anyone who wants to be part of our team.

Most of the new jobs are based at our hubs in Seattle and Portland, as well as locations up and down the West Coast. Benefits like the ability to work from home and flexibility of schedules are also available with some roles. Many of the positions do not require previous airline experience, so it's the perfect time to try a new career. The openings will be posted at careers.alaskaair.com throughout the year.

"It's an exciting time to join our team, and we're eager to welcome more great people to Alaska," said Andy Schneider, senior vice president of people at Alaska Airlines. "We offer a wide variety of positions, and we pride ourselves on nurturing talent and providing opportunities to learn new skills and move into new, challenging roles. Come join our winning team!"

Here's a look at the approximate number of new hires for each role we'll be looking to fill this year.

Position Alaska Pilots 550 Flight Attendants 1,000 Customer Service Agents 1,000 Ramp Service Agents 100 Contact Center Agents 240 Maintenance Technicians 135 Management 500 Total 3,525

Why work for Alaska?

Creating an airline people love starts with our commitment to creating an airline where kind, remarkable and hardworking people can love what they do and who they work with. The work is exciting, we support each other and operate as one team, and you can travel the world. It's unlike any other work environment.

We provide travel privileges to explore and connect with family and friends; competitive pay and unique bonus programs to reward you when the company does well; and strong benefits for your health and wellness.

We commit to providing career development in an inclusive workplace where you can grow your career. Many of our management employees began their careers in frontline positions and then took an opportunity to move into a supervisor or corporate role. The opportunities are endless.

Have we convinced you yet? The place to learn more is careers.alaskaair.com.

About Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines and our regional partners serve more than 120 destinations across the United States, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico. We emphasize low fares and award-winning customer service. Alaska is a member of the oneworld global alliance. With the alliance and our additional airline partners, our guests can travel to more than 900 destinations on more than 20 airlines while earning and redeeming miles on flights to locations around the world. Learn more about Alaska at news.alaskaair.com AN Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group.

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SOURCE Alaska Airlines
WELLESLEY, Mass., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ampersand is proud to announce that Marina Pellon-Consunji, a Partner at the firm, has been recognized as a Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investor by GrowthCap. GrowthCap selected the awardees based on the depth of their deal experience, ability to help the companies in which they invest, collaborative work style and progression towards firm and industry leadership roles.

"I am proud to be part of the Ampersand team and the decades of experience we bring in helping build middle market healthcare companies into market leaders," said Ms. Pellon-Consunji. "I believe our unique blend of skills and focused experience has proven valuable to our portfolio companies. It is an honor to partner with innovative founder-entrepreneurs in growing their businesses and contributing to their success."

Ms. Pellon-Consunji joined Ampersand in 2013 and helped open the firm's European office in 2017. At Ampersand, she has leveraged her scientific background to lead investments in growing life sciences and healthcare companies while supporting management teams to define and execute growth strategies. These growth initiatives have included facility buildouts, geographic expansions, new product development and M&A. Ms. Pellon-Consunji's portfolio company responsibilities have included Vibalogics, Brammer Bio, Genewiz, LakePharma, ProtaGene, Genoptix, and Gyros PTI. She holds a degree in Biological Chemistry from Wellesley College and prior to joining Ampersand worked in biochemistry laboratories at Harvard Medical School.

About Ampersand Capital Partners

Founded in 1988, Ampersand is a middle market private equity firm with $3 billion of assets under management dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston, MA and Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ampersand leverages a unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive superior long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm's core healthcare sectors. For additional information, visit www.ampersandcapital.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

The recognition presented herein is from a third-party that is not affiliated with Ampersand Capital Partners. Ampersand Capital Partners submitted nominations to be considered for the GrowthCap Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors of 2022 award. The third-party independently assessed nominees based on multiple criteria. The awards and designations presented are the opinion of the third-party conferring the award or designation and not of Ampersand Capital Partners. Recognitions by third-parties are not indicative of future performance. Ampersand Capital Partners paid a fee to participate and/or distribute the results. The receipt of compensation influences and is likely to present a potential material conflict of interest, relating to any granted award or designation. There can be no assurance that other providers or surveys would reach the same conclusions as the foregoing. For additional details on the award selection criteria and methodology, please visit https://growthcapadvisory.com/growthcaps-top-40-under-40-growth-investors-of-2022/

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SOURCE Ampersand Capital Partners
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America Corporation today announced the Board of Directors has authorized regular cash dividends on the outstanding shares or depositary shares of the following series of preferred stock:

Series of Preferred Stock Dividend per Share or Depositary Share1 Record Date Payment Date Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series E $0.31664 January 31 February 15 Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series F $1,292.25000 February 28 March 15 Adjustable Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series G $1,292.25000 February 28 March 15 Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series X $31.25 February 15 March 6 Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series 1 $0.3429 February 15 February 28 Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series 2 $0.34412 February 15 February 28 Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series 4 $0.35051 February 15 February 28 Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series 5 $0.33065 February 1 February 21 Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series AA $30.50 March 1 March 17 Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series DD $31.50 February 15 March 10 Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series FF $29.375 March 1 March 15 6.000% Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series GG $0.375 February 1 February 16 5.375% Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series KK $0.3359375 March 1 March 27 5.000% Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series LL $0.3125 March 1 March 17 4.250% Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series QQ $0.2656250 February 1 February 17 4.750% Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series SS $0.2968750 February 1 February 17

1 Each series of preferred stock, other than Series F and Series G, is represented by depositary shares. Dividend payments are made on a quarterly basis for each series of preferred stock, other than Series X, Series AA, Series DD, and Series FF for which dividends are paid on a semi-annual basis.

Bank of AmericaBank of America is one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 68 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,900 retail financial centers, approximately 16,000 ATMs and award-winning digital banking with approximately 56 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and approximately 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for email news alerts.

www.bankofamerica.com

Investors May Contact:Lee McEntire, Bank of AmericaPhone: 1.980.388.6780[email protected]

Jonathan Blum, Bank of America (Fixed Income)Phone: 1.212.449.3112[email protected]

Reporters May Contact:Bill Halldin, Bank of AmericaPhone: 1.916.724.0093[email protected]

Christopher P. Feeney, Bank of AmericaPhone: 1.980.386.6794[email protected]

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SOURCE Bank of America Corporation
New programs to provide STEM education & improve workforce development

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Bank of America is announcing a $1 million donation to Discovery Place to provide students and teachers resources and skills for education and career development to meet the growing demand for STEM jobs. In fact, companies will need to fill more than 88,500 STEM related jobs in the Mecklenburg County area by 2028. This partnership will provide the Charlotte area with a workforce pipeline which is essential to the continued economic growth of the region.

By establishing the Bank of America STEM Center, a key hub for high quality career STEM education, Discovery Place will provide new programs to more than 7,000 students at various Charlotte Mecklenburg County Title I schools. This partnership will also create new opportunities for the bank's employees, with a special focus on the Global Technology team to volunteer with middle and high school students on a more regular basis to encourage STEM careers.

"Discovery Place plays a critical role in providing the necessary educational resources for the greater Charlotte region," said Kieth Cockrell, President of Bank of America Charlotte. "With significant demand in hiring more STEM workers, we're committed to making sure young people, particularly underrepresented diverse groups and women, are set up for future career success."

"We are so grateful for our continued partnership with Bank of America and their investment in this community, which we have had the pleasure of serving for 75 years," said Catherine Wilson Horne, Discovery Place President and CEO. "These funds will allow Discovery Place to reach even more youth through our STEM pipeline, in areas like technology and computer science, to help build a homegrown, science-literate workforce for generations to come."

"This partnership enhances our decades of support of and volunteerism with Discovery Place by addressing our community's need for a robust STEM workforce and access to economic opportunity," said Aditya Bhasin, Bank of America's Chief Technology and Information Officer and Chair of the Discovery Place Board of Trustees. "We are pleased our funds will support introducing students to the world of STEM and its career opportunities."

Discovery Place and Bank of America have been partners in education for nearly 30 years. Since 2014 the center has supported nearly 14,000 teachers from across North and South Carolina with programs designed to help them teach STEM education. In 2018 the bank donated property at Sixth and Poplar Streets to Discovery Place to develop the Bank of America STEM Center for Career Development.

Discovery Place Science

Discovery Place Science is the leading hub for science learning in the Carolinasdedicated to the exchange of ideas, scientific exploration and creative expression to stimulate innovative problem-solving and learning. The Museum brings relevant, contemporary science to life through groundbreaking exhibitions, interactive educational programming and hands-on activities. Located in Uptown Charlotte at 301 N. Tryon Street, convenient parking is available in the Museum's parking deckthe Carol Grotnes Belk Complexat the corner of Sixth and Church streets. For more information about Discovery Place Science, call 704-372-6261, visit discoveryplace.org, or connect with Discovery Place Science on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Bank of America

At Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), we're guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. We're delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. It's demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Connect with us on Twitter (@BofA_News).

For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for news email alerts.

Reporters may contact:

Sarah Wheat, Discovery PlacePhone: 1.917.699.3690[email protected]

Alex Lawson, Bank of America Phone: 1.704.387.8291[email protected]

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SOURCE Bank of America Corporation
Credit union encourages college-bound students across the greater LA area to apply for $1,000 scholarship

GLENDALE, Calif. , Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- California Credit Union is encouraging college-bound students in Los Angeles County to apply for its 2023 Student Scholarship Program. Through the program, the credit union provides $20,000 in scholarships annually to recognize Southern California students who are motivated in their academic studies and active in their schools and communities.

"We're committed to investing in our next generation of leaders and encourage local students to apply for one of our scholarships," said California Credit Union CEO Steve O'Connell. "We know the costs of higher education have continued to rise and pursuing educational dreams can be a challenge for many. We hope our scholarships make the path to college a little easier, and look forward to reviewing the many stories of inspiration in our scholarship applications."

Los Angeles County college-bound high school seniors and community college students transferring to a four-year university who maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0 are eligible to participate. Selection criteria include academic performance, school or community involvement, a letter of recommendation, and an essay submission.

Interested students can find more information and apply online at ccu.com/studentscholarship. Online applications will be accepted through Friday, March 10, 2023. Recipients will be announced on Monday, April 3, 2023.

The California Credit Union Annual Student Scholarship program was created in 2005 to recognize outstanding students within local communities. Each year, the credit union awards 20 scholarships of $1,000 each to students in Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside and Orange counties. Since the creation of the program, the credit union has awarded more than $375,000 in scholarships.

About California Credit Union

California Credit Union is a federally insured, state chartered credit union founded in 1933 that serves public or private school employees, community members and businesses across California. With more than 165,000 members and assets of over $4 billion, California Credit Union has 24 branches throughout Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. The credit union operates in San Diego County as North Island Credit Union, a division of California Credit Union. California Credit Union offers a full suite of consumer, business and investment products and services, including comprehensive consumer checking and loan options, personalized financial planning, business banking, and leading-edge online and mobile banking. Visit ccu.com for more information or follow the credit union on Instagram or Facebook @CaliforniaCreditUnion.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/california-credit-union-offering-scholarships-to-los-angeles-county-students-301717180.html

SOURCE California Credit Union
Audi, Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Toyota and Volvo fixed ops managers will be on hand to discuss vehicle-inspection systems at UVeye's NADA exhibit in Dallas

UVeye technology has attracted investments from CarMax, General Motors, Hyundai, Toyota Tsusho and Volvo

DETROIT, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading Audi, Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Toyota and Volvo dealership service-department managers will be on hand to discuss their use of high-tech vehicle-inspection systems to improve customer satisfaction at UVeye's NADA 2023 exhibit (Jan. 27-29) in Dallas, Texas.

UVeye's industry-first suite of vehicle-inspection systems feature patented artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision and high-speed camera technologies proven to speed repair work, significantly improve customer-satisfaction and increase service-department profitability.

The first and only auto-industry service technology of its kind has attracted investments from major automakers and dealership groups such as CarMax, General Motors, Hyundai Motors, Toyota Tsusho and Volvo Cars.

Last year General Motors and Volvo Cars both announced plans to support the installation of UVeye inspection systems at dealerships throughout the United States. UVeye technology also has been integrated into Tekion's Automotive Retail Cloud platform and CDK Drive's dealership management system.

UVeye's tire (Artemis), underbody (Helios) and exterior (Atlas) systems will be on display at the company's 2,000-square-foot NADA booth (#6239) and also featured in the General Motors display area (booth #1545). Special introductory plans will be available for dealers attending NADA. Demonstrations and private meetings also can be scheduled by clicking on the "Schedule a Meeting" link on UVeye's NADA landing page: www.uveye.com/nada-2023.

Media interviews in person at NADA or online also can be scheduled by email with Larry Weis ([email protected]) or Jana Hochbohm ([email protected]) at AutoCom Associates.

Artemis is the only high-speed tire-inspection system of its kind able to detect a wide range of tire-related issues and capture brand, age and air pressure information. Helios is an undercarriage scanner that can detect potential safety issues, including fluid leaks, brake problems and exhaust system damage. Atlas is a 360-degree exterior inspection system that captures sheet metal damage as well as a host of other issues.

About UVeye

Established in 2016, UVeye has created the world's first fully-automated suite of vehicle inspection systems.

Utilizing a unique combination of proprietary algorithms, cloud architecture, artificial intelligence, machine learning and sensor-fusion technologies, the company's groundbreaking drive-thru systems can detect external or mechanical flaws and identify anomalies, modifications or foreign objects under and around any side of a vehicle within seconds.

UVeye technology can detect a virtually limitless list of vehicle problems, including oil leaks, exterior damage such as scratches and dents, tire sidewall and tread issues and numerous forms of underbody damage.

Originally developed for use in the homeland security industry, UVeye expanded its technology applications to the auto industry, revolutionizing multipoint inspection processes and improving the customer experience by scanning for and identifying a wide variety of quality and repair concerns. Additional information is available at www.uveye.com.

UVeye Company Contact: Yaron Saghiv UVeye Phone: +1.516.340.3572 E-mail: [email protected] Media Contacts: Larry Weis or Elaine Cozzetto AutoCom Associates Phone: + 1.248.647.8621 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dealership-managers-to-discuss-high-tech-vehicle-inspection-systems-at-nada-301718105.html

SOURCE UVeye
Leading local HVAC service provider shares tips for maximizing indoor health and comfort during winter

SOUTH BEND, Ind., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Home Comfort Experts, the preferred local provider of high-quality HVAC, indoor air quality and plumbing service in Northern Indiana and Southwestern Michigan, offers convenient indoor air quality resolutions for the new year that will help homeowners and their families breathe easy in 2023.

"IAQ is often overlooked, but it can have a significant effect on your family's comfort," said Brian West, general manager of Home Comfort Experts. "It's especially important during the winter months when we spend more time inside. We urge homeowners in our community to take a few simple steps this year that can make a big difference in their quality of life."

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, IAQ is an increasingly urgent concern for Americans, who spend approximately 90% of their time in a home, school, office or other indoor environments.

West suggests the following best practices to improve and maintain your home's IAQ:

Choose the right air filter: Air filters are the first line of defense in your home's fight against indoor air pollution. Select the proper dimensions  don't try to cram in a filter that's too large or hope that an undersized one will work. Then consider the material (fiberglass, polymer or polyester, natural fiber) and style of filter (flat, pleated, washable, electrostatic) that suits your home and check the Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV), which measures how effective the filter is at capturing airborne particles.

Air filters are the first line of defense in your home's fight against indoor air pollution. Select the proper dimensions  don't try to cram in a filter that's too large or hope that an undersized one will work. Then consider the material (fiberglass, polymer or polyester, natural fiber) and style of filter (flat, pleated, washable, electrostatic) that suits your home and check the Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV), which measures how effective the filter is at capturing airborne particles. Change the filter regularly: Popular pleated HVAC filters must be replaced every three months or so to ensure effective, efficient performance. Washable filters typically last three years or more but require frequent, extensive cleaning.

Popular pleated HVAC filters must be replaced every three months or so to ensure effective, efficient performance. Washable filters typically last three years or more but require frequent, extensive cleaning. Schedule regular HVAC maintenance: A trained HVAC professional can keep your system clean and ensure efficient performance. With regular inspections, technicians can also detect any minor problems before they become major issues.

A trained HVAC professional can keep your system clean and ensure efficient performance. With regular inspections, technicians can also detect any minor problems before they become major issues. Clean the air ducts: A dirty air duct can reduce indoor air quality, exacerbating allergies and contributing to overall discomfort. Trained technicians utilize specialized equipment to clean your ducts, restoring them to peak condition.

A dirty air duct can reduce indoor air quality, exacerbating allergies and contributing to overall discomfort. Trained technicians utilize specialized equipment to clean your ducts, restoring them to peak condition. Consider home IAQ equipment: For maximum comfort and health, ask your trusted HVAC professionals about the range of IAQ equipment available for your home, from humidifiers and dehumidifiers to whole home indoor air purification systems. Home humidifiers fight the dry winter air that can irritate family members and damage wood. Dehumidifiers ensure there's enough moisture in the air to keep you comfortable, combat mold and mildew, and reduce condensation. The advanced weather protection that keeps our homes tightly sealed also results in reduced circulation and stale, trapped air, creating ideal conditions for many forms of microorganisms to thrive. Air purification systems capture harmful airborne contaminants and keep your indoor environment fresh and clean.

"It's not difficult to maintain your home's air quality, but it does require planning and maintenance," West said. "You can protect your family's comfort and health with a small investment. We recommend consulting a professional to get an IAQ plan in place, and then it's just a matter of following the guidelines to make sure your home environment is clean and pleasant year-round."

Since 2006, Home Comfort Experts has specialized in providing residential heating, cooling and plumbing service and maintenance, indoor air quality products and services, and equipment replacement. Home Comfort Experts serves Fort Wayne, Columbia City, Warsaw, South Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart, Plymouth and LaPorte in Indiana and Niles, St. Joseph, Berrien Springs and Dowagiac in Michigan.

For more information, visit https://homecomfortexpertsinc.com/.

About Home Comfort Experts

Home Comfort Experts is the preferred local provider of high-quality HVAC, indoor air quality and plumbing service in Northern Indiana and Southwestern Michigan. Our customers' satisfaction and comfort is our number one goal. Home Comfort Experts serves clients in northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan, including Fort Wayne, Columbia City, Warsaw, South Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart, Plymouth, LaPorte, St. Joseph, Niles, Berrien Springs and Dowagiac. We're the technicians you can trust with your house keys. For more information, visit https://homecomfortexpertsinc.com/.

MEDIA CONTACT: Heather RipleyRipley PR(865) 977-1973[email protected]

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SOURCE Home Comfort Experts
GOLDEN, Colo., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ICD, an independent portal provider of institutional money market funds and other short-term investments, earned a Great Place to Work Certification for the third consecutive year. In the company's 2023 certification survey, 96% of employees said ICD is a great place to work, which compares with 57% of employees at the average US company.

"Our people are the keys to our success," says ICD Chief Executive Officer Tory Hazard. "Time and again we hear from our employees that the best part about ICD is the people they work with. We understand the power of happy employees and its effect on keeping our clients happy."

Employee responses to questions about ICD's work culture, include:

96% I feel good about the ways we contribute to the community

97% Management shows appreciation for good work and extra effort

96% Promotions go to those who best deserve them

96% Everyone has an opportunity to get special recognition

96% This is a psychologically and emotionally healthy place to work

Great Place to Work Certification is the only recognition based entirely on what employees report about their workplace experience  specifically, how consistently they experience a high-trust workplace. Every year, more than 10,000 companies across 60 countries apply to get Great Place to Work-Certified.

About ICD

ICD is treasury's trusted, independent portal provider of money market funds and other short-term investments. We provide intuitive technology and unbiased access to over 350 investment products through ICD Portal, a model in the industry for trading, reporting and analysis. We also provide extraordinary, expert service through our Global Trade Desk. For more information about ICD, contact [email protected] or visit icdportal.com.

ICD Media ContactZoe Sochor +1 646.581.3277[email protected]

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SOURCE Institutional Cash Distributors, LLC
Australian submarine HMAS Rankin is seen in Darwin, Australia, Sept 5, 2021. [Photo/Agencies]

Given its geographical location and the fact that it is the only nation that is a continent unto itself, Australia's defense needs are relatively limited.

For all the gratuitous talk of a threat from China, the Australian economy is highly intertwined with Asian economies, especially China, which has been Australia's largest trade partner, main source of imports and primary export destination for more than a decade.

Given all that, it is unfathomable why Australia's Department of Defense wants at least eight nuclear submarines by 2040 as well as a new submarine base to accommodate them.

Presumably, Australia's pursuit of a submarine force that exceeds both its self-defense needs and its capability to build and berth them is because that is what the United States wants it to do.

For the US, its gullible allies are gifts that keep on giving when it comes to selling them exorbitantly priced military hardware. Now, rather than just selling Australia the required technology as originally proposed, the Joe Biden administration is looking to expedite the production of nuclear-powered submarines for Australia by building "the first few" vessels on US soil, while providing Australia with the capability to build such vessels itself in the future.

That would kill two birds with one stone for the US. As Australia's former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has said, without the ability to maintain or sustain a naval nuclear propulsion system, the submarines cannot be operated without US supervision, which essentially means they will be under US control. And although the US does have military bases in Australia, it does not have a naval base capable of supporting its nuclear submarines, although plans have reportedly been drawn up for a new port facility just outside Darwin.

Despite that, it seems that some in the US are less than enthralled with the proposal, arguing that it would scupper the US' plan to have a fleet of 60 nuclear submarines given the US' own building-capacity constraints.

According to reports, Democratic Senator Jack Reed, who is chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Republican Senator James Inhofe warned President Biden on Dec 21 that "We believe current conditions require a sober assessment of the facts to avoid stressing the US submarine industrial base to breaking point." The two politicians urged Biden to adopt a "do no harm" approach to ensure that the US' national security capabilities "are not diminished".

A spokesperson for the Australian Department of Defense played down relevant reports saying that "the optimal pathway for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines is taking shape", and an announcement would be made this year.

Whatever that announcement is, Canberra is sure to be paying through the nose to hand over its sovereignty to the US, if it proceeds with its plans to acquire nuclear subs.
NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Katten announced today that a team of four prominent litigators  Eliot Lauer, Jacques Semmelman, Gabe Hertzberg and Julia Mosse  have joined Katten's New York office as partners in the Commercial Litigation practice, further growing the firm's East Coast presence.

"This is an accomplished team that brings a wealth of courtroom experience, spanning decades, which benefits our clients who seek our counsel in helping protect their business needs," said David Crichlow, chair of Katten's Commercial Litigation practice. "Their broad array of knowledge in civil, criminal, regulatory and investigative matters further enhances Katten's capabilities in handling complex proceedings strategically and efficiently."

Eliot Lauer has tried civil and criminal cases in the federal district and state courts involving mail and wire fraud, tax fraud, false statements to state and federal agencies, commodities fraud, transactions in government securities and commodity futures, market manipulation, accountants' and other professionals' liability, false advertising, contract and agency disputes involving real estate, product liability, and other commercial transactions. He is an accomplished appellate advocate who has argued appeals in multiple federal and state courts.

Lauer has managed a variety of bankruptcy-related litigation matters, as well as represented clients in investigations and proceedings conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), state attorneys general, state accountancy boards and other agencies. Specifically, he routinely evaluates and defends fraud, negligence and statutory claims, including in class actions, against corporate issuers, directors and accountants in matters relating to audits and presentation of financial statements and related corporate disclosures. For many years, he served as an active member of the arbitration panels of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and several industry bodies. He has represented clients in multiple commercial arbitrations in the United States and various foreign jurisdictions.

Jacques Semmelman, a former assistant US attorney in the Eastern District of New York and a Harvard PhD, leverages his mathematical and scientific background in handling litigation involving complex quantitative, econometric, scientific and engineering issues. He has served as lead counsel in dozens of trials, arbitrations and appellate oral arguments. He also defends clients in government investigations and enforcement proceedings.

Semmelman's civil and criminal practice is wide-ranging, and includes significant matters involving antitrust, product liability, contracts, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, shareholder derivative and class action litigation, commodities, securities, commercial and governmental bribery, trademark, patent, computer hacking, and money laundering. He has particular experience handling the multi-faceted needs of pharmaceutical clients. He also is recognized as a leading attorney in the area of international extradition. He regularly advises clients on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance and on regulations issued by the US Department of the Treasury (OFAC) and the US Department of Commerce (BIS), and conducts internal investigations involving suspected violations of OFAC sanctions, the FCPA and other anti-bribery laws, and anti-money laundering laws.

Gabe Hertzberg is an experienced commercial litigator in high demand with investment advisors, entrepreneurs, corporate executives and foreign businesses drawn into US disputes. He focuses on partnership disputes under Delaware and New York law, debtor-creditor litigation and fiduciary matters involving claims of fraud and other business torts. Hertzberg appears frequently in federal and state courts throughout the country, and has considerable arbitration experience in matters before JAMS and AAA, and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

Hertzberg counsels clients in matters involving enforcement of judgments in the United States, with deep experience in the area of recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards in US courts. In addition to his commercial disputes practice, he has considerable experience representing subjects and targets in government and regulatory investigations by DOJ, SEC, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and state attorneys general.

Julia Mosse represents clients in a broad range of complex commercial disputes, including matters involving commercial contracts, financial services, energy, securities, commodities, bankruptcy, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. Mosse appears regularly in federal and state courts throughout the country at both the trial and appellate levels and has significant experience representing clients in domestic and international commercial arbitrations.

In addition to her courtroom experience, Mosse also represents clients in internal investigations as well as investigations and proceedings conducted by the SEC, CFTC, DOJ and FINRA.

Prior to joining Katten in December, the group worked together for many years at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, where Lauer was co-chair of the Litigation practice.

Lauer, Semmelman, Hertzberg and Mosse are the latest partners to join Katten's New York office, which recently relocated to a newly renovated space at the iconic Rockefeller Center. Lateral partners new to Katten this past year in New York include Affordable Housing and Community Development co-chair Louise Carroll and partner Eddy Park, Commercial Litigation partner Geoffrey Young, Financial Markets and Funds partners Ilene Froom and Stephen Morris, Health Care partner James Saling, Mergers & Acquisitions/Private Equity partner Christopher Isaacs, Real Estate partner Julie Lee, and Securities Litigation partner Sarah Eichenberger.

"We are thrilled to welcome this extraordinary group to our New York office. Collectively, their reputation and credibility are highly respected in the legal industry and business community," said Chris DiAngelo, Katten's New York office managing partner. "They are great additions to our growing presence in New York, which enables us to more readily serve our clients in the world's top financial center."

Katten is a full-service law firm with approximately 700 attorneys in locations across the United States and in London and Shanghai. Clients seeking sophisticated, high-value legal services turn to Katten for counsel locally, nationally and internationally. The firm's core areas of practice include corporate, financial markets and funds, insolvency and restructuring, intellectual property, litigation, real estate, structured finance and securitization, transactional tax planning, private credit and private wealth. Katten represents public and private companies in numerous industries, as well as a number of government and nonprofit organizations and individuals. For more information, visit katten.com.

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SOURCE Katten
CANTON, Ohio, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Liberty HealthShare and its Canton employees helped spread Christmas cheer to brighten the holidays for the less fortunate.

Liberty HealthShare and its employees helped spread Christmas cheer to brighten the holidays for the less fortunate.

The ministry, which facilitates healthsharing for nearly 90,000 members, arranged donations for Canton's Patrick Elementary School and Refuge of Hope Ministries, as well as Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child.

"Our ministry is based on the biblical principle of supporting one another in times of need," said Pastor Wes Humble, executive director of ministry and community relations. "While we do that on a daily basis with our members' healthcare needs, we apply the same principle to those in our own communities who are in need of food, clothing and other essentials for life."

Called "Partnering with Patrick," Liberty HealthShare's employees donated clothing items including hats, gloves, scarves, socks, underwear, sweatshirts and leggings for students in grades K-6 at the school. Pastor Humble is planning additional outreach activities with the school.

The ministry donated numerous shirts and a large quantity of prepared foods to the Refuge of Hope, which provides shelter, meals, clothing and essential healthcare services to those who ace poverty and homelessness in Canton.

The donation to Samaritan's Purse reaches outside of the Canton community as it provides the shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies and hygiene items for children in more than 170 countries and territories around the world.

Established in 1995, Liberty HealthShare is a non-profit 501(c) (3) charitable Christian medical cost-sharing ministry focused on members helping each other in times of need. The faith-based program is a caring community of health-conscious individuals and families who choose to support one another and agree to the Christian values of stewardship to make healthcare affordable for all.

Liberty HealthShare's medical cost sharing programs are based on shared ethical and religious beliefs, a religious tradition of mutual aid, neighborly assistance and financial sharing. They are designed for individuals who maintain a Christian lifestyle, make responsible choices regarding their health, and believe in helping others.

As it is not insurance, Liberty HealthShare enrollment is available year-round, with no requirement for special life events to qualify. For more information about its healthcare sharing programs visit libertyhealthshare.org or call (855) 585-4237.

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SOURCE Liberty HealthShare
BOSTON, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MedTherapy Biotechnology Inc., a privately held CAR-T cell cancer gene therapy biotechnology company, announced that its technology could potentially reduce the time and cost to manufacture CAR-T cell cancer gene therapy to a fraction, approximately by seventy percent.

Its clinical development plan and strategies are being presented at the BIOTECH SHOWCASE conference being held during the JPMorgan Chase Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, CA.

"MedTherapy was founded with a mission to make the exorbitantly expensive CAR-T cell cancer gene therapy more affordable and accessible. We are very pleased to announce that our strategies have finally made this vision a reality," said Bikash Verma, MD, DVM, CEO of MedTherapy Biotechnology. "While CAR-T cell gene therapy for cancer has proven itself to be a miraculous life-saving therapy, however, its current exorbitant cost renders it unaffordable for many patients in United States and virtually all patients in developing countries. Together with our US and global partners, we are trying to change that paradigm by developing an integrated strategy for the next generation CAR-T cell therapy and manufacturing processes to dramatically reduce its cost."

CAR-T therapy is plagued by several constraints responsible for its exorbitant cost and complex manufacturing processes, viz. four to six weeks to manufacture; industry-wide lack of capacity to scale up manufacturing; acute shortage of most critical raw material, the viral vectors; and patients relapsing after being administered CAR-T cell therapy. While there has been lots of focus upon increasing its efficacy, not commensurate attention has been paid to make it affordable and accessible globally. That would necessitate significant innovation of the processes, virus vectors, and scaling up production, collectively.

Thus, instead of being singularly focused upon only the clinical development of the CAR-T cell therapy, MedTherapy has developed an integrated approach by building three complementary strategies and infrastructures to overcome the current existential constraints: to develop next generation of more efficient CAR-T therapy candidates; a global GMP grade commercial manufacturing facility with cost and time-efficient technologies; and next generation virus vector technology and facilities for large scale industry level manufacturing of viral vector which is the most critical raw material and the most expensive. Together, our integrated and innovative approaches lead to dramatic reduction in the cost and time to manufacture, and thus the reduced cost of the CAR-T cell gene therapy.

Our technology is being developed to manufacture CAR-T cells cancer gene therapy in a few days instead of the industry average of four to six weeks. And, at dramatically reduced costs.

Dr. Daniel DeAngelo, Chief of the Division of Leukemia, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School has lauded MedTherapy' s efforts to make CAR-T therapies more affordable and accessible globally. "CAR-T cell therapy offers many patients the only avenue towards a cure; therefore, CAR-T cell therapy needs to be made more affordable and readily accessible for cancer patients everywhere. To this effect, MedTherapy' s mission and strategies will go a long way in helping our patients access this novel and disease modifying therapy."

MedTherapy Integrated Approach

MedTherapy is a full-spectrum, end-to-end, integrated, CAR-T therapy biotech. In partnership with our collaborators, we are developing more efficacious CAR-T cell therapies as demonstrated in pre-clinical data for hematological indications, now entering Phase-I trials globally. It has built a global commercial manufacturing facility deploying next generation technology. It has also built an industry scale virus vector manufacturing facility with increased transfection and transduction capacities. Our integrated approach encompassing an efficacious product, global manufacturing facility, and large-scale vector production which collectively will lead to more efficacious CAR-T therapy at a dramatically reduced cost and time, and scaled up capacity, to make it affordable for all eligible patients worldwide. We believe that unless such an integrated approach is undertaken in collaboration with global partners, the cost of CAR-T cell therapy cannot be reduced dramatically to make it affordable, especially in developing countries.

About MedTherapy

MedTherapy is a cell and gene therapy manufacturing company, cofounded by pioneering medical experts on cancer gene therapies from leading US academic institutions and CAR-T cell therapy biotechs. The Company has built Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) grade global manufacturing facility and technologies to manufacture CAR-T, CAR-NK, and other cell and gene therapies in Boston, Massachusetts and New Delhi, India. It is working in partnership with leading academic centers in US and India, and CAR-T therapy biotechs. in US and UK. Our mission is to innovate and scale up the cell and gene therapy manufacturing processes to make these life-saving therapies affordable and accessible in US and globally.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this message that are not based on historical or current facts, and constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although MedTherapy believes that expectations conveyed by the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on the information available to it on the date such statements were made, no assurances can be given as to the future results, approvals or achievements. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, and should assume the Company has no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law. Statements in this message that are not based on historical or current facts, and constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although MedTherapy believes that expectations conveyed by the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on the information available to it on the date such statements were made, no assurances can be given as to the future results, approvals or achievements. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, and should assume the Company has no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law.

Media ContactTricia Schumann+1 801-550-3197[email protected]

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SOURCE MedTherapy Biotechnology
With 100% attitude and 0% alcohol, Roxie is the perfect drink for every moment

CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Has your Dry January started to feel like Drab January? Fear not. Just because you're taking a break from the booze doesn't mean you can't let loose. Molson Coors Beverage Company is serving up a new reason to join the party with the release of Roxie, a zero-proof canned cocktail jumping onto the scene and straight to your doorstep just in time for Dry January.

Inspired by craft cocktails with a twist, Roxie is packed with flavor, a hint of intrigue, and a whole lot of attitude  without the booze. The launch of Roxie is Molson Coors' latest venture in the beyond beer space and marks their first-ever direct-to-consumer line of zero-proof cocktails.

Roxie is right on trend with people who are craving satisfying sips they can take to the party sans spirits. Recent data from IWSR shows that the non-alcoholic beverage category is expected to grow by 27.6% among 21- to 25-year-olds [1]. Roxie is designed for consumers seeking non-alc beverages that make them feel good about their choice to participate in drinking occasions with or without the alcohol.

"Roxie is the brand that empowers people to be a part of the moment, celebrating the choice to drink and not drink alcohol," says Jamie Wideman, Vice President of Innovation at Molson Coors Beverage Company. "That's where Roxie shines, it packs layers of flavorful complexity, delivering a line of zero-proof cocktails built for those who want to moderate their drinking, abstain or simply sip on something fantastic."

Roxie comes in three premium crafted flavors meant to be enjoyed straight from the can, on the rocks, or if you want to be fancy, dressed up with your favorite garnish. With flavors as alluring as these, you won't believe they're zero-proof!

Ripe with Passionfruit : Bold, zesty, and so lush with passionfruitit's almost indecent.

: Bold, zesty, and so lush with passionfruitit's almost indecent. Forbidden Pineapple : Juicy, tangy, and drenched in vibrant flavors that dare to go there.

: Juicy, tangy, and drenched in vibrant flavors that dare to go there. Lost in Mango: Rich and aromatic, with a full-bodied finish and a dash of intrigue.

Now available straight to your doorstep, Roxie is available for purchase online at drinkroxie.com. You can try each flavor in a 12-pack variety pack or pick your favorite and go all-in on a single-flavor 4-pack.

Roxie will join a portfolio of brands that welcome all drinkers to the table. From their favorite beers to their go-to hard seltzers, Roxie offers another route for Molson Coors to attract new consumers. Executed in partnership at LA Libations, Roxie is the only Molson Coors brand sold exclusively online.

Roxie is designed for the next generation of drinkers who are redefining what it means to drink in social settings. To learn more about Roxie and how you can order a pack to try this Dry January, visit drinkroxie.com and follow the brand on social @letsdrinkRoxie.

About Molson Coors Beverage Company

For over two centuries Molson Coors has been brewing beverages that unite people for all of life's moments. From Coors Light, Miller Lite, Molson Canadian, Carling, and Staropramen to Coors Banquet, Blue Moon Belgian White Belgian-Style Wheat Ale, Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, Creemore Springs and more, Molson Coors produces some of the most beloved and iconic beer brands ever made. While the company's history is rooted in beer, Molson Coors offers a modern portfolio that expands beyond the beer aisle with sparkling cocktails, canned wine, kombucha, cider and more.

Molson Coors Beverage Company is a publicly traded company that operates through Molson Coors North America and Molson Coors Europe, and is traded on the New York and Canadian Stock Exchange (TAP). The company's commitment to raising industry standards and leaving a positive imprint on our employees, consumers, communities and the environment is reflected in Our Beer Print and our 2025 sustainability targets. To learn more about Molson Coors Beverage Company, visit molsoncoors.com.

[1] No- and Low Strategic Study 2022; No/Low overview; Volume CAGR 2021-2025 27.6%

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SOURCE Molson Coors Beverage Company
Acquisition Expands Micross' High-Reliability Power Management Solution Capabilities

MELVILLE, N.Y., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Micross Components, Inc. ("Micross" or the "Company"), a leading provider of high-reliability microelectronic product and service solutions for aerospace, defense, space, medical and industrial applications and a portfolio company of Behrman Capital, today announced signing a definitive agreement to purchase the High-Reliability DC-DC converter business (the "Business") of Infineon Technologies AG (FSE: IFX / OTCQX: IFNNY), a global semiconductor leader in power systems and IoT. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of calendar year 2023.

Headquartered in San Jose, California with a facility in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Business provides high-reliability DC-DC converters, including hybrid and custom board based power products for space, strategic defense, aerospace, and other high-reliability customers. The Business designs and manufactures proprietary power solutions which operate in the harshest environments.

Micross' acquisition  the eighth under Behrman Capital's ownership and fourth since consummating a continuation fund transaction in February of 2022  continues to build on the strategic priorities for the Company. The addition of Infineon's High-Reliability DC-DC converter business expands Micross' power management solution offerings which are supported by a high degree of intellectual property. The acquisition also expands Micross' geographic footprint in the US and Europe and the Company's presence in the high-growth space end market, better positioning the Company for future growth opportunities.

Vince Buffa, Chairman and CEO of Micross, said, "We are delighted to partner with this experienced team which further expands the Micross team's design capabilities. The acquisition brings significant proprietary IP around power management, combined with state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities and a product portfolio that is a market leader for the advancement of innovative solutions. We will be better positioned to produce an even wider range of high-quality products for our customers. Together, we plan to pursue a number of compelling opportunities to further realize our exciting growth prospects, all while upholding excellent quality and service to our customers."

Simon Lonergan, Managing Partner of Behrman Capital, said, "This acquisition represents an extremely strong strategic fit for Micross, as the Company continues to build out its high-reliability product portfolio to better serve its customer base. Adding Infineon's DC-DC converter Business to Micross' platform further differentiates and adds significant IP to the Company's leading position as a one-stop source of supply for high-reliability electronic products and services. We look forward to continuing to work with management to identify additional opportunities to drive growth at Micross."

About Micross

Micross is a leading global provider of mission-critical microelectronic components and services for high-reliability markets. Micross provides a wide range of product and service solutions to customers, including Die & Wafer services, Advanced Interconnect Technology, Custom Packaging & Assembly, Component Modification Services, Electrical & Environmental Testing and other high-reliability products and services. In business for more than 40 years, Micross' extensive high-reliability capabilities serve the Aerospace & Defense, Space, Medical and Industrial markets, among others. Micross possesses the sourcing, packaging, assembly, engineering, test and logistics expertise needed to support applications throughout their entire program life cycles. For more information about Micross, please visit www.micross.com.

About Behrman Capital

Based in New York City, Behrman Capital was founded in 1991 by Grant G. and Darryl G. Behrman. The firm invests in management buyouts, leveraged buildups and recapitalizations of established growth businesses. The company's investments are focused in three industries: defense and aerospace, healthcare services, and specialty manufacturing and distribution. Since its inception, the firm has raised $4.0 billion and is currently investing out of its sixth fund.

About Infineon

Infineon Technologies AG is a global semiconductor leader in power systems and IoT. Infineon drives decarbonization and digitalization with its products and solutions. The company has around 56,200 employees worldwide and generated revenue of about 14.2 billion in the 2022 fiscal year (ending 30 September). Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX) and in the USA on the OTCQX International over-the-counter market (ticker symbol: IFNNY). Further information is available at www.infineon.com.

Media Contact: Chris Stabile, Director of Corporate Marketing CommunicationsMicross Components[email protected]

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SOURCE Micross Components
Credit union encourages college-bound students across San Diego to apply for $1,000 scholarship

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- North Island Credit Union is encouraging college-bound students in San Diego County to apply for its 2023 Student Scholarship Program. Through the program, the credit union provides $20,000 in scholarships annually to recognize Southern California students who are motivated in their academic studies and active in their schools and communities.

"We're committed to investing in our next generation of leaders and encourage local students to apply for one of our scholarships," said North Island Credit Union CEO Steve O'Connell. "We know the costs of higher education have continued to rise and pursuing educational dreams can be a challenge for many. We hope our scholarships make the path to college a little easier, and look forward to reviewing the many stories of inspiration in our scholarship applications."

San Diego County college-bound high school seniors and community college students transferring to a four-year university who maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0 are eligible to participate. Selection criteria include academic performance, school or community involvement, a letter of recommendation, and an essay submission.

Interested students can find more information and apply online at northisland.ccu.com/studentscholarship. Online applications will be accepted through Friday, March 10, 2023. Recipients will be announced on Monday, April 3, 2023.

The credit union's Annual Student Scholarship program was created in 2005 to recognize outstanding students within local communities. Each year, the credit union awards 20 scholarships of $1,000 each to students in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties. Since the creation of the program, the credit union has awarded more than $375,000 in scholarships.

About North Island Credit Union, a division of California Credit Union

California Credit Union is a federally insured, state chartered credit union founded in 1933 that serves public or private school employees, community members and businesses across California. With more than 165,000 members and assets of over $4 billion, California Credit Union has 24 branches throughout Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. The credit union operates in San Diego County as North Island Credit Union, a division of California Credit Union. California Credit Union offers a full suite of consumer, business and investment products and services, including comprehensive consumer checking and loan options, personalized financial planning, business banking, and leading-edge online and mobile banking. Please visit northisland.ccu.com for more information or follow the credit union on Instagram or Facebook @northislandcu.

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SOURCE North Island Credit Union
-- Certification expands Viralgen's capacity threefold and positions the company as a world-leading CDMO 

-- New facility operates single-use bioreactors from 50 to 2,000 liters and manufactures research, clinical and commercial grade rAAV vectors using Pro10, the leading cell line on the market --

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Viralgen Vector Core (Viralgen), an independently operated subsidiary of Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (AskBio), and a member of the Bayer worldwide group of companies, has received Certified Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) certification for the manufacture of human medicinal products, investigational medicinal products and sterile or biological active substances. This certification was granted following a successful inspection by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS), a part of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) network. The company now operates two facilities in San Sebastian, Spain, with seven state-of-the-art single-use suites that have up to 2,000 liters of manufacturing capacity, making it a world-leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO).

Viralgen is now licensed for the commercial manufacturing of recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) gene therapies up to 2,000 liters and has completed seven successful runs at this maximum scale. This first phase of the expansion of the new facility, which has added 300,000 square feet of clinical and commercial rAAV manufacturing, is now complete. The new facility currently has three independent state-of-the-art quality control labs and commercial manufacturing suites with 500- and 2,000-liter single-use bioreactors. Viralgen anticipates opening additional manufacturing, science and technology (MSAT) and analytical development space at the same facility at the end of Q1 2023.

"Being a fully integrated CDMO, we offer a continuum of products and services, including process, analytical development, stability studies and fill and finish for all types of rAAV serotypes," said Jimmy Vanhove, CEO of Viralgen. "This can significantly shorten the time to market, help with predictable cost of goods and reduce the waiting time experienced by patients who have run out of options and hope for breakthrough treatments."

With this approval, Viralgen expands its ability to partner with customers in the rAAV space that are initiating Phase III studies and seeking approvals to commercialize their products. This builds on the company's achievement of its 2022 pivotal milestone, which was the manufacturing over 135 batches of clinical and preclinical material, and its enabling more than 24 INDs since its inception in 2019.

"With this certification, we have three times the rAAV production capacity we had previously. This solidifies our position as a global leader in the CDMO rAAV field", said Javier Garcia, co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Viralgen. "We are now able to manufacture at the industry's largest scale and supply Phase III and commercial products for our global customers."

Viralgen was created in 2017 to respond to the unmet need for the manufacturing of gene therapies, with the goal of helping broaden access to these life-saving therapeutics around the world. Viralgen specializes in the production of rAAV vectors and has built an optimized facility that maximizes the throughput and efficiency of the proprietary Pro10 based suspension manufacturing platform, enabling industry-leading yields, scalability and speed to market. Viralgen is a fully integrated company, which supplies research, cGMP and commercial grade material from 250 to 2,000 liters in scale, including process development, formulation and filling.

About Viralgen

Viralgen, an independently operated Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), was founded in 2017 as a joint venture between AskBio and Columbus Venture Partners (a venture capital firm based in Spain). As one of the world's leading manufacturers of cGMP-certified AAV, Viralgen uses the Pro10 based suspension manufacturing platform, a technology licensed from AskBio and developed by co-founder R. Jude Samulski, PhD, at University of North Carolina. It is believed that Pro10 increases scalability, performance and precision of AAV therapies. Located in Spain, in the Gipuzkoa Science and Technology Park, Viralgen produces AAV gene therapy treatments for pharmaceutical and biotech companies with the aim of accelerating the delivery of new treatments that can improve patients' lives.

The company's clinical facilities have four cGMP manufacturing suites, with 250-liter and 500-liter bioreactors. In 2020, Viralgen expanded within the Scientific Park by constructing a new building for increased manufacturing capacity. The new space includes three additional cGMP suites with a manufacturing capacity of 2,000 liters each.

Viralgen has more than 420 employees, with three quarters of these holding advanced degrees. This talented workforce supports a range of core capabilities in quality assurance, quality control, analytical development and process development, all of which are critical to shortening the time to market and supporting customers with the regulatory process.

For more information, visit viralgenvc.com.

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SOURCE Viralgen
The logo of Alibaba Group is lit up at its office building in Beijing, China August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has signed a cooperation agreement with the government of Hangzhou, the city where the company is headquartered, local media reported on Tuesday.

China's internet giants have been in the crosshairs of Chinese regulators for the past two years, but authorities have in recent months given increasing signs that relations between the government and China's tech sector will thaw, which would bode well for the sector's prospects

The government-backed Zhejiang Daily reported that at the signing event, local authorities formulated specific measures to help develop the online platform economy.

The signing comes just two days after Ant Group Co Ltd, the finance company long affiliated with Alibaba, announced Jack Ma had ceded control of the company.

The announcemnt caused shares of Alibaba and other Ant Group affiliated companies to soar, as investors interpreted the move as possible cap to a years-long regulatory crackdown on the Chinese tech industry

On Monday, Guo Shuqing, Communist party chief of the People's Bank of China, was quoted by state broadcaster CCTV as saying that rectification of the financial business of 14 online platform companies has been "basically completed," though he did not name any companies.

(Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Conor Humphries)




UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 6-K





REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16

UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY 2023





COMMISSION FILE NUMBER 001-40173

Steakholder Foods Ltd.

(Translation of registrants name into English)





Steakholder Foods Ltd.

5 David Fikes St., Rehovot 7632805 Israel

+972-73-541-2206

(Address of principal executive offices)





Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F:





Form 20-F  Form 40-F 

DOCUMENTS INCLUDED AS PART OF THIS FORM 6-K

On January 6, 2023, Steakholder Foods Ltd. (the Company) entered into an underwriting agreement (the  Underwriting Agreement ) with A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners, as representative of the several underwriters (the Underwriter) in connection with an underwritten public offering (the Offering) of (i) 1,550,000 American Depositary Shares (each an ADS), each ADS representing ten ordinary shares, no par value, of the Company, (ii) pre-funded warrants (the Pre-Funded Warrants) to purchase 4,950,000 ADSs, (iii) warrants (the Investor Warrants) to purchase 6,500,000 ADSs, and (iv) up to 975,000 additional ADSs and/or Pre-Funded Warrants and 975,000 Investor Warrants issuable upon exercise of the Underwriters over-allotment option (the Option Securities).

The Underwriter agreed to purchase the ADSs from the Company at a price of $1.00 per ADS. The Investor Warrants have an exercise price of $1.00 per ADS, are immediately exercisable, and may be exercised until January 10, 2028. The purchase price of each Pre-Funded Warrant will equal the price per share at which the ADSs are being sold to the public in this offering, minus $0.0001, the exercise price of each Pre-Funded Warrant. Under the terms of the Underwriting Agreement, the Company also issued to the Underwriter a warrant for the purchase of 162,500 ADSs, representing 2.5% of the sum of the ADSs and Pre-Funded Warrants sold in the Offering (together with the Investor Warrants and the Pre-Funded Warrants, the Warrants).

The net proceeds to the Company from the Offering, excluding any exercise by the Underwriter of its 45-day option to purchase any of the Option Securities and the exercise of any Warrants, are approximately $6.5 million before deducting estimated offering expenses payable by the Company. The Company intends to use the proceeds from the Offering for general corporate purposes, which may include operating expenses, working capital, future acquisitions or share repurchases, general capital expenditures and satisfaction of debt obligations.

The Offering, which closed on January 10, 2023, was made pursuant to a registration statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-268559), previously filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and declared effective by the SEC on January 5, 2023.

The Underwriting Agreement contains customary representations, warranties and covenants by the Company, customary conditions to closing, indemnification obligations of the Company and the Underwriter, including for liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, other obligations of the parties and termination provisions. The representations, warranties, and covenants contained in the Underwriting Agreement were made only for purposes of such agreement and as of specific dates, were solely for the benefit of the parties to such agreement, and may be subject to limitations agreed upon by such parties. The underwriting discounts and commissions paid by the Company in connection with the Offering will be apportioned as follows: 75% to A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners, sole book-running manager for the Offering, and 25% to Maxim Group LLC, lead manager for the Offering.





On January 6, 2023, the Company also entered into a letter agreement (the Warrant Amendment) with Armistice Capital Master Fund Ltd. whereby the exercise price of warrants to purchase up to 1,857,143 ADSs was reduced from $3.50 to $1.00 and the termination date was extended from July 5, 2027 to January 10, 2028.

A copy of the Underwriting Agreement, Warrant, Pre-Funded Warrant and Warrant Amendment are filed as Exhibits 1.1, 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3, respectively, to this Form 6-K. The foregoing description of the terms of the Underwriting Agreement, Warrant, Pre-Funded Warrant and Warrant Amendment do not purport to be complete and are qualified in their entirety by reference to such exhibit.

On January 6, 2023, the Company issued a press release announcing the pricing of the Offering, which is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1. On January 10, 2023, the Company issued a press release announcing the closing of the Offering, which is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.2.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Steakholder Foods Ltd. By: /s/ Arik Kaufman Name: Arik Kaufman Title: Chief Executive Officer Date: January 10, 2023

EXHIBIT INDEX
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 13G

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(Amendment No. ___)*

Pivotal Investment Corp III (Name of Issuer) Class A Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share (Title of Class of Securities) 72582M106 (CUSIP Number) December 31, 2022 (Date of Event which Requires Filing of this Statement)

Check the appropriate box to designate the rule pursuant to which this Schedule is filed:

[X] Rule 13d-1(b)

[ ] Rule 13d-1(c)

[_] Rule 13d-1(d)

*The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting persons initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter the disclosures provided in a prior cover page.

The information required in the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be filed for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Act) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).

SCHEDULE 13G

CUSIP No. 72582M106

1 Names of Reporting Persons First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund 2 Check the appropriate box if a member of a Group (see instructions) (a) [ ]

(b) [X] 3 Sec Use Only 4 Citizenship or Place of Organization Delaware Number of Shares Beneficially Owned by Each Reporting Person With: 5 Sole Voting Power 1,097,442 6 Shared Voting Power 0 7 Sole Dispositive Power 1,097,442 8 Shared Dispositive Power 0 9 Aggregate Amount Beneficially Owned by Each Reporting Person 1,097,442 10 Check box if the aggregate amount in row (9) excludes certain shares (See Instructions) [ ] 11 Percent of class represented by amount in row (9) 12.82% 12 Type of Reporting Person (See Instructions) IV

SCHEDULE 13G

CUSIP No. 72582M106

1 Names of Reporting Persons First Trust Capital Management L.P. 2 Check the appropriate box if a member of a Group (see instructions) (a) [ ]

(b) [X] 3 Sec Use Only 4 Citizenship or Place of Organization Delaware Number of Shares Beneficially Owned by Each Reporting Person With: 5 Sole Voting Power 1,117,442 6 Shared Voting Power 0 7 Sole Dispositive Power 1,117,442 8 Shared Dispositive Power 0 9 Aggregate Amount Beneficially Owned by Each Reporting Person 1,117,442 10 Check box if the aggregate amount in row (9) excludes certain shares (See Instructions) [ ] 11 Percent of class represented by amount in row (9) 13.05% 12 Type of Reporting Person (See Instructions) IA

SCHEDULE 13G

CUSIP No. 72582M106

1 Names of Reporting Persons First Trust Capital Solutions L.P. 2 Check the appropriate box if a member of a Group (see instructions) (a)[ ]

(b)[X] 3 Sec Use Only 4 Citizenship or Place of Organization Delaware Number of Shares Beneficially Owned by Each Reporting Person With: 5 Sole Voting Power 1,117,442 6 Shared Voting Power 0 7 Sole Dispositive Power 1,117,442 8 Shared Dispositive Power 0 9 Aggregate Amount Beneficially Owned by Each Reporting Person 1,117,442 10 Check box if the aggregate amount in row (9) excludes certain shares (See Instructions) [ ] 11 Percent of class represented by amount in row (9) 13.05% 12 Type of Reporting Person (See Instructions) HC

SCHEDULE 13G

CUSIP No. 72582M106

1 Names of Reporting Persons FTCS Sub GP LLC 2 Check the appropriate box if a member of a Group (see instructions) (a)[ ]

(b)[X] 3 Sec Use Only 4 Citizenship or Place of Organization Delaware Number of Shares Beneficially Owned by Each Reporting Person With: 5 Sole Voting Power 1,117,442 6 Shared Voting Power 0 7 Sole Dispositive Power 1,117,442 8 Shared Dispositive Power 0 9 Aggregate Amount Beneficially Owned by Each Reporting Person 1,117,442 10 Check box if the aggregate amount in row (9) excludes certain shares (See Instructions) [ ] 11 Percent of class represented by amount in row (9) 13.05% 12 Type of Reporting Person (See Instructions) HC

Item 1.

(a) Name of Issuer: Pivotal Investment Corp III (the Issuer).

(b) Address of Issuers Principal Executive Offices: C/O GRAUBARD MILLER, 405 LEXINGTON AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY, 10174

Item 2.

(a) Name of Person Filing: This Schedule 13G is being filed jointly by First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund (VARBX), First Trust Capital Management L.P. (FTCM), First Trust Capital Solutions L.P. (FTCS) and FTCS Sub GP LLC (Sub GP).

 VARBX, a series of Investment Managers Series Trust II which is an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

 FTCM, an investment adviser registered with the SEC that provides investment advisory services to, among others, (i) series of Investment Managers Services Trust II, an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, specifically VARBX, and (ii) Highland Capital Management Institutional Fund II, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (collectively, the Client Accounts).

 FTCS, a Delaware limited partnership and control person of FTCM.

 Sub GP, a Delaware limited liability company and control person of FTCM.

Each of the persons identified herein is referred to as a Reporting Person and, collectively, as the Reporting Persons. Each of the Reporting Persons is a party to that certain Joint Filing Agreement attached hereto.

(b) Address of Principal Business Office or, if None, Residence: The principal business address of FTCM, FTCS and Sub GP is 225 W. Wacker Drive, Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60606. The principal business address of VARBX is 235 West Galena Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212.

(c) Citizenship: United States

(d) Title and Class of Securities: Class A Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the Common Stock)

(e) CUSIP No.: 72582M106

Item 3. If this statement is filed pursuant to  240.13d-1(b) or 240.13d-2(b) or (c), check whether the person filing is a:

(a) [_] Broker or dealer registered under Section 15 of the Act;

(b) [_] Bank as defined in Section 3(a)(6) of the Act;

(c) [_] Insurance company as defined in Section 3(a)(19) of the Act;

(d) [X] Investment company registered under Section 8 of the Investment Company Act of 1940;

(e) [X] An investment adviser in accordance with Rule 13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(E);

(f) [_] An employee benefit plan or endowment fund in accordance with Rule 13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(F);

(g) [X] A parent holding company or control person in accordance with Rule 13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(G);

(h) [_] A savings associations as defined in Section 3(b) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813);

(i) [_] A church plan that is excluded from the definition of an investment company under section 3(c)(14) of the Investment Company Act of 1940;

(j) [_] A non-U.S. institution in accordance with Rule 240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(J);

(k) [_] Group, in accordance with Rule 240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(K). If filing as a non-U.S. institution in accordance with Rule 240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(J), please specify the type of institution: ____

Item 4. Ownership

(a) Amount Beneficially Owned: As investment adviser to the Client Accounts, FTCM has the authority to invest the funds of the Client Accounts in securities (including Common Stock of the Issuer) as well as the authority to purchase, vote and dispose of securities, and may thus be deemed the beneficial owner of any shares of the Issuers Common Stock held in the Client Accounts. As of December 31, 2022, VARBX owned 1,097,442 shares of the outstanding Common Stock of the Issuer, while FTCM, FTCS and Sub GP collectively owned 1,117,442 shares of the outstanding Common Stock of the Issuer as a result of a reduction in the number of outstanding shares of the Issuers Common Stock due to shareholders exercising their right to redeem such Common Stock on December 30, 2022 and the Issuers Sponsors conversion of Class B Common Stock to Class A Common Stock on December 30, 2022. The Client Accounts purchased the Common Stock of the Issuer prior to December 30, 2022, at which time the Client Accounts owned less than 10% of the outstanding shares of the Issuers Common Stock.

FTCS and Sub GP may be deemed to control FTCM and therefore may be deemed to be beneficial owners of the Ordinary Shares reported in this Schedule 13G. No one individual controls FTCS or Sub GP. FTCS and Sub GP do not own any Ordinary Shares of the Issuer for their own accounts.

(b) Percent of Class:

(1) VARBX: 12.82%

(2) FTCM, FTCS and Sub GP: 13.05%

(c) Number of shares as to which such person has:

(i) Sole power to vote or to direct the vote:

(1) VARBX: 1,097,442

(2) FTCM, FTCS and Sub GP: 1,117,442

(ii) Shared power to vote or to direct the vote:

(1) VARBX: 0

(2) FTCM, FTCS and Sub GP: 0

(iii) Sole power to dispose or to direct the disposition of:

(1) VARBX: 1,097,442

(2) FTCM, FTCS and Sub GP: 1,117,442

(iv) Shared power to dispose or to direct the disposition of:

(1) VARBX: 0

(2) FTCM, FTCS and Sub GP: 0

Item 5. Ownership of Five Percent or Less of a Class.

If this statement is being filed to report the fact that as of the date hereof the reporting person has ceased to be the beneficial owner of more than five percent of the class of securities, check the following [ ].

Item 6. Ownership of more than Five Percent on Behalf of Another Person.

See Item 4.

Item 7. Identification and classification of the subsidiary which acquired the security being reported on by the parent holding company or control person.

See Item 2.

Item 8. Identification and classification of members of the group.

Not applicable.

Item 9. Notice of Dissolution of Group.

Not applicable.

Item 10. Certifications.

By signing below I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the securities referred to above were acquired and are held in the ordinary course of business and were not acquired and are not held for the purpose of or with the effect of changing or influencing the control of the issuer of the securities and were not acquired and are not held in connection with or as a participant in any transaction having that purpose or effect, other than activities solely in connection with a nomination under  240.14a-11.

SIGNATURE

After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief, I certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.

Dated: January 10, 2023

First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund

By: /s/ Joy Ausili

Joy Ausili, Vice President and Assistant Secretary

First Trust Capital Management L.P.

By: /s/ Chad Eisenberg

Chad Eisenberg, Chief Operating Officer

First Trust Capital Solutions L.P.

By: /s/ Chad Eisenberg

Chad Eisenberg, Chief Operating Officer

FTCS Sub GP LLC

By: /s/ Chad Eisenberg

Chad Eisenberg, Chief Operating Officer

The original statement shall be signed by each person on whose behalf the statement is filed or his authorized representative. If the statement is signed on behalf of a person by his authorized representative (other than an executive officer or general partner of this filing person), evidence of the representative's authority to sign on behalf of such person shall be filed with the statement, provided, however, that a power of attorney for this purpose which is already on file with the Commission may be incorporated by reference. The name and any title of each person who signs the statement shall be typed or printed beneath his signature.

Attention: Intentional misstatements or omissions of fact constitute Federal criminal violations (See 18 U.S.C. 1001).

Exhibit I

JOINT FILING STATEMENT

PURSUANT TO RULE 13d-1(k)

The undersigned acknowledge and agree that the foregoing statement on Schedule 13G, is filed on behalf of each of the undersigned and that all subsequent amendments to this statement on Schedule 13G, shall be filed on behalf of each of the undersigned without the necessity of filing additional joint acquisition statements. The undersigned acknowledge that each shall be responsible for the timely filing of such amendments, and for the completeness and accuracy of the information concerning him or it contained therein, but shall not be responsible for the completeness and accuracy of the information concerning the others, except to the extent that he or it knows or has reason to believe that such information is inaccurate.

Dated: January 10, 2023

First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund

By: /s/ Joy Ausili

Joy Ausili, Vice President and Assistant Secretary

First Trust Capital Management L.P.

By: /s/ Chad Eisenberg

Chad Eisenberg, Chief Operating Officer

First Trust Capital Solutions L.P.

By: /s/ Chad Eisenberg

Chad Eisenberg, Chief Operating Officer

FTCS Sub GP LLC

By: /s/ Chad Eisenberg

Chad Eisenberg, Chief Operating Officer
On Friday, Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation (TCRHCC) announced that its CEO, Lynette Bonar, would be retiring.

She will be replaced by Joette Walters, who is set to take the role on Jan. 15. Walters is currently the Associate Executive Officer and Bonars mentee.

TCRHCC exemplifies Ke, Bonar said. I am not just leaving a job, but a family that is guided by a servant mission [Walters] has the experience and intelligence to continue to address the needs of the community, while being the leader of our healthcare system. I am confident TCRHCC will continue with success and advancement in providing quality healthcare to western Navajo.

Bonar had led the organization for eight years and had been working for TCRHCC since 2003. She was appointed CEO in 2015, after four years as Associate Executive Officer under Joseph Engelken. Overall, she has 35 years of clinical experience, 19 of them at TCRHCC, and served in the U.S. Army Reserves for six years after being honorably discharged as a Sergeant.

Among her accomplishments are completing Sacred Peaks Health Care in Flagstaff, the LeChee Health Center in Page, mobile medical and dental van programs and an emergency room expansion expected to be complete this February. She has also been a member of American Indians for Self-Determination in Healthcare (AISDH).

[Bonar] has been one of the most recognizable leaders in healthcare today, said board president Christopher Curley. Her work at TCRHCC has been exemplary. She has developed leaders through the mentorship programs to promote our Native employees to become qualified into senior leadership positions at TCRHCC We thank Ms. Bonar and her family for their contributions to TCRHCC and surrounding communities.

More about TCRHCC can be found at tchealth.org.
The Air Force tape test is returning to base gyms and fitness testing facilities, two years after the service dropped the abdominal circumference measurement in fitness assessments.

The service is introducing a waist-to-height ratio that will determine whether airmen and Space Force guardians meet their annual fitness standards, according to a statement Monday.

The ratio is calculated by dividing waist circumference by height and cannot exceed 0.55.

For example, a person measuring 70 inches tall, or 5-foot-10, with a 38-inch waist would just barely pass with a ratio of 0.54.

The ratio aims to measure excess fat distribution in the abdominal region, the Air Force statement said.

Instead of the top of the hip bones, as before, measurements will be taken at the midpoint between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bones, which is normally the narrowest portion of the abdomen, according to the statement.

The new body composition assessment is mandatory but separate from the annual fitness test.

Initial failure to meet the body composition standard is nonpunitive, the service said Monday. Instead, overweight personnel will have to complete a yearlong informal, self-directed body composition improvement program, the statement said.

During the program, airmen will receive education on risk factors and may be referred for further medical evaluation.

Space Force members will be referred to so-called guardian resilience teams, which the service plans to establish soon.

While the abdominal circumference measurement under the new format may be less intimidating, it can still affect careers.

Missing scheduled measurement appointments can cause commander-driven administrative actions.

Measuring in the high-risk category after the 12-month grace period will be considered failure to meet standards and may result in reprimands, delayed promotions or separation.

Studies have found that waist-to-height ratio is a good indicator of body fat distribution and is strongly correlated with body mass index and other measures of body composition.

Excess fat in the abdominal region is associated with increased health risks such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes and hypertension.

As recently as 2019, service officials explored options for a gender-neutral fitness index. Initial proposals of the policy would have divided an airmans running time by a waist-to-height ratio for a universal measurement of fitness among troops. The plan was ultimately scrapped.

In 2020, fitness testing was paused because of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the service told airmen it would do away permanently with waist measurements.

A Defense Department policy updated last year, however, continues to require all services to maintain a body composition program for their members.

Airmen will complete their measurement each year in the month of their birthday. Guardians get a bit more leeway and have to log their composition in the quarter of their birthday.

Results will be tracked via myBodyComp, a new application under the troubled myFSS platform, the service said.

Assessments are expected to begin in April.
POCHEON, South Korea  A Stryker brigade flexed its firepower for the first time during drills Tuesday in the snowy hills of Rodriguez Live Fire Complex, roughly 16 miles from the border with North Korea.

Around 41 Stryker vehicles from 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team took part in a live-fire exercise that in previous years involved an armored combat team, including M1A2 Abrams tanks.

Last fall, the Army began transitioning to Stryker teams for nine-month rotations to South Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division.

The eight-wheeled Strykers are a significant improvement in mobility compared to the vehicles in the armored brigade combat teams, Lt. Col. Michael Filanowski, 8-1 Cavalry Regiment commander, told Stars and Stripes on Tuesday.

We have the ability to go pretty much anywhere theres a road, he said. We can move quick, we can move pretty quiet and  we carry more dismounted soldiers, which is better suited for the mountainous terrain of Korea.

Tuesdays live-fire event was the culmination of six weeks of training that included digital simulations and an exercise, Filanowski said. At the range, crews inside the Strykers identified simulated targets using cameras and thermal optics and remotely fired their mounted MK-19 grenade launchers and M-2 Browning machine guns.

Targets that represented enemy vehicles emerged from the ground up and fell after being hit by the Strykers.

Inside one vehicle, 1st Lt. Don Sparaco, of Suwanee, Ga., identified targets on a monitor for his gunner, Spc. Daniel Howard.

On the way, yelled Howard, a cavalry scout from Liberia, West Africa, as he fired the M-2 mounted atop the vehicle.

Sgt. Maj. Rigoberto Torres said the training was an opportunity for the Stryker crews to gel as one.

Once theyre actually out in an engagement, its not just one soldier looking through one sight, he said. Its the driver doing his part, the gunner doing his part, the [commander] mapping out wherever they need to go and finding engagement targets.

The training comes amid renewed threats from North Korea. The communist regime fired more than 70 missiles during 36 separate days of testing last year and flew at least five drones into South Koreas airspace on Dec. 26.

Based on the training, Filanowski said he is confident that enemy combatants facing his Stryker crews would face the most lopsided victory of one force over another.

The crews  are by far the most lethal Stryker crews in the U.S. Army, he said. And with our [South Korean] partners, I have no doubt that we would inflict a devastating loss on any enemy that dared to threaten the sovereignty and security of [South Korea].
STUTTGART, Germany  Drastic changes are coming for NATO, and the U.S.-led alliances top American officer in Europe says members must face this fact: Hard power is a reality.

Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Christopher Cavoli, speaking at a security forum in Sweden on Monday, outlined the steps allies are taking, many of which stem from how Russias unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine is unfolding.

The scale of this war is out of proportion with all of our recent thinking, but it is real, Cavoli said. And we must contend with it.

The implication is that while soft power diplomacy and economic measures favored by some allies in recent years have a role, being skilled with tanks, artillery and all manner of firepower must take precedence to defend against Russia.

For NATO, implementing its overarching strategy, known as Defense and Deterrence of the Euro-Atlantic Area, is central to its efforts as allies prioritize collective territorial defense, Cavoli said.

The work revolves around tailoring military plans by region with updated details on how strategic areas will be defended.

Of course, these plans are going to go ahead and drive a tremendous amount of change in the alliance, Cavoli said.

For example, command and control structures responsible for putting defense plans into action will have to be altered to make them fit for a new purpose, he said.

A new force model to produce larger and more combat-ready forces also is in the works. That will involve having troops ready on a standing basis, as opposed to the rotational, schedule-based model allies have had the luxury of using during the past 20 years.

The new force model, which Cavoli described as promising, is now being fleshed out with troop commitments from member states.

On top of that, a new force structure will be installed that will specify the amounts and types of equipment needed across the alliance to conduct operations, he said.

Such plans will play a role in NATO being able to reinforce eight battlegroups that have been set up along NATOs eastern flank. Other changes on the way include a more integrated air and missile defense posture in the east, Cavoli said.

The Russia-Ukraine war has shown the West that it needs to produce weaponry and munitions at a large scale, he added. In Ukraine, the Russians have expended on average well over 20,000 artillery rounds per day, Cavoli said.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainians have fielded 37 front-line brigades plus dozens more territorial brigades. For comparison, the U.S. Army has 31 regular Army brigade combat teams.

For decades, NATOs focus was on out of area operations such as the war in Afghanistan, while territorial defense fell by the wayside during a post-Cold War era that took peace in Europe as a given.

The jarring effect of Russias full-fledged invasion of Ukraine has put in motion changes almost unthinkable a year ago, such as Finlands and Swedens bids to shift from military nonalignment to NATO membership.

Regarding Swedens accession, delayed because of objections from Turkey, Cavoli said incorporating the Nordic country into allied defense plans would be easy given the quality of the countrys military.

Its good if its easy, because I think the future looks hard, Cavoli told his Swedish audience. The NATO you are planning to join is in a new world, one shaped by Russias illegal war on Ukraine.

Cavoli, an Army officer who also serves as head of the Stuttgart-based U.S. European Command, said that future means prioritizing hard power, a comment that could go against the grain of the sensibilities of some member states such as Germany.

In Berlins previous dealings with Moscow, fostering economic ties and downplaying Russias military threat was the norm in the years leading up to the 2022 invasion.

That mindset held firm for German leaders in spite of the Kremlins armed annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the assassination of a Chechen refugee in Berlin by a former colonel in Russias security services in 2019.

But soft power isnt sufficient in deterring adversaries like Russia, Cavoli said.

The great irreducible feature of warfare is hard power. And we have to be good at it, he said.

He added that in the military realm, cyber and information operations are also valuable.

But if the other guy shows up with a tank, you better have a tank, Cavoli said.
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa  The Marine Corps plans a new quick-reaction force on Okinawa to counter Chinese maritime expansion in the region and aid in defending Japans remote southwestern islands, a Japanese newspaper reported Tuesday, citing unnamed U.S. and Japanese government sources.

The new Marine littoral regiment, typically about 2,000 Marines, could be established by 2025, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Tuesday. The unit will reportedly not add to the total number of Marines on Okinawa.

Around 18,000 Marines, sailors and their families already live on Okinawa, according to the Marine Corps Installations Pacific website.

The unit, if the plan moves forward, will be the second of three proposed for the Pacific, according to Yomiuri. The first, the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, was launched in Hawaii in March.

The littoral regiments are a key tenet of Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Bergers Force Design 2030 modernization effort. They are designed to thwart long-range precision fires by moving quickly and stealthily over land and sea.

The new Okinawa-based littoral regiment is reportedly on the agenda for talks Wednesday in Washington, D.C., by the Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee, or 2+2, according to Yomiuri. The committee is composed of Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi of Japan and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The Japanese government is expected to agree to the plan, Yomiuri reported. It said Guam is reportedly being considered for the third planned littoral regiment.

The III Marine Expeditionary Force on Okinawa on Tuesday referred Stars and Stripes to the U.S. National Security Council for comment, pending the conclusion of national-level leadership meetings and associated announcements, spokesman 1st Lt. Zachary Voss said by email to Stars and Stripes. Voss said Marine Corps headquarters plans to make a statement following the meetings.

We anticipate an opportunity to provide local comment in the coming week, he said.

Japans Ministry of Defense did not respond to questions about the proposal emailed by Stars and Stripes on Tuesday.

Hirokazu Matsuno, Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary, declined to comment when asked about the Tuesday report during a press conference at the prime ministers office in Tokyo.

A spokesman from Okinawa prefectures base countermeasures department declined to comment by phone Tuesday, saying the department was not yet notified about a new Marine unit.

The Chinese military in recent years has increased its presence in the East and South China seas and stepped up exercises around Taiwan and Japans Nansei island chain, which stretches southwest from the main islands of Japan. Chinas coast guard has confronted the Japan Coast Guard in the waters claimed by Japan around the Senkaku Islands northeast of Taiwan.

In response, Tokyo has increased defense spending to record levels, placed new bases on their remote islands and dispersed surface-to-air missile batteries.
The U.S. Navy accused Iran of smuggling weapons and war supplies for at least the third time in recent months, following the seizure of more than 2,000 rifles from a fishing vessel transiting the Gulf of Oman.

A boarding crew from Navy patrol coastal ship USS Chinook intercepted the vessel carrying 2,116 AK-47 rifles on Jan. 6 along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen, Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement Tuesday.

This shipment is part of a continued pattern of destabilizing activity from Iran, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of NAVCENT and the 5th Fleet, said in the statement.

The Navy detained six Yemeni citizens, whose repatriations are in progress, the NAVCENT statement said.

The patrol coastal ship USS Monsoon and the destroyer USS The Sullivans supported the interdiction, the statement said.

Last weeks seizure comes after more than 170 tons of potentially explosive chemicals were seized on a fishing vessel in November. And last month, 50 tons of ammunition rounds, fuses and rocket propellants were captured on another vessel, 5th Fleet has said.

Analysts say Iran and the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East are locked in a cold war of armed proxy groups, covert attacks and influence peddling.

The U.S. has levied numerous sanctions on Iran in recent months, accusing Tehran of carrying out a brutal national crackdown on protests.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan accused Iran on Monday of contributing to widespread war crimes in Ukraine due to Tehrans sales of combat drones to Russia, The Associated Press reported.

The U.S. says that smuggling to militant groups has increased in recent years in the busy shipping lanes of the Middle East.

Iran has been accused of transferring rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and missiles to Houthi rebels in Yemen, despite a United Nations arms embargo.

The U.S. Navy says it hopes to build a 100-vessel fleet of unmanned surface ships, or drone boats, to patrol the waters of the Middle East by the end of summer.
HONOLULU (Tribune News Service)  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is holding two meetings next week to give the public an opportunity to weigh in and ask questions about a proposed settlement agreement with the Navy and Defense Logistics Agency that requires them to take steps to ensure the safe defueling and closure of the Red Hill underground fuel storage facility.

The agreement also requires the Navy to ensure the safe operation of its Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam drinking water system.

A town hall meeting is scheduled for the Oahu Veterans Center  Ballard Hall on Jan. 18 from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. where the EPA and military representatives plan to provide a presentation about the agreement, followed by an open mic question and answer session, according to an EPA press release.

A second open house meeting will be held at the same location on Jan. 19 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. where the public can speak directly with officials from the EPA, Navy, Joint Task Force-Red Hill, the Defense Logistics Agency and Hawaii Department of Health on various topics, such as new and existing enforcement orders related to Red Hill, defuelingand drinking water.

The public can also submit comments on the 2023 proposed consent order through Feb. 6 at this link.

The EPA, along with DOH, has regulatory authority over the Navys Red Hill fuel facility. In 2021, fuel leaks from the facility contaminated the drinking water system serving Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and surrounding neighborhoods and ultimately led to an order from the Pentagon to permanently shut down Red Hill.

The EPAs proposed agreement, called an administrative consent order, adds another layer of federal oversight of the defueling operation. However, its already been criticized by officials from the Hawaii Sierra Club and Honolulu Board of Water Supply who say it doesnt go far enough to hold the Navy accountable.

BWS, in a press release last month, said it was extremely disappointed by the agreement, which lacks details, clear timelines, strict penalties, and public transparency.

(c)2023 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Visit at www.staradvertiser.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
An Army helicopter door gunner killed in a 1971 chopper crash during the Vietnam War will be laid to rest in California next month after the Pentagon identified his remains recovered off Vietnams coast in 2021, military officials said.

Pfc. Thomas F. Greens remains were recovered in June 2021 and identified by forensic and DNA evidence in August, according to the Defense POW-MIA Accounting Agency. The Hawaii-based agency, known as DPAA, is responsible for the Pentagons worldwide efforts to locate and identify American troops missing from past conflicts.

The organizations scientists used anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence and mitochondrial DNA analysis to identify the 19-year-olds remains, DPAA said in a Jan. 6 statement.

Green will be buried Feb. 23 in his hometown of Ramona, Calif., according to the statement.

Green was a member of the 68th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, serving as a CH-47B Chinook door gunner. He was one of 10 American soldiers killed when their Chinook, which went by the call sign Warrior 143, went down over the South China Sea while flying a supply mission from Tuy Hoa to Cam Ranh Bay, both coastal areas of what was then central South Vietnam. Warrior 143 made it more than halfway to its destination before going down in bad weather near the coast off Nha Trang, according to military records.

During a search-and-rescue operation immediately following the crash, remains of four of the 10 troops killed in the crash were recovered, according to DPAA.

The U.S. military made additional attempts to recover the missing troops in 1974 and several more between 1994 and the successful mission in 2021, which recovered remains of Green and one other missing soldier from Warrior 143.

Like Green, DPAA also recovered Staff Sgt. Sanford I. Finger in 2021 and identified his remains in August, according to the organization.

Four other soldiers in the helicopter crash  Spc. 4 Mickey E. Eveland, Spc. 5 Michael Lautzenheiser, Spc. 5 Robert A. Nickol, and Warrant Officer 1 Albert R. Trudeau  remain missing, according to DPAA.

Greens name is recorded on the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the American Battle Monuments Commissions Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, alongside others who were or are missing from the Vietnam War. DPAA said a rosette will be placed next to Greens name to indicate his remains have been identified.

In the DPAA statement, the agency thanked Vietnams government for partnering with it to recover missing American service members.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., finally secured the House speakership, on the 15th ballot, after four days of negotiations and numerous concessions to the rebellious right flank of his caucus.

The process played out as an eerie echo of the internecine Republican fight over the speakership in 1923. That year, a narrow GOP majority took three days and nine rounds of voting before it coalesced around Frederick H. Gillett, R-Mass., who, like McCarthy, had been the leading GOP vote-getter throughout the process. This happened only after negotiations led by Nicholas Longworth, R-Ohio, produced an acceptable bargain on rule changes.

Comparing the two moments is useful, not so much for the many similarities they reveal, but for the differences. Unlike a century ago, the recent speaker battle exposed a weak GOP leadership and a dysfunctional caucus, alongside the decaying power of establishment politics within parties, in part thanks to how todays media encourages sensationalism and political bomb-throwing.

In particular, our political system does not reward political compromise  especially for those on the right. That makes bipartisanship and coalition-formation (within and across the aisle) especially difficult. This moment represents the culmination of a decade-long trend in which the GOP lacks a clear and effective strategy to deal with internal opposition from the fringes of its party.

As was the case last week, the GOP experienced significant fluctuations leading up to the speaker vote 100 years ago.

The party had anticipated retaining its large majority in the 1922 midterm elections. But the economy wasnt booming as Republicans had promised in 1920; and so, as they often do in midterms, voters rejected members of the party holding the White House. Despite losses, however, Republicans maintained narrowed majorities in both the House and Senate.

Then in August 1923, Warren G. Harding died, elevating Calvin Coolidge to the presidency and creating more uncertainty.

And the GOP remained split between conservatives like Coolidge and a self-proclaimed progressive wing, which in the House, wanted to modernize the chambers rules. These Republicans, such as Wisconsins Henry Allen Cooper and New Yorks Fiorello H. La Guardia, were actually to the left of most Democrats politically, and while they might not have controlled the party, they had enough clout to complicate matters for establishment Republicans like Gillett and Longworth, who emerged as the partys floor leader.

When the Republican caucus voted on its leadership on Dec. 1, 1923, as was customary then, Gillett achieved victory in one round, yet he garnered fewer than 200 votes  far short of the number the GOP would need in a couple of days when the full House voted on a speaker.

On Dec. 3, the House began voting, and members went through four rounds without making a selection  only the second time since 1856 that the contest had gone to multiple ballots. Both Finis J. Garrett, D-Tenn., the Democratic choice, and Gillett were in the 190s on each ballot. While Garrett was in the minority party, Gillett struggled to win the necessary number of votes because 15 members of his caucus cast votes for Henry Allen Cooper, who totaled 17 votes, while another candidate, Martin Madden, R-Ill., collected a handful.

John Nelson, R-Wis., a progressive who had been in the House on and off since 1906, made clear his wing of the party knew it had leverage: We have got the votes, and the House will not be organized until our demands are met. Nelson told the press that if his group could put forth modifications to House rules, then they would be willing to endorse Gillett for speaker.

They wanted to open the House up to make it easier to get votes on progressive legislation. That included better committee membership for their bloc and more ability to bring their issues up for debate. As Cooper later explained, they wanted a reasonable and fair opportunity to propose amendments, not to coerce amendments, but to have a reasonable and fair discussion of our proposals.

The insurgents didnt waver on the second day of voting. For four additional rounds, Gillett and Garrett still hovered in the 190s, while 17 votes stuck with Cooper, and Maddens name remained in the mix. Old guard Republicans were making no headway in securing the position for Gillett. Even so, he and Longworth were unwilling to relent  pushing the insurgents to fall in line.

Something, or perhaps, more accurately, someone, had to give.

So Longworth met with key insurgents and offered an agreement to enable the rules to undergo revisions. Among his concessions: reducing the number of members needed to bring bills to the floor from committees, and permitting a renegotiation of rules after the speaker election, with the final decision to be made by majority vote, not the leadership.

This was enough for the insurgents. The next day, the bulk of the progressives joined with their fellow Republicans to elect Gillett speaker. The 1923 speakership election was a critical juncture in the trajectory of the Republican Party, which would dominate politics throughout the decade.

Even so, the high-profile series of votes was seen by both parties and the press as a debacle.

That had two consequences. First, the gains made by the insurgents proved to be short-lived. In 1925, Longworth replaced Gillett as speaker, this time with a larger Republican majority.

No longer needing the roughly 20 progressive Republican rebels and recalling the pain they had inflicted, he and his allies unwound the rule concessions they had made two years earlier. They punished and stripped the remaining insurgents of committee memberships. Longworth declared, We have left the door open for their return, but until they do so, we propose to proceed according to the American system of responsible majority party government. He dictated that his House would be in order.

The negative press from the 1923 floor fight also ensured that for the ensuing century, speakership fights and negotiations have been handled outside of the spotlight in caucus. By the time the House organizes, speakership elections have been painless and without drama.

Until 2023.

As a century ago, a faction in the GOP succeeded in securing rules changes and more influence over what legislation the House passes.

But while the two battles appear similar at first blush, there are crucial differences that reflect changes in American politics and which make retribution far less likely for the 2023 rebels.

In 1923, the dissident faction was the most moderate wing of the party. Today, it is the most extreme.

And the fractious fight  which even included one Republican being restrained after lunging at another  reflects a weak GOP and the weakening of establishment politics more broadly. The old gatekeepers, norms and agenda-setting practices are mostly gone, particularly on the right.

Primaries are open, funding is crowdsourced and precisely gerrymandered districts are safe, dramatically reducing the influence of parties and insiders. The political media ecosystem also rewards sensationalism, sound bites and viral moments. Today, Fox News appearances and viral owning the libs  or even insufficiently hardcore party leaders  moments often can make right-wing politicians.

That benefits the extremes over the center, but it also undercuts centralization, organization and strategy (e.g., the GOPs candidate quality problem in 2022). And it creates incentives that parties, despite all their funds and infrastructure, simply cannot match.

Far-right members like Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.  who both eventually relented enough to vote present in the speaker fight  are virtually immune from retribution by party leaders. They actively delight in thwarting the orders and organizational efforts of figures like McCarthy, which boosts their anti-establishment and anti-swamp credibility and furthers their brands. This reality encouraged them to dig in and resist longer than the rebels did in 1923.

Such incentive structures also explain why the concessions gained by the conservative dissidents from McCarthy all aim to constrain his power and ability to negotiate bipartisan deals  and why no deal was reached within the House GOP before the chamber started voting this week: compromise is a dirty word in Republican politics. Its also why the GOP rebels insisted on a rule change to enable one member to trigger a vote to depose McCarthy, giving them leverage over everything he does.

In this political world, it would be difficult for the Republican leadership to punish its rebellious faction in meaningful ways, as Longworth did in 1925. Instead, they probably will continue to bedevil party leaders moving forward, because in many ways, they hold all of the cards.

Christopher McKnight Nichols is professor of history and Woody Hayes Chair in national security studies at The Ohio State University. He is author of Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of a Global Age and editor and author of Rethinking American Grand Strategy and Ideology in U.S. Foreign Relations: New Histories. Maxine Wagenhoffer is a doctoral candidate in modern U.S. History at The Ohio State University. Her dissertation focuses on the intersections of gender, politics and American celebrity culture through the lens of Alice Roosevelt Longworth.
TOKYO  For the first time in two decades, the U.S. Army has a recruiting station on the most populous of Japans four main islands.

Not to sign up prospective recruits from the local population, but to help U.S. service members, their dependents and civilians employed by the Department of Defense looking for a change of scene.

In March at Camp Zama, Sgt. 1st Class Jason Blowers, 38, became the only Army recruiter working on Honshu, the main island of Japan and the site of several U.S. military bases in the country, including Yokota Air Base, the headquarters of U.S. Forces Japan, and Yokosuka Naval Base, the homeport for the U.S. 7th Fleet. Camp Zama is headquarters for U.S. Army Japan.

I cover all of Honshu, Blowers told Stars and Stripes at Yokota on Jan. 5.

In addition to the naval and air bases, he visits Misawa Air Base, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and Sasebo Naval Base farther south on Kyushu Island, on a quarterly basis.

The decision to reopen a recruiting office at Zama stemmed from increasing interest in the Army among service members and DOD civilians living on Honshu, Blowers said.

Historical data shows that there was this massive drop off, and its starting to climb again, he said. I know its not even just for the Army, honestly, its for all branches.

While military recruiters in Japan may have less trouble finding applicants, the same cant be said everywhere else. Every military branch had trouble meeting their recruiting goals last year, according to The Associated Press on Oct. 1.

Overall, service branches are struggling to find physically capable applicants with the desire to enlist, the AP reported. Enlistments were down about 15% compared to previous years for all branches, even though all but the Army met their recruitment goals. The Army fell short by about 25%, or 15,000, according to the report.

Blowers began his recruiting operations in March before he even had an office assigned to him. He said he took to local gyms to conduct the necessary physical fitness assessments and coordinated with hospitals on other bases to get applicants the medical exams they needed to complete the enlistment process.

Blowers also helps service members from other branches switch to the Army. As many as eight service members per month from the other branches contact him about Army careers.

Air Force Tech Sgt. Adam Wilks, 32, the unit training manager at Yokotas 374th Communications Squadron, is looking to become a commissioned officer in the Army.

I want to serve in a better capacity and be more meaningful and impactful, he said. Air Force [officer trainees], their boards have either been canceled or have low selection rates. So, I thought, which branch is closest to the Air Force, and its the Army.

For the past 20 years, recruiters based on Okinawa were responsible for all recruitment efforts in Japan. When applicants on Honshu contacted their offices to start the enlistment process, the recruiter had to fly to Honshu for the appointment and to start the necessary paperwork. Then the applicant would have to travel to Okinawa to complete tests and physical examinations.

Financially speaking, that process was not very fun, and it was very time consuming, Blowers said.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan  Taliban hard-liners are consolidating their control over Afghanistan with the recent bans on womens education and work, overriding the wishes of some Taliban officials in the capital, Kabul, and at the provincial level, according to government and aid officials.

The Talibans supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, and his fellow ultraconservatives based in Afghanistans second city of Kandahar are cracking down on social freedoms as their movement transitions from primarily waging an insurgency to governing a large, diverse country.

The draconian restrictions issued by Akhundzada last month, banning women from attending universities and from working for international organizations, demonstrated that real authority continues to reside in Kandahar rather than in Kabul, home to Taliban ministries and the groups acting prime minister.

This is [the supreme leader] taking more control over national policy and how his directives are followed in Kabul and elsewhere, said an aid official in Kabul with direct knowledge of negotiations within Taliban leadership. The official, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss ongoing negotiations or internal policy disagreements.

Akhundzada, an ultraconservative Muslim cleric, has led the Taliban since 2016, rarely appearing in public but increasingly meeting in private with local religious officials. Despite having appointed Taliban ministers and governors after the collapse of Afghanistans previous government in 2021, Akhundzada retains the final say on all major national policy decisions.

At first, we were just sent guidelines from the supreme leader for formulating policy, said one Taliban official in Kabul at the ministry level. Now for anything important, we need to get Kandahars approval, he said.

In other cases, rulings come directly from Kandahar without consultation with Kabul, though the decisions are formally announced by government ministries, he said.

Not everyone agrees with the recent rulings, the official said, referring to Taliban members in Kabul and at the provincial level. But Kandahar is demanding more oversight of policy, and ministers who lack a direct line to Kandahar are increasingly sidelined, he said. Two other Taliban officials confirmed his description of the recent shifts in the groups policymaking.

The acting education minister was ousted in September after Akhundzada replaced him with the head of Kandahars provincial council as part of a wider reshuffle. The reshuffle also saw Taliban members from the supreme leaders inner circle appointed to senior political and security positions at the provincial level.

Qari Muhammad Yousef Ahmadi, a deputy Taliban spokesman, denied any shift in the groups policymaking or implementation.

The leaders, ministers and members of the cabinet of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan make policies under the guidance of the supreme leader, and his guidance is entirely based on Islamic law, Ahmadi said.

The recent rulings appeal to many members of the Talibans base, but they also threaten to expose critical divisions within the movement and test its ability to maintain unity.

For years, while at war with U.S. and NATO forces, the Taliban maintained a degree of diversity within its network of alliances. The movements more conservative wing is largely dominant in Afghanistans mostly rural Pashtun south, but commanders in the east and north were granted some autonomy in how they carried out the Talibans strict interpretation of Islamic law. In some districts under Taliban control, for instance, women were allowed to travel to nearby cities to attend university.

With the war over, its unclear whether the group is prepared to allow a similar level of autonomy within its leadership. While some cabinet members in Kabul and Taliban leaders at the provincial level disagree with the recent restrictions on the rights of women, these figures have not publicly voiced their dissent, fearing it would be interpreted as an affront to Islamic rule and undermine national unity, according to two Taliban officials in Kabul.

Some Taliban officials have suggested that rulings restricting womens education and ability to work are temporary and could be adjusted once stricter gender segregation is introduced and if conservative dress is observed. But other officials have come out in strong support of the decrees.

The acting minister of higher education, speaking on Afghan television, accused women in universities of failing to observe a strict Islamic dress code and instead wearing clothing women wear to go to a wedding. And a Taliban spokesman in Qatar said that Afghan women do not need to work and that if the international community wants to help women, they should deliver it to their husbands who will share with their wives.

The restrictions have also sparked fierce international criticism and warnings from aid groups that any reduction in the level of humanitarian assistance could leave millions without the ability to feed their families.

A part of the Taliban leadership appears either not to comprehend the chilling consequences of these latest decisions or they are indifferent to the suffering of millions of ordinary Afghans, said Markus Potzel, acting head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. Potzel did not specify what part of Taliban leadership he was referring to but warned that some Taliban leaders also appear prepared to take the country further into isolation away from the community of nations.

Since taking control of Afghanistan, the Taliban have steadily cracked down on womens rights. The majority of female government employees were immediately banned from coming to work in 2021.

In March, a surprise last-minute ruling banned girls from secondary school education. In May, an order heavily restricted how women dress in public, and in November women were banned from public parks and gyms.

Despite many of the bans triggering global outrage and protests across Afghanistan, senior Taliban leadership has so far refused to overturn any of the decisions, defending them as internal issues that should free of outside interference.

Ahmadi, the deputy Taliban spokesman, said that the rulings are necessary for the Taliban to establish nationwide Islamic law and that the international communitys responsibility is to continue to help the Afghan people.

During the first months of Taliban rule, security was the groups primary concern amid fears of a resurgence by the Islamic State group and a simmering resistance movement in the northeastern province of Panjshir. Now, more than a year later, Ahmadi said the group is also focusing on development and social issues. These are the needs of the people, and they have expectations from us, he said.

The Washington Posts Haq Nawaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
Gigantic cats using hydropower dams as scratching posts are just some of the pawed pinups in a 2023 calendar released by Pacific Northwest-based U.S. military personnel.

The photoshopped felines are part of an effort by the Portland, Ore., branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to portray their work in an entertaining light.

Staffers at the Portland office, which handles civil works in Oregon and southwestern Washington, placed the big cats into landscape photos of some of their most notable projects.

Februarys cats play with a crane, Augusts cats scream at excavators and Novembers prowl near a fish ladder.

Engineering isnt always exciting, so the district tries to have a fun social media presence, public affairs specialist Chris Gaylord told NBCs Today.com on Monday.

I will use levity whenever I can; thats what people enjoy, Gaylord said. Thats not us dumbing things down. Thats us respecting and not taking for granted the attention of our publics.

Gaylord added that he plans to add dogs to the mix in the spring.

The cat calendars are free to download as a PDF that can be printed out here.

More cats roam around Portland-area dams in photos in the districts Twitter feed and on its Facebook page, which often feature gifs referencing pop culture.

The Portland district is one of 38 in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has approximately 37,000 personnel, most of them civilians, according to its website.

The agency operates more than 700 dams and 12,000 miles of inland waterways, a 2022 report by the Congressional Research Service said.
WASHINGTON  Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama was named chairman of the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, days after being involved in a near scuffle on the House floor.

Rogers replaces Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., in the panels top spot after Republicans took control of the House last week. He drew attention Friday for angrily approaching fellow committee member Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., during a tense vote for House speaker before Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., pulled him back.

Rogers apologized for the incident Sunday and said Tuesday that he planned to leave no stone unturned in holding the Biden administration accountable on military matters. The Armed Services committee oversees the Pentagon and plays a leading role in shaping priorities and spending targets for the military.

The committee will hold the Biden administration accountable for misguided policies that distract from the core mission of the Department of Defense. Initiatives that service a social agenda but dont advance our national security will be scrutinized, Rogers said in a statement. Those in charge of these initiatives will come before the committee to explain how they will protect our national security.

The rescinded coronavirus vaccine mandate for troops is among those initiatives. Rogers vowed last month to determine who was adversely affected by the requirement and make them whole. He also led a Republican effort in December to pursue Defense Department records on gender identity.

Rogers on Tuesday also promised to focus on equipping the military with the resources and weapons necessary to meet challenges from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.

In order to deter these threats and remain the most feared force in the world  we must ensure that our military focuses on lethality and capability, he said.

He was at the forefront of a Republican push last year to increase the defense budget requested by the White House, harshly criticizing President Joe Bidens proposed military spending plan for leaving America weakened and vulnerable.

Rogers admonished hard-line Republican members who forced the House into 15 rounds of voting for House speaker last week and dismissed reports that defense spending could be cut to meet their demands. He told Politico that he was not worried about a purported deal between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and the Republican partys conservative faction affecting the military.

Rogers was elected to the House in 2002 and served as the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee from 2020 to 2022. He was instrumental to the creation of the Space Force as chairman of the panel's Strategic Forces subcommittee in 2019. Rogers is the first congressman from Alabama to be selected chairman of the full Armed Services committee.
The organization founded by actor and Marine veteran Adam Driver to involve U.S. service members in the theater is dissolving on Feb. 1, the organization announced Monday.

Driver, known for playing Kylo Ren in the recent Star Wars films and twice nominated for an Academy Award, cofounded Arts in the Armed Forces with his wife, actor Joanne Tucker, in 2006 to bring artistic experiences in film and theater to service members and U.S. military bases.

AITAF involved professional artists and contemporary American content, according to its mission statement.

Unfortunately, given a number of circumstances facing the organization heading into 2023, after a strategic review, the Board has made the incredibly difficult decision to dissolve the organization in its current operating structure, effective February 1, the charity announced in a news release from its office in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The organization provided grants for playwrights with military service, brought high-quality theater productions to military bases and connected service members and veterans with an artistic bent with the theater community, according to a November 2017 report by The New York Times.

Were reaching out to cadets, current servicemen and women, veterans and providing a space where they can tap into their inner scribe, Driver told the Times. The military has acronyms for acronyms that can explain everything, but when it comes to explaining an experience, a post-traumatic experience, theres not a lot of opportunities.

That year, AITAF brought a production of Jesus Hopped The A Train to a community center at Yokota Air Base, the Air Forces airlift hub in western Tokyo, for two nights in March, according to the 374th Airlift Wing.

This was the first play I saw that moved me, AITAF actress Samantha Soule told the wing for its report. Before I saw this I used to think plays were only like Shakespeare. Im so grateful for the chance to bring this to military members overseas.

The organizations board will look for ways to continue some AITAF programs, according to the release.

We have produced impactful artistic experiences on 26 military bases in 7 countries, and awarded $50,000 to veteran playwrights and screenwriters through the Bridge Awards, the release states.

AITAF served more than 18,000 members of our military community over its 14 years, according to a tweet by the organization Monday.

An email message to the organizations public relations representative seeking further information late Monday was not immediately returned.
Mr Spenneberg was arrested this week after he flew to Ireland and turned up at the doctors family home in Cork looking for her

AN American actor accused of stalking an Irish doctor was romantically obsessed with her since they had a brief summer relationship two decades earlier, a court heard.

Steven Spenneberg (54) had met the woman while she was on a J1 student visa in the US and in the years after, went to disturbing lengths to try to contact her by phone, e-mail and on social media platforms, gardai said.

Mr Spenneberg was arrested this week after he flew to Ireland and turned up at the doctors family home in Cork looking for her. Judge David McHugh refused him bail at Dublin District Court after hearing the victim felt "violated," her career had been affected and she now feared for her personal safety.

Mr Spenneberg, of Oakshire Drive, Los Angeles, California is charged with harassing the woman between May, 2020 and January 3, 2023.

Garda Shauna Ferncombe of Donnybrook station said the accused made no reply when charged.

Objecting to bail, the garda said the complainant met Mr Spenneberg while on a J1 in San Diego in 2004 when she was 21 and he was 35.

They had a three-week relationship before she returned home to go to college but Mr Spenneberg maintained constant unwanted contact, the garda said.

He sent presents to her home and constantly contacted her by phone and email, declaring his love for her, but she never replied to his requests to contact him.

He tried to contact her on MySpace, Bebo, Facebook and Instagram but she blocked him on all platforms and had to delete her social media accounts.

She reported the online harassment to the gardai in 2012.

When she took up a position with a clinic, her information was published online without her knowledge and the accused began sending her faxes.

He was going to disturbing lengths to try to contact her, Gda Ferncombe said.

The complainant told the gardai she felt violated, embarrassed, exposed and threatened.

He sent her a mail with the subject explanation from me in which he spoke of his love for her and fantasised about living with her in the future, the court heard.

The doctor told gardai of her sadness and frustration that she could not have an online presence for fear he would contact her.

She felt she could not publish medical research, which caused her a great deal of distress and affected her career.

After she received emails from him in 2020, Gardai contacted Mr Spenneberg and asked him to stop. It was alleged he left her a threatening voice message for her, saying he lost his f**king job and I cant live here any more Im f**king tired of this game.

He said he was desperate, and desperate people do desperate things, Gda Ferncombe said.

The persistent contact escalated to the extent that the accused flew to Shannon airport and went straight to the doctors home town to find her, the garda continued.

He showed up at a family business where he spoke to the womans mother. The mother was aware her daughter was having unwanted contact from an American man so she followed Mr Spenneberg out to find out who he was.

She told him a lot of American tourists went on the Wild Atlantic Way and the accused did this for a number of days. However, he found out the complainant was in Dublin and came to the city.

You brought me closer to (her), the accused told gardai after his arrest.

Gardai are concerned that he will go to extreme lengths to contact her, he has a romanticised fascination with her, Gda Ferncombe said. The woman had made it clear she did not want any contact with Mr Spenneberg, who was a stranger to her after 20 years.

The garda believed if bailed, Mr Spenneberg was a flight risk and would return to the US and interfere with and intimidate the alleged victim.

Applying for bail, defence solicitor Brian Keenan said there was no suggestion of any physical harm and it was mostly that the accused was obsessed with the woman.

He was desperately lonely and failed to realise that the contact was unwanted, Mr Keenan said.

The court heard in interview, Mr Spenneberg said he had noble intentions and was not a threat to the woman. Mr Keenan said if bailed the accused would have no contact with the woman and surrender his passport.

The alleged victim became emotional as she gave evidence from behind black screens, out of view from the accused.

Its been horrific actually, its altered the course of my life, she told the court.

Theres a certain amount of shame and disgust attached to the whole thing, she said.

Professionally she needed an online presence but when you try to post something or go live, I know theres always someone watching, she said. Its a constant, pervasive, sickening feeling.

I dont know this man and I dont know what hes capable of but I believe he poses a threat to my personal safety, she said.

She had not felt safe for the last week, had only left her house to go to work and upgraded her home security.

Mr Spenneberg, originally from Kentucky, was not working but had worked in the past as an actor and in radio, Mr Keenan said.

He said it was quite a sad case and the impact on the complainant was obvious but any garda concerns could be met by bail conditions.

Mr Spenneberg was a desperate, lonely individual who clearly failed to realise his contact was unwanted, Mr Keenan said.

Judge McHugh refused bail and remanded the accused in custody to appear in Cloverhill District Court on Friday.
Chief Superintendent Emma Bond was awarded an MBE in 2019 for her services to policing.

A former senior PSNI officer is taking an industrial tribunal case against the organisation.

Emma Bond was appointed PSNI District Commander for the Derry and Strabane region in January 2020.

She was the first woman to hold the position and at the time of her appointment said she was conscious of being a role model for other women within the PSNI.

Prior to leading the police team in Derry and Strabane, Chief Superintendent Bond held senior command team roles in the Belfast, Antrim and Newtownabbey districts and was also in charge of the Innovation and Change Branch within the PSNI.

She also played a key role in establishing the PSNIs Women in Policing Association.

Chief Superintendent Bond was awarded an MBE in 2019 for her services to policing.

However, she was replaced as district commander for Derry and Strabane in October 2020.

At the time, the PSNI said Chief Superintendent Bond had been moved to a new post in the organisations operational support unit.

Ms Bond later left the PSNI to join the police in Scotland.

She was appointed as an assistant chief constable with Police Scotland in January 2022.

She has now taken an industrial tribunal case against the PSNI.

A preliminary hearing in connection with the tribunal was scheduled to take place in Belfast today.

The media and members of the public were not allowed to attend the hearing.
When arrested, Kathrina Wynne said: Sorry, its not me, its the addiction

A crack cocaine user arrested for shoplifting candles told the arresting garda: Its not me, its the addiction.

Mother-of-two Kathrina Wynne (42) was on a crack binge when she took the five candles, Dublin District Court heard. Judge Bryan Smyth fined her 200.

Wynne, of Thomas Court, Thomas Street, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty to theft.

Garda Barry Leyden said he was called to Arnotts in the north city centre on February 26. The accused had been detained by security after taking candles worth 125 and putting them in her bag before leaving with no attempt to pay.

When arrested, Wynne said she was addicted to crack. She told the garda: Sorry, its not me, its the addiction.

Wynne had previous theft convictions. She had a history of drug addiction and her poison would have been crack cocaine, her lawyer said. She had been clean but relapsed after family bereavements.

She was severely addicted at the time, he said.

When caught stealing, she handled herself in the best manner that she could have.

Wynne was now on methadone and while she had a bad background, there was some hope and light at the end of the tunnel, her lawyer added.
Mr Burke has turned up at the Westmeath boarding school, in defiance of a court order, each morning since the it reopened last Thursday

Wilsons Hospital School is to seek the sequestration of Enoch Burkes assets over his continued defiance of court orders restraining him from attending for work.

The move was signalled to the High Court this morning, where the school was granted permission for short service of the application on the schoolteacher.

Mr Burke has turned up at the premises of the Co Westmeath boarding school, in defiance of a court order, each morning since the it reopened last Thursday following the Christmas holidays.

The history and German teacher, who is an evangelical Christian, has been suspended on full pay since August after clashing with school management over a request that teachers call a transgender child they instead of he.

But after he continued to show up for work in August and September, the school secured a temporary order restraining him from doing so, which he then breached, leading to his incarceration for 108 days for contempt of court.

Despite not purging his contempt, a judge finally ordered his release from Mountjoy Prison on December 21 after finding the teacher was exploiting his imprisonment for his own ends.

Rosemary Mallon BL, for the Co Westmeath schools board of management, told the court today Mr Burke had been breaching the order since last Thursday and was again at the school this morning.

She said the school was not seeking Mr Burkes arrest, as he is already scheduled to appear in court tomorrow. It is also not seeking to have him imprisoned again for contempt.

However, the barrister said it would be seeking the sequestration of his assets.

This is an enforcement process available against property owned by a person who is in contempt of court.

If the school is successful, it would hold possession of Mr Burkes assets until the court orders what is to be done with them.

The process is designed to compel compliance with a court order and, in theory, sequestered assets can be sold if their owner continues to breach an order.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt granted permission for short service of the application, which will allow the school to personally serve Mr Burke on its premises today or by email if that is unsuccessful.

The matter will return to the High Court tomorrow, when it will be dealt with along with a previous scheduled application by Mr Burke in which he is seeking to stop the school from proceeding with a disciplinary meeting on January 19.

It seems to make perfect sense for all matters arising from this saga to be dealt with at the same time, said Mr Justice Hunt.

Ms Mallon said the school was seeking the sequestration of Mr Burkes assets until January 19. She said the schools application could be heard after Mr Burkes application has been dealt with.

Since last Thursday, Mr Burke has been arriving at the Multyfarnham school shortly after 8.30am and leaving again just before 4pm.

Last Friday, Mr Burke said he was being confined to a corridor while on the premises.

He has sought to justify his defiance of the court order, repeatedly stating his opposition to transgenderism and claiming that complying would be in violation of his religious beliefs.

I came to school this morning to teach and I was standing in the corridor for the day. I have not done anything wrong. I am simply awaiting reinstatement in my classroom, he told reporters last Friday.

Mr Burke said he had a right to his religious beliefs.

The school has assured parents that classes and school activities are ongoing as normal.

Gardai were aware of his presence at the school, but the force did not intervene as the matter related to the breach of a civil order.

Mr Burke has been teaching at the school for four years.

But following a request from then principal Niamh McShane last may in respect of pronouns to be used in connection with a transgender pupil, Mr Burke was involved in a number of public flashpoint incidents.

The High Court has previously heard these included his interruption of a church service and his questioning of Ms McShane at a subsequent dinner. It was alleged that at a dinner after the service, Mr Burke questioned Ms McShane loudly about the matter and that other people had to stand between them to prevent the continuation of his questioning.

In a ruling releasing Mr Burke last month, Mr Justice Brian OMoore warned that the only threat to teachers freedom would be if he again breaches any order of the court.

He said that if the teacher again breached orders, the school could come back to court to seek his attachment and committal, the sequestration of his assets, or any other appropriate measure.

Mr Justice OMoore also said that complying with the orders would not in any way compromise or require Mr Burke to do anything in breach of his religious beliefs.

He said the orders did not oblige Mr Burke to address anyone in a particular way. They simply prohibited him from entering the school's premises or interfering with the schools educational activities.
Robert Elliott (28) pleaded guilty to two counts of murder for hire, witness tampering, illegally possessing a firearm, and producing child sex abuse material

A man who told his mother to hire a Hells Angel to kill a girl and her mother after being charged with making child sex abuse images of the teenager has been jailed for 43 years in the United States.

Robert Elliott (28) had been so desperate to have the two killed, he then offered other inmates in prison $5,000 to have the murders carried out.

He eventually made contact with a cartel hitman, offering him a motorbike and weapons for the hit, but in fact had been talking to an undercover federal agent.

Elliott pleaded guilty to two counts of murder for hire, witness tampering, illegally possessing a firearm, and producing and distributing child sexual abuse material.

Elliott met the victim in 2017 when she was 16 years old, according to an FBI statement.

He was later charged with domestic violence against the girl and was barred from having contact with the victim, but later tried to give her heroin.

Elliott was then charged with dealing drugs and police found he had produced and distributed child sex abuse material of the girl through Facebook.

While in jail on those charges, Elliott called his mother and told her to hire a member of the Hells Angels to kill or injure the girl so she couldnt testify against him.

Even though Elliotts mother paid $500 to a Hells Angel, the calls and texts between Elliott and his mother were intercepted by police and the plan failed.

He then tried to hire inmates in the Shelby County Jail in Indiana, offering them $5,000, who instead tipped off the authorities.

While in another jail in 2019 he used letters, calls and texts to hire a person he believed to be the cartel hitman to kill the girl and her mother.

Elliott is accused of offering the hitman heavy duty equipment, a motorcycle, and military-grade weapons, including shoulder-launched multipurpose assault weapons and M203 grenade launchers for the murders.

Elliott conspired with his grandfather to provide the items to the hitman  who was actually an undercover federal agent.

Federal agents executed a search warrant at Elliotts grandfathers home and recovered a motorcycle and at least twenty firearms, including several assault rifles, and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Elliott had agreed to provide the guns, motorcycle, and ammunition the hitman in exchange for killing federal and state witnesses.

His physical abuse and sexual exploitation of a child were compounded by his relentless attempts to have the victim and her mother murdered, said Zachary A. Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana.

FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Herbert J. Stapleton said: This defendants abuse of a minor victim was beyond despicable.

He physically and sexually assaulted her, sought to provide her with dangerous narcotics, and had no qualms about killing the minor victim and others in a desperate and twisted attempt to get away with it.
He claimed she fell into the water while on deck to check mooring ropes, and that he tried to save her.

A man jailed for murdering his wife on a family boating trip has cleared the first stage in a legal bid to have the conviction overturned.

Stephen McKinney, 46, was granted leave to appeal his conviction for killing Lu Na McKinney during a holiday on Lough Erne, Co Fermanagh in April 2017.

Northern Irelands Lady Chief Justice, Dame Siobhan Keegan, listed the challenge for full hearing in June.

McKinney is currently serving a minimum 20 years in prison for murder.

The body of his 35-year-old wife was recovered from the water near a jetty at Devenish Island, where the couple were moored on a cruise with their two young children.

Lu Na McKinney

McKinney, originally from Fintona in Co Tyrone, has always denied the killing.

He claimed she fell into the water while on deck to check mooring ropes, and that he tried to save her.

But in 2021 a jury at Dungannon Crown Court found him guilty of her murder after accepting the prosecution case that it was no boating accident.

The defendant instructed a new legal team in an attempt to have that verdict declared unsafe.

McKinney has now instructed a new legal team to apply for leave to contest the conviction.

Read more Teen son of Lough Erne murder victim Lu Na and wife killer Stephen McKinney dies

Man to serve at least 20 years for heinous murder of wife Lu Na McKinney

Barristers Brian McCartney KC and Damien Halleron advanced a series of grounds aimed at securing a full hearing.

At the Court of Appeal today it emerged that leave to contest the jury finding has been obtained, based on a preliminary judicial assessment of the points raised.

In a separate move, McKinney is also appealing the 20-year sentence imposed on him.

With some trial transcripts still being sought as part of the legal challenge, Dame Siobhan issued a provisional timetable for hearing the appeal.

She confirmed: I will list it for two days in June.
Patrick OLeary (44) was threatening to fight this person, was highly intoxicated and became abusive to gardai and the relative.

A topless man was arrested when he got into a drunken row with a family member after his grandmothers funeral.

Patrick OLeary (44) hurled abuse at gardai who found him acting in a threatening manner on the street. Judge Bryan Smyth fined him 250 when he admitted public order offences in the incident.

OLeary, of Bellgree Drive, Tyrrelstown, west Dublin, pleaded guilty to public intoxication and threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour.

Dublin District Court heard the incident happened at Dorset Street Upper on December 10 last year.

Garda Christopher Galvin said he was on patrol when he saw the accused topless and acting in a threatening manner to a family member.

OLeary was threatening to fight this person, was highly intoxicated and became abusive to gardai and the relative.

He was slurring his words and was arrested.

OLeary had previous convictions for public order offences.

The accused had explained there was a dispute with an in-law and he apologised, his solicitor Donal Quigley told the court.

OLeary had been drinking at his grandmothers funeral before the incident happened. There was no actual fight, Mr Quigley said.

OLeary was on disability benefit and was due to have a heart operation later in the year and shouldnt be drinking, the court heard.

He had been out of trouble and had not been drinking for a number of years apart from this blip, Mr Quigley said.
Residents and tourists in Jilin city, Jilin province, welcomed their first rime ice of the new year recently. [Photo by Dong Yuxin/For chinadaily.com.cn]



Residents and tourists in Jilin city, Jilin province, enjoyed their first rime ice views of the new year recently.

On Wednesday, all the trees along the Ashi River Rime Landscape Zone and Binjiang South Road in the city were covered by ice, inducing residents to take out their phones for a quick, frosty snap.

Rime is a special type of frost resembling granular tufts of ice. It only appears under certain conditions of temperature and humidity. Warm water vapor from a river meets cold air above, which creates the beautiful rime formation on nearby trees.

The city's rime ice is known as one of the four meteorological wonders of China and is unique because it is thick and crystal clear.

Residents and tourists in Jilin city, Jilin province, welcomed their first rime ice of the new year recently. [Photo by Dong Yuxin/For chinadaily.com.cn]








Grower who gave black oil to seriously ill customers at cost price and for free calls for change to law

A SHEEP farmer who grew cannabis plants to make black oil  sold at cost to the seriously ill  has been forced to quit after receiving a suspended jail sentence for his crime.

Speaking at his farm in rural south Wexford this week, James Sinnott warned that laws in Ireland banning the ethical production of cannabis oils are driving desperately ill patients into the arms of unscrupulous criminals.

And he told how one such criminal  who was supposedly supplying cannabis oil to desperately ill people  was charging three times the correct price while handing over a mixture containing toothpaste spiked with LSD.

I have helped hundreds of people over the years, James told the Sunday World.

I was the main supplier in the south east. At one stage, I was the only supplier in the south east.

And, over 10 years, I never made one penny out of it.

The way I looked at it  if I made money out of it, Id be bringing nothing but bad luck on myself.

I charged 250 for 22 millilitre vials. And that is the minimum I could make it for  allowing for a 50 margin on each vial so I could produce more for people who couldnt afford it.

James Sinnott talks to our man Patrick OConnell

Thats what the 50 went to  giving the oil for free to people who couldnt afford it.

When he appeared before Wexford Circuit Court last month, charged with three counts of possession of cannabis, James lawyers handed in a series of testimonials, including a number from individuals who felt that the oil had assisted them in dealing with conditions such as multiple sclerosis.

We helped people with Crohns disease, MS, cancer, people with brain tumours, James continued.

And usually one vial was enough for people. Now, with this conviction and the publicity, I cant do this anymore.

And the thing that bothers is that there are con artists out there who will fill the void and sick people will go to them.

There some very unscrupulous foreigners out there who were selling it for 600 a vial and it was nothing but toothpaste with LSD inside in it.

But, if youre dying, youre going to be desperate.

So, youre going to pay that.

Asked how he had become involved in the production of cannabis oil at his Discovery Valley farm, James said his father was ill with cancer when he was involved in a serious accident 10 years ago.

I died in a motorcycle accident, he said. I was dead for 17- and-a-half minutes.

And soon after, when I came back to life, I looked at things differently.

My father developed prostate cancer at that time and he had cancer in the head.

He had three forms of cancer and had a triple bypass but he died of fibrosis of the lungs in the end.

A man who we were getting the oil off for my father moved to Cork and, after that, there was nobody to get it off anymore.

But we had to keep the oil running for my father.

So thats when we started producing it ourselves.

A vial of cannabis   ?? `??_/O?? ?? ??,

As well as supplying the oil, James said he gave some of his customers plants and taught them how to make it themselves.

I believed as many people as possible should know how to do this, he said.

The crop, James said, he grew at his farm was a strain known as Ruderalis.

The stuff we grew wouldnt have been fit for use on the street, he said, and we used every part of the plant in the oil  even the roots.

James said he was aware that what he was doing was illegal and he bears no ill feeling towards the guards or the court for shutting him down.

I have the height of respect for the judge and the guards, he said. Theyre applying the law as it stands in the best way they can.

But thats why the law needs to be changed.

Cannabis oil should be supplied to people in this country like it is in other jurisdictions without seriously ill people having to go through hell to get it.

Even if it doesnt work for everyone, and Im not saying it does, at least give people the chance to try it for themselves.

According to the Garda website: It is an offence to cultivate, import, export, produce, supply and possess cannabis except in accordance with a Ministerial Licence.

Policy to date has not permitted the cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes and no licences have been issued for this activity.

James activities were brought to the attention of the authorities in 2018 and three searches of his farm took place over the next 24 months.

Investigators put a street value on the material they seized during the three searches at a total of 35,000.

But, Judge Martin Nolan heard, it became clear to gardai that they were not dealing with a drug dealer in the usual sense of the phrase.

James consistently informed them that the oil was intended for use in the treatment of illness. It was also accepted by the gardai that James had eventually, after the three raids on his premises, stopped growing his unconventional crop.

Imposing the suspended two-year jail term, Judge Nolan described James belief that he could break the law in order to help people as misguided.

The court accepted on the other hand that, in providing cannabis oil to needy people, he was not making a profit.

Suspending the jail terms for a period of four years on condition James is of good behaviour for that time, the judge urged him to go home and concentrate on his lambing.

To me, when I was in court, facing five to seven years, it meant nothing to me compared to all the years we have given back to people while we were doing this, said James.

I was like G Conlon from In the Name of the Father when I walked out of court that day.

Everyone who was there said I shouldnt have been in court and they were all cheering me and clapping me on the back.

At the end of the day, theres right and theres wrong  and I honestly believe, if you understand the difference between the two, youre in no danger of doing wrong even if you do fall foul of the law.
James McArdle was picked up in Cairns on Saturday after Victoria Police issued an arrest warrant last month

A 29-year-old Irishman who had been wanted by Australian police after a series of alleged arson incidents in Melbourne has been arrested and charged.

James McArdle was picked up in Cairns on Saturday after Victoria Police issued an arrest warrant last month.

Investigators will apply for his extradition to Melbourne where he is expected to face 17 charges including seven counts of arson, unlawful assault and commit indictable offence while on bail.

McArdle will be interviewed in relation to seven further fires.

In just one of a number of offences committed last month, a man poured spirits onto a bag of aerosol cans at the entrance to a business on Mercantile Place in Melbourne at about 6.30pm on December 22.

Police had released video footage of the incident in which the suspect can be seen running from the scene.

During a press conference held before McArdles arrest, Detective Senior Constable Mallory Bubb described the suspects behaviour as very reckless and dangerous.

For example, one yesterday was in the rear of a business; had anyone exited the business at that time the aerosol container that was lit on fire could have possibly been destructive to further persons or property there.

Last month, police issued a warrant for the arrest of McArdle who is described as 180cm tall, of medium build, with brown hair. He also speaks with an Irish accent.

He has a number of tattoos, including one on his left arm which reads: Only the strong survive.

Police appealed to the public for help in locating McArdle (29) who is known to frequent Melbourne CBD and St Kilda.
Riga, who later reported the situation to police, recalled finding Thompson unconscious and unresponsive on the floor

A teacher at a New Jersey middle school has been arrested after police say he overdosed on fentanyl in front of his pupils.

Frank Thompson (57) was charged on Thursday with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and endangering the welfare of children at Roosevelt Intermediate School in Westfield.

The incident happened on November 29, when another staff member reported an unconscious teacinside a classroom on the second floor of the building, according to the Westfield Police Department.

Westfield Police Chief Christopher Battiloro said Mr Thompson was initially "observed in distress" by students before an administrator called the school resource officer, Fortunato Riga, to the classroom.

Riga, who later reported the situation to police, recalled finding Thompson "unconscious and unresponsive" on the floor, with the school nurse treating him.

Riga then administered naloxone hydrochloride, also known as Narcan, because he believed the teacher was suffering from an overdose, Fox News reported.

After he was given the medication, Thompson began "showing marked signs of improvement," police said.

Thompson teaches 6th and 7th grade visual art and 8th grade arts and crafts, according to his teaching page on the Roosevelt Intermediate School website.

During a police investigation authorities say they discovered "a quantity of a suspected controlled substance" as well as drug paraphernalia in the closet of Thompson's classroom, Battiloro said in Friday's announcement.

Thompson was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, allegedly for fentanyl, possession of drug paraphernalia and endangering the welfare of children.

The first and last charges listed are considered third-degree crimes while the second is considered a disorderly person offense, the police chief said.

Thompson was served a complaint summons and is scheduled to appear in court on February 1.

Superintendent Raymond Gonzalez issued a statement saying the Westfield Public School District cannot comment on personnel matters which are confidential.

We will maintain a continued focus on student and staff safety and on preserving the integrity of the classroom learning environment, Gonzalez said.

We are grateful for our strong partnership with the Westfield Police Department.

Battiloro said the department "continues to prioritize its ongoing partnership with the Westfield Public School System to ensure it has the safety and security resources it needs on a daily basis.

"In this case, the swift actions of Officer Riga, who is on-site at Roosevelt Intermediate each school day, proved instrumental in maintaining the safety of the students and administering potentially life-saving measures to Mr. Thompson," the statement continued.

According to Westfield Police, all officers employed by the department, including school resource officers like Riga, are issued Narcan and trained to use it if someone appears to be suffering a drug overdose.

The department said officers needed to administer the medication 13 times in 2022.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said it seized in 2022 more than 379 million doses of fentanyl, which officials said is enough to kill every American.

The agency reported this week that it confiscated over 50 million fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl and more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder last year.
An Garda Siochana believe Martha Alite is in the company of an adult male relative

A seven-year-old girl who has been reported missing in Dublin may be in the company of a male relative who picked her up from school yesterday, gardai believe.

An alert has been issued after Martha Alite of Tallaght was collected from her school in Firhouse, Dublin 24 on Monday, January 9 at approximately 2pm by an adult man who arrived in a taxi.

Gardai said they are not aware of Marthas whereabouts at this time as they issued an appeal for information and for the man to make contact with them.

Gardai are seeking the publics assistance in tracing the whereabouts of 7-year-old Martha Alite who was reported missing on Monday, 9th January 2023 at 6pm, they said.

Gardai believe that Martha was collected from her school in Firhouse, Dublin 24 on Monday 9th January, 2023 at approximately 2m by this adult male relative in a taxi.

An Garda Siochana believe Martha is in the company of an adult male relative.

Martha is described as being 4' 9" in height with a slim build. She has long blond hair and blue eyes.

Martha was wearing blue trousers, a blue jumper, blue canvas shoes and a blue and pink jacket at the time she went missing.

Investigating Gardai are appealing to any taxi driver or any other person who may have had a male passenger that collected Martha from a school in Firhouse, Dublin 24 on Monday afternoon, to contact them.

Gardai believe Martha and her relative may have travelled to a domestic residence in Blessington, Co Wicklow.

Gardai are appealing to any taxi driver or any other person who may have driven Martha and another male passenger to or from Blessington to contact them.

Gardai are also appealing to any accommodation provider who may have given the adult male and Martha accomodation on the night of Monday 9th January, 2023 to contact them.

Any person with any information on Marthas whereabouts is asked to contact Tallaght Garda Station on 01 666 6000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.

Gardai are also appealing to this adult male relative to urgently make contact with them.
Sean Binder said the trial was an attack on the idea of human rights

An Irish humanitarian has said his trial in Greece on smuggling-related charges after helping migrants who were at risk of drowning in the Mediterranean is deeply damaging to the European Union.

Sean Binder said the trial, which is expected to begin this morning in Athens, was an attack on the idea of human rights and the rule of law but added he was confident of being found innocent in a fairly run trial.

Mr Binder also said he has received racist messages and death threats for helping people who were crossing the Mediterranean to Europe, but emphasised the need to understand the fears people have about migration.

The Kerry native is one of 24 migrant rescue volunteers on the Greek island of Lesbos charged in 2018 with a range of offences including misdemeanour counts of espionage-related offences, illegal access to state communications and assisting criminal activity.

The defendants deny any wrongdoing, maintaining they had wanted to help save lives when Lesbos was overwhelmed by refugees and migrant arrivals from nearby Turkey.

Mr Binder, a trained rescue diver from Castlegregory, was in Lesbos to volunteer with Emergency Response Centre International, a Greek non-governmental organisation (NGO).

Despite the NGO working closely with police and the coastguard, he was arrested and charged in August 2018 and placed in pre-trial detention for almost four months, alongside people accused of murder.

Amnesty International and other rights organisations have criticised the Greek authorities for using the farcical and baseless charges to make an example of humanitarian workers.

The trial of Mr Binder and others over misdemeanour charges is set to begin tomorrow, although the felony charges could take up to 15 years to be brought to trial in the Greek system.

Mr Binder said he is eager for the trial to begin, but fears it will be drawn out further.

The misdemeanour (trial) had to happen effectively now, otherwise theyd lose the opportunity, while for the felony trial, that can take another 15 years.

And given the tactics so far by the prosecution to make this take as long as possible, we fear we wont be receiving the felony indictment any time soon, which presents possibly a silver lining.

If they really thought we were the criminals they say we are, if they really thought they had the evidence to back it up, they would have brought this to trial as quickly as possible because they want us behind bars.

The case was last adjourned in November 2021 and it is possible the same could happen tomorrow.

Mr Binder added: I am desperate to get to trial, we are desperate to get to trial.

It is just a material fact that using WhatsApp doesnt make you a spy. It is a fact that helping people at risk of drowning is not smuggling.

It is a fact that just because you happen to operate at a charity, you are not a money-launderer. The arguments, the facts pulled, the evidence brought forward by the prosecution and the police investigation is so weak.

For example, the prosecution alleged that I committed smuggling on 12 occasions, the majority of those occasions, I was not on the island of Lesbos.

So Im relatively confident that when we get to trial, and if it is indeed a fair trial, that I will be found innocent.

The fundamental thing about this is that what I did isnt all that special  we have this view that search and rescue is going out to sea and pulling people out of the water, and while that happens on occasion, the vast majority of the time, I sat at the shoreline for seven hours in complete darkness, looking at the sea, holding a bottle of water and a blanket.

And then to be arrested for doing really a small act of kindness, it is nothing more than that, is shocking.

I mean, it is terrifying that the Greek state and the European Union  because it happens all across the union  will criminalise a 24-year-old for holding a bottle of water rather than doing what its supposed to do, which is abide by its own laws.

Every bit of international law, every bit of the European Human Rights Convention requires what I did, and more. The hypocrisy of the situation is deeply damaging to the EU as a whole. Its an attack on the idea of human rights and the rule of law.

Sean Binder with his mother Fanny, pictured at Dublin Airport

Mr Binder said Emergency Response Centre International had won awards and worked with the Greek authorities, even lending them equipment.

In an ideal world, there would be no need for search and rescue. In a better world, the authorities would be doing it. In the reality we live in, a medic from one of the best-funded EU agencies has to email a 24-year-old volunteer to supply them with medical equipment.

Mr Binder also spoke about the hate mail he gets from people who accuse him of not being Irish and argue that migrants should have been left to drown.

He said people say nasty things such as that people should be left to drown, and that what he did was criminal. I get some hate mail from Ireland, for example, that Im not Irish.

People who send me racist messages, often times, Ill troll them back. When people say Youre not Irish, Ill respond in Irish and make fun of them in Irish.

Mr Binder says hes powering through, but if all 24 are found guilty, the consequences would be far greater.

Its one thing if I go to prison, because Im just one person and it doesnt really matter. But if the 24 of us go to jail for doing what everyone else does, and would do, that really, really does matter.
Inspectors reports paint a grim picture of some of the conditions at the sites across the country

Six businesses across the country have been forced to close by the Food Safety Authority for falling short of safety standards.

Rat droppings, mould, bad staff hygiene and shocking storage conditions are just some of the reasons businesses had to close their doors  or sections of their stores  last month.

Ballaghaderreen Grocery Store in Roscommon, the African Shop/Costello Stores on Shandon Street in Cork and RBK Poultry Limited on Chapelizod Road in Dublin have been told to close.

Sections of Hole in the Wall in Cabra, Caseys Pub in Limerick and The Cosy Corner Outside Catering in Donegal have also been shut due to breaches of food safety.

In the case of one store  the African Shop/Costello Stores  on the north side of Cork city, the conditions found were likely to be a grave and immediate danger to public health.

The inspectors report painted a grim picture, revealing rodent droppings were found on the floor, on shelves and on packets of food.

Bags of ground rice and maize were found damaged by pest gnawing in the Cork food shop.

At Dublins RBK Poultry, the store was discovered to be keeping meat unfit for human consumption.

The lack of food safety measures on the premises forced the FSAI to shut the store.

At the Ballaghaderreen Grocery Store in Roscommon, a food safety inspector found piles of meat waste sitting in a trolley.

Dubbed an attraction for vermin, the trolley and the poor hygiene of staff prompted a closure order to be served on the rural shop.

Parts of other premises across the country were closed, most notably store rooms that didnt reach food safety standards and hygiene.

"It is disappointing that month after month, food inspectors find similar, basic and fundamental breaches of food law, said Dr Pamela Byrne, the Chief Executive of the FSAI.

77 enforcement orders were served on Irish food businesses in 2022, including 65 closure orders.

Through the hard work of our partner agencies and food inspectors in 2022, food businesses that disregarded the law and put consumer health at risk were stopped. However, this should not be happening, she added.

Enforcement Orders are served on food businesses only when a risk to consumer health has been identified or where there are a number of ongoing breaches of food legislation.

"Food businesses should not be falling short on their legal requirements. They should adhere to food safety regulations at all times
Clearly there are a significant number of beds across the private and voluntary nursing home sector that are available for use as we speak

A nursing homes chief has called on the HSE to make use of hundreds of empty beds in nursing homes around the country to ease the ongoing hospital overcrowding crisis.

The HSE has confirmed that 530 patients cant be transferred out of hospital due to delayed transfers, while yesterday 489 patients awaited admission to a bed.

As hospitals struggle to find support beds in the private sector and elsewhere in order to free up beds in acute hospitals that can be vacated by patients who are recovering, it has emerged that around 1,000 nursing home beds lie empty around the country.

Tadhg Daly, chief executive of representative group Nursing Home Ireland, said that there are a total of 760 nursing home beds available for patients to be transferred to.

We undertook a snapshot survey just over the last number of days and across the 440 homes and of the 210 homes who responded over 70pc of those confirmed that they had beds available and ready, he said.

147 homes and a total of 760 beds are available, 30pc of those homes didnt have beds available because they were already full or there may have been some staffing issues.

Clearly there are a significant number of beds across the private and voluntary nursing home sector that are available for use as we speak.

The HSE significantly ramped up discharged of well patients over the weekend following a call from Health Minister Stephen Donnelly. Mr Donnelly also said consultant doctors should work weekends to get more patients discharged and free up beds, drawing a sharp response from consultants, who said they already worked weekends.

Mr Daly met with the HSE and provided them with the information needed to begin working towards transferring eligible patients to a bed in the private and voluntary nursing home sector.

We have met with the HSE yesterday and we provided the HSE with that full list of all of those homes who responded to our survey across the country and I understand that the HSE will now be contacting our members today through the local community healthcare organisations to expedite transfer of those in hospital who should be out in the community effectively, he told RTEs Morning Ireland.

There are always beds available in the private and voluntary nursing home sector, I mean there are 31,000 beds in nursing homes, 26,000 of those in the private and voluntary and there are beds available for a variety of reasons.

Access to vacant nursing home beds is something that Mr Daly believes should be available to hospitals on a contract basis throughout the year.

I suppose what we saw over the last number of weeks is that discharge has slowed down around the Christmas period and I suppose a point we would make is that the local hospitals should have access to those beds right throughout the year on a contract basis.

Discharge happens every day to nursing homes whether under fair need or under transitional care, but there needs to be a renewed focus now in my mind on contracting beds in nursing homes where there are pressure points.

Clearly we saw last week where university hospital Waterford indicated that they got some beds off-site nursing home beds two years ago and it was a lifesaver.

Mr Daly said that the transition from hospital to nursing home will be complex in ensuring that the nursing home can cater for all the needs of the residents, this will be done by a pre-admission assessment.

It is complex as well, we are talking about real people here and we have to ensure that the nursing home has the ability to care for that individual and the resources whether it is financial or the community intervention teams are there to support the individual when they transfer out of an acute hospital to a nursing home, he said.

All nursing homes would do a pre-admission assessment, so they would assess the patient in the hospital before they come to a nursing home. Clearly the age profile, the dependency of those in nursing homes, the majority are over 85, so the complexity in nursing homes is very high.

Currently out of the 530 patients that are awaiting transfer in hospital, 65pc of them are determined as requiring long-term care

My understanding is that up to 65pc of that 500+ are determined as requiring long term care, he said.

That is why it needs to be expedited and we want to work collaboratively with the HSE and indeed with the department of health to ensure there is visibility to where those beds are available and also in terms of timely transfer, communicating with families should be important and of course communicating with the resident so that they have a choice in where they wish to stay.
It comes as a new analysis found a 22 per cent difference in the pass rate at two of the country's testing centres last year

More than half of all NCT centres in the country have no test appointment slots available within the next five months, it has been revealed.

The figures obtained by Newstalk show that almost 60 per cent, or 29 of the 49 NCT centres, are booked up until the summer.

They include centres in 17 counties throughout the country.

Junior Transport Minister Jack Chambers has said it is totally unacceptable as the situation is causing people anxiety and worry.

"The current waiting list times are totally unacceptable," he said.

"I know it's very disappointing for many people, causing anxiety and worry for people who are waiting for tests.

"People expect a proper standard of service, and it's meant to be a 12 day average wait time from Applus+, who provide the service on behalf of the Road Safety Authority," he added.

As of Monday evening, nine centres had no appointment available until August.

They are in Cavan, Drogheda and Dundalk in Co Louth, Naas in Co Kildare, and five centres in Dublin.

It comes as a new analysis found a 22 per cent difference in the pass rate at two of the country's testing centres last year.

The centre in Deansgrange in Dublin had a pass rate of 62.65 per cent , while the centre at Derrybeg in Donegal had a pass rate of just 40.01 per cent .

Yesterday it was revealed how the NCT is recruiting staff from the Philippines in an attempt to relieve a backlog that has reached seven months in parts of the country.

Gardai are now being forced to take the delays into consideration when they stop vehicles without valid certificates of road worthiness.

The vehicle inspection company has drafted in 44 testers from the Philippines, who will be assigned to test centres with the longest delays.

The NCT has also increased staff overtime and temporarily relocated 20 employees from its contractors Spanish operation for three months in a desperate attempt to catch up.

Gardai also say they are cognisant of the delays experienced by NCTS in the provision of dates for the NCT.

An examination of the online booking system has found that centres, including Northpoint in Dublin, as well as Dundalk are currently offering August as the earliest date available for a vehicle inspection.

Other centres like Fonthill, Greenhills in Dublin are not much better, with dates in late July being offered. In other test centres such as Ballina, Galway and Donegal, dates in March are being offered.

Deansgrange in Dublin can somehow offer tests in February despite its relative proximity to other Dublin centres that have waiting times of six months or more.

Applus+, the company that has the contract to run the NCT, said every effort is being made to manage the current demand, including recruitment of additional inspectors and providing overtime to cover leave and additional shifts for staff.

It said the problems in booking delays were mainly caused by staffing issues along with a high demand for tests and the long-term impact of Covid.
Tate (36), a British-US citizen who has 4.5 million followers on Twitter, was initially detained on December 29 for 24 hours along with his brother Tristan, who was charged in the same case

Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are escorted by police officers outside the headquarters of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania, January 10, 2023. Photo: Octav Ganea via REUTERS.   via REUTERS

A court in Romania has upheld the 30-day arrest of divisive social media personality and self-described misogynist Andrew Tate on charges of organised crime, human trafficking and rape.

Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romanian anti-organised crime agency DIICOT, said the court in Bucharest rejected an appeal by Tate against a judges earlier decision to extend his arrest from 24 hours to 30 days.

Tate (36), a British-US citizen who has 4.5 million followers on Twitter, was initially detained on December 29 for 24 hours along with his brother Tristan, who was charged in the same case. Two Romanian women also were taken into custody.

The court today rejected all four appeals against a judges decision on December 30 to grant prosecutors request to extend the arrest period.

A document explaining the judges reasoning said the possibility of them evading investigations cannot be ignored, and that they could leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition.

Tate and the other three defendants arrived at Bucharests Court of Appeal in handcuffs today and were taken away in the afternoon.

Eugen Vidineac, a Romanian defense lawyer representing Tate, told journalists after a morning hearing that all four of the accused have made statements and that the lawyers pleas were listened to entirely.

Tate, a former professional kickboxer, is reported to have lived in Romania since 2017. He was previously banned from various prominent social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech. In the week of his arrest, he traded insults on Twitter with teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg.

DIICOT said it had identified six victims in the trafficking case who were subjected to acts of physical violence and mental coercion and were sexually exploited by the members of the alleged crime group.

The agency said victims were lured by pretences of love, and later intimidated, kept under surveillance and subjected to other control tactics while being coerced into performing pornographic acts that were intended to make money for the alleged persecutors.

Prosecutors investigating the case have seized 15 luxury cars, at least seven of which were owned by the Tate brothers, and more than 10 properties or land owned by companies registered to them, DIICOT spokesperson Bolla said.

Bolla said that if prosecutors can prove the Tates gained money through human trafficking, the assets will be taken by the state and (will) cover the expenses of the investigation and damages to the victims.

After the appeal court upheld the arrest warrant extension, prosecutors can now request detentions of up to 180 days for the four people charged.

Since Tates arrest, a series of ambiguous posts have appeared on his Twitter account. Each tweet garners widespread media attention.

One, posted on Sunday and accompanied by a Romanian report suggesting he or his brother have required medical care since their arrests, read: The Matrix has attacked me. But they misunderstand, you cannot kill an idea. Hard to Kill.

Another post, from Saturday, read: Going to jail when guilty of a crime is the life story of a criminalgoing to jail when completely innocent is the story of a hero.

Hope not Hate, a UK advocacy group, said it had monitored Tate for years because of his close links to the far right. It described the influencer in a report it produced last year as an extreme misogynist who holds conspiratorial views.

Our major concern is that his brand of extreme and sometimes violent misogyny is reaching a young male audience and that he could serve as a gateway to wider far-right politics, the group said in a statement after Tate was banned by Facebook parent company Meta in August.
Former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon, also known as Johnny Rotten, is competing to be chosen as Irelands Eurovision entry with his band Public Image Ltd (PiL).

A gender studies professor has said Ireland should bring back Dustin the Turkey after racist Johnny Rotten made the shortlist to represent the country at this years Eurovision Song Contest.

Former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon, also known as Johnny Rotten, is competing to be chosen as Irelands Eurovision entry with his band Public Image Ltd (PiL).

London-born Lydon qualifies as an Irish act due to his mother hailing from Cork and his father from Galway, and has submitted the song Hawaii with PiL.

So racist, Trump supporting, misogynist Johnny Rotten is apparently entering a song in the Irish Eurovision selection - frankly I say bring back Dustin the Turkey, or even better, the fabulous Jedward! #Eurovision2023  Dr Mary McAuliffe (@MaryMcAuliffe4) January 10, 2023

The pensive, personal yet universal love song is dedicated to Lydons wife, Nora Forster, who is suffering with Alzheimers disease.

PiL will perform the song on the Late Late Show next month, where the five other Eurovision hopefuls  Wild Youth, ADGY, CONNOLLY, Leila Jane, and K Muni & ND - will take to the stage to determine the nations representative.

Some people have taken to social media to criticise Lydon after it was announced that he was among the countrys potential Eurovision acts, with particular emphasis on the musicians controversial politics.

Dr Mary McAuliffe, Director of Gender Studies at UCD, hit out at the punk rocker in a tweet this week and even called for Dustin the Turkey, who represented Ireland at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, to replace Lydon.

She wrote: So racist, Trump supporting, misogynist Johnny Rotten is apparently entering a song in the Irish Eurovision selection - frankly I say bring back Dustin the Turkey, or even better, the fabulous Jedward! #Eurovision2023

Another person said: So #JohnLydon #JohnnyRotten wants to represent Ireland at Eurovision? Surely #England would be better, like him it has become far-right, washed out, hypocritical, broken, full of hate, lies, cheating and living on past glories - a perfect fit?

Someone else added: There is so much songwriting and performer talent in Ireland, across every genre and style that would represent us so well Can we just not with the Johnny Rotten garbage?

Lydon has sparked furore in the past for making homophobic remarks in a 2005 BBC interview, where he said that he doesnt like the idea of same-sex couples raising children as there something missing.

The 66-year-old has also publicly shown support for former US President Donald Trump and confirmed that he had voted for the Republican in the 2020 Presidential Election as he holds American citizenship.
DEWITT -- Gerry Powers has served DeWitt as the Burkley Library and Resource Director for 23 years. Prior to that she worked as a secretary for 27 years with Tri County Schools. Friends and family gathered on Saturday afternoon to celebrate her retirement.

Powers said she has always had a strong work ethic and began working when she was 13 years old at the general store.

My dad knew they were looking for a clerk and helped me get a job, she said. It was a general store in the little town of Ong. We did everything from pump the vinegar barrel to selling shoes or paint.

She married Jim Powers and after he returned from his years of military service during the German Occupation, they moved to DeWitt, his hometown. In 1953 Jim was hired as the agent and operator of the DeWitt Depot.

Powers said she worked as a homemaker while their three children, Rhonda, Randy and LuAnn, were young.

She started as an elementary school secretary in DeWitt in 1972. When Tri County opened the elementary at its current location south of DeWitt in 1984, Powers continued to work as the secretary.

It really doubled my work because all the students from Plymouth were all a part of the new elementary. I did that for another 15 years.

I had been retired about a year when the librarian here left. They needed someone.

She said libraries have changed over the years.

Mothers are working and dont bring their children to the library like they did. Kids are using electronics more and can get e-books.

Powers said she had good memories of having special guests at the library.

We had Smokey the Bear and a man with snakes. That was fun.

She said she has worked for 50 years and its hard to imagine what she will do with her time.

I dont have any real hobbies except for reading, but with macular degeneration that has been more difficult too.

The Village of DeWitt Board of Trustees declared Jan. 7 would be recognized as Geraldine Powers Day.

Vice President of the board Liz Possenecker said it would be impossible to replace Powers.

Like everything, things change. We have to think of this as the end of a chapter and the beginning of another.

Joan Tietjen has been hired as the new Director of the Burkley Library and Resource Center in DeWitt.
It's Martin's birthday and I always try to spoil him rotten because he deserves every bit of it

TV host Martin King has been enjoying a surprise big birthday bash laid on by his wife Jenny McCarthy.

Martin was absent on Ireland AM last weekend as he was treated to lavish staycation with Jenny who revealed that she was looking forward to spoiling him rotten.

Not only did Jenny trick him into thinking they were going to Kildare Village for a spot of shopping, while they were actually on the way to Adare Manor, she also unveiled a surprise trip to Disneyland Paris with their family too.

Sharing a video from their bedroom at the five-star venue the popular presenter joked that she had been lying to him for two-and-a-half months.

Jenny relaxing

Jenny posted a sweet snap of the couple of the grounds of the luxury Limerick hotel, adding: What an incredible overnight stay @theadaremanor for Martin's birthday.

Sharing a picture of them clinking glasses of bubbly, she said that they were having the best weekend!!!

She said: "Hello everybody we have had a great couple of days.

"It's Martin's birthday and I always try to spoil him rotten because he deserves every bit of it.

"Yesterday, we had a lovely day with our children and he got lots of surprises.

"And today I told him as we were leaving the hotel that we were going to Kildare Village."

Martin said that he had thought they were just going on a shopping trip.

Jenny continued: "So, I drove past the Kildare Village exit and we drove to?"

Martin replied: "Adare Manor."

The pair were delighted to be away on their luxurious getaway.

Jenny said: "And here we are, like the cheek of us."

The couple who share five children between them are also on their way to Disneyland Paris after the broadcaster was seen opening a box of balloons with a large Mickey Mouse balloon floating up into the air.

Proud mum Jenny declared: Our beautiful children treating Martin to a trip to Disney Paris! They felt after all the trips we have given them, it was time to give back! Our amazing kids.

The wedding photographer explained that she had to keep the trip under wraps from Martin for over two months.

She said: "I've known about this since November, I've been plotting loads of lies."

Jenny said: "I've just been lying the whole time but that's it now, I'm exhausted from all the lies I have had to tell.

She then said they were on their way to grab something to eat but Martin made one more joke about all of his family keeping the surprise from him.

Jenny said: "So we are going to go down and have a little bit of lunch now."

The Ireland AM presenter added: "She's had my children lying to me for the past two and a half months."

Jenny said: "It's been amazing."

Jenny shared some snaps of the pair's getaway as they enjoyed everything the five star hotel has to offer.

She posted a snap of the two clinking champagne glasses as they enjoyed the view.

Martin and Jenny have had plenty to celebrate recently as their second eldest son James announced his engagement at Christmas.

Just before Christmas, Jenny also received the wonderful news that her brain scan was clear.

She had been operated on to have a brain tumour removed back in February 2022.
GPS-based technology is helping researchers to learn more about Antarcticas majestic emperor penguins feeding patterns as part of efforts to protect the species from environmental threats.

Birds at the Cape Crozier emperor colony have been wearing trackers akin to Fitbits so researchers can record how far the penguins need to go to find food, how deep they dive - even whether they are walking, swimming or sliding on their tummies.

The NZ-US collaboration between the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research and San Jose State Universitys Moss Landing Marine Laboratories is part of the Ross Sea Region and Monitoring Programme, a five-year research effort evaluating the effectiveness of the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area.

Emperors chicks and Skua. Photo: Anthony Powell.

The Ross Sea MPA, championed by New Zealand and the United States, came into effect in 2017 with the support of 25 countries and aims to conserve the areas ecology and mitigate threats to ecosystems from fishing.

"We're hoping to learn where the emperor penguins are going, how deep they are diving, how hard they have to work to get their food," says Birgitte McDonald, an Associate Professor at San Jose State University, who led the team on the ice.

"This work will help us to understand how the Marine Protected Area's functioning and if changes need to be made in order to protect the species here."

Catching emperor penguins

Rare footage by Antarctica New Zealand videographer Anthony Powell has captured the team at work: the emperor penguins must be caught and fitted with a data logger, before being released to feed.

Emperor catching. Photo: Anthony Powell.

When the birds return to shore, the research team has to find them using a scanner to detect a radio transmitter. Then the birds are recaptured and the data loggers retrieved.

The multi-year research has shown just how far the penguins might go while fuelling-up to feed their chicks, with one penguin travelling more than 1000km and diving to a depth of 486m during a 16-day foraging trip.

The new insights are thanks to GPS-based technologies that can track the penguins every move.

Emperor outer colony 2022. Photo:Anthony Powell.

"The technology is not that dissimilar from what everyone carries on them on the daily, such as technology that's found on your phone, or technology that's on your smart watch, says Parker Forman, a graduate student on the research team.

"We know when they were standing by the orientation of the tag, we can actually calculate how many steps they took, how long they were actually just resting - and then during a dive, we know whether or not they were in the descent phase of their dive.

Sentinels of climate change

The research is providing baseline data on the foraging ecology and habitat use of the penguins.

Penguin colonies well-being can reflect both drastic and subtle changes occurring in the food web.

Emperor penguins, which depend on sea ice to breed, are an indicator species of climate change.

With no action to reduce emissions, the populations are projected to decline close to extinction by the year 2100.

"Penguins, especially these penguins, are sentinels of change. They're sort of the canaries in the coal mine," says postdoctoral researcher Caitlin Kroeger.

"When something's wrong, especially with climate change, things are going to be changing really rapidly in a polar place, and this is the last area for them.

They're dependent on the ice and if the ice is not something that is sustainable for them, then we need to be monitoring that closely. If the sea ice breaks out too soon, there can be complete reproductive failure.

"One of the things that anyone can do  Kiwis, Americans, everyone around the world  is to cut their carbon footprint and you can do this by doing small things like carpooling, riding your bike more, turning off the power when you leave a room.

Emperor close up. Photo: Anthony Powell.

The research was funded through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employments Endeavour Programme and a National Science Foundation Polar Programs grant, with logistical support from Antarctica New Zealand and Scott Base.

Further information about climate change and the emperor penguins projected decline, and measures to protect the species, can be found in this backgrounder prepared by the Antarctic Science Platform, Survival of emperor penguins depends on emissions reductions.
A vaccine for people at risk of Monkeypox will be available if prescribed by a medical practitioner to people who meet eligibility criteria from Monday, January 16.

Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall says 5000 vials of the vaccine have been obtained, enough for up to 20,000 people.

A further supply of additional vaccines is anticipated to arrive later this year.

Those initially eligible for the vaccine include:

 Close physical contacts of people infected with mpox, such as sexual partners and people who live in the same household.

 Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) who have multiple sexual partners, and trans and cisgender women who are in intimate relationships with these eligible men.

 Those recommended to have the vaccine by medical specialists.

From today, people can complete an initial assessment to check if they are at risk of mpox at https://www.burnettfoundation.org.nz or by ringing the mpox Healthline on 0800 116 672 between 8am and 8pm.

Eligible people may be offered a consultation with a medical practitioner at a dedicated clinic. As part of this consultation the option of receiving the vaccine as well as the potential risks and benefits will be discussed.

The vaccine may be prescribed by a medical practitioner following the consultation and provided in line with section 29 of the Medicines Act.

We encourage eligible people to make an appointment for a free consultation with a doctor by calling Healthline.

The consultation is needed as this vaccine has not yet been approved by Medsafe, the New Zealand medicines regulator. The company responsible for the vaccine is expected to apply to Medsafe shortly.

In the initial phase, the mpox consultation service is prioritising first dose for the eligible population. Timing of the recommended second dose is a minimum 28 day interval and can be up to 2 years after the first dose.

This vaccine can also be given to close physical contacts of people infected with mpox after they have been exposed to mpox.

If this is within four days after first exposure to mpox it will provide the highest chance of avoiding the disease. If people think they have been exposed to mpox they should call Healthline.

There have been 41 reported cases of mpox in New Zealand as of January 9.

Mpox did not get a foothold in New Zealand in 2022 like it did in other countries.

This is down to the great collaboration of community organisations, public health teams, and people taking sensible steps to reduce their risk, says Verrall.

Anyone with any concerns about mpox should seek advice from the place they normally receive health advice, which could be their GP, sexual health clinic or Healthline on 0800 116 672.
Exmark inducted 25 new members to the Quarter Century Club on Saturday evening, the most since beginning the tradition.

In the six years that the club has been in existence, 65 people have been recognized for 25 or more years of employment at Exmark.

Customer Support Specialist Christie Moore said she believes the culture of the company lends to the longevity of employment.

This speaks volumes for the company. They do a really good job of promoting within. A lot of us that started with Exmark have grown with the company over the years.

Garry Busboom said he was the 17th employee hired at Exmark on March 19, 1985.

I was hired as an engineer, but being that small of a company, I helped with marketing, sales and customer service. I really enjoyed that over the years.

Im known for really listening to the customer and not just hearing them. Putting your preconceived notions on the side and listening was key, he said. That built relationships.

Busboom said he believed that was important in the success of the company.

Growing up on a farm near Lincoln, Busboom had worked for Gleaner in Missouri as an engineer after college, but wanted to move closer to home in the mid 80s.

I went from designing combines to smaller crop harvesters. In a sense, they were the same thing, just a smaller scale. So that was a tremendous experience that served me well when I came to Exmark.

Busboom was the lead engineer in the development of the Lazer Z which was the mower that the Exmark brand was built on.

He retired from Exmark to return to the farm in 2016.

Cindy Jurgens started with Exmark in the office 40 years ago and is still with the company.

I started when there were only seven other employees. I did whatever needed done in the office and have done a lot of different jobs over the years, she said.

Jurgens works in continuous improvement which she enjoys because she is able to work with many different departments.

The best part of working with Exmark is the people. Its fun and even after all these years I really enjoy going to work.

Dan Dorn has been with Exmark for almost 29 years.

I work 80% of the time from home and have even before Covid, he said.

Dorn worked at different levels with the company, from different locations and changed positions around every 4 years.

Thats kept it interesting. When I started, I had no idea of the size of the industry, but Roger Smith, one of the founders, told me that it encompassed 7 times the size of the dairy industry. I would never have thought, he said. But the more I became engaged in the company, I was humbled.

Retirement is a few years away, but I dont see myself doing anything different.
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Republican Sen. Keith Regier on Monday said he will not introduce a joint draft resolution that urged Congress to investigate alternatives to the American Indian reservation system."

Regier said in every legislative session, there are bills or resolutions that he drafts and decides not to introduce. Regier is a veteran lawmaker who has served in the state Senate since 2017 and spent four terms in the House before that. He told The Associated Press that the resolution was written by Mark Agather, a retired businessman who is involved in conservative politics in Kalispell near the Flathead Reservation.

Ive decided not to introduce this (draft resolution) after further discussions with my constituents who requested it, and I also had a productive conversation with Sen. Shane Morigeau about it, Regier told Lee Montana newspapers on Monday.

Morigeau is a Missoula Democrat and member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes who sharply rebuked the bill when draft language became available. Morigeau said his philosophy has always been to "kill people with kindness." He shared with Regier his perspective on the draft.

"I still think there's a lot for people to learn and understand when it comes to the dynamics of Indians in Montana and the reservations," Morigeau said. "There were a lot of things in that resolution that were misguided and focused on stereotypes."

Morigeau said through assimilation, termination and other harmful U.S. policies, people have absorbed the idea that "Indian people are lesser." Morigeau said those misconceptions have inspired him to propose a bill that would expand Indian Education for All to apply not just to Montana public school students, but to lawmakers as well.

"Our country has created this value system," he said. "And it's a heavy lift to undo."

Regiers draft resolution gained national media attention and was condemned by members of the American Indian Caucus, who called the draft an attack.

Several tribes also criticized the resolution. The Fort Belknap Indian Community on Monday said the tribes vehemently oppose the resolution, which they said included factual errors.

The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana said the tribe was incredibly disturbed by the resolution. The tribe added that the draft furthered misconceptions and ignored the law.

Misconceptions

Legal experts said that when it comes to legislating tribes, the state has very little authority.

Kekek Stark, Turtle Mountain Ojibwe, is an assistant professor of law at the University of Montana and the co-director of several Indian law programs. He said the resolution called for Congress to investigate reservations because the state doesnt really have the authority to do anything beyond that.

Stark said even if the resolution was implemented and alternatives to reservations were developed and imposed, the state would face consequences. If tribes were no more, he explained, the state would assume authority for services in Indigenous communities and the corresponding cost. He also explained that if reservations dissolved, land would not be open for settlement. Rather, tribes would still own that land.

It's not going to be like the 1880s again," he said. "If you actually (abolished reservations), it would have more dire consequences on the state and its budget and its obligations. I dont think a lot of people understand that.  What are you really asking for here?

The draft resolution asserted that reservations produced the negative effects of drug abuse, alcoholism, domestic violence, welfare dependence, poverty and substandard educational achievements, resulting in the lack of opportunity for their future well-being and happiness.

Stark said people may look down on reservations, regarding them as "concentration camps or jails," rather than respecting tribes as sovereign governments. He added that when people have misinformed views of reservations and those who live there, principles of self-governance and sovereignty get overlooked.

When you think of economic development, self-determination, or government, youre treating (reservations) differently if youre thinking of (them) as a prison, he said.

Kristin Ruppel, an associate professor at Montana State University who has taught courses in federal Indian law, agreed. She said that while there are issues within reservations that could be changed to enhance peoples lives, its critical that people doing that work include Native communities in their efforts.

She said, for example, that quantitative data influences legal structures and can be flawed. People may quantify, for example, reservation residents income, or years of education, but, Ruppel said, they often arent asking questions like, how many people are speaking their Native language?

They arent asking questions that are actually of deep, deep significance for Native people themselves, she said. This doesnt mean that certain things dont need to change, but that change needs to be Indigenous-led.

Consequences

Though Regier said he will not introduce the resolution, Stark said even the draft can have harmful consequences.

The draft, according to Stark, creates animosity and hurts relationships among the state and tribes.

Furthering this type of policy diminishes (cooperation) because it (creates) that us against them mentality versus Lets work together to advance our goals,'" he said.

Morigeau said the state has an obligation to enhance the quality of life for all Montanans, including Indigenous people.

"We can work together," he said. "When Indian communities do better, Montana does better. We are woven together."

Regier said the resolution "was certainly interpreted by some of the press and the public in a way that wasnt intended.

There will be a hearing for another resolution urging Congress to fully fund law enforcement in Indian Country at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
Many workers and managers in the United States and the United Kingdom place a higher value on trust in the workplace over financial compensation, according to new research released Tuesday.

A survey of 500 workers and managers in the U.S. and U.K. conducted by Osterman Research for cybersecurity firm Cerby found that nearly half of the participants (47%) said theyd take a 20% pay cut in return for higher trust by their employer.

Other characteristics researchers found highly prized by employees included flexibility (48%), autonomy (42%), and being able to choose the applications they need to work effectively (39%).

The State of Employee Trust Report by Osterman and Cerby examines the impact of zero-trust principles that many companies are rapidly adopting as a solution to their cybersecurity needs resulting from the use of unmanageable applications by workers and managers.

Applications are intimately tied to employees levels of engagement and empowerment. If employers attempt to block those applications, which they often do, it negatively impacts trust, observed Matt Chiodi, chief trust officer at Cerby, a zero-trust architecture provider for unmanageable applications based in San Francisco.

Sixty percent of employees said that if an application they want is blocked, it negatively affects how they felt about a company, Chiodi told TechNewsWorld.

The answer is not for employers to block these apps, but to find solutions that allow these unmanageable apps to be managed, he said.

Fretting Over Control

Security teams frown on the use of unmanageable applications, also known as shadow IT, for many reasons. Employees come and go. An organization may end up with thousands of unused credentials accessing its resources, explained Szilveszter Szebeni, CISO and the co-founder of Tresorit, an email encryption-based security solutions company in Zurich.

With a mountain of dormant accesses, hackers are bound to get into a few that would go unnoticed and pave the way to infiltrate the organization via lateral movement, Szebeni told TechNewsWorld.

Unmanageable applications can endanger an organization because it has no control over the security practices imposed on the development and management of the programs, noted John Yun, vice president of product strategy at ColorTokens, a provider of autonomous zero-trust cybersecurity solutions in San Jose, Calif.

Also, the organization has no oversight in the security update requirements of the applications, Yun told TechNewsWorld.

Without any control over the application, organizations cant trust it with access to their environments, maintained Mike Parkin, a senior technical engineer at Vulcan Cyber, a provider of SaaS for enterprise cyber risk remediation in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Letting employees choose the best tool for the job, especially when its running on their own equipment, is welcome, Parkin told TechNewsWorld.

However, he asserted, It does require some compromise with the organization putting in the effort to vet the chosen applications and employees willing to abstain when their preferred app isnt on the approved list.

Roger Grimes, a data-driven defense evangelist at KnowBe4, a security awareness training provider in Clearwater, Fla., took a harder line on the issue.

Its up to the cybersecurity risk managers of an organization to determine if the risks incurred are worth the benefits, Grimes told TechNewsWorld. You dont want the average end user deciding what is or isnt risky for the organization any more than you want the average passenger flying an airplane.

Worth the Risk?

Applications are considered unmanageable because they often dont support common security measures, such as single sign-on and automatically adding or removing users, explained Chiodi.

That presents a risk to a business, but business users still need those applications, he said. Businesses need to find ways to bring those applications to a point where they can be managed, so those risks are reduced.

Labeling applications unmanageable is misleading, observed Marcus Smiley, CEO of Epoch Concepts, an IT solutions provider in Littleton, Colo.

They are built without support for modern, industry security standards, which makes them harder to monitor and secure, Smiley told TechNewsWorld, but while this means they cant be managed like other applications, they can be managed in different ways.

When unmanageable applications are being used, there is always some reason why, he said. Many organizations need better communication between IT and employees to clarify company policies and the reasons behind them.

IT should also provide channels to request applications and be proactive in providing more secure alternatives to problematic ones, he added.

Smiley maintained that in some situations, allowing unmanageable applications with oversight is appropriate to ensure that best-identity-management practices and more-secure configurations are implemented instead of less secure ones.

Ultimately, theres no such thing as a risk-free cybersecurity strategy, he noted. Every security program  even those that fall under zero trust  includes trade-offs between mission-critical business functionality, productivity, and risk.

Balancing Act Needed

The safest approach is to have any application reviewed prior to adoption by a person or team with cybersecurity expertise to identify any issues that may arise from the software or services use, ensure the legal terms are acceptable, as well as plan for ongoing maintenance, recommended Chris Clements, vice president of solutions architecture at Cerberus Sentinel, a cybersecurity consulting and penetration testing company in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Unfortunately, many organizations do not have the expertise or resources to properly evaluate these risks, resulting in the process not occurring at all, or just as bad, dragging on for weeks or months, which harms employee morale and productivity, Clements told TechNewsWorld.

Balancing cybersecurity risk with employee needs is a practice that organizations need to take more seriously, he said. Allowing a Wild West approach will unavoidably introduce cybersecurity risks. But on the other hand, being overly stringent can lead to choosing product or service solutions that are too heavily compromised in usability and user convenience or simply denying approval altogether.

These can cause frustration and lead personnel to leave the organization or actively subvert security controls, he continued.

Misuse of zero-trust principles can also add to that frustration. Zero trust is for data, access, applications, and services, Chiodi argued. But when it comes to building trust on the human side, companies need to be aiming for high trust. The two are not mutually exclusive. It is possible, but its going to take a change in how employers use security controls.

By giving employees technology options, companies can show that they trust their employees to make technology decisions that help them do their jobs better, added Karen Walsh, principal at Allegro Solutions, a cybersecurity consulting company in West Hartford, Conn.

By reinforcing this with education around the assume compromise mentality, Walsh told TechNewsWorld, they build a stronger relationship with their workforce members.
TechSpot is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust

What just happened? The UK's first-ever orbital launch attempt took place last night, but the occasion will likely be remembered for all the wrong reasons after the satellite mission failed to reach orbit due to an undisclosed "anomaly." A disappointing end to what had been hailed as a new space era for the country.

The Virgin Orbit "Start Me Up" mission launched from Spaceport Cornwall on January 9 in front of more than 2,000 spectators, becoming the first-ever space flight attempt to launch in the UK.

The first part of the mission saw a converted Boeing 747 called Cosmic Girl take off successfully and release the LauncherOne rocket, which carried nine satellites, off the southwest coast of Ireland at 6:11 PM ET. The rocket's NewtonThree engine ignited successfully, and the first stage headed toward orbit.

As we find out more, we're removing our previous tweet about reaching orbit. We'll share more info when we can.  Virgin Orbit (@VirginOrbit) January 9, 2023

Virgin One tweeted that the rocket had reached earth's orbit, but the company soon deleted the post and, 28 minutes after the first tweet, posted a new message confirming an anomaly had prevented the rocket from reaching the required altitude.

Matt Archer, the director of commercial spaceflight at the UK Space Agency, said that while the first-stage launch was successful, the second stage failed. An investigation looking into the failure is taking place over the coming days.

The rocket and its payload of satellites were lost. Archer said its trajectory puts it over main bodies of water, so it's "completely safe." Cosmic Girl and its crew safely returned to Spaceport Cornwall.

Ars Technica notes that the biggest loser in all this could be Virgin Orbit, a US-based small launch company. Although it had reached orbit on four of its first five attempts before yesterday's failure, it is struggling to launch enough missions to break even. Engadget writes that the UK mission was especially high-profile as it also marked the first international launch for Virgin Orbit and the first commercial launch from Western Europe.

Melissa Thorpe, the head of Spaceport Cornwall, didn't hide her disappointment "We're a resilient team. This isn't the first time we've been knocked but this is the biggest definitely. We'll get up and we'll go again," she said. "It's just absolutely devastating, and we put our hearts and soul into this. The next time we go it will be even better."
What just happened? John Deere finally caved, offering its customers some rights to repair and fix their expensive equipment however they like. There's a catch, though: if state or federal right-to-repair laws go into effect, the concessions are no more.

In a hypothetical list of companies willing to go the extra mile to lock their customers in, John Deere would place among the most serious offenders. The US corporation makes agricultural machinery and other heavy equipment, then it locks the final products so that customers will not be able to repair them without going through an authorized dealer.

Things could change soon, however, as the Illinois-based corporation has entered an agreement with American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) to make some much-sought concessions to the right-to-repair movement.

AFBF and John Deere have signed a memorandum of understanding, addressing "a long-running issue for farmers and ranchers when it comes to accessing tools, information and resources."

The memorandum states that John Deere will provide software, tools, manuals and other documentation to both farmers and third-party repair shops. This way, end customers should be free to choose where to fix their tractors and heavy machinery, while John Deere's software, copyright and trade secrets will not be compromised or hacked in any way.

According to David Gilmore, John Deere senior VP, the agreement "reaffirms the longstanding commitment Deere has made to ensure our customers have the diagnostic tools and information they need to make many repairs to their machines." That is pretty much what JD has avoided doing until now, as the company is well know for its anti-DIY stance and its ability to remotely disable farm equipment like it did at the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The memorandum is the culmination of several years of discussions between AFBF and John Deere, and it formalizes farmers' access to diagnostic and repair codes, manuals (operator, parts, service) and product guides. Furthermore, the company commits to "engaging with farmers and dealers to resolve issues when they arise," and agrees to meet with AFBF representatives at least twice per year to evaluate progress.

The AFBF says the memorandum signed by John Deere could be a model for other manufacturers the lobbying group is already in discussion with - a true step in the right direction, at least on paper. But the memorandum also says that AFBF and John Deere can withdraw from the agreement if any right-to-repair legislation becomes a state or federal law.

AFBF will actively work to avoid introduction, promotion or support for right-to-repair legislation by its own state organizations, while the right-to-repair movement is slowly becoming a major political issue throughout the US.
TechSpot is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust

In a nutshell: iPhone manufacturer Foxconn has reportedly started production on the next version of Apple's smartphone. Economic Daily News was first to report on the development, noting that the iPhone 15 has entered what is called the new product introduction, or NPI, phase. During this stage, Foxconn will use its production line to assemble iPhones in the exact manner they will be created during mass production.

This step gives both Apple and Foxconn the opportunity to ensure everything is operating smoothly, and also allows them to identify and implement tweaks that could increase efficiency, boost yields or lower production costs.

Some pre-production models have probably already been assembled, but those were likely put together by hand in small numbers.

The publication further notes that the manufacturing process will be a bit different for Apple this year with mass production kicking off in China and India within just a few weeks of each other. In previous years, production was many months apart.

Most expect Apple's iPhone 15 family to mirror what we saw with its most recent release. If true, we could be looking at a standard iPhone 15 as well as an iPhone 15 Plus, an iPhone 15 Pro and a flagship iPhone 15 Pro Max / Ultra. This may also be the final year of the iPhone Plus as it reportedly hasn't sold as well as Apple had hoped. Another recent rumor suggested Apple is postponing or canceling the iPhone SE 4.

Apple's higher-end iPhone 15 models are also expected to adopt a new chip. The A17 SoC is believed to be built on a 3nm process. TSMC claims its 3nm process delivers up to a 70 percent logic density gain, a 15 percent speed improvement and a 30 percent reduction in power. In the iPhone 15, this would translate to a faster phone with longer battery life and perhaps a bit more room for additional hardware (or maybe even a larger battery).

Apple's iPhone 15 family is expected to debut in mid-September.

Image credit: David Svihovec, Milad Fakurian
Something to look forward to: Starting in 2008, Roku released the "Roku DVP," its first streaming box. In 2014, following a large media streaming boom, Roku collaborated with TCL and Hisense to release the first "Roku TV." This year, Roku now plans to release an in-house line of televisions.

Since 2014, Roku has collaborated with numerous TV manufacturers to implement a Roku streaming box into televisions, making for a convenient all-in-one package. Due to these partnerships, Roku saw its software installed on approximately one-third of all televisions sold in the U.S.

Early last year, multiple sources reported that Roku was "seriously considering" releasing its own set of TVs. One of Roku's most significant competitors in the streaming box market is the giant online marketplace Amazon. In 2021, after seven years of standalone Fire TV boxes and similar collaborations with manufacturers, Amazon eventually released a line of TVs known as "Fire TV Omni." This launch prompted Roku to begin work on its own television sets.

At CES 2023, Roku confirmed two different lines of TVs: a lower-end "Roku Select" and a "Roku Plus" series. The televisions will be available in various screen sizes ranging from 24 to 75 inches. Select TVs will include Roku's standard Voice Remote, whereas Plus TVs will come with the Voice Remote Pro. The latter has extra features, such as hands-free voice searching and a rechargeable battery.

Prices on the upcoming sets are competitive, with the cheapest model (presumably the 24" HD Select TV) starting at $119. The most expensive model, a 75" 4K Plus TV, is priced at only $999. Unfortunately, Roku did not provide details on specifications for any models, such as 120 Hz or HDR support, local dimming, etc. Both lines will natively support Roku's line of wireless speakers and subwoofers.

"We believe that a TV made and designed by Roku just makes sense," said Roku's VP of retail strategy, Chris Larson. "It's a TV made by people who love TV."

Roku CEO Anthony Wood explained that the company designed these televisions to be "streaming first." Roku likely wants these its TVs to be easy to set up and use for consumers rather than filled to the brim with features that many users won't need.

Roku plans to release these new TVs sometime in spring 2023. The company has not yet confirmed retailers or prices for all models. However, it shouldn't be long before more information is available. More competition in the industry is always a good thing for buyers. With Roku's reputation as a trusted manufacturer in the electronics world, these TVs stand a chance to be big sellers in the coming months.
The former president of CHI St. Alexius Dickinson is the new leader of CHI St. Alexius Health in Bismarck.

Reed Reyman assumed the president role on Dec. 19, CHI St. Alexius announced Tuesday.

Reyman returns to the health system after three years as executive vice president of regional development at Altru Health System in Grand Forks. He was CHI St. Alexius president in Dickinson from 2009-19.

Reyman said he was "optimistic and energized" by his new position.

"Despite the challenges the health care industry has faced in recent years, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the dedication of the physicians, nurses and all the employees of St. Alexius to the people of Bismarck and all of central and western North Dakota has never wavered," he said in a statement.

Reyman's predecessor, Kurt Schley, resigned last February. Neither he nor the health system disclosed the reason.

Tim Plante, vice president of patient care services for CHI Health St. Elizabeth in Lincoln, Nebraska, had been serving as interim president in Bismarck before Reyman took over.

CHI St. Alexius also announced Tuesday that J'Patrick Fahn has moved from interim to full-time chief medical officer in Bismarck, and Mellissa Nordsven has been named human resources director.

CHI St. Alexius Health has several facilities in Bismarck including a hospital, as well as facilities in several other central and western North Dakota communities.
The United States Department of Agriculture granted conditional approval for a prophylactic vaccine that prevents honeybees from American foulbrood diseases. This was developed by a biotech firm named Dalan Animal Health.

(Photo : Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

ARCADIA, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 15: Honeybees gather in a hive after they survived Hurricane Ian at Councell farms on December 15, 2022 in Arcadia, Florida. B. Keith Councell said he lost approximately 3,000 hives and untold numbers of bees to the storm. Beekeepers in the region lost around 100,000 total hives and millions of bees when the high winds and storm surge inundated the area.

Granting a Conditional License

Honeybees, as one of the most important pollinators in the world, were observed by many as they saw their numbers declining in recent years. This problem is caused by climate change, habitat destruction, pesticide use, or diseases.

The decline might affect us humans negatively as these insects were seen as essentials, especially to the fruit industry. Fortunately, a biotech company in Athens, Georgia came up with a solution to one of the problems mentioned above.

According to Engadget, Dalan Animal Health received a conditional license from the United States Department of Agriculture for its developed prophylactic vaccine. The company's manufacturer Diamond Animal Health holds the conditional license.

The company had to show several pieces of evidence that the vaccine is safe, pure, and certain degrees of efficacy, as they seek for a full approval.

Honeybees Vaccines

The vaccine will protect honeybees from American foulbrood disease, as the drug contains dead Paenibacillus larvae that kill the bacteria that causes the illness, based on a report from The Guardian.

This will be mixed with the queen feeds workers bees eat instead of jabbing the entire colony. Through this process, the vaccine will proceed to the royal jelly, where the drones feed their queen. Eventually, the queen's offspring will be born with immunity against harmful bacteria.

Karl-Franzens University of Graz Associate Professor Dalail Freitak stated that it could change the traditional way scientists approach animal health.

She added, "There are millions of beehives all over the world, and they don't have a good healthcare system compared to other animals. Now we have the tools to improve their resistance against diseases."

American Foulbrood Disease

Researchers and scientists were assuming since then that insects could not acquire immunity from these kinds of diseases, as they lacked antibodies that help many animals' immune systems to recognize and fight bacteria and viruses.

The New York Times reported that the American foulbrood turns larvae dark brown, and can make the hive give off a rotting smell. This disease became rampant in the 1800s and early 1900s in some parts of the United States. It can easily wipe out 60,000 bees.

Also Read: Researchers Figure Out The Secrets Behind Honey Bee Language

Dalan Animal Health Chief Executive Officer Annette Kleiser described the vaccine as a breakthrough in protecting honeybees. "We are ready to change how we care for insects, impacting food production on a global scale," she stated.

The CEO added that these insects are livestock, which should be prioritized to have the same resources to care for them and protect them that other animals receive such as chickens, cats, dogs, etc.

Relate Article: Bees Can Sting, But Did You Know that They Can Heal During Pollination?

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Cryptocurrency is still gunning for the future, especially with global leaders and entities in the industry coming together at CES 2023 to feature the climate actions for sustainability on these digital coins. Alongside this, CryptoWatch also scooped the latest charge by Square Enix to increase its blockchain investments and the latest on FTX's hearing.

(Photo : Tech Times)

From the advancements to further improve the cryptocurrency industry via the CES 2023 pledge to a greener and cleaner future, down to Sam Bankman-Fried's plea, here are the top stories from last week.

CES 2023's Pledge to a Cleaner, Greener future with Crypto

Climate Change advocates and industry leaders came together on a panel discussion at CES 2023 to discuss the future of cryptocurrency in the world.

For the longest time, it is known that cryptocurrency operations have been one of the significant sources of heating up the planet, especially with digital coin mining that uses coal-powered energy and takes a toll on its location's power grids.

There are also significant carbon emissions that cryptocurrency operations bring to the world, and these companies and leaders aim to change this moving forward. Companies like ClimateTrade aims to help businesses and offers their service to help shift from a destructive setup to a more eco-friendly one.

Crusoe Energy Solutions, Allinfra, Chia Network, and other members also joined the stage for this initiative in changing the industry forever.

Read Also: CryptoWatch: FTX's Court Hearing Events, and the 'Unsellable' NFT Marketplace

Square Enix's Blockchain Investment

The famous Japanese multinational video games developer, Square Enix, is still believing in the blockchain and their recent move shows a push to increase its investments toward digital currency games.

Square Enix's move was publicized on New Year's day, with an open letter from business president Yosuke Matsuda, who claimed that it will focus more on web3 gaming developments moving forward.

These will center on new initiatives from the company, as well as supporting the entire industry as a whole for the future of blockchain-based games.

Its top prospects include global web3 platforms and initiatives, including Japan-based businesses and projects that are now under development.

SBF Pleads 'Not Guilty' on Charges

In a massive turn of events on FTX's hearing regarding its bankruptcy case and other criminal charges against its executives, former CEO and co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried pled "not guilty" to fraud against his name.

Bankman-Fried's charges include fraud and wire fraud, after several allegations and claims against him for transferring funds from one company to another, but also his name.

Previously, ex-executives from Alameda Research who were also charged with fraud claimed that SBF lied to investors to get them to transfer money to him, using the crypto trading firm for his gains.

The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried will commence later this October, and investigate the many questionable happenings amidst FTX's demise.

Related Article: US-Based Crypto Exchange Kraken Will Halt Business Operations in Japan

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Korean-based company, Ploonet, has revealed a metahuman technology at CES 2023, as reported by Interesting Engineering.

(Photo : KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Dr. Nisar Ahmad Wani, Scientific Director of the Reproductive Biotechnology Center, examines a sample at the centre's laboratory in Dubai on June 4, 2021.

How It Works

The process is quick and easy. Individual only needs to step into a green screen booth and position themselves with the guidance of two marked areas on the floor. Then, the individual will be recorded for 40 seconds and will be told to gesture as if talking in the pre-written script they provided prior.

It's important to record the video with the mount slightly open but without moving the lips. Only a slight movement of the head is allowed.

AI-Powered Platform

Cloning yourself is done through the AI-powered platform and creating your avatar. The avatar can speak any language with a given script. What's even interesting is the technology is language-agnostic. In addition, it is similar to deep-fake technology.

Also Read: [WATCH] Clone Develops a Terrifyingly Human-Like Robotic Arm

Real-Life Applications

The company said that it could be used in office settings-for example, a CEO can deliver a message to his employees. It can also be used for explainer videos and product instructions as well.

Aside from the virtual avatar that it can do, the technology can also make it interactive.

There are many uses for a virtual clone avatar, especially if it's used for marketing. It can be used for a personal interview or for a marketing demonstration for example.

Those in the corporate industry can use this technology for in-person or remote conferences. Sales representatives who don't want to travel too much can use this technology to present their products or services. It can also be used in e-learning.

The Time for Metahumans?

The development of this meta-human technology will definitely be welcomed and embraced by those in the corporate industry. There are many applications to this metahuman technology, and it will indeed be an interesting area to observe.

Technology has made a fast development in recent years, and with the emergence of metahuman technologies, it's only a matter of time before a real-life metahuman will appear.

Human Cloning

Human cloning is still on the horizon, but technology is evolving at a fast pace, according to Scienceline. It might be possible in the future if a breakthrough can be achieved. The development of this technology is impressive, and it allows users to achieve sensations of consciousness.

With the emergence of this technology, human cloning will be possible, and human augmentation can be done to achieve a better system.

The ethics of human cloning is still being debated. But there are already individuals who are already cloning themselves.

The development of this technology is impressive. It can be used for humans to clone themselves or create virtual clones to make life much easier.

The potential uses for this technology are limitless, and it's only a matter of finding proper ways to use it.

All in all, the emergence of metahuman technology is something to look forward to. With this technology, human cloning will be possible, and it will allow users to achieve a better system.

Related Article: Chinese Scientists Clone an Arctic Wolf With Beagle as Surrogate Mother

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SpaceX is stacking up the Starship's Ship 24 and the Super Heavy Booster 7 in its Boca Chica launch facility where the Mechazilla, the towering giant chopsticks for stacking and catching the spacecraft. This is in preparation for its possible launch that Elon Musk made known via Twitter, with a timeline already available for its first orbital launch.

There already are plans for the company's massive Mars rocket to go on an actual flight test in real space conditions soon, for its plans to go off-world and assess the spacecraft.

SpaceX Starship, Super Heavy Now Fully-Stacked in Boca Chica

(Photo : Loren Elliott/Getty Images)

The famed global space company shared a video on this year's full stacking of the Starship Ship 24 and the Super Heavy Booster 7 over at its Boca Chica facility. And while SpaceX did not mention anything regarding the purpose of this stacking, there is information that it is in preparation for its upcoming test flight soon.

SpaceX showed a drone time-lapse video of the entire stacking process of the Starship, with its updated heat shields and black color that is a different look to its Stainless Steel finish.

It also shows the seamless process of stacking the Starship and Super Heavy Booster together, with the company already having mastery of this spacecraft, signifying its readiness for future launches.

Read Also: NASA, SpaceX Rescue Mission? Space Agency Considers Backup Amidst Leaky Soyuz

Ship 24 stacked on Super Heavy Booster 7 at Starbase in Texas pic.twitter.com/hLcghfq349  SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 10, 2023

When is the Starship's First Orbital Launch?

In a tweet reply by Musk to Whole Mars Blog, the CEO revealed that the company would soon have its first orbital launch for the fully-stacked Starship by late February, its real shot at doing so. However, should there be any problem by then, Musk also mentions that there is a massive chance of doing its launch to orbit by March.

We have a real shot at late February. March launch attempt appears highly likely.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 8, 2023



The CEO confirmed this earlier today, with a sure launch for this year for its Starship mission.

SpaceX and its Starship Mission

The Starship fought long and hard on its environmental assessment from the Federal Aviation Authority, and this is one of the massive reasons for the long wait for the spacecraft's launch and tests. Moreover, it asked members of the public and environmental groups regarding their opinion about the rocket, and what it would bring to everyone.

Despite Musk's focus on Twitter nowadays, SpaceX is a self-running company like Tesla, and there were many missions it flew since the CEO's takeover of the social media.

The billionaire's busy schedule also did not interfere with SpaceX's operations, with NASA saying that the Starship can go on orbital launch last December.

Despite that timeline from NASA not happening last month, there is an update now for its soon launch coming by either late February or early March, and it is only several weeks away from its tests. This orbital launch test would also be significant for SpaceX and the world, as it will only prove that humans are a step closer to Mars.

Related Article: SpaceX Deploys 114 Satellites With the Transporter-6 Mission

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The artificial intelligence research firm OpenAI is developing an iOS app that will leverage ChatGPT, its hugely successful chatbot, to assist users in finding information using an interface akin to iMessage, as reported first by Interesting Engineering.

The software is now under beta testing, and a demo version was posted on the business social networking website LinkedIn.

It's Going to be Awesome

According to information provided by Jason Calacanis, an investor, entrepreneur, and a member of Elon Musk's inner circle at Twitter, OpenAI's app already has a search feature and a thread history visible in the publicly available samples.

"OpenAI is building a ChatGPT-powered iOS app, with an iMessage-like interface. The private TestFlight beta includes thread history and a search function," Calacanis wrote in a post.

"Imagine a world where you have an indexed search history of all your ChatGPT communications accessible via a native app. It's going to be awesome."

A time may come when all previous communications with ChatGPT can be looked for with the aid of these features, and it could become easier with the help of a smartphone app.

There may come a day when all previous communications with ChatGPT can be looked for with the aid of these, and it could become easier with the help of a smartphone app.

OpenAI's growing popularity might present strong competition against Google's dominion on searches.

What's the Hype with ChatGPT?

ChatGPT, which was introduced in November of last year, gained notoriety around the world for its simplicity in responding to difficult inquiries.

The chatbot's GPT3.5 algorithm, developed by Open AI, is trained to understand what users mean when they ask questions.

The algorithm employs enormous language models in order to predict the words that will come next, follow commands, and provide appropriate responses. This capability of ChatGPT presents a huge challenge to Google's search dominance.

Read also: ChatGPT Gains Excellent Reviews, OpenAI CEO Reminds Users Not to Use It For Anything Important Just Yet

Risks of Academic Fraud

With the software's rapidly growing popularity, schools and the anti-cheating software Turnitin have expressed concerns that ChatGPT may pose risks of academic fraud.

According to Eric Wang, vice president of artificial intelligence at Turnitin, what ChatGPT is offering is a significant advancement, and the team behind the plagiarism detector service was taken aback by its advanced capabilities.

But for the time being, Wang said that ChatGPT's answers are still easily identified by the Turnitin software and teachers.

He claims that the language model used by the service frequently generates linear phrases and selects large, conspicuous terms rather than the occasionally limited vocabulary that a student might use, and has numerous factual errors as well.

Related Article: OpenAI Codex Has Efficiency of Multiple Programmers-Translating the English Language Into Codes To Make Games, Sites, and MORE!

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According to recent filings with Singapore's regulator, LionsBot International, a cleaning robot manufacturer, has raised approximately $17 million in a Series A funding round. This development comes in a recent report from Nikkei Asia.

The startup's filings with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) tell us that the latest funding round was led by TransLink Capital, Supersteam Asia Pacific, Freny Firoze Irani, and LionsBot's founders.

TransLink Capital, the lead investor, is a venture capital firm based in the United States that assists entrepreneurs in expanding into Asia. According to the filings, it contributed $7 million to the round.

LionsBot's Cleaning Robots

LionsBot, founded in 2018, specializes in developing cleaning robots for commercial applications. LeoBot, the company's flagship product, is a highly advanced cleaning robot capable of vacuuming and scrubbing large public areas with minimal human oversight.

The interactive robot can be programmed to carry out various cleaning tasks, making it an invaluable asset to any commercial cleaning operation.

One thing that makes LeoBot stand out is the technology that helps it avoid obstacles so it can clean around them.

Furthermore, the robot has auto-docking capabilities, allowing it to charge itself and return to its charging station when the battery runs low. The robot also has batteries that use AI to ensure they last as long as possible. It also has different cleaning modes that can be changed to fit different cleaning situations.

Read Also: Ploonet Develops a Language-Agnostic Digital Clone That Will Let You Create Your Metahuman

The R3 Scrub is the latest addition to LionsBot's floor-cleaning robots. This innovative robot, designed for use in both homes and offices, is packed with features that make it an efficient and convenient cleaning solution.

The R3 Scrub's smart navigation technology is one of its most notable features. This robot, equipped with sensors that allow it to navigate around obstacles and tight spaces, can clean thoroughly and effectively, leaving no spot untouched.

A Growing Market

According to a recent Statista market report, the global robotic vacuum cleaner market is expected to grow significantly over the next few years. Based on the report, which spans 2015 to 2025, the market was worth 1.84 billion US dollars in 2018 and is expected to reach 4.98 billion US dollars by 2025.

Meanwhile, Nikkei Asia tells us that the Singapore cleaning robot market is also rising. The International Federation of Robotics released a report in 2021 that there are 605 robots for every 10,000 workers in the manufacturing industry. This is the second-highest number in the world after South Korea, which has 932 robots for every 10,000 workers.

Increasing consumer demand for robotic vacuum cleaners is driving market growth. These devices can now navigate complex environments like multi-level homes. They also have convenient features like scheduling, mapping, and voice control.

LionsBot's recent funding round demonstrates the growing demand for cleaning robots and their role in the future of commercial cleaning operations.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

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Face recognition is allegedly used to identify Iranian women violating the hijab laws.

(Photo : Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

A man uses an iris recognition scanner during the Biometrics 2004 exhibition and conference October 14, 2004 in London. The conference will examine the role of new technology such as facial recognition and retinal scans to determine identity to improve security.

In 2022, the Iranian government already confirmed its plans to use this technology to enforce new hijab regulations.

Mohammad Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani, Iran's Headquarters for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice, confirmed this plan.

As of writing, Iran hasn't confirmed if it is using the surveillance tech for the said reason.

But, some instances show that face recognition is already identifying women violating hijab laws.

Is Iran Using Face Recognition to Identify Women Breaking Hijab Laws?

According to The Wired UK's latest report, many Iranian women believe that authorities already use surveillance tech to capture hijab law violators.

(Photo : Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

A Muslim woman wearing a Niqab poses inside an Asian fashion shop in the British northern town of Blackburn, the constituency of Member of Parliament Jack Straw, where a quarter of his constituents are Muslim on October 6, 2006, Blackburn, England.

Also Read: California Law Bans Police From Using Facial Recognition Software In Body Cameras

Mahsa Alimardani, a University of Oxford researcher focusing on freedom and expression in Iran, explained that many Iranian women are receiving citations in the mail for hijab violations.

She added that these ladies had no interaction with law enforcement officers.

This shows that the women were identified using a technology that recognizes people without physical confrontation.

If Iran does use face recognition to impose hijab laws, it would be the first known instance that a government is using surveillance tech to ensure women follow dress law based on religious belief.

Hijab Law: Are Men Also Required to Follow?

ABC News reported that the Iranian government would imprison anyone who violates the hijab laws.

Violators can be imprisoned for up to two months. In some instances, women are even flogged with 74 lashes.

For the past few years, the Iranian government has been strict with its hijab laws. Girls as young as seven years old are being forced to follow these dress code regulations.

Iranian men are also subjected to clothing laws. These include wearing Islamic clothes, caps, and growing beards.

If you want to learn more details about Iran's hijab laws, you can click this link.

Other face recognition tech stories we recently wrote:

A previous study claimed that face recognition works best for people with light skin and less accurately for people of color.

Tencent's face recognition was previously introduced to prevent kids from playing too many video games.

For more news updates about face recognition and other surveillance technologies, keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Live Face Recognition Tech Uses by UK Police Is Unethical, Research Claims

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Microsoft is reportedly in talks of investing in the viral AI startup, Open AI, to integrate into their Office 365 system.

The tech community has been buzzing about ChatGPT for several weeks since it went viral. The AI model, a subset of the GPT-3 family of big language models, has been applied to various tasks, including programming and college essay writing.

According to Semafor, Microsoft has been in talks to invest $10 billion into the company that owns ChatGPT, the enormously popular program that has delighted both casual users and artificial intelligence researchers since its most recent version was published last month.

Although it is still unclear if the agreement has been reached, documents outlining its terms that were recently sent to prospective investors stated that closing by the end of 2022 was the target date.

What Is the OpenAI Startup?

In 2022, OpenAI, which Silicon Valley businessman Sam Altman established, made its ChatGPT available to the general public. The program is a natural language processing model, which means it is made to produce content that seems to have been written by a human.

CNBC reports that despite hopes for its future, the initiative is losing money because of the extreme amount of demand on its servers brought on by its virality. Altman reported that 1 million users had used ChatGPT five days after OpenAI published it.

After receiving the financing, which would also come from other venture capital firms, the company that invented ChatGPT, OpenAI, would be valued at $29 billion, per the sources.

Read Also: Microsoft Office Excel Spreadsheets Are Being Used to Spread Malware! Here's How

What Is Microsoft's Plan For OpenAI?

According to Search Engine Journal, Microsoft is considering integrating OpenAI's ChatGPT technology into its well-known office suite, which includes Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

Users of Microsoft 365, formerly known as Office, may soon be able to utilize the program to write content using straightforward commands. This change can increase efficiency and productivity by enabling users to do activities more quickly and precisely.

Additionally, Microsoft may be able to increase its efforts in the Google-dominated web search industry. Although the company's Bing browser only has a small part of the worldwide search engine market, it is believed that the transaction will enable the company to challenge Google's hegemony by providing more sophisticated search features.

If the deal pushes through, Microsoft will receive a 75% cut of OpenAI's income up until it recovers its investment, at which point it will take a 49% ownership position in the company. The deal is part of a funding round with other investors involved that would value OpenAI at a whopping $29 billion, Semafor reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Although term sheets offered to potential investors said the sale was to be closed by the end of 2022, it still remains unclear whether the agreement has been concluded.

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The new DJI RS 3 Mini has been unveiled by the Chinese tech firm.

(Photo : Screenshot from DJI's official website )

DJI RS 3 Mini Camera Stabilizer Review: Features, Price, and More

DJI announced the arrival of its new camera stabilizer via its official Twitter account.

"DJI RS 3 Mini puts the industry-leading stabilization technology of the RS 3 series into a stunningly compact and lightweight gimbal," said the drone maker.

Meet the new DJI RS 3 Mini



DJI RS 3 Mini puts the industry-leading stabilization technology of the RS 3 series into a stunningly compact and lightweight gimbal that allows you to travel lighter and shoot better.



Move light with RS 3 Mini: https://t.co/rqJ96knXGp pic.twitter.com/6fkP0ZKbZT  DJI (@DJIGlobal) January 10, 2023

In the comment section, many fans shared their excitement. One of them even said he would sell his Ronin SC just to purchase the new RS 3 Mini.

DJI RS 3 Mini Camera Stabilizer Review

According to Gizmodo's latest report, the new RS 3 Mini is a smaller version of the Ronin Series 3 stabilizer.

(Photo : Screenshot from DJI's official website )

DJI RS 3 Mini Camera Stabilizer Review: Features, Price, and More

Also Read: Top Best Buy Camera and Camera Tech Deals This January 2023: Ringlights, SD Cards, and Webcams

Despite its tiny size, the new camera stabilizer of DJI can support DSLRs and mirrorless cams weighing up to 4.4 pounds or 2 kilograms.

These include the Canon EOS R5 with an RF24-70mm F2.8 STM lens and the Sony A7S3 with a 24-70mm F2.8 GM lens.

The new DJI RS 3 Mini gimbal might be tiny, but it can still hold any rig up to 4.4 lbs, like:



Sony A7S III

Canon R5

Sony FX3

Panasonic S5 pic.twitter.com/CwTNHHkg61  Moment (@moment) January 10, 2023

DJI said that the new RS 3 Mini could support these cameras even if their zoom lenses are fully extended.

This means that users no longer need to re-balance the DJI RS 3 Mini when shooting close-up photos or videos.

RS 3 Mini's Price, Features

The new DJI RS 3 Mini is cheaper than the RS 3 and RS 3 Pro.

Interested consumers can buy this new camera accessory for only $369. They can purchase it via DJI's official store or through authorized retailers.

(Photo : Screenshot from DJI's official website )

DJI RS 3 Mini Camera Stabilizer Review: Features, Price, and More

For beginners who want to ensure that their DJI RS 3 Mini is ensured, they can purchase the company's Care Refresh insurance.





DJI RS 3 Mini

small, lightweight handheld stabilizer

supports mainstream mirrorless camera and lens combinations pic.twitter.com/EzIYTnJiKt  QUICKRANE (@QUICKRANE1) January 8, 2023

When it comes to features, the new DJI RS 3 Mini offers a 3rd-gen RS stabilization algorithm, native vertical shooting capability, a 1.4-inch full-color touchscreen, as well as Bluetooth shutter control.

When it comes to weight, the new RS 3 Mini is 50% lighter than the RS 3 Pro and 40% lighter than the RS 3.

If you want to learn more about DJI's new tiny camera stabilizer, you can visit this link.

Although DJI offers advanced camera accessories, the Chinese tech manufacturer's priority is still its drones.

Recently, the new DJI Avata, an efficient FPV drone for beginners, was released.

We also reported that the affordable DJI Mavic 4 Classic drone was launched as well.

For more news updates about DJI and its upcoming products, keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

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The Bismarck School Board on Monday voted to censure member Emily Eckroth because of her confrontation with police during a traffic stop last fall.

A censure is a formal reprimand. The board -- which does not have the authority under state law to remove Eckroth because she is an elected official -- also voted to strip her of her portfolio and school visit assignments until Dec. 1, when her period of probation ends. The votes came after the other board members expressed disappointment with Eckroth's actions, which Board President Jon Lee said put the entire group out of compliance with its code of conduct. Board members asked her to resign.

Eckroth said she was "very sorry that this happened" when given the chance to speak, but added, "I will not be resigning tonight."

Separately, a citizens group is preparing to mount an effort to force a recall election to try to remove Eckroth from her seat, which she was elected to hold until 2026.

Police video footage released to the Tribune in December shows Eckroth cursing out Burleigh County deputy sheriffs, ignoring their commands, and urinating in the back of a patrol vehicle as they dealt with her husband during a DUI traffic stop on Interstate 94 in Bismarck on Sept. 3. Her husband, Ryan Eckroth -- an unsuccessful Bismarck-area state legislative candidate in last June's Republican primary election -- was not arrested or charged with DUI.

Emily Eckroth in December pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of physical obstruction of a government function related to the traffic stop. She was sentenced to nearly a year of unsupervised probation and $325 in court fees.

Eckroth during Monday's meeting said: "There is a lot more behind it than even the video said. There are things that were bleeped out that are not correct. And that being said, that's for my lawyer, not to be discussed here at this board meeting."

She made no further comments about the matter.

Eckroth issued a statement last month in which she said she "accepted responsibility for my regrettable actions" and asked "for understanding and respect of my privacy in this matter as I move forward." She also criticized the media for reporting about her arrest.

Board member Donnell Preskey during Monday's meeting said she was "really distraught" watching the video.

"I am both disappointed and heartbroken over Emily Eckroth's mistreatment of law enforcement on Sept. 3," said Preskey, the executive director of the North Dakota Sheriffs and Deputies Association.

Preskey said law enforcement resource officers are an important part of school operations, "and their goal is to build relationships and gain trust with our students."

"I think about the importance of being role models, sitting in these chairs," she said. "And I fear what students are taking away if they watch that video interaction with law enforcement. It's my opinion that this behavior is unacceptable."

Board members Josh Hager and Dan Eastgate also expressed disappointment with Eckroth.

"This has taken some of the energy and focus off the areas where we should have it," Hager said, adding later that "We are expected to model good behavior and be leaders for the kids, teachers and administrators."

All five board members, including Eckroth, voted to censure her; Eckroth was alone in voting against the stripping of her portfolio and school visit duties. The school board website lists her portfolio as "learning excellence."

Eckroth, a family physician, was elected in June to the School Board, which oversees the states largest school district. School board members serve four-year terms and receive an annual salary of $9,000.

Lee stressed that other board members do not have the authority to remove Eckroth, and said it would be up to the community to recall her or to petition Gov. Doug Burgum to remove her.

"We did find ourselves out of compliance on (code of conduct policy) solely on the actions of one board member," Lee said. "'Out of compliance' does mean that a change needs to take place."

A group of local residents has begun the process to have Eckroth recalled. The Facebook group Recall Emily Eckroth from the Bismarck Public School Board plans to submit its petition to the North Dakota Secretary of State office later this week.

Once the petition is approved for circulation, the group will have 90 days to gather 2,709 signatures required by state law to bring the matter to voters via a special election. The number is equal to 25% of the voters in the most recent school board election.

We don't anticipate it being a challenge to gather the signatures because there's a lot of very disappointed folks in Bismarck, Karen Dunlap, chair of the recall organizing committee, told the Tribune.

Based on her behavior I don't believe she is a person that I want my children to say: 'I should look up to this person,' Dunlap said.

Dunlap, a parent of two BPS students, also addressed the board Monday.

"It is understandable that people make mistakes -- even excusable," she said. "It is the failure to fully own up to these things and exhibit contrition that is the problem."

Bismarck business owner Jan Wangler suggested the board should support Eckroth publicly and "criticize privately."

"I think that we could pull records not only from this board, but every commission and board that the city and the county and the state for that matter (have), and we could find a whole lot of skeletons in the closet," she said.
DHAKA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with his Bangladeshi counterpart Abdul Momen briefly at the airport in the Bangladeshi capital early Tuesday on further improving bilateral relations.

At a stopover on his way to a visit to African countries, Qin said both sides spoke highly of the friendship between China and Bangladesh.

Both countries agreed to strengthen communication and exchanges in the new year so as to jointly push forward their bilateral ties.
A North Dakota lawmaker has proposed a bill that would make schools and government boards host a voluntary recitation for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Rep. Pat Heinert, R-Bismarck, introduced House Bill 1120. The proposed legislation would require that school districts allow the Pledge of Allegiance to be said at the beginning of each school day.

The North Dakota Legislature passed a law in 2021 that gives schools the authority to say the pledge. This bill would replace "may" authorize with "shall."

Any public governing body, including school boards, county commissions, city councils and the state industrial commission, also would have to start their meetings with the Pledge of Allegiance.

I think it will benefit all of the people of the United States and North Dakota because it will bring us back to a baseline of loving our country, Heinert said. The Pledge of Allegiance is a gatherer of people who believe in what we stand for as a country and as a state.

No one would be required to say the pledge. Language in the bill says it gives elected officials "the opportunity to participate in a voluntary recitation" of the pledge.

We wanted to require it, but we cant because theres a Supreme Court ruling out of some eastern state, Heinert said. What it does is give them the opportunity to do it, but it encourages them to do it before any government meeting.

In the 1943 case of West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled schools cant force children in public schools to salute the American flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance.

North Dakota law also says "a student may not be required to recite the pledge."

The bill comes after the Fargo Public School Board voted on Aug. 9 to stop saying the Pledge of Allegiance. The move sparked a public outcry both locally and nationally.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum also chimed in by saying he wanted to help craft a bill that would give elected officials and students the opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and express support for the American ideals upon which our country was founded. Heinert was one of four legislators who agreed to collaborate with Burgum's office to draft the legislation.

After receiving threatening messages, Fargo school board members voted 8-1 during an Aug. 18 special meeting to resume saying the pledge.

Heinert said the Fargo controversy didnt influence his decision to introduce his bill.

I was already thinking about it prior to that, he said.

Burgum spokesman Mike Nowatzki confirmed his office worked with Heinert on the concept of the bill. The governor generally doesn't comment on bills before they reach his desk, Nowatzki said.

That being said ... he has been clear in his position that students in public schools, along with elected governing bodies and those who attend their meetings, should have the opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance," Nowatzki said.

Heinert said he feels the bill will garner a lot of support, adding it has already attracted a lot of attention.

Im assuming it is going to pass and pass pretty solidly, he said.

When asked how the bill would be enforced and what would happen if a governing board or school doesnt give board members, teachers or students the opportunity to say the pledge, Heinert said all the state likely could do is issue a sanction that asks the law be followed.
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There are rumors that North Dakota lawmakers could be dealing with as many as 15 abortion-related bills in the session that opened last week.

Lets hope they are nothing but rumors.

History and circumstances, though, make it clear there will be some, even if 15 turns out to be an inflated number.

For decades abortion has had an outsized presence in the Capitols legislative wing. Abortion bills have been introduced in 10 of the 11 legislative sessions this century, and there have been dozens more in the previous three decades.

With its long and divisive history, this single issue may even be considered the primary precursor to todays politics of opposition and incivility.

Some legislators have been dragged almost kicking and screaming into the never-ending string of anti-abortion proposals. Our legislative system, for good reasons, allows all lawmakers to introduce any bills they want. As a result, some legislators spend much of their time and energy working on socially conservative causes, most notably abortion.

When those bills get introduced, many conservative legislators who would rather be spending their time on fiscal and policy issues are forced to stand up in support. Who among them, after all, would want to be branded as someone who voted against an anti-abortion bill?

Clearly there is deeply held passion on both ends of the abortion political spectrum.

Some see it as taking the life of a human being. Its easy to see how those who believe that would be strongly opposed to all abortions.

Some see it as a health care or medical issue and believe women should have the right to choose what happens with their bodies.

The clash returned to the forefront last summer when the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade, ruling that states have the right to outlaw abortion if they choose.

Completely banning abortion, though, is out of touch with the beliefs of a majority of Americans. No one likes abortion, but for many years many opinion polls have revealed that most of us believe it should be legal, at least in certain circumstances.

Last May Pew Research Center found that 61% of Americans believe abortion should be legal.

In September of 2021 a Quinnipiac poll found 63% support abortion being legal.

Before the Supreme Court overturned Roe, Quinnipiac, Marquette Law School and CNN all conducted polls showing 63% to 72% felt it should remain the law of the land.

In 2014 in North Dakota, voters by nearly 2 to 1 rejected a personhood measure that would have amended the state constitution to say the inalienable right to life of every human being at any stage of development must be recognized and protected.

The point is that most of us dont see this issue as black and white, and that the relentless, never-ending stream of restrictive bills is not a reflection of where the silent majority believes we should be.

Among the as yet unknown number of bills expected to be considered this year is some good news. A bill that would reconcile differences in state law that some doctors say could hinder care for pregnant patients with life-threatening ailments could get support from those on both sides of the abortion debate.

Unlike the more commonly polarizing bills, it would represent a compromise that would reveal a sliver of legislative reason reflective of public opinion.

Such an olive branch would quickly wither, though, if the rumor of a dozen or more abortion bills becomes reality.
Weixin releases its Industry Resilience and Recovery Potential Report 2023 at Weixin Open Class PRO

Weixin, Tencents popular social platform in China, saw its ecosystem expand last year with the robust growth of Channels, or Video Accounts, according to its annual flagship event Weixin Open Class PRO 2023, held on Jan 10.

Weixin Channels made new strides last year with a growing number of services and content for businesses and consumers, according to Weixin. It has garnered substantial user engagement since its internal beta testing on Jan 21, 2020. The feature, which allows everyone to record, create and share videos, saw the total user time exceed 80% of Moments, with the latter providing mutual contacts with asynchronous photos, videos, and audio sharing.

Weixin Channels total number of views grew over 200% year-on-year, while video views based on AI recommendations increased by over 400% year-on year. Daily active creators and video uploads on Channels rose by over 100% year-on-year. The number of creators with 10,000 or more followers, viral videos with 100,000+ likes, and views of original videos skyrocketed by 308%, 186% and 350% year-on-year, respectively. On the livestreaming section, the number of users, viewing time, number of creators with high-quality content, and time spent broadcasting was up by 300%, 156%, 614% and 83%, respectively.

As Channels is boosting its support with more functions such as long video formats, dynamic soundtrack editing, live streaming, livestreaming e-commerce, quick sharing and homepage product window, more merchants and brands are increasingly tapping into Weixins vast user base for engagement with consumers.

Livestreaming e-commerce on Channels continued to grow rapidly over the past year, with total gross merchandise value (GMV) up by more than 800% from 2021, and the average transaction value surpassed RMB200(US$29.5).

The growth was mainly driven by the increase in the number of livestreaming shoppers and the improvement of platform efficiency, thanks to the companys three-pronged efforts to improve the shopping experience through livestreaming, enhancing management toolkit for businesses to optimize their supply chains, and continuously refining the service system to facilitate collaborative growth with merchants and service providers.

The private domain transactions continued to contribute to a significant part of online deals on Weixin Channels. More brands and influencers chose to connect with their community members and Weixin Public Account followers with Channels, which helped boost traffic in private domains and move toward sustainable and stable business operations.

Fueling Growth in the Real Economy

Such trends have underpinned Weixins impact on the real economy in China. The number of Weixin Mini Programs has surged by 183% amid the extensive application in tourist attractions, hotels, air travel and other fields since 2020.

According to the Industry Resilience and Recovery Potential Report 2023 that Weixin released at the Weixin Open Class PRO, the number of daily active WeCom enterprise users in the manufacturing sector rose 30% year-on-year, among which SME companies with less than 500 employees rose 35%. WeCom is Weixins dedicated product for enterprises that includes convenient communication and office automation tools.

Active Mini Programs in the food and beverage sectors and their transactions registered steady growth. Retailers in home furnishings, shoes/apparel/sports, and other sectors all reported that their Mini Programs revenues expanded more than 47% year-on-year.

In the FMCG (Fast-moving consumer goods) sector, digital connection between products and sales has enabled small brick-and-mortar stores to engage in smart, agile operations. For example, drinks and dairy products can be quickly distributed to physical stores, while retailers or suppliers of fresh and frozen foods can easily process the order and delivery through Weixin Mini Programs.

The GMV of FMCG and F&B rise by more than 40% year-on year. In addition, digital tools such as QR codes, Mini Programs and community-based marketing have helped tens of millions of physical stores see new growth in the digital era.

In providing better products and services for users, Weixin said it will continue to refine its digital tool offerings to help brick-and-mortar merchants achieve new growth amid challenges, as well as cooperate with merchants and service providers together to embrace the arrival of economic recovery.
With the December 31 passing of Pope Benedict XVI, the Catholic Church, Christianity, and the world lost one of the most significant and insightful minds of the last century. Certainly, within the Church, Joseph Ratzinger was among the most influential and esteemed theologians of the second half of the 20th century, all the way through his pontificate in the early 21st, to include the period of the Second Vatican Council, to which he was an important adviser. Unfortunately, this intimidating intellectual stature often led observers to paint Ratzinger, as Benedict and before, as a curmudgeonly recluse, bookish and aloof, where his predecessor in the Chair of St. Peter had been outgoing and charismatic. In fact, though, Ratzinger the theologian was an exciting figure with an uplifting style, writing on serious and complex subject matters in a way that made it accessible and moving for the wider public. Moreover, his speeches and written work were optimistic and generous to his interlocutors, with calls for the faithful to engage happily and lovingly with the world. It is this Joseph Ratzinger, this Pope Benedict XVI, that should be celebrated at this time, both because such recognition is deserved and because so many of his consistent messages bear repeating now and in the future.

Among the remarkable contributions of Pope Benedict XVI to Western thought, his address to the faculty of the University of Regensburg in September 2006, or The Regensburg Lecture, stands out. In it the then-pontiff provides, in brief and moving form, a truly enlightening summary of the relation between faith and reason in the modern world. The speech made international headlines and caused no small amount of controversy for one particular line, which contained not Benedicts own words but those of a 14th-century Byzantine emperor in dialogue with a Persian counterpart around the time of the siege of Constantinople. The dialogue was relevant as it covered the themes of both faith in relation to reason and violence in relation to faith. The controversial quote, which was critical of Islam in its position on these philosophical relations, was even introduced by Benedict with the disclaimer that it was made with a startling brusqueness, a brusqueness that we find unacceptable. That disclaimer notwithstanding, many in the Muslim world took great exception, and many in the Western media followed suit.

That said, most in the West, to include prominent political figures, insisted that the quote was purposely being taken out of context and that the speech in general was to be celebrated. The world moved on, and now the Regensburg Lecture can rightly be viewed and discussed for the masterpiece that it is. True to form, Benedict began the remarks with a celebration of collegiality among diverse thinkers from varying fields of study: Despite our specializations which at times make it difficult to communicate with each other, we made up a whole, working in everything on the basis of a single rationality with its various aspects and sharing responsibility for the right use of reason. The basis in reason, and its right use, was telling, as the pope went on to emphasize reason as a theme that could unify modernity, progress, and faith.

Specifically, Benedict teased out, starting with the Byzantine emperors (Manuel II Palaeologus) dialogue, the way in which Greek philosophywhat the present-day observer might describe as Aristotelean thinkinghad joined the tenets of Christianity to clarify and forward an understanding of God and reason, resulting in an approach that the present-day observer might describe as Thomism. He quotes the emperor: God is not pleased by bloodand not acting reasonably is contrary to Gods nature. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats. Gods nature is to act with reason, Benedict emphasized, before tracing this line of thought throughout all of biblical and Christian tradition. The God of the burning bush, with the I am statement, asserted reality over myth, and reasserted the same reality even apart from the ancestral homeland of Israel at the time of the Babylonian exile (as Gods reality was not dependent on land). It was a point brought to ultimate clarity in the prologue to the Gospel of John: In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. Importantly, of course, word in that prologue was conveyed by the Greek logos, which meant, also, reason. This allowed Benedict to make clear, in a remarkably concise manner, that the combination of Greek thought with Christian tradition was no accident of history, no mere forced amalgamation of two separate schools of thinking. Rather, the compatibility of reason with faith was already inherent in Christianityas demonstrated by the above examplesand the turn to Greece itself was divinely intended, as shown in Acts, when Paul dreams of seeing the roads to Asia obstructed before hearing a man call him to Greece.

Of all the ways in which these points are important, Benedict was, given the theme of his speech, concentrating on the manner in which faith must remain a part of modern dialogue, with reason bridging any gaps between schools of thought. In his telling, this way of thinking was an important counter to raw empiricism, in which the subjective conscience becomes the sole arbiter of what is ethical and ethics and religion lose their power to create a community, representing a dangerous state of affairs for humanity, as we see from the disturbing pathologies of religion and reason which necessarily erupt when reason is so reduced that questions of religion and ethics no longer concern it.

Rather than this arbitrary separation, Benedict at Regensburg argued that the scientific ethos is  the will to be obedient to the truth, and, as such, it embodies an attitude which belongs to the essential decisions of the Christian spirit. Such a view balanced the possibilities of scientific progress with an ability, even a necessity, to perceive the dangers arising from these possibilities so that humanity could ask ourselves how we can overcome them. To not do so would be to court danger and sow division, he insisted, as a reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion into the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures. Rather than to remain so deafened, Benedict called for the courage to engage the whole breadth of reason, and not the denial of its grandeur. It is to this great logos, to this breadth of reason, that we invite our partners in the dialogue of cultures.

Brief and easily understandable, the Regensburg Lecture thus summarized the urgent need for a religious faithand specifically one that perceived reason as a part of the nature of Godto be ever incorporated into global dialogue on the state of mankind and its progress. Characteristically, Benedict presented his case in a manner that would be difficult to argue against, and that sought to accomplish its end through openness, collegiality, and mutual respect. His own words from the speech indicate why he could hardly do otherwise: The truly divine God is the God who has revealed himself as logos and  has acted and continues to act lovingly on our behalf. Certainly, love, as Saint Paul says, transcends knowledge and is thereby capable of perceiving more than thought alone. Consequently, Christian worship is  worship in harmony with the eternal Word and with our reason.

Love would be another great theme of Benedicts theology and pontificate, and also the subject of his most famous encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love). In its pages, in fact, he depicted how reason, or the communication of God, is received and enacted by humankind as love: The ancient world had dimly perceived that mans real food  is ultimately the logos, eternal wisdom: this same logos now truly becomes food for usas love. As an articulator of faith, reason, and lovewhat they are for the Church and what they are in the worldBenedict XVI was unparalleled; may he rest in the peace and the light of their source.
Lara Nicholson writes for The Advocate as a Report for America Corps Member. Email her at lnicholson@theadvocate.com or follow her on Twitter @LaraNicholson_.

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Democracy Prep Baton Rouge Charter School, seen Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. It opened in 2015, and last week voted to surrender its charter, meaning it will close its doors in May. The school has 516 students in grades preK-8, and occupies the facility of the former Prescott Middle, which was taken over by the state in 2008.
Less than a month after Hong Kong adjourned democracy advocate Jimmy Lais trial, Beijing has stacked the deck even further against the jailed entrepreneur and freedom fighter.

After the Hong Kong High Court postponed Lais trial in December, the responsibility fell to Beijings Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress to determine the role of the media moguls international legal counsel. Lai, 75, has been imprisoned since December of 2020 for pro-democracy activism and is already serving a five-year sentencefor an unconnected fraud conviction.

Despite Lais senior counsel speculating that Beijing could stay silent on the issue of the role of international counsels, the Committee issued its interpretation in late December: Hong Kong can intervene and seek to bar international lawyers from National Securityrelated trials. This ruling would allow Hong Kong to withhold qualified legal counsel from alleged violators of the countrys National Security Law and put the decisions of its High Court beyond the reach of judicial scrutiny.

For Jimmy Lai, this interpretation cuts off access to one of his most heavy-hitting defenders: veteran U.K. human rights lawyer Timothy Owen. Owen left Hong Kong in late 2022 after his visa expired, with Hong Kong chief executive John Lee petitioning Beijing to prevent his return.

Other human rights lawyers have been vocal critics of Beijings decision, with former Hong Kong attorney Samuel Bickett noting that the recent ruling gives John Lee power over both parties counsel, the judge, and the jury. With the loss of his international counsel, Lai could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted in his upcoming trial, now slated to begin in September 2023.

The Hong Konger, the Acton Institutes new documentary, tells the story of Jimmy Lais heroic struggle against authoritarian Beijing and its erosion of human rights in Hong Kong. It is currently being screened in cities around the world.
Western Australias biggest gas user, Alcoa, is continuing to cut production of alumina and burn expensive diesel, and an ammonia plant has shut down for the second time as Australias most gas-dependent state enters its seventh week of problems with the supply of the crucial fuel.

On Thursday, separate Santos and Chevron plants processing offshore gas for domestic use struck problems sending the WA gas market  already under pressure after a leaking pipe shut down a Santos gas platform six weeks ago  into disarray.

Chevron has been able to continue exporting gas from Wheatstone while it repairs equipment used to supply the local market. Credit:

Alcoa has cut production by 30 per cent at one of its three alumina refineries that make the aluminium ingredient from bauxite ore mined in south-west forests, and since Friday has been burning diesel to reduce gas use at two of the plants.

The problems would have been worse had the US company that manages the 4000-employee operation, 40 per cent owned by ASX-listed Alumina Limited, not secured additional gas from other suppliers.
This year, we prioritise attendance over arrest and relationships over roadblocks, as we stand together and become impossible to ignore. Its co-founder Clare Farrell told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that the change was not an acknowledgement that its tactics had turned off potential supporters. What it is, is a call to arms for the ordinary citizens who are saying along with the media, I like what they say, it [climate change] is really bad, but I dont like what they do, she said. So what were saying to them is, This time, show up. But one of the groups leading figures in Australia, Jane Morton, said it had no intention of toning down its tactics in this country.

Morton, who was involved in the action in which two XR members glued their hands to a Picasso painting at the National Gallery of Victoria in October last year, said the climate movement needed a radical flank to work alongside its mainstream arm. In the UK, she said, XR are temporarily positioning themselves closer to the mainstream climate movement. In Australia, XR itself remained on the radical fringe, while organisations like Schools Strike for Climate provided an avenue for more mainstream action. Morton, who has just turned 70, went into semi-retirement in 2016 to focus on climate activism after 40 years as a clinical psychologist. That year she helped bring the XR movement to Australia. Given climate models suggest the world may break through the Paris Agreements more ambitious target of 1.5 degrees of warming within the coming decade, and that so-called climate tipping points might be reached at between 1.5 degrees and 2 degrees of warming, radical protest action is now warranted, Morton said.

I think were at the stage where people accept that global warming is real and it is a threat. But a lot of people, including journalists and a lot of politicians, dont accept that its an emergency. She says a radical flank of activists risking arrest by disrupting traffic or gluing their hands to painting in galleries attracts massive media attention  and significant criticism  but attracted more support for the mainstream movement. The problem with climate is that if you look out the window, unless there is a fire or something, it just looks pretty normal. The only thing you can do that will give people an idea that it really is that serious is to do something that is really quite unusual  and be willing to, say, go to jail, because then it does get people thinking: is it more serious than what were being taught? And it is.

Scholars of social movements call this the radical flank effect. Speaking off the record, members of more mainstream Australian environmental groups agreed with her, but were unwilling to associate their organisations with hers publicly. Some prominent researchers believe the radical flank effect can be negative. Professor Michael Mann, one of the worlds leading climate scientists and advocates and director of the Penn Centre for Science, Sustainability and the Media said radical action can cost the movement support. He is the co-author of a recent related study and has long argued against what he calls doomism  the danger of discouraging climate action by engendering a sense of futility.

Loading What we found wasnt all that surprising, he said. Disruptive acts targeting commuters, or art lovers, is not the way to mobilise the public for a particular case. Writing on his study for Time magazine recently he said, Youth protesters have their heart in the right place but the organisations behind these protests need to do right by them by being smart about the design of any public interventions. That means, among other things, choosing sensible actions and appropriate targets. If we are to win the battle against polluters and their enablers, we will need public opinion on our side not theirs. An Extinction Rebellion protester at Parliament House, Canberra. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Morton remains unmoved by Manns argument. She says the world is in crisis, and by softening the message scientists like Mann risk misleading the public about the scope of threat. Loading So concerned are some scientists about the lack of urgent action that many joined the so-called Scientists Rebellion last year. One of them, Peter Kalmus, a NASA scientist who spoke out as a private citizen, said as he was being arrested in Los Angeles during a protest: Weve been trying to warn you guys for so many decades that were heading towards a f---ing catastrophe, and weve been ignored. Were not joking. Were not lying. Were not exaggerating.
My move to Australia had an inauspicious beginning. My parents would be selling my childhood home and moving to another country a few months after I left the northern hemisphere for the south, so my possessions faced an ultimatum. Everything must go  to Australia, or into the bin. There was no third option.

Determined to outfox the 23-kilogram limit imposed by the airline, I figured out what I thought was the perfect way to game the system: Just wear everything onto the plane. Then Id have the weight allowance to bring my collection of original Broadway cast CDs and an ugly bathrobe to which I had an unreasonable attachment. I was clad in tights, leggings, track pants and loose jeans, and several singlets, long-sleeved T-shirts, a few jackets and a winter coat.

We went to St Kilda, because it was the only suburb anyone in Ireland had heard of.

Sadly, this was seven years before the all-female Ghostbusters movie, because I would have made an absolutely perfect Stay Puft Marshmallow. If you think a 26-hour journey is uncomfortable, well, you probably havent done it wearing everything you own. It levels up a miserable experience to one that is truly hellish. Going through security in Dublin and Dubai were their own particular tortures.

It was February, which meant I was a little too warmly dressed for the 6 degrees it was when I boarded the plane in Dublin. If anyone else had forced me to wear that many clothes in the 40-degree Melbourne heat on the other end, they probably would have gone to prison.
North Sydney Council debates fur, leather ban

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Sydney boy Nicholas Tadros is facing a major test on his body as he undergoes a major operation seven days after a helicopter crash that killed his mother and three others on the Gold Coast.

The 10-year-old is in Queensland Childrens Hospital after the helicopter he was in collided with another and crashed into a sand bar near Sea World on January 2.

Nicholas was set to undergo six surgeries for broken bones in his legs and hands in a major six-hour operation on Tuesday, according to his father Simon Sim.

This will be a major test on his body, lungs and heart. I know its a bit late now to ask ppl to pray for tomorrow, I always miss the prayer sessions with you, its too full on for me atm, Sim wrote in a text message to friend Charlie Bakhos, which his friend posted on Facebook on Tuesday morning.
Police have arrested two men accused of stealing a car with a sleeping toddler in the back seat, after an appeal for information from the public.

A Melbourne father had left his car for a few minutes to buy an ice cream for his two-year-old son in Chelsea on Sunday afternoon when a thief jumped inside and drove off.

Passersby found the distraught young boy standing on the side of a nearby busy street shortly after the incident. The child was crying and wearing only a nappy when he was found.

On Tuesday, detectives from the Moorabbin crime investigation unit swooped into Frankston Shopping Centre to arrest an 18-year-old man from Narre Warren and a 20-year-old from Clarinda just after midday.
A dispute over whether teachers should receive time off in lieu for every hour they spend on school camps is bound for the industrial umpire.

And as schools warn parents that such camps are no longer affordable and operators report a drop in bookings, children are urging school councils not to axe the rite of passage.

We missed camps because of COVID and now we are going to miss it again, said Ava Paine, 11, who unsuccessfully petitioned Essendon Primary School council not to cut back in 2023.

Ava Paine, 11, is one of four students at Essendon Primary School who tried to get the school council to continue the three-night beach or snow camp this year. Credit: Scott McNaughton

The Australian Education Union has taken the Andrews government and the Department of Education and Training to Fair Work Australia, accusing them of reneging on a hard-won improvement to working conditions for teachers, who were last year awarded hour-for-hour time in lieu for attending school camps.
Phoenix police handcuffed and detained a Black Wall Street Journal reporter who was standing near a bank conducting interviews. Dion Rabouin was on a story about savings accounts, talking to passersby outside a Chase branch, when police approached him.

According to Yahoo!, Rabouin identified himself to police officer Caleb Zimmerman as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, but he later explained that the cop didn't want to see his credentials and cuffed him instead. Fortunately, a bystander began recording, which might have saved the reporter.

From Yahoo!:

Katelyn Parady, a bystander, recorded the conversation between officer Caleb Zimmerman and Rabouin. The video begins as the officer was placing Rabouin in handcuffs. "I heard him say he was going to leave. This is ridiculous. He's a reporter," Parady can be heard saying as the footage begins. Rabouin said the officer didn't want to look at his credentials.  "'If this isn't public property and I don't have a legal right to be here, if you're telling me that's not what this is, fine, I'll move.' And he literally, kind of, shifted his body to keep me from moving or going anywhere," Rabouin said. "And after we talked a little more, he said, 'I'm done with this.' And he started grabbing me. Grabbing at my arms. And I was kind of flustered and drew back. And he was like, 'This could get bad for you if you don't comply and don't do what I say.' So he grabs my arms and really wrenches them behind my back and proceeds to put me in handcuffs." While Zimmerman tried to take him to the car, Rabouin said he told the officer that he doesn't want to get in. "I didn't trust what was going to happen, Rabouin said. "While the woman was recording, I thought the odds of him not doing anything to me whether physically or anything else are a lot higher. Once he closes that door, he could take off, He could take me somewhere. I could be placed under arrest."

Backup officers eventually came and, after assessing the situation, let Rabouin go. In a statement, a Journal spokesperson said the company has asked "Phoenix Police Department to pursue a thorough investigation into the incident and explain why their officers needlessly escalated the situation and took these aggressive steps," according to Yahoo!.

"We're deeply concerned that Wall Street Journal reporter Dion Rabouin was detained, handcuffed and placed in the back of a police vehicle while reporting. No journalist should ever be detained simply for exercising their First Amendment rights."
A Perth mother has told a court how she was begging for help around the time she allegedly strangled and threatened to kill her seven-month-old baby.

Holly Anne Maxwell, 26, was given bail at Joondalup Magistrates Court on Tuesday despite the horrific nature of the charges laid against her which include videos the police prosecutor said were so graphic in nature the police have protected our office from viewing them.

Holly Maxwell, 26, leaving Joondalup Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Credit: Rebecca Peppiatt

She said Maxwell allegedly sent the disturbing images and videos she had filmed herself to the father of the baby and his mother, one where a sock was shoved in the babys mouth and another with a cord tied around his neck pulled tight.

Maxwell was heard on the video screaming, Im going to f***ing flog this c***, Im going to kill this c***, hes going to get hurt.
The Chinese diplomat who goaded former prime minister Scott Morrison by tweeting a faked war crimes image has been moved on from his high-profile job as a foreign affairs spokesman, in the latest sign that Beijing is rethinking its so-called wolf warrior approach.

Zhao Lijian has been named deputy director of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on its website. The ministry currently has three other spokespeople, including Hua Chunying, Wang Wenbin and Mao Ning.

Former Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian last spoke at the ministry on December 2. Credit: AP

The move comes after Chinas ambassador to the US, Qin Gang, left his role to become foreign minister. He replaces Wang Yi, who met Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in one of his last appearances as foreign minister, in what proved the clearest indication yet that Beijing wants to rebuild ties with Australia three years after the last ministerial visit to the Chinese capital.

The appointment of the new foreign minister is one of several signs that China may adopt a softer touch after several years of tough talk. Qin has been known to walk a fine line between defending Chinas interests and projecting a moderate take on Beijings positions.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet insists the Liberal Party will claim back Kiama in the state election and wrest control of the seat from his suspended former colleague MP Gareth Ward, who turned independent after being charged with sexual assault.

The Liberal Party is yet to name a candidate for the south coast electorate less than three months out from the March poll, attracting criticism from NSW Labor leader Chris Minns who named his partys candidate in August last year.

Brushing off the delay on Tuesday, the Premier said he anticipated a local candidate would be named soon.

Absolutely. Thats my expectation, he said. The Liberal Party is going to win the seat of Kiama.
Brian Walshe did not get the memo about turning off his browsers' history when looking at the exciting things. Police have arrested Walshe for the murder of his wife, Ana Walsh. His searches on the dismemberment of a corpse and disposing of a body contributed to the arrest.

CNN:

After Ana Walshe, a 39-year-old mother of three, was reported missing by her coworkers on January 4, police began questioning her husband, Brian Walshe, 47. Many of his statements about his activities and whereabouts at the time of his wife's disappearance, however, were "untruthful," police allege in an affidavit.

Chief William Quigley reports that the Cohasset Police Department is seeking the public's assistance in locating a missing resident who was last seen in the early morning hours of Jan. 1. Ana Walshe, age 39, was last seen at her home in Cohasset shortly after midnight on New Year's Day.

Bloody knife found in basement of missing Massachusetts mother's home, prosecutors say

Brian Walshe has been criminally charged with misleading investigators in the case as police continue their search for his wife. Walshe  who is already awaiting sentencing for a previous federal fraud conviction  has pleaded not guilty.

Investigators recently uncovered new information that turned their focus from a missing persons search to suspicions that Ana Walshe may have been killed, including her husband's internet record showing searches about dismemberment and "how to dispose of a 115-pound woman's body," according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation.
2nd Lt. Caron Nazario was pulled over by police in Windsor, Virginia, on the pretext that his new car, with dealer tags in the rear window, had no plate. Quickly threatened after refusing to immediately leave his vehicle, he put his arms in the air and tried to calm the officers only to be pepper-sprayed and roughed up by Daniel Crocker and Joe Gutierrez, who lied about the encounter in their report. Gutierrez, who held his gun sideways like a cartoon gangster while waving it at Nazario, was fired only after the media publicized the incident. And now both men, and their department, are being sued.

Nazario is suing both officers in federal court for a total of $1 million, claiming they violated his constitutional rights, assaulted him, falsely imprisoned him and had his car illegally searched. The trial will begin on Monday in Richmond, Virginia. In response to the federal lawsuit, the police officers deny the allegations against them in a court filing. In the police report, one of the officers wrote that Nazario eluded police because he didn't stop right away. Nazario stated that he wanted to pull over in a well-lit area. "I'm honestly afraid to get out," Nazario said during the traffic stop. "Yeah, you should be," Gutierrez replied.

The state attorney general has also filed a lawsuit against the town of Windsor, ABC News reports, claiming that its police discriminate against African Americans.

Another choice quote from Crocker: "You fixing to ride the lightning, son." A textbook smalltown racist cop.
Dozens of people gathered in front of the state capitol on a windy Tuesday afternoon, to call on the lawmakers inside to finally approve Medicaid expansion.

The rally was organized by Healthy Wyoming. Healthy Wyoming says Medicaid expansion is very popular in the Cowboy State.

This Tuesday, lawmakers were welcomed to their first day of the 2023 Legislative Session with speeches, stories, and chanting in support of Medicaid expansion. A rally on the steps of the Capitol brought together residents from across the state, seeking to show legislators that the campaign to offer affordable healthcare for 19,000 more Wyomingites is as strong as ever.

House Bill 80Medical treatment opportunity act-Medicaid reform, sponsored by the Joint Interim Revenue Committee, would expand healthcare coverage to an estimated 19,000 low-income Wyomingites.

Healthy Wyoming, a statewide coalition of organizations and agencies, leads the efforts to pass Medicaid expansion.

Our coalition is growing; our movement just keeps getting stronger. Too many Wyomingites urgently need accessible healthcare for us to stop working to expand Medicaid, said Healthy Wyoming Executive Director Ana Marchese.

Marchese also noted that Medicaid expansion has economic benefits for the whole state. Our hospitals urgently need this measure to reduce the burden of unpaid emergency room visits. Our economy needs better coverage for employees, and we know that healthier employees mean stronger businesses. Expanding Medicaid is an absolute necessity in fighting the mental health crisis in Wyoming.

These reasons are why, Marchese said, the Healthy Wyoming coalition continues to grow and pursue its goal.
January is National Radon Action Month

The Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) wants families across the state to consider testing their homes for radon to find out whether a potentially dangerous health risk exists.

Radon is an invisible, odorless, tasteless and dangerous gas found in many places, including homes. Radon occurs naturally as a radioactive gas released from the element radium; its found in rocks, soil and water.

As radium in the soil naturally degrades, it can seep up into buildings, get trapped inside and grow in intensity, said Randi Norton-Herrington, Wyoming Cancer Program outreach and education coordinator. All homes have radon; however, with higher levels, the risks become a health concern. Radon is recognized as the second leading cause of lung cancer.

Ongoing exposure to higher, more dangerous radon levels can be reduced with testing and home modifications. Thats why we offer free or low-cost test kits to Wyoming residents. We want them to know the risk level within their homes so they can address potential problems, Norton-Herrington said.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines an elevated level of radon as anything over 4 picocuries per liter of air (pCi/L). The EPA recommends homes with elevated levels be fixed and encourages testing every two years.

WDH recently invited students to enter a video contest aimed at highlighting radon information and encouraging testing. Winners include:

Video Contest Grades 9-12

1st Place: Jayde Harrington, Newcastle High School

Kendal Mullen, Newcastle High School

2nd Place: Korbyn Hay, Farson-Eden High School

Sydney Jones, Farson-Eden High School

Kaison May, Farson-Eden High School

Griffin Romero, Farson-Eden High School

3rd Place: Bryndalynn Abbott, Farson-Eden High School

Rebecca Smith, Farson-Eden High School

Keelie Thoren, Farson-Eden High School

Katie Weese, Farson-Eden High School

The most viewed videos were from Heath Henkle and Trinity Shroyer, both of Newcastle High School.

Wyoming students in grades 3-9 are invited to participate in the programs annual radon poster contest. Entries should focus on radon exposure dangers or home testing promotion. Deadline for the poster contest is April 30.

The Wyoming Cancer Program has free or low-cost radon test kits available based on available supplies. To obtain a radon test kit, to view winning video entries or to enter the poster contest, please visit health.wyo.gov/radon
Cheyenne, WY (82001)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low around 50F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low around 50F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Paula Vogel is a sort of icon of the modern American theatre, who first earned a Pulitzer Prize for her 1998 play How I Learned To Drive, a brilliant exploration of child sexual abuse. Her 2015 play Indecent, which was a hit both on and Off Broadway, was based on the real-life Broadway censorship of a play about Jewish prostitutes, written by a Yiddish playwright, which included the first known explicitly lesbian kiss in American theatre history.

The Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Florida had obtained the rights to the educational version of the Tony Award-winning Indecent, to be performed by the students. According to WJCT News, the school principal announced over email that Indecent would be replaced by a Chekhov play about suicide, saying:

Although students were required to provide parental consent to appear in the original selection, a closer review of the mature content of 'Indecent' led us to the conclusion that 'Seagull' is better suited for a school production. [] 'Indecent' contains adult sexual dialog that is inappropriate for student cast members and student audiences. It's that simple.

Despite its stated concerns about sexual content, the school district has insisted that this decision had nothing to do with Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Vogel herself was not pleased to learn that her play about the dangers of censorship being weaponized against marginalized communities was censored as a weapon against marginalized communities:

What a field day for education! I believe your students are young artists who can more than handle the conversation. It would be great for the parents too. And I

Am more than willing to come down for the conversation. Sincerely, Paula Vogel  Paula Vogel (@VogelPaula) January 7, 2023

As one of the students said in an Instagram post:

Indecent is a story about how detrimental censorship is, about how its damaging effects can ruin a nation and a community. I don't need to point out the irony. The one hundred year anniversary of Sholem Asch's God of Vengeance being shut down on Broadway is the same week our production of Indecent would have happened. One hundred years, and we are still fighting the same injustice that Sholem Asch and his company did. Indecent is about the purity of love, the strength within a community and the shallowness of those who try to silence identities. Indecent is also a queer Jewish love story. They are trying to tell us this play is dirty, immoral, obscene, and, of course, indecent. And by that nature, they're trying to tell me that I, myself, and my community is dirty, immoral, obscene, and indecent.

Florida High School Cancels Production of Indecent; Students Say It's Because of 'Don't Say Gay' Laws [Meg Masseron / Playbill]

Duval Schools cancels high school play over sexual content [Brendan Rivers / WJCT News]
Just a truly incredible galaxy brain:

NYTimes airhead @ezraklein:



"Clean, abundant energy is the foundation on which a more equal, just and humane world can be built."



Two points:



1. Wind power made the trans-Atlantic slave trade possible.



2. Modern 'clean' energy has been a disaster. https://t.co/NczKWIrPwG  Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) January 9, 2023

I'm going to highlight this as a pull-quote, just so you don't miss it:

Wind power made the trans-Atlantic slave trade possible.  Steve Milloy

Incredible.

Steve Milloy, it should be noted, is a lawyer and lobbyist whose entire career has been based on spewing pseudo-scientific skepticism on behalf of the tobacco and oil industries. He led the Advancement of Sound Science Center, a Phillip Morris-funded lobbying group created specifically to discredit claims that secondhand smoke is bad. He also worked for the Occidental Petroleum-funded National Environmental Policy Institute and several other oil-backed non-profits used to launder industry-backed climate denialism. From Mother Jones:

"Polar Bear Scare on Thin Ice," blared FoxNews.comcolumnist Steven Milloy, an adjunct scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute ($75,000 from ExxonMobil) who also publishes the website JunkScience.com. Two days later the conservative Washington Times published the same column. Neither outlet disclosed that Milloy, who debunks global warming concerns regularly, runs two organizations that receive money from ExxonMobil. Between 2000 and 2003, the company gave $40,000 to the Advancement of Sound Science Center, which is registered to Milloy's home address in Potomac, Maryland, according to IRS documents. ExxonMobil gave another $50,000 to the Free Enterprise Action Institutealso registered to Milloy's residence. Under the auspices of the intriguingly like-named Free Enterprise Education Institute, Milloy publishes CSRWatch.com, a site that attacks the corporate social responsibility movement. Milloy did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this article; a Fox News spokesman stated that Milloy is "affiliated with several not-for-profit groups that possibly may receive funding from Exxon, but he certainly does not receive funding directly from Exxon." [] Citing a single graph from a 146-page overview of a 1,200-plus- page, fully referenced report, Milloy claimed that the [Arctic Climate Impact Assessment] "pretty much debunks itself" because high Arctic temperatures "around 1940" suggest that the current temperature spike could be chalked up to natural variability. "In order to take that position," counters Harvard biological oceanographer James McCarthy, a lead author of the report, "you have to refute what are hundreds of scientific papers that reconstruct various pieces of this climate puzzle."

In other words, this is the guy who pioneered the art of digging out random details or typos that cause surface-level confusion in every center-right idiot with a Facebook account, which in turn convinces them that "the science" is wrong or bad because they "did their own research."

So if you start seeing your uncle or whoever posting about how wind is responsible for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, well, now ya know why. From there, it's just a few steps to "The Nazis used oxygen to breathe, so maybe clean air is actually bad, too?"
Delaware North has acquired an Arizona hotel and resort located near the Grand Canyon.

The Buffalo-based hospitality giant bought the Best Western Premier Grand Canyon Squire Inn for an undisclosed amount. The 322-room property in Tusayan, Ariz., is seven miles from the South Rim entrance of Grand Canyon National Park, which Delaware North says makes it one of the closest lodging options for the park.

Delaware North will rename the property as the Squire Resort at the Grand Canyon. The property will remain affiliated with Best Western, but will transition from Best Western's Premier brand to the Signature Collection by midyear.
13-year-old Boy Killed in Hit-And-Run Crash in South LA

LOS ANGELESA 13-year-old boy who was critically injured when the SUV in which he was riding with his mother and two siblings collided with a car in South Los Angeles has died at a hospital, and police Jan. 10 sought the publics help to find the hit-and-run motorist involved in the crash.

The crash was reported about 8 a.m. Monday at Main Street and 111th Place, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The investigation revealed that a silver four-door sedan was traveling southbound on Main Street at a high rate of speed when it collided into the victim vehicle, according to a police statement.

The collision caused the victim vehicle to travel off the curb and collide with a parked vehicle, police said. The victim vehicle was occupied by a 35-year-old mother with her three children: an 18-month-old boy, a 13-year-old boy, and a 16-year-old girl.

The 13-year-old boy died at a hospital, police said. His name was not immediately released. The woman and the other children were hospitalized in critical condition, police said.

The suspects vehicle continued, collided into two other parked vehicles, and burst into flames, police said.

The motorist, described only as a man, got out and ran off, police said.

Due to the severity of the crash, it is believed the suspect sustained serious injuries and may seek medical aid at a local medical facility, police said.

Anyone with any information on the case was urged to call Officer Gerald Chavarria of the South Traffic Division at 323-421-2500. Tipsters may also call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS, or use the website.
6-Year-Old Brought Gun to Virginia School in Backpack, Teacher Helped Students After Being Shot: Police Update

A school sign wishing students a "Happy New Year" is seen outside Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, on Jan. 7, 2023. (Jay Paul/Getty Images)

A Newport News, Virginia elementary school teacher helped her students to safety after a 6-year-old student brought a 9 mm Taurus pistol into her classroom in a backpack and allegedly shot her in the chest, police said in an update on Monday.

Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew told reporters on Monday that police interviewed the 6-year-old and his mother at police headquarters after the incident at Richneck Elementary School and determined the firearm was legally purchased in York County.

We determined that the firearm was in the residence where they lived, and the child had obtained that firearm, placed it in his backpack, and brought it to school. He was brought to school that day by his mother later that morning, Drew said.

Police determined the shooting was not accidental.

Owing to the suspects age, detectives consulted with Human Services, Child Protective Services, the Commonwealths Attorneys Office, and the Community Service Board, which deals with mental and behavioral health.

It was determined to take the 6-year-old into custody under an emergency custody order and evaluate him at a local hospital, according to police. The boy was then detained under a temporary detention order obtained from a magistrate and is currently receiving treatment at a medical facility, Drew said.

Investigations will continue to determine, among other things, if Child Protective Services and Human Services had any prior interactions with the boy and his family.

The Newport News police chief walked reporters through a timeline of the incident and gave an update on the condition of teacher Abigail Zwerner, 25, who was initially hospitalized with a life-threatening injury on Friday.

Abigail wanted me to tell you all  that she is in stable condition and she is thankful for the thoughts and prayers, Drew said.

Drew said he had met with Zwerner on two occasions since the incident and noted that he was touched that each time they met, she asked after her students. He described her as a trooper and a hero.

Police tape hangs from a sign post outside Richneck Elementary School following a shooting in Newport News, Virginia, on Jan. 7, 2023. (Jay Paul/Getty Images)

Shooting

After processing the crime scene, investigators recovered one spent shell casing, a backpack, a cellphone, and a 9 mm Taurus firearm, Drew said.

The firearm was recovered close to the students desk where the shooting occurred, he said.

At the time of the incident, Zwerner was teaching when the 6-year-old allegedly pointed the gun at her and fired one round, according to police. There was no physical struggle or fight, the police chief noted.

Drew said Zwerner gave him permission to share her account of the incident. He later noted that child psychologists trained to interview children would be brought in to get the students accounts of what happened.

[Zwerner] took a defensive position where she raised her hand, the round went through her hand, exited the rear of her hand, and into her upper chest, Drew said. She leaned back and took that round, he added.

After being shot, Zwerner was still able to get all of her students out of that classroom, Drew said, adding that school surveillance footage shows the students running across the hall into other classrooms.

According to Drew, Zwerner was the last person to exit the classroom. He said she stopped in the hallway to ensure her students were safe before going to the administration office, where she was given first aid while other individuals spoke to emergency dispatchers.

They took care of her through communications until the paramedics got with her, Drew said.

Richneck Elementary School following a shooting in Newport News, Virginia, on Jan. 7, 2023. (Jay Paul/Getty Images)

Timeline

At 1:59 p.m., Newport News Police received a call that a teacher had been shot at Richneck Elementary School. Officers were dispatched to the school at 2 p.m.

The alert went out broadly, so responding law enforcement included a mix of police and sheriffs deputies, according to Drew.

At 2:04 p.m., two sheriffs deputies entered the school building and the classroom. Two police officers entered around 10 seconds later.

When they entered the room, they found a 6-year-old child that was being physically restrained by a school employee, the Newport News police chief said. The child became a little combative; actually struck the school employee that was restraining him, and officers then took control of him and escorted him out of the building, placed him in a police car with an officer inside and outside of that vehicle.

Once the 6-year-old was placed in the police vehicle, law enforcement began a systematic evacuation of the school.

At 2:06 p.m., medics arrived at the school; they were cleared to enter the school a minute later. They reached the injured teacher by 2:09 p.m., and two minutes later Zwerner was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

Evacuation

School employees and officers escorted the students to the gym following the shooting where they were later reunited with their parents, according to Drew.

Meanwhile, the students who were in the classroom when the shooting took place were taken to the library where they were held with detectives, a couple of teachers, and eventually school counselors were escorted to the library so that the professionals could be with our young people, the students, according to police.

Police worked with school officials to systematically reunite students with their parents, which Drew noted caused some frustration among parents eager to retrieve their children.

The police chief praised the fire department, law enforcement officers, and school officials for the care they provided students in the immediate aftermath.
8 Senators Touring El Paso Pledge Bipartisan Solution to Secure Border Amid Growing Crisis

People walk across the Rio Grande to surrender to U.S. Border Patrol agents in El Paso, Texas, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Dec. 13, 2022. (Herika Martinez/AFP/Getty Images)

The group of eight U.S. senators who visited the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 9 has vowed to find a bipartisan solution to the growing immigration crisis.

Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) on the trip to El Paso shortly after President Joe Biden visited the border for the first time since he took office two years ago.

The tour comes as the number of migrants crossing the border has surged during Bidens first two years of presidency, with border patrol agents making more than 2.2 million arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border in the 2022 fiscal year, which ended in September.

The bipartisan group, made up of three Democrats, four Republicans, and one independent, met with city officials, law enforcement officials, business owners, and local nonprofit organizations at a temporary emergency migrant operations facility on Monday. There, they discussed the impact the influx of illegal aliens had had on the city and the growing humanitarian crisis that is now impacting local communities.

During the meeting, the group heard from El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser, a Democrat, who has previously warned that thousands of illegal aliens are piling up at the border waiting for the Trump-era Title 42 program to end so that they can apply for asylum in the United States without having to wait in Mexico for their request to be approved.

Illegal immigrants gather outside a migrant shelter in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 6, 2023. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Everything We Do Right Now Is a Band-Aid

We look to all you colleagues for guidance to fix a broken immigration system process thats been broken for many years, Leeser told lawmakers, according to El Paso television station, KFOX-TV. Everything we do right now, is a band-aid and we do need to fix it.

The group later went on to tour the temporary facility that has been established for illegal immigrants as well as the El Paso Del Norte port of entry, according to reports.

During the tours, Sinema took to Twitter to share updates. On Monday, the Democrat-turned-Independent wrote that the meeting with city officials had given lawmakers insight into how we can fix our broken system.

Im taking this info back to DC to keep working on bipartisan solutions to secure the border, keep communities safe, and ensure migrants are treated fairly and humanely, Sinema wrote.

In a separate video message online, Sinema took aim at the Biden administrations failure to take action to secure the border and ensure a humane process for illegal aliens entering the United States.

Ill get back to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, working to ensure that were actually changing the laws in our country so we can have a more appropriate enforcement, allow folks to come to this country peacefully, safely and humanely but also to keep our border secure.

Due to the current 5149 split between Democrats and Republicans, the Senators plan to tackle the border crisis will need bipartisan cooperation to meet the required 60-vote threshold.

President Joe Biden speaks with a member of the Border Patrol as they walk along the U.S.Mexico border fence in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 8, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Lawmakers Share Plan to Tackle Border Crisis

Elsewhere, Cornyn told a news conference: We need an immigration system that is safe, orderly, humane, and legal. We keep hearing from President Biden and others that we need Congress to step up and provide some answers, and Im happy that we are.

On Twitter, Cornyn shared updates from his visit to the border; writing on Twitter Monday that he was with border patrol agents who had detained two Chinese nationals who had attempted to cross illegally into El Paso.

Later, Cornyn shared a photo of part of a makeshift patch of the border fence where he said smugglers had cut a hole for migrants. The lawmaker also laid out plans Monday under which he said Biden could stop the current crisis at the border under current law.

The steps included utilizing title 8 expedited removal for all adults and accompanied children encountered at the border, detaining all illegal aliens allowed under current statute pending removal or immigration court proceedings, expediting asylum hearings for those claiming asylum at the border to less than a month and prioritizing them over backlogged cases and negotiating safe third-country agreements and removal agreements with Mexico and as many Central American countries as possible.

Cornyn also called on Biden not to end Title 42 until at least four of the steps the Republican lawmaker laid out have been achieved.

The lawmakers promise to work on a bipartisan solution to the border crisis comes after Biden arrived in El Paso on Sunday following growing scrutiny from Republican lawmakers for his failure to do so.

Biden was greeted by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott after he touched down before meeting with Border Patrol agents and workers at a migrant services center.

They need a lot of resources, Biden told reporters on Sunday afternoon after meeting with officials. Were going to get it for them.
A New Middle East Seems to Have Emerged

Commentary

One of the most important historical markers revealed by communist Chinese leader Xi Jinpings visit to Arabia in December 2022 was that outside powers no longer control the greater Middle East.

That greater regionPakistan in the East to Morocco in the West and from Turkey, the Balkans, and the northern rim of the Mediterranean Basin to the Maghreb and Horn of Africa states down to the Sahelhas developed to the point of political maturity and sovereignty in the modern context, even if not all its states have matured equally in an economic sense.

Theres no government in that region that doesnt now value its ability to negotiate with and balance the great external powers with interests in the region. Indeed, a great power isnt a great power unless it has interests in the region, which is the transit zone for global trade (including human movement) and a resource point. Its a nexus of global power, now that the issue of energy supply has become only one factor of the region.

The visit to the region by Xi in late 2022 came too late for Beijing to become suzerain over some or all of the region in the way that 19th- and 20th-century external great powers dominated the Middle East. Xi knows that but underestimated how difficult it was to persuade regional leadersnow aware that most owe no tribute to the United States, the UK, France, or Russiato come under Beijings aegis. Many leaders have become comfortable dealing with Beijing and viewing Washington as a partner (rather than a presiding partner). But they dont genuflect.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping shakes hands with Saudi Arabias King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Mar. 16, 2017. (Lintao Zhang/Pool/Getty Images)

It seemed that, when it first gained office in 2021, the Biden administration thought it was returning to the strategic status quo ante in the Middle East. But since the U.S. midterm congressional elections of November 2022, in particular, it appears that the U.S. State Department has set domestic politics aside to rebuild coherent strategic relationships in the broader Middle East, Africa, the Northern Tier, and Central Asia.

The first two years of the Biden administration seem to have been spent denigrating any Mideast successes of its predecessor, the Trump administration, and it particularly belittled the great boost the United States had received by helping negotiate the Abraham Accords between Israel and regional states Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan, and in attempting to undo the solid U.S.Israel bond that Trump had built.

That process also led to a renewal of the Obama administrations hostility toward Saudi Arabia and Israel (in favor of cooperation with the clerical government of Iran). It also saw a Biden State Department favoring the old partner of the Obama administration in Ethiopia, the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), even though the TPLF had long been unable to cling to power in Ethiopia.

Late 2022, however, saw a substantial change discreetly coalescing in the State Department.

For a start, the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia began working seriously toward normalizing SaudiIsraeli relations, an extension of the Abraham Accords. And this would also revive the U.S.Saudi relationship while showing Israel that the special U.S. security support hadnt been weakened.

This implies that Washington had become aware that the political goal of a revived accord with clerical Iran was unlikely (given Irans new shelter in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and its strategic closeness now with Moscow) and, therefore, shouldnt be allowed to interfere with improved SaudiU.S. relations.

The appointment on Dec. 29, 2022, of Ron Dermer, one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus most trusted confidantes, as strategic affairs minister seems likely to prove pivotal. He had served for seven years as ambassador to the United States and was instrumental in brokering the Abraham Accords deals with the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco.

As well, the Biden State Department appeared by early January 2023 to have ended or reduced its support for the TPLF against the Ethiopian government. Perhaps some of its support for the TPLF had been based on the proposition that helping the party against the Ethiopian government was also comforting Egypt. But the reality was that even Cairo was aware that while Ethiopia was the ideal whipping boy for Egypts water problems, the real culprit was Egypts own population growth and its failed water policies.

The new greater region offers no smooth or lofty arrangements for any parties. Xis visit to Arabia was two steps forward, one step backward. Moscow profited from Tehrans outrage over Beijings pandering to Saudi Arabia. Russia then consolidated its relationship with the Iranian mullahs, offering in late December 2022 to send as many as 24 Sukhoi Su-35 advanced combat aircraft to Iran in exchange for Iranian unmanned aerial combat vehicles, including saturation loitering munitions.

On Dec. 28, 2022, the defense ministers of Russia, Turkey, and Syria met for the first time in more than a decade. It dampened Turkeys need to launch its proposed Operation Claw-Sword to attack Kurdish positions in northern Syria. The meetings included Turkish National Intelligence Organization chief Hakan Fidan and Syrian head of the National Security Bureau of the Baath Party (and special security adviser to President Bashar al-Asad) Ali Mamlouk.

All this allows Turkey a greater hand to look elsewhere to build a strategic diversion as its presidential election nears in June. Apart from its planned escalation against Greece and Cyprus, Ankara was, in December 2022, pouring truckloads of weapons into Pristina, the capital of U.S.-supported Kosovo, as Kosovo authorities and Washington and Londonas part of their proxy war against Russiahave been pushing for a showdown with Serbia over Serbian areas of Kosovo. The UK inexplicably also took seven of the Kosovo Security Forces personnel to the British South Atlantic territory of the Falkland Islands as part of a peacekeeping arrangement.

So the Balkans are in play, with the United States and the UK preparing again to penalize Serbia for trying to balance its relations between Washington and Moscow. Algeria, meanwhile, leverages Moscow to push Morocco. Ethiopia, fresh from defeating the U.S.-backed TPLF, is growing more muscular, and the United States now must work hard to restore its position on the Red Sea. And so on.

China has made modest gains in the greater Middle East; Russia has consolidated its position there; and the United States and the UK have begun their recovery there. But theres no going back, geopolitically. Regional powers have now emerged. And the region remains critical to the world.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Hundreds of young people who received Pfizers vaccine at their school reported cardiac symptoms and a significant percent had abnormal electrocardiogram results, researchers in Taiwan reported in a new study.

A second dose of Pfizers shot was administered to students aged 12 to 18 across four schools in Taipei in late 2021 and researchers ran electrocardiograms, or ECGs, before and after the second vaccination on the studentsall of whom had already received a single dose.

Of the 4,928 students included in the study, 17 percent reported at least one cardiac symptom, such as chest pain, after vaccination.

Most of the ECGs conducted after vaccination returned normal but 51, or 1 percent, showed enough change from the pre-vaccine ECGs for pediatric cardiologists to designate the results as abnormal.

That included four students who had significant arrhythmia, or abnormal heartbeat, and one student who experienced myocarditis, or heart inflammationa condition that can be caused by the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

After the second dose of BNT162b2 vaccine in a young population, cardiac-related symptoms were common. The incidences of subclinical myocarditis and significant arrhythmia were 0.1%, the researchers, with the National Taiwan University Hospital and Medical College and other institutions, wrote.

Researchers also discovered that the heart rate in the students increased after vaccination and a decrease in other parameters, including the QT interval, or a measure of the hearts electrical activity.

The study was published in the European Journal of Pediatrics. It was funded by the Cardiac Children Foundation.

Of the 51 students with abnormal findings, 33 sought medical help, including the boy diagnosed with myocarditis. Laboratory data for the boy was normal 10 days after vaccination. The others who had issued saw their conditions improve over time.

The 18 students who did not receive medical care showed no symptoms in a one-month follow-up visit, according to the researchers.

Pfizer did not respond to a request for comment.

The fact that theres potential arrhythmias and you got a bona fide case of myocarditis out of this, and four serious arrhythmias, thats a pretty heavy price to pay for a vaccine that 99 percent-plus of these kids dont even need, Dr. Andrew Bostom, an American heart expert, told The Epoch Times.

The ECG screening was able to detect cardiac adverse events but limitations of the research included uncertainty as to whether ECG screening can identify all myocarditis cases.

Bostom in 2021 called for studies to examine the incidence of myocarditis and a related condition, pericarditis, after COVID-19 vaccination and a moratorium on the shots until such studies were completed.

He and Dr. Clare Path of the United Kingdom pointed to a prospective study done by U.S. government researchers after heart issues were detected following a smallpox vaccine. The government has not conducted similar research for heart issues following COVID-19 vaccination, though studies using health records have shown post-vaccination heart issues lingering for at least months.

A pedestrian walks by Pfizers New York City headquarters in a file photograph. (Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)

Previous Research

Other studies have found that many post-vaccination cases of myocarditis were not resolved months later, and that myocarditis was the only possible cause of death for some people who died unexpectedly at home.

In a study conducted by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers, 54 percent of the 151 patients who had follow-up cardiac MRIs had abnormal results, including evidence of heart scarring.

In another paper, German researchers reported ruling out all possible causes of death but myocarditis for multiple people who died suddenly at home after vaccination.

A third paper from researchers studying Thailand students who received a Pfizer dose found that nearly 3 in 10 experienced heart effects, including palpitations and shortness of breath.

Researchers, who examined vital signs, echocardiography, and cardiac enzymes in addition to ECG results, recommended monitoring all adolescents who receive a Pfizer or Moderna shot for side effects.

Myocarditis is one of hundreds of safety signals the CDC discovered through crunching data from post-vaccination adverse event reports, according to results obtained by The Epoch Times. Most people who experience myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination are hospitalized, according to CDC data.

Another Recent Study

The exact cause of myocarditis and other cardiac adverse events has not been pinpointed, but researchers in another recent paper said it likely stems from the spike protein in the vaccines.

Massachusetts researchers collected blood from 16 patients hospitalized with myocarditis after vaccination and detected elevated levels of spike protein in the patients, compared to no spike protein in asymptomatic, vaccinated control subjects.

While high levels of spike protein could be a consequence of myocarditis, it could also be the cause, researchers said.

The spike protein may contribute to myocarditis, they wrote.

Some studies have suggested that COVID-19 can also cause myocarditis, but many studies have estimated the incidence is higher after vaccination for key groups, particularly young males. A group of researchers, in a recent paper, estimated that a Pfizer or Moderna booster dose would lead to more cases of myocarditis than COVID-19 hospitalizations prevented.

The CDC and some other experts, including the Massachusetts researchers, say the benefits of the vaccines outweigh the risks; but other experts, including Floridas surgeon general Dr. Joseph Ladapo and Dr. Peter McCullough, argue the risks outweigh the benefits, at least for young, healthy people.
Alabama GOP Declares No Confidence in Ronna McDaniel as RNC Chair

Ronna McDaniel, the GOP chairwoman, speaks during the Republican National Committee winter meeting in Salt Lake City on Feb. 4, 2022. (Rick Bowmer/AP Photo)

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel faces another hurdle in her bid to retain leadership in a vote later this month, as the Alabama GOP issued (pdf) a vote of no confidence for her and called on a leadership change following the midterm elections.

The Alabama Republican Party leadership is committed to representing our grassroots members, and defending the core conservative values that the people of Alabama stand for, party leaders said in a statement released Monday. We believe that RNC leadership needs a new vision for future elections.

The Alabama GOP further stated its belief the RNC needs to prioritize defending the American people and their God-given rights and freedom, and stand strong for the party platform and GOP principles.

We believe that the RNC needs fresh, new leadership who can inspire and lead grassroots Republicans to victory, leaders continued. For these reasons, the Alabama Republican Partys Steering Committee cannot support or endorse Ronna McDaniel for RNC Chair and declare our vote of no-confidence in her leadership.

They further called on all RNC members across the country to support a leadership change at the RNC Winter Meeting, to be held in California beginning Jan. 25.

Leadership Race at RNC

As McDaniel seeks her fourth term as chair of the RNC, she enjoys support from some major GOP donors, according to Fox News, including Dave Kelsey, Melinda Hildebrand, Dr. James Reibel, Jeff Burns, Bobby Schostak, and Marianne and John Gibson.

Since the beginning of McDaniels tenure as chair of the RNC in 2017, those donors have contributed in total at least $14 million to the Republican Party, Fox reported.

Ronna McDaniel, Chair of the Republican National Committee, at the CPAC convention in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 28, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

But she also faces calls from Republican leadership in Arizona for her to resign, with Republican Party leaders in Nebraska and Texas also expressing disinterest in a fourth term for McDaniel.

A Texas GOP Committee in December also issued a vote of no confidence in her leadership, specifically noting losses in the 2020 election and less-than-spectacular showings in the 2022 midterm elections that left the GOP with only a small majority in the House and failing to flip the Senate.

The grassroots have lost faith in Chairman [sic] McDaniel and the RNC and believes the Party needs new leadership that will address deficiencies in fundraising, messaging, GOTV, and election integrity and put the party in closer alignment with its grassroots supporters and voters, the Texas resolution stated.

The Republican Party of Arizona, meanwhile, called on McDaniel to step down in order for fresh and bold leadership to assume control of the RNC.

Attorney Harmeet Dhillon and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell are challenging McDaniel.

Voting members in Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, and other states expressed they would vote to change RNC leadership at this months meeting.

McDaniel circulated a letter in November that showed she had the support of enough members to win the election before it took place, including the names of 101 of the 168 RNC voting members.

Emma Vaughn, a spokesperson for McDaniel, told news outlets that McDaniels decision to run for another term was member driven.

Members of the 168 rallied around the chairwoman because of her unprecedented investments in the grassroots, election integrity, and minority communities, and for taking on Big Tech and the biased Commission on Presidential Debates, Vaughn said, adding that support for McDaniel has only grown since her announcement and she looks forward to speaking with each and every member to discuss how the party can continue building upon our investments and make the necessary improvements to compete and win in 2024.

Challengers

Dhillon announced her bid earlier in December, saying that we really need to radically reshape our leadership in order to win.

We really have to modernize to compete with the Democrats dollar-for-dollarin the ways they fundraise, the way they deliver their ballots to the ballot boxes. Our messaging needs to be fresh and positive and not just reactive to news cycles and what the Democrats are doing, Dhillon added.

Lindell, meanwhile, said he is running because the RNCs strategy has been a disaster not only for the Party but even more importantly it has been disaster for the Country as Democrats pursue their woke socialist agenda.

This is a critical time for the RNC. The Donors need a return on their investment and so does the country. I have done my due diligence and cant figure out why my opponent would even consider running again, Lindell said.

Zachary Stieber and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Alabama Woman Who Joined ISIS Hopes to Return From Syria Camp

Hoda Muthana talks during an interview in Roj detention camp in Syria where she is being held by U.S.-allied Kurdish forces on Nov. 9, 2022. (The News Movement/AP Photo)

ROJ CAMP, SyriaA woman who ran away from home in Alabama at the age of 20, joined the ISIS terrorist group and had a child with one of its fighters says she still hopes to return to the United States, serve prison time if necessary, and advocate against the terrorists.

In a rare interview from the Roj detention camp in Syria where she is being held by U.S.-allied Kurdish forces, Hoda Muthana said she was brainwashed by online traffickers into joining the group in 2014 and regrets everything except her young son, now of pre-school age.

If I need to sit in prison, and do my time, I will do it.  I wont fight against it, the 28-year-old told The News Movement. Im hoping my government looks at me as someone young at the time and naive.

Its a line shes repeated in various media interviews since fleeing from one of the ISIS terrorist groups last enclaves in Syria in early 2019.

But four years earlier, at the height of the terrorists power, she had voiced enthusiastic support for them on social media and in an interview with BuzzFeed News. ISIS then ruled a self-declared Islamic caliphate stretching across roughly a third of both Syria and Iraq. In posts sent from her Twitter account in 2015 she called on Americans to join the group and carry out attacks in the United States, suggesting drive-by shootings or vehicle rammings targeting gatherings for national holidays.

In her interview with TNM, Muthana now says her phone was taken from her and that the tweets were sent by ISIS supporters.

Muthana was born in New Jersey to Yemeni immigrants and once had a U.S. passport. She was raised in a Muslim household in Hoover, Alabama, just outside Birmingham. In 2014, she told her family she was going on a school trip but flew to Turkey and crossed into Syria instead, funding the travel with tuition checks that she had secretly cashed.

The Obama administration cancelled her citizenship in 2016, saying her father was an accredited Yemeni diplomat at the time she was borna rare revocation of birthright citizenship. Her lawyers have disputed that move, arguing that the fathers diplomatic accreditation ended before she was born.

The Trump administration maintained that she was not a citizen and barred her from returning, even as it pressed European allies to repatriate their own detained nationals to reduce pressure on the detention camps.

U.S. courts have sided with the government on the question of Muthanas citizenship, and last January the Supreme Court declined to consider her lawsuit seeking reentry.

That has left her and her son languishing in a detention camp in northern Syria housing thousands of widows of ISIS terrorists and their children.

Some 65,600 suspected ISIS members and their familiesboth Syrians and foreign citizensare held in camps and prisons in northeastern Syria run by U.S.-allied Kurdish groups, according to a Human Rights Watch report released last month.

Women accused of affiliation with ISIS and their minor children are largely housed in the al-Hol and Roj camps. The camp inmates include more than 37,400 foreigners, among them Europeans and North Americans.

Human Rights Watch and other monitors have cited dire living conditions in the camps, including inadequate food, water, and medical care, as well as the physical and sexual abuse of inmates by guards and fellow detainees.

Kurdish-led authorities and activists have blamed ISIS sleeper cells for surging violence within the facilities, including the beheading of two Egyptian girls, aged 11 and 13, in al-Hol camp in November. Turkish airstrikes targeting the Kurdish groups launched that month also hit close to al-Hol. Camp officials alleged that the Turkish strikes were targeting security forces guarding the camp.

None of the foreigners have been brought before a judicial authority  to determine the necessity and legality of their detention, making their captivity arbitrary and unlawful, Human Rights Watch wrote. Detention based solely on family ties amounts to collective punishment, a war crime.

Calls to repatriate the detainees were largely ignored in the immediate aftermath of ISISs bloody reign, which was marked by massacres, beheadings, and other atrocities, many of which were broadcast to the world in graphic films circulated on social media.

But with the passage of time, the pace of repatriations has started to pick up. Human Rights Watch said some 3,100 foreignersmostly women and childrenhave been sent home over the past year. Most were Iraqis, who comprise the majority of detainees, but citizens were also repatriated to Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, and the United Kingdom.

The United States has repatriated a total of 39 American nationals. Its unclear how many other Americans remain in the camps.

These days, Muthana portrays herself as a victim of ISIS.

Speaking with TNM, she describes how, after arriving in Syria in 2014, she was detained in a guest house reserved for unmarried women and children. Ive never seen that kind of filthiness in my life, like there was 100 women and twice as much kids, running around, too much noise, filthy beds, she said.

The only way to escape was to marry a fighter. She eventually married and remarried three times. Her first two husbands, including the father of her son, were killed in battle. She reportedly divorced her third husband.

The extremist group, which is also known as ISIS, no longer controls any territory in Syria or Iraq but continues to carry out sporadic attacks and has supporters in the camps themselves. Muthana says she still has to be careful about what she says because of fear of reprisal.

Even here, right now, I cant fully say everything I want to say. But once I do leave, I will. I will be an advocate against this, she said. I wish I can help the victims of ISIS in the West understand that someone like me is not part of it, that I as well am a victim of ISIS.

Hassan Shibly, an attorney who has assisted Muthanas family, said it is absolutely clear that she was brainwashed and taken advantage of.

He said her family wishes she could come back, pay her debt to society and then help others from falling into the dark path that she was led down.

She was absolutely misguided, and no one is denying that. But again, she was a teenager who was the victim of a very sophisticated recruitment operation that focuses on taking advantage of the young, the vulnerable, the disenfranchised, he said.
Ancient Roman Manufacturing Technique Found by Researchers Could Help Create Self-Healing Concrete: Study

Actors dressed as maids of ancient Rome march in front of the Coliseum in a commemorative parade during festivities marking the 2,766th anniversary of the founding of Rome on April 21, 2013, in Rome, Italy. (Giorgio Cosulich/Getty Images)

A group of researchers from MIT, Harvard University, and facilities in Italy and Switzerland has made significant progress in uncovering ancient concrete-manufacturing processes that included numerous crucial self-healing features.

The findings were reported in Science Advances in an article co-authored by MIT professor of civil and environmental engineering Admir Masic, former doctoral student Linda Seymour, and four others.

For years, scholars have concluded that the key to the ancient concretes longevity was pozzolanic material, such as volcanic ash from the Pozzuoli area on the Bay of Naples. This particular type of ash was even brought all the way across the vast Roman empire to be utilized in construction, and was identified as a major element for concrete in accounts written at the time by architects and historians.

These ancient samples also include microscopic, unmistakable millimeter-scale bright white mineral structures, which have long been recognized as a common component of Roman concretes. These white pieces, known as lime clasts, are made of lime, another important component of the ancient concrete mix. The lime clasts have been dismissed as indications of sloppy mixing or low-quality raw materials. However, the new study reveals that these small, previously disregarded ingredients, give the concrete a previously unknown self-healing power.

Questions by Researchers

Ever since I first began working with ancient Roman concrete, Ive always been fascinated by these features, Masic tells David Chandler in MIT News. These are not found in modern concrete formulations, so why are they present in these ancient materials? The idea that the presence of these lime clasts was simply attributed to low quality control always bothered me, he says.

If the Romans put so much effort into making an outstanding construction material, following all of the detailed recipes that had been optimized over the course of many centuries, why would they put so little effort into ensuring the production of a well-mixed final product? There has to be more to this story.

The researchers gained fresh insights into the potential usefulness of these lime clasts after additional analysis of these lime clasts, utilizing high-resolution multiscale imaging and chemical mapping techniques pioneered at Masics research group. It was previously considered that when lime was used in Roman concrete, it was first mixed with water to generate a highly reactive paste-like material, a process known as slaking. However, the presence of the lime clasts could not be explained only by this procedure.

Was it possible that the Romans might have actually directly used lime in its more reactive form, known as quicklime? Masic posits.

After studying samples, he and his colleagues established that the white inclusions in this old concrete were formed of various kinds of calcium carbonate. And spectroscopic investigation revealed that they were created at high temperatures, as would be predicted given the exothermic reaction caused by employing quicklime instead of, or in addition to, slaked lime in the combination. The team has recently established that hot mixing was the key to its super-durable nature.

The benefits of hot mixing are twofold, Masic said, according to the publication. First, when the overall concrete is heated to high temperatures, it allows chemistries that are not possible if you only used slaked lime, producing high-temperature-associated compounds that would not otherwise form. Second, this increased temperature significantly reduces curing and setting times since all the reactions are accelerated, allowing for much faster construction.

The lime clasts generate a particularly brittle nanoparticulate architecture during the hot mixing process, resulting in a readily broken and reactive calcium source, which, as the team hypothesized, could provide important self-healing activity. When microscopic cracks emerge within the concrete, they preferentially travel through the high-surface-area lime clasts. This substance can then react with water to form a calcium-saturated solution, which can recrystallize as calcium carbonate and quickly fill the fracture, or it can combine with pozzolanic materials to reinforce the composite material even further. Because these processes occur spontaneously, they automatically mend the gaps before they propagate. Previous evidence for this notion came from the investigation of additional Roman concrete samples with calcite-filled fissures.

To demonstrate that this was the process responsible for the endurance of Roman concrete, the researchers created samples of hot-mixed concrete that included both ancient and modern formulations, broke them purposefully, and then flowed water through the cracks. Within two weeks, the cracks had healed completely and the water could no longer flow. A comparable piece of quicklime-free concrete never healed, and the water just continued to flow through the sample. Following the success of these experiments, the team is trying to commercialize this improved cement material.

Its exciting to think about how these more durable concrete formulations could expand not only the service life of these materials, but also how it could improve the durability of 3D-printed concrete formulations, says Masic.

How Changes in Concrete Could Impact Building Today

Contractor Robert Blume, owner of Blume and Son Construction and a 43-year veteran of the construction business, told The Epoch Times that many of the decisions made about concrete in construction today are largely based on cost. The contractor said that self-healing concrete is something people in his industry are already actively testing but said the research being done into how to make concrete that stands the test of time could have short-term implications on his business if its cheap enough to fit into home and business owners already strained construction budgets.

The basic components of what [the Romans] used are still the basic components of what we use, Blume said. The biggest deal is we do this commercially so we have to ask ourselves if making a stronger concrete is worth the price. If we are putting in a slab for something that will have extremely heavy stuff on it, lots of vibration, we used a better cement and more of it. So even now we have all kinds of components we can put in, like fiberglass, and really make it strong. Its just that nobody wants to spend $100,000 on a $10,000 slab. Economics affects this greatly.

Blume, who lived in Eastern Europe for 10 years, said many of the buildings there have been around for hundreds of years and are still standing: The buildings in Romania, theyve held up through 20 earthquakes a year and a thousand years. But the walls may be four feet thick. If I built that way now, a house would cost you $2 million dollars.

Right now we could build concrete homes that would last 1,000 years, but nobody is going to want to spend that on it. Plus in another 10-20 years the technology is going to be so different it will have been a waste.

Blume said there are dozens of types of concrete that can be used, but medium-grade commercial concrete is used because its cheap, and the discoveries being tested right now will be used as standard building materials if they can be sourced easily and economically.

Janille Maragh of MIT, Paolo Sabatini of DMAT in Italy, Michel Di Tommaso of the Instituto Meccanica dei Materiali in Switzerland, and James Weaver of Harvard Universitys Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering were also part of the study team. The Archeological Museum of Priverno in Italy assisted with the work.
New 43North companies are coming to Buffalo already hiring

When leaders at Buffalo startup accelerator 43North made the decision last year to give out five $1 million prizes for the first time, one of their goals was to attract companies that would bring jobs to the region.

The mission of 43North is to grow Western New York's economy by attracting and retaining high-growth startups in the region that will then create well-paying jobs. Since 2014, 43North companies have created more than 1,000 jobs in Western New York.

And that number is only going to grow, as the five newest 43North companies that are coming to Buffalo have already posted more than a dozen openings, said Christian Gaddis, senior marketing manager at Forge Buffalo, 43North's recruiting arm.

"It's a really exciting time," Gaddis said. "The progress of our companies and where they are at this moment really speaks directly to the decision to change our funding structure."

"When you're looking at dispersing $500,000 over the course of a year versus $1 million, you have to be a little bit more judicious in your spending," he said. "So, for a lot of these companies, knowing that they're going to have this funding coming to them over the course of the year, it really encourages them to hire."

Job postings started in November

Gaddis and his team at Forge Buffalo help 43North's portfolio companies with all things hiring. They can help founders develop hiring plans, write job descriptions, find candidates, conduct interviews and provide onboarding support and guidance.

Forge Buffalo also maintains a job board of open positions at tech and startup companies in Western New York.

Most of the incoming 43North companies are expecting to hire double-digit numbers of employees by the end of the year, Gaddis said. Some started posting job openings on Forge Buffalo in November.

Some of the winners spoke about their hiring plans during their 43North finals pitch.

For example, Phood founder Alex Parmley said he will hire more than six employees in Buffalo.

Phood is a platform that lets college students use their dining dollars on meal delivery services, groceries and at local restaurants. The company already posted job openings for a graphic designer, a marketing contractor and a social media coordinator.

Otrafy, an AI supply chain compliance and data management platform, has plans to create 15 jobs in Buffalo by 2024 in areas such as product development, marketing and customer success, CEO Nhat Nguyen said during his 43North finals pitch.

None of the companies has made hires yet, but some have started interviewing candidates and hope to bring new employees on board within a couple of weeks of moving to Buffalo, Gaddis said.

If you're interested in working for one of these companies, Gaddis recommends you apply to one of the open positions, even if you don't exactly fit the job description.

"It's a great opportunity to find a way to connect with a founder or hiring manager or even someone from the Forge Buffalo team and share your skillsets and get introduced to these founders, because you never know what opportunity is going to result just from a conversation," he said.

Who's hiring?

 Phood: graphic designer, marketing contractor and social media coordinator.

 MOD Tech Labs: Python programmer, UI developer, UX designer, QA engineer and DevOps engineer.

 Otrafy: product marketing manager, product owner (bilingual English and Vietnamese) and head of partnership.

 AMPAworks: embedded systems engineer and IoT engineer.

Flushable wet wipes company Twipes hasn't posted any job openings yet. The company joined the newest 43North cohort in December after initial winner Agape dropped out.

However, Twipes co-founder Al Borz said the company has plans to hire a strategic operations manager and a marketing director.

For job descriptions and to apply to open positions, visit forgebuffalo.com.

 Natalie Brophy

Want to know more? Three stories to catch you up:

Welcome to Buffalo Next. This newsletter from The Buffalo News will bring you the latest coverage on the changing Buffalo Niagara economy  from real estate to health care to startups. Read more at BuffaloNext.com.

THE LATEST

Catch up on the latest news from the Buffalo Niagara economy:

Remember A&W restaurants? One is coming back to Western New York.

The Aldrich & Ray building in Buffalo finally is getting the historic designation its owner has long sought.

Lackawanna officials are looking for developers for a two-acre site on Abbott Road.

The latest class of 43North winners is beginning to settle in.

Bison Botanics wants to branch out into new segments of the state's legalized cannabis market.

A state agency is doing stabilization work at the historic Hutchinson Chapel by the Peace Bridge

Cornerstone Community credit union is looking to expand in Lockport.

A wind turbine components manufacturer is planning to bring some of its off-shore production to a site in Lockport.

Rising costs are buffeting a project to bring new activity to the former John Kam Malt site.

The John R. Oishei Children's Hospital in Buffalo won a designation that it believes will play a big part in stabilizing its finances.

The United Way of Buffalo & Erie County is setting up a relief fund to aid nonprofits that help community members impacted by last month's blizzard.

Spectrum Health and Human Services has a new CEO, and it's a familiar face.

Efforts to build up the region's workforce are getting a boost from $1 million in new state funding.

Father Sam's Bakery is looking to expand its East Buffalo bakery, and it wants tax breaks to help pay for it.

A proposed Elmwood Avenue smoke shop across from a new luxury condominium building is running into some stiff opposition.

Across Western New York, health care workers have many stories to tell about how they made it through the blizzard while on the job.

Legal marijuana sales have launched in the state, but not in Western New York, due to a lawsuit that led to an injunction pausing sales here.

World Central Kitchen is back to help feed Buffalo's East Side in response to the blizzard that shut down the city for nearly a week.

Wells Enterprises will eliminate 183 jobs at its Dunkirk plant, which is less than the 319 employees the company previously planned to lay off.

A three-year deal reached ensures Highmark members will continue to have in-network access to care at Catholic Health's facilities.

Athenex is closing its Newstead manufacturing plant and laying off all 92 employees as of March 17.

Preliminary efforts are underway to prepare for the third phase of the project to redevelop the Northland complex in Buffalo.

The state is looking for ideas to redevelop a prison that closed last year in Gowanda.

The federal funding needed to get a tech hub program off the ground has been included in a year-end spending bill before Congress.

Cost vs. Benefits: That's the trade-off at the center of the state's proposed climate change plan.

A development agency is hiring a consultant to come up with ways to improve the infrastructure linking Canalside and the redesigned Centennial Park.

The Buffalo Niagara region's sluggish hiring is being driven by a shortage of workers, and local officials are starting to look for ways to ease the crunch.

Big changes are coming to the state's energy markets after a plan to reduce harmful emissions was approved by an advisory panel.

ICYMI

Four reads from Buffalo Next:

1. For looted stores, a costly recovery: Stores looted during the December blizzard have been scrambling to reopen. But the process is involved and insurance doesn't always cover the costs.

2. Bounce back for Buffalo Niagara economy: The value of all the goods and services produced in the region, which dropped by 3.4% during the pandemic, came roaring back last year, with a 5.3% gain.

3. The Bills make me want to shop: How Buffalo Bills merchandise is flying off shelves this season.

4. How will Western New York's higher education institutions recover from Covid-19? Enrollment at some local schools is holding up, but others are struggling to attract students.

The Buffalo Next team gives you the big picture on the regions economic revitalization. Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com or reach Deputy Business Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435.

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Andrew Tate Appears in Romanian Court to Appeal Extended Detention

Andrew Tate, right, and his brother Tristan, left, are brought by police officers to the Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, Jan.10, 2023. Andrew Tate, a divisive social media personality and former professional kickboxer, was detained last month in Romania on charges of human trafficking and rape, and later arrested for 30 days after a court decision. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Former kickboxer and social media personality Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan arrived in a Romanian court on the morning of Jan. 10 to appeal their extended 30-day detention.

Tate, 36, and his brother were initially detained on Dec. 29 in the capital city of Bucharest following a raid of the formers luxury home and other properties. Tate has reportedly lived in Romania since 2017.

Prosecutors said at the time that the brothers had been under investigation since April alongside two Romanian nationals as part of a probe into an organized crime group, human trafficking, and rape. The two Romanian women are also in custody.

A judge moved to extend their arrest period from 24 hours to 30 days a day after their arrest, explaining in a court document at the time that the possibility of them evading investigations cannot be ignored, and that they could leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition.

Tate, a British-U.S. citizen, and his brother have denied any wrongdoing and are challenging the arrest warrant.

Bucharests Court of Appeal is expected to hand out a verdict on the matter later on Tuesday, Eugen Vidineac, the Romanian lawyer representing the Tate brothers, told The Associated Press.

If the court rules to uphold the extended arrest warrant, prosecutors could request the suspects be detained for up to 180 days. If it is overturned, they could instead be placed under house arrest or banned from leaving the country.

Andrew Tate, centre, and his brother Tristan, right, are brought by police officers to the Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, Jan.10, 2023. (AP Photo/Alexandru Dobre)

Tates Rise to Fame

Tate rose to prominence as a kickboxer, at one point ranking No. 1 in his division in Europe, before making headlines during a brief stint on the UK television show Big Brother in 2016. He was taken off the show after video footage emerged that appeared to show him hitting a woman with a belt.

At the time, Tate said that the video footage had been edited to make him look bad and the woman who appeared in the video later issued a statement alongside Tate stating that the actions in the video were consensual.

He later went on to become popular on social media thanks to his often controversial videos as well as his paid video subscription program Hustler University, billed as an exclusive community with over 100000 students learning how to make money online.

Critics of Tate have branded him a misogynist, which he has denied, stating instead that he is a realist.

Separately, Vidineac told the Romanian online newspaper Gandul he believes that the character Tate portrays on social media could not be used as evidence in a criminal trial.

I dont know if you can characterize a person or morally profile a person so extensively that it be used as evidence in a criminal trial, what he presents on social media with what the person represents in real life, Vidineac said. Now, in the case of the Tate brothers, I dont know what their intent was in promoting themselves on social media, but I sit here and wondercan that intent from the social media stand as evidence in a criminal prosecution case, with respect to a criminal character?

The lawyer also stated that the defense has not been granted access to the prosecution file in the case against Tate and his brother in order to ensure the effective defense of his clients.

Andrew Tate, third right, and his brother Tristan, second right, are brought by police officers to the Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, Jan.10, 2023. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Prosecutors Say 6 Women Identified, Allegedly Exploited

There is not a single piece of evidence, apart from the victims statement, that leads to the idea that a crime of rape was committed, the lawyer said, adding that there is also no evidence supporting a human trafficking offense.

Vidineac also noted that the Tate brothers both have children but are not married.

At the time of their arrest in December, Romanias anti-organized crime agency DIICOT said that the brothers, along with two others, appear to have created an organized crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialized websites for a cost.

DIICOT said they had identified six women who had allegedly been sexually exploited by the suspects, stating that they had been recruited by British citizens by misrepresenting their intention to enter into a marriage/cohabitation relationship and the existence of genuine feelings of love (the loverboy method).

They were later transported and housed in buildings in Ilfov county where [they exercised] acts of physical violence and mental coercion, DIICOT said.

Romanian authorities also accused the suspects of gaining important sums of money through their actions.

Prosecutors investigating the case have so far seized 15 luxury vehicles, of which at least seven reportedly belong to the Tate brothers, and over 10 properties and homes belonging to the suspects, said Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for DIICOT.

Bolla also noted that further property will be taken by the state if prosecutors are able to prove that the Tate brothers and the two other suspects gained money through human trafficking. The money will be used to cover the expenses of the probe and to compensate the victims, according to the spokesperson.
Another Judge Facing Criminal Charges For Sexual Misconduct

There is a growing list of U.S. judges that are either facing charges or have recently been reprimanded for sexual misconduct. (Shutterstock)

A former Arkansas judge has been arrested by federal agents on charges he solicited sexual favors in exchange for a favorable ruling in a criminal case.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Thomas David Caruth was caught on an audio recording suggesting sex from a woman who asked him to help her boyfrienda defendant in a criminal case Caruth was presiding over.

The womans boyfriend was on parole and had violated a no-contact order, typically issued in domestic violence cases, a recently unsealed indictment against Caruth reveals.

I got one area I want to explore with you  And I dont know how youre gonna react. Um  how do you feel about sex? Caruth is alleged to have been recorded by the woman as saying.

Caruth is apparently heard on the tape also asking the woman if she had nice lingerie, and asking her Do you mind letting me see you in it?

After the woman refused his proposition, Caruth is alleged to have been captured on audio telling her that she would be buying an earlier trial for her boyfriend to preempt a parole violation hearing and thus dodge a finding he broke his conditions.

Caruth could not be reached for comment.

According to Arkansas court records, when confronted with the recording, Caruth told FBI officials he had no intentions of finding the man not guilty unless the evidence supported such a finding.

Caruth has since retired from the bench. Until his retirement, the 63-year-old Monroe District Court judge presided over a variety of cases including criminal, civil, and family.

Records obtained by The Epoch Times show that before being elected as a judge, Caruth was disciplined as an attorney in 2002 by the Arkansas Committee on Professional Conduct on a variety of ethical complaints, mostly financial misconductincluding fraud and conflict of interest.

He was cautioned for his conduct and fined $400.

Caruth is the latest in a growing list of judges that are either facing charges or have recently been reprimanded for sexual misconduct.

In November, South Carolina Judge John Ray Steele was arrested and charged with second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor after nude pictures of children were found on his cell phone.

The childrens photos were discovered as part of an investigation into his granddaughter on allegations of criminal sexual conduct involving several minor children.

In Maine, a civil complaint was recently filed against Penobscot County District Judge Charles Budd on allegations he sexually propositioned two high-level court employees including a district attorney.

Earlier in July, Tennessee Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Young was permanently suspended by Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct on allegations of sexual misconduct including asking a woman in an adoption case he was presiding over to send him sexually explicit pictures of herself.

Like Caruth, Young presided over family court matters involving custody of minor children.

Also in July, Washington Judge Scott Gallina was sentenced to 15 months in jail after pleading guilty to multiple counts of assault with sexual motivation following an investigation into charges he raped two female court employees. The cases Gallina presided over included domestic violence cases against women.

And in yet another case of sexual misconduct by a family court judge, Judge Robert Millera referee for the New York State Commission on Judicial Conductwrote in his decision not to remove Judge Richard Miller from the bench that the draconian sanction of removal of an elected judge was not warranted in the case.

Keith Neely, an attorney with the Institute For Justice, told The Epoch Times that judges have for too long been treated nearly like gods by the justice system and that is time for states to start passing legislation to take away their immunity.

While he sees Caruths arrest as a sign of hope that judges will start being held accountable for their misdeeds, it is exceedingly rare, he emphasized, for judges to get much more than a slap on the wrist.

A website entitled noethics.net chronicles more than 100 cases of judges that received what amounts to a slap on the wrist for sexually-related actsincluding the bizarre case of Pennsylvania Judge Isaac Stoltzfus who was initially charged by police with disorderly conduct after he was caught passing out acorns he had shelled out and stuffed with condoms to random women on the street.

Not only were the charges dismissed against Stoltzfus, the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline determined his actions did not warrant any sanctions.

In a 2020 article on the issue, Stephen Gillers said that the practice of judges judging judges undermines the systems ability to prevent misconduct on the bench.

According to the Reuters article, headlined Thousands of U.S. judges who broke laws or oaths remained on the bench, nine out of 10 judges were allowed to remain on the bench even after they were found guilty of misconduct.

Reuters reported that it found an excessively forgiving judicial disciplinary system.

Other recent cases involving sexual misconduct include Judge Paul Suschyk, also a family court judge, who resigned after Massachusettss Supreme Court found he had groped a female employee and then took actions to cover it up.

Suschyk has never been criminally charged for his conduct.

Late in 2021, Wisconsin Family Court Judge Brett Blomme pled guilty to distributing child pornography.

According to Wisconsin Attorney General records, Blomme, who was seated in Milwaukee, used the online name dommasterbb to transmit images and videos of young children posed in lewd positions and involved in sexual acts with adults.

Blomme is now serving a 9-year prison sentence. Like Gallina, Blomme is serving less time than sentences he passed down to defendants on lesser criminal charges.

North Carolina District Court Judge Randy Pool was only censured by the states Supreme Court for sexually charged social media posts he made to some 35 different women while he was conducting court proceedings.

At the time of his censure, the North Carolina Supreme Court wrote that censuring Pool was an appropriate punishment because he showed remorse and had an otherwise distinguished career on the bench.
Artificial Intelligence-Powered Robot Lawyer to Represent Human in Court Next Month

Attendees take pictures and interact with the Engineered Arts Ameca humanoid robot with artificial intelligence as it is demonstrated during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 5, 2022. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

A robot powered by artificial intelligence is set to become the worlds first robot lawyer and will take on speeding ticket cases in court next month, its creators have said.

Joshua Browder, the CEO of Startup DoNotPay, which bills itself as the home of the worlds first robot lawyer confirmed the news on Twitter on Monday.

Browder said the company is offering to pay any lawyer or person $1 million to use the AI lawyer in an upcoming case in front of the United States Supreme Court.

We have upcoming cases in municipal (traffic) court next month. But the haters will say traffic court is too simple for GPT. So we are making this serious offer, contingent on us coming to a formal agreement and all rules being followed, Browder wrote.

The CEO did not provide further details regarding the defendants in the case or the location of the court.

According to DoNotPays official website, the company uses artificial intelligence to help consumers fight against large corporations and solve their problems like beating parking tickets, appealing bank fees, and suing robocallers.

AI Technology Banned in Court Room

DoNotPays goal is to level the playing field and make legal information and self-help accessible to everyone, the website states.

The company, founded in 2015, is backed by multiple Silicon Valley investors, including venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Crew Capital and private equity company, Greylock Partners.

Speaking to CBS News, Browder, a Stanford University computer scientist, explained that the AI lawyer runs on a smartphone and listens to court arguments before formulating real-time responses for the defendant to repeat via headphones.

According to Browder, the company, which has raised nearly $30 million from the various tech-focused venture capital firms, has already used the AI technology to create letters and chatbots to help people over 2 million people secure refunds for everything from parking ticket disputes to failed in-flight Wifi.

In the past year, AI tech has really developed and allowed us to go back and forth in real-time with corporations and governments, he told CBS. We spoke live [with companies and customer service reps] to lower bills with companies, and what were doing next month is trying to use the tech in a courtroom for the first time.

It is unclear how the AI technology will work in the Supreme Court, given that it bans any electronic devices from being present in the courtroom while Court is in session.

A Lot of Lawyers and Bar Associations Would Not Support This

However, Browder told Gizmodo that certain accessibility rules allow for exemptions to the courts policy on electronic devices in order to provide for reasonable accommodations.

We would never do anything against the rules, he told Gizmodo.

The Epoch Times has contacted the Supreme Court for comment.

According to Business Insider, users will have to pay $36 a year to use the AI lawyer to contest issues such as refunds or parking tickets. Customers will have to answer questions detailing their case and a chatbot will then decide if they qualify for an appeal.

Browder told CBS that the company will cover any fines if the robot lawyer loses the case.

However, the so-called AI lawyer also poses a number of issues, including the fact that it cannot be sued and is illegal in most courtrooms.

There are a lot of lawyers and bar associations that would not support this, Browder told CBS. Its within the letter of the law, but I dont think anyone could ever imagine this would happen, Browder said. Its not in the spirit of law, but were trying to push things forward and a lot of people cant afford legal help. If these cases are successful, it will encourage more courts to change their rules.

China was the first nation to use artificial intelligence in court. The machine, built and tested by the Shanghai Pudong Peoples Procuratorate is able to file a charge with more than 97 percent accuracy, researchers claim, although there are concerns that the technology can be used to further clamp down on the rights of individuals.
Atmospheric River Triggers Flash Floods Across California

Another Pacific storm unleashed more heavy rains and damaging winds across California on Tuesday after thousands of people were evacuated due to mudslide and flood risks.

An atmospheric river event lingers into California with significant impacts from heavy rain, mountain snow, strong winds, and a few severe thunderstorms, said the National Weather Service (NWS) on Tuesday. From widespread flooding, rapid water rises, mudslides, landslides with possible debris flows and heavy snow load on structures will persist through today.

The core of the system will slam onshore with moderate to heavy rain resuming across much of California today through tonight while several more feet of snow is possible along the Sierra Nevada. Nearly all of California has seen much above average rainfall totals over the past several weeks, with totals 400-600 percent above average values, said the agency.

Some 90 percent of Californians were under some form of flood watch as of Monday, according to reports.

Expect widespread power outages, downed trees and difficult driving conditions, the NWS in Sacramento wrote on Twitter. Now is the time to prepare if you have not already!

Because of prior heavy rains, the soil has become saturated and river levels remain high, according to the NWS. The rain thats slated to fall Tuesday will exacerbate ongoing flooding at several rivers across the state.

The NWSs river flood monitoring website shows a number of rivers across California at flood stage or nearing flood stage. The treacherous weather, expected to dump as much as 7 inches of rain in some parts by Wednesday, could produce widespread flooding, rapid rises in water levels, mudslides and landslides, especially in areas where the ground has been saturated from previous heavy rainfall, the service warned.

A drone view of a tree that fell during a winter storm with high winds in Sacramento, Calif. on Jan. 8, 2023. (Fred Greaves/Reuters)

A cleaning crew walks through floodwaters in the Rio Del Mar neighborhood of Aptos, California, on Jan. 9, 2023, amid widespread flooding across the state. (Nic Coury/AP Photo)

By later tonight, the storm system will push rapidly inland, bringing widespread mountain snows across the Great Basin as the heavy precipitation across California begins to wind down. However, an enormous cyclone forming well off the coast of the North American continent will bring yet another Atmospheric River toward the West Coastthis time impacting areas further north from northern California northward up the coast of the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday, the bulletin added.

On Monday and Tuesday, high winds wreaked havoc on the power grid, knocking out electricity to tens of thousands of Californians. As many as 220,000 homes and businesses were without electricity on Tuesday morning, according to data from Poweroutage.us.

The weather services forecast comes after the evacuation of some 25,000 people, including the entire picturesque town Montecito, an affluent coastal enclave 90 miles northwest of Los Angeles, and nearby areas of the Santa Barbara coast, due to heightened flood and mudslide risks.

The Montecito evacuation zone was among 17 California regions where authorities worry the ongoing torrential downpours could unleash lethal cascades of mud, boulders, and other debris in hillsides stripped bare of vegetation by past wildfires.

At least a dozen fatalities have been attributed to several back-to-back storms that have lashed California since Dec. 26, including a toddler killed when a redwood tree was blown over his familys trailer home last week.

California state highway officials told The Associated Press on Monday that parts of state and U.S. highways were shut down due to mudslides, flooding, heavy snow, or rockslides. That included the northbound lanes of U.S. 101, a key route along the California Pacific coast, as well as U.S. Route 6 and State Route 168.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, requested President Joe Biden issue an emergency declaration to support the states response to the wave of storms. That request was granted by Biden on Monday, allowing more resources to be sent to the state via the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

We are in the middle of a deadly barrage of winter stormsand California is using every resource at its disposal to protect lives and limit damage, said Newsom in a statement. We are taking the threat from these storms seriously, and want to make sure that Californians stay vigilant as more storms head our way.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Australia Denies Asylum to Defecting Chinese Spy Wang Liqiang

'Real and chilling impact' and 'setting a very bad precedent,' says commentator

Wang Liqiang, a former Chinese spy, has defected to Australia and offered to provide information about his espionage work to the Australian government. (Courtesy of Wang Liqiang)

Wang Liqiang, who publicly defected from Beijing on Australian national television, has been denied asylum.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) said Wang could not be granted refugee status despite having well-founded concerns about returning to China because he committed fraud before entering Australia on a tourist visa, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The AAT also doubted Wangs espionage claims and questioned how it could safely find that (Wang) was engaged in espionage activities.

Wang defected to Australia in 2019 and provided an unprecedented account of the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) influence operations overseas.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, the then 27-year-old talked about how he had become disillusioned by the CCPs totalitarian agenda which led to his decision.

As I grew older and my worldview changed, I gradually realised the damage that the CCPs authoritarianism was doing to democracy and human rights around the world, Wang, the first Chinese spy to go public with his identity, said.

My opposition to the Party and communism became ever-clearer, so I made plans to leave this organisation.

Wang Liqiang speaks with the Australian 60 Minutes program on Nov. 24, 2019. (Screenshot via Reuters)

I thought and rethought it time and time again, he said. I wondered if this decision would be a good thing or a bad thing for my life. I couldnt tell you definitively, but I firmly believe that if I had stayed with [the CCP], I would come to no good end.

The Australian Department of Home Affairs rejected Wangs asylum application over an alleged fraud committed against Sydney businessman Filip Shu.

Wang now faces potential deportation back to China.

Espionage in Hong Kong and Taiwan

My jaw dropped as I read Wangs 12-page Chinese-language confession and plea for help, wrote Alex Joske, a former analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Other than admitting to being a CCP agent, Wang also disclosed to Australian immigration officials the communist regimes espionage activities in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

During 2018, Wang admitted to coordinating a mass disinformation campaign targeting nine-in-one regional elections in Taiwan aimed at undermining the administration of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. He travelled to Taiwan on a forged South Korean passport, where he took part in coordinating on-the-ground operations, he told Nine Network newspapers in 2019.

Wang also said he was sent to Hong Kong, where he infiltrated universities and stole military and weapons intelligence, all on the orders of his CCP superiors.

Wang provided the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) with a detailed account of everything he knew, including his role in the kidnapping of Causeway Bay bookstore owner Li in Hong Kong.

Further, he claimed he secretly met with the head of the CCPs spy operations in Australia, saying the man worked in the countrys energy sector.

Lam Wing-kee, one of five shareholders and staff at the Causeway Bay Book shop in Hong Kong, waves to the press at his new book shop on the opening day in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 25, 2020. (Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo)

In a rare move, the CCPs Political and Legal Affairs Commission responded swiftly to Wang Liqiangs case after he went public saying Wang was unemployed and had been convicted of fraud.

Wang said he had anticipated the CCPs defamation campaign against him and, through his lawyer, refuted the claims saying he had given a sworn statement to the Australian government and that he was aware of the serious consequences of making false accounts.

Real and Chilling Impact: Former Senator

The denial of Wangs asylum triggered concerns over the trials decision.

Eric Abetz, a former Liberal senator for Tasmania, said he hoped due process was followed.

It would indeed be a sad and worrying outcome should genuine defectors not be assisted. This would have a very real and chilling impact if protection was not granted, he told The Epoch Times in an email.

One must assume the decision to deport was made on legitimate grounds and not influenced by other considerations.

Senator Eric Abetz during Senate question time in Canberra, Australia on Feb. 2, 2021. (Tracey Nearmy/AUSPIC)

Policymakers from both major parties in Australia supported granting asylum to Wang Liqiang in 2019.

Current Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said back then that Wang might have a legitimate claim for asylum.

We know that he has outlined a range of activities which clearly put him in a circumstance whereby its a legitimate claim for asylum, said Albanese, then opposition leader.

Liberal MP Shadow Minister for Defence Andrew Hastie also supported granting Wang asylum.

Im of the view that anyone whos willing to assist us in defending our sovereignty deserves our protection, Hastie, who chaired the Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, said at the time. I think he deserves our protection and our support.

Setting a Very Bad Precedent: Australian Chinese Writer

Jennifer Zeng, an Australian Chinese writer, and YouTuber focusing on Chinese politics, said the CCP would definitely exert pressure on the Australian government on such matters, particularly as the Labor government works to normalise ties with Beijing.

During the pandemic, Beijing launched a comprehensive trade war against Australian exporters in response to calls for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19 by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Meanwhile, Zeng, who applied for asylum in Australia in 2001, cited her own experience of the CCP exerting pressure on Home Affairs during her asylum application.

Jennifer Zeng is an Australian human rights activist and author. (jenniferzengblog.com)

Wangs repatriation will set a very bad precedent for the future, she told The Epoch Times in an interview. It will discourage other defectors, including those who know other secrets in the CCP system, such as the secret of forced organ harvesting  They will lose trust in Western governments.

The CCP punishes those who betray themselves very severely. They are ruthless in dealing with the so-called traitors  If that [the deportation] were to happen, it would be very regrettable and would make the free world, including the Chinese people in China who yearn for freedom, very disappointed with the Australian government.

The denial of Wangs asylum comes after Foreign Minister Penny Wong visited China on Dec. 21, wishing to restart Australian exports to Beijing after years of diplomatic tension with the previous Liberal government.

Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian said on Jan. 10 that Wongs visit helped restart bilateral discussions on trade, economics, and investment. Xiao thanked the Albanese government and Australian media for sending positive messages to the public.

Australias Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets Chinas President Xi Jinping in a bilateral meeting during the 2022 G20 summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Australia, on Nov. 15, 2022. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Zeng, who currently lives in the United States, hopes that the U.S. government can step in and offer Wang asylum to avoid deportation to China.

Anything that is good for the Western free world and those who aspire to it, especially those in the CCP system, we should welcome them, support them, and help them, she said.

Both the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the Department of Home Affairs told The Epoch Times that they were not able to comment on the case.
Australian City Hit by Tremors From 7.6 Earthquake

Tremors have reverberated in Australias Top End following a 7.6 magnitude undersea earthquake near Indonesias Tanimbar Islands, east of Timor-Leste.

The quake struck early on Jan. 10 with the epicentre located around 90 kilometres or 55.9 miles underwater.

Residents in the capital city of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Australia reported violent shaking of their homes and houses.

Everything was banging and shaking, the doors were shaking, I thought the house was going to fall apart, Tracey Wedel told AAP.

It was literally the strongest [earthquake] Ive ever felt. Dogs up the street were barking, and it went on for about two and a half minutes.

Meanwhile, former Olympian and former Senator Nova Peris said the incident was freaking scary.

The entire house just shook, like crazy, and pictures fell off the walls! she wrote on Twitter.

Geosciences Australia has reported in a post on Twitter that over 2,800 people in the region described feeling the quake to the government body.

Weve received over 2800 felt reports around the Top End following a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in the Banda Sea, Indonesia this morning. Although Darwin is over 600km from the Banda Sea, many earthquakes occurring in the region are felt in Australia.  https://t.co/xHlwWO6HRc. pic.twitter.com/dymvTkMTGT  Geoscience Australia (@GeoscienceAus) January 9, 2023

Natasha Fyles, the chief minister of the Northern Territory, has warned residents in the region to be aware of the potential for aftershocks.

Suspect a few of us are going to need a coffee (or four) to get going later this morning after that shock. Please be wary of aftershocks, Territorians, she wrote on Facebook.

The earthquake was also felt in Nhulunbuy in northeast Arnhem Land all the way down to Tenant Creek in the centre of the Northern Territory.

Senior Duty Seismologist Tanja Pejic described the seismic event as pretty significant.

Its quite possible that we will see aftershocks along those magnitudes of maybe five or larger that might still be felt, although I suspect it wouldnt be felt as widely as the 7.6 earthquake, she told AAP.

She said anyone caught up in an earthquake should drop to the ground, cover their head, and crawl under any kind of shelter, including tables.

AAP contributed to this article.
Babies R US to Return With Store at American Dream Mall

Babies R Us will reopen its first store at New Jerseys American Dream Mall this summer, nearly five years after its parent Toys R Us closed shop across the country, the retailers owner WHP Global said on Tuesday.

Babies R Us was the go-to destination for parents looking for cribs, pacifiers, and diaper bags until stores were shut in June 2018. WHP Global said the new store in New Jersey sets the stage for a national rollout in the future.

Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy protection in late 2017, straining under a $2.5 billion debt pile. At the time, its bankruptcy was the biggest collapse of a U.S. retailer by assets since Kmart in 2002.

People shop at the Toys R Us store in Macys Herald Square during Black Friday sales in New York on Nov. 25, 2022. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

In late 2021, WHP Global also reopened the first Toys R Us store at the American Dream mall, while also expanding its partnership with Macys Inc. in 2022 to bring the brand to all of its department stores in the country.

WHP Global in 2021 had bought a controlling interest in Toys R Us parent Tru Kids Inc., which was owned by investment funds including Solus Alternative Asset Management.
Bakhmut at Risk of Envelopment as UK Confirms Russian Gains in Soledar

A Ukrainian soldier throws bullet casings from an armored vehicle near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Dec. 22, 2022. (Libkos/AP Photo)

The British Defense Ministry has confirmed significant Russian gains in the Donetsk region, raising concerns that the strategic Ukrainian town of Bakhmutlong the scene of intense ground fightingcould soon be encircled by Moscows forces.

In the last four days, Russian and Wagner forces have made tactical advances into the small Donbas town of Soledar and are likely in control of most of the settlement, the ministry stated in a Jan. 10 intelligence update.

Russian forces deployed in the area include elements of the Donetsk Peoples Militia and the Wagner Group, a paramilitary organization directed by the Kremlin.

A Ukrainian officer examines the situation in a shelter in Soledar, the site of heavy battles with Russian forces in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Jan. 8, 2023. (Roman Chop/AP Photo)

On Jan. 9, pro-Russian sources in Donetsk reported that the village of Bakhmutske, which sits on Soledars southern outskirts, had been taken by the Russians.

Later the same day, a spokesman for the pro-Russian Luhansk Peoples Militia claimed that a massive retreat by Ukrainian troops was now underway in urban areas of Soledar.

Kyiv has reportedly rushed reinforcements to the eastern front amid steadily mounting reports of Russian breakthroughs in and around Bakhmut and Soledar.

Known for its expansive subterranean salt mines, Soledar is located roughly six miles to the northeast of Bakhmut.

Bakhmut (Artyomovsk in Russian) is a vital transport hub that Kyiv has used to resupply its forces in Donbas, a geographical territory that includes both the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

According to the British Defense Ministry, Russias ongoing push into Soledar is likely an effort to envelop Bakhmut from the north and to disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication.

All Eyes Fixed on Bakhmut, Soledar

Military analysts say the fall of Bakhmut to Russian forces would severely disrupt Ukrainian supply lines to the eastern front.

It would also open the way for a Russian advance on the towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, key Ukrainian strongholds to the northwest.

Earlier this week, the Ukrainian military claimed that its forces had successfully countered repeated Russian attempts to storm Soledar from different directions.

The assertion was echoed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who went on to concede that the situation in Soledar was very difficult.

A Ukrainian soldier of an artillery unit fires toward Russian positions outside Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, on Nov. 8, 2022. (Bulent Kilic/AFP via Getty Images)

Oleh Zhdanov, a prominent Ukrainian military analyst, recently described the ongoing fighting in both Bahkmut and Soledar as the most intense along the entire 680-mile frontline.

Notably, the Russian Defense Ministry made no mention of either town in its daily briefing for Jan. 10.

However, several Russian and pro-Russian officials have claimed that the capture of Soledarin its entiretyis imminent.

All eyes are fixed on Bakhmut and Soledar, Denis Pushilin, head of the Moscow-backed Donetsk Peoples Republic, told Russias state-run Channel One broadcaster on Jan. 10.

Developments there are unfolding in such a way that [Soledar] is close to being liberatedbut at great cost.

He went on to assert that fighting near Soledar had already shifted westward, suggesting a possible Russian bid to encircle Bakhmut from the north.

On Jan. 9, Vladimir Novikov, a Russian special forces commander, said the capture of Soledar would likely oblige Ukrainian forces to vacate Bakhmut to avoid entrapment and total destruction.

Allies Pledge More Support

In February 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine with the stated aim of protecting pro-Russian separatists in Donbas from alleged abuses by the Kyiv government.

Kyiv and its Western allies view Russias ongoing special military operation in Ukraine as unprovoked aggression against a sovereign nation.

In September 2022, Moscow formally incorporated Donetsk, Luhansk, and two other Ukrainian regions into the Russian Federation after holding controversial referendums.

Ukraine and its allies, for their part, reject the legitimacy of the move, which they say amounts to the illegal annexation of territory by Russia.

Kyiv, which has received billions of dollars in financial assistance from its alliesand vast amounts of arms and equipmenthas vowed to continue fighting until all four regions have been fully recovered.

Last week, France, Germany, and the United States all pledged to provide the Ukrainian military with fleets of armored fighting vehicles.

The UK is reportedly mulling the possibility of sending combat tanksfor the first timeto Ukraine.

We will continue to discuss with Ukrainian counterparts what is the best form [of weaponry] we can provide, a spokesman for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters on Jan. 10.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Biden Admin Moves To Cut Monthly Student Loan Payments Along With Debt Cancellation

US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona (R) looks on as US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the student debt relief portal beta test, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House, in Washington on Oct. 17, 2022. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Along with his plans to grant student loan debt forgiveness to millions of borrowers, President Joe Biden is moving ahead with a plan to lower student loan repayments and stop their balances from growing because of an accumulation of unpaid interest.

On Tuesday morning, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced the Biden administrations new student loan repayment plans.

Under the proposed changes, student loan borrowers on the Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) plan would offer $0 monthly loan repayments for individual borrowers who make less than about $30,600 annually and for borrowers in a family of four or more that makes less than about $62,400 annually. The plan would also cut monthly payments in half for undergraduate loan borrowers who do not fall under a $0 monthly loan repayment option. Further, the Biden administration plan would stop borrowers balances from growing as a result of accumulating unpaid interest, so long as they make their monthly payments.

Today the Biden-Harris administration is proposing historic changes that would make student loan repayment more affordable and manageable than ever before, Cardona said. We cannot return to the same broken system we had before the pandemic, when a million borrowers defaulted on their loans a year and snowballing interest left millions owing more than they initially borrowed. These proposed regulations will cut monthly payments for undergraduate borrowers in half and create faster pathways to forgiveness, so borrowers can better manage repayment, avoid delinquency and default, and focus on building brighter futures for themselves and their families.

The Biden administration announced last August its intent to revise how student loans are repaid, as Biden also announced a plan to cancel up to $20,000 in debt held by Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 in debt held by non-Pell Grant recipients earning less than $125,000 a year. Biden laid out a three-part plan that included canceling debts for student loan borrowers, reducing monthly payments, and reducing the costs to attend college in the United States.

The Biden administration is now pursuing these changes to student debt repayment even as his more high-profile move to cancel student debts faces court challenges.

Biden Admin Defends Student Debt Cancellation

The Biden administrations student debt cancellation plan has been struck down by multiple federal district and appeals courts. The debt cancellation effort is now the subject of two different cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The White House has asked [AP citation] the Supreme Court to uphold the plan and reject the two legal challenges. The Biden administration submitted its brief last week, with oral arguments slated for Feb. 28.

The Trump administration paused student loan payments in early 2020, as COVID-19 arrived in the United States. The Biden administration continued to extend this Trump-era pause. In November, amid the ongoing legal disputes, the Biden administration once again extended the moratorium on student loan payments through June 30.

Opponents See $Billion Price Tag

As with opposition to Bidens debt cancellation plan, opponents point to the costs that will be passed on to taxpayers with this revised student loan repayment plan. The Biden administration estimates the repayment plan would cost nearly $138 billion over the next decade, while some critics have put the true cost closer to $200 billion [AP citation].

The Biden administration believes the student debt cancellation plan will also cost about $30 billion a year over the next 10 years, for a total cost of $300 billion over the next decade.

The conservative Heritage Foundation has also predicted that canceling student debts will lead to colleges increasing their tuition rates because students will have more access to funding.

Even some on the left have questioned the prudence of the idea, saying its so generous that it effectively turns student loans into grants that dont need to be repaid. [AP citation].

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

From NTD News.
Biden, Lopez Obrador Open Mexico Meetings With Brusque Talk

U.S. President Joe Biden (L) and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador stand for the national anthems during an official welcome ceremony at the National Palace in Mexico City on Jan. 9, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

MEXICO CITYMexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador challenged U.S. President Joe Biden to end an attitude of abandonment and disdain for Latin America and the Caribbean as the two leaders met on Monday, making for a brusque opening to a summit of North American leaders.

The comments were a stark contrast to the public display of affection between Lopez Obrador and Biden shortly before, as they smiled and embraced and shook hands for the cameras. But once the two sat down in an ornate room at the Palacio Nacional, flanked by delegations of top officials, it didnt take long for tensions to bubble to the surface.

Most of the summits work will be handled on Tuesday, when the two leaders and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are to hold hours of talks. Migration, both legal and illegal, and border security will be key topics.

On Monday, Lopez Obrador challenged Biden to improve life across the region, telling him that you hold the key in your hand.

This is the moment for us to determine to do away with this abandonment, this disdain, and this forgetfulness for Latin America and the Caribbean, he said.

He also complained that too many imports are coming from Asia instead of being produced in the Americas.

We ask ourselves, couldnt we produce in America what we consume? he said. Of course.

Biden responded by defending the billions of dollars that the United States spends in foreign aid around the world, saying unfortunately our responsibility just doesnt end in the Western Hemisphere. And he referenced U.S. deaths from fentanyl, a drug that flows over the border from Mexico.

While both men pledged to work together, it was a noticeably sharp exchange, on full display before reporters. They met privately for about an hour before having dinner with Trudeau and their wives.

All three countries are struggling to handle an influx of people arriving in North America and to crack down on smugglers who profit from persuading migrants to make the dangerous trip to the United States.

In addition, Canada and the United States accuse Lopez Obrador of violating a free trade pact by favoring Mexicos state-owed utility over power plants built by foreign and private investors. Meanwhile, Trudeau and Lopez Obrador are concerned about Bidens efforts to boost domestic manufacturing, creating concerns that U.S. neighbors could be left behind.

Biden and Lopez Obrador havent been on particularly good terms for the past two years either. Last year Lopez Obrador skipped a Los Angeles summit because Biden didnt invite the authoritarian regimes of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

However, there have been attempts made at thawing the relationship. Biden made a point of flying into the new Felipe Angeles International Airport, a prized project of the Mexican president even though its been a source of controversy.

The airport, which is expected to cost $4.1 billion when finished, is more than an hours drive north of the city center, has few flights and until recently lacked consistent drinking water. However, its one of the keystone projects that Lopez Obrador is racing to finish before his term ends next year, along with an oil refinery, a tourist train in the Yucatan Peninsula and a train linking Gulf coast and Pacific seaports.

The two leaders rode into Mexico City in Bidens limousine. Lopez Obrador was fascinated by the presidential vehicle known as the beast, and he said Biden showed me how the buttons work.

In a notably warm comment, the Mexican president described the two leaders first encounter of the trip as very pleasant, and he said President Biden is a friendly person.

The United States and Mexico have also reached an agreement on a major shift in migration policy, which Biden announced last week.

Under the plan, the United States will send 30,000 illegal immigrants per month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela back across the border from among those who entered the United States illegally. Migrants who arrive from those four countries are not easily returned to their home countries for a variety of reasons.

In addition, 30,000 people per month from those four nations who get sponsors, background checks and an airline flight to the United States will get the ability to work legally in the country for two years.

On Monday, before the summit began, Lopez Obrador said he would consider accepting more migrants than previously announced.

We dont want to anticipate things, but this is part of what we are going to talk about at the summit, Lopez Obrador said. We support this type of measures, to give people options, alternatives, he said, adding that the numbers may be increased.

Mexico would likely also require an increase in those receiving work authorization in the United States in order to take back more migrants who are being expelled.

Jake Sullivan, Bidens national security adviser, cautioned that nothing was decided yet.

What we need is to see how the program announced last week works in practice, what if any adjustments need to be made to that program and then we can talk about taking the next steps, he said.

On his way to Mexico, Biden stopped in El Paso, Texas, for four hourshis first time at the border as president and the longest hes spent along the U.SMexico line. The visit was highly controlled and seemed designed to counter Republican claims of a crisis situation by showcasing a smooth operation to process migrants entering legally, weed out smuggled contraband, and humanely treat those whove entered illegally.

But the trip was likely to do little to quell critics from both sides.

The number of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has risen dramatically during Bidens first two years in office. There were more than 2.38 million stops during the year that ended Sept. 30, the first time the number topped 2 million.

On Monday afternoon, Lopez Obrador formally welcomed Biden at the Palacio Nacional, the first time since 2014 that Mexico has hosted a U.S. president.

In a display of solidarity, the first ladies of the U.S. and Mexico delivered the same speech, alternating between Jill Biden in English and Beatriz Gutierrez Muller in Spanish.

Earlier in the day, Jill Biden met with women from the fields of education, art and business, most of them recipients of U.S. cooperation programs or scholarships.

Do whatever you want but teach others, Jill Biden said.

Biden is expected to follow up his first trip to Mexico as president with another to Canada, although it has not yet been scheduled.
Biden to Make His First Presidential Visit to Canada in March

U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Mexico City, Mexico, on Jan. 10, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

U.S. President Joe Biden will be making his first presidential visit to Canada this March, which has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic since he was first elected in 2020.

The announcement of Bidens visit comes shortly after Trudeau and the U.S. president held a bilateral meeting on Jan. 10 during the ongoing Three Amigos summit in Mexico City.

U.S. presidents typically make a visit to Canada shortly after being inaugurated, but MPs in the House of Commons voted unanimously in November 2020 to call upon the government to postpone Bidens visit until after the pandemic had subsided.

Included in the motion was also a request that the government invites Biden to visit and address Parliament.

An itinerary detailing Bidens upcoming trip to Canada is yet to be released, along with the exact dates and locations he will visit.

Bidens last official visit to Canada was in 2016, while he was still vice president to Barack Obama.

Summit Meeting

A White House readout of Biden and Trudeaus Jan. 10 meeting in Mexico City said the leaders discussed joint economic efforts and climate commitments, along with strengthening cooperation on national defence and security.

Biden and Trudeau also discussed critical mineral supply chains, electric vehicles, and semiconductors, and touched upon their military involvement in NATO.

[Biden and Trudeau] discussed defense and security cooperation to meet 21st century challenges, promote collective security and prosperity, and uphold a rules-based international system, it said.

The readout added that the pair discussed the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), but did not provide details beyond the leaders mutual acknowledgment of its importance and continued defense.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
Brazils J6 Means More Patriot Persecution Incoming

Supporters of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro clash with the police during a demonstration outside the Planalto Palace in Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2023. (Evaristo Sa/AFP via Getty Images)

Commentary

Less than three days after U.S. President Joe Biden gave a speech commemorating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots as the worst attack on democracy in the history of mankind, socialist convicted felon and new president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has set the tone for his impending clampdown on political opposition.

Lula was sentenced to 12 years in prison for corruption and money laundering in 2018, although the sentence was annulled in 2021 by Brazils Supreme Court.

Much like the U.S. 2020 presidential election, Brazil saw an incumbent populist, Jair Bolsanaro, swept from power by a left-wing career politician who enjoys the unanimous support of media, academia, the financial sector, and the countrys legal institutions.

Also, like in the United States, questions of election integrity followed, as did demands for an investigation into corruption and foul play. Frustration with government inaction eventually culminated in a protest gathering turned destructive riot.

On Jan. 8, the capital city of Brasilia saw protesters storming the countrys Congress, Supreme Court, and the presidential palace. Citizen frustration apparently boiled over into a destructive act of vandalism.

The most important similarity to Jan. 6, 2021, however, is the impending persecution of political opposition in Brazil that is inevitably approaching.

Lula has already labeled those involved in the protests as fanatical fascists.

Brazil Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has also ordered social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok to block accounts of users who spread messages deemed anti-democratic or coup-mongering.

This sounds awfully familiar, doesnt it?

Jan. 6, 2021, has become the central axiom of the U.S. lefts political narrative. In the latter, they are the champions of freedom fighting against fascism. Remember, Biden used this word directly, declaring supporters of former President Donald Trump as semi-fascists in his August 2022 speech.

The American left believes that Jan. 6, 2021, provides the concrete example that they need to argue that they are literally fighting Nazis. And since that is the ultimate evil, all measures are subsequently justified in the fight.

This us versus them narrative is imperative to justify the silencing of political oppositiongood guys fighting bad guys.

Similarly, Bolsanaro is the central target of all ire of the Brazilian political establishment. Lula has already attributed the protests to the words and actions of his genocidist predecessor.

This should also sound familiar. The primary evil villain in our scenario is, of course, Trump. But what is an evil villain without his loyal henchmen? Enter all Americans who have recognized the abject corruption of the current regime (it doesnt matter whether youre a Trump fan or not).

Likewise, all supporters of Bolsanaro will be roped into something resembling the insurrectionist category here in the United States. Political demonization, legal persecution, and mass censorship will follow for all who reject the legitimacy of the Lula regime.

But dont take my word for it. Their intentions arent hidden. Here are a few examples floating around the media right now.

Newsweek reported this comment by Paulo Calmon, a political science professor at the University of Brasilia, speaking to The Associated Press: Bolsonarism mimics the same strategies as Trumpism. Our Jan. 8an unprecedented manifestation in Brazilian politicsis clearly copied from Jan. 6 in the Capitol.

Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), wrote on Twitter: 2 yrs since Jan.6, Trumps legacy continues to poison our hemisphere. Protecting democracy & holding malign actors to account is essential.

Mass Arrests in Brazil After Anti-Democracy Riots, declared The New York Times.

The biased and objectively false label anti-democracy riots perfectly encapsulate The New York Times central role as a left-wing propaganda outlet and regime apologist. However, it also reveals an important premise of the aforementioned narrative that portends increased political persecution that is incoming not only in Brazil, but right here in the United States: refusing to abide by corruption is synonymous with anti-democracy.

Biden, in his Jan. 6 speech, spent a significant amount of time not only demonizing the former president and his supporters, but also discounting the primary impetus behind the events of Jan. 6, 2021, in general: the notion that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

The political establishment, of which the president is a mere mouthpiece, and their media enablers have utilized the riots of that day to enact the standard that any attempt to question the elections perfect fairness is in itself de facto insurrection.

This is the central premise of the entire effort to make Jan. 6, 2021, into a day of infamy. Without it, the Capitol riots were just a group of rabble-rousers trespassing on federal property. With it, it was a violent coup being directly orchestrated by the incumbent president, siccing his political minions in the Peoples House to retain power.

D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officers skirmish with protesters in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (U.S. Department of Justice/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

The international leftleaders in politics, academia, media, and industrywho largely abide by the principles and worldview of supranational forums such as the World Economic Forum, perceived the revolutionary rise of populist movements (Trump, Bolsanaro, Brexit, etc.) in the latter half of the 2010s as an existential threat to their hold on power. The subsequent counterattack has been coordinated and effective.

However, the populist phenomenon, much to the latters dismay, hasnt receded. Instead, its increasing. It may not feel like this at times, but one only needs to observe how the regime moves and operates in order to ascertain what they are truly concerned about.

Consider the fact that Bidens Jan. 6 speech reeked of fear. No, not fear about democracy dyinginstead, fear of the American people.

Every day, more and more are catching on to the rigged game going on in Washington. The sulphuric stench of the D.C. swamp has become so pungent that its impossible not to catch a whiff. The hazy cloud of corruption and hypocrisy has settled across the nation, from sea to shining sea.

The Twitter Files.

The inability to honestly and openly discuss COVID-19 vaccines.

The fact that the U.S. electoral system has been fundamentally revolutionized in the past three years and voicing any concerns about this gets one branded as a conspiracy theorist or insurrectionist.

Thats just to name a few. There are myriad other examples that demonstrate the current contradictions in the system. New revelations about our elitist corruption are released daily, awakening even more potential discontent. However, this phenomenon isnt constrained by geographic boundaries but has instead spread across the world.

There is a reason that the protesters in Brasilia were clad with the yellow and green of their nations flag. Patriots in every country are waking up to the malign forces attempting to tear apart their families, traditions, and way of life.

Brazil is the latest hot spot in this strugglebut it wont be the last.

We must, therefore, take heart and continue to seek the truth. Although the political clampdown is sure to intensify, it is necessary to remember that fear is always found where insecurity resides.

Elites around the worldfrom Washington to Brasilia to Davosare aware that populist rage is rising in opposition to their hold on power.

And they are afraid. Very afraid.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Brazils Lula to Visit White House for In-Depth Meeting on Wide-Ranging Shared Agenda

President Joe Biden participate in an official welcome ceremony at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, on Jan. 9, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images); Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gestures during his government's first cabinet meeting at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on Jan. 6, 2023. (Evaristo Sa/AFP via Getty Images)

President Joe Biden held a telephone conversation with Brazils newly-elected president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the White House announced on Monday, noting that the socialist leader will visit Washington in early February for in-depth consultations on a wide-ranging shared agenda.

In a joint statement released by Biden and Lula, the two leaders pledged to work closely on issues such as climate change, economic development, and peace and security.

Biden conveyed the unwavering support of the United States for Brazils democracy and for the free will of the Brazilian people as expressed in Brazils recent presidential election, which President Lula won, the statement reads.

Since the outcome of Brazils national election on Oct. 30, 2022in which Lula won 50.9 percent to former President Jair Bolsonaros 49.1 percentmass protests have been held in the country by Bolsonaro supporters, of whom many allege election results were fraudulent or unreliable.

On Jan. 8, a week after Lula took office on Jan. 1, a demonstration in Brazils capital, Brasilia, turned violent when a large crowd of protesters stormed government buildings and destroyed windows of the presidential palace while smashing furniture in Congress and the Supreme Court.

In Mondays statement, Biden condemned the violence and the attack on democratic institutions and on the peaceful transfer of power.

A day earlier, White House adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden is following the situation closely, while also noting that U.S. support for Brazils democratic institutions is unwavering.

In another joint statement issued from Mexico City, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Biden condemned the attack on Brazils democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power.

Biden arrived in Mexico on Jan. 8 to attend the North American Leaders Summit, a joint gathering of the three North American leaders, dubbed the Three Amigos summit.

President Joe Biden (C), Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R) and Mexicos President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (L) arrive for the North American Leaders Summit (NALS) in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Nov. 18, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Bolsonaro Condemns Storming of Government Buildings

In posts on Twitter late on Jan. 8, Bolsonaro also condemned the attacks on government buildings and pushed back against Lula who had blamed him for the riot.

Peaceful demonstrations, in the form of the law, are part of democracy, Bolsonaro said, per a translated version of the Twitter post. However, depredations and invasions of public buildings as occurred today, as well as those practiced by the left in 2013 and 2017, escape the rule.

In addition, I repudiate the accusations, without evidence, attributed to me by the current head of the executive of Brazil, he added. Throughout my mandate, I have always been within the four lines of the Constitution, respecting and defending the laws, democracy, transparency, and our sacred freedom.

President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro arrives for a press conference two days after being defeated by Lula da Silva in the presidential runoff at Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on Nov. 1, 2022. (Andressa Anholete/Getty Images)

Bolsonaro has neither publicly conceded nor emphatically cried election fraud, though he and his party submitted a request to annul ballots cast on most electronic voting machines, arguing some of the machines were flawed and votes from them should be invalidated.

Alexandre de Moraes, the head of Brazils electoral court, rejected the complaint from Bolsonaros allies that seeks to challenge the presidential election.

Since 1996, Brazilians have used an electronic voting system that security experts consider less secure than hand-marked paper ballots because the system leaves no auditable paper trail. But Brazils system is closely scrutinized, and domestic authorities and international observers have never found evidence of it being exploited to commit fraud.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From NTD News
Bump Stock Case Is Not About Firearms: Attorneys

The real issue is power of federal agencies, they say

A woman looks at white crosses set up for the victims of the Route 91 Harvest music festival mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nev., on Oct. 7, 2017. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)

If you believe the lifting of the ATFs bump stock ban by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is a Second Amendment question, you are mistaken, said the lead attorney for plaintiff Michael Cargill of Texas.

This case doesnt raise any Second Amendment issues, Richard Samp of the New Civil Liberties Alliance and lead counsel on the lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), told the Epoch Times.

The decision [handed down Jan. 6] could have broad applications beyond just one issue with the ATF.

In 2019, Cargill sued the ATF over its bump stock ban. Cargill claimed the ban was an unconstitutional usurpation of Congress legislative powers by the U.S. Department of Justice and the ATF at the direction of then-President Donald Trump. Cargills claim is based on the fact that the ATF had publicly stated on several occasions that the bump stock was not something it regulated.

Cargill is correct. A plain reading of the statutory language, paired with close consideration of the mechanics of a semi-automatic firearm, reveals that a bump stock is excluded from the technical definition of machine gun set forth in the Gun Control Act and National Firearms Act the ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit states.

A bump fire stock that attaches to a semi-automatic rifle to increase the firing rate is seen at Good Guys Gun Shop in Orem, Utah, on Oct. 4, 2017. (George Frey/Reuters)

According to Samp, the Appeals court has remanded the case to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. However, he pointed out that the government will likely appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court at some point.

The high court has declined to hear previous appeals. However, the Cargill decision conflicts with other rulings in which the ban was upheld.

Thats the primary reason the Supreme Court agrees to hear these cases, Samp said.

Samp said the case could go before the high court as early as next fall, though there is no way to know for sure. He noted how this case could have repercussions across the entire network of federal agencies. It goes to the heart of the debate over how much and what type of authority an agency can be granted under the U.S. Constitution.

A bump stock is an add-on part that enables a shooter to increase a rifles rate of fire. It does not alter the actual firing mechanism but enables the shooter to pull the trigger more rapidly. Shooters previously got the same effect using shoe laces, twine, or by hooking the thumb of their trigger hand in a belt loop.

The ATF had previously determined bump stocks were not firearms and, therefore, not regulated by the Gun Control Act of 1968 or the National Firearms Act of 1934. Both prohibit private ownership of machine guns and altering existing firearms into machine guns.

The authority of the ATF and other federal agencies to make rules that carry criminal penalties is called into question by a lawsuit filed over bump stock ban instituted in 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

In an open letter dated July 7, 2010, the ATF wrote, The stock has no automatically functioning mechanical parts or springs and performs no automatic mechanical function when installed  Accordingly, we find that the bump stock is a firearm part and is not regulated as a firearm under the Gun Control Act or the National Firearms Act.

The ATF reiterated this point in at least two subsequent letters. Samp said that Congress must make any federal regulation of bump stocks. However, that isnt what happened.

On Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada, a gunman using rifles outfitted with bump stocks killed 60 people and wounded more than 400. In a memo dated Feb. 20, 2018, Trump wrote that he told Attorney General Jeff Sessions to find a way to ban bump stocks.

Accordingly, following established legal protocols, the Department of Justice started the process of promulgating a Federal regulation interpreting the definition of machine gun under federal law to clarify whether certain bump stock type devices should be illegal, the memo reads.

On Dec. 18, 2018, the ATF issued a new rule declaring bump stocks illegal and ordering the owners to either turn in their bump stocks or destroy them. Samp said the ATF exceeded its authority.

Congress Can Set Bans

Congress, if it wanted to, could pass a law banning bump stocks. Thats been our point all along. Thats the kind of decision Congress should make, Samp said.

He pointed out that several state legislatures have banned the item without serious challenges under the Second Amendment.

According to the website worldpopulationreview.com, Hawaii, California, Nevada, Washington, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, Florida, and the District of Columbia ban bump stocks.

William Kirk is a Washington-based attorney who specializes in Second Amendment law. He also hosts the YouTube channel Washington Gun Law. Kirk posted a video on this case at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxa-0youn4A.

He agrees with Samp. He said the ATF ban violates the separation of powers outlined in the U.S. Constitution. And this legal principle applies to all federal agencies.

Separation of Powers at Risk

Its literally an attack on the structure of how legislation in our country is meant to be done, Kirk told The Epoch Times. This doesnt go just for the ATF.

Kirk said that for years federal agencies have been able to promulgate rules and regulations with criminal penalties attached to them with little notice from the courts. But as their reach has expanded and people file lawsuits, the courts are beginning to act.

Were seeing [the courts] begin to put up barriers around all of these alphabet agencies, said Kirk.

Both lawyers said that once the Second Amendment protections are removed from the bump stock question, the Fifth Amendment becomes a factor. This amendment protects citizens from being forced to testify against themselves, guarantees due process, andspecific to this caseprevents the seizure of private property without just compensation.

In his lawsuit, Cargill claims he was forced to give the ATF personal propertythe bump stock he had purchased legallybut he was not compensated. And Samp said his client is not alone. The DOJ estimates that up to 520,000 bump stocks were sold before the ban. By order of the government, they were subsequently destroyed or confiscated. Samp said there could be a flood of lawsuits in the future.

Many people, as a result of the 2018 rule, had to turn in their bump stocks or destroy them. There is a very strong claim for compensation, he said.

Kirk pointed out that agencies, from the Department of Education to the Environmental Protection Agency to the Internal Revenue Service, make rules and set policies that cost Americans millions of dollars annually. Still, Kirk doesnt expect the federal agencies to give up their power easily.

Theres a lot more battles to be fought, Kirk said.

I think were going to see a good old-fashioned fistfight.
California Deluge Forces Mass Evacuations, Boy Swept Away

LOS ANGELESAs another powerful storm walloped California, a 5-year-old boy was swept away by floodwaters Monday on the states central coast and an entire seaside community that is home to Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities was ordered to evacuate on the fifth anniversary of deadly mudslides there.

Tens of thousands of people remained without power, and some schools closed for the day. Streets and highways transformed into gushing rivers, trees toppled, mud slid, and motorists growled as they hit roadblocks caused by fallen debris. The death toll from the relentless string of storms climbed from 12 to 14 on Monday, after two people were killed by falling trees, state officials said.

A roughly seven-hour search for the missing boy turned up only his shoe before officials called it off as water levels were too dangerous for divers, officials said. The boy has not been declared dead, said spokesperson Tony Cipolla of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office.

The boys mother was driving a truck when it became stranded in floodwaters just before 8 a.m. near Paso Robles, a small city inland from Californias central coast, according to Tom Swanson, assistant chief of the Cal Fire/San Luis Obispo County Fire Department.

Bystanders were able to pull the mother out of the truck, but the boy was swept out of the vehicle and downstream, likely into a river, Swanson said. There was no evacuation order in the area at the time.

A man wades through a flooded street in the Rio Del Mar neighborhood of Aptos, Calif., on Jan. 9, 2023. (Nic Coury/AP Photo)

About 130 miles to the south, the entire community of Montecito and surrounding canyons scarred by recent wildfires were under an evacuation order that came on the fifth anniversary of a mudslide that killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes in the coastal enclave.

The National Weather Service reported rainfall rates of one inch per hour, with heavy downpours expected throughout the night in the upscale area where roads wind along wooded hillsides studded with large houses. Montecito is squeezed between mountains and the Pacific and is home to celebrities including Oprah Winfrey and Rob Lowe.

Jamie McLeods property was under the Montecito evacuation order, but she said there is no way for her to get off the mountain with a rushing creek on one side and a mudslide on the other. The 60-year-old owner of the Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary said one of her employees came to make a weekly food delivery and is stuck, too.

McLeod said she feels fortunate because her home sits on high ground and the power is still on. But she said she tires of the frequent evacuation orders since the massive wildfire followed by the deadly landslide five years ago.

It is not easy to relocate, said McLeod. I totally love itexcept in catastrophe.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said the decision to evacuate nearly 10,000 people was based on the continuing high rate of rainfall with no indication that that is going to change before nightfall. Creeks were overflowing, and many roads were flooded.

Northbound lanes of U.S. 101, a key coastal route, were expected to be shut until Tuesday. Many other highways and local roads were closed because of rockslides and flooding.

Up the coast, evacuation orders were issued in Santa Cruz County for about 32,000 residents living near rain-swollen rivers and creeks. The San Lorenzo River was declared at flood stage, and drone footage showed numerous homes sitting in muddy brown water, the top halves of autos peeking out.

Maria Cucchiara, who lives in tiny, flooded Felton, went for a walk to count her blessings after a huge branch harpooned the roof of her small studio, she said.

I have two kitties, and we couldve been killed. It was over a ton, she said. So needless to say, it was very disturbing.

Nicole Martin, owner of the Fern River Resort in Felton, described a more laid-back scene Monday. Her clients sipped coffee amid towering redwood trees and were enjoying the show, she said, as picnic tables and other debris floated down the swollen San Lorenzo.

The river is usually about 60 feet (18 meters) below the cabins, Martin said, but it crept up to 12 feet from the cabins.

In Northern California, several districts closed schools and more than 35,000 customers remained without power in Sacramentodown from more than 350,000 a day earlier after gusts of 60 mph knocked majestic trees into power lines, according to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. A homeless person killed by a falling tree in the region was among the new deaths announced Monday.

The National Weather Service warned of a relentless parade of atmospheric riverslong plumes of moisture stretching out into the Pacific that can drop staggering amounts of rain and snow. The precipitation expected over the next couple of days comes after storms last week knocked out power, flooded streets, and battered the coastline.

President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration Monday to support storm response and relief efforts in more than a dozen counties.

The weather service issued a flood watch for a large portion of Northern and Central California, with 6 to 12 inches of rain expected through Wednesday in the already saturated Sacramento-area foothills.

In the Los Angeles area, there was potential for as much as 8 inches of rain in foothill areas late Monday and Tuesday. High surf was also expected.

Much of California remains in severe to extreme drought, though the storms have helped fill depleted reservoirs.
Californias Misinformation Law Targets Doctor Zero

Commentary

A new and unconstitutional, Orwellian gag-order law took effect on Jan. 1. Titled Physicians and surgeons: unprofessional conduct, the law permits the Medical Board of California to discipline doctors who disseminate misinformation.

Its an obvious and direct attack on the First Amendmentfreedom of speechas well as the Fifth Amendment, which says an individual cannot be compelled by the government to provide incriminating information about himself, and the Fourteenth Amendments equal protection under the laws.

This law attempts to mandate a new and undefined standard known as contemporary scientific consensus and illegally suppress differing professional opinions counter to this consensus on COVID-19.

Differing professional opinions are of course protected from governmental interference and censorship by the First Amendment. The importance of differing professional opinions is also enshrined in the practice of medicine by the longstanding right and traditional entitlement of patients to the time-honored second opinion. If everyone were forced to adopt the undefinable contemporary scientific consensus, second opinions could be deemed to be misinformation.

Dr. Simone Gold speaks at a July 2020 press conference on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court. (Courtesy Americas Frontline Doctors)

As a physician and attorney, I am particularly interested in this law as it is very dangerous for both doctors and patients. It also happens that I am Doctor Zero, responsible for triggering California legislators to pass this unconstitutional law.

The transcripts of the committee hearings and bill analyses, mentioning me by name as the founder of Americas Frontline Doctors (AFLDS), can be found at this link. Shockingly, these legislative hearings, particularly on Aug. 30 and May 13, 2022, target a specific individual. Such a deeply flawed legislative history also undermines the bills legality.

First and Fourteenth Amendments

The leading and most recent Supreme Court precedent on free speech is National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) v. Becerra. In NIFLA, the California Reproductive Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency Act (FACT Act) attempted to impose mandatory medical speech on health care providers. The FACT Act required pro-life health care clinics to inform patients that free or low-cost abortions were available in California and required the clinics to give the patients a telephone number to call for those services.

The United States Supreme Court held that this law was likely an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment. The Court noted that laws targeting speech based on its content, which compel speakers to speak a particular message, are presumptively unconstitutional.

The Court also expressly stated, Speech is not unprotected merely because it is uttered by professionals.

This new California law does exactly the same thing, attempting to turn an undefinable contemporary scientific consensus into mandatory medical speech and is a fatal constitutional violation under any First Amendment analysis.

The new law is also unconstitutionally void for vagueness under the Fourteenth Amendment. According to Village of Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates Inc., perhaps the most important factor affecting the clarity that the constitution demands of a law is whether it threatens to inhibit the exercise of constitutionally protected rights. If, for example, the law interferes with the right of free speech or of association, a more stringent vagueness test should apply.

Court Challenges

There are currently three federal lawsuits challenging the new law.

Hoang v. Bonta was filed on Dec. 1, 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California by Physicians for Informed Consent and the California Chapter of Childrens Health Defense on behalf of plaintiff Dr. Letrinh Hoang, a California licensed osteopathic physician with more than 25 years experience.

The suit alleges that the new California law violates physicians First Amendment and free speech rights by prohibiting them from sharing information with their patients if it is inconsistent with what the law refers to as contemporary scientific consensus and the standard of care.

Heg v. Newsom was filed on Nov. 1, 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California by New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan civil rights group. The plaintiff, California-licensed physician Dr. Tracy Heg, argues the defendants violate the plaintiffs Fourteenth Amendment rights, as the terms misinformation, disinformation, and scientific consensus are unconstitutionally vague.

McDonald v. Lawson was the first suit filed against the new law. It was filed on Oct. 4, 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the Medical Board of California and Attorney General.

It was filed by Advocates for Faith & Freedom and Liberty Justice Center on behalf of two southern California AFLDS-affiliated doctors. Dr. Mark McDonald is a psychiatrist and Dr. Jeff Barke is a primary care physician. Both doctors contend the new law violates the First Amendment and is unconstitutionally vague. The case is pending as it was dismissed with leave to amend, meaning an amended complaint must be filed.

Supporting vs. Opposing Groups

The groups supporting this censorship include the American Medical Association, the Federation of State Medical Boards, the Medical Board of California, and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California.

The groups opposing this censorship include AFLDS, Advocates for Faith & Freedom, Advocates for Physicians Rights, American Civil Liberties Union, Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, California Health Coalition Advocacy, Childrens Health Defense, Liberty Justice Center, New Civil Liberties Alliance, and Physicians for Informed Consent.

Given its extraordinary legislative history targeting the free speech rights of an individual physician, as well as its multiple clear violations of the United States Constitution, this California Code needs to be struck down. The law is hardly the dispassionate and reasoned legal analysis the people of California deserve from its legislators.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
President Joe Biden is facing backlash over his first trip to the border. What did he see and what did he not see on the tightly controlled visit?

Elon Musk confirms a new autopilot update for Teslas. It has sparked concern from the federal governments auto safety agency, as it investigates Teslas self-driving system.

The House Jan. 6 committee leaked over a thousand social security numbers of visitors to the White House. South Dakotas governor says she is now at risk of identity theft.

An expert from the National Defense University joins us to discuss how the war between Russia and Ukraine could end, and what U.S.Russia relations could be like after the war.

An old NASA satellite fell toward the Bering Sea on Sunday. It has been in orbit around Earth for nearly four decades since 1984.
CCP Proves Climate Fight Not Really About Climate

A worker uses a torch to cut steel pipes near the coal-powered Datang International Zhangjiakou Power Station at Zhangjiakou, in China's northern Hebei Province on Nov. 12, 2021. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)

Commentary

You dont have to be a climate scientist to know the ringleaders of the climate change bandwagon dont truly believe the narrative theyre selling.

And it isnt just because they jet around the world in private jets to lecture you about your car and your hamburgers.

In fact, if the people at the top bought into the notion that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are really pollution producing a climate crisis, theyd be doing exactly the opposite of what theyre actually doing.

Examining climate policy and communist China proves the point.

Consider the United Nations Paris Agreement. Negotiated at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris in 2015, the global deal calls on national governments to make their own pledges about what theyll force on their populations to combat the alleged climate crisis.

Under the deal, the Obama administration unilaterally pledged to slash CO2 emissions in the United States by more than 25 percent by 2025. That was to be imposed on Americans through executive orders and federal regulations, to avoid involving Congress. Other Western governments made similar promises.

The Chinese communist regime, by contrast, was already emitting far more CO2 than the United States and now spews more than the entire Western world combined by farand yet it pledged only to keep increasing its emissions for the next 15 years. Seriously.

In its submission to the U.N. (pdf), the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agreed to achieve the peaking of carbon dioxide emissions around 2030.

In other words, the regime proudly announced to the world that its CO2 output would continue to grow for at least 15 years, at which point nobody will even remember the Paris pledges.

When I asked members of the Chinese delegation for comment at the U.N. summit, instead of responding, they sent one of their minions to follow me around the conference and take pictures of me, something I promptly reported to U.N. security and the French police.

Its a good thing for the CCP that nobody will remember its promises by 2030, because virtually every analyst who has looked at the regimes coal-fired power plant construction binge has acknowledged theres no way its emissions will peak by 2030. Communist promises have never been worth the paper theyre printed on anyway, as history has shown.

The CCP wasnt kidding about increasing its emissions, though: Beijing is currently bringing more coal-fired power plants online just between now and 2025 than the United States has in total.

According to Global Energy Monitors February 2021 briefing (pdf), the CCP built up more than three times as much coal-power capacity as the rest of the world combined in 2020. And it already has about half of the worlds coal power capacity, according to Global Energy Monitors Boom and Bust 2020: Tracking the Global Coal Plant Pipeline.

China already emits more than twice as much CO2 as the United States, according to data from the Global Carbon Project. Its emissions are rising meteorically even as U.S. emissions and emissions from other Western nations continue to plunge.

In 2021, Americans released about 5 billion tons of CO2, while China released about 11.5 billion. If current trends continue, the CCP may release more CO2 than the rest of the world combined in the not-too-distant future.

Think about this. If one was truly concerned about CO2 emissions producing climate hell, as world leaders claimed at the latest U.N. climate summit in Egypt, theyd be panicking, not celebrating.

Moving Production

Again, all of the production being moved out of the West and into China will result in vastly more CO2 entering the atmosphere than if that production had remained in the United States, Canada, or Europe.

And yet, Western governments, tax-funded climate activists, U.N. leaders, and their media allies all celebrated and continue to celebrate the Paris Agreement and subsequent follow-ups as a huge success in saving the climate.

Perhaps Donald Trump was on to something in 2012 when he wrote on Twitter, The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.

Thats exactly what happened, of course, as electricity rates got pushed higher and higher over time. In 1975, electricity was averaging around 3 cents per kilowatt hour, helping U.S. industry remain competitive globally. By 2010, thanks in part to President Barack Obamas policies, it had tripled. And by 2021, it was approaching 15 cents.

For perspective, electricity prices in China are about half that.

There are many reasons for the shifting of production from the United States to Chinamany of them directly related to U.S. policybut one key factor has been the cost of energy.

Yet, higher energy prices were openly touted as a policy objective by Obama. As he made clear in a 2008 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, under my plan  electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.

Later that year, he expressed similar sentiments as gas prices soared to around $4, saying only that he wouldve preferred a gradual adjustment instead.

Faced with higher labor costs and a tougher regulatory environment, American companies and entrepreneurs were already struggling to keep production in the United States amid a rigged global trading regime benefiting the CCP at Americas expense.

Soaring energy costs in many cases pushed firms over the edge, forcing them to shift production to China or shut down in the face of Chinese competition.

Again, if you truly believe CO2 is pollution, the worst possible outcome of climate negotiations would be to transfer even more production to China, where CO2 emissions per unit of economic production are massively higher.

But this is precisely the result of the much-celebrated U.N. climate process.

The shift into so-called renewable energy being engineered by the Biden administration and federal policymakers has been and will continue to be a huge boon to the CCPand not just because it will force prices higher while making the U.S. energy grid more unstable.

Almost 80 percent of solar cells produced in 2019 were made in China, according to Bloomberg data (pdf). The CCP dominates production in the wind sector and battery industries as well. It also controls the supply chain for rare-earth materials needed to produce all of these green energy products.

The U.S. government, for its part, is offering massive subsidies to these CCP-dominated industrial sectors while forcing Americans into dependence on them through regulations, mandates, subsidies, and other policies. How this is supposed to help the environment is never made clear.

For some perspective on the economic carnage inflicted on America by Obamas Paris scheme, which he claimed was an executive agreement and thus not subject to Senate ratification as required by the Constitution, The Heritage Foundation crunched the numbers in a 2016 study.

Among other findings, the conservative-leaning think tank said Obamas Paris pledges would increase electricity costs for a family of four between 13 and 20 percent annually while vaporizing almost half a million jobs, including around 200,000 in manufacturing.

That damage translates to about $20,000 in lost income for American families by 2035 and a reduction in GDP of over $2.5 trillion.

Who Benefits?

Who benefits from all this? Certainly not the climate. Again, shipping U.S. industry to China will result in more CO2 in the atmosphere, not less. And in any case, based on the U.N.s own debunked models, complete elimination of all U.S. CO2 emissions would result in virtually no reduction in global temperatures.

According to a peer-reviewed paper by Bjorn Lomborg published in the journal Global Policy, even if all the significant pledges made in Paris were fulfilled, global temperatures would be just 0.05 degrees C (0.086 degrees F) cooler by 2100a statistically insignificant rounding error.

The big winner, of course, was the CCP, which has been laughing all the way to the bank as it absorbs the factories, jobs, and wealth production that the United States and other Western authorities are shutting down to save the climate.

This appears to be deliberate, as statements by leading officials in the Obama administration and the U.N. have made clear.

Obamas science czar John Holdren openly advocated a deindustrialization of the United States in his 1973 book Human Ecology.

A massive campaign must be launched to restore a high-quality environment in North America and to de-develop the United States, Holdren and his co-authors wrote. De-development means bringing our economic system (especially patterns of consumption) into line with the realities of ecology.

Then consider the seemingly bizarre comments made by then-Executive Secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change Christiana Figueres.

Speaking to Bloomberg a few months after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his unsettling admiration for the CCP, Figueres claimed that the regime in Beijingoverseeing about one-third of global CO2 outputwas doing it right on climate policy.

In separate comments, while pushing for major climate policies, Figueres also suggested the goal of climate policy was really economic transformation.

This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution, she said on Feb. 4, 2015.

Five years before those comments, one of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes top officials, Ottmar Edenhofer, revealed a similar agenda in comments to Germanys NZZ Online.

One must say clearly that we redistribute de facto the worlds wealth by climate policy, he said. One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. This has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore.

Wealth redistribution? Changing the economic model of the world? De-developing the United States? And here Americans are being told this is about saving the climate.

Remember, too, that when Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, climate alarmists from around the world declared that Beijing was the new global leader of the effort to save the climatethe same regime thats overseeing the most CO2 emissions, building coal plants faster than can be counted, and promising to keep increasing its CO2 emissions until 2030.

If this is really about saving the climate from CO2, how can the CCP be the new leader? Its beyond absurd.

Despite all this, the Biden administration continues to intensify cooperation on climate action and the Paris Agreement with Beijing, no doubt causing amusement and joy among members of the CCPs Politburo.

Its not just the Chinese regime that benefits. In fact, congressional researchers discovered that state-backed Russian energy interests were funding U.S. green groups opposed to U.S. energy via a shell company in Bermuda called Klein Ltd.

The regime in Venezuela, too, is laughing all the way to the bank as the Biden administration sabotages U.S. energy and begs the Maduro dictatorship to send oil to America.

To be clear, I dont begrudge the CO2 emissions of China or anyone else. In fact, many scientists have told me that more of this gas of life would be enormously beneficial for the planet and humanity.

Retired Princeton physics professor Dr. William Happer, who served as Trumps climate adviser, told me years ago at a climate conference we both spoke at that the planet needed more CO2 and that plants were designed to live in an atmosphere with quite a bit more CO2 than the planet currently has.

Plus, human emissions of CO2 make up a fraction of 1 percent of all the so-called greenhouse gases present naturally in the atmosphere.

To summarize, if one truly believes that CO2 is bad for the climate, shipping U.S. production and industry to China is the worst possible way to deal with it. Logically, then, the policymakers behind this must have an ulterior motive.

Of course, the CCP loves the Paris deal: They do nothing but build more coal plants to power the industries and factories fleeing America for China as the U.S. government forces the United States to commit economic suicide.

This isnt just an economic or climate issue, either. As the United States is de-developed, the economic destruction produces a major threat to national security. A strong military cant be funded without a strong economy, obviously.

Its time for lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives to shut down the administrations climate policies that do nothing but expand CCP CO2 emissions and harm the United States.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Child Welfare a Focus of Criminal Sentencing Review

A statue of Themis, the Greek God of Justice stands outside the Supreme Court in Brisbane, Australia. (Dave Hunt/AAP Image)

The New South Wales (NSW) government will review sentencing and bail guidelines after an inquiry recommended taking childrens welfare into consideration when dealing with offenders.

A parliamentary inquiry into supporting children with imprisoned parents last year found having a parent behind bars had a profoundly negative effect on children  and should be avoided when possible.

Children with incarcerated parents are frequently swept under the rug when it comes to public policy and neglected by government services, the committees Liberal chair Peter Sidgreaves said earlier this year.

Bail and sentencing legislation should be changed so judges and magistrates have to consider whether an offender is a parent or carer before putting them behind bars or refusing them bail, the inquiry found.

Parents should be given alternatives to incarceration wherever possible, especially when an offender would be given a sentence of 12 months or less.

The inquiry report said these measures could reduce childrens suffering.

The government said it supported 21 of 40 recommendations, agreed to consider five, noted 13 and rejected one.

Four recommendations regarding sentencing and bail were noted, and the government committed to keeping these settings under review.

However, it noted existing laws allowed courts to consider a range of factors when sentencing an offender, including hardship to family and dependants in some circumstances.

Similar considerations are able to be made in the case of bail applications.

Many children with parents in jail are put into out-of-home care, the government added and supported through the departments of communities and justice.

A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Mark Speakman told AAP the government continually worked to assess the effectiveness of bail and sentencing laws.

The NSW Government has an ongoing commitment to actively review and monitor sentencing laws, including through the important work of the Sentencing Council, to ensure these laws remain fit for purpose, she said on Monday.

NSW Advocate for Children and Young People Zoe Robinson told the inquiry she would welcome any consideration that took into account dependants during sentencing.

Children of offenders were often traumatised by being removed from their parents, and some cycled through up to 50 foster placements, Professional Individualised Care founder Jarrod Wheatley told AAP.

Even in some circumstances where a parent or carer may have problematic elements in their life, a non-broken parenting relationship can still be preferable to one where the government intervenes, he said.

There are undoubtedly children where we need to intervene and care for that child, Wheatley added.

But its also true to say that there are many children where theyre better off at home just receiving a lot of support.
China Halts Visa Issuance for South Korean, Japanese Visitors in Tit-for-Tat Move

Passengers queue to pass through customs after arriving at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in China's eastern Zhejiang Province on Jan. 8, 2023. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinas communist regime has halted the issuance of short-term visas to South Korean and Japanese nationals in a tit-for-tat move against nations that have imposed COVID-related entry restrictions on travelers arriving from mainland China.

The move came after Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang expressed concerns about South Koreas entry rules to his South Korean counterpart, Park Jin, over the phone. Park responded that the rules were based on scientific evidence.

The Chinese embassy in South Korea announced via the messaging application WeChat on Jan. 10 that it would suspend the issuance of short-term visas to South Korean citizens, Yonhap News Agency reported.

China imposed similar measures on Japanese visitors, the Japan Times reported, citing local travel industry sources.

The measures, which also apply to visits for trade and medical care purposes, will be in effect until South Korea removes its discriminatory entry restrictions against China, according to the embassy.

Commenting on the measures, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lim Soo-suk told reporters that South Korea would continue to communicate closely with Beijing while maintaining its stance on the entry measures.

South Korea and Japan have tightened curbs on travelers from China, requiring them to undergo a pre-departure test for COVID-19, and temporarily stopped increasing flights from China. South Korea also announced the temporary suspension of short-term visas for Chinese citizens.

People wait for medical attention at the Fever Clinic area in Tongren Hospital in the Changning district in Shanghai on Dec. 23, 2022. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

Other countriesincluding the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Malaysiaimposed PCR testing requirements for all arrivals from China after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) eased its zero-COVID policy. Morocco has banned all travelers arriving from China.

Thailands government on Jan. 9 abruptly reversed its recent decision requiring foreign travelers to provide proof of COVID vaccination amid concerns that the rules could threaten the recovery of its tourism industry.

131 Chinese Visitors Test Positive

The number of imported COVID cases in South Korea on Jan. 3 was 172, the highest in three months, of which 131 (76.2 percent) were from China, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

KDCA stated that 31 percent of imported COVID cases in the previous week were from China. South Korea started to test all travelers from China for the disease on Jan. 2.

Cho Kyu-hong, minister of health and welfare and the first director of the KDCA, said at a meeting on Jan. 4, We need to be on high alert for the pandemic in China at this time.

Medical workers wear PPE as they arrive with a patient on a stretcher at a fever clinic in Beijing on Dec. 9, 2022. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

The CCP abolished its zero-COVID policy in early December. Amid a major outbreak in China, the regimes health commission suspended the release of daily pandemic data on Dec. 25. The World Health Organization has repeatedly asked Chinese authorities to share specific information on the outbreak in real time.

In addition, there is a shortage of cold and fever medicines following the outbreak in mainland China. The South Korean government said it is concerned about the lack of cold medicine in the country owing to massive purchases of medicine by Chinese people. Authorities established a purchase limit on cold medicine sold in pharmacies on Dec. 30 while stepping up efforts to crack down on the smuggling of cold medicine through airports and parcels.

Lisa Bian contributed to this report.
A Buffalo man has been sentenced to five years in prison for his guilty plea to second-degree robbery, a Class C violent felony, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt announced.

Chautauqua County Court Judge David W. Foley also ordered Tyrese White, 23, to undergo five years of post-release supervision.

Prosecutors said White and another unidentified person came to Chautauqua County to meet with someone who had listed a vehicle for sale on Facebook Marketplace.

Instead of purchasing the vehicle, prosecutors said, White and his companion assaulted the seller and stole the vehicle. White entered his plea to the charge Oct. 31.
Chinese Doctors and Patients Desperate for COVID Medicines Amid Surge of Severe Cases

An almost empty shelf of cold medicine at a pharmacy amid the latest COVID outbreak in Beijing, China, on Dec. 15, 2022. (Yuxuan Zhang/AFP via Getty Images)

Since December 2022, COVID has swept across China, and Chinese doctors and patients are desperate for COVID drugs, which are in short supply.

The Chinese communist regime lifted its signature zero-COVID measures in early December 2022, a long-awaited move for the Chinese people, but at the wrong timing and without proper preparations for medical supplies.

Your treatment solutions target neither the [COVID-19] virus nor the pneumonia inflammation, and they are futile, Zhang Wenhong, a prominent Shanghai infectious diseases expert, said on Jan. 5 at a training session, adding that antipyretics, antibiotics, cough medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine are all doctors have to cure COVID patients at the moment.

I myself cannot find any antiviral medicines, Zhang said at the training session.

Chinese doctors blame the authorities for strict control of antiviral medicines, and patients have to pay steep prices for COVID drugs like Paxlovid.

Extreme Scarcity of COVID Medicines

Antiviral medicines, especially effective imported medicines such as Paxlovid, are scarce in Chinese hospitals and are prescribed to a small number of COVID patients, according to doctors interviewed by the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times.

Xin Han (pseudonym), a doctor at a hospital in Anshan in Chinas northeastern Liaoning Province, told The Epoch Times on Jan. 8 that Paxlovid was recently available in her hospital for medical treatment of senior CCP officials only.

Only the hospital director has the right to approve the use of Paxlovid, which we doctors cannot see at all. The imported COVID medicines are used in our hospitals senior officials department exclusively, Xin said.

Amid the countrys recent COVID outbreak, China Meheco Group inked an agreement with Pfizer on Dec. 14, 2022, to import and distribute the U.S. drugmakers Paxlovid in China, China Meheco Group said in a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange.

COVID-19 treatment pill Paxlovid in a box at Misericordia hospital in Grosseto, Italy, on Feb. 8, 2022. (Jennifer Lorenzini/Reuters)

In Beijing, Paxlovid is not in stock in the emergency pharmacy of Peking University First Hospital. A staffer at the pharmacy told The Epoch Times that the hospital will manage to buy Paxlovid from outside sources after the attending doctor approves the use of the American tablets.

The staffer didnt give his name in the phone interview on Jan. 8.

In Chinas eastern Jiangxi Province, Paxlovid isnt in stock in the No. 1 Peoples Hospital of Jiujiang City.

The doctor who answered the phone told The Epoch Times on Jan. 8 that his hospital doesnt have Paxlovid or human immunoglobulin for intravenous injection (IVIG), which are regarded as effective medications for COVID patients.

The doctor, who wanted to stay anonymous, didnt understand why there is such a shortage of medicines in China.

Hospitals dont have access to necessary medicines for the treatment of COVID. Where have the drugs gone? There are so many drugmakers in our country, but why cant they manufacture enough medicines? he asked our reporter on the phone.

These hospitals that the publication has reached out to are all tertiary hospitals, which are allocated the most medical resources by the Chinese authorities. Their lack of effective COVID medicines reveals the severity of the shortage of proper medicines to treat COVID patients.

Steep Prices for COVID Medicines

Ms. Xu (pseudonym), a resident of Zaozhuang in Chinas eastern Shandong Province, said that she had paid over 20,000 yuan (over $3,000) for eight doses of IVIG injections for her mother.

When speaking with the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times on Jan. 7, Xu said that she could not get the doses from the hospitals and that she managed to buy them through a friend.

We are told that the medicine can boost immunity. My mother received her first two doses of human immunoglobulin for intravenous injection on Jan. 6, and two more doses today, and her fever was gone, Xu said, adding that the doses were life-saving. However, she said that her mother was still very weak.

In Chinas central Hubei Province, Liao (pseudonym), a resident of Xiangyang, was looking for COVID drugs for his grandmother.

She was infected by COVID at the end of December, and she was transferred to the ICU of Xiangyang Central Hospital on Jan. 6, Liao said.

His grandmothers lungs have turned white, and the doctors who treated her told him to find five-day courses of IVIG for her because the hospital didnt have any.

White lung syndrome refers to the alveoli in the lungs being filled with exudative or inflammatory cells that block the passage of rays of a CT scan or X-ray and thus show up as white areas.

Liao said the price for the injection doses on the black market was 3,000 yuan ($442) per dose. He would have to pay 30,000 yuan ($4,420) for 10 doses, which would be administered to his grandmother over five days. He began searching for available doses on the black market in Wuhan, the capital city of the province, since there werent any available in his hometown, Liao said.

Panic Purchase of COVID and Fever Drugs Overseas

Chinese people have been rushing to their local pharmacies to buy painkillers, fever reducers, antipyretics, and vitamins to send back to their loved ones in China.

The panic buying of fever-reducing medicines in mainland China has spread to Hong Kong, and chain stores have sold out of many kinds of such drugs, in particular, Panadol. (Terence Tang/The Epoch Times)

Pharmacies in Macao, Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, and the United States are reportedly running short of these medicines and some have started to limit purchases.

The Chinese communist regime has rejected international help while the Chinese populace suffers from the sweeping COVID wave and a severe shortage of medications.

Zhao Fenghua and Hong Ning contributed to this report.
Classical Charter School Denied in Capistrano, Appeals to OC Board of Education

Parents and community members speak out at an Orange County Board of Education meeting in Costa Mesa, Calif., on Nov. 2, 2022. (Micaela Ricaforte/The Epoch Times)

Petitioners behind a classical charter school appealed to the Orange County Board of Education Jan. 4 after its application to the Capistrano Unified School District failed in November.

California Republic Leadership Academys founders told OC Board of Education trustees on Wednesday they were hoping to bring a classical education model to the county.

Such a modelin addition to teaching core subjectsseeks to instill leadership, critical thinking, and good habits in students through classical texts, service-learning projects, and lessons in responsibility, time management, and financial literacy, according to co-founder Gary Davis.

We want to show our young people they can become leaders by first serving their community, Davis said.

The school was founded by Davis, vice president of civic and political affairs at the California Charter Schools Association, and Kevin Pratt, an Orange County parent and businessman.

Pratt told the board that after moving from Texas to Orange County several years ago, he failed to find a classical charter school similar to the one his children attended.

Pratt said he partnered with Davis to build a unique educational program that focuses on servant leadership and entrepreneurialship.

In the first year the school plans to launch instruction for grades K5, with 13 hired teachers and a projected enrollment of 374 students, according to the charters petition. For the second year, it will launch grades 68.

Davis and Pratt turned to the OC Board of Educationwhich has long held a pro-charter majorityafter their charter application (pdf) to Capistrano Unified failed in a split vote during a November 2022 board meeting.

One month prior, Capistrano Unified staff had published a report (pdf) recommending the charters denial, calling it an unsound educational program and adding that the school is unlikely to serve the interests of the entire community in which the school is proposing to locate.

Davis told the OC Education Board at the recent meeting that about 95 percent of criticisms in the staff report are conjecture, opinion, false or not required by law.

When it comes down to it, our petition is solid, our academic program is very strong, its tested, and our team has the experience to make us proud, Davis said.

Some trustees expressed support for the charter during the meeting.

Trustee Ken Williams said he disagreed with the Capistranos staff reports assessment of the charter, saying he would fully support the petition.

This is the type of public school that parents want, Williams said. They want to have leadership. They want to get back to the basics and teach our kids critical thinking skills. Thats what this classical education is going to do.

Trustee Mari Barke echoed Williams, saying This is the kind of choice Orange Countys looking for.

Trustee Jorge Valdes commended the petition but said he wanted to wait for the staff report to be published before he gave an indication of his position.

The OC Education Board will publish a staff report in the coming weeks and make a final decision in February.
Classified Documents Found at Penn Biden Center: Presidents Lawyer

President Joe Biden speaks during a Cabinet meeting in the White House in Washington on Jan. 5, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Documents with classified markings were found inside an institution at which President Joe Biden worked before he took office, according to a lawyer for the president.

The classified documents were discovered in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center, Richard Sauber, the lawyer, said in a statement released by the White House.

The documents were discovered on Nov. 2, 2022, according to Sauber, days before the midterm election. Sauber did not disclose the finding until Jan. 9, 2023.

White House lawyers alerted the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) on the day of the discovery and NARA took possession of the materials the following morning, Sauber said.

The Penn Biden Center is a set of offices in Washington. It is part of the University of Pennsylvania. Biden worked at the center after the Trump administration took office until Biden started campaigning for the 2020 election.

The FBI and NARA declined to comment. The Penn Biden Center and the White House did not respond to requests for comment. An automated message from the number the Department of Justice lists for media queries directed reporters to submit emails, and an email was not returned.

Biden ignored a reporter who asked about the documents while in Mexico City on Monday.

Sauber said the classified documents were discovered by attorneys for Biden and were not subject to a request or inquiry by NARA.

Since that discovery, the Presidents personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives, he said.

Materials with classified markings were found at former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago home, leading to FBI agents executing a search warrant at the rest in the fall of 2022.

U.S. lawyers have said they believe Trump violated multiple laws, including one governing the handling of defense materials.

Trump has said he declassified the materials before he left office.

Trump has not been charged as of yet.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, a Biden appointee, appointed a special counsel, Jack Smith, to take over the investigation. Smith is also overseeing the probe into unlawful interference with the transfer of power following the 2020 election or the certification of the Electoral College vote, which took place after it was interrupted when rioters breached the U.S. Capitol.

Biden has criticized Trump for holding records with classified markings.

How that could possibly happen? How anyone could be that irresponsible  totally irresponsible, Biden said in a 60 Minutes interview shortly after the FBI raid.

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) speaks during a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on gun violence in Washington on June 8, 2022. (Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images)

Expect the Same Treatment

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, pointed to the remarks.

Under the Biden Administration, the Department of Justice and National Archives have made compliance with the Presidential Records Act a top priority, Comer said in a statement. We expect the same treatment for President Biden.

Biden stole classified documents and stored them at his think tank while he was VP. The VP does not have any authority to declassify classified documents, added Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.).

Republicans hold a majority in the House after a successful midterm election. That means the party has the ability to issue subpoenas and other powers only the majority enjoys.

Comers and other top Republicans have already vowed to investigate Biden and his family members, including his son Hunter Biden, over issues such as business deals conducted when Biden was vice president.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement that attorneys for Biden appear to have taken immediate and proper action to notify the National Archives about their discovery of a small handful of classified documents so they could be returned to federal government custody. 

I have confidence that the Attorney General took the appropriate steps to ensure the careful review of the circumstances surrounding the possession and discovery of these documents and make an impartial decision about any further action that may be needed, he added.

Trump shared a news story on the discovery of the documents on his Truth Social platform.

When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified, Trump wrote.

Biden became a professor at the University of Pennsylvania in 2017 and led the Penn Biden Center, according to a university webpage. Biden also had an office on the universitys campus in Philadelphia.

Biden was paid more than $900,000 by the university from 2017 to 2019, including $405,368 in 2018, according to financial disclosures the president released. Biden is currently on unpaid leave, which he started when he announced he was running for president in April 2019.

Biden previously received an honorary degree from the school, and three family members, including his daughter Ashley Biden, graduated from the university. Biden has a home in Delaware and regularly visits the school.

Biden told reporters in August 2022 that he keeps classified documents secure.

I have, in my home, a cabined-off space that is completely secure. Im taking home with me today todays [presidential briefing]. Its locked. I have a person with memilitary with me. I read it, I lock it back up, and give it to the military, he said.

When asked if a president should take classified documents home, Biden said, It depends on the document, and it depends on how secure the room is.
DC Resident Fatally Shoots Teen Boy for Allegedly Breaking Into Cars: Police

A Washington Metropolitan Police vehicle is parked on the other side of police tape on March 23, 2020. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)

A Washington homeowner shot and killed a 13-year-old boy, alleging he saw the teenager breaking into vehicles, authorities said over the weekend.

Members of the Fifth District and D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services responded to a call about a shooting shortly before 4 a.m. on Jan. 7 and found a juvenile male suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said in a statement.

Authorities said the boy, who has been identified as 13-year-old Karon Blake of the Northeast quadrant of the city, was transferred to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead after life-saving efforts failed.

Following a preliminary investigation, detectives found that an unidentified homeowner heard noises outside his house and saw an individual who appeared to be tampering with vehicles.

The male resident went outside, armed with a registered firearm, to further investigate, police stated. There was an interaction between a juvenile male and the male resident. During the interaction, the male resident discharged his firearm striking the victim.

No immediate criminal charges have been filed against the homeowner, police said, noting that the man is cooperating in the case.

The MPD said that detectives are currently reviewing the shooting with the U.S. Attorneys Office to determine whether the homeowner will face any potential charges.

Although the official police report did not reveal if Blake was carrying a firearm, Metro police reportedly told FOX5 DC that there was no indication the teenager was armed.

The network also reported that the homeowner was performing CPR on the boy as officers arrived at the scene.

During the investigation, police located a vehicle on Quincy Street that had been registered as stolen and is believed to have been used by Blake.

According to FOX5 DC, an eye-witness living in the area of the shooting saw two other people fleeing the scene inside a vehicle and later running away on foot in an alley.

The MPD is asking anyone with information in connection to the case to call police at 202-727-9099. Anonymous tips can also be submitted to the departments tip line by texting 50411.

Community Response

The case sparked outrage from several councilmembers, as well as Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, who said on Monday that shes incredibly saddened by the shooting.

We would rather be talking about a 13-year-old going to school today than being killed on our streets, Bowser said, according to a WAMU 88.5 reporter.

This is my message: If anytime for any reason there is a public safety concern, residents should call 911  Im not going to talk about any of the facts [of this case], the message reads. Im going to allow the police to complete their investigation. If you feel there is a public safety issue in or around your home, call 911. That is the appropriate thing to do.

Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker said in a statement on Twitter that, No car or material possession is worth a lifeunder any circumstances, calling for officials to hold the homeowner accountable.

Out communitys healing is linked to the trust we are able to cultivate with those tasked with keeping us safe, and I believe our neighbours are entitled to knowing more about the circumstances of Karons death, Parker said.

From NTD News
House Democrats, Republicans Laud New Committee to Counter CCP Influence

Early morning fog envelopes the U.S. Capitol dome behind the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington on Nov. 4, 2022. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are celebrating the decision of the House of Representatives to establish a new select committee to investigate Chinas communist regime and its efforts to undermine and displace the United States.

The House voted to create the Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) early in the afternoon on Jan. 10.

The 16-person bipartisan committee to investigate the CCPs malign influence in the United States and elsewhere received widespread support from both parties for its comprehensive scope and clarity in singling out the CCP as the nations greatest threat.

Its a comprehensive problem, and its going to require a comprehensive set of policy changes to prevail in this generational competition with the Chinese Communist Party, Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) told NTD, a sister media outlet of The Epoch Times.

The threat is real in both the economic and the military space, so we need a multidisciplinary and cross-jurisdictional select committee that brings to bear the expertise from across the Congress on both sides of the aisle.

CCP Aggression An American Issue

Barr said the committee was a good start to turning the tide against an onslaught of malign efforts by the CCP. Moreover, he said, the committees creation had done an exemplary job of clarifying that the threat posed to the United States is by the CCP and not the Chinese people, who are so often the most maligned by the CCP.

Our focus on securing the international order  is not an indictment of Chinese history, of the Chinese people, or of the wonderful relationship that the United States has with the Chinese diaspora and the Chinese people, Barr said.

I believe that there is a strong commitment to the Democratic international rules-based order in the United States, in both parties, versus the authoritarian model of the Chinese Communist Party, he also said. The way forward for global peace and security is the Western model.

Others, like Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), considered the committees greatest strength to be its capacity to encourage vital manufacturing efforts away from China and to return to the United States.

Loss of American jobs [should be the main priority], Khanna said. The fact that we have watched silently as factory town after factory town closed [is wrong].

Steel went to China. Aluminum went to China. Paper went to China. Textiles went to China. Thats wrong. Weve got to bring that production back.

Still, more lawmakers consider the CCPs campaign to undermine and displace the United States as the chief concern, and envisaged the committee as a means of keeping the American ship of state afloat and defeating that effort once and for all.

Make no mistake, they have a plan to replace us, said Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.). And theyre working at doing that every single day when it comes to technology, when it comes to the economy, [and when] it comes to national security.

The CCP and what they are engaged in, their malign activities, shouldnt be a Republican or Democrat issue. It should be an American issue. And thats what this committee will be all about.
Doctors Concerned Over Antibiotic Shortage

A pharmacist counts out the correct number of antibiotic pills to fill a prescription in Miami, Fla. on Aug. 7, 2007. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Australias peak medical body is calling on the federal government to consider onshore antibiotic manufacturing amid supply shortages across the country.

More than 300 medications are in short supply, particularly treatments for strep throat and liquid antibiotics used for children.

Adele Tahan from the Pharmacy Guild of Australia said antibiotic shipments had been tied up with overseas manufacturers.

There are quite a significant number of antibiotics that are in short supply, and they will remain so for quite some time, Tahan told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

Ninety per cent of Australian medications are from overseas.

While the situation is not yet critical, it could mean infections go untreated while patients jump between pharmacies searching for the correct antibiotics, Australian Medical Association president Steve Robson said.

Its always concerning when you have young children affected by infection, Prof. Robson said.

Of course, sometimes it means they end up in hospital or that infections go untreated while people look for antibiotics.

The AMA said the federal government should consider manufacturing more medications in Australia as both a strong market opportunity and a health safeguard.

Were politically stable and have lots of great minds here, good logistic chains, and maybe its time for the government to think about making these drugs here, Prof Robson said.

The association has long advocated for local manufacturing, but Prof Robson said it would be on the agenda at his next meeting with Health Minister Mark Butler.

We sit in a region where there is a huge market who would probably envy our capacity to manufacture, he said.

Last month, the Therapeutic Goods Administration alerted pharmacists that amoxicillin, cefalexin and metronidazole were in short supply.

Penicillin powder, typically used to make liquid antibiotics for children, was listed as unavailable on the TGA website on Tuesday.

The shortage has worried doctors as the country faces a surge in childrens strep throat cases, with penicillin and amoxicillin the treatment drugs of choice.

Pharmacists say they are being forced to give smaller or less effective doses to patients.

I have been able to supply patients in a very small amount, Tahan said.

Its quite serious when a patient, especially a child, requires a particular antibiotic with a particular dose for a specific infection.
Drugs and First-Aid Equipment Seriously Undersupplied in Beijing, Shanghai

Long hospital lines and complicated treatment procedures cause suffering, risk of cross-infection

A patient is transferred by ambulance to the Infectious Disease Centre at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong, China, on Jan. 22, 2020. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

A growing number of COVID infections continue to hit China, and megacities like Beijing and Shanghai are facing a scarcity of medicines and emergency equipment.

Wu Fang (a pseudonym) from Shanghais Pudong New Area told The Epoch Times on Jan. 4 that COVID-19 is rampant in the community and that there are a lot of people with high fevers of 39 Celsius (102.2 Fahrenheit) in this wave of the epidemic. My son and my relatives are all infected.

Wu said neither the community health station nor the hospital can supply them with fever-reducing medicine.

Those who are infected have to suffer at home without the help of medication, with some flooding into the hospitals for help.

On Jan. 2, a video circulating online showed that the entrance of Xujiahui District Hospital in Shanghai was swarming with patients and their accompanying family members, and on the street outside, dozens of patients lying on mobile beds waiting for treatment, with several health workers seeming to be at their wits ends.

The Chinese communist regime has been looking to downplay the number of people infected and killed by the epidemic, but official media reports quoting Chen Erzhen, a member of the Shanghai COVID-19 rescue team, said on Jan. 3 that the current epidemic in Shanghai has spread 20 to 30 times beyond what happened in the spring of 2022.

Chen said that recently his working hospital, Ruijin Hospital, affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, has doubled the number of emergency services from the usual daily average of about 800 to the current 1,600.

A man stands in front of a cordoned-off area, where COVID-19 patients lie on hospital beds in the lobby of the No. 5 Peoples Hospital in Chongqing, China, on Dec. 23, 2022. (AFP via Getty Images)

Insufficient Medical Equipment and Untimely Emergency Aid

Likewise, Beijing is grappling with a shortage of medical resources.

Beijing resident Lin Shan (a pseudonym) told The Epoch Times on Jan. 3 that on the first day she visited the 301 Hospital, the largest comprehensive military hospital in China, to see her father, who was suffering from white lung: The doctor said to me, Do you have an oximeter at home? If so, bring it.

Even such a big hospital doesnt have an oximeter; its [unimaginable] what will be going on in other hospitals, Lin said.

Resident Wang Mei of Shanghais Xujiahui district also told an Epoch Times reporter on Jan. 4 that one of her friends living in Beijing tested positive a few days ago and was sent to the emergency room.

Wang was awakened by a call for a ventilator at three oclock in the morning. The hospital was out of ventilators and my friends family was in a hurry. What can I do? One hour later, my friend is dead [at the hospital], Wang said.

She denounced the government by saying, What is [this] kind of government?! This is more powerful than killing people with guns!

The CCPs sudden move to lift its zero-COVID policy without a plan for the medical repercussions has put great pressure on the countrys medical system, with large numbers of infected patients demanding clinical treatment over seriously undersupplied drugs, first-aid equipment, and health care workers.

A few people around me died from delayed treatment because of no emergency [equipment], said Beijing citizen Ma Xin (a pseudonym), indicating that in the past three years, the government only cared about building cabin mobile hospitals, and did not consider building ICU wards and preparing more ventilators. This lack of preparation has directly resulted in patients not being treated promptly.

Patients in wheelchairs and people in the emergency department of a hospital in Beijing, China, on Jan. 3, 2023. (Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images)

Cumbersome Clinical Procedures

Wang Mei believes that lengthy waits and bureaucratic procedures in hospitals result in more hassle and life-threatening problems for patients who need urgent care.

Wang said that her friend tested positive for COVID and felt vulnerable, so she called a taxi to go to the hospital for treatment. She waited in line to register for this medication, waited in line to see the doctor, waited in line to pay, waited in line for an intravenous injection, and then [returned] home exhausted. In the past, a doctor would prescribe a three-day supply of medication. However, Wangs friend received only one dose. Because she didnt receive enough medicine on the first visit, she had to return and go through this process again to complete the second treatment.

The patient was so weak; how could she stand the tiring torment? [The medical treatment process] is ridiculous! Wang said.

Zhang Yan (a pseudonym), another resident of Shanghai who lives in Minhang District, shared a similar experience on the phone while she was in the hospital: Ive been sick [with bad] fever, and Im in the hospital now. I arrived here at 10:00 a.m. and till now (3:00 p.m.), [have been] hooked up to an intravenous drip  I couldnt hold on and passed out.

But I have to queue up at the hospital for those days  People will be tossed to death  We people are so miserable! Zhang said.

Zhang fears that so many patients waiting for long times in the hospital may also increase the risk of cross-infection.
Educators Say Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality Use in Classrooms Needs Limits

While high technology levels in classrooms allow students to use advanced systems to solve real-world problems in partnership with organizations such as NASA, some educators say there are risks involved for children's development. (Courtesy of Northern Academy of the Arts)

Technology in U.S. classrooms is about to jump a level this year with research showing virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and gamification are set to be among the top education trends in 2023.

High-tech and game-related components are quickly becoming a new reality in classrooms, and some teachers are concerned.

Part of that is because its happening amid the backdrop of increased anxiety and depression in students.

There has also been a surge in problematic behavior since the return to in-person classes in 2021.

Students sit with their laptop computers at St. Joseph Catholic School in La Puente, Calif., on Nov. 16, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

Then there are plummeting grades to address. Test scores in multiple subjects and age groups in the United States reached historic lows in 2022.

As a result, many U.S. educators suggest that leaning too hard on cutting-edge tech could hinder students without proper guidelines.

Others say creating less face time in the classroom would be ignoring important lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If we learned anything from the shutdown in the world and in the education system during the height of COVID, it was that students missed out greatly during their time online, Pamela Morris told The Epoch Times.

Morris is an early childhood education director in Chandler, Arizona. She noted that a lot of vital learning takes place through face-to-face interactions. This is especially true for younger children.

In her estimation, reducing in-person learning could have negative consequences.

Demonstration of the Owo vest, which allows users to feel physical sensations during metaverse experiences at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on Jan. 5, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Increased screen time has already been linked to behavioral problems in students, including poor focus, depression, and anxiety. Morris suggests bringing more tech into classrooms could make things even worse.

All an educator needs to do is see what their students look like when they are texting their friends, Morris said.

They zone out, lose focus, and often are irritable when the device has to be put away. I think it would be irresponsible to make this type of learning a large part of the day.

During the pandemic, student social skills were heavily impacted by the lack of physical interactions with peers. In turn, it created a surge in depression and anxiety for children of all ages.

I go back to COVID and the amount of socialization that was lost, she said, adding, This negatively affected students to the point some chose to wear a mask just so they could hide.

However, as the old saying goes: You cant stop progress.

One report projects the growth of augmented and virtual reality (VR) in education to grow by more than 18 percent by 2027. The market for artificial intelligence (AI) use in education represented a $3.7 billion industry in 2022 and is forecasted to grow to more than $20 billion within the next four years.

Gamification already has its foot inside the door with todays youth. As of 2019, 73 percent of American kids 2 years or older play video games every day.

Predetermined Outcomes

Other educators say theres an elephant in the room to address amid the rush to mainstream tools like AI, VR, and gamification. Where do we go from here, and to what end will this technology be used?

Former superintendent, teacher, and student counselor Gary Marks says guidelines are needed before increasing technology in classrooms.

I personally believe that all innovative methods of instruction should be advanced but with specific goals developed before implementing new ideas and predetermined outcomes, Marks told The Epoch Times.

He says time management is important and believes tools like AI and VR need to be strictly supplemental in education.

If the school administration deems that technology will be more than supplemental, I fear this is a George Orwell 1984 scenario, he said.

If AI, VR, and video games become the mainstream method of instruction, the world is at risk of a major meltdown. Students will not be making decisions based on normal human behaviors, but on some robot or game thats not reality.

Many tech advocates say things like AI and VR wont replace teachers in the classroom. Though the executive director of STEM4Real, Dr. Leena Bakshi McLean, said some educators are already moving in that direction.

I recently saw an ed-tech company advertise that their teaching is done through technology and not teachers, McLean told The Epoch Times.

She cautions administrators and leaders from using tech to replace teachers but adds that tools like AI and VR could be great supplements.

The authentic relationships, mentoring, and guidance from teachers cannot be replaced by any of these trends, she said.

Modified Behavior

Advanced technology does come with some benefits. Things like better hand-eye coordination and new opportunities for creativity are among the perks.

On the other side of the coin, it fuels behavior challenges like increased aggression, underdeveloped social skills, and an inability to focus.

The increased use of AI, VR, and game-based technology will absolutely contribute to the difficulty of focusing and behavioral challenges,

especially if these tools are being used to replace teachers, McLean said, adding, This can potentially and completely dehumanize education.

She says theres potential in using cutting-edge tech in the classroom, butlike MarksMcLean also believes it needs to be limited.

During a 2022 National Center for Education Statistics survey, 56 percent of U.S. schools reported higher incidents of classroom disruption and misconduct.

Forty-nine percent recorded rowdiness outside class, and 48 percent noted acts of disrespect towards teachers and staff.

As with most things in our society, balance is required. For young developing minds, this skill has to be taught and reinforced continually, Marks added.

He noted that although tools like AI and VR will modify human behaviors, interactions among people will always be necessary for developing vital problem-solving skills and coping mechanisms.

McLean agrees with this sentiment and says its about balance.

As a parent myself, I strive to ensure that we limit screen time as much as possible for the development of my child. However, I also want to be mindful of the growing technologies that I want my child to learn.
Elderly Man Missing in South Australian Floodwaters

Water levels creeping up at Mannum in the Riverland region of South Australia, Friday, January 6, 2023. Latest forecasting suggests peak water flows on the Murray will reach downstream communities slightly earlier than expected. (AAP Image/Tim Dornin)

Major searches are underway for an elderly man believed to have gone missing in floodwaters in South Australias (SA) deluged Riverland region.

Police were told the man went missing at about 1.30 p.m. on Monday in floodwaters near Casson Ave at Loxton North on the Murray River, south of Berri.

The search is expected to continue until last light and will resume tomorrow morning, SA Police said.

South Australian State Emergency Service crews are assisting police in the search along with interstate resources; an SES spokesman told AAP.

Peak flows have also reached Mannum, east of Adelaide, closing a major ferry crossing on Monday, with river heights expected to continue into the Lower Lakes by the end of the week.

The rising river will likely close the Tailem Bend ferry within days, causing transport issues for a significant number of residents.

That will bring the number of closures to 11. The remaining two ferries, at Cadell and Narrung, are also likely to cease operations by mid-January.

The Tailem Bend closure will turn what was previously a 10-minute exercise to cross the river into an 80km round trip to access the road crossing at Murray Bridge.

In response, the state government has approved a one-off $300 payment to low-income earners, pensioners, concession card holders, job seekers and students to help cover the extra travel costs.

Qualifying reasons include attending medical appointments, work, volunteering, collecting essential supplies or attending to carer duties.

Treasurer Stephen Mullighan said the measure was expected to cost the government up to $3 million (US$2 million).

Its an important commitment for us to make sure people can stay mobile in these communities, he said.

The last thing we want is for people to feel like they cant go about their daily lives because of these rising floodwaters.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said even without the flood, the cost of fuel was a significant burden for low and fixed-income households.

The closure of roads and ferries has made it even tougher for some in river communities to get to the shops, attend appointments and care for friends and family, he said.

This one-off payment is a recognition of that fact.

As water levels begin to recede, ferry services will resume, but there are no fixed dates at this stage.

The premier said the ferry at Lyrup, in the Riverland, would logically be the first to reopen.

He said when ferries could be put back in operation was often dependent on other issues, such as the safety of the road approaches, and not just water levels.

The Murray flooding has impacted about 3400 properties in SA, including nearly 400 primary residences.

It has also closed more than 120 roads across the river communities.
Locals Respond to Cleanup Efforts of 500,000-Gallon Keystone Pipeline Oil Spill: Never Been Through Something of This Magnitude

Despite massive oil spill, Kansans praise company for ongoing cleanup and say accident was good for local economy

Active response to the Milepost 14 oil spill location in Washington County, Kansas, on Dec. 30, 2022. (Courtesy of TC Energy)

WASHINGTON, KansasCleanup efforts in Kansas continued this week following one of the worst oil pipeline failures in state history.

Canada-based TC Energy says the company had recovered nearly 12,000 of the 14,000 barrels of crude that spilled on Dec. 7, 2022, from the Keystone Pipeline into Mill Creek in Washington County.

However, the company said the cleanup is far from over as it works to determine the cause of the rupture that dumped 14,000 barrelsabout 500,000 gallonsof diluted bitumen oil into Mill Creek, near Washington, Kansas (population 1,071).

A map of the temporary above-ground hose bypass system in Washington County, Kansas, on Dec. 30, 2022. (Courtesy of TC Energy)

We know that the line was operating at the time of the incident. We have ruled out a third-party strike as the cause, TC Energy said in a statement.

Hundreds of independent contractors, TC Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks officials will remain at the scene throughout the cleanup.

Fourteen thousand barrels is a fairly substantial amount of release. It has significant concerns, Randy Hubbard, Washingtons emergency management coordinator, told The Epoch Times.

The first few days were a challenge. Weve never been through something of this magnitude in our county. We have a tornado now and then, or wind storms. An environmental incident like this is a first for me.

Initially, we were concerned about what resource requests they would have given the [small] size of our office.

The rupture occurred at Keystone Pipeline System Milepost 14 in a sparsely populated area of Washington County. The system stretches 2,687 miles from Alberta, Canada, to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Randy Hubbard, emergency management coordinator for Washington, Kansas, monitors his computer on Jan. 5, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Nearly 4 billion gallons of crude oil have passed through the pipeline since it became operational in 2010. President Joe Biden canceled another portion of the systemthe Keystone XL Projectupon taking office in 2021.

TC Energy had 200 people working to contain the spill within hours of the accident, Hubbard said. Since then, the number of responders has swelled to more than 700.

Following repairs and inspections, the company completed a controlled restart of the pipelines Cushing Extension on Dec. 29, 2022.

Weve had no reported incidents since theyve been here, Hubbard said. TC Energy has come in fully prepared and self-sufficient. Theyve been great to us.

For lack of a better word, Hubbard said, the accident has been good for the local economy.

Washingtons Mayor Ryan Kerns agreed.

From our standpoint, it didnt affect anything [else] in the city of Washington, Kerns told The Epoch Times. Weve had a little more traffic through town. Businesses have benefitted. Other than that, nothing was affected.

A sign marks a section of Mill Creek in Washington, Kansas, on Jan. 5, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Kerns said the company should bear the majority of the cleanup cost since there was little the city had to provide.

TC Energy public information officer Austin Staton said the company set up a two-mile radius around the spill site and checkpoints to control entry.

Its quite impressive the number of people that have come here to respond, Staton said.

Our priority is to make sure we completely remediate the site. Were ensuring we get this cleaned up and return the site as good as we can for the landowners.

Early reports were that nearly 100 fish and several animals, including a beaver and raccoon, died from the spill. TC Energy will work with state environmental agencies in rescuing and treating wildlife affected by the incident. Staton told The Epoch Times it was too early to speculate on the cause of the rupture or the cost of the cleanup.

The pipelines restart is premature and irresponsible, without knowing the root cause of the system failure, said Zack Pistora, a Kansas lobbyist for the Sierra Club.

Four of the pipelines most significant spills occurred within the last six years, Pistora said. The earlier spills were all failures due to original material, design, or installation.

Canada-based TC Energy set up a checkpoint following a massive pipeline rupture in Washington County, Kansas, on Dec. 7, 2022. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

With spills becoming increasingly larger and more frequent, this pipeline is sure to fail again. Its only a matter of when and how bad, Pistora told The Epoch Times.

TC Energy needs to give more detailed information on the cleanup. The company has indicated that the cleanup could take several more weeks, but we know from experience that spills like these usually take several months, even years.

He said time will tell about the extent of the environmental damage, but we know that area of Mill Creek will never be the same.

Real estate broker Todd Burt of Burt Farm and Ranch Realty in Washington said the oil spill ranks among the worst in the United States.

It happens. Its just like driving down the street. Your chances of getting hit are so much. Its just how it is. With so many miles of pipeline, youre going to have soft spots, Burt told The Epoch Times.

An EPA spokesman said the federal agency would oversee responsible party assessment and cleanup actions at the spill site.

An estimate of the environmental impact has yet to be made available.
Local residents weighing in on a plan for new Assembly district boundaries Monday urged the Independent Redistricting Commission of New York State to consider keeping what already worked in the current district map.

The commission held a public hearing Monday in the Burchfield Penney Arts Center, the first of 12 such hearings scheduled across the state. Commission chairman Kenneth Jenkins said the 10-member panel on Dec. 1 approved a draft map for the Assembly to consider, and is now seeking input from the public. In drawing the new draft lines  under court order  the commission sought to create districts with only small deviations in population, as well as districts that do not unnecessarily split cities, towns and counties.

"It's very important for the public to make their voice heard," Jenkins said.

Amherst Democratic Committeeman Jerome Schad and other residents from the town expressed dismay over plans to divide Amherst into two separate districts, which the critics insisted would dilute the town's voting power in the Assembly. As the largest town in Upstate New York, with nearly 130,000 residents, the town is big enough to remain in one district, they argued.

"They divided the town in such a way that they took the majority Democratic-leaning town to be a minority party in both new proposed districts, effectively disenfranchising the voice of the Town of Amherst in the state Legislature," Schad said.

Reapportionment case could produce more competition in Assembly races Republicans, anticipating that Assembly district lines will be redrawn early in 2023, are optimistic their next round of campaigns might offer the chance to strengthen their numbers if districts are drawn to avoid partisan gerrymandering.

'They made the proposed 146th, which is currently our district, in the shape of a reverse C, stretching far east and south with many more rural and disparate communities, not the same community we started with," he added.

Michelle Iannello, chairwoman of the Amherst Democratic Committee, expressed the view that the new map was drawn for political expediency.

"I truly feel that this has been done for political reasons, and that the new map shifts the political party of power away from our Democratic majority," Iannello said.

Members of the commission insisted that their plan was not partisan, noting that, by law, the commission is prohibited from looking at the political makeup of the districts that are drawn. Commission vice chairman Charles Nesbitt said it would be impossible for the commission to draw up a map that would satisfy everyone.

Meanwhile, David Thompson of Hamburg advocated for keeping like communities together.

Redistricting plan would dramatically shake up Assembly A bipartisan panel charged with drawing New Yorks legislative district lines has struck a compromise agreement. And it could mean changes for Assembly members who represent Buffalo.

"I personally feel that the current versions of the maps that we have are pretty beneficial to a lot of our communities, and the work that goes into trying to meet the new constituencies can be very difficult from a legislative standpoint, and a lot of work does go into build a lot of trust in these communities. And to do that for two years, and to have that taken away, in some cases, might create havoc," Thompson said.

Similar sentiments were voiced by Ian Klenck of the Town of Tonawanda.

"The current boundaries are really effective, especially in the 140th district, which includes North Buffalo, Klenck said.

He described a continuity of character between North Buffalo and the Town of Tonawanda.

"It's really very similar in terms of values and in terms of a whole different broad spectrum of makeups for what those two areas look like. So, I think the inclusion of that area into the 140th really makes a lot more sense than the current plan, as proposed," Klenck said.

Mark Boyd read a letter on behalf of Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, who was in Albany on Monday and unable to attend the public hearing in person.

Under the commission's draft proposal, Buffalo would be divided into three Assembly districts: One covering the citys East Side, the other the West Side and a third containing part of South Buffalo. The result would be to significantly reshape Peoples-Stokes' district, potentially diluting the influence of one of the most powerful Democrats in the state Legislature.

"My recommendation would be to maintain the map of the 141st district previously voted on the state Legislature," Peoples-Stokes said in the statement read before the commission.

Among mitigating factors, Peoples-Stokes noted that Buffalo has increased in population for the first time in decades as a result of an influx of immigrants from Africa and Southeast Asia.

"New York State is no stranger to America's long history of excluding people of color from the political process," Peoples-Stokes said, adding that New York and Michigan were the only two northern states found in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

I am one of only four non-white members (of the Assembly) in Upstate New York. Ninety percent of the 43 Assembly districts west of the Hudson Valley lack racially diverse representation throughout all of Upstate New York, the 141st Assembly District is the only majority minority district," Peoples-Stokes added.
Ex-San Diego Sheriffs Deputy Jailed Again Following Court Ruling

"Home detention" defense over-ruled

SAN DIEGOA former San Diego County sheriffs deputy who was previously sentenced for fondling and inappropriately touching more than a dozen women while on duty was booked into custody Monday after an appellate court ruled that he had been released before properly completing his jail sentence.

Richard Fischer, 36, was originally sentenced to 44 months in county jail after pleading guilty to charges that include assault under color of authority for accosting 16 women between 2015 and 2017. Prosecutors say some of the women were people hed arrested and others were those he met after they had called the police for assistance.

Fischer was released in May of 2020 following five months in custody after being credited with 956 days for time served in pre-trial home detention.

According to the ruling from a three-justice panel of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Fischers sentencing judge ruled Fischer was mistakenly awarded those credits, as home detention was not ordered while Fischer was out on bail. Fischer was instead required to be monitored via GPS and to stay away from the victims.

Fischer was ordered back to jail, but was released again last April pending his appeal of the judges order. The appellate court agreed with the judge and vacated the order that awarded Fischer the 956 days of credit.
EXCLUSIVE: Former US Capitol Police Commander Reveals Failures in Jan. 6 Evacuation Response

U.S. Capitol Police radio traffic obtained by The Epoch Times reveals silence from command center, which Lt. Tarik Johnson says caused delays and put lives at risk

Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump protest inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Brent Stirton/Getty Images)

WASHINGTONA top U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) commanderrecently retired Assistant Chief Yogananda Pittmanfailed to respond to repeated urgent radio calls to evacuate the U.S. Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, causing the loss of precious time that might have prevented the shooting death of protester Ashli Babbitt, a former USCP commander said.

The delay caused by the radio silence from the Capitol Police Command Center was so urgent that the 22-year veteran lieutenant located near the U.S. Senate chamber forged ahead with the evacuation anyway. He said he feared lawmakers would be injured or killed if he didnt lead them to safety before the chamber doors were breached by protesters.

In a series of exclusive interviews with The Epoch Times, former USCP Lt. Tarik K. Johnson, 47, detailed allegations that Pittman failed to respond to multiple urgent calls for help.

I begged for help all day on Jan. 6, 2021, and I feel I was largely ignored, Johnson told The Epoch Times. I beg again on Jan. 6, 2023exactly two years laterfor the proper investigative entities to uncover what really occurred on J6, and I pray that the country hears my cry.

Johnson said the crucial delay in the evacuations should never have happened.

There was no response from anybody at the Command Center, Johnson said. I say even before I initiated evacuation, I say specifically, Weve got to start thinking about getting the people out before we dont have a chance to.

I heard no response. Then I asked for permission to evacuate. I heard no response.



Pittman, 49, who will begin a new job as chief of police at the University of CaliforniaBerkeley on Feb. 1, didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. She announced her retirement from the USCP in November 2022.

The USCP Command Center, located on the seventh floor of the headquarters building on D Street in Washington, is a 40- by 30-foot room staffed by Capitol Police and officials from partner agencies, including the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI, U.S. Park Police, and others.

In his new book, Courage Under Fire, published on Jan. 3, former USCP Chief Steven Sund, 57, said an area of the Command Center nicknamed the pit is used for monitoring all the camera systems, radios, alarms, and a computer-aided dispatch terminal to monitor USCP and MPD calls for service.

Founded by an act of Congress in 1828, the U.S. Capitol Police has more than 1,800 sworn officers, more than 500 civilian employees, and an annual budget of $602.5 million.

According to the book, Sund was in the Command Center on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, but was occupied making dozens of calls to the House and Senate sergeants at arms and the Pentagon, trying to get National Guard troops sent to the Capitol. He also made and took numerous calls to arrange for mutual aid from surrounding police agencies, the book said.

Theres no indication in the book that Sund was aware of the unanswered calls for help. Johnson doesnt fault him for the troubles. Sund did describe watching some of the Capitol violence unfold from the Command Center.

As I sit in my Command Center watching the video screens, my frustration at the repeated delays from the sergeants at arms, along with my concern for my officers safety, is redlining, Sund wrote. To be more precise, I am [expletive] livid.

Johnson became known to much of America as the Capitol Police lieutenant who wore a bright red Make America Great Again ball cap while he worked with a pair of Oath Keepers to rescue 16 USCP officers trapped in the foyer inside the massive Columbus Doors.

Johnson was suspended by USCP and later accused of rules violations, including conduct unbecoming, for wearing the Trump hat and working with the Oath Keepers on the officer rescue. He said he believes those charges were actually brought because the evacuations and other split-second leadership decisions he made embarrassed Pittman.

U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Tarik Khalid Johnson asks Oath Keepers Steve (center) and Michael Nichols for help rescuing police officers trapped inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Rico La Starza/Special to The Epoch Times)

After about 17 months of suspension, Johnson got his job back but chose to resign. Johnson said wearing the MAGA cap made the crowds more receptive to him, provided a level of safety that he likened to a tactical helmet, and served as a de-escalation tool.

Johnson had been with the USCP for 22 years at the time of the Jan. 6, 2021, events, serving as a police officer, dignitary special agent, sergeant, and lieutenant. For two years prior to his USCP service, he worked for the Senate sergeant-at-arms.

One of the Oath Keepers, retired New York Police Sgt. Michael Nichols, said Johnsons actions during the officer rescue were heroic.

He adapted to the environment, put the officers and peoples safety before his own, and succeeded in defusing a tense situation that could have resulted in a mass-casualty incident, Nichols said.

Johnsons actions throughout the day on Jan. 6, 2021, reminded Nichols of a character in the television miniseries Band of Brothers.

Its not like he just helped these officers out, this man was like the lieutenant in Band of Brothers who just keeps running back and forth across the battlefield to get everyone in position and on task, with no regard for selfonly for what needs to be done, Nichols told The Epoch Times. He really saw the big picture that day.

Rico La Starza, who documented the rescue operation on video, agreed.

Hes the leader people pray for, La Starza said. Quick on the feet and willing to go through flames for his team.

Radio Dispatch Recordings Confirm Events

Johnsons assertions about the Senate and House evacuations were corroborated by USCP radio dispatch recordings and transcripts obtained by The Epoch Times.

The unanswered plea for authorization to evacuate was among at least four instances in which Johnson or the USCP dispatcher asked in vain for help or direction from the Command Center, where Pittman sat at the center console near Sund.

Babbitt was shot and killed by USCP Lt. Michael Byrd at 2:44 p.m. as she attempted to climb through a broken window pane leading into the Speakers Lobby. Shortly before that, Babbitt shouted at rioters who were vandalizing the doors and windows and chastised three Capitol Police officers for doing nothing to stop the violence.

Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman attends a press briefing about a security incident at the U.S. Capitol on April 2, 2021. Pittman announced that one police officer was dead after a man rammed his vehicle into a Capitol barricade. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Johnson said if the evacuation of Congress started when he first asked for help, Byrd wouldnt have been near the Speakers Lobby entrance, and the House chamber would have been empty if the violent crowd had somehow breached the barricaded double doors.

I made the evacuation order at approximately 2:28 for the Senate, and then I did it maybe six to eight minutes later for the House, Johnson said.

[Byrd] should not have been put in that situation. Had the evacuation occurred earlier, Lt. Michael Byrd would not have been there, and Ashli Babbitt would have met a vacated lobby.

Senate Evacuation

Audio from the main USCP radio channel provides dramatic testimony on the efforts to evacuate hundreds of lawmakers and staff.

At about 2:23 p.m., Johnson asked for authorization to have one of the Senate doors unlocked so he could get then-Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger into the chamber. The voice of Thomas Lloyd, USCP inspector, crackled across the radio, Approved.

Johnson shortly made his biggest and most urgent plea of the day.

405J-John with a message. I want to advise that we evacuate the Senate floor before [we] wont have a chance to, Johnson said over the radio just after 2:25 p.m. We have a clear directional sight to get out of the Senate door from the second floor. I need permission to go ahead and initiate that, copy.

The dispatcher repeated Johnsons plea.

He has a clear sight to get everyone out, the dispatcher said.

For a second time, the dispatcher relayed the request.

405J-John requesting to clear the Senate floor, he said. He has a clear path. Clear ahead a path to get everyone out.

Police officers aim their weapons at the main door in the House chamber after protesters breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

There was no reply from the command staff on the ground or in the Command Center. Johnson said Pittman, then the No. 2 official at the U.S. Capitol Police, was the person who should have made that call.

Johnson said his concern grew as the seconds and minutes ticked away.

405J-John disregard, he broadcasted. Im going to go ahead and do it anyway. Ill take the 550 or 534. Were evacuating now on the north side. Send everybody out the Senate door, copy.

The numbers 550 and 534 refer to officer disciplinary codes, Johnson said.

The dispatcher responded: I copy that. Evacuations being executed at this time, 1429 hours [2:29 p.m.].

The official USCP Jan. 6, 2021, timeline of events states that at 2:28 p.m., remaining members evacuated from Senate floor.

Dispatch acknowledged the evacuation order at 2:29 p.m. At 2:32 p.m., Deputy Chief Eric Waldow broadcasted, Senate floor is continued to be evacuated. Im moving with the members now.

The Senate was declared clear at 2:33 p.m.

House Evacuation

The House went into recess at 2:29 p.m. At about that time, a group of between 75 and 100 protestersincluding Babbittbegan filling up the hallway outside of the Speakers Lobby adjacent to the House chamber. Some members of the crowd turned violent and began rioting. Agitators smashed the glass in the doors with a helmet and flag poles.

After leading the senators through the subway tunnel to safety, Johnson turned his attention to the evacuation of the House, coordinating over the radio with Sgt. Nelson Vargas, 49.

Paramedics from the D.C. Fire and EMS Department perform CPR on protester Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by police near the Speakers Lobby at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. She was pronounced dead a short time later. (Steve Baker/Special to The Epoch Times)

Ill tell you what. Im listening. Were trying to mobilize all units there from the main door to the other side, Vargas said. Well come into the chambers and hold the floor. Is that what you want us to do?

Johnson responded: You need to open the door on the House floor with the least amount of demonstrators there and take them down as far as you can go into the basement. Walk everybody over to the subway, to the House side.

Vargas replied: Boss, were on the House side right now. Were right in front of the main door.

Johnson said, Use the lobby, use the lobby to go down the back steps.

Video from the Speakers Lobby shows members of the House being evacuated as rioters stepped up their assault on the entrance doors and windows.

Johnson advised any police officers on the third floor of the House gallery, Its time to evacuate so that we can secure the members on the other side, copy.

He was told that officers were with 1215 members of Congress and staff in one of the House galleries.

405J-John with a message, Johnson broadcasted. I need the air. Im sending a team of officers now on the House side. What door, what gallery do they need? Are they all in one gallery, different galleries? Where are they?

Ok, what portion of the gallery do we need assets to respond to assist officers?

The dispatcher replied, 405J-John, Im not getting a response at this time, sir.

Chaos on the Air

The radio chatter depicts near chaos throughout the afternoon.

Johnson was seemingly omnipresent on the radio, moving inside and outside the Capitol, requesting a decontamination tent for pepper spray victims, securing resupplies of water, calling in paramedics to help injured officers, and directing officers with long guns to retreat into the Capitol so their weapons couldnt be taken by rioters.

As crowds surged from the ground level up to the Lower West Terrace, Johnson ordered a pullback of forces at 1:53 p.m., concerned that the protesters might try to take the M4 rifles from officers.

405J-John, anyone on the lower terrace now, I need you to fall back, and I need you to respond inside, Johnson said. If were not going to use lethal force, we cant risk them taking the M4s from us, so if you have an M4, I need you to respond on the lower terrace door now.

A camera flash illuminates a confrontation between protesters and police in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (U.S. Department of Justice/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Independent journalist Steve Baker was on the terrace at the time the officers retreated into the Capitol.

What I witnessed that dayaround 2 p.m.was a sudden pull back of all law enforcement defending that Lower West Terrace battle line, Baker said. Even in my own FBI interview, I told them I saw what I presumed to be a definitive stand down order.

I told them there was no way over 100 officers ended their confrontation with those violent agitators, then pulled back all at once without an order from someone up the chain of command. They reacted to that observation like I was full of [expletive], but Ive since learned through my own investigations that they did, in fact, receive a pull-back order at almost exactly that moment.

Pittman was heard sparingly on the radio that day. At 2 p.m., she broadcasted, Unit 2, at this time, were ordering a lockdown of the Capitol Building. Lock down the Capitol Building.

Lloyd, USCP commander for the Capitol Building, responded sardonically, That was done a long time ago.

Just before Pittmans announcement, Johnson was on the landing outside the Lower West Terrace doors trying to organize a pull-back of police into the Capitol Building because of the surging crowds of protesters coming up from the ground level.

Police fire rubber bullets at the first protesters who try to enter the Lower West Terrace tunnel at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (U.S. Capitol Police/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

405J-John, advising you that our situation here is dire, Johnson said. Were about to evacuate the Lower West Terrace, and everybodys about to go inside.

When Pittman ordered the lockdown, Johnson asked, 405J-John, can we get in the door first before you lock it down?

Security video from the Lower West Terrace tunnel shows dozens of U.S. Capitol Police and D.C. Metro officers withdrawing into the Capitol while the terrace was still largely clear of protesters.

The last officers backing into the tunnel fired rubber bullets at the first protesters who approached the tunnel. The projectiles didnt deter the crowd.

The Lower West Terrace tunnel became the site of fierce fighting and violence for several hours later that afternoon. Its not clear why the security doors were ever opened again, but eventually, dozens of officers filled the tunnel, battling with protesters trying to reach the entry doors. Gas unleashed by police in the tunnel caused a stampede that likely contributed to the death of protester Rosanne Boyland, 34, of Kennesaw, Georgia.

Protesters roam through the U.S. Capitol Rotunda after breaching the building on Jan. 6, 2021. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

The radio traffic demonstrates how Johnson tried throughout the afternoon to get feedback, authorization, and directionmost often to no avail.

At 2:04 p.m., Johnson asked for a CERT unit that can develop a tactical procedure where we can keep the people from breaching until we can get our people in.

Containment and Emergency Response Teams (CERT) are the Capitol Police version of SWAT teams.

405J-John, Im telling you what we need. We need some kind of a tactical plan to divert these breachers so we can get everybody in the Lower West Terrace door, he said. We do not have any hard gear up here.

We need a plan to get these people, these officers, back into the building. Theyre coming, so we cant stop them from breaching.

There was no reply.

A short time later at 2:08 p.m., Pittman announced another lockdown.

Unit 2, at this time, we are ordering a campus-wide lockdown, Pittman said. A campus-wide lockdown. Please simulcast.

Johnson continued pressing for help at the Lower West Terrace entrance.

The Lower West Terrace door, the Lower West Terrace is about to be breached, so that is the priority, he said. We need some kind of a CERT unit to help us to get the officers that are stuck on the Lower West Terrace door, in the Lower West Terrace door, copy.

Ok, Im calling for a CERT unit. I need a CERT unit. I need a plan to get those units that are at Lower West Terrace out of there.

On the Move

A simulcast message asked for help at the Senate for a reported breach of the Capitol. Johnson moved quickly to respond.

405J-John, Im headed to the second floor to make sure its secured up there for the House chamber, he said. We need a lieutenant or someone to respond to the Senate chamber, the Senate chamber. Im on the House side.

Capt. Ben Smith ordered the House and Senate chambers locked down at 2:15 p.m. Johnson left the House side and moved toward the Senate.

Johnson again asked for input.

Were going to need some directions as to what we are going to do, he said. The Capitol is breached. We have hundreds of people in here. We need some direction. What do you guys want us to do?

There was no reply.

Multi-Tiered Failure

During a U.S. House subcommittee hearing on Feb. 25, 2021, Pittman was asked about radio communication failures that left officers without direction on fast-developing conditions.

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) asked Pittman to explain the lack of communication to your officers on their radios.

Part of the problem there was chaos was because each one of, each and every one of these officersboots on the ground commander or nothad to make a decision with no information, Herrera Beutler said. Like there was no incoming help as far as they knew. They had no idea what you guys were doing.

Pittman blamed commanders on the ground, saying that incident command protocols were not adhered to, as they should have.

Those boots on the ground view, the persons in charge of our Civil Disturbance Unit, as well as those operational commanders that are in charge of the Capitol, are responsible for implementation of that incident command system, she said. So when theres a breakdown, you look for those commanders with boots on the ground to provide that instruction. That did not happen, primarily because those operational commanders at the time were so overwhelmed.

Herrera Beutler replied, So I want to know why yourself and the other leaders did not maintain or regain control of the comm system, because you had a birds-eye view advantage.

Pittman again deferred to commanders on the ground.

So the expectation is not that those officers would be in charge of the communication, she said. Those commanders would be in charge that were directly responsible that those officers reported to, because they have the tactical advantage and strategic lens, if you will.

Herrera Beutler followed up.

Are you saying those commanders then somehow, and this is an honest question, so the commanders failed to regain control of the comm systems and direct the officers who were on the front lines? she asked.

Pittman replied, I think its a multi-tiered failure, if you will.

Herrera Beutler noted that the U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee cast a 92 percent no-confidence vote on Pittman 10 days earlier.

A U.S. Capitol Police officer monitors the crowd atop the east Rotunda steps on Jan. 6, 2021. (Bobby Powell/Special to The Epoch Times)

In a Jan. 27, 2021, letter (pdf), USCP Union Chairman Gus Papathanasiou said that Jan. 6, 2021, was a leadership failure.

The officers are angry and I dont blame them, Papathanasiou said. The entire executive team failed us and they must be held accountable. Their inaction cost lives.

In a scathing 16-page letter (pdf) to congressional leaders in late September 2021, a former U.S. Capitol Police commander and whistleblower ripped Pittman and Deputy Chief Sean Gallagher, accusing them of intent and malice in their alleged failure to do their jobs on Jan. 6, 2021.

In the Command Center, they simply watched, mostly with their hands in their laps, the letter reads. They did not try to help or assist as officers and officials were literally fighting for each other, their lives and the Congress.

These two instead, while officers were being injured, elected to do nothing, lie and attempt to profit professionally. They chose to watch, as one non-USCP witness stated, like two bumps on a log, make calls and start to blame everyone for their failures.

As debates rage on about all that took place at the Capitol two years ago, Johnson said he decided to speak out about the failures he witnessed out of a sense of justice.

I hope for justice for all the people that died that day and after as a result of J6, he said. I hope for justice for all the people that got hurt that day. I hope for justice for all the American people, as they deserve to know what really happened.
Exiled Hong Kong Teacher Tries to Adapt to New Life in Taiwan

(Left) The third edition of Wongs book Allowed Me to Keep On Painting was published in May, 2021. (Right) Wong expressed his loneliness in the picture, that he had to live on his own in Taiwan and he felt homesick. Dec, 2022. (Courtesy of @vawongsir)

A former Hong Kong secondary school teacher and political cartoonist forced into exile began a new project to help adapt to life in Taiwan. His work captured the helplessness and hope of Hong Kong people living away from their homes.

In early 2020, former secondary school general education and visual arts teacher Wong Sir, who goes by vawongsir on Instagram, received an anonymous complaint when he published a current affairs cartoon he created himself on social media, resulting in the schools refusal to renew his contract.

Wong felt the increasing pressure under the Hong Kong political environment and left Hong Kong in May 2022 for Taiwan to study at The Graduate Institute of Trans-disciplinary Arts at the National Taipei University of Arts. There he began his new life.

Like most Hong Kong people who were forced to leave the city due to political reasons, Wong gets homesick in a new city and misses his family and friends in Hong Kong.

When I came to Taiwan to study, I spent most of my time alone in a rented unit ordering takeaway. Its been a long time since Ive cooked a meal. In the past, I spent Christmas and New Year with my family and friends. This year Ive had to live alone, and I began to feel homesick  Wong expressed his feelings to the Epoch Times.

Wong said he realized that it wasnt easy to start anew in another country, explaining how in Hong Kong, people knew of him because of his art, but in Taiwan, most people didnt know of him. Although he wanted to continue drawing political cartoons, he did not understand the political situation in his new country. Adding that, he wants to introduce himself to the people in Taiwan and embrace his new country and integrate into it.

At the end of 2022, he launched the art project One more pair of chopsticks in hopes of reaching Taiwanese families. The project aims to share different life and culture among Hong Kong and Taiwanese people. He asks by local Taiwanese families if he could join them for a meal in exchange for one of his artworks. Starting with a meal, understand the thoughts of the Taiwanese, and understand each other, Wong described.

A bowl and a pair of chopsticks on the posters of Wong Sirs One more pair of chopsticks project posted on Instagram in Dec. 2022. (Courtesy of @vawongsir/Instagram)

A New Life Embracing Taiwan

Wongs friends expressed concern over his open invitation, afraid he would end up in a dangerous situation. Wong smiled and said, I dont know why. I just trust the Taiwanese. Since I want to start this project, I have to trust them. After all, I have nothing worth to be cheated and taken away.

On Dec. 24, 2022, Wong received his first invite from a Taiwanese photographer, Michael, who saw Wongs post on social media and took the initiative to invite him to dinner. Wong graciously accepted.

Wong Sirs drawing of a the first Taiwanese family to invite him to dinner for his one more pair of chopsticks project in Taiwan on Dec. 24, 2022. (Courtesy of @vawongsir/Instagram)

Michael is quite well-versed in cooking and especially cooked a delicious Sorrowful rice of ecstacy for me. He used Hong Kong-made rose wine and sprayed it onto the roast pork prepared after 4 hours of sous-vide. It tasted soft instead of the dry meat feel that comes from some food stalls. For the very first meal, Wong was able to enjoy Hong Kong-style delicacies made for him by a Taiwanese family, roast pork rice with soft-fried egg, a taste of home that he had not had for quite a while.

The name Sorrowful rice of ecstacy originated as a virtual dish invented by Hong Kong comedy superstar Stephen Chow in his 1996 hit movie The God of Cookery as his entry in the final of the cooking competition in the film. The striking name (instead of the more commonly known roast pork rice) later appeared on the menus of various restaurants. It then became a delicacy in Hong Kong.

In addition to Hong Kong-style food, he tasted Taiwanese clam and chicken soup with garlic. After the meal, Michael also took him to the backyard to make a piece of fried fish, served with warm mulled wine, adding warmth to the cold winter day.

He is very grateful to Michael and his family for their warm-hearted hospitality. Everyone talked frankly and about everything, which also changed some of his misunderstandings about the political attitude of the Taiwanese. Wong said he also used his own experience as an example to let them understand more about the current situation in Hong Kong.

Sorrowful rice of Ecstacy (Roast Pork Egg Rice) cooked by Taiwanese photographer Michael for Wong Sir, an exiled Hong Kong Artist, in Taiwan in December 2022. (Courtesy of Wong Sir)

Michael once took a portrait of his family. The inspiration came from a scene in the Taiwanese TV series Heaven on the 4th Floor starring Anthony Wong Chau-sang. The photo became the blueprint for Wong to draw a family portrait for them. The pleasant experience of having a meal with the Taiwanese family gave Wong confidence, and he looked forward to the his next invitation.

A drawing of the second Taiwanese family invited Wong Sir to dinner in December 2022. (Courtesy of @vawongsir/Instagram)

Tasting Authentic Taiwanese Flavors

Soon Wong received a second invitation. The mother of the family, Yi Chi, invited him to be a guest at their home. In the family was a young boy in his first year of high school. As soon as Wong entered the house, he immediately felt a strong human touch.

What impressed him deeply was that, Yis husband, Chang Lung, especially prepared a bottle of Kinmen sorghum wine with over 50 degrees of alcohol as a treat and gave him a special mullet roe, snack to go with the drink. Another dessert he tasted for the first time was  Niu Wen Shui, a traditional Hakka dessert. Wong shared, Its similar to Hong Kongs glutinous rice balls, like flattened meatballs, but the preparation is more hands-on. The owner said they use rice to grind it into a pulp and then make it by hand. It takes a lot of time. If I didnt go to Taiwanese homes, I probably wont taste such authentic Taiwanese snacks and experience the diverse local culture.

Taiwanese authentic snack mullet roe, taken in December 2022. (Courtesy of Wong Sir)

Traditional Hakka dessert Niu Wen Shui, taken in December 2022. (Courtesy of Wong Sir)

This Taiwanese family also specially bought a roasted duck to treat Wong. As is common among most Taiwanese, they all think the most typical Hong Kong-style delicacy is Siu Mei (roast foods), hoping to bring him the taste of his hometown. The hospitality from the host family made him feel a bit uneasy. He said he didnt want the families to spend too much and was satisfied with home-cooked meals.

Wong believes the dinner table is a particularly good opportunity to communicate and learn more about another culture. During his time with the second Taiwanese family, he learned how the Taiwanese view the anti-extradition movement in Hong Kong. During the conversation, I knew they are very concerned about Hong Kong in 2019. They feel that the Hong Kong people are very brave and worried about our safety and welcome us. But from a parents perspective, if one day their childrens freedom is threatened and they need to go outside, they may still worry about them. Of course, in the eyes of the children, it is natural they want to defend their homeland and freedom. This also made me see how the incident in Hong Kong may impact the next generation in Taiwan.

I hope this art project can last half a year to nine months. I want to know how people in different places in Taiwan celebrate their festivals, such as the Chinese New Year, Lantern Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival. Are these festivals different from those in Hong Kong? Is there a difference in the way Taichung and Tainan celebrate the festival? These are all things I want to experience. said Wong.

He mentioned that he hopes to meet Taiwanese people from all parts of the island, not just limited to families in the city. They do not need to be a complete family. Friends who share rented units are also welcome to contact him. He believes that through the One more pair of chopsticks project, he can come across different local groups and their life experience. He hopes the series of works compiled during his experience in Taiwan can be exhibited or published to be shared with everyone.

Wandering in a foreign land, Wong is now more relaxed than when he first arrived. I was not used to it at first. Chatting with Hong Kong people would be very exciting, and everyone would embrace and cry, but now I think its time to try to integrate into the culture here. Starting with a meal, understand the thoughts of the Taiwanese, and understand each other.
FAA Proposes Requiring 5G Safeguards on Planes by Early 2024

Airline passengers walk inside the Tampa International Airport as airports around the country are awaiting for Verizon and AT&T to rollout their 5G technology in Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 19, 2022. (Octavio Jones/Reuters)

WASHINGTONThe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Monday it is proposing a requirement that passenger and cargo aircraft in the United States have 5G C-Band-tolerant radio altimeters or install approved filters by early 2024.

Concerns that 5G service could interfere with airplane altimeters, which give data on a planes height above the ground and are crucial for bad-weather landing, led to disruptions at some U.S. airports earlier this year.

The proposed airworthiness directive, which would take effect in February 2024, is similar to one that took effect in December 2021, prohibiting passenger and cargo flight operations in the vicinity of 5G C-Band wireless transmitters unless the FAA specifically approved them.

The FAA is also proposing a requirement that airlines revise airplane flight manuals to prohibit low-visibility landings after June 30 unless retrofits have been completed on that airplane.

Verizon and AT&T in June voluntarily agreed to delay some C-Band 5G usage until July 2023 as air carriers work to retrofit airplanes to ensure that they will not face interference. The December 2021 FAA directive relied on the voluntary agreement.

Some international airlines have privately expressed reluctance to install filters absent a legal requirement from the FAA, officials told Reuters.

Airlines for America, a trade group representing American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and others, said carriers are working diligently to ensure fleets are equipped with compliant radio altimeters, but global supply chains continue to lag behind current demand. Any government deadline must consider this reality.

Wireless group CTIA said the FAAs schedule for altimeter updates is reasonable and practical. 5G in the C-band coexists safely with air traffic.

FAA acting Administrator Billy Nolen in October sought a delay in some 5G C-Band transmissions from smaller operators over aviation safety concerns.

Nolen said in an Oct. 21 letter the agency wanted the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to mandate the voluntary mitigations AT&T and Verizon had agreed to earlier this year to 19 smaller telecoms and other spectrum holders.

Airline CEOs in January 2022 had warned of an impending catastrophic aviation crisis that could ground almost all traffic because of the 5G deployment.

A deal struck shortly before a 2022 deadline did not prevent dozens of foreign carriers from canceling international flights to the United States.

By David Shepardson
Florida Democratic Party Chairman Resigns, Calling 2022 Election Cycle Final Nail in the Coffin

A person stands outside a polling site during the U.S. midterm election in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Nov. 8, 2022. (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)

Florida Democratic Party (FDP) Chairperson Manny Diaz on Jan. 9 resigned from office, calling the defeats in the 2022 election cycle the final nail in the coffin.

After much reflection, I regret to inform you that I have chosen to retire as FDP Chair, effective immediately, Diaz wrote in a letter to fellow Democrats. It has been a pleasure and honor to work with you, and, rest assured, I will continue to fight with you to get Democrats elected.

Diaz, who was mayor of Miami from 2001 to 2009, was elected as the chair of the Florida Democratic Party in January 2021, following disappointing results in the 2020 general elections. His departure comes after Republicans swept every statewide race on the 2022 ballot.

In the race for governor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won re-election by a margin of 19 percentage points over Democratic challenger Charlie Christ, even winning historically Democrat strongholds such as Miami-Dade County and Palm Beach County.

Republicans also secured a supermajority in both chambers of the state legislature following the November elections, with 85 seats in the 120-member House and 28 seats in the 40-member Senate.

Florida is also sending more Republicans in its congressional delegation to Congress after the midterms, after sweeping all five competitive House races. The makeup of the delegation is now a 20-8 Republican majority, up from a 16-11 Republican lead after the 2020 elections.

In the Senate race, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) rolled to a third term in office, defeating Democrat challenger Val Demings by 16 percentage points.

Under Diaz, Florida Republicans have surpassed Democrats in voter registration.

Letter

In his letter, Diaz said that Florida Democratic Party has been rendered practically irrelevant to the election of Democrats, adding that he had trouble securing funding, finding volunteers, and delivering effective messaging.

We cannot win elections if we continue to rely on voter registration to drive turnout, build field operations only around elections, and expect to get our vote out without engaging voters where they live, he wrote.

During my tenure, I hoped to address these issues, and build a united party without silos, focused exclusively on our purposeto elect Democrats, he added. Instead, I found obstacles to securing the resources and a longstanding, systemic and deeply entrenched culture resistant to change; one where individual agendas are more important than team; where self-interest dominates and bureaucracies focus on self-preservation.

He also blamed Washington for the recent election losses.

Washington continues to believe they are better equipped to determine our campaign strategy, target universe, messaging, staff hiring and firing decisions, Diaz wrote.

He added, My choice to hire coordinated staff was no choice; my decision to replace underperforming staff midway through the campaign was rejected. Coordinated staff made it clear; they worked for Washington, not the FDP.

Eventually, he said, a broken, unsustainable system was exposed.

Maybe it is not always about trying to fix something that is broken. Maybe it is about starting over and creating something better, he added. I wish my successor Godspeed.

Resignation Calls

After the Nov. 8 elections, there were multiple calls for Diaz to resign.

The Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida issued a statement on Nov. 9 calling for Diazs immediate resignation.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz, who two years ago promised everything, delivered on none of it. The results of this election are direct evidence of a vacuum in leadership that can not be allowed to continue, the group wrote.

It added, Chair Diaz never understood the electorate, the timely need for outreach, registration, and community participation. There was no outreach plan for FDPs most reliable voters, including minorities, youth, and progressives.

If Chair Diaz has any decency, he will step down and let us build a state party that works for all Floridians, the group concluded.

Days later, Diaz took to Facebook to say he intended to stay on in the position.

I joined you in this mission to reverse the trends of the past 10-20 years. I am still committed to that end and refuse to give up when the going gets tough. That is not in my nature, Diaz wrote. I will continue to fight alongside you for the next two years and beyond.

Thomas Kennedy, a Democratic National Committee member from Florida who has been calling for Diaz to resign, welcomed Diazs decision to step down.

FL Dems can turn things around but it will take a long term plan, cohesive economic messaging that appeals to working people, year round voter registration, permanent offices offering tangible services to community members and electing down-ballot candidates to build a bench, Kennedy wrote on Twitter on Jan. 9.

State Rep. Anna Eskamani, who represents District 42 in the Florida House, responded to Diazs resignation with some words of encouragement for her Twitter followers.

I just want to remind everyone that we are each others keeper, & need to rebuild what it means to be a Democrat in Florida from the ground up, she wrote.
Former Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg Sentenced to 5 Months Jail Over Tax Fraud Scheme

Former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg leaves the courtroom for a lunch recess during a trial at the New York Supreme Court in New York City on Nov. 17, 2022. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, was sentenced to five months in jail on Tuesday for his involvement in a tax fraud scheme at the real estate company.

Tuesdays sentence comes after Weisselberg entered a plea deal and admitted that he, as well as several other top-level employees, had received bonuses and other financial perks while intentionally concealing the benefits from tax authorities to avoid paying taxes.

As part of that plea deal, Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 felony charges. He will serve five months at the Rikers Island jail complex in New York while paying back about $2 million in taxes, penalties, and interest.

The 75-year-old money manager could be eligible for release after three months of detention if he exemplifies good behavior, the judge said. Once released, he will be ordered to complete five years of probation.

The sentence also wraps up the Democratic Manhattan district attorneys year-long investigation of the former presidents company and its business practices. Donald Trump has described the probe, which comes as he is seeking a third White House bid, as a politically motivated witch hunt and attempt to damage his political future.

The political Witch Hunt by the Radical Left Democrats, with New York now taking over the assignment, continues. It is dividing our Country like never before! Trump said last year.

Trump himself wasnt charged in the case.

Weisselbergs Plea Deal

Weisselberg, who was arrested in July 2022 for evading taxes on $1.76 million in off-the-books income, initially pleaded not guilty, but agreed to a guilty plea in August of that year.

Rather than risk the possibility of 15 years in prison, he has agreed to serve 100 days. We are glad to have this behind him, his lawyer said at the time.

Weisselberg cooperated with prosecutors and testified against the Trump Organization during the trial, saying that Trump himself signed the Christmas bonus checks and personally paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in private school tuition for Weisselbergs grandchildren. He also alleged Trumps two sons, who took over the companys operations in 2017 after Trump was elected to the White House, gave him a raise while knowing about the tax evasion scheme.

The whole narrative that Donald Trump was blissfully ignorant is just not real, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the 12-person jury in a New York state court in early December.

The jury found the Trump Organization guilty on multiple felony offenses, including tax fraud, falsifying business records, and conspiracy.
Former West Virginia Lawmaker Charged in Jan. 6 Capitol Breach Announces Bid for Congress

'I have to preserve what little freedom and liberty we have left, for my children and future grandchildren.'

Protesters roam through the U.S. Capitol Rotunda after breaching the building on Jan. 6, 2021. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

On Friday, a former West Virginia lawmaker who was charged for his involvement at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, announced that he is running for Congress.

On the second anniversary of the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Derrick Evans announced his candidacy for the House of Representatives. In a video posted on social media, Evanswho live-streamed his presence in the Capitol and served jail time (pdf) for that participationspoke of his fellow J-6ers and the miscarriage of justice at the hands of our government. He spoke of being fearful about his jail sentence and of being scared to lose time with his family.

But despite that uncertainty, my resolve never waned, he said. I knew I still had the support from the people in West Virginia and American patriots from all across this country.

So with that, Evans said, he announced he was officially running for a seat in the United States House of Representatives.

Activist, Delegate, Congressional Candidate

Before his arrest on Jan. 8, 2021 (pdf), Evans had already stirred controversy as a pro-life activist. In 2019, Evans live-streamed himself protesting outside of a West Virginia abortion clinic, causing the clinic to erect a 10-foot fence around the property and a volunteer to obtain a restraining order.

Evans also live-streamed himself protesting against Black Lives Matter and drag shows. Those videos were lost on Nov. 8, 2021, when Evans was terminated from all social media platforms, including Facebook. He has since created new accounts.

Derrick Evans while serving in the West Virginia House of Delegates in 2020. (Courtesy of Derrick Evans)

Evans was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing the states 19th District, in November 2020. According to his campaign website bio, one of his first acts as a delegate was to sign on to a request for a special session aimed at stripping West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice of his executive power to impose state lockdowns and to force citizens to get COVID-19 vaccines.

After entering the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Evans was initially charged with two misdemeanors. He was there for 10 minutes and never moved beyond the Rotunda. However, the government added charges (pdf), including a felony charge of attempting to obstruct the performance of a federally protected function (pdf), which would add 20 years to his sentence. Having already exhausted his finances, Evans took a plea deal (pdf).

The day after his Jan. 8, 2021, arrest, Evans resigned from the House of Delegates (pdf).

Rep. Carol Miller

In his video announcement, Evans targeted Republican Rep. Carol Miller, who represents West Virginias 1st Congressional District. Miller represented the now-obsolete 3rd District from 2019 to 2023 before the states congressional map was redrawn.

Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.Va.) speaks during a House Select Committee on Climate Crisis hearing in Washington on June 14, 2022. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Evans accused Miller of representing the values of the globalist uniparty and claimed that she voted to pass the Biden administrations $1.7 trillion omnibus bill, but Miller voted against the bill.

Katherine Robbins, communications director for Miller, told The Epoch Times by email that Miller has been honored to serve in Congress these past 4 years, including voting against the trillion-dollar omnibus bill Democrats recently forced on the American people.

Robbins said that as candidate recruitment chair, Miller has ensured Republicans across the country could win tough races and take back the majority, placing a much-needed check on Bidens disastrous administration.

Evans further alleged in his video announcement that Miller already had five years to leave her mark on Washington and to represent the conservatives in West Virginia.

Quite frankly, she does not represent the America First agenda, which has left me with no other option but to give the people of West Virginia a true conservative choice on the ballot.

Trump Country

This is Trump Country, Evans told The Epoch Times, describing his hometown as one of the most conservative districts in the entire country.

Of the 100 members in West Virginias House of Delegates, Republicans control 78 seats, a super-majority.

Of the 34 members in West Virginias Senate, Republicans control 24 seats, establishing another super-majority. State Sen. Glenn Jeffries switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in December.

Derrick Evans with his family, (LR) son Lincoln, daughter Marlee, son Waylen, daughter Emmalyn, and wife Melissa, two hours after Derrick was released from prison. (Courtesy of Derrick Evans)

Evans described how he approached Miller at a luncheon in Wayne, West Virginia, just before the November general election. He said he asked her what was going to happen with the Jan. 6 Committee now that Republicans were going to take over the House.

She said, Nothing,' Evans recalled, saying he decided right there and then he wanted to challenge her for her seat.

She isnt willing to fight for me, Evans reflected. She hasnt done anything at all through this entire ordeal for me or for any of the other January 6-ers in West Virginia who are being mistreated. That was one of the turning points.

A Self-Rescue Mission

Asked for his thoughts on the second anniversary of the events that took place at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Evans said the first thing going through his head is how Democrats and the media have refused to let it go.

I just cant believe how the liberal media is still so focused and obsessed with this, Evans said, adding that he thought the lifespan of a story in the media was generally two days. For this to be a two-year news cycle and for them to continue using the dangerous propagandacalling us terrorists and insurrectionistsis egregious and disgusting. There are people out there who believe those things. Thats the most hurtful thing. I love this country. People can disagree on whether or not they think the election was stolen and say I shouldnt have been there and I was trespassing. Those things are fine. They can even call me a convicted felon. Thats fine. But to call me an insurrectionist and a terrorist against my own country?

Evans said his heart breaks for the other people involved in Jan. 6, especially those who are still sitting in jail.

Some are just now being arrested, he said, noting how 70-year-old Rebecca Lavrenz was arrested in Denver on Dec. 19 for being at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. She was charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. The government used a search of her cell phone records to place her inside the U.S. Capitol.

While some have been sitting in jail for two years now, her journey has just begun, Evans lamented.

Evans also wants to change the narrative about Jan. 6 participants.

Evans said the Jan. 6 Committee should remain open.

Get some real conservatives in there and lets go find the truth, and whatever the truth is, Im fine with that, Evans said, adding that he is amazed that they want to lock these documents away for 50 years.

But the people who are supposed to be the bad actors, the terrorists and the insurrectionists, were the ones screaming, No, release it all for the entire world to see! We want the truth out there, and I think thats an important narrative thats not being portrayed in the media right now. We want the truth. Why is the government trying to hide all of this stuff? That should raise questions for anybody who has an open mind about the situation. I want the truth. There are a lot of questions I dont have answers to. Because, quite frankly, theres still 1,400 hours of video footage weve not been allowed to see.

Its important that people get to know us as humans and not as the insurrectionists in the headlines that they hate, he explained. But were now realizing theres nobody thats going to come along and help us in terms of getting the truth out there. So its a self-rescue mission.

This Cant Be Real

Evans said he is also disturbed by how far his government will go to come after him.

By far, one of the most shocking, hurtful, and disappointing things about this whole process has been how my government is attacking me and my credibility, basically telling me they dont like me, he said. I remember sitting in prison thinking, this cant be real. Until then, I hadnt had time to decompress and think about everything. I was too busy fighting for my freedom, fighting legal battles and worrying about my wife and my kids. I was trying to get things in order, to make it easier on my wife while I was gone. But when I was in solitary, it finally dawned on me. This was really happening. My own government was doing this to me and that was hard to swallow.

Evans is also amazed at how the government is still pursuing people who were in Washington on Jan. 6, using everything at its disposal, including facial recognition software, cell phone records, and pleas on social media for people to turn in their neighbors, friends, and family members.

Derrick Evans with his family wear matching T-shirts at the going away party thrown by the people of his communitycomplete with a parade and fire truck escortjust before he went to jail for his participation in the protests at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Courtesy of Derrick Evans)

It makes you realize we are living under more tyranny today than our Founding Fathers did when they broke away from Britain, Evans posited, saying he believes we are living under the most corrupt and powerfully tyrannical government in our history.

Thats why I decided to run, Evans confessed. I dont think the average person understands how powerful and corrupt they are.

Evans also suggested that the average person probably couldnt handle what [Jan. 6-ers] have been through, noting that three people who had been arrested for their participation on Jan. 6 took their own lives.

He is also well aware of the attacks that will come against him and his family for his choice to run for Congress.

I have to preserve what little freedom and liberty we have left, for my children and future grandchildren, and hopefully increase that liberty and freedom for them in Congress, Evans attested. Sitting on the sidelines doing nothing is not going to get us there.
German, Lithuania Delegations Visit Taiwan to Discuss Defense as Beijing Threat Builds

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen (R) greets Johannes Vogel, a member of Germany's parliament, at the presidential office in Taipei on Jan. 10, 2023. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

German and Lithuanian parliamentary delegates traveled to Taiwan this week to meet with Taiwanese defense officials as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continued to exert military pressure on the self-ruled island.

Lithuanias nine-member delegation arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for a six-day visit to demonstrate the solidarity and cooperation of frontline democratic countries, according to Taiwans Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The delegation was led by Laurynas Kasciunas, chair of the national defense committee, and Dovile Sakaliene, deputy chairman of the Lithuania-Taiwan parliamentary friendship group, the ministry said.

The German delegation, led by the national defense committee chairman Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, and deputy chair of the Liberal Democratic Party Johannes Vogel, traveled to Taiwan for four days.

Herzlich willkommen! Its our pleasure to host this years 1st parliamentarian delegation from #Germany, co-led by @Bundestag Defence Committee Chair @MAStrackZi & @fdpbt Chief Whip @JohannesVogel & comprising 8 other MdPs. We wish our #Taiwan friends a rewarding 4-day visit. pic.twitter.com/6WVyBQidq1   Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan)  (@MOFA_Taiwan) January 9, 2023

Both delegations are expected to meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and other top officials from the foreign and defense departments during their visits to Taiwan, according to the ministry.

Their discussions will focus on the stability across Taiwan Strait, where the CCP has increased its military activities. The ministry said that Lithuanias delegation would also meet with a local security think-tank to discuss the security challenges facing Taiwan and Europe, and their respective national defenses.

The CCPs military held combat drills in the waters and airspace around Taiwan on the day that the Lithuanian delegation arrived in Taiwan, sending 57 aircraft and four naval vessels toward the island nation.

Taiwans Defense Ministry said that 28 warplanes entered Taiwans air defense identification zone and crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, prompting it to scramble aircraft, naval vessels, and land-based missile systems in response.

Aircraft of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) conduct joint combat training exercises around Taiwan on Aug. 7, 2022. (Li Bingyu/Xinhua via AP)

The Peoples Liberation Armys (PLA)which is the CCPs military wingEastern Theatre Command said the goal of the combat drills was to counter what it called provocative actions by Taiwan and external forces.

But Taiwans Defense Ministry said the PLAs false accusation and irrational provocation had severely destabilized regional security, citing the PLAs recent aircraft incursions into the Taiwan Strait median line.

We seek neither escalation nor conflict, the ministry said in a statement. [Taiwans] armed forces constantly monitor our surrounding area and respond to activities accordingly. We can, and we will keep our homeland safe.

Taiwan has been a self-governing democracy since the Chinese civil war ended in 1949, but the CCP views Taiwan as its own territory. It regards Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be united with mainland China by any means necessary; CCP leadership hasnt ruled out the use of force to achieve this goal.

The CCP regularly uses its military to intimidate Taiwan, as seen on Dec. 25, 2022, when it sent 71 planes and seven ships toward the island in its largest show of force since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) visited Taiwan in August last year.

Europe, NATO Were Too Naive

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and ex-Danish Prime Minister, last week, called for the European Union and NATO to train Taiwanese troops and plan for painful economic sanctions on Beijing in case of an attack.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen gives a press conference on June 8, before NATO defense ministers meeting at organization headquarters in Brussels. (John Thys/AFP/Getty Images)

Rasmussen, who was the leader of the trans-Atlantic alliance from 2009 to 2014, said that EU and NATO members should be prepared to let mainland China think twice about an invasion.

He is now the chairman and founder of the Denmark-based Alliance of Democracies Foundation, which aims to promote unity between democratically elected states in the face of authoritarian aggression.

The parallels with Russia and Ukraine are hard to ignore. We must not make the same mistakes with [CCP leader Xi Jinping] that we did with Vladimir Putin, he said during a visit to Taiwan on Jan. 5.

Rasmussen remarked that the most important way to deter a Chinese move on Taiwan is to ensure a Ukrainian victory in the current conflict.

If Russia can gain territory and establish a new status quo by force, it will set a precedent. Dictators everywhere will learn that, ultimately, military aggression works, he said.

Rasmussen said that European and NATO powers were too naive prior to Moscows invasion of Ukraine and are risking repeating the same mistakes with China.

He believes that Xi will watch closely the war in Ukraine before deciding on any attack on Taiwan.

The world hasnt so far paid sufficient attention to the tensions in the Taiwan Strait, he said. And we should realize that the conflict between China and Taiwan has, and will have, global repercussions. So we have a global interest in preventing those tensions from escalating into an armed conflict.

Bryan Jung and Reuters contributed to this report.
New powers granted to the Food and Drug Agency (FDA) give the agency the ability to shut down cosmetic companies making products like shampoo, makeup, and toothpaste that expose consumers to injury or disease.

The updated regulations come from the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MOCRA) of 2022, which was tucked into the massive Consolidated Appropriations Act funding bill of 2023. MOCRA empowers the FDA to regulate aspects of cosmetics and personal care products in ways many Americans likely assumed it already was.

The act also creates federal standards for product registration and manufacturing practices, as well as record keeping, recalls, and documentation to substantiate safety claims.

Updated Regulations Long Overdue

MOCRA is the first statutory change to FDAs authority over cosmetics makers since 1938.

Over the decades, several scandals drove demands for changes, from tainted products to questionable chemical additives. Most people know about the danger of exposure to asbestos, lead, and formaldehyde but dont necessarily think these substances are in cosmetics. Unfortunately, they sometimes are, either by accident or by design. So are chemicals like parabens, PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances), and phthalates that are increasingly linked to side effects ranging from cancer and reproductive problems to developmental toxicity and prenatal risks to allergies and sensitivities. In fact, some would say its a chemical jungle out there.

MOCRA arose from mounting calls for greater regulation of the $169 billion-a-year personal care product industry. That outcry has been spurred, in part, by a growing awareness of how much chemical exposure actually exists. For instance, an average adult uses nine personal care products every day, with up to 126 unique chemical ingredients, reports the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a U.S.-based research and advocacy nonprofit active in the areas of drinking water pollution, toxic chemicals, agricultural subsidies, and corporate accountability. Groups like EWG have long worked to draw attention to the fact that the FDA does not regulate cosmetic products the way many assume.

[T]he FDA largely relies on the personal care products industry to regulate itself as a way to address the risks its products pose, says the EWG. Of more than 10,000 chemicals used to formulate cosmetics, just eleven have ever been banned or restricted by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Many of these products are applied directly to the skin, enabling the ingredients to be absorbed directly into the bloodstream, says the group.

New, Partial Oversight

MOCRA empowers the FDA to take direct action against cosmetic makers and will eventually require them to document how their products affect consumers.

The manufacturer, packer, or distributor of a cosmetic product whose name appears on the product label must soon maintain records of health-related adverse events linked to a cosmetic or personal care product and report any serious adverse events to FDA within fifteen days of learning about it. This was not the case before.

Moreover, the definition of adverse events has been broadened in the act to include possible occurrences with cosmetics and personal care items such as significant disfigurement (including serious and persistent rashes, second- or third-degree burns, significant hair loss, or persistent or significant alteration of appearance), other than as intended, under conditions of use that are customary or usual.

Under the act, cosmetics and personal care product companies will now have to register with the FDA and can lose their registration like manufacturers of other types of products for safety violations. Companies also must disclose their ingredients to the FDA and fragrance allergens must appear on labels for the safety of consumers.

Finally, the FDA will now have the authority to order a recall of cosmetic and personal care products as it does with other product categories and which it never had the power to do before. Compliance requirements will be gradually introduced over the next one to two years as no part of the act is immediately enforced.

Although more is needed to ensure the safety of chemicals used in cosmetics, this update is a welcome step in the right direction, Scott Faber, EWG senior vice president for government affairs said in a statement.

The FDA will now have many of the same commonsense, basic tools the FDA already has for oversight of other product categories, he said.

The act does fall short, however. It doesnt require or resource the FDA to actually review safety records for chemicals of concern, nor ban or restrict chemicals.

The hard work of banning or restricting chemicals will now fall to the states, said EWG President and Co-founder Ken Cook in the statement. The cosmetics provisions in the end-of-year spending bill preserve the ability of states to ban toxic chemicals from cosmetics, as California, Colorado and Maryland have recently done.

Some of the most extreme voices in the cosmetics industry and their fellow travelers wanted to eviscerate state powers, but EWG insisted on preserving the ability of states to ban or restrict chemicals of concern, Cook added.

Better Regulation Was Sorely Needed

Even as consumers have become more aware of toxic chemicals lurking in their personal products, labels can omit important information. For example, research published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters in 2021 found that more than half of the products that were tested contained the controversial PFAS yet almost none included the chemicals on their ingredients labels.

And even when they appear on the label, chemical names can be confusing. Will those who wish to avoid parabenspreservatives that function as endocrine-disrupting chemicals as The Epoch Times has previously reportedrecognize the host of parabens that are prefixed with words like methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, and butyl?

According to a survey conducted by the website asbestos.com, one in three consumers never reads the label on the personal care items they use. Many people examine the labels of their food products, or what goes in their bodies, before making a purchase, says the site. But, according to our survey results, one in three people never look at the ingredients of new cosmetics, or what goes on their bodies.

Why Are Toxic Chemicals in Our Products?

It is worth noting that some of the personal care product ingredients rapidly falling out of favor today were created for defensible reasons. [M]any of these harmful ingredients are included to keep the products safe, writes Marcy Laub for Harvard University. Antimicrobials, antifungals, and preservatives are what allow that tube of Chapstick or jar of lotion to sit in your medicine cabinet until youve used it all up. While compounds like parabens have rapidly become bad guys, without them bacteria and other microorganisms would quickly render these products rotten, she writes.

But other undesirable chemicals are in products simply to make the product look, feel, or smell better.

Cosmetic products must please the senses of a consumer to positively influence their buying decision, says an article on the material selection website Special Chem. In addition to attractive packaging and fragrance, The feel and texture of the product can also trigger various sensations and reactions, the site notes. The first impression made by the product texture plays an important role in the selection of personal care products.

Ingredients used to create texture rely on an optimal combination of emulsifiers, thickeners, emollients and other additives, says the site. Emulsifiers are additives that encourage the suspension of one liquids droplets into anothers. Synthetic thickeners increase viscosity and can include carbomers which are acrylic acid polymers.

Are Consumers Driving Demand for Toxins?

Many of us grew up reading lather, rinse, repeat on our shampoo bottles and love lather. But now we are learning that to create lather bubbles, foaming agents like sodium lauryl sulfate, cocamide DEA, MEA, or TEA are added. These chemicals are no longer considered completely safe, especially compared with natural foaming agents derived from plant and animal sources.

Moreover, lathering does not really make us cleaner. Though lather suspends dirt by producing greater surface tension in waterwhich facilitates the dirt rinsing offnot as much lather as we think is really required to do the job, say environmentalists.

Consumers also need to face the fact that we like fragranceit is alluringbut its presence usually signals that petroleum, phthalates, chemicals that make plastics more durable, and the carcinogens benzophenone and styrene, are also present. Are rich lather and fragrance worth exposing ourselves to such chemicals? We need to look at our own buying habits because they shape demand.

Earlier Legislation Introduced

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), the senior chief deputy whip and chairwoman of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee had made previous attempts to better regulate cosmetic products. In 2021, she introduced the Safer Beauty Bill Package of four bills to Congress, supported by Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.). The bills aimed to better protect consumers, provide more clarity about ingredients, and more but the bills didnt get traction in Congress and didnt move forward.

Americans are often left in the dark about harmful mystery ingredients in personal care products; consumers deserve confidence that the products that they use will not hurt them, said Schakowsky when she introduced the bills. Schakowskys Safer Beauty bills were supported by 134 groups made up of health practitioners, environmentalists, parents, those in the beauty business, and more.

Conclusion

The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 is good news for everyone who uses soap, shampoo, shaving cream, conditioners, and the like, but it doesnt guarantee the FDA will protect consumers from toxic chemicals. Makers of cosmetics and personal care products can be held more accountable, however, and if their business practices are faulty, they can be unregistered; if their products are unsafe, they can be recalled. Still, it is still up to consumers to reject personal care products that contain unwanted chemicals intended to lure us. Some say, if you cant pronounce the ingredients, dont buy the product.

To learn more about risks from cosmetic and personal care productswhich, sadly, include cancersvisit the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas Beauty products and Cancer: Are you at risk? site.

To learn more about which products to avoid and which may be safer, the websites of the many safety and environmental groups supporting Congresswoman Schakowskys Safer Beauty bills are a good place to start.

Finally, dont rule out making your own skin care, hair care, or makeup products which can be fun, creative, and money-saving!
Moderna is eying a price of $110 to $130 per COVID-19 vaccine dose when its supply deals with the U.S. government end, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports.

Moderna, like its vaccine competitor Pfizer, is considering a higher commercial price for its two-shot mRNA vaccine, CEO Stephane Bancel told the WSJ at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Fransisco.

I would think this type of pricing is consistent with the value, said Bancel, according to the WSJ report.

The Massachusetts-based drugmaker is reportedly considering a huge price increase. By contrast, the price the U.S. government paid for public contracts ranged from $15.25 to $17.5 per dose.

In 2020, the federal government under President Donald Trump made two bulk purchases from Moderna, totaling 200 million vaccine doses at a total cost of $3.2 billion. The initial August 2020 deal guaranteed an advance market for 100 million dose at a price of $15.25 per dose. The pricing for the second purchase, made in December of that year, was about $16.67 per dose.

In 2021, the Biden administration proceeded to buy an additional 300 million doses of Moderna vaccine at a slightly higher price for each dose. In February of that year, the federal government paid Moderna $1.75 billion for 100 million doses. Four months later, Moderna secured another $3.3 billion deal for 200 million doses.

The latest vaccine deal was announced in July 2022, when the Biden administration agreed to pay $1.74 billion for 66 million doses of Modernas bivalent vaccine booster, or about $26.36 per shot.

Bernie Sanders Complains About Price Hike

In a letter to Bancel, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) asked that the company halt any planned price hike, which he said would make the vaccine unaffordable for millions of Americans.

You propose to make the vaccine unaffordable for the residents of this country who made the production of the vaccine possible, wrote Sanders, the self-styled democratic socialist who will soon chair the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. That is not acceptable.

Now, in the midst of a continuing public health crisis and a growing federal deficit, is not the time for Moderna to be quadrupling the price of this vaccine. Now is not the time for unacceptable corporate greed, he wrote.

This is not the first time Sanders took issue with Moderna, which became richer amid a series of lucrative vaccine deals with the federal government. Modernas revenues went from $803 million in 2020 to $18.5 billion 2021, and made $18.4 billion in 2022 in vaccine sales alone. Meanwhile, Bancels change-in-control package also jumped from $9.4 million to $922.5 million.

Change in control refers to contracts stating the payout for an executive should a change in company ownership occuralso called a golden parachute.

Can you believe this? The federal government put $2.5 BILLION into Moderna to develop a vaccine and the CEO walked away with a $926 million golden parachute, Sanders wrote on Twitter last July. That is how corrupt and criminal the system is.
How Often Should You Work Out?

Puzzled by Workout Frequency? Here's What You Need to Know

Maybe you've been exercising steadily for a while, but you're not seeing the results you want. Or, maybe you're just getting into strength training, or getting back into a cardio workout routine after a long pause. Either way, you're likely wondering how often you should be working out to maximize your fitness. It's a common question that crosses any health-conscious mind, but there's no clear-cut answer that fits every body. Rather, it depends on your starting point and your individual fitness goals, whether they be losing weight, gaining strength, improving endurance, or achieving muscle growth.

RELATED: How to Get Better at Pull-Ups

As a general rule, one workout session per week is obviously better than nothing at all. But if you really want to commit to fitness, most people should aim to tackle some cardio exercise and resistance training at least four to five days per week. If you're quite fit, however, and feel comfortable with a well-established workout routine Tony Horton, personal trainer and creator of P90X, says that six days of workouts each week is ideal.

Of course, you may not have the time to commit to an extended full-body workout every day, nor should you put your body through intense exercise every day, but the key is to remember any activity counts here. Horton believes that maintaining a steady workout frequency  no matter how short the sweat sesh  helps to enforce the mentality of taking good care of your body and your overall health throughout the week (not just on weekends, or whenever else you can fit in a workout session).

"Inconsistent exercise is the fitness equivalent of driving across the country on surface streets. Youre bound to hit nothing but stop signs, streetlights, detours, construction ... you dont get any momentum," Horton says. "The six-days-a-week mentality and lifestyle will get you on the 'open highway' to better fitness and results."

Dennis Ryan

How Often to Work Out at Every Fitness Level

As noted above, your weekly training volume and the level of intensity you aim for depends on your fitness level. You don't want to push yourself too hard from the start as this will put you at greater risk of injury. You're also likely to become discouraged if you run out of gas too quickly and then skip subsequent workouts. In the end, that would defeat the point and make it that much harder to reach the goal of being consistently mindful of your health every day.

Although you don't want to hurt yourself by overtraining and pushing your body past the point of recovery, remember that even your rest days can incorporate some light physical activity, such as a leisurely walk or slow-paced yoga practice.

With that in mind, the following guidelines are key to keep in mind when it comes to how often you should work out at every fitness level.

Beginner: 2-3 three days per week of full-body workouts

2-3 three days per week of full-body workouts Intermediate: 3-4 days per week, alternating muscle groups

3-4 days per week, alternating muscle groups Advanced: 5-6 days per week, alternating muscle groups

Now, it's easy to throw numbers out there, but how do you actually implement a good workout schedule to fit your needs? We spoke to Alex Rothstein, Coordinator and Instructor of the Exercise Science degree program at New York Institute of Technology to find out more. He shares that it all comes down to determining which body parts to focus on with each exercise routine and how much rest to give those body parts between workouts. The answers to these questions, however, depend on several factors.

How Often to Workout for Beginners

First, be realistic with yourself about how experienced you are with resistance training. As a beginner, you should focus on two to three workout days per week with one or two rest days between them, focusing on compound movements.

"Each workout should incorporate a full-body approach, meaning all of the muscles of the upper and lower body are targeted to some extent, but not necessarily isolated," says Rothstein. He adds that the goal should be to train each body part twice per week (and scientific research agrees). So stick to compound movements, such as weighted lunges which allow you to target your arms and legs in one of your three strength training workouts for the week.

When it comes to rest, you can incorporate true off days and cardiovascular exercise activities to keep your fitness plan well-rounded.

RELATED: How Often Should You Be Doing Weight Training Per Week?

How Often to Workout for Advanced Fitness

When it comes to more experienced individuals, Rothstein agrees with Horton, noting that six days per week is a great goal for training frequency. He notes, however, that workout intensity plays a huge role when it comes to determining rest periods in this scenario. Obviously, there are only seven days in a week, so a six-day workout regimen involves careful planning to not overtax any muscle group too many days in a row.

Unlike the two- to three-day workout regimen for beginners, the workouts in a six-day regimen should not focus on a full-body approach. Instead, the schedule should utilize alternating days focused on the upper body (chest, arms, abs, and back) and lower body (legs), with some cardiovascular exercise thrown in the mix, as well as different intensity levels to allow for proper rest without having to ditch a workout altogether.

"When an individual performs a lower body workout with a very high-intensity level, they place a tremendous amount of stress on their muscles, bones, and nervous system," says Rothstein. "This usually means the individual should either rest the next day or have a less intense workout the following day using different muscle groups."

He also notes that a six-day workout regimen is not a one-size-fits-all plan by any means, even for those at an advanced fitness level. Its success depends on (and should be catered to) how well an individual recovers from one workout to another. This can be affected by anything from how well theyre feeding their muscles with the right foods to how well they sleep.

That said, if you feel well-rested and well-recovered from one workout to the next, you should feel confident to carry on with a six-day workout regimen that properly alternates muscle groups, intensity levels, and activity styles. If you find yourself excessively fatigued, however, Rothstein suggests decreasing the intensity of your workouts or even how often you're working out until your muscles gain more strength.

Focus and Dedication Are Key to Frequency

No matter where you start or how soon you get to the goal on your fitness journey, Horton encourages individuals to stay focused. He suggests making a "plan of attack" and plotting your schedule of workouts on a calendar to show your dedication to your regimen.

"If you want to experience optimal health and dramatic results, its going to take planning, determination, accountability, and commitment," says Horton. "[So] put the calendar in a place where youll see your progress every day, [and] when you complete your workout, cross it off with a thick red marker."

Finally, despite the myriad benefits of a rigid schedule, Horton also cautions against complacency. He suggests sticking to your planned schedule of workouts, but keeping things fresh by introducing new routines. As you keep your muscles guessing, it will help you avoid overtraining and hitting a plateau. But, maybe even more importantly, it will help to keep things fun and interesting so you look forward to your workouts each day.

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My aunt Jenny Liang had always been a traditional woman with an extroverted personality. She was married for 42 years, retired for seven years, and had five children and nine grandchildren. She liked to cook and always smiled at everyone and everything.

One day, her personality suddenly changed.

Her daughters noticed that their mom no longer smiled at them and that she became easily upset and angry. She didnt have the patience to listen to others and stopped caring for her hygiene. Her smiles became frowns, and she began complaining about everything in her home.

As time went on, she became more irritable, and then she began avoiding social events and friends, eventually losing interest in the cooking that she loved to do for so many years. She was so affected by nervousness and anxiety that her personality changed to neuroticism.

After two years, she was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease.

Many people with Alzheimers disease have a similar experience to my aunts. In one study, about 47 percent of patients showed personality changes before being clinically diagnosed as having Alzheimers disease. A longitudinal assessment of non-demented older adults demonstrated that the very first changes in personality in these adults were associated with the incidence of Alzheimers disease.

If you want to detect Alzheimers disease as early as possible to intervene most effectively, the first indication of the disease might be personality changes other than subtle memory or cognitive deficits, and the changes will progress with measurable cognitive loss.

Warning Signs of Personality Change

Our moods and behavior naturally fluctuate; healthy people vary in their overall personality, mood, and behavior from day to day. However, sudden or significant changes in personality or extreme changes in behavior often indicate problems.

The most common warning signs of personality changes include:

Increased rigidity

Increased egocentricity

Coarsening of personality

Growing apathy

Insensitivity to others

Poor emotional control

Diminished emotional responsiveness

Aimless hyperactivity

Other neuropsychiatric symptoms include:

Depression

Believing things that arent real

Hallucinations

Hostile or violent behavior

Anxiety or nervousness

Sleep disorders

Poor judgment

Inappropriate or risky behavior

Lack of impulse control

Frequent and/or intense emotional outbursts

For many relatives and caregivers, changes in a persons behavior and personality will most often be the earliest observable signs of Alzheimers disease. Its important to be compassionate and keep in mind that these changes come as a result of the initiation and progression of the disease.

Personality Traits Might Predict Alzheimers

Features of your personality might also predict Alzheimers disease.

According to the authors of a longitudinal study on personalitys association with this disease, personality traits are described as enduring dispositions that underlie individuals cognitive, emotional, and behavioral tendencies. These traits are related to a persons lifestyle and can be implicated in physical and mental health conditions, including affecting the incidence of Alzheimers disease.

This study of 1,671 participants indicated that certain personality traits are associated with an increased risk of Alzheimers disease.

Those with neurotic personalities who are more likely to be anxious, depressed, and vulnerable to stress had a 3.1-fold increase in risk for the incidence of Alzheimers disease. Those with conscientious personalities and who are well-organized and have better self-discipline and willpower, however, had a 3.3-fold decrease in risk of the incidence of Alzheimers disease.

The study estimated that the personalities of neuroticism and conscientiousness could account for 13 percent and 11 percent of Alzheimers disease cases in the population, respectively.

A study of a cohort of 2,046 community-dwelling older adults found that individuals who developed Alzheimers disease scored significantly higher on neuroticism and lower on conscientiousness and extraversion.

These results strengthen the hypothesis that personality traits are independent risk factors for Alzheimers disease rather than the consequences. The participants were followed up for as long as 36 years, and the personality tendencies were found at least 6.44 years before the onset of the disease.

Why Personality Affects Alzheimers Disease

This association between personality and Alzheimers disease might be interpreted by the links related to health behaviors, physiological pathways, and coping skills.

The seven most commonly identified risk factors of Alzheimers disease include depression, mid-life obesity, diabetes, mid-life hypertension, smoking, low educational attainment, and physical inactivity. Each of these risk factors can be shown to relate to personality. Since these seven risk factors contribute to approximately half of the cases of Alzheimers disease globally, it stands to reason that personality is one of the most influential factors in the incidence of the disease.

Direct physiological pathways related to Alzheimers disease are also associated with personality, such as elevated levels of inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-6, chronic elevated white blood cell count, metabolic syndrome, and more.

Personality traits are related to coping skills, and chronic stress over a persons lifespan may contribute to an inability to cope with the neurodegenerative process underlying Alzheimers disease.

Alzheimers disease is a progressive disease that continuously damages neural cells in multiple areas of the brain, affecting neuronal functions. When parts of the brain fail to do their job, a person may exhibit personality changes and odd behaviors.

Mind and Body Practice Affects Personality, Helps Prevent Alzheimers Disease

Rooted in ancient Eastern traditions, mind and body practice pertains to holistic practices that build and strengthen the connections between the emotional, mental, and physical aspects of a human being. Mind and body practice can provide effective and nonpharmacologic approaches to calm the mind, relax the physical body, and have a long-term impact on the brain and behavior, eventually changing ones personality.

Theres growing interest in meditation due to its well-documented beneficial effects on physical and psychological health. A case-controlled study found that the mindfulness-meditation experience was negatively related to neuroticism and positively related to extraversion in the group of meditators, presumably leading to alterations in personality.

A 10-year study on U.S. adults found that mind and body practice could significantly enhance cognitive function and executive function. Cognitive function is one of the most important factors that influence personality, and high executive function leads to increased conscientiousness and openness. As a result, mind and body practice changes a practitioners personality.

Mind and body practice can thus help to relieve Alzheimers directly.

Alzheimers disease has been known to be an irreversible neurodegenerative disorder. Although numerous clinical trials have been undergone or are still undergoing, no therapy has been shown to cure the disease yet.

Mind-body therapies have recently emerged as complementary therapies because a combination of practices such as meditation and yoga can have a direct effect on brain volume, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, serotonin, cortisol levels, and sleep quality, which directly or indirectly affect the pathogenesis of Alzheimers disease.

A 12-week mindfulness-meditation-based Brain Fitness Program significantly improved 84 percent of participants cognitive function. The participants had either no atrophy or an actual growth above the baseline volume of their hippocampus under a post-program quantitative structural magnetic resonance imaging scan.

Research on long-term Sahaja Yoga Meditation demonstrated that meditation could increase brain volume mainly in the temporal and frontal areas of the right hemisphere and the brainstem. Participants had a measurable 6.9 percent larger gray matter volume in 11 areas of the brain. Gray matter contains a large number of neurons. An increased volume allows the brain to process more information and strengthens neural cell communication, enabling individuals to better control movement, memory, and emotions.

Insomnia is prevalent in people with Alzheimers disease. After a one-month yoga practice, participants with insomnia reported decreased stress and greater sleep quality. Participants in another three-month yoga and meditation practice reported decreased anxiety and depression. Researchers found there to be an inverse correlation between the increased plasma level of brain-derived neurotrophic factors and an observable magnitude of the cortisol awakening response. The study showed that the plasma level of the anti-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-10 increased and the pro-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-12 was reduced after the practice. Such a result suggests that mind and body practice can help stop or reverse the progression of Alzheimers disease.

A three-month practice of tai chi, another popular mind and body practice, has also been shown to help with insomnia, with the results lasting for up to 24 months. Such findings indicate that yoga and tai chi should be recommended as first-line nonpharmacological management for insomnia and to alleviate the symptoms of Alzheimers disease.
Across the world, excess mortality has dramatically risen since the rollout of the jabs. If they were beneficial, youd expect excess mortality to drop. Were also not seeing mass death from COVID. The only clear factor that might account for these discrepancies is mass injection with an experimental gene transfer technology

The COVID jabbed are now dying in greater numbers than the unjabbed  so much so that it has driven down the overall life expectancy in the U.S. by nearly three years

Campbell argues that while the risk of complications and death due to COVID has significantly lessened since the early days of 2020, the risks associated with the COVID jabs remain the same. Hence, the risk-benefit ratio of the mass injection campaign has flipped, and the risk associated with the shot now outweighs the risk of infection

At the end of December 2022, John Campbell, Ph.D., posted a video calling on the British health authorities to halt the use of mRNA COVID injections, as the data suggest there are far too many safety issues

Public health officials are sounding the alarm about a new Omicron variant, XBB, that is spreading across the northeast US. Studies suggest it is vastly different from the original Wuhan strain and is evading herd immunity and the latest BA.5 boosters. Are the mRNA shots to blame?

Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, John Campbell, Ph.D., a retired nurse educator, has gained a following for his even-handed evaluations of COVID science and statistics. While hes not known for taking a stand against the COVID shots, that recently changed.

At the end of December 2022, Campbell posted a video (above) calling on the British health authorities to halt the use of mRNA COVID injections, as the data suggest there are far too many safety issues to continue.

Moreover, most COVID-19 hospitalizations in 2022 were incidental, meaning they were not hospitalized for COVID but, rather, tested positive once admitted. Waves of outbreaks with newer, less hazardous variants have also resulted in high levels of natural immunity.

Campbell argues that while the risk of complications and death due to COVID has significantly lessened since the early days of 2020, the risks associated with the COVID jabs remain the same as they were at the outset.

Hence, the risk-benefit ratio of the mass injection campaign has flipped, and the risk associated with the shot now outweighs the risk of infection. Campbell is now urging the British government to pause the continued booster campaign until a population-wide risk-benefit analysis has been carried out, and the data published with full transparency so that independent researchers can verify the findings.

Life Expectancy Plummeted After COVID Jabs Rolled Out

What Campbell does not address in this video, but has reviewed in others, is that the COVID jabbed are actually dying in greater numbers than the unjabbed  so much so that it has driven down the overall life expectancy in the U.S. by nearly three years.1

In 2019, the average life span of Americans of all ethnicities was 78.8 years.2 By the end of 2020, it had dropped to 77.0 years3 and by the end of 2021, it was 76.4.4

We know this drop isnt due to people dying of COVID-19, because the age groups with the highest increases in mortality were working age adults, 25 through 54, followed by children between the ages of 1 and 4.5 And, they are not tiny increases.

Rates of death increased 16.1% for 35- to 44-year-olds, 13.4% for 25- to 34-year-olds, 12.1% for 45- to 54-year-olds, and 10.1% for 1- to 4-year-olds. Meanwhile, COVID mortality was, from the start, highest among the elderly.

The average age of death due to COVID-19 was 82,6 which is actually older than the average life span, and mortality rates only increased by 3.8% among 65- to 74-year-olds and 2.4% among those aged 75 to 84. Life insurance data also confirm that its working age adults who are dying in record numbers.7

Excess Mortality Took Off After COVID Shots Were Introduced

COVID-19 is also an unlikely cause for the rapid decline in life expectancy for the simple fact that its not a major contributor to rising excess mortality, which only took off after the introduction of the COVID shots in early 2021.8

Excess mortality is a statistic that is related to but separate from life expectancy. It refers to the difference between the observed numbers of deaths (from all causes) during a given time, compared to the expected number of deaths based on historical norms, such as the previous five-year average. (Formula: reported deaths  expected deaths = excess deaths.)

Across the world, excess mortality has dramatically risen since the rollout of the jabs, and barely a day now goes by without a healthy adult suddenly dropping dead with no apparent cause.

If the COVID jabs were beneficial, youd expect excess mortality to drop, yet thats not what were seeing. Were also not seeing mass death from COVID. The only clear factor that might account for these discrepancies is mass injection with an experimental gene transfer technology.

The Jabbed Also Account for Most COVID-19 Deaths

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data also show that most COVID-19 related deaths are now occurring among the jabbed and boosted, and this despite the fact that numbers are artificially suppressed by only counting people as vaccinated or boosted if theyre at least two weeks out from their last shot. As reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF):9

In fall 2021, about 3 in 10 adults dying of COVID-19 were vaccinated or boosted. But by January 202210  about 4 in 10 deaths were vaccinated or boosted. By April 2022  data11 show that about 6 in 10 adults dying of COVID-19 were vaccinated or boosted, and thats remained true through at least August 2022 (the most recent month of data).

The data from this chart come from the CDC, which collects data on the number of deaths by vaccination status from 30 health departments (including states and cities) across the country.

In order to be counted as vaccinated, a person must be at least two weeks out from completing their primary series  Similarly, to be counted as having a booster, a person must be at least two weeks out from their booster or additional dose before testing positive. People who were partially vaccinated are not included in this data.

COVID Jab Is Likely Fueling Mutation of Variants

Another reason to halt the COVID booster campaign that Campbell does not address is the very likely possibility that the shots are fueling mutations, giving rise to ever new and more resistant variants. As reported in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece by Allysia Finley,12 The virus appears to be evolving in ways that evade immunity, which is bad for the jabbed and unjabbed alike.

Public-health experts are sounding the alarm about a new Omicron variant dubbed XBB that is rapidly spreading across the Northeast U.S., Finley writes.

Some studies13 suggest it is as different from the original COVID strain from Wuhan as the 2003 SARS virus  It isnt clear that XBB is any more lethal than other variants, but its mutations enable it to evade antibodies from prior infection and vaccines as well as existing monoclonal antibody treatments.

Growing evidence also suggests that repeated vaccinations may make people more susceptible to XBB and could be fueling the viruss rapid evolution 

Under selective evolutionary pressures, the virus appears to have developed mutations that enable it to transmit more easily and escape antibodies elicited by vaccines and prior infection.

The same study posits that immune imprinting may be contributing to the viral evolution. Vaccines do a good job of training the immune system to remember and knock out the original Wuhan variant. But when new and markedly different strains come along, the immune system responds less effectively.

Bivalent vaccines that target the Wuhan and BA.5 variants  prompt the immune system to produce antibodies that target viral regions the two strains have in common  XBB has evolved to elude antibodies induced by the vaccines and breakthrough infections.

Hence, the Nature study suggests, current herd immunity and BA.5 vaccine boosters may not efficiently prevent the infection of Omicron convergent variants.'

Indeed, a drawback of the original COVID shot that was widely ignored was that it only triggered the creation of antibodies against a single piece of the virus (the spike), whereas natural immunity creates antibodies against all of its parts.

Experts warned that embarking on a mass injection campaign would put enormous pressure on the spike that would result in mutations to evade immunity, and this is precisely what happened.

How Vaccines Can Drive Viruses to Mutate

The idea that vaccines can cause viral mutations is not new. As explained in Vaccines Are Pushing Pathogens to Evolve, published in Quanta Magazine14 in 2018, Just as antibiotics breed resistance in bacteria, vaccines can incite changes that enable diseases to escape their control.

The article details the history of the anti-Mareks disease vaccine for chickens, first introduced in 1970. Today, were on the third version of this vaccine, as within a decade, it stops working. The reason for this is because the virus continuously mutates to evade the vaccine. Whats worse, the virus is also becoming increasingly deadly and more difficult to treat.

A 2015 paper15 in PLOS Biology tested the theory that vaccines are driving the mutation of the herpesvirus causing Mareks disease in chickens. To do that, they vaccinated 100 chickens and kept 100 unvaccinated. All of the birds were then infected with varying strains of the virus. Some strains were more virulent and dangerous than others.

Viruses mutate all the time, and if you have a leaky vaccine, meaning one that doesnt block infection completely, then the virus will mutate to evade the immune response within that person.

Over the course of the birds lives, the unvaccinated ones shed more of the least virulent strains into the environment, while the vaccinated ones shed more of the most virulent strains. As noted in the Quanta article:16

The findings suggest that the Mareks vaccine encourages more dangerous viruses to proliferate. This increased virulence might then give the viruses the means to overcome birds vaccine-primed immune responses and sicken vaccinated flocks.

The take-home message here is that viruses mutate all the time, and if you have a leaky vaccine, meaning one that doesnt block infection completely, then the virus will mutate to evade the immune response within that person.

As it happens, that is one of the distinct features of the COVID shots. Theyre not designed to block infection. They allow infection to occur and at best lessen the symptoms, and as a result, the virus can mutate more or less unhindered. So, while the unjabbed were initially accused of being the ones responsible for mutations, its actually the jabbed who are the primary vectors.

Risk of COVID Infection Rises With Number of Shots

While newer variants can circumvent both vaccine immunity and natural immunity, natural immunity still provides far better protection, because the more shots a person gets, the more predisposed they become to COVID-19 infection.

This was most recently demonstrated in a Cleveland Clinic study,17 which concluded that the risk of COVID-19 infection increased  with the number of vaccine doses previously received. As reported by Finley:18

Notably, workers who had received more doses were at higher risk of getting sick. Those who received three more doses were 3.4 times as likely to get infected as the unvaccinated, while those who received two were only 2.6 times as likely.

This is not the only study to find a possible association with more prior vaccine doses and higher risk of COVID-19, the authors noted. We still have a lot to learn about protection from COVID-19 vaccination, and in addition to a vaccines effectiveness it is important to examine whether multiple vaccine doses given over time may not be having the beneficial effect that is generally assumed.'

COVID Shots Suppress Your Immune Function

The COVID jabbed are also contracting other infections, as the shots weaken their innate immune system. In December 2022, MIT researcher Stephanie Seneff and Drs. Peter McCullough, Greg Nigh and Anthony Kyriakopoulos published a paper19 in which they described how the COVID shots inhibit the type-1 interferon pathway, which is the first-stage response to all viral infections.

As a result of this interferon inhibition, your innate immune system is suppressed, opening the door for all kinds of infections. Type-1 interferon also keeps latent viruses in check, so if your interferon pathway is suppressed, latent viruses, such as shingles, 20,21,22,23 can start to emerge. Importantly, cancer can also proliferate unchecked when your immune system is impaired.

Bivalent Boosters Are Minimally Effective at Best

The Cleveland Clinic study24 cited earlier also found that the bivalent COVID-19 booster was only 30% effective in preventing infection during the time when the virus strains dominant in the community were represented in the vaccine.

In other words, the boosters provide minimal protection even when well-matched to the circulating strain, and as its protection wanes, it leaves you at higher risk of infection than before.

Got the Jab? Take Action to Safeguard Your Health

If you already got one or more jabs and now have concerns about your health, what can you do? Well, first and foremost, never take another COVID booster, another mRNA gene therapy shot or regular vaccine. You need to end the assault on your system.

If you developed symptoms you didnt have before your shot, I would encourage you to seek out expert help. Unfortunately, most conventional doctors are clueless when it comes to COVID jab injuries (and vaccine injuries in general), so youll need to do some homework.

At present, the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) seems to have one of the best treatment protocols for post-jab injuries. Its called I-RECOVER and can be downloaded from covid19criticalcare.com.25

Dr. Pierre Kory, who co-founded the FLCCC, has transitioned to treating the vaccine injured more or less exclusively. For more information, see DrPierreKory.com. Dr. Michelle Perro26 is also helping patients with post-jab injuries. I interviewed her about her treatment strategies in May 2022.

The World Health Council has also published lists of remedies that can help inhibit, neutralize and eliminate spike protein, which most experts agree is the primary culprit. I covered these in my 2021 article, World Council for Health Reveals Spike Protein Detox.

Other Helpful Treatments and Remedies

Other treatments and remedies that may be helpful for COVID jab injuries include:
House Committee Wants Transport Minister to Testify on Holiday Travel Mayhem

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra rises during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Feb. 14, 2022. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

MPs on the House of Commons transport committee have voted unanimously to invite federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra to testify, after thousands of Canadians were left stranded during the Christmas holidays.

The committee met on Jan. 9 after the Conservative and NDP members requested the chair call an urgent meeting to discuss travel delays and the treatment of air and rail passengers over the holiday season.

Conservative MP Mark Strahl said travellers were sleeping on the floors of hotels and were trapped on trains for hours, even after Alghabra promised these problems would be fixed following similar incidents over the summer.

We were promised, frankly, by the Liberal minister that these matters were addressed, that he had it under control, that the broken system had been fixed, Strahl said.

Clearly, it has not been fixedthere are still massive problems.

Beginning Dec. 22, thousands of passengers were left stranded after storms across the country caused cancelled or delayed flights, in some cases for over a week.

On Dec. 29, Sunwing announced that it was cancelling all flights at airports in Saskatoon and Regina due to extenuating circumstances. The cancellations went into immediate effect and applied to flights from both airports until Feb. 3, 2023.

In a statement, Alghabras office said the issues faced by Sunwing customers are unacceptable. He has also said hes looking to strengthen air passenger protection regulations.

Other passengers travelling by rail from Ottawa to Toronto told CBC News their four-hour commute lasted more than 20 hours after a tree fell and struck a ViaRail train on Dec. 22.

The committee unanimously passed a motion seeking to undertake a study on the disruptions, to hold those responsible accountable and identify what actions are being taken to avoid a recurrence of the problems in the future.

The committee will invite air passenger advocates, affected travellers, Sunwing, Air Canada and WestJet, the Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver airport authorities, Via Rail and CN Rail, the Canadian Transportation Agency, Transport Canada, and the Minister of Transport to testify.

It wants to hold the first special meeting on Jan. 12. Testimony recorded at the meeting would become part of the committees ongoing study on passenger rights.

Bloc Quebecois MP Julie Vignola wondered if the industry had enough support from the government. She said she wants to hear from the minister, but also the industry and companies involved.

This treatment provided to passengers once the storm is over must be questioned, she said.

Meanwhile, Merchant Law Group LLP is looking at potentially starting a class action lawsuit against Sunwing Airlines for Canadian travellers who were affected by the companys sudden cancellation of flights in Saskatchewan. The firm is inviting affected Sunwing customers to join the class action.

Sunwing has issued an apology to passengers who were left stranded, saying it is incredibly sorry, but added that most of our customers enjoyed their holidays with minimal disruptions.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
House Moves to Create Committee to Investigate CCPs Efforts to Undermine US

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) speaks to reporters after a House Republican Caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 21, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The House of Representatives is passing a resolution that will allow for the creation of a new congressional committee to investigate the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) efforts to undermine the United States and advise on methods of countering it.

House Resolution 11, Establishing the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, will create a 16-member, bipartisan committee chaired by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.).

The move comes amid increasing reports, including from the Pentagon, that the CCP, which rules China as a single-party state, seeks to undermine and displace the United States as the worlds greatest superpower.

The threat posed by the CCP is not abstract, Gallagher said on the House floor before the vote to create the committee. The CCPs aggression is not limited to Taiwan, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, or even Xinjiang, where two successive administrations, Republican and Democrat alike, have determined that the CCP is engaging in genocide.

The Select Committee will expose the CCPs coordinated, whole-of-society strategy to undermine American leadership and American sovereignty while working a bipartisan basis and with committees jurisdiction to identify long overdue common sense approached to counter CCP aggression.

The move to establish the committee received widespread bipartisan support, and will be staffed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers dedicated to uncovering and countering the malign influence of the CCP.

One of the greatest worries about the future is that we fall behind communist China, said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). The fact of the matter is the danger posed by our dependence on China is dire.

Heres the good news: There is bipartisan consensus that the era of trusting communist China is over.

The threat is too great for us to bicker amongst ourselves. The future should be determined by us, McCarthy said.

The Select Committee was announced on Dec. 8 and, though the committee will not have legislative jurisdiction, will seek to investigate the CCPs strategy and malign influence and inform Congress of methods to counter such.

The committee garnered additional support from Democrats for its focus on clarifying that malign influence was emanating from the CCP, and not from the Chinese people themselves, who are most frequently those worst victimized by the CCP.

As an Asian American who represents the only Asian majority district in the continental United States, I would never support a committee that I thought would engage in xenophobia or attacks on the Chinese people, said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).

I am pleased that this committee is not directed against China but is directed against the Chinese Communist Party.

Gallagher previously vowed that the effort would build out a bipartisan front to combat Chinese communist aggression, and dedication to that mission was on display on the House floor ahead of the vote to create the committee, with representatives of both parties acknowledging the threat posed by the CCP.

The bottom line is communist China is a serious generational threat that we must address before its too late, said Rep. Tom Cole (R-La.) on the House floor.

Thats why the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party is critical.

This Select Committee has the ability to do some substantive work, said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). There is a bipartisan group here in this house that for years has been focused on holding China accountable.

In theory this is a committee that we should all get behind and I hope that it is successful I am going to vote for this because I think that it is the right thing to do.
Houston Police Question Armed Restaurant Patron Who Shot Dead Suspected Robber

Houston police released a surveillance photo of a man who shot and killed a robbery suspect at El Ranchito #4 Taqueria in southwest Houston, Texas on Jan. 5, 2023. (Houston Police Department)

An unnamed 46-year-old Texas man has been questioned by Houston police today for allegedly shooting and killing a robbery suspect last week at a restaurant in southwest Houston.

After consulting with the Harris County District Attorneys Office, it was determined the shooting will be referred to a grand jury, Houston PD said in a news release. Since the male is not arrested or charged, his identity is not being released.

On Friday, Houston Police Department asked for the publics help in identifying the shooter who was wanted for questioning. They released surveillance photos of the man, along with his pickup truck, on social media.

What Happened

On Thursday, police were called to a shooting at the El Ranchito #4 Tacqueria at approximately 11:30 p.m. When they arrived, they found the suspect shot multiple times inside the business, according to police.

The suspect, who has been identified as Eric Washington, 30, was dressed in all black clothing, a black ski mask, and black gloves, authorities said. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Witnesses told the police that the suspect entered the restaurant and began robbing the customers at gunpoint.

As the suspect collected money from patrons, one of them produced a gun of his own and shot the suspect multiple times, the release said. The shooter collected the stolen money from the suspect and returned the money to other patrons.

The weapon recovered from the suspect was not a real gun.

The robbery suspect  came into the store and was wearing masks and gloves, HPD Lt. R. Wilkens told local KHOU News. He had a plastic pistol, possibly an aero soft or possibly a little BB pistol.

Police said the shooter left the scene before they arrived.

He and other patrons (victims) then fled the scene, police said.

A man claiming to be an attorney representing the shooter contacted Houston police and arranged a meeting on Monday.

No other injuries occurred during the incident.

Texas Penal Code

Nathan Beedle of the Harris County District Attorneys office told KHOU that Texas State Penal Code states specific cases when deadly force may be justifiable.

I can point you exactly where it is the law: 9.31 and 9.32 of the penal code, Beedle said. Whether someone uses deadly force in the situation, that is presumed to be correct under Texas law.

Texas Penal Code, Sec. 9.31 states: [A] person is justified in using force against another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect the actor against the others use or attempted use of unlawful force. The actors belief that the force was immediately necessary as described by this subsection is presumed to be if the actor:  (C) was committing or attempting to commit aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery.

Sec. 9.32 states: A person is justified in using deadly force against another:  (B) to prevent others imminent commission of aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery.
That wallet in your pocket or handbag is probably stuffed with credit cards, store discount cards, insurance cards, etc. Every transaction you can think of likely can be made using your wallets contents. Keeping it safe is the priority.

A digital wallet also holds everything you need to make a transaction. The difference between a digital wallet and a physical wallet is convenience and security. You cant pickpocket a digital wallet. And it keeps up with todays high-tech commerce. But what exactly is a digital wallet, and how does it work?

How a Digital Wallet Works

A digital wallet, also known as an e-wallet, acts as a payment tool. It refers to software, electronic device, or online service that makes electronic transactions. Usually, in the form of an app, it virtually stores credit cards and debit cards. But it goes beyond just payment.

You also can store your retail loyalty cards, coupons, e-vouchers, plane tickets, etc. Gift cards too can be kept in a digital wallet. These are all accessed through a smartphone.

Your financial information isnt stored in the smartphone or app. Instead, its securely stored virtually in a central location with a unique virtual number. The digital wallet links the vendor youre purchasing from to your financial institution or credit card company.

Paying With a Digital Wallet

A digital wallet can be used to shop in brick-and-mortar stores. Just look for the contactless symbol. The symbol is a circle with a hand swiping a card. Then just swipe the digital wallet, using your smartphone, over the symbol.

Using a digital wallet is convenient when shopping online. There is usually a digital wallet option at checkout. Youll be able to use the digital wallet instead of inputting your financial information.

A digital wallet can be used for food delivery services, ride sharing, or restaurants.

If you have your debit card in a digital wallet, you can withdraw cash or deposit in an ATM. Many of them display the contactless symbol.

Choosing a Digital Wallet

Sometimes the phone you choose dictates the digital wallet company used. For example, Apple Pay can only be used on iOS, and Google Pay can only be used on Android. Samsung Payyou guessed itcan only be used on a Samsung phone.

But there are other companies like WeChat Pay, Amazon Pay, PayPal, etc.

There are three different types of digital wallets.

The first is a closed wallet. This is a wallet that can only be used to make transactions at a designated retailer. For example, Amazon Pay is a closed wallet.

Semi-closed wallets allow you to make transactions at specified merchants and locations. The merchants sign an agreement with the digital wallet company. An example is Paytm Wallet. This is especially popular in India.

Finally, an open wallet allows you to make a transaction in addition to withdrawals from banks and ATMs. It also will enable transfers. Apple Pay and Google Pay are examples of open digital wallets.

Digital Wallet Setup

Its simple to set up a digital wallet, but you will need a smartphone, and most digital wallets use Android or iOS.

Do your research and choose a digital wallet company that meets your needs.

Once youve chosen, download the app. Youll then need to load credit card and debit information. You can also load other cards. Each companys app provides easy instructions.

Digital Wallet Security

Keep in mind that your financial information isnt stored on your phone. It isnt shown. No one can see your sensitive data if your phone is lost or stolen.

Using a digital wallet protects you from fraud. This is because your data are encrypted. When you make a purchase, the actual card number isnt transmitted. Instead, a random payment code is used. This code is only used once. So, every time you make a purchase, the code changes.

Digital Wallet Benefits

Security is a major benefit. Youre not lugging around a bulky physical wallet that can be stolen or lost.

Digital wallets speed up the buying process. When youre in a brick-and-mortar store, a quick swipe of your phone completes your buying process. Shopping online is also faster since youre not typing in credit or debit card numbers. Youre also not giving your sensitive information to an online retailer.

No more stuffing coupons in your physical wallet; you merely swipe your phone and receive your discounts. Youll save money more conveniently.

Using a digital wallet for credit card purchases is the same as using a physical card. You still receive your rewards.

Financial transactions are recorded and available to you. You can track your spending.

Downside to Digital Wallet

A digital wallet is still not universal or compatible with all retailers. So, if you dont know if a retailer accepts it, you still may need to carry a credit card.

Difficulty in budgeting is a possibility with a digital wallet. Its just so easy to spend.

Smartphones use wireless networks. This poses a risk of interception. There is a possibility of hackers accessing the data whenever information travels via a wireless network.

You may have to download the app again if a phone is lost or broken. This would mean a loss of your financial records. Youd have to start over.

Digital Wallet a Convenient Way to Shop

Digital wallets can be safer than using a credit or debit card. This is because a stolen credit card can be immediately used by a thief. But a thief cant use your sensitive information by stealing your phone.

Protect your information further by practicing good password hygiene. In other words, use strong passwords and dont share them. And turn on two-factor authentication when it comes to your credit card and bank accounts.

Virtual transactions using digital wallets will help you keep up with todays fast-paced commerce.

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.
NORFOLK, Va.The last time Emmy-winning newscast director Erica Garnes attended Shen Yun Performing Arts she was still a teenager. Returning to see the companys performance again at the Chrysler Hall on the evening of Jan. 7, Ms. Garnes found a deeper appreciation for Shen Yun.

There is definitely a loss for words when you come to something like this because our western culture is [so] different. This is completely new.

I saw Shen Yun for the first time when I was 17. Being an adult, I see more of the world [and] more of the people that are involved in the arts, Ms. Garnes said. I see how [people] can be brought together. How diverse [different] cultures can be, but still, blend with ours.

Shen Yun is the worlds premier classical Chinese dance and music company. The New-York based artists have made it their mission to revive Chinas 5,000 years of divinely-inspired culture destroyed by decades of communist rule and the regimes spread of atheism.

Since its establishment in 2006, Shen Yun has grown to include eight equally sized companies that tour the world simultaneously to showcase the beauty of pre-communist China.

Ms. Garnes said shes glad that [Shen Yun] is sharing their culture with the world because thats something we dont do enough nowadays. [Were not] looking back on our traditions, religion, the world itself, and how we treat other people.

Shen YunI think about humanity when I hear this name. I look forward to seeing it again.

Reporting by Terri Wu and Jennifer Tseng.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
Illinois Senate Approves Ban on Commonly-Owned Firearms, Bill Heads Back to House

Lawmakers in Illinois on Monday night approved a bill to ban the sale and manufacture of certain semi-automatic weapons, which critics say are commonly used for self-defense and recreation.

The Protecting Illinois Communities Act passed the Illinois Senate on Monday night by a vote margin of 3420.

The legislation will now return to the state House of Representatives, which passed it on a vote of 6443 on Jan. 6, for a final vote before it goes to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, who has supported the legislation and is expected to sign it into law.

In the House, the bill was sponsored by state Rep. Bob Morgan, a Democrat. The version that passed the lower chamber was changed slightly before the vote. A provision to raise the age for receiving a Firearms Owner Identification Card from 18 to 21 was removed.

However, the governor criticized the proposed changes on Sunday, arguing the Senates version fell short of what was needed, Bloomberg reported. House Speaker Chris Welch described the measure that reached the upper chamber as a watered-down version of the bill.

Lawmakers ultimately reached a deal that would immediately ban the manufacturing, selling, importing, or buying of a range of semi-automatic weapons, and ban attachments that increase the rate of fire.

Illinois state Senate President Don Harmon said in a statement that lawmakers reached a deal on one of the strongest assault weapons bans in the country.

Tonight, the Senate passed legislation banning the sale and purchase of assault weapons in Illinois, Harmon said. Gun violence is an epidemic that is plaguing every corner of this state and the people of Illinois are demanding substantive action.

Before the Senate voted on Monday, the Virginia-based Gun Owners of America (GOA) said the bill seeks to ban many commonly owned firearms, and decried the requirement to register them within the state as unconstitutional.

Not only does this tyrannical proposition infringe on the rights of all Illinois citizens, but it is also extremely dangerous, GOA said in a statement.

These commonly owned semi-automatic firearms are used countless times every year to save lives and deter crime. Banning them will only prevent law-abiding citizens from purchasing the best firearm to defend themselves, the statement continued. Not to mention, the requirement to register currently owned firearms is vehemently unconstitutional.

Ban

The legislation, as amended in the House, bans several semi-automatic firearms, including .50-caliber guns and magazines that hold more than 12 rounds of ammunition. The text of the bill lists specific types or brands of 20 pistols and five dozen rifles that would be banned. The bill also bans combination[s] of parts that can be used to assemble a magazine.

The bill also extends the states current six-month firearm restraining order (FRO) to up to one year for persons deemed a danger to themselves or others. The scope of who can request a firearm restraining order against a person would also extend from family members to anyone.

Illinois State Rifle Association President Doug Mayhall previously told The Epoch Times that this measure means people could be reported over differences of political views.

It would change from a family member [being able to request a FRO] and opens it up to anyone, Mayhall said. If you dont like my political views, you could unfairly give me a lot of grief.

It would also require Americans to register firearms presently legal to own without registration and restrict magazines that can hold more than 12 rounds.

Im done with the NRA having its way when it comes to mass shootings, said Pritzker on Monday at his inauguration remarks after winning a second gubernatorial term. Why do we allow anyone to easily purchase a rapid-fire, high-capacity weapon that can kill dozens of unarmed people in under a minute?

The Institute for Legislative Action, the lobbying wing of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), said after the measure passed the states lower chamber that the guns targeted in the bill are what law-abiding citizens commonly own for self-defense, competition, and recreation.
Mr. Ooduki Shizi, president of the Food Hygiene Association, attends Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Nishinomiya, Japan, on the afternoon of Jan. 9, 2023. (Annie Gong/The Epoch Times)

NISHINOMIYA, JapanAfter seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts, the president of a local association said that he wanted to contribute to the show.

I saw another world when the curtain opened. Shen Yun is extraordinarily excellent! Overall, I feel I was in a dreaming world, which is magnificent, said Mr. Ooduki Shizi, president of the Food Hygiene Association, in Nishinomiya, Japan on Jan. 9.

Mr. Ooduki said he couldnt wait to tell all his friends and family about Shen Yun.

The color of the costumes and the light coordinate with each other perfectly. The whole stage is shining, like a precious gemstone, very beautiful. Its astounding, he said, picking a number of dances as favorites, marveling at the flow. That dance is extremely nice. That kind of floating is rarely seen in a dance, which flowed like water, they moved as if they were carried on the wind. Its spectacular.

New York-based Shen Yun is the worlds top classical Chinese dance company and has in recent years set a new bar for the art form internationally. The Shen Yun 2023 season will be its biggest yet, with its eight equally sized touring companies set to visit more than 180 cities across five continents.

Mr. Ooduki said that he also enjoyed the animated backdrops and music pieces.

The performance is breathtaking! he said. Its great that Shen Yun is touring around the world. If possible, I want to contribute to them [Shen Yun].

I Felt the Humanity, Compassion, Truth

Mr. Hashimoto Yoshiyuki, president of a veterinary hospital, said that he understood the traditional values that Shen Yun delivered, and he felt his soul was cleansed by the show.

I was very touched when I saw the Buddha presented in the last program. I felt the humanity, compassion, truth, goodness, and beauty, he said.

Traditional Chinese culture, which Shen Yun seeks to revive, is said to be divinely inspired. The performing arts companys mission is to show the beauty and goodness of China before communism, and for 5,000 years that Chinas civilization was built on values and virtues from the spiritual teachings of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

Mr. Hashimoto said Shen Yun dancers skills were the best.

Whether the male dancers or the female dancers, they raised their legs to that high and then spun. Its not something a regular dancer can do. Its awesome. Im moved, he said. The dancers are full of power which is great.

Mr. Hashimoto Yoshiyuki, president of a veterinary hospital, attends Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Nishinomiya, Japan, on Jan. 9, 2023. (Niu Bin/The Epoch Times)

Mr. Oki Hisashi, a transportation company president, said that he has attended countless shows, and has never seen a show as splendid as Shen Yun.

The performance is fantastic! he said. I know Chinese history very well. I have never thought it can be presented in these ways. Its very novel.

Each Shen Yun performance consists of nearly 20 vignettes, with a mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization through highly-expressive art forms such as classical Chinese dance, original orchestral music performed live, soloists who sing in the bel canto tradition, animated digital backdrops, and more.

Mr. Oki said he could easily understand all programs and watched the whole show with gusto.

The whole hall was full of yellow-color bright light in the last program. Its really brilliant, he said. Its enchanting. I cant wait to see it again.

Shen Yun Performing Arts World Company finished its performances in Nishinomiya and will deliver two shows in Kyoto on Jan. 11, but tickets are sold out. Shen Yun is performing in Kamakura this weekend.

Mr. Oki Hisashi, president of a transportation company, attends Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Nishinomiya, Japan, on the afternoon of Jan. 9, 2023. (Fujino Takeshi/The Epoch Times)

Shen Yun Created a New Music Style

Mr. Shirohama Noboru, president of a feed manufacturing company, was amazed by Shen Yuns orchestra.

The coordination of the music with the interpretation of the dance was exquisite, he said. The music is very powerful. I have never heard any music as wonderful as this.

Mr. Shirohama said he enjoyed the erhu, a two-stringed ancient Chinese instrument, which he felt sounded very beautiful.

Mr. Shirohama Noboru, president of a feed manufacturing company, attends Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Nishinomiya, Japan, on the afternoon of Jan. 9, 2023. (Fujino Takeshi/The Epoch Times)

I think Shen Yun created a new music style, in which they use both classical Chinese instruments and Western instruments, and coordinate them so well, said Mr. Toyota Takashi, president of a human resource dispatch company.

Mr. Toyota said he enjoyed the performance very much.

Im glad Im here today, he said. Its invigorating, captivating, and a definitely world-class show.

Reporting by Epoch Times Staff in Nishinomiya, Japan.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
Japan, France Pledge Stronger Cooperation Amid Rising Tensions in Indo-Pacific

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (C) prepares to leave Haneda airport in Tokyo on Jan. 8, 2023. (Kota Endo/Kyodo News via AP)

Japanese and French leaders agreed on Monday to strengthen their bilateral security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific amid rising security challenges posed by the Chinese Communist regime.

Japans Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday as he kicked off a weeklong tour of G-7 nations, including Italy, Britain, Canada, and the United States.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Kishida referred to France as a leading partner in the effort to achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific and expressed Japans intention to launch joint military drills with France.

As unilateral attempts to change by force the status quo in the East and South China Sea intensify and the security environment becomes increasingly tense, we wish to continue to cooperate with France, Kishida said, as reported by AFP.

Kishida said the G-7 nations would continue to impose strict sanctions against Russia to exert pressure on Moscow to end its invasion of Ukraine, which has been ongoing since February of last year.

PM Kishida: I express deep gratitude for warm welcome by President Macron. I will sincerely look forward to welcoming you at G7 Hiroshima Summit. Merci, Emmanuel!  (Jan. 10) @EmmanuelMacron pic.twitter.com/G85lXlKheo  PM's Office of Japan (@JPN_PMO) January 10, 2023

The G-7, faced with the Russian aggression, will rally to continue and reinforce strict sanctions against Russia and keep up strong support for Ukraine, he stated.

For his part, Macron reaffirmed Frances support for Japan in the Indo-Pacific while acknowledging that North Koreas illegal nuclear and missile development program poses a threat to regional security.

Japan can count on our unfailing support to face flagrant breaches to international law from Pyongyang, he told reporters, referring to North Koreas capital city.

Macron thanked Japan for its economic and humanitarian support to Ukraine and said both countries will work jointly to face the global consequences of Russias invasion, especially energy and food security issues.

Both leaders also vowed to enhance bilateral cooperation, including in the fields of nuclear and renewable energy, car manufacturing, and defense.

Kishida will hold talks with President Joe Biden in Washington on Jan. 13. The two leaders are expected to discuss regional and global issues, including North Koreas unlawful missile programs, Russias war against Ukraine, and Chinas tensions with Taiwan.

Chinas Threat

Japan approved three key defense documents in December, including the National Security Strategy, which refers to China as Japans greatest challenge. Japan seeks to have the ability to counterattack, a move widely seen as a departure from the nations post-war constitution.

Japan is concerned about its own vulnerability as China expands its military presence near Taiwan and the East China Sea. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime had not ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control.

Japans defense ministry said on Jan. 2 that it scrambled fighter jets and dispatched aircraft and warships for two weeks to keep tabs on the CCPs Liaoning aircraft carrier and five warships that conducted naval maneuvers and flight operations over the Pacific Ocean.

The ministry said it monitored the operations after the Chinese naval group, which included missile destroyers, sailed between the main Okinawa island and Miyakojima island into the Western Pacific from the East China Sea on Dec. 16.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Be a Cunnilingus Master: How to Go Down On a Girl

Everything You Need to Know About Going Down on Her, Revealed

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Depending on your familiarity with the term and the sex act it describes, cunnilingus might sound incredibly daunting, or just plain hot.

Cunnilingus is a latin term for oral sex performed on a vagina. Typically, that means on a woman, but it can also be on a non-binary person who was assigned female at birth, or a transgender person with a vagina.

For people with vaginas, multiple studies suggest that clitoral stimulation of some kind  and in some cases, cunnilingus specifically  is one of the most effective means that a partner has to make them orgasm.

And besides the focus on orgasms, its just a great way to pleasure your partner.

In a world where a lot of guys (and a lot of people generally) sometimes think sex is all about penile penetration, remembering to spend some time focusing on stimulating the clit via cunnilingus can seriously increase how much your partner enjoys sex.

And, spoiler alert, if your partner enjoys sex more, theres a good chance that will make it more fun (and possibly a more frequent occurrence) for you, too.

In short, cunnilingus is sort of a win-win scenario. In order to help you get comfortable with it, AskMen spoke to a bunch of experts. Heres what they had to say:

Table of Contents:

What Is Cunnilingus?

So what does that entail, exactly? Well, like any sex act, it sort of depends on the two people involved.

There are certain actions and moves that are more common, but the important thing is that you and the person youre going down on are on the same page in terms of what feels good. Things that feel incredible to one person might feel uninteresting  or even painful  to another partner. The only way to know for sure is to talk to each other and try things out.

RELATED: Unique Ways to Go Down on Her

But in short, cunnilingus is typically focused on one partner licking the other persons clitoris  or rather, the clitoral head, which is located directly above the vagina. Just in terms of what you can do with your mouth, it can also involve sucking on the clitoris, sucking on or licking the labia minora, or inserting your tongue into your partners vaginal opening.

Why Is Cunnilingus Important?

Thought experiment: Imagine a woman rubbing your testicles against her clitoris until she climaxes. Then she turns to you in a post-coital fog of pleasure and says, Was that good for you, too?

Theres a pretty good chance thats never happened to you, but its not a completely alien concept to women, many of whom are used to sex being about a guys pleasure first and foremost  or in some unfortunate cases, exclusively about the guys pleasure. The upshot of that is that the central pleasure location on a womans body  the clitoris  still gets ignored by many guys.

To put that in perspective, it would be like if during sex, the glans of your penis never touched any part of your partners body. In the testicle-rubbing-clitoris scenario above, you might feel some pleasure; after all, the testicles do have nerve endings and it can be deeply arousing when theyre touched.

Also, you might be turned on just to be naked with another person, and it might be exciting to know that shes aroused in your presence. But without any stimulation of your penis, youre almost certainly not going to orgasm, and youre probably going to be at least a little bit disappointed.

RELATED: Why Every Guy Should Master Non-Penetrative Sex

The good news is, making sure your partner doesnt experience the female version of that scenario isnt particularly complicated  you just need to start incorporating clitoral stimulation into sex with the same regularity as penetration. And the best way to do that is through oral sex  aka cunnilingus.

Basic Cunnilingus Tips

Its all well and good to decide to start engaging in cunnilingus, but without knowing what youre doing, it can be daunting or, worse, wildly unsuccessful if and when you do start.

To help prevent you from ending up with your head between your partners legs, gripped by a deep feeling of panic or confusion, we spoke to some sex experts about the basic tips you should know before you start eating someone out.

Carlee Ranger

1. Locate the Clitoris

As mentioned above, for many people, the main thrust of cunnilingus is licking the clitoral head, which pokes out from under the clitoral hood, just above the vaginal opening. Whether youre looking for it or feeling for it by touch, finding it is an important first step in performing cunnilingus.

For some people, itll be a little bit harder to find, depending on their body type, pubic hair, and the size of their clitoris and hood, but the hunt will be worth it.

2. Get Licking

Once youve located your partners clitoris, well, start licking it! There are lots of different ways to lick your partners clit  quickly or slowly, using the whole length or your tongue or just the tip; softly or more powerfully.

Here, you should be trying to figure out what your partner likes, so in the early going, its worth testing out different licking styles. Often, different techniques will feel good at different times; sometimes a method of licking that feels very good at one moment can be too intense the next, and so forth.

The important thing is to be sensitive to anything your partner says (Go faster! or Ooh! Too hard!, etc.) and to pay attention to their breathing patterns or moaning.

Often, when you hit a certain rhythm, itll be obvious that its working even if your partner doesnt say a word, since sexual arousal is often translated unconsciously into physical responses, like heavier breathing, muscles tensing and back arching, among others.

3. Fall in Love With the Vulva

Would you enjoy oral if you sensed your partner was struggling with the concept of putting your penis anywhere near their mouth? Probably not. Sex is more fun when everyones enjoying it  so try to bring that same energy to cunnilingus.

The more you enjoy yourself, the more your partner will enjoy the experience, says Jess OReilly, Ph.D., host of the Drive Her Wild video course. Your partner may have received negative messages about their genitals growing up (and into adulthood) and while its not your job to undo all of the damaging effects, if you show appreciation and admiration for their vulva, it may help them to relax and be more present.

Carlee Ranger

4. Play With the Lips

One part of cunnilingus that sometimes gets overlooked is playing with your partners labia minora, colloquially known as pussy lips.

Remember that you can stimulate the internal erectile tissue of the clitoris via the lips, OReilly notes. Rub, grind and press against the lips on the outside and youll likely stimulate the internal clitoral complex.

This might not be as pleasurable as licking or sucking on the clitoris, but that doesnt mean its not a fun part of the equation, and its a good option if you want to throw in some variation here and there.

5. Dont Make Assumptions

Every vulva is different, says OReilly. What worked for a previous partner may not work for your current partner(s), so dont make assumptions.

Kayla Lords, sexpert for JackAndJillAdult.com, agrees. Not every partner wants oral sex in the same way, she says. Even if your previous partner loved that thing you did with your tongue, your next partner could hate it.

6. Ask About What Feels Good

So if assumptions are off the table, how do you know what to do? Simple. You ask. Ask for feedback and follow their lead and guidance, says OReilly.

Always ask what your partner likes. Always, Lords adds. Dont guess or assume. Ask.

Asking about what your partner likes or wants can seem daunting if youre not used to it  but its a good habit to get into. For starters, caring about your partners experience is one of the cornerstones of sexual consent; second, being able to navigate those conversations, both during sex and outside of the bedroom, will make for better sex for both of you.

RELATED: Sexual Consent Questions That Also Double as Dirty Talk

7. Make Some Noise

You might be focused on what youre doing  and your partner might be the one making the majority of the noise  but being too quiet can actually be a little bit disconcerting.

Your lover wants to know that youre enjoying yourself, so let your sounds emanate without inhibition, OReilly suggests. Breathe deeply, moan if you like it and allow your sounds of enthusiasm and pleasure to vibrate throughout their body.

You can also take a moment here and there to talk to your partner  telling them how much youre enjoying yourself, or how much you like how they taste, or even talking dirty.

8. Switch Up the Positions

You might have pictured all of this occurring in a missionary-style position, with your partner on their back, legs spread, and you lying or kneeling in front of them. But while that is a common and simple way to approach cunnilingus, its far from the only way to make it work.

RELATED: The Best Oral Sex Positions, Revealed (With Illustrations!)

Cunnilingus can be done in many positions  from the typical missionary style to face-sitting to licking her from the back, Lords notes. Feel free to change things up.

Its also something that can be done in standing or sitting positions  meaning you can still go down on your partner even if you dont have a flat surface like a bed or couch to work with.

Cunnilingus Myths You Need to Unlearn

Unfortunately, sexual education can be pretty spotty  and one area that its often significantly lacking is in terms of pleasure.

A lot of the time, the information that you get growing up is more about basic bodily functions, avoiding getting sexually transmitted infections or causing a pregnancy. All of which are important, but none of which will help you understand how to give or receive pleasure.

As a result, lots of the information guys get about cunnilingus is from pop culture or simply word of mouth, and that information is often inaccurate. So lets debunk some cunnilingus myths real quick:

Myth: Engaging in Cunnilingus Makes You Less of a Man

This one seems to be waning in popularity in recent years  perhaps in part due to an uptick in rap lyrics about cunnilingus  but there are still guys out there who shy away from going down on their partners.

Of course, its always possible someone might make fun of you for doing it, but if you go through life putting a fear of what other people will say front and center of your decision-making, youre not going to have a great time. If you ask me, whats really embarrassing is refusing to pleasure your sexual partner for antiquated, made-up reasons.

Myth: You Should Try Writing the Alphabet With Your Tongue

Somehow, the idea that you should write out the different letters of the alphabet on your partners clitoris became a bona fide sex myth. Thats not to say that it would necessarily be unpleasant to receive, but its not good advice, either.

Doing the alphabet with your tongue is not universally interesting or good, Lords says. Are there some people who might enjoy it? Sure. But most women have no idea what that letter you just did was, nor do they care or why youre not focusing your attention on the spot we enjoy the most  which is usually the clitoris.

Having something concrete to focus on might be useful for some people, but a better tip would be to just let yourself get into the groove of the moment, according to OReilly.

Rather than focusing on a specific movement, simply do what feels good for you, she says. Get lost in the moment and enjoy the taste, texture, temperature, feel and smell so that you enjoy the experience and arent focused on performance.

Myth: You Need to Augment Your Oral With Penetration

Because the straight male perception of sex is so penetration-focused, it can be hard to step away from that even when youre engaging in oral sex. You might feel the need to penetrate your partner anyway, either with your tongue, or with your fingers. While theres nothing wrong with that if your partners into it, its a safe bet that wont be the case 100% of the time.

Penetrating your partner with your tongue can be hot, but most of the time, your tongue needs to find the clitoris and stay there, says Lords.

OReilly agrees. Some people like finger and tongue penetration and others prefer rubbing, licking, grinding and vibrating on the outside, she says. Rather than getting hung up on penetration, enjoy the entire length of the vulva. Lick, suck and kiss from the head of the clitoris at the top all the way down to the sensitive fourchette at the bottom (where the lips meet).

Myth: You Cant Get Sexually Transmitted Infections from Cunnilingus

People often associate infection transmission primarily with penetrative sex, whether vaginal or anal.

But as great as cunnilingus is, unfortunately its still a sex act that can lead to giving or receiving a sexually transmitted infection if theres direct contact between your mouth and your partners genitals.

According to the American Sexual Health Association, infections like chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes, HPV and HIV can be transmitted via cunnilingus, so before engaging in unprotected oral sex, you should know your STI status  and your partners.

Cunnilingus Pro Tips to Take Things to the Next Level

You might think, if youre capable of making your partner orgasm on a fairly regular basis, that youre all set as far as cunnilingus goes. But just because youre decent at it doesnt mean you dont have anything to learn. If you want to really become an oral sex god, here are some pro tips to take into account:

1. Build Anticipation

When youre confident and experienced, you may rush to your money moves because you know they work, OReilly says. Instead, build anticipation. Anticipation is not the precursor to pleasure; anticipation is pleasure itself.

Lords agrees wholeheartedly. Slow down and pay attention, says Lords. If youre attentive to a partners reactions and words, youll automatically be better at cunnilingus.

Rather than diving right in, kiss all around their thighs, OReilly suggests. Lick around the Venus Mound. Take your time to draw awareness and circulation to the region before you start licking, kissing and sucking. Awaken all the corollary nerve endings with gentle kisses or using warm, gentle breath. Use your cheeks, lips, tongue, finger tips or even a toy to pique their interest.

2. Use Edging

In addition to taking your time and building anticipation another good way to use building anticipation to create more pleasure is to try edging.

RELATED: How to Use the Edging to Drive Her Wild

Edging is a sex term for a technique where you bring your partner close to orgasm, and then back off a little bit so that they dont climax yet. Doing this repeatedly will make the orgasm they do have at the end an incredibly powerful one.

3. Get on Your Grind

You might associate grinding with middle-school dances, but the act of pressing ones crotch against something and rubbing it can have very fun implications when it comes to oral, too.

Give your lover something to grind against, says OReilly. In the beginning, you might want to approach slowly and gently, but as their hips start thrusting (use their primal hip movements to guide your pressure and speed), youll want to increase the intensity. Get your face in there. Get your chin and cheeks in there. Get your nose in there. Roll your nose up and down, around and around and side to side. As your lover approaches orgasm, they need something to grind against. And that something is your face!

4. Use Your Fingers

This isnt something you necessarily should do every time, but fingering your partner while licking the clitoris can provide an intense, explosive pleasure as your fingers brush against the G-spot inside the vagina.

For starters, you should ask before penetrating, and stop if your partner asks or says that youre hurting them. You should also wash your hands beforehand, and make sure your nails arent too long or sharp, as they can cause serious pain and even bleeding if you tear the vaginal lining.

To help make sure its smooth for everyone, using a little bit of lube is a good idea.

Use lube and your fingers, says OReilly. Oral and manual sex go hand in hand, so add your fingers into the mix and play with her thighs, lips, clitoris and more while you kiss, breathe, suck and slide away.

5. Put on Some Music

If you struggle to remain interested or focused while going down on your partner, one good tip is to listen to some music.

Not only does that have the side-benefit of covering up any noises your partners making (and potentially setting the mood, if youre playing sexy songs), having a song on can give you a rhythm to match your tongue strokes to.

6. Make It a Conversation

Whatever you do, dont just bury your head in your partners crotch, go at it and hope for the best.

Like anything sexual, getting good at cunnilingus is about a strong dynamic between the people involved, and you dont get there by accident.

When in doubt, ask, says Lords. The way to give your partner the best oral sex theyve ever had is to find out what they enjoy most. Many, many people will want more clitoral action than theyre getting, so thats a good start.

But, she notes, you should find out if slow and sensual works best or if they like something rougher, harder, or faster. And then give them what they want.

BONUS: Use a Sex Toy

Of course, using your fingers can be a great addition, but taking things up one notch further with a sex toy can really blow your partners mind, since it can do things your fingers, well, cant.

Whether its a dildo, a smaller vibrator or a toy that combines both attributes, penetrating your partner with it while you go down on them can result in a blended orgasm, where youre making them climax from G-spot and clitoral stimulation simultaneously.

However, using a sex toy for penetration isnt the only way of bringing one into your oral sex play. You may opt to press a vibrating toy directly against your lover while you down on them (e.g. press the tip over the head of the clitoris while you lick down below), says OReilly, or you might press a flat vibrating toy against your cheek or throat so they can enjoy the rumbly vibrations via your lips and tongue.

Products to Boost Your Cunnilingus Experience

In its natural state, all cunnilingus really requires is two bodies and some saliva. But that doesnt mean it cant be augmented with some outside help  or that you shouldnt invest in it. Here are five things you can spend a little on if youre looking to amp up your oral sex.

1. Vibrator

By and large, most straight guys dont have a ton of vibrator experience  especially not compared to their female counterparts. But if thats you, youre missing out. It might seem a little bit weird to bring a toy into bed with you if youre worried that it can pleasure your partner better than you can, but if you can push through that initial macho discomfort, youre in for a world of orgasms. The JimmyJane Tilla, for instance, packs a G-spot-friendly curve to help stimulate hard-to-reach spots.

$29.99 at JimmyJane.com

2. Dildo

Of course, lots of vibrators are primarily for stimulating the clitoris, and its possible that with your mouth already doing just that, your partner would prefer something non-vibrating to penetrate her vagina. If thats the case, you can opt instead for a dildo  a penis-like toy that makes up for in size what its lacking in vibration capacity. The Njoy Pure Wand stainless steel dildo isnt exactly penis-shaped, but its curved appearance means more G-spot pleasure, and the steel construction means its both solid and durable.

$85.00 at Amazon.com

3. OMGYES

This isnt a product per se, but damn if it wont help your oral sex game. OMGYES is a site founded specifically to help men become experts in female pleasure, and though its not free, the investment is worth it if becoming a sex god is on your to-do list. And its not just a boring collection of how-to articles; the site helps you learn with interactive teaching tools that dont hold anything back.

Check it out at OMGYES.com

4. Lubricant

Given the generally non-penetrative aspect of cunnilingus, its not something that necessarily requires lube. However, if you are putting things inside your partners vagina, like your fingers, or especially in the case of a sex toy, its a good idea to ensure that theyre well-lubricated before penetrating your partner with them. A good lubricant, like Astroglides Organix, which is flavor-, fragrance- and paraben-free, might be just what youre looking for.

$11.49 at Amazon.com

5. Dental Dam

This wont make things more pleasurable  in fact, it will diminish the sensation a little bit. But dental dams can mean the difference between an STI transmission and a clean bill of health; they can also mean the difference between a hearty Yes and a Hmm, maybe not, if youre not sure of either partners STI status. If youre feeling safe-sex conscious, you can DIY one in a pinch simply by cutting along the side of an unrolled condom, or using saran wrap, but for the real thing, why not try some flavored ones?

$17.99 at Amazon.com

All illustrations by Carlee Ranger.

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John Robson: Weve Come to Not Just Accept, but Embrace Mediocrity in Canada

Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada affected by Phoenix Pay System errors protest on the three-year anniversary of the launch of the pay system, in Ottawa on Feb. 28, 2019. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

Commentary

As I tweet a torrent of stories about the sorry state of Canadian governments, I do recall Ian MacLarens The Cunning Speech of Drumtochty, in which downpours only prompt the locals to say it threatened tae be weet, saving stronger language for Biblical deluges. So when the prime minister insists sententiously that Canada is not broken, I concede that we are still better governed than most of the world. But surely theres moisture about.

Or cold. The latest such episode being yet another breakdown of the vaunted light rail in our capital city because of winter conditions that, apparently, were not foreseen. In what we used to call banana republics, or worse, tragicomic lack of competence or accountability in the public sector is to be expected. But in Canada? Yet they just dump in more money and tell us to be grateful the station doesnt stink if it doesnt.

Before that it was the unwholesome influence of McKinsey on Canadas China policy, which may actually become an issue now that the immigration aspect has made it into the francophone media. And our failure even to pretend to take defence spending seriously, yet burbling about our high standing in the world while others wait for us to shut up about ourselves so serious people can talk.

It may take some time. As Kelly McParland noted in the National Post, even politicians who conspicuously flop at their jobs keep getting elected, often to new posts, which he rightly notes is on us at least as much as on them. And who, indeed, was punished because our Phoenix civil service pay system is not rising from the ashes of a 14-year disaster, but adding more burned cash to the pile?

How many big companies, and even bloated governments, have computerized pay systems that work? But we cant? And my final such tweet from last week alone concerns Shared Services Canada, which in bureaucratese means the feds IT system, refusing to tell parliamentarians where its buildings are located because We do not disclose certain information that would frankly be a playbook for those people who wish to attack our network.

If our IT is really in the hands of people who think hackers smash windows to get in rather than doing it digitally, it would explain a lot about Phoenix. But it certainly is in the hands of people who refuse to tell MPs information that was in a 2018 press release and a 2020 Request for Information to contractors.

So is Canada broken? In a column here last July on this issue, I said it depends on your standards. Were doing better than the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and many other places it wouldnt be woke to name. And one squall is not a storm. But given the pervasive dampness nowadays, I issued a challenge to defenders of the status quo to provide a checklist of what, in their view, would constitute not gaein aboot.

It was prompted partly by former top Trudeau aide Gerald Butts sneering, the commentariat has declared Canada broken because they have to wait for their passports? Nobody seems to have offered a list, and I guess Bill Morneau has finally had enough. But their tone suggests that many pundits regard Canadian governance as better than the proles deserve, while it is primarily the rubes who made the maple leaf an international symbol of freedom again who retain a sense that Canada can do better. (Though for once Im with Erin OToole that they should start the self-improvement at home, by ditching the rude flags pronto.)

In Official Canada theres a strong tendency to adopt the slogan Yes we cant. They dont just accept mediocrity, they embrace it. Its eerily like an abusive relationship where were mocked if we ask to be allowed to mail off a passport application and have it completed within a month. Or stop the catch and release of violent criminals. Or settle disputes with the CRA within a year using actual information from their end. Or buy frigates for less than the Americans pay for aircraft carriers. Or Arctic patrol ships that arent way over cost, way behind schedule, unfit for service, and with contaminated water.

It is how long since the Broad Street Pump cholera outbreak, and our sailors cant drink the tap water? Yet when we say such things we are insulted by our political masters as unworthy of decent basic services.

By the way, the fictional Drumtochty was so backward that no meeting of protest had been held in memory of living man, and the ministers preached from the Bible. Whereas were so advanced we dont need a deluge to wash us away. Instead, a flood of smug rhetoric from politicians who seem to consider government a protest meeting, not a heavy responsibility, is doing it unaided.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Joseph Hardy, Founder of 84 Lumber, Dies on 100th Birthday

FARMINGTON, Pa.Joseph Hardy III, founder of the 84 Lumber chain of building materials stores and developer of the Nemacolin resort, has died. He was 100.

A family statement provided by the company said the family had lost its patriarch and all-around great man. A profile posted on the companys website said he passed away on his 100th birthday Saturday surrounded by his loving family singing Broadway show tunes to comfort him at his home in Farmington.

Many knew Joe as a brilliant businessman and enthusiastic entrepreneur, said the statement provided by Amy Smiley, 84 Lumbers vice president of marketing. Even with his vast success, Joe always remembered what matters most: people. He helped make the American dream real for so many, and he will be greatly missed.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Hardy was credited with rethinking the lumber business in the late 1950s with a cash-and-carry approach focused on professional contractors and builders. He then expanded the company to become the nations largest privately owned building materials supplier.

He also developed the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa, now known simply as Nemacolin, and entered the harness-racing business, operating the Meadows Racetrack in North Strabane Township in Washington County.

Born January 7, 1923, in Pittsburgh, Hardy attended Lehigh University and in his final year there enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, serving as a radioman during World War II.

After the war, he worked in the family-owned jewelry store, earned an industrial engineering degree at the University of Pittsburgh and with family and a friend started Green Hills Lumber, which eventually became 84 Lumber (named after the town where it was headquartered) which currently has more than 250 stores nationwide.

My father was always asking, Whats next? his daughter Maggie Hardy, to whom he turned over control of 84 Lumber and Nemacolin Resort, said in the profile. He wanted to conquer the next challenge or make something even better. He taught us never to be satisfied and push to be better today than we were yesterday.

Joe was a true American success story, former Pennsylvania governor and Homeland Security director Tom Ridge told the Post-Gazette. And he was a true gentleman. He could have demanded to be treated like a tycoon, but instead he wanted to be known as Joe.

The family statement said Hardy had proven that nothing is impossible by willing himself to his 100th birthday which had made the family beyond proud of him for making this final accomplishment.

A funeral service for Hardy, whose survivors include eight children and 15 grandchildren, is scheduled Thursday in Westminster Presbyterian Church followed by full military honors and private interment.
Kishida Highlights Security Concerns on Trip to Europe, US

TOKYOJapanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida begins a weeklong trip Monday to strengthen military ties with Europe and Britain and bring into focus the JapanU.S. alliance at a summit in Washington, as Japan breaks from its postwar restraint to take on more offensive roles with an eye toward China.

Kishidas talks Friday with U.S. President Joe Biden will highlight his five-nation tour that also takes him to France, Italy, Britain, and Canadasome of the Group of Seven nations with which Japan has stepped up defense ties. His first stop is Paris on Monday.

Kishida said his summit with Biden will underscore the strength of the JapanU.S. alliance and how the two countries can work more closely under Japans new security and defense strategies.

Japan in December adopted key security and defense reforms, including a counterstrike capability that makes a break from the countrys exclusively self-defense-only postwar principle. Japan says the current deployment of missile interceptors is insufficient to defend it from rapid weapons advancement in China and North Korea.

Kishida said he will explain to Biden the new strategy, under which Japan is also reinforcing defenses on its southwestern islands close to Taiwan, including Yonaguni and Ishigaki, where new bases are being constructed.

I believe [talks with Biden] will be a precious opportunity to confirm our close cooperation in further strengthening the JapanU.S. alliance and our endeavor together toward achieving a fee and open Indo-Pacific, Kishida told reporters before his midnight departure, referring to a vision of national and economic security cooperation the two countries promote to counter the Chinese regimes growing military and economic influence.

It will be a chance to show the Japanese and U.S. stance to the international community, he added.

Kishida said he hoped to deepen personal relationships with other leaders and discuss the severe security environment including Russias invasion of Ukraine, the global economy and the importance of defending the rules-based international order.

Under the new strategies, Japan plans to start deploying in 2026 long-range cruise missiles that can reach potential targets in China, nearly double its defense budget within five years to a NATO standard of about 2 percent of GDP from the current 1 percent, and improve cyberspace and intelligence capabilities.

The idea is to do as much as possible in a short time as some experts see growing risks that Chinese leader Xi Jinping may take action against self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory despite Taiwan being a de facto independent country, with its own military, democratically-elected government, and constitution.

Japans new strategy has been well received by the Biden administration and some members of the Congress. Experts say it would also widen cooperation with their main regional partners Australia and possibly South Korea.

This is an opportunity to rethink and update the structure and the mechanisms of the alliance to reflect a much more capable partner thats coming, said Christopher Johnstone, senior adviser and Japan chair for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

He said, however, that Japans focus on the strike capability and budget is a welcome but daunting agenda that will require a lot of cooperation with the United States.

Paving the way for the summit, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will fly to Washington to meet their American counterparts, Lloyd Austin and Antony Blinken, on Wednesday, followed by separate defense ministers talks Thursday.

The Biden administration, which also adopted its security strategy in October, expects Japan to assist in the supply and storage of fuel and munitions in case of a Taiwan emergency, experts say. Japan and the United States are also reportedly considering establishing a joint command and further integrating their operations.

During the talks at the White House, the two leaders are also expected to discuss China, North Koreas nuclear and missile development, as well as Russias war on Ukraine, Japanese officials said.

Cooperation in the area of supply chain and economic security will be also on the table. Last week in Washington, Japanese Economy and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo discussed the importance of working together to promote and protect critical and emerging technologies, including semiconductors, and export controls to address competitiveness and security concerns.

During his trip, Kishida will seek to further strengthen bilateral military ties with four other countries, Japanese officials say.

Japans joint development and production of its F-X next generation fighter jet with Britain and Italy for a planned deployment in 2035 will be a top agenda item during his visits in Rome and London on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Japan and Britain have also been discussing a Reciprocal Access Agreement that would remove obstacles to holding joint military exercises in either country. Besides the JapanU.S. security treaty that allows U.S. troops to station in Japan, Tokyo has a similar agreement only with Australia, and Britain would be second.

During his talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, Kishida is expected to share concern over Chinas growing activity in the South Pacific and confirm stepping up joint military exercise between the two sides.

By Mari Yamaguchi
Labor Unions Should Be Held Liable for Property Destruction During Strikes, Supreme Court Told

Chief Justice John Roberts at the Supreme Court Building in Washington on Nov. 30, 2018. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

The allegedly deliberate destruction of company property by a union as a pressure tactic in a labor dispute isnt protected by federal labor law, a concrete company told the Supreme Court on Jan. 10.

Labor activists say that endangering and destroying company property during a labor dispute is fair game that has long been protected by the law, although companies such as the petitioner in this case, Glacier Northwest, a Seattle-based ready-mix concrete company, are pushing back.

The justices spent much of the oral argument discussing the difference between economic harm inflicted during strikes, which the law generally doesnt hold strikers responsible for, versus intentionally destroying property, which is forbidden.

Chief Justice John Roberts said: There certainly is a distinction between economic harm to the employer, which is at the heart of many strikes anyway, and intentional destruction of property. The difference between the milk spoiling and killing the cow.

The unions attorney, Darin Dalmat, agreed with the example.

We absolutely agree that you cant burn down the factory, Dalmat told Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

The case is Glacier Northwest Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 174, court file 21-1449. Glacier Northwest does business as CalPortland.

Company attorney Noel Francisco outlined his sides case during oral arguments.

The Court and the [National Labor Relations] Board have long recognized that the intentional destruction of an employers property in the course of a labor dispute is not protected concerted activity, he said.

Thats why steelworkers cant walk out in the middle of a molten iron pour. Its why federal security guards cant leave their posts in the middle of a terrorist threat. Its why a ferry boat crew cant drive their boat out into the middle of the river and abandon ship. And its why, in this very case, the government agrees that the conduct alleged in this complaint isnt even arguably protected.

The case dates to August 2017, when cement mixer truck drivers decided to strike against Glacier. They loaded the vehicles with cement and left them on the companys premises. According to the union, drivers left the trucks running to prevent the cement from quickly hardening, becoming useless, and possibly damaging the trucks drums.

The company had a less charitable take on the unions activities, saying in its petition (pdf) that the union deliberately sabotaged Glaciers business and coordinated with truck drivers to purposely time [a] strike when concrete was being batched and delivered in an effort to cause destruction of the concrete.

On the first morning of the planned strike, Union representatives knew there was a substantial volume of batched concrete in Glaciers barrels, hoppers, and ready-mix trucks, [and] they called for a work stoppage. A union official made a throat-slashing gesture to signal a sudden cessation of work.

The company said the labor tactic caused complete chaos as it scrambled to dispose of the concrete in a timely manner to avoid costly damage to the mixer trucks and in a manner so as not to create an environmental disaster.

The strike went on for a week before a new collective bargaining agreement was reached.

Citing Washington state law, the company sued the union for intentional destruction of property. The union countered that state-law claims were by implication preempted under the Supreme Courts decision in San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon (1959).

The company argued that although the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects peaceful methods of  economic pressure, it doesnt allow a union to enforce its labor demands by way of injury to property.

The state-level trial court sided with the union, finding that the Garmon precedent shielded the Teamsters from state tort liability for intentional destruction of property.

The Washington Court of Appeals reversed, finding that the intentional destruction of property during a lawful work stoppage is not protected activity under the NLRA.

But the Washington Supreme Court overturned that ruling, reinstating the trial courts dismissal of the companys lawsuit. That court found that the unions intentional destruction of company property was a legitimate bargaining tactic that trumps the state laws interest in protecting property.

Along the way, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) formally accused the company of unfair labor practices, asserting that the workers actions were arguably protected.

Speaking for the Biden administration, Justice Department attorney Vivek Suri said Glaciers lawsuit should move forward in state court because the striking workers didnt take appropriate precautions to prevent damage to company property.

Justice Elena Kagan said the facts of the case, which she described as really murky and complicated, should be decided by the NLRB.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked Suri for guidance.

So tell me how to write this decision, she said.

To laughter in the courtroom, Suri shot back: Id suggest copying our brief, Your Honor.

The National Labor Relations Act protects the right to strike, but workers have a corresponding responsibility to take reasonable precautions to prevent foreseeable, imminent harm to the employers property, Suri said.

But according to the company, such precautions were not taken, which means the conduct was not even arguably protected, and the Washington Supreme Courts decision is reversed, he said.

The Supreme Court shouldnt address the NLRB complaint because there are significant complications that the lower courts have not addressed, he said.

Dalmat told the justices the union acted reasonably.

The walkout was at least arguably protected and the record shows the union instructed the drivers to return their trucks to Glaciers facility, which all the drivers did, thereby putting Glacier in a position to use its ordinary tools for handling leftover concrete, such as reclaimers, ecology block forms, and retardants. The union also told drivers to return their trucks with the drums running, he said.

Because the concrete does not even begin to harden until the drums stop turning  no harm came to Glaciers trucks or facility, Dalmat said.

The evidence NLRB possesses allows the board to rule in our favor.

Francisco disagreed with Dalmat.

This is not a case about the mere stoppage of work, the company lawyer said.

Here, the union had the workers show up, accept possession of the concrete, begin deliveries of the concrete, abandon those deliveries when it was too late to save the concrete, and then countermand supervisor instructions to complete the deliveries that had already been started, which at that point in time was the only way to save the concrete.

Its really no different than the riverboat crew that drives out into the middle of the river and then abandons ship. That is not merely a stoppage of work, Francisco said.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in the case by June.
Latest Anti-Government Protests in Peru Leave 17 Dead, Over 60 Injured

Demonstrators clash with police during a protest after the Peruvian government announced a nationwide state of emergency following a week of protests sparked by the ousting of former President Pedro Castillo, in Lima, Peru, on Dec. 15, 2022. (Sebastian Castaneda/Reuters)

Seventeen people have been killed and dozens more injured in Peru amid anti-government protesters renewed clashes with security forces in the city of Juliaca.

The protests initially broke out in December following the removal and arrest of former president Pedro Castillo on the grounds of permanent moral disability after he attempted to dissolve Congress and rule by decree in an effort to prevent his impeachment over multiple allegations of corruption.

Castillo, a socialist, had also attempted to impose a nationwide curfew. He was subsequently impeached by Congress and replaced by his deputy, Dina Boluarte, who will remain in the position until July 2026, when Castillos term was originally set to expire.

The former president is serving 18 months in pretrial detention on charges of rebellion and conspiracy, which he denies, and insists he is still the legitimate president of Peru.

However, supporters of Castillo have taken to the streets to demand early elections and his release from jail, arguing that Boluarte was not elected by the people. Many of the protests have turned violent.

The latest clashes in Juliaca, a city near the banks of Lake Titicaca in southern Perus Puno region, left 68 people injured, Henry Rebaza, a Puno health ministry official, told the state-run television channel TV Peru. At least two of the 17 killed were teenagers, according to the ministry.

Some of the victims had bullet wounds, Punos regional health director, Ismael Cornejo, told local radio station RPP.

Mondays deaths from the violent clashesthe deadliest since they beganbring the total casualties from anti-government protests to 39 since December.

Supporters of ousted Peruvian President Pedro Castillo carry an inflated rat that reads in Spanish, Close the Congress, as they pass in front of Congress in Lima, Peru, on Dec. 11, 2022. (Martin Mejia/AP Photo)

Perus Prime Minister Defends Government Actions

In a televised address late on Monday, Peruvian Prime Minister Alberto Otarola defended his governments actions in attempting to bring peace and tranquility of 33 million Peruvians, adding that members of the police force had been attacked with homemade weapons during the protests, some of which took place at the airport as well as a police station.

Otarola vowed that security forces will not cease in our defense of the rule of the law, The Guardian reported.

The prime minister also claimed that violent groups financed by foreign interests and the dark money of drug trafficking were attempting to destroy the country.

At a national agreement meeting earlier on Monday with representatives from the countrys regions, Boluarte accused protesters of not understanding what they were asking for when they issued key demands that she ultimately said she was unable to grant.

What you are asking for is a pretext to continue generating chaos, she said.

Perus human rights office, known as the Ombudsman Office, confirmed on Twitter that multiple deaths had taken place in the vicinity of the Inca Manco Capac International Airport in Juliaca.

Earlier in the day, the Ombudsman Office said a newborn baby was among the victims of the clashes, stating that the child had died in an ambulance that had been delayed due to a road blockade. The baby was being transferred from the town of Yunguyo, southeast of Juliaca, to a local hospital.

We request that the forces of law and order make a legal, necessary and proportional use of force and we urge the state prosecutors office to carry out a prompt investigation to clarify the facts, the Ombudsman Office wrote.

In December, Boluarte proposed moving up the next general election from its original date of 2026 to April 2024, but the proposal has done little to quell the protests.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Thousands of protesters are clashing with police in a COVID-19 test kit plant in Chinawith boxes and stools flying. But what are they fighting for?

China is reopening its borders, allowing people to go abroad while infections surge at home. We have an update on how countries are reacting.

Funeral homes grapple with overcrowding. A funeral home worker is appealing to the public for understanding.

A Chinese tracking device was found in a car belonging to the UK government. We take a look at what British intelligence officials found.

China is launching another military drill around Taiwan. And on the heels of that drill, a group of German lawmakers touched down on the island.

Topics in this episode:
Massachusetts Transit Agency Offers to Rehire 8 Former Employees Fired for Being Unvaccinated

A man is given a COVID-19 vaccine at La Colaborativa in Chelsea, Mass., on Feb. 16, 2021. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is offering jobs back to eight former employees that it fired for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The former MBTA employees were fired after Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker issued Executive Order No. 595 in August of 2021. The order required all state-level executive branch employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, including MBTA employees.

MBTA recently rescinded its vaccine and mask requirements for employees, while last week, the Boston Herald reported the agency would rehire eight former employees who lost their jobs for refusing the prior vaccination policy. The offer to rehire the unvaccinated former MBTA employees does not include back pay at this time.

As a result of the vaccine policy being rescinded, (eight) previously non-compliant employees will be offered an opportunity to return to work, if vacancies exist, through a negotiated settlement agreement with their respective union, MBTA spokesperson Lisa Battiston told the Boston Herald.

These former MBTA employees all worked as bus drivers for the state agency and were all members of the MBTAs largest union, the Boston Carmens Local 589.

At the encouragement of the Local, the MBTA has agreed to provide a return-to-work option for a group of less than 10 members who were terminated by the employer under the MBTAs prior guidelines, which had been upheld by the courts despite legal challenges lodged by the Local dating back to 2021, the Boston Carmens Local 589 said in a statement provided to the Boston Herald.

The Local 589 had been one of several unions to challenge Bakers executive order in court, but those challenges had been unsuccessful.

In October, Baker indicated his administration supported rehiring former employees who refused the vaccination requirement over medical or religious grounds, the Boston Globe reported. Local agencies like MBTA began rescinding their vaccine policies.

Like other employers, the MBTA has recently modified related guidelines both for new hires and for previously hired workers. The courts had previously ruled against challenges by the Local and several other Locals with regard to the prior guidelines, which impacted the Locals ability to secure earlier return-to-work options, the Boston Carmens Local 589 statement read.

It was not immediately clear if MBTA was offering to rehire other former employees it had fired over the vaccine mandate. The transit agency did not immediately respond to an NTD News request for comment.

As of September, MBTA Senior Director of Labor Relations Ahmad Barnes said the transit agency had a vaccination rate of about 94 percent for its 6,374 employees, the Boston Herald reported. Barnes said at the time that 80 employees of the MBTA workforce had outright refused the vaccines, setting off a three-strike process that would result in their termination.

Other Agencies Rehiring

The MBTA is not the only Massachusetts state agency that has begun rehiring former employees it fired over the vaccine mandate.

In October, the Boston Herald reported that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) had begun offering jobs back to some former employees it fired for going unvaccinated. That decision to rehire unvaccinated employees pertained to those who had requested medical or religious exemptions.

The administration has recently been able to accommodate a small number of positions who previously were not accommodated under the vaccine requirement, Anisha Chakrabarti told the Boston Herald. These employees have been offered back their positions, and the administration does not anticipate more letters going out for additional positions.

Around the same time MassDOT offered to rehire some unvaccinated former employees, the Baker administration offered to rehire about 50 state employees scattered across different state agencies, including MassDOT.

From NTD News
McCarthy, GOP Oversight Chair, Allege Double Standards in Handling of Documents From Bidens Former Office

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) walks to the Speaker's Ceremonial Office at the US Capitol in Washington on Jan. 9, 2023. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and newly appointed House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), alleged a potential political double standard in how classified documents are handled after a White House attorney revealed that potentially classified documents were discovered in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center.

On Monday evening, Special counsel to the president Richard Sauber revealed that documents with classified markings were discovered on Nov. 2, 2022, just days before the 2022 midterm election. Sauber said White House lawyers alerted the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) immediately after their discovery, and NARA took possession of those documents the following morning. Sauber first publicly revealed the discovery of these classified documents at the Penn Biden Center on Monday, Jan. 9, more than two months after they were turned over to NARA.

McCarthy and Comer directly related the discovery of these potentially classified documents at the Penn Biden Center to the discovery of potentially classified documents at former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago residence after an FBI search of the Florida property in August.

Now with the discovery of potentially classified documents at the Penn Biden Center, McCarthy said the Dems overplayed their hand in their response to the documents FBI agents found after searching Mar-a-Lago.

The new House Speaker, who garnered support from Trump during his contentious speaker bid, went on to say that the documents found at the Penn Biden Center had existed outside of NARAs possession for longer than the documents that were recovered from Trumps home.

Bidens term as vice president ended in 2017. The Penn Biden Center is an office space in Washington that Biden set up with the University of Pennsylvania after the Obama administration ended. Documents Biden carried over from the White House to the Penn Biden Center could have existed outside of NARAs knowledge for nearly six years.

President Trump had never been in office before and had just left, came out, McCarthy said, according to Fox News. Heres an individual [who] spent his last 40 years in office and still had this from the vice president. It just shows that they were trying to be political to President Trump.

After a reporter asked if there is a difference between the Trump and Biden cases, given that Bidens team handed the documents they found over to NARA soon after their discovery, McCarthy said, Oh really? They just now found them? After all these years?

Sauber has said attorneys for Biden found the classified documents while they were packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space.

Comer Says Document Discovery Furthers Two-Tier Justice System Concerns

In comments to the press on Monday night, Comer said the handling of the documents at the Penn Biden Center was in notable contrast to the FBIs raid of Trumps home last summer.

Is the White House going to be raided tonight? Comer asked, according to Fox News. Are they going to raid the Biden center? I dont know.

This is further concern that theres a two-tier justice system within the DOJ with how they treat Republicans vs. Democrats . . . certainly how they treat the former president vs. the current president, Comer added.

Comer said that in his research after the August FBI search of Trumps home, he found that every president had accidentally packed documents that may or may not be considered classified, adding, but they werent raided.

Comer noted that Biden has stated that taking classified documents from the White House is irresponsible,' and that Comer said the Biden-era Department of Justice and NARA have made compliance with the Presidential Records Act a top priority. As such, Comer said, We expect the same treatment for President Biden, who has apparently inappropriately maintained classified documents in an insecure setting for several years.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed U.S. Attorney John Lausch to investigate the discovery of the classified documents at the Penn Biden center, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke with Politico. Lausch was appointed to his position as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois by Trump.

Comers comments about these documents come as he and other Republicans, who now control the House of Representatives, have signaled they will conduct new investigations into Biden and his family members.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement that attorneys for Biden appear to have taken immediate and proper action to notify the National Archives about their discovery of a small handful of classified documents so they could be returned to federal government custody. 

I have confidence that the Attorney General took the appropriate steps to ensure the careful review of the circumstances surrounding the possession and discovery of these documents and [will] make an impartial decision about any further action that may be needed, Raskin added.

From NTD News
McCarthy Plans to Remove Schiff, Omar, Swalwell From House Committees

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) confirmed Monday that he plans to remove Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) from their committee assignments.

McCarthy told The Associated Press on Monday that he will expel the three Democrats, coming months after he pledged to do so in June if Republicans took the majority in the House. Schiff had chaired the House Intelligence Committee, while Swalwell sat on the panel; Omar sat on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Swalwell cant get a security clearance in the private sector, he told AP and Punchbowl, likely referring to reports that he was targeted by a suspected Chinese spy. Im not going to give him a government security clearance. Schiff has lied to the American public. He should not be on Intel.

I made all [three] cases before. Its not like its anything new remember, this is what Nancy Pelosi, this is the type of Congress she wanted to have, McCarthy told Punchbowl News, referring to the previous Democrat House speaker from California.

During the recent interviews, McCarthy did not say why Omar would be booted, although in November, the GOP said that she made anti-Semitic comments that warrant expulsion.

The Democrats have created a new thing where theyre picking and choosing who can be on committees, McCarthy told Breitbart News on Monday. Never in the history [of Congress] have you had the majority tell the minority who can be on committee. But this new standard which these Democrats have voted forif Eric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the private sector, there is no reason why he should be given one to be on Intel or Homeland Security. He will not be serving there.

Ilhan Omar should not be serving on Foreign Affairs, McCarthy also told Breitbart, adding, This is a new level of what the Democrats have done.

Response

Schiff, who was the lead House manager for former President Donald Trumps 2019 impeachment trial, has criticized McCarthy for blocking him from serving on the House Intelligence Committee. In November, the California Democrat asserted that McCarthy will do whatever Marjorie Taylor Greene wants him to do, referring to the Georgia Republican.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) speaks during a House Intelligence Committee hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington on March 8, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

He is a very weak leader of his conference, meaning that he will adhere to the wishes of the lowest common denominator, and if that lowest common denominator wants to remove people from committees, thats what theyll do, he told ABC News. Its going to be chaos with the Republican leadership, and sadly the crazy caucus has grown among the Republicans. Many Republicans who won primaries in deeply red districts are coming to Congresslike the Marjorie Taylor Greenes and Paul Gosars.

In a Twitter post last year, Schiff alleged McCarthy has no ideology, no core set of beliefs and, as a result, he will do whatever they ask, and remove me from the Intel Committee for holding Trump accountable so he could be elected House speaker. Last week, McCarthy was confirmed speaker after 15 rounds of voting that spanned several days.

During the Trump administration, Schiff, who often sparred with Trump, was accused of fabricating and leaking information pertaining to the Russian collusion narrative. The former president in late 2019, amid the first impeachment inquiry, asserted that Schiff lied to Congress when he fraudulently changed the words of a transcript between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Notably, in 2021, the House voted to deny Reps. Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Gosar (R-Ariz.) of committee seats. The vote in early 2021 was 230199, with 11 Republicans joining Democrats, after her past comments.

That year, McCarthy forced a vote to eject Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee amid reports about him being close to a Chinese spy. The vote ultimately failed in a party-line vote.

During an interview with MSNBC on Sunday, Omar was asked whether she learned of any developments on if shed be removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee. Omar said she hasnt heard anything.

I have not, Omar said. Its my understanding that we obviously have to get the rules package done. Hopefully Monday, when we reconvene, that is on top of the agenda, and then the different caucuses, our caucus and their conference, will make appointments to committees, and then we will go from there.

The Epoch Times has contacted the offices of Omar, Schiff, and Swalwell for comment.
New Documents Expose White Houses Alleged Social Media Censorship Scheme Targeting Tucker Carlson, Others

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (C) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 22, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Two Republican attorneys general have released documents showing what they say is the White Houses pressure campaign on Facebook to censor content, including a video by conservative media personality Tucker Carlson on the COVID-19 vaccines.

The new documents, released on Jan. 9 and 10 by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, are part of a court-ordered discovery process in a lawsuit filed in May 2022 by the two states against the Biden administration for allegedly colluding with social media giants to suppress Americans free speech.

This case is about the Biden Administrations blatant disregard for the First Amendment and its collusion with Big Tech social media companies to suppress speech it disagrees with, Bailey said in a statement.

Bailey recently took over as Missouri attorney general from Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), who along with Landry sued the Biden administration and on Jan. 5 was sworn in as a U.S. senator.

Bad Information

The documents Bailey released show the efforts of White House Digital Director Robert Flaherty and his team to suppress opposing viewpoints on major social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter.

In one email from Flaherty to an unidentified Facebook employee shared by Bailey, the White House digital director demands that Facebook dial up its efforts to remove bad information on COVID-19 vaccines.

Flaherty complains in the email that removing bad information from search is an easy low-bar step Facebook could take to make people like me think youre taking action, per the screenshot shared by Bailey.

If youre not getting that right, it raises even more questions about the higher bar stuff, he continues, adding that other social media platforms were doing a better job of keeping the bad stuff out of their search results.

I dont know why you guys cant figure this out, Flaherty said.

Constitutional Right to Free and Open Debate

The dozen or so exhibits Bailey shared paint much the same picture, namely that of the White House pressuring Facebook to step up its efforts to reduce vaccine-related misinformation.

Another email chain revealed by Bailey shows a Facebook staffer telling White House officials the company is focused on reducing the virality of content that discourages vaccines even when it doesnt contain actionable information, as well as often-true content.

Other correspondence disclosed by the Missouri AG shows Flaherty complaining that Facebook refused to take down a video featuring conservative media personality Tucker Carlson on COVID-19 vaccines.

Facebook parent Meta and the White House have not responded to requests for comment from The Epoch Times.

I will always fight back against unelected bureaucrats who seek indoctrinate the people of this state by violating our constitutional right to free and open debate, Bailey said in a statement.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson speaks during 2022 FOX Nation Patriot Awards in Hollywood, Florida on Nov. 17, 2022. (Jason Koerner/Getty Images)

Focus on Tucker Carlson

The email chains shared by Landry, meanwhile, take a deeper dive into efforts by the White House to pressure Facebook to take action against Carlsons viral vaccine-related video in which he questioned the efficacy of COVID-19 shots.

One of the email chains (pdf) shows Flaherty writing to a Facebook staffer that weve gone a million rounds on this in other contexts so pardon what may seem like dejavu, before complaining about Facebooks decision to merely tag Carlsons video that says the vaccine doesnt work with a label encouraging platform users to visit a COVID-19 information center rather than taking it down.

Not for nothing but last time we did this dance, it ended in an insurrection, Flaherty wrote in response to an email from Facebook saying that the Carlson video does not qualify for removal under our policies.

At the same time, the Facebook staffer added that Facebook had tagged Carlsons video with a label encouraging people to seek out official COVID-19 information and that it was reducing its spread on the platform.

Its not being recommended to people, and it is being demoted, the Facebook employee wrote.

A follow-up email from Facebook to Flaherty (pdf) indicates that Carlsons video was demoted by 50 percent pending a seven-day fact-checking period, with the content suppression continuing even though no fact-checking had actually taken place.

A request from The Epoch Times for comment from the Fox News Channel was not immediately returned.

Landry said in a statement that the documents are evidence of government censorship.

If they dont like you, they will censor youregardless of your political affiliation, Landry said. No one is safe when the First Amendment is violated.

Todays reveal is yet another example of the ongoing coercive efforts by the White House to pressure social media companies into censoring American citizens, Landry continued.

Throughout our case, we have uncovered disturbing collusion between Big Tech and Big Government, Landry added, referring to the lawsuit, whose defendants include President Joe Biden, then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki, and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The Lawsuit

The lawsuit claims that Biden and other government officials worked with Big Tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to censor conversation around matters relating to everything from COVID-19 and election integrity to the Hunter Biden laptop story, doing so under the guise of battling misinformation.

The two Republican-led states accuse Biden and other officials named in the lawsuit of falsely attacking the Hunter Biden laptop story as disinformation.

The story, which was first published by the New York Post in October 2020, detailed the contents of a laptop linked to Hunter Biden, President Joe Bidens son. The laptop was abandoned in a Delaware computer repair shop and included compromising pictures and emails regarding allegedly corrupt foreign business deals.

Twitter labeled the story as potentially harmful and locked the New York Posts main Twitter account while also blocking Twitter users from publishing the link to the story.

GOP to Investigate Weaponization of the Federal Government

It comes as House Republicans have pledged to investigate allegations of collusion between federal agencies and private companies, and to do so, theyre looking to establish a subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government.

Republicans have put forward a House rules package, which on Monday was approved in a House vote and now faces an uphill battle in the Democrat-controlled Senate, and which includes a proposal to create a House Judiciary select subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.

The proposal for the subcommittee comes after Republicans recently signaled that they want a top-to-bottom investigation of the FBI after the Twitter Files disclosed that the agency pressured Twitter to censor Americans free speech.

Incoming House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has suggested that the FBI needs to be investigated in the same way it was in the 1970s, when the Church Committee investigated abuses by the CIA, FBI, Internal Revenue Service, and the National Security Agency.

The committee, led by then-Sen. Frank Church (D-Idaho), revealed the now-infamous CIA MKULTRA program, which involved the drugging and torture of American citizens in experimentation on mind control.

Weve been looking at a Church-style committee to look at this, Jordan told Just the News on Dec. 21.

Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.
New Jersey Prohibits Use of TikTok and 14 Other Social Media Apps on State-Owned Devices

The TikTok app logo in an illustration taken on Aug. 22, 2022. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

New Jersey is the latest state to ban the use of TikTok on all state-owned or managed devices, along with 14 other social media apps.

Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy issued a directive on Monday to remove high-risk software on state government devices.

TikTok, a popular video-based social media platform, is gradually being banned by both state and federal authorities for its link to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Several states have already implemented bans on TikTok and Congress has been considering a bipartisan proposal to prevent ByteDance, the social media apps parent company, from conducting business transactions anywhere in the United States.

Bolstering cybersecurity is critical to protecting the overall safety and welfare of our State, said Murphy in a statement.

The proactive and preventative measures that we are implementing today will ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and safety of information assets managed by New Jersey State government. This decisive action will ensure the cybersecurity of the State is unified against actors who may seek to divide us.

TikTok Not Alone in Ban

The New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell (NJCCIC), in collaboration with the Office of Information Technology, will maintain a list of tech companies and software products which are deemed a cybersecurity risk to the state.

New Jerseys list of prohibited software vendors, products, and services now includes: Huawei Technologies, Dahua Technology, Hikvision, Tencent Holdings Ltd. and its apps (WeChat, QQ, and QQ Wallet), Alibaba products such as AliPay and Alibaba.com, and TikTok and the Russian-based Kaspersky Lab.

New Jerseys policy to remove certain software from State owned or managed devices, inclusive of TikTok, deemed as high risk of potential data loss or privacy issues is part of our statewide cyber risk management program, said New Jersey Chief Technology Officer Christopher Rein in the announcement.

This follows in line with a number of actions taken by government and private sector enterprises, and is consistent with some of the risk reduction steps taken at the Federal and State levels. The New Jersey Office of Information Technology will work diligently alongside NJCCIC to maintain cybersecurity across state government, Rein said.

The statement said that New Jersey authorities have been made aware of national security concerns about user data the Chinese government might require ByteDance to provide.

Analysis of various versions of TikTok have been found to collect the keystrokes of users, make screen captures every few seconds, access data from the phones clipboard, and collect the unique Media Access Control (MAC) address of the device, among other user information.

Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio, a Republican, also issued an executive order banning the use of TikTok from government devices on Sunday, the first day of his second term as governor.

Social media applications and platforms operating in China engage in surreptitious data privacy and cybersecurity practices to include collecting private information, behavioral use data, biometric data and other data contained on the devices of the users, the order read.

TikTok also joins Ohios list of banned Chinese-owned applications and websites, including WeChat.

Total US Ban Becoming Increasingly Likely

Congressional lawmakers passed a TikTok ban on government devices for all federal employees that was inserted into the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package, which was was passed in late December.

Both the Senate and the House also have pending bills that would eventually remove the app and its parent company from conducting business transactions anywhere in the country.

It is troubling that rather than encouraging the Administration to conclude its national security review of TikTok, some members of Congress have decided to push for a politically-motivated ban that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States, ByteDance said in a statement.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr told Fox Business last month that I think at the end of this week, really the fundamental question has changed, Carr said. Its no longer whether TikTok is going to be banned, in terms of its current operations in the U.S., but a question of when.
New Select China Committee Approved by House on Bipartisan Vote

House Republicans and Democrats united in a rare display of bipartisanship on Jan. 10 to create a select committee that will examine and seek to counteract the multiple threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The vote on final passage of the authorizing resolution was 365 to 65, with 146 Democrats joining all 222 Republicans in voting for the proposal. The 65 nay votes were all cast by Democrats.

A succession of speakers from both parties extolled the creation of the new panel, with Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) telling colleagues that this select committee will examine the threats from the Chinese Communist Party with a fine-tooth comb and expose them for the American people and for the whole world to fully understand.

Barr said the panel is needed to develop concrete solutions for how we can better position the United States to prevail in this competition and ensure that the 21st century is led by the United States and defined by a rules-based international order.

Former Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, who now represents Montana in the House, described what he saw while leading a U.S. delegation in China.

I can tell you their intentions are clearcontrol and dominance of the South China Sea and the entire hemisphere. It should be noted that China has the largest standing navy, greater than the United States. It has stolen U.S. technology and increased its capacity for nuclear weapons, Zinke said.

On the environmental front, the Peoples Republic of China is the worlds largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the largest source of Marine debris, the worst perpetrators of illegal, unreported fishing, [and] the worlds largest consumer of trafficked wildlife and timber products.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) recalled the period in the early 1990s when the United States invited China to join the international economic community by becoming a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and U.S. businesses began investing heavily in the cheap labor provided by the Asian nation.

I was one of those people 25 years ago who was part of the consensus that we could engage communist China into the world economy, Blumenauer said, noting that he was able to travel extensively in China and met many of Chinas leaders at the time.

They were saying the right things; I think some of them were sincere. It was an encouraging opportunity. But over the course of the last 20 years, its taken a wrong turn. We have watched the Chinese play a cynical game. They have not lived up to their obligations under the WTO.

Other Democrats qualified their support for the new committee by warning that it shouldnt be used to encourage xenophobia against Americans of Chinese descent.

This committee should not be used as an open invitation to traffic in blatant xenophobic, anti-China rhetoric that we know results in physical violence against Asian Americans, Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) said. We certainly saw this with [former President Donald] Trumps labeling of COVID as the China Virus.'

Chu, whos chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, encouraged the committee to directly focus specific concerns related to the government of the Peoples Republic of China.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) doubts that xenophobia would be part of the new congressional panels work.

As an Asian American who represents the only Asian-majority district in the U.S., I would never support a committee that I thought would engage in xenophobia or attacks on the Chinese people, he said.

Khanna said he was reassured because this committee is not directed against China, but it is directed against the Chinese Communist Party.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) will serve as chairman of the new select panel. Hes also a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence and the chambers Armed Services Committee. The panel will include seven Republicans and five Democrats, with the latter group to be selected by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

During the debate on the resolution establishing the new House panel, Gallagher described the threat posed by the CCP as the most serious facing the United States anywhere in the world.

The CCPs aggression is not limited to Taiwan, the South China Sea, Hong Kong.  We see this aggression here at home, where the Party has stolen American intellectual property, technology, and industrial capacity, undermining our economy and good-paying American jobs.

It is here at home where the Partys extra-territorial totalitarianism terrorized Chinese students studying at our universities and targets Americans of Chinese dissent. And its here at home where thousands of Americans are poisoned each year with Fentanyl pre-cursored in China and a Chinese money laundering network. Its time to understand the urgency of the threat.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) selected Gallagher to chair the panel.

The Chinese Communist Party is the greatest geopolitical threat of our lifetime. We need a whole-of-government approach that will build on the efforts of the Republican-led China Task Force and ensure America is prepared to tackle the economic and security challenges posed by the CCP, McCarthy said.

He said he chose Gallagher because the Wisconsin Republican served in uniform as a Marine counterintelligence officer and has dedicated his time in Congress to understanding, educating, and defending America from the threat the CCP poses.

Mike Gallagher is exceptionally qualified and is the right person to lead and advance this important agenda at this vital moment, McCarthy said.
Differences Between Bidens Classified Document Stash and Trumps

(Left) President Joe Biden speaks during a rally in Yonkers, N.Y., on Nov. 6, 2022. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images); (Right) Former President Donald Trump gestures during a rally in Miami on Nov. 6, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The White Houses disclosure that classified documents were found in an office President Joe Biden used before taking office has prompted comparisons to former President Donald Trumps keeping government records at his Mar-a-Lago home, raising questions about whether the two face the same legal consequences.

Legal experts who spoke to The Epoch Times gave contrasting views on the matter, with some insisting theres essentially no legal difference between Trump and Biden in terms of possible violations of laws that require classified documents to be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to be stored securely.

Key differences between the two cases that could have implications for how the Department of Justice (DOJ) ultimately views the incidents, according to the experts, boil down to presidential power to declassify documentsas Trump insisted that he hadas well as the volume of records kept and the degree of cooperation around their return to NARA.

A small number of classified documents were found on Nov. 2, 2022, in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement as Bidens lawyers were clearing out the offices, according to a statement on Jan. 9 by Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president.

Sauber said the documents were in a locked closet at the think tank Biden used after he served as vice president and that the records were turned over to NARA a day after they were found.

Since that discovery, the presidents personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives, Sauber said.

News of the Biden classified-document discovery has led to comparisons to Trump, who at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida kept materials with classified markings, which were seized in an FBI raid.

Trump, who is being investigated by the DOJ in connection with the incident but has not been charged, said he declassified the materials before he left office.

After news broke of the Biden-linked classified-document stash, the presidents allies rushed to his defense, while people in Trumps camp questioned whether Biden would be treated with kid gloves or whether he, too, would face an FBI raid.

Trump, who said the FBIs seizure of documents from his home was an act of retribution by his political foes, took to social media to ask: When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified.

Biden, who in September 2022 called Trumps handling of classified documents totally irresponsible, has not publicly commented on the discovery of records at the think tank.

After learning of Bidens classified-document stash, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the incoming House Oversight Committee chairman, told CBS, We want to know exactly what documents were taken by both President Trump and now President Biden and want to know if theyre gonna treat President Biden any differently than they treated President Trump.

Whats the difference in what President Trump did versus what we now know President Biden did? Comer asked.

No Legal Difference Between the Two

Derek Jacques, an attorney at The Mitten Law Firm, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that any removal of classified documents poses a problem for any elected official, be it Trump or Biden, or anyone else.

It doesnt truly differ from Trumps document stash at Mar-A-Lago, Jacques said. While there is the implication that storing them in your private residence might seem less secure than an office in a think tank, there is no legal difference between the two.

Jacques said that, from a legal standpoint, there will need to be an investigation into the documents found at Bidens office. Such a probe would also include a determination as to the degree to which the action could damage national security interests, he added.

There are unconfirmed media reportswith CBS citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the inquirythat a U.S. attorney has been appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to review the documents and that the FBI is also involved in the inquiry.

The FBI search warrant used to raid Mar-a-Lago was issued about a possible violation of federal laws, including the Espionage Act. It authorized the seizure of documents and records at Trumps home that may have been illegally possessed in violation of 18 U.S.C.   793, 2071, and 1519.

The most serious of the violations carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, though the listing of the statutes in the warrant is not equivalent to a formal charge and Trump has not been accused of any crimes.

Jacques told The Epoch Times that, while he sees no legal difference between Trump and Biden and their respective document stashes, the discovery of classified materials at Bidens office poses a political dilemma for the president, given his scathing criticism of how Trump handled documents.

From a political standpoint, the fact that these documents were discovered does provide the Republicans a chance to brand Biden and his team as hypocrites, as they have been critical of Trump for the documents seized in the Mar-A-Lago raid, he said.

Its a point made by Comer, who in a statement said that under the Biden Administration, the Department of Justice and National Archives have made compliance with the Presidential Records Act a top priority.

A federal law called the Presidential Records Act established detailed protocols around the ownership and transfer of official records of presidents and vice presidents.

The act requires the preservation of memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes, and other written communications related to a presidents or vice presidents official duties and requires that such records be transferred to NARA for secure storage after the end of their terms.

Clear Delineation Between Trump and Biden Cases

Some legal experts who provided statements to The Epoch Times said they do see differences between Bidens and Trumps respective handling of classified materials.

I see a clear delineation between President Bidens classified documents and former President Trumps based on the fact set, not any political ideology, said Aron Solomon, chief legal analyst at Esquire Digital.

Solomon said that, in Trumps case, there was an intent to take and hide documents that had classified markingsincluding ones marked top secretand that the former president refused to return the materials, even under the power of subpoena.

In May 2022, the DOJ issued a grand jury subpoena for Trumps records, and officials visited Mar-a-Lago on June 3 of that year to collect the materials, according to court documents filed in August 2022 (pdf).

The court documents say that, when the officials got to Trumps home, the former presidents attorney handed them a single Redweld envelope, double-wrapped in tape containing documents.

A custodian for the records presented a sworn certification to the officials saying that any and all responsive documents to the subpoena had been located and produced.

A Trump lawyer said that all records that had come from the White House had been held in one locationa storage roomand that there was none in any private space or other spot at the house.

Doubting the accuracy of those representations, the FBI obtained a search warrant and returned on Aug. 8, 2022, to carry out a search.

That the FBI, in a matter of hours, recovered twice as many documents with classification markings as the diligent search that the former presidents counsel and other representatives had weeks to perform calls into serious question the representations made in the June 3 certification and casts doubt on the extent of cooperation in this matter, the court document states.

The DOJ also stated in court filings that, besides probing possible crimes into mishandling national defense information, its also looking into possible obstruction of justice.

Bidens classified-document case, by contrast, was characterized by quick and eager cooperation with NARA, according to Saubers statement on Jan. 9.

Solomon, too, highlighted this in his remarks to The Epoch Times.

These documents were turned over once they were discovered before the National Archives, the FBI, the DOJ, or any other body or agency asked him to do so, he said.

Another difference, Solomon said, is in the sheer volume of documents seized at Mar-a-Lago compared to the ones at Bidens think tank office.

Under the Biden fact set, as we know it today, there was a comparatively very small amount of classified information in documents President Biden had after serving as Vice-President, Solomon said.

FBI agents seized 103 documents marked classified at Mar-a-Lago, including some marked top secret.

Jacques insists, however, that the difference in the volume of documents is mostly optics.

From a legal standpoint, it may not make much of a difference on the volume of documents; however, the top secret classification does matter, he said. The issue, again, reverts back to whether or not Trump declassified any of the materials seized at his home.

Trump has insisted he did declassify the documents, though details around the declassification process and status of the documents remain unclear and are under investigation.

Biden, by contrast, did not have the authority to declassify documents. This fact, Jacques insisted, is material.

Another difference between Bidens and Trumps document handling, according to another expert who commented on the case to The Epoch Times, is that Bidens case doesnt seem to suggest there was any obstruction.

There doesnt seem to be an indication of potential obstruction of justice because the possession of the documents was self-disclosed, and Bidens legal team is cooperating with the National Archives and Justice Department, Oman Ochoa, founding attorney at Omar Ochoa Law Firm and City Attorney for Edinburg, Texas, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

That cooperation is a big difference from Trumps situation, which required the Justice Department to obtain a search warrant because of the level of non-cooperation, he added.

Jacques added that, overall, the Biden teams handling of the documents means they end up looking like they made an honest mistake while in Trumps case, it ends up looking like he has something to hide, which will encourage the DOJ to dig deeper.
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Parole Board Recommends Charge Against Sex Offender Hopley, Who Abducted BC Boy

Randall Hopley is led out of the Cranbrook, B.C. courthouse on Sept. 14, 2011. (The Canadian Press/Bill Graveland)

More than four years after convicted sex offender Randall Hopley finished his sentence for abducting a young British Columbia boy, the parole board is recommending charges against him for not complying with supervision orders.

The National Parole Board says in a statement the recommendation for the criminal charge will go to the B.C. attorney general, and comes after it alleges Hopley was caught using a computer at a public library, less than a metre from a group of children.

Hopley abducted a three-year-old boy in southeastern B.C. in 2011, setting off a Canada-wide search for the child, only to return him apparently unharmed four days later.

The 57-year-old served his full term until October 2018, but the board says in a decision released Monday that a long-term supervision order was needed because he was an untreated sex offender with a high risk to reoffend.

The board has also extended a long-term supervision order for another year, forcing Hopley to live in a residential facility under numerous conditions, including obeying a curfew and not to be near children.

The boards decision says Hopley didnt appear to understand that hed done anything wrong in the library and he lied to his case management team about the incident.

The report says Hopley needs structure, support and supervision at the residential facility where he lives.

Your release in the community has been marred by suspensions and breaches and you do not appear to understand or appreciate your risk level. You deny wrongdoing, which is worrisome, and you did not provide any reasonable explanation for your behaviours, the decision says.

It says the board finds that resuming the long-term supervision order for another year is necessary because Hopley is still a substantial risk.

To date, no appropriate program of supervision has been established that will adequately protect society from your risk of reoffending.

In 2011, Hopley took the boy from his family home and held him captive in a cabin for four days.

He later returned the child to his home, then phoned police to tell them where the boy was.

The parole board says no victim statements are on file from the family, but serious harm did occur.
Patients Could Pay More After GP Tax Rules Tweaked: Doctors Associations

A doctor speaks with a patient during triage at the St George Hospital in Sydney, Australia, on May 15, 2020. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Patients could end up paying more after the Queensland government in Australia tweaked its tax rules to compel general practices to pay thousands or millions to state coffers.

Leading doctors associations issued the warning after the state changed the way GPs were taxed in response to a court ruling in New South Wales.

The change would see GPs classified as employees rather than contractors, which would trigger payroll tax obligations. Payroll tax is paid by a business when the amount of wages exceeds a certain threshold.

The move prompted the Queensland Revenue Office to send letters to GPs advising them they owed money to the tax office.

One GP, Dr. Aaron Chambers, said he received a bill dating back three years, which swallowed up his practices profit.

We certainly do not make a mint. But we do take pride in serving our community. Any small business must turn a small profit to remain viable, and this change of rules is unworkable, Chambers said in a statement released by the Australian Medical Association Queensland (AMAQ).

This bill means patients are going to have to pay more, and it is absolutely unviable to continue bulk billing if this is applied. This is a tax on patients seeing their GP.

Bulk Billing At Risk, Warns President

AMAQ President Dr. Maria Boulton warned the tax could be crippling for bulk billingwhere health service payments are covered by Australias universal healthcare system Medicare.

It is simply not viable for practices to continue bulk billing while having to pay unexpected bills of millions of dollars in some cases, she said in a statement.

Bulk billing will disappear completely and patients will go to emergency departments instead, overwhelming hospitals.

While Dr. Nicole Higgins, president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners warned it could impact rural services.

Practices with two or more full-time equivalent GPs will be affected. So, its particularly bad news for rural and remote communities, which are often served by small practices with only a few very hard-working GPs, she said.

In response, the Queensland Revenues Office denied any changes to tax assessments saying the bill increases were due to more stringent compliance checks.

QRO has reviewed the [New South Wales] decision and has not identified any aspect that it considers changes the scope, practice or approach to payroll tax in Queensland, the Office told AAP in a statement in November.

The treatment of Queensland medical practices in relation to payroll tax has not changed since 2008.
Pfizer Board Member Responds After Emails Show He Pressured Twitter to Censor

Pfizer board member and former U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb has responded to the release of emails showing he pressured Twitter to censor posts, including one that accurately stated post-infection immunity is superior to that bestowed by COVID-19 shots from Pfizer and other companies.

Gottlieb said on Jan. 9 that he raised concerns with Twitter about posts that contained statements that I believed were purposely false and inflammatory.

One email showed Gottlieb writing a Twitter executive in 2021 regarding a post from Dr. Brett Giroir, who also headed the Food and Drug Administration at one point. In the post, Giroir summarized the results of a study from Israel that found post-infection immunity, or natural immunity, protected better than Pfizer vaccination. The study showed that there was no scientific justification to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination if a person had natural immunity, Giroir said, adding that people who did not have natural immunity should get vaccinated.

Gottlieb wrote in his email to Todd OBoyle, a Twitter executive: This is the kind of stuff thats corrosive. Here he draws a sweeping conclusion off a single retrospective study in Israel that hasnt been peer reviewed. But this tweet will end up going viral and driving news coverage.

OBoyle forwarded the message to Twitter analysts, who determined the post did not violate Twitter rules but still placed a misleading tag on it that prevented people from liking it, sharing it, and replying to it.

Giroir said on Tuesday that his post was accurate at the time, and remains accurate.

I am not anti-vax & even recommended vax in the tagged tweet. But there was no science basis for discriminating/tormenting/ruining those who had been naturally infected but were un-vaxed. @Twitter never responded to me, he said.

Gottlieb also wrote to Twitter flagging a post from Justin Hart, a COVID-19 vaccine skeptic who accurately noted that the child mortality rate from COVID-19 is miniscule, reported Alex Berenson, a journalist who obtained the emails after Twitter CEO Elon Musk gave him access to Twitters files.

Twitter declined to censor Harts post.

In a third message, Gottlieb urged Twitter to censor Berenson after the writer penned a newsletter criticizing Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who recently stepped down. Gottlieb later said he was very concerned with physical threats being made against peoples safety and the people who gin up those threats against individuals.

Dr. Anthony Fauci in Washington on Nov. 22, 2022. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Selective Disclosure

Gottlieb this week decried the selective disclosure of messages he sent to Twitter and posted images of other missives he sent the company flagging death threats he received.

The selective disclosure of my private communications with Twitter stokes the threat environment. So does actions that empower people whove shown little restraint when it comes to purposeful vitriol. It instigates more menacing dialogue, with potentially serious consequences, Gottlieb said.

If the goal of TwitterFiles is transparency, heres some of the private e-mails I had with Twitter, related to threats and safety, which werent released; and which I repeatedly highlighted in my communications with the platform. Safety remains an existential concern for Twitter.

Among the posts he flagged was a person calling to execute Gottlieb after it was announced he was named to Pfizers board.

Another message related to a post that Gottlieb said doxxed him, or revealed private information. I have given it over to some security folks, but wanted to flag for you as well, Gottlieb wrote to OBoyle, who said he would send it to analysts right away.

OBoyle is the same executive who took part in meetings on alleged COVID-19 misinformation with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Twitter has not responded to an inquiry.

Alex Berenson. (Courtesy of Craig Geller)

Berensons Reply

Berenson responded to Gottlieb, questioning what the email about Giroirs post had to do with safety.

Remind me how your efforts to censor another former @us_fda commissioner for a tweet about natural immunity have to do with the safety of anything other than @pfizer s massive profits? Berenson asked Gottlieb, who has not replied as of press time, on Twitter.

A CNBC host, meanwhile, also posted a response to a critic who said that Gottlieb, a CNBC contributor, was always identified as a former FDA commissioner, not a Pfizer board member, whenever he appeared on CNBC.

Thats total crap. He was identified as a Pfizer and Illumina board member every single time he was on. Know what the great thing about TV is hon? we have digital records. so the absolute crap you spew can be refuted, Joe Kernen, a host of the networks Squawk Box show which has often brought Gottlieb on during the pandemic, posted on Twitter.

CNBC discloses Gottliebs position with Pfizer at the start of segments featuring him, but the box on the screen throughout the interview only lists him being a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner. Additionally, some of the segment clips CNBC posts online cut off the initial portion, cutting off the disclosure of the Pfizer position.

CNBC did immediately not respond to a request for comment.
Physical Feistiness in Politics Is Nothing New to Washington

Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) (L), pulls Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) back as they talk with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and others during the 14th round of voting for Speaker as the House on Jan. 6, 2023. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)

News Analysis

Last week, the American public was treated to the spectacle of members of the U.S. House of Representatives acting in an especially combative mode.

And, of course, the prolonged episode of electing a Speaker was one in which Republicans were more at odds with each other than Republicans and Democrats.

Freedom Caucus members, a particularly stalwart and conservative faction within the GOP, were holding out in delivering the votes needed to hand the gavel to Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) unless he conceded to at least some of their demands.

McCarthy made the concessions and secured the needed votesbut not before a lot of anger and vitriol was spilled, and maybeone physical altercation narrowly averted.

Harry Truman, the 33rd U.S. President, addresses the media in Washington in 1945. (AFP via Getty Images)

The pushing and punching, perhaps both, that may have been headed off happened late on Jan. 6 following Matt Gaetzs (R-Fla.) voting present on the 14th vote, which helped assure McCarthy would not yet become Speaker.

Reacting to Gaetzs vote, an incensed Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), standing in an aisle of the House chamber and within a few feet of the seated Floridian, lunged at Gaetz and told him he was finished.

Rogerss movement toward Gaetz prompted Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), behind Rogers, to put his hand over his colleagues mouth and pull him backward.

It is the good fortune of America thatat least in modern timeseven as the debates involving our lawmakers often become bitter, highly emotional, angry, and insulting, they almost never get physical or threaten to get physical.

As welland, again, at least in the modern erapoliticians almost never resort to martial means to settle scores with opponents who are not fellow legislators.

But it does happen.

One needs to go back nearly 38 years to the most recent physical exchange on the House floor.

Preceding the event, Rep. Bob Dornan (R-Calif.), who was well-known for provocative comments and stirring things up, referred to Rep. Thomas Downey (D-N.Y.) in a speech as a draft-dodging wimp.

An unhappy Downey got in Dornans face and brought up the comments, upon which, according to Downey, Dornan grabbed his tie and threatened to harm him bodily.

Such ridiculousness exasperated Speaker of the House Tip ONeill (D-Mass.), a product of the rough sport of Boston and Massachusetts politics, who told Dornan and Downey they could settle things out outside in the street but not in the House chamber.

Legislative Violence

The most famous act of things getting physical in Congress was far more severe than that involving Reps. Dornan and Downey. It was violence that nearly resulted in the death of one participant and was incited by passions and tempers that ripped apart and almost dissolved the Union.

America was inching toward civil war in May of 1856, when Charles Sumner, a Republican from Massachusetts who held and argued a staunch antislavery position, delivered remarks in the debate on one of the fieriest and combustible legislative matters in United States historywhether the nation should admit the Kansas Territory as a free or slave state.

In his Crime Against Kansas speech, Sumner inveighed mightily and poignantly against slavery and hurled biting personal insults against his opponents.

Sumner indeed brought forth choice and nasty comments in addressing Democratic senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina, whom he declared to have gained fame in the Senate by promoting the sin of slavery.

Sumner said that Butler had chosen a mistress to whom he has made his vows, and who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sightI mean the harlot slavery.

Andrew Butler was not in the Senate chamber when Sumner uttered that line, but it was enough that his South Carolina kinsman, House Rep. Preston Brooks, found out what Sumner said.

In the afternoon, a couple of days after the speech, Brooks, armed with a metal-headed walking cane, surprised Sumner in the nearly empty Senate chamber and beat him viciously with the cane, almost killing him before he could be restrained.

Sumner never fully recovered but did resume his seat in the Senate following a three-year recovery and served 18 more years.

Preston Brooks was arrested and received a sentence of a fine. He was censored in the House, but there were not enough votes to expel him.

Brooks resigned from the House in protest of his treatment and successfully ran for reelection but died from the croup at 37 years old before the new term began.

Truman Takes On Critic

Even the president of the United States can consider mixing it up when he objects to criticism of someone he loves.

That was the case in 1950 when President Harry Truman took major exception to a negative review that Washington Post critic Paul Hume wrote of a singing performance of Truman s daughter and only child, Margaret, an aspiring classical soprano.

In response, Truman penned a letter to Hume in which he observed, It seems to me that you are a frustrated old man who wishes he could have been successful.

Truman also advised Hume, Someday I hope to meet you. When that happens youll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!

It needs to be noted that Margaret Trumans performance was in the evening, and on the afternoon of the same day, Charlie Ross, press secretary for the president, and his friend from grade school died from a heart attack.

President Truman was dealing with a lotand then he picked up the newspaper.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
On Jan. 6, National Security Council Senior Director for the Western Hemisphere Juan Gonzalez and Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols previewed U.S. priorities heading into the tenth North American Leaders Summit.

From Jan. 9 to 10, heads of governments from Canada, Mexico, and the United States will attend the 2023 North American Leaders Summit in Mexico City. Key points on the agenda are a full recovery from the COVID pandemic in an era of increasing focus on regionalization, and shared challenges with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), climate, competitiveness, migration, health, and security.

Video credit: The Wilson Center
Public Health Agency Approved $120K for Commemorative COVID Coin for Pandemic Workers: Report

A frontline healthcare worker attends people at the Etobicoke General Hospital drive-thru COVID-19 assessment centre, in Toronto on April 9, 2020. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters)

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), which led the countrys COVID-19 response, approved $120,000 in funding for specially designed commemorative coins to be given to pandemic health-care workers, according to a report.

Titled the COVID coin initiative and approved by PHACs president, Harpreet S. Kochhar, in June 2022, the coins are meant to be given to all PHAC employees that worked during the pandemic over the past three years, according to Global News, who obtained documents regarding the initiative through Access to Information.

PHAC said the coins are meant to be an everlasting expression of gratitude to its employees for their contributions under unprecedented circumstances.

The gift was initially estimated to cost about $16 each for the 7,500 PHAC employees the agency anticipated would be included, bringing the estimated total price tag up to around $120,000.

According to their planned design, the coins are nickel-plated with French and English inscriptions and impressed with an image of the spiked-ball COVID virus. They will also be presented in a blue velvet box.

Since 2020, PHAC employees have made exceptional contributions to pandemic relief efforts, performing their duties efficiently and effectively under challenging circumstances, while upholding the core values of Canadas public service, reads a June 2022 briefing document prepared for Kochhar.

At the time of the briefing documents preparation, the coins were scheduled to be publicly announced in October 2022 and distributed shortly after.

PHAC told Global News that while it estimated a price tag of over $100,000, it has only spent about $31,000 on the coins to date.

PHAC employment numbers as of 2022 are nearly double that of the years prior to the pandemic.

In 2018, the agency had about 2,150 employees, according to Statistics Canada. That number grew to over 2,300 by 2020the year COVID lockdowns hit Canadabefore jumping to over 3,280 in 2021.

As of 2022, PHAC had over 4,250 employees.
A logo is pictured on the WTO in Geneva

GENEVA (Reuters) - The next World Trade Organization ministerial conference will be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in February 2024, the global trade watchdog confirmed in a statement on Twitter on Monday.

The UAE and Cameroon were both vying to host the event and came to an informal agreement for Abu Dhabi to host the first one and Cameroon to do the next, trade sources said last week.

Trade ministers from the body's 164 members meet every few years at ministerial conferences and seek to agree new global commerce rules.

(Reporting by Emma Farge, editing by Rachel More)
Remains Found in 1997 in Lake Michigan Identified as Chicago Woman

Lake Michigan seen from the shore of Milwaukee, Wis., on Jan. 6, 2020. (Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images)

MANISTEE COUNTY, Mich.Human remains found in 1997 along Lake Michigans shoreline in western Michigan have been identified as those of a Chicago woman last seen weeks earlier at a Wisconsin beachfront park, police said Monday.

Forensic experts relying on advanced DNA analyses confirmed in December that the remains are those of Dorothy Lynn (Thyng) Ricker, Michigan State Police said.

Although DNA testing wasnt possible when Dorothy Ricker died, investigators are grateful that it brings her family some resolution today, police said in a news release.

Ricker, then 26, was last seen on Oct. 2, 1997, sitting on a bench at a Wisconsin lakefront park by officers with the St. Francis Police Department. She told the officers she was from Chicago and was enjoying the lakefront and the sun, state police said.

The next day, an abandoned vehicle was found nearby and its license plate came back as belonging to a person listed as missing/endangered by the Chicago Police Department. That information was not known at the time the officers spoke to Ricker, state police said.

On Oct. 27, 1997, human remains were found along the lake in western Michigans Manistee County. An autopsy found that person died from asphyxia due to accidental drowning but the remains could not be identified.

The remains were exhumed in 2020 and bone samples were sent to Astrea Forensics under the DNA Doe Project for Forensic Genetic Genealogy, state police said. The next year, police informed about a possible genetic link to the Thyng family of Acton, Maine.

DNA samples were obtained from a possible brother of Ricker and also a possible daughter of Ricker who was living in Chicago, police said.

Because Rickers badly degraded bone samples were unsuitable for traditional testing, they were sent to Intermountain Forensics in Salt Lake City, Utah, for an advanced analysis that eventually helped confirm they belonged to Ricker.
R | 2h 21min | Drama | 1984

Roland Joffes searing film only appears to dwell on a bloody civil war. In reality, it centers on a touching real-life story of friendship, forgiveness, sacrifice, and faithfulness to truth in the face of totalitarianism. Nominated for seven Oscars, it paints a moving portrait of simple freedoms that contemporary democracies sometimes take for granted.

The Cambodian civil war pits the ruthless communist Khmer Rouge guerrillas (backed by China and North Vietnam) against the South Vietnam-backed Kingdom of Cambodia (later the U.S.-backed Khmer Republic). At great risk to their lives, Cambodian photojournalist Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor) and American correspondent Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) jointly capture the unraveling chaos for global audiences.

Journalist Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) tells the true story of the communist war in Cambodia, in The Killing Fields. (MovieStillsDB)

Moments before guerrillas seize the capital city, Phnom Penh, Schanberg uses his clout with the embassy to arrange to evacuate Pran and his family. However, Pran, faithful to Schanberg and his own journalistic calling, stays on to help and, as the city falls, guerrillas arrest him.

Then for four grueling years, in swatches of Cambodia that came to be known as the killing fields, he suffers starvation and torture. Labor camps were dens of malnutrition, disease, amid a landscape of mass executions.

Cinematographer Chris Menges hauntingly captures Cambodias sheer beauty: rolling hills, lush green fields, stately trees, grazing cattle, peasants working their grain, clouds pregnant with rain.

Editor Jim Clark mimics the feel of flicking through a photojournalists folio, using a quick succession of moving images: the fear of horror to come, the havoc it wreaks once it arrives, and the pain that lingers after it has passed.

But Joffes more interested in celebrating the friendship and respect evolving between Schanberg and Pran.

Cambodian photojournalist Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor) and American correspondent Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) become colleagues and then brothers, in The Killing Fields. (MovieStillsDB)

So, whatever else you do, dont give up on this movie. Watch right until the end.

Once Colleagues, Now Brothers

The two men are almost antagonists at first. Schanbergs furious that Pran doesnt receive him at the airport as planned. Dimly, if not sheepishly, Schanberg soon discovers that Pran brought him vital intel, precisely by not sitting around as he could have done.

Pran then works his magic, overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles in granting Schanberg the unrivaled access he needs to places and people, infusing Schanbergs news reports with credibility, immediacy, and impact.

Repeatedly, Pran saves Schanbergs life by steering him away from an explosive situation or smuggling him out of one, or shielding him by bearing the brunt of guerrilla fury.

In many scenes, Joffes camera gazes unmoved at the action as it happens, almost refusing to acknowledge whats happening to his subjects: Schanberg slipping and falling, or Pran scurrying to get his wife and children onto the last evacuation sortie.

Thats Joffe saying, like a journalists sweeping headline, that individual fates are not the main event; theyre merely incidental to the larger drama of troops and diplomats moving out, guerrilla forces moving in, families fleeing, and refugees hiding.

Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston, C) flees violent action, in The Killing Fields. (Movie StillsDB)

In other scenes, Joffe does the opposite. He seems obsessed with his subjects, as if to say that nothing happens on the world stage without deeply affecting individuals and their families. He zooms in and holds his lens on Prans face, pondering his future alone as his family is airlifted to safety, or on Schanbergs face as he silently struggles to reassure an overwrought Pran. The more he sees of Pran in action, the higher Schanberg holds him in esteem, and the deeper his affection for him.

Joffes film spotlights how vital journalist truth-telling is when totalitarian regimes impose propaganda on citizens, imprison intellectuals and human rights defenders, and cramp free speech and a free press.

Without their saying it, Schanbergs and Prans brave actions illustrate what journalism means: revealing what repressive or corrupt regimes want to conceal.

This film falls squarely within the genre of war-zone realism, but it is a trendsetter rather than a follower. Yes, it follows Apocalypse Now (1979) but precedes and sets the standard for many such films that followed, including Platoon (1986), Full Metal Jacket (1987), and Saving Private Ryan (1998).

Like them, by depicting the horrors of war onscreen, it ironically helps prove wars pointlessness. Unlike them, but like Under Fire (1983), it uses a peace practitioners (journalists) point of view, not a soldiers.

Ngor, not a trained actor at the time of his debut here, performed so authentically that he stunned manyexcept Joffe, who felt that Ngor had been acting for years or he wouldnt have survived the Khmer Rouge. For, like Pran, whom he portrays so convincingly on-screen, Ngor too had weathered the Khmer Rouge concentration camps by playing dumb or harmless. Unsurprisingly, Ngor became the first Asian to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

In one scene, it rains as Pran departs to his fate with the Khmer Rouge. He bears no rancor, aware that a forlorn Schanberg, now standing helpless, has done all he could to prevent that fate.

With all the rain its hard to tell, but as the camera closes in on Schanbergs face, you suspect that its not just rain rolling down his trembling cheeks.

The Cambodian civil war is the backdrop for The Killing Fields. (MovieStillsDB)

The Killing Fields

Director: Roland Joffe

Starring: Haing S. Ngor, Sam Waterston, Julian Sands, John Malkovich

MPAA Rating: R

Running Time: 2 hours, 21 minutes

Release Date: Nov. 2, 1984

Rated: 5 stars out of 5
Rolls-Royce Rides Ongoing Luxury Demand to Sales Record in 2022

A hand made Rolls-Royce described as 'the most refined picnic facility on earth' is unveiled at the company's factory in Goodwood, Britain, on May 27, 2021. (Stuart McDill/Reuters)

LONDONRolls-Royce on Monday reported record sales last year despite an average price tag of around $534,000 for its luxury cars and a drop in Chinese demand, with orders stretching into 2023.

The British carmaker, which began as Rolls-Royce in Manchester, England nearly 120 years ago and is now owned by Germanys BMW, said that it sold 6,021 cars in 2022, up from 5,586 in 2021, which was also a record year.

Rolls-Royces sales were led by the Americas, with the U.S. remaining its top market with around 35 percent of sales. In China, the carmakers second-largest market, coronavirus-related lockdowns led to a single-digit drop in sales.

But CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos said in an online presentation that this decrease was offset by growth in other markets.

Our order book stretches far into 2023 for all models, Muller-Otvos said. We havent seen any slowdown in orders.

Rolls-Royce said that pre-orders for its fully-electric Spectre, due to go on sale at the end of 2023, had exceeded all of its expectations.

The CEO told reporters that the growth anticipated for 2023 came despite Rolls-Royce halting sales in Russia, which typically accounted for 250300 units per year, in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine last February.

Muller-Otvos said the luxury brands bespoke, customized approach had [led] to ever more imaginative, personal and technically demanding orders from customers.

($1 = 0.9370 euros)

By Nick Carey
Russian Disinformation Campaign on Twitter Had No Measurable Impact on 2016 Election: Study

Russian efforts to spread disinformation on Twitter during the 2016 presidential election didnt produce any measurable impact on the results of the election, a new study suggests.

For the study, published on Monday in Nature Communications, a team of researchers from Ireland, Denmark, Germany, and the United States examined Twitter users behavior and attitudes during the eight months leading up to Election Day on Nov. 8, 2016.

Almost three years after the election, the Senate Intelligence Committee released an 1,000-page report, saying that the Russian government meddled in the election through a covert social media campaign in favor of Republican nominee Donald Trump. The committee didnt find any collusion on Trumps part.

Those Russian efforts, according to the study, didnt actually translate into measurable effects on the elections outcome, because it focused on a rather small niche of highly partisan users who would have voted for Trump anyway.

To put that in scale, just 1 percent of users in the study accounted for 70 percent of exposure to contents generated by Russian foreign influence accounts. Furthermore, those who identified as Strong Republicans were exposed to roughly 9 times as many Russian posts than were those who identified as Democrats or Independents.

Despite this massive effort to influence the presidential race on social media and a widespread belief that this interference had an impact on the 2016 US elections, potential exposure to tweets from Russian trolls that cycle was, in fact, heavily concentrated among a small portion of the American electorateand this portion was more likely to be highly partisan Republicans, said Joshua Tucker, a co-author of the paper and professor at New York University Center for Social Media and Politics.

Speaking with The Washington Post, Tucker said data supports his observation that the actual impact of Russian influence has been exaggerated.

My personal sense coming out of this is that this got way overhyped, the professor told the Post. Now were looking back at data and we can see how concentrated this was in one small portion of the population, and how the fact that people who were being exposed to these were really, really likely to vote for Trump.

With that said, the researchers acknowledge that the Russian campaign to influence the election may have had other effects.

It would be a mistake to conclude that simply because the Russian foreign influence campaign on Twitter was not meaningfully related to individual-level attitudes that other aspects of the campaign did not have any impact on the election, or on faith in American electoral integrity, says Gregory Eady, one of the studys co-authors and professor at the University of Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science.

The study comes as Twitters new leadership continues work with certain journalists to publish internal records and documents known as the Twitter Files, many of which detail how the previous Twitter regime shut down various personalities and narratives at the behest of various elements of the federal government.

In one such Twitter File thread, independent journalist Matt Taibbi detailed how Twitter caved to censorship pressure from the FBI during the 2020 election cycle, amid fears that Russian disinformation was circulating on the platform.
Russian Translators in China Die in Quick Succession During COVID-19 Outbreak

Patients on stretchers are seen at Tongren hospital in Shanghai on Jan. 3, 2023. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

Two renowned Russian-to-Chinese translators in China recently died from COVID-19 as the coronavirus sweeps through the country.

Long-time translators Lou Ziliang and Wang Zhiliang died in the first week of 2023.

Both men had translated large amounts of Soviet and Russian literature.

Their deaths come as observers have noted that Chinas recent COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in the deaths of many scientists, scholars, and celebrities, most of whom were members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or people who stood up for the CCP.

Lou Ziliang

In the early morning of Jan. 4, Lou, a member of the Shanghai Translators Association and associate editor of Shanghai Translation Publishing House, died at the age of 90.

Lous major works include The Complete Poems of Brodsky (Volume 1), War and Peace, Ghosts, Dead Souls, Humiliated and Insulted, The Selected Poems of Tsvetaeva, and various works of Dostoevsky, etc.

His eulogy stated that he attended Harbin Russian College as a national defense student when he was young. This college was later merged with several other foreign language colleges to become Heilongjiang University in 1958.

Lous eulogy also stated that in 1978, he joined the Shanghai Translation Publishing House to compile the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, but after the first volume was published, the project ceased. Lou left China to start a business in the Soviet Union at that time out of frustration.

As his business grew, the CCP invited him to return to China, so he left his business and returned to China to work as a Russian translator.

He would work for the Shanghai Translation Publishing House, which according to its website, was established in 1978. Since then, it has been endorsing the CCPs publishing policies and has been honored by the Propaganda Department of the CCP Central Committee. Lou worked loyally for the publishing house to promote CCP propaganda.

Wang Zhiliang

On Jan. 2, 2023, Wang, another well-known Russian-to-Chinese translator, died at the age of 94 at the Shanghai Jiaotong University Hospital.

He was well-known as a Chinese foreign language expert, translator, novelist, Professor of the Chinese Department of East China Normal University, a member of the Chinese Writers Association, and a member of the CCP.

Wang was born in 1928 and enrolled in the Law School of Peking University in 1947; in 1949, he was one of the 30 students selected by Peking University to study Russian in Harbin, and in 1952, he graduated from the universitys Russian department.

Wang was the first translator of Pushkins masterpiece Eugene Onegin into poetic form in Chinese, and he translated more than 30 works, including The Captains Daughter and Anna Karenina.

Wang was also persecuted in 1957 when he was branded as right-wing during the CCPs anti-rightist movement. At that time, he was sent to Hebei Province to work in labor camps, where he once attempted suicide. He did hard labor during the day and continued his translation work at night.

Communist Literature

In an article published in February 2022, the Chinese website China Writer stated that the concept of Russian literature has its own specific connotations and extensions. It includes pre-Soviet Russian literature, as well as the Soviet literature of the USSR and also the literature of Russia since it became an independent state.

Much of the Chinese communist literature refers to modern Russian literature as Soviet Russian literature. The promotion of Russian and Soviet literature by the CCP at that time was a part of its agenda to align itself with the largest communist country in the world, the Soviet Union. Such Soviet nostalgia still exists today in the CCPs state propaganda.
SEC Charges McDonalds Former CEO for Misrepresentations to Investors

Steve Easterbrook, CEO of McDonald's Corp., attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 10, 2019. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

NEW YORKThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday charged former McDonalds Corp. Chief Executive Stephen Easterbrook with making false and misleading statements to investors about the circumstances of his 2019 termination.

The SEC hit Easterbrook with a five-year officer and director bar and a $400,000 civil penalty.

McDonalds fired Easterbrook in November 2019 for exercising poor judgment by engaging in a relationship with a McDonalds employee, the SEC said.

But Easterbrook failed to disclose other additional violations of company policy he committed by engaging in undisclosed relationships with other employees of the fast-food giant, it said.

When corporate officers corrupt internal processes to manage their personal reputations or line their own pockets, they breach their fundamental duties to shareholders, the SECs enforcement director Gurbir Grewal said in a statement.

The agency also charged McDonalds with shortcomings in its public disclosures related to Easterbrooks ouster, but did not impose any fines on McDonalds due to the firms substantial cooperation with the investigation, the SEC said.

Attorneys for Easterbrook, who consented to the order but did not admit or deny the SECs findings, did not respond immediately to calls for comment. McDonalds said in a statement that the settlement reinforced the fact it held Easterbrook accountable for his misconduct.

In 2021, Easterbrook returned over $105 million he received as a severance package in 2019 and apologized to the company to settle a lawsuit over the alleged cover-up.

We fired him, and then sued him upon learning that he lied about his behavior, the firm said in its statement on Monday.

Republican SEC commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda dissented against the charges against McDonalds, saying the order turns the victim of Mr. Easterbrooks deception into a securities law violator.

The dissenting commissioners said they have concerns the case will create a slippery slope that expands public companies disclosure requirements.

By Chris Prentice
Single-Use Plastic Tableware to Be Banned in England

Plastic forks are arranged for a photograph in London on Nov. 20, 2017. (Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

A range of single-use plastic items such as plastic forks and polystyrene cups will be banned in England, the UK government has confirmed.

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey, who is set to announce the ban later this week, said she expects the policy would have a huge impact to stop the pollution of billions of pieces of plastic and help to protect the natural environment for future generations.

The ban is expected to cover single-use plastic plates, cutlery, balloon sticks, and some polystyrene cups and food and beverage containers.

In a statement published in the Mail on Sunday, Coffey said the move comes in response to the publics calls and vowed to tackle marine pollution.

A plastic fork can take 200 years to decomposethat is two centuries in landfill or polluting our oceans, she said.

I am determined to drive forward action to tackle this issue head on. We know there is more to do, and we have again listened to the publics calls, she added.

According to the publication, the upcoming ban will affect containers of food and drink thats consumed at a restaurant or takeaway, while packages for takeaway food in supermarkets and shops will be targeted by a separate scheme next year that charges manufacturers to cover part of the disposal costs.

The ban comes after the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ran a 12-week consultation on the proposal.

The result of the consultation is expected to be published later this week. According to the Mail on Sunday, the proposed ban enjoyed overwhelming public support.

The public consultation (pdf) called for evidence on banning single-use plastic plates, cutlery, balloon sticks, and expanded and extruded polystyrene cups and food and beverage containers in England.

The document sought opinions on whether wet wipes containing plastic and single-use sachets should be banned, regulating cigarette littering, and introducing a charge on coffee cups.

It also asked people to list other single-use plastic items that they think should be targeted by future policies as well as how to achieve a shift away from single-use culture.

Scotland and Wales

Englands ban on plastic cutlery comes after the Scottish and Welsh governments took similar steps to reduce the single-use items.

Under the UKs devolution rules, Westminster makes some policies, such as defence and foreign policies, for the whole of the UK, while Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have powers to make their own policies in some other areas.

In June, Scotland became the first country in the UK to ban businesses from supplying problematic single-use plastics including cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers, balloon sticks, and food and drinks containers made of expanded polystyrene.

Wales in December passed a bill targeting a similar list of items, which will be banned from autumn this year.

The UK government banned single-use plastic straws, stirrers, and cotton buds in England in 2020.

Megan Randles of Greenpeace UK welcomed the ban, but argued its not enough, saying, Were dealing with a plastic flood, and this is like reaching for a mop instead of turning off the tap.

She called on the government to deliver a meaningful plastic reduction strategy, which means bringing in plastic reduction targets and a proper reuse and refill scheme.

Its time to stop pandering to industry lobbyists; stop promoting false solutions; and stop dumping our plastic waste in countries that have done the least to cause the climate crisis. Anything else is not global leadership on plastic, she said.

However, not everyone agrees that banning plastic is the solution to clean up the planet.

According to a paper published by the Competitive Enterprise Institute in 2021, straws, one of the main targets of public policies around the globe, make up a tiny fraction of rubbish in the ocean, while by-products of commercial fishing operations and problems stemming from poor disposal practices in certain countries are the main culprits.

Author Angela Logomasini cited a 2015 study saying China and 11 other Asian nations were responsible for more than three quarters of plastic waste entering the oceans owing to their poor disposal practices.

In separate publications, she also warned about the risks of banning plastics, including the impact on modern medicine (pdf) and the risk of doing more harm than good to the environment by pillaging natural resources to replace plastic.
Small Meatpackers Get $12 Million in Grants From Biden Administration

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack speaks during a video conference with farmers, ranchers, and meat processors held by President Joe Biden from an auditorium on the White House campus in Washington on Jan. 3, 2022. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

CHICAGOThe Biden administration said on Monday it was awarding another $12 million in grants to upgrade and expand three meat and poultry processing facilities in the U.S. Midwest, as part of a broader $1 billion effort to encourage competition in a highly consolidated industry.

The three projects, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), include a grant of nearly $9.6 million to expand poultry storage and processing capacity at International Food Solutions Inc. in Ohio; a $1.5 million grant to upgrade and boost turkey processing at the grower-owned cooperative Michigan Turkey Producers; and a $962,954 grant to Benson & Turner Foods Inc., to build a cattle and hog processing plant on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota.

The new grants are in addition to USDA awarding other allotments and loans in recent months, including $74 million to 22 companies through the agencys Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program, funded through the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act.

The Biden administrations efforts to boost meat processing capacity comes after COVID-19 infections among workers in large meat processing facilities snarled production during much of 2020, contributing to higher food prices.

Each of these projects will provide additional competition for Farm Bureau members, additional value-added opportunity for producers and again more jobs in rural communities, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, speaking at the American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Puerto Rico.

Market concentration in meat processing has been a concern of Bidens agriculture department. Four companies slaughtered around 85 percent of U.S. grain-fattened cattle in 2018, according to the USDAs most recent data.

In a recorded message played at the convention, President Joe Biden said his administration is here to continue to promote competition in the sector, including a $1 billion increase in meat processing capacity.

By P.J. Huffstutter
Standards of Dress Policy May Come to Ontario School Where Teacher Wears Oversized Prosthetic Breasts

A group of parents has long called for a dress code to be created and enforced for teachers at an Oakville school where one teacher has attracted international attention for wearing oversized prosthetic breasts with protruding nipples.

The Halton District School Board (HDSB) has, until recently, rejected the request for a teacher dress code on the grounds that it may be found discriminatory and in violation of human rights protections.

On Jan. 3, however, the board unanimously carried a motion to develop a professionalism policy which outlines the HDSBs expectations of all staff members, including the requirement to maintain appropriate and professional standards of dress and decorum in the classroom. The policy is to be presented in a report to the Board of Trustees by March 1, 2023.

The school has received multiple bomb threats over the issue and school board officials have received death threats in recent weeks. Students First Ontario, a group of parents with children at Oakville Trafalgar High School, threatened legal action in December if the board didnt take action to stop the teacher from wearing the breasts.

The group said in an email after the decision We are encouraged by this development. But the groups lawyer, Rishi Bandhu, told The Epoch Times on Jan. 9 that the parents arent entirely satisfied.

Not Entirely Sure It Is a Dress Code

[Were] not entirely sure it is a dress code specifically, but it appears to be some kind of staff policy regarding professionalism and decorum in the classroom, he said. Though the board is developing a policy, the extent to which it will be implemented remains uncertain.

The boards Director of Education Curtis Ennis said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times: The HDSBs commitment to human rights remains rooted in our core values and commitment to each and every student and staff who identifies as a member of an underserved and underrepresented group, and our approach is informed by opinions from leading employment law firms with human rights and equity advisors. This commitment and approach will continue to be applied as the HDSB looks to fulfill this motion.

Bandhu shared what HDSB Chair Margo Shuttleworth told one of his clients on Jan. 9: We are confident that our staff will work collaboratively with all parties involved to create a professionalism policy which continues to stay true to our values and commitment to human rights.  As always, our approach is informed by opinions from leading employment law firms with human rights and equity advisers.

Students First had told the board in December that the student dress code, which prevents obscenity and clothing that makes visible genitals and nipples, should apply to teachers as well. Bandhu told The Epoch Times his clients never received a response from the board on that point.

Parent Input

The parents formed Students First Ontario when they felt their concerns were not addressed by the school board. They have said recently that the board inappropriately bypassed parent input, via school council, on the matter of a dress code.

This remains a point of contention, Bandhu said. A letter sent to the parents on Jan. 8 by HDSB Superintendent Sari Taha said, While the Board appreciates your clients perspective regarding the role that School Councils play in the operation of a school, the Board does not agree that the Education Act and its Regulations vest School Councils with a right to consultation in what, in this case, are confidential staff and personnel matters.

The teacher in question began teaching shop class at the school in Sept. 2022. The teacher wears a wig of blonde hair, along with the large prosthetic breasts and tight blouses. Shortly after the school year began, a video of the teacher was posted to Tik Tok and went viral.

The first bomb threat came in by the end of September. HDSB said in an email to The Epoch Times in December, HDSB continues to work with Halton Regional Police Service to investigate recent threats. We are taking any intimidation or threat of violence seriously. While all threats are treated seriously, we believe these threats lack credibility.

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce has criticized HDSB for its handling of the matter. He said during media availability on Dec. 19, Teachers need to uphold, as Ive noted, the highest professional standards when they are in front of children. And so, I do not believe the board administration has done so to date.
Talents Shortage Remains the Top Challenge For Australian Businesses: KPMG Survey

Recruiting, retaining, and upskilling staff remains the top challenge concerning Australian business leaders in 2023, according to the latest annual report by KPMG Australia, which surveyed 473 senior executives.

The fifth edition of Keeping us up at Night, released in the first week of the new year, shows that 77 percent of business leaders nominated talent as the biggest concern in 2023, up from 69 percent last year.

Optimizing organization value from digital transformation has risen to the second major concern at 46 percent, followed by managing cyber risks at 40 percent. This depicts a different picture from last year when remote working and ESG strategy ( environmental, social, and governance) were cited as top issues.

Alison Kitchen, KPMG Chairman, cited a choppy business condition anticipated as the driving force behind the re-emergence of traditional priority areas, including revenue growth, the training and up-skilling of staff, and operational security (albeit now with a technology focus).

Its notable that this years findings show a return to nuts and bolts issues, such as staffing and the state of the economy,  she said, adding that These are notably different from a year ago when their concerns involved staff working remotely, designing an ESG strategy, and ensuring diversity in organizational leadership.

Given this year will be challenging economically, it makes sense for businesses to focus on fundamentals while remaining flexible and open to new opportunities.

Skill Shortage Highlighted Post-Pandemic

Kitchen attributes the shortage of skilled workers to the large uptick in focus on talent.

Finding and keeping good quality staff is vital at the best of times, but with unemployment, at its lowest level in over 50 years, the challenge has become greater due to a smaller pool of talent, she said.

As a nation, we are past full employment and into territory where there is a mismatch between the skills required by employers to fill vacant jobs and the skills of the remaining unemployed people to do those jobs.

The concerns over access to talent reflect the countrys chronic skill shortage across industries, which was exacerbated by the pandemic. Such challenges are also highlighted in a survey published last November by the Australian Industry Group (AI Group), a national peak employer organization.

The biennial Skill survey, which covers 342 businesses with over 200,000 full-time employees, has found that 71 percent of the businesses are struggling to secure technicians and trade workers. Furthermore,64 percent of businesses have listed improving digital as the top three highest priority.

The survey concluded, Australian businesses are experiencing significant, many would say unprecedented, skills and workforce challenges.

No Quick or Easy Fix for Chronic Challenge

Notably, the top three issues for 2023 identified in the KPMG survey talent, digital, cyberare also seen as the most important over the next 3-5 years, suggesting the business leaders have recognized that there is no quick fix for these issues.

In response to the talent challenge, 44 percent of the businesses surveyed by AI Group intend to employ skilled migrants, a significant jump from seven percent in 2021. Meanwhile, 51 percent plan to increase expenditure on staff training and development in the coming year.

As a strong advocate for skilled migrants, KPMG has argued that talent shortage could be solved in part by aggressively targeting talents in countries like the US and the UK, which were in a recession or heading for a recession.

Based on the assumption that the new migrants are 20 percent more productive than the incumbent workforce on average, its modelling indicates that a cumulative increase in net overseas migration of 265,000 people over the next five years would boost GDP in 2030 by up to $35bn.

However, the AI group highlights the need for a multi-pronged strategy that involves a more responsive and flexible training and education system, saying, skilled migration is a key piece of the puzzle, but it is not the panacea. 

If the last two years have taught us anything, its that the global environment can change rapidly, the report said. We need to ensure our own house is in order and is as robust as it can be if we are to weather similar shocks or constraints in the future.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with U.S. President Joe Biden at the InterContinental Presidente Mexico City hotel in Mexico City on Tuesday. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press - image credit)

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has announced that Canada will buy a U.S.-made missile defence system for Ukraine and will welcome U.S. President Joe Biden for a visit in March.

The news came during the North American Leaders' Summit in Mexico City on Tuesday, following a meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Biden.

A PMO readout of the meeting said Trudeau informed Biden that Canada will purchase a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine.

The Department of National Defence (DND) confirmed the purchase in a news release later Tuesday.

"Canada's NASAMS donation will help Ukraine strengthen its air defence systems against destructive air attacks on military sites, civilian critical infrastructure and population centres," DND said in the news release.

The release said the donation would cost approximately $406 million and would come from $500 million in aid to Ukraine that Trudeau announced in November 2022. The release did not say when the system is expected to arrive in Ukraine.

In an interview airing Tuesday on CBC's Power & Politics, Defence Minister Anita Anand told guest host Catherine Cullen the government is "working with the United States to get it to Ukraine as soon as possible."

"All options will always be on the table in terms of our support for Ukraine," Anand said.

The missile defence system was designed and developed jointly by the American defence company Raytheon and Norway-based Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

"NASAMS provides air defenders with a tailorable, state-of-the-art defence system that can maximize their ability to identify, engage and destroy current and evolving enemy aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and emerging cruise missile threats," Raytheon says on an online information page.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked for air defence systems in his requests for military aid.

Story continues

Zelenskyy thanked Trudeau for the donation in a tweet Tuesday.

"Dear @JustinTrudeau, your true leadership in standing for democracy and human rights has been vividly proven again," Zelenskyy said in the tweet.

"Thank you for helping us to protect our sky. NASAMS procured for us by Canada will be a strong shield for our cities and citizens."

Anand said she spoke with her Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov earlier Tuesday about Ukraine's defence needs.

"I spoke with Ukrainian Defence Minister @OleksiiReznikov this morning and heard it directly: air defence systems are Ukraine's top priority," Anand said in a tweet.

"That's why Canada is purchasing a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) from the United States to donate to Ukraine."

Anand said in a followup tweet that this is the first air defence system Canada has purchased for Ukraine.

"In the face of Russia's brutal airstrikes on Ukraine, this air defence system will help to protect Ukrainian population centres and critical infrastructure against drone, missile and aircraft attacks," she said.

In November of last year, the United States government awarded Raytheon a $1.2 billion contract to supply Ukraine with six NASAMS units.

Canada has provided over $3.4 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an intensified invasion of the country in February of 2022.

Alexandra Chyczij, national president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), said the UCC welcomes the purchase.

"Assisting Ukraine with the weapons Ukraine requires to defeat Russia is the best investment in the future peace, stability and prosperity of all Europe," Chyczij said in a statement.

"Ukraine needs assistance defending its cities, its hospitals, its schools, its infrastructure from vicious Russian air and missile attacks."

Biden to make first visit to Canada

The readout said Trudeau invited Biden to Canada and that the president will visit in March. It did not give a location or date.

It will be Biden's first official trip to Canada since he became president in January 2021.

A readout from the White House on the meeting confirmed the March visit.

"During the meeting, the President also stated he looks forward to traveling to Canada in March of this year," the readout said.

The PMO readout said Trudeau and Biden discussed trade issues between the two countries, including the Biden administration's "Buy America" policy and the softwood lumber dispute.
Texas Lawmakers Launch Fight Against Sexually-Explicit Books in School Libraries

Proposed bills could make it a crime to show children "obscene" or "harmful" materials in class

Texas Speaker of the House Dade Phelan, a Republican, gavels in the 87th Legislature's special session in the House chamber at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on July 8, 2021. (Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images)

Some conservative Texas lawmakers want to ban sexually explicit books in school libraries, even as the Biden administration seeks to punish a conservative-leaning Texas school district for removing them.

Last month, the U.S. Education Departments Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation into Granbury Independent School District (ISD) for removing sexualized content from school libraries. The materials removed included LGBT topics.

The investigation, which is believed to be the first of its kind in Texas, was opened after the Texas ACLU filed a complaint against the district on July 8, 2022. Its the latest effort by the Biden Administration to prohibit the removal of LGBT materials via the protections afforded under federal anti-discrimination guidelines.

Title IX is the common name used for a federal civil rights law enacted in 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools or education-related programs that receive federal funding. The Biden administration says the protections extend to include gender identity and sexual orientation.

Progressive policymakers say removing LGBT materials from K-12 school libraries discriminates against LGBT students, who should be protected under Title IX. Conservative-led states, such as Texas and Florida, have rejected that claim.

Demonstrators listen to the speaking program during an Our Bodies, Our Sports rally for the 50th anniversary of Title IX at Freedom Plaza in Washington, on June 23, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Changing Laws

To try to take on the problem of obscene or harmful material or conduct in schools, Republican legislators in Texas pre-filed eight bills for the 2023 legislative session that began Jan. 10.

Seven bills attack the problem by proposing changes to the Texas Penal Code, which prohibits the sale, distribution, or display of harmful material to minors unless there is a scientific, educational, governmental or other similar justification.

The proposed bills would eliminate or revise the educational and scientific justification for showing harmful materials to minors, paving the way for misdemeanor charges against school administrators who allow obscene material in schools.

One of many books promoting transgenderism in the childrens section of the Kennebunk Free Library in Maineone of 43 states with obscenity exemption laws for libraries. (Alice Giordano/The Epoch Times)

Harmful material is defined in Texas law as content with a dominant theme that appeals to the prurient interest of a minor in sex, nudity, or excretion and is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community, as a whole, and lacks any redeeming social value for minors.

An eighth Republican-sponsored bill would require publishers to rate violent and sexual content of any books sold to school districts according to age appropriateness.

Rep. Steve Toth, a Republican in Woodlands, Texas, filed HB 111, one of the seven obscenity bills, after battling his local school district over sexually inappropriate books in Conroe ISD, as previously reported in The Epoch Times. He and parents unsuccessfully lobbied for the books to be removed.

Toth told The Epoch Times that Texas would continue to stand up to the Biden administrations attempt to pressure schools to accept an LGBT agenda, despite investigations and threats of legal action.

We are going to address it legislatively, Toth said. Title IX has not changed, he said, just because President Joe Biden says it has.

The Constitution doesnt give him the ability to do that. There has been no change in Title IX. There hasnt been a landmark decision that has gone through the courts.

Federal Probe

The Granbury investigation started when the Texas ACLU filed a complaint based on a secretly recorded meeting between the school districts librarians and Granbury Superintendent Jeremy Glenn last January.

The organization, which promotes LGBT rights, claimed the Granbury district engaged in anti-LGBT discrimination because its superintendent, Jeremy Glenn, denied the existence of transgender and non-binary people in the meeting.

The complaint quoted the superintendent saying, There are two genders. Theres male, and theres female. And I acknowledge that there are men who think theyre women and women who think theyre men.

Texas State Rep. Steve Toth speaks at a podium during a news conference with teachers and parents in Houston, Texas, on June 17. 2022. (Darlene Sanchez/The Epoch Times)

Science holds that there are two biological sexesmale and female. In rare cases, children are born intersex, with male and female genitalia.

However, progressives promote the idea of a gender continuum, and that intersex births are common. Proponents contend that children and adults can change their gender through hormone use or surgery.

In the 10-minute audio made in January 2022, Glenn told librarians the district was conservative, and school board members dont want sexually explicit books in school libraries.

The Texas ACLU complaint cited the superintendent as saying theres no place for it in our libraries, referring to materials on becoming transgender. It said Glenn directed district librarians to pull books regarding transgender, LGBTQ from Granbury ISD shelves.

However, the ACLU complaint used strategic quotes and left out the full context of what Glenn said, according to the audio recording reviewed by The Epoch Times. The superintendent noted that he didnt want books in the districts libraries on how to become transgender or sex.

In the recording, Glenn is heard to say, the transgender, LGBTQ, and the sexsexuality in books needed to be pulled from school libraries. Glenn also can be heard telling the librarians that Granbury was going to be conservative, regardless of their personal beliefs.

Glenn also refers to a book he says has a provocative cover, and tells about a fellow staffers apparent embarrassment when she saw him reviewing the book.

And the point is that a 14-year-old girl doesnt need to pick up the book in our library and read it, Glenn is heard on the recording telling librarians in the meeting.

He also commented during the meeting on a title called This Book is Gay, targeted for removal from schools by parents in other Texas school districts. The book provides step-by-step instructions on how to have gay sex and use sex apps to find partners.

Newly donated LGBT books are displayed in the library at Nystrom Elementary School in Richmond, Calif., on May 17, 2022. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

I dont want a kid picking up a book, whether its about homosexuality or heterosexuality, and reading about how to hook up sexually in our libraries, Glenn is heard saying in the recording.

Glenn didnt respond to requests from The Epoch Times for comment.

The Texas ACLU caused controversy over the summer during a school board training where it presented the Biden administrations Title IX guidance on transgender and LGBT rights as fact. The ACLU warned districts that those who discriminate against LGBT students could face litigation.

Since then, the Texas ACLU has filed complaints with the U.S. Education Department in several Texas school districts over transgender rights, and now library books.

The organization, which champions progressive positions, filed a complaint against Frisco ISD on Nov. 21, 2022, saying the districts bathroom policy discriminated against transgender students based on Title IX.

The districts policy says students should use restrooms based on their biological sex. However, the district employed a loophole in its policy to say transgender students could use the bathroom of their chosen gender, if they ask for and receive an accommodation.

Title IX confusion

No definitive case concerning Title IX protections for transgender students has been decided, with courts ruling both for and against the Biden administrations guidelines.

Conservatives in Florida cheered a Dec. 30 ruling in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld a law backed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican.

The Atlanta-based court ruled 7-4 that the St. Johns County School Board in Florida did not violate Title IX when barring a biological female student, living as a transgender boy, from using a boys bathroom.

Writing for the majority, Judge Barbara Lagoa held that the school boards bathroom policy advances the important governmental objective of protecting students privacy in school bathrooms.

A bathroom is set aside for transgender students at the University of California Irvine, in Irvine, Calif., on September 25, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Lagoa wrote that a policy could lawfully classify based on biological sex without unlawfully discriminating based on transgender status.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals interpreted the law a different way.

Judges there ruled that a restroom policy at Gloucester County Schools in Virginia violated Title IX by restricting access to the boys restroom to biological boys.

In that 2-1 decision, the 4th Circuit judges asserted their ruling was in accordance with a U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming that LGBT people are protected under a federal law prohibiting discrimination at work.

The judges were referring to the landmark Bostock v. Clayton County decision. In that ruling, justices said Title VII protects employees from being fired from their jobs because of sexual orientation or gender identity. Title VII says employers cant discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

The Texas bill is similar to a proposed 2023 Oklahoma measure. During 2022 sessions, lawmakers in Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, and Utah adopted bills banning sexually explicit books in school libraries.

Nanette Holt and John Haughey contributed to this report.
Texas Man Who Livestreamed Jan. 6 Capitol Breach Receives Jail Sentence

Anthime Gionet, also known as Baked Alaska, arrives for his sentencing at the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse in Washington on Jan. 10, 2023. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

A man who filmed himself entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced on Jan. 10 to two months in prison.

Anthime Gionet, known as Baked Alaska, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, during a hearing in Washington.

Gionet, 35, could have been sentenced to up to six months in jail.

McFadden also imposed two years of probation after chastising Gionet.

You did everything you could to publicize your misconduct, the judge said during the hearing. You were there encouraging and participating fully in what was going on.

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

Zachary Thornley, representing Gionet, had asked for time served and 12 months of probation. Government prosecutors wanted 75 days in prison, three years of probation, and 60 hours of community service.

Gionet pleaded guilty in mid-2022 to a charge of knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority. He said he was threatened with a felony if he did not take a plea deal.

According to charging documents, Gionet entered the Capitol building on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, and livestreamed himself inside for approximately 27 minutes in a video captured and posted on YouTube and Twitter.

Gionet took part in chants, including Patriots are in control, and at one point said 1776 baby, according to an affidavit from an FBI agent. Gionet also told others that I wont leave guys, dont worry, and entered the office of a U.S. senator, later identified as Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). Gionet picked up a telephone and pretended to report a fraudulent election, referring to former President Donald Trumps claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Occupy the Capitol lets go. We aint leaving this [expletive], Gionet also said before entering another congressional office, sitting on a couch, and placing his feet on the table and encouraging others not to break anything.

Gionet also encountered Ray Epps on the night before the Capitol breach.

In a still from surveillance footage, Anthime Gionet enters the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (DOJ via The Epoch Times)

Gionet Speaks to Reporters

Gionet told reporters after the sentence was handed down that he views his sentence as a win and said he plans to write a book while in jail. He also said he didnt think he was breaking the law on Jan. 6 and doesnt regret being there.

I have grown immense amounts, he said outside the courthouse. But I still hold firm that I was there because I believe the election was fraudulent, and I believe people should have a right to speak freely as long as they are being peaceful.

Gionet worked at BuzzFeed before he used social media videos to become an influential figure in rightwing political circles. He was scheduled to speak at the Unite the Right 2017 rally, which included white nationalists, before it erupted in violence on the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia.

Taylor, Gionets lawyer, said that Gionet was in and around Washington in 2021 to film what transpired and noted that his client entered the Capitol through an open door, while a second door he passed through was being held open by at least one officer.

It is clear that at the moment Mr. Gionet entered the Capitol, Capitol law enforcement, at least in this area, was not telling anyone to leave, trying to hold people back, or attempting to prevent entry. Neither was Mr. Gionet violent nor was his entry. Video shows he is walking with a selfie stick and his camera to document the situation as he typically would like in most other settings, Taylor said. It is important to note that not one person, law enforcement or otherwise [told] Mr. Gionet he is not welcome. No one tells him he must leave. He entered with law enforcement holding the door open for him. Further, once inside, Mr. Gionet speaks with several officers, some of whom fist bump him or shake his hand.

Taylor asked for a light sentence due to Gionet complying with court guidance, including that from probation officers.

Gionets criminal history includes 30 days in jail for misdemeanor convictions stemming from a December 2020 encounter in which authorities say he shot pepper spray at an employee at a bar in Scottsdale, Arizona.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, a Clinton appointee, had been overseeing the case but recused himself for unknown reasons. When the case was reassigned to McFadden, Gionet called the judge a very awesome judge who is a pro Trump judge and one of the judges that let one of the guys off innocent in his trial.

McFadden has acquitted Jan. 6 defendants of charges, including completely acquitting a former federal contractor, following bench trials. Defendants can choose to have their cases heard by juries or judges.

Prosecutors urged McFadden to impose a heavier sentence, said Gionet went to the Capitol in an attempt to profit from the video and swore at a law enforcement officer who tried to get him to leave.

He even tried to profit off his recording of illegal activity and is in litigation to obtain $2,000 that he earned from his livestream. These actions show no remorse for his actions at the Capitol or those of his fellow rioters, they wrote in a filing.

Without him going to prison, he wont stop what hes doing, assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Franks said.

McFadden, during the hearing, said that Gionet recorded his crimes to obtain money and more social media followers.

That is a very disturbing vocation, sir, the judge told him.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Texas Republican Files Articles of Impeachment Against DHS Secretary Mayorkas

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, on Sept. 9, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Articles of impeachment were filed against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by a Texas Republican on Tuesday, months after GOP leaders said they would make an investigation into U.S. border security a priority.

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) on Tuesday introduced House Resolution 8, which would impeach Mayorkas for high crimes and misdemeanors and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. The text of the bill is currently not available.

Last year, then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), recently elected as House speaker, repeatedly called to investigate and impeach Mayorkas while calling on him to resign. In November, McCarthy said that if Mayorkas does not resign, Republicans will probe every order, every action, and every failure to determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiries.

After Fallon and other House members were sworn in, the Texas lawmaker vowed to file impeachment articles against Mayorkas, whose agency oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. He again accused the Biden administration of undermining law enforcement activities at our southern border and Mayorkas of perjuring himself before Congress during previous testimonies.

But amid the threats, Mayorkas appeared unfazed in a recent interview with ABC News. When asked, Mayorkas said he has not planned to step down from his position following Republicans vows to impeach him.

Ive got a lot of work to do, and were going to do it, Mayorkas said on ABCs This Week on Sunday, saying he would join Biden during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border. We are dealing within a broken immigration system that Congress has failed to repair for decades, he added. And there is unanimity with respect to that reality.

According to Fox News, Fallons first article of impeachment alleges that Mayorkas failed to execute the Secure the Fence Act of 2006 that requires the Homeland Security secretary to maintain operational control over the entire international land and maritime borders of the United States. The second impeachment article alleges that Mayorkas willfully provided perjurious, false, and misleading testimony to Congress during testimony before Congress on Nov. 15 and April 26 of last year.

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) speaks during the House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 8, 2022. (Jason Andrew-Pool/Getty Images)

The 511-page report by the U.S. Customs and Border Protections Office of Personal Responsibility found no evidence that [Border Patrol agents] involved in this incident struck, intentionally or otherwise, any migrant with their reins, Fallon said. Secretary Mayorkas slandered his own Border Patrol agents and TXDPS Troopers involved in this incident, contributing to a further decrease in already-low morale among agents.

What Comes Next

Fallons resolution will not move until further action from House Republican leaders, although the GOP has said that the Biden administration has dismantled a number of Trump-era immigration rules, leading to a massive surge in people illegally crossing the border over the past two years. The White House has said that increased illegal immigration is primarily due to economic and security conditions in a number of countries within the Western Hemisphere and that the United States should instead address those conditions.

Due to the slim majority Republicans currently have in the House, the GOP would need virtually every Republican lawmaker to vote in unison. An impeachment trial in the Senate would very likely fail as it requires a two-thirds majority to convict an official.

Some Republicans, meanwhile, have previously said they arent willing to go after Mayorkas without an investigation.

Youve got to build a case. You need the facts, evidence before you indict, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told ABC News in November. Has he been derelict in his responsibilities? I think so.

Michael Chertoff, a George W. Bush-era Homeland Security secretary who was tapped for a Biden administration disinformation board in 2022, said a Republican-led impeachment inquiry targeting Mayorkas would be a stunt.

It would basically be putting form over substance to go through a big performance on impeachment thats never going anywhere, rather than actually working with the administration to solve the problem, Chertoff said last year during an interview with CBS.

The Epoch Times has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

A spokesperson for Homeland Security told news outlets in November, in response to threats to impeach Mayorkas, that members of Congress can do better than point the finger at someone else and should come to the table and work on solutions for our broken system and outdated laws, which have not been overhauled in over 40 years.
The Disturbing Details Behind the Bird Flu and Egg Prices

Cartons of eggs are seen for sale in a Sprouts Farmers Market in Houston, Texas, on Aug. 15, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Commentary

This article was originally published in American Thinker

Consumers can take a lot, but when you start raising prices on staples like eggs and milk, a definite din begins to rise from the streets.

I knew something was up during a pre-Christmas trip to Costco, where a frenzied mob of shoppers were exasperated after being told, Were out of eggs. We wont have any more until a truck comes in!

More recently, as I walked down the dairy aisle at my local grocery, a fellow shopper cried out, I heard about the goose that laid the golden egg, but I thought it was a fairy tale! Thus ensued an excited conversation between shoppers and the employee posting the new sign that read $5.49 for a dozen large eggs. Thats up from an average national price of $1.72 less than a year ago.

The reason eggs are so pricey appears, at face value, to be simple supply and demand: Millions of birds died. Eggs now cost nearly 50% more.

Its true that millions of chickens are being depopulated due to a worsening bird flu pandemic, but whats even worse is that the story behind the egg shortage has taken some disturbing turns.

A recent article in Bay Nature magazine is titled The Latest Bird Flu Pandemic Is Terribleand Strange.

It begins by telling us there are check stations across the country where freshly hunted waterfowl are being swabbed for the bird flu. With swab sticks similar to COVID-19 rapid tests, and costing at least $50 a pop, biologists are swabbing birds beaks and butts to monitor the spread of the latest bird flu for the National Wildlife Disease Program, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

So far, nearly 58 million birds in 47 states have died since January 2022. Consisting mostly of chickens and turkeys on commercial farms, most deaths were due to culling to stop the flus spread.

The author of the article tells us this particular strain of H5N1 bird flu is called Gs/GD HPAIshort for Goose/Guangdong (Gs/GD), a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). (And if youre wondering, Guangdong province is 609 miles from Wuhan as the crow flies. However, to be clear, this is an enzootic influenza, not a coronavirus.)

The author continues:

[It] is the deadliest and most infectious bird flu ever to strike Europe or North America.  The first confirmed case of Gs/GD HPAI in the U.S. was in a wild American wigeon in South Carolina, detected through hunter-harvested sampling in mid-January 2022.

After detailed reporting about this specific bird flu, Bay Nature magazine tells us why its strange:

First, they compared it with a similar outbreak in North America in 2014/15, when the disease spread to wild birds and 100 cases were confirmed in the U.S. In the current pandemic, however, there have already been more than 3,000 wild birds infected. (Songbirds are mostly unaffected.)

Seeing waterfowl showing symptoms or dying from a flu virus they coevolved with was previously highly unusual. But thats no longer the case.  Now we seem to be seeing a lot of waterfowl mortality, which is just strange, says Maurice Pitesky, a UC Davis poultry epidemiologist. Thats not normal.

Secondly, referencing another article by the same author titled Avian Flu Isnt Just for the Birds, we find that 10 species of land mammals have tested positive for the disease, including foxes, skunks, and raccoonsmost likely after they ingest a bird.

Then we find that its moved offshore, and bird droppings on land have infected marine life such as gray seals, harbor seals, and bottlenose dolphins. And while it is sickening and killing these mammals, it is not spreading from mammal to mammal.

But wait

The article concludes by telling us that the more spillover infections occur throughout the animal species, the higher the likelihood that it will spread among mammals. And finally, it closes with a quote from an infectious disease and influenza expert at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital:

The worst-case scenario is, it finds its way to us.  Those hosts, thats a step closer to the virus changing from being a bird virus to being a human virus.

Meanwhile, back on the farm, Joe owns a large commercial egg business and agreed to speak to me as long as I dont mention his real name or the farm. He tells me why:

Because weve got everybody and his brother calling right now wanting to come to the farm to buy eggs because they think theyre going to be cheaper here. But we arent set up for that. Plus theres the biosecurity. Its an FDA rule that you arent supposed to let people on the farm.

The biosecurity is an important part of bird flu prevention. Joe sums it up by saying its all about controlling who is coming in and out of the buildings, and changing shoes and clothing. But for all thats worth, he says, the bottom line is you cannot control migrating wildlife. It only takes one sick goose landing in the field near the buildings to ruin everything.

He continues to say that many geese and even bald eagles in his area are suddenly dropping dead:

Its everywhere but people dont realize it. We get local reports from Cornell and the USDA. They send this information to people in the business, but theres certain things they dont want people to hear about. They cant do anything about it anyway. It only gets animal activists upset that geese and chickens are dying. And they already think farmers are cruel people. No we arent! Were trying to produce food for people to consume.

And unlike Mareks Disease, which chickens are routinely vaccinated against, Joe says there is no vaccine for this bird flu. (PBS reported controversies with the leaky Mareks vaccine back in 2015.)

In March of last year, however, Science magazine, which has repeatedly venerated Dr. Anthony Fauci, reported an increasing openness to vaccinating flocks. In Wrestling with bird flu, Europe considers once-taboo vaccines, they report that Dutch scientists have begun trials of chicken vaccines, while in France, researchers have begun immunizing ducks. They pause to consider:

Some researchers are concerned that vaccinating, if not done carefully, will allow H5N1 to persist and continue to mix with strains in wild birds, with the risk that it might evolve to spread among people.

The magazine then praises China for its success in creating a successful poultry vaccine that targeted a different strain (H7N9) that was able to spread to people:

Vaccination slashed the prevalence of the virus in poultry and the number of human infections dropped to zero. That accomplishment could be replicated everywhere, says virologist Hualan Chen of the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, who developed the vaccines.

Not so fast, says Joe the egg farmer. Once you introduce something like that, youd better know what youre doing. Kind of like the COVID vaccine  theyd better know what theyre doing.

Besides the bird flu, the cost of eggs is also being pumped up thanks to rising electric and gas prices, as well as high feed and fertilizer prices, which have only recently started to come down.

Despite all of the gloom, Joe concluded with words of encouragement. We farmers are great at producing food. Well figure it out. Well get through it. And consumers will have inexpensive food again. We just dont know how far down the road that will be.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
These Are the Top 3 States for Parental Freedom in Education

After seeing politicized education at schools, many parents are re-evaluating their education plan for their children. (Alexander_Safonov/Shutterstock)

Florida, Arizona and Indiana allow parents the greatest control over their childrens education while Alaska, Nebraska and North Dakota offer the least according to an index of parental empowerment created by the Center for Education Reform.

The Parent Power Index rates states empowerment of parents based on three factors: opportunity, innovation and policy environment.

Subcategories of the report include charter schools, choice programs, digital and personalized learning, constitutional issues and statewide leadership.

Great schools come about when parents have power. Parent Power comes about when states give parents enough information and the discretion to exercise control over their childrens schooling, the 2022 report states. CER has tracked parental power in education since 1999.

Florida ranked first in parental empowerment based partly on its school choice initiatives, which allow universities, in addition to school districts, to issue school charters and for making school and district grading easily accessible on its Department of Education website.

Last ranked North Dakota does not allow charter schools or school vouchers, and school performance assessments are difficult to find online, according to CER.

Delaware rose from 41st to 27th in 2022 in part because of its digital learning initiatives. CER reports that all students in the First State have high-speed internet access. Louisiana dropped five places to 20th.

CER awarded just four states an above-average grade for parental empowerment. Eighteen rated a grade of C or C- with the remainder rated from D or F.

Legislative, Legal Victories May Improve Rankings

Many of the criteria used to generate the CER parental empowerment rankings concern legal matters rather than policy choices. Recent and upcoming legislation and legal challenges will impact the degree of education discretion parents have in particular states.

Virginia legislators have pre-filed a series of bills for the upcoming legislative session that would increase parental choice in education. Lawmakers have proposed the creation of student success accounts using state education funds, which parents could draw on for education expenses including private-school tuition.

The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington on Oct. 3, 2022. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Other bills propose the creation of Education Savings Accounts that parents could use to pay for expenses such as uniforms and instructional materials at nonpublic schools. Lawmakers have also proposed an opt-out of required immunizations for any reason. Current Virginia law allows an opt-out only for religious reasons or certification by a doctor that the immunization poses a health risk to the student.

Virginia is currently rated 45th for parental choice by CER.

Texas lawmakers will consider two bills related to parental choice. One would create reimbursement accounts for parents who choose a private school for their children. The other would offer tax credits for contributions made to private school scholarship funds. Texas now ranks 21st on the CER index.

Tennessees 2019 law establishing Education Savings Accounts for parents in certain school districts took effect in November after being held by legal challenges for over two years. The law was upheld by the state Supreme Court after being ruled unconstitutional by two lower courts. Tennessee now ranks 17th on the CER power index.

An Arizona law expanding school choice through the creation of the Empowerment Scholarship Account Program took effect in October after surviving a legal challenge. The law removes restrictions for each student to receive $7,000 annually for educational purposes, including home schooling or private school tuition.

Challenges Persist Despite Increasing Demand

Forty-five states and the District of Columbia allow the creation of public charter schools, according to School Choice Week. Charter school attendance has at least doubled over the last decade.

All states allow home schooling. The number of households with school-age children who reported home schooling doubled between April and October 2021, during the height of the lockdowns.

Fourteen states and the District of Columbia have school voucher programs according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Students in uniform at Voice Charter School of New York, Corona, Queens, Sept. 18, 2014. (Petr Svab/Epoch Times)

Despite recent gains, legal challenges to school choice persist. Three parents in North Carolina have sued a charter school over its school uniform policy. Charter Day School (CDS), a classical school associated with the Roger Bacon Academy, requires girls to wear a skirt at all times.

CDS founder Baker Mitchell responded to parent complaints saying that boys should be required to dress differently to emphasize chivalry, a code of conduct where women are  regarded as a fragile vessel that men are supposed to take care of and honor, and females are to be treated courteously and more gently than boys,  according to court documents.

Parents filed a lawsuit against the school for discrimination under the equal protection clause of the Constitution, Title IX and CDSs agreement with the North Carolina Board of Education that the school will abide by all constitutional mandates.

A U.S. District Court and Court of Appeals both sided with the parents. CDS appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has not yet stated whether it will hear the case.

Beyond the matter of school uniforms, the case holds implications for the degree to which public charter schools can implement policies that might be considered discriminatory in state-operated public schools. Charter schools are privately operated public schools. Unlike public district schools, children are not required to attend the charter school nearest them or any charter school at all.

In New Hampshire, the states Education Savings Account program, established in 2021 and funded by the states Education Trust Fund (ETF), is the target of a lawsuit alleging that the program violates a state law that enumerates possible uses of ETF and does not include funding private education or vouchers. The suit also alleges that the program violates the states constitution, which mandates that all proceeds from the state lottery, which are directed to the NFT, must be used for public school districts.

That lawsuit is pending.
Tory and Bloc Leaders Call for Government to Reveal McKinsey Contracts

Leaders of opposition parties said on Jan. 10 they will push the federal government to reveal details on contracts that were awarded to the multinational consulting firm McKinsey.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre and Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet held press conferences in Ottawa to announce their plan to scrutinize the matter.

We need to know what this money was for, what influence McKinsey has had in our government, Poilievre said.

Poilievre said all the opposition parties will team up to pass a motion requesting all government records pertaining to McKinsey be made public, including contracts and all forms of communications.

Blanchet didnt say whether he thought something nefarious was afoot, but that we might have our suspicions that are being discussed privately.

Our job is to make sure that we know as much as possible, and for all, each and every detail that we will not know, the population of both Quebec and Canada will have to ask questions to themselves: Why did we vote for this government? he said.

Blanchet was alluding to the fact that the government might elect not to reveal details of the contracts.

Both leaders stopped short of calling a public inquiry into the matter, at this time.

Poilievre said the investigative work will be carried out by the Commons government operations committee.

This is the same committee that has been looking into the high cost of $54 million to develop the ArriveCan application, but its been hitting roadblocks in obtaining a full picture of the contracted work.

Contracts

Public broadcaster CBC revealed on Jan. 4 that contracts awarded to McKinsey have dramatically increased since the Liberals took power in 2015, spending 30 times more for the firms services than the Harper government.

CBC said it found $66 million in contracts to the firm, and questioned whether McKinseys involvement is helping shape the countrys immigration policy due to information provided by sources from Immigration Canada (IRCC).

Poilievre wondered how the department can be so incompetent after paying $25 million to McKinsey, noting the massive backlogs for processing files.

On the same issue, Blanchet called the results of association between IRCC and McKinsey pitiful.

Blanchet also said he had concerns about the firm having an ideological impact on the governments decision to dramatically increase immigration, with the potential impact on services and housing.

The country welcomed a record of 431,645 new immigrants last year and plans to reach 500,000 new permanent residents annually by 2025.

A 2017 report by the government mandated Advisory Council on Economic Growth, then chaired by the head of McKinsey, Dominic Barton, had presented similar figures.

Barton then became Canadas ambassador to China from 2019 to 2021, and he is a co-founder of the Century Initiative, a group advocating to bring the countrys population to 100 million by 2100.

McKinsey was contacted for comment.
Traveling Across 10 Countries, Young Chinese Man and Family Flee to US for Freedom

Migrants trek through the rainforest in Panama in October 2022. (Courtesy of Sun Jincai)

After traveling across 10 countriesincluding eight in South Americafor nearly three months, a Chinese family finally arrived in the United States seeking freedom.

The trip was full of hardship and danger, among them surviving a Panamanian rainforest and its swift rivers.

For this dream of freedom, Sun Jincai spent the whole summer of 2022 planning for the trip. Having overcome many ordeals, the family has finally arrived in their dreamland.

A Young Mans Dreamland

Since he was 13, Sun yearned for a free life in the United States.

In 2001, Sun heard a song by Hong Kong rock band Beyond about a free land where there was no prejudice and where all peopleregardless of their color, race, and originwere equal.

The song gave the young boy his lifelong dream of living in such a country. In his mind, there was only one place in the world with freedom and equality: the United States of America.

In an interview with the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times on Jan. 1, 2023, Sun talked about his childhood dream and how he endured hardship and risked his life for his dream to come true.

Chinese top leader Xi Jinpings backsliding to Mao-era totalitarian rule and the past three years of stringent lockdowns made Sun decide to flee China, according to a phone interview.

An opportunity seen by everyone is no longer an opportunity, and a crisis seen by everyone is already unavoidable, he wrote in a tweet in September 2022.

Sun searched for anything he could find about fleeing from China to the United States and made a careful and detailed plan for his familys escape. Their first stop was especially important because the Chinese regime doesnt allow commoners to travel freely.

Together with their three children, he and his wife hit the road on Aug. 10, 2022, seeking the freedom they longed for.

Sun and his familys passports and air tickets used to leave China in August 2022. (Courtesy of Sun Jincai)

They had no idea what awaited them, but the family was determined to run for their freedom at any cost. Sun and his wife quit their jobs and left without saying goodbye to their parents, as they didnt want their parents involved in their plans or to worry about them.

Narrow Escape at Zhuhai Customs

In August 2022, China was still under strict lockdowns and wasnt allowing overseas travel.

Sun said that they started the trip as tourists to Macao, China, formerly a Portuguese colony and now back under Chinas rule.

Sun was stopped at the customs gate in Zhuhai, a city next to Macao.

To exit, one has to scan ones fingerprints at customs. The gate will open automatically if the scan verifies the person is clear to go, according to Sun.

But the gate didnt open for Sun, who had once posted his pro-Ukraine opinions online and was detained by local police for several days.

Frontier police immediately approached and led him into a small room. The police checked his phone and his social media accounts but found nothing.

Sun had deleted all his escape plans and posts that were against the CCP. After interrogating him for half an hour, the police let him and his family leave.

Sun had once worked in Cambodia in 2019. He was able to use Facebook while he was outside China at that time, and he had read on the site about the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

He now knows that what an elderly relative had told him about the massacre was true. But he didnt believe what the old man had told him when he was in China. He couldnt read anything on this topic due to strict censorship by the communist regime.

He said in an interview with The Epoch Times, The political system of China has been rotten to the root, and Chinese police are [gangsters] in a uniform.

Wife Falls Ill in Ecuador

According to Suns plan, they would get valid visas to countries as close to the United States as possible. Then they would follow online human-smuggling routes from South America to the United States.

The family flew from Macao to Thailand and stayed in Bangkok for nine days. Then they flew to Istanbul, Turkey, on Aug. 19, 2022. Only in Istanbul could they buy air tickets to Ecuadors capital, Quito, according to Sun. The plan was to then head north from Quito.

They lived in Istanbul for half a month until Sun was able to purchase economy air tickets to Quito.

Quito is the first stop in South America, from which the family went all the way north to the United States to enter illegally.

Sun created a Twitter account on Sept. 9, 2022, and used Northbound All the Way as the account name.

Suns wife became ill in Quito. She went to see a doctor who didnt charge her for the medical service. Sun was very impressed.

A residential area in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. (Courtesy of Sun Jincai)

This small country isnt wealthy. But its citizens live a carefree life. They have free education and free [medical care]. The government doesnt create problems for the people, Sun wrote in a tweet on Sept. 25, 2022.

Trekking Through the Panama Rainforest

While Suns family had valid visas to visit Ecuador, from then on, they were traveling illegally.

They traveled across Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico before they climbed the border wall between Mexico and the United States and arrived on U.S. soil.

The most dangerous part of the journey was the five-day trek through the Panama rainforest, which has become a major human-trafficking route for migrants who want to start a new life in the United States. Only the lucky ones survive the trek through the jungle.

This long walk is an ordeal for adults, but Sun also had three children in tow who are aged 6, 9, and 11. Despite the difficulty, the children followed the adults and made it out of the jungle.

On Oct. 3, 2022, Sun said he saw nearly 600 people near the jungle outside Acandi, a beach town in Colombia. The members of Suns family were the only Chinese in the group.

It was extremely wet in the jungle. People had to walk in the mud and sometimes cross rivers on foot or via rope. Huge trees filled the rainforest and blocked peoples view of the sky.

Migrants trekking through the jungle in Panama. (Courtesy of Sun Jincai)

Look, South Americans are trekking with their baby, Sun said in a video he shot of his fellow trekkers. He uploaded it to his Twitter account, adding, Nothing can stop your yearning for freedom.

He recorded the whole trip on his phone and uploaded video footage and pictures to his new Twitter account.

Sun also noted a woman with only one leg, who was also struggling through the forest alongside them.

We are grassroots peoplethese people in this jungle, we all are. But in China, grassroots people are bullied; were not treated even as humans, we are just slaves and laborers, Sun said in the interview.

No matter how despised by the communist regime they are in China, grassroots people have the right to pursue freedom and happiness, Sun said.

On the third day of their trekking through the jungle, his wife fell from a rope that hung across a river as a bridge. His wife could not swim, but she was luckily saved by several South American migrants who had been traveling with them through the jungle.

Sun and his wife were grateful to their fellow migrants. He said his wife would have died without them.

At least 853 migrants died over the past year crossing the U.S.Mexico border, and over a dozen migrants drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande in September 2022, according to CBS.

Sun didnt regret his decision to flee China.

A place that everyone wants to go to may not be a paradise, but a place that everyone runs away from at the cost of their lives must be a hell, he said in a tweet on Nov. 1, 2022.

Five days later, they emerged from the jungle. Suns feet and calves were full of wounds and bruises.

Migrants crossing a river in the jungle of Panama. (Courtesy of Sun Jincai)

After crossing the jungle, they traveled through Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. The latter part of their travels was smoother and safe. His three kids were luckily all healthy and sound throughout the journey.

When they saw an American flag in a refugee camp, his children told him, The American flag looks nice; much better than the Chinese flag.

They eventually came to Mexicali, a Mexican city on the U.S.Mexico border.

At midnight on Nov. 3, 2022, Suns family climbed over a border wall. Several human traffickers put up a ladder for them to climb over the 20-foot-high wall.

They were the first to climb over the wall, and more than 20 people followed them. American border police didnt stop them as they climbed.

The moment they got off the ladder on the U.S. side, Sun cried, I have made it! It was early morning on Nov. 4, 2022, almost three months after he and his family fled China in August.

My dream has come true because I have come to the United States of America, Sun told The Epoch Times in the interview.

Shi Ping contributed to this report.
Trial Begins for Former New York Doctor Accused of Sexual Abuse

Robert Hadden waits in line at the federal court in New York on Jan. 9, 2023. (Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo)

NEW YORKFederal prosecutors in New York began laying out their case Monday against Robert Hadden, a former gynecologist accused of sexually abusing scores of patients over nearly two decades, including the wife of former presidential candidate Andrew Yang.

A grand jury indictment said Hadden sexually abused patients from 1993 through at least 2012 while he was working at two prestigious Manhattan hospitals, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

The institutions have already agreed to pay more than $236 million to settle civil claims by more than 200 former patients.

The federal case against Hadden is focused on only a few of those women. Prosecutors say Hadden invited his victims to meet with him alone in his office, where he used the trust and rapport he developed with patients to engage in increasingly abusive conduct under the guise that it was legitimate medical care.

That included inappropriate and unnecessary breast and pelvic exams.

In her opening statement to the jury, defense lawyer Deirdre Von Dornum acknowledged that Hadden had hurt women. The former doctor, now 64, pleaded guilty to state charges seven years ago, admitting that he had sexually abused patients.

But Von Dornum asked the jury to acquit Hadden of the federal charges accusing him of enticing women to cross state lines to be abused, saying the doctor didnt know patients had traveled from places including New Jersey and Nevada to see him.

The allegations are awful and shocking, she said, warning jurors that she was not encouraging them to feel sorry for Hadden, but asking them to listen carefully to the women who will testify about being abused and hear what they say.

She said the question is not whether inappropriate activity or sexual abuse happened, but whether Hadden knew in advance which patient he was scheduled to see on which days.

Cancel, condemn him, the lawyer urged, before adding: Do not convict him for a crime he did not commit.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Monteleoni urged jurors to convict the doctor, who he said had assaulted patient after patient, year after year.

Robert Hadden waits in line at the federal court in New York on Jan. 9, 2023. (Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo)

Several of Haddens victims will testify during the trial, along with nurses who said they witnessed Hadden touching patients inappropriately.

For Haddens accusers, the federal case represents a second chance for a harsher punishment for the doctor. In his 2016 plea deal with the Manhattan District Attorneys Office, Hadden surrendered his medical license but wasnt required to serve any jail time.

The ensuing outrage led other women to come forward, including Evelyn Yang, the wife of Democrat Andrew Yang, who ran for president in 2020 and for New York City mayor in 2022.

In 2020, she said Hadden sexually assaulted her eight years prior, even when she was seven months pregnant. Yang had called the sentence in the state case a slap on the wrist.

The district attorney at the time, Cyrus Vance Jr., defended his decision. Because a conviction wasnt assured, he argued, his office sought a plea deal to prevent Hadden from practicing medicine and from victimizing additional women.

Yang is not one of the women at the center of the federal case and is not scheduled to testify. Her public discussion of the case, though, helped raise its profile. Last year, New Yorks Legislature passed a law temporarily setting aside time limits for victims of sexual abuse to sue their alleged predators.

The Associated Press generally withholds the names of sexual abuse victims from stories unless they have decided to tell their stories publicly, which Yang and others have done.

Hadden, who lives in Englewood, New Jersey, has been free on $1 million bail since 2020 while awaiting trial.

The prosecutor, Monteleoni, said the victims had undergone experiences, in some cases, they couldnt talk about for years; experiences that scarred them.

He added: These victims would give anything for this not to have happened.

Objection! Von Dornum shouted.

Overruled, Judge Richard M. Berman responded.
Trump Announces Death of Entertainer Lynnette Diamond Hardaway at 51

Diamond (L) and Silk at the Save the Storks 2nd Annual Stork Charity Ball at the Trump International Hotel in Washington on Jan. 17, 2019. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Save the Storks)

Former President Donald Trump has announced the death of social media personality and entertainer Lynette Hardaway, better known as Diamond from the Diamond and Silk sister duo.

Trump made the announcement in a statement on Truth Social on Jan. 9 where he said that Hardaway, 51, had died at her home in North Carolina and was accompanied by her sister Silk, also known as Herneitha Rochelle Richardson.

The former president called Hardaways death really bad news for Republicans and frankly, all Americans.

Our beautiful Diamond, of Diamond and Silk, has just passed away at her home in the State she loved so much, North Carolina, Trump wrote. Silk was with her all the way, and at her passing. There was no better team anywhere, or at any time! Diamonds death was totally unexpected, probably her big and precious heart just plain gave out. Rest In Peace our magnificent Diamond, you will be greatly missed!

Diamond and Silks official Twitter account also confirmed Hardaways death on Monday, writing that the world just lost a True Angel and Warrior Patriot for Freedom, Love, and Humanity!

President Donald Trump greets sisters Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, also known as Diamond and Silk, during a Presidential Social Media Summit in the East Room of the White House in Washington on July 11, 2019. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Please Pray for Diamond

The account states that donations can be made to a memorial fundraiser page at a crowdfunding website.

No further details regarding the cause of Hardaways death were provided, however in November Richardson had asked her Twitter followers to pray for her sister.

Anyone who believes in the power of prayer please pray for Diamond, Richardson wrote at the time, without providing further details.

MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, who hosted a video series for the sisters, told The Daily Beast that Hardaway had been sick prior to her death on Monday.

Hardaway and Richardson shot to fame in 2016 thanks to their social media videos sharing their support for Trumps White House bid. The sisters, previously longtime Democrats, had remained loyal to Trump since and were present at Mar-a-Lago when he announced his 2024 bid.

NBC News reported that the duo went on to land their own contributor jobs on Fox News Fox Nation but were later pulled from the network in 2020 after questioning the number of COVID-19 deaths on air.

They later went on to get their own show, Diamond and Silk Crystal Clear on Newsmax TV, which aired on Saturday nights. The final episode was filmed on Dec. 15.

Lynette Diamond Hardaway and Rochelle Silk Richardson in their YouTube show. (Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Republicans Pay Tribute to Diamond

According to Diamond and Silks official Facebook page, the sisters most recently hosted a show on Lindells social media platform FrankSpeech, where they spoke about the January 6th Political Prisoner, Troy Smocks.

A number of other Republican leaders took to social media on Monday to share their condolences following news of Hardaways passing, including Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) who wrote on Twitter that her death was sad news.

We mourn the loss of Diamond from Diamond and Silk who passed away in her home in North Carolina. Join us in praying for her family, Hudson wrote.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) also called Hardaways death very sad news on Twitter alongside a screenshot of Trumps tribute.

Elsewhere, political commentator Tudor Dixon wrote on Twitter: My heart breaks upon hearing of the tragic loss of our friend Diamond. Her personality was bigger than life with an infectious faith that undoubtedly led thousands to Christ. Her love for this country was strong and true. Rest in Peace beautiful lady. Prayers for Silk and family.

Father Frank Pavone, leader of the pro-life organization Priests for Life, shared a photo of himself alongside the two sisters on Twitter, writing: May she Rest In Peace. And may all of us follow her example of being outspoken advocates of freedom, unafraid to stand for the greatness of America and unafraid to criticize those who want to destroy it.
Trump Responds to Discovery of Documents at Bidens Former Office, Says They Were Definitely Not Declassified

Former President Trump has responded to news that classified documents were found at a Washington think tank that President Joe Biden worked at before taking office.

Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to comment on the discovery on Monday where he referenced the FBIs raid of his Mar-a-Lago residence last August, during which investigators said they seized over 11,000 documents and materials, including around 100 documents marked classified or top secret.

Trump, who has said he declassified the materials when he left office, is currently being investigated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) over his handling of the documents.

Although the special counsel Jack Smith-led DOJ investigation claims Trump violated a number of laws, including removing and retaining classified documents without authorization, he has not been charged with any crime.

When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified, Trump wrote.

President Joe Biden speaks during a cabinet meeting in the White House in Washington on Jan. 5, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Bidens Lawyer Confirms Document Discovery

A lawyer for the White House, Richard Sauber, confirmed on Monday that the documents with classified markings were found inside a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington; where Biden had used the office space from mid-2017 until the start of his 2020 presidential campaign.

Sauber said the documents from Bidens vice-presidential days were found on Nov. 2, 2022, just days before the midterm election but the lawyer did not disclose the finding until Jan. 9, 2023.

According to the lawyer, Bidens attorneys immediately notified the White House Counsels office, who in turn notified the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which took possession of the material on the following day.

It is unclear how many classified documents were found, what they contain, or their level of classification.

Sauber added that attorneys for Biden found the classified documents while they were packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center and that they were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the Archives.

Since that discovery, the Presidents personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives, Sauber said.

The discovery of the classified documents comes as Republicans have taken control of the House of Representatives and have vowed to probe Biden and his alleged involvement in his son Hunter Bidens overseas business ventures.

GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy commented on the findings on Monday. I just think it goes to prove what they tried to do to President Trump, overplayed their hand on that, that they even had themselves even longer, he told reporters in reference to the Biden administration, Fox News reported.

Theyve been around even longer, he said. It just shows that they were trying to be political to President Trump.

Law enforcement officers in front of former President Donald Trumps home at Mar-A-Lago in Florida on Aug. 8, 2022. Trump says his residence is being raided by FBI agents in what he calls an act of prosecutorial misconduct. (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)

I Have a Feeling Nothing Will Happen

Elsewhere, Donald Trump Jr. also took to Twitter to weigh in on the latest discovery.

We were told for months that this was treasonous grounds for impeachment & meriting the death penalty, yet I have a feeling nothing will happen!?, he wrote.

By law, presidential and vice presidential records must be turned over to the NARA for preservation when a president leaves office.

In August, the president was asked by reporters if he feels it is ever appropriate for a President to take classified and top secret documents home with them, to which he responded that it depended on the circumstance.

For example, I have, in my home, a cabined-off space that is completely secure. Im taking home with me todays PDB [presidential briefing]. Its locked. I have a person with methe military with me. I read it, I lock it back up, and give it to the military, Biden said at the time.

Biden then went on to add that whether or not a president should take home top secret documents depends on the document and how secure the room is.

In September, Biden called Trumps handling of classified documents totally irresponsible.

The Penn Biden Center, NARA, the FBI, and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Zachary Stieber and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
In December, reports suggested that Microsoft had acquired Fungible, a startup fabricating a type of data center hardware known as a data processing unit (DPU), for around $190 million. Today, Microsoft confirmed the acquisition but not the purchase price, saying that it plans to use Fungible's tech and team to deliver "multiple DPU solutions, network innovation and hardware systems advancements."

"Fungibles technologies help enable high-performance, scalable, disaggregated, scaled-out data center infrastructure with reliability and security," Girish Bablani, the CVP of Microsoft's Azure Core division, wrote in a blog post. "Todays announcement further signals Microsofts commitment to long-term differentiated investments in our data center infrastructure, which enhances our broad range of technologies and offerings including offloading, improving latency, increasing data center server density, optimizing energy efficiency and reducing costs."

A DPU is a dedicated piece of hardware designed to handle certain data processing tasks, including security and network routing for data traffic. The approach is intended to help reduce the load on CPUs and GPUs for core computing tasks related to a given workload.

Fungible was launched in 2016 by Bertrand Serlet, a former Apple software engineer who sold a cloud storage startup, Upthere, to Western Digital in 2017, alongside Krishna Yarlagadda and Juniper Networks co-founder Pradeep Sindhu. Fungible sold DPUs that relied on two operating systems, one open source and the other proprietary, and a microprocessor architecture called MIPS to control flash storage volumes.

Fungible managed to raise over $300 million in venture capital prior to the Microsoft acquisition from investors including SoftBank's Vision Fund and Norwest Venture Partners. But its DPU architecture was difficult to develop for, reportedly, which might've affected its momentum. In August, after a rumored failed sale to Meta, the company revealed that it had laid off staff and was scaling back its product portfolio.

Story continues

Increasing competition in the market for DPUs put pressure on Fungible, as well. Nvidia acquired DPU maker BlueField in 2019, while AMD snatched up Pensando late last year. Other rivals included GigaIO, Liqid, Lightbits, VMware's Project Monterey and Amazon Web Services' Nitro cards, which provide DPU-like functionality.

In Fungible, Microsoft gets DPU tech it could use to bolster Azure -- perhaps by selling it as a subscription product or tiered service for block storage. It's the second data center-centric acquisition in recent months for the tech giant, interestingly, following the purchase of high-speed fiber startup Lumenisity in December.

"The Fungible DPU was invented in 2016 to address the most significant problems in scale-out data centers: the inefficient execution of data-centric computations within server nodes," Fungible wrote in a statement on its website. "We are proud to be part of a company that shares Fungibles vision and will leverage the Fungible DPU and software to enhance its storage and networking offerings."

The Fungible team will join Microsofts data center infrastructure engineering teams, Bablani said.
UKs 1st Foray Into the Space Race Ends in Failure

Head of Spaceport Cornwall, Melissa Thorpe, on the aircraft pan by Cosmic Girl, a 747 adapted to carry a rocket, at Spaceport Cornwall, England, before the failed mission on Jan. 9, 2023. (Ben Birchall/PA)

Billed as British history in the making, on Monday a specially adapted jumbo jet left the runway at the countrys first operational spaceport and launched a rocket into space.

However, the rocket failed during its second stage and, according to operator Virgin Orbit, suffered an anomaly that resulted in the satellites it was carrying failing to reach orbit, ending the mission.

Although Mondays failed launch was a major setback for those involved, Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall, said it had inspired millions and will continue to inspire millions more.

The British space industry is expanding at a relatively fast pace, its budget is increasing, and its ambition is gaining momentum.

A Niche Sector

The UK Space Agency said the sector is worth around 16.5 billion and rising.

While many people may think of space as sending people into orbit for research or tourism purposes, there is a lucrative business in sending small satellites into orbit, a sector the UK has its sights set on. These satellites can be used for a variety of reasons, from tracking the environment to monitoring piracy.

Matt Archer, commercial director for the UK Space Agency told The Epoch Times, Were starting to see there is a commercial market for small satellite launch, and actually that kind of change in technology and making it cheaper makes it more accessible. He added that launches of small satellites have the potential to be around 2 billion a year going forward.

The agency said the UK has an established sector in manufacturing satellites. It believes that instead of sending them to countries like the United States to put them into orbit, the UK should become a hub to launch not just British-made satellites, but also from partners around the world.

Archer doesnt believe Britains departure from the European Union caused a setback in its plans to become an internationally recognised giant in the space industry.

Its not made a big difference to the program. There are lots of challenges, not least of engaging with the number of partners that we have. So the UK Space Agencys been at the centre of all of that, supported by a number of government departments, but equally, departments from Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Iceland  but actually Brexit hasnt particularly hindered that.

Safety in Mind

Today there is one spaceport in the country with a further six potential sites, all of which are in more rural areas of the UK.

Spaceport Cornwall, currently the only licensed and operational facility, is located in a county with a population of just over half a million, one of the most deprived areas in Europe, and around 280 miles by car to London.

Five of the other potential sites are in the outer parts of Scotland.

The principal thing that we have to bear in mind is safety and safety to life in particular, said Archer. So the benefit that you have here in Cornwall being really close to the coastlikewise in [Scotlands] Shetlandyoure a really remote part of the UK with nothing largely around. And similarly for the north of Scotland at the site of Sutherland, again, youve got very small populations around it.

What that does is it makes it safer so that if there was an incident, actually the risk to life is very low.

Cornwall is traditionally a holiday resort, it has a fledgling fishing industry, and in the past its economy was based around tin mining. It was thrust onto the world stage in June 2021 when the G-7 summit was hosted in the county.

Kim Conchie, the chief executive of the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, told The Epoch Times: Now we see real high tech businesses coming to Cornwall. And this spaceport is a great collaboration and evidence of what can be achieved with the public and the private sector working together.

The local business community backed the spaceport from the start, according to Conchie. Now what you see is entrepreneurs, innovators, business people coming in. This is the start of something very exciting for Cornwall. I really feel that this is beginning to get Cornwalls mojo back again in very visible ways, he said.

Spaceport Cornwall created 150 jobs when the facility opened, as well as several indirect jobs, a much needed boost to an economy that is traditionally seen as seasonal.

Spaceport Cornwalls first client was Virgin Orbit, but it said interest from other providers of satellite distribution is on the rise.

Time will tell if the UK can sustain six facilities competing with one another and if there is enough business for monthly launches from these sites.

Theres also the big question of continued funding. So far Cornwall Council and the UK Space Agency have backed the site financially, however at some stage both parties will want to see a return on their investment.
UN Chief Deeply Frustrated People Arent Buying Into Climate Panic

The Secretary General of the United Nations said that he was deeply frustrated that wealthy nations are not really into fighting global warming.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a major reform of the international financial system, so that more advanced nations could send their wealth to poorer countries, to combat their vulnerability to climate change, calling current funding inadequate.

Guterres urged U.N. delegates to support the changes, while discussing assistance for Pakistan, regarding the deadly floods that began in late June last year.

On Jan. 9, while addressing a conference in Geneva, Guterres said that the world financial system was unfairly slanted in favor of wealthier countries and that it should be reformed to ensure a more equitable distribution of resources.

It is very clear that the present system is biased, Guterres told reporters and denounced what he called a morally corrupt global financial system.

The system was conceived by a group of rich countries and naturally it basically benefits rich countries, he continued.

Pakistan Still Reeling From Summer Floods

The Secretary General appeared with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, who pleaded for $8 billion from the international community over the next three years to support his countrys recovery efforts after the summer 2022 floods, which killed at least 1,700 people, displaced millions, and damaged key infrastructure.

More than 33 million Pakistanis were affected by the flooding in the provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan, according to the U.N.

Over 2.2 million homes, 13 percent of all health facilities, 4.4 million acres of crops, more than 4,970 miles of roads, and other vital infrastructure, such as around 440 bridges, were destroyed by the monsoon floods.

The cost to rebuild will run in excess of $16 billion, and far more will be needed in the longer term, the U.N. Secretary-General said.

UN Secretary General Calls International Assistance Insufficient

The International Monetary Funds delegation met with Pakistans finance minister at the U.N. conference, but has not approved the release of the $1.1 billion that was supposed to be delivered in November 2021, leaving the broke South Asian nation with enough foreign exchange reserves to cover one month of imports.

Guterres said that he was deeply frustrated at the reluctance of global leaders and the little investment in combating climate emergencies as CO2 levels rise.

Global leaders are not giving this life-or-death emergency the action and investment it requires, he said.

He said that the countries economic situations should be taken into account when major financial institutions distribute below-market-rate financing.

We need a new debt architecture and we need to make sure that debt relief is effectively provided by the system even to middle income countries that are on the verge of very difficult, very dramatic situations including suspending payments, Guterres said.

We need to redesign our financial system in order to be able to take into account vulnerability and not only GDP when decisions are made about concessional funding to countries around the world.

UN Asks World Powers to Redistribute Wealth to Poorer Nations to Fight Climate Change

Major donors were warned that they too will be affected by natural disasters caused by climate change.

Today, its you, Pakistan, that needs help. But tomorrow, it could be us, all of us, Swiss Federal Councilor for Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis, told the audience. One thing is certain: none of us is safe. We are all concerned by climate change, a global threat that requires a global response.

U.N. Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner pointed to representatives of the wealthier nations, saying, look to the east, in Australia, extraordinary flood events; look to the west in California, extreme weather events, look to Europe, and people are wondering what happened to snow in winter, we are living in profoundly changing times.

To express his solidarity with the less developed nations, French President Emmanuel Macron promised via video link that France would pledge $386 million to respond to the challenge of resilience rebuilding and climate adaptation.

The French president complained that only 30 percent of the UNs emergency funding appeal had been fulfilled, as cold temperatures begin to hit worldwide.

Reuters contributed to this report.
US and Australia Need to Rethink Approach to Pacific Engagement: New Fijian Prime Minister

People's Alliance Party leader Sitiveni Rabuka gestures during a press conference while counting resumes after the Fijian election in Suva, Fiji, on Dec. 17, 2022. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)

New Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has called on Australia and the United States to rethink their approaches to the strategic partnership with the Pacific country.

In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Rabuka said he thought that Australia and the United States had an antiquated way of approaching diplomatic ties and engagement with Fiji.

Australia and New Zealand and the United Kingdom and America have sort of seen us as the output of their colonial regimes of the past and have not reorientated their thinking to the international landscape where we are all equal, he said.

There is no longer any recipient-donor relationship.

Comparing the two partners to their Pacific rival, China, Rabuka noted he saw the Asian nation as having a different strategy.

China has come in with a blank sheet of paper. They have seen us as just development partners, Rabuka said.

China has been a longstanding partner of Fiji, with ties being established during a lull in diplomatic relations with Australia after the country went through a period of democratic instability following two military coups staged by Rabuka in 1987.

However, the former Colonel also said that while he believed Fiji did not need to strengthen security ties with allies like China, the new government would relook at the countrys strategic relationships with a view to keeping stability and peace in the region.

We would not like to contribute to any disruptions and fractures of the current situation where we have a general sense of peace in the Pacific, he said.

Chinas reemergence, he said, had the potential to reform the peaceful atmosphere we now have.

That is something we have to avoid, and it can be avoided by frank responsible dialogue, Rabuka said.

Rabuka has previously spotlighted that he was concerned about China increasing involvement in Fijis political landscape.

Australia- and U.S.-Fiji Relations Firm, But China Lurking

The comments by Rabuka come as Australia, the United States, and their allies are currently engaged in a geopolitical war of influence in the Pacific with China. Both Australia and the United States have been sharply pivoting their development programs and foreign and military relations to focus on the region.

Rabuka previously told the Australian media group SBS in July 2022 that he did not believe that Beijing would gain too much influence in the Pacific region, citing the growing focus Australia was implementing in the region since the election of the new Labor government.

The whiplash reaction that we have now had from Australia and New Zealand and further abroad in America, and the U.S. policies in the region are now changing because of that, he said.

According to Wesley Morgan, a research fellow from the Griffith Asia Institute, Australias relationship with Fiji is strong.

Speaking to ABC News, Morgan said that Australia and Fiji may have suffered broken relations in the past during periods of political instability, but since 2014 Australia has sought to strongly engage with the Pacific nation, building a military facility in Fiji. It is also something China has not been able to succeed in doing despite an offer in 2015.

In recent times, weve seen Australia actually building a military facility in Fiji, the Blackrock camp, and recently announced support for a new naval facility in Fiji, Morgan said.

As of 2022, Australias military engagement with Fiji has increased, with Fijian military officers now undergoing training to be able to integrate into the Australian armed forces.

The U.S. has also deepened its engagement and bilateral defence and security ties with Fiji, which has been welcomed by government members, including the Permanent Secretary for the Office of the Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs, Yogesh Karan.

Karen, in a media release from December 2022, noted his country welcomed the shift in American policy under the Biden-Harris Administration.

He also commended the United States for its renewed commitment and support towards adaptation and building resilience within the region.

However, despite this renewed engagement by Australia and the U.S., the Chinese regime is still a presence in the country.

Trade and diplomatic relations between Fiji and China ramped up after a coup in 2006 by former Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama led to an increase in trade between the two nations.

Currently, the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade states that Chinas exports to Fiji US$397.4 million worth of goods, according to data from 2021.

Bilateral relations developed further in 2011, when the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding focusing on police cooperation and deepened following a defence agreement in 2014 which focused on training, border control, and equipment.

Rabuka, A Controversial Figure in Fiji

Formerly a decorated officer in the Fijian military, the new prime minister is seen by Fijians as a controversial figure known for his nationalism after personally seizing control of the state twice via a coup with the aim of installing a government that ethnic Fijians dominated.

Rabuka was also alleged to have been involved in the 2000 coup and mutiny at Elizabeth Barracks, where former Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama was the military commander. He was arrested in 2005 for his alleged involvement in the mutiny. However, the charges were later dismissed by the court.

He has also faced intense criticism after calling for the nationalisation of indigenous land and for the abolishment of Fijis traditional chiefly system of government, both of which were highly criticised by political and traditional leaders in the country.
US Asks Tesla About Musk Tweet on Driver Monitoring Function

WASHINGTONThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Monday said it was in contact with Tesla about a tweet Chief Executive Elon Musk wrote about a driver monitoring function.

A Dec. 31 tweet suggested drivers with more than 10,000 miles using Teslas Full Self-Driving (FSD) software system should be able to disable the steering wheel nag, an alert that instructs drivers to hold the wheel to confirm they are paying attention. Musk responded: Agreed, update coming in Jan.

NHTSA Monday said it is in contact with Tesla to gather additional information. The Associated Press reported NHTSAs statement earlier. Tesla did not immediately comment.

The auto safety agency confirmed the questions about Musks tweet are in connection with its ongoing defect probe into 830,000 Tesla vehicles with driver assistance system Autopilot and involving crashes with parked emergency vehicles.

NHTSA is reviewing whether Tesla vehicles adequately ensure drivers are paying attention, and previously said evidence suggested drivers in most crashes under review had complied with Teslas alert strategy that seeks to compel driver attention, raising questions about its effectiveness.

Tesla sells the $15,000 FSD software as an add-on which enables its vehicles to change lanes and park autonomously. That complements its standard Autopilot feature, which enables cars to steer, accelerate, and brake within their lanes without driver intervention. Both systems use the steering wheel monitoring function.

Last month, NHTSA said it had opened two new special investigations into crashes involving Tesla vehicles where advanced driver assistance systems are suspected to have been in use. Since 2016, NHTSA has opened more than three dozen Tesla special crash investigations where advanced driver assistance systems such as Autopilot were suspected of being used with 19 crash deaths reported.

In December 2021, NHTSA opened a probe into Teslas decision to allow games to be played by passengers on the front center touchscreen covering 580,000 vehicles over the vehicles Passenger Play over driver distraction concerns.

Soon after the investigation was opened, Tesla told NHTSA it would stop allowing video games to be played on vehicle screens while its cars are moving, the agency said.

By David Shepardson
US Navy Makes Illicit Discovery on Iranian Smuggling Vessel

An Iranian smuggling that was vessel halted by U.S. Navy forces as seen in a Jan. 10, 2022, photo released by the Navy. (US Navy)

The U.S. Navy seized thousands of AK-47 rifles after stopping a suspected smuggling vessel on its way from Iran to Yemen, the Navy confirmed Tuesday.

The Navy said the USS Chinook deployed a team to a fishing vessel in the Gulf of Oman, discovering a crew of Yemeni nationals. There, naval officials found about 2,116 AK-47s and confiscated them, according to a statement.

This shipment is part of a continued pattern of destabilizing activity from Iran, said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces. These threats have our attention. We remain vigilant in detecting any maritime activity that impedes freedom of navigation or compromises regional security.

According to the statement, the intercepted vessel was sailing on a route historically used to traffic illicit weapons and cargo to Yemens Houthi rebels, considered allies of Tehran. Since November, the U.S. 5th Fleet also has intercepted two other fishing vessels in the Gulf of Oman smuggling weapons from Iran to Yemen.

When we intercepted the vessel, it was on a route historically used to traffic illicit cargo to the Houthis in Yemen, Hawkins told The Associated Press Tuesday. The Yemeni crew corroborated the origin.

The Yemeni crew, Hawkins added, will be repatriated back to a government-controlled part of Yemen. A United Nations arms embargo has prohibited weapons transfers to the Houthis since 2014 when Yemens civil war erupted.

Photos published by the Navy on Tuesday showed hundreds of AK-47-style rifles lined up on the ships platform.

U.S. naval forces intercepted a fishing vessel in the Gulf of Oman, Jan. 6, and discovered it smuggling 2,116 AK-47 assault rifles while transiting international waters along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen. Read more https://t.co/A8cttaA7mS pic.twitter.com/jXFyhZDWrw  U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet (@US5thFleet) January 10, 2023

The direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of weapons to the Houthis violates U.N. Security Council Resolution 2216 and international law, said the Navy statement. The transfer of the vessel and its crew for repatriation is in progress.

On Dec. 1, the Navy said it found more than 50 tons of ammunition rounds, fuses, and rocket propellants. Weeks before that, on Nov. 8, officials intercepted more than 70 tons of ammonium perchlorate, a powerful oxidizer commonly used to make rocket and missile fuel, as well as 100 tons of urea fertilizer, according to the Navy.

History

Iran has long denied arming the Houthis even as it has been transferring rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, missiles, and other weaponry to the Yemeni militia using sea routes. Independent experts, Western nations, and U.N. experts have traced components seized aboard other detained vessels back to Iran.

Irans mission to the United Nations or Iranian officials have not issued public comments on the U.S. Navys arms seizure.

The Houthis seized Yemens capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 and forced the internationally recognized government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war on the side of Yemens exiled government in March 2015. Years of inconclusive fighting has pushed the Arab worlds poorest nation to the brink of famine.

A six-month cease-fire in Yemens war, the longest of the conflict, expired in October despite diplomatic efforts to renew it. Thats led to fears the fighting could again escalate. More than 150,000 people have been killed in Yemen during the conflict, including over 14,500 civilians.

There have been sporadic attacks since the cease-fire expired, though international negotiators are trying to find a political solution to the war.

Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command said on Dec. 6 that two U.S. warships were harassed by an Iranian patrol boat near the Strait of Hormuz. Over the years, U.S. officials say the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy has sporadically harassed U.S. and allied ships in the area, while Iran has been accused of attacking oil tankers and merchant ships.

The Iranian vessel attempted to blind the bridge by shining a spotlight and crossed within 150 yards of the U.S. shipsdangerously close, particularly at night, said a statement from CENTCOM in early December. The U.S. ships safely deescalated the situation through the [use] of audible warnings and non-lethal lasers. U.S. Navy ships continued their transit without further incident.

Weeks before that, a suspected Iranian explosive attack drone hit a merchant ship near the coast of Oman, U.S. 5th Fleet also said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
US Says Iran May Be Contributing to War Crimes in Ukraine

MEXICO CITYThe Biden administration said Monday that Irans sale of lethal drones to Russia for use in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine means the country may be contributing to widespread war crimes.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan leveled the charge against Iran on Monday as he spoke to reporters accompanying President Joe Biden on a trip to Mexico. While it did not signal a policy shift, the charge marked some of the sharpest U.S. rhetoric against Iran since it began providing weapons to Russia to support its nearly year-long war in Ukraine. It comes as the United States and European partners are looking to further ostracize both nations in the court of public opinion, as they face challenges with physically stopping the transfers of weapons on which Russia is increasingly reliant.

Sullivan said Iran had chosen to go down a road where their weapons are being used to kill civilians in Ukraine and to try to plunge cities into cold and darkness, which from our point of view, puts Iran in a place where it could potentially be contributing to widespread war crimes.

Sullivan pointed to European and U.S. sanctions on Iran put in place after the U.S. exposed Irans weapons sales to Russia last year as examples of how they are trying to make these transactions more difficult. But he acknowledged that the way that they are actually carrying them out physically makes physical interdiction a challenge.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday that the United States is already contributing money, expertise, and other logistical support to Ukrainian and international investigators probing allegations of war crimes. He said those probes could well extend beyond Russias actions.

If in the course of that work we are in a position to determine that the Iranian government as a whole or that senior Iranian officials are complicit or responsible for war crimes, we will work to hold them to account as well, he told reporters.

By Colleen Long and Zeke Miller
Veterinarians and Animal Rights Groups Ask Congress to End Cruel Export of Horses for Slaughter

A horse awaits its fate at a Mexican slaughterhouse (Courtesy of Humane Society of the United States)

The cruelty suffered by American horses exported for slaughter in Mexico and Canada has drawn a bipartisan group of more than 200 veterinarians and a number of animal rights groups to urge Congress to ban the practice.

The gory scenes seen on videos filmed in foreign slaughterhouses include terrified horses slipping and falling in their own blood and trashing upside-down hung from a single leg. The animals can be seen desperately trying to escape after witnessing other horses being beaten and bludgeoned.

Its the fate they face after being crammed into undersized trailers and transported long distances with no food or water.

It is hard to imagine that humans are okay with inflicting such agony, Joanna Grossman, Equine Program Manager and Senior Advisor, Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) told The Epoch Times.

Many lawmakers agree. The bill, expected to be voted on in the new session, already has bipartisan support from 200 Congressional sponsors including Florida Republican Vern Buchanan, one of its prime sponsors.

While the bipartisan House bill is entitled Save Americas Forgotten Equine [SAVE] Act, many of the horses are far from forgotten.

While some of the owners, mostly of race horses past their prime, know the fate of the animal they once cared for when it is sold, many of the horses are stolen by kill buyers posing as animal lovers promising a better life for them.

In 2018, Fallon Blackwood, a Tuskegee University veterinary student, was arrested and indicted on charges that she acquired at least 50 horses from different owners for free with a fictional story of a better life for them, but then sold them to a foreign kill buyer.

Stolen Horse International chronicles similar heartbreaking stories of owners searching for their beloved horses.

Undercover investigation of Juarez Mexico Horse Slaughter at Rastro Municipal Horse Slaughter Plant, Juarez, Mexico. (Courtesy of Humane Society of the United States)

Illegal horse slaughters have also been discovered in Florida and in other border states to Mexico and Canada. And while horse slaughter is illegal in the United States, The Bureau of Land Management was caught allowing the round up of wild horses living on federal land and sold by kill buyers for profit to Mexico and Canada.

Horse meat in Mexico sells for about 50 cents a pound. The average weight of a horse is 1,000 pounds.

Both the USDA and The European Commission banned the import of horse meat because both agencies deemed it unsafe for human consumption since horses receive a variety of medications and other drugs during their lifetime.

However, it is still widely sold in Mexico and Canada. Horse meat is also popular in Japan and Italy, where horse slaughterhouses are also legal.

In their Dec. 15 letter to Congress urging the passage of the SAFE Act, or HR 3355, veterinarians are also calling for a permanent ban of horse slaughter for meat in the United States.

While it is currently banned by virtue of defunding USDA inspection of U.S. horse slaughter houses, the ban has to be renewed annually.

Surprisingly, what little opposition there is to end the horse slaughter market, it is primarily from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP).

The passage of this legislation, without adequate funding or an infrastructure in place to care for unwanted horses, will create a series of unintended consequences that negatively impact the health and welfare of the horse, AVMA wrote in a statement.

The AAEP has expressed similar concerns.

But as Grossman and others point out, besides inviting horse theft, humane euthanasia is always an option and being unwanted doesnt excuse animal cruelty.

Dr. Nicholas Dodman is a veterinary behaviorist and Professor Emeritus of Behavioral Pharmacology and Animal Behavior at Tufts Universitya member of AVMA, as are many other veterinarians urging the SAFE Act passage. He testified before Congress on past similar legislation that suffering of horses in slaughter is accentuated by the very fact that they are not raised for slaughter.

It is an unethical and dangerous practice to equate horse slaughter with humane euthanasia, said Dodman. No ethical veterinarian, faced with a client who has a horse that is old, sick, or otherwise no longer wanted, would suggest that the horse in question should be put on a truck and hauled thousands of miles to slaughter.

American horses are held in export pens in Texas and New Mexico before being transported to slaughter in Mexico. American horses in Mexico heading to slaughter plant. (Courtesy of Humane Society of the United States)

Dodman is also a founder of Veterinarians for Equine Welfare, which points out that there is a decline in unwanted horses in the United States and an increase in programs for them that include hay subsidy and spay/neuter programs. According to a recent investigation by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), 92 percent of horses sent to foreign slaughter houses have been in good, healthy condition.

Other opposition to the SAFE Act comes from state farm bureaus and the American Farm Bureau Federation.

According to Fwd.Us, a lobbying group created by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to advocate for, among other things, legalizing the undocumented workforce, 50 percent of slaughterhouse workers in the United States are illegal immigrants.

The last horse slaughters run in the United States were also foreign owned.
Waiting Times for Some Tesla Models in China Increase After Automaker Discounts

People check a Tesla Model Y electric vehicle (EV) at its booth during the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing on Sept. 4, 2021. (Florence Lo/Reuters)

SHANGHAIProspective Tesla Inc. buyers in China are waiting longer for certain versions of its Model Y car, suggesting the electric-vehicle makers decision to cut prices is stoking demand in its second-largest market.

Tesla cut prices by 6 percent to 13.5 percent on Friday, bringing some of its auto prices to near BYDs best-selling models in a step analysts said was a sign that a price war could be building as demand in China has faltered.

The waiting time for orders of the rear-wheel-drive and long-range versions of Model Y were a week longer on Monday than on Friday, Teslas website showed. The wait as of Monday was two to five weeks on those models. The wait time for all versions of the Model 3 and the performance version of the Model Y remained at one to four weeks as of Monday.

It [the wait time] is an early indication that the price cuts are having their intended impact, which is to boost demand, said CFRA Research analyst Garrett Nelson.

The companys shares rose about 6 percent to close at $119.77 on Monday after losing 68 percent over the past 12 months. It was the most actively traded stock on U.S. exchanges, with more than 228 million shares changing hands.

As of Monday, Tesla had not made any adjustment to its January production plan for its Shanghai plant, with suspension of the assembly lines to start from Jan. 20 through the end of the month, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

Nelson added that Teslas vehicle production has exceeded sales for three straight quarters and the company has chosen to lower prices and take some additional downtime at the Shanghai factory to bring supply and demand back in balance.

Angry Chinese owners who bought Tesla cars in late 2022 and missed out on the additional discount said they were waiting for a response from the company for their demand for some kind of compensation after a flurry of impromptu protests.

A Tesla representative told Reuters on Saturday that the company has no plan to compensate those buyers for price cuts they had missed. The company did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Some of the buyers in China said they had been led to believe that the further discounts would not be coming. Many were also looking to take advantage of a nationwide EV subsidy that expired at year end.

Chinese state media have largely opted not to cover the protests, which online videos showed happened in cities including Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Xian. Reuters witnessed a protest at a Tesla facility in Shanghai.

Comments on Chinese social media were largely negative toward the Tesla buyers who have protested, with many saying online they should have understood the terms of the contract.

Separately, Tesla as of Monday began offering discounts to buyers in Singapore who agreed to purchase existing inventory, adding that market to China, South Korea, Japan, and Australia to those where it has offered new incentives.
Washington Post Issues Corrections on Article About Conservative Filmmaker Chris Rufo

Documentary filmmaker and Manhattan Institute fellow Chris Rufo criticized The Washington Post for a recent article that he said spread multiple lies about his political views and about Critical Race Theory (CRT), leading to the newspaper issuing a correction on segments of its reporting.

In a Twitter thread, Rufo highlighted several excerpts from the article titled DeSantis moves to turn a progressive Fla. college into a conservative one by Washington Post education reporter Valerie Strauss. The Washington Post article focused on Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis move to name Rufo and five others to the board of the New College of Florida in Sarasota.

Rufo took particular issue with the publications characterization of his political views and his involvement in past efforts to stop government agencies and state businesses from teaching certain diversity programs that he argues amount to racial scapegoating.

The first alleged lie Rufo raised was a claim in the article that critical race theory isnt taught in K-12 schools.

Lie #1. The WaPo tries to revive the long-debunked claim that critical race theory isnt taught in schools. Ive provided them with reams of evidence and *the WaPo itself* has published multiple articles admitting that critical race theory is being taught in K-12 schools. pic.twitter.com/d5vVM9AKzs  Christopher F. Rufo  (@realchrisrufo) January 8, 2023

This is flat-out false, Rufo wrote of the claim that CRT isnt taught in K-12 schools. I have reported on numerous examples of critical race theory taught in schools, all of which include original source documents. There are entire courses taught in Portland public schools, for example, titled Critical Race Theory. The superintendent of Detroit Public Schools said explicitly that his district is deeply using critical race theory throughout the curriculum. The Washington Post itself has published multiple articles admitting that critical race theory is being taught in K-12 schools.

The second set of apparent lies Rufo took issue with were claims about his views on systemic racism. A portion of The Washington Post article states, Critical race theory is a decades-old academic discipline that investigates systemic racism in the United States, which Rufo and others insist doesnt exist; they say racism is the act of individuals alone.

Lie #2. The WaPo invents ideas and then attributes them to me with no evidence or citations. Strauss puts words in my mouth and then reports them as if they were facts. Very dishonest. pic.twitter.com/3LROBk3C5R  Christopher F. Rufo  (@realchrisrufo) January 8, 2023

I have argued that American law does not currently discriminate against racial minorities, with the exception of Asian-Americans, who, along with European-Americans, are penalized in college admissions and other diversity, equity, and inclusion policies-a very different claim than systemic racism does not exist,' Rufo wrote in response.

Furthermore, I have never claimed that racism is the act of individuals alone. Strauss simply makes it up out of thin air.

In a third tweet, Rufo described how The Washington Post article incorrectly reported on a Sept. 22, 2020, executive order signed by then-President Donald Trump, that limited federal agencies from teaching divisive concepts about race or sex to federal employees. The Washington Post characterized Trumps executive order as one that canceled all federal diversity training programs.

Rufo countered that Trumps executive order did not cancel all federal diversity training programs but only ones that promoted scapegoating against certain sexes or races.

Lie #3. The WaPo flat-out lies about Trumps anti-CRT executive order. Its likely that Strauss never bothered to read itif she had, she would have easily understood that her claim here is false. pic.twitter.com/4MqC2kCgIn  Christopher F. Rufo  (@realchrisrufo) January 8, 2023

The executive order in question defines prohibited scapegoating to include ideas that an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously, an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex and that meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist, or were created by a particular race to oppress another race.

The Washington Post article further claimed that Trump signed this executive order against certain diversity training programs within days of Rufos appearance on Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight program. Rufo disputed this claim in another tweet, calling it Lie #4.

I went on Tucker Carlson Tonight on September 1, 2020. President Trump signed the executive order on September 22, 2020. This is a full three weeks, not within days,' Rufo wrote.

Lie #4. The WaPo brazenly fabricates the timeline of events surrounding my work with President Trump on the anti-CRT executive order. Strauss did not bother to look up the dates at allshe went with her own fiction. pic.twitter.com/OeeF2b19e7  Christopher F. Rufo  (@realchrisrufo) January 8, 2023

As a fifth lie, Rufo said The Washington Post article also misrepresented the Stop WOKE Act that Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law last year.

Rufo alleged The Washington Post made a similar mistake in characterizing the Stop WOKE Act as it had in characterizing Trumps 2020 executive order on federal diversity training. While the original Washington Post article claimed the act barred businesses from providing diversity training to employees, Rufo argued that the law only prohibited certain types of diversity training that engaged in behaviors like racial scapegoating.

Lie #5. The WaPo also manages to lie about my work on the DeSantis Stop WOKE Act. Again, its likely that Strauss simply did not read the lawif she had, she would have known that her reporting here is not true. pic.twitter.com/989rBx1ylX  Christopher F. Rufo  (@realchrisrufo) January 8, 2023

Washington Post Addresses Some Complaints, Leaves Others

Following Rufos complaints, The Washington Post updated its article to change the wording of some of its passages.

Rufo tweeted a screenshot of an emailed response he received from Washington Post Education Editor Adam Kushner, who said the publication had reviewed Rufos criticisms of the article and found four had merit.

WINNING: The Washington Posts latest hit piece against me has collapsed. Education editor Adam Kushner admits to publishing four false statements about my work and has officially retracted them. This is a supreme embarrassment for the newspaper and reporter @valeriestrauss. pic.twitter.com/D6V1Qs2TF6  Christopher F. Rufo  (@realchrisrufo) January 8, 2023

The Washington Post issued a correction disclaimer that states: A previous version of this story called Christopher Rufo a Republican activist who denies the existence of systemic racism. He is a conservative activist who has said American law is not currently discriminating against racial minorities. The story also clarifies language about diversity trainings used by the federal government and businesses in Florida, which were not technically forbidden but were broadly restricted in what they could say about systemic racism.

After The Washington Post article originally claimed Rufo believes that systemic racism doesnt exist, the updated article now states that Rufo and others insist that systemic racism doesnt work through American institutions to discriminate against many marginalized groups.

Where the original Washington Post article had said Trumps executive order cancel[ed] all federal diversity training programs and the Florida law barred businesses from providing diversity training to employees the article now states that Trumps order and the Florida law only restricted the types of diversity training programs that federal agencies and Florida business owners could provide to their employees.

The Washington Post did not change the portion of the article that claimed critical race theory is not taught in K-12 schools. The publication also maintained the characterization that Trump signed his executive order on federal diversity training within days of Rufos appearance on Fox News, rather than adding any language that clarified that three weeks had transpired between those two events.

From NTD News.
Western Australia Allocates Land for $70 Billion Worth of Renewables-Related Projects

A 450 megawatt combined cycle gas-fired power station under construction in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, on March 5, 2010. (Amy Coopes/AFP via Getty Images)

The Western Australian (WA) government will allocate land to seven projects, mostly connected to renewable energy, with a $70 billion (US$48.5 billion) investment.

Land from the Boodarie and Ashburton North Strategic Industrial Areas (SIAs) will be allocated, according to a Jan. 6 WA government statement.

Specifically, Equus Energy, a subsidiary of Western Gas Corporation, and Fortescue Future Industries will be allotted land in the Ashburton North SIA, an 8,000-hectare industrial zone located around 1,100 kilometres north of Perth.

In addition, Korean steelmaker POSCO, Fortescue Metals Group, Alinta Energy, UK-based Tees Valley Lithium and global oil giant BP have received land approvals for their projects in the Boodarie SIA, which is close to Port Hedlandthe home to the worlds largest bulk export port.

WA Deputy Premier and State Development Minister Roger Cook said the land allocations would help the two industrial zones compete globally.

The projects across the two SIAs will deliver a range of projects, including ammonia, green iron ore, and hydrogen, he said in a statement.

From job creation to growing the local advanced manufacturing industry and servicing international markets, we will see the economic benefits of these land allocations and these projects flow through the WA economy over time.

WA Lands Minister John Carey said the announcement was a major boost for regional towns such as Onslow, South Hedland and Port Hedland.

He added that the projects would help create jobs while strengthening and diversifying the WA economy.

Details of the Projects

Western Gas said its subsidiary Equus Energy would build a low-carbon ammonia and methanol manufacturing facility in the Ashburton North SIA.

The company also said Equus Energy planned to progressively reduce the facilitys carbon footprint and transition towards producing green fuels by combining renewable energy from solar and wind with the natural gas feedstock procured from its own gas project in WA.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that POSCO planned to use hydrogen to produce hot briquetted iron, a type of processed product formed by removing oxygen from iron ore into a briquette shape, in Western Australia.

The giant steel maker also had plans to invest US$40 billion in hydrogen and green steel projects in Australia by 2040.

A hydrogen liquefaction plant is pictured at the Leuna chemical park near Leuna, eastern Germany, on May 16, 2022. (Jens Schlueter/AFP via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, oil producer BP secures land in the Boodarie SIA to get better access to Port Hedland and the $53 billion Australian Renewable Energy Hub in the Pilbara.

In December 2022, BP acquired a 40.5 percent stake in the hub, which is said to have a generation capacity of 26 gigawatts of wind and solar energy when it is completed.

BP said the hub had the potential to be one of the largest renewable and green hydrogen hubs in the world.

The hub is also expected to supply renewable power and green hydrogen to miners and industrial companies in Pilbara and for export purposes.

Green Hydrogen Production and Lithium Sulphate Refinery

Iron ore producer Fortescue was allocated land at both the Boodarie and Ashburton North SIAs to proceed with its projects.

A Fortescue spokesperson told The Epoch Times that the company would develop a green products precinct at Boodarie.

While the spokesperson did not elaborate on what specific green products would be manufactured, there was a possibility that Fortescue could produce and use green hydrogen at the facility.

The precinct stands to be a key step towards establishing an integrated green products industry across the Pilbara, while also creating significant economic and employment opportunities for Western Australia, the spokesperson said.

In early 2022, Fortescue, which has diversified into green hydrogen, announced plans for establishing a 5.4-gigawatt wind and solar facility to support its iron ore operations in Western Australia.

The project included 340 wind turbines and a significant number of solar panel arrays over a 25 square kilometre area in the Pilbara region and could also supply power to the Ashburton North SIA.

Meanwhile, Alinta Energy, which owns a gas-fired power station in Port Hedland, was also reported to consider producing green hydrogen at the Boodarie SIA.

Following the land allocation announcement, UK-based Tees Valley Lithium released a statement, saying it would build a lithium sulphate refinery at Boodarie.

In addition, Tees Valley Lithium director Sam Quinn said that the project would offer Australian spodumene (a pyroxene mineral s is a source of lithium) direct access to the European battery market via the companys hydroxide refinery in Teesside, UK.

The construction of the facility is divided into four stages, with each stage providing additional production capacity.

When completed, the refinery will produce a total of 96,000 tonnes of lithium sulphate per year, which is around 15 percent of Europes forecasted demand by 2030.
By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) - Prince Harry's "Spare" became the UK's fastest selling non-fiction book ever, its publisher said on Tuesday, after days of TV interviews, leaks, and a mistaken early release of the memoir containing intimate revelations about the British royal family.

Harry's book has garnered attention around the world with its disclosures about his personal struggles and its accusations about other royals, including his father King Charles, stepmother Camilla and elder brother Prince William.

"We always knew this book would fly but it is exceeding even our most bullish expectations," Transworld Penguin Random House Managing Director Larry Finlay said in a statement.

"As far as we know, the only books to have sold more in their first day are those starring the other Harry (Potter)."

Citing British sales figures, the publisher said it had sold 400,000 copies so far across hardback, e-book and audio formats.

Earlier in the day, Caroline Lennon, a retail worker and one of the eager readers who had headed to bookshops to get their copy on the first day of its release, said she would read the book immediately as she posed for photographers.

"I like him, I like the royal family," said Lennon, 59, the first and only person waiting to buy a copy from a Waterstone's bookshop in central London when it opened.

Despite the lack of queues, Waterstone's said there had been strong pre-orders for the memoir which currently ranks as the best-seller on Amazon's UK, U.S., Australian, German and Canadian websites.

"I know perhaps some of the things he says have rubbed different people the wrong way," Lai Jiang told Reuters after buying a copy in Singapore.

"And I know, definitely, there are a lot of people who say that he shouldn't come out and say the things he says, but I believe Harry should be given a chance to say what he wants to say."

Story continues

"Spare" is the latest revelatory offering from Harry and his wife Meghan since they stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and moved to California to forge a new life, and follows their Netflix documentary last month.

The royal family has not commented on the book or the interviews and is unlikely to do so.

Extracts from the book were leaked last Thursday when its Spanish language edition also went on sale by mistake in some bookshops in Spain.

Harry speaks of his grief and growing up after the death of his mother Princess Diana when he was just 12, his use of cocaine and other drugs to cope, how he killed 25 Taliban fighters while serving as a soldier in Afghanistan, and even how he lost his virginity.

He also reveals a heated row with William, the heir to the throne, saying his brother knocked him over, and how they had both begged his father not to marry Camilla, who he wed in 2005 and is now the queen consort.

In TV interviews ahead of the book launch, Harry has doubled down on his accusations that some royals, including Camilla and William, leaked stories to tabloid papers which had damaged either him or his wife Meghan in order to protect themselves or enhance their reputations.

"I think she (his mother Diana) would be heartbroken about the fact that William, his office, were part of these stories," he told Good Morning America (GMA).

In another interview with CBS show 60 minutes, he said Camilla had been a tabloid "villain" and needed to rehabilitate her image, which made her "dangerous".

"I don't regard her as an evil stepmother. I see someone who married into this institution and has done everything that she can to, you know, improve her reputation and her own image," he told GMA.

While Harry's revelations have dominated the headlines in the British media over the last week, the interest in his disclosures is far from universal.

"I was not planning to (read the book) as it so happens, or certainly not as an early priority," business minister Grant Shapps told Times Radio on Tuesday. "I've got one or two other things to do."

(Additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan, Muvija M and Lion Schellerer in Singapore; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, Alexandra Hudson)
White House Says Republicans Pushing to Defund Military; New GOP House Whip Says Biden Admin Peddling Lies

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy heads to the Speaker's Ceremonial Office at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 9, 2023. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

The Biden White House recently alleged the Republican lawmakers who now control the House of Representatives will pursue spending cuts that will defund the U.S. military. In a Monday response, the new Republican House Majority Whip accused the Biden administration of peddling lies about Republican plans.

Republicans, who recently took over control of the House, appear to be going through an internal debate about what spending priorities are on the table as they work to reduce government spending. In a recent interview with Fox News Sunday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) faced a question about whether defense spending could be cut, to which he replied, We got a $32 trillion debt. Everything has to be on the table.

During that interview, Jordan went on to propose reducing the number of general officers in the military.

Maybe if we focused on that, helping the troops who do so much of the work out there for our great country, and maybe focus on getting rid of all the woke policies in our military, wed have the money we need to make sure our troops get the pay raise they deserve, we have the weapons systems and the training that needs to be done, so were ready to deal with our adversaries around the planet, thats what we want to focus on, Jordan added.

Some of the questions about the Republican plans for defense spending stem from concessions some Republican lawmakers requested from Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in exchange for supporting his bid to become the speaker of the House. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who had been one of the Republican holdouts that initially opposed McCarthys speakership, posted on Twitter that he and his colleagues secured a commitment from Speaker McCarthy to enact the biggest discretionary spending cut EVER in FY 2024, by reducing fiscal year 2024 spending levels to match the spending levels seen in the 2022 fiscal year.

White House Describes Push to Defund Our Military

On Monday, Fox News White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich posted on Twitter an excerpt from an interview with White House spokesperson Andrew Bates, who said, This push to defund our military in the name of politics is senseless and out of line with our national security needs.

NEW: White House slams @SpeakerMcCarthy deal with GOP dissenters that could potentially slash military funding, @AndrewJBates46 calling it senseless and out of line with our national security needshttps://t.co/RXHNwvyHnt pic.twitter.com/xVJIaryY0u  Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) January 9, 2023

There is bipartisan opposition to defense cuts because making us less capable of keeping the American people safe and advancing our national security interests would be a profound mistake that our nation cannot afford, Bates added in his interview comment.

On Monday, Republican House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) criticized the commentary coming from the White House about military spending cuts.

Emmer alleged the Biden White House was peddling lies to distract from Republican plans to investigate their spending practices under the first two years of the Biden presidency.

The Biden administration is peddling lies because they are terrified House Republicans will soon hold them accountable for the bloated bureaucracy and reckless spending that has built up under Democrats one-party rule, Emmer told Fox News.

Roy posted a tweet Sunday about the deal he and other Republicans reached with McCarthy to enact the biggest discretionary spending cut, saying it did not include any discussion of cutting defense funding.

Like clockwork big spending neocons & the military industrial complex have claimed this means cutting defense spending, Roy said. THATS A LIE.

Rep. Roy & his colleagues secured a commitment from Speaker McCarthy to enact the biggest discretionary spending cut EVER in FY 2024. And like clockwork big spending neocons & the military industrial complex have claimed this means cutting defense spending THATS A LIE.  Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) January 9, 2023

In follow-up tweets, Roy said that during negotiations, cuts to defense were NEVER DISCUSSED.

In fact, there was broad agreement spending cuts should focus on NON-DEFENSE discretionary spending, Roy continued. This means cutting funding for the woke & weaponized bureaucrats that received massive increases under the $1.7 trillion omnibus. (This IS NOT Social Security/Medicare).

In fact, there was broad agreement spending cuts should focus on NON-DEFENSE discretionary spending. This means cutting funding for the woke & weaponized bureaucrats that received massive increases under the $1.7 trillion omnibus. (This IS NOT Social Security/Medicare)  Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) January 9, 2023

Emmer Says Spending Cuts Part of Separate Agreement

On Sunday, Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-Texas) shared concerns that the Republican proposal to cut spending back to the levels seen in fiscal year 2022 would include cuts for defense spending and would be included in the rules package for the House.

This has a proposed billions of dollar cut to defense, which I think is a horrible idea, Gonzales said in a Sunday interview on CBSs Face the Nation.

Emmer told Fox News that Gonzalez is not willing to vote for the rules package yet due to his concerns about defense spending and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) is on the fence.

Emmer said that McCarthys agreement to cut spending back to FY2022 levels is part of an agreement thats separate from the new House rules package. Emmer told Fox News that he believes GOP members will eventually come around on the rules package when they realize the things that they want to talk about are in this separate agreement.

And the argument is this would affect defense spending, which Im here to tell you guys, Republicans will not impact defense spending, said Emmer. Aside from the efficiencies and waste, its the domestic spending that were going to go after.

From NTD News
Why Brazilians Cant Trust The Military to Save Democracy

Military Police shock troop arrive at a blockade by supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro on Castelo Branco highway, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Nov. 1, 2022. (Caio Guatelli/AFP via Getty Images)

Commentary

After electoral authorities declared the far-left candidate, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the winner of Brazils presidential elections, millions of concerned citizens gathered outside the Army headquarters in Brasilia and military barracks in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Curitiba to protest.

Unfortunately, however, those concerned citizens might have sought the assistance of a historically unreliable political ally. After all, the military in Brazil has developed over the years an unequivocal tradition of authoritarian interference in the nations political affairs.

They have done so by often assuming for themselves the task of salvadores da patria (saviours of the fatherland) from bad and corrupt politicians.

One of the primary reasons proffered by military leaders for ousting President Joao Goulart on March 31, 1964, was the necessity to end corruption. However, two decades after their military coup, corruption seemed to have even increased during their watch.

Those army officers had taken power, promising to eliminate corruption but were forced 20 years later to leave it due to, among other things, increased levels of corruption and the erosion of the Armed Forces institutional prestige.

The military interference in political affairs in Brazil dates back to the 1870s when the end of the bloody war against Paraguays dictator Solano Lopez brought about a huge politicization of the Brazilian Army.

A few decades later, in November 1889, Army leaders organized their first coup by replacing the constitutional monarchy with a republican dictatorship.

Accordingly, an official letter written in 1890 on behalf of the Navy to a civilian authority in the new republican government stated (pdf):

We hope you will use your intelligence for the installation of a type of republican government which will concentrate all the power in the hands of one single person  To establish a felicitous, stable and prosperous republic, the government of this country needs to become dictatorial and not parliamentary.

How the Army Helped Establish Past Authoritarian Regimes

The first president of Brazil, Field Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, harshly persecuted constitutional monarchists and nominated Army generals for the administration of all the old provinces.

However, a civil war broke out in 1892 after he attempted to dissolve the Parliament. Deodoro was then forced to step down by another Army officer, Floriano Peixoto, who, unfortunately, was as authoritarian as him, mercilessly crushing the Navys uprising as well as civilian opposition.

But Floriano, at the very least, left office to an elected civilian after the completion of his controversial mandate.

Other military uprisings took place in 1922 and 1924, when ultra-nationalist officers carried out unsuccessful rebellions in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, respectively.

The 1922 uprising pitched 5,000 Army rebels under the leadership of General Isidro Diaz Lopez against a federal force of over 20,000 men.

Daniel Zirker, a political-science professor commenting on the military uprising of 1924, said it had deeply influenced a generation of soldiers and their perceptions of the role of the military as a political proponent.

Although these military rebellions in the 1920s were effectively suppressed, another such coup in 1930 was far more successful, thus preventing an elected president from taking office.

It substituted in his place the defeated candidate Getulio Vargas who, with the support of several oligarchies, received the presidency from a military junta that had only a few days earlier deposed President Washington Luis.

Getulio Vargas (1883-1954), President of Brazil, delivers a broadcast speech to announce the dissolution of congress and to proclaim the fascist Estado Novo (New State) dictatorship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Nov. 10, 1937. (OFF/AFP via Getty Images)

The collaboration between Vargas and the Brazilian Army was sustained by the belief that the country needed to be ruled by authoritarian means.

Upon taking office, Vargas placed military leaders at the centre of political decision-making. His government was a military regime, in essence, despite the civilian status of the president and many of his ministers.

The Military After WWII

With the defeat of Nazism-Fascism in World War II, it was a contradiction to be governed by a regime bearing so many similarities to those the Brazilians also helped defeat in Europe.

Consequently, in 1945, Vargas was forced to resign by the military leadership. Although the dictator attributed his demise to the liberal constitutionalists hoping for the restoration of the old liberal democracy, in reality, the dictator was sent from office by the decision of the Army Command.

The end of Vargass dictatorship promised a new era of democratic government. In having no direct links with him, the 1960 election of Janio Quadros was seen as signalling a possible rupture within his authoritarian legacy.

On Aug. 25, 1961, however, Quadros stunned the nation by offering his letter of resignation. Apparently, he did so to provoke a political crisis which he calculated would cause people to demand his return to the office, this time as a dictator. His artifice proved a total failure, and he never returned to power.

Members of the Special Police Unit (BOPE) patrol during an operation in the Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Jan. 25, 2018. (Mauro Pimentel/AFP via Getty Images)

When Quadros offered his resignation, his vice-president, Joao Goulart, was serving on a diplomatic mission in China. Goulart had been Vargas labour minister in 1953, and was a close friend of Argentinas leader Juan Domingo Peron, whose regime relied on trade-union support.

Elected as vice president with no more than 34 percent of votes, he sought to create close ties with China, Cuba, and Soviet Russia. Relying on the advice of his Army staff, especially the head of the Military Household, General Assis Brazil, Goulart started to promise communist-style policies that could not be put into practice without a constitutional amendment.

He also encouraged the political aspirations of low-ranking military officers, even though they were barred by law from elected public office.

On March 26, 1964, Goulart refused to punish a Navy mutiny carried out by left-wing marines who refused to cease illegal political activities and return to their duties. The mutiny brought about an agreement between the otherwise politically divided military leadership that now Goulart, indeed, had gone too far.

Therefore, it was the presidents sanctioning of military indiscipline, and not the opposition to his communist policies, that eventually forced the military leadership to do something.

The End of the Militarys Time in Power

The military coup that deposed Goulart began on March 31, 1964, with a radio proclamation by General Olimpio Mourao, the commander of the Fourth Military Region in Minas Gerais.

The military leaders of this coup were divided between hard-line and soft-line factions. While soft-liners wished for a quick restoration of democracy, hard-liners were instead planning a more permanent, authoritarian regime. The hard-line faction eventually prevailed over the moderates, particularly after terrorist groups of the Far Left initiated their rural and urban guerrilla warfare in 1968.

Brazilian soldiers participate in the graduation ceremony and commemorate the 1964 military coup, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 28, 2019. (Nelson Almeida/AFP via Getty Images)

In the late 1970s, a severe economic crisis stroke Brazil that served at least to engender widespread discontentment with the military regime. Consequently, a slow process of re-democratization was initiated, and General Joao Batista de Oliveira Figueiredo, the last military president, successfully made the step towards finally ending it.

During their 20-year reign in power, the military leaders in Brazil seemed to have sometimes behaved in a similar way as an occupying force rather than the putative protectors of law and order.

They left power demoralized, not only as a result of their disastrous economic policies but also because of widespread corruption in the public agencies and the approximately 600 state-owned companies directly owned by the military regime.

For the reasons above explained, the Brazilian protesters have looked towards the wrong authorities in the hopes of restoring their democratic rights and freedoms.

On the contrary, there is a real chance that, due to their authoritarian tradition of intervention in the nations political affairs, one should not even be surprised if the military leadership eventually assist in the implementation of policies by the new Lula administration.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Experts Question Why Biden and Trump Treated Differently in Classified Document Cases

Former chief counsel suggests 2-month gap between discovery, public disclosure shows 'political coverup'

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks on the FAA computer outage as he departs the White House on January 11, 2023. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

As Republican lawmakers such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) express concern that President Joe Bidens retention of classified materials from his vice presidency may be [swept] under the rug, legal experts told The Epoch Times why Biden and former President Donald Trump appear to have been treated very differently in two strikingly parallel cases.

FBI agents executed a search warrant on Trumps Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, in August 2022. The warrant said there was probable cause to believe there were additional documents that contain classified NDI [national defense information] or presidential records subject to record retention requirements at Mar-a-Lago.

By contrast, neither the Penn Biden Center nor any other address associated with Biden has been raided after classified materials were reportedly found at the centers Washington office, which is located in a nondescript building about a mile from the White House.

Whats the difference in what President Trump did versus what we now know President Biden did? asked House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), as reported by CBS.

Bidens attorneys have said that the materials were identified on Nov. 2, just days before an underwhelming midterm election performance by Republicans. Yet, the public wasnt told of the existence of those materials until Jan. 9, two months after those elections took place.

That delay is indicative of a political cover-up, says Mike Davis, former chief counsel for nominations to then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and the founder of the Article III Project.

He sees it as part of a pattern under the Biden administration.

Theres a clear political double standard at the Biden Justice Department, which has been politicized and weaponized against Republicans, Davis told The Epoch Times on Jan. 10.

An expert on administrative law had a similar perspective.

The fact that this has happened really creates a rule of law: if youre a Republican, you have to meet certain exacting standards when it comes to records, and if youre a Democrat, you dont, according to the expert, who requested anonymity because company policy doesnt allow employees to speak to the media.

A Republican president must operate in a fishbowl. If youre a Republican president, the presumption is you have to preserve everything. And you just have to be extra careful. If youre a Democrat, rest assured, youre going to have different procedures applied.

Under a more consistent system, he added, the standard set by Trumps case would also have applied to Bidens case.

The Justice Department shouldnt have said, Lets negotiate. You guys review and tell us what you find. The Justice Department should have immediately had the FBI raid the offices. Why? How do we know, without documenting and creating an inventory, whether the documents were classified or top secret?

Davis contrasted the case of Trumps records with the developing story of Bidens handling of classified materials.

President Trump had the absolute constitutional and statutory power under the Presidential Records Act to declassify and take presidential records when he left office. Former Vice President Joe Biden absolutely did not, he said.

Citing an appeals court decision, an analysis of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant from the Congressional Research Service suggested that Trumps broad authority to declassify information could be hemmed in if he failed to follow established procedures.'

Its the process thats the punishment. In other words, the bureaucrats make the rules, whether or not theyre in law or not. And if you violate those rules, there are consequences, the anonymous legal expert said.

For Davis, the more recent revelations about Bidens vice presidential materials raise key questions pertinent to established procedures and also United States national securityquestions he believes Republicans in the House must pursue through their oversight authority on a range of committees.

Did Hunter Biden have access to this office? Did James Biden have access to this office? What were these classified documents? Have they done an intel assessment? Are they planning to do an FBI raid? Are they planning to question Hunter Biden, James Biden, and Joe Biden [and] anyone else who [may have] had access to that office? he asked.

Archives Had No Power in Trump Case: Expert

The legal expert said the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) didnt have the authority to refer the Trump records case to the Department of Justice, as occurred prior to the Mar-a-Lago raid.

While Title 44 does specify that NARA can refer cases involving federal agency records to the Department of Justice, theres no parallel language in that title pertaining to presidential records.

There is no power for the archivist in those cases to make referrals to the Justice Department, the expert said.

In the experts opinion, the former presidents legal team should have made a challenge on that basis.

Trumps lawyers were asleep at the wheel, the expert said, contrasting those lawyers with Bidens top-quality legal representation.

CBS has reported that Attorney General Merrick Garland assigned the U.S. attorney in Chicago, John R. Lausch Jr., to investigate why the Penn Biden Center came to hold classified material.

The review is considered a preliminary step, and the attorney general will determine whether further investigation is necessary, including potentially appointing a special counsel, according to CBS.

Lausch, a Trump appointee, is one of only two U.S. attorneys appointed by Trump who has remained in the role under Biden. While he was initially asked to step down, Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) requested that he not be forced out.

He had been the senators preference for the position in 2017, as indicated by a statement at the time.

Davis questioned the choice of Lausch to investigate the case, describing him as a Durbin pick.

There absolutely should be a special counsel appointed, he said, adding that a U.S. attorney is not politically insulated enough.
Will the European Union Ban or Tax Meat Production?

European flags fly at half-mast during a meeting of EU energy ministers to find solutions to rising energy prices at the EU headquarters in Brussels, on Sept. 9, 2022, one day after the death of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. (John Thys/AFP via Getty Images)

Commentary

Will the European Union or certain countries in the EU ban meat production in order to meet emission regulations? In short, the answer is yes. There is a very real possibility in the near future that a member country (probably Sweden, Denmark, or the Netherlands) will impose a tax or an outright ban on meat production.

Why Sweden, Denmark, or the Netherlands? While this sounds absolutely crazy, part of the rationale is to avoid legal issues with the EU. A handful of European countries have legally binding net-zero plans for emissions and climate metrics, and the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark are small countries with large agricultural footprints. Small landmass with heavy agriculture industry makes for an easy target.

I wrote about such conflicting issues last month with the Netherlands closing down farms. The Dutch, like the Swedes and the Danes, are very serious about reducing emissions, as well as limiting meat consumption. The problem is they consume and produce lots of meat.

In Haarlem, a city west of Amsterdam, they have banned meat advertisements starting in 2024. Treating meat like cigarettes or alcohol to impose meat alternatives on consumers so consumers can eat highly processed fake meat products, or rely on imported meat, is a major turning point in reason and rationale.

Saxo Bank market strategist Charu Chanana stated in Saxos end of the year predictions that Sweden or Denmark may decide to heavily tax meat from 2025 and could ban all domestically produced live animal-sourced meat entirely by 2030. Charu added: I wouldnt be surprised to see schools in Denmark and Sweden banning meat altogether. Its definitely going that way.

In Sweden, statements purporting that Swedish meat consumption is declining and vegetarianism is on the rise contradict official statistics. According to recent EuroMeatNews and data from the Swedish Board of Agriculture, Demand for Swedish meat and poultry increased significantly.

Beef, pork, and poultry aside, the Swedes like their seafood. Most of their seafood is imported. According to a 2019 report from the University of Gothenburg: 72 percent of Swedish seafood comes from imports and 28 percent from domestic producers. It is worth noting that 90 percent of the 72 percent of seafood imports come from China.

As for Denmark, Denmark has a sizable meat industry. Danish meat revenue amounted to $4.40 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow annually by 5 percent-plus. The Danes produce a huge amount of pork for marketsaround 32 million piglets a yearand millions of those pigs are sold to the European Union (predominantly Germany and Poland). For comparison, 32 million piglets is almost twice the number of piglets that Canada sells to the United States each year.

Furthermore, while Denmarks government and their EU representatives have meat production in the crosshairs for additional regulation and tax, they are certainly not against harvesting animals for fur. In Denmark, mink farming is very lucrative, and Denmark is one of the worlds largest producers of mink furs; there are thousands of mink farming operations, and tens of millions of mink. Latest figures show upwards of 98 percent of mink fur harvested in Denmark is exported to foreign markets. Its a huge money maker.

In fact, Denmarks mink are so plentiful, theyve become an invasive species in Denmark, destroying local ecosystems. How is this not an issue?

I am not against lower emissions, or animal welfare, or even the growing popularity of vegetarianism, but I am against irrational thought processes from totalitarian technocrats.

Shuttering farms and banning meat production is not a rational strategy. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 14.5 percent of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to livestock. However, according to the science journal Nature Food, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and South America are the worlds largest emitters of greenhouse gasses.

Is it not a better idea to place limits and regulations on those who emit the most pollution and greenhouse gasses (in this case, Asia and South America)?

I find it highly irritating that Asia and South America continue on with endless pollution, while leaders in the Western world plot to destroy industry in the name of emissions controls. Westerners should not sit back and allow Asian and South American countries to catch up to our standards by using growth methods that pollute while Western markets are punished for economic success.

Let the socialists experiment with Asia and South America and allow the economic engines of the Western world to flourish, without interference from Marxist totalitarians.
A pall of gloom descended on Orda-Candolim on Saturday evening when two children of a family were found dead inside their house, and the father's body hanging from a nearby tree the following morning. This was one of the worst spine-chilling cases that Goa has witnessed in recent times, where a family feud resulted in a horrific tragedy.

It is learnt that there were visible signs of unrest between the husband and wife  Joy Fernandes and Irene. The fact that the husband skipped the nuptials of the neighbourhood wedding and the reception, where he was supposed to raise a toast later in the evening, were signs that all was not well in the family.

The man is believed to have murdered his two children  a 13-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy by strangulation, somewhere between 3 pm and 5 pm when the wife had left for the church to attend the nuptials. On paper, it appears to be a straightforward murder arising out of a family dispute. However, there are several questions that remain unanswered, giving an indication that there could be more than what meets the eye.

The lady returned to the house at around 5 pm but remained put on the balcony of the house till 10 pm. The assumption that children are at Catechism classes should have been lost sooner, and since there was no contact with any member of the family, there should have been a certain level of panic raised much earlier.

Secondly, in the husband-wife tussle, what prompted the murder of the children needs to be probed. The police found the children dead on a bed but did not find the man in the house. With the father being the prime suspect, since he was the only other member in the house during the time, police should have launched a massive manhunt. There was a strong reason to go after the man since he was disconnecting frantic calls made by concerned neighbours to reach him earlier in the evening. The body of Joy was found hanging from a tree by a neighbour the following morning.

The post-mortem reports have mentioned the death of children was due to "asphyxia as a result of strangulation by ligature" and Joy's death as "asphyxia and cerebral venous as a result of hanging by ligature". The police have a job cut out to find the motive and the nature of the family feud that could have triggered such drastic action.

Goa has seen increasing cases of family clashes involving violence and physical assaults, some resulting in deaths. The pandemic phase has been the worst, with families witnessing a spate of incidents involving physical violence, abuse and sexual assaults over various issues, including money and property.

Sadly, Goa does not have a readily accessible redressal system which victims of abuse and violence can seek remedy from. There is a failure to counsel individuals who are facing the horrors of life, and distressed citizens are left at their mercy to find a way out. Mental health counselling is a crucial aspect of day-to-day living but is given stepmotherly treatment in Goa.
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This photograph taken on September 11, 2022, shows a Ukrainian soldier standing atop an abandoned Russian tank near a village on the outskirts of Izyum, Kharkiv Region, eastern Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images

Russia's forces in Ukraine will be "exhausted" soon, said a former senior NATO leader.

James Stavridis said a tough winter would create a window for meaningful negotiations.

Ukraine is seeking to push back Russian forces along a broad front in east Ukraine.

Former NATO official James Stavridis said that Russia's forces in Ukraine will be "burned through and exhausted" by the end of winter, creating an opportunity for peace negotiations.

In an interview with New York radio station WABC 770, Stavridis said that while Ukraine was winning on the ground, Russia had an advantage in the air.

Stavridis is a retired US Navy admiral who from 2009 to 2013 served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, one of the most powerful roles after the secretary general.

"I don't see either side having a breakthrough moment  at least this winter," Stavridis told WABC host John Catsimatidis.

"Unfortunately, the first chance we can get to a negotiation is going to be after the winter. The Russians will be burned through and exhausted, losing so many men, so much equipment."

Stavridis also said that there will be pressure on both sides in 2023 to enter into negotiations to end the conflict.

"On the Ukrainian side, the pressures from the West, in order to avoid further costs, is going to become significant," Stavridis predicted.

"When I put it all together, more war to go. Ukrainians win it on the ground. Russians winning in the skies."

"Let's all push for a negotiation sometime mid-2023," he said.

Ukrainian and Russian forces are fighting along an approximately 600 mile front, with Ukraine forcing Russia into defensive positions in the south and northeast, while Russian forces are seeking to advance around the eastern city of Bakhmut.

Ukraine had forced Russia to give up large swaths of territory late in 2022, but as winter set in gains for either side have been piecemeal.

Russian forces have suffered steep casualties in the war so far, and the Kremlin has mobilized around 300,000 people meant to give Russia an advantage in the months to come.

Story continues

Some, seemingly including Stavridis, do not think the mobilized troops will be a large help. They cited the high casualty rates among trained officers and poor training and equipment as reasons that an influx of unskilled fighters may not be much use.

In a recent missile strike, Ukraine killed hundreds of Russian recruits in the Donetsk region in a strike blamed on a basic error: raw soldiers giving their locations away by using their phones.

Ukrainian intelligence has claimed that Russia is preparing to draft 500,000 more civilians for a potential spring offensive, a claim denied by the Kremlin.

Stavridis told WABC that he believes Ukraine is winning the "ground war" because it is more motivated and has been given cutting-edge equipment by Western nations, like the HIMARS artillery used to blow up the soldiers in Donetsk.

Russia retains an advantage in the air, Stavridis said, pointing to its use of drones to target infrastructure.

Though both the Kremlin and Ukraine's government have in recent weeks signaled a willingness to negotiate, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in December he does not believe there will be "serious" peace talks in the immediate future.

Read the original article on Business Insider
That release could not be found.
Many Nigerians dont know that their country is on the list of countries at risk of war, which managers of life insurance have attributed to the rising tide of armed robberies, militancy, kidnapping, and terrorist attacks, all of which pose risks to life and property. However, despite her removal from the "red list" of pirates, cargoes headed for Nigeria continue to pay $100 million for war and ransom risk insurance. The article traces that the government typically pays the premium for riots and political violence, which is regarded as an insurance subsidy, but the majority of violence is not covered by insurance because it is unfortunately unavailable in Nigeria, ODIMEGWU ONWUMERE writes

In the insurance sector of Nigeria, terrorism and violent acts have recently emerged as compelling causes for concern. For instance in June last year, Gokada, Nigeria's reputable logistics company, increased the insurance coverage for its customers' goods in transit within Lagos State to N600,000. This is in response to the worsening state of insecurity in the country. In a statement, the company said that this was done as a buffer to compensate customers for parcel losses caused by the country's current security issues. Then again, despite Nigeria's removal from the "red list" of pirates, cargoes headed for the country will continue to pay $100 million for war and ransom risk insurance, according to reports.

"We understand the daily challenges of our customers in Lagos, and this is why our innovations are customer-centric, aimed at delivering value and enabling a stress-free life," stated Laolu Oloyede, head of growth and marketing at Gokada. In addition to the value that Gokada customers receive, the company is devoted to establishing trust with them. In collaboration with Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc., one of the leading insurance companies in Nigeria, and the company covers the insurance of packages while they are in transit to their delivery location. According to experts, Gokada's annual transaction value has surpassed $100 million by one million delivery transactions.

Specialists have seen this novel insecurity development in the country as provocative, given that in July 2022, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), said that Nigeria would no longer have to pay war risk insurance and would be taken off the "red list" of countries affected by piracy.

Regardless of that, in December 2022, Jimoh made a shocking public presentation regarding the turnaround of his hope and announced that his hope had been rescinded by top international officials. This took place at the same time that Nigeria was given new challenges by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Nevertheless, Nigeria was not the only African country affected by this; according to the data, piracy-prone nations like Somalia were included in the war-risk phenomenon.

Notwithstanding, due to the general state of unease in the Gulf of Guinea and the involvement of youths from the Niger Delta in militant activities more than a decade ago, Nigeria was included on the list of countries at risk of war. According to the 2020 report from Oceans Beyond Piracy, ships traveling to Nigeria and transiting the Gulf of Guinea in 2020 will have to pay $55.5 million in additional premiums for war-risk areas. Additionally, 35% of those ships will also have additional kidnap and ransom insurance worth $100.7 million.

The increased cost of war-risk insurance for cargoes arriving at Nigeria's ports was borne by the country as a result of the fact that the country is responsible for approximately 70% of maritime trade in the Gulf of Guinea. Jamoh, who spoke at the 16th Maritime Seminar for Judges, held in Abuja, however, disclosed that between January and June 2022, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) had not reported any incident of piracy in Nigeria, implying that piracy is no longer a problem in Nigeria.

According to Jamoh, the primary objective of NIMASA's investment in the Deep Blue Project was to lessen the cost of war risk insurance for ships arriving at Nigerian ports and increase safety in the country's waters. He stated that NIMASA invested more than $200 million in acquiring assets for the Deep Blue Project's implementation. Jamoh stated that he had hoped that Nigeria would be able to rejoice and see a significant reduction in freight rates by the end of September 2022 because the country relies on imports. However, this did not hold water because the Nigeria has not been exempted from paying the war risk premium.

Jimoh stated that the country's waters were no longer the most dangerous to trade in the world after it was removed from the "red list" of countries involved in piracy. However, Jamoh stated during his speech at the recently concluded three-day National Transport Summit of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIOTA) in Abuja that the date of 2022 was no longer attainable and that concerned international bodies have rejected all requests to eliminate the premium.

According to Chudi Offodile, the Executive Director of Finance and Administration at NIMASA, Jamoh, who was accompanied by the Executive Director of Finance and Administration at NIMASA, the International Maritime Organization conditionally approved the removal on the continual reduction or complete eradication of attacks on Nigerian ships. He claims that NIMASA took steps to ensure that international ships bringing cargo to Nigeria removed the war risk insurance, but the International Maritime Organization (IMO) insists that piracy reduction success must continue, a source revealed.

Given the above, since July 2009, when the Islamist sect, Boko Haram launched a brief anti-government revolt, the group has increased its violent attacks on various civilian and military targets in Nigeria, effectively making the group a topic of interest for states, security agencies, journalists, and scholars. Emmanuel Jime, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers' Council (NSC), confirmed during a panel discussion titled "Maritime Safety and Security Administration in Nigeria" that shippers continue to pay a high freight rate for goods entering the country's ports.

He stated that the high rate of insecurity in the Niger Delta waters is causing cargoes that were supposed to go to the Eastern ports, particularly Calabar and Port Harcourt, to be diverted to Lagos ports. According to Jime, who was represented by Cajetan Agu, a director at the NSC, the payment of war risk insurance fees on cargoes causes a significant freight differential between Lagos and Eastern ports. He stated that shippers pay between $1,000 and $1,500 for freight on cargo bound for the Eastern port in comparison to freight on cargo bound for the Lagos port. Prof. Innocent Ogwude, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Maritime University of Nigeria in Okerenkoko, Delta State, stated that risk reduction is the key to achieving safety in Nigerian inland waters. He stated that the cost would decrease if the waterway was free and goods could be transported using free services.

Insurance stakeholders have been brought into the process of finding a solution as a result of the events that have had an effect on the insurance industry in Nigeria as well as the perception that insurance is a suitable means of mitigating the risks posed by these acts for both private Nigerians and businesses. The findings are, first, that acts of terrorism and violence in Nigeria have an effect on the operational effectiveness of Nigerian insurance companies and, second, that the insurance companies' product offerings provide adequate protection against the risks posed by these acts. However, in order to restore the safety of lives and property throughout the country, the insurers' guild in Nigeria contacted the authorities several years ago. However, those who were contacted regarded the call with caution.

At the NCRIB Members' Evening in Lagos, the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) called for reducing insecurity through its president, Dr. Bola Onigbogi. She stated that the NCRIB's support for the government's call to combat security issues in the country was extremely fortunate due to the connection between insurance and economic expansion. For instance, she said the National Orientation Agency (NOA) ought to be reorganized and repositioned in order to constantly educate Nigerians about the necessity for them to be their brothers' keepers by dismantling belief systems, whether religious or cultural, which hinder peaceful coexistence and the sanctity of human lives.

She further said this would allow NOA to better serve its mission of educating Nigerians about the importance of this duty, adding that this would enable NOA to accomplish its goal of educating Nigerians about the significance of this duty more effectively. In a similar vein, ActionAid and a number of other stakeholders urged the federal and state governments to promote insurance for smallholder farmers all over the country in order to lessen the risks associated with agriculture.

Floods, droughts, fires, pests, diseases, farms destroyed by cattle, and rising farm insecurity are, according to stakeholders, the challenges that threaten farmers' lives and crop production. At the conclusion of the Non-State Actors' Post-National Dialogue and Dissemination on Nigeria's performance at the 3rd Biennial Review (BR), they issued a communique on May 30 of last year in Abuja. The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria, was the primary focus of the exercise.

"Public investment in agriculture should be scaled up in the specific areas of extension services, access to credit, women and youth in agriculture, appropriate labor-saving technologies, irrigation, and Climate Resilient Sustainable Agriculture (CRSA)," the communique states.

Agroecology, research and development, monitoring and evaluation, and coordination are additional areas. Inputs, postharvest loss reduction supports (processing facilities, storage facilities, training, and market access), and agroecology are also included.

"Regrettably, the late passage of budgets and the release of funds continue to impede the capacity of the federal and state governments, drive socio-economic development, including food security within the diversification of the economy towards agriculture. The real outcomes and impacts will translate into improvements in food price, poverty rate, nutrition status, access to agricultural finance, and agricultural value addition, added the source.

Dr. Bola Onigbogi and Lagos Govt

The source further added that Nigeria is reported to be off-track in the following commitments: Recommitment to the Principles and Values of the CAADP Process, Enhancing Investment Financing in Agriculture, and Ending Hunger. Other commitments are ending hunger by 2025, enhancing resilience to climate variability, and enhancing mutual accountability for actions and results. Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, Delta Governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Vice-Presidential Candidate for the 2023 presidential elections, has consistently endorsed Onigbogi's call for the government to stop the dreadful trend, citing the alarming rate of poverty and unequal wealth distribution as the root causes of Nigeria's persistent insecurity.

In his remarks as Chairman of the Occasion at the 11th Zik Lecture Series, which was held under the theme "Nigeria in the Throes of Insecurity Towards 2023," Okowa made this statement in Awka. He also mentioned that the country does not have modern security architecture, that citizens have easy access to weapons, that power is shared disproportionately, and that there is corruption.

"To say the least, frightening is the surge in mass kidnappings, insurgency, banditry, herder-farmer conflicts, ritual killings, and other acts of terrorism," Okowa stated.

Nigeria is ranked sixth in the world according to the Global Terrorism Index for 2022. Between January and June 2022, 5,222 people were killed by violent non-state actors, according to the Nigeria Security Tracker (NST), a project of the United States' Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). According to the Global Peace Index 2022, Nigeria continues to rank highlynumber 21on the list of the world's most dangerous nations despite her fall from the top 20.

Experts concur that inequality and unequal wealth distribution are strongly linked to an increase in terrorism. In our nation, the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider, which is troubling. Equally concerning is the poverty rate, which is estimated to reach 45 percent in 2022 from 40 percent in 2021, with 90 million people living below the poverty line, Okowa added.

Checks revealed that this has resulted in a rise in cybercrimes, kidnappings, ritual killings, and other violent acts that compromise public safety, as well as feelings of disenchantment and alienation among thronging youth population. The government typically pays the premium for riots and political violence, which is regarded as an insurance subsidy. Regrettably, the majority of violence is not covered by insurance because it is unfortunately unavailable in Nigeria.

 Onwumere writes from Rivers state via: [email protected]
Husband and wife serial thieves arrested

PHUKET: A husband and wife have been arrested for stealing a wide range of items, including a paraglider motor, and selling them to second shops for just thousands of baht.



By Eakkapop Thongtub

Tuesday 10 January 2023, 07:01PM

The couples antics were brought to the attention of Wichit Police at about 3:18pm on Friday (Jan 6), when a local expat* reported that a towing rig and a Carry Boy cover were missing, presumed stolen, Wichit Police reported today (Jan 10).

Officers examined CCTV footage available and saw a man and woman steal the equipment and depart the scene on a motorbike and sidecar (saleng).

By questioning owners of secondhand shops in the area and nearby, officers were able to identify the couple  Mr Banjerd and Ms Toon Mathurasorn  and place them under arrest at 1:30pm yesterday (Jan 9), police reported.

Owners of the secondhand goods shops that police spoke with said they were familiar with the couple. They had continually returned to sell items worth hundreds of thousands of baht, but were willing to accept only thousands of baht in return.

Among the objects brought to one shop was a paraglider motor, officers noted, with the shop owner saying he refused to buy it because he did not trade in such items.

Mr and Ms Mathurasorn were taken to Wichit Police Station and charged for their latest theft.

No details of their other alleged thefts were reported.

* Not a Russian national, as reported by police
Lula slams far-right terrorism as Brazil clears protest camps

BRASILIA: Brazilian security forces cleared protest camps yesterday (Jan 9) and arrested 1,500 people as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned acts of terrorism after a far-right mob stormed the seat of power, unleashing chaos on the capital.

violencepoliticspolice

By AFP

Tuesday 10 January 2023, 10:04AM

Security forces confront supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro invading Planalto Presidential Palace in Brasilia on Jan 8. Photo: AFP

Hundreds of soldiers and police mobilized to dismantle an improvised camp outside the armys headquarters in Brasilia.

There, some 3,000 supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro had set up tents - used as a base for the sea of protesters who ran riot inside the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court for around four hours Sunday.

Lula, who took office on Jan 1 after a bitterly divisive election win over Bolsonaro, returned to work in the pillaged presidential palace, where AFP reporters saw the wreckage that remained of the previous days havoc: trashed artwork and offices, shattered windows and doors, broken glass strewn across the floor, and furniture dragged into a reflecting pool.

Lula, the 77-year-old veteran leftist who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, met with the leaders of both houses of Congress and the chief justice of the Supreme Court, and joined them in condemning what many called the South American countrys version of the US Capitol riots in Washington two years ago.

The three powers of the republic, the defenders of democracy and the constitution, reject the terrorist acts and criminal, coup-mongering vandalism that occurred, they said in a joint statement.

Lula accepted an invitation to meet with President Joe Biden next month in Washington, US officials said.

Bolsonaro, who narrowly lost the October elections, was meanwhile hospitalised with abdominal pains, his wife said.

Bolsonaro has alleged he is the victim of a conspiracy against him by Brazils courts and electoral authorities.

Media reports said the ex-president was admitted to hospital in Orlando, Florida, where the politician dubbed the Tropical Trump traveled on the second-to-last day of his term - snubbing Lulas inauguration, in a break with tradition.

It was the latest in a series of health problems stemming from a stabbing attack that nearly claimed Bolsonaros life during his winning 2018 presidential campaign.

Bolsonaro, 67, took to Twitter Sunday night to condemn the pillaging in Brasilia, but rejected Lulas claim he incited the attacks, and defended the right to peaceful protests.

Traces of Trumpism

As the nation continued to come to grips with Sundays stunning violence, hundreds of people gathered along a major avenue in downtown Sao Paulo to defend Brazilian democracy and demand punishment for the people who stormed the halls of power a day earlier.

I have not endured what I have in this life to see what I saw yesterday - my people, my country, divided in such a way, said Edi Valladares, a 61 year old teacher.

The demonstrators included young people, entire families, labor union activists, anti racism advocates and others, with banners reading We are with Lula and for democracy and respect for the peoples vote.

Earlier in the day, large contingents of riot police deployed to lock down the capitals Three Powers Square, home to the iconic modernist buildings that serve as the headquarters of the three branches of government.

Condemnation continued to pour in from around the world, with Pope Francis criticising the unrest as a sign of weakening of democracy in the Americas.

In a joint statement ahead of summit talks in Mexico City, Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the attacks and said they stand with Brazil as it safeguards its democratic institutions.

In a show of firm support, Biden spoke with Lula by phone yesterday and invited him to visit the White House in early February. The Brazilian leader accepted, the White House said.

Biden told Lula of his support for the free will of the Brazilian people as expressed in Brazils recent presidential election, which President Lula won, the White House said in a statement.

Many drew the inevitable comparison to Jan 6, 2021, when supporters of then-US president Donald Trump invaded the Capitol in Washington in a violent, failed bid to stop Congress from certifying his election loss.

Investigation begins

Lula, who was in the southeastern city of Araraquara visiting a flood-hit region when the riot started, signed a decree Sunday declaring a federal intervention in Brasilia, giving his government special powers over the local police force to restore law and order in the capital.

His government vowed to find and arrest those who planned and financed the attacks.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes suspended Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha, a Bolsonaro ally, from his post for 90 days, on grounds of criminal negligence.

Moraes also ordered the security forces to disperse anti-government protests outside military bases nationwide.

Hardline Bolsonaro supporters have been protesting outside army barracks calling for a military intervention to keep Lula from power since his election win.

Following the ruling, soldiers and police broke up camps in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, as well as Brasilia.

Lula narrowly won the Oct 30 runoff election by a score of 50.9% to 49.1%.
EAU CLAIRE  A Chippewa Falls woman will spend two years on probation for physically assaulting three staff members while being treated at an Eau Claire hospital.

Rachel A. Cox-Tuj, 33, 10875 40th Ave., pleaded no contest Friday in Eau Claire County Court to a felony count of bodily harm to a health care provider.

As conditions of probation, Eau Claire County Judge Jon Theisen ordered Cox-Tuj not to have violent or abusive contact with anyone.

Cox-Tuj must also undergo a mental health assessment and any other recommended programming or treatment.

According to the criminal complaint:

An Eau Claire police officer was sent to Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire at 2 a.m. Saturday, July 16, because Cox-Tuj, who was being treated there, was being combative with staff members.

A woman told the officer she took Cox-Tuj back to her room following a CT scan. Once in the room, Cox-Tuj called the woman names and punched her twice in the arm with a closed fist. The woman said she was trying to attach the blood pressure cuff when Cox-Tuj struck her.

A second officer was called to the hospital 90 minutes later after Cox-Tuj assaulted a nurse.

The nurse said she helped Cox-Tuj use the bathroom. After the nurse helped her back to her bed, Cox-Tuj punched the nurse in the arm.

A third officer was then sent to the hospital to take Cox-Tuj to the Eau Claire County Jail in response to the two reported assaults.

The officer went to Cox-Tujs room, where hospital staff were preparing her for release. As they were removing her IV, Cox-Tuj became argumentative toward one nursing staff member.

As the officer attempted to secure Cox-Tuj, she kicked the nurse in the shin with her foot.

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The stakes couldnt be higher for both major political parties in the upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election this spring, but the candidates running for that seat pledged Monday to check their politics at the door if elected to the states high court in April.

The four candidates are running for the seat held by departing conservative Justice Patience Roggensack in a race that will decide the ideological balance of the states high court, which currently has a 4-3 conservative majority.

Speaking at a WisPolitics.com forum in Madison on Monday, the two liberal candidates in the race  Dane County Circuit Judge Everett Mitchell and Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz  took aim at the Wisconsin Supreme Courts adoption of GOP-drawn legislative maps last year, as well as the U.S. Supreme Courts decision last summer overturning Roe v. Wade.

The two conservative candidates in the race are former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly and Waukesha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Dorow. All four will meet in the Feb. 21 primary, with the two receiving the most votes moving on to the April 4 election.

Protasiewicz, who has served as a circuit court judge since 2014 and currently presides over Milwaukee Countys family court, said she decided to run to after watching right-wing partisans hijack our Supreme Court.

Wisconsinites deserve a court where there is not a thumb on the scale, Protasiewicz said. Wisconsinites deserve a court where the outcomes are not preordained.

Mitchell serves as the presiding judge of Dane Countys juvenile division. He also oversees Dane Countys High Risk Drug Court program, which provides connections to treatment and mental health services to adults with substance abuse problems who are facing criminal charges.

Any judge who comes to the case with a predetermined idea already should recuse himself or herself from the process because the fairness of our system is at stake, the integrity of the court system is at stake, Mitchell said when asked about recusals.

Kelly, who was appointed to the high court by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2016, but lost the seat to liberal Justice Jill Karofsky in the 2020 election, said politics is poison to the work of the court.

Dorow, who received praise for her handling of a recent trial for a man convicted of killing six people by driving his SUV through a Waukesha Christmas parade in 2021, said Wisconsinites need and deserve a justice who will uphold the rule of law, protect our constitutional rights and not inject their political bias by legislating from the bench.

Roggensack endorsed Dorow on Monday, whom she called a leader amongst judges in our state.

Judge Dorow knows the proper role of a judge is to say what the law is  not what it ought to be, Roggensack said.

The winner of the April 4 election will secure a 10-year term on the court and play a decisive role in upcoming cases that may include the legality of Wisconsins near-complete 1849 abortion ban, fights over legislative redistricting and the power of the executive branch in administering laws.

Redistricting fight

On the topic of redistricting, Protasiewicz did not mince words when discussing the state Supreme Courts decision to follow a least change approach when adopting the states 10-year political boundaries last year. Those maps have helped Republicans hold near unbreakable majorities in the state Legislature.

The maps are rigged, bottom line, Protasiewicz said.

I think when someone tells you what their values are in an answer to a legal question, theyre telling you how theyre likely to decide a case, Kelly said.

Dorow declined to prejudge any pending redistricting challenges that may come before the court.

Any time I, as an African American in judicial spaces, hear the term least change approach, it just brings up all kinds of past trauma, Mitchell said. Least change approach always means the same, it always means wait, it always means never and it always means more pressure and more pain for folks who dont have horses in the political process.

Nonpartisan race

State Supreme Court races are nominally nonpartisan, but they are run in an intensely partisan fashion, with political parties and outside groups spending large sums to back their preferred candidates. The races have become even more significant with a Democratic governor and Republican-controlled Legislature consistently clashing over major issues that often end up before the court.

Spending by outside groups on state Supreme Court races has ballooned over the years, climbing from a little over $27,000 in 2003 to more than $5 million in 2020, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, an organization that tracks campaign spending.

Asked to name the worst U.S. Supreme Court ruling, both Mitchell and Protasiewicz pointed to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Kelly named the 2005 Kelo v. New London eminent domain case that provided local governments more power to take property in order to generate tax revenue. Dorow did not cite a specific case.
Have an interesting bit of news youd like to see mentioned in the Along the Way column? Email it to Natasha Connolly at news@thesunchronicle.com.
Rob Moir is a nationally-recognized and award-winning environmentalist. He is president & executive director of Cambridge-based Ocean River Institute, a nonprofit providing expertise, services, resources, and information unavailable on a localized level to support efforts of environmental organizations. Visit www.oceanriver.org .
Lorrie Rauch makes winning a blue ribbon at the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show look as easy as pie.

The New Tripoli resident on Saturday beat 71 other bakers to win first place in this years Pennsylvania Farm Show Blue Ribbon Apple Pie Contest. Rauch, who entered an apple caramel pecan pie, previously won first place apple pie honors at the 2009 and 2013 Farm Shows.

Im overwhelmed, said Rauch, clutching a blue ribbon, a $500 check and her caramel pecan apple pie. Its incredible to win for the whole state of Pennsylvania! This is the Super Bowl of baking in our state.

The contest, sponsored by the Pennsylvania State Association of County Fairs, was only open to certified first place winners from Pennsylvanias community and county agricultural fairs of 2022.

Marie Miller of Mechanicsburg, who also entered an apple pecan caramel pie, won a yellow ribbon and fourth place. Miller said she used Crispin and Pink Lady apples in the pie, which took her all day to bake.

I made everyone stay out of the kitchen while I was baking it, Miller admitted. I sat by the oven and watched it bake because I didnt want my pastry leaves to get too brown.

Rauch said that her pie filling includes 9 1/2 cups of Cortland apples cooked with cider, sugar, pie thickener and cinnamon. She also uses an egg and apple cider in her pie crust.

Just about everyone loves apple pie, said Kevin Bieber, apple pie contest coordinator and announcer. Its both Pennsylvania and Americana. The winner gets the blue ribbon, $500 and bragging rights for a whole year.

Other top winners were Sharon Karlheim of Patton, second place and $250; Sarah Kershner of Oley, third place and $100; and Eloise Caseman of Shunk, fifth place and a green ribbon.

The five judges spent almost three hours sampling the pies and evaluating them for appearance, color, flavor and texture of crust, doneness of bottom crust, consistency, pie doneness and flavor of filling.

While judges tasted, contestants talked.

Caseman, 90, said that she made Grandmas old-fashioned pie from Granny Smith apples. I cut my apples very small and cook them with water, cornstarch, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla and apples, she said. Apple pies should be firm, not runny, so be careful not to overbake or underbake.

Karlheim, who won the contest last year and hours later won first place in the Homemade Chocolate Cake Contest, topped off her pie with a crumb topping, lattice and colorful pastry apple blossoms. She used Northern Spy, Pink Lady and Stayman apples.

Unlike most bakers, Burnadette Allen of Washington used a clear gel to thicken her cooked pie filling. She said that the secret to a flaky crust is to make it a couple days ahead of time and refrigerate it.

Some bakers made unusual fillings. Deb Martin Berkoski of Conestoga made a peanut butter apple pie while Jane Sefton of Sandy Lake made an apple cranberry dark chocolate pie. I wanted to make something different, she said.

After Bieber announced the winners, the pies were sliced and given to the public to taste.

Here is Rauchs prize-winning recipe for what she calls Ultimate Apple Pie:

Crust

4 cups flour

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1  teaspoons salt

 cup water

1 1/2 cups lard or butter-flavored Crisco

In large bowl, sift together flour, sugar and salt. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in lard or Crisco until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Mix together egg, vinegar and water. Add to flour mixture. Mix until dough is moist enough to hold together. Chill, then roll on a lightly floured surface.

Filling

8 cups baking apples (Cortland preferred) peeled and sliced

1 cup sugar

 cup pie enhancer/thickener (King Arthurs baking catalog)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/3 cup boiled apple cider

Mix together sugar, pie enhancer and cinnamon. Gently toss apples until coated. Add boiled apple cider and gently mix. Let mixture set for 30 minutes. Place mixture in unbaked pie shell and dot with 1 tablespoon butter.

Crumb Topping

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons butter, softened

 cup oatmeal

 cup roasted chopped pecans

Mix together brown sugar, oatmeal, flour and pecans. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over apple mixture. Use extra pie crust dough to decorate. Brush milk over top of decorated dough and sprinkle with course gourmet sugar.

Bake at 375 for total of 60 minutes. (During baking, cover edge of pie with pie edge cover.) Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

Drizzle with homemade caramel, made by boiling a can of Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk for three hours.) Dust crust edges with 10X sugar.

Photos: Food selections at the 2023 Pennsylvania Farm Show
SEAN BERGEL, Wheeler, Baseball, Junior; Bergel struck out eight and allowed only five hits as Wheeler defeated Griswold in its season opener. Bergel walked just one batter and allowed two earned runs.

CAMI BROWN, Stonington, Softball, Junior; Brown finished 11 for 16 in four games for the Bears. Brown doubled four times, tripled twice and drove in nine runs.

CASEY MACERA, Westerly, Girls Lacrosse, Freshman, Macera scored five goals in a Division III win against Rocky Hill. Westerly ended a 15-game losing streak with the victory.

ADAM CARPENTER, Chariho, Baseball, Junior; Carpenter pitched a two-hitter in his varsity debut as the Chargers beat East Providence. Carpenter carried a no-hitter into the sixth. He struck out 10 and did not walk a batter.

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GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz cast his vote for former president Donald Trump in the seventh attempt for the House of Representatives to nominate a speaker, an effort to thwart Kevin McCarthy.

This is a break from the faction of 20 House Republicans whod been voting for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida) and blocking GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy from winning the speakership.

The Constitution does not specify that the speaker must actually be a member of the House and the Congressional Research Service emphasized that point in a 2021 report about elections for the speaker.

Although the Constitution does not so require, the Speaker has always been a Member of the House, the report said, and outlined recent instances where non-members received votes.

The seventh vote for speaker turned out no different from the others, with McCarthy well short of the required majority.

McCarthy emerged from a morning meeting with colleagues at the Capitol determined to persuade Republican holdouts to end the stalemate that has blighted his new GOP majority.

Despite endless talks, signs of concessions and a public spectacle unlike any other in recent political memory, the path ahead remained highly uncertain. The day started as the other two have, with Republican allies nominating him for now a seventh time to be speaker.

Republican John James of Michigan put McCarthys name up for a vote, with a nod to history.

My familys gone from being slaves to the floor of the United States House of Representatives in five generations, said James, a newly elected lawmaker to be, who is Black.

He said that while the House Republicans were stuck at the moment, McCarthy, who has failed to seize a majority to become speaker, would ultimately win.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC / AP)




Today, the CPSC is reannouncing two recalls of inclined infant sleepers that were issued nearly four years ago  the Fisher Price Rock n Play and the Kids2 Rocking Sleeper.

On April 12, 2019, at the time the original recall was announced, over 30 fatalities were reported to have occurred in the Rock n Play Sleepers after the infants rolled from their back to their stomach or side while unrestrained, or under other circumstances. Since the recall, approximately 70 additional fatalities have been reported, which includes at least 8 fatalities that were reported to have occurred after the initial recall announcement.

Approximately 100 deaths have reportedly occurred while infants were in the products. Fisher-Price notes that in some of the reports, it has been unable to confirm the circumstances of the incidents or that the product was a Rock n Play Sleeper.

The product was sold at major stores nationwide including Walmart, Target, and online at Amazon from September 2009 through April 2019 for between $40 and $149.

Statement of Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric on the Reannouncement of Two Inclined Infant Sleeper Recalls:

We are issuing this announcement because, despite their removal from the marketplace and a prohibition on their sale, babies continue to die in these products. We now know of approximately 100 infant deaths in the Rock n Play, including eight that happened after the recall was announced. And we know of 15 infants who died in the Kids2 Rocking Sleeper, including four since the announcement of the recall.

I urge all parents, grandparents, and caregivers to follow the guidance of this announcement and stop using these products immediately. Also, it is illegal to sell or distribute recalled consumer products, including on the resale market. I urge all stores, including online marketplaces, to review the products being donated or listed and stop all recalled products from being sold.

In the years since the recalls were first issued, the CPSC has taken numerous steps to ensure that products sold for infant sleep are safe. The Infant Sleep Products Rule requires that all new products sold for infant sleep meet existing safety standards and prohibits the sale of any infant sleep products with an incline of more than 10 degrees. The Safe Sleep for Babies Act, enacted by Congress in 2022, bans all inclined infant sleep products.

Unfortunately, todays announcement highlights the fact that these products are still in too many homes, and babies continue to be put at risk. If any caregiver has concerns about whether a product is safe for their baby, they can look for recalls at saferproducts.gov. And remember that the safest place for a baby to sleep is a firm, flat surface without any blankets or pillows.




The U.S. Navy seized over 2,100 assault rifles from a ship in the Gulf of Oman it believes came from Iran and were bound for Yemens Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, a Navy spokesman said Tuesday. It was the latest capture of weapons allegedly heading to the Arab worlds poorest country.

The seizure last Friday happened after a team from the USS Chinook, a Cyclone-class coastal patrol boat, boarded a traditional wooden sailing vessel known as a dhow. They discovered the Kalashnikov-style rifles individually wrapped in green tarps aboard the ship, said Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the Navys Mideast-based 5th Fleet.

The Chinook, along with the patrol boat USS Monsoon and the guided missile destroyer USS The Sullivans, took possession of the weapons. They resembled other assault rifles previously seized by the Navy, suspected to be from Iran and heading to Yemen.

When we intercepted the vessel, it was on a route historically used to traffic illicit cargo to the Houthis in Yemen, Hawkins told The Associated Press. The Yemeni crew corroborated the origin.

The Yemeni crew, Hawkins added, will be repatriated back to a government-controlled part of Yemen.

A United Nations arms embargo has prohibited weapons transfers to the Houthis since 2014, when Yemens civil war erupted.

Iran has long denied arming the Houthis even as it has been transferring rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, missiles and other weaponry to the Yemeni militia using sea routes. Independent experts, Western nations and U.N. experts have traced components seized aboard other detained vessels back to Iran.

Irans mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The Houthis seized Yemens capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 and forced the internationally recognized government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition armed with U.S. weaponry and intelligence entered the war on the side of Yemens exiled government in March 2015. Years of inconclusive fighting has pushed the Arab worlds poorest nation to the brink of famine.

A six-month cease-fire in Yemens war, the longest of the conflict, expired in October despite diplomatic efforts to renew it. Thats led to fears the fighting could again escalate. More than 150,000 people have been killed in Yemen during the conflict, including over 14,500 civilians.

There have been sporadic attacks since the cease-fire expired, though international negotiators are trying to find a political solution to the war.

In November, the Navy found 70 tons of a missile fuel component hidden among bags of fertilizer, also allegedly from Iran and bound to Yemen.

(AP)




The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee has requested that the U.S. intelligence community conduct a damage assessment of potentially classified documents found in the Washington office space of President Joe Bidens former institute,

Rep. Mike Turner sent the request Tuesday to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, saying that Bidens retention of the documents put him in potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act.

Irrespective of a federal review, the revelation that Biden potentially mishandled classified or presidential records could prove to be a political headache for the president, who called former President Donald Trumps decision to keep hundreds of such records at his private club in Florida irresponsible.

Biden ignored shouted questions about the matter Tuesday during a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Mexico.

Turners request came a day after the White House confirmed that the Department of Justice was reviewing a small number of documents with classified markings. The documents were discovered as Bidens personal attorneys were clearing out the offices of the Penn Biden Center, where the president kept an office after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until shortly before he launched his presidential campaign in 2019, the White House said.

Those entrusted with access to classified information have a duty and an obligation to protect it, said Turner in a letter to Haines. This issue demands a full and thorough review.

The documents were found on Nov. 2, 2022, in a locked closet in the office, according to special counsel to the president Richard Sauber.

Sauber said the attorneys immediately alerted the White House Counsels office, which notified the National Archives and Records Administration  which took custody of the documents the next day.

Since that discovery, the Presidents personal attorneys have cooperated with the Archives and the Department of Justice in a process to ensure that any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives, Sauber said.

A person who is familiar with the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly said Attorney General Merrick Garland asked U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch to review the matter after the Archives referred the issue to the department. Lausch is one of the few U.S. attorneys to be held over from Trumps administration.

Trump weighed in Monday on his social media site, asking, When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?

Republicans have just taken control of the House of Representatives and are promising to launch widespread investigations of Bidens administration.

The revelation also may complicate the Justice Departments consideration of whether to bring charges against Trump, who is trying to win back the White House in 2024 and has repeatedly claimed the departments inquiry into of his own conduct amounted to corruption.

The National Archives did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Spokespeople for Garland and Lausch declined to comment.

Rep. James Comer, the new GOP chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Monday that the revelation raised questions about the Justice Departments handling of the Trump probe.

Is the White House going to be raided tonight? Are they going to raid the Bidens? he asked reporters. This is further concern that theres a two-tier justice system within the DOJ with how they treat Republicans versus Democrats, certainly how they treat the former president versus the current president.

His Democratic counterpart, Rep. Jamie Raskin, said Bidens attorneys appear to have taken immediate and proper action.

I have confidence that the attorney general took the appropriate steps to ensure the careful review of the circumstances surrounding the possession and discovery of these documents and make an impartial decision about any further action that may be needed, he added.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, said Monday that the American public deserved to know earlier about the classified documents.

They knew about this a week before the election, maybe the American people should have known that, Jordan told reporters. They certainly knew about the the raid on Mar-a-Lago 91 days before this election, but nice if on November 2, the country would have known that there were classified documents at the Biden Center.

Jordan is among House Republicans pushing for the creation of a select subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal government within the Judiciary Committee.

It wasnt immediately clear why the White House didnt disclose the discovery of the documents or the DOJ review sooner. CBS was first to report Monday on the discovery of the potentially classified documents.

The Justice Department for months has been investigating the retention of roughly 300 documents that were marked as classified and were recovered from the Trumps Florida estate. In that instance, prosecutors say, representatives of Trump resisted requests to give back the full stash of classified documents and failed to fully comply with a subpoena that sought their return.

FBI agents in August served a search warrant at the Mar-a-Lago property, removing 33 boxes and containers.

That investigation is being led by special counsel Jack Smith. Prosecutors have interviewed an array of Trump associates and have been using a grand jury to hear evidence.

Democrats made a similar request of the director of national intelligence in August following the search of Mar-a-Lago. Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Adam Schiff, who then led the House Oversight and Intelligence committees, asked Haines for an immediate review and damage assessment, alleging that Trump has potentially put our national security at grave risk.

Haines agreed in September to conduct a risk assessment instead, different from a formal damage assessment that carries specific requirements under intelligence regulations.

The risk assessment was to examine the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago for classification as well as the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents.

Intelligence officials are not believed to have briefed Congress on their assessment in the four months since, according to public statements from lawmakers. Haines noted in her letter that any risk assessment would not unduly interfere with the Justice Departments criminal investigation into the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago.

(AP)




About 100 Ukrainian troops will head to Oklahomas Fort Sill as soon as next week to begin training on the Patriot missile defense system, getting Kyiv closer to obtaining a long-sought protection against Russia continued missile attacks.

Ukraine has requested that the U.S. provide the Patriot surface-to-air guided missile defense system for months because it can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles. During his late December visit to the U.S., Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the battery would make a significant difference in bolstering Kyivs defenses against Russias invasion.

The number of Ukrainians coming to Fort Sill is approximately the number it takes to operate one battery, and they will focus on learning to operate and also maintain the Patriot, Pentagon spokesman Air Force Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday.

Kyivs decision to take troops off the battlefield to train across the Atlantic in the U.S. is unusual, although it has sent forces for short-term training at European bases for other more complex systems it has received, such as on the longer-range High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.

Patriot training normally can take several months, but the longer those troops are off the line, theyre not actually engaged in combat, Ryder said, so the training will be shortened.

Fort Sill was selected because it already runs Patriot training schools, Ryder said.

The U.S. pledged one Patriot battery in December as part of one of several large military assistance packages it has provided Ukraine in recent weeks. Last week Germany pledged an additional Patriot battery.

Each Patriot battery consists of a truck-mounted launching system with eight launchers that can hold up to four missile interceptors each, a ground radar, a control station and a generator. The Army said it currently has 16 Patriot battalions.

The Patriot batteries will complement a variety of air defense systems that both the U.S. and NATO partners have pledged to Ukraine, as it faces an evolving barrage of missiles and drones against its civilian population and infrastructure from Russia in the nearly 11-month old conflict. In the last few months Germany has pledged four IRIS-T air defense systems; the U.S. has also pledged eight mid-range National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS, and Avenger air defense systems.

(AP)




The House Ethics Committee was asked Tuesday to investigate Rep. George Santos, the newly-elected Republican from New York who has admitted to lying about his job experience, college education and even family heritage, and now faces questions about his campaign financial disclosures.

Two Democrats requested the probe, saying Santos has failed to uphold the integrity expected of members of the House of Representatives.

In a letter to the Ethics Committee, Democratic Reps. Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman, both of New York, said Santos also failed to file timely, accurate and complete financial disclosure reports as required by law. They said the reports Santos did file are sparse and perplexing. They asked the panel to investigate and take appropriate action as soon as possible.

Some Democratic leaders said Santos should be expelled from the House.

A spokesperson for Santos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Santos has admitted to fabricating several aspects of his life story and experience in his run for the House seat that he won in November, helping to give Republicans a narrow majority. Nevertheless, the newly-elected lawmaker was sworn into office last week alongside all other members of the House.

Republican leaders have refused to take action against Santos, whose election helped give them a 222-seat hold on the House majority. Santos also voted last week in the raucous balloting to make GOP leader Kevin McCarthy the House speaker.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Tuesday the situation is being handled internally by Republicans.

Obviously there were concerns about what we had heard, said Scalise, R-La. So were gonna have to sit down and talk to him about it.

Santos admitted two weeks ago that he lied about his job experience and college education during his successful campaign for a seat in the U.S. House.

Santos had also said he had worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, but neither company could find any records verifying that.

In an interview with the New York Post, Santos said: My sins here are embellishing my resume. Im sorry.

He also explained that he never claimed to be Jewish after the Jewish American site The Forward had questioned a claim on Santos campaign website that his grandparents fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during WWII.

Democrats were scathing in their criticism.

Kevin McCarthy owns George Santos, lock stop and barrel, said Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, the chairman of the House Democratic caucus. Its the only reason why he was seated, to give George Santos that ability to vote for Kevin McCarthy. So lets call this exactly what it is. There should be repercussions.

Its unclear the Ethics Committees next steps. As part of the new House rules package, any member of the public can now file complaints against lawmakers. Ethics advocates have warned other new rules will weaken the committees staff and membership.

The committee has not fully formed yet as House Republicans are in the midst of choosing committee chairs, members and setting up the new Congress.

(AP)




House Republicans are moving Tuesday to swiftly establish the marquee investigations of their new majority, voting to create panels focused on China and what they assert is rampant abuse of power in the federal government.

Newly empowered, GOP lawmakers are vowing to bring accountability to the Biden administration, pledging to investigate federal law enforcement agencies, including those that are conducting probes into former President Donald Trump.

Republicans are also establishing a committee to investigate strategic competition between the U.S. and China, in line with the partys push for a more hardline approach to the Asian nation.

The creation of the committees is the first of many investigative steps Republicans plan to take as they settle into their slim majority and attempt to serve as a check against President Joe Biden and his agenda on Capitol Hill.

It amounts to a massive reshuffling away from the oversight priorities of Democrats, who used their majority to form a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. That committee is no more, and Republicans have no plans to revive it, vowing instead to take a closer look at the actions of law enforcement.

Republicans officially labeled one of the committees as reviewing the Weaponization of the Federal Government, a name that from the outset suggests the panels investigations may be one-sided. The probe will be conducted under the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee, which is headed by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a hardliner who is a close ally of Trump.

The committee is being given a broad mandate, told to investigate the expansive role of the executive branch to collect information on or otherwise investigate citizens of the United States, including ongoing criminal investigations. Notably, the panel will have access to classified information, a privilege usually reserved for the intelligence committees in the House and Senate.

First up is investigating what they call a coordinated effort by Justice Department to go after parents and deem them domestic terrorists following an increase of threats targeting school board members, teachers and other employees in the nations public schools.

The real focus has always been what 14 FBI agents have come and told Judiciary Republican staff about whats going on with the FBI and the very first one was on the school board, Jordan told reporters Monday. Well start with those individuals and well move from there once we get up and running with whos on our committee.

The GOP focus on issues like parents rights in schools stems from the unruliness that engulfed local education meetings across the country since the pandemic began, with board members regularly confronted and threatened by angry protesters. There is no evidence the FBI ever declared protesting parents domestic terrorists, despite Republican rhetoric.

Jordan, who is expected to lead the investigation, said the committee is modeled after the bipartisan Church Committee, a 1970s congressional investigation that sought to investigate allegations that the U.S. government spied on its own citizens for decades. That investigation led to significant reforms with the passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which requires intelligence agencies to seek permission from a secret court before surveilling Americans.

Democrats opposed the creation of the committee, calling it a partisan tool for Republicans to go after the Justice Department as Trump is the subject of several federal criminal investigations, including for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and his handling and storing of presidential records at Mar-a-Lago.

Republicans claim to care about law enforcement. But this new committee is about attacking law enforcement, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the ranking member of the Rules Committee, said on the House floor. Its about going after people. Its about destroying peoples careers and lives. Its about undermining the Department of Justice.

The sharply partisan debate over the Judiciary committee stood in stark contrast to the bipartisan support for the China panel, which will be led by Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin. Members of both parties said more attention should be devoted to the global implications of Chinas economic competition strategy.

You have my word and my commitment. This is not a partisan committee, Speaker Kevin McCarthy said. That is my hope, my desire, my wish that we speak with one voice that we focus on the challenges that we have.

He added, The threat is too great for us to bicker with ourselves.

Who will serve on either committee beyond the chairs will be a decision for congressional leaders. The House is in the process of seating the various standing committees, a process that is expected to be contentious as McCarthy has already pledged to retaliate against Democrats for removing several far-right members from their committee assignments in the last Congress.

Some of the names being floated for the Judiciary subcommittee include Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., whose phone was seized in August as part of the Justice Departments investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Why should I be limited just because someone has made an accusation? Perry said in a Sunday interview on ABCs This Week with host George Stephanopoulos. Everybody in America is innocent until proven guilty.

But Democrats are alleging that members like Perry and Jordan will be using the committee as a way to push back on agencies that are investigating them and their allies.

Theyre effectively trying to pardon themselves with the creation of this select committee, McGovern said. This is unconscionable.

(AP)
A Bedford County girl won the PA Preferred Junior Baking Cookies, Brownies & Bars contest at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.

Tiera Lochner, 15, of Fishertown said her grandmother taught her to bake. She won first place and $500 for the contest after having been certified as a first place winner at a previous agricultural fair last year.

Here is Lochner's carmelita, or caramel pecan bar, recipe:

Crust and topping

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon of soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened

Filling

1 1/2 cups caramel, cut in small chunks

2 tablespoons of milk

1 cup chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans toasted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 by 13-inch pan.

Combine the flour, oats, sugar, soda and salt. Add butter and mix until crumbly.

Transfer half of crumb mixture into pan and press evenly to form the crust. Bake for 10 minutes. Let it cool for 10 minutes.

Make the filling by melting the caramel and milk over low heat or in the microwave, stirring to combine.

Pour caramel onto crust and spread. Allow to cool until set, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Sprinkle chocolate chips and toasted pecans over caramel layer, then top with the rest of crumb mixture. Bake bars for 25 to 30 minutes until crust is light brown and caramel is bubbling around the edges.

Loosen edges and let it cool, and then cut into bars.

To toast nuts, spread onto pan and toast for five minutes at 350 degrees. Stir and bake for three more minutes until shiny, then let it cool.

Photos: Food selections at the 2023 Pennsylvania Farm Show




President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday pledged to promote prosperity for people throughout the hemisphere as they opened wide-ranging talks about the fragile security situation in Haiti, North American trade, political unrest in Brazil and more on the sidelines of the North American Leaders Summit.

Biden and Trudeau met one-on-one before a three-way meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the Mexico City summit. The U.S. and Canadian leaders warmth during a brief appearance before reporters at the start of their talks stood in stark contrast to a more brusque exchange a day earlier between Biden and Lopez Obrador, who had complained of abandonment and disdain for Latin America.

Biden told Trudeau, What we should be doing, and we are doing, is demonstrating the unlimited economic potential that we have when we work together in the hemisphere, and to help the entire hemisphere.

All three world leaders were to discuss migration, trade and climate change as they look to mend tensions that have divided the continent.

The three-way gathering is held most years, although there was a hiatus while Donald Trump was U.S. president. Its often called the three amigos summit, a reference to the deep diplomatic and economic ties among the countries.

However, the leaders have found themselves at odds, especially as they struggle to handle an influx of migrants and to crack down on smugglers who profit from persuading people to make the dangerous trip to the United States.

In addition, Canada and the U.S. accuse Lopez Obrador of violating a free trade pact by favoring Mexicos state-owned utility over power plants built by foreign and private investors. Meanwhile, Trudeau and Lopez Obrador are concerned about Bidens efforts to boost domestic manufacturing, creating concerns that U.S. neighbors could be left behind.

Trudeau emphasized in his meeting with Biden the benefits of free trade and warned against Buy America policies that the U.S. administration has promoted, according to the prime ministers office. Nearly 80% of Canadas exports go to the U.S., so avoiding protectionism remains a priority for Canada.

The key takeaways from the summit revolve around better connections among the three nations and a shared goal of a stronger North America on energy and in particular semiconductors, climate and a pledge to cut methane emissions, an agreement to manage large waves of migrants coming to the region and a more cohesive regional strategy on dealing with future pandemic-related health threats.

The dynamics as the Biden-Trudeau talks opened could not have been more different than for the Biden-Lopez Obrador talks.

During that meeting, the Mexican leader challenged Biden to improve life across the region, telling him that you hold the key in your hand.

This is the moment for us to determine to do away with this abandonment, this disdain, and this forgetfulness for Latin America and the Caribbean, Lopez Obrador said.

Biden responded by pointing to the billions of dollars that the United States spends in foreign aid around the world.

At the start of Tuesdays Biden-Trudeau meeting, the leaders spoke familiarly and with optimism. Trudeau called the U.S. president Joe and Biden joked with Trudeau  after the Canadian leader had delivered a statement to reporters in English and French  that he should have paid more attention in his college French classes.

Biden and Trudeau also discussed their countries efforts to support Ukraine nearly 11 months after Russias invasion. Canada announced Tuesday that it would buy an American-made National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System, or NASAMS, to be donated to Ukraine. The medium-range ground-based air defense system, which protects against drone, missile and aircraft attacks, costs about $406 million and brings Canadas contribution to Ukraine to more than $1 billion since the start of the war.

The White House said in a statement that the leaders also discussed the generational opportunity to strengthen supply chains for critical minerals, electric vehicles, and semiconductors. The U.S. administration also announced that Biden will make his first visit to Canada as president in March.

Theres a lot of reasons to be optimistic, especially for those of us in our countries, Trudeau said. But its going to take a lot of work, something neither you or I or most our citizens have ever been afraid of.

Biden and Lopez Obrador havent been on particularly good terms for the past two years. The Mexican leader made no secret of his admiration for Trump, and last year he skipped a Los Angeles summit of the Americas because Biden didnt invite the authoritarian leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

However, there have been attempts at a thaw. Biden made a point of flying into the new Felipe Angeles International Airport, a prized project of the Mexican president even though its been a source of controversy.

The airport, which is expected to cost $4.1 billion when finished, is more than an hours drive north of the city center, has few flights and until recently lacked consistent drinking water. However, its one of the keystone projects that Lopez Obrador is racing to finish before his term ends next year. The U.S. president is scheduled to depart from Mexico City International Airport on Tuesday evening.

The U.S. and Mexico have also reached an agreement on a major shift in migration policy, which Biden announced last week.

Under the plan, the U.S. will send 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela back across the border from among those who entered the U.S. illegally. Migrants who arrive from those four countries are not easily returned to their home countries for a variety of reasons.

In addition, 30,000 people per month from those four nations who get sponsors, background checks and an airline flight to the U.S. will be able to work legally in the country for two years.

The number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has risen dramatically during Bidens first two years in office. There were more than 2.38 million stops during the year that ended Sept. 30, the first time the number topped 2 million.

Biden said he and Trudeau would discuss how we can try to help stabilize Haiti.

Canada is weighing whether to lead an international mission to Haiti to help solve the ongoing humanitarian and security crisis.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the countrys Council of Ministers sent an urgent appeal Oct. 7 calling for the immediate deployment of a specialized armed force, in sufficient quantity to stop the crisis caused partly by the criminal actions of armed gangs. But more than three months later, no countries have stepped forward.

(AP)




Canada has finalized an agreement with Lockheed Martin Corp and the United States government to purchase 88 F-35 fighter jets, government officials said Monday.

The first four aircraft are anticipated to be delivered in 2026 with full operational capacity for the fleet expected between 2032 and 2034.

The government said last year Lockheed Martins F-35 was deemed to be the top-ranked bidder for a new fighter jet.

The government has budgeted about $19 billion Canadian (US$15 billion) for the purchase in what is the largest investment in the Royal Canadian Air Force in more than 30 years. Each jet costs about US$85 million. The full life cycle of the program is expected to cost $70 billion (US$52 billion)

Canada has a close defense relationship with the United States, which includes using fighter jets together to defend North American air space. The announcement comes as Trudeau is set to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico.

Before becoming prime minister, Trudeau said Canada wouldnt buy the F-35. A former Conservative Canadian government had announced the purchase of the F-35 but Trudeaus Liberal government delayed that purchase and opened up the bidding to competition.

As our world grows darker with Russias illegal and unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine, and Chinas increasingly assertive behavior in the Indo-Pacific, this project has taken on heightened significance especially the importance of interoperability with our allies, Defense Minister Anita Anand.

We need to ensure that especially in this changing global strategic environment we are that we are fulfilling our obligations to NORAD and to NATO.

Canada previously ruled out the Boeings Super Hornet to replace aging F-18s. Instead, Canada purchased some Australian F-18s to help extend the life of the Canadian F-18 program until 2032.

(AP)




The U.S. would risk enabling the spread of extremism in Europe if it stopped providing support to Ukraine in its war with Russia, Maines independent senator said Monday in the wake of meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Sens. Angus King of Maine and Jack Reed of Rhode Island, who sit on the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, traveled to Kyiv last week to meet with Zelenskyy. King said he came back more certain that U.S. aid to Ukraine is vital.

Ukraine is slated to receive $44.9 billion in U.S. aid as part of the recent government spending bill. The U.S. should continue supporting Ukraine until Russian President Vladimir Putin is out of power, King said. He characterized Putin as a dictator.

Failure to continue supporting Ukraine would be akin to Western nations failure to combat the rise of Germany in the 1930s, King said. He said he plans to make that case to constituents and Republican lawmakers who have voiced skepticism of continued U.S. involvement in the war.

I get letters every now and then, people saying, Why are we doing this? Ukraines far away. Its not our fight. Well, it is our fight, because if we dont fight it now, it will spread, King said. And it will become something that we cant avoid being involved in, just as occurred in the late 1930s at the beginning of World War II.

King met with Zelenskyy while wearing a sweatshirt depicting Maine native and Civil War hero Joshua Chamberlain. The senator said it would be a mistake to set a date on how long the U.S. should continue to support Ukraine, because that would give Putin the ability to wait out that deadline.

King said he did not think its necessary for the U.S. to consider sending troops to Ukraine. It makes more sense to supply Ukraine with equipment, he said.

Reed, who is the chair of the armed services committee, has also said he supports the U.S. decision to keep funding Ukraine. Reed said last week that Ukraine is fighting for the values that we cherish: freedom, democracy, a civil society, opposing autocracy and illegal and unconscionable warfare.

(AP)




The Biden administration said Monday that Irans sale of lethal drones to Russia for use in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine means the country may be contributing to widespread war crimes.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan leveled the charge against Iran on Monday as he spoke to reporters accompanying President Joe Biden on a trip to Mexico. While it did not signal a policy shift, the charge marked some of the sharpest U.S. rhetoric against Iran since it began providing weapons to Russia to support its nearly year-long war in Ukraine. It comes as the U.S. and European partners are looking to further ostracize both nations in the court of public opinion, as they face challenges with physically stopping the transfers of weapons on which Russia is increasingly reliant.

Sullivan said Iran had chosen to go down a road where their weapons are being used to kill civilians in Ukraine and to try to plunge cities into cold and darkness, which from our point of view, puts Iran in a place where it could potentially be contributing to widespread war crimes.

Sullivan pointed to European and U.S. sanctions on Iran put in place after the U.S. exposed Irans weapons sales to Russia last year as examples of how they are trying to make these transactions more difficult. But he acknowledged that the way that they are actually carrying them out physically makes physical interdiction a challenge.

(AP)




The United Arab Emirates will begin teaching about the Holocaust in history classes in primary and secondary schools across the country, the countrys embassy in the U.S. says.

The embassy provided no details on the curriculum and education authorities in the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, did not immediately acknowledge the announcement on Monday.

However, the announcement comes after the UAE normalized relations with Israel in 2020 as part of a deal brokered by the administration of President Donald Trump.

In the wake of the historic (hashtag)AbrahamAccords, (the UAE) will now include the Holocaust in the curriculum for primary and secondary schools, the embassy said in a tweet, referring to the normalization deal that also saw Bahrain and ultimately Morocco also recognize Israel.

Ambassador Deborah E. Lipstadt, the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, praised the announcement in her own tweet.

Holocaust education is an imperative for humanity and too many countries, for too long, continue to downplay the Shoah for political reasons, Lipstadt wrote, using a Hebrew word for the Holocaust. I commend the UAE for this step and expect others to follow suit soon.

The announcement comes ahead of a planned meeting of the Negev Forum Working Groups in Abu Dhabi this week, which grew out of the normalization. The meeting will see officials from Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, the UAE and the U.S. attend. Egypt has diplomatically recognized Israel for decades.

The Holocaust saw Nazi Germany systematically kill 6 million European Jews during World War II. Israel, founded in 1948 as a haven for Jews in the wake of the Holocaust, grants automatic citizenship to anyone of Jewish descent.

(AP)




A Neturei Karta delegation entered the highly volatile town of Jenin on Monday morning, Kan News reported.

Videos and photos on social media show Neturei Karta members draped in PLO flags in the Palestinian town, a hotbed of terrorism.

According to the report, Palestinian sources reported that the Neturei Karta members met with senior Islamic Jihad terrorist Maher al-Akhras who praised the men for their fervent opposition to Zionists and Zionism.

IDF officials who saw the videos were quick to clarify that the Neturei Karta members violated Israeli law, which prohibits Israeli citizens from entering Area A, and emphasized that the lawbreakers will face the fullest extent of the law.

Another report said that the Neturei Karta members came to visit the family of Bassam al-Saadi, a senior Islamic Jihad terrorist who has been detained in Israel since August.

Al-Saadis arrest led to great tension between Israel and Gaza after the Islamic Jihad terror group threatened retaliatory attacks against Israel, spurring a three-day military operation by the IDF against Gaza, dubbed Operation Breaking Dawn.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




National Unity chairman Benny Gantz accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of spurring a civil war and called to the public to take to the streets over the governments planned reforms to the judicial system.

This is the time to go out and protest, the time to shake the country, Gantz said at a National Unity party meeting on Monday. Addressing Netanyahu, he claimed: If you continue in the path youre taking  the responsibility for the civil war that is raging in Israeli society will be on you.

Gantzs call followed a large left-wing protest held in Tel Aviv on Motzei Shabbos against Netanyahus government at which PLO flags were waved along with signs comparing current government officials to Nazis.

Im shocked by Gantzs statements, this is a clear call to sedition from the Knesset platform, Netanyahu said at a Likud party meeting. Gantz, who doesnt condemn the comparison of the Justice Minister to a Nazi and the government of Israel to the Third Reich, is the one who is sowing the seeds of disaster. I call on Benny Gantz to retract his words immediately.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir accused Gantz of crossing a red line in encouraging members of the radical left to take down the elected government.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
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What is the challenge we face? It takes several years for a full-time advanced Torah learner to cover the laws of Shabbos in depth, so how can a working man, or one with less advanced skills, begin this seemingly daunting task?

Now there is a solution. World famous Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav HaGaon Yitzchak Berkovits shlita used his vast knowledge to arrange all the Gemaras with the commentators on each area of Hilchos Shabbos and presented it in the form of source sheets that cover material from the Gemara until practical halacha. This enables one to cover main opinions in each topic and gain a deep understanding of the halacha.

According to Rabbi Berkovits: Learning Hilchos Shabbos from the traditional sources could be quite confusing or complicated. Studying them in a very organized way gives you the clarity, the clarity to understand them in the first place and the clarity to retain the information.

This was done for full-time Torah learners who have advanced Hebrew skills and can devote many hours each day to learn. What about busy working Bnei Torah who have limited time to learn but want to properly master Hilchos Shabbos? Or people who are still building up their Gemara skills but want to learn the Gemara sugyas and Halacha?

Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen, a close talmid of Rav Berkovits who spent eight years as a Rosh Chaburah in Rav Berkovitss famous Jerusalem Kollel, with the Ravs haskama, took on the monumental task of adapting the Hebrew sheets into English. The material is written with care and with great clarity, as well as including the various opinions in the contemporary practical halacha.

For the past several years, Rabbi Gefen has been teaching this material to Torah learners throughout the world, on all levels of learning, and of all ages now as the founder of KinyanHilchosShabbos.com. Participants in each online chabura receive source sheets with explanations both in Hebrew and English, participate in a weekly Zoom shiur and ask questions by phone and email. Many have also successfully gained Smicha through thoroughly learning the material.

I would love to sit in Yeshiva half a day, but I have different hours. Says Dr. Eric Leibowitz who is a dentist in Brooklyn. Learning Hilchos Shabbos in Rabbi Gefens online chabura allowed for the flexibility I needed. Id always do Daf Yomi for many years, but always off and on. I was looking for something with some structure and with an end goal. This program enabled me to not only learn, but to retain what I learned in a structured way and the tests were very helpful. I felt like I accomplished something, I made a kinyan on something.

Over one thousand past and present participants in our online programs come from five continents and range from working Bnei Torah to full-time Kollel avreichim from Yerushalayim and Lakewood, as well as people who are still developing their Gemara skills, says Rabbi Dr. Yakov Pesah, director of the program and also a musmach of Rabbi Berkovits. Our vision is to enable Bnei Torah to learn halacha in a structured way and make it doable for any motivated person.

The program includes a weekly Zoom shiur which is recorded and can be reviewed later, tests on the material covered to enable the individual to evaluate their understanding of the material, and availability by email or phone for questions, clarifications, or further discussions.

Rabbi Gefen ran the Hilchos Shabbos program for our Kollel in Johannesburg. We achieved tremendous clarity on Hilchos Shabbos both in sugyas and in psak which is what you want when you learn Halacha. Says Rabbi Micha Kaplan who is an avrech in the Maharsha Community Kollel in Johannesburg and the Menahel of the Maharsha Boys High School.

The program includes the option of Smicha which is a wonderful source of pride for the individuals family. But its greatest benefit is that it will ensure that a person can lead his family to observing the laws of Shabbos with all their details.

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The new cycle of the Kinyhan Hilchos Shabbos program is starting on January 15th. For more information, tuition, and to receive an application visit KinyanHilchosShabbos.com.
All investment strategies have the potential for profit and loss. Your or your clients capital may be at risk.

Scottish Mortgage is an investment trust that has long stood out from the crowd, backing what it believes are the worlds most exciting growth companies.

Tom Slater, manager of Scottish Mortgage, discusses how he invests in this interview

The trusts managers believe that over time these exceptional businesses can make a positive impact on the world and deliver gains to Scottish Mortgages shareholders.

This involves thinking long term, having a keen eye for the disruptive companies that could achieve exponential growth in the future, and getting to know some highly interesting businesses very well.

In this interview, Tom Slater, manager of Scottish Mortgage, speaks to This is Moneys Simon Lambert about his 13 years with the investment trust and what he has learned along the way.

How do you invest with Scottish Mortgage?

The most important component of our investment approach is the time horizon. We're trying to be long-term owners of companies, not traders of shares.

We really want to give management teams the time to pursue their objectives, to pursue their vision, and to actually see that realised in the revenues, the cash flows, and the earnings of the company.

At the same time, we believe that company valuations follow fundamentals. We are growth investors. We're looking for companies that can be many times the size that they are today.

If you look at long-term returns from stock markets, they come from a very small number of exceptional businesses. So, our job is to try and find those businesses that have a big enough opportunity to be in that small cohort, and then to own them for long enough that that return accrues to our shareholders.

How did you become a professional investor?

I joined Baillie Gifford straight out of university. That's actually the most common path within Baillie Gifford. We tend to pull people from all sorts of different academic disciplines, but who demonstrate curiosity about the world around them.

We give them the tools to analyse companies and try to get a mix of different perspectives and different ways of viewing the world. That diversity, we think is really important in making good decisions about companies.

Did you ever think that you'd become a professional investor?

I studied maths and computer science. I hadnt grown up as a small boy wanting to be a fund manager. I don't think I ever heard what a fund manager was.

I hadnt grown up as a small boy wanting to be a fund manager. I don't think I ever heard what a fund manager was

But when I was at university in the late 1990s, the internet was starting to really gain traction and we were seeing this really exciting progress and some of the companies that it was driving.

I think it was the interest in that and thinking, is there an interesting role in actually trying to evaluate the prospect of some of these companies?

What was it that attracted you to Scottish Mortgage?

Scottish Mortgage is Baillie Giffords oldest client. We've been managing Scottish Mortgage on behalf of shareholders since 1909.

It's attractive to people who are interested in high growth and in change. The big, monumental, underlying changes: how society evolves, how companies evolve, I think that mixture makes it a really exciting investment proposition.

At the same time, you have an independent Board of Directors, which is full of very bright, interesting people, and those conversations help you develop your understanding of the world, to improve, and to get better.

Scottish Mortgage's top ten holdings at 31 October 2022 (Source: Scottish Mortgage)

What does long-term growth investing mean to you?

So much of what goes on in financial markets is about predicting what a company is going to do this year or next year - and trying to be more right than everybody else in that.

But for us, so little of the value of a company lies in its profitability over the next year or two. We extend the time horizon to ask what happens over the next five years? What happens after that?

If you can just get a little way down that path, you potentially pick up insights that others arent bothering to look for.

We're investing in the companies that we think can drive radical change, but change doesn't happen overnight.

Its over five years or ten years that you see the compounding impact of those changes and that you see really radical shifts.

We're investing in the companies that we think can drive radical change, but change doesn't happen overnight

To illustrate that, think of Moores Law in computing: the amount of computing you can buy for a dollar doubles every eighteen months.

That's not really exciting, but if you look out over ten years and it's gone up sixty sixtyfold, then what you can do is absolutely transformational.

With a company like Amazon over the past twenty years, the storefront just keeps getting better and better. The proximity of that store front to us as consumers gets closer and closer, driven by this compounding effect.

But its not just in computing. If you look at the price of generating energy from solar panels, the cost of storing energy and batteries, the capability of an advanced machine learning mode, or the cost of sequencing DNA.

It's all these exponential trends that when they compound over long periods of time, can drive a radically different business model and therefore bring big opportunities for companies.

How challenging have the past three years of investing been?

Its been a remarkable period. The first part of that period, starts at the end of 2019 and goes through to March 2020, where you'd seen the portfolio fallen by about a quarter over the previous five weeks.

We sat down and said where do we go from here?

You're looking at the resilience of the companies. You're looking at balance sheets thinking about how companies can endure the stresses put upon them.

But as we looked at that period of huge uncertainty, we basically decided to do nothing.

We thought: The management teams of the businesses, which we respect and have shown themselves to be very adept at managing these situations, lets let them get on with it..

Of course, we have the benefit of hindsight but that was the right thing to do.

The market bounced sharply. So many of these companies had been building the tools which were necessary to help us get through these unusual circumstances in the pandemic.

The tools that allowed us to socialise, that allowed e-commerce so people could continue buying things online, the companies that facilitate working from home, and they thrived through 2020 and into 2021.

Then as we approached the end of 2021, prices had moved much faster than their profitability.

Thats what long term means... it doesnt mean we trade to have a portfolio to deal with Covid and then we trade to deal with the aftermath

So, you started to see a bit of a pull back, but very quickly you also started to then see economic prospects deteriorate meaningfully.

The war in Ukraine and the impact on energy prices, that and the withdrawal of stimulus came together to create an extremely difficult environment for these companies.

Again, we predominantly focused on letting the management teams involved deal with the situation. Thats what long term means. It doesnt mean we trade to have a portfolio to deal with Covid and then we trade to deal with the aftermath.

If you understand why you own a stock - and you don't think anything has changed - then you just let the team get on with dealing with that situation.

Thats the general rule, but there are obviously specifics, either at the company level or more broadly than that. One for us, has been that we've been trying to think through things in China, where you've seen a marked increase in friction between China and the US.

It's seen barriers to trade and its seen tension in access to technology, so we have had to move the trusts position.

Tesla has been a long-standing Scottish Mortgage investment and a major contributor to shareholder returns over the years

What have been the best and worst investments in your career?

To take the question narrowly, its back to the philosophy of what we're doing in that its the best investments that really matter because the pay-offs are so large.

If you take from 2009, my first year on the management team of Scottish Mortgage, its very clearly Amazon, Tesla and Tencent. These are huge contributors to what we've delivered to shareholders.

Thats absolutely what we'd expect. If you have winners and you hold on to them, they can deliver many times the return.

If you look at the common characteristics of all three, theyve been going after very big markets and when you get that formula right - and in Amazons case, more than once, with the retail business and then in the web services business  the pay-offs can be huge.

At the other end of the spectrum, there have been plenty of stocks that we've got wrong.

To pick one, Lending Club was a business that was seeking to separate the operations and the capital provision of a bank and try to improve the efficiency of both parts of that model.

Ultimately, they pursued that vision too aggressively and those of us who work in financial services know you have to have an absolutely rigorous control environment. In the pursuit of growth they failed to address some of the basics and ultimately that was very damaging for them.

But actually I would turn around and say some of my worst mistakes are not my worst investments, instead they are the companies that we looked at, but we didn't invest in or we sold too early, and they went on to make massive returns.

We invested in Apple in the 2008 to 2009 period and we made a handsome return from it but we sold maybe four or five years later and its subsequently gone up fivefold.

Where do you see the emerging opportunities that will pay off in five to ten years time?

Our biggest holding is Moderna and thats representative of the fact that healthcare is a huge opportunity. What we're seeing there is the collision of all the tools we've got used to in the information technology sector, with an industry which has been really slow moving and reluctant to adopt technology.

If you take Moderna specifically, what they do with RNA is reprogramme human cells. You saw that with the Covid-19 vaccine. Instead of the traditional model of injecting a dormant virus and allowing the body to react to it, they simply programmed human cells to produce the protein.

Now there are all sorts of things you can start to do if you start using the human cells to produce drugs. The company already has a flu vaccine which works in a similar way. They have trials for another seasonal respiratory illness and there are a number of others. The technology allows them to go after all of those and that could have a huge impact on a healthcare system and the number of hospital beds that are occupied every winter.

Then there are a number of what you might call dormant viruses that circulate in the population. They estimated to be responsible for 30 to 50 per cent of cancers. So, the next promise of the technology is that you can start to vaccinate against ever getting these viruses, or you can start to treat people who have those viruses dormant in their bodies, and then you could have a massive impact on not only cancer, but a number of other chronic illnesses.

We also have big holdings in companies that can help drive the transition away from carbon-based energy and there is increasing impetus to do this

The final piece is personalized cancer vaccines and the idea that we can retrain our immune systems to do what they should have done and kill cancer.

We also have big holdings in companies that we think can help drive the transition away from carbon-based energy and there is increasing impetus to do this.

You can see it in the automotive setting, where consumers prefer electric vehicles because they're faster, they're safer, theyre more economical, and that will drive massive changes in the supply system in terms of demand for batteries, for example.

Theres other technologies which are really interesting as well. Can you suck carbon dioxide out of the air? Can you decarbonise the food supply chain?

I think that's another area which could deliver pretty dramatic change over the next ten years.

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HARRISBURG  A Cambria County woman whose family loves chocolate cake with peanut butter and marshmallow frosting literally took the cake on Saturday by winning the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show Homemade Chocolate Cake Contest.

Sharon Karlheim of Patton, an annual participant and frequent winner in the Farm Show baking contests, beat dozens of other bakers to win $500, a blue ribbon and a reputation as making the states best chocolate cake. Her decadent layered Chocolate Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Cake used ingredients ranging from cocoa to coffee, plus two frostings and a rich filling.

Other winners in the contest sponsored by the Pennsylvania State Association of County Fairs were Amanda Stauffer of Columbia, second place and $300; Pam Foor of Everett, third place and $100; Cindy Hendershot of Danielsville, fourth place and a yellow ribbon; and Jessica Colgan of Punxsutawney, fifth place and a green ribbon.

The cakes are beautiful, said Chris Fickes, contest coordinator, but they have to taste good to win. Theres still room here for a plain, simple chocolate cake.

The contest was open only to certified first place winners in their contests at an approved agricultural fair in 2022.

Five judges evaluated each contest, tasting the desserts made from scratch. As the judges tasted the cakes and awarded points for flavor, texture, frosting and inside and outside characteristics, the competing bakers chatted like friends as they waited for results.

Karlheim said that it took her six hours to make her six-layer cake. Then I put it in a box and drove carefully to Harrisburg, she said. Asked about her plans for the $500 prize, she said she will use it in redecorating her bathroom and bedroom.

Stauffer said she uses boiling water in her cake so it comes out really moist.

Tori Donough of Port Royal made an Oreo Chocolate Cake, using crushed Oreo cookies in her icing and some whole ones for garnish. Ashley Troxell of Catasauqua said that she sifted her dry ingredients several times when making her chocolate peanut butter cake. Gretchen VanGorder of Lock Haven said she used buttermilk and hot espresso in her cake because coffee makes chocolate taste richer.

After more than an hour of tasting, judges announced the winners. Then, members of the public were treated to samples of the rich cakes.

Here is Karlheims winning recipe for her Chocolate Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Cake:

Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 cups fine granulated sugar

1  teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon baking soda

1  teaspoons salt

1 cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa

1  cups buttermilk

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1  cups hot black coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 9-inch cake pans.

Measure the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a medium bowl whisk together the wet ingredients and add to the dry ingredients. Mix for two minutes. Do NOT overmix.

Pour into the cake pans and bake on middle rack for approximately 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Peanut Butter Frosting

 cups butter

6 cups powdered sugar (sifted)

1  cups peanut butter

1 tablespoon vanilla

 teaspoon salt

 cup buttermilk (add more if needed)

Sift the powdered sugar and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, whip together the butter, peanut butter and salt until light and fluffy, about five minutes.

Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until fully incorporated and mix on high for about three minutes. Add the vanilla and buttermilk and continue beating until fluffy, about two minutes. Reserve about 2 cups of frosting to assemble the cake layers

Chocolate Frosting

6 cups powdered sugar

1  cups cocoa powder

1 cup butter

 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

 cup heavy cream (add more if needed)

 cup buttermilk (add more if needed)

Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa and set aside. In a large mixing bowl with the paddle attachment whip together the butter and salt until light and fluffy (about five minutes). Add the powdered sugar/cocoa mixture a cup at a time until fully incorporated. The mixture will be dry and crumbly. Mix on low for about three minutes. Add the vanilla, cream and buttermilk and continue beating until fluffy, about two minutes.

Chocolate Mousse Filling

2 tablespoons butter

8 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)

1 cup powdered sugar

 teaspoon vanilla

8 teaspoon salt

 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

1 cup heavy cream

1 packed of whipped cream stabilizer

1 to 2 cups chopped peanut butter cups (reserve for later)

 cup marshmallow bits (reserve for later)

In a large bowl combine the butter, cream cheese,  cup powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt mixing at medium speed until smooth. Melt the chocolate and add to the bowl and mix on medium-high speed until a bit lightened and fluffy.

Beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form then add the remaining  cup powdered sugar. Beat just until the cream is stiff. Do NOT overmix. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Divide the filling into three equal portions.

Chocolate Ganache

2 ounces chocolate pieces

 cup heavy cream

Peanut Butter Ganache

 cup peanut butter chips

 cup heavy cream

Bring cream to a boil and pour over the chocolate/peanut pieces. Let sit for a few minutes to melt the chocolate/peanut butter then stir to combine.

Assembling the cake

Divide the layers in half. Fill each layer with mousse filling/peanut butter frosting alternating layers and top with reserved peanut butter cups and marshmallows.

Frost with the peanut butter buttercream frosting and allow to harden in the refrigerator. Frost over the peanut butter frosting with the chocolate frosting and top with ganache. Garnish as desired with buttercream trim, marshmallows and peanut butter cups.

Photos: Food selections at the 2023 Pennsylvania Farm Show
Information is from police reports and may be incomplete depending on the status of an investigation. Phone numbers are nonemergency.
At least 17 people were killed in clashes with police in southern Peru, the countrys human rights office said on Monday, the deadliest day so far of protests demanding early elections and the release of jailed former president Pedro Castillo.

The clashes occurred in Juliaca, a city near the banks of Lake Titicaca in southern Perus Puno region, and left 68 people injured, Henry Rebaza, a Puno health ministry official, told the state-run television channel TV Peru. The dead included at least two teenagers, according to the ministry.

Some of the bodies had bullet wounds, Punos regional health director, Ismael Cornejo, told local radio station RPP.

The latest casualties raise the death toll from anti-government clashes with security forces to 39 since the protests began in early December following the removal and arrest of Castillo shortly after he tried to illegally dissolve Congress.

Castillo is serving 18 months of pre-trial detention on charges of rebellion, which he denies.

Rebaza also told Peru TV that 28 injured police officers are unable to be evacuated from Juliacas airport. Peruvian Prime Minister Alberto Otarola said thousands of protesters had tried to invade the airport along with a police station.

GUNSHOTS, SMOKE

During the day in Juliaca, a Reuters witness recorded footage of gunshots and smoke on the streets as protesters took cover behind large metal plates and road signs and threw rocks at police using improvised sling-shots.

Other footage showed people administering CPR to a man lying motionless on the ground in a blood-stained sweater, and people with severe injuries in a crowded hospital waiting room.

An unidentified woman told Reuters their relative had been hit with a bullet while taking a walk with a friend who lived nearby.

I want to call on the central government  how can we have so many dead? said Jorge Sotomayor Perales, the head of the intensive care department at a hospital in Juliaca.

Perus human rights office, known as the Ombudsman Office, called for police to comply with international standards in using force and for investigations into the deaths, while urging protesters to refrain from attacking property or impeding movement of ambulances.

Earlier on Monday, the Ombudsman said a newborn had died while being transferred from the town of Yunguyo, southeast of Juliaca, to a local hospital in an ambulance that had been delayed by a road blockade.

Protests calling for the early elections and the release of Castillo resumed last week after a holiday lull. The protesters are also demand the resignation of new President Dina Boluarte, the closure of Congress and changes to the constitution.

Speaking at a national agreement meeting earlier on Monday with representatives from the countrys regions and various political institutions, Boluarte said she could not grant some of the protesters key demands. She called for citizens to reflect.

The only thing that was in my hands was moving forwards the elections, which we have already proposed, she said. What you are asking for is a pretext to continue generating chaos in the cities.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said it would conduct a visit to Peru from Wednesday to Friday, visiting Lima and other cities to evaluate the situation.

SOURCE: REUTERS
Russian troops have stepped up an assault on the town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, forcing Ukrainian troops to repel waves of attacks led by mercenary forces, officials in Kyiv said.

Britains defence ministry said on Tuesday that Russian and forces of the Wagner contract group were probably now in control of most of the small salt mining town after advances in the last four days.

Soledar, in the industrial Donbas region, lies a few miles from Bakhmut, where troops from both sides have been taking heavy losses in some of the most intense trench warfare since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago.

Russias Soledar axis is highly likely an effort to envelop Bakhmut from the north, and to disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication, Britain said in an intelligence briefly.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address on Monday that Bakhmut and Soledar were holding on despite widespread destruction.

He cited new and fiercer attacks in Soledar, where he said no walls have been left standing and the land was covered with Russian corpses.

Thanks to the resilience of our soldiers in Soledar, we have won for Ukraine additional time and additional strength, Zelenskiy said. He did not spell out what he meant by gaining time or strength.

Russias defence ministry did not mention either Soledar or Bakhmut in a media briefing on Monday.

Wagner was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Drawing some recruits from Russias prisons and known for uncompromising violence, it is active in conflicts in Africa and has taken a prominent role in Russias war effort in Ukraine.

WAVES OF ATTACKS

Prigozhin has been trying to capture Bakhmut and Soledar for months at the cost of many lives on both sides.

He said on Saturday its significance lay in a network of cavernous mining tunnels below the ground, which can hold troops or tanks.

A U.S. official has said Prigozhin was eyeing the salt and gypsum from the mines, believed to extend over 100 miles underground and contain auditorium-scale caverns.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said fighting in Bahkmut and Soledar was the most intense on the entire frontline.

So many remain on the battlefield  either dead or wounded, he said on YouTube.

They attack our positions in waves, but the wounded as a rule die where they lie, either from exposure as it is very cold or from blood loss. No one is coming to help them or to collect the dead from the battlefield.

Reuters could not immediately verify battlefield reports.

In an evacuee centre in nearby Kramatorsk, Olha, 60, said she had fled Soledar after moving from apartment to apartment as each was destroyed in tank battles.

There isnt one house left intact. Apartments were burning, breaking in half, said Olha, who gave only her first name.

APPEAL FOR WEAPONS

Ukrainian officials, led by the commander in chief General Valery Zaluzhniy, have warned that Russia is preparing fresh troops for a new offensive on Ukraine, possibly on the capital Kyiv.

Zelenskiy also appears to be banking on securing more, sophisticated weapons from Ukraines Western partners to beat off attacks and eventually expel Russian troops.

On Monday, he pressed on with diplomatic efforts, speaking to Petr Fiala, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic.

I am certain that our soldiers at the front will get these weapons and equipment. Very soon, he said.

France, Germany and the United States all pledged last week to send armoured fighting vehicles, fulfilling a long-standing Ukrainian request. Britain is considering supplying Ukraine with tanks for the first time, Sky News reported, citing a Western source. Britains Defence Ministry did not comment.

SOURCE: REUTERS
NTSCOM Reels in Dubber for Unified Recording Solution

By Greg Tavarez , Business VoIP Editor

NTSCOM, with more than 20 years of experience in the carrier industry, provides a range of services for business telecom channels. Services include local and long distance, SMS, voice, internet access broadband and iPilot.

The Microsoft Operator Connect partner also automates direct routing and Operator Connect capabilities for carrier-hosted session boarder controllers, on-premises SIP trunks, or bring-your-own SBCs, carriers and operators.

NTSCOM set out to find a solution that further enhances its customer experiences. To do that, NTSCOM chose Dubber, conversational intelligence and unified recording platform for service providers and their customers.

Dubber, with its broad installed base spanning heavily regulated industries such as the government, education and healthcare sectors, ensures regulatory mandates are met and the insights contained revealed with its compliant conversational intelligence.

The agreement is for Dubber to further elevate NTSCOM offerings to automate conversational intelligence and unified recording, extending its ability to bring innovative solutions to Microsoft Teams.

For example, through the agreement, NTSCOM is utilizing Dubber's existing integration for Microsoft Teams via iPilot, which offers a single pane of glass view and control of an organizations global communications infrastructure.

"Dubber's service, integrated with iPilot will be seamlessly provisioned with NTSCOM offerings and Microsoft Teams, enabling Dubber to be uniquely delivered as a service so that NTSCOM, its customers and partners can switch on and deliver value immediately, said Michael Abenhaim, Dubber senior vice president of Americas.

Aaron Barnes, NTSCOM CEO, said the adoption of Dubber is a telltale sign of NTSCOMs commitment of continuing to deliver solutions that ultimately enhance its customer experiences.

Dubber services are already deployed into major enterprise accounts such as TD SYNNEX and Konica Minolta.

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Edited by Alex Passett
HARRISBURG  Although alpacas come from Peru and Bolivia, they seem right at home in Cumberland County and at the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show on Tuesday.

Alpacas, smaller than llamas and weighing 100 to 175 pounds, are known for their long, fine and soft fiber, which makes warm and lightweight clothing.

Ive had alpacas since 2010 and just love them, said Angie Grove, leader of the Cumberland County 4-H Alpaca Club and manager of the Bent Pine Alpaca Farm in Monroe Township. They have friendly personalities.

She smiled watching several Cumberland County Alpaca Club members participating in an alpaca show, which displayed the charm and dexterity of these long-necked animals as they competed in the showmanship and agility classes.

I work with an alpaca called Marcus, said Kaleb Black, 11, of Monroe Township. Hes pretty stubborn. The Eagle View Middle School student then headed to the obstacle ring.

He and others put the alpacas through their paces, having them jump over an elevated stick, go up steps, walk across a little bridge, go around several tires and go under a bar with shiny objects hanging from it. The alpacas also had to back up and tolerate having a hula hoop put on them. Some did the obstacle course smoothly while others hesitated at some of the more challenging requirements.

While Kaleb was in the obstacle ring, Jayden Klinger, 17, of Newville was taking her alpaca, Brock, in the showmanship ring. There, alpacas and their handlers followed instructions from judges, sometimes standing still and sometimes walking around the ring.

The Big Spring High School senior takes her alpacas to competitions in Pennsylvania and other states.

Emma Gebhart, 14, of Middlesex Township, took an alpaca named Alice into the showring. Im home-schooled, she said, So being in the 4-H and working with alpacas gets me out. I look forward to these shows.

She said many people dont understand that alpacas are pretty used to people. They only spit if they are threatened or if someone is taking their food, she said.

Many of the Alpaca Club members borrowed their animals from the Bent Pine Alpaca Farm, owned by Col. Andrew and Jackie Hanson. Grove said there are 25 alpacas on the farm, 20 owned by the Hansons and five who board.

Alpacas are becoming more and more popular, Grove said. We started our club in 2009 and it has grown. Now we have 18 kids in it. The alpacas are good for the kids. The kids work with them at least once a week to get to know them and build a rapport with them. The kids learn responsibility, patience and public speaking.

Photos: Scenes from the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show Tuesday in Harrisburg
January 10, 2023





The new blockchain technology has a much deeper impact than most people think. This new technology brings many innovations that have the potential to impact many industries and therefore help developing countries acquire more wealth.

Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are not something new. In fact, they are around us for more than a decade and they have slowly changed many of the modern-day principles that most countries rely on.

Though they became more available in recent years, with people anywhere being able to dive into online poker crypto games and suddenly being considered quite wealthy and empowered through Bitcoin and altcoins.







This is why blockchain technology has the power to impact finances and economies, and potentially help developing countries in different ways.

Lets go through some of the ways that Blockchain technology can help developing countries.

The Impact of Blockchain technology on Developing Countries

Financial Inclusion

The capacity of blockchain technology to offer financial services to people and communities who might not have access to traditional financial institutions is one of its primary advantages. The term "financial inclusion" refers to this.

In developing countries, fundamental financial services like bank accounts, loans, and insurance are frequently inaccessible.

This may result in obstacles to opportunity and economic growth. Through the provision of a decentralized platform for financial transactions and services, blockchain technology can aid in bridging this gap.

For instance, blockchain-based mobile payment platforms like Kenya's M-Pesa have given millions of individuals access to financial services who otherwise might not have had it. In addition, blockchain-based microfinance platforms such as BitPesa and LendLedger are helping to bring financial services to underserved communities in Africa and Asia.

Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management is another area where blockchain technology might benefit poor nations. The network of businesses, people, activities, information, and resources used in the creation and delivery of a good or service is referred to as a supply chain.

Supply chain management presents many difficulties for developing nations, including corruption, inefficiency, and a lack of transparency. By offering a transparent and secure platform for tracking and validating the movement of goods and services, blockchain technology can assist to address these problems.

In order to promote openness and efficiency in the food supply chain, for instance, IBM (News - Alert)'s Food Trust platform employs blockchain technology to track the movement of food from the farm to the grocery store. In addition, the platform helps to reduce food waste by ensuring that food is properly handled and stored throughout the supply chain.

Transfer of Wealth

The big problem that developing countries face is the lack of wealth. However, thanks to blockchain technology we can witness some of the poorest countries on earth become one of the greatest economic superpowers in terms of wealth.

Currently, the price of some of the most popular cryptocurrencies is down, but some of the developing countries that believe in blockchain and crypto technology are buying cryptocurrencies in hopes that they will be worth a lot more in the future.

For example, El Salvador has been bullish on Bitcoin ever since the beginning. According to some reports, El Salvador currently holds 2,381 Bitcoins, which by the current price is around $40 million.

However, if the Bitcoin value climbs to $100,000 or $1 million in the next decade as most experts predict, this country will have billions of dollars worth of crypto in their wallet.

Governance

Blockchain technology can also aid in enhancing governance in underdeveloped nations. The word "governance" describes the procedures and frameworks used to manage and direct a community or an organization.

Effective governance can be hampered in poor nations by problems like corruption, a lack of accountability, and a lack of openness. By offering a safe and transparent platform for logging and tracking transactions, votes, and other crucial procedures, blockchain technology can assist to address these problems.

For instance, in 2018, the West African nation of Sierra Leone conducted the first-ever blockchain-based elections. The usage of blockchain technology improved voting process accountability and transparency.

Final Words

In conclusion, blockchain technology has the potential to benefit developing nations in a number of areas, including supply chain management, governance, and financial inclusion.

Blockchain technology can contribute to enhancing transparency, efficiency, and accountability in various domains by offering decentralized platforms for financial transactions, supply chain tracking, and governance procedures.

As a result, it may spur economic development and opportunity in underdeveloped nations.
Juniper Networks and NEC Electrify Powerco's Wi-Fi User Experience

Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), a leader in secure, AI-driven networks, and NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701), a leading global IT and network transformation services provider, today announced that they have been selected by Powerco, New Zealand's second largest gas and electricity distributor, to design and deploy an innovative new Wi-Fi network across its sites nationwide.

Powerco delivers electricity and gas to over 1.1 million customers, linked up to its grid via 28,441km of electricity lines and cables, as well as over 6,100km of gas pipes. Given the mission-critical and essential services it provides, Powerco needed to ensure not only strong connectivity but also the health, safety and security of its employees when operating across its massive utility grid.

Having experienced several issues with their legacy Wi-Fi network, Powerco began looking into replacing their incumbent wireless vendor, which would allow them to embark on a Wi-Fi 6 upgrade as part of a larger technology refresh.

The company turned to Juniper Networks alongside its strategic global partner NEC, both of whom it has long-term partnerships with. Juniper has been Powerco's networking backbone provider, and has also been named as a Leader in the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure. NEC's partnership with Powerco includes the provision of skilled consultancy and design for multi-domain networks catered to their needs. Now, through solution trials, Juniper and NEC have successfully demonstrated how their AI-driven wireless networks can optimize Powerco's Wi-Fi experience across its nationwide operations.

Delighted with the stellar network assurance, insights and visibility offered, as well as the ease of management operations and troubleshooting, Powerco decided on the complete replacement of the incumbent solution with Juniper's Wireless Access Points and Juniper Mist Wi-Fi Assurance. Alongside the consultancy and implementation services provided by NEC, the new platform now provides automated and real-time insights into user experiences for Powerco across its network.







Looking forward, Powerco is exploring further upgrades across its wider networking infrastructure alongside Juniper and NEC. This would allow it to potentially deliver even more AI-driven insights into the overall performance and health of its network, while streamlining efficiencies and minimizing operational burdens placed on its IT staff.

Supporting Quotes

"Powerco's mission-critical services are essential to its customers across New Zealand, and Juniper is delighted to be able to continue our long-standing partnership with them by delivering experience-first networking to its entire Wi-Fi network nationwide alongside NEC, a key global alliance partner with a well-established history in New Zealand. Our technology has been built to fundamentally leverage the operational and user benefits of the cloud and AI, and we look forward to providing Powerco with superior user experiences based on network assurance, insights and visibility into the future."

- Ken Lord, Country Manager, New Zealand, Juniper Networks

"The essential services Powerco provides are pivotal across much of New Zealand, and NEC is honored to contribute as a key business partner to the ongoing digital transformation of their network alongside Juniper. Delivering state-of-the-art solutions that provide significant customer-centric value is a goal we share with Juniper, and we look forward to helping Powerco further uplift and transform its networking operations to better serve New Zealand for a long time to come."

- Nelson Gomes, Head of Networks, NEC New Zealand

Additional Resources:

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks is dedicated to dramatically simplifying network operations and driving superior experiences for end users. Our solutions deliver industry-leading insight, automation, security and AI to drive real business results. We believe that powering connections will bring us closer together while empowering us all to solve the world's greatest challenges of well-being, sustainability and equality. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net) or connect with Juniper on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Juniper Networks, the Juniper Networks logo, Juniper, Junos, and other trademarks listed here are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

About NEC Corporation

NEC Corporation has established itself as a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies while promoting the brand statement of "Orchestrating a brighter world." NEC enables businesses and communities to adapt to rapid changes taking place in both society and the market as it provides for the social values of safety, security, fairness and efficiency to promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. For more information, visit NEC at https://www.nec.com.

category-enterprise

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005026/en/
[January 10, 2023] Kastle Names Former Microsoft and Sonos Technology Executive as Chief Technology Officer

Property Technology leader, Kastle, announces the expansion of its leadership team with the addition of Al Valvano to lead technology strategy, engineering and IT FALLS CHURCH, Va., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kastle, a leader in property technology and managed security, today announced that tech veteran, Al Valvano, has joined the executive team as Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Valvano brings a track record of strong leadership with more than 25 years of success in business and technical innovation at some of the world's leading technology companies. Prior to joining Kastle, Mr. Valvano was most recently Vice President of Software Engineering at Sonos, the leader in sound experience technology, where he spent over 6 years building a robust portfolio of best-in-class wireless home audio products, software, and services - including Roam, Arc, Move and Sonos Radio - as well as an expansive ecosystem of partners including IKEA, Amazon, Google, Spotify, and Apple. He also helped lead the company through mid-stage growth and IPO. Prior to Sonos, Mr. Valvano led a variety of product and engineering teams during his 15 years with Microsoft, including nearly 8 years with Xbox, helping scale Xbox Live, shipping numerous Xbox consoles, hardware & accessories, as well as leaing release and readiness for hundreds of AAA games, apps, services, client and live events.



"I'm beyond excited to join the industry leader in property technology and services, especially one that is so focused on enhancing both the safety and delight of its customers and users", said Mr. Valvano. "The opportunity to create new solutions, heighten the user experience and simplify the operational performance of the built environment is super exciting. The next decade will bring enormous innovation to this space and I'm grateful for the opportunity to contribute." Mr. Valvano inherits the Chief Technology Officer role from Mohammad Soleimani, Kastle's current technology and industry thought leader. Mr. Soleimani has been named Kastle's first Chief Innovation Officer after fourteen years in the CTO role where he led Kastle's transformation to become the leading cloud-based smart access security technology provider nationally. This new role enables Mr. Soleimani to focus more on leading Kastle's efforts to develop the next generation access control platform, building on his leadership roles in industry governing groups such as Physical Security Interoperability Alliance (PSIA) and Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) to ensure access credentials can be used seamlessly across disparate buildings and tenant spaces.

"We are thrilled to have Al join our leadership team and bring his world-class background in developing user-centric technology products and in scaling technology platforms to Kastle. His leadership will elevate the level of experience we enable in the spaces we serve around the world and builds on the remarkable legacy of innovation that Mohammad Soleimani began" said Kastle CEO, Haniel Lynn. About Kastle Systems Kastle Systems has been leading the property technology industry since 1972 with advanced technology solutions and services, protecting commercial real estate, multifamily residential, global enterprises, educational institutions, and critical government facilities. Kastle's state-of-the-art solutions include access control, video surveillance, visitor management, and identity management, as well as a suite of mobile security applications, all integrated on an open, standards-based platform and supported by a team of experts 24x7x365. Headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, Kastle is on Silicon Review's 2021 Five Best Security Companies to Watch list. For more information about KastleAccess, KastleResident, Kastle Videocom, or any other advanced property technology innovations from Kastle Systems, contact Jake Heinz, Chief Marketing Officer, at [email protected]. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kastle-names-former-microsoft-and-sonos-technology-executive-as-chief-technology-officer-301717070.html SOURCE Kastle Systems

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[January 10, 2023] Modus Create Acquires Romanian Software Engineering Firm Clarisoft

Modus Create, a digital transformation consulting firm, announced today that it has acquired Clarisoft, a Romanian software engineering company with deep expertise in custom product development for enterprises. This is Modus Create's fifth acquisition in the last 12 months, topping off a year of accelerated growth and inclusion on the Inc. 5000 list for the eighth successive time. Since May, Modus Create has expanded its offerings through the acquisitions of software engineering company Tweag; product development firm Promptwors; and Atlassian consulting firms Atlas Authority and Twybee. The acquisition of Clarisoft represents Modus Create's third acquisition in the European market.



Headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, Clarisoft is known for building quality software across enterprise, mid-market, and government clients worldwide, particularly in sectors such as healthcare, automotive, finance, and telecom. Its clients include organizations such as Cisco and Livongo Health. Clarisoft's CEO Bogdan Bucura will join Modus in a sales leadership role, and Development Director Mircea Enache will take on a delivery leadership role. Also joining Modus will be 40 senior engineers, designers, and project managers.

"We continue to add capabilities and talent that deepen Modus Create's expertise as a leading global partner for product development. Adding Clarisoft to the team expands our European footprint and strengthens our offerings in enterprise software development, leading cloud platforms, and microservices delivery," said Sarah McCasland, Chief Strategy Officer, Modus Create. "Most importantly, Clarisoft is a cultural fit that will seamlessly integrate with the Modus values of creating high-quality products for our clients." "By joining Modus Create, I saw an opportunity for Clarisoft to be a part of a bigger organization while still providing the type of service our clients expect," said Bogdan Bucura, CEO, Clarisoft. "We will bring expertise in areas such as Microsoft Azure, broadening the scope of Modus' already highly respected software engineering team. And we look forward to offering our clients the broader services Modus has in areas such as platform modernization and digital operations." About Modus Create Modus Create is a digital consulting firm dedicated to helping clients build competitive advantage through digital innovation. We support organizations across their transformation journey with strategic consulting and full lifecycle product development. Our global team of strategists, designers, and technologists has created powerful digital experiences for some of the world's biggest brands. Visit moduscreate.com to learn more. About Clarisoft Clarisoft Technologies is a top software development company with offices in Europe and the USA. We offer full-stack digital solutions for business and staff augmentation through outsourcing services in Romania. We provide high-quality and cost-effective custom software development and mobile application development services for enterprises. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005166/en/

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[January 09, 2023] MATRIX Announces "Hatsumode" Metaverse World Creation Contest

MATRIX Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Junichi Goishi; hereinafter "MATRIX") of the MetaReal Group is pleased to announce the start of its "Hatsumode" Metaverse World creation contest on DOKODEMO Door ( https://dokodemodoors.com/en/ ), the company's reality Metaverse platform. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005006/en/ Hatsumode Metaverse World Creation Contest (Graphic: Business Wire) By creating real-life VR content introducing the traditional first visit to a Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine of the Japanese New Year, etc., to users of the platform from around the world, contest participants in the contest can win cash rewards, with the winner receiving 100,000 JPY. Participants The contest is open to anyone who can create their own "Hatsumode" first visit real-life Metaverse World. How to Participate Create a World by uploading footage of "Hatsumode" shot with a VR camera to the "DOKODEMO Door" platform. (https://dokodemodoors.com/) Learn how to create a World >> https://www.matrix.inc/how-to-create-a-world The maximum video size is 30GB. Videos can be of any length, bu around 30 minutes is recommended.

Resolution should be between 4K and 8K. There are no other conditions or restrictions.

For the World category, please select " Festival ."

." Please add " Hatsumode " to the beginning of the World title.

" to the beginning of the World title. Please set the World fee to " Free ."

." Set the World to " Public ."

." It may take from 1 to 4 days to complete the video upload, depending on server load. Please allow plenty of time when uploading.



Contest Period Until Tuesday January 31, 2023

*Please release your World within the period noted above. Prize Money 100,000 JPY for the best World (1 winner) 50,000 JPY for the Worlds judged second and third best (2 winners) *Metaversers from around the world will determine the winners. Notes Please release your World within the period noted above.

There is no limit to the number of Worlds that you can create.

Limited to original content only. Announcement of Results The results will be announced on the DOKODEMO Door platform in February 2023. Winners will also be contacted through the email addressed registered in their DOKODEMO Door account. *Metaverser: A user who creates a metaverse space (World) or holds an Event on the DOKODEMO Door platform. Anyone-creators, enthusiasts, businesses-can become a Metaverser for free. About MATRIX Inc. Established in September 2020 as a subsidiary of MetaReal Co., Ltd. (formerly Rozetta). Developed reality Metaverse platform "DOKODEMO Door" with the corporate vision of "Eliminating disparities and discrimination in the old reality, such as borders, language barriers, physical differences, knowledge gaps, and all other handicaps." https://www.matrix.inc About DOKODEMO Door DOKODEMO Door is a reality "Metaverse space sharing platform" where users and creators ("Metaversers") can come together to meet new people, gather with friends and family, share experiences, learn new skills and enjoy Metaverse spaces together. Anyone can easily create a World (VR Metaverse space) and hold free or paid Events in which users from around the globe can take part using a VR headset, PC or smartphone. DOKODEMO Door's Metaverse spaces are not computer graphics, but real video and images. When a user enters a space using a VR headset, it feels just like being in the real world. The DOKODEMO Door platform features real-time AI translation, where conversations between users are instantly translated and displayed in their language. https://dokodemodoors.com/en/ About MetaReal Co., Ltd. Corporate mission: "Liberate mankind from the limitations of place, time, language, and the physical" AI, AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), 5G/6G/7G (high-speed, large-capacity, multiple simultaneous connection communication), 4K/8K/12K (super-resolution video), video distribution By integrating the latest technologies such as solutions, wearable devices, robots, and HA (Human Augmentation), people from all over the World can interact, live, work, and enjoy their lives "anytime, anywhere, and with anyone without the impediment of language." We will realize the goal of "global ubiquitous." For the last two years, we have been focusing on the "Metaverse business" as a growth field, handled by our group companies MATRIX Inc. ("DOKODEMO Door") and TravelDX Co., Ltd. ("DOKODEMO Door Trip"). Company name: MetaReal Co., Ltd.

URL: https://www.metareal.jp/

Location: New Kudan Building, 3-7-1 Kanda Jimbocho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Representative: Junichi Goishi, Representative Director

Established: February 2004

Business description: Language barrier-free services through AI translation; planning, development and operation of VR life services View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005006/en/

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[January 09, 2023] BENCHMARK ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF DOUGLAS BRITT TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND ANNOUNCES THE RETIREMENT OF BOARD MEMBER DOUGLAS DUNCAN

TEMPE, Ariz., Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: BHE) today announced the appointment of Douglas Britt as an independent director to the Company's Board of Directors, effective immediately. Benchmark also announced today the retirement of Douglas Duncan, who has served as a board member since 2006, also effective January 9, 2023. "It has been my great pleasure serving with Doug Duncan on the Board," said David W. Scheible, Board Chair. "Doug's contributions have been invaluable over the last 16 years. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I thank Doug for his service and commitment to Benchmark and we wish him all the best in the future. We are also pleased to welcome Doug Britt to the Board of Directors. Doug brings strong global operational and strategy expertise to the Board and is well familiar with our industry, having held executive leadership positions at several companies in the EMS and supply chain ecosytem. We look forward to benefitting from Doug's significant manufacturing and technology experience in support of our strategic objectives."



Mr. Britt currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Boyd Corporation. Before joining Boyd in 2020, Mr. Britt was with Flex from 2012 to 2020, where he served as President of its Integrated Solutions division, a $20 billion business unit that combines Flex's Industrial and Emerging Industries (IEI), Communications and Enterprise Compute (CEC), and Consumer Technologies Groups (CTG). Flex is a $25 billion global provider of design, engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain solutions with approximately 180,000 employees in 30 countries. Mr. Britt's previous positions include Corporate Vice President and Managing Director for the Americas at Future Electronics from 2009 to 2012, Senior Vice President of worldwide sales, marketing, and operations at Silicon Graphics from 2007 to 2009, and Executive Vice President of sales, operations, and supply chain at Solectron Corporation from 2000 to 2007.

Mr. Britt currently serves on the board of directors of Helios Technologies and is a member of the Helios compensation committee and audit committee. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from California State University, and has attended executive education programs throughout Europe, including the University of London. About Benchmark Electronics, Inc.

Benchmark provides comprehensive solutions across the entire product lifecycle by leading through its innovative technology and engineering design services, leveraging its optimized global supply chain and delivering world-class manufacturing services in the following industries: commercial aerospace, defense, advanced computing, next generation telecommunications, complex industrials, medical, and semiconductor capital equipment. Benchmark's global operations include facilities in seven countries and its common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BHE. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/benchmark-announces-appointment-of-douglas-britt-to-the-board-of-directors-and-announces-the-retirement-of-board-member-douglas-duncan-301716278.html SOURCE Benchmark Electronics, Inc.

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[January 09, 2023] HitPaw Photo Enhancer releases new version, offering great update for improved efficiency and optimized functions

NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HitPaw has newly released HitPaw Photo Enhancer V2.0.2 with the improved with processing efficiency more accurate processing time. HitPaw provides lossless enhancement while you're able to keep your photo's information such as photo shooting location, exposure and so on. And there's more features of batch enhancing and notification has been optimized. LET'S CHECK OUT THE NEW FEATURES: Improved Enhancing Efficiency and Estimated Time Efficiency comes first for the batching enhancing work, and HitPaw keeps training our AI to be more accurate and fast. In this update, HitPaw Photo Enhancer now increase the image processing efficiency when scanning and provides more specific processing time for you. Optimized Batch Enhancing Option Batch enhancing function now becomes more powerful and intellectual. The AI model and photo size you set would be automatically applied to all photos uploaded. What's more, you can freely preview the batch enhanced image in full size perfectly inside the software. Keep The EXIF Data If You Need HitPaw Photo Enhancer will provide a option for you whether to remain EXIF data, the the original information of photos. The EXIF Information includes figures such as exposure, ISO, shutter, GPS locations, and so on. Better Notification for User Interaction Sometimes you might forget to select the AI model when you're about to making your photo clear or your destination disk is out of memory. HitPaw now has better notifications to avoid such needless waiting to save your time. Compatibility and Price:



HitPaw Photo Enhancer is now compatible with Win 11/10/8/7 and macOS 10.15 and above. The pricing starts from $17.99 USD for a month plan. For more price checking and information, you can visit:

https://www.hitpaw.com/purchase/buy-hitpaw-photo-enhancer.html About HitPaw: HitPaw is an emerging software company specialized in video editing, screen recording, watermark removing, image editing, photo enhancing meme-making, etc. We help users turn their inspiration into reality so that we can generate more ideas to make the world be full of more creativity. To know more, you may visit https://www.hitpaw.com/about.html and https://www.hitpaw.com/ Our Social Media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQwRggaotgiMcPbiCOsJeBA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hitpawofficial Twitter: https://twitter.com/HitPawofficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hitpawofficial/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/HitPawofficialwebsite/ This release was issued through Send2Press, a unit of Neotrope. For more information, visit Send2Press Newswire at https://www.Send2Press.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hitpaw-photo-enhancer-releases-new-version-offering-great-update-for-improved-efficiency-and-optimized-functions-301716927.html SOURCE HitPaw. Co., Ltd

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[January 09, 2023] ETC Announces Fiscal 2023 Third Quarter Results and Board of Director Appointment

SOUTHAMPTON, Pa., Jan. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Environmental Tectonics Corporation (OTC Pink: ETCC) (ETC or the Company) today reported its financial results for the thirteen week period ended November 25, 2022 (the 2023 third quarter) and the thirty-nine week period ended November 25, 2022 (the 2023 first three quarters).

Robert L. Laurent, Jr., ETCs Chief Executive Officer and President stated, We are pleased with the 45% increase in sales in the third quarter over the prior year period, which reflects sales increases of 123% in ETCs Commercial Industrial Segment and an 11% increase in Aerospace. The strength of our increasing backlog and opportunities in the pipeline are driving sales and margin increases. Board of Director Appointment ETC also announces the appointment of Brian J. Eccleston to its Board of Directors, to fill a vacancy on the Board. Mr. Eccleston is CFO and Partner at GranitRidge Asset Management LP. Prior thereto, Mr. Eccleston was with BDO USA, LLP for twenty-eight years in increasing roles of responsibility. Most recently, Brian served as Managing Partner, North East Region (Assurance and Tax) and as a Member of the BDO USA Board of Directors. Prior thereto, Brian was New York Managing Partner, Assurance Services; Philadelphia Managing Partner, Assurance Services, and; Assurance Partner, NY Metro Practice. George K. Anderson, ETCs Chairman, stated, I am very pleased that Brian has agreed to join our Board of Directors. With his experience and financial background, Brian will be invaluable in helping ETC grow our Aerospace and Commercial/Industrial businesses. Fiscal 2023 Third Quarter Results of Operations Net Income (Loss) Attributable to ETC Net (loss) attributable to ETC was $0.8 million, or ($0.06) diluted earnings per share, in the 2023 third fiscal quarter, compared to net loss attributable to ETC of $1.0 million during the 2022 third quarter, equating to ($0.07) diluted loss per share. The $0.2 million variance is due primarily to the favorable sales mix and improved gross margins. Net Sales Net sales in the 2023 third fiscal quarter were $6.4 million, an increase of $2.0 million, or 45.7%, compared to 2022 third quarter net sales of $4.4 million. The increase in net sales was mainly a result of increased output related to the higher YTD CIS orders. CIS sales increased $1.7 million, or 124%, compared to same prior year period. Aerospace sales in 2023 third fiscal quarter accounted for 53% of overall sales, compared to 69% in third fiscal quarter 2022. Further, domestic sales of 45% in 2023 third fiscal quarter were increased from 35% in third fiscal quarter of 2022. Gross Profit Gross profit for the 2023 third fiscal quarter of $1.8 million increased from $0.7 million in the 2022 third fiscal quarter, an increase of $1.1 million, or 148.1%. Gross profit margin as a percentage of net sales increased to 27.2% for the third quarter 2023 compared to 16.0% in 2022 third fiscal quarter. The increase in gross profit was a result of successful startup performance with the CIS backlog, as well as a reduction in current costs on International programs. Operating Expenses Operating expenses, including sales and marketing, general and administrative, and research and development, for the 2023 third quarter were $2.3 million, an increase of $0.6 million, or 38.5%, compared to $1.7 million for the 2022 third quarter. The increase in operating expenses was due primarily to higher general and administrative expenses, including expenses related to ETC-PZL. Other Expenses (Income), Net Other expenses, net, for the 2023 third fiscal quarter was $0.2 million compared to other income of $15 thousand for the 2022 third fiscal quarter, an unfavorable variance of $0.2 million, due primarily to exchange rates fluctuation. Fiscal 2023 First Three Quarters of Operations Net Income (Loss) Attributable to ETC Net (loss) attributable to ETC was ($0.17) million, or ($0.03) diluted earnings per share, in the 2023 first three quarters, compared to net loss of $0.14 million during the 2022 first three quarters, equating to ($0.03) diluted loss per share. The $28 thousand variance is due to the multiple factors, with the largest increase being general and administrative expenses. Net Sales Net sales in the 2023 first three quarters were $17.6 million, an increase of $2.7 million, or 17.9%, compared to 2022 first three quarters of $14.9 million. The increase in net sales was due primarily to an increase in CIS domestic sales, driven by the higher orders and backlog. Overall, sales of CIS accounted for 50% of first three quarters of 2023 sales, up from 39% of first three quarters of 2022 sales. Gross Profit Gross profit for the 2023 first three quarters was $4.6 million compared to $3.1 million in the 2022 first three quarters, an increase of $1.5 million, or 49.8%. The increase in gross profit was due to the combined effect of an increase in net sales along with increased efficiency gains, compared to the first three quarters of 2022, while the company was still navigating the COVID pandemic. Gross profit margin as a percentage of net sales increased to 26.5% for the 2023 first three quarters compared to 20.8% for the 2022 first three quarters. Cost reduction in multiple International programs was also a major factor in the 2023 YTD increase. Operating Expenses Operating expenses, including sales and marketing, general and administrative, and research and development, for the 2023 first three quarters were $6.5 million, an increase of $1.3 million, or 24.6%, compared to $5.2 million for the 2022 first three quarters. The increase in operating expenses was due primarily to higher general and administrative expenses, including expenses related to ETC-PZL. Other Income, Net Other income, net for the 2023 first three quarters was $1.8 million compared to other income, net of $2.1 million for the 2022 first three quarters, a decrease of $0.3 million. This is mainly the difference between forgiveness of the PPP loan in 2022 and the facility sale in 2023. Cash Flows from Operating, Investing, and Financing Activities During the 2023 first three quarters, due primarily from a decrease in accounts receivable, an increase in customer deposits and the sale of the facility at 125 James Way, the Company provided $1.4 million of cash from operating activities as compared to providing $2.1 million during the 2022 first three quarters. Cash used for investing activities primarily relates to funds used for capital expenditures of equipment, leased asset and software development. However, as related to ASC 842, the Companys investing activities generated $4.5 million during the 2023 first three quarters compared to $138 thousand during the 2022 first three quarters. The Companys financing activities used $4.3 million of cash during the 2023 first three quarters for repayments under the Companys credit facilities compared to using $2.6 million of cash during the 2022 first three quarters. This repayment resulted in cash availability of $8.3 million at end of third quarter of 2023. The Companys Revolving Line of Credit expires at end of June 2023. Management is in discussion with its lender, and does expect the Line to be renewed prior to expiration About ETC ETC was incorporated in 1969 in Pennsylvania. For over five decades, we have provided our customers with products, services, and support. Innovation, continuous technological improvement and enhancement, and product quality are core values that are critical to our success. We are a significant supplier and innovator in the following areas: (i) software driven products and services used to create and monitor the physiological effects of flight, including high performance jet tactical flight simulation, fixed and rotary wing upset prevention and recovery and spatial disorientation, and both suborbital and orbital commercial human spaceflight, collectively, Aircrew Training Systems (ATS); (ii) altitude (hypobaric) chambers; (iii) hyperbaric chambers for multiple persons (multiplace chambers); (iv) Advanced Disaster Management Simulators (ADMS); (v) steam and gas (ethylene oxide) sterilizers; and (vi) environmental testing and simulation systems (ETSS). We operate in two primary business segments, Aerospace Solutions (Aerospace) and Commercial/Industrial Systems (CIS). Aerospace encompasses the design, manufacture, and sale of: (i) ATS products; (ii) altitude (hypobaric) chambers; (iii) hyperbaric chambers for multiple persons (multiplace chambers); and (iv) ADMS, as well as integrated logistics support (ILS) for customers who purchase these products or similar products manufactured by other parties. These products and services provide customers with an offering of comprehensive solutions for improved readiness and reduced operational costs. Sales of our Aerospace products are made principally to U.S. and foreign government agencies and to civil aviation organizations. CIS encompasses the design, manufacture, and sale of: (i) steam and gas (ethylene oxide) sterilizers; and (ii) ETSS; as well as parts and service support for customers who purchase these products or similar products manufactured by other parties. Sales of our CIS products are made principally to the healthcare, pharmaceutical, and automotive industries. ETC-PZL Aerospace Industries Sp. z o.o. (ETC-PZL), our 95%-owned subsidiary in Warsaw, Poland, is currently our only operating subsidiary. ETC-PZL manufactures certain simulators and provides software to support products manufactured domestically within our Aerospace segment. The majority of our net sales are generated from long-term contracts with U.S. and foreign government agencies (including foreign military sales (FMS) contracted through the U.S. Government) for the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of ATS products, including Chambers and the simulators manufactured and sold through ETC-PZL, collectively, ATS. The Company also enters into long-term contracts with domestic customers for the sale of sterilizers and ETSS. Net sales of ADMS are generally much shorter term in nature and vary between domestic and international customers. We generally provide our products and services under fixed-price contracts. ETCs unique ability to offer complete systems, designed and produced to high technical standards, sets it apart from its competition. ETCs headquarters is located in Southampton, PA. For more information about ETC, visit http://www.etcusa.com/ . _____________ Forward-looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements, which are based on managements expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in circumstances. Words and expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements, and these statements may include words such as may, will, should, expect, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, future, predict, potential, intend, or continue, and similar expressions. We base our forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events or future financial performance. Our forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about ETC and its subsidiaries that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results implied by these forward-looking statements. We caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Contact: Joseph F. Verbitski, Jr., CFO Phone: (215) 355-9100 x1531 E-mail: [email protected] - Financial Tables Follow 

Environmental Tectonics Corporation Summary Table of Results (unaudited) Thirteen Weeks Ended (in thousands, except per share information) November 25, 2022 November 25, 2021 Variance Variance % Net sales $ 6,449 $ 4,427 $ 2,022 45.7 % Cost of goods sold 4,695 3,720 (975 ) -26.2 % Gross Profit 1,754 707 1,047 148.1 % Gross profit margin % 27.2% 16.0% 7.7% Operating expenses 2,296 1,658 (638 ) -38.5 % Operating (loss) income (542 ) (951 ) (409 ) 43.0 % Operating margin % -8.4% -21.5% 8.1% Interest expense, net 121 127 6 4.7 % Other (income) expense, net 56 (142 ) (198 ) Income/(loss) before income taxes (719 ) (936 ) 217 -23.2 % Pre-tax margin % -11.1% -21.1% 53.6% Income tax provision (benefit) 20 20 - Net income (Loss) (739 ) (956 ) 217 -22.7 % Loss (income) attributable to non-controlling interest (8 ) (8 ) - Net Income/(loss) attributable to ETC (747 ) (964 ) 217 -22.5 % Per share information: Basic earnings (loss) per common and participating share: Distributed earnings per share: Common $ - $ - Preferred $ 0.02 $ 0.02 $ - Undistributed earnings per share: Common $ (0.06 ) $ (0.07 ) $ 0.01 Preferred $ (0.06 ) $ (0.07 ) $ 0.01 Diluted earnings/(loss) per share $ (0.06 ) $ (0.07 ) $ 0.01 Total basic weighted average common and participating shares 15,569 15,569 Total diluted weighted average shares 15,569 15,569





Environmental Tectonics Corporation Summary Table of Results (unaudited) Thirty-nine weeks ended (in thousands, except per share information) November 25, 2022 November 25, 2021 Variance Variance % Net sales $ 17,560 $ 14,893 $ 2,667 17.9 % Cost of goods sold 12,911 11,790 (1,121 ) -9.5 % Gross Profit 4,649 3,103 1,546 49.8 % Gross profit margin % 26.5% 20.8% Operating expenses 6,531 5,243 (1,288 ) -24.6 % Operating (loss) income (1,882 ) (2,140 ) 258 -12.1 % Operating margin % -10.7% -14.4% Interest expense, net 366 416 50 12.0 % Other (income) expense, net (2,123 ) (2,472 ) (349 ) Income/(loss) before income taxes (125 ) (84 ) (41 ) 48.8 % Pre tax margin % -0.7% -0.6% Income tax provision (benefit) 60 60 Net income (Loss) (185 ) (144 ) 0.0 % Loss (income) attributable to non-controlling interest 16 3 13 Net Income/(loss) attributable to ETC (169 ) (141 ) (28 ) 19.9 % Per share information: Basic earnings (loss) per common and participating share: Distributed earnings per share: Common $ - $ - Preferred $ 0.06 $ 0.06 $ - Undistributed earnings per share: Common $ (0.03 ) $ (0.03 ) $ - Preferred $ (0.03 ) $ (0.03 ) $ - Diluted earnings (loss) per share $ (0.03 ) $ (0.03 ) $ - Total basic weighted average common and participating shares 15,569 15,569 Total diluted weighted average shares 15,569 15,569



ENVIRONMENTAL TECTONICS CORPORATION OTHER SELECTED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (amounts in thousands) Thirteen weeks ended Thirty-nine weeks ended 25-Nov-22 26-Nov-21 25-Nov-22 26-Nov-21 EBITDA * $ (338 ) $ (511 ) $ 1,065 $ 937 As of 25-Nov-22 25-Feb-22 Working capital $ (5,147 ) $ 6,589 Total shareholders equity $ 718 $ 1,595 * In addition to disclosing financial results that are determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP), we also disclose Earnings Before Income, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA). The presentation of a non-U.S. GAAP financial measure such as EBITDA is intended to enhance the usefulness of financial information by providing a measure that management uses internally to evaluate our expenses and operating performance and factors into several of our financial covenant calculations. A reader may find this item important in evaluating our performance. Management compensates for the limitations of using non-U.S. GAAP financial measures by using them only to supplement our U.S. GAAP results to provide a more complete understanding of the factors and trends affecting our business.



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[January 09, 2023] KBRA Assigns AAA Rating and Stable Outlook to Sales Tax Securitization Corporation's Sales Tax Securitization Bonds, Refunding Series 2023C; Affirms Ratings on Outstanding STSC Debt; Outlook is Stable

KBRA assigns a long-term rating of AAA to the following Sales Tax Securitization Corporation Bonds and affirms the AAA rating for parity obligations: Sales Tax Securitization Bonds, Refunding Series 2023C KBRA additionally affirms the long-term rating of AA+ with a Stable Outlook for outstanding Second Lien Sales Tax Securitization Corporation bonds. The Outlook for all rated STSC obligations is Stable. To access ratings and relevant documents, click here.

Click here to view the report. Disclosures

Further information on key credit considerations, sensitivity analyses that consider what factors can affect these credit ratings and how they could lead to an upgrade or a downgrade, and ESG factors (where they are a key driver behind the change to the credit rating or rating outlook) can be found in the full rating report referenced above.



A description of all substantially material sources that were used to prepare the credit rating and information on the methodology(ies) (inclusive of any material models and sensitivity analyses of the relevant key rating assumptions, as applicable) used in determining the credit rating is available in the Information Disclosure Form(s) located here. Information on the meaning of each rating category can be located here.

Only those ratings on securities issued by this Issuer that also are denoted on the Security Ratings tab for this Issuer on KBRA.com as "endorsed" by Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited into the European Union and/or by Kroll Bond Rating Agency UK Limited into the UK are covered by the disclosures set forth in this press release and the corresponding Information Disclosure Form. No other ratings on issuances by this Issuer have been endorsed into the European Union or the UK, and the disclosures set forth herein and in the corresponding Information Disclosure Form are inapplicable to those ratings and may not be used for regulatory purposes by European Union or UK investors in these securities. Further disclosures relating to this rating action are available in the Information Disclosure Form(s) referenced above. Additional information regarding KBRA policies, methodologies, rating scales and disclosures are available at www.kbra.com. About KBRA

Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC (KBRA) is a full-service credit rating agency registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an NRSRO. Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is registered as a CRA with the European Securities and Markets Authority. Kroll Bond Rating Agency UK Limited is registered as a CRA with the UK Financial Conduct Authority pursuant to the Temporary Registration Regime. In addition, KBRA is designated as a designated rating organization by the Ontario Securities Commission for issuers of asset-backed securities to file a short form prospectus or shelf prospectus. KBRA is also recognized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as a Credit Rating Provider. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005908/en/

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[January 09, 2023] Nanoprecise Sci Corp Raises USD $10 Million in Series B Investment

EDMONTON, AB, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nanoprecise Sci Corp, an AI-based Condition Monitoring & Prescriptive Maintenance Solution provider raised USD $10 million in series B investment from 4 new investors. The round was led by Export Development Canada (EDC), with participation from Honeywell Ventures, NSK Ltd., and EC Mergers & Acquisitions. Founded in 2017 by CEO Sunil Vedula, the core team of Nanoprecise comprises industry specialists such as Graham Kawulka (Chief Commercial Officer), Prashant Verma (Head of India Operations), and Dries Van Loon (VP of Customer Success & Condition Monitoring). Nanoprecise drives value realization for manufacturers & operators in a broad set of industries by providing them with meaningful insights through a differentiated approach to machine health monitoring. Nanoprecise utilizes ultra-low-power wireless sensors and cloud-based AI-powered software that detects the smallest of changes in machine performance and predicts the remaining useful life of any industrial asset. The automated end-to-end solutions from Nanoprecise strive to simplify monitoring industrial assets involved in various complex manufacturing processes, with patented signal processing algorithms and state-of-the-art scalable hardware, to help operators maximize their uptime and improve their energy efficiency. The investment from EDC  Canada's export credit agency wholly owned by the Government of Canada, aims to boost the Canadian cleantech company's delivery capabilities and product offerings in the Energy Efficiency & Cndition Monitoring Solutions space. The investment is aligned to the institution's strong focus in scaling emerging Canadian cleantech companies that are commercially well-positioned to enhance Canada's international competitiveness in key priority areas.



"Edmonton-based Nanoprecise Sci Corp's innovative AI-based equipment sensors reduce energy consumption and downtime across many industrial processes," says Carl Burlock, Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer at EDC. "EDC is pleased to have led Nanoprecise's Series-B investment round alongside leading industry participants, a fundraising which will accelerate the international deployment of their unique solutions." Moreover, Honeywell Ventures has joined as a board observer, with its strategic investment in the AI-based predictive maintenance solutions provider. This investment from one of the leading players in the industrial technology sector is a testament to the premium differentiation that Nanoprecise solution offers as compared to umpteen others existing in the market. With Honeywell's investment, massive growth opportunities lay ahead for Nanoprecise Sci Corp. NSK Ltd.  one of the top 3 bearing manufacturing companies in the world, and EC Mergers & Acquisitions - the leading global investment banking boutique that specializes in the industrial technology sector, have also chosen to back Nanoprecise through this investment round, for Nanoprecise's high growth potential and wide applicability of its solutions.

"We are excited to have closed our Series B investment round and are thrilled to welcome our new investors who bring in a deep set of industry expertise and networks to Nanoprecise's board. We believe their enterprise growth guidance will complement the depth of skills and experience represented on our board and leadership team, as we continue to scale and maintain our leadership in remote condition monitoring and energy efficiency monitoring sector," said Mr. Sunil Vedula, Founder & CEO at Nanoprecise Sci Corp. About Nanoprecise Sci Corp Nanoprecise Sci Corp is an automated AI-based predictive maintenance solution provider that specializes in the implementation of Artificial Intelligence and IIoT technology for predictive asset maintenance and reducing the carbon footprint of manufacturing plants. Nanoprecise is defining the industry's service standard for the monitoring & analytics of all types of industrial machines, through their leading energy efficiency & health analytics platform for industrial assets. Nanoprecise is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada, and works with companies across various sectors to help drive their Industry 4.0 journey. Get in touch at [email protected] Suraj Pisharody,

[email protected] About EDC Export Development Canada (EDC) is a financial Crown corporation dedicated to helping Canadian businesses make an impact at home and abroad. EDC has the financial products and knowledge Canadian companies need to confidently enter new markets, reduce financial risk and grow their business as they go from local to global. Together, EDC and Canadian companies are building a more prosperous, stronger, and sustainable economy for all Canadians. For more information and to learn how we can help your company, call us at 1-800-229-0575 or visit www.edc.ca SOURCE Nanoprecise Sci Corp

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HARRISBURG  Blue and gold jackets signifying FFA membership are in at two Perry County high schools, students said Monday at the state FFA midwinter convention during the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show.

Its very fun and cool to be in the FFA, said Taylor Barr, a Newport High School freshman. I had a grandfather in FFA. Barr, 15, said she works on parliamentary procedure as her FFA specialty.

More than 1,000 students from throughout Pennsylvania and several thousand family members and friends filled the New Holland Arena for the annual convention, at which nearly 400 students received their corduroy blue jackets with gold letters and another 400 or so received keystone degrees.

FFA, which originally stood for Future Farmers of America, used to emphasize production agriculture with its focus on cows, plows and sows. These days, the majority of FFA members dont live on farms.

Now, city and country youths alike belong to FFA (which just goes by the initials). Hundreds of FFA members from throughout the state fanned out throughout the 24-acre Farm Show Complex to take in the events before their convention.

While they toured the Farm Show, some teachers discussed their FFA programs. Krista Pontius, Greenwood High School FFA adviser, said that school has 186 FFA members, an increase over the past few years.

We have three ag teachers and all of us are FFA advisers, she said. Ag classes are popular because they combine academics and practical learning. Some of it teaches the importance of knowing where our food comes from.

Pontius, who was in the FFA when she attended Greenwood High School, said her FFA students tend to be good kids who dont get into trouble.

Devon Byers, a Greenwood High School senior and a third generation FFA member, said FFA has taught him how to work with other people. He said he plans to study information technology at Harrisburg University.

Natalie Barkley, Newport High School ag teacher, said Newport has 100 FFA members.

Some live on farms and others dont, she said. Our students enjoy taking ag classes. Some love to work with animals.

Jason Gabel, a Newport High School senior, said he has been in FFA for four years. He said he works on his familys dairy farm but plans to go to Penn State University to study computer engineering.

Alex Otstott, also a Newport senior, said she shows beef, goats and pigs through the FFA. Ive learned a lot of leadership skills through the FFA, she said.

Photos: Scenes from the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show Monday in Harrisburg
[January 09, 2023] Rockwell Automation Appoints New Singapore Country Manager

SINGAPORE, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Rockwell Automation, the world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, has appointed Mariya Prempeh as country manager for Singapore, effective immediately. Mariya will be responsible for the company's business operations and direct sales in the country. She reports to Marcelo Tarkieltaub, regional director for Southeast Asia, Rockwell Automation. Mariya has more than 10 years of experience in sales and marketing, working with enterprises across the globe in a various of technology sectors. Prior to joining Rockwell Automation, she was the Singapore general manager for Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon. At Leica Geosystems, she was responsible for creating a diverse high-performing team and helping the company achieve strong financial growth despite the pandemic. Mariya was also formerly with Hilti Corporation, a multinational company that develops, manufactures, and markets products for the construction, building maintenance, energy and manufacturing industries. "I am thrilled to join Rockwell Automation as country manager for Singapore, extending the company's strong footprint in the country, particularly in key manufacturing sectors such as life sciences, semiconductor, and oil and gas. I aim to leverage my expertise to strengthen the team's capabilities and accelerate our growth in Singapore, tapping into the growing demand for smart manufacturing solutions," said Prempeh. Rockwell Automation has been in Singapore since 1991. The country acts as the Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia headquarters with facilities including a large-scale manufacturing facility and a customer experience center. The company is currently supported by a strong partner network of close to 200 distributors and system integrator partners across Southeast Asia. As a market leader in digital transformation and industrial automation, it ofers a wide range of products and solutions, including The Connected Enterprise solution, manufacturing execution systems, digital transformation, smart manufacturing systems, human machine interface, and smart devices such as in-cabinet modular I/O and independent cart technology.



"Singapore's adoption of automation and advanced technology continues to lead the region. According to a Deloitte report, Singapore is the second most prepared country for automation, ranking behind Australia and ahead of Japan. This makes Singapore such an important market for us in Southeast Asia, contributing significantly to our business across Asia and worldwide," said Marcelo Tarkieltaub. "We are excited to have Mariya on board as we further strengthen our position and cater to the region's rising demand for advanced manufacturing solutions. Mariya's strong capabilities in leading country operations and nurturing high-performing teams, as well as her knowledge across various tech sectors, will help us expand our presence in the region," concluded Tarkieltaub.

Manufacturing is a major contributor to Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP), contributing about 21% or S$106 billion of GDP. The sector also employs about 450,000 workers, around 12% of the national workforce. In 2021, the Singapore government announced plans to grow the sector by 50% by 2030[1]. To achieve this goal, the country will need to develop its competitiveness through innovation, producing higher-value products and increasing its capabilities in advanced manufacturing. Investment in automation and smart manufacturing solutions will be key to helping Singapore achieve its target. Rockwell Automation has been in Asia Pacific for over 40 years and continues to invest in its vision of expanding human possibility and digital transformation for its customers across the region. With over 4,800 dedicated employees in the region and a robust ecosystem of partners collaborating towards delivering value for our customers, Rockwell Automation continues to transform the industry, unlocking potential and productivity through automated and connected innovation.  END  About Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK), is a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation. We connect the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the world more productive and more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 26,000 problem solvers dedicated to our customers in more than 100 countries. To learn more about how we are bringing the Connected Enterprise to life across industrial enterprises, visit www.rockwellautomation.com [1] https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/singapore-grow-manufacturing-sector-50-percent-2030-430871 SOURCE Rockwell Automation

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[January 09, 2023] Ryuji Nagaie appointed as President Director - PT. Toshiba Asia Pacific Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PT. Toshiba Asia Pacific Indonesia announced the appointment of Mr. Ryuji Nagaie as the new President Director, effective January 1, 2023. Mr. Nagaie will oversee and expand Toshiba's business presence in Indonesia in areas of energy and infrastructure. Since joining Toshiba in 1994, Mr. Nagaie has devoted most of his career to marketing & sales for power generation projects, especially in thermal power plant construction and service businesses. He started his career in the Japan domestic market and moved on to the International Operation Division in 2000 to handle the global market. Mr. Nagaie also contributed to Abu Dhabi Branch Office in the United Arab Emirates as Assistant General Manager for 6.5 years, following up power plant construction contracts and expanding he power service businesses for the Middle East and North & East Africa region. In 2014, Mr. Nagaie returned to Japan and was appointed as Group Manager of East & Southeast Asia region group of Thermal and Hydro Power Generation Division.



With over 20 years of working experience in the energy sector, Mr. Nagaie has deep expertise in project management, financial planning, and business development. His extensive knowledge is coupled with practical experience in projects, maintenance services, and power plant development in Japan and overseas. On his appointment, Mr. Nagaie said, "Toshiba remains committed to providing the latest technologies and solutions for Indonesia to achieve sustainability and growth. I am honored to take on this role and stand resolute in Toshiba's commitment to Indonesia. I look forward to developing closer relationships with our customers and partners in building effective energy and infrastructure solutions for Indonesia."

Mr. Nagaie graduated from Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, with a Bachelor of Economics. ABOUT PT. TOSHIBA ASIA PACIFIC INDONESIA PT. Toshiba Asia Pacific Indonesia (TAPI), a subsidiary of Toshiba Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., was established in 2014. TAPI facilitates and manages power generation projects, transmission and distribution solutions, and railway solutions in Indonesia. Guided by the basic commitment of the Toshiba Group, "Committed to People, Committed to the Future," Toshiba in Indonesia contributes towards the country's sustainable development by advancing the quest for carbon neutrality and resilient infrastructure and creating integrated value-add solutions for Indonesia. SOURCE PT. Toshiba Asia Pacific Indonesia

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[January 10, 2023] Juniper Research: eSIM Market to Be Worth Over $4 Billion Globally in 2023, as Apple Innovation Disrupts Smartphone Sector

A new Juniper Research study has found the value of the global eSIM market will increase from $4.7 billion in 2023, to $16.3 billion by 2027. The new report offers the most comprehensive analysis of the eSIMs (embedded SIMs) market available today. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230108005021/en/ Infographic showing eSIM market share by country (Photo: Business Wire) Increasing by an impressive 249%, the market will be driven by the adoption of eSIM-enabled consumer devices, as seen in Apple's recent release of the eSIM-only iPhone 14; triggering accelerated operator support. eSIMs are embedded within devices; enabling devices and sensors to seamlessly switch between network operator profiles. To find out more, see the new report: eSIMs: Emerging Trends, Strategic Recommendations& Market Forecasts 2023-2027

Download the free whitepaper: Top Three eSIM Trends in 2023



eSIM-enabled Android Devices to Accelerate Consumer Adoption The research predicts Apple will expand deployment of eSIM-only devices to Europe during 2023, with eSIM technology key to minimising the time-consuming establishment of roaming agreements within the fragmented European telecommunications market.

It found the total number of smartphones leveraging eSIM connectivity will increase from 986 million in 2023, to 3.5 billion by 2027, with manufacturers such as Google and Samsung developing an equivalent eSIM-only Android device in order to compete with Apple and maintain their global market positioning. Research author Scarlett Woodford remarked: "Despite operator concerns regarding the disruptive impact of eSIMs on existing business models, growing support from smartphone manufacturers will place additional pressure on operators. In response, service providers must support eSIM connectivity to avoid subscriber attrition as technology awareness increases." Chinese Regulations Must Support eSIM Smartphone Connectivity The report found the total number of eSIM-connected smartphones in China will increase from 103 million in 2023, to 385 million by 2027, assuming country-specific standards are implemented; allowing eSIM use in smartphones. It noted current regulations prevent Chinese-based device manufacturers from selling to their home market, limiting investment and innovation. In response, the report urges industry bodies to work closely with the Chinese government to develop specifications that allow eSIM support whilst addressing requirements for device monitoring and tracking. View the eSIMs market research: https://www.juniperresearch.com/researchstore/sustainability-technology-iot/esims-research-report Download the whitepaper: https://www.juniperresearch.com/whitepapers/top-three-esim-trends-in-2023 Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230108005021/en/

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[January 10, 2023] Humanetics Boosts Customer Focus as Roderick Verschut Returns

Humanetics announced today that Roderick Verschut, who played several key roles in Humanetics between 2004-2012, has returned to take on the role of VP Global Safety Sales, reporting to Mark Westen, President Humanetics Safety. Roderick will also be responsible for Humanetics' Business Development in Asia, reporting to Chris O'Connor, CEO and President Humanetics, to support the growth and partner development of the Safety, Digital and Sensor business units. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005833/en/ Roderick Verschut returns to Humanetics to lead global sales for the Safety group. (Photo: Business Wire) Roderick joins Humanetics from Kistler's Vehicle Testing business where he spent a decade leading sales, business development, and product management teams. Chris O'Connor, Presiden and CEO of Humanetics, said: "We are thrilled to welcome Roderick back to Humanetics. In fact, we take it as a huge compliment to the quality of solutions we have developed. Roderick has a deep understanding of our customers' needs, and the solutions required to deliver value. His knowledge of technology and our global customers will help ensure the quality of our delivery and execution for customers."



Incoming VP Global Safety Sales, Roderick Verschut commented: "I am excited to return to Humanetics. The team has a unique and enduring passion for their work and furthermore a relentless drive to make vehicles safer. Most importantly, we share a vision to deliver customers the best integrated portfolio of physical and digital crash test equipment supported by services in calibration, certification, and software development. Utilizing this vast and ever-growing portfolio, I look forward assisting our customers with value-added solutions to meet their day-to-day and strategic challenges." Mark Westen, President Humanetics Safety welcomed Roderick's arrival: "I am looking forward to partnering with Roderick. He has a deep understanding of customers' evolving needs, a passion for the integration of physical and simulation testing, and extensive experience building high-performance teams in Asia, as well as Europe and the US. We have a big ambition and Roderick will help us to deliver against our goals."

Roderick will be based out of Humanetics facility in Heidelberg, Germany. About Humanetics (Website: https://www.humaneticsgroup.com/) Humanetics is an Industrial technology company, and a leading provider of safety systems, crash test dummies (ATDs), crash test equipment, simulation software, CAE models, precision sensors, fiber optics and cutting-edge laser material engineering solutions. The group has over 950 employees across 26 facilities strategically located around the world with the global corporate headquarters located in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005833/en/

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[January 10, 2023] Synechron Completes Integration of Payments Services and Solutions Provider Attra

Attra will operate under the Synechron brand as Synechron Payments, following full integration within Synechron NEW YORK, TORONTO, Ohio, CHARLOTTE, N.C., LONDON, PARIS, DUBAI, UAE, ABU DHABI,UAE, AMSTERDAM, NOVI SAD,Serbia, HONG KONG, BANGKOK, MELBOURNE, Australia, SYDNEY, Australia, AUCKLAND, New Zealand, MUMBAI, India, PUNE, India, BENGALURU, India, CHENNAI, India, and HYDERABAD, India, Jan. 10, 2023 Synechron, Inc., a leading global digital transformation consulting firm, announces that it has now fully integrated its subsidiary, Attra, a payments technology services and solutions provider headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, into the larger Synechron brand. Attra, which Synechron acquired in December 2020, is now Synechron Payments and serves as Synechron's most recent business domain. Prasad Guntupalli, formerly Co-founder and Executive Deputy Chairman of Attra, will continue in his role as head of Synechron Payments and has assumed the title of Managing Director. Since its acquisition, Attra has benefited from combined synergies with Synechron, and achieved 62% growth as a company. Attra's team of over 2,500 payments technology experts, working across the banking & finance space, will continue to provide best-in-class services across the payments value chain. Synechron Payments will offer expert consulting, software lifecycle, application development & maintenance, and quality engineering services to clients worldwide. This capability will be available across all Synechron business centers globally. Now that this integration is complete, the Attra brand name will be retired. All business operations, practices, offices, employees, and client commitments have been fully transitioned, becoming a vital part of Synechron's global business operations. Attra's clients will continue to work seamlessly with their existing teams, as all current Atta's contracts with clients will be assumed by Synechron.



Attra and Synechron have spent the last 24 months taking an integrated approach and solving complex problems for the financial services industry which span a range of payments solutions. Together, the firms have expanded competencies for full lifecycle banking and payments platform technology services. Attra has 27 years of experience in providing a comprehensive suite of services and solutions in cards, next-generation payments, and core banking services, successfully having completed numerous engagements for banks, financial institutions, third-party payment processors, and other payment companies around the globe. In addition, Synechron has further leveraged Attra's core technology specialisms focused on digital transformation through Intelligent Automation, IT Infrastructure, Mainframes & Cloud, UI/UX, Mobility & Channels, Information Management, and Performance Engineering & Cybersecurity. These world-class services complement Synechron's range of recently redefined business services, which are aimed at helping financial services and big technology companies address operational needs. Synechron's core business now includes end-to-end Consulting, Design, Data, Cloud, and Engineering.

Attra's Accelerator program joins Synechron's own collection of award-winning Accelerator solutions, by being incorporated into its 76 business-focused applications across nine programs in its self-funded FinLabs. The full roster of clients will now be able to tap Synechron's enhanced and expanded set of digital transformation capabilities. Faisal Husain, Synechron Co-founder and CEO, said, "We are pleased to have the talented and dedicated Attra team members around the globe officially join our enriched company as we advance our core mission to bring digital innovation to our clients. Amid a rapidly evolving business landscape, we have important work to do in helping organizations navigate the changes needed to build the foundations for their future business ambitions." Prasad Guntupalli, Managing Director of Synechron Payments, said, "We are excited to be integrated under one name and leadership structure as we continue our important work. As one firm, under one unmatched brand, our like-minded teams can provide a more robust digital transformation toolkit of real-world solutions. Our combined strengths will help financial services, banking and technology companies empower their operations and realize their digital realities." About Synechron At Synechron, we believe in the power of digital to transform businesses for the better. Our global consulting firm combines creativity and innovative technology to deliver industry-leading digital solutions. Synechron's progressive technologies and optimization strategies span end-to-end Consulting, Design, Cloud, Data, and Engineering, servicing an array of noteworthy financial services and technology firms. Through research and development initiatives in our FinLabs we develop solutions for modernization, from Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence to Data Science models, Digital Underwriting, mobile-first applications and more. Over the last 20+ years, our company has been honored with multiple employer awards, recognizing our commitment to our talented teams. With top clients to boast about, Synechron has a global workforce of 14,000+, and has 40 offices in 17 countries within key global markets. For more information on the company, please visit our website or LinkedIn community. For more information please contact: Media contact: Rashmi Joshi

Associate Director  Global Marketing & Communications

Synechron

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[January 10, 2023] Battery Ventures Promotes Software Investor Zak Ewen to Partner

Battery Ventures, a global, technology-focused investment firm, promoted software investor Zak Ewen to the role of partner. Ewen is based in London and will continue to help spearhead the firm's European software-investing efforts. In its 40th year of operations, Battery is currently investing its 14th family of funds: Battery XIV and a companion fund, together capitalized at $3.3 billion, and the $530 million Battery Ventures Select Fund II, all of which closed last year. Ewen, who originally joined the firm in 2010, focuses on private equity and growth-equity investments in software, information services and enterprise technology in the U.S. and Europe. He is currently involved with Battery portfolio companies Craftview, Easy Software, VertiGIS, Vita Mojo and Forterro, in addition to European software companies Vimcar and Avrios, in which Battery last week agreed to invest. Zak was previously involved with Battery's investment in low-code software company Mendix, acquired by Siemens in 2018. Battery also announced that John Raguin, a veteran software-industry executive and the former CEO and president of Guidewire Software, will re-join the firm as an executive in residence. Raguin will offer operational guidance to Battery portfolio software companies in the U.S. and Europe, including working closely with Avrios and Vimcar. Raguin was previously an EIR at Battery from 2011 to 2013 and currently serves on the boards of Battery portfolio companies MadCap Software and CrunchTime! Information Systems. "We are excited tobring John back on board as an EIR, and also extremely proud to announce Zak's promotion to partner. It's a role he exemplifies in every sense, as Zak serves as a partner to technology entrepreneurs and management teams, to junior Battery team members and to others across the firm's global offices," said Morad Elhafed, a general partner who works closely with Ewen on European investments. "As a senior member of our London team, Zak has played an instrumental role in developing our technology investment strategy across Europe, one that we plan to accelerate in the years to come."



As partner, Ewen will help manage the London office as Battery expands its activities across Europe, an increasing focus for the firm. The firm and its portfolio companies have invested in more than 100 European-based companies since 2005. The Battery Ventures London office was established in 2016. Just last year, Battery announced new European investments in restaurant-software company Vita Mojo and life-sciences technology company Titian, both based in the U.K, and Proemion, a telematics-platform company based in Germany. Battery also re-invested in European ERP software company Forterro after that company's sale to Partners Group and re-invested in U.K. lab-technology company SPT Labtech after that company's sale to EQT Private Equity.

Ewen holds a BS in economics and finance from Bentley University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. About Battery Ventures Battery partners with exceptional founders and management teams developing category-defining businesses in markets including software and services, enterprise infrastructure, consumer tech, healthcare IT and industrial technology and life-science tools. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at all stages, ranging from seed and early to growth and buyout, and invests globally from offices in Boston, San Francisco, Menlo Park, New York, London and Tel Aviv. Follow the firm on Twitter @BatteryVentures, visit our website at www.battery.com and find a full list of Battery's portfolio companies here. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005122/en/

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[January 10, 2023] Bregal Sagemount Announces Strategic Growth Investment in CGE Partners-backed Enhesa

Bregal Sagemount ("Sagemount"), a leading growth-focused private equity firm, today announced a strategic growth investment in Enhesa (the "Company"), a leading provider of regulatory and sustainability intelligence worldwide. As part of the transaction, Sagemount will acquire ICG's minority stake in Enhesa, with existing investor CGE Partners ("CGE") retaining its majority stake in the Company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. With its global headquarters in Brussels, Belgium and U.S. headquarters in Arlington, VA, Enhesa empowers multinational corporations worldwide to help create a more sustainable future by positively impacting the environment and ensuring the health and safety of their employees and customers. Bringing together some of the world's most comprehensive data sets, AI-powered analytics, and renowned subject matter experts in the areas of global operations, product, and chemicals management compliance and sustainability, Enhesa provides actionable compliance intelligence in over 40 languages across more than 300 jurisdictions, supported by a team of over 100 in-house legal experts. Navigating the fast-changing regulatory landscape, Enhesa helps corporations meet their compliance and sustainability needs with confidence, now and in the future. "We are thrilled to be partnering with Sagemount as we enter our next stage of growth," said Peter Schramme, CEO of Enhesa. "With their and CGE's support and deep industry expertise, we believe we are well-positioned to further invest in our current offerings as well as accelerate new content coverage, use cases, and customer verticals." "We see tremendous growth ahead for Enhesa as a result of the Company's strong product-market fit and tangible customer ROI," said Pavan Tripathi, Partner at Sagemount. "Enhesa has an impressive track record of consistently retaining and growing its customer relationships as well as expanding new content offerings and jurisdictional coverage through both organic and inorganic growth initiatives. We are excited to be working with Peter, the Enhesa team, and CGE." David Greenbaum, Vice President at Sagemount, added, "For enterprises that operate, manufacture, and sell globally, Enhesa is by far the leading third-party content provider, allowing companies to monitor relevant Enironmental, Health, & Safety ("EHS") and other regulations across the enterprise significantly faster and more accurately than internal teams or disparate, regional third-party content providers."



"We have enjoyed a highly successful partnership with Enhesa since acquiring the Company in 2020. Under CGE's ownership to date, Enhesa has meaningfully scaled its business, expanded its industry-leading regulatory compliance content set from EHS to also include Product Compliance and Sustainability Intelligence, and completed five strategic add-on acquisitions," CGE commented. "We look forward to continuing to support Enhesa in its next chapter of growth alongside Sagemount." Sagemount's investment was led by Pavan Tripathi, Sandeep Swaminathan, David Greenbaum, Harrison Boyajian, and Stephanie Li. Sagemount was advised by Raymond James and Goodwin Procter. Enhesa and CGE were advised by Houlihan Lokey and Travers Smith.

About Enhesa Enhesa is the leading provider of regulatory and sustainability intelligence worldwide. Headquartered in Brussels, with offices in Washington, DC, Williamsport, PA, Toronto, the United Kingdom, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Portugal, Enhesa empowers multinational corporations worldwide to create a more sustainable future by positively impacting the environment and ensuring the health and safety of their employees and customers. Bringing together some of the world's most comprehensive data sets, AI-powered analytics, and renowned subject matter experts in the areas of global operations, product, and chemicals management compliance and sustainability, Enhesa provides actionable compliance intelligence in over 40 languages across more than 300 jurisdictions. Navigating the fast-changing regulatory landscape, Enhesa helps corporations meet their compliance and sustainability needs with confidence, now and in the future. For more information on Enhesa, go to the firm's website at www.enhesa.com. About Sagemount Bregal Sagemount is a leading growth-focused private capital firm with more than $6.0 billion of capital raised. The firm provides flexible capital and strategic assistance to market-leading companies in high-growth sectors across a wide variety of transaction situations. Bregal Sagemount has invested in over 70 companies in a variety of sectors, including software, information / data services, financial technology & specialty finance, digital infrastructure, healthcare IT, and business & consumer services. The firm has offices in New York, Palo Alto, and Dallas. For more information, visit the Sagemount website: www.sagemount.com or follow us on LinkedIn. About CGE CGE Partners is a European mid-market investment fund. CGE invests in tech-enabled businesses facilitating the transition to a more digital, renewable, secure, and compliant future, providing capital and expertise to accelerate expansion in global markets. For more information, visit the CGE website: https://cge-partners.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005348/en/

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[January 10, 2023] Multiple Companies Join Together With Xiaomi to Resolve Patent Disputes Simultaneously and Allow Continued Innovation, Across Multiple Technologies

TOKYO, PARIS, and BEIJING, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Patent owners IP Bridge, Orange, Siemens and Xiaomi, a world-leading consumer electronics and smart manufacturing company, today announced an end to long lasting disputes through an innovative patent licensing transaction to enable efficient licensing of patent rights across multiple technologies from the companies to Xiaomi. Novus IP, a company owned by Mr. Paul Lin, the former "Head of IP Strategy" at Xiaomi, worked as a deal facilitator and helped Xiaomi and the three licensors successfully close this licensing transaction in a highly efficient manner. "We continue to explore complementary licensing models to the traditional patent pool and bilateral models in order to avoid time consuming disputes and to focus on innovation." said Ran Xu, General Manager of Global Business Development and IP Strategy, Xiaomi Group. "This unique transaction structure lets Xiaomi customers enjoy benefits of inventions from 3 companies, efficiently."



Siemens is a leading technology company focusing on technology with purpose. "For us protection of innovation by patents is of high importance. We highly welcome this agreement, as it constitutes a mutually very satisfactory solution over litigations and appreciate the soluion oriented approach of all parties involved in the deal." said Dr. Rudolf Freytag, Head of Licensing and Technology Acceleration.



This license with Xiaomi is a recognition of Orange's strong innovations, fostering an efficient digital transformation thanks to the contribution to open standards leading to the wide adoption of global key technologies to the benefit of consumers. ''We had the pleasure to cooperate with Siemens, IP Bridge, and Novus as a facilitator, delivering a fruitful result" said Lyse Brillouet, Vice President Intellectual Property and Licensing at Orange. IP Bridge has been focusing on promoting technological innovation and cooperation around the world. Granting patent license to Xiaomi has become one of the important track records of such cooperation.

"Thanks to Novus, we could efficiently close this deal with Xiaomi. We highly appreciate sincere cooperation of Orange and Siemens throughout the deal" said Daisuke Honda, Managing Director, Head of License Business Department No. 1 at IP Bridge.

About Xiaomi

Xiaomi Corporation was founded in April 2010 and listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 9, 2018 (1810.HK). Xiaomi is a consumer electronics and smart manufacturing company with smartphones and smart hardware connected by an IoT platform at its core. Embracing our vision of "Make friends with users and be the coolest company in the users' hearts," Xiaomi continuously pursues innovations, high-quality user experience and operational efficiency. The company relentlessly builds amazing products with honest prices to let everyone in the world enjoy a better life through innovative technology. Xiaomi is one of the world's leading smartphone companies. The company has also established the world's leading consumer AIoT (AI+IoT) platform, reached 558 million smart devices connected to its platform (excluding smartphones, laptops and tablets) as of September 30, 2022. Xiaomi products are present in more than 100 countries and regions around the world. In August 2022, Xiaomi was included in the Fortune Global 500 list for the fourth year in a row, ranking 266th. The company is the fastest-rising Chinese technology conglomerate during the four-year period. Xiaomi is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index, Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, Hang Seng TECH Index and Hang Seng China 50 Index. SOURCE Xiaomi Corporation

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[January 10, 2023] STOREDOT EXPANDS GLOBALLY WITH OPENING OF CALIFORNIA INNOVATION HUB TO ACCELERATE DEVELOPMENT OF SEMI-SOLID STATE BATTERIES

All-new hub strategically placed to further strengthen relationships with StoreDot's US OEM partners and future customers

Facility is set to accelerate StoreDot's development of semi solid battery technology and battery material research

US team of researchers is led by global Chief Science Officer Dr. David Lee with plans to recruit extensively from world class local talent pool

with plans to recruit extensively from world class local talent pool StoreDot's XFC batteries and systems are currently undergoing testing programs with multiple electric vehicle manufacturers

Company remains on target for mass production of '100in5' cells by 2024 delivering at least 100 miles of range in just five minutes of charging HERZLIYA, Israel, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- StoreDot, the pioneer of extreme fast charging battery technology for electric vehicles, today announces further global expansion with the official opening of its first US research facility in Irvine, California, USA. The new lab facility will be used to speed up StoreDot's development of semi-solid battery technology and battery material research. Its location was chosen to access the wealth of talent in the West Coast of the US and to strengthen the company's relationship with US-headquartered electric vehicle manufacturers. The US team is headed by StoreDot's global Chief Science Officer Dr David Lee with ambitious plans to rapidly expand the company's US-based R&D expertise. Dr Lee and his team will work in tandem with StoreDot's Israel-based Ramp;D headquarters, enabling it to scale up globally and remain firmly on track for its 100inX strategic technology roadmap. Announced last year, the roadmap will see the delivery of mass produced battery cells capable of 100 miles of range in five minutes of charge by 2024, 100 miles in three minutes by 2028 and 100 miles in two minutes by 2032.



StoreDot Chief Science Officer Dr David Lee, "With the growing activity of testing programs around the globe, the opening of our new US R&D innovation hub is further evidence of our rapid expansion. Now that we have an operational US base, we are looking to harness the world-class talent pool here to bolster the development of our leading XFC technology and its future generations. It's an honor to be leading this team which will work closely with our Israel headquarters and bring new skills and scientific capabilities to the company as we scale-up our business and transitioning to mass production." StoreDot is currently yielding positive feedback from multiple global car makers after shipping 300 Wh/kg in EV form factor for real-world testing last year. These cells achieve a world-leading consecutive extreme-fast charging of above 1,000 cycles demonstrating a Silicon-dominant chemistry with no battery degradation due to XFC.

It has a growing network of strategic global partnerships and investors, spanning the entire battery ecosystem. To date it has received investments from global automotive manufacturers including Daimler, Ola Electric, Polestar, VinFast and Volvo Cars. About StoreDot: StoreDot is the pioneer and leader of extreme fast charging (XFC) electric vehicle batteries that overcome the critical barriers to mainstream EV adoption  range and charging anxiety. The company has revolutionized the conventional Li-ion battery by designing and synthesizing proprietary organic and inorganic compounds, optimized by Artificial Intelligence algorithms, making it possible to charge an EV in under ten minutes  the same experience as refuelling a conventional combustion engine car. Through its '100inX' product roadmap, StoreDot's battery technology is delivering 'Range on DemandTM': 100 miles charged in 5 minutes in 2024, 100 miles charged in 3 minutes by 2028, and an extreme energy density solution enabling 100 miles to be charged in 2 minutes by 2032. StoreDot's strategic investors and partners include Daimler, BP, VinFast, Volvo Cars, Polestar, Ola Electric, Samsung, TDK, and its manufacturing partner EVE Energy. In 2022, the company achieved a world first by demonstrating a live extreme fast charging of an EV battery cell in 10 minutes, capable of over 1000 consecutive charging cycles. StoreDot is on target for mass production readiness of 100in5 technology by 2024. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1979915/Dr_David_Lee.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/storedot-expands-globally-with-opening-of-california-innovation-hub-to-accelerate-development-of-semi-solid-state-batteries-301716842.html

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[January 10, 2023] The Heywood Foundation announces extension to the deadline for entries for 2022 Heywood Prize

LONDON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, The Heywood Foundation announces an extension to the deadline for entries for the 2022 Heywood Prize. The new deadline will allow people to submit their ideas until the 28th February 2023 and be in with the chance to win one of several cash prize up to 25,000. The Prize is seeking submissions for innovative and impactful ideas with the potential to improve UK public policy. Entries can be in multiple formats and the winning ideas will receive the Foundation's full backing for fast-tracking with UK government policymakers. The competition is open to all ages, but this year The Heywood Foundation is particularly keen to encourage proposals from younger generations, with a number of dedicated prizes to be awarded to any winner under the age of 21. Last year's top prize went to a proposal to establish an NHS Reserve Force, a reserve 'army' of medically qualified volunteers to support the UK's health service. This idea was quickly shared with government and has since been implemented by NHS England. "This is an amazing example of how our contestants can see their ideas rapidly translated into substantive policy and real-world actions that can change many people's lives in the UK for the better" said Suzanne Heywood, Chair of the Heywood Foundation, adding



"Building on the success of the inaugural Heywood Prize in 2021, in 2022 we also want to tap into the often unseen and unheard insights and creativity of our younger generations. Never has the need to bring their bold, new ways of thinking to the attention of policymakers been more important than it is today." The prize was created by the Heywood Foundation to reward the most impactful and innovative ideas for improving public policy in the UK. The Foundation believes that the best ideas sometimes come from unexpected people and places, so our institutions and public dialogue need to be as open and inclusive as possible.





The prize is broken down into the main prize and, new for 2022, a youth prize. For the main prize the top award is for 25,000, second is 10,000 and third is 5,000. There are also 15 runners up awarded 1,000 each. The youth prize has a top prize of 5,000 and 10 runners up of 500 each. Youth entries will all be entered into both the main and youth prizes. Jeremy Heywood served 4 UK Prime Ministers and was Cabinet Secretary, the UK's most senior Civil Servant  until 2018. Jeremy was extremely open to new ideas and always sought out alternative perspectives. He was more interested in the quality of an idea than the rank or seniority of the person who proposed it. He would make a point of regularly getting out of Whitehall to spend time in 'frontline' settings, from job centres to charities, to seek out innovations and unusual perspectives. The Foundation seeks to continue that spirit of inclusivity and innovation. The Heywood Foundation was set up in Jeremy's memory to support innovation in public policy and diversity within the public sector. For more information on the Foundation and the competition please visit



www.heywoodfoundation.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/the-heywood-foundation-announces-extension-to-the-deadline-for-entries-for-2022-heywood-prize-301717008.html

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Sometimes, turnabout is fair play, even at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.

Last year, Karli Berkheimer of Carroll Township, near Dillsburg, won the Farm Shows Grand Champion Junior Cattle competition while Amy Pecora of Harrison City won reserve grand champion honors. This year, they traded spots.

Pecora, who on Monday won top junior cattle honors at the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show, on Tuesday sold her steer, Bones, for $20,000 to Giant and Bell & Evans at the Sale of Champions. That steers market value was $1,958.40.

Berkheimer, this years reserve champion winner, sold her steer, Soldier Boy, to Saubels Markets for $6,500. His market value was $2,022.10.

The sale, which highlighted the fourth day of Pennsylvanias version of a state fair, culminated a year of hard work for the exhibitors. Nearly all sold for substantially higher than market prices because buyers support youths in agriculture. Most animals are heading to the slaughterhouse.

Prior to the sale, the Pennsylvania Farm Show Scholarship Foundation gave $3,500 scholarships to FFA and 4-H youths, including to Morgan Baer and Claire Cohick, both of Newville. Students going to Penn State and Delaware Valley universities received an additional $2,000.

Then, auctioneer Harry Bachman welcomed the crowd and began selling.

Pecora, 18, and Bones entered the sale ring confidently. Prior to the sale, Pecora said that she bonded with Bones even though he kicks when hes not happy. Pecora and her family live on a 132-acre farm where they raise beef cattle and swine and grow corn, soybeans and hay.

Berkheimer said her 1,285 reserve grand champion steer was fairly easy to prepare for the Farm Show. Berkheimer lives on a 50-acre farm in Carroll Township, where she and her family raise beef cattle. She started showing heifers when she was 5 and has been showing cattle ever since.

Champion market lamb sales prices were significantly higher than usual. Madaline Tewell, who has won grand champion market lamb honors for two consecutive years, sold her lamb, Frank, for $10,000. His market value was $150.

Franks a good lamb but has an attitude when he gets tired, she said, adding that she plans to give the money to her father, who bought Frank for her.

The crowd came to life when Paisley Mumford, 9, of Smicksburg, entered the show ring with Scuba Steve, her Reserve Grand Champion Market Lamb with a market value of $292.30. As the little girl with the big smile led the lamb around, bids rose at an almost frantic pace. Fulton Bank, Bell & Evans and U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., together paid $10,000 for Steve. Paisley beamed.

Scuba Steve got his name because he jumped into our pond, she said. Hes been tough to work with because he has a bit of an attitude. So do I, a winning attitude. She said she plans to celebrate her win with a vanilla milkshake.

This was my first time to show at the Farm Show, she said. I plan to save the money to go to college and become a vet and to buy a car.

Fulton Bank, Bell & Evans and Thompson together paid $7,000 for Duke, the 82-pound Grand Champion Market Goat owned by Gavin Molnar of Grantville in Lebanon County. Dukes market value was $233.70.

Duke, a rather temperamental goat, doesnt like to be touched on his ears or legs, Molnar said. It was tough competition, and I was kind of surprised to win.

Allie Zeigler, 18, of Shanksville, sold Samuel, her Reserve Grand Champion Market Goat to H&J Towing for $4,500. Samuels market value was $310.65.

As always, Hatfield Quality Meats bought the Grand Champion Market Swine, this year owned by Morgan Kimmel of Marion Center. Hatfield paid $11,000 for the swine with a market value of $1,068.32.

Trent Stadtmiller of Dayton sold Koda Black, his 279-pound Reserve Grand Champion Market Swine with a market value of $178.56 to Country View Family Farms, a subsidiary of Hatfield Quality Meats. Stadtmiller said he wants to save the money to buy a vehicle.

The New Holland Sales Stables paid $5,800 for a pen of three meat rabbits with a market value of $15.75. These Grand Champion Meat winners were shown by Kerri Kujappu of Lancaster. Marissa Yutzy sold her Reserve Champion Meat Pen to Conewago Express Enterprise Inc.

Hundreds of other junior market animals were sold at auction. Later, at the stalls, most sellers were delighted with the sale prices while a few shed tears as they bid farewell to their animals.

Photos: Scenes from the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show Monday in Harrisburg
[January 10, 2023] FREYR Battery Announces Appointments of Dan Steingart and Jason Forcier to Board of Directors

FREYR Battery (NYSE: FREY) ("FREYR" or "the Company"), a developer of clean, next-generation battery cell production capacity, has appointed Jason Forcier and Dr. Dan Steingart as independent members of the Company's Board of Directors effective December 21, 2022, and January 9, 2023, respectively. The appointments are intended to fill vacancies created by the departures of Jeremy Bezdek and Jon Christian Thaulow from FREYR's Board of Directors. On January 9, 2023, FREYR's Board appointed Dr. Dan Steingart as an independent director of the Company, effective January 9, 2023. Dr. Steingart is the Stanley-Thompson Professor of Chemical Metallurgy at Columbia University where he is also the co-director of the Columbia Electrochemical Energy Center. Over the last decade, his research in energy storage has been adopted by various industries and has led directly or indirectly to five electrochemical energy-related startup companies. Additionally, Dr. Steingart has served as Chief Scientist/Advisor to ElectraSteel since 2020, Co-Founder of Liminal Insights Inc. since 2015 and Industry Advisor to Sila Nanotechnologies Inc. since 2016. "I want to extend a warm welcome to Dan as he joins our Board of Directors," commented Torstein Dale Sjtveit, FREYR's Founder and Executive Chairperson. "Dan brings impressive technical and industry credentials to the FREYR Board as a distinguished electrochemistry expert, a highly respected professor and research scientist at one of the world's foremost academic institutions, and a valued advisor to start-up companies in the energy sector. Our entire team is looking forward to his stewardship through the next phase of FREYR's growth as a global industrial partner of choice in the clean battery space." "I am excited to be joining the FREYR Board of Directors during a crucial time in the battery industry," remarked Dr. Dan Steingart. "Having observed the company's remarkable progress to date, I believe that FREYR is uniquely positioned to scale a cost-effective battery technology as demand for clean energy storage and mobility accelerates. I have long admired the operating team and am proud to be aiding them on their journey." As previously announced, Jason Forcier joined FREYR's Board of Directors on December 21, 2022. Mr. Forcier currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of SVP Worldwide. Mr. Forcier's previous experience includes positions as Chief Operations Officer and other senior manufacturing, supply chain and quality roles at Vertiv Holdings Co from 2017 to 2022; and eight years at A123 Systems, a global manufacturerof lithium-ion batteries, where he was the Chief Executive Officer from 2013 until 2017 and member of the board of management.



"Jason's experience leading and establishing manufacturing operations in the lithium-ion battery and other industries will be invaluable to FREYR as we commence production in Norway and the U.S.," remarked Sjtveit. "We are delighted to welcome Jason and his unique skill set to our Board of Directors, and we look forward to his contributions as we establish giga scale production of clean, next-generation batteries." Mr. Forcier's appointment to the Board of Directors coincided with Jon Christian Thaulow notifying FREYR's Board of Directors of his intention to tender his resignation as a director of the Company effective December 21, 2022.

As announced by the Company on December 23, 2022, Jeremy Bezdek joined FREYR as the Company's Executive Vice President of Global Corporate Development and President of FREYR Battery U.S. Mr. Bezdek joined FREYR from his prior position of Managing Director, Strategic Platforms at Koch Industries. Prior to joining FREYR, Mr. Bezdek spent over 26 years with Koch Industries companies in a variety of executive and leadership roles. On January 8, 2023, he notified FREYR's Board of Directors that he will be tendering his resignation as a director of the Company and as a member and chairperson of its Compensation Committee as he assumes his new responsibilities at FREYR. In addition, to fill the vacancy on the Compensation Committee created by Mr. Bezdek's resignation, the Board appointed Jason Forcier, an existing independent director of the Company, as a member of the committee effective January 9, 2023. The Board also appointed Mimi Berdal, a current director on the Board and a member of the Compensation Committee, as chairperson of the committee, effective January 9, 2023. "On behalf of the FREYR Board of Directors - Peter Matrai, Olaug Svarva, Mimi Berdal, Daniel Barcelo, and Monica Tiuba, we thank Jon Christian and Jeremy for their enormous contributions to the Company during a pivotal stage in FREYR's journey," added Sjtveit. "Their counsel and dedication have been instrumental to FREYR's commercial and industrial development, and we are grateful for the privilege it has been to serve with them." About FREYR Battery FREYR Battery aims to provide industrial scale clean battery solutions to reduce global emissions. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, FREYR's mission is to produce green battery cells to accelerate the decarbonization of energy and transportation systems globally. FREYR has commenced building the first of its planned factories in Mo i Rana, Norway and announced potential development of industrial scale battery cell production in Vaasa, Finland, and the United States. FREYR intends to install 50 GWh of battery cell capacity by 2025 and 100 GWh annual capacity by 2028 and 200 GWh of annual capacity by 2030. To learn more about FREYR, please visit www.freyrbattery.com Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included in this press release, including, without limitation, statements regarding FREYR's growth as a global industrial partner of choice in the clean battery space, FREYR's position to industrialize a next-generation technology as demand for clean energy storage and mobility accelerates, and the establishment of giga scale production of clean, next-generation batteries are forward-looking and involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. Most of these factors are outside FREYR's control and difficult to predict. Information about factors that could materially affect FREYR is set forth under the "Risk Factors" section in (i) FREYR's Registration Statement on Form S-3 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on September 1, 2022, as amended, and (ii) FREYR's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 9, 2022, and available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005315/en/

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[January 10, 2023] Offshore Wind Analyst Aegir Insights Receives Financing From Denmark's Export & Investment Fund

Offshore wind analyst Aegir Insights closes its first round of external funding with financing from Denmark's independent state loan fund, Denmark's Export & Investment Fund. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005587/en/ Offshore Wind Analyst Aegir Insights Receives Financing From Denmark's Export & Investment Fund, formerly the Danish Green Investment Fund. (Graphic: Business Wire) The growth loan from Denmark's Export & Investment Fund is a recognition of both the robustness of Aegir Insights as a business, and the company's role in furthering the energy transition through modern, data-driven and adaptable intelligence for the offshore wind sector. As part of the investment process, Aegir Insights was evaluated across several ESG criteria and committed to continuous improvement and transparent reporting. Scott Urquhart, CEO of Aegir Insights, says: "I am proud of what we have accomplished together with our investors and industry partners, and excited to accelerate our journey as a differentiated analytics business founded on deep industry experience, proprietary models and cutting-edge data. Our solutions for offshore wind investments are helping to deploy more capacity, faster and at lower cost. We believe focus on ESG and transparent reporting will translate into better business performance for both Aegir and our customers." Michael Zollner, Chief Commercial Officer responsible for SMEs for Denmark's Export and Investment Fund says: "Aegir Insights presents an advanced analytical tool - a software that can accelerate the transition toward green solutions by saving both time and rsources for other projects within the construction of offshore wind turbines. To Denmark's Export and Investment Fund, Aegir Insights presents a unique example of how to make the transition to greener solutions good business, with their scalable solution, which has the potential to broadly share knowledge within the industry, as well as catalyze positive, green change."



The loan from Denmark's Export & Investment Fund supplements the equity funding received in October, where renowned energy sector leader Jon Erik Reinhardsen along with two other private investors provided funding for Aegir Insights' continued growth journey. Jacob Winning Lehmann, Chairman at Aegir Insights, says: "We welcome Denmark's Export & Investment Fund as a funding partner to Aegir Insights. The loan provided marks an end to our first external funding round, and we are really happy that we in less than three months have secured seed financing for our efforts leading towards a potential Series A funding round in 2023."

The funding will assist Aegir Insights in accelerating tech- and software development plans as well as growing its organization. BearingPoint Capital advised Aegir Insights on the external financing round. About Aegir Insights: Smarter, faster, greener. Aegir Insights provides premium commercial analytics and models to help inform investment strategy and capital allocation for leading players in the offshore wind and power-to-x (PtX) sectors. Aegir Insights' differentiated strategy includes its technology-led approach in cooperation with clients and academia, and its senior team having deep industry experience from leading developers including Orsted, Vattenfall,Vestas and Siemens. Aegir Insights also serves as a trusted government advisor in development of offshore wind and PtX markets. Learn more about Aegir Insights here: www.aegirinsights.com About Denmark's Export & Investment Fund: Denmark's Export & Investment Fund is the result of a merger of Denmark's Export Credit Agency (EKF), the growth fund Vaekstfonden and the Danish Green Investment Fund. Learn more about Denmark's Export & Investment Fund here: www.eifo.dk BearingPoint Capital: BearingPoint is an independent management and technology consultancy with European roots and a global reach. The company operates in three business units: Consulting, Products, and Capital. Consulting covers the advisory business with a clear focus on selected business areas. Products provides IP-driven digital assets and managed services for business-critical processes. Capital delivers M&A and transaction services. BearingPoint's clients include many of the world's leading companies and organizations. The firm has a global consulting network with more than 13,000 people and supports clients in over 70 countries, engaging with them to achieve measurable and sustainable success. Learn more about BearingPoint Capital here: www.bearingpoint.com Jon Erik Reinhardsen: Jon Erik Reinhardsen is a Norwegian business executive currently holding positions including Chairman of the Board of Equinor ASA, board member of Telenor ASA, and other senior appointments. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005587/en/

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[January 10, 2023] Broadridge and LiquidX Launch InBlock TradeOps to Provide Additional Scale and Flexibility to Trade Finance

Introducing the industry's first and only true end-to-end BPO solution for Trade Finance NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LiquidX , the leading global fintech platform for digitization, monetization, and risk mitigation for trade finance, announces its new business process outsourcing (BPO) service, InBlock TradeOps, in partnership with Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR). This new service delivers a turnkey middle and back-office operations solution in trade finance combining the most advanced technology of LiquidX and the world class outsourcing capabilities of Broadridge. "InBlock TradeOps is the first complete solution to focus on lending and investing in this multi-trillion dollar credit asset class, eliminating all the operational challenges," said Jim Toffey, CEO of LiquidX. "We are proud of TradeOps's flexible pricing and servicing model that scales with the investor's investments, allowing them to operate smarter, faster and cheaper with better investment returns." InBlock TradeOps leverages the advanced digitization tools of InBlock to automate large portions of the workflow. This empowers trade finance investors, such as banks and asset managers, to save significant costs while having access to better real-time information to make smarter investment, risk and compliance decisions. "After our joint, in-depth study of the trade finance industry, we believe InBlock TradeOps can save the industry significantly in operational expenses over the next decade," said Matt Connor, COO of Broadridge's Global Technology and Operations business. "We believe that InBlock TradeOps can save many organizations 30-50% on their operations expenses." "The market has traditionally only focused on addressing corporate client pain points, and we are thrilled to offer a solution that solves challenges that the legacy technology has creatd for asset managers and regional banks," said Dominic Capolongo, CRO of LiquidX. "The customers that have been using this solution in beta for over a year now have enjoyed the benefits of InBlock TradeOps. Rolling out our BPO service to a larger client base is an exciting new venture for both LiquidX and our strategic clients."



About Broadridge Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR), a global Fintech leader with $5 billion in revenues, provides the critical infrastructure that powers investing, corporate governance and communications to enable better financial lives. We deliver technology-driven solutions that drive business transformation for banks, broker-dealers, asset and wealth managers and public companies. Broadridge's infrastructure serves as a global communications hub enabling corporate governance by linking thousands of public companies and mutual funds to tens of millions of individual and institutional investors around the world. Our technology and operations platforms underpin the daily trading of more than U.S. $9 trillion of equities, fixed income and other securities globally. A certified Great Place to Work, Broadridge is part of the S&P 500 Index, employing over 14,000 associates in 21 countries.

For more information about us and what we can do for you, please visit www.broadridge.com. About LiquidX LiquidX is a leading global technology company that enables finance professionals to transact faster, smarter, and cheaper by digitizing and automating their trade finance and working capital management. Our flagship solutions incorporate blockchain technology and machine learning analytics to greatly enhance transparency, reporting, and forecasting for financial professionals. Headquartered in New York with offices in Boston, London, and Singapore, LiquidX delivers the industry-leading ecosystem for working capital optimization to its diverse network of global participants including corporations, banks, institutional investors, and insurance providers. Our partnerships with the likes of Broadridge, U.S. Bank, and Citi bring a broad spectrum of clients access to the turnkey front-to-back solution that streamlines transactions between suppliers, buyers, and their banks. To learn more about our next generation solutions please visit liquidx.com . Investors:

Edings Thibault

Head of Investor Relations, Broadridge

[email protected] Media:

Gregg Rosenberg

Corporate Communications

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/broadridge-and-liquidx-launch-inblock-tradeops-to-provide-additional-scale-and-flexibility-to-trade-finance-301716634.html SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.

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Potomac Enterprise OCIO Offering for TAMPs and Advisory Firms

Potomac Fund Management, Inc. ("Potomac"), an investment strategist and TAMP, unveils a new Outsourced Chief Investment Officer service, "OCIO by Potomac."

Potomac developed the service as part of its TAMP, Union, and quickly began to see the need for the service across the industry.

"We recognized the need for a standalone OCIO service when we began talking to other TAMPs," said Jeff Goodnow, Chief Growth Officer. "The level of diligence and risk-management expertise required, when you're sorting through thousands of models, cannot be understated."

As an OCIO, Potomac will work closely with TAMPs and large advisory firms to sort and sift through thousands of model strategies, finding the best match for their client's needs and risk tolerance.

In addition, Potomac provides access to its proprietary due diligence platform "Insight by Potomac" that functions as a centralized and consolidated database; saving time and increasing oversight.







"Everything we have built at Potomac is rooted in having a process, doing the proper diligence, and making sure risk management is front and center. With OCIO by Potomac, we're bringing that together in a new way and equipping our partners to conquer risk," said Goodnow.

For more information about OCIO services, visit OCIO by Potomac.

About Potomac Fund Management

Headquartered in Miami, Florida, Potomac Fund Management ("Potomac") is an investment strategist firm for financial advisors.

With strategies available on numerous platforms, including Envestnet, Orion Portfolio Solutions, and the Union TAMP platform, Potomac supports advisors with the resources best suited for their individual businesses. Known for its technical analysis investment research, Potomac's research team provides free daily reports and the Financial Advisor toolkit subscription, "Research by Potomac."

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005060/en/
[January 10, 2023] Bright Health Group Announces Updated 2023 Expectations Ahead of J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference Presentation

Bright Health Group, Inc. ("Bright Health") (NYSE: BHG), a technology enabled, value-driven healthcare company serving aging and underserved consumers, today announced updated 2023 guidance, reinforcing its expectation for Adjusted EBITDA profitability for 2023. In addition, Bright Health has entered 2023 with a strengthened capital position to support its growth plans. Bright Health Group CEO and President, Mike Mikan, will provide additional commentary on the company's outlook at the 41st Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference tomorrow, Wednesday, January 11. "In 2023, we are focused on executing on our Fully Aligned Care Model across our business. As evidenced by our guidance increase, we have been successful in retaining value-based consumers and are excited about our growing partnerships with leading payors and providers," said Mikan. "We have created a scaled and differentiated care model that is well positioned to capture the shift to value-based, consumer-driven healthcare." Presentation Slides and Details Presentation slides are available now on the company's Investor Relations page at investors.brighthealthgroup.com, ahead of Bright Health Group's live presentation at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Bright Health's presentation will begin at 6:00 p.m. ET / 3:00 p.m. PT on Wednesday, January 11. A live webcast of the presentation will be available at https://investors.brighthealthgroup.com/events-and-presentations/events/default.aspx. Financial Outlook Bright Health Group is releasing its 2023 outlook, with Revenue and Value-Based Consumers above its preliminary 2023 expectations. 2023 Outlook:







Bright Health Group Revenue $3.4 - $3.6 billion Value-Based Consumers 275,000 - 300,000 Senior Managed Care End of Year Consumers >125,000 Adjusted Operating Cost Ratio 11% - 12% Adjusted EBITDA Profitable

Additionally, Bright Health Group filed a Current Report on Form 8-K this morning outlining its restructuring program. About Bright Health Group Bright Health Group is a technology enabled, value-driven healthcare company that organizes and operates networks of affiliate care providers to be successful at managing population risk. We focus on serving aging and underserved consumers that have unmet clinical needs through our Fully Aligned Care Model in Florida, Texas and California, some of the largest markets in healthcare where 26% of the U.S. aging population call home. We believe everyone should have access to personal, affordable, and high-quality healthcare. Our mission is to Make healthcare right. Together. For more information, visit www.brighthealthgroup.com. Forward-Looking Non-GAAP Financial Measures This release contains Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Operating Cost Ratio, which are non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures are additions, and not substitutes for or superior to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, Net Income (Loss) and Operating Expense, respectively. Additionally, Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to be a measure of free cash flow available for management's discretionary use as it does not consider certain cash requirements such as interest payments, tax payments and debt service requirements. The presentation of these measures has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Because not all companies use identical calculations, the presentation of these measures may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies and can differ significantly from company to company. Reconciliations of projected Adjusted EBITDA and projected Adjusted Operating Cost Ratio to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are not provided because the Company is unable to provide such reconciliations without unreasonable effort. The inability to provide a reconciliation is due to the uncertainty and inherent difficulty predicting the occurrence, the financial impact and the periods in which the non-GAAP adjustments may be recognized. With respect to Adjusted EBITDA, these GAAP measures may include the impact of such items as interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, impairment of goodwill or intangible assets, transaction costs, share-based compensation expense, changes in the fair value of equity securities, changes in the fair value of contingent consideration, contract termination costs, restructuring costs; and the tax effect of all such items. Historically, the Company has excluded these items from non-GAAP financial measures. With respect to Adjusted Operating Cost Ratio, these GAAP measures may include the impact of such items as stock-based compensation, changes in the fair value of contingent consideration, contract termination costs, and depreciation and amortization. The Company currently expects to continue to exclude these items in future disclosures of non-GAAP financial measures and may also exclude other items that may arise (collectively, "non-GAAP adjustments"). The decisions and events that typically lead to the recognition of non-GAAP adjustments, such as a decision to exit part of the business, are inherently unpredictable as to if or when they may occur. For the same reasons, the Company is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information, which could be material to future results. Forward-Looking Statements Statements made in this presentation that are not statements of historical fact, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements, and should be evaluated as such. Forward-looking statements include information concerning possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of our business plan and strategies, and operational and financial outlook and guidance. These statements often include words such as "anticipate," "expect," "plan," "believe," "intend," "project," "forecast," "estimates," "projections," "outlook," and other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements include any statements regarding our plans and expectations with respect to Bright Health Group, Inc. (the "Company"). Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. Factors that might materially affect such forward-looking statements include: our ability to continue as a going concern; our ability to quickly and efficiently wind down our IFP businesses and MA businesses outside of California; our ability to accurately estimate and effectively manage the costs relating to changes in our businesses offerings and models; a delay or inability to withdraw regulated capital from our subsidiaries; a lack of acceptance or slow adoption of our business model; our ability to retain existing consumers and expand consumer enrollment; our ability to accurately assess, code, and report IFP and MA risk adjustment factor scores for consumers; our ability to contract with care providers and arrange for the provision of quality care; our ability to accurately estimate our medical expenses, effectively manage our costs and claims liabilities or appropriately price our products and charge premiums; the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on our business and results of operations; the risks associated with our reliance on third-party providers to operate our business; the impact of modifications or changes to the U.S. health insurance markets; our ability to manage the growth of our business; our ability to operate, update or implement our technology platform and other information technology systems; our ability to retain key executives; our ability to successfully pursue acquisitions and integrate acquired businesses; the occurrence of severe weather events, catastrophic health events, natural or man-made disasters, and social and political conditions or civil unrest; the impact of security incidents or breaches, loss of data and other related events on our members, patients, employees, and financial results; our ability to comply with requirements to maintain effective internal controls; our ability to adapt to the new risks associated with our expansion into Direct Contracting; and additional risks and uncertainties described in the Company's Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K reports (including all amendments to those reports). Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this release to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005346/en/

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EMS Industry Veteran Ken Morris Joins Intervala as Company Expands Cable and Harness Capabilities and Expertise

Intervala LLC, a premier full-service electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider, today announced that Ken Morris has joined the company as director of operations for its cable and harness manufacturing facility in Hudson, New Hampshire. Morris is responsible for leading the site's production, engineering and continuous improvement functions as Intervala makes further investments in its custom cable and harness assembly capabilities and expertise.

Morris' career in the EMS industry spans four decades with extensive experience in the cable and harness manufacturing arena, serving customers in high-reliability, technology-driven markets, including medical devices, aerospace and defense, and industrial. He joined Intervala from Scott Electronics Inc. where he worked as general manager for U.S. EMS operations. He previously was employed for more than 30 years with the former Atronix Inc., now a unit of Amphenol Corporation, where he held a variety of leadership positions, including productio manager, warehouse and engineering manager, and senior program manager.







Since acquiring the Hudson operation in 2020, Intervala has made several investments at the site, including enhanced automated tooling and equipment, greater support for the site's overmolding capabilities and additional talent with expertise in high-reliability cable and harness design and manufacturing. The company plans to add fiber optic cabling to its offerings in 2023. The Hudson site is certified to ISO 9001:2015, AS9100D and ISO 13485:2016 quality standards.

"We are excited to have a manufacturing operations leader of Ken's caliber join our growing team," said Teresa Huber, president and CEO. "During his wide-ranging career, Ken has worked in virtually every discipline of operations and program management, honing his skills in all aspects of cable and harness manufacturing, electronics assembly and customer success. Since joining Intervala, he has already made several key improvements in streamlining our cable and harness operations, including implementing cellular manufacturing on the production floor. We look forward to his additional contributions as we continue to expand our capabilities to better serve our customers."

About Intervala

At Intervala, we tailor intelligent manufacturing solutions to each customer's unique requirements. We are a full-service manufacturer of complex, high-performance printed circuit board assemblies, electromechanical systems, and cable and harness assemblies for global customers in the defense, medical and industrial markets. Our team draws on decades of experience to bring a fresh approach to problem-solving by combining turnkey manufacturing capabilities, a full suite of engineering expertise, new product introduction, supply chain management, and global fulfillment services to deliver smart, innovative solutions. Intervala has manufacturing operations in the Greater Pittsburgh and Greater Boston areas. To learn more, visit intervala.com.

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[January 10, 2023] Two Six Technologies Expands Strategically, Achieves Record Results in 2022

ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Two Six Technologies, a high-growth technology company dedicated to providing products and expertise to national security customers, accelerated its strategic expansion and achieved record results in 2022. The company generated double-digit organic revenue growth, expanded its contract portfolio to $1 billion in total contract ceiling, and grew its team to more than 580 talented professionals throughout the United States. Two Sixs rapid delivery of products and expertise to address some of the nations most urgent and challenging threats drove the companys exceptional performance in 2022. Two Six Technologies teams of experts and suite of operationally deployed products, including IKE, M3, Pulse, SIGMA, and TrustedKeep, provide technological superiority for our nation, allies, and partners in a complex geopolitical threat landscape. By integrating multiple products and unique expertise, Two Six Technologies quickly delivers operational solutions and greater mission impact. Two Six Technologies, formed in February 2021 with the backing of global investment firm The Carlyle Group, continues to pursue its vision to be a trusted partner that delivers technological products and expertise supporting U.S. national security. In 2022, Two Six Technologies increased its focus on five technical areas central to national security missions: cyber, information operations, electronic systems, analytics, and secure solutions. Within these areas, the company has a portfolio of R&D projects and internal investments to generate breakthrough technologies. Two Six Technologies has repeatedly transitioned innovative concepts into operational solutions and scalable products, putting cutting-edge capabilities into the hands of end users and warfighters in direct support of urgent mission needs. Two Six Technologies strategic growth in 2022 included geographic expansions, significant investments in scalable infrastructure, and multiple initiatives to support employees professional development. The company opened new offices in Virginia, Maryland, and Texas, and now has employees working in 12 office locations, as well as in flexible, hybrid, and remoteenvironments in more than 30 states across the country.



Supplementing the companys strong organic growth, Two Six Technologies selectively acquires companies with unique products and capabilities that are highly complementary with Two Sixs mission, culture, and growth strategy. In 2022, Two Six Technologies acquired and successfully integrated both River Loop Security, a leading provider of technical expertise in cybersecurity and embedded systems, and Thresher Ventures, a software company with unique products that detect, analyze, and predict media manipulation by foreign governments. I couldnt be prouder of the outstanding work and many accomplishments of our entire team over the past year, said Joe Logue, CEO of Two Six Technologies. Our success and strong growth come from our dedication to national security missions and our unique ability to rapidly deliver products and expertise to support our customers across the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community.

Two Six Technologies successes in the past year were recognized with numerous industry awards, including: NVTC Tech 100 honoree for the 4th consecutive year, WashingtonExec 2022 top executive awards, the Pinnacle Awards, and ACG National Capitals Corporate Growth Award for Company of the Year. After hiring 240 new employees in 2022, the company continues to recruit mission-focused professionals for its diverse, world-class teams. Built upon a foundation of trust and transparency, Two Six Technologies accepts, empowers, and challenges passionate people to succeed as a team. The companys skilled specialists include computer scientists, cybersecurity experts, cryptography authorities, engineers, mathematicians, nuclear physicists, software developers, and veterans of the US. military and intelligence community. The company offers competitive benefits and compelling career development opportunities. Join the Two Six journey: twosixtech.com/careers/ About Two Six Technologies Two Six Technologies is a high-growth technology company dedicated to providing products and expertise to national security customers. The company solves complex technical challenges in five areas that are key to national security missions: cyber, information operations, electronic systems, analytics, and secure solutions. The company offers a family of operationally deployed products including IKE, M3, Pulse, SIGMA, and TrustedKeep; a robust suite of sole source contract vehicles; and a global operational footprint that includes a technical presence in more than 40 countries, coupled with native proficiency in more than 20 languages. Two Sixs major customers include the Department of Defense, including U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Cyber Command and DARPA; Department of State; the Intelligence Community; and the Department of Homeland Security. Two Six is headquartered in Arlington, VA and employs more than 580 professionals across the country. For more information, visit twosixtech.com , @twosixtech on Twitter, and Two Six Technologies on LinkedIn . Media Contact

David Leach

Vice President of Corporate Development

[email protected]

703-782-9473



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[January 10, 2023] Databento and Napatech collaborate on solutions for real-time financial data

SALT LAKE CITY and COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Databento  the world's first platform to offer market data on a usage-based pricing model  and Napatech(OSLO: NAPA.OL) - the leading provider of programmable Smart Network Interface Cards (SmartNICs) for Data Processing Unit (DPU) and Infrastructure Processing Unit (IPU) services in telecom, cloud, enterprise, cybersecurity, and financial applications worldwide  announced today their collaboration on packet capture infrastructure for real-time financial data. Databento provides institutional-quality market data on a pay-as-you-go basis, and its self-service API and web UI reduce dataset acquisition time from months to minutes. The firm processes billions of market events per day in colocation sites, with direct market access across multiple asset classes. Databento chose Napatech's SmartNICs for several key benefits  including high-performance data rates, lossless packet capture, and an extensive API. "Our historical and live offerings have strict requirements on losslessness and timestamping accuracy, and handling such a large volume of data  at up to line rate  is a significant challenge," said Renan Gemignani, Director of Engineering at Databento. "After benchmarking multiple solutions, only Napatech's SmartNICs met our standards." Databento tested competing solutions for its Options Price Reporting Authority (OPRA) data capture infrastructure before selecting Napatech as its partner. Databento's capture infrastructure is designed to support traffic at up to a line rate of 100 Gbps with zero packet loss. Unlike alternative solutions, Napatech's SmartNICs met Databento's performance objectives at all required packet sizes and data rates. Databento also found the Napatech API to be easier to use and more flexible, accelerating their time to market. "Napatech's Precision Time Protocol (PTP) support and nanosecond resolution enable us to accurately timestamp ackets on ingress to our servers. This allows Databento to provide the most reliable and accurate data to market participants," added Jack Culhane, Principal Engineer at Databento. "With the Napatech SmartNIC, we can also precisely identify when an event happened and measure our latency within any part of our network."



"We are delighted that Databento has selected our SmartNICs to address the demanding performance challenges of their packet capture infrastructure," said Charlie Ashton, Senior Director of Business Development at Napatech. "We look forward to ongoing collaboration with Databento to ensure that our products continue to meet their requirements as their solutions and services evolve." About Databento

Databento makes it simpler and faster to access institutional-grade financial data. Founded by traders and engineers from among the world's leading quantitative hedge funds, Databento's self-service model allows users to instantly pick up live exchange feeds and terabytes of historical data  and only pay for what they use. Databento's servers are hosted in the colocation facilities of various trading venues for low-latency and high-fidelity data capture, direct from the source. To learn more about Databento, visit www.databento.com . About Napatech Napatech is the leading supplier of programmable FPGA-based SmartNIC solutions used in telecom, cloud, enterprise, cybersecurity and financial applications worldwide. Through commercial-grade software suites integrated with robust, high-performance hardware, Napatech accelerates telecom, networking and security workloads to deliver best-in-class system-level performance while maximizing the availability of server compute resources for running applications and services. Additional information is available at www.napatech.com . No Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements which are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results due to a variety of factors, including but not limited to, business conditions, trends in the industry and markets, global economic and geopolitical conditions, macroeconomic factors, and other risks and uncertainties set forth in Napatech's reports. The matter discussed in this release is based on current expectations and may be subject to change. Napatech will not necessarily update this information. For details, visit us at www.napatech.com . View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/databento-and-napatech-collaborate-on-solutions-for-real-time-financial-data-301717257.html SOURCE Napatech

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[January 10, 2023] Versa Networks Named 2022 CyberSecured Awards Winner

Versa Networks, the recognized leader of single-vendor Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), today announced that its Versa SASE won the 2022 CyberSecured Award in the Network Security awards category for its 5G Edge capability. This distinction was announced last month by 1105 Media's Security Today brand, a leading industry media brand providing technology, education and solutions for security professionals. "We are grateful to 1105 Media's Security Today for this prestigious 2002 CyberSecured Award for network security," said Kelly Ahuja, CEO for Versa Networks. "Versa Unified SASE has earned its spot as the industry leader by delivering unique integration of security and networking that has been widely deployed by enterprise and service providers. With hybrid work, we are seeing unprecedented growth in the number of devices and users that need to be protected and connected to workloads in multiple clouds. Versa SASE also has industry-leading innovations which are used in the deployment of Software-Defined Edge in 5G/4G and satellite networks." Launched in 2020 by 1105 Media's security group, this program focuses on the network and other cybersecurity initiatives. The CyberSecured Awards honor the outstanding product development achievements of manufacturers and suppliers whose products or services are considered particularly noteworthy in the transformation of cybersecurity. Winners of this independently judged contest will be featured on the security industry leading website, securitytoday.com, and will be recognized in CyberSecured e-news. "Our Security Today CyberSecured Awards are closely aligned with the readership of CyberSecured eNews, a monthly digital publication," said Ralph C. Jensen, editor-in-chief of Security Today magazine, and CyberSecured eNews. "We are so pleased that many cybersecurity professionals join us to showcase new products and advanced technology. We are aware of the importance that cybersecurity plays in today's society, and have updated our website to include more case studies and thought leadership articles. We're excited to be part of this burgeoning industry and plan to broaden our knowledge base to serve our readership by tapping into the vast experience of professionals and organizations." Versa's single-vendor Unified SASE delivers organically developed best-of-breed functions that tighly integrate and deliver services via the cloud, on-premises, or as a blended combination of both, managed through a single pane of glass. Versa delivers SASE services such as Secure SD-WAN, Next-Generation Firewall, Next-Generation Firewall as a Service, Cloud Network Firewall, Unified Threat Management (UTM) including Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI), and User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA). Versa's single-vendor SASE platform goes above and beyond management console automation integration by providing the ability to integrate networks, points of presence, policy definitions, application definitions, agent logic, and data lakes.



As the leader in SASE, the fastest growing security and networking category, Versa is the only solution proven to deliver the industry's leading and differentiated SASE architecture. Dell'Oro Group listed Versa as the 2021 SASE market share leader with 84-percent market share for the unified category in its 4Q21 Network Security Quarterly Report; and Frost and Sullivan ranks Versa as the #2 worldwide market share leader in SASE. Gartner has identified Versa SASE as having the most SASE components out of all 56 vendors Gartner evaluated. Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) also found that Versa SASE has the most SASE supported functions, as published in its industry report. About 1105 Media's Infrastructure Solutions Group

1105 Media's Infrastructure Solutions Group includes several leading industry media brands that provide new product and technology solutions for security professionals: Security Today, securitytoday.com, CyberSecured, Campus Security & Life Safety, campuslifesecurity.com, and GovSec. The brands' print, digital, custom media and research products integrate physical and IT security coverage and provide the smartest, most cost-effective solutions for reaching security decision makers. About Versa Networks Versa Networks, the leader in single-vendor SASE platforms, delivers AI/ML-powered SSE and SD-WAN solutions. The platform provides networking and security with true multitenancy, and sophisticated analytics via the cloud, on-premises, or as a blended combination of both to meet SASE requirements for small to extremely large enterprises and Service Providers. Thousands of customers globally with hundreds of thousands of sites and millions of users trust Versa with their mission critical networks and security. Versa Networks is privately held and funded by Sequoia Capital, Mayfield, Artis Ventures, Verizon Ventures, Comcast Ventures, BlackRock Inc., Silicon Valley Bank, Liberty Global Ventures, Princeville Capital, RPS Ventures and Triangle Peak Partners. For more information, visit https://www.versa-networks.com or follow Versa Networks on Twitter @versanetworks. Versa Networks, VOS, the Versa logo, and Versa Titan are or may be registered trademarks of Versa Networks, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005407/en/

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[January 10, 2023] Standard General Highlights Broad and Strong Support for Pending Acquisition of TEGNA

Standard General L.P. ("Standard General") today highlighted the significant support it has received from numerous civil rights organizations, legislators and labor and minority media groups for its acquisition of TEGNA Inc. ("TEGNA") (NYSE: TGNA). Standard General reiterated that the proposed acquisition of TEGNA will yield significant public interest benefits by strengthening local broadcasting in communities across America and creating the largest minority-owned and female-led broadcast station group in U.S. history, dramatically increasing minority broadcast ownership and diversity of viewpoints. Standard General also today announced the launch of www.SGandTEGNA.com, an informational website to provide the public with important facts about the transaction, share its vision for the future of TEGNA, and highlight the broad support for the transaction. "We thank all those who have publicly voiced their support for our proposed acquisition of TEGNA," said Soo Kim, Founding Partner of Standard General. "Many have pointed to our proven track record of enhancing stations' service to their local communities, increasing local news content, and investing in the resources stations need to compete successfully. We are confident that the acquisition of TEGNA will open a new chapter in American media distribution, marked by an expansion in representation, diversity, and innovation." "We look forward to building on TEGNA's presence as a leading local broadcast company with continued investment in local journalism and newsgathering operations," said Deb McDermott, CEO of Standard Media. "Our commitment to journalism is backed by my over two decades in this industry and the track record Standard General and I have built together leading broadcast groups over the last 12 years, and we look forward to the new company competing vigorously in all markets it serves. We are grateful for the broad support the transaction has received and look forward to exceeding the expectations of all those who have recognized the promise a revitalized TEGNA holds for serving local communities. And this is not just about delivering on the exciting opportunities and potential of this one transaction, but on creating a catalyst for reinvigorating broadcasting in an era when its strengths are needed more than ever." Regarding the proposed acquisition of TEGNA by Standard General: Civil rights organizations have stated: "Advancing Justice - AAJC believes that Standard General's acquisition, led by Mr. Soo Kim, has the potential to be a milestone for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in diversifying media ownership." "Advancing Justice - AAJC expresses its excitement for potential greater diversity in broadcast ownership and leadership. With Mr. Soo Kim leading Standard General, Standard General could become the largest Asian American-owned business, the only Asian American-led broadcast station group, and the largest minority-owned broadcast station group. Diversity and representation at the leadership and executive level is important to celebrate because it can create an environment which allows for varying perspectives and experience, which will ultimately benefit all our communities." - Asian Americans Advancing Justice, December 20, 20221 "Standard General's Soo Kim has a long record of accomplishment that demonstrates his commitment to diversity. As Dr. Ben Chavis recently noted, Soo Kim's vision for local news will help lower the inequities in the broadcast industry and beyond. By approving this deal, the FCC will help lower the barriers to access capital that many people, especially in the minority community, face." - Raul Lopez, Founder and Executive Director of Latinos for Tennessee, December 12, 20222 "I want to take this opportunity to extend my full support of Mr. Soo Kim and Standard General. After meeting with Soo Kim and upon careful and scrupulous review of his record on diversity and inclusion, my team and I wholeheartedly support the purchase of Tegna." - Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., Founder and President of The Rainbow Push Coalition, December 12, 20223 "Standard General's investment plan in TEGNA starts with people. Stations acquired by Standard General have reported that conditions for staff improved, with the company increasing the station employee's health benefits, adding paid time off, implementing employee training programs, and investing in the station facilities. In the acquisition of TEGNA, Standard General plans to utilize systems and techniques which have proven successful in past broadcast operations, including localizing management of local stations to ensure that they are more responsive to the communities they serve." - Adolphus M. Pruitt, II, President of the St. Louis NAACP, November 14, 20224 "Diversity matters especially when it comes to local news. Mr. Kim understands the dreams, struggles, and passions of the AAPI community. Under his leadership Standard General and Tegna will have the financial resources required to create new community partnerships and bring diverse perspectives to local news coverage." - Kelly Coldiron, Executive Director of The National Federation of Filipino-American Associations, November 2, 20225 "I have been encouraged by comments [Soo] Kim has made in the news media about wanting the stations his company would take ownership of to include a range of voices and shine a light on issues that might have been overlooked by prior media owners. He might be stating the obvious that the better the quality of television news, the bigger the audience share, and the more the advertising revenue." - Yuri Cunza, President and CEO of the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, October 20, 20226 "The Board of the South Carolina African American Chamber of Commerce and its representation of 15,000 African American small businesses and entrepreneurs, recognize that Standard General's purchase of TEGNA, which owns many local television stations across the United States, will be a chance to preserve and revitalize the engagement of minority communities in media markets served by the new company." "The Standard General purchase of stations owned by TEGNA will provide hope for a new growth and stability in minority-owned news outlets and Standard General's founder, Soo Kim, is the main reason for this. He has made an active commitment in elevating the voice of the Black community and promoting an inclusive dialogue." - Stephen L. Gilchrist, Chairman of the South Carolina African American Chamber of Commerce, October 13, 20227 "We need to make room for new voices, new views, and new ways of doing business. The proposed integration of TEGNA and Standard General is an opportunity to ensure the long term viability of local television news in the very communities where viewers live and work." - Richard Rose, President of the Atlanta NAACP, September 26, 20228 "This deal will enhance minority media ownership in a transformative way. Standard General's founder, Soo Kim, is a well-respected voice and business leader in the AAPI community." "As an advocate for greater representation of Asian Americans in corporate and public sector leadership, Standard General's acquisition, led by Mr. Soo Kim, will be a major milestone for the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities and other communities of color in diversifying ownership and corporate leadership in the media world." "This will be a major step forward for the Asian American community and will ensure that U.S. broadcasting reflects the rapidly transforming demographic landscape of the United States." - Abraham Kim, Executive Director of the Council of Korean Americans, August 26, 20229 "The creation of the largest Asian-American-owned business would be a source of pride and celebration for the [Asian American and Pacific Islander] community." "Mr. Kim has said clearly and repeatedly that he wants to make local television news more substantive, responsive to local viewing audiences, and inclusive of all voices in communities where TEGNA stations operate. He has committed to spending money on expanding reporting staff, growing training opportunities, and investing in technology and equipment so that when people turn on the local television news, they will be more fully informed of issues that affect them directly. Mr. Kim's approach is exactly what the country needs." - The National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship, August 25, 202210 "The significance of this acquisition in elevating the voices and images of historically marginalized communities cannot be overstated and must be analyzed through historical, economic and social prisms." "This new company will undoubtedly breathe a new breath of life into a culturally antiquated industry devoid of the true riches born out of a real multicultural establishment. This new company will operationalize a robust and rigorous vision of inclusion and industrial scale access for Communities of Color, writ large, but specifically to the Black community which through long suffering and moral fortitude has long sought and fought for." - Reverend Kirsten John Foy, President & CEO, The Arc of Justice, July 11, 202211 Legislators have stated: "The numbers don't lie - we must ensure that ownership at broadcast stations better reflects the rich diversity of the communities that they serve. We still have work to do, and we have to do better." "This is why the Standard General-Tegna acquisition is especially important. If the transaction goes through, Soo Kim, a Korean American naturalized citizen, would be the first Asian American to own and operate a major broadcast station group. Additionally, it is my understanding that if this deal is approved, the new entity would be the largest minority-owned broadcast station group in America today. It would also be managed by a leading female broadcast executive with a history of investing in local news and in her employee base. I understand further thatat least half of the proposed board of directors will be of minority composition and a majority will be women." - The Honorable Marilyn Strickland, Congresswoman of Washington's 10th Congressional District, November 1, 202212 "By localizing station management and creating a cohesive team environment, Standard General is poised to make an even greater impact in the St. Louis region. With the FCC's approval, this proposed transaction will make Standard General the largest minority-owned and female-led broadcast group in its history. This acquisition has also been endorsed by the St. Louis Chapter for NAACP for its diversity and equity. My community deserves a broader voice and presence in the media and needs better access to the critical information affecting their lives. For these reasons, I encourage the FCC to approve this merger." - Brian Williams, State Senator of Missouri, District 14, December 19, 202213 "In today's media environment, there are fewer credible options for consumers to turn to for their news than local mediaStandard General has a history of investing in and improving local newsrooms and broadcast stations. Standard General's investment plan in TEGNA starts with people." - Wanika B. Fisher, Member of Maryland House of Delegates, District 47B, November 10, 202214 "I write to support Standard General's acquisition of Tegna because the combined company will continue to invest in local broadcast newsrooms across America. Standard General has a history of bolstering local news stations and its investments will help ensure that Americans will have access to the critical information that impacts their daily lives." - Dan Shaul, State Representative of Missouri, District 113, November 1, 202215 "The pending transaction between Standard General and Tegna would create the nation's largest minority-owned, women-led broadcast group and increase total minority ownership of U.S. television stations by more than 250% overnight. I'mconfident that Standard General, with its proven track record, will once again embrace this opportunity to increase minority representation across the Tegna channels."



- Representative Terry Brown Jr., North Carolina State Congressman, September 16, 202216 "We believe that this deal is in the public's interest as it will improve local news, increase diversity in media ownership, and help modernize broadcast television for consumers. The communities that we represent in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina stand to benefit immensely from Standard General's investments."

"Standard General's commitment to diversity and inclusion comes from the top down, starting with its Managing Partner, Soo Kim. Mr. Kim, an Asian-American, has a long history of serving as an ally to communities of color and has used his investments in local broadcast journalism to continue to create opportunities." - Senator Tonya Anderson, Representative Patricia Henegan and Representative Kelly Alexander Jr., Chairs of the Legislative Black Caucuses of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, August 12, 202217 Labor, broadcasting, media, and other business organizations have stated: "My name is Raul Aguirre and I am writing to you today to advocate in support of the pending merger between Standard General and TEGNA. My career in the industry as a producer, anchor, and host for Univision has taught me the importance of diverse voices in broadcast journalism. I believe that the merger would have a significant impact for minority communities across the country." "The combined leadership of Soo Kim and Deb McDermott would bring transformational change to the broadcast industry." - Raul E. Aguirre, Founder of REA Media Group, December 27, 202218 "Standard General's vision for the new TEGNA, including its Denver based stations KUSA and KTVD, is to invest in new digital platforms, train journalists in the use of new technologies, and support the development of new business models that can help local news organizations to reach and engage with their audiences more effectively." "As we look to the future of broadcast news it is vital that we do everything we can to keep communities informed and engaged. Ensuring that local television stations have the resources they need to modernize and grow their operations will allow broadcast news to remain competitive in an increasingly challenging time for trustworthy news." - Debbie Brown, President of the Colorado Business Roundtable, December 19, 202219 "If you are, as I am, for equality, equity, and believe in the oneness of all humanity, then we must practice what we preach. This is why I am publicly and forthrightly supporting the efforts and leadership of Soo Kim, founder and managing partner of Standard General. Kim is an effective and outstanding Korean American business leader, and he is on record supporting greater Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in our nation's media ownership landscape." - Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) representing the Black Press of America, November 29, 202220 "The broadcasting industry needs more women in senior positions to support this type of growth. Deb McDermott at Standard Media is a role model in our industry. She has a long record of leading with purpose, treating people with respect, and investing in people. It is because of this thoughtful approach that I want to express my support for the proposed merger between Standard General and TEGNA with Deb McDermott set to lead the new company." - Marcia Green, Former Director of Programming for WQAD-TV, November 18, 202221 "Mr. Kim has been engaged with UNITE HERE and has made sure to maintain a strong working relationship [with] the Union. We know by his actions that he understands the issues that matter to organized labor and has been constructive in his approach, and as a result we support this transaction." - D. Taylor, International President of UNITE HERE, November 18, 202222 "Standard General's acquisition of TEGNA would dramatically enhance minority ownership in the broadcast television industry. My work with the Hispanic community in the United States and abroad has given me a front row seat to the demographics of our society. Yet despite these changes, the broadcast industry is still lacking diverse representation at senior levels of leadership. Standard General's CEO, Soo Kim, is a well-respected minority business leader who is committed to creating opportunities for minority communities and women leaders." - Gil M. Cisneros, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and Chairman and CEO of the Chamber of the Americas, November 16, 202223 "Our industry needs fresh ideas and real investment to access new audiences while continuing to serve those who have relied on us for years. Soo Kim and Deb McDermott have a proven track record of enhancing the quality of the news stations that they invest in. They have publicly committed to reinvigorating Tegna's brands with new technology like streaming and NextGen TV broadcasting which will help our industry stay competitive in an increasingly digital world." - Bob Houghton, President of the Georgia Association of Broadcasters, November 10, 202224 "We, as women leaders in technology, are submitting this letter to express our support for Deb McDermott, CEO of Standard Media. With the hopeful merger between Standard Media and Tegna, Inc, Mrs. McDermott is poised to lead the largest female-led broadcast company in the nation." "Not only will the combined company be led by a celebrated female executive, more than half of the board will be women, as well as 50 percent minority led. It is time to bolster this commitment to diverse leadership as an example of what the future holds." - Advocating for Women in Tech, August 24, 202225 "As the most influential Hispanic Print & Digital Media Organization in the country, NAHP believes that the transaction falls in line with our organization's mission: to better serve and empower Hispanic communities through demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion." - Alvaro Gurdian, President of the National Association of Hispanic Publications, August 8, 202226 "This transaction is poised to provide a shot in the arm to local journalism and local newsrooms across the country, offering tangible benefits to consumers nationwide." "The new Standard General-Tegna combination would reinvigorate broadcasting, add programming diversity and strengthen a much-needed resource for consumers in their local communities." - Steve Pociask, President and CEO at American Consumer Institute, Center for Citizen Research, August 7, 202227 "Estrella Media believes that the Transaction will increase the diversity of available broadcast programming, thereby furthering the public interest." "From our viewpoint, approval of the Transaction will provide Estrella Media with enhanced opportunities to partner with Standard General and new TEGNA to better serve the Hispanic community in the United States, a community that has historically been underserved." - Arya Towfighi, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Estrella Media, August 1, 202228 About Standard General Standard General was founded in 2007 and manages capital for public and private pension funds, endowments, foundations, and high-net-worth individuals. Standard General is a minority-controlled and operated organization. Mr. Kim is supported by a diverse, highly experienced 17-person team, including seven investment professionals with over 120 years of collective investing experience. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This communication includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions about future events and are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the views, beliefs, projections and estimates expressed in such statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) the timing, receipt and terms and conditions of the required governmental or regulatory approvals of the proposed transaction and the related transactions involving the parties that could reduce the anticipated benefits of or cause the parties to abandon the proposed transaction, (2) risks related to the satisfaction of the conditions to closing the proposed transaction (including the failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals), and the related transactions involving the parties, in the anticipated timeframe or at all, (3) the risk that any announcements relating to the proposed transaction could have adverse effects on the market price of TEGNA's common stock, (4) disruption from the proposed transaction making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships, including retaining and hiring key personnel and maintaining relationships with TEGNA's customers, vendors and others with whom it does business, (5) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement entered into pursuant to the proposed transaction or of the transactions involving the parties, (6) risks related to disruption of management's attention from TEGNA's ongoing business operations due to the proposed transaction, (7) significant transaction costs, (8) the risk of litigation and/or regulatory actions related to the proposed transaction or unfavorable results from currently pending litigation and proceedings or litigation and proceedings that could arise in the future, (9) other business effects, including the effects of industry, market, economic, political or regulatory conditions, (10) information technology system failures, data security breaches, data privacy compliance, network disruptions, and cybersecurity, malware or ransomware attacks, and (11) changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, which could exacerbate any of the risks described above. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of Standard General. Each such statement speaks only as of the day it was made. Standard General undertakes no obligation to update or to revise any forward-looking statements. The factors described above cannot be controlled by Standard General. When used in this communication, the words "believes," "estimates," "plans," "expects," "should," "could," "outlook," and "anticipates" and similar expressions as they relate to Standard General or its management are intended to identify forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this communication may include, without limitation: statements about the potential benefits of the proposed acquisition, anticipated growth rates, Standard General's plans, objectives, expectations, and the anticipated timing of closing the proposed transaction. _______________________________

1 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/122060402285

2 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/121515767455

3 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/1212188571066

4 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/1110222446191

5 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/110227746700

6 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/1020739325143

7 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/10131615527364

8 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/109262110105408

9 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/1082659649283

10 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/10825163703891

11 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/10713072534797

12 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/1121006721831

13 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/121932639304

14 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/121344714562/1

15 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/1121834702388

16 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/109160616821881

17 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/10812288312582

18 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/1228418702311

19 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/1220210112945

20 https://blackpressusa.com/op-ed-the-time-is-now-for-increasing-diversity-in-american-media-ownership/

21 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/112715696531

22 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/1118194585810

23 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/1121752705229

24 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/11090588020284

25 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/1090801075473

26 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/1080837409723

27 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/108082904018813

28 https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/10801289898823 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005940/en/

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An area man is charged with possessing and distributing child pornography after an online cloud storage company reported suspicious upload activity to local authorities.

Jacob Ryan Sutton, 22, of Farmington, has been charged in St. Francois County with one count of possession of child pornography - first offense and one count of first-degree promoting child pornography.

According to a probable cause statement from the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP), an investigator with the MSHPs Division of Drug and Crime Control received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that Sutton had allegedly uploaded a video of child pornography to his online Dropbox storage account. The file was reported to show a prepubescent minor engaged in lascivious exhibition.

The report states Dropbox provided Suttons user email and confirmed that on May 17, at 8:32 p.m., the man reportedly uploaded the illicit video, which police said depicted a female child approximately 10-12 years old.

On Thursday, MSHP investigators executed a St. Francois County search warrant at Suttons apartment in Farmington.

During an interview with investigators, the report states Sutton confirmed his email address and Dropbox account were the same accounts reported by Dropbox. He allegedly admitted to viewing child pornography online for approximately a year, then said he quit viewing it after Dropbox deactivated his account. The man also reportedly admitted to looking at pornography of females between the ages of 14-17 and said the youngest he had viewed was about 10 years old.

The report notes that full forensic examinations of Suttons electronic devices had not been completed as of Thursday.

Sutton was booked at the St. Francois County Detention Center, and a $50,000 bond has been set in the case. Records show he posted the bond after his arrest last week and was released. While free on bail, Sutton is ordered to comply with pre-trial monitoring. He is also prohibited from having contact with any minor child and is not allowed to be on the premises of any park, school, daycare, or playground while awaiting trial.

Sutton is scheduled to make an initial court appearance in the case on Feb. 2 in St. Francois County.
[January 10, 2023] FileCloud Launches Industry first Zero Trust File Sharing?

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FileCloud is excited to announce the addition of Zero Trust File Sharing, which will provide yet another layer of hyper-security to the most robust content collaboration platform on the market. Zero Trust File Sharing in FileCloud will enable users to collaborate securely, not just with other employees, but also with external partners, vendors, and clients. This functionality goes beyond modulating share permissions or setting Data Loss Prevention (DLP) rules. Zero Trust File Sharing will be increasingly required for businesses and organizations that work with sensitive or protected data, including Confidential Unclassified Information (CUI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII). The advent of cloud service technologies, remote access applications, and the vanishing network edge have exposed vulnerabilities in perimeter-based IT security models. The Zero Trust framework, based on a system of least privilege, offers a more resilient, flexible approach that enforces identity authentication, regardless of where or how the request for access is derived. "With FileCloud's Zero Trust File Sharing, an enterprise can implement secure file sharing throughout their network as part of a larger Zero Trust strategy," Anis Abdul, CTO, at FileCloud said. "Zero Trust File Sharing will also support compliance with federal and global information security regulations as well as organization-wide cybersecurity policies that mandate limited access to sensitive data." Recently, the U.S. Department of Defense has rolled out a Zero Trust Strategy and Roadmap, which will eventually cover all U.S. government departments and will likely be adapted by the private sector. Critical infrastructure sectors are strong candidates to integrate Zero Trust File Sharing asa means of securing their information systems from increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks carried out by nation states.



"FileCloud already works with several governments around the world to provide hyper-secure content collaboration, file sharing, and workflow automation," Ray Downes, FileCloud's CEO stated. "Many of the building blocks for a Zero Trust environment exist within FileCloud, including role-based access, audit logs, encryption, and granular permissions. Developing a Zero Trust File Sharing solution further augments the platform's capabilities when it comes to securing data, both within and beyond an organization's network perimeter." FileCloud's Zero Trust support allows businesses to have an extra layer of security on top of FileCloud's built-in access controls. Zero Trust is achieved via Zip file structure and password-protection to secure data within the environment. The user will be able to create a share link to a file or folders and set a Zero Trust password.

Without this password, the data cannot be accessed, even if a direct link is shared or if a breach occurs. If the Zero Trust protected folder is accessed by any means, including social engineering tactics, the data itself is still protected by password-based encryption. Authorized users accessing the data with the Zero Trust password will also be limited in their ability to modify or manipulate the data inside the Zero Trust folder. Based on the share permissions, recipients of the share link will be limited by read versus read-write share permissions. Zero Trust File Sharing creates a user-driven, hyper-secure, file-sharing container that extends collaboration beyond an organization's IT perimeter as part of a comprehensive Zero Trust strategy. Learn more about Zero Trust File Sharing by reading the FileCloud Release Notes or contacting the FileCloud Sales Team. About FileCloud FileCloud is a hyper-secure content collaboration platform (CCP) that provides industry-leading compliance, data governance, data leak protection, data retention and digital rights management capabilities. Workflow automation and granular control of content sharing across most enterprise platforms is fully integrated into the complete CCP stack. The platform offers powerful file sharing, sync, and mobile access capabilities on public, private, and hybrid clouds. FileCloud is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is used by millions of users around the world, including top Global 1000 enterprises, educational institutions, government organizations, and managed service providers. Media Relations Contact:

Noemi Toth

FileCloud

1 (888) 571-6480

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/filecloud-launches-industry-first-zero-trust-file-sharing-301717680.html SOURCE FileCloud

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[January 10, 2023] Contrast Security's Developer Portal Named a DevPortal Awards 2022 Finalist for Best Onboarding

LOS ALTOS, Calif., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Contrast Security (Contrast), the code security platform built for developers and trusted by security, today announced its developer portal, Developer Central , debuted as a 2022 DevPortal Award finalist for Best Onboarding within the Developer Experience category. A world-class jury of respected industry experts named Developer Central one of two finalists for Best Onboarding out of twelve nominees representing major brands such as Kroger, Cloudflare, Fastly, and Gov.UK. Contrast Security makes code security simple and efficient for developers. Launched in June 2022, Contrast's Developer Central gives developers easy access to CodeSec 's easy to install tool that makes code security simple and efficient for developers. CodeSec delivers quick scan times, market-leading accuracy, actionable results and seamless integration. In only three clicks, users can download, authenticate and start scanning with ease. Once a developer has created an account, they are given instant access to CodeSec's open source code and custom-developed code as well as serverless scanning and Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) capabilities. According to the DevPortal Award jury, the Contrast Security Developer Central presents onboarding resources in a fresh and dynamic way that tries to pull developers in. The portal provides a rich set of onboarding resources that consider different use cases. "It is an honor to be named a DevPortal 2022 Award finalist for Best Onboarding, especially since it's our first year applying. I want to thank our team who has been tirelessly making additions and updates to the Developer Central's UX [user experience] and UI [user interface] to make it more visually appealing and enhance its usability and ease of use," said Steve Wilson, Chief Product Officer at Contrast Security. "Our mission is to empower security and development teams to get secure code moving - and to do that - we understand the importance of delivering resources that can elp developers secure code confidently."



Contrast recently announced the launch of its developer-focused security education program, Contrast Secure Code Learning Hub , and its developer-centered community forum, Contrast Community , both created to mitigate vulnerable coding. The DevPortal Awards details that good onboarding in a developer portal starts with transparent steps to registration and granting access that show what the APIs are about, how they work, how developers can start integrating and where they can find additional resources. They note that it is important to give just the right amount of information to build confidence and inspiration as this is to make a first impression and create a great user experience.

Visit Contrast's Developer Central to quickly sign up for an account and begin scanning for vulnerabilities within your code. About the Devportal Awards: The DevPortal Awards is an opportunity to celebrate the work that goes into developer portals that are not only targeted to developers but also aligned to business needs and operable by its maintainers. The DevPortal Awards seeks to recognize the best solutions available today and push the boundaries of what we believe to be the key components of a developer portal for tomorrow. For more information about the awards program, please visit https://devportalawards.org/ . About Contrast Security (Contrast): A world leading code security platform company purposely built for developers to get secure code moving swiftly and trusted by security teams to protect business applications. Developers, security and operations teams quickly secure code across the complete software development life cycle (SDLC) with Contrast to protect against today's targeted application security (AppSec) attacks. Contrast also makes security testing available to all developers for free with CodeSec . Founded in 2014 by cybersecurity industry veterans, Contrast was established to replace legacy AppSec solutions that cannot protect modern enterprises. With today's pressures to develop business applications at increasingly rapid paces, the Contrast Secure Code Platform defends and protects against full classes of common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs). This allows security teams to avoid spending time on focusing false positives and remediate true vulnerabilities faster. Contrast's platform solutions for code assessment, testing, protection, serverless, supply chain, APIs and languages help enterprises achieve true DevSecOps transformation and compliance. Contrast protects against major cybersecurity attacks for its customer base which represents some of the largest brand-name companies in the world, including BMW, DocuSign, AXA, Zurich, SOMPO Japan and American Red Cross, as well as numerous other leading global Fortune 500 enterprises. Contrast partners with global organizations such as AWS, Microsoft, IBM Cloud, Guidepoint, Deloitte and Carahsoft, to seamlessly integrate and achieve the highest level of security for customers. The growing demand for the world's only platform for code security has landed the company on some of the most prestigious lists including the Inc. 5000 List of America's Fastest Growing Companies and has designated Contrast as one of the fastest growing companies on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 List . Learn more: https://www.contrastsecurity.com/ Follow us: Blog | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Media Contact:

Laura Asendio

Public Relations Manager

Contrast Security

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/contrast-securitys-developer-portal-named-a-devportal-awards-2022-finalist-for-best-onboarding-301716909.html SOURCE Contrast Security

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[January 10, 2023] Global Next-Generation Lithography Materials Market Report to 2031 - Players Include Tokyo Ohka Kogyo, JSR, DuPont de Nemours and Shin-Etsu Chemical

DUBLIN, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Next-Generation Lithography Materials Market - A Global and Regional Analysis: Focus on Application, Material, and Region - Analysis and Forecast, 2022-2031" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global next-generation lithography materials market is projected to reach $1,005.3 million by 2031 from $85.7 million in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 29.46% during the forecast period 2022-2031. The next-generation lithography materials market is expected to grow at a healthy growth rate, owing to the growing demand for cutting-edge microchips and semiconductors in smartphones and wearable technology. According to International Data Corporation, smartphone shipments increased by 7.7% in 2021 compared to 2020. Smartphone players are implementing several technologies to reduce the weight and increase the features of smartphones to gain a strong foothold in the industry, creating a demand for next-generation lithography materials and technologies. In addition, technological advancements, and increased investment in nanotechnology and nanodevices are driving the demand for nanolithography by creating a need for making structures on the nanometre scale, which in turn is complementing next-generation lithography materials' demand. Furthermore, the U.S. government is making effective investments in nanotechnology through the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), a U.S. government R&D initiative that brings together federal departments and agencies with interests in nanomaterials research, development, and commercialization. Therefore, the aforementioned factors complement the NGL materials market growth. Market Lifecycle Stage Next-generation lithography is a process that transfers patterns from a photomask to a photoresist (light-sensitive chemical) on a substrate using light sources with wavelengths less than 193nm. The photoresist is either inherently sensitive to radiation or is formulated with a photosensitive compound that produces a reactive species when exposed to light. Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL), which uses a wavelength of 13.5 nm, is currently the most widely used next-generation lithography technique. Other next-generation lithography techniques include electron beam lithography, nanoimprint lithography, focused ion beam lithography, x-ray lithography, and others. Next-generation lithography technologies are gaining popularity. However, the high cost of next-generation lithography scanners and materials is a major barrier to its widespread adoption in several countries. Currently, Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography (ASML) is the only company providing EUV lithography machinery. However, with additional players entering the ecosystem in the coming years, the next-generation lithography materials industry is expected to expand significantly. With a greater global emphasis on digital technologies such as 5G networks, artificial intelligence, and IoT, the shift to miniaturization of devices and enhancement of features opens significant sales and financing opportunities. This shift was prominently experienced in regions such as North America, Europe, and some Asian countries. Impact of COVID-19 In 2020, the global lockdown caused by COVID-19 epidemic caused disruptions in manufacturing activity and supply networks, as well as production halts. However, due to changing consumer habits fuelled by the rise in remote work and distance leaning, the demand for semiconductors increased.



As a result of this, semiconductor fabricators resumed production lines, with ease in lowdown restriction, to meet the growing demand for chips used in consumer electronics such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Furthermore, as digitization expands into every facet of daily life, demand for semiconductors continues to surge far beyond the global capacity for supply. This creates a need for expanding production and improving features of semiconductors, thus influencing advanced semiconductor materials demand including next generation lithography materials.

Market Segmentation



Segmentation 1: by Application Automotive

Consumer Electronics

IT & Telecommunications

Others In 2021, the consumer electronics sector segment dominated the overall next-generation lithography materials market in terms of value and volume, and it is expected to continue dominating the market till 2031. Segmentation 2: by Material Photoresist Material

Ancillary Material The global next-generation lithography materials market is estimated to be led by photoresist material. Segmentation 3: by Region North America - U.S., Canada , and Mexico

- U.S., , and Europe - Germany , France , Sweden , Spain , and Rest-of- Europe

- , , , , and Rest-of- China

U.K.

Asia-Pacific and Japan - Japan , South Korea , Taiwan , India and Rest-of- Asia-Pacific

and - , , , and Rest-of- Rest-of-the-World Asia Pacific and Japan led the next-generation lithography materials market in 2021 and is anticipated to uphold its dominance throughout the forecast period (2022-2031), owing to the presence of significant semiconductor players such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Recent Developments in the Global Next-Generation Lithography Materials Market In August 2022 , JSR Corporation signed an investment agreement with the Lingang Special Area Government to establish a subsidiary in Shanghai . This is expected to expand JSR Group's business activities in the Chinese market relating to semiconductor materials. It is tentatively scheduled to begin operations in December 2022 .

, JSR Corporation signed an investment agreement with the Lingang Special Area Government to establish a subsidiary in . This is expected to expand JSR Group's business activities in the Chinese market relating to semiconductor materials. It is tentatively scheduled to begin operations in . In January 2021 , Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and DuPont de Nemours, Inc. established a semiconductor materials laboratory in Hsinchu, Taiwan . DuPont is expected to conduct semiconductor material research, development, and enhancement in collaboration with ITRI, as well as accelerate pilot testing and commercial viability to support DuPont's customers as they seek the next generation of semiconductors in Taiwan .

, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and DuPont de Nemours, Inc. established a semiconductor materials laboratory in Hsinchu, . DuPont is expected to conduct semiconductor material research, development, and enhancement in collaboration with ITRI, as well as accelerate pilot testing and commercial viability to support DuPont's customers as they seek the next generation of semiconductors in . In October 2020 , Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. invested around $278 million (30 billion) in photoresist manufacturing facilities in Japan and Taiwan . Shin-Etsu is expected to continue making facility investments to meet the rising demand for photoresists, which are critical in cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing, as well as technological advancements. Demand - Drivers and Limitations



The following are the demand drivers for the next-generation lithography materials market: Rising Proliferation of Feature Phones, and Tablets

Increasing R&D Activities on Next-Generation Lithography Materials The market is expected to face some limitations due to the following challenges: High Cost of Raw Materials

Limited Number of Players Offering Next-Generation Lithography Machinery How can this report add value to an organization? Product/Innovation Strategy: The product segment helps the reader understand the technology used in manufacturing next-generation lithography materials, including photoresist and ancillary material. Moreover, the study provides the reader with a detailed understanding of the next-generation lithography materials market by different application sectors (automotive, consumer electronics, IT & telecommunications, and others). Growth/Marketing Strategy: The global next-generation lithography materials market has seen development by key players operating in the market, such as product launches, business expansion, partnership, collaboration, acquisition, and joint venture. The favored strategy for the companies has been expansion and collaboration to strengthen their position in the next-generation lithography materials market. For instance, in February 2021, JSR Corporation joined Inpria Corporation's Series C funding round to support the company's initiatives for commercializing EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) photoresists. Competitive Strategy: Key players in the global next-generation lithography materials market analyzed and profiled in the study involve next-generation lithography materials manufacturers and the overall ecosystem. Moreover, a detailed competitive benchmarking of the players operating in the global next-generation lithography materials market has been done to help the reader understand how players stack against each other, presenting a clear market landscape. Additionally, comprehensive competitive strategies such as partnerships, agreements, acquisitions, and collaborations will aid the reader in understanding the untapped revenue pockets in the market. Key Market Players and Competition Synopsis The companies that are profiled have been selected based on inputs gathered from primary experts and analyzing company coverage, product portfolio, and market penetration. Some of the prominent names established in this market are: Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd (TOK)

JSR Corporation

DuPont de Nemours, Inc.

Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd

Fujifilm Corporation.

Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.

Allresist GmbH

micro resist technology GmbH

Merck KGaA

Dongjin Semichem Co. Ltd.

Brewer Science, Inc.

SACHEM, INC.

Kayaku Advanced Materials, Inc.

Avantor Performance Materials Inc.

Irresistible Materials Ltd

Weifang Startech Microelectronic Materials Co., Ltd.

KemLab Inc.

Jiangsu Nanda Photoelectric Materials Co., Ltd

Shenzhen Didao Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/td386a Media Contact: Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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[January 10, 2023]

battleface launches Robin Assist, Travel Insurance as a Service

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Travel insurance provider battleface today announced the launch of Robin Assist, a new tech-driven platform as a service. Built for insurance carriers, brokers, managing general agents (MGAs) and self-insured enterprise partners, the global API-driven insurtech platform supports travel insurance via responsive 24/7 customer service, emergency medical assistance services and claims.

CEO Sasha Gainullin says, "battleface was born out of emergency travel and medical assistance, where we saw the need for tech-driven products to deliver relevant services for today's travelers. With the launch of Robin Assist, our team will continue to deliver the same level of excellent service that our customers currently experience, supporting travel insurance brands globally."

battleface's founding team comes from an extensive travel insurance background in underwriting, claims, customer service, compliance as well as travel and emergenc medical assistance services. Since its inception, battleface has leveraged its tech platform to support its global distribution in the UK, EU, USA, Canada, and Australia via flexible, customizable tech and a network of medical, travel and security providers.







Some of the Robin Assist's platform services include:

Multi-lingual 24/7 customer support

Claims handling

Emergency medical evacuation and travel assistance

Medical case management

Global medical and cost containment networks

Immediate payments in over 140 currencies

Integrated API-driven tech behind partner brands for policy and claims management

Following the initial launch, battleface plans to make its API-driven insurtech platform publicly available for easy product creation, rate management, policy fulfillment, country and state specific compliance, worldwide distribution and out-of-the-box affiliation and partnership management.

battleface's services are consistently rated as "Excellent" on Trustpilot, a leading online reviews platform. For more information on battleface's platform as a service please visit: https://robinassist.com/.

About battleface

battleface, Inc. is a full-stack global company enabling customers and partners to easily select travel insurance products and services that perfectly fit their needs. Access to custom built embedded products, relevant benefits and responsive customer service from any device, any time, any place  welcome to a better insurance experience. Welcome to battleface!

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SOURCE battleface
[January 10, 2023] Deutsche Welle Uses TeamViewer To Provide Secure IT Support for Its Global Network of Correspondents

TAMPA BAY, Fla., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcaster, announces the use of TeamViewer to support its IT for its global network of correspondents. With TeamViewer's Enterprise Connectivity Suite Tensor deployed, the Deutsche Welle's IT team, located in Bonn and Berlin, can securely connect remotely to the laptops and smartphones of their employees. Operating in around 140 countries around the world, when support requests are made the IT team can resolve problems quickly and easily. When opting for TeamViewer, the extensive security features of the Tensor solution played a particularly important role in Deutsche Welle's decision. These include single sign-on, scalable and flexible rights management via conditional access, and end-to-end encryption. In addition, the solution can be seamlessly embedded into Deutsche Welle's existing IT landscape with integrations into services such as Microsoft Intune and Teams. Thomas Rieger, IT Requirements Management and Coordination at Deutsche Welle: "Laptops and smartphones are important work tools for our journalists that have to function reliably, especially in breaking news situations. However, should any problems occur, our IT team can now react quickly using TeamViewer Tensor and thus contribute to smooth reporting. Sice our correspondents often process sensitive information, the stable and secure connection via TeamViewer is also particularly important to us. "



Jan Junker, Executive Vice President Solution Sales & Delivery at TeamViewer: "We have tailored TeamViewer Tensor specifically to the requirements of large companies. The solution can be scaled as required and makes it possible to access devices of all kinds quickly, easily and securely from anywhere and at any time in order to access them and provide assistance. In particular, globally positioned companies and organizations such as Deutsche Welle are using it to make their IT support significantly faster and more efficient." About TeamViewer

TeamViewer is a leading global technology company that provides a connectivity platform to remotely access, control, manage, monitor, and repair devices of any kind  from laptops and mobile phones to industrial machines and robots. Although TeamViewer is free of charge for private use, it has around 620,000 subscribers and enables companies of all sizes and from all industries to digitalize their business-critical processes through seamless connectivity. Against the backdrop of global megatrends like device proliferation, automation and new work, TeamViewer proactively shapes digital transformation and continuously innovates in the fields of Augmented Reality, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence. Since the company's foundation in 2005, TeamViewer's software has been installed on more than 2.5 billion devices around the world. The company is headquartered in Goppingen, Germany, and employs around 1,400 people globally. In 2021, TeamViewer achieved billings of EUR 548 million. TeamViewer AG (TMV) is listed at Frankfurt Stock Exchange and belongs to the MDAX. Further information can be found at www.teamviewer.com. Press contact

Michael Kornspan

Phone: 727-910-7340

E-mail: [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/deutsche-welle-uses-teamviewer-to-provide-secure-it-support-for-its-global-network-of-correspondents-301717675.html SOURCE TeamViewer

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[January 10, 2023] Prince William County Commits Million Dollar Fund for IGNITE Startup Grant

The IGNITE Startup Grant applications open today with a $1 million dollar fund offered to high-growth companies looking to expand or locate in Prince William County. The award-winning IGNITE entrepreneurial program is leveraging ARPA funds to provide greater opportunities for funding, education, and networking during pivotal years for scaling startups and high-growth businesses. "Prince William County has the makers of Northern Virginia. We have entrepreneurs who invent, tinker, fabricate, and manufacture in a low-cost ecosystem," said Christina Winn, executive director at PWCDED. "This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs and innovators who have a compelling product or idea that can be tested and executed in the market. If you've got a great idea, we want you to apply." Offered at the $25K, $50K, and $100K levels depending on the applicant's qualifications, grant applications are rolling throughout 2023 and will close December 1, or when funds are depleted. "High-growth companies can drive innovation and moreover, increase new jobs and employment i our community," said Ann B. Wheeler, Chair, Prince William Board of County Supervisors. "The pilot program was extremely successful with more than 100 applications. An evaluation of the initial winning companies found they will add an estimated 223 jobs and an estimated $12.8 million in capital investment in Prince William County."



Created and piloted with CARES Act funds from December 2020 to March 2022, the initial IGNITE grant recipients represent cutting-edge ideas and products in healthcare, biosciences, virtual reality technology, and cybersecurity. Previous winners include (in alpha order):

Bacchus Therapeutics

BCMstrategy

Cyret Technologies

Impruvon Health

ISOThrive

Jeeva Informatics

SylLab Systems

TRAXyL

Virongy Biosciences

Viva Vita

ZeoVation Criteria for the new grant applications include ensuring applicants are outside the NOVA EDA (Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax City, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fauquier, Loudoun, Manassas, and Manassas Park). Start your grant application today at pwcded.org/ignite. About the Prince William County Department of Economic Development The Prince William County Department of Economic Development offers services to support and promote existing business expansion and attract new businesses to Prince William County. For more information, the Department of Economic Development can be reached via email at [email protected], via phone at 703-792-5500, or via fax at 703-792-5502. Learn more about the Department at pwcded.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005725/en/

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[January 10, 2023] OxiWear Signs Letter of Intent with the Inspired Performance Institute

Device to provide insights for participants overcoming trauma ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OxiWear signed a letter of intent with the Inspired Performance Institute based in Lake Nona, Florida. OxiWear will work with the Inspired Performance Institute to develop a custom application to use along with the OxiWear device to help individuals manage and pro-actively prevent panic attack episodes. Since 2015, the Inspired Performance Institute has worked to create innovative strategies to help people heal from the limiting effects of trauma so they can feel and perform at their best. Its revolutionary approach is referred to as TIPP (The Inspired Performance Program). TIPP is a cutting-edge method inspired by and developed through the newest developments in neuroscience designed to clear away the effects of disturbing or traumatic events, repurpose old patterns, and set the individual's mind up for peak performance. TIPP supports athletes, high performance executives, and those struggling to cope with addiction, depression, and anxiety. "Our team at the Inspired Performance Institute found a natural partnership in OxiWear because of our shared commitment to allow peole to live their most stable and successful lives," said Dr. Don Wood, founder and CEO of the Inspired Performance Institute. "When someone experiences a traumatic event, it is stored in a high beta brain wave state and contributes to anxiety and stress. Using OxiWear along with our forthcoming custom application will allow clients to have real time data about their current physical state, which is critical for the process of rebooting the mind and achieving peak performance."



OxiWear is an ear-wearable pulse oximeter for continuous oxygen monitoring and low oxygen alerting. The ear is an unobtrusive yet accurate way to monitor saturated oxygen levels, and OxiWear will serve as an enhancing companion piece for TIPP participants, providing real-time oxygen tracking and low oxygen alerting to support training and performance efforts. "OxiWear partners with cutting-edge organizations working to improve lives of individuals. The Inspired Performance Institute exemplifies this in their mission," stated Shavini Fernando, Founder and CEO, OxiWear. "We have been impressed with the variety of applications for our product, from health, wellness, and fitness and we look forward to seeing the results with TIPP."

About The Inspired Performance Institute The Inspired Performance Institute is dedicated to helping people who have unresolved trauma that is contributing to a chronically dysregulated and imbalanced nervous system. We do this by harnessing a cutting-edge scientific approach to clear the mind of negative emotions. Our programs are non-invasive, simple, and appropriate for a wide spectrum of traumatic experiences from addiction to PTSD to depression and panic attacks. About OxiWear OxiWear is committed to reducing patient vulnerability to hypoxic injury through wearable, continuous oxygen monitoring and low-oxygen alerting. Our mission is to increase safety and peace of mind for those prone to silent hypoxia, to reduce healthcare costs, and to save lives. OxiWear was developed in 2019 by Shavini Fernando, a VR/video game and web designer who suffers from pulmonary hypertension as a result of Eisenmenger Syndrome. For more information, visit: https://www.oxiwear.fitness/ . View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oxiwear-signs-letter-of-intent-with-the-inspired-performance-institute-301717966.html SOURCE OxiWear

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[January 10, 2023] SOFAR Reveals New Brand Identity and Website Reflecting Its Focus on a Net-zero Future

FRANKFURT, Germany, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ -- SOFAR, the global leading supplier of PV and energy storage solutions reveals a new brand campaign in Shenzhen, China and Frankfurt, Germany, displaying the company's commitment to innovation and its role in powering a net-zero future. In line with two offline venues, SOFAR also launches a live streaming to reach global audience, which has been rebroadcast by 15 media platforms. Through the combination of physical event and live streaming, SOFAR emphasizes its commitment to posing a positive impact on building a more sustainable and low-carbon planet, making renewables accessible and available for all. A new logo, with new implications Simplified from 'SOFARSOLAR' to 'SOFAR', the company endows its new brand name with new implications. Each letter is taken from a relevant word, 'S' for sustainable, 'O' for net-zero, 'F' for future-proof, 'A' for affordable and 'R' for reliable, which emphasizes its ambition on reshaping the future energy structure with advanced digital energy solutions. A new VI, a new look The new wordmark has been modernized in both the color and the font. Adopting aurora green that stands for clean energy and cerulean blue that represents digitalization, the new brand image demonstrates a deep integration of these two elements. A futuristic-look website, for better experience SOFAR has upgraded its website with a fuuristic look which is optimized to offer visitors smooth, user-friendly and more interactive experience. Employing horizontal switch for the homepage, the new website (https://www.sofarsolar.com/) is able to provide users with a more creative interface. Apart from presenting a comprehensive ecosystem of future digital energy, the new website makes it possible for visitors to see the dynamic product deconstruction and have a more vivid understanding of SOFAR system solutions.



Meet Xiaohang, SOFAR's new avatar To everyone's surprise, SOFAR also unveils its new brand avatar - Xiaohang. Endowed with the characteristics of being lively, enterprising, honest and knowledgeable, this new avatar embodies the spirit of integrity, exploration and consideration of SOFAR, which helps build a brand image with affinity.

Stepping into the 10th anniversary of its rapid expansion, SOFAR leads the PV & Storage technology revolution as one of global TOP5 Hybrid Inverter Suppliers. In 2022, SOFAR launched the pioneering all-in-one residential solar + storage system SOFAR PowerAll, bolstering its leading position in PV and energy storage sector. By the end of 2021, SOFAR shipped over 1 million inverters to more than 100 countries worldwide, empowering global customers on the journey towards a more sustainable and low-carbon lifestyle. "Upholding the mission of technology drives green energy, we are devoted to making contributions to green transition as the leading provider of digital energy solutions," said Guy Rong, Senior Vice President of SOFAR. "In the future, we will keep focusing on renewable energy technologies, making investment in R&D and adhering to innovation-driven growth, thus bringing forth our sustainable, net-zero, future-proof, affordable and reliable solutions for more communities." Rong concluded. About SOFAR SOFAR is a global leading supplier of solar PV and energy storage solutions and committed to be the leader of digital energy solutions. SOFAR has always insisted on independent innovation, established a global R&D network with three R&D centers. As the world's fastest-growing solar energy brand, SOFAR compound annual growth rate reaches 86% and its annual production capacity reaches 10GW for PV & storage inverters and 1GWh for batteries. By the end of 2021, SOFAR had shipped over 1 million inverters to more than 100 countries, becoming the TOP5 Global Hybrid Inverter Suppliers. Learn more about SOFAR by visiting: https://www.sofarsolar.com/. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sofar-reveals-new-brand-identity-and-website-reflecting-its-focus-on-a-net-zero-future-301718029.html SOURCE SOFAR

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[January 10, 2023] Icertis Places First in Washington's 100 Best Companies to Work For

Market Leader's Commitment to People-First, Values-Centric Culture Secures the Number One Spot For Large Companies by Seattle Business Magazine BELLEVUE, Wash., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Icertis, the contract intelligence company that pushes the boundaries of what's possible with contract lifecycle management (CLM), today announced that it has been named a Top 100 Company to Work For by Seattle Business Magazine for the sixth consecutive year. Icertis ranked #1 among large companies on the prestigious 2022 list. Since its founding, the values-driven approach at Icertis has played a critical role in supporting the company's record growth, AI-enabled solutions, and success as a pioneer of contract intelligence. The company's culture is rooted in its FORTE values  Fairness, Openness, Respect, Teamwork, and Execution  which permeate every level of the organization. "Our growth is the outcome of the passion and commitment Icertians put into their work," said Pranali Save, Chief Human Resources Officer, Icertis. "As Icertis continues to grow and deliver innovative solutions to customers, we remain dedicated to cultivating a world-class workplace by upholding our FORTE culture and focusing on the principles that form the foundation of our business to help us build trust, strengthen bonds, and create a better world." The annual 100 Best Companies to Work For initiative identifies, recognizes, and honors the best employers in Washington. Now in its 33rd year, Seattle Buiness Magazine and its research partner, the Best Companies Group, identify 100 companies in several categories that benefit the area's economy, workforce, and fellow businesses. In addition to recognizing the state's best employers, Seattle Business Magazine uses the list to provide organizations with valuable, anonymous employee feedback.



Qualifying companies across Washington entered the two-part survey process to determine "Washington's 100 Best Companies to Work For," actively engaging in: Evaluations focused on each nominated Company's workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems, and demographics.

An employee survey to measure the employee experience, with the combined scores determining the top companies and the final rankings. Best Companies Group manages Washington's overall registration and survey process, analyzing the data and determining the final rankings. Icertis celebrates six consecutive years of ranking in the 100 Best Companies to Work for List. The company also received a Gold medal in the 2022 Stevie Awards for Great Employers for achieving an inclusive, collaborative workplace design inspired by FORTE values, as well as recognition by Newsweek in America's Greatest Workplaces for Diversity for 2023.

Icertis empowers companies to realize the full intent and higher purpose of every contract, so they can build trust, strengthen bonds, and create a better world. Likewise, through commitments to its employees and community, the company is helping to create a more just, equitable, and sustainable society. For more information about Icertis, visit www.icertis.com and to see the latest career opportunities, visit www.icertis.com/company/careers. About Icertis With unmatched technology and category-defining innovation, Icertis pushes the boundaries of what's possible with contract lifecycle management (CLM). The AI-powered, analyst-validated Icertis Contract Intelligence (ICI) platform turns contracts from static documents into strategic advantage by structuring and connecting the critical contract information that defines how an organization runs. Today, the world's most iconic brands and disruptive innovators trust Icertis to govern the rights and commitments in their 10 million+ contracts worth more than $1 trillion, in 40+ languages and 93+ countries. Media Contact: Michelle Rodriguez

Senior Manager, Corporate Communications

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/icertis-places-first-in-washingtons-100-best-companies-to-work-for-301717357.html SOURCE Icertis

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[January 10, 2023] Governments of Canada and Ontario invest in Huron Central Railway in Northern Ontario

SAULT STE. MARIE, ON, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ - A well-functioning supply chain is critical for Ontario and Canada's economy. The Governments of Canada and Ontario are committed to ensuring our supply chains are efficient and reliable to support economic growth, as well as resilient and adaptable to the impacts of climate change. Today, the federal Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, and federal Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour, Terry Sheehan, announced an investment of up to $10.5 million under the National Trade Corridors Fund to the Huron Central Railway Inc. for an infrastructure investment in Northern Ontario. The Member of Provincial Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie, Ross Romano, announced additional funding of up to $10.5 million from the Government of Ontario. Combined with contributions from Huron Central Railway Inc., the total investment in the project is $31.5 million. The funding will support the rehabilitation of key rail infrastructure to improve the usable life of the track and support Huron Central Railway Inc. in sustaining operations as a viable freight service between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury. Improving railway infrastructure will increase the fluidity and reliability of rail service for Northern Ontario while reducing the travel time of railcar traffic. This investment will have important benefits for the region, such as increasing carload volumes in commodity sectors, relieving ongoing supply chain congestion, and improving the reliability of rail service in Northern Ontario. The Governments of Canada and Ontario are investing to help bolster economic capacity and the opportunities for our businesses to expand into global markets. This represents a long-term commitment to work with stakeholders and partners on strategic infrastructure projects to address transportation bottlenecks, vulnerabilities, and congestion along important trade corridors. Quotes "Improvements to the Huron Central Railway infrastructure between Sault Ste. Marieand Sudbury is essential to Northern Ontario. The collaboration developed between the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario and Huron Central Railway Inc. to upgrade the railway is a positive example of how we can come together to build fluid and reliable internal trade corridors."



The Honourable Omar Alghabra

Minister of Transport "Today's announcement is going to directly and indirectly support many great middle-class jobs in Sault Ste. Marie and throughout Northern Ontario. Resilient and efficient supply chains are essential to the daily lives of Canadians. We will continue to implement sustainable solutions that will support our skilled workforce, strengthen our supply chains and improve the seamless movement of commodities in our region."

Terry Sheehan

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour "The Ontario government recognizes the value of the Sault. Ste. Marie to Sudbury rail corridor to Northern Ontario and the regional economy. We will continue to work with Huron Central Railway and all our partners to ensure the continued vitality of this crucial rail system. Today's investment demonstrates how, together, we are building a competitive, strong and vibrant Northern Ontario." The Honourable Greg Rickford

Ontario Minister of Northern Development "The rail corridor between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury is a vital supply chain link for many local businesses. I am glad to see the work of many has paid off, protecting the jobs at Huron Central Railway and other local business that depend on this important piece of infrastructure in Northern Ontario." Ross Romano

Member of Provincial Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie "Genesee & Wyoming is proud of the critical role that the Huron Central Railway (HCRY) plays in supporting the Northern Ontario economy. These essential infrastructure investments from the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario will ensure that HCRY can continue to serve our communities, securing our customers' access to vital supply chains." Mr. Rick McLellan

President, Genesee & Wyoming Canada Quick Facts An efficient and reliable transportation network is key to Canada's economic growth. The Government of Canada , through the National Trade Corridors Fund, is making investments that will support the flow of goods across Canada's supply chains.

economic growth. The Government of , through the National Trade Corridors Fund, is making investments that will support the flow of goods across supply chains. The National Trade Corridors Fund is a competitive, merit-based program designed to help infrastructure owners and users invest in the transportation assets that support economic activity in Canada . A total of $4.7 billion over 11 years (2017-2028) has been allocated to the program.

. A total of over 11 years (2017-2028) has been allocated to the program. Through the National Trade Corridors Fund, Transport Canada is supporting improvements to Canada's roads, rail, air, and marine shipping routes to foster domestic and international trade.

roads, rail, air, and marine shipping routes to foster domestic and international trade. The National Trade Corridors Fund's Increasing the Fluidity of Canada's Supply Chains call for proposals supports fluid and reliable trade flows between Canada and global markets, as well as to build internal trade corridors. Related Product National Trade Corridors Fund Backgrounder This news release may be made available in alternative formats for persons living with visual disabilities. SOURCE Transport Canada

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The United Way of St. Francois County is partnering with Dave Mungenast Pre-Owned Center of Bonne Terre to host a two-month long coat drive.

According to United Way Director Cassie Thomas, this is the third drive the United Way has held with the dealership. The two have partnered in the past on a toy drive and a food drive. They plan to have six drives, each two months long, during the year of 2023.

Only new or slightly-used coats will be accepted at the dealership, where there is an area dedicated for the collection.

Weve just kind of seen that theres a need that needs to be filled, said Thomas.

Thomas met with Rob Baker with East Missouri Action Agency, and the two met with Shan Herwig with Dave Mungenast and worked out details on partnering up to help people who need it.

Coat donations will be accepted until Feb. 28 at the Mungenast dealership located at 1001 Highway K in Bonne Terre. On Feb. 28, Thomas will pick up all the coats at the dealership so they can be distributed shortly afterward. If someone needs a coat before Feb. 28, they can call the United Way at 573-760-8929 and ask for Thomas.

United Way of St. Francois Countys organizational roots go back to 1988 when the Salvation Army approached the Farmington community looking for a group to run the yearly holiday kettle campaign. In 1994, Farmington United Fund Inc. (FUFI) was formed, and in 1996 the United Way of Farmington was founded, leading to the organization expanding in 1999 to cover the county and changing the name of the organization to United Way of St. Francois County.

The local branch of United Way offers grants to organizations within St. Francois County, and currently a large percentage of the grant funding is given to organizations providing food, utility and housing assistance. Funding is also given to food pantries and all four of the countys senior centers.
[January 10, 2023] Inszone Insurance Services Expands California Presence with Vaught, Wright & Bond Insurance Acquisition

Inszone Insurance Services: a rapidly growing, national provider of benefits, personal and commercial lines insurance, announced today the acquisition of Vaught, Wright & Bond Insurance. Vaught, Wright & Bond Insurance was originally founded in 1933 by Mance Vaught. Formed and located in Placerville, CA, they offered bonds in addition to personal and business insurance. Over the years, Mance Vaught was joined by Donald Wright, Paul Bond, and Bill Crow and was later incorporated in 1972, keeping their name as Vaught, Wright & Bond, Inc. In 1982, Leonard Stroud joined the team as a producer and added life and health insurance to the agency's offerings. In October 1990, he acquired all of the corporate stock and was appointed as the sole Director. Bruce Dezzani started as a Commercial Lines and Personal Lines Producer in September 2000 after spending over a decade in business management. He then rose to the position of General Manager and bought 50% of the company's shares in 2005. In August 2015, he became the only stakeholder. Over the past two decades, the ompany has rapidly expanded outside of El Dorado County while remaining a generalist and writing mostly local risks. The agency continues to be deeply committed to the local community and its concerns despite the geographic expansion.



As part of the acquisition, Inszone Insurance will retain Vaught, Wright & Bond Insurance employees, as well as the current location in Placerville, CA. "Vaught, Wright & Bond Insurance provided more than just insurance, they offered a committed resource with the customer's best interests in mind," said Chris Walters, CEO of Inszone Insurance Services. "The team at Vaught, Wright & Bond Insurance has done a great job in establishing connections and expanding locally, and we are looking to continue their exemplary work under the Inszone Insurance brand."

About Inszone: Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Sacramento, California, Inszone is a full-service insurance brokerage firm which provides a broad array of property & casualty insurance, along with employee benefits solutions. With a strong, experienced management team, Inszone continues to grow organically, as well as through acquisitions. With 36 locations across California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Missouri, Texas and Illinois, the company is looking to further expand throughout the United States. For more information about Inszone, please visit www.inszoneinsurance.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005026/en/

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[January 10, 2023] zant.'s Perfect Startup Storm: Women Investing in Women

Today, zant., the revolutionary mental health app focused on delivering a low-cost support platform for more than 25 categories, is thrilled to announce Jennifer Abele as an investor. Did you know that only 14% of investment professionals in venture capital (VC) in the U.S. are women? (According to a study by Deloitte). What may be even more startling is to know that, the Harvard Business Review found that out of billions of dollars that funded startups across the nation, only 2.3% of those startups were women founded and led. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005896/en/ Jennifer Abele, zant. Investor (Photo: Business Wire) Although investing in women-led startups is scarce, a study conducted by the Women and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School found that "VC firms with 10% more female investing partner hires make more successful investments at the portfolio company level, have 1.5% higher fund returns, and see 9.7% more profitable exits," even though women are only about 11% of investing partners at VC firms. While the gap in funding for women-led companies leads to an even larger problem for women who are seeking the funds necessary to grow their ideas into larger operations, a new digital mental health company, zant., has announced its first woman investor, Jennifer Abele. zant.'s mission is to create a simpler approach to support with an effortless search and favorite feature to find providers with same-day or same-week availability. The app also offers complimentary first sessions with paid sessions at $25 or less for students and direct communication between highly-skilled providers and experts for those who need their sevices most. The company believes that "one size does not fit all" when it comes to finding the right support and that finding support should be a simple, stress-free, and hopeful experience.



The platform's first woman investor, Jennifer Abele, is an accomplished businesswoman, currently serving as the Chief Partnership Officer for The University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee and an active angel investor. Abele's background is strategic to zant., not only as a private investor with a focus on women-led companies, but also in government and higher ed leadership, with strengths in finance, negotiation, and government relations. Abele is enthusiastic about the opportunity to help people who might not otherwise have access to quality mental health care. "Investing in zant. was one of the easier investment decisions I've made," said Abele. "The company has the magic combination of a highly capable and determined founder with a compelling story, a unique business model, a fantastic team, and a highly marketable brand."

"The most intriguing data point for me was from a Boston Consulting Group study which concluded that women as founders bring in twice as much revenue per dollar invested as their male counterparts," she said. "Why wouldn't I put my money where the data shows a better return?" Additionally, the problem zant. is trying to solve hits close to home for Abele where according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness of Wisconsin, approximately 2.2 million people (in Wisconsin) live in a community that does not have enough mental health professionals, and "In February 2021, 36.4% of adults in Wisconsin reported symptoms of anxiety or depression with 18.6% being unable to get needed counseling." Abele continued her support towards creating accessibility of mental health services by saying, "with zant., I could see the potential for a network effect where the total market for mental health support could actually expand the potential for a network effect where the digital marketplace being created might inspire greater demand for mental health services overall." "During the summer of 2022, we experienced a 'drought' of investment due to economic uncertainty. We pitched 147 investors until we met Jennifer," said Maggie Rose Macar, CEO and Founder of zant. "It became quickly evident that Jennifer was a woman with a mission to leave this world a better place, wherever possible. With her incredible background of expertise and mission of supporting other women, our team couldn't be more confident in our future and excited to have her support along the way." Women are certainly working to level the playing field in the startup realm. As a matter of fact, "Women started 49% of new businesses in the US in 2021, up from 28% in 2019," according to the World Economic Forum. Just last year, 2021 was another record-breaking year for investments, overall, and "Massive, late-stage deals drove total fundraising in the U.S. to $330 billion in 2021 -- nearly doubling the industry's previous record in 2020," according to Bloomberg. Nevertheless, in a study published by PitchBook, companies established exclusively by women received 2.4% of the entire funds invested in venture-backed startups in the United States for 2021. Women leaders are clearly demonstrating their strengths with high returns and profitability, but are still being disadvantaged in capital raising. With women like Jennifer Abele, who is dedicating her investments towards women founders, the future of funding in women-led companies grows greater. In 2023, Jennifer is doubling down on her commitment to supporting women and undercapitalized founders through her new venture capital firm, VC 414 zant. launched on the iOS App Store on September 1st, 2022 for users and professionals to sign up. Users can search through experts from their selected tags based on their specific needs and chat, schedule, and pay their providers in one place. For more information on how to join zant.'s mission as an investor, please contact [email protected], and for press inquiries, contact [email protected]. zant. is a mobile app offering over 25 categories of support at low costs with discounted student and standard rates. We envision a world where mental health services are accessible, affordable, and still remain high-quality. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005896/en/

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[January 10, 2023] Connecticut-based Carter Morse & Goodrich Advises Williams Distributing Co. on its Sale to Daikin Industries

Carter Morse & Goodrich ("CMG") is pleased to announce it served as the exclusive financial advisor to Williams Distributing Co. ("Williams") on its sale to Daikin Comfort Technologies North America, Inc. ("Daikin"), a subsidiary of Daikin Industries, Ltd. (DIL), the world's largest manufacturer of HVAC systems. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Williams is the leading full-service distributor of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) products and residential building products serving the kitchen and bath, plumbing, garage door and hearth markets in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Williams is a second and third generation family-owned business and operates from 32 locations, including 27 dedicated to HVAC, across Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, with 575 employees. Daikin Industries, Ltd., headquartered in Osaka, Japan, is a Fortune 1,000 company with more than 84,000 employees worldwide and is the world's #1 indoor comfort solutions provider company. Daikin Comfort Technologies North America provides Daikin, Goodman, Amana (Amana is a registered trademark of Maytag Corporation or its related companies and is used under license. All rights reserved) and Quietflex brands products throughout North America. "I'm so appreciative of the Carter Morse  Goodrich team for their preparation, guidance and leadership throughout the M&A process ultimately culminating in a successful closing," remarked Jim Williams, the majority owner of Williams.



Ramsey Goodrich, Managing Partner of CMG, commented, "We're honored that Jim and the Williams family entrusted our firm with their 'once-in-a-lifetime' transaction. What initially began as a review of strategic options for the Company developed into a successful sale process and a realization of the Williams family's life work. We are excited for the Williams family as they explore new endeavors, and for the management team at Williams Distributing with its new partnership with a global leader in Daikin." Honigman LLP served as Williams' primary legal advisor. Transaction advisory services were provided by BDO. The transaction was managed by Carter Morse & Goodrich's FINRA registered broker-dealer affiliate, Carter Capital Corporation.

About Carter Morse & Goodrich Located in Southport, Connecticut, Carter Morse & Goodrich is a boutique M&A advisory firm that specializes in representing founder-led and family-held businesses valued between $20 million and $250 million. While CMG provides a full range of investment banking services, our primary focus is representing owners who are pursuing their once-in-a-lifetime M&A transactions. CMG specializes in advising leading companies in niche markets to plan, prepare, execute, and close successful transactions that maximize shareholder value. CMG fully understands and appreciates the unique dynamics of closely-held businesses and the importance of owner legacies. For 35 years, the combination of our hands-on approach, senior banker attention, strategic guidance, seamless transaction execution and extensive network of domestic and international resources has enabled us to become a trusted advisor to hundreds of business owners. For more information, visit www.cartermorse.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005739/en/

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[January 10, 2023] MetLife Declares First Quarter 2023 Common Stock Dividend

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) today announced that its board of directors has declared a first quarter 2023 common stock dividend of $0.50 per share. The dividend will be payable on March 14, 2023, to shareholders of record as of Feb. 7, 2023. About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("MetLife"), is one of the world's leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help individual and institutional customers build a more confident future. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 markets globally and holds leading posiions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.



Forward-Looking Statements

The forward-looking statements in this news release, using words such as "will," are based on assumptions and expectations that involve risks and uncertainties, including the "Risk Factors" MetLife, Inc. describes in its U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. MetLife's future results could differ, and it does not undertake any obligation to publicly correct or update any of these statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005772/en/

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Given their subscriber, advertiser troubles . . . We're fine hanging out on our humble, little blog given what are likely some very stringent writing limits at the newspaper . . . They probably don't love finely-aged Brit hottie models as much as we do.

But I digress . . .



Local newsman expert JimmyC offers his take that's generous but filled with a great deal of insight:



Back in 2018, The Star may have had one of the strongest local Editorial Boards in America, but its a long way from that now.



The Star is also advertising for an additional opinion writer, which, after those two jobs have been filled, will leave the paper with four editorial board members.

Don't let us discourage any potential job candidates . . . I'm sure they'd welcome our blog community with open arms. Feel free to use TKC as a reference . . .



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

The Star's depleted opinion page As recently as four or five years ago, The Kansas City Star had an either seven- or eight-member editorial board, headed by then-Publisher Tony Berg. The talented journalists on the board included Pulitzer-Prize winner Colleen McCain Nelson, editorial page editor; Melinda Henneberger; Mary Sanchez; and Dave Helling.

Developing . . .
Here's our honest question for whoever cares . . .

Angry Kansas GOP loyalists keep arguing that even more vitriolic campaigning against top Democratic Party leaders might turn the tide . . . But on the local level that strategy never seems to work. Is the right-wing doomed to be relegated to rural representation?!?!



Here's the Guv's side of the story . . .



(Guv) Kelly, a Democrat, took the oath of office and began her second term on the south steps of the Kansas Capitol. In her second inaugural address, she called on political leaders to follow the example of everyday Kansans, who she says look out for each other in times of trouble.



Years from now, if were remembered for one thing, let it be this: at a time when national politics was defined by hostility and division, here in Kansas, we chose civility and unity, Kelly said. And the people we serve and the state we love are better off for it.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Police have made two arrests and identified the victim after a fatal shoot-out Sunday in Belmont left one dead.

Osvaldo Lopez-Hernandez of Texas was killed Sunday afternoon in front of Fitzgeralds Tires, according to a statement from the Charlottesville Police Department. Officials did not provide Lopez-Hernandezs age or hometown.

Jose Omar Rivas Sorto of Maryland has been charged with felony shooting from a vehicle and another man, identified solely as John Doe, was charged with felony abduction for financial benefit, felony use of a firearm and misdemeanor brandishing, according to police. Neither their ages nor their hometowns were disclosed.

The John Doe, described as an associate of Lopez-Hernandez, was struck by gunfire during the shootout Sunday but survived his injuries, according to police.

His identity is to remain unknown for now, police spokesman Kyle Ervin said, to maintain the investigation integrity.

Ervin suggested more details would be available Tuesday.

Belmont residents who live near where the shooting took place told The Daily Progress on Sunday they had heard between eight and 10 gunshots Sunday afternoon. A roll of cash and a gun were found by Lopez-Hernandezs body at the scene of the crime. Three vehicles parked at the scene but kept behind police tape carried Texas, Maryland and New Jersey license plates.

It has been a bloodier than usual fall and winter for the Charlottesville area. There have been eight fatal shootings and 15 gunfire injuries reported in Charlottesville and Albemarle County since September.
The Prime Minister says legislation will soon be brought to Parliament to allow for business
Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was sworn in as Arkansas governor Tuesday, becoming the first woman to hold the office in the state and portraying herself as part of a new generation of leaders. Sanders took the oath of office as the state's 47th governor in the state House chamber before a joint session of the Legislature, ascending to the post her father held for more than a decade. Sanders, who served nearly two years as White House press secretary, won the governor's election last year after focusing heavily on national issues and her time working for former President Donald Trump. But she's mostly avoided weighing in on the former president since the election and has said she wants to focus her attention on Arkansas. With her inauguration, Sanders becomes the most well-known former Trump official in elected office. Her father, Mike Huckabee, served as Arkansas' governor for more than a decade.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace have discussed ongoing efforts to support Ukraine, including through the provision of security assistance.

This is said in a statement published on the website of the U.S. Department of State following the call, Ukrinform reports.

They discussed ongoing efforts to support Ukraine, including through the provision of security assistance, the document says.

It is stressed that the U.S. Secretary of Defense commended the UK's continued assistance to Ukraine

The U.S. Department of State also noted that the leaders look forward to meeting in Europe in the coming weeks and continuing to deepen the U.S.-UK special relationship.

As reported by Ukrinform, the UK Government is considering supplying Ukraine with Challenger 2 main battle tanks, according to Sky News.

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The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has promised to provide more information about the destruction of a Russian vessel on January 9 after clarification.

According to Ukrinform, the General Staff said this in a Facebook post.

"Some more information about the enemy ship/boat will be provided after clarification," the General Staff said.

Ukraine's defense forces eliminated about 112,470 Russian invaders from February 24, 2022 to January 10, 2023, including 710 people in the past day alone.

Read also: Ukrainian air defense forces down Russian drone in Mykolaiv region

On January 9, Ukrainian defenders also destroyed four tanks, seven infantry fighting vehicles, four artillery systems, four operational and tactical UAVs, and a vessel.
Despite the increased pressure on Bakhmut, Russia is unlikely to envelop the settlement imminently.

The UK Ministry of Defense said this in its latest intelligence update, Ukrinform reports.

In the last four days, Russian and Wagner forces have made tactical advances into the small Donbas town of Soledar and are likely in control of most of the settlement, the report said.

Soledar is 10km north of Bakhmut, the capture of which likely continues to be Russia's main immediate operational objective. Russia's Soledar axis is highly likely an effort to envelop Bakhmut from the north, and to disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication, according to British intelligence.

Part of the fighting has focused on entrances to the 200km-long disused salt mine tunnels which run underneath the district. Both sides are likely concerned that they could be used for infiltration behind their lines.

"Despite the increased pressure on Bakhmut, Russia is unlikely to envelop the town imminently because Ukrainian forces maintain stable defensive lines in depth and control over supply routes," the UK Ministry of Defense said.
Four civilians were killed and 30 more wounded due to Russia's armed aggression in Ukraine on January 9.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko said this in a post on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.

He noted that there six people had been wounded in the Donetsk region, 15 wounded in the Mykolaiv region, two killed and seven wounded in the Kharkiv region, and two killed and two wounded in the Kherson region.

Tymoshenko said the figures had been provided by regional military administrations.

Two civilians were killed and ten others injured due to Russian aggression in Ukraine on January 8.
Last night Russian troops launched a missile attack on the Donetsk regions Kramatorsk, having caused damaged to several apartment blocks, educational institutions and infrastructure facilities. Two civilians were reported killed.

The relevant statement was made by Kramatorsk City Council on Telegram, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The aftermath of the night missile attack on Kramatorsk: two apartment blocks, two educational institutions, a city gas authoritys office, postal office, car wash and dormitory were damaged, the report states.

Two civilians were killed, as they were in a car at the time of the missile attack.

The enemy missile also hit a roadway, and municipal workers are now eliminating the effects.

A reminder that, on January 9, 2023, Russian troops launched 21 strikes on the Donetsk region. Eleven settlements came under enemy fire, and six civilians were reported injured.

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On January 9, 2023, in the Tavria direction, Ukraines Defense Forces hit a Russian boat near Bilorudyi Island in the Dnieper.

The relevant statement was made by the Strategic Communications Directorate of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU StratCom) on Telegram, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

In the Dnieper, the Tavria directions Defense Forces struck a Russian boat with artillery on January 9, 2023. The enemy vessel was hit near Bilorudyi Island, the report states.

The type of the boat is yet to be checked.

A reminder that, between February 24, 2022 and January 10, 2023, Russias total combat losses in Ukraine reached about 112,470 troops.

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Twenty-one countries are currently investigating Russia's war crimes in Ukraine.

"The vast majority of investigations are conducted in EU countries. Of the 21 countries where interviews are conducted, 14 are EU members. Another four countries, including Ukraine, are in Europe, but are not EU members, and three more countries are not part of Europe  the USA, Canada, and Great Britain," President of Eurojust, EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, Ladislav Hamran said during his visit to Lithuania in an interview with local mass media, Ukrinform reports with reference to LRT.

In his opinion, gathering evidence of the main crimes and analyzing them, followed by bringing charges, "will be a long journey that will last several years."

In Vilnius, the Eurojust President met with Prosecutor General of Lithuania Nida Grunskiene to discuss the investigation into Russia's war crimes in Ukraine by a joint investigation group.

The special joint investigation group, which was initially formed by the prosecutor's offices of Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland, started working on March 25, 2022. Currently, representatives of seven countries participate in its activities, joined by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for the first time in history.

On March 1, the Prosecutor Generals Office of Lithuania started a pre-trial investigation into aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine. According to the Office, almost 300 witnesses have been already questioned, more than 70 people have been recognized as victims. A group of 40 officers from the prosecutor's office, the police and the Financial Crime Investigation Service are working on the pre-trial investigations.

Lithuanian prosecutors, together with other officials and experts, went to Ukraine twice, where together with their Ukrainian colleagues, they took part in procedural actions, recording the statements by victims and witnesses, inspecting the crime scenes.

Photo: Z. Gedvilos/BNS

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Members of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine released unique video of the capture of enemy positions and the elimination of Russian invaders on the outskirts of Bakhmut.

The press service of the Special Operations Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published the corresponding video on Facebook.

Last night, under the fire cover provided by the Defense Forces, the operators of the Special Operations Forces assaulted a strong point held by Russian soldiers. The point was previously controlled by Ukrainian military personnel but was lost as a result of enemy attacks.

The professional and well-coordinated efforts allowed the Special Operations Forces unit to quickly destroy the enemy who was resisting. The Russian positions came under the control of the Special Operations Forces operators.

As a result of the mission, 13 Russian soldiers were eliminated and five more were captured.

As reported, the Armed Forces of Ukraine eliminated about 112,470 Russian soldiers from 24 February 2022 to 10 January 2023.

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Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has said that Canada will soon announce an additional package of security assistance to Ukraine.

According to Ukrinform, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said this in a post on Telegram.

According to the report, Reznikov had a phone call with Canada's Minister of National Defense, Anita Anand.

"Today I had a very productive conversation with my close friend, Canada's Minister of National Defense Anita Anand. We discussed very good future news from Canada, which will significantly strengthen our defense capabilities. We look forward to the official announcement," Reznikov said.

He thanked Canada for standing with Ukraine.

On January 10, Reznikov and Croatian Defense Minister Mario Banozic discussed the possibilities of additional support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The teenager who addressed the December 2022 meeting of the Albemarle Rotary Club needed no microphone. He stood ramrod straight and spoke in a clear voice with conciseness and conviction that belied his 16 years. Ethan Schroyer, a junior at Fork Union Military Academy, was on a humanitarian mission on behalf of the refugees from Afghanistan living in the Charlottesville-Albemarle County region.

These people needed adult education programs that taught English in order to succeed in the United States, where they fled after President Joe Biden ordered American troops home from Afghanistan after 20 years of military presence.

The refugees needed housing. They needed jobs. They needed services.

Some good things and some bad things happened in the mass evacuation of Afghans who had helped the U.S. fight the Taliban, Schroyer told the Rotarians. He was not there to talk about politics, he added. He was there to talk about people in need. He came to the Rotary Club to ask for help with donations of money, time and materials.

His modesty is genuine. It is also a vast understatement of the example the young man sets for adults, as well as peers. In late 2021, the mass evacuations struck my heart strings, Schroyer said.

Rather than leaving it to others to do something about that, Shroyer, whose home is in Delaware, began researching refugee groups. He wanted to connect with Afghans in the area where he goes to school. He did so as part of Interact, a Rotary Club program that trains young people ages 12 to 18 years old to put service before self.

Schroyers freshman English teacher, retired Command Sergeant Major Catherine Garcia, invited the young man to join Interact. One of the goals of Interact is to discover new cultures and promote international understanding.

Schroyer found ways to do that. In the summer of 2022, he participated in an exchange program, the National Security Language Initiative. Schroyer lived for seven weeks with a Palestinian family in Amman, Jordan whose members spoke little English. It was, he said, like jumping into the deep end of language immersion.

Schroyer also searched for connections to local Afghans. This led him to International Neighbors of Charlottesville and then to Mohammad Nasim Kakar, a former Afghan military commander now president of the Afghan Community of Charlottesville Virginia. From Kakar, Schroyer learned that 275 Afghan families arrived in the region in 2021. The families were extremely large by U.S. standards, with parents and six or eight children trying to squeeze into refugee housing.

Kakar talked of the need for more housing that refugees could afford. But the Afghan community leader also talked about the critical need for refugees to learn to speak English and understand American culture in order to get jobs that pay enough to support their families.

Sitting in his office/home in Albemarle County, Kakar told The Daily Progress that he appreciated Schroyers efforts to promote the Afghans cause. Kakar listed critical needs that can help Afghans assimilate around here. The first is office space donated for use to teach adults English and U.S. culture, as well as English instructors. Many local refugees were professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, in Afghanistan, Kakar said. But they cannot transition to similar good-paying jobs in the U.S. because they speak very little English and dont grasp the culture.

Health care is another pressing issue, along with transportation. Among the most expensive challenges for Afghan refugees, said Kakar, is finding a place to bury the dead. Funerals cost upwards of $15,000 apiece. The community had to take out loans recently to bury someone. Kakar is searching for a person or company to donate land that can be zoned as a cemetery where Afghan refugees who pass away can be interred according to Muslim tradition.

He can only hope to find a Good Samaritan as inspired as the young Rotarian working to bring the refugees plight to the publics attention.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and his Croatian counterpart Mario Banozic have discussed the possibilities of additional support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said this in a post on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.

"I had a fruitful conversation with Croatian Defense Minister Mario Banozic. We discussed possible additional support for the Ukrainian army, including the development of demining projects," Reznikov said.

He said he appreciates Croatia's steadfast support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Canada will purchase a U.S.-made NASAMS missile defense system for Ukraine.

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, the news came during the North American Leaders' Summit in Mexico City on Tuesday, following a meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden, CBC News reports.

"Trudeau informed Biden that Canada will purchase a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine," the Canadian Prime Minister's office said.

The office did not give additional details of the purchase, such as the cost or the expected delivery date.

Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine started, Canada has already provided Ukraine with humanitarian and military aid worth more than $2.6 billion.
Monitoring missions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will arrive at all nuclear power plants in Ukraine to monitor their safety in wartime conditions.

"Ukraine has invited IAEA monitoring missions to all other nuclear power plants, including Chornobyl. The IAEA agreed with this proposal, and in the near future these missions will be deployed at all NPPs," Acting Head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine Oleh Korikov said at a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine  Ukrinform.

According to Korikov, the main purpose of these missions is to monitor safety amid the military influences that Ukraine and Ukrainian nuclear facilities are currently experiencing. This is how the IAEA will be able to make sure how missile strikes affect the condition of nuclear power plants.

As reported, in December, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi negotiated in Moscow the creation of a safety zone around the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP.

On March 4, the Zaporizhzhia NPP was seized by the Russian military. Since then, the Russians have been placing military equipment and ammunition in the plants territory and shelling the surrounding area.

Currently, all six power units of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP do not function, their activation is blocked by the invaders. ZNPP continues to consume about 100 MW for its own needs from Ukraines power system.

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The United States is closely monitoring the decisions made by the Chinese government to ensure that Beijing does not help Moscow obtain weapons or military equipment and evade sanctions.

U.S. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said this at a briefing, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

We are watching very closely the decisions that the PRC makes when it comes to any Russian requests for security assistance, he said.

The U.S. State Department spokesperson reminded that Russia was forced to turn to Iran and the DPRK for security assistance precisely because countries of the West are starving the Russian state of the inputs that it needs to prosecute its war against Ukraine.

He stressed that the U.S. side conveyed a very clear message to China, including in private, when the two presidents met in Bali last November. According to him, China will face serious consequences if they decide to assist Russia in a systematic effort to evade U.S. sanctions or in the provision of security assistance that would then be used against the Ukrainian people in Ukraine.

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During his visit to Paris, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on key issues, including Russia's war in Ukraine.

That's according to Japan Today, Ukrinform reports.

"Macron thanked Japan for its economic and humanitarian support to Ukraine and said both countries will work jointly to face the global consequences of Russia's invasion, especially energy and food security issues," the statement said.

It added that Macron and Kishida's talks come as Japan is leading the Group of Seven most advanced economies and is preparing the next G7 summit scheduled in May in Hiroshima.

During their talks, Kishida and Macron also confirmed the need for the G7 to maintain strict sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine since February 2022 and continue to support Kyiv, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

Kishida expressed eagerness to pitch his vision of a world without nuclear weapons at the G7 gathering, with fears mounting that Russia may use a nuclear device against Ukraine.

Kishida told Macron that he will demonstrate the G7's "strong commitment" to rejecting attempts to change the status quo by force, threats or the use of nuclear arms, as well as maintaining a free and open international order.

During the meeting, both politicians notably addressed North Korea's nuclear and missile development.

"Japan can count on our unfailing support to face flagrant breaches to international law from Pyongyang," Macron said.

Kishida's five nation-tour will also take him to Italy, Britain, Canada and the U.S. where he will have talks on Friday with President Joe Biden.

Photo: Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool
Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression, the EU and its member states have contributed nearly EUR 50 billion in aid to Ukraine.

"For the first time in history, we provided lethal military equipment to Ukraine through our European Peace Facility just a few hours after the start of the [full-scale] war. So far, we have reached more than 3 billion euros in addition to the massive military contributions of our member countries. Since day one, we have stood by the people of Ukraine with strong diplomatic, financial, diplomatic, and political support. Together, the EU and its member states have contributed nearly 50 billion euros [in aid]," President of the European Council Charles Michel said at a press conference in Brussels after the signing of the 3rd Joint Declaration on EU-NATO cooperation, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He also noted that Russias war against Ukraine brought the EU and NATO closer. Both organizations adopted strategic documents that will determine their future security  the EU Strategic Compass and NATO Strategic Concept. These efforts complement each other. The Alliance plays a key role as the basis of territorial defense, which is important for the entire Euro-Atlantic security. The EU is strengthening its defense capabilities and is ready to make a more effective contribution to the global security.

"Russia's war against Ukraine has strengthened both our organizations  EU and NATO  and brought us closer together. We are stronger. NATO has reinforced its presence in Eastern Europe and it will have two new members, Sweden and Finland. Putin wanted less NATO but has achieved the opposite: he will have more NATO, and he will have more EU. We are also getting stronger, we are speeding up the enlargement process with the Western Balkans and we took a historic decision to grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova and a European perspective to Georgia," Michel said.

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky informed President of the European Council Charles Michel about the situation at the front and the need for weapons.

During a phone call with President of the European Council Charles Michel, I informed him about the situation on the battlefield and Ukraine's current needs in armaments. We agreed on joint efforts to implement the Peace Formula & discussed expectations from the upcoming EUUkraine Summit, Zelensky posted on Twitter.

Earlier, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen stated that the European Commission and the EU as a whole consistently adhere to the position that Ukraine should receive from allies and partners all the necessary weapons and equipment to repel Russian aggression.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed urgent defense needs of Ukraine with Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo, and invited him to join the implementation of the Ukrainian peace formula.

I had a phone call with Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo. We discussed the current defense needs of Ukraine given possible escalation at the front. I invited Belgium to join the implementation of our 10-step Peace Formula. I also thanked for sheltering Ukrainian citizens, Zelensky said in a Telegram post.

As reported, in November, Volodymyr Zelensky presented the Ukrainian Peace Formula. In particular, it is about radiation, nuclear, food, and energy security, the release of all prisoners and deportees, implementation of the UN Charter, and restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the world order, withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, the return of justice, countering ecocide, preventing escalation, and fixating the end of war

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German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has visited the city of Kharkiv on Tuesday.

The relevant report was issued by the German Federal Foreign Office, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"In all of Ukraine, from Kharkiv to Kherson and Kyiv, people should know that they can rely on our solidarity and support, she said.

Today, @ABaerbock and I visited wartime Kharkiv where Russia caused enormous suffering. Kharkiv is now a symbol of successful Ukrainian counteroffensives which prove Ukraine will win with sufficient support of partners. I have no doubts further German military aid will come. pic.twitter.com/iCErESAW2J  Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) January 10, 2023

According to her, this includes the winter assistance Germany provided. Baerbock pledged new aid such as power generators, fuel and blankets to Ukraine, along with "further arms deliveries."

She also called Kharkiv a symbol of incredible endurance and courage of Ukrainians.

The head of the German Foreign Ministry visited eastern Ukraine at the invitation of her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba. According to Baerbock, she wanted to get a picture of the wartime situation on the ground in the region.

"This city is a symbol of the absolute insanity of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and the endless suffering that people, especially here in the east of the country, are confronted with every day," she said.

According to her, it is important that Europe does not lose sight of Ukraine's place in the European family. Ukrainians fight every day for the right to an independent life, as it seeks to join the European Union.

"As the government, we want to make very concrete offers to Ukraine in order to strengthen the rule of law, independent institutions and the fight against corruption, as well as in aligning in EU standards," Baerbock said.

Phot: dpa

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President Volodymyr Zelensky has discussed with his Estonian counterpart Alar Karis defense support for Ukraine, as well as the situation at the front.

Discussed defense support and the situation at the front with President of Estonia Alar Karis. Coordinated steps towards further Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, the President wrote on Twitter.

As reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed urgent defense needs of Ukraine with Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo, and invited him to join the implementation of the Ukrainian peace formula.

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My family is composed of Polish, German, Czech, Italian and Russian immigrants. They arrived in the U.S. legally thru New Yorks Ellis Island. They became U.S. citizens and I am the offspring of one of those citizens.

Many U.S. soldiers with the same histories were sent, as I was, to defend the borders of foreign lands in South Korea, South Vietnam and Afghanistan against foreign invaders and were disabled or died doing so.

Presently, we have people wading a river border and walking into our country with very little attempt no attempt to check their right to be here. If my family came the proper way, then why are these people not required to follow the same procedures? I have no objection to following proper procedures to live here.

Ron Granitz Sr.

Albemarle
President Volodymyr Zelensky has discussed with Prime Minister of Ireland Leo Varadkar support for Ukraine's energy system.

Had the first phone call with Prime Minister of Ireland Leo Varadkar. Thanked for freezing Russian assets, discussed support for Ukraine's energy system and post-war recovery. Invited to join the implementation of the Peace Formula, Zelensky wrote on Twitter.

As reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed urgent defense needs of Ukraine with Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo, and invited him to join the implementation of the Ukrainian peace formula.

Photo: Presidents Office

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Ten modern city buses left Riga for Kyiv on Tuesday, January 10.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said this in a post on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.

"This is assistance from our Latvian friends. The buses are also delivering humanitarian aid collected by Latvian citizens. The delegation to Kyiv is headed by the Chairman of the Latvian Saeima, Edvards Smiltens," he wrote.

Late in April last year, Smiltens, then the vice mayor of Riga, visited the Ukrainian capital and handed over 11 buses and humanitarian aid from Riga, Klitschko said.

He noted that all the buses that Kyiv received at that time are running on the routes of the capital.

Earlier, Kyiv received three passenger buses from the Finnish city of Tampere, which also contained humanitarian aid collected for the Ukrainian capital by the Tampere authorities and Finnish citizens.

Photo: Yuliia Serheieva
Almost three-quarters (73%) of Ukrainians believe that it is correct that the EU put forward requirements for Ukraine to implement reforms in order to start membership negotiations.

This is evidenced by the results of the poll "Wartime Diplomacy. What do Ukrainians think about Ukraine's movement towards EU and NATO membership during the war", conducted by Info Sapiens on behalf of the New Europe Center, Ukrinform reports.

"Now that Ukraine received European prospects and candidate status, Ukrainians do not want to stop at what they have achieved  73% of citizens believe that it is correct that the EU put forward requirements for Ukraine to implement reforms without which the start of negotiations on joining the EU cannot take place. And while some respondents note that the EU should be more lenient towards Ukraine in the issue of reforms amid the war, 47% confidently say that reforms are in the interests of Ukraine itself and the EU should demand their implementation as soon as possible," the research authors note.

In particular, according to the respondents, anti-corruption reform is important. More than half of the population (60.1%) support the EUs pressure on Ukraine to fight corruption. And only 19.5% note that this is currently not the main problem in Ukraine.

For the most part, Ukrainians realize that the quality of the implementation of reforms is more important than its speed: 59% of citizens note that to bring Ukrainian legislation into line with EU law, the Ukrainian authorities need to prepare all the necessary laws appropriately, hold all the needed discussions, even it will take a long time. Only a third of the population  36%  supports the opinion that laws should be adopted as soon as possible, even if they have to be revised later.

As the poll showed, the Ukrainians are optimistic about the country's further progress towards EU membership despite the war  62% of respondents believe that Ukraine will be able to start negotiations on joining the EU even before the end of the war. Meanwhile, 20% of respondents do not believe in this possibility.

The majority of citizens are sure that Ukraine will become EU member in the short- or medium-term perspective: 55% of Ukrainians believe that this will happen in the next 1-5 years. 27% prefer not to name specific timelines, choosing the option "as soon as the war ends." Only 6% of citizens believe that Ukraine will join the EU in the next 10 years.

The poll was conducted from December 16 to 25, 2022 using the method of computer-assisted telephone interviews based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers. The sample is representative of the adult population of Ukraine (aged 18 and older). The structure of the sample corresponds to the structure of the population according to such parameters as gender, age, size of the settlement and the region of the pre-war place of residence according to the data of the State Statistics Service as of January 1, 2022. The poll was not conducted in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, as well as in other territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia, where Ukrainian operators do not provide mobile telephone services. Also, the survey does not sufficiently cover Ukrainians who have gone abroad. The maximum possible error does not exceed 3.1%.

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An Albany woman has been sentenced to two years in prison for embezzling more than $200,000 from Linn County while she was a county employee.

Essentially, as businesses and developers would pull building permits, she would pocket the fees.

Angela Adams, 50, was sentenced to 24 months in prison during a Linn County Circuit Court hearing Wednesday, Jan. 4.

According to prosecutor Matthew Ipson, Adams was convicted of two counts of first-degree aggravated theft and one count of first-degree theft after pleading guilty to these charges. Eight counts of first-degree aggravated theft and one count of first-degree theft were dismissed.

Judge Michael Wynhausen also ordered Adams to pay $237,159.79 in restitution to Linn County.

Stealing county money

Court documents say the crimes took place between February 2015 and November 2020.

Linn County Sheriffs Office detectives arrested Adams in January 2021, according to an agency news release at the time, while she was the Linn County Planning and Building Department's office manager.

In March 2020, a county employee told the Linn County administrative officer that they suspected Adams was stealing from the department, the news release said.

The executive requested a financial audit of the employee's department. The audit concluded in November 2020 and revealed financial discrepancies, according to the sheriff's office.

The county administrative officer asked the sheriffs office to investigate.

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According to the news release, detectives interviewed multiple county employees and served a search warrant and multiple subpoenas during the investigation. Detectives discovered around $235,000 of cash payments made to the Planning and Building Department had not been deposited with the Linn County treasurer in the last eight years.

Investigators learned receipts for cash payments had been deleted from the permit software. Detectives recovered these files with assistance from the county information technology department, sheriff's representatives said.

Friend and family support

Multiple exhibits filed with the court prior to sentencing asked the judge to consider a lesser sentence for Adams.

One family member said she needed Adams to care for her, while others explained what life circumstances and stressors may have led Adams to committing the crimes.

According to Adams plea petition, the aggravated theft charges held a maximum sentence of 10 years each. Ipson said he argued for a longer sentence, but Wynhausen opted for the two years.

She is being held at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, according to the Oregon Department of Corrections database.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with the correct criminal charges and prison sentence for Angela Adams.

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The Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center has backing from the city and Benton County to grow the nonprofit and expand its role in supporting homeless people.

The center has pushed for years to get overlapping organizations handling homelessness to collaborate in a single location, where service providers are more effective and efficient in reaching the unhoused.

Cue the entry of what is called navigation centers, codified in state law with the passage of House Bill 2006 in 2021. Combined social services centers have since popped up under Oregon Housing and Community Services grant funding.

Navigation centers are defined as low-barrier emergency shelters that will accept people struggling with drugs and alcohol, open daily and connecting people with services, housing and public benefits.

The centers are aimed at getting people off the streets before they fall deeper into homelessness, connecting those in need with food, shelter, mental health and addiction treatment, help applying for jobs or long-term housing, or any number of services.

I talk about it as getting folks together in a room to make good things happen, said Allison Hobgood, executive director of the Daytime Drop-in Center. Were already doing that at the Drop-in Center; the goal is to make that more expansive and have the actual space to do that more productively.

There are three main components to the proposed navigation center, which would require an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 square feet: drop-in community gathering spaces, one-stop social services spaces, and six to 10 separate sleeping spaces for vulnerable individuals and couples.

Its not clear if that means a new site or expanding its current site on Southwest Fourth Street in downtown. The cost and timelines are also undetermined, but it could be a $10-$15 million project. Hobgood said a Portland-based architect, CIDA Inc., donated time to develop the earliest plans for an eventual navigation center.

Hobgood said the Drop-in Center as-is is just 2,500 square feet, far too cramped to maximize the possibilities. But theres clearly a record of success at the center, Hobgood said, thus the support from the city and county. She said the public-private relationships are important to making progress on homelessness.

The community has spoken and said, This is important to us; these are our neighbors, Hobgood said. The city and the county have heard that and theyve said it matters to them too, and they understand they need to be part of making change for people who are super vulnerable.

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It will be up to the Oregon Legislature to decide how much, if anything, goes to the Daytime Drop-in Center for a navigation center through the county and/or city under House Bill 2006.

The Drop-in Center will also take its own ask to the Legislature, Hobgood said. She noted the nonprofit is currently about half-funded through donations and volunteerism, with the rest of the revenues grant based.

Corvallis officials unanimously approved a letter of support for the Drop-in Center to pursue state funding and other potential sources for a navigation center at a City Council meeting Tuesday, Jan. 3.

The letter notes Corvallis is ranked as the least affordable city in Oregon and has significant challenges with shelter and housing. Addressing homelessness is one of the five general priority needs identified in the citys five-year consolidated plan.

Development or acquisition of a navigation center for emergency sheltering and resource navigation will better serve our most vulnerable community members by connecting them to resources and increasing shelter capacity in the community, the letter states.

Information accompanying the letter cites a 19.4% increase of homeless individuals in Oregon from 2015 to 2019, according to the Benton County League of Women Voters and point-in-time counts. A 2020 report from the League estimated between 800 and 1,300 people were homeless in 2019 in the area, with up to 600 being without shelter.

Some of the $110 million that would be raised by the bond measure headed to the May ballot  primarily to pay for Benton Countys $167 million Justice System Improvement Program if it passes  would go to the Daytime Drop-in Center, $1.5 million to $3 million.

The county sought to include homelessness services in its bond measure language after polling showed Corvallis voters are much more likely to approve a bond that promises to fund fixes for homelessness.

Portland-based DHM Research told commissioners in October that homelessness was the No. 1 issue on the minds of Oregonians, and the polling issue most commonly cited by respondents in Benton County.

Corvallis and Benton County have attempted for years to organize a response to unhoused populations. A yearslong, city-county effort yielded 12 recommendations in 2021, including a multi-organizational resource center, No. 7 on the list of HOPE, the Home, Opportunity, Planning and Equity Advisory Board.

The Drop-in Center was based out of Corvallis First Christian Church for a decade until a lease expired mid-2018. The nonprofit planned to move in with Stone Soup Corvallis and a mens cold weather shelter to a building on Southwest Second Street in downtown.

But business and property owners pushed back against the pioneering version of a navigation center, and the Drop-in Center moved instead to its location at 530 SW Fourth St., where its been for about four years.

Hobgood emphasized that numerous partnerships are behind the Drop-in Centers success, and theres a network of potential participants for the proposed navigation center, though its not yet determined which might be included or operate on-site.

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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has signed its largest-ever financing for electric vehicle charging and distributed electricity generation with Trkiye's Enerjisa Energy, totaling 2 billion Turkish liras ($110 million equivalent)

LONDON, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Jan, 2023 ):The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has signed its largest-ever financing for electric vehicle charging and distributed electricity generation with Trkiye's Enerjisa Energy, totaling 2 billion Turkish liras ($110 million equivalent).

The loan was signed by the EBRD's Managing Director for Sustainable Infrastructure Group, Nandita Parshad, and Enerjisa Energy's CEO, Murat Pinar, on Monday at the EBRD's London headquarters.

"This is the largest-ever financing for electric vehicle charging and distributed generation that the EBRD has done anywhere in the world and thus it is very groundbreaking for us," Parshad told Anadolu Agency after the signing.

She said while the financing is very significant in terms of its size but it is even more important as it supports the greening of transportation  a relatively new but what is going to be very essential sector in the future.

The EBRD, Parshad said, has financed different renewable and clean energy projects in Trkiye but financing for electric vehicle charging is pushing the bank's operations to the next level.

"In a year, we tend to finance 1.5 billion equivalent in Trkiye and this $110 million is about 8% of what we do in a country in a year in just one transaction. We will learn a lot from this project's process," she stated.

Enerjisa Energy CEO Pinar said the renewable energy capacity growth worldwide in the next five years is set to be equal to the growth achieved in the past 20 years.

"Trkiye is expected to increase its renewable capacity about 65% in the next five years. The electric vehicle pool in Trkiye is anticipated to reach at least 2 million in 2030, similar to the global trend in electric vehicle market. While leading this rapid transformation, it is of great significance to promptly carry out sustainable and efficient investments that prioritize technology," he said.

"Thus, we will increase our investments that enables us to offer solutions to our customers with renewable resources, expand the electric vehicle charging infrastructure and upgrade our electricity distribution network with more efficient and technological equipment as well as smart grid practices thanks to the financing we are supplied via this agreement with the EBRD," Pinar said.

Parshad said reaching net zero emissions, which a significant number of countries has committed to, needs increasing electrification and greening of the sources of electricity.

"Every country is going to have to double and triple the amount of electricity that it generates if they are going to decarbonize their economies. Looking at a market as big as Trkiye and the energy transition that Trkiye needs to make, that electrification needs to be happening today," she said, adding that this is a growth business and that electric vehicle infrastructure needs to be put in place first before people start buying electric cars.

"So it is an essential prerequisite for decarbonizing transport," Parshad underlined.
Hong Kong: Philippine trip fruitful: Chris Sun

Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun today said his three-day visit to Manila has delivered fruitful results, strengthening the collaboration with the Philippine Government on the protection of Filipino domestic helpers working in Hong Kong.

Mr Sun paid a courtesy call on Philippine Secretary of Migrant Workers Susan Ople yesterday.

He welcomed the establishment of the Department of Migrant Workers that will fully operate this year as a one-stop executive arm that will handle issues related to overseas Filipino workers.

Over the past two days, Mr Sun called on Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo, Officer-in-charge of Social Welfare & Development Department Eduardo Punay, as well as Secretary of Labour & Employment Bienvenido Laguesma.

He updated the senior officials on Hong Kong's initiatives to enhance protection of foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) employment rights and welfare, and employment agency regulation, as well as explored areas to strengthen collaboration.

Mr Sun reaffirmed the great importance Hong Kong attaches to protecting FDHs and expressed his appreciation for their contribution to Hong Kong families and society.

He also noted the full relaxation of inbound control arrangements since December 29 last year, which will enable more helpers to come to Hong Kong to work, while some working in the city can return to their home countries for a break.

This afternoon, Mr Sun and his delegation visited a training facility under the Technical Education & Skills Development Authority to take a closer look at the training of care workers in the Philippines and its scope of competencies, quality assurance and recruitment arrangements.

He then lunched with Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian today, during which he updated the ambassador on the latest labour market and economic situation in Hong Kong.

While in the Philippines, Mr Sun also met representatives of the Hongkong Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc, Friends of the Philippines Foundation and Chinese business leaders there.

Apart from updating them on the array of new measures to attract talent set out in the Chief Executives Policy Address, notably the Top Talent Pass Scheme, he stressed that he is seeking their support in publicity to attract talent to Hong Kong.

This story has been published on: 2023-01-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Jan, 2023 ) :Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang held phone conversations with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.

He said that China and Pakistan enjoy a special friendship and high-level mutual trust, and the close high-level interactions between the two countries have injected strong impetus into the development of bilateral relations.

China is ready to work with Pakistan to take the important consensus between leaders of the two countries as guidance, continuously deepen their traditional friendship, and join hands to forge an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, he noted.

Qin Gang stressed that as the Chinese Lunar New Year is approaching, China pays close attention to the safety of Chinese citizens in Pakistan, and hoped that Pakistan would continue to take effective security measures.

In his message, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto sent his Chinese Lunar New Year greetings and once again congratulated Qin on his recent appointment and vowed to push forward all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries to a new high.

He said that Pakistan would spare no effort to protect the safety of Chinese personnel, institutions and projects in Pakistan.
ISTANBUL , (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Jan, 2023 ) :Due to high energy costs and ongoing supply chain problems, 39% of German companies expect a decline in their business activities in 2023, a survey revealed on Monday.

According to the survey conducted by the German Economic Institute (IW) with 2,500 firms, the construction industry in particular is preparing for a recession.

It said Germany's companies were still optimistic at the beginning of the last year but high energy prices and raw material problems ruined their good mood.

The survey's results showed that 26% of the firms expect a better financial year in 2023, while 35% of them expect stagnation.

A serious recession is looming, especially in the construction industry, as more than half of the construction companies expect a decrease in their sales in the new year.

Michael Gromling, an economic researcher at the institute, said ongoing uncertain energy supply issues affect all parts of the country equally and it is not good news for 2023.

Germany is facing a new recession, he warned.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will undertaker a two-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates on January 12-13

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Jan, 2023 ):Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will undertaker a two-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates on January 12-13.

The prime minister will visit UAE on the invitation of President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Office spokesperson said in a press release on Tuesday.

The prime minister will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including key members of the cabinet. This would be the prime minister's third visit to the UAE after assuming office.

During the visit, the prime minister will meet the UAE president with particular focus on advancing economic, trade and investment ties between the two brotherly countries and creating increased opportunities for the Pakistani workforce in the UAE.

The two leaders will also exchange views on a range of regional and global issues of mutual interest.

The prime minister will meet with the UAE Prime Minister and Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

During the visit, the prime minister will hold meetings with the Emirati businessmen and investors to discuss ways to enhance bilateral trade and investment.

The UAE is home to around 1.7 million Pakistanis who have been playing a pivotal role in the success story of the UAE, for the last five decades, contributing to the progress, prosperity and economic development of the two brotherly countries.

"Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates enjoy close and fraternal ties based on common faith and traditions, shared history and heritage; deep-rooted cultural affinities, geographic proximity and identity of view on several regional and global issues. Regular high-level exchanges and visits are a key feature of this relationship," it was further added.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday expressed gratitude to the countries and the aid agencies for making the conference on Pakistan's post-flood challenges a success

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Jan, 2023 ):Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday expressed gratitude to the countries and the aid agencies for making the conference on Pakistan's post-flood challenges a success.

"A big thank you to Heads of states and governments, European Union, our development partners and United Nations for making Resilient Pakistan Conference a resounding success," he said in a tweet.

He mentioned the active role of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in highlighting the plight of Pakistan's flood-hit population.

"The UN Secretary General has shown stellar leadership all along. People of Pakistan will forever remain grateful," he said.

Shehbaz Sharif said the world witnessed yesterday how the nations can come together in a show of solidarity to create a model of win-win partnership to lift suffering humanity out of tragedy."I was deeply moved by the compassion on display at Geneva Conference. Together we will rebuild lives and hopes," he said.

Pakistan on Monday secured over $10 billion pledges from the international financial institutions, donor agencies and development partners for the rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction of flood affected areas, during an International Conference on Climate Resilience.

The major pledges made at the conference, co-chaired by Pakistan and the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, included $4.2 billion from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), $2 billion from the World Bank, $1.5 billion from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), $1 billion from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and $1 billion from Saudi Arabia.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif led the Pakistan delegation at Geneva moot where he described in detail Pakistan's Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Framework (4RF), which laid out a multi-sectoral strategy for rehabilitation and reconstruction in a climate-resilient and inclusive manner.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman and Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb were part of the prime minister's delegation.
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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Tuesday that Yerevan's statements concerning Russian peacekeepers deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh are an expression of not criticism but concern about ongoing insecurity in the region

YEREVAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2023) Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Tuesday that Yerevan's statements concerning Russian peacekeepers deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh are an expression of not criticism but concern about ongoing insecurity in the region.

"We do not criticize the Russian peacekeepers, we express concern over the peacekeepers' actions," Pashinyan said at a press conference.

He said Yerevan has informed Moscow that Baku is allegedly carrying out a campaign aimed at discrediting the Russian peacekeepers.

Since December 12, the road, which connects Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh but runs de jure through the Lachin district of Azerbaijan, has been blocked by a group of people from Azerbaijan described by state media as environmental activists protesting alleged Armenian illegal mining in the area.

Pashinyan has urged the Russian peacekeepers to ensure that the blockade is lifted, saying that the failure to do so would be a violation of their obligations under a ceasefire deal brokered by Russia between Armenia and Azerbaijan after a 1.5-month armed conflict in 2020. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has denied any breach of obligations by the peacekeepers.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday brushed aside speculation that his country had been officially invited to join the Union State of Russia and Belarus, and dismissed the very idea of such an invitation as impossible

YEREVAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2023) Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday brushed aside speculation that his country had been officially invited to join the Union State of Russia and Belarus, and dismissed the very idea of such an invitation as impossible.

Alexander Konyuk, the Belarusian ambassador to the South Caucasian nation, said in December that the Union State needed a third member, without specifying which one he meant. Armenian National Security Council chief Armen Grigoryan said on Monday that Armenia could compromise its national sovereignty if it were to join.

"No, there was no official invitation and there could not be any," Pashinyan told reporters in Yerevan.

In this regard, the Armenian prime minister also listed sovereignty, independence and statehood as absolute values for Yerevan.

The Union State was created in the late 1990s, years after the fall of the Soviet Union. Its main goal is to deepen the relationship between the two neighbor countries, foster their economic integration and promote defense cooperation.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley will travel to Germany next week to host a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder said on Tuesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2023) US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley will travel to Germany next week to host a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder said on Tuesday.

"Next week, Secretary Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Milley will travel to Germany to host the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base," Ryder said during a press briefing.
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Russian citizen Sofia Sapega convicted in Belarus, has been denied a pardon, her stepfather Sergey Dudich told Sputnik on Tuesday

MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2023) Russian citizen Sofia Sapega convicted in Belarus, has been denied a pardon, her stepfather Sergey Dudich told Sputnik on Tuesday.

Sapega was accused of violations of seven articles of the Belarusian criminal code, including organizing threats to security officials and inciting hatred, and sentenced to six years in general colony prison.

"The Commission (on pardon issues under the President of Belarus) considered the petition and declined it," Dudich said, adding that Sapega received a response from the commission on January 2, and later wrote a letter to her family about this decision.

Sapega's lawyer, Anton Gashinsky also confirmed to Sputnik that "the decision (on the petition for pardon) was negative," but another request will be made to ask to transfer the Russian citizen to her homeland.
The Belarusian State Border Committee said on Tuesday that it had found two deceased foreign migrants, one of them Black, near the border with Latvia, one of the most popular crossing points into the European Union for irregular migrants from the Middle East

MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2023) The Belarusian State Border Committee said on Tuesday that it had found two deceased foreign migrants, one of them Black, near the border with Latvia, one of the most popular crossing points into the European Union for irregular migrants from the middle East.

"On the night from January nine to 10 (Monday to Tuesday), Belarusian border guards discovered the corpse of a man of African appearance near the border with Latvia," the committee said in a statement, adding that there were several more refugees at the site.

The refugees told the Belarusian border guards that they were brought to the border by the Latvian security forces, who ignored requests to help the man who died.

"The foreigners also showed a video revealing that the refugee was already in critical condition on the Latvian side and could not move independently. Despite the fact that the man was practically dying and in need of urgent hospitalization, the Latvian military threw the group (of foreign refugees) at the border and forced them to pass through the fence at gunpoint," the statement read.

By the time Belarusian border guards and medics arrived at the scene, the African refugee already showed no signs of life, the committee added.

Later the same day, the committee announced the discovery of another deceased migrant near the border with Latvia. The committee alleged that the migrant's body was moved from the adjacent territory through the fence. In addition, border guards noted that a wire section of the border fence had been dismantled.

In 2021, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania registered a surge in illegal migrant arrivals from the Middle East and Africa trying to cross over to the EU over the border from Belarus. Warsaw, Riga and Vilnius accused Belarus of actively promoting the migration route to the EU through its own borders in retaliation against EU sanctions. Belarus' border guards, in turn, reported that their counterparts in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland were forcibly pushing illegal migrants into Belarusian territory.
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Classified documents that have been recovered from a think-tank office of President Joe Biden pertain to topics related to Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom, CNN reported on Tuesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2023) Classified documents that have been recovered from a think-tank office of President Joe Biden pertain to topics related to Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom, CNN reported on Tuesday.

On Monday, media reported that US Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a Federal prosecutor to investigate how the classified materials, which were found by Biden's personal attorneys while vacating the space, ended up in the office.

The classified documents relate to Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom the report said, citing a source familiar with the matter.

The records also contained materials related to the funeral arrangements for the president's son Beau Biden, the report said.

Ten documents dated between 2013 and 2016 with classified markings were recovered from the office in November, the reports added.

The Biden administration is fully cooperating with authorities on the matter, the White House counsel said in a statement.
An Iranian court has provisionally sentenced Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, the daughter of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, to five years in prison for supporting anti-government protests, her lawyer, Neda Shams, said on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2023) An Iranian court has provisionally sentenced Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, the daughter of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, to five years in prison for supporting anti-government protests, her lawyer, Neda Shams, said on Tuesday.

"Mrs. Faezeh Hashemi was provisionally sentenced to five years in prison on charges against her in the most recent case ... It is incorrect to comment on the verdict since it is not final," Shams tweeted.

Under Iranian law, the provisional verdict can be appealed.

Shams added that her client was still in prison and there were several other cases opened against her.

On September 27, 2022, Faezeh Hashemi, who is a prominent Iranian reformist opposition member and women's rights activist, was arrested for her support of the mass protests across Iran ignited by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who passed away while in police custody after being detained for wearing an "improper" hijab.

Many Iranian citizens held the morality police responsible for Amini's death, alleging that law enforcement officers hit her in the head. During the protests, which are still ongoing, members of Iran's security forces have been attacked and some have been killed in clashes with rioters. Tehran believes the unrest was instigated from abroad.

This is not the first time Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani has been detained: her first arrest took place in 2009 when the female politician supported Iranian reformist politician Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh during the presidential election. Subsequently, Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani was twice sentenced to six months in prison. She was also banned from carrying out political activities for five years.
NATO and the European Union said in their third Joint Declaration on Cooperation on Tuesday that the Chinese government's policies were posing "challenges" that the two Transatlantic blocs should address

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2023) NATO and the European Union said in their third Joint Declaration on Cooperation on Tuesday that the Chinese government's policies were posing "challenges" that the two Transatlantic blocs should address.

The new Joint Declaration on EU-NATO Cooperation was signed in Brussels by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, European Council President Charles Michel, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

"We live in an era of growing strategic competition. China's growing assertiveness and policies present challenges that we need to address," the document read.

The first two joint declarations on EU-NATO cooperation were signed in 2016 and 2018. They outlined how the EU and NATO would act together against common security threats, including cyber and hybrid threats.The EU and NATO currently have 21 member countries in common.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th January, 2023) New Zealand authorities are preparing to vaccinate the population against mpox, also known as monkeypox, with a vaccine that has not yet been approved, local media reported on Monday.

The authorities want to get a vaccine out as soon as possible, but Medsafe, New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority has asked for necessary documentation from the manufacturer, which means that the vaccine will be rolled out unapproved, New Zealand's 1News tv channel reported.

Since it is against law to advertise unapproved medicines, there will be no big marketing campaign and the vaccine's proprietary name will not be used, media reported.

"That's right, we can't (promote or advertise unapproved medicines). But we are making sure that everyone has the opportunity for a funded visit with their medical practitioner to discuss whether the vaccine is right for them," Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall was quoted as saying by 1News.

In August 2022, media reports said the country's authorities are considering the use of the Jynneos mpox vaccine recommended in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. The report said only about 5,000 vials of the vaccine that is enough for immunization of nearly 20,000 people were so far obtained. The vaccine will be available from January 16.

Mpox is a rare viral disease that is usually transmitted to people from wild animals and is endemic in some African countries. The disease usually results in fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes. Since May 2022, mpox cases have been reported from countries where the disease is not endemic. The decease affected over 83,000 people in 110 countries, including 66 fatalities, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization. New Zealand has registered 41 confirmed cases.
Poland imported a record 14 million tonnes of coal in 2022, Polish Deputy Minister of State Assets Karol Rabenda said on Tuesday.

WARSAW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2023) Poland imported a record 14 million tonnes of coal in 2022, Polish Deputy Minister of State Assets Karol Rabenda said on Tuesday.

In the spring of last year, Poland completely banned the imports of coal from Russia.

"From the beginning to the end of the year, we delivered 14 million tonnes of coal to Poland. This is probably a record number when it comes to the capabilities of Polish ports," Rabenda told reporters.

The official said many doubted Poland could go without Russian coal, given its economy's heavy dependence on energy sourced from coal-burning, but the country managed to become "100% independent on Russian coal" by importing from other places.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) It is unacceptable for pharmaceutical company Moderna to raise the price of its COVID-19 vaccine amid the current public health and economic situations, US Senator Bernie Sanders said on Tuesday.

"Now, in the midst of a continuing public health crisis and a growing Federal deficit, is not the time for Moderna to be quadrupling the price of the COVID-19 vaccine. Now is not the time for unacceptable corporate greed," Sanders said in a statement via Twitter.

Earlier on Tuesday, US media reported that Sanders sent a letter to Moderna requesting they halt the price hike. The roughly $1.7 billion in vaccine development funding provided by the US government makes the price increase particularly unacceptable, Sanders reportedly said in the letter.

Moderna told US media on Monday that they are considering charging $110-$130 per dose for their COVID-19 vaccine once the shots enter the commercial market in the United States, up approximately eight times from early government contracts and five times what the US paid for booster doses in 2022, the reports said.

Over 6.71 million people have died from COVID-19 worldwide, including over 1.09 million in the United States, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2023) The US government wants to work with Turkey to address security concerns posed to Ankara by its Kurdish partners in Syria while keeping in sight the challenge posed by the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia), State Department spokesperson Ned price said.

"Turkey has endured more terrorist attacks than any other NATO ally. We want to work with Turkey to address its security concerns. We believe that we can work with Turkey to address those concerns while still prosecuting the shared challenge that we have in Syria, and that is to see to it that ISIS (Islamic State) is not in a position to reconstitute," Price said during a press briefing on Monday.

Price also said that significant progress has been made by the US-lead coalition against the Islamic State and those gains cannot be put at risk.

The United Sates recognizes Turkey's position and intends to maintain close consultations with Ankara with respect to its security concerns, Price said.

"Turkey is an ally. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Turkey on shared objectives," Price added.
USM Welcomes Excited, Engaged Cohort to New Accelerated BSN Pathway

Tue, 01/10/2023 - 11:14am | By: Van Arnold

Pictured is the initial cohort of USMs accelerated BSN pathway that began classes earlier this month. The group includes Robin Holman, pictured front row, second from right.

When Robin Holman made the decision to switch from a teaching career to one in nursing, she knew a fast-track degree option would be her best bet. She found that golden ticket with The University of Southern Mississippis (USM) new, accelerated BSN pathway.

Holman is part of the initial ABSN cohort that began classes earlier this month at USMs Gulf Park campus in Long Beach, Miss. Nine students are currently enrolled in the accelerated degree plan.

What attracted me to this new pathway is the fact that it is a 12-month program, said Holman. Since I would need to quit work in order to do it, I needed something as quick as possible and offered through an established institution.

Holman, who lives in Gulfport with her husband, John, and their 10-year-old son, Blake, had been serving as an intervention specialist at Pass Christian High School until last December. While she treasured working with students who needed intervention assistance with academic struggles, Holman felt conflicted by a professional void.

I went to college initially with the dream of becoming a pediatrician, she said. My life ended up taking me in a different direction, and so I never pursued anything in the medical field. I feel like I am coming back to my initial goals in life of being in the medical field, and I am super excited about it.

The unconventional pathway helps eligible students earn a BSN degree in a shorter time and decreases barriers to admission, while providing benefits to those who have already earned a higher education degree. Plans call for two admission cycles per year.

Significant components of the accelerated plan include:

Can be finished in 12 months

Scholarships are available

Same degree as traditional BSN  has same clinical experiences

Able to bypass some typical requirements, having already earned a degree

CCNE accredited

Students enrolled in this degree option will be eligible to bypass some typical BSN requirements because they have already earned a degree. Prospective applicants must have completed a bachelors degree from an accredited college or university.

Dr. Elizabeth Tinnon, Associate Professor and Director of USMs School of Professional Nursing Practice, notes that the initial cohorts response helps validate the pathways potential.

We knew there was a need for the program, but the interest in the program has been greater than we anticipated, which is great for the students, school, and addressing the nursing shortage, said Tinnon. We are monitoring the cohort carefully, more in terms of what is working for them and what we might need to change/adjust in terms of student success.

The inaugural cohort features a diverse group of students, ranging in age from 22-42. All nine are Mississippi residents who have already earned degrees from USM, the University of South Alabama, Louisiana State University, University of Albany, Life University, the University of New Mexico, and Mississippi State University. Those degrees include the following fields: forensics, biological sciences, psychology, emergency preparedness homeland security and cybersecurity, biology, and kinesiology.

Michelle Toepfer serves as instructor and coordinator of the ABSN pathway. Her responsibilities include coordination of the curriculum being taught, teaching classes, collecting curriculum data for accreditation, and recruiting at events as needed. She has high expectations for the inaugural cohort.

My hope is that we graduate and pin all nine students in December, said Toepfer. These students are very excited about the program. They are engaging and eager to practice nursing.

Holman earned her associate of arts degree in general studies at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College before obtaining a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences from USM. She earned a Master of Education in school counseling from Lamar University.

When asked her thoughts on being part of this unique pathway opportunity, Holman said, I love the idea of being in a first cohort, which I was in for my counseling masters degree. I love that I get to be a part of something small so I know I can get any assistance that I need, especially since I havent been in school in a while.

USM also offers a BSN program for those who do not already have a bachelors degree on Hattiesburg campus, as well as a fully online RN-BSN program.

To learn more about USMs nursing program, call 601.266.5445 or visit: https://www.usm.edu/nursing-health-professions/index.php
Fr Jacques Mourad, who was held hostage by Isis for five months in 2015, is an advocate for interreligious dialogue.

By Tiziana Campisi

Father Jacques Mourad, a Syriac Catholic monk and priest, has been elected Archbishop of Homs by the Synod of Bishops of the Church of Antioch.

Pope Francis had already approved the choice of Father Mourad, who was kidnapped on 21 May 2015 by jihadists while living in the Mar Elian monastery in Qaryatayn, Syria, and held captive for five months.

Born 53 years ago in Aleppo, he entered the monastic community of Deir Mar Musa Al-Abashi, of which he is a co-founder, after seminary studies in Charfet, Lebanon, where he studied Theology and received a Licentiate in Liturgy. He made his vows in the monastery on 20 July 1993, before being ordained a priest in August of that year. From 2000 to 2015, he was Prior of the Mar Elian Monastery and parish priest of the parish of Qaryatayn.

After the kidnapping, he lived in Mar Elians sister monasteries of Cori (Italy) and Sulaymanyah (Iraq). Upon returning to Syria in 2020, he served as deputy superior and bursar of the Mar Elian community.

Read also 05/12/2019 The story of a priest held hostage by Isis Father Jacques Mourad is a Syrian-Catholic priest. In 2015, he spent five months as a hostage of jihadist terrorists in Syria. He describes it as a spiritual experience and says it ...

Five months in the hands of jihadists

Father Mourad recounted the story of his kidnapping in the book A monk held hostage: A jihadist prisoners struggle for peace, written together with journalist Amaury Guillem.

He considers the time he spent as a hostage of jihadist terrorists in Syria a spiritual experience. The Rosary and the teachings of Paolo Dall'Oglio, he says, gave him strength and serenity.

Of those days of violence, harassment, deprivation, psychological and physical torture, Father Jacques remembers above all the moment he was transferred to a prison near Palmyra, after the first three months of captivity in Raqqa. There, he met 250 Christians from his community. He was told that they would be taken back to Qaryatayn, that they would be subjected to a series of heavy prohibitions, but would be able to celebrate Mass again because they had not fought against Muslims.

"I understood then that those who decide not to practise violence can, by their choice, change the attitude of those who are used to bearing arms," he told Vatican News. "We were saved because of our vocation as Christians, witnesses of peace.

Trust in interreligious dialogue and the power of prayer

For Father Mourad, trust in dialogue is a principle, it is not linked to the attitude of others.

"Behind the current terrorism," he explained, "there is instead a political network that uses everything to do evil. It is not a network directly inspired by Islam but precisely by a political project'. The cleric also said that Christians must "abandon this way of thinking, inspired by propaganda, according to which every Muslim is a terrorist", adding that there is "a need for more humility and clarity in our lives and in our relationship with others. We need to read the Gospel deeply in order to live it properly".

Jihadists asked him to convert to Islam by holding a knife to his throat, but from the pages of the diary of his imprisonment emerges the inner peace, energy and serenity that came from prayer.

"I can say that I received gifts from God at the very moment I was living my imprisonment," he recounted. "I cannot forget the strength, the courage, that allowed me to look these jihadists in the face and transmit the love of Jesus to them. In those situations God gave me above all the gift of a smile, and that was something that made my jailers uneasy. They wondered how it was possible for a prisoner to smile, and even I could not explain where I found the strength. As soon as I started praying the Rosary all pain, all fear disappeared".

New Archbishop of Mosul elected in Iraq

The Synod of Bishops of the Patriarchal Church of Antioch of the Syrians has also elected the new Archbishop of Mosul of the Syrians, Iraq: the Reverend Qusay Mubarak Abdullah (Younan) Hano, to whom the Pope had also given his assent.

Fr Hano entered the seminary in Baghdad, obtained a bachelor's degree in philosophy and theology at Saint-Esprit University in Lebanon, and was ordained a priest on 29 June 2011.

He was vicar of the Mar Jacob parish in Qaraqosh and with the invasion of the Nineveh Plain he took care of the displaced Syrians at the Mar Shmoni Church in Erbil. He has also been a teacher of Holy Scripture, curator of a radio programme, and representative of the Iraqi Church in the Middle East Council of Churches. Since 2019 he has been in Rome for doctoral studies in Biblical Theology.
Following Sundays assault on government buildings, thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators took to the streets. Meanwhile, buses full of rioters were taken to prison.

By James Blears

Thousands of people have held pro-democracy rallies in Brazil, following the storming of Congress, the Supreme Court and the Presidential Palace on Sunday.

The biggest rally was in Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo, with supporters of democracy demanding justice and no amnesty for those who took the law into their own hands.

More than fifteen hundred rioters were arrested on Sunday. Many have since been transferred to prison, and the authorities confirm they're going to prosecute a thousand of them.

Justice Minister Flavio Dino says hes seeking the masterminds behind this planned criminal action.

Hes also investigating the lack of appropriate and prompt response by some Federal District Police, who idly stood aside and laughingly allowed rioters to move in to wreak havoc. Camps established outside army barracks by extremists who steadfastly refused to accept the presidential election result have now been dismantled.

Former President and ex-army captain Jair Bolsonaro, who lost that very tight presidential election, went to the United States prior to the riots, which hes condemned, saying they exceeded peaceful, legitimate protest.

Hes been treated in a Miami hospital for abdominal pain, a residual legacy of when he was stabbed, while campaigning for his previous, successful election bid.

President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva has condemned the actions of the extremists as terrorism, and vows punishment according to the law.

The delicate balance in the shaken democracy of Brazil will be to seek justice while setting aside revenge, as one is legal and legitimate, while the other would be political.
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Colleagues of the late Nate Thayer paid tribute to a fearless American journalist who went further than all of us in his search for answers about Khmer Rouge atrocities in Cambodia.

He was fearless in terms of his work style, and he was uncompromising when it comes to pursuing the truth, said Ker Munthit, who worked with Thayer at The Phnom Penh Post in the 1990s.

On a regular basis, he scooped the world with his stories on Cambodian political conflicts, Munthit told VOA shortly after Thayers death in early January at 62.

Thayer arrived in Southeast Asia in the late 1980s and worked as a stringer for The Associated Press. Over the next decade, he established himself with his coverage of the end of the Khmer Rouge regime and the emergence of modern Cambodia.

No series of scoops was bigger than Thayers reporting on the trial of Cambodian dictator Pol Pot in 1997 and his interview with the former leader a few months later. But he also broke stories on renegade combatants, heroin trafficking networks linked to Cambodias elite, and factional fighting that saw tanks return to the streets of Phnom Penh after a few years of relative peace.

Thayer was a sharp writer  filing lengthy dispatches for publications including the Far Eastern Economic Review. But his sources were what truly set him apart.

He went further than all of us, Kevin Barrington, an Irish journalist who worked with Thayer at The Phnom Penh Post, told VOA in a phone call. Hed go off on serious treks deep into Cambodia with guerillas. He had an appetite for risk.

Thayer nearly died during one of those trips. In October 1989, the vehicle he was in drove over two mines. The driver was killed, and Thayer suffered shrapnel wounds.

But he survived and kept covering the conflict, driven by a mission to track down the man who led the Khmer Rouge as it murdered and starved to death some 3 million Cambodians during its four-year reign in the 1970s.

Although he did many things in Cambodia, he never deviated from that mission that he had to find Pol Pot. And that was a complete obsession, Nayan Chanda, former editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review, told VOA.

The breakthrough came in 1997 when Brother No. 1, as Pol Pot was called, was arrested by rival Khmer Rouge commander Ta Mok. Thayer, along with television cameraman David McKaige, was invited to document the show trial that followed.

The trial was the first time the notorious war criminal had been seen by the Western world in decades. Thayers footage was broadcast on ABC News Nightline  beginning a yearslong legal dispute over rights.

A few months later, Pol Pot, who could barely walk without help, reached out through intermediaries to arrange an interview, Chanda recalled.

Thayer wrote for the Review that Pol Pot was chillingly unrepentant, willing to admit to mistakes made by the regime but blaming mass killings on others and arguing that were it not for his revolution, Cambodia would have become part of Vietnam.

That was the dictators last interview before his death the next year  which Thayer also scooped.

McKaige often teamed with Thayer on reporting trips into western Cambodia and along the Thai border, where democratic resistance forces  aligned with Khmer Rouge remnants against Hun Sens Hanoi-backed government  based their operations.

Now living in Singapore, McKaige told VOA that Thayer was a rare foreigner who didnt bring a political agenda to his work in Cambodia during a time when the country was a flashpoint for geopolitical tensions.

I think he provided some balance to an otherwise extremely left-liberal view of what happened in Cambodia, McKaige said. Both choices were bad.

And some of the hardest fighters in Cambodias decades of war opened up to Thayer.

Hes an incredibly open and authentic person, and that openness is reciprocated when he talks to people, McKaige said.

Barrington, who later worked for Agence France-Presse in Phnom Penh, told VOA that Thayers relationships with his Khmer Rouge sources made some of his colleagues uncomfortable. At times, other reporters felt he was too soft on senior leaders when he scored rare interviews with them, such as former head of state Khieu Samphan.

But I think this was all part of his uber plan to try and get to Pol Pot, Barrington said. When he did get to Pol Pot, he didn't back away from asking him tough questions.

Thayer worked hard and played hard, friends said. He often shared an anecdote about charging The Associated Press nearly $500 for gin and tonics, arguing it was a medical expense given the antimalarial quinine in the tonic.

But drinking would become a demon.

Anybody who did the stuff we did and continues to do it in the spirit of trying to bring horrible things to the world's attention [is] always going to be a little rough around the edges, McKaige said.

Thayer would go on to report from around the world, including Iraq, the former Yugoslavia, Cuba and North Korea. More recently, he returned to living in the United States.

Munthit recalled visiting him at his U.S. farmhouse in the early 2000s. He said Thayer slept until early evening, woke up to feed the ducks in a nearby pond, and spent the night working on his unfinished memoir, Sympathy for the Devil.

Un Sokhom, a former publisher of an opposition newspaper in Cambodia, said the country had lost a rare living witness to the man who oversaw the massacre of so many.

"We are very sad that the ideas and further publication that he wrote and prepared for release have not been released. It will be buried," he said.

Barrington said Thayers friends are discussing how they can finish the book that he never completed.

This story originated in VOAs Khmer Service. Sok Khemara contributed.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says he'll use his chairmanship of the BRICS group of leading emerging economies to focus on advancing African interests. The bloc  Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa  is seen as an alternative to dominant Western economies.



South Africa has just taken over the BRICS chairmanship from China and will host the groups annual summit this year  with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa promising more African countries will be invited to attend.

We want to use this opportunity to advance the interests of our continent, and we will therefore through the BRICS summit be having an outreach process or moment, where we will invite other African countries to come and be part of the BRICS because we do want BRICS in whatever BRICS does to focus on helping to develop our continent," said Ramaphosa.

"Our continent was pillaged and ravaged and exploited by other continents and we therefore want to build the solidarity in BRICS to advance the interests, of course initially of our own country, but also of the continent as a whole.

Asked what form advocating for Africa might take, Mikatekiso Kubayi, a researcher at the Pretoria-based research organization the Institute for Global Dialogue, told VOA it would likely be focused on helping African countries gain greater access to the global economy.

He said BRICS is all about allowing the voices of the marginalized to actually be heard and said Africa wants to better the living standards of its people and create employment.

The collective strength of the BRICS economy and the technological capability, market size, and other qualities that make BRICS a solid development partner for Africa is what South Africa will look to harness with the BRICS partners. I think that is what the president was referring to, said Kubayi.

Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, of the South African Institute of International Affairs, said that trade would be a priority and there would be a focus on unlocking the potential of the recently formed African Continental Free Trade Area.

She noted that China, the worlds second-largest economy, is the continents single largest trade partner.

She said the summit is also about getting investment from external partners and sparking intra-continental trade.

South Africa would want to advocate in the discussions on these issues with its other BRICS partners in terms of how we, we use the creation of a continental free trade area, not only to trade more with the external world, but primarily, which is what this initiative is really about, to trade, to create goods in the continent that we can trade within the continent, she said.

Sidiropoulos said aside from trying to advance the economies of developing countries, BRICS is also about reforming the current multilateral system which does not necessarily advance the interests of the global South.

At the last BRICS summit, hosted virtually by Beijing, Ramaphosa took aim at the West, saying that during the COVID-19 pandemic rich nations did not adhere to the principles of solidarity and cooperation when it comes to equitable access to vaccines.

As well as an economic force, BRICS  which includes three democracies but also communist China and authoritarian Russia  is increasing a political force that positions itself as an alternative to the U.S.-led liberal world order.

Only Brazil voted against Russias invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations last year, while the other members abstained. South Africa, as the continents foremost democracy, was widely criticized for taking a neutral stance on the conflict.

And it looks like BRICS might soon expand. Saudi Arabia is reportedly interested in joining the bloc, as are Iran, Algeria and Argentina.
Nigerian security forces are searching for more than 30 train passengers who gunmen abducted over the weekend after attacking a train station in southern Edo state.

The passengers were waiting to board an evening train when gunmen began shooting, causing injuries. It is the first such attack in southern Nigeria and raises security concerns ahead of February's election.

The Edo state police said in a statement Sunday that operatives alongside the military, local vigilante and hunters are searching nearby forests for the victims. Officials say 32 people were kidnapped in Saturday's attack, but one escaped.

State Information commissioner Chris Osa Nehikhore told local dailies that a suspect has been arrested and is helping police in the search operation.

The police said herders armed with AK-47 rifles opened fire at the Igueben train sub-station as passengers waited to board an evening train on Saturday. Several people were injured, and railway officials have shut down all traffic at the station for the time being.

The attack comes barely one month since the resumption of train services from Abuja to the northern city of Kaduna. Train service had been shut down since March of last year, when armed men attacked a train and took more than 60 hostages.

All of those hostages have since been released.

Security analyst Chidi Omoje says a repeat of the train attack shows authorities did not learn from past experience.

"It's actually shameful because one would have expected that after that Kaduna incident, that these guys will sit down and make sure that there's a rail facility," Omoje said. "Don't forget that we're trying to revitalize our rail system in this country and now you see these kind of attacks on it. People will be naturally scared to even go close to anything train these days."

Nigeria has been battling Islamist militants in the Northeast for more than 12 years. But in more recent years violence has spread to other regions of the country.

Security analyst Senator Iroegbu says authorities have not taken a big-picture approach in addressing security issues.

"Most times the response to these security issues is done in haphazard way like in silos, if it's happening in Kaduna some neighboring states feel that they're safe. It shows a government that is unprepared," Iroegbu said.

According to the Nigeria Security Tracker, more than 9,000 people were killed and 4,600 abducted across the country last year.
Migration, climate change, trade and manufacturing issues headlined the first day of meetings between the leaders of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, as the host, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, forcefully urged greater continental integration.

"Dear President Biden, I am certain that you are a humanistic president, a visionary president," Lopez Obrador said as the two leaders sat down with high-level delegations for a bilateral meeting Monday night. "And that there are conditions that couldn't really be better to initiate a new policy of integration, of economic social integration, Mr. President, in our continent."

Biden and Lopez Obrador held the first of a series of meetings that will continue on Tuesday and will also include Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, part of a regional summit between the three leaders.

The U.S. president and his wife, Jill Biden, were greeted Monday by Lopez Obrador and his wife, Beatriz Gutierrez, for a welcome ceremony at the National Palace.

And on Monday evening, Biden, Trudeau and Lopez Obrador had dinner along with their spouses.

Trade

On Monday, Lopez Obrador called for greater economic integration on the continent.

"This is the moment for us to determine to do away with this abandonment, this disdain," he said. "And this forgetfulness for Latin America and the Caribbean, which is opposed to the policy of the good neighborhood, of the titans of freedom and liberty  starting with you, because there would be no other leader that could implement this enterprise."

The White House noted that the talks were nuanced and complex.

"These are sensitive conversations, they're best done behind closed doors, but the president certainly comes with that as a key part of his economic agenda here," national security adviser Jake Sullivan told journalists in Mexico City.

Amigo a amigo

Sullivan also said there is a personal element to this summit, which is often referred to as the "3 Amigos" summit.

"This trip is a good opportunity for President Biden to deepen his personal engagement with President Lopez Obrador and Prime Minister Trudeau," Sullivan told reporters in Mexico City on Monday. "Yesterday he had the opportunity to ride with President Lopez Obrador from the airport back into town, which gave them the chance to just have a one-on-one chat of how they're seeing the world right now, what's on their minds. I think they both got a lot out of it."

Sullivan declined to give details of the conversation, but the leaders' Sunday night ride from the new Felipe Angeles International Airport, through the darkened residential outskirts of the capital and into the heart of the city, lasted about an hour.

Migration

Biden arrived late Sunday in Mexico after visiting the Texas city of El Paso for a firsthand look at the influx of thousands of undocumented migrants crossing the border with Mexico.

Earlier, during a visit to the border city, Biden stopped at the Bridge of the Americas port of entry, where he met with Customs and Border Protection officers. He also walked a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border wall that separates the Texas city from Ciudad Juarez with two Customs and Border Protection agents.

Before leaving for Mexico City, he also visited the El Paso County Migrant Support Center where he met with local officials and community leaders.

Upon his arrival in Texas, Biden was met by Governor Greg Abbott, who handed Biden a letter. Abbott cited "chaos" in his state, saying the situation is the result of Biden failing to enforce federal immigration laws.

Biden tweeted after his visit that it is possible to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and make the immigration process "orderly, fair, safe and humane."

"My administration is using the tools available to limit illegal migration, expand legal pathways to immigration, and increase security," Biden said. "The approach we're taking is based on a model we know works. But to truly fix our broken immigration system, Congress needs to act."

Biden's visit came days after announcing that 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans per month would be allowed into the United States and be able to work legally for up to two years if they apply from abroad, pass a background check and prove they have a financial supporter in the U.S.

When asked if the U.S. government plans to accept more than 30,000 migrants under the new program, Sullivan said the government has established numerical targets, and they will "see how it goes" to then make determinations.

"By the end of this summit, we are not going to have a new agreement as a deliverable here," he said. "What we need is to see how the program, announced last week, works in practice, [and] what, if any, adjustments need to be made to that program, and then we can talk about taking the next step."

Biden officials said those who fail to apply for the program and cross into the U.S. without authorization will be removed to Mexico under a pandemic-era health order that allows for quick expulsion of migrants.

The order, known as Title 42, was put in place over concerns of the spread of the coronavirus as the reason to keep out the migrants trying to enter the U.S. at or in between ports of entry.

Migrants are also subjected to deportation to their home country after going through expedited removal if they enter the U.S. without authorization.

VOA immigration reporter Aline Barros in Washington contributed to this story. Some material for this report came from The Associated Press.
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, center, president of the Supreme Court Rosa Weber, center right, are accompanied by governors and ministers for an inspection visit and support for the Supreme Court headquarters on Jan. 9, 2023.

Brazilian police on Tuesday questioned about 1,000 supporters of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro held at a gymnasium in the capital of Brasilia.

They are investigating anti-government riots over the weekend that badly damaged public buildings in a protest against new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The detainees had been staying at a camp in Brasilia that troops dismantled on Monday, a day after hundreds of demonstrators left there to storm Brazils Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace.

The protesters were calling for a military coup to overturn Bolsonaros narrow loss to leftist Lula in an October election.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes vowed in a speech to combat the "terrorists" at work in Brasilia. About 200 demonstrators were under arrest and held at a penal facility for their role in the Sunday rampage.

"Democracy will prevail and Brazilian institutions will not bend," Moraes said at the swearing-in of a new head of the federal police.

The protesters held at the gym, some of them wrapped in Brazilian flags, slept on the ground. Some complained to a Reuters reporter they were being held indefinitely and were poorly fed. They sang and took selfies, video posted on social media showed.

Lula, who took office on New Years Day, met Monday night with the head of the Supreme Court, congressional leaders and state governors in a show of national unity to condemn the riots. They visited the ransacked Supreme Court building, which was the site most damaged by the pro-Bolsonaro rioters.

The former president is in Orlando, in the southern U.S. state of Florida, where he was admitted to a hospital Monday with intestinal pain, according to his wife, Michelle. His doctor said he had an intestinal blockage that was not serious and probably would not need surgery.

Bolsonaro has been hospitalized multiple times since surviving a stabbing during his 2018 election campaign.

Bolsonaro told CNN Brazil on Tuesday that he may cut short his stay in the U.S. due to his medical issues and return to Brazil before the end of the month.

Some U.S. Democratic lawmakers have called for the United States to send the former president back to Brazil.

"The United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil," Congressman Joaquin Castro told CNN.

The White House said Monday it had not received any requests from Brazil's government regarding Bolsonaro's status.

The protesters who carried out the attacks on Brazil's seats of power were trying to either reinstate the former president or oust the newly inaugurated Lula.

Bolsonaro has denied inciting his supporters and said Sunday the rioters had "crossed the line."

Lula has vowed to bring the rioters to justice and promised to punish those police who failed to stop the protesters.

"All the people who did this will be found and punished," he said.

Global reaction

U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday called the riots in Brazil "outrageous."

On Monday, Biden issued a joint statement with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the three leaders met in Mexico City for previously scheduled talks.

"We stand with Brazil as it safeguards its democratic institutions," the leaders said. "Our governments support the free will of the people of Brazil. We look forward to working with President Lula on delivering for our countries, the Western Hemisphere, and beyond."

In response to a question from VOA in Mexico City, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said, "The freely elected leader of Brazil will govern Brazil and will not be deterred or knocked off course by the actions of these people who have assaulted the instruments of governance in Brasilia."

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, a native of Portugal, said, "I was shocked by what I saw. But I must tell you, I trust Brazil. I trust Brazilian institutions, and I am absolutely convinced that Brazil will deal with this situation with adequate accountability and that the democratic functioning of Brazil will move on."

VOA's Anita Powell contributed to this report from Mexico City. Some information came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo doubled down on its ridicule of Iran's religious rulers on Tuesday, with fresh cartoons of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, despite protests from Iran and its allies.

"The mullahs aren't happy. The caricatures of their supreme leader ... do not seem to have made them laugh," the paper's editor, known as Riss, writes in the latest edition, which hits newsstands on Wednesday.

"Laughing at themselves has never been a strong point of tyrants," he added.

The paper was hit by a cyberattack after publishing cartoons of Khamenei in last week's special edition, which marked the anniversary of the 2015 attack on its Paris offices that left 12 dead.

"A digital attack doesn't leave anyone dead, but it sets the tone. The mullah's regime feels in such danger that it considers it vital to its existence to hack the website of a French newspaper," Riss wrote.

"It is an honour in one sense, but above all proves that they feel their power is very fragile."

There have been months of protests in Iran sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a woman arrested for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code.

Iran issued an official warning to France over the "insulting and indecent" cartoons in last week's Charlie Hebdo.

Earlier on Tuesday, Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian movement in Lebanon, also condemned the cartoons, saying Khamenei was not just a ruler but "a religious symbol for tens of millions of believers."
China's new Foreign Minister Qin Gang is starting his term with a weeklong trip to five African countries, the Foreign Ministry announced Monday.

Qin, who until recently was ambassador to the United States, will visit Ethiopia, Gabon, Angola, Benin and Egypt from January 9-16, spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily media briefing. In Egypt, Qin will also meet the secretary-general of the Arab League.

The new foreign minister is following in the footsteps of his predecessors, who have for more than three decades started each year with a trip to Africa.

It shows that China attaches great importance to the traditional friendship with Africa and the development of China-Africa relations, Wang said.

The U.S. is battling China for influence in Africa, with President Joe Biden making an appeal to African leaders at a summit in Washington in December. China has become a major trading partner with the continent and investor in infrastructure and mining projects.

Qin, 56, was appointed foreign minister December 30. He succeeded Wang Yi, 69, who has replaced Yang Jiechi as the government's top foreign policy official.

Wang's new position has not been announced, but a recent article by him on the Foreign Ministry website described him as director of the ruling Communist Party's foreign affairs office, the post that Yang held.
Beijing is touting a promising new drug, VV116, as COVID-19 cases surge nationwide after the abrupt end to its "zero-COVID" policy.

Described as "superior goods of Chinese provenance" in government-affiliated media reports, a phase 3 comparative clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded the oral antiviral agent VV116 is as effective as Paxlovid at curbing mild to moderate illness among people at high risk of severe disease caused by COVID-19 with even lower incidence of adverse effects.

Paxlovid is an antiviral drug produced by Pfizer that was granted emergency authorization in December 2021 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating severe disease caused by COVID-19.

The VV116 study published on December 28 said the Chinese drug was "noninferior" to nirmatrelvirritonavir, or Paxlovid, with fewer safety concerns.

This drug "can interfere with the replication of the virus, reduce the amount of the virus, and can be used to treat the disease," said Shin-Ru Shih, director and distinguished professor at the Research Center for Emerging Viral Infections at Chang Gung University in Taiwan.

This is the same principle as Paxlovid, which is currently used in most countries around the world. These antiviral drugs are designed to stop the virus from replicating, giving the body valuable time to build immunity to the virus. Paxlovid is currently the drug recommended by the U.S. National Institutes of Health to treat COVID-19.

The People's Daily, China's state-run newspaper, on December 29 reported that the VV116 trial is the first study of a Chinese developed COVID-19 drug published by the authoritative New England Journal of Medicine.

"We dare to directly compare the efficacy of domestically developed drugs with Paxlovid at this point, which is a bold challenge and breakthrough," Xu Huaqiang, a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the People's Daily.

As VV116 goes through the often-lengthy trials required for approval, epidemiologists believe that China should use existing drugs, given the surge of cases since the relaxation of zero-COVID restrictions began in early December.

China's National Health Commission stopped publishing daily reports on COVID-19 deaths on December 25. As of January 2, China's official COVID-19 death toll was 5,253 since the pandemic began in January 2020. China's population was over 1.4 billion people in 2021.

According to a forecast published December 28 by Airfinity, a London-based research firm that focuses on predictive health analytics, COVID-19 infections in China are expected to reach the first peak January 13, with 3.7 million cases a day, while deaths are estimated to peak 10 days later, at approximately 25,000 a day.

Amesh Adalja, an American infectious disease physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told VOA Mandarin, "The Chinese government can and should increase access to Paxlovid for high-risk individuals in order to preserve their hospital capacity and minimize deaths."

Adalja said that the question that still needs to be answered about VV116 is its ability to decrease rates of hospitalization and death.

Shih said that given the current situation in China, the available vaccines and medicines should be used as soon as possible. "Because after all, there are some elderly people or people with chronic diseases. They are at high risk and may not be able to wait for new medicines. We should use available resources to help these people first," she said.

"I think the fight against this global pandemic requires a global effort," she added. "Although there are some livelihood considerations among various pharmaceutical companies and countries, after all, the lives of patients should be the top priority."

Drug trials

Shih said the VV116 study is different from a real phase 3 trial.

"This study is to compare VV116 with Paxlovid, which is a commonly used protease inhibitor. This clinical trial is a comparison of non-inferiority to show that it is no worse than Paxlovid," she told VOA Mandarin. "It's not a real phase 3 clinical trial. It's just a comparative clinical trial."

Shih said VV116 "has potential, but it will not be available to the public immediately."

Ruijin Hospital, which is affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, created VV116, which was further developed by pharmaceutical companies Junshi Biosciences and Vigonvita Life Sciences.

VV116 is similar to Remdesivir, developed by the U.S. pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences and approved by the FDA to treat COVID-19 by intravenous injection in adults and children.

The VV116 trial was led by Ruijin Hospital and another Shanghai institution, Renji Hospital, which is also affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and conducted at seven other hospitals in Shanghai.

It is a single-blind study, meaning the researchers didn't know which drugs the patients were taking, but the patients did. One trial group of 377 participants took VV116 while the other control group of 378 participants took Paxlovid. Both courses of treatment are five days.

The results showed that the median time to recovery, which is two consecutive days without symptoms of COVID-19, was four days for the VV116 trial group and five days for those taking Paxlovid. After four weeks, 98% of the participants had recovered, and none had developed serious illness.

In the trial, 26% of people taking Paxlovid reported a change in their sense of taste, compared to 4% of the VV116 control group. People in both trial groups experienced elevated triglycerides, which can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. However, 11% of people in the VV116 group reported this side effect, compared with 21% in the Paxlovid group.

Shih said that such a discovery is of great significance.

"Because Paxlovid has drug-drug interactions, people with some chronic diseases can't use Paxlovid when they take certain medicines. So, we need better medicines. VV116 has such potential, and its side effects are indeed relatively small," she told VOA Mandarin in a phone interview.

However, scientists believe that VV116 needs larger trials to confirm its efficacy and side effects. Shih said that because the trial was not double-blind and the number of participants was relatively small, the trial may be biased, so drug regulatory agencies will require pharmaceutical companies to conduct further trials. A double-blind trial is one in which neither the participants nor the researchers know which treatment participants are receiving until the clinical trial concludes.

"Especially if this drug is to be extended to more people, the ethnic group cannot only be Chinese, and it may have to be tested among all ethnic groups. When Paxlovid conducted clinical trials, different races are taken into consideration, which is more complete," Shih said.

The median age of the participants was 53 years and approximately half the participants were women.

According to FDA regulations, the third phase of clinical trials generally recruits nearly 3,000 participants. Paxlovid's latest clinical trial included more than 2200 participants.

In most countries, it takes years for drugs to go from clinical trials to approval by drug regulatory agencies. In the U.S., studies show that the average approval process of new drugs takes 12 years, according to PharmaNewsIntelligence, and costs from $985 million to $2.8 billion.

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
A judge on Tuesday ordered the release of a Senegalese journalist and prominent anti-government critic after more than two months in detention, his lawyers said.

Pape Ale Niang, head of the Dakar Matin online news site, was arrested on November 6 and charged with "divulging information likely to harm national defense."

Widely followed in Senegal for his regular columns on current affairs, Niang was released on December 14 but sent back to prison a week later and had since been on a hunger strike in protest over his detention.

Lawyer Moussa Sarr told Agence France-Presse the temporary release order came with a strict ban on Niang commenting on the case as well as a travel ban.

He was "extremely strained" from a hunger strike launched in protest at his detention, the lawyer said, adding that he is still in hospital.

The journalist has been at Dakar's main hospital since December 24, where doctors have voiced concern about his condition, according to a local press organization.

Another of his lawyers, Cire Cledor Ly, said the case was "political" and Diang ought to end the hunger strike.

"He held out, it was very hard, but he was fighting for a principle and he has won," the lawyer said.

The case against Niang arose after he wrote about rape charges faced by Senegal's main opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko.

Niang was accused of describing confidential messages about security arrangements for Sonko's questioning by investigators, according to trade unions.

His detention sparked a wave of criticism from the press, civil society groups and Senegal's opposition, with many calling for his release.

The Coordination of Press Associations put out a statement praising the "victory" of the release order and called for cancellation of the "fantasy and political charges which earned him more than 60 days in prison."

Senegal has a strong reputation for openness and press freedom in West Africa, but this status is in decline, according to Reporters Without Borders.

Its 2022 Press Freedom Index ranked Senegal 73rd out of 180 countries  a fall of 24 places compared with 2021.
Military support for Ukraine and relations with Russia and China are among the key issues as Czech voters prepare to choose a new president Friday, with three candidates neck-and-neck in the polls.

Among them is Andrej Babis, the billionaire former prime minister who received a boost after he was acquitted of fraud Monday.

Babis was charged in 2022 for taking his "Stork Nest farm out of his giant Agrofert holding company, in order to make it eligible for a $2 million European Union subsidy for small companies.

Prague Municipal Court Judge Jan Sott said it had not been proven that his actions constituted a crime. State prosecutors are considering an appeal.

The 68-year-old Babis described the prosecution as a "political process.

I think it is good news for the whole Czech Republic, for all citizens of the Czech Republic, that we live in the rule of law, he told reporters following the verdict Monday.

Babis, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021, is seen as a populist and a political ally of the outgoing president, Milos Zeman. Babis has criticized government and European Union policies on issues like migration and support for Ukraine. That has won him support  but also energized his critics.

Rivals

Babis main rivals include Petr Pavel, a retired Czech general, and former chairman of the NATO Military Committee. His campaign slogan is, "Bring order and calm.

The third leading candidate is Danuse Nerudova, a former economist and university rector who promises a progressive, pro-European presidency. She would become her countrys first female president if elected.

Both Petr Pavel and Danuse Nerudova are highly committed to the Czech Republic as a liberal democracy and also to its role in the liberal order more widely, said Benjamin Tallis, an analyst with the German Council on Foreign Relations.

That's really the clear choice facing Czechs. Do they seize the chance to go back towards the liberal democratic mainstream, or is it a time that they would prefer to actually go back to the recent times of the Zeman-Babis period and more towards this populist nationalist and authoritarian politics? Tallis told VOA.

Ukraine

The president does not have executive powers; however, analysts say a Babis victory could make life difficult for the current government under Prime Minister Petr Fiala, which has taken a strongly pro-Ukrainian stance following Russias invasion of Ukraine.

In his (Babis) view it's too much support, too much help to Ukraine and also to Ukrainian refugees, said Lubomir Kopecek, a professor of political science at Masaryk University. But I don't think that Babis would be somebody like Zeman in the past  a pro-Russian and pro-Chinese president. Because his business interests are connected to western and central Europe.

Velvet divorce

The Czech Republic and Slovakia have just marked the 30-year anniversary of the so-called velvet divorce  the peaceful split of Czechoslovakia following the fall of communism. For some voters, the historical resonance is significant, says Tallis.

Lessons the Czech Republic has learned from history about how to stand up to autocracy, things about what is worthwhile about democracy, about how Ukrainians have revived memories of why freedoms and rights are worth fighting and dying for. What is actually liberty all about and where is the hope of that progressive future? Tallis told VOA.

If no candidate secures an outright majority in Fridays election, the top two go through to a second round two weeks later.

According to the Financial Times newspaper, recent surveys indicate the three candidates each have between 20 and 30 percent of the vote, with six other contenders splitting the remaining votes.

Some of the information in this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.
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Czech voters are preparing to choose a new president  with support for Ukraine and relations with Russia and China among the key issues. As Henry Ridgwell reports, three candidates are neck and neck in the polls.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan advocated Tuesday for a cooperative bilateral relationship with Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, warning mutual tensions could turn his country's counterterrorism efforts into a "disastrous forever war."

Khan spoke at a seminar in the capital, Islamabad, as a new wave of terrorism grips Pakistan, particularly its northwestern districts near the Afghan border, killing hundreds of security personnel and civilians.

Much of the violence is blamed on or claimed by militants linked to the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) insurgent group, known as the Pakistani Taliban. The militants, including TTP leadership, have taken shelter in Afghanistan after fleeing Pakistani counterterrorism operations and conduct terrorist attacks from there.

The violence has strained Islamabad's otherwise good ties with Kabul and prompted Pakistani authorities to repeatedly urge the Taliban administration to stop TTP militants from using Afghan soil to plot cross-border terrorist raids.

Khan blamed the government of his successor, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, for issuing "dangerously irresponsible" statements against the de facto Afghan Taliban authorities and causing strains in bilateral ties rather than seeking cooperation in combating the TTP-led terror threat.

"If the government of Afghanistan stops cooperating with us or if you spoil the relations with them, then this war against terrorism in Pakistan will become endless and turn into a major disaster for us," the former prime minister said.

The TTP is known to be an offshoot of the Afghan Taliban, providing shelter and recruits to the latter for their two decades of successful insurgency against the U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan. The Islamist insurgents seized power in August 2021 as all U.S.-led foreign troops withdrew from the country.

Pakistani Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah suggested last week in a television interview that the Pakistani military might launch cross-border strikes against TTP targets. His statement triggered a strong backlash from Afghan authorities and a resolve to defend against any such action.

Sanaullah later retracted his remarks and the foreign ministry subsequently ruled out any cross-border military action, saying that as a responsible member of the United Nations, Pakistan will always respect the "territorial integrity and political independence" of Afghanistan.

Pakistan's sustained operations against TTP bases in border areas over the past decade or so forced the militants to flee into their Afghan hideouts.

Officials in Islamabad maintain that TTP leaders and commanders have been roaming and operating with greater freedom since the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

The Afghan Taliban reject allegations they are allowing any groups, including the TTP, to threaten Pakistan or other foreign countries in line with their counterterrorism pledges to the world. Critics question those claims, citing the killing of Egyptian-born al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in a residential compound in Kabul last year.

Khan, who was ousted in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence last year, said Tuesday that around 30,000 Pakistanis, including TTP fighters and their families, have taken shelter on Afghan soil.

The former prime minister urged the Sharif government to engage with Kabul authorities to encourage repatriation of the refugees and resolve the problem through peaceful means rather than military power.

Sharif and his aides alleged that Khan's decision to open talks with the TTP encouraged the group to unleash its recent wave of terrorism in Pakistan.

Khan's ousted administration opened peace talks with the TTP, brokered and hosted by the Afghan Taliban. But the process fell apart last November when the group ended a cease-fire, accusing the government of violating terms of the deal.

Khan also advised Islamabad in his speech Tuesday against seeking Washington's security assistance in counterterrorism efforts, saying it would intensify terrorism in Pakistan. He warned, citing intelligence information from his time in office, that battle-hardened TTP militants are now equipped with weapons that U.S. and NATO forces left behind in Afghanistan.

The former prime minister noted Pakistani police are comparatively ill-equipped and lack training to deal with the threat.

The TTP, listed as a global terrorist organization by the United States, emerged in Pakistan's border areas in 2007. All its chiefs and key commanders were killed in U.S. drone strikes against their hideouts on both sides of the border when American forces were stationed in Afghanistan.

Analysts say TTP fighters are openly issuing threats and statements against Pakistan and mainstream politicians because they appear confident they will receive some kind of support from the ruling Taliban in return for services they rendered to the Afghan insurgency against U.S.-led forces.

Ejaz Haider, a Pakistani defense and foreign policy expert, wrote in an article this week in the local online BOL NEWS outlet that even a new round of military operations against the TTP could pose serious challenges for the troops.

He noted that when Pakistan previously launched operations against TTP bases in border areas, the Afghan Taliban were busy battling foreign troops on the other side and hiding from U.S. drone strikes at the same time.

"Now, the situation is different. The foreign troops have left, and Afghanistan is controlled by the TTA [the Afghan Taliban]," Haider said. "The TTP is being  and will be  supported by the TTA," he added.
As newly ascendant House Republicans get down to business, they're vowing to forge ahead with long-promised investigations of the Biden administration, from the U.S. military's chaotic and bloody withdrawal from Afghanistan to the alleged weaponization of the Justice Department and the FBI.

Shrugging off accusations that they're about to launch revenge hearings as payback for the Democratic-led investigation of former President Donald Trump, Republicans say they simply want to exercise their oversight responsibility to hold the administration accountable.

Here is a look at the five biggest investigations Republicans have pledged to conduct during this Congress.

Justice Department and FBI

As far back as former President Donald Trump's first term in office, Republicans have accused the FBI and the Department of Justice of being politicized arms of government, an allegation both agencies deny.

The charge that the Biden administration has weaponized the law enforcement agencies against its political enemies became a Republican rallying cry after the FBI executed a search warrant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate last year as part of an investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents.

In addition to investigating the unprecedented search, Republicans say they want to probe, among other issues, allegations that the FBI sought to suppress ahead of the 2020 election a damaging news article about the business dealings of then-candidate Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, that the bureau inflated domestic extremism data for political purposes, and that the Justice Department directed the FBI to spy on parents at school board meetings.

To "investigate the investigators," Republicans are set to form a select subcommittee to lead the inquiry on the "weaponization of the federal government." That subcommittee will operate under the auspices of the House Judiciary Committee, which has subpoena power.

In November, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee released a report detailing what they termed "a rampant culture of unaccountability, manipulation and abuse at the highest level."

On NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, Republican Congressman Dan Bishop said Republicans have agreed to give the panel sufficient authority "to get the job done."

Democrats view the Republican investigations as an attempt to discredit Justice Department probes of Trump and have vowed to block them where they can.

Hunter Biden

A related investigation, to be headed by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, will focus on the business dealings of President Biden's family.

Hunter Biden has been a lightning rod for Republican criticism since 2019 when his father declared his candidacy for the 2020 presidential election.

Republicans say a laptop allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden that surfaced in late 2020 contains evidence of corrupt business dealings and influence peddling.

Criticized for targeting the president's son, Republicans are casting a wider net.

"Let me be clear: We're not investigating Hunter Biden. We're investigating Joe Biden," James Comer, the incoming chairperson of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

The Justice Department has been investigating Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings since 2018 but has not charged him with any crime.

The younger Biden has denied any wrongdoing, and President Biden has said he never discussed business dealings with his son.

Afghanistan

The tumultuous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 is another widely expected target of Republican investigations.

The House Oversight and Reform Committee will lead the investigation along with other panels, with Comer already sending letters to the Department of Defense and other agencies requesting information about the exit.

The withdrawal led to the Taliban's return to power after a 20-year insurgency that took the lives of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians.

Thirteen American servicemen and at least 170 Afghan civilians died Aug. 26, 2021, when an Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself up outside Kabul Airport.

The Biden administration has faced criticism from Republicans and some Democrats for failing to adequately prepare for the withdrawal.

Republicans want to investigate the decision-making process that led to the withdrawal, faulty intelligence that prompted Biden to declare in early 2021 that the fall of Kabul was not inevitable, and the decision to leave behind billions of dollars' worth of military equipment.

Biden has repeatedly defended the withdrawal, saying getting out of Afghanistan was always going to be difficult.

China and COVID-19 origins

Republicans plan to keep an existing House Select Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic but intend to focus on the origins of the virus and the impact of lockdowns.

In a report in October, Republican staff of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions contended that the virus most likely resulted from a "research-related incident" in China.

The U.S. intelligence community has failed to reach that conclusion, and China said the pandemic originated outside its borders.

But Comer said the public deserves "answers to what really happened in that Wuhan lab in China."

As part of their upcoming investigation, House Republicans last month released a list of 40 White House and health officials whom they plan to call to testify, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, who retired last month as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Border crisis

Republicans say the Biden administration's "open border" policy has led to a huge influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, with agents apprehending record numbers of people over the past year.

Among other things, Republicans say they'll investigate the administration's failure to "protect the border," allegations that agents whipped immigrants in Texas, a purported decline in border enforcement actions and deportations.

The Biden administration late last week announced it will limit asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border and expand the use of the COVID-19 ban known as Title 42, while increasing the legal paths for some migrants to apply for asylum. They announced Thursday that up to 30,000 Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants would be allowed into the United States per month and allowed to work legally for up to two years if they apply from abroad, pass a background check and prove they have a financial supporter in the U.S.

Biden officials said those who fail to apply for the program and cross into the U.S. without authorization will be removed to Mexico under Title 42.

Some hard-right Republicans have called for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, accusing him of lying to Congress when he declared the border is secure.

Mayorkas said he has no plans to resign. "I've got a lot of work to do," he said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."


A court in Kenya says five suspects are being held in connection with the murder of prominent LGBTQ activist Edwin Chiloba, whose mutilated body was found on a roadside last week stuffed in a metal trunk.

Kenyan police say they are investigating a possible love triangle as motive for the killing.

Rights activists suspect the killing was one in a series of hate crimes in Kenya, where homosexuality is illegal.

Among the five suspects arraigned in court in Eldoret Monday was Jacktone Odhiambo, a freelance photographer said to be a longtime friend of the 25-year-old Chiloba, who was a leading activist in Kenyas LGBTQ community.

The arraignment comes just a day after police arrested three more suspects for their alleged role in disposing of the victims remains. Chilobas family told VOA they are satisfied with the investigation process so far, even as they demand justice for their kin.

We want the culprits or the murderers of my brother to be charged according to the Kenyan law, said Gaudensia Chirchir, Chilobas cousin and the family spokesperson.

Chiloba's body was discovered about 40 kilometers outside the Rift Valley town of Eldoret after it was reportedly dumped from a moving car.

The killing has drawn widespread condemnation, including from the U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk and the African Union's human rights commissioner Solomon Ayele Dersso.

Rights activists say members of the LGBTQ community are increasingly being targeted with discrimination and attacks.

Fahe Kerubo, an LGBTQ campaigner at the Reproductive Health Network in Kenya, said that The incident of Edwin is not a first. This comes after Sheila Lumamba has been killed and others that I can remember.

Kerubo added that, Weve also seen increased homophobia, especially online. Weve seen a lot of increased violation of incidents among the queer community or that is directed toward the LGBTQ community.

Under a British colonial-era law, homosexuality is illegal in Kenya.
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The Pentagon calls the intense fighting in Ukraines east savage as NATO and the EU strengthen their relationship. An in-depth look at Ukraines controversial new media regulations. Plus, we meet a man with a terrifying job: hes a minesweeper.
The latest in a string of Pacific storms blamed for at least 12 deaths soaked California on Monday, prompting evacuations of some 25,000 people, including the entire town of Montecito and nearby areas of the Santa Barbara coast, due to heightened flood and mudslide risks.

The Montecito evacuation zone was among 17 California regions where authorities worry a series of torrential downpours since late December could unleash lethal cascades of mud, boulders and other debris in hillsides stripped bare of vegetation by past wildfires.

The mandatory evacuations came five years after mudslides from heavy rains struck newly fire-scarred slopes and canyons around Montecito, an affluent coastal enclave 90 miles northwest of Los Angeles, causing widespread damage and killing more than 20 people in January 2018.

Sheriff's deputies were out plying flooded roads in armored high-clearance BearCat SWAT vehicles to rescue residents trapped by high water, said Raquel Zick, a Santa Barbara County sheriff's spokesperson told Reuters.

Among the nearly 9,000 residents of Montecito, many with opulent homes in the picturesque town, are such celebrities as media mogul Oprah Winfrey, and Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan.

It was not immediately clear whether they were among those forced to flee the area. Winfrey was known to have been in Hawaii over the New Year's holiday.

Another famous Montecito resident, actress-comedian Ellen DeGeneres, posted a video selfie on Twitter of herself standing in the rain beside a flooded torrent flowing through what she described as a normally dry creek bed near her property.

'Mother nature is not happy'

The performer, garbed in a hooded jacket, tweeted that she had been advised to "shelter in place" rather than evacuate since her home was on higher ground.

"We need to be nicer to Mother Nature, because Mother Nature is not happy with us," she said in the video. "Let's all do our part. Stay safe, everybody. Yikes, DeGeneres said.

All 15 districts of Montecito were ordered to immediately evacuate along with portions of the city of Santa Barbara and adjacent areas of Carpinteria and Summerland where "burn scars" posed a threat of mudslides, the Montecito Fire Department said.

Social media video posted online by TMZ.com showed a man paddling his kayak in the middle of a flooded street in Santa Barbara. The Los Angeles Times reported numerous road closures from flooding and debris flows, including sections of U.S. highway route 101 in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

Along the central California coast, some 14,000 people were ordered evacuated early on Monday from four Santa Cruz County communities inundated with flash floods, extreme tides and heavy runoff from local mountains, said Brian Ferguson, a spokesperson for the state Office of Emergency Services.

Nearly 4,000 more people in the town of Wilton remained under evacuation orders due to flood threats from breached levees along the Cosumnes River south of Sacramento, the state capital. Another 42,000 residents of roughly a dozen counties were under evacuation warnings, Ferguson said.

The torrential rains, along with heavy snow in mountain areas, were the product of yet another "atmospheric river" of dense moisture funneled into California from the tropical Pacific, powered by sprawling low-pressure systems churning offshore.

At least a dozen fatalities have been attributed to several back-to-back storms that have lashed California since December 26, including a toddler killed when a redwood tree was blown over his family's trailer home last week.

Experts say the growing frequency and intensity of such storms, interspersed with extreme dry spells, are symptoms of climate change, posing greater challenges to managing California's precious water supplies while minimizing risks of floods, mudslides and wildfires.

The six storms since just after Christmas have been accompanied by pounding surf that has battered seaside communities, as well as fierce, gale-force winds that have uprooted thousands of trees weakened by prolonged drought.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has warned the latest onslaught would impact most of California's 39 million residents, with up to 5 inches of additional rain expected to fall near the coast and more than a foot of snow on the Sierra Nevada mountains over the next few days.

The high winds have wreaked havoc on the state's power grid, knocking out electricity to tens of thousands of Californians. As many as 120,000 homes and businesses were without electricity on Monday morning, according to data from Poweroutage.us.

U.S. President Joe Biden has approved an emergency declaration authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief efforts and mobilize emergency resources in California.
Its been six months since the James Webb Space Telescope began transmitting breathtaking pictures of the cosmos back to Earth, transfixing star gazers and scientists alike.

The images have led to new discoveries about the universe, including the formation of stars, the evolution of black holes and the composition of planets in other solar systems.

NASAs Webb telescope  a collaboration between the United States, Europe and Canada  was launched on Christmas Day 2021. However, it was not until July 12, 2022, when U.S. President Joe Biden officially released the first set of pictures taken by the $10 billion telescope, that its first images were seen by the world.

Here is a look at some of the best images captured by the telescope over the past six months.

Galaxy cluster (Webbs first Deep Field)

July 12, 2022

Among the first set of images taken by the telescope and revealed by NASA is a galaxy cluster known as SMACS 0723 that is teeming with thousands of galaxies. NASA called the picture the deepest, sharpest infrared view of the universe to date and said it shows the galaxies as they appeared 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists describe the telescope as looking back in time. That is because it can see galaxies that are so far away that it takes light from those galaxies billions of years to reach the telescope.

The Carina Nebula

July 12, 2022

Also part of the first set of images NASA released, this picture shows emerging stellar nurseries in a star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. NASA says the stellar nurseries and individual stars that are seen in the image are completely hidden in visible-light pictures. Because of Webbs sensitivity to infrared light, it can peer through cosmic dust to see these objects, it said. A successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, Webb is able to use the infrared spectrum in capturing its images, while its predecessor used mainly optical and ultraviolet wavelengths.

Atmosphere of a distant planet

July 12, 2022

This observation from the Webb telescope captures detailed measurements of a planetary atmosphere 1,150 light-years away. Among the findings from this atmosphere is the distinct signature of water. NASA says such images show the significant role the telescope will play in the search for potentially habitable planets in coming years. The planet analyzed here, known as WASP-96 b, is one of more than 5,000 confirmed exoplanets in the Milky Way, according to NASA. It has a mass less than half that of Jupiter, a temperature greater than 500C, and it orbits its Sun-like star once every 3 Earth-days.

Enchanting Jupiter

August 22, 2022

The Webb telescope captured new images of Jupiter in August, delighting the internet with its composite picture of the planet from three infrared filters. Jupiters Great Red Spot  a storm so big it could contain the entire Earth  is shown in white instead of red, and in sharp detail. NASA says the spot appears white, as do some of the clouds around the planet, because they are reflecting a large amount of light and contain high-altitude hazes.

Neptunes rings

September 21, 2022

Staying within our solar system, Webb turned its gaze to Neptune, producing an image of the icy planet that captures some of the clearest views of its rings. The photo also shows seven of Neptunes 14 known moons. While Neptune appears blue at visible wavelengths, caused by small amounts of gaseous methane, Webbs near-infrared camera does not show the color in this image. Methane gas so strongly absorbs red and infrared light that the planet is quite dark at these near-infrared wavelengths, except where high-altitude clouds are present, NASA said.

The Pillars of Creation

October 19, 2022

Webbs new view of the Pillars of Creation shows a beautifully clear picture of the celestial event, where new stars are forming within dense clouds of gas and dust. The Pillars captured peoples imagination when NASA's Hubble Space Telescope began sending images of it in 1995, including the picture at left taken in 2014. The image on the right is created from Webbs near-infrared camera and shows the presence of far more stars, which are formed out of the dusty clouds over millions of years.
For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments in Russias war on Ukraine. All times EST.

11 p.m.: Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine has been about 16% lower in the past week from previous levels amid mild weather in Europe, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the data said on Tuesday, and as the region remains well supplied with gas from other sources.

Kremlin-controlled gas giant Gazprom has said that Russian daily gas deliveries via the Sudzha entry point through Ukraine to Europe have been at 35.5 million cubic meters for the past five days, down from more than 40 mcm in the past few months.

Gazprom did not reply to a request for comment about why volumes have declined.

10:15 p.m.:

9:40 p.m.: An online sale of works by artist Banksy intended to raise funds for civilians in Ukraine has been the target of a computer attack from Russian IP addresses, Agence France-Presse reported, citing organizers.

The Legacy of War Foundation organized the sale in December of 50 serigraphs by the British artist at a unit price of 5,660 euros.

The sale of works, numbered and certified, was limited to one copy per buyer.

"The site received more than a million requests (and 3,500 hostile attacks from Russian IP addresses)," the foundation said on its website.

Banksy had indicated on Instagram that the profits from the sale of these 50 serigraphs "will go to our friends in Ukraine."

They will be used in particular to buy ambulances, generators, heaters and solar lamps for populations deprived of electricity and to continue to help shelters for women and the LGBTQ community, according to the association.

9:08 p.m.: Sweden's SAPO domestic security agency warned Tuesday that it expects Russia to increase activities threatening Swedish security in fields including telecoms and the power network, The Associated Press reported.

SAPO head Charlotte von Essen said Russia's actions were unpredictable but stressed that "we can expect that Russian security-threatening activities against Sweden will increase."

The sectors "where there is reason to be particularly vigilant to counter espionage and sabotage" are telecommunications, electricity supply and the transport of "critical material," von Essen said. She didn't elaborate on what she meant by the latter.

She spoke at the end of the three-day People and Defense conference in Salen, Sweden.

8:12 p.m.: The European Union's ambassador to Ukraine said on Tuesday that Kyiv was close to reaching a milestone in reform of its court system, an important step before starting accession talks with the 27-member bloc, Reuters reported.

Ambassador Matti Maasikas welcomed the expected appointment this week of eight new members of Ukraine's High Council of Justice, an important body which appoints, dismisses and disciplines judges, as part of reforms of the judiciary.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, made reforming the judiciary one of its main recommendations when it offered Ukraine the status of candidate member last June despite Russia's invasion.

Ukraine's parliament has passed all the legislation sought by the EU before accession talks start, the speaker of the assembly said last month, but the road to membership is widely expected to be long, possibly lasting a decade.

7:22 p.m.: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday said he had revoked the citizenship of Viktor Medvedchuk, once seen as Russian leader Vladimir Putin's top ally in Kyiv and accused of high treason, Agence France-Presse reported.

Medvedchuk, a former Ukrainian lawmaker who was handed over to Russia in a prisoner exchange last September, was stripped of his citizenship along with three others, Zelenskyy said in his daily address.

Medvedchuk was one of more than 50 prisoners handed over to Russia in September in exchange for 215 Ukrainian imprisoned soldiers.

The super-rich powerbroker, once dubbed the "dark prince" of Ukrainian politics, was accused of high treason and attempting to steal natural resources from Russia-annexed Crimea and of handing Ukrainian military secrets to Moscow.

The others to lose their Ukrainian citizenship include Andriy Derkach, an alleged Russian agent and wealthy former member of the Ukraine parliament; Taras Kozak, accused by the United States of being involved in operations by Russia's FSB intelligence service; and Renat Kuzmin, also a Ukrainian politician suspected of links with Russia.

6:45 p.m.: Russian strikes hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv late Tuesday, the regional governor said, just hours after a surprise visit by the German foreign minister together with her Ukrainian counterpart, Agence France-Presse reported.

"Stay in the shelters!" Governor Oleg Synegubov warned on Telegram. An AFP journalist heard several explosions in the city.

6 p.m.:

5:09 p.m.: Russia swung from a budget surplus to a deficit last year, officials said Tuesday, as authorities boost defense spending amid Moscow's assault on Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reported.

The deficit reached 3.3 trillion rubles ($47 billion), or 2.3% of its gross domestic product, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told a government meeting.

Russia ran a budget surplus in 2021.

Siluanov said that compared to 2021, state spending increased by more than 6 trillion rubles, adding that the expenses "were mainly aimed at helping the population."

Last year revenues surpassed government estimates by 2.8 trillion rubles, Siluanov said.

4:33 p.m.: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty opened its new office in the Lithuanian capital on Tuesday in what the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster called its "latest step in a comprehensive strategy to counter pervasive Russian disinformation and reach new audiences with trusted, independent news and information," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.



The Vilnius facilities are slated to host journalists exiled from neighboring Belarus since Alexander Lukashenko's regime raided and sealed off RFE/RL's Minsk bureau in mid-2021, nearly a year after a flawed presidential election that the beleaguered opposition said was rigged sparked unprecedented street protests.



Lukashenko then designated RFE/RL as an "extremist organization," effectively criminalizing both its reporting and the following of its news coverage.



The broadcaster noted in its statement on the launch of the Vilnius office that two of its journalists, Igar Losik and Andrey Kuznechyk, "remain unjustly imprisoned by the Lukashenko regime."



3:22 p.m.: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said his country will not host a Russian-led grouping of forces from ex-Soviet countries for military exercises this year, signaling growing frustration with Moscow, Agence France-Presse reported Tuesday.



Pashinyan's announcement comes after the leader of the ex-Soviet republic criticized the work of Russian peacekeepers in the South Caucasus, which has been plagued for decades by fighting between Armenia and neighboring Azerbaijan.



Speaking to reporters, Pashinyan said he saw no reason for the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to stage military drills in Armenia this year. Headquartered in Moscow, the CSTO groups Russia and the former Soviet republics of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.



Pashinyan noted the organization had refused to condemn Azerbaijan, which fought a six-week war with Armenia for control of the majority-Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020.



Despite the end of the large-scale fighting, tensions over their borders persist. Pashinyan has recently accused Russian forces deployed in Azerbaijan of failing to protect ethnic Armenians in Karabakh and called for a multinational peacekeeping force to step in.

2:30 p.m.: The global economy will come perilously close to a recession this year, led by weaker growth in all the worlds top economies  the United States, Europe and China  the World Bank warned on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported. Russias invasion of Ukraine has added major new costs, World Bank President David Malpass said on a call with reporters. The outlook is particularly devastating for many of the poorest economies where poverty reduction is already ground to a halt and access to electricity, fertilizer, food and capital is likely to remain limited for a prolonged period.





2 p.m.: The family of a British voluntary worker missing in Ukraine expressed concerns for his health and whereabouts on Tuesday in a statement released by Britain's foreign office, Reuters reported.



The family of Chris Parry, one of the two British nationals who the Ukrainian police have said were missing in east Ukraine, said: "We are very worried and concerned about the health and whereabouts of Chris right now."



"He is an extraordinary person who is compassionate and caring and would not be dissuaded from his work in Ukraine liberating elderly and disabled people."

1:40 p.m.:

1:25 p.m.: Britain said on Tuesday Russia had probably captured most of a salt mining town in eastern Ukraine where Kyiv accused Moscow of sacrificing wave upon wave of soldiers and mercenaries in a horrific and senseless battle over wasteland, Reuters reported.

The British Defense Ministry said Russian troops and fighters of Wagner, a mercenary company run by an ally of President Vladimir Putin, "are likely in control of most of the settlement" of Soledar after four days of advances.

If confirmed, it would be Russia's most substantial gain since last August, after a series of humiliating retreats throughout much of the second half of 2022. Russian forces have been fighting for months to capture the nearby larger city of Bakhmut, a few kilometers (miles) to the southwest.

But any victory would come at a massive cost, with troops from both sides having taken heavy losses in some of the most intense combat since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago. Kyiv has released pictures in recent days showing what it says are scores of Russian soldiers strewn dead in muddy fields.

1:10 p.m.:



12:45 p.m.: Egypt continues to battle surging inflation amid a dramatic slide of its currency as many Egyptians struggle with price hikes, The Associated Press reported Tuesday, quoting the countrys statistics bureau.

The economy was also hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, and the fallout from the war in Ukraine. Egypt is the worlds largest wheat importer, with most of its imports having traditionally come from eastern Europe.

The higher inflation has inflicted heavy burdens on consumers, especially lower-income households. Nearly 30% of Egyptians live in poverty, according to official figures.



12:20 p.m.:

12:05 p.m.: Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made a surprise visit to the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv near the Russian border on Tuesday, promising more weapons as well as "concrete offers" to help the country's accession to the European Union, Reuters reported.

In a statement ahead of a meeting with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Baerbock expressed Germany's support and solidarity with Ukrainians living through Russia's invasion and harsh winter conditions.

After Germany last week promised to send Marder fighting vehicles to Ukraine as part of stepped up military support, Baerbock promised more weapons, without specifying which ones.

She also said it was important not to lose sight of Ukraine's place in Europe and its desire to join the EU.

12 p.m.: The Group of Seven coalition will seek to set two price caps on Russian refined products in February  one for products trading at a premium to crude oil and the other for those trading at a discount, Reuters reported, quoting a G7 official.

The coalition  which consists of Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States, plus the 27-nation European Union  introduced a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian crude from December 5 on top of the EU embargo on imports of Russian crude by sea.

From February 5, the coalition also will impose price caps on Russian products, such as diesel, kerosene and fuel oil, to further reduce Moscow's revenue from energy exports and its ability to finance its invasion of Ukraine.

But capping Russian oil product prices is more complicated than setting a price limit on crude alone, because there are many oil products and their price often depends on where they are bought, rather than where they are produced, the official said, asking not to be named.

11:50 a.m.:

11:35 a.m.: A record number of business and government leaders will descend on the Swiss resort of Davos next week to pore over challenges ranging from global economic slowdown to environmental collapse as the World Economic Forum returns to its winter slot, Reuters reported.

While the Russian delegation will be conspicuous by its absence, organizers hailed a record turnout in terms of the number and diversity of participants, with expectations of a "high-level" Chinese presence.

Organizers said that Ukraine, which dominated last year's forum, would send another high level delegation and that there would be several sessions related to the war.

11:20 a.m.:

11:10 a.m.: Estonia wants to outline a plan by the end of January for seizing some $21.4 million of Russian assets and delivering them under European Union sanctions to Ukraine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

Estonian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mihkel Tamm said on January 10 that the Baltic state had started working on the proposal last month.

The announcement comes as the European Commission is developing a bloc-wide arrangement to deal with $322 billion in Russian central-bank reserves and billions in frozen assets of Russian nationals sanctioned over Moscows invasion of Ukraine.



10:55 a.m.: The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Tuesday released data showing that donors contributed $327 million in 2022 to the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund.

10:40 a.m.: The CEO of energy company Uniper has decided to step down after the German government nationalized the gas supplier last month, Uniper said Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.

Klaus-Dieter Maubach is exercising a special right to terminate his contract and will leave the board this year, Uniper said in a statement. It added that Maubach, who has led the company since March 2021, was willing to stay in the job until a suitable replacement is appointed.

The German government announced its plan to nationalize Uniper in September, expanding state intervention in the energy sector to prevent a shortage resulting from Russias war in Ukraine.

Before the invasion of Ukraine, the company bought about half of its gas from Russia, which started cutting deliveries to Germany in June and hasnt supplied any gas to the country since the end of August.

Uniper has incurred huge costs as a result of those cuts because it was forced to buy gas at far higher market prices to meet its supply contract obligations.

10:15 a.m.:

9:35 a.m.: Europe has dodged an energy apocalypse this winter, economists and officials say, thanks to unusually warm weather and efforts to find other sources of natural gas after Russia cut off most of its supply to the continent.

Natural gas suppliers in recent days have increased their stocks at a time when theyre usually being drawn down  an unexpected boost that has relieved fears of gas used to heat homes, generate electricity and power factories running out by winters end.

As a result, short-term gas prices have fallen from record highs, dropping from 18 times what they were before Russia massed troops on Ukraines border in early 2021 to four times higher. Thats still painfully high, eating away at company earnings and consumer spending power through costly utility bills and inflation.

But analysts say the worst case of shortages and rationing has been avoided.

The Associated Press published key facts about Europes energy struggles.

9:10 a.m.:

8:30 a.m.: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held a press conference Tuesday. They spoke to the media after signing a third NATO-EU joint declaration on their strategic partnership. This is a great way of starting the new year, Stoltenberg said, adding that the alliance is more important than ever, in the face of Russias war in Ukraine. President (Vladimir) Putin wanted to take Ukraine in a few days and to divide us. On both counts, he has clearly failed, he said.

8:10 a.m.: The European Union will impose new sanctions on Belarus as it keeps up the pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine and extends measures to those countries that support Russia, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.

"We will keep pressure on the Kremlin for as long as it takes with a biting sanctions regime, we will extend these sanctions to those who militarily support Russia's war such as Belarus or Iran," von der Leyen said at a news conference.

"And we will be coming forward with new sanctions against Belarus answering their role in this Russian war in Ukraine."

7:55 a.m.: Ryan Hendrickson is a retired Green Beret, a special forces unit of the U.S. Army. But today he is in Ukraine, helping to clear mines laid by invading Russian forces and keep soldiers and civilians safe. VOAs a Meurmishvili talked to Hendrickson in this report.

7:40 a.m.: Ukraine's military said early on January 10 that it conducted airstrikes overnight on unspecified Russian positions and antiaircraft missile systems, while fierce fighting continued in the small northeastern town of Soledar where Russian troops are said to be making tactical advances over the past four days, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

The Ukrainian General Staff also said the Russian military is waging offensive operations in the direction of several cities in the eastern Donetsk region, including Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, and Lyman and is seeking to improve its tactical position in the direction of Kupyan.

It said its forces shot down two unmanned enemy drones.

Bakhmut and Soledar lie in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, which Putin claims to have annexed. Full control of it and the neighboring Luhansk region, the so-called Donbas, is Putins main priority at this stage in the war, analysts have said.



7:05 a.m.:

6:30 a.m.: The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Ukraine and the West had reacted "cynically" to a 36-hour ceasefire proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin to mark Orthodox Christmas, Reuters reported.

"We met with a cynical reaction from Kyiv and a number of Western leaders," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing.

Russia says the truce was announced for humanitarian purposes so that Orthodox Christians could celebrate Christmas, but Ukraine says Russian troops shelled dozens of positions and settlements along the front line on Saturday, when the truce was meant to be in effect.

6 a.m.: Reuters reported that Russia has appointed Colonel-General Alexander Lapin as chief of staff of the country's ground forces, state-owned news agency TASS reported on Tuesday, despite fierce criticism from leading hawks over his performance in Ukraine.

Lapin, previously commander of Russia's central military district, was blasted last October by hawkish allies of President Vladimir Putin after Russian forces were driven out of the city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine, a key logistics hub.

His appointment follows other sweeping changes to Russia's military leadership in the course of the 11-month war, in which Moscow's forces have seized large areas of south and eastern Ukraine but suffered a series of painful defeats and retreats.

On October 8, Russia named Air Force General Sergei Surovikin as the overall commander of its forces in Ukraine, shortly after the reported sacking of the commanders of the Eastern and Western military districts.

In August, the state-owned RIA news agency reported that the commander of the Black Sea Fleet had been fired after a series of humiliations including the sinking of its flagship and the loss of eight warplanes in an attack on a Russian base in Crimea.

After Russia lost Lyman in October, Lapin drew savage public criticism from Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private military group, who have both sent units to Ukraine to bolster the efforts of the regular army.

Kadyrov said Lapin should be stripped of his medals and sent to the front with a gun to wash away his shame with blood.

5:40 a.m.: Italy intends to supply Ukraine with a missile defense system to help protect it against Russia attacks but must deal with technical issues before it can be dispatched, Reuters reported Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani as saying on Tuesday.

Tajani was speaking after Italian newspaper la Repubblica reported on Monday that a decision on the supply of new arms to Ukraine had been delayed until next month due to political tensions, cost considerations and equipment shortages.

Two weeks ago Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Rome was considering supplying air defenses after a phone call with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in which she reaffirmed her government's "full support" for Ukraine.

Shortly afterwards, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto struck a cautious tone on whether Italy would be able to supply Ukraine with air defense systems such as the Franco-Italian SAMP/T.

Tajani said Italy was working with the French to resolve issues prior to deployment of the SAMP/T.

5:05 a.m.: One of President Vladimir Putin's closest allies said on Tuesday that Russia was now fighting the U.S.-led NATO military alliance in Ukraine and that the West was trying to rip Russia apart and ultimately wipe it from the political map of the world.

"The events in Ukraine are not a clash between Moscow and Kyiv  this is a military confrontation between Russia and NATO, and above all the United States and Britain," Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said, according to Reuters.

"The Westerners' plans are to continue to pull Russia apart, and eventually just erase it from the political map of the world," Patrushev told the Argumenti i Fakti newspaper.

Patrushev, a former Soviet spy who has known Putin since the 1970s, is a hardline ally and seen as one of the few people able to influence the Russian president.

4:40 a.m.: Reuters reported the Russian energy ministry as saying on Tuesday it has been working on additional measures to limit discounts to international benchmarks on Russian oil prices, after the West imposed price caps.

President Vladimir Putin last month signed a decree that banned the supply of crude oil and oil products from February 1 for five months to nations that abide by the cap.

4:25 a.m.:

3:50 a.m.: The Dutch Media Authority issued a five-year broadcasting permit for the Russian independent television station TV Rain after its license had been canceled in Latvia, according to a statement on the regulator's website.

Reuters reported that the permit, dated December 22, will "provide a commercial television broadcasting service as a commercial media institution," the regulator said. It was not immediately clear when the statement was published.

Latvia canceled the license of TV Rain in early December after the company was branded a threat to national security.

The liberal-leaning TV Rain, or Dozhd, shifted to broadcasting from Latvia and other countries in July, after being forced to shut its Moscow studio following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

3:10 a.m.:

2:45 a.m.: A Russian warship armed with hypersonic cruise weapons has held exercises in the Norwegian Sea, Reuters cited the defense ministry as saying on Tuesday.

"The crew of the frigate 'Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov' conducted an air defense exercise in the Norwegian Sea," the ministry said.

Last week, President Vladimir Putin sent the frigate to the Atlantic Ocean armed with new generation hypersonic cruise missiles, a signal to the West that Russia will not back down over the war in Ukraine.

2:25 a.m.:

1:55 a.m.: Polands President Andrzej Duda met Monday with the prime minister and some of his ministers to discuss security issues amid the war in neighboring Ukraine, including Kyiv's request for delivery of Western-made heavy battle tanks.

The Associated Press reported that, after the meeting, top national security official Jacek Siewiera said decisions were taken as to current and future support to Ukraine, but did not provide any details.

Earlier, a presidential aide said that Kyivs request for German-made Leopard 2 tanks which Poland, among other countries, uses, would be on the agenda.

Pawel Szrot said that should Warsaw decide to hand over a limited number of Leopard tanks it would only be within a wide agreement and an undertaking by other countries that have these tanks.

Szrot stressed that such decisions need to also take Poland's security into account.

1:35 a.m.:

1:20 a.m.:

1 a.m.: According to The Associated Press, Russian authorities on Monday announced parallel criminal probes against a famous actor critical of the war in Ukraine and a philanthropist who supports the Russian opposition, the latest in a months-long, sweeping crackdown on dissent.

Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement that its chief Alexander Bastrykin ordered the launch of a criminal case against Russian film and theater actor Artur Smolyaninov, who left the country after Moscow's forces invaded Ukraine and repeatedly spoke out against the war.

According to the statement, Smolyaninov "made a series of statements directed against Russia in an interview to a Western media outlet." The Investigative Committee didn't clarify which of Smolyaninov's actions constituted a criminal offense and what charges it would bring against him.

12:43 a.m.:

12:18 a.m.: According to Reuters, on a visit to Taiwan, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the head of Germany's parliamentary defense committee and a member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's junior coalition partner Free Democrats (FDP), told Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen that Germany and Taiwan are friends.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a wake up call for the whole world, Strack-Zimmermann said.

"That's the reason why we come to your country, to your wonderful island, to say (to) the world that we stand close together as democratic states," she added.

12:01 a.m.: Reuters reported that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday he remained convinced of the need to coordinate weapons deliveries to Ukraine with allies as pressure mounts on Berlin to send Kyiv its Leopard 2 battle tanks.

Germany announced last week it would provide Ukraine with Marder infantry fighting vehicles to help repel Russian forces. The announcement came on the same day that the United States pledged Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and a day after a similar announcement from France.

Scholz, who has often underscored the importance of not escalating the conflict in Ukraine or giving Russia a reason to deem it party to the war, said the Western allies had spent "a long time preparing, discussing and organizing this."

Kyiv has also requested heavier vehicles such as the Leopards, which would represent a significant step-up in Western support to Ukraine.

"Germany will not go alone," he said at an event of his center-left Social Democrat party (SPD) kicking off the campaign for the Berlin state election.

"Germany will always remain united with its friends and allies ... Anything else would be irresponsible in such a dangerous situation."

Some information in this report came from Reuters, Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press.
The leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States met Tuesday in Mexico City for a summit and said they have made the regional partnership stronger after two days of meetings.

During the North American Leaders Summit, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to strengthen economic ties, including making more goods in the region and ramping up semiconductor production.

Biden said at a news conference after a roughly two-hour meeting at Mexicos National Palace that the three countries are true partners.

We are stronger and better when we work together, the three of us, and together we made enormous progress since our last summit from fighting COVID-19 and strengthening our ability to address public health threats to investing in and building a 21st century workforce, Biden said.

They also discussed combating climate change, migration and the movement of drugs and people along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mexico will help the U.S. fight the trade in the synthetic opioid fentanyl, Lopez Obrador said, which has led to the deaths of thousands of Americans. And he urged Biden to push the U.S. Congress for immigration reform and to help fix the status of millions of Mexicans without documentation in the United States.

Migration was one of the most talked-about issues at the summit, the Mexican president said.

The three leaders reaffirmed a commitment they adopted six months ago in the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, which includes the expansion of legal migration pathways, a range of collaborative measures and better communication, both among one another and with their respective publics.

And the reason why this summit, this trilateral relationship, is so impactful is because we share a common vision for the future grounded on common values, Biden said.

The main outcomes from the summit are better communication among the three nations, the goal to make North America stronger in energy and an understanding that they need to manage the increasing number of migrants coming to the U.S.-Mexico border while dealing with issues still arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although there were complex and important conversations, experts are not surprised there was not any one major announcement.

Andrew Rudman, director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center, told VOA that trilateral summits rarely yield major announcements or resolution because the issues that the three leaders talked about were not only complex but long-standing.

I think it's not surprising that there was not some explosive announcement in their communique or in their press conference. But I think, having said that, the fact that they meet on a regular basis and that they identify priorities for their administrations to pursue for the coming year, I think that is important, he said.

During the one-on-one meeting on Monday, migration, climate change, trade and manufacturing issues headlined U.S.-Mexico talks as the host, Lopez Obrador, forcefully urged greater continental integration.

Mexico hopes that it could benefit from coordination on the manufacture of semiconductors, which are used in hundreds of products.

"This is the moment for us to determine to do away with this abandonment, this disdain," he said. "And this forgetfulness for Latin America and the Caribbean, which is opposed to the policy of the good neighborhood, of the titans of freedom and liberty  starting with you, because there would be no other leader that could implement this enterprise."

The three countries agreed to combat the flood of banned narcotics by sharing information on the chemicals used to make them. They also agreed to reduce methane emissions by at least 15% by 2030 from 2020 levels, and they agreed to create a virtual platform to give migrants easier access to ways to enter Mexico, the U.S. and Canada legally, according to Reuters.

Finally, Biden announced he would visit Canada in March.

VOA immigration reporter Aline Barros in Washington contributed to this story. Some material for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
Two Denver Police Department officers who returned fire, killing a suspect in July, will not face charges, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann announced in a news release Tuesday.

On July 13 two DPD officers, Clyde Carmody and Zachary Moldenhauer, fired at and killed Michael Silletto, 26, after he fired five shots at the officers who were still sitting in their patrol car, according to a letter from the District Attorney's Office.

Just after 10:30 p.m. that night, a 911 caller reported two men getting out of an Audi with handguns and expressed concern that the two men would rob a food cart at Federal Boulevard and Eighth Avenue.

The suspects drove away and officers found them on Federal Boulevard. They followed from a distance until the Audi stopped in a parking lot near a business at 4915 Washington St. to pick up a fifth passenger, according to the letter. The police car drove toward the vehicle with "take down lights" illuminated.

Body-work camera video footage of the incident shows Silletto firing five gunshots at the officers from his open window, according to the letter.

Moldenhauer then fired three shots at Silletto with his service weapon through the windshield of the police car.

Silletto climbed over the driver's side seat and ran, carrying his handgun, behind a dumpster. Carmody fired toward Silletto, concerned that Silletto was taking cover to continue firing at the officers, according to the letter.

When he was no longer moving, the officers approached with a shield and found him "apparently lifeless." Carmody attempted CPR, but Silletto died.

The other passengers of the Audi did not give statements to police.

"The moment Michael Silletto raised his handgun to fire at the officers he placed them in imminent danger of being killed," according to the letter. "When he fired, Silletto confirmed his intent to kill or injure them. These officers followed their training. They were legally justified under Colorado law in returning fire and neither will face criminal charges."

McCann will hold a virtual community meeting to discuss the incident and her conclusions on Tuesday, Jan. 24 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The public is invited to join the meeting through Microsoft Teams at https://bit.ly/3QpNp8i.
Nigerian officials say security forces have rescued seven people who gunmen abducted from a train Saturday, in the first such attack in southern Edo State. Another 24 passengers are still missing.

Edo State police spokesman Chidi Nwabuzor told VOA Tuesday that the rescued victims include one adult male, two women, and four children.

He said the abductors left them behind as the armed men fled from security forces.

"Due to pressure of the operatives who are in the bush for the rescue operation, they seem to drop some certain persons and that is why the rescue is by bits," Nwabuzor said. "The deputy commissioner of police investigation has moved his office to Igueben to further the investigation while the operatives are still in the forest combing the area."

Nwabuzor said those rescued were quickly reunited with their families.

They were among 31 people abducted Saturday at a train station by gunmen armed with AK-47 assault rifles.

Police say some passengers were injured in the attack, but nobody was killed.

Nigerian police say they suspect herders in the area were responsible for the attack.

State Commissioner for Information Chris Osa Nehikhare on Monday said one arrested suspect was helping security forces with rescue efforts.

A local community leader told Nigerias Punch Newspaper the abductors demanded about $1.5 million to release the captives.

Police spokesman Nwabuzor could not confirm the alleged ransom demand.

A wave of kidnappings-for-ransom is one of several security challenges facing Nigeria ahead of February elections.

Nigeria has for years suffered clashes between herders and farmers and attacks from Islamist militants and separatists.

Outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of his election in 2015 vowed to solve Nigerias security problems.

His government has been widely criticized for failing to stop the violence.
A three-day mourning period began in southern Peru on Tuesday after 17 more people were killed in the most violent day of protests since they began in December over the ousting of former President Pedro Castillo.

The mourning period in the southeastern region of Puno came as Prime Minister Alberto Otarola was set to appear in the opposition-dominated Congress, seeking a vote of confidence in his cabinet - a constitutional requirement to lead a new government.

Otarola regretted the deaths on Monday night and said the unrest was caused by organized attackers financed by "dark" money, in a day in which at least 68 civilians and 75 police officers were injured according to the local ombudsman.

Social protests have left a total of 39 dead so far in different parts of the country.

Authorities called on prosecutors on Monday to launch investigations against those responsible.

Peru's Interior Ministry said that a police vehicle was attacked early on Tuesday by "unknown persons" in the city of Juliaca, which is located in Puno, with one of the officers suffering multiple head injuries.

Hours later, Jorge Angulo, head of the operational command of the national police, confirmed the death of one policeman who was in the vehicle.

"At this moment, an autopsy is being performed to fully identify the form and circumstances in which he was injured, practically burned," Angulo told television station Canal N.

Demonstrators are continuing to demand President Dina Boluarte's resignation, the closure of Congress, constitutional changes and Castillo's release.

Castillo is serving 18 months of pre-trial detention while being investigated for "rebellion" after trying to close Congress, a charge he denies.

Images from local media showed looting of businesses in Puno on Monday night and the region's Juliaca airport remained closed on Tuesday.

Likewise, airport operations in the Andean region of Ayacucho remained suspended as a security measure.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has announced it will visit Peru this week from Wednesday to Friday to assess the situation.
In Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, Rohingya Muslim refugee Anwara Begum, 55, choked back tears as she tried to cajole her 7-year-old granddaughter, Umme Habiba, into swallowing a morsel of food.

Habiba was unconsolable, wailing in grief for her 27-year-old mother, Hatemon Nesa, and her 5-year-old sister, Umme Salima. The family had recently learned that the engine of the Malaysia-bound ramshackle wooden boat the two were on had broken down at sea.

The approximately 200 passengers aboard the boat that had left Bangladesh on November 25, all of them Rohingya refugees, had run out of food and water.

Begum told VOA in a telephone interview, Nesa told us that people were dying out of starvation and dehydration on the boat as it drifted aimlessly. I feared that my daughter and granddaughter would follow suit.

I cried a lot, but never in front of Habiba. I told her that Allah would save her mother and sister, somehow. I kept praying.

Hundreds of kilometers away, on the sea, a worn-down Nesa also held herself together for a young child.

As soon as we knew that the boat was not moving in the direction of Malaysia, the women, including me, became anxious, Nesa told VOA in a call. When the boat drifted into Indian waters, many of the around 30 children onboard began crying out of hunger and thirst. Seeing the children in pain, their mothers began sobbing, too.

Nesa refused to shed a tear, fearing it would frighten Salima. I held my daughter as she fell sick after I made her drink salty seawater. I comforted her, saying that Allah would surely help us reach our destination, Nesa said.

Among about 740,000 others, Nesa had fled to Bangladesh in 2017, after a brutal crackdown by the military in Myanmar on its mostly Muslim Rohingya minority. Her husband had deserted her in Myanmar shortly after the birth of their second daughter.

The congested, unsanitary Rohingya refugee camps of Bangladesh are like prisons, the single mother of two said. As long as we are in the camps, our movements are restricted by authorities and our children do not have access to formal education. The future looks bleak in Coxs Bazar.

Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh usually study in a Maktab, a traditional Islamic elementary school where they are taught to read and recite the Quran.

So, I decided to take my children to Malaysia. They would get a better education there, and grow up to be strong women, Nesa said. I could not afford to travel with both of my daughters this time, so I only brought Salima along. I was hoping Habiba would join us later, somehow.

As the boat engine broke down 10 days into the sea journey, anxiety spread among the passengers. Matters only became worse when 19 of them jumped into the water after seeing another boat, hoping to procure help. No one came to their aid, and they drowned in the sea, unable to swim back to their own boat.

Nesas brother, Mohammed Rezuwan Khan, occasionally spoke to her over the phone from Bangladesh. I told my sister and the other passengers to ask for help by waving their hands while holding pieces of cloth, whenever they saw another boat. It broke our hearts at home when we heard that none came to their rescue, Khan told VOA over the phone.

As Begum prayed for her daughters boat to wash ashore anywhere in the world as long as she would survive, hope dwindled in Nesa and her co-passengers.

The constant screaming and waving for help, with no food or water for 13 days, depleted our energy completely. 26 of the passengers had died, Nesa said. At one point, all of us gave up on trying to get help. We went into the cabin and lay there silently. It went unsaid, but perhaps everyone was waiting to die on the boat. I did not stop praying.

The answer to Begums prayers came in the form of a video call from Nesa on December 26. Nesa, her daughter and around 172 others had just been rescued by fishermen and local authorities in Aceh, Indonesia, according to the United Nations refugee agency. Begum broke into tears of relief.

My faith in Allah has strengthened after surviving this ordeal, Nesa said. I believe I will reach Malaysia soon.

These days, Malaysia is very strict with the Rohingya. The country is not allowing refugee boats to land on its shore. So, boats carrying Rohingya aim to reach Indonesia. From Indonesia, with the help of the traffickers, using secret routes, the refugees sneak into Malaysia. For some months, they have been following this strategy to enter Malaysia. Indonesia is not the refugees final destination. Since Malaysia is very close to Indonesia, like all other refugees, Nesa thinks that she has almost reached Malaysia.

Back in Bangladesh, Nesas family are fearful of sending Habiba on an illegal and treacherous boat journey akin to her mothers.

Nesas brother recounted a phone call she recently made to him from Indonesia.

Ardently, Nesa had said, Speak to people from Bangladesh. I am talking to them from Indonesia, with one question: how can our family reunite?

My daughter is only 7. She cannot undertake this illegal sea journey fraught with dangers. I implore the international community to make arrangements so that Habiba can legally travel to Malaysia from Bangladesh and reunite with Salima and me. This is a mothers appeal, Nesa said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Monday he remained convinced of the need to coordinate weapons deliveries to Ukraine with allies as pressure mounts on Berlin to send Kyiv its Leopard 2 battle tanks.

Germany announced last week it would provide Ukraine with Marder infantry fighting vehicles to help repel Russian forces. The announcement came on the same day that the United States pledged Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and a day after a similar announcement from France.

Scholz, who has often underscored the importance of not escalating the conflict in Ukraine or giving Russia a reason to deem it party to the war, said the Western allies had spent "a long time preparing, discussing and organizing this."

Kyiv has also requested heavier vehicles such as the Leopards, which would represent a significant step up in Western support to Ukraine.

"Germany will not go alone," he said at an event of his center-left Social Democrat party (SPD) kicking off the campaign for the Berlin state election.

"Germany will always remain united with its friends and allies. ... Anything else would be irresponsible in such a dangerous situation."

Germany has become one of Ukraine's top military supporters in response to Russia's invasion after last year overcoming a taboo that is rooted in its bloody 20th century history on sending weapons to conflict zones.

Still, critics say Scholz and his ruling SPD are too slow, waiting for allies to act first instead of assuming Germany's responsibility as the Western power closest to Ukraine.

The SPD's junior coalition partners, the Greens and liberal Free Democrats, have been more vocal in their calls to ramp up military support to Ukraine.

Germany cannot rule out the delivery of Leopard tanks, heavier fighting vehicles than the Marders, to support Ukrainian military forces in the future, Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens told German broadcaster ARD.

Britain is considering supplying Ukraine with the British army's Challenger 2 main battle tank, Sky News reported Monday, citing unnamed sources.
Rights groups say a brutal attack on Zimbabwe opposition supporters was clearly intended to harass and intimidate them ahead of elections expected later this year.

Amnesty International called on Zimbabwe to fully investigate a video showing ruling-party youth beating and kicking older supporters of the Citizens Coalition for Change (Triple C).

The video, which has gone viral on social media, showed some elderly members of the Triple C being assaulted over the weekend in Murehwa about 100 kilometers east of Harare.

Fadzayi Mahere, Triple C spokeswoman, has accused the ruling Zanu-PF party of masterminding the violence and blamed the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the police for failing to stop it.

This violence does not augur well for a free and fair election, she said. In fact, political violence of this nature is criminal. We call upon Zanu-PF to stop inciting violence. We saw the deputy leader of Zanu-PF saying: the Triple C must be crushed like lice, saying Nelson Chamisa should be killed. Its that conduct which leads these terror gangs to do what they are doing.

Chamisa, a former parliament member and cabinet minister, is the 44-year-old leader of the Triple C.

In response to an interview request, Tafadzwa Mugwadi, director of information for Zanu-PF, sent VOA an audio clip disputing it was his party which caused the violence, which injured seven people from the opposition.

On its part, Zanu-PF does not tolerate any violence or this barbaric conduct whatsoever, he said. President [Emmerson] Mnangagwa has clearly and unequivocally set the record clear on peaceful and mobilization for free and violence free elections. Whoever commits violence in the name of the party, shall carry his or her own cross and account. Let the police do what they know best: investigation.

After the video circulated, Zimbabwe police released a statement saying they are investigating the incident.

Rights group Amnesty International says it wants Zimbabwean authorities to urgently launch a thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the assaults and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Amnestys spokesman in southern Africa, Robert Shivambu, said the attack would intimidate members of the political opposition ahead of Zimbabwes elections, and could have a chilling effect throughout the country.

This callous, politically motivated attack against older people who had simply attended a gathering for a political opposition party is outrageous, he said. Such cruel acts of violence, which have repeatedly marred Zimbabwes political landscape in the past, gravely threaten the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. The Zimbabwean authorities must take all necessary steps to prevent acts of politically motivated violence and refrain from issuing inflammatory statements that could incite similar attacks or deter people from expressing support to political parties of their choice.

Several of Zimbabwes elections have been marred by violence, most of which targeted the opposition.

That is why the Zimbabwe Peace Project has set up an app for citizens to report cases of violence or intimidation ahead of the 2023 general election.

Thandolwenkosi Mahaja, the programs coordinator explained how her organizations Reject, Resist and Report Violence app works.

[It] gives citizens the ability to report human rights violations from across Zimbabwe, she said. To report those violations, and name and tell us what is happening in their communities. We urge citizens to use this app particularly as we are coming to the elections this year in 2023.

The Zimbabwe Peace Project hopes the app will reduce cases of violence and intimidation as the country prepares for polls whose exact date is yet to be announced.
From support for journalists at risk to sanctions against hostile countries seeking to silence critics, the $1.7 trillion U.S. spending bill for 2023 includes several measures to champion media at home and abroad.

But whats even more notable about the omnibus, some media analysts said, is what didn't make the cut: a landmark federal shield bill known as the PRESS Act.

Shield laws protect journalists from being forced by the government to disclose information like the identities of sources. Nearly every U.S. state and the District of Columbia has either a shield law or court recognition of qualified privilege for sources, but no federal law is in place.

Sources wont come forward if theyre worried about getting a knock on the door from law enforcement for doing so, Gabe Rottman, the technology and press freedom project director at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP), told VOA. If you cant ensure a sources confidentiality, then you lose crucial stories in the public interest.

Thats the whole point behind the federal shield bill, he said.

Passed unanimously by the House and with bipartisan support, many expected the act to be included in the final bill. But Republican Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas objected, raising concerns, including that the act could open a floodgate of leaks damaging to law enforcement and national security.

That was really enough to kill it, said Clayton Weimers, executive director of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) U.S. office. Its really disappointing  not just to RSF but to all the organizations who are working hard to pass this bill  that it was able to be stopped in its tracks by the objection of a single senator.

VOA emailed Cottons office for comment but as of the time of publication had not received a response.

The December omnibus is the closest a federal shield bill has ever been to getting passed, said Weimers and Rottman. Both are setting their sights on getting the PRESS Act passed in the next session of Congress.

Despite that setback, media advocates welcomed several other provisions put forward, including support for media in Afghanistan and other areas, and a directive outlined in an earlier House bill for the Foreign Service Institute to ensure that U.S. diplomats receive training on press freedom issues.

As valuable as the funding may prove to be, the greater value may be the signal Congress is sending by recognizing the vital role of a free press in democracy, said a January statement from the National Press Club. This concept has received little public recognition from government officials in recent years.

Bill McCarren, executive director of the National Press Club, told VOA he wants this curriculum to focus on the threat of state-sponsored kidnappings of journalists, among other issues.

Measures to sanction people acting on behalf of Tehran to harass and surveil Iranians abroad, including journalists and human rights activists, are also included in the bill.

The Masih Alinejad Harassment and Unlawful Targeting Act is named after Iranian-American journalist and Iran critic Masih Alinejad. The VOA Persian host was the target of a 2021 kidnapping plot in New York orchestrated by Tehran to bring her to Iran.

Irans attempt to kidnap Alinejad demonstrated the extremes the Iranian government is willing to pursue to silence outspoken individuals, Marylands Senator Ben Cardin said in a statement to VOA. Cardin co-sponsored the bill with Pennsylvanias Senator Pat Toomey.

This act puts into place the appropriate consequences for all that attempt to limit the ability of Iranian citizens to exercise free speech, and demonstrates the United States commitment to supporting free speech for the people of Iran, Cardin added.

Alinejad told VOA she is honored that the law was named after her.

"It is ironic that lawmakers in [the] Islamic Republic expelled me from the press lobby covering the Iranian parliament for exposing corruption and the lawmakers in my adopted country honored me and offered me protection," she said via messaging app.

"This is the first step and I'm sure other measures will be in place to protect not just me but other dissidents and dual national citizens. The Islamic Republic cannot get away with threatening to kidnap and murder U.S. citizens on our shores."

The Manhattan U.S. attorney in July 2021 announced charges against individuals it identified as an Iranian intelligence officer and members of an intelligence network, accused of plotting to kidnap the VOA host.

At the time, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh dismissed the U.S. allegations.

The act directs the State Department to report annually on human rights in Iran and Tehrans efforts to harass dissidents outside the country.

The U.S. must exercise leadership against authoritarian regimes attempting to silence dissidents beyond their borders. This new law sends a clear message not only to the Iranian regime, but to all authoritarian regimes that if you engage in transnational repression and target dissidents on U.S. soil, there will be dire consequences, Cardin said.

In addition to funding for the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees broadcasters including VOA, the omnibus lays out funds to support and protect journalists and activists who have been attacked or threatened over their work.

We must speak out forcefully against those who imprison or threaten journalists and hold accountable those who undermine their safety, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen told VOA in a statement.

Funds are also allocated to support efforts to combat disinformation.

This funding demonstrates a growing recognition of the threat that disinformation from authoritarian governments can pose, according to RSFs Weimers.

You have open societies like ours and closed societies like say China, and our information space is easily penetrated by Chinese propaganda and disinformation, he said. More and more were seeing this idea of pushing back against China trying to export its information model to the world.

But Report for Americas interim Vice President of Communications Sam Kille thinks the U.S. should also be doing more at home.

Kille had hoped to see elements of the Local Journalism Sustainability Act incorporated in the spending bill.

The Local Journalism Sustainability Act is a bipartisan bill that would help provide tax credits to newsrooms that hire local journalists, small businesses that advertise in local media, and to consumers, according to Kille.

When you consider that our country has lost nearly a quarter of its newsrooms in recent years, leaving 70 million Americans without a trusted, local source of information, the time for federal policy is now, Kille said via email. Otherwise, we risk seeing news deserts spread which ultimately will lead to more misinformation and greater polarization.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to include comment from VOA Persian host Masih Alinejad.
A Turkish-Swiss dual national who stabbed a passer-by to death in a rare jihadi attack in Switzerland was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in a psychiatric institution.

Named only as Omer A., the 29-year-old was found guilty of murder, attempted murder, attempted arson in trying to blow up a gas station, support for the Islamic State group, downloading depictions of atrocious acts of violence, and breaking drug laws.

On the evening of Sept. 12, 2020, he stabbed to death a 29-year-old Portuguese national at a kebab restaurant in the otherwise-tranquil town of Morges on the shores of Lake Geneva in western Switzerland.

In a statement on its verdict, the Federal Criminal Court said the stabbing was a "jihadist-motivated attack."

The court found the attack was premeditated, with Omer A. scouting several locations on the day of the attack, acquiring a kitchen knife, and then "acting in a brutal and determined manner."

"Moreover, the court considered that the motives given to justify the act were absurd and showed a total disregard for human life," it said.

Before the murder, Omer A. had committed a range of offenses, including sharing Islamic State propaganda material, and attempting to join IS in the conflict zone between Syria and Iraq.

Omer A. had set off in 2019 in a bid to reach Syria and join IS, although he did not make it further than Italy before turning back.

That same year, the court said, he repeatedly attempted to set fire to a gas station in a residential area, endangering lives.

And while in detention since his arrest the day after the murder in Morges, he had attempted to stab a prison guard in the throat.

Omer A. has shown no sincere regret, the court added.

The court said its decision to deprive him of liberty for 20 years, the longest sentence it could impose, "takes into account his moderately diminished criminal responsibility."

Based on psychiatric reports, it said it had decided Omer A. should be held in a secure facility where he can receive inpatient therapeutic treatment.

This, it said, "is intended to prevent him from committing further crimes and reduce his dangerousness."

Switzerland has not experienced any large-scale attacks attributed to Islamist extremism but has in recent years seen some individual jihad-linked attacks.
The Pentagon has confirmed that U.S. forces will begin training Ukrainian troops on the Patriot missile defense system at Fort Sill in Oklahoma later this month, after VOA and other outlets had reported the news earlier Tuesday.

Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder announced Tuesday during a briefing at the Pentagon that the training at Fort Sill could begin as soon as next week.

The training will prepare approximately 90 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers to operate, maintain and sustain the defensive system over a training course expected to last several months, Ryder said, adding that a Patriot battery would give Ukraine another capability to defend its people against Russias ongoing aerial assaults.

Fort Sill is home to the U.S. Armys field artillery school.

Ryder said the U.S. would look for ways to accelerate the training timeline so Ukrainians could return to the battlefield as quickly as possible.

Last week, the Pentagon announced that it would send 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine as part of a new round of military aid to Kyiv to help Ukrainian forces fight off an invasion by Russia.

During Tuesdays briefing, Ryder said training on the Bradleys would be part of the combined arms training that Ukrainians would complete in Germany.

The Bradleys will come with hundreds of TOW anti-tank guided missiles and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition, according to an official document shared with VOA before Fridays announcement.

It's not a tank, but it's a tank killer, Ryder said last week.

Allies committed

NATO and European Union leaders have reinforced their commitment to providing Ukraine with military support to counter Russias nearly year-old invasion, including providing advanced air defenses and other equipment.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters Tuesday she thinks Ukraine should get all the military equipment it needs to defend itself, because they also defend the basic principles of the U.N. Charter, of the fundamental rights of the international law.

Speaking alongside von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel after a meeting in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the announcements in recent days by the United States, Germany and France of plans to provide Ukraine with new types of armor and armored vehicles. He stressed the need to also keep a focus on training, maintenance and ammunition for the existing systems that allies have sent to Ukraines forces.

NATO allies and EU members have depleted their stocks to provide support to Ukraine, and that has been the right thing to do because this is also about our security. And of course, we need to use our capabilities, our stocks, our ammunition, to support Ukraine, Stoltenberg said.

He added that while Ukrainian forces have been able to inflict losses on Russias military, Russia should not be underestimated. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no indication of changing the overall aim of his brutal war against Ukraine.

The regime in Moscow wants a different Europe. It wants to control its neighbors, and it sees democracy and freedom as a threat, Stoltenberg said. This will have long-lasting consequences for our security, so we must continue to strengthen the vital transatlantic bond in NATO. We must continue to strengthen the partnership between NATO and the European Union. And we must further strengthen our support to Ukraine.

Bakhmut battle

Britains Defense Ministry said Tuesday that Russian forces and those from the mercenary Wagner Group were probably now in control of most of Soledar, a small salt mining town in eastern Ukraine located in one of the areas of the fiercest fighting.

The fighting for Soledar has resulted in heavy losses for both sides.

In his nightly address on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the destruction in Soledar.

There are almost no whole walls left, he said.

Zelenskyy added, Due to the resilience of our warriors there in Soledar, we have gained additional time and additional power for Ukraine.

About 10 kilometers from Soledar is Bakhmut, which the British Defense Ministry said in its latest daily assessment is likely Russias main target in Ukraine.

"Despite the increased pressure on Bakhmut, Russia is unlikely to envelop the town imminently because Ukrainian forces maintain stable defensive lines in depth and control over supply routes, the British ministry said.

A senior U.S. military official, who spoke to reporters Monday on the condition of anonymity, called the fight in Bakhmut really savage.

And what I mean by savage is, you're talking about thousands upon thousands of artillery rounds that have been delivered between both sides, the official said, adding that Russian mercenary forces sacrifice their weaker soldiers by putting them on the front lines.
U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk said Tuesday Iran is violating international human rights law with its execution of people involved in protests.

The weaponization of criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights  such as those participating in or organizing demonstrations  amounts to state sanctioned killing, Turk said in a statement.

Iran has executed at least four people in connection with the protests that began in September in response to the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

Irans judiciary said all four were convicted of attacking members of the security forces. The U.N. and rights groups have criticized the rapid, closed-door judicial proceedings.

The U.N. human rights office said it has received information that two more executions are imminent.

Turk called on Iran to immediately halt all executions and to seriously embark on reforms demanded by its people.

The Government of Iran would better serve its interests and those of its people by listening to their grievances, and by undertaking the legal and policy reforms necessary to ensure respect for diversity of opinion, the rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and the full respect and protection of the rights of women in all areas of life, he said.
The U.S. announced Sunday that its giving $9 million in new military aid to help Somalia's ongoing campaign against al-Shabab militants. It's the first such direct military support since U.S. forces returned to Somalia and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced an "all-out war" against the militants.

The U.S. embassy in Mogadishu handed over military equipment to the government Sunday. According to a tweet from the embassy, the weapons and vehicles will support the campaign by the Somali National Army to liberate communities from al-Shabab control.

According to Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, Somalias Defense Minister, the military donation from the U.S. was a show of confidence and testimony that the Somali military can be trusted to manage the weapons without it falling into the wrong hands. He added that the weapons will play an important role in fighting the Khawarij.

Khawarij is a derogatory term which Somali officials use to describe al-Shabab.

Matt Bryden, a security expert and the founder of Sahan Research, a think tank covering the Horn of Africa, marked the new contribution as an endorsement of the efforts by the Mohamud administration to fight the militant group.

The recent United States' commitment to provide additional military support to the Somali National Army is a sign of confidence, Bryden said. It's not a huge amount of money, but it is a sign of confidence in the progress that the current offensive against al-Shabab is making in the central regions of Somalia.

Somali forces have been engaged in an offensive alongside local clan militias against al-Shabab since July.

The pro-government forces have captured many villages and towns, mostly in the Hirshabelle state. However, the militants continue to mount counterattacks against government forces and civilian targets.

Abdiasis Isaack, a security expert with the Hamad Bin Khalifa Civilization Center, told VOA the new military package will be critical for the Somali army which has a limited arsenal.

Isaack said the military aid will help Somalia in the war against al-Shabab. He added that the main challenge facing the Somali military was that it possessed weapons of the same caliber as that of al-Shabab  making it difficult to win the war against the group.

The U.S. is among the largest contributors of support to the Somali National Army, especially for its commando wing, the Danab Special Forces, which is trained for close-range fighting with al-Shabab in urban areas.
Crowds flocked to the 117th year of the National Western Stock Show, breaking attendance records for the opening weekend, according to a news release.

Officials counted 109,978 Stock Show fans visiting Saturday and Sunday, breaking the previous opening weekend attendance record of 106,921 guests, set in 2020.

"I would like to personally thank everyone that came out this weekend to celebrate and support this important Colorado tradition," President and CEO Paul Andrews said in the release. "Not only to enjoy the rodeos and horse shows, but to support exhibitors, ranchers, and farmers who have traveled from 48 states to be in Denver as part of our community for 16 days."

Draws like Saturday's Colorado vs The World Rodeo, CINCH World Team Semi-Final, and the Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza Sunday likely helped.

But it wasn't without some hiccups  especially when it came to parking, or lack thereof. Patrons were buzzing about the problem on social media and in-person at the Mexican Rodeo Sunday.

Officials tried offering free parking at a nearby Coors Field lot off Broadway and Wazee Street with a free shuttle, but it didn't seem to help.

"The parking situation was a problem, and we are working to make changes to better serve our guests this upcoming weekend," according to Spokeswoman Karen Woods. "We are working hard to determine a system that best serves our guests."

There were 58,901 guests Saturday, breaking the previous record of 57,386 set in 2020. More than 51,000 visited Sunday, breaking the opening Sunday record of 50,577 set in 2018.

Tuesday is Free Grounds Admission Day, compliments of sponsor Arrow Electronics.

"Guests can enjoy a host of activities, including Colorado's largest western trade show, Miniature Zebu Show, Stick Horse Rodeo presented by Centura Health, Coors Western Art Gallery, Westernaires Trick & Fancy Ropers, and much more," according to the release.

For more information, or tickets, visit nationalwestern.com.
U.S. officials on Monday criticized Irans execution of two people in connection with anti-government protests and expressed concern that Iran could soon put more people to death after unfair trials as part of a crackdown.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters the United States condemns the executions of Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini in the strongest terms.

Iran said it executed the two men Saturday after they were convicted of killing a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Basij force in the city of Karaj in early November.

These executions are, in our estimation at least, a key component of Iranian authorities brutal effort  their brutal effort to suppress peaceful protests that began in September following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the so-called morality police, Price said.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters the executions were the latest example of the brutality of a government in Iran that is crushing its own peoples dignity, their freedom to speak out, and, in this case, their lives.

Sullivan said the United States will continue to impose costs and consequences on Iran for its response and that the U.S. will continue to try to help the Iranian people have the means to be able to communicate effectively both with each other and with the world.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives on Monday adopted a package of internal rules that give right-wing hardliners more leverage over the chamber's newly elected Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy.

Lawmakers voted 220-213 to approve the legislation. One Republican, Representative Tony Gonzales, joined all 212 Democrats in voting against the rules package. Another Republican did not vote.

The rules package, which will govern House operations over the next two years, represented an early test of McCarthy's ability to keep his caucus together, after he suffered the humiliation of 14 failed ballots last week before finally being elected speaker on Saturday.

The legislation includes key concessions that hardliners sought and McCarthy agreed to in his quest for the speaker's gavel. The changes include allowing a single lawmaker to call for his removal at any time. Other changes would place new restrictions on federal spending, potentially limiting McCarthy's ability to negotiate government funding packages with President Joe Biden, whose fellow Democrats control the Senate.

Democrats denounced the legislation as a rules package for MAGA extremists that would favor wealthy corporations over workers, undermine congressional ethics standards and lead to further restrictions on abortion services.

"These rules are not a serious attempt at governing. They're essentially a ransom note to America from the extreme right," Representative Jim McGovern said.

Gonzales, the lone Republican to oppose the legislation, said he objected to potential limits on U.S. defense spending at a time of growing tensions with Russia and China.

His vote came despite an earlier warning from the grass-roots conservative group FreedomWorks, which said on Twitter: "If Tony's a 'NO' on the House Rules Package he should not be welcomed into the 119th Congress."

Republicans have a narrow majority of 222-212 in the House, after winning fewer seats than expected in November's midterm elections. This has amplified the hardliners' power and raised questions about how the divided Congress will function.

Lawmakers face critical tasks in the year ahead including addressing the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt limit. Failure to do that, or even a long standoff, would shake the global economy.

Other changes include a 72-hour waiting period between when a bill is introduced and when it can get a vote, a cap on government spending at 2022 levels, and the creation of a committee to investigate the Justice Department.
MARYLAND - Amnesty International says President Emmerson Mnangagwas government should investigate the weekend brutal attack of opposition Citizens Coalition for Change supporters by suspected Zanu PF activists in Zimbabwes Murehwa district.

Responding to a viral social media video showing brutal attacks against CCC supporters, Flavia Mwangovya, Amnesty Internationals Deputy Director for East and Southern Africa, said in a statement that the incident should be investigated promptly.

This callous, politically motivated attack against older people who had simply attended a gathering for a political opposition party is outrageous. Such cruel acts of violence, which have repeatedly marred Zimbabwes political landscape in the past, gravely threaten the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.

These attacks are clearly intended to harass and intimidate members of political opposition in the months leading up to Zimbabwes upcoming election and could have a chilling effect throughout the country. The Zimbabwean authorities must take all necessary steps to prevent acts of politically motivated violence and refrain from issuing inflammatory statements that could incite similar attacks or deter people from expressing support to political parties of their choice.

Mwangovya said the perpetrator should be brought to justice.

The Zimbabwean authorities must also urgently launch a thorough, independent and impartial investigation into these assaults and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice in fair trials. They must also fully respect and protect the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly in the lead up to, during and after the upcoming election.

Police say they are investigating the case while Zanu PF has distanced itself from the incident, claiming that the opposition has a propensity to stage-manage political violence ahead of elections.

But the opposition is insisting that its members were attacked by well-known Zanu PF supporters in the area.

The video, which appears to have been filmed by one of the assailants, shows a group of apparent supporters of the countrys ruling Zanu PF party kicking and beating with sticks older people in Ward 4 of Bhunu Village, Murehwa North, a rural district of Marondera East.

In the short clip, older men and women can be seen being cruelly assaulted and interrogated simply for attending a political gathering for the Citizens Coalition for Change.

Zimbabwe has a long history of violence during elections, with opposition parties repeatedly accusing Zanu PF of being behind the attacks. Amnesty International has previously documented similar election-related human rights violations in the country.

During the 2008 elections, more than 200 people were killed during and after the election amid violence against opposition supporters. In the 1980 an estimated 20,000 supporters of PF Zapu were butchered by the North-Korean trained Five Brigade in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.
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Panama has opened the doors for a third operator to enter its market to fill the void left by the exit of Digicel Panama, by opening pre-qualification for the operators mobile licence this week.

CommsUpdate reported, Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Publicos (ASEP), Panamas national public services authority, is aiming to begin the first stage of the licensing processes on March 16. The acquirer of the licence will also be able to purchase certain Digicel assets.

The regulator said: We reiterate to all Digicel customers, as well as to its collaborators and suppliers, that the company continues to operate hand-in-hand with the auditor, providing its services without interruptions. Digicel will maintain its operations until the entry of the new operator and, in addition, it will accompany the new company in the transition process.

Digicel revealed in April 2022, intentions to liquidate due to the merger between rivals Cable & Wireless Panama which operates the +Movil brand and Claro, as it believed the merger will lead to unfair competition in the market. Digicel had previously said if the merger went ahead it cannot continue to fund the semblance of a three-player market.

Currently, Millicoms Tigo Panama is the only operator competing against the merged entity of CWP/Claro. Despite the merger, Millicom took full control of Tigo as part of its plans to deepen operations in Latin America.
Orlandi case remains unsolved after four decades.

The Vatican has reopened an investigation into the 1983 disappearance of teenager Emanuela Orlandi, a few months after a Netflix documentary series purported to shed fresh light on the 40-year-old case.

The daughter of an employee at the Vatican Bank, Orlandi was 15 when she vanished without a trace as she returned to her Vatican City home after a flute lesson in Rome on 22 June 1983.

The Vatican's newly-appointed prosecutor Alessandro Diddi has decided to reopen the file on Orlandi, reports news agency Adnkronos, with the new investigation set to "leave no stone unturned".

The reopening of the case follows a sustained campaign from Orlandi's older brother Pietro who welcomed Diddis decision as a positive step, telling state broadcaster RAI News on Monday: "There are new elements that need to be analysed and I am convinced that there are people in the Vatican who are aware of everything.

Posters to promote Netflix series Vatican Girl went up around Rome in October 2022. Piazza Albania, photo Wanted in Rome.

The development comes months after the release of the four-part Netflix documentary-series Vatican Girl which brought renewed public attention to the mysterious cold case.

Over the decades Orlandi's disappearance has sparked conspiracy theories ranging from kidnap by a terrorist group demanding the release of Mehmet Ali Agca, who shot Pope John Paul II in St Peter's Square in 1981, to the involvement of the Banda della Magliana, Romes notorious criminal gang founded in the 1970s.

One of the theories was that Orlandi was buried alongside Roman mobster Enrico De Pedis in the Basilica di S. Apollinare near Piazza Navona. However when his tomb was opened in 2012 there were no clues found.

Other false leads saw the Vatican reopen tombs in the Teutonic Cemetery, beside St Peter's, following an anonymous tip-off received by the family of the missing girl in 2019.

However the tombs were found to be empty, adding further mystery to a case that has gripped Italy for nearly four decades.
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The European Union recently approved a plan to tax imports according to the amount of carbon emitted in their production. This carbon border adjustment mechanism could be a big advance in the fight against global warming. But it will need more work, and not just from EU policymakers, to succeed as intended.

The basic idea makes sense. Since 2005, the EU has used a trading system to curb carbon emissions. This requires heavy emitters to buy allowances, and their price sets an implicit tax on carbon  currently around 80 ($86) a ton. Producers outside Europe dont have to pay this penalty and may face little or no regulation imposing comparable costs. This gives their exports to Europe, especially of products such as steel and cement, a competitive advantage.

The border tax is meant to offset both the unfair advantage and the associated risk of carbon leakage as production shifts to less stringent jurisdictions. The policy might also encourage other governments to strengthen their own efforts to cut emissions.

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There are two main problems. First, although the tax, once phased in, will keep EU-made goods competitive in the domestic market, it doesnt help EU producers defray their higher costs in foreign markets. Officials are therefore debating whether rebates might be required for the blocs exporters  subsidies that would probably be illegal under the rules of the World Trade Organization. Legality aside, it seems less than ideal to give emissions a pass so long as theyre attributed to exports rather than to domestic production or consumption.

Second, suppliers of goods to Europe wont take this new initiative lying down. Governments will argue that the border tax unfairly penalizes their exports. The US has already lodged a complaint. Developing countries will see it as an effort to force them, not help them, to follow Europes lead on emissions. Theyll have a point.

In practice, these complaints will lead to ad hoc accommodations  and here lies the biggest economic risk. The EU could judge the US to be regulating emissions in such a way as to replicate Europes implicit tax, thus meriting an exemption. Deals will doubtless be struck with less powerful trading partners on a case-by-case basis. The world will take another stride toward managed trade.

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Europes border tax threatens to become an additional pressure on a creaking economic order. Liberal trade is already under assault from a revival of protectionist sentiment in many rich countries  not least the US  and from the shocks to global commerce caused by the pandemic, Russias war on Ukraine, and the hardening of geopolitical rivalries. The intentions behind the border tax are good, and the underlying logic correct, but the measure will come at a heavy price if it worsens this economic splintering.

The best way to guard against this is to make genuinely global coordination the priority. Step by step, as much trade as possible should be brought under the terms of a multilateral carbon-price system.

The anomalies and frictions that the border tax might cause all arise from the fact that governments have failed to get their climate-change goals into better alignment. If governments everywhere imposed the same explicit or implicit tax on carbon, border adjustments would be unnecessary. This simple-seeming ideal might be unattainable for now. It should be the goal nonetheless, and faster progress toward it is not too much to demand.

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The best place to start is stronger efforts to assess carbon-abatement policies based on a common approach. The emissions intensity of any given stream of production needs to be measured accurately, using agreed data and transparent methods. If a countrys carbon competitiveness can be measured dispassionately, therell be less scope for accusations of bad faith or ulterior motives when a border tax is imposed. As countries then converge on a worldwide carbon price, the need for border adjustments will diminish.

With the right kind of follow-up, Europes new carbon tax can be a valuable move in this direction.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 Thanks for the Tanks, But Send the Abrams and Leopard Too: Andreas Kluth

 First the US, Then Brazil. Where Next?: Eduardo Porter

 Rental Housing Is Suddenly Headed Toward a Hard Landing: Conor Sen

The Editors are members of the Bloomberg Opinion editorial board.

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Gas burning stoves are getting a second look not just from groups concerned about their contribution to global warming but from US regulators, who are raising concerns about health hazards as well. Gas ranges have been barred or discouraged in new buildings through regulations adopted by about 50 cities and towns in California, amid broader prohibitions across the nation on new natural gas hookups. Now the possibility of a nationwide ban on gas stoves has been broached by a commissioner for the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

1. What are the health concerns?

Natural gas stoves emit air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter at levels the US Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization have said are unsafe and linked to respiratory illness, cardiovascular problems, cancer and other health conditions, according to reports by groups including the Institute for Policy Integrity and the American Chemical Society. Consumer Reports, in October, urged consumers planning to buy a new range to consider going electric after tests conducted by the group found gas stoves emit high levels of nitrogen oxide gases, which can irritate airways. And peer-reviewed research published in December in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that more than 12% of current childhood asthma cases in the US can be attributed to gas stove use.

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2. What are the climate concerns?

The gas burned on stoves produces carbon dioxide, which warms the atmosphere. But whats perhaps more significant is that even when theyre not in use, gas stoves leak methane, according to a Stanford University study published in 2022. It estimated that nationwide methane emissions from the appliances each year have the same global-warming potential as about 500,000 cars. Methane, the main component of natural gas, has more than 80 times the global-warming potential of carbon dioxide for the first 20 years after its released into the atmosphere. There are also broader concerns about methane leaks during the extraction and transportation of natural gas.

3. Whats been the regulatory response?

The Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to seek public comment on the issue later this winter. Besides barring the manufacture or import of gas stoves, options include setting standards on emissions from the appliances, Richard Trumka Jr., the agency commissioner who raised the prospect of a ban, said in an interview. Other possibilities that US lawmakers have urged the agency to consider include requiring warning labels, range hoods and performance standards. Across the country, nearly 100 cities and counties have adopted policies that require or encourage a move away from buildings powered by fossil fuels, according to a tally by RMI, a Colorado-based non-profit that works to accelerate the transition to carbon-free energy. The New York City Council voted in 2021 to ban natural gas hookups in new buildings smaller than seven stories by the end of this year. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has proposed making her state the first in the US to ban natural gas heating and appliances in new buildings. California is weighing its own statewide proposal that would take effect in 2030.

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4. Has there been pushback?

Yes. The growing movement to restrict both natural gas appliances and the use of gas in buildings overall is being met with alarm from suppliers of the fuel, who are fighting back with a lobbying push. Their efforts, which include the use of front groups, have contributed to the passage of laws in 21 states barring local governments from limiting fossil fuel use in buildings. The American Gas Association challenged the findings on health hazards from gas stoves, citing a peer-reviewed study published in 2013 that found no evidence of an association between using gas as a cooking fuel and asthma. Industry spokespeople and argued that banning gas stoves would drive up costs for homeowners and restaurants with little environmental gain. Restaurants have also opposed restrictions. The California Restaurant Association sued Berkeley, California, to try to stop the citys natural gas ban, arguing that restaurants rely on natural gas as an affordable fuel for cooking, baking, heating and power. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, which represents gas range manufacturers, says that cooking produces emissions and harmful byproducts no matter what kind of stove is used and whats important is that people ventilate their kitchens.

The Reference Shelf

 A related QuickTakes on methane, the energy transition.

 The Consumer Reports article on the health risks of gas stoves.

 The article connecting asthma cases to gas stoves in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

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Speeches never matter much, except when they do. Representative Hakeem Jeffriess first big speech to Congress as Democratic minority leader, delivered in the wee hours of Saturday morning, went viral over the weekend. Put to hip hop beats, it has been viewed millions of times. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight The ascension of the House minority leader is not generally an occasion for important or memorable rhetoric. Yet this speech seemed to capture the far-flung diversity, ephemeral aspirations and democratic defiance of the Democratic Party like a July 4 firefly trapped in a bottle. It was both a generational and cultural coming out.

Jeffries may never match former Speaker Nancy Pelosis political dominance of the House. But he has already eclipsed the most glaring and consistent weakness of her leadership: She was rarely a great messenger.

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Jeffries might be. He was well prepared for his moment. The centerpiece of his speech was an alphabetic tour-de-force that could likely only have been pulled off by a Black politician with two feet planted firmly in popular culture. (Jeffries, a Brooklyn native, has delivered tributes to the late Notorious B.I.G. from the floor of the House on more than one occasion). Yet even that may be too general a description. Its doubtful that Barack Obama, the greatest Democratic speechmaker in more than a generation, would ever have ventured into such idiomatic or confrontational terrain.

Jeffriess ABCs are worth repeating in full:

House Democrats will always put:American values over autocracy.Benevolence over bigotry.The Constitution over the cult.Democracy over demagogues.Economic opportunity over extremism.Freedom over fascism.Governing over gaslighting.Hopefulness over hatred.Inclusion over isolation.Justice over judicial overreach.Knowledge over kangaroo courts.Liberty over limitation.Maturity over Mar-a-Lago.Normalcy over negativity.Opportunity over obstruction.People over politics.Quality of life issues over Q-Anon.Reason over racism.Substance over slander.Triumph over tyranny.Understanding over ugliness.Voting rights over voter suppression.Working families over the well-connected.Xenial over xenophobia.Yes we can over you cant do it.And zealous representation over a zero-sum confrontation.

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The political alphabet was at once a joyful recitation of Democratic values and a brutal drawing of contrasts with the party of MAGA. That Jeffries managed to combine the two with the same apparent ease, and personal warmth, with which he rose, essentially uncontested, to leadership in Pelosis wake implies skills that might be equal to the challenges of the 118th Congress and beyond.

Jeffries himself is an amalgamation of his partys complexities. A former corporate lawyer at one of the nations most elite firms, his Brooklyn district combines renovated brownstones that fetch seven-figure prices and a large contingent of public housing occupied for generations by the persistently poor. Its a fitting site for a political party that must meld the interests of the educated and affluent (win the suburbs!) with those of the urban poor and disenfranchised (deliver for the base!). The fright that MAGA extremism has put into many affluent White voters has made that balancing act appear easier than it is, and far easier than it will be if the GOP manages a return to democratic norms and values in the medium term.

In his speech, Jeffries made a point of citing his religious foundation in Brooklyns Cornerstone Baptist Church. He credibly cited Scripture (let us not grow weary of doing good), which is still good politics for a party identified with the rapidly growing secularism of the nation. One of Pelosis most effective tools was her full-throated liberal Catholicism, which she used as a powerful indictment of the amorality of Donald Trump and the bigotry of the Religious Right. When Pelosi said she prayed for Trump, it was a mark of personal expansiveness. But it was also understood that the former speaker was praying for the former president to overcome his sprawling corruption and brokenness. Jeffries can similarly cast a Christian glow over tolerance of difference, and intolerance of corruption.

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In his own speech, given after Jeffriess, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pledged to combat woke indoctrination in our schools, shorthand for ensuring that traditional status hierarchies are upheld, difficult American history is forcibly ignored and empathy and tolerance are withheld from children targeted by MAGA. As a new leader, Jeffries will no doubt face many tough challenges in the months ahead. Drawing contrasts with House Republicans will not be among them.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 This Wont Be the Last Breakdown in the House: Jonathan Bernstein

 One Way the Speaker Fiasco Was Good for Republicans: Robert A. George

 Republicans Are in Power Without a Plan: The Editors

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This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Francis Wilkinson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering U.S. politics and policy. Previously, he was an editor for the Week, a writer for Rolling Stone, a communications consultant and a political media strategist.

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Its harder to argue that your parents should leave you alone when youve just smashed up the car. As digital assets lost more than $2 trillion in value and a string of prominent ventures blew up in 2022, most notably the FTX exchange, the debate over cryptocurrency regulation shifted sharply. The turmoil also heightened the stakes in a battle that had already been brewing in Congress over which of the nations top market regulators, the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, should take the lead on crypto oversight. Separately, the SEC has made clear that it considers most digital assets to be securities, a designation that brings with it an extensive set of requirements, while the top US banking regulators issued a sweeping statement on the dangers of crypto.

1. How did the debate change?

The collapse of FTX and the charges of criminal fraud filed against its co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, led to widespread embarrassment in Congress and among regulators. He and several other top FTX executives had donated heavily to the campaigns of Democrats and Republicans and taken a leading role in an effort to craft a new regulatory regime that reflected the priorities of some in the crypto community. While regulators pointed to the fact that cryptos woes had not destabilized traditional financial markets, they faced criticism for not having taken actions to head off the industrys worst abuses.

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2. What had crypto leaders been pushing for?

Crypto executives and financial titans like Citadel Securities had joined a 2022 industry push for a Senate bill that would have given the CFTC, the US watchdog on futures and derivatives trading, more power to regulate crypto assets. Currently, the CFTC primarily oversees crypto futures. The biggest crypto trading platforms argued that the assets they list should be considered commodities  that is, items whose values rise and fall separate from the profitability of the venture producing them. Even after the fall of FTX, CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam said its implosion was an example of why his agency needs more power to oversee cryptocurrency trading.

3. Whats the case for the SEC?

Many opponents of the Senate bill said that the SECs rules offer more protections for small investors. The SEC was formed in the wake of the market crash of 1929 and sees its core mission as protecting investors by requiring copious disclosures by financial entities. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, a former head of the CFTC, has responded to criticisms that traditional regulations dont match the realities of cryptocurrency by saying the agency could waive some of its rules to better suit digital assets, while also ensuring investors are protected, if exchanges work with the agency to register.

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4. What has the SEC been doing?

Its been making clear it thinks many digital assets look like the kinds of investor-funded ventures that are considered securities and so fall under its rulebook. Anxieties among crypto traders rose when the SEC took the unusual step in an insider trading case in mid-2022 of identifying nine crypto assets that it considered to be securities.

5. What does it mean for something to be a security?

For the SEC, the question is whether something resembles a stock sold by a company to raise money. Specifically, the SEC asks whether a venture involves an investment of money in an enterprise whose profits will come from the efforts of others  a four-pronged assessment known as the Howey test, from a 1946 Supreme Court ruling. For instance, in 2020 the agency sued Ripple Labs Inc., claiming that the company was funding its growth by issuing the XRP digital tokens to investors who were betting that its value would rise. If a token is designated as a security, those creating it are subject to the same raft of rules that govern initial public offerings in the stock market, such as registration and reporting requirements. For crypto exchanges, the designation means they cant offer for public sale any token that doesnt meet those requirements, as well as imposing strict investor-protection requirements for platforms.

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6. What coins are or arent considered securities?

Theres a lot of ambiguity on that question. US regulators agree that Bitcoin, by far the largest digital asset, isnt a security. It was started by an unknown person or persons going by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto and does not exist as a way to raise money for a specific project. In 2018, Ether, the second-biggest token, was also deemed not to be a security: While the Ethereum Foundation initially issued Ether to raise money, it had grown into something sufficiently decentralized that it probably wasnt a security, a senior SEC official said  a position Gensler has declined to endorse. And when Ethereum switched in September to a new system for recording transactions that depends on coins being pooled or staked, Gensler asked whether the interest offered on such deposits could make staked coins a security.

7. What did the banking regulators say?

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The USs top banking regulators  the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency  on Jan. 3 issued a joint statement raising concerns about the risks posed by digital assets, such as scams, legal uncertainties around custody and misleading statements from crypto firms. In a warning to lenders, they said its important that risks that cant be controlled arent allowed to migrate to the banking system.

8. Is this an issue elsewhere?

Yes. Rules adopted by the European Union that have not yet come into effect will seek to regulate tokens that reference another type of asset or act like a digital version of fiat money, like stablecoins. The UKs Financial Conduct Authority also regulates digital assets it considers investments that come with rights to repayment or a share in profits. But payment tokens like Bitcoin, or utility tokens that provide access to a service, remain unregulated in both regions. Singapore regulates both types but under different laws. It considers coins that are digital representations of other assets, such as unlisted shares, to be securities provided they are offered by an approved exchange. In 2022, the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced proposals to tighten access of crypto trading to retail customers after the crash in the digital token market. In Brazil, a new law was enacted in December that created the countrys first framework for cryptocurrency, with ground rules for brokerages that offer crypto as well as the assets day-to-day use. Brazils Congress acted after the FTX collapse increased interest in putting regulations in place.

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 A Treasury Department report on issues related to crypto regulation.

 A look at the crypto industrys push in Washington to avoid securities regulation.

 Gary Genslers first interview on crypto after taking over as SEC chair with Bloomberg Businessweek.

 A BGOV OnPoint of cryptocurrency legislation being considered by Congress.

 A Bloomberg QuickTake from 2018 shows how long these fights have been going on for.

 The executive order on crypto regulation signed by Biden.

 An article on the SECs fight with Ripple.

 The UK FCAs breakdown of regulated versus unregulated tokens.

--With assistance from Ben Bain.

(An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam.)

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Vietnams Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong has likened his anti-graft campaign to a blazing furnace, one thats caught hundreds of senior officials, business executives and others in its blast over the years. While the countrys position has improved by more than 30 spots over the past decade on a global corruption perception index, it was still at 87th place out of 180 ranked in 2021. Now as Southeast Asias fastest-growing economy seeks to bolster its appeal as a destination for foreign investment in the midst of mounting trade tensions between the US and China, the fight seems to be flaring again.

1. What is Vietnam targeting?

Trong, who won a rare third term in 2021, said in a televised speech that each party cadre and member needs to shoulder the responsibility of being a role model. The higher the position and rank, the more responsibility one must take. Eight inspection teams have been set up to deal with corruption cases, including at party committees and agencies, according to the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption.

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2. Whos in the crosshairs?

Authorities last year initiated criminal investigations of at least 4,646 individuals in about 2,474 cases for alleged corruption, abuse of power and economic wrongdoing. The Politburo and the party have disciplined around 70 officials, including five ministers and former ministers, since early 2021. Police have also detained a number of executives as part of investigations into alleged fraud tied to corporate bond issuance and equity trading and stock price manipulation. Here are some instances:

 Parliament dismissed two deputy prime ministers on Jan. 5 based on what Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said was their own request. They were the most senior officials to be relieved of duty since 2017. No reason was given but each of the men had had an assistant detained in corruption cases. One of them was booked for suspected collusion with a maker of Covid-19 test kits, and another for alleged bribery related to repatriation flights for Vietnamese during the pandemic.

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 On the same day, police detained Tran Viet Thai, former ambassador to Malaysia, for alleged abuse of power as part of the investigation involving repatriation flights.(Vietnam organized about 2,000 during the pandemic.) Since the probe started in early 2022, officials have initiated criminal proceedings against 40 people, including Vu Hong Nam, ex-envoy to Japan; deputy foreign affairs minister To Anh Dung; a deputy prime ministers assistant and a director of the Government Offices department of international relations.

 In October, police detained Truong My Lan, chairwoman of the real estate conglomerate Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, and three other company officials for alleged fraud involving the issuance and trading of corporate bonds. The detention led to a brief run on the privately held Saigon Commercial Bank because of its perceived connections with the group. Regulators placed the bank under special scrutiny and directed four others to help manage it.

 In June, police detained former Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long and former Hanoi Mayor Chu Ngoc Anh for alleged ties to the investigation involving Covid tests. Officials have initiated criminal proceedings against 102 individuals tied to the case, according to the public security ministry.

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 A former deputy health minister was sentenced in May to four years in prison for his role in a trading ring for counterfeit medicine.

 The Finance Ministry fired State Securities Commission Chairman Tran Van Dung in May for alleged serious wrongdoings, amid an investigation into stock trading. Soon after the head of the Ho Chi Minh City bourse was fired for what the Vietnam Stock Exchange called very serious shortcomings. Among the executives who were detained are the former chairman of Bamboo Airways and its parent FLC Group JSC, Trinh Van Quyet; Tri Viet Securities former chief executive officer Do Duc Nam and Louis Holdings former chairman Do Thanh Nhan.

 Prime Minister Chinh last year ordered ministries to increase scrutiny over the corporate bonds market amid the detention of Tan Hoang Minh Group chairman Do Anh Dung and six other company executives for investigation of alleged fraud. Dung and allies allegedly appropriated more than 8 trillion dong from more than 6,000 investors through the issuance of corporate bonds, according to the public security ministry.

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3. Whats at stake?

The party has warned that corruption could put its legitimacy with the public and hold on power at risk  echoing President Xi Jinping in neighboring, communist China. Aside from that, Vietnam, a country of roughly 100 million people, has much to gain economically if it can bolster its image as place to do business. Vietnam has benefited as big manufacturers have been exploring ways to diversify supply chains away from China, which was caught up in pandemic lockdowns, and a trade war with the US. Vietnams exports are equivalent to more than 100% of GDP, according to World Bank data, making it one of the most trade dependent countries in the world. Vietnam has also been seeking to have its stock market classified as emerging market  up from the current frontier status, which is the lowest and riskiest rung  and this could bring greater foreign investment. As a participant in the USs new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, Vietnam also has an opportunity to increase its links to its former wartime foe  its largest export market.

4. How serious is the crackdown?

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People are sitting in jail, and some have been sentenced to death. In the first six months of 2022, at least 295 party members were disciplined due to corruption and deliberate wrongdoings, according to a statement of an August meeting of the central anti-corruption committee. Civil judgment enforcement agencies had recovered more than 9 trillion dong ($383 million) in major cases in same period. (In 2021 the committee reported prosecuting 390 graft cases and recovering at least $400 million in assets.) But in Vietnams closely controlled, one-party state, motivation is difficult to assess. Human rights groups repeatedly accuse the government of tamping down dissent. Freedom House, a US-based advocacy group, ranks Vietnam as not free, with a 2021 score of only 19 points out of 100. Transparency International, a Berlin-based anti-corruption group, gave it a score of 39 out of 100 in 2021, from 31 in 2012  the year then-premier Nguyen Tan Dungs government was tainted by a series of scandals. Arrests picked up again after a new administration took power in 2016:

 Nguyen Xuan Anh, party chief in the central city of Danang, was removed from his post.

 Nguyen Xuan Son, former chairman of state-owned PetroVietnam and the ex-chief executive of Ocean Commercial Joint Stock Bank, was sentenced to death after being convicted for embezzlement.

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 Ha Van Tham, the banks former chairman, was given a life sentence after being found guilty of the same charges.

 Former politburo member Dinh La Thang, another former PetroVietnam chairman, was sentenced in 2018 to 18 years for violating state regulations.

5. Will there be more?

The campaign is showing no signs of slowing. Anti-corruption steering committees have been formed and operate in every city and province, while a national steering committee is developing an anti-corruption strategy through 2030. Party chief Trong, in a November speech, continued urging officials to be persistent, determined, and to act faster in the fight against corruption. Prime Minister Chinh in October called for the anti-graft campaign to be more drastic and effective. Earlier, Tran Khanh Hien, head of research at VnDirect Securities Corp., said the governments moves have boosted confidence among foreign investors. But she added they would want to see how persistent and serious the authorities are.

--With assistance from Nguyen Quynh Nga and Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen.

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Asos Plc is looking as squeezed as one of its bustier dresses. The online retailer, which for many years generated the sort of sales growth that high street stores could only dream of, is now grappling with a downturn in digital demand alongside a looming refinancing. Asos faces a potential shareholder rebellion at its annual meeting on Wednesday. A day later, it will report first-quarter sales.

But there is a solution to its tight fit: Sell Topshop, the storied fashion brand it bought two years ago from the ruins of Arcadia, Philip Greens retail empire that collapsed into administration in late 2020.

If Asos could achieve a similar price to what it paid  about 300 million ($364 million)  it would bolster the balance sheet. It recently renegotiated the terms of a 350 million revolving credit facility, with tests of its financial strength suspended until next year. The facility matures in 2024, so Asos will need to refinance this year. Bloomberg News reported recently that the company was discussing whether to add restructuring expertise to its finance team.

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But there are other reasons why Asos should consider offloading Topshop.

The retailer was founded in the 1960s, but it was only in the late 1990s and noughties that it became a fashion force, teaming up with supermodel Kate Moss to produce a collection that drew large crowds to its once iconic store on Londons Oxford Street. Then, in the years before Arcadias collapse, it struggled to regain its fashion spark amid competition from Asos itself, as well as other rivals such as Boohoo Group Plc and Associated British Foods Plcs Primark.

Joining the Asos stable promised a fresh start. But today the brand  which no longer has any UK stores  is still searching for that old magic.

It was relaunched last autumn with the first designs created entirely under Asoss ownership. Its new parent established a dedicated digital storefront for the brand on its website, as well as a new monogram. Yet Topshop still lacks visibility, particularly among those older customers who grew up with it but may not be regular Asos shoppers. The name is not being marketed as effectively as other Arcadia brands bought by Boohoo, such as Dorothy Perkins.

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Asos recognizes the shortcomings. New Chief Executive Officer Jose Antonio Ramos Calamonte is reviewing the way Asos reaches its customers, which could give Topshops marketing more clout. But there is a strong argument for the name returning to the British high street.

In its heyday, part of Topshops appeal was getting to browse its stores for skinny jeans, fake fur coats and floral dresses. These days, consumers are rediscovering an appetite for in-person purchasing. And Topshop can still be found in 100 Nordstrom locations in the US and Canada, thanks to a deal last year whereby the department store took a minority stake in Asoss former Arcadia brands.

Yet as Asos grapples with a surfeit of stock, a potential cash outflow and recruiting a finance director, it lacks the financial and management bandwidth to add a physical presence.

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Of course, that litany of problems means Asos would be selling from a position of weakness. There would also be an opportunity cost to letting Topshop go now.

Despite its lower profile, Topshop has been leading much of Asoss growth, with sales up 105% in the year to August 2022 and a 200% gain in the US. The company said Topshop jeans were now the leading womenswear jeans on its site, while the labels dresses had also been popular. The brand may just need a few more years to to meet its full potential within its new home.

Then there is the question of who would be a buyer this time around.

Clothing company Next Plc looked at Topshop two years ago, but it has struck a series of deals since then, including taking stakes in Reiss and Joules and snapping up the Made.com brand.

Frasers Group Plc founder Mike Ashley could be interested after initially missing out on Topshop. The sportswear retailer has taken a stake of about 5% in Asos and has acquired online retailers Missguided and I Saw It First. Marks & Spencer Group Plc, meanwhile, is also building its credibility in fashion, having acquired Jaeger just weeks before Asoss Topshop deal. Adding the brand could help it reach a new, younger audience, as well as their moms who remember the Kate Moss era. Chinese fast-fashion retailer Shein may also be interested. And dont rule out private equity.

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So despite the drawbacks, exploring the future of Topshop has merit.

When it was relaunched last autumn, Asos described this as a new chapter. Perhaps that should be steered by someone else.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 Retail Christmas Gloom Was Overrated: Andrea Felsted

 When the Heir and the Spare Dont Care for Each Other: Martin Ivens

 The Outspoken CEO Is a Rapidly Dying Breed: Beth Kowitt

--With assistance from Elaine He.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Andrea Felsted is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering consumer goods and the retail industry. Previously, she was a reporter for the Financial Times.

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The saga at McDonalds Corp. continues. Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Stephen Easterbrook, the companys former CEO, with making false and misleading statements about relationships with female employees that led to his firing in November 2019. Easterbrook agreed to a five-year ban on being an officer or director at a US public company and a $400,000 civil penalty.

McDonalds, meanwhile, was charged for shortcomings in its public disclosures. Translation: You didnt put something in your proxy that you should have.

Despite the charge, the company walked away with no financial penalty. The SEC justified the decision by pointing to the companys substantial cooperation and the remedial measures it had already taken. (In December 2021, Easterbrook agreed to pay McDonalds $105 million after the company sued him to claw back compensation.)

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Maybe its the lack of a monetary fine, its technical nature, or simply that its not as juicy as the Easterbrook part of the narrative, but somehow the charge against McDonalds has ended up as a footnote in the whole ordeal. It should be the main attraction. The charge turns the sordid affair from a McDonalds story with leadership and management lessons into one with serious regulatory implications for corporate America about what it must disclose to investors.

Heres the backstory: When McDonalds fired Easterbrook in 2019 for sexting with an employee, it said he had violated company policy and demonstrated poor judgement. However, the board decided not to fire him for cause, allowing Easterbrook to walk away with more than $40 million in severance and compensation. Less than a year later, a whistleblower ignited a further investigation that discovered Easterbrook had in fact had multiple sexual relationships with employees in the year before his departure and allegedly attempted to cover them up during the initial investigation. McDonalds sued Easterbrook and subsequently said that had it known this information when it fired him, it wouldnt have terminated him without cause.

The with or without cause piece is whats critical in the SEC investigation of the company. The agency is saying that the shortcomings in McDonalds public disclosures stem not from deciding to fire Easterbrook without cause, but rather from its failure to disclose that the decision to do so was at the boards discretion.

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This might seem like a technicality, but its by no means a stretch to say that having the information is relevant to investors. Firing Easterbrook without cause casts a light on the board, revealing material information about its thinking and process. That decision has in fact made the company a target of a shareholder group, which has called for a refresh of the board  including Chairman Rick Hernandez, who is a long-time director. McDonalds has made some apparent concessions, adding four new board members since Easterbrooks departure. However, all but one of the directors who oversaw the Easterbrook investigation remain on the board.

The SECs decision comes with its detractors. Two of the SECs own commissioners dissented  something that historically was rare but has become far more common in the last decade  calling the order a novel interpretation of the agencys disclosure rules. Their argument is that requiring a company to disclose the underlying reason for why it chose to terminate with or without cause is beyond the scope of the rules and has the potential to lead to confusion.

Neither McDonalds nor Easterbrook have denied or admitted to the SECs findings.

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The kind of deal McDonalds cut with Easterbrook is far from unusual. When facing a crisis in leadership, companies want to move on quickly and quietly, and both sides have powerful incentives to settle. McDonalds made just that claim in its suit against Easterbrook, saying that its decision to terminate without cause was an attempt to protect the companys interests and create as little disruption as possible. It was very likely part of the negotiation in Easterbrooks exit.The SECs order now makes that point of negotiation less readily available for companies that are separating from an executive. What organizations say about a CEOs departure is not just a business decision but a clear regulatory issue. Boards will have to be more candid and transparent in their disclosures, further pulling back the curtain on their deliberations. The message from the SEC is very clear: be forthright, or risk deep scrutiny. More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 The Outspoken CEO Is a Rapidly Dying Breed: Beth Kowitt

 Fig-Leaf Feminism is Holding Back C-Suite Parity: Andreea Papuc

 Ex-Elliott Activist Hasnt Forgotten the Playbook: Chris Hughes

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Beth Kowitt is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering corporate America. She was previously a senior writer and editor at Fortune Magazine.

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Representative Kevin McCarthy made many concessions in his bid to become speaker of the House. But his offer to allow the hard-line House Freedom Caucus to select three of the nine Republicans on the powerful House Committee on Rules stands out for its ability to diminish the influence of the Republican Party within the House. It will grant a handful of extremists outsize power in Congress, reducing the Republican Partys ability to govern.

The deal, which wasnt part of proposed rule amendments adopted Monday evening, is far more significant than the much-ballyhooed change allowing a single House member to essentially call a vote of no-confidence against the speaker. Threatening the speakers job is messy, and as aggressive as the dissidents might be, the mechanism isnt something likely to see everyday use.

By contrast, handing seats on the Rules Committee to a small, radical faction institutionalizes their influence in a way that will come into play on every single bill the House considers, because every bill must go through that committee in order to be considered by the full House.

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Strict party rule in a closely divided chamber is controversial but perhaps justified; having a small minority of that party dictate to everyone is something else. That would be true of any small faction gaining excessive power, let alone one mostly known for seeking to overturn the 2020 election.

To understand why, it helps to know how the current system works. Bills in the House begin in committees, such as Agriculture or Foreign Affairs. Those that are approved by a committee vote are sent on to the full House for consideration. But before that happens, bills need what the House calls a rule  the procedure under which they will be considered, including which amendments will be allowed, and other procedural quirks. Thats what the Rules Committee provides. A bill that passes Armed Services or Ways and Means cant be considered by the full House until it also passes through Rules. And the committees influence is vast; it isnt unusual for legislation to be entirely rewritten by Rules.

But under McCarthys changes, the consensus views of the Republican Party will no longer necessarily hold sway. Instead of nine Republicans and four Democrats, all chosen for their loyalty to their party, the rules committee will now have six mainstream Republicans, four Democrats, and three Republicans selected by the House Freedom Caucus.(1)To get a seven-vote majority on the 13-member committee, the six Republicans will have to cut a deal with either the Democrats or the Republican dissidents.

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So as a matter of standard procedure, every Republican bill will be hostage to a tiny bloc within the party. It wont take an extraordinary revolt. It will be built in.

Having even a single Rules Committee member loyal to a faction, and not to the leadership and the entire party, would be a major change that would make it harder for Republicans to function as the majority. Going further and giving the faction three seats? Thats asking for trouble.

The GOP should understand by now that McCarthys opponents wont hesitate to harm their fellow Republicans if they think its to their advantage. Its easy to imagine most Republicans regretting letting McCarthy agree to this kind of deal.

There is a fair criticism that Representative Nancy Pelosi and other recent speakers have been too powerful within the House and that restoring some of the balance to subject-matter committees would be good for the chamber. McCarthys opponents claimed that what they are doing is decentralizing the House and restoring influence to individual members.(2)

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But whats actually happening is that the new House will be as centralized as before; the only difference will be that instead of the speaker and party leadership running things, it will be the speaker and one small, hostile group. The speaker, at least, is responsible to the entire majority party. The three radical members on the rules committee will only be responsible to themselves and their allies.

As much as the bulk of Republicans wanted to stand behind McCarthy, they should have let him know that these concessions would exact too high a price on the party as a whole.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 The Houses Republican Rebels Have a Point: David A. Hopkins

 George Santos Doesnt Deserve to Be Kicked Out of Congress: Matthew Yglesias

 One Way the Speaker Fiasco Was Good for Republicans: Robert A. George

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(1) Indeed, the majority party has a supermajority on Rules precisely so that they can always get their way. During the mid-20th century, that wasnt the case - and a minority faction of conservative Democrats, including the chair of the committee, regularly blocked legislation that the majority of the party and a majority of the chamber favored. Democrats eventually changed things so that Rules would be an instrument of the party. Thats what McCarthy is changing now.

(2) There are some changes, such as pledges for increased ability to offer amendments on the House floor and more time to study bills before they reach the floor, billed as empowering individual members. But the history of such pledges is that they quickly fall victim to the partys need to reach 218 votes. The real way to empower individual members of the House is to strengthen committees and subcommittees so they can act independently, and thats not happening here.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. A former professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University, he wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

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Ever since the UK left the European Union in 2020, trading arrangements for Northern Ireland have remained a bone of contention. The UK government says the current regime, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, is stifling trade between the region and Great Britain and has threatened to unilaterally rewrite the agreement. A stalemate over the issue has further polarized Northern Irelands fractious politics and left it without a functioning regional government. By January, it appeared that the two sides were edging closer to a workable solution.

1. What is the protocol?

Its an arrangement to keep goods moving between Northern Ireland, a region of the UK, and EU-member Ireland to the south, while making sure the border doesnt turn into a soft target for smuggling goods into the EU. It does that by imposing physical checks on products arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain. The UK government says the burden of new paperwork and customs procedures has disrupted trade and effectively created an internal border within a sovereign country. Its also unhappy that the European Court of Justice oversees large parts of the protocol.

2. What progress has been made?

The negotiations resumed after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson  who oversaw the break with the EU  left office. Technical talks on the specifics of the protocol were taking place each week, and the UKs Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and the EUs Maros Sefcovic were in regular contact. The hope was that they would secure a settlement  or at least the outline of an agreement  in time for the 25th anniversary of Northern Irelands 1998 peace treaty in April. An important hurdle was cleared in January, when the EU agreed to use the UKs live database tracking goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. That could lay the ground for a potential agreement to reduce burdensome customs checks. The UK and EU issued a joint statement calling the step a a new basis for EU-UK discussions. Further hurdles remained around taxation, sanitary checks and governance.

3. What if the talks fail?

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak continues to back legislation drawn up by his predecessor Liz Truss that would allow Britain to unilaterally rewrite the bulk of the protocol if the negotiations collapse, though its progress through parliament has slowed. Under that legislation, British goods destined for Northern Ireland would be treated differently to those intended for the EU. Businesses in Northern Ireland would be allowed to choose whether to follow UK or EU product standards, or both. UK subsidy controls and tax breaks would be extended to Northern Ireland and the ECJ would be stripped of its role in settling disputes over the Brexit deal in the region, with an independent arbitration panel overseeing legal issues instead. Another option for the UK is to trigger an emergency clause known as Article 16 that would suspend part of the protocol. The EU would then have the right to take immediate and proportionate retaliatory measures. The UK insists it prefers a negotiated solution.

4. What does the EU say?

The European Commission has said enacting the UK legislation would breach international law and in June, Sefcovic described it as a gun on the table in the talks. The EU has proposed concessions to reduce the customs burden on traders but says the protocol cannot be re-negotiated, arguing the UK already accepted it was the best solution to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and protect the integrity of the blocs single market for goods, which ensures the same standards and rules governing areas such as food safety. The bloc launched a number of infringement proceedings last year after the UK tabled the legislation but before talks resumed and the relationship improved. Its since put further legal action on ice to give space for talks to progress.

5. How do people in Northern Ireland feel?

Support has been growing for parties in Northern Ireland that want to keep the protocol. The post-Brexit trading arrangements give Northern Ireland unique access to both the EUs single market and the UKs internal market. In elections to Northern Irelands assembly in May, Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein took seats from the Democratic Unionist Party, which favors close ties with Britain and has campaigned for the protocol to be scrapped as it treats Northern Ireland differently to the rest of the UK. The DUP has refused to take its place in the regions power-sharing government since February unless the protocol is replaced. The UKs aim is to secure a deal with the EU on the protocol, or at least show evidence of significant progress, which could persuade the DUP to re-form Northern Irelands government by the April anniversary.

6. How might it all go wrong?

The risk for Sunak is that even if he strikes a deal, it might not be accepted by the DUP or Brexit-supporting members of his own Conservative party. Those MPs have insisted that the ECJ must have no jurisdiction in Northern Ireland, but thats a red line for the EU, and its likely the UK will have to show some compromise on the issue. If theres no settlement, the talks fail and the UK suspends customs checks on goods into Northern Ireland, it would create a dilemma for the EU: Would the bloc be prepared to construct a border of its own between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to protect its single market? That prospect has been downplayed by EU officials. If the EU really wants to play hardball, it could impose tariffs on targeted goods in Britain. The most radical, and ultimately the most risky, option would be an EU decision to end the entire Brexit trade and cooperation agreement, which would further hamper UK access to the EU single market. If the dispute were to spiral out of control, the hard-fought peace and stability of Northern Ireland could, ultimately, be in jeopardy.

--With assistance from Flavia Krause-Jackson, Stephanie Bodoni and Joe Mayes.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

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Which is more important to your overall well-being: the work you do, or the people you work with? Today, we tend to focus a lot on the work itself. For years, young people have been told to follow your passion and do what you love. Companies of all stripes have lured talent by promising that together, they and their employees can change the world. And although companies also brag about their company cultures, often this is a code for perks like flexibility.

But a new book by the director and associate director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development taps that long-running study on contentment to make the case that relationships  including our work relationships  are far more important than we give them credit for. The Good Life: Lessons from the Worlds Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, by psychiatrist Robert Waldinger and psychologist Marc Schulz, draws on more than 80 years of data. Multiple generations of researchers followed the studys participants  mostly Harvard undergraduates and low-income boys living in Boston tenements  for most of their lives, interviewing them and asking them to fill out questionnaires every few years. Many of their children now participate in the study.

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The findings suggest that more of us should pay attention not only to what we do for a living, but whom we do it with.

Many of us spend most of our waking hours at work, Schulz told me. What we found in following our participants across decades of their lives, and now following their children, is that the connections that people have at work are really critical  and that work is a pretty important source of connection for many people.

In fact, the happiest man in the study, whom they call Leo, never achieved his dream of becoming a writer. Instead, he became a teacher. It wasnt what he had planned  and likely wouldnt have happened if his fathers death and his mothers Parkinsons diagnosis hadnt forced him away from his chosen path. But his relationships with his students and colleagues made him so happy that he turned down several promotions.

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Its not that money doesnt matter  wealthier people tend to have a longer life expectancy, for one thing, and the studys richest participants lived about nine years longer than the poorest. But looking at the data  their own, and others  money matters most at lower levels of income where a dollar, euro, rupee or yuan is used to provide basic needs and a sense of security, write Schulz and Waldinger. Once you get above that threshold, money does not seem to matter much, if at all, when it comes to happiness.

We also tend to underestimate what the day-to-day experience of work might be, even for things were passionate about. If Leo had become a writer, for example, he would have likely spent many days alone, rather than in noisy classrooms or convivial staffrooms.

Henry and Rosa, another of the studys happier couples, experienced something similar. Henry worked in an auto plant, and Rosa, his wife, in the city payroll office. They didnt love their work  it was pretty hum-drum  but they both enjoyed real camaraderie with their colleagues, often inviting them over for backyard barbecues. Over the course of their careers, they reported far higher levels of contentment than study participants who achieved greater financial success. In fact, when Henry retired, he missed work so much that he got a part-time job.

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What about work-life balance? This is tricky. While Leo had strong family relationships, the work sometimes pulled him away from his wife and children. In fact, his family told researchers they wished he had spent more time with them. As a full-time working parent, that was tough for me to read.

And by the time they reached their 70s and 80s, many study participants told researchers they regretted spending so much time at work  even if they had loved their jobs. One man, called Michael, took pride in his work and considered it his lifes purpose. But his work ethic took a toll on his marriage. You dont always notice what youve missed, he told the researcher interviewing him. One day you turn around and you realize its too late.

Maybe the best any of us can hope for is making peace with the sense that were always robbing Peter to pay Paul  always shortchanging one important relationship in our lives to nurture another. At least then we know we have multiple relationships worth the investment.

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Even if you buy the idea that work friendships are vitally important, the modern workplace doesnt make it easy to forge them. Not only are more of us spending more time working from home, we have to contend with the pressure to be maximally efficient; technology that lets us do more of our jobs independently rather than collaboratively; even HR policies that dissuade sharing personal information.

Power differentials can be especially fraught in a culture that believes emotions and work should never mix. A woman named Ellen told the researchers that shed forged friendships with a handful of subordinates only to be betrayed by another woman, who apparently thought their closeness was unprofessional and left copies of her confidential appraisals on their desks. She found it so upsetting that she never formed another close relationship with a colleague for the rest of her career.

And on top of all that, weve got families to rush home to, errands to run and friends outside of work were trying to keep up with. Womens second-shift responsibilities  the childcare and household chores that women still do more of than men  also make it tougher to find the time to form friendships at work.

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But friendships  even marriages  spring up in offices despite these hurdles. Connections with others are always within our reach, Schulz told me. Relationships arent easy. They do require attending to. But if we want to have the benefits, we also have to accept some of the challenges.

Friendships are risky and messy and unpredictable, he said, attributes that dont exactly sound workplace appropriate. But if we want to enjoy our time at work  and feel happier overall  maybe thats exactly where we need to be.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 Racing to Meetings? Its Slowing You Down: Sarah Green Carmichael

 Next Year, Resolve Not to Monetize Your Hobbies: Erin Lowry

 How to Win the Hybrid Workforce Revolution: Adrian Wooldridge

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Sarah Green Carmichael is a Bloomberg Opinion editor. Previously, she was managing editor of ideas and commentary at Barrons and an executive editor at Harvard Business Review, where she hosted HBR IdeaCast.

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Silicon Valley is Americas innovation capital, but lenient remote work policies and a spate of layoffs have fueled an exodus of workers and cleared the way for rising investment in other tech hubs, especially Austin and Miami.
Kate Moores The Art of Levitation was a substantial piece for small orchestra building from delicate hazy layers, pierced with high sounds like bring light, through pulsations of vastly different weight and speed to a forceful, all-encompassing clamour before rapidly falling away. It was a concert that both celebrated and cemented enduring musical affinities.

Asko|Schonbergs presentation of Andriessens Zilver was a virtuosic, brilliantly coordinated performance of complex interweaving scales presented with shifting tension and at different speeds and densities, like lines of varying lengths and thickness intersecting across multiple dimensions. Martijn Paddings White Eagle, featuring brilliant and vivid folk-fiddling from violinist Joseph Puglia, created joyous collisions of musical styles, always tumbling into something new and creating novel textures that hovered on the edge of the fantastic.

A philosopher, a theologian and a cartographer are taken by the idea of a great, uncharted southern continent. The philosopher imagines discovering wonders of nature, while the theologian dreams of a terra nullius for sacred contemplation. The cartographer wants to map it. The three of them find a boat to take them south, to ultima thule. To Antarctica. None of them will survive to tell the tale but the ice has its own way of giving up secrets.

Antarctica is a beautifully crafted story that operates on different time scales. Credit: Wendell Teodoro

Opera is the ultimate collaborative genre and in this world premiere, directed by Imara Savage, the set (Elizabeth Gadsby), lighting (Alexander Berlage), sound (Bob Scott) and video art (Mike Daly) amplify and complicate the impact of the words and music. The result is a beautifully crafted story that gives up its treasures in its own time. There are moments when I was uncomfortably aware of the slow unfurling of the story, recognising a pattern evolving, realising it must run its course, and that would take time. But, like noticing stars appear in the sky, or ice melting, or water levels rising, Antartica rewards patient and unflinching listening.

Time operates on many different scales in Antarctica. There is history  of thought, of exploration, of music - conveyed through Wrights words, Gadsbys splendid costumes and Finsterers score, shot through with musical old friends that dissolve like memory. There is time now, marked out by conductor Jack Symonds, the pulse slipping through his fingers like sound through fog. And there is deep time  the time captured in layers and layers of ice, in the slow change of a continent, evoked visually by Dalys absorbing video art and Berlages transformative lighting.
Earths protective ozone layer is slowly but noticeably healing at a pace that would fully mend the hole over Antarctica in about 43 years, a new United Nations report says.

A once-every-four-years scientific assessment found recovery in progress, more than 35 years after every nation in the world agreed to stop producing chemicals that chomp on the layer of ozone in Earths atmosphere that shields the planet from harmful radiation linked to skin cancer, cataracts and crop damage.

The ozone layer is on track to recover by 2066.

In the upper stratosphere and in the ozone hole we see things getting better, said Paul Newman, co-chair of the scientific assessment.

The progress is slow, according to the report presented at the American Meteorological Society convention in Denver on Monday local time. The global average amount of ozone 30 kilometres high in the atmosphere wont be back to 1980 pre-thinning levels until about 2040, the report said. And it wont be back to normal in the Arctic until 2045.
For all the fanfare that accompanied NASAs triumphant Artemis moon mission late last year, the space agency still had one fact it couldnt get around: The spacecraft had no people on board. Save for a mannequin, and a couple of dummy torsos, the Orion spacecraft flew empty as a test to see how the autonomous capsule would do on its journey to the moon and back.

But now NASA is looking to get its astronauts involved.

A portion of the far side of the moon looms large just beyond the Orion spacecraft in this image taken on the sixth day of the Artemis I mission by a camera on the tip of one of Orions solar arrays. Credit: NASA

Later this year, in what promises to be another busy one for the space agency and the industry as a whole, NASA plans to announce the four-member crew of the next Artemis mission, finally giving the program a human face. Those astronauts  three from NASA, one from the Canadian space agency  are to orbit the moon in the Artemis II mission scheduled for 2024. That would be a prelude to a human landing a year or two later that would be the first since the last of the Apollo missions in 1972.

The astronaut announcement is one of a series of events planned for the coming year as NASA seeks to keep momentum going for the Artemis program. 2022 was one of the most accomplished years in NASAs history, says NASA administrator Bill Nelson, with images from the James Webb Space Telescope returning to Earth, the completion of the first Artemis mission, and SpaceX launching a record 61 times. But there is still much to look forward to in 2023.
Brazilian authorities have vowed to protect democracy and punish thousands of his supporters. A soldier carefully collects national flags after supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro left the encampment. Credit: AP Police broke down a pro-Bolsonaro encampment outside a military building on Monday and detained some 1200 people there, the Justice Ministrys press office told The Associated Press. Lula and the heads of the Supreme Court, Senate and Lower House also signed a letter on Monday denouncing acts of terrorism and vandalism and saying they were taking legal measures. Justice Minister Flavio Dino told reporters police have begun tracking those who paid for the buses that transported protesters to the capital. The buildings would be inspected for evidence including fingerprints and images to hold people to account, and that the rioters apparently intended to spark similar unrest nationwide.

Loading They will not succeed in destroying Brazilian democracy. We need to say that fully, with all firmness and conviction, Dino said. We will not accept the path of criminality to carry out political fights in Brazil. A criminal is treated like a criminal. On Sunday, rioters donning the green and yellow of the national flag broke windows, toppled furniture, hurled computers and printers to the ground. They punctured a massive Emiliano Di Cavalcanti painting at the palace in seven places and completely destroyed other works of art. They overturned the U-shaped table at which Supreme Court justices convene, ripped a door off one justices office and vandalised an iconic statue outside the court. The monumental buildings interiors were left in ruins. Mondays arrests came in addition to the 300 arrested on Sunday while caught in the act. Damaged portraits of former Senate Presidents Jose Sarney and Renan Calheiros are seen at the Brazilian National Congress. Credit: Getty

But police were noticeably slow to react  even after the arrival of more than 100 buses  leading many to ponder whether authorities had either simply ignored numerous warnings, underestimated the protesters strength, or been somehow complicit. Public prosecutors in the capital said local security forces had at the very least been negligent. A supreme court justice temporarily suspended the regional governor. Another justice blamed authorities for not swiftly cracking down on budding neo-fascism. After his October 30 electoral defeat, Bolsonaro has been stoking belief among his hardcore supporters that the electronic voting system was prone to fraud  though he never presented any evidence. His lawmaker son Eduardo Bolsonaro held several meetings with former US president Donald Trump, Trumps longtime ally Steve Bannon and his senior campaign adviser, Jason Miller. Results from Brazils election  the closest in more than three decades  were quickly recognised by politicians across the spectrum, including some Bolsonaro allies, as well as dozens of governments. And Bolsonaro surprised nearly everyone by promptly fading from view. He neither conceded defeat nor emphatically cried fraud, though he and his party submitted a request to nullify millions of votes that was swiftly dismissed. People survey damage caused by Bolsonaro supporters following a riot the previous day at Planalto Palace. Credit: Getty

Brazilians have used electronic voting since 1996 that some security experts consider less secure than hand-marked paper ballots because they leave no auditable paper trail. Brazils system is, however, closely scrutinised and domestic authorities and international observers have never found evidence of it being exploited to commit fraud. Loading Still, Bolsonaros supporters refused to accept the results. They blocked roads and have remained camped outside military buildings, urging the armed forces to intervene. Dino, the justice minister, referred to the encampments as incubators of terrorism. Protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, but isolated threats  including a bomb found on a fuel truck headed to Brasilias airport  prompted security concerns. Two days before Lulas January 1 inauguration, Bolsonaro flew to the US and took up temporary residence in Orlando. Many Brazilians expressed relief that, while he declined to participate in the transition of power, his absence allowed it to occur without incident. Or so it had been, until Sundays havoc.

Bolsonarism mimics the same strategies as Trumpism. Our January 8  an unprecedented manifestation in Brazilian politics  is clearly copied from January 6 in the Capitol, said Paulo Calmon, a political science professor at the University of Brasilia. Todays sad episodes represent yet another attempt to destabilise democracy and demonstrate that the authoritarian, populist radicalism of Brazils extreme right remains active under the command of former president Bolsonaro, the Trump of Latin America. US President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau jointly said on Monday that Canada, Mexico, and the United States condemn the January 8 attacks on Brazils democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power. We stand with Brazil as it safeguards its democratic institutions. French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to support Lula unconditionally. In a message on Twitter in Portuguese he said, The will of the Brazilian people and democratic institutions must be respected. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the riots, saying Australia stood with the democratically elected government.

Soldiers help clear out an encampment set up by supporters of Bolsonaro. Credit: AP When democracies have elections, its important that they be respected and tragically weve seen here actions that look a bit similar to what happened at the US Capitol building on January 6 after the election of President Biden. Its important that we respect democratic processes, Albanese said. Analysts told the AP that the upheaval could yield greater political support for Lula and his stated mission to pacify the polarised country, with many right-wing citizens and politicians repulsed by the scenes and eager to distance themselves from far-right radicalism. The leader of Bolsonaros own party called the uprising an embarrassment. This may have been the beginning of the end. The political system will want to isolate that radical movement and move away from it, said Mario Sergio Lima, political analyst at Medley Advisors. I think what we will see now is the right trying to create new alternatives and new leaders, and the centre distancing itself. In a news conference from Sao Paulo state, Lula read a freshly signed decree for the federal government to assume control of security in the federal district. He said that the so-called fascist fanatics, as well as those who financed their activities, must be punished, and also accused Bolsonaro of encouraging their uprising.

Bolsonaro repudiated the presidents accusation late Sunday. Writing on Twitter, he said peaceful protest is part of democracy, but vandalism and invasion of public buildings are exceptions to the rule. Unlike the 2021 attack in the US, few officials would have been working in the top government buildings on a Sunday. And videos showed limited presence of the capitals military police. One video showed a group of protesters easily pushing through a police barricade, with only a few officers using pepper spray. Another showed officers standing by as protesters stormed the Congress, including one using his phone to record what was happening. This was a gross error by the federal districts government. It was a tragedy foretold, said Thiago de Aragao, director of strategy at Brasilia-based political consultancy Arko Advice. Everyone knew [the protesters] were coming to Brasilia. The expectation was that the federal districts government was going to mount a response to protect the capital. They didnt do any of that. Lula said at his news conference there was incompetence or bad faith on the part of police, and he promised some would be punished.
The World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Federal Administration of Public Revenue of the Argentine Republic (AFIP) have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to strengthen their partnership, under the COLIBRI Project, on monitoring and controlling General Aviation.

The MoC was signed by the WCOs Head of Administration and Personnel, Mr. Hans Pieters, on behalf of the Organizations Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, and by the Director General of Customs of Argentina (DGA), C.P and Abog. Guillermo Michel, on behalf of AFIP.

The MoC lays the foundations for, and formalizes the collaboration between the COLIBRI project and DGA/AFIP. It also sets out the active engagement by DGA/AFIP towards training activities aimed at strengthening officials capacities to control this sensitive vector. The MoC frames the scope, objectives and means of collaboration between the parties, and outlines the importance of information sharing and of interagency and international cooperation, in order to help achieve the Project's aims and make a tangible contribution to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

The WCO Secretary General, Dr. Mikuriya, emphasized that General Aviation is one of the most important and dynamic means of transport worldwide, and its characteristics make it attractive to organized crime for perpetrating their illegal activities. The WCO Secretariat, the European Union (EU) and national law enforcement services and other competent authorities from 15 countries are working together to secure this means of transport and better protect our societies. He added: I commend this joint international effort and look forward to a future where General Aviation will be controlled and monitored in the same way as Commercial Aviation.

The Director General of DGA, C.P and Abog. Guillermo Michel, pointed out that the increased use of General Aviation, and the need to enhance international and inter-agency cooperation in order to fight more effectively against irregular activities at national, regional and International level, led DGA/AFIP to join the COLIBRI Project. We are committed to using our resources and building our capacities to achieve our common objectives.

DGA/AFIP has shown an exceptional degree of involvement in the Project. Together with the Gendarmerie, Airport Security Police, Naval Prefecture and various Directorates of the Ministry of Security, DGA/AFIP is working actively towards the successful implementation of the Projects activities in an effort to provide officials with the necessary skills to perform effective controls and analyse trends and routes to ensure greater monitoring of General Aviation use and activities.

The COLIBRI Project is implemented by the WCO Secretariat and funded by the European Union (EU). The Project is part of the Global Illicit Flows Programme (GIFP) of the EU. It supports 15 partner countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay), and in West and Central Africa (Cape Verde, Cote dIvoire, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria and Senegal), and involves 78 law enforcement services and authorities supervising or regulating the general aviation sector.

COLIBRI is a unique initiative. By providing national administrations with capacity-building resources and a dedicated Geospatial Platform, the Project enables them to address the root causes of the challenges and threats posed by General Aviation, namely: lack of awareness of the issues surrounding General Aviation, lack of expertise to conduct controls, and lack of data to give a clear picture of the threat in the regions covered by the Project.
Ralph Medley was ultimately named New Brockton Mayor at the town council meeting Monday after fielding questions by two council members who expressed concern about Medleys vision and plans for the Coffee County town of 1,428.

Medley has served as interim mayor since Mayor Kathryn Holley tendered her resignation Dec. 5, 2022, stating she is unhappy with the direction some town council members are leading the community.

I can no longer be a part of the direction a couple of the council members are choosing to take our town, Holley said in her letter to the town council. I have always tried to improve our town without destroying its character and special qualities, all of which were an act of love for the citizens of New Brockton.

Due to several circumstances and tragedies in my family over the past three years, I can no longer deal with the chaos with individuals on our council, Holley said. Ive enjoyed being mayor of New Brockton and the support I have received over the years.

Holley had the distinction of being the towns first female mayor when she was first elected to serve from 1992 until 1996. She declined to run for reelection in 1996 but ran successfully again in 2012 and had served as mayor since then. Her current term would have ended in 2025.

This town is my home and I cherish the day we moved here to raise our family, Holley said in her resignation letter. With the added responsibility at home and the chaos of being mayor, its just best I step down effective Dec. 31.

As mayor pro tem, Medley served as interim until the council appointed a new mayor and discuss council structure was on the agenda for Mondays first meeting since Holley resigned.

Medley was nominated by Councilman Ronald Terry at Mondays meeting to fill the vacated mayors seat. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Shirley Eads.

What would you see as your top priority, as far as business? Councilman Todd Askins asked Medley during the discussion period that followed the motion being seconded. What is your number 1 priority that we need to make changes on?

Id hope we would stay on the same path that were going because I think we are going in the right direction, Medley said. I would say that I am open to new ideas. I dont want this to be business as usual. I am open to discussion.

Askins said, I just think there is an opportunity here for us to make a lot of improvements. It has seemed, even before I got on the council, that disagreement is considered disrespect. That is what has led to a lot of stagnation in town and (prevented) coming together to get solutions.

Councilman Justin Flowers agreed. Do you have Top 3 things you want to get accomplished, he asked Medley. Whats your goal? How are you going to lead? Whats the difference between you and previous leadership?

This is not a position I have pursued, Medley said. But I will say that I have been put in this position and I might be the right solution right now. With that said, I would hope that I could work with anybody here. Dont think that I will take it personally if you come out against me because I wont.

With the town councils help, I think we can move forward.

Terry, repeating his nominating motion, said, Most definitely we want to move forward. No town wants to stagnate.

When a vote was called for, Medley was unanimously chosen to serve as mayor for the remainder of Holleys term.

Any citizen interested in being considered for Medleys council seat is asked to contact the town clerk for more information.

In other business, the council discussed the letter of resignation dated Dec. 14, 2022 to Holley from town attorney Josh Pipkin. While Ive enjoyed my time as city attorney the last 10 years, I believe its time for me to step down and ride off into the sunset with you, he wrote to Holley. Eads suggested asking New Brockton native J.P. Sawyer if he would consider serving in the vacated post.
NEW BROCKTON  An Ariton couple charged with aggravated child abuse will have the first Aniahs Law hearings held in Coffee County within the law that was enacted in November 2022, District Judge Josh Wilson ruled at a first court appearance for Nate Smith and Brittany Taylor Monday afternoon.

Wilson held separate online hearings for the couple arrested Monday on charges of aggravated child abuse in connection with charges filed by the Coffee County Department of Human Resources in December 2022.

Smith, 20, and Taylor, 19, are in Coffee County Jail without bond, pending the results of their Aniahs Law court appearances before Wilson on Wednesday afternoon.

We are in uncharted waters here, Wilson told both Smith and Taylor as he explained to them Monday that they are eligible for an Aniahs Law hearing to be held within three days if the state requests one. The state requests one, said Twelfth Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Mitchell during the hearing.

The charges facing Smith and Taylor fall under the parameters of Aniahs Law, a constitutional amendment that allows prosecutors and judges broader discretion in requesting and denying bail to those accused of committing violent crimes. More than 90 state lawmakers signed on to co-sponsor the bill.

Aniahs Law is named after a 19-year-old Alabama college student, Aniah Blanchard, who was abducted from a convenience store in Auburn and killed in 2019. Her body was found by authorities a month later.

The man charged in Blanchards death had been free on a $280,000 bond after he was charged with kidnapping, robbery, and attempted murder in connection with an incident that occurred in Montgomery in Jan. 2019.

The new law makes it harder for people charged with violent crimes to be eligible for bail and includes the charge of aggravated abuse of a child under the age of 6, Wilson said.

Coffee County Sheriff Office Capt. Michael Hines said Monday that the couple was arrested following the Coffee County DHR report that states that a 4-month-old child suffered serious physical injury that resulted in respiratory arrest.
ATLANTA  Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is done being underestimated.

Having vanquished both a Donald Trump-backed Republican challenger and Democratic star Stacey Abrams to win reelection, Kemp is looking to expand his influence in his second term, free from the caricature of the gun-toting, pickup-driving, migrant-catching country boy that emerged during his first campaign for governor.

A new vision of Kemp steering his party toward a non-Trumpian conservatism made its debut in his November victory speech after it became clear that he had defeated Abrams by a much larger margin in their rematch than he had in their tight 2018 matchup.

This election proves that when Republicans stay focused on real-world solutions that put hardworking people first we can win now, but also in the future, yall, Kemp said.

Kemp pledged that night to stay in the fight and followed with concrete steps: He kept his political operation running and lent it to the unsuccessful Senate runoff campaign of Herschel Walker, while forming a federal political action committee that lets the governor influence races for Congress and president. He hasnt ruled out running for the U.S. Senate in 2026 or even seeking the White House.

Beyond his own advancement, Kemps victory could provide a blueprint for Republicans in competitive states after voters rejected many of the Trump-molded candidates in 2022. Its a less showy approach, aimed at luring independents and moderates while still achieving conservative policy goals.

If Republicans looking forward are focused on winning, I think a lot of folks will be calling Gov. Kemp and wanting his advice, but also trying to replicate the things he did here, said Cody Hall, Kemps political adviser.

Kemp, now 59, was a real estate developer and state senator before Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed him secretary of state in 2010. Eight years later, Kemp was on his way to defeating an establishment candidate for the GOP nomination for governor when Trumps endorsement supercharged his campaign, which focused on gun rights and opposition to illegal immigration.

After Kemp defeated Abrams in the 2018 general election by just 1.4 percentage points, she accused him of using the secretary of states office to improperly purge likely Democratic voters. A federal court later rejected legal claims questioning Kemps actions.

In his first term, Kemp logged some big conservative achievements, including signing stringent abortion limits in 2019. He also made a diverse slate of appointments and kept his promise of $5,000 raises for public school teachers, moves aimed at solidifying his appeal to the middle in an anticipated Abrams rematch.

Kemps relationship with Trump began to deteriorate after the governor appointed Kelly Loeffler to the Senate instead of Trumps preferred pick. Trump later took shots at Kemp over his decision to reopen businesses early in the COVID-19 pandemic, and the presidents rage boiled over when Kemp refused to help Trump and his allies overturn Joe Bidens narrow victory in Georgia in the 2020 election  efforts that are now the subject of investigations by state and federal prosecutors.

Trump vowed revenge against Kemp, but the governor pressed forward. In 2021, Kemp signed into law a sweeping Republican-sponsored overhaul of state elections inspired by Trumps false claims of fraud in the 2020 election. He also pushed through a bill loosening gun laws.

Trump endorsed former Sen. David Perdue as a primary challenger to the governor. Kemp, who never publicly challenged Trump or even responded directly to his tirades, ended up crushing Perdue in the primary. In the meantime, his distance from Trump provided Kemp with credibility among independents and even some Democrats.

Its just given him a gravitas you cant buy, said Brian Robinson, a Republican political consultant.

Even some Democrats acknowledge Kemps increasing political strength after his nearly 8 percentage-point victory over Abrams. State Rep. Al Williams, long close to Abrams, said Kemp is at the height of his powers going into a second term. His inauguration is Thursday.

Williams and other backers say that Kemps incumbency, plus the billions in federal COVID-19 aid that he alone decided how to spend under Georgia law, were factors in his win. He spent it very effectively and spread the net wide, Williams said.

As the Senate race turned to overtime, Kemp was called on to help Walker in his runoff against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. Kemp, who had secured GOP donors and built his own political organization independent from a state party run by Trump acolytes, turned over his voter data operation to allow the Walker campaign to tailor messages to different factions of Republican voters.

Still, Kemp largely maintained his distance from Walker, whose campaign was beset by accusations that he had paid for abortions, behaved violently toward women and lied about his education, work history and personal background. Shortly before the runoff, Kemp agreed to appear in a television ad endorsing Walker but made sure that it was his own political team that wrote the script.

Steven Law, who leads the political action committee aligned with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, said Kemp did what savvy political heavyweights do: He helped his party while establishing and protecting his own brand.

Weve had a party where Trump has had a decisive gravitational pull, and heres a person in Brian Kemp who just stayed apart from that orbit, made his own calls, decided things his way  not in opposition to Trump, but at the same time not in obedience to him, Law said, calling Kemps balancing act remarkable.

Kemps future political path remains unclear, but he has options.

In Georgia, hes never been identified as having open national ambitions, either for the presidency or Senate, and Robinson noted that Kemp has never spoken of Washington fondly.

Law demurred when asked whether McConnell or his team has broached the possibility of Kemp running for the Senate in 2026, when Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff would face voters again.

Theres also the possibility of a vice presidential bid or a future Cabinet post. Perhaps most likely is a larger role in the Republican Governors Association: Hes now on the RGAs executive committee and could become chair in 2025 or 2026.

Hall said Kemp wants to help other states elect conservatives who advocate freedom and liberty and personal responsibility while promoting education, a strong economy and good jobs. Whatever he can do to help more folks like that get elected, Im sure he will, Hall said.

At home, Kemp is the paramount party leader and unchallenged boss of state government in a way thats new for him. With a new House speaker and lieutenant governor leading the General Assembly, Kemp is unlikely to meet resistance from GOP majorities.

So far, though, hes offered a minimalist second-term agenda: income tax and property tax rebates, some criminal justice measures and minor education changes. His biggest promise is continuity, adding four more years to 20 years of Republican rule in Georgia.

The governor could also take firmer control of GOP machinery if he backs an effort to push out Georgia Republican Chair David Shafer, a Trump ally.

He is carrying around bags of political capital like the Monopoly man, Robinson said, marveling at what he calls Kemps clear and very empowering mandates from the primary and general election. Go ahead and put a monocle and top hat on him.
1000 families together set record of "Vietnamese Tet table with the largest number of participating families in the world"

After 2 years of pandemic, the great Coca-Cola event before Tet holiday has officially returned. On January 08, 2023, the event set a record of "Vietnamese Tet table with the largest number of participating families in the world" is held at Hoa Lu stadium, Ho Chi Minh City with the participation of more than 1000 families and guests.

This is the great Tet dinner that Coca-Cola proudly organized to bring together families and the community, connecting them over the shared excitement and anticipation of the Tet season.

A total of 436 tables are arranged into the characteristic shape of two Coca-Cola bottles.

Coca-Cola's "World's Largest Timeless Table" event was recognized as a record-setting event by the World Records Union (Worldkings).



A total of 436 tables are arranged into the characteristic shape of two Coca-Cola bottles. More than 3000 people from 1000 Vietnamese families are seated around the tables to set a record, enjoy a Tet party with a variety of traditional dishes and exchange and share special memories of past family reunions.

The event highlighted the warm magic and belonging of family reunion meals that Coca-Cola wishes to bring to Vietnamese consumers.

Leonardo Garcia, general director of Coca-Cola Vietnam and Cambodia said: "Coca-Cola has been part of millions of Vietnamese family dinners for almost 30 years. We know how important the Tet reunion meal is for Vietnamese. This year, with the "Timeless Magic Table" event, we bring back the memories of old Tet family meals with an ice-cold Coke, because we know those meals can connect family members of all generations, something that never changes."

Leonardo Garcia, general director of Coca-Cola Vietnam and Cambodia.

Also in this event, Coca-Cola set another record "Vietnamese Tet table with the largest number of participating families in the world"; and together with partner Al's Fresco set the record "The organization that gives away 1,000 pizzas to serve the most families in the same event in Vietnam". Both of these records were officially recognized by the World Records Union (Worldkings) and awarded the certificate of establishing a Vietnam Record.



Coca-Cola accompanies thousands of underprivileged families to bring magic home

Proud to be part of the Tet meals of millions of Vietnamese families, Coca-Cola is not only enhancing the flavor of Vietnamese dishes, but also striving constantly to preserve and promote the values of friendship, community in every Tet season.

This year, Coca-Cola Vietnam has supported more than 5,400 underprivileged people and families across Vietnam to bring home the magic of Tet, with a total value of up to 5.3 billion VND. This is a proud achievement of the company along with the contribution of the community, the valuable companion of associations, unions, strategic partners of the company as well as local authorities, for a better shared future.

Early on, Coca-Cola announced the message committing to contribute VND15,000 to the Vietnam Red Cross Tet Fund after each time consumers interacted with the brand on its website.



With the support of the community, Coca-Cola and the Vietnam Red Cross supports 3,000 households and underprivileged people across the country through 0 VND Tet Market. The program aims to support those underprivileged families to bring home the magic of a happy Tet with Coca-Cola. More than 2000 chung cakes and tet cake will also be sent to students, homeless, and self-employed people in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, who cannot return to their hometown to celebrate Tet.

In addition to the partnership program with Vietnam Red Cross, this year, Coca-Cola continues its tradition of handing out Tet gifts for households and disadvantaged people in the neighborhood of its factories.

The program is supported and accompanied by the People's Committee, the Women's Unions and the local Departments of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs presents 2400 Tet gifts to underprivileged people and families in 13 provinces and cities across the country.

Bui Thi Hoa, President of the Vietnam Red Cross feels thankful for Coca-Cola's companionship with the Vietnam Red Cross in humanitarian activities for the community over the past 10 years. In all activities, regardless all forms of support, the company aims at practicality, gratitude for the people and aims at "No one is left behind".



"The Vietnam Red Cross appreciates your efforts to promptly support people affected by floods and jointly held the "Tet Compassion" 2023 for the first time with many new themes: respect human dignity and beneficiaries right to participate and decisions; respect the local cultural habits and traditions; promote the support network in the community so that all people are able show their social responsibility to the poor and underprivileged by participating in the organization and contributing available resources. Beneficiaries are welcomed with a really warm Tet atmosphere both physically and spiritually with a network filled with messages of love and sharing," said Hoa.

"This year, we especially acknowledge Coca-Cola's efforts to support resources and ideas to accompany our association to call for support of the community to make the Tet Compassion which is warm, meaningful and full of humanity in many regions across the country. The company not only contributes physically but also accompanies the Association to spread the positive values of community support to young people and consumers in Vietnam."
A cold front is set to blanket northern Vietnam from January 15 to 29, which includes the Lunar New Year holiday, plunging average daytime temperatures to below 15 degrees Celsius.

Nguyen Van Huong, head of the weather forecast department at the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said the cold front would also bring drizzles.

From January 19 to January 24 the average daytime temperatures will be 13-15 degrees. Hanoi and the northeast will see drizzles, while the capital will experience daytime temperatures of 15-17 degrees.

From January 25 to 29 the mass of cold air is expected to intensify, bringing light rain all over the north.

U.S. weather forecast service AccuWeather said minimum temperatures in Hanoi would fall to 9-10 degrees between January 16 and 18, while the highest would be only be around 14 degrees. From January 19 to January 22 temperatures would increase to 12-24 degrees.

Mountainous locations like Sa Pa in Lao Cai Province would see temperatures of 3-9 degrees before Tet, and 5-10 degrees during the festival.

Central regions are expected to get scattered rains during Tet. The region between Thua Thien-Hue and the north will have temperatures of up to 24 degrees, while between Da Nang and Quang Ngai the maximum will be 27 degrees and between Binh Dinh and Binh Thuan, 31 degrees.

The Central Highlands and southern regions will see temperatures gradually rise before Tet with reducing rains. During the New Year temperatures will be 29-32 degrees.

This year would be warmer than 2022 in the northern and central regions, meteorologists said.
Parade is coming to Broadway.

With a Tony-winning book by Alfred Uhry and a Tony-winning score by Jason Robert Brown, Parade tells the true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory superintendent who was accused of raping and murdering an employee. The story takes place in and around Atlanta in 1913, when die-hard confederate sentiments and resentment of Northern capital make it impossible to receive a fair trial.

The musical will begin previews on 21 February at the Bernard B Jacobs Theatre, which was recently vacated by Almost Famous.

Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond, stars of the New York City Center presentation of Parade in November, will reprise their performances as Leo and Lucille Frank. Performances are currently scheduled through to 6 August.

Watch a new music video for the show:

This is the first Broadway revival of Parade, which ran 85 performances (and 39 previews) at the Vivian Beaumont Theater during the 1998-99 season.

Michael Arden, who helmed the City Center presentation, will direct the Broadway cast, with names to be revealed.

In his review of the City Center run, our sister site TheaterMania's critic David Gordon called Parade "a work of art ahead of its time." You can read that full review here.
Normal People, After Sun and A Streetcar Named Desire star Paul Mescal is reportedly set to star in the multi-decade version of Merrily We Roll Along.

Mescal, who is currently starring in Rebecca Frecknall's production of Streetcar at the Almeida Theatre in London (with press night later this week), will replace Blake Jenner in the movie musical, based on the legendary story-in-reverse show by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth.

Richard Linklater directs the flick, which will also star Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen, Parade) and Beanie Feldstein.

An Off-Broadway production with Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez is currently wowing audiences and critics in a sell-out New York run (the show will transfer to Broadway later this year).

Merrily We Roll Along follows talented Broadway composer Franklin Shepard (played by Mescal), who leaves his career to go and produce films in Hollywood. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name and had a rocky beginning on Broadway, running for 44 previews and 16 performances when it first premiered in 1981.

It has gone on to become one of the most popular works in the Sondheim repertory. The musical is based on the play by Kaufman and Hart.

The musical is set in reverse-chronological order  director Richard Linklater will be shooting now and finishing in two decades time, and then reversing the footage to show the cast literally de-ageing. The award-winning director did something similar with his hit film Boyhood.

It received its West End premiere in 2000, with a revival staged at the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2012.

A release date for the flm is to be announced, but we'll keep you posted in about 20 years time.

For those who weren't aware of Mescal's musical chops, the actor appeared in a school version of Phantom  it's well worth a listen.
Northern Lang Son Province will take test samples from people crossing the border from China into Vietnam if they have any symptoms such as fever, coughing or difficulty breathing.

Nguyen Luong Tam, deputy head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine, made the request during a Monday meeting with the Lang Son Department of Health and authorities at the Huu Nghi border gate.

"Quick tests on all suspected cases right at the border gate is a necessary task to prevent Covid-19 in the future," Tam said.

He said that officials would take samples on the spot from those with symptoms such as coughing, fever and difficulty breathing for quick Covid-19 tests. If the tests return negative, the samples will be sent to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for genetic sequencing in order to detect variants.

Vuong Anh Duong, deputy head of the Department of Medical Service Administration, said the Ministry of Health's current stance on Covid-19 prevention is random testing and genetic sequencing, so that appropriate responses can be formulated.

"Additionally, we also need to prepare to respond to cases of severe Covid-19 and respiratory failure," Duong said, "and to transport patients from the border gate to medical facilities."

Dang Viet Truong, director of the Lang Son Center for International Medical Control, said the authorities have prepared medical equipment and personnel to detect infection cases and isolate them.

Right now, Chinese citizens leaving Vietnam to enter China must have RT-PCR Covid-19 test results within the last 48 hours. China has yet to allow Vietnamese citizens and people from a third country to enter China.

Amid the global rise of two Omicron subvariants, XBB and XBB.1.5, which are considered to be more infectious and more elusive to the immune system, Ngu Duy Nghia, head of the infectious disease control department of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, said that new cases entering the country is almost unavoidable.

However, the fact that Vietnam has seen its number of cases dropping dramatically shows the effectiveness of vaccine coverage among the population, he added.

"We still need to be ready to respond as variants continue to change," Nghia said, adding that the goal of the government and the health ministry is to manage and detect cases early. The primary purpose of Covid-19 testing now is to track new variants, he explained.

Tam said localities, including Lang Son, need to prevent Covid-19 during the Tet holiday, and must prepare for situations where the number of cases rises to high levels.

"In this new context, Covid-19 prevention measures need to be safe and flexible, and not incurring any extra procedure," Tam added.

China opened its border last Sunday following a long period of restrictions due to Covid-19. Thousands of Chinese people traveled to border gates in Lang Son and Quang Ninh to complete procedures to return to China. Meanwhile, many workers, experts and Vietnamese citizens also want to enter Vietnam as well.
Calling it an unprecedented measure and a kick-start opportunity to get the Central Pike interchange at I-40 built, Mt. Juliet committed $25 million to the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project.

The city commissioners voted unanimously to approve the funding at their meeting Monday night.

Last week Mt. Juliet Mayor James Maness, City Manager Kenny Martin, Public Works Director Andy Barlow and State Sen. Mark Pody met with Gov. Bill Lee and Deputy Governor and TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley to discuss the citys infrastructure.

Maness said the $25 million commitment is a direct result of that meeting.

Lee announced in November that infrastructure is a priority for the state and the IMPROVE Act will provide more funding for transportation projects.

On Monday, commissioners said these funds are still inadequate to meet all of TDOTs funding needs. They said the Central Pike interchange is a priority for the city.

This is an opportunity to propose these monies for it, said Maness. TDOT has 25 projects like this across the state. We dont know of any other city offering something like this and it shows we are willing to step up.

Maness said the city made a nice offer to the state. And now weve left it with the state. We gave everything we can to move this project along.

Maness said a Central Pike interchange will take 60 percent of the traffic out of the Providence retail area. He noted there would be a positive economic impact for Providence if traffic was relieved.

It will relief traffic on South Mt. Juliet Road, said Commissioner Scott Hefner, who also serves on the Mt. Juliet Planning Commission. And south of Central Pike will only get more congested in the future.

Barlow said in the near future this area will double in traffic without relief. Hefner wanted to know how the city could recoup the $25 million.

Perhaps when can create a special district for new construction around a two-mile radius of the new interchange, Barlow said.

I believe there are about 13,000 cars a day going from south Mt. Juliet to north Mt. Juliet, Commissioner Ray Justice said. About 7,000 get on the interstate. There are about 20,000 cars on the interstate (near the city) not from the city. The interstate is a parking lot.

Maness reiterated that the proposal is a huge statement that the commission believes in the city and its continued revenues.

We are doubling down as a city, he said.

Mt. Juliet has a history of partnering with TDOT on state routes, including the $4-plus million spent on the I-40 bridge widening and widening state routes Park Glen to Curd Road.

Mt. Juliet has more than $160 million in city commitments to transportation on state and local roads, according to Maness.

Other city project infrastructure priorities are Central Pike widening (committed), South Mt. Juliet Road widening (proposed) and Lebanon Road widening (proposed).
Family & Childrens Center has met its $700,000 goal of its recently completed Matching Challenge Grant. The generous support of community members allowed FCC to meet the challenge laid out by 14 donors.

FCCs amazing donors are taking a relentless stand for mental and family health, says Family & Childrens Center President/CEO Tita Yutuc, LCSW, LICSW. Our inaugural Bridges event showed just how much the communities we serve believe in protecting children from abuse and the importance of FCC to best respond to the ever-increasing mental health needs affecting our region, states, and the nation.

The Matching Challenge Grant was announced Nov. 10 during the inaugural Bridges to Better Tomorrows event at Weber Center for the Performing Arts in La Crosse, as 14 generous partners gave their support for Family and Childrens Center by each giving $25,000.

While the Matching Challenge Grant is complete, FCC is still accepting contributions of any size on the organizations website, fcconline.org.

Contributions are helping FCC protect children, support families and help adults with a range of services with 25 programs in five communities: Black River Falls, La Crosse, Sparta, Viroqua and Winona, Minnesota, serving 4,600 people.
Sloppy landscapes, streets full of trash, vendors constantly bothering tourists... I was incredibly disappointed when I returned to Sa Pa.

There has been a question as to why Vietnam, with so many scenic spots, so much beautiful nature and so much rich cuisine, can't become an ideal destination for international tourists. I believe my own experience can provide an answer to this question.

I live in southern Vietnam. I traveled to Sa Pa for the first time in 2000 for my honeymoon with my husband. Back then, my impression of Sa Pa was a charming, romantic, and pristine land. Those images were forever carved inside my head, making me yearn to one day return to this place.

Two weeks ago, I went on a business trip to Hanoi. As I accompanied my foreign boss, I invited her to go to Sa Pa with me for two days. Needless to say, I was extremely excited and full of confidence to show my foreign guest around Sa Pa because I was still under the impression that the beauty of Sa Pa would be enough to conquer the heart of even the most fastidious tourist.

However, the feelings that remained in me after two days of experiencing Sa Pa for the second time could only be encapsulated in one word: disappointment. Nowadays, visitors have to pay for each and every single service Sa Pa has to offer, and the entrance ticket price is sky-high. And what did we get in return?

What we got in exchange was a sloppy landscape with roads that were full of garbage and mud. This place has not been maintained nor restored. There were very few trees and flowers, and even though we were right in the middle of town, not even the streetlights were fully working. The cold weather and dense fog made everyone feel worried for their own safety even just trying to walk down the darkened streets. My foreign boss told me: "Even you feel scared, let alone me."

Another point of frustration for tourists is the persistent vendors who cling to you until you give in and buy their goods. My group had three people, but we had a group of four people pestering us to buy their stuff. After we stopped to ask a little girl for directions, she also kept following us. We had to give her money or buy goods from her before she would let us go.

Honestly, after this trip, all my good memories of Sa Pa have disappeared and have instead been replaced by disappointment, discomfort and embarrassment in front of my foreign guest. Perhaps I will never come back to Sa Pa again if this place does not undergo comprehensive changes.

A few years ago, I also had the opportunity to visit the Huong Pagoda. While sitting on a boat, the boatman blatantly asked me for tips. Of course, if the service had been good, I wouldn't have hesitated to pay. But the reality was that I had been sitting on a boat surrounded by waters that were 6 meters deep without a single life jacket. His audacity to ask for more money made me so frustrated.

I'm a Vietnamese myself, but I still can't accept the way we do domestic tourism in our country. It's not surprising that foreign tourists aren't willing to come back to Vietnam for a second time.
General secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 9, 2023. [Xinhua/Li Xueren]

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua)  Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Monday stressed the need for ceaseless efforts to promote full and rigorous Party self-governance and ensure the implementation of decisions and plans made at the 20th CPC National Congress.

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while addressing the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

In the interests of the Party's long-term governance, the country's lasting prosperity and stability and the people's happiness, full and rigorous Party self-governance should be the Party's long-term strategy and constant priority, Xi said.

The Party should continue to uphold strict principles, apply strict measures and foster a rigorous environment for its self-governance, and the Party's self-reform should be carried forward staunchly, he said.

While pushing forward strict self-governance, efforts should also be made to encourage enthusiasm, initiative and creativity among Party members and officials, he added.

Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi and Ding Xuexiang attended the meeting.

Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CCDI, presided over the meeting.

To do a good job of governing the country, the Party should do a good job of governing itself, Xi said, noting that the country will become strong only if the Party maintains its strength.

Xi said that full and rigorous self-governance is an unceasing endeavor, and the Party should remain alert and determined to tackle the special challenges that a large political party like it faces.

He stressed the importance of running the Party with systems and regulations, and improving the systems for exercising full and rigorous self-governance.

Xi ordered strong political oversight to ensure the decisions and plans made at the 20th CPC National Congress are effectively implemented.

Prominent problems should be found in a timely manner, Xi said, listing examples such as a failure to implement the decisions and prohibitions set by the central leadership, selective or compromised enforcement, protectionism in disregard of the overall interests, and blindly copying others' solutions.

He ordered measures to effectively remove bottlenecks, obstacles and difficulties in implementation and enforcement, and to refine the mechanisms through which the Party Central Committee's major decisions and plans are implemented.

Xi stressed that the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on improving conduct must be implemented with perseverance until it becomes a regular practice among Party members.

High importance should be placed on strengthening Party discipline, and the requirement for strictness should be integrated throughout all processes ranging from the formulation of Party rules and the dissemination of Party discipline to discipline enforcement oversight, he said. This is to ensure that a high degree of self-consciousness can be developed among all Party members in terms of observing Party rules and discipline.

Noting that the fight against corruption remains grave and complex, and the Party still faces uphill tasks in preventing new cases and rooting out existing ones, Xi urged enhanced efforts to address both the symptoms and root causes of the problem in a systematic way.

Coordinated steps must be taken to see that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to become corrupt, Xi said.

To keep pressure on officials so that they do not become corrupt, the deterrent effect of a zero tolerance policy and harsh punishment should be maintained, he said.

Corrupt officials who show no sign of restraint should be punished. Corruption that involves both political and economic elements should be resolutely investigated and dealt with, he said.

Action should be taken to prevent leading officials from acting for any interest group or power group, and to forestall any collusion between officials and businesspeople, or any infiltration of capital into politics that undermines the political ecosystem or the environment for economic development, he said.

The launch of initiatives to uproot prominent sectoral, institutional and regional corruption is also imperative, Xi said.

Efforts to ensure officials do not have the opportunity to become corrupt should be intensified, Xi said, calling for advancements in oversight mechanism reform and institutional development in key areas, and for improving institutions and mechanisms to curb corruption.

More measures are needed to ensure that officials do not have the desire to become corrupt, Xi said, stressing the importance of promoting a culture of integrity in the new era.

Simultaneous, coordinated and comprehensive steps should be taken to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to become corrupt, he noted.

Improving the laws and regulations targeting bribery is important, as is meting out joint punishment for those offering bribes, Xi said, vowing to crack down harshly on political liars with so-called connections.

Improving the total-coverage, authoritative and highly effective oversight system under the Party's unified leadership is essential to modernizing China's system and capacity for governance, Xi said.

On refining this oversight system, Xi emphasized the leading role of Party committees, the continued efforts to reform the country's discipline inspection and supervision system, and the strengthened inspections that serve as a powerful tool.

Xi noted that discipline inspection and supervision organs must remain loyal to the Party, take on tough and arduous tasks, and be adept at tackling their struggles.

He stressed the need to raise awareness of upholding the rule of law, following procedures and producing evidence, and to make discipline inspection and supervision work more well-regulated, law-based and standardized.

Discipline inspection and supervision organs should submit themselves willingly to oversight from all sides, manage their staff in a strict manner, and punish corrupt elements in the system harshly, so as to prevent being blind to their own problems, he said.

Li Xi presided over the plenary session and called for the thorough study and implementation of the spirit of Xi's speech.

He urged efforts to develop a deep understanding of the decisive significance of the "two affirmations," strengthen the "four consciousnesses," bolster the "four confidences," and ensure the "two upholds." He called for tireless efforts to exercise full and rigorous Party self-governance on China's new journey in the new era, advance the great new project of Party building in the new era, and provide a strong guarantee for a good start to the construction of a modern socialist country in all respects.

Li delivered a work report on behalf of the CCDI standing committee on Monday afternoon.

General secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 9, 2023. Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi attended the meeting. [Xinhua/Zhang Ling]

General secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 9, 2023. [Xinhua/Zhang Ling]

Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), delivers a work report on behalf of the CCDI standing committee during the second plenary session of the 20th CPC CCDI in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 9, 2023. The second plenary session of the 20th CPC CCDI opened Monday in Beijing. [Xinhua/Zhang Ling]

(Source: Xinhua)
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Czech President Milos Zeman via video link in Beijing, capital of China, on Jan. 9, 2023. [Xinhua/Ding Haitao]

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Czech President Milos Zeman via video link on Monday.

Xi said that over the past 10 years, he and President Zeman have met and talked many times, and exchanged in-depth views on bilateral relations and experience in governing their countries, and upgraded Chinese-Czech relations to a strategic partnership.

"We have jointly promoted bilateral economic and trade relations and personnel exchanges," Xi said, noting that Czech exports to China have nearly tripled, and that in 2019, the number of Chinese tourists to the Czech Republic increased 250 percent from 2013.

Xi said that China attaches importance to the development of bilateral relations, regards the Czech Republic as an important strategic partner, and is willing to work with the Czech side to promote stable and far-reaching bilateral relations and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

He stressed that China is promoting the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, and will continue to promote high-level opening up, which will surely provide new opportunities for all countries, including the Czech Republic.

Xi called on the two sides to be firm in their respect for each other's core interests and major concerns, and strengthen multi-level and high-quality communication, tap the potential of complementarity, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

"China will introduce more practical measures to promote cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC)," Xi said.

He noted that China's European policy remains stable, and expressed his hope that the Czech side will continue to actively promote China-CEEC cooperation and the sustained and healthy development of China-Europe relations.

For his part, Zeman said the Czech side is willing to make joint efforts with China to strengthen cooperation in the fields of the economy, trade and investment, overcome the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, resume personnel exchanges, and bring great vitality to Czech-Chinese relations.

The Czech side is willing to play an active role in promoting the healthy development of Europe-China relations, he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Czech President Milos Zeman via video link in Beijing, capital of China, on Jan. 9, 2023. [Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan]

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Czech President Milos Zeman via video link in Beijing, capital of China, on Jan. 9, 2023. [Xinhua/Ding Haitao]

(Source: Xinhua)
The Umayyad Caliphate's conquest of Hispania (modern-day Spain and Portugal, also known as Iberia) was a seven-year campaign from 711-718. The invasion had enormous cultural and geopolitical implications. For instance, it was the first interaction between the so-called Muslim world and the West. Thus, it is often understood by many in the West as a moment of existential threat to Christianity and Western civilization. However, the subsequent Islamic rule of Iberia actually displayed a notable tolerance towards other religious groups. These viewpoints and the actual military campaign are necessary to consider when understanding the Umayyad war for Hispania.

The Umayyad Caliphate And Hispania

The Great Mosque Of e Umayyads in Damascus, Syria, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world.

The Umayyad Caliphate was the second Caliphate to follow the death of the Prophet Mohammad. In contrast to the preceding Rashiduns, the Umayyads operated on a hereditary basis. Based in Damascus and existing from 661-750, the Caliphate made up one of the largest empires of all time, encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Persia, parts of North Africa, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Pakistan, and, of course, Hispania. Due to its size, it was a multiethnic and multireligious empire, including notable Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, and Pagan populations. This multicultural background would prove important in the aftermath of the conquest of Iberia.

Even before the Umayyad invasion, Hispania had been conquered and influenced by many different empires and people. The Carthaginians ruled Iberia in the mid-200s BCE. However, after a nearly 200-year campaign, during which the peninsula was under mostly autonomous rule, the Roman Empire finally controlled all of Hispania by 19 BCE. Then, in the 400s AD, as the Western Roman Empire was in decline, the Visigoths (Germanic tribes from the North) invaded Hispania. After 300 years of Germanic rule, the Iberian Peninsula was attacked once again, this time by the Umayyads.

The Conquest

Umayyad Hispania at its greatest extent 719 AD. Image credit: rowanwindwhistler via Wikimedia Commons

In 710, a small division of 400 Umayyad soldiers was dispatched to what is today known as Gibraltar. However, according to the Arab historian Ibn Abd al-Hakam, the full-on invasion began in 711 when a division of about 1,700 Umayyad soldiers attacked the southern Iberian shores, beating the Visigoth army in the Battle of Guadalete. A second incursion then occurred, consisting of 18 000 mostly Arab troops--contrasting the first division of largely Berber soldiers. This attack resulted in the conquest of the town of Seville, after which the troops worked their way north through Merida and Talavera de la Reina. Thereafter, they met up with the first group of soldiers and reached the northern region of Galicia together. In 714, other divisions of the Umayyad army began attacking eastern Hispania, taking Catalonia and the Basque regions. By 718, the Umayyad Caliphate had conquered most of Hispania and had even crossed the Pyrenees into France, only to be temporarily halted in Toulouse in 721 and permanently stopped at Tours in 732.

The Aftermath

Wax statue of Almanzor, the de facto ruler of Muslim Iberia (al-Andalus) under the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba at the Wax Museum in Madrid, Spain.

Following its conquest, Hispania became the westernmost tip of the Umayyad Caliphate. The region, now known as Al-Andalus, transformed into a beacon of interreligious and cultural exchange. This relative tolerance had been demonstrated during the war, with Umayyad leaders preferring treaties with Christians and Jews rather than forceful conversions and executions. Upon controlling Hispania, the Umayyads continued to allow Christians and Jews to practice their faith so long as they paid the Jizya, a yearly tax. This tolerance can likely be attributed to the multiethnic and multireligious nature of the Caliphate.

Read MoreAl-Andalus: The Former Islamic States In Spain And Portugal

Christian and Muslim playing chess during the period of Muslim rule in Hispania.

Indeed, as previously noted, many non-Muslim religious groups were already under Umayyad rule. Moreover, as also previously described, the main invading armies consisted of both North African and Arab troops. Thus, the Umayyads already had ample experience dealing with different people and cultures. However, even when the Umayyad Caliphate fell, the subsequent Cordoba Caliphate maintained this tolerance, continuing the Jizya tax for Jews and Christians. To give an example of the relative flourishing of different religious groups during this period, Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides rose to prominence and developed some of his most influential ideas while under Cordoba's rule.

Despite how it is often portrayed, the Umayyad conquest of Hispania was not an existential threat to Western civilization. Indeed, Islamic rule afforded notable tolerance towards different religious communities, even allowing some to flourish. Therefore, a more nuanced understanding of this event is needed. In fact, such a perspective may be applicable to the modern day. With xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiments growing in many Western countries, looking to an instance in which different cultures and beliefs co-existed fairly peacefully may encourage more tolerance.
Crude oil is an essential mineral used to manufacture various products necessary for industry, housing, heating, and food preparation. The United States is one of the largest crude oil producers in the world, and 32 States from sea to sea are known as rich centers of oil production. From Texas to California and Alaska, the top oil-producing states of America (ranked by barrels of crude oil produced in 2021) each contribute to this critical and profitable component of the economy.

1. Texas - 1.74 billion barrels

Offshore Oil Rig being constructed near Corpus Christi, Texas.

The "Lone Star State" is by far the biggest producer of crude oil in all of the continental United States, producing around 1.74 billion barrels in 2021! Indeed within Texas, 31 petroleum refineries are found, with nearly 6 million barrels produced daily. This accounts for an incredible 43% of all domestic American crude oil production and has a distinct oil business culture that has shaped much of its modern history.

2. New Mexico - 457.20 million barrels

An oil pump in rural New Mexico.

With a production of 457 million barrels, New Mexico is the second largest oil producer in the United States. Nearly 38 million barrels were produced per month, accounting for just under 9% of the country's total domestic output. New Mexico's oil production is relatively new, with the first well drilled only in 1924. Since then, its drilling and refinement have contributed significantly to the State's economic growth and serve as its largest industry.

3. North Dakota - 405.12 million barrels

Oil pipeline in North Dakota.

North Dakota is America's third-largest crude oil producer, averaging 405 million barrels in 2021 which breaks down to around 33 million barrels a month and account for just under 11% of the total US domestic oil production. Yet North Dakota is one of the fastest-growing oil-producing States, and innovations in drilling have made extraction more efficient. Among the methods used include hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, with the State also serving as an important entry point for various pipelines from Canada.

4. Alaska - 159.62 million barrels

Trans-Alaskan oil pipeline. Editorial credit: Rexjaymes / Shutterstock.com

Known for its abundant natural gas and oil supplies, the "Last Frontier" State is America's fourth largest oil producer. Alaska produced 159 million barrels, or roughly 13.3 million barrels each month. With a peak of some 2 million barrels a day in the late 1980s, Alaska's oil production has gradually declined. Still, the oil industry remains very important to the State's local economy, and Alaska is the only State not to have a personal income or State Sales Tax.

5. Colorado - 153.42 million barrels

Oil well drilling on the Front Range of Colorado in Johnstown, Colorado.

Colorado had an oil production output of around 153 million barrels in 2021 or 12.75 million per month. Curiously 90% of all of Colorado's oil originates in Weld County. With an increase in the sophistication of oil drilling techniques (including horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing), Colorado has seen a steady rise in its crude oil production. The source of much of Colorado's oil is the Niobrara Shale Formation in the northeastern portion of the State.

6. Oklahoma - 143.05 million barrels

Black Angus cattle grazing in an Oklahoma pasture adjacent to an operating oil well.

A major center of natural gas and oil production, the "Sooner State" ranks sixth for most oil, accounting for around 4% of the total US domestic production. With an average of 11.9 million barrels per month, and some 143 million barrels in 2021, Oklahoma's oil industry began even before it achieved official statehood in 1907. As the home of the famous Getty Oil Company, Oklahoma has a long history of oil refinement and is one of the major exporters of petroleum to other American States.

7. California - 134.61 million barrels

Kern River Oil Field, California, the most dense oilfield in the United States.

The "Golden State" produced around 367,123 barrels of oil per day or 134 million barrels in 2021, which makes it one of the most important industries of its local economy. Indeed in 2012, crude oil production and refinement accounted for some 8.3% of the total US-produced oil.

8. Wyoming - 85.42 million barrels

An oil field in Wyoming with antelope roaming nearby. Editorial credit: Cavan-Images / Shutterstock.com

Some 85 million barrels of oil were produced in Wyoming, ranking it eighth overall in national production. Since oil's discovery in the 1880s, Wyoming's economy has been strongly influenced by its crude oil extraction and refinement. Today with the advancement in drilling techniques, some 92% of all Wyoming oil is from horizontal wells.

9.Utah - 35.48 million barrels

Oil Rig in the Utah Desert.

Utah ranks as the 9th highest crude oil producing state in the country. The Uinta Basin in the Uintah county, Paradox Basin in San Juan country, and the Duchesne county are the major producers of oil in the state. Utah produced around 35 million barrels of oil in 2021.

10. Louisiana - 34.71 million barrels

An oil refinery in New Orleans, Louisiana. Editorial credit: Thomas Males / Shutterstock.com

The southern State of Louisiana produced around of 34.71 million barrels of oil in 2021, or 95,120 barrels daily. With a current slate of 65 operational rigs, the "Pelican State" has seen a gradual increase in oil production over the last few decades. With its current output, Louisiana has steadily held its place in the top ten oil-producing States in America.

Of the 50 American States, 32 (or 64%) are oil producers, which makes America one of the largest single crude oil producers in the entire world. An essential component of the American economy, the drilling and refinement of oil serve as a necessary part of modern living. From giants like Texas to mid-size producers like Wyoming, these top ten oil-producing States are all significant for their overall contribution to America's oil wealth.

Read MoreThe Largest Oil Reserves By Country
Nam said he has more photo shoots planned at famous U.S. landmarks.

He said he cast models from outside Vietnam to emphasize the point that any woman from anywhere in the world can look stunning in an ao dai.
'Certainly a possibility' mother could face charges after her 6-year-old allegedly shot Virginia teacher, police chief says
Abby Zwerner, an elementary teacher in Newport News, Virginia, was wounded when police say she was shot by a 6-year-old student on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023.
First on CNN: Biden administration prepares more measures to curb border crossings, keep migrants from journeying to the US
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BENTON, KY  Benton Elementary School and Central Elementary School have undergone intensive treatment for water damage and been cleared by appropriate authorities, Marshall County Schools has announced. Classes are set to return to their normal sessions on Tuesday.

In a Facebook post on Monday, the school district said each school has been professionally deep cleaned and given an antimicrobial treatment.

Air filtration work has been completed and all moisture has been removed from the buildings, the district said.

The schools have also been cleared by the building inspector, industrial hygienist, fire marshal and health department.

The announcement comes after five schools in the district were damaged when a winter storm brought sub-zero temperatures to the region, causing sprinkler system pipes to freeze.

Benton Elementary and Central Elementary were the most heavily water damaged, having to stay closed one day longer than the rest of the district to finish repairs.

The district has had to tear out and replace lockers, drywall and insulation in a majority of the classrooms impacted by damage, Local 6's Jack Kane reported last week.

Superintendent Steve Miracle explained in an interview with Local 6 that drying out the drywall and wooden studs in classroom walls caused a lot of extra work for the cleanup crew.

According to the district's Facebook post, cosmetic repairs will be completed during the summer.
Foreign tourists take cyclo rides on a street in Hue, May 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Vo Thanh

As Vietnam races to attract foreign tourists back to the country after over two years of border closures, harassment and cheating remain big turn-offs that tarnish the country's tourism reputation.

During a recent trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Indian tourist Antonio said he was disappointed right on the first day as he was ripped off by a local vendor while walking with his friends near the Central Post Office in District 1.

A local man asked Antonio if he wanted to drink coconut water and when he asked how much a coconut costs, the man answered, "For free."

When Antonio asked the vendor again, he still replied "No, no for free."

The vendor then invited Antonio to take photos standing beside his coconut drink push cart, after which he charged the foreign tourist VND300,000 ($12.87) for the coconut.

Antonio did not understand the exchange rate, and thinking that the vendor was nice, he accepted paying such a high amount of money to him.

"When I got back to the hotel in Thailand, I checked the exchange rate and knew I was being ripped off by him," Antonio said. "If I compare the price, I can buy 30 coconuts in my country for that same amount of money."

"Too tricky," lamented Antonio. "There were no reason for him to do that," he said.

Antonio is among the many foreign tourists who have become the victims of harassment and rip-offs while visiting in Vietnam.

Last week, a family of five Japanese tourists were charged VND1 million ($42.61) for a one km ride from the international terminal to the domestic terminal of Noi Bai International Airport. A one-kilometer taxi drive in Vietnam normally costs less than $1.

On New Years Day, two Thai tourists were charged VND925,000 for their meal at a restaurant in the northern highlands resort town Sa Pa, three times higher than the actual price.
The Graves County Sheriff's Office posted this photo of a UTV reported stolen in the county.
The tourism industry should eliminate "zero dollar tours" and focus on improving the quality of services as Chinese visitors prepare to return after three years, experts said.

Vu The Binh, chairman of Vietnam Tourism Association, said at a conference on Monday that Vietnam should "play a new game" with Chinese tourists, who were the biggest feeder market before the pandemic struck.

Binh said dodgy tour packages called "zero-dollar tours," Chinese tour scams and business fraud were the biggest challenges the tourism industry faced at the time of a spike in Chinese tourism prior to the Covid outbreak.

At that time, many Chinese tourists arrived in Vietnam through "zero dong tours" organized by Chinese travel companies, in which Chinese visitors would stay at Chinese-run hotels, eat at Chinese restaurants, and shop at Chinese shopping outlets. They also used Chinese tour guides instead of local ones.

Experts say Vietnam's tourism industry needs to find solutions to ensure sustainable business with this important market.

"Chinese people are not poor," Binh said. "They have a high demand for enjoying luxury tourism services. It is necessary to provide high-end tourism services for Chinese tourists like we have already offered Americans, Japanese, and Western Europeans to increase their spending."

Nguyen Quang Thang, director of a travel agency in central beach town Nha Trang, said businesses that organize cheap and illegal tours to evade taxes must be eliminated.

Nguyen Xuan Binh, deputy director of Da Nangs Department of Tourism, said that it is necessary to focus on quality products and restructure the management of destinations.

"Our tourist attractions, accommodation facilities, human resources and tourism services must be renewed and strictly managed with better quality," he said.

Binh added that after a three-year hiatus in welcoming Chinese tourists due to the Covid lockdown, everything has returned to normal, providing Vietnam with an opportunity to restructure the Chinese tourism market.

Nguyen Trung Khanh, head of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said there should be more tourism promotion campaigns on China's popular social media platforms such as Weibo, Douyin and Xigua to promote Vietnam's popular tourist hotspots.

China was Vietnam's biggest source of tourists prior to the pandemic, sending nearly 5.8 million people in 2019.

Vietnam last year only received 3.6 million foreign tourists, or 70% of the country's target. It has set a target of eight million foreign tourists for this year, with Chinas reopening kindling hope.
Those visiting Vietnam for the first time are advised to purchase a SIM card upon arrival to ensure you can get connected everywhere as free Wifi may not be available in some public places and remote areas.

Where to buy

The easiest place to buy a SIM card in Vietnam is at the airport. You can find dozens of stalls selling SIM cards as soon as you leave the baggage claim area in any of Vietnam's international airports.

You can buy a Vietnamese SIM card at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi, Da Nang Airport, Cam Ranh Airport near Nha Trang and Phu Quoc Airport in the Mekong Delta.

Many foreign tourists said buying the SIM card at Vietnamese airports is the easiest way as the staff there can speak English and can guide you to activate your SIM card.

"We bought one at the airport and it was very easy," said Jane Cooper, a tourist from Australia. "They changed the SIMs for us, taped our old sims inside our cases and texted us the new numbers. So convenient when we had not thought to bring a pin to take the old ones out."

In addition, tourists can visit official retail stores of mobile network operators to purchase a SIM card. You can visit their official websites to find store addresses.

Which carriers to choose from

There are now four main network operators in Vietnam offering prepaid SIM cards: Viettel, Vinaphone, Mobifone, and Vietnamobile.

Many experienced foreigners prefer Viettel as the best mobile network carrier as it has the largest 4G network in Vietnam with 42,000 broadcast stations.

If you're staying in Hanoi's Old Quarter, you can find a Viettel store located at the northwestern corner of Hoan Kiem Lake.

If you're in Ho Chi Minh City there is a Viettel store located just south of Bui Vien Street, about a 15-minute walk from the Ben Thanh Market

"We bought Vietel and didn't find one place without service, even up on the top of mountains, in cable cars, on rivers," said Cooper. "I wish Australia had service like Vietnam."

A Vietnamese SIM card and prepaid data package usually costs between VND150,000-VND350,000 ($6.50-$15) depending on how long you're going to stay in Vietnam and how much mobile data you want.

Viettel offers the following SIM card packages for foreign tourists: 1GB for $4.5, 2GB for $9, 3GB for 15$ and 5GB for $22.
Conservative government Business Secretary Grant Shapps introduced the first reading of its new anti-strike bill to parliament Tuesday. Its main aim is to impose minimum service levels (MSLs) on emergency service workers, the transport network and then later throughout the public sector. Given the Conservatives still substantial working majority of 69, the Bill is expected to pass later in the year.

The law will apply in England, Scotland and Wales, with Northern Ireland the only part of the UK exempt.

The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill will allow the government to impose MSLs on six sectors of the public and private sector workforce in all the key industries. This would mean a significant proportion of workers (expected to be around 20 percent) across the economy would have to keep working during industrial action. The first three sectors to have the dictatorial measure imposed are the ambulance, fire and rail services. The legislation will then be imposed on workers throughout health, education, border security and nuclear decommissioning.

Under the new laws, the business secretary of the day will be able to unilaterally decide statutory minimum service levels throughout the public sector in the event of a strike being called.

The Bill will contain powers to sack workers who refuse to abide by MSLs during a strike. They will lose current employment protections forbidding dismissal during legal industrial action. Both trade unions and their members can be sued by private companies if they defy the legislation.

Britain's Business Secretary Grant Shapps leaves after a meeting in Downing Street in London, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022. [AP Photo/Kin Cheung]

Shapps stated that the measures would be introduced and then broadened out via a favoured mechanism of the ruling class: consultation. He declared, we intend to consult on what an adequate level of coverage looks like in fire, ambulance, and rail services. For the other sectors covered in the Bill, we hope to reach minimum service agreements so that we do not have to use the powerssectors will be able to come to that position, just as the nurses have done in recent strikes.

This voluntary element is bogus, as the government has already made clear the legislation will be imposed if not agreed by the trade unions.

Shapps cynically stated that MSLs were required to keep the population safe during industrial action, referring to them repeatedly as Minimum Safety Levels. He asserted, The new ambulance strike [beginning Wednesday] will result in patchy emergency care for the British peopleand this cannot continue, adding, We do not want to use this legislation. But we must ensure the safety of the British public.

The reality is that the main threat to the health and welfare of the population is the ongoing destruction of the National Health Service by the Tory government. The health trade unions have provided cover during strikes, including during the first ambulance workers strikes last month. No one died as a result of the strikes, unlike Tory cuts.

The measures outlined by Shapps are part of the turn in the ruling class internationally to authoritarian forms of rule, which has seen the outright banning of critical strikes, such as by the Biden administration in the US, and the frequent use of Minimum Services Levels in many countries.

Shapps told parliament, The legislation will bring us in line with other modern European countries such as France, Spain, Italy and Germany, all of which already have these types of rules in place.

Giving a clear hint as to where the policy is headed once the MSL precedent is set, he added in reply to a Scottish National Party MP, If we go beyond Europe, he will be interested to hear that in Australia, Canada and many states in America, blue-light strikes, as we would call them, are banned entirely.

Indicating the reliance of the ruling class on the trade union bureaucracy, Shapps namechecked the International Labour Organisationthe guardian of workers rights around the world to which the [Trades Union Congress] itself subscribes, which says that minimum service levels are a proportionate way of balancing the right to strike with the need to protect the wider public.

Tory MP Laura Farris said Shapps could have added to that list South Africa, Argentina, Australia and Canada, all of which are members of the International Labour Organisation and have minimum service levels in essential services. In every single case, the ILO has reviewed the MSL and determined it to be a necessary and proportionate restriction of the article 11 right to strike.

The picket line at Manchester Central Ambulance Station, December 21, 2022 [Photo: WSWS]

The opposition of the Labour Partywhich has pledged to repeal the MSL legislation when in governmentand the trade unions to the Bill is premised on the trade union bureaucracys proven role in suppressing every major struggle of the working class over the last four decades. To impose MSLs, they warned, would risk the class struggle breaking out of their control.

The unions have already allowed a battery of anti-strike legislation to pass, beginning with those of the Thatcher government (1979-91). These were all upheld to the letter by the Blair/Brown Labour governments (1997-2010.) Party leader Sir Keir Starmers pitch for government is that Labour, the unions and big business must work in partnership to impose the necessary austerity agenda against the working class, utilising the authoritarian raft of anti-strike legislation already on the books.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner warned that France and Spain  which he claims have these laws on striking, lose vastly more strike days than Britain.

In its statement the TUC complained that the proposed legislation would make it harder for disputes to be resolve and warned that minimum service levels prolong disputes and lead to more frequent strikes.

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said, If passed, this bill will prolong disputes and poison industrial relationsleading to more frequent strikes.

Neither the TUC nor its affiliated unions representing 5.5 million workers proposes any strikes in opposition to the Bill. Nowak instead seeks to divert workers opposition into appealing to MPs to do the right thing and reject this cynical sack key workers bill.

Speaking last Friday, during the first of two more days of national strikes by members of his Rail, Maritime and Transport union, leader Mick Lynchportrayed as a fighting militant by Britains pseudo-left groupssaid, What I think theyll [the government] end up doing is making industrial disputes intractable, so well have to resort to partial strikes, well have to resort to works to rule, well have to resort to overtime bans

Lynch was forced to make a pose of opposition, but the unions campaign is based on pleas to Starmer, who instructed his shadow cabinet not to support picket lines on pain of disciplinary action.

Lynch stated, Well fight them in Parliament. The Labour Party leadership have said they are going to oppose this and theyll repeal it as soon as they canWe need to get a change of government and change of policy and then we need a new set of workers rights brought in as a priority [by Starmer after a general election in 2024!].

Well oppose it in the courts and well oppose on the streets as well. I dont think well get a general strike as people commonly understand it, but I definitely think were working towards getting coordinated industrial action across as many sectors as possible and across as many unions as possible.

Lynch concluded that none of this had to happen if the government would only engage with the unions to end the strikes in talks this week, Were working for a settlement. We dont want further strike action, he said.
In a remarkably frank interview with the Financial Times yesterday, the top US Marine general in Japan declared that US-NATO successes against Russia in Ukraine were a product of advance planning and preparationssetting the theatre for war in military jargon. That was exactly what the Pentagon was doing in Japan and Asia, he explained, in preparing for conflict against China over Taiwan.

A US Marine launching a Javelin shoulder-fired anti-tank missile during the Resolute Dragon 22 exercise last year. [Photo: Cpl Scott Aubuchon/US Marine Corps]

Why have we achieved the level of success weve achieved in Ukraine? Lieutenant General James Bierman asked rhetorically. A big part of it, he explained, was that after what he termed Russian aggression in 2014 and 2015, we earnestly got after preparing for future conflict: training for the Ukrainians, pre-positioning of supplies, identification of sites from which we could operate support, sustain operations.

We call that setting the theatre. And we are setting the theatre in Japan, in the Philippines, in other locations. In other words, the US is setting a trap for China by goading it into taking military action against Taiwan in the same way that it provoked Russia into invading Ukraine following the US-backed coup in 2014 that toppled a pro-Russian government.

Lieutenant General James Bierman is commanding general of the Third Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) and of Marine Forces Japan. Significantly, the III MEF is the only Marine crisis response force permanently stationed outside the US. In other words, Bierman and his Marines would be on the front line of any US-led conflict with China.

As the Financial Times explained, the III MEF is at the heart of a sweeping reform of the Marine Corps. Its focus is being shifted from the war on terror in the Middle East to creating small units that specialise in operating quickly and clandestinely in the islands and straits of east Asia and the western Pacific to counter Beijings anti-access area denial strategy.

The US plans for war against Chinaknown as AirSea Battleenvisage a massive air and missile assault on Chinese military bases and strategic industries supported by warships and submarines. The Pentagon has been increasingly concerned about Chinas military abilities to defend its territory and secure neighbouring seasanti access area denial with its own missiles and naval vessels.

US war preparations with Japan are proceeding apace. As Bierman boasted, the two militaries have seen exponential increases . . . just over the last year in their activities on territory from which they would operate during a war. In recent exercises, the Marines for the first time established bilateral ground tactical co-ordination centres rather than liaising with a separate Japanese command point.

The aim is far closer integration of American and Japanese forces. Instead of Japanese military groups being rotated to operate alongside US forces in Japan, specific units have now been designated as part of the stand-in force alongside their US Marine, Navy and Air Force counterparts.

Bierman also pointed out that similar preparations are being made in the Philippines where the government intends to allow the US to preposition weapons and other supplies on five more bases in addition to five where it already has access. You gain a leverage point, a base of operations, which allows you to have a tremendous head start in different operational plans, he enthused.

The US-led war against Russia in Ukraine and its intensifying confrontation with China are two sides of a strategy to dominate the vast Eurasian landmass that threatens to plunge humanity into a nuclear holocaust.

While Bierman is highlighting the advanced operational planning for war with China, it is being matched by huge increases in military spending by both the US and Japan.

Stars and Stripes reported on January 2 that the new US defence budget approved last month by President Biden included billions of dollars for new military infrastructure and strategic initiatives across the Pacific. The Indo-Pacific Command already has some 375,000 military and civilian personnel working across the region.

The Commands headquarters in Hawaii get $87.9 million for barracks; $103 million for upgrading missile storage facilities; $111 million for a company operations facility, and $29 million for an Army National Guard Readiness Center.

The Navy will receive $32 billion alone for new warships and 36 F-35 aircraft, each costing about $89 million. The funding also includes $621 million for two SSN-774 Virginia class attack submarines that are expected to conduct operations in the Pacific and receive maintenance at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.

To counter Chinese weapons, the Army is upgrading artillery and missile systems, seeking new longer-range cannons and hypersonic weapons while modifying air- and sea-launched missiles and cruise missiles for ground launch by Army units.

The Japanese government announced last month that it would double military spending over the next five years between 2023 and 2027 to about $US80 billion or 2 percent of GDP. The associated national defence documents explicitly identify China as an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge.

The Japanese military will buy a range of offensive weapons, including cruise missiles like Lockheed Martins Tomahawk and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM). It is also planning to upgrade its own Type 12 guided missiles that can be fired from the surface, ships, or aircrafts to strike naval vessels, and to manufacture its own hypersonic guided missiles.

Japan will also boost its missile sites. It has already begun to militarise its southern islands immediately adjacent to Taiwan and off the Chinese mainland, including Amami, Miyako, Ishigaki, and Yonaguni Islands. Tokyo has deployed or intends to deploy missile and electronic warfare units to these islands, in addition to constructing ammunition and fuel depots.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida set off Sunday on a tour of Europe and North America focussed on bolstering military ties. He will visit both Britain and Italy, which are joint partners in a deal agreed last month to build new advanced fighters. He is also expected to sign an agreement in Britain to establish the framework for visits by each others military forces.

Kishidas final stop will be in the US where he will hold talks with Biden at the White House that will discuss military collaboration, Japans purchase of US missiles and efforts to block Chinas access to advanced semi-conductors. As part of the US economic war on China, Biden has imposed a series of bans on the sale to China of advanced computer chips or the machinery required to develop and manufacture them. The Japanese defence and foreign ministers are due to hold a round of talks with the American counterparts on Wednesday in Washington.

At the same time, the US is about to conduct a provocative, official trip to Taiwanan island that it de-facto recognises under the One China policy as being part of China with Beijing as the legitimate government. Terry McCartin, the top US official responsible for trade with China, is due to arrive in Taipei on Saturday to lead a delegation that will include officials from other government agencies.

The visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last August, sanctioned by the White House, provoked sharp tensions and a dangerous show of force by both sides in surrounding waters. By strengthening trade and military ties with Taipei, Washington is deliberately pushing Beijing into a corner to force it to fire the first shot in a war over Taiwan that the US has prepared for in advance.

As Lieutenant General Bierman crudely explained: As we square off with the Chinese adversary, who is going to own the starting pistol and is going to have the ability potentially to initiate hostilities . . . we can identify decisive key terrain that must be held, secured, defended, leveraged.
Nurses at two of New York Citys largest private hospitals, Mount Sinai and Montefiore Medical Center, began the first day of their strike Monday morning. The walkout of 7,000 nurses marks the first major strike of the new year in the United States and signals a new stage in the growing rebellion of health care workers.

Striking nurses at Montefiore Medical Center [Photo: WSWS]

The strike takes central aim at the dangerous staffing levels prevailing at the hospitals, which have led to intolerable conditions for both workers and patients. Nurses report staffing ratios that routinely violate state law, physically and mentally overwhelm them and prevent them from administering the care their patients deserve.

Under such conditions, the inadequate wages offered in one of the worlds most expensive cities cannot hold the workforce in sufficient numbers, let alone expand it to safe levels.

The severe staffing shortages at Montefiore and Mount Sinai are far from unique. Nurses at 12 private New York City hospitals authorized strike action by 99 percent. However, in the lead-up to Mondays deadline, the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), which is affiliated with National Nurses United (NNU), and the hospitals pushed through agreements at 10 of the 12 hospitals that do nothing to fundamentally rectify understaffing.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul attempted to scuttle the strike at the remaining two hospitals late Sunday, calling for binding arbitration in exchange for a withdrawal of the strike action. Confronting widespread anger, the NYSNA bureaucracy felt it had no choice but to call the strike even as it has signaled its willingness to shut it down as soon as possible.

Three years into the pandemic, the striking nurses at Mount Sinai and Montefiore are in no mood to give up their core demands. Scores of nurses in New York City alone lost their lives as they were forced to care for patients without adequate protective equipment in completely overwhelmed hospitals. The heroic sacrifice came at the cost of severe stress and trauma, forcing many to leave the field.

Hospital administrators sought to blame nurses for refusing to accept the unacceptable. The New York Times reported Mount Sinai administrators calling the strike reckless and Montefiore declaring a sad day for New York City.

Yet the stand taken by New York nurses is as urgent as ever. The policies of the ruling class, united across political party lines, are ensuring the health care crises continue unabated. The most recent COVID variant to explode across the country, XBB.1.5, has combined with other respiratory viruses to cause an upsurge in illness this winter. The removal of all COVID mitigation measures ensures that new variants will continue to emerge.

Reporters from the WSWS Health Care Newsletter spoke to workers and supporters on the picket line Monday.

Marie, a striking nurse, said,Were not playing games with Mount Sinai anymore. We are overwhelmed here. We are understaffed. Nurses are calling in sick because they are overwhelmed.

Its not just about salary. Its about retaining nurses; thats what we are fighting for. Nurses come, then leave, because they realize they can get paid better in any other hospital.

We are 500 nurses down, we want to close that gap.

We want what is fair, she continued. During COVID, we didnt ask for a penny. We stood up as heroes. We asked for PPE. We respected our contract. We respected our nurses vow. We supported our hospital. We supported the community. We had our nurses die from COVID, and our own nurses brought illness home to their grandparents who died from COVID. What does Mt. Sinai say about that? What does the administration say about that? No, were not going down again. Thats it.

Lily, a fellow nurse at Mount Sinai, explained, The administration is not hiring enough nurses, so we are always short of staff and cannot correctly accommodate patients. Our hospital is getting less than all the other NYSNA hospitals, so, basically, we are the least-paid nurses in NYC.

Referring to the deal agreed to by NYSNA at 10 other New York City hospitals, she said, 7 percent, 6 percent and 5 percent [raises] over three years is not even going to get us close to what we need. And this is when youre just looking at salary. The problem is all of the rest of the benefit [deductions] that are included in that 7 percent. So we are way behind in salary.

Another nurse at Mount Sinai, Raji, said, Its been rough. Its been hard. We work in the emergency department. The ER I worked in in another hospital wasmaxseven patients. We have 15 to 20 patients almost every shifteach nurseand yeah, its brutal. We are short-staffed. Where were supposed to have four nurses, we have two.

The staffing issue has been huge. We hire new gradsthey come in, they crythey dont want to be here anymore. We are letting our nurses suffer. No one is happy at work. The nursing we knew four or five years ago is no longer. Honestly, its brutal. Were hoping that this strike will get us better working conditions because the future of nursing is doomed right now.

Ray, a radiology tech, remarked, The majority of the nurses are having a problem with staffing. Where I work, interventional radiology, I think were doing well, but overall the nurses staffing shortage affects everyone. It trickles down to our departmentother departmentsthen theres delay of care because of poor staffing.

We really need to fight for this contract now to show the whole nation. I mean, the whole nation suffered.

Kate, a doula, came out to support the nurses strike. I support the nurses strike because they do everything. Theyre the heart of the hospital. I see it first hand and I think they deserve to have fair pay and safe staffing. It will save patients lives, honestly. I had to come down and support them.

Virginia [Photo: WSWS]

Eight miles north, at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, Virginia, an ER nurse with 37 years experience, explained the conditions that led up to the strike. They promised five years ago to renovate us but they did not do it. The population of psychiatric patients coming in has grown. I can have up to 15 patients on stretchers and they can be there three to four days. When there are over 15 in Psychiatric, you are allowed to go on diversion, meaning patients will be diverted to go to other hospitals, but diversion is not allowed in Medical.

The last contract, three years ago, we had a deficit of 300 nurses. They lied and said they would hire more. Now it is up to 700 deficit. We need measurable ways to see they are hiring what they promised. That is why we are out here. It is the sticking point. Even for medical surges, they promised a one-to-five nurse-to-patient ratio on medical floors, but it goes up to one-to-eight.

When I started as a nurse 37 years ago, it was better. The nurse-patient ratio was better. It was union when I came here but since then it has been going down. Then COVID brought out the ugly. During the beginning COVID time, we had up to five refrigerator trucks here [for corpse storage]. We worried about whether we would even live to go home. My daughter and son had COVID but fortunately had been healthy and are okay.

Bey described how her job is impacted by the staffing shortage. I have worked 32 years as a nurse and have four more years to go before I can retire. Here is an example of why the staffing shortage has driven us to strike. A cardio [heart] patient is at risk after having a procedure to put a stent in their heart. They are prone to bleeding. The ratio of nurses to patients is supposed to be one-to-four in that situation, but we have one-to-five or six, sometimes one-to-seven. We do not have ancillary staff like secretaries. So we have to answer phone calls or be cleaning patients. We must monitor for bleeding every fifteen minutes. They might bleed. Every unit has a different story.

Nurses picketing at Montefiore Hospital: Gilda (center back), Bey (right) [Photo: WSWS]

She added, Another thing that is limited by short staffing is our time for educating patients after they have their procedures. We have to explain to patients what they need to know to follow up, like when they can begin to shower again at home. But then we must rush to the next patient. Some of us work double shifts, which is 24 hours, because people are getting sick and there were already not enough people. The pay on that is regular overtime. Many nurses do not want to stay and are leaving as soon as they turn 60. Many retire but after this hard work then get sick and die.

Gilda has worked in the intensive care unit for four years. She said, We want no more patients in the hallway. The hospital closed units and has refused to open them up. We are still getting these patients but they do not want to hire more. They would rather we have 10 patients each. Nurses shouldnt have to come to work in conditions that might result in their losing their license, like happened in the case of Radonda Vaught in Tennessee.

Another nurse with 20 years experience, two at Montefiore Childrens Hospital, said, After COVID hit, many nurses left and the hospital has not been hiring. There are not enough nurses for the patients. The patients deserve better. We are protesting about the staffing and they completely ignore us. If we protest an assignment because it has excessive patients, it goes on deaf ears. The overwork is going on from the beginning of our shift. The strike is not something we want, but the fight we need starts right here.

The strike by New York City nurses is part of a growing wave of international struggles by health care workers including National Health Service nurses and ambulance drivers in the UK and nurses in Sri Lanka. It takes place as broader sections of workers come into conflict with capitalist governments around the world, which are trying to impose the cost of the economic crisis and escalating military conflict on the backs of the working class.

In recent days, more than 1,000 CNH Industrial workers in Wisconsin and Iowa voted to reject the last, best and final offer by the multinational construction and farm equipment maker, despite the efforts by the United Auto Workers to isolate their eight-month strike.

More than a million-and-a-half workers in the US face expiring contracts this year, including at Caterpillar, General Electric, the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York City, UPS, the Detroit-based automakers and Mack Trucks.

To win the strike in New York, nurses must take the conduct of the struggle into their own hands by forming a rank-and-file strike committee. Only in this way can the struggle of nurses be united with broader sections of the working class to fight against the subordination of every aspect of life, including life itself, to private profit.
The January 8 invasion of the government headquarters in Brazil by a fascist mob of former president Jair Bolsonaros supporters has brought into stark relief the irrepressible decline of democracy in South Americas largest country.

The fascist attack in Brasilia, the Brazilian capital, took place exactly one week after President-Elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the Workers Party (PT) took office.

Pro-Bolsonaro demonstrators invade Brazilian government buildings. [Photo: Marcelo Camargo/Agencia Brasil]

In his inaugural speech, the third in the career of the former trade unionist who presided over the Brazilian government between 2003 and 2010, Lula acknowledged the extraordinary character of the recent elections. He declared that an authoritarian project of power was able to take hold of the public machine and, with broad mobilization of public and private resources, tried to overthrow democracy in Brazil.

The threats cited by Lula are of concern to millions of Brazilians. The countrys former fascistic president, Bolsonaro, has waged a systematic assault on the democratic system and attempted to overturn the legitimate results of the election over the past two months.

However, on January 1, Lula assured the Brazilian people that this terrible threat had been overcome. He claimed that the PTs promotion of a democratic front of the official bourgeois parties, from the traditional right wing to the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), had been able to definitively crush fascism in Brazil. It was democracy that was the great winner in this election, the president declared.

But the following Sunday, it was the fascists turn to hold their inauguration ceremony. The same police that mounted an unprecedented security regime during Lulas inauguration, predicting possible terrorist actions by Bolsonaro supporters, escorted the fascist mob to take over the seats of government in the January 8 attack.

This event exposed the fact that, contrary to Lulas claims, a fascist conspiracy remains active in the Brazilian state.

In response to the extraordinary events on Sunday, the PT government and state institutions moved to suppress the pro-Bolsonaro mob.

Lula decreed a federal intervention over the Federal District (DF), allowing his government to take control of security in Brasilia and bring officers from across the country to reinforce the police. The governor of DF, Ibaneis Rocha, was temporarily removed by the Supreme Court (STF), and his Secretary of Security Anderson Torres was threatened with arrest. The encampment of Bolsonaro supporters, which had remained since November at the gates of the Army Headquarters, was dispersed. Fifteen hundred participants in the encampment and the January 8 storming of Brasilia were arrested.

According to Lula and his government, these measures will guarantee once and for all that this will never happen again in Brazil.

Justice Minister Flavio Dino said that the country is moving toward absolute institutional normalization with great speed. Dino, who governed the state of Maranhao on behalf of the Maoist Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), concluded: The Brazilian Armed Forces until now have remained faithful to democratic legality. This is a fact that should be saluted. In general, I would say that the worst is over.

Concurring with the thesis advanced by the PT, political analysts in the official media were quick to characterize the invasion of Brasilia as a defeat of the far-right movement in Brazil.

Bolsonarismo shot itself in the foot by promoting the so-called seizure of power in Brasilia, stated Estado de Sao Paulo. The action of the extremists who brought chaos to the heart of the state will have the consequence of strengthening, albeit temporarily, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, it concluded.

These assessments are absolutely false. In particular, the claim made by Dino that the military has so far remained faithful to democratic legality flies in the face of reality.

Over the past few months, the Armed Forces have intervened in an unprecedented way in Brazilian politics. The military commanders have issued official notes censuring civilian officials for speaking out unfavorably about the military forces. The military has also raised false accusations of a risk of electoral fraud.

Meanwhile, the senior brass defended the demonstrations around the barracks, which called for a military coup, as a legitimate popular movement. This is in a country where the military seized power in 1964 and ruled by means of a bloody dictatorship for two decades.

Moreover, the military remained silent about the preparations for Sundays and previous violent attacks by its fascist proteges. The storming of the governmental buildings began and was organized at the gates of the Army Headquarters in Brasilia, a restricted zone where the fascists were allowed to stay by the generals.

The fact that the military has so far collaborated with the actions taken by Lulas government neither contradicts its previous stance nor represents a political turn.

In fact, none of the political actors directly engaged in the formation of a fascist movement in Brazil have claimed authorship of Sunday's attacks. Bolsonaro and members of his Liberal Party (PL), the governor and the secretary of security of Brasilia, the fascist military--all condemned the action as an aberration.

These political forces would have one believe that 5,000 terrorists sprang up in Brasilia and spontaneously invaded the seat of government. But it is evident that the organizers of the fascist assault in Brasilia are deeply entrenched in the state, and especially in the military.

The January 8 attack does not represent a defeat for these forces. On the contrary, their collaboration with the PT administration in confronting this crisis will only lend them more space in the government, enabling them to drive it ever further to the right while still preparing for its overthrow.

What then explains the PTs direct collaboration in covering for those responsible and its rush to falsely declare the situation resolved?

As representatives of capitalism, the PT was rehabilitated and brought back to power by the Brazilian ruling class under explosive political and social conditions. The last years saw the eruption of social inequality and misery, mass deaths caused by pro-capitalist policies in response to COVID-19, and economic stagnation in the midst of a global economic environment increasingly marked by war.

These conditions are preparing an uncontrollable explosion of class struggle in Brazil. The development of a fascist movement and every form of political reaction is the response of the ruling class to these objective conditions.

The PT, supported by its middle class pseudo-left allies, plays an instrumental role in this bourgeois reaction. Engaged in covering up the extent of the crisis of the capitalist state, promoting illusions in its democratic character, and using its trade union apparatus to repress working class struggles, the PT is paving the way for fascist forces to develop and create the conditions for a coup detat.

The international working class must take the action of the fascists in Brasilia as the most serious warning. Confronted by the volcanic eruption of the contradictions of capitalism, the ruling class internationally is fomenting fascist movements.

The establishment of fascist dictatorships, even in the core capitalist countries, should not be seen as a distant possibility. Alongside the danger of a nuclear war of annihilation, this threat is absolutely real. These threats can only be confronted by the development of a working class movement aimed at taking political power, on the basis of a socialist program, in Brazil and throughout the world.
Japan is currently experiencing one of its worst COVID-19 surges since the pandemic began three years ago. Total official cases have now exceeded more than 30 million while deaths reached 60,000 on Sunday. Both are underestimates of the real figures and the overall toll of the pandemic. None of this gives the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pause as it presses ahead with the removal of remaining mitigation measures.

People wearing face masks flock to a shopping street famous for a year-end shopping before New Year holidays in Tokyo, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. [AP Photo/Hiro Komae]

On January 5, Japan reported a single-day record high of 498 deaths, a fact that exposes the official lie that the pandemic is over. In December alone, official deaths spiked sharply with approximately 10,000 people succumbing to the virus. In comparison, it took 14 months to first reach the first 10,000 deaths in the pandemic while it took only four months to rise from 40,000 to 50,000.

Daily new cases have skyrocketed over the past two months reaching well over 200,000, following relatively low figures in October after the summer surge. Now, at least 12 prefectures have posted record-high cases, while nine have had record-high numbers of deaths. The highest daily case number was recorded on January 6 with 245,542, coming close to the record peak of 261,252 on August 19.

The true extent of the situation is not known as infected people recovering at home are not recorded as official cases. In addition, the dangerous new XBB.1.5 variant has also been detected in Japan, believed to be the most immune-evasive strain yet, meaning vaccination and previous infections offer little or no protection.

The real situation is therefore far more serious than presented by the government and in the media, which are inundating the public with claims that the pandemic is finished. Toho University Professor Tateda Kazuhiro, who sits on the governments COVID-19 advisory board, warned that cases could rise later this month as high as 450,000 per day.

Excess deaths point to the real impact of the pandemic. In August, during the height of the summer surge, approximately 7,000 people died from infection with COVID-19, according to Health Ministry figures. However, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases estimated in the same month that there were between 12,000 and 17,000 excess deaths.

According to figures released last February, the year 2021 set a record for the number of deaths in the post-war period with 1,452,289, driven by the Delta variant of COVID-19. This was an increase of 67,745 deaths over the previous year. Similarly high numbers are expected for 2022 as a result of the spread of the numerous Omicron subvariants.

Hospital bed occupancy rates are rising, with beds for COVID-19 patients in Tokyo for example filled to 55.3 percent of capacity as of January 5. Patients are also being admitted to hospitals for different ailments and becoming infected.

In an interview with Tokai TV, Dr. Kobayashi, head of the Sakura General Hospital in the town of Oguchi, Aichi Prefecture, stated that the official prefectural hospital bed occupancy rate of 70 percent did not reflect the true situation. Were actually at 95 percent or more, he said. No mistake about it. Were on the eve of collapse. If this wave continues for much longer, or if another wave strikes before this one recedes, were in a state where collapse is going to be imminent. I can say that with certainty.

Doctors in Fukuoka Prefecture are warning that they can only accept the most severe cases, despite an official bed occupancy rate of just 8.2 percent. Following a record number of deaths of 36 in the prefecture on January 6, Dr. Ishikura Hiroyasu, head of Fukuoka University Hospital Emergency and Critical Care Center, warned: People on respirators are in critical condition, so others are dying before even having the opportunity to get hooked on the respirator. This is what contributes to the rise in the death count, and I think when such a rise begins, it is the start of collapse for health care.

The pandemic continues to have a serious impact on patients with other conditions as well. The number of cases where ambulances transporting patients in the countrys 52 major metropolitan areas rose to 7,158 during the week of December 26, exceeding the previous record-high from the week earlier by 358 cases.

Government officials have tried to downplay the recent surge. One official from Kumamoto Prefecture telling the media, The reports may have been concentrated because medical facilities were closed during the year-end and New Year holidays. We need to see how the situation develops.

As part of dismantling necessary public health measures, the government has restricted the free availability of the more reliable PCR tests. People showing symptoms can get tested while those who are asymptomatic and have not been referred by a doctor must pay for a test or are simply unable to access one at all. It is designed to prevent workers from accessing reliable testing and keeping them on the job.

The government is also planning to lower COVID-19 from its current classification as a Category II infectious disease to Category V, the lowest in the tier system. The move would make it easier to keep infected people working and further reduce reporting of new cases, while justifying ending the indoor mask-wearing requirement. Prime Minister Kishida made clear that the economy was at the heart of these changes, saying on December 26, We hope to fully take back normal life and achieve a strong economic rebound next year.

Travel has been renewed, with Tokyo aiming to bring in 5 trillion yen ($US37.9 billion) in annual tourist spending. On December 21, the Japan National Tourism Organization reported that the number of foreign travelers to Japan the previous month reached 934,500. It was the first full month in which mitigation measures for travelers had been fully scrapped.

At the same time, Japan is imposing restrictions on travelers from mainland China, demanding a negative PCR test upon arrival. Travelers from Hong Kong and Macao are exempt, even as both places have experienced a spike in new cases. This measure has nothing to do with stopping the spread of the virus, but instead is meant to further demonize China in the minds of the public. All of this demonstrates that the pandemic in Japan, as around the world, is far from over.
Last Saturday, as part of its campaign for the Berlin state election, the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) held its first central rally, which took place outside the town hall of Berlins Spandau district. Amid the murderous proxy war in Ukrainewhich threatens to escalate into a nuclear war between Russia and NATOthe SGP is the only party running in the Berlin House of Representatives elections with a programme against war.

Lead candidate Christoph Vandreier at the SGP rally in Spandau [Photo: WSWS]

The rally gave a strong political lead, coming as it did just a day following the decision to send German tanks to Ukraine. The SGP had immediately released a statement condemning the arms deliveries, urgently warning of the consequences of this escalation, and outlining an anti-war perspective for the international working class.

In his opening speech, SGP chairman Christoph Vandreier explained, With the delivery of the Marder fighting vehicles, German tanks are again rolling against Russia and risking a nuclear world war. Infantry fighting vehicles are offensive weapons designed to retake Russian-occupied territorybut retaking Crimea would mean nuclear war!

Referring to the aggressive statements of leading government politicians, Vandreier continued, The claim that only a military victory by Ukraine and the West can establish peace closely resembles the propaganda of German militarism in the First and Second World Wars. No one should be under any illusions: The ruling class, despite its historical crimes, will not shrink from leading German soldiers to the slaughter again for imperialist wars of conquest.

Ulrich Rippert, founding member and long-time chair of the SGP, in discussion with a participant [Photo: WSWS]

In addition to Christoph Vandreier, long-time party chair Ulrich Rippert and executive committee member Gregor Link presented the socialist programme and historical foundations of the SGP and its youth organisation, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) in several powerful speeches. Many passers-by stopped to watch the rally and discuss the building of an international mass movement against war with SGP members.

Three young people, who are not yet able to vote, showed great interest in the SGPs election statement. As one of them posted the statement on his Instagram profile, another remarked, On the one hand, politicians say they are for peace, but on the other hand, they send large amounts of weapons to Ukraine. This doesnt make sense.

When SGP members replied that the imperialist NATO powers have waged many wars in the Middle East under the pretext of peace and democracy, the student added, Im from Iraq, my family fled the war there. They always spread lies about the wars.

Gregor Link, IYSSE spokesperson and SGP executive committee member [Photo: WSWS]

Sonja attends a secondary school in Spandau and also posted a photo from the SGP rally on her social media channel. I think a mass movement against the war is good. Its important to educate people, she said. My mother is Russian, and we have several refugee children from Ukraine at school. I have donated clothes for Ukrainian children.

I think the tank deliveries are bad because they cost money that is needed elsewhere. Everything has become more expensive. I think everything is getting more expensive because of the [spending on] armaments. It makes sense what you explained: money is being taken away from schools to put into the military and war for profit.

Speaking about the Berlin Senates (state executive) profits-before-lives policy in the pandemic, Sonja said, Everyone got sick at school, and I heard it was really bad for a lot of people. Many others died from coronavirus. We should be active against it. Even the vaccinations didnt help at some point. Poverty in Berlin is very bad, homelessness is also really high.

We talked about Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in school, Sonja reported, as she opposed the German elites renewed ambition to be a great power: I never thought the government would want power in Europe again. I think Germany should strive for peace after World War I and World War II, not world power.

In the other wars, the government didnt help even though they were just as bad as the war now. Germany wants to profit from the war. The government doesnt care at all that people are dying. You are against it; I think that is very good. There should be more people like you.

When Sonja heard that the Ministry of the Interior and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (as Germanys domestic intelligence agency is called) had placed the SGP under surveillance, she said, There are so many parties that are right-wing extremist and are up to bad things. Youre probably only being watched by them because youre exposing things they want kept secret.

SGP members talking with rally attendees [Photo: WSWS]

Another young audience member who came to the rally with a friend said, The cause of all the problems is the way money is distributed. The money is not where it should be, and it is taken away from where it is needed most. We need more money for social professions.

Im against money being invested in armaments, said Rejin, who is studying to be a teacher of history at Berlins Free University and also volunteers with a service helping those seeking to leave prostitution. Where does the money go and where should it come from? The world situation is becoming more and more unstable.

Although I work in retail, I can no longer afford fruit, Rejin continued. To save rent and expenses, I live with my parents, who have to manage on Hartz IV [welfare]. If I moved out, my parents would lose their home. There are not enough apartments in Berlin.

On the policies of the governing parties and the importance of the SGPs participation in the elections, Rejin said: My first vote in an election was for the Greens, which was the case for many people. The fact that the Greens are driving this war disappointed me, but I quickly realized that it was not the first time. In the meantime, I see myself as a communist and have also studied Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.

I dont expect the state to be neutral. Recently, I saw how police officers in a train station behaved towards an old woman who was seeking shelter from the cold there. I thought for a long time about who to vote for because I dont want to vote for the Left Party any more. When I saw your poster, I was happy that I can now vote for someone else.

Thomas, who works as a driver for the local transportation provider Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), had been closely following the contributions of several SGP speakers. He said, I also think the world is heading for a world war and that Putin was provoked by the West. What you said here at the rally today, I agree with.

Im really afraid of a third world war, but I dont know how to prevent it, Thomas continued. Many colleagues think the way you do. But we little people have nothing to say, and you dont know who to vote for. I used to vote for the Greens because they opposed war and arms supplies. Today, he said, the Greens were the leading warmongers.

Referring to the growing wave of strikes in Britain, France, the US, and countless other countries, SGP members then explained that the party advocates building independent rank-and-file action committees to unite and develop resistance to war and attacks on living standards internationally. The cause of the development of war was the deep crisis of capitalism, which could only be solved by a socialist movement of workers against war.

To this Thomas replied: I have heard about the strikes. I wonder if they can really change anything. You struggle all day and get nothing out of it. In any case, you cant believe the media any more, and the government is nothing but a puppet of the super-rich. Im definitely voting for you guys.

After speaking with SGP members, Thomas took a stack of election flyers to distribute among colleagues.

For more information about the SGP and to join our campaign, visit www.gleichheit.de/
The eight-hour working day and forty-hour workweek are increasingly becoming a relic of the past in Canada and internationally. These fundamental advances, which workers fought and died for over the course of a century and a half, are now effectively a dead letter.

A scaffolder in Alberta [Photo: Government of Alberta]

In spite of extraordinary technological progress and unprecedented productivity, workers in every industry are working longer for less. The endless drive for higher profits has corporations and capitalist governments forcing workers to run themselves ragged, while criminalizing efforts by workers to resist these edicts. The pro-capitalist unions, which function as an arm of management, dutifully enforce this retrogression in working conditions.

In August 2022, to protest low pay and poor working conditions at energy company Suncors oil sands operations in northern Alberta, scaffolders employed by AlumaSafway refused to work beyond their ten-hour shifts and instead only fulfilled their contractual obligations.

Acting on Suncors behalf, AlumaSafway responded by filing a case with the Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB). The board declared the workers protest an illegal strike because workers had circulated an anonymous letter recommending that they refuse to accept the voluntary assignment and had thus acted in a coordinated manner. The ALRB backed this ruling with the threat of civil or criminal penalties.

In response, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC), which represents the scaffolders, merely posted a copy of the ALRB order on its website without comment. They did not so much as issue a protest in defence of the workers.

This situation is not unique to Canada or anywhere in the industrialized world. The Canada Labour Code, which oversees federally regulated industries, only allows a worker to refuse overtime to address a family members health care or educational issues, and only if reasonable steps to solve the issue have already been taken. Provincial labour boards across the country like the ALRB have ruled that workers cannot refuse overtime if they have regularly worked overtime in the past.

Mandatory overtime, or voluntary overtime under duress, is the norm for millions of Canadian workers. Adding to the mounting pressure on workers is the record number of job vacancies in the economy, which peaked at one million in May 2022. With fewer workers available to satisfy the demand for profit, employers are squeezing the workers they do have for harder work and longer hours.

A major driver of this phenomenon is the attrition of the workforce caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed thousands of workers and forced many more into early retirement due to burnout or the effects of Long COVID. Furthermore, an aging population is leaving the workforce, with retirements up 50 percent year-on-year as of August.

Public and private sector workers affected

One of the hardest hit sectors is health care, where more than one in five nurses worked overtime (21.6 percent) as of July, more than double the national average of 9.7 percent. Here, the burden of the capitalist let it rip pandemic policy is felt most keenly. Nursing job vacancies totaled 23,620 in the first quarter of 2022, or more than triple the number from 2017.

A November 2022 study from the Canadian Institute for Health Information found that 45 percent of paramedics, 34 percent of salaried family doctors, and 31 percent of respiratory therapists worked overtime in 2021.

Health care workers across the country often work long overtime hours to prop up a collapsing public health system, which is buckling under the weight of the pandemic after decades of systematic underfunding via capitalist austerity measures.

In Quebec, years of government budget cuts, health care rationing, and privatization by the Liberals, Parti Quebecois (PQ), and now Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) have resulted in inadequate resources, short-staffing and forced overtime. Even prior to the pandemic, many Quebec nurses were routinely compelled to work extra shifts, depriving them of the personal and family time needed to physically and psychologically recuperate from their jobs. Since 2021, a wave of sit-ins by nurses has swept hospitals across Quebec to protest short-staffing and forced overtime.

It was the unions that proposed the PQ government of Lucien Bouchard use a scheme of voluntary retirements to slash health care spending in the late 1990s. Under this scheme, the government permanently eliminated tens of thousands of health care jobs, thereby diminishing the quality of care available to Quebecers, and significantly increasing the workload for the nurses and other health care workers who remained.

This process is replicated across the country. In Ontario, hundreds of thousands of health care workers have endured decades of pay cuts, which were extended in 2019 by Tory Premier Doug Fords Bill 124, capping public sector wage increases at 1 percent per year.

Union officials have not lifted a finger to mobilize their members for a political struggle against these disastrous conditions. On the contrary, they have served as the chief obstacle to all efforts by workers to fight back, whether it be against wage restraint or dangerous working conditions produced by the ruling elites decision to let COVID-19 run rampant. Thousands of workers have left the public sector, compounding staff shortages and the need for overtime.

At the start of 2022, American railroad workers at the railway BNSF became subject to a punitive points-based Hi-Viz attendance policy. The policy, which effectively leaves workers on-call 24/7, binds workers entirely to their jobs with no time left over for their families.

Although all 120,000 railroad workers in the US were in strike position and were determined to overturn near-identical conditions across the industry, their unions barred them from striking and conspired with the Democratic Biden administration and railroad corporations to impose a sellout contract, which Congress enacted in December through a bipartisan vote.

Working in excess of ten to twenty additional hours per week is the norm, not the exception, for workers in industries like auto manufacturing. After decades during which unions like the United Auto Workers (UAW) in the US and UNIFOR in Canada imposed two-tier wage systems and rollbacks to benefits and pensions, workers have no choice but to chain themselves to their workstations just to make ends meet.

The workers movement and the fight for the eight-hour day

The achievement of the eight-hour day was the product of sustained struggle by the working class throughout the period of capitalist economic development, culminating with the conquest of power by the working class under the leadership of the Bolsheviks in Russia in 1917.

Throughout the nineteenth century, the working day ranged from 10 to 16 hours, the work week was typically six days long, and the use of child labour was common. When the International Workingmens Association took up the demand for an eight-hour day at its Congress in Geneva in 1866, it declared, The legal limitation of the working day is a preliminary condition without which all further attempts at improvements and emancipation of the working class must prove abortive The Congress proposes eight hours as the legal limit of the working day.

In addressing the deleterious health effects of long working hours, Karl Marx wrote in Das Kapital (1867), By extending the working day, therefore, capitalist production not only produces a deterioration of human labour power by robbing it of its normal moral and physical conditions of development and activity, but also produces the premature exhaustion and death of this labour power itself.

Legislation limiting the working day was a fundamental conquest of militant labour struggles going back to the early part of the 19th century. The first Canadian legislation giving protection to unions emerged in 1872 in the aftermath of an unsuccessful agitation for a nine-hour day led by the Toronto Typographical Union. This was a common demand of the 1860s and 1870s in both Europe and North America. The first May Day, on May 1, 1886, saw 300,000 workers walk off the job across the United States in support of the demand for an eight-hour day.

The Soviet Union was the first country to adopt the eight-hour work day for all professions in 1917. In the industrialized nations, the eight-hour day was primarily a result of militant struggles led by socialist-minded workers in the 1920s and 1930s, inspired by the October Revolution in Russia. Canada adopted the forty-hour work week in the 1960s, but there has been constant pressure by employers, and constant concessions by the unions, which have weakened that provision ever since.

The current situation for workers has been decades in the making. Twenty years ago, under the banner of Ontario Premier Mike Harris Common Sense Revolution, the Tory government removed longstanding limits on the length of the workweek and changed the way in which overtime pay is calculated to the detriment of workers. This helped set a precedent for similar attacks by other provincial and state governments across North America.

As we wrote in September, While big business is free to utilize all the instruments of the state apparatus and the courts to criminalize worker opposition to its relentless drive for profits, workers are prevented at every turn from responding collectively. The so-called labour relations system, including collective bargaining, would in fact better be termed labour enforcement by a collective dictatorship of businesses, trade union bureaucrats and governments over the working class. There is no way for workers to defend even their most basic interests through these rigged institutions of bourgeois class rule.

This points to the necessity for workers to form rank-and-file committees in their workplaces, which are independent of and hostile to the union bureaucracies, as a necessary first step to improving their wages and working conditions. Only by linking their struggles across workplaces, industries, provinces, and countries, in a common fight for socialism, can the working class in Canada and internationally end the intensifying levels of exploitation and achieve social equality. This is the perspective and strategy for which the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees fights.
The Russian Federation, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is flagrantly violating UN Security Council resolutions by procuring weapons from the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, or DPRK, and Iran for its war of aggression against Ukraine. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield called these actions despicable.

The United States can confirm that the DPRK has completed an initial arms delivery to the Russian private military company known as Wagner, which paid for the equipment and currently has thousands of troops deployed to Ukraine, said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield in a statement.

In November, the DPRK delivered infantry rockets and missiles into Russia for use by Wagner. In part because of U.S. sanctions and export controls, Wagner is searching around the world for arms suppliers to support its military operations in Ukraine. We assess that the amount of materiel delivered to Wagner will not change battlefield dynamics in Ukraine, said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield, but we are concerned that the DPRK is planning to deliver more military equipment to Wagner.

For years, the Kremlin has used the Wagner Group to support its dangerous and destabilizing foreign policy while attempting to maintain deniability in the Middle East, Africa, and Ukraine. Wagners purchase of weapons from the DPRK to wreak destruction in Ukraine also contributes to instability on the Korean peninsula by giving Pyongyang funds it can use to further develop its prohibited weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.

These transfers occur as Pyongyang has launched an unprecedented number of ballistic missiles in 2022  each of which violated multiple Security Council resolutions for which the Security Council must hold the DPRK accountable. Russia, declared Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield, is not only defending the DPRK as it engages in unlawful and threatening behavior; Russia is now a partner to such behavior.

The United States will raise the DPRKs and Russias violations of UN Security Council resolutions in future meetings of the Security Council.

Russia must be held to account for its illegal procurement of weapons from the DPRK and Iran to pursue its war in Ukraine.
ELKO  A new SNOTEL monitor was installed last summer at a high elevation in Lamoille Canyon, and it was showing snow depths ranging from 60-85 inches in the first week of January.

At nearly 9,000 feet elevation, this is the highest SNOTEL in the Ruby Mountains, according to the USDAs Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Equipment was delivered to the location via helicopter sling loads, and construction was completed in two days. The new site will help quantify snow at higher elevations in the Upper Humboldt Basin, and assist the National Weather Service with flood forecasting for Lamoille Creek.

The NRCS released its Jan. 1 water supply outlook showing snowpacks across the eastern Sierra and northern Nevada at 147-269% of median, with total precipitation since October 1 at 119-202%.

The water year is off to a fantastic start, stated the report. A non-stop barrage of storms is forecast well into January and will continue to increase these percentages. This is welcome news after seeing a similarly tremendous start last winter, only to watch conditions fizzle as blue skies dominated after January 1.

Snowpack in the Upper Humboldt River Basin is well above normal at 219% of median, compared to 113% at this time last year.

Its still early but this year seems to be on a different trajectory and could possibly be a drought buster, stated NRCS. Soil moisture has improved significantly, particularly in the Sierra.

Saturated soils under the snow means an efficient spring runoff which is needed to bust the drought, but saturated soils also elevate flood risk if another warm atmospheric river brings rain to the mountains while conditions are primed, NRCS stated.

Below normal runoff in 2020, 2021 and 2022 resulted in low reservoir storage by the end of the 2022 irrigation season. Rye Patch reservoir in the Lower Humboldt Basin was unable to deliver any water to Lovelock farms during the 2022 season. Lahontan Reservoir in the Carson Basin had enough water to limp through the irrigation season but is currently only storing 10% of its capacity. Lake Tahoes water level fell below its natural rim in October but has since added over a foot of water and is now three quarters of a foot above the rim with over 5 feet of storage remaining.

Despite an excellent start to winter, there are still three important accumulation months to go. What happens during those months will ultimately determine how much streamflow is observed next spring, concluded NRCS.
RENO  The Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice on Jan. 9 of its intent to sue the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to protect the rare Nevada wildflower Tiehms buckwheat from destruction due to cattle grazing.

The notice seeks to remove cattle from the buckwheats federally protected critical habitat, and says the Center for Biological Diversity will sue the BLM if the cattle are not removed within 60 days.

Tiehms buckwheat is a small wildflower with yellow flowers that only grows on 10 acres of public land in the Silver Peak Range southwest of Tonopah. The plants are adjacent to the area where Ioneer is working toward building the Rhyolite Ridge lithium boron project.

Tiehms buckwheat is one of North Americas most endangered plants, but federal officials are letting the livestock industry run roughshod over its fragile habitat, said Patrick Donnelly, the Centers Great Basin director, who documented the damage. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recognized cattle grazing as a threat to the buckwheats existence, but the Bureau of Land Management has done nothing to protect these wildflowers.

Tiehms buckwheat was listed under the Endangered Species Act in December and given additional protections for critical habitat across its entire tiny range.

On Jan. 3 Donnelly visited Rhyolite Ridge and discovered seven cows grazing within the plants habitat. Donnelly said the cows were destroying individual plants and degrading the critical habitat. He said he also saw numerous cattle tracks throughout the area.

The notice to the BLM from the Center for Biological Diversity said the BLM had previously indicated to FWS that the grazing permittee has agreed to move livestock west of the Tiehms buckwheat subpopulations in order to avoid any further grazing impacts.

Each one of these plants is precious and essential for the recovery of this endangered species, said Donnelly. Its totally unacceptable that the BLM is letting cows destroy this wildflowers protected critical habitat while greenlighting a lithium mine that could wipe out the whole species. Were going to court to hold this agency accountable for protecting each and every buckwheat.

An incident in 2020 killed around half of the Tiehms buckwheat population, leaving approximately 15,000 plants remaining on earth. A press release from the Center for Biological Diversity in September 2020 said that someone dug up and destroyed the plants, but the Fish and Wildlife Service said in December 2020 that its investigation of the incident strongly supports that ground squirrels were responsible for the damage.

Current drought conditions likely motivated the rodents to seek moisture by consuming the shallow taproots of mature buckwheat plants, FWS said.
LOS ANGELES  Exactly five years after a devastating mudslide killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes in coastal Montecito, California, about 10,000 residents of the Santa Barbara County community and its surrounding canyons were ordered to evacuate Monday amid the downpours that continue to pound the state.

The National Weather Service said up to 8 inches of rain had fallen in 12 hours, and plenty more was expected. In the late afternoon, the service's Los Angeles office tweeted out a warning about "DANGEROUS LIFE THREATENING FLASH FLOODING'' in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

The canyon communities under evacuation orders around Montecito are below hillsides burned bare in recent years by wildfires. There were also evacuations in the city of Santa Barbara.

Showbiz personalities like Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres and former sports stars Troy Aikman and Jimmy Connors were among the celebrities impacted by the 2018 disaster in Montecito, now also home to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

The death toll from the onslaught of violent storms sweeping California rose to 14 on Monday as two major episodes promised more devastation and up to a foot of rain. The death toll does not include a 5-year-old boy who was swept away by floodwaters and whose fate remains unknown.

The weather service warned that parts of the Sacramento area, which has been battered by high winds and overwhelming rains, could see 12 inches of rain by Wednesday night.

Santa Cruz County has also taken a big hit: Mudslides closed both southbound lanes of scenic Highway 17 and the Browns Valley Road Bridge collapsed into the small river beneath it.

"Two of the more energetic and moisture-laden parade of cyclones ... are aiming directly for California," the weather service forecast said. "The cumulative effect of successive heavy rainfall events will lead to ... rapid water rises, mudslides and the potential for major river flooding."

Story continues

The first episode hit the state early Monday and was expected to dump up to 5 inches of rain on the central California coast, the weather service said. Another, due Tuesday, will primarily target locations farther south into Southern California.

"Flooding from Northern to Central California is expected to be widespread, even catastrophic in some locations around the coastal mountains and the northern and central Sierra," AccuWeather meteorologist Joe Bauer said. He said more than a dozen monitored river locations are forecast to be above flood stage.

President Joe Biden, citing "emergency conditions resulting from successive and severe winter storms, flooding, and mudslides," declared a federal emergency late Sunday, ordering federal assistance to supplement state, tribal and local response efforts.

NEWSOME DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY: California Gov. Newsom asks Biden administration to declare federal emergency ahead of brutal storms

Other developments:

The U.S. Forest Service issued an avalanche warning until Wednesday for the greater Lake Tahoe area. Parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada are also under avalanche warnings.

Residents of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and Solano counties in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and Monterey in central California are under evacuation orders or warnings.

Nearly 140,000 homes and businesses across the state were without power early Monday, according to the tracking website poweroutage.us.

The Los Angeles area braced for up to 8 inches of rain in foothill areas. High surf was expected through Tuesday. Wind gusts could exceed 60 mph at the coast and 70 mph in the mountains, prompting the weather service to post a wind advisory for portions of southwest California through 10 p.m. Monday.

WHAT IS AN 'ATMOSPHERIC RIVER'? These rivers of water vapor can extend thousands of miles.

Vehicles submerged in water, sinkhole swallows 2 cars in Los Angeles

The major storm will affect southern California through Tuesday and is expected to bring heavy rain, damaging winds, and a slight chance of thunderstorms, the weather service in Los Angeles warned Monday.

Widespread and significant flooding is expected on urban roads and rivers, the weather service said. Storm conditions will also cause hazardous driving conditions and potential power outages.

There is a potential for as much as 8 inches of rain in the Los Angeles foothill area late Monday and Tuesday. The weather service also issued high surf advisories along the coast.

Vehicles were seen submerged in water Monday in some parts of the city. A sinkhole swallowed two vehicles in the Chatsworth area, in northeast Los Angeles, late Monday. Authorities said two people escaped by themselves and firefighters used ropes and an aerial ladder to rescue two others who had minor injuries.

18 people rescued from Ventura River amid flash flood warning

Eighteen people were rescued after being trapped on an island in the Ventura River in western Ventura County on Monday afternoon amid heavy rain and flooding.

The Ventura County Fire Department reported that of the 18 victims, one person required medical attention for minor injuries, seven people were rescued using a ladder, seven others were rescued by the aerial team and four people were able to walk out.

The county was hit with severe flooding and mudslides due to continuous heavy rain from the latest atmospheric river. A flash flood warning was issued for all of southern Ventura County, which is expected to last through Tuesday as another storm front moves into the area overnight.

Flash flood warning in Santa Cruz and surroundings

The weather service's Bay Area office issued a flash flood warning through 3:45 p.m. PST for Santa Cruz and surrounding communities, home to more than 260,000 people and 75 schools. The bureau also tweeted a video showing Highway 101 -- a major artery -- "has turned into a moving river'' and advising motorists not to drive into flood waters.

Evacuation orders were issued in Santa Cruz County for about 32,000 residents living near rapidly rising rivers and creeks, according to Melodye Serino, the deputy county administrative officer.

Parts of the community of Felton in the Santa Cruz Mountains were inundated when the San Lorenzo River crested over its banks Monday morning, leaving cars partially submerged.

School teacher Nicole Beardsley, who grew up and lives in Felton, told the San Francisco Chronicle she was heading for work when she came to a submerged car on a flooded section of road and turned around.

Ive never seen the river this high before, Beardsley told the newspaper. Ive seen it come up to the bridge there and the road wasnt drivable, but it wasnt up this high.

Some residents took a relaxed attitude to the turmoil.

Nicole Martin, a third-generation owner of the Fern River Resort in Felton, said her clients sipped coffee, sat on cabin porches amid towering redwood trees and were enjoying the show as picnic tables and other debris floated down the river.

Here's a look at major flooding on the San Lorenzo River that is inundating neighborhoods in the Felton area. Meteorologist @DrewTumaABC7 says it appears the river has already crested but it will take some time for waters to recede. https://t.co/2ntztS0Yej #CAwx pic.twitter.com/S1NSLWSgnj  ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) January 9, 2023

Surging waters halt search for boy swept away into river

The life of a 5-year-old boy who was carried away by floodwaters hung in the balance Monday after rescuers in central California had to call off the search for him around 3 p.m. when conditions on the surging Salinas River became too dangerous to continue.

The boys mother was driving a white truck when it became stranded in floodwaters just before 8 a.m. near Paso Robles, according to Tom Swanson, assistant chief of the Cal Fire/San Luis Obispo County Fire Department.

Swanson said bystanders pulled the mother out of the truck but the boy was carried out of the vehicle by the water and swept downstream.

A Caltrans worker directs traffic at a freeway entrance as the U.S. Freeway 101 is closed near Montecito, California

6 feet of snow forecast in Sierra

The Sierra Nevada will likely see heavy snow exceeding 6 feet across the higher elevations before the snow tapers off Wednesday morning, forecasters said. The state Department of Transportation warned motorists to stay off mountain roads after closing a stretch of U.S. 395 in Mono County, along the Eastern Sierra, because of heavy snow, ice and whiteout conditions.

Mammoth Mountain, an Eastern Sierra ski resort, already has received nearly 10 feet of snow, the National Weather Service reported.

A tree collapsed and ripped up the sidewalk damaging a home in Sacramento, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023.

Why could the latest storm be so damaging?

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had sought the federal emergency designation earlier Sunday, said the death toll from almost two weeks of storms had reached 12. And he warned that the worst impacts of the storms might have been felt yet.

"California is in the middle of a deadly barrage of winter storms and we are using every resource at our disposal to protect lives and limit damage," Newsom said.

AccuWeather experts say the unrelenting "atmospheric rivers" have saturated much of the state and bloated rivers and streams, leaving the state susceptible to "extreme and historic levels" of storm damage.

A CLOSER LOOK:Graphics show how the coastal state has been drenched

HOW AN ATMOSPHERIC RIVER DEVELOPS:Graphics show atmospheric river soaking California's Bay Area

Atmospheric rivers are ribbons of water vapor in the sky that can extend thousands of miles from the tropics to the western U.S. At 250 to 375 miles wide, they provide the fuel for massive rain and snowstorms that can cause flooding along the West Coast.

On Sunday alone, one thunderstorm moving into the Sacramento region was producing up to a half-inch of rain per hour.

As the #AtmoshpericRiver continues to move through the Bay Area and Central Coast we're also watching the next round of storms farther west. Here's a satellite loop showing all of the lightning flashes. These storms arrive later tonight and Tuesday. #cawx pic.twitter.com/ZXPN7ag8gp  NWS Bay Area  (@NWSBayArea) January 9, 2023

Sacramento County struggles to recover

In the state capital, tens of thousands of electricity customers remained without power Monday, down from more than 350,000 after gusts of 60 mph knocked trees into power lines, according to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Sacramento City schools were closed Monday because six campuses had no electricity.

The weather service posted a flood advisory for much of the Sacramento Valley, northern San Joaquin Valley and surrounding foothills. The Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services ordered residents of Wilton, about 20 miles southeast of downtown Sacramento, to evacuate Sunday night. Wilton is home to about 6,000 people.

"Flooding is imminent. Out of an abundance of caution, residents must leave now before roads become impassable," the office of emergency services said in its evacuation order.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California weather: 14 dead as storm threatens more major flooding
A Romanian official said an appeals court has upheld the 30-day arrest of influencer Andrew Tate on charges of organised crime, human trafficking and rape.

Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romanian anti-organised crime agency DIICOT, said the court late on Tuesday rejected an appeal by Mr Tate against a judges earlier decision to extend his arrest from 24 hours to 30 days.

Prosecutors can now seek to extend the detention period for the 36-year-old former kickboxer and controversial influencer to 180 days.

Mr Tate and his brother, who was arrested in the same operation, earlier appeared in a Bucharest appeals court to seek release after being held since 29 December.

On Monday, Mr Tates lawyer claimed there was no evidence to support the allegations against the influencer or his brother.

Eugen Vidineac, who represents both brothers, on Monday told Romanian newssite Gandul the defence had not been given the opportunity to study the prosecution file for the case. The lawyer also claimed that Mr Tates controversial online persona would not be valid evidence in a trial.

Key Points

Tate brothers lose appeal against arrest

Lawyer told media on Monday there is no evidence for claims against Tate brothers

Andrew Tate account says Matrix attacked me

Tate hospitalised after medical exam, says report

Heres how to beat toxic men like Andrew Tate | Comment

02:00 , Liam James

Sufyan Ahmeds take on the toxic culture behind the jailed influencer: News of Andrew Tates arrest has been met with relief by many hoping this will bring an end to his relevance. However, in my view (and experience) the damage is done. Tates views, amplified by social media, has already led to huge numbers of young men from my generation being manipulated, and without urgent intervention we may end up with a lost generation of young men. Let me tell you what Ive seen.

There is no denying the immense reach Tate achieved. He was the most Googled man over the summer of 2022. Videos with his hashtag have amassed 13 billion views on TikTok. His mentoring scheme currently has 160,000 paying subscribers.

Story continues

Once you delve into what Tate preaches to the masses, his social media reach is terrifying. Tate has made comments such as, women bear some responsibility for rape; has compared women to dogs and proudly confessed in one video with a fellow YouTuber to being an absolute misogynist, stating that he was in fact a realist and when youre a realist, youre sexist. The amplification of these views should terrify everyone.

Heres how to beat toxic men like Andrew Tate

Who is Tristan Tate? All we know about Andrew Tates brother arrested in human trafficking raid

01:00 , Liam James

When influencer Andrew Tate was arrested in Romania during a police raid, he was detained alongside three other people - one of them, his brother (Thomas Kingsley writes).

Tristan Tate, who is also a former kickboxer turned social media influencer, was detained in December as part of an investigation into human trafficking and rape by Romanias anti-organised crime agency Didcot.

The four suspects, including the Tate brothers, will be held for 30 days after a judge extended their initial detention period of 24 hours, said Didcot spokesperson Ramona Bolla. Prosecutors say they found six women who had been sexually exploited by the suspects.

All we know about Tristan Tate after arrest with brother Andrew in trafficking raid

This is what Andrew Tate means for Muslim women like me | Comment

00:00 , Liam James

Hafsa Lodis take on Andrew Tates adoption of Islam: Is it him? That shiny bald head, manicured beard, and gradient Im a celebrity sunglasses are unmistakeable. A four-minute clip of Andrew Tate, a controversial figure who is known for making vulgar and inflammatory statements about women, has infiltrated the intimate boundaries of my smartphone through a forwarded WhatsApp video. Prior to this, Ive actively avoided researching or discussing Tate, despite his notoriety on social media  Id hate to give any more airtime to the self-proclaimed misogynist who is already one of the most frequently googled people on the internet.

But this time I give in, and a quick search leads me to the original video, posted on YouTube a year ago by a male self-improvement podcast that hosts Womanizer Wednesdays. In the three-hour interview, Tate spews some twisted and simplistic statements about Islam in his apparent attempt to praise the religion.

Opinion: This is what Andrew Tate means for Muslim women like me

Andrew Tates cars pictured at Bucharest home

Tuesday 10 January 2023 23:00 , Liam James

Cars from Andrew Tate's cars collection, which were was seized by Romanian authorities, are seen at his home in Bucharest.

Authorities seized 15 cars, at least seven of which are owned by the Tate brothers  and more than 10 properties or land owned by companies registered to them  in connection with the investigation.

(Getty)

Andrew Tate posts cryptic Allah reference after appeal ruling

Tuesday 10 January 2023 22:00 , Liam James

Following the rejection of his appeal, which lands him with at least three weeks more in jail, Andrew Tates Twitter account shared a quote which has been attributed to Abu Hurayra, one of the companions of the prophet Muhammad.

When Allah said I test only those I love. I took the pain like it was an honour - Abu Hurayrah, Mr Tate wrote.

The influencer announced last year that he had converted to Islam.

Andrew Tate could now stay under arrest for three months

Tuesday 10 January 2023 20:19 , Liam James

Following the courts rejection of Andrew Tates appeal for his 30-day arrest extension to be overturned, the controversial influencer could now be held for up to 180 days under Romanian law.

Prosecutors can now request the further extension for Mr Tate, his brother and the two Romanian nationals arrested as part of the same investigation into organised crime, human trafficking and rape.

Andrew Tate loses appeal against detention in human trafficking and rape case

Tuesday 10 January 2023 20:08 , Liam James

Online misogynist Andrew Tate has lost his appeal against a judges earlier decision to extend his arrest period from 24 hours to 30 days on charges of being part of an organised crime group, human trafficking and rape.

The 36-year-old social media influencer was initially detained on 29 December in an area of north of the capital Bucharest along with his brother Tristan, who is charged in the same case. Two Romanian suspects are also in custody.

All four of them challenged the arrest extension that was granted to prosecutors on 30 December.

Andrew Tate loses appeal against detention in human trafficking and rape case

Andrew Tate brings Quran to court hearing on human trafficking charges

Tuesday 10 January 2023 19:30 , Liam James

Andrew Tate was holding a copy of the Quran as he arrived at court in Romania today (Joe Middleton writes).

The social media personality attended the hearing to appeal against a judges decision to extend his arrest period to 30 days, on charges of being part of an organised crime group, human trafficking and rape.

The 36-year-old could be seen clutching the religious text while handcuffed to his brother Tristan as they walked into the courthouse in Bucharest this morning.

Andrew Tate brings Quran to court hearing on human trafficking charges

Tate tracked for years over far-right links

Tuesday 10 January 2023 18:37 , Liam James

Hope not Hate, a British advocacy group, said it monitored Andrew Tate for years because of his close links to the far right.

It described the influencer in a report it produced last year as an extreme misogynist who holds conspiratorial views.

Our major concern is that his brand of extreme and sometimes violent misogyny is reaching a young male audience and that he could serve as a gateway to wider far-right politics, Hope not Hate said in a statement after Mr Tate was banned by Facebook parent company Meta in August.

Hope not Hate compiled a dossier of information on Mr Tates far-right links including Tommy Robinson and Paul Joseph Watson.

Andrew Tates lawyer speaks after appeal hearing

Tuesday 10 January 2023 17:30 , Liam James

Eugen Vidineac, a Romanian defence lawyer representing Andrew and Tristan Tate, said after this mornings hearing that his pleas were listened to entirely.

The lawyer added that the two brothers and their two Romanian co-accused all made statements to the court where they were appealing against a judges decision to extend their detention from 24 hours to 30 days.

The court has to decide. We hope for a positive solution for our clients, Mr Vidineac said.

Ioan Gliga left and Eugen Vidineac, Romanian lawyers for Andrew Tate speak at the Court of Appeal in Bucharest (AP)

Andrew Tate brings Quran to court hearing on human trafficking charges

Tuesday 10 January 2023 17:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Andrew Tate was holding a copy of the Quran as he arrived at court in Romania today.

The social media personality attended the hearing to appeal against a judges decision to extend his arrest period to 30 days, on charges of being part of an organised crime group, human trafficking and rape.

The 36-year-old could be seen clutching the religious text while handcuffed to his brother Tristan as they walked into the courthouse in Bucharest this morning.

Joe Middleton has more:

Andrew Tate brings Quran to court hearing on human trafficking charges

This is what Andrew Tate means for Muslim women like me

Tuesday 10 January 2023 16:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

I can only hope that his arrest will finally discredit him, and raise awareness about his dangerous, misogynistic ideology thats completely at odds with Islam, Hafsa Lodi writes.

Opinion: This is what Andrew Tate means for Muslim women like me

Andrew Tate leaves Bucharest court in handcuffs amid human trafficking allegations

Tuesday 10 January 2023 15:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Tate brothers leave court awaiting appeal decision

Tuesday 10 January 2023 14:54 , Liam James

Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have left a Romanian court after appealing their continued detention.

The pair were walked to a waiting police van handcuffed to one another. Andrew carried a Quran in his hand as he had on the way in to court around six hours earlier.

The brothers were appealing against a judges decision to extend their arrest period from 24 hours to 30 days after they were detained on 29 December on suspicion of being part of an organised crime group, human trafficking and rape.

Andrew, left, and Tristan Tate leave Bucharests Court of Appeal (EPA)

Andrew carries a Quran as he leaves handcuffed to his brother (AFP/Getty)

Andrew as he left the building (AP)

Who is Tristan Tate? All we know about Andrew Tates brother arrested in human trafficking raid

Tuesday 10 January 2023 14:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

When influencer Andrew Tate was arrested in Romania during a police raid, he was detained alongside three other people - one of them, his brother.

Tristan Tate, who is also a former kickboxer turned social media influencer, was detained in December as part of an investigation into human trafficking and rape by Romanias anti-organised crime agency Didcot.

The four suspects, including the Tate brothers, will be held for 30 days after a judge extended their initial detention period of 24 hours, said Didcot spokesperson Ramona Bolla. Prosecutors say they found six women who had been sexually exploited by the suspects.

Thomas Kingsley has more:

All we know about Tristan Tate after arrest with brother Andrew in trafficking raid

Who is Andrew Tate? All you need to know about the influencer arrested in Romania

Tuesday 10 January 2023 14:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Emory Andrew Tate is a social media influencer and former kickboxer.

Tate was born in the US but came to live in Britain when he was four years old.

He is also the founder of Hustlers University, an online academy where members pay a monthly membership fee in exchange for advice on how to make a passive income from several online industries.

Prior to being banned, Tate had a huge Instagram following of 4.6 million.

His popularity soared after videos of him began circulating on TikTok. At the time of writing, the hashtag #AndrewTate has accumulated 12.7 billion views.

Who is Andrew Tate? All you need to know about the influencer arrested in Romania

Andrew Tate arrived in court on Tuesday morning to appeal judges earlier decision

Tuesday 10 January 2023 13:29 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The divisive social media personality Andrew Tate arrived at a court in Romania in handcuffs on Tuesday morning to appeal a judges earlier decision to extend his arrest period from 24 hours to 30 days on charges of being part of an organised crime group, human trafficking and rape.

Tate, a 36-year-old British-U.S. citizen who has amassed 4.4 million followers on Twitter, was initially detained on Dec. 29 in an area of north of the capital Bucharest along with his brother Tristan, who is charged in the same case. Two Romanian women are also in custody.

All four of them immediately challenged the arrest extension that was granted to prosecutors on Dec. 30. A document explaining the judges motivation for the extension says the possibility of them evading investigations cannot be ignored, and that they could leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition.

A verdict from Bucharests Court of Appeal is expected to come later Tuesday, Eugen Vidineac, the Romanian lawyer representing Tate, told The Associated Press.

Romanias anti-organised crime agency DIICOT said after the late December raids that it had identified six victims in the case who were subjected by the group to acts of physical violence and mental coercion and were sexually exploited by group members.

The agency said victims were lured by pretenses of love, and later intimidated, surveilled, and subjected to other control tactics into performing pornographic acts intended to reap substantial financial gains.

Prosecutors investigating the case have so far seized a total of 15 luxury cars  at least seven of which are owned by the Tate brothers  and more than 10 properties or land owned by companies registered to them, said Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for DIICOT.

Bolla said that if prosecutors can prove they gained money through human trafficking, the property will be taken by the state and (will) cover the expenses of the investigation and damages to the victims.

Andrew Tates lawyer previously said no evidence to support trafficking or rape allegations

Tuesday 10 January 2023 11:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The lawyer representing social media personality Andrew Tate claimed on Monday that there is no evidence to support allegations of human trafficking, rape or organised crime against him.

Eugen Vidineac, who represents both Tate brothers, had told Romanian online newspaper Gandul he believed the character someone like Tate portrays on social media could not be used as evidence in a criminal trial as it may not reflect who they are in real life.

Read more:

Andrew Tates lawyer says no evidence to support trafficking or rape allegations

Andrew Tate in court to appeal against extension to human trafficking arrest

Tuesday 10 January 2023 11:10 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Social media personality Andrew Tate has arrived at a court in Romania in handcuffs, to appeal an extension to his arrest in a human trafficking probe.

A judges previously extended his detention period from 24 hours to 30 days on charges of being part of an organised crime group, trafficking and rape.

Tate, a 36-year-old British-US citizen who has amassed 4.4 million followers on Twitter, was initially detained on 29 December in an area of north of the capital Bucharest along with his brother Tristan, who is charged in the same case. Two Romanian women are also in custody.

Andrew Tate in court to appeal against extension to human trafficking arrest

ICYMI: Romanian authorities seize Andrew Tates car collection as investigation continues

Tuesday 10 January 2023 11:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Romanian authorities have seized a collection of cars belonging to misogynistic social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan.

Maya Oppenheim reports:

Romanian authorities seize Andrew Tates car collection as investigation continues

Heres how to beat toxic men like Andrew Tate

Tuesday 10 January 2023 10:43 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

"News of Andrew Tates arrest has been met with relief by many hoping this will bring an end to his relevance. However, in my view (and experience) the damage is done. Tates views, amplified by social media, has already led to huge numbers of young men from my generation being manipulated, and without urgent intervention we may end up with a lost generation of young men."

Sufyan Ahmed writes:

Heres how to beat toxic men like Andrew Tate

In 2023, lets end the curse of the anti-woke bigots

Tuesday 10 January 2023 09:30 , Sravasti Dasgupta

"Anti-wokery in the media has an audience because its full of comforting lies: pre-packaged opinions you can easily pick up and use to soothe any sense that something might need to change and that this might be costly to you, personally, in a way theres no easy getting around."

Phil McDuff writes:

Opinion: In 2023, we need to end the curse of the anti-woke bigots

Tate brothers arrive in Romania court

Tuesday 10 January 2023 09:06 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Andrew Tate and his brother have arrived in a Romanian court after being arrested for human trafficking, rape and organised crime charges.

The 36-year-old former kickboxer and controversial influencer stepped out the back of a police van handcuffed to his brother and holding a Quran.

On Monday, Mr Tates lawyer claimed there is no evidence to support the allegations against him or his brother.

All we know about Andrew Tates brother arrested in human trafficking raid

Tuesday 10 January 2023 08:15 , Sravasti Dasgupta

Tristan Tate, who is also a former kickboxer turned social media influencer, was detained in December as part of an investigation into human trafficking and rape by Romanias anti-organised crime agency Didcot.

While the headlines around the arrest focused on the more famous Andrew Tate, his brother is less well known.

Thomas Kingsley reports:

All we know about Tristan Tate after arrest with brother Andrew in trafficking raid

Tate brothers to appear in court today for rape and human trafficking charges

Tuesday 10 January 2023 07:47 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A Romanian court is due to rule on Tuesday on a challenge filed by Andrew Tate, an internet personality notorious for hate speech, against his 30-day arrest for alleged human trafficking and formation of an organised crime group to exploit six women.

Tate, his brother Tristan and two Romanian female suspects were detained by Romanian anti-organised crime prosecutors on Dec. 29 pending a criminal investigation.

They have denied wrongdoing through an attorney and have challenged the arrest warrant.

Prosecutors have said the Tate brothers recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship.

The victims were then taken to properties on the outskirts of capital Bucharest and through physical violence and mental intimidation were sexually exploited by being forced to produce pornographic content for social media sites which generated large financial gains, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors also said one of the brothers raped one of the victims in March of last year, which is when the investigation started.

The possibility that the suspects would evade investigation, leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition given their financial possibilities and public comments to that regard cannot be ignored, the court judge said in the written record approving the arrest.

Prosecutors have seized 15 luxury vehicles and over 10 properties and homes belonging to the suspects in Bucharest and Prahova and Brasov counties, Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romanian anti-organized crime unit DIICOT, told Reuters.

The seizure was meant to prevent the assets being sold or concealed.

Should the court uphold the arrest warrant and the investigation need more time, prosecutors can seek approval for further extensions of up to 180 days of detention under Romanian law.

ICYMI: Andrew Tates lawyer says no evidence to support trafficking or rape allegations

Tuesday 10 January 2023 06:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The lawyer representing social media personality Andrew Tate claimed on Monday that there is no evidence to support allegations of human trafficking, rape or organised crime against him.

Josh Payne has more:

Andrew Tates lawyer says no evidence to support trafficking or rape allegations

ICYMI: Andrew Tate sends cryptic social media update saying Matrix attacked me amid reported hospitalisation

Tuesday 10 January 2023 05:00 , Sravasti Dasgupta

Far-right influencer Andrew Tate sent a cryptic tweet on Sunday amid local media reports that one of the two Tate brothers had been hospitalised in Romania.

The tweet read: The Matrix has attacked me. But they misunderstand, you cannot kill an idea. Hard to Kill.

Maroosha Muzaffar reports:

Andrew Tate sends cryptic social media update amid reported hospitalisation

Tuesday 10 January 2023 04:00 , Katy Clifton

Andrew Tate is no stranger to controversy.

The former kickboxer and social media influencer, who has gained notoriety over the years for peddling misogynistic views, was detained in Romania on Thursday 29 December on suspicion of human trafficking, rape, and forming an organised crime group, prosecutors said.

Take a look at our story below for everything you need to know about the influencer:

How did Andrew Tate make his money?

ICYMI

Tuesday 10 January 2023 02:00 , Katy Clifton

The lawyer representing Andrew Tate has said there is no evidence to support allegations of human trafficking, rape or organised crime against the social media influencer or his co-accused.

The former professional kickboxer turned controversial online personality, 36, and his brother Tristan, who grew up in Luton, Bedfordshire, were detained in Romania last month as part of a human trafficking and rape investigation.

Eugen Vidineac, who represents both brothers, told Romanian online newspaper Gandul he believed the character someone like Tate portrays on social media could not be used as evidence in a criminal trial as it may not reflect who they are in real life.

In a video with translated subtitles posted on Andrew Tates Twitter account, Mr Vidineac said it took the Tate brothers some time to understand why they were in custody.

Andrew Tates character cant be used as evidence, lawyer claims

Tuesday 10 January 2023 00:00 , Liam James

Eugen Vidineac, who represents Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, told Romanian online newspaper Gandul that the far-right influencers online persona could not be used against him in court.

The lawyer said he believed the character someone like Mr Tate portrays on social media could not be used as evidence in a criminal trial as it may not reflect who they are in real life.

Speaking about what role social media may play in the case, Mr Vidineac said: In the case of the Tate brothers, I dont know what their intent was in promoting themselves on social media, but I sit here and wonder, can that intent from the social media stand as evidence in a criminal prosecution case, with respect to a criminal character?

Romanian anti-organised crime agency Diicot said two British citizens and two Romanians were suspected of being part of a criminal group focused on human trafficking on 29 December.

Their appeals will be heard against a judges decision to extend their arrest warrants from 24 hours to 30 days, Diicot added.

Andrew Tate lawyer says rape and trafficking allegations have no evidence

Monday 9 January 2023 23:00 , Liam James

The lawyer representing Andrew Tate has said there is no evidence to support allegations of human trafficking, rape or organised crime against the 36-year-old social media influencer or his brother Tristan.

Eugen Vidineac, who represents both brothers, told Romanian online newspaper Gandul the defence had not been given the opportunity to study the prosecution file for the case.

The lawyer said several electronic devices were seized in April last year which were subject to computer searches.

He added: I will point this out from the beginning, that even up to the present moment, the criminal investigation file has not been made available to us to ensure the effective defence of our clients.

In this sense, I would like to point out, at least from this point of view, I am also somehow amazed, there is not a single piece of evidence apart from the victims statement that leads to the idea that a crime of rape was committed.

Asked what evidence there was in support of a human trafficking offence, Mr Vidineac said: In my view, there is no evidence there either, and Im talking about evidence leading, by itself or directly, to the formation of an opinion of reasonable suspicion regarding the commission of offences provided for and punishable by criminal law.

Andrew Tate, who is detained in Romania (PA)

Andrew Tate: In 2023, lets end the curse of the anti-woke bigots | Comment

Monday 9 January 2023 22:00 , Liam James

Phil McDuffs take on the anti-woke wave of last year: 2022 was the year of anti-woke. This was the year that saw Elon Musk spend $44Bn on Twitter to defeat the woke mind virus, the year of Floridas Stop Woke Act, of the American right siding with Putin over Ukraine because of his anti-woke credentials (read, overt homophobia). Woke is in the daily lexicon of both MPs and the press.

Julia Hartley-Brewer was simply going along with the trend, and with her job description, when she joined in the brief Twitter spat between professional misogynist Andrew Tate and climate activist Greta Thunberg. Of course, Hartley-Brewer joined in on Tates side. His more controversial views  such as married women being the property of their husbands  can be overlooked as simply taking things a bit too far, perhaps due for criticism at the appropriate time, but necessarily overlooked while his opponents are the hated woke lefties like Thunberg.

Unfortunately for Hartley-Brewer, a day after she said Id choose Andrew Tates life *every single time* over the life of a half-educated, autistic, doom-mongering eco-cultist, Tate had been arrested in Romania on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group. Hartley-Brewer has claimed she didnt really know who Tate was, branding him an irrelevance  for context, Tate has 3.5 million Twitter followers and his TikTok videos have over 13 billion views  and this may be true, but by reflexively opposing Thunberg she ended up associating herself with a dangerous, misogynistic, probably criminal and definitely deeply unpleasant man.

Opinion: In 2023, we need to end the curse of the anti-woke bigots

How did Andrew Tate make his money? All you need to know about the influencer arrested in Romania

Monday 9 January 2023 21:00 , Liam James

Andrew Tate is no stranger to controversy.

The former kickboxer and social media influencer, who has gained notoriety over the years for peddling misogynistic views, was detained in Romania on Thursday 29 December on suspicion of human trafficking, rape, and forming an organised crime group, prosecutors said.

Mr Tate and his brother  who have reportedly been under investigation since April  will be detained for 30 days.

Heres everything you need to know:

How did Andrew Tate make his money?

Who is Tristan Tate? All we know about Andrew Tates brother arrested in human trafficking raid

Monday 9 January 2023 20:00 , Liam James

When influencer Andrew Tate was arrested in Romania during a police raid, he was detained alongside three other people - one of them, his brother (Thomas Kingsley writes).

Tristan Tate, who is also a former kickboxer turned social media influencer, was detained in December as part of an investigation into human trafficking and rape by Romanias anti-organised crime agency Didcot.

While the headlines around the arrest focused on the more famous Andrew Tate, his brother is less well known.

Below we look at everything we do know about him as the investigation into his alleged offences continues.

All we know about Tristan Tate after arrest with brother Andrew in trafficking raid

Romanian authorities seize Andrew Tates car collection as investigation continues

Monday 9 January 2023 19:00 , Liam James

Romanian authorities have seized a collection of cars belonging to misogynistic social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan (Maya Oppenheim writes).

It comes days after the 36-year-old self-avowed success coach was arrested as part of a human trafficking investigation.

Mr Tate, who once appeared briefly on Big Brother, has referred to married women as property that their husbands own.

In footage where Mr Tate talks about feminism, the former kickboxer claims women should shut the f*** up, have kids, sit at home, be quiet and make coffee.

Romanian authorities seized the car collection, estimated to be worth over five million euros, as well a number of buildings including one where the brothers lived and allegedly held six young women, according to a local news report.

Romanian authorities seize Andrew Tates car collection as investigation continues

Tate brothers could not understand why they were in custody, says lawyer

Monday 9 January 2023 18:30 , Liam James

In a video with translated subtitles posted on Andrew Tates Twitter account, Eugen Vidineac, lawyer for Mr Tate and his brother Tristan, said it took the brothers some time to understand why they were in custody.

The brothers, who both have British citizenship, were arrested alongside two Romanians on 29 December as part of an investigation into organised crime, human trafficking and rape.

The pair intend to appeal.

Mr Vidineac earlier said there was no evidence for the allegations against Mr Tate and his co-accused.

Tate is arrested on 29 December (Twitter)

Andrew Tate misogyny claims ripped out of context, says lawyer

Monday 9 January 2023 17:30 , Liam James

More from Eugen Vidineac, the lawyer representing the Tate brothers:

Speaking about claims the men had contempt for women, Mr Vidineac said: They say that these issues are ripped out of context, out of some interviews they have done on social media.

But they also say, if we live our lives surrounded by over 300 people, women and men, we have a lot of girlfriends and supporters all over the world, weve been out in public all the time with our girlfriends and there have been no complaints from our girlfriends.

People have come out in public and said that theyve been with one of the Tate brothers and hes not a violent, uneducated, abusive character as he is being portrayed at this point.

Mr Tate has been the subject of much criticism in recent weeks, primarily for his views on women, which have been denounced as misogynistic.

In one video in which he is seen discussing feminism, Tate said women should shut the f*** up, have kids, sit at home, be quiet and make coffee.

Andrew Tates online character cant be used as evidence, lawyer claims

Monday 9 January 2023 16:30 , Liam James

Eugen Vidineac, who represents Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, told Romanian online newspaper Gandul that the far-right influencers online persona could not be used against him in court.

The lawyer said he believed the character someone like Mr Tate portrays on social media could not be used as evidence in a criminal trial as it may not reflect who they are in real life.

Speaking about what role social media may play in the case, Mr Vidineac said: In the case of the Tate brothers, I dont know what their intent was in promoting themselves on social media, but I sit here and wonder, can that intent from the social media stand as evidence in a criminal prosecution case, with respect to a criminal character?

Romanian anti-organised crime agency Diicot said two British citizens and two Romanians were suspected of being part of a criminal group focused on human trafficking on 29 December.

Their appeals will be heard against a judges decision to extend their arrest warrants from 24 hours to 30 days, Diicot added.

Andrew Tate lawyers says rape and trafficking allegations have no evidence

Monday 9 January 2023 16:00 , Liam James

The lawyer representing Andrew Tate has said there is no evidence to support allegations of human trafficking, rape or organised crime against the 36-year-old social media influencer or his brother Tristan.

Eugen Vidineac, who represents both brothers, told Romanian online newspaper Gandul the defence had not been given the opportunity to study the prosecution file for the case.

The lawyer said several electronic devices were seized in April last year which were subject to computer searches.

He added: I will point this out from the beginning, that even up to the present moment, the criminal investigation file has not been made available to us to ensure the effective defence of our clients.

In this sense, I would like to point out, at least from this point of view, I am also somehow amazed, there is not a single piece of evidence apart from the victims statement that leads to the idea that a crime of rape was committed.

Asked what evidence there was in support of a human trafficking offence, Mr Vidineac said: In my view, there is no evidence there either, and Im talking about evidence leading, by itself or directly, to the formation of an opinion of reasonable suspicion regarding the commission of offences provided for and punishable by criminal law.

Andrew Tate account posts again

Monday 9 January 2023 15:30 , Liam James

Andrew Tates account posted another tweet referencing the Matrix, after an earlier post which said it was responsible for attacking him.

Mr Tate has previously claimed to believe that reality is a Matrix  referring to the dystopian Keanu Reeves sci-film where people are led by computers to work until they die.

The latest tweet from his account, which also shared a message attributed to Mr Tates lawyer, read: The Matrix does not play fair, they play to win.

In a recent exchange with climate activist Greta Thunberg, Tate posted a bizarre video in which he accused Ms Thunberg of being a slave of the Matrix.

Heres how to beat toxic men like Andrew Tate | Comment

Monday 9 January 2023 15:03 , Liam James

Sufyan Ahmeds take on the toxic culture behind the jailed influencer: News of Andrew Tates arrest has been met with relief by many hoping this will bring an end to his relevance. However, in my view (and experience) the damage is done. Tates views, amplified by social media, has already led to huge numbers of young men from my generation being manipulated, and without urgent intervention we may end up with a lost generation of young men. Let me tell you what Ive seen.

There is no denying the immense reach Tate achieved. He was the most Googled man over the summer of 2022. Videos with his hashtag have amassed 13 billion views on TikTok. His mentoring scheme currently has 160,000 paying subscribers.

Once you delve into what Tate preaches to the masses, his social media reach is terrifying. Tate has made comments such as, women bear some responsibility for rape; has compared women to dogs and proudly confessed in one video with a fellow YouTuber to being an absolute misogynist, stating that he was in fact a realist and when youre a realist, youre sexist. The amplification of these views should terrify everyone.

Heres how to beat toxic men like Andrew Tate

Romanian news says Tate hospitalised after medical exam

Monday 9 January 2023 14:30 , Liam James

Speculation over Andrew Tates hospitalisation stems from a report by Antena 3, a CNN-partnered Romania newssite.

The report read: Yesterday he [Tate] was taken out of the Central Prison of the Capital Police and taken to a hospital because when he was incarcerated, according to the procedures, he was given a medical examination and the prison doctor asked him if he was suffering from certain ailments.

The attorney for the Tate brothers notified the central detention center and stated that he had certain medical problems.

Based on this notification, yesterday he was taken to a specialist consultation in a hospital in the capital.

The report added that he was later returned to the prison where he was being held.

Andrew Tate sends cryptic social media update saying Matrix attacked me amid reported hospitalisation

Monday 9 January 2023 13:44 , Liam James

Far-right influencer Andrew Tate sent a cryptic tweet on Sunday amid local media reports that one of the two Tate brothers had been hospitalised in Romania (Maroosha Muzaffar writes).

Mr Tate, 36, and his brother Tristan Tate remain in custody in Romania after they were detained under human trafficking and rape charges. It is unclear whether the tweet was sent by Mr Tate himself or by someone else controlling his account.

Andrew Tate sends cryptic social media update amid reported hospitalisation
Penn head coach Al Rhodes during the Penn vs. Chesterton boys regional championship basketball game Saturday, March 12, 2022 at Michigan City High School.

SOUTH BEND  Inside his coaching office at Emory University, Josh Zimmerman keeps a copy of the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling.

It stems from his high school playing days at Warsaw, where former Tigers head coach Al Rhodes taped a copy inside the home locker room at the old Tiger Den, now Lakeview Middle School, as a form of motivation for his players.

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That poem, and Rhodes, dictated a lot of success in that gym, which was built in 1960 and used until the 1990 season, including four sectional championships and a state title in 1984.

"He is one of the best basketball coaches in the country at any level," Zimmerman said of Rhodes. "I think coach Rhodes, to me, is Warsaw basketball and he helped instill this great pride in a program."

Rhodes, who has led his alma-mater Penn for the last 15 seasons, has coached against Warsaw since leaving the program in 2002 before making stops at Logansport and Fort Wayne Northrop. But Tuesday night's game against the Tigers at the old Tiger Den will be Rhodes' first stop back to his old stomping grounds.

Tiger Basketball back in the old tiger den this morning. Excited to pack this place out on Tuesday and stir the echoes as we host #3 Penn and Coach Rhodes. pic.twitter.com/S6LXj4pY3R  Warsaw Tiger Hoops (@warsaw_hoops) January 7, 2023

"Back in its day it was a great gym in terms of atmosphere. Warsaw has always supported its basketball teams very well.

"For me it was like a crucible to becoming a coach."

Rhodes, who's been a high school coach for 42 seasons and elected into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, got his coaching start at Warsaw in 1980 after spending four seasons as an assistant for Jim Miller.

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During those 21 seasons, Rhodes won 405 games, many of which happened in the Old Tiger Den, which was the site of sectional and regional basketball games, as well as one of Rhodes' favorite memories, ending Marion's 40-game winning streak in 1986.

"It was a very tough place to play," Rhodes said. "It was always full and that was back in the day that if you wanted to get a sectional ticket you had to win a raffle because we had so many season ticket holders."

At its peak, Rhodes had built Warsaw into one of northern Indiana's premier programs. He said that started at the roots, developing his own system for not only the varsity team, but at each level of Warsaw basketball.

"I put that together there and we might have had the best basketball program that was ever established due to the job of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade coaches," Rhodes said. "Everybody was on the same page and all they cared about was building varsity players. It was a tremendous experience to go through that."

Warsaw Tigers, 1984 State Champions. Front row: Assistant Coach Jerry Ryman, Manager Scott Lee, Jeff Tucker, Tracy Furnivall, Scott Long, Steve Hollar, Jeff Grose, Assistant Coach Dennis VanDuyne. Back Row: Assiistant Coach Pete Smith, Coach Al Rhodes, Mike Norris, Mike Hall, Rob Randaels, Marty Lehmann, Greg Marsh, Joe Sands, Robert Johnson, Mike Lynch, Assistant coach Hal Gunter.

For some of his former players, it was the behind the scene work that fueled Warsaw's strong teams under Rhodes.

"He was kind of before his time with the kind of stuff," said Scott Long, who was on the 1984 championship team. "Just the preparation with scouting, knowing exactly what he wanted execution wise, trying to get certain matchups that were advantageous. We all bought in and had some good success."

Each year that has always been Rhodes' biggest challenge: getting each player to buy in. When his past teams have, it usually led to long postseason runs.

"When you play for him, it is not easy because he holds you accountable," Zimmerman said. "The biggest thing I took away was not just his basketball coaching, but his teaching. He worked at getting better every day."

Penn (8-1, 1-0 NIC) is going through that process right now. The Kingsmen, ranked No. 3 in 4A, have all the pieces and the look of a state championship contender. They have a coach that has been there before, too.

So even though Tuesday's nostalgic moment may be special for Rhodes, he will coach in the Old Tiger Den with the same goal as he did decades ago: to win a ball game.

"The only idea," Rhodes said. "Is for us to go there and play a fine sectional opponent in Warsaw."

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: 'Coaching Crucible': Al Rhodes returns to arena where coaching career started
Brunello Cucinellis namesake label could soon reach the billion-dollar mark.

The Italian fashion brand hit 919.5 million in sales by the end of 2022, a 29.1 percent increase compared to the year before, according to Vogue Business. And the company may have more celebrations on the horizon: Strong market demand for the labels offerings could now see Brunello Cucinelli reach 1 billion (around $1.07 billion) in revenue in 2023.

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Last month, the brand projected year-over-year (YOY) sales would have increased by 28 percent in 2022, and will grow by 12 percent this year. Its 2023 sales forecast hasnt changed as of Monday, but the company revealed it expects sales to grow by another 10 percent in 2024. The label had a 10-year growth plan to double its revenues from 2019 to 2028. These latest forecasts mean the goal could be met ahead of time if they play their cards right.

2022 was undoubtedly our breakthrough year, Cucinelli told Vogue Business. YOY sales for the brand grew by a staggering 40.5 percent in the Americas last year, which the business reportedly credits to demand for high luxury consolidating. This included store and boutique openings in the region and healthy wholesale performance at luxury department stores. Brunello Cucinelli sales in Europe increased by 20.8 percent, thanks to the return of international tourism. Asia rounds out the brands top performing markets, with an increase of 28.1 percent that includes double-digit growth in China, due to a logoless luxury trend.

Brunello Cucinellis wholesale rose by 18.4 percent as well, alongside a direct retail increase of 36.6 percent for 2022. Both offerings, the brand claims in a statement, has allowed it to meet demand in big cities and resort destinations. Smart decisions made at the top of the pandemic are also reportedly paying off, including not laying off any staff members globally and keeping salaries the same as they were in 2019. Other decisions such as saving surplus goods from closed boutiques for the Brunello Cucinelli for Humanity project and maintaining strong inventory levels have also kept cash flowing in.

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Special kudos goes to our Italian welfare state, which, by allowing us during this pandemic period not to lay off any employees and supporting us in part financially, has enabled us to keep our production and business facilities at full strength, the brand says in a statement. There is no doubt that in 2022 [global] demand for luxury products has exceeded supply, which for us as for many Italian companies, has brought great benefits. It will not be so easy to fully restore the worlds production facilities, and so we think that perhaps Italy could still benefit to some extent in 2023 as strongly as it has benefitted in this past year.

And it seems the luxury label will have even more to look forward to: In February, the luxury label will present its next menswear collection at Pitti Uomo in Milan. Cucinelli will then accept the Neiman Marcus Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion Award at Paris Fashion Week in March for demonstrating exceptional innovation skills.

Sounds like a pretty sweet first quarter to us.

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Jose Rodolfo Villareal-Hernandez, a Mexican cartel leader popularly known as El Gato, has been arrested by authorities in Mexico.

He was wanted in the US for his alleged role in orchestrating a 2013 murder in Southlake, Texas.

Mexican authorities said in a tweet that the cartel leaders detention was requested by authorities of the United States of America for his probable responsibility in the crimes of interstate stalking and criminal association to commit homicide.

He is alleged to have been responsible for interstate stalking and criminal association to commit homicide.

Authorities in the US have 60 days to request for his extradition to the country.

Mr Villareal-Hernandez was among the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)s Most Wanted suspects.

He was wanted since 2013 in connection with the murder of a man in Southlake, reported WFAA.

According to the FBI, which announced his arrest on Monday, Mr Villareal-Hernandez had stalked Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa and planned for a group to kill him.

#FGR obtuvo legal detencion de una persona que es solicitada por autoridades de #EUA, probable responsable en delitos de acecho interestatal y asociacion delictuosa para cometer homicidio. #EUA tiene 60 dias para presentar solicitud formal de extradicion. https://t.co/89m99DyzxE pic.twitter.com/Nyr42fSbrO  FGR Mexico (@FGRMexico) January 8, 2023

On 22 May 2013, Guerrero and his wife were leaving the Southlake Town Center on when a car drove up to theirs and shot him.

A federal arrest warrant was issued by the US District Court, Northern District of Texas in 2018.

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In a statement, FBI Dallas acting special agent-in-charge James Dwyer said: His arrest is the next step in achieving justice for the victims family as well as the citizens of Southlake who were shocked by the brutal murder that occurred in their city.

Officials said that two other men, Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda and Jose Luis Cepeda-Cortes, were convicted in 2016 of stalking Guerrero.

They were not however, the shooters, officials said.

According to authorities, Mr Villarreal-Hernandez held a grudge against Guerrero and used a group to stalk the man as early as March 2011.

The FBI also found that the same group under his orders allegedly committed the murder in 2013.
Elko, we have an opportunity right now to reclaim our former greatness by moving forward with the Boys and Girls Clubs recreation complex that includes an indoor swimming pool and gymnasium for our kids and an indoor events center that could host rodeos, concerts and trade shows that will keep our local businesses prosperous.

Elko City Council meets Tuesday afternoon and will be voting on whether or not to proceed with this ambitious plan. We should all let the council members know how we feel.

I grew up here and was always proud to introduce myself as an Elkoan. After all, it was the Elko casino owners  Newt Crumley and Red Ellis  that pioneered the practice of booking big-name entertainers as a way of bringing gamblers to town. That effort brought celebrities like Bing Crosby and Jimmy Stewart here and they adopted Elko as their homes away from home. They bought property here and participated in our events. Bing Crosby was even bestowed the title of Honorary Mayor of Elko.

We also were widely recognized as the cowboy and rancher capital of the West. Legendary saddle and bit maker G.S. Garcia made his home here and put Elko on the map with his work and his rodeos that later took on the name of the Silver State Stampede, the oldest rodeo in Nevada. Elko County also was widely regarded as one of the nations top cattle producers.

The Bilbaos at the Stockmens Hotel brought busloads of tourists to town and later the Red Lion flew in daily plane loads of tourists.

We built a first-class museum, a community college, a convention center, an indoor swimming pool, the South Fork Reservoir and had the railroad tracks removed from our downtown.

Then the modern day mining boom took off and we are now regarded as one of the top gold-producing regions in the world.

Nowhere else in the West could match us!

But, lately, we have become complacent and stagnant. We have even regressed.

The Stockmens has changed hands and no longer brings buses to town. Casino Express was chased out of town. Las Vegas and Reno have long since surpassed us with their casinos and even Wendover and Jackpot embarrass us.

Winnemucca and Fallon have built indoor arenas and threaten our title as the Cowboy Capital.

Weve accomplished very little in the last generation. The exceptions being the Boys and Girls Club and the continued growth of the Silver State Stampede. But both have outgrown their existing facilities.

Its time we step forward and support this plan for a first-class recreation complex that will serve Elko proud for the next several generations. And we can do it with very little exposure to Elko County taxpayers. The insane reaction to Covid has showered the City of Elko and Elko County with millions of dollars and we can use that once-in-a-lifetime bonanza to do something special.

Our ancestors would be proud of us.

Let your representatives on the City Council and County Commission know how you feel. Delaying a decision for the next General Election in two years is likely to kill the project and continue our decline.
hillary benghazi 2.0 - Credit: Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the soon-to-be House minority leader, has been telling his fellow Democratic lawmakers to think of the next two years this way: The White House is the client, House Democrats are the defense attorney. Indeed, the Biden administration has huddled a coterie of legal, legislative, and communications specialists to map out likely vectors of GOP oversight and will hire more into the effort. Ashley Etienne, who led House Democrats impeachment war room, has dispatched top proteges to communications posts at federal agencies Republicans have indicated theyre eager to interrogate: the Departments of Homeland Security (over border security), Health and Human Services (over COVID), and Education (over woke indoctrination).

Democrats, after all, are familiar with how Republicans intend to use their control of the House of Representatives. Indeed, GOP lawmakers have said it out loud for months. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the soon-to-be chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said Republicans would use their oversight powers to frame up the 2024 race  a race they need to make sure that [Trump] wins. Incoming House Oversight chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), meanwhile, vowed the intensity of investigations under his committee would prevent Joe Biden from running for another term.

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The vibes harken back to a not-so-distant era on Capitol Hill, when the Tea Party surge wrested control of the House halfway through Barack Obamas first term  a time when Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), then chair of the House Oversight Committee, vowed to employ his committee powers this way after the 2010 midterms: I want to hold seven hearings a week, times 40 weeks. To lawmakers and operatives of both parties who survived that era of GOP interrogation, they caution that this new regime will bring much of the same  only worse. This crop of House Republicans make Darrell Issa look intellectual, says Eric Schultz, who served as a deputy White House press secretary during that era.

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After Republicans reclaimed the House in a landslide victory during the 2010 midterms, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) issued a mandate to his new majority: Were in the communications business now, recalls Kurt Bardella, who served as Issas spokesperson. Issas House Oversight Committee was the nerve center of that directive, tasked with interrogating and amplifying any whiffs of scandal from the Obama administration. While many in leadership eyed their new Tea Party majority warily, Issa welcomed some of the feistier new lawmakers, like Reps. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), onto his committee.

Their work began in earnest with an investigation into Obamas management of Operation Fast and Furious, a George W. Bush-era program that had permitted illegal gun sales in order to track Mexican drug cartels. In September 2011, the House Energy and Commerce Committee dug into the bankruptcy of Solyndra, a solar-panel manufacturer that had received a $535 million loan guarantee from the Energy Department; the committee hauled then-Energy Secretary Steven Chu into Congress for more than five hours of testimony. Then, a year later, Islamic militants attacked the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, leaving three Americans dead. The attack spurred ten separate GOP-led investigations into the Obama administration.

None of the investigations ever really found substantive wrongdoing, but that didnt stop them from sucking up the political media industrial complexs attention. There was a deliberate communications strategy: Flood the zone and take advantage of the medias competition with one another to break things, Bardella explains. The recent advent of Politico and its thirst for microscoops had just upended D.C.s media landscape, playing right into the committees hands. Republicans could milk four or five news cycles out of a single request for information with a formula that went something like this: Step one, issue a voluntary document request; step two, threaten subpoena; step three, issue the subpoena, Bardella says. Never mind that the coverage rarely asked hard questions about the validity of what was being investigated. I dont think reporters and Washington understood how irresponsible Republicans were willing to be, Schultz says.

Boehner, by some measures, would come to regret his mandate as the colleagues he empowered made increasingly strident demands of Obama administration officials. The House held Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress during the Operation Fast and Furious investigation, but GOP lawmakers requested more  something Boehner waved off as illegitimate. Indeed, former Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), who led the Solyndra investigation, said Boehners lack of support took the wind out of his investigations sails. He said he felt we had too many contempt of Congresses in the offing, and ours wasnt as important as other ones were, Stearns recalls. Its the kind of thing that led to Boehner losing his speakership. (The Solyndra investigation had been premised on Republicans arguing that political allies had been paid back for their investment in the bankrupt solar panel maker ahead of taxpayers. But GOP lawmakers could never prove that  and, in fact, the program made money and helped accelerate development in renewable energy companies, a 2014 report from NPR found.)

The Boehner-era brake-pumping may be harder to find in this Congress. After groveling his way to the gavel, new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy isnt in a position to be a check on much of anything  nor has he suggested any interest in restraint when it comes to investigating the Biden administration. The only thing that strikes McCarthy as too far have been the more than a dozen impeachment resolutions filed against Biden and various administration officials. I think the country doesnt like impeachment used for political purposes at all, McCarthy told Punchbowl News in October.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-Ga.), who will have her committee assignments reinstated after Democrats stripped them last Congress, says she wants to serve on the Oversight Committee  a request to which incoming chair Comer has signaled he welcomes.

Do Democrats stand a chance in this new era? Having the right messengers lead Democrats on key committees can help, veterans of the 2010s GOP investigations say. Bardella recalls then-minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) opting for the rare breach of Democratic seniority when she installed Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) as the ranking member of Oversight in 2011. Cummings had a political mindset and knew how to communicate effectively  he was a perfect foil for Issa, Bardella recalls. Last month, House Democrats chose Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who was among the leaders of the House investigation into the January 6th insurrection, to lead Oversight, a choice Bardella lauded.

Another upside for Democrats, veterans say, is that the GOP continues to zero in on the culture wars. Ashley Etienne, who led communications for Cummings during that era, recalls Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown University student who GOP lawmakers did not allow to give testimony at their Oversight hearing on contraception. The GOPs denial of Flukes testimony backfired. When Democrats gave her a chance to later testify in a standalone hearing, they earned nearly two weeks of positive news cycles  fueled, in part, on voters fears about the future of abortion rights. Bardella says Democrats should look to exploit Republican efforts to hold hearings on matters like trans rights. If theyre going after the LBGTQ community and the hospitals that treat them, Democrats can put a human face on what that looks like, Bardella says. If you have members of Congress lambasting a patient telling that story, thats not going to look good.

And perhaps, most of all, the GOP inquiries seem even more absurd than ever before. At least with Benghazi and Fast and Furious, those are at least governing actions in question, says a Democratic official working on oversight investigations. When you cross the rubicon with Dr Fauci collaborated with China to launch the pandemic or Hunter Bidens work overseas is why the strategic petroleum reserve is running out  these are just conspiracy theories.

Back then, we were more bipartisan  I dont think wed be bipartisan today, Stearns says. You lose your authenticity if it looks like a political witch hunt.

Democrats are nevertheless taking the GOPs ambitions seriously. The White House and House Democrats have kept an open line of communication on oversight preparations. Jeffries had been elected to lead House Democrats, in party, because of his discipline as a party messenger, a trait he highlighted when he served as a manager during the first Trump impeachment. Theyre also preparing their own sort of counterattack: The Senate remains under Democratic control, and its leadership has nascent plans to keep the investigations into the Trump administration. Hunter Bidens laptop looks like nothing compared to what Jared and Ivanka did in the federal government, Bardella says. That needs to be spotlighted every day.

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Ellen DeGeneres documented a torrential creek outside her Montecito property on Monday as evacuations were ordered due to heavy storms hitting California.

Montecito is under complete evacuation  the entire town, DeGeneres said in the clip published on both Instagram and Twitter.

This is the five-year anniversary from the fire and mudslides that killed so many people. People lost their homes, their lives. This is crazy, she added, referring to the 2018 event that killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes.

On the five-year anniversary, were having unprecedented rain, she continued. This creek next to our house never flows, ever. Its probably about 9 feet up, and its going another 2 feet up.

DeGeneres added that she and her wife, Portia de Rossi, have horses ready to evacuate and urged those watching to be nicer to Mother Nature, cause Mother Nature is not happy with us. Montecitos evacuation order includes an estimated 10,000 people.

Fire Chief Kevin Taylor said the wealthy coastal enclave saw 8 inches of rain in a period of 12 hours. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said evacuations were ordered due to the continuing high rate of rainfall with no indication that that is going to change before nightfall.

Montecito is home to other high-profile celebrities including Prince Harry and his Meghan Markle, as well as Oprah Winfrey, according to People. The three filmed the 2021 interview about Harry and Meghans exit from the royal family at Oprahs house.

Twelve people in California had already died from storm-related impacts when President Joe Biden declared a federal state of emergency on Monday, after a request from California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Since then, the search for a 5-year-old boy washed away in the floods was called off due to worsening conditions, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office said.

DeGeneres evacuated the area in 2018, when the storm that killed nearly two dozen people hit Montecito. The former talk show host discussed that incident on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in an emotional FaceTime call with one of her famous neighbors.

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Whats devastating is that we lost so many lives, Oprah said at the time.

But were going to do what we do, she added. Were going to come together and were going to do what great Americans do all the time. Were going to help each other. Were going to help each other out wherever needed.

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Attorney General Merrick Garland has advised the US attorney in Chicago to review a number of potentially classified documents taken from the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington DC  including potentially classfied documents from President Joe Bidens vice presidential office. Heres what we know so far.

Who found the documents?

In a statement provided on Monday, Special Counsel to the President Richard Sauber said that Mr Bidens lawyers found the documents on in early November as they were packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center, the think tank affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania where Mr Biden had an office during his years out of public service.

During that process, Mr Bidens personal lawyers came across a folder that appeared to contain classified documents and reported the finding to the authorities.

Who is investigating?

Following their discovery of the potentially classified documents at the think tank, Mr Bidens attorneys contacted the National Archives and Records Administration. That entity then took possession of the documents and informed the Department of Justice about the situation.

Attorney General Merrick Garlands response was to order John Lausch, the US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, to investigate the handling of the documents and issue a report on the situation.

Mr Lausch is a Donald Trump appointee who is a graduate of Harvard University and Northwestern University. Unlike a number of other Trump-appointed US attorneys, Mr Lausch was not asked to resign when the Biden administration took office in 2021.

What are people saying?

One man is, predictably, quite interested in the finding: former President Donald Trump, who is being investigated for mishandling classified documents in the aftermath of his presidency and had his Mar-a-Lago residence searched by the FBI last summer.

When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? These documents were definitely not declassified, Mr Trump wrote on Monday evening on the social media platform Truth Social.

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Mr Trump, who is running for president again, did not offer any information to back his claim that the documents were definitely not declassified, nor did he provide any reason why law enforcement would have reason to search Mr Bidens homes or the White House.

Classified documents were just discovered in Joe Biden's private office at UPenn dating back to his time as VP.



The federal government was notified in the fall.



You're being told about it today because the GOP House was just sworn in.  Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 9, 2023

Other conservatives like far right activist and talk show host Charlie Kirk suggested that the media had covered up the story, even though CBS News was responsible for breaking the story.

What happens next?

Mr Lausch is expected to issue a report at some point that sheds light on the nature of the documents and how they came to be stored in an office that Mr Biden used occassionally between stints in government. Barring any new revelations, the content of that report will likely dictate what happens next.
John Wilson / Netflix



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The Massachusetts mansion in Knives Out made for an unforgettable murder mystery setting. In the follow-up to the whodunit titled Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, meanwhile, were whisked away to villas on a Greek island. The vacation-based tale will surely satisfy anyone whos desperate for another season of The White Lotus . And luckily, you can also visit the vital locations in the film.

Trading the browns of New England for the blue and yellows of Greece was a deliberate move meant to separate the sequel from its predecessor, according to writer-director-producer Rian Johnson. As much as theres a rich tradition of murder mysteries in cozy English, or in our case New English countryside houses, theres very much a rich vein of tradition of destination murders, Johnson said in a global press conference.

Whether youre planning a European vacation, or want new material for your next daydream getaway, the filming locations in Glass Onion are sure to impress. Get the full lowdown ahead.

Amanzoe

John Wilson/Netflix

In a new adventure for Benoit Blanc (played by Daniel Craig), the detective finds himself peeling back the layers of a murder mystery at a billionaires private estate on a Greek island. That estate is played by the Amanzoe , a luxury resort and hotel near Porto Heli, Greece. It wasn't an island, production designer Rick Heinrichs told Conde Nast Traveler . It was in the middle of the Peloponnesian peninsula, which would require us to depend on visual effects to make it look like one.

The resort is comprised of cabanas, pavilions, and villas that have private pools with breathtaking views of olive groves and the Aegean sea. So there's different views from each villa, and they lead up to the [Glass Onion] with the best view on top, Heinrichs added. Its very epic, almost like the Colosseum, to approach the villawhich lends itself to the idea that people are about to kill each other.

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The resort is currently closed and will reopen for the summer season on April 1, 2023. If you're ready to plan a lavish stay, booking is available now .

Spetses, Greece

John Wilson/NETFLIX

We were also not too far from the island of Spetses, where we did shoot as well, Heinrichs told the publication. When they all arrive in Greece and are waiting for the yacht, thats Spetses.

Not too far from Athens, Spetses makes an excellent location for a weekend getaway. While on the island, you can expect to travel by horse-drawn carriages, bike, or on foot. You can stroll along the islands Old Harbour, explore boatyards, visit the Bouboulina Museum, and wander secluded beaches. Plus, the island is riddled with impressive homes, swanky shops, and gourmet dining options.

Belgrade, Serbia

John Wilson/Netflix

Many of the interior scenes were built on stage in Belgrade, Serbia, including the interiors of the Glass Onion atrium along with anything set in New York or the Northeast. There was some outdoor stuff for which we shot a few things on location last fall in Connecticut and New York, and then everything inside was built in Serbia, Heinrichs told the outlet.

As the capital of Serbia, Belgrade is certainly worth a visitespecially for history buffs who want to check out the landmark Beogradska Tvrava, a fortress at the confluence of the Danube and the Sava rivers. Not only that, but there's plenty of shopping, museums, architecture, nightlife, and parks to embrace.

You love filming locations. So do we. Lets obsess over them together.

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If you've lived in Louisville long enough, you remember when Waterfront Park was a wasteland of scrap yards and heavy industrial sites.

That's a description that is hard to believe when you look at the vibrant green space which is Waterfront Park today.

Thoughtfully transformed over the last 30 years, Louisvilles waterfront and magnificent green gateway to the Commonwealth of Kentucky has become an award-winning community gathering space and downtown Louisvilles most visited destination  with 2.2 million annual visitors who come to experience the beauty of Kentuckys riverfront.

Louisville's Waterfront Park

More:A silent force. After 32 years, woman who turned a junkyard into Waterfront Park retires

For those reasons, and more, Waterfront Park has been nominated for Best Riverwalk by USA Today's 2023 10Best Readers Choice Awards. This is the park's third consecutive year to be nominated and now it's time to win the title.

Last year the park placed fourth in the national competition behind Detroit, Cincinnati, and Wilmington. This year, the park is hoping to claim the top spot with the help of the entire community.

We are thrilled to once again be nominated by the editors of 10Best as one of Americas top 20 riverwalks," said Deborah Bilitski, president and executive director of Waterfront Park. "We are asking for help from everyone who shares a sense of pride in our beautiful waterfront to help us finally claim our rightful place as the [No. 1] Best Riverwalk in the United States."

As part of the competition, individuals are able to vote once per day for their favorite Riverwalk. Voting for the competition runs through Monday, Feb. 6 at noon.

To cast your vote, visit 10best.com.

Reach Features Reporter Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Waterfront Park nominated USA TODAY Readers' Choice Awards
Two years after he first filed for divorce, former Rascal Flatts guitarist Joe Don Rooney remains locked in legal limbo with estranged wife Tiffany Fallon Rooney, as the two hurtle toward a settlement conference set for March.

Rooney, 47, and model and actress Tiffany, 48, tied the knot in 2006, and share son Jagger, 14, and daughters Raquel, 12, and Devon, 8.

But court documents filed in the aftermath of Rooney's initial divorce filing and obtained by PEOPLE reveal a contentious he-said, she-said, in which both parties admit to adultery and Tiffany claims the musician's "habitual alcoholism and drug use" led to their split.

Rooney first filed for divorce in January 2021, citing irreconcilable differences. Tiffany responded in court in April 2021, accusing the star of "inappropriate marital conduct."

Joe Don Rooney, Tiffany Fallon

Steve Granitz/WireImage Tiffany Fallon and Joe Don Rooney

In the two years since, the pair have filed hundreds of documents in Davidson County, Tennessee, including subpoenas of Rooney's former bandmates Gary LeVox and Jay DeMarcus, and complaints that each accuses the other of infidelity.

In October, Rooney filed a second amended and supplemental complaint for divorce that accused Tiffany of cheating on him with her personal trainer while they were still together.

RELATED: Gary LeVox Gets Candid About the End of Rascal Flatts: 'I Hate That There Was No Closure'

Joe Don Rooney, Tiffany Fallon

Rick Diamond/Getty Joe Don Rooney and Tiffany Fallon

Tiffany responded in documents of her own five days later, and said that while she admitted to cheating, her affair was not the reason their marriage ended, as she only began seeing someone else "once [Rooney] had fully withdrawn from their marital relationship due, [among other things], to habitual alcoholism and drug use."

"[Tiffany] has always been totally honest about her adultery in this matter, as opposed to [Rooney] who has repeatedly lied under oath about his own adultery and drug abuse," the documents state.

Tiffany also said Rooney's alleged "habitual drunkenness and abuse of narcotic drugs" was the reason they split, and that his struggles culminated in his 2021 DUI arrest. (The musician was arrested and charged in September 2021 after he crashed his vehicle into a tree line in Franklin, Tennessee. He pleaded guilty in June 2022, and was later sentenced to two days in jail).

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RELATED: Rascal Flatts' Joe Don Rooney Pleads Guilty to DUI: Reports

According to the documents, Rooney spent $315,800 on a four-month stay at a luxury alcohol and drug rehab center in Utah, but did not tell Tiffany where he was going or give her the chance to suggest a more affordable option. Tiffany also accused Rooney of having an ongoing affair with another patient at the facility.

"[Rooney] has admitted to engaging in an ongoing sexual affair with another facility patient while he was there for his incredibly expensive therapy, calling into question his dedication to the program," the documents state.

In an answer of his own filed two days after Tiffany's response, Rooney denied her accusation of his "habitual drunkenness and abuse of narcotic drugs," but admitted he's used cocaine "on a few occasions."

rascal flatts

Jason Merritt/Getty Images Rascal Flatts

The musician also claimed that while he "suffers from alcohol use disorder for which he has received treatment," he does not believe his substance abuse is the reason their marriage ended, and claims he stopped drinking from May to September of 2020 at Tiffany's request.

Just as Tiffany did, Rooney also admitted to adultery, but hit back at the criticism of his choice in rehab facility, claiming that his business management team picked it for him and that there were not any other affordable options "that would have benefitted [his] recovery in the same manner."

Tiffany said in her filing that she wants alimony in futuro from Rooney because there's a chance he tours once more with Rascal Flatts; the documents say DeMarcus and LeVox have testified that "they would be open to touring as a band if [Rooney] would agree."

In his filing, though, Rooney insisted the door was closed on the "now defunct" band, and said he "vehemently denies that the band has any plans to reunite."

Joe Don Rooney, Tiffany Fallon

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic Tiffany Fallon and Joe Don Rooney

Rooney and Tiffany are each attempting to get the other's counter-complaint dismissed, and the costs taxed to the other.

Documents filed in November indicate that the two will meet for a divorce settlement conference on March 28.

Rooney and his Rascal Flatts bandmates canceled their farewell tour in 2020, and said they had no plans to reschedule it "for the foreseeable future."

LeVox previously told PEOPLE that he's "never been OK with the way that it ended," adding in October 2021: "I wasn't happy that Joe Don quit."

"It kind of came out of nowhere," LeVox added. "It was like, 'Let me try to wrap my head around this.' And then I certainly wasn't OK with the pandemic, which canceled everything. I hate the way that it ended. I hate that we didn't get to do this farewell tour. I can't stand the fact that it just feels there's no closure with something that we've been so blessed with. That will always be in my heart."
Meek Mill

As previously reported by REVOLT, Meek Mill found himself in the midst of controversy after he recently posted a teaser of an upcoming music video. On Sunday (Jan. 8), the Philly rhymer posted a clip that showed him rapping explicit lyrics while walking around Ghanas Jubilee House, an expansive building that serves as the countrys presidential residence. In response, many felt that the recording was a desecration of the property, after which the short video was removed from social media.

Yesterday (Jan. 9), Meek published a series of tweets expressing regret for upsetting Ghanaian citizens:

To the people of Ghana, no video I drop is ever meant to disrespect the people of Ghana The fastest way to make connection is through music and I wanted to do that with displaying art Im in my 30s from America and didnt know much about the lifestyle here. My apologies to the people if any disrespect! Were still gonna push to make the connection between Black people in America and Africa What Im trying to do is more than a video and you should see coming soon! My apologies to the the office also!

He then made it clear that the countrys current president, Nana Akufo-Addo, and his administration should not be blamed for his actions:

I dont think they knew it was video footage when we asked to shoot, its a small camera and one kid In America, we didnt know this existed and was excited to show because they dont show Ghana on our media much! So Ill take responsibility for my mistake! Not intentional Im just not here for no separation of anything Black Were already separated enough and dont understand each others cultures Lets use this to help fix that and not [create] more judgement towards each other!

You can see Meeks tweets in full below. The fate of the video in question is unknown.

To the people of Ghana no video I drop is ever meant to disrespect the people of Ghana . The fastest way to make connection is thru music and I wanted to do that with displaying art  im in my 30s from America and didnt know much about the lifestyle here  MeekMill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023

My apologies to the people if any disrespect! We still gonna push to make the connection between black people in America and Africa  what Im trying to do is more than a video and you should see coming soon! My apologies to the the office also!  MeekMill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023

I dont think they knew it was video footage when we asked to shoot its a small camera and one kid  in America we didnt know this existed and was excited to show because they dont show Ghana on our media much! So Ill take responsibility for my mistake! Not intentional https://t.co/obDZb9Czu5  MeekMill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023
Following backlash against his music video filmed at the Jubilee House government building in Ghana, Meek Mill issued a heartfelt apology on Twitter.

To the people of Ghana no video I drop is ever meant to disrespect the people of Ghana . The fastest way to make connection is thru music and I wanted to do that with displaying art, his initial tweet reads.

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Meek Mill

Meek Mill Says He's Dropping an 'Album Every Quarter' of 2023 01/09/2023 01/09/2023

He went on to take responsibility for [his] mistake and expressed his desire to make the connection between black people in America and Africa.

To the people of Ghana no video I drop is ever meant to disrespect the people of Ghana . The fastest way to make connection is thru music and I wanted to do that with displaying art  im in my 30s from America and didnt know much about the lifestyle here  MeekMill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023

My apologies to the people if any disrespect! We still gonna push to make the connection between black people in America and Africa  what Im trying to do is more than a video and you should see coming soon! My apologies to the the office also!  MeekMill (@MeekMill) January 9, 2023

The criticisms arrived full-steam Monday morning (Jan. 9) when Ghanas former deputy education minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa tweeted screenshots of the music video, expressing his outrage.

All those responsible for this despicable desecration of the Jubilee House by Meek Mill must be fired immediately, wrote Ablakwa. How do those explicit lyrics from the presidents lectern project Ghana positively? Is Ghanas seat of government no longer a high security installation?

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All those responsible for this despicable desecration of the Jubilee House by Meek Mill must be fired immediately.



How do those explicit lyrics from the presidents lectern project Ghana positively?



Is Ghanas seat of government no longer a high security installation? pic.twitter.com/Wwo2rbGIjl  Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) January 9, 2023

Many Ghanaians chimed in, with some assigning blame to the countrys government rather than Meek. The 35-year-old rapper rushed to Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addos defense, adding, I dont think they knew it was video footage when we asked to shoot. Its a small camera and one kid  in America we didnt know this existed and [I] was excited to show [it] because they dont show Ghana on our media much.

Meek expressed that he had no ill intention and continues to support positive community efforts both within his home state of Philadelphia and in Ghana, where the rapper recently found out he has heritage.

Meek Mill shot a video to a new somg while in Ghana pic.twitter.com/q9ilza0B1S  Wave Check (@thewavecheckk) January 8, 2023

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Harold Weldon is an Australian publisher and filmmaker, and also a cultural ambassador between China and Australia.He twice went on the route of the Long March and published two photobooks which present Chinas spectacular geography to the world. Additionally, the Weldon International, where he works, has published multiple books to show Chinas progress and its culture.He has visited China over 120 times and received the Special Book Award of China, a top publication prize that recognizes the significant contributions made by foreigners in promoting cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world.On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of diplomatic relations between China and Australia, Weldon said that the bilateral ties between the two countries can be viewed as a Long March which cant and shouldnt have an end, and he will do his best to promote this relationship.
Metas main subcontractor for content moderation in Africa, Sama, announced earlier Tuesday the closure of its content moderation arm at its hub in Kenya, citing the need to streamline operations.

This comes months after Sama and Meta were sued in the East African country for union busting and exploitation, and just weeks after another lawsuit called for Meta to increase its content moderation capacity in Kenya.

Following the announcement by Sama, 200 employees, representing 3% of its team, will be let go as the company exits content review services and concentrates on labeling work (computer vision data annotation).

The company sourced moderators from across Africa, and the closure of the arm is said to leave a section without work permits. Samas moderators were required to sift through social media posts on all its platforms, including Facebook, to remove those perpetrating and perpetuating hate, misinformation and violence.

Reports indicate Sama encouraged staff affected by the closure to apply for other job opportunities at its Kenya and Uganda offices.

The current economic climate requires more efficient and streamlined business operations, said Sama, according to a report by the Financial Times, which said that the social media giant has contracted Luxembourg-based Majorel to fill up the gap.

The decision to drop Metas contract, which expires at the end of March, comes months after a lawsuit was filed by Daniel Motaung, a South African national and ex-Sama content moderator, in Kenya last year accusing the two firms of forced labor and human trafficking, unfair labor relations, union busting and failure to provide adequate mental health and psychosocial support.

Samas decision also comes at a time when Meta is facing another lawsuit in Kenya over claims that the social media giant has failed to employ enough safety measures on Facebook, which has, in turn, fueled conflicts that have led to deaths, including of 500,000 Ethiopians during the recently ended Tigray War.

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The lawsuit claims the social site amplified hateful content and failed to hire enough personnel with an understanding of local languages to moderate content.
NJPW The New Beginning In Nagoya Announced For January 22

Image Credit: NJPW

New Japan Pro-Wrestling has confirmed the date and venue for NJPW The New Beginning in Nagoya.

In a tweet, the company announced that the event will be held on January 22, and it will air on NJPW World. The announcement teased that a new beginning awaits key figures as they move past Wrestle Kingdom.

The New Beginning in Nagoya will be held the day after Wrestle Kingdom 17 in Yokohama Arena. Check out the card for the show here.

After #NJPWvsNOAH on PPV January 21, The New Beginning series kicks off live in English in Nagoya! What happens when the key figures in NJPW move past Wrestle Kingdom to a new beginning? January schedule: https://t.co/F1E7Ws8Y0m#njpw #njnbg pic.twitter.com/lrp6tSSzoe  NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) January 9, 2023

The companys January schedule can be found here.

RELATED: NJPW President Takami Ohbari: NJPW STRONG Will Rebuild And Focus On Quality Over Quantity

The post NJPW The New Beginning In Nagoya Announced For January 22 appeared first on Wrestlezone.
A North Carolina man fatally shot his wife and three children over the weekend before then turning the gun on himself.

The murder-suicide occurred Saturday morning at a home on Mossy Meadow Drive in the city of High Point, leaving three adults and two juveniles dead.

After an investigation, it was determined that Robert J. Crayton, Jr., 45, shot and killed his wife Athalia A. Crayton, 46, as well as Kasin Crayton, 18, and a 16-year-old and 10-year-old, whose names were not released, according to a Monday media release from the High Point Police Department.

Robert Crayton then died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police say.

All five of the victims lived inside the home, according to High Point Police, who added that two other people, aged 22 and 25, who were inside the home at the time managed to escape. One of individuals who was able to escape was a relative of the victims, while the other was an acquaintance, police told Oxygen.com on Monday.

RELATED: Utah Murder-Suicide Leaves 3 Adults, 5 Children Dead Weeks After Wife Files For Divorce

Police had previously said in a release on Saturday that officers responded to Mossy Meadow Drive at 7:05 a.m. that day after receiving a report of two people screaming for help.

"When officers arrived they came into contact with an adult male and female stating they needed help," police stated Saturday. "Officers were able to determine that the address was ... Mossy Meadow Drive. Officers had to force entry into the home, and once inside, they located five deceased people."

All of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene, and authorities said at the time that there was no further threat to the community.

Missing woman Ana Walshe

High Point Police added Monday that officers have responded to this address five separate times since 2014. The most recent call before Saturday's came on Jan. 3, 2022, when cops served an involuntary mental commitment order.

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The department confirmed to Oxygen.com on Monday that the involuntary mental commitment order involved Robert Crayton, Jr., but did not release info about where he was committed or when he was released.

The previous four calls were listed as a Jan. 2, 2022 medical call; a Dec. 2, 2019 domestic disturbance in which two people reported being in a disturbance; a Dec. 30, 2016 domestic disturbance incident classified as an argument between family members; and a Jan. 30, 2014 domestic disturbance incident involving an alleged assault with no evidence for arrest, High Point Police told Oxygen.com.

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Police are still looking into a motive in the case.

"I've expressed this to the family, we may never know why  what goes through the hearts and minds of a person who would do this sometimes dies with him," Lt. Patrick Welch said during a Monday press conference. "We don't have any indication right as to the 'why.' "

The horrific tragedy follows a murder-suicide last Wednesday in southwestern Utah that left eight people dead. In that case, Michael Haight, 42, was identified as the suspect in the case that left his wife and five kids dead, as well as his mother-in-law, before he allegedly turned the gun on himself. The incident reportedly unfolded two weeks after Haight's wife filed for divorce.
Ringtail cat in Kohls

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office

A department store in Colorado had an unexpected resident hiding in its shoe department for over three weeks before the rare mammal was caught and released into the wild.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office in Golden, Colorado, tweeted Monday that a ringtail cat, "a rare sight to see," had been "carefully collected and released into the nearby woods."

The animal is not actually a cat, the tweet continued, but a mammal in the raccoon family. The small, nocturnal creature was hiding in the shoe department of a local Kohl's store, evading capture, for at least three weeks, the social media post added.

According to the sheriff's office, the "clever little guy" survived off the food it snuck out of humane traps set to capture it and on ceiling tiles and shoe boxes while stuck inside the store. Rescuers eventually managed to secure the wild animal in a trap.

Ringtail cat in Kohls

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office shared a video across its social media platforms of the ringtail cat outside of the Kohl's being released from a cage into the wild. In the clip, the individual looking after the ringtail cat during the release jokes the animal was inside the Kohl's looking for a pair of Skechers.

"We brought him here to beautiful Jefferson County, and we're gonna release him and let him go on his way," the rescuer adds in the video.

It's a raccoonit's a cat... it's a catcoon?!

No, it's a ringtail cat! This little guy was hiding out in the shoe depart in a Kohls store for 3 weeks. Eating ceiling tiles & shoe boxes, he would sneak in and out of our cat traps to get the food w/o tripping the mechanism

1/2 pic.twitter.com/xcSGjTJpbA  Jeffco Sheriff (@jeffcosheriffco) January 9, 2023

RELATED: Netflix to Explore the Secrets and Drama Behind the World's Richest Dog in Gunther's Millions

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While the ringtail cat might look cute, the sheriff's office warned animal lovers to stay away from these creatures in the wild. According to the office's social media post, the "cute and fuzzy" critters "are still wild and can act aggressively." In the case of a sighting, which the post made clear is quite rare, people should keep their distance from ringtail cats.

Ringtail cat in Kohls

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office

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The species gets its name from its "12-17 inch ring-patterned tail," which it uses both for balance when climbing  and as a "defensive tactic to encourage a predator to attack its tail rather than its body."
A number of Republican politicians who tried to dismiss the discovery of classified materials during an FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago are now claiming to be outraged by a similar situation that has arisen with the discovery of classified materials by Joe Bidens attorneys at a DC think tank.

Its a sudden change of heart that reveals the very political side of Washington politicians response to allegations of mismanagement by one of their own.

The responses from the GOP in the wake of Mr Bidens attorneys turning over the documents have ranged from accusations of double standards to full-on howls of treason from supporters of former President Donald Trump, who unlike Mr Biden fought for months with the National Archives over possession of the documents in question and did not report their presence voluntarily.

Those obvious differences were of little concern to Republicans like Ronny Jackson, congressman from Texas.

Its just been discovered that Biden had HIGHLY CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS that were improperly stored in one of his private offices. INCREDIBLE! WHERE is the FBI? WHERE is the dramatic raid? he asked, with the obvious answer being that FBI raids are predicated on the assumption that agents will find what they are looking for. Theres no reporting or any other evidence (yet) to suggest that Mr Biden retained any documents at his personal residences, or that any other documents were retained beyond those already handed over.

Its just been discovered that Biden had HIGHLY CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS that were improperly stored in one of his private offices. INCREDIBLE! WHERE is the FBI? WHERE is the dramatic raid? We have two systems of justice in this country: one for them and one for us.  Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) January 9, 2023

Just a few months ago, Mr Jackson seemed to believe that the FBI raiding the home of a president, current or former, amounted to the agency being used as secret police.

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Biden is turning the FBI into his secret police. His own personal weapon to SILENCE regime enemies. They hate your freedom. This administration is truly the ENEMY of the American people!!  Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) August 9, 2022

A number of lawmakers, including Congressman Andy Biggs, spread a conspiracy without a shred of evidence, claiming that the think tank where the papers were discovered, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, has received $54m (about) from the Chinese Communist Party. The think tank was asked by a right-wing group to explain a number of donations originating from China, but theres zero evidence that the CCP was involved in any way and no accusations of wrongdoing have been made by credible sources.

Biden stole classified documents and stored them at his think tank while he was VP.



The VP does not have any authority to declassify classified documents.



And this think tank received $54 million in funding from the CCP.  Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) January 10, 2023

Mr Biggs also claimed that Mr Biden stole the documents in a tweet sent from his account; the congressman is no stranger to spreading fibs and is a top supporter of the 2020 election denier gospel 2,000 Mules, a documentary by Dinesh DSouza that concocts a conspiracy about a supposed massive fraud effort which allegedly cost Donald Trump the 2020 election.

Another Republican to chime in was Congressman James Comer, incoming head of the House Oversight Committee. Mr Comer previously said that the Mar-a-Lago investigation regarding classified documents hoarded by Mr Trump in defiance of the National Archives would not be a priority for his committee.

I dont get involved in a lot of the drama from the last administration, he told CNN in November.

He was more than willing to weigh in on the latest drama, however, and released a statement: President Biden has stated that taking classified documents from the White House is irresponsible. Under the Biden Administration, the Department of Justice and National Archives have made compliance with the Presidential Records Act a top priority. We expect the same treatment for President Biden, who has apparently inappropriately maintained classified documents in an insecure setting for several years.

Finally there was Roger Stone, the longtime ally and confidante of former President Donald Trump, who swung for the fences with his own take on the issue and insisted without proof that Chinas government had access to the classified materials. Mr Stone notably did not have the same outrage when Mr Trump was accused of revealing highly classified information to the Russian ambassador in 2017.

Declaring Mr Biden guilty of treason (punishable by death), the GOP operative added: Joe Biden - Retained classified documents after he was no longer Vice President housed in his office at a foundation funded with $54M from the Red Chinese thus the Chinese had access to these classified national security secrets.
A six-year-old student accused of shooting his first-grade teacher in Virginia used a gun that was legally purchased by his mother, according to reports.

Abigail Zwerner was teaching a normal lesson at her school in Newport News when the boy pulled out the gun at the desk where he was sitting, took aim and fired, police say. Ms Zwerner put up her hand but the bullet went through it and struck her in the chest.

Police said on Monday that the shooting appeared to have been intentional - not accidental - after he had brought the gun to class from home, according to The New York Times.

Investigators said that the 9-millimeter Taurus handgun had been bought legally by the childs mother.

The child had obtained that firearm, placed it in his backpack and brought it to school, Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said, pointing to interviews with both the child and mother.

He added that any charges filed will be based on what the facts are and what the law supports.

State law in Virginia forbids leaving a loaded firearm in any area where it can be accessed by a child under the age of 14, which is a crime listed as a misdemeanour.

But theres no law in the state mandating that all firearms be safely stored in residences.

Ms Zwerner was badly injured but managed to send her class of about 20 children running from the classroom into the hallway as another member of staff came into the room and restrained the six-year-old boy.

The first-grade teacher entered the hallway and moved in the direction of the office to call for help, but not before turning around to make sure that every one of those students was safe, , adding that her condition was stable.

School Shooting Newport News (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

I believe she did save lives because I dont know what else might have happened, he added.

The child is being treated at a medical facility, officials said. The family hasnt been named.

Residents of Newport News hold a candlelight vigil in honor of Richneck Elementary School first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner at the School Administration Building in Newport News, Va., Monday, Jan. 9, 2023 (AP)

Addressing safety concerns, the superintendent of Newport News Public Schools, George Parker III, said weve addressed metal detection, random searching and all kinds of other things at the secondary level.

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Ill be honest, who would be prepared for a 6-year-old to bring a loaded weapon to school and shoot their teacher? he added, according to The New York Times.

Mr Parker told the paper that metal detectors and other measures employed at high schools may be put in place.

I hate to be at this point where Im considering this, but we have to start relying on those types of deterrence at the elementary level as well, he said.

My board members know how I feel about making our schools look anything like a prison, he added. I want our schools to be great places to educate children.

Abby Zwerner was critically injured after allegedly being shot by a 6-year-old student (Abby Zwerner/Facebook)

But he said that if we cant maintain safety, or at least get to the point where we can have an effective and safe school day, kids wont learn anyway.

Arizona State University associate professor Elizabeth Anthony toldThe Times that the research consistently indicates that none of the school hardening procedures, including metal detectors, prevent school shootings.

Metal detectors have been found to reduce the amount of contraband, but not directly prevent gun violence, she said.

One mother outside the school criticized US gun culture and weak gun control legislation.

The problem is the bloody guns. Im only here because my husband is in the military. Otherwise, I would not have chosen to come to this country, she told News3.
Authorities are investigating the suspicious death of a South Carolina woman whose body was found in a rusty clothing donation bin on New Years Eve.

On Wednesday, officials confirmed that a corpse that had been discovered in a Lugoff clothing donation bin on Dec. 31 was identified as missing 47-year-old Lesley Lemoine. A passerby made the gruesome discovery after observing a foul odor emanating from the donation bin, South Carolina television station WLTX reported. Lemoine had been missing since the middle of March.

Lemoines remains were positively identified following a preliminary autopsy. Her family has been notified, officials said. Lemoines cause and manner of death, however, havent yet been released. Authorities are now strongly eying the possibility of foul play.

RELATED: New Details On Human Foot Found In Yellowstone Geyser That's Been Linked To Missing 70-Year-Old Los Angeles Man

We do not have any updates on this incident at this time, Kershaw County Sheriff Lee Boan told Oxygen.com in an emailed statement on Monday. We are still investigating this as a 'suspicious death' and following up on all leads as they come in. The cause of death is still pending toxicology.

Boan noted that toxicology results could take weeks or months.

Kershaw county officials previously disclosed that Lemoines body had likely been decomposing in the donation bin "for months, according to WLTX. The bin also contained VHS tapes and hadnt been emptied in years, Kershaw County Coroner David West said, according to the Associated Press. Prior to identifying Lemoine, officials had speculated the deceased individual had been seeking refuge in the metal clothing bin.

A photo of the Haight Family

"They told me VHS tapes were underneath her, so this had not been checked in a really long time," Lemoines 25-year-old daughter Hannah Gates told Charleston daily newspaper The Post and Courier. "It makes me mad."

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Gates said she last saw her mother on March 29. She said Lemoine had been homeless for some time and was known to drift in and out of touch. The two werent on good terms, according to The Post and Courier report.

"I wish I was more uplifting. ... I wish I said 'I love you' and 'I'm here for you,'" Gates added. "I wish I could've told her she was more than what she was."

Family have since set up a GoFundMe to help cover Lemoines funeral costs. As of Monday afternoon, the campaign had raised more than $5,600.

No other information has been released by law enforcement.

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We will continue to offer our support and prayers to the family as we arrange a proper funeral/burial for Lesley, Boan added.

Lemoine was described as a funny, charismatic, free spirit that loved Jesus and having a good time, according to her obituary. The South Carolina mother and grandmother attended Lugoff-Elgin High School. She later graduated from Midlands Tech with medical billing and coding certification. Loved ones said Lemoine had struggled with addiction for decades prior to her death.

She was a friendly soul, who would give you the shoes off her feet if you needed them, but she had her demons, too, Lemoines obituary stated. She is finally free from her disease and home with Jesus.

Anyone with additional information regarding Lemoines death is urged to contact the Kershaw County Sheriffs Office at 803-425-1512 or 803-424-4000. Tips can also be submitted by emailing investigations@kershaw.sc.gov.
Edwin Chiloba

Five people have been detained in Kenya in connection to the murder of LGBTQ+ rights activist Edwin Chiloba. His body was found last week mutilated and stuffed in a metal box.

Authorities say they are investigating whether the murder came out of a love triangle involving Chiloba, Voice of America reports. Local activists have called the killing a hate crime.

Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya.

One of the five who appeared in court on Monday was Jacktone Odhiambo, who reportedly was a friend of Chiloba.

We want the culprits or the murderers of my brother to be charged according to the Kenyan law, Gaudensia Chirchir, Chilobas cousin said, speaking on behalf of the family.

Chilobas body was found almost 25 miles away from where he lived on January 3. Someone saw the metal trunk being thrown from a moving car.

He died a painful death, an unidentified police officer based in Eldoret told reporters, according to Agence-France Presse.

Weve also seen increased homophobia, especially online, local LGBTQ+ activist Fahe Kerubo said. Weve seen a lot of increased violation of incidents among the queer community or that is directed toward the LGBTQ community.

Pan Africa ILGA wrote on Twitter last week, Edwin who was a Kenyan LGBTIQ+ activist, model and humanitarian was well known for his passion for fashion and activism.

We pray that his soul will rest in power as police continue to investigate the incidents that led to his death. We pray for comfort for his family and friends and all activists in Kenya. the group. We will continue to follow this and provide all support to Kenyan activists as this situation presents a worrying environment for them.

Several local human rights groups, including Amnesty International Kenya, praised authorities for their response to Chilobas murder.

We laud their efforts to ensure that perpetrators of this heinous act are brought before a court of law. We call upon the LGBTQ+ community and the general public to share additional information to help prosecute this case, they wrote in a joint statement.

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The groups also called for the repeal of the countrys anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

Homophobic and hate based rhetoric by leaders and media sensationalization of Edwin Chilobas murder only serves to incite violence against queer Kenyans. Online cyber-bullying using religion and culture raises the level of intolerance, hatred and violence against LGBTQ+ individuals, they said. It is time for our society to come together and stand up for the rights and safety of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Out U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price tweeted, Our sincere condolences to the family and friends of prominent Kenyan LGBTQI+ community member Edwin Chiloba. We call for full accountability for his death.
Many countries welcomed Chinese tourists as China announced to downgrade management of COVID-19 infection and resume outbound tourism for Chinese citizens orderly.

Embassies and tourism authorities of countries including France, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland,and New Zealand expressed their expectations for Chinese tourists on Chinese social media.

France is among the first countries to open its door to Chinese tourists. Its embassy posted on Sina Weibo last month, saying "Chinese friends, France welcomes you with open arms."

The Austrian Tourist Board attracts Chinese guests with open-air concerts at the Imperial Palace in Innsbruck and the Salzburg Harvest Festival, where they sing and dance with locals and feast on tasty dishes from farmhouses in the Alps.

Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Cambodia also opened their arms to Chinese tourists.

Cambodian Minister of Tourism Thong Khon expressed his warm welcome for Chinese tourists and investors, saying Cambodia is making preparations for Chinese tourists.

The tourism ministry encourages enterprises involving Chinese tourists reception to carry out relevant certification procedures as soon as possible and make preparations such as providing accommodation for tourists from China, said the minister.

On Monday, Thai deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and other senior officials welcomed Chinese 269 tourists at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok with gift bags, and the Thai government stressed they would treat all foreign tourists equally.

A tourism practitioner from Japan told Yicai Global that the Japanese market wants to see Chinese tourists the most, although the Japanese government set up more restrictions for travelers from China since Monday.

We are still waiting for the return of Chinese tourists. The resumption of group tours from China will significantly boost the recovery of Japanese tourism, said Miho Kuwana from Japan Association of Travel Agents who has 1,100 members.

The Japanese government hopes to attract five trillion yen in tourism consumption every year and increase the number of visitors to Japan to 60 million by 2030, but Japanese media doubts the goal of boosting economic development with tourism without participation of Chinese tourists.

Head of NAA Retailing Group, which operates duty-free shops at Narita International Airport, looked forward to the return of Chinese tourists, saying the company would hire staff who can speak Chinese if there are a large number of tourists from China.
There are 22 newly announced 2024 cruises, including a holiday-themed sailing and an adults-only Oktoberfest cruise.

Courtesy of Adventures by Disney

Ready to take your Disney adventure outside the theme parks? Adventures by Disney, the company's family travel arm, has just announced its European river cruise itineraries for 2024.

There are 22 departures throughout the year across eight itineraries, all of which sail for seven nights and eight days. Three of the more classic European river cruises are explorations of the Seine in France; the Rhine across France, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands; and the Danube through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary. There are also four themed itineraries. On both the Rhine and the Danube, Adventures by Disney is running family-friendly Christmas market cruises and adults-only gourmand cruises, including food and wine on the Rhine and Oktoberfest on the Danube.

Brand new in 2024 is the Magical Holidays itinerary on the Danube, during which guests will ring in the new year on the ship  a first for Adventures by Disney's river cruise program. The voyage will travel through Austria and Hungary. Given that the sailing lines up with winter vacation, we suspect this will be a mighty popular sailing.

Courtesy of Adventures by Disney

For these sailings, Adventures by Disney charters ships from the upscale river cruise line AmaWaterways, a family-owned business that has a fleet of 22 river ships in Europe, plus vessels in Southern Africa, Southeast Asia, and Egypt.

Each Adventures by Disney sailing has Disney Adventure Guides to lead the journey and includes most meals (with wine and beer for adults), free Wi-Fi, and, of course, Disney magic throughout. As for excursions, Adventures by Disney caters to all ages, interests, and activity levels; some excursions include Alpine tobogganing in Germany's Black Forest, touring Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, and visiting the historic beaches of Normandy, France.

Rates start at $4,649 per person for an eight-day cruise on the Danube. Bookings for the Adventures by Disney river cruises open to the public on Jan. 20; check out the itineraries here.

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Andrew Tate (left) and his brother Tristan leave after appearing at the Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania, on Jan. 10, 2023. Alexandru Dobre / AP

A judge in Romania has upheld the 30-day detention of misogynist influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate, who are being investigated for human trafficking, rape, and organized crime.

The Tate brothers and two women were arrested on Dec. 29 and have been in pretrial detention for the last 12 days, after a judge extended their arrest period from 24 hours to 30 days.

On Tuesday, the brothers appeared in court in Bucharest to appeal against their pretrial detention. The court heard arguments from Tates lawyers for their release, which included that the Tate brothers have small children in Romania, according to local news outlet Gandul.

According to the Associated Press, the judge stated that the brothers are at risk of evading investigations and that they could leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition.

Tate and his brother have denied the accusations against them.

The brothers arrived at Bucharests Court of Appeal handcuffed to each other, and Andrew, 36, was carrying the Quran in his right hand.

Andrew Tate (center) and his brother Tristan leave after appearing at the Court of Appeal on Jan. 10, 2023. Vadim Ghirda / AP

Muslims on Twitter noticed this, and it has since gone viral. While some praised him, others questioned his intentions.

Last week, the Guardian reported that four more cars belonging to the Tate brothers had been confiscated by DIICOT, Romanias organized crime agency, bringing the total amount of confiscated cars to 15.

Over the weekend, Andrew was reportedly taken to the hospital after his lawyer made it known to officials that he has a medical condition.

More on this
Hurry! This sale only runs until Jan. 20.

Chad Slattery/Courtesy of Etihad Airways

Etihad Airways is helping travelers fly all around the world with a global sale that has plenty of discounted flights to dreamy vacation destinations.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline is offering sale flights to its home city, Dubai, the Maldives, Kuala Lumpur, and more for travelers who book by Jan. 20 and travel between Jan. 15 and April 27, Etihad told Travel + Leisure. Passengers can book economy flights starting at $799 round trip, or book business class flights starting at $2,599 round trip.

At Etihad, we understand the new year is a time many of us start making exciting travel plans for the year ahead, Arik De, the chief revenue officer for Etihad Airways, said in a statement provided to T+L. Guests looking to book their holidays can take advantage of this years global sale for the opportunity to visit Abu Dhabi or many other destinations on the Etihad network. Abu Dhabi is a thriving cultural hotspot with a wide variety of tourist attractions that holidaymakers can enjoy with Etihads stopover program.

Travelers can fly to Islamabad in Pakistan from New York or Washington D.C., for example, for as low as $799 round trip. For just $100 more, travelers can fly from New York City to Abu Dhabi, New Delhi, the Maldives, and more.

Fly from Chicago to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia starting at $999 round trip, or head from Washington D.C. to Mumbai starting at just $849 round trip.

Travelers who head to Abu Dhabi can also take advantage of Etihads free stopover program, which includes a free hotel stay at select 3-star and 4-star hotels as well as up to 40 percent off 4-star and 5-star hotels.

Etihad, which is considered one of the safest airlines in the world, created one of the air industrys most beautiful safety videos complete with gorgeous scenes of the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

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For many immigrant families, migrating to the United States means more than just a change of address or countryit's a chance at life.

Thousands of individuals and their families endure the difficult journey of crossing jungles, rivers, and deserts. Many endanger their lives hoping to escape the violence, poverty, and political distress they face in their countries of origin.

Still, the American dream has become a nightmare for many families separated at the U.S. Border under the Trump Family Separation Border Policy. Such is the story of Leticia Peren and her son, Yovany, a Guatemalan family who endured a forced separation in 2017 that lasted over two years.

Shortly after they arrived, Peren's son was separated from his mother without cause or explanation, losing contact for more than a month, with border authorities denying Peren information about her son or his whereabouts. Held in Texas, she was denied medical attention and coerced into deportation while Yovany was sent to a shelter.

Courtesy of ASAP Leticia and son reunited after two years separation.

Now, with the help of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), Peren has filed a lawsuit against the government for inhumane treatment. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages for the trauma and injuries suffered due to the separation while outlining the wrongdoing by government officials at the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement.

In an exclusive interview with People Chica, Peren shares her grueling story of separation, how she remained hopeful during difficult times, and the path she is paving alongside her son to create a new life in the U.S.

Many families have been separated over the course of the last six years at the border. What was your experience crossing and being detained like?

We came to this country trying to find safety and build a new home, but what we found was cruelty. We were detained by government agents and then they separated us. They took my son away without any warning or explanation. That was the worst time of my life. I didn't know if my son was alive or dead, nobody would tell me.

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Courtesy of ASAP Leticia and son reunited after two years separation.

I cried every day and begged the guards to tell me where my son was, but they wouldn't tell me anything. I spent nearly a month without knowing anything about Yovany, where he was, if he was ok, if he knew where I was, or what had happened to me. It was torture. I didn't see my son for more than two years. It was the worst torture a mother can suffer.

I was so worried about my son. I was depressed and physically ill all the time. And it wasn't just us. The government did this to thousands of familiesso many mothers like me, suffering because we had to escape the violence and death threats. We thought we would be safe in this country.

Anti-immigration policies base much of their reasoning on protecting the U.S. against criminal activity coming through the border. However, many families cross in the hopes of a better life. What led you to leave Guatemala to come to the U.S. under the risk of facing these policies?

I don't know very much about U.S. policies, but I do know that they treated us like we had no rightslike animals. We came to this country because we were afraid of the violence in Guatemala. My son was being persecuted by gangs and his life was threatened. They were coming after both of us, and I knew we had to leave or they would kill us.

All we wanted was to be safe and to be together. My son and I are good people, we work hard, and take care of our family. What the government did to us and so many other familiesthat was the real crime.

Getty Images / NICHOLAS KAMM Protestors demanding an end to the separation of migrant children from their parents.

How did it feel to be separated from your son for almost two years? What was the process of reunification like?

I can't express it in words. It was torture. The worst torture a mother can suffer. I never stopped thinking about him. What he was doing, if he was too cold or too hot, what he was eating, [and] how they were treating him. Once they told me he was in a shelter, I knew I had to do whatever I could to get him out of that place. I was deported back to Guatemala and he was put in foster care in the U.S.

He was so worried that I would be killed in Guatemala, and I was worried that I'd be killed, too, but I had to be brave for my son. Seeing him again for the first time after more than two yearsit was bittersweet. I had my son back, but he wasn't the same, and I wasn't the same. We will never be the same. The trauma of everything we lived through, the separation, the abuse in detention, it will never go away.

While you were detained, what were living conditions like?

The living conditions in detention were terrible. They treated us like animals. They took away everything I brought with me, including personal and religious items, and never gave them back. The agents laughed at us and mocked us.

It was freezing cold in the first cell and they took our sweaters. It was so crowded. They put me with the women and took Yovany somewhere else. I never got to say goodbye. They didn't tell us they were taking him away. Then I found out they were taking everyone's kids away, ripping families apart, and I couldn't believe it, I didn't know what to do. It was torture.

It only got worse. Not knowing where my son was, thinking they must be treating him as badly as they were treating me. All of the mothers, we were being tortured not knowing where our children were. And the guards just laughed at us, threatened us, [and] told us horrible things. If someone was sick and asked for help, they didn't care. There was no help, there was no humanity, just cruelty.

What do you believe people don't fully understand about being detained? What is an element you aren't seeing reported in the media?

People don't understand how terrible it is not knowing if your child is alive or dead, if he is suffering, [or] if you will ever see each other again. That was the worst part. Nobody knows how cruel people can be until they live through it themselves. Why would anyone laugh at mothers being tortured? At kids being ripped away from their parents? Why would people who work for the U.S. government be so cruel to parents and children who came to this country trying to find safe haven?

Now that you have been reunited, what are your hopes for the future?

My biggest hope is that we get justice. Justice not only for me and my son but for all the families. There are still children who have not been reunited with their parents and parents who don't know where their children are.

Those of us who have been reunited, we still have to live with everything that happened. I will never forget, my body won't let me. Everything that my son and I have suffered, we still carry it with us: the pain, the desperation. It has made a lasting impact that can't be erased.

We need to know that this will never happen again, [and] that the U.S. government will never again torture families who are trying to find safe haven here by snatching their children away.
The murder of four Idaho college students gripped national attention for weeks, partly for the grisly nature of the crime, partly because there no suspect had been identified as the investigation wore on.

It turns out officials were tracking down 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger. They've charged him with the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, who were stabbed to death in their rooms in an off-campus house on Nov. 13. Officials don't believe he has any connection to the students, which made the prevailing question even more urgentwho is he?

Read on to see eight key revelations authorities have made about Bryan Kohberger and the case from rural Idaho that continues to shock people coast to coast.

1

The Police Tracked Him Down via His Car

Surveillance video captured a white car driving past the house where the murders were committed four times, starting at 3:29 am and ending at 4:20 am, minutes before the students were stabbed to death in their rooms. Police narrowed down a list of 20,000 potential vehicles to determine that it was a 2015 Hyundai Elantra registered to Kohberger, a 28-year-old doctoral student in criminology at Washington State University, just across the border in Pullman, Washington.

2

He Was Studying for a Criminology PhD

Kohberger was pursuing a doctorate in criminology at Washington State University in nearby Pullman, Washington. He had earned a bachelor's in psychology and master's degree in criminal justice at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. Some experts speculate that he might have been studying how to commit the perfect crime; others say that pursuit would be a waste of time as DNA technology makes the "perfect crime" impossible.

3

DNA Matched Him to the Scene

Investigators say that DNA evidence played a key role in identifying Kohberger as a suspect. In an affidavit, investigators said the killer left his DNA on a "leather knife sheath" found on a bed next to one of the victims. Kohberger drove from Washington to Pennsylvania with this father for the holidays. Agents analyzed trash from the family home, determining there was a strong likelihood that the elder Kohberger was the father of whoever left DNA on the knife sheath.

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4

Friends Say He Had a History of Drug Use

Rich Pasqua, an acquaintance of Kohberger's, said he was addicted to heroin in the years before the murders. "I got six years clean now," Pasqua told Fox News on Saturday. "I work in treatment and everything, but back then I was using. And so that's how I know for a fact he was using. I've got high with him a couple of times and used with him." Pasqua said he knew people who delivered drugs to Kohberger often.

5

Classmates Say He's Intelligent

"He seemed very comfortable around other people," classmate Benjamin Roberts told CBS News. He was very quick to offer his opinion and thoughts. And he was always participating fairly eagerly in classroom discussions."

Others disagree. "People are talking about how smart he supposedly is. And I just can't see how that could be true, because any student of forensic science or criminology would have to know that it's virtually impossible not to leave your DNA behind at a very violent, intimate crime scene like this," said genetic geneologist CeCe Moore.

6

He Was Bullied in High School

As a teen, Kohlberger was overweight, "so he was bullied a lot," high school friend Casey Arntz told CBS News. But he lost nearly 100 pounds before his senior year. "He was a rail," said Arntz. "It was after that weight loss that a lot of people noticed a huge switch in him." He began bullying others, friends say, and using heroin.

7

He Applied for a Job With the Police Department.

Kohberger had recently applied for an internship at the police department in Pullman, authorities said. As part of the application, he submitted an essay on his interest in helping rural police departments collect and analyze data.

8

He Posted an Eyebrow-Raising Survey Online

At DeSales, he studied with Katherine Ramsland, a forensic psychologist whose books include The Mind of a Murderer and How to Catch a Killer. Authorities say during his studies, Kohberger posted a Reddit surveysanctioned by the universityasking ex-cons about the crimes they committed. One question he asked: "Before making your move, how did you approach the victim or target?
New Jersey and Ohio are the latest states to ban TikTok on government-owned devices over national security concerns. The two have joined at least 20 other states in doing so. The move comes amid fears that collected data could allow the Chinese government to spy on Americans.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced on Monday that the state issued a cybersecurity directive to prohibit the use of high-risk software and services, including TikTok, on government-owned devices. In addition to banning TikTok from state devices, Murphy said the state was also banning products and services from numerous other vendors, including Huawei, Hikvision, Tencent and ZTE.

On the same day, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issued an executive order banning on government-owned devices the use of any application owned by an entity located in China. DeWine said in the order that "these surreptitious data privacy and cybersecurity practices pose national and local security and cybersecurity threats to users of these applications and platforms and the devices storing the applications and platforms.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said on Friday that he planned to join other states in banning the popular short-form video app from state-owned devices as well.

"We're disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies that will do nothing to advance cybersecurity in their states and are based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok," a spokesperson for TikTok said in a statement to TechCrunch. "We are continuing to work with the federal government to finalize a solution that will meaningfully address any security concerns that have been raised at the federal and state level."

Calls to ban TikTok from government devices mounted after FBI Director Christopher Wray said in November that the app poses national security risks. In December, President Joe Biden approved a bill that prohibits the use of TikTok by the federal government's employees on devices owned by its agencies. The U.S. military has also banned its service members from using TikTok on government devices, fearing the app could potentially expose personal data to unwanted actors.

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There are also efforts to ban TikTok from consumer devices across the United States. Last month, Senator Marco Rubio proposed legislation that would ban TikTok nationally. Rubio said that the app allows the Chinese government a unique ability to monitor more than 1 billion users worldwide, including nearly two-thirds of American teenagers.

TikTok has been a source of security and privacy concerns for several years. Given the increasing scrutiny of TikTok, this may be just the start of the challenges to come for the company in the year ahead.
MUNCIE, Ind.  The communitys newest employer and the Eastern United States headquarters of a growing Montana-based trucking company will open Tuesday in Delaware County.

Jones Brothers Trucking invites the public to its grand opening and ribbon-cutting for its new facility at 1901 W. Mount Pleasant Blvd. The event begins at 11 a.m. Food and refreshments will be served.

Construction on the facility was completed over the past few months and represents an investment of $2 million. The new headquarters will serve as the hub of the companys Eastern U.S. business, Paul Jenkin, president of Eastern Operations, said in a press release.

The building is 8,500 square feet in size but the biggest economic impact is the 50 trucks, representing a $9-million investment, that will work out of the terminal. Jones Brothers owns 70 trucks that haul flatbed trailers of goods, but it also acts as a logistics brokerage, connecting companies that need to ship goods to thousands of trucks available to haul. The company operates in 48 states.

Jones Brothers Trucking is a huge addition to our local industrial community, said Brad Bookout, Delaware County Director of Municipal and Economic Affairs. Its vital to growing industrial businesses like CANPACK and INOX, who are ably demonstrating their own investment in Delaware County.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Jones Bros. Trucking opens Eastern U.S. Hub locally Tuesday
In this image made from Windsor, Va., Police video, a police officer speaks with Caron Nazario during a traffic stop, Dec. 20, 2020, in Windsor, Va. A trial in federal court in Richmond is set to begin Monday, Jan.9, 2023, for the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Army lieutenant who was pepper sprayed, struck and handcuffed by police during a traffic stop but never arrested.

A judge moved Lt. Caron Nazarios million-dollar lawsuit forward against the two Virginia police officers who pepper-sprayed him during a traffic stop, per ABC News. Nazario says what the officers claimed to be a routine traffic stop resulted in an illegal car search and false imprisonment.



According to the video footage of the incident, Windsor officers Daniel Crocker and Joe Gutierrez approached Nazario at a gas station with their guns drawn. The officers demanded he step out of the vehicle but Nazario refused, asking why he was being stopped. Im honestly afraid to get out, he said. You should be, Gutierrez responded then proceeded to pepper spray him through the open window.

Read more

A federal judge found the officers had probable cause to stop Nazario for an improperly displayed license plate and charge him with obstruction of justice. However, another federal judge contended Nazarios lawsuit against them could move forward, but with limitations.

More from NPR:

The officers involved not only assaulted Mr. Nazario, but pointed their weapons directly at him and, at some point during the encounter, threatened to kill him, the suit alleges. Mr. Nazario recalls that he thought he was going to die that evening. U.S. District Judge Roderick C. Young also narrowed the scope of Nazarios lawsuit. In August, Young ruled that federal immunity laws shield Crocker and Gutierrez from Nazarios claims that they violated his constitutional protections against excessive force and unreasonable seizure, as well as Nazarios right to free speech by threatening him with arrest if he complained about their behavior.

Virginia officers have a reputation of pulling people over for misdemeanors as a way to conduct a criminal investigation into something unrelated, according to WKTR. Take for example these two cops pulling over Nazario for a presumed misdemeanor (the tag display) but then conducting to search his vehicle.



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According to Virginias updated traffic law from 2021, officers are no longer allowed to use a minor traffic offense as reason to pull someone over. If they do and find evidence of any other crime, that cannot be admissible in court. The officers did find something in Nazarios car: a licensed firearm.

In whatever state you live in, remember your rights folks.

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WASHINGTON  Republican House members voted Tuesday to create a new committee to investigate the supposed weaponization of the federal government against conservatives.

The Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government will have a broad mandate to look for conspiracies among federal agencies and the private sector to facilitate action against American citizens, according to the resolution.

The House approved the measure along party lines, with 221 Republicans in support and 211 Democrats against.

Republicans previously complained of Democrats weaponizing the federal government when the FBI raided former President Donald Trumps home in Florida and when Democrats obtained Trumps tax returns.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the likely chair of the weaponization committee, suggested the panel would investigate an array of right-wing grievances, from the imagined persecution of parents for popping off at school board meetings to the social media company Twitter allegedly censoring conservative views.

This is about the First Amendment, Jordan said on the House floor ahead of the vote Tuesday. Your right to practice your faith, assemble, right to petition the government, freedom of press, freedom of speech  every single ones been attacked in the last two years.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said the committees mandate is recklessly broad and that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is essentially handing Jordan the power to target anyone and anything he doesnt like.

Right-wing Republicans pushed for the creation of the committee as part of a House rules package meant to mollify conservatives in exchange for their support for McCarthy as speaker. As McCarthys speakership seemed in doubt last week, Republicans added language to the weaponization committee resolution granting the panel power to oversee ongoing criminal investigations.

This is a committee designed basically to protect those who, quite frankly, are under investigation right now.Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern

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McGovern suggested the new language presented a conflict of interest, noting that the FBI seized the phone of House Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), one of the McCarthy holdouts, last year as part of an investigation related to Trumps efforts to overthrow the 2020 election. Perry said over the weekend that he wouldnt recuse himself from serving on the committee.

This is a committee designed basically to protect those who, quite frankly, are under investigation right now, McGovern said.

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) made clear the committees mission partly concerned Trump, suggesting there is a two-tiered system of justice because the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago in order to recover official documents Trump took from the White House, but did not conduct a similar raid after it came out this week that President Joe Biden had kept official documents from his time as vice president.

The Justice Department accused Trump of refusing to hand over government documents despite repeated pleas from the National Archives; hes also under investigation for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. In Bidens case, his attorneys found a smaller number of classified documents from his time as vice president and contacted the National Archives to turn them over, according to the White House.

After the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago, several Republicans sought to portray Trumps unique legal jeopardy as something that actually threatened everybody.

If they can do it to a former President, imagine what they can do to you, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, led by Jordan, wrote on Twitter.

Despite describing the committee as a den of tinfoil hat conspiracy theorists, Democrats plan to include their own members, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said Tuesday.

Its in our best interest to make sure we are representing the will of the caucus and the American public and that Republicans dont have an opportunity behind closed doors to shape and to add to these conspiracy theories, Aguilar said.
An awkward gap is shown between shipping containers at the bottom of a wash along the border where shipping containers create a wall between the United States and Mexico in San Rafael Valley, Ariz., Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Work crews are steadily erecting hundreds of double-stacked shipping containers along the rugged east end of Arizonas boundary with Mexico as Republican Gov. Doug Ducey makes a bold show of border enforcement even as he prepares to step aside next month for Democratic Governor-elect Katie Hobbs.

Its bad enough that former Gov. Doug Duceys silly container wall on the border  the one on which migrants posed as they hopped over it and slipped through it  cost the state more than $100 million to build.

Bad enough that its costing us another $100 million, just a few months later, to take the thing down and haul it away, according to a report by The Arizona Republics Jose Ignacio Castaneda Perez.

But you know whats just plain sad? Ducey apparently couldnt find any Arizona company capable of doing the work.

Instead, the Ducey administration brought in a Florida disaster management company to do the work  one that donated (illegally) to a pro-Trump super PAC.

One that snagged the job in a no-bid contract.

After eight years in office  and with just four months to go  Ducey in August suddenly deemed it an emergency to buy and drag thousands of 3,000-pound steel shipping containers to the border and stack them with the approximate skill of a toddler playing with blocks.

In other words, a giant mess.

Arizona has had enough, Ducey said, at the time. We cant wait any longer. The Biden administrations lack of urgency on border security is a dereliction of duty.

No word on why it took until Duceys final few months in office for Arizona to have had enough, given Bidens longstanding inability to manage the border.

Or why a governor, renowned for offering up no-bid contracts and other goodies to those who have advanced his political career, chose a politically connected Florida company to do the work.

Or how the lame-duck governors container wall would stop anyone from crossing the border, given that migrants could squeeze between some of them or climb over any of them.

In mid-December, the Biden administration sued the state for trespassing on federal land and damaging the environment, prompting Ducey to quickly declare victory  noting Biden's plan to fence part of the border  and announce that he would dismantle the wall.

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As publicity stunts go for a politically ambitious governor about to leave office, it was golden.

Golden, too, for the politically connected Florida company brought in to do the work.

AshBritt Management & Logistics illegally contributed $500,000 to the pro-Trump America First Action PAC in 2018. The money eventually was refunded and the company fined $125,000, as the law bars federal contractors like AshBritt  the company at the time had a $40 million contract with the Department of Defense  from contributing to political committees. Meanwhile, the AshBritt Foundation made a $10,000 charitable contribution to The Mar-a-Lago Club in 2019.

So how, you might wonder, would a Trump-connected Florida firm land a no-bid contract worth more than $200 million to build and then dismantle a leaky wall of shipping containers in Arizona?

Beats me.

Megan Rose, spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Administration, told me that AshBritt got the contract "because of the immediate and serious need for material, services or construction that is threatening the health and safety of the population."

"Under the Declaration of Emergency, 2021 Border Crisis signed on April 21, 2021 by Governor Ducey, DEMA (the Department of Emergency and Military Affairs) was directed to expedite this activity for the protection of life and safety," she wrote, in a statement.

Rose said DEMA was aware of similar work AshBritt was performing in other states, including Texas. She didn't know if any Arizona company could have done the work.

"But this was a specific solution that could meet the State's needs based on the emergency response component," she wrote "This solution could address both supply chain and terrain issues."

It all seems rather curious.

In the waning days of his administration, Ducey decides to launch a quick political stunt to boost his profile with his political base and because theres apparently no time to waste, he hires a Florida company with connections to Trump to build a wall that is up and then gone in less than five months.

The public, meanwhile, is stuck with the $200 million tab and questions.

Soooo many questions.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: The stench from Gov. Doug Ducey's $200 million border stunt is growing
China's borders reopening is an important milestone for the world to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and also what many countries, industries, enterprises, families, and people have long expected, manifesting a significant stage for Singapore, said Ong Ye Kung, Singapore's Minister for Health on Monday.

Despite China's big infection wave in December 2022, Ong said Singapore had detected about 200 COVID-positive travelers from China, accounting for less than 5 percent of imported COVID-19 cases, and less than 1 percent of the total cases in the country.

Ong explained that Singapore will not impose pre-departure tests on travelers from China as severe cases can originate from anywhere.

There have been no severe cases coming from China since Jan. 1, he said.

He attributed the low imported infections to low travel volumes between the two countries, high vaccination rates and Singapore's current test requirement for travelers who are not fully vaccinated.

Currently, Singapore runs 38 weekly flights from China, receiving between 700 and 1,000 arrivals every day, less than 10 percent of pre-pandemic figures.

The minister emphasized that new strains may originate from any country or region, so monitoring new strains requires effective monitoring systems globally.

China's regional CDCs are actively monitoring new strains and uploading the latest virus genome sequence information weekly, which is analyzed by an office of the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) set up in Singapore, he said.

The analysis shows that the current dominant strains in China are BA.5.2 and BF.7, which have been found in Singapore and other regions a few months ago, while there are more than 650 sub-variants of Omicron currently under circulation across the globe, he added.

On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stressed that in the fight against COVID, China has always put the people and their lives above all else.

He said that China has all along shared information on its monitoring of the mutation of the virus and infected groups with the international community in a timely, open and transparent manner.

China has carried out over 60 technical exchanges with the WHO over the past three years, including four in the last month alone. Besides, we continue to share the genome data of the virus from the latest COVID cases in China via the GISAID, he added.
Eighth graders, Allison Garcia (left) and Zaida Davila, work in a classroom that is shared by all of 8th grade at Stanfield Elementary school. The entire 8th grade class shares one classroom due to a teacher shortage.

The Kansas Legislature has not provided sufficient funds for special education as outlined in its state statutes for more than a decade.

As teachers and their districts continue to struggle with resources for students with special needs, Salina Public Schools and other entities have made fully funding special education a priority going into 2023.

USD 305s specific priority, as outlined in a tentative 2023 legislative priorities document, is for the state to fund special education at the 92% statutory level.

Special education services are mandated by federal law and Kansas regulations and statutes. Kansas law requires that 92% of the excess cost of special education be funded by the state in K.S.A 72-3422. But for the last few years, the state has been funding just around 76% of those excess costs.

The shortfall places the burden of meeting federal and state statutes on Kansans at the local level. Salina Public Schools diverts more than $2.4 million general fund dollars toward special education each year.

Fully funding special ed would be a game changer for us, said USD 305 Superintendent Linn Exline.

Making sense of special education funding

Special education budgets are a three-legged stool, comprised of federal, state and local monies. The federal government passed a law in the '70s that was amended and renamed in 1990  the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act  which mandates special education services be provided to children with disabilities from birth through age 21.

The law granted all children a right to a free appropriate public education (referred to commonly as FAPE), which school districts are required to provide, including any special education services necessary to achieve a FAPE to students with disabilities.

The federal government vowed to pay 40% of the excess cost of providing students IDEA-mandated special education services, but most estimates place the federal contribution consistently around 14-16%.

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State money, known as categorical aid in the realm of special education, serve as the primary source of funding for special education in Kansas.

And local aid is where the term excess cost comes into play. In its simplest terms, excess cost is the additional costs that accumulate to educate a typical special education student versus a typical general education student.

Jeff Hayes is the executive director of special education for Central Kansas Cooperative in Education, overseeing special education in 12 local districts.

Part of what confuses people regarding special education funds, Hayes said, is that it is not funded in the same manner as general education.

School district general fund budgets are based on student enrollment numbers, but special education budgets are based on the number of staff schools employ that are eligible to receive categorical aid.

Theres an assumption, Hayes said, that districts want more kids in special education because they will get more money, but since the funds are not per-pupil based, that would not even be possible. More staff doesnt mean more funding, either, since categorical aid only covers a portion of the cost of staffing.

What makes things complicated on Hayes end, is that the co-op has to budget and prepare programming before it actually knows how much of the categorical aid districts will receive.

At the end of the year, theyll tell us how much our categorical aid is per staff member, Hayes said. We dont actually know that right now, all we have are projections  No one, I think, that has any sense would set up a budget system that works this way, but its always been this way, Hayes said.

This year, the Central Kansas Cooperative in Education budget is just under $30 million, serving 12 different districts. The federal government is funding about $4.5 to $5 million of the total co-op budget, categorical aid or state aid makes up $14 million, and $10.5 million was paid by the 12 local districts that make up the co-op.

Salina contributed $5.2 million in local funds this year to provide special education that wasnt accounted for by state or federal dollars. The majority of the cooperatives budget, about 96%, goes toward employing qualified staff.

When the federal government said it would fund 40% of IDEA, it didnt make that mark a regulation or law. Instead, it sat as a target  a ceiling setting the maximum amount of the mandate it would fund.

In contrast, when Kansas set its statute to fund 92%, this was intended to be a base. Yet the state has systematically, in consecutive years, remained below its own mark.

After Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds and one-time federal Title VI funds run out, state categorical aid is likely to trend further downward, Hayes said. Projections his office has now sit around 65%.

Its like, OK, youre systematically not funding resources that have been deemed necessary for a protected class, Hayes said. I mean how different is that than saying well fund it, but were just not going to do enough to fully fund it. Or, were not going to fund programs for minority students, or students of color.' You would never say that. But yet, weve done that for years with kids with disabilities. How has that not gotten more attention?

Kansas statues require more than federal law

Special education, Hayes said, is really about meeting federal law and Kansas statues and regulations. This can be different depending on the state, too.

I cant think of anything that Kansas provides beyond the federal statutes that I disagree with  theyre all good things, Hayes said. But to think that they dont cost money would be foolish."

A few examples of what special education funds are also paying for in Kansas include:

Gifted education

Special education for students in private schools

Special education for homeschooled students

Administrative costs for other services

Some of the discussion that Ive heard is, well, Kansas is spending more on special education than this state or that state, Hayes said. And those conversations can quickly turn into comparisons that arent apples to apples.

It used to be that if a district did not do partial enrollment, then homeschool students werent eligible for special education services. But after the passing of HB 2567, districts are now required to provide the option of partial enrollment to homeschooled students. This means those students may also be eligible for special education.

And students who attend private schools are eligible for special education, even though those schools dont contribute to the local funds leg of the three-legged stool which supports special education in the state of Kansas.

The Central Kansas Cooperative in Education has staff in private schools that are provided through special education aid, per state statutes.

But the scope of what those teachers and staff work with in private schools is a very different scope of students than at local public schools, Hayes said. The private schools are open about being able to provide special education services, but if a student is too difficult for whatever reason, they can turn them away. A public school cant say that.

Its not a bad thing that we provide support and services in private schools, Hayes said. But to think that it isnt resulting in significant additional expenditures, compared to a state that might not use that same funding stream to fund those types of services, would be naive.

Special education funding and programing in Salina Public Schools

In Salina Public Schools, 21% of students have a disability that requires special education services. This number is continuing to grow, too, according to the district.

Exline said special education enrollment has gone up 20% since 2001 and special education students now make up a little over 23% of the districts total enrollment.

This measures up with what Hayes has seen in nearly 30 years working with special education programming in the district.

What has changed over those three decades? The intensity of needs that are being met in schools.

We educate everybody, Hayes said. I dont think the general public has any idea about the type of students that are in our schools every day.

A lot of programing, of course, goes back to the laws set by the federal and state governments. Public schools are put in a position where they cant refuse a student service, but in many cases, cant go above and beyond to meet the needs of some with current funding systems in place.

The demand for and cost of special education services has outpaced available funding for special education. Teachers and staff are faced with the challenge of educating students who have significant developmental disabilities and, at times, extremely aggressive behaviors.

A student with a history of juvenile delinquency and disruptive behavior, who also has a disability qualifying them for special education services, has a considerable amount of protection under the law and a right to be in school, Hayes said.

In a work session following a USD 305 school board meeting last week, executive staff in the district said increased special education funding will be necessary to ensure all students build skills needed for success after graduation.

I think (special education) probably needs to be our highest singular federal priority, Exline said.

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Special education a top priority for Salina schools despite state cuts
More than 280 jewelry pieces, watches and precious objects dating back to Van Cleef & Arpels founding in 1906 will be on display for the first time in the Middle East this month. The Time, Nature and Love exhibition, supported by the Saudi Ministry of Culture, offers the audience in Saudi Arabia and across the region an opportunity to journey into the companys long history of craftmanship and innovation.

Nicolas Bos, president and chief executive officer of Van Cleef & Arpels said: A visit to the exhibition in Riyadh should be an experience which differs from what people would experience  or expect  in a jewelry boutique or workshop. He added: The important thing for me is not so much to propose a beautiful display of rare jewels, but rather to present these pieces as proper expressions of art and culture, crystallizing the spirit of the times in which they were created; showcasing them in an immersive universe will enrich the way these creations are perceived.

More from WWD

The exhibition will showcase how the objects reflected the era in which they were created, while remaining timeless in their appeal. The timeless quality of our pieces is linked to the nature of our business: by definition, jewelry uses time-honored precious materials that are not defined by temporal fancy. In addition, the very fact that the Maison has lasted throughout the decades, continuously developing along a seamless and coherent path, is, in itself, a veritable factor of timelessness, said Bos.

The exhibition is set to open Jan. 19 and will run through April.

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Click here to read the full article.
Netflix's newest true crime movie The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker features a face you may recognise from a viral meme nearly 10 years ago, Kai Lawrence. In the space of a few months Kai went from an overnight internet celebrity, to being arrested for murder. So what actually happened?

The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker tells the story of Kai, a homeless man, who went viral in early 2013 for saving a woman's life by attacking the woman's assailant using a hatchet and "smashing" him around the head with it. Kai spoke with a local news team shortly after the event and the interview went viral, instantly making him a celebrity. Kai appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel show and Justin Bieber's team reached out to him. However, after just a few months in the spotlight, he had been arrested for the murder of Joseph Galfy.

According to the Netflix the documentary: "Chronicles a happy-go-lucky nomad's ascent to viral stardom and the steep downward spiral that resulted in his imprisonment."

Netflix

So why was Kai arrested for murder later that year? And where is he now? This everything you need to know about The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker.

What is the true story of The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker?

In February 2013, Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker reportedly hitched a ride with Jett Simmons McBride. Whilst in the car McBride reportedly said some alarming things and claimed he was the second coming of Jesus Christ. During the drive he crashed into a pedestrian on the side of the road and Kai got out of the car to help the individual.

When a woman came over to help Kai and the pedestrian, McBride allegedly got out of the car and tried to attack the woman. Kai then proceeds to get a hatchet out of his bag and attacks McBridge in the head.

Netflix

Following the incident Kai, whose real name is Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, was interviewed by KMPH, where he explained what happened with a rather eccentric retelling. The team at KMPH uploaded the full six and a half minute interview to YouTube, and Kai became an overnight sensation.

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Memes were created, a followup interview with KMPH was conducted, a producer for Keeping Up With The Kardashians wanted to create a reality show about him and Justin Bieber's team reached out to him for a music collab.

He later appeared in court as a witness in the McBride case.

Why was Kai arrested for murder?

Three months after he became an internet celebrity Kai travelled to New York.



He was soon arrested for the murder of 73-year-old lawyer Joseph Galfy. Galfy was found dead at his home in New Jersey wearing only his socks and underwear. He was found with his head bashed in.

During the police investigation they found a piece of paper with Kai's number and name on it underneath a laptop. There was also a train ticket receipt which the police used to track down surveillance footage, which showed Galfy buying Kai a train ticket, and the pair hugging goodbye.

Kai was later tracked down at a Philadelphia bus station and confessed to the murder of Galfy.

Netflix

However, whilst admitting to the murder, Kai claimed it was in self-defence. Kai claimed he met Galfy in Times Square and the two went for an Italian dinner and Galfy offered for Kai to stay at his home in New Jersey.

Kai then claimed when he woke up in Galfy's house, where he believed he had been drugged and sexually assaulted whilst sleeping. Kai said he didn't do anything about it and left the house, hoping to stay with a fan. However, when the fan didn't show up he called Galfy and asked to stay at his home.

During the second night he stayed over Kai claimed he woke to find Galfy sexually assaulting him and so he hit him repeatedly in the head using his hands and elbows.

The police said there were several holes in Kai's story. There was no sign of a struggle, Kai's recollections of events changed and he had been seen on video hugging Galfy and asking to stay with him again.

Where is Kai Lawrence now?

Netflix

Following his arrest Kai was imprisoned until his trial in 2019. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 57 years in prison.

In 2021 he launched an appeal but lost the case. Kai remains in prison at the New Jersey State Prison, in Trenton.

The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker is available on Netflix now.

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German Cabinet Approves Patriot Missiles For Turkey

In this handout image provided by the German Bundeswehr armed forces, a patriot missile is fired during the Operation Red Arrow exercise on October 15, 2008 in Crete, Greece. Credit - Peter MuellerBundeswehr/Getty Images

The Biden Administration deepened its involvement in the Ukraine conflict Tuesday by inviting up to 100 Ukrainian troops to the U.S. for weapons training on the Patriot missile defense system.

U.S. Defense Department spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said the Ukrainians will head to Fort Sill in Oklahoma as soon as next week to begin the months-long course to learn how to run a Patriot battery, which can shoot down attack planes, cruise missiles, and some ballistic missiles before they slam into targets.

Until now, Kyiv has only allowed its forces to leave the battlefield for short-term training on complex weapon systems at European bases under the instructions of U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) troops. But unlike other complex systems sent to Ukraine, such as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), Patriots require intensive, hands-on training outside Europe. Ukraines decision to send troops overseasfor training that normally takes a yearunderscores its militarys need for the Patriots in its fight against Russia as well as the Pentagons long-term commitment to the war.

Read More: Ukraine Dismisses Russias Declaration of a Holiday Ceasefire

The training will prepare approximately 90 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers to operate, maintain, and sustain the defensive system over a training course expected to last several months, Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon. Once fielded, the Patriot will contribute to Ukraines air defense capabilities, and provide another capability to Ukrainian people to defend themselves against Russias ongoing aerial assaults.

The surface-to-air guided missile defense system consists of eight launchers, each loaded with up to four interceptors, mounted atop a truck along with ground radar, a control station, and a generator. It takes about 100 troops to operate one Patriot batteryroughly the number headed to Fort Sill.

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In December, the U.S. committed to sending a Patriot battery to Ukraine as part of a $1.85 billion military assistance package, which was praised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his U.S. visit that month. Once the first Patriot system is operational, We will send another signal to President Biden that we would like to get more Patriots, Zelensky said during his trip.

Read More: 2022 Person of the Year: Volodymyr Zelensky

The U.S. Army currently has 16 Patriot battalions and the training school is located at Fort Sill. So (the Ukrainian trainees) will be falling in on an existing capability, Ryder said, adding that there is no plan to train additional forces beyond the initial 100, but that will be a part of an ongoing discussion with Ukraine. Training will take several months but the U.S. aims to expedite the training course so the system can be promptly activated over Ukraine.

It is the sort of necessary, serious, rigorous, sustained training this system requires, says Michael OHanlon, a military analyst at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution in Washington. The decision shows we are committed.

The Kremlin has noticed. Speaking with reporters before the announcement on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the U.S. of dangerously escalating the war by providing the Patriot battery. Such a step would lead to an escalation of the conflict and increase the risk of direct involvement of the American army in hostilities, she said.

The U.S. military has deployed Patriot batteries to hotspots and war zones for three decades, including the Persian Gulf War in 1991 when the system intercepted Iraqi Scud missiles streaking toward Israel. Its success shooting down missiles and aircraft from hundreds of miles away has generated foreign sales to NATO allies, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and others.

Ukraine now faces an array of artillery, missiles, and drones in the latest phases of the nearly 11-month war. Along with the U.S., Germany pledged a Patriot battery last week, which is intended to complement several air defense systems that have been committed to Ukraine by foreign partners.
Former Texas Tech quarterback Alan Bowman announced Monday he's transferring to Oklahoma State. Bowman played for Tech from 2018-20 and played as a backup at Michigan the past two seasons.

Former Texas Tech quarterback Alan Bowman is coming back to the Big 12 after spending two seasons as a backup on College Football Playoff teams at Michigan.

Bowman announced Monday he's committed to Oklahoma State, against whom he had one of his best career games as a true freshman in 2018. Texas Tech sprang a 41-17 upset at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater with Bowman passing for 397 yards and two touchdowns in the first Big 12 game of his career.

The Grapevine product spent the 2018 through 2020 seasons with the Red Raiders, passing for 5,260 yards and 33 touchdowns with 17 interceptions.

Next season will be the sixth in college football for Bowman. He redshirted in 2019 when he played in only three games after suffering a broken collarbone and has the Covid-bonus year available for 2023. At Michigan, he played in three games in 2021 and four games this season, combining for 69 passing yards and a touchdown.

Defensive tackle Philip Blidi, pictured, and cornerback Kobee Minor, both top backups for Texas Tech this season, have committed to Indiana as transfers.

Blidi, Minor pick Indiana

Defensive tackle Philip Blidi and cornerback Kobee Minor, both top backups for Texas Tech this season, have committed to Indiana as transfers.

Blidi and Minor played in 12 games apiece this season, but both players' paths to more playing time were blocked by the return of veteran Tech starters for 2023: Defensive tackles Jaylon Hutchings and Tony Bradford and cornerbacks Malik Dunlap and Rayshad Williams, all of whom opted to use their Covid-bonus year next season.

Blidi played in 35 games for the Red Raiders, beginning in his true freshman season of 2020. This season he was credited with 18 tackles, including 4 1/2 tackles for loss and two sacks, all career highs.

Blidi will reunite with Indiana defensive line coach Paul Randolph, who was the Red Raiders' defensive line coach from 2019-21.

Minor played in 23 games for the Red Raiders, also beginning in 2020, when he redshirted. This season, he was credited with 12 tackles and two pass breakups. Minor jointly announced his commitment to the Hoosiers on Monday along with his brother Darryl Minor, a linebacker who redshirted this season at Texas-El Paso.

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Juco kicker pledges

Gabe Showalter, an NJCAA second-team all-America kicker this season for Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, announced Sunday he's committed to Texas Tech. He's expected to join the Red Raiders as a walk-on.

Showalter, as a 5-foot-10, 175-pound freshman from St. Martin, Mississippi, made 8 of 10 field goals this season with a long of 41 yards. He was good on 42 of 43 extra points. He also punted 37 times for an average of 38.2 yards, a long of 57 yards and six punts inside the opponent 20-yard line.

Tech is losing senior Trey Wolff, the only kicker in program history who made 20 or more field goals in separate seasons. Wolff went 20 for 22 in 2019 and 21 for 25 this year.

The Red Raiders return Gino Garcia, who made 32 of 46 field goals in three years at Houston Baptist (now Houston Christian), but lost the competition with Wolff to be the Red Raiders' kicker this season.

Vols blank Red Raiders

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.  Tennessee shut out Texas Tech 7-0 on Monday in the opener of the Red Raiders' men's tennis spring schedule.

Johannus Monday, Emile Hudd, Blaise Bicknell and Angel Diaz all won singles matches for the Vols after teaming for two victories in doubles.

Tech remains in Knoxville to face North Carolina-Charlotte at noon Tuesday.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech roundup: Alan Bowman returning to Big 12 with Oklahoma State
The incentive shows Chinese citizens' desire for western vaccines. Li Ran/Xinhua via Getty

A Chinese state-owned bank in Hong Kong is offering a Pfizer shot to customers who deposit about $500,000.

The incentive signals mainland Chinese citizens' desire to receive a western developed mRNA vaccine.

The "privileges" are being offered after mainland China lifted travel restrictions to Hong Kong.

A Hong Kong-based bank is offering new and existing customers an express reservation for a complimentary BioNTech/Pfizer mRNA vaccine if they deposit at least HK$4,000,000, or about $512,200, into an account.

The vaccine is being offered as mainland China lifts its cross-border restrictions with Hong Kong and is among a number of "privileges" China CITIC Bank International, which is held by Chinese state-owned CITIC Group, is rolling out until March 31.

BioNTech's Pfizer mRNA vaccine is not widely available in mainland China, which has mostly relied on Chinese-produced vaccines that don't currently include mRNA technology. However, permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macau have had access to free Pfizer vaccines, according to Fortune.

CNCBI's complimentary vaccine is one of its "exclusive privileges catered to customers' wealth and wellness," according to a press release from the bank.

Other benefits for customers include a body check-up and the hepatitis B vaccine. Customers who apply for and activate a CNCBI GBA Currency Credit Card can get two complimentary vaccines, including the Pfizer vaccine or hepatitis B vaccine, as well as a 15% discount at the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong.

Other "privileges" for customers include four complimentary tickets to the theme park Monopoly Dreams Hong Kong and the chance to test drive a Bentley.

CNCBI did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

Since China rolled back its strict zero-COVID policy last December, the country has seen a staggering rise in COVID infections and related deaths. The country has not approved any mRNA vaccines, and South Korea's top vaccine producer said China is not likely to approve foreign vaccines because of "national pride."

Read the original article on Business Insider
LANSING, Mich. (AP)  Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a member of the Democratic leadership, announced Thursday that she will not run for a fifth term in 2024, a surprise decision that sets up a scramble by both parties for an open seat in the key battleground state. It really was the right time for me, she said.

The news shocked many Democrats in the state and her impending retirement turns Michigans next Senate race into one of the most competitive in the country as the party tries to preserve its slim majority.

Stabenow told The Associated Press that she made the decision to retire a few months ago. I knew that this was a moment when I could pass the torch to the next generation of leaders," she said.

Democrats will face a test to find a candidate with Stabenow's broad support. We'll see how things develop, the senator said, adding that she expects to have a lot of discussions with people.

On the GOP side, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which works to elect Republicans, said in a statement after Stabenows announcement that it would aggressively target this seat in 2024.

While the current political climate in Michigan favors Democrats following a midterm election where they flipped the state House and Senate, the state is still expected to be one of the nations premier battlegrounds in the 2024 presidential election. Only one Michigan Republican has held a seat in the Senate in the past 40 years.

Among the Democrats whose names began circulating after Stabenows announcement are Pete Buttigieg, the federal transportation secretary who ran for president in 2020 and moved from Indiana to northern Michigan last year to be closer to his husbands family; Elissa Slotkin, a congresswoman first elected in 2018 and coming off a decisive victory in November in one of the countrys most competitive House districts; and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who has seen her profile rise since going viral with a speech denouncing Republicans over grooming accusations.

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Buttigieg said in a statement that he was fully focused" on his Cabinet post and was "not seeking any other job.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has been mentioned as a possible future White House candidate and was just sworn in Sunday for a second term, issued a statement in which she ruled out a potential Senate run and reaffirmed that she would stay in office for the next four years.

On the Republican side, names that surfaced include John James, who was elected to Congress in November after losing Senate races to Stabenow in 2018 and Democrat Gary Peters in 2020; Tom Barrett, a former state representative defeated by Slotkin last year; and former Rep. Fred Upton, the longest-serving member of the congressional delegation before he decided not to run in 2022 after voting to impeach then-President Donald Trump over the Capitol riot.

Republican Tudor Dixon, who lost to Whitmer in 2022, is not ruling out a run for Senate, according to spokeswoman Sara Broadwater.

Stabenow joined Congress in 1996 after serving in the Michigan Legislature. In 2000, she made history by becoming the first woman to be elected senator in Michigan, defeating one-term Republican Sen. Spence Abraham. She turned back GOP challenges in 2006 and 2012 and defeated James by 6.5 percentage points in her last election in 2018.

Stabenow is the longest-serving member of the states congressional delegation. She is chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, making her the No. 3 ranking party leader, and heads the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.

Stabenow most recently has been involved in bipartisan legislation aimed at increasing oversight of cryptocurrencies. She has also led efforts to expand and increase funding for mental health care both nationally and in Michigan.

Praise for Stabenow began pouring in after her retirement announcement. Stabenow said she heard from President Joe Biden with a "call of support and commitment to work together in the next two years.

Democratic Gary Peters, the state's junior senator who has served with Stabenow since 2015, said she would leave a legacy as a champion for children, women and families, workers, manufacturing and our auto industry, mental health care and the Great Lakes.

Buttigieg said Stabenow was a force in the Senate while McMorrow called her a trailblazer.

"No one has been more instrumental in building the infrastructure of the Michigan Democratic Party to this historic moment were in today, McMorrow said.
House Republicans are battling over reductions to defense spending, with some in the GOP downplaying the potential for Pentagon cuts and Democrats warning a small group of conservatives could lead to big budgetary cuts.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as part of concessions to Republicans opposed to his Speakership agreed to put a limit on new discretionary spending. The limit would cap all discretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels, if agreed to as part of a House budget.

The 2022 defense budget was $780 billion, compared to the $850 billion budget for fiscal 2023.

As a result, such an agreement could cut $70 billion for defense spending based on those figures.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee in the previous Congress, said the cuts were a real possibility given the narrow GOP majority and the power of a small band of conservatives.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.)

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) speaks with reporters to discuss the National Defense Authorization bill on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022.

What we saw in the Speaker fight was that a relatively small number of Republicans are willing to hold the process hostage out of the desire to make dramatic cuts in the budget, Smith told The Hill. So regardless of what McCarthy did or did not promise, that same group of people can do the same thing on the budget, on the appropriations bills, on the defense bill.

Fears that the defense budget could be cut were the stated reason Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) gave for voting no on the House rules package on Monday evening.

Gonzales had warned of his potential vote during an interview Sunday with CBSs Margaret Brennan in which he said the potential defense cuts were a horrible idea.

When you have aggressive Russia and Ukraine, youve got a growing threat of China in the Pacific, how am I going to look at our allies in the eye and say, I need you to increase your defense budget, but yet America is going to decrease ours? he said.

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Gonzales was the sole GOP vote against the House rules package that passed along party lines on Monday.

House Republicans adopt rules package following Speaker fight

Its possible there will be no cuts to defense after the Pentagon has seen its budget rise steadily in recent years.

A majority of House Republicans are not likely to back any significant cuts to the defense budget, which has typically been the recipient of broad bipartisan support.

And a spokesperson for Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who was among the McCarthy holdouts last week, called claims of cutting defense spending garbage.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas)

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) talks to a reporter before a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, January 10, 2023.

The spokesperson also pointed to a Twitter thread from Roys press office that discounted the idea of defense cuts.

In that thread, Roys press office said the discretionary cap would mean cutting $135 billion from fiscal 2023 levels overall and not from defense. The thread said the cuts could mostly come from federal agencies, and Roys office said defense spending cuts were never mentioned during private talks.

In fact, there was broad agreement spending cuts should focus on NON-DEFENSE discretionary spending, the thread reads. This means cutting funding for the woke & weaponized bureaucrats that received massive increases under the $1.7 trillion omnibus.

The Memo: Chip Roy seizes his moment

However, the White House and Democrats in the House and Senate would be opposed to just cutting domestic discretionary spending alone.

That could lead to cuts to defense and nondefense spending, or no cuts. Or it could lead to an intense fight and a government shutdown.

The Defense Department declined to comment on this story.

Some lawmakers in both parties have raised questions about they skyrocketing Pentagon budget, while other Republican and Democratic Party voices have offered support for more defense spending.

Ukraine is expecting a long war with Russia, while Taiwan is under an increased threat from China. The Pentagon has also said it needs to keep growing to counter the rise of the Chinese military, which is on pace to quadruple its nuclear arsenal in the next 13 years.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan expressed little concern for the foreseeable future in terms of funding for Ukraine, noting the $45 billion for Ukraine that was included in the $1.7 trillion omnibus funding bill last year.

I do not see that money getting taken away from us, he said at a press gaggle on Monday. It is there. It is rock solid through nearly all or all of 2023.

The National Defense Authorization Act passed last year also includes $10 billion for Taiwan spread out over five years.

Clashes over the defense budget likely foreshadows a longer battle on defense spending over the next two years.

Before the GOP narrowly took over the House in Novembers midterm elections, McCarthy had promised there would be no blank check for Ukraine.

Far-right Republican lawmakers have also decried the billions of dollars in U.S. security assistance flowing to Ukraine without a proper audit of where the money is going.

Some Republicans have signaled there could be cuts in the Defense Department that relate to woke practices, a growing cry from the GOP over what they say are extreme progressive policies in the military.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told Fox on Sunday that everything has to be on the table for budget cuts.

Maybe focus on getting rid of all the woke policies in our military, the lawmaker said.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), also said on Fox & Friends that any cuts would not impact the Defense Department except for what he called waste.

Republicans will not impact defense spending aside from efficiencies and waste, Emmer said on Monday. Its the domestic spending were going to go after.

Smith said the House Armed Services Committee is united behind maintaining defense spending and would continue to do its work this year. The Democrat explained he was mostly concerned about Republican detractors shutting down the government over budget talks.

Its really the chaos factor, driven by the small number of Republicans who think the federal government is irrelevant, he said. What 80 to 90 percent of the conference wants may not be enough to overcome the chaos.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Hattiesburg native David Shemper knows firsthand the dangers of the nationwide rise in hate crimes.

He held up an envelope from a letter dated Oct. 19, 1938, addressed to his great-grandfather Jacob Rosenthal, from his great-uncle Herman Rosenthal, who lived in what is now Gdansk, Poland. Formerly called the Free City of Danzig, it is also where the first shots of World War II were fired less than a year later.

"In the moment, my family, like so many Jews who faced state-sponsored oppression and terror for decades in that part of the world could not imagine the Nazi genocide that would seal their fates," Shemper said.

Hattiesburg, Miss., businessman David Shemper talks about his great-uncles and their murders during the Holocaust. The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County is hosting an exhibit, "Americans and the Holocaust," through Feb. 10, 2023.

The beginnings of World War II ushered in a new era, when hate and violence against Jewish people were accepted and even encouraged. Families were torn apart. Many were sent to concentration camps, where if they were not killed in the gas chambers or otherwise murdered, they died from disease, starvation or harsh winter conditions.

More than 6 million Jews died during the Holocaust. In 1939, no one could imagine what horrors lay on the horizon.

Jacob Rosenthal in March 1939, six months before the attack on Gdansk, wrote a letter to his daughter  Shemper's grandmother Esther Rosenthal Shemper  in which he said, "From Danzig, from my brothers, I have not heard anything in a long time. I have sent them a registered letter. I expect to get an answer soon."

"He would never get that answer," Shemper said. "Herman, Isaac and Wolf would be murdered in the Holocaust."

That letter was the last time any of his family in the U.S. heard from Herman Rosenthal or his brothers, Isaac and Wolf. The only other details of the men's lives are outlined in a handful of letters dated between 1914 and 1916.

"We only know that they were trying to survive in various places in Europe during those times," Shemper said. "The (1938 letter) is the last that remains of their existence on Earth."

God and country:Christian woman at forefront of fighting antisemitism. Mississippi roots shaped journey.

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A traveling exhibit to explore the U.S. reaction to the Holocaust during World War II and its implications on future generations opened Monday and will be on display through Feb. 10 at the Hattiesburg branch of the Library of Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County.

The exhibit, "Americans and the Holocaust," is presented by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Library Association. Hattiesburg was one of only 50 host cities selected for the tour.

"The exhibit examines the motives and fears that shaped Americans' responses to war and genocide in Europe in the 1930s and '40s," said Adam Singletary, director of the Library of Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County. "It will challenge the assumption that Americans knew little and did nothing about the Nazi persecution and murder of Jews as the Holocaust unfolded."

Mayor Toby Barker hopes Pine Belt residents will visit the exhibit to learn more not just about the past, but how it relates to today's world.

"There are families in our own community who are here because of what happened," Barker said. "There are families here who lost people close to them because of what occurred less than a century ago. This is close to us."

Temple B'nai Israel in Hattiesburg: Celebrating and preserving 'a very colorful history'

State Rep. Missy McGee, R-Hattiesburg, whose grandfather was a Jewish immigrant and member of Hattiesburg's Temple B'nai Israel, said many of her childhood memories are of the synagogue and its congregation.

McGee, a Methodist, honored her grandparents David and Dora Levine, who were members of Congregation B'nai Israel.

Although the Holocaust exhibit is personal to her, McGee said it also is a reminder that today's climate has sparked intolerance and hate toward a number of racial, ethnic and gender groups, including the Jewish community.

"Sadly there is a growing undercurrent of antisemitism right here in our country," McGee said. "That is so hard to imagine. It is very critical that we continue to remind the current generation of this dark moment in history to steer us right going forward."

If you go

The "Americans and the Holocaust" exhibit will be on display at the Hattiesburg library through Feb. 10. In addition to the interactive exhibit there will be a number of presentations that further explore the Holocaust.

Southerners and the Holocaust, Dan Puckett, Troy University, 5:30 p.m. Monday , examines Hattiesburg and the Souths reaction. Puckett will use "A Story of Jewish Experience in Mississippi" by Leon Waldoff as a basis for a retelling of how in the 1930s and '40s Rabbi Arthur Brodey viewed what the Nazis were doing in Europe.

The Unwanted: America, Auschwitz and a Village Caught in Between, book club discussion with Emma Semrau, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Michael Dobbs' book draws on previously unpublished letters, diaries, interviews and visa records, provides an illuminating account of America's response to the refugee crisis of the 1930s and 1940s. He describes the deportation of German Jews to France in October 1940, along with their continuing quest for American visas. And he re-creates the heated debates among U.S. officials over whether or not to admit refugees amid growing concerns about "fifth columnists," at a time when the American public was deeply isolationist, xenophobic, and antisemitic.

Examining Genocide Through the Lens of the Holocaust, Donald Berry, Gulf Coast Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education, 5:30 p.m. Jan. 19 , asks, "What do Americans know about genocide?" Berry draws from 30 years of Holocaust and genocide teaching at the Gulf Coast Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education. He will explore the topic by discussing key elements of the United Nations' genocide convention. He will also examine the efforts of Raphael Lemkin to define the crime and put legislation in place and give a brief overview of U.S. involvement in genocides throughout history.

Feature film "Jojo Rabbit, 2 p.m. Jan. 21 , is a World War II satire that follows a lonely German boy whose worldview is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a young Jewish girl in their attic. In spite of his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler, Jojo confronts his blind nationalism.

"What We Were Watching: Americans' Responses to Nazism Through Cinema, Radio and Media, Dave Davies, University of Southern Mississippi, 5:30 p.m. Jan. 25 , will examine media coverage during the Holocaust and attempt to narrow the perspective to Mississippi media coverage. The presentation will show the media downplayed or ignored early signs of the Holocaust, a situation that contributed to the American government's delay in addressing it.

Feature film "The Search," 2 p.m. Jan. 28 , explores post-World War II Germany, where a small boy who survived Auschwitz wanders alone  feral, mute and terrified. He finds a makeshift home with a bighearted soldier, while the mother he does not remember searches desperately for him.

Documentary film, "From Swastika to Jim Crow," 5:30 p.m. Feb. 1 , share the story of before and during World War II how Jewish scholars who escaped Nazi Germany and emigrated to the U.S. were confronted with anti-semitism at major universities and public distrust of foreigners. A surprising number secured teaching positions at historically Black colleges in the South. In many cases they formed lasting relationships with their students and had an important impact on the communities in which they lived. This is a story of two cultures, each sharing a burden of oppression, brought together by the tragic circumstances of war.

Feature film "Casablanca, 2 p.m. Feb. 4 , the city is easy to enter, but much harder to leave, especially if you're wanted by the Nazis. Such a man is Resistance leader Victor Laszlo whose only hope is Rick Blaine, a cynical American who sticks his neck out for no one, especially Victor's wife Ilsa, the ex-lover who broke his heart. Ilsa offers herself in exchange for Laszlo's transport out of the country and bitter Rick must decide what counts more  personal happiness or countless lives hanging in the balance.

Tuesday, February 7th 5:30 pm

"Refugees: A Historical Overview," Andrew Wiest, University of Southern Mississippi, 5:30 p.m. Feb. 7, examines refugees throughout history.

Source: The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County

Do you have a story to share? Contact Lici Beveridge at lbeveridge@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.

This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Hattiesburg library hosts Americans and the Holocaust exhibit
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) receives former Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide (Photo: VNA)

PM Pham Minh Chinh highly valued Sugas choosing Vietnam as the destination for his first trip abroad in October 2020 right after he took office as the PM of Japan, as well as his role as the advisor to the Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance.

He thanked the Government, people, businesses and organisations of Japan for their cooperation and assistance as well as engagement in Vietnams development.

The leader affirmed that Vietnam always supports Japans role and positive contributions to peace and development in the region and the world, expressing his hope that Japan will continue such contributions.

He also lauded the efforts and directions Suga made when he led the Cabinet of Japan, which helped the country successfully control the COVID-19 pandemic, recover and boost socio-economic development, and enhance the position and prestige of Japan in the region and the world.

PM Pham Minh Chinh took this occasion to thank the former Japanese PM, the Government and people of Japan for providing Vietnam with more than 7.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, contributing to helping Vietnam overcome the most difficult time in the fight against the pandemic and achieve positive results in socio-economic development in 2022.

Both sides agreed that the Vietnam-Japan relationship is on its prime time with high political efficiency and regular delegation exchanges even during the COVID-19 time.

Last year, Vietnamese and Japanese PM had four meetings, while progress was seen in many agreements. The two countries will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2023, which is an important milestone marking a new development period of their intensive strategic partnership, they said.

PM Pham Minh Chinh said he hopes former PM Suga will continue his support and contributions to the growth of the Vietnam-Japan ties. He said that the two sides should increase the exchange of delegations this year, while strengthening defence-security cooperation and promoting partnership in all fields. He said he hopes Japan will assist Vietnam in industrialisation and modernisation as well as building an independent and self-reliant economy and international integration.

The Vietnamese leader also showed hope that Suga will support the implementation of agreements reached between the two PMs such as those in providing new-generation ODA to Vietnam, infrastructure development, green transition, climate change response, trade of farm produce, high technology, green and circular economy, and human resource training.

He also stressed the need for the two sides to strengthen people-to-people exchange and cooperation in tourism as well as the organisation of activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of bilateral ties in 2023. He thanked the Japanese side for supporting the 500,000-strong Vietnamese community in the country.

For his part, Suga affirmed his special sentiments towards the nation and people of Vietnam, and hailed the role of PM Pham Minh Chinh in promoting ties between the two countries.

He highlighted that Japan considers Vietnam as a key partner in its free and open Indo-Pacific strategy, and pledged that he will continue to contribute to lifting the bilateral extensive strategic partnership to a new height.

He said he hopes the two sides will continue to bolster cooperation in ODA, holding that Japanese businesses are interested in the promising Vietnamese market. He suggested that the two sides should continue to promote collaboration in trade and investment, climate change response, renewable energy, and the development of the Japan-Vietnam University, as well as in the trade of farm produce, along with security-defence.

At the meeting, the two sides also discussed regional and global issues of mutual concern, and underlined the necessity of upholding the law and multilateralism in international relations for peace, stability and cooperation in the region and the world, as well as the ensuring of peace, security, maritime and aviation safety and freedom in the sea, as well as the settlement of disputes through peaceful measures in line with international law./.
(Bloomberg) -- Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is pushing to expand child care, make college more affordable and ban assault weapons as the billionaire Democrat begins his second term.

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The heir to the Hyatt hotels fortune wants to pass a ban on certain assault weapons, a bill being weighed in the Illinois Senate this week. He is also seeking to make preschool available to everyone in the state and ensure free higher-education tuition for working class families.

The agenda outlined in his inauguration speech comes as the worst-rated US state confronts crime, population loss and economic inequality exacerbated by the pandemic.

As Illinois continues its progress overcoming our historical fiscal challenges and a deadly global pandemic, I come to you with an agenda as ambitious and bold as our people are, thinking not only about the next four years, but about the next forty, he said.

During his first term, Pritzker, 57, faced mounting criticism from billionaire Ken Griffin, who moved the headquarters of his Citadel hedge fund to Florida last year. Griffin, once the richest man in Illinois, decried rising crime and mismanagement of the states finances. The state also has lost several headquarters including those of Boeing Co. and Caterpillar Inc.

Still, Pritzker passed budgets on time  a norm for most states, but one which eluded Illinois between 2015 through 2017 under his predecessor. The state also earned multiple credit rating upgrades during his first term, which pulled it back from the brink of junk.

Pritzker is calling for real accounting of the assault weapons currently in circulation, and on Sunday criticized the version of the bill presented by the Senate as falling short of whats needed in the state and agreed on by the House of Representatives last week.

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Im a firm believer that government functions best when we look for compromise, Pritzker said in his prepared remarks. But Im done with the NRA having its way when it comes to mass shootings. Why do we allow anyone to easily purchase a rapid-fire, high-capacity weapon that can kill dozens of unarmed people in under a minute?

The governor, who has so far deflected speculation that he may have presidential ambitions, said Illinois would get the ban in place and then the federal government should follow our lead.

Under Pritzker, Illinois cemented its position as an island in the Midwest for many causes backed by Democrats including abortion access, workers rights and criminal justice reform.

The extremists still want to take away a womans right to choose, and I dont intend to let them, he said. Thats why yet again, on womens rights, Illinois will lead.

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Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russias Security Council, has admitted at a meeting of a defence industry working group that Russias adversaries in armed aggression are ahead of Russia when it comes to the modernisation of Soviet-era T-72 tanks.

Source: Interfax news agency; Russian state-owned propaganda news agency RIA Novosti

Quote from Medvedev: "The key question of our meeting today is the production, repair and supply of tanks. This is a task of the utmost importance; I have already spoken to some colleagues and drawn their attention to the fact that, for example, our enemies have financed the modernisation of 100 T-72 tanks, I have to emphasise this - not foreign tanks, but T-72s, so that they can be deployed from the Soviet inheritance."

Details: According to Medvedev, Russia is also engaged in the modernisation of tanks, but it must "act faster, more persistently and more effectively".

Medvedev also threatened that the Russian authorities will, if necessary, be forced to apply new penalties for any disruption in fulfilling state defence procurement contracts, including criminal penalties.

Earlier:

In November, the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic and Ukroboronprom [an association of multi-product enterprises in various sectors of Ukraines defence industry  ed.] announced the establishment of a joint defence cluster for the production of military equipment and ammunition, as well as cooperation in the field of repair and development.

In autumn, a public initiative in the Czech Republic raised more than 1 million euros in just one month to purchase a modernised T-72 for Ukraine; the tank was named Tomas in honour of the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomas Masaryk.

On 9 January, Petr Fiala, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, personally signed the T-72 tank that would be sent to the Ukrainian military.

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KEY WEST, Fla. (AP)  The U.S. Coast Guard repatriated 273 migrants to Matanzas, Cuba, over the weekend following interdictions off the Florida Keys.

While more than 4,400 migrants from Cuba and Haiti have made their way by boat to the state since August, more than 700 migrants arrived in the Florida Keys over New Year's weekend, officials said. Many made the dangerous 100-mile (160-kilometer) journey from the communist island across the dangerous Florida Straits on makeshift, motorized rafts.

That led Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday to mobilize the Florida National Guard. Lt. Col. Miranda Gahn said they were preparing to activate personnel to assist South Florida law enforcement agencies but didn't share any details about what their mission would be.

However, the governor said in a statement Friday that the state will deploy airplanes, helicopter and marine patrols to support water interdictions and ensure the safety of migrants attempting to reach Florida through the Florida Straits.

There was no official word on the number of migrants landing in the Florida Keys over the weekend.

In a statement sent Monday, the ACLU of Florida condemned the governor's actions, saying the migrants are taking to the sea to flee extreme political and economic distress in their home countries."

As migrants arrive at our shore, our number one priority as a state should be to ensure that every person is safe, healthy, cared for, and treated humanely," said Tiffani Lennon, the ACLU's executive director.

Instead of politicizing the issue, elected officials must work with groups on the ground and assist organizations that have stepped up to welcome and support migrants and people seeking asylum," Lennon said.

On Friday, DeSantis criticized Democratic President Joe Biden and the federal governments immigration policies and response to the migrants landing in the Keys.

The governors statement made no mention of the Biden administrations recent announcement of a new policy to start turning back Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans at the Texas border, along with Venezuelans, who arrive illegally. The administration also said it would offer humanitarian parole for up 30,000 people a month from those four countries if they apply online, pay their airfare and find a financial sponsor.

More than 4,400 migrants, mostly Cubans with some Haitians, have arrived by boat in Florida since August as those two countries face deepening political and economic crises. Because Washington and Havana do not have diplomatic ties, it is problematic for the U.S. government to send Cubans back once they arrive in Florida.

Those who are stopped at sea are already taken back, since Cuba will accept those people. Almost 8,000 Cubans and Haitians have been intercepted since August  about 50 per day compared with 17 per day in the 2021-22 fiscal year and just two per day during the 2020-21 fiscal year. Officials said at least 65 migrants have died at sea since August.
By Marco Aquino

LIMA (Reuters) - In Peru's south, a mining region that has been roiled by deadly protests over the ouster of former leftist President Pedro Castillo, protest leaders say they are ready for an "endless battle" against the government, threatening to destabilize the deeply divided Andean nation.

Seventeen protesters were killed on Monday in the southern province of Puno in the worst day of violence since Castillo's Dec. 7 dramatic removal, which has seen a total of 39 people killed in protests and seven more in related accidents.

The anger in the Andean south looks likely to harden, protest leaders told Reuters, a major risk to firms in the world's no. 2 copper producer, home to large mines including MMG Ltd's Las Bambas and Freeport-McMoRan's Cerro Verde.

"This is an endless battle," said Edgar Chura, leader of the Puno Defense Front protest group before the Monday clashes, a view shared by other protest leaders who spoke with Reuters.

He said a key demand of the southern regions was overhauling the current market-friendly constitution dating back to conservative President Alberto Fujimori in the 1990s, which he called "an enemy of the people economically and politically".

The protests, sparked by Castillo's removal and arrest after he illegally tried to shutter Congress to avoid an impeachment vote, have focused anger on new President Dina Boluarte and the widely reviled legislature seen as corrupt and self serving.

Protesters want new elections this year, a clear-out of Congress and a new constitution. Boluarte, Peru's first female president who was Castillo's deputy, has tried to appease the protesters, offering elections two years early in early 2024. But she says many of their demands cannot be met.

Boluarte, who speaks the indigenous Andean language Quechua as well as Spanish and comes from a small town, had appeared to get something of a grip on the situation as protests cooled in recent weeks, partly due to the festive season.

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But with the new explosion of violence, her administration is now under renewed pressure, caught between a hostile Congress and angry rural voters who felt Castillo, though flawed, was their representative against the traditional political elite as a former teacher and son of peasant farmers.

"In the south he always had support and approval, so there is a sector that genuinely feels that they have removed the politician who represented them," said Jeffrey Radzinsky, director of political consultancy Grupo Fides Peru.

(Graphic: Peru protest deaths - https://www.reuters.com/graphics/PERU-POLITICS/zjvqjjgyxpx/chart.png)

GET REVENGE

Peru's south, a poor area flush with copper, had been key in driving Castillo's unexpected rise into office in 2021, when Boluarte had been his vice presidential runner.

Castillo won support pledging to reform the constitution to spread more of the country's copper wealth and empower marginalized indigenous groups. But he largely failed amid accusations of corruption, protests and revolving Cabinets of over 80 ministers in just 17 months.

His arrest though has galvanized his support base and smudged over his shortcomings, firing up popular anger against the political elite many blame for wide inequality between wealthy coastal capital Lima and the inland provinces.

"The Peruvian people don't want this Congress. We don't want newly appointed president Dina Boluarte," said protester Antonio Choque at a recent demonstration in the southern region of Ica

who blamed conservatives for ousting Castillo.

"We want her immediate resignation, the closure of Congress and a new constitution."

Boluarte has a low popularity rating of 21% - similar to Castillo before his ouster - though Congress is ever lower, with support of just 13%, according to a recent poll by Ipsos Peru.

Prime Minister Alberto Otarola says the protests are being driven by "dark money" and foreign interests seeking to destabilize Peru. He said 75 police were injured in the Monday clashes and pledged new security measures to restore order.

Protest leaders, meanwhile, say that a government proposal to bring elections forward to April 2024 is not enough.

Jose Luis Chapa, a protest leader and workers union official in Arequipa, said new elections must be held this year if the government wanted dialogue.

"The agreement is not to talk with anyone from government, least of all Dina Boluarte," the mining region protest leader said, adding protests would be "staggered" around the south. Others are planning potential marches to capital Lima.

In Ayacucho, hit by the worst violence in December, Rocio Leandro, leader of the Ayacucho Defense Front protest group, said anger at the government had been sharpened by the protest deaths and called on Boluarte to step down to allow a transitional government.

"We have no fear, despite the fact that they bring lethal weapons that have ended the lives of our brothers. We are organizing ourselves and we will keep going," he said.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Alistair Bell)
By Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW (Reuters) -One of President Vladimir Putin's closest allies said on Tuesday that Moscow was now fighting the U.S.-led NATO military alliance in Ukraine and that the West was trying to wipe Russia from the political map of the world.

Putin casts the war in Ukraine as an existential battle with an aggressive and arrogant West, and has said that Russia will use all available means to protect itself and its people against any aggressor.

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev is seen by diplomats as one of the major hardline influences on Putin, who has promised victory in Ukraine despite a series of battlefield setbacks.

"The events in Ukraine are not a clash between Moscow and Kyiv - this is a military confrontation between Russia and NATO, and above all the United States and Britain," Patrushev told the Argumenti i Fakti newspaper in an interview.

"The Westerners' plans are to continue to pull Russia apart, and eventually just erase it from the political map of the world," Patrushev said.

The United States has denied Russian claims that it wants to destroy Russia, the world's biggest producer of natural resources, while President Joe Biden has cautioned that a conflict between Russia and NATO could trigger World War Three.

Asked about Patrushev's remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said NATO and the United States were part of the Ukraine conflict.

"De facto they have already become an indirect party to this conflict, pumping Ukraine with weapons, technologies, intelligence information and so on," Peskov told a regular news briefing.

Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has triggered one of the deadliest European conflicts since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union and United States came closest to intentional nuclear war.

Watch: Blasts heard around Ukraine on early New Year's Day

The United States and its allies have condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an imperial land grab, while Ukraine has vowed to fight until the last Russian soldier is ejected from its territory.

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RUSSIA ALONE

As a former Soviet spy who has known Putin since the 1970s, Patrushev's views give an insight into thinking at the very highest levels of the Kremlin. He rebuffed CIA Director William Burns' warnings in 2021 against an invasion of Ukraine.

In a Soviet-style analysis of the West, Patrushev cast Western political elites as corrupt and controlled by trans-national corporations and business clans which planned and executed "colour revolutions" across the world.

"The American state is just a shell for a conglomerate of huge corporations that rule the country and try to dominate the world," Patrushev said.

The United States, Patrushev said, had sown chaos in Afghanistan, Vietnam and the Middle East, and had been trying for years to undermine Russia's "unique" culture and language.

Russia, he said, was a victim of Western designs to push it back to the borders of 15th century Muscovy, and accused the West of bleeding Ukraine to undermine Russia.

"There is no place for our country in the West," he said.

In response, he said, Russia would achieve economic sovereignty and financial independence while also building up its armed forces and special services to deter any potential aggressor.

Russian business and private capital, he said, needed to be more "nationally oriented".

"The younger generation should be inspired by the ideas of creative work for the benefit of our Motherland, and not sit in the offices of Western corporations," he said.

(Editing by Gareth Jones)
Top U.S. officials are increasingly tracking the movements and efforts of a Russian private military group outside of Ukraine as Moscow continues to use the organization to launch influence operations in Africa and Europe.

Last month the Biden administration downgraded classified intelligence saying Russia is relying on the Wagner group in Ukraine to recruit prisoners and launch offensives in the city of Bakhmut.

ButU.S. officials are also gathering intelligence related to the groups activities in countries such as the Central African Republic, Mali and Serbia, according to cables obtained by POLITICO, where Russia is using Wagner to fight anti-Putin sentiment and defend government mining interests with troops and weapons.

The Wagner group, owned by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, operates in dozens of countries and works with governments on military and political projects. The U.S. has long tracked the groups activities across the world, particularly in countries such as Syria, where U.S. troops are stationed.



But the recent statements from American officials underscore the degree to which the administration is concerned about Russias reliance on the group and Wagners ability to shape events in countries where the U.S. and its allies hold business and diplomatic relationships.

The cables show how U.S. officials are tracking the movements and activities of Wagner on the ground in the Central African Republic and Serbia, and the extent to which the group poses threats to local forces and officials. While Wagner has for years operated in both countries, the cables provide fresh context to how the Biden administration is analyzing the paramilitary groups increasing activity in politically turbulent countries.

There's been a growing focus on Russia's relationship in Africa and in building a sphere of influence that really hasn't existed since the end of the Cold War, said Catrina Doxsee, the associate director and associate fellow for the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The use of private military companies, particularly as we've seen in countries with weak governance, ongoing security challenges and enriched natural resources, sets [Wagner] up to either carry out  security agreements or to facilitate future diplomatic relationships with those countries.

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Prigozhin and Wagner have been under U.S. sanctions for years. But the U.S. has recently taken additional steps to try to control Wagners access to weapons. At the end of December, the Biden administration implemented additional export controls on Wagner, making it more difficult to access any equipment with U.S. technology.

NSC spokesperson John Kirby told reporters last month that because of sanctions and export controls, Wagner has looked for partners across the world to supply tools to support its operations  and North Korea has completed an initial arms delivery. The administration is also considering designating Wagner as a terrorist organization, Bloomberg reported last month.

There are a handful of different concerns that we have when we're seeing them operate in a place like Africa, Doxsee said. A big implication is Russia's ability to spread its own power projection and intelligence capabilities  not only by displacing Western military intelligence capabilities  but also [through] the pursuit of new basing rights and other opportunities that would give them access to strategically important locations.

The Wagner groups operations in Africa span various countries, including Madagascar and Libya. In recent years, the group has also ramped up activity in the Central African Republic. The group set up offices in the country in 2018, establishing the Russia house  a cultural center  in the capital of Bangui. It worked to train troops and protect President Faustin-Archange Touadera.

Human rights groups have said Wagner may be responsible for executing, torturing and beating civilians in the country. The Kremlin denies any official link to Wagner.

"The U.S. government is concerned about the extent to which Wagner is interfering in sovereign countries internal politics, violating human rights, and robbing them of mineral wealth, one senior administration official said. There is significant evidence that Wagners harsh counterterrorism tactics in places like Mali are worsening the situation by creating more opportunities for extremist exploitation."



In December, U.S. officials began tracking the fallout of an alleged attack on one of the Wagner groups top leaders, Dmitry Sytii in the Central African Republic, according to the cables. Prigozhin claimed Sytii received a package that exploded in his hands, calling it a terrorist attack. He alleged the package came with a note indicating that the French were responsible.

But in the days following the incident, U.S. officials scrambled to determine if an attack had occurred or whether Wagner was spreading disinformation for political reasons  a tactic often used by the group, according to the cables. U.S. officials could not immediately determine if Wagner was attempting to make it look as though the French had attacked the group.

French officials have denied any involvement. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna reportedly called Wagners allegations Russian propaganda.

U.S. officials received varying information about the event, including that the attack may have taken place at a military base or the cultural center and conversely that Sytii was seen partying in Bangui in the hours after the incident allegedly occurred. Officials also heard that Sytii may have been hospitalized and lost three fingers in the blast but also that he may have been evacuated.

American officials raised questions about the timing of the news  it came shortly after unidentified aircraft targeted a cotton factory where Wagner troops were reportedly positioned. It also came one day after the departure of the French military and two days after a fire broke out at the European Union delegations headquarters in Bangui, one of the cables said.

All worried that there had recently been a remarkable number of coincidences, one of the cables said.

The administration is also tracking Wagners movements in Serbia and Belarus  a Russian ally that has staged Moscows troops to prop up the war effort in Ukraine. Reports of Wagner group operatives in Belarus surfaced in 2020. The government in Minsk announced that it had arrested 33 operatives working to sow chaos in the lead up to the presidential elections.

Since then, the Belarussian government, under the leadership of President Alexander Lukashenko, has grown closer to Russia.

Wagner has positioned people in Belgrade as well, and announced it had officially set up operations in Serbia at the beginning of December. Since then, it has launched influence operations to counter activity against the Putin regime by elements of the Russian diaspora, one of the cables said.

The groups presence in Serbia comes as tensions continue to rise on the border of Kosovo. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic  who does not recognize Kosovos 2008 declaration of independence  has ordered troops to move into combat-ready positions and has threatened to cross into Kosovo to protect Serbian people living there. The situation in Kosovo has worsened since November when authorities announced that ethnic Serbs would have to surrender their Serbian-issued license plates.



Meanwhile, Russia, aided by Wagner, continues to lose people on the battlefield in Ukraine, particularly in Bakhmut. The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank, assessed last week that Wagners forces are serving in a chiefly attritional role in the city and have likely become degraded to a near-debilitating extent.

Russians have really poured a lot of effort into Bakhmut. It's largely been a struggle fought by promotion in the Wagner group. [It] has largely been a battle fought with, quite frankly, convicts, a senior administration official told reporters Wednesday. In fact, we believe  that 90 percent of the casualties that he has suffered have been, in fact, convicts.

American officials are planning additional actions against Wagner to limit its role in Ukraine. The U.S. has already sanctioned Prigozhin, Wagner and its network, but additional financial measures are likely forthcoming.
By Tom Balmforth and Vladyslav Smilianets

KYIV/NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Tuesday its forces were still holding onto positions in the eastern mining town of Soledar, withstanding assaults by wave after wave of Russian soldiers and mercenaries seeking Moscow's first battlefield victory for months.

Earlier, the British Defence Ministry said Russian troops and fighters of Wagner, a mercenary company run by an ally of President Vladimir Putin, had probably taken control of most of the settlement of Soledar after four days of advances.

But Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said in a statement on Tuesday evening that fighting for the town was still raging.

"The enemy disregards the heavy losses of its personnel and continues to storm actively," she said. "The approaches to our positions are simply strewn with the bodies of dead enemy fighters. Our fighters are bravely holding the defence."

There was no immediate word from Moscow on the situation in the town and Reuters was not able to verify it.

Seizing Soledar would be Russia's most substantial gain since last August, after a series of humiliating retreats throughout much of the second half of 2022. Russian forces have been fighting for months to capture the nearby larger city of Bakhmut, a few kilometres (miles) to the southwest.

But any victory would come at a massive cost, with troops from both sides having taken heavy losses in some of the most intense combat since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago. Kyiv has released pictures in recent days showing what it says are scores of Russian soldiers strewn dead in muddy fields.

Moscow says capturing Bakhmut would be a major step toward taking full control of Ukraine's Donetsk region, one of four provinces it claimed to have annexed two months ago.

"Russia's Soledar axis is highly likely an effort to envelop Bakhmut from the north and disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication," the British defence ministry said in a short daily intelligence briefing earlier on Tuesday.

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In an overnight address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy acknowledged that the situation in Soledar was "difficult", but said Ukrainian defenders had bought more time by holding on, and Kyiv would eventually drive Russians out of the entire eastern Donbas industrial region.

"And what did Russia want to gain there? Everything is completely destroyed, there is almost no life left. And thousands of their people were lost: the whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes," he said. "This is what madness looks like."

Near Bakhmut, a team of Ukrainian soldiers was firing volleys of shells from a heavy anti-aircraft gun at what they said were Russian ground positions, across a barren snowy field.

"We're frying orcs," said soldier with the nom de guerre "Pilot", using a common Ukrainian slur for Russian troops.

His crew receives coordinates of Russian bases from spotters or drones. They periodically shell Russian bases, and unleash storms of heavy fire when enemy troops advance: "If they creep in very actively, then we kill them in great numbers."

KYIV SEEKS MORE WEAPONS

Wagner, a mercenary company founded by Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, has taken a leading role in the Bakhmut fighting as Russia's regular military forces elsewhere on the front line have dug into mostly defensive positions.

Prigozhin, whose fighters are also active across Africa and the Middle East, has released videos showing himself recruiting fighters in Russian prisons with offers of pardons.

He said on Saturday Soledar was important for a network of cavernous mining tunnels. Washington says Prigozhin may want personal control of the area's minerals.

Zelenskiy has repeatedly urged Ukraine's Western supporters to supply more sophisticated weapons. Last week, one of Ukraine's biggest pleas was answered when the United States, Germany and France promised large numbers of Western armoured fighting vehicles for the first time. Kyiv is still seeking Western battle tanks.

In a nod to Kyiv's battlefield successes of recent months, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Kharkiv. The eastern city, Ukraine's second largest, was nearly surrounded by Russian forces and under constant bombardment until Ukraine drove the Russians from its ramparts in a breakthrough in September that shifted the war's momentum.

"This city is a symbol of the absolute insanity of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and of the endless suffering that people, especially here in the east of the country, are confronted with every day," she said. She promised aid for Ukraine and support in its bid to join the EU.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson said London had not yet made a final decision on sending tanks to Ukraine. A U.S. official said Ukrainian troops would soon arrive in the United States to begin training on Patriot air defence missiles, which Washington promised to Kyiv last month.

In addition to sending weapons to Kyiv, the West has repeatedly tightened economic sanctions on Moscow. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the latest move, a price cap on Russian oil, appeared to be achieving its goals of keeping Russian oil on the market while limiting Moscow's revenues.

"While the crude oil price cap has only been in effect for around a month, we have already seen early progress towards both of those goals, with senior Russian officials having admitted that the price cap was cutting into Russia's energy revenues," Yellen said.

Russia began what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24, claiming Ukraine's close ties with the West and ambition to join NATO posed a security threat. Kyiv and its allies accuse Moscow of an unprovoked war to seize territory from Ukraine.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Michael Perry, Alex Richardson and Peter Graff; editing by Himani Sarkar, Angus MacSwan and Mark Heinrich)
lottery ticket

Getty

Someone has had a stroke of good luck in Luck, Wisconsin!

One ticket matched all six Megabucks numbers in the lottery drawing last week, netting the winner $15.1 million, according to the Wisconsin Lottery.

The winning ticket was sold at Wayne's Food Plus in the tiny town, which is located in the northwest part of the state and home to just over 1,100 residents.

"Thursday morning, when I come in and run my morning reports and get your lottery report  it shows 'Congrats to Wayne's foods in Luck, Wi, for selling a 15-million-dollar megabucks ticket,'" store manager Paul Wondra told CBS Minnesota.

He then joked: "I was looking for my ticket, but I didn't have one."

RELATED: Mega Millions Jackpot: The Do's and Don'ts of Winning the Lottery Based on Winners' Experiences

A winner has yet to come forward, according to the news station, but Wondra thinks it will be any day now before Luck finds out who was in luck.

The winning numbers were 4, 6, 12, 17, 27 and 28.

"Oh yeah, it probably won't take long," he said. "Small town, word travels. As much as you want to keep something quiet, it's impossible."

Since the drawing, business has been brisk at the convenience store, with other customers seeking similar good fortune.

RELATED: Kentucky Woman Wins $175K Lottery Jackpot in White Elephant Gift Exchange at Work Holiday Party

"We said well, get ready, it's going to be a crazy day, and they weren't lying," Wondra said. "I was told by the lottery people that, now you're going to be that mecca. You sold a big ticket, you're going to be the place to go. So far, it's holding true."

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.

According to the Wisconsin Lottery, the odds of winning the Megabucks game are 1 in 6,991,908.

Meanwhile, the unrelated lottery game Mega Millions, whose jackpot is up to $1.1 billion, holds its drawing Tuesday night.
Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue (R) and Treasurer of Australias Victoria state, Tim Pallas. (Photo: VNA)

Briefing the guest on Vietnams economic growth in 2022, which exceeded 8%, the top legislator stressed that the country is working to consolidate traditional markets, while seeking new ones.

He used this occasion to thank Australia for its support to Vietnam in ensuring energy security, and affirmed that Vietnam persistently maintains its macro-economic stability.

NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue suggested Victoria enhance its cooperation with Ho Chi Minh City in finance and digital transformation, explaining that typical policies are expected to be adopted to turn the Vietnamese southern metropolis into an international financial centre.

He also called on the Australian state to help HCM City in devising the policies and implementing them once they sail through the legislature.

The two sides should exchange delegations more regularly, especially in 2023 that marks the 50th anniversary of Vietnam-Australia diplomatic ties, the host leader continued.

For his part, Pallas, who is also Victorias Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Trade and Investment, noted his admiration for Vietnams economic size which has increased 10 folds since 2000 despite a range of difficulties.

The minister said he hoped that his visit will help to boost cooperation between Victoria and Vietnam and HCM City in particular in the fields of energy and agriculture, suggesting the two sides expand their collaboration in education-training, and digital transformation.

Pallas told Hue that the proposal on the resumption of the agriculture visa programme that targets Vietnamese farmers, made during the Vietnamese leaders official visit to Australia in late 2022, is being implemented.

Victoria authorities always support the federal government to restore the programme, he affirmed./.
Riot police and anti-government protesters clashed in the town of Juliaca on Monday.

Riot police and anti-government protesters clashed in the town of Juliaca on Monday.

Seventeen people were killed during renewed protests Monday in Peru calling for President Dina Boluarte to resign, per The Guardian. The anti-government fervor following former President Pedro Castillos arrest last month has pushed the death toll to 39, per Reuters.

We ask the forces of law and order to make a legal, necessary and proportional use of force and we urge the state prosecutors office to carry out a prompt investigation to clarify the facts, tweeted Perus Ombudsman office on Monday, according to a translation.

Castillo was arrested on a charge of rebellion in early December after attempting to dissolve Congress and take full control of the government. Boluarte, who became the first female leader in Perus history, called for a political truce and a national unity government.

Mondays impassioned clashes occurred in the southern region of Puno near the airport in Juliaca. Footage and photos on social media showed protesters throwing stones and fighting security forces shooting into crowds.

While the Peruvian people demand Boluarte resign and Castillo be freed from jail, Prime Minister Alberto Otarola said in a televised address, We will not cease in our defense of the rule of law  and that the protests were financed by foreign interests and the dark money of drug trafficking, according to The Guardian.

Otarola added in his address on Monday that the protesters were trying to destroy the country and blamed Castillos failed coup detat for the unrest. He said he regretted the death toll, but that the government was fighting for the peace and tranquility of 33 million Peruvians.

Castillo supporters and security forces clashing on Jan. 7, 2023.

Castillo supporters and security forces clashing on Jan. 7, 2023.

We are very concerned about the continued escalation of violence in the protests in Peru, which has led to the loss of dozens of lives, tweeted a branch of the International Committee of the Red Cross responsible for Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, according to a translation.

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Boluarte  a lawyer who was elected vice president on the ticket that brought Castillo to power in July 2021  became president while thousands of farmers were navigating Perus worst drought in a half-century, the avian flu ravaged wildlife and a fifth wave of COVID-19 struck.

What you are asking for is a pretext to continue generating chaos, she said during a national agreement meeting on Monday, adding that her frustrated constituents didnt understand the ramifications of their own demands. Nonetheless, calls for her resignation continue.

Henry Rebaza, a health ministry official in Puno, told state television TV Peru that 68 citizens including two teenagers were injured on Monday, per Reuters. A little boy, meanwhile, died en route to a hospital.

Boluarte reportedly proposed moving general elections forward last month and holding them in April 2024. Javier Torres, editor of regional news outlet Noticias Ser, tweeted Monday that bringing them forward is urgent  and called for Boluarte to resign as soon as possible.

As it stands, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said it will conduct an official three-day visit to Peru beginning on Wednesday to evaluate the situation first-hand in the capital of Lima and other cities.

Related...
Banijay has poached HBO Max Nordic executive Christian Wikander to be its new global head of scripted.

Joining the group on May 1, Wikander will be in charge of spearheading strategic IP creation, driving collaboration across the business portfolio of over 50 drama labels, exploiting format potential, and identifying lucrative third-party acquisition opportunities. He will report to Marco Bassetti, Banijay CEO.

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Wikander was previously commissioning editor and VP of original programming at HBO Max Nordic (Warner Bros. Discovery) since 2020. He was responsible for developing original scripted series across the entitys Nordic footprint, partnering with creators, producers, and key talent, both locally and internationally.

Prior to this, Wikander was managing director for London-based Twelve Town, having joined in 2016 as head of drama for Europe. While at Twelve Town, Wikander led the companys overarching business and IP strategy, and content pipeline, notably Viaplays Conspiracy of Silence.

I feel a great sense of pride joining such a well-established, global group like Banijay, said Wikander. A collective of some of the best producers in the business, it is such a well-respected home for local stories that travel the world, and I look forward to collaborating with, and learning from, the brilliantly talented storymakers at the heart of it all, Wikander continued.

Bassetti pointed that Wikander has demonstrated not only his immense creative talent and agility as a leader, but importantly, his natural eye for recognizing a story with international potential, having worked as a commissioner, managing director and producer.

With him in place, we feel we have further opportunity to grow our premium scripted offering and heighten Banijays reputation as a leader in both local and English-language dramas that connect audiences worldwide, added the executive.

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Wikander will succeed to Lars Blomgren, the current global head of scripted, who is set to step down from his post in several months to focus on independent production. Blomgren was recently an executive producer on Scenes from a Marriage. He will remain Banijay part-time until May 1.

Banijays most recent scripted highlights include SAS: Rogue Heroes and Marie Antoinette.

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President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday talked on the phone after violent protests in Brazils capital that echoed the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

President Biden conveyed the unwavering support of the United States for Brazils democracy and for the free will of the Brazilian people as expressed in Brazils recent presidential election, which President Lula won, the White House said in a statement.

Lula accepted Bidens invitation to visit Washington early next month to discuss issues affecting the two countries, the statement added.

Biden earlier condemned protesters who stormed several buildings in Brasilia on Sunday, demanding the reinstatement of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who lost last years election to Lula, or Lulas ouster.

Bolsonaro, who has been staying in Florida since December, is hospitalized in Orlando after suffering abdominal pain, which his wife said is related to a stabbing injury he sustained during a 2018 campaign event.

Bolsonaro, who has not conceded defeat, left Brazil before Lulas inauguration on Jan. 1. Some prominent Democratic lawmakers have called for Bolsonaro to be extradited from the U.S.

Brazilian police have arrested about 1,500 people in connection with Sundays pro-Bolsonaro attacks on the countrys Supreme Court, Capitol building and presidential palace.

Brazilians took to the streets Monday in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo to demand that the rioters face consequences.

Pro-democracy demonstrators marched in Sao Paulo, Brazil, chanting "no amnesty" for the supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who stormed the country's Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential palace just one day prior. https://t.co/coAM2SOQY9pic.twitter.com/lm3ue0qCs8  CBS News (@CBSNews) January 10, 2023

Lula has blamed members of Brazils police force and intelligence officials for aiding the violence, accusing them of neglecting their duty and saying officers were chatting with rioters, according to The Washington Post.
ORLANDO, Fla.  Even though Disney World is just a few miles away, for some Brazilians, the biggest attraction in Orlando is former President Jair Bolsonaro.

A handful of Bolsonaro supporters gathered on Monday night in front of a private house where the former president has been staying since he left Brazil in late December after losing his reelection bid to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Brazil is not good right now, Alessandra Vieira, who lives in nearby in Cape Canaveral, said while standing in front of the house. This guy [Bolsonaro] is super brave. He is [a] super simple person and he is a true guy.

Bolsonaros stay in America, however, has come under increased scrutiny after thousands of his supporters in Brazils capitol Brasilia stormed government buildings, denying the results of the recent Brazilian election  a situation with obvious parallels to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Pro-Bolsonaro supporters broke into the countrys Congress, Supreme Court and presidential offices, smashing windows and climbing on roofs. Officers deployed tear gas on demonstrators and at least 1,000 have been detained.

The White House and State Department havent commented in detail on Bolsonaros status in the U.S., though some Democrats, including Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), said on Sunday that he should be kicked out the country.



Despite the massive unrest from Bolsonaro supporters in Brazil, Vieira, who moved to the U.S. from Brazil eight years ago because she said it wasnt safe, still wanted to meet the former leader. She waited more than an hour for Bolsonaro to emerge from the house, hoping to give him some Coxinha, a Brazilian chicken croquette she brought in a tupperware. As time passed, she handed out the baked goods to other supporters on the sidewalk.

Earlier in the day, Bolsonaros wife Michelle posted on Instagram that her husband was at a local hospital under observation due to abdominal discomfort. It remained unclear Monday night whether Bolsonaro was still in the hospital, but the well-wishers gathered near the house he was staying believed he was discharged and in the home.

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Paloma Aredes traveled with her family to Orlando from Massachusetts and had stopped by the house with her family as the sun was setting to see if Bolsonaro would come outside.

Aredes, who works in a restaurant in Massachusetts, was in Orlando to visit Disney and Universal but also wanted to see the former president, whose politics she agreed with.

Her favorite thing about Bolsonaro was his sincerity with all people, she said. Yet like the others, she didnt get a chance to meet Bolsonaro in person or even catch a glimpse of him.

Before protestors stormed government buildings in Brazil, sightings of Bolsonaro in Florida were posted on social media and treated with a mix of mockery and befuddlement. There were photos of Bolsonaro eating in a KFC, and a video circulated showing him walking around a Publix grocery store.



Wellington Souza, a 36-year-old owner of a pool service in Orlando, had been outside of the home for over two hours. He said he supports Bolsonaro because believes his policies and leadership were good for Brazil. Souza said he believed something was wrong with the integrity of the recent election, raising concerns of electronic voting machines but had few specifics.

I dont know exactly what happened but something was weird, Souza said, adding that he denounced violent protests.
Its been eight days since troubling footage emerged of Dana White slapping his wife at a Mexican nightclub on New Years Eve, and pressure has mounted well beyond the MMA community for UFC parent company Endeavor to take action.

On Monday, the California Legislative Womens Caucus (CLWC) posted online a letter addressed to Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel calling for the immediate removal of White as UFC president. To this point, Endeavor has remained silent about Whites domestic violence incident that was caught on video. The political womens advocacy group of 18 state senators and 33 assemblywomen made clear in the letter just how troubling that is to them.

Your continued silence speaks volumes, the letter reads. As you once wrote: Silence and inaction are not an option.  Every day that Mr. Whites actions go unaccounted for, your silence becomes more piercing and troubling.

In an interview with TMZ in coordination with the release of the disturbing video, White owned up to his actions and said theres no excuse for slapping his wife and pushing her down to the ground after she slapped him during an argument. Prior to his wifes slap, video shows White grabbing his wife by the wrist.

Whites words fell in line with his comments from a 2014 interview in which he stated, Theres one thing that you never bounce back from, and thats putting your hands on a woman.

Related

Dustin Poirier unsure of appropriate Dana White punishment, but slapping wife 'not a good look for sure' 'He's gone overboard': 2011 interview with Dana White's mother raises questions about past domestic abuse If Dana White isn't severely punished for slapping his wife, what are we even doing? | Opinion

In concluding its letter, the CLWC seemingly called back to those comments.

The head of a major sporting organization cannot claim to be for the safety of women while a video of him striking his wife continues to circulate online without a response from you, it read. The hypocrisy is astounding. Enough is enough. It is time to remove Mr. White from his leadership role, to allow him and his partner to get the help they need while reminding the world of what Endeavor stands for and that violence against women is not a conduct that you condone.

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In addition to Endeavor, the UFC has declined to officially comment on the situation.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, you can contact the U.S. National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is edging dangerously close to his Next Big Thing: a tactical nuclear warhead for wiping out a target like a military base or biological/chemical weapons capable of inflicting instant death on millionsor both.

South Koreas defense ministry, reflecting rising fears, has just created a directorate dedicated to countering all North Koreas weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, biological and chemicalthe precursor of a separate strategic command. Should North Korea make an attempt at using nuclear arms, the ministry warned,  it would lead to the end of the Kim Jong Un regime.

The U.S. also launched a unit of the newly formed Space Force, a separate branch of the armed forces, at South Koreas Osan Air Base last month to track North Korean nukes and missiles.

Kim signaled his ambitions by declaring the resolute will of his regime to respond nuke for nuke as he welcomed production of super-large rocket systems for firing tactical nukes into targets in South Korea, including the largest U.S. military base, Camp Humphreys, near Osan, 60 miles south of the North-South Korean line. All South Korea is within the range of a missile carrying a tactical nuclear warhead as a core, offensive weapon of our armed forces, said Kim.

What Kim Jong Un Could Really Do With His New Flying Spy

The Supreme Leader may test a tactical nuclear warhead any time, theres no telling when. The latest speculation ranges from his 39th birthday, on Jan. 8, to Feb. 8, the anniversary of the founding of the Korean Peoples Army in 1948, to Feb. 16, anniversary of the birth of Kims father, Kim Jong Il, who was 70 when he died in 2011. Kim ordered the Norths sixth, most recent, nuclear test in 2017.

Victor Cha, who served on the National Security Council during the presidency of George W. Bush, believes the North Koreans are after tactical nuclear weapons that can be used on the battlefield. They don't want to have to escalate to the big bomb in a conflict, he told The Daily Beast, considering they have no way to match the U.S. and South Korea in terms of conventional capabilities.

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Moreover, said Cha, who is now a Korea expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a professor at Georgetown, tac nukes also aid their effort to decouple U.S. security from South Koreas. The U.S. would not have to respond to the threat of using tac nukes against South Korea as it would if Kim tried holding the U.S. at bay by targeting a U.S. city with an ICBMkind of the way Putin has done so with nuke threats and NATO.

The frequent emphasis on tactical nukes, said Bruce Klingner, the CIAs former deputy division chief for Korea, comes after North Korea tested a new missile that the North proclaimed would drastically improve the firepower of the frontline long-range artillery units and enhance the efficiency in the operation of tactical nukes. Then, in June, Kim and his aides discussed enhancing capabilities and revising operational plans for frontline unitslikely an indirect reference to deploying tactical nuclear weapons.

Klinger, who now works at the Heritage Foundation, sees tactical nukes as serving multiple purposesin a first strike against leadership, hardened command and control, or high-value military targets, as well as a retaliatory second strike and battlefield counter-force attacks. And, of course, they could target U.S. forces arriving on the Korean Peninsula and allied forces preparing a counteroffensive into North Korea, hold allied and U.S. cities at risk, and potentially provide the means for Pyongyang to reunify the peninsula on its terms.

As if to show the North can fire missiles anytime, anywhere, Kim ordered a barrage of missile tests on New Years Eve and New Years Day. On Saturday, KCNA reported the test-firing of super-large multiple rocket launchers displayed at a conflab of the central committee of the Workers Party the same day.

The three shells of multiple rocket launchers precisely hit a target island between North Korea and Japan, said KCNA. Then, on Sunday, KCNA reported a long-range artillery sub-unit had greeted the new year by firing a single shell into the sea using a super-large multiple rocket launcher.

Heres What Putins Nuclear Disaster Would Really Look Like

All told, Kim ordered close to 100 missile tests in 2022 from multiple bases, demonstrating the Norths ability to strike targets almost anywhere in Japan as well as South Korea. Its widely believed the Norths next underground nuclear test will be that of a tactical nuke rather than a massive hydrogen bomb of the sort that blew up much of a mountain in the Norths most recent nuclear test in September 2017.

Tempting though it is to dismiss Kims braggadocio as rhetoric, the more big talk Kim utters, the more missile tests he orders, the more likely hell make good on his threats. Clearly he wants the world to pay attention to his grandiose boasts and claims rather than shrug them off as the usual nonsense.

Kim would like his enemies to think he could find a target for real this year. A big question is whether North Korean engineers have figured out how to attach a warhead to a missile. The next underground test may provide some answers.

The issue is miniaturization of the nuke and its components, said David Maxwell, a retired army colonel with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. I think the same problem is faced whether the nuke is tactical or strategic. They have to have a miniaturized nuclear capability.

Bruce Bechtol, author of books and studies on the North Korean military, said the Norths ability to fit a smaller warhead to a short-range missile is unknown since we have never seen them do it despite what they said they could do in KCNA. Theres no evidence, he said, unless they got the technology directly either from the Russians or the Chinesewhich is of course possible.

The U.S. and South Korea differ publicly on the degree to which theyre working together to counter the Norths nukes. President Biden responded no when asked if the U.S. and South Korea were discussing joint anti-nuclear exercises. South Koreas President Yoon Suk-yeol, however, told Chosun Ilbo, the countrys biggest-selling newspaper, The nuclear weapons belong to the U.S., but the planning, information-sharing exercises and training should be carried out jointly by South Korea and the U.S.

A spokeswoman for Yoon implied a cover-up by the U.S. Biden obviously had to say, no, South Koreas Yonhap News quoted her as saying, since joint nuclear exercise is a term used between nuclear powers. The White House appeared to echo that explanation Monday, confirming that the U.S. was indeed providing extended deterrence through the full range of U.S. defense capabilities. In the face of rising pressure to develop its own nukes, the South has refrained from initiating a nuclear weapons program.

Kims enthusiasm for tactical nukes rather than long-range ICBMs or submarine-launched ballistic missiles was evident at the meeting of party bigwigs at which he called for mass production of tactical nuclear weapons and an exponential increase of the countrys nuclear arsenal, which also includes intercontinental ballistic missiles for destroying targets in the U.S.

The fact that North Koreas Korean Central News Agency released Kims statements in English showed it was intended for North Koreas foes in Washington and Tokyo after South Koreas defense ministry, under the conservative President Yoon, re-designated the North as the Souths enemya word the previous liberal government had banned. Kim cited Yoons call for preparations for war as making the development of nuclear force and national defense his main orientation for 2023.

The Secret Weapons Scheme Spiraling Under Americas Nose

Bruce Bennett, author of numerous reports on North Korea at the RAND Corporation, agrees a North Korea designated tactical nuclear weapon is the next big thingthe ones he plans to use against targets in theater, i.e., South Korea, Japan and potentially China, whereas strategic nuclear weapons would be ones he would plan to use against the United States.

But Bennett also notes that Kim has talked ominously about spraying bomb strikesa term that sounds to me like biological weapon use. Kim, he believes, would also use drones or special operations forces.

The ease with which the North might spread biological or chemical weapons came into focus last week when North Korea sent at least five drones over South Korea. They did no harm before returning safely to North Korea before South Korean warplanes, helicopters and anti-aircraft weapons could shoot any of them down.

Such provocations, including drone incursions, appear excessive for deterrence and may be intended to scare South Korea into taking a softer policy, said Leif-Eric Easley, professor at Ewha University in Seoul. The high volume of tests at unusual times and from various locations demonstrate that North Korea could launch different types of attack, anytime, and from many directions.

Evans Revere, a former senior U.S. diplomat in Seoul, is particularly disturbed by North Koreas guidelines authorizing first use of nuclear weapons if the regime feels threatened.

This is a dangerous and destabilizing doctrine, he said, while the Kim regime is developing nuclear weapons and delivery systems designed to give the regime a range of options, including a survivable second-strike capability, as seen from its testing of solid-fuel long-range missiles, submarine-launched missiles, and road-mobile, quick-to-launch tactical and strategic nuclear weapons.

Bruce Bechtol is not convinced, however, that tactical nukes have replaced ICBMs at the top of Kim Jong Uns agenda.

The use of nukes of any kindtactical or otherwisewould likely mean the end of the DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea) and the Kim regime, he said. Why waste time on something small? I think their highest priority is to have a weaponized nuclear program capable of striking the United States. The most likely platform for this would be an ICBM.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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On Monday, federal prosecutors, moving at lightning speed, pounced on Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, arranging for the arrest of the disgraced mogul in the Bahamas and charging him with numerous crimes, including stealing his customers money for personal use and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

SBF, as he is widely known, went in a matter of days from Zooming in from his swanky pad in the Bahamas to chat freely with Andrew Ross Sorkin on a New York Times-sponsored DealBook event, to getting to know the inside of a Bahamian jail. Awaiting extradition.

On Tuesday, in Chicago, mayoral candidates and surrogates pounced on Rep. Jesus Chuy Garcia, a mayoral hopeful who appears to have plenty of exposure to the tawdry world of SBF cash. Reportedly, Bankman-Fried spent $151,420 to help fund direct mail pieces hyping Garcia to voters in his newly remapped congressional district, even though Garcia was running unopposed. Logic would suggest that SBF, a self-serving advocate of light-touch crypto regulation, was not interested in Chicagos voters so much as Garcias membership on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.

Garcia, who has already said he was giving a $2,900 campaign contribution received from Bankman-Fried to charity, will have to answer for that. After all, prosecutors are alleging that the $151,420 was not SBFs to give but actually belonged to customers of his FTX exchange.

If they are to be believed, surely Garcia should return that money, too. Ideally it would go into the bankruptcy pot as the new FTX CEO John J. Ray III tries to figure out what assets remain that can be returned to those from whom SBF allegedly stole.

But lets be clear about one important point. Garcia was far from the only one. Bankman-Fried made a slew of massive donations to high-profile Democrats and their causes, including Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, who also has said he will give the money to charity. As reporters try to figure out what clearly was a colossal but casually recorded trail of cash sweeteners, it likely will lead them to many more doors belonging both to institutions and individuals. Including the White House.

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Just watch. Democratic politicians will be running from SBF even faster than progressives are fleeing Twitter. And, in a recent interview, Bankman-Fried said that he also gave dark money to Republicans, choosing, he said, to operate in a shroud on the right side of the aisle so as not to freak out all the liberal journalists who he claimed punish people who donate to Republicans.

Its also worth noting that acknowledged major SBF-related donations to, or investments in, media entities include ProPublica, Vox, The Intercept and Semafor. So the ability of those institutions to hold politicians accountable for their susceptibility to SBFs influence peddling will depend on their willingness to do the same to themselves.

Heres the thing, though: the sums of money involved in this unfolding scandal are so massive that some recipients of allegedly dirty cash wont find it easy to let go of the money. As would seem to be the case with the Garcia mailers, it will likely have already been spent.

In short, this is a big mess that will only get bigger and messier in weeks to come.

Join the discussion on Twitter @chitribopinions and on Facebook .

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com .
Prince Harry has continued his seemingly neverending wave of allegations and revelations about the royal family in his new autobiography.

Leaked before the official release, Spare covers a wide range of subjects from his fractious relationship with his brother Prince William to the struggles after his mother Dianas death in 1997.

His sex life, drug use and time served in the army are also covered in a memoir that appears to go into uncomfortable levels of detail.

The palace has so far declined to comment about any of the contents of the book, copies of which went on sale early in Spain.

With excerpts from the Duke of Sussexs tell-all book leaked in the run-up to its publication, here are the claims and revelations so far:

The scale of the brothers split is detailed in the tell-all book (AP)

Harry claims William physically attacked him

Harry writes: (William) called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor.

I landed on the dogs bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.

Prince Harry has spoken of the red mist that came over his brother during this altercation.

Harry tells ITVs Tom Bradby: What was different here was the level of frustration, and I talk about the red mist that I had for so many years, and I saw this red mist in him.

The Duke claims William urged him to hit back, citing fights they had as children, but Harry refused and his brother left before returning, looking regretful and apologising.

Meghan Markle, the wife of Prince Harry, has launched her long-awaited podcast (AFP via Getty Images)

Williams harsh words for Meghan

The alleged altercation took place at Harrys then home in Nottingham Cottage, when William is said to have called Meghan difficult, rude and abrasive.

Harry told him he was parroting the press narrative about his wife.

The duke claims William told him he did not need to tell Meghan about the confrontation.

Harry says that he told his therapist first and his wife later after she noticed the scrapes and bruises on his back. She was terribly sad, he said.

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Brothers nicknames revealed

William and Harrys nicknames for each other are revealed in the Dukes account of the alleged altercation.

Harry writes that he gave his brother a glass of water and said: Willy, I cant speak to you when youre like this.

William told him I didnt attack you, Harold.

King Charles is said to be saddened by the split between his children (Getty Images)

Charles plea to his feuding sons

The princes father is said to have urged them to stop fighting at Windsor after the Duke of Edinburghs funeral.

In a tense meeting, a grieving Charles told his sons: Please, boys. Dont make my final years a misery, Harry claims.

Harry made headlines 18 years ago with his fancy dress outfit (AFP/Getty)

Harry claims William and Kate encouraged him to wear Nazi uniform

Harry sparked outrage in 2005 when he wore a Nazi uniform complete with swastika armband to a fancy dress party.

But in the book he claims he phoned William and Kate to ask them whether he should choose a pilots uniform or a Nazi one for the fancy dress party.

He says the couple urged him to wear the latter, and both howled with laughter when he went home and tried it on for them.

Charless delight at Diana giving birth to a spare

The title of the book refers to the idea of an heir and a spare - one sibling in line for the throne, with the other a back up.

Harry claims that, after he was born, his father told the Princess of Wales his arrival was wonderful but now she had given him an heir and a spare his work was done.

Charles, Diana and Harry after his birth in 1984 (AP1984)

Meghan upset Kate over baby brain comment

Harry claims that Meghan upset Kate, who had recently given birth, by telling her that she must have baby brain during a phone call in the run up to the Sussexes wedding in 2018.

Harry says his wife apologised but claims William pointed a finger at her, saying: Well, its rude, Meghan. These things are not done here.

The American actress is said to have replied: If you dont mind, keep your finger out of my face.

Harry reveals moment he learned of Dianas death

The prince covers the tragic loss of his mother in a car crash in Paris in 1997, including the moment he found out when he was just 12 years old.

Harry says that Charles sat on the end of his bed at Balmoral Castle and told him: My dear son, mum has had a car accident.

The duke claims his father did not hug him and he later felt like a politician as he greeted members of the public in the wake of her death.

Harry lost his mother when he was 12 years-old (PA Archive)

Harry says he killed 25 people in Afghanistan

The duke has faced backlash after writing about his time in Afghanistan in his memoir.

Harry wrote that flying six missions during his second tour of duty on the front line in 2012 to 2013 resulted in the taking of human lives, of which he was neither proud nor ashamed.

So, my number is 25. Its not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me, he wrote.

The Duke of Sussex said the killings were like chess pieces removed from the board, penning that bad people were eliminated before they could kill Good people.

Servicemen and critics have claimed that the comments have risked his security and made him a target.

Harry, or Captain Wales as he was known in the Army, on a tour of duty in Afghanistan

Harry admits illegal drug use

Prince Harry admits to taking cocaine in the book, writing that at someones house, during a hunting weekend, I was offered a line, and since then I had consumed some more.

It wasnt very fun, and it didnt make me feel especially happy as seemed to happen to others, but it did make me feel different, and that was my main objective. To feel. To be different.

He also said he smoked weed and took magic mushrooms.

Woman passed on message from Princess Diana

The Prince also tells of visiting a woman with powers to reach his late mother, Princess Diana. Whilst Harry recognised the high-percentage chance of humbuggery, he ultimately decided to meet the woman because she was recommended by friends.

Youre living the life she couldnt, Harry says he was told. Youre living the life she wanted for you.

Harry wanted further investigation into mothers death

The brothers were dissuaded from requesting that the investigation into their mothers death be reopened, Harry says.

Especially the summary conclusion, that our mothers driver was drunk and, as a result, that was the only cause of the accident, the Duke of Sussex writes. It was simplistic and absurd.

Even if the man had been drinking, even if he had been drunk, he wouldnt have had any problem driving through such a short tunnel. Unless paparazzi were following him and dazzled him.

Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022 (PA Wire)

His last words to the Queen on her deathbed

The Duke of Sussex has revealed the words he said to the Queen on her deathbed at Balmoral last year.

Harry describes how he whispered to her that he hoped she was happy and would be reunited with her husband Philip, who died in April 2021.

The prince flew up to Scotland on September 8 after Buckingham Palace announced that she was gravely ill but he reached Balmoral after she died aged 96.

Breaking silence rumours about his real father

Harry finally addresses a longstanding rumour that a man who had an affair with his mother is his real father.

The rumour going around at the time that my real father was one of my mothers ex-lovers: Major James Hewitt, Prince Harry writes. One cause of the rumour was Major Hewitts red hair, but another was sadism.

Tabloid readers loved the idea that Prince Charless youngest son was not Prince Charless son. They never got tired of that joke, for some reason, he remarks, feeling that the rumour was used to humiliate him.

James Hewitt had an affair with Diana in the 1980s (Getty Images)

Googling Meghans sex scenes

Though he admits to looking up his now-wife Meghan Markles sex scenes in Suits during the early days of their relationship, Prince Harry said this was a mistake.

Id witnessed her and a castmate mauling each other in some sort of office or conference room, he writes. I didnt need to see such things live.

Chauffeur drove Harry through the Paris tunnel

The Duke of Sussex says he asked his chauffeur to drive him through the tunnel in Paris where his mother was killed.

He was attending the 2007 Rugby World Cup semi-final at the time.

The World Cup provided me with a driver, and on my first night in the City of Light I asked him if he knew the tunnel where my mother he writes.

I watched his eyes in the rearview, growing large. The tunnel is called Pont de lAlma, I told him. Yes, yes. He knew it.

Harry and Meghan left the royals for a new life in the new US (REUTERS)

Harry says he was probably a bigot before meeting Meghan

Harry has admitted that he was probably a bigot before he met his wife.

Questioned by host Anderson Cooper, he responded Put it this way, I didnt see what I now see.

I went into this incredibly naive. I had no idea the British press were so bigoted. Hell, I was probably bigoted before the relationship with Meghan, he added.

Prince Harry recalls role of late mothers hair as good luck charm

Prince Harry has reportedly recalled how Meghan Markle placed pregnancy tests on his nightstand, next to a box containing a lock of his late mother Princess Dianas hair, as the couple were trying to concieve their first child.

According to the MailOnline, Harry writes that Meghan took two at-home pregnancy tests in the bathroom of Nottingham Cottage in 2018, and he awoke to find that she had placed the two tests on his nightstand.

Among only a few things on the nightstand was a blue box with my mothers hair, he reportedly writes, recalling: Right, I thought, good. Lets see what Mummy can do with this situation.

The couple soon discovered that the tests were positive, and Harry reportedly describes thinking to himself: Thank you, Mummy.

Prince Harry addresses Prince Andrew scandal

According to US Weekly, which said it had obtained a copy of the memoir, the Duke of Sussex wrote that he never imagined hed lose palace security after his uncle was permitted to retain it.

In January 2022, Andrew was stripped of his royal title after he was accused of sexual assault by one of Epsteins trafficking victims, Virginia Guiffre. He has said he had no recollection of ever meeting Giuffre and vehemently denied Giuffres allegation.

In his book, Harry reportedly wrote that Meghan worried their family would be left unprotected after they moved to Montecito, California, and he reassured her, saying: Never. Not in this climate of hate. Not after what happened to my mother [Princess Diana]. Also, not in the wake of my Uncle Andrew.

He was embroiled in a shameful scandal, accused of the sexual assault of a young woman and no one had so much suggested that he lose his security. Whatever grievances people had against us, sex crimes werent on the list, he reportedly writes.

Kate made Meghan cry

Prince Harry elaborates on a claim made by Meghan during the couples interview with Oprah that the Princess of Wales made her cry in the lead-up to their wedding.

Harry said he arrived home before the wedding to discover Meghan crying on the floor following an argument with Kate.

He said the pair had disagreed over the size of Princess Charlottes flower girl dress, which Kate had wanted Meghan to sort out while she was dealing with the news of her father not attending the wedding.

The prince corroborated Meghans claim that the following day Kate came over with flowers and an apology card.

Harry claims his role in Williams wedding was a bare-faced lie, reports say

Prince Harry is claimed to have called his role as best man at Prince Williams wedding a bare-faced lie.

In one part of his memoir, Harry reportedly wrote that he was forced to go along with the bare-faced lie that he was Williams best man at his wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011.

According to reports by MailOnline and The Mirror, Harry claimed he was made to act out the role at the royal wedding to spare scrutiny into the lives of his brothers two closest friends James Meade and Thomas Van Straubenzee.

King Charles jealous of attention received by William and Kate

Prince Harry has claimed that his father was jealous of the amount of public attention Prince William and Princess Kate received.

In one translated extract of Harrys upcoming book in the Daily Telegraph, Harry claims: Willy did everything he [Charles] wanted, and sometimes he didnt want him to do much, because my dad and Camilla didnt like Willy and Kate getting too much publicity.

One example he reportedly provides as apparent evidence involved the Kings staff making sure the then-Duchess of Cambridge was not photographed holding a tennis racket at a public engagement as that kind of photo would have pushed Dad and Camilla off every front page.

And that couldnt be tolerated under any circumstances, Harry reportedly adds.
Former Arizona Gov. Doug Duceys five-month effort to close gaps along the U.S.-Mexico border with shipping containers will cost Arizona taxpayers more than $200 million.

It will cost more than $76 million to tear down the double-stacked shipping container barriers in Yuma and Cochise counties after Ducey bowed to federal pressure and agreed to remove the makeshift barriers in late December. The bill to remove the containers was first reported by Capitol Media Services.

It will cost about $57.2 million to take down the shipping containers in the Coronado National Forest in Cochise County, according to state contracts with the Florida-based emergency management company AshBritt.

The tear-down costs come on top of the initial $95 million announced for the barriers construction in Cochise County.

Separate costs to move shipping containers from a Sierra Vista staging area to Tucson are projected at about $9.8 million.

In August, Ducey began filling border wall gaps near Yuma, where roughly 3,000 feet were plugged with shipping containers. The project was projected to cost $6 million, but ballooned to nearly $13 million as of September, according to Duceys office.

It will cost roughly $9.3 million to take down the containers near Yuma. Additionally, work and transportation costs associated with Nogales-area shipping containers are estimated to ring up to about $20.5 million, per state contracts.

Duceys order led to a patchwork barrier of hundreds of hulking metal shipping containers dotting the Arizona-Mexico border, sometimes welded together with odd-shaped pieces of metal.

A stack of two shipping containers was found toppled near Yuma just one day after the barrier had been completed in August. In the days after the barriers completion, photos and videos of people climbing the containers circulated on social media as hundreds of migrants bypassed the barrier daily near Gadsden to present themselves to Border Patrol agents and request asylum.

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An awkward gap is shown between shipping containers at the bottom of a wash along the border where shipping containers create a wall between the United States and Mexico in San Rafael Valley, Ariz., Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Work crews are steadily erecting hundreds of double-stacked shipping containers along the rugged east end of Arizonas boundary with Mexico as Republican Gov. Doug Ducey makes a bold show of border enforcement even as he prepares to step aside next month for Democratic Governor-elect Katie Hobbs.

The millions of dollars to build, maintain and remove the shipping container barriers comes from the $335 million pot within the Arizona Border Security Fund. The money was allocated for the construction, administration, and maintenance of a physical border fence.

Gov. Katie Hobbs administration did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

During Hobbs' State of the State speech on Monday, she criticized the politicization of immigration and "political stunts" used to incite media attention.

Hobbs invited Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to visit the Arizona-Mexico border with her to meet with law enforcement, nonprofits and community leaders to discuss comprehensive immigration solutions in her remarks.

More:Wildlife advocates say Ducey's new border barrier threatens fragile Arizona habitat

"Arizona voters told us in November they dont want or need political stunts designed solely to garner sensationalist TV coverage and generate social media posts," Hobbs said in her speech.

The contract to build and tear down the barriers was awarded to AshBritt without the regular bidding process. AshBritt was awarded the contract because their solution was the most expeditious due to the emergency nature of the work, said Megan Rose, spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Administration.

In an email, Rose said AshBritt was recommended to the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs by their emergency management partners.

In June 2021, the founder and chairperson of AshBritt, Randal Perkins, paid the Federal Election Commission a $125,000 settlement after the company contributed to America First Action, a super PAC that supports former President Donald Trump.

A long row of double-stacked shipping containers provide a new wall between the United States and Mexico in the remote section area of San Rafael Valley, Ariz., Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Work crews are steadily erecting hundreds of double-stacked shipping containers along the rugged east end of Arizonas boundary with Mexico as Republican Gov. Doug Ducey makes a bold show of border enforcement even as he prepares to step aside next month for Democratic Governor-elect Katie Hobbs.

AshBritt donated $500,000 to America First Action in 2018 while they had a contract with the Defense Department, violating a law that prohibits government contractors from contributing to political committees.

America First Action eventually refunded the contribution to AshBritt.

When asked if the Department of Administration was aware of the contribution prior to awarding AshBritt the contract, Rose said the company had no active or inactive exclusions with the System for Award Management, which was checked prior to the signing of the contract.

Toppled containers:Gov. Ducey's shipping container barrier along border toppled

Critics call border barrier a 'scar on the landscape'

Critics have dismissed the shipping container effort as a political stunt that has wasted taxpayer dollars. Environmental advocates criticized the barrier in the Coronado National Forest, arguing that it has damaged protected lands and severed a vital migration corridor for jaguars and ocelots.

It's really tragic to think that all of this money has just been wasted and now we're going to see the scar on the landscape from this action for many, many years, said Emily Burns, program director with the environmental group Sky Island Alliance.

It's a staggering amount of money that could have been spent on so many other things.

More than 100 oak trees were cut down and bulldozed during the first mile of border barrier construction in the Coronado National Forest, according to Burns. The installation of shipping containers in the area significantly widened the border road and blocked wash and creek beds with sediment, she added.

Robin Silver, a co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, similarly denounced the barrier for its harmful environmental effects and underscored how the millions of dollars could have been spent to support other state institutions. The money, Silver argued, could have been used to improve the immigration system in Arizona by facilitating asylum processing and increasing the number of immigration judges.

$200 million spent in Arizona would go a long way to really helping to alleviate some of the misery that (migrants) are experiencing, Silver said. They're humans, that's where we should be spending our money, not on some racist stunt.

Lawsuit filed:Federal government sues over shipping container wall at border

Ducey's barrier project was a monthslong endeavor

Duceys decision to remove the shipping containers came about a week after the U.S. Justice Department sued him and the state of Arizona on Dec. 14.

The federal government argued in the lawsuit that the installation of shipping containers along the border damages federal lands, threatens public safety and impedes federal officials from performing their duties. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the U.S. Agriculture and Interior departments.

Biden administration officials criticized the barrier as an unhelpful stunt in a virtual interview with The Arizona Republic when the lawsuit was filed.

Stacking shipping containers for a photo op isn't a serious solution or helpful, one administration official said.

The Biden administrations lawsuit against Ducey, a Republican, is only the latest in a convoluted battle between the former governor and the federal government over the shipping containers.

In October, Ducey filed a lawsuit that sought to allow the state to continue putting shipping containers along gaps in the border after federal agencies tried to stop their installation. Duceys lawsuit was the culmination of back-and-forth correspondence between state and federal officials who were arguing whether or not the containers broke the law.

That same month, Ducey ordered the installation of roughly 3,000 shipping containers along more than 10 miles of land in the Coronado National Forest south of Sierra Vista. Protesters soon halted the construction of the shipping container barrier in Cochise County as they camped out in front of construction crews for days.

Gov. Doug Ducey answers questions during a press conference in front of a border gap near the Morelos Dam covered by shipping containers on Sept. 8, 2022, near Yuma.

The Border Patrol will start construction to close the gaps near Yuma this week with a projected completion date of summer 2023, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The gaps near the Morelos Dam will be filled with temporary mesh fencing and vehicle gates.

The safety and security of our workforce, law enforcement partners, and the local community are a top priority, Patricia McGurk-Daniel, acting Chief Patrol Agent for the Border Patrols Yuma Sector, said in a written statement. Yuma Sector is dedicated to working with our state, local, and tribal counterparts to ensure a multi layered approach to secure our nations borders and protect our local community.

Mayorkas, the Homeland Security secretary, authorized CBP to close the gaps in the border wall near the Morelos Dam in July to address operational impacts and immediate life and safety risks.

About two weeks later, Ducey issued an executive order that authorized the state to build border barriers on federal land, citing inaction by the Biden administration. Eleven days later, 3,820 feet of gaps were filled in with 130 shipping containers.

Have a news tip or story idea about the border and its communities? Contact the reporter at josecastaneda@arizonarepublic.com or connect with him on Twitter @joseicastaneda.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ducey's shipping container barrier to cost AZ taxpayers over $200M
U.S. Defense Attache in Hanoi Colonel TJ Bouchillon and Vice Chairwoman of Ben Tre Provincial Peoples Committee Nguyen Thi Be Muoi inaugurate Trinh Viet Bang Primary School. (Photo: U.S. Embassy in Vietnam)

The project was jointly identified by the U.S. Office of Defense Cooperation Vietnam and Ben Tre province in January 2019.

The new school includes eight fully furnished classrooms and two teachers rooms, as well as a handicap accessible ramp. The project was constructed and supported by the Chuong Duong Company, the New Horizon Company, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Ben Tre Provincial Peoples Committee. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command under the Overseas Humanitarian Disaster Assistance and Civic Action Program funded the construction project.

At the transfer ceremony, U.S. Defense Attache Colonel TJ Bouchillon stated the project reflects our commitment to a strong, prosperous, resilient, and independent Vietnam, and a free and open Indo-Pacific region. It underscores the common belief that a successful future lies with preparing the next generation to successfully tackle challenges they will face  whether local, national, or global.

Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Chairwoman of Ben Tre Provincial Peoples Committee Nguyen Thi Be Muoi acknowledged the support of the U.S. Mission in Vietnam and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. This valuable assistance improves primary education facilities in Binh Dai districts Dinh Trung commune and helps send children to school which is a part of our local development strategy, she said.

The new Trinh Viet Bang Primary School will help support Ben Tre province to better facilitate education for children in Dinh Trung and provide safe shelter during natural disasters.

The U.S. Mission to Vietnam and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command are proud to transfer the Trinh Viet Bang Primary School to the people of Ben Tre. This project is a strong example of the continued cooperation between the United States and Vietnam since normalizing diplomatic relations.

In 2023, as we mark the 10-year anniversary of the Comprehensive Partnership between the United States and Vietnam, we also reflect on how much we have accomplished together during that time. We look forward to elevating our relationship to deepen engagement even further towards our common goals, said the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam./.
Prince Harry is seen leaving The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in New York (GC Images)

Prince Harry waved to fans after he arrived in New York for an interview with The Late Shows Stephen Colbert in the latest move to promote his memoir, Spare, which hit the bookshelves on Tuesday.

Prince Harry downed a tequila shot with the American talkshow host and was quizzed in what is known as the Colbert Questionert segment, the MailOnline reports.

The late night interview, to be aired on Tuesday night, was pre-recorded on Monday evening.

The Duke was accompanied to the studios by an armed guard.

In a teaser video for the interview with Prince Harry, Colbert said he has read Spare and described it as very revealing and  quite emotional.

Speaking about Harrys sadness when his brother Prince William allegedly didnt want to know him at their school, Eton College, Colbert joked: Its heartbreaking, to be rejected by his older brother at school even though that magic hat sorted them into the same house.

Are you ready? Because we are. Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, will join us on #Colbert tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/FZDAKnrXn7  The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) January 10, 2023

The interview will be aired in the US on CBS at 10.35pm Central Time.

The TV appearance is the latest in a wave of publicity surrounding Prince Harrys book, including a string of interviews with UK and US broadcasters, including ITV and Good Morning America.

Fans queued to buy a hardback copy of the autobiography as it hit shelves of London bookshops at midnight.

The memoir details the Dukes severance from the Royal Family and feud with his brother Prince William, as well as his pain in the years following his mothers death and how he killed 25 Taliban fighters while serving in Afghanistan.

More intimate details were also revealed, including drug-taking and when Prince Harry lost his virginity.

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In the latest relevations from the book, Harry said Dianas Paul Burrell was milking her death for money when he penned A Royal Duty in 2003, adding that it made my blood boil.

He also disclosed how he shopped at TK Maxx, despite having an official clothing allowance from the King, and told Meghan to avoid taking a photograph outside Indias Taj Mahal picture so people didnt think she was mimicking Diana.

Much of the book had been leaked in the lead-up to going on sale to the public on January 10, with press obtaining copies that were accidentally sold early in a Spanish bookshop.
WASHINGTON  Anthime Joseph Gionet, better known as the far-right internet troll Baked Alaska, was sentenced Tuesday to 60 days in prison with two years probation for his participation in the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Gionet, who will also be required to pay a $2,000 fine, pleaded guilty last summer to one misdemeanor count of knowingly entering restricted grounds, which carries a punishment of up to six months behind bars.

Gionet declined to say anything for himself prior to sentencing, and was silent as he was ushered out of the courtroom.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Gionet was part of the crowd that rammed through police barricades and through Capitol doors and windows after then-President Donald Trump gave a speech based on falsehoods about the 2020 election.

We are the kraken! Unleash the kraken! Trust the fucking plan, lets go! Gionet chanted on a livestream inside the Capitol, according to court documents.

Gionet then made his way up to the office of an unidentified senator, where he made a pretend phone call to the U.S. Senate, urging them to get our boy, Donald J. Trump, into office.

Wearing his signature sunglasses, Anthime Gionet, also known as

Wearing his signature sunglasses, Anthime Gionet, also known as "Baked Alaska," is cheered on by people associated with the far-right group America First in front of Pfizer's world headquarters on Nov. 13, 2021, in New York City.

Occupy the Capitol, lets go! he said. We aint leaving this bitch!

Minutes later, when law enforcement shooed him out of the building, Gionet yelled at an officer, Youre a fucking oathbreaker, among a string of other insults.

Gionet used the service DLive to post his 27-minute livestream, as several mainstream social media platforms had booted him from their services by the time of the Capitol attack.

A onetime BuzzFeed staffer who identified as a Libertarian, Gionet attracted controversy during the 2016 presidential election as his politics veered into extremist territory. (BuzzFeed is now the parent company of HuffPost.) He went on to shout antisemitic phrases during the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where one counterprotester was killed.

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Gionets defense attorney, Zachary Thornley, tried to cast him as a member of the media rather than a rioter on Jan. 6, noting his livestreaming and previous employment with BuzzFeed.

He acted as sort of a journalist or something, Thornley said in court.

Prosecutor Anthony Franks showed clips from Gionets livestream in which he called on other patriots to join him in the Capitol, and screamed at law enforcement: Fuck you, you piece of shit!

In the end, the judge disagreed with Gionets defense.

You participated in a shameful event... a national embarrassment that made us all feel less safe, Judge Trevor McFadden said before issuing the sentence.

He said Gionet was clearly not a passive photojournalist that day, and that he maintains a troubling vocation that consists of livestreaming criminality to earn money online.

The judge continued: You were participating fully... celebrating a national tragedy.

Gionet was banned from Twitter in 2017, amid criticism of how the platform handled far-right extremists. Late last year, however, he was permitted to return under CEO Elon Musks ownership.

Related...
WASHINGTON  Republicans are keeping their campaign promises after winning the House majority, voting Tuesday to establish two new investigative panels  one targeting the Biden administration and the Justice Department and the other on China.

California Rep. Kevin McCarthy agreed to the creation of both committees as part of his concessions to win the speakership.

The first is a select subcommittee on "the weaponization of the federal government" that will investigate actions of the executive branch. Republicans say the subcommittee will also focus on the Department of Justice's search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in August.

The second is a select committee aimed at increasing the United States' competitiveness with China.

Here's what we know about both:

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More:House approves new rules, first big test for Republican-led chamber

Rules package vote in Congress: What we know about it and what McCarthy gave to his holdouts

The subcommittee on the 'weaponization of the federal government'

The committee's purpose is to investigate the executive branch, specifically how information is obtained from the private sector and citizens. It will fall under the House Judiciary Committee to be chaired by Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan.

More: A new Congress with new priorities: What to know about Speaker McCarthy and the fate of Biden's agenda

Jordan had rebuffed speaker nominations last week, telling reporters he instead wanted to lead Judiciary and "cross-examine" witnesses.

This committee will investigate the executive branch's role in "collecting information on or otherwise investigate citizens of the United States, including ongoing criminal investigations," which includes the DOJ's ongoing investigations into Trump.

"We're putting the deep state on notice," Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., said on the House floor. "We're coming for you on behalf of everyday Americans."

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The committee will have no more than 13 members, includingJordan and the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.

More: House Jan. 6 panel recommends DOJ prosecute Trump on several charges. Which ones and why?

The China competition select committee

The other committeeon the "strategic competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party," is aimed at increasing the United States' competitiveness with China.

"The new select committee on China will focus on bringing jobs back to America, securing our intellectual property, protecting our farmland and more," McCarthy said.

The committee will be composed of 16 members who will investigate the economic, technological and security progress of the Chinese Community Party.

Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher has been tapped to lead the committee as chairman. The former Marine and intelligence officer has had a history of bipartisanship, working with Democrats on legislation focused on American competition with China.

House Oversight Committee announces its investigations

In addition, the House Oversight Committee tweeted Tuesday they plan to investigate the southern border, the COVID-19 pandemic relief fund, COVID-19 origins, the Afghanistan withdrawal, the energy crisis and the Biden family's "influence peddling."

Who will  and who won't  serve on committees?

Committee member Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., speaks during the Oct. 13, 2022, hearing of the committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol in Washington.

Democrats said they will seat members on the select committee on China and will announce those members once they know how many representatives from each party will be included.

However, Republican leadership is moving to prevent at least three Democrats from serving on any committees. McCarthy told reporters he intends to remove Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar, Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from committees.

Meanwhile, he said Republican Reps. Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene would be restored to committees after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had removed them in the previous Congress.

Gosar was censured and removed from committees in November 2021 after posting an animated video that depicted violence against Biden and the killing of progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He was stripped of his seats on the Natural Resources and Oversight & Reform committees.

Greene was removed in February 2021 for her prior embrace of QAnon conspiracy theories that came to light, including past comments that the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks didn't happen. She was ousted from seats on the Budget Committee as well as the Education and Labor panel.

McCarthy also intends to seat embattled Republican freshman Rep. George Santos, who was caught falsifying his resume and is facing scrutiny related to campaign finances.

As Democrats called for Santos' removal Tuesday, Republicans said it would be handled through internal discussions.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House Republicans create panels to investigate Justice, China
This is a locator map for Iran with its capital, Tehran. (AP Photo) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Iran has sentenced a Belgian aid worker to a lengthy prison term and 74 lashes after convicting him of espionage in a closed-door trial, state media reported Tuesday.

The website of Irans judiciary said a Revolutionary Court sentenced 41-year-old Olivier Vandecasteele to 12.5 years in prison for espionage, 12.5 years for collaboration with hostile governments and 12.5 years for money laundering. He was also fined $1 million and sentenced to 2.5 years for currency smuggling.

Under Iranian law, Vandecasteele would be eligible for release after 12.5 years. The judiciary website said the verdicts can be appealed.

Iran has detained a number of foreigners and dual nationals over the years, accusing them of espionage or other state security offenses and sentencing them after secretive trials in which rights groups say they are denied due process.

Critics accuse Iran of using such prisoners as bargaining chips with the West, something Iranian officials deny. Vandecasteele's conviction comes after an Iranian diplomat in Belgium received a 20-year prison sentence in 2021 over masterminding a thwarted bomb attack against an exiled Iranian opposition group in France.

Iran has not released any details about the charges against Vandecasteele. It is unclear if they are related to anti-government protests that have convulsed Iran for months or a long-running shadow war with Israel and the U.S. marked by covert attacks on Iran's disputed nuclear program.

The nationwide protests began after the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained for allegedly violating Iran's strict Islamic dress code. Rallying under the slogan Women, life, freedom, the protesters say they are fed up with decades of social and political repression. Iran has blamed the protests on foreign powers, without providing evidence.

Vandecasteele's family said last month that he has been detained in an Iranian prison for months and has been on a hunger strike. They said he was deprived of access to a lawyer of his choice and is suffering from serious health problems.

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Belgium has urged its nationals to leave Iran, warning that they face the risk of arbitrary arrest or unfair trial.

Iran has provided no official information regarding the charges against Olivier Vandecasteele or his trial, Belgium's Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said in a statement. We will summon the Iranian ambassador today, given the information that is circulating in the press.

Belgium continues to condemn this arbitrary detention and is doing everything possible to put an end to it and to improve the conditions of his detention, she said.

The anti-government protests, which have continued for nearly four months with no sign of ending, are one of the biggest challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution that brought it to power.

At least 520 protesters have been killed and more than 19,300 people have been arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has been monitoring the unrest. Iranian authorities have not provided official figures on deaths or arrests.

Iran has executed four people after convicting them of charges linked to the protests, including attacks on security forces. They were convicted in Revolutionary Courts, which do not allow those on trial to pick their own lawyers or see the evidence against them.

London-based Amnesty International has said such trials bear no resemblance to a meaningful judicial proceeding."

Norway and Denmark summoned Iranian ambassadors this week to protest the executions and Iran's handling of the demonstrations.

"What is happening in Iran is completely unacceptable and must stop," Norways Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said. We have strongly condemned the executions. ... We have called on Iran to end the use of the death penalty and to respect human rights.

In Denmark, Foreign Minister Lars Lkke Rasmussen called the executions completely unacceptable" and said the European Union should impose additional sanctions on Iran.

Separately on Tuesday, the state-run IRNA news agency said Irans intelligence ministry arrested six teams of operatives linked to Mossad, Israel's chief intelligence and secret-service agency.

Without providing evidence, the report said the spy teams planned to assassinate an unnamed high-ranking military official and had carried out several sabotage operations in the countrys big cities.

The report also said security forces identified 23 alleged members of these teams and had arrested 13 of them who were in the country.
FILE PHOTO: Israel President Isaac Herzog hands Benjamin Netanyahu the mandate to form a new government following the election victory of the former premier's right-wing alliance

By Emily Rose

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Isaac Herzog appealed to Israeli politicians on Tuesday to "lower the temperature" amid confrontional exchanges between the new hardline nationalist coalition government and the centre-left opposition.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has returned to power after 12 years as premier until 2021, heads a bloc composed of his conservative Likud party and hard-right and religious parties who secured a clear victory in the November elections.

His inclusion of the Religious Zionism and Jewish Power parties has stirred concern at home and abroad given their leaders' calls for annexing occupied land that Palestinians seek for a state, as well as past agitation against Israel's justice system, the country's Arab minority and LGBTQ rights.

"This is a sensitive and explosive time in Israeli public life...I appeal to you, elected representatives and citizens from across the public and political spectrum: Exercise restraint and act responsibly. We need to calm things down and lower the temperature," Herzog said in a Twitter post.

He spoke shortly after Jewish Power parliamentary deputy Zvika Fogel said that four leading members of the opposition, including its centrist leader and former premier Yair Lapid, "are the most dangerous people there are at this moment.

"They are calling for war," Fogel said in an interview with public media. "If they were calling for protests, I would give them every right to protest but they are speaking in terms that I am the enemy - they are speaking in terms of war."

"For me that's treason against the state..., and yes, that's grounds for imprisonment," he added.

Israeli police said they had arrested a motorist for endangering a group of demonstrators - who Lapid identified as supporters of his party - in the southern city of Beersheba by driving onto the sidewalk and halting right in front of them.

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In response, Lapid said in a Twitter post: "The government's incitement will end in bloodshed." In a subsequent comment on Fogel's remarks, he tweeted: "This is how democracy implodes."

Benny Gantz, another senior opposition figure and a former defence minister, urged Netanyahu to rein in his far-right coalition partners.

"I call on you to condemn the attack on the demonstrators and the harsh statements and act to bridge the divisions in the nation and not to deepen them," Gantz said.

Netanyahu later appeared to take issue with Fogel's remarks while also criticising opposition broadsides against the new government, saying demonising one's opponents was unacceptable in a democracy.

(Reporting by Emily Rose; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
A federal judge sentenced pro-Trump livestreamer Anthime Baked Alaska Gionet on Tuesday to 60 days in prison for his actions at the Capitol on Jan. 6, calling his raucous conduct shocking amid the chaos of the mob.

U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden, a President Donald Trump appointee, said Gionet made a mockery of democracy, live streaming while he marauded through the Capitol, swore at Capitol Police officers trying to force him to leave and entered the private offices of two senators.

The 60-day jail term is relatively steep for the hundreds of misdemeanor defendants who have faced sentencing for their conduct at the Capitol. Many of those who simply entered and exited the building, without committing property damage or violence, have received sentences of probation. More than 900 people have been charged for their actions amid the Capitol mob, a range of criminal offenses that include simple trespassing to seditious conspiracy.

Gionet pleaded guilty last year to parading on Capitol grounds. But McFadden agreed with prosecutors that Gionets conduct stood out among other rioters for its brazenness. Just weeks after being charged with unrelated crimes in Arizona, Gionet came to Washington and live-streamed his trip to the Capitol, part of a DLive stream that also included a way for his viewers to send payments.

As he approached the building, viewers informed Gionet that Trump supporters had begun storming the building and were engaged in physical confrontations with police, resulting in pepper spraying. Gionet then urged crowds standing nearby to walk to the opposite side of the Capitol where the conflicts were occurring.



Once inside, Gionet entered the hideaway of Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), where he facetiously picked up a phone and pretended to dial other U.S. senators. He repeatedly suggested that he expected rioters to camp inside the building, and he said he expected Trump would be pleased that his supporters were fighting on his behalf.

Its pretty shocking behavior, sir, McFadden said.

McFadden suggested that Gionet appeared to express no remorse for his actions. Though he didnt address it, prosecutors had also emphasized that Gionet recently celebrated the fact that his case had been transferred to McFadden  who has given out relatively lighter sentences than other judges  from U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan.


A Medina High School social studies teacher on paid administrative leave has been arrested on federal charges involving child pornography.

According to court records, Kevin L. Hedrick, 37, is charged with two counts: receipt of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct; and enticing or coercing a minor to engage in prostitution or any criminal sexual activity, or attempting to do so.

Medina teacher placed on leave:Medina schools says high school teacher on paid leave related to FBI investigation

The charges were filed Friday in U.S. District Court. His attorney, Donald J. Malarcik Jr., said Hedrick has resigned, effective Jan. 6.

"He will never teach again," Malarchik said.

According to court documents, Hedrick is accused of chatting online with an undercover agent posing as the 28-year-old mother of two underage girls, ages 5 and 14, via an account called Ohio chastity key holders on the social media platform Kik.

Following conversations in which Hedrick allegedly agreed to meet with the supposed woman and her 14-year-old for sex, agents obtained search warrants for Hedrick's online accounts, including records from his Verizon telephone account and the Medina City school system's internet service provider, through which log ins into his Kik account were found.

The records state Hedrick allegedly sent 54 media files to other users on Kik between August and Oct. 19 and sent or received a total of 719 images and 281 videos, nearly all of which were sexually explicit in nature and largely depicted girls that an investigator estimated were between the ages of 13 and 19.

When questioned about the texts with the undercover agent, "Hedrick stated that he discussed and fantasized about having sexual relations with the woman and her 14-year-old daughter, but qualified the chats as only descriptive fantasies," according to the investigator's affidavit.

Medina City Schools Superintendent Aaron Sable said in an email to parents that "this situation did not directly impact current Medina City School District students or staff."

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"We understand charges of this nature are distressing especially in a school environment involving an educator," Sable said in an email to parents. "We are thankful for the diligence and collaboration of the FBI, local police and district administration to ensure our students and staff remain safe from predators."

Hedrick had been placed on leave in October. At the time, the district said the action was related to an open FBI investigation.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Hedrick earned his education degree at Kent State University, followed by a master of education, secondary school administration/principalship, from the University of Akron. He worked for Barberton Schools for a year before moving to Medina City Schools, where he has worked since 2008.

Sable referred parents to online resources regarding "online dangers, including chat rooms and messaging apps."

"The FBI has free helpful age and grade appropriate activities and resources for students and educators to learn how to surf safely and be more aware when online," he said, referring to information available at sos.fbi.gov.

Eric Marotta can be reached at emarotta@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarottaEric.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Medina teacher charged with distributing child porn, enticing a minor
LANSING  Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein apologized to fellow Justice Kyra Harris Bolden on Monday for interfering in how she staffed her court chambers.

Bernstein, in a story first reported by The Detroit News, had strongly criticized Bolden, who was sworn in on Jan. 1 as Michigan's first Black woman on the state Supreme Court, for hiring a clerk who had been convicted of robbery and shooting at a police officer in 1994 but had gone on to become an advocate for improved prison conditions and worked for the State Appellate Defender Office after his 2008 parole.

Bernstein said he believes in rehabilitation but said the clerk, Peter Martel, should not be working for the court, due to his past actions. He also said he was not speaking to Bolden because they did not share the same values.

Martel resigned, but Bernstein, who is legally blind, also received considerable criticism, both for his public comments and for prompting Martel's resignation.

More:Justice Bernstein's ambush roils Michigan's high court | Opinion

More:Shunning those with criminal convictions hurts us all | Opinion

Today, I apologized to my colleague Justice Kyra Harris Bolden in-person at the Hall of Justice and she has accepted my apology," Bernstein said in a release issued by the court office. "I regret overstepping Justice Boldens hiring process and should not have disturbed her ability to lead her Chambers."

Both Bernstein and Bolden are Democratic nominees to the court. The justices are listed on the non-partisan section of the ballot.

Bernstein also apologized to Martel, noting he is not an elected official. "My actions invited people into his life in a way that he had not signed up for and he deserved more consideration," he said.

I am committed to working with Justice Bolden in the coming years to advance our many shared values, including immediately working to expand opportunities in the legal field for those who have repaid their debts to society."

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Bernstein said his priority now "will be to fulfill the confidence placed in me by the people of Michigan." He said he "will not take that for granted and will focus on evaluating each case based on its merits and the laws of Michigan, as the citizens of our state expect.

It's not clear Bernstein's statement ends the matter.

"Nothing in Justice Bernsteins statement accepts accountability for costing someone his job or affirms the critical life experience and value that returning citizens bring to the criminal justice conversation," state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia, chair of the Michigan Progressive Women's Caucus, said on Twitter. "This is not an apology."

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Justice Bernstein apologizes to Justice Bolden over court hiring flap
TRENTON, N.J.  New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a term-limited Democrat with an eye on national politics, used his annual State of the State address Tuesday to sell his version of New Jersey after five years in office and draw contrast between the recent political chaos on the House floor in Washington and what happens in the Statehouse.

People dont want to see Washington-style dysfunction and chaos  and neither do we, Murphy said near the start of his hourlong address to a joint session of the state Legislature.

Some national sweep was expected, Murphy is head of the National Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Association  perches others have used to run for a higher office. Murphy used the speech to elbowFlorida and its Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, saying New Jerseys economic growth was outpacing Florida and many of the so-called business friendly states.

Some governors boast that their state is where woke goes to die. Im not even sure I know what that means, Murphy said, referencing a phrase DeSantis often uses when describing his state.

But Murphys speech was not as nationally calibrated as DeSantis' was in his inaugural address last week.

Murphy also praised Utahs Republican governor, Spencer Cox, who is vice chair of the NGA.

Murphy, a former ambassador to Germany who remains interested in foreign policy, opened the speech talking about the war in Ukraine. He praised the bravery and strength of the people of Ukraine in fighting back against Russias barbaric aggression, including four Ukrainian soldiers who were in the Assembly chamber for the speech as invited guests of First Lady Tammy Murphy.

Despite the pokes at national politics and international affairs sections, parochial issues largely ruled the day in the constitutionally required annual address that marks the beginning of the legislative session.

Murphy leaned heavily on talking points about affordability, making New Jersey stronger and fairer as well as efforts his administration has made to lower property taxes. This year, the governor added safety to his message, emphasizing his support for law enforcement and desire to combat crime as well as an aspiration to build the next New Jersey and make it cool to be from New Jersey again.

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One of the longer sections of the speech was the governors plan to overhaul the states nearly century-old liquor law system. The new plan, first reported Tuesday morning in POLITICOs New Jersey Playbook, would lift an existing cap on the number of licenses and allow municipalities to tack on their own local fees.

The governor also announced a deadline extension for his touted ANCHOR Property Tax Relief program allowing eligible residents to continue applying through Feb. 28. The program was one of the centerpieces of his 2022 agenda, but reports show only about half the states expected two million eligible residents have applied.

He also announced a plan, dubbed the Boardwalk Fund, to spend money to upgrade areas along the Jersey Shore. Murphy said he would unveil details of he plan during his budget address next month.

Murphy also promised to sign legislation to deal with car thefts, a crime that has become a major issue in the state and which he now calls a top priority.

The state will also roll out what the governor described as a nation-leading plan to make the life-saving drug naloxone available free and anonymously to anyone who walks into a pharmacy. The drug can treat an opioid overdose. The plan is to offer anonymous and free access to the drug, also known by the brand name Narcan, and could save countless lives, he said.

All of these issues will be batted around during an election year in which all 120 members of the Legislature will be on the ballot.

Tuesday's address was the first in-person State of the State Murphy has delivered since the pandemic, though he gave an in-person budget address last year.

The speech, Murphy's fifth State of the State since taking office in 2018, spent more time highlighting past wins than announcing new projects and programs.

Afterward, Democratic leaders offered something less than their full-throated endorsement.

Senate President Nick Scutari welcomed the Governors continued focus on affordability and economic opportunity, but said we need to build upon the progress we have made in providing tax relief, affordable housing, job creation, debt reduction, credit upgrades and strategic investments that promote economic growth.

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said the "speech accurately captured the successes of the past five years.

Both men committed to working with Murphy and their legislative colleagues to address policy priorities in the year ahead.

Senate Minority Leader Steve Oroho was not impressed by the speech. In a rebuttal address, the Sussex County Republican outlined some themes that his party hopes to use to retake control of the Legislature, where they are outnumbered 46 to 34 to in the Assembly and 24 to16 in the Senate.

Oroho faulted Murphy and the Democratic majority in both chambers for failing to fix our broken unemployment and motor vehicle computer systems, not doing enough to address pandemic-related learning loss in schools and signing a gun carry law which saw parts of it blocked by a federal judge yesterday.

The Republicans remarks also nailed Murphy for double-digit increases in health insurance premiums for public sector workers and local governments.

While theyre busy wasting billions on pet projects, theyve failed to effectively manage the cost of benefits for hundreds of thousands of public workers, Oroho said in a prepared speech meant to react to the governors address. This year, thats resulted in huge increases in health care premiums for local governments that will lead to spikes in property taxes across New Jersey.

Last year, Murphy used his speech to praise New Jerseyans for their perseverance in dealing with the pandemic and pledged to sign an abortion rights bill, reaffirmed that he will not raise taxes this year and said he would send a plan to lawmakers to lower the cost of prescription drugs. He kept some of those promises, but his prescription drug plan has stalled.

But the governor ultimately viewed the State of the State as a chance to reflect as he enters the middle of the second term and heads into lame duck territory.

In contrast with other governors across the country, including DeSantis and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs who made education issues centerpieces of their inaugurals and State of the State speeches, Murphy did not spend any significant amount of time discussing education.

Without elaborating, he repeatedly asserted that education is valued, in the state and cited his administrations total increase of more than $2 billion in education funding since he took office  an amount that still falls short of the constitutionally-mandated total required in the school funding formula.

This years budget address, which will be given in a month or so, will likely contain more announcements, keeping with Murphys use of the various major speeches he gives each year.

Daniel Han contributed to this report.
Vietnamese Ambassador Pham Sao Mai speaking at the event (Photo: VNA)

Speaking at the meeting held in Beijing, Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai highlighted the socio-economic and diplomatic achievements of the country as well as new strides in relations between Vietnam and China in 2022.

The Ambassador affirmed that the Party and State of Vietnam always consider overseas Vietnamese as an integral part of the nation.

He emphasized that the embassy has paid special attention to overseas Vietnamese affairs, assists overseas Vietnamese, works to protect their rights and legitimate interests, and coordinates with Chinese authorities to help them settle down and integrate into local society.

Ambassador Mai expressed his hope that the Vietnamese community in China will continue to uphold solidarity, maintain national identity, and contribute to the homeland and friendship between the two countries./.
Prince Harry became the first royal family member to mention what he called the shameful sex assault allegations against Prince Andrew in his new memoir Spare, which officially came out on Tuesday.

The Duke of Sussex, writing about security concerns after he and Meghan Markle stepped back from the royal family in 2020, brought up his uncle, the Duke of York.

Meg asked me one night: You dont think theyd ever pull our security, do you? Harry wrote.

Never, Harry said he replied. Not in this climate of hate. And not after what happened to my mother.

He added: Also, not in the wake of my Uncle Andrew. He was embroiled in a shameful scandal, accused of the sexual assault of a young woman, and no one had so much as suggested that he lose his security. Whatever grievances people had against us, sex crimes werent on the list.

Prince Andrew and Prince Harry attend day one of Royal Ascot on June 17, 2014, in Ascot, England.

Prince Andrew and Prince Harry attend day one of Royal Ascot on June 17, 2014, in Ascot, England.

Last year, Andrew reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who accused the royal in a lawsuit filed in New York City of sexually assaulting and abusing her when she was a minor in 2001.

Andrew repeatedly denied the allegations over the years. He officially stepped back from royal duties for the foreseeable future in 2019, after a disastrous interview with BBC Newsnight.

In the interview, he failed to distance himself from his longstanding friendship with the now-deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, or to express sympathy for Epsteins sex-crimes victims.

Andrew was stripped of his military titles and royal patronages in January 2022.

With The Queens approval and agreement, The Duke of Yorks military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen, Buckingham Palace said in a statement at the time. The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.

The Duke of York and Duke of Sussex walk behind the coffin during the procession for the Lying-in State of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 14, 2022.

The Duke of York and Duke of Sussex walk behind the coffin during the procession for the Lying-in State of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 14, 2022.

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More revelations from Prince Harrys Spare memoir and media tour:

Related...
Democratic Rep. Katie Porter kicked off the 2024 campaign season early on Tuesday when she declared herself a candidate for the Senate in California.

The announcement comes despite no statement from longtime Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whose up for reelection in 2024, that she is retiring.

Porter, first elected in 2018, released a video across her social media accounts stressing the need for "new leadership" as she showcased her progressive credentials as a lawmaker who "doesn't do Congress" like others.

"I use whatever power I have to speak hard truths to the powers that be  to not just challenge the status quo but call it out," she said.

Democratic congressional candidate Katie Porter speaks during an election night event on Nov. 6, 2018, in Tustin, Calif.

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In the video, the congresswoman pledges to fight against Wall Street, the "big banks" and pharmaceutical companies. She added how she won't accept lobbyist or corporate PAC money, and favors prohibiting lawmakers in Congress from stock trading.

"Especially in times like these, California needs a warrior in Washington," Porter said.

California needs a warrior in the Senateto stand up to special interests, fight the dangerous imbalance in our economy, and hold so-called leaders like Mitch McConnell accountable for rigging our democracy.



Today, I'm proud to announce my candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2024. pic.twitter.com/X1CSE8T12B  Katie Porter (@katieporteroc) January 10, 2023

More: House approves new rules, first big test for Republican-led chamber

Feinstein is the oldest senator currently in Congress and has been dogged by questions about her age and cognitive abilities.

In January 2021, she filed paperwork to seek reelection, saying last year how she hadn't heard about those concerns.

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Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Ca., questions William Barr at hearing to confirm him as Attorney General of the United States.

"I put in the hours.  And so Im rather puzzled by this, Feinstein told the San Francisco Chronicles editorial board.

But the 89-year-old Democrat has taken a step back from her Senate duties, such as leaving her leadership role on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Feinstein furthered speculation when she turned down being president pro tempore of the Senate, which historically goes to the most senior senator of the majority party and is third in line to the presidency.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rep. Katie Porter enters California Senate race
Virgin Orbit launched nine small satellites atop a rocket dropped from a 747 jumbo jet south of Ireland on Monday, but the booster suffered a failure during the climb to space and the payloads were lost, the company said.

The 747 "Cosmic Girl" jet took off from Cornwall Airport Newquay near Britain's southwest coast in what had been billed as the first orbital launch from the United Kingdom and western Europe.

The repurposed Virgin Atlantic passenger jet, with the 70-foot-long 57,000-pound LauncherOne rocket tucked under its left wing, took off just after 5 p.m. EST, cheered on by airport workers, area residents and government officials as it slowly climbed away to the west and disappeared from view over the Atlantic Ocean.

Virgin Orbit's

After reaching an altitude of around 35,000 feet off the southern coast of Ireland, the aircraft carried out a racetrack-like loop around the drop point while engineers made final checks and verified the rocket's readiness for launch.

Then, approaching the drop point a second time, LauncherOne was released. As the 747 banked sharply away to provide plenty of clearance, the rocket's first stage engine ignited with 80,000 pounds of thrust to begin the southwesterly climb to space.

Three minutes later, the first stage fell away and the ascent continued on the power of the second stage engine, providing 5,000 pounds of push. Virgin confirmed stage separation and ignition of the second stage engine, but it was not clear if the burn was completed as planned or whether a problem developed after engine shutdown.

After a few long moments of silence, Virgin's webcast commentator said "it appears LauncherOne has suffered an anomaly, which will prevent us from making orbit on this mission." The company then tweeted the same, adding "we are evaluating the information."

We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit. We are evaluating the information.  Virgin Orbit (@VirginOrbit) January 9, 2023

The company initially tweeted the rocket had reached orbit, but then posted an update, saying "as we find out more, we're removing our previous tweet about reaching orbit. We'll share more info when we can."

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On board for Monday's launching were nine small satellites representing a mix of government and private-sector projects in Britain, the United States, Oman, Poland and the European Space Agency.

The Aman satellite, Oman's first, was a small Earth-observation platform built in collaboration with SatRevolution, a Polish "new space" satellite developer. Britain's Defense Science and Technology Laboratory and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory sponsored two CubeSats to study the ionosphere.

Britain and the European Space Agency collaborated on a satellite known as DOVER, designed to test advanced global navigation technology, while Space Forge of Wales developed an experimental platform to test Earth-return technology.

Virgin's 747 jet took off from southwest Britain and released the LauncherOne rocket south of Ireland. / Credit: Virgin Orbit

The manifest was rounded out by IOD-3 Amber, the first of more than 20 British-built satellites designed to provide space-based "marine domain awareness," and STORK-6, the fourth in a series of SatRevolution multi-spectral Earth-observation CubeSats.

Virgin's LauncherOne, built in the United States, had completed five flights before Monday's launch. The initial flight carrying a dummy payload was a failure, but the following four missions, carrying a variety of "smallsats" were successful.

All of those flights originated at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Virgin founder Richard Branson looked to Monday's flight to demonstrate a unique ability to launch small satellites from anywhere in the world.

"Europe has never put a satellite into space and the one cool thing about using a Virgin Atlantic 747 is that we can fly to any country and we can put satellites into space, and we can do it at a moment's notice," he said before launch.

But not quite yet.

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The 2023 Kentucky primary elections are coming just around the corner.

This year the Republican and Democratic primaries will be held Tuesday, May 16. There are six constitutional offices on the ballot this year, with races to determine Kentucky's next governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor, commissioner of agriculture and state treasurer.

Independent candidates may also file to run later, with an April 3 deadline for their statement of candidacy and June 6 deadline to formally file with signatures.

Here's a quick rundown on each of the candidates running for secretary of state.

Kentucky Secretary of State's Democratic candidate

With only one candidate for the primary, the lone candidate will be the Democrat's presumptive nominee to advance to the general election ballot.

Kentucky Rep. Buddy Wheatley of Kenton County speaks during a reaction to the Kentucky Supreme Court's ruling against Gov. Andy Beshear's mandates Wednesday morning Sept. 1, 2021.

Buddy Wheatley of Covington was a two-term state representative, before losing his reelection campaign by a close margin in November. He is running on a platform of boosting voter turnout by increasing poll locations, poll workers and access to voting.

Kentucky Secretary of State's Republican candidates

Three Republicans are vying to be the state's top election official.

Secretary of State Michael Adams makes a joke about Gov. Andy Beshear at the Fancy Farm picnic Saturday. No Kentucky Democrat politicians showed to speak at this year's Fancy Farm event. August 4, 2021

Michael Adams is running for his second term as secretary of state after deciding against a run for governor or attorney general last year. He has long touted his goal of making it "easier to vote and harder to cheat," supporting legislation that passed requiring voter identification and adding three days of early, in-person voting.

Stephen L. Knipper is a candidate for Kentucky secretary of state.

Stephen Knipper of Independence has twice run before for secretary of state, losing a narrow general election race in 2015 and finishing third in the Republican primary in 2019. He has alleged widespread election fraud in Kentucky and nationwide in a statewide tour, claiming Trump won in 2020 and Matt Bevin won in 2019.

Former State Rep. Allen Maricle spoke during a Trump Train rally to support the reelection of President Donald Trump at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky. on Nov. 1, 2020.

Allen Maricle of Lebanon Junction was a state representative for two terms in the 1990s. His platform calls for improving election integrity and transparency.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky secretary of state: Meet the primary election candidates
Potential 2024 presidential contenders made overtures to Iowa Republicans on Monday, a sign they're beginning to ramp up their activity in the state holding the first Republican presidential nominating contest.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and former President Donald Trump (who has already declared his 2024 run) placed full-page ads in a booklet handed out to state Republican lawmakers at the Iowa GOP Annual Legislative Breakfast Monday.

Ad for former President Trump in Iowa state GOP pamphlet. / Credit: Provided by an Iowa Republican

Conservative radio host and former California GOP gubernatorial-recall nominee Larry Elder also bought a page.

Term-limited Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson was the guest speaker at Monday's breakfast, according to an Iowa Republican.

Trump occupies a two page spread that was bought by his campaign. One page talks about his 2016 campaign launch, highlights agenda items during his term as president such as his border, energy independence and respecting "the rule of law." The other page in big bold letters reads, "Iowa  Together, Let's Finish What We Started."

Pompeo's page highlights his book, including a quote from him, and was paid for by the Champion American Values PAC, an organization chaired by Pompeo.

Ad for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Iowa state Republican booklet / Credit: Provided by an Iowa Republican

Scott's page, which focuses on education and features pictures of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and the Iowa congressional delegation, touts his work with Iowa leaders "to help our students achieve their American Dream." The ad was paid for by his Senate campaign.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott in Iowa state GOP pamphlet. / Credit: Provided by an Iowa Republican

Pompeo and Scott have not declared whether they're running in 2024, but they were active on the campaign trail for Republican candidates during the 2022 midterm elections. Last month, Pompeo told Fox News he is mulling his 2024 decision and said that he'd need to be "hard at it" by the end of the first quarter in 2023 if he does decide to run.

Hutchinson also hasn't made a White House bid official, but made visits to Iowa and New Hampshire in the last year and was critical of Trump after the Jan 6 attacks on the Capitol.

Story continues

In a statement, Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said, "The Republican Party of Iowa welcomes any and all 2024 contenders to come and make their pitch directly to Iowans. Hosting the First-in-the-Nation Caucus is a crucial responsibility, and Iowa Republicans support the open dialogue and debate necessary for Iowans to make the most informed decision possible."

New inflation data to be released as Federal Reserve weighs another interest rate hike

New guidelines for treating childhood obesity include medication and surgery

With Mega Millions jackpot at $1.1 billion, lottery players share what they'd do with big prize
Col. Steven Pike, chief of Capitol Police, from left, Col. Gary Settle, superintendent of Virginia State Police, and Col. William Smith, chief of Richmond City Police, attend an event at the Virginia Capitol in Richmond in February 2020. (Bob Brown / Richmond Times-Dispatch)

In a previously unreported letter obtained by The Times, the head of the Virginia State Police detailed errors in his agency's hiring of Austin Lee Edwards, the now-deceased "catfish" cop who killed three people in Riverside in late November.

Although Edwards had told the agency about his 2016 visit to a psychiatric facility, the agency failed to search databases for his mental health history before hiring him as an officer, Col. Gary Settle, the state police superintendent, wrote in the letter, which was addressed to a post office box associated with Virginia's inspector general.

Edwards left the state police after nine months and joined the Washington County Sheriff's Office as a deputy. He was employed there in November, when he drove to Riverside and killed the mother and grandparents of a 15-year-old girl whom police say he had catfished" online.

Both law enforcement agencies have faced scrutiny for hiring Edwards and, at the request of Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Virginia's inspector general is investigating the state police's hiring of Edwards.

The Virginia State Police have blamed Edwards' hiring on human error and an incomplete query of databases. But Settle's memo provides many more details about exactly what went wrong.

In the document, dated Dec. 30, 2022, Settle confirmed that Edwards had disclosed his 2016 psychiatric stay, and blamed his hiring on the background investigator who handled his application. Although Edwards' admission wouldnt have been an automatic disqualifier" on its own, he wrote, it was a missed opportunity for clarification."

Unfortunately, the error allowed him to be employed, as there were no other disqualifiers," Settle wrote.

The mistake was due to an arcane difference in the search codes background investigators are supposed to use while screening aspiring cops, Settle wrote. The investigator who handled Edwards' background check used a code for applicants and failed to include one for firearms, which would have brought up all Virginia mental health orders.

Story continues

The correct query would have unearthed any "Virginia mental health orders if one exists," Settle wrote. As The Times previously reported, Virginia mental health orders for Edwards existed at the time of his hiring.

Police records show that on Feb. 8, 2016, authorities handcuffed Edwards, strapped him to a stretcher and delivered him to a local hospital after he threatened to kill himself and his father. Later that day, a judge approved a temporary detention order, and Edwards was transferred to a psychiatric facility. That order would have shown up in a correct database query, law enforcement experts told The Times.

During Edwards' psychiatric stay, another judge barred him from purchasing, possessing or transporting firearms, according to court records obtained by The Times. According to the treatment order, Edwards agreed to voluntary admission for inpatient treatment for 72 hours, unless released earlier. He also was advised that his gun rights had been revoked unless restored by a court.

Evidence that Edwards' gun rights had been revoked should also have been accessible by the Virginia State Police during the time the agency was considering his application. The clerk for the Bristol General District Court sent the treatment order detailing the loss of Edwards' gun rights to the Central Criminal Records Exchange, a division of the state police, said Alisa Padden, director of legislative and public relations for the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Corinne Geller, a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, did not immediately respond to an email asking whether the agency still had the records.

Officials in the courts with jurisdiction over three known addresses for Edwards told The Times that they do not have any evidence that he ever petitioned for restoration of his gun rights.

All Virginia background investigators are trained to search for mental health orders but the investigator who handled Edwards' application was unaware of this requirement, Settle wrote. The agency's internal investigation indicated that Edwards' investigator was the only one who failed to query properly.

The agency believes the incident was "isolated" and has taken steps to guard against a repeat, Settle added. In the course of the internal investigation last year of Edwards' hiring, "all past sworn employment records were reevaluated and no mental health orders or other disqualifiers were found," he wrote.

The Virginia police plan to implement new hiring policies, including requiring background investigators and polygraph examiners to discuss any relevant information from the polygraph or interviews, according to the memo. The department will also revise the background investigation policy manual and develop training for investigators related to mental health histories.

Investigators will now be required to interview all adults living in the house with the applicant, regardless of whether they were listed as a reference.

Settle's letter shows how much his agency's story has changed in the months since the Riverside murders. Shortly after the killings, Geller, the state police spokeswoman, said there weren't "any indicators of concern" that surfaced during Edwards' "extensive" hiring process.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office said that it had contacted state police during his hiring process and that state police did not disclose any troubles, reprimands, or internal investigations pertaining to Edwards.

The Times reported Sunday that Edwards had a history of grooming girls online before he was hired as a police officer. Thousands of messages obtained by The Times showed that he solicited nude photos from a girl  even after she told him she was 13.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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Passengers prepare to board a train in Shenzhen North railway station in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

Passengers prepare to board a train in Shenzhen North railway station in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

Trains are pictured at Shenzhen North railway station in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

A worker examines a train at a maintenance base in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 6, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

A worker examines a train at a maintenance base in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 6, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

Passengers prepare to board a train in Shenzhen North railway station in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

Passengers are seen in Shenzhen North railway station in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

Passengers prepare to board a train in Shenzhen North railway station in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

This aerial photo shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

This stitched panoramic aerial photo shows bullet trains in a maintenance base in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

A worker examines a train at a maintenance base in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 6, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

Passengers prepare to board a train in Hefei South railway station in Hefei, central China's Anhui Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu)

This photo shows bullet trains in a maintenance base in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 6, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

Passengers are seen in Beijing West railway station in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)

Passengers prepare to board a train in Hefei South railway station in Hefei, central China's Anhui Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu)

This aerial photo shows bullet trains in a maintenance base in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 6, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

This aerial photo shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

This aerial photo shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

Passengers wait for train in Tianjin West railway station in north China's Tianjin, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

This photo shows bullet trains in a maintenance base in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 6, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

Passengers are seen on a bullet train in Beijing West railway station in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)

This aerial photo shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Zhou Yi)

Passengers wait for train in Urumqi railway station in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

This aerial photo shows bullet trains in a maintenance base in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 6, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush this year, will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

Passengers pose for photos in the waiting hall at Suzhou Railway Station in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15 this year,. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Passengers line up to enter Suzhou Railway Station in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15 this year,. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Passengers are pictured in the waiting hall at Harbin Railway Station in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15 this year,. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)

Passengers are pictured in Chengdu east railway station in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15 this year,. (Xinhua/Wang Xi)

Passengers line up to enter Suzhou Railway Station in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15 this year,. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Passengers are pictured on the platform in Guiyang north railway station in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15 this year,. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

People wave goodbye at Wuhan railway station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15 this year,. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

A train crew member decorates the carriage of a train at Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15 this year,. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

Passengers are pictured in Kunming Railway Station in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15 this year,. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo)

A passenger sits in a bullet train in Xi'an Railway Station in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The Spring Festival travel rush will continue for 40 days from Jan. 7 to Feb. 15 this year,. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

Passengers queue for security check at Haikou Meilan International Airport in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in China kicked off Saturday. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

Passengers are seen at Jinan West Railway Station in Jinan, east China's Shandong Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in China kicked off Saturday. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui)

Passengers prepare to board a train at Shenzhen North Railway Station in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in China kicked off Saturday. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

Passengers are seen at Zhengzhou East Railway Station in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in China kicked off Saturday. (Xinhua/Li An)

Passengers go through automatic ticket gates at Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 7, 2023. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in China kicked off Saturday. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

Passengers get off a train at Xi'an Railway Station in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in China kicked off Saturday. (Photo by Zou Jingyi/Xinhua)

Passengers are seen at Shenzhen North Railway Station in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in China kicked off Saturday. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

Passengers are seen at Guangzhou South Railway Station in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in China kicked off Saturday. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin)

Passengers are seen at Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 7, 2023. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in China kicked off Saturday. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

Passengers go through automatic ticket gates at Beijing South Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 7, 2023. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in China kicked off Saturday. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)

Passengers and stewards pose for a photo at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station in east China's Shanghai, Jan. 7, 2023. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in China kicked off Saturday. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang)

Passengers queue to board a train at Beijing Fengtai Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 7, 2023. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in China kicked off Saturday. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)

A passenger checks in at Haikou Meilan International Airport in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in China kicked off Saturday. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

A passenger adjusts the face mask of a child at Zhengzhou East Railway Station in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Jan. 7, 2023. The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in China kicked off Saturday. (Xinhua/Li An)

Editor: ZAD
VILLANOVA, Pa.  Mark C. Alexander, The Arthur J. Kania Dean of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, was inducted as President of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) on Saturday, January 7, 2023, after delivering his inaugural address at the AALS' Annual Meeting in San Diego.

Dean Alexander was named President-Elect in January of 2022 after three years of service on the Executive Committee. He succeeds Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the University of California Berkeley School of Law.

"I am grateful to have this time with my AALS colleagues to engage in thoughtful discussions about the importance and relevance of law schools at a time when the strength of our democracy is being tested," said Dean Alexander. "I always look forward to the chance to learn from others as well as share the good work that takes place here at Villanova Law every day. As President, I am energized just thinking about the possibilities of how we will work together this year and beyond."

The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), founded in 1900, is a nonprofit association of 176 member and 19 fee-paid law schools. Its members enroll most of the nations law students and produce the majority of the countrys lawyers and judges, as well as many of its lawmakers. The mission of AALS is to uphold and advance excellence in legal education. In support of this mission, AALS promotes the core values of excellence in teaching and scholarship, academic freedom, and diversity, including diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints, while seeking to improve the legal profession, to foster justice, and to serve its many communitieslocal, national and international.

About Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law: Founded in 1953, the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law provides broad-based legal education that is grounded in academic rigor, practical hands-on training and a foundation in business that prepares graduates for diverse and rewarding legal careers. The Law School, which is accredited by the American Bar Association, offers six in-house clinics and more than 250 externship opportunities that immerse students in the real-world application of their legal skills. Villanova is home to Centers of Excellencethe Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy; the David F. and Constance B. Girard-diCarlo Center for Ethics, Integrity and Compliance; the John F. Scarpa Center for Law and Entrepreneurship; and the Jeffrey S. Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Lawwhich provide students the opportunity to pursue innovative, interdisciplinary legal fields through study, practical experience and mentorship.
A Hungarian firm has unveiled a device which it says can prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the air through disinfection and humidifying.

The compact device developed by CYX Kft with EU support between September 2021 and December 2022 filters out and destroys viruses and other pathogens such as bacteria, fungi spores before they can be spread between people.



Scaling up for mass production of the device, which can also reduce PM2.5 small airborne dust particles, is under way and it is expected to enter the market in the second quarter of 2023, the company said on Monday.



The European Union has provided 697 million forints (EUR 1.7m) of support as part of the Economic Development and Innovation Operational Program for the 995 million forint project.



Photo for illustration purposes only
This is part of a series of in-depth interviews with some surprising members of the community, written by Marion Merrick.

As strange as any of the films that Mark Rimmell worked on, is the plot of his own life; in particular, the months he spent at the Marriott hotel, sitting on his balcony and staring across the Danube at the building in which he would later come to live.



In 2005, Mark was working in Budapest for five months as part of the crew shooting Eragon. I was a set decorating buyer, he explains. Quite a bit I got on Ebay, or I bought from shops here, from Ecseri and elsewhere, and I also made a lot of what was needed myself.



Before the end of filming Mark already knew he wanted to settle in Budapest: I was three months into the film when I thought this is the place. It was like a magical revelation. Against the advice of his film family colleagues, he had found and bought his riverside apartment before their time in Hungary had expired.



Mark recalls his first impression of the flat with its extensive views of the river: This place, when it was empty, had the appearance of a concert hall  and I did have concerts here, he adds.





Apartment with a view

The apartment now is an Aladdins cave of treasures which defies adequate description: masks hang on ornate mirrors, richly-decorated fabrics are draped over a plush throne; bronzes, crucifixes and gilded stage props crowd every surface; jewel-encrusted crowns fill a whole room; pearl necklaces dangle from lamps; hand-painted wallpapers, paintings and prints cover the walls; assorted costumes, glittering jewellery and miscellaneous mementos from the film world throng every corner.







But as Mark recalls, I never had any ambition to be in the film industry at allmy life began in a childrens home. My Russian-Jewish mother had escaped the pogroms and fled to Palestine where she fell in love with a British soldier. When she became pregnant, he reluctantly agreed to marry her, and they went to live in the east end of London. However, Marks father was determined to free himself from his Jewish princess, as he called her.



Shockingly, he had his wife declared insane, and she was interred in the infamous Colney Hatch Asylum where she later died. Coincidentally, Mark found himself there once he was working in films: We were filming Longitude with Jeremy Irons and one of the locations was the abandoned insane asylum with its five floors and six miles of corridors.



During the war, Mark was evacuated to the countryside and was cared for by kind foster parents. On finishing school, however, he had no idea of what to do  other than his exceptional singing voice, he felt he had no particular talents, but I knew that my future lay in London, he says.



Following up an advertisement in a London newspaper, Mark went into business with the proprietor of an antiques shop in St. Johns Wood. But I knew nothing about antiques! I used to go to auctions at Christies, Sothebys and Bonhams, I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and antiques fairs, just to learn, he explains.



Yet before long, Mark realised there were serious problems, and not those occasioned by his lack of knowledge. He turned out to be a crook, says Mark of his business partner. I realised I would have to try and buy him out and run the shop alone,  and he did.



Mark then set about turning the basement of the premises into an art gallery where students from the Slade School exhibited, including Derek Jarman. However, after seven years, Mark was staring bankruptcy in the face. But you learn more from failure than from success, Ive learned, he concludes philosophically.



The years that followed  decorating the room in a photographic studio, then creating room sets for television advertisements  paved the way for what was to follow: working alongside top set designers in productions like Jeeves and Wooster (with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry), David Suchets Poirot films including Death on the Nile; Far From the Madding Crowd; Love in a Time of Cholera; In the Name of the Father; Eragon and Hellboy II. He worked with Kate Bush on her music video Cloudbusting, and was nominated for an MTV award for Best Art Direction in Simple Minds Dont You Forget About Me .







It was in 2005, during the shooting of Eragon, that Mark found himself gazing across the Danube from his hotel balcony. I just fell in love with Budapest, he recalls. Many people fall in love with it  theres a magical quality about it, just wandering the streets, the whole atmosphere went in straight here, he says, laying his hand on his heart.



Marks props for the film Uncharted

When his bemused film crew departed, Mark was left alone in his flat. His first contact in the city invited him to visit an exhibition housed in some disused shops in Pest, where he met and talked to the young artists. Everything had that personal touch, he muses, unlike London.



I went to the Liszt Academy, to the National dance Theatre; I went to Dob utca to some dance hall where they were doing Hungarian folk dancing on Thursday nights, and joined in. That could never have happened to me in London  never. Always there was some event going on and I would ask myself: what would I be doing in London? And I thought, not very much!



Though Mark misses the antique shops of London, he no longer felt at ease living there. When you have to call your neighbour upstairs to go with you to the ATM and stand by while you take money out, that is the time to leave.



Though approaching the end of his eighth decade, Mark is still busy. In 2013, he created the stunning crown to be worn by the winner of the World Top Model competition, held in Budapest, earning him the moniker Crown Maker and which started his new passion for making them.



I have made between 70 and 80 crowns altogether, says Mark, but the last one I made is the most important. This is none other than his crown for Ukraine: The Angel of Peace and Freedom which took pride of place and was unveiled at the exhibition Mark hosted in December.

The Angel of Peace and Freedom

Decorated with gems in the colours of the Ukranian flag  blue lapis lazuli and yellow citrine  it is topped with a bronze angel bearing a trident, part of the Ukranian coat of arms.



My aim is to see that crown on Zelenskys desk, or maybe in the Ukranian National Museum, says Mark. Meanwhile, he is reorganising his apartment so that his jewellery, crowns and other treasures can be seen more clearly. Im thinking of creating a museum to display my crowns and maybe sell some of my jewellery, but it will take some months yet, he smiles. Hopefully in the spring.



Marks days are full. I go to Toscana every morning, he says. Im there for an hour or so, then I come homefriends ring, we might go to a gallery, or I might go to the art shop and buy some fabric paint to experiment after watching something on Youtube; I read, Im still exploring the city.



Mark continues to be sought out by those filming in Hungary, often for custom-made pieces of jewellery. I was also asked to make three bejewelled skeletons! he says. I laid them out on the ironing board. First, I covered them in gold, then I encrusted them in jewels  and they all had crowns.



Budapest is known as the Hollywood of Europe, he continues. When we made Hellboy II, we filmed in the Korda Studios. We built a set of the streets of New York there  I think they have kept it.



Mark has an indefatigable enthusiasm for discovering Budapests secrets, for life and for people. Im always talking to people. You recognise that someones probably a visitor and I will say: How are you enjoying Budapest? Quite often they respond, and sometimes the magic happens. For example, I met an American lady who later turned out to be a TV producer from LA, and she looked me up and then invited me to be interviewed on her programme. I know that magic wouldnt have happened in London!



He is also not averse to creating magic of his own. Some years ago on August 20th, I had this fantasy of singing to all the people sitting, eating and drinking under my balcony. I had a microphone and a speaker, so I decided to do it! I got my programme together  the kind of thing I used to sing in the clubs



Dressed in a scarlet and gold braid jacket, Mark thus began to serenade the people sitting below him on the riverside. Seven oclock, I began. I ended with My Way, and everyone was clapping and cheering! I thought, Im going to go down and see what the reaction is. People came up and shook my hand, they wanted pictures taken with me! The following evening, I peeped over the balcony and saw people were expecting another performance, but I couldnt repeat it, the adrenalin was gone.



Mark will never tire of Budapest. Budapest is a small jewel. I cannot help myself: when I can, I have to peep through into courtyards, he admits.



So, if you should be strolling Budapests streets, or sitting alone in a cafe when you are approached by a kindly English gentleman who asks how you are enjoying this city, it may well be Mark Rimmell.



All photographs are courtesy of Mark Rimmell. More photos, and information about his work are available on his Facebook page.



Marion Merrick is author of Now You See It, Now You Dont and House of Cards and the website Budapest Retro.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Czech President Milos Zeman via video link in Beijing, capital of China, on Jan. 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Czech President Milos Zeman via video link on Monday.

Xi said that over the past 10 years, he and President Zeman have met and talked many times, and exchanged in-depth views on bilateral relations and experience in governing their countries, and upgraded Chinese-Czech relations to a strategic partnership.

"We have jointly promoted bilateral economic and trade relations and personnel exchanges," Xi said, noting that Czech exports to China have nearly tripled, and that in 2019, the number of Chinese tourists to the Czech Republic increased 250 percent from 2013.

Xi said that China attaches importance to the development of bilateral relations, regards the Czech Republic as an important strategic partner, and is willing to work with the Czech side to promote stable and far-reaching bilateral relations and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

He stressed that China is promoting the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, and will continue to promote high-level opening up, which will surely provide new opportunities for all countries, including the Czech Republic.

Xi called on the two sides to be firm in their respect for each other's core interests and major concerns, and strengthen multi-level and high-quality communication, tap the potential of complementarity, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

"China will introduce more practical measures to promote cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC)," Xi said.

He noted that China's European policy remains stable, and expressed his hope that the Czech side will continue to actively promote China-CEEC cooperation and the sustained and healthy development of China-Europe relations.

For his part, Zeman said the Czech side is willing to make joint efforts with China to strengthen cooperation in the fields of the economy, trade and investment, overcome the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, resume personnel exchanges, and bring great vitality to Czech-Chinese relations.

The Czech side is willing to play an active role in promoting the healthy development of Europe-China relations, he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Czech President Milos Zeman via video link in Beijing, capital of China, on Jan. 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Czech President Milos Zeman via video link in Beijing, capital of China, on Jan. 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

Editor: WJH
A University of Nebraska-Lincoln economic index declined again in November, suggesting the state could be in for a rough first half of the year.

Nebraskas Leading Economic Indicator, which is designed to predict economic activity, declined 0.16% in November, according to the most recent report from UNL.

The leading indicator has dropped in four of the last six months, suggesting that there will be no growth in the Nebraska economy in the first half of 2023, said economist Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research, department chair and K.H. Nelson College Professor of Economics.

The Leading Economic Indicator has six components: business expectations, building permits for single-family homes, airline passenger counts, initial claims for unemployment insurance, the value of the U.S. dollar and manufacturing hours worked.

Two components of the leading indicator worsened significantly during November: Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose and manufacturing hours worked declined.

Thompson suggested that the increase in unemployment claims could indicate a softening labor market, while the decline in manufacturing hours worked could be a sign of overall economic weakness.
YORK  Fidel Martinez, 45, whose address is now listed as him being held in custody with the Nebraska Department of Corrections, has been sentenced to a term of 5-9 years in prison for assaulting a deputy with the York County Sheriffs Department.

He, along with Bianca Gonzalez Marengo, 35, of Omaha, was caught with a large amount of methamphetamine during a traffic stop in York County.

The case began in the middle of the night when the deputy saw a vehicle without license plates leave the interstate at the Bradshaw exit. The vehicle then immediately got back onto the interstate and a traffic stop was initiated.

Martinez claimed to have the name of Angel Navar. The deputy said Martinez gave him someone elses license and the intransit sticker did not look legitimate.

According to court documents, Martinez handed the deputy a bag with a large amount of methamphetamine inside it  right before he shoved the deputy with both hands and started to run south in the ditch. The deputy said they tripped and rolled down the hill, with Martinez on top of him who was trying to grab his taser. Martinez yelled for the deputy to give him his gun and grabbed the deputys throat and choked him until he could not breathe  until the deputy could punch Martinez in the left side of his face. Then Martinez punched the deputy twice in the head.

Another deputy arrived, which spooked Martinesz, and the deputy was able to get control of him.

Meanwhile, Marengo was found in the drivers seat of the vehicle as if she was waiting for Martinez to get in so they could leave.

His real identity was discovered and deputies learned he was on federal probation. A search of the vehicle was conducted, during which 18 grams of marijuana were found along with $1,268 in cash, two glass pipes containing methamphetamine, a half gram of methamphetamine in a bag and 27 grams of methamphetamine that spilled onto the ground where the deputy and the driver had their altercation.

Initially, Martinez was charged with possession of 10-22 grams of methamphetamine, strangulation, criminal impersonation, no drug tax stamp, possession of money during a drug violation, false reporting, obstruction, resisting arrest, possession of one ounce of marijuana and being a habitual criminal. All those charges were dismissed and the only remaining charge is assault of an officer, to which Martinez pleaded guilty.

The remaining charge and resulting conviction is a Class 1D felony that carried a possible maximum sentence of 3-50 years in prison.

The prison sentence was handed down this week by Judge James Stecker in the York County District Court.
The 2023 BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine is launched in the country, and it comes to India via the CKD route and will be locally assembled at the companys production unit in Chennai. The Gran Limousine goes on sale in both petrol and diesel variants, as was the case with the outgoing model. The 2023 BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine remains the longest car in its segment with an increment of 110 millimetres in the wheelbase, in comparison to the regular model. Resultantly, it now tapes in at 4,823 mm. Only two variants of the BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine are made available - BMW 330Li M Sport and BMW 320Ld M Sport, priced at Rs 57.90 lakh and Rs 59.50 lakh (ex-showroom), respectively.

2023 BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine Design

The major difference in terms of the exterior is the increased length, which now totals at 4,823 mm and comes courtesy of the 110 mm increment in the wheelbase. The overall design for the larger part remains similar to the regular wheelbase 3 Series. The chrome-double bars on the BMW Kidney Grille highlight the bold sporty appearance of the new BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine. The standard full-LED headlights are now much slimmer, with clear contours and daytime driving lights arranged in an inverted L shape to create a harmonious and modern look. The outer daytime driving light elements also serve as turn indicators.

2023 BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine Specs

The 2.0L four-cylinder petrol engine of the BMW 330Li produces an output of 258 hp and maximum torque of 400 Nm at 1,550-4,400 rpm. The car accelerates from 0 -100 km / hr in just 6.2 seconds. The 2.0L four-cylinder diesel engine of the BMW 320Ld produces an output of 190 hp and a maximum torque of 400 Nm at 1,750  2,500 rpm. The car accelerates from 0 -100 km / hr in just 7.6 seconds. The 8-speed automatic transmission remains standard across the engine options. The - ECO PRO, Comfort, Sport.

Also read - IN PICS: 2023 BMW 7-Series, i7 EV launched in India, gets 625 km range - Design, features, specs

2023 BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine Interior

With the increased legroom on the inside, the interior comes equipped with a curved display the operates on BMW Operating System 8, and it houses a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 14.9-inch Control Display. Furthermore, the BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine gets BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant, integrated smartphone holder, wireless phone charger, wireless Android Auto & Apple CarPlay, 16-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system and more. Safety kit includes six airbags, Attentiveness Assistance, Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) including Cornering Brake Control (CBC), electric parking brake with auto hold, side-impact protection, electronic vehicle immobilizer, and ISOFIX child seat mounting.
Jamnagar: The Russian Embassy has issued a statement after a Goa-bound flight coming from Moscow was diverted to Gujarat following a bomb threat on Monday. The embassy said that they were alerted by the Indian authorities about the alleged bomb scare on the Azur Air flight en route from Moscow to Goa. "The Embassy was alerted by Indian authorities about an alleged bomb scare on Azur Air flight from Moscow to Goa. The aircraft made an emergency landing at Jamnagar Indian Air Force Base. Everyone on board is safe; authorities conducting an inspection of the aircraft," the Russian Embassy said in a statement.

Gujarat | Outside visuals from Jamnagar Aiport where Moscow-Goa chartered flight was diverted after Goa ATC received a bomb threat. pic.twitter.com/yXIumIWyUG  ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2023

The statement from the Russian Embassy came shortly after the Moscow-Goa flight was diverted to Gujarat`s Jamnagar, a move which was triggered after the Goa Air traffic controller received a bomb threat on Monday.

Meanwhile, Jamnagar Airport Director told ANI that the NSG has not found anything suspicious. "The flight is expected to leave from Jamnagar to Goa probably between 10:30 am to 11 am today. All bags have been thoroughly checked,'' he added.

The Moscow-Goa chartered flight was diverted to Jamnagar, Gujarat after Goa ATC received a bomb threat. "Aircraft is under isolation bay," said airport officials. According to the Jamnagar airport director, "Total 244 passengers onboard flight was landed safely at Jamnagar (defence) airport at 9:49 pm. Currently, aircraft and baggage are under isolation/security." Jamnagar District Collector Saurabh Parghi said that all 244 passengers and crew members on board the Goa-bound Moscow Chartered flight have been evacuated safely.

"The plane landed safely, and all 236 passengers and 8 crew members are on the flight. All 244 present on the plane have been evacuated safely and have been guided at the lounge inside the terminal building of the airport," he added. "Bomb detection and disposal work is undergoing at the airport," he added.

Sharing more information, the Jamnagar Collector said, "We received info regarding a bomb in the Moscow-Goa flight which has been diverted to Jamnagar. The flight has 236 passengers and 8 crew members. All passengers have been safely taken out and are in the airport lounge. Bomb detection and disposal work going on."

On the threat call, we are just taking precautionary measures. We have deployed a special force at the airport. We are watching the activities here, there is nothing to worry about. This can also be a rumour, but we are not taking any chances: Salim Shaikh, DSP, Vasco pic.twitter.com/nGfL5np3lL  ANI (@ANI) January 9, 2023

"The security agencies cordoned off the airport for 9 hours. Intensive checking of the aircraft and passengers has been done. The passenger's luggage is being checked and details are being verified," Saurabh Parghi, Jamnagar Collector, said.

The aircraft made an emergency landing at Jamnagar Indian Air Force Base. He also said that they were informed about the presence of a bomb in the Goa-bound flight from Moscow and hence the flight was diverted to Jamnagar.
As per a report on ANI, a Delhi-bound Go First plane on reportedly left the Bengaluru International Airport without taking more than 50 passengers, leaving them behind in the shuttle bus. Following the incident, India's aviation regulator DGCA has sought a detailed report from the domestic budget airline. Many passengers complained on Twitter, tagging the Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, asking him to look into the incident. The flight G8 116 departed at 6.40 am on January 9, 2023, leaving behind the passengers, they alleged. Go First declined to comment on the incident.

As per the reports, a group of passengers, who were waiting in a shuttle bus for boarding, were left behind at the tarmac, as the flight took off with only a few passengers. Some passengers alleged on social media that a busload of passengers were not taken onboard the Go First flight from Bengaluru to Delhi. In response to one of the tweets, the airline urged the users to share their details and said: "We regret the inconvenience caused".

@DGCAIndia @Officejmscindia @AmitShahOffice @official_Arnab_ Go first G8 116 flight Blore-delhi, 54 passengers were left in the bus post final on-board, the flight took off with luggages and left 54 passengers at the airport, serious security branch. passenger's are struggling. pic.twitter.com/MhwG7vI7UZ  Neeraj Bhat (@neerajbhat001) January 9, 2023

"Flight G8 116 (BLR-DEL) flew leaving passengers on ground! More than 50 passengers on 1 bus were left on ground & the flight took off with just passengers of 1 bus on boarded. Is @GoFirstairways @JM_Scindia @PMOIndia operating in sleep? No Basic checks!" said a tweet from a passenger named Satish Kumar.

Another passenger Shreya Sinha too complained on Twitter, saying, "most horrifying experience with @GoFirstairways 5:35 am Boarded the bus for aircraft 6:30 am Still in bus stuffed with over 50 passengers, driver stopped the bus after being forced. Flight G8 116 takes off, leaving 50+ passengers. Heights of negligence! @DGCAIndia".

A senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said, "We have sought a report from the airline and appropriate action shall be taken afterwards". 53 out of 55 passengers were shifted to another airline for Delhi and onward, while remaining 2 asked for a refund which was paid by the airline.

With agency inputs
IndiGo airlines on Monday refuted an incident reported of two drunk passengers causing havoc on a Patna-bound flight from the national capital and said that no such altercation has taken place. "With reference to the incident that took place onboard 6E 6383 from Delhi to Patna, the matter is under investigation with the authorities. We would like to clarify that there was no altercation onboard the aircraft, as what is being reported in some sections of social media," IndiGo airlines said in a tweet.

The airlines issued clarification hours after the media reported that the airport police have arrested two passengers for allegedly creating havoc in an inebriated state on Sunday night. Patna Airport SHO Robert Peter said that the police took action after the manager of IndiGo filed a written complaint against the accused.

He further said that the accused would be produced before the court. The alleged brawl took place on IndiGo flight number 6E-6383. According to the sources, before landing, Indigo informed Air traffic controllers (ATC) that two passengers were carrying liquor.

The passengers were stopped by the crew members for consuming alcohol and they apologised in writing for the incident, the sources told ANI. In another similar incident, a drunk passenger allegedly urinated on the blanket of a female passenger on the airline's Paris-New Delhi flight last month.

Airline regulator DGCA has sought a report from Air India on an incident. (ANI)
A Vistara flight made an emergency landing at the Delhi International Airport after suffering a hydraulic failure. A full emergency was declared at the IGI Airport after the pilot of Odisha bound aircraft contacted the ATC. The UK-781 DEL-BBI returned to Delhi airport at 8:19 pm shortly after it took off and all passengers were reported safe, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said. According to a statement issued by the Vistara airline, the aircraft had to return to IGI Airport, Delhi due to a minor technical snag which was detected shortly after take-off. The statement said that the pilots decided to return as a precautionary measure.

The Delhi to Bhubaneswar with 140 passengers on board had to return to the national capital after a full emergency was declared following a hydraulic failure has issued an official statement citing a technical snag forced the aircraft to head back. The UK-781 DEL-BBI returned to Delhi airport at 8:19 pm shortly after it took off on Monday (January 10) evening and all passengers are safe, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.

According to a statement issued by the airline, the aircraft had to return to IGI Airport, Delhi due to a minor technical snag which was detected shortly after take-off. The statement said that the pilots decided to return as a precautionary measure.

"The flight landed safely at the IGI Airport, Delhi," the statement said. An alternate aircraft was immediately arranged for the passengers, said Vistara. The DGCA ordered an inquiry into the incident.

"The flight has been grounded and a detailed probe has been ordered into the matter. All the passengers are safe," said a senior DGCA official. "Full emergency was declared for Air Vistara flight from Delhi to Bhubaneswar due to hydraulic failure," the official said.

"Air Vistara A320 aircraft VT-TNV while operating UK-781 (Delhi-Bubneshwar) was involved in Air turn back due as Green hydraulic system low ECAM came on," said DGCA.

With ANI airports
New Delhi: Anand Mahindra has praised Indian space organisation ISRO for doing a phenomenal work in the space sector after seeing the launch failure of UK space organisation. He said the launch failure by UK space mission told him how much we should appreciate and admire the launch record of ISRO.

ALSO READ | Ratan Tata shares old picture of him with brother with a heart melt caption

I recognise that this was a very different type of orbital launch but it stills tells me how much more we should appreciate and admire the launch record of @isro, Anand Mahindra tweeted on January 10, 2023.

I recognise that this was a very different type of orbital launch but it stills tells me how much more we should appreciate and admire the launch record of @isro https://t.co/K48TrE5VLy January 10, 2023

He shared the BBC post which informed about the UK space mission ended in failure after anomaly stops rocket from reaching orbit.

According to the BBC, UK space agency was about to launch the first ever satellite that ended in a mishap because of an anomaly. The rocket ignited and appeared to be ascending, but an anomaly in the middle stage stopped the excursion all of a sudden. The satellites it was carrying could not be released and were lost.

History of ISRO

ISRO was founded in 1962. It launched the first sounding rocket named TERLS on November 21, 1863. The lead centre of satellites set up at Bangalore in 1972. Sriharikota  the launch pad of ISRO was set up in 1971. ISRO becames a government organisation with its headquarter in Bangalore on April 1, 1975.

Achievements of ISRO

The organisation launched the Indias first satellite named Aryabhata on April 19, 1975. ISRO partnered with NASA to launch SITE (Satellite Instructional Television Experiment) in 1975 which was the worlds first experiment to impart information through satellite.

ISRO successfully launched Chandryaan 1 spacecraft via PSLV-C 11 on October 22, 2008. India became the fifth country to put spacecraft around the moon. It became the first satellite to find the presence of water molecules on the lunar surface.

ISRO was the first nation to successfully put the satellite in the Mars orbit in the first attempt in the world. Its Mars Orbiter Mission, the Indias first interplanetary mission to planet Mars launched by PSLV-C25 on November 05, 2023.
New Delhi: Elon Musk has officially added in Guinness world record for becoming the first person to lose the largest personal loss in the history. He has lost approximately $182 billion (153B; 173B) since November 2021, as estimated by Forbes, although other sources suggest that it could actually be closer to $200 billion, as per Guinness world records.

ALSO READ | Nithin Kamath hails key changes in bonds market made by SEBI

Tech billionaire Elon Musk became the first person in the world in the all-time history to lose over $200 billion worth wealth, according to media reports. The drastic downfall happened this year itself when Musk-owned electric car automaker Teslas shares dropped over 11% from its value in the entire year.

Musks fortune once peaked at 340 billion in November 2021. Since then, it has seen the continuous downfall.

ALSO READ | Anand Mahindra praises ISRO after UK space mission's failure

It is to be noted that he was the second person in the history to ever cross the $200 billion mark after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Musk had achieved this milestone in 2021 that was attributed to dramatic surge in the value of Tesla shares.

Now, Bernard Arnault, the owner of LVMH is the richest person in the world after overtaking Elon Musk early this month.

What led to the fall of Tesla shares value?

Elon Musk had bought popular microblogging site Twitter this year with a whopping cost of $44 billion. The Twitter saga stretched throughout the year with Elon Musk had been having ifs and buts since he proposed the deal early this year. Finally, he had to conclude the deal by October end after facing a legal pressure.

Tesla Shareholders lost trust in Elon Musk as they believed Musk to get distracted from the company due to Twitter takeover.
A staff member distributes medicines from "shared medicine kits" to a villager in Dangcha Village, Xiji County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Dec. 25, 2022. (Xinhua)

CHANGSHA, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Hou Luobo, 27, became a rural doctor in Youxian County, central China's Hunan Province, in October 2019. About two months later, unprecedented challenges posed by a new virus, made for an unusual start to his medical career.

For the past three years, the main focus of his job was COVID-19 prevention and control. Now with China having optimized relevant COVID response measures, the priorities of his daily work have shifted to monitoring the health conditions of villagers and providing them with timely medical support.

"Compared with the intensity of doing mass nucleic acid testing, conducting door-to-door inspection and follow-up observation for people under quarantine in the past, the workload is less heavy now, but we still dare not slacken in our efforts," said Hou.

Yanliang Village of Yajiangqiao Township, where Hou works, is located in a remote mountainous area administered by Zhuzhou City. With many young people working or settling in the city proper, most of the dwellers in the village are the elderly and children.

"Since we fine-tuned the measures for epidemic response, the villagers are commuting more frequently between these two places, so we need to conduct health assessments for key populations and provide classified services in a timely manner," he noted.

Recently, the number of COVID-19 patients has increased visibly in Yanliang Village, and Hou receives about 80 outpatient visits every day.

"Some of the elderly are physically weak or have underlying diseases, and I will follow up on patients with chronic diseases or mobility difficulties and deliver medicines to their homes," he said, adding that most of the patients in the village only have mild symptoms.

Hou is one of the millions of doctors and health workers in rural China who have long put down roots and safeguarded people's health in the countryside.

Data from the National Health Commission shows that with the continuous improvement of the medical care capacity of primary hospitals -- over 90 percent of patients in China's countryside receive treatment at county-level hospitals -- while rural doctors like Hou are the first line of defense against the virus.

In Dangcha Village, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, "shared medicine kits" are sources of great assistance to Hu Zhenglie, a village doctor.

Dangcha Village is home to over 800 residents, most of whom are left-behind elderly.

"Though the COVID-19 infection rate in rural areas is relatively light due to lower residential density, the demand for antipyretic and cough medicines has been high recently, because the residents here usually don't stock medicine in advance," explained Hu. "The 'shared medicine kits' initiated by the local Party branch have been a huge help."

In Shagou Township, Ningxia's Xiji County, the local government raised 4,000 tablets of antipyretics and dispatched them to families in need -- free of charge.

Ma Hongliang, a villager in Shagou Township, had a family of seven infected with the virus a few days ago.

"There was no medicine at home. Fortunately, the doctor soon delivered antipyretics to us," Ma said.

Official data shows that as of October 2022, a total of 19,400 fever clinics (outpatient clinics) had been built in township hospitals and community health service centers nationwide. Doctors at grassroots level have made tremendous contributions to China's anti-epidemic fight over the past years.

Right after a heavy snowfall, Xiang Kaimin, a doctor in Shuanglong Township, Hunan's Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, commenced his rounds of visits to local households.

"More people have recently returned home and the number of COVID infections is on the rise. However, we can only visit four families as of noon due to roads made slippery by snow," said Xiang. "But I believe everything will get better, as spring will arrive soon."

Rural doctors visit local households to provide medical support in Jiwei Township of Huayuan County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in central China's Hunan Province, Dec. 29, 2022. (Photo by Jian Biao/Xinhua)

Rural doctors visit local households to provide medical support in Jiwei Township of Huayuan County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in central China's Hunan Province, Dec. 29, 2022. (Photo by Jian Biao/Xinhua)

Rural doctor Hou Luobo treats a villager door to door in Youxian County, central China's Hunan Province, Jan. 3, 2023. (Xinhua)

Editor: WXL
New Delhi: Angel investors, including Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, stand to make a killing in the forthcoming IPO of Mamaearth as the company is being valued at Rs 24,000 crore.

Sources said keeping aside the unrealistic high revenue multiple valuation of the Mamaearth IPO, angel investors are going to multiply their investment with this IPO.

"The reported valuation for the Mamaearth IPO is at Rs 24,000 crore which is almost 25x FY22 revenues and 1600x FY22 profits (PE). These are incredibly premium valuations compared to established brands like Marico or Dabur that trade between 50x to 60x PE with legacy brands and deep offline distribution," a source said.

Sources said investors have already burnt their fingers in IPOs like PayTm, Nykaa, Zomato and assorted smaller issuances.

Angel investor Devansh Lakhani, Director and Startup Fundraising Expert of Lakhani Financial Service has provided a blow-by-blow account of Mamaearth's lukewarm profit run in a LinkedIn post, Indian Retailer reported.

"In FY23, H1 the company made a sale of Rs 684 crore with a marketing spend of Rs 272 crore. This gives them an ROI of 2.5 which isn't that alluring. The company recorded a restated cumulative profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 3.67 crore in the first and second quarters of FY23, according to filings filed with the SEBI. I doubt that investors would be interested in investing in a company that is worth 1,000 times its profit," Lakhani stated.
New Delhi: From the northeast, central to south India, this year is going to witness Assembly polls in as many as nine states. The high-stake electoral battles, which will take place in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Mizoram, will undoubtedly set the tone for the much-awaited 2024 Lok Sabha battle - the mother of all elections. While 2022 was a year in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued its political dominance (except for a few hiccups in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh), its performance this year will determine if it will register its third successive electoral victory in the 2024 General Elections.

The BJP bigwigs, who have already started addressing rallies in the poll-bound states, want to keep their last year's momentum going into 2023 and appear poised to retain Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka and oust the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi in Telangana and Congress in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

The main opposition party Congress, on the other hand, is currently riding high in the wake of its triumph in the 2022 Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections and because of the massive public support for Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra. The Congress central leadership, under new party president Malikarjun Kharge, is confident to give a neck-and-neck fight to an "invincible'' BJP.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which ate a major chunk of Congress votes in recently-concluded Gujarat polls, will also like to make its presence felt in the states going to the polls this year.

Here's a look at the states that will vote in 2023:

Tripura Assembly Elections

The tenure of the Tripura Assembly is scheduled to end on March 22, and elections are expected to take place around the same time. Earlier in 2018, BJP had swept the Assembly polls by winning 35 seats in the 60-member Assembly.

However, with the entry of Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, the upcoming elections will not be a cakewalk for the saffron party.

Meghalaya Assembly Elections

The 2023 Meghalaya polls are likely to be held in February or March as the tenure of the current Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on March 15. Earlier in the 2018 elections, Congress had won 21 seats in the 60-member Assembly and had emerged as the single largest party. It, however, had failed to secure the majority to form a government.

BJP, which won only two seats, had then formed an alliance with the Conrad Sangma-led National People's Party (NPP) to form the government. NPP had secured 20 seats. This year, Meghalaya will witness a three-way contest as the NPP has announced that it would fight the polls alone.

Nagaland Assembly elections

The Nagaland Assembly elections are also expected to take place in February or March. The tenure of the current Nagaland Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on March 12.

In Nagaland, the BJP had joined hands with the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) before the 2018 polls and had formed the government.

While NDPP had won 18 seats in the 60-member Assembly, BJP had got 12.

The Naga People's Front (NPF) had secured 26 seats but had failed to form the government.

Karnataka Assembly elections

Karnataka is one of the key states going to polls in 2023. The term of the 224-member Karnataka legislative assembly ends on May 24 and elections in the BJP-ruled state are likely to be held in late April or early May. Earlier in 2018, no party had got a majority and after the hung assembly, BJP's BS Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the chief minister by the governor but resigned due to not being able to muster the majority.

Subsequently, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) stitched an alliance to form a government with HD Kumaraswamy as the chief minister. However, 14 months later, the Kumaraswamy government fell after over a dozen MLAs of the ruling coalition resigned.

In July 2019, Yediyurappa was again sworn in as the chief minister. Retaining Karnataka ahead of the 2024 General Elections is important for BJP as it is the only southern state where the party is in power.

Chhattisgarh Assembly elections

The tenure of the Chhattisgarh legislative assembly is scheduled to conclude on January 3, 2024. The Congress-ruled state may witness polls in December this year.

In 2018, the grand old party uprooted BJP's 15-year rule by securing 68 seats in the 91-member Assembly. The saffron camp had settled with 15 seats.

Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections

Madhya Pradesh is another crucial state that will vote this year. The polls to elect members of the 230 constituencies is expected to take place in December as the term of the Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly will end on January 6.

After the 2018 elections, the state witnessed Congress and BJP both coming to power.

Congress first wrested power from the BJP after winning 114 seats in the 230-member Assembly and Kamal Nath served as the chief minister for around three years. However, BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan reclaimed his throne after two years when 22 sitting Congress MLAs along with party heavyweight Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned and joined the saffron camp.

Mizoram Assembly elections

The Mizoram is expected to vote in November or December or the tenure of the Legislative Assembly is due to end on December 17.

Presently, Mizo National Front (MNF) is in power led by Chief Minister Zoramthanga. In 2018, MNF won 26 seats in the 40 member-Assembly, and Zoram People's Movement took eight. While Congress had won five seats, the BJP had opened its account in the state for the first time.

Rajasthan Assembly elections

The much-awaited Rajasthan Assembly elections are also due this year. The current Rajasthan Legislative Assembly will end on January 14 and the elections may be conducted in December.

In the 2018 polls, Rajasthan saw Congress ending BJP rule and winning 100 seats in the 200-member Assembly. The saffron party received 73 seats.

While the Congress will look to retain the desert state, the BJP will look to benefit from the internal rift between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot.

Telangana Assembly elections

Telangana will also go to polls in December as the state assembly's term is due to end on January 16.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who has already kept his eyes on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is looking to keep his Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), now Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), in power.

BJP, on the other hand, is trying to make inroads in Telangana and aims to dethrone KCR, who has been in power since the formation of the state.
New Delhi: An under-construction metro pillar collapsed near Nagavara of the outer ring road in Karnataka's Bengaluru on Tuesday (January 10). A woman and her daughter were crushed to death in the tragic incident. 28-year-old mother Tejasvini and her two-and-a-half-old son died after they were crushed under the pillar as it fell on them when they were passing by it.

The woman was travelling with her toddler, daughter, and her husband on a bike when the incident happened. While the woman and her two-and-a-half-old son succumbed to their injuries in hospital, her husband and daughter have been hospitalised with injuries.

Talking to ANI, Bheemashankar S Guled, DCP East Bengaluru said, "This morning around 10:45 am, when the couple along with their twin children were travelling towards Hebbal when the metro pillar collapsed on the bike. The mother, Tejaswini and son Vihaan were seriously injured and shifted to Altis Hospital where both of them succumbed to their injuries. "Forensic experts are at the incident site and are investigating the DCP said.

Karnataka | An under-construction metro pillar collapsed near Nagavara of the outer ring road in Bengaluru. Details awaited. pic.twitter.com/u4zRtncDBI  ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2023

The collapse affected the movement of traffic in the area. People were seen trying to move the fallen pillar to ease traffic flow.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar blamed the government for the Bengaluru Metro pillar collapse and said "This is the result of the '40% commission' government. There is no quality in development works."
Owing to workforce shortages caused by an aging population and low birth rate, Canada is gearing up to invite a record 1.45 Million new immigrants by 2025.

When you decide to move to Canada on a long-term basis, one of the first things you need to do is select an immigration program that you qualify for. Most skilled individuals, who seek to immigrate to Canada, apply for permanent residence (PR) through the Express Entry program.

Express Entry is a point-based online system used by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to cumulatively manage applications through three economic-immigration programs. However, submitting an Express Entry profile doesnt guarantee an invitation for PR.

The selection for this program is based on your Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score, which is the most influential factor in receiving an invitation to apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence. However, with high cut-off scores continue to dominate recent Express Entry draws; the competition is becoming more intense.

IRCC paused all-program draws in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the 18-month pause in all-program draws, the number of high-scoring candidates in the pool skyrocketed. As more high-scoring candidates continue to enter the Express Entry pool, it is preventing the CRS cutoff from dropping.

According to the most recent figures available on the government website, there were a total of 232,215 candidates in the Express Entry pool as of November 22, 2022. Applicants with a CRS score below 450, who are still waiting for an invite, need to note that as of November 22, there were 63627 candidates with scores between 451 and 600. This means it could take months for this score to settle down to the 400-450 odd range.

Employer-Driven Immigration Programs can boost your CRS score

Obtaining a Provincial Nomination or landing a genuine Valid Job Offer (LMIA supported), from a qualified Canadian Employer would be the most advantageous thing an applicant may do to boost their CRS score.

Having an LMIA-supported offer of employment from a Canadian company can get you 50 or 200 CRS points, making it much easier to qualify for an ITA.

Various Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) like Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia offers Employer-Driven Streams that allow foreign workers with a permanent, full-time job offer from a local Employer to become eligible to apply for a provincial nomination for Canada PR. For instance, the Accelerated Tech Pathway is one of the Alberta PNPs Express Entry based programs for candidates who have a job offer with an Alberta-based tech industry employer in one of the 38 eligible tech occupations. Apart from providing expedited application processing, the program also allows applicants to come to Canada quickly on a work permit while their application for permanent residency is being processed.

Securing a provincial nomination under such Employer-sponsored program would boost your CRS score by 600 CRS points, putting you at the top of the Express Entry pool.

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The worlds leading resettlement Group - WWICS is an authorized Canadian Immigration & visa consultation service provider, which started its operations way back in 1993 with an object to help the common immigration & visa aspirants, and guide them navigate through the complex immigration procedures, in a hassle-free manner. Headquartered in Punjab, India, the group has a global presence with over 25 associate offices in Canada, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Kenya, Nepal and 11 offices across India.

WWICS has been successfully providing immigration advice and visa services to all skilled professionals, workers, investors, entrepreneurs, and students related to various Canadian immigration matters.

WWICS has thousands of successful clients who are happily settled in Canada and working in their respective fields. However, as Canadian employers are struggling to fill vacancies because of the countrys severe shortage, clients and their employers seek assistance from WWICS to fulfill their manpower needs. Therefore, WWICS can assist you to connect with an eligible employer and secure a genuine job offer.

The expert teams of ICCRC Certified immigration consultants at WWICS have worked on hundreds of Canadian immigration applications and have the knowledge and experience to help you throughout the process.

(Above mentioned article is a Consumer connect initiative, This article does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of IDPL, and IDPL claims no responsibility whatsoever.)
New Delhi: With the worsening air quality index (AQI), the national capital on Monday (January 9, 2023) imposed a temporary ban on plying of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers in Delhi. The ban on BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles will kick in from Tuesday as the air quality has deteriorated to the "severe" category.

"As per directions as provided under Stage III of the revised GRAP and under Section 115 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, it is hereby ordered that there shall be restrictions to ply BS-III, Petrol and BS-IV, Diesel LMVs (4-wheelers) in NCT of Delhi, with immediate effect, till dated 12.01.2023 or till downward revision in GRAP stage, whichever is earlier (except for vehicles deployed in emergency services, police vehicles & govt. Vehicles used for enforcement)," the order said.

"If any BS-III, Petrol and BS-IV, Diesel LMV (4-wheeler) found plying on roads will be prosecuted under section 194(1) of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 which provides for a fine of Rs 20,000," the order said.

A senior Transport department official said that the ban would be in place till Friday.

"The ban on BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles will kick in from Tuesday since the air quality has deteriorated to the severe category. We are monitoring the situation along with the Environment department. For now, the ban is likely to be in place till Friday. If the air quality improves, the ban could be lifted before Friday," the senior Transport department official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Delhi's air quality worsened to the severe category on Monday owning to unfavourable meteorological conditions -- clam winds and low temperatures -- prompting the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to direct all NCR states to implement anti-pollution curbs with greater vigour.

The national capital's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 434 at 4 pm on Monday, worsening from 371 on Sunday.

An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe"

CAQM holds urgent review meeting to combat sudden rise in Delhi AQI

In view of a sudden rise in air pollution, the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR & Adjoining Areas (CAQM) held an urgent review meeting with officials from Delhi and NCR states, including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, and directed them to implement the provisions of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the field with "greater vigour to prevent further deterioration of air quality".

The need to deploy inspection teams in adequate numbers to ensure GRAP implementation was also reiterated.
New Delhi: Delhi`s Rohini Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on the bail plea of Ashutosh Bhardwaj for Thursday, one of the seven accused in the Kanjhawala death case. Six accused in this case are under judicial custody. Link Metropolitan Magistrate adjourned the hearing on the bail plea of Ashutosh as the concerned judge was not available for today. Advocate Shilpesh Chaudhary requested the linked judge to list the matter before the concerned judge. The court of Metropolitan Magistrate Sanya Dalal on Monday had asked Delhi police to file a reply on the bail plea of Ashutosh Bhardwaj. Additional public prosecutor (APP) Atul Srivastava for Delhi Police had submitted that the investigation is at the initial stage and sought the accused to be sent to Judicial custody. On the other hand, advocate Shilpesh Chaudhary for accused Ashutosh had pressed his plea for bail.

The counsel submitted that the section against the accused are 201, 212, and 120B part 2 and these sections are bailable in nature. He also had submitted that his role was only that he allegedly gave his car to his friend and parked it. He cooperated in the recovery of the car and the arrest of the accused.

Also Read:

Court said, "As of now section 304 IPC is against Ashutosh." The counsel said that another Ankush is on bail in the matter. Section 304 was not made out against Ashutosh. APP Atul Srivastava opposed this and said that Ashutosh was the person who gave his car to the person who had no driving licence. Whether he is involved in conspiracy or not is to be seen.

APP Srivastava said that We are opposing the bail application. The investigation is at the initial stage. Facial recognition and medical tests are to be done to investigate the case.
New Delhi: In a major development, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Tuesday granted sanction to prosecute Shehla Rashid Shora, former vice president of the JNU Students` Union and member of AISA, for her offensive tweets against the Indian Army. Shehla Rashids two tweets were aimed at promoting enmity between different groups and indulging in acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony, said the L-G office on Tuesday. The L-Gs office confirmed that he has granted the prosecution sanction under the relevant section 196 of CrPC 1973.

According to Raj Niwas sources, the prosecution sanction was related to a case registered against Rashid on September 3, 2019, under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by the Delhi Police Special Cell on the basis of a complaint made by an advocate, Alakh Alok Srivastava.

Delhi LG VK Saxena grants prosecution sanction against Shehla Rashid, ex-Vice President of JNUSU & member of AISA, for making 2 tweets about the Indian Army aimed at promoting enmity between different groups & indulging in acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony: LG Office  ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2023

The proposal to this effect moved by the Delhi Police and supported by the Home Department, GNCTD, had mentioned the following facts, "On 18.08.2019, one Shehla Rashid, resident of Kashmir, made following two tweets about the Indian Army:- "Armed Forces are entering houses at night, picking up boys, ransacking houses, deliberately spilling rations on floor, mixing oil with rice, etc" at 12.00 PM on 18.08.2019, and,"

"In Shopian, 04 men were called into the Army Camp and `interrogated` (tortured). A mic was kept close to them so that the entire area could hear them scream and be terrorized. This created an environment of fear in the entire area," at 12.00 PM on 18.08.2019."

The Indian Army later issued a detailed statement in which it said that the allegations levelled by Shehla Rashid were ''baseless'' and rejected them. "Such unverified and fake news are spread by inimical elements and organizations to incite unsuspecting population," the Indian Army had said. After the incident, an advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava lodged a police complaint against Shehla Rashid regarding her tweets.

The Home Department, GNCTD, in its observations on the file observed, "the nature of the case, location to which the tweets refer and making false allegations against the Army makes it a serious issue. Not every tweet is to be proceeded with, under criminal law. But a tweet of this kind, in this case, needs to be processed against Religious fault lines that have been created in J&K by the likes of Shehla Rashid. The case is made for prosecution u/s 153A IPC. This relates to public order."
New Delhi: A newborn died after his 20-year-old unmarried mother threw him from the washroom window of her apartment in the national capital, police said on Monday (January 9, 2023). During the investigation, she told cops that she "tried to get rid" of her baby fearing "social stigma". The incident took place in Jai Ambey Apartments in Delhi's New Ashok Nagar and the accused is working in the private sector in Noida.

The police said that they received information regarding a newly-born baby being fallen from a height, following which an ASI reached the spot and found that the infant was taken to Metro hospital in Noida by the public.

"ASI Yudhvir was sent to the Metro hospital where doctors declared the baby dead," Delhi Police said.

"The MLC of the boy was collected and the body was shifted to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital Hospital in Delhi," they added.

The cops said that an extensive inquiry was conducted and several houses were checked in the vicinity of the spot where the baby was found and the residents were interrogated.

"A house was checked in the process where several blood traces were found in the dustbin. Residents of the house were interrogated and a girl, 20, broke down during the investigation and admitted to giving birth to the boy and throwing him from the window of the washroom," police said.

The accused -- who was taken to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital for an internal medical examination -- revealed that she was unmarried and apprehending social stigma, she tried to get rid of the baby.

A crime team also inspected the spot and collected the exhibits.

An FIR under Sections 302/201 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered in this regard.
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia on Monday announced that there will be no limit on the number of pilgrims for this year`s Hajj, Arab News reported citing the country`s Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq Al-Rabiah. Speaking at the Hajj Expo 2023, Tawfiq Al-Rabiah stated that the number of people participating in this year`s Hajj will return to pre-pandemic levels and ther will ne no age limit for Hajj pilgrims this year.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia`s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah tweeted, "During the opening of #Hajj_Expo 2023, H.E. Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr. Tawfiq AlRabiah announces: `Number of Hajj pilgrims in 1444H will return to how it was before the Coronavirus pandemic without age restrictions`."

During the opening of #Hajj_Expo 2023, H.E. Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr. Tawfiq AlRabiah announces:



Number of Hajj pilgrims in 1444H will return to how it was before the Coronavirus pandemic without age restrictions.#Makkah_and_Madinah_Eagerly_Await_You pic.twitter.com/IZaPNqapIV  Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (@MoHU_En) January 9, 2023

About 2.5 million people took part in the pilgrimage in 2019, Arab News reported. However, the number of pilgrims was reduced for the next two years due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier on January 5, Saudi Arabia`s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced that people living in the country wanting to perform Hajj this year can apply for pilgrimage, as per the Arab News report. The ministry said that there would be four categories of Hajj packages available for local residents.

The people applying for pilgrimage must have national or resident identity valid until the middle of July, as per the Arab News report. Pilgrims need to have proof of COVID-19 and seasonal influenza vaccination.

In addition, they need to obtain a vaccination certificate for the ACYW quadruple meningitis vaccine at least 10 days prior to arriving at the holy sites.

Saudi Arabia`s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah called on all applicants to register directly through its website and not to make use of the same mobile number for more than one application.
Lucknow: A record number of over 30,000 Muslims from Uttar Pradesh will undertake Hajj pilgrimage this year, announced the Uttar Pradesh Hajj Committe on Tuesday, adding that women pilgrims will be able to go without a mahram- a man who accompanies a woman on the journey for Hajj. "India has got a quota of 1 lakh 75 thousand pilgrims for Hajj 2023. And this time, a record number of over 30,000 Muslims from Uttar Pradesh will undertake Hajj pilgrimage this year," Uttar Pradesh Hajj Committee Chairperson and the Minister of State for Minority Welfare Muslim Waqf, Mohsin Raza, told reporters here. The Saudi Arabian government, in October, announced that mahram- a male blood relative with whom marriage is not permissible, is no longer required to accompany a woman pilgrim from any part of the world.

Raza emphasised that the male Khadimul Hujjajs (those who serve Hajj pilgrims) would be accompanied by women Khadimul Hujjajs for Hajj this year, which is expected to begin around June 26.

Also Read: Pak national moves Supreme Court seeking visa for Indian man on foot journey to Hajj pilgrimage

"Hajj policy 2023 will be issued from the coming week and applications for Hajj 2023 will be started. For Hajj 2023, a notification will also be issued in two to four days. The government will provide better facilities to Hajj pilgrims. This time people will get a discount of 50 thousand to 1 lakh for Hajj," informed Raza while promising that better facilities will be provided to the pilgrims this year.
The State Customs Service of Ukraine denies accusations by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) of creating a criminal scheme for embezzlement of funds when exporting Ukrainian grain, in which more than 10 officials are suspected of being involved, including the deputy head of one of the departments of the State Customs Service and the management of the Odesa customs.

According to a press release from the department, the accusation of these officials of creating a criminal scheme that led to tax evasion for UAH 5.2 billion is groundless, since export duties are not charged on grain cargo, and the corresponding damage cannot be calculated in principle.

"Law enforcement officials manipulate the facts, because grains are not included in the list of goods for which export duties are charged. That is, UAH 5.2 billion reported by BES analysts cannot be calculated," the State Customs Service quotes its acting head Viacheslav Demchenko.

In addition, the State Customs Service indicates that BES and tax officials did not properly respond to the presence of enterprises with risk activities, but at the same time they instructed the customs to inspect such companies. However, in 80% of cases, bureau employees did not appear for inspections.

"At the same time, the mater concerns delimiting the powers of the authorities: The State Customs Service, the State Tax Service and the BES. In particular, the customs does not exercise control over the domestic market, where grain is sold/resold in significant volumes, in accordance with the current legislation. Here questions should arise for the tax authorities and BES employees," Demchenko specified.

As reported, on January 3, the SBU and BES exposed a criminal scheme for embezzlement of funds when exporting Ukrainian grain. According to their data, more than 10 officials were involved in her organization, among them the deputy head of one of the departments of the State Customs Service and the leadership of the Odesa customs. They are suspected of tax evasion when exporting Ukrainian grain, as a result of which the state has not received hundreds of millions of hryvnias.
Haryana CET 2022 Result: The Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) has released the Haryana Common Eligibility Test (CET) results 2022 today, January 10, 2023. Candidates who appeared in the exam held on November 5 and 6 will be able to download Haryana CET 2022 scorecard on the official website, hsscrec22.samarth.ac.in or hssc.gov.in. The 2022 CET for group-C posts was held in two shifts - from 10 am to 11:45 am and from 3 pm to 4:45 pm. The exam was conducted in pen and paper mode.

Haryana CET 2022 scorecard: Steps to download here

Candidates can follow the steps given below to download the Haryana CET 2022 scorecard.

Visit the official website, hssc.gov.in or hsscrec22.samarth.ac.in.

Login using registration number and date of birth and enter captcha.

Click on Download/Print: Scorecard button to view scorecard.

Download Haryana CET scorecard for future reference.

HSSC published the provisional answer key and scanned images of the OMR answer sheets on its website. Candidates were allowed to challenge the answer keys from December 7 to 12. Haryana CET 2022 cut-off normalized marks, excluding benefit of socio-economic marks, out of 95 marks for general category candidate is 47.50 and above ie. 50% and above. Cut-off marks for reserved categories are 38.00 and above.
ICAI CA Final, Inter Results 2022: Institute of Chartered Accountants of India will release the CA Inter, Final Result 2022 will be released today at 9 AM, January 10, 2023 as per the announcement made by the Additional Secretary, S.K.Garg of ICAI. The results are available at icai.org and icai.nic.in. According to the notice, the results of the Chartered Accountants Final and Intermediate Examination held in November 2022 are expected to be declared on Tuesday, January 10th, 2023, and candidates will be able to access them on the website icai.nic.in. It may be noted that for accessing the result at the above-mentioned website the candidate shall have to enter his/her registration no. along with his/her roll number. reads the notice.

ICAI held CA Final and Intermediate Exam from November 1, 2022 to November 17, 2022. Inter Exams for Group I were held from November 2 to November 9, while Inter Exams for Group II were held from November 11 to November 12.

ICAI CA Results: Heres how to check

Visit the official site of ICAI at icai.org.

Click on ICAI CA results 2022 link available on the home page.

A new page will open where candidates will have to enter the login details.

Your result will be displayed on the screen.

Check the result and download the page.

Keep a hard copy of the same for further need

According to the schedule, the CA Final Exam for Group I was held from November 1 to November 7, and the CA Final Exam for Group II was held from November 10 to November 16.
Etawah: Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Shivpal Singh Yadav has warned that derogatory remarks against party MP Dimple Yadav will not be tolerated and the battle against such comments will be fought from the streets to Parliament. Reacting to certain comments made by Richa Rajpoot, the social media head of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's (BJYM) Uttar Pradesh unit who was booked by police on Sunday for the alleged derogatory remarks against Mainpuri MP Dimple Yadav, Shivpal Yadav told reporters here that such utterances will no longer be tolerated.

Dimple Yadav is the wife of SP president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. "The wrong things being said against our daughter-in-law, Dimple Yadav, could only be forgiven to an extent but now, the situation has crossed the point of tolerance," Shivpal Yadav said.

"The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be surrounded now. Not even a word against Dimple Yadav will be tolerated. The fight against this will be fought from the streets to Parliament," the veteran leader added. The case against Rajpoot was lodged at the Hazratganj police station here on Sunday on the basis of a complaint from Naresh Uttam Patel, the Uttar Pradesh unit chief of the SP.

In his complaint, Patel alleged, "Dr Richa Rajpoot, through her verified Twitter account, has tweeted using indecent language against Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav. The indecent comments will encourage crime against women. Owing to this, there is anger among the Samajwadi Party workers and the common public."

Rajpoot was booked under sections 294 (obscene acts and songs) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the Information Technology Act, police said.

Shivpal Yadav also alleged that due to the wrong policies of the BJP-led Centre, the rate of unemployment has gone up in the country, farmers are unhappy, the cost of electricity has increased and officials are involved in corruption. In such circumstances, people have become disenchanted with the saffron party and made up their mind to change the government, he added.
J&K: Jammu and Kashmir's government remembering the martyrs and respecting their sacrifices has decided to bear the educational expenses of the children of those Police personnel killed in terror incidents in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. As per the order copy which lies with Zee Media, The educational expense including monthly school fees, transport charges as well as the annual uniform expense will be taken care of by the Jammu-Kashmir government. However, it will only apply to the first two children of those police personnel who laid their lives in terror-related incidents and encounters.

The order reads "The Government shall reimburse the expenditure towards monthly fee, transportation charges (upto a maximum ceiling of Rs.3,000 per child per month), one-time annual uniform charges (up to a maximum ceiling of Rs. 10,000 per child per year) and one-time expenditure on books (only textbooks prescribed by the respective Boards) if any, up to class 12* in any School (both Government and Private), within the territorial jurisdiction of the Union territory of J&K."

The government further said that the schools would require to be duly recognized by the Government and affiliated with the J&K Board of School Education/Central Board of School Education or any other registered Board in India.

Children who are enrolled in Private schools, the government directed them that the schools shall treat these students as part of admission under EWS and reimbursement will be made accordingly.

The guardians of these children will have to register with the concerned district SP. The payments shall be made to the legal guardian (whoever incurs such expenditure on the wards) by the concerned District Superintendent of Police on the production of valid proof of guardianship by the legal guardian. Says Order

And in case there is any dispute about the children of a particular martyr having varying guardians, if one child lives with their mother and the other with his family, the reimbursement shall be made to both the guardians on an actual basis however, on the production of separate guardianship certificate to be issued by the concerned School Authority. Order says.

"The reimbursement on account of the monthly fee, and transport charges, shall be made quarterly by the concerned District Superintendent of Police, (on the production of relevant vouchers), where the family of the Martyr ordinarily resides. While the reimbursement on account of the expenditure incurred on uniforms and books shall be reimbursed in April every year'' said the order.

The government order also said that this arrangement shall be deemed to come into force for the year 2022-2023, besides the pending claim of Rs 15.22 lakh for the year 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 shall be reimbursed, subject to the mentioned stipulations.

The order is welcomed by the families of the martyred and said that it is not only a financial help to us but it gives us feel that our loved ones who sacrificed their lives for the country are respected and remembered.
JEE Main 2023: The NTA JEE Mains Exams will be conducted as per the schedule released by the National Testing Agency. Bombay High Court has refused to postpone the JEE Mains Session 1 Exam going to be held in January 2023. As per the Bombay High Court, the JEE Mains Session 1 Exam 2023 will be conducted according to the schedule from January 24 to 31, 2023. So, the candidates preparing for the JEE exam should note that the exam dates for session 1 have not been postponed. According to the reports, the Bombay High Court will held the next hearing on February 21, 2023.

A bench of acting chief justice SV Gangpurwala and J Sandeep V Marne will be hearing the petition. The only difficulty is that the last date for registration is approaching. My lords may keep it on Monday, I will file tomorrow, said the petitioner during the hearing. However, the court denied and said, You should have filed with the petition. Matter on January 10.

NTA removed the JEE Main 75% criteria last year as a one-time measure due to academic loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. The petition argued that the pre-board exams, viva voce of CBSE, ICSE and other state boards are scheduled in January. The clash between JEE Main 2023 and pre-board exams will result in less number of students appearing for JEE Main January 2023 session.

Earlier, the National Testing Agency (NTA) had announced that session 1 of the JEE (Main) examination will be held on January 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31. Session 2 of the exam is planned to be conducted on April 06, 08, 10, 11, and 12.
Dehradun: Every minute is important, the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary said on Monday as more houses, buildings and roads developed cracks in the sinking town of Joshimath, red crosses came up on hundreds of unsafe structures and many residents stayed on despite the imminent danger. The number of subsidence-affected homes rose to 678 while 27 more families were evacuated to safety, a bulletin from the Disaster Management Authority in Chamoli said, adding so far 82 families have been shifted to safe locations in the town. Chief Secretary S S Sandhu held a meeting with officials at the state secretariat to review the situation in Joshimath and asked them to speed up the evacuation exercise to ensure the safety of residents as "every minute is important".

The district administration has put red cross marks on more than 200 houses in the sinking town that are unsafe for living. It asked their occupants to either shift to the temporary relief centres or rented accommodation for which each family will get assistance of Rs 4000 per month for the next six months from the state government.

Personnel of the State Disaster Response Force have been deployed for relief and rescue efforts. A team of the the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is also "on standby" to assist the local administration, a senior official said.

There are 16 places in Joshimath where temporary relief centres have been built for the affected people. Apart from them, 19 more hotels, guest houses and school buildings have been identified for the affected people in Joshimath and 20 outside the town in Pipalkoti.

Sandhu said the work on stopping toe erosion in the subsidence-hit areas should be started immediately and dilapidated houses that have developed huge cracks should be razed soon so that they do not cause further damage.

Broken drinking water pipelines and sewer lines should also be repaired immediately as they might complicate things in the subsidence zone, he said.

Officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Disaster Management Authority on Monday met Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami here to assess the situation and underlined the need for ascertaining the location of underground water accumulation in the subsidence zone.

Efforts are being made on a war footing to save the town and evacuate people living in the subsidence zone to safe locations, Secretary (disaster management) Ranit Sinha told reporters.

The state government is also working on a relief package for the people of the disaster hit town which will soon be sent to the Centre, he said.

It has been decided to "mechanically remove" two hotels Mount View and Malari Inn in Joshimath which have been badly affected by land subsidence.

Many families in the affected area are finding it hard to sever their emotional ties with their homes and move out.

Unable to overcome the pull of home, even those who have shifted to temporary shelters keep returning to their abandoned houses in the danger zone,

Parmeshwari Devi, an elderly resident of Marwari ward which is one of the worst-hit in the town, said she spent her entire savings on having a house of her own and now she is being asked to leave it and shift to a relief camp.

"I would prefer dying where I belong rather than going anywhere else. Where will I get the comfort of my own home," Devi told a private news channel.

Suraj Kaparwan, a resident of Manoharbhagh in Joshimath, has a similar story. The family is still trying to make up its mind to leave their home.

The house of Rishi Devi, a resident of Singdhar, is caving in gradually and she has had to shift along with her family to a safe location but she returns to her home every day despite her kin stopping her from doing so.

Devi now sits in the courtyard and keeps staring at its walls riddled with cracks.

Rama Devi's family was forced to sleep on the inner verandah of their home after the rooms developed cracks but then had to finally leave the house in a panic.

"Our room used to shake every now and then, scaring us. So we began to sleep on the verandah. But even the verandah developed cracks last night. Now we are moving into rented accommodation," Rami Devi of Gandhinagar said.

Lakshmi, a resident of Singdhar who has taken shelter in a primary school building, says she wants permanent rehabilitation.

"For how long shall we stay in this temporary relief camp," she asked.

The Supreme Court, meanwhile, has asked a petitioner who has sought the court's intervention to declare the crisis in Uttarakhand's Joshimath as a national disaster to mention his plea on Tuesday for urgent listing.

Locals and the opposition Congress have blamed the building of the NTPC tunnel and the construction of the Char Dham all-weather road for the "aggravation" of the land subsidence problem in the town.

The state-owned power producer NTPC, however, has said the tunnel of its Tapovan Vishnugad hydel project has nothing to do with the landslides in Joshimath and is not passing under the town.

According to the company, this tunnel has been constructed by boring machine and at present no blasting work is being undertaken by the company under the project on Dhauliganga river in the hill state.

Director of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology Kalachand Sain said a detailed analysis of the problem alone can ascertain its causes.

The Congress on Monday demanded that the land subsidence situation in Uttarakhand's Joshimath should be declared a national calamity and all developmental projects in the area halted till a report by experts and environmentalists is submitted on the issue.

The opposition party described it as a man-made disaster and sought enhanced compensation for each house affected due to the "unbridled development" in the area. It asked the government to preserve the old Joshimath town and develop a new town to rehabilitate the residents.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Protect nature. The whole country is worried and is with the people of Joshimath, where unbridled development has created cracks in Uttarakhand's 'Devsthal'."

"We have three demands from the Modi government - The Joshimath tragedy should be declared a "national calamity".

"Stop all new projects, including of railways and hydel power, until a newly appointed high-level committee of experts, scientists, environmentalists and local people submits its report," he said in a series of tweets in Hindi.

"The oustees of Joshimath be given adequate compensation from PM CARES fund, instead of only Rs 5000," Kharge also said.

Former chief minister Harish Rawat also demanded that the compensation be increased to Rs 50,000 per victim and a 'new Joshimath' be established while preserving the old town.

Congress leader Manish Khanduri said the first cracks in Joshimath had appeared in 2019 but the response of the BJP government in the state has been "shoddy and inadequate" and the chief minister was "found lacking".

State Congress president Karan Mahara and Rawat visited Joshimath and said the subsidence began years ago but the state government is waking up only now.

"As many as 30,000 people will be affected by the ongoing crisis in Joshimath which is a hub of tourism activities. People will lose their livelihoods," Mahara said.

"Politics should not be done in a situation like this. People's lives should be saved as a priority," Mahara said.

Chief Minister Dhami had visited the affected areas on Saturday.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) held a high-level meeting to review the situation in Joshimath.
Joshimath Sinking Update: Officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Disaster Management Authority met Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to assess the situation in Joshimath and underlined the need for ascertaining the location of underground water accumulation in the subsidence zone. Water accumulation under the ground in the affected area is considered to be in Joshimath but the source of the water is yet to be ascertained. The central team of officials also said a geological survey of the areas identified for the evacuation of the affected people should be carried out.

Meanwhile, cracks were seen in 68 more houses in Joshimath. While there is an atmosphere of fear among the people regarding this, the administration has become alert. Uttarakhand Chief Secretary SS Sandhu said that every minute is important. Sandhu has asked the officials to speed up the work of evacuating people from their homes so that they remain safe. The administration has started making announcements in the area and appealed to people to stay away from the buildings being demolished. However, many residents remain reluctant to leave their homes that have been declared unsafe due to land subsidence in Joshimath.

The district administration had put red cross marks on more than 200 houses in the sinking town that are unsafe for living. It asked their occupants to either shift to the temporary relief centres or rent accommodation for which each family will get assistance of Rs 4000 per month for the next six months from the state government.

Cracks appeared in 68 more houses, taking the number of subsidence affected homes to 678, while 27 more families were evacuated to safety, a bulletin from the Disaster Management Authority said.
Joshimath: The Uttarakhand government officials have said that they will start demolishing hotels and houses in the holy town of Joshimath, which developed cracks in the wake of the landslide and subsidence, from Tuesday and about 4,000 people have been shifted to safer areas. Hotels Malari Inn and Mount View, which have developed more cracks, will be demolished on Tuesday, officials said, adding that all residents have been safely evacuated from the unsafe zones`.

Joshimath land subsidence | The demolition of Hotel Malari Inn & Hotel Mount View which have developed more cracks will take place today. The areas declared 'unsafe zones' by the administration have been vacated.#Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/OMNctYgsSe  ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 10, 2023

The demolition of the damaged houses was recommended by an expert panel tasked with assessing the land subsidence in Joshimath. The demolition of buildings will begin under the supervision of a team of experts from the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee. A team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is on standby to assist the district administration in the demolition work, as and when required.

"Experts are on the ground and the administration will take action on their directions and advice," said the NDRF. "They will be demolishing these hotels for the safety of the 15-20 families still living here. Our houses have been destroyed," said Manmohan Singh Rawat, a local.

On Monday, District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana informed that a central team was to arrive in Chamoli district to survey the damage wrought to properties by the land subsidence and suggest a way forward while coordinating with the local administration in relief and rescue efforts.

"A team from the Ministry of Home Affairs will come to Joshimath on Tuesday. Demolition of buildings will start from Tuesday under the supervision of the team of Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee," Khurana had said earlier.

On Monday, a team from the Ministry of Jal Shakti also arrived at Joshimath. The areas where the buildings will be demolished have been vacated by the administration after they were declared `unsafe zones`.

The officials of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) also called on Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at his residence on Monday and discussed relief and rescue operations.

The officials assured the chief minister of an investigation into the geographical condition of the Joshimath area and the causes of the landslide. The state administration was also assured of central in mobilising disaster relief.

Meanwhile, the District Disaster Management Authority, Chamoli issued a bulletin related to disaster management in view of landslides in the Joshimath area. According to the bulletin, cracks have been noticed in a total of 678 buildings in the Joshimath town area. In view of security, a total of 81 families have been temporarily displaced.

"Under the Joshimath city area, 213 rooms have been temporarily identified as habitable, with their capacities estimated at 1191. Also, 491 rooms/halls have been identified in Pipalkoti outside the Joshimath area, with a combined capacity of 2,205," the bulletin said.

The administration has also distributed food kits and blankets to the affected families, as per their requirements along with the distribution of funds to procure essential household items. A total of 63 food kits and 53 blankets have been made available for the affected locals. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has appealed to everyone to work as a team and save the town. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also assured full support to the state government.

Joshimath has been divided into three zones, 'Danger', 'Buffer', and 'Completely Safe', based on the magnitude of danger from land subsidence or the sinking or settling of the ground surface.
NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court is expected to pronounce on Tuesday its verdict against all accused in connection with the brutal killing of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal at his shop in June last year. All the accused were produced in the special NIA court amid tight security after the chargesheet was filed during the previous hearing in the case. The NIA special court had then ordered an extension of judicial custody of all the accused till January 10 and said that it will pronounce its order in the case. After the order, a copy of the challan will be given to the accused by the court.

The NIA has filed a chargesheet against 11 people in the brutal murder of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal Teli. The NIA has chargesheeted the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

In the chargesheet, the NIA has booked 11 persons, including Gaus Mohammad and Mohd Riyaz Attari under Sections 302 (34), 452, 153, 295 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 16, 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the incident that took place on June 28, 2022. Apart from this, Salman and Abu Ibrahim of Karachi have been accused of criminal conspiracy and declared absconders.

The hearing in the case has been going on for months. According to the NIA chargesheet, the probe pointed to a conspiracy by 11 accused who were a part of a terror module. They were radicalised and were inspired by incriminating content circulated from within and outside the country.
BJP national president JP Nadda on Tuesday chaired a meeting of party general secretaries at the party headquarters in the national capital. The meeting comes ahead of the National Executive meeting, which is scheduled to be held on January 16 and 17. Sources aware of the development told ANI earlier that a number of key issues are on the agenda for the meeting.

Apart from the primary agenda, which includes resolutions for the upcoming National Executive meeting, other key issues like finalising the location of the executive and other arrangements are likely to come up at the meeting. At the meeting of its National Executive, the BJP is likely to adopt several resolutions, including one highlighting its electoral achievements.

Another resolution will be about what the BJP government at the Centre has done over the past few months for the economic well-being of the people. The upcoming Assembly polls will also figure prominently in the discussions. Nine states -- Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Karnataka, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana -- will go to polls this year.
Russian invaders destroyed a mini-refinery in Merefa with rocket attacks and once again fired at Shebelynka oil refinery (both Kharkiv region), which has been idle since February, said Serhiy Kuyun, the director of the A-95 consulting group.

"On Sunday (January 8), a mini-refinery in Merefa was destroyed by two S-300 missiles. The plant was preparing to release the first samples of marketable products in January. Representatives of the enterprise say that restoration is not yet possible," Kuyun wrote on Facebook.

According to him, two weeks earlier, the same missiles hit the state-owned Shebelynka oil refinery.

"The plant has not worked since February, but the bastards decided to raze it to the ground too," the expert commented.

According to him, the enemy continues to destroy any objects of the oil supply infrastructure that it can reach.

"The purpose of this is clear - to leave us without fuel," Kuyun summed up.

At the same time, he noted that the situation with fuel against the background of Europe's preparations for the second wave of the oil embargo - the refusal to import Russian oil products on February 5, is tense.

"Many people have seen infographics that Germany has zeroed out Russian energy imports. This is cool, but what remains behind the scenes is that the Rosneft refinery in Schwedt, nationalized by the authorities, will be loaded by 50% in January, and what will happen in February is still generally unknown," he described the situation.

At the same time, according to him, Poland provides its western regions with German diesel, so more and more attention is focused on the Baltchem transshipment complex in Szczecin, located almost on the border with Germany.
New Delhi: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has said that suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nupur Sharma will "definitely come back" and contest 2024 Lok Sabha polls for the saffron party. Nupur Sharma is a former national spokesperson of the BJP and was suspended from the party in June last year for her remarks on Prophet Mohammad.

In an interview with the news agency ANI on Monday (January 9, 2023), the Hyderabad MP said that he will not be surprised if she is made a candidate from Delhi in the upcoming general elections.

"She will definitely come back and fight elections for BJP," Owaisi said.

"BJP will definitely use her. I will not be surprised if she is made a candidate from Delhi in the Lok Sabha elections," he added.

Nupur Sharma's comments on the Prophet had drawn ire from across the nation and abroad. The comments had also reportedly led to several violent incidents, including the beheading of a shopkeeper by two men in Rajasthan's Udaipur for backing her remarks.

Sharma had later withdrawn her comments and in a statement posted on Twitter, said that her intention was not to hurt anyone.

Reacting to Udaipur beheading. Owaisi said, "Incidents like the Udaipur beheading should be condemned. I am against slogans like `Sar Tan Se Juda`. I openly condemn it. Such a statement instigates violence. I am against violence."

He also questioned how many days Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government took to react to Sharma's statements.

"It is not the first time Nupur Sharma had come on a television channel. She made controversial remarks on a Hindi news channel before as well. I am against the threats used against her," Owaisi said.

"Whatever she said is absolutely wrong," he added.

ALSO READ | Should Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal or Mamata Banerjee be pitted against PM Modi in 2024? Owaisi weighs in

Reacting to Sharma's apology, Owaisi said, "When did she apologise? She denied it but did not apologise, there is no clear-cut apology."

"She did not apologise. There is no clear-cut apology. Instead, there is a video, where she said that Amit Shah gave her confidence by saying 'we are with you'. She took the names of BJP leaders," Owaisi said.

"There is a bounty on her head by an international group. I condemn this bounty. BJP will not remove her I can say it on record," the AIMIM chief said.
Anantnag: Criticising the revival of VDCs (Village Defence Committees) and additional troops deployment by centre-led administration in Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah said BJP has totally failed in J-K and their lie that article 370 was responsible for everything in the UT has been in trouble.



National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah was talking to reporters in Anantnag South Kashmir, where he alleged that "Rajouri like terrorist attacks are the failure of BJP's central led administration in J-K and now due to the mishandling of situation we are witnessing revival of VDC's and additional deployment of forces here," said Omar.

Omer Abdullah said, "BJP lied to the country when they abrogated article 370 in 2019 by saying that article is responsible for everything happening in Kashmir and now since then we have seen uprising in terrorist activities".

Omar didnt stop there he said, Kashmiris are not beggars, we do not beg for elections "elections are our right but we aren't going to beg before the government to hold assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir". He said, "BJP is punishing the people of Kashmir and enjoying by doing so and they know if the elected government comes in J-K they will heal the people's wounds and that's why they don't want elections here," said Abdullah.


New Delhi: The 26th National Youth Festival will be hosted in the Karnataka twin cities of Hubballi and Dharwad from the 12th to the 16th of January. According to the media reports, Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, told the media in New Delhi that the theme of this year's Youth Festival is 'Vikasit Yuva, Vikasit Bharat'. He stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the National Youth Festival-2023 on January 12th, to coincide with Swami Vivekananda's birth anniversary. According to Mr. Thakur, approximately 7,500 youth delegates from throughout the country are anticipated to attend this event. According to Mr Thakur, the celebration would include traditional games like as Kalaripayatu, Thangta, Gatka, Mallakhamb, and Yogasana.

He stated that a social development fair - Yuva Kriti - and a cuisine festival will be organised to allow young craftsmen to showcase their arts and crafts. According to the Minister, India's assumption of the G-20 chairmanship is a historic moment. According to Mr Thakur, youth discussions would be hosted at colleges and universities around the country as part of this initiative. National Education Policy, Climate Change, Water, and Energy will be considered during the talks.

The Youth festival's core concentration is on cultural themes, with a number of other programmes covering a wide range of activities. Aside from that, this event gives adolescents with national exposure for the expression and fulfilment of their cultural gifts and goals.
Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government hosted India`s 17th `Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas`, which was attended by hundreds of representatives from several foreign countries and the Indian diaspora, and was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Indore on Monday. Modi addressed the gathering of NRIs and the representatives of business firms, appealing to them to understand the values of India in depth and spread in the countries they were living. The Prime Minister asserted that "for me, all Indian-origin citizen and their families living in all over the world are brand ambassadors of India".





Hundreds of NRIs and people associated with business firms had arrived in Indore since the last two days while many reached on Monday as well. They wanted to attend the gathering to listen to Modi at the venue. However, many of them were disappointed due to the shortage of space at the venue. Some of those allegedly denied entry in for the inaugural season at the venue (as they claimed), were seen expressing their disappointment and questioning the arrangements.Due to the lack of space inside the hall, they were told by the staff that they should listen Prime Minister Modi`s address on TV or watch it on phone through a live video link. "If we had to watch Modiji speak on TV or phone only, why did we fly so far from the US to Indore," said a fuming Julie Jain from the US. "We came all the way from the US to hear Prime Minister Modi address the Indian diaspora, but once at the entry of the venue of the inaugural session at 8.30 a.m. (around two hours before the PM actually arrived), we were told by the on-duty staff, that the space inside was full. We were invited guests, who had registered in advance for this main event," she added.Veena Singh, who arrived from the UK, too, remained dejected on failing to get an entry inside. "We were here to listen to Modiji from as close as possible and arrived by 9 a.m, still we were denied entry into the venue of the inaugural session. Is this actual `Atithi Devo Bhava`?" Prashant Singh, an overseas Indian from Jamaica, too, was peeved over failing to get entry to hear Prime Minister Modi speak."It wasn`t me only, but ministers from Jamaica, who weren`t allowed entry inside. If you can`t even manage 3000 guests, then how can you even dream of becoming a superpower. Overseas Indian guests have been waiting outside, while officials of the government were sitting inside." Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, however, apologised and tried to pacify the angry guests while addressing the occasion in the presence on Prime MInister Modi, several Union Ministers and the Governor Mangubhai C. Patel along with his cabinet ministers.Shivraj Singh said, "The hall might have fallen short of space, but there is boundless love and respect for you in my heart." Talking to IANS, officials claimed the delegates were clearly told in advance about 8 a.m. being the deadline for entry into the venue of PM`s programme, but still many arrived late.
New Delhi: Heaping praise on his former party colleague for "Bharat Jodo Yatra", Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Shatrughan Sinha on Monday (January 9, 2023) said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has now emerged as the "frontrunner for the PM post" in the opposition camp. The actor-turned-politician said that Gandhi's 3,570-km-long foot march is one of the most historic yatras that India has witnessed in the recent past and can be compared with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani's "Ram Rath Yatra" in the early 1990s.

"Rahul Gandhi has come out as a frontrunner after this yatra and is a respected leader now. He seems quite capable for the PM post," Sinha told the news agency PTI.

"He has now become a frontrunner (for the PM post) in the opposition camp. Lakhs of people are coming out in his support. He has proved his leadership quality. People have accepted him as a leader," he added.

This was for the second time in the last three months that the TMC MP has praised Rahul Gandhi and his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.

Will Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra help Congress garner votes in 2024 Lok Sabha polls?

When asked whether Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra would help the Congress garner votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Shatrughan Sinha referred to political yatras in the past conducted by LK Advani and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

"The kind of support he is receiving is unprecedented. Even if this euphoria converts into 20 per cent votes, it would be great for the nation and the Congress party in particular," he said.

"We have witnessed how long marches have helped translate into votes in the past. We have seen the yatra of L K Advani and Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh. In West Bengal elections, when Mamata Banerjee got injured and later campaigned in a wheelchair, you have seen the results in the 2021 assembly polls," he said.

Will TMC MP Shatrughan Sinha rejoin Congress?

When asked whether he plans to return to the Congress before the 2024 General Elections, Shatrughan Sinha said, "my answer is Khamosh".

"Khamosh" (keep quiet) was one of Sinha's iconic dialogues.

The Asansol MP said that he firmly stands as a lieutenant of Mamata Banerjee and has "full faith and respect for her leadership", who is a tried and tested leader of the country.

Sinha joined the BJP in the early 80s and served the saffron camp as its star campaigner during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-LK Advani era.

The two-term BJP MP from Patna Sahib later walked out of the party over differences with the leadership and joined the Congress ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The Bollywood actor of the 1970s and 1980s then switched over to Mamata Banerjee's TMC in 2022 and successfully fought the by-election from Asansol in West Bengal.

High time for opposition to get united

While advocating opposition unity, Shatrughan Sinha said that it is "high time" for the opposition to get united.

"With due respect to all, I must say the opposition must unite in general and as a nation in particular. When anti-incumbency is rising, and you fail to fulfill your promises, people vote against the ruling party. When we have Rahul Gandhi as a frontrunner and Mamata Banerjee as a game changer, then nothing seems to be impossible," he said.
NEW DELHI: The Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra will enter Punjab through the Shambhu border on Tuesday (January 10) and proceed to the Fatehgarh Sahib, according to Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. On Wednesday, January 11, after paying obeisance at the Gurdwara Sahib, the Congress MP will address a public meeting before embarking on the Punjab leg of his foot march.

Gandhi will address a public meeting on January 11 after paying obeisance at the gurdwara there, he said. The yatra, which began from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, will end with Gandhi hoisting the national flag in Srinagar on January 30. It is currently passing through Haryana.

Warring had earlier said the yatra will traverse through Punjab for seven days and a mega-rally will be organized at Pathankot on the concluding day before it leaves for Jammu and Kashmir from Madhopur on its last leg.

Special Squad to provide protection to Rahul Gandhi

Meanwhile, the Punjab Police has constituted a special squad to provide protection for Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra. Sukhchain Gill, Inspector General of Police (IGP), has told a news agency that a special squad has been formed with an ADGP rank officer in charge and an AIG rank officer who would be on duty throughout the yatra. Gill said that the states police are making special arrangements to ensure the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra passes through the state smoothly in eight days.

Though there is no official confirmation, reports stated that there will be at least 150 personnel of the Punjab Police in close proximity of Rahul Gandhi to ensure his safety. District police officials have been directed to make arrangements to streamline traffic and various choke points have been identified by the traffic police to ensure that Rahul Gandhi-led march passes smoothly through the state.

It may be recalled that the Congress general secretary K C Venugopal had last month written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah about alleged security breaches in Rahul Gandhi's security when the march entered the national capital.

in his letter, Venugopal alleged that the yatra's security was compromised on multiple occasions and the Delhi Police completely failed to control the surging crowds and maintain a perimeter around Rahul Gandhi.
RBSE Board Exam 2023: According to media reports, the Rajasthan Board Class 10, 12 Date Sheet would be released this week by BSER Ajmer. Students will be able to check their RBSE Exam dates after they are posted on the official website rajeduboard.rajasthan.gov.in. The state education authority has indicated that the RBSE Board Exams 2023 will be conducted on the whole syllabus. The syllabus for board exams during the COVID-19 pandemic was shortened to lessen the strain on students.

RBSE Exam Date 2023: Heres how to download

Visit the official website of RBSE - rajeduboard.rajasthan.gov.in.

On the home page, click on the link to download date sheet or go to the board exam portal.

A new page will open where your Rajasthan Board Date sheet will be displayed on the screen

Download and take a printout for future references.

This year's exams will be conducted in pen and paper format. Students will be able to view their RBSE Class 10 and RBSE Class 12 test dates on the official website once the date sheets are posted.
Sakat Chauth is among the most significant Hindu festival. In Sakat Chauth, mothers worship Lord Ganesha and Sakat Mata for a long and healthy life of their children. On this day women fast and believe that those who observe this fast, Lord Ganesha will bestow special blessings on them and will end all the problems in the life of their children.

According to the Hindu calendar, Sakat Chauth is celebrated every year on the Chaturthi (fourth day) of Krishna Paksha of Magh month. Apart from Sakat Chauth, it is also known as Sankashti Chaturthi, Tilkut, Magh Chaturthi.

According to Indian mythology, Sakat Mata is a form of Goddess Durga. Worshiping Sakat Mata brings an end to the crisis that comes on children, blessing them with long life and good health. On this day devotees also worship the Lambodar form of Lord Ganesha and seek blessings of happiness and prosperity in life.

Sakat Chauth story

Many years old, in a village lived a potter. He used to make fine pottery and bake them in a kiln, however one day when he placed the utensils in the kiln, the fire did not cook the utensils. After failed repeated attempts, he went to the king asking for help. The king consulted the head priest (Rajpurohit) asking for a solution to this strange incident. The Rajpurohit suggested that a child should be offered every time the pot was prepared.

After listening to the Rajpurohit, the king ordered that whenever the kiln was ready, each family would have to give a child of their own for sacrifice. One by one all the families started giving one of the children to obey the king. After a few days, it was the turn of an old woman who had only one son. It was the day of Sakat Chauth. The old woman gave Sakat's betel nut and betel leaf to her only son as security and suggested he pray to Goddess Sakat in the kiln. She herself worshiped the Sakat Mata praying for her son's safety.

This time, by the grace of Sakat Mata, the kiln which used to take several days to cook, got ready in a single night. The next morning when the potter came to inspect the kiln, he was surprised to see it. Not only did they find the old woman's son safe and alive, but the other children were also alive. After this incident, mothers worship Goddess Sakat and pray to protect their children from any untoward incident.
Chennai: Amid the row over Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi`s remark that Tamizhagam rather than Tamil Nadu would be a more appropriate name for the state, posters reading #Getout Ravi` have surfaced in Valluvar Kottam and Anna Salai areas of West Chennai. According to news agency ANI, Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) workers are protesting in Coimbatore demanding the removal of Governor RN Ravi from his post by Centre after he reportedly skipped certain parts of his speech in Assembly on Monday leading to a row over his Tamizhagam remark.

Tamil Nadu | Posters 'Get out Ravi' seen around Valluvar Kottam and Anna Salai in Chennai



A ruckus broke out in Assembly y'day when Gov RN Ravi began his address. Later, after concluding his address, he walked out when CM alleged that the Gov skipped certain parts of the speech pic.twitter.com/XU7MDDORhV  ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2023

Protesters were also seen burning his effigy and shouting slogans.

Tamil Nadu | Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) workers protest in Coimbatore demanding removal of Gov RN Ravi from his post by Centre, in wake of him reportedly skipping certain parts of his speech in Assembly y'day& Tamizhagam remark row. Protesters also burnt his effigy pic.twitter.com/OXMaQ2rJQE  ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2023

Amid all this, CPI(M) MP Su Venkatesan has tweeted that the invitation from Governor's House for the Pongal festival mentions him as Tamilzagam Governor, while he was mentioned as Tamil Nadu Governor in the invitation for the portrait ceremony earlier. This is also likely to further escalate the row.

Tamil Nadu or Tamilzagam row | CPI(M) MP Su Venkatesan tweets that invitation from Gov House for Pongal festival mentions the Gov as Tamilzagam Governor, while he was mentioned as Tamil Nadu Governor in invitation for the portrait ceremony earlier.



(Pics: MP's Twitter account) pic.twitter.com/ba27Jl89wf  ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2023

Meanwhile, #Getout Ravi` has also become a top trend on Twitter. The row began in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday as the Governor arrived for his customary address at the opening session.

Members of the ruling DMK and its allies, the Congress and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) started raising slogans against the Governor before staging a walkout from the Assembly.DMK MLAs raised slogans such as `Don`t impose BJP, RSS ideology`.The DMK and allies opposed the Governor`s stand and accused him of toeing the BJP`s ideological position.`This is not Nagaland, this is proud Tamil Nadu`, the legislators chanted.

The members also shouted slogans like, `Long Live Tamil Nadu`, and 'Condemn Governor`. The members were apparently upset with the Governor calling Tamil Nadu as `Tamizhagam` and this issue has been raging in the state for the past few days. They also questioned his right to suggest a different name for the state and accused him of unnecessarily interfering in state politics.

However, Governor Ravi continued delivering his address amid the uproar. The treasury bench also demanded a ban on online gambling. The ruling party legislators accused the Governor of sitting on a Bill banning online gambling. There is an ongoing tussle between the ruling DMK and the Raj Bhavan over several Bills which are pending the Governor`s assent, including the one against online gambling and wager-based online games.

In total, 21 Bills passed in the Assembly are pending with Raj Bhavan, as of December 2022, sources said.

(With Agency Inputs)
Kolkata: The West Bengal BJP on Tuesday was denied permission by police to organise Ganga Aarti programme on the occasion of the Gangasagar mela starting in the state later this week, following which they staged a protest in the Babughat area of the city. BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar later in the evening, organised a Ganga Aarti programme at Babughat without formal permission from Kolkata police. The BJP had announced that it would organise a Ganga Aarti programme on the occasion of the upcoming Gangasagar Mela in the state.

But the Kolkata police denied the permission, citing traffic congestion due to heavy movement of vehicular traffic and pilgrims arriving for the mela in the area and the ongoing G20 summit in the city's northern fringes.

As BJP supporters and workers gathered in front of Babughat to observe the programme, a scuffle ensued with the police. The police initially tried to stop the programme, but it snowballed into a scuffle between the saffron activists and police, following which the police arrested several BJP workers.

Later in the evening, Majumdar and BJP activists went to the Babughat area and performed Ganga Arati. "Whenever BJP plans to organise a programme, the police deny permission. It is not the first time that such an event has been organised. Every year during Gangasagar Mela, we organise this programme. But the police this time denied permission, citing flimsy reasons," he said.

Majumdar said the party had already sought permission from the army as the area belonged to the Ministry of Defence. "The police are citing the G-20 summit. It is being held in the Bidhannagar-Newtown area, and our event is at Babughat, which is quite far away. The police, under the instructions of the TMC, are stopping us from organising the event," he said.

He, along with other BJP activists, later squatted in front of prison vans, demanding that those arrested be released immediately. The allegations were dubbed as baseless by the Trinamool Congress.

"We have nothing to do with the police's permission. The BJP is trying to import the politics of UP and Hindi heartland in the state and vitiate the atmosphere of the state," TMC leader Debanghsu Bhattacharya said.
Chernihiv region has received from ROCKWOOL (Denmark) three powerful generators to ensure the operation of critical infrastructure, said head of Chernihiv Regional Military Administration Vyacheslav Chaus.

"Today, the region has received another batch of aid from the Danish company ROCKWOOL. These are three powerful generators (two with 200 kW power, one with 165 kW power), which will be useful for the stable operation of critical infrastructure facilities in the event of a power outage," he wrote on the Telegram channel on Tuesday.

"Our partners from the ROCKWALL company clearly and on time fulfill their obligations to help Chernihiv region in passing the winter period. Powerful generators were required for critical infrastructure facilities in certain localities. Now ... the issue has been resolved," first deputy head of Chernihiv Regional Military Administration Kostiantyn Mehem was quoted as saying.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday posted for February 14 the hearing of a batch of petitions filed by rival factions Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in relation to the Maharashtra political crisis. A five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha said, "We will hear it on February 14." At the outset, senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the Thackeray faction told the bench that in the last hearing he had indicated that he wants to argue on the need for a seven-judge bench to hear the case. The top court will first hear arguments on whether the matter is heard by a seven-judge bench or by a five-judge bench.

Sanjay Raut's Remark

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut informed that this hearing will be held consecutively before the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court from February 14. Also, since the hearing is on Valentine's Day, everything will be done with love, he added. The Thackeray group wants a seven-judge bench in the case on various issues filed in connection with the power struggle in the state. In it, the main issue is regarding the disqualification process of 16 MLAs. It will be important to see whether the presiding Speaker of the Legislative Assembly has this right when a no-confidence motion is filed.

Uddhav Thackeray's Demand

Earlier, Uddhav Thackeray-led group told the apex court that there is an unconstitutional government running in Maharashtra. In August, the top court`s three-judge bench had referred to a five-judge Constitution bench the issues involved in the petition filed by rival groups of Shiv Sena in relation to the Maharashtra political crisis. It had said that some of the issues involved in the Maharashtra political crisis may require a larger Constitutional bench for consideration. It had also asked the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Rahul Narwekar not to take any action on the new disqualification notices issued against the members of Shiv Sena.

Uddhav Challenges Governor Koshiyari`s decision

There are various petitions pending before the apex court filed by both factions of Shiv Sena. The Thackeray-led faction had approached the top court challenging the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari`s decision to invite Eknath Shinde to form the government and also the Speaker`s election and floor test. Later they challenged the Shinde group approaching the poll panel claiming they were 'real' Shiv Sena. They had also challenged the newly appointed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker`s action recognising the whip of the Eknath Shinde group as the whip of Shiv Sena.

The plea said the newly appointed Speaker has no jurisdiction to recognise whips nominated by Shinde as Uddhav Thackeray is still the head of the Shiv Sena official party. Thackeray camp's Sunil Prabhu had filed a plea seeking suspension from the Maharashtra Assembly of new Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 15 rebel MLAs against whom disqualification pleas are pending. Shinde group's challenged the disqualification notices issued by the Deputy Speaker to 16 rebel MLAs as well as the appointment of Ajay Choudhary as Shiv Sena Legislature Party leader, is also pending before the apex court.

On June 29, the top court gave a go-ahead to the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on June 30. Refusing to stay the Maharashtra Governor`s direction to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30, the bench had issued notice on Prabhu`s plea against the floor test.After the apex court`s order, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as the Chief Minister and Eknath Shinde was later sworn in as the Chief Minister.
Mumbai: Actor Sumeet Vyas who is gearing up for his upcoming social comedy film Chhatriwali shared his first experience of buying a condom during the trailer launch of the movie. At the trailer launch of `Chhatriwali,` Sumeet Vyas shared his first experience with buying a condom.

He mentioned, "In our country, sex is prevalent but sex education isn't. Yaar, why are we Indians so shy or hesitant when it comes to buying condoms? It's like we are still living in the era where sex was depicted by two flowers coming closer. I remember when I had to buy a condom as a young guy I used to go to a pharmacy three lanes away from my home in fact I should have been appreciated about the fact that I was responsible. We need to work on normalising the entire concept of Safe sex. And, if we do that, it shall also help us in creating a better society by helping individuals engaged in sex trade as well. I feel it's important for all age groups to understand the benefits of having safe sex and implement the same."

Sumeet is already garnering praise for his character, Rishi Kalra, in the trailer of `Chhatriwali.`Produced by Ronnie Screwvala and directed by Tejas Prabha Vijay Deoskar`, `Chhatriwali` aims to drive home a strong social message on the importance of male contraceptives and safe sex.

A slice-of-life film set in Haryana, `Chhatriwali` is headlined by Rakul who plays the quality control head in a condom factory.Though she is shy and embarrassed about her job initially, she soon realises the importance of safe sex and then takes it upon herself to destigmatise the conversation around sex education. Without being too preachy, the film sets the tone and delivers the message with humour and sensitivity while ensuring that the narrative is entertaining and family-friendly.

Talking about the film Rakul Preet Singh said, "I am so glad that finally the day is here when my fans get to catch a glimpse of this special character and film that I have been working on. Chhatriwali was that dream project where it checked all the boxes and now with the trailer out, I hope that our hard work pays off as this film deserves special attention and credit. In today`s patriarchal society, every household needs a Sanya who holds the courage to single-handedly fight against all odds, traditions, social norms, and barriers. I hope this character inspires others to find their voice and speak up against unsafe sex and the many health implications of not using protection."

She added, "India`s youth make up for majority of the population and educating them on safe sex and sex education is the need of the hour, so I am glad that Chhatriwali is catering to them and everyone else in a progressive and entertaining manner. I have respect and only respect for the incredible team behind this extraordinary project".

Director Tejas Prabha Vijay Deoskar said, "While researching for Chhatriwali, I happened to visit few rural parts in India and spoke to students and villagers over there. I saw a taboo around the word `sex` and the judgemental attitude of society as well as the pharmacists. But what was more interesting and alarming was that even the urban population had the same issue barring some pockets in metros. The dire need to normalise this conversation were the driving forces behind the making of this film. I am glad that I got the support from RSVP and ZEE5 to make and market Chhatriwali which is entertaining and educating in equal parts. And now that the trailer is out, we are excited to see audience`s reaction to the film".
New Delhi: Actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who is gearing up for the release of her upcoming historical drama film 'Shaakuntalam', recently reacted to a tweet that claimed that the actress has "lost her charm and glow." Actor Varun Dhawan has now come out in support of the actress and called out the trolls.

A verified Twitter handle posted a picture of the actress from the trailer launch event of 'Shaakuntalam' and wrote on the picture: "Feeling sad for Samantha. She lost all her charm and glow. When everyone thought she came out of divorce strongly and her professional life is seeing heights, myositis hit her badly, making her weak again."

Hitting back at the trolls, Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan, who will also be seen sharing the screen with Samantha in 'Citadel' wrote, "You dont feel bad abt anything u just care about clickbait feel bad for u son. Also glow is avaliable in instagram filters. Jsut meet Sam trust me she was glowing."

U dont feel bad abt anything u just care about clickbait feel bad for u son. Also glow is avaliable in instagram filters. Jsut meet Sam trust me she was glowing . https://t.co/JRslCKYJpP  VarunDhawan (@Varun_dvn) January 10, 2023

Earlier, replying to the Tweet, actress Samantha wrote, "I pray you never have to go through months of treatment and medication like I did...And here's some love from me to add to your glow."

I pray you never have to go through months of treatment and medication like I did ..

And heres some love from me to add to your glow https://t.co/DmKpRSUc1a  Samantha (@Samanthaprabhu2) January 9, 2023

She looked gorgeous in an ivory-coloured saree and accessorised her look with glasses at 'Shakuntalam' trailer launch. Her pictures and videos made rounds on social media.

Samantha was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition called Myositis last year. The autoimmune disorder that makes a person's immune system attack their muscles. It causes chronic inflammation - swelling that comes and goes over a long time.

On the work front, she will reportedly feature in the Indian Prime Video original of 'Citadel.'
New Delhi: Hrithik Roshan, who turned 49 today, for over two decades, has been adored and loved for his good looks, impressive style, spectacular acting, and for his dance moves. To mark this occasion, the actor greeted the fans gathered outside his residence to wish the actor. The actor enjoys a vast fandom all over.

Hrithik`s fan clubs also shared some pictures from the location in which the actor was seen waving to his fans from his balcony who were standing below, cheering at the sight of the superstar.

Fans also sang a Happy birthday song for the actor. Starstruck fans from various cities queued at his Mumbai residence since morning to wish the star in their own special ways.

The actor was seen donning a light brown casual shirt. Born to the renowned film producer and director Rakesh Roshan, Hrithik Roshan made his Bollywood debut with his father`s directorial romantic drama flick `Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai`, which was a blockbuster hit.

He has also delivered several other successful films like `Krrish`, `Lakshya`, `Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham`, `Dhoom 2`, `Super 30`, `Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara` and more. Today, Hrithik is among the highest-paid actors in India and has won several awards, including six Filmfare, four for Best Actor and one each for Best Debut and Best Actor (Critics).

As Hrithik turns another year older, he continues to inspire millions to overcome obstacles in life and be the best versions of themselves. And with films like `Fighter` and `Krrish 4` under his belt, the actor`s success as a performer is sure to reach new peaks in the near future.
Mumbai: Actor Hrithik Roshan is definitely one of the best dancers in the Hindi film industry and he has always set the screen on fire every time he shook his leg. Everything about the charming celeb impresses his fans, whether it`s his effortless moves or his sweet expressions. As the actor turns a year older today, take a look at some of his iconic hook steps.

1. Ek Pal Ka Jeena

The peppy dance track from Hrithik`s debut film `Khao Naa.. Pyaar Hai` established him as one of the best dancers in the Hindi film industry back in 2000. His cross-leg steps and hands move in the song became widely popular in the industry, and even younger generations of dancers are trying their hands at it.

2. Dhoom Again

Hrithik portrayed a negative character for the first time in his career in `Dhoom 2` and gathered a lot of appreciation for his amazing performance. His outstanding moves and flexibility in the title track `Dhoom Again` made the fans go crazy. The hook step of the song became extremely popular among his fans.

3. Tu Meri

Hrithik set the stage on fire with his outstanding dance moves and hot chemistry with actor Katrina Kaif who danced perfectly in sync with him. The song was a smash hit and the signature step of the song became densely popular among Hrithik`s fans and it became one of the best dancing numbers of his career.

4. Ghungroo

Ghungroo`s hook step quickly became popular, and people couldn`t stop admiring how easily Hrithik swayed to the beats. The song was a part of the action thriller film `War` which was declared a blockbuster hit. Actor Vani Kapoor matched Hrithik step by step in the song.

5. You are my Soniya

Hrithik`s moves in the song became an instant hit among the young, and many attempted to recreate his steps on the hook line `Keh do Na, keh do na, you are my Soniya.` Hrithik`s effortless dance moves and hot chemistry with Kareena Kapoor made the song a big hit.

We wish Hrithik a very Happy Birthday!
Los Angeles: Months after sparking concern over her erratic behaviour, actress-model Cara Delevingne made use of her social media account to show off her naked yoga session. The 'Suicide Squad' actress posted a photo of her doing naked yoga. In the picture, which was taken from the confines of a cosy-but-snowy cabin, she posed in a perfect headstand. Though her face was out of the frame, fans pointed out that the tattoos on the ribs obviously match hers.

Delevingne is apparently taking some time to take care of her mental health following her erratic public appearances.

In September, the 'Paper Towns' star appeared unable to control her body movements while she was at an airport. At the time, the shoeless model was seen on the phone, bending over, dropping her phone and walking around looking very jittery.

Not stopping there, the 'Only Murders in the Building' actress was also snapped looking unhealthy when taking drops of an unknown liquid and smoking while sitting in her car. A few minutes later, she stopped at a sex shop and browsed racks of dildos and vibrators for about 30 minutes on Melrose Ave.

Adding more concern were the photos of Delevingne's 'Suicide Squad' co-star Margot Robbie, who was caught crying after she left Delevingne's house.

That same day, Delevingne's sister Poppy Delevingne also visited the property. The 36-year-old reportedly left in a black SUV, looking sad and upset.

However, Robbie denied in November that she was crying, insisting that she just "had something in (her) eye."

Fortunately, things seemed to be improving at the end of September. Delevingne looked healthy when attending a Paris Fashion Week event that debuted designs from her Cara Loves Karl collaboration with Chanel's late creative director, Karl Lagerfeld.

Then in late October, Delevingne was spotted attending a star-studded Halloween celebration, dressing up as a clown. On Christmas Day, the 30-year-old star posted a photo of her enjoying a snow ride.

More recently, Delevingne presented a six-part documentary series titled 'Planet Sex'. In it, she's seen donating her orgasm to science in Germany, making art from her vagina in Japan, hitting up a women-only sex club, taking a masturbation masterclass and visiting an ethical porn set.
New Delhi: We have seen a lot of artists but have never seen a multitalented artist like Veeir Chaudary, he started his career with Bollywood movies where he got a lot of success. After debuting in Bollywood, he has also shown his talent on the OTT platform.

Veeir was also seen in the Hindi song Ab ye Dil Tera Hua And his new song is coming, 'Barbaad Karunga', which is sung by Salman Ali and written by Shakeel Azmi and music director Kaushal Mahavir where he did a fantastic job. Veeir Chaudary is very excited about this song as he is also the producer of this song and playing the lead male actor.

Th actor said in his previous interview that "I'm glad that I started my career with Bollywood films. I have seen that actors find it difficult to transition from TV to films due to many reasons. But I think that it would make things easier for me to try my luck in TV."

Veeir started giving auditions during his Engineering B-Tech studies and since then he started his career, before all this he also went to the acting institute and he made his debut movie in 2015 Uvaa in which he played The actor was seen with Om Puri, for which he considers himself lucky.

After this, Veeir did not stop and is showing his acting skills to everyone. Acting is such a dream that everyone dreams of but only a few people can fulfill and he is one of those few people. Along with his studies, he even kept his dream of acting alive and fulfilled his dream as well.

Veeir's life is a source of inspiration for everyone, he has achieved a lot due to his hard work and it is the result of his hard work that today so many people like him. People are liking his work very much, and the views of his songs have crossed lakhs today when his fans came to know that his new song is coming, then his fans are eagerly waiting for his song.
New Delhi: If you have received a message recently informing about a chance of winning Indian oil fuel subsidy gift worth Rs 6000 by solving the questionnaire, then you shouldnt go after it. It is a snare trap to lure customers with another enticing tricks to catch innocent customers. Scammers use various methods to trap people online so that they can siphone off money from their accounts.

ALSO READ | Ratan Tata shares old picture of him with brother with a heart melt caption

The Press Information Bureau (PIB) in its fact check has found a lucky draw to win Indian oil subsidy gift worth Rs 6000 a fraud and warned customers to not fall into the scam by linking on unsolicited links. PIB confirmed that this lucky draw is fake and its a scam and not related to Indian oil.

ALSO READ | Anand Mahindra praises ISRO after UK space mission's failure

Chance to win a Fuel Subsidy Gift worth 6,000 from the Indian Oil Corporation" Sounds enticing right? However, This lucky draw is #FAKE It's a scam & is not related to @IndianOilcl Always run any suspicious information related to Government of India by #PIBFactCheck, PIB tweeted on its official fact check Twitter handle.

"Chance to win a Fuel Subsidy Gift worth 6,000 from the Indian Oil Corporation"



Sounds enticing right? However,



This lucky draw is #FAKE



It's a scam & is not related to @IndianOilcl



Always run any suspicious information related to Government of India by #PIBFactCheck pic.twitter.com/5XkmUOfTFw  PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) January 10, 2023

Does writing anything on the bank currency notes make them invalid?

PIB in its fact check denied any such new guideline released by Reserve Bank of India. It debunked the fake message claiming scribbling on currency notes would make them invalid.

PIB confirms that bank notes with scribbling are not invalid and continue to be legal tender. It means you can use or take those currency notes which have scribbling on them. They dont become invalid and banks wont deny to accept them.

Does writing anything on the bank note make it invalid #PIBFactCheck



NO, Bank notes with scribbling are not invalid & continue to be legal tender



Under the Clean Note Policy, people are requested not to write on the currency notes as it defaces them & reduces their life pic.twitter.com/V8Lwk9TN8C  PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) January 8, 2023

However, it further informs that under the clean note policy, people are requested not to write on the currency notes as it defaces them and reduces their life.
New Delhi: The 'Minnal Murali' star, Tovino Thomas, caught up with Team India's former captain and Chennai Super Kings skipper M.S. Dhoni during a book release at Kasargod in Kerala and turned emotional.

In his Instagram post, Tovino said: "Had a great experience spending time with Captain Cool. That very same persona we have seen on screen - cool, composed, and spontaneous brilliance is the man himself in person."

"We had great conversations and there was this typical ease with which he would say the most thoughtful things. I feel truly fortunate to have this opportunity. A great role model for all. Wishing more glitter to your illustrious journey"

Tovino and Dhoni met at the Bekal resort in Kasargod near the historic Bekal fort where the movie 'Bombay' featuring Aravind Sami and Manisha Koirala was shot.

Dhoni and the Malayalam star had arrived for the release of the autobiography of noted techno educationist, Professor K.K. Abdul Gafoor. The Chennai Super Kings captain also presented a copy of the book, 'Njan Sakshi', to the superhero of 'Minnal Murali'.

The fans of both stars were elated and many wrote on their social media handles expressing best wishes to both. One of them exclaimed: "Oh my own superstars. Wish them the best." Another wrote: "Captain cool with our own superstar."

In his latest movie, 'Ajayante Randam Moshanam', incidentally, Tovino plays a triple role.
BRASILIA: Far-right former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was admitted to a hospital in Florida on Monday as more than 1,500 of his supporters were rounded up in Brasilia after storming the capital over the weekend. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist who took office on Jan. 1 after defeating Bolsonaro in an October vote, promised to bring those responsible for the violence to justice. The mobs rampaged through Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential offices, smashing windows, furniture and artwork.

Bolsonaro went to a hospital in Orlando on Monday with intestinal pains related to a stabbing he suffered during the 2018 election campaign, his wife, Michelle, said on Instagram. His doctor said he has an intestinal blockage that was not serious and would likely not need surgery.

Bolsonaro faces several investigations in Brazil

Bolsonaro faces several investigations before the Supreme Court in Brazil and his future in the United States, where he traveled with a visa issued to heads of state, diplomats and other government officials, is in question.

Representative Joaquin Castro, a Democratic lawmaker in the U.S. Congress, said on CNN that the United States should not give refuge to an "authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism" and should send Bolsonaro back to Brazil.

The U.S. government declined to comment on Bolsonaro's visa.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said a person who entered on a visa for foreign officials must depart the country within 30 days or apply for a change of immigration status if they are no longer engaged in official business.

Thousands of Bolsonaro's supporters storm Brazil Congress

Restoring order in the Brazilian capital, Brazilian soldiers backed by police on Monday dismantled a two-month-old camp opposite the army's headquarters where Bolsonaro supporters have been protesting since he lost the election, according to Reuters witnesses.

Some 1,200 people from the camp were detained for questioning on Monday, authorities said, after about 300 arrests on Sunday.

Thousands of Bolsonaro's backers set off from that encampment on Sunday before storming the presidential palace, Supreme Court and Congress in the worst attack on state institutions since Brazil's return to democracy in the 1980s.

Lula, who was back at work at the ransacked Planalto palace, met with his defense minister and commanders of the armed forces to discuss the violence reminiscent of the assault on the U.S. Capitol two years ago by backers of former President Donald Trump.

U.S. President Joe Biden joined other world leaders in condemning Sunday's riots, calling them "outrageous," while Bolsonaro, who is now in Florida, denied inciting his supporters and said the rioters had "crossed the line."

Pro-Bolsonaro truckers, who have caused intermittent havoc on Brazil's highways for months, held more protests through Sunday night. Police on Monday removed their blockade of the BR 163 highway that cuts through Brazil's top grain-producing state Mato Grosso and on another highway in Parana state.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the governor of Brasilia removed from office late on Sunday for 90 days over alleged security failings and demanded that social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and TikTok block accounts of users spreading anti-democratic propaganda.
The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has filed a lawsuit with the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) against Oleg Deripaska, one of the richest Russian oligarchs, close to the President of Russia and owning substantial stakes in the Rusal, Basic Element, and En+ groups, to impose a sanction of assets recovery in favor of the state of Ukraine.

"Oleg Deripaska was sanctioned by Ukraine, the United States, the EU, the UK, Poland, the Swiss Confederation, Australia and New Zealand. Based on the responses received to the Ministry of Justice's inquiries and in accordance with international sanctions, it is seen that the sanctioned person is a citizen of Russia, supports the Putin regime, because it is involved in obtaining benefits from the Russian government and the production of armored vehicles used by the aggressor country in the war against Ukraine," Deputy Minister Iryna Mudra said on Tuesday.

She said that the Ministry of Justice had collected sufficient evidence to apply to the HACC regarding the recovery of Deripaska's assets in Ukraine to the state's income.

In particular, in the process of establishing the grounds, at the request of the Ministry of Justice, information was received that the group of metallurgical enterprises United Company Rusal supplies aluminum products to Russian enterprises of the defense industry, directly engaged in the development, production and supply of military equipment for the needs of the Russian armed forces. At the same time, part of the aluminum products is produced from raw materials of Ukrainian origin produced by Mykolaiv Alumina Plant LLC.

In addition, as the Ministry of Justice said, Deripaska, through groups of related companies, owns substantial assets in Ukraine of such enterprises as Hluhiv Quartzite Quarry LLC, Khust quarry PJSC, Zhezheliv Quarry PJSC, Guardon Ukrainy LLC, Aluminum Company of Ukraine LLC, Metallurg Service Center LLC, CHAS IT LLC, Okhrana NGZ LLC, Mykolaiv Accounting Center LLC, Mykolaiv Charitable Foundation Center for Social Programs, Zaporizhia Lumintorh LLC, Zaporizhia Industrial Aluminum combine, nonresidential real estate, equipment, etc.

As reported, after the change in legislation on September 1, 2022, the HACC fully satisfied the claims of the Ministry of Justice and made the first decision in history to recover the Ukrainian assets of Russian businessman Vladimir Yevtushenkov, the beneficiary of AFK Sistema and the ex-co-owner of Vodafone Ukraine, in favor of the state.

In addition, the HACC is currently considering a claim by the Ministry of Justice for the confiscation of Ukrainian assets of Mikhail Shelkov, the main beneficiary and member of the board of directors of the Russian PJSC VSMPO-Avisma Corporation, the world's largest titanium producer.

As Mudra previously said in an interview with kp.ua, the Ministry of Justice recorded six more similar lawsuits: against Russian diplomat Anatoly Torkunov, rectors of the Crimean and Belgorod universities Andrey Falaleyev and Oleg Polukha, State Duma deputies Roman Lyabikhov and Boris Paykin, as well as ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych.

In the case of Yanukovych, in the middle of December, the HACC also decided to recover assets in favor of the state, but the Ministry of Justice appealed this decision to the court regarding the unsatisfied claims of the lawsuit.

As part of the legislation updated in May, the HACC is given 10 days to consider such claims. After the decision of the HACC, the parties have five days to appeal it with the Appeals Chamber of the HACC, with the possibility of an extension for another 10 days.
Kathmandu: Nepal`s newly appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda is set to test the floor of parliament on Tuesday amid the uncertainty whether the parties on board will vote for him or not. Dahal who is attempting for a whopping majority in the parliament has been attempting to ensure more votes in his favor and is also trying to woo the opposition to increase vote in favor.

Prachanda last month broke off a democratic-communist alliance forging another alliance with CPN-UML (Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist) and five other parties along with 2 other independent lawmakers.

Late on Monday evening, Dahal reached out to the opposition Nepali Congress President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba seeking support on Tuesday`s vote of confidence. Nepali Congress has a total of 88 seats in the parliament after one of the lawmakers from the party was removed from the post provided his criminal background.

As per the officials aware of the matter, Deuba has promised to help Dahal but gave no concrete answer. The Nepali Congress being the largest party has again sidelined opposition after Dahal broke off the five-party alliance and headed for another six-party alliance.

"The two leaders held a discussion about it but the final decision of the Nepali Congress will be made only on Monday morning. A meeting of the Parliamentary Committee to decide on vote of confidence has been called on for 9 AM (Local Time) on Tuesday morning," Purna Bahadur Khadka, Vice President of Nepali Congress said over the phone.

With time running out, Dahal is making all possible efforts to get votes from the parties representing in the parliament amid speculation that he might lose the vote of confidence. The CPN-Unified Socialist (CPN-US) led by another former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal which failed to be a national party but owns 10 seats is still undecided about today`s vote of confidence. Like CPN-US, the Nagarik Unmukti Party which had supported Dahal as Prime Minister on Monday`s first parliamentary meeting chaired the opposition bench and has stated that they are yet to decide on the vote.

The CPN-UML, led by former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has directed all its members to be present in the house session for the vote of confidence on Tuesday. Oli on Monday itself had sent out a directive to all its members of the house to mandatorily be present on the day of the vote of confidence.

Notably, Prachanda and Oli have struck an agreement to govern the country on a rotational basis, with Oli agreeing to make Prachanda Prime Minister first as per the latter`s demand. In the new coalition, the CPN-UML has 79, Maoist Center 32, Rastriya Swatantra Party20, Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) 14, Janata Samajbadi Party 12, Janamat Party 6 and Nagarik Unmukti Party has four MPs.

Two independent lawmakers are also supporting Prachanda. The RPP also remains undecided about today`s vote of confidence.

In case the government fails to get endorsed then the President should give another chance to garner a majority and upon repeated failure, the President can dissolve the House of Representatives and call for another election within 6 months.

Dahal would need to cross the mark of 50 percent of the 275-seated parliament to remain in power for the promised term.
The first rocket launch from UK soil failed on Tuesday due to an "anomaly" that was detected as the rocket approached its target, according to scientists. The 70-foot (21-metre) rocket was launched by a Virgin Orbit Boeing 747 from a spaceport in Cornwall, southwest England, at 2202 GMT. The rocket then separated from the aeroplane and was expected to burn at a height of 35,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean south of Ireland at roughly 2315 GMT. But in a series of tweets as the rocket was due to enter orbit and discharge its nine satellites, Virgin Orbit said: "We appear to have an anomaly that has prevented us from reaching orbit. We are evaluating the information.

"As we find out more, we're removing our previous tweet about reaching orbit. We'll share more info when we can."The plane returned to Cornwall Airport Newquay as anticipated, to a sombre Spaceport Cornwall, a consortium that comprises Virgin Orbit and the UK Space Agency.

The launch was the first from the United Kingdom. Previously, UK-made satellites had to be launched into orbit via foreign spaceports. If the project had been successful, the United Kingdom would have been one of just nine countries capable of launching spacecraft into Earth's orbit. "Joining that really exclusive club of launch nations is so important because it gives us our own access to space... that we've never had before here in the UK," Spaceport Cornwall chief Melissa Thorpe told BBC television before the launch.

Hundreds of people attended the launch, which was dubbed "Start Me Up" after a Rolling Stones song. The satellites were to provide a variety of civil and military duties, including sea monitoring to assist governments in detecting people smugglers and space weather observation. Because of the commercialization of space, the number of space bases in Europe has increased in recent years.

Satellites were previously employed largely for institutional missions by national space agencies, but the majority of Europe's spaceport projects are now private-sector efforts With the emergence of small start-ups, current technology that makes both rockets and satellites smaller, and the fast rising variety of satellite applications, the market has boomed However, campaigners criticised the launch."Space is the new frontier for military escalation and spending with no real public scrutiny or accountability," said Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) general secretary Kate Hudson. Drone Wars filmmaker Chris Cole decried a "space arms competition which will eventually lead to higher risk of instability and conflict".
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky held a phone conversation with President of the European Council Charles Michel on Tuesday.

"During a phone call with President of the European Council Charles Michel, I informed him about the situation on the battlefield and Ukraine's current needs in armaments. We agreed on joint efforts to implement the Peace Formula and discussed expectations from the upcoming Ukraine-EU Summit," the head of state said on Twitter.

On the day before, Permanent Representative of Sweden to the EU Lars Danielsson confirmed that the summit will be held in Kyiv on February 3.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has said that today the total amount for the restoration of Ukraine, the sources of which are already clear, is about UAH 110 billion.

"The scale of destruction is enormous. We are talking about hundreds of billions of dollars of losses. Accordingly, the Ukraine Recovery Program will become the largest reconstruction project since the Second World War. We have already identified four key sources of its funding," Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Tuesday.

According to the prime minister, confiscated Russian funds will be the first source.

"The government has already sent UAH 17 billion of confiscated funds from Russian banks to the budgetary Fund for the Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression. The process of confiscation of Russian assets in Ukraine continues. We are working to start it in the allied countries," he added.

The second source will be funds directly from the state budget. In particular, in 2023 UAH 35.5 billion will also go to the Fund for the Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression at the expense of the National Bank paying part of its profits.

"The third source is the funds of international partners. There are already first steps in this direction. The United States has decided to provide $1.4 billion, or more than UAH 56 billion, for the restoration of Ukraine. We expect these funds to arrive in the near future," the prime minister said.

The fourth source, according to Shmyhal, will be funds from donors from all over the world, collected on the UNITED24 platform.

"We thank all our partners and thousands of people from around the world who help us start this recovery process. Today, the total amount for recovery from sources we already understand is about UAH 110 billion. In total, this year we expect to receive $17 billion, or UAH 680 billion for the priority restoration of damaged and destroyed property," the prime minister said.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) will make requests to states and regulators in an attempt to influence international banking groups that remain in Russia despite Russian aggression against Ukraine, the regulator's press service has said on Tuesday.

"We once again publicly appeal to the leadership of international banking groups, by staying in Russia, you have chosen to support the aggressor and his war crimes (...) Therefore, the NBU will make requests to the relevant governments and regulators to initiate a response to the above-mentioned actions of international financial groups," the National Bank said in the release on Tuesday evening.

The regulator said it has repeatedly appealed to Raiffeisen Bank International, Intensa Sanpaolo, OTP Bank, ING Bank, Credit Agricole with calls to stop doing business in Russia and Belarus, receiving assurances that they "continue to explore all strategic options for the future of their business in Russia, including options for exiting this market."

"Assessing the situation in 11 month of the war, the National Bank notes the lack of progress towards making final decisions on exiting the Russian market. We consider this unacceptable," the central bank said.

The update that has appeared in the public field about the provision by the subsidiaries of foreign banks of preferential lending terms to participants in the so-called "special military operation" is another evidence that the statements made differ from the actual state of affairs, since financial institutions remain active participants in the banking market of the aggressor, competing to increase loan portfolios. In addition, in their materials they openly use the names of the LPR and DPR as separate entities, the NBU said.

"International banks must finally implement the decisive statements made almost a year ago and exit the market of Russia, which is up to its elbows in the blood of Ukrainians. The involvement of important European companies in the economy of a terrorist country is poisonous. War is a time to choose between profit and dignity," the bank's press service said, citing NBU Governor Andriy Pyshny.

The NBU said on this issue it is in solidarity with the position of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who clearly stated that international companies that remain operating in Russia are directly financing Russian war crimes and the genocide of Ukrainians.
The enemy is conducting offensive operations in Bakhmut, Avdiyivka and Lyman axes, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have repelled enemy attacks in the area of 13 settlements of Donbas, the General Staff reported.

"The enemy is conducting offensive operations on the Bakhmut, Avdiyivka and Lyman axes, and is trying to improve the tactical position in the Kupiansk axes. Russian invaders concentrate efforts on capturing Donetsk region, but have no success," according to the report on Facebook.

Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled attacks in the vicinities of Bilohorivka, Chervopopivka, Kuzmine (Luhansk region); Soledar, Bilohorivka, Pidhorodne, Bakhmut, Klischiyivka, Vodiane, Kurdiumivka, Mayorsk, Maryinka, and Pobeda (Donetsk region).

"During the past day, Ukrainian Air Force made 18 air strikes on areas where the enemy's personnel, weapons and military equipment are concentrated, as well as three strikes on the positions of its anti-aircraft missile systems. Ukrainian forces shot down two enemy reconnaissance UAVs of the Orlan type," the General Staff reported.

Ukrainian missile and artillery troops hit one command post, five concentrations of enemy troops and military equipment, and two positions of Russian anti-aircraft missile systems.

The enemy continues to suffer losses. So, in the first week of 2023, about 120 occupiers were brought to the hospital in Novotroitske, Kherson region.

It is also noted that the occupiers continue to carry out measures to mobilize the local population in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. So, in Horlivka, Donetsk region, on January 6 of this year, during another raid, up to 30 people were mobilized, four of them with disabilities. After two days of so-called training at the Vostochny training ground, they were sent to one of the military units of the Russian occupation forces.
The Kyiv city bus fleet will be replenished with ten modern buses donated by Riga, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

"Ten modern city buses left Riga for Kyiv today. This is the aid of our Latvian friends. The buses also carry humanitarian aid, which was collected by the citizens of Latvia," Klitschko wrote on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.

"The head of the Latvian Seimas, Edvards Smiltens, headed the delegation to Kyiv. At the end of April last year, he, then Vice Mayor of Riga, already came to the capital of Ukraine and handed over 11 buses and humanitarian aid from Riga. All buses received by Kyiv then operate on the routes of the capital," Klitschko said.
Germany can transfer Leopard tanks to Ukraine only in coordination with allies  Scholz

Germany can transfer Leopard tanks to Ukraine only if it coordinates its actions with partners, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at an event of the Social Democrat Party dedicated to the upcoming land elections.

According to Reuters, Scholz said that the Western allies allegedly "spent a long time preparing, discussing and organizing this." And he remains convinced of the need to coordinate arms deliveries to Ukraine with allies.

"Germany will not go alone. Germany will always remain united with its friends and allies," Scholz said.
During the day, Soledar (Bakhmut district of Donetsk region) and the city's environs were hit 86 times with various artillery systems, the city was virtually destroyed, said Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

"During this day alone, Soledar and its environs were hit 86 times with various artillery systems. The President again emphasized this yesterday that the city was actually destroyed, and their [occupiers] logic of the war itself is not clear, because seizing the ruins, as it was earlier in Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, laying down an incalculable number of troops, is in the art of war, and especially modern, of the 21st century, very strange," he said on the Channel 24 on Tuesday.

Cherevaty noted that the main method of storming the city among the Russians now is the use of destruction systems, MLRS, cannon artillery and, at their expense, the advancement of small groups of infantry.

On the Bakhmut-Soledar sector, as emphasized in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the enemy has concentrated its best specialists, in particular the special forces of the "Wagner" PMC, with the support of the regular Russian army.

"It is the fighters of Soledar who hold the city, now they are gaining time and opportunities for the entire defense. Therefore, the enemy suffers colossal losses there, but despite this, they are still trying to move forward, because for them even a small tactical advance is presented as a great achievement," he said.
EU to impose new sanctions on Belarus for its role in Russian war against Ukraine  von der Leyen

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the European Union will come up with new sanctions, in particular for Belarus, in response to its role in the war waged by Russia against Ukraine.

She announced this on Tuesday in Brussels. "We will be coming forward with new sanctions on Belarus, answering the Belarus' role in this Russian war in Ukraine," the President of the European Commission said.

Von der Leyen assured that the EU would keep "doing everything in its power to support the brave people of Ukraine." "We will keep the pressure on the Kremlin for as long as it takes with a biting sanctions regime. We will expand these sanctions to those who militarily support Russia's war, such as Belarus or Iran," she explained.

In addition, the President of the European Commission assured that the EU would continue to support Ukraine financially, economically and humanitarianly for as long as necessary.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg support providing Ukraine with modern weapons systems so that Ukrainians are able to defend their homeland.

They outlined this position on Tuesday in Brussels at a press conference, answering a question about possible deliveries of offensive weapons, in particular, German Leopard-2 tanks.

Ursula von der Leyen said that she had stated many times since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine  Ukraine must receive all the necessary military equipment that it needs so that it is able to defend its homeland. This means, delivering, of course, advanced air defense systems, and also different advanced military equipment for as long as necessary in order to protect Ukraine, because it also protects the basic principles of the UN Charter and international law.

In turn, the NATO Secretary General recalled that from the very beginning of the war that Russia unleashed against Ukraine, NATO allies and EU members had been providing Ukraine with modern weapons systems. He welcomed new announcements by the United States, Germany and France to provide new types of armored vehicles and other types of weapons to Ukraine. He noted their importance. All these systems make a difference on the battlefield every day, he is convinced.

In addition, Stoltenberg spoke in favor of not only providing new systems, but also ensuring the proper functioning of those already delivered to Ukraine. He applauded the focus on systems, but said that it's not just about adding new systems and platforms, it's about making sure they work, that allies provide the ammunition, spares, training, and maintenance of the systems that Ukraine already has. It is important to be responsive to what new systems Ukraine needs, but also to ensure that the systems that are already there work as they should, he detailed.
Some 1,092 Starlink terminals have been delivered to Ukrainian medical institutions, the Ministry of Health told Interfax-Ukraine, citing deputy minister Maria Karchevych.

"We understand that there are power outages now, and we provide our medical institutions with alternative opportunities. For example, over the past few months, 1,092 Starlink terminals have been delivered to medical institutions so that clinics can connect to the Internet," the ministry said.

Karchevych also said that despite the challenges of wartime, the digitalization of the healthcare system and the introduction of electronic tools continue in Ukraine. In particular, in 2022, more than 10 million prescriptions worth UAH 2.2 billion were issued under the Affordable Medicines program. Also, according to the ministry, more than 1 billion records have been entered into the e-health system, while 35 million Ukrainians have declarations with their family doctor.
The enemy forces mounted 257 shelling attacks and launched five air strikes against the Ukrainian defense positions, as well as 30 military clashes occurred in Bakhmut direction in the past 25 hours, Spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Serhiy Cherevaty has said.

"The situation in Bakhmut remains difficult. In general, the Bakhmut direction of the frontline is one of the main directions for the enemy. In the past 24 hours, it mounted 257 shelling attacks using all types of cannon and rocket artillery, and tanks, as well as launched five air strikes there. Also, there were 30 military clashes," he said on the air of the Channel 24 on Tuesday.

Cherevaty stressed that Soledar is the "hottest" spot on the Bakhmut front as the enemy keeps trying to occupy it by all means.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said that the government intends to develop a Social Code of Ukraine in 2023.

"For 2023, we plan to further adapt social support to military and post-war conditions. There are ambitions to develop and promote the adoption of the Social Code of Ukraine," Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Tuesday.

According to the prime minister, it will include all social components, taking into account the philosophy of targeting and overcoming difficult life circumstances of a person.

"We plan to develop a funded pension in the pension sector. It is very important to give Ukrainians the opportunity to take care of their old age at a young age," he added.
Aircraft of the Ukrainian defense forces launched 14 strikes against the areas of concentration of the enemy personnel, weapons, and military equipment, and four times shelled the enemy air defense systems in the past 24 hours, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) has said.

"The rocket and artillery units of the Ukrainian defense forces inflicted a defeat on two control points, two positions of the enemy rocket and artillery forces, and five areas of concentration of the Russian invaders' manpower and military equipment in the past 24 hours," it said on Facebook.

According to the General Staff, the enemy continues to suffer heavy losses in personnel. The hospitals in temporarily occupied Berdiansk, Zaporizhia region, are over full, therefore, the Russian occupation forces have equipped three more military hospitals over the past week.

The occupiers continue to launch missile and air strikes, mount artillery shelling attacks on the critical infrastructure and housing in the territory of Ukraine in violation of the International Humanitarian Law, as well as the laws and rules of warfare.

In the past 24 hours, the enemy launched two missile strikes and mounted seven attacks from multiple rocket launch systems (MRLS) on the civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Kherson regions. The threat of enemy air and missile attacks on critical infrastructure all over the territory of Ukraine remains.

The enemy also continues to shell the Ukrainian defense positions and civilian facilities along the entire contact line, the General Staff said.
Ukrainian troops are set to begin training on the Patriot missile system in the United States as soon as next week, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter tell CNN.

According to CNN, the training program will take place at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, where the US conducts its own training on operating and maintaining the advanced air defense system.

Fort Sill is one of the Armys four basic training locations and home to the services field artillery school, which has been training service members for more than a century.

The training for the Ukrainians on the complex system is expected to take several months, said Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia.

Im not going to be able to give you a specific timeframe for the completion of the training, Cooper said Friday.
Reznikov discusses additional assistance to Ukrainian army with Minister of Defense of Croatia

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has discussed with Croatian Defense Minister Mario Banozic additional support for the Ukrainian army, including the development of demining projects.

Had a fruitful conversation with Minister of Defense of Croatia Mario Banozic. Discussed potential additional support for the Ukrainian army, including the development of demining projects. Appreciate the Republic of Croatias firm support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, Reznikov said on Twitter.
The Russian occupation forces continue their efforts to seize the town of Soledar in Donetsk region regardless of their losses, Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Maliar has said.

"Heavy battles continue to hold Soledar. The enemy does not take into account the heavy losses of its personnel and actively continues to assault. The approaches to our positions are simply littered with the bodies of dead enemy fighters," she said on the Telegram channel.

The official also said that the Ukrainian defenders bravely hold the fort.
Pentagon announces training course for Ukrainian military to use Patriot air defense system

The Ukrainian military will start studying methods of using Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems in the U.S. state of Oklahoma from next week, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said on Tuesday.

He said that he could confirm that Ukrainian military training on the Patriot air defense system would begin at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, next week.

According to him, 90-100 Ukrainian soldiers will go through the training process, and the training course will last several months.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has had a telephone conversation with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

Had the first phone call with Prime Minister of Ireland Leo Varadkar. Thanked for freezing Russian assets, discussed support for Ukraine's energy system and post-war recovery. Invited to join the implementation of the Peace Formula, Zelensky said on Twitter.
Reznikov discusses with Minister of Defense of Canada upcoming news that will considerably reinforce Ukraines defence capabilities

Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov has discussed with his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand the upcoming news from Canada, which will significantly strengthen the defense capability of Ukraine.

Today had a very productive conversation with my close friend Anita Anand. Discussed very good upcoming news from Canada that will considerably reinforce our defence capabilities. Eagerly awaiting an official announcement. Thank Canada for standing by Ukraine, he said on Twitter.
The Excalibur Army arms company is investing about CZK 650 million (more than EUR 27 million) in the construction of another production workshop and the installation of new technologies at its plant in Sternberk in Olomouc region (the Czech Republic).

According to the website of the Czech Radio on Tuesday, this decision was made in connection with the growing demand for military equipment.

The Excalibur Army, which is part of the Czechoslovak Group (CSG) weapons and engineering holding, recently won a contract to modernize almost 100 T-72 tanks, which is funded by the United States and the Netherlands as part of military assistance to Ukraine. In 2022, this company upgraded T-72 tanks for the Ukrainian army.

"The modernized T-72 tanks have a more powerful engine, new communication systems, digital diagnostics, modern aiming systems, and additional dynamic armor. The company is able to upgrade up to five tanks every month. Last year, Excalibur Army delivered about 100 units of military equipment to Ukraine, including modernized T-72 tanks, artillery systems, rocket launchers and infantry fighting vehicles," the report notes.
KYIV. Jan 10 (Interfax-Ukraine)  The Verkhovna Rada's inter-faction union Free Ichkeria held its first meeting on Tuesday, the chairman of the union, Oleksandr Merezhko, who is a member of the Servant of the People faction, has said.

"The inter-faction union Free Ichkeria held its first meeting today with the participation of representatives of the Servant of the People, European Solidarity, and Holos parties. [Head of the United Force diaspora movement of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria] Dzhambulat Suleimanov was invited for participation and discussion of prospects," Merezhko said at a press conference hosted by the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.

The participants of the meeting discussed Ukraine's assistance in the de-occupation of Ichkeria. According to Merezhko, a preliminary action plan provides for the intensification of work at the level of international institutions.

"We think it is necessary to use PACE as a platform for raising the issue of the de-occupation of Chechnya and the protection of human rights and democracy. We will promote it within PACE, include it in the agenda and use all international opportunities to support you [the United Force moevement]," he said, adding that Ichkeria should gain observer status in PACE in the future.

Ukraine, represented by the Free Ichkeria union, can present such initiatives at the international level since the United Force movement conducts a national liberation struggle, hence it is a subject of international law.

Merezhko also recalled that Ukraine was the first to recognize at the parliamentary level the territory of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria as a state temporarily occupied by Russia, as well as condemned Russia's genocide against the Chechen people, which "is an example for other countries of the world."

"Other European countries may consider that Ichkeria is distant from them. But it is not. When such a serious international crime as genocide is committed, one must remember that this is a crime against all countries and humanity. It is our moral obligation to take this issue to our partners and convince them to make the same decision," he said.

Also, according to Merezhko, the Free Ichkeria union intends to look for associates among the members of European parliaments in order to create similar parliamentary platforms there.

"This would be the first step towards the complete liberation of Ichkeria from Russian occupation," he said.

In turn, Suleimanov thanked the Verkhovna Rada, the members of the Free Ichkeria union, and the president of Ukraine for their political will in recognizing Chechen sovereignty and the Russian genocide against the people of Ichkeria.

"Russian propaganda against the Chechens was the main reason why our young state was stopped on the rise. In connection with the processes in Ukraine, we have hope that we will be able to gain our independence. Thanks to you, we see prospects today, and for almost 20 years the Chechen people lived without any prospects. We have finally acquired allies in this world who can help us. Justice towards the Chechens will triumph exactly thanks to the Ukrainians," he said.

Suleimanov also noted that it is with the assistance of the Free Ichkeria union that the Chechens, represented by the United Force movement, for the first time have the opportunity to make public at the world level the topic of the crimes of Russian occupiers in Chechnya, by analogy with those committed by them in Ukraine, and also to establish communications in the future with the states, first of all, with the countries of Eastern Europe.

As reported, the Free Ichkeria inter-faction union was set up in the Verkhovna Rada on December 14, 2022. Today, the union includes twelve members representing the Servant of the People, European Solidarity, and Holos parties.
A long line of people appears in silhouette, walking along the flat desert in northern Niger. The strong walkers are at the front. The weakest at the rear. Every week hundreds more migrants thrown out of Algeria end up here in Assamaka, the first village on the Niger border.
Syria will reopen its diplomatic mission in Tunisia and appoint an ambassador there, Damascus and Tunis said in a joint statement Wednesday after more than a decade of strained ties.
Thousands of Israelis took to the streets Saturday evening to protest plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government that opponents say threaten democracy and freedoms.

The protesters gathered in the central city of Tel Aviv days after the most right-wing and religiously conservative government in the country's 74-year history was sworn in.

``The settler government is against me,'' read one placard. Another banner read, ``Housing, Livelihood, Hope.'' Some protesters carried rainbow flags.

The protest was led by left-wing and Arab members of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. They contend that proposed plans by the new Cabinet will hinder judicial system and widen societal gaps.

The left-wing protesters slammed Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who on Wednesday unveiled the government's long-promised overhaul of the judicial system that aims to weaken the country's Supreme Court.

Critics accused the government of declaring war on the legal system, saying the plan will upend Israel's system of checks and balances and undermine its democratic institutions by giving absolute power to the new governing coalition.

``We are really afraid that our country is going to lose the democracy and we are going to a dictatorship just for reasons of one person which wants to get rid of his law trial,`` said Danny Simon, 77, a protester from Yavne, south of Tel Aviv. He was referring to Netanyahu, who was indicted on corruption charges in 2021, allegations that he has denied.





Protesters also called for peace and co-existence between Jews and Arab residents of the country.

``We can see right now many laws being advocated for against LGBTQ, against Palestinians, against larger minorities in Israel,'' said Rula Daood of ``Standing Together,'' a grassroots movement of Arabs and Jews. ``We are here to say loud and clear that all of us, Arabs and Jews and different various communities inside of Israel, demand peace, equality and justice.''





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The Palestinian prime minister accused Israel's new ultra-nationalist government of blocking ``even the most non-violent ways of fighting the occupation,'' according to an interview published Monday, after Israel retaliated for the Palestinians' successful effort to enlist UN help.

Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh's comments to Haaretz came amid a flurry of punitive steps by Israel since taking office late last month, most recently banning the Palestinian flag from public spaces. Israel has stripped Palestinian officials of VIP privileges and broken up a meeting of Palestinian parents discussing their children's education.

Late on Sunday, Israel's security minister ordered the police to ban the Palestinian flag, a symbolically fraught move after what one Israeli rights group reported was the deadliest year of the conflict in decades.

``Today I directed the Israel Police to enforce the prohibition of flying any PLO flag that shows identification with a terrorist organization from the public sphere and to stop any incitement against the State of Israel,'' Itamar Ben-Gvir announced on Twitter.

It was the new government's latest retaliation after a Palestinian push for the UN's highest judicial body to give its opinion on Israel's 55-year military occupation of the West Bank.

Ben-Gvir, a far-right firebrand known for his anti-Arab rhetoric, drew widespread international condemnation when he visited Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site last week.

Shtayyeh told Haaretz that the Israeli sanctions were designed to collapse the Palestinian Authority and would have dire consequences.

``We have the right to complain and tell the world we are in pain,'' he said in comments published Monday. ``Israel wants to prevent even the most non-violent way of fighting the occupation.''

Ahmad Aldeek, assistant to the Palestinian foreign minister, said ``The Israeli government is waging an open war on the symbols and components of the State of Palestine.''

``This increases our insistence on pursuing the Israeli government and putting it on trial in all international forums,'' Aldeek said Monday.

Under Israeli law, flying the Palestinian flag is not a crime. An attorney general in 2014 ruled that an ordinance decades earlier granted police the authority to confiscate a flag if it results in disruption of public order or breach of peace, or is done in support of terrorism. Ben-Gvir's order, one group said, falsely implies that any public display of the Palestinian flag is itself such a disruption.

``This gives the police unfettered discretion to ban the waving of the Palestinian flag under all circumstances,'' according to a statement from Adalah, an Arab minority legal rights group.

Ben-Gvir's latest order is not the first battle over flying the Palestinian flag.

The red, green and white Palestinian flag carries great symbolism in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Last May, Israeli riot police beat pallbearers at the funeral for slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, causing them to nearly drop the casket. Police ripped Palestinian flags out of people's hands and fired stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

Israel once considered the Palestinian flag that of a militant group akin to the Palestinian Hamas or the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah. But after Israel and the Palestinians signed a series of interim peace agreements known as the Oslo Accords, the flag was recognized as that of the Palestinian Authority, which was created to administer Gaza and parts of the occupied West Bank. Israel opposes any official business being carried out by the PA in east Jerusalem, and police have in the past broken up events they alleged were linked to the PA.

Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday the measures against the Palestinians were aimed at what he called ``an extreme anti-Israel'' step at the UN

Israel's Palestinian citizens make up 20% of the population and they've had a turbulent relationship with the state since its creation in 1948. That was the year that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced to flee in the events surrounding the establishment of the state of Israel.

Those who remained became citizens, but have long been viewed with suspicion by some Israelis because of their ties to Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future independent state. Netanyahu's new government is dominated by hard-liners who oppose Palestinian statehood.

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Egypt and Somalia signed on Monday a number of MoUs in various fields of cooperation, including higher education, media and cultural and religious cooperation.

Egypts Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and his Somali counterpart, Hamza Abdi Barre, witnessed the signing of the MoUs during an official visit by Barre and a high-level delegation to Cairo.

Egyptian Higher Education Minister Ayman Ashour and his Somali counterpart, Farah Sheikh Abdul-kadir, signed an MoU on the executive programme for higher education cooperation from 2023 to 2026.

The MoU aims to boost cooperation between Egyptian and Somali higher education institutions and universities and to exchange educational delegations, an Egyptian Cabinet statement cited Ashour as saying during the signing ceremony.

According to the programme, Egypt will offer 450 scholarships annually for Somali students, the minister noted. He added that under the MoU the two countries will set up research teams.

Furthermore, Egypt is willing to provide Somalia with experts and doctors to revamp the Somali National University and its medicine faculty.

Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine Al-Kilani and her Somali counterpart, Daud Aweis Jama, signed an MoU on cultural cooperation.

As per the MoU, the two sides will hold exhibitions for fine arts and traditional crafts and festivals and will organise visits for artists in the fields of theater, music, and folklore, Al-Kilani said.

Furthermore, Egypt and Somalia will enhance cinema cooperation by exchanging movies and visits by those who are working in the field of cinema. They will also work on intensifying participation in film festivals.



Somalia will also be welcomed to participate in book fairs held in Egypt every year, Al-Kilani noted. She added that the two sides agreed on holding cultural weeks and translating Somali literary works into Arabic and Arab literary works into Somali.

Somalias Jama also signed two MoUs to promote media cooperation with both the Egyptian National Media Authority and State Information Service (SIS).

Another MoU was signed between Egypt's Ministry of Religious Endowments and the Somali Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs.

The MoU, which will be effective until 2026, primarily aims to enhance cooperation between the ministries in the two countries in the cultural and religious spheres.

As per the MoU, the two sides will exchange invitations to participate in international Holy Quran competitions. The Egyptian side will also provide the Somali side with the publications of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.

The Egyptian ministry will also offer scholarships to a number of Somali students in line with the admission criteria set by Al-Azhar. Somali imams and preachers will also receive training at the International Awqaf Academy (IAA).

Expanded talks

Madbouly and Barre co-chaired a session of talks to discuss means of fostering bilateral cooperation in various fields. The session saw the participation of a number of Egyptian and Somali ministers.

Madbouly emphasized the importance of building on the positive momentum in bilateral relations between Egypt and Somalia.



Egypt closely follows political developments in Somalia, Madbouly said. He expressed the Egyptian States solidarity with Somalia in the challenges it is facing, particularly those involving living conditions in the country, amid the acute drought crisis, and Somalia's efforts to combat terrorism, the Egyptian PM added.

Cooperation to face challenges

Egypts Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry also received his Somali counterpart, Abshir Omar Jama.

Shoukry reiterated Egypt's full solidarity with Somalia in combating terrorism and addressing difficult developmental and humanitarian challenges facing Somalia due to the drought wave in the country.

The meeting stressed the two countries' joint desire to promote bilateral relations and coordinate regarding files of joint interest, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The two ministers also discussed the security situation in Somalia and Horn of Africa region.

Egypt and Somalia have exchanged high-level visits and phone calls since Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office in June last year.

In July, Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received Mohamud in Cairo, during which they agreed to work together to enforce security and stability in the region, especially in the Red Sea.

El-Sisi also affirmed Egypts full support for Somalias efforts in achieving security and stability as well as eliminating terrorism in the country.

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Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement on Tuesday condemned cartoons of Iran's supreme leader published last week by the French weekly Charlie Hebdo, calling on Paris to punish the satirical magazine.

The magazine said the caricatures of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were published in support of protests in Iran sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, after her arrest for an alleged breach of the country's strict dress code for women.

Tehran's close ally Hezbollah called on "the French government to take firm measures to punish the perpetrators of this act, who attacked what is sacred and flouted the dignity of an entire nation".

Khamenei "is not just the leader of a great country -- he is a religious reference for tens of millions of followers", the Shia movement said in a statement.

Following the publication of the cartoons on Wednesday, Iran summoned the French ambassador to Tehran and closed a research institute affiliated with France's foreign ministry.

In Tehran on Sunday, dozens of Iranians -- most of them religious seminary students -- protested against the publication in front of France's embassy and burned French flags.

Charlie Hebdo, seen by supporters as a champion of freedom of speech and by critics as needlessly provocative, has a style that is controversial even within France.

It has repeatedly caused diplomatic problems abroad for the French government, which has no links with the magazine but faces domestic pressure to defend its right to free speech in an officially secular country.

In 2015 Charlie Hebdo's Paris offices were attacked by gunmen who killed 12 people, following the publication of caricatures depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

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Egypts Public Prosecution has ordered the detainment of three people pending investigation for attempting to loot a 10-ton colossus depicting pharaonic era king Ramses II after they sneaked into the southern quarry area in Upper Egypt governorate of Aswan to illegally excavate for antiquities.

The trio were caught red-handed two days earlier by the provincial security forces while trying to lift the heavy statue and excavate other artefacts in the district, the prosecution said in an official statement on Tuesday.

Manual digging tools, heavy equipment and a forklift were found in their possession.

Following examination of the site, the prosecution found traces of drilling on the three metres high and one metre wide pharaonic statue.

Basins from the Greco-Roman era were also located there, according to the prosecution.

The quarry area, amounting to over 34 acres, is subject to the countrys Antiquities Protection Law.

The statement added that video footage sent via social media apps were found on the defendants mobile phones showing statues suspected to be archaeological, and other clips of excavation work.

The prosecution also ordered the speedy investigation of others involved in the crime.

According to the Egyptian penal code, crimes related to illegal excavation of antiquities are punishable by harsh prison sentences that amount to life imprisonment (25 years in prison) and by hefty fines.

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Egypt has hailed the launch of the second and final phase of the Sudanese political process on Sunday as an important and positive development.

In a statement on Monday, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs voiced its confidence that the Sudanese parties would reach a final and comprehensive political deal to end the transitional period and achieve the Sudanese people's aspirations.

The ministry called on all regional and international parties to resume their development and economic aid to Sudan to enable the country to tackle its challenges.

This would reflect positively on the standard of living of the Sudanese people and contribute to achieving comprehensive political consensus in the country, the ministry added.

The tripartite mechanism of the African Union, the United Nations and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) announced on Sunday the launch of the final phase of the political process in Sudan to reach a final deal on the two-year transitional period.

The final phase has been launched by the military components and the various civilian political forces that signed the political framework deal last month with the aim of setting up a transitional civilian authority until elections are held.

The political process seeks to end a political impasse in the country that has lasted since the October 2021 military takeover.

Issues that will be discussed during the final stage of the political process include transitional justice and security and military reform, according to Sudans official news agency SUNA.

Egypt has voiced its full support for Sudans political framework deal, praising it as an important and pivotal step to lay down the principles for the structure of governance in Sudan.

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Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism (AOCE) said that the impact of the war between Russia and Ukraine, climate change and food security are all contributing to producing a new generation of terrorists in Africa.

According to the African languages monitor unit at the AOCE, terrorist organisations have used the war between Russia and Ukraine, climate change, and the food crisis in Africa to attract and recruit a new generation of African youth. Adverse living conditions and the impact of current events force these youth to resort to violence as a way to improve their status and realise their aspirations, said the observatory in a report published last week.

Furthermore, since it broke out in February 2022, the war in Ukraine has had an adverse impact on efforts to combat extremist and terrorist organisations.

Russia has been steadily providing extensive military and intelligence support to African countries and has signed several military cooperation agreements with countries like Central African Republic, Mali and Burkina Faso to counter these groups. Nevertheless, the conflict with Ukraine led Russia to withdraw more of its services and special military forces from Africa  from places such as the Central African Republic and Mali  to participate alongside Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, said the AOCE.

The AOCE added that the war had also lead to the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces participating in United Nations peacekeeping missions. These forces were sent back to Ukraine to fight alongside forces confronting Russia. The recent withdrawal of both Russian and Ukrainian forces operating in some African countries has created a security vacuum that may last longer if the war continues.

The observatory also indicated that there was a clear decline in counter-terrorism efforts, especially after the withdrawal of French forces from Mali in August 2022

"The unwillingness of some armies to confront terrorist organisations on their own means greater control of these organisations. These groups penetrate societies in ways that negatively affect the security and stability of those countries, making them liable to political turmoil," said the observatory. It also warned that these factors stimulate the expansion of terrorism and the resurgence of all types of organised crime.

Al-Azhar unit assigned to combat and monitor terrorism and radical beliefs also stated that climate change was another strategic security challenge that increases the likelihood of terrorist acts in countries that face security challenges and that are unstable both politically and economically. These countries are prone to what may be called "climate terrorism".

"Food insecurity due to climate-related disasters  such as floods, hurricanes, drought, desertification and rising temperatures  allow armed organisations to increase their ranks and attract new recruits from the miserable generation severely affected by the environmental degradation and the harsh climatic conditions. These conditions increase migration and displacement, making these populations vulnerable to recruitment and polarisation by crisis exploitation groups," Al-Azhar said. As examples, Al-Azhar cited both Boko Haram in Nigeria and Al-Shabab in Somalia.

Al-Azhar Observatory explained that these terrorist organisations have recently adopted a policy whereby they place vulnerable populations under siege and starve them until they are compelled to leave their homes. They are then given the choice of either begging for food or joining the ranks of these groups to obtain food.

The AOCE recommends adopting initiatives to limit the impacts of climate change, such as the Green belt initiative that aims to increase the amount of arable land in the Sahel, the region bordering Africa's Sahara Desert, among solutions to limit the danger of those challenges facing Africa.

The observatory calls for collective movement, through economic councils and relief conveys, to provide sufficient food cover for the besieged and afflicted areas in Africa.

It also calls for necessary funding for peacekeeping missions across the continent to combat terrorist organisations, and their growing influence, and to foil their attempts to recruit more members.

Al-Azhar, the worlds oldest institution of Sunni Islamic, created its Observatory in 2015, to respond to erroneous and extremist interpretations of Islam.

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Iran has sentenced a Belgian aid worker to a lengthy prison term and 74 lashes after convicting him of espionage charges in a closed-door trial, state media reported Tuesday.

The website of Iran's judiciary said a Revolutionary Court sentenced 41-year-old Olivier Vandecasteele to 12.5 years in prison for espionage, 12.5 years for collaboration with hostile governments, and 12.5 years for money laundering.

He was also fined $1 million and sentenced to 2.5 years for currency smuggling.

Under Iranian law, Vandecasteele would be eligible for release after 12.5 years. The judiciary website said the verdicts can be appealed.

Iran has detained a number of foreigners and dual nationals over the years, accusing them of espionage or other state security offenses and sentencing them after secretive trials in which rights groups say they are denied due process.

Critics accuse Iran of using such prisoners as bargaining chips with the West, something Iranian officials deny.

Iran has not released any details about the charges against Vandecasteele. It is unclear if they are related to anti-government protests that have convulsed Iran for months or a long-running shadow war with Israel and the US marked by covert attacks on Iran's disputed nuclear program.

The nationwide protests began after the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code.

Rallying under the slogan "Women, life, freedom,'' the protesters say they are fed up with decades of social and political repression. Iran has blamed the protests on foreign powers, without providing evidence.

Vandecasteele's family said last month that he has been detained in an Iranian prison for months and has been on a hunger strike.

They said he was deprived of access to a lawyer of his choice and is suffering from serious health problems.

Belgium has urged its nationals to leave Iran, warning that they face the risk of arbitrary arrest or an unfair trial. There was no immediate comment on the verdict.

The protests, which have continued for nearly four months with no sign of ending, mark one of the biggest challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution that brought it to power.

At least 520 protesters have been killed and more than 19,300 people have been arrested since the demonstrations began, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has been monitoring the unrest.

Iranian authorities have not provided official figures on deaths or arrests.

Iran has executed four people after convicting them of charges linked to the protests, including attacks on security forces. They were also convicted in Revolutionary Courts, which do not allow those on trial to pick their own lawyers or see the evidence against them.

London-based Amnesty International has said such trials bear "no resemblance to a meaningful judicial proceeding."

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Israel participated in one of its "largest" meetings with Arab countries in decades during a forum held in the United Arab Emirates, a US official said Tuesday.

Around 150 representatives from Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, the UAE and the United States discussed boosting security cooperation through information sharing as part of the so-called Negev Forum, a gathering born out of recent normalisation deals between Arab states and Israel.

The US State Department's Derek Chollet described the two-day discussion that kicked off Monday in Abu Dhabi as "the largest meeting between Israel and its regional partners" since a 1991 Madrid peace conference.

"We discussed broadly issues related to capacity building, related to information sharing, in an effort to augment the already very important work that is happening between our militaries in the region," Chollet told a briefing.

He said the meeting also tackled food security and education, adding that participants "sought to develop clear, concrete and pragmatic steps that will bolster integration and... augment security".

Bahrain, the UAE and Morocco normalised ties with Israel in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords, while Egypt made peace with Israel in 1979.

In March last year, top diplomats from the four Arab countries met for the first time in Israel in the Negev desert, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also in attendance.

That meeting led to the current Negev Forum, which focuses on expanding cooperation across areas including security, energy, education and tourism.

The Abu Dhabi gathering follows a visit last week to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound by Israel's new right-wing national security minister, firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The visit angered Palestinians and sparked international condemnation, including from the United States, while the United Nations Security Council discussed the move on Thursday at the request of the UAE and China.

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Pope Francis on Monday broke his silence on the nationwide protests convulsing Iran, denouncing the recourse to the death penalty there and seemingly legitimizing the rallies as demonstrations "demanding greater respect for the dignity of women.''

Francis made the comments in an annual speech to ambassadors accredited to the Vatican, a foreign policy speech the pope delivers at the start of each year outlining the areas of greatest concern for the Holy See.

In his remarks, Francis linked the Vatican's opposition to abortion to its opposition to the death penalty, saying both are a violation of the fundamental right to life. Francis has changed church teaching on the death penalty, ruling it is "inadmissible'' in all circumstances.

"The right to life is also threatened in those places where the death penalty continues to be imposed, as is the case in these days in Iran, following the recent demonstrations demanding greater respect for the dignity of women,'' Francis said. "The death penalty cannot be employed for a purported state justice, since it does not constitute a deterrent nor render justice to victims, but only fuels the thirst for vengeance.''

His comments marked his first public remarks about the protests that erupted in Iran in mid-September over the death of Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old woman died after being arrested by Iran's morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic's strict dress code. Women have played a leading role in the protests, with many publicly removing the compulsory Islamic headscarf, known as the hijab.

At least four people have been executed since the demonstrations began, following internationally criticized, rapid, closed-door trials.

At least 519 people have been killed in the monthslong demonstrations, with more than 19,200 others arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that's been monitoring the protests since they began. It's become one of the greatest challenges to Iran's Shiite theocracy since its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Francis has been cautious to not call out Iran's government, given his attempts to foster dialogue with the Muslim world. Francis has forged a strong relationship with the imam of the Al-Azhar in Cairo, the seat of Sunni learning. But his attempts to forge dialogue with the Shiite world have been more circumspect, though he held a landmark meeting in 2021 with the top Shiite cleric in Iraq, the Iranian-born Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

There was no immediate reaction to Francis' remarks, though Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Monday called for a "stern'' reaction to the ongoing demonstrations. He said those who set fire to public places had committed "treason with no doubt'' _ a crime that carries the death penalty in the Islamic Republic. He also repeated an allegation that foreign powers had fomented the unrest, without providing evidence to support the claim.

The remarks by Khamenei could embolden authorities to continue the harsh punishment of detainees.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, asked for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' reaction to the death sentences and executions in Iran, told reporters Monday: "We cannot condemn enough the use of the death penalty.''

"Every time the secretary-general has spoken to an Iranian official, he has expressed his concern about the overall situation regarding the demonstrations that we have seen, among others,'' Dujarric said.

Pope Francis referred to the Iran protests in lamenting overall that women in many parts of the world are treated as "second-class citizens.''

"They are subjected to violence and abuse, and are denied the opportunity to study, work, employ their talents, and have access to health care and even to food,'' he said. While Francis has appointed women to many high-ranking jobs in the Vatican, some women say they too are treated as second-class citizens in the Catholic Church since they can't be ordained priests.

Francis also referred to Iran in his remarks lamenting the continued threat posed by nuclear weapons in Russia's war in Ukraine, but also in the breakdown of talks over Iran's atomic program. Francis has changed church teaching to declare that not only the use of nuclear weapons, but the mere possession of them is immoral.

He said the stall in Iran talks was a point of "particular concern.''

Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, though it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels and has drastically limited international oversight of its atomic activities in recent years since the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers.

In his remarks, Francis listed conflicts, natural disasters and migration crises afflicting the planet, but also the threats to democracy _ particularly in the Americas.

Making a last-minute change to his speech, he added in the "events in recent hours in Brazil,'' a reference to the thousands of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro's supporters who stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace then trashed the nation's highest seats of power.

"In many areas, a sign of the weakening of democracy is heightened political and social polarization, which does not help to resolve the urgent problems of citizens,'' he said. "I think of the various countries of the Americas where political crises are laden with tensions and forms of violence that exacerbate social conflicts.''

In addition to Brazil, he cited Peru and Haiti, in saying that "there is a constant need to overcome partisan ways of thinking and to work for the promotion of the common good.''

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The latest in a relentless string of storms slammed California on Monday, swamping roads, battering coastlines with high surf, turning rivers into gushing flood zones and forcing the evacuation of thousands in towns with histories of deadly mudslides.

The National Weather Service said rain was expected to continue through Tuesday after dumping up to 14 inches (35.5 centimeters) at higher elevations in central and Southern California. After a brief respite, another storm was expected to barrel into the state in a few days, adding to the misery and further saturating areas already at threat of flooding and debris flows.

The storms left a legacy of chaotic roads, threatened coastal and riverside towns and left tens of thousands without power. The weather service issued a flood watch through Tuesday for the entire San Francisco Bay Area, along with Sacramento Valley and Monterey Bay. Areas hit by wildfires in recent years faced the possibility of mud and debris slewing off denuded hillsides that have yet to fully recover their protective layer of vegetation.

"Additional heavy rains on Tuesday will exacerbate ongoing flooding and continue the risk of flash flooding and mudslides, especially across recent burn scar regions,'' the weather service said.

Forecasters also warned southwestern California could see 60-mph (97-kph) wind gusts at the peak of the storm, while some areas could receive rainfall of a half-inch (12.7 millimeters) per hour.

The death toll from the relentless string of storms that began last week climbed from 12 to 14 on Monday, after two people including a homeless person were killed by falling trees, state officials said.

California state highway authorities said late Monday night that parts of U.S. and state highways were closed because of flooding, mud or rockslides, heavy snow or car spinouts and truck crashes. The closures included northbound lanes of U.S. 101, a key coastal route, and sections of U.S. 6 and State Route 168.

Evacuation orders were issued in Santa Cruz County for about 32,000 residents living near rain-swollen rivers and creeks. The San Lorenzo River was declared at flood stage and drone footage showed numerous homes sitting in muddy brown water, the top halves of autos peeking out.

A 5-year-old boy vanished in floodwaters Monday on the central coast. The boy's mother was driving a truck when it became stranded in floodwaters near Paso Robles. Bystanders managed to pull her free but the boy was swept out of the truck and carried away, probably into a river, said Tom Swanson, assistant chief of the Cal Fire/San Luis Obispo County Fire Department.

A roughly seven-hour search for the missing boy turned up only his shoe before officials called it off as water levels were too dangerous for divers, officials said. The boy had not been declared dead, said spokesperson Tony Cipolla of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office.

About 130 miles (209 kilometers) to the south, about 10,000 people were ordered to evacuate in Santa Barbara County.

The entire seaside community of Montecito _ home to Prince Harry, Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities _ was ordered to flee on the fifth anniversary of a mudslide that killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes in the coastal enclave.

County officials ordered 20 homes evacuated in the area of Orcutt after flooding and a sinkhole damaged up to 15 homes.

Jamie McLeod's property was under the Montecito evacuation order, but she said there was no way for her to "get off the mountain'' with a rushing creek on one side and a mudslide on the other. The 60-year-old owner of the Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary said one of her employees came to make a weekly food delivery and also became stuck.

McLeod said she feels fortunate because her home sits on high ground and the power is still on. But she tires of the frequent evacuation orders since the massive wildfire followed by the deadly landslide five years ago.

"It is not easy to relocate,'' McLeod said. "I totally love it, except in catastrophe.''

Ellen DeGeneres shared an Instagram video of herself standing in front of a raging creek near the Montecito home where she lives with her wife, actor Portia de Rossi. She said in the post that they were told to shelter in place because they are on high ground.

"This is crazy,'' the talk show host, wearing a hoodie and raincoat, says in the video.

Some miles down the coast another town, La Conchita in Ventura County, was ordered evacuated. A mudslide killed 10 people there in 2005.

In Ventura County, the Ventura River reached its highest level on record at more than 25 feet (7.6 meters). Firefighters using helicopters rescued more than a dozen people trapped on an island in the surging waters.

The storm also washed 3 feet (1 meter) of mud and rock onto State Highway 126, stranding a long line cars and big-rig trucks. Crews worked into the night to pull them free.

In Los Angeles, a sinkhole swallowed two cars in the Chatsworth area on Monday night. Two people escaped by themselves and firefighters rescued two others who had minor injuries, authorities said.

Tens of thousands of people were without power, including some 17,000 late Monday night in the Sacramento area. The number of customers without service was down from more than 350,000 a day earlier after 60-mph gusts knocked majestic trees into power lines, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District said.

The National Weather Service warned of a "relentless parade of atmospheric rivers'' _ long plumes of moisture stretching out into the Pacific that can drop staggering amounts of rain and snow. The precipitation expected over the next couple of days comes after storms last week knocked out power, flooded streets, and battered the coastline.

President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration Monday to support storm response and relief efforts in more than a dozen counties.

Much of California remains in severe to extreme drought, though the storms have helped fill depleted reservoirs.

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President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are meeting for a series of talks on migration, trade and climate change on Tuesday as the three leaders try to mend tensions that have divided the continent.

The three-way gathering is held most years, although there was a hiatus while Donald Trump was U.S. president. It's often called the "three amigos summit,'' a reference to the deep diplomatic and economic ties between the countries.

However, the leaders still found themselves at odds, especially as they struggle to handle an influx of migrants and to crack down on smugglers who profit from persuading people to make the dangerous trip to the United States.

In addition, Canada and the U.S. accuse Lopez Obrador of violating a free trade pact by favoring Mexico's state-owed utility over power plants built by foreign and private investors. Meanwhile, Trudeau and Lopez Obrador are concerned about Biden's efforts to boost domestic manufacturing, creating concerns that U.S. neighbors could be left behind.

The centerpiece of the summit will be hours of talks with all three leaders, but Biden will start Tuesday with a bilateral meeting with Trudeau. It's unlikely to be as contentious as his sit-down with Lopez Obrador on Monday.

During that meeting, the Mexican leader challenged Biden to improve life across the region, telling him that "you hold the key in your hand.''

"This is the moment for us to determine to do away with this abandonment, this disdain, and this forgetfulness for Latin America and the Caribbean,'' Lopez Obrador said.

Biden responded by pointing to the billions of dollars that the United States spends in foreign aid around the world, saying that "unfortunately our responsibility just doesn't end in the Western Hemisphere.''

It was a noticeably sharp exchange after the two leaders had smiled and embraced and shaken hands for the cameras.

Biden and Lopez Obrador haven't been on particularly good terms for the past two years. The Mexican leader made no secret of his admiration for Trump, and last year he skipped a Los Angeles summit of the Americas because Biden didn't invite the authoritarian regimes of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

However, there have been attempts to thaw the relationship. Biden made a point of flying into the new Felipe Angeles International Airport, a prized project of the Mexican president even though it's been a source of controversy.

The airport, which is expected to cost $4.1 billion when finished, is more than an hour's drive north of the city center, has few flights and until recently lacked consistent drinking water. However, it's one of the keystone projects that Lopez Obrador is racing to finish before his term ends next year.

The U.S. and Mexico have also reached an agreement on a major shift in migration policy, which Biden announced last week.

Under the plan, the U.S. will send 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela back across the border from among those who entered the U.S. illegally. Migrants who arrive from those four countries are not easily returned to their home countries for a variety of reasons.

In addition, 30,000 people per month from those four nations who get sponsors, background checks and an airline flight to the U.S. will get the ability to work legally in the country for two years.

On Monday, before the summit began, Lopez Obrador said he would consider accepting more migrants than previously announced.

"We don't want to anticipate things, but this is part of what we are going to talk about at the summit,'' Lopez Obrador said. "We support this type of measures, to give people options, alternatives,'' he said, adding that "the numbers may be increased.''

Mexico would likely require an increase in those receiving work authorization in the U.S. in order to receive more migrants who are being expelled.

Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, cautioned that nothing was decided yet.

"What we need is to see how the program announced last week works in practice, what if any adjustments need to be made to that program and then we can talk about taking the next steps,'' he said.

The number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has risen dramatically during Biden's first two years in office. There were more than 2.38 million stops during the year that ended Sept. 30, the first time the number topped 2 million.

Biden is expected to follow up his first trip to Mexico as president with another to Canada, although it has not yet been scheduled.

A senior Canadian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said Canada is working with Americans on a visit in the near future.

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American President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday pledged to promote prosperity for people throughout the hemisphere as they opened wide-ranging talks about the fragile security situation in Haiti, North American trade, political unrest in Brazil and more on the sidelines of the North American Leaders Summit.

Biden and Trudeau met one-on-one before a three-way meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the Mexico City summit.

The US and Canadian leaders' warmth during a brief appearance before reporters at the start of their talks stood in stark contrast to a more brusque exchange a day earlier between Biden and Lopez Obrador, who had complained of "abandonment'' and "disdain'' for Latin America.

Biden told Trudeau, "What we should be doing, and we are doing, is demonstrating the unlimited economic potential that we have when we work together in the hemisphere, and to help the entire hemisphere.''

All three world leaders were to discuss migration, trade and climate change as they look to mend tensions that have divided the continent.

The three-way gathering is held most years, although there was a hiatus while Donald Trump was US president. It's often called the ``three amigos summit,'' a reference to the deep diplomatic and economic ties among the countries.

However, the leaders have found themselves at odds, especially as they struggle to handle an influx of migrants and to crack down on smugglers who profit from persuading people to make the dangerous trip to the United States.

In addition, Canada and the US accuse Lopez Obrador of violating a free trade pact by favoring Mexico's state-owned utility over power plants built by foreign and private investors.

Meanwhile, Trudeau and Lopez Obrador are concerned about Biden's efforts to boost domestic manufacturing, creating concerns that US neighbors could be left behind.

The key takeaways from the summit revolve around better connections among the three nations and a shared goal of a stronger North America on energy and in particular semiconductors, climate and a pledge to cut methane emissions, an agreement to manage large waves of migrants coming to the region and a more cohesive regional strategy on dealing with future pandemic-related health threats.

The dynamics as the Biden-Trudeau talks opened could not have been more different than for the Biden-Lopez Obrador talks.

During that meeting, the Mexican leader challenged Biden to improve life across the region, telling him that "you hold the key in your hand.''

"This is the moment for us to determine to do away with this abandonment, this disdain, and this forgetfulness for Latin America and the Caribbean,'' Lopez Obrador said.

Biden responded by pointing to the billions of dollars that the United States spends in foreign aid around the world.

At the start of Tuesday's Biden-Trudeau meeting, the leaders spoke familiarly and with optimism. Trudeau called the US president "Joe" and Biden joked with Trudeau, after the Canadian leader had delivered a statement to reporters in English and French, that he should have paid more attention in his college French classes.

The White House said in a statement that the leaders discussed the war in Ukraine and ``the generational opportunity to strengthen supply chains for critical minerals, electric vehicles, and semiconductors and to unleash the full economic potential of our shared continent.'' The US administration also announced that Biden will make his first visit to Canada as president in March.

"There's a lot of reasons to be optimistic, especially for those of us in our countries,'' Trudeau said. "But it's going to take a lot of work, something neither you or I or most our citizens have ever been afraid of.''

Biden told his counterpart: "Together, I think we're achieving some really significant things. You've always been there whenever I've called.''

Biden and Lopez Obrador haven't been on particularly good terms for the past two years. The Mexican leader made no secret of his admiration for Trump, and last year he skipped a Los Angeles summit of the Americas because Biden didn't invite the authoritarian leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

However, there have been attempts at a thaw. Biden made a point of flying into the new Felipe Angeles International Airport, a prized project of the Mexican president even though it's been a source of controversy.

The airport, which is expected to cost $4.1 billion when finished, is more than an hour's drive north of the city center, has few flights and until recently lacked consistent drinking water.

However, it's one of the keystone projects that Lopez Obrador is racing to finish before his term ends next year. The US president is scheduled to depart from Mexico City International Airport on Tuesday evening.

The US and Mexico have also reached an agreement on a major shift in migration policy, which Biden announced last week.

Under the plan, the US will send 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela back across the border from among those who entered the US illegally.

Migrants who arrive from those four countries are not easily returned to their home countries for a variety of reasons.

In addition, 30,000 people per month from those four nations who get sponsors, background checks and an airline flight to the US will be able to work legally in the country for two years.

The number of migrants crossing the US-Mexico border has risen dramatically during Biden's first two years in office. There were more than 2.38 million stops during the year that ended Sept. 30, the first time the number topped 2 million.

Biden said he and Trudeau would discuss "how we can try to help stabilize Haiti."

Canada is weighing whether to lead an international mission to Haiti to help solve the ongoing humanitarian and security crisis.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the country's Council of Ministers sent an urgent appeal Oct. 7 calling for "the immediate deployment of a specialized armed force, in sufficient quantity'' to stop the crisis caused partly by the "criminal actions of armed gangs.'' But more than three months later, no countries have stepped forward.

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The Biden administration is under growing pressure from leftists in Latin America as well as US lawmakers to expel Jair Bolsonaro from a post-presidential retreat in Florida following his supporters' brazen attack on Brazil's capital over the weekend.

But the far-right ex-president may pre-empt any plans for such a stinging rebuke. On Tuesday, he told a Brazilian media outlet that he would push up his return home, originally scheduled for late January, after being hospitalized with abdominal pains stemming from a 2018 stabbing.

I came to spend some time away with my family but these werent calm days, Bolsonaro told CNNs Portuguese-language affiliate in Brazil. First, there was this sad episode in Brazil and then my hospitalization.

Bolsonaro arrived in Florida in late December, skipping the Jan. 1 swearing-in of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who became the first elected Brazilian president not to receive the presidential sash from his predecessor since democracy was restored in the 1980s.

Bolsonaro is reportedly staying at the Orlando-area home of Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter Jose Aldo, a fervent supporter.

His visit to the Sunshine state went largely unnoticed in the US until Sunday's attack by thousands of die-hard supporters who had been camping for weeks outside a military base in Brasilia, refusing to accept Bolsonaro's narrow defeat in an October runoff.

Their invasion of Brazils congress and presidential palace left behind shattered glass, smashed computers and slashed artwork.

Almost from the moment the images of destruction were broadcast to the world, Democrats voiced concern about Bolsonaros continued presence on US soil, drawing parallels between the rampage in Brazil and the Jan. 6, 2020, insurrection by allies of Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol to try to overturn the US presidential election results.

Among those calling for President Joe Biden to give Bolsonaro the boot was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Nearly two years to the day the US Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad attempt to do the same in Brazil, the New York City lawmaker said. The US must cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida.

It should be a no brainer for the White House, experts say.

Biden has never had a close relationship with Bolsonaro, who made common cause with Trump's top allies on the far right. And any action to expel him is likely to play well in Latin America, where Biden is courting a crop of new leftist leaders who have risen to power in places like Chile and Colombia expressing similar concerns about threats to democracy.

Its one thing to make statements about support for democracy, said John Feeley, a longtime US diplomat in Latin America who resigned as ambassador to Panama in 2018 over differences with the Trump administration.

Its another to actually take action in your own home, where you have sovereign control, with someone who is clearly in league with the same folks who brought you Jan. 6, Feeley said.

But so far the Biden administration has proceeded cautiously.

On Monday, State Department spokesman Ned Price, while sidestepping questions about Bolsonaro's presence, said anyone entering the US on a so-called A-1 visa reserved for sitting heads of state would have 30 days to either leave the country or adjust their status with the Department of Homeland Security at the conclusion of their term of office.

Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, was similarly circumspect, saying only that any request from Brazils government related to Bolsonaro would be evaluated, taking into consideration legal precedent.

Typically, the US is reluctant to discuss visa issues out of privacy concerns.

Feeley said the longer the Biden administration waits the weaker its support for democracy will be perceived in the region.

One place Bolsonaro apparently isn't going is Italy. The former president is the descendant of 19th-century immigrants from northern Italy and Brazilian media had speculated for months that he and his children would seek Italian citizenship out of fear he could be prosecuted in Brazil for corruption or his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.

But Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told state radio on Tuesday that Bolsonaro has never requested citizenship, despite being bestowed honorary citizenship in 2021 by the small town where his great-grandfather was born.

There are laws that address who gets citizenship, Tajani said, emphasizing his far-right-led governments strong condemnation of the raid on Brazilian government institutions by Bolsonaro supporters. "It is not a political, discretionary choice.

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ExxonMobil, a US multinational oil and gas corporation, announced on Tuesday that it has obtained exploration rights to two offshore blocks in Egypt's outer Nile Delta, further strengthening its exploration portfolio in Egypt and the East Mediterranean.

The two offshore blocks  which are named Masry and Cairo  stretch over an area of 11,000 square kilometres, according to a statement by the US oil and gas company.

Exploration is expected to begin in 2023 after the government grants its final approval.

"The addition of these blocks will further strengthen ExxonMobils exploration portfolio in Egypt and the East Mediterranean," the statement quoted ExxonMobil Vice President of Global Exploration John Ardill as saying.

"We look forward to working with the government to explore this frontier area, utilising ExxonMobils proven expertise and advanced technology," he added.

The offshore blocks will be run and supervised by the upstream subsidiary ExxonMobil Egypt Limited, with 100 percent interest, said the statement.

"Building on our successful business and strong partnership in Egypts growth, ExxonMobil looks forward to continue to play a key role in the development of Egypts resources," said Chairman & Managing Director for ExxonMobil Egypt Amr Abou Eita.

"We value our collaboration with the Egyptian government and are excited about these new exploration opportunities," he said.

In December, as part of a strategy to intensify exploration activities in the Mediterranean and increase production of natural gas, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral resources Tarek El-Molla announced plans to hold a fresh international tender for natural gas and crude oil exploration in 12 new blocks in the Mediterranean and Nile Delta regions.

It was the third tender to be put forward through Egypts digital portal for exploration and production that was launched early 2021, El-Molla explained at the time.

In the period between FY2013/14 to FY2021/22, Egypt signed 108 agreements with international companies for the excavation of gas and petrol with a minimum investment value of $22 billion. This led to an increase in production to 69.2 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2021/22 compared to 41.6 bcm in 2015/16, a growth rate of 66.3 percent.

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Khetat Cupid (Cupid's Plans), a musical comedy that mocks the problems of married life, has reopened the Yusuf Idris Hall of El-Salam Theatre in Cairo after it has been closed for 11 years for renovations.

The story of the play follows Cupid, who leaves Olympus and passes by Cairo. Unlike the myth, here, Cupid does not present himself as the angel of love but rather as a mature man who no longer shoots his magic arrows. He is now a radio host renowned for solving problems couples encounter in their love life.

Following the text by Abdallah El-Shaer, who created a Greco-Roman mythological mix and match, the Roman god Cupid is married to the Greek goddess Hera. Their daughter, the Greek moon goddess Selene who, is in love with her cousin Helios (in Greek mythology, Helios was Selenes brother). Using those characters, Cupids Plans is set in 2022, within the typical Egyptian realities.

The play is the first production performed at the newly reopened Yusuf Idris hall, which had been closed for 11 years for restorations.

Director Ahmed Fouad presents himself as a son of the modern theatre troupe, commonly known as the El-Salam Theatre troupe. I was asked to do a show for the reopening of the hall, and I chose the theme of love. I wanted to present Cupid far from the cliches associated with him as the god of love. This is what led to the creation of a social comedy.

During the play, Cupid confesses to the audience that he has problems in his marital life. Also unhappy with the romantic relationship between his daughter Selene and her cousin Helios, Cupid decides to put their love to the test. He keeps listing failed love stories to them and tells them about many family constraints. Cupid believes that this way, he can fight against the love of his daughter, and change the young lovers mind regarding their possible marriage.

The musical play includes old love songs by Laila Mourad, which helps to create a very romantic atmosphere in the old Cairo house where the events take place. There are also songs by Mohamad Fawzi, interpreted by the beautiful voice of Selene (Omneya Hassan), dealing with her father, Cupid (Abdel-Moneim Riyad) who shifts from being an angel to demon.

Selene and Helios work through the problems, many of which are set by Cupid himself, with the lively musical comedy concluding in a happy ending.

Yusuf Idris hall

The Yusuf Idris hall of El-Salam Theatre has its own unique history. Idris, the renowned Egyptian novelist and playwright, influenced authors and theatre makers in the 1960s with his avant-garde, sometimes even absurd subjects, which criticised socio-political life. Among his known works that include novels, short stories and plays are Farahat's Republic & A Love story (1954), The Critical Moment (1957), The Farfours (1964), Earthly Comedy (1966), The Stripped Ones (1969), The Third Sex (1970) and The Harlequin (1983).

The Yusuf Idris hall opened its doors in 1992, hosting the play El-Qafas (The Cage) by Sobhy Youssef, presenting the innovative approach to theatre, followed by a number of works hosted by the hall.

Among the significant plays that marked the hall was staging of Catherine Hayes Skirmishes as translated from English, adapted and directed by Hanaa Abdel Fattah in 1998. The play featured Magda El-Khatib and Safaa El-Toukhi.

The last show presented in the hall before its closure was Beit Al-Nafady (Nafady's House) in 2011, directed by Karim Maghawry.

The restorations of the hall included refurbishing the backstage and providing new sound and light equipment.

The play is staged everyday except Mondays and Tuesdays, at 7pm, at El-Salam Theatre, Yusuf Idris hall, El-Salam Theatre at Kasr El-Aini Street, Cairo.

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Stronger ties with Somalia

WORKING to build on the positive momentum in bilateral relations between Egypt and Somalia, the two countries this week signed several memoranda of understanding (MoU) boosting cooperation in the higher education, media and cultural sectors.

The signing was witnessed by Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli and his Somali counterpart Hamza Abdi Barre during an official visit to Cairo by a high-level Somali delegation.

The MoU on the executive programme for higher education cooperation 2023-26 aims to enhance collaboration between institutes of higher education and universities and promote the exchange of delegations.

An MoU on cultural cooperation allows exhibitions and festivals of fine art and traditional crafts and promotes exchange visits for artists in the fields of theatre, music, and folklore.

Madbouli and Barre co-chaired a session of talks, attended by Egyptian and Somali ministers, to discuss ways to foster bilateral cooperation.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri reiterated during his meeting with his Somali counterpart Abshir Omar Jama that Egypt fully supported Somalia in its battles to combat terrorism and address the developmental and humanitarian challenges it faces as a result of drought.

The two top diplomats also discussed the security situation in Somalia and the Horn of Africa.

This weeks visit follows a series of high-level meetings and phone calls since Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office in May last year.

In July, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi met Mohamud in Cairo and the two leaders agreed to cooperate to boost security and stability in the Red Sea region.

Positive developments

EGYPT views the launch of the second and final phase of the Sudanese political process as an important and positive development according to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Monday.

The statement expressed confidence in the ability of the Sudanese parties to reach a comprehensive deal to end the transitional phase and achieve the aspirations of the Sudanese people and called on regional and international parties to resume development and economic aid to Sudan and support Khartoum as it deals with ongoing political and development challenges.

A political framework deal was signed by the military and civilian political forces last month. It aims to establish a transitional civilian authority until elections are held.

Calls for investigations

THE KUWAITI Foreign Ministry has called on the Egyptian authorities to investigate what it described as an assault on a group of Kuwaiti nationals by Egyptian police at a mall in Alexandria on Saturday.

According to a statement, Kuwaits Deputy Foreign Minister Mansour Al-Otaibi conveyed to Egypts ambassador in Kuwait his countrys dismay over the incident.

Al-Otaibi called on Egypt to hold the perpetrators accountable and take measures to deter such behaviour in the future, adding that the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry and its embassy in Cairo will follow up any actions taken.

Egypt has not made an official statement about the incident which was captured on video and went viral online. The video shows two men in a parking lot being restrained and hit before being led away by a group of men in plainclothes. According to the Kuwaiti Embassy in Cairo, several Kuwaiti students were arrested and then released in Alexandria on Saturday after being involved in a fight. The embassy said the confrontation, which resulted in minor injuries, was stopped by mall security before police arrived and arrested the students.

The video has led to calls in Kuwait for the Egyptian ambassador to be summoned.

Reshaping energy markets

THE SIXTH edition of Egypt Petroleum Show EGYPS will be held in Cairo from 13 to 15 February. The three-day event will mainly discuss energy security and climate action. Some 2,000 delegates and over 260 speakers will present solutions and strategies to support the reshaping of global energy markets. Through 45 sessions, EGYPS will zoom in on finance and investment in energy as well as equality and sustainability in energy.

The conference will be attended by ministers, C-suite executives and CEOs of the most prominent energy companies as well as economic specialists.

At EGYPS, global energy leaders will explore how oil and gas operators are integrating sustainability practices into their business models and workplaces to ensure a positive impact on the planet, their employees and the communities in which they operate.

Doctors resign

A RECENT statement by the Doctors Syndicate reports that 4,361 government-employed doctors submitted their resignations in 2022, the highest figure in seven years.

The number represents a 3.2 percent increase compared to 2021, when 4,127 doctors resigned. Between 2019 and 2022, 11,536 doctors have left the public sector.

The statement blamed the exodus on low wages, the absence of laws regulating medical liability, a poor work environment, licensing obstacles and negative media portrayal of doctors. Syndicate media rapporteur Ahmed Hussein was quoted as saying that the actual number of resignations is much higher.

According to the British General Medical Council, Egyptian doctors were among the top five joiner doctors to secure positions in the United Kingdom, with over 1,300 Egyptian doctors joining the UK workforce in 2021.

Egyptian actress sentenced

LAST Thursday, actress Menna Shalabi was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence and fined LE10,000 by a Cairo criminal court over possession of narcotics. The judgement can be appealed within 60 days.

The suspended verdict means that if Shalabi commits a similar offence within the next three years she will have to serve the one-year sentence.

The actress was arrested at Cairo International Airport in November following a flight from the US. She was released on LE50,000 bail pending investigations. The illegal substances she was carrying were later identified as containing two narcotics hash and cannabis, both illegal in Egypt.

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Experts hope that Egypts new State Ownership Policy Document will improve the investment climate and expand the private sectors share in the economy, reports Ahmed Abdel-Hafez

Aimed at regulating the relationship between the state and the private sector over the next 10 years, the new 32-page State Ownership Policy Document (SOPD) has finally been ratified, detailing the states plan for 62 sectors, whether by maintaining the same amount of investment, investing more, or exiting from some sectors altogether.

The third and final version of the SOPD, issued under the title of a Framework Document, was ratified by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi this week. The first draft was issued in May 2022, while an amended version was produced during the National Dialogue sessions, in which about 1,000 experts participated.

Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli said the final version was based on 85 per cent of the proposals and recommendations put forward at the National Dialogue. Former prime minister Ziad Bahaa-Eldin said the SOPD was part of the discussions conducted between the government, experts, and the private sector to help the government promote the states interests.

Unlike what some people may think, the SOPD is not a privatisation programme. Instead, it is meant to establish a healthy relationship between the state and the private sector. It also has a high degree of credibility as it is based on a dialogue between stakeholders, Bahaa-Eldin said.

He criticised demands that the state exit from all economic activities, saying that these were not realistic and adding that no country in the world allows the state to withdraw completely from the economy.

Although titled a Framework Document, the SOPD contains implementation clauses, such as the formation of a supreme committee to implement state policies on its assets. The committee will be affiliated to the cabinet and comprise representatives from various ministries, the Egyptian Competition Authority, and the Egyptian Sovereign Fund.

The committee will also comprise a technical secretariat formed at the cabinets Information and Decision Support Centre. This secretariat will be tasked with issuing a report within 60 days of the end of the fiscal year announcing the states exit plan from various sectors and companies, the activities and legal mechanisms upon which this exit will be completed, as well as the status of partnership contracts and where the proceeds of the states exit will be directed.

Khaled Ibrahim, chair of the Chamber of Information Technology and Communications, lauded the SOPD, saying it was a positive step on the part of the state to improve the investment climate.

He said that working on the 62 sectors set out in the SOPD in parallel would require the formation of a technical committee for each that would include representatives from the private and public sectors and various experts. He added that each sector has its own particular circumstances and it would be difficult for any single committee to be acquainted with the details of all sectors.

It would also be crucial for experts to take part in every committee to present their recommendations, thus helping to maximise the benefit for sectors from which the state plans to exit or partner with the private sector, Ibrahim said.

Abdallah Helmi, chair of the Chamber of Chemical Industries, said the SOPD was a move closer to achieving a stable environment for the private sector, whether during its work with the government, foreign partners, or on its own.

During the preparation of the first draft of the SOPD, the government had monitored the challenges facing the private sector, Helmi said, noting that the proposed supreme committee could take steps towards resolving these without going back to the private sector for further consultations.

Such challenges include facilitating the issuing of licences, digitising operations, and founding new companies using the same procedures that are used elsewhere in the region in order to increase competitiveness, he said.

Issuing the SOPD is a positive step and is based on a real political will to encourage investment. However, we have to wait until it is implemented to evaluate the experience and then tell the government about points that need to be revised, said Kamal Al-Dessouki, vice president of the Chamber of Construction and Building.

I do not approve of the demand for the private sector to take part in the committees that will determine the future of government investments in each sector. It cannot be a part of the committees that will decide the projects that the government will offer to it,Aal-Dessouki said.

The SOPD does not need to be issued in the form of legislation. The government initiated the document, and this is proof of its commitment to improve the investment climate and expand the private sectors share in the economy and in the industrial, commercial, and service sectors.

Al-Dessouki approved the decision to have the technical secretariat issue its report 60 days after the end of the fiscal year. This reflected the mood of stability and transparency that the government has adopted with regard to the private sector while applying proper governance and parliamentary and democratic regulation, he concluded.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 January, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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High-level meetings have been taking place between Turkish and Syrian officials, raising the possibility of a warming of relations between the two countries.

The meeting in Moscow between the ministers of defence of Turkey and Syria on 28 December took many by surprise. It was seen as a radical departure from Turkeys aversion to warming up to the Syrian regime after 11 years of hostility, and the meeting triggered a barrage of statements denouncing the encounter.

The meeting, attended by Turkish Minister of Defence Hulusi Akar, Syrian Minister of Defence Mahmoud Abbas, and their Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu, was the first at this level since the start of the Syrian crisis in 2011. It aimed to discuss ways of resolving the crisis in Syria, according to a statement by the Russian Defence Ministry.

Ahead of the meeting, there were early indicators that the two sides were drawing closer. The chiefs of intelligence of Turkey and Syria have met several times, but the meetings were not followed by political statements, except for Turkey saying they were necessary for security.

However, the latest meeting was followed by political statements, most notably by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 5 January, who said he might meet with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Al-Assad as part of the new peace process.

In politics, there are no permanent enemies, Erdogan declared. A three-way meeting between the foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia, and Syria to further improve communications is planned. Depending on developments, the two presidents may also meet.

Over the past 11 years, Turkey has supported the Syrian political and armed opposition. After Russia intervened in Syria militarily on the side of the regime in 2015, Ankara began to focus its efforts on fighting the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Kurdish Peoples Defence Units (YPG), which are affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Turkey and several European countries categorise the PKK as a terrorist organisation.

Despite US support for the SDF to maintain control of northeast Syria, Turkey does not want this group to be based along its southeastern border and has threatened to launch a broad military attack by land with the help of the armed Syrian opposition to expel it from the region.

Turkey wants to create a buffer zone in the area to encourage the return of the 3.5 million Syrian refugees who have fled to Turkey.

At the same time, Russia has worked hard to prevent a Turkish military incursion into northern Syria and encouraged Erdogan not to launch a military campaign. One result of the present discussions would be to replace the SDF by Syrian regime forces with Russian guarantees in return for normalising relations with its ally in Damascus.

Theoretically, this deal is a win-win one for everyone, said Saeed Moqbel, a Syrian political analyst.

Russia will become the party with the most influence in Syria, and the Syrian regime needs to normalise its relations with Turkey because this will help it to argue that those countries that have supported Al-Assads removal were mistaken and have started to correct their mistakes.

Turkey is at the forefront of these countries, and the Turkish leadership will also win on two fronts, abroad by eliminating the SDF threat and domestically for Erdogans re-election campaign in which he has indicated that the Syrian refugees in Turkey will return home in response to opponents criticising him for hosting millions of refugees.

Rami Al-Shaer, a Moscow-based political analyst close to the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that we will soon see a meeting between the foreign ministers of Syria and Turkey, which will be followed by a meeting of the leaders of the two countries before June. The immediate next steps on the ground have already been decided and will be taken as a matter of urgency.

The developments have worried the Syrian opposition, which has issued several statements criticising the Syrian regime.

On 3 January, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attempted to reassure the opposition by saying that there is no normalisation taking place or meetings with the Syrian regime, no matter what the opposition says.

He said he would meet with his Syrian counterpart in the second half of January, and later there would be an assessment of the two presidents meeting. After these statements, Cavusoglu met with the Syrian opposition.

Salem Al-Muslet, head of the National Coalition of Revolutionary Forces and a member of the Syrian opposition, noted that Turkey is a strong ally of the Syrian Revolution and the Syrian opposition. It is a major supporter of the aspirations of the Syrian people in achieving freedom, dignity and democracy.

He underlined the oppositions determination to activate the political process to reach a comprehensive political transition that will pave the way for a new chapter for Syria.

Despite Turkish reassurances, Turkeys position has opened the door for many predictions about what options are left for the Syrian opposition if Turkey normalises ties with the Syrian regime, especially since Turkey is also home to most opposition leaders and institutions.

Salem Madniya, a Syrian researcher, said that the Syrian opposition is not failing because it is based in Turkey. It is weak at the foundations, and it has not effectively taken advantage of the Turkish position over an entire decade.

However, we cannot blame the opposition figures alone for this failure, because there were mitigating circumstances. The international community is the one that had failed over the course of 12 years. Turkeys leverage over the oppositions political and military decisions forced the latter to be silent.

One key player that could yet turn the tables is the US, which supports the SDF. It has mostly adopted the role of observer and has not been a proactive player, but State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said recently that we do not support states that strengthen their relations or express support for the rehabilitation of Bashar Al-Assad, a brutal dictator.

He called on the international community to inspect the horrific human rights record of the Al-Assad regime over the past 12 years. The statements are enough to let everyone know that the US will oppose any rehabilitation of the Syrian regime if it becomes a tangible reality.

The US has adopted sanctions that isolate and harshly punish Syria and any country that deals with the regime. These cannot be circumvented easily, and any country that does so will be subjected to similar sanctions.

The US and Europe are also blocking all attempts to rebuild Syria until a political solution is implemented, according to UN Security Council Resolution 2254. This means that Turkey and Russia cannot invest in Syria, except in its rubble.

Meanwhile, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Damascus on 4 January, with Syrian sources saying that the discussions focused on future UAE funding for Syria to alleviate its economic collapse.

European sources, however, said that the visit also related to Turkey and the path to normalising relations with the regime. They said that the UAE would become the guarantor of the Syrian regime if it makes promises in the deal that is under discussion with Turkey.

The Syrian regime had not commented on the developments, and it is thought that it is trying to slow down the normalisation process with a view to waiting until after the Turkish elections. Damascus also understands that it cannot do much about the SDF as long as the group is supported by Washington.

Iran has also remained silent and has not reacted to the Russian and Turkish moves. If Russia and Turkey succeed in reaching a new understanding with Damascus, it will probably end up drawing the short end of the stick in any new deal. Their influence will grow, while Tehran will gain nothing.

Turkey is setting two preconditions before improving relations with the Syrian regime, Moqbel said. First, the regime should take control of the northeast of the country, completely eliminating any SDF presence. Second, the regime must begin a domestic peace and reconciliation process that will pave the way for the voluntary and safe return of millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey.

The Syrian regime is making two demands of Turkey. First, that Ankara should cooperate with Damascus and seek a tangible rapprochement that curbs the role of armed Syrian opposition groups. Second, for Turkey and Russia to contribute to opening doors for Syria to restore relations with the rest of the world and the Arab countries as well as for reconstruction.

These four conditions will be difficult to achieve right now for subjective and international political reasons.

So far, there are no real indicators that Ankara and Damascus are moving closer to each other, with each studying the other and what can be achieved.

It is unlikely that there will be any major breakthroughs in Turkish-Syrian relations or real change on the ground, especially since the Syrian regime cannot meet Turkeys expectations, whether in terms of fighting Kurdish separatists or returning refugees.

At best, the friction between the two sides will subside as they continue to coordinate on specific security matters, but this will not necessarily lead to a normalisation of relations.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 January, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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This week, the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi hosted the steering committee of the Arab-Israeli Negev Summit to be held in Morocco next spring. The summit, held for the first time in Israels Sde Boker Kibbutz last year, was a meeting between the foreign ministers of Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, and the United States. Its aim was to implement the principles enshrined in the Abraham Accords in joint initiatives and projects in areas as diverse as regional security, energy, tourism, education and water security.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was supposed to be in Abu Dhabi on the first day of the meeting, Sunday 8 January, but the UAE cancelled the visit after the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by his National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on 3 January. The latter event garnered a strong reaction from all corners of the globe.

The UAE and China led the call to convene a UN Security Council meeting, requesting that Israel respect the status quo in the holy city. The Saudi daily, Arab News, reported that Netanyahu was shocked by the reaction, especially from Gulf countries that recently normalised relations with Israel under his previous premiership. He had held the strong view that peace with Arab nations is possible without resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a comment piece in the Israeli daily Haaretz by Zvi Barel. He concluded that the Emirati position clarifies that even if peace between the two countries doesnt collapse in the near future, the UAE has no intention of abandoning its diplomatic leverage  and the Palestinian issue isnt going away.

But beyond the strong statements of condemnation from Gulf capitals, and the cancellation of Netanyahus official visit to the UAE, what could those countries now at peace with Tel Aviv do to soften Israels aggressive policies towards Palestinians? Not much, according to many analysts in the region. Saudi political commentator Abdul-Aziz Alkhames told Al-Ahram Weekly that relations [between Abraham Accords countries and Israel] will continue on the military, intelligence, economic and business level. The political side of the relationship may cool down.

That view was echoed by Andrew Hammond of Oxford University who expected Abraham Accord Gulf parties to do next to nothing. Business remains as usual and we wont do anything beyond issue statements. Yet, there might be a window for Gulf countries to do something to ease the tension. The real place where pressure is being felt is in the countries that were slated for normalisation, like Oman and Saudi Arabia. Omans parliament has already said it wont allow any further moves, which obviously happened at the governments instigation The question is: will Netanyahu try to tempt Saudi Arabia with some promise, like not annexing the West Bank? Hammond added.

Before taking power, the prime minister-designate gave a lengthy interview to the Saudi Al-Arabiya channel in mid-December saying he intends to pursue peace with Saudi Arabia and urging Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords. He reiterated that through the interview, saying, I think peace with Saudi Arabia will serve two purposes. It will be a quantum leap for overall peace between Israel and the Arab world. It will change our region in ways that are unimaginable and I think it will facilitate ultimately Israeli-Palestinian peace.

But after the Al-Aqsa event and continual statement by Netanyahus far-right allies in government, there is no peace window with the Saudis  at least for now. I dont think the Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman will fall into the trap of appearing responsible one way or another for the fate of the Palestinians I doubt it because they dont want responsibility. They know Netanyahu wont honour anything, Hammond said.

Aside from the fear of the Israeli prime minister presenting void promises he is not expected to keep, there is also a view in the Gulf that no amount of pressure will yield results. I do not think anybody can pressure Netanyahu... If the US could not, who can? Abdul-Aziz Alkahmes wondered, adding that relations with Israel are needed as it is central for regional peace and facing threats from Iran. But Netanyahu and this government might not be the right partner. This looks like a war cabinet and Netanyahu wont be able to curb its aggression. Probably this government is doomed to fail. Any progress on normalisation with Saudi Arabia depends on Netanyahus ability to dissolve this cabinet and seek less extremist alliances.

It might not be business as usual between Israel and the Gulf countries that joined the normalisation trend, but that does not mean the train of normalisation has been derailed. Pumping the brakes on the drive towards peace is a decision that lies with Israel. As Alkhames suggests, Netanyahu will play the card of stopping settlements, annexations and other extremist policies by that government in return for normalisation with Saudi Arabia. This is clear blackmail, and relations cant be built on blackmail. I do not think Saudi Arabia will accept that.

That leverage for Saudi Arabia does not apply to states that have already signed for peace, particularly the UAE. But again, there is not much the Emiratis can do to force Netanyahu to stop his cabinets fiery policies.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 January, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Israels extreme-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvirs visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem earlier this month has raised an uproar in Arab and international circles. It has raised an uproar even inside Israel itself, due to the serious repercussions it will have on stability in the Palestinian territories. Especially after Palestinian factions implied they will not tolerate such actions.

Ben-Gvirs excursion, which was blessed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was followed by unprecedented Israeli sanctions against members of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and punitive financial measures in response to Palestinian action at the UN, undertaken with full Arab support. The UN adopted a resolution to refer the issue of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories to the International Court of Justice, to offer a legal opinion on the nature of Israeli occupation and Israels responsibilities as an occupying power, something Israel itself rejects.

Israeli sanctions included voiding the passes of prominent Palestinian officials, including Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki, Deputy Head of Fatah Mahmoud Al-Aloul, and other key Fatah members. Israel also confiscated 139 million shekels ($40 million) of tax money collected by Israel on behalf of the PA according to agreements signed by both sides.

During a cabinet meeting on Monday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh warned that these successive Israeli measures could lead to the complete collapse of the PA, which is already suffering serious financial and existential troubles. Total Israeli deductions since 2019 is two billion shekels [$570 million], stated Shtayyeh. These steps are a new war on the Palestinian people, their fate and fortunes. They are a war on the Palestinian Authority, its existence and achievements.

The Israeli Army Radio reported on Monday that Israeli officials are warning that further harsh measures could lead to the collapse of the PA. However, they asserted that Israels decisions against the PA are carefully calculated and will not lead to its actual collapse.

Ben-Gvir himself began a series of severe measures including banning the Palestinian flag from being hoisted in Arab towns inside the occupied territories as well as any other areas under Israeli control, especially after the exuberant celebrations of the release of Karim Younis from Wadi Ara in northern Israel. Younis spent 40 years in prison as punishment for participating in an operation that killed one Israeli.

In a further provocation, Ben-Gvir also visited Israeli prisons and ordered the hanging of Israeli flags in front of cells holding Palestinian prisoners accused of attacks against Israel. He also ordered the transfer of prominent Palestinian prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti, who was sent to strict solitary confinement to prevent his interaction with leaders in other prisons. The move compounded tensions among the Palestinian prisoner population.

All these steps are a harbinger of the policies of Netanyahus radical right government which was sworn in at the end of last year. The PA had warned that this cabinet would be more hardline in dealing with Palestinians, and already Washington has taken steps to avoid an early clash between US President Joe Bidens administration and Tel Aviv.

The Israeli media reported that Biden will send his National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to Israel in mid-January. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will also visit this month to smooth out any anticipated tensions between the two administrations.

After Ben-Gvirs unfortunate visit to Al-Aqsa, Washington reiterated the need to maintain the status quo of holy sites in occupied Jerusalem, and restated its support of a two-state solution as a way to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper anticipated that the new Israeli government is a conundrum for Bidens national security team, which wants to redirect attention from the Middle East to rivals such as China and Russia. This is happening at a time when Republicans have taken control of the House of Representatives and are eager to portray Biden as unfriendly to Israel ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.

According to the newspaper, potential disputes between Washington and Tel Aviv go beyond warnings against fuelling tensions with Palestinians. There is also the question of Russia, which is relying on Iran in its war on Ukraine, and the need not to upset the delicate security balance in the Middle East.

Other issues are causing tensions between the two sides. The new judicial reforms announced by far right Israeli Minister of Justice Yariv Levin also caused outrage within Israel, because they undermine the power of the judiciary. The Israeli opposition believes that these measures aim to protect Netanyahu from further legal action in the corruption cases against him, at the cost of destroying the Israeli judicial system. These are concerns and objections also voiced by US officials against anything that infringes on the powers and independence of Israels judiciary.

The Walla news website quoted unnamed US State Department officials as saying that shared principles of democracy are at the core of relations between the US and Israel, but the actions of the new Israeli government are disconcerting because they threaten Israels democratic institutions.

Judicial reform may impact the democratic system in Israel in a manner that could undermine Israeli-US relations which are not only based on mutual interests, but also common values, according to the US official.

The apprehension surrounding the arrival of the new Israeli government a few weeks ago has raised fears of military escalation between armed Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip and Israel, especially since these factions warned that any attempt to alter the status quo in occupied Jerusalem is a red line that should not be crossed.

After Ben-Gvirs hapless visit to Al-Aqsa, the Israeli army reported a failed attempt to fire a missile from the Gaza Strip into Israel, which Israeli analysts believe is a sign that clashes could escalate once again with the factions in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Palestinians are calling on Washington to intervene to block steps that the radical right Israeli government has announced and could soon begin implementing. They are also asking Arab countries and the world at large to take a firm stand against Israeli abuses and violations, according to PA Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh.

Prominent Palestinian officials have said they may resort to implementing decisions regarding revising relations with or suspending recognition of Israel, in response to the new governments measures. However, the PA does not have a clear plan to act on this resolution and its political and economic repercussions, especially in the light of intra-Palestinian division and the fact that most of the world is distracted by more pressing political and security issues.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 January, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Moves to lay the groundwork for upcoming elections in Libya began in Cairo this week with meetings between prominent Libyan stakeholders.

A fresh drive to develop a roadmap to general elections in Libya began in Cairo on 5 January with a meeting between Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) Aguila Saleh and head of the High Council of State (HCS) Khaled Al-Mishri.

At the end of the meeting, the two Libyan officials announced a constitutional declaration providing for elections and a subsequent phase for forming a new executive authority. Libyan parliamentary sources said the dialogue between Saleh and Al-Mishri will resume in Libya in the coming days in order to resolve outstanding differences.

These mainly concern articles pertaining to the eligibility of military personnel and dual nationals to run for office in the country. Libyan Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and head of the Presidential Council Mohamed Al-Menfi met in Cairo for discussions in the framework of Cairos drive to advance the political process in Libya.

Meanwhile, a preparatory meeting for the upcoming Libyan National Reconciliation Conference kicked off in Tripoli on Sunday. Organised by the Libyan Presidential Council (LPC), it was attended by representatives of the African Union, members of the HoR and HCS, and other Libyan stakeholders.

The delegation of Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, were unable to participate until the second day on 9 January. Members of the delegation had been excluded on the opening day, but mediators from the African Union and the president of Congo-Brazzaville stepped in to resolve the problem.

Despite the encouraging movement towards elections in Libya and the mending of the rifts that have torn the country apart since the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime in 2011, formidable bumps and potential pitfalls lie ahead.

One of these has to do with the rocky relationship between Al-Mishri and Saleh, two men who have often come together to cooperate only to clash again. In addition to a mutual lack of trust, they are also at odds over various political issues.

With regard to the political process, their differences have less to do with the provisions of the constitutional basis for the elections than with potential candidates for sovereign posts and, most recently, the location and constitution of the Supreme Court and Court of Cassation. It generally takes a third party, whether from Libya or abroad, to bring them together to resume work on finalising the constitutional basis for the elections.

LPC President Al-Menfi recently took the initiative in this regard by inviting Al-Mishri and Saleh to a tripartite meeting. Both sides turned down the invitation, however. The HCS head said that Al-Menfi had got the wrong address, signalling that both the HCS and the HoR intend to draft the new constitutional basis for the elections themselves.

Another potential obstacle is the difference over eligibility to run for political office. Al-Mishri has said that he will soon be meeting Saleh to discuss the creation of a mechanism to resolve this issue. While the latter is in favour of the right of dual nationals to run for office in Libya, Al-Mishri opposes this, though the two men might agree to put the question to a referendum.

According to first deputy head of the HCS Naji Mukhtar, prohibiting dual nationals from running for office in Libya would disqualify around 40 potential candidates in the presidential and parliamentary elections.

Al-Mishri did not bring up the eligibility of military personnel to run for office in his statements, apart from the question of how long before the elections an officer wishing to present himself must resign from the military.

Haftars presidential bid in 2021 has been the source of the dispute over this question. Now it appears that the different sides may have reached some form of agreement on this, perhaps entailing a shortening of the required resignation period.

The currently proposed period of a year before the elections could be reduced to six months or even three months, as was the case when presidential hopefuls filed their candidacy papers for the elections that were to be held in December 2021.

A third contentious issue revolves around the government that would lead the country up to the elections. The HoR speaker said that the roadmap included forming a new government that would oversee the preparations, and Al-Mishri said at his press conference in Cairo that he supported this idea, at least in part.

He said that the elections had to be held under a unified government. However, in subsequent remarks to the Libyan media, he added that in the event elections cannot be held under the current [institutional] division, a new governing authority will be formed and tasked with holding elections.

Al-Mishri also told the press that Abdel-Hamid Al-Dbeibah, prime minister of the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU), will fight to prevent any step leading to elections, even if he has to spend billions to do so.

The fact that Al-Dbeibah is still in power has been a controversial issue since the HoR voted in a new government to replace the GNU last February. A Libyan source involved in the current political developments told Al-Ahram Weekly that the question of ending the Al-Dbeibah government remains unresolved because the world powers maintain that forming a new government will simply stretch out the time before elections can be held.

He added that he had met with the UN Special Representative for Libya Abdoulaye Bathily and concluded that Bathily is focused on holding the elections as soon as possible. He has not made up his mind on the question of the government. He thinks that a new government would at the very least be controversial and create new tensions. On the other hand, he doesnt want the elections to be held under conditions that are volatile because of the government.

According to sources in Cairo, LPC President Al-Menfi and Field Marshal Haftar, in their meeting hosted by Egypt, also reached a new understanding on an alternative plan should the Saleh-Mishri plan fall through.

The alternative calls for the declaration of a state of emergency in Libya under which the LPC would assume power without the GNU, while security would be maintained with the help of an international force. A new electoral commission would also be formed.

The General Command of the Libyan National Army (LNA) would assist the LPC in the transitional process. Although the sources said that a meeting would be arranged between Al-Menfi, Haftar, Saleh and Al-Mishri, it is doubtful whether Al-Mishri and Saleh would attend unless they receive assurances of being included in the arrangement.

This new development means that the Saleh-Mishri plan may not be alone in shaping the return to the political process in Libya. Any understanding between the HoR and HCS leaders may be even more fragile than expected, especially bearing in mind the lack of trust between the two.

The challenges that lie ahead also appear more formidable, since progress towards resuming the political process requires all sides, including the GNU, to work together. If the alternative scenario comes to pass, the forthcoming period might see a phase of force majeure rather than a phase of reconstructing a political process leading to elections and renewed stability.

On the upcoming Libyan National Reconciliation Conference, a source close to Seif Gaddafi doubted that it would come close to achieving its aims at this stage.

The conference is being held for political and public relations purposes, he said. The political will for reconciliation has yet to mature on all sides. But it is important for the conference to establish the political groundwork as a first step on the long road to reconciliation.

In his remarks to the Libyan press, Al-Mishri said that he and Saleh had agreed that anyone who has been convicted on criminal charges would not be eligible to run for office even if the sentence was under review, a specific reference to Seif Gaddafi.

We have a contradiction here, given that a 20-member delegation representing Seif Gaddafi is present at the conference, the source said. This is all a Muslim Brotherhood game to eliminate both Gaddafi and Haftar as candidates.

Haftar also has a sentence against him from a court in Misrata, and this has been signalled to the High Electoral Commission. At all events, we have to see how the situation stands once the constitutional basis for the elections is finalised.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 January, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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The Twitter Files released by new CEO Elon Musk show that Western social media companies are not as independent as some would want us to believe.

Writing in this newspaper in 2016, the present writer argued that the US network CNN is routinely paid by the US government to have it selectively report on certain events while censoring others.

While Western newspapers criticise China, Russia, and other countries regarding censorship and limitations on freedom of speech, they await content and quotation approval from the gatekeepers in the White House before printing their stories.

I also quoted whistleblower Julian Assange explaining how Google profits from its association with the US State Department and vice versa.

Objectivity, integrity, and altruism go by the wayside in the face of money, power, and dominance  from a seemingly squeaky-clean journalistic facade that delivers the news to media outlets bought by wealthy decision-makers to worthwhile stories that remain locked in drawers and insignificant ones that are highlighted and brought into the limelight.

Seven years later, we come to the Twitter Files, thousands of documents made public by Twitter CEO Elon Musk in December to a few independent journalists and authors, among them US journalists Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, and David Zweig. They were given access to classified Twitter documents on the condition that whatever they wrote would be published on Twitter first.

The provision of the documents followed Musks acquisition of Twitter and fulfill his original promise to release documents that exhibit how Twitter has blocked and censored many sources. He said he wanted to show what had really happened behind the scenes at the social media company.

The release of the thousands of documents is ongoing, leading to a tsunami of disclosures on what Twitter has allowed, moderated, and censored. This is not classified information, as it is all available in hundreds of tweets for all those interested to view and follow it.

The files are internal documents sent between Twitter employees and executives and official US bodies on the companys methods of moderation and how Twitter should deal with certain accounts that go against its policies.

Twitter has become a source of instant information over the past two decades, and 450 million users from around the world have relied on it to do just that. However, the Twitter Files reveal that censorship of free speech and manipulation was rife at the company, going against just about everything the world had believed about Twitter and other social media outlets.

Taibbi says in one of his earlier tweets that we can say pretty conclusively, after looking at 10s of 1,000s of emails over the course of these weeks, that the [US] government was in the censorship business in a huge way.

Weiss, another one of the three journalists given access to the files, tweeted that decisions to actively limit the visibility of entire accounts or even trending topics were made in secret without informing users. These revelations prove that much of what we read and view, despite its reaching us instantly on Twitter, is designed to fit a certain strategy.

The Twitter Files, says Zweig, focused on evidence of Twitters secret blacklists; how the company functioned as a kind of subsidiary of the FBI; and how executives rewrote the platforms rules to accommodate their own political desires. Weiss names those who have been banned, blocked, blacklisted, or shadow banned  blocked without their knowledge  from Twitter.

Renumeration was paid and received. According to Taibbi, Twitter has been paid over $3 million by the US government. Based on how many content requests they appear to have fulfilled for the FBI, it now looks like they were severely underpaid, he wrote. What is more significant is that, according to Weiss, it wasnt just Twitter. The meetings with the Trump White House were also attended by Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and others.

In a Twitter thread of over 30 explosive tweets, Taibbi explains that Twitter was taking requests from every conceivable government body, beginning with the Senate Intelligence Committee (SSCI), which seemed to need reassurance Twitter was taking FBI direction.

The topics revealed thus far, for more details are yet to be exposed, revolve around Covid-19 information, disinformation, and anti-vaxxer accounts, former US president Donald Trump and his ban from tweeting, and the emails recovered from the laptop of Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden.

The Twitter Files also highlight Russian information, or its suppression, the mass and social media, and many internal US issues. Space does not allow us to pursue more than one issue here  that of Covid-19.

According to the revelations in the Twitter Files, Covid-19 information was manipulated to come across in a way that would please some. Twitter censored information that was true but inconvenient to US govt. policy  by discrediting doctors and other experts who disagreed, says Zweig.

The United States government pressured Twitter and other social media platforms to elevate certain content and suppress other content about Covid-19. Zweig also says that both the Trump and Biden administrations directly pressed Twitter executives to moderate the platforms pandemic content according to their wishes.

In February 2020, as Covid broke out, the Global Engagement Centre  a fledgling analytic/intelligence arms of the State Department  went to the media with a report called, Russian Disinformation Apparatus Taking Advantage of Coronavirus Concerns, Taibbi writes.

Even the mass media was doing much the same. The GEC still led directly to news stories like [French news agency] AFPs headline, Russia-linked disinformation campaign led to coronavirus alarm, US says, and a [US media outlet] Politico story about how Russian, Chinese, Iranian Disinformation Narratives Echo One Another, he says.

Finally, after thousands of documents have been revealed, the US has rejected the information they contain. An FBI tweet reads that it is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency.

When you thought the world couldnt get any crazier, the FBI now claims that the words of its own agents in tons of emails revealed by #TwitterFiles are conspiracy theories and misinformation, Taibbi commented incredulously.

What we should take away from all this is that Twitter is not what it seems, that freedom of speech does not exist, and that social media and tech companies are not as independent as some in the West would want us to believe.

* The writer is former professor of communication based in Vancouver, Canada.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 January, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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What do the Arab countries have to gain in talking to Israels new extreme right wing government?

In March last year, four Arab foreign ministers flew to the Negev Desert in Israel at the invitation of then Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid.

The meeting, known as the Negev Summit, was attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and by the four foreign ministers of the Arab countries that had either signed a peace treaty with Israel, Egypt in this case, or had joined the so-called Abraham Accords signed between Bahrain, the UAE, and Morocco and Israel in 2020 that normalise their relations.

Neither Jordan, the second Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel after Egypt, nor the Palestinian Authority was present at the Negev meeting. The participants agreed to hold regular meetings on a yearly basis. The second one is scheduled to take place in March in Morocco.

In the months separating the first from the second such summit meeting, peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis has still not appeared on the horizon, either near or far, and Israel has elected what is considered to be the most extreme right wing government in its history headed by returnee from the political wilderness Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also being pursued by the Israeli judicial system.

It is not surprising that the coalition agreements that Netanyahu has reached with the political parties represented in his cabinet include commitments, however vague for some observers, to annex West Bank territory to Israel, to legalise dozens of unauthorised settlements, and to appropriate large funds for road building and public transport in the West Bank.

What is even more alarming is the position adopted by the new Israeli government, which is insisting on a historical fallacy that wrongly believes that the Jewish people have an exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the land of Israel, including, from the point of view of the Israeli colonisers, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights.

Please note the use of the word exclusive, which simply negates the national rights of the Palestinian people in their own land of the Occupied West Bank and Occupied East Jerusalem, as well as the rejection of Syrian sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

This position was clearly reflected in the reaction of the prime minister of Israel a week ago after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution entitled Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of Occupied Territories on 30 December. Netanyahu said that the government of Israel under his leadership will not be bound by this despicable resolution of the United Nations. The Jewish nation is not an occupier in its own land and its eternal capital Jerusalem. No UN decision can distort the historical facts.

The UN General Assembly Resolution, Number 77/400, refers the question of Palestine and the legality or illegality of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land to the International Court of Justice.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Kohen said on 2 January that the resolution would kill any chance for peace with the Palestinians. You may wonder what chance for peace he is talking about when his own boss, Netanyahu, has unabashedly declared that Israel is not an occupier in its own land and its own eternal capital Jerusalem and that no decision by the UN can distort the historical facts.

You might also wonder, and rightly so, what the benefits of a second summit meeting in Morocco from an Arab point of view could be, given the existence of an extremist Israeli government that simply says that neither the Palestinians nor the Syrians have sovereignty over their own territories that were occupied by force of arms in June 1967.

* The writer is former assistant foreign minister.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 January, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Shortly before the end of 2022, which saw the Russian-Ukrainian war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for establishing a monarchy in Kyiv. The idea was raised by Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President Oleksiy Arestovych. [I]f you think rationally, the only way to kill everything that is coming at us from Moscow is to declare a monarchy, he said in an interview with Ukrainian musician Oleg Skripka on 1 January. A monarchy would bring about stability and preserve territorial integrity and unity, he argued. Noting that the United Kingdom was also a monarchy, he added, not the worst country in the world, is it? Arestovych also said that the restoration of the monarchy after Franco brought Spain into the European democratic fold and that there was a very strong movement in France to restore the monarchy that had been uprooted by the French Revolution in the 18th century.

Such shocking remarks by one of Zelenskys top advisers came amid increasing calls on Ukraine to demonstrate a willingness to engage in serious talks to end a war that has wrought disaster around the world. Instead, in his New Years address, Zelensky spoke of escalation, including a plan to invade and occupy Crimea which Russia had annexed following a popular referendum there in 2014.

In the readers comments section appended to the article on Zelenskys speech in the British Daily Mail, one reader held that this young man was bought to play a particular role. Ukraine is not a democracy and is not trying to become one, he added. Its end is near, thanks to Zelensky and Western tactics. Another reader wondered whether Zelensky was really interested in victory or in dragging the war on as long as possible in order to keep the cheques coming. A third asked, how about less asking for money and more talk about peace? In the opinion of a fourth, that fool has to be removed in order to let Ukraine negotiate for peace and let its people resume a normal life. The most scathing criticism was: I just want to remind him that while his people are freezing to death, he is profiting from the war and will soon become the richest man in the country. If this such is the public opinion in the most pro-Ukrainian country in Europe, imagine what public opinion in the rest of the world might be.

A version of this article appears in print in the 12 January, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Newspapers, television, and social-media networks worldwide rushed to praise the success of the UN COP27 Conference on Climate Change that took place in Sharm El-Sheikh in November last year.

While we do not dispute their assessment, we feel compelled to take a closer look at the accomplishments of the COP27 Conference in the hope of validating its achievements and seeing what must be done next. This falls under Egypts responsibility in its capacity as chair of the Conference until the UAE takes over as chair of the COP28 Conference in 2023.

Environmental experts continue to raise the alert about global warming, which is causing severe damage to our planet day by day. Every year since 1994, when the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) came into force, the UN has held global climate summits or Conferences of the Parties (COPs) in a bid to minimise harmful human impacts on the climate system.

Though it recognised that there was a problem, the world was not alarmed because of the sparse scientific investigation into its magnitude at the time. It was only when nature began to wreak havoc by devastating countries large and small and rich and poor that the world became more attentive.

People across the globe are beginning to see the impact of natural disasters such as severe flooding, rises in temperature, desertification, sea-level rises, coastal erosion, and frequent wildfires that result in the displacement of millions, the deaths of thousands, and huge financial losses for countries and peoples.

Negotiations have been ongoing in order to meet the challenge of the climate crisis, and the developing countries have long sought compensation from the developed countries for causing the greenhouse gas emissions that give rise to global warming and climate change. In the past, the US and other rich countries have resisted shouldering the financial burden of climate change, but thanks to the efforts of the Egyptian delegation at the COP27 and the support of African and small island countries, the European countries and the US have accepted, albeit reluctantly, to set up a fund to compensate the developing countries for the losses and damage they incur.

This fund, however, lacks financial resources until the developed countries agree on funding levels and identify participating donors. That is the first dilemma emerging from the COP27, as the devil is in the details. Countries like China, India, and Brazil are among the largest emitters of CO2, an important greenhouse gas, today. But these countries classify themselves as developing countries, making them entitled to compensation from rather than contributions to the loss and damage fund set up at the COP27.

They hold that climate change is a result of the Industrial Revolution of which they were not a part, saying that the developed countries alone must bear the full burden of paying for its effects. The problem with this view lies mostly with China, which is highly industrialised and should be on the donor side of the equation.

The second dilemma emerging from last years conference is the failure of the developed countries to meet their commitments to pledge $100 billion annually to help the developing countries deal with the impacts of climate change. The COP27, like previous conferences, brought no consequences and accountability for countries that failed to meet their commitments, leaving the timing and payment terms at the discretion of the rich donor countries.

It is now time for the donors to deliver on their pledges, especially given the determination of the president of the conference that 2023 will be the year when the developed countries finally fulfil their commitments. This remains an optimistic position.

The developed countries have also failed to abide by the legally binding principle of shared but differentiated responsibilities agreed at the COP21 Conference in the shape of the 2015 Paris Agreement that was hailed as a major breakthrough and the basis for cooperation. Today, however, this principle has become more of a catchphrase than something that is binding and actionable, recognising that while all countries have an obligation to address climate change, inequalities remain according to the capabilities of each.

The third dilemma coming out of the COP27 lies in the failure to reach a consensus to halt the steady increase in the global average temperature and holding it at or below 1.5 degrees Celsius, as was emphasised at earlier COP Conferences. There are now fears that the global average temperature will rise by 2.8 or 3 degrees Celsius in the next few years. Although achieving the 1.5-degree target is an ambitious goal and requires immediate collective action, the outcome of the conference was void of any pressure to take urgent steps to reduce emissions and contended itself with reaffirming earlier assurances.

However, the mere confirmation of earlier promises leaves the world on track for nearly three degrees of warming that experts say will be devastating for our planet.

Concerning the fourth dilemma coming out of the COP27 regarding limits on the use of coal energy and the disposal of fossil fuels, we are seeing significant backtracking by the European countries on this commitment made at the COP26 Conference in Glasgow. Their position is seen as justified given the war in Ukraine and the end of Russian oil supplies, despite calls from the International Energy Agency (IEA) to halt the construction of new coal-fired power plants if we are to contain global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

According to the IEA, electricity generation from coal is increasing and not declining in line with the commitments of those countries that are aspiring to zero net emissions. They continue to consume more than 95 per cent of the worlds coal.

The fifth dilemma signals a climax of discrimination. While the rich countries allow themselves the right to procrastinate on their fiscal obligations and backtrack on their commitments to reduce coal consumption, they are also erecting trade barriers to the developing countries. The developed countries want to reduce carbon emissions by imposing more burdens on the developing countries and finding ways to increase border taxes in a move known as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. What makes matters worse is that there is currently no forum to discuss this Mechanism or figure out how best to achieve mutual benefits and avoid unilateral action.

The COP27 Conference ended with flexible wording calling on all countries to increase their use of low-emission and renewable energy. We must strive to live up to our promises, rather than simply arrive with more, because harm will eventually befall us all if we do not do so.

More promises do not mean more progress on climate change, but implementation does mean this, and it was implementation that Egypt dedicated the COP27 Conference to achieving. Let us all work together towards implementing our promises.

The writer is a former assistant foreign minister for international economic affairs.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 January, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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After her debut feature Villa 69 (2013), filmmaker Ayten Amin has come back with Souad  scheduled for 2020 but not released until now due to legal issues that have so far prevented a theatrical release  an entirely different genre of film.

Set in the Nile Delta city of Zagazig, the 96-minute feature written by Mahmoud Ezzat with Amer stars Bassant Ahmed as Souad, a 19-year-old girl in hijab who uses social media to present herself as a different character every time. In the opening sequence, Souad is on a microbus telling one fellow passenger about her fiance, bringing out pictures of him and providing very detailed information. Speaking to a different passenger, however, she has become an entirely different person with an equally convincing story.

She has a complete relationship with a man called Ahmed, whom she has never met. She takes off her hijab in the pictures she sends him and they engage in virtual sex, but she is also upset when he disappears and they make up like a real couple. But the image Souad presents to Ahmed is fake. The film discusses the secret lives of teenage girls on social media, the way technology allows so many of them to take on a fake identity, improving their social class and economic conditions but also broadening the space in which they can enjoy personal freedoms.

Though it is about social media, the film stays with the real Souad, presenting her side of the story, her relationship with her mother and sister, her friends who are obsessed with marriage and matrimonial rituals  one of them is very proud of the kitchen machine she bought for her household  and the mundane daily routines she undertakes like a robot, as well as her attachment to Ahmed.

Except for Souads shocking capacity for deluding herself and others, the film isnt as engaging as it might be until the twist takes place. Suddenly, without any explicit indication that this is going to happen, Souads younger sister Rabab (Basmala Al-Ghayesh) steps inside to drink some water while they are on the balcony and comes back to find Souad has jumped to her death. A beautifully written scene, it is so subtle the viewer hardly notices what has happened at first.

In the next sequence, the family is mourning: mother, father and Rabab, who is seen asking her aunt whether Souad can go to heaven even though she killed herself. Basmala Al-Ghayesh gives a brilliant performance, paving the way to the third act of the drama when, a while later, Rabab decides to travel to Alexandria to meet Ahmed.

An online video content creator, he is not only much older than Souad but also has a much more sophisticated and better off life, with a circle of friends including an official girlfriend. This is the warmest, most engaging part of the film as Rabab questions Ahmed about his relationship with her sister: how he can have another girlfriend, why he never met Souad. She captures the viewer with her telling silences and simple questions.

The film was CineGouna Springboard winner at the El Gouna Film Festival in 2018. It was also in the Official Selection of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival 2020, which was held virtually due to Covid, and screened in the the 2021 Berlin Film Festival Panorama as well, having premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, where it received the Best Actress Award which it also received at Mostra de Valencia-Cinema del Mediterrani. In the same year it also won the Best Editing Award at Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO).

Souad was to be Egypts Oscar submission in 2021 but the legal issue prevented that from happening. It was on the international film long list of the British Independent Film Awards.

Born in Alexandria in 1978, Amin studied film at the American University in Cairo, graduating with a film called Her Man (2006). She took part in Tahrir 2011: The Good, the Bad, and the Politician, a series of short films set during the 25 January Revolution that brought together directors like Tamer Ezzat and Amr Salama as well.

Amins debut Villa 69 (2013), co-written by Muhammad El-Hajj and Mahmoud Ezzat and starring Khaled Aboul-Naga, Arwa Gouda and Lebleba, premiered at the 2013 Abu Dhabi International Film Festival where it received a Special Jury Award. Before Souad, Amin participated in directing the controversial TV series Sabei Garr (The Seventh Neighbour) along with female directors Nadine Khan and Heba Youssry.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 January, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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In the second in a three-part series on the centenary of the discovery of the tomb of the ancient Egyptian boy king Tutankhamun, David Tresilian describes the opening of the tomb

Visitors to Luxor today may well be struck by the impressive development work that has taken place in the city in recent years, with the renovation of the corniche, the construction of a network of new roads on both the east and west banks of the river, and the building of new bridges allowing easier access to the archaeological sites on the other side of the Nile.

All of this was very much in evidence on a recent visit to Luxor for the centenary of the discovery of the tomb of the ancient Egyptian boy king Tutankhamun by the British Egyptologist Howard Carter in November 1922.

Luxor was celebrating the centenary, and arriving at the citys airport in early November and enjoying an afternoon visiting the Luxor and Karnak temples and then the tomb itself in the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile, Al-AhramWeekly party was struck by the neat streets and clean air of the city and the new roads lined by flowering trees.

There was even time for a spot of hot-air ballooning. This meant getting up before dawn in order to see the sunrise over the Nile, with the sunlight illuminating the green fields laid out along the river and then the desert and the mountains housing the Valley of the Kings beyond. Our balloon men expertly handled the hot air balloons, and rising up into the air beside and then above the mountains in the early morning light, the party was able to appreciate the close connections between the river and the surrounding landscape.

Such memories will be shared by many visitors to Luxor today, but the city would have looked very different when Carter first visited it at the turn of the last century. Many visitors in those days would have arrived in the city by boat, though commuters to Cairo would have taken the train, of course still available today. The city then would not have been much more than a large village, though one already boasting a significant tourist industry together with a full complement of hotels.

The Luxor and Karnak temples would have been cleared of sand, and the Valley of the Kings could have been visited as it still can be today by taking a ferry across the Nile. Some of the valleys empty tombs would have been standing open as they had since at least late antiquity as early visitor accounts and in some cases graffiti in the tombs makes plain, but arguably the most important tomb of all, that of Tutankhamun, would still have lain buried waiting to be discovered.

By the time of the discovery on 4 November 1922, Carter had been visiting Luxor during the excavation seasons since shortly after he had started working for his British sponsor Lord Carnarvon, an amateur Egyptologist, in 1907. His earlier career in the Egyptian governments Antiquities Service had come to an abrupt halt in 1905, as described in the first article in this series, and following a period of freelance work he had agreed to help Carnarvon with his excavations.

Both men wanted to work in the Valley of the Kings, being convinced that there were still major discoveries to be made. When the American businessman Theodore Davis gave up his concession to excavate in the valley in 1914 on the grounds that all the major tombs had been found, Carter and Carnarvon immediately took it over.

They were convinced that the valley still held out the possibility of major discoveries, with one of the most likely being the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamun. While the outbreak of World War I in Europe in August 1914 dashed their plans for an early start, all the more so once the war had spread to Egypt and the wider Middle East, Carter and Carnarvon remained focused on their plans.

Despite the atmosphere of wartime crisis, Carter hired a large number of workers in autumn 1917 and started work on clearing the area of the valley between the already excavated tombs of Ramses II and Ramses VI.

The difficulty was to know where to begin, he wrote later in his account of the discovery, for mountains of rubbish thrown out by previous excavators encumbered the ground in all directions and no sort of record had ever been kept as to which areas had been excavated and which had not.

It was rather a desperate undertaking but I had reason to believe that the ground beneath had never been touched and a strong conviction that we should find a tomb. Even three years later when a vast amount of rock had been removed from the valley floor with little or no result, Carter was still convinced that the area would eventually yield a major discovery.

My own feeling was that so long as a single area of untouched ground remained the risk [of continuing] was worth taking, he wrote. There was still an area at the foot of the tomb of Ramses VI to be investigated, and I had always had a kind of superstitious feeling that in that particular corner of the valley one of the missing kings, possibly Tutankhamun, might be found.

TUTANKHAMUN:The consensus among Egyptologists today is that Tutankhamun was the son of Akhenaten, one of ancient Egypts most intriguing Pharaohs. He replaced the countrys traditional panoply of gods with a single god, Aten, thus instituting an early form of monotheism, and he moved the capital from Thebes to Amarna where new modes of worship and styles of art were instituted.

The shock of this can still be registered today by looking at the statues and other images of Akhenaten, those that survived the purges after his death, such as the famous statue in the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square that shows him with an elongated face and a body very different from the block-like limbs of the kings that preceded and succeeded him. There is also his famous wife, Nefertiti, the subject of a famous bust that is now in the Neues Museum in Berlin.

Very little is known about Tutankhamuns reign, aside from the fact that he came to the throne very young, probably at no more than nine years old in around 1332 BCE, and reigned for a decade or so before dying at the age of no more than 19. It seems that government was in the hands of others during Tutankhamuns reign and that the main event associated with his rule was the overturning of Akhenatens new religion and the restoration of the old gods and the centres of power associated with them.

Modern authors, such as UK Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves in his standard work on Tutankhamun, are not able to add much to what Carter wrote in his account of the discovery of the boy kings tomb when he said that the mystery of his life still eludes us  the shadows move but the dark is never quite dispersed. While Reeves is able to point to many discoveries made since Carters time that bear on the reign of Tutankhamun, he says that the hard facts are still very few.

For most of his reign Tutankhamun was the pawn of others, but inevitably as he grew older, the boys pliability will have lessened, Reeves says. X-rays of Tutankhamuns skull reveal damage consistent with the kings having received a blow to the head an accident or an intentional blow?  and shortly after his death in around 1323 BCE he was buried in a hastily adapted private sepulchre in the Valley of the Kings. This small and largely undecorated tomb was probably pressed into service only because work on Tutankhamuns intended place of burial had scarcely begun when he died.

Barring the possibility of new discoveries relating to Tutankhamuns reign, there are thus more questions than answers about him. Tutankhamun seems to have dropped the name of Akhenatens monotheistic god Aten from his name in the second year of his reign, substituting the name of the major god of the old pantheon, Amun, in its stead. The work of scrubbing out and overturning Akhenatens new religion took off during his rule.

He seems to have died suddenly, or at least unexpectedly, accounting for the relatively modest size and uncharacteristic lay-out of his tomb. But this does not explain why he was later so thoroughly forgotten, with later Pharaohs even omitting his name from lists of Egypts rulers. That forgetting turned out to be a blessing, however, since as Reeves says, it was the very oblivion to which Tutankhamun had been consigned that would ensure the survival of his burial, the only ancient Egyptian royal tomb that survived into modern times.

With time, the very site of the tomb began to blend in perfectly with its surroundings  to be missed not only by Ramses VI who quarried a tomb for himself within a few metres of it, but more importantly when the royal tombs were dismantled following the abandonment of the Valley of the Kings by Ramses XI in the 11th century BCE. It was obvious to Carter when he entered the tomb for the first time that tomb-robbers had been at work shortly after the burial, since there was evidence both that the tomb had been broken into and the burial goods riffled through and that it had then been resealed.

Once again, though, there were mysteries, and these struck Carter when he entered the tomb in 1922, the first man to do so in over 3,000 years. Grave goods had been thrown around by the robbers, doubtless in a hurry and in search of easily portable items rather like burglars today. But before the tomb was resealed, only perfunctory attempts were made to repair the damage, with items stuffed back into broken boxes and other pieces simply swept into corners and left in jumbled piles where they lay.

Gold was the natural quarry of the robbers, Carter wrote. But it had to be in portable form, and it must have maddened them to see it glinting all around them on plated objects which they could not move and had not time to strip What valuables they found and made away with we may never know, but their search can have been but hurried and superficial for many objects of solid gold were overlooked.

The second mystery was the reason for the survival of Tutankhamuns tomb. As Carter notes, the very magnificence of the ancient Egyptian royal tombs sealed their fate, and despite the measures employed to protect them, none of them could save the mummy of the Pharaoh lying underground. The entrance passage was plugged; false passages were constructed; secret doors were contrived; everything that ingenuity could suggest or wealth could purchase was employed. Vain labour all of it, for by patience and perseverance the tomb robber in every case surmounted the difficulties that were set to baffle him.

One can imagine the plotting for days beforehand, the secret rendez-vous on the cliff by night, the bribing or drugging of the cemetery guards, and then the desperate burrowing in the dark, the scramble through a small hole in the burial chamber, the hectic search by a glimmering light for treasure that was portable, and the return home at dawn. We can imagine these things, and at the same time we can realise how inevitable it all was.

Probably the ancient Egyptian officials buried the whole entrance to the tomb deep out of sight, Carter says, after the first attempt to rob it. Better political conditions in the country might have prevented it for a time, but in the long run nothing but ignorance of its whereabouts could have saved it from further attempts at plundering.

INTO THE TOMB: While Carter was keen to continue with the excavations despite the early failures, certain that they would eventually yield something of value and possibly the undiscovered tomb of Tutankhamun, his sponsor Carnarvon was becoming restless.

After multiple seasons during which nothing was found, the decision was taken that the season beginning in October 1922 would be the last. We had almost made up our minds that we were beaten, he wrote, and were preparing to leave the valley and try our luck elsewhere.

According to Carters later account, work started on clearing the area in front of the tomb of Ramses VI on 1 November 1922, and on the morning of 4 November a step cut into the rock below was uncovered, the first indication of a previously undiscovered tomb. There was always the horrible possibility that the tomb was an unfinished one, never completed and never used, Carter wrote, and even if it had been finished there was the depressing possibility that it had been completely plundered in ancient times.

On the other hand, there was just the chance of an untouched or only partially plundered tomb, and it was with ill-suppressed excitement that I watched the descending steps of the staircase as one by one they came to light. Eventually, a doorway appeared at the bottom of the steps, blocked, plastered over, and sealed. I made a small peephole just large enough to insert an electric torch, and discovered that the passage beyond the door was filled completely from floor to ceiling with stones and rubble.

Carter then stopped the excavation, sending a telegram to Carnarvon in London to inform him of the discovery. At last have made wonderful discovery in valley; a magnificent tomb with seals intact; re-covered same for your arrival. Congratulations.

Carnarvon arrived in Luxor accompanied by his daughter Lady Evelyn Herbert on 23 November, and work recommenced on 25 November with the removal of the blocking. This disclosed the beginning of a descending passage, the same width as the entrance stairway and nearly seven feet high It was completely filled with stone and rubble, probably the chip from its own excavation. On 26 November, the workers came upon a second door, blocked like the first and bearing the seals of Tutankhamun. Slowly, desperately slowly it seemed to us as we watched, the remains of the passage debris that encumbered the lower part of the doorway were removed, until at last we had the whole door clear before us.

There then followed Carters first glimpse of the contents of the tomb. With trembling hands, I made a tiny breach in the upper left-hand corner of the door, he later wrote. Darkness and blank space, as far as an iron testing rod could reach, showed that whatever lay beyond was empty and not filled like the passage we had just cleared. Candle tests were applied as a precaution against possible foul gases, and then, widening, the hole a little, I inserted the candle and peered in.

At first, I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flame to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold  everywhere the glint of gold. For the moment  an eternity it must have seemed to the others standing by  I was struck dumb with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, Can you see anything? it was all I could do to get out the words, Yes, wonderful things.

What Carter had seen was the first and largest room in the tomb, called the Antechamber on plans drawn up later and filled with tomb furniture. Almost opposite the main door was another smaller door leading to an annex, also containing grave goods and furniture, and to the right there was a larger sealed door leading into what turned out to be the burial chamber containing the nested coffins of Tutankhamun and leading into a further smaller room called the Treasury also containing tomb furniture.

Carter spent the decade after the discovery meticulously documenting and clearing the objects from the tomb. In his own account of the discovery, Carter stresses the sense of responsibility he felt as the only known discoverer of an ancient Egyptian royal tomb. This was no ordinary find, to be disposed of in a normal seasons work; nor was there any precedent to show us how to handle it.

There were numberless things to be done before we could even begin to think of the work of clearing. Vast stores of preservatives and packing material must be laid in; expert advice must be taken as to the best method of dealing with certain objects; provision must be made for a laboratory; a careful plan to scale must be made and a complete photographic record taken.

For the time being, though, the mood was one of dazed celebration. We decided on two things, Carter wrote. First, to invite [British High Commissioner] Lord Allenby and the various heads of departments to come to pay a visit to the tomb, and second, to send an authoritative account of the discovery to the [London] Times.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 January, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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American University in Cairo

New Cairo Campus

Conference and Visitor Center

Thurs 12, 12-2pm: AUC School of Business El-Khazindar Business Research and Case Center (KCC) will host a hybrid event to announce the winners of the Emerald - AUC School of Business Case Writing Competition 2022.

The event will also include a session titled The Art of a Winning Case Study to be delivered by Virginia Bodolica, professor of management at the American University of Sharjah, UAE, and the competition judge.

French Cultural Institute

Madrasset Al-Huquq Al Frinseya St, Mounira, Tel 02 2791 5800

Media Library

Sun 15, 6.30-8pm: World War I: Did it Serve Egypt's Interest? Midan Mounira lecture will be given by Anne-Claire de Gayffier-Bonneville, an associate professor of history and lecturer in contemporary history at Inalco-University, Sorbonne Paris. It will be given in French with simultaneous translation in the hall. In the genesis of modern Egypt, the World War I constitutes a decisive stage that has long been under-estimated. Anne-Claire de Gayffier-Bonneville will show how the first shock of decolonization was prepared there in Egypt. The lecturer works on the history of the Nile Valley, Egypt and Sudan, in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Tahrir Cultural Centre (TCC)

AUCs Tahrir Campus, Al-Sheikh Rihan St, off Tahrir Square, Tel 02 2615 2694/01280009077

Ewart Memorial Hall and Livestream

Tues 17, 6.30-7.30pm: From the Heart: A Pioneer in Science and Philanthropy, a conversation with Sir Magdy Yacoub, founder of The Magdy Yacoub Institute and Magdy Yacoub Heart Foundation; Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Imperial College London; President and Founder, Chain of Hope. It will be moderated by Khaled Ezzelarab '02, Associate Professor of Practice, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, AUC.

The event is open to the public; seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis, with livestreaming available on https://e.cglink.me/2kZ/r300083614

(AUC is a tobacco-free community. Smoking is only permitted in designated areas. A photo ID is required for entry. Facial recognition is required at all times.

All guests must be vaccinated. Please show your COVID-19 proof of vaccination or a negative antigen test at the gate).





ALEXANDRIA

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Chatby, Alexandria 21526, Tel (03) 4839999

The BAs Arts School Midyear Programme will begin from Saturday 21 January to Thursday 9 February at the Arts School Premises, Villa Roushdy. Registration is through the website: www.bibalex.org/artsschool

* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 January, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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The first manufacturing facility for solar thermal collectors in Egypt and the Middle East has come to life after a German grant, reports Mai Samih

After the UN COP27 Climate Change Conference held in Sharm El-Sheikh last November and following the plans set out in Egypts 2030 Vision to introduce more green energy projects as a clean alternative to fossil fuels, a new project to build solar thermal collectors was granted 2.7 million euros in December under the German facility for Investing for Employment (IFE).

The IFE signed an agreement with Creative Power Solutions AG (CPS), the first under its Green Economy proposals. Under the agreement, the IFE provides CPS with a grant of 2.7 million, representing 50 per cent of the total investment, a press release issued by the IFE said.

Solar thermal collectors are an important way of generating renewable energy. They are mostly manufactured in countries like China at the moment and then exported to Egypt. However, as a result of the new agreement they will be produced in Egypt, allowing Egyptian firms to use more green energy after being dependent on non-renewable energy like fossil fuels which are a major source of pollution.

According to a 2021 survey by IQAir, a Swiss pollution technology company that monitors air quality, Egypt was the 27th most-polluted country in the world out of the 117 countries surveyed, with its annual reading of small and hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5 standing at 29.1. The World Health Organisation (WTO) recommends that average annual PM2.5 readings should not exceed five micrograms per cubic metre (g/m).

The CPS was selected after an evaluation of its project proposal, which targets achieving decarbonisation goals and energy independence in both the industrial and power-generation sectors in line with Egypts 2030 Vision goals.

The project is the first manufacturing facility for solar thermal collectors in Egypt and the Middle East. It aims to introduce and localise this cutting-edge green technology through mass production. It also plans to facilitate the spread of solar thermal technology across Egypt and boost the economy via the creation of sustainable jobs across various sectors.

In November 2021, the IFE launched a call for proposals focusing on the Green Economy and providing co-financing grants ranging from one to 10 million Euros per project. The selection of the projects is based on a competitive application process and gives priority to high-quality proposals that are mature and ready for execution. The IFE aims to support the creation of employment opportunities in Africa by offering co-financing grants for new investment projects with high job-creation impacts.

During the signing ceremony, IFE Managing Director Raouf Khalaf highlighted the goals behind the facility. Through the Green Economy call, the IFE is keen not only to create job opportunities, but also to support the immense efforts towards achieving the countrys energy supply objectives. As more than 50 per cent of the worlds demand comes from thermal energy, which results in 40 per cent of CO2 emissions, we are committed to join forces to advance climate technologies innovation in order to facilitate a path towards clean and green energy, he said.

After a thorough evaluation of the submitted proposal, CPS demonstrated its ability to deliver a promising climate-friendly technology that relies on renewable energy sources, bringing one of the most promising solutions to achieve decarbonisation.

According to Khalaf, this is also just the beginning, and the IFE intends to continue giving grants to other projects in different sectors. The more projects they receive, the more contributions this means for the Egyptian economy, he said.

This is the first grantee signing ceremony that we have contracted for the Green Economy call that closed its door for applications on 24 November, said Karim Gad, country focal point for the IFE in Egypt.

This is not the only applicant that has now been transformed into a grantee. It is the first of many yet to come, whether regarding the Green Economy call or the ongoing call for Women in Business.

Gad said that CPS will be able to provide Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with a creative solution that will help in the transition to green and clean energy.

APPLICATIONS: The IFE seeks applications for four types of investment projects.

The first is not-for-profit projects with job-creation impact (not generating revenues). In this case, the IFE covers up to 90 per cent of the investment costs. The second category is not-for-profit projects with job-creation impact (generating revenues), in which the IFE covers up to 75 per cent of costs.

The third category is for-profit projects with broader job-creation impact in which the IFE covers up to 35 per cent of costs. The fourth category is for-profit projects with job-creation impact, in which the IFE covers up to 25 per cent of costs.

The CPS is a category three grantee, meaning that the project will not only create jobs, but will also do so beyond its immediate operations and accordingly was eligible for up to 50 per cent of the investment cost.

The grant amount for this grantee was 2.7 million euros, and this constitutes 50 per cent of the total investment cost of 5.4 million euros, Gad said.

For the Green Economy call, we had around 100 applications, and the total investment cost of all the projects submitted was about LE25 billion. We went through a short-listing process in which we identified all the eligible applicants and those that were not eligible. They were about 20 per cent, with an overall investment cost which supports the economy towards the green transition.

As for why this project was chosen out of the many others, Gad said it was due to its readiness for implementation and its being the most responsive to queries. The applicant submitted clearly readable documents and was very responsive to our demands. We scrutinise the projects submitted to make sure that they really create sustainable jobs, he said.

The call only started in February, and during this time we saw economic turbulence in the country. The only thing that we could do was to study the feasibility of projects in terms of financial feasibility.

Gad said that the shortlisted companies worked in sectors like vocational training, food and beverages, and agriculture. The majority of the applicants had a strong green component in their projects, but really there are also other sectors. There is no rule of thumb here, he said.

CEO of CPS Maged Toqan expressed his excitement about signing the grant agreement. We are thrilled to be the first grantee of the Green Economy call, allocated to set up the first manufacturing facility for solar thermal collectors in the MENA region. With the total investment cost of 5.4 million Euros, local production at the manufacturing facility will enable knowledge transfer while boosting renewable energy deployment and creating jobs across various industry sectors, Toqan said.

Through this innovative technology, we are committed to global endeavours in mitigating climate change and supporting Egypts Sustainable Energy Strategy 2035.

He said that parts of the solar collectors will be manufactured in Egypt under the supervision of Swedish partners and would be exported in the near future after catering for local needs. So, they not only intend to cover needs locally, but also work on covering them regionally and internationally.

We studied market needs and decided to build a solar power plant with our Swedish partners to manufacture solar thermal collectors to meet these needs. If we are to transform Egypt from a developing country to a developed country, we have to invest in such technology, and this is our objective, he said.

Future customers will be in sectors that need such energy generating technology. We have a wide range of customers. First, there is the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company as it will need power to heat its power plants. We are also looking at the industrial sector like food and beverage companies and pharmaceutical and petrochemical manufacturing companies. There are so many clients that need heating applications, and they are the ones that we will be targeting.

THE IFE: The Investing for Employment initiative is an investment mechanism created by KfW Development Bank on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ) as an integral part of the Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation.

Operating under the brand Invest for Jobs, it aims to remove investment barriers and to create good jobs and training opportunities in partner countries in Africa, among them Egypt, Cote dIvoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tunisia. The IFE was launched in 2020 to promote and fund projects in African countries and create more jobs in the private sector.

In November last year, the IFE also launched a call for proposals for projects in Egypt with a focus on women.

Despite the fact that businesses owned or managed by women play an increasingly important role in Egypt, they still have a long way to go. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2022, only one in 50 firms in Egypt has female-majority ownership and only six per cent of firms have top female managers. Women account for less than a quarter of the labour force in Egypt, said a press release issued by the IFE.

The IFE is also intended to support women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses and to make financing available to projects that promote the employment of women. Applications are open to private companies as well as public entities, universities, chambers of commerce, associations, and NGOs.

In a previous interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Gad said that in 2018 the G20 group of countries had launched its own Invest for Jobs initiative to support job creation within partner African countries, including Egypt.

The IFE is looking for mature projects, he said. The projects have to be in a very developed state in terms of feasibility studies or market research, but they do not need to have started owing to obstacles that are beyond the entrepreneur or the applicant concerned, he added.

Among the selection criteria are projects that do not currently have access to funds. This means that IFE money will make a difference in seeing the project come to life, he said, adding that it is also prepared to support projects that the banks may consider to be high risk or require collateral funding that the entrepreneur cannot provide.

Most importantly, the project has to create jobs that are sustainable with the prospect to grow. Funds are usually on a co-financing basis, varying from 25 per cent of the total investment cost to up to 90 per cent of the total.

The IFE aims at lifting the barrier of investment as well as encouraging foreign investment in the Egyptian market, Gad said. Some of these barriers include the absence or deficiency of infrastructure, like the need to enhance energy supplies or roadway systems.

Other financial institutions may only grant loans in the local currency or ask applicants for large interest payments or guarantees that could be more than the cost of the whole project.

Last year, we had two calls running in parallel, the Women in Business Call and the Regional Call, in which Egypt is one of the seven countries contributing. We are looking very positively towards the Egyptian market, and we will have a very positive outlook on continuing strongly in the Egyptian market in terms of launching future calls and having more and more projects that we can have signing ceremonies for and potentially successful grantees who can help enrich the labour force, Gad said.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 January, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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The ongoing Beit Al-Aarab exhibition of crafts in Cairo is revealing the diversity and evolution in culture across a large number of Arab countries

With a big smile and amused eyes, Deema Al-Shaiya, a Saudi woman in her late 20s, made an understanding nod to curious questions over the perfectly crafted hand-made dolls that were put on display in the Saudi pavilion of Beit Al-Aarab (House of Arabs), an exhibition for traditional crafts from all across the Arab countries that are being hosted in Cairo 5-11 January.

I know it comes as a surprise to many that we have dolls on display in our pavilion because of the assumption that in the collective Saudi culture, it is prohibited to have dolls, but this is not entirely true, she said.

The traditional wisdom around Saudi culture is that dolls, statues or drawings of humans, birds or animals are incompatible with Islam. This is generally believed to be a cultural heritage from early Islam over 15 centuries ago, which replaced beliefs in the land now known as Saudi Arabia that included statue worship.

Not anymore, according to Al-Shayaa.

The crocheted and stuffed dolls on display, priced at nearly EGP 1,500, were made by Saudi girls and women trained in programmes sponsored by the Saudi Social Development Bank to foster financial independence for women through home-work opportunities.

Things are changing in Saudi Arabia and what we have on display here in Beit Al-Aarab reflects the evolution of a vibrant and young society moving forward, she said.

Al-Shaya herself, as chair of communications of the initiatives of the Saudi Social Development Bank, is emblematic of the changes that Saudi society is going through.

Fashionably veiled, Al-Shayaa has studied business in the UK and fashion design in Saudi Arabia. I know it often comes as a surprise to many people when I say it, but in fact, we do not just have fashion schools in Saudi Arabia today, but we actually have a fashion commission [set out in 2020] that is there to enable the thriving fashion industry in the Saudi Arabia of today, she said.

This said, Al-Shaya argued that the evolution that the society is going through is not coming at the expense of a dedicated commitment to heritage conservation. Sitting next to Al-Shaya is Khala Badriya (Aunt Badriya) in the traditional Bedouin Saudi outfit that only reveals her firmly kohl-defined black eyes working on an old weaving instrument to make Al-Sadoue, a traditional small carpet that is hung on walls for decoration in some houses.

We are sticking to the old, and we are bringing in the new; we are also giving a touch of modernity to some old crafts. This what we are here for; we want to show our diverse and evolving culture, she said.

Diverse and evolving culture seemed to be the dominating theme of the most participant in this first-ever all-encompassing Arab crafts exhibition that is co-organised by the Ministry of Social Solidarity in Egypt and the League of Arab States and hosted at Al-Kouba Palace in the east of Cairo.

In the exhibitions largest pavilion, dedicated to Egyptian participants, Hagar Adam and Mahmoud Boughdadi showed their skill in giving a new lease of life to the saaidi deka (a traditional wooden bench that is often put at the entrance of houses in Upper Egypt). What was formerly a less-than-fashionable piece of furniture was turned into a modern and colourful piece of furniture that could serve as a coffee corner in any modern house.

This sounds like a cliche but what we have learned through experience is that accommodating modernity is the only way to give a new lease on life to many things that could just get outdated, Adam said.

Also on display in the Egyptian pavilion are items showing the evolution of hand-crafted textiles from Akhmim and Nagada, in Upper Egypt, into fashionable outfits or decorative items for the home. Participating artisans said they were getting a lot of attention from visitors for their crafts that have been worked in different colours, sizes and designs, showing the flexibility of these traditional crafts and the ability of these artisans to match the modern taste.

In the Sudanese pavilion, Rim Abdel-Fattah is showing her ability to play around with the traditional intense Sudanese scents and henna (mehandi) drawings to give them a modern imprint that interests non-Sudanese women.

I got a lot of attention for my products from visitors to this pavilion, and I think I had a chance to show something new about our Sudanese culture, but I also had a chance to network in pursuit of some new markets for our products, Abdel-Fattah said.

Networking and marketing were named by many participants in Beit Al-Aarab as two definite advantages of the gathering.

Participants also spoke of the exhibition as an opportunity to be introduced to the shared elements of culture.

Heba Zourikat, who displayed table coasters, bookmarks and make-up bags knitted in the traditional Jordanian colourful petit points stitches, said she was impressed by the similarities this traditional Jordanian and Palestinian needlework has with the almost identical crafts on display in the exhibition from Sinai.

So it is about networking, but it is also about finding grounds for possible shared opportunities, Zurikat said.

Of the 22 member states of the Arab League, 12 are present in the exhibition. In her remarks at the event's opening, Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine El-Qabbaj said the exhibition offered an opportunity for sharing experiences among participants who are key contributors to the preservation of Arab cultural heritage.

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Thailand has withdrawn its decision to request COVID-19 vaccine proof from visitors -- only days after announcing new rules for all international arrivals.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand on Saturday announced new rules for all international travelers since China dropped its mandatory quarantine requirements and reopened its borders following three years of a strict zero-COVID policy.

But Anutin Charnvirakul, Thailand's health minister, said a panel of health experts agreed to withdraw the new rule because global immunization of the virus was sufficient and that checking for "proof of vaccination" would be "inconvenient," Reuters reported.

The now-scrapped rule had stated all international arrivals to Thailand would have to show proof of at least two COVID-19 vaccinations or a doctor's note of exemption from vaccination or evidence of a recent recovery. Adequate medical insurance, however, is still required if the passenger's next destination requires a pre-entry COVID test.

 Reopening of Tourism Welcome

Thai government officials welcomed Chinese tourists who flew into Thailand from China at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport Monday, the first since Beijing relaxed its pandemic restrictions.

Thailand's economy relies heavily on tourism and returning tourists, especially from China, are a welcome sight for Thai businesses. In 2019, Thailand saw 40 million international arrivals -- 11 million were from China alone. But amid the pandemic-fueled global economic downturn, the kingdom saw a 6 percent decline in its GDP in 2020.

In 2022, Thailand welcomed more than 11 million tourists, still way below pre-pandemic figures, but enough to contribute to a 2.4 percent year-on-year rise in Thailand's GDP in the first half of 2022. Tourism Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn said, "we expect Chinese tourists to come to Thailand after Chinese New Year."

 Lunar New Year

The Lunar New Year is a major holiday in Asia that begins Jan. 22 this year, and usually sees masses of Chinese tourists travel worldwide. However, Gary Bowerman, a tourism expert based in Kuala Lumpur, said that the resumption of China's outbound travel is expected to be "gradual."

"The primary factor is flights. Because China has heavily restricted its international airspace there are currently very few flights in and out of China, and ticket prices are therefore exceptionally high," Bowerman told VOA. "Airlines will be in discussions with the Civil Aviation of Administration to restore route access, but this may be a gradual process."
Russia and Ukraine swapped 50 captured soldiers each Sunday in a deal that both sides welcomed even as they fought one another in eastern Ukraine.

Russia's defense ministry said the 50 returned Russian soldiers would be flown to Moscow for medical and psychological rehabilitation.

"On Jan. 8, as a result of negotiations, 50 Russian servicemen, who were in mortal danger while in captivity, were returned from the territory controlled by the Kyiv regime," it said in a statement.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would be replaced by his younger sister Kim Yo-jong if he were to die suddenly, recent analysis from the U.S. suggests.

According to Sue Mi Terry at the Wilson Center's Asia Program, Kim Yo-jong is already her brother's second-in-command and has been exercising real power since 2014. She is also a member of the Workers Party's State Affairs Commission.

Terry told a webinar hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies that Kim Yo-jong "today is still the most logical successor [if] something happened to Kim Jong-un."

Kim Jong-un's oldest child would only become leader if Kim dies once the child reaches adulthood, and that will not happen until at least 2030.

Kim Yo-jong has made headlines with her overheated rhetoric and often acts as her brother's attack dog in dealings with South Korea and the U.S.
South Africa: No new COVID-19 restrictions as new Omicron sub-variant detected

Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, says for now, government will not impose any internal restrictions as a result of the emergence of a newly found sub-variant of the COVID-19 virus.

The first instance of the XBB.1.5 sub-variant was detected in South Africa in December and reported earlier this month.

Phaahla explained that XBB.1.5 is a sub-variant of the globally dominant Omicron variant which presents less severe illness.

We have consulted our Ministerial Advisory Committees and also the World Health Organisation  and in both cases the advice that we have received is that there is no need to impose any travel restrictions on any country, including the Peoples Republic of China and that we also do not need to re-impose any restrictions internally in our country.

The XBB.1.5 has been detected more in the [United States of America] where its prevalence is rated at about 6.8% of the circulating sub-variants. While the various sub-variants have shown different levels of transmissibility, there has thus been no marked change in severity of illness, he said.

The Minister added that vaccinations have put South Africa in a strong position to fight COVID-19 infections and reported no major effects on the healthcare system since the detection of the variant.

We believe that the fact that the dominant variant of concern in China and in the world remains the Omicron and that the immunity of South Africans from vaccination and natural immunity is still very strong, puts us in a better position and in less risk.

[That] is why we have not seen up to this stage any major changes in our epidemiology in terms of the rates of infections, also in terms of admissions to hospitals and even the rate of fatalities from the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

The Minister said although no major restrictions will be imposed, the Health Ministry will be taking precautionary measures including:

Encouraging increased testing on people who experience the known COVID-19 symptoms

Encouraging those experiencing symptoms to go to health facilities

Advising healthcare practitioners to order antigen or PCR tests to be done on symptomatic persons

Every positive COVID-19 test to be sent to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) for genomic sequencing

Increasing surveillance and waste water testing by the NICD, including that of aircrafts coming from countries with a high COVID-19 burden

Reinvigorating the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign

The measures were presented to the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC), chaired by President Cyril Ramaphosa, and have been approved.

Phaahla emphasised that getting the jab remains the best way to build up immunity against COVID-19.

Our vaccination ministerial advisory committee will soon make adjustments to qualification for booster [vaccination] per age and also the timelines between the boosters. The remake is looking at including in the boosters not only the people over 50 but also all adults over 18 years of age, he said.

Vaccination remains the bedrock to protect against any variant or sub-variant of COVID-19 and not travel restrictions or any new restrictions at this stage, he said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-01-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Samsung Engineering has joined hands with a Taiwanese company to build the world's biggest ethylene plant in Qatar.

Samsung Engineering on Monday said the consortium with Taiwanese builder CTCI won a contract to build the W3.1 trillion plant scheduled for completion in 2026 (US$1=W1,244).

The plant 80 km north of Doha will be capable of producing 2.08 million tons of ethylene a year.

A Samsung Engineering staffer said, "Qatar wants to diversify its industrial structure away from gas and crude oil. We'll make a success of the project because we have years of experience with such projects in the Middle East."
Seoul will host the Econometric Society World Congress, one of the most prestigious international conferences in the field of economics, in August 2025.

More than 10,000 economists including Nobel Prize winners are expected to attend.

The Econometric Society selected Korea as the host at a meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday.

Since the first congress in Rome in 1965, the ESWC has been held every five years in a major city around the world. The latest congress in 2020 hosted by Milan had to be moved online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Korea was competing with four or five other countries, and President Yoon Suk-yeol wrote a letter supporting the bid.

Hosting duties will be shared by the Korean Economic Association and Korea, Seoul National, Sogang, Sungkyunkwan and Yonsei universities.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 10, 2023 - 11:22 | All, World, Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed Monday to work together to realize a successful Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima later this year.

During their talks in Paris, Kishida and Macron also confirmed the need for the G-7 to maintain strict sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine since February 2022 and continue to support Kyiv, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

Kishida visited France on the first leg of his weeklong tour of G-7 countries that includes Italy, Britain, Canada and the United States, to prepare for the summit in May in the western Japan city, which was devastated by a U.S. atomic bomb in August 1945.

Facing severe security challenges, such as Moscow's aggression toward Ukraine and China's intensifying military activities in the Indo-Pacific region, the two leaders decided to hold bilateral security talks involving their foreign and defense ministers early this year.

As a lawmaker representing Hiroshima, Kishida has expressed eagerness to pitch his vision of a world without nuclear weapons at the G-7 gathering, with fears mounting that Russia may use a nuclear device against Ukraine.

Among the G-7 members, France is a nuclear power, alongside the United States and Britain.

Kishida told Macron that he will demonstrate the G-7's "strong commitment" to rejecting attempts to change the status quo by force, threats or the use of nuclear arms, as well as maintaining a free and open international order, a Foreign Ministry official said.

The official quoted Macron as telling Kishida that he will "collaborate for the success" of the G-7 summit.

Apparently bearing in mind China's growing military clout in the region, Kishida and Macron also affirmed the significance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Tensions between Communist-led China and self-ruled democratic Taiwan have been escalating, especially after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the third-highest-ranking official in the nation, visited the island in early August.

Concerns have been increasing that Taiwan may become a military flashpoint in the Asia-Pacific region, with Beijing regarding the island as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 as the result of a civil war.

Kishida and Macron agreed to continue promoting joint drills involving Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the French military, which have been conducted in the East China Sea.

France has strategic interest in the region as it has overseas territories in the area, including New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Japan has operated a consular office in Noumea, the capital of the territory, since January. Macron hailed the opening of the office.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 10, 2023 - 14:45 | All, World, Japan

Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Monday Japan will further strengthen relations with Brazil under the presidency of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who became the nation's leader at the start of this year.

During a meeting with his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira in Brasilia, Hayashi criticized Sunday's riots committed by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro in the capital city, while expressing his support for the "democratically elected" new leader, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Hayashi was quoted by the ministry as saying that the two countries' economic relations have "big potential," especially in the fields of food, energy and mineral resources, of which Brazil is a major producer.

Hayashi said he expects that Brazil's government under Lula, who was sworn in as the president on Jan. 1, will improve aspects of the country's business environment, in areas such as tax systems, so that Japanese firms can invest further in the South American nation, the ministry said.

The talks came a day after demonstrators backing Bolsonaro, the predecessor of Lula, stormed legislative buildings, the presidential office and the Supreme Court in Brasilia.

Hayashi said that threatening democracy through violence should not be tolerated, according to the ministry.

Vieira, who took office earlier this month following the inauguration of Lula, said Brazil will further promote friendly relations with Japan even after the change of power in his nation, the ministry said.

The two top diplomats agreed to cooperate in maintaining and reinforcing the rules-based, free and open international order, according to the ministry, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine that escalated in February continues.

As both Japan and Brazil take nonpermanent seats at the U.N. Security Council in 2023, Hayashi and Vieira also affirmed the two governments' willingness to work together, including as members of the "Group of Four" that also involves Germany and India.

The four countries have long aspired to become permanent members of the 15-member council through its reform. Currently, the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia, all of which are nuclear powers, occupy the five permanent seats.

Hayashi extended an invitation to Lula and Vieira to Japan, while the Brazilian foreign minister invited Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Brazil, according to the ministry.

Hayashi is on his 12-day trip through Sunday to the Americas and has also visited Mexico and Ecuador so far.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 11, 2023 - 03:17 | All, World, Japan

The leaders of Japan and Italy agreed Tuesday on the launch of bilateral security talks to boost defense cooperation, amid Russia's prolonged war against Ukraine and China's growing military clout in the Indo-Pacific.

The idea of the talks involving the two countries' foreign and defense officials was discussed during the first in-person meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni held in Rome.

Japan has held so-called two-plus-two ministerial security talks with the United States, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Russia and the Philippines.

Kishida told a press conference after the summit that Tokyo and Rome have decided to start the security meeting "following progress in bilateral security and defense collaboration."

He also referred to a plan revealed last month of Japan, Italy and Britain jointly developing a next-generation fighter jet by 2035. The three-way project would be Japan's first defense equipment development with nations other than the United States, its security ally.

The two leaders also found each other firm in rejecting attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo by force and nuclear blackmailing, according to Kishida, in a veiled reference to Russian threats to use nuclear weapons in its war with Ukraine.

The leaders confirmed the need for the Group of Seven industrialized nations to show a "strong resolve" to maintain the rules-based, free and open international order, Kishida added.

Japan, Italy and other G-7 countries have slapped economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Kishida is on a weeklong trip to G-7 nations in Europe and North America. After visiting France and Italy, he is set to head for Britain, Canada and the United States to meet with their leaders and lay the groundwork for a G-7 summit to be held in Hiroshima in May.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 9, 2023 - 18:35 | World, All

China conducted Sunday combat exercises in waters and airspace around Taiwan, according to the country's military, with the self-ruled democratic island saying the following day that four Chinese warships and 57 military aircraft were detected.

The major drills focused on land strikes and sea assaults follow similar large-scale exercises near Taiwan in late December.

They were aimed at resolutely countering "the collusive and provocative acts of the external forces and the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces," said Army Senior Col. Shi Yi, the spokesman for the People's Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command covering the Taiwan Strait.

The island's Defense Ministry said Monday 28 of the 57 aircraft detected in the 24 hours through 6 a.m. had crossed the median line between the mainland and Taiwan, a boundary that had been respected by both sides for decades, and entered the territory's air defense identification zone.

The ministry said the Taiwan military has tasked its aircraft, vessels and land-based missile systems to respond to these activities.

On Monday, a delegation of German lawmakers arrived in Taiwan for a four-day visit, during which they are scheduled to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen, according to German news agency dpa.

Mainland China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 due to a civil war. Beijing endeavors to bring the island into its fold, by force if necessary.

Since last August when then U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island, China has been increasing its military pressure on Taiwan. It opposes high-level visits to the territory, saying they run counter to the "one-China" principle.

Related coverage:

China holds major drills near Taiwan after U.S. enacts defense act
KYODO NEWS - Jan 10, 2023 - 07:58 | All, World

Thousands of demonstrators backing former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed parliament buildings, the presidential office and the supreme court in Brasilia on Sunday, several days after his successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched his government.

Many of the rioters did not accept the defeat of Bolsonaro in October's presidential election and gathered in the Brazilian capital after responding to calls shared via social media.

According to local media, some 4,000 people were involved in the incidents, with some turning violent and damaging the facilities. Police subdued the protests after four hours and arrested some 300 people.

Some of the demonstrators destroyed the chair of the president in the presidential office, broke into the plenary chamber of parliament by breaking glass and allegedly stole confidential documents, the local reports said.

On Monday, about 1,200 supporters of Bolsonaro were detained near the country's Army headquarters in Brasilia, they said.

Lula, who launched his government on New Year's Day, condemned the incidents. Bolsonaro also criticized the demonstrators, saying in a tweet that they "escaped the rules."

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a tweet, "I condemn today's assault on Brazil's democratic institutions. The will of the Brazilian people and the country's institutions must be respected."

U.S. President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the "attacks on Brazil's democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power" in a joint statement.

Bolsonaro had refused to accept the result of last year's election, claiming rigged polls and stoking divisions as his supporters staged protest rallies, drawing a parallel with former U.S. President Donald Trump's response to defeat in his 2020 presidential bid.

Some of Trump's supporters, including those known as election deniers, stormed the congressional building in Washington two years ago to disrupt the procedure of final confirmation of Biden's election as president.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 10, 2023 - 12:49 | All, World, Japan

Japan and the United States agreed Monday to strengthen bilateral cooperation on developing next-generation nuclear reactors during ministerial talks on energy.

Japanese industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm also agreed during their meeting that Tokyo and Washington will work more closely on securing liquefied natural gas and other energy security matters.

According to a joint statement, Japan and the United States will step up cooperation in developing and constructing next-generation advanced reactors, including small modular reactors, "within each country and third countries."

The two governments already revealed a plan in October to work together on helping Ghana introduce small nuclear reactor technology.

Speaking to reporters after Monday's talks, Nishimura said the U.S. side reacted positively to the recent change of Japan's policy to boost decarbonization.

The Japanese government said last month in a change from its post-Fukushima crisis nuclear energy policy that it may renew old nuclear reactors if necessary. It will also extend the operation limit of aging nuclear reactors beyond 60 years.

"We will explore opportunities for collaboration (with the United States) to make full use of existing reactors and create stronger supply chains," said Nishimura, who serves as minister of economy, trade and industry.

The two countries are expected to reaffirm the cooperation when Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Joe Biden meet in Washington on Friday.

The statement said the two governments agreed to maintain a consistent regulatory environment for all energy sources in response to the impact of Russia's war on Ukraine.

U.S. authorities have given final regulatory approval for more than doubling its current natural gas export capacity.

Nishimura and Granholm agreed on the importance of the Group of Seven industrialized nations taking concerted efforts this year under Japan's G-7 presidency to expedite clean energy transitions and ensure energy security consistent with the achievement of net-zero emissions by 2050, a target set in the U.N. climate action road map.
KYODO NEWS - Jan 10, 2023 - 23:51 | World, Coronavirus, All, Japan

China has suspended issuing visas to Japanese and South Korean travelers, its embassies in Tokyo and Seoul said Tuesday, after it threatened to take countermeasures against countries that introduced tighter COVID-19 entry restrictions on visitors from China.

The Chinese Embassy in Tokyo, on its website, said the issuance of ordinary visas for Japanese citizens was being suspended from Tuesday and the timing of its resumption will be notified later.

Japan's Foreign Ministry filed a protest with the Chinese Embassy over the measure and demanded it be revoked, with a Japanese official criticizing China for being "extremely selfish."

Earlier Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy in Seoul said the issuance of short-term visas for South Korean citizens to China for purposes such as business, tourism, medical treatment and transit has been halted as instructed by the Chinese government.

It said the visa suspension would remain in effect "until discriminatory entry restrictions against China are lifted."

A South Korean Foreign Ministry official expressed regret over the measure.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a press conference Tuesday in Beijing that China "firmly opposes the discriminatory entry restrictions in disregard of scientific facts" adopted by some countries and is taking reciprocal measures.

The spokesman called on relevant countries not to "engage in political manipulation" and "affect normal personnel exchanges and cooperation" between China and those nations.

Besides Japan and South Korea, several other countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Italy and Spain, have also stepped up border controls for travelers from China.

As China reopened its borders and abandoned quarantine measures on Sunday, Japan further tightened its border controls for travelers there, requiring proof of a negative COVID-19 test before departure amid a surge of cases and fears that a new virus variant could emerge in the neighboring country.

From Thursday, Japan will include travelers flying directly from Macau to rules on entries from China, which require showing proof of a negative COVID test pre-departure.

A travel agency in Tokyo said it could not apply for almost any type of Chinese visa after being notified by the Chinese Visa Application Service Center of the suspension. Reservations for visa procedures became unavailable Tuesday through the center's website.

Japanese students who applied for visas to study in China were also informed Tuesday that visa issuance has been halted.

The latest step is expected to affect Japanese business operations in China, with workers unable to travel from Japan.

Japanese businessmen in Shanghai expressed concerns that the visa suspension could lead to reduced chances for sales negotiations and a halt in personnel reshuffles.

An executive of a chemical manufacturing company in Japan called the measure "troublesome" even though Chinese staff can manage local operations without personnel traveling from Japan.

Another manufacturing company official in Japan said, "We have to reschedule our planned business trips" to China.

On Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang expressed concerns about South Korea's tighter border controls for arrivals from China during telephone talks with his South Korean counterpart Park Jin and voiced hope that Seoul would uphold "an objective and scientific attitude," according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Related coverage:

Japan to add Macau to negative COVID test rules for China entries

Japan starts requiring negative COVID tests for travelers from China
Tourists visit the Angkor Wat in the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia on Dec. 17, 2022. (Photo by Van Pov/Xinhua)

As 2023 marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and China, the tourism ministry will launch a campaign titled "Cambodia-China Good Friends" to attract Chinese tourists to Cambodia in 2023.

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism (MoT) said Thursday that the kingdom is ready to welcome the return of Chinese investors and tourists, saying that their presence is vital for its tourism and socioeconomic development.

"Cambodia is pleased to welcome the return of Chinese tourists as well as other international tourists," the ministry's press statement said. "Chinese investors and tourists importantly contribute to the growth of tourism and the socio-economic development of Cambodia."

The statement added that China's reopening of its borders from Jan. 8 will give a big boost to the tourism sector in all countries, as China is a huge source of potential tourists for the world.

Tourists visit the Angkor Wat in the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia on Dec. 17, 2022. (Photo by Van Pov/Xinhua)

According to the statement, prior to the pandemic era, Cambodia received 2.36 million Chinese tourists in 2019, generating about 1.8 billion U.S. dollars in revenue, while Chinese investment in tourism-related sectors represented more than 50 percent of the kingdom's total foreign direct investment (FDI).

"With the upcoming return of Chinese tourists, Cambodia is expected to receive around 7 million international tourists by 2025," the statement said, highlighting that the kingdom attracted some 2.2 million international tourists in 2022.

As 2023 marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and China, the MoT will launch a campaign titled "Cambodia-China Good Friends" to attract Chinese tourists to Cambodia in 2023, according to the statement.

Tourists visit the Angkor Wat in the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia on Dec. 17, 2022. (Photo by Van Pov/Xinhua)

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said Monday that China's upcoming reopening of its borders will revitalize the kingdom's economy and tourism, saying that Cambodia and other countries alike are looking forward to seeing the return of Chinese tourists.

"We hope to welcome about 2 million Chinese tourists again," he said in a public speech.

Cambodia is famous for its three world heritage sites, namely the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province, the Preah Vihear Temple in Preah Vihear province, and the Sambor Prei Kuk Archaeological Site in Kampong Thom province.

Besides, it has a 450-km pristine coastline stretching across four southwestern provinces.
Press Release

January 10, 2023 OPENING STATEMENT

Senate President Pro Tempore

Loren B. Legarda Committee on Culture and the Arts

Senator G.T. Pecson Room and via Cisco Webex

10 January 2023, 10:30 A.M. Isang luntiang umaga po sa ating lahat! Kulturang Pilipino - isang konsepto na paulit-ulit na hinuhubog at binubuo; isang aspeto ng ating pagkakakilanlan na buhay at ating inaalagaan. Sa kabila ng pagkakaiba-iba ng ating relihiyon, kasarian, etnisidad, at uring panlipunan, naniniwala ako na mayroon tayong karaniwang istorya na nagpapahiwatig kung sino tayo bilang tao, at bilang nasyon. I believe that culture is the narrative that binds us as a nation, and it is something we owe to our ancestors and heroes who built the Philippines as it is today. It is important to give meaning to what being a Filipino means. It is also important to protect our way of living and our heritage that we will also pass on to our children, and our children's children. This is why for the past decades of public service; we have always advocated for the protection of cultural communities and practices. We have seen this in the weaving centers, the galleries, cultural performances, our consistent support to our cultural agencies, and other organizations that seek to preserve, protect, and enrich our country's material and non-material customs. All of which must be supported with institutional and legal strength. Today, we seek to adjust and adapt to the challenges of the modern times and respond to the needs of our evolving identity. It has been more than a decade since we passed RA 10066 or the "National Cultural Heritage act of 2009." We are now revisiting this law with the integration of cultural mapping at all levels of our government. For this reason, we filed Senate Bill No. 622, Senator Binay's Senate Bill No. 117, Senator Revilla's Senate Bill No. 1094, and House Bill No. 5110 of Representatives De Venecia, Villafuerte, Horibata, Enciso, et. al. amending the said act. We filed Senate Bill No. 624 - Establishing the Linangan ng Likhang-Bayan (Institute for Living Traditions) to serve as an important center and laboratory for the protection, promotion, and development of Philippine communal traditions. We also filed Senate Bill No. 242, or the Cultural Education Program Act seeking to develop, integrate, and institutionalize cultural education across our educational system. We believe that these steps are crucial in our goal of harmonizing our diverse identities and building a nation that is rich and proud which is why I thank all of you for being here today. Now, I would like to request our Committee Secretary, Mr. Joey Tunac, to acknowledge our guests and resource persons.
A girl takes part in the annual "Ashenda" festival in Mekelle town, Tigray, northern Ethiopia, Aug. 22, 2017. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

More than 3.3 million people in Ethiopia's conflict-affected northernmost Tigray region have received humanitarian aid since early October, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- More than 3.3 million people in Ethiopia's conflict-affected northernmost Tigray region have received humanitarian aid since early October, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks to reporters and calls for an end to hostilities in Ethiopia's Tigray region at the UN headquarters in New York, on Oct. 17, 2022. (Xinhua/Xie E)

The OCHA, in its latest Ethiopia situation update issued Thursday, said humanitarian partners have assisted more than 3.3 million people, constituting 61 percent of the total planned caseload of 5.4 million people in Tigray under the second round of food distribution, which was launched in early October and continued as of the end of December.

It said humanitarian supplies, mainly food, continued to be transported into Tigray via four corridors through neighboring Afar and Amhara regions.

Locals attend the annual "Ashenda" festival in Mekelle town, Tigray, northern Ethiopia, Aug. 22, 2017. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Humanitarian aid is flowing into the Tigray region following the peace agreement that was signed between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in early November 2022.

The deal includes restoring law and order, restoring services and unhindered access to humanitarian supplies.

Telecommunications and electricity supply have been restored and improving as infrastructure restoration works continue, including water supply systems in several towns, the OCHA said.

Amid the improving security situation, Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopia's flag carrier, resumed its commercial passenger flights into two major cities across the region, including the regional capital of Mekele. 
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, many German companies are tapping into the Chinese market, and foresee long-term success, given China's promising economic prospects and sound business environment.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese yuan has strengthened against the U.S. dollar since the beginning of 2023 as China's optimized COVID response helped sharpen investors' favor of yuan assets.

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 654 pips to 6.7611 against the U.S. dollar Tuesday, on top of the 647-pip appreciation on the previous day, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

Industry data showed the yuan rose over 6 percent against the greenback since last November.

"Faster-than-expected economic recovery is a key driver behind the yuan's recent strengths, for it made yuan-denominated assets more investment-worthy," said Li Liuyang, a forex analyst with investment bank CICC.

Foreign capital inflow increased as global investors bet on China's growth, backing the yuan further, noted analysts. Industry data showed that net inflow into the A-shares within the first week of trading this year topped 20 billion yuan (about 3 billion U.S. dollars).

China's efforts to better coordinate anti-virus efforts and economic development heartened investors. In its latest move, the country downgraded its management of COVID-19 from Jan. 8 to treat it as a Class B infectious disease rather than a more severe Class A one, enabling quarantine-free global travel and easing other curbs.

Across-the-board signs of heightened activities followed. More than 50 million people traveled within China during the New Year holiday. On Jan. 1, 10,640 cinemas opened for business nationwide, a new high in nearly ten months. The number of passenger trips during this year's Spring Festival travel rush is expected to surge 99.5 percent year on year to nearly 2.1 billion.

Also, exporters tend to make forex settlements as they prepare for the Spring Festival holiday, which analysts say is another cause for the yuan's recent trend.

Analysts expect the yuan exchange rate to see two-way fluctuations for the better part of 2023, as foreseeable factors could sway the yuan in both directions.

The rate could be affected by domestic policies, the strength of the greenback, or the status of cross-border settlements, Li said. Weakening external demand could make foreign trade surplus a lesser mainstay of the yuan, showed a Peking University report.

Others believe in the yuan's long-term strength. Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, told Xinhua in an interview that the rebounding yuan since the end of last year showed global confidence in China's economic expansion, and it will gradually strengthen as an overall trend.

"A strong economy renders a strong currency," said Guan Tao, an economist with BOC International. 
BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- In response to questions of public concern regarding China's fight against COVID-19, Xinhua reporters have interviewed experts with the State Council inter-agency task force for COVID-19 response to provide answers.

Q1: Will XBB subvariants cause large-scale outbreaks?

In the last three months, imports of novel coronavirus subvariants BF.7, BQ.1 and XBB were detected in China, where the BQ.1 and XBB subvariants have not developed into dominant subvariants, said Xu Wenbo, director of the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC).

Currently, the BA.5.2 and BF.7 subvariants are the two dominant strains in China, according to the China CDC. Neutralizing antibodies in individuals infected with the two strains will remain at a relatively high level for about three months and are expected to provide people with effective cross-protection against other Omicron subvariants, including XBB.

The possibility of a large-scale epidemic caused by the Omicron XBB subvariant is low in the short term in China, noted the China CDC.

Responding to online reports of vomiting and diarrhea caused by XBB, Li Tongzeng, a chief doctor with the department of respiratory and infectious diseases at Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University, said symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea may occur in some people infected with the novel coronavirus and will usually ease in one to three days.

The XBB strain has not been found to be more likely to invade the cardiovascular and digestive systems, according to Li.

Q2: Is it necessary to get COVID vaccine jabs after being infected?

According to Wang Huaqing, chief expert for the immunization program of the China CDC, the immunity generated from infection is less potent than the immunity jointly generated from infection and vaccination, so it is advised to get vaccinated.

The interval between one's contraction of the novel coronavirus and vaccination against the virus -- shall be not less than six months -- Wang said.

The expert called on individuals who have met the conditions for COVID-19 vaccination to receive booster vaccine jabs in accordance with the procedures, in order to gain better protection.

Q3: How to properly monitor one's blood oxygen?

Wang Guiqiang, director of the infectious disease department of Peking University First Hospital, said the blood oxygen levels of high-risk groups, namely the elderly and people with underlying diseases, require extra attention.

Xu Kaifeng, deputy head of the department of respiratory and critical diseases of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, said patients with respiratory diseases should pay extra attention to whether their blood oxygen saturation had significantly fallen, as a saturation rate of under 90 percent might suggest serious lung damage, in which case the patients must seek treatment immediately.

A number of localities in China are currently offering finger-clip oximeters to the elderly and other groups of people who are more vulnerable to COVID-19, as well as guiding them to test their blood oxygen saturation at home.

A circular recently issued by the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19 asked local authorities to equip primary-level medical and elderly-care facilities with adequate devices including oxygen packs, oxygen cylinders and oxygenators, so that outpatients, patients at home and elderly people at elderly care facilities, could receive oxygen-related treatment in time.

Q4: Why would some patients retest positive for COVID-19 after recovering from the coronavirus?

Retesting positive for COVID-19 after recovering is different from being infected with the coronavirus for a second time, said Wang Guiqiang with Peking University First Hospital.

The repetition of positive test results is mostly caused by test methods and intermittent detoxification of the body, and whether one has really retested positive or not should be verified by nucleic acid tests, he said.

Most of those who retested positive for COVID-19 had no symptoms and only a few would have residual symptoms such as coughs, Wang added.

Q5: How to ensure the supply of medical resources in rural areas?

Chinese authorities recently released a work plan to step up COVID-19 response in rural areas, ordering localities to ensure the smooth operation of rural COVID-19 response systems, treatment of severe cases, and better protection for the elderly and children against the virus.

It asked local authorities to provide multi-level medical and healthcare services according to the conditions of patients, in order to protect the safety and health of rural residents to the greatest extent possible.

Nie Chunlei, head of the Department of Primary Health under the National Health Commission, said the State Council inter-agency task force for COVID-19 response had established a system for coordinating the supply of drugs and other key medical supplies on a daily basis.

Currently, priority is given to the supply of medicine in rural areas, in particular rural medical institutions, Nie said.

"Competent departments have rolled out policies to help relevant enterprises expand capacity, accelerate drug production, and better coordinate supply and demand," Nie said, adding that the use of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the combination of Chinese and Western medicine, are encouraged to help community-based medical institutions better meet the needs of patients.

Q6: Will the passenger flow during the Spring Festival holiday travel rush lead to the large-scale spread of COVID-19?

"The virus transmission in 'small places' now is not as rapid as that in big cities, but the spread there lasts long," said Zhang Wenhong, head of the Center for Infectious Diseases with the Shanghai-based Huashan Hospital of Fudan University. He expected places with passenger inflows to see a surge of inbound infections.

Mao Dezhi, deputy head of the Department of Rural Cooperative Economy under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, urged people who are returning to the rural areas to take personal protection steps on the journey, to wear masks during their initial contact with the elderly and children, and to avoid crowds in the rural areas.

Moreover, Mao urged rural residents to actively participate in local COVID-19 response and help build a stronger community-based COVID-19 control network.

"If necessary, please provide timely help to your neighbors by sharing your spare drugs and medical supplies," Mao said. 
* Deep space exploration deserves a mention. More space observatories are expected to be deployed this year.

* This year, a number of big science installations will be put to use, promising to propel new discoveries in physics.

* More breakthroughs are expected in the research of multivalent vaccines, nasal-spray vaccines and small molecules in targeted therapies, which will further empower human to fight against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

* China will actively guide the implementation of the goals and targets in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and ensure that relevant decisions are fully implemented, said Huang Runqiu, COP15 president and China's minister of ecology and environment.

by Xinhua writers Zhang Yisheng, Feng Yasong, Zhang Ying

BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- A number of important sci-tech events deserve a place on the calendar of 2023.

The exploration of the Moon will become a hot topic, with various deep space projects on the agenda. Many large scientific facilities will soon be put into operation to help basic research, while a CRISPR gene-editing therapy might be delivered to patients.

With so much going on, Xinhua outlined the emerging influential sci-tech events that should be followed this year.

Image released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Dec. 4, 2020 shows China's national flag unfurled from the Chang'e-5 probe on the moon. (CNSA/Handout via Xinhua)

HIGHLIGHTS IN SPACE EXPLORATION

In 2023, countries will continue to carry on the momentum of space exploration, with the Moon being a priority.

Russia plans to launch its Luna-25 moon probe in 2023, whose main tasks include testing soft landing technologies and conducting contact studies of the lunar south pole.

Chandrayaan-3, India's third lunar exploration mission, is scheduled to be launched this year after several delays. The country aims to put a lander and rover in the highlands near the south pole of the Moon.

A Japanese company's HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander is planning a soft landing on the Earth's nearest celestial neighbor in April.

U.S. space agency NASA's small satellite Lunar Flashlight will soon enter into orbit around the Moon. It will use near-infrared lasers and an onboard spectrometer to map ice in permanently shadowed regions near the Moon's south pole.

Deep space exploration also deserves a mention.

The European Space Agency (ESA)'s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, also called JUICE, is scheduled to be launched in April. The science goals will focus on Jupiter and its system, with particular emphasis on Ganymede as a planetary body and potential habitat.

NASA continues its Psyche asteroid mission, targeting a launch period opening in October. The agency selected Psyche to investigate a previously unexplored metal-rich asteroid of the same name. The spacecraft will arrive at the asteroid in 2029.

More space observatories are expected to be deployed this year.

Euclid, an ESA medium class astronomy and astrophysics space mission, is expected to make a 3D-map of the universe by observing billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years, across more than a third of the sky.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has developed the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), which is scheduled to launch into orbit around the Earth in 2023. XRISM will perform the high-resolution X-ray spectroscopic observations of the hot gas plasma wind that blows through the galaxies in the universe.

China will also maintain a high density of launches this year. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the nation's leading space contractor, said it will arrange more than 50 launches in 2023. Other space enterprises plan to launch about 10 flights. In addition to the rocket launches, the country will continue with the research and development of the Tianwen 2 asteroid probe and the Chang'e 7 lunar probe.

A Smart Dragon-3 rocket carrying 14 satellites blasts off in the Yellow Sea Dec. 9, 2022. (Photo by Guo Houze/Xinhua)

NEW PHYSICS BREAKTHROUGHS



In recent years, advances in physics have become increasingly dependent on big scientific devices. This year, a number of big science installations will be put to use, promising to propel new discoveries in physics.

The U.S. Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is the world's first hard X-ray free-electron laser. The upgraded LCLS-II will provide a major jump in capability -- moving from 120 pulses per second to 1 million pulses per second, which will enable researchers to perform experiments in a wide range of fields that are now impossible.

The Matter-wave laser Interferometric Gravitation Antenna (MIGA) will be put into operation this year. The underground instrument in France will use cold-atom interferometry to perform precision measurements of gravity gradients and strains.

The European Spallation Source is under construction on the outskirts of Lund, a city in southern Sweden. It will start the scientific user program in 2023.

The installation of the underground neutrino observatory in Jiangmen, China, is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2023. One of its main goals is to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy.



An underground neutrino observatory is under construction in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province, Sept. 2, 2022. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

DRUG DEVELOPMENT GETS ATTENTION

This year, COVID-19 vaccine and drug research and development will remain the focus of the global medical community. More breakthroughs are expected in the research of multivalent vaccines, nasal-spray vaccines and small molecules in targeted therapies, which will further empower human to fight against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

In addition, more new drugs and therapies are expected. On Jan. 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an Alzheimer's drug, called lecanemab, which can slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease by 27 percent in a larger trial conducted more recently.

Exa-cel, a gene-editing therapy for -Thalassaemia and sickle-cell disease, is expected to be submitted to the FDA this year. If approved, exa-cel would become the first marketed therapy based on the CRISPR gene editing technology.

The widespread use of mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred the development of such vaccines for other diseases. German biotechnology company BioNTech is expected to initiate trials for mRNA vaccines against malaria, tuberculosis and genital herpes.



The company has announced a new research and development collaboration with Pfizer to trial an mRNA-based vaccine candidate to reduce the rate of shingles. U.S. biotechnology company Moderna also has mRNA vaccine candidates for the viruses that cause genital herpes and shingles.

This photo taken on Aug. 31, 2022 shows the production line of COVID-19 vaccine under the Butantan Institute in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Butantan Institute/Handout via Xinhua)

ECOLOGICAL CONSERVATION DEPENDS ON IMPLEMENTATION

The frequent occurrence of natural disasters and extreme weather in 2022 further highlights the necessity of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

The 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity were held in the last two months of 2022.

The meetings expanded the consensus of all parties in the fields of protecting the ecological environment, coping with climate change and boosting green transformation, which is significant for promoting the development of global ecological civilization in the coming period. On the basis of the phased results, the parties will continue to promote the follow-up negotiations and the implementation of the results this year.

As a highlight of COP27, the conference finally agreed to establish a "loss and damage" fund to provide financial assistance to the most vulnerable and hardest hit by climate change.

Participants in COP27 also agreed to establish a "transitional committee" to make recommendations on how to operationalize both the new funding arrangements and the fund at COP28. The first meeting of the "transitional committee" is expected to take place before the end of March 2023.

Under the leadership of China, a UN biodiversity deal, entitled Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and aimed at reversing biodiversity loss and setting the world on path of recovery, was adopted at COP15. The deal includes four goals and 23 targets for achievement by 2030.



China will actively guide the implementation of the goals and targets in the framework, and ensure that relevant decisions are fully implemented, said Huang Runqiu, COP15 president and China's minister of ecology and environment. 
CHANGCHUN, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Former senior discipline inspector Liu Yanping was on Tuesday handed a suspended death sentence for accepting bribes in excess of 234 million yuan (around 34.6 million U.S. dollars).

Liu was formerly head of the discipline inspection and supervision team sent to the Ministry of State Security by the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision.

The Intermediate People's Court of Changchun City in northeast China's Jilin Province sentenced Liu to death with a two-year reprieve for bribery, revoked his political rights for life and ordered the confiscation of all his property. Following the reprieve, his sentence will be commuted to life in prison without parole. All ill-gotten gains will be confiscated and handed over to the state treasury.

The court established that between 2001 and 2022, Liu took advantage of his various posts in the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of State Security, as well as his discipline inspector posts, to assist others in matters such as business operations and the handling of cases. During the same period of time, Liu received money and valuables totaling more than 234 million yuan.

The sum of bribes Liu accepted was particularly large, and his crimes brought significantly heavy losses to the interests of the state and the people, the court said.

It said that in light of the fact that Liu has confessed to all of his crimes, showed repentance, and been cooperative in returning his illegal gains, he was granted a lenient sentence. 
Fireworks are seen during the inauguration ceremony of the Peljesac Bridge in Komarna, Croatia, July 26, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xuejun)

Although Chinese tourists were reappearing on the streets of major Croatian cities such as Zagreb and Dubrovnik, their numbers were still marginal -- compared with an annual 300,000 tourist arrivals from China before the COVID-19 pandemic.

ZAGREB, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Croatia warmly welcomes Chinese tourists, Kristjan Stanicic, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB), told Xinhua on Monday.

"We warmly welcome Chinese tourists, because they are our dear guests," Stanicic said, noting that there used to be about 300,000 Chinese tourists visiting Croatia each year before the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a huge impact on the coming of Chinese tourists.

Although Chinese tourists were reappearing on the streets of major Croatian cities such as Zagreb and Dubrovnik, their numbers were still marginal in terms of the huge potential the country had, Stanicic said.

Tourists visit Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia, on Aug. 5, 2021. (Kristina Stedul Fabac/Pixsell via Xinhua)

Stanicic noted that the number of incoming tourists were conditioned on the number of flights to Europe, including to Croatia, and there are no direct flights between Croatia and China so far.

"We hope that normal flights between China and Europe will resume soon so that there will be a large number of Chinese arrivals to Europe, including Croatia," Stanicic said, noting China's recent optimization of its COVID-19 response and gradual restoration of Chinese citizens' overseas travel.

Moreover, the CNTB Shanghai office, launched four years ago, had worked intensively on the promotion of Croatian tourism, including organizing online workshops and digital fairs, Stanicic said, adding that starting from 2023, offline activities would be held to promote Croatian tourism, one of the main pillars of the country's economy.

Passengers queue for security check at Haikou Meilan International Airport in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 7, 2023. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

The CNTB had always regarded China as its major focus of tourism development, Stanicic said, voicing hope that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Croatia could resume to the pre-pandemic levels in a year or two, said Stanicic.

"We will do everything to facilitate the arrival and stay of Chinese tourists in Croatia," he added. 
A novel wearable vest for long-term lung monitoring is exhibited by Swiss company CSEM during the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the United States, Jan. 8, 2023. The 2023 CES, the world's premier tech show, concluded here on Sunday. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world's premier tech show, concluded in the U.S. city of Las Vegas on Sunday, featuring latest innovations in consumer technology.

The four-day show drew more than 3,200 exhibitors from over 170 countries and regions.

Hundreds of Chinese companies participated in the show, including well-known brands like TCL, Lenovo and Hisense as well as many startups.

CES 2023 highlighted innovations in sustainability, transportation and mobility, digital health, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality, smart homes, robotics and more.

"CES is the world's most exciting technology event, from startups in Eureka Park to global brands on the main stages. We are thrilled to spotlight thousands of innovative companies at this year's show," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), organizer of the CES.

As in past years, automotive technology took center stage at CES 2023. The automotive sector was bigger than ever, making it one of the largest auto shows in the world with nearly 300 exhibitors in West Hall of Las Vegas Convention Center.

Global launches and keynotes from BMW and Stellantis led into exhibits featuring the latest in self-driving technology, electric vehicles and personal mobility devices for land, air and sea.

CES 2023 was held amid another surge of COVID-19 infections in the United States. The show brought more digital health innovations and brands to the global stage, showing advancements in digital therapeutics, mental wellness, women's health technology and telemedicine.

Clean energy and energy storage solutions became a focus at the show. Chinese clean energy companies attracted lots of attention and interest among visitors, exhibitors and reporters with their innovative solar generators, appliances and clean energy solutions.

Jackery, a pioneer in portable power industry, which is based in Shenzhen of China's Guangdong Province, unveiled innovative portable solar generators at CES 2023.

Its Solar Generator 3000 Pro, producing a maximum of 8.5 kilowatt-hours of power per day, can provide backup power for five days of outdoor adventures or home emergencies. Jackery also bagged four CES 2023 Innovation Awards for its innovative portable renewable energy solutions.

"The pandemic has changed people's lifestyles. A lot of people prefer outdoor activities. Portable solar power generators could offer power for RVs, electric appliances such as microwaves, refrigerators, and BBQ ovens while they are outdoors," Jack Sun, founder and chairman of Jackery, told Xinhua.

Global warming calls for urgent efforts to promote renewable energy, which has facilitated innovations in the green energy industry.

"Tech advances are helping to solve the world's greatest challenges, and CES 2023 will set the agenda for the year ahead," Shapiro said. 

People visit a smart home kitchen at the exhibition area of Chinese company Hisense during the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the United States, Jan. 8, 2023. The 2023 CES, the world's premier tech show, concluded here on Sunday. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)

A woman experiences AI 3D technology at the exhibition area of French company Dassault Systemes during the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the United States, Jan. 8, 2023. The 2023 CES, the world's premier tech show, concluded here on Sunday. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)

People visit the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the United States, Jan. 8, 2023. The 2023 CES, the world's premier tech show, concluded here on Sunday. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)

A visitor takes photos during the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the United States, Jan. 8, 2023. The 2023 CES, the world's premier tech show, concluded here on Sunday. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)
A Yemeni eye patient sits inside a health center in Midi District, Hajjah Province, northern Yemen, on Jan. 8, 2022. (Photo by Mohammed Al-Wafi/Xinhua)



HAJJAH, Yemen, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- For Islam Fouad, an eye doctor at a public hospital in northern Yemen, the most difficult part of his job is to tell his patients that they have to find treatment elsewhere while knowing most of them will never be able to afford it.

At the Al-Jadah Health Center in Midi District, Hajjah Province, eye patients from over 20 nearby villages come over for help but only a few could receive treatment.

"While the number of eye patients is increasing day by day, the center lacks the equipment and specialist physicians to treat eye diseases because of the blockade imposed upon us," the doctor told Xinhua after just advising a mother to take her four-year-old boy to other cities for treatment.

A Yemeni eye patient sits inside his hut in Midi District, Hajjah Province, northern Yemen, on Jan. 8, 2022. (Photo by Mohammed Al-Wafi/Xinhua)



The mother, Aisha Ali Hadari, said her child, Abdullah, lost his eyesight two weeks after his head was hit by a small stone while playing with his brothers.

"The doctor told me to take him to specialized hospitals for diagnosis and treatment in other cities or provinces due to the lack of medical equipment here," Hadari told Xinhua.

"The roads have been cut, and we cannot go to other provinces. And even if we can, I don't know if we can afford such a trip," the mother said, adding she was afraid that the delay of treatment may cause Abdullah to lose eyesight permanently.

A doctor checks a woman's eyes during a seven-day medical charity campaign for patients with eye diseases at a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen, Aug. 28, 2021. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua)

The health center is one of the few public clinics that are still operating in the northern coastal district as most of the health facilities here were destroyed during the battles between the Houthi group and the government forces.

After the governmental forces recaptured the district in 2018, the Houthi forces imposed a siege on the district, cutting off the roads that lead to other provinces and cities.

"According to the center's records, there were over 860 eye patients registered but did not receive treatment in 2022, most of whom were children and the elderly, including approximately 700 cases of cataracts, 100 cases of pterygium, and nearly 20 cases of glaucoma and other eye disease cases," the doctor said.

The public hospitals are severely ill-funded across the war-ravaged country, and most Yemenis who live in abject poverty can never afford the medical bills at private clinics, he added.

Photo taken on April 1, 2020 shows destroyed houses on the beach in Midi District of Hajjah province, Yemen. (Photo by Mohammed Alwafi/Xinhua)

The civil war in Yemen erupted in late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia stormed several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed the country to the brink of starvation.

Mahdi Ati, 72, who suffers from pterygium, has chosen to stay at home because he has no money to travel for treatment.

"The clinics in Saudi Arabia would charge me 8,000 Saudi riyals (about 2,133 U.S. dollars) for curing my eyes. I couldn't even afford my clothes, where can I get so much money?" the old man said. 
Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing (C), Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology board of governors chairman Liow Tiong Lai (4th L) and participants pose for photos at the launching ceremony of the scholarly book "Walk Along the Road: Ten Years of BRI" in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jan. 9, 2023. (Xinhua)

The book "Walk Along the Road: Ten Years of BRI" contains more than 100 reviews on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by a group of scholars, allowing readers to understand the BRI from multiple perspectives.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Academics and officials marked the 10th anniversary of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on Monday with the launch of a scholarly book on the connectivity framework.

The "Walk Along the Road: Ten Years of BRI" has compiled more than 100 reviews on the BRI by a group of scholars across Malaysia's universities in Chinese, Malay and English languages, which will allow readers in Malaysia to understand the BRI from multiple perspectives, the organizer said in a statement.

Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said in a brief video message "This year marks the 10 years anniversary of BRI. It is indeed a significant milestone and fruitful journey for China, but also the countries along the BRI, including Malaysia."

He conveyed his desire to deepen bilateral trade and investment ties under the China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership, and open up broader development prospects for bilateral cooperation.

In his remarks at the event, Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing said publication of this book is right on time.

Since 2013, China has been upholding the aspiration of building a human community with a shared future and adhering to principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. China has been working together with Malaysia and other partners in advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, said the ambassador.

An increasing number of Chinese companies has been investing in Malaysia, especially in emerging industries such as e-commerce, digital economy, and green development, among others, he said.

The ambassador cited the "Two Countries, Twin Parks" and the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), the flagship projects of China-Malaysia Belt and Road cooperation, as some of the successes of Malaysia's participation in the BRI, both of which have brought economic benefits to and created jobs in Malaysia.

The book launching ceremony was organized by the Southeast Asia Research Centre for Humanities and Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TARUMT), co-organized by the Association of Belt and Road Malaysia and supported by the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia.

TARUMT board of governors chairman Liow Tiong Lai thanked the scholars for making a great wealth of information on the BRI accessible to the Malaysian public.

"It is vital having this info easy to understand and accessible for the public," he said, adding he looked forward to seeing Malaysia and China work together to strengthen cooperation in various fields.
ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Seven internally displaced children died from harsh winter weather in their displacement tents in Yemen's northeastern province of Marib, a government official told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Yemen's executive unit for the management of internal displacement camps in Marib said that "during the past two months, the severe waves of winter cold killed seven children in Marib's displacement camp."

He pointed out that hundreds of Yemeni children currently live in worn-out tents and suffer greatly due to the lack of winter clothing.

"Many families living in Marib's displacement tents called for humanitarian organizations to provide them with basic needs," he said.

The government-controlled province of Marib hosts the largest displacement camps in war-ravaged Yemen, and more than 2.2 million internally displaced persons live in scattered tents, according to officials government reports.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia stormed several northern cities and forced the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa.

The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced 4 million, and pushed the country to the brink of starvation. 
RIYADH, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia announced on Monday its plan to bring the number of pilgrims during the upcoming Hajj season back to the pre-pandemic level.

"The number of pilgrims will return to what it was before the pandemic, without any age limit," Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq Al-Rabiah told reporters in the capital Riyadh.

He made the remarks during the opening ceremony of Expo Hajj, a four-day conference-cum-exhibition on Hajj and Umrah services held in Jeddah which will run until Jan. 12.

The minister also revealed that the insurance cost for Umrah performers would be slashed by 63 percent and by 73 percent for Hajj pilgrims.

The Hajj season in 2022 was the first one to allow foreign pilgrims to perform after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the previous two seasons were limited only to domestic pilgrims. About 60,000 fully vaccinated domestic pilgrims took part in the pilgrimage in 2021 and only 1,000 in 2020.

Following the last pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia extended the Umrah visa from 30 days to 90 days and allows its holder to move all around the kingdom.

In pre-pandemic 2019, about 2.5 million pilgrims participated in the Hajj season in Saudi Arabia. 
AMMAN, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- More and more Jordanians now prefer electric vehicles (EVs) to fuel-powered ones because the EVs are now more competitive in terms of driving costs.

Jihad Abu Nasser, spokesperson of the automobile industry at the Jordan Free Zone Investor Commission, said the demand for EVs in Jordan is "growing dramatically" each year, with the number of EVs standing at around 60,000 in the country.

He added that roughly 16,000 electric vehicles have been cleared during 2022 from the free zone, increasing by 180 percent compared to 2021.

The main reason is that driving and owning an EV are cheaper compared to a fuel-powered car, he explained.

While the demand for electric vehicles rose, demand for other vehicles declined.

Diesel vehicles' clearance decreased by around 10 percent in 2022, while that of gasoline cars witnessed a roughly 20 percent decrease and hybrids' clearance numbers dropped by about 40 percent, according to Nasser.

Mohammad Qadri, an EV seller, said the high prices of gasoline over the past few years have significantly promoted the demand for electric vehicles.

"Owning an electric vehicle is very affordable now because maintenance is available and Jordan has sufficient production of electricity," he told Xinhua.

Fadi Hatem, a mechanic with expertise in EVs maintenance, said the cost of maintenance is no longer a concern for owning EVs.

"Almost five years ago, the cost of maintenance for the battery, lights and other parts was high, and the spare parts were costly as well. But as the number of EVs increased, many traders started to import spare parts for EVs, so the prices went down significantly. Also, there are many centers now that can conduct maintenance for EVs," Hatem said.

Hala Hamzeh, an engineer who owns a small-sized electric vehicle, said it is very convenient for her to use the vehicle and it does not cost much.

"I pay around 40-60 Jordanian dinars (56-85 U.S. dollars) per month for charging my car and this is very cheap compared to the prices of gasoline in Jordan. This is good for our pockets and for the environment," Hamzeh added.

However, the boom of EV business in the country is partly constrained by the lack of power-charging stations.

Jordan's Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission said that there are 54 power-charging stations currently in the country and there are licenses to build 92 more stations across Jordan.

"We need more. Currently, EV drivers can only charge their vehicles for 20-30 minutes at the power-charging stations because there are always queues," said Qadri. 
With funds from China, Cambodia has begun to expand and upgrade National Road 7 in order to cope with rising traffic flows and cargo transport.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The value of imports and exports passing through the China-Cambodia jointly invested Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) reached 2.49 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 12 percent, SSEZ General Manager Cao Jianjiang told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Cao said the 11-square-km industrial zone has accommodated 175 companies from China, the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia and other regions, creating nearly 30,000 jobs.

"The growth last year clearly reflects the resilience of the zone's development, which has steadily contributed to Cambodia's socio-economic development," he said.

Situated in the southwestern coastal province of Preah Sihanouk, the SSEZ is the country's largest industrial zone in terms of size and occupancy.

The Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's Undersecretary of State and Spokesman Penn Sovicheat said the SSEZ is a perfect example of win-win cooperation under the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

"The SSEZ has provided a lot of jobs to Cambodian workers and served as a role model for the cluster industries and as a base for exports," he told Xinhua.

Long Dimanche, deputy governor of Preah Sihanouk province, said the SSEZ has good potential for investors as it is located adjacent to the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, the sole international and commercial deep-sea port of Cambodia.

"The SSEZ has played an important role in supporting Cambodia's economic development and has become a link of regional and global supply chains," he told Xinhua. 
This file photo shows students attending class at a primary school in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on June 29, 2020. (Xinhua)

The Tanzanian government has set aside 492 million U.S. dollars for the renovation of old primary schools across the East African nation to provide responsive learning environments for students.

DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The government of Tanzania has set aside 1.15 trillion Tanzanian shillings (about 492 million U.S. dollars) for the renovation of old primary schools across the East African nation, a cabinet minister said Monday.

Angellah Kairuki, minister of state in the President's Office responsible for regional administration and local governments, said the renovation of the old primary schools will be done between January 2023 and February 2024.

"Under the program, some of the old schools will be demolished and built afresh while others will undergo required renovations," said Kairuki when she opened a meeting on education improvement and supervision for 2023 in Morogoro region.

Kairuki also said that the government will continue implementing the Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project (SEQUIP) financed by the World Bank.

SEQUIP aims to increase access to secondary education, provide responsive learning environments for girls and improve the completion of quality secondary education for girls and boys. 
WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House of Representatives adopted a rules package on Monday after the dysfunctional opening week.

The package, which will govern how the House led by Republicans operates for the next two years, was passed in a 220-213 vote, mainly along party lines.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy -- whose bid to take the gavel last week paralyzed the lower chamber for days -- said on Monday evening that "Congress has been broken for a long time."

McCarthy, a California Republican, made multiple concessions to House Republican hardliners in order to rise to the post, including a measure to allow a single member to call for a vote to remove the speaker.

Republicans flipped the House in the 2022 midterm elections while Democrats held onto their majority in the Senate.

The new, divided Congress convened early last week, but McCarthy didn't secure enough votes to become House speaker until the 15th ballot due to intra-party division and partisanship.

The longest House speaker election contest in 164 years prevented Congress from being fully operational. 
PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The police have rounded up 30 drug addicts in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province and shifted them to a rehabilitation center, provincial police spokesman Mawlawi Shir Ahmad Burhani said Tuesday.

The official told local reporters that "the addicted persons are not criminals and all the 30 drug addicts have been taken to a rehabilitation center to get treatment and would be reintegrated to their families after getting discharged from the center."

The authorities have also rounded up scores of drug addicts in Kunduz, Bamyan and other parts of the war-torn country and shifted them to rehabilitation centers several months ago.

The supreme leader of the Taliban-run caretaker administration Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a decree in April last year banning poppy cultivation and its processing. Since then, the Afghan police have tightened the fight against illegal drugs, insisting that the struggle would last until the country gets rid of the drug menace. 
LONDON, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket blasted into Earth's lower orbit to deploy its satellites at midnight on Monday. It marks the first orbital mission to begin from UK soil or from anywhere in Western Europe.

"The first satellites launched from UK soil are now in space!" the UK Space Agency (UKSA) tweeted.

The UK's first rocket launch mission Start Me Up lifted off Monday evening. Cosmic Girl, a former Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747, took off at 10:01 p.m. GMT from Spaceport Cornwall with the LauncherOne rocket under its wing. 
CHONGQING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- With the Year of the Rabbit just around the corner, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality is holding a hotpot festival for local residents, aiming to add more incentives to the consumer market in the new year.

Chongqing hotpot, a renowned cuisine in China, has spread its footprint across the world. There are nearly 30,000 hotpot restaurants in Chongqing and some 200,000 hotpot restaurants across over 20 countries, according to data from the Chongqing Hotpot Association.

This year, the hotpot festival has invited over 20 hotpot companies to provide services. The event will run from Jan. 6 to Feb. 5.

"By holding the festival, on the one hand, we hope to inject more confidence into the hotpot industry at home and abroad," said Chen Guohua, head of the Chongqing Hotpot Association. "On the other hand, we also want hotpot, a complex industry, to drive a variety of other businesses, such as agriculture and tourism."

Due to favorable prices, many consumers are visiting stalls to eat hotpot. "Chongqing hotpot is hot and spicy, and contains a large variety of food," said He Yan, who spent 48 yuan (about 7 U.S. dollars) on a hotpot serving.

At a stall operated by Liu's Chongqing Hotpot, a brand which was established in 2000 and has more than 1,500 restaurants around the world, some people are enjoying eating hotpot and others are buying hotpot bases, ready-made hotpot and other products.

Liu's Chongqing Hotpot opened the first overseas hotpot restaurant in Dubai in 2010, and the first hotpot base factory in Canada in 2021.

"Now we have 66 hotpot restaurants in 15 countries and our hotpot products, such as hotpot bases, are in over 2,000 overseas supermarkets," said Liu Mei, chairperson of the hotpot brand.

Chen said the hotpot industry not only works as a Chinese name card to promote international business, but also brings benefits to rural areas.

As chili is the most important ingredient in Chongqing hotpot, the Zhoushixiong hotpot brand purchases all of its chilies from the Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County in Chongqing.

"For a year, we have purchased 500 tonnes of chilies worth over 10 million yuan from Shizhu. Radishes, soy cheese, sausages and other agricultural products are also on our shopping list," said Zhou Dao, founder of the brand, which has over 20 hotpot restaurants in three cities.

"I was born in a village, so I hope my business can deliver tangible benefits to rural areas," Zhou said.

Zhou said events like the hotpot festival are very conducive to economic recovery and to restoring consumer confidence, adding that he plans to expand the brand's international business in 2023. 
Germany's Ambassador to Georgia H.E. Peter Fischer said in an interview with Georgia Today that reports about Saakashvili's health condition are 'cause for concern' and that protecting the rights of the former president is the responsibility of the Georgian authorities.According to Fischer, the German Embassy is closely monitoring Saakashvili's case and their representative is attending the court proceedings.Germany's Ambassador to Georgia said that it is the government's responsibility to provide adequate medical treatment to any prisoner."We are closely monitoring this matter. Moreover, the representative of the embassy often attends court proceedings. Regarding Mr. Saakashvili's condition, reports of his serious illness are cause for concern, and our position is that it is the responsibility of the Georgian authorities to protect Mikheil Saakashvili's rights, just as the authorities are responsible for the health of any other prisoner. Of course, we will continue to monitor the process and we believe that providing both humanitarian and adequate medical assistance is the responsibility of all authorities," said Peter Fischer.Gia Volski, a member of Georgian Dream and vice-speaker of the parliament, responded to the statement of Andrei Kasyanov, charge d'affaires of the Ukrainian embassy in Georgia, that Ukraine asked the Georgian government to hand over Bulk missile systems and Javelins supplied by Ukraine, which was refused by authorities.According to Volski, in 2008, Georgia bought weapons from Ukraine and did not receive them for free, and called Kasyanov 'inadequate' in his actions."Kasyanov's statement, first of all, is completely inadequate to the situation in 2008. Billions have been paid for the military equipment, and generally what he calls aid has come to Georgia in exchange for certain amounts.This trade deal is perfectly healthy, arms procurement is a healthy operation, and the state needs it. But it is doubtful that it coincides with the enrichment of specific people - millionaires, who the day before had nothing and suddenly, in the post-war period, becomes a billionaire, one of the richest people in the world, and finances politics and the media in Georgia. This is the reality."As for the inadequacy of the statement, this is characteristic of some officials, but I think that Kasyanov himself is inadequate in his actions and as a person should be evaluated with this word," said Volsky.Volsky confirmed that at the beginning of the war, the Ukrainian authorities asked for weapons and the possibility of volunteers to transport, for which they sent a charter flight, but according to Volsky, this meant Georgia's involvement in the war.
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called for efforts to ensure the full and effective implementation of the Security Council resolution on cross-border aid deliveries into Syria.

The Security Council on Monday adopted Resolution 2672 to confirm the re-authorization of the cross-border mechanism for another six months, till July 10, 2023.

China hopes that the Security Council and relevant UN agencies will seize the opportunity of the extension to comprehensively sum up the experience and shortcomings in the implementation of Resolution 2642 in the past six months, so as to ensure the full and effective implementation of Resolution 2672 and make greater contributions to continuously improving the humanitarian situation of all Syrians, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

The sovereignty of Syria and the ownership of the Syrian government must be fully respected, he said.

"Cross-border assistance is a temporary arrangement made under special circumstances, and should ultimately transition, in an orderly manner, to cross-line assistance, so that the latter will become the main channel for humanitarian assistance to Syria," he said in an explanation of vote.

To this end, the frequency and the size of convoys of cross-line assistance in Northwest Syria must be significantly increased, and cross-line assistance to the Rukban refugee camp on the border with Jordan should resume as early as possible, he said.

All parties should ensure adequate supplies and funding for cross-line assistance and step up coordination with relevant parties, in particular the parties in de facto control of Northwest Syria, so as to effectively improve the access environment for cross-line assistance, he added.

Vigorous efforts must be made for quality and efficiency gains in early-recovery projects, said Zhang.

At present, the overall funding for early-recovery projects needs to be improved. Early-recovery projects in different sectors are seeing mixed progress, and there are major differences in project implementation among different regions. China urges all donors to put the well-being of all Syrians first and promptly and properly resolve these problems, he said.

The removal of explosive remnants of war is important for restoring the normal work and life of the Syrian people, and should be included in the scope of early recovery as quickly as possible, he said.

Unilateral sanctions impede humanitarian access in Syria and restrict its access to humanitarian resources, running counter to the humanitarian efforts by the Security Council and the international community. China once again urges the relevant countries to immediately and fully lift the unilateral sanctions on Syria, said Zhang. 
BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The top disciplinary agency of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Tuesday pledged in a communique that studying and implementing the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress will be the primary political task now and in the near future.

The communique was adopted at the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), which was held in Beijing from Monday to Tuesday.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the plenum and delivered an important speech.

Party and state leaders including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi attended the session.

The session made arrangements for disciplinary work in 2023, and deliberated and approved a work report delivered by Li Xi on behalf of the CCDI standing committee.

The CCDI will carefully study Xi's speech at the plenum, push forward full and rigorous Party self-governance ceaselessly on China's new journey in the new era, and staunchly carry forward the Party's self-reform, the communique said.

This year is the first year that the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress will be put into action. It is a key year for the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan and an important year that will pave the way for China to become a modern socialist country in all respects, the communique said.

Efforts shall be made to enhance political oversight with a focus on implementing the strategic plans made by the 20th CPC National Congress, it said.

Stressing the need to unswervingly uphold the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, the communique vowed to ensure that all Party members follow the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core closely in terms of political stance, orientation, principles and path.

Oversight and inspections shall be strengthened to ensure the faithful implementation of the decisions and arrangements made by the Party Central Committee in light of evolving situations, according to the communique.

Stressing the importance of improving the systems and regulations for the Party's self-reform, the communique called for efforts to improve the framework for Party regulations, consider revising regulations on Party disciplinary penalties, and advance national anti-corruption legislation, so that disciplinary oversight is exercised on a regular basis.

It vowed to see that political inspections serve as a powerful tool, urging efforts to revise Party regulations on disciplinary inspection and formulate a five-year plan for disciplinary inspection work.

The communique also stressed the need for continuous efforts to implement the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on improving conduct, and to tackle pointless formalities, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance.

Those who intentionally defy Party discipline must be punished severely, the communique said, adding that investigations and punishments will be stepped up for recurrent and stubborn problems, old problems that take on new forms, and disguised forms of misconduct.

The communique also vowed to target those who shirk their responsibilities or fail to make sufficient efforts to implement the major decisions and plans made by the Party Central Committee.

Those who partially understand the policies, measures and work arrangements, and implement them mechanically or recklessly will be targeted.

The dereliction of duty, the abuse of power, as well as distorted views of power, performance evaluations and career development must be rectified, the communique said.

To strengthen the Party's discipline construction fully and in a comprehensive way, the communique called for improvements to regular discipline education and its integration into daily management and supervision to enhance the sense of discipline among Party members and cadres.

On winning the tough and protracted battle against corruption, the document stressed the need for more forceful actions to both prevent new corruption cases and root out existing ones.

Efforts shall be made to investigate and deal with corruption that involves both political and economic elements, resolutely prevent leading officials from acting for any interest group or power group, and forestall any collusion between officials and businesspeople, or any infiltration of capital into politics that undermines the political ecosystem or the environment for economic development, the communique said.

It also highlighted anti-corruption work in key areas with high concentrations of power, funds and resources, such as the finance, state-owned enterprise, judicial, procuratorial and public security fields, as well as the grain purchasing and marketing system.

The anti-corruption work will focus on those who fail to restrain themselves from corruption after the 18th CPC National Congress. It will strictly investigate and handle cases of corruption where leading officials' spouses, children, children's spouses, other relatives or staff use an official's influence to seek personal gains, according to the communique.

It is imperative to resolutely crack down on corruption that undermines the people's interests, combat new and disguised forms of corruption, and punish both bribe takers and givers, the communique said. It noted that the country will deepen international cooperation to combat corruption, carry out further "Sky Net" operations, and establish an integrated mechanism to pursue fugitives, prevent escapes and retrieve stolen assets.

It called for reforms to the discipline inspection and supervision system to be deepened, emphasizing the role of reform in the integration of manpower and resources.

It also stressed the importance of training high-caliber discipline inspection and supervision professionals who are competent enough to shoulder their mission on China's new journey in the new era.

The document vowed to build a strong discipline inspection and supervision corps that is absolutely loyal to the Party, and to eliminate "black sheep" to ensure the team is uncompromising in its integrity.

The plenary session stressed the need to rally around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, move in the direction set at the 20th CPC National Congress, and strive for more progress in exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance, improving conduct, building integrity and combating corruption.

The plenum called on all disciplinary inspectors and supervisors to strive in unity to build a modern socialist country in all respects and advance national rejuvenation on all fronts. 
Shop owners in Khan el-Khalili, the centuries-old market in Egypt's capital Cairo, are expecting the return of Chinese guests after China eased travel restrictions starting from Jan. 8.
Photo taken on April 3, 2022 shows the steel structure of Chinese-invested Siem Reap Angkor International Airport in Sotr Nikum district, about 40 km from the UNESCO listed Angkor Archaeological Park and 50 km from Siem Reap provincial town of Cambodia. (Photo by Ly Lay/Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Sixty-three percent of the construction work on a Chinese-invested international airport in northwestern Cambodia's Siem Reap province has so far been completed, said a press statement on Monday.

The statement was released after an annual meeting of the Steering Committee for the Construction of the Siem Reap Angkor International Airport led by Tekreth Samrach, secretary of state at the Council of Ministers.

The Siem Reap Angkor International Airport has been invested by the Angkor International Airport Investment (Cambodia) Co., Ltd., an affiliate of China's Yunnan Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd..

Work on the project began in March 2020.

"As of Dec. 31, 2022, the airport construction has achieved 63 percent, and the company is committed to achieving 90 percent by the end of March 2023," the statement said.

Speaking at the meeting held at the project site, Samrach appreciated the company for its high commitment to the success of the project even in the difficult time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The company has successfully got through the most difficult time in the implementation of the project," he said. "The airport is expected to be put into operation in Oct. 2023."

Covering a parcel of 700 hectares, the airport is located in Sotr Nikum district, about 40 km from the UNESCO-listed Angkor Archaeological Park and 50 km from Siem Reap provincial town.

Samrach said the airport is a 4E-level international airport with a 3,600-meter runway that can accommodate the landing of all kinds of aircraft.

"It's another new achievement that will not only importantly contribute to the development of Cambodia's tourism and economy, but also directly benefit people living around the area," he said.
BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- China's State Council Tuesday announced the appointment and removal of officials.

Li Chunlin and Yang Yinkai were appointed deputy heads of the National Development and Reform Commission, while Hu Zucai was removed from that post.

Dong Jianguo was named vice minister of housing and urban-rural development.

Wang Daoxi took the post of vice minister of water resources.

Zhong Haidong became deputy head of the China International Development Cooperation Agency.

Huang Huabo was named deputy head of the National Healthcare Security Administration.

Cong Lin, female, was appointed vice chairperson of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, while Liang Tao no longer serves at that post.

Liu Jing and Pan Aihua were named deputy heads of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, while Wu Yanhua was removed from that post.

Li Hongyan, female, became deputy head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Xu Xueyi was named deputy director of the China Geological Survey, and Li Pengde no longer serves at that post. 
Video: Multiple events were staged in New York City on the weekend featuring intangible cultural heritage from east China's Suzhou. (Xinhua)

We need more exchanges like this. Chinese traditional culture needs to go abroad so overseas friends can understand and appreciate it.



NEW YORK, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Multiple events were staged in New York City on the weekend featuring intangible cultural heritage from east China's Suzhou.

On Saturday night, Chinese artists presented Suzhou-style embroidery, Kunqu Opera and Pingtan, which is a form of ballad singing in Suzhou dialect with Chinese instruments, at the opening ceremony of the Suzhou theme day.

The theme day was held together with a concert entitled "Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems" to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year.

"We are so happy that Suzhou is making great efforts in connecting China with the world with its unique cultural richness," said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations while addressing the opening ceremony.

China Institute, a U.S. non-profit organization dedicated to deepen understanding of China, on Sunday hosted artists from Suzhou in community events with around 500 participants.

Shen Fengying and Shen Guofang, two well-known Kunqu Opera performers, allowed visitors to have a close-up look of makeup and costume. They also presented demos from The Peony Pavilion and interacted with the audience.

Yao Huifen, a renowned embroiderer from Suzhou, said she was deeply moved as some had to sit on the floor since the event was quite crowded.

Many people overseas appreciate Chinese culture and want to experience it, according to Yu Junyao, Yao's daughter and one of the artists.

"We need more exchanges like this. Chinese traditional culture needs to go abroad so overseas friends can understand and appreciate it," said Yao, who has been engaged in embroidering for over 40 years. 
ANKARA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Tuesday warned Syrian opposition groups against "provocations" amid ongoing protests over normalization talks between Ankara and Damascus.

Akar pledged his country will not take any actions against the Syrian rebels, and urged them to remain calm and "act with this awareness," according to the semi-official Anadolu news agency.

The Turkish minister told reporters after a cabinet that the reconciliation efforts between the two neighboring countries were "in good faith" and aimed to improve bilateral times and promote regional peace.

"We hope that (the talks) develop through mutual negotiations and turn into a situation that will contribute to peace and stability for the region," Akar said.

Turkiye works to find a solution to the migration problem, he said, stressing the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland will be voluntarily in line with the decisions of the United Nations.

Syrian, Turkish, and Russian defense ministers, along with intelligence chiefs, met in Moscow on Dec. 28, 2022, marking the first high-level contact between Ankara and Damascus since the start of the Syrian conflict.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he might meet his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad to foster peace and stability in the region.

The two leaders have not met since the outbreak of a civil war in Syria in 2011, as Turkiye has backed Syrian rebels politically and militarily during the 11-year crisis. Turkiye also hosts nearly 3.7 million refugees from Syria.

Syrian rebels fighting to topple al-Assad have been protesting the normalization talks between Ankara and Damascus. 
ABUJA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Six people have been rescued out of 31 taken hostage by a group of unknown gunmen who attacked a train station in Nigeria's southern state of Edo at the weekend, a government spokesperson said on Monday.

The rescue followed an operation by security operatives combing bushes on Monday, Chris Osa Nehikhare, the commissioner for communication and orientation, said in a statement.

"We are confident that the other victims will be rescued soon as the highly motivated security personnel are in high spirits and have doubled down on the hot chase of the kidnappers," Nehikhare said.

He added that rescue teams had been combing bushes in the state and working tirelessly since the incident occurred to ensure the kidnapped passengers are rescued.

Thirty-two people were taken hostage when the gunmen broke into the Igueben train station in Edo on Saturday evening and fired shots sporadically in the air. One of the hostages managed to escape. 
ISLAMABAD, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif will embark on a two-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Thursday to Friday, the Prime Minister's office said on Tuesday.

During the visit, Sharif will meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with a focus on advancing trade and investment ties between the two countries and creating increased opportunities for the Pakistani workforce in UAE, the office said in a statement.

The two leaders will also exchange views on a range of regional and global issues of mutual interest, the statement added. 
COLOMBO, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's cabinet of ministers authorized the Ministry of Power and Energy to call for expressions of interest to set up an export-oriented oil refinery in Hambantota, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

Cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena told journalists in Colombo that many foreign investors are interested in establishing an export-oriented oil refinery in the southern district of Hambanthota.

He said that Minster of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera will provide an in-depth description of the project within the week. Wijesekera will then call for detailed proposals from investors who meet the fundamental qualifications, Gunawardena said. 
Advertise in the February 2023 (TV Kids Festival & Pre-Kidscreen Summit) Print and Digital Edition! When you advertise in the February edition of TV Kids, you will receive the following extensive print and online exposure: The magazine will be sent out as a digital edition to approximately 35,000 online subscribers.

The digital edition will be extensively promoted in our newsletters, websites and social media handles for several weeks before and during the TV Kids Festival and Kidscreen Summit.

The magazine will also be mailed to our subscribers worldwide. We can offer you two options: A full-page advertisement in the print and digital edition for US$2,000, or a two-page spread for US$3,000.

A two-page spread advertisement solely in the digital edition for just US$2,000. Here are all the free value-added benefits you will receive from advertising with us in the February edition. We have the best articles, the best interviews, the best design, the best paper, the best printing, the best distribution and the best circulation. You will receive an article up front in the magazine featuring program highlights, an image of a show, a quote from an executive at the company and a headshot. Your article will also run in TV Kids Daily and World Screen Newsflash before the events. Your article will also run on TVKids.com before the events. You will receive invaluable social media exposure by having your article tweeted to @worldscreens and @tvkidsdailys followers. This edition will be prominently displayed on the home page of the virtual TV Kids Festival, which runs from February 7 to 10, 2023. You will also get your complete program listings in the February digital edition of TV Listings, which will be available to our online database of 35,000 readers before the events. We will also place video clips of your programs in your own Screening Room on TVKidsScreenings.com, our video portal powered by Brightcove. Your companys product news will receive priority treatment in our online daily and weekly newsletters. Deadlines for the February 2023 Issue:

Space Reservations: January 24

Ad Materials: January 26
HANOI, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam will improve investment environment, creating favorable conditions for foreign investors including those from China's Hong Kong to do business effectively in the country, local media reported on Tuesday.

The Southeast Asian country welcomes firms from China's Hong Kong to invest in fields such as digital transformation, smart city, logistics services, trade and services, and green finance, Vietnam News Agency reported, citing Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong.

The Vietnamese official expressed the hope that economic relations between the two sides would develop to new heights. 
BEIRUT, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) on Tuesday launched two new initiatives worth 25 million euros (26.8 million U.S. dollars) to support vulnerable people in Lebanon and fight food insecurity.

A statement released by the EU Delegation to Lebanon said that these initiatives are a response to the negative impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the EU's neighboring countries.

"The funds available for Lebanon will provide immediate assistance for 7,245 impoverished Lebanese families (41,287 individuals) enrolled in the National Poverty Targeting Programme... In addition, the EU assistance will help Lebanese people in need to cover their food needs," said the statement.

The EU wants to help strengthen Lebanese agricultural and agri-food systems in the medium to long term by increasing the productive capacity of Lebanese farmers, it added.

"A less demanding and more climate-suitable agriculture shall be supported. This will help Lebanon diversify its food production and move away from dependency on crops and cereals imports," said the statement, adding that the project will be implemented in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Programme. 
ATHENS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Drawing on the direct air links between Athens, the capital of Greece, and Beijing and Shanghai in China, Athens International Airport (AIA) counts on a return of the number of Chinese arrivals in Greece to pre-pandemic levels soon.

AIA welcomed large numbers of Chinese tourists before COVID-19 hit the world, Ioanna Papadopoulou, AIA's director of communications and marketing, said at a press briefing here on Tuesday.

The direct flight between Athens and Beijing was launched by Air China in 2017. In just two years, this air link doubled the number of Chinese arrivals in AIA, from 108,613 to over 217,600 in 2019. In 2021, only 70,373 arrivals were registered.

By 2018, China had entered AIA's top 20 international markets, and was in 15th position in 2019.

On Dec. 22, 2022, Air China launched a new direct flight between Shanghai and Athens. After the resumption of the Athens-Beijing air link last summer following a two-year hiatus, Air China now operates two direct flights per week between the two countries.

"We are firmly committed to continuously work together to substantially support the airlines' operations here in Athens and of course contribute to the success," Papadopoulou said.

The operation of two direct flights between China and Greece was "an important step" toward fulfilling the goals of the Joint Action Program 2022-2024, signed in Athens in March 2022, a program aimed at strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism, China's Ambassador to Greece Xiao Junzheng said.

"China and Greece are both prominent actors in the global tourism industry. Deepening cooperation will further promote the development of our tourism industries and will also facilitate our investment, finance, trade and services, which will enhance the well-being of the two peoples," Xiao said.

"Air China will actively promote and initiate new cultural and tourism exchanges and cooperation between the two countries," said Fan Heyun, general manager of Air China in Greece. 
BRUSSELS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) signed a third Joint Declaration on cooperation Tuesday that aimed to further expand their strategic partnership collaboration and strengthen collective European defense.

"We have just signed the third EU-NATO joint declaration ... This is more important than ever," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference following the signing ceremony at the military alliance's headquarters in Brussels.

The declaration was signed by European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who lauded the agreement, saying it would deepen the existing cooperation between the Union and the alliance.

According to the joint declaration, EU and NATO will expand and deepen cooperation in such areas as geostrategic competition, resilience, critical infrastructure protection, emerging and disruptive technologies, and space.

Von der Leyen said that Europe's security was "challenged" and "under threat" by the conflict in Ukraine.

Stoltenberg highlighted the importance of the declaration, stressing the crucial role of NATO in Euro-Atlantic security. He noted that this declaration built upon two previous joint declarations signed in 2016 and 2018.

Stoltenberg touched upon the prospect of Finland and Sweden joining NATO, stating that this would result in the alliance protecting 96 percent of EU citizens. 
A pharmacist searches for a medicine in Athens, Greece, on Jan. 9, 2023. Greece, as well as many other countries across Europe and the world, has faced medicine shortages in recent months amid the COVID-19 pandemic and has had to deal with a surge in flu cases and other respiratory infections. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

ATHENS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Greece, as well as many other countries across Europe and the world, has faced medicine shortages in recent months amid the COVID-19 pandemic and has had to deal with a surge in flu cases and other respiratory infections.

A global issue necessitates cross-border coordination, Greek Minister of Health Thanos Plevris said at a recent press conference and wrote in a letter addressed to European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides.

"We need to immediately speed up production and register centrally all medicines that are in short supply in the European Union (EU)," he told journalists. "We need better cooperation among member states for the exchange of medicines, as well as centralized orders" of medicines and raw materials.

Greece faces a chronic shortage of certain drugs because it exports them to other countries as their price in the country is low, the minister said.

However, the current shortage of medicines, such as antibiotics and analgesics, is linked to the global shortage of raw materials, the reduced production due to the pandemic, the energy crisis and supply chain issues, he said.

"We are lucky to have strong domestic production and we can supply the market with generic drugs of the same substances as those in short supply. The fact that there are shortages in countries where medicines are sold at high prices shows that the problem today is not a problem of prices or exports, but reduced production," the minister explained.

"Actually, it is an issue of delays in supply and not a permanent shortage. Our hospitals have generic drugs and all patients receive treatment," Plevris said.

Greek pharmacist Souli Stathopoulou told Xinhua that currently there are no raw materials available for cough syrups.

"The prices of raw materials went up, but the medicine prices didn't increase accordingly. When the price of paracetamol from India increased by 300 percent recently and there is no corresponding increase in the price of the medicines produced, the consequence is that the companies do not produce the quantities necessary to cover the market," she explained.

Stathopoulou added that another reason is the Ukraine conflict, which makes the transportation of goods difficult.

To address the current challenges, the Greek authorities have announced measures on the national level, including a ban on the exports of 260 medicines, enhanced audits at pharmacy stores and warehouses to see whether they have reserves, as well as an increase of the production of generic drugs in the country.

Dozens of medicine-producing factories are in full operation to meet the needs of Greek patients, the Panhellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (PEF) said in a recent press release.

The Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE) has called on consumers to avoid stockpiling. 

A pharmacist searches for a medicine in Athens, Greece, on Jan. 9, 2023. Greece, as well as many other countries across Europe and the world, has faced medicine shortages in recent months amid the COVID-19 pandemic and has had to deal with a surge in flu cases and other respiratory infections. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

People wait to be assisted at a pharmacy in Athens, Greece, on Jan. 9, 2023. Greece, as well as many other countries across Europe and the world, has faced medicine shortages in recent months amid the COVID-19 pandemic and has had to deal with a surge in flu cases and other respiratory infections. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
People clear a road blocked by fallen trees after a heavy winter storm in San Mateo County of San Francisco Bay Area, California, the United States, Jan. 9, 2023. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua)

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden has declared an emergency in California as winter storms continue to pummel the most populous state in the country on Monday.

According to a statement released by the White House on Monday, Biden has ordered federal assistance to supplement State of California, tribal and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from successive and severe winter storms, flooding and mudslides.

The federal emergency declaration will authorize the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts.

California Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed last Wednesday a state of emergency throughout the western U.S. state, home to around 40 million residents, due to the severe winter storms. He submitted a request on Sunday to the White House for a presidential emergency declaration to support ongoing storm response and recovery efforts in the state.

Since late December, 12 Californians have died from storm-related impacts, including flooding, more than the number of civilians who lost their lives to wildfires in the past two years combined, according to a statement released by the governor's office.

"We are in the middle of a deadly barrage of winter storms -- and California is using every resource at its disposal to protect lives and limit damage," said Newsom in the statement.

"We are taking the threat from these storms seriously, and want to make sure that Californians stay vigilant as more storms head our way," the governor added.

Winter storms continued to hit California with heavy rains, causing flooding, road closures and power outages in many regions across the state.

"California is expecting a stronger and more widespread atmospheric river that will bring strong winds, heavy rain, and thunderstorms," the governor's office tweeted, adding that "this is serious -- stay safe, make the necessary preparations, and limit non-essential travel."

Nearly 100,000 homes and businesses in California were still without power as of Monday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us, a website which collects live power outage data from utilities all over the country.

Tens of thousands of people across Northern California are dealing with continued power outages on Monday, as heavy rain and strong winds caused issues on roadways but spared the region from widespread devastation, reported KCRA-TV, a television station in Sacramento, the capital of the state.

Many school districts across the region and some individual schools facing power outages have canceled classes for Monday, the news outlet added.

No significant letup is expected in the recent very wet weather pattern that has been plaguing much of California and the ongoing heavy rains Monday afternoon across central California will be dropping into Southern California Monday night into early Tuesday, said the U.S. National Weather Service in a weather forecast on Monday.

The U.S. National Weather Service noted that nearly all of California has seen much above average rainfall totals over the past several weeks, with totals 400-600 percent above average values.

"This has resulted in nearly saturated soils and increasingly high river levels. Additional heavy rains on Tuesday will exacerbate ongoing flooding and continue the risk of flash flooding and mudslides, especially across recent burn scar regions," said the agency.

"Dangerous life-threatening flash flooding across southern Santa Barbara county and central Ventura county through this evening as additional heavy rain moves into the area. Follow orders from emergency officials," the U.S. National Weather Service tweeted Monday afternoon.

Thousands of people were ordered to immediately evacuate Southern California's Montecito on Monday.

All residents in the community in Santa Barbara County were urged to "leave now" by local officials as "the heaviest rain is yet to come this afternoon and evening."

A total of 23 people were killed in January 2018 when a massive mudslide caused by heavy rains swept through the coastal community and destroyed 130 homes. 

People clear a road blocked by fallen trees after a heavy winter storm in San Mateo County of San Francisco Bay Area, California, the United States, Jan. 9, 2023. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua)

People clear a road blocked by fallen trees after a heavy winter storm in San Mateo County of San Francisco Bay Area, California, the United States, Jan. 9, 2023. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua)

People clear a road blocked by fallen trees after a heavy winter storm in San Mateo County of San Francisco Bay Area, California, the United States, Jan. 9, 2023. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua)
HOUSTON, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A man is in custody due to possible links with at least one shooting at the homes or offices of Democratic elected officials in Albuquerque, the largest city in the southwestern U.S. state New Mexico, authorities said Monday.

The unidentified suspect, who is said to be under 50, has not been formally charged in any of the cases, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) said.

The APD has recovered a firearm that was linked to one of the shootings, APD Chief Harold Medina said at a brief news conference.

"We are trying to still link and see which cases are related and which are not related," said Medina. "So until we get more details and we finish the process of seeing where the evidence leads up and getting returns on our warrants, this will be the extent of our information."

Earlier on Monday, the APD reported that investigators are looking into a sixth shooting which happened in early December at the home of incoming New Mexico House Speaker, Democratic Representative Javier Martinez.

Including Martinez, six Democratic elected officials' homes or offices were shot at in December 2022 and January 2023.

It remains unclear if the shootings are all connected, though police say they've found "potential connections between some of the shootings."

However, Medina said it was "too early" to talk about motives behind the shootings, which were all directed towards homes or offices of Democratic officials.

During the shootings, multiple rounds have been fired into the doors and walls of the officials' homes or offices, in some cases while the officials were inside with their families. No one has been hurt.

According to the APD, the first shooting occurred on Dec. 4, 2022, at the home of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa. Someone shot eight rounds at his house.

On Dec. 10, ShotSpotter technology detected several gunshots in the area of New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez's former campaign office, where the attorney general had already moved out following his November election.

One day later, the home of then Bernalillo Commissioner Debbie O'Malley came under fire. More than a dozen gunshot impacts were identified on walls and the house.

Last week, state Senator Linda Lopez's home was hit by at least eight shots after midnight, and the police department's ShotSpotter system registered three shots fired at a downtown law office where state Senator Moe Maestas works.

The shootings occurred nearly two years after a large group of supporters of then U.S. President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, and disrupted a joint session of Congress to affirm the 2020 presidential election results. 
Chandigarh: The 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' taken out by former Congress President Rahul Gandhi has been mired in controversies since its inception. During this, many such acts have been done by Rahul himself, which people have considered an insult to the Hindu religion. Now Rahul Gandhi has given an objectionable statement about the priests. Along with this, Rahul Gandhi also gave an inverted example of Mahabharata. After this, Rahul Gandhi is being accused not only of spreading hatred against Brahmins but also of spreading bad propaganda by misinterpreting ancient religious texts of Hindus. Let us tell you that recently a case was registered against Afzal Lakhani, the IT cell convenor of Gujarat Youth Congress in a similar issue. Actually, Afzal, By making fake IDs in the name of Hindu, used to make derogatory comments about Brahmins. He was hatching conspiracies to make Hindus fight with each other by inciting them against each other. Now people are linking Rahul's statement with Afzal Lakhani's misdeeds and accusing the Congress of being anti-Hindu.

Rahul Gandhi says :



"Country India stands for tapasvi not for Pujari "



Meaning ?? https://t.co/KUoAqC7DfH  narne kumar06 (@narne_kumar06) January 8, 2023

In fact, Rahul Gandhi while giving a press conference during his Bharat Jodo Yatra said, 'This country belongs to ascetics, this country does not belong to priests. This is the reality of this country.' On this, people are asking Rahul Gandhi on social media why he hates priests so much. Along with this, they are also asking why Congress leaders and Rahul Gandhi continuously make derogatory statements targeting the Hindu religion only. Can Rahul make such statements about any other religion? Earlier, even during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kerala, Rahul Gandhi was accused of being anti-Hindu. In fact, during that time, Rahul Gandhi met Pastor George Ponnaiah, notorious for his anti-Hindu remarks. At this time George Ponnaiah told Rahul that 'Jesus is the real God, he is not like Shakti or other Hindu gods.' Its video also went viral, in which Ponnaiah said, 'Jesus is the real God born as a man. Shakti (Maa Durga is called 'Shakti') and not like others.' However, during this period, Rahul Gandhi, who sometimes described himself as a janeudhari Brahmin, sometimes as a Kashmiri Pandit, and sometimes expressed his desire to learn Shivayoga, was seen sitting silently listening to the pastor's words in the video on the such insult of Hindu deities.

Now Rahul Gandhi has once again given a derogatory statement about the priests. Let us tell you that India is also called the country of temples because there are thousands of temples here and almost every temple has some or the other priest. There are many priests in prominent temples. They study the scriptures, worship, and perform rituals according to them. The priests of the village temples are poor, whose family's upkeep depends only on the donations they receive.

On the other hand, in many states, the Imams of mosques are given regular salaries by the government, but the priests do not get any help from the government. In such a situation, if there is no priest, then how will the worship and aarti be done from time to time, from the maintenance and management of the temple? Rahul Gandhi's statement also coincides with that of a Pakistani minister, Sheikh Rasheed, who threatened that 'no bell ringer will be found in Indian temples'. That is, Sheikh Rasheed was also directly threatening the priests. However, it should also be mentioned that at present, not only Brahmins are priests in India, but people of other castes are also becoming priests after studying the scriptures. In such a situation, this statement of Rahul is being seen as an insult to all Hindus.

After this, now on Bhagavadgita and Mahabharata, Rahul Gandhi gave knowledge, 'When Arjuna was shooting the arrow in the eye of the fish, did he say what I will do after this? Did he say? No. The story's meaning is in the Gita as well  Do the work, don't worry about the result.' The competition of 'Matsya Bhedan' was organized for Draupadi's Swayamvara and marriage. Arjun knew what was going to happen after hitting the target. It is also worth noting that, in the state of Kerala where Rahul is MP, the maximum number of youths are getting recruited into the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS). But, despite this, in the Bharat Jodo Yatra which lasted for 18 days in Kerala, Rahul did not even once appeal to the youth not to become terrorists, nor did he give any statement against terrorist ideology. Although, it may be a part of the vote bank politics of Congress, According to which Afzal Lakhani is also working. This means making Hindus fight with each other and then take political advantage.

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Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board signed a Memorandum of Understanding with chapters of 8 countries of the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) at the MP Tourism Pavilion of Brilliant Convention Centre in Indore at the 17th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention.

This Memorandum of Understanding were signed with France Metropole Paris, Mauritius, Reunion Island, Martinique, Sri Lanka, GOPIO International, Malaysia, and Mauritius.

On behalf of the Tourism Board and the presidents of 8 GOPIO countries, the MoUs were signed by Shri Sheo Shekhar Shukla, Principal Secretary for Tourism and Culture, and the Tourism Board's Managing Director.

The execution of these Memoranda of Understanding, according to Principal Secretary Shri Shukla, aims to increase collaboration in the growth of the State's tourism industry as well as in the promotion and publicising of tourist destinations.

Addressing the occasion, Rajaram Munuswamy, GOPIO President of France said that the MoU will pave the way for a healthy relationship that will further boost the bond which exists between Madhya Pradesh Tourism and the French-speaking regions.

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Zelenskyy says Ukraine ready to become one of European hubs of modern green energy 10 January, 12:12 PM President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Photo:president.gov.ua)

Ukraine will focus on the implementation of green projects during its post-war reconstruction, and is ready to become one of the European hubs of modern green energy, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said onJan. 9.

We have to decide what the generation in Ukraine should be, what the independent energy generation in Europe should be in the future, Zelenskyy said during a meeting with Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, in Kyiv.

Because well win this war, but the neighborhood with Russia will remain, Zelenskyy noted.

Video of day

Thats why the European Union must be independent from any Russian decisions. Here, we see ourselves as a reliable partner in the green energy.

Read also: When the price of oil and gas pleases ordinary Ukrainians

The Ukrainian president also thanked Timmermans for an EU initiative to launch a strategic partnership between Ukraine and the European Union in the field of renewable gasses.

Earlier, Kyiv and Washington announced a pilot project to build a small modular reactor in Ukraine to produce ecologically clean hydrogen and ammonia.

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Fuji TV: According to reports, China released a notice today suspending visa issuance to Japanese citizens. Can you confirm this? If so, can you provide more information?

Wang Wenbin: Since China announced the decision to manage COVID-19 with measures against Class-B infectious diseases and adopted provisional measures on cross-border travel, many countries have expressed their welcome, but a few countries have announced entry restriction measures targeting travelers from China. With the utmost sincerity, the Chinese side had fact-based communication with the countries concerned and elaborated on our science-based and reasonable COVID measures refinement and Chinas current COVID situation. Regrettably, a handful of countries, in disregard of science, facts and their actual epidemic situation, have insisted on taking discriminatory entry restriction measures targeting China. China firmly rejects this and will take reciprocal measures.

We once again call on relevant countries to make sure that their COVID response measures are fact-based, science-based and proportionate. COVID response should not be used as a pretext for political manipulation. It should not be discriminatory and should not affect normal cross-border travel and people-to-people exchange and cooperation.

MASTV: During Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedovs recent visit to China, the governments of China and Turkmenistan signed a memorandum of understanding on seeking synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the initiative to revive the Great Silk Road. With the signing of this document, China has signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with all the Central Asian countries. Whats your comment?

Wang Wenbin: Signing the MOU on Belt and Road cooperation is an important outcome of President Serdar Berdimuhamedovs visit to China. It will enable us to seek greater synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and Turkmenistans initiative to revive the Great Silk Road, expand mutually beneficial cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, inject fresh impetus into the building of a China-Turkmenistan community with a shared future, and open brand new prospects for Belt and Road cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries.

During the past year, Belt and Road cooperation has made steady progress, injecting new impetus into world economic recovery. The China-Europe Railway Express ran 16,000 trips and shipped 1.6 million TEUs of freight throughout the year, up by 9% and 10% year-on-year. The new western land-sea corridor train service shipped 756,000 TEUs of cargo, up by 18.5%. The China-Laos Railway served over nine million passengers. The Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, the first highway in Cambodia, has been used by more than one million vehicles since it was opened to traffic three months ago. The Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, had a successful operational trial. Last year saw another five countries sign Belt and Road cooperation documents with China. China and the Philippines signed an updated Memorandum of Understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative just last week. All these serve to show that Belt and Road cooperation meets development needs globally as well as the international communitys aspiration and retains strong resilience and vitality. The Belt and Road family is growing ever larger, delivering higher-quality cooperation and brighter prospects for its members.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping. Going forward, we will continue to follow the principle of wide consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, work together with all interested parties in pursuit of common development, and make sure this belt of development and road to happiness for all humanity will deliver more prosperity to more people.

Reuters: Yesterday the foreign ministry announced that now your former colleague Zhao Lijian has moved to a new post. Why was former spokesman Zhao moved to this new position? Does this signal a change in what was perceived as Chinas former approach to diplomacy?

Wang Wenbin: Comrade Zhao Lijian has been appointed to a new post as work requires.

China is committed to its foreign policy goal of safeguarding world peace and promoting common development. We are committed to advancing the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and to friendly cooperation with other countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. At the same time, on issues of principle that bear on Chinas sovereignty, security and development interests, we would never waver in our resolve to firmly uphold them. This is the proud duty and sacred mission of Chinese diplomats.

CCTV: According to reports, an Austrian politician said recently that Chinas dynamic zero-COVID policy had proved disastrous. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: Such rhetoric disregards facts, politicizes COVID, and runs counter to the spirit of science. It reveals that in this day and age, some people are still obsessed with bloc confrontation and blinded by arrogance and bias against China. We firmly reject it.

Chinas COVID response policies are science-based, effective, and consistent with Chinas national realities. They can stand the test of history.

It was exactly because of the dynamic zero-COVID policy that we managed to dodge the havoc of the more deadly Delta and other variants, and reduced the rates of severe cases and mortality and protected peoples lives and health to the greatest extent possible.

It was exactly because of the dynamic zero-COVID policy that we bought precious time for vaccinating more people. As of January 4, 2023, a total of 3.48 billion doses of vaccines had been administered to 1.39886 billion people in China, of which 1.275855 billion had been fully vaccinated, which means 92.9% of the entire population had been covered by vaccination. Such high coverage has effectively reduced the rate of severe cases.

It was exactly because of the dynamic zero-COVID policy that China became the first major economy in the world to register positive economic growth in 2020. Chinas average annual economic growth rate for the past three years stood at around 4.5%, higher than the global average, making important contribution to the global economic growth. In the thick of the global fight against COVID, China served as an important provider of supplies, offering strong support for other countries epidemic response and playing an irreplaceable role in keeping global industrial and supply chains stable.

Guided by a people-first and life-first philosophy, we have kept refining our COVID response based on science to make it more targeted. Any political manipulation is futile given what Chinas COVID response has accomplished.

AFP: China just announced that it is suspending issuing short-term visas to ROK citizens. So does China plan to do the same with other countries, especially Japan?

Wang Wenbin: I just stated Chinas position clearly. We once again call on relevant countries to make sure that their COVID response measures are fact-based, science-based and proportionate. COVID response should not be used as a pretext for political manipulation. It should not be discriminatory and should not affect normal cross-border travel and people-to-people exchange and cooperation.

Hubei Media Group: Certain Western media reports alleged recently that the COVID situation in China will affect the stability of international industrial and supply chains and be a drag on world economic recovery. Whats your comment?

Wang Wenbin: Such comments are driven by ulterior motives and run counter to the fact.

The fact is Chinas COVID response policies have protected peoples lives and health and reduced the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development to the maximum extent possible. Chinas average annual economic growth rate for the past three years stood at around 4.5%, higher than the global average. Against the backdrop of mounting downward pressure in the global economy and weakening momentum in global trade, China actively expanded opening-up and provided quality products and services to the world, playing a crucial stabilizing role in global industrial and supply chains. Chinas foreign trade for the year 2021 increased to $6.9 trillion, remaining top of the world. Chinas total import and export of goods between January and November last year grew by 8.6%, with export up by 11.9%, making significant contribution to stabilizing the world economy and driving global trade.

After the Chinese government adjusted its COVID response measures, heads of international organizations including the WTO and the OECD have expressed optimism about Chinas economic prospects and confidence that this will shore up the world economys recovery and growth. Recently, many international investment institutions have raised their 2023 growth forecast for China. Foreign chambers of commerce in China held the view that relevant measures will rebuild foreign investors confidence in the Chinese market and contribute to restoring optimism and reinstating China as a priority investment destination. According to a US bank survey, the proportion of fund managers expecting higher growth in China soared to about 75% from just 13% in November 2022.

At present, Chinas COVID situation is improving and some provinces and cities have gone through the infection peak, where life and work are coming back to normal at a faster pace. With demand picking up and new policies beginning to work, China will unleash more economic vitality and opportunities for the world, and be in a better position to stabilize and boost the global economy.

Kyodo News: Is Japan determined as a country that has imposed discriminatory entry restrictions on China?

Wang Wenbin: You may follow updates on Chinese embassies and consulates overseas.

Yonhap News Agency: The Chinese embassy in the ROK released a notice on suspending issuing short-term visas to ROK citizens. Could you offer more information?

Wang Wenbin: I already answered relevant questions.

TASS: I have two questions. Firstly, the Minister of Agriculture of Turkiye said yesterday that since the Black Sea grain agreement was implemented, about 17 million tons of agriculture products have been exported from Ukrainian ports through the humanitarian corridor in the sea. The share of grain entering the least developed countries in dire need of food was only 5.4 percent. Whats Chinas comment? And secondly, China started implementing the provisional measures on cross-border travel from January 8. Previously, the foreign ministry had said that it would further streamline visa application for foreign nationals traveling to China for work, business, study and family visits. Can you share more on that? Will China issue tourist visas for foreigners?

Wang Wenbin: On your first question, China hopes the Black Sea Grain Initiative can be implemented in a balanced, comprehensive and effective manner. China has put forward the cooperation initiative on global food security, and would like to strengthen communication and cooperation with all parties over this to build up international consensus and contribute to world food security.

On your second question, the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet ended. China will continue to adjust its visa policy for foreign nationals in a science-based manner to keep up with the latest COVID situation and ease the travel of people coming to China for various purposes.

Reuters: According to the Yomiuri, a Japanese newspaper, the US is looking to post US Marine units throughout Japans Okinawa islands by around 2026, arming them with missiles and lighter gear aimed at deterring Chinas military. Whats Chinas comment?

Wang Wenbin: We noted the reports. US-Japan military cooperation should not harm the interests of any third party or undermine peace and stability in the region.

Reuters: We understand that the Chinese government has notified Chinese companies to step up trade with Australia. Whats Chinas comment?

Wang Wenbin: Id refer you to competent authorities for specifics. We want to stress that the economies of China and Australia are highly complementary. It is hoped that Australia will head towards the same direction with China and make joint efforts for win-win results, so as to rebuild trust and bring bilateral relations back on track.

Reuters: So I was wondering, the two countries that weve been discussing today, South Korea and Japan, who may have restrictions on the visa issuance, was that in response to them requiring COVID test for Chinese travelers arriving in those countries? And if so, should we expect China to announce similar restrictions on visa issuance for all of the other countries who have announced similar COVID test requirements for Chinese arrivals?

Wang Wenbin: China firmly rejects a handful of countries discriminatory entry restriction measures targeting China and will take reciprocal measures.
Ukrainian military reportedly sinks Russian warship as daily enemy losses top 700 10 January, 11:20 AM The Russian army is losing tens of thousands of its soldiers and thousands of pieces of equipment in the war against Ukraine (Photo:Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

The Russian has lost a total of 112,470 troops since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including 710 in the past 24 hours alone, Ukraines General Staff reported in an update on Jan. 10.

The Ukrainian military also reportedly neutralized a Russian naval vessel, though no details were revealed as of publication.

Russian invasion forces have also lost over 20,000 units of materiel, including:

 Tanks  3,084 (+4);

 Armored combat vehicles  6,154 (+7);

Video of day

 Artillery systems  2,073 (+4);

 Multiple launch rocket systems  434 (+0);

 Air defense systems  217 (+0);

 Warplanes  285 (+0);

 Helicopters  275 (+0);

 UAV operational-tactical level  1,860 (+4);

 Cruise missiles  723 (+0);

 Warships / boats  17 (+1);

 Motor vehicles and fuel tankers  4,817 (+8);

 Special equipment  183 (+0).

Russia attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Jan. 10, 2023 marks the 321st day of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Invading Russian forces initially tried to advance from the north, east and south, attacking peaceful cities throughout Ukraine. Civilian targets across Ukrainian cities remain under sporadic Russian air strikes, while settlements along the Russian border are regularly shelled. Since October, the enemy has also been launching Iranian-made suicide drones on Ukrainian cities.

The Kremlin has changed the goals of its war in Ukraine several times since then.

Parts of Zaporizhzhya, Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk, Mykolayiv, and Kharkiv oblasts are currently occupied by the enemy.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces launched counter-offensives in the south and east of Ukraine, striking at Russian ammunition depots and personnel concentrations. Almost the entire Kharkiv Oblast was liberated.

On Nov. 11, Ukrainian army liberated Kherson and forced Russian forces to withdraw from the right (western) bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast.

The situation in Donetsk Oblast remains fraught.

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File photo for representation only

Kathmandu, January 10

A joint military exercise between Nepal and the United States has begun at Chhauni in Kathmandu.

The 12th edition of the joint military exercise has the participation of 35 army staffers from the Nepal Army and 19 from the US Army, according to the Nepal Army.

The exercise will go through February 3 this year and will be held in Nagarkot as well, according to the national military organisation.

The event will focus on search and rescue operations during disasters.

The Nepal Army has been conducting such joint events with Indian and American armies for the past several years.

Meanwhile, in view of the early preparedness for the untoward incidents relating to cable cars, the Nepal Army recently practised a rescue operation. The organisation, in collaboration with Chandragiri Hills Limited, conducted the rescue operation in a cable car in Chandragiri of Kathmandu last Monday, said the Nepal Armys Directorate of Public Relations and Information.
Nepals new Pokhara airport might fall prey to the India-China tussle. Onlinekhabar graphics

Buddha Air wants to commence its Varanasi flights from the newly inaugurated Pokhara Regional International Airport. The airline company, on November 14, 2022, stated its intentions to start three flights a week from Pokhara to Varanasi and said it also wanted to start flights from Pokhara to Delhi and Dehradun in the future.

Their plan, however, took a massive hit when a Buddha Air plane to fly a chartered aircraft to Varanasi from the new Pokhara airport on January 1 did not receive permission to fly to India.

Was this an intentional ploy from India or just a technical issue? The answer is anyones guess.

Officials from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal say they will get an answer if Budhha Air manages to get permission from India to fly regularly to Varanasi from Pokhara in the future.

We cant assume things just yet. We need to wait and see what happens because I dont see any reason for India not to allow Buddha Air to fly to Varanasi from Pokhara as they have been doing so regularly from Kathmandu, says a CAAN official.

But, no one knows if India looks at the Pokhara airport only from a technical point of view or from a strategic and tactical point of view. The answer will be given within some time. However, the officials of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation are doubtful if the issue of flying to Indian cities from the Pokhara airport will be resolved through a simple and regular process.

The ministry officials suspect India might purposely try to derail the project and prevent the Pokhara airport from becoming commercially successful.

Why? Because Pokhara Airport was built with the help of loans provided by China, which also claims it is a part of President Xi Jinpings Belt and Road Initiative. Everybody knows Indias relationship with China has not been the best recently.

The rough runway

Relation between India and China hasnt been the best. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

For the Pokhara airport to be successful, Nepal has to target Indian and Chinese tourists and establish direct flights to major cities of the two countries. The airport has been built with an expensive loan from China, so it is imperative that Nepal target the two countries if it wants the airport to be a commercial success.

But, becoming a commercial success is a distant dream as the airport needs to make around Rs 2.5 billion just to pay the interest on the loans.

It is highly likely China will fly aircraft to Pokhara, but if India will is a greater question that needs to be answered.

People are sceptical because India has not allowed Himalaya Airlines, an airline company owned by the Yeti Group and Chinese investors, to fly to India.

Another reason why experts are unsure if India will fly its aircraft to the Pokhara airport is a lack of an easy, accessible and convenient route. Experts believe the Pokhara airport will suffer the same fate as Bhairahawas Gautam Buddha International Airport as foreign airline companies have been refusing to fly there mentioning the difficult air route.

The Government of India has not agreed to allow aircraft to enter Nepal through Bhairahwa, Nepalgunj and Mahendranagar routes. This has caused a massive blow to both Bhairahawa and Pokhara airports. Many argue the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and the government authorities have not put much effort into it.

Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, a joint secretary of the ministry, says talks are ongoing about necessary initiatives and coordination is being taken with the Indian government regarding new air routes and entry points.

Weve done what we needed to do. We are hopeful the Indian government will be open to allowing aircraft to enter Nepal from the west, says Lamichhane.

Currently, India allows aircraft to exit Nepal through Mahendranagar, Nepalgunj, Bhairahawa, Biratnagar and Janakpur. But, India only allows one air route to enter Nepal: Simara. Nepal is lobbying to ensure India allows both entry and exit through the cities mentioned above.

The talk has been going on for years, but India is yet to come to agree to the terms. This has caused major issues as no international airline is flying to Gautam Buddha International Airport resulting in a major loss for the government.

The head of Gautam Buddha International Airport, Govinda Dahal, says that routes with air entry points from western Nepal are necessary and added international airline companies would be attracted to fly to this airport if Nepal gets permission.

Vested interests?

Representative file image

According to Lamichhane from the ministry, 60-70 per cent of the international flights in Nepal want to use the western route to enter Nepal. But, as India has not given permission, all of them enter Nepal via Simara in southern Nepal.

The planes coming from Bhutan enter Nepal via Jhapa in the east and the planes coming from Lhasa enter Nepal via the Nunim Point (Bravo 345).

According to CAAN, the western route (Gulf 589) is used by airlines coming from Gulf countries, Turkey and New Delhi in India. The east route (Romeo 581) is used for flights coming from Kolkata in India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore, etc.

But, since India has not given permission to fly into Nepal from either of the routes, aircraft coming to Nepal have to come via Simara, which is a hassle for many. If India gives permission to enter Nepal via the western route, nearly 70 per cent of flights will not have to enter Nepal via Simara.

India is reluctant to do this as it has been charging navigation fees from aircraft for using its air space for a longer duration.

If India does open the western and eastern air routes, Nepal would also be able to charge navigation fees and earn a good amount. This would also decrease the cost for international airlines, which would mean cheaper tickets.

According to experts, the longer the flight, the higher the air safety risk. India knows this, yet it is hesitating to give permission to open the two routes.

Knots of negotiations

A terminal of the Pokhara Regional International Airport

Despite being aware that the air route has disrupted the operation of the Bhairahawa and Pokhara airports, the government of Nepal has not taken a high-level diplomatic initiative. Since the idea of the two airports surfaced, it was clear India would not give Nepal the air routes it needed. But, Nepal has been arguing that it is the countrys right to get the air route.

A meeting was held in Kolkata to discuss this in 2016, but it bore no fruit. The officials from both sides were going to meet in October 2017, but the Nepali team could not go to India due to the risk of violating the election code of conduct. Then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, during his visit to India, met his counterpart Narendra Modi and spoke about this issue.

Soon after that, CAAN and the Airports Authority of India met and discussed that a detailed technical study could be carried out regarding making the Kathmandu-Biratnagar and Kathmandu-Janakpur routes two-way for international flights and giving an entry route from Nepalgunj and Mahendranagar in the west for international flights.

Accordingly, when the Nepali team reached Delhi to finalise the flight safety assessment, the Airport Authority of India suddenly withdrew from the agreement.

According to Nepali officials, Indian counterparts have been citing the armys reluctance as it has an army base on the routes Nepal wants permission for. But, these answers are a reason Nepali officials are not positive about getting the air routes opened.

India has also blocked permission to use the ILS, a system that allows flights to land even in low visibility installed by Nepal at Bhairahawa airport. Former secretary and aviation official Yagya Prasad Gautam says that India should show goodwill and give an entry point from western Nepal.

Nepal needs to come up with a plan to solve this issue, says Gautam.

Many argue that India, which has not made things easy to operate the Bhairahawa airport, will definitely change its mind and smoothen things for the Pokhara airport as the latter has been stated as a BRI initiative.

It is clear that India has not treated China-related projects well in the past. Over the past few years, India has vocally stated it would not buy electricity generated from Chinese projects.

Chinas interest

Meanwhile, Chinas claim that the Pokhara airport is a BRI initiative is not entirely true.

The One Belt-One Road (OBOR) launched by China in 2013 was later called the BRI project. China has called BRI a project to help in the development and prosperity of neighbouring and friendly countries. However, due to cold relations with China, India has not joined the BRI project yet.

Nepal became a part of the BRI in 2017 with an agreement signed by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. But, the foundation of the Pokhara airport was laid in 2016, a year before Nepal joined the BRI.

As of now, there has not been any project that has been constructed under the BRI initiative as Nepal has not officially signed any agreement that falls under it. To put it bluntly, Nepal is not aware of what projects are BRI and what are not.

However, the officials of the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu have repeatedly described the Pokhara airport as a project within the BRI.

On the same day as the airport was inaugurated, the charge daffaires at Kathmandus Chinese embassy, Wang Xin formally recalled the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Nepal and also recalled the announcement of the creation of an aerial network to connect the Himalayas to the world.

He said that a profitable project had been launched to turn the BRIs vision into reality and tried to interpret the Pokhara airport as a link to it.

On April 21, 2022, then-Chinese Ambassador Hou Yanqi also explained in a press conference that the project advanced by the Chinese side in Nepal was under the BRI project.

However, experts in foreign affairs feel China is overstepping. Former Foreign Minister and UML leader Pradeep Gyawali says China is wrong to claim the Pokhara airport to be a BRI project.

We signed the BRI in 2017. When President Bidya Devi Bhandari went to the BRI conference in 2019, we defined the BRI as a Trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network, which includes railways, highways, optical fibre, and ports, Gyawali says, adding he does not understand why the charge daffaires could claim the Pokhara airport as a BRI project.

He says the airport was not on the list of nine projects selected by Nepal to fall under the BRI.

Maybe its what power countries do. The US also wants to list all its projects in Nepal under the Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS). I think the US has a major role in the MCC project being disputed in Nepal, he says.

Experts in foreign affairs say that it is the governments responsibility to clarify that such projects made with foreign aid based on the needs of Nepal do not jeopardise the interests of other countries.

Former Nepali ambassador to China, Tanka Karki, says that it is normal to request foreign countries to help fulfil national needs.

But, the countries cannot interfere in the countrys national interest, says Karki. We should stop taking decisions thinking well anger India or China when taking help either of them. Thats not how diplomacy works.

Former ambassador Karki says the country should be able to reject assertions such as the Pokhara airport being a part of the BRI while remaining committed to its declared policy.

We should take maximum benefits from our neighbours, and we should promise not to use the land to the detriment of each other, he says. We should also seek cooperation from other countries by maintaining friendly relations, believing that such cooperation wont be used to the detriment of neighbouring countries.

This story was translated from the original Nepali version and edited for clarity and length.
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Dublin, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Hospital Outsourcing Global Market Report 2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report provides strategists, marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the global hospital outsourcing market.



This report focuses on hospital outsourcing market which is experiencing strong growth. The report gives a guide to the hospital outsourcing market which will be shaping and changing our lives over the next ten years and beyond, including the markets response to the challenge of the global pandemic.

The global hospital outsourcing market is expected to grow from $281.37 billion in 2021 to $325.94 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.8%. The hospital outsourcing market is expected to grow to $526.86 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 12.8%.



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Understand customers based on the latest market research findings.

Benchmark performance against key competitors.

Utilize the relationships between key data sets for superior strategizing.

Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high quality data and analysis

Major players in the hospital outsourcing market are AllScripts Healthcare Solutions Inc., Cerner Corporation, Sodexo S.A., LogistiCare Solutions LLC, The Allure Group, Aramark Corporation, Alere Inc., Flatworld Solution, Integrated Medical Transport, ABM Industries Inc., Abbott Laboratories, 3M Company (3M Health Information Systems), and TriMedx LLC.



The hospital outsourcing market consists of the sale of hospital outsourcing services by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that help hospitals focus on their core operations and services, including clinical diagnosis, medical care, and nursing support.

Story continues

Hospital outsourcing is a process in which some processes of a hospital are assigned to another vendor or a smaller facility that has expertise and specialization in the specific area. This helps to provide support to hospital processes and smooth running of the hospitals.



The main types of hospitals in the hospital outsourcing market are private and public. A private hospital refers to a hospital that is not owned by the government, these hospitals provide various types of services and activities conducted for the development and smooth function of hospitals.

The various sizes of hospitals include small and medium hospitals and large hospitals that provide several services such as healthcare IT, clinical services, business services, transportation services, and others. The various end-users include nursing homes and assisted living, specialty hospitals, general medical and surgical hospitals, emergency and other outpatient care centers, and others.



North America was the largest region in the hospital outsourcing market in 2021. The regions covered in the hospital outsourcing market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa.



This hospital outsourcing market research report delivers a complete perspective of everything you need, with an in-depth analysis of the current and future scenarios of the industry.



The increase in diabetic patient flow in hospitals is expected to propel the growth of the hospital outsourcing market going forward. Hospitals opt for outsourcing services when there is an increase in patients and the hospital infrastructure is not capable of handling a large number of patients. This is a result of the rise in chronic illnesses including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and others, which are increasing the number of patients being admitted to hospitals and, eventually, placing greater pressure on medical procedures



Technology advancements have emerged as the key trend gaining popularity in the hospital outsourcing market. Major companies operating in the hospital outsourcing sector are focused on introducing technological innovations to sustain their position in the market.



In March 2021, Omega Healthcare, a US-based company operating in outsourced revenue cycle management and other hospital support services, acquired Himagine Solutions Inc for an undisclosed amount. Through this acquisition, Omega Healthcare aims to expand its service capabilities and the ability to service clients globally with a more integrated end-to-end solution.

Additionally, Omega healthcare also aims to gain Himagine's expertise in clinical documentation improvement (CDI) for coding audits, and chart abstraction for medical registries including United States cancer and trauma registries. Himagine Solutions Inc. is a US-based company that provides hospital outsourcing services such as medical coding, coding audit, registry management, and others.



The countries covered in the hospital outsourcing market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Hospital Outsourcing Market Characteristics



3. Hospital Outsourcing Market Trends And Strategies



4. Impact Of COVID-19 On Hospital Outsourcing



5. Hospital Outsourcing Market Size And Growth

5.1. Global Hospital Outsourcing Historic Market, 2016-2021, $ Billion

5.1.1. Drivers Of The Market

5.1.2. Restraints On The Market

5.2. Global Hospital Outsourcing Forecast Market, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

5.2.1. Drivers Of The Market

5.2.2. Restraints On the Market



6. Hospital Outsourcing Market Segmentation

6.1. Global Hospital Outsourcing Market, Segmentation By Hospital Type, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

Private

Public

6.2. Global Hospital Outsourcing Market, Segmentation By Hospital Size, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

Small and Medium Hospitals

Large Hospitals

6.3. Global Hospital Outsourcing Market, Segmentation By Services, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

Healthcare IT

Clinical Services

Business Services

Transportation Services

Other Services

6.4. Global Hospital Outsourcing Market, Segmentation By End-Users, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

Nursing Homes and Assisted Living

Speciality Hospitals

General Medical and Surgical Hospitals

Emergency and Other Outpatient Care Centers

Other End Users

7. Hospital Outsourcing Market Regional And Country Analysis

7.1. Global Hospital Outsourcing Market, Split By Region, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

7.2. Global Hospital Outsourcing Market, Split By Country, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/zexiox

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NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Technavio categorizes the global alternative credentials market for higher education as a part of the global education services market, which covers products, services, and solutions that are offered to educational institutions, corporate institutions, students, parents, individuals, and teachers. The size of the global alternative credentials market for higher education is estimated to increase by USD 2,275.05 million between 2022 and 2027. The market's growth momentum will progress at a CAGR of 17.8%.

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Alternative Credentials Market for Higher Education 2023-2027

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Global alternative credentials market for higher education  Vendor analysis

Vendor offerings -

2U Inc. - The company offers alternative credentials that help companies create skills pathways with verifiable and stackable credentials to upskill and train employees with high-quality educational experience in the most job-relevant subjects.

Bisk Ventures - The company offers alternative credentials with innovative use of technology to engage students in impactful learning experiences and to strengthen education to employment pathways.

Carroll Community College Foundation Inc. - The company offers alternative credentials with the use of the latest technologies to engage students in learning experiences.

Cengage Learning Holdings II Inc. - The company offers alternative credentials with quality digital products and services to millions of students, equipping them with the skills and competencies needed to advance their careers and improve their lives.

For details on vendors and their offerings  Buy the report!

Vendor landscape -

The global alternative credentials market for higher education is fragmented, with the presence of several global as well as regional vendors. A few prominent vendors that offer alternative credentials for higher education in the market are 2U Inc., Bisk Ventures, Carroll Community College Foundation Inc., Cengage Learning Holdings II Inc., City and Guilds Group, Coursera Inc., Credly, Inc., New York State Education Department, NIIT Ltd, Northeastern University, Pearson Plc, Purdue University Global, Simplilearn Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Strategic Education Inc., Temple University, Udacity Inc., Udemy Inc, University of Michigan, University Professional and Continuing Education Association, and XuetangX and others.

Story continues

The global alternative credentials market for higher education is subject to rapidly changing consumer demands and preferences. The vendors compete based on factors such as price, quality, innovation, packaging, reputation, marketing channels, and even distribution. Therefore, to survive and even succeed in this competitive environment, it is important for the players in the market to distinguish their product offerings through a clear and unique value proposition.

Global alternative credentials market for higher education - Customer landscape

To help companies evaluate and develop growth strategies, the report outlines 

Key purchase criteria

Adoption rates

Adoption lifecycle

Drivers of price sensitivity

Global alternative credentials market for higher education - Segmentation assessment

Segment overview

Technavio has segmented the market based on product (non-credit training courses, non-credit certificate programs, digital badges, competency-based education, and boot camps) and delivery mode (online, blended, and face-to-face).

The non-credit training courses segment will contribute significantly during the forecast period. In these courses, students should attain a certain level of expertise in the latest tools and technologies prior to being recruited. The providers of non-credit training courses also help students build hands-on skills through short-term courses.

Geography overview

Based on geography, the global alternative credentials market for higher education is segmented into North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa. The report provides actionable insights and estimates the contribution of all regions to the growth of the global alternative credentials market for higher education.

North America is estimated to account for 56% of the growth of the global market during the forecast period. Higher education institutions in the region are implementing numerous ed-tech products and services and are introducing new forms of teaching and learning. They are also adopting experiential learning, flipped classrooms, blended learning, and active learning in classrooms at a large scale. In addition, many schools and colleges have partnered with ed-tech companies that provide alternative credentials to learners. These factors will drive the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Download a sample report

Global alternative credentials market for higher education  Market dynamics

Leading drivers - The widening skills gap is driving the alternative credentials market for higher education market growth. There is a high disparity in demand and supply in terms of skilled employees. The rise in competition has led to an increase in demand for skills that can prove employment readiness. The alternative credentials allow students to acquire non-traditional skills. This helps recruiters easily verify students' achievements. This, in turn, is driving the adoption of alternative credentials by higher education institutions globally.

Key trends - The rise in non-traditional offerings is a key trend in the alternative credentials market for the higher education market. These offerings include credit and non-credit graduate and undergraduate certificate programs, training courses, continuing education units, and micro-credentialing. The providers of these courses include baccalaureate colleges, universities, community colleges, and doctorate-granting universities, which operate in both public and private domains. As the courses are available through different channels, providers can easily create non-credit programs at a much faster pace. These factors will support the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Major challenges - The threat from traditional degree program providers is challenging the alternative credentials market for the higher education market growth. Evolving learning methodologies and digitization of the overall learning process are helping universities enhance the quality of course offerings. As a result, universities and colleges are able to train graduates as per industry requirements. These developments can reduce the dependency on alternative credentials, as traditional degree programs will start to provide the same services as part of conventional course offerings. Such factors are expected to hamper the focused market growth.

Drivers, trends, and challenges have an impact on market dynamics, which can impact businesses. Find some insights from a sample report!

What are the key data covered in this alternative credentials market for higher education report?

CAGR of the market during the forecast period

Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the alternative credentials market for higher education between 2023 and 2027

Precise estimation of the size of the alternative credentials market for higher education and its contribution to the parent market

Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

Growth of the alternative credentials market for higher education across North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa

A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about vendors

Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of the alternative credentials market for higher education vendors

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Alternative Credentials Market For Higher Education Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 177 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 17.8% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 2,275.05 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 17.23 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 56% Key countries US, China, India, Germany, and UK Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled 2U Inc., Bisk Ventures, Carroll Community College Foundation Inc., Cengage Learning Holdings II Inc., City and Guilds Group, Coursera Inc., Credly, Inc., New York State Education Department, NIIT Ltd, Northeastern University, Pearson Plc, Purdue University Global, Simplilearn Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Strategic Education Inc., Temple University, Udacity Inc., Udemy Inc, University of Michigan, University Professional and Continuing Education Association, and XuetangX Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, and Market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

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Table of contents

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

3.3 Market size 2022

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2022-2027

4 Historic Market Size

4.1 Global alternative credentials market for higher education 2017 - 2021

4.2 Geography Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

4.3 Product Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

4.4 Delivery mode Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

4.5 Country Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

5 Five Forces Analysis

5.1 Five forces summary

5.2 Bargaining power of buyers

5.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

5.4 Threat of new entrants

5.5 Threat of substitutes

5.6 Threat of rivalry

5.7 Market condition

6 Market Segmentation by Product

6.1 Market segments

6.2 Comparison by Product

6.3 Non-credit training courses - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

6.4 Non-credit certificate programs - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

6.5 Digital badges - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

6.6 Competency-based education - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

6.7 Boot camps - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

6.8 Market opportunity by Product

7 Market Segmentation by Delivery Mode

7.1 Market segments

7.2 Comparison by Delivery Mode

7.3 Online - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

7.4 Blended - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

7.5 Face to face - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

7.6 Market opportunity by Delivery Mode

8 Customer Landscape

8.1 Customer landscape overview

9 Geographic Landscape

9.1 Geographic segmentation

9.2 Geographic comparison

9.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.8 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.9 China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.10 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.11 UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.12 India - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.13 Market opportunity by geography

10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10.1 Market drivers

10.2 Market challenges

10.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

10.4 Market trends

11 Vendor Landscape

11.1 Overview

11.2 Vendor landscape

11.3 Landscape disruption

11.4 Industry risks

12 Vendor Analysis

12.1 Vendors covered

12.2 Market positioning of vendors

12.3 2U Inc.

12.4 Bisk Ventures

12.5 Carroll Community College Foundation Inc.

12.6 Cengage Learning Holdings II Inc.

12.7 City and Guilds Group

12.8 Coursera Inc.

12.9 Credly, Inc.

12.10 New York State Education Department

12.11 NIIT Ltd

12.12 Pearson Plc

12.13 Simplilearn Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

12.14 Strategic Education Inc.

12.15 Udacity Inc.

12.16 Udemy Inc

12.17 University of Michigan

13 Appendix

13.1 Scope of the report

13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

13.4 Research methodology

13.5 List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/

Global Alternative Credentials Market for Higher Education 2023-2027

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SOURCE Technavio
NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Anti-inflammatory Therapeutics Market by Application, Drug Class, and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2023-2027 report has been published by Technavio. Market size is forecast to grow by USD 39.32 billion between 2022 and 2027 at a CAGR of 6.7%. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of growth opportunities at regional levels, new product launches, the latest trends, and the post-pandemic recovery of the global market. Download A PDF Sample Report

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Anti-inflammatory Therapeutics Market 2023-2027

Regional Analysis

By region, the global anti-inflammatory therapeutics market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of World. North America is estimated to contribute 45% to the growth of the global market over the forecast period. The sales of approved drugs for the treatment of conditions causing inflammation and the increasing prevalence of several associated risk factors are driving the growth of the anti-inflammatory therapeutics market in North America. Buy the report

Company Profiles

The anti-inflammatory therapeutics market report includes information on the key products and recent developments of leading vendors, including:

AbbVie Inc. - The company offers anti-inflammatory therapeutics with the latest technologies and platforms that aim to deliver better solutions.

Alvogen Iceland ehf - The company offers anti-inflammatory therapeutics with the latest technologies to deliver better solutions.

Amgen Inc. - The company offers anti-inflammatory therapeutics which brings therapies to millions of people with inflammatory diseases.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc. - The company offers anti-inflammatory therapeutics with products across a broad range of therapeutic areas including cardiovascular, central nervous system/pain, oncology, inflammation, and anti-infective.

Market Dynamics

The market is driven by factors such as the increase in off-label use, unmet needs for safer biologics for RA, and the availability of improved diagnostic modalities. However, the loss of patents is hindering market growth.

Story continues

Competitive Analysis

The competitive scenario categorizes companies based on various performance indicators. Some of the factors considered include the financial performance of companies over the past few years, growth strategies, product innovations, new product launches, investments, and growth in market share among others. Request a Sample

Market Segmentation

By application, the market is segmented into RA, psoriasis, and MS. The RA segment accounted for the largest share of the market in 2022.

By geography, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of World. North America held the largest share of the market in 2022.

Related Reports:

The generic drugs market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.11% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecasted to increase by USD 176.25 billion. The rising drug patent expirations are notably driving the market growth, although factors such as stringent regulations may impede the market growth.

The antibiotics market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.07% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 17,066.66 million. The rising prevalence of infectious diseases is notably driving the market growth, although factors such as the development of antibiotic-resistant strains may impede the market growth.

Technavio's library includes over 17,000+ reports, covering more than 2,000 emerging technologies. Subscribe to our "Basic Plan" at just USD 5,000 and get lifetime access to Technavio Insights

What are the key data covered in this anti-inflammatory therapeutics market report?

CAGR of the market during the forecast period.

Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the market between 2023 and 2027

Precise estimation of the size of the anti-inflammatory therapeutics market and its contribution to the parent market.

Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior.

Growth of the market across North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of World.

A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about vendors.

Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of anti-inflammatory therapeutics market vendors.

Anti-inflammatory Therapeutics Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 167 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.7% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 39.32 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 5.64 Regional analysis North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of World (ROW) Performing market contribution North America at 45% Key countries US, Canada, Germany, UK, and China Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled AbbVie Inc., Alvogen Iceland ehf, Amgen Inc., Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc., Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Bristol Myers Squibb Co., Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Cipla Ltd., Eli Lilly and Co., F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Ferring BV, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Johnson and Johnson, Lupin Ltd., Mylan N.V, Novartis AG, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Pfizer Inc., and Sanofi SA Market dynamics Parent market analysis, market growth inducers and obstacles, fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, and market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Table of contents:

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

3.3 Market size 2022

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2022-2027

4 Historic Market Size

4.1 Global anti-inflammatory therapeutics market 2017 - 2021

4.2 Application Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

4.3 Drug class Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

4.4 Geography Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

4.5 Country Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

5 Five Forces Analysis

5.1 Five forces summary

5.2 Bargaining power of buyers

5.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

5.4 Threat of new entrants

5.5 Threat of substitutes

5.6 Threat of rivalry

5.7 Market condition

6 Market Segmentation by Application

6.1 Market segments

6.2 Comparison by Application

6.3 RA - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

6.4 Psoriasis - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

6.5 MS - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

6.6 Market opportunity by Application

7 Market Segmentation by Drug Class

7.1 Market segments

7.2 Comparison by Drug Class

7.3 Anti-inflammatory biologicals - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

7.4 Corticosteroids - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

7.5 NSAIDs - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

7.6 Market opportunity by Drug Class

8 Customer Landscape

8.1 Customer landscape overview

9 Geographic Landscape

9.1 Geographic segmentation

9.2 Geographic comparison

9.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.5 Asia - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.6 Rest of World (ROW) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.7 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.8 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.9 UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.10 Canada - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.11 China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

9.12 Market opportunity by geography

10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10.1 Market drivers

10.2 Market challenges

10.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

10.4 Market trends

11 Vendor Landscape

11.1 Overview

11.2 Vendor landscape

11.3 Landscape disruption

11.4 Industry risks

12 Vendor Analysis

12.1 Vendors covered

12.2 Market positioning of vendors

12.3 AbbVie Inc.

12.4 Alvogen Iceland ehf

12.5 Amgen Inc.

12.6 Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc.

12.7 Bayer AG

12.8 Bristol Myers Squibb Co.

12.9 Eli Lilly and Co.

12.10 F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd

12.11 Ferring BV

12.12 GlaxoSmithKline Plc

12.13 Johnson and Johnson

12.14 Mylan N.V

12.15 Novartis AG

12.16 Pfizer Inc.

12.17 Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

13 Appendix

13.1 Scope of the report

13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

13.4 Research methodology

13.5 List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/

Global Anti-inflammatory Therapeutics Market 2023-2027

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SOURCE Technavio
Aptamer Group

10 January 2023

Aptamer Group plc

(Aptamer, the Company or the Group)

Appointment of Interim Chief Commercial Officer

Aptamer Group plc (AIM: APTA), the developer of novel Optimer binders to enable innovation in the life sciences industry, today announces the appointment of Derek Smith as Interim Chief Commercial Officer, effective as of 1st January 2023.

Derek joined the Company in 2018 as Director of Global Sales and has since become a vital part of the Aptamer team, overseeing the development and implementation of the Companys global sales strategy and securing contracts across all three business divisions, including with a number of major pharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining Aptamer Group, Derek held senior sales positions at various UK healthcare companies.



Dr Arron Tolley, Chief Executive Officer, commented: Since joining Aptamer in 2018, Dereks business acumen and commitment to his role have contributed to an impressive increase in our sales and revenue. Dereks commercial mindset and dedication to the business will stand him in good stead as Interim Chief Commercial Officer. I look forward to working closely with him as we continue to pursue our strategic goals.

Derek Smith, Interim Chief Commercial Officer, said: Ive really enjoyed working at Aptamer over the past few years and being a part of its significant commercial progress, including playing a part in the Companys public listing on AIM. As an increasing number of companies see the need for antibody alternatives, there is a clear opportunity for Aptamer to grow and strengthen its global customer base.

- ENDS -

For further information, please contact:

Aptamer Group plc

Dr Arron Tolley +44 (0) 1904 217 404

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Consilium Strategic Communications

Matthew Neal / Chris Welsh / Lucy Featherstone +44 (0) 20 3709 5700

aptamergroup@consilium-comms.com

About Aptamer Group plc

Aptamer Group develops custom affinity binders through its proprietary Optimer platform to enable new approaches in therapeutics, diagnostics and research applications. The Company strives to deliver transformational solutions that meet the needs of life science researchers and developers through the use of its proprietary Optimer platform.

Optimer binders are oligonucleotide affinity ligands that can function as an antibody alternative. The global antibody market is currently worth over $145.0 billion. Optimer binders are engineered to address many of the issues found with alternative affinity molecules, such as antibodies, and offer new, innovative solutions to bioprocessing, diagnostic and pharmaceutical scientists.

Aptamer Group has successfully delivered projects for global pharma companies, diagnostic development companies, and research institutes covering a range of targets and applications with the objective of establishing royalty-bearing licenses. Through the unique Optimer technology and processes, scientists and collaborators are enabled to make faster, more informed decisions that support discovery and development across the Life Sciences.




LOS ANGELES, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Revenue cycle management (RCM) services and software businesses are drawing the attention of an increasingly larger and wider array of investors than ever before, according to an industry report released by the Healthcare Outsourcing & Information Technology investment banking team from Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL). The pace of consolidation has increased dramatically over the past year, with participation from both dedicated investors as well as new entrants, making RCM one of the most active sectors in healthcare M&A.

Revenue cycle management (RCM) services and software businesses are drawing the attention of an increasingly larger and wider array of investors than ever before, according to an industry report released by the Healthcare Outsourcing & Information Technology investment banking team from Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL).

RCM services and software businesses are drawing the attention of an increasingly larger and wider array of investors.

Download and read the BGL Healthcare & Life Sciences Insider  Trends and Innovations Transforming Revenue Cycle Management in 2023: https://go.bglco.com/healthcare-outsourcing-information-technology-revenue-cycle-management-insider-january-2023

RCM services and software businesses have proven to be a highly desirable target for private equity investors and strategic acquirors, with the accelerated pace of transaction activity showing no signs of slowing. The upsurge in investment activity is due to increasingly complex and arduous revenue collection processes.

Inside the report, BGL features insights gathered through a series of exclusive interviews with innovative industry leaders, including some of the most active buyers of RCM services and software companies. BGL examines the state of the market, exploring a range of revenue cycle management trends, including:

demand drivers influencing technology and process innovation,

areas of the revenue cycle expected to see increased growth, and

strategic rationale driving mergers and acquisitions from the viewpoint of both buyers and sellers.

Recent transaction activity is also reviewed, covering in-depth profiles of the deals transforming the competitive landscape.

About Brown Gibbons Lang & Company

Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) is a leading independent investment bank and financial advisory firm focused on the global middle market. The firm advises private and public corporations and private equity groups on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial restructurings, business valuations and opinions, and other strategic matters. BGL has investment banking offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and New York, and real estate offices in Chicago, Cleveland, and San Antonio. The firm is also a founding member of Global M&A Partners, enabling BGL to service clients in more than 30 countries around the world. Securities transactions are conducted through Brown, Gibbons, Lang & Company Securities, LLC, an affiliate of Brown Gibbons Lang & Company LLC and a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. For more information, please visit www.bglco.com.

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(PRNewsfoto/Brown Gibbons Lang & Company)

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SOURCE Brown Gibbons Lang & Company
New partnership will help improve liquidity and build resilient, sustainable, and diverse supply chains using artificial intelligence and trade finance solutions.

MIAMI and ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LSQ , a leading provider of working capital finance and payments solutions, and Calculum , an industry leader in financial artificial intelligence (AI) and data-analytics services, today announced an agreement to collaborate and combine LSQ working capital and Supply Chain Finance solutions with Calculum's data analytics services as well as their technical expertise. With the era of free money fading into history and rising interest rates it is the perfect time for corporates to look at different ways to improve free cash flow.

LSQ Logo (PRNewsfoto/LSQ Funding)

The strategic partnership between LSQ and Calculum streamlines and combines spend and supplier analytics to identify opportunities to optimize payment terms while offering financing and risk mitigation solutions for domestic and cross-border trade, focusing on improving the analysis and distribution of such data. As part of this initiative, LSQ is leveraging Calculum's web-based Ada platform to provide data analytics and AI to help clients compare themselves with their peers, as well as negotiate and optimize better payment terms.

"LSQ and Calculum share a common goal: to ensure the stability and enhance the efficiency of our clients' financial supply chains, while unlocking the value of their payment terms," said Brittany Hooper, Director of Strategic Partnerships at LSQ. "The collaboration helps us further our vision and expertise in financial supply chains and offer additional insights and tools for our corporate clients to unlock working capital and improve margins."

Pedro Rojas, VP of Global Sales at Calculum, sees the partnership as a vital step in providing tools for companies to maximize efficiency, maximize working capital and succeed in today's complex, technology-driven supply chains.

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"The combination of Calculum and LSQ is exponential in its impact, and we are excited to bring this to market," Rojas said. "Calculum brings the data insights via AI analytics and LSQ the execution platform and liquidity options."

Calculum and LSQ's solutions are designed to optimize invoice and working capital management. With these financial solutions and services, it is now possible to gain visibility throughout the entire process from source to payment, improve supplier relationships and achieve a rapid return on investment.

About Calculum Inc.

Calculum is a fintech data-as-a-service (DaaS) company, leveraging advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) based systems to help companies improve their financial supply chains. Calculum's ADA platform allows organizations to compare themselves with their competitors, analyze all their suppliers in terms of payment terms, financials, sustainability, environmental and social governance (ESG), and seize all the necessary arguments to negotiate more favorable terms. Calculum provides its financial supply chain solutions to companies of all sizes, including banks and private equity institutions and their corporate clients globally. For more information, please visit: www.calculum.ai .

About LSQ | lsq.com

LSQ is a market leader and pioneer in working capital finance and payments solutions. For more than 25 years, LSQ has leveraged innovative technology, credit and risk expertise, and proprietary data that empowers thousands of businesses to optimize their working capital, automate and accelerate payments, manage collections, and mitigate risk. Every year, we accelerate billions of dollars in payments to businesses and their suppliers through our LSQ FastTrack platform to help them obtain the funds they need to grow and thrive. LSQ is headquartered in Orlando, Florida. Learn more at www.lsq.com .

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SOURCE LSQ Funding
The former Miss China will showcase her post-90s artwork in a Singapore heritage house that doubles as a social space for networking, collaboration, and ideation

SINGAPORE, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Former China beauty queen and post-90's contemporary artist Wang Yihan has debuted her eponymous Wang Yihan Singapore Studio and Gallery at 25 Chapel Road. The studio and gallery doubles as a social space for networking, collaboration and ideation for champions, future leaders, and change-makers from the financial and technology sectors.

Artist Wang Yihan in front of the eponymous Wang Yihan Singapore Studio and Gallery at 25 Chapel Road.

The gallery, located in Singapore's famed Katong district in the East, will showcase Wang's post-90's artwork at a historic bungalow. Built in Singapore in the 1900s, the estate was intentionally selected as Yihan's art studio as a space which unites the historical and the modern - themes which epitomize Singapore's robust cultural history, and underscore Wang's game-changing works of art.

To celebrate the opening of the gallery, a charity art auction was organized where over S$30,000 was raised. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to the China Red Cross to provide health assistance and medical aid to China, and to La Cura Mobility, a senior care service provider in Singapore that focuses on strengthening seniors' physical and mental health.

"The Wang Yihan Singapore Studio and Gallery is the realization of a lifelong dream, where my art can be exhibited in an intimate space which engenders inward reflection and outward conversation. This space will be a convener, a crossroads for the gathering of talents from the financial and technology sectors, and a space where art and culture intertwine," said Wang Yihan, contemporary artist and co-founder of Wang Yihan Singapore Studio and Gallery.

Wang Yihan or Jennifer started painting from the age of four. Over the years, her artwork has been presented at various art competitions and exhibitions including as part of China's representation at the Paris Art Exhibition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. Her works of art are collected by some of the world's most prestigious art colonies including global political dignitaries and royal families.

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"I am thrilled that this gallery will be home to some of my acclaimed artwork series such as The Rich and Noble Elf, A Dream of Glazed Light, Forest Dreaming, and Classic of Mountains and Seas. These iconic artworks were greatly inspired by my visit to Singapore in 2018, where I was captivated by the richness of Singapore's cultural fabric and felt the desire to translate this multicultural, multi-racial, and multi-religious vibrance on canvas. I have tremendous respect for the Singapore government and their dedication towards supporting the local arts and cultural scene. It is a testament of their unwavering support and encouragement for artists like myself, who yearn to contribute to Singapore's progressive art and cultural scene in my own creative way. To me, it symbolizes a great opportunity for creative exchanges in our modern world," Wang concluded.

Building on her passion for art, Wang Yihan has served as a guest lecturer at the Shanghai Academy of Drama, Shanghai Normal University, and Donghua University. Outside of art, Wang Yihan is also an entrepreneur having started her own modeling agency and media company. She has also been selected as the official spokesperson of the Shanghai International Brand Week along with spokesperson roles for other organizations such as the World Association of Calligraphers and Painters and the China Cheongsam Association.

Wang Yihan has also represented China at different international beauty pageants where she won four titles and was named Miss China. Her experiences in the space saw her return as a judge and training instructor for multiple beauty pageants in China where she helped with younger generations in their pursuit of beauty and excellence.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Contemporary artist Jennifer Wang Yihan was born in Jilin, China, and has worked in Shanghai for most of her life. She officially relocated from Shanghai to Singapore in late-2022, where she launched the Wang Yihan Singapore Studio and Gallery in January 2023.

Her calligraphy and painting works were exhibited on behalf of China at the French Paris Art Exhibition on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France and was awarded the medal of honor by the French government. Her art has also been collected by various royal families including the Dubai royal family, Japanese royal family, as well as the French and Thai Prime Ministers. Wang is a member of the Shanghai Youth Art Association, Shanghai Art Association, and China Art Association.

Follow her on social media: Facebook and Instagram .

Find her on:

Douyin: wangyihan337

WeChat: baobao0327jennifer

To download the high-resolution images:

Click here.

The Wang Yihan Singapore Studio and Gallery was launched on 7 January 2023 and will be an intimate space to house Wangs works, and doubles-up as a space to network and collaborate among professionals from the financial and technology sectors.

Artist Wang Yihan poses with a painting from her The Rich and Noble Elf) series, titled Childhood.

The launch of the Wang Yihan Singapore Studio and Gallery was in full swing on Saturday, 7 January 2023, where a total of S$30,000 was raised during a private auction. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to the China Red Cross, and La Cura Mobility, a senior care service provider in Singapore that focuses on strengthening seniors physical and mental health.

Contemporary artist Wang Yihan poses with a painting from her A Dream of Glazed Light) series, titled Explosion.

Contemporary artist Wang Yihans art has been collected by various royal families from Dubai, Japan, France, and Thailand. Wang is a member of the Shanghai Youth Art Association, Shanghai Art Association, and China Art Association. She has been crowned Miss China four times.

SOURCE Wang Yihan Singapore Studio and Gallery
By Trend

The price of wheat imported to Azerbaijan have been declining over the past few months, Trend reports.

Some types of flour have already fallen in price in the country. Thus, Karat Holding reduced the price of a sack of 'Karmen' flour from 41 manat ($24.12) to 38 manat ($22.36). Is the price of bread expected to fall as a result?

A Trend reporter asked entrepreneurs their opinion on the matter. A number of bread and bakery shops said that the flour price went down not that much, namely in the range of 2 manat ($1.17)  3 manat ($1.76). This would not affect the price of bread, and bread could become cheaper if the price of a sack of flour drops to 30 manat ($17.65)  35 manat ($20.59).

Azerbaijani economist-expert Eyyub Karimli told Trend that this decline in flour prices would not affect the cost of bread.

"As a result of the decline in grain prices on the international market, the wheat prices also decreased. Grain at new prices has recently been imported into our country, which resulted in a decrease in flour prices. However, the bread price reduction, under the current conditions, is unrealistic. For baking bread, along with flour, other ingredients are also used. In addition, transportation costs, electricity costs, employee salaries are the factors that mainly affect the price," the expert noted.

Chairman of the Free Consumers Union (FCU) of Azerbaijan Eyyub Huseynov also told Trend that the flour price fall will not affect the price of bread.

"The reduction constitutes two gapiks (one cent) for each kilogram of flour, which is an insignificant amount," he said.
Peta Wales Appointed President and CEO; Scott Hannah to Retire

NEW WESTMINSTER, BC, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ - The Credit Counselling Society today announced Peta Wales has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer with the transition date of February 6th, 2023. Wales succeeds Scott Hannah, who has announced his retirement after founding the non-profit organization in 1996 and leading it through a distinguished 26-year career. Hannah will remain with the company for a few months to ensure a smooth transition.

Credit Counselling Society (CNW Group/Credit Counselling Society)

Wales draws on more than 20 years of leadership experience in financial services spanning sales, strategy, risk, operations, and stakeholder engagement. Wales is a seasoned executive, leader and mentor committed to ensuring the client remains at the heart of every decision. Having worked with banks, credit unions and the provincial regulator, Peta's accomplishments lend themselves well to her newly appointed role at CCS.

A quote from Peta, "I'm thrilled to be joining an exceptional organization dedicated to helping Canadians resolve their financial challenges. Knowing I am stewarding an organization that makes a difference to people's lives on a daily basis, aligns deeply with my values and I'm eager to help CCS continue this important work."

Susan Ryan, Board Chair of the Credit Counselling Society, "On behalf of the Board, I'd like to welcome Peta to the organization. We have the utmost confidence in her ability to lead us into the future. Peta's breadth of experience and proven track record across the financial services sector will undoubtedly ensure CCS continues to thrive and innovate, all the while improving the financial wellbeing of Canadians; a cause of increasing importance during these challenging times.

Susan continued, "As we welcome Peta to CCS, we say farewell and thank you to Scott Hannah, for both founding the organization and his 26 years of dedicated service helping hundreds of thousands of Canadians during his tenure."

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"It's been an honour to be part of such a great cause," said Hannah. "I'm humbled by what we as an organization have accomplished since opening our doors in 1996. I'm confident that the next chapter for the Credit Counselling Society will be well written by Peta." Scott Hannah, retiring President and CEO.

"Though the Credit Counselling Society's President is changing, we, the Board, want to assure you that our vision is stronger than ever." Susan Ryan, Board Chair of the Credit Counselling Society. "Under Peta's leadership our Mission, Core Values, and Strategic Plan will continue guiding us forward."

About the Credit Counselling Society (CCS)

The Credit Counselling Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping consumers manage their money and debt better. CCS provides free, confidential credit counselling, debt repayment options, budgeting assistance and financial education. Visit www.nomoredebts.org

SOURCE Credit Counselling Society

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Audi, Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Toyota and Volvo fixed ops managers will be on hand to discuss vehicle-inspection systems at UVeye's NADA exhibit in Dallas

UVeye technology has attracted investments from CarMax, General Motors, Hyundai, Toyota Tsusho and Volvo

DETROIT, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading Audi, Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Toyota and Volvo dealership service-department managers will be on hand to discuss their use of high-tech vehicle-inspection systems to improve customer satisfaction at UVeye's NADA 2023 exhibit (Jan. 27-29) in Dallas, Texas.

UVeye Logo (PRNewsfoto/UVeye)

UVeye's industry-first suite of vehicle-inspection systems feature patented artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision and high-speed camera technologies proven to speed repair work, significantly improve customer-satisfaction and increase service-department profitability.

The first and only auto-industry service technology of its kind has attracted investments from major automakers and dealership groups such as CarMax, General Motors, Hyundai Motors, Toyota Tsusho and Volvo Cars.

Last year General Motors and Volvo Cars both announced plans to support the installation of UVeye inspection systems at dealerships throughout the United States. UVeye technology also has been integrated into Tekion's Automotive Retail Cloud platform and CDK Drive's dealership management system.

UVeye's tire (Artemis), underbody (Helios) and exterior (Atlas) systems will be on display at the company's 2,000-square-foot NADA booth (#6239) and also featured in the General Motors display area (booth #1545). Special introductory plans will be available for dealers attending NADA. Demonstrations and private meetings also can be scheduled by clicking on the "Schedule a Meeting" link on UVeye's NADA landing page: www.uveye.com/nada-2023.

Media interviews in person at NADA or online also can be scheduled by email with Larry Weis (lweis@usautocom.com) or Jana Hochbohm (jhochbohm@usautocom.com) at AutoCom Associates.

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Artemis is the only high-speed tire-inspection system of its kind able to detect a wide range of tire-related issues and capture brand, age and air pressure information. Helios is an undercarriage scanner that can detect potential safety issues, including fluid leaks, brake problems and exhaust system damage. Atlas is a 360-degree exterior inspection system that captures sheet metal damage as well as a host of other issues.

About UVeye

Established in 2016, UVeye has created the world's first fully-automated suite of vehicle inspection systems.

Utilizing a unique combination of proprietary algorithms, cloud architecture, artificial intelligence, machine learning and sensor-fusion technologies, the company's groundbreaking drive-thru systems can detect external or mechanical flaws and identify anomalies, modifications or foreign objects under and around any side of a vehicle within seconds.

UVeye technology can detect a virtually limitless list of vehicle problems, including oil leaks, exterior damage such as scratches and dents, tire sidewall and tread issues and numerous forms of underbody damage.

Originally developed for use in the homeland security industry, UVeye expanded its technology applications to the auto industry, revolutionizing multipoint inspection processes and improving the customer experience by scanning for and identifying a wide variety of quality and repair concerns. Additional information is available at www.uveye.com.

UVeye Company Contact: Yaron Saghiv UVeye Phone: +1.516.340.3572 E-mail: yaron.s@uveye.com

Media Contacts: Larry Weis or Elaine Cozzetto AutoCom Associates Phone: + 1.248.647.8621 E-mail: lweis@usautocom.com or

ecozzetto@usautocom.com

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SOURCE UVeye
A view of the TV Rain (Dozhd) online news channel studio in Moscow

(Reuters) - The Dutch Media Authority issued a five-year broadcasting permit for the Russian independent television station TV Rain after its license had been cancelled in Latvia, according to a statement on the regulator's website.

The permit, dated Dec. 22, will "provide a commercial television broadcasting service as a commercial media institution," the regulator said. It was not immediately clear when the statement was published.

Latvia cancelled the licence of TV Rain in early December after the company was branded a threat to national security.

The liberal-leaning TV Rain, or Dozhd, shifted to broadcasting from Latvia and other countries in July, after being forced to shut its Moscow studio following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Elaine Monagham; Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Michael Perry)
BEIJING, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from chinadaily.com.cn:

Thomas Neubert works as vice president of sales at a German company in Dalian, whose main products include assembly systems for the automotive industry.

The rapid development of new energy vehicles (NEV) has given him unwavering confidence in electric vehicles, which in turn made him to own his first electric vehicle. Thomas is full of praise for NEVs from his own experience and says the electric vehicle allows him to better understand the NEV industry.

Living in Dalian for nearly four years, Neubert and his wife often go to the Golden Pebble Beach to relax. It is an excellent place for them to do outdoor sports, including horse riding, he says.

Watch the video to find out more.

https://youtu.be/TvBUI1yBHH0

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SOURCE chinadaily.com.cn
The Leading Sign, Graphics and Visual Communications Franchise Receives Recognition Following Record-Breaking 2022

CARROLLTON, Texas, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FASTSIGNS , the leading sign, graphics and visual communications franchise in the nation, announced today it has been ranked the #1 franchise opportunity in its category in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 for the seventh consecutive year. Recognized as an invaluable resource for potential franchisees, the Franchise 500 ranks FASTSIGNS as #62 overall for its outstanding performance in areas including unit growth, financial strength, stability, and brand power.

FASTSIGNS International, Inc. (PRNewsfoto/FASTSIGNS International, Inc.)

"After a year of record-breaking success for FASTSIGNS, receiving recognition as the #1 franchise opportunity for signage, graphics, and visual communication once again is a testament to the strength of our brand and the hard work of our franchisees," said Mark Jameson, chief development officer at Propelled Brands. "Demand for our services remains high and FASTSIGNS franchisees continue to be the go-to resource for visual communications in their communities. I look forward to seeing our momentum of growth continue this year by offering a variety of franchising options, from owning a franchise to adapting an existing sign business through a conversion or co-branding with a complementary business as we expand into new markets."

The recognition follows the brand's most successful year to date with FASTSIGNS building on a growing sales track record and surpassing $700 million in network sales for the first time in company history. FASTSIGNS has experienced strong growth and continues to expand the franchise network, awarding 20 franchises in 2022 to develop locations in markets such as Santa Clarita, CA, Ocala, FL, Gastonia, NC and Sioux City, IA. The impressive growth underscores FASTSIGNS' adaptability to a rapidly changing business environment and economy and the continued demand for signage and visual graphics making it a recession resistant business.

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"FASTSIGNS has a broad range of products and services that are needed in all kinds of economic environments by a large variety of businesses and organizations," said Al Cothern, FASTSIGNS franchisee of West Palm Beach, Florida, who opened his first franchise during the previous recession in 2009. "FASTSIGNS helped me just by standing behind all the things they promised. The business model does work as they said it would, the marketing support is excellent, and the operational support provided by the business consultants is always there."

In Entrepreneur's continuing effort to best understand and evaluate the ever-changing franchise marketplace, the company's 44-year-old ranking formula continues to evolve as well. The editorial team researches and assesses several factors that go into the evaluation including costs and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability. Each franchise is given a cumulative score based on an analysis of more than 150 data points, and the 500 franchises with the highest cumulative scores become the Franchise 500 in ranking order.

"The past year underscores the extraordinary opportunities that the franchising industry presents for entrepreneurs of all levels," says Entrepreneur editor in chief Jason Feifer. "The companies named to our 44th annual Franchise 500 list represent some of the most innovative, creative, and trusted brands across many industries and highlight what it takes to build the kind of momentum that drives long-lasting success."

The total investment for a FASTSIGNS franchise is approximately $233,555 - $307,308 including a $49,750 franchise fee. Ideal candidates have a net worth of $300,000 of which $80K is liquid. Additionally, FASTSIGNS offers a special incentive for veterans and first responders, including paramedics, emergency medical technicians, police officers, sheriffs and firefighters, which includes a 50% reduction on the franchise fee -- a savings of $24,875.

FASTSIGNS is currently seeking qualified franchisees with an emphasis on existing businesses to co-brand or convert. Owners of sign businesses can convert the business into a FASTSIGNS center to benefit from the proven business model and support system, or add a FASTSIGNS center to an existing business to receive training and support from the franchise system for just $15,000 down.

To date, FASTSIGNS operates more than 760 locations in 46 states and eight countries. Of these FASTSIGNS franchisees, around 14% are veterans.

For information about the FASTSIGNS franchise opportunity, contact Mark Jameson (mark.jameson@propelledbrands.com or 214-346-5679).

To view FASTSIGNS in the full ranking, visit www.entrepreneur.com/franchise500 . Results can also be seen in the January/February 2023 issue of Entrepreneur, available on newsstands January 17th.

About FASTSIGNS

FASTSIGNS is a leading national visual ideas company that creates a wide variety of comprehensive sign and graphics solutions. With over 35 years of experience, FASTSIGNS helps you achieve more than you ever thought possible. We are the worldwide franchisor of more than 760 independently owned and operated FASTSIGNS centers. FASTSIGNS locations span across the United States, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Canada, Chile, Grand Cayman, Malta, the Dominican Republic and Australia (where centers operate as SIGNWAVE). FASTSIGNS is frequently recognized for franchisee satisfaction and through franchising awards which include being ranked #1 on Entrepreneur's Highly Competitive Franchise 500 List for the Seventh Consecutive Year for 2023 as well as being named a 2023 Best-in-Category Franchise by Franchise Business Review.

In 2021, Propelled Brands was formed, and is now the multi-brand franchisor for FASTSIGNS, NerdsToGo, MY SALON Suite and Salon Plaza brands. To learn more visit fastsigns.com. Follow the brand on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/fastsigns, Twitter @FASTSIGNS or Facebook at facebook.com/FASTSIGNS. For information about the FASTSIGNS franchise opportunity, contact Mark Jameson (mark.jameson@fastsigns.com or call 214.346.5679).

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SOURCE FASTSIGNS International, Inc.
Bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital has defended its $1 billion plan to sell assets to Binance.US, calling criticisms hypocrisy and chutzpah based on unverified speculation, two legal filings posted late Sunday night show.

The plan has been opposed by Alameda Research, the trading arm of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, as well as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Department of Justice (DoJ) and numerous state-level regulators, with a hearing due to be held at a New York bankruptcy court on Tuesday.

Doubts expressed by the SEC, alongside financial regulators from New York, Texas and Vermont and the U.S. Trustee, the bankruptcy division of the DoJ, about whether Binance.US can afford the deal are misplaced, Voyager said.

Raising Disclosure Statement objections based on unsubstantiated and unverified media reports while ignoring the substantial information already made available to the Objectors is a naked attempt to undermine the Binance.US Transaction and attack Binance.US, the filing added.

An attempt by Alameda to oppose the deal on the grounds that it breaches the hierarchies of creditors set out in U.S. bankruptcy law meets a still frostier reception. Alameda's objections "evince hypocrisy and chutzpah at its finest and are frivolous, the Voyager filing said. FTX and Alameda had previously attempted to bail out Voyager, before declaring bankruptcy on Nov. 11.

Voyager only entered into the AlamedaFTX Loan Facility based on AlamedaFTXs fraudulent and false representations, it added, saying FTXs own attempted purchase of Voyager was a last-ditch effort to mask the holes on its own balance sheet resulting from their apparent fraud.

FTXs new chief executive officer, John Ray, has criticized perceived mismanagement and poor record-keeping by his predecessor Sam Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to charges including wire fraud and money laundering.

The filing also hit out at what it called a hypocritical stance from state regulators, who opposed a scenario in which residents of Vermont, New York, Texas and Hawaii would receive cash payouts while others would get crypto.

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They object to the fact that Account Holders in their jurisdiction would receive cash when it would be their own regulatory decisions (unless they decide to provide fairly straightforward, basic accommodations to their own citizens) creating this result, the filing said.

Voyager  supported by a committee representing its creditors  said the Binance deal represents the best available option for those owed money by the estate in a volatile crypto market, and added that there were still escape routes to the deal if a better option was identified later.

Read more: Binance.US Agrees to Buy Voyager's Assets for $1.02B
VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Visier , the globally recognized leader in people analytics and planning, today announced the appointment of Matt Weaver as Senior Vice President, Sales Americas. Weaver brings decades of experience in software sales and executive leadership in North America.

"I'm excited to welcome Matt to Visier's management board," said Ryan Wong, CEO and co-founder of Visier. "I've known Matt for some time and I've always been impressed with his professionalism, his deep understanding of enterprise sales leadership, and his ability to create scalable revenue growth."

"It's a great time to be joining Visier," said Weaver. With companies feeling the pressure of today's economic challenges, people analytics is more important than ever before - and Visier has the best solution. I first met the Visier team more than two years ago, and I was impressed with the product and what it means to Visier's customers, and I'm excited to be part of the team."

Prior to joining Visier, Weaver spent over 20 years in North American software sales leadership roles, most recently serving as the Senior Vice President of Enterprise Sales at iCIMS. Past roles include, Vice President of Pulse Secure, Vice President of SMB and American Medium Enterprise at Symantec, and Regional Director at BindView.

This appointment comes at a time of rapid growth for Visier, after closing two acquisitions ( Yva.ai , Boostrs ) in 2022, expanding into APAC , and launching " Alpine by Visier ," the world's first people focused platform as a service (PaaS). Customers also recognize Visier as the number one HR Analytics vendor in both customer satisfaction and user experience in the Sapient Insights Group 20222023 HR Systems Survey White Paper, 25th Annual Edition.

To learn more about Visier, visit www.visier.com .

About Visier

Visier is the recognized global leader in people analytics, providing on-demand answers to people-powered businesses. Behind every great brand, product, or idea is the Human Truth, and the Visier People Cloud reveals the fundamental questions and actionable truths capable of elevating your employeesand your businessto new heights. Founded in 2010 by the pioneers of business intelligence, Visier has over 25,000 customers in 75 countries around the world, including enterprises like BASF, Bridgestone, Electronic Arts, McKesson, MerckKGaA, Uber, and more. Visier is headquartered in Vancouver, BC with offices and team members worldwide.

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For more information, visit www.visier.com .

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SOURCE Visier
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Global System Infrastructure Software Market

Global System Infrastructure Software Market

Dublin, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global System Infrastructure Software Market Size, Share & Industry Trends Analysis Report by Type (Network & System Management, Storage, and Security), Application, End-use, Regional Outlook and Forecast, 2022-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Global System Infrastructure Software Market size is expected to reach $237.8 billion by 2028, rising at a market growth of 8.4% CAGR during the forecast period.



System infrastructure software is a business software or program made to improve an organization's IT performance. It offers businesses a range of solutions, including internal services and processes, commercial transactions, and workforce support. Many industry verticals utilize this software to run business operations quickly and effectively.



In order to connect individuals and equipment within an organization, enable optimal job performance, ensure the effective completion of business activities, share information, and handle contact points with suppliers and consumers, infrastructure software is utilized. This kind of software is more operations-related, ensuring that corporate processes and applications can continue to function properly.



This software is not related to marketing or commercial activities like the sale of goods and services. Based on their present actions and job status, infrastructure software could even be programmed to automatically notify users about best practices and pertinent discoveries. This group includes knowledge systems and expert systems.



This software is the data management and integration software that also includes data integration tools, data quality tools, and database management systems. To achieve the data consumption needs of all business processes and applications, the practice of data integration entails the architectural techniques and tools for achieving constant access and information delivery across the enterprise's range of data subject fields and types.



The tools' traditional focus was on customer data cleansing in favor of CRM-related tasks, but they have since broadened significantly, and forward-thinking businesses are starting to see their value in other domains of data. Data that normally has predetermined forms and structures are stored and organized using a database management system (DBMS), a product. The fundamental structures of DBMSs and, to a certain extent, their deployment or use, are used to classify them.



The leading players in the market are competing with diverse innovative offerings to remain competitive in the market. The below illustration shows the percentage of revenue shared by some of the leading companies in the market. The leading players of the market are adopting various strategies in order to cater demand coming from the different industries. The key developmental strategies in the market are Acquisitions.



COVID-19 Impact Analysis



Due to rigorous lockdown measures implemented by governments of many nations to stop the virus' spread, the emergence of COVID-19 hindered the expansion and distribution of system infrastructure software. However, the market began to experience noticeable development in early 2021 as a result of a rise in the utilization of system infrastructure software by businesses to digitize their business operations and enhance the digital experience of their customers. A few firms had already begun the transition to hybrid multi-cloud IT even prior to the pandemic, which was accelerated by the outbreak.



Market Growth Factors

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Improved Associated Customer Care and Significantly Reduced Cost And Time



The quality of IT and commercial services is determined by their underlying infrastructure. Increasing user and customer satisfaction by enhancing the performance of the IT infrastructure, and delivering faster provisioning are some of the understood aspects of better customer service. Performing service-related modifications quickly and reliably and decreasing downtime through expedited maintenance operations are other aspects that are also taken care for managing cost and time effectively.



Enabling Properties Offered By The Systems Like Constant Monitoring



Monitoring the IT infrastructure and applications proactively allows businesses to spot issues before they become severe. IT infrastructure services allow companies to respond fast, ensuring minimal business interruptions. Additionally, businesses may limit any hazards by getting access to IT specialists. If a company is not currently regulating and monitoring the IT environment, it is likely that it would not know how it is behaving or operating unless a disaster compels the company to do so.



Marketing Restraining Factor

Insufficient Data Structure Architectures and Computing Challenges



The vast quantities of data available presently are one of the greatest challenges for IT managers. High-performance processing of these massive data loads will require automation and virtualization to avoid hiring more personnel. For IT administrators, the main challenge is to simplify and expedite these tasks. Today, cloud technology has mostly superseded local storage. Despite being a scalable and cost-effective data storage alternative for IT administrators, system infrastructure software lacks the data storage architectures required to serve a wide variety of applications.

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 270 Forecast Period 2021 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2021 $134262 Million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $237763 Million Compound Annual Growth Rate 8.4% Regions Covered Global

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1. Market Scope & Methodology



Chapter 2. Market Overview

2.1 Introduction

2.1.1 Overview

2.1.1.1 Market Composition and Scenario

2.2 Key Factors Impacting the Market

2.2.1 Market Drivers

2.2.2 Market Restraints



Chapter 3. Competition Analysis - Global

3.1 The Cardinal Matrix

3.2 Recent Industry Wide Strategic Developments

3.2.1 Partnerships, Collaborations and Agreements

3.2.2 Product Launches and Product Expansions

3.2.3 Acquisition and Mergers

3.3 Market Share Analysis, 2021

3.4 Top Winning Strategies

3.4.1 Key Leading Strategies: Percentage Distribution (2018-2022)

3.4.2 Key Strategic Move: (Acquisitions and Mergers : 2020, Feb - 2022, May) Leading Players



Chapter 4. Global System Infrastructure Software Market by Type

4.1 Global Network & System Management market by Region

4.2 Global Storage Market by Region

4.3 Global Security Market by Region



Chapter 5. Global System Infrastructure Software Market by Application

5.1 Global Data Center Infrastructure Market by Region

5.2 Global Building Management Market by Region

5.3 Global Integrated Communications Market by Region

5.4 Global Cloud Integrations Market by Region



Chapter 6. Global System Infrastructure Software Market by End-use

6.1 Global IT & Telecom Market by Region

6.2 Global BFSI Market by Region

6.3 Global Retail Market by Region

6.4 Global Manufacturing Market by Region

6.5 Global Transportation & Logistics Market by Region

6.6 Global Healthcare Market by Region

6.7 Global Others Market by Region



Chapter 7. Global System Infrastructure Software Market by Region

Chapter 8. Company Profiles

8.1 IBM Corporation

8.1.1 Company Overview

8.1.2 Financial Analysis

8.1.3 Regional & Segmental Analysis

8.1.4 Research & Development Expenses

8.1.5 Recent Strategies and Developments

8.1.5.1 Acquisition and Mergers

8.2 Microsoft Corporation

8.2.1 Company Overview

8.2.2 Financial Analysis

8.2.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis

8.2.4 Research & Development Expenses

8.2.5 Recent Strategies and Developments

8.2.5.1 Acquisition and Mergers

8.2.6 SWOT Analysis

8.3 Oracle Corporation

8.3.1 Company Overview

8.3.2 Financial Analysis

8.3.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis

8.3.4 Research & Development Expense

8.3.5 SWOT Analysis

8.4 Amazon Web Services, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)

8.4.1 Company Overview

8.4.2 Financial Analysis

8.4.3 Segmental Analysis

8.4.4 Recent Strategies and Developments

8.4.4.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements

8.4.5 SWOT Analysis

8.5 BMC Software, Inc. (KKR & Co., Inc.)

8.5.1 Company Overview

8.5.2 Financial Analysis

8.5.3 Recent Strategies and Developments

8.5.3.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements

8.5.3.2 Acquisition and Mergers

8.6 Dell Technologies, Inc.

8.6.1 Company Overview

8.6.2 Financial Analysis

8.6.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis

8.6.4 Research & Development Expense

8.6.5 Recent Strategies and Developments

8.6.5.1 Product Launches and Product Expansions

8.6.6 SWOT Analysis

8.7 Broadcom, Inc.

8.7.1 Company Overview

8.7.2 Financial Analysis

8.7.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis

8.7.4 Research & Development Expense

8.7.5 Recent Strategies and Developments

8.7.5.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements

8.7.5.2 Acquisition and Mergers

8.7.6 SWOT Analysis

8.8 Cisco Systems, Inc.

8.8.1 Company Overview

8.8.2 Financial Analysis

8.8.3 Regional Analysis

8.8.4 Research & Development Expense

8.8.5 Recent Strategies and Developments

8.8.5.1 Acquisition and Mergers

8.8.6 SWOT Analysis

8.9 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company

8.9.1 Company Overview

8.9.2 Financial Analysis

8.9.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis

8.9.4 Research & Development Expense

8.9.5 Recent Strategies and Developments

8.9.5.1 Product Launches and Product Expansions

8.9.6 SWOT Analysis

8.10. Tibco Software, Inc. (Vista Equity Partners)

8.10.1 Company Overview

8.10.2 Recent Strategies and Developments

8.10.2.1 Product Launches and Product Expansions

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/nm5i5v

Attachment

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ - CrownIndigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

Today, the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of CrownIndigenous Relations, announced the appointment of Jennifer Moore Rattray as the Ministerial Special Representative who will provide advice and recommendations, through engagement with families, survivors, partners and organizations, in support of Call for Justice 1.7 to create an Indigenous and Human Rights Ombudsperson.

Jennifer Moore Rattray is a member of the Peepeekisis First Nation in Saskatchewan and currently holds the title of Chief Operating Officer at Southern Chiefs' Organization. She is the former Executive Director of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, which delivered a final report and 231 Calls for Justice to the Prime Minister and Premiers in June of 2019, and a former Assistant Deputy Minister with the province of Manitoba.

Furthermore, the Honourable Marc Miller announced that Innovation 7, an Indigenous organization, has been chosen to develop recommendations for an oversight mechanism to enhance accountability and progress in ending violence towards Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. This represents a tangible step in responding to the calls from families and survivors for greater monitoring and accountability, the National Inquiry's Call for Justice 1.10 as well as one of the short-term priorities of the National Action Plan.

Today's announcements reaffirm the Government of Canada's commitment to meaningful reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and accelerating efforts to end this national crisis and make a difference in the lives of families, survivors and communities.

The Government of Canada continues to work in partnership with Indigenous survivors, families, leaders, and partners, as well as with provinces and territories, to implement the National Action Plan and the Federal Pathway to make the transformational change needed and ensure communities across Canada are safer.

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Quotes

"I am honoured to be appointed as Ministerial Special Representative to be undertaking this important work and ensuring the voices of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people are heard, acknowledged, and reflected in the priorities and recommendations undertaken as a result of this initiative."

Jennifer Moore Rattray, Ministerial Special Representative

"Accountability is an important element to end violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people. As the Ministerial Special Representative, Jennifer Moore Rattray will play a key role in engaging with Indigenous Peoples, families and survivors, and Indigenous women's and 2SLGBTQI+ organizations to provide meaningful recommendations that will accelerate our progress on implementing the Calls to Justice. Her appointment, and its subsequent outcomes, also represent an important step forward in making a difference in the lives of survivors, families, and communities  to put an end to this national crisis."

The Honourable Marc Miller

Minister of CrownIndigenous Relations

Quick facts

The Federal Pathway is Canada's contribution to the broader 2021 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan developed in partnership with provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous Peoples, survivors, families, and Indigenous women's organizations in response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Call for Justice 1.7 of the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls calls for the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, in partnership with Indigenous Peoples, to establish a National Indigenous and Human Rights Ombudsperson, with authority in all jurisdictions, and to establish a National Indigenous and Human Rights Tribunal. Call for Justice 1.7 states that the ombudsperson and tribunal must be independent of governments and have the authority to receive complaints from Indigenous individuals as well as Indigenous communities in relation to Indigenous and human rights violations, and to conduct thorough and independent evaluations of government services for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people and communities to determine compliance with human and Indigenous rights laws. Call for Justice 1.7 also states that the ombudsperson and the tribunal must be given sufficient resources to fulfill their mandates and must be permanent.

Call for Justice 1.10 of the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls calls for the federal government to create an independent mechanism to report on the implementation of the National Inquiry's Calls for Justice to Parliament, annually.

Jennifer Moore Rattray is an executive with 25 years experience in sectors including non-profit, government, post-secondary education, and media and communications. She holds a joint Master of Public Administration degree with distinction from the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba.

The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Crisis Line is available to provide emotional support and crisis referral services to individuals impacted by the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals. Call the toll-free Crisis Line at 1-844-413-6649. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Associated links

Stay connected

Join the conversation about Indigenous Peoples in Canada:

Twitter: @GCIndigenous

Facebook: @GCIndigenous

Instagram: @gcindigenous

You can subscribe to receive our news releases and speeches via RSS feeds. For more information or to subscribe, visit www.cirnac.gc.ca/RSS

SOURCE Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

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A leading Ontario institution will be able to increase its services to the Francophone community in Welland

WELLAND, ON, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ - The French and English languages are a treasure for our country. Institutions like Foyer Richelieu Welland serve an official-language minority community and contribute to the sustainability of French. The Government of Canada recognizes the importance of helping these communities create and maintain strong institutions, by assuring their vitality.

Today, the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, announced support of more than $2.7 million for Foyer Richelieu Welland to build a new community and cultural centre. She was accompanied by Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament (Niagara Centre).

This new Government of Canada investment will allow for the construction and development of a community and cultural centre that can accommodate at least 500 people each day. This centre will be designed to encourage gatherings and will improve services to Francophones by offering things such as:

various training courses in French in fully equipped meeting and training spaces;

support and respite services in French for caregivers;

a cultural program, including community shows; and

a social program, including cooking classes and community barbecues to bring people together in the new space.

These programs and services will be available to all users, including residents, day hospice and day centre participants, and their families.

This project will directly contribute to the vitality of Welland's Francophone community. In addition, it will raise community awareness of the aging population and will encourage intergenerational integration.

The project began in October 2020. Since then, the Government of Canada has provided more than $4.7 million to this project through the Community Spaces Fund.

Quotes

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"The Foyer Richelieu Welland is an anchor in the Francophone community. Today's investment will allow the centre to expand its services to Francophone seniors and their loved ones. These new services will help prevent isolation by giving them the opportunity to meet and interact in their own language while providing a healthy and pleasant living environment."

The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

"The construction of this new community centre will give our Francophone community in Niagara Centre new momentum. Foyer Richelieu Welland continues to be a strong anchor for the community. I'm thrilled to announce this added investment of $2.7 million, totaling $4.7 million for this project, which will contribute to its growth, strengthening health and well-being, as well as our community's French culture and heritage."

Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament (Niagara Centre)

"The federal investment will improve the daily lives of residents because the community will come to their home. This centre will create a community within a community where Francophones in Niagara and Southern Ontario can come together and celebrate their wonderful culture in a multi-generational environment."

Sean Keays, CEO, Foyer Richelieu Welland

"This investment will improve our centre for another generation by preserving our culture and our language for Francophone seniors in Southern Ontario."

Muriel Thibault-Gauthier, President of the Board, Foyer Richelieu Welland

Quick Facts

Foyer Richelieu Welland is a non-profit organization located in Welland, on the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario. Its mission is to provide services to Francophones with long-term care needs.

Budget 2021 provided funding of $80 million over a two-year period (202122 and 202223) to help build, renovate and develop educational and community spaces serving official-language minority communities. This funding is in addition to the $67.2 million over five years provided in the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023 to support school and cultural infrastructure building projects in official-language minority communities. A portion of these investments is allocated to the Community Spaces Fund.

The Community Spaces Fund enables non-profit organizations working in minority communities to develop spaces to offer community and cultural activities and services in their language. These meeting places, conducive to exchanges, will contribute to the individual and social development of the community. Creating these living spaces builds organizational capacity and supports community revitalization.

On March 1, 2022, the Government of Canada introduced an improved bill aimed at substantive equality of official languages in Canada to adapt the Official Languages Act to a changing society. Among other things, this bill aims to remedy the decline of French in Canada, clarify and enhance the section of the Official Languages Act concerning the promotion of official languages, and support official language minority communities.

On February 19, 2021, Minister Melanie Joly outlined the Government of Canada's intentions to modernize and strengthen the Official Languages Act and related instruments in the document English and French: Towards Substantive Equality of Official Languages in Canada. The document proposes a range of changes and new measures to reach a new linguistic balance in Canada.

The document represents an ambitious reform with 56 proposals that affect almost every part of the Act. Of these, 33 are legislative amendments to strengthen sections of the Act.

The third guiding principle of this reform document concerns the importance of supporting official-language minority community institutions.

Associated Links

Foyer Richelieu Welland

Community Spaces Fund

An Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada's Official Languages

Official languages reform document: English and French: Towards a substantive equality of official languages in Canada

Budget 2021

Action Plan for Official Languages 20182023: Investing in Our Future

SOURCE Canadian Heritage

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By Trend

Azerbaijan's State Employment Agency under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population will continue to work on the implementation of new projects in 2023, its Chairman of the Board Mustafa Abbasbeyli told Trend.

According to him, among them are "public portal" and "electronic labor exchange," as well as "Bacar" (virtual platform offering distance training on technical innovations and innovative solutions according to international experience and standards) projects, electronic employment maps (illustrating regions of Azerbaijan with the highest and lowest levels of employment), etc.

Abbasbeyli said that in 2022, the agency held a career development forum, implemented the "Mektebim" project (a women-driven, child-focused, inclusive preschool education model), and launched a program for the development of tourism in rural areas.

"Moreover, in 2022, we initiated several projects, the implementation of which will continue further in 2023. By this, I mean the project aimed at the formation of an institution for experience exchange. I would also like to note that we have projects with international institutions, such as the World Bank, and the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms, and Communication. Jointly with these organizations, we are working on start-up projects," he said.

Abbasbeyli said that a digital subsystem of labor relations was launched in 2022, which will serve to further digitalize the interaction between an employee and an employer.

"Also, as part of this project, we aim at forming electronic labor contracts and creating an advanced bank of vacancies and new approaches to it," he added.

According to him, the state agency is aimed at creating a new digital ecosystem of labor relations, and there's already an action plan.

"Firstly, our main goal is to create a new, innovative approach to make the vacancies more accessible for the unemployed and those who are looking for a job. Secondly, we will also implement this approach for employers. In particular, we are working on creating new methods of searching for specialists," he said.

In addition, according to Abbasbeyli, the agency is working on the creation of a new database.

"This base will allow us to forecast future employment, eliminate gaps in the relationship between the employee and the employer, as well as prepare young professionals for future challenges in the labor market," he added.

Abbasbeyli noted that as a result of the reforms carried out over the past 5 years, the number of employment contracts in Azerbaijan has increased by more than 400,000.

According to him, reforms in the tax sphere, in particular the exemption of individuals, as well as the private sector as a whole from income tax, digitalization of contracts, etc., contributed to achieving these goals.

"Along with this, I would like to note the support of the government, including an increase in the minimum and average wages, pensions, and benefits," he added.

He also noted that the state agency plans to abolish paper employment records.

"The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection is preparing a major legal reform in the labor field. This package is expected to be submitted to the government of Azerbaijan in the near future, and after its adoption, the entire document management will be carried out in a digital way," he said.

According to him, citizens who received their first workbooks after 2014 would no longer need to provide an employer with a hard copy confirming their employment length.

Abbasbeyli explained that citizens whose employment contracts passed before 2014, should keep their paperwork books.

"It can be used in labor relations processes and upon reaching retirement age," he added.

According to Abbasbeyli, the first direction is the role of the agency in providing employment for citizens who return to Karabakh within the framework of the Great Return program.

"For the first time started providing employment for our former IDPs in Aghali village of Zangilan district. Before employing citizens, we studied their capabilities and skills and provided relevant jobs. Similar work will be carried out as part of the entire process of return of citizens to the liberated territories," he said.

Speaking about the second direction, the official noted that it has to do with citizens who have already been involved in labor activities in the liberated territories.

"A new approach will also be applied here, which is currently being actively discussed by our agency and the ministry. For all employers who create jobs in Karabakh, the search for employees is expected to be carried out using a single electronic platform. Its assumed that this will be an existing Bank of vacancies, Abbasbeyli explained.

This will help in the selection of personnel in accordance with the market requirements of a particular region. At the same time, we dont exclude attracting foreign personnel to work," he added.

He also noted the importance of creation a more competitive labor market.

According to him, through digitalization, the agency significantly reduces the workload on small and medium-sized businesses and simplifies document flow. He noted that digitalization also contributes to the accessibility of the agency's services.

"I would also like to note our means of support for business entities, among which is the joint financing of salaries launched in 2020, attraction to work at the expense of our agency's resources, assistance in finding qualified specialists, etc," he said.

"The other essential means of support for SMEs is the training of specialized personnel. In addition, we are purposefully implementing special programs for the creation of social centers. I believe that our programs contribute to the creation of a more competitive labor market in the field of SMEs," he added.

In conclusion, the head of the agency noted that Azerbaijans labor market should be adapted to changes in the global labor market.

"Serious reforms and changes are currently observed in the global labor market. These changes are also taking place in Azerbaijan as a country integrated into the world economy. For example, until recent times, agriculture and processing were considered the sectors with the largest employment in the country, Abbasbeyli said.

Now we are witnessing the formation of other areas where employment is rapidly growing, in particular, the hotel business and tourism, catering, innovation, and technology sectors," he added.

He noted that it is important to adapt the local market to the changes in the labor market that are observed globally.
Chief Executive Officer Brian Porter Speaks At Bank Of Nova Scotia Annual General Meeting

Incoming Bank of Nova Scotia chief executive Scott Thomson says returns from the banks international strategy havent matched the risks and that he sees an opportunity to refine the business line going forward.

We deployed a lot of capital into the international markets over the last 10 years, and the returns on that capital have not been commensurate with the risk that weve taken, Thomson said during a fireside chat at the RBC Capital Markets 2023 Canadian Bank CEO Conference on Jan. 9. Theres a lot of reasons for that  a lot of geopolitical reasons, a lot of macro reasons, a lot of execution reasons, but thats something that we need to be really thoughtful about going forward.

Thomson, who assumed the role of president of Scotiabank in December and will become the chief executive in February, commended the work outgoing CEO Brian Porter and Scotiabanks international banking head Ignacio Nacho Deschamps had done on the international business line, including strengthening that portfolio, narrowing that portfolio and building up the earnings quality.

Thomson said there had been challenges in the unsecured international retail banking operations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but that performance had since improved. Unsecured lending is bank speak for loans that dont require collateral. Credit card lending is a prime example of unsecured lending since the client can borrow without an asset as security to pay back the debt.

Thomson emphasized that the unsecured part of its international portfolio made up a relatively small portion of the banks operations.

So, what Im really talking about here  and its really important that people focus on this because our international business gets so much attention for sometimes the wrong reason  2.5 per cent of the banks (net income after taxes) is in unsecured retail in Peru, he said.

Thomson added that given its lagging performance during the COVID pandemic, Scotiabank is selling one of its businesses there to reduce the unsecured mix further.

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We really need to align on how were going to run that unsecured retail business, and I do think theres an opportunity to make that important in the context of it only being 2.5 per cent, but you can get higher rounds in that business if its done right, Thomson said.

He pointed to successes in the Mexican market as a model to be emulated.

I take Mexico as a shining example of where we should try to get to, youve got a great franchise there, he said, adding there was an eight-per-cent market share and a return on equity greater than 20 per cent. So, theres an example of a great platform that we should aspire to have, and then great connectivity back to the Americas when you think about Canada and the U.S. So, thats an example of what were trying to do.

Questions about whether Thomson would alter Scotiabanks international strategy, which has frequently been blamed for the banks lagging share price, have swirled since he was first announced as its next leader.

We have to assume that change will be coming, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce analyst Paul Holden wrote at the time, noting that Thomson had been characterized as an agent for change during his time at Finning International Inc.

The heads of Canadas other big banks also shared their economic forecasts at Mondays conference.

Dave McKay, chief executive of the Royal Bank of Canada, said the bank is sticking with its call for a modest recession in 2023 and expects the unemployment rate to creep up closer to six per cent.

So, what were forecasting and our base case is a fairly significant increase in unemployment given the timing, maybe mismatch between losing a job and finding a job as we see kind of a reallocation of human capital within our economy, McKay told investors.

He added that RBC loan default rate remains low, but that a significant uptick in unemployment could prompt the banks to set more funding aside for bad loans in anticipation that households could feel an economic squeeze.

Toronto-Dominion Bank chief executive Bharat Masrani also downplayed the potential of a severe recession.

Im not suggesting that theres 100 per cent chance (of) no recession, Masrani told the event moderator. When rates go up so much, is there a slowdown to be expected? Yeah. But on the other hand, the job market has been remarkably strong and continues to be strong.

Masrani added that while its not a benign economic environment by any means, everyone has their eyes on employment data.

Despite the Bank of Canadas aggressive rate hiking cycle over the course of last year, Decembers jobs report blew past expectations, with the economy adding 104,000 new positions in a sign of resilience.

Are we seeing a depression here with some of the questions youre asking me saying, Oh, my God, the world is coming to an end? Masrani said. We dont see that.

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Irwin Naturals

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Irwin Naturals Inc. (CSE: IWIN) (OTC: IWINF) (FRA: 97X) (Irwin or the Company) , is proud to announce it has signed a Letter of Intent entering into a partnership with Braxia Scientific Corp. (Braxia Scientific), (CSE: BRAX) (OTC: BRAXF) (FWB: 4960), a medical research company providing psychiatric, innovative ketamine and psilocybin treatments for mental health disorders, to launch Clinical Research Services across Irwins growing U.S. based network of clinics, Emergence.



The partnership will bring together Braxias expertise, track record of leadership in innovative mental health treatments and current comprehensive clinical research capabilities to 12 Emergence clinics in 5 US states. Under the terms of the LOI, Irwin will invest up to $2 million over the next 12 months to launch initial clinical research services beginning with at least 5 clinics in Florida.

Irwin and Braxias partnership will create a leading mental health focused clinical research platform designed to streamline and accelerate the process of in-human clinical development of new therapies, including seamless patient recruitment through to FDA application. The partnership will support multiple large and small pharmaceutical sponsors, innovative biotechnology companies, medical device companies, government and non-governmental institutions who seek to carry out the development of new therapies in the area of mental health in the US.

The mental health leadership of Braxia, through its globally recognized management and clinical development teams, will be a major accelerator and differentiator for Irwins network of clinics across the US. To date, Braxias CEO, Dr. Roger McIntyre continues to rank as the worlds foremost expert in depression research1. Dr. McIntyre and Dr. Joshua Rosenblat, Braxia Chief Medical and Science Officer have conducted dozens of national and international research studies involving thousands of patients living with depression. This is the type of value added services Emergence is looking to add to its growing network of clinics in the US.

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Klee Irwin, CEO, Irwin Naturals commented, We are extremely pleased to have reached a new milestone in the development of our clinics by establishing a strategic relationship with Dr. McIntyre and his research team. Having an outstanding reputation for scientific expertise, quality clinical research in depression and other mental health disorders areas that will enable us to further develop our US clinical footprint."

Dr. Roger McIntyre, CEO, Braxia Scientific, commented, We are conducting a number of ongoing clinical trials and are currently receiving requests from various pharmaceutical sponsors to support international programs to develop novel therapies in mental health. We have been developing a plan to reach a broader market in the US and globally. This exciting partnership allows us to expand our expertise in an effective manner by leveraging the existing Irwin infrastructure deployed over a number of states in the U.S.

The partnership is subject to execution of a final definitive legal agreement covering the above and other material terms of the relationship between Braxia and Irwin.

Share Issuance

Company also announces that it will issue an aggregate 427,377 Subordinate Voting Shares to the owners of Invictus Clinics, LLC, on January 10, 2023, as part of the consideration for the asset purchase agreement announced August 8, 2022.

About Braxia Scientific Corp.

Braxia Scientific is a medical research and telemedicine company with clinics that provide innovative ketamine treatments for persons with depression and related disorders. Braxia also launched its U.S. based end-to-end telemedicine platform KetaMD, that utilizes leading technology to provide access to safe, affordable, and potentially life-changing at-home ketamine treatments for people living with depression and related mental health conditions. Through its medical solutions, Braxia aims to reduce the illness burden of brain-based disorders, such as major depressive disorder among others. Braxia is primarily focused on (i) owning and operating multidisciplinary clinics, providing treatments in-person and virtually for mental health disorders, and (ii) research activities related to discovering and commercializing novel drugs and delivery methods. Braxia seeks to develop ketamine and derivatives and other psychedelic products from its IP development platform. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Braxia Health (formerly the Canadian Rapid Treatment Center of Excellence Inc.), operates multidisciplinary community-based clinics offering rapid-acting treatments for depression located in Mississauga, Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa, and Montreal.

About Irwin Naturals

Irwin Naturals has been a household name and best-in-class nutraceutical formulator since 1994. It is now leveraging its household name to enter into the cannabis and psychedelic sectors. Irwin has operated profitably for over 28 years2. The Companys growing portfolio of products is available in more than 100,000 retail doors across North America, where over 100 million people know the Irwin Naturals brand.3 In 2018, the Company first leveraged its brand to expand into the cannabis industry by launching hemp-based CBD products into the mass market. The Company is now leveraging its brand trust with an objective to become one of the first household names in THC-based products and the worlds largest chain of psychedelic mental health clinics. Irwin Naturals became a publicly traded company on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) in August 2021. The Companys shares began to be traded on the OTCQB Venture Market in November 2021. More information on the Companys stock can be found via Bloomberg as well as the Wall Street Journal.

For investor-related information about the Company, please visit ir.irwinnaturals.com/

To contact the Companys Investor Relations department, please call toll-free at (800) 883-4851 or send an email to Investors@IrwinNaturals.com.

Klee Irwin

________________________________

Klee Irwin

Chief Executive Officer

T: 310-306-3636

investors@irwinnaturals.com

IR Information

Press Contact

Irwin Naturals Investor Relations

Cassandra Bassanetti-Drumm

T: 310-306-3636

investors@irwinnaturals.com

Regulatory Overview

The following is a brief summary of regulatory matters concerning ketamine in the United States (US). Under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C.  811) (the "CSA"), ketamine is currently a Schedule III drug as well as being listed under the associated Narcotic Control Regulations and psilocybin is currently a Schedule I drug.

Most US States have enacted Controlled Substances Acts (State CSAs) which regulate the possession, use, sale, distribution, and manufacture of specified drugs or categories of drugs and establish penalties for State CSA violations and form the basis for many state and local drug laws enforcement activity. State CSAs have either adopted drug schedules identical or similar to the federal CSA schedules or, in some instances, have incorporated the federal scheduling mechanism. Among other requirements, some US States have established a prescription drug monitoring or review programs collect information about prescription and dispensing of controlled substances for the purposes of monitoring, analysis and education.

In the United States, facilities holding or administering controlled substances must be registered with the US Drug Enforcement Agency ("DEA") to perform this activity. As such, medical professionals and/or the clinics in which they operate, as applicable, are also required to have a DEA license to obtain and administer ketamine (a "DEA License"). While ketamine is a controlled substance in the United States, it is approved for general anesthetic induction under the US Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Once a drug is approved for use, physicians may prescribe that drug for uses that are not described in the products labeling or that differ from those tested by the manufacturer and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (the "FDA"). Licensed medical practitioners may prescribe ketamine legally in Canada or the United States where they believe it will be an effective treatment in their professional judgment.

Please see Irwins filing statement on its SEDAR profile for more information on the regulatory environment and regulations surrounding the US ketamine industry.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of management of the Company with respect to performance, business and future events. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "may", "will", "would", "could", "should", "believes", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "expects", "plans", "intends", "anticipates", "targeted", "continues", "forecasts", "designed", "goal", objective, or the negative of those words or other similar or comparable words. Forward-looking statements are based on the then-current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about the business and the industry and markets in which the Company operates. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements related to information concerning the ability of the Company to perform the terms of the transaction referenced herein; the receipt of all necessary approvals, including regulatory approvals; expectations for other economic, market, business and competitive factors; and the Company actually entering into and doing business in the U.S. cannabis and psychedelics markets. The potential entrance by the Company into these new business segments are in their preliminary stages and may be subject to approval from the board of directors of the Company as well as any regulatory approval, including that of the Canadian Securities Exchange. These statements are based on numerous assumptions that are believed by management to be reasonable in the circumstances, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including without limitation: board and regulatory approval, including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange; Irwin being able to acquire and/or enter into business relationships to enter into these new markets; the Company obtaining the required licenses; and changes to regulations and laws regarding cannabis or psychedelics; finalizing definitive, binding agreements that formalize the terms of the non-binding letter of intent described in this press release. Further information on the regulatory environment and risks will be contained in future disclosures. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from that which are expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions which are difficult to predict. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information, which are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law.

Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Irwin Naturals Inc.

1 https://expertscape.com/ex/depressive+disorder%2C+treatment-resistant

2 Under several corporate structures, Klee Irwin has operated the Irwin brand profitably since 1994, as measured by EBITDA adjusted for extraordinary costs.

3 Consumer brand recognition information is based on a Company survey with a sample size of 500 randomly selected adults.




Sydney, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Proactive, provider of real-time news and video interviews on growth companies listed in Australia, has covered the following companies:

Vango Mining Ltd (ASX:VAN) and Catalyst Metals Ltd (ASX:CYL) have entered into an agreement pursuant to which Catalyst will make an all-scrip, conditional off-market takeover bid to acquire all of the ordinary shares of Vango. Click here

Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE, OTCQB:LLKKF) and its direct lithium extraction technology partner Lilac Solutions have achieved a number of critical milestones for Project Kachi, a world-class development poised to lead the industry in the production of high-quality lithium with a minimal environmental footprint. Click here

Green Technology Metals Ltd (ASX:GT1) is trading higher as it continues to intersect high-grade lithium pegmatites during resource definition drilling at the 100%-owned Root Project in Ontario, Canada. Click here

Aeris Resources Ltd (ASX:AIS) has further enhanced the under-development Avoca Tank Project within its Tritton Operations in western New South Wales with high-grade copper returned from underground resource definition drilling  and gold to boot. Click here

Recce Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:RCE, OTC:RECEF) has been issued a notification of intention to grant from the Australian Patent Office for its patent Family 3 'Anti-Virus Agent and Method for Treatment of Viral Infection'. Click here

Galena Mining Ltd (ASX:G1A) has wrapped up construction at its Abra Base Metals Mine and started ore commissioning, with the first ore feed going into the plant yesterday. Click here

Elementos Ltd (ASX:ELT, OTC:ELTLF) hit multiple tin zones during infill drilling at the Oropesa Project in Spain, demonstrating that mineralisation extends outside the current resource estimate boundary. Click here

First Graphene Ltd (ASX:FGR, OTCQB:FGPHF) has teamed up with Suvo Strategic Minerals Ltd (ASX:SUV) to research and develop low-emission cement and concrete products in a bid to capture the 'green' cement market estimated to be worth US$56 billion by 2027. Click here

MGC Pharmaceuticals Ltd (LSE:MXC, OTC:MGCLF, ASX:MXC) has completed a key regulatory step in the development of CimetrA, successfully concluding a full pre-clinical rodent study panel for the potentially anti-inflammatory and immunomodulating therapy. Click here

Kingfisher Mining Ltd (ASX:KFM) is encouraged by results from recent tenement-scale magnetics and radiometrics airborne geophysics surveys at its 100%-owned projects in the Gascoyne Mineral Field in Western Australia. Click here
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PT. Toshiba Asia Pacific Indonesia announced the appointment of Mr. Ryuji Nagaie as the new President Director, effective January 1, 2023. Mr. Nagaie will oversee and expand Toshiba's business presence in Indonesia in areas of energy and infrastructure.

Mr. Ryuji Nagaie

Since joining Toshiba in 1994, Mr. Nagaie has devoted most of his career to marketing & sales for power generation projects, especially in thermal power plant construction and service businesses. He started his career in the Japan domestic market and moved on to the International Operation Division in 2000 to handle the global market.

Mr. Nagaie also contributed to Abu Dhabi Branch Office in the United Arab Emirates as Assistant General Manager for 6.5 years, following up power plant construction contracts and expanding the power service businesses for the Middle East and North & East Africa region. In 2014, Mr. Nagaie returned to Japan and was appointed as Group Manager of East & Southeast Asia region group of Thermal and Hydro Power Generation Division.

With over 20 years of working experience in the energy sector, Mr. Nagaie has deep expertise in project management, financial planning, and business development. His extensive knowledge is coupled with practical experience in projects, maintenance services, and power plant development in Japan and overseas.

On his appointment, Mr. Nagaie said, "Toshiba remains committed to providing the latest technologies and solutions for Indonesia to achieve sustainability and growth. I am honored to take on this role and stand resolute in Toshiba's commitment to Indonesia. I look forward to developing closer relationships with our customers and partners in building effective energy and infrastructure solutions for Indonesia."

Mr. Nagaie graduated from Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, with a Bachelor of Economics.

ABOUT PT. TOSHIBA ASIA PACIFIC INDONESIA

PT. Toshiba Asia Pacific Indonesia (TAPI), a subsidiary of Toshiba Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., was established in 2014. TAPI facilitates and manages power generation projects, transmission and distribution solutions, and railway solutions in Indonesia. Guided by the basic commitment of the Toshiba Group, "Committed to People, Committed to the Future," Toshiba in Indonesia contributes towards the country's sustainable development by advancing the quest for carbon neutrality and resilient infrastructure and creating integrated value-add solutions for Indonesia.

Toshiba Logo (PRNewsfoto/Toshiba Corporation)

SOURCE PT. Toshiba Asia Pacific Indonesia
STOCKHOLM, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Skanska has signed a contract with George Mason University to build a new life sciences and engineering building in Fairfax, Virginia, USA. The contract is worth USD 83.6M, about SEK 850M, which will be included in the US order bookings for the fourth quarter of 2022.

The new life sciences and engineering building at the university's Prince William County Science and Technology (SciTech) Campus, is approximately 40,000 square meters. The facility includes specialized instructional labs, classrooms, experiential learning laboratories, and faculty and administrative offices to support growing student and faculty communities on the SciTech Campus.

The building will be used by the College of Engineering and Computing, the College of Science, the College of Education and Human Development, and the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Work began December 2022 and is set to be completed in 2025.

For further information please contact:

Ashley Jeffery, Communications Manager, Skanska Building USA, tel +1 813 459 3682

Matti Kataja, Acting Head of Media Relations and Public Affairs, Skanska AB, tel +46 (0)10 449 67 98

Direct line for media, tel +46 (0)10 448 88 99

This and previous releases can also be found at www.skanska.com.

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/95/3694973/1769365.pdf 20230110 US George Mason University

Cision

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/skanska-builds-life-science-building-in-virginia-usa-for-usd-83-6m-about-sek-850m-301717468.html

SOURCE Skanska
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 10, 2023 / Stillwater Critical Minerals (formerly Group Ten Metals) (TSX.V:PGE; OTCQB:PGEZF; FSE:5D32) (the "Company" or "SWCM") is pleased to announce the first tranche of results from work completed in 2022 on its 100%-owned Stillwater West platinum group element, nickel, copper, cobalt, and gold ("PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au") project adjacent to Sibanye-Stillwater's mining operations in Montana, USA.

A series of news releases are planned to report the results of work on key objectives including expansion of the 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate (the "2021 MRE"), integration of Platreef geologic models, and field campaigns including geophysical and geological field programs both within and outside defined deposit areas. Additional updates are also expected from on-going carbon sequestration testing and other initiatives the Company is currently advancing.

Pine Target Highlights

Rock chip samples taken across approximately two meters of exposed shear in a trench at the Pine target in 2022 returned high-grade gold, palladium and platinum mineralization with an average of 9.0 g/t Au, 0.69 g/t Pd, and 0.69 g/t Pt (see Table 1). Significant nickel and cobalt values are also reported, consistent with past results from this area.

Work in 2022 also included the acquisition of historic core to support the advancement of drill-defined high-grade mineralization at Pine towards completion of an NI-43-101-compliant resource. Mineralization at Pine was not included in the five deposits delineated by the 2021 MRE at the Chrome and Iron Mountain target areas, up to nine kilometers east of Pine within the Stillwater Igneous Complex.

Historic drilling at Pine returned values of 16.94 g/t 3E (16.19 g/t Au, 0.24 g/t Pt, 0.50 g/t Pd) over 7.98 meters and 31.02 g/t 3E (28.7 g/t Au, 1.06 g/t Pt, 1.27 g/t Pd) over 2.6 meters in the area of the 2022 trench samples (see Table 2, Figure 1, and news releases on June 4, 2019, and January 25, 2019).

Mineralization remains open to expansion in all directions including towards very high-level gold-in-soil anomalies extending up to two kilometers west of Pine, in addition to the adjacent high-level palladium, platinum, and nickel-copper soil anomalies shown in Figure 1.

Elevated gold values are also demonstrated in high-grade drill results two kilometers east of Pine at the Chrome Mountain deposit area (see May 3, 2022, news release reporting 13.2 meters of 2.31% Ni, 0.82 g/t Au, 0.43 g/t Pd, 0.25 g/t Pt, 0.35% Cu and 0.115% Co), and nine kilometers east at the Iron Mountain deposit area (see May 29, 2020, news release announcing identification of a "gold suite" of pathfinder elements that co-occur in high-grade samples).

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IMAGE 1: Pine Target Location Over Metals in Soils and 2021 Mineral Resource Areas

IMAGE 2: Pine Tareget Location Showing 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate and 3D Induced Polarization Geophysical Survey Results

Table 1 - Assay results from 2022 trench samples at the Pine Target, Stillwater West project

Stillwater Critical Minerals, Tuesday, January 10, 2023, Press release picture

Table 2 - Highlight mineralized drill intercepts from the Pine Target, Stillwater West project

Stillwater Critical Minerals, Tuesday, January 10, 2023, Press release picture

Notes to reported values:

Ni and Pd equivalents are presented for comparative purposes using conservative long-term metal prices (all USD): $8.00/lb nickel (Ni), $4.00/lb copper (Cu), $24.00/lb cobalt (Co), $1,000/oz platinum (Pt), $2,200/oz palladium (Pd), and $1,800/oz gold (Au). Nickel Equivalent in Table 1 is determined as follows: NiEq% = [Ni% x recovery] + [Cu% x recovery x Cu price/ Ni price] + [Co% x recovery x Co price / Ni price] + [Pt g/t x recovery / 31.103 x Pt price / Ni price / 2,204 x 100] + [Pd g/t x recovery / 31.103 x Pd price / Ni price / 2,204 x 100] + [Au g/t x recovery / 31.103 x Au price / Ni price / 2,204 x 100] Nickel Equivalent in Table 2 is determined as follows: NiEq% = [Ni% x recovery] + [Cu% x recovery x Cu price / Ni price] + [Co% x recovery x Co price / Ni price] Palladium Equivalent is determined as follows: PdEq g/t = NiEq x 0.401 In the above calculations: 31.103 = grams per troy ounce, 2,204 = lbs per metric tonne, and 100 and 0.01 convert assay results reported in % and g/t. The following recoveries have been assumed for purposes of the above equivalent calculations: 85% for Ni and 90% for all other listed metals, based on recoveries at similar nearby operations. Intervals are reported as drilled widths and are not believed to be representative of the true width of mineralization.

Dr. Danie Grobler, Vice-President of Exploration for SWCM, commented, "The Pine samples display an anomalous suite of shear zone hosted mineralization with elevated Au, Ni, Co and PGEs. These shear zones appear to trend in an NNW direction, forming an exciting and important target for advancement. The host rock is intensely sheared and altered Bronzite Cumulate with disseminated to massive chromite and possibly formed the focus for a cross-cutting post-magmatic hydrothermal alteration event. Recently identified precious and base metal in soil anomalies at the Gold Ridge and Pegmatoid Ridge targets to the west of Pine are coincident with large, intense anomalies in geophysical surveys and have not been explored in the past."

Michael Rowley, President and CEO, commented, "Our expanding understanding of high-grade gold and platinum group element mineralization, alongside the wealth of critical minerals that the Stillwater district is known for, highlights the surprisingly underexplored nature of the lower Stillwater Igneous Complex and the potential that exists for the advancement of multiple world-class ore bodies across the 32-kilometer span of the Stillwater West project. We look forward to additional reports on recent work including our updated mineral resource estimate as those results become available, and beyond that to announcing our 2023 plans for continued expansion in this iconic American district."

About the Pine Target

The Pine target is situated in the Wild West target area, approximately two kilometers west of deposits at the Chrome Mountain area, and nine kilometers west of deposits at the Iron Mountain area (see Figures 1 and 2). It is on the western side of the 12-kilometer-long resource area that contains the five deposits modeled in the 2021 MRE and has been detailed by Induced Polarization (IP) geophysical surveys conducted by the Company in 2020 and 2021. As shown in Figure 2, the broader Pine target area is characterized by an intense multi-kilometer-scale IP geophysical signature.

Results to date demonstrate very high-grade gold, palladium and platinum mineralization in drilling, soils and rock sampling, in addition to significant battery metals - in particular nickel and cobalt.

Work in 2022 focused on a geological sampling and mapping program, and the acquisition of some of the drill core from the 1983 and 2004 drill campaigns with the objective of finalizing drill targets and advancing drill-defined high-grade gold with PGE-Ni-Cu mineralization towards completion of an NI43-101-compliant mineral resource. At present, seven drill holes from 1983 and 2004 define a precious metals-rich mineralized zone that is 150 meters strike with an average width of 15 meters that has been tested to a depth of 90 meters (see Table 2 and news releases from June 4, 2019, January 25, 2019, and May 13, 2020). Mineralization remains open to expansion in all directions including towards very high-level gold-in-soil anomalies extending up to two kilometers west of Pine, in addition to the adjacent high-level palladium, platinum, and nickel-copper soil anomalies.

High-grade gold plus platinum group elements values have also been reported from drilling and surface samples at the Chrome and Iron Mountain deposit areas in addition to large-scale nickel, copper and cobalt bulk tonnage mineralization.

Pine is one of several priority targets for follow up exploration in 2023.

Mineral Resource Update and Integration of Platreef Geologic Models

The update to the 2021 MRE is entering the final stages of completion with release anticipated early in 2023. The updated models are driven by the integration of geologic models from the Platreef district of South Africa's Bushveld complex, and the most recent 14-hole expansion drill campaign which returned multiple wide and high-grade battery and precious metal intercepts in wide step-outs from known mineralization at the three most advanced deposit areas within the 12-kilometer core of the project.

Significance of the Platreef Deposit Model

The Stillwater Igneous Complex is well-known to parallel South Africa's Bushveld Igneous Complex, and developments at the Stillwater complex have generally paralleled those at the Bushveld, highlighting their significant geologic similarities. For example, Sibanye-Stillwater's high-grade J-M Reef deposit was discovered by the direct application of geologic models developed during discovery of the high-grade Merensky reef deposit in the Bushveld.

More recent developments on the Bushveld have focused on the Platreef deposits, in the northern limb of the Bushveld, which depart from the conventional narrow reef-type mines that dominate global platinum group element mining with the occurrence of thick mineralized horizons that support bulk mining techniques and include much higher battery metal content. The mines of the Platreef are among the largest and most profitable in the world, and their mix of commodities offers an attractive internally hedged suite of in-demand critical minerals that is globally very rare. Starting with Anglo American's PGE-Ni-Cu Mogalakwena mines in 1993 and continuing today with Ivanhoe's underground Platreef mine, these mines have demonstrated the world-class nature of these bulk-tonnage, critical mineral systems within the Bushveld complex.

Platreef-style deposits also compare very favorably in an environmental sense as they contain nickel sulphide mineralization that is capable of producing nickel metal with a much smaller footprint than nickel recovered from laterite deposits, which currently represents the majority of global nickel supply. Additional environmental benefits are possible through reaction of atmospheric carbon dioxide with certain ultramafic rocks present in Platreef-style deposits. Testwork is underway to evaluate the potential for commercial-scale carbon sequestration during a possible mining operation Stillwater West.

About Stillwater West

Stillwater Critical Minerals is rapidly advancing the Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au project towards becoming a world-class source of low-carbon, sulphide-hosted nickel, copper, and cobalt, critical to the electrification movement, as well as key catalytic metals including platinum, palladium and rhodium used in catalytic converters, fuel cells, and the production of green hydrogen. Stillwater West positions SWCM as the second-largest landholder in the Stillwater Complex, with a 100%-owned position adjoining and adjacent to Sibanye-Stillwater's PGE mines in south-central Montana, USA1. The Stillwater Complex is recognized as one of the top regions in the world for PGE-Ni-Cu-Co mineralization, alongside the Bushveld Complex and Great Dyke in southern Africa, which are similar layered intrusions. The J-M Reef, and other PGE-enriched sulphide horizons in the Stillwater Complex, share many similarities with the highly prolific Merensky and UG2 Reefs in the Bushveld Complex. SWCM's work in the lower Stillwater Complex has demonstrated the presence of large-scale disseminated and high-sulphide battery metals and PGE mineralization, similar to the Platreef in the Bushveld Complex2. Drill campaigns by the Company, complemented by a substantial historic drill database, have delineated five deposits of Platreef-style mineralization across a core 12-kilometer span of the project, all of which are open for expansion into adjacent targets. Multiple earlier-stage Platreef-style and reef-type targets are also being advanced across the remainder of the 32-kilometer length of the project based on strong correlations seen in soil and rock geochemistry, geophysical surveys, geologic mapping, and drilling.

About Stillwater Critical Minerals Corp.

Stillwater Critical Minerals (TSX.V:PGE | OTCQB:PGEZF) is a mineral exploration company focused on its flagship Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au project in the iconic and famously productive Stillwater mining district in Montana, USA. With the recent addition of two renowned Bushveld and Platreef geologists to the team, the Company is well positioned to advance the next phase of large-scale critical mineral supply from this world-class American district, building on past production of nickel, copper, and chromium, and the on-going production of platinum group and other metals by neighboring Sibanye-Stillwater. The Platreef-style nickel and copper sulphide deposits at Stillwater West contain a compelling suite of critical minerals and are open for expansion along trend and at depth, with an updated NI 43-101 mineral resource update expected early in 2023.

Stillwater Critical Minerals also holds the high-grade Black Lake-Drayton Gold project adjacent to Treasury Metals' development-stage Goliath Gold Complex in northwest Ontario, which is currently under an earn-in agreement with an option to joint venture whereby Heritage Mining may earn up to a 90% interest in the project by completing payments and work on the project. The Company also holds the Kluane PGE-Ni-Cu-Co critical minerals project on trend with Nickel Creek Platinums Wellgreen deposit in Canadas Yukon Territory.

About the Metallic Group of Companies

The Metallic Group is a collaboration of leading precious and base metals exploration companies, with a portfolio of large, brownfield assets in established mining districts adjacent to some of the industry's highest-grade producers of silver and gold, platinum and palladium, and copper. Member companies include Metallic Minerals in the Yukon's high-grade Keno Hill silver district and La Plata silver-gold-copper district of Colorado, Granite Creek Copper in the Yukon's high-grade Minto copper district, and Stillwater Critical Minerals in the Stillwater PGM-nickel-copper district of Montana. The founders and team members of the Metallic Group include highly successful explorationists formerly with some of the industry's leading explorers/developers and major producers. With this expertise, the companies are undertaking a systematic approach to exploration using new models and technologies to facilitate discoveries in these proven, but under-explored, mining districts. The Metallic Group is headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and its member companies are listed on the Toronto Venture, US OTC, and Frankfurt stock exchanges.

Note 1: References to adjoining properties are for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily indicative of the exploration potential, extent or nature of mineralization or potential future results of the Company's projects.

Note 2: Magmatic Ore Deposits in Layered Intrusions-Descriptive Model for Reef-Type PGE and Contact-Type Cu-Ni-PGE Deposits, Michael Zientek, USGS Open-File Report 2012-1010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Michael Rowley, President, CEO & Director

Email: info@criticalminerals.com Phone: (604) 357 4790

Web: http://criticalminerals.com Toll Free: (888) 432 0075

Quality Control and Quality Assurance

2022 rock chip samples were analyzed by ACT Labs in Vancouver, B.C. Sample preparation: crush (< 7 kg) up to 80% passing 2 mm, riffle split (250 g) and pulverize (mild steel) to 95% passing 105 m included cleaner sand. Gold, platinum, and palladium were analyzed by fire assay (1C-OES) with ICP finish. Selected major and trace elements were analyzed by peroxide fusion with 8-Peroxide ICP-OES finish to insure complete dissolution of resistate minerals. Following industry QA/QC standards, blanks, duplicate samples, and certified standards were also assayed.

2004 drilling was conducted by SWCM's QP while working for Premium Exploration. 1983 drill results are considered historic and have not been independently verified by SWCM.

1980s assay data was obtained from a 1986 report by geologist R.J. Warchola titled "A Hydrothermal Gold Occurrence on Chrome Mountain, Stillwater Complex, Montana" published in the Montana Geologic Society and Yellowstone Bighorn Research Association Joint Field Conference and Symposium: Geology of the Beartooth Uplift and Adjacent Basin: YBRA 50th Anniversary Edition, 1986; and a 1984 internal report by R.J. Warchola titled "Geologic Report on the Pine Claim, Sweetgrass County, Montana February 1984"

Mr. Mike Ostenson, P.Geo., is the qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, and he has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Forward Looking Statements: This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization, historic production, estimation of mineral resources, the realization of mineral resource estimates, interpretation of prior exploration and potential exploration results, the timing and success of exploration activities generally, the timing and results of future resource estimates, permitting time lines, metal prices and currency exchange rates, availability of capital, government regulation of exploration operations, environmental risks, reclamation, title, and future plans and objectives of the company are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Although Stillwater Critical Minerals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include failure to obtain necessary approvals, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, risks associated with regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, uninsured risks, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the companies with securities regulators. Readers are cautioned that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral exploration and development of mines is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Stillwater Critical Minerals and the risks and challenges of their businesses, investors should review their annual filings that are available at www.sedar.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.

SOURCE: Stillwater Critical Minerals





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(Removes Rudolf Samoylovich after it leaves the port; shows Flex Vigilant is docked) Jan 10 (Reuters) - The following liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers are expected to arrive in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands in the coming weeks. Estimated arrival dates, often revised by port authorities and AIS Live ship-tracking data on Refinitiv Eikon, are updated below. Some tankers heading for Belgium and Britain may be loading at the terminal. Those expected to load are indicated with an (). Those likely to perform ship-to-ship transfers are indicated with (STS). Tankers that have docked are indicated with (A). Floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) terminals are added to the table when they near deployment. As of Dec. 27 2022, this includes the Eemshaven terminal in the Netherlands, the Wilhelmshaven and Lubmin terminals in Germany. For the Reuters LNG guide, click here: LNG TANKER CAPACITY in EXPECTED ARRIVAL FROM PORT cubic metres BRITAIN Solaris 152,000 Jan. 9 (A) United States South Hook Methane Princess 135,000 Jan. 9 (A) United States Dragon Nohshu Maru 177,000 Jan. 10 United States South Hook SM Albatross 171,000 Jan. 10 United States Dragon Megara 173,000 Jan. 11 Peru Dragon Maran Gas Agamemnon 172,000 Jan. 11 United States Dragon LNG Sakura 177,000 Jan. 11 United States South Hook Gaslog Seattle 155,000 Jan. 11 United States South Hook Lng Enterprise 174,000 Jan. 11 United States South Hook Castillo De Caldelas 178,000 Jan. 12 United States South Hook Sonangol Benguela 158,000 Jan. 13 Angola Isle of Grain Maran Gas Achilles 172,000 Jan. 14 United States South Hook Flex Aurora 174,000 Jan. 16 United States South Hook Fuwairit 138,000 Jan. 18 Qatar Milford Haven Seapeak Bahrain 170,000 Jan. 19 United States Isle of Grain BW Paris 159,000 Jan. 23 United States South Hook British Achiever 174,000 Jan. 25 United States South Hook SM Bluebird 170,000 Jan. 27 Peru Milford Haven BELGIUM Bu Samra 261,000 Jan. 10 Qatar Zeebrugge Clean Ocean 159,000 Jan. 10 (L) Egypt Zeebrugge Broog 134,000 Jan. 14 Qatar Zeebrugge Al Deebel 143,000 Jan. 17 Qatar Zeebrugge Fuji LNG 145,000 Jan. 19 Qatar Zeebrugge Al Daayen 150,000 Jan. 22 Qatar Zeebrugge NETHERLANDS Flex Vigilant 174,000 Jan. 11 (A) Unites States Gate Transgas Force 174,000 Jan. 15 United States Gate Magdala 173,000 Jan. 18 United States Eemshaven GERMANY None Scheduled Sources: Ports, AIS Live ship tracking, Refinitiv Eikon data. (^) Partial unload (*) Arrival date estimated based on flows data (Reporting by Nina Chestney)
Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen chaired a meeting of finance ministers from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, Britain's finance ministry said in a statement published on Tuesday.

Yellen used the meeting to underscore the need for close collaboration and to develop greater resilience against global supply chain disruptions caused by Russia's invasion of UKraine, the statement said.

"The ministers shared perspectives on global economic challenges and reflected on the distinct challenges stemming from Russias illegal and unprovoked war against Ukraine," the statement said.

(Reporting by William James and Farouq Suleiman)
By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijani conductor, Honored Artist Ayyub Guliyev will take part in the Opera Europe Forum, Azernews reports.

Opera Europa is an international service organization for professional opera companies and opera festivals in Europe.

With roots going back to 1995, Opera Europa gained its present format and name in 2002, on the merger of the European Opera Network and the Eurolyrica associations.

Over the past years, Opera Europe has gathered more than 200 member opera companies from over 40 different countries.

Opera Europe General Director Audrey Zhang invited the musical director and the principal conductor of the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater to join the forum, to be held from March 30 to April 1 in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Azerbaijan's State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater became a full member of the International Opera Association of Europe in 2015. In 2021, Azerbaijan celebrated International Opera Day for the first time under the auspices of Opera Europe and Opera Vision.

The concert was broadcast live on the Opera Vision channel throughout Europe and gathered an audience of around 2,000 000 people.

Within the forum, it is planned to perform Giacomo Puccini's masterpiece The Triptych.

The Triptych is the title of a collection of three one-act operas, Il tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi, by Giacomo Puccini. The work received its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera on 14 December 1918.

Earlier, Ayyub Guliyev represented Azerbaijan at Beijing Forum for Performing Arts 2022.

Ayyub Guliyev addressed the forum virtually highlighting the work of the Azerbaijani theater in the post-pandemic time.

The conductor brought worldwide attention to Azerbaijani opera art. He touched upon new ballet productions like Nizami, Babek as well as Orpheus and Eurydice, known as the first baroque opera in the theater's repertoire.
A Leading Private Real Estate Fund Manager rolls out URBAN CATALYST INDUSTRIAL I, DST, a $9.8 million Delaware Statutory Trust investing into a strategically located industrial property in Dallas

SAN JOSE, Calif., January 10, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Urban Catalyst, a leading private real estate fund manager, has broadened its family of fund offerings to include Delaware Statutory Trusts (DSTs), it was announced today. The firms latest fund offering is the URBAN CATALYST INDUSTRIAL I, DST, a $9.8 million DST investing in a strategically located industrial property in Dallas, Texas. Urban Catalyst specializes in private equity investments in existing income producing properties and ground up development projects.

A Delaware Statutory Trust provides investors who plan on selling or have recently sold a real estate property with the same potential tax advantages of a 1031 exchange. With a 1031 exchange an investor may defer capital gains on the sale of a property, potentially generate passive monthly income and gain access to institutional quality property and professional management. This "turn-key" solution to a 1031 exchange has been very popular with investors over the past few years.

"DSTs are a natural evolution for us," said Erik Hayden, founder of Urban Catalyst. "We have professionally owned and managed portfolios of existing income producing properties for many years. DSTs give our investors access to our experience and to quality real estate with 1031 tax advantages."

An OZ Fund Leader

Urban Catalyst brings a deep and experienced management team to the establishment of the new trust. The company is a major investor in downtown San Jose, California through its first Opportunity Zone Fund, which closed in December 2020 with $131 million, and its Opportunity Zone Fund II, a $200 million offering currently open to investors. Urban Catalyst projects include multifamily (Icon/Echo), student housing (The Mark), senior living (Gifford Place), and offices and entertainment venues (Paseo).

Story continues

About Urban Catalyst

Urban Catalyst is both a fund manager and real estate developer with decades of experience in ground-up development and the ownership and management of stabilized income-producing assets. Our team members have strong relationships with property owners, developers, and financial institutions.

Urban Catalysts home market, San Jose, was recently named the #1 city in the U.S. for attracting innovation-oriented industries by the real estate services firm JLL and has been recognized as the #1 region in the country poised for post-pandemic recovery by Bloomberg.

For more information, visit urbancatalyst.com.

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Contacts

Morgan Bernardis

Urban Catalyst

mbernardis@urbancatalyst.com
BENTON HARBOR, Mich., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR) has been recognized as one of America's Most JUST Companies in the annual rankings published today by CNBC and JUST Capital. The company ranked among the leaders in the Household Goods and Apparel industry.

Whirlpool Corporation (PRNewsFoto/Whirlpool Corporation)

"We are proud to once again be named as one of America's most JUST companies in recognition of our commitment to a healthy and equitable workplace, social responsibility and environmental sustainability," said Marc Bitzer, Chairman and CEO of Whirlpool Corporation. "For 111 years, improving life at home has been central to our corporate purpose. This honor is a testament to the work of our 69,000 employees around the globe who strive every day to bring that same purpose alive in our products, workspaces and communities."

Each year, JUST Capital partners with CNBC to evaluate and celebrate U.S. corporations that outperform on the issues that matter most to the American publicsuch as creating jobs in the U.S., paying a fair, living wage, prioritizing accountability to all stakeholders, protecting worker health and safety, providing benefits and work-life balance, cultivating a diverse and inclusive workplace, producing sustainable products and protecting customer privacy.

For its annual rankings, JUST collects and analyzes corporate data to evaluate the 1,000 largest public U.S. companies across 20 stakeholder-focused issues. These issues are identified through the most comprehensive ongoing public opinion research on Americans' attitudes toward responsible corporate behavior, engaging more than 150,000 participants since 2015.

Whirlpool Corp. has continued to invest in its environmental sustainability strategy to reduce its climate impact and progress toward its Net Zero emissions target in global plants and operations by 2030. As part of these efforts, the company is regularly recognized for its long-standing commitment to sustainability, citizenship and Inclusion and Diversity. In 2022, the company was named to Dow Jones Sustainability World Index , Newsweek's List of America's Most Responsible Companies for 2023 , and Fortune's Most Admired Companies .

Story continues

About Whirlpool Corporation:

Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) is committed to being the best global kitchen and laundry company, in constant pursuit of improving life at home. In an increasingly digital world, the company is driving purposeful innovation to meet the evolving needs of consumers through its iconic brand portfolio, including Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, JennAir, Indesit, Yummly and InSinkErator. In 2021, the company reported approximately $22 billion in annual sales, 69,000 employees and 54 manufacturing and technology research centers. Additional information about the company can be found at WhirlpoolCorp.com.

Cision

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SOURCE Whirlpool Corporation
A public hearing is scheduled for a proposal with plans to turn timberland into a technology-based campus with warehouses, data centers and offices in Spotsylvania County.

The public hearing is on the agenda for Tuesdays Board of Supervisors meeting, which starts at 4:30 p.m. at the Holbert building. The public hearings on the agenda start at 6:30 p.m.

SpotsyTechnoCampus LLC, wants to rezone property on 314.59 acres between U.S. 1 and Interstate 95 in Thornburg from agricultural to industrial.

The proposal calls for building a 2.6-million-square-foot corporate technology campus north of the Mudd Tavern and Morris Road intersection on property that borders U.S. 1, Riverview Elementary and Thornburg Middle schools, Hickory Ridge Road and North Roxbury Mill Road.

The proposed campus would include warehouses, data centers, life science labs, and light manufacturing businesses such as electrical appliance and pharmaceutical production, according to the application. The campus also would have 300,000 square feet that could house corporate office, government agencies, and educational institutions.

According to the application, the group has agreed to develop the property in two phases.

The first phase would be 1 million square feet of industrial uses. The second phase would include the rest of the development, which is expected to generate 12,318 vehicle trips per day.

Some residents raised concerns at a virtual community meeting in March 2022 and at a Jan. 4 Planning Commission meeting, which focused on proffers filed by the applicant.

The primary issues involve traffic impacts. Staff also raised concerns about some of the applicants proposed road improvements, including a lack of commitment to make the road improvements.

Deputy Director of Planning and Zoning Kimberly Pomatto said staff would not recommend approval unless the issues it has with traffic improvements, along with buffers and setbacks from the property, are resolved in the proffers.

Charlie Payne, who represents the company, said at the Jan. 4 Planning Commission hearing that they have addressed most of the staffs concerns, including making appropriate changes to road work plans, setbacks and buffers.

He said they would officially introduce them at a public hearing in front of the Board of Supervisors.

Payne said the applicant has committed to road various improvements, if the property is built fully and according to the actual traffic impacts.

Road improvements as part of the plan would target the intersection of U.S. 1, Mudd Tavern Road and Morris Road; the I-95 exit on Mudd Tavern Road; and realignment of the North Roxbury Mill Road and U.S. 1 intersection, which would include a stop light.

Payne also told the Planning Commission that the site has been picked by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership as a project that could receive state funding for incentives and infrastructure support.

He said the property has been used for timber for years, adding that the county and state have had an eye on it for economic development because of its prime location near the interstate.

Payne estimates it will take seven years to fully build the project, with work starting on the second phase possibly in 2025 or 2026.
PLATTSMOUTH  An Omaha man will spend time in state prison for sexually assaulting a female victim at a Cass County campground.

Joel S. Young, 54, appeared in Cass County District Court on Monday for a sentencing hearing. He entered a no contest plea in September to a Class II felony charge of first-degree sexual assault without consent.

Young was staying at the Omaha Fish and Wildlife Club in northern Cass County in September 2020. Authorities said a female victim fell asleep on a couch in a camper at 10 p.m.

The victim said she woke up after Young reached under her shorts and was touching her inappropriately. The victim told investigators that she immediately reacted to Youngs actions.

Young told Cass County investigators that he had been drunk at the time. He told them he knew he should not have been in the camper but denied that a sexual assault had taken place.

Youngs case went before a Cass County jury in June 2022. A mistrial was declared after the jury could not come to a consensus about the case. Defense attorney Matthew Knipe said Young pled no contest as a best-interest plea after the jury trial.

Deputy Cass County Attorney Richard Fedde told the court Youngs actions had caused serious harm to the victim. He said the victim had experienced severe depression after the assault and did not trust people anymore. He said she reported that she felt like being in prison because of the emotional trauma.

The long-term effect that this sexual assault has had on the victim is something that wont stop after today, Fedde said.

Fedde asked the court to send Young to state prison for a minimum of 14 years. He felt probation would not be beneficial for either Young or the community in general.

If he denies his actions, how can any evaluator recommend treatment? Fedde said.

Knipe told the court Young had received 20 letters from others stating their support for him. He said Youngs testimony had remained consistent ever since the incident occurred. He asked the court to issue a probation sentence.

Judge Michael Smith told Young that his name would be placed on the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry. He told Young that prison was appropriate because of the nature of the offense. He ordered him to serve a term of four to six years in the Nebraska Department of Corrections.
Officials from the Fremont Public Schools (FPS) school district said none of the 11 controversial sexual education and LGBTQ-themed books under scrutiny at Keene Memorial Library in Fremont are used in classes or available in FPS school libraries.

We dont have any of those titles in our district, said FPS Superintendent Mark Shepard, referring to 11 challenged books in the public library. We really focus on personal hygiene, dating safety and the reproduction process.

The issue of sex education and LGBTQ-themed books use in Dodge County arose in late December after complaints from two local mothers at the Dec. 27 meeting of the Fremont City Council. One mother  Sandra Murray  led the complaints, decrying five books that she said were in the childrens section of the city-owned public library.

Murrays complaints focused on Sex is a Funny Word, a cartoon-filled sex education book intended for children ages 7 to 10 years old. The book features cartoonish, yet explicit images of male and female genitals, including erect penises and detail imagery of labia and the clitoris. There are also text descriptions of a variety of sex acts and information about gender identity and LGBTQ issues.

In addition to Sex is a Funny Word, Murray and her daughter also brought up four LGBTQ-themed titles, It Feels Good to be Yourself, 10,000 Dresses, Uncle Bobbys Wedding, and A Tale of Two Dads.

The day after Murrays complaints, on Dec. 28, library officials relocated Sex is a Funny Word, and six other sex education books, were moved to the adult section of the library: The Every Body Book, Who Has What: All About Girls and Boys Bodies, It Is So Amazing! A Book About Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies and Families, The Girls Guide to Growing Up: Choices and Changes in the Tween Years, The Boys Guide to Growing Up: Choices and Changes During Puberty, and a tome titled, Its Not the Stork: a Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends.

After the books presence in the city library was brought up at the Dec. 27 council meeting, some present questioned whether or not the controversial books were either utilized in public school health and hygiene classes or available in the school districts assorted campus libraries.

Shepard said none of the 11 books under scrutiny are used in any manner in the assorted Fremont Public Schools campuses  in which there are libraries  or health and personal hygiene classes are taught. The district does not use the term sexual education, to describe its health classes.

The districts classes on sexual health, dating violence prevention and puberty are conducted by officials from the Three Rivers Public Health Department. Those instructors are not paid, and do not use textbooks, Shepard added.

Terra Uhing, executive director for 3RPHD, said her sexual education and puberty class educators do not use any of the 11 controversial books under scrutiny at the city library, adding that classes given to FPS students do not involve any books or published material and are only oral talks.

We go in and do some education. It involves healthy relationship (lessons), there are puberty topics, there is wide array of options, Uhing explained. These books that are in question (at the city library), we do not use those. We do not bring any books into the classrooms. We work with in (FPSs) constraints and wishes. We use medically accurate and evidence-based lessons. We are not doing any kind of (lessons) that are distasteful.

Under the Fremont Public Schools policy, all sexual education learning materials are offered for parents to be reviewed before they are used in the classroom. If parents of a student oppose anything related to the lessons, the parents can opt their child out of the health and hygiene class sessions so they do not participate.

Parents have an opportunity to review the material, then they have an opportunity to opt out their students. I think it works out well, Shepard said. The other thing is, we have an open book policy of what we teach.

The school district has an official selection of media resources policy which details what educational materials can be chosen and how those choices are made. There is also an official district policy for challenging the presence of educational materials a parent may believe is inappropriate.

Shepard said the process of choosing what books, educational plans and media such as videos are used is a professional endeavor that follows state regulations and is void of personal opinions. The materials are also what he described as appropriate for the community.

Periodically, we will have a parent come in and complain, Shepard admitted. When that happens, we then go through the district process of review. It is not left up to somebodys personal opinion or beliefs.
A 42-year-old Fremont man was sentenced to time served and ordered to be deported from the United States after he was found guilty of conspiracy to produce and transfer fraudulent documents, federal officials stated in a press release.

Martin Alonzo Castro, 42, of Fremont was sentenced by U.S. District Chief Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr., to time served  Castro had been jailed since April 14, 2021  and to also be deported from the country. According to a press release from the federal Department of Justice, Castro will soon be deported by immigration officials.

Castro was first investigated in the spring of 2020 after, officials stated, an identity theft probe into the use of dead peoples social security numbers. The case involved Castro and three other suspects  Tomas De La Cruz-Perez, of Nebraska; Luis Alberto Castro-Santos, of Pomona, Calif.; and Estuardo Ruiz-Orozco, of Wakefield, Nebraska.

The four men were accused of operating a network between California and Nebraska of producing and selling fraudulent and fake identity documents, including social security numbers and cards, drivers licenses and lawful, permanent resident identity cards. The documents were alleged to have been produced in California and then sent via U.S. mail service to Nebraska where they were sold or distributed, officials added.

Law enforcement officials from various agencies conducted the case, including: Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Service Inspection Service, the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General and the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles.
Frank J. King Jr., 36, of Fremont was arrested Monday, Jan. 9, after causing disturbances in several Fremont businesses.

Fremont Police officers were originally dispatched at 9 a.m. Monday to the 700 block of East 22nd Street, where a male had entered a business and created a disturbance. Prior to the officers arrival, the individual had left the business, a press release stated.

At about 9:30 a.m., officers were dispatched to the 800 block of East 23rd Street in reference to the same male causing another disturbance. Prior to the officers arrival, the male had left again.

King Jr. continued east on 23rd Street, entering two more businesses and causing a disturbance. Officers were then able to locate him in the 1500 block of East 23rd Street.

King arrested for disturbing the peace and possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine). King was transported to the Dodge County Booking Center.
Tuesday

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont

Letters to the Churches of Revelation, 10 a.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont.

Ready for Kindergarten, 10-11 a.m., Metropolitan Community College, Room 207, 835 N. Broad St., Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Narcotics Anonymous Steps of Freedom meeting, 1 p.m., LifeHouse, 723 N. Broad St., Fremont. The hotline number is 402-459-9511.

Fremont Eagles Club open, 3 p.m. to midnight, 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business.

Utility and Infrastructure Board meeting, 4 p.m., Fremont Municipal Building, 400 E. Military Ave., Fremont. The meeting is open to the public.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Mens and Womens Bible Study, 6 p.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont.

Fremont City Council meeting, 7 p.m., Fremont Municipal Building, 400 E. Military Ave., Fremont. The meeting is open to the public.

Narcotics Anonymous Freedom Works Group, 7 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1440 E. Military Ave., Fremont

Wednesday

Dodge County Board of Supervisors, Dodge County Board of Equalization and Dodge County Board of Corrections meetings, 9 a.m., board room, third floor, Dodge County Courthouse, 435 N. Park Ave., Fremont. The meetings are open to the public.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont.

Mens Bible Study, 1 p.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont.

Fremont Eagles Club open, 3 p.m. to midnight, 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business. Auxiliary and Aerie meetings will begin at 7 p.m.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Fremont Community Breastfeeding Support Group, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Three Rivers Health Department conference room, 2400 N. Lincoln Ave., Fremont. This support group is for mothers and their babies. Siblings are welcome.

American Legion Post 20 holiday dinner, 7 p.m., Fremont Eagles Club, 649 N. Main St., Fremont. All American Legion Post 20 members are welcome to attend and each member can bring one guest. Cocktail hour will take place from 6-7 p.m. Dinner will be served at 7 p.m. Attendees may choose between a steak or shrimp dinner. Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP to Wes Conklin at 402-721-3808 or 402-719-4888.

Narcotics Anonymous, 7 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1440 E. Military Ave., Fremont. The hotline number is 402-459-9511.

Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Thursday

Mens Bible Study, 8 a.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous big book study, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Fremont Eagles Club open, 3 p.m. to midnight, 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business. The kitchen will be open from 5:30-7 p.m. The menu will include hamburgers, cheeseburgers, tacos and soup. Everyone is welcome.

Keene Memorial Library Lego Club, 4-5 p.m., Gallery 92 West, 92 W. Sixth St., Fremont. Lego bricks will be provided.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

The Banquet, 5:30-6:30 p.m., First Lutheran Church, 3200 E. Military Ave., Fremont. The dinner is for those who dine alone too often, are new to Fremont, are far from family and friends, or are simply hungry. The dinner is free

Civil Air Patrol, 7 p.m., 1201 W. 23rd St., in yellow hangar at Fremont Airport.

Marine Corps League, 7 p.m., Disabled American Veterans Club, 137 N. D St., Fremont

Narcotics Anonymous Freedom Works Group, 7 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1440 E. Military Ave.

Narcotics Anonymous Back to Basics meeting, 7:30 p.m., First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 201 N. Davis St., Oakland.

Tally Ho Toastmasters, 7-8 p.m., Midland Universitys Anderson Building, Ninth and Clarkson streets, Fremont. Everyone is welcome to learn skills in communication, self-confidence and leadership. For more information, call 402-936-3479.

Alcoholics Anonymous big book study, 8 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.
Mary Loftis knows you dont have to be in a snowstorm to be caught in a paper blizzard.

As a persons 65th birthday appears on the horizon, they can start getting all sorts of Medicare mail.

And it can seem overwhelming.

Thats why she offers free, unbiased help.

Loftis is a Nebraska State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) counselor, who hosts free, informational presentations on pre-Medicare issues.

The public is invited to the next presentation at 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 26, in the Washington County Extension Office in Blair, 597 Grant St.

Space is limited and so that adequate handouts will be prepared, those who wish to attend are asked to RSVP by noon on Jan. 26 to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Office in Washington County at 402-426-9445 or to 402-380-9554.

Topics will include:

Should I enroll in Medicare now, or when?

What does Medicare involve?

How do I get enrolled?

What if I plan to continue to work and have work insurance on my spouse also?

What do I need to consider when choosing a plan?

What is Medicare Advantage and what are its benefits?

In a news release, Loftis said there are many questions for which people need answers and everyones situation is different. So she recommends that people bring their questions and a friend to the presentation.

Loftis noted that the SHIP program is part of the Nebraska Department of Insurance, and absolutely nothing will be marketed or sold at this event.

There will also be information on how seniors can keep themselves safe from scammers.

Loftis encouraged the public to attend a session.

I really hope people want to learn their option before they retire from a job where they had insurance and/or become 65 and are eligible for Medicare, Loftis told the Tribune. Getting information from someone who just wants to share information, not sell them, is very valuable.
Gas prices shot up by more than 20 cents a gallon over the last week in Colorado Springs, a jolt that a AAA Colorado spokesman attributed more to an ongoing global demand for oil and gas and not just last months temporary closure of the Suncor Energy refinery near Denver.

Its not all Suncor, although that news certainly doesnt help, said Skyler McKinley, AAA Colorados regional director of public affairs.

In any case, McKinley said, motorists should expect gas prices to continue to climb over the next several weeks.

A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline averaged $3.039 on Monday in Colorado Springs, up 21.2 cents from $2.827 last week, according to prices tracked by AAA, the nationwide travel organization.

Healthy economies in Colorado, the U.S. and globally have driven the demand for oil and gas and helped trigger the recent spike in pump prices, McKinley said. Up to the recent increase, prices had been drifting lower over the last few months after record highs that approached $5 a gallon in June.

Weve seen continued economic activity out of a pretty strong holiday season, he said. Folks are still out and about, theres relatively high demand for gas. Folks, while they might be fearing a recession, are still fully employed.

The Chinese economy, meanwhile, is in various stages of reopening after lockdowns because of COVID-19 cases, which increases the global demand for gas and pushes prices upward, McKinley said.

Nationally, average prices Monday stood at $3.28 a gallon, up 6.4 cents from a week ago. In Colorado, the average price was lower at $3.085, yet 17 cents higher than last week. Denvers average was $3.024, a 19.9-cent increase from a week earlier.

I suspect Colorado is going to increase much more quickly than neighboring states and much more quickly than the national average, McKinley said. But theres upward pressures emanating across the country right now as a function of the global oil market.

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The closure of the Suncor refinery in Commerce City, north of Denver, also is contributing to the gas price increase in Colorado Springs and statewide, McKinley said.

Canadian-based Suncor closed its refinery in late December, and attributed the shutdown to equipment damage at the facility from extreme, below-zero temperatures that hit the area last month. Suncor said the refinery isnt expected to resume normal operations until late in the first quarter, which would put it on track to re-start in late March.

Suncors refinery is the only one in the state, and supplies about 40% of the gasoline used by Colorado motorists, according to the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, an industry trade group.

Though the refinery was closed in late December, the shutdowns full impact wont be felt for several more weeks  and gas prices will continue to climb over that time because of the reduced gas supply, McKinley said.

To some degree, youve probably seen a very slight impact of the Suncor shutdown, but it takes a couple weeks for gas to move around the system, he said. Starting about now is when were going to notice it.

Its difficult to say how much higher prices will rise, McKinley said; a lot will depend on access to alternate suppliers and to products produced by refineries in Wyoming, among other factors, he said.

And yet, McKinley said, prices certainly will rise as a function of that (closure) into March, and the Front Range is going to get hit the hardest.

Even as the Suncor shutdown is bad news, gas prices generally are as high as they are right now because Colorado and the nation still have strong economies.

People still have spending money, theyre still driving around, they have a fairly rosy economic outlook. That is not what central bankers (the Federal Reserve) would have told us to expect at this point in 2023. So, high gas prices, in that way, relay a little bit of good news, even though, again, were all paying more.
By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

A young pianist has devoted his concert to Azerbaijani martyr, Lt-Col Rashad Atakishiyev, a MiG-29 jet pilot, who crashed during a training flight in 2019, Azernews reports.

Rashad Atakishiyev was born on January 7, 1985, in Shamkir's Qilinjbayli village. In 2002, he entered the Azerbaijani Higher Military Aviation School, where he graduated with honors in 2006 with a degree in Flight Engineering.

The MiG-29 aircraft, flown by Lt-Col Rashad Atakishiyev, crashed on July 24, 2019, during scheduled training flights at night. Rashad Atakishiyev was buried in the II Alley of Honors.

The concert program included Robert Schumann's work Kreislerian, Franz Schubert's Three Piano Pieces, Alexander Scriabin's Piano Sonata no. 1, and Claude Debussy's "Isle of Joy''. The pianist's performance touched the hearts of the listeners.

Togrul Huseynli has been passionate about music since childhood. He was the soloist of the Aysel Children's Theater.

In 2000, Huseynli entered the Bulbul Secondary Special Music School (piano class). During his studies, he took part in republican and international competitions. In 2011, the musician entered the Higher School of Music in Cologne.

Togrul Huseynli is a laureate of prestigious international competitions. He is a graduate of the Cologne Conservatory and a doctoral student at the Mozarteum Conservatory in Salzburg.

His name is included in the Golden Book of Azerbaijan's young talents.

In 2020, the pianist won the 16th Mozart International Piano Competition in Germany.
House Speaker Julie McCluskie and Senate President Steve Fenberg introduced the first 10 bills of the 2023 legislative session Monday afternoon, outlining the Democratic Party's priorities for the year.

The bills center on education investments, health care affordability, mental health programs, workforce development, affordable housing, language accessibility, and energy and water efficiency.

Colorado Democrats have governed responsibly for the people of Colorado  and were ready to continue to build upon that great progress," McCluskie, D-Dillon, said. "Our first five bills are just the beginning, and were excited to get to work building a Colorado where everyone can thrive.

The first five bills in the House are as follows:

 House Bill 1001 expands the eligibility for existing financial assistance and loan forgiveness programs for educators, seeking to address Colorados teacher shortage. The bill is sponsored by Democratic Reps. Cathy Kipp of Fort Collins and Barbara McLachlan of Durango, and Sen. Rachel Zenzinger of Arvada.

 House Bill 1002 aims to create an affordability program for EpiPens, providing them at low costs to Coloradans who have a prescription and are not enrolled in health care coverage. If passed, the bill would require insurance carriers that provide coverage for EpiPens to cap out-of-pocket costs to $60 for a pack of two. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Javier Mabrey, D-Denver, and Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Avon.

 House Bill 1003 creates a mental health assessment program for Colorado middle and high school students, allowing schools to opt-in to provide services to identify student mental health concerns and refer students to support programs. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, D-Aurora, and Sen. Lisa Cutter, D-Littleton.

 House Bill 1004 seeks to allow Coloradans the option to select their preferred language for auto, home and renters insurance documents. The bill would require the documents to be translated by a professional and require insurance providers to offer the policy, policy application and related documents in the same language they use in advertisements. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, and Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver.

 House Bill 1005 seeks to improve Colorados water and energy efficiency in commercial properties by enabling certain property owners to more effectively invest in water efficiency and resiliency upgrades through the C-PACE financing program. The bill is sponsored by Democratic Reps. Jenny Willford of Northglenn, Brianna Titone of Arvada and Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis of Longmont.

Opening day in the Colorado General Assembly brings cheers and shenanigans

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In the Senate:

 Senate Bill 1 provides $13 million to the Public-Private Partnership Office to fund the development of affordable workforce housing on state-owned land. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Avon; Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, D-Arvada; Rep. Shannon Bird, D-Westminster; and, Rep. Meghan Lukens, D-Steamboat Springs.

 Senate Bill 2 authorizes the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to seek federal authorization to provide Medicaid reimbursement for community health worker services. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Kyle Mullica, D-Federal Heights; Sen. Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa; Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon; and, Rep. Mary Bradfield, R-Colorado Springs.

 Senate Bill 3 seeks to create the Colorado Adult High School Program, which would create a pathway for Coloradans 21 years and older without a high school diploma to attend high school and earn a diploma for free. Students could also earn industry certificates or college credits at no cost. Transportation support and free, onsite child care would be provided. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Janet Buckner, D-Aurora; Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs; and, Rep. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora.

 Senate Bill 4 aims to allow schools to employ certain mental health professionals who are not licensed by the Department of Education but hold a Colorado license for their profession. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Janice Marchman, D-Loveland; Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Longmont; and, Rep. Dafna Michaelson-Jenet, D-Aurora.

 Senate Bill 5 seeks to bolster Colorados forestry workforce by directing the Colorado State Forest Service to develop educational materials on career opportunities, creating a workforce development program in the State Forest Service, expanding forestry programs and creating a new forestry program at Colorado Mountain College. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Longmont; Sen. Lisa Cutter, D-Jefferson County; Rep. Tammy Story, D-Conifer; Rep. Marc Snyder, D-Manitou Springs; and, House Minority Leader Mike Lynch, R-Wellington.

Colorado has made a lot of progress over the past few years, but despite the progress weve made, too many of our neighbors continue to struggle, Fenberg, D-Boulder, said. Thats why this session Democrats are focused on passing legislation that will provide real, substantive solutions to the challenges our communities are facing.

The bills received committee assignments Monday and will be voted on in the House and Senate in the coming weeks.

Republican leaders vow to keep fighting as new legislative session begins
A proposal to implement an earlier start time for Auroras city council meetings failed on Monday.

The resolution proposed by Mayor Pro Tem Curtis Gardner would have changed regular meeting start times from 6:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Council voted the resolution down in a 4-6 decision. Councilmembers Gardner, Dustin Zvonek, Danielle Jurinsky and Steve Sundberg had supported the idea.

Gardner brought the resolution forward at councils regular meeting in December but received pushback from some constituents and councilmembers, who ultimately voted to table the proposal.

Aurora city council discusses police, fire department hiring changes

His intent was to help staff who work long hours on the days council meets by starting earlier, and potentially ending earlier, he said. Gardner also aimed to respond to complaints from people who participated in past meetings. Agenda items have been debated late into the evening at other meetings, and starting earlier could help address that dilemma too, he said.

A handful of those who offered public comment had raised concerns last month that an earlier start time would make it difficult for community members to arrive in time. People have to navigate rush hour traffic and end their workday, public commentors said. The speakers also worried changing the start time could curb public participation if fewer people are able to attend meetings.

Multiple councilmembers voiced similar worries, saying getting to 6 p.m. meetings after a workday could pose a challenge for constituents and councilmembers alike.

Those concerns remained as of Monday.

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Aurora fire chief finalists meet with city residents

In an effort to compromise, lawmakers briefly debated starting meetings earlier. They also considered moving public comment for non-agenda items later in the meeting schedule. That motion, made by Councilmember Francoise Bergan, was withdrawn after Councilmember Alison Coombs pointed out those who wanted to comment on consent calendar items still might not arrive in time to request items be pulled for individual discussion.

Given that the majority of items are not on the consent calendar, that would probably put people in an even worse position, she said.

Another of Gardners proposal did receive approval last month, changing how lawmakers vote on some items, including his Monday resolution. Gardner proposed moving resolutions, final approval of ordinances passed unanimously on first vote, appointments to boards and commission and some planning commission matters within the consent calendar.

Consent calendar items are approved as a group through a single vote without discussion. Any councilmember may pull an item from the consent calendar for debate and a separate vote. Members of the public can still comment on any consent calendar item during public comment.

Aurora debates tax cut in split council decision

Councilmember Juan Marcano commended councilmembers efforts at compromise on Monday. He did not support the proposal, he said, because it would negatively impact people who work regular 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. shifts, and people who work at night. Rather, he offered his own solution to address staff needs.

I would actually ask the city manager to create a policy around comp time for staff who are here for council meetings, he said.
As the new year kicks off, suicide prevention continues to be a focus of concern in the Pikes Peak region, as the area has had high rates of suicide overall in the population as well as certain subgroups, such as military veterans.

Two public seminars have been scheduled to teach people about the topic.

A Suicide Prevention Summit of El Paso County will be held 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, in Berger Hall.

Individual speakers and panelists will discuss suicide as it pertains to youth and young adults, older adults, military veterans, men (who are at the highest risk for death by suicide) and the LGBTQ population, along with involvement of faith communities and local crisis response services.

Suicide prevention initiatives, including safe spaces and concrete actions to take, also will be presented.

The event is being hosted by UCCS and the Suicide Prevention Collaborative of El Paso County. It is free and open to the public, but registration is required at https://www.spcollab.org/summit/.

. Lunch is included.

Public health professionals, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, businesses, faith-based groups, veterans organizations, academic entities, law enforcement, emergency responders, suicide survivors, suicide loss survivors and community members are welcome.

Nationally, 14.2 people per every 100,000 in population died by suicide in 2018, the highest rate recorded in more than 30 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

After two years of decline nationally, deaths by suicide increased by 4% in 2021 to 14 per 100,000, the organization reported.

Colorados statewide rate in 2020 was 21.5 deaths by suicide per 100,000 people, CDC data show.

In El Paso County, 176 people took their lives in 2021, according to county coroner statistics, which marks a rate of 24 suicide deaths per 100,000 people.

Its even higher in Teller County, which also is holding a free public event on suicide prevention this month.

Deaths by suicide in Teller County increased from nine in 2019 to 14 last year, according to the county corners office.

Thats a rate of 56 per 100,000 in population, well above triple the national average.

The Teller County Suicide Awareness Symposium will be held Jan. 16 at the Ute Pass Cultural Center, 210 E. Midland Ave., in Woodland Park. Registration and a resource fair open at 8:30 a.m., with speakers starting at 9:15 a.m.

The free event includes lunch. For a schedule and to register, go to tcmha.org/suicide-awareness-symposium.

Speakers will help attendees increase their understanding of suicide, its prevalence and the risk factors for specific populations, and acquire tools for prevention, assessment and intervention.

Annie Durham, director of career and technical education at the Cripple Creek-Victor School District, will talk about the shock she suffered when her late husband killed himself in June 2009.

A panel discussion will look at recognizing warnings signs, and others will provide information on misunderstandings, negative perceptions, asking for help, tools and postvention.

Viewings of two documentaries, Under the Wire and Surviving, targeted at students who face emotional struggles, also will be shown.

Representatives from Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Voices of Grief, the Zero Suicide Project, UCHealth and other organizations are among the experts participating.

Anyone who is having difficulties can call or text 988, the national suicide and crisis line. Colorado also has a hotline, 844-493-8255.
The federal appeals court based in Denver has agreed police were lawfully inside an Adams County home at the explicit invitation of the defendant's mother when they spotted the defendant's handgun in a drawer, leading to federal charges for firearms possession.

Mario Raymond Sanchez is serving a three-year sentence for possessing a weapon despite a prior felony conviction prohibiting him from doing so. An officer happened to see the gun in a drawer while inside the home of Sanchez's mother, where police were awaiting a search warrant.

At the time, Sanchez was a person of interest for a yet-unresolved murder from December 2019. But once the gun was spotted, law enforcement added the new information to their warrant application.

A trial judge found the search of the home was legal under the Fourth Amendment because, even if the discovery of the gun was excluded, police had other evidence establishing probable cause Sanchez had committed a crime.

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit simplified the issue even further. Sanchez's mother consented to police being in her home, they were lawfully inside when they spotted the gun, and probable cause was, therefore, unnecessary.

The mother's "unbounded permission overrode any such requirement," wrote Senior Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr. in the court's Jan. 5 order.

On Jan. 23, 2020, law enforcement was searching for Sanchez  hoping to talk to him about the murder of 21-year-old Alicia Marie Tverberg the previous month. A man recently released from jail had returned to his apartment near Brighton in December, only to find the door open and Tverberg inside, dead from a gunshot wound. While in jail, the man allegedly agreed to let a friend of Sanchez's, Lindsay Jenson, stay at his apartment.

A confidential informant claimed Sanchez, Jenson and a third party placed Tverberg's body inside the apartment. Although the informant did not believe Sanchez shot Tverberg, Sanchez had asked Jenson over Facebook to bring him 9mm bullets before the crime. Police felt, at least at the time, Jenson was heavily involved with the murder and Sanchez could be with her.

Officers arrived at the Commerce City home of Serapia Gutierrez, Sanchez's mother, and she said they were "more than welcome" to come inside. Gutierrez roused Sanchez from his son's bedroom, where Sanchez was sleeping, and Sanchez met with the officers. He agreed to come with them to the police station.

Gutierrez invited the officers to look through her house, saying she had "nothing to hide." Police declined to do so, opting to wait for a warrant. Eventually, officers asked Gutierrez to come to the police station for an interview. She agreed to go, along with Sanchez's son.

Before leaving, however, Gutierrez made arrangements for the other occupants of the house. A family member picked up two elderly relatives who lived with Gutierrez and, after Gutierrez left, Sanchez's ex-wife came to retrieve a dog who was locked in the bathroom.

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Officers remained in the home to await the warrant, and sheriff's Deputy Sean Allegar accompanied the woman while she looked for the dog's leash. The woman opened a drawer in the bedroom where Sanchez had been sleeping, only to find a handgun inside. Allegar reported his observation, which made its way into the application for a search warrant.

Police were able to later link the gun to Tverberg's slaying, although they did not charge Sanchez for murder and the case remains unsolved.

In response to the charge of unlawful firearm possession, Sanchez sought to exclude evidence of the gun from his trial. After a hearing, U.S. District Court Senior Judge R. Brooke Jackson rejected Sanchez's request, finding Allegar "properly" followed Sanchez's ex-wife in the home and "purely by chance" saw the gun.

Alternatively, "there was probable cause to believe that Mr. Sanchez was a person of interest, that he might be with Jenson, that he might be with Jenson in that house, that he was in that house, and that he might have a 9mm handgun with him," Jackson elaborated.

Sanchez appealed, arguing even if police suspected him of possessing a prohibited firearm, there was nothing suggesting Gutierrez's home was where they could find it.

"You've got a Facebook message from a month before," Judge Nancy L. Moritz observed during oral arguments at the 10th Circuit, "saying he had the gun and he possessed it essentially a month before. Not that he had the gun in the moms house, that he lived in the moms house  nothing."

But the government countered there was a "fair probability" of finding the gun wherever Sanchez was.

"The search that happened here was a plain-view search," added attorney Marissa R. Miller. "When we have a plain-view search, the main question  perhaps the only question  is whether the officer who saw that evidence in plain sight had a legal right to be standing there."

The 10th Circuit panel hearing the appeal ultimately decided Gutierrez's consent meant the officers were lawfully inside her home and Allegar's observation of the gun was fair game.

"They had permission to be in the house. This woman shows up looking for a dog leash. They want to make sure nothing would be taken. So there's nothing wrong with them following her around," Kelly explained during oral arguments. "She opens the drawer to get the leash and lo and behold, theres the gun. What more is needed?"
Alexander Kenoyer, a former detective with the Cripple Creek Police Department, made his first appearance in Teller County District Court on Monday after being arrested in December on allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct while on duty and blackmail.

According to an affidavit obtained by The Gazette, Kenoyer is accused of continued sexual contact with a woman who was an alleged victim of sex trafficking.

The affidavit claims the woman, whose name was redacted from the document, first made contact with Kenoyer in 2021 when she was hoping for the Cripple Creek Police Department to investigate claims of sex trafficking.

The affidavit contains descriptions of numerous text messages between the two starting in October 2021 and going through the beginning of 2022 where the relationship between Kenoyer and the victim gradually becomes more sexual, eventually leading to the two meeting to have sex at a local hotel in November 2021.

The two would go on to send numerous sexual messages and images to each other that would be occasionally intertwined with the woman occasionally asking about her case and for legal advice regarding things like a potential fraud case, according to the affidavit.

There are also numerous discussions between the two in the affidavit where Kenoyer and the woman text about sexual contact the pair had in both Kenoyer's office at the Cripple Creek police station and his police car.

The two continued to have sexual contact until May 2022, the woman claims. That's when the relationship fell apart because Kenoyer wasn't serious about leaving his wife as he had promised, according to the affidavit.

The two began texting again in July 2022, when Kenoyer was informed there was an internal affairs investigation into his actions with the woman.

"Hey I just got an official notice of an IA regarding your claims to Teller. ... Can you please tell me what you gave Teller during the investigation. I could lose my job," Kenoyer asked the woman, according to the affidavit. "I told you before. I investigated a case for you. I cannot date anyone I've done that for. I can't believe I trusted you with this stuff. I'm so (expletive) stupid."

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A little over a week later, according to the affidavit, Kenoyer asked the woman to delete all of the pictures and conversations between the two of them, and persuaded her to send a letter to Cripple Creek Police Chief Charles Bright claiming they never had sex.

When the woman spoke with the Cripple Creek Police Department a month later in August 2022, she told detectives that she was "being blackmailed by Kenoyer" and that she "had been 'coerced and blackmailed' by Kenoyer into writing a letter to Chief Bright stating they 'supposedly didn't have any sex,'" according to the affidavit.

When speaking with detectives in August, the woman allegedly told law enforcement that all sexual interactions between her and Kenoyer were consensual.

The affidavit shows that Kenoyer investigated three cases where the woman is named between November and December 2021, and that all three investigations were later closed or deleted by Kenoyer.

Bright confirmed to The Gazette that Kenoyer resigned from the Cripple Creek Police Department before the end of his internal affairs investigation.

Kenoyer, 36, posted a $10,000 bond after his arrest on Dec. 20, according to court records.

On Monday, Kenoyer's defense attorney told Judge Scott Sells that due to the "great deal of tech related discovery," more than 35 days would be required to go over it all. To accommodate this request, Kenoyer waived his right to a preliminary hearing within 35 days. The hearing is scheduled for March 6.

Kenoyer is facing two counts of unlawful sexual conduct by a peace officer while on duty and one count of attempt to influence a public servant; all three charges are felonies.
Widefield School District 3s Manufacturing Industry Learning Lab received a $12,500 donation to advance its trade programs, the district announced Monday.

The donation comes from the International Woodworking Fair, a biannual woodworking trade show and conference based in Atlanta.

We are so grateful to our partner IWF for this generous donation as it will allow us to continue to provide technology and equipment that students need to attain career-connected learning that will support their transition into the industry, Nikki Carter, D-3 career and technical education director, said in a news release. These funds will also help provide opportunities for students to visit on-site manufacturing facilities to gain an extended knowledge of the field and the possible jobs they can pursue.

The MILL is an off-site programming facility that has provided trade education to high school students since 2017. Community partnerships supply the facility with state-of-the-art equipment to run its three programs: cabinet manufacturing, construction technology and welding technology.

Community partnerships also give students a competitive edge once they graduate, often leading to full-time jobs, Carter said. Students can graduate with four years of hands-on trade experience.

IWF has long championed education, innovation and talent development as key forces powering the wood products industrys future, Andreas Muehlbauer, the Stiles Machinery executive vice president and IWF 2022 show chair, said in a news release. Our new partnership with the Manufacturing Industry Learning Lab affirms those values in a tangible commitment to help nurture the manufacturing talent our industry depends on.
The Polis administration is reminding parents that enrollment for Universal Preschool in Colorado starts next week.

Pre-kindergarten enrollment for the fall begins Jan. 17. Children will be matched with providers in mid-February.

More than 29,000 pre-k seats are available across Colorado from roughly 850 providers, according to the office of Gov. Jared Polis.

We are bringing high-quality preschool to Colorado kids, saving families thousands of dollars, and making sure Colorado students get a strong start in school, Polis said in a press release.

In April, lawmakers passed Colorados Universal Preschool program, which will provide 10 hours of free preschool for all Colorado children each week the year before they enter kindergarten.

The program is estimated to save Colorado parents, on average, $6,000 a year, according to the governors office.

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The program's long-awaited launch comes as Colorado struggles with an acute child care shortage, exacerbated in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every child in Colorado is eligible for half-day, state-funded preschool instruction.

Its incredible to see hundreds of school districts and preschools registering to be a part of Colorados effort to prepare our kids for the future, Lisa Roy, executive director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, said in a statement.

State-funded pre-k is increasingly a critical part of public education as these programs support early learning to better prepare children for success in school and to reduce achievement gaps, state educators say.

Since 2002, states have added nearly 1 million pre-k seats, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research. Nationally, roughly 40% of children in families with an annual income of less than $10,000 do not attend any programs prior to entering kindergarten.

Once enrollment opens, Colorado families can visit upk.colorado.gov. While there is no deadline to sign up, families are encouraged to sign up early.

For more information, click here to contact your local coordinating organization.
The Rocky Mountain division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration seized more than 5.8 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl last year in Colorado, Utah, Montana and Wyoming, the agency announced in a news release Monday.

That included almost 2 million pills and more than 150 pounds of powder.

The most recent U.S. census data shows Colorado has just more than 5.8 million residents as of July 2022.

Across the U.S., the DEA estimates it seized enough potentially deadly doses of fentanyl in 2022 to kill every person in the country. Its nationwide seizures included more than 50.6 million fentanyl pills, more than 10,000 pounds of powder and upward of 379 million potentially deadly doses.

For the first time in my 31-year law enforcement career, we are seeing an oversaturated drug market. Anyone, including our kids, can buy dangerous and deadly drugs at the click of a button. This is like nothing weve experienced before and it makes our jobs as narcotics officers far more challenging and critical than ever before, the Rocky Mountain Division's Special Agent in Charge Brian Besser said in the release.

The DEA has been raising alarms about fake prescription pills that contain fentanyl, of which the Rocky Mountain region seized more than 619,000 in 2021. A fentanyl dose the size of a pencil tip can kill.

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The agency asks people to remember legitimate pharmaceutical pills can only be gotten through prescriptions from medical professionals and licensed pharmacies.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment recorded 912 fentanyl deaths in 2021.

A mass fentanyl poisoning that killed five people in a Commerce City apartment in February put Colorado's fentanyl crisis in the national spotlight. They took what they likely believed was cocaine, according to the Adams County district attorney, and their deaths led to what the DEA believes was the largest fentanyl overdose investigated by the agency at the time. But prosecutors ultimately decided they did not have enough evidence to pursue criminal charges in connection with the deaths.

Colorado's legislature also passed a controversial law last year making penalties for fentanyl possession stricter. The bill made it a felony to possess more than one gram of any substance containing fentanyl, and also put funding into treatment and overdose prevention.
Hundreds of immigrants from the southwest border were transported out of Denver to gateway cities in urban areas that have long attracted refugees and asylum seekers before Colorado notified their officials, the Denver Gazette has learned.

After first jeopardizing the citys ability to respond, the unfolding humanitarian crisis now threatens to sour Colorados relationships with New York City and Chicago, whose leaders have called for the busing of immigrants from Denver to their doorsteps to end.

Following complaints from those city leaders, the last bus of immigrants was expected to leave Sunday, according to Gov. Jared Polis administration.

Its unclear exactly when Colorado officials alerted the mayors of these cities, but New York City Mayor Eric Adams administration told the Denver Gazette in an email Thursday that he spoke with Mayor Michael B. Hancock the week of New Years Eve about asylum seekers. Adams' office also said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot reached out to the New York City mayor on Jan. 2, informing him that Colorado had notified her the state would be busing immigrants to Chicago.

In the wake of the outcry, Denver officials on Monday said that "the mayor's office never coordinated charter buses to New York or Chicago."

For weeks, though, the city of Denver has been paying transportation costs for indigent immigrants to travel to the city of their choice. It became an issue when the governor's office got involved and officials from other states complained publicly.

New York City officials provided no additional information.

An estimated 70% of the immigrants arriving in Denver from Central and South America stopped in the Mile High City on their way to somewhere else, according to city officials and nonprofit workers. These cities include Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Miami, Polis administration officials have said.

Nearly 4,000 have arrived in Denver since early December, when 90 immigrants were dropped off at Union Station in downtown, according to data compiled by the City and County of Denvers Joint Information Center.

As of the beginning of the new year, Denver had already spent more than $3 million to address the crisis.

Initially, very little was known about the immigrant group that arrived on Dec. 5.

Some had speculated their arrival was political stunt similar to when in September Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis transported immigrants to Marthas Vineyard, which is not typically a destination city.

The city has been busing immigrants out of state since then.

Polis began helping with the task since at least last week.

The influx of immigrants sheltered in Denver is likely what prompted the city's emergency declaration last month and Polis' decision to actively send them to other states.

People fleeing violence and oppression in search of a better life for themselves and their families deserve our respect, not political games and we are grateful we have been able to assist migrants to reach their final destination, Polis said in a statement Saturday.

Polis added: We refuse to keep people against their will if they desire to travel elsewhere."

Overburdening other cities is not the solution

The unfolding humanitarian crisis, which began spilling into Denver from America's porous border with Mexico, has now swelled into a full-blown emergency that gateway cities like New York City and Chicago have experienced for months.

On Saturday, the Democratic mayors of New York City and Chicago sent a letter to Polis urging his administration to halt the practice of busing immigrants to their cities.

Since the spring  when Republican Gov. Greg Abbott began transporting immigrants out of Texas to New York and Chicago  those cities have tapped out their shelters, Adams and Lightfoot said.

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Over the past four months, Chicago has welcomed 3,854 migrants bused to the Windy City, which is sheltering more than 1,600.

Since April, New York City has received more than 36,000 immigrants. That number is likely conservative because it only accounts for those staying in city shelters. New York City spent $1 billion for its response in 2022.

It is apparent that the influx of asylum seekers has provoked consternation amongst states, Adams and Lightfoot wrote. Although we share the concerns of accommodating the flood of asylum seekers, overburdening other cities is not the solution.

The Polis administration declined to comment on the letter Sunday and instead referred the Denver Gazette to its statement Saturday.

That statement said Colorado is scaling back this transportation because travel nationwide has returned to normal after sub-zero temperatures before the holiday had stranded immigrants in Denver, creating a backlog.

Polis renewed his call for President Joe Biden to assist states, such as Colorado, which are facing the unprecedent challenge and to create work permits for immigrants, enact better border security and pass immigration reform.

Biden visited the southern border in Texas Sunday, and El Paso.

Representatives for Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Miami Mayor Frances X. Suarez did not return emails and phone calls seeking comment.

Welcoming the stranger

Its unclear how Denver officials will respond to the plea from New York City and Chicago to stop the bussing. Jennifer Castor, a Hancock spokesperson, did not respond to an email and phone call seeking comment.

But local immigrant support groups and the Denver Community Church have been helping shelter and transport for arriving immigrants long before the city got involved.

Denver Community Church began its work hosting immigrants before the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the churchs mission of incorporating "social justice" with church life, said Dave Neuhausel, pastor of mobilization for the Denver Community Church and director of Project Renew.

Churches' social justice teaching is a longstanding Christian tradition that, based on the Book of Matthew's injunction to serve the poor, puts primacy on caring for others. This tradition is often distinct from the more modern and secular-based conception of "social justice."

Choose the issue, and were integrating it into our faith and our thinking about our responsibility in the world, Neuhausel said, adding: For years, weve taught about the power of dignity and welcoming the stranger, thats the core of our faith.

When the number of immigrants crossing at the southwest border began overwhelming El Paso, Texas last year, immigrant organizations there began coordinating with, among others, Denver Community Church and Casa de Paz, which works to reunite families separated by detention.

One of the first buses to Denver arrived in early November with 50 immigrants, as first reported by the Denver Gazette.

But when the numbers doubled in December  likely in anticipation of Title 42 ending  the city got involved. Title 42, named for a part of the federal code that permits authorities to turn away asylum seekers, is a pandemic-era policy enacted under the Trump Administration.

Its use was set to wind down in December, but a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Dec. 27 blocked the Biden administration from ending the practice, keeping the emergency health order in place while a legal challenge from Republican-led states proceeds.

The high court is expected to hear arguments on the case next month.

Denver, which is roughly 600 miles from the nearest international border in El Paso, hasnt been a gateway city for immigration. The border crisis, Neuhausel said, will likely change that because the known gateway cities  New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami  cannot continue to absorb all the immigrants who are coming.

The landscape of the American interior is going to change and were going to have to face that, Neuhausel said.
South Africa: SA-Turkiye strengthen relations

South Africa and Turkiye remain committed to strengthen bilateral relations, says International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Dr Naledi Pandor.

The Minister held Bilateral Political Consultations with Foreign Affairs Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu of the Republic of Turkiye on Tuesday.

Co-chair, it is an honour to preside jointly with you over these Consultations today. Such engagements are indicative of our respective countries joint commitment to strengthen bilateral relations through dialogue and through the exchange of knowledge in different areas of expertise, she said at the session held in Pretoria.

She welcomed her counterpart to South Africa where they would discuss matters of mutual concern, bilaterally and multilaterally during these very challenging times we find ourselves in.

South Africa and Turkiye maintain strategic bilateral political, economic and cultural relations that were established in 1991.

Pandor expressed South Africas condolences to the Government and people of the Republic of Turkiye on the tragic loss of life as a result of the explosion which occurred in Istanbul on 13 November 2022.

South Africa remains steadfast in condemning all forms of violence and wishes to extend our sympathy to those directly affected by this tragedy.

It was reported at the time that at least six people were killed in the blast with several others sustaining injuries during the incident.

May I also use this opportunity, on behalf of His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa, the government and people of the Republic of South Africa to convey our sincerest congratulations and best wishes to His Excellency President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the people of the Republic of Turkiye on celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkiye this year.

Bilateral trade between the two countries has seen a gradual growth over recent years. During the period April to November 2022, South African exports to Turkiye increased by approximately 18%.

Turkiye remains a key investment partner for South Africa and has already invested in several projects with direct capital investment estimated at about R156.80 million over the past decade.

Today we have the opportunity to discuss and exchange views on how best we can work together to strengthen the good relations that our two countries enjoy, said Pandor.

Minister Pandor was also encouraged by our mutual recognition of the importance of the values of peace and stability, democracy, the rule of law and the centrality of multilateralism in sustainable development.

Tuesdays meeting follows the visit by Deputy Minister Alvin Botes to Turkiye in October 2022 where he had successful discussions with his Turkiysh counterpart Deputy Minister, Sedat Onal.

We look forward to a fruitful engagement on how we can activate cooperation in other equally important areas such as the arts, culture and sport, and science and technology, respectively.

Our countries are active in regional and multilateral issues, and I look forward to exchanging notes on relevant matters in this regard that are important for both our countries, she said in her opening remarks. SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-01-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By Azernews

Fatima Hasanova

Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia have signed a Hajj agreement for 2023, Azernews reports, citing the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus.

"A delegation led by First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus Salman Musayev is on an official visit to Saudi Arabia at the invitation of the Ministry of Pilgrimage Affairs (Hajj and Umrah). The agreement was signed by Deputy Minister Abdulfattah Bin Suleiman Al-Mashat and First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus Salman Musayev," the statement read.

Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia established diplomatic relations on February 24, 1992. The two countries successfully cooperate in various fields of economy and have fruitful cooperation at international organizations, particularly the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation and the OPEC+.

The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $27 million in 2021. On January 13, a groundbreaking ceremony for the 240 MW Khizi-Absheron wind farm, which will be built by Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power, was held. After the construction, it is expected to supply 300,000 households, save 220 million cubic meters of gas, and reduce 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions during the year.
On 9 January 2023, Geneva played host to an international conference, organized by the UN and Pakistan on the topic "Climate Resilient Pakistan", Azernews reports per the Foreign Ministry.

The main purpose of the conference was to raise the necessary financial resources to support the response to the natural disaster that hit Pakistan in August 2022 and the implementation of reconstruction activities.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres acted as organizers, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed the event via video conference, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.

Representatives of 46 world countries as well as 48 international institutions of finance and civil society attended the event, and Azerbaijan was represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov via videoconferencing.

In his speech, the deputy foreign minister noted that Azerbaijan shares the pain and suffering of the friendly and fraternal Pakistani people and state, and since 2010, about $7 million have been allocated to support the elimination of the consequences of floods that occurred in different years in the country.

In August 2022, Azerbaijan provided $2 million in financial aid to Pakistan to help clean up the devastation caused by the recent floods, considered the worst natural disaster in Pakistan's history. The deputy minister informed Pakistan and the conference participants that, given the scale of the consequences, President Ilham Aliyev instructed the allocation of additional financial assistance for humanitarian purposes to the tune of $2 million to support the initiative.

The natural disaster in 2022 hit a third of the country, killing and injuring 15,000 people and displacing 33 million, making it the most devastating natural disaster in Pakistan's history.

The WB estimates that as many as 9 million people could be affected by the floods. Pakistan, with the support of the UN system, the WB, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Union, developed a post-disaster needs assessment plan and determined that flood damage exceeded $14.9 billion; economic losses totaled $15.2 billion, and recovery - $16 billion.

The plan identifies major priorities such as livelihood and agricultural restoration, private housing reconstruction, and public infrastructure reconstruction.
Colorado Republicans and Democrats have been facing off with each other as well as the public education establishment over school issues ranging from the teaching of history to the wearing of masks. That has been true in other states, too.

A new study concludes parents and voters in general, increasingly, have been realigning their views about education issues to match their partisan loyalties. It helps explain not only the acrimony over public ed in our state but also the drift away from policies like school choice and accountability measures in Democratic enclaves like Denver  despite onetime bipartisan accord on those issues.

It could even explain why the states senior Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, once a forceful advocate for education reform, has all but vanished from the education policy debate.

The upshot in our increasingly blue state could be to undercut support for standardized testing, charter schools and other reforms that have done so much to uplift Colorados neediest, most at-risk schoolchildren.

The study, led by David Houston, an assistant professor of education policy at George Mason University in Virginia, substantiates the growing partisan divide. Houston and his co-authors looked at the past 16 years of responses to an annual survey by the online education journal Education Next and tracked changes on key issues over time.

The evident rift between the two major political parties is gaping. The authors find: About 65% of Democrats support face mask mandates in schools, with 15% opposed. Among Republicans, the breakdown is essentially the reverse: 19% in support and 63% opposed. And: Fully 54% of Democrats think their local schools are placing too little emphasis on racial matters  Meanwhile, 51% of Republicans think there is currently too much emphasis on racial matters, compared to 9% of Democrats.

Partisan positions are playing an ever greater role in long-standing education issues, as well.

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The partisan gap on views of teachers unions has seen a yearly increase of about 1.4 percentage points on average. In 2022, the difference between Democrats and Republicans in positive evaluations of teachers unions is nearly 40 percentage points, the authors find. And, support for the general concept of school choice is highly divisive, with 60% of Republicans, but only 41% of Democrats, expressing a favorable position.

What is driving the trend? Voters are more inclined to take their cues from their respective political parties. Education news service Chalkbeat, which took an in-depth look at the study this week, quotes Columbia University political scientist Jeffrey Henig:

When people were making decisions based on their local community and their local experience, Republicans and Democrats didnt differ sharply, but, when the debates get nationalized, either because theyre getting driven by national legislation or national interest groups are reaching into these communities, then you do get this sharp partisan divide.

Members of the public kind of learn issue positions via politicians and the media, Michigan State University political scientist Sarah Reckhow told Chalkbeat. Reckhow said as a result most will change their issue positions to align with their party rather than the reverse.

Among Colorados dominant Democrats and particularly the officeholders they elect, that means defaulting to the national partys lock-step support for teachers unions and their opposition to wide-ranging reforms. That, in a state where Democratic former Gov. Roy Romer signed into law the authorization of charter schools in the 1990s  and where Bennet himself ushered in much-needed reforms as Denvers school superintendent from 2005 to 2009.

Will party talking points ultimately replace thoughtful education policy in Colorado? Lets hope not.
Democratic-Socialist state Rep. Elisabeth Epps is behaving like a real socialist and launching an assault on the Second Amendment. Once convicted and sentenced to jail time for interfering with police, Epps, who has just been sworn into office, is now interfering with our constitutional rights. A draft of her House Bill, Prohibition of Assault Weapons in Colorado, shows Epps aims to ban any person in the state from possessing, manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, offering to sell, or transferring ownership of specific, everyday guns (she has a long list inside the bill).

Lets be honest and call this what it is: unconstitutional.

Included in the draft of Epps ridiculous bill are semi-automatic pistols  an extremely popular and common type of gun that many women, specifically, use for self-defense. In 2020, the top 10 guns bought by women seeking self-defense were all semi-auto pistols. Coming from Denver, one would think Epps would understand the need for women to defend themselves from Colorados soaring violent crime rates. Apparently not.

If a property owner has a personal shooting range that is not licensed by the government (very common in Colorado), he would now be banned from allowing a friend to shoot any of the weapons listed by Epps  unless the friend personally owns the gun.

Importantly, Epps offers no definition of the word possess. Merely holding an item means you are in possession of it. Therefore, since she offers no other definition, if a person goes to his friends house and holds any of the weapons listed in Epps bill, he is in possession, and both people are now committing a crime. Merely picking up a gun at your friends house will now make you both criminals if Epps bill passes.

If you already own one of these weapons, youre still not in the clear. If, for example, youve allowed a friend or family member to borrow it (again, very common in Colorado), youll have to turn your gun over to a law enforcement officer who asks. The only way you can keep a gun you legally own is if you have maintained continuous possession of it. Many Colorado gun owners have let friends and family members borrow their guns at some point. Furthermore, think back to the fact that Epps refuses to define the word possess. If youve let someone even use your gun, youve arguably failed to maintain continuous possession and may have already lost your right to own it if this bill becomes law.

A failure to define terms in a new, far-reaching law, is a failure to protect rights. As an attorney herself, Epps knows this, and is purposefully launching an all-out assault on the Second Amendment.

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We must stand up and fight against this unconstitutional legislation.

Finally, if youve ever held any of the guns Epps lists in her very lengthy bill, youre considered a danger to Colorado. She says that these guns in civilian hands endanger Coloradoscommunities at large. Its no longer violent criminals who put us all in danger. Its no longer Epps herself  whos actually served jail time for committing a crime. Its YOU. If youve ever put your hands on one of these guns, Epps and her Democrat allies condemn you as dangerous.

In her own bill, Epps states that 44% of mass shootings have involved a handgun. Its blatantly clear that she is setting the stage for her and her far-left comrades to try and ban those next.

Socialists and convicted criminals like Elisabeth Epps sadly will never stop trampling on Coloradans Second Amendment rights. Thats why its critical that everyday, principled citizens who value our rights and our constitution step up and join us in this fight.

Epps and those on the far, socialist left are the real dangers to society, and crime  not moms and dads trying to defend themselves  is where this legislature should be focusing its time.

Kristi Burton Brown is the chair of the Colorado Republican Party and a constitutional attorney.
Women in the air

When I graduated from the USAF Academy in 1974, I went through Jet Pilot Training. Many of my instructors recently returned from combat in Vietnam and were all men. Once I got my wings, I stayed on as an instructor pilot and had the privilege of teaching the first Air Force female pilots to become jet jockeys. They did great!

During World War II, women stepped up to ferry new airplanes from factories to operational bases. They volunteered to test-fly airplanes, tow targets and other essential flight duties  most with less training than men.

They came from farms, high schools, small towns and big cities. Some were former racing pilots. Some paid for their training just to qualify to be WASPs (Women Air Service Pilots). Most had to buy their own uniforms, and pay their own expenses. Some of these women flew more types of aircraft than men. A number died due to engine failure, training accidents, bad weather and even despicable cowardly sabotage which killed a few, but the women kept signing up.

By the time the war was won, the WASPs had done more than their share and proven themselves worthy and a big part of American history. Im proud of have been part of these brave pilots aviation journey. (This research came from the Experimental Aircraft association.)

Mark Hyatt

Colorado Springs

Shocked but not surprised

I recently read that according to the Newport News (Virginia) Police Department, last Fridays shooting of a teacher by a 6-year-old was not an accidental shooting. Apparently the boy and the teacher were involved in an altercation prior to the shooting.

I have to say that while I am shocked, sadly I am not surprised. As a teacher (since retired) my colleagues and I noticed, starting around 2017, an ever-increasing climate of disrespect amongst our students toward both their fellow classmates and their teachers. Children learn by example, and our society has been teaching them that personal rights, including the right to defend oneself in any way, are more important than personal responsibility and a respect for others.

Experts say shootings by young children are rare but I suspect we will be seeing a rise in this type of incident in the future.

Lorena Wilder

Peyton

Legalized marijuana issues

As usual, the Gazettes ViewPoint is right on point with the issue of marijuana. The problem is that our leadership and the marijuana industry dont care about kids getting poisoned or dying from legalized marijuana. Since its legal, the onus is on the parents, adults, and teenagers to keep this garbage away from little kids.

The marijuana industry and government leaders only care about the favorable legislation and tax money they are getting from the sale of the drug. Why do these idiots think making drugs legal is going to solve all their problems? Weve been learning since it became legal that it just creates more problems, for which the government wants to spend more tax money to solve a problem they created.

Joseph Ford

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Colorado Springs

Editorial is misleading on pot

Yet another Gazette Viewpoint article against marijuana that is filled with misleading information. To help educate your editorial staff, in Colorado edibles already must be sold in opaque, child-proof containers and to not look like candy that children would be attracted to.

To help with problem-solving skills, if the children are getting access to edibles in their own homes, perhaps the issue is with the parent in that same home. Hold them responsible as they are the source of the problem, not the dispensary owner who is totally compliant with all of the state and local regulations. I wrote last week to try to correct yet another Gazette Viewpoint anti-marijuana article but of course it wasnt printed. This newspaper should try to be more accurate.

Darcy Hansen

Monument

Symbol of who and what we are

I was a correspondent for a major American radio network whose assignments took me into deozens of nations, capitalist, socialist and communist, upon six of the seven continents.

My observations have given me the interesting thought that every American be required to live for one month within a communist nation in order to appreciate the glory of what our nation and its freedoms are all about, though it is not perfect.

Within that emotion I believe those who attacked our capitol on January 6th should instead ahve been upon their knees thanking God for the accident of their having been born here: the odds of which are about 25 to 1 against that happening, within the worlds population, instead of attacking that magnificent symbol of who and what we are.

Herb Weinberg

Colorado Springs

Rhetoric and positioning

President Joe Biden appointed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the border czar and she has not been to the border. Recently President Biden said that he had more important things to attend to then visit the border, though last week he said that he would visit the border. I have written (more than once) to our Senators Michael Bennett and John Hickenlooper about their position on the open border, the influx of fentanyl, the sex trafficking, and asked have they visited the border, or are they just aligning themselves with the Democratic rhetoric and positioning from the White House.

Interestingly, I have heard no response from either of our Colorado Senators...Hmmm?

Robert Waterman

Colorado Springs
The Colorado Supreme Court agreed to hear two criminal appeals on Monday that question whether defendants are entitled to bail for crimes that formerly qualified for a death sentence, and whether a Black man convicted in an overwhelmingly white county deserves a new trial because one juror admitted he "didn't want diversity."

At least three of the seven justices must consent to grant an appeal.

One case out of Adams County involves an issue the Supreme Court has not addressed since the legislature abolished the death penalty in 2020, and the other case from Gilpin County featured an unusually fractured decision from the state's Court of Appeals.

Remnants of the death penalty

Two years ago, Gov. Jared Polis signed into law a measure abolishing capital punishment for the most serious offenses  class 1 felonies.

The state constitution, however, still references the death penalty. In one section guaranteeing criminal defendants the right to bail, the constitution creates exceptions for repeat felons who are dangers to the public, for crimes of violence committed while on probation, and for "capital offenses when proof is evident or presumption is great."

Adams County prosecutors charged Jerelle Aireine Smith with murder after deliberation, which is a class 1 felony, and racketeering. The government alleged Smith, while not the triggerman, was "intricately involved" in the murder of Ryan Dillard in October 2021, stemming from a larger payroll scam.

One year later, appearing before District Court Judge Robert W. Kiesnowski Jr., Smith's attorney argued that capital punishment no longer exists in Colorado and, therefore, Smith should be eligible for bail.

"Logically, I think you're absolutely right," Kiesnowski responded. However, "I have to follow the laws in Colorado. And the law is that notwithstanding that we don't have the death penalty, it's still classified as a capital offense."

Pursuant to the constitutional language, Kiesnowski found "proof is evident or presumption is great" that Smith was involved in Dillard's murder, and he refused to release Smith on bond.

Smith then appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that in the absence of capital punishment, his alleged crime fell under the constitutional guarantee for bail.

"Certainly, the publics faith in republican government would suffer if, in the wake of a historic and major legislative change, the judiciary  the branch tasked with interpreting the Colorado constitution and construing legislation  chooses to remain silent knowing that silence threatens the exercise of an absolute state constitutional right," wrote attorney Adrienne R. Teodorovic.

She alleged that, since the abolition of capital punishment, trial judges have refused to set bond for class 1 felonies. Consequently, Teodorovic asked the Supreme Court to decide whether Class 1 felonies still count as capital offenses for which criminal defendants have no right to bail.

"And, allowing the issue to persist will have the consequence of district courts continuing to follow obsolete rules of law to deny an accused the absolute right to bail, and thus, the full gamut of the presumption of innocence to which he is entitled," Teodorovic continued.

The juror who scorned 'diversity'

A Gilpin County jury convicted Reginald Keith Clark of kidnapping a woman from Denver, driving her to the mountains near Black Hawk and sexually assaulting her. He received a sentence of 18 years for kidnapping and 12 years to life for the sex offense.

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Clark is Black and his victim was white. During jury selection, Clark's attorney raised the fact that Clark was the only Black person in the room. One member of the jury pool, Juror K, then volunteered his thoughts about the issue of diversity.

"Yes, its obvious theres a Black gentleman over there. This is Gilpin County. I moved to Gilpin County. I didnt want diversity," Juror K said. "I hear the things, that diversity makes us stronger and things like that. I dont quite believe it in life from what my personal experiences are. And I cant change that. I can look and judge what is being said by your side and their side and be fair, but I cant change that."

After the parties spoke with then-District Court Judge Dennis J. Hall, the judge asked Juror K if he could perform his duties based on the evidence. Yes, Juror K responded. Although the defense moved to dismiss Juror K for cause, Hall denied the request.

Juror K expressed "a political view, I think," Hall elaborated. "That doesnt really answer the question of whether he can be a fair juror. And a person can certainly have offensive views and still apply the law. Those two things are really separate in my mind."

The defense later removed Juror K using one of its allotted "strikes."

On appeal, the question was whether Hall improperly handled the challenge to Juror K and, if so, whether Clark deserved a new trial. In an unusual decision from a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals, two judges believed Hall was wrong to keep Juror K. But a different combination of two judges decided the error did not require reversal.

And, in yet another unusual move, all three judges authored separate opinions last year explaining their rationale. Juror K, wrote Judge Terry Fox for the majority, was a biased juror who should have been removed.

"Although his opinion can theoretically be framed as a political view, the glaring implication persists: his acknowledged bias against nonwhite people like defendant," she wrote for herself and Judge Timothy J. Schutz.

At the same time, Fox, now writing for herself and Judge John Daniel Dailey, rejected the notion that the brief time Juror K spent in the jury pool before the defense excused him had "infected the jury pool or the trial."

Dailey, in his opinion, wrote that he would not automatically find a juror to be unfit to serve if they held "any degree (however slight) of racial prejudice or bias."

Schutz argued that racial prejudice has historically occurred with Black male defendants and white female victims. He believed it compromised the fundamental fairness of the trial for Hall to permit a juror who explicitly spoke of his racial bias to continue with jury service.

"The decision to permit a racially biased prospective juror to continue on the panel spoke not only to Clark, but also to the greater community," Schutz wrote. "The message sent was that a prospective juror could sit in judgment of a person against whom he had an acknowledged racial bias."

Clark appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that Schutz's opinion was the correct one.

Given the dynamic of a Black defendant and white victim, "this trial court was not vigilant against racial bias. By denying the causal challenge to a racially biased juror, the court stamped the jurors comments with the judicial systems mark of approval," wrote public defender Casey Mark Klekas to the court.

The justices agreed to review the appellate panel's handling of the biased juror question. The court will also analyze whether one juror's comments during deliberations that a jury "must deliberate until a unanimous verdict was reached" was the type of information that triggers an inquiry into whether "extraneous prejudicial information" affected the verdict.
The news that state Rep. Tracey Bernett, D-Louisville, tendered her resignation from the Colorado House is not even 24 hours old but already a prominent Democrat is throwing his hat into the ring for the vacancy.

Should he be selected for the vacancy, former Democratic U.S. Rep. David Skaggs would do something that no Colorado member of Congress has done before  go from Congress to the state legislature.

It's always the other way around.

Currently, four members of Colorado's U.S. House delegation got their political careers started as members of the Colorado General Assembly: U.S. Reps. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, who served two terms in the Colorado House and two in the Senate in the 1990s and early 2000s; Diana DeGette, D-Denver, who served two terms in the House in the 1990s; and, newly-elected Democrats Dr. Yadira Caraveo and Brittany Pettersen, who both served in the General Assembly until they won election to the U.S. House in November.

In a statement on Monday, Skaggs said he will make funding for higher education a priority if he is selected for the vacancy.

Over the years since leaving office, I continued the fight for democracy, the Constitution, the environment, public education, freedom of information, and ethics in government. I expect to keep at it if returned to office to represent House District 12, Skaggs said. Why, you might ask, would I want to get back in the arena now, as I near 80? I believe my experience, judgment and ideas might still offer some benefit to government in Colorado and the nation. And, as Ronald Reagan quipped in debate, I wouldnt want to hold the relative youth of any other candidates against them.

Skaggs served in the Colorado House from 1981 to 1987, including as House Minority Leader from 1983 to 1985. He then was elected to the 2nd Congressional District, where he served six terms, stepping down in 1999.

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Skaggs was the founding chair of the U. S. House of Representatives Office of Congressional Ethics and served as its chair or co-chair for 13 years until 2021. He currently serves as vice-chair of the board of the National Endowment for Democracy, which receives major funding from the government as America's principal agent in promoting democracy and freedom around the world.

In 2007, Skaggs was appointed by Gov. Bill Ritter to head the Colorado Department of Higher Education, a position he held until 2009.

Bernett resigned effective Monday  the opening day of the 2023 legislative session  before she could be sworn into office. In November, just days before the general election and her bid for a second term, she was charged with three felonies and two misdemeanors tied to allegations she falsified her residency for purposes of running for House District 12.

A formal complaint was filed on Sept. 19, alleging Bernett falsely claimed she resided in Louisville. The office of Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty, which investigated the complaint through the use of witness interviews, search warrants, and cell phone location data, resulted in investigators presenting an arrest affidavit and warrant to the Court.

"As a result of the investigation, it is alleged that Ms. Bernett falsely represented her primary residence over a nine-month period," said the statement from Dougherty, a Democrat. "It is alleged that, although she rented an apartment in Louisville in order to qualify for elected office, she did not actually live there. And, in so doing, she filed false, sworn documents with the Secretary of States Office. It is also alleged that by misrepresenting her residence, she voted in a primary election in a district in which she does not actually live."

The House District 12 Democratic vacancy committee has 30 days to find a successor.
Colorado's 2023 legislative session got off to a somewhat slow start on Monday due to shenanigans in the speaker of the House race. But in the Senate, it was much smoother sailing.

The Senate, now at a 23-12 Democratic advantage, saw eight new members added, six Democrats and two Republicans.

"I always start on time," quipped Senate President Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, who called the Senate to order nine minutes late.

The color guard came in to a bagpipe rendition of Scotland the Brave while the Star Spangled Banner was performed by the Denver band Devotchka, who also performed several other tunes.

There are two empty seats in the General Assembly on opening day: Sen. Bob Rankin, R-Carbondale, whose resignation takes effect on Tuesday, did not attend opening day activities; and former Rep. Tracy Bernett, D-Louisville, who resigned on Sunday in the wake of allegations and felony and misdemeanor charges that she falsified her residency for purposes of running for the General Assembly.

Republican State Sen. Bob Rankin to step down

Facing felony and misdemeanor charges, Democratic lawmaker resigns on eve of legislative session

In his opening day remarks, Fenberg paid tribute to the victims of the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, as well as to the late House Minority Leader Hugh McKean, R-Loveland, who died suddenly on Oct. 30.

House Minority Leader Hugh McKean, 1967-2022

Fenberg noted improvements and changes to the Senate chamber, making it more accessible for those with disabilities.

Onto the business of the legislature, Fenberg announced the chamber will prioritize preventing gun violence.

That is set to start off with a bill from Sen. Tom Sullivan, D-Centennial, to expand and improve the state's red flag law. When local law enforcement "can't or won't be the ones to bring the issue to a judge," Fenberg said others, such as district attorneys and counselors, will be able to.

Despite almost immediately throwing down the gauntlet to pro-gun rights Republicans, Fenberg also tried to sound a note of conciliation.

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"Will we play politics and preen for the cameras? Or will we put those differences aside, roll up our sleeves, and govern?," he asked. "Let's do what the Senate was designed to do. Lets not rush to judgment because of who the sponsor is, the title of the bill, or the party thats supporting it."

Fenberg asked his chamber's members to become friends and get to know each other. "Build those relationships" despite the polarized political atmosphere, he said.

Over in the House, Speaker Julie McCluskie's election as speaker was delayed by first-year Republicans who launched a failed attempt to nominate one of their own. Still, the Dillon Democrat also paid tribute to the Club Q victims and to McKean. McCluskie thanked McKean's partner, former Rep. Amy Parks, for her efforts to promote heart disease screenings.

In a speech focused on the Colorado dream, McCluskie noted the role of women in the House, pointing out that all four of the Democrats representing the Western Slope are women, and that for the first time, the speaker is a Western Slope woman.

As of opening day, the General Assembly is 50 women and 49 men, with one vacancy due to Bernett's resignation.

McCluskie also noted the diversity of the House, with 30% members of color.

"While we were elected by voters from individual districts, we must now come together to serve every person in our statethose that voted for us and those that did not," McCluskie said. "It's time to take what we've heard from our constituents and transition from public figures to public servants. Its time to govern on behalf of everyone in our state."

McCluskie identified affordable housing as among the most pressing issues of the 2023 session, but said health care, including behavioral and mental health; child care, education, water, protecting abortion access and public safety  including addressing gun violence  also will be priorities. She did not identify specific bills that would address those issues.

In her remarks, McCluskie also said they must focus on legislation addressing diversity.

"As we craft our legislation, offer amendments, and vote on bills, I want us all to recognize not only the historic diversity of this body, but also the importance of centering policies that are anti-racist and which combat antisemitism and hatred targeted at Colorados LGBTQ community."

It is not enough to listen to people from diverse backgrounds, she said. Policies must reflect "the experiences and priorities they bring to this chamber."

She challenged members to "truly see" the diversity of the House, and how that diversity "must be put into action" to build a state that supports the dreams of every Coloradan.

Gov. Jared Polis will on Tuesday take the oath of office for his second term, a ceremony that begins at 10:30 a.m.
The Colorado Supreme Court clarified on Monday that plaintiffs suing limited liability companies are constrained in where they may file lawsuits and ordered two medical negligence cases be transferred to Arapahoe County because that is where the plaintiffs' injuries occurred.

The justices agreed to decide the proper venue for suing LLCs after two Boulder County judges reached opposite conclusions earlier this year. Even though Floyd Nelson and Charles McMichael sustained injuries at the same Littleton medical facility in Arapahoe County, they filed suit in Boulder. The defendant, Encompass PAHS Rehabilitation Hospital, LLC, moved in each case to transfer to Arapahoe County.

"There's a concept of juries being able to make decisions on individuals who are part of their community. The community in Arapahoe County is a different community than Boulder County," said John R. Rodman, the attorney who represented Encompass.

The Supreme Court agreed that the "residence" of Encompass' LLC was Arapahoe County, and it did not matter where the two companies that made up the LLC resided.

"This is because the law considers a corporation a legal person that is entirely different from its individual shareholders," wrote Justice Maria E. Berkenkotter in the Jan. 9 opinion.

An LLC is a business structure that shields its individual members from being personally liable for debts or other claims. Encompass' LLC consists of two members: Encompass Health Littleton Holdings, LLC and Porter Care Adventist Health System. The former is based in Delaware, while the latter operates two facilities in Boulder County.

Earlier this year, two plaintiffs filed lawsuits against Encompass for negligence. Nelson, who is elderly, fell and injured himself in July 2021 while a patient at the Littleton facility. McMichael, who was a patient between April and May 2021, fell three times and ultimately died at age 78. His wife and daughter sued on his behalf.

Rodman, the attorney for Encompass, told Colorado Politics the plaintiffs likely filed suit in Boulder because jurors are more "liberal" than in Arapahoe County. The plaintiffs' lawyer, Garry J. Rhoden, did not comment on Rodman's interpretation.

In each case, Encompass moved to transfer the lawsuit to Arapahoe County. District Court Judge Patrick Butler, who handled the surviving McMichaels' litigation, granted the request. He rejected the idea that Boulder County was an acceptable place to sue because Encompass Health Littleton Holdings was not a Colorado resident and could be sued anywhere, while Porter Care had operations in Boulder County.

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"The Defendant is located in Arapahoe County, both Plaintiffs live in Arapahoe County, and the alleged (injury) took place in Arapahoe County," he wrote. "Therefore, Boulder County does not meet the requirements to serve as proper venue."

District Court Judge Andrew Hartman, presiding over Nelson's case, went the opposite route and denied the LLC's motion to change venue in a two-sentence order without elaboration.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear both appeals directly.

In favor of keeping the litigation in Boulder County, the parties argued that federal courts look to an LLC's members to determine the place of "residence." Encompass, meanwhile, labeled the plaintiffs' actions as an attempt to "shop for the 'most favorable venue', a practice that is frowned upon."

The Supreme Court concluded transferring the litigation to Arapahoe County was the correct decision because that is where Encompass resided. Based on the structure of state law governing LLCs, wrote Berkenkotter, "it strains common sense to look to the residences of an LLCs members to determine its residence."

Rodman said the court's decision provides clarity about the framework for suing LLCs.

"It certainly helps business," he said. "But do I think it's negative for the public? I do not. Both of these plaintiffs are able to bring lawsuits in the area where they live and where the alleged (injury) occurred."

The Supreme Court weighed in on an additional issue in the McMichael case, finding the trial judge appropriately rescinded a default judgment against the hospital because its attorneys failed to respond to the complaint in time due to a clerical mistake.

The cases are Nelson v. Encompass PAHS Rehabilitation Hospital, LLC and McMichael et al. v. Encompass PAHS Rehabilitation Hospital, LLC.
By Azernews

Sabina Mammadli

As Azerbaijani youth, eco-activists and NGO representatives keep their environmental vigil in protest at the illicit exploitation of natural resources in Karabakh, conditions were again provided for the unhindered passage of 20 passenger cars of the Russian peacekeepers along Azerbaijan's Lachin-Khankendi road on December 9, Azernews reports.

Earlier, the Armenian media spread fake news that the Azerbaijanis allegedly blocked the Lachin-Khankendi road and didnt let the supply vehicles through.

Besides, a photo exhibition, reflecting the facts of looting Azerbaijani territories by Armenian authorities and armed forces during the occupation, was organized at the venue.

The failure of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to prevent the illicit exploitation of natural resources in Karabakh has resulted in the ongoing protest on the major road that passes by Shusha. As a result of the December 3 and 7, 2022, talks with the Russian peacekeeping command, a delegation comprising specialists from the Ministries of Economy, Ecology and Natural Resources, the State Property Service under the Ministry of Economy, and AzerGold Company was to conduct a preliminary monitoring of the illegal exploitation of mineral deposits in Karabakh, where peacekeepers are temporarily stationed, as well as related environmental and other problems.

However, due to the inaction of the peacekeepers, the monitoring did not take place and resulted in the continuous protest of the Azerbaijani eco-activists, thus paving the way for the birth of a new movement.
No list should determine satisfaction in Colorados outdoors. That should be more so determined by spontaneity, by those unexpected moments around the turn of any trail we might take.

But goals are good, along with ideas. Consider these for your new year:

Grand escape

Grand Lake gets lots of love in the summer; its a beachy getaway surrounding Colorados biggest natural body of water. In the winter, attention turns south to Winter Park. So its easy to miss the place that calls itself the snowmobiling capital of Colorado. Local caretaking enthusiasts count more than 300 miles of snowmobile trails in the Grand Lake area, with about half of those groomed. On the Trail Rentals and Grand Adventures can point you in the right direction for pretty, powder-packed meadows and forests.

When to go: Winter, spring.

Ski the Grand Mesa

For being the only ski area that can claim a place on the worlds largest flat-top mountain, its perhaps surprising how little buzz Powderhorn Mountain Resort gets. But when Mother Nature blesses the desert region with snow, the slopes on the Grand Mesa are no secret to locals.

For more than five decades, Powderhorn has built its reputation as family-friendly hub. The resort rates 70% of its terrain for beginners and intermediate types. There are plenty of moguls as well and fun in the trees of Svens Bend. And for your unique overnight consideration: ski-in, ski-out tiny homes at the base.

When to go: Spring.

Base for soaking

For a vacation taking advantage of Colorados renowned hot springs, its hard to beat Pagosa Springs. The allure is in the name: pah and gosa derive from Indigenous language meaning hot water. Or, as some like to translate: healing water.

Pagosa is home to the Mother Spring, regarded as the worlds deepest geothermal aquifer. Its found on the grounds of The Springs Resort, the most luxurious option boasting the widest array of pools and tubs. More options are in walking distance: Healing Waters Resort and Spa and the Overlook Hot Springs.

And, of course, there are the hippie dips along the river running right through town.

When to go: Year-round.

Royal rafting

Nothing says bucket list quite like the Royal Gorge. And nothing compares with an adventure through its rocky, rowdy heart.

Want to earn your Colorado badge of honor? Book a guide to take you through the choppy, most iconic stretch of the Arkansas River. Rapids range from Class III to the most fearsome Class V, with names like Sledge Hammer and Boat Eater.

When to go: Late spring, summer.

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Mountain bike glory

The Lenawee Trail put Arapahoe Basin  yes, the Summit County ski area  on the map as a mountain biking destination. The technical, 3-mile descent is considered one of the best alpine rides in reach of Denver. Now comes the expansion of A-Basins offseason dream thats been years in the making.

Just before snows in the fall, the Beavers Loop was finished. Its another 3-mile descent near the top, dropping an opposite ridge and skirting some of A-Basins steepest terrain. Take it from an expert at singletracks.com: its chock full of never-ending, spectacular views and fun.

Builders hope to finish a more suitable climbing trail to the summit in 2023. That would complete the 10-plus-mile- loop long envisioned.

When to go: Summer, early fall.

Live on the edge

Accomplished alpinist Harry Kent has been on the front lines of the latest rock climbing trend around the West. Hes the name behind Estes Park-based Kent Mountain Adventure Center, which in recent years has established routes of iron hand- and footholds on sheer rock faces. Those are called via ferratas. Kent thinks of one of his designs as representing a new bar for whats possible.

Thats Cloud Ladder  the result of 40 years of climbing passion and philosophy, added Kent. I wanted to create an experience that rivaled the thrill of actual rock climbing, but without the need for extensive training and gear.

Guides lead clipped-in guests up the rock. A mellower option is Peregrine Ridge.

When to go: Summer.

Night at the Dunes

You havent experienced the majesty and mystery of Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve until youve stayed the night.

Thanks to its remote place in southern Colorado lacking artificial, obstructive light, the park is a designated International Dark Sky Place. What that means is the stars, galaxies and nebulas shine bright over the dune field framed by soaring peaks. When the creek runs, it reflects the cosmic glow. Its a dreamscape that must be seen to be believed.

Try to snag a reservation at Pinon Flats Campground, situated an easy walk away from the dunefield. Backcountry permits also available for camping at certain spots on the sand.

When to go: Pinon Flats open April through October.

A summit unlocked

If you havent checked out the 11 miles of new trail, theyre worth the trip to Fishers Peak State Park. But in 2023, the focus will be on another trail  the most desired of all.

The expectation is for the summit path to open in the fall. That will mark a dream come true for Trinidad locals whove waited generations to reach the top of Fishers Peak, the chimney-like promontory seen from a distance on Interstate 25.

Itll be a long, hard journey. So youll want to think about camping or staying in town, which might feel different if you havent been in a while. With the state park and the growing gravel bike scene, the outdoor revolution is on.

When to go: Be on the lookout for a trail announcement later in summer or fall.
By Azernews

Sabina Mammadli

Today marks Day 30 since the Azerbaijani eco-activists staged open-ended protests on the Lachin-Khankandi road near Shusha against illegal mining of the natural resources in areas under the temporary control of the Russian peacekeepers, Azernews reports.

So far the picketing of the major road has not caused any problems for vehicles and they pass unhindered as before, which vividly disproves the Armenian propaganda campaign. As reports from the scene so far indicate, a total of 7 vehicles have already passed through this territory this morning, with four of them belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Notably, two more ICRC vehicles have driven along the road, moving from Khankendi city in the Lachin direction, as well as traveling backward.

The failure of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to prevent the illicit exploitation of natural resources in Karabakh has resulted in the ongoing protest on the major road that passes by Shusha. As a result of the December 3 and 7, 2022, talks with the Russian peacekeeping command, a delegation comprising specialists from the Ministries of Economy, Ecology and Natural Resources, the State Property Service under the Ministry of Economy, and AzerGold Company was to conduct a preliminary monitoring of the illegal exploitation of mineral deposits in Karabakh, where peacekeepers are temporarily stationed, as well as related environmental and other problems.

However, due to the inaction of the peacekeepers, the monitoring did not take place and resulted in the continuous protest of the Azerbaijani eco-activists, thus paving the way for the birth of a new movement.
The first-degree kidnapping jury trial of a Mason City man is now scheduled to begin March 7.

Prosecutors and the defense lawyers held a hearing on Tuesday to determine when all parties would be available for trial.

According to court documents, 24-year-old Moises Erreguin-Labra is facing life in prison if convicted of kidnapping.

Charges were filed after authorities responded to a medical call around 1 p.m. June 9, 2021, at Erreguin-Labras residence at 408 First St. S.W. in Mason City. Upon arrival they found an injured party who said they had been beaten and locked into a room by Erreguin-Labra.

According the affidavits, the person was kept at the residence for at least five days and was subjected to sexual abuse or torture during that time.

Police say the victim and Erreguin-Labra are known to one another. The victim was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
DES MOINES  Emboldened by six years of conservative reforms under their belts and multiple elections that expanded their majorities in the Iowa Legislature, Republicans kicked off the 2023 state lawmaking session Monday by promising more conservative action  particularly on K-12 education and property taxes.

The 90th Iowa General Assembly met for the first time at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines. In the coming months, legislators will consider hundreds of proposals to make changes to Iowa state law.

Iowa Republicans hold commanding agenda-setting majorities  34-16 in the Senate and 64-36 in the House. While that margin grew in Novembers election, this is the seventh consecutive year that Republicans have held complete control of the state lawmaking process by virtue of their majorities in the Iowa Legislature with a Republican governor.

Jack Whitver, the Republican Senate majority leader from Grimes, used his opening day remarks to highlight many of those conservative law changes of the past six years, including multiple rounds of state tax reductions, a dramatic reduction of collective bargaining rights for public workers, changes to the states elections laws and judicial nominating process, restrictions on legal abortions and the expansion of gun rights.

Republicans in the Iowa Senate do not shy away from hard work or hard decisions, and Iowans have rewarded us for it, Whitver said. With the historical successes we have had, I think its safe to say that we are ready for bigger, bolder and better.

Democratic legislators, who by virtue of being outnumbered are unable to influence the lawmaking process with their votes, made calls for bipartisan work in the Legislature and called on Republicans to work on legislation that will benefit all Iowans.

Zach Wahls, leader of the Senate Democrats from Coralville, said lawmakers focus this year should be on Iowas stagnant population growth and shortage of workers.

Its been called a brain drain and a workforce crisis. But really this challenge is bigger than that. What we face is a people crisis, an exodus in the state of Iowa, Wahls said. Whether its growing wait lists for child care, bigger class sizes in our public schools or the shuttering of labor and delivery units at hospitals across our state, this crisis threatens the future of Iowa and is holding us back every single day.  Everything we do this session should be focused on this crisis.

Republicans pledged action on three main topics: property taxes, funding for K-12 private school students and expanding transparency in K-12 public education.

Republicans plan for a third consecutive year to work on legislation that would set aside state funding for private school tuition assistance. Previous attempts were supported by Gov. Kim Reynolds and passed the Senate, but they stalled in the House.

During her successful 2022 re-election campaign, Reynolds supported challengers to incumbent Republican state lawmakers who did not support the private school tuition assistance bill.

Speaking at the Republican Party of Iowas annual legislative breakfast Monday morning, Reynolds said voters gave Iowa Republicans a mandate to continue to be bold in pursuing an agenda that puts parents and students first when it comes to their education, that fights back about the liberal, woke agenda thats being shoved down our throats from Washington, D.C., and continues to keep our community safe.

She called Republicans dominance in the 2022 state elections a red tsunami that shows Iowans like the direction Republicans are taking this state.

While previous so-called school choice proposals died in the House, Republican Speaker Pat Grassley has been more optimistic about some form of legislation passing this year. He formed a new committee  which he will chair, which is not common for a House speaker  to address education policy, including private school tuition and K-12 transparency. He said that legislation will be House Republicans top priority this session.

Grassley added that while state-funded private school scholarships are an important part of that discussion, we believe its just part of the much broader reforms that we will see, he said.

With a variety of policy ideas  some of which will look familiar  we can provide greater choice to Iowa parents and keep our public school system strong, Grassley said. Were crafting creative solutions to the issues that have plagued our state for years like workforce shortages. Were digging deep into the issues that are oftentimes deemed too complicated to address like property taxes. And were acting on the concerns we hear consistently from our constituents and are pushing back against the radical social agenda being forced upon us and our children by the left.

Iowa House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, of Windsor Heights, reiterated the House Democrats position of putting people over politics  a message they unveiled during the 2022 campaign  and urged House Republicans to remember the wishes of their constituents.

My charge to you, and to us, is to use this new House of Representatives as an opportunity to set politics aside and do the work for the people, Konfrst said. We all knocked on a lot of doors last spring, last summer, last fall, and we talked to our constituents about what they wanted. Lets remember what they told us when drafting legislation.

Konfrst said Democrats will prioritize lowering costs for Iowans, legalizing marijuana, increasing funding for public schools and protecting abortion rights  all issues she said Iowans care about.

Listening to voters is exactly what House Republicans plan, according to House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, a Republican from Missouri Valley. He said House Republicans wins in the 2022 election show the party has a mandate to enact their agenda.

Windschitl said Republican legislation will be crafted with an eye toward expanding freedoms in Iowa, referencing an amendment Iowans passed that is designed to enshrine gun rights in the states Constitution.

We took a message out, we showed Iowans what were capable of, we told them what were going to do, and how were going to govern. And (voters) said, Yes, that is what we want, Windschitl said.

The first week of the legislative session is largely ceremonial.

Legislative leaders gave their session-opening remarks Monday; Reynolds will give her condition of the state address Tuesday evening to the Iowa Legislature; Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen will address lawmakers Wednesday; and Iowa National Guard Adjutant General Ben Corell will address legislators Thursday.

The session is scheduled to last until late April, but there is no hard deadline for it to end. Iowas sessions often trickle into May and occasionally into June.

One of lawmakers top priorities each year is to craft the next state budget. Iowas state budget year begins July 1.
Its historically a commercial corridor, Danville Planning Director Renee Burton told the Danville Register & Bee on Tuesday morning. Were looking to revitalize that entire neighborhood.

The area in the vicinity of the Old West End and downtown includes where Pine Street, Jefferson Street and Jefferson Avenue meet, as well as Loyal Street toward downtown.

During its regular meeting Tuesday morning, the Danville Industrial Development Authority unanimously approved and authorized  during two separate votes  the city to enter into contracts with Daniel Builders LLC for roof structural repairs and Clays Home Improvement for installation of insulation at 406 Jefferson St. in the Five Forks area.

There are roughly 10 public and private buildings in that area that could be developed for commercial use, said Danville Economic Development and Tourism Director Corrie Bobe. Businesses that open there would be within walking distance for residents along Jefferson Avenue and the Old West End, she said.

It would bring new life to the Five Forks area and help expand amenities to an adjacent area, Bobe said.

Efforts underway to enhance the neighborhood have also included design work for a possible green space with a pedestrian path and other features between Pine Street and Jefferson Avenue.

City planning officials hope to convert a kudzu-covered, 1.5-acre spot into a passive recreation area with a path connecting Pine Street and Jefferson Avenue, sitting areas, a shelter and a lawn space for small gatherings.

The city hired McGill Consulting to come up with a conceptual design for the Old West End Commons park area for about $39,000 in April. Burton is the project manager for the green space.

The park area will provide a public space for people to come to relax, enjoy nature and get away, she said.

McGill is working on construction documents for the greenspace project. No completion date has been set yet, Burton said.

City officials identified Five Forks in Danvilles master plan in 2014 as a site for possible improvement.

Officials have concentrated on residential improvements in the Five Forks and Pine and Jefferson area, including home stabilization and installation of storm drainage and sewer.

In other matters, the IDA approved entering into a $2.4 million agreement with Blair Construction in Gretna to perform improvements to the former Ecomnets building at 1 Ecomnets Way at Airside Industrial Park.

Work at the property off Cane Creek Boulevard across from Litehouse Foods will include improvements to the parking lot, utilities and landscaping, as well as tenant-specific improvements. Those other upgrades would be for that particular user.

Officials have said a tenant could be coming to the property, but will not say what type.

Local officials are getting close to reaching an agreement  which could close in a month or two  with a prospect to locate there, Danville City Manager Ken Larking said last month.

An announcement will be made at that time, Larking said.

The IDA self-funded the buildings purchase on July 15, 2021, for $925,000.

The building was bought with an end-user in mind.

EcomNets arrived in Danville in 2010 announcing it would bring 160 high-paying jobs and invest $2 million to open a green computer manufacturing facility.

Local and state politicians descended on Danville for the announcement, during which it was learned that the Tobacco Commission had approved a $500,000 grant for the project and the Danville Regional Foundation awarded the company $90,000.

But all or most of the grants had to be repaid after EcomNets did not meet its agreement.

In 2016, Raju Kasuri and Smriti Jharia  a married couple accused of visa fraud and defrauding the United States through EcomNets  pleaded guilty to the charges and agreed to forfeit more than $20 million in proceeds from the fraud schemes.

Kasuri was the founder and CEO of EcomNets.
FREMONT  A Wayne County farms failure to properly operate a system meant to capture methane for power generation likely contributed to the system failing and thick gray foam spilling into a nearby swamp, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality has determined.

In a document assessing one of its largest fines of 2022, DEQs Division of Water Resources said White Oak Farms in Fremont continued to add hog carcasses and cast-off deli meat to the so-called anaerobic digester despite an earlier spill.

The environmental regulators fined White Oak Farms $34,520  one of DEQs largest fines of the year. The fine is connected to an environmental mishap months ago.

But on May 30, the thick black cover on the digester failed, with thousands of gallons of gray foam consisting of various pig parts spilling toward the nearby Nahunta Swamp. More than 800,000 gallons spilled from the digester, with about 10,745 reaching nearby wetlands, according to the states investigation.

The May spill was at least the second from the digester in 2022. During a routine inspection in February, DEQ staff discovered an unreported spill. The unsuspecting inspector sank more than four inches into a hay-covered field near the operation, a DEQ official wrote in a July notice of violation.

While the farms permit said that manure should be the main ingredient in the digester, White Oak Farms had largely depopulated its hogs, something it said in letters to DEQ was a result of market conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, dead pigs and cast-off meat were the main additives to the digester  items that could result in higher levels of gas than the manure that White Oaks permit said should be the main additive.

Despite the February spill, DEQ found, White Oak Farms continued to add hog carcasses, deli meat and other material to the digester. That likely contributed to the system failing, a state investigator wrote.

As investigators probed the May spill, they alleged that the farm was not maintaining records of ammonia emissions, did not submit documentation about phosphorus leaching from the discharge and had failed to operate the system in a manner that protected the environment. Regulators also determined that the digesters operators had failed to manage the sludge that builds up in the digester.

All of those factors contributed to the $34,520 penalty, which is among the largest assessed by water regulators in North Carolina this year.

The facility has operated beyond the scope of what is approved under the facilitys permit, wrote Michael Pjetraj, the Division of Water Resources acting permitting chief.

White Oak Farms has until Jan. 4 to pay the fine, request that regulators cancel the fine or contest the penalty by requesting an administrative hearing. The farms owners, Todd and Deborah Ballance, declined to comment for this story because they are consulting with their attorneys.

We are grateful that White Oak Farms, a facility with a longstanding history of permit violations and mismanagement, is being held accountable for the major pollution event they caused, Samantha Krop, Sound Rivers Neuse Riverkeeper, said in a written statement.

White Oak Farms is seeking a renewed permit that would allow it to operate an updated anaerobic digester.

Enforcement should be swift and strong in instances like this where the polluter misled the public and harmed our waterways. We look forward to hearing more about DEQs approach to this facility moving forward, Blakely Hildebrand, a Southern Environmental Law Center attorney, wrote in a statement.

So far, DEQ has been skeptical of the farms application for a new permit.
The television split screen told the story.

On one side, Republicans in the House of Representatives labored through the fourth of the 15 ballots they needed during four days of gridlock to choose Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker.

On the other side, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell stood beaming with President Joe Biden as they congratulated each other for a bipartisan success: a $1.6 billion deal to replace a crumbling highway bridge across the Ohio River.

On one side, partisan dysfunction. On the other, an old-fashioned deal.

Biden seized the moment to ladle compliments on his longtime sparring partner  and to drive home a lesson.

We disagree on a lot of things, he said of McConnell, of Kentucky. But heres what matters: Hes a man of his word.  I believe it sends an important message to the entire country: We can work together. We can get things done.

McConnell wasnt daring enough to praise Biden, but on the larger issue he responded in kind.

These are really partisan times, he said. But I always feel no matter who gets elected, once its all over we ought to look for things we can agree on.

If there was a winner in the brawl on the House floor last week, it wasnt McCarthy, of California. McCarthy got the speakers job, but gave away so much power along the way that it was probably a Pyrrhic victory. He still faces the challenge of herding an untamable majority with only a handful of votes to spare, amid in-house critics who would gladly see him fail.

The real winner was a man who wasnt there: McConnell, the phlegmatic leader of the nonanarchic Senate GOP.

At some point in this year of divided government, Congress will steer into a crisis  a standoff over the federal debt limit, perhaps, or gridlock over government spending. Only one person on the Republican side will have the power and skill to avert catastrophe, and it wont be McCarthy; it will be Bidens wily, unlovable colleague, McConnell. Thanks to the dysfunction in the House, he is now Congress indispensable man.

Thats why Biden was doling out compliments underneath the giant bridge that connects northern Kentucky to southern Ohio. He knows hes going to need McConnells help.

The infrastructure bill that passed Congress in 2021 was a high-water mark for bipartisanship on McConnells part; he supported it in large part because it included the bridge, a project hes worked on for decades.

But Congress still needs to pass spending bills to keep the government running. And in the second half of the year the Treasury expects to hit the debt ceiling, the legal limit on federal government borrowing (currently $31.4 trillion).

At that point, Congress will need to raise the limit to avert a default that could crash the financial markets.

Weve seen this movie before. In 2011, during President Barack Obamas first term, tea party Republicans in the House, the precursors of todays Freedom Caucus, threatened to let the federal government default on its debts.

The House speaker at the time, John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, couldnt govern his own majority; White House aides joked that Boehner couldnt deliver a pizza. It took weeks of negotiations between McConnell and Biden, Obamas vice president, to produce a deal that raised the debt ceiling in exchange for long-term deficit reduction. (The deficit didnt stay down for long, but the crisis was averted.)

McConnell has a sound political reason for working with Democrats: He believes his party has damaged itself by acquiring an image as the party of chaos.

The GOP came agonizingly close last year to winning a majority in the Senate and restoring McConnell to the job he wants most, majority leader. But voters rejected candidates chosen and endorsed by former President Donald Trump  Herschel Walker in Georgia, Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, Blake Masters in Arizona  and the Senate remained in Democratic hands.

Independent voters and moderate Republicans concluded that we were sort of nasty and tended toward chaos, McConnell said last year in an interview with NBC.

They didnt have enough confidence in us, in several instances, to give us the majority, he said.

His goal is to detoxify the GOPs image by steering toward a more orderly version of conservatism.

We have a high bar to get over in asking the American people for governing responsibility again, Scott Jennings, a former McConnell aide, explained last week. The independents in the midterm let us know that we havent yet met that bar. But we damn well better get there if we hope to win the White House and win back the Senate in 2024.

McConnell hasnt turned into a moderate. After the election, he summed up his agenda in partisan terms: Were going to fight Democrats recklessness and promote our common-sense conservative values.

But like Biden, he knows that cutting deals can help him politically.

The next two years in Congress will see more collisions than cooperation between the two parties.

But between McConnell and Biden, it might also include a few more opportunities for bipartisanship  just when its needed most.
HIGH POINT  Officials on Monday tried to explain the unthinkable  how a quiet, friendly neighborhood could be rocked by such tragedy.

But thats what happened just after 7 a.m. Saturday morning when a man shot and killed his wife and three children and then himself in the 2700 block of Mossy Meadow Drive. The bodies were discovered in the home after police were called soon after two adults were able to escape and alert neighbors.

According to High Point police, 45-year-old Robert Jeffrey Crayton Jr. shot his wife, Athalia A. Crayton, 46, and Kasin Crayton, 18. Also killed were a 10- and 16-year-old, who police said they would not identify because of their ages.

Authorities said all five lived together in the home.

A 23-year-old man who is a relative, and a 25-year-old female acquaintance, escaped the home that morning, police said. According to 911 calls, the pair went from one neighbors home to another urgently seeking help. Police are not releasing their names.

When asked during a news conference Monday about a timeline of events, Lt. Patrick Welch said police believe that the shootings inside the home were occurring around that same time the two adults fled. Determining a more specific timeline is part of the investigation, he said.

Police would not discuss where the victims were found or if any of them had been sleeping in that early hour.

As far as a motive, Welch said: We may never know why.

Police had responded to the address five times since 2014. The most recent was in January 2022, when officers served an involuntary mental commitment order for Robert Crayton. Police would not elaborate on what prompted that order, but said family indicated that he suffered from some form of mental illness.

Police also didnt elaborate on the weapon used to commit the killings, only saying it was a gun. Police cited the ongoing investigation for not revealing additional details.

Chief Travis Stroud told reporters Monday that he never had a case like this and commended his officers, saying they worked a difficult scene.

Gabrielle Brown, a spokeswoman for Guilford County Schools, said crisis teams would be at Ragsdale High and Union Hill Elementary throughout the week and the district stands by to assist the family in whatever ways they need.

As school buses and other traffic zipped along Eastchester Drive near Deep River Road on Monday afternoon, few people would know that a nearby neighborhood was still reeling from Saturdays killings.

In the Williams Grove community, the Crayton family home now has No Trespassing signs visibly posted for passersby. A man who parked his truck in the driveway that afternoon declined comment.

Maria Cerra, who lives in the neighborhood, stopped to talk to fellow neighbor Frank Smalls about what happened. They live in a normally quiet community where subdivisions dot the area with sidewalk-lined streets and attractive two-story homes.

I didnt know them personally  just in passing, Cerra said. This is the nicest neighborhood. I just couldnt believe it.

One of Cerras neighbors texted her after hearing the news to make sure she was OK.

I walk by here all the time, said Cerra while strolling down the sidewalk of Mossy Meadow Drive with her 15-year-old chihuahua, Taz.

Smalls, who has lived in the neighborhood for about 18 years, said he also didnt know the family well, but got along as neighbors do. He was leaving for work Saturday morning when he saw that police had closed off one end of Mossy Meadow Drive.

Its a tragic, unimaginable situation, Smalls said. Its very sad.

PHOTOS: High Point police update Mossy Meadow Drive murder suicide High Point murder suicide High Point murder suicide High Point murder suicide High Point murder suicide High Point murder suicide High Point murder suicide High Point murder suicide High Point murder suicide High Point murder suicide High Point murder suicide High Point murder suicide High Point murder suicide High Point murder suicide High Point murder suicide High Point murder suicide
JERUSALEM  Khaled Shurrab had been waiting more than half his life to get out of Gaza.

The 27-year-old had never left the coastal enclave, which has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since 2007. He couldnt find a job  the territorys youth unemployment rate is over 60%. Like a growing number of Gazans, he packed his life into a suitcase and eventually made it to Turkey, where he set out on a treacherous sea voyage to Greece last October. When his rickety boat went down, his body disappeared into the sea.

A rising number of Gazans, seeking better lives abroad, are drowning at sea. The devastating procession has prompted a rare outpouring of anger against the territorys militant Hamas rulers, a number of whom are making their own  very different  exodus.

In recent months, high-profile Hamas officials have quietly decamped to upscale hotels in Beirut, Doha and Istanbul, stirring resentment among residents who see them as leading luxurious lives abroad while the economy collapses at home and 2.3 million Gazans remain effectively trapped in the tiny, conflict-scarred territory. Four wars against Israel and dozens of smaller skirmishes over the years have taken their toll in casualties, damage and isolation.

Israel and Egypt say the tight movement restrictions are needed to keep Hamas from stockpiling more weapons. Critics say the blockade amounts to collective punishment, as residents grapple with daily blackouts and routine shortages of basic goods.

I blame the rulers here, the government of Gaza, said Shurrabs mother, Um Mohammed, from her home in the southern town of Khan Younis. Her sons body was never recovered from the Aegean Sea. They live in luxury while our children eat dirt, migrate and die abroad.

Hamas says the leaders who have left plan on returning. Yet the string of exits keeps growing.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh relocated to Qatar, an energy-rich Gulf state, with his wife and several children in 2019. Political leader Fathi Hamad moved to Istanbul a year ago and frequently flies to Beirut, Lebanon's capital, where media reports have shown him in meetings at a five-star hotel.

Deputy leader Khalil al-Hayya also relocated to Turkey last year, according to news reports, including Hamas outlets that highlighted some of his travels. Since then, he has paid only two short visits to Gaza.

Former government spokesman Taher Nounou and leader Ibrahim Salah moved to Doha, the Qatari capital. Senior member Salah al-Bardawil, spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri and dozens of aides also have resettled in Doha, Istanbul, or Beirut, according to Hamas media reports and official statements.

Turkey in particular has long been a favorite destination for Hamas leaders and supporters because of the countrys lenient visa policies toward members of what the United States and Europe consider a terrorist organization.

Several children of Hamas leaders are running lucrative real estate businesses for their parents in Istanbul, according to a Palestinian businessman familiar with their enterprises. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Azmi Keshawi, Gaza analyst at the International Crisis Group, said that the movement of officials abroad has in some cases helped the group coordinate its operations with key patrons outside the territory. But he said Hamas nonetheless has a growing image problem at home.

Ordinary Palestinians see that Hamas has gone from this humble Palestinian leadership who lived and struggled among the people to living in these comfortable zones where they are no longer suffering and seem far from the Palestinian cause and issues, he said. Definitely people talk about this and draw comparisons in anger.

Wary of public backlash, Hamas does not comment on reports about its leaders leaving Gaza. As social media fills with revelations, it casts leaders' stays abroad as temporary foreign tours aimed at drumming up support. Some of these tours last for years.

Public outrage erupted last month at a mass funeral for young Gazans who drowned en route to Europe. Distraught families blamed Hamas for contributing to the collapse and chaos of Gazan life and accused the Islamic militant group of nepotism and corruption.

Mourners shouted the names of leaders including Haniyeh and Yehiyeh Sinwar, Hamas current leader in Gaza, and chanted, "People are the victims!
By Azernews

Fatima Hasanova

On the sidelines of the 13th plenary session of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) in Turkiye's Antalya, parliament speakers from Azerbaijan, Turkiye, and Iran held a trilateral meeting, Azernews reports.

During the meeting, the parties emphasized the importance of discussions at the 13th plenary session, noting the significance of these events in terms of the broader use of the possibilities of parliamentary diplomacy.

The parties discussed a range of topics, including the current state of the region, cooperation in the energy sector, the significance of improving communications, and the crucial role that energy and transportation projects play in the region's overall development.

The sides noted that new opportunities in the region arose as a result of the liberation of Azerbaijani territories from the 30-year Armenian occupation, once again highlighting the significance of signing a peace agreement to maintain stability and security in the region.

Other topics of common interest were also discussed by the officials.

The Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) was established in 2006 during the Seventh Session of the Association of Asian Parliamentary for Peace (AAPP), founded in 1999. As of 2019, the APA has 44 Member Parliaments and 14 observers. Each parliament has a set number of votes in the assembly based on the size of its population. The APA Charter and the Tehran Declaration lay out a vision and framework for Asian cooperation toward Asian integration.
A Lewis and Clark County District Court judge has dismissed Helena lawmaker Mary Caferro from a lawsuit involving Intermountain Childrens Home and one of its former employees, saying the plaintiff failed to make her case and Caferros alleged statements are not defamatory.

First Judicial District Court Judge Mike Menahan said plaintiff Courtney Rogaski did not prove allegations of tortious interference, saying the plaintiff did not identify statements Caferro allegedly made to other parties.

Rogaskis complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, Menahan wrote in his Dec. 2 filing.

While Montana case law regarding claims for slander is limited, the Montana Supreme Court has held allegedly libelous statements must be aimed specifically at the person claiming injury, Menahan also wrote in his 11-page decision.

Rogaski, a psychotherapist, was fired from Intermountain July 12, days after Caferro reported her to law enforcement. The plaintiffs husband and Caferro had a heated telephone discussion July 3 about Caferro's campaign strategy, court documents state.

The complaint and demand for jury trial against Interemountain and Caferro was filed July 14. The plaintiff, who had worked at Intermountain since late 2020, seeks a jury trial and monetary damages to be determined, including attorney fees and court costs.

Aside from the claims against Caferro, the suit alleges that Intermountain terminated Rogaski without good cause and in violation of its own internal procedures. And it is accused of violating the Montana Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act.

Caferro, a Democrat who won her election Nov. 8 and is now serving in the House of Representatives in the Montana Legislature, declined comment, her attorney said, noting the lawsuit is still pending between Rogaski and Intermountain.

Nick LeTang, attorney for Rogaski, said they would appeal and that the lawsuit involving Intermountain would move forward. He said he respected Menahans decision.

Ms. Rogaskis complaint shined a light on Ms. Caferros abuse of her political position by seeking the termination of a constituents spouse over a political disagreement, he wrote in an email. Ms. Caferros actions of directly calling Sheriff Dutton and Intermountain over a political phone call with Ms. Rogaskis spouse speaks for itself.

The name of Rogaskis husband, Adam Mauro, is not included in the suit.

However, according to emails provided earlier to the Independent Record by LeTang, Mauro sent Caferro a Feb. 1 text message stating he was concerned about legislative funding for the Montana Comprehensive School Community Treatment program in which his wife was employed.

Mauro and Caferro had several discussions and texts about the her election campaign, and they had been amicable until the July 3 discussion, court documents state.

The July lawsuit says that on July 3, Mauro told Caferro during a 28-minute phone call he would vote for her opponent based on her legislative record and campaign strategy. Caferro said she no longer had time to talk, it says.

Mauro asked her if she was serious, and Caferro said she was, court documents state.

According to the suit, Mauro replied Were f***ed. Were f***ed," and then hung up the phone.

Caferro then contacted Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton, who then called Mauro. Caferro also called Intermountain, as she is the legal guardian of a client and therefore the communication was privileged," Menahan said.

Rogaski alleged Caferros discussions with Dutton and Intermountain were defamatory, because they were false and calculated to injure Rogaski in her profession, Menahan said in his Dec. 2 decision.

He said Rogaskis complaint did not allege Caferro even mentioned Rogaski during the phone call with Dutton, only that she spoke to the sheriff about Rogaskis husband and the sheriff spoke to Rogaskis husband about Caferros concerns.

The judge also struck down Rogaskis allegations of tortious interference, saying Caferros communication with Rogaskis employer was privileged and therefore not actionable.

Menahan said Rogaski also was not entitled to compensatory or punitive damages. He notes she has filed a Montana Department of Labor and Industry Complaint, and said those allegations are vague.

According the dismissal letter provided to the Independent Record by the plaintiff, Intermountain said its investigation found several instances in which Rogaski's behavior interrupted the agencys operations.

It said the July 3 phone call of actions taken either by her or with her consent was a principal concern, noting that Caferro is the guardian of a child receiving Intermountain services.

These confrontational actions, by telephone call and text message, were ostensibly done based on that guardians position as a member of the Montana legislature, related to matters connected to your employment at Intermountain, the letter says.

An attorney representing Intermountain did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The future of water adjudication, administration and enforcement in Montana is the subject of a bill that saw division Monday among agriculture and other water users weighing in.

Western water law is a complex and contentious issue. Water rights are assigned by priority date, meaning older water rights are senior to newer junior rights and get priority for use in agriculture, mining, municipal water or other uses such as instream flows. Determining who is first in time has been the duty of the Montana Water Court since 1979.

Following ratification of the state constitution in 1972 which recognized existing water rights, the Legislature passed the Montana Water Use Act of 1973. That tasked district courts with issuing final decrees on nearly 220,000 pre-1973 water rights to determine the entirety of priorities in each of Montanas basins. But in 1979, recognizing the enormity of the work, lawmakers created the Water Court, which has slowly been wading through rights in an effort to adjudicate disputes and reach final basin decrees for the state by 2028, at which time the court would expire and dissolve.

Under the present system, the Water Court adjudicates water rights, but district courts remain prevalent in water law. The latter issues decisions on important ditch easements, and has the authority to appoint water commissioners at the request of water users. Commissioners handle the day-to-day allocation and distribution of water under existing rights, although many waters do not have commissioners.

All water rights issued post-1973 come through a filing with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

Senate Majority Leader Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, is carrying Senate Bill 72, which would shift responsibilities from the district court to a permanent Water Court after 2028. The bill does include provisions which would allow district court involvement in some cases. The bill is a product of a working group that met over the past two years, and is supported by Gov. Greg Gianforte.

Its a streamlined process where all these issues are going to one court system, Fitzpatrick told the Senate Natural Resources Committee during a lengthy hearing Monday. The Water Court has the expertise in water law and carries smaller caseloads, allowing for what Fitzpatrick believes will be a faster and more effective process.

Fitzpatrick noted that amendments are already being drafted for the bill as both proponents and opponents raised issues.

Rather than filing actions in both the Water Court and district court, and in some cases more than one district court, several supporters deemed the changes a one-stop-shop for dealing with water law disputes and enforcement.

The bill makes several changes to the process of appointing Water Court judges. The state would include four court divisions under SB 72, and rather than appointment by the chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court as is currently in law. Judges would be appointed by the governor to a six-year term, face confirmation in the Montana Senate, and then face a retention election for subsequent terms.

SB 72 does include a section allowing district court judges to sit as Water Court judges if assigned by the Water Court. Those discretionary assignments would come based on requests from water users.

The committee heard nearly two hours of divided public testimony on the bill.

Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras testified on behalf of the governors office as a supporter of the bill.

This bill represents a truly collaborative thoughtful effort by all stakeholders, to move forward and update our water law system, she said.

The bill saw support from a variety of groups, including the Montana Senior Water Rights Coalition, Montana Trout Unlimited, the Montana Stockgrowers Association, the Montana League of Cities and Towns, the Montana Farm Bureau Federation, the Montana Water Resources Association, NorthWestern Energy and several individual ranchers and farmers.

This bill is not about the personalities of today  this is about a process for tomorrow, said Krista Lee Evans, with the Montana Senior Water Rights Coalition and the Agricultural Irrigators of the Gallatin Valley.

But SB 72 saw significant opposition from a variety of water users, expressing concerns ranging from aspects of the bill to its overall direction for Montanas water law. Several opponents stressed that given the importance of water rights, changes need to be carefully considered and not produce further harm in what has already been a long, expensive and difficult process to work through decrees.

Something of this magnitude needs to be vetted more, said Ross Morgan with the Rocky Mountain Stockgrowers Association. Morgan and several other opponents expressed doubt that the current Water Court will complete its work by 2028, and suggested more time be taken on any changes.

Multiple ranchers and farmers from Teton County also testified in opposition. Collectively they praised both their water commissioner for navigating a difficult drought last summer, and a highly responsive district court on water right issues.

I fear losing that accountability and that system of being able to get things done in a timely manner, said Steve Kelly, a water user near Fort Benton.

Attorney Jon Metropoulos, representing the Alliance for Local Water Management, cautioned that SB 72 could rupture the close relationship developed between water users, district courts and water commissioners.

Several opponents raised issues ranging from the Montana Farmers Union opposition to the political appointment of judges to broader questions over whether elections should be for retention or should be competitive. Some opponents, such as the Montana Petroleum Association, had a more specific issue of who would have standing to bring complaints to the Water Court.

Fitzpatrick defended the bill, saying in part that while less populous counties such as Teton may have a more responsive court, his home county of Cascade sees courts with high caseloads of criminal matters which take precedence over civil which includes water law cases.

The committee did not take immediate action on the bill.

This story has been changed to say the Montana Farmer's Union opposed the bill.
A couple of recent guest view articles in the IR regarding the governor and public access piqued my interest. I have enjoyed outdoor recreation and hunting and fishing in Montana since I was old enough to remember and access to public lands are core to what I support. Having some free time after recently retiring after 33 years in the professional engineering business, I decided to take a little deeper dive into the governors proposed budget as it relates to the tax revenues generated by cannabis and his support of public access.

The governors budget proposal reallocates the 20% cannabis tax revenues presently allocated to FWP for conservation programs to other directly impacted programs. Assertions have been made that this reallocation is in conflict with the initiative that the voters passed and, thus, concludes the governor does not support public access.

When the Montana voters approved ballot initiative I-190 making cannabis legal for recreational use, the ballot language stated, Marijuana taxes will contribute to the general fund and special revenue accounts for conservation, veterans services, substance abuse treatment, healthcare, and local governments. The complete text of the actual initiative, regarding conservation, states conservation programs to offset the use of water and soil in marijuana cultivation. Statements indicating the taxpayer approved initiative promised funding to public access are misleading and simply not true; the voter approved initiative did not dedicate funds to public access.

A core program FWP utilizes to help purchase conservation easements for habitat protection is the Habitat Montana Program. The program came to life in 1987 and at that time specifically focused on protection of critical wildlife habitat. The stated goal of the program today is conserve and restore important habitat for fish and wildlife. Reading Habitat Montanas Report to the 66th Montana Legislature (Jan. 2019), there is an impressive list of wildlife conservation easements and wildlife management area additions to which Habitat Montana contributed funding. The governors proposed budget increases funding of this program over the prior biennium.

Conservation easements and public access are two different things. While public access can be a component of a conservation easement, statute does not require it and many times conservation easements do not include public access amenities. I believe, with very few exceptions, every conservation easement purchased with public funding should require a public access provision of some sort, understanding every situation is different.

The Habitat Montana program from its inception has been funded with revenues generated from hunting licenses. Having purchased hunting licenses for the past 45 years, I can proudly state I have contributed to funding the program. I suggest nonresident fishing licenses should be increased significantly, with additional revenues going specifically to public access related programs.

The governors proposed budget includes $12 million for the Habitat Montana Program, a modest 4% increase over the last budget cycle, and maintains the 4% cannabis tax revenue allocation to each of the following: state parks, trails and recreational facilities, and non-game wildlife. Under the governors administration and support, significant purchases have been made securing both wildlife habitat and public access. The Bad Rock Canyon, Mt. Haggin WMA expansion and Big Snowy Mountain Range purchases secured 7,278 acres open to recreation and hunting. Additionally, the governor supports access to our Montana rivers including proposing the allocation of $4 million from FWP for Yellowstone River access in southeast Montana, as well as FWP mapping of all existing river access locations on every navigable river in Montana. This will allow strategic planning of new public access locations in areas presently void of public access. The governor also supports a draft proposal (LC 0745) which would increase Block Management maximum eligible payment from $25,000 to $50,000. The Block Management Program is indeed Montanas premier program for opening private lands to public hunting access by financially incentivizing private landowners. I appreciate the governors commitment to habitat and public access and a proposed budget that backs up that commitment.
Whether you want inspiration you can bring into your own kitchen or you just love watching mouthwatering footage of the best food from around 
10:55 a.m. update

Illinois State Police say two people were injured Tuesday morning after the vehicle they were in went off the road, went airborne and through a stand of trees.

State Police said in a news release that the crash happened at approximately 6:24 a.m. just north of Assumption along U.S. 51 near its intersection with Christian County road 1400 North.

State Police said the driver of the southbound vehicle and a passenger were taken to an area hospital for treatment.

No additional information was available.

Original report

ASSUMPTION  Illinois State Police responded to a single vehicle accident with multiple injuries Tuesday morning on U.S. 51 in Christian County.

According to Trooper Jayme Bufford, officers arrived at approximately 6:30 a.m. Tuesday just north of Assumption.

Preliminary investigation found multiple injuries were reported.

No further information is available at this time.

This story will be updated.
DECATUR  The next phase in the city of Decatur's ongoing neighborhood revitalization efforts is "scaling up" enforcement of existing municipal codes.

"We want to scale up and be more aggressive in order to use code enforcement in a way that directly moves the needle the way you want, City Manager Scot Wrighton told Decatur City Council members Monday during a study session on neighborhood revitalization.

Council members heard a host of potential code enforcement plans from city staff designed to improve the quality and appearance of the community.

Last year the city commissioned a report from the national nonprofit organization Center for Community Progress, which explored a variety of new code enforcement strategies that could help the council achieve its neighborhood revitalization goals.

City staff ultimately proposed six steps for scaling up code enforcement, in part, inspired by the recommendations of CCP: Amending Chapter 49 as it relates to junk and trash removal, introducing a rental registration ordinance, adopting a vacant property registration system, introducing a chronic nuisance ordinance, seeking legislative changes to the state property tax system and changing selected trash collection rules.

Some Decatur property owners in attendance expressed concern that the new proposals would lead to the city unfairly cracking down on landlords.

"It's a question of being notified and not feeling like I'm going to be punished for someone dropping a mattress in the alleyway, because it happens, said Bruce Washburn, a Decatur landlord.

Deangelo Stoner, also a Decatur property owner, said accountability for issues with properties appearances "can't be solely on landlords.

Cordaryl Patrick, director of economic and community development for the city of Decatur, said the city will work to balance code enforcement between property owners and tenants.

The thing is, we have to change the culture here, Patrick said. But it is my observation again that for so long, I think that folks sort of have this notion that this is Decatur, this is who we are, that this is normal. And its not normal. So, we have to change the mindset. And I think putting a program like this in place will help shift that mindset.

But landlords were also hesitant to embrace the rental registration ordinance, which would require landlords to acquire an annual license and register each of their residential rental properties.

I am not against registering, but I feel like I've already done that with the water department, said Greg Washburn, a landlord in Decatur. We're willing to work with the city. And I think we already did.

Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe, along with other council members, questioned whether the new proposals might exceed the city's organizational capabilities and require additional funding.

Councilman David Horn said he was concerned potential rental registration and inspection programs would require the city to inspect thousands of Decatur families who spend most of their money on rent.

"There are thousands of families in rent distress, Horn said. There are thousands of families who own homes that are having trouble paying their bills, and many of them are in the urban core."

Patrick said some programs might bring some additional costs, but further action and collaboration between the council and city staff would be necessary to have a more accurate view on what those costs may be.

No action has been taken on any of the proposals discussed on Monday. All were only discussion items and would take multiple votes from the council before being introduced and enforced, said Wrighton.

The citys full presentation, along with further information on all six proposals, can be found online at decaturil.gov/mayor-and-council/council-meetings/.

Historic aerial photos from the Herald & Review 1930 1947: Downtown 1960 1966: West Main 1954 1978 1980: Downtown work 1984 1988: Law Enforcement Center 1923
DECATUR  Julia Livingston found cleaning out her desk to be a bittersweet time in her life, but she had the job done by the holidays.

As the former executive director for the Macon County Court Appointed Special Advocates, Livingston has spent the past five years advocating for children.

I felt an affinity like no other nonprofit has hit me, she said. The mission is vital, the work is so important, the impact is great.

CASAs trained volunteer advocates help assist children and families through the foster care system and courts.

Livingston said she met many of her career goals during her time with the nonprofit. The testament of your work life is to feel like youre leaving a place in better place than when you got it, she said. I do feel like that.

According to Gussie Reed, CASAs interim executive director and board member, Livingston brought the agency to the forefront of the community during her tenure. She successfully educated all of us on the impacts that community issues, like violence, drug abuse and other topics, have on the children, Reed said.

While the former executive director was at the helm, more CASA staff and volunteers joined the agency. I think I almost tripled the number of employees, Livingston said.

The number of children they advocated for also grew, in part because DeWitt County joined CASA. Macon and DeWitt county advocated for nearly 400 children throughout 2022.

We have a wonderful team of 193 volunteer advocates and staff visiting, monitoring, and reporting the children's status to the juvenile court system, Reed said.

Livingston said the job provided her with heartfelt work. I dont feel I could have gotten that anywhere else, she said. But its time to move on.

So what was the job that lured her away from a beloved position?

I probably wouldnt have left for just anything, she said.

Livingstons new job as Diversity Equity Inclusion manager for the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism will include other team members to promote among Illinois lawyers and judges a greater sense of integrity, professionalism and civility, Livingston said.

Through her work at Macon County CASA, she has established strong connections in the Illinois legal community and a unique understanding of the challenges of those using and working within our court system, especially the most vulnerable and traditionally excluded," said Martin Sinclair, chair of the Commission on Professionalism. "These skills will be valuable as we advance the Illinois Supreme Courts mission of fostering a commitment to the elimination of bias and divisiveness in the legal and judicial systems.

Training lawyers and judges is part of Livingston's job description, a focus for Diversity Equity Inclusion in recent years, she said.

Although the main office is in Chicago, Livingston and her family will stay in Forsyth. A lot of these positions allow you to be in different places, she said. My family is very rooted here in the Macon County community. So Ill be here.

The work with CASA and other experiences prepared Livingston for the next step in her career. She also taught at Richland Community College, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Florida State University and Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Part of her new job is to develop new curriculums for colleges. DEI work is so important moving forward, she said. In the field of law, this is a great focus.

The commission offers a lawyer-to-lawyer mentoring program as well as a collaboration with Illinois law schools professional programs. Livingston will have a home office in Decatur. Everywhere is a day trip, she said. I can take a day trip down to SIU Law School or up to (University of Illinois-Chicago).

CASA is currently seeking an executive director with a focus on compassion and the CASA mission to provide court appointed volunteers to advocate for the abused, neglected and/or dependent children who are involved in the Macon and DeWitt Counties juvenile court system, as described in the job posting. They should be great at communication, collaboration and caring for the children in the communities we serve.

As the outgoing CASA director, Livingston has words of advice for her successor. In the work of child welfare, it is very heartfelt work, she said. But its always important to do the right thing for the children.

Judgements can be clouded when thinking with the heart, she said. And sometimes it can harden you, Livingston said. Its really important to think about the longevity of the organization while also making the best choices for the children that CASA serves.

However, Livingston admits the heart is where the good work starts. Thats really how you do your work well, she said. Its to do it with your heart. Thats something I never want to fall away from.
Vote now until noon on April 20th to support the businesses that you think are the best in the New Braunfels area.
By Azernews

Sabina Mammadli

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has summed up its activities in 2022 and objectives set in its Communication Strategy, Azernews reports.

Driven by the desire to provide the public with accurate, detailed, and timely information, the ministry has posted over a thousand news articles in Azerbaijani, Russian and English languages on the official website. Additionally, more than 1,200 pieces of information were shared on the ministry's official Facebook account, up to 2,300 on Telegram, more than 1,250 on Instagram, and up to 1,900 tweets on Twitter. The ministry also posted up to 5,000 photos and more than 360 videos related to military-patriotic and other events.

During the year, the ministry has responded to over 100 inquiries from mass media in three languages, considered over 250 appeals received from the mass media, and provided the necessary assistance to organize the filming.

The ministry organized 103 events for media representatives with the use of the ministrys material and technical capabilities, as well as the material and educational bases of the relevant structures.

Besides, 43 media tours to various types of troops of the Azerbaijan Army, departments and services of the ministry, special educational institutions, especially to military units and combat positions, stationed in the liberated territories, were organized in order to inform the public and improve the work with the media. As part of the media tours, journalists met with servicemen, interviewed them, and got acquainted with the organization of service and combat activities of military personnel, as well as their social and living conditions and logistics support.

Additionally, six briefings with the participation of media representatives were held to inform the public about the provocations committed by the Armenian armed forces and members of an illegal Armenian armed detachment in the Azerbaijani territory, where the Russian peacekeepers are temporarily deployed, as well as about the measures taken against them by the Azerbaijan Army.

The ministry received up to 35,500 appeals to the appeals section on its official website and to the e-mail address in accordance with the Azerbaijani law "On Citizens' Appeals" and the Azerbaijani presidential decree No. 950 dated June 23, 2016. Further, the appeals were forwarded to the relevant authorities.

During the mentioned period, in order to study the advanced practices in the field of communications, relevant working meetings with media research agencies were conducted, and up to 30 servicemen participated in international events held in foreign countries.
Tri-Cities residents will have numerous opportunities to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day starting this week. With events running through next week and beyond.

Here is a list of happenings across the region.

Bristol

Dr. William Turner, a sociologist and researcher of African-American communities in Appalachia, will speak twice in Bristol, Friday, Jan 13. Turner, who is the author of Blacks in Appalachia and The Harlan Renaissance will speak at the King University Memorial Chapel at 9:15 a.m. and at Lee Street Baptist Church at 7 p.m. Turner will also speak Thursday, Jan. 12 at the St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Abingdon, Virginia, at 5:30 p.m.

Lee Street Baptist Church will hold its Annual MLK Service on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 4 p.m.

The Birthplace of Country Music Museum is hosting free events open to the public beginning with a discussion and book signing by Kristina Gaddy, author of Wells of Souls: Uncovering the Banjos Hidden History on Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. The museum will also host screenings of the following films:

Seizing Justice: The Greensboro 4 (Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.)

Black Wings (Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.)

The Green Book Guide to Freedom (Thursday, Jan. 19 at 6:30 p.m.)

Black in Space: Breaking the Color Barrier (Saturday, Jan. 21 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.)

Johnson City

The St. Paul AME Zion Church will host a worship service Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 7 p.m.

An MLK Prayer Breakfast will be held Saturday, Jan. 14 at 8:30 a.m. at the Wesley United Methodist Church.

On Monday, Jan. 16, there will be literary and performing arts, a blood drive and community dinner at the Carver Park Recreational Center.

On Wednesday, Jan. 18, there will be a Kings Beloved Community event at East Tennessee State Universitys Culp Student Center. A student art exhibit will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday, Jan. 16 to Friday, Jan. 20 at the McKinney Center. A reception is set for Friday, Jan. 20 from 6 to 8 p.m.

The Seekers Book Club will host a reading of Clint Smiths How the World is Passed on Thursday, Jan. 19, at 6:30 p.m. at The Langston Center. A movie night and discussion of the film Tower Road Bus will be held Thursday, Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m., also at The Langston Center.

A Community Building Roundtable will be held at the Jubilee World Outreach Church Saturday, Jan. 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Kingsport

A panel of community leaders will discuss the historical role of the barber shop Thursday, Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. at the Kingsport Center for Higher Education.

The MLK Youth Summit will be held at Northeast States Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing Friday, Jan. 20 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Registration closes Thursday, Jan. 12.

The following events will be held at the VO Dobbins, Sr. Complex: MLK Youth Bingo Friday, Jan. 13 at 5 p.m.; MLK Senior Bingo Saturday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m.; MLK Luncheon Monday, Jan. 16 at 1 p.m.; an MLK fish fry Saturday, Jan. 28 at 5 p.m.

The 23rd Annual MLK Parade will be held Monday, Jan. 16, beginning at 11:15 a.m. at Center and E. Sevier St.

Other Happenings

An MLK March will be held Saturday, Jan. 14 at 1 p.m. beginning at the Charles Wesley United Methodist Church with a program to be held after at Abingdon United Methodist.

Emory & Henry College is hosting a Be the Face of Change MLK Day convocation beginning at 9 a.m. at the McGlothlin Center for Arts Monday, Jan. 16.
Officials in Washington County, Virginia, are still grappling with damage to the County Administration Building in Abingdon.

A pipe in the sprinkler system in an upstairs ceiling burst on Christmas Eve when temperatures hovered at or below zero in Abingdon, Alicia Roland, the executive assistant to the county administrator, said.

The building reopened a week ago, but much of the staff has been displaced and the front entrance to the building has been closed.

Anyone who wants to attend Tuesdays meeting of the Board of Supervisors is advised to use the back entrance of the building, County Administrator Jason Berry said.

Roland said there was no water damage in the county board meeting room.

An alarm on the building alerted officials at the Abingdon Fire Department to respond to the situation just after 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Fire Chief Tim Estes said.

It was a mess, Estes said. There was water flowing from the second floor, where the water pipe burst.

Water sprayed against the sheetrock on the walls, tearing it apart, Estes recalled.

Water flowed down the stairs and ripped into the walls of the office of the commissioner of revenue, Estes said. In all, water flowed through the building for about 25 minutes.

An insurance inspector estimated the damage to be as much as $1.2 million, Berry said.

Water caused a lot of damage, Estes said. It was just the sheer volume of water that went through that pipe.

Berry inspected the building over the Christmas holiday and recalled new laptops in boxes floating in the water inside one office.

Thats never been a good idea for computers to float, right? Berry said, chuckling. They were in cardboard boxes, but the computers were floating.

In Rolands office, Berry also noticed a power strip  still on  floating in water that was about an inch deep.

The damage meant the countys coordinator of emergency management, Theresa Kingsley-Varble, had to abandon her office in the building and relocate to the Washington County Sheriffs Office.

They said that there was roughly two inches of water standing in my office, she said. There was a steady flow of water downstairs.

The flood impacted about 45 employees, Berry said.

Restoring the building will require replacing drywall, insulation and carpets, Berry said.

The walls in some parts of the building have been torn down to the metal studs, Roland added.

Berry is now hoping to have the building restored by mid-February.

In the meantime, the DMV Select office will remain open, according to Roland, but the Washington County Chamber of Commerce office has temporarily relocated to the nearby Virginia Highlands Small Business Incubator.
Police say the 6-year-old student who shot his teacher Friday at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News used a 9 mm firearm that belonged to the childs mother.

Officers said Abby Zwerner was teaching a lesson when the student pointed the firearm at her and fired one round. Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said Zwerner took a defensive position, bringing a hand up to protect herself. The bullet entered her hand, went out the other side, then entered her upper chest.

Zwerner is in stable condition at Riverside Regional Medical Center. Drew said she asked about her students both times he went to see her.

Drew said that after she was shot, Zwerner was able to get all her students out of the classroom. They are seen running out of the class on security footage, and she is the last one to run out of the room.

I believe that Ms. Zwerner, Abigail, she saved lives on Friday, Drew said.

Between 16 and 20 students were believed to be in the classroom at the time, Drew said. The firearm used was legally purchased by the childs mother in York County, he said. Police are still working to determine how the firearm was secured in the home and how the child got ahold of it.

The child was evaluated at a mental health facility and is currently being treated.

The school is closed until Friday. A virtual town hall is planned at 6:30 p.m. Thursday for families to engage and share with division leaders as they plan for a return to school.

Police have declined to describe what led to the altercation or any other details about what happened in the classroom, citing the ongoing investigation.

Virginia law does not allow 6-year-olds to be tried as adults. In addition, a 6-year-old is too young to be committed to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice if found guilty. Authorities have not specified where the boy was being held.

On Monday morning, several parents, grandparents and community members gathered with a local pastor in an open patch of grass outside the school.

Among them was parent Eric Billet, who said each of his three children in the Newport News school system, two of whom go to Richneck, has reacted differently to the shooting.

Billets son who is in middle school has raised concerns about school security, telling his dad that he felt safer at theme parks, which the boy argued had better security than his school. His second-grade son is doing better, Billet said, fist-bumping a police officer on his way out of school Friday.

His daughter, a fourth-grader, has had nightmares every night, Billet said.

But at the same time, he said, she was also disappointed she couldnt go to school this week.
NEWTON  Navigating Jim Crow: The Green Book and Oasis Spaces in North Carolina traveling exhibit has come to Catawba County Library.

The N.C. African American Heritage Commission (AAHC), a division of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, has created a traveling exhibit featuring sites important to, and personal memories about, African American travel during the Jim Crow era of legal segregation. The Catawba County Library is honored to be one of the chosen sites for presenting this special exhibit.

The exhibit will be on display at the Main Library in Newton, 115 West C St., now 9 through Feb. 28. The exhibit is available to the public for free and can be enjoyed during normal business hours of Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Negro Motorist Green Book, published between 1936 and 1966, was both a travel guide and a tool of resistance designed to confront the realities of racial discrimination in the United States and beyond. The book listed over 300 North Carolina businesses  from restaurants and hotels to tourist homes, nightclubs, and beauty salons  in the three decades that it was published. This exhibit highlights a complex statewide network of business owners and Green Book sites that allowed African American communities to thrive, and that created oasis spaces for a variety of African American travelers.

Eight vibrant panels form the traveling display, showcasing images of business owners, travelers, and historic and present-day images of North Carolina Green Book sites. The words of African American travelers and descendants of Green Book site owners are featured prominently in the exhibit.

Along with exploring this pop-up panel display, the library will offer programs the community can attend to learn more about the Green Book, including a virtual reality experience.

On Tuesday, Jan. 24 from 5:30-7:30 p.m., the Main Library in Newton will offer a Green Book VR Experience to view short virtual reality videos focusing on travel using the Green Book. For more information, and to sign up for your time slot, call 828-465-8665.

This exhibit was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MH-00-17-0027-17.

For details about Catawba County Librarys services and resources, visit www.catawbacountync.gov/library, call 828-465-8665, email mylibrary@catawbacountync.gov, or visit them at www.facebook.com/catcolibrary.
From owners and employees to veterinarians and lenders, many people contribute to the success of a dairy farm. Likewise, building demand for and selling dairy products requires a broad team of marketers, demonstrators, and connection creators.

When the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) held a trade mission in Chile last fall, the farmer delegation witnessed the many building blocks of developing international dairy demand when they visited what USDA calls the second most important food service trade show in Latin America. Here, they saw the presence USDA, its Foreign Agriculture Service, and USDEC have to help connect U.S. dairy companies with people around the world who want to buy their products.



The Espacio Food and Service Show featured dozens of booths of food suppliers, processors, and technology companies from throughout the country and the world. Large stages held cooking demonstrations and classes on healthy food and sustainable agriculture. Lets be the worlds example of tasty, healthy, and sustainable, a Chilean Agriculture Ministry official said as the event was officially opened.

U.S. products, from popcorn to seafood, had a significant presence in the Sabor USA pavilion, USDAs program highlighting Flavors of the U.S. An anchor of this special section was the USDEC booth, which provided room for cheese sampling as well as space for U.S. dairy companies to meet with current and potential customers. For the first live trade show since 2019, the in-person meetings were a welcome change. After all, it is people that buy dairy products from people.

In addition to the food service companies that attended to source product, many chefs, culinary students, and food enthusiasts toured the trade show. Throughout the event, they enjoyed cooking demonstrations that showed how the unique products they were learning about could be used in the kitchen.

U.S. cheese was featured in a demonstration on the main stage by chef Sebastian Salas. Parmesan, cream cheese, Gorgonzola, and Mascarpone were all utilized in the dishes he made for the audience to sample. A certified USA Cheese Specialist, Chef Salas discussed the production and qualities of each cheese as he used it. Many cheeses from the U.S. have international recognition as the best in their classes, he pointed out to the audience.

The six U.S. dairy farmers also joined Chef Salas onstage to talk about their farms and how cows are cared for on American dairies. Nice cheeses are made with nice milk, Salas said, emphasizing how important it is to tell the story of the people behind that quality milk.

Dairy farmers do not have to promote their work alone, though. Advocates for U.S. dairy exist all along the supply chain. When each uses their avenues to promote the quality products our dairy cows produce, the entire industry is stronger.

To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com.

(c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2023

January 5, 2023
The author is a veterinarian with masters degrees in business management and clinical counseling. He works with farm families on management, asset transfer, communication, and conflict resolution.

We all know that dairy farming is a challenging business under the best of circumstances. Hoyt Hill Farmstead has experienced additional stress over the past two years as Scott and Amber Hoyt have dealt with the consequences of work done on their organic Vermont dairy farm on behalf of a telecommunications company. Stainless steel wire was used to attach a fiber optic cable to existing lines, and pieces of this wire fell into growing hayfields and pastures.

Because stainless steel is not magnetic, harvesting equipment did not register its presence, and significant amounts were chopped into the forages. The forages were not fed immediately, so no one on the farm noticed the contaminants.

However, when this feed was introduced into the ration, the short pieces of wire became evident. A cow died, and a necropsy by the farms veterinarian revealed the cause to be hardware disease. Over several months, two more cows succumbed, and others had to be sold.

The contaminated feed had to be discarded and other forage purchased. The pastures and cropland are still contaminated and will be for some time. Besides devastating financial losses, the Hoyts have suffered the heartache of seeing good cows die or be culled for salvage.



After contacting the telecommunications company, Hoyt Hill Farm was told that the work was done by a subcontractor for another subcontractor. The subcontractor who did the work is now bankrupt and out of business. Some compensation has been received, but it represents only a small fraction of the losses. A lawsuit is now pending, though it promises to be a long, drawn-out affair. Local news coverage favorable to the farm has gotten no results.

Protect yourself

Could a similar thing happen on your farm? How well do you know the companies that do work on your property, and what recourse will you have if their work is substandard, or if they harm your crops or animals?

I spoke with an attorney familiar with dairy farms and received the following suggestions. They could apply to many situations where construction is occurring on your farm.

1. Have a written contract that includes wording that you will be compensated for any harm done to your property, animals, or equipment. 2. Make sure the contract also covers the companys contractors, subcontractors, agents, and employees. 3. Ask for and review proof of insurance coverage that includes all contractors, subcontractors, agents, and employees. 4. Have your attorney review the contract before you sign it.

I also recommend getting references from other farms or companies where this business has done work.



While all of these ideas make sense, the Hoyts were dealing with a public utility that did not need permission to come into the fields. There were no contracts. Perhaps the best advice if a public utility is involved is to contact an attorney as soon as possible to learn your rights. Be sure to watch what they are doing, and do your best to protect yourself anytime others will be working on your farm.
CONCORD  The Cabarrus County Convention & Visitors Bureau welcomes Kristina Parese as social media manager. In this role, Parese supports the CVBs marketing department by managing the Bureaus social media channels and driving digital marketing programs.

Were thrilled to welcome Kristina to our marketing team as we continue to expand and enrich the ways that we connect with our online community and build awareness of this destination and its hospitality partners, said Cabarrus County CVB President and CEO Donna Carpenter.

Parese joins Explore Cabarrus with marketing experience in content creation, graphic design, social media management and more. She most recently served as marketing manager for Bevana and co-founded Mountains 2 Coast Marketing, where she developed and executed marketing strategies, planned client events and managed on-site event activations. Her experience also includes marketing roles with companies such as agency RingoFire, MyWorkChoice, Salsaritas and Edison Nation as well as internships with the High Country Grizzlies, AXA and Clarke Allen Events.

A native of North Carolina, Parese graduated from Appalachian State University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in communication.

To connect with the Cabarrus County CVB on social media, follow @ExploreCabarrus and use #ExploreCabarrus.
include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> During the course of an FBI written response to a Freedom of Information Act request asking about the trade names and suppliers of surveillance software the FBI had purchased, and in a legal brief submitted to a federal judge, the government has yet again quietly acknowledged its antipathy to constitutional provisions that all of its employees have sworn to uphold.

Since we are dealing with software used to spy on Americans in the U.S. and abroad, the constitutional right being transgressed is the right to privacy.

This is the ancient natural right to be left alone, which the Supreme Court took 175 years to recognize as being protected by the Fourth Amendment. Since that recognition in 1965, however, notwithstanding near universal judicial acceptance of the constitutional protection of the right, the executive branch of the government has persistently negated it.

Here is the backstory.

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The Fourth Amendment, which requires judicially issued search warrants for all searches and seizures, protects the contents of devices that store data. Thus, the owners of mobile devices and desktop computers have a privacy right in the data they have stored there. Even a narrow interpretation of the amendment, which guarantees privacy in "persons, houses, papers, and effects," must acknowledge that a computer chip is an "effect" and thus its owner enjoys this protection.

It is an allegiance to the plain language, general understanding and definitive judicial interpretations of the Fourth Amendment to which all in government have sworn.

During the Trump administration, and likely behind the president's back but with the knowledge of senior folks appointed by him, the FBI purchased Israeli-manufactured software known as zero-click. Zero-click refers to the ability of the user of the software to target and download the contents of a computer without the need for tricking an unwary target into clicking on to a link. The manufacturer of this diabolic software is known as NSO, and the trade name of the software is Pegasus.

When President Joe Biden learned of the FBI's use of Pegasus without search warrants, he banned it from government use, and his Department of Commerce banned all American purchases from NSO. The FBI now stores this software in a warehouse in New Jersey.

Why didn't Biden just do his job and prohibit all warrantless domestic spying?
MATTOON  The Mattoon school board is scheduled Tuesday, Jan. 10 to discuss and possibly take action on a proposal to modify the districts current health and sex education curriculum.

Superintendent Tim Condron said the proposal, presented at the Dec. 13 meeting, resulted from the board forming a Health & Sex Education Advisory Team to review the districts curriculum in light of new state and federal standards. He said the team and the districts Curriculum Coordinating Committee subsequently recommended keeping the current curriculum, with some minor changes.

They will now have the opportunity to discuss this as a board and ask questions for further clarity, Condron said, adding that the board will then provide direction to the district on the curriculum. The proposal can be viewed at the districts website, mattoon.k12.il.us/.

Proposed modifications include that education about sexually transmitted diseases happen before the end of seventh grade and that trained professionals be contracted to provide consistent sex ed-related instruction at the high school instead of district employees.

The advisory team has recommended that puberty education begin in third grade, with instruction by a trained professional, due to an increasing number of girls experiencing this body change then.

Board members heard on Dec. 13 from several parents and community members, including those with concerns that the modifications might eventually lead to wholesale curriculum change and that the modifications might not be necessary.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Keeping Youth Safe and Healthy Act into law in August 2021, making Illinois the first state to formally pass legislation codifying new national standards developed by the SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change nonprofit based in New York City.

Opponents have raised concerns with various aspects of those standards, including provisions for education about gender nonconformity to start in fifth grade. Proponents have said the standards account for modern gender identity issues and offer education aimed at keeping children safe from abuse.

All seven Mattoon board members signed a letter on Friday opposing a recently proposed Illinois House bill amendment that would remove local control from school districts regarding the new standards. They sent this letter to the bills sponsor, state Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago.

We want to maintain local control of the curriculum, Condron said, adding that local control is also vital for districts to be able to make their own decisions on issues such as masking. That is something that is a strong underpinning of local districts.

ABC affiliate WICS in Springfield has reported Villivalam as saying of the new standards that, We are putting our youth at risk. With the rise of child sex abuse scandals, and sexual assault in schools, this is vitally important to get done now, for our youth.

The Mattoon school board will meet at 7 p.m. in the unit office, 1701 Charleston Ave. Those wishing to attend remotely can watch the live stream on the districts website or YouTube page.

Comprehensive sex education matters. Here's what the data shows Comprehensive sex education matters. Here's what the data shows States without mandated HIV/STI education have higher rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea States that stress abstinence in sex education have higher teen birth rates States not requiring medically accurate sex and HIV/STI education are more likely to have some form of abortion ban Sex and HIV/STI education in many states perpetuates derogatory attitudes toward the LGBTQ+ community Interested in exploring the state-level data yourself?
By Trend

The first flight of the Turkish national fighter aircraft will take place at the end of 2023, the General Director of the Turkish Aerospace Inc. (TUSAS) Temel Kotil told reporters, Trend reports via the Turkish media.

"The work is proceeding at a rapid pace, so the first flight, which was previously planned for 2025, will take place at the end of 2023," he said.
In his second inaugural address, Gov. J.B. Pritzker vowed that Democratic lawmakers will send to his desk comprehensive legislation to ban military-style firearms and to require such guns already in circulation to be registered.

The governor and legislators reached a deal on a measure that was passed by the Senate later Monday, with a final vote in the House expected Tuesday.

Lawmakers appeared on the brink of fulfilling Pritzkers vow for a ban on military-style guns, limits on ammunition magazine capacity, and provisions for current owners of those firearms to provide serial numbers to register them.

Pritzker, Senate President Don Harmon of Oak Park and House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch of Hillside reached an agreement on the plan that was approved by the Senate on Monday evening on a 34-20 vote, with no Republicans in support.

A final House vote to approve the measure is expected Tuesday, with Pritzker, Harmon and Welch saying they had reached a deal on one of the strongest assault weapons bans in the country.

In his inauguration speech, Pritzker had said he was tired of living in a world where a mass shooting needs a title so you know which one were referring to.

Now, Im a firm believer that government functions best when we look for compromise, Pritzker said. But Im done with the NRA having its way when it comes to mass shootings. Why do we allow anyone to easily purchase a rapid-fire, high-capacity weapon that can kill dozens of unarmed people in under a minute?

Photos: Pritzker sworn in for second term Jesse White.JPG JB Piitzker 13 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 12 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 11 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 10 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 9 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 7 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 5 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 3 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 2 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 1 010923.JPG Juliana Stratton 1 010923.JPG Stratton 2 010923.JPG Alex Giannoulias 1 010923.JPG Alex Giannoulias 2 010923.JPG Michael Frerichs 010923.JPG 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball Tiffany Mathis 1 011023.JPG dance gov 7 010923.JPG dance gov 13 010923.JPG dance gov 12 010923.JPG dance gov 11 010923.JPG dance gov 10 010923.JPG dance gov 9 010923.JPG dance gov 8 010923.JPG
SPRINGFIELD  Two months after an affirming reelection victory, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was sworn in for his second term Monday afternoon, offering a reflection on governing through unprecedented times the past four years while promising an ambitious and bold agenda in the next four.

Pritzker in broad strokes outlined a second-term vision that includes universal preschool, tuition-free college for working class people and support for an amendment to the state constitution that would protect abortion rights.

So today, as Illinois continues its progress overcoming our historical fiscal challenges and a deadly global pandemic, I come to you with an agenda as ambitious and bold as our people are, thinking not only about the next four years, but about the next 40, Pritzker said.

Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton were inaugurated along with Treasurer Mike Frerichs, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, Comptroller Susana Mendoza and Attorney General Kwame Raoul, all Democrats. Members of the Illinois General Assembly will be sworn in for their new terms in two separate ceremonies on Wednesday.

But Monday was Pritzkers day.

The billionaire incumbent, joined by his wife MK and their two children, was sworn in by Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis just after 12 p.m. on a stage adorned with blue and yellow lights  the color scheme of his campaign  at the Bank of Springfield Center in Illinois capital city.

Pritzker, who oversaw a remarkably active period of legislating in his first term that included a minimum wage increase, recreational marijuana legalization and landmark clean energy legislation, offered a glimpse at his second term policy goals in his 30-minute address.

Though he only spoke briefly on the topic, Pritzker called for Illinois to enact "a constitutional protection for reproductive rights" in the state.

Pritzker and Democrats in the legislature have been aggressive in protecting and expanding Illinois' status as a haven for abortion rights in in the Midwest.

Much like the amendment approved by Illinois voters in 2022 enshrining the right to unionize and collectively bargain, a constitutional amendment for abortion would likely not change existing policy, but would prevent future governors and legislators from enacting restrictions.

It would take a supermajority in the legislature to place on the 2024 ballot. It would then need either 60% of those who voted on the question or 50% of all ballots cast to be approved.

Illinois Right to Life, an anti-abortion group, denounced Pritzker's call in a statement issued Monday afternoon.

"His pro-abortion legacy is, in practice, harming women and depriving unborn children of an opportunity at life," said Mary Kate Zander, the group's executive director. "This may be politically expedient for Governor Pritzker today, but it wont age well.

Lawmakers are currently considering an omnibus reproductive health bill that would, among other provisions, allow advanced practice clinicians such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants to perform in-clinic abortions and prevent doctors from losing their licenses to practice in Illinois if it is revoked in another state for performing healthcare services that are legal in Illinois.

More broadly, Pritzker then focused on education.

Saying its time for Illinois to lead, Pritzker proposed that the state go all in for our children and make preschool available to every family throughout the state. He also called for the elimination of child care deserts and expanding options throughout the state. He did not offer specifics.

The governor also called for making college tuition-free for every working-class family, the need to keep making healthcare more affordable and his desire to work towards more permanent tax relief.

In perhaps an implicit defense of signing a capital construction program into law that doubled the states gas tax in 2019, Pritzker said that improving our roads has saved hundreds of dollars a year for drivers.

While not getting into the granular detail on these long-term ambitions, Pritzker was far more specific about an immediate priority: making Illinois the ninth state to enact an assault weapons ban.

Im a firm believer that government functions best when we look for compromise, Pritzker said. "But Im done with the NRA having its way when it comes to mass shootings.

With the governor present in the chamber, a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines passed the House late last week. But it has temporarily stalled amid a dispute between House and Senate Democrats.

A Senate proposal that dropped Sunday afternoon was dismissed by Pritzker as legislation that falls short of meeting the moment because it did not include language that would require gun owners who have weapons that are grandfathered in to register their serial numbers with the Illinois State Police.

A second Senate proposal that emerged Monday appeared to include the serial number language after pressure from Pritzker, House Speaker Chris Welch, D-Hillside, and gun safety advocates. It passed 34-20, with the governor and Democratic legislative leaders heralding it as "one of the strongest assault weapons bans in the country." It will likely be considered in the House on Tuesday.

Pritzker at times channeled history, comparing the world weariness that Illinois Gov. Dwight Green, a Republican, must have felt while giving his second inaugural address in January 1945  the waning days of WWII  to the feeling of loss he has experienced leading through the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 18,601 Illinoisans were killed in WWII while 35,814 have died from COVID-19.

As governor, its your job to plan for the future, even as you continue to grapple with the past, Pritzker said. Thats a lesson tucked into Gov. Greens second inaugural speech, which, while filled with somber remembrance, also set a second-term agenda for post-war Illinois even before the war ended.

Unlike his fiery victory speech on election night, Pritzker did not mention former President Donald Trump's name once during his inaugural address, but said there has been "a rise in intolerance and fascism throughout the United States."

Pritzker closed by addressing "a rising tide of hate" in the country.

"Ive realized that for my entire lifetime, progress has been made against bigotry and intolerance," Pritzker said. "But not anymore. None of us should ignore that our nation has slid noticeably backward, and dangerously so."

Pritzker said that "old evils must be faced head on yet again by a new generation."

Also sworn in Wednesday was Giannoulias, the former state treasurer who succeeds former Secretary of State Jesse White, who retired after holding the office for 24 years.

Frerichs enters his third term as state treasurer; Mendoza, who won a special election in 2016, begins her second full term; and Raoul begins his second term.

NOTEBOOK Apart from the larger goals and accomplishments, here are some other moments from Gov. J.B. Pritzker's second inaugural address. DUAL MEANINGS: The governor opened his inauguration speech with a lighthearted nod to his critics. He said he felt "concerned" by the "Fire Pritzker" yard signs he saw while campaigning, until his kids said that young people use the phrase "thats fire" to describe things they think are cool. "So I want to take this moment to thank everyone who put up those very encouraging signs," he said. DUBIOUS ROLE MODELS: Pritzker said he had taken to learning from the words and actions of past governors, though "lets be honest, in Illinois, choosing which ones to learn from can be a challenge." TAYLORVILLE: Speaking of the resilience of Illinoisans, Pritzker referred to the tornado that struck Taylorville on Dec. 1, 2018. The families of Taylorville didnt give up when a tornado wiped out 100 homes and 22 people were injured, he said. They helped each other out and the community came together to rebuild. ILLINOIS VS. HATE: "Hate needs two things to thrive: the sense of helplessness that fertilizes hopelessness and the willingness of powerful people to cower in front of a lie," Pritzker said in the closing moments of his speech. "Illinois, we have power and we have hope  and a genuine goodness that is rooted in being the place in this country to which all people can come and live free."

Photos: Pritzker sworn in for second term Jesse White.JPG JB Piitzker 13 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 12 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 11 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 10 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 9 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 7 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 5 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 3 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 2 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 1 010923.JPG Juliana Stratton 1 010923.JPG Stratton 2 010923.JPG Alex Giannoulias 1 010923.JPG Alex Giannoulias 2 010923.JPG Michael Frerichs 010923.JPG 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball Tiffany Mathis 1 011023.JPG dance gov 7 010923.JPG dance gov 13 010923.JPG dance gov 12 010923.JPG dance gov 11 010923.JPG dance gov 10 010923.JPG dance gov 9 010923.JPG dance gov 8 010923.JPG
North Carolina has set annual records for the second consecutive year on the number of jobs pledged in economic-development projects, as well as the value of those capital investment commitments.

The state Commerce Department said Monday there were 28,690 new jobs connected to 182 business recruitment, expansion or rural development projects.

Those projects represent a combined $19.3 billion of capital investment.

Those totals shattered the previous records set in 2021 were 24,224 jobs and $10.1 billion in planned capital investments.

The Commerce report focused on projects that it assisted with, or the Economic Development Partnership of N.C.

North Carolina continues to be the best place for people to live, learn, work and raise a family, and these economic development results show companies recognize our appeal as a business location, Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement.

Were building a stronger economy that works for everyone and I am excited about North Carolinas future.

As has been cited in several recent national business climate stories, projects involving the Triad and the Carolina Core (which stretches from Mount Airy to Fayetteville) topped the Commerce list.

Those included, listed by job-creation pledges:

VinFasts selection of a megasite near Sanford for a $4 billion North American manufacturing and assembly factory for electric vehicles, creating 7,500 jobs;

Macys decision to build its first automated fulfillment center in China Grove, creating 2,800 jobs;

Wolfspeeds choice of Siler City for a major manufacturing campus for silicon carbide materials for computer chips, creating 1,801 jobs; and

Boom Supersonics selection of Piedmont Triad International Airport for its $500 million, 400,000-square-foot production plant, creating 1,761 jobs.

This economic development success comes in no small part from the hard work of many local, regional and state leaders, Chris Chung and his team at the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, and economic developers across the state, Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders said.

This success also reaffirms my vision and principles in the states First in Talent Plan  that our businesses, communities and workforce are more competitive, resilient and successful within a more diverse, equitable and inclusive environment and business culture.

A majority of the years economic development projects located or expanded in the states more rural or economically distressed areas, with 66% choosing either a Tier 1 or Tier 2 county as delineated by North Carolinas economic development tier system.

State law requires Commerce officials to annually rank the economic health of all 100 N.C. counties.

The 20 most prosperous counties are categorized as Tier 3, the next 40 counties as Tier 2, and the 40 most distressed counties as Tier 1.

All 14 Triad and Northwest N.C. counties, including Forsyth and Guilford, are either Tier 1 or Tier 2 counties.

Meanwhile, a total of 3,872 new jobs were supported by $22.6 million in rural grant monies awarded by the states Rural Infrastructure Authority. Those grants attracted more than $1 billion in private-sector investment capital.

Overall, Commerces Rural Economic Development Division awarded grants to rural communities totaling $104.6 million in 2022 to support infrastructure development, transformative economic development projects, and community (workforce) housing projects.

Chung told a group of economic officials Friday the state is competing currently for 18 large projects, which would require a commitment of creating at least 1,000 jobs and at least $1 billion in capital investment.

On Thursday, Chung said the state has 235 active projects, with a total of $111.8 billion in capital investment, and 100,112 total possible jobs in our pipeline.
Q: I saw an ad on social media for ordering COVID tests, but they want your name, address, date of birth and Medicare number to process the order. Is this information I should give?  J.W.

Answer: The ad is from yourmedicaltests.com, which says it will send you eight COVID tests each month.

The ad says the company will bill Medicare for the tests. According to the companys website, Medicare numbers are needed to bill the orders.

Lechelle Yates, a spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau of Central and Northwest North Carolina, said that while the offer from yourmedicaltests.com seems legit, there are some possible red flags.

I would be concerned about people giving their Medicare number to a company that gives little information about itself. Theres no contact information except a 1-800 number, she said.

According to its domain registration information, the owner of the domain is hidden, and the site was just created in October 2022, she added. Consumers can easily get these test kits for free at many well-known pharmacies.

And finally, both Yates and Medicare.gov say people should be careful with handing over their Medicare numbers.

Consumers should never give their Medicare number to someone they dont know, Yates said. Scammers can use that number to get medical care in their name or bill Medicare for services the consumer never received, she said.

The federal government does offer free COVID-19 tests at www.covid.gov/tests. You dont have to give them any information other than your name, and address. If you want to track the shipment, you can include your email address.

Q: Ive noticed that there is an RV in someones yard, and it looks like someone is living in it. This is in the county, not in any town or city. Is this legal?  S.B.

Answer: The short answer is no.

RVs cannot be occupied unless in a campground or RV park, said Amy Lanier, a senior zoning inspector with Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services.

If you want to report the people living in the RV, call CityLink at 311 or use the link on the citys website, cityofws.org. CityLink will forward the complaint to the appropriate officials.

Support group for grandparents

Senior Services, Inc. is starting a support group for people who are age 55 and older and are raising grandchildren or other minor relatives.

Meetings will be held on the third Wednesday of each month.

Experts will attend meetings to answer questions and provide information on such resources as legal aid, custody options, financial resources, Social Security, and opportunities for recreation and respite care. Specialists will be invited to provide information about behavioral health and medical care.

The first meeting will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 18 at Senior Services, 2895 Shorefair Drive, Winston-Salem, NC 27105.

Registration is required and the deadline to register is Friday.

For more information or to register, call Frandee Nichols at 336-721-6952 or email fnichols@seniorservicesinc.org.
A Forsyth County judge ruled Monday that a Winston-Salem man facing a first-degree murder charge needs to have legal representation, overruling a previous judges ruling that the man had forfeited his right to court-appointed counsel.

The man, Harry Lee Hunter Jr., had alleged that several previous attorneys were ineffective, leading them to withdraw from the case.

Hunter, 33, is charged with first-degree murder, discharging a firearm in occupied property and possession of a firearm by a felon. He was scheduled to go on trial a third time Monday on all of those charges.

Forsyth County prosecutors allege that Hunter fatally shot Joshua Bernard Brown, 27, just after 8 a.m. on April 30, 2016. If Hunter is convicted of first-degree murder, he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Judge Todd Burke of Forsyth Superior Court said a murder charge is a serious offense, and trying a murder defendant who doesnt have legal representation opens up all kinds of appellate issues.

I believe hes entitled to an attorney, Burke said.

In July 2022, Hunter went on trial the first time. At the time, he was represented by criminal defense attorney Dan Anthony, but the trial didnt get beyond jury selection. Judge Stanley L. Allen, who presided over the trial, declared a mistrial after Hunter kept interrupting court proceedings and alleged that Anthony was ineffective in his legal representation. Allen made the decision after Anthony asked for the mistrial and requested that he be allowed to withdraw from the case.

Allen initially denied the motion to withdraw but then reconsidered his decision, allowing both requests. Two days later, Allen issued an order saying that Hunter had forfeited his right to court-appointed counsel, meaning that Hunter would have to represent himself at trial. Allen had determined that Hunter had had four previous attorneys to represent him. Three of the four attorneys withdrew, citing irreconcilable differences with Hunter. One, David Freedman, died in September 2021. Anthony was the fifth appointed attorney.

Hunter did represent himself at a second trial held in October 2022, but Allen declared a mistrial after the jury deadlocked 11-1.

On Monday, Hunter told Judge Burke of Forsyth Superior Court that he wanted an attorney. That began a lengthy back and forth between Hunter and Burke about what exactly Hunter wanted.

Burke gave Hunter three options  Hunter could represent himself, with Anthony providing legal advice; Anthony could be re-appointed as Hunters attorney; or Hunter could be appointed a new attorney. The first two options would have guaranteed that the trial could have started this week, but the third option  appointing a new attorney  would have required a continuance to give the new attorney time to prepare for trial.

Burke ultimately ordered that Hunter get a new attorney, which required that the trial be continued.

Burke asked Hunter if he would be willing to waive his right to a speedy trial if appointed new counsel. Burke told Hunter that it would likely be at least six months before his case could be tried. Hunter also appeared to waffle on whether he wanted Anthony to represent him or have another attorney appointed, saying he didnt really have a choice about court-appointed counsel.

Burke pushed him on whether he believed Anthony had been ineffective, but Hunter said he never wanted any of his attorneys to withdraw.

Assistant District Attorney Jessica Spencer, one of two prosecutors on the case, expressed concern about delaying the trial, pointing out that two witnesses who had been subpoenaed were refusing to cooperate and were now in custody for defying a court order.

Burke said he understood the issue, but whether the trial started Monday or six months from now, prosecutors would likely be facing the same issues with non-cooperating witnesses.

Burke also expressed frustration with Hunter for interrupting him and not listening. He told Hunter that he was one of those people who felt like they know everything, particularly about the law, when Hunter didnt go to law school.

Stop playing with me, Burke said. Im trying to accommodate you and youre playing with me.

Instead, Burke said, Hunter should listen and show some appreciation because other judges wouldnt have made the decision that Burke made. And he offered a warning.

If you dont work with your (new) attorney, youll find yourself in this same position, Burke said.
Winston-Salem City Manager Lee Garrity said Monday that hes retiring on June 23, when he will have logged 32 years of service with the city, including 17 years as city manager.

It has been an honor and privilege to serve the citizens of Winston-Salem for these many years, but it is time to move on, Garrity said. I am looking forward to having more time to spend with my family and my grandchild.

Mayor Allen Joines said the city would be hiring an executive search firm to help find Garritys successor, and in a statement released Monday praised Garrity as a true public servant who has played a key role in Winston Salem city government for 32 years.

He provided steady, innovative leadership to this community and guided this complex organization through many difficult challenges, Joines said, citing the citys response to the the Great Recession, the COVID-19 pandemic and carrying out the 2014 and 2018 bond projects.

He also was responsible for filling numerous senior level staff positions with quality personnel and took steps to ensure our employees are adequately compensated, Joines said. Lee consistently sought new and innovative ways to deliver city services while being a good steward of taxpayer dollars.

Joines said Garritys leadership helped the city maintain a triple-A bond rating by all three major credit rating agencies.

Garrity was serving as assistant city manager when the council appointed him in 2006 to succeed Bill Stuart as the citys fifth city manager since Winston-Salem adopted the council-manager form of government in 1948.

Garrity joined the city in December 1990 as a budget analyst, having served previously on the staff of the Federal Election Commission and before that, on the staff of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. He was named director of what was then known as the Office of Organization Effectiveness in April 1998 and was promoted to assistant city manager in June 2001.

City officials said Garrity reorganized city government to better serve the needs of citizens, including the establishment in 2007 of the City Link citizen-service call center.

Garrity hired community assistance liaisons for each ward, to assist citizens who needed to do business with the city, and created the Office of Sustainability to focus on ways to make city operations more environmentally friendly. He established the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (now part of Human Relations/Diversity, Equity & Inclusion).

Garrity also reorganized city departments with the goal of streamlining the organizational structure and making city operations more efficient.

The City-County Inspections Division and the City-County Planning Department were combined into a new Department of Planning and Development Services. Streets and Stormwater were joined into a new Field Operations Department. Property Maintenance and Fleet Maintenance were merged into Property and Facilities Management, and the Minority/Womens Business Enterprises staff and the Small Business Assistance staff were combined into the Office of Business Inclusion and Advancement.

Council Member D.D. Adams credited Garrity for recognizing that the city could no longer continue to balance the budget on the backs of its employees in proposing tax hikes when needed to improve employee pay.

Garrity eliminated backyard garbage pickups when the change was needed, Adams said, and made possible the 2014 and 2018 bond issues, she said.

I thank him for guiding the ship ... for his stewardship and being with us as long as he has, Adams said.

Joines said that the City Council will solicit proposals for an executive search firm with a goal of having a firm in place by the end of February. Ideally, Joines said, he and the city council would have a new city manager selected by the middle of June, to assure an orderly transition of leadership.

Lee is well respected by his peers across the state and I will miss him greatly, Joines said. I wish him a very restful retirement. He has earned it.
ROME  Pope Francis has met with Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, the longtime secretary of Pope Benedict XVI who was a key figure in his recent funeral but who has raised eyebrows with an extraordinary memoir in which he settles old scores, reveals palace intrigues and casts Francis in a deeply unfavorable light.

The Vatican provided no details about the content of Mondays private audience, other than to say that it happened.

Speculation about Gaensweins future has swirled now that his main job tending to Benedict has come to an end following his Dec. 31 death. But questions have also been raised about what Francis will do with Gaenswein following this weeks publication of his tell-all book, Nothing But the Truth: My Life Beside Pope Benedict XVI.

Some Vatican watchers see the book as the first salvo in a new era of anti-Francis attacks from the conservative right, for whom Benedict remained a nostalgic point of reference in retirement. Benedicts death, and Gaensweins postmortem revelations, have removed the facade of a happy cohabitation of two popes.

In the text, Gaenswein reveals previously unknown details of some of the biggest hiccups and bad blood that accrued during the last 10 years in which Benedict lived as a retired pope following his 2013 decision to retire, the first pope in six centuries to do so.

In one of the most explosive sections, Gaenswein says he was shocked and speechless when Francis essentially fired him from his day job as the head of the papal household in 2020 after a scandal over a book Benedict co-authored. Francis told Gaenswein to stop coming to the office and to dedicate himself to caring for Benedict, essentially ending his job as the bridge between the pontificates.

Printing previously secret letters between the two popes and relaying private conversations with both, Gaenswein revealed that Francis even refused entreaties from Benedict to take him back on. Embittered, Gaenswein described Francis as insincere, illogical and sarcastic in deciding his fate, and said Benedict even made fun of Francis when told of the decision.

It seems as if Pope Francis doesnt trust me anymore and is making you my chaperone, Gaenswein quoted Benedict as saying.

Gaenswein also wrote of his dismay that, years earlier, Francis refused him the right to live in the palace apartment occupied by his predecessor. After a longer-than-usual refurbishment, Francis gave the flat instead to the Vatican foreign minister, forcing Gaenswein to continue living in the monastery that Benedict called home.

Gaensweins future remains uncertain, and his memoir is certainly going to complicate relations with Francis, who will decide his fate. As an archbishop, he technically could be appointed to lead an archdiocese in his native Germany. Asked about that possibility, the head of the German bishops conference said last week that it wasnt up to him but Francis. In addition, some Vatican commentators suggested Gaenswein could be appointed as a Vatican ambassador, to run an important shrine or to resume his academic career.

His book is likely to win him points with Francis traditionalist critics, since he does what Benedict declined to do for 10 years, revealing publicly what the late pope purportedly thought about his successors decisions on two crucial issues. Gaenswein writes, for example, that Benedict believed Francis decision to reinstate restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass was an error and that his outreach to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics was perplexing.

He also gets in something of another dig when he quotes Francis as saying that having Benedict in the Vatican was like having a wise grandfather at home, to whom he could turn to for advice. Gaenswein quoted Benedict as noting that he was only nine years older than Francis and that maybe it would be more correct to call me his older brother.

Gaenswein, a 66-year-old German canon lawyer, stood by Benedicts side for nearly three decades, first as an official working for then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then starting in 2003 as Ratzingers personal secretary.

He followed him to the Apostolic Palace when Ratzinger was elected pope, and then into retirement when Benedict stepped down. In that capacity, he remained Benedicts gatekeeper, confidant and spokesman, and in the new book appears keen to set the record straight to defend Benedict and himself one more time.

While there is no playbook outlining how a secretary to a retired pope should behave, publishing a book within a week of his death that critiques his successor, reveals private correspondence and nurses old grudges in finely documented detail certainly doesnt follow the reserve typical of Vatican protocol.

Austen Ivereigh, a biographer to Francis who co-authored a book with him, noted in a series of tweets Monday that Gaensweins book actually seemed to violate a core promise Benedict made when he resigned: that he would be obedient to his successor.

These disclosures undermine Benedicts oath of loyalty to Francis, which Benedict stuck to rigorously; violate Gaensweins duty of confidentiality to both ... and encourage those who seek wrongly to set Benedicts legacy against Francis, Ivereigh wrote.

Photos: The funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
Washingtons warning

Electing leadership seems to be getting beyond the reach of one of our august political parties. Its tempting to think that the GOP couldnt get a river to the ocean with gravity helping.

With representatives like Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert extracting treacherous concessions, its easy to think that, like George Santos, they are clueless enough to have padded their resumes and dont actually have any skills.

However, its possible they are actually not as naive as any of us imagine. After all, they are effectively using the Leninist playbook to assert they are the majority, when theres actually only 20 of them. (Bolshevik meant majority party in Russian when they werent.)

But they and others have never delved into George Washingtons farewell address, in which he warned us that factionalism, corruption (insider trading wasnt a phrase then) and lack of education would mean the downfall of the republic. No, theyve no idea of representative government. Theyve been holding their breath until they get their way.

In this case, they were obliged to turn blue then exhale, which is how childish tantrums should end.

Roger N. Kirkman

Winston-Salem

Development

So the people who two years ago were begging then-President Trump for pardons are now running the U.S. House.

Thats an interesting development, to say the least.

Rodney Page

Winston-Salem

Factors to consider

A lot of people across North Carolina are upset with Duke Energy after the rolling blackouts that impacted Christmas. Duke gave a plausible explanation given the frigid weather: increased power usage by customers which their equipment and backup plans were unable to handle. Couple that with the frigid weather being so widespread that additional backup power wasnt available from neighboring states and you have a cold, dark time in many homes.

Two factors need to be considered: Dukes gas and coal-fired plants were less effective in the extreme cold while Dukes renewable energy resources performed as expected and had no impact on the outages. So, there is a lesson to be learned from this experience for Duke Energy, the state of North Carolina, and our citizens. Gas and coal arent always dependable in extreme weather while renewable energy with battery storage is more reliable.

In October 2021, Gov. Roy Cooper signed HB951 into law, which has led the N.C. Utilities Commission to announce its Carbon Plan for Duke to meet the new carbon reduction requirements. The Utilities Commission expects Duke to explore multiple resources, including increased solar and wind generation, along with battery storage.

Beyond the value of carbon reduction, the rolling blackouts of Christmas 2022 illustrate that there are issues affecting power generation in todays unsettled climate changes. It will behoove all of us to pay more attention to supporting possible solutions to this potentially growing problem unless you like living in the cold and dark.

Nancy Young

Winston-Salem

Laugh or cry

I heard better jokes than that one (Build bridges, dont burn them, Jan. 8) about the Republicans difficulty electing a House speaker.

Like: Thanks to Rep. Matt Gaetz, former President Trump got to lose another election!

But I agree, its either laugh or cry.

I was a little worried about the Republican-controlled U.S. House wasting our hard-earned tax dollars on all the investigations it has planned. But then I remembered what Republicans taught us these last two years: that subpoenas are optional. My advice to anyone called to testify would be to remind them of the Republican standard.

And to tell House Speaker Kevin McCarthy: Lets see if youre still House speaker next week. If you are, well talk.

Monty Owen

Winston-Salem
Equipment manufacturer John Deere and the American Farm Bureau Federation have signed a memorandum of understanding that ensures farmers and ranchers have the right to repair their own farm equipment.

The memorandum of understanding, signed Sunday at the federation's convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico, follows several years of discussions between the two sides, they said in a news release.

The agreement, said federation President Zippy Duvall, addresses a long-running issue for farmers and ranchers when it comes to accessing tools, information and resources, while protecting John Deeres intellectual property rights and ensuring equipment safety.

Farmers, said Mark McHargue of the Nebraska Farm Bureau, simply want to be able to diagnose and fix a problem so they can get their equipment back to the fields.

The agreement commits John Deere to ensuring farmers and independent repair facilities have access to many of the tools and software needed to keep the equipment running, Duvall said.

David Gilmore, John Deere's senior vice president for farm and turf sales and marketing, said the agreement reaffirms the company's "longstanding commitment ... to ensure our customers have the diagnostic tools and information they need to make many repairs to their machines."

John Deere commits to engaging with farmers and dealers to resolve issues when they arise and agrees to meet with the farm bureau federation at least twice per year to evaluate progress, the agreement said.

The agreement formalizes farmers access to diagnostic and repair codes and to operator, parts and service manuals and product guides, the news release said. It also ensures farmers will be able to purchase diagnostic tools directly from John Deere and receive assistance from the manufacturer when ordering parts and products.

Chad Hart, an economist at Iowa State University, said he sees the memorandum of understanding as a first step between the two sides.

This represents an ongoing negotiation, Hart said, noting the agreement calls for the two to talk every six months.

They expect fully they're going to have to make adjustments along the way, he said.

The Lincoln Journal Star's top photos from 2022
COVID-19 cases are continuing to drop, despite holiday gatherings and the appearance of a new variant.

The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department reported 208 reported cases for the week that ended Saturday, down from 271 the previous week.

It's the third week in a row that cases have declined, and they are now down more than 50% since the week before Christmas.

The drop in case numbers appears to be driven in part by a drop in testing. The percentage of tests registering as positive rose slightly last week but remained near its lowest level since mid-October.

Other COVID-19 indicators are also trending in a positive direction. Hospitalizations associated with COVID declined last week in Lincoln, reaching a seven-day rolling average of 42, down from 55 the previous week.

The Health Department also said that fewer virus particles were detected in wastewater sampling in Lincoln compared with the previous week.

And there were no COVID-related deaths reported last week.

Despite the improvement in the numbers, the local Health Department said its COVID-19 risk dial will remain in the elevated yellow range for the sixth week in a row.

The local numbers were in line with statewide numbers that show a continued drop in cases.

There were 1,420 COVID-19 cases in Nebraska last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an 18% decrease from the previous week.

Statewide cases are now down 60% in just the past two weeks.

Hospitalizations remained essentially the same, with the seven-day daily average of COVID patients in Nebraska rising slightly from 217 to 219.

While the situation looks good now, one of the state's top doctors is not optimistic things will stay that way.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services' genomic testing for the first time detected the presence of the new omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, which has been rapidly spreading across the U.S.

It accounted for only about 2% of cases in the U.S. in early December, but by last week was causing more than 1 in 4 cases, according to the CDC.

In the Northeast, it's estimated that XBB.1.5 is causing 70%-75% of all cases, which has led to a sharp rise in hospitalizations.

Dr. James Lawler, a co-executive director of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's Global Center for Health Security, said he believes the variant, which is much more infectious than any previous variant, is going to rapidly take over and become dominant across the U.S.

Lawler said he expects case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths to surge and possibly even rival what occurred during last winter's omicron surge.

"January and February are going to be really ugly," he said in his biweekly COVID-19 update video posted online on Jan. 3.

He encouraged people to get up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines, saying those who haven't gotten the new bivalent booster shot are "almost unprotected against this new infection."

In Nebraska, only 16.4% of the population over age 5 has gotten the current booster shot, according to the CDC, although that's slightly higher than the national rate of 15.4%.

Charts that track COVID-19 variants, vaccination rates and hospitalizations in Nebraska
Piece by piece, researchers are unearthing the history of the Genoa U.S. Indian Industrial School. The results of a recent geophysical survey and the discovery of a historical document may be the most significant finds to date in the search for the schools cemetery.

Data gathered from ground-penetrating radar surveys last year shows four anomalies consistent with the presence of graves.

While the 6-foot-deep anomalies arent necessarily conclusive evidence of graves, its still a positive result, said State Archeologist Dave Williams.

They strongly resemble what we would expect to see for graves in a cemetery, Williams said.

The fourth federal boarding school to be built in the U.S., the Genoa Indian Industrial School operated from 1884 to 1934. At its peak in 1932, the schools 640-acre campus housed 599 students who ranged in age from 4 to 22 years old.

Students were brought to Genoa from more than 40 tribes that spanned the United States.

At least 86 students are believed to have died at the school.

It had taken more than a year to narrow the possible location of the schools lost graves to the grassy patch of land in Genoa.

The existence of a cemetery was never doubted, but the number of children buried there and its exact location were lost to history decades ago.

With the help of a dog team last May and a historical plat map, the search team narrowed the possible location to an area near the Loup Canal on the eastern outskirts of town.

Leaders of the search effort, which include Judi gaiashkibos of the Nebraska Indian Affairs Commission, and the Nebraska State Archeology Office, a program of History Nebraska, partnered with the Midwest Archeological Center to use ground-mapping technology for surveys last October and November.

Were cautiously optimistic, Williams said. Every step of the way, we seem to be getting little bits and pieces that keep stacking up toward a result.

A newly discovered document helps solidify the location.

The document, a licensing agreement for the Loup Power District, was discovered by 12-year-old Anna Johnson in a 1934 Federal Power Commission report.

The license was for the Loup Canal, which was dug on the eastern edge of the school soon after the schools closure in 1934.

The school cemetery was referenced in a list of requirements related to the canals construction: The licensee shall relocate the High Line Canal to avoid the cemetery on the Indian school land, or remove and reinter the remains of the Indian children buried therein in a manner satisfactory to the superintendent of the Indian school, at such location as he may designate.

Anna Johnson found the document at the Iowa State University Library while on a field trip with her National History Day Club. She and her father, Ben Johnson, have continued their research since, joining the effort to piece together the schools history.

The search team will use the document and other findings by the Johnsons to help explore the possibilities of what happened to the graves after the schools closure.

When the school closed in 1934, documents were scattered across the United States. Locating them has proved challenging for both the Genoa project and others working to gather information on the government boarding schools.

Records found show that disease played a large role in the deaths of those at the Genoa school. An accidental shooting and drowning were recorded as well.

If remains are found, tribal leaders may choose to leave the buried where they lie and construct a memorial to mark the site.

Another option would be to excavate one of the four anomalies to see if burials remain, if the children were exhumed, or if the anomalies arent graves but something else entirely, Williams said.

As the director of the Nebraska Indian Affairs Commission, gaiashkibos will help facilitate discussions among the tribes.

A citizen of the Ponca Tribe, gaiashkibos has been the lead organizer of the grave search. Shes also a descendant of a former Genoa student. Her mother and aunt both attended the school.

The U.S. Indian Boarding Schools served as a blueprint for Canadas Indigenous residential schools, where the discovery of hundreds of Indigenous children buried in unmarked graves brought renewed attention to practices that historians have described as cultural genocide.

Shortly after the discovery in Canada, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced the Federal Indian Boarding School Truth Initiative. The effort led to a massive report, released last spring, on the U.S. schools.

The federal investigation has so far identified more than 500 deaths at 19 schools, though the Interior Department said that number could climb to the thousands or even tens of thousands. The department has so far found at least 53 burial sites at or near U.S. boarding schools.

Photos: Genoa U.S. Indian Industrial School, search for the cemetery
Joan Cohrs missed her chance to grab a prescription at her usual drugstore by about 30 seconds.

Cohrs walked up to the counter of an Indianapolis CVS pharmacy shortly after a metal curtain descended, closing it for lunch. She didn't mind. The 60-year-old said she feels compassion for people in health care.

"They definitely need a break," said Cohrs, who was working at an assisted living facility when COVID-19 hit.

A rush of vaccines, virus tests and a busy flu season started overwhelming pharmacies more than a year ago, forcing many to temporarily close when workers weren't available.

Major drugstore chains raised pay and dangled signing bonuses to add employees. They're also emphasizing lunch breaks and sending routine prescription work to other locations to improve conditions in their pandemic-battered pharmacies.

Still, temporary closures persist, and experts say bigger changes are needed.

"There isn't a shortage of pharmacists. There's just a shortage of pharmacists who want to work in those high-stress environments that aren't adequately resourced," said Richard Dang, an assistant professor of clinical pharmacy at the University of Southern California.

Drugstores rely on pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to fill prescriptions, answer phones, work the drive-thru window, administer vaccines and give tests.

The stores also ask staff to manage a growing amount of patient health. Pharmacists in many stores now help people quit smoking and monitor their blood sugar. And companies like Walgreens are pushing them to work more with primary care doctors.

Pharmacists also can now test for COVID-19 and then prescribe medicine, a process that might take 20 minutes or more.

Giving pharmacists a chance to have a bigger impact on public health is "awesome," said Stefanie Ferreri, a University of North Carolina pharmacy professor. But, she added, "the workforce wasn't quite ready."

Pharmacies, like other businesses, were hurt earlier in the pandemic because employees who got COVID-19  or those in close contact with someone who did  had to miss work for a few days. Stress also left many pharmacists and technicians feeling burned out and looking for other jobs, industry observers say.

The number of job postings for retail pharmacists rose 63% from 2020 to 2021, according to the Pharmacy Workforce Center, a nonprofit that tracks openings.

Walgreens leaders said Thursday they added a net total of 600 pharmacists in the recently completed fiscal first quarter. But staff shortages still force the chain to reduce hours at some pharmacies.

In addition to employee shortages, drugstores also are dealing with thin prescription reimbursement. That makes it hard to raise pay to compete for employees, said Douglas Hoey, CEO of the National Community Pharmacists Association.

"When just about everything goes up in price, pharmacies are still getting paid as if it was 2019 or 2018," he said.

Walgreens is opening processing centers to help fill some of the routine prescriptions that stores get from patients with chronic conditions. Company leaders expect these centers to eventually take over about half the prescription volume from their stores.

The company also said in October it would eliminate all "task-based" measurements that are part of performance reviews for pharmacy employees.

CVS Health is trying to spread data entry and prescription verification work to different locations to ease the load at busy stores.

The company also started emphasizing half-hour lunch breaks in February.

Those have limited value, according to Bled Tanoe, a former Walgreens pharmacist in Oklahoma City. She said customers often arrive just before the pharmacy closes, eating into the break time.

And store employees frequently catch up on work during that break.

Tanoe, 35, said she left drugstores in 2021 to work at a hospital because the demands were getting "impossible." She and others say bolder steps are needed to improve the pharmacies. Pharmacists should have the ability to temporarily close counters or cancel some vaccination appointments when workloads get overwhelming, Tanoe said.

Dang noted that a relatively new California law prevents chain drugstores from establishing quotas for how many prescriptions a pharmacist must fill during a shift.

He also said drugstores simply need more employees behind the counter if they add services. He noted the bigger chains are more prone to running drugstores with only one pharmacist.

At least one has to be on duty for a pharmacy to operate.

Ferreri would like to see more drugstores set appointments for regulars. That gives pharmacists predictable workloads and more time to fill and check prescriptions. It also reduces trips for customers and can help them keep track of refills.

These appointments ease stress, said Jessi Stout, owner of Table Rock Pharmacy in Morganton, North Carolina. "It's not like the patient's in, waiting for you to fill 15 prescriptions at once," she said.

Ferreri also recommends that customers give drugstores a few days to refill a prescription instead of waiting until the last pill.

Interactive: 12 charts that show COVID-19 variants, vaccinations, hospitalizations, cases and deaths Your browser does not support the iframe HTML tag. Try viewing this in a modern browser like Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 or later.
The dried bouquet of flowers preserved from Nettie Escamilla-Velas funeral service burned in the fire.

As did the pictures of Netties brothers and sisters hanging on the wall and photo albums of family, friends and customers  filled with pictures of wedding receptions, graduation ceremonies, confirmation celebrations, birthday parties and more. So much more.

Only memories of the moments shared at Netties Fine Mexican Food remain.

Michelle Lyons, Netties granddaughter, remembers how Nettie would scoop up crying babies from their mothers to comfort.

My grandma was notorious for saying, Give me that baby. You eat your food hot, Lyons said.

Those tables where Nettie stood, worked and laughed melted. The fire that swept through the treasured family owned Bellevue restaurant at 7110 Railroad Ave. on Friday, Dec. 23, destroyed more than bricks and mortar.

Even if we are able to rebuild, that feeling of her being there wont be, Lyons said. That was what I had left of her. That was her legacy, and its gone.

Lyons has become the unofficial family spokesperson since the blaze, answering every email and Facebook posting.

Its keeping me busy. I need to be busy, she said.

The condolences, and questions, keep coming. So much so, Lyons is running interference for her mother, Netties daughter and restaurant co-owner Kathy Boyles.

As much as she appreciates it, she is having to tell the story over and over, Lyons said.

The fire happened around 4 p.m., while Lyons was at home preparing to come to the restaurant. Inside Netties were about 25 customers eating or at the bar, the kitchen staff of five, her mother and nine other family members and employees.

Fire investigators told the family they believe it was a freak accident, she said. The winter storm had created a barrier of ice and snow over the chimney cap, trapping the rising heat from the gas-burning fireplace. The ceiling began to smolder, creating a haze in the restaurant.

Staff searched for the cause, checking if something was smoking in the kitchen or maybe the furnace. Then the tiles on the ceiling began to bow and flames could be seen.

Lyons was only 15 minutes away when her daughter called to alert her. She said she wasnt expecting it to be so bad. But, as she drove, she saw a plume of black smoke rising in the distance. Bellevue police had already blocked traffic, but let Lyons car through the barrier. The evacuees were huddled together.

Seemingly, within moments, everyone -- all the family, all the staff -- arrived in disbelief and desperation.

So we just sat there with the family and watched it burn, she said. There is so much we lost. It was like losing my Grandmother again.

Railroad Avenue was shut down as crews from multiple agencies fought the blaze. The fire rekindled around 11:30 p.m., according to Sarpy County 911's Twitter account. The road remained closed after freezing over from the water used to extinguish the fire.

Lyons said in the middle of the night, looters went through the still-smoldering remains of the building, stealing liquor from the bar and whatever money they could from the register and desk drawers.

I didnt know that people did that, she said.

Particularly outrageous was the theft of a servers purse, containing the saved Christmas money she had intended to shop with after her shift. Lyons said no one had thought about grabbing their personal belongings or the till.

Most people thought we were coming back in. None of us expected it (to be a total loss), she said.

The night before the fire, Netties hosted their annual visit from Santa Claus. Netties Facebook page is flooded with the photos of children, customers, and staff celebrating.

We are very thankful it didnt happen the night before, because we were so packed, Lyons said.

Since 1987, Netties has been a mainstay for foodies and families alike. Lyons said it was her grandmothers dream, realized from cooking meals for the local Head Start program, potluck dinners and selling specialties from her home kitchen.

Nettie started the restaurant with her husband, Abe Vela, daughter Kathy and her husband, Mike Boyles. After Abes death in 2005, Kathys sisters Sandi Ziccardi and Susie Sader became co-owners as well.

Using traditional family recipes, Netties has been constantly chosen as an Omaha favorite. In 2022, the Omaha World-Herald lauded their chili as some of the best and hottest in town (described as exquisite pain).

Whether or not Netties rebuilds or reopens is uncertain, Lyons said. The process of calculating the physical losses of equipment takes time, as does settling with an insurance company. Netties owns the land the restaurant sat on.

We have all the logistics of tearing the building down and removing it, and then starting from scratch, she said.

In the short term, the family is concerned about their staff. Their newest employee has been with them for 12 years, and their oldest for 35. Lyons said they are family.

We are really just making it so our employees can survive, she said. We wish we had more answers. But we dont have the answers ourselves.

Several fundraising efforts, including a portion of sales from Stellas Bar & Grill on Jan. 2, are helping to ease the burden for the staff.

That was so heartwarming to see a family business take care of another family business, Lyons said. So few of us anymore.

On Sunday, Jan. 22, Stocks and Bonds dance club at 84th Street and Park Drive will host a benefit spaghetti feed, along with raffles, auctions and live bands. Doors open at noon.

Wells Fargo bank branches are also accepting donations to a fund under Nettie's, and a GoFundMe page has raised over $30,000 in the last two weeks.

We are used to being on the other side, we have hosted so many fundraisers, Lyons said. It has been on amazing experience.

Photos and video: Gov. Jim Pillen's 2023 inauguration
OMAHA  An Omaha man who placed a fake bomb outside the Douglas County Courthouse in 2020 has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on drug charges.

Thomas Trouba, 28, was sentenced Thursday for possession with intent to distribute marijuana, THC and MDMA, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Nebraska.

Trouba was arrested Sept. 18, 2020, on suspicion of making terroristic threats and placing a fake bomb outside the Douglas County Courthouse.

Later that day, an investigator saw Trouba remove large containers from his home, place them into his pickup truck and drive off. Officers then approached Trouba after he stopped in a parking lot and searched his truck. They found several hundred thousand dollars in cash, marijuana and other substances containing THC, the office said.

After obtaining a search warrant, investigators searched Troubas home and found an additional $16,000, MDMA, Adderall, hash oil and marijuana.

As part of the federal sentencing, Trouba will forfeit his home, truck and more than $400,000, officials said.

The case was investigated by the Douglas County Sheriffs Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
BUCHAREST, Romania  A court in Romania's capital, Bucharest, upheld the 30-day arrest of divisive social media personality and self-described misogynist Andrew Tate on charges of organized crime, human trafficking and rape, an official said late Tuesday.

Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romanian anti-organized crime agency DIICOT, said the court rejected an appeal by Tate against a judge's earlier decision to extend his arrest from 24 hours to 30 days.

Tate, 36, a British-United States citizen who has 4.5 million followers on Twitter, was detained on Dec. 29 for 24 hours along with his brother Tristan, charged in the same case. Two Romanian women also were taken into custody.

The Bucharest Court of Appeal late Tuesday rejected all four appeals against a judge's Dec. 30 decision to grant prosecutors' request to extend the arrest period. A document explaining the judge's earlier decision said "the possibility of them evading investigations cannot be ignored," and that they could "leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition."

Tate and the other three defendants arrived at the Bucharest court in handcuffs Tuesday morning and were taken away in the afternoon, hours before the court ruled against them.

Tate, a former professional kickboxer who reportedly has lived in Romania since 2017, was banned from various prominent social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech. The week of his arrest, he traded insults on Twitter with teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg.

DIICOT said it identified six victims in the trafficking case who were subjected to "acts of physical violence and mental coercion" and were sexually exploited by the members of the alleged crime group.

The agency said victims were lured by pretenses of love, and later intimidated, kept under surveillance and subjected to other control tactics while being coerced into performing pornographic acts that were intended to make money for their alleged persecutors.

Prosecutors investigating the case seized 15 luxury cars, at least seven of which were owned by the Tate brothers, and more than 10 properties or land owned by companies registered to them, DIICOT spokesperson Bolla said.

Bolla said if prosecutors can prove the Tates gained money through human trafficking, the assets "will be taken by the state and (will) cover the expenses of the investigation and damages to the victims."

After the appeals court upheld the arrest warrant extension, prosecutors can now request detentions of up to 180 days for the four people charged.

Since Tate's arrest, a series of ambiguous posts have appeared on his Twitter account. Each tweet garners widespread media attention.

One, posted Sunday and accompanied by a Romanian report suggesting he or his brother have required medical care since their arrests, read: "The Matrix has attacked me. But they misunderstand, you cannot kill an idea. Hard to Kill."

Another post, from Saturday, read: "Going to jail when guilty of a crime is the life story of a criminal  going to jail when completely innocent is the story of a hero."

Hope not Hate, a U.K. advocacy group, said it monitored Tate for years "because of his close links to the far right." It described the influencer in a report it produced last year as an "extreme misogynist" who holds conspiratorial views.

"Our major concern is that his brand of extreme and sometimes violent misogyny is reaching a young male audience and that he could serve as a gateway to wider far-right politics," Hope not Hate said after Tate was banned by Facebook parent company Meta in August.
Jury selection in the re-trial of the Pleasant Prairie man accused of poisoning and suffocating his wife to death in December 1998 continued Tuesday.

Mark D. Jensen, who was convicted almost a decade later in February 2008 of the murder of 40-year-old Julie Jensen, is standing trial again in Kenosha County Circuit Court after years of appeals in state and federal courts.

Jensen, 63, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, and he remains in custody on a $1.2 million cash bond in Kenosha County. He faces life in prison.

Jensens new trial, before Circuit Court Judge Anthony Milisauskas, is expected to last about five weeks. Opening statements are expected Wednesday.

A new pool of over 90 potential jurors were questioned by Milisauskas Tuesday morning on whether they could serve throughout such a lengthy trial. More than half said they could not due to family responsibilities, work commitments, vacation plans or health issues.

Because there were so many prospective jurors on Tuesday, initial questioning took place in the courts second floor ceremonial courtroom instead of Milisauskas much smaller court room on the first floor.

This case cannot be tried in a short period of time, Milisauskas said. Thats just the reality of this case.

As he did throughout the day on Monday, he also thanked the men and women for carrying out their civic duty on Tuesday.

We appreciate you all coming in here, Milisauskas said.

The jury selection process known as voir dire continued Tuesday as attorneys questioned the potential jurors about their familiarity with the case and ability to remain impartial by relying only on evidence presented in court. They were asked whether media coverage in newspapers or television had influenced their opinions of the case.

On Monday, some 100 prospective jurors were questioned throughout the day about their ability to serve five weeks and also remain impartial.

As of Tuesday afternoon there were 64 potential jurors left.

The pool of jurors will likely be whittled down to 16 with four alternates. Milisauskas said he wanted a jury set by the end of business on Tuesday.

New trial

A 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling helped pave the way for this new trial. The nations highest court declined to hear the case after an appeal of a Wisconsin State Supreme Court ruling that Jensen should receive a new trial without a letter used as evidence in the first trial.

Prosecutors argue Mark Jensen killed his wife by poisoning her with antifreeze and then suffocating her in order to be with a mistress, and that he searched the internet for ways to make her death look like a suicide

Jensen was convicted on evidence that included a letter Julie Jensen wrote before her death and gave to a neighbor. In it, she wrote that if anything happens to me that her husband would be my first suspect, among other things.

The letter was revealed after her death. The so-called letter from the grave will not be allowed into evidence during this trial.

The original prosecutor, Robert Jambois, a former Kenosha County District attorney, is back as a special prosecutor before Milisauskas, now the third Kenosha County Circuit Court judge to preside over the matter.

Jensen is represented by a team of defense attorneys led by Bridget Krause.

Jensen has maintained his innocence for decades. His attorneys have argued Julie Jensen was depressed and died by suicide after framing her husband for her death. In court Tuesday, Jensen wore a black suit. His parents were not in court Tuesday.

Expensive trial

This trial is expected to cost Kenosha County some $70,000, according to the District Attorneys Office.

The Jensen case, when it was tried in 2008, was the longest criminal trial in the history of Wisconsin.

Because the case is more than two decades old, the county will have to pay bring back many of the same people who previously testified, or in the case of expert witnesses, find new ones since the previous experts have retired. The same is true of the law enforcement who were also part of the original case, according to District Attorney Michael Graveley.
RACINE  The female juvenile victim and the male juvenile suspect of Sundays alleged attempted homicide reportedly know each other but are not related, the Racine Police Department said.

According to a news release from the RPD, the victim is 14, conscious and in stable but serious condition. The suspect is also 14 and is being held at juvenile detention.

The female teenager was allegedly shot Sunday in an attempted homicide. Officers were sent to the area of 21st Street and South Memorial Drive on Sunday at approximately 11:42 a.m. regarding a child who had been shot. Upon arrival, officers located the child, who had reportedly been shot multiple times.

The victim was transported to the hospital and then airlifted to Milwaukee.

The investigation remains active and ongoing at this time, the RPD said. The RPD did not release names of those involved.

Racine Police investigators are interested in any additional information anyone may have about this incident. Any witnesses, or citizens with information, are urged to call the Racine Police Department Investigations Unit at 262-635-7756. Those who wish to remain anonymous may contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 262-636-9330, or through the Crime Stoppers app by using the p3 app.
The Journal Times, Racine Countys top provider of news, will have a new executive editor starting on Monday, Jan. 16.

Mike Boyd comes to Racine with over 30 years of journalism experience, having most recently served as the editor-in-chief for News West Publishing in Bullhead City, Arizona.

He previously served as an editor with MSN Local and MSN Money. He also worked as an editor with the Business Examiner in Tacoma, Washington; Colorado Springs Business Journal in Colorado; and the Fayetteville Observer in North Carolina.

He will serve as the executive editor for Southeast Wisconsin, directly supervising all Racine news operations and overseeing the editors in Lake Geneva and Kenosha, working closely with John Sloca, the local editor at the Kenosha News.

Adam Rogan had been working as the local editor for The Journal Times, but recently took a job with Catholic charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Mike is a proven veteran news editor who knows how to get in the trenches with his newsrooms and provide the best print and digital experience for readers, said Marc Chase, who is the Midwest News Director for Lee Enterprises, the parent company of The Journal Times, Kenosha News and Lake Geneva Regional News. Were thrilled hes joining the team to lead our news efforts in Racine and our news strategies throughout Southeast Wisconsin.

Im looking forward to learning more about the area and working with the outstanding team members in Racine, Kenosha and Lake Geneva to continue providing the news and information that local residents want and need, Boyd said. Ive always considered journalism to be a calling and a service, and I believe there is no higher service than providing a papers audience with the most relevant and accurate information possible.

He went on to say, While we cant be everywhere and cover everything, the goal always will be to do as much as we can at the highest level of professionalism and quality.

16 photos and video from Racine's 2023 Splash and Dash into Lake Michigan Splash and Dash 2023 Time to splash Camera ready Getting pumped up Divers from across the galaxy Divers on your mark And now we dash Taking the plunge Mission accomplished It might be a little cold I splashed, now I must dash Making a break for it Nice warm robe It's probably much warmer in Alabama right now Best way to start the day, not to mention the year A perfect day Time for a selfie
SOMERS  The University of Wisconsin-Parkside will play host to an established math and science conference for girls in seventh and eighth grades with a special guest to power the keynote address.

The 10th annual Girls Empowered by Math & Science Conference, presented by Girls Inc. of Southeast Wisconsin, will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday with Miss America Grace Stanke delivering the keynote address to kick off the event for 450 girls who currently attend middle schools in the Racine Unified School District.

The conference will take place on the UW-Parkside campus at 900 Wood Road.

Stanke, 20, of Wausau, was Miss Wisconsin before being crowned Miss America 2023 on Dec. 15 at the Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort in Uncasville, Connecticut. She is an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is studying nuclear engineering. As Miss America, she is receiving a $50,000 scholarship and is the reigning titleholder for a year.

Thursdays math and conference will include interactive and engaging presentations in which girls in attendance will have the chance to hear from experts in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, while learning about careers and opportunities available to them, according to event organizers.

Three hands-on STEM workshops are also scheduled and students will be able to participate in campus tours and interact with a college student panel.

Girls Inc. of Southeast Wisconsin is a nonprofit organization and an affiliate of the national Girls Inc. network dedicated to empowering girls to be strong, smart and bold.

The organization serves girls ages 6-18 in southeast Wisconsin. Through research-based programming and a network of supportive adults, Girls Inc. helps girls navigate their way to academic and personal success.

For more information, visit www.girlsincsewi.org

A history of women in medicine A history of women in medicine Marie Curie Florence Nightingale Elizabeth Blackwell Rebecca Lee Crumper Agnodice Margaret Higgins Sanger Gertrude Elion Mary Edwans Walker Sara Josephine Baker Mary Engle Pennington Gerty Cori Virgina Apgar Antonia Novello Rosalind Franklin Francoise Barre-Sinoussi
By Trend

Uzbekistan took 85th place in the world passport index as of January 10, 2023, Trend reports, citing the quarterly report from Henley & Partners citizenship planning firm.

According to the ranking, Uzbek citizens can travel to 59 countries without having to apply for a visa.

Last year, the country was positioned 88th in the ranking of world passports.

Meanwhile, Japanese citizens have visa-free access to 193 destinations worldwide, which means they are able to travel visa-free to 166 more destinations than Afghan nationals, who sit at the bottom of the global passport index.

London-based Henley & Partners is the global leader in residence and citizenship by investment.
1. Yes. Having a community member interview panel is an excellent opportunity for input.

2. Yes. Its good that the city will allow residents to meet the finalist at a reception.

3. No. The city should have conducted a public survey early in the process, as KISD is doing.

4. No. Residents should be able to meet candidates before a lone finalist is chosen.

5. Unsure. Its hard to know how to gauge the proper level of public involvement.

Vote

View Results
FAVE 5: Kearney Hub's Mike Konz shares his memorable stories from 2022

My selections for this years Fave 5 are a reflection of what I enjoy most about journalism in Kearney, and thats the variety of assignments I am able to pursue.

During 2022 I was able to report several times on one of my favorite topics  cars  and the Fave 5 pick is an example of why I am interested in reporting on cars. I also enjoy reporting about people, and I feel I was extremely fortunate to interview heart transplant patient Roger Petersen and his family. They were open and honest about the experience, and they said it was humbling to think that the donor had lost their life in order for the organ transplant to occur.

While reporting on the consolidation of power and irrigation districts, it was challenging to distill into simple terms what was happening so that readers could understand the significance of the transaction.

In reporting improvements at Ravenna Lake, my goal was to expose a shiny jewel for camping enthusiasts, and in reporting the book ban debate, I wanted readers to know about one facet of a controversial topic.

Here are the five stories I enjoyed the most in 2022.

mike.konz@kearneyhub.com
KEARNEY  With her high GPA, near-perfect ACT score and impressive extracurriculars, Ella Buhlke had her pick of prestigious schools across the Midwest.

She chose the University of Nebraska at Kearney, largely because of her relationship with biology professor Kim Carlson.

Shes one of my biggest role models, said Ella, a freshman pre-medical student. As a woman in STEM, its important to see other women in STEM who are strong, independent and successful in their careers. Its really nice to work with her and observe her in that way.

Carlson, a co-chair in the UNK Department of Biology, has mentored Buhlke since 2019, when she was a sophomore at Central City High School. A shared interest in science and research  and a friendship formed at UNK nearly three decades earlier  brought the two together.

Close connections

The email came out of the blue.

I dont know if you remember me, but 

Carlson immediately recognized the name. Brian Buhlke was a classmate when she and husband Darby, a senior lecturer in the Department of Biology, were both students at UNK. She also worked with Brians wife Amy, another UNK graduate, at the local Walmart.

We had a lot of good times together, Carlson recalled.

But they hadnt spoken in years.

Brian went on to medical school, Amy worked as a physical therapist and the couple settled in Central City, where hes a family physician and medical director at Merrick Medical Center and vice president of the school board. Naturally, their oldest daughter Ella fell in love with health sciences, too.

To prepare for college  and eventually medical school  Ella wanted to conduct research she could present at science fair competitions.

Research is one of the things med schools will really look at on a resume, Ella said. If you have that experience, its definitely a plus for you.

Looking to give his daughter a leg up, Brian reached out to his former college classmate, who was more than willing to help.

Working in collaboration with Central City High School biology and health science teacher Chelle Gillan, a graduate of UNKs online masters program in biology, Carlson gave Ella an opportunity to pursue projects related to her labs ongoing research involving fruit flies.

Every year, she got a bigger project, said Carlson, who was impressed with Ellas intelligence and work ethic.

I want to work with people who enjoy science and get excited about science. Thats Ella, she said. Shes committed to this process, and shes a very good presenter and writer.

Plenty of people agree.

Ella presented her research at the Greater Nebraska Science and Engineering Fair and Nebraska Junior Academy of Sciences State Science Fair, earning top honors multiple times and qualifying for six national and international competitions.

She credits Carlson and other members of the UNK team for making research enjoyable and engaging.

Its not a relationship where Im told what to do and I do it. Its very collaborative, Ella said. Dr. Carlson is a really great person to work with and she makes the whole process more fun. Everyone in the lab here is really supportive of each other.

Thats why she decided to attend UNK after graduating from high school.

I was worried that if I started over with someone else, I wouldnt have that same relationship, Ella said.

Hard work pays off

A biology major with a health science emphasis, Ella is part of the UNK Honors Program, which covers her room and board and books, and the Kearney Health Opportunities Program, which awards full-tuition scholarships to future health care professionals who plan to practice in rural Nebraska. She received a full-tuition Board of Regents Scholarship, as well.

Ella also competes on the Loper track and cross country teams and, of course, continues to conduct research with Carlson through the Undergraduate Research Fellows program, which provides a $1,200 annual stipend for participating students.

In November, the research she completed during high school was featured in Life, an international, peer-reviewed journal published monthly online by MDPI. The article, Characterization of Cross-Species Transmission of Drosophila melanogaster Nora Virus, focuses on an RNA virus first discovered in fruit flies in 2006 and its ability to infect other species of invertebrates.

It was really nice to see three years of work throughout high school pay off in that way. Thats something that will be on my resume forever. Publications dont go away. Publications are permanent. Its something I can always look back at and say, Yep, I was published as a 19-year-old in my freshman year of college, said Ella, who worked on the project with Gillan, Kim and Darby Carlson, UNK biology lecturer Alexis Hobbs and graduate students Blase Rokusek and Sunanda Rajput.

Ella will present their findings in March at the Genetics Society of Americas annual Drosophila Research Conference in Chicago. Shes currently using fruit flies to study an antibiotic that has the potential to treat viral infections and is excelling academically as a deans list student whos already taking upper-level biology courses.

It means a lot to me that she chose to come here so she could continue doing research, Carlson said. She had a lot of options she could have picked, and I feel very honored that she decided to come here and work with me.

As an added bonus, Ellas younger sister Addie, a junior at Central City High School, is conducting research with Carlson now, too.

Shes definitely following in Ellas footsteps, Carlson said with a smile.
OMAHA  A Council Bluffs, Iowa, school bus driver will spend time in jail for his role in a deadly crash near Omahas Eppley Airfield last year.

Kevin Downing, 44, was found guilty in October of misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide after pleading no contest to the charge. He was sentenced Thursday to 60 days in jail and two years' probation, according to the Douglas County Attorneys Office.

On March 28, Downing was driving a school bus for First Student of Council Bluffs when the bus collided with a vehicle driven by 59-year-old James McCoy of Council Bluffs. McCoy was pronounced dead at the scene.

The investigation found that Downing was westbound on Locust Street when he drove through a red light at the Abbott Drive intersection just before 7 a.m. McCoy was heading north on Abbott Drive in a 2005 Acura when his car was hit by the bus.

The bus was not carrying students at the time.

Downing faced a maximum sentence of one year in jail.

Counties with the shortest life expectancy in Nebraska Counties with the shortest life expectancy in Nebraska #42. Saline County #41. Saunders County #40. Thayer County #39. Douglas County #38. Dawes County #36. Dawson County #36. Clay County #34. Madison County #34. Jefferson County #29. Furnas County #29. Merrick County #29. Howard County #29. Red Willow County #29. Butler County #27. Hall County #27. Adams County #25. Gage County #25. Lincoln County #23. Dundy County #23. Box Butte County #19. Dakota County #19. Nuckolls County #19. Johnson County #19. Boyd County #16. Cheyenne County #16. Richardson County #16. Polk County #14. Webster County #14. Nemaha County #12. Morrill County #12. Pawnee County #10. Dodge County #10. Gosper County #9. Sheridan County #8. Nance County #5. Scotts Bluff County #5. Franklin County #5. Garden County #3. Burt County #3. Hitchcock County #2. Kimball County #1. Thurston County
By Trend

The Union of Journalists of Armenia protests against discrimination in the selection of media outlets for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's briefing, Trend reports, citing Armenian media.

According to the Union of Journalists of Armenia, about ten media outlets were denied participation in the press conference of Pashinyan, which will be held on January 10.

"No reasonable explanation for the ban on the participation of these media outlets has been officially presented, which has already caused reasonable suspicions that some media outlets were deprived of participation in Nikol Pashinyan's press conference for their non-governmental position. However, on the other hand, several non-governmental media were also invited to participate in the press conference," the statement reads.

The Union condemned the discrimination shown, and called for the cancellation of this discriminatory decision and ensuring the participation of all media representatives without exception.

"We call on the government staff to cancel this discriminatory decision as soon as possible and ensure the participation of all media representatives without exception at the press conference on January 10. Accountability, transparency and public control, for which government officials are forced to hold press conferences, cannot be fragmented, discriminatory or selective. Otherwise, all the goals for which such public events are planned are distorted," the document says.
Story

King County Executive Dow Constantine and King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall announced the launch of a new Community Advisory Board for the King County Sheriffs Office (KCSO) that will bring together public safety experts, community members, and advocates to support and advise in the creation of a just, dynamic, and responsive public safety system.

The advisory board is part of a renewed partnership with the community stemming from the new plans Sheriff Cole-Tindall shared in July regarding how KCSO will transform the way it delivers public safety.

Our ability to deliver genuine safety in King County depends on bringing the community into the process, ensuring that diverse experiences and perspectives can help shape a robust and effective public safety network, said Executive Constantine. I look forward to partnering with this group to provide accountability and tackle root causes to bring about systemic change.

As a premier law enforcement agency, we must continue to center our work on accountability, equity, and the vision and values of the communities we so proudly serve, said Sheriff Cole-Tindall. I am honored to work with a panel of King County community members who share our commitment to evaluating and reimagining how we can enhance trust and preserve public safety.

The Community Advisory Board will have between 10  15 members, selected to represent different backgrounds and geographies reflective of the communities where KCSO provides policing. The group will be comprised of residents living in both urban and rural areas, and individuals affiliated with BIPOC groups, civic organizations, and business groups. Additionally, the board will strive to include youth and individuals with prior justice system involvement.

Individuals interested in serving on the Community Advisory Board should submit a letter of interest, explaining their desire and qualifications. More information about the board and details on the application process can be found here. Applications will be accepted until January 31, 2023.

The board's first meeting will take place in March 2023, and the organizations charter will be finalized and the work program for the year will be set at that time.

Relevant links

Quotes

Our ability to deliver genuine safety in King County depends on bringing the community into the process, ensuring that diverse experiences and perspectives can help shape a robust and effective public safety network. I look forward to partnering with this group to provide accountability and tackle root causes to bring about systemic change. Dow Constantine, King County Executive

As a premier law enforcement agency, we must continue to center our work on accountability, equity, and the vision and values of the communities we so proudly serve. I am honored to work with a panel of King County community members who share our commitment to evaluating and reimagining how we can enhance trust and preserve public safety. Patti Cole-Tindall, King County Sheriff

For more information, contact:

Captain Tim Meyer, King County Sheriff's Office, 206-255-0778
A new COVID variant described as possibly the most transmissible strain yet is gaining traction in the U.S., with Northeast states seeing infection spikes.

The XBB.1.5 omicron variant was first identified in New York and Connecticut in late October and has gone from accounting for approximately 4% of all new infections in early December to up to 40% by the end of that month.

For the week ending Jan. 7, the CDC put the proportion of XBB.1.5 at 27.6%. In region five, which includes Wisconsin and Minnesota, it comprised only 7.3% of infections.

What we are learning about this new variant XBB.1.5 is that it spreads much more easily compared to the previous variants  almost twice more likely to spread compared to the previous variants, says Dr. Raj Palraj, infectious diseases specialist at Mayo Clinic Health System.

The coronavirus has been mutating constantly since the pandemic began, with newer strains more resistant to existing vaccines and infection related immunity.

Changes to the spike protein can alter the level of infectiousness, and Palraj says XBB.1.5 more easily attaches to the nose and throat cells than previous variants, thus increasing transmission.

The good news is the new variant appears to be less severe compared to the Delta variant, says Palraj. (Severity is) always a concern  thats why CDC and other health officials constantly monitor for those data points  but generally what we have seen so far is that the new variants are slightly less severe compared to the previous wave variants.

Symptoms of XBB.1.5 mirror those of previous strains, with signs such as cough, runny nose, sore throat, fever and muscle aches. Precautions include masking, testing, staying home if ill, hand washing, vaccination and booster shots. The bivalent booster targets both the original COVID strains and omicron BA.4 and BA.5.

What we know from the previous variant cycles is that the COVID-19 booster shot helps reduce the risk of severe pneumonia, reduces the risk of getting hospitalized and reduces the risk of death, Palraj says. We may not be able to prevent infection, but the odds of getting a severe disease is greatly reduced by the vaccination.

The degree to which XBB.1.5 will affect the nation is hard to predict...since its kind of spreading easily, says Palraj. But what I am hopeful for is it wont lead to an increase in number of severe disease and hospitalizations.

Palraj anticipates the coronavirus in general will probably start behaving like other respiratory viruses like flu. So we will see a spike in cases during the winter. And as the weather changes, we might see less.

COVID and influenza vaccines remain available at local clinics and pharmacies. The bivalent booster is now approved for ages 6 months and older.

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After 17 years in the Air Force, Zach Skrede was thrilled to move back home.

Skrede, who grew up about a half hour south of Madison, moved to the town of Easton in Adams County, Wisconsin, in 2019. He took a job at the Oxford Federal Correctional Institution  a medium security federal prison  as a facilities engineering technician to help in part with a roof renovation project.

A few miles away from the prison, he bought a one-story house on Elk Avenue with 20 acres of property.

Zach Skrede bought this house on Elk Avenue in the town of Easton with 20 acres of land. He had big dreams for it but then he discovered the property was contaminated with asbestos-containing roofing material. Its been absolute hell, he says. Skredes house is pictured on Oct. 13, 2022. (Courtesy of Zach Skrede)

Skrede, 38, had big dreams for the land. He envisioned building a fire pit, creating a camping space and hosting friends. After he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2020, he planned to build a more accessible house on the property to accommodate his health needs  a place where he could settle down with his fiance Kristen and his 16-year-old son Justin, who visits for summers and holidays.

In hindsight, Skrede said he should have realized there was a catch.

I should have known it was one of those too-good-to-be-true things, he said.

One day at work, Skrede told a colleague at the prison about his property tucked away in the woods. The co-worker began asking questions about what the house and basement looked like.

He started saying, Oh god, yeah that house sounds familiar.  I think thats the Brazos house you got,  Skrede said. And I asked him, Okay  what the hell is that? 

Thats when Skredes dream property became a nightmare.

Roofing company owned house

It turns out Skredes land had been owned previously by Brazos Urethane Inc., a Texas-based roofing contractor. Brazos owner purchased the property in 2015 when the company was hired to complete part of the prisons roof renovation  the same project Skrede was hired to help finish.

During the project, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Brazos for workplace safety violations at the prison. Then, the company committed other violations  including illegally dumping roofing debris onto what is now Skredes property. That waste contained asbestos, a carcinogenic mineral.

In 2015, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources investigated a complaint about possible improper disposal of asbestos containing material on the Elk Avenue property that was removed from the roof of a building inside the Oxford Federal Correctional Institution in Oxford, Wis. (DNR photo)

After receiving a complaint, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources inspected Brazos property in November 2015, where the agency discovered it was being used to dump roofing waste. Samples of the debris tested positive for asbestos. Brazos provided documentation of the cleanup, and the DNR closed the case.

But the DNRs well-intended remediation plan was a flop.

Five years after the initial cleanup, and three months after Skrede bought the land, he discovered piles of asbestos-containing material hidden in the trees and partially buried across the property. Beyond the potential health consequences, Skrede felt a drastic financial hit. According to an appraisal he commissioned in early 2022, the property, which he bought for $265,000, was estimated to be worth $5,000. The cleanup could have cost him as much as $1.2 million.

When Skrede confronted the DNR in March 2020 about the remaining asbestos, he found himself caught in a tangled web of bureaucracy and inaction that lasted for over two years. It was only this October that Skrede, Brazos and the DNR reached an agreement to clean it up. Between legal help and remediation estimates, Skrede has spent nearly $25,000.

Innocent buyers not always protected

Skredes situation echoes the difficulties that so-called innocent buyers across Wisconsin face when someone else contaminates their property. From manure-tainted groundwater to PFAS in drinking water, individual property owners can be left on their own to mitigate environmental hazards without enough state funding to cover cleanups. Under state law, property owners are sometimes even forced to clean up previous contamination.

In recent years, Wisconsin lawmakers have submitted bipartisan bills to help some innocent buyers, but those measures failed to pass.

The DNR and other task forces have not quantified how many individual property owners face this issue. However, Rob Lee, an attorney with Midwest Environmental Advocates who specializes in hazardous substance regulation, said innocent buyer situations are not unique.

Theres been certainly people and businesses who have bought property  (and) had no idea because it (contamination) wasnt disclosed, Lee said. Thats a very real issue. There are people in communities all across the state who find themselves in this place where they arent culpable, really, for the discharge but are nevertheless liable for it.

In a statement to Wisconsin Watch, the DNR said it lacks sufficient information to determine how the asbestos-containing material remained on Skredes property and will not pursue further action against Brazos following the October cleanup.

Zach Skrede investigates a pile of asbestos-containing material on his property in Adams County on June 18, 2021. In 2015, a state Department of Natural Resources inspection found black-and-white speckled material 1-3 feet deep piled up or used to fill in holes in a road on the property. Some of the material was found to contain friable, or loosely bound, asbestos  the most dangerous form. (Will Cioci / Wisconsin Watch)

The materials identified in 2020 are the same type of roofing material that was identified in 2015, the DNR said. However, the department cannot speculate on what may have happened and must make decisions based on fact.

Brazos Urethane did not return multiple requests for comment.

Even with the cleanup finished, Skredes fight to fully restore the property  and make back all the money he has lost  is far from over.

The first call to the DNR right then and there, they shouldve said Holy cow, yeah we missed something. What can we do to make it right?  he said. Instead, they turned the opposite way and said, What can we do to make this go away as fast as possible? I guess there was really no interest in actually resolving the issue  it was just ending the issue.

Brazos: Environmentally sound process

Asbestos is a heat-resistant, carcinogenic mineral that was widely used in construction as an insulator. It is estimated to cause 40,000 U.S. deaths each year and is linked to conditions including asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Fifty-five countries have banned asbestos, but not the United States.

DNR staff determined Brazos had dumped at least 150 cubic yards of asbestos-containing material. According to the DNRs inspection report, the material was friable, meaning it is easily pulverized into fibers that could be inhaled  the most dangerous form of asbestos.

Caution tape on Zach Skredes property in the town of Easton, in Adams County, is seen on Oct. 10, 2022, warning about the presence of asbestos. (Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Watch)

The DNR cited Brazos for illegally dumping the asbestos-laden material and alleged violations of other air pollution and solid waste laws.

In its defense, Brazos representatives claimed employees separated out the asbestos-containing material so the biodegradable layers could be used as a road base. Multiple DNR emails rebut that the material could safely be reused.

In an email to DNR officials, Howard Wallace Scoggins III, the owner of Brazos Urethane, said the company thought spreading the material on the property would be the most environmentally sound process.

Problems start at the prison

According to documents obtained by Wisconsin Watch, OSHA separately fined Brazos for three violations during the roof removal project.

Brazos received two citations for failing to use proper safety measures to prevent employees from falling off scaffolding and the roof. Another citation was for failing to monitor employees exposure to a chemical in roof foam linked to respiratory conditions.

OSHA also investigated concerns of prison employees, regarding possible exposure to asbestos. The employees filed an additional complaint through their local union, internal DNR documents show. But air monitoring during OSHAs one-day inspection found no violations.

Brazos Urethane, Inc., employees are seen during a 2015 roofing project at the Oxford Federal Correctional Institution in Oxford. (OSHA photo via DNR) Brazos Urethane, Inc., employees pour material down a chute during a 2015 roofing project at the Oxford Federal Correctional Institution, in Oxford. (OSHA photo via DNR)

The complaints claimed Brazos employees threw debris to the ground without a chute, creating a hazard. However, OSHA found a chute was used on the day of their inspection. The DNR alleged similar conduct in a notice of violation letter, including that the company cleared off the roof with a leaf-blower and threw dry asbestos-containing material down an open chute. That notice did not lead to any enforcement action.

In a statement to Wisconsin Watch, the federal Bureau of Prisons did not answer specific questions about the case but said it has procedures to engage with staff and employee unions to ensure compliance with federal and state environmental, health and safety laws and regulations.

Botched cleanup

A similar scenario played out at the Elk Avenue property cleanup, according to DNR records obtained by Skrede and Wisconsin Watch.

The DNR ordered Brazos to clean up the asbestos-containing material until it was cleared to bare ground with no indication of waste material visually evident.

The company started the cleanup at the end of November 2015. In the initial notice of violation, the DNR said department staff would need to observe the site upon completion to determine that the clean-up is adequate. On Dec. 4, 2015, DNR staff inspected the work.

But the cleanup was not yet complete: The company continued to haul waste off the property through Dec. 10, 2015.

Roofing material, some of which was found to contain friable asbestos, is seen on the Elk Avenue property in Adams County during a DNR inspection in 2015. (DNR photo)

The DNR said in a statement that it found one pile of material that remained on the site during their Dec. 4 inspection, which the agency ordered Brazos to pick up. The department used waste manifests and photographs provided by Brazos to close the case. The company paid a $3,057.50 fine for violating waste disposal requirements.

Five years later, after Skrede discovered patches of black, asphalt-like material spread over his property and learned the DNR had ordered a cleanup, he wondered: How had they missed it?

Lee, the Midwest Environmental Advocates attorney, said the DNR must rely on responsible parties to dutifully complete cleanups due to legal requirements set by the Legislature and resource limitations. Lee described it as a desktop review in which the department monitors the test results and documents provided by the responsible party before closing out a case.

There is a level of trust built in there (for) responsible parties. Its in their interest and DNRs that everybodys above board about what is happening, Lee said. But if its not, it can be difficult for the DNR to show that.

In June 2020, DNR enforcement specialist Deborah Dix initially advised Skrede to hire a contractor and have it cleaned up himself. Dix had been involved in the 2015 inspection as well.

The DNR ended up conducting another site inspection in August, after which the agency reopened the case against Brazos, and again ordered the company to clean up the property.

Evidence denied, cleanup delayed

But a series of conflicts stalled the cleanup for about two years. Brazos and the DNR declined to recognize the asbestos-containing material as friable  contradicting the departments own 2015 assessment that it was friable, or loosely bound together.

Henry Anderson, a retired state epidemiologist who studied asbestos, said when asbestos is friable, it is easier to inhale the toxic microscopic fibers, which can scar lungs and kill cells. Asbestos can remain suspended in the air, he said, and people who are exposed must take special care to avoid shedding it in enclosed spaces.

The risk is not knowing about it, Anderson said. Its a prevention thing, if youre aware of it.

Ned  and his owner Zach Skrede  stroll on their Adams County property on June 18, 2021. Skrede purchased his house and the surrounding land in 2019, only to find large deposits of asbestos-containing materials left by the former owners, the roofing company Brazos Urethane. He worries about his own health and that of his dogs, Ned and Maple. (Will Cioci / Wisconsin Watch)

But Skrede didnt know about the asbestos. He mowed the lawn, his dogs played in it and he walked through the contaminated areas  regularly exposing himself. Skrede fears the agencys non-friable determination could hurt his chances for financial compensation for future medical problems.

He worries most about his son, who was first exposed when he was 14. It can take decades for the effects of asbestos exposure to materialize.

Would you be happy about just getting a random cough at 30? Skrede said. Its not like Im demanding millions of dollars from them or anything like that  just to have some sort of medical reassurance down the road.

The DNR said in a statement that the 2015 asbestos was deemed to be friable, and the 2020 inspection found content consistent with the 2015 findings. The department did not take samples to determine friability in 2020 but said the material was ultimately handled as if it was friable in the 2022 cleanup.

The friability of asbestos also impacts how carefully it must be handled, which can increase cleanup costs. Skrede said one remediation estimate that classified the material as non-friable was for about $85,000. Another non-friable estimate was as low as $14,050. But an estimate commissioned by Skrede that classified the material as friable was for $1.2 million.

Liability question

Skrede also objected to Brazos handling the cleanup. He likened it to allowing criminals to come back to a crime scene, cleaning up their own evidence and scooting back out of town, scot free with no further action.

Its pretty messed up, he said.

When Zach Skrede bought this property in rural Adams County, he envisioned building a large fire pit and a camping area for friends. After he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2020, he planned to build a more accessible house to accommodate his long-term health needs. But his dreams were tainted after he discovered asbestos on the land. Photo taken on Oct. 10, 2022. (Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Watch)

However, under the spills law, Wisconsins flagship regulation addressing environmental contamination, Skrede didnt have much of a choice but to let Brazos proceed with the cleanup.

The spills law holds that anyone who causes, possesses or controls a hazardous substance discharge is liable for cleaning it up. Since Skrede is the current property owner, that means he could be held financially responsible for the cleanup if he did not let Brazos complete it, according to John Robinson, a former DNR official who enforced the law.

Skrede initially refused to let Brazos onto his property, but the DNR responded with a letter that said he may have to complete the clean up at (his) own expense  which Skrede perceived as a threat.

Theyve already made it clear that they can and will make me the responsible party for it, he said.

Some Wisconsinites face contamination alone

While the DNR first looks for the original polluter, Lee said the nature of the spills law means people may have to pay for contamination they didnt cause.

The whole point of the spills law is to shift the cost of cleanup on those who most appropriately bear that burden, Lee said. It may not always be the person who had the 55-gallon drum and was dumping it into whatever water body  but, the point is, that the state and the taxpayers shouldnt have to pay that burden.

Zach Skrede purchased this Adams County property in 2019, only to find some asbestos-containing materials left by the former owners, the roofing company Brazos Urethane. In 2015, the state Department of Natural Resources ordered the company to clean up the property, but five years later, Skrede discovered even more roofing material on his land. Photo taken June 18, 2021. (Will Cioci / Wisconsin Watch)

While some Wisconsinites are held legally liable under the spills law, private individuals in general have few public resources to help pay for remediation. People can sometimes buy a property without knowing about previous contamination, or contamination can spread from one source to other properties. This is a common problem with nitrate  one of Wisconsins most common groundwater contaminants which comes from manure, fertilizer and septic systems.

Individuals can sue the original polluters if they didnt disclose contamination. But Robinson said this route can be expensive and time-consuming. Legacy contamination, in which the company or individual responsible for contamination is no longer around, is another problem.

There are other funds that will pay for new wells or other things to protect those innocent parties, but theres not enough money, Robinson said.

For example, Gov. Tony Evers launched a $10 million grant program in August to help people replace or reconstruct contaminated private drinking water wells. The program is expected to help just over 1,000 households.

However, a report commissioned for the Legislature estimates that at least 42,000 private wells fail to meet the health requirements set for nitrate. The cost of replacing those wells is over $440 million.

Innocent purchasers legislation stalls

The Wisconsin Legislature has recently tried to help innocent purchasers. Bills proposed in 2017 and 2021 would have created liability exemptions for buyers who purchased properties in between the enactment of the spills law in 1978 and mandatory disclosure laws in 1992, which require anyone selling property to disclose such defects.

The DNR does not track the legal status of responsible parties. However, earlier this year, the department estimated that the 2021 innocent purchaser bill would have helped 5-10% of 16,600 known sites documented under the spills law.

In a memorandum, the Wisconsin Brownfields Study Group, a subcommittee of scientists, attorneys and researchers, said the lack of resources to help individuals pay for remediation compared to the numerous funding mechanisms available to municipalities and businesses raises a question of fairness of the current system.

Ken Koeppler is being held liable for contamination beneath a building he owns in Madison despite the fact he was never involved in the dry cleaning business that operated there in the 1950s and 1960s. The building had been converted into residential housing before he purchased it in the 1980s. He is shown Nov. 29, 2021, in Madison. (Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

While the legislation would not help Skrede, it would aid Ken Koeppler, a Madison resident who discovered in 2015 that a property he purchased in 1987 was a former dry cleaning site. Since the DNR named him the responsible party, Koeppler has spent over $50,000 on remediation, legal services and other costs with no end in sight. Over the next three years, he estimates he will spend an additional $100,000.

I was under the impression that if  I just did this one more step of the investigation, then perhaps we could get this cleaned up, he said. But I have since learned that theres a long way before that can be closed. It seems like I was getting nickel and dimed until I just said I dont have any more money to spend on this.

Despite bipartisan support, both bills failed. In a letter to the Legislature, DNR representative Christine Haag said the legislation could hamper the DNRs enforcement of the spills law, which is already under threat due to a lawsuit that challenges the agencys ability to mandate cleanups for unregulated contaminants, such as PFAS, sometimes called forever chemicals.

In a statement, the DNR said the innocent purchaser legislation did not ensure that the public is protected from exposure to contamination and could have created hundreds of brownfields, which are properties that are not used or developed due to environmental contamination.

After the legislation failed, the DNR said its Remediation and Redevelopment program continued talks with legislators about a proposal known as Revitalize Wisconsin, which would provide grants and services to local governments and private parties that did not cause the pollution to fully cover cleanup costs. The proposal remained in draft form when the Legislature adjourned last session, but the department is in preliminary conversations about the proposal for the upcoming legislative session.

Who pays for it?

Other states offer a cautionary tale about liability exemptions. In Michigan, home to a liability standard looser than the spills law, an estimated 14,000 sites lack a designated responsible party. State funds to address these brownfields are severely lacking, meaning thousands of sites remain contaminated and undeveloped.

Making financially sustainable changes and avoiding a situation like Michigans would require the Legislature to provide more funding to help unwitting property owners, Robinson and Lee said. If you shift liability, liability doesnt go away. The problem  the degradation of the environment  doesnt go away, Robinson said.

At the end of the day, who pays for it?

A sign on Zach Skredes property in the town of Easton in Adams County warns about the presence of asbestos. The contracting company Hogan Environmental Cleaning, LLC is seen preparing to clean up material that had been deposited by the lands former owner, Brazos Urethane. Photo taken Oct. 10, 2022. (Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Watch)

According to the DNR, it would cost $62 to $416 million to investigate and clean up all the properties that would have been exempted under the 2021 innocent purchaser legislation.

State-funded cleanups recover their costs  and then some, research shows. The states $121.4 million investment to convert brownfields into usable properties recouped $1.77 billion from tax revenue generated by new occupants  a more than 14-fold return, according to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Fiscal and Economic Research Center.

Regardless of the cost or return on investment, Koeppler believes the state must find a middle ground.

The fact that funding doesnt exist to do everything necessary is not a justification to destroy some innocent property owners life and bankrupt them, he said.

States system wildly ineffective

After over two years of haggling with the DNR and Brazos, Skredes property was finally cleaned up in October. The department made three site visits, twice directing Brazos that more cleanup was required before the agency was satisfied.

The contractor at the site removed up to 1,500 cubic yards of roofing material debris  five times more than originally estimated. Thats enough to fill about 100 concrete mixer trucks.

Skredes property is seen on the third day of cleanup, on Oct. 12, 2022. The cleanup, which had been stalled for over two years, revealed more debris than the contractors expected to find. According to DNR documents, the contractors anticipated they would uncover up to 1,500 cubic yards of material  five times more than originally estimated. (Courtesy of Zach Skrede)

The DNR officially closed Skredes case on Nov. 30. In a statement to Wisconsin Watch, the DNR said Brazos completion of the cleanup serves the regulatory purpose and would require no further action. The agency said it lacked resources for additional investigation, which they said appears unlikely to advance this regulatory outcome.

It just kind of speaks volumes for the public service that we pay for to handle these issues and protect the people and environment in the state, Skrede said. Theyre just wildly ineffective.

However, the Environmental Protection Agency continues to investigate the case. An EPA spokesperson said the agency cannot comment on pending or active enforcement actions.

Skrede is also pursuing legal action to recoup his financial losses and cover potential future health problems, including a lawsuit against the real estate agent who sold him the property.

He seeks more proactive mechanisms to protect property owners, such as a public database that would allow potential buyers to investigate previous contamination on the land. Currently the state does not mandate solid waste tracking.

The DNR has fielded past proposals for creating a database, according to Robinson, who called such an outcome ideal. Currently, different branches and programs of the agency collect information in various formats for separate databases, some internal and some public.

Unified database expensive

In a statement to Wisconsin Watch, the DNR said the agency has no current plans to construct such a database, citing a lack of funding and statutory authority to curate the necessary information.

It takes a lot of time and effort to set up those systems, Robinson said. They (DNR) have not made that investment.

Zach Skrede purchased this Adams County property in 2019, only to find some asbestos-containing materials left by the former owners, the roofing company Brazos Urethane. Skrede is seen on the property on Oct. 10, 2022. (Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Watch)

With his property cleaned up, Skredes dreams have finally come back into focus. He plans to start building a house to accommodate his looming health problems the moment the grass grows back.

He cant predict whether he will be made whole again  financially or emotionally.

You wanna have a little more hope in the system than that, but when it comes out like this, it leaves a pretty bitter taste in the mouth.

Most commonly hunted migratory birds in Wisconsin Most commonly hunted migratory birds in Wisconsin #23. Mallard X Black Hybrid #22. Ruddy Duck #21. Black Duck #20. Scoters #19. Greater Scaup #18. Hooded Merganser #16. Long-tailed Duck (tie) #16. Northern Shoveler #14. Wigeon (tie) #14. Goldeneyes #13. Redhead #12. Canvasback #11. Lesser Scaup #10. Domestic Mallard #9. Northern Pintail #8. Bufflehead #7. Gadwall #6. Ring-necked Duck #5. Blue-winged/Cinnamon Teal #4. Green-winged Teal #3. Mallard #2. Wood Duck #1. Canada Goose
Over the past several years, efforts to legalize recreational and medical marijuana have been repeatedly stymied by Republican legislative leaders. Measures have been deleted from budget proposals, given a hearing after legislative floor periods have concluded or, more often, not given a hearing at all.

But the dynamic appears to be changing for medical cannabis.

As in past years, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has made clear this year that he wants to legalize marijuana across the board. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told the Wisconsin State Journal in December that he supports narrow measures to legalize medical marijuana, reiterating his past views.

The most significant holdout, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg  who said in 2021 that hes not comfortable with Wisconsin legalizing marijuana before the federal government does  told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last week that the Senate GOP was moving closer to supporting medical marijuana for serious conditions.

Such a measure was put forth last year by Sen. Mary Felzkowski, R-Irma. There was a hearing on it in April 2022  the first public hearing for a marijuana bill since 2009 and the first time in Wisconsin that a Republican-led Legislature granted a public hearing for a medical marijuana bill.

Felzkowski said Tuesday that she and the Assembly lead author, Rep. Patrick Snyder, R-Schofield, plan to reintroduce the measure this coming session.

Her bill last year would have permitted medical marijuana for people with conditions including Crohns disease, glaucoma, cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The measure would have permitted only non-smokable forms of marijuana.

Felzkowski said this sessions version could include tweaks to expand the program to other serious conditions. She said shes open to amendments her caucus supports to get the bill passed.

In order to pass its going to have to be very tightly written, tighter than what most of the constituency wants, she said. My theory is, lets get it done. And then we can see how this all plays out and then, down the road, future legislators could tweak it.

In December, Vos said the bill was too liberal. But he said he would support a modified form of it, adding he planned to meet with Felzkowski to talk about it.

Felzkowski said that meeting hasnt happened yet.

The previous version of the bill would have required licensed producers, processors and laboratories to operate in enclosed, locked facilities and they could not have past drug convictions. It would also have required them to sell directly to medical dispensaries  not directly to patients  a requirement that would likely close the door on small-time producers as well as patients producing marijuana for their own use.

In last years version of the bill, a Medical Marijuana Regulatory Commission was proposed to regulate the medical marijuana program. Medical marijuana patients given a written recommendation from a physician, physicians assistant or certified advanced practice nurse prescriber would then have been able to access cannabis products stocked by wholesalers who would be subject to a 10% state excise tax.

Felzkowski said Tuesday shes open to tweaking how those sales would be taxed.

Vos said in December his biggest fear around medical marijuana is that it would pave the way for legalized recreational marijuana, something Evers said hell include in his upcoming budget proposal, as he has in past ones.

By him putting in recreational marijuana, saying thats what were eventually going to get to, that makes everybody afraid of doing anything, Vos said. So again, its not helpful at accomplishing his goal, but hes going to make that choice.

As of last February, 37 states permitted medical marijuana, including states with Republican legislatures and governors and neighboring states Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.

An October 2022 Marquette Law School Poll found 64% of registered voters in Wisconsin, including 46% of Republicans, want marijuana to be fully legalized. A 2019 Marquette Law School Poll found 83% of Wisconsinites said medical marijuana should be legal.
Nearly seven months after a Madison doctor bought two properties in Rockford, Illinois, to open abortion clinics in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade, the first clinic has opened and the second is expected to start up this spring.

A city zoning decision and a monthslong wait for an Illinois medical license delayed Dr. Dennis Christensens plan to open the first clinic, for pill abortions. The clinic opened last week, seeing its first patient Friday, Christensen said Monday.

Remodeling started last week on the second site, for surgical abortions and other care, which could be ready by April, he said.

Were happy to be open, said Christensen, an obstetrician-gynecologist who has provided abortions in Madison and Milwaukee and is now mostly retired. The whole reason for doing this is to make the service available for patients in Rockford and probably most of southern Wisconsin.

The Supreme Courts ending of federal abortion rights in June led abortion providers in Wisconsin to halt procedures as courts determine whether the states 1849 law banning nearly all abortions stands.

Wisconsin women seeking abortions can travel to other states where the procedures remain legal, including Minnesota and Illinois. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin staff has been working at the Planned Parenthood of Illinois abortion clinic in Waukegan, north of Chicago.

A Food and Drug Administration rule last week expanded access to pill abortions in states such as Minnesota and Illinois by allowing certified pharmacies to dispense mifepristone, the first of two medications used. The drug, approved to end pregnancies up to 10 weeks, previously had to be provided by a doctors office or clinic.

Pharmacies already had been able to provide misoprostol, the second drug, which for abortions is taken a day or two after mifepristone.

The FDA rule will have no immediate effect in Wisconsin, providers say.

Elective abortions in Wisconsin continue to be suspended because of uncertainty over whether the 1849 law is enforceable, and state laws prohibit mail order or pharmacy pickup of mifepristone, said Michelle Velasquez, legal advocacy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

The FDA rule should expand the availability of mifepristone in the state for other uses, however, such as management of miscarriages, said Velasquez and Sarah Sorum, CEO of the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin.

Abortion medications also are available through a telemedicine service based in Europe, called Aid Access, where doctors prescribe pills shipped by a pharmacy in India, according to the groups website. Requests to Aid Access for abortion pills more than tripled in Wisconsin after Roe v. Wade was overturned, a recent study found.

Pill abortions accounted for 54% of all abortions nationally in 2020, up from 39% in 2017, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights.

Christensens new clinic, the Rockford Family Planning Center, provides an office visit, the medications and a follow-up call for $475, he said. The clinic, at 611 Auburn St., also offers pregnancy confirmation, counseling and referrals for surgical abortions and prenatal care.

In August, Rockfords planning and zoning administration said a 1982 special use permit for the property requires a provider to live at the site, which delayed Christensens opening. He eventually resolved the issue by having his clinic manager agree to live there.

Christensen is still waiting for his previous medical license in Illinois to be renewed but said he recently obtained a temporary one from the state, allowing him to oversee the clinic.

The Rockford Family Planning Foundation is preparing the other site Christensen purchased, at 4236 Maray Drive, for surgical abortions and other care, including birth control and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
SOMERS  The University of Wisconsin-Parkside will play host to an established math and science conference for girls in 7th and 8th grades with a special guest to power the keynote address.

The 10th Annual Girls Empowered by Math & Science Conference, presented by Girls Inc. of Southeast Wisconsin will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday with Miss America Grace Stanke delivering the keynote address to kick off the event for 450 girls who currently attend middle schools in the Racine Unified School District.

The conference will take place on the Parkside campus at 900 Wood Road.

Stanke, 20, of Wausau, was Miss Wisconsin before being crowned Miss America 2023 on Dec. 15 at the Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort in Uncasville, Conn. She is an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is studying nuclear engineering. As Miss America she is receiving a $50,000 scholarship and is the reigning titleholder for a year.

Thursdays math and conference will include interactive and engaging presentations in which girls in attendance will have the chance to hear from experts in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, while learning about careers and opportunities available to them, according to event organizers.

Three hands-on STEM workshops are also scheduled and students will be able to participate in campus tours and interact with a college student panel.

The event is sponsored by SC Johnson, American Association of University Women-Racine Branch, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Racine Unified School District, Gateway Technical College, Inclusity, United Way of Racine County, SAFE Haven of Racine, Community State Bank, Educators Credit Union, Eaton Corporation, We Energies and Summit Credit Union.

Girls Inc. of Southeast Wisconsin is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering girls to be strong, smart, and bold. Through research-based programming and a network of supportive adults, Girls Inc. helps girls navigate their way to academic and personal success. For more information, visit www.girlsincsewi.org
Hong Kong: Govt follows up on flight restriction

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today said it is highly concerned about the restriction imposed by the Korean authority that requires passenger flights from Hong Kong to only land at Incheon International Airport. It is following up on the restriction with a view to minimising the impact on Hong Kong travellers.

The Hong Kong SAR Government noted that passenger flights from Hong Kong will only be permitted to land at Incheon International Airport starting from today till the end of next month.

It considers the restriction - which targets flights departing from Hong Kong - unreasonable. It has written to the Korean authority and liaised with the Consulate General of Korea in Hong Kong to express its grave concern and strongly request the authority to withdraw the restriction.

The Transport & Logistics Bureau has reminded local airlines to inform affected travellers of the latest flight arrangements as soon as possible and to provide the necessary support and assistance.

This story has been published on: 2023-01-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By Trend

All countries in the world recognize Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference, Trend reports via the Armenian media.

Pashinyan added that following the results of the Prague meeting (held on October 6, 2022), an agreement was reached that Armenia and Azerbaijan recognize their territorial integrity on the basis of the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration.
Kiev Brags It Pays for Weapons from NATO with Ukrainian Blood

Jan. 9, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)Kiev is shedding blood to carry out the mission NATO set for itself, and expects the civilized West to provide weapons and ammunition in return, Oleksii Reznikov, Defense Minister of the Kiev regime, stated in a Jan. 5 TV interview with 1+1 networks TSN channel, RT reported the next day.

NATO declared Russia to be its greatest threat at its June 2022 summit in Madrid, Reznikov said. Today, Ukraine is addressing that threat. Were carrying out NATOs mission today, without shedding their blood. We shed our blood, so we expect them to provide weapons.

In an interview with Newsweek published Jan. 7, Ukraines Ambassador to Britain Vadym Prystaiko, similarly expressed the historic tenet of the fascist followers of Stephan Bandera: That Ukraines mission is to destroy Russia, at the cost of the nation and its people, if necessary:

Weve been in the war for almost a year now. Were losing people left and right. Were not advertising how many of those lost are military or civilians, but you can imagine that numbers are huge, indigestible. And the cities, some of them are totally destroyed, he told Newsweek.

If we stop right now for any sort of peace negotiations, the Russians will try to keep their land grabs, whatever theyve managed to achieve up until now. And most of these areas are quite crucial. For example, this land bridge to Crimea. The West now has a unique chance. There are not many nations in the world who would allow themselves to sacrifice so many lives, territories and decades of development for the purpose of defeating the archenemy.

Prystaiko told Newsweek that he had served as chief negotiator for the Minsk agreements. He did so, fully complicit with the now-exposed project to use Minsk solely to buy time to prepare Ukraine for war against Russia. EIR reported at the time that then-Deputy Foreign Minister Prystaiko told Canadas CBC Radio bluntly in a Feb. 21, 2015, interview that we dont want to scare everybody, but we are preparing for full-scale war.... What we expect from the world is that the world will stiffen up in the spine a little. Everybody is afraid of fighting with a nuclear state. We are not anymore, in Ukraine. He went on to head Ukraines mission to NATO from July 2017 to August 2019.

Prystaiko assured Newsweek that now that the U.S. has promised a Patriot battery, tanks and fighter jets cannot be far behind. We never expected a Patriot system, he said. Seriously, this is a top-of-the-line anti-ballistic missile system, which was totally out of the question. I guess tanks, helicopters and even planes are much easier now. Ukraine and its NATO partners must prepare to make sure that such platforms can be adopted immediately, he urged. Lets train our pilots and mechanics now. People hear us and understand that.

Ukraine is becoming part of NATO, he insisted. Weve been exposed to more and more NATO culture altogether. So were becoming interoperable because were doing it on the ground. And thats why Im sure that whether the political decision is here or not now, we will be a part of NATO. People just have to get used to that.
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR TUESDAY JANUARY 10, 2023

Where Are We At? and What Do We Do About It?

Jan. 9, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)The international Schiller Institute and LaRouche movements in many countries around the world have launched a campaign over the next six weeks to catalyze an international mass movement, extending across the so-called West and the Global South alike, around the demand that unconditional negotiations be undertaken immediately to resolve the Ukrainian-Russian conflict before we are all blown up in a nuclear war. This single continuous mobilization over the next six weeks will be focused through a series of conferences debating the ideas required to create a world revolution for peace and development, leading up to a day of international rallies against war on February 19.

The NATO countries insist that there can be no peace negotiations until Russia has been defeated on the battlefield. The maniacal mentality of the current Ukrainian leadership that NATO is deploying was expressed in the shocking interview to Newsweek two days ago by Ukraines Ambassador to London Vadym Prystaiko, in which he presents Ukraines mission as that of destroying Russia, at the cost of the nation and its people, if necessary. We are losing people left and right, he admitted, and the number of military, civilians, of entire cities lost is huge. But, he insisted, we are NATOs best chance to defeat Russia, because there are not many nations in the world who would allow themselves to sacrifice so many lives, territories and decades of development for the purpose of defeating the archenemy.

That is madness. A mass movement is now needed. How can we wake up enough people, in time, to overturn those behind this insane commitment?

For starters, join the tens of thousands of people now watching the exchange between outspoken former Marine weapons inspector Scott Ritter, independent New York U.S. Senatorial candidate Diane Sare, and Schiller Institute chairwoman Helga Zepp-LaRouche which took place on January 8, during the Sare for Senate Policy Discussion on the subject Can Nuclear War Be Avoided?

That full discussion demonstrated the principle of how this process of dialogue can lead to the world revolution in ideas needed, especially in the exchange between those three, posted separately under the provocative title: Prove me wrong. It bears watching.

Ritter described the stage upon which this battle is being fought: Death is on a pale horse, riding to us, as we speak! And if you dont recognize that, if youre not aware of that, then youre going to just blissfully go to the abyss, the Armageddon that Helga spoke of. We are on the cusp of thermonuclear war, he exclaimed. He laid out, step by step, how we got to where we are today:

We have the worlds two largest nuclear arsenals, and the people responsible for coming up with mechanisms to control these arsenals, and to hopefully diminish these arsenals, are the very same people who are responsible for modernizing these arsenals and making these weapons more relevant to their respective national security postures!

This is insanity! Literally the definition of insanity! I cant come up with a quicker route toward global suicide than the one I just described. Nobody is talking disarmament. Everybody is talking arms race.

Ritter stated that he does not see any possible outcome but a Russian victory on the battlefield, and can only hope that NATO will not, in that event, rage, rage against the dying of its light, and end human civilization. He praised the work of Helga Zepp-LaRouche and the Schiller Institute to force through a negotiated solution, but said he did not think such an approach was possible anymore. But, Ritter stated, he urged Helga Zepp-LaRouche to please prove me wrong.

Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche, self-declared realist and eternal optimist, responded, laying out her compelling case that mankind, as a creative species, is capable of catalyzing a greater good than this evil we face today.

She urged people to listen to Ritter on the danger; he is right. But this is a moment of epochal change, and there are elements of hope. Pope Francis has offered the Vatican as a forum for such unconditional negotiations, and the Schiller Institute is mobilizing people to back that offer. The idea has been raised that Brazil, under the Lula government, together with other leading Global South nations, such as India, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey, etc., could facilitate unconditional negotiations for a peaceful settlement. All such efforts build the potential for a breakthrough.

She insists: The path to the worldwide revolution towards the new international security and development architecture which humanity deserves, which will eliminate the danger of nuclear war, is to spread the discussion everywhere of the idea that man is good, his nature is good, and that all evil in the world comes from a lack of development, and therefore can be overcome.... Because, to stop the war is the first step, but we are creative human beings, who can decide what is the order under which we can live together in the 21st century, and hopefully the many millennia beyond.

A concluding coda: This past Sunday, from an unlikely corner, came a beautiful vision of what humanitys future can be. Discussing the recent breakthroughs in developing fusion power, science writer Mark Whittington made the case that those advances bring humanity that much closer to fusion-powered rockets, that will make the difference between occasional voyages into deep space for scientific exploration and turning the Solar System, with all of its abundant resources, into a realm of human civilization.

And that was before todays announcement of a new milestone in fusion confinement achieved in Chinas EAST tokamak.
Sharif D. Ragnekars Queersapien is a worthy try at tracing the lifetime of Sharif and exploring how queerness is embedded in a number of kinds. Nonetheless, the best way the guide has been marketed about queerness being encompassing is one thing that the guide drastically fails to dwell as much as. The synopsis of the guide reads is a searing and uncooked reflection on life, media, neoliberalism, politics and the internal selflike queerness, this guide cant be thematised right into a field.

Sharif says about Indian searching for denims and garments that didnt match the conservative cultural ethos  it didnt matter if there have been knock offs or fakes. In the end, the guide has loads of uncalled commentary on tradition on the whole, which additionally locations a sure stage of morality and respectability at the next floor, or at the least it makes an attempt to. Calling girls who maintain conventional understanding of intercourse as merely merchandise of organized marriages additionally hides the methods girls are coerced into marriage and denied from having schooling or profession.

Within the preface titled The Queersapien Im, We Can Be, Sharif marvelously takes us by means of the totally different kinds that queerness can take, however one must ask if that comes at the price of simplifying the thought of intersectionality. Whereas the guide is solely from the expertise of Sharif as a homosexual man residing in India and looking for a greater, free-er homosexual life in Bangkok, the tone of queerness it assumes is universalising in nature, which is antithetical to the thought of queerness itself.

The guide as an account of Sharifs life can be messy and unfold throughout. For example, the opening chapter Judgement offers with the nuances of the written order from the Indian Supreme Courtroom that learn down Part 377. The chapter begins with the Choose Indu Malhotras feedback about historical past owing an apology to the neighborhood.

Additionally learn: Queer Politics In India: In the direction of Sexual Subaltern Topics By Shraddha Chatterjee | Guide Evaluation

Sharif then takes us by means of the myriad of meanings that queerness means, particularly for him as a homosexual man when it comes to liveability; and explores what the judgment signifies. It additionally makes the sharp and uncommon remark about theres more to queer lives in India than same-sex marriage particularly the necessity of legal guidelines that protects us. Sadly, the remainder of the chapter does disservice to the queer rights motion in India, and omits the contribution of trans individuals to the motion.

When discussing about intercourse employees, Sharif says, nevertheless, I had the privilege and energy to shift my eyes on another person which definitely feels discomforting to say the least. Theres some dialogue of homosexual tradition like disco because the homosexual music, appearances, participating in medicine, the best way falangs behave in Thailand, and extra.

Within the subsequent sequence of chapters, Sharif explores the variations between the homosexual tradition of India versus Thailand, which sits on the heart of his work. These are the observations about cultural variations which marks this work on queerness peculiar from different comparable narratives. There are the standard comparisons to Delhi or Mumbai and the way Thailand as an area is totally different however greater than that theres emphasis on how its totally different for Sharif as a homosexual man, as theres a a lot bigger sense of freedom in being who youre. Taking us by means of the chaos and the congestion, the chapter dives into the streets of Bangkok, adopted by one other that does the identical for Pattaya, which can be known as sin metropolis or intercourse metropolis.

That is the place probably the most important critique of the guide lies as there are a number of cases the place Sharif is merely acknowledging his privilege but it surely comes off as being overtly judgemental throughout making observations. For example, when discussing intercourse employees, Sharif says, nevertheless, I had the privilege and energy to shift my eyes on another person which definitely feels discomforting to say the least. Theres some dialogue of homosexual tradition like disco because the homosexual music, appearances, participating in medicine, the best way falangs behave in Thailand, and extra.

There are a lot of pointless comparisons driving some extent concerning the cultural distinction. Sharif says about Indian searching for denims and garments that didnt match the conservative cultural ethos  it didnt matter if there have been knock offs or fakes. In the end, the guide has loads of uncalled commentary on tradition on the whole, which additionally locations a sure stage of morality and respectability at the next floor, or at the least it makes an attempt to. Calling girls who maintain conventional understanding of intercourse as merely merchandise of organized marriages additionally hides the methods girls are coerced into marriage and denied from having schooling or profession.

To quote an instance, Sharif says, I may by no means comprehend how tough it could have been to supply his physique, carry out with ardour and do all that it took to deliver a smile on the face of a consumer. Throughout the similar breadth, Sharif additionally makes a disrespectful comparability citing- everybody has a possible to like no matter their career (whereas speaking about male intercourse employees in Thailand) as a result of even murderers, hate-mongering criminals, and ruthless money-makers have a mushy facet.

One other critique of the guide thats value mentioning is that after some extent, Sharifs story turns into extra about Sharif narrating the life tales of individuals he met in Thailand, of his buddies, and of his household. On one hand, this work as most of them additionally made it by means of life dealing with difficulties and on the finish, they have been tied collectively by love. Having mentioned that, theres nothing queer about these narratives and as soon as once more, the comparisons that Sharif makes to make sure the validity of his experiences appears futile, principally as a result of they miss the purpose that queerness being 100 different issues, can be distinctive to each individual on the earth. Having talked about at first,

Queerness, nevertheless, is just not about turning again in time; its about turning issues round, Sharifs work doesnt maintain as much as it.

Even the bits that make clear intercourse economic system and the cultural variations between India and Thailand when it comes to intercourse have some references to historical past, analysis experiences, and knowledge which calls for for a deeper exploration than mere point out of the identical. Maybe, there may have been footnotes to broaden on them and their significance additional.

Additionally learn: Guide Evaluation: Unruly Visions: The Aesthetic Practices Of Queer Diaspora By Gayatri Gopinath

One other challenge with the guide is the language that Sharif has employed in the direction of intercourse employees on the whole. Whereas theres a way of curiosity at somebody experiencing intercourse work in a queer context for the primary time, but, for a guide that talks about dignity and equality when it comes to love and rights no matter sexual id, theres a lot to enhance upon.

To quote an instance, Sharif says, I may by no means comprehend how tough it could have been to supply his physique, carry out with ardour and do all that it took to deliver a smile on the face of a consumer. Throughout the similar breadth, Sharif additionally makes a disrespectful comparability citing- everybody has a possible to like no matter their career (whereas speaking about male intercourse employees in Thailand) as a result of even murderers, hate-mongering criminals, and ruthless money-makers have a mushy facet.

On one hand, the exploration of discovering liberation, love or settling down in Thailand affords a novel (albeit privileged) perspective on what it means to seek out different avenues of exploring queerness and being free in the true sense. All of it comes with a heavy judgment on others, typically with a disrespectful tone in the direction of individuals from totally different lessons which is disguised as one being biased on observations. This is a matter as a result of what Sharif explores turns into extra concerning the optics and visibility and the way he views particular individualss lives, fairly than a real exploration of what makes his life journey queer.

When the guide mentions about Sharifs well-known buddies from the queer neighborhood or hints on the wrestle of somebody being denied the selection of finding out liberal arts at Ashoka College, I couldnt surprise how this account is knee deep in privilege.

The few locations the place Sharif makes wise factors embody the lack of policy making in corporates for inclusion of queer people, observations about cultural variations between Thailand and India and their views on sexuality, critique of the Indian tradition of hostility in the direction of different gender identities, observations about how the legislation can not resolve private and cultural realities, and Sharifs expertise of being closeted versus out and proud in an expert setting.

Within the chapter titled To Love is A Battle, theres once more an overemphasis on Sharifs household and their backstory which appears unwarranted for a guide based mostly centrally across the concept of queerness. The one first rate understanding round queerness is obtainable in a brief excerpt concerning the concept of selecting households. Baring this, the chapter is a dry commentary on Indian tradition being sexist and homophobic. Within the chapter that follows, theres a tracing of Sharifs Brahmin lineage with uncommon emphasis on how delight is multiples caste id. However once more, the comparability to freedom fighters appears uncanny as preventing for the nation is vastly totally different from waging a battle in opposition to the identical nation for demanding equal rights.

When the guide mentions about Sharifs well-known buddies from the queer neighborhood or hints on the wrestle of somebody being denied the selection of finding out liberal arts at Ashoka College, I couldnt surprise how this account is knee deep in privilege. And even with the mentions of queer activists like Dhiren Borisa, Jyotsna Siddharth, and Dr. Aqsa Shaikh . Sharif has did not study from their experiences round the way to weave a life round queerness into phrases. Greater than that, that is based mostly on a pedestaling of queer individuals which harms the narrative of normalising queerness or discovering universality throughout the similar. Queer theorists like Halberstam have additionally warned in opposition to the idea of upholding queer people in higher regards so as to make them seem normal.

Leaving apart just a few private anecdotes and provoking narratives centered round love, freedom, household and cultural variations, Sharif D. Rangnekars Queersapien is a lackluster try on redefining queerness replete with uninformed feedback, pointless comparisons, and a disservice to the varied and intersectional queer motion in India.

Additionally learn: 5 Indian Books With Queer Protagonists You Want To Learn

Whereas the guide completely works as a homosexual mans story to search for deeper meanings of queerness by means of his life experiences, the universalising tone stands at odd with the privilege that Sharif holds, particularly one that permits him to discover queerness and homosexual life as a vacationer in Thailand, which is definitely not true for many of the queers. On the similar time, the emphasis is inadvertently on discovering queer life by means of escapism or by means of assimilation however missing a self-reflective account.
HOLDREGE  The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (Central) recently finalized two long-term agreements to enhance groundwater recharge from its system of canals and laterals in Phelps, Kearney and Gosper counties.

We believe that these agreements may represent the largest commitment to groundwater recharge ever in Nebraska, possibly the United States, said Devin Brundage, Centrals general manager. The agreements will yield significant benefits to the irrigated area, to the Platte River basin and associated wildlife habitat along with all of the stakeholders who rely on water resources in the basin from McConaughy to Minden.

Under the agreements, the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program (PRRIP) will provide $9.15 million for groundwater aquifer recharge services associated with the Phelps Canal and Elwood Reservoir for up to 20 years. The PRRIP also provided Central $2 million to assist with the Elwood Dam Seepage Mitigation project to help support those recharge activities.

In addition, the State of Nebraska  through the Department of Natural Resources and partnerships with Tri-Basin and Central Platte Natural Resource Districts  will provide up to $19.1 million to divert water into the E65 Canal, Phelps Canal, Elwood Reservoir and several Waterfowl Production Areas to provide groundwater recharge over the next 15 years.

Groundwater recharge that occurs from diverting water into Centrals canal system for irrigation deliveries is referred to as incidental recharge. Over the last 80 years, this incidental recharge has resulted in an artificially high water table in the area referred to as the groundwater mound.

Recharge can also occur intentionally during the non-irrigation season when water that is in excess to target flows (as determined by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service) in the Platte River is diverted into the E-65 Canal, Elwood Reservoir and the Phelps Canal. These recharge efforts are the basis for the agreements with the State of Nebraska and the PRRIP.

Maintaining the mound is important to groundwater irrigators because it helps to reduce pumping costs and supports groundwater pumping activities up and down the Platte River basin, said Tom Riley, director of the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. Additionally, recharge helps to support baseflow for both the Platte and Republican rivers. These long-term recharge agreements are a critical water service that establishes a foundational management tool for Nebraskas water portfolio and solidifies groundwater resources in central Nebraska.

The two agreements will be carried forward as part of the new Platte River Public Power and Irrigation District (PRPPID) following the approval and implementation of Centrals merger with Dawson Public Power District later this year. It is expected that PRPPIDs greater resources will only further and expand these intentional recharge services in its irrigation service area and the Platte River basin.
LEXINGTON  With the start of the new year, the Lexington school board tackled a list of housekeeping items during their meeting on Monday, Jan. 9.

Carlos Saiz was elected as school board president, Travis Maloley was named vice-president, Larry Steinberger remained secretary and Drew Welch, the finance director was named treasurer.

Board Committees for 2023 included:

Buildings and Grounds: Roger Reutlinger, Travis Maloley, Larry Steinberger

Legislative and Finance: Travis Maloley, Roger Reutlinger, Larry Steinberger

American Civics and Curriculum: Garth Mins, Carlos Saiz, Travis Maloley

Policy and Transportation: Cindy Benjamin, Carlos Saiz, Roger Reutlinger

Activities: Carlos Saiz, Cindy Benjamin, Larry Steinberger

Calendar: Cindy Benjamin, Larry Steinberger

Superintendent John Hakonson was appointed as the official district representative for all local, state, and federal programs. This allows him to sign official documents and agreements on behalf of the board.

Maria Barajas, Jeremy Roberts and Steve Smith once again have agreed to serve as community representatives on the Lexington Public Schools Building Corporation. Hakonson said the district wont likely have any LPSBC projects in 2023.

Roger Reutlinger, Larry Steinberger and Superintendent Hakonson were appointed to the Lexington Community Facilities Agency, they have served in the capacity for the last several years and no LCFA projects are anticipated for this year.

The Lexington Clipper-Herald was designated as the official district newspaper.

Later in the meeting the board approved a policy change including the method of providing notice of school board meetings. Hakonson said the Omaha World-Herald is an alternate place to publish the meeting notices; the Tri-City Tribune was removed as an alternate as it is no longer published.

Pinnacle Bank and Great Western Bank were designated as the depositories for district funds and Heldt, McKeone, & Copley Law and KSB School Law were named as legal counsel.

During the technology discussion, the board approved the purchase of two servers from Dell Technologies for $23,023.38. Hakonson said the servers in the technology department have reached the end of their life spans and need to be replaced. They received two estimates and Dell offered the best price.

The board took time to receive comment on the policy concerning reimbursement and miscellaneous expenditures as required by statue.

The board also reviewed the Plan for Safe Return, as required on a six month basis. Hakonson said masking remains optional and there have been no major recommendation changes from the Centers for Disease Control.

The board tabled a motion for the purchase for PreK-5 math materials so there could be more time for review.

During the report period, Lexington Middle School principal Scott West said the students had finished up with their MAP testing and are gearing up for the spring semester.

Pershing Elementary principal Kellie Cetak said she and her staff are already starting to think ahead into the next school year.

Hakonson offered his congratulations for the once in a lifetime, opportunity for the 2021 and sponsor Erica Brockmoller for qualifying as one of 44 national Pacemaker finalists by the National Scholastic Press Association for their yearbook.

LHS was the only school from Nebraska to qualify.

Newly elected District 7 Nebraska State Board of Education member Elizabeth Tegtmeier will be visiting the district on Jan. 13.
SAN JUAN, PR.  Nebraska Farm Bureau (NEFB) is very pleased with the newly signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today between American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and John Deere that will ensure farmers and ranchers right to repair their tractors and other implements.

The landmark MOU is the culmination of several years of discussions with John Deere and a major step forward on Farm Bureau policy that was brought forward by Nebraska Farm Bureau.

Farmers and ranchers need to have the ability to purchase what they need at a reasonable rate to get their equipment up and running or have the option of turning to an independent technician. This MOU creates an official agreement that clearly sets parameters and creates a mechanism to resolve issues as they arise, said Mark McHargue, NEFB president.

Creating an MOU similar to ones utilized in the automobile industry, whereby vehicle owners and independent technicians can purchase information, diagnostic equipment, and parts needed for vehicle repairs from vehicle manufacturers has long been a goal of Nebraska Farm Bureau. Through this MOU, farmers, ranchers, and independent repair facilities will have access to diagnostic and repair codes and their meanings; manuals (operator, parts, service); product guides; directly purchase diagnostic tools from John Deere; and assistance from John Deere when ordering parts and products.

Farmers dont want access to the computer programming. They simply want to be able to diagnose and fix the problem so they can get their equipment back to the fields. By working with John Deere and American Farm Bureau, the need for legislative or regulatory action on the right to repair issue will be mitigated, said McHargue.

Nebraska Farm Bureau will continue to work with AFBF and engage in similar discussions with several other manufacturers. We believe the MOU has the potential to serve as a model for other manufacturers and look forward to working with equipment dealers to help implement the MOU.

Read the Farm Bureau and John Deere MOU here.

The Nebraska Farm Bureau is a grassroots, state-wide organization dedicated to supporting farm and ranch families and working for the benefit of all Nebraskans through a wide variety of educational, service, and advocacy efforts.

More than 55,000 families across Nebraska are Farm Bureau members, working together to achieve rural and urban prosperity as agriculture is a key fuel to Nebraskas economy. For more information about Nebraska Farm Bureau and agriculture, visit www.nefb.org.
By Azernews

Fatima Hasanova

Azerbaijani diaspora activists in concert with the academic community in Azerbaijan and the Austrian-Azerbaijani Association of Culture and Entrepreneurs (AZER-DER) picketed the UN office in Vienna in protest at the illegal exploitation of Azerbaijan's mineral resources by Armenians in Karabakh, Azernews reports via State Committee for Work with Diaspora.

Protesters chanted slogans "We protest against the plunder of Azerbaijan's natural resources!", "End ecocide by Armenia!", "Stop ecological terror on the territory of Azerbaijan!" and showed support for the Azerbaijani volunteers, civil society representatives, and environmental activists, who are protesting on the Khankandi-Lachin road.

They stated that Azerbaijanis abroad would not remain silent about Armenia and Armenian separatists' exploitation of the country's surface and underground resources. They contend that the eco-terror committed in the Karabakh economic region ought to become a global issue.

Locals were informed that Armenians destroyed about 60,000 hectares of forests during the nearly 30-year-long occupation.

It was noted that the international community should support Azerbaijan's legitimate voice, which is working diligently to reverse the effects of the war and engage in extensive creative endeavors and call for the adoption of practical measures to put an end to environmental terror.

To recap, following discussions with the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent on December 3 and 7, 2022, Azerbaijani specialists from the Ministries of Economy, Ecology, and Natural Resources, the State Service for Property Issues under the Ministry of Economy, and AzerGold CJSC were to conduct primary monitoring on illegal exploitation of mineral deposits on Azerbaijani territory. However, the monitoring failed due to the provocation of ethnic Armenians. The peaceful protest that started on December 12, 2022, continues up to today and marks Day 30.
In 2002, Marines began flying hundreds of al-Qaida prisoners in Afghanistan to a U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and more events that happened on this day in history.
Eugene Woller, who sold his honey at the Dane County Farmers' Market for 50 years, died Dec. 28, two-and-a-half weeks after he officially handed over the business to his son and daughter-in-law. He was 76.

Woller was known at the market for the observation hive he brought to his stall near West Washington Avenue and for his willingness to talk bees.

He and his wife, Donna, started selling their honey at the market around the Capitol Square in 1973, the market's second year.

"They were one year behind, but I guess we give 'em a little grace on the premise that they had an 18-month-old son, and they had twins that October of '72," said Tim Woller, who along with his sister, Tamara Woller-Li, was one of those twins. "They were a little preoccupied that first year."

Cathy Woller, who is married to Tim, said her father-in-law built a reputation as "an excellent beekeeper and a wonderful educator" who mentored an untold number of aspiring beekeepers.

Eugene died of a heart attack in Salt Lake City, Utah, while celebrating Christmas with his son Scott's family, Tim said.

Eugene's honey career grew out of a farm short course Eugene took at UW-Madison in 1965 and developed into the family business, Gentle Breeze Honey, with 600 to 800 hives. The hives are kept at the Wollers' rural Mount Horeb farm and at about 25 places within a 50-mile radius on farmland that's productive for bees, Tim said.

Friends and acquaintances who keep the hives are paid in honey. "That's kind of the rental agreement that we have," Tim said.

Eugene started selling Gentle Breeze to stores and bakeries in the late 1980s, and it's now in about 250 stores, in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa.

"So, he's grown from 12 hives, extracting honey in his basement, to now selling honey in four different states," Tim said.

In a 2021 Wisconsin State Journal story, Eugene said the nearly five decades of early morning trips from Mount Horeb to Madison to sell honey, beeswax candles and other products were never a burden. "I enjoyed every minute of it," he said.

The story focused on the transition of the business, but Eugene's wife of 55 years, Donna, said he never actually retired. "He's always been involved as best as he can."

Tim said since his mother and brother have an allergic reaction to bee stings, it meant that he and his sister helped with the beekeeping through high school. Then, he went into the Air Force Academy, and his sister became a chiropractor.

In the summers, and other times when they'd come home, they'd work with their father, and they watched as the business grew and needed more employees. These days, in the summer, Gentle Breeze has 22 to 25 employees, 12 to 15 of them beekeepers, Tim said.

For the past five years, by early November the bees are sent to California, netted, on a flatbed semi-trailer. In early February, they pollinate almond groves before going back to a holding yard. In early April, they're brought back to southern Wisconsin.

"Eugene was entirely the face of, and the voice of, Gentle Breeze Honey. But I think his success was so much a function of his marriage with Donna," said Cathy, getting choked up.

Donna did the bookkeeping and pitched in where needed, Cathy said. "Eugene's legacy is very much tied to the amazing wife that stood beside him, very quietly, very humbly, never needing accolades."

In some marriages, Donna said, partners don't always talk about how much they love each other. Not Eugene. "He told me 'I love you' so many times, and it's going to be a big hole. I've just been so blessed by a wonderful husband, father, uncle, cousin to all of our family," she said.

Cathy said she was amazed by how many people at Eugene's funeral Friday said they had worked for him or been mentored by him, and still keep bees. "They just carry his lessons with them," she said. "He was just such a colorful, dynamic public and private speaker."

Take a look at 'Immersive Van Gogh'
The Saudi Capital Market Forum will gather issuers, investors and Capital Market Institutions to facilitate an understanding of the key structural changes taking place across one of the fastest growing capital markets in the world.

Taking place in Riyadh from February 12 to 13, the second edition of the Forum will build on the success of Saudi Tadawul Groups inaugural Saudi Capital Market Forum in 2022.

Held under the patronage of the Chairman of the Board of the Capital Market Authority Mohammed A El-Kuwaiz, the Saudi Capital Market Forum will bring together key opinion leaders, issuers, investors, and government entities for two days of dialogue and discussion, concluding with the presentation of the Saudi Capital Market Awards.

Saudi Capital Market Awards

The Forum will conclude with the third edition of the Saudi Capital Market Awards. The awards recognise market participants who are championing the development of the Saudi capital market across a variety of practice areas.

Nominations for the Saudi Capital Market Awards are open across 16 categories that recognise the kingdoms best brokers, custodians, asset managers, IPOs and more. The 2022 edition includes three new awards categories, including Best Direct Listing Award  Nomu, Best Direct and General Clearing Member, and Best Private Placement Award (ECM). The Awards will continue to evolve and introduce additional categories to reflect the rapidly changing conditions in the Saudi capital market.

Eng Khalid AlHussan, CEO of the Saudi Tadawul Group said: The inaugural Saudi Capital Market Forum started conversations that contributed to enhancing the Saudi capital market as we continue to increase access to investors and issuers. Capitalising on this momentum, the Saudi Tadawul Group and its subsidiaries will bring together issuers, investors, and capital market institutions to continue the dialogue on the future of one of the fastest growing capital markets in the world at the second edition of the Saudi Capital Market Forum.

Leaders and experts

This year, the event will discuss ways to further regional capital markets alongside global trends in finance. The event will conclude with the Saudi Capital Market Awards, recognising those who play a crucial role in the development of the kingdoms capital market. We are pleased to host leaders and experts once again to facilitate agreements that will shape the future of the capital markets industry in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Capital Market Awards will be held in partnership with CFA Society Saudi Arabia and the Middle East Investor Relations Association (MEIRA). Eligible nominees will be evaluated by an independent committee comprised of industry professionals from both entities.-- TradeArabia News Service
The Madison Landmarks Commission on Monday unanimously recommended that the City Council designate as a landmark a two-story building near Tenney Park that President Harry Truman dedicated in 1950 but is under threat of demolition for a big housing redevelopment.

The commission voted 4-0 to recommend landmark status for the Filene House, 1617 Sherman Ave., the first permanent location of the Credit Union National Association and dedicated by Truman in a speech that placed the credit union movement as a key component of the administrations foreign policy.

Its about whats come from this building, commission member David McLean said of CUNAs leadership in the national and international credit union movements of the time.

The 33-page nomination was compiled by resident John Rolling, who told the commission, I just think this building deserves recognition.

Vermilion Development of Chicago has proposed razing the utilitarian building for a project that the latest concepts show having nearly 400 units in five buildings, including two five-story, multifamily structures, three sets of two-story townhouses and parking on the 8.2-acre site.

The developer, which has shared informal concepts so far, could still keep the redevelopment on track by submitting a formal land use application before the council decides the landmark designation. The council could decide on a designation as soon as Feb. 7. Vermilion has said it intends to submit a formal application in the next few weeks. If it does so before the councils decision, the application would be decided under current rules for the property. A landmark designation wouldnt preclude development at the site but would shape how it happens.

The property is being nominated not for its connection to a renowned architect, design or construction, but for its connections to history. Its dedication by Truman on Sunday, May 14, 1950, made the front pages of local newspapers and The New York Times.

The most important figure in the early years of American credit union history was Edward A. Filene, a social reformer and prime mover to establish CUNAs headquarters in Madison.

The arguments for designating Filene House as a landmark include:

CUNAs significance as the leader of the credit union movement during a period of significance;

The organizations choice of Madison as its permanent home; and,

Trumans speech at the dedication, which made the credit union movement a key component of the administrations foreign policy.

The nomination makes a detailed and very solid case, city historic preservation planner Heather Bailey told the commission.

A majority of speakers attending the online meeting supported the designation. This is a very important historic resource, Michael Bridgeman said.

Several speakers, including Rolling, also encouraged Vermilion to incorporate the building into its plans. There are abundant options, Kevin Revolinski said.

But speakers representing Vermilion said the building has been studied by professionals and is not suitable for adaptive reuse for housing, and that any reuse would require substantial renovation. Further, the city cant ignore the need for housing and sustainable development, they said.

Other speakers challenged the historical significance of the building or said there are better ways to honor the history of credit unions. Build a monument at Tenney Park, Josh Olson said.
To save energy and cut pollution, Madison may soon require the owners of larger commercial buildings to report annual energy use and also do building energy tuneups every four years or face fines.

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and three City Council members have proposed an ordinance to launch the citys Building Energy Savings Program to help commercial building owners increase the energy efficiency of their buildings, save money and reduce their carbon footprint.

But the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce opposes the proposal, contending it would require owners to submit energy use records, making the data a public record; force up-front costs for consultants that produce no actual energy savings; and force owners to participate, rather than having the program be voluntary.

Under the ordinance, the owners of commercial buildings 25,000 square feet or larger will be required to record and report energy use annually, called benchmarking, using the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, a free, online tool developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The practice provides information to building owners and managers about how a buildings energy use compares to other similar buildings, how it changes over time and ways to save energy, a joint statement by the Mayors Office and City Council says. Buildings that benchmark typically reduce energy use by 8% to 10% over time, it says.

In addition, the owners of commercial buildings 50,000 square feet or larger would be required to do a building tuneup once every four years. To tune up a building, a qualified professional assesses a buildings existing energy systems, controls and maintenance practices and performs no- to low-cost adjustments, maintenance or minor repair to improve performance and save energy, the statement says.

On average, tuneups reduce energy use by 12% and pay back in two to three years, it says.

In Madison, commercial buildings account for 30% of carbon emissions, and large structures account for a substantial portion of the total due to their size and complexity, the statement says. Cutting carbon emissions from buildings is a critical step in achieving the citys goal of reaching 100% renewable energy and net-zero carbon emissions communitywide by 2050, it says.

The program would cover about 680 buildings 25,000 square feet or bigger, including about 310 that are 50,000 square feet or larger, said Jessica Price, the citys sustainability and resilience manager.

Key part of the solution

Reducing energy use in the covered buildings by 10% to 15% would cut carbon emissions by an estimated 91,257 to 136,886 tons per year, the equivalent of taking up to 26,757 cars off the road, the statement says.

We have reached an all hands on deck moment for climate action, and the building sector is a key part of the solution, Rhodes-Conway said. Luckily, there are proven, cost-saving strategies like those in the Building Energy Savings Program that can reduce carbon pollution, save business owners money on energy bills and build a well-paid green workforce all at one.

The Chamber of Commerce would support a voluntary effort.

The chamber believes energy benchmarking is a valuable practice when it is done voluntarily and the information is confidential, which is why we supported legislation to develop a collaborative voluntary energy benchmarking program that the city adopted, president Zach Brandon said. Nearly a decade later, the city has yet to take action. Instead, this is a return to a failed mandatory approach that the chamber and many other business organizations communicated serious concerns about years ago.

The only material change between this plan and the one from 2014 is that businesses would now have to adhere to the mandate while also recovering from a global pandemic, Brandon said.

The city will develop a list of covered buildings in advance of launching the program and inform owners about the initiative and its requirements, Price said.

For penalties, under the ordinance:

Any person who fails to comply with energy benchmarking requirements is subject to a forfeiture of $1,000 for every 90 days of noncompliance.

For tuneups, for buildings 100,000 square feet or larger owners face a forfeiture of $3,000 for 180 days out of compliance and $10,000 for 365 days out of compliance. For buildings from 50,000 to 99,999 square feet, owners face a forfeiture of $2,000 for 180 days out of compliance and $8,000 for 365 days out of compliance.

Anyone who intentionally falsifies data faces a $3,000 forfeiture for a first violation and $5,000 for each subsequent violation.

Anyone who otherwise fails to comply with requirements, with some exceptions, is subject to forfeiture of $20 to $100 for each violation, with each day of violation seen as a separate offense.

While the City of Madison has the legal authority to assess fines for noncompliance, the code also includes provisions to provide deadline extensions in response to extenuating circumstances, Price said. It is our goal to work with building owners so that they can successfully benchmark and tune up their buildings.

Minneapolis, Chicago and many other cities have enacted benchmarking requirements, while Salt Lake City, Seattle and others have policies requiring tuneups, the statement says.

The ordinance, introduced Jan. 3, will be considered by city committees with a council decision as soon as Feb. 7.
The television split screen told the story.

On one side, Republicans in the House of Representatives labored through the fourth of the 15 ballots they needed during four days of gridlock to choose Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker.

On the other side, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell stood beaming with President Joe Biden as they congratulated each other for a bipartisan success: a $1.6 billion deal to replace a crumbling highway bridge across the Ohio River.

On one side, partisan dysfunction. On the other, an old-fashioned deal.

Biden seized the moment to ladle compliments on his longtime sparring partner  and to drive home a lesson.

We disagree on a lot of things, he said of McConnell, of Kentucky. But heres what matters: Hes a man of his word.  I believe it sends an important message to the entire country: We can work together. We can get things done.

McConnell wasnt daring enough to praise Biden, but on the larger issue he responded in kind.

These are really partisan times, he said. But I always feel no matter who gets elected, once its all over we ought to look for things we can agree on.

If there was a winner in the brawl on the House floor last week, it wasnt McCarthy, of California. McCarthy got the speakers job, but gave away so much power along the way that it was probably a Pyrrhic victory. He still faces the challenge of herding an untamable majority with only a handful of votes to spare, amid in-house critics who would gladly see him fail.

The real winner was a man who wasnt there: McConnell, the phlegmatic leader of the nonanarchic Senate GOP.

At some point in this year of divided government, Congress will steer into a crisis  a standoff over the federal debt limit, perhaps, or gridlock over government spending. Only one person on the Republican side will have the power and skill to avert catastrophe, and it wont be McCarthy. It will be Bidens wily, unlovable colleague, McConnell. Thanks to the dysfunction in the House, he is now Congress indispensable man.

Thats why Biden was doling out compliments. He knows hes going to need McConnells help.

The infrastructure bill that passed Congress in 2021 was a high-water mark for bipartisanship on McConnells part. He supported it in large part because it included the bridge, a project hes worked on for decades.

But Congress still needs to pass spending bills to keep the government running. And in the second half of the year the Treasury expects to hit the debt ceiling, the legal limit on federal government borrowing (currently $31.4 trillion).

At that point, Congress will need to raise the limit to avert a default that could crash the financial markets.

Weve seen this movie before. In 2011, during President Barack Obamas first term, tea party Republicans in the House, the precursors of todays Freedom Caucus, threatened to let the federal government default on its debts.

The House speaker at the time, John Boehner, R-Ohio, couldnt govern his own majority. White House aides joked that Boehner couldnt deliver a pizza. It took weeks of negotiations between McConnell and Biden, Obamas vice president, to produce a deal that raised the debt ceiling in exchange for long-term deficit reduction. (The deficit didnt stay down for long, but the crisis was averted.)

McConnell has a sound political reason for working with Democrats: He believes his party has damaged itself by acquiring an image as the party of chaos.

The GOP came agonizingly close last year to winning a majority in the Senate and restoring McConnell to the job he wants most, majority leader. But voters rejected candidates chosen and endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and the Senate remained in Democratic hands.

Independent voters and moderate Republicans concluded that we were sort of nasty and tended toward chaos, McConnell said last year.

They didnt have enough confidence in us, in several instances, to give us the majority, he said.

His goal is to detoxify the GOPs image by steering toward a more orderly version of conservatism.

We have a high bar to get over in asking the American people for governing responsibility again, Scott Jennings, a former McConnell aide, explained last week. The independents in the midterm let us know that we havent yet met that bar. But we damn well better get there if we hope to win the White House and win back the Senate in 2024.

McConnell hasnt turned into a moderate. After the election, he summed up his agenda in partisan terms: Were going to fight Democrats recklessness and promote our common-sense conservative values.

But like Biden, he knows that cutting deals can help him politically.

The next two years in Congress will see more collisions than cooperation.

But between McConnell and Biden, it might also include a few more opportunities for bipartisanship  just when its needed most.
TWIN FALLS  A recent surge in wind and solar energy mega-projects proposed on public lands in Idaho has Twin Falls County commissioners wondering whether a 40-year-old management plan adequately addresses this new potential use of public lands.

On Monday, the Twin Falls County Board of Commissioners voted to send a letter to the Bureau of Land Management asking the agency to update the 1982 Management Framework Plan for Twin Falls County. The request was one they hope will provide more local considerations in how large-scale projects like the proposed Salmon Falls wind energy project are evaluated.

Our hope is it pauses the project so the resource management plan can be re-done, taking into account these large-scale projects, Commissioner Jack Johnson said.

Salmon Falls is the second project that L.S. Power has applied for on public lands in southern Idaho. Its bigger sibling, Lava Ridge, is proposed for an area spanning areas of Minidoka, Lincoln and Jerome counties. Lava Ridge is bigger, more well-known, and further along in the permitting process  the Draft Environmental Impact Statement is expected to be made public at the end of January.

While Salmon Falls is about 18 months behind Lava Ridge in the federal application process, it has not yet entered the scoping period, when agencies, organizations and the public can request studies be done to take into account all the impacts of such a large project.

Magic Valley Energy announces 2nd wind project The company announced Monday its planning to develop a second wind energy project rural Twin Falls County, named the Salmon Falls Wind Project.

Commissioners say the Management Framework Plan was comprehensive for its time, but its current value is limited  energy production from sources such as wind and solar  were not factored into the original plan.

It is impossible for LS Powers proposal to be in conformance with the Management Framework Plan because nothing analogous to wind turbines was mentioned, the letter said.

The plan has seen several amendments and should reflect current uses, BLM spokesperson Heather Tiel-Nelson said.

Certainly a couple of our management plans  are dated, but theyve been amended through the years so they do remain fairly current as far as identifying where renewable energy projects could be proposed, Tiel-Nelson said.

These are big decisions being made, they need to have updated studies and plans for the area, Commissioner Don Hall said. If we were asking the federal government to do something on their land, they would say, Well, weve got to do an updated plan before we do that, which makes sense.

After Lava Ridge, people have started becoming more aware of the projects being proposed across southern Idaho. Several other projects are in pre-approval stages and have not been made public.

We have received several applications that are in various stages in this process for renewable energy projects, everything from wind to solar, Tiel-Nelson said.

As these pick up steam, theres a lot of these planned. And for whatever reason, theyre targeting Idaho to do these, Johnson said. Weve heard overwhelmingly from our citizens in our county; they dont want these on public lands.

Commissioners oppose Salmon Falls Wind Project Twin Falls County Board of Commissioners passed a non-binding resolution opposing the proposed Salmon Falls Wind Project near Hollister.
Go to high school and college in Idaho. Work in Idaho. Stay in Idaho.

That was the vision at the heart of Gov. Brad Littles State of the State address on Monday in Boise, a 36-minute speech in the House chamber at the State Capitol that prioritized education  highlighted by a proposed scholarship program that would be the largest single investment in career technical and workforce education in state history, and increased pay for all teachers regardless of experience.

The Republican governor also pitched a $120 million plan aimed at property tax relief, proposed a 10% pay increase for law enforcement officers as part of the states commitment to public safety, and called for the creation of an Idaho State Police interdiction team to step up the fight against fentanyl.

Speaking to a new-look legislature that features 39 rookies among 105 seats  including seven from the four districts that cover the Magic Valley  Little described his budget and policy recommendations for the 2023 legislative session, a plan dubbed Idaho First, as an opportunity to build upon the states historic success during his first term.

What were doing is working, and I am prepared to work with all of you to accelerate our pace, continue leading the country, and keep putting Idaho first, Little said.

Education is the first pillar of the plan. Why? Little pointed to the November election in which 80% of voters approved of the legislatures decision to boost education funding by $410 million  $330 million for K-12 public schools to be used to push starting teacher pay into the top 10 nationally and increase pay and benefits for all teachers, among other things, plus $80 million for post-secondary training for in-demand careers.

The overwhelming support of our plan means, unmistakably, Idahoans expect us to support public schools, Little said, adding that voters in every single county, every single city, and every single legislative district turned out in favor of the legislatures action.

In doubling down on education, Little also recommended lawmakers approve an $8,500 scholarship to begin in 2024 for graduating Idaho high school seniors to attend an in-state university, community college, career technical or workforce training program of their choice.

He also envisions the Idaho Launch scholarship as a magnet to grow the states skilled workforce while providing opportunities for the states younger generation to be working in Idaho jobs.

Never have we provided a catalyst of this magnitude for students to go on, in whatever way suits them, Little said. No matter what path a student chooses we are making it easier for them to get the advanced training they need to propel themselves and Idahos economy forward.

The more immediate benefit for Idaho students is the chance for higher education without fear of the cost, College of Southern Idaho President Dean Fisher told the Times-News.

The governors plan would take away initial barriers for Idaho high school graduates. Theres no financial barriers, said Fisher, who was in Boise for the State of the State address. Its another chance for Idaho to really focus on one of the things it does best, and thats take care of our youth.

Debbie Critchfield, the Oakley Republican who won election as Idahos superintendent of public instruction in November, also applauded Little.

Once again, I see that Gov. Little is demonstrating his commitment to education, which clearly as an elected superintendent that is my priority too, Critchfield was quoted in the Idaho Capital Sun. So for him to call it out first amongst a whole list of priorities or, I guess, goals that he has, I loved that he kicked it off that way.

The approval for Littles recommendations, however, was not universal.

The Idaho Freedom Caucus, a 12-member faction of the Idaho Republican Party that includes District 24 Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld of Twin Falls, blasted the governor as deaf to the plight of Idaho children trapped in poorly performing schools and called on the state to invest in students not systems.

Instead, the governor gives a nod to socialism by increasing the pay for all, regardless of how good or bad a teacher may be, the group said in a news release. Who among us doesnt want a $6,300 pay raise?

That was the figure cited by Little as the average raise for a teacher pending legislative approval.

Of the Idaho Launch scholarship program, the Freedom Caucus said, This is something we expect from the Biden administration, not from conservative Idaho. Welfare education is a tool of socialist countries, not a path to limited government and fiscal conservatism.

The more moderate Republicans of the Magic Valley had a different point of view.

District 24 Rep. Steve Miller (R-Fairfield) called Littles efforts to bolster education a no-brainer, telling the Times-News he supported opportunities for two-year certification and, I think, one-year certification, too.

But, he cautioned, I need to review the policy and then I really need to look at the numbers (in Littles plan).

District 25 Sen. Linda Wright Hartgen (R-Twin Falls) also voiced support for Littles education initiatives, describing the investments in teacher pay and the scholarship program as terrific for the state.

Like the governor, Hartgen believes Idaho Launch could help solve for the states workforce shortages.

We hear so much about the workforce. Everybody out there, theyre all looking for help, she told the Times-News. It doesnt matter of its in the schools or the hospitals, things are tight.

To ease the burden of property taxes, Little proposed to help local governments cover the cost of infrastructure for things such as water systems, roads and bridges, twice insisting that such investments are property tax relief.

There is no doubt Idahos tremendous pace of growth is putting a strain on services at the local level, which increases the potential to drive up your local property taxes, the governor said. But, too often, we are simply shifting burdens across taxpayers when we should be addressing the needs head-on.

Little also called for spending $1 billion in one-time funds, without raising taxes or fees, for critical statewide infrastructure aimed at bridge and pedestrian safety, local transportation projects and airport improvements.

Also:

Little introduced a new educational awareness campaign at FentanylTakesAll.org

to inform the states youth about the dangers of fentanyl, which he described as 50 times more potent than heroin, 100 hundred times more potent than morphine, and hard to detect.

The governor pushed for boost pay for the states law enforcement officers. Ive said it before and Ill say it again, while other places seek to defund the police, here in Idaho we defend the police, he said.

Little called for a moment of silence and prayer for the four University of Idaho students who were stabbed to death in a home near campus last year. He called the victims by their first names and added, We will never forget them.

The State of the State represented the kickoff to the legislative session, which typically runs for about 80 days although there is not a set schedule.

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TODAYS WORD is meldrop. Example: While Kent had the flu, his mother wiped a meldrop from his face when he was too weak and out of it to do it himself.

MONDAYS WORD was acnestis. It means: The part of the back (or backbone) between the shoulder blades and the loins which an animal cannot reach to scratch. Example: Shan watched her dog Cookie try to scratch his acnestis, but he was unable to reach it.

Banished words

GOAT no longer is the Greatest (acronym) Of All Time  its overused and time to be tossed.

Thats the assessment of Lake Superior Universitys 2023 Banished Words List, published on Dec. 2023.

Some sprinkle GOAT like table salt on anyone whos really good, the report states. Another wordsmith: ironically, goat once suggested something unsuccessful.

The other words are:

Inflection point (Pretentious way to say turning point. Overuse and misuse.)

Quiet quitting (Trendy but inaccurate ... its burnout, ennui, boredom, disengagement)

Gaslighting (overuse dilutes the seriousness behind the words original meaning)

Moving forward (overused and useless  and often used when the intention is get my way)

Amazing (This glorious word should be reserved for that which is dazzling, moving, or awe-inspiring, a worn-out adjective from people short on vocabulary)

Does that make sense? (In this call for reassurance or act of false modesty, enquirers warp respondents into co-conspirators.)

Irregardless (a double negative, when regardless says it)

Absolutely (usurped the simple yes)

It is what it is (What else would it be?)

To nominate a word or term for banishment for 2024, go online to lssu.edu/banishedwords.

Music in Mexico

Bassett native Josh Shilling is in Mexico this week performing with Wynonna Judd and her band.

When they get back, Wynonna and Martina McBride will travel with different musicians various cities: Ashley McBryde, Kelsea Ballerini, Little Big Town, Tanya Tucker and Brandi Carlile.

Shilling is a professional musician in Nashville and often performs in the Martinsville area, such as at Rooster Walk and at events at the Martinsville Speedway.

Todays chuckle

Makayla was a typical curious 4-year-old girl, just beginning to make sense of the world around her. Last week, she was learning about last names. This week, it was figuring out marriage.

When she asked her father about it, he brought out his wedding album, showing pictures of the bride arriving at church, the ceremony, the reception, etc. Now do you understand?

I think so, she said. There was a big party when Mommy came to work for us.

MONDAYS TRIVIA ANSWER: Mageirocophobia is the fear of cooking and a person that is afflicted may experience intense anxiety while cooking or go out of their way to avoid cooking.

TODAYS TRIVIA QUESTION: How many seeds are in a pomegranate?
Heres what happened locally on this date over the past century, as noted in this newspaper, which went from being called the Henry Bulletin to the Daily Bulletin to the Martinsville Bulletin:

1923: Miss Lois Earles, the sixteen year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sam T. Earles, who died last Tuesday morning from an illness of pneumonia and influenza, was interred in the family burial grounds near Dyers store Wednesday afternoon./Mrs. David Allen, aged 35 years, who died at her home from the effects of pneumonia and influenza, was interred in the Compton burial grounds near Leatherwood last Saturday afternoon./The funeral of Miss Mary Ann Owen, aged 22 years, the second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Owen on Winston Ave., who died Saturday morning after a short illness of pneumonia and influenza, was conducted from the home last Monday afternoon.

1948: The Roxy Has The Shows: Today & Thursday, This Time for Keeps in Technicolor with Esther Williams. Extra added: Cartoon  Latest News

1973: A Martinsville lawyer continued Wednesday to fight the embattled Sunday blue law. John D. Epperly, representing Masons Discount Department Store on U.S. 220 North, asked the Henry County Circuit Court to declare the law unconstitutional and to life an injunction barring the store from selling prohibited items on Sunday. The state law permits stores to sell prohibited items on Sunday if profits are donated to charity.

1998: For the second time in three years, the Martinsville Bulletin has received the Virginia Press Associations top award for professional integrity and service to the community. The 50th annual W.S. Copeland Award for Journalistic Integrity and Community Service was presented Saturday at the associations awards banquet in Williamsburg. The Bulletin also received the award in 1996 and 1973.
A future Patrick County day care facility received a grant and settled on 45 child care slots after multiple efforts to find more area for required outdoor space to accommodate more children failed.

The project to make use of a building at 132 and 136 Slusher St. began in late 2020 to early 2021, Patrick County Economic Development Authority (EDA) Director Sean Adkins said.

Summit Design and Engineering completed a feasibility study for the building in Stuart, and though a business development center was planned to go upstairs, there was then a decision on what to do with the downstairs level, Adkins said.

The building used to be a True Value Hardware store, among other uses, and will now be the home of a business development center upstairs and a day care facility downstairs. The building totals 15,000 square feet, around 7,400 square feet per level, and is owned by the EDA.

Because the downstairs level was split into two sections by a wall, there was talk of having two separate spaces there, but they eventually decided to make the whole floor a day care facility.

We couldnt think of what else we could put on the other side of the wall from children, Adkins said. From that, the plan to knock down the wall and create space for more children was decided. However, along with the inside space, more slots required them to have to accommodate a larger outside space as well.

During the grant application process to the Department of Housing and Community Developments (DHCD) Industrial Revitalization Fund (IRF), Adkins discovered that 75 square feet of outside space per child is needed to meet requirements in Virginia, and as the building sits on a corner at the intersection of Slusher Street and Rye Cove Road, there was little space to work with on the property.

They at first went to the Patrick County School Public Schools (PCPS) board to request a portion of the land behind the new school board office that is directly across Rye Cove Road from the site of where the day care facility will be.

The PCPS board acknowledged that there was a need for childcare in the area, some of them having children themselves, but that the back lot behind the building would be turned into a parking lot and marketplace for student goods.

The EDA also went to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to see if Rye Cove Road could be closed completely to create a different avenue for outdoor space on a road that doesnt get much traffic.

After exploring all the avenues to get more outdoor space and hitting road blocks all along the way, the day care will support 45 slots where, had they found the outdoor space, there could have been almost double that amount.

The current outdoor space will have to be regraded before it is available for use, but is right around the side of the building from the lower level against Rucker Street.

On Dec. 27, Adkins said he received a late Christmas present of finding out that they had received the grant for the construction work on both the day care facility and the business development center. With that grant, the EDA is working with approximately $2.6 million to complete the project, Adkins added.

AECOM Design out of Roanoke is handling the design for the entire building. Once the work is done on the building and it is ready to hold both the business development center and the day care facility, the EDA will essentially be the landlords of both.

Adkins said that they plan to be more involved in the business development center with programs such as classes, while the day care portion will be more in the hands of the licensed providers who end up running it.

Adkins said that they have spoken with STEP (Solutions That Empower People) Inc. and are expecting more avenues of licensed childcare providers to become available now that they have received the grant for the project.

For the day care center, there is still long way to go before it will actually open, but the business development center should enter Phase 1 in the next few months. This involves HVAC for the whole building and the renovation of the upper level.

The EDA will also offer local businesses the chance to sponsor meeting rooms in the development center and plans to offer different tiers of membership which unlock different amenities in the building.

The EDA was also approved for funding from the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission for two other projects: the renovation of office space in the Rich Creek Corporate Park in Stuart and the rehabilitation of the Cockram Mill, a historic landmark in Meadows of Dan.
A Fieldale man has been sentenced for his part in the death of Christina Draper, and a Fieldale woman is scheduled to have her trial on the matter set in March.

James Anthony Martin, 21, and Rhonda Draper Holland Martin, of 87 Chadmore Drive in Fieldale, were indicted by a grand jury in the November 2021 term on a charge of abuse and neglect of an incapacitated adult resulting in the death of Christina Draper.

James Martin was sentenced to 12 months for an amended charge of abuse and neglect of an incapacitated adult.

Rhonda Martin was appointed counsel in December 2021, and a court date to have a trial date set has been continued five times. She is scheduled to appear in Henry County Circuit Court on March 27.

James Martin will be back in court on Jan. 23 to have a court date set on three counts of proposing sex by computer to a person under the age of 15. He was arrested on those charges on July 6.

According to records on file with the Henry County Circuit Court Clerks Office, on July 6, Henry County Investigator E. D. Monroe wrote in a criminal complaint that he spoke with a girl who showed him numerous Facebook messages between June 23 and June 26 that were sexual in nature.

On June 23, Martin stated he was doing things [the girl] should be doing for him, Monroe wrote. On the same day he stated it would be a party when he rocks her world.

Monroe wrote that Martin also implied in those messages that he wanted the girl to send pictures of herself to him that proved she was sexually aroused.

Martin told Monroe that he knew the girl was 12 years old and admitted he was referring to pleasuring himself and to proposing to the girl that she pleasure him, Monroe wrote in the complaint.

He stated rocking her would refer to sex, proposing the two have sex, Monroe wrote. The two references to proof are propositions of each exposing themselves to one another.

Monroe concluded his complaint by noting that electronic communications devices were used to facilitate the conversation.
The Patrick County Board of Supervisors (PCBOS) approved the Revenue Sharing for Solar Energy Projects and Energy Storage Systems Ordinance, following a public hearing where all speakers but one opposed it.

Wayne Kirkpatrick, a landowner near the proposed Energix solar project, was the only speaker at the public hearing to not speak against the ordinance. Ive got no issue with it at all as far as solar energy goes, he said. The concerns are that, down the road, that they decommission the solar panels  I hope that your ordinance will take care of those items.

Kirkpatrick added that he hopes the ordinance will protect surrounding landowners as well as the people who will inherit that land in the future. He also said the plants that grow under solar panels can be good grazing for animals if done correctly.

Jim Best, a resident of Patrick County for 50 years and a member of the board of Virginia Coalition for Human Rights (VCHR), suggested that changes be made to the solar ordinance to protect the county based on VCHR experience and research on Energix.

Best said that of the 24 proposed Energix solar installations in Virginia, only eight are currently in operation.

Best said he sent documents and photographs to the board as proof of his claims and studies on where attempts are being made to restore solar panel sites for agricultural use.

One speaker from the Dan River District urged the board to reject the solar project based on concerns of electronic waste, water pollution, farm land damage, her distrust of the company Energix and the fact that surrounding counties have rejected similar offers.

Four other Patrick County citizens also spoke in the public comment section with similar concerns.

During the closed session of the meeting, the board discussed the ordinance and approved it once back to regular session.

In other matters:

Denise Stirewalt nominated past PCBOS Chair Clyde DeLoach to serve as board chair for another year, but due to lack of second, nominated next that Clayton Kendrick to take position as chair. Kendrick was approved by the board.

Stirewalt was nominated and approved as vice chair of the board, though she abstained from the vote, saying that she does not intend to run for board of supervisors in the next election.

The board unanimously approved the 2023 Code of Ethics and the 2023 meeting schedule.

The board approved the adoption of Roberts Rules of Governance after Kendrick made the change of removing the 3-minute limit that was previously placed on comments from the public.

PCBOS Board Clerk Amy Walker announced the PCBOS committee appointments approved by the board: PCBOS board member Brandon Simmons for the broadband and recreation committees; Kendrick for the Economic Development Authority, Public Service Authority and Executive West Piedmont committees; DeLoach for the social services board; PCBOS Board Member Doug Perry for the LEO, LEPC, Emergency 911, STEP and the Planning Commission committees; Stirewalt for the Solid Waste committee, Tourism Advisory Council; Simmons, Kendrick, Patrick County Administrator Geri Hazelwood, Patrick County Treasurer Sandra Stone, Patrick County Finance Officer Lori Jones for the Budget Committee; Simmons, Kendrick, Hazelwood, for the Insurance Committee; Simmons and DeLoach for the School Board Liaison and Town-County Liaison; Kendrick and Stirewalt for the West Piedmont Committee; and the entire PCBOS board for the Building Committee.

The board approved the meeting agenda with an amendment, the previous meetings minutes and bills, claims and appropriations.

DeLoach read a proclamation from the board to recognize the late Garry DeBruhl for his dedicated service and contributions to the community and his honorable military service to our country.

The board held a public comment section in which two citizens, Malcom Roach and Bozemayer, asked when broadband installation was going to be completed and exactly who was going to receive it. Roach requested the Patrick County Economic Development Director Sean Adkins be at the next meeting to answer questions.

Jeb Stuart Rescue Squad Captain Derek Wagner spoke about potentially adjusting the billing practices, changing from soft billing and moving more into hard billing.

The board approved a resolution to terminate state maintenance on Route 809, Epperson Lane.

Atrium Health Enterprise Emergency Medicine Vice President John Blalock gave a presentation on AirCare, an EMS network serving patients, and how it works within Patrick County with the volunteer and non-volunteer rescue squads.

The board was told by Walker that their conflict of interest forms will be due in Feb. 1.

The board put off making a decision on vendors for hauling and disposal of waste because of the new board chair and vice chair and decided to make a decision by the next meeting.

The next board meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Jan. 23 in the Patrick County Administration building third floor board room.
Ostaz, a major online private tutoring platform in region, has partnered with Aldar Education, the leading education group in Abu Dhabi, to bring tutoring services and after-school support to almost 35,000 students in the UAE capital.



The partnership between Ostaz and Aldar Education was initiated by Hub71, Abu Dhabis global tech ecosystem, as part of its efforts to support startup founders with business development opportunities through its network of leading corporate and government partners in Abu Dhabi.



Ostaz offers premium tutoring services across a comprehensive range of academic subjects, languages, and preparatory tests, delivered by highly qualified tutors who have been pre-screened, background-checked, and trained to provide consistent results that cater to students diverse learning needs and styles.



As part of the partnership agreement, students from Aldar Educations 28 operated and managed schools will be able to access tailored, private tutoring services dedicated to addressing specific academic needs and learning objectives.



With the option of both in-person and virtual tutoring sessions, students can access tutoring sessions in any of Aldar Educations physical locations across the UAE. Additionally, Ostaz will host customised preparatory tests, upskilling and language classes and provide college application support to students.



Audrey Nakad, Chief Executive Officer at Ostaz, commented on the partnership: We are proud to be joining forces with Aldar Education to help students grow and achieve their academic goals. The possibilities for online tutoring are boundless, and by working closely with one of the most prominent education groups in the region, we are making sure that education is accessible and that students are well-equipped with the skills and knowledge to succeed.



Andrew Turner, Group Head of Education Technology at Aldar Education, said: All schools within Aldar Education support unique and diverse learning communities with bespoke characteristics. Providing personalised learning experiences and support mechanisms is vital to unlocking each students unique skills, talents and life aspirations.



We are excited about our partnership with Ostaz as they will enable us to extend the support that we can offer to our school communities beyond the hours of the normal school day. They will be able to deliver an adaptable, accessible and personalised learning support solution that will complement the outstanding teaching and learning that Aldar Education prides itself on. As we continue to expand and innovate, we will continue to introduce dynamic and cutting edge educational services to our parents and students, through unique partners such as Ostaz and Hub71, he added.



Ostaz has provided 90,000 tutoring hours to more than 60,000 students across the MENA region through the support of over 1,000 subject matter experts and has partnered with leading educational institutes, including the American University of Dubai, American University of Beirut and University of Sharjah in the UAE, and Taaleem and Elite Schools across the region.



The EdTech startup is also among 200 startups with operations out of Hub71 in Abu Dhabi, where it receives access to value-creation programs and incentives to support the companys long-term growth.  TradeArabia News Service
RICHMOND  The biggest chunk of Dominion Energy power bills, essentially untouched since Virginia reregulated electric monopolies in 2007, could be headed down as legislators, and the company itself, call for tighter regulation.

Dominion, which for years has convinced the General Assembly to limit State Corporation Commission oversight, has proposed a sweeping, 24-page revision of state utility regulation that would return some power to regulators and give ratepayers some immediate relief.

It includes, among several other things, returning to the SCC the power to determine if Dominion's base rates are too high.

That's the key to a simpler, one-sentence bill proposed by a long-standing critic of those Dominion efforts, Del. Lee Ware, R-Powhatan, and Del. Rip Sullivan, D-Fairfax, who sponsored the law requiring Dominion net zero carbon emissions by 2045.

Because base rates, which now account for 51% of a Dominion bill, haven't changed since 2007, they overstate the value of older Dominion assets, the utility's critics say.

That matters because Dominion's rates are supposed to generate no more than a set percentage, currently 9.35%, of that value.

Dominion, meanwhile, recovers costs of newer facilities and programs, along with a capped profit, from a series of 24 surcharges, called riders or rate adjustment clauses.

The company's bill says some of these should be incorporated into base rates, and that the SCC should have the power in the future to move others into base rates.

Dominion says doing that would bring Virginians electric bills down about $5 to $7 for a home using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month, compared with where the bill would otherwise be under the current law. That relief would take effect this summer.

Dominion's riders now account for nearly $31 of a typical $137 a month Dominion bill for 1,000 kilowatt hours.

Since the General Assembly formally froze Dominion's base rates in 2017, riders have fueled much of an increase in a 1,000 kilowatt hour bill, which rose from $109 a month in that year.

Dominion's measure, sponsored by House Majority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, would also set a higher benchmark for the monopoly power companys permitted profit rate. Kilgore, former chair of what was then the House Commerce and Labor Committee, in the past shepherded several Dominion-backed regulatory bills that limited SCC powers.

Dominion has complained that its permitted profit margin is the lowest in the Southeast and makes it hard for the company to convince investors to put their money in the company.

"The proposed legislation would provide significant and ongoing rate relief to our customers," said Dominion spokesman Aaron Ruby.

"It would provide strong state regulatory oversight," he said.

Ware said that while his bill, like the part of Dominion's bill that empowered SCC review of base rates, should prevent any overcharging of ratepayers, the impact of other parts of Dominion's bill aren't clear.

Dominion's proposal for a new benchmark for its profit margin would likely keep rates high, said state Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, who supports the Ware and Sullivan bill.

The impact of rolling riders into base rates is also unclear, she said.

"When was the last time you saw a one-sentence energy bill," Sullivan said, saying the measure he and Ware sponsored will save Virginians money while preserving utilities' ability to cover costs and earn a fair profit.

SCC studies since 2009 calculated that Dominion's overcharges of its customers exceed $1.9 billion.

Meanwhile, other legislators are also taking aim at Dominion rates.

Del. Tony Wilt, R-Rockingham, Del. Israel O'Quinn, R-Washington County, and state Sen. Frank Ruff, R-Mecklenburg, want to give the SCC power to rein in utilities' use of those surcharges, called riders or rate adjustment clauses.

And Gov. Glenn Youngkin has suggested he wants to see more focus on holding down Virginians' electric bills.
Mozambiques Defense minister yesterday called on young people not to be fooled by false promises of jobs, warning that the deceived are dying in Cabo Delgado, a province terrorized by armed attacks for five years.

Young people do not allow yourselves to be deceived. Many of our deceived brothers are dying in Cabo Delgado, victims of the war, because they believed they were going to have jobs, said Cristovao Chume, during the ceremony to launch the military census in Malema, in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula.

According to the minister, the young people deceived with promises of jobs are being taken to Cabo Delgado to be part of the terrorists and when they arrive in the province they are forced to kill and destroy the Mozambican patrimony.

Mozambiques defense minister also urged young people to join the military census, which runs from Tuesday until February 28, noting that it is their responsibility to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Dont expect citizens from other nations to come and defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity because the country is ours, stressed Cristovao Chume.

Mozambiques Ministry of Defense expects to census 221,140 young people this year, up from 220,000 in 2022.

Cabo Delgado province has faced an armed insurgency for five years with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The insurgency has led to a military response since July 2021 with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near gas projects, but new waves of attacks have emerged south of the region and in neighboring Nampula province.

The conflict has left one million people displaced, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and about 4,000 dead, according to the conflict registration project ACLED.
The Angolan government has collected, since 2019, 567 billion kwanzas (1 billion euros) from the privatization of 96 assets, under the Privatization Programme (Propriv), which may be extended for another five years. The information was provided on Monday by the Secretary of State for Finance and Treasury, Ottoniel dos Santos, at the end of a meeting to assess the ongoing privatization programme of state companies and assets.

Propriv, carried out by the Institute for the Management of State Assets and Participations (IGAPE), started in 2019 with a total of 195 companies and assets for privatization, having been left with a total of 178 assets, after undergoing changes.

Ottoniel dos Santos said that, of the 567 billion kwanzas paid in, a total of 394 billion kwanzas (750.8 million euros) is yet to be contractually received, with some payments already due, amounting to 15.1 million kwanzas (28.7 thousand euros). According to the Angolan minister, 96 companies and assets have so far been privatized, leaving 82 assets, of which 27 are currently in progress, 31 are pending and 25 have yet to be removed from the privatization program.

The Secretary of State for Finance and the Treasury pointed out that the assets that are still to be privatized, and which have their processes underway, will be developed during this first quarter, while the other processes will have to be adjusted.
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988 Call Center Director Jamieson Brill poses for a photo in front of a desk where work workers take calls around the clock at a facility in Hyattsville, Md., Oct. 7, 2022. Brill works in one of more than 200 call centers fanned out around the country tasked with answering an uptick in calls around the clock from people considering suicide or experiencing a mental health emergency. Credit: AP Photo/Amanda Seitz

When Jamieson Brill answers a crisis call from a Spanish speaker on the newly launched national 988 mental health helpline, he rarely mentions the word suicide, or "suicidio"

Brill, whose family hails from Puerto Rico, knows that just discussing the term in some Spanish-speaking cultures is so frowned upon that many callers are too scared to even admit that they're calling for themselves.

"However strong stigma around mental health concerns is in English-speaking cultures, in Spanish-speaking cultures it is triple that," said Brill, who helps people navigate mental health crises from a tiny brick building tucked away in Hyattsville, Maryland.

Brill works in one of more than 200 call centers fanned out around the country tasked with answering an uptick in calls day and night from people considering suicide or experiencing a mental health emergency.

With bipartisan congressional support and just under $1 billion in federal funds, the 988 mental health helpline has quickly expanded its reach in the six months since it launchedwith over 2 million calls, texts and chat messages pouring in.

The number of centers answering calls in Spanish grew from three to seven last year. A pilot line dedicated to LGBTQ youth started taking calls in September. And plans are underway to keep the momentum going, with the federal government adding Spanish language chat and text options later this year and aiming to expand those services to a 24/7 operation for the LGBTQ line.

Xavier Becerra, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, speaks at the podium during a press conference on the kickoff of 988, a new national mental health hotline, in West Philadelphia, July 15, 2022. The press conference took place in front of the Contemplation, Clarity and Resilience mural by artist Eric Okdeh, which is a mural that represents, among many other things, the process of overcoming hardships. Credit: Heather Khalifa/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, File

When the around-the-clock service launched last summer, it built on the existing network that staffed the old national lifeline, 1-800-273-8255. The new 988 number is designed to be as easy to remember as 911.

It couldn't have come at a more needed time: Depression rates in U.S. adults, overdose deaths and suicide rates have been on the rise.

"The call volume is, in some instances, well beyond what we anticipated," said Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, assistant secretary for mental health and substance use in the Department of Health and Human Services. "It does let us know that people are struggling, people are having a hard time. Where I feel heartened is that people are getting connected to services and supports, as opposed to struggling on their own."

The 988 helpline registered 154,585 more calls, texts and chat messages during November 2022 compared to the old national lifeline in November 2021, according to the latest data available.

A man uses a cell phone in New Orleans, Aug. 11, 2019. The 988 mental health and suicide helpline has quickly expanded its reach in the six months since it launched. It has received just over 2 million calls, texts and chat message since July. Credit: AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File

Texting has been particularly popular, with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration noting a 1,227% increase in texts to the line during that same time.

The Veterans Crisis Linecallers can press "1" after texting or calling 988 to reach ithas fielded 450,000 calls, texts and chat messages, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. By the end of the year, the line had handled a nearly 10% increase compared to 2021.

Calls show no signs of slowing into this year, with counselors answering 3,869 calls on New Year's Eve and the first day of 2023a 30 percent increase compared to the previous holiday. The Spanish language line saw an increase of 3,800 calls year over year from November 2021 to November 2022.

Meanwhile, some states are considering unveiling their own lines dedicated to certain communities.

Xavier Becerra, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, speaks during a press conference on the kickoff of 988, a new national mental health hotline, Friday, July 15, 2022, in Philadelphia. The press conference took place in front of the Contemplation, Clarity and Resilience mural by artist Eric Okdeh, which is a mural that represents, among many other things, the process of overcoming hardships. Credit: Heather Khalifa/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, File

In November, Washington became the first state to launch a mental health crisis line dedicated to American Indian and Alaska Native people. Callers in Washington can reach the line by calling 988 then pressing "4" to be greeted by one of the 13 counselorsall Indigenous peoplewho staff the phones.

Having fellow American Indians answer those calls is crucial, because those familiar with the culture can immediately decode some terms that others cannot, said Rochelle Williams, the tribal operations manager for Volunteers of America Western Washington, which oversees the call center. For example, she said, when a caller says that a relative is "bothering me," that sends up an immediate red flag: The person is likely signaling that they're the victim of a sexual assault.

"Who has a better understanding of native people than native people?" Williams said. "We don't trust in a lot of government programs. Knowing you're talking to another Indigenous person is really important."

Williams wants to add chat and text options next. She hopes Washington's 988 line for Native Americans becomes a model for others. She's already given presentations in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Montana and in Canada, which is set to launch its own national 988 this year.

Since its launch, the 988 mental health helpline has fielded more than 2 million calls, including an increasing number by text message. Credit: AP Digital Embed

988 Call Center Director Jamieson Brill poses for a photo in front of a desk where work workers take calls around the clock at a facility in Hyattsville, Md., Oct. 7, 2022. Brill works in one of more than 200 call centers fanned out around the country tasked with answering an uptick in calls around the clock from people considering suicide or experiencing a mental health emergency. Credit: AP Photo/Amanda Seitz

States are expected to receive more money to fund the line from the $1.7 trillion end-of-the year spending package, which set aside another half-billion dollars for the project.

Still, long-term funding for the 988 helpline is in jeopardy in some states, which have yet to figure out a permanent funding plan for it. While the federal government has poured millions of dollars into the project, states are expected to take over the operation and funding of the 988 linejust as they do with 911 emergency call services.

So far, fewer than 20 states have passed legislation to permanently fund their 988 line, according to the National Alliance on Mental Health Illness.

In Ohio, for example, advocates are pushing for the state legislature to sign off on a 50-cent fee that would be tacked onto cellphone bills, raising roughly $50 million to $55 million every year to operate the line, said Tony Coder of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation.

"Quite frankly, lives depend on it," Coder said. "The need for 988 services is more crucial than ever, simply because of the aftermath and the mental health issues from COVID."

 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The recent years have seen a wave of adoptive cell therapies (ACTs), a type of immunotherapy in which T cells (T cell transfer therapy) and other immune cells are obtained from patients, activated and multiplied outside the body, and infused in larger numbers back into the blood circulation to help fight cancers.

In the successful version of ACT known as CAR-T cell therapy, immune oncologists, in addition, genetically engineer a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) into T cells that with one of its parts binds a specific tumor cell type and with another helps unleash the T cell's tumor cell-destroying activity.

CAR-T cell therapies have advanced into clinical practice to treat tumors of the immune system, such as leukemias and lymphomas, and more recently multiple myeloma, which affects white blood cells in the bone marrow. However, T cell transfer therapies have not yet been successfully applied to solid tumors because T cells do not easily penetrate solid tumor masses and persist long enough in them, and because their activity is muted by an immune-suppressive tumor microenvironment.

One way to overcome these limitations could be to pair T cell transfer therapies with cytokine therapy. Cytokines are small proteins that are secreted by certain immune cells and can enhance tumor-destroying activities of other immune cells, including transferred T cells. A serious downside of this approach, however, are significant side-effects resulting from cytokines freely circulating in the body, leading to toxicity and potentially lethal inflammatory syndromes. In addition, despite the risks cytokines pose when given systemically, they often are cleared too fast to produce the desired cancer therapeutic effects.

Now, a research collaboration at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) has developed a nanotechnology-driven solution to these problems. The method utilizes an unnatural sugar that is taken up and integrated into the T cells' external coating, which can then be used to anchor cytokines.

The concentrated cytokines locally enhance T cell functions without producing unwanted systemic side-effects. In mice with melanoma, an aggressive solid tumor type, the approach also stimulated the host immune system against tumor cells, which inhibited tumor growth. As an add-on to CAR-T cell therapy, it allowed complete regression of lymphoma tumors at otherwise non-curative cell doses. The results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

"The results that we see suggest a major step toward developing ACTs with efficacy against solid tumors and ACTs that work more consistently against a variety of blood cancers," said senior author David Mooney, Ph.D., a Founding Core Faculty member of the Wyss Institute and the Robert P. Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. "Our approach can be easily scaled and integrated with the processes currently used to manufacture therapeutic T cells, including CAR-T cells, and thus could have a relatively short path into clinical application."

Mooney's combined their bioengineering expertise with that of cancer immunologist Kai Wucherpfennig, M.D., Ph.D. Wucherpfennig is Director of DFCI's Center for Cancer Immunotherapy Research, Professor of Neurobiology at Brigham and Harvard Medical School, and an Associate Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Sugar plus cytokine equals enhanced T cell therapy

To be able to track cancer reactive dendritic cells, which orchestrate a broader immune response in lymph nodes, Mooney's group had previously developed a biomaterials-based method that allowed them to attract the cells into a 3-D scaffold in living animals, where they took up a synthetic reactive sugar molecule and used it as a building unit for the complex sugar chains on the cell surface.

"In our new study we similarly harnessed the natural sugar metabolism of cells, but delivered the reactive azido sugar to T cells via nanoparticles in a culture dish. The cells' sugar metabolism utilizes the sugar and metabolically integrates it into the complex sugar chains on the cell surface," said first-author Yutong Liu, who is a graduate student working with Mooney.

"In a second step, using click-chemistry, we then exploited the sugar molecules' azido group to link specific cytokine molecules that are modified with a highly compatible chemical group [DBCO] to them. Only having to add sugar-containing nanoparticles and later the cytokines to the culture media makes the method extremely simple and fully compatible with the adoptive cell manufacturing pipeline."

After optimizing the conjugation process with a collection of cytokines in cultured T cells, and ensuring that the cells' viability and general functions were not affected, the team tested their approach in mice burdened by solid melanoma tumors. They found that melanoma-specific T cells carrying the anti-tumor cytokine interleukin-12 (IL-12) at non-curative cell doses significantly delayed the growth of the tumors, and prolonged the animals' life span by 50%. In comparison, the same number of melanoma-specific T cells adoptively transferred along with a systemic injection of IL-12 produced much weaker effects.

The adoptively transferred T cells also had an improved ability to survive and differentiate into tumor-destroying cells in the animals and involved other T cell types and immune cells with roles in a broader immune response against tumors. "We saw far greater increases in T helper and cytotoxic T cells both in dissected tumors and spleens of animals that received melanoma-specific metabolically labeled T cells conjugated with IL-12 than in our control conditions, and clear signs that these had increased tumor-specific activities," said Liu.

The researchers think that part of the explanation could be that dendritic cells (DCs), which are key orchestrators of the broader tumor-directed immune response, were more strongly stimulated by melanoma-specific T cells with conjugated IL-12 than T cells without IL-12.

"We think that our approach could enhance a tumor-specific immune cycle. First, the adoptively transferred IL-12-conjugated T cells differentiate and kill a subset of tumor cells, resulting in the release of different tumor-specific antigens that are taken up and processed by DCs, which present them to other tumor-specific T cells in nearby lymph nodes that then also invade the tumors and directly contribute to tumor cell killing and the spread of yet more antigens," hypothesized Liu.

The antigen-spreading effect observed by the team could be very relevant for the treatment of solid tumors which often have a highly heterogenous cell composition and thus are more difficult to attack by targeting just one antigen.

In the last piece of their study, the researchers took their T cell approach to CAR-T cell therapy in a mouse xenograft lymphoma model. Metabolically labeled CAR-T cells with conjugated IL-12 were able to control the development of tumors and prolong the survival of mice that before had been injected with lymphoma cells, and at doses at which CAR-T cells lacking IL-12 were not able to cure the animals.

"The straight-forward and elegant nature of new approach to cancer immunotherapy offers huge potential for cancer patients. We are excited to support this effort through the Wyss Institute's high-priority Validation Project program, which will hopefully expedite its advancement towards the clinic," said Wyss Founding Director Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D. who is also the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, and the Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Bioinspired Engineering at SEAS.

More information: Yutong Liu et al, Cytokine conjugation to enhance T cell therapy, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2213222120 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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Magnesium sulfate (MgSO 4 ) uptake pre-implementation and post implementation. Credit: Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition (2023). DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2022-324579

A program to increase the use of magnesium sulfate, a 1 injection that helps prevent cerebral palsy in premature babies, is effective according to a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) evaluation. The findings, led by researchers at the University of Bristol, are published in the Archives of Disease in ChildhoodFetal and Neonatal Edition.

Premature birth is the main cause of brain injury and cerebral palsy in babies. Evidence shows that babies can be protected from brain injury by giving magnesium sulfate to women who are at risk of premature birth. This reduces the risk of cerebral palsy by a third. However, in 2017 only 64% of eligible women were being given magnesium sulfate in England, Scotland and Wales.

The prevention of cerebral palsy in pre-term labor (PReCePT) program aimed to support all maternity units in England to increase the use of magnesium sulfate in premature births. The PReCePT approach was developed in the West of England in 2014. It was led by the West of England Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust.

It was then piloted in five NHS trusts in the West of England, and this pilot was evaluated by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West). It has since been rolled out across England via the AHSN Network as a national program.

The evaluation of the national program, also led by NIHR ARC West, found that PReCePT was both effective and cost-effective. The researchers looked at data from the UK National Neonatal Research Database for the year before and year after PReCePT was implemented in maternity units in England.

While use of magnesium sulfate had been increasing before, the study showed that PReCePT was able to accelerate uptake. It increased by 6.3 percentage points on average across all maternity units in England during the first year, over and above the increase that would be expected over time as the practice spread organically.

After also adjusting for variations in when maternity units started the program, the increase in use of magnesium sulfate was 9.5 percentage points. By May 2020, on average 86.4% of eligible mothers were receiving magnesium sulfate.

The researchers also estimated that the program's first year could be associated with a lifetime saving to society of 3 million. This accounts for the costs of the program, administering the treatment and of cerebral palsy to society over a lifetime, and the associated health gains of avoiding cases. This is across all the extra babies the program helped get access to the treatment during the first year.

In the five West of England pilot sites the improved use of magnesium sulfate has been sustained over the years since PReCePT was implemented. As the program costs were mostly in the first year of implementation, longer-term national analysis may show that PReCePT is even more cost-effective over a longer period.

John Macleod, NIHR ARC West Director, Professor in Clinical Epidemiology and Primary Care at the University of Bristol and principal investigator of the evaluation, said, "Our in-depth analysis has been able to demonstrate that the PReCePT program is both effective and cost-effective. The program has increased uptake of magnesium sulfate, which we know is a cost-effective medicine to prevent cerebral palsy, much more quickly than we could have otherwise expected."

"We are pleased to have played a part in helping get this cheap yet effective treatment to more babies."

Natasha Swinscoe, Chief Executive for the West of England AHSN and National Lead for Patient Safety for the AHSN Network, said, "We've been delighted to support the development of PReCePT from its inception at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston to its spread to all five hospital trusts in the West of England, and then leading the national rollout through the AHSN Network.

"We are incredibly proud of what the perinatal community has achieved through this program, and the difference it is making to the lives of so many premature babies and their families."

This evaluation is part of a long-term collaboration between PReCePT's chief investigator Professor Karen Luyt, NIHR ARC West and the West of England AHSN on the use of magnesium sulfate to prevent cerebral palsy in premature babies.

Karen Luyt, Professor in Neonatal Medicine at the University of Bristol, said, "The PReCePT national QI program demonstrates that a collaborative and coordinated, AHSN delivered, perinatal implementation program supporting every hospital in England, can accelerate the uptake of new evidence-based treatments into routine practice, enabling equitable health benefits to babies and ultimately reductions in lifetime societal costs."

Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute for Health and Care Research, said, "This important study shows the impact of taking a promising intervention that had been shown to work in a research setting and scaling it up across the country. Giving magnesium sulfate to prevent cerebral palsy in premature babies is a simple, inexpensive intervention that can make such a difference to families and the health service. We look forward to seeing ongoing use of magnesium sulfate across our maternity units so that these benefits continue."

Minister of State for Health Will Quince said, "This study proves this simple, cost effective injection can protect babies as well as potentially saving society up to 3 million. Thanks to our leading research in this space, this has already been rolled out nationally and it is vital all eligible women are offered magnesium sulfate."

"It's so important to progress research in areas like this and I encourage researchers with innovative ideas to apply for funding through the National Institute for Health and Care Research."

"More widely, I am committed to ensuring all people living with cerebral palsy can fulfill their potential throughout their lifethat's why we've set out principles to guide the transition of young people with cerebral palsy into adulthood in health, social care and education systems."

Case studyElly's story

On 24 August 2013, Elly Salisbury went into labor at just 27 weeks. Because of the risks associated with preterm labor, Elly was offered and then given magnesium sulfate.

This helped to reduce her babies' chances of developing cerebral palsy.

She was one of the first mothers to be given magnesium sulfate as part of the PReCePT project.

Elly later gave birth to twin boys, Jay and Cormac at St Michael's Hospital in Bristol.

Sadly Jay suffered two grade four brain bleeds and was transferred to palliative care where he died a few days later.

However, Cormac survived against the odds and is now a happy and healthy nine-year-old.

Since then Elly has been involved with PReCePT as a public contributor, helping to shape how the program is communicated with parents in her situation.

Elly says, "Cormac is an amazing boy, and he has no signs of cerebral palsy at all. I truly believe that the magnesium sulfate was part of that. I feel incredibly lucky to have been given magnesium sulfate at that time."

"I am so glad that the PReCePT program has been rolled out through the AHSNs nationally, and that the ARC West evaluation has found the program to be so effective."

"For mothers who are going to give birth under 30 weeks, it's vitally important and so it's incredible that those mothers are now being offered magnesium sulfate no matter where they give birth in England."

"It fills me with pride and joy that now it's not just the lucky ones like myself who happened to be in a hospital that offered magnesium sulfate. All mothers across the country in my situation will get magnesium sulfate thanks to the PReCePT program. And that will make such a difference to so many babies and their families."

"Behind every infusion of magnesium sulfate is a little boy or a little girl, just like Cormac, and a family just like ours. Every single family should have that chance to be given this drug."

More information: Hannah B Edwards et al, National PReCePT Programme: a before-and-after evaluation of the implementation of a national quality improvement programme to increase the uptake of magnesium sulfate in preterm deliveries, Archives of Disease in ChildhoodFetal and Neonatal Edition (2023). DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2022-324579
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Curtin University research has found that the design of Perth's new Children's Hospital in Western Australia had positive outcomes for privacy and natural light, but initially left nurses feeling exhausted, isolated and less visible to patients and their families.

The design strategies evaluated included that the new pediatric hospital incorporates mostly single patient rooms, a 65% larger floor area, V-shaped ward design and architectural features to maximize natural light, quietness and views of nature.

The research, published in the Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, employed a pre and post move design using health care improvement principles to measure the impact of the new physical environment on time spent by nurses providing patient care and patient, family and nurse experience.

Lead researcher Associate Professor Fenella Gill, from Curtin's School of Nursing, said the study found that while nurses spent double the amount of time walking in the new hospital, they spent the same amount of time at patients' bedsides.

"At the time of planning this study, the influence of building design with single rooms on patient, family and nurse experience and workflow in a children's hospital was unquantified. We looked to address that knowledge gap by measuring the effects from a nursing, patient and family point of view," Associate Professor Gill said.

"Our research revealed both benefits and challenges. Patients and families liked the new environment (in particular the natural light, privacy of single patient rooms and views), yet also recognized how the design resulted in reduced visibility of nurses and a sense of isolation.

"Nurses reported that the new environment resulted in them initially experiencing exhaustion; less visibility to families and other nurses; and decreased capacity to supervise less experienced nurses, but over time they did adjust to their new working environment and their experiences did improve."

The study found that while the experience of care reported by families increased after the move, children's experiences were unchanged.

Associate Professor Gill said despite the hard data of no change to nurse time spent at patients' bedsides, the perception and experiences of children, families and nurses were that nurses were less visible and spent less time with patients.

"Focus groups revealed nurses felt there was an insufficient number of nurses to provide patient care, and through surveys they also reported a large decrease in staffing and resource adequacy from 70.4% pre-move to 57.1% post-move," Associate Professor Gill said.

This study was conducted over three different time periods from November 2017 to September 2019. Study participants were inpatient children and families, and nurses employed at each of the previous and new pediatric hospitals at the time of data collection. Nurse participants included four categories; Enrolled Nurses, Registered Nurses, Clinical Nurses and Senior Registered Nurses.

More information: Fenella J Gill et al, A new children's hospital with a larger floor space, single rooms, and V-shaped ward design: A prepost evaluation of nurse time providing patient care and nurse, patient, and family experiences, Journal of Health Services Research & Policy (2023). DOI: 10.1177/13558196221146658
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The World Health Organization said on Tuesday it did not expect a surge of COVID-19 cases in China to "significantly impact" the situation in Europe.

"The ongoing surge in China is not anticipated to significantly impact the COVID-19 epidemiological situation in the WHO European Region at this time," Hans Kluge, WHO's Europe director, told a press conference.

But, he stressed, "we cannot be complacent".

China's hospitals have been overwhelmed by an explosion in cases since Beijing began unwinding hardline controls that had torpedoed the economy and sparked nationwide protests.

The WHO's European region comprises 53 countries and includes Russia and countries in Central Asia.

The regional director also said it was "not unreasonable for countries to take precautionary measures to protect their populations" but called for such measures "to be rooted in science, to be proportionate and non-discriminatory".

More than a dozen countries have slapped fresh travel regulations on travelers from China.

A group of European Union experts last week "strongly encouraged" the bloc's 27 member states to demand COVID tests from people on flights from China and conduct random tests on arrivals.

Kluge also urged countries to step up surveillance efforts such as sequencing variants, noting that many had "greatly reduced" their capacities.

 2023 AFP
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Elementary school-age children with developmental disorders are more likely to have allergic diseases, according to a study published in the January issue of Pediatrics International.

Masafumi Zaitsu, M.D., Ph.D., from the National Hospital Organization Ureshino Medical Center in Japan, and colleagues assessed the prevalence of allergic diseases in elementary school-age children with developmental disorders by grade and sex. The analysis included 446 lower-grade and 312 upper-grade elementary school-age children.

The researchers found that the prevalence of allergic diseases was significantly higher in lower-grade boys and girls with developmental disorders versus those without developmental disorders (odds ratios, 3.22 and 3.87 for boys and girls, respectively). Similar results were seen for higher-grade boys with developmental disorders versus those without (OR, 3.46).

Among children in lower grades, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) correlated with bronchial asthma (adjusted OR, 3.72), while autism spectrum disorder correlated with atopic dermatitis (adjusted OR, 4.26). For children in the upper grades, ADHD correlated with atopic dermatitis (adjusted OR, 5.06).

"Understanding the relationship between developmental disorders and allergic diseases may lead to better medical care for both diseases," the authors write.

More information: Masafumi Zaitsu et al, Developmental disorders in school children are related to allergic diseases, Pediatrics International (2022). DOI: 10.1111/ped.15358

Copyright  2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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Early retirement can accelerate cognitive decline among the elderly, according to research conducted by faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

Plamen Nikolov, assistant professor of economics, and Shahadath Hossain, a doctoral student in economics, both from Binghamton University, examined China's New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) and the Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) to determine how retirement plans affect cognitive performance among plan participants.

CHARLS, a nationally representative survey of people ages 45 and above within the Chinese population, directly tests cognition with a focus on episodic memory and components of intact mental status.

With a higher life expectancy and a decline in fertility in developing countries, the elderly population has become the most significant demographic source in Asia and Latin America, generating an urgent need for new, sustainable pension systems. However, Nikolov's research suggests that these retirement plans can have fortuitous downstream consequences. In a new study, Nikolov's team shows that the access to retirement plans can play a significant role in explaining cognitive decline at older ages.

"Because of this large demographic boom, China introduced a formal pension program (called NRPS) in rural parts of the country. The program was introduced because of China's rapidly rising aging population and in an effort to alleviate poverty in old age," said Nikolov.

"In rural parts of the country, traditional family-based care for the elderly had largely broken down, without adequate formal mechanisms to take its place. For the elderly, inadequate transfers from either informal family and community transfers could severely reduce their ability to cope with illness or poor nutrition."

The researchers obtained administrative government data from the Chinese government on the implementation of the pension program. They obtained access to an additional survey data source, which detailed the behavior and socioeconomic characteristics of participants in the new retirement program. Nikolov and his research team discovered that the new program led to significant adverse effects on cognitive functioning among the elderly.

The most significant indicator of cognitive decline was delayed recall, a measure widely implicated in neurobiological research as an important predictor of dementia. The pension program had more negative effects among females, and Nikolov said the results support the mental retirement hypothesis that decreased mental activity results in worsening cognitive skills.

While Nikolov and co-authors found that pension benefits and retirement lead to improved health, the program also induced a stark and much more negative influence on other dimensions: social activities, activities associated with mental fitness and social engagement.

"Participants in the program report substantially lower levels of social engagement, with significantly lower rates of volunteering and social interaction than non-beneficiaries. We find that increased social isolation is strongly linked with faster cognitive decline among the elderly. Interestingly, we found that the program improved some health behaviors. Program participants reported a reduced incidence of regular alcohol drinking compared to the previous year. Overall, the adverse effects of early retirement on mental and social engagement significantly outweigh the program's protective effect on various health behaviors," said Nikolov.

"Or alternatively, the kinds of things that matter and determine better health might simply be very different from the kinds of things that matter for better cognition among the elderly. Social engagement and connectedness may simply be the single most powerful factors for cognitive performance in old age."

Many policy decisions entail careful consideration of causes and effects. But understanding cause and effect in the context of economic or policy issues is often hampered because controlled experimentssuch as randomized controlled trials (RCTs)might not always be practically or ethically possible. In such cases, "Economists often turn to a method called natural experiments," Nikolov explained.

Natural experiments entail using random events or situations when real life mimics controlled experiments. Based on this method, Nikolov and his team studied how the decision to retire impacted cognition because the research team could compare how people of similar age and socioeconomic characteristics fared compared to similar individuals, but in areas where the pension program did not exist.

"Individuals in the areas that implement the NRPS score considerably lower than individuals who live in areas that do not offer the NRPS program," Nikolov said. "Over the almost 10 years since its implementation, the program led to a decline in cognitive performance by as high as almost a fifth of a standard deviation on the memory measures we examine."

Surprisingly, the estimated program impacts were similar to the negative findings regarding the same phenomenon but in higher income countries such as America, England and the European Union, which Nikolov said demonstrates that retirement affects people across different areas in more similar patterns than we previously understood.

"We were surprised to find that pension benefits and retirement actually resulted in reduced cognitive performance. In a different study, we found a very robust finding that the introduction of pension benefits and retirement led to positive health benefits via improvements in sleep and the reduction of alcohol consumption and smoking," he said.

"The fact that retirement led to reduced cognitive performance in and of itself is a stark finding about an unsuspected, puzzling issue, but a finding with extremely important welfare implications for one's quality of life in old age."

Nikolov said he hopes this research will help create new policies to improve the cognitive functioning of older generations during retirement.

"We hope our findings will influence how retirees view their retirement activities from a more holistic perspective and pay particular attention to their social engagement, active volunteering, and participating in activities fostering their mental acuity," Nikolov said.

"But we also hope to influence policymakers. We show robust evidence that retirement has important benefits. But it also has considerable costs. Cognitive impairments among the elderly, even if not severely debilitating, bring about a loss of quality of life and can have negative welfare consequences. Policymakers can introduce policies aimed at buffering the reduction of social engagement and mental activities. In this sense, retirement programs can generate positive spillovers for the health status of retirees without the associated negative effect on their cognition."

Nikolov plans to continue research on this topic and examine how the introduction of pension benefits led to responses of labor force participation among the elderly in rural China.

The work is published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.

More information: Plamen Nikolov et al, Do pension benefits accelerate cognitive decline in late adulthood? Evidence from rural China, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2022.11.025 Journal information: Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation
Unique Group, global innovators in subsea technologies and engineering, has announced the sale of its Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment (HBOT) system, Uni-Heal, to HMS DXBone Excellence Center, a part of HMS Group of Hospitals in the UAE.

In partnership with Hie Capital, Unique Group will deliver its bespoke technology to Dubai-based HMS DXBone Excellence Center by February 2023. This tri-party partnership paves the way for the creation of one of the largest HBOT centres in the Middle East.

As part of the contract with HMS Group, Unique Group will design, manufacture and install a twelve-patient HBOT system along with set-up and maintenance services from its UAE office, while Hie Capital will offer their consultancy services for setting up the HBOT center.

Part of the HMS Group of Hospitals, which operates more than four specialty hospitals in the UAE, HMS DxBone Excellence Center is specialised for orthopedic services in the country. The hospital offers value-added healthcare services to residents in the UAE and GCC, with leading medical and surgical consultants providing state-of-the-art orthopedic and musculoskeletal solutions.

Harry Gandhi, Group Chairman at Unique Group, said: Were pleased to provide our state-of-the-art HBOT unit to HMS DXBone Excellence Center and be a part of the largest HBOT centre in the Middle East. The sale is testament to our medical technology product lines unrivalled position in the market following years of innovative manufacturing expertise coupled with direct collaboration with hyperbaric medicine specialists. Together with HMS, we look forward to creating a positive patient experience and delivering impactful results.

Sami Al Qamzi, Chairman of HMS DXBone Excellence Center, said: Following years of experience in various aspects of medicine, were pleased to introduce hyperbaric medicine. Unique Group has a long-standing commitment to professionalism and quality which is reflected in its products and were confident that the newly set up hyperbaric centre will add value to our existing line up of specialties in the region.

The HBOT system is designed and developed by Unique Groups UAE and South Africa offices in compliance with stringent design codes for medical devices such as EC93-42. It has a fully digital chamber control system which is ergonomically designed for easy operation and optimum healing experience for medical conditions ranging from carbon monoxide poisoning to diabetic wound care and non-healing cuts. Unique Group will provide the technical support required to integrate the equipment in the hospital and train staff members to operate the system. TradeArabia News Service
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A novel rooming-in program at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta provided greater peace of mind for families of infants with critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) and the pediatric nurses preparing the infants for discharge.

The transition to home for infants who require complex care can be overwhelming for caregivers, who need to absorb large quantities of unfamiliar material in a short time. They often need to quickly gain skills, such as safe medication administration, feeding regimens, respiratory management, wound care, and how to recognize early signs and symptoms of worsening issues.

The hospital's 35-bed pediatric cardiac acute care unit developed the program in 2019 as a way to address gaps in caregiver knowledge and better involve caregivers in the care plan. Rooming-in allows a caregiver to remain with their infant for 24 hours prior to discharge, giving them an opportunity to learn specific skills related to their child's care and practice them under a nurses' guidance.

"Nurses' Perceptions of a Novel Rooming-in Program for Infants With Critical Congenital Heart Disease" looks at the program from the nurses' point of view, identifying benefits and barriers, and offering insights for potential improvements. The study is published in the American Journal of Critical Care (AJCC).

The study details the overarching themes that arose during focus group discussions with 13 nurses who participated in the rooming-in program and provided care to infants with CCHD and their caregivers.

"Nurses must feel confident and competent in their ability to provide training and education to caregivers of infants with medically complex conditions," Shackleford said. "The quality of discharge education and care coordination are important elements for a successful transition to home, and participants pointed to how this program improved both family and nursing outcomes."

Among the improved nursing outcomes, participants expressed greater confidence in preparing caregivers for discharge and feelings of increased nurse satisfaction. They agreed that the program directly led to improvement in families' ability to safely care for their infants at home.

The program also improved organization of the discharge process and led the way to better care coordination, notably between nurses and the discharge coordinator. Participants mentioned better communication and collaboration between nurses, discharge coordinators, other providers and caregivers, paving the way for a smooth transition home.

Although nurses described many benefits for patients, nurses and families, they also identified areas in which the rooming-in program could be improved. Developing a way to better measure caregivers' abilities, beyond simply passing or failing specific skills tests, could contribute to more productive conversations and clearer language. They also offered suggestions for reviewing the experience with the caregivers and being able to customize the program to ensure that each family receives training that matches their learning needs.

The researchers used a specific framework to organize the resultslooking at reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance (RE-AIM)and found it an effective way to translate research to practice and help improve a program's ability to work in real-life settings.

More information: Jenna Shackleford et al, Nurses' Perceptions of a Novel Rooming-in Program for Infants With Critical Congenital Heart Disease, American Journal of Critical Care (2023). DOI: 10.4037/ajcc2023790

Provided by American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN)
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Note: The figure presents the distribution of non-federal, public-hospital privatizations during our sample period (200018). We restricted our sample to general-acute-care hospitals. Panels (a) and (b) present the distribution by state and by year, respectively. Hawaii and Alaska are not pictured and include 4 and 1 conversions, respectively. We manually validated each conversion. Credit: Mark Duggan et al, The Impact of Privatization: Evidence from the Hospital Sector (2023). DOI: 10.3386/w30824

Government has been getting out of the hospital business in the United States, which begs a question: Are patients better off when private owners take over?

If they are poor and should be admitted to a hospital, the answer is likely to be "no."

That's according to a newly released Stanford study that delves into the rise of U.S. hospital privatization and its effects on patients. The researchers find that access to hospital beds significantly declines under private ownershipaffecting all patients. But patients covered by Medicaid, the nation's public insurance program for low-income residents, are hit the hardest by the cutbacks in available beds and other levels of care.

The study, co-authored by Mark Duggan, the Trione Director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and the Wayne and Jodi Cooperman Professor of Economics at the School of Humanities and Sciences, analyzes nearly two decades of U.S. hospital privatizations. The researchers find that a formerly government-run hospital admitted on average 15% fewer Medicaid patients in the years immediately following privatization. By comparison, admissions of patients covered by Medicare, the federal insurance program for the elderly, didn't meaningfully change.

The reason why Medicaid patients are worse off when hospitals go private is clear, says Duggan, whose research focuses on health economics. "Medicaid reimbursement rates are so low that treating patients covered by the program is often unprofitable," he says, adding that Medicare pays hospitals significantly more for care. "Many hospitals do not want to treat Medicaid patients given this financial hit."

The implications are significant given that one in four Americans are now covered by Medicaid, Duggan says. Twenty-five years ago, only one in nine Americans got their health insurance through Medicaid.

"The increase in Medicaid coverage since then has been gigantic," Duggan says. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 alone added nearly 16 million low-income patients to the program, according to government data. "Our study underscores how changes that are occurring in the health care system, including the widespread privatization of public hospitals, can have unintended consequences for the most vulnerable patients."

According to American Hospital Association data cited in the study, public control of hospitals declined by 42% from 1983 to 2019 as hospitals either closed or were taken over by private interests. As of 2020, roughly 80% of the approximately 4,500 general acute care hospitals in the United States are controlled by private non-profit or for-profit organizations. And as the share of public hospital beds dropped, Duggan and his collaborators find that the total number of patients admitted to newly privatized hospitalsincluding those on Medicaidfell by 8.5%.

Job losses were also notable as private owners pared costs. Duggan and his co-authors estimate that full-time hospital staff declined by 8% on average, with many of the cuts hitting managers, medical technicians and back-office workers. They calculate, on average, a 30% decrease in the number of employed physicians. Privatization did not affect nursing staffs.

Duggan says the study findings are especially important given that health care represents the largest sector of the U.S. economy at 19% of GDP and that hospitals employ as many workers as the entire U.S. construction industry.

"The profit motive is embedded throughout the health care system, which can be both good and bad," Duggan says. "Good in the sense that maybe things get done more efficiently, but bad in that it can end up having adverse effects for the least profitable patients who are typically poor."

Duggan's co-authors are Atul Gupta, an assistant professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania; Emilie Jackson, an assistant professor at Michigan State University; and, Zachary Templeton, a doctoral student at Wharton. Gupta, Ph.D. '17, and Jackson, Ph.D. '20, are both former SIEPR graduate student fellowship recipients.

Why go private

The researchers look at nearly 260 privatizations of hospitals run by state and local governments between 2000 and 2018. While they find that admissions overall decline at newly private hospitals, neighboring hospitals absorbed most of the displaced patients.

But that wasn't the case for low-income patients. Not only did newly private hospitals admit fewer Medicaid patients, but so did nearby hospitalswith the steepest declines in access occurring in markets with the highest levels of poverty and concentrations of hospitals.

Duggan says Medicaid patients lose out because hospitals in high-poverty areas already are financially strapped and that introducing a new competitor in the form of a newly privatized hospital makes it that much harder for all of them to stay afloat.

"At that point, all bets are off," says Duggan, who first analyzed hospital ownership and the role of government spending on health outcomes for low-income patients in The Quarterly Journal of Economics in 2000.

Hospitals, including neighboring ones, shed unprofitable Medicaid patients more out of necessity than avarice, Duggan says. There are multiple ways that hospitals trim their volume of Medicaid patients. For example, they might not contract with states to serve patients covered by the program or they might cut back on care that low-income patients tend to seek more than others.

Red vs. blue states: A counterintuitive finding

A better understanding of the effects of hospital privatizations on patient care is critical for policymakers, whose views on the right amount of government control appear to vary widely.

According to the study, some of the country's most conservative states have the largest share of government-owned hospital beds, while more liberal states have among the lowest. State or local governments control 44% of hospital beds in Alabama, for example. In Pennsylvania, they control just 4%.

Those stark differences defy conventional wisdom, Duggan notes. Blue (more liberal) states tend to support a bigger role for government in providing services, while red states advocate for minimal public involvement.

"You might think that government's role in hospital care would be larger in blue states, but it turns out to be much bigger in red states," Duggan says. "Knowing that there's tremendous variation across states further highlights the importance of understanding the consequences of hospital privatization and figuring out what is the appropriate amount of public control."

There's a lot more to investigate, the researchers say.

The effects on wages for hospital staff and a close examination of types of carelike psychiatry or obstetricsare ripe for future research, Duggan says. "If you're a nurse in a privatized hospital, do your wages go up less than if the hospital had remained under public control?" says Duggan, who plans next to start answering some of these questions by looking closely at specific state experiences with hospital privatizations.

More information: Mark Duggan et al, The Impact of Privatization: Evidence from the Hospital Sector (2023). DOI: 10.3386/w30824 Journal information: Quarterly Journal of Economics
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Age-related matrix stiffening in articular cartilage initiates pathogenic mechanotransductive signaling, driving chondrocyte dysfunction as well as disrupted cartilage integrity through Klotho promoter hypermethylation. Portions of the figure were created with biorender.com. Credit: Ambrosio et al, Nature Communications

Researchers in the United States and Japan have discovered a new mechanism that links age-related cartilage tissue stiffening with the repression of a key protein associated with longevity. These findings enhance the understanding of mechanisms that lead to the deterioration of joints that causes osteoarthritis, according to the authors of a new study, published January 10th in Nature Communications.

In the study, researchers showed that increased stiffening of the extracellular matrixa network of proteins and other molecules that surround and support tissues in the bodyled to a decrease in a so-called "longevity protein" called Klotho (-Klotho) in knee cartilage brought about by epigenetic changes. This Klotho decrease then damaged the cells in healthy cartilage called chondrocytes. Conversely, exposing aged chondrocytes to a softer extracellular matrix restored the knee cartilage to a more youthful state.

As stiffening of extracellular matrix is a defining feature of cartilage aging, these findings demonstrate the role Klotho plays in the formation of osteoarthritis and offers new potential treatment targets to restore cartilage health. The researchers also note that their results may be applicable to the toll that epigenetic factors caused by aging takes on other tissues throughout the body.

"This research enhances our mechanistic understanding of why osteoarthritis happens in the first place, and it paves the way for the development of therapeutics to prevent these changes. Such therapeutics are important because there are currently no disease-modifying treatments for osteoarthritis; the best we can do for now is minimize pain and disability," said Fabrisia Ambrosio, Ph.D., MPT, inaugural director of the Atlantic Charter Discovery Center for Musculoskeletal Recovery of the Schoen Adams Research Institute at Spaulding Rehabilitation Network, and Member of the Faculty of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School. "Since matrix stiffening is a feature of aged tissues throughout the body, we anticipate that these findings may also have implications beyond cartilage repair for the field of aging research."

Examining the root cause of irreversible cartilage damage

Osteoarthritis occurs when cartilage in a joint stiffens and begins to break down which then damages the underlying bone, resulting in pain, swelling and feelings of stiffness. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting approximately 32.5 million individuals in the United States alonerates expected to rise with the aging population and trends in obesity. Osteoarthritis can significantly interfere with a person's ability to perform routine daily tasks; about half of adults with the condition are of working age, which impacts their ability to earn a living.

There are currently no treatments to reverse this cartilage stiffening and resulting damage. Treatments such as exercise, weight loss, physical therapy, medications, injections and joint replacement surgery are aimed at reducing pain and improving mobility. Much has remained unknown about the molecular causes of this damage and how to treat it. These unknowns are especially germane to knee osteoarthritis, where no single event causes the cartilage damage, and the greatest predictive risk factor is aging.

Increasingly, researchers have sought to better understand the role epigenetics, or how changes in behaviors and environment as people age alter how genes work, can impact tissues and disease processes throughout the body.

Using advanced mass spectrometry technology, the researchers mapped out the trajectory of structural and protein changes in mice with knee osteoarthritis over the course of their lifetimes and according to sex. They then compared their findings to the current understanding of knee osteoarthritis in humans.

The researchers found that Klotho was heavily involved in the molecular process that led to osteoarthritis. This work was an extension of previous studies showing that Klotho protects mitochondria within skeletal muscle and plays a key role in skeletal muscle regeneration following injury. As people age, their klotho levels go down, hence why it's referred to as a longevity protein.

The new analysis revealed that when knee cartilage tissue became stiffer, the gene that codes for Klotho was repressed. They verified this in models of young and old chondrocyte cells responsible for cartilage formation, which were seeded in environments designed to mimic young and old tissue stiffness. Young chondrocyte cells looked old when put on a stiff surface due to the loss of Klotho, but when the researchers protected the cells from the stiffness in their environment, they observed chondrocyte health.

"These results provide a compelling new paradigm that will be important for the field in terms of understanding the connection between age-related tissue stiffening and risk for osteoarthritis with aging," said Hirotaka Iijima, Ph.D., PT, assistant professor at Institute for Advanced Research and Graduate School of Medicine in Nagoya University.

Interestingly, their analysis also revealed that incidence of osteoarthritis increased in male mice with age, while female mice showed no onset of the disease and their cartilage tissue was generally preserved. This unexpected finding differs from the response observed in people, where post-menopausal women are significantly more likely to develop severe knee osteoarthritis than men. These findings warrant further study, according to the authors, and a project is underway in Dr. Ambrosio's lab to examine the effects menopause has on knee osteoarthritis at the molecular level.

Future research aims to address therapeutic gaps in age-related conditions

With the latest findings, the researchers plan to study whether there are ways to intervene with the disease process that leads to osteoarthritis, such as by blocking the pathway that represses Klotho, even in the face of a stiff extracellular matrix environment. They hope their findings can be used to develop treatments for osteoarthritis and other conditions caused by aging.

"We're interested in evaluating whether epigenetic regulation of Klotho and other longevity factors by the extracellular matrix may help explain functional decline of tissues throughout the system," said Dr. Ambrosio.

In addition to Drs. Ambrosio and Iijima, co-authors of the study include Gabrielle Gilmer, BCE, Kai Wang, Ph.D., Allison C., Bean, MD, Ph.D., Yuchen He, Hang Lin, Ph.D., Wan-Yee Tang, Ph.D., Daniel Lamont, Ph.D., Chia Tai, MS, Akira Ito, Ph.D., PT, Jeffrey J Jones, Ph.D. and Christopher Evans, Ph.D.

More information: Age-related matrix stiffening epigenetically regulates -Klotho expression and compromises chondrocyte integrity, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35359-2 Journal information: Nature Communications

Provided by Mass General Brigham
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

According to health care experts, the benefits for brand-new parents and their infants having access to health care during pregnancy as well as during the postpartum period are indisputable. Even so, many patientsincluding a third of women with pregnancy coverage through Medicaidare uninsured before or after pregnancy. To better understand how access to health care and insurance impacts postpartum health, a new study examined postpartum hospitalizations in states that had expanded Medicaid as well as those that had not.

In the study published in January in Health Affairs, researchers found a 17% reduction in hospitalizations during the first 60 days postpartum in states that expanded Medicaidand, looking further out, some evidence of a smaller decrease in hospitalizations between 61 days and six months postpartum.

Since hospitalizations are evidence of health issues that exacerbate to the point of requiring an inpatient hospital stay, the results provide evidence that Medicaid expansion is beneficial for the health of those who have just given birth, said study co-author Maria Steenland, an assistant professor of health services, policy and practice (research) at Brown University.

"Our findings indicate that expanding Medicaid coverage led to improved postpartum health for low-income birthing people," Steenland said. Medicaid provides health insurance for qualifying low-income Americans. In states that adopted the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansions since 2014, new eligibility rules allowed a larger share of low-income adults to qualify for Medicaid coverage both before pregnancy and after a 60-day postpartum period.

This led to significant increases in Medicaid enrollment and overall insurance coverage both before and after pregnancy, as well as greater continuity of insurance coverage among low-income parents, Steenland explained. Previous research had examined the effect of Medicaid expansion on postpartum health insurance. But there's less information available on how the Medicaid expansion affects the use of health services during and after pregnancylike whether, when and why new parents go to the doctor after giving birth.

Even prior to the ACA expansions, patients who had access to Medicaid during pregnancy were able to keep their health care coverage for 60 days after giving birth. However, without the expansion, Medicaid coverage ended at that point. The new study examined whether expanding Medicaid to cover people during pregnancy and after the 60-day postpartum cutoff period affected their rates of inpatient hospitalization.

The research, conducted by Steenland and Laura Wherry, an assistant professor of economics and public service at New York University, is the first to look at postpartum hospitalization under the ACA Medicaid expansion"a signal of maternal health that hasn't previously been examined," Wherry said.

Compared to other high-income countries, the United States performs notably poorly on several measures of maternal health, Wherry noted. "There's an ongoing conversation by health policy experts about the types of interventions that could improve maternal health in this country," she said. "Our study looks at that question in the context of expanding access to health insurance through Medicaid."

Steenland was a postdoctoral fellow at Brown when she first connected with Wherry, who studies the changing role of the Medicaid program and its impact on access to health care and health. The new analysis, which is part of an ongoing collaboration between the two scholars, took advantage of underused longitudinal hospital data from the period from 2010 to 2017 to examine hospitalizations after childbirth.

The researchers compared changes in hospitalizations among low-income patients with a Medicaid-financed delivery in states that did and did not expand Medicaid under the ACA, for six months after giving birth. The four expansion states included Iowa, Maryland, New Mexico and Washington; the four non-expansion states were Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Utah.

The data came from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases. In their analysis, the researchers found similar trends in postpartum hospitalizations among new parents in the two groups of states before the ACA Medicaid expansions. Starting at the time of Medicaid expansion, the relative trend in hospitalizations within 60 days postpartum decreased in expansion states compared with non-expansion states.

The researchers found a 17% reduction in hospitalizations during the first 60 days postpartum associated with the Medicaid expansions. Approximately 75% of this decline can be attributed to a decrease in childbirth-related hospitalizations.

They found some evidence of a decrease in postpartum hospitalizations after 60 days. However, Wherry explained, because hospitalizations during this time period tend to be rare, the sample size was too small to draw conclusions.

"We already know from previous studies that Medicaid expansion increased postpartum health insurance," Steenland said. "This work is our attempt to add to this literature by looking at a potential health outcome of these changes in health insurance coverage." The study design allowed the researchers to identify a causal effect of the policy, Wherry said.

"The 17% drop in the occurrence of 60-day postpartum hospitalizations as a result of Medicaid expansion is a meaningful decrease," she said. The policy landscape is constantly changing, Steenland said, and there is political momentum to extend Medicaid pregnancy coverage past the 60 days through the first year.

The researchers said that moving forward, they are interested in examining how state policies extending Medicaid pregnancy coverage through the first year after giving birth will impact not only a person's health, but also other aspects of their lives, including their mental health and financial status.

More information: Maria W. Steenland et al, Medicaid Expansion Led To Reductions In Postpartum Hospitalizations, Health Affairs (2023). DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00819 Journal information: Health Affairs
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More than a third of orthotists, specialists who improve quality of life for people with long term conditions and disabilities, would leave the profession if they could, according to a new study.

Orthotists provide gait analysis to patients and design and fit external devices. These include insoles, braces and splints, to support and improve posture, function and mobility and manage pain and deformity.

However, new research by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) has found that 37% of orthotists working with NHS and private patients would leave the orthotic profession if they could, suggesting a potential retention crisis. The figure was roughly the same among those employed by the NHS and those employed by private companies.

Around 70% of orthotists in the UK work in NHS settings but are employed by private companies. The research found that the leading reason for orthotists wanting to leave the profession was treatment by their employer. Many respondents also reported they did not have enough time with patients during appointments, and that facilities were inadequate. Privately employed orthotists reported that their working conditions were significantly lower than those employed by the NHS.

Orthotic services provide financial value to the NHS. A previous report by the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency found that the health service could save 4 for every 1 spent on improving orthotics services, because patients who access these services suffer fewer falls and require less pain relief or surgical interventions.

Orthotics services provide treatment options for people with a wide range of conditions and orthotists work closely with a number of clinical specialties within the NHS including diabetes care, elderly medicine, neurology, orthopaedics, paediatrics, stroke and trauma teams.

Dr. Nebil Achour, co-author of the paper and Associate Professor in Disaster Mitigation at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), said, "This study highlights the substantial challenges facing the orthotic profession in terms of staff satisfaction and retention. The perception among orthotists that they were treated poorly by their employer appears to be the catalyst for a significant number wishing to leave not just their job but the profession overall. This is a vulnerability in our healthcare sector and needs to be addressed urgently.

"A resilient healthcare sector requires all professions and capabilities to be ready to respond effectively during times of adversities."

Lead author Katie Prosser, who carried out the research while studying for a Masters Degree in Healthcare Management at ARU, said, "These are concerning results with clear and considerable implications for the future of the orthotic workforce, as well as patients requiring their services. Usually if people are dissatisfied with an NHS post they can look to move into private roles. However, in this profession it appears there is little to be gained in terms of job satisfaction or conditions by doing this, which may lead orthotists to want to do something else entirely."

The peer-reviewed study is published today in the British Journal of Healthcare Management.

More information: Katie Prosser et al, Job satisfaction among NHS and private orthotists: a cross-sectional comparative study, British Journal of Healthcare Management (2023). DOI: 10.12968/bjhc.2021.0081
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A physician assistant prepares a syringe with the Mpox vaccine for a patient at a vaccination clinic in New York on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Mpox is no longer the exploding health crisis that it appeared to be less than six months ago. So who deserves the credit for controlling the U.S. outbreak? Its an unsettled question, but experts cite a combination of factors.Some commend public health officials.Credit: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File

Less than six months ago, mpox was an exploding health crisis. What had been an obscure disease from Africa was ripping through European and U.S. gay communities. Precious doses of an unproven vaccine were in short supply. International officials declared health emergencies.

Today, reports of new cases are down to a trickle in the U.S. Health officials are shutting down emergency mobilizations. The threat seems to have virtually disappeared from the public consciousness.

"We're in a remarkably different place," said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University infectious diseases expert. "It's really impressive how that peak has come down to very, very low levels."

So who deserves the credit? It's an unsettled question, but experts cite a combination of factors.

Some commend public health officials. Others say more of the credit should go to members of the gay and bisexual community who took their own steps to reduce disease spread when the threat became clear. Some wonder if characteristics of the virus itself played a role.

"It's a mixed story" in which some things could have gone better but others went well, said Dr. Tom Frieden, a former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CASES SOAR, THEN FALL

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that's in the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals, but it was not known to spread easily among people.

Mpox cases began emerging in Europe and the U.S. in May, mostly among men who have sex with men. Cases escalated rapidly in dozens of countries in June and July, around the time of gay pride events. The infections were rarely fatal, but many people suffered painful skin lesions for weeks.

In late July, the World Health Organization declared an international health crisis. In early August, the U.S. declared a public health emergency.

Soon after, the outbreak began diminishing. The daily average of newly reported U.S. cases went from nearly 500 in August to about 100 in October. Now, there are fewer than five new U.S. cases per day. (Europe has seen a similar drop.)

Experts said a combination of factors likely turned the tide.

VACCINATIONS

Health officials caught an early break: An existing two-dose vaccine named Jynneos, developed to fight smallpox, was also approved for use against the monkeypox.

Initially, only a few thousand doses were available in the U.S., and most countries had none at all. Shipping and regulatory delays left local health departments unable to meet demand for shots.

In early August, U.S. health officials decided to stretch the limited supply by giving people just one-fifth the usual dose. The plan called for administering the vaccine with an injection just under the skin, rather than into deeper tissue.

Some in the public health community worried that it was a big decision based on a small amount of researcha single 2015 study. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since then has confirmed there was no difference in vaccine performance between the two methods.

"They got criticized for the revised dosing strategy, but it was the right call," said Frieden, who is currently president of Resolve to Save Lives, a non-profit organization focused on preventing epidemics.

Cases, however, had already begun falling by the time the government made the switch.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

The current CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, cited efforts to educate doctors on how to better diagnose and treat mpox. Other experts said that even more important was outreach to the sexually active gay and bisexual men most at risk.

In the first months of the outbreak, the government was cautious about focusing warnings too intently on gay and bisexual men for fear of stigmatizing the men andin so doingundermining efforts to identify infections. (Indeed, in November the WHO changed the name of the disease from monkeypox to mpox in an effort to reduce stigma.)

"They were a little coy about the population principally affected," Schaffner said.

Many say queer activists and community organizations stepped up to fill the void, quickly offering frank education and assistance. In an online survey conducted in early August, many men who have sex with men reported having fewer sexual encounters and partners because of the outbreak.

"The success was really due to grassroots activities," said Amira Roess, a George Mason University professor of epidemiology and global health. Leaders in the gay community "took it upon themselves to step in when the government response was really lacking" in a way that recalled what happened during the plodding government response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, she said.

Among those efforts was called RESPND-MIRapid Epidemiologic Study of Prevalence, Networks, and Demographics of Monkeypox Infection. The grant-funded organization put out transmission-prevention messaging, conducted a community-led survey of mpox symptoms, and mapped the social and sexual networks of queer and transgender people in New York City.

Nick Diamond, a leader of the effort, said government response improved only after gay activists pressured officials and did a lot of the outreach and education themselves.

"A lot of HIV activists knew that it would be up to us to start a response to monkeypox," he said.

But Diamond also noted another possible reason for the declines: Spread of mpox at LGBTQ celebrations in Junecoupled with a lack of testing and vaccinationslikely contributed to the July surge. "A lot of people came out of Pride, after being in close contact, symptomatic," he said. They suffered blisters and scabs, bringing home the message to other at-risk men that the virus was a very real danger.

BIOLOGY VS. BEHAVIOR

There are also possible explanations that have more to do with biology than behavior.

The number of new infections may have been limited by increases in infection-acquired immunity in the men active in the social networks that fueled the outbreak, CDC scientists said in a recent report.

Past research has suggested there may be limits in how many times monkeypox virus will spread from person to person, noted Stephen Morse, a Columbia University virologist.

"The monkeypox virus essentially loses steam after a couple of rounds in humans," Morse said. "Everyone credits the interventions, but I don't know what the reason really is."

 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Bioprinter from Organtrans. Credit:  Gilles Weder

With the only cure for liver cancer often being a transplantation, scientists are honing the selection of patients for this life-saving surgery and growing replacement livers in a lab.

More victims of liver cancer stand to survive as a result of a hospital test being rolled out by a Portuguese start-up medical company. The test identifies patients for transplant who otherwise would be viewed as ineligible.

Liver cancer is deadly and frequently goes undetected until it is advanced because diagnosis requires hospital-imaging equipment. If the disease has progressed, often the only cure is a liver transplant.

Surge of cases

"You must take the liver out that has the disease and put in a new liver," said Dr. Jose Pereira Leal, chief executive officer of Lisbon, Portugal-based Ophiomics Precision Medicine, which developed the new exam with the help of EU funding.

Cases of liver cancer in Europe have tripled since 1980, according to Ophiomics. In 2020, 87,000 Europeans were diagnosed with this disease and 78,000 died from it, according to Health Policy Watch.

Furthermore, there is a shortage of donor organs and patients on transplant waiting lists are dying. Because it is often diagnosed too late for treatment, the disease has been called a "silent killer."

Doctors face difficult decisions about liver recipients, rating a patient's cancer according to a system that mainly looks at the size and number of tumors.

But this approach is imperfect. Up to 30% of patients who receive a transplant are left uncured. Meanwhile, some patients deemed ineligible for a liver transplant are better candidates than it would seem.

"The criteria frequently fail," said Dr. Pereira Leal. "People may be denied treatment that could cure them."

Deceptive appearances

Focusing on the outward appearance of tumors, and especially their size and number, to determine eligibility for treatment can be misleading.

"Someone may have a large tumor, but it is indolent and not doing anything," Dr. Pereira Leal said. Under the current criteria, tumor size may rule out a transplant that could in fact cure the patient.

Three-quarters of liver cases in Europe are of a type called hepatocellular carcinoma, which, when diagnosed late, sees only one in 10 victims survive five years or more.

Dr. Pereira Leal and his colleagues developed a new way to predict whether a victim would undergo a resurgence of liver cancer after a transplant.

Their test takes a tiny piece of a patient's liver with a thin needle and looks at four key genes in those cells. An algorithm based on these markers, along with clinical measures, was better at predicting which patients would benefit most from a transplant.

The researchers successfully turned this scientific discovery into a commercial prediction tool, available to hospitals as a product called HepatoPredict.

Its rate of accurate predictions is 94% compared with 67% to 80% for other scoring systems, according to Dr. Pereira Leal.

"Not only that, we increased the number of patients that can be eligible for transplantation by 30%," he said.

Two or three patients have already received a liver thanks to the test.

Lab-grown livers

An alternative to donor transplants for saving the lives of liver-cancer victims is to take some of their healthy cells and grow them into a new organ in a laboratory.

Researchers in a project called ORGANTRANS grow liver cells from patients' stem cells, which get printed out as liver tissue.

Aimed at patients with either chronic or end-stage liver disease, the approach is no simple task. It requires organoids to be grown and kept alive in a lab.

"Organoids are a sort of mini-organ that you create from patient cells in a lab and they are composed initially of stem cells," said Dr. Gilles Weder, coordinator of ORGANTRANS at Switzerland-based technological research organization CSEM. "They have the same genetic makeup as the patient."

Consequently, organoids would be less likely to be targeted by a patient's immune systema reaction that can lead to organ rejection.

Tissue challenge

The big challenge is to build this piece of liver tissue into a more complex structure that contains a blood-vessel network to deliver nutrients and oxygen to cells.

Key to creating such liver tissues, according to Dr. Weder, is a bioprinter containing cartridges with organoids and solutions with hydrogels.

"As it is printed, you have a gelation of the architecture to avoid the collapse of the tissue and to really keep the 3D shape," he said.

One printer needle delivers the different components onto a sterile surface to manufacture the liver tissue. Everything must be kept clean and bacteria cannot be allowed to contaminate the sample.

The research ultimately aims to grow living tissue in a lab that would be put into patientseither to supplement an unhealthy liver or to replace it entirely.

For now, project scientists have printed small tissue samples and kept them alive for several weeks. The goal is to build mini-livers that can be implanted into mice.

"We have a clear plan to start testing this from January to June," Dr. Weder said.

10-year horizon

While the technology is possibly 10 years away from being used in hospitals, the scientists are moving it closer to reality.

"Having functional tissue in an animal for several weeks or months will really pave the way for the next stepclinical testing in humans," said Dr. Weder.

In Lisbon, Dr. Pereira Leal praises the funding that HepatoPredict received from the European Innovation Council, a flagship EU innovation program.

"The product would not have existed without the grant, which allowed us get to market," he said. "Private investors said what we had was exciting, but it was only a scientific discovery and the risk was too high for them to invest in as a business."

More information: HepatoPredict

ORGANTRANS
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The pharma industry warned that if proposed new prescription price guidelines go ahead, drug launches would be delayed and "Canadian patients will be deprived of potentially life-saving new medicines." Credit: Shutterstock

Canada's drug prices are the fourth highest in the developed world. Despite this, Innovative Medicines Canada (IMC), the lobby group for Big Pharma, put out a call in November 2022 for the Canadian government to suspend consultations on guidelines aimed at lowering prescription drug prices.

The proposed guidelines were expected to come into effect on Jan. 1, but were postponed in late December.

IMC warned that if the new guidelines went ahead, drug launches would be delayed and "Canadian patients will be deprived of potentially life-saving new medicines."

Just a few days later, IMC took out a full-page ad in the Globe and Mail claiming that "Canadians wait twice as long for new medicines."

The first statement is false and the second is a half-truth. Both are typical of an industry that paid US$38.6 billion in fines in civil and criminal cases in the United States between 1991 and 2017.

Falsehoods and half-truths

IMC has been claiming since the end of 2020 that "new drugs are not being launched in Canada" because our drug prices might be lowered. However, between 2011 and 2020, there was no change in the timing between when drugs were approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and then by Health Canada.

Drug companies did not wait longer to introduce new drugs here compared to the U.S. There was a decline in the percent of drugs first approved by the FDA and then by Health Canada, but the same thing happened in Australia where drug prices were not being lowered.

What about the claim that Canadians are losing out on new potentially life-saving drugs?

Only 1015% of new drugs are actually major therapeutic breakthroughs. The industry claims the other 8590% give patients more choice. But companies don't test their new drugs on patients who can't tolerate or don't get better on older ones. So, nobody really knows if those choices mean anything positive for patients.

Wait times

Do Canadians wait longer for new drugs? If the comparison is to patients in the U.S. or the European Union (EU), then the answer is yes.

Why is the wait longer? After companies submit drugs for approval in the U.S. or the EU, they take an extra year before submitting them to Health Canada. Is that wait because of Canadian drug prices? No. Drug prices are higher in Switzerland than in Canada, but the wait to get drugs approved in Switzerland is also longer than in Canada.

If drug prices were the reason for the wait, then companies should be submitting applications sooner in Switzerland compared to Canada.

In Canada, newly approved drugs are available for people with private insurance about a year before they can be prescribed to people covered by provincial/territorial drug formularies. But a substantial proportion of that time difference is in the hands of drug companies.

If pharma companies want to get their drugs publicly covered, they first have to submit them to the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH). CADTH then does a value-for-money audit and makes a recommendation to the provinces and territories about funding.

In an effort to speed up decision-making about whether the public should pay for new drugs, ever since April 2018 companies can submit applications to CADTH up to 180 days before Health Canada approves the drugs. But instead of taking full advantage of this provision, companies only submit a median of 13 days before approval, adding 5.5 months to the time it takes to make a final decision.

Protecting profits

Drug companies have been making threats for over 50 years every time governments do something that threatens their profits.

In 1972, the NDP government of Manitoba passed a law making it mandatory for pharmacists to substitute cheaper generic drugs for those named on prescriptions, unless prohibited by the physician writing the prescription. Furthermore, the substitute could not be sold at a price higher than that of the lowest priced equivalent drug. After this legislation passed, the president of the industry association made a thinly veiled threat to the Manitoba government:

"It will remain to be seen how much value would be put on the Manitoba market by research-oriented companies. It is each company's decision whether the size of their Manitoba market will merit the cost of properly servicing that market. If they can't meet the prices they could be forced out of business."

After the Liberal government in Ontario passed legislation in 2017 requiring companies to report how much money they gave to doctors, hospitals and other health care personnel and institutions, IMC made the same threat about not launching new drugs in Canada because of the regulatory burden of having to make reports.

Now, they are making a similar threat based on potentially lower drug prices in Canada.

Drug companies make threats to maintain their ability to make extraordinarily high profits. The rest of us need to stand up for the right of patients to get drugs at affordable prices.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Do you think that creativity is an innate gift? Think again.

Many people believe that creative thinking is difficult  that the ability to come up with ideas in novel and interesting ways graces only some talented individuals and not most others.

The media often portrays creatives as those with quirky personalities and unique talent. Researchers have also identified numerous personality traits that are associated with creativity, such as openness to new experiences, ideas and perspectives.

Together, they seem to paint a dire picture for those who consider themselves conventional thinkers, as well as those who do not work in creative occupations  including roles that are often considered traditional and noncreative, such as accountants and data analysts.

These beliefs miss a key part of how creativity actually works in your brain: Creative thinking is actually something you engage in every day, whether you realize it or not.

Moreover, creativity is a skill that can be strengthened. This matters even for people who dont consider themselves creative or who arent in creative fields.

In research that I recently published with organization and management scholars Chris Bauman and Maia Young, we found that simply reinterpreting a frustrating situation can enhance the creativity of conventional thinkers.

Using creative thinking to cope with emotions

Creativity is often defined as the generation of ideas or insights that are novel and useful. That is, creative thoughts are original and unexpected, but also feasible and useful.

Everyday examples of creativity are plentiful: combining leftover food to make a tasty new dish, coming up with a new way to accomplish chores, mixing old outfits to create a new look.

Another way you do this is when you practice whats called emotional reappraisal  viewing a situation through another lens to change your feelings. There is actually an element of creativity to this: Youre breaking away from your existing perspectives and assumptions and coming up with a new way of thinking.

Say youre frustrated about a parking ticket. To alleviate the bad feelings, you can think of the fine as a learning moment.

If youre anxious about a presentation for work, you can cope with the anxiety by framing it as an opportunity to share ideas, rather than as a high-stakes performance that could result in demotion if handled poorly.

And if youre angry that someone seemed unnecessarily combative in a conversation, you might reevaluate the situation, coming to view the behavior as unintentional rather than malicious.

Training your creative muscles

To test the link between creative thinking and emotional reappraisal, we surveyed 279 people. Those who ranked higher on creativity tended to reappraise emotional events more often in their daily life.

Inspired by the link between emotional reappraisal and creative thinking, we wanted to see whether we could use this insight to develop ways to help people be more creative. In other words, could emotional reappraisal be practiced by people in order to train their creative muscles?

We ran two experiments in which two new samples of participants  512 in total  encountered scenarios designed to provoke an emotional response. We tasked them with using one of three approaches to manage their emotions. We told some participants to suppress their emotional response, others to think about something else to distract themselves and the last group to reappraise the situation by looking at it through a different lens. Some participants were also given no instructions on how to manage their feelings.

In a seemingly unrelated task that followed, we asked the participants to come up with creative ideas to solve a problem at work.

In the experiments, conventional thinkers who tried reappraisal came up with ideas that were more creative than other conventional thinkers who used suppression, distraction or received no instructions at all.

Cultivating flexible thinking

Negative emotions are inevitable in work and life. Yet people often hide their negative feelings from others, or use distraction to avoid thinking about their frustrations.

Our findings have implications for how managers can think about how to best leverage the skills of their workers. Managers commonly slot job candidates into creative and noncreative jobs based on cues that signal creative potential. Not only are these cues shaky predictors of performance, but this hiring practice may also limit managers access to employees whose knowledge and experience can play major roles in generating creative outcomes.

The result is that the creative potential of a significant part of the workforce may be underutilized. Our findings suggest that supervisors can develop training and interventions to cultivate creativity in their employees  even for those who might not seem predisposed to creativity.

Our research also indicates that people can practice flexible thinking every day when they experience negative emotions. Although people may not always have control over the external circumstances, they do have the liberty to choose how to cope with emotional situations  and they can do so in ways that facilitate their productivity and well-being.

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Lily Zhu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Rep. Llew Jones on Monday introduced a bill that would change the way applicants draw money from the Blackfeet Tribe Water Rights Compact mitigation account.

Specifically, House Bill 141 would provide a revised statutory appropriation and establish an effective date of July 1, 2023. It has a fiscal note of $2 million and came at the request of the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

Signed in 2016 by President Barack Obama, the Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act allocated $471 million in federal funding for improvements to watersheds and job creation for members of the Blackfeet Nation. The settlement focused on improved water usage on the reservation for supplies, irrigation, fisheries, recreation and other things.

Jones, a Republican representing Conrad, said the original language of the compact did not include certain appropriations. He said the language gaps have affected people and organizations in Pondera County, for example, who looked to the fund to offset impacts of the compact.

Jones explained that the original language did not include the ability to appropriate the corpus, which refers to the body of the investment, but did include the ability to appropriate income and interest to individuals in impacted areas.

Its a relatively simple bill, Jones said at the hearing Monday afternoon before the House Natural Resources Committee. It simply changes the language such that not only interest and income can be appropriated, but so can the apportions of the corpus as necessary.

Patrick Yawakie-Peltier, who is representing the Blackfeet Nation during the legislative session, spoke in support of the bill. He said the tribe has discussed the bill with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and reached an understanding.

No opponents spoke against the bill.

Jones, 60, remarked there are some advantages to being the old guy in the room.

This is much more pleasant than some (discussions) we had back in those days, he said, alluding to the water compact.

If the bill advances from committee, it will go to the floor for a second reading.
The second Future Minerals Forum (FMF), which opens today (January 10) in Riyadh, will include a Ministerial Roundtable with the conference itself attended by 60 high-level government and non-governmental organisations in the mining sector.

The Ministerial Roundtable seeks to build consensus about the future of the mining super-region that includes Africa and West and Central Asia, and the region's role in the global minerals and metals industry.

FMF 2023 also will feature numerous informal engagement and networking sessions.

Industry and Technology exhibition

New this year, FMF has added a number of features requested by attendees from last year, including an Industry and Technology Exhibition and the Saudi Pavilion, a multi-media, interactive stand designed to help investors and operators navigate the journey from interest through to investment, exploration and operation.

Khalid Al Mudaifer, Vice-Minister for Mining Affairs, Saudi Arabia, said: "We are thrilled with the industry response to the Exhibition and expect that it will be a very busy area within the event. We also are grateful to all of the key catalysts in Saudi Arabia's government, who have partnered to create this Pavilion. It will make it simpler for prospective investors to gather information and insights, and start the process of investing in minerals and metals in the kingdom."

The event will take place from January 10 to 12 at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Centre in Riyadh.

Organisers have announced that the event comes under the patronage of His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Good attendance

The first FMF attracted more than 7,500 in-person and virtual delegates from more than 50 countries, who heard from 150 industry leaders. Based on current registrations, FMF 2023 promises to deliver even more, with attendance expected to exceed 13,000, and with delegates coming from 130 countries to hear from over 200 world-class speakers.

FMF was designed as a 'one-stop-shop' that shines a spotlight on the emerging mining super-region that stretches from Africa through to Central Asia. It brings together global minerals and metals industry leaders, including governments, investors, explorers and operators from around the world.-- TradeArabia News Service
A man accused of hitting and killing a woman on Highway 200 pleaded not guilty to the charges on Monday.

Kerry G. Drew, 68, is charged with one count each of vehicle homicide while under the influence, negligent vehicular assault resulting in serious bodily injury, criminal endangerment, criminal possession of dangerous drugs, and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, all felonies. Hes also facing one misdemeanor charge of negligent vehicular assault resulting in bodily injury.

If convicted, Drew faces a possible maximum sentence of 65 years at the Montana State Prison.

Drew pleaded not guilty to all six counts at his arraignment on Monday morning. Missoula County District Judge Jason Marks presided.

An affidavit filed in Missoula County District Court alleges Drew was traveling along Highway 200 near Potomac when he drove off the roadway and struck a woman in his Toyota 4Runner SUV. Two more people who were at the scene were hit and sustained injuries.

The people alleged to have been injured and killed in the incident were helping tow a passenger car that was stuck in a snowbank. Footage from a highway patrol troopers car shows Drew taking an object out of his pocket and stuffing it into his sock while he was sitting in the patrol car, according to the affidavit.

Jail staff found a baggie in his sock with a substance believed to be methamphetamine. It was sent to the Montana State Crime Lab for testing.

Missoula Public Defender Reed Mandelko represented Drew. He asked the defendant be considered for a bail reduction; Drew is currently being held on a $100,000 bail at the Missoula County jail. Marks set a bail hearing for Tuesday afternoon in front of Missoula County District Judge Robert Deschamps.

Following Tuesdays bail reduction hearing, Drews next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 21.
Three Missoula nonprofits recently received grants from the Margaret V. Ping Foundation, a Billings organization that awarded $88,500 to 13 nonprofits throughout the West.

Mountain Home Montana, Soft Landing Missoula and Missoula Aging Services all took in between $5,000 and $8,000 from the foundation, which honors the legacy of Billings leader Margaret V. Ping.

Ping spent years working for the YWCA in Billings, and she helped start Habitat for Humanity there as well. She launched her foundation in 2009 with the mission of supporting charitable, educational, and religious purposes related to peace and justice, combating hunger, and addressing environmental concerns.

Pings organization has regularly supported nonprofits in Missoula with recurring grants.

Theyve been an incredible, steady supporter since very early on, said Mary Poole, executive director of Soft Landing, which supports refugee resettlement in Missoula. The Ping Foundation provided Soft Landing with one of its first grants in 2017, shortly after the group formed in 2016.

This most recent round of funding will go toward outreach efforts at Soft Landing.

The Ping Foundation saw a need for outreach, Poole said. That outreach surrounds educational messaging such as who is a refugee, how to be a good neighbor and what refugees and immigrants bring to Montana communities. Outreach initiatives also help to combat misinformation, Poole added.

Thats been able to evolve over the years, she noted.

Overall, the goal is to create a welcoming state and welcoming communities.

Likewise, at Mountain Home Montana, the goal is to create a welcoming space for young mothers and their children. The nonprofit started in 2000 as a shelter for young mothers and their babies, after the founder saw a disconnect between the support available during labor and delivery and the lack of resources following discharge from the hospital.

Mountain Home Montana has evolved to include a shelter with six bedrooms and five transitional living apartments, as well as a trauma-informed childcare center and programming for case management and therapy.

The shelter is intended for long-term stays. Development Director Kelsie Severson said guests can stay for years at Mountain Home.

The Ping awards, combined with other donations, support efforts at the shelter, Severson said. This funding has allowed the organization to reformat its resident care coordinator schedule, so staff works shorter shifts and provides extra staffing during the busiest times. The new schedule helps prevent burnout, Severson said.

The committed support from the Ping Foundation is wonderful, Severson said. We love it.

Lisa Sheppard, CEO of Missoula Aging Services, was also grateful for the recurring nature of the Ping awards. She said Missoula Aging Services will use this funding for its underage Meals on Wheels program, which supports people with disabilities and other challenges who arent able to access food outside their homes.

It helps us to do a thing we couldnt otherwise do, Sheppard said.
NEW YORK (AP)  Less than six months ago, mpox was an exploding health crisis. What had been an obscure disease from Africa was ripping through European and U.S. gay communities. Precious doses of an unproven vaccine were in short supply. International officials declared health emergencies.

Today, reports of new cases are down to a trickle in the U.S. Health officials are shutting down emergency mobilizations. The threat seems to have virtually disappeared from the public consciousness.

"We're in a remarkably different place," said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University infectious diseases expert. "It's really impressive how that peak has come down to very, very low levels."

So who deserves the credit? It's an unsettled question, but experts cite a combination of factors.

Some commend public health officials. Others say more of the credit should go to members of the gay and bisexual community who took their own steps to reduce disease spread when the threat became clear. Some wonder if characteristics of the virus itself played a role.

"It's a mixed story" in which some things could have gone better but others went well, said Dr. Tom Frieden, a former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

***

Cases soar, then fall

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that's in the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals, but it was not known to spread easily among people.

Mpox cases began emerging in Europe and the U.S. in May, mostly among men who have sex with men. Cases escalated rapidly in dozens of countries in June and July, around the time of gay pride events. The infections were rarely fatal, but many people suffered painful skin lesions for weeks.

In late July, the World Health Organization declared an international health crisis. In early August, the U.S. declared a public health emergency.

Soon after, the outbreak began diminishing. The daily average of newly reported U.S. cases went from nearly 500 in August to about 100 in October. Now, there are fewer than five new U.S. cases per day. (Europe has seen a similar drop.)

Experts said a combination of factors likely turned the tide.

***

Vaccinations

Health officials caught an early break: An existing two-dose vaccine named Jynneos, developed to fight smallpox, was also approved for use against the monkeypox.

Initially, only a few thousand doses were available in the U.S., and most countries had none at all. Shipping and regulatory delays left local health departments unable to meet demand for shots.

In early August, U.S. health officials decided to stretch the limited supply by giving people just one-fifth the usual dose. The plan called for administering the vaccine with an injection just under the skin, rather than into deeper tissue.

Some in the public health community worried that it was a big decision based on a small amount of research  a single 2015 study. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since then has confirmed there was no difference in vaccine performance between the two methods.

"They got criticized for the revised dosing strategy, but it was the right call," said Frieden, who is currently president of Resolve to Save Lives, a non-profit organization focused on preventing epidemics.

Cases, however, had already begun falling by the time the government made the switch.

***

Community outreach

The current CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, cited efforts to educate doctors on how to better diagnose and treat mpox. Other experts said that even more important was outreach to the sexually active gay and bisexual men most at risk.

In the first months of the outbreak, the government was cautious about focusing warnings too intently on gay and bisexual men for fear of stigmatizing the men and  in so doing  undermining efforts to identify infections. (Indeed, in November the WHO changed the name of the disease from monkeypox to mpox in an effort to reduce stigma.)

"They were a little coy about the population principally affected," Schaffner said.

Many say queer activists and community organizations stepped up to fill the void, quickly offering frank education and assistance. In an online survey conducted in early August, many men who have sex with men reported having fewer sexual encounters and partners because of the outbreak.

"The success was really due to grassroots activities," said Amira Roess, a George Mason University professor of epidemiology and global health. Leaders in the gay community "took it upon themselves to step in when the government response was really lacking" in a way that recalled what happened during the plodding government response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, she said.

Among those efforts was called RESPND-MI  Rapid Epidemiologic Study of Prevalence, Networks, and Demographics of Monkeypox Infection. The grant-funded organization put out transmission-prevention messaging, conducted a community-led survey of mpox symptoms, and mapped the social and sexual networks of queer and transgender people in New York City.

Nick Diamond, a leader of the effort, said government response improved only after gay activists pressured officials and did a lot of the outreach and education themselves.

"A lot of HIV activists knew that it would be up to us to start a response to monkeypox," he said.

But Diamond also noted another possible reason for the declines: Spread of mpox at LGBTQ celebrations in June  coupled with a lack of testing and vaccinations  likely contributed to the July surge. "A lot of people came out of Pride, after being in close contact, symptomatic," he said. They suffered blisters and scabs, bringing home the message to other at-risk men that the virus was a very real danger.

***

Biology vs. behavior

There are also possible explanations that have more to do with biology than behavior.

The number of new infections may have been limited by increases in infection-acquired immunity in the men active in the social networks that fueled the outbreak, CDC scientists said in a recent report.

Past research has suggested there may be limits in how many times monkeypox virus will spread from person to person, noted Stephen Morse, a Columbia University virologist.

"The monkeypox virus essentially loses steam after a couple of rounds in humans," Morse said. "Everyone credits the interventions, but I don't know what the reason really is."

How 'monkeypox' and other disease names have caused controversy How "monkeypox" and other disease names have caused controversy Disease names tied to geographic locations Disease names connected to an animal species Disease names that include the name of an individual person Disease names that refer to a group of people
The family in a house at 1207 Burlington Avenue was having a birthday party Sunday evening when an armed man barged inside and ordered them out.

The man, who is a suspect in a homicide earlier in the evening, barricaded himself inside the house for more than seven hours beginning at about 6 p.m.

There were a lot of people in the house, adults and numerous children, said Billings Police Lt. Matt Lennick.

The suspect shot one of the adults in the house who was taken privately to a hospital.

At about the same time, police found a man shot dead in the 1200 block of Avenue F, and a car crashed at 1307 12th Street West.

(The suspect) picked a house a random, but all of the incidents are connected, Lennick said.

Witnesses could hear the man shooting from the house, although no one was injured by those shots, police said.

Police officers, a SWAT team, a bomb squad and negotiators surrounded the house, while several ambulances and a firetruck waited nearby. The countys armored truck was parked in front of the house.

The man apparently barricaded himself in the basement of the home.

Beginning at about 8 p.m., police using a loud speaker repeated commands for the suspect to surrender.

"1207 Burlington, come out now with your hands up," police ordered, repeating the request several times. "This is the Billings Police Department. If you do not comply, we cannot guarantee your safety. Come out with your hands up. Do it now."

At about 1 a.m., SWAT team members entering the home exploded flash grenades to stun the suspect, and released tear gas. Police used robots and drones to search the home, Lennick said.

The suspect was found hiding in the basement where he was seized and arrested.

On Monday morning, the suspects identity, age and where hes from were still unclear.

Investigators say the suspect had earlier crashed his car into other parked cars at a business near 1307 12th Street West.

Initial investigation of this scene determined the suspect had crashed a vehicle into several parked vehicles and then fled the area on foot, ending up at the resident on Burlington, Lennick said.

There doesnt seem to be a connection between any of the victims and the suspect, the lieutenant added.

The suspect was taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the vehicle crash. Hes being held on suspicion of deliberate homicide, attempted deliberate homicide and robbery.

It is the first homicide of the new year. During 2022, Billings police investigated 17 homicides, including three in December.
Before many have had a chance to put away holiday decorations, the 68th session of the Montana Legislature gaveled in at the Capitol in Helena. This historic new session marks the first legislative supermajority since Montanas Constitution was adopted 50 years ago.

And although it may only be the first week, there are well over 4,500 bills  some introduced, some awaiting introduction. Many of these bills are true threats to what makes Montana the Last Best Place. There are bills that will limit our freedom to access our public lands, bills that hinder our ability to protect Montanas unique landscapes, bills that will denigrate our clean air and clean water and bills that will make it harder for working farmers and ranchers to pass on their farms and ranches to their kids.

I strongly believe Montanas brightest days are ahead, but it will take committed Montanans of all stripes standing up and pushing back against all ill-conceived ideas that would deprive future generations of the clean air, clean water and public lands that so many of us often take for granted.

Whether youre a fifth generation Montanan or a newcomer, youve chosen Montana as home for a reason. So before its too late, its time to rise up and defend the Montana we know and love  where our quality of life includes the quiet beauty of our state, the grandeur of our mountains and the vastness of our rolling plains.

This legislative session, the Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund will defend our freedom to access our public lands as well as protect our right to clean air and clean water.

In his draft budget, Gov. Greg Gianforte proposed eliminating voter-approved funding for our public lands generated through the sale of recreational marijuana despite a $2 billion budget surplus. When Montana voters initially approved recreational marijuana in 2020, you voted for a portion of the revenue to support conservation programs. Now dubbed the Montana Outdoor Fund, the funding is intended to unlock access to our public lands through Habitat Montana, support state parks and trails and protect working lands. And the fund is popular with Montanans  a recent University of Montana poll found that 82% percent want to keep using recreational marijuana revenue to protect our public lands.

Thankfully the governors proposed budget is not final and well be working with you, our partners and the Legislature to stand with Montana voters and restore the Montana Outdoor Fund in the final budget.

The MCV Education Fund is also working to protect our Montana Constitution. In 1972, delegates to Montanas Constitutional Convention from across the state and political spectrums enshrined a right to a clean and healthful environment in our state Constitution. For 50 years the Montana Constitution has protected our environment and public lands, but now thats under threat.

Powerful interests want to rip up our Constitution, threatening our freedom. In fact, a well known anti-conservation legislator, Representative Steve Gunderson of Libby, has already introduced a constitutional amendment targeting our right to a clean and healthful environment. This threat is real, and the MCV Education Fund opposes all irresponsible efforts to strip this provision from the Montana Constitution.

So whats next? Make your voice heard. There are less than 90 days every other year to make the difference. The MCV Education Fund will update MontanaPushback.org weekly to keep you informed and provide action opportunities for emails, phone calls and in-person visits to the legislature. Visit MontanaPushback.org today to tell your legislators about the importance of protecting the Montana Constitution.
VALDESE  The Rock School Arts Foundation will feature the works of two local artists, Linda Harvey and Irina Khudyakov, Jan. 13 to Feb. 17 in Galleries I and II in the Old Rock School in Valdese.

The foundation will celebrate the opening of the exhibition with an artists reception from 2-4 p.m. Sunday at the Old Rock School.

Irina Khudyakov

Khudyakov was born in Moscow but moved to the U.S. in 1991 with her family, according to her biography. After living in New York, her family moved to Hickory in 1998, where she studied oil painting at Catawba Valley Community College. She said she enjoyed the beauty of oils from the beginning.

After residing in Hickory for several years, Khudyakov and her husband relocated to places such as Connecticut, Virginia and Maryland due to his job. In Martinsville, Virginia, she attended art classes at Piedmont Arts and Art Studio 107 with retired artist Roland A. Guidry and became a member of the Lynwood Artists Association. During her four years there, she participated in the annual art exhibition, Expressions at Piedmont Arts, where she received awards each year.

During a year in Baltimore, Maryland, Khudyakov attended Mitchell School of Fine Arts, where she studied the technique of the old Dutch masters. She never stopped learning about art techniques, art styles and artists from books, websites and trips to museums and exhibitions.

Upon returning to Hickory, she resumed taking art classes at CVCC and became an active member of the Foothills Artists and Uni4Artists art groups. She participated in several local artists competitions and exhibitions, including the RSAF Open Art Competition in Valdese, where her artwork received third place. Other places that have featured her work include the United Art Council in Hickory, the Caldwell Arts Council in Lenoir, the Annual Cork and Canvas Art Show at Abernathy Laurels in Newton, North Wilkesboro Artists Juried Exhibit, Hiddenite Arts and Heritage Center and Burke Arts Council in Morganton. Her works are included in private collections in Germany, France, Russia and Macedonia.

Linda Harvey

Harvey said the arts have fascinated her since childhood. She developed an interest in pottery growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she learned wheel-throwing, glaze-making and kiln-firing of pottery through workshops and private lessons, according to her biography. She became a member of the Pittsburgh Craftsman Guild.

My works were juried into shows at the Pittsburgh Arts & Crafts Center, and I taught hand-building pottery in the local high schools continuing education program, Harvey said.

When she moved to Raleigh in 1980, she became a teaching docent at the North Carolina Museum of Art and served as president of the docent organization in 1987.

While accompanying my husband on business trips, I was able to enjoy the art collections in major U.S. and European museums and galleries, Harvey said. When I discovered homemade paper, I began learning how to make it. After retiring to Valdese in 2007, I experimented further with papermaking, finding it to be a versatile medium with unlimited creative possibilities. It has been a joy to share this medium with others by conducting paper-making workshops offered by the Rock School Arts Foundation.

The gallerys hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Works also can be viewed on the foundations website at rockschoolartgalleries.com. For information, call 828-838-9806 or email rsaf1893@gmail.com.
On Friday, while his former congressional colleagues in Washington were struggling to elect a House speaker, David Price was talking to the East Chapel Hill Rotary Club, delivering his first speech as a former congressman.

Price represented North Carolinas 4th Congressional District for 34 years, serving since 1987, with only a two-year break due to losing an election in 1994. Before his first election to Congress, Price studied theology at Yale University, served as a political science professor at Duke University and chaired the state Democratic Party.

He authored The Congressional Experience: An Institution Transformed. He has all the credentials to write about Congress and who serves there, how they get things accomplished, what they have to do to get elected and reelected, and how they work with colleagues, constituents, outside groups, and their fellow representatives to get things done.

He writes about how the legendary House Speaker Sam Rayburn distinguished the show horses from the work horses who served in Congress. According to Price, Rayburn expressed his clear preference for the latter.

Prices experience and work ethic caught the attention of Washington Post columnist E. J. Dionne Jr., who wrote about him Dec. 28, comparing him to the prophets of old: We think of prophets as thundering against injustice and calling us all to account. Those mighty voices are indispensable. But there is another kind of prophet who speaks to us with quiet wisdom.

Dionne writes that Price would bridle at the thought of anyone turning him into a prophet. His perspective on politics is infused with the humility of Abraham Lincolns second inaugural address and Augustines commentaries on the imperfections of human nature. But that is precisely why he has long been the second kind of prophet for me.

In his Rotary Club talk, Price defended the institution of Congress and its processes for resolving individual differences of opinion and approach. Unfortunately, he said, many members have run against Congress, attacking it as the enemy.

Dionne writes: He is a loss to the institution and our politics precisely because he thinks institutionally. He believes that Congress matters and that individual members have obligations not only to themselves, their consciences and their constituents, but also to making the first branch of government function effectively.

Dionne calls Price an institutional patriot and quotes him as follows:

A member of our institution or any governing institution needs to strike a balance between their own personal convictions, personal goals, personal political axes to grind  and what its going to take for the institution to function.

Of course, youre going to criticize institutions. Of course, youre going sometimes to set yourself apart and take a lonely, conscientious stand. But you also need to understand that an institution of 435 members, each marching to their own drum, is going to be totally dysfunctional.

In his talk to the Rotary Club, Price explained how members could fight for their individual goals without being an absolutist about every issue.

He told Dionne, A member of our institution or any governing institution needs to strike a balance between their own personal convictions, personal goals, personal political axes to grind  and what its going to take for the institution to function.

Price asserts that it is possible to be a full-throated advocate for what you believe and, as he told Dionne, understand that not every battle can be won on the first try and that politics is a matter of striking a balance between  compromising and finding common ground where you can, and fighting where you must.

As we watched some of the mean-spiritedness of the new members of Congress last week, we could be forgiven for wishing that Price was still there to share his wisdom and example.
Montana Tech will offer a new dual enrollment course for Montana high school students called MIN 191  Introduction to the Mineral Industries. The online course will introduce students to the mining and petroleum industries and give them the opportunity to familiarize themselves with potential career opportunities in these critical fields. Most of the content will be taught by faculty in Montana Techs Mining, Geological, and Petroleum Engineering departments but guest lectures from industry experts will also be incorporated.

Thanks to sponsorship from mining and petroleum companies, the course will include a one-week all-expense paid field trip this summer. Students will have a chance to visit operating sites and visit with people in the industry about the opportunities available to them. Students who complete the course and field trip will also be offered a scholarship if they decide to attend Montana Tech. Navajo Transitional Energy Company, Westmoreland Mining LLC, and Rio Tinto Kennecott have committed to sponsoring this course.

This new course is an opportunity for us to provide high school students with an appreciation for the importance of the mining and petroleum industries and introduce them to our engineering disciplines and Montana Tech, noted Scott Rosenthal, department head of Mining Engineering. We will also introduce other career paths within our industries that students could choose, those that require a college education and others that do not.

The registration deadline for the course has been extended to Friday, Jan. 13. The semester course kicks off Monday, Jan. 16. Interested students or parents are encouraged to contact Kinsley Rafish at krafish@mtech.edu or 406-496-4684 to ensure all required information can be provided by the deadline.
School officials in the tiny community of Ramsay are renewing a request for two open acres of county land for more parking and possible expansion of their elementary and middle school.

School Principal Chris Kellogg pitched the idea in late 2019 and officials with Butte-Silver Bows Parks Division, which owns the land, saw no reason to oppose it.

As it turned out, a town association in Ramsay did.

The association, whose members include all households in Ramsay, has leased the land from Butte-Silver Bow for years and didnt want to give it up. So the request died on the vine, so to speak.

Kellogg essentially made the same pitch to the countys Parks and Recreation Board on Monday that he made in September 2019, with one big difference.

I approached them (the association) again right before Thanksgiving and did receive their blessing, he said. They are willing to break the lease and  allowed me to come and discuss it with you and then talk possibly to commissioners about maybe a land acquisition.

The schools need for the land hasnt changed.

There are only 40 or so houses in Ramsay, about seven miles west of Butte along Interstate 15-90, but the district includes the Buxton, Fairmont and Rocker areas and even extends onto Beef Trail Road in west Butte.

There were 140 students attending elementary and middle school in Ramsay in 2019. As of Monday, Kellogg said, there are 171.

Students in kindergarten through fifth grade go to school in a red brick building while classes for middle-school students are conducted in modular classrooms to the side.

Ramsay started taking kids from Rocker decades ago. It also takes them from other outlying areas. Districts can accept students from beyond their boundaries based on travel convenience and other factors. And the small-town feel of Ramsay and its school is still appealing.

Ive seen a lot of movement of people out to the Ramsay school district, so our class numbers are getting pretty high, almost to the point of where were running out of classroom space, Kellogg said.

Parking is also very limited, he said, adding, Where the school sits is the only property the school owns.

There is an open area of two acres just north of the school thats owned by the county as park land. The Ramsay association has leased and mowed it as a park-like area for years.

The Parks and Recreation Board recommended in 2019 that the land be given to the Ramsay school district, but at the time, it didnt know about the lease.

Nobody raised serious objections to a transfer during Mondays meeting either, and Parks Director Bob Lazzari said the Council of Commissioners can legally sell land directly to a school district without a public auction.

But there are still procedural steps to be taken.

The parks division must first complete a new parks master plan before it can sell surplus land, officials said. A draft of that plan should be finalized in the coming weeks.

The lease must also be changed, and Kellogg said he would work with the association to get that done. And any land transfer must be approved by Butte-Silver Bow commissioners.

Kellogg said association members werent very receptive to a change a few years ago but since then, more young families have moved to Ramsay. And, he said, he went about things differently this time.

I got more of a community approach to it, he said after Mondays meeting. I put it up for a vote of all the residents of Ramsay. After I did that, I then approached the board with, you know, This is what the community said.

He said 80% to 85% of residents who responded were OK with him approaching the county for a possible land acquisition.

Resident Jim Ayres acknowledged that most are in favor of the idea but said he opposed it, for now at least. He said he wants to see more developed plans for how the school would use the land before supporting an acquisition.

Kellogg said any school expansion would be likely to involve a bond issue.
The Muscatine Police Department is asking for the public's assistance with vandalism that occurred at Greenwood Cemetery. The incidents took place between Dec. 9 and 12, 2022, and several gravestones were damaged. If any information is known, please contact Det. Jameson or Det. Sink.
The second edition of Expo Hajj has opened aiming to create an integrated, sustainable ecosystem that enhances the experience of pilgrims and Umrah performers by leveraging the ideas and visions of experts.

The expo anticipates future directions, opens doors of opportunities for partnerships, agreements, and local and global initiatives to improve their experience, and engages entrepreneurs and innovators to raise the standard of services provided during Hajj.

Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Governor of Makkah Region has, together with Prince Dr Faisal Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Governor of Madinah Region, inaugurated the Hajj and Umrah Services Conference and Exhibition.

High-level participation

The event is being held in Jeddah with the participation of over 81 speakers from the public and private sectors inside and outside the kingdom as well as high-level delegations including senior figures, Islamic affairs ministers, heads of Hajj missions and higher commissions from over 57 states.

A number of agreements and memorandums of understanding will be signed with entities such as: The Public Endowments Authority, the General Authority for Exhibitions and Conferences, the King Salman Complex for the Arabic Language, the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organisation, and the Banking Information and Awareness Committee of Saudi Banks to provide a number of services and exchange experiences.

More than 57 agreements for Hajj services have also been inked with all Islamic countries, covering the numbers of pilgrims, the plan for the ports of entry, and health and procedural requirements.

In addition to 36 workshops, 13 debate sessions, 10 main sessions, and a variety of additional events and activities, the "Expo Hajj" will feature experts and specialists who will explore ways to design a roadmap to improve and enrich the Hajj journey. These events and activities will include The Islamic Exhibition, the "Hajj and Umrah Challenge" zone, the start-up companies area, during the period from 16-19 Jumada Al-Akhira 1444 H corresponding to January 9 to 12, 2023.

In his speech, Dr Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, Minister of Hajj and Umrah, welcomed princes, ministers, experts, specialists, and those interested in Hajj and Umrah affairs.

Top priority

The Minister emphasised that serving pilgrims and Umrah performers who are visiting from all over the world is a top priority, a sincere historical commitment, and a great honor of which the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques is proud. The government, he noted, is keen to ensure that everyone performs the religious rituals in peace and comfort and engage in an enriching digitised faith journey.

Al-Rabiah underscored the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah's eagerness to improve all services and solutions available to pilgrims and Umrah performers, adding that all laws and legislation in the Hajj and Umrah ecosystem have been developed.

He pointed out that the gathering of authorities overseeing the affairs of pilgrims and Umrah performers in Islamic world nations, and the early signing of Hajj agreements are evidence of the Ministry's eagerness and ongoing efforts to provide pilgrims and Umrah performers with top-notch services in partnership with concerned authorities from 70 countries.

Following the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony, both Governor of Makkah and the Governor of Madinah toured the different areas of the Expo Hajj, accompanied by the Minister of Hajj and Umrahand the Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Eng Salih Aljasser, Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources Eng. Bandar Alkhorayef, Deputy Interior Minister Dr Hesham Al-Falih, the President of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs Dr Abdulrahman Alsudais, and the CEO of the Royal Commission for Makkah and Holy Sites Eng Saleh Al-Rasheed.-- TradeArabia News Service
"He told me if I tried to commit him, he would commit suicide by police," Carol Meredith said. "He said, 'I'll do something so the police will shoot me.'"
The St. Helena Historical Society's first program of 2023 will focus on a new book about the forgotten contributions of Chinese laborers in the Napa Valley.

John McCormick will discuss his book "Chinese in Napa Valley: The Forgotten Community that Built Wine Country" at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25, at the Heritage Center Museum, 1255 Oak Ave.

Chinese laborers were once the backbone of Napa Valley. Throughout the 1800s they were a major labor force in the vineyards, quicksilver mines, hop farms, leather tanneries and laundries. They carved out neighborhoods in towns throughout the valley, including St. Helena. These contributions did little to deter discrimination, and Anti-Chinese Leagues sprang up to harass and intimidate immigrants like Chan Wah Jack, who ran the successful Sang Lung store in Napas Chinatown.

McCormick, who grew up in Napa and is descended from five generations of Napa Valley residents, received a bachelors degree in engineering from UC Berkeley and a masters degree in history from Harvard University.

The book sells for $23.99. It was published by Arcadia Publishing, which also released books such as "Images of America: St. Helena," "Images of America: Angwin and Howell Mountain," "The Napa River" and "Napa Valley's Jewish Heritage."

Close Pictured with its probable occupants, this shack is an example of a Chinatown dwelling, circa 1885. While thought to be a part of Napa's Chinatown, this structure is not on stilts as typically found in this riverfront community. A pencil sketch of Napa's Chinatown, circa 1929, as drawn by artist A.E. Burbank. This 1905 portrait of the Wah Jack Chan extended family was taken in their Lai Hing store at Napas Chinatown. Wah Jack is seated in the front row, second from the right. His wife Kim Lim is seated in the front row, fourth from the left. Their son Shuck Chan is standing in the front row, fourth from the right. Also pictured are Wah Jacks five other children and his deceased brothers six children. This century-old map shows Napa's Chinatown occupying a much larger peninsula than exists today at the confluence of Napa Creek and the Napa River. Chinatown was torn down in the early 20th century for a marina that was never built. Only a few public reminders exist of Napa's Chinatown, such as these plaques on the First Street bridge near China Point. The fountain mosaic at Napa Mill on Main Street memorializes the 1902 fire that destroyed most of Napa's Chinatown, The community never fully recovered. A pencil sketch depicts Napa's Chinatown, circa 1929, as drawn by artist A.E. Burbank. As construction of downtown's flood bypass channel continues, the earth beneath the former Chinatown will be hauled away and the site converted into wetlands and a floodway. Photos: Napa's Chinatown Pictured with its probable occupants, this shack is an example of a Chinatown dwelling, circa 1885. While thought to be a part of Napa's Chinatown, this structure is not on stilts as typically found in this riverfront community. A pencil sketch of Napa's Chinatown, circa 1929, as drawn by artist A.E. Burbank. This 1905 portrait of the Wah Jack Chan extended family was taken in their Lai Hing store at Napas Chinatown. Wah Jack is seated in the front row, second from the right. His wife Kim Lim is seated in the front row, fourth from the left. Their son Shuck Chan is standing in the front row, fourth from the right. Also pictured are Wah Jacks five other children and his deceased brothers six children. This century-old map shows Napa's Chinatown occupying a much larger peninsula than exists today at the confluence of Napa Creek and the Napa River. Chinatown was torn down in the early 20th century for a marina that was never built. Only a few public reminders exist of Napa's Chinatown, such as these plaques on the First Street bridge near China Point. The fountain mosaic at Napa Mill on Main Street memorializes the 1902 fire that destroyed most of Napa's Chinatown, The community never fully recovered. A pencil sketch depicts Napa's Chinatown, circa 1929, as drawn by artist A.E. Burbank. As construction of downtown's flood bypass channel continues, the earth beneath the former Chinatown will be hauled away and the site converted into wetlands and a floodway.
With their cotyledon leaves packed full of flavor and nutrition, microgreens are not every farmers market shoppers usual staple. Luckily for us, if you stroll down the producer aisle of the Napa Farmers Market, you can meet Jonathan Jones of Delta Microgreens.

With an ever-present smile, abundance of knowledge, and an obvious passion for his work, Jonathan will teach you about all the many different microgreens he grows, their countless benefits for your health, and how they can be used to spice up your weekly cooking routine.

A local from Suisun City, Jonathan is also a trained chef who cooked everywhere from Switzerland and the Caribbean to New York City. After his worldly culinary experiences, Jonathan returned to California in 2011 and worked in the food and wine industry until 2018 when his friend introduced him to growing microgreens.

Jonathans friend, now business partner Lyle Bynum, was a backyard microgreen grower who recognized a niche market waiting to be filled. Together he and Jonathan started Delta Microgreens.

Their first year was spent in a backyard greenhouse, learning what varieties grow best, growing cycles and how to market their new product locally. Since then, Delta Microgreens has become a thriving business that is still growing and adapting to be one of the Bay Areas primary local microgreen producers.

One of the first things Jonathan will tell you is he is an entrepreneur and an overachiever. He never hesitated to start Delta Microgreens because he knew it was a project he could fall in love with, and it was something to channel all his skills and work ethic.

And as Jonathan will tell you, Everyone needs to eat, and someone needs to grow that food. So, people may as well eat something healthy, and I can be the person to grow their healthy food."

Jonathan stumbled into being a grower, but now he finds growing to be a favorite part of the job. As a chef, he always loved to learn where food came from, how it was delivered, how it was prepared and on. Becoming a grower was eye-opening to see how food is produced and much work goes into growing food.

Something Jonathan learned since starting Delta Microgreens is that people often take for granted the work that goes into making healthy food because so many people prioritize paying for unhealthy food that comes from larger, non-local companies.

Jonathan and Lyle are still trying to crack the code on how to make shoppers value local producers who grow healthy food, but that is part of what makes him so good at his job. When you speak with Jonathan you feel his passion to educate shoppers and grow his business not only for himself, but also for the betterment of his community.

Previously Delta Microgreens sold at up to six different farmers markets in the Bay Area, but they now only sell at the Napa Farmers Market and direct-to-consumers.

This was in part due to their need to focus the business and streamline after the loss of employees during last years labor shortage, but also so Jonathan and Lyle could focus on the many things that are required from a small business. Their teamwork is the indispensable strength in their business, but they look forward to finding new team members to help grow Delta Microgreens and take it to the next level.

Despite the many challenges of starting a business and becoming a grower, not once has Jonathan thought of giving up. Or as he says, It wont happen." When challenges arrive, he knows he will never quit, so the only thing he can ask himself is, What more can I do?

Jonathan takes great pride in what he and Lyle accomplished. They started Delta Microgreens with only a vision and an idea, and never relied on the help of outside investors. For Jonathan, that means being proud of changing careers, learning about agriculture, gaining new skills, becoming an entrepreneur, being a successful Black business-owner and being an example and legacy for his nieces and nephews.

All these accomplishments are an anomaly to what he thought he would be doing, but he feels very fortunate to be on this path. He hopes to share this knowledge with others around him and to be a testament that they too can accomplish their goals with hard work, drive, sacrifice, and unwavering commitment.

So, if you want to try something new and healthy in your cooking routine and support a growing local business, come meet Jonathan at the Saturday Napa Farmers Market. You will love to meet him, you will learn from him, and he in return will be so happy to meet you. Because when asked what motivates him to get to the market every week he answered, The people, meeting someone new, growing our business and changing the future."

10 nutrition myths debunked Nutrition Q&A 1. Eating healthy is too expensive. 2. Everyone should follow a gluten-free diet. 3. Use unrefined sugars, such as honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar in place of white table sugar. 4. Full-fat products equal weight gain. 5. Avoid carbs if you want to lose weight. 6. A detox diet will clean toxins out of the body. 7. You shouldn't eat anything after 7 p.m. 8. Certain foods, such as grapefruit, cayenne pepper or vinegar, can burn fat. 9. The best way to decrease your sodium intake is to stop using the salt shaker. 10. Low-fat or fat-free products are healthier choices.
A day of decision should finally be near for the proposed Le Colline vineyard in the mountains northeast of St. Helena near Angwin.

Removing forests to create vineyards is controversial in Napa County  some say county conservation laws protect the environment while allowing for agriculture, while others say those protections don't go far enough. The Le Colline project has the added wrinkle of abutting Linda Falls Preserve.

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A 2019 draft environmental impact report by Analytical Environmental Services concluded all potential impacts from creating a Le Colline vineyard can be rendered less than significant. Some people and groups remained unconvinced.

Napa County recently released a final environmental impact report that responds to 100 comment letters. Interim Planning, Building and Environmental Services Director Brian Bordona or his designee will rule on the erosion control plan that the project requires.

They will announce a tentative decision this month, with a final decision to follow in 10 days. People who disagree with the outcome can appeal to the county Board of Supervisors, a county news release said.

Le Colline would remove about 25 acres of forest and 9 acres of grasslands on a 92-acre property, with 25 acres of vineyard to be planted. The land is located at 300 Cold Springs Road.

Next door is the 177-acre Linda Falls nature preserve owned by the Land Trust of Napa County. Among other things, it features trails through mixed hardwood-conifer forests and a waterfall where Conn Creek tumbles over volcanic rocks.

The preserve has been a favorite hiking destination for many Napa County residents and visitors, the Land Trust wrote in a 2019 letter commenting on the draft environmental report.

While not opposing the plan outright, the Land Trust expressed concerns with the project as proposed.

Developing vineyards within 105 feet of Conn Creek could impact high-priority species such as the yellow-legged frog. The project could also hurt native plant community restoration efforts through sedimentation and erosion, the letter said.

Land Trust of Napa County looks to buy Walt Ranch The Land Trust of Napa County and Hall family announced an agreement for the Land Trust to purchase Walt Ranch.

The Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District also had concerns about the proposed vineyard because of its nearness to the Linda Falls preserve. Both it and the Land Trust preferred shrinking the vineyard's size.

Kellie Anderson of the Linda Falls Alliance went further. She wrote that the site of Le Colline is biologically rich, geologically important, aesthetically valued, hydrologically fragile, and located next to the recreational wonders of Linda Falls.

Given that, the only justifiable outcome is no project and acquisition of the Le Colline land for permanent protection, she wrote in 2019.

The newly released final environmental report responds to these and the dozens of other comments almost four years later.

The project as proposed would maintain forestland and natural habitats on more than 60% of the property. That conserves the environment to the extent feasible while also meeting the goals of the property owner, the final report said.

There are no significant and unavoidable impacts associated with the proposed project, it said. Accordingly, selection of a project alternative is not required to mitigate significant and unavoidable impacts.

Attorney Tom Adams on behalf of applicant Dave DiCesaris said a smaller, 15-acre vineyard favored by some critics would not make money.

This project is not a hobby, Adams wrote in 2019. It is a business that requires a significant investment made in reliance on loans and cash flow for it to be viable and to proceed to create jobs and generate tax revenue in the county.

DiCesaris provided several pages of cost-and-expense estimates.

The final report responded that the California Environmental Quality Act doesnt require the selection of an environmentally superior but uneconomical alternative. Adams' comments on economic viability will be considered when the county makes a decision on the project.

The Center for Biological Diversity criticized the 2019 draft environmental impact report on multiple fronts, such as for saying that creating a smaller vineyard to avoid cutting down forest could cause slightly more erosion and water quality impacts.

But the newly released final report holds its ground. The smaller project would mean less land that already has erosion would be subject to the erosion control plan, it answered.

Residents can visit the county's Project Explorer at https://bit.ly/3C9MaE4 and look up Le Colline to see the final environmental impact report.

Le Colline also needs a timber conversion plan and timber harvest plan from Cal Fire because the conifers in the forest qualify as commercial timber species.

Cal Fire first requires the county to certify the environmental impact report, Bordona said. That will be decided along with the erosion control plan decision.

Le Colline is one of about 37 erosion control plan applications listed on the county's Project Explorer, though a couple are vineyard replants. Sizes range from less than an acre of disturbed land to 155 acres.

The projects total more than 600 acres of disturbed land, 100 acres of forest or woodlands removal, and 220 acres of grassland removal. However, that picture is incomplete, since a few projects on the website didn't include complete information.

Not every mountain vineyard project calls for forest or woodland removal. For example, one proposed on Mount Veeder is targeted for fallow pastureland.

The city of Napa frequently expresses concern when a proposed mountainous vineyard project is in the watershed for Lake Hennessey reservoir, as is the case with Le Colline. Le Colline's planners, in response, agreed to do water quality sampling and analysis.

Photos: Scenes from around Napa Valley as storms continue to batter the area Storm Coverage 2 Storm Coverage 1 Storm Coverage 3 Storm Coverage 4 Storm Coverage 5 Storm Coverage 6 Storm Coverage 7 Storm Coverage 8 Storm Coverage 11 Storm Coverage 10 Storm 1 Storm 2 Storm 4 Storm 3 Storm 5 Storm 6 Napa Storm 1 Napa Storm 2 Napa Storm 3 Napa Storm 4 Napa Storm 5 Napa Storm 6 Napa Storm 9 Storm Storm Kennedy Park encampment Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm
Updated at 4:16 p.m. Monday  Californias latest round of powerful storms in the new year have apparently spared Napa County from widespread power outages and major flooding as of Monday afternoon.

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Despite more than 2 inches of rain that fell across most of the county from Sunday night into Monday morning, the Napa River remained below the flood monitoring level of 22 feet late Monday afternoon. North of the city of Napa, the river peaked more than 2 feet below its previous estimate of 23.6 feet, according to the California Nevada River Forecast Center.

Storm runoff resulting from the North Bays heavy rains got less of a push from the Napa Rivers high tide than had been predicted, holding down the rivers peak to 21.4 feet at 4 p.m., according to Rick Thomasser of the Napa County Flood Control and Resource Conservation District.

At downtown Napas Oxbow Commons  a linear park that doubles as a Napa River relief channel when the flood district shuts two sets of flood gates on McKinstry Street  water lapped close to walking paths in the Commons but did not otherwise fill the channel on Monday.

The absence of trash and other debris in the flood bypass was a sign that early on, at least, local property damage from the overnight storm would likely be minimal, according to Thomasser.

Theres some debris but not a huge amount, (and) what debris we do see is natural, for the most part  not a lot of trash or man-made objects but wood, logs and branches, he said shortly after inspecting the Commons at 3:15 p.m.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co.s grid in the Napa Valley also appeared to hold up to the rigors of a storm that had triggered an overnight high wind warning for the North Bay. Despite outages that affected more than 16,000 homes and businesses in the Bay Area, only 18 Napa County customers had lost service in five separate incidents as of 11:30 a.m., according to PG&E spokesperson Megan McFarland.

The National Weather Service is keeping a flood watch in effect for Napa County and the North Bay through 4 p.m. Tuesday. Following a cloudy but mostly dry afternoon, Napa was slated to receive up to a quarter-inch of rain Monday night and  to  inch Tuesday.

The weather service also announced a wind advisory in the North Bay from 10 p.m. Monday to 4 p.m. Tuesday. South winds of 20 to 30 mph, with gusts peaking at 50 mph, may blow down tree limbs and cause some power outages.

Monday morning flooding, slides and fallen trees blocked and impeded several roads across Napa County, including a section of Highway 29 in American Canyon.

The county sheriff's office announced the closure of Highway 29 between Paoli Loop and South Kelly Road at 4:28 a.m. Monday, with traffic detoured to Green Island Road. The highway reopened about six hours later.

Elsewhere, Oakville Cross Road and the 2600 block of Las Amigas Road closed due to flooding, according to county officials.

Routes that were at least partially blocked by rock slides or falling trees included stretches of the Silverado Trail as well as Old Lawley Toll Road, Butts Canyon Road, Congress Valley Road, Chiles Pope Valley Road and Dry Creek Road.

In Yountville, Hopper Creek overflowed Monday morning, flooding a section of Washington Street and streets in the Oak Circle neighborhood.

The latest round in a gauntlet of high-powered storms made its way to the Bay Area early Monday bringing flood risks and wind gusts reaching more than 40 miles per hour, the weather service said.

Much of Napa County received upwards of 2 inches of rain overnight, with the county's OneRain monitoring website reporting 2.29 inches at the Napa city corporation yard in the 12 hours ending 8 a.m. Monday. Upvalley and high-elevation areas saw even wetter conditions, led by Mount Veeder with 3.03 inches.

Photos: Scenes from around Napa Valley as storms continue to batter the area Storm Coverage 2 Storm Coverage 1 Storm Coverage 3 Storm Coverage 4 Storm Coverage 5 Storm Coverage 6 Storm Coverage 7 Storm Coverage 8 Storm Coverage 11 Storm Coverage 10 Storm 1 Storm 2 Storm 4 Storm 3 Storm 5 Storm 6 Napa Storm 1 Napa Storm 2 Napa Storm 3 Napa Storm 4 Napa Storm 5 Napa Storm 6 Napa Storm 9 Storm Storm Kennedy Park encampment Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm Storm
LOS ANGELES  In yet another ouster of a top commander for the troubled California National Guard, a brigadier general has been fired after internal inquiries found that he inappropriately used military personnel for personal tasks, had a subordinate complete part of his cybersecurity training and otherwise engaged in conduct that seeded distrust in the ranks.

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Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Magram will be "involuntarily transferred" next week to the U.S. Air Force retired reserve, an action that is "parallel" to a firing, California National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Brandon Hill said Friday.

Magram, who was once director of the Guard's air staff, is the fifth general to resign, retire or be fired in the wake of scandals exposed by Los Angeles Times investigations of the organization over the last four years.

Most of the allegations against Magram were first disclosed in an L.A. Times report in June. Weeks later, the longtime head of the Guard, Maj. Gen. David Baldwin, retired.

In an email to the L.A. Times, Hill said an internal disciplinary board substantiated the allegations against Magram, and the general was removed "for cause." The board's action came after two separate inquiries into Magram's conduct by military inspectors general; directives to dismiss him were issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom's office and Baldwin's successor, Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers, the Guard's acting adjutant general.

Attempts to reach Magram for comment were unsuccessful. Beevers and Newsom did not respond to requests for comment made through spokespersons.

In a memorandum to Magram that the L.A. Times obtained this week, Beevers wrote, "Your conduct has caused me to lose faith, trust, and confidence in your ability to continue serving."

The 20,000-member Guard, a branch of the California Military Department, which is also led by the adjutant general, serves a dual mission that includes responding to emergencies in the state, such as earthquakes, wildfires and civil disturbances, and assisting U.S. armed forces in military operations overseas.

Magram attained the rank of assistant adjutant general and had been part of Baldwin's inner circle. However, in 2021, Baldwin suspended him with pay and reassigned him after an L.A. Times report that Guard members were concerned that their leaders had readied an F-15C fighter jet for a possible mission in which the aircraft would fly low over civilian protesters to frighten and disperse them.

Baldwin denied that the jet had been prepared for such a deployment and said the move against Magram had nothing to do with the report. He said the same about his decision to fire Maj. Gen. Gregory Jones, commander of the air wing of the Guard.

Magram became the focus of more upheaval last summer, when the L.A. Times disclosed that an internal probe found that he had on-duty Guard members drive him up to 120 miles round-trip to personal dental and medical appointments at Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield, according to a confidential report on the inquiry. The document quoted one unnamed Guard member as saying he did not want to drive Magram because "my job is to take care of the airmen in the state of California and not be a chauffeur for a general."

A Guard member who took Magram's mother shopping was quoted in the report as saying that "she was particular. When I say particular, it had to be at Whole Foods.  It just took her a long time to decide what she wanted, a lot of comparison shopping amongst products."

Magram had generally confirmed the members' accounts of running errands for him, according to the report. He said he believed that having subordinates give him rides to medical appointments was consistent with the Air Force's "wingman concept," in which Guard members look out for one another.

"I want to reiterate that had I ever heard of any ethics issues like this from subordinates, peers or commanders, or perceptions of such, I would have corrected or addressed it on the spot," Magram said in a statement to an inspector general.

However, Magram had been counseled in 2017 that tasking Guard members for rides to personal appointments was inappropriate, the report stated, adding that his "wingman" argument "rings hollow." The investigation similarly faulted him for using an underling to work on his travel awards accounts, including for personal trips.

The inquiry also determined that Magram failed to complete his annual cybersecurity training and thus had lower-ranking Guard members each day request that headquarters temporarily restore his computer access. This went on for about two weeks, until he had the training completed by a subordinate. Magram said in his statement that he was late in completing the training because of "a tremendously busy operational tempo."

The Air Force initially issued a letter of admonishment to Magram as a result of the first inspector general investigation. After queries by The Times, however, the Guard said a second inquiry had substantiated similar allegations against him, and another round of discipline was pending. That culminated in his firing.

The Guard memo obtained by the L.A. Times says Magram on several occasions "wrongfully encouraged or requested subordinates" to perform tasks or run errands for him outside their military duties, such as giving him rides to personal appointments. The document also cites the cybersecurity episode as grounds for dismissing him, stating that he "let a subordinate click through the training questions and obtain a certificate of completion for you."

The memo further recounts that a 2021 survey of Guard members found that they "experienced significant issues with unit cohesion, good order, and military discipline because of (Magram's) conduct."

In early 2019, an L.A. Times report disclosed internal complaints of reprisals against whistleblowers and allegations of a cover-up of misconduct among the Guard leadership. The complaints focused on the organization's Fresno air base and included an incident in which someone urinated in a female Guard member's boots. Baldwin later removed the commander of the Guard's air side, Maj. Gen. Clay Garrison. The commander of the 144th Fighter Wing at the Fresno base was also removed.

In 2020, in response to another L.A. Times report, Newsom's office denounced the Guard's decision to send a military spy plane to suburban El Dorado Hills, where Baldwin lived, to help civilian authorities monitor demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd. Baldwin said the fact that he resided in El Dorado Hills, where the protests were small and peaceful, had no bearing on the deployment of the RC-26B reconnaissance plane.

The L.A. Times reported last year that an internal inquiry substantiated allegations that Brig. Gen. David Hawkins made antisemitic and homophobic slurs, including that Jews are unrepentant sinners and that gay marriage is a reason terrorists attack the United States. Hawkins received a letter of reprimand as a result, the Guard said. Responding to a subsequent L.A. Times query, the Guard confirmed in June that Hawkins had resigned.

Hawkins told the L.A. Times that "those allegations are largely untrue" and specifically denied making the statement about terrorist attacks. He said he believed the allegations were lodged by someone who overheard and misconstrued a conversation he had with a chaplain.

105 years of military history 100 years of military history 1918: Meuse-Argonne Offensive 1919: Treaty of Versailles 1920: National Defense Act amended 1921: The Unknown Soldier 1922: Washington Naval Treaty 1923: Warlordism 1924: First U.S. occupation of Dominican Republic ends 1925: Riots in Shanghai 1926: U.S. squashes Nicaraguan coup detat 1927: China Marines in Shanghai 1928: Lt. Schilt receives Medal of Honor 1929: Cayes Massacre 1930: London Naval Treaty 1931: Japan violates League of Nations 1932: Military collides with Bonus Marchers 1933: Civilian Conservation Corps 1934: U.S. occupation ends in Haiti 1935: GHQ Air Force and B-17 1936: Abraham Lincoln Brigade 1937: Protective Mobilization Plan 1938: Munich Agreement inspires U.S. hemisphere defense strategy 1939: World War II officially begins 1940: U.S. prepares for war 1941: U.S. enters WWII 1942: War with Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania 1943: Eisenhower chosen to lead Allies 1944: D-Day 1945: Battle of Iwo Jima 1946: First session of the United Nations 1947: Air Force, National Security Council founded, Cold War erupts 1948: Marshall Plan signed to rebuild Europe 1949: North Atlantic Treaty 1950: Korean War begins 1951: Second capture of Seoul, Treaty of San Francisco 1952: First hydrogen bomb detonated 1953: Korean Armistice Agreement 1954: U.S. Air Force Academy established 1955: Navy helps evacuate Chinese Nationalist soldiers 1956: Hungarian Revolution 1957: Distant Early Warning Sign 1958: Lebanon crisis 1959: U.S. Special Forces train soldiers in Laos 1960: U.S.-Cuba standoff 1961: Bay of Pigs 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis 1963: Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 1964: Gulf of Tonkin 1965: U.S. officially enters Vietnam War 1966: House Un-American Activities Committee 1967: Operation Swift 1968: Tet Offensive 1969: Nixon Doctrine 1970: U.S. troops invade Cambodia 1971: Conviction in My Lai Massacre 1972: Nguyen Hue Offensive 1973: Ceasefire signed 1974: U.S. evacuation of Cyprus 1975: End of Vietnam War 1976: Women admitted to service academies 1977: President Carters new foreign policy for Latin America 1978: Womens Army Corps dissolved 1979: Iranian Hostage Crisis 1980: Failed attempt to end hostage crisis 1981: Gulf of Sidra Incident 1982: Lebanese Civil War 1983: Peace agreement with Lebanon 1984: Marines leave Beirut 1985: Achille Lauro hijacked 1986: West Berlin discotheque bombing 1987: Iran-Iraq ceasefire 1988: USS Samuel B. Roberts hits naval mine 1989: Bush-Gorbachev meeting 1990: Chemical Weapons Accord 1991: Kuwait liberated 1992: Unified Task Force 1993: Battle of Mogadishu 1994: Iraq Disarmament Crisis 1995: Capt. OGrady shot down behind enemy lines 1996: Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty 1997: Sexual assault scandals plage military 1998: U.S. embassies bombed 1999: Kosovo Force 2000: USS Cole bombing 2001: September 11 attacks 2002: Operation Anaconda 2003: Shock and awe 2004: No weapons of mass destruction 2005: Rumsfeld announces troop reduction 2006: Saddam hanged 2007: 21,500 more soldiers to Iraq 2008: U.S. Navy takes out U.S. spy satellite 2009: Orders to close Guantanamo Bay 2010: Dont Ask Dont Tell Repeal Act 2011: Osama bin Laden killed 2012: Benghazi attack 2013: Women can serve in combat 2014: Slashes to military budget 2015: Iran sanctions lifted 2016: Nuclear Security Summit 2017: Transgender ban in the military 2018: Space Force 2019: Iran reveals new missile defense system 2020: Trump deploys military against protestors 2021: U.S. troops fight COVID 105 years of military history 1918: Meuse-Argonne Offensive 1919: Treaty of Versailles 1920: National Defense Act amended 1921: The Unknown Soldier 1922: Washington Naval Treaty 1923: Warlordism 1924: First US occupation of Dominican Republic ends 1925: Riots in Shanghai 1926: US quashes Nicaraguan coup d'etat 1927: 'China Marines' in Shanghai 1928: Lt. Schilt receives Medal of Honor 1929: Cayes Massacre 1930: London Naval Treaty 1931: Japan violates League of Nations 1932: Military collides with Bonus Marchers 1933: Civilian Conservation Corps 1934: US occupation ends in Haiti 1935: GHQ Air Force and B-17 1936: Abraham Lincoln Brigade 1937: Protective Mobilization Plan 1938: Munich Agreement inspires US defense strategy 1939: World War II officially begins 1940: US prepares for war 1941: US enters WWII 1942: War with Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania 1943: Eisenhower chosen to lead Allies 1944: D-Day 1945: Battle of Iwo Jima 1946: First session of the United Nations 1947: Air Force, National Security Council founded, Cold War erupts 1948: Marshall Plan signed to rebuild Europe 1949: North Atlantic Treaty 1950: Korean War begins 1951: Second capture of Seoul, Treaty of San Francisco 1952: First hydrogen bomb detonated 1953: Korean Armistice Agreement 1954: US Air Force Academy established 1955: Navy helps evacuate Chinese Nationalist soldiers 1956: Hungarian Revolution 1957: Distant Early Warning Sign 1958: Lebanon crisis 1959: U.S. Special Forces train soldiers in Laos 1960: US-Cuba standoff 1961: Bay of Pigs 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis 1963: Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 1964: Gulf of Tonkin 1965: US officially enters Vietnam War 1966: House Un-American Activities Committee 1967: Operation Swift 1968: Tet Offensive 1969: Nixon Doctrine 1970: US troops invade Cambodia 1971: Conviction in My Lai Massacre 1972: Nguyen Hue Offensive 1973: Ceasefire signed 1974: US evacuation of Cyprus 1975: End of Vietnam War 1976: Women admitted to service academies 1977: President Carter's new foreign policy for Latin America 1978: Women's Army Corps dissolved 1979: Iranian Hostage Crisis 1980: Failed attempt to end hostage crisis 1981: Gulf of Sidra Incident 1982: Lebanese Civil War 1983: Peace agreement with Lebanon 1984: Marines leave Beirut 1985: Achille Lauro hijacked 1986: West Berlin discotheque bombing 1987: Iran-Iraq ceasefire 1988: USS Samuel B. Roberts hits naval mine 1989: Bush-Gorbachev meeting 1990: Chemical Weapons Accord 1991: Kuwait liberated 1992: Unified Task Force 1993: Battle of Mogadishu 1994: Iraq Disarmament Crisis 1995: Capt. O'Grady shot down behind enemy lines 1996: Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 1997: Sexual assault scandals plague military 1998: US embassies bombed 1999: Kosovo Force 2000: USS Cole bombing 2001: September 11 attacks 2002: Operation Anaconda 2003: Shock and awe 2004: No weapons of mass destruction 2005: Rumsfeld announces troop reduction 2006: Saddam hanged 2007: 21,500 more soldiers to Iraq 2008: US Navy takes out US spy satellite 2009: Orders to close Guantanamo Bay 2010: Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal Act 2011: Osama bin Laden killed 2012: Benghazi attack 2013: Women can serve in combat 2014: Slashes to military budget 2015: Iran sanctions lifted 2016: Nuclear Security Summit 2017: Refugees turned away; transgender ban reinstated 2018: Chemical weapons in Syria, creation of US Space Force 2019: Iran reveals new missile defense system 2020: Trump deploys military against protestors 2021: US troops fight COVID 2022: Top al-Qaeda leader killed
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The Board of Directors of Acteon Group Ltd, a global provider of services to the renewable, infrastructure and oil and gas industries, has appointed Dr Bernhard Bruggaier as Group Chief Executive. He succeeds Dr Carl Trowell, effective from January 1, 2023.

Dr Bruggaier joined Acteons subsidiary MENCK in 1994, became its Managing Director in 1998 and joined Acteons executive management team following the acquisition of MENCK in 2003. After that, Dr Bruggaier served in various senior strategic and operational management roles before being appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2018 and joining Acteons Board of Directors in 2021.

Commenting on the transition, Chairman of the Board, Juan de Ochoa, said: On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Carl for his significant contribution as Group Chief Executive and wish him all the very best for the future. As the business moves into a new phase of growth, we are delighted that Bernhard has agreed to transition into the role. We are confident that he will lead the company and our people with the passion and strategic vision he has shown in serving the business for so many years. We look forward to working closely with Bernhard as he continues leveraging the companys innovative technology, engineering capability and operational strength to pursue sustainable growth.

Legacy energy markets

Dr Bruggaier commented: I joined Acteon when it was a small company. I have enjoyed our journey to the dynamic, increasingly renewables-focused international organisation that Acteon is now. I am honoured to be asked to lead the team that forms Acteon today and which comprises first-class, highly dedicated individuals in all functions of the organisation, some of whom I have worked with for years. Together, we will shape the future of Acteon through developing our legacy energy markets as much as focusing on the necessary energy transition that we have already been driving for over 20 years.-- TradeArabia News Service
YEREVAN.  Zhoghovurd newspaper off Armenia writes: According to the information of Zhoghovurd daily, international organizations, several ambassadors of western countries have recently sent a "note of protest" to the [Armenian parliaments] ruling "Civil Contract" [(CC)] faction because the latter, with the election of the [Yerevan] council of elders not yet held, regularly announce that the CC will win and the next mayor [of Yerevan] will be from them.

We tried to verify our information from Gevorg Papoyan, an MP of the CC faction, vice-chairman of the CC board, who said that he did not have such information; "I hear [about it] for the first time from you."

And another [CC] MP, the other vice-chairman of the [CC] party board, Vahagn Aleksanyan, in response to our question, said: "Naturally, if we nominated the candidate, we have confidence that he will win. But, to tell the truth, I don't recall that the representatives of the authorities have made such statements that we would receive a note of protest for it."

Let's note that the ambassadors of the western countries started to express their displeasure mainly after the rigged elections of the CC [party] board. Distrust of the representatives of democratic countries towards electoral processes [in Armenia] started after the ruling party's frauds.
Faezeh Hashemi-Rafsanjani, a former member of Iran's Majlis (parliament) and a prominent fighter for women's rights, was sentenced Monday to five years in prison for calling for anti-government protests, Nida Shams, her lawyer, told Fars Haber news portal.

She said the daughter of former Islamic Republic President Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani (1934-2017) was arrested on September 27 and imprisoned in Evin prison. "My client was sentenced by the trial court to five years in prison for inciting residents to demonstrate," Shams said. - We will try to appeal this decision within the legal deadline." Iranian justice also accused the 60-year-old activist of "conspiring against the security of the country and propaganda against the existing system of government.

Hashemi-Rafsanjani has been convicted several times in the past for participating in illegal assemblies. In 2009, she was banned from political and cultural activities for five years. In 2011, the activist was imprisoned for speaking at a rally in support of reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. In 2017, she was again sentenced to a six-month prison term for releasing data denigrating Iranian statesmen.

In March, the activist was sentenced to 15 months in prison. As an additional punishment, the former deputy was banned from any social media activity for two years.

On November 28, Iranian authorities arrested Farida Muradhani, the niece of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This happened after she called on foreign governments to sever ties with Tehran.

The unrest in Iran began last September 16 after the funeral of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after she was detained by the vice police for improperly wearing a headscarf. Rallies and marches covered some 160 cities and towns. Participants called for democratic change, condemned the repression of the authorities and demanded the release of those arrested.
What is happening in the Lachin corridor, first of all, aims to break the will of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenians Nagorno-Karabakh to live in their own homeland, and this is the most important context that needs to be taken into account. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of the Republic off Armenia (RA) stated this during his press conference Tuesday.

"The RA government's positions have been expressed. We believe that our mechanism should be diplomatic; that is, to exert as much international pressure as possible on [re]opening the Lachin corridor," he said.

Referring to the reports that Armenia has given Russia an ultimatum that if the Lachin corridor is not reopened by Tuesday, Armenia will withdraw from the CSTO, Pashinyan replied: "I don't think we should talk to our partners in the language of ultimatums. What we have to say about this situation has already been said, and by and large there is nothing to add. Public evaluations were also given to the fact of closing the Lachin corridor.

The Prime Minister reminded that according to point 6 of the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, legal obligations regarding the Lachin corridor are imposed on Azerbaijan and Russia, and there is no wording regarding Armenia in point 6.

"And in this regard, our actions must be fully legitimate, and we consider legitimacy to be of key importance in this process and in all processes in general, and we approach the issue with this logic," he said.

Pashinyan reminded that in 2022, RA has provided support to Nagorno-Karabakh in an unprecedented amount: more than 170 billion drams.

"We will continue to render assistance to our compatriots in Nagorno-Karabakh. A working group headed by the deputy prime minister has been formed to render assistance to the people of Nagorno-Karabakh in managing the humanitarian crisis.

You know that we also raised the issue at the UN Security Council, and it remains on the agenda of the UN Security Council. Of course, I have also expressed positions regarding the Russian peacekeeping contingent [in Nagorno-Karabakh]. I must once again draw attention to the fact that yes, the Russian peacekeeping contingent must ensure the normal functioning of the Lachin corridor. It is clearly worded in the tripartite statement," the Armenian Prime Minister emphasized.

He reminded that Azerbaijan did not sign the mandate of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh after November 9, 2020and contrary to agreements.

"But I also want you to be aware that the defense ministers of Armenia and Russia have signed this mandate. There is no indication in that document that it comes into force only after signing by all three parties. At least I believe that document exists.

The Lachin corridor should be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. This means that no other entity will have control in the Lachin corridor. Here we are also talking about Azerbaijan's contracting ability because the internationally accepted agreements must be fulfilled.

Azerbaijan has tried to claim that Armenia has not fulfilled some obligations defined by the tripartite statement. It is completely fictitious," Pashinyan declared.

He also noted that despite the fact that the tripartite statement mentions the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to Nagorno-Karabakh and neighboring regions with the support of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN representatives have not had the opportunity to enter Nagorno-Karabakh until now.

"Not to mention our compatriots who forcibly emigrated from [Karabakhs] Hadrut, who have not had any opportunity to return to their homes until now," added the Prime Minister.
Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways has announced the launch of a new route to Moscow, Russia, serving an increasing demand for flights to the Middle East region and beyond.



Jazeera will be the first airline to operate flights between Kuwait and Moscow.



The route will cater to the increasing demand for tourist destinations for Russian travellers. They will be able to connect through Kuwait on to places such as Dubai, Sharm El Sheikh and popular cities in Turkiye.



Jazeera Airways Chief Executive Officer, Rohit Ramachandran, said: We expect high demand for this route from Day One, as our service comes at a time of a scarcity of flights serving Moscow. We are ideally placed in Kuwait to attract connecting leisure passengers from Russia as well as religious pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. We hope to expand the number of flights to our schedule during 2023.



Flights will commence on February 2, 2023 with four flights weekly leaving Kuwait on Mondays, Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays. Flights land at Moscow Domodedovo Airport (DME), one of the four major Moscow airports, and one of the busiest airports in Russia.  TradeArabia News Service
Armenia is ready to restore Yeraskh-Saradark-Ordubad-Meghri-Goradiz railroad, we are interested in it, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told briefing on Tuesday.

Pashinyan said he is interested in opening cargo transportation by road in the west and east direction and building new roads in Armenia as well. According to his assessment, in this sense the road and freight transportations in the direction north-south will also be active.

The PM explained that we are talking about restoring the Iran-Armenia, Iran-Azerbaijan, Iran-Russia railroad through Armenia and Nakhijevan.

"We are ready to go in this direction. The only thing hindering it is Azerbaijan's continued unchanged rhetoric about certain corridors. We are ready to implement our concept about the 'Armenian Crossroads'. For well-known reasons, global logistical chains are changing, and these changes can be used in the name of peace and stability in the region, and not vice versa. If we want Armenia to be a developed and secure country, we must think about changing the quality of relations in the region," the Armenian Prime Minister said.

He added that the government's 2021-2026 program considers regionalization as an important foreign policy direction. "Historically in the region we have had more concerns than opportunities, and that is understandable. Perhaps it's time to change our angle," Pashinyan concluded.




When there were public clarifications from Russia regarding the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia said that it is completely acceptable for it, the picture became complete. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of the Republic off Armenia (RA) stated this during his press conference Tuesday, and referring to his previous statement that the bar should be lowered a little regarding the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The fact is that both today and yesterday the entire international community perceived it as a part of Azerbaijan. The fact is that maybe we are not so pragmatic and it seemed to us that the four resolutions of the UN Security Council are just texts written on paper, which we can ignore. It has been an approach that we have to think about. In general, I said that legitimacy should be at the heart of our actions. We have to face the facts; it is another question how we will build our future steps based on those facts.

I have already had the occasion to talk about the fact that our words, our strategies on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue have contradicted each other, and this has also brought certain consequences. The fact that in the Declaration of Independence we referred to the joint decision of the Supreme Council and the National Council on the reunification of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, and a year after that, a referendum was held on the declaration of the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. Later, we negotiated with this logic, and in 2007 we accepted according to the Madrid Principles that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be adjusted within the time limits agreed upon by the parties, with a referendum to be held in the future, by which we rejected the December 1991 referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh; all this is also an expression of it," said the Armenian Prime Minister.

According to him, in fact, in 2007 we accepted that the 1991 referendum did not decide any status.

"Therefore, where is Nagorno-Karabakh in the logic of our state policy? We are not cut off from the world, we live in that context, and we have to take that into account; this is our policy today. And when I stated our position regarding the Lachin corridor, I said that today our task is: lets support the Nagorno-Karabakh people to continue to live in Nagorno-Karabakh, to continue to be Armenians, to consider themselves people of Artsakh, Armenians, to have the opportunity to live in a safe environment. Since 2018, our position has been that it is not the RA government that should decide the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh and Nagorno-Karabakh relations, but the Nagorno-Karabakh people should decide and be in communication with the authorities of Azerbaijan. The issue should be decided in this context," the Armenian PM emphasized.
Armenian goals and ideas often do not coincide, which leads to a crisis, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told a press conference on Tuesday.

Our task is that we try to have a new perspective on reality, to check from this point of view, to reflect on our perceptions, how real they are. Let's see if we were wrong, why we were wrong and how we were wrong.

"It is often said that the fault for the war is mine. Very well, let's understand what was the action that should have enabled us to avoid war.

"That is, the correct wording is that these regions should have been surrendered and accepted the uncertainty of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and the actual fixation of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, and the provision of the Azerbaijanis who left Nagorno-Karabakh with the opportunity to return and manage Nagorno-Karabakh. Now, looking back, we can say: yes, maybe it would be better than what we have today. But then who could convince that this is the way to go. This is in conditions when we knew that we had a strong army, we had reliable allies, when there were official reports on the table that we were able not to retreat a single step, and so on.

"I do not want to dismiss any accusation by this, all this is, it was, I say, let's look deeper. But even the level of an x-ray is not enough to fully understand the issue. The question is at the level of DNA, the PM said.



He said that our model of patriotism is the Soviet model, which fundamentally has a serious contradiction with the state and statehood of Armenia. If we do not reach these levels, we will not unravel the tangles, he added.
Maristo Hospitality, a growing hospitality group, has welcomed the nine fast-casual brand German Doner Kebab outlets in the UAE to its portfolio.



The group will lead the operations of the fast-casual restaurant chain while expanding to new outlets. An official agreement was signed in December 2022, cementing Maristo Hospitality as the master franchisee for the brand in the region.



The signing ceremony occurred in the presence of Imran Sayeed, Group CEO of GDK International and Maristo Hospitalitys CEO, Gaurav Arora.



Since 2021, Maristo Hospitality has established its footprint across QSR, dark kitchen, and casual dining. As a master franchisee, Maristo Hospitality will take over responsibility for the nine German Doner Kebab restaurants in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and has committed to expanding to 25 locations, including brick-and-mortar outlets and cloud kitchens, over the coming years.



German Doner Kebab uses an open kitchen concept in all restaurants and prides itself on its uncompromising focus on quality, from premium lean meat imported from Germany to the unique signature sauces made daily in-store. Maristo Hospitality will also shift the sourcing of key ingredients such as the Turkish-style bread and fresh vegetables from suppliers in Dubai to ensure its distinguished flavour and prized quality is preserved.



German Doner Kebab is known for having an innovative approach to traditional kebab and has become one of the fastest-growing casual dining brands since its inception in 1989. Were very excited to bring such a loved and well-known brand into our operational arm and maintain its high-quality food, superior dining experience and top-notch service, said Gaurav Arora.



This new venture fits our goal of promoting various brands development sustainably. With our substantial experience and triumph with other F&B concepts, such as Popeyes, Ralphs Kitchen, and Sisis Eatery, we will continue German Doner Kebabs legacy and further drive its success in the region.



Imran Sayeed said: The UAE pioneered our first ever brick-and-mortar, and we have been operational in the country for ten years. Our partnership with an F&B expert such as Maristo Hospitality is a significant milestone for our growth in this market and further elevates our customers dining experience.



From their European origins, GDK has enjoyed rapid, international expansion and success by elevating its popular takeaways to a new level of quality, freshness, and variety, all wrapped into a superior dining experience. Maristo Hospitality will be looking to further elevate the experience through this partnership.  TradeArabia News Service
Armenia will not sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan if that text does not correspond to the state interests of Armenia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia stated this during his press conference Tuesday, and addressing the question of what is the red line in which case he would refuse to sign the aforesaid peace treaty.

"If there was such a document, I would say that I have already signed it, or I am going to sign it tomorrow. We have sent our responses to Azerbaijan and have not yet received a response.

There have been several times that there have been rumors that the [Armenian] government is ready to sign some paper. I say, on the contrary, if there is a paper on the table that we are going to sign, it will not be bad, but good news because it will mean that we have succeeded in reaching a point where we consider it balanced and that the interests of Armenia are protected.

Now the problem is not only the content of the paper, but the mechanism of its implementation. We have a paper signed on November 9[, 2020], too, but today it is not being implemented. Just signing a paper is not enough. The question is to what extent the signed paper will bring peace. If there are no mechanisms for the application and implementation of this document, we may sign a paper called a peace treaty and after a week we will have an escalation [of tension] or a war. I would very much like that today we had a paper and that today's press conference were about the provisions of that peace treaty," Pashinyan declared.
It is a matter of perspective. Could it be said is it possible for Armenia to leave the CSTO? Or could it be said is it possible for the CSTO to leave Armenia? Or is it possible that this whole situation means that the CSTO has the intention to leave Armenia? Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of the Republic of Armenia (RA) stated this during his press conference Tuesday.

"We are guided by the state interests of Armenia. And after this, too, we will be guided by the interests of Armenia when adjusting, maintaining or changing our position on any issue," he said.

When asked to what extent Armenia is involved in the negotiations with the Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) regarding the reopening of the Lachin corridor that links Artsakh to Armenia, the Prime Minister answered: "We do not criticize the Russian peacekeepers, we raise our concerns about the activities of the Russian peacekeepers, and these concerns have a long history. I have constantly drawn the attention of our Russian partners that a state campaign to discredit Russian peacekeepers has started in Azerbaijan. It is obvious. On the other hand, we need to understand what function the peacekeepers perform there. In the statement of November 9, [2020] it is written that the Lachin corridor remains under the control of Russian peacekeepers, it is not written there that when the Lachin corridor is not under the control of Russian peacekeepers, Armenia should ensure control over the Lachin corridor and hand it over to the Russian peacekeepers."

The Armenian PM noted that no one disputes that the security of Nagorno-Karabakh is ensured today by Russian peacekeepers there.

"But we have the precedent of Parukh [village] events when Azerbaijanis entered the area of responsibility of Russian peacekeepers and we did not see any reaction to it. The RA citizens were captured in the zone of responsibility of Russian peacekeepers in Khtsaberd [village]. Following the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the Lachin corridor, RA citizens who are not related to military actions were captured.

These are questions about which we have to give answer to the public. (). We deal with these issues. I am not discussing these issues with the commander of the Russian [peacekeeping] contingent [in Artsakh], but with the commander-in-chief of that commander," Pashinyan said.
Holding a CSTO military exercise in Armenia may create a threat for Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia stated this during his press conference Tuesdayand addressing the question of why Armenia does not find it appropriate to hold a CSTO military exercise in the country and whether the Armenian authorities are pursuing a policy of fear or begging for peace.

"The CSTO came, created a threat for the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem, then said, Goodbye, we left. We say, let's determine what the area of responsibility of the CSTO is, and then build our relations institutionally and deeply. The CSTO does not record where the red line passes," said Pashinyan.

He agreed that it is not possible to have peace by begging for it.

"We must act with maximum responsibility. I agree that it is not possible to have peace by begging for peace. It is possible to have peace by earning it. Peace can be achieved by changing perspectives to a certain extent, correctly assessing the realities, taking maximally calculated steps, increasing the role and importance of Armenia in the international arena, with a higher level of institutional establishment of Armenia, changing the relations in the region, and so on," he noted.

Pashinyan said that Armenia can have peace if it is able to establish tolerant relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan, as well as develop relations with Iran and Georgia.
NEWS PROVIDED BY

Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

Jan. 10, 2023



NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 /Christian Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the way many physicians have become politicized:

There has always been an element in the medical profession that has been given to politics, but in recent years it has become more common and more aggressive.

It would be harder to find better proof of physician politics than the letter signed by over 1,200 health officials in the spring of 2020. With Covid-19 raging, and lockdowns everywhere, these doctors reacted more like left-wing activists than professionals.

The good doctors threw caution to the wind, suspending their support for social distancing, all because they vigorously endorsed the cause of "social justice." To be specific, many protests were launched following a few controversial incidents of police interactions with black men. That some of the protests turned into a riotkilling and injuring innocent persons, many of whom were copsdid not seem to matter.

The signatories were outraged by the "emerging narratives that seemed to malign demonstrations as risky for the public health because of Covid-19." That was their number-one concernbad mouthing the protestersnot the spread of Covid. They added that their goal was "to present a narrative that prioritizes opposition to racism as vital to public health, including the epidemic response." Not only that, these protestsnot all protestswere deemed "vital to the national public health and to the threatened health specifically of Black people in the United States."

This backdrop helps us to understand why so many in the medical profession have said very little about the legalization of marijuana. It comes down to politics. Some issues galvanize them; others do not. To cite another example, consider their strong support for sex-reassignment surgery. Physician politics has never been more apparent.

Last week, the Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released the findings of its annual survey and found that over 16 percent of the population, more than 46 million people, suffer from substance abuse disorder. Almost all of them did not receive any treatment.

Last month, CFAH, a health advisory organization, issued a report on the legal status of marijuana in the states. The drug is fully legal in 21 states and the District of Columbia; it is legal in another 23 states, but with restrictions; it is illegal in 6 states.

The American Medical Association (AMA) is opposed to marijuana legalization, but not in a vigorous way. In fact, the last statement it issued on this subject was to call for expunging prior marijuana arrest records, a decision that smacks of politics, not science.

On the issue of state restrictions on sex-reassignment surgery, the AMA is quite vocal, making it clear that such legislation "represents a dangerous governmental intrusion into the practice of medicine," insisting that "trans and non-binary identities are normal variations of human identity and expression" (my emphasis).

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) lists several health concerns with marijuana use, but stays away from commenting on the wisdom of legalizing the drug.

When it comes to gender identity, the CDC offers a full-throated endorsement, imploring health providers to "create welcoming environments that facilitates disclosure of gender identity and sexual orientation." Furthermore, clinics should work to "improve sexual health for transgender and gender nonbinary persons."

Our leading medical guru, Dr. Fauci, has not commented on the legalization of marijuana, even though he has spent the past three years warning us about respiratory illnesses.

Interestingly, Anthony "Double Mask" Fauci, in his role as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has come under considerable criticism for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to finance attempts to turn monkeys transgender.

To be specific, he has used public monies to inject male monkeys with feminizing hormone therapy. His interest in sex is longstanding, beginning with AIDS in the 1980s. Moreover, at the height of the pandemic, "Double Mask" could not bring himself to tell gay men not to have sex with anonymous men, saying only that it is risky. Apparently, this was not as risky as going to church during the Covid outbreak, which is why church doors were shut.

Most doctors and those who work in the medical profession are good men and women who have served the public well. But there are more than a fewespecially in elite positionswho have shown themselves to be charlatans, or worse. Politics has no more legitimate role to play in medicine than it does in sports.
Not signing the CSTO declaration in Yerevan is a manifestation of disappointment in the organization, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference on Tuesday.

He called it a translation of a sentence from diplomatic language. Yes, there is a problem, and it is new, Pashinyan noted.

According to him, the deadline will be when the parties realize that the negotiations are meaningless.

I dont think the negotiations are pointless now. Our partners don't seem to see them as meaningless either. Another thing is that either ours or their assessment can change at any time, the PM noted.

He noted that Armenia is in close relations with the countries of the European Union and the United States, and we will continue this natural development.

The head of government called the arrival of the civilian observation mission to Armenia and its deployment along the border with Azerbaijan after the meeting in Prague a very important event. Nikol Pashinyan expressed hope that such cooperation and contribution from the EU countries to the cause of ensuring stability and peace will continue, expressing gratitude.

We must use the channels of the Council of Europe, the UN, the UN Security Council, the OSCE, the EU. We are doing it. Until the issue is resolved, we must do more and be consistent. All further actions are based on the will of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to live in their homeland. We must work with the West, work in the CSTO, with Russia, with other partners in the CSTO, Iran, Georgia. This also applies to the settlement of relations with Turkey, the Prime Minister concluded.

On November 23, following the meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council, Nikol Pashinyan did not sign the declaration, since it did not contain an assessment of Azerbaijan's invasion of the sovereign territory of Armenia.
There are many issues that need to be settled in the delimitation process. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of the Republic of Armenia (RA) stated this during his press conference Tuesdayand referring to the fact that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan announced that Armenia should return eight villages to Azerbaijan as a result of delimitation and demarcation of the border between the two countries.

"They say that there is a topic of enclaves. We also have that topic, there is Artsvashen [village], which is part of the RA sovereign territory and today is under the control of Azerbaijan.

There are topics that are used, including exerting psychological pressure on the Armenian public, to cause certain shocks. The purpose of the negotiations is to see what the issues are, to discuss those issues. Today, there are territories of Armenia that have been occupied [by Azerbaijan] since the 1990s. For example, most of the territories of Paravakar village in Tavush [Province] are occupied, the same from Berkaber, Vazashen village. Those issues will be discussed during the delimitation process. Why should they not be discussed? All issues will be discussed, and we have to see how we solve them. There are other issues that we also put forward, they also put forward," he said.

Pashinyan reminded that a census of people who emigrated from Armenia is being conducted in Azerbaijan.

"There was no violence whatsoever against Azerbaijanis on the territory of Armenia, whereas we had Sumgait, we had [Armenian] pogroms in Baku. Azerbaijanis [in Armenia] have decided to sell their house, to leave Armenia. How many [Armenian] people who forcibly emigrated from Azerbaijan do we know who had the opportunity to sell their house [in Azerbaijan]? There are property issues of those people. There is no need to be afraid. Yes, there are issues on the agenda.

They say there is an enclave issue. Very well. We have an exclave issue, the Artsvashen issue. There is an issue of occupied[Armenian] villages; for example Paravakar, Aygehovit, Vazashen, Berkaber, and others. They should be discussed. Until we solve these issues, there will be no stability. Is it possible that we will not succeed? Of course, it is possible because the interests of the countries of the region are not the only ones here," Pashinyan emphasized.

And asked whether the Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) could be replaced by a multinational peacekeeping force in 2025, the Armenian PM responded: "Let's not go ahead. The results of 4.5 years should be evaluated to see what happened. Our task is to ensure the safety and rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. The goal is important for us, and the most effective means should be used for that goal."
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has expressed confidence that Finland and Sweden will join the alliance, just days after Stockholm said it had done everything possible to allay Turkey's doubts about its membership.

The membership process usually takes years, he said, but in July all 30 members invited Finland and Sweden to join and signed accession protocols. Since then, 28 countries have approved the two countries' applications, with the exception of Turkey and Hungary.

This was the fastest accession process in modern NATO history, Stoltenberg said.

He also downplayed any risk that Finland and Sweden might be attacked or pressured into joining the alliance, saying the United States and other allies have offered the two countries security guarantees until they become full members.

It is inconceivable that Finland and Sweden would face any military threat without a NATO response, Stoltenberg added.

Last month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Sweden was not even halfway to fulfilling its obligations to Ankara. His statement came after a Swedish court ruled against the extradition of a journalist wanted by Turkish authorities on suspicion of involvement in a failed coup in 2016.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country had fulfilled its obligations and the decision was now up to Turkey.




Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a press conference on Tuesday.

After a long break, this press conference took place in an offline format when a journalist of the state-funded Public Television of Armenia read the preselected questions sent by the mass media.

Here are 5 most important quotes of Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan during the briefing:

On January 1, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-led alliance, would be holding the 2023 iteration of its annual flagship exercises, Unbreakable Brotherhood, in Armenia.

However, at a January 10 press conference, Pashinyan addressed the issue, and labeled the Russian plans a misunderstanding.

I think there is a misunderstanding, since the Armenian Ministry of Defense has already informed, in writing, the joint staff of the CSTO, that conducting exercises in Armenia in the current situation would be inappropriate, he said. These drills in Armenia, at least this year, will not happen.

Meanwhile, Russia was in the process of clarifying the announcement, said Dmitriy Peskov, spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This is a fairly new statement by the Prime Minister of Armenia. I think that the CSTO colleagues will be in touch, they will clarify the details of Armenia's position, Peskov noted.

In the press conference, Pashinyan was asked about Armenia leaving the CSTO, and he responded using a formulation he has used previously: Can we say that Armenia will leave the CSTO? Maybe the CSTO will leave Armenia? Does this whole situation [in the region] suggest that the CSTO intends to leave Armenia?

"We are guided by the state interests of Armenia. And after this, too, we will be guided by the interests of Armenia when adjusting, maintaining or changing our position on any issue," he added.

Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia has not received any official proposal from Russia to join the Union State.

Armenia has not officially received a proposal from Russia to join the Union State and there couldnt be one. But, unfortunately, the reality is not as simple as it could seem, the Prime Minister said.

He added that the sovereignty, independence and statehood of the Republic of Armenia are absolute values.

Sometimes you have to look deeply, not so much into the text of the question, but into the context and global processes. For us, the sovereignty, independence and statehood of Armenia are an absolute value. We consider it our duty and responsibility to ensure the existence of our homeland, Pashinyan noted.

Armenian PM reminded that under point 6 of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, Russia assumed real responsibilities regarding the Lachin corridor.

There is no mention of the Republic of Armenia in point 6. In this regard our actions should be fully legitimate, the PM said.

Nikol Pashinyan once again drew attention to the fact that the peacekeeping contingent of Russia should guarantee the normal functioning of the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, which is closed now by Azerbaijanis. This leads to the complete blockade of Karabakh for almost a month.

The Armenian PM noted that no one disputes that the security of Nagorno-Karabakh is ensured today by Russian peacekeepers there.

"But we have the precedent of Parukh [village] events when Azerbaijanis entered the area of responsibility of Russian peacekeepers and we did not see any reaction to it. The Armenian citizens were captured in the zone of responsibility of Russian peacekeepers in Khtsaberd [village]. Following the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the Lachin corridor, Armenian citizens who are not related to military actions were captured."

The events on the Sotk-Khoznavar section, the encroachments of Azerbaijan in November 2021 and September 2022 give reason to believe that Azerbaijan will never recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia, but rather set a goal to carry out new encroachments against it, Armenian Prime Minister added.

He noted that Azerbaijan continues its aggressive policy towards Armenia.

The PM said that when we talk about Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan considers this as an encroachment on the territorial integrity and sovereignty and proof that Armenia does not recognize and does not intend to recognize its territorial integrity.

When we talk about Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan considers this as an encroachment on the territorial integrity and sovereignty and proof that Armenia does not recognize and does not intend to recognize its territorial integrity, Pashinyan added.

Developing this rhetoric, they say that if this is the case, then we do not recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia," Pashinyan added.

According to him, Azerbaijan believes that it has achieved military success and that it needs to be developed to get the maximum. They believe that they should not make the mistake of the Armenian sides when they achieved a military victory in 1994, but there was no consistency in fixing the victory, he concluded.
The information bulletin of the Armenian News Agency of the Republic of Armenia informs that due to the food shortage caused by the blockade, pre-schools and all-day schools were closed, Artsakh said in a statement.

Due to Azerbaijan's blocking of the only road connecting Artsakh with Armenia since January 9 the work of pre-school institutions, preschool groups of secondary schools and all-day schools has been temporarily suspended because of insufficient food supply.

Because of the worsening food shortage under the blockade, 41 kindergartens, 56 pre-school groups and 20 all-day schools were closed.

6,828 children can no longer attend kindergartens, pre-schools and all-day schools, being deprived of adequate care, food and education.

Precipitation in the form of snow caused additional difficulties for the humanitarian deliveries of the Red Cross. It has been snowing heavily in Artsakh for the past two days. As a result of the blockade by agents of the Azerbaijani government of the Stepanakert-Goris interstate road, it has become impossible to carry out snow-removal work on this section of the road. Consequently, the traffic on this section has become extremely dangerous also because of the snow.

Because the road was closed, additional significant difficulties arose both for the International Committee of the Red Cross and for the vehicles of the Russian peacekeeping mission, which were delivering a certain number of supplies and carrying seriously ill people.

On 9 January at 14:35 on the 33 kilometer of the only 110 kV high voltage power line connecting Artsakh with Armenia, Goris-Stepanakert, an accident was recorded on the Aghavno-Berdzor section. In connection with the destructive position of the Azerbaijani side it is currently impossible to inspect and organize emergency recovery work in the area. Therefore, it was decided to supply electricity to the Republic through local generating stations with appropriate restrictions. Based on the current situation, rolling blackouts are carried out in the republic.

Under the conditions of cold winter weather and heavy snowfalls, power outages aggravate the humanitarian disaster caused by the blockade. Artsakh now also faces an energy crisis.

At the meeting of the Operational Headquarters held on January 9 under the leadership of the Republic of Artsakh State Minister, Head of the Operational Headquarters Ruben Vardanyan a number of urgent issues related to meeting the priority needs of the population under the continuing blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan were discussed.

During the upcoming days the coupon system will be introduced, which will enable to distribute the available foodstuffs as proportionately as possible.

The importance of working in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross on the transportation of seriously ill people and uniting the families with minor children separated because of the blockade was emphasized.

Steps were presented to ensure uninterrupted electricity, water supply and infrastructure.

The state minister instructed to take steps to resolve the situation with cash turnover within the available means.

10 children are in the neonatal unit and intensive care unit of the children's hospital; 12 patients are in the intensive care unit; 6 of them are in extremely serious condition;

Already 110 children have been born under blockade.

Agents of the Azerbaijani government have been holding 120,000 residents of Artsakh hostage for 30 days uninterruptedly under the blockade.

Because of the blockade, 120,000 inhabitants of Artsakh (including nearly 30,000 children) suffer many hardships and face the threat of starvation.

More than 12,000 tons of essential goods would have been delivered to Artsakh had it not been for the blockade, during which only a fraction was delivered through the International Committee of the Red Cross and Russia peacekeeping contingent.
Professor Scott Sundby has been named the inaugural Robert C. Josefsberg Chair in Criminal Justice Advocacy.

Sundbys research and writings focus on criminal law and constitutional law issues, including articles in the Virginia, Columbia, Cornell, UCLA, and Texas law reviews. Much of his research has been conducted as part of the Capital Jury Project, a study funded by the National Science Foundation. His findings have been cited by over 60 courts, including the United States Supreme Court, in its opinion in Florida v. Nixon (2004).

"Scott is a distinguished scholar, having written frequently and powerfully about the death penalty and other criminal justice topics," wrote David Yellen, dean and M. Minnette Massey Professor of Law, in the announcement. "In addition to its intellectual significance, Scott's work has had great impact beyond the academic world. His work on the selection of jurors in capital cases and how jurors decide whether or not to recommend a death sentence has influenced lawyers and judges around the country. This real-world impact is something the donor had very much in mind in creating the chair."

In interviewing jurors who have been faced with the wrenching choice between a life and death sentence, Sundby has been particularly struck by the intensely human nature of the decision as jurors grapple with moral, legal, and personal issues. His book, "A Life and Death Decision: A Jury Weighs the Death Penalty," focuses on the human side of the decision by listening to how different jurors from the same case describe their jury's decision to impose a death sentence.

Sundby has served as an expert witness in cases involving the death penalty and testified before the Florida Legislature after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Florida's death penalty conviction procedure.

Before coming to Miami, Sundby was the Sydney and Frances Lewis Professor of Law at Washington & Lee University's School of Law. He has been a visiting professor and lecturer at leading law schools worldwide and was a Fulbright Scholar at Trinity College Dublin. He also took a leave from his academic career to serve as Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Florida.

"One reason I remain passionate about teaching is that criminal law is the one area where an individual lawyers advocacy can make such a profound difference in other peoples lives  whether as a defense attorney helping someone through what is likely the most trying time of their life or as a prosecutor exercising their discretion in a wise and fair way," said Sundby. "It is a true honor to be named to a chair that not only is inspired by trying to use advocacy to create a more just criminal justice system but is named after someone who has exemplified those ideals throughout his career."

A generous $3.45 million donation from David C. Humphreys, J.D. '83, created the chair that honors the legendary criminal defense attorney and commercial litigator Robert C. Josefsberg. Sundbys investiture will be held March 24.

More on studying criminal law at Miami Law
Visas for S Korean and Japanese visitors suspended

A health worker walks near a Covid-19 testing centre at Incheon International Airport. File photo: AFP
Romania court hears Andrew Tate's detention appeal

Influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan deny all the charges against them. Photo: AP

A Romanian court on Tuesday heard an appeal by controversial influencer Andrew Tate against his 30-day detention for alleged human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal group.



Dressed in black and handcuffed, former professional kickboxer Tate, who is a British-US national, arrived early on Tuesday at the court with his brother Tristan for their hearing behind closed doors.



"It was a long day. The defendants were able to express themselves," their lawyer Eugen Vidineac said at the end of the court hearing, which lasted several hours.



The decision is expected at the earliest "in the evening", he said, adding that he was "confident".



The Tate brothers and two Romanian women were initially detained for 24 hours following their arrest on December 29.



But a Bucharest court granted the prosecutors' request to extend their detention to 30 days because there was a possibility they might try to escape or otherwise evade investigation.



The four suspects are under investigation for allegedly coercing women into "forced labour... and pornographic acts", which they intended to publish online for "substantial financial benefits".



Tate, 36, and his brother, 34, deny the charges, according to Vidineac.



"There is not a single piece of evidence to suggest that a crime of rape has been committed," Vidineac told local media this week.



Prosecutors from Romania's anti-organised crime and terrorism directorate (DIICOT) have been investigating the suspects for several months and searched Tate's villa in April.



Romanian police raided five locations across the country in late December.



So far six potential victims have been identified.



Many of the men's assets, including their collection of luxury cars, were seized.



In 2016, Tate appeared on the Big Brother reality television show. But he was removed after a video emerged showing him attacking a woman.



He then turned to social media platforms to promote his divisive views, before being banned for misogynistic remarks and hate speech.



Tate was allowed back on Twitter after Elon Musk bought the company, and his handle "Cobratate" currently has 4.5 million followers.



Tate and his brother moved to Romania several years ago. (AFP)
Spain creates jobless benefit system for artists

The government estimates around 70,000 people in Spain will qualify. Photo: AFP

Spain's government approved on Tuesday the creation of a special unemployment benefit system for actors, musicians and other culture sector workers designed to protect them in the downtime between jobs.



To qualify an actor will have to have worked for at least 60 days in the previous 18 months  a far shorter period than needed for the "regular" jobless benefit granted to workers in other sectors.



The system will be paid for by employers and workers' contributions and also apply to technicians such as set-builders and lighting crew.



The government estimates around 70,000 people in Spain will qualify for the special unemployment aid, which has long been called for by cultural workers.



Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz said the system was needed because workers in the cultural sector face a high degree of job precarity and are often employed just for short periods.



"Sometimes when we think of culture, we think of big stars" with little economic needs, she told a news conference following a weekly cabinet meeting which approved the measure.



"But the sector is not really like that. There is a great need for protection," Diaz said, adding that "very few countries" have a similar system.



France set up a special unemployment system for performing artists and technicians in 1936.



It initially applied only to cinema technicians and executives but was extended in 1969 to include actors as well as theatre technicians. It currently supports around 100,000 people.



The Spanish government has boosted spending in recent years to power up the local film and TV production industry and encourage big foreign players to shoot and set up production offices in Spain. (AFP)
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea by Centre against the Delhi High Court order, which dismissed its plea in connection with appointment of two of the three judges on an arbitration panel examining a cost-recovery dispute in Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) KG-D6 gas block. Citing alleged bias, the Centre had approached the high court seeking a direction that the two judges should be discharged from their functions. During a hearing in the matter on Monday, a bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha told the Centre's counsel that it is not inclined to interfere with the high court order. "Sorry, we would not like to interfere...", said the bench. In December last year, the high court dismissed on maintainability grounds a petition by the Centre seeking removal of two of the three arbitrators in its ongoing arbitration proceedings. The Central government moved the apex court challenging this verdict. Reliance counsel's preliminary objection was upheld by the high court. However, the high court had clarified that it did not either consider or rule on Centre's allegation against the members of the arbitral tribunal and that all contentions were kept open. In November 2011, RIL had initiated arbitration, disputing the disallowance of more than $2.3 billion of the KG-D6 cost by the government on the ground of gas output lagging in meeting targets. --IANS ss/vd ( 251 Words) 2023-01-09-22:34:03 (IANS)
Leading digital payments and financial services company Paytm could surprise with better-than-expected adjusted Ebitda losses in the third quarter (October-December or Q3) of the fiscal, said BofA Securities in its research note. Analysts at the research firm estimated that Paytm would post 1 per cent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) revenue growth versus 14 per cent in July-September 2022. Research firm said this would be on the back of focus on rationalisation where the company is looking to cut back on the unprofitable GMV. Gross merchandise volume (GMV) is the total amount of sales a company makes over a specified period of time, typically measured quarterly or yearly. BofA Securities added that while this has a negative impact on the revenue growth, from a profitability perspective, it is positive. "Indeed on the back of this, we expect Paytm's adjusted Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) losses to reduce to Rs 1 billion (from Rs 1.6 bn in the second quarter of the fiscal). This would translate to adjusted Ebitda margin of (-)6 per cent as compared to (-) 9 per cent in July-Sept quarter, bringing Paytm a step closer to profitability. Paytm to stay aggressive to target new users, new merchants: BofA Securities BofA Securities also expects Paytm's momentum in the lending business as well as its merchant traction to remain strong in Q3. "We don't expect any government reimbursement on UPI in this quarter," it said. Going ahead, despite focus on cost control, BofA sees Paytm to continue to remain aggressive to target new users and new merchants as it looks to fortify its presence in the market. BofA Securities maintains 'neutral' rating on Paytm stock on balanced risk-reward.ICICI Securities sees improvement in adjusted Ebitda of Paytm Q3 Analysts at ICICI Securities in January 4, 2023, estimated an 11 per cent quarter-on-quarter operating revenue growth on the back of increasing GMV and lending business along with some increase in commerce and business. "With management's focus on improving its operating profitability, we expect its direct expenses to decline sequentially and employee expenses (excluding ESOP) to be more or less flat which should improve its adjusted Ebitda (Ebitda before ESOPs)," it added. The research and brokerage firm has given a 'buy' rating to the Paytm stock. Paytm's strong performance in Dec quarter further strengthens analysts' expectations Paytm disbursed loans worth Rs 3,665 crore ($443 million) in the given period, growing 330 per cent on-year. The fintech company also added one million payment devices during the quarter and the number of merchants paying subscription for payment devices touched 5.8 million as of December 2022. The company's consumer engagement was at its highest on the Paytm Super App with average monthly transacting users at 85 million for the quarter ended December 2022, up 32 per cent year-on-year. Paytm also posted consistent growth in total merchant payments volume as the total merchant GMV aggregated to Rs 3.46 lakh crore ($42 billion) for the quarter ended December 2022, marking a year-on-year growth of 38 per cent. (ANI)
The entities are Shree Mahayogi Lakshmamma Co-operative Bank Ltd., Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh; The Attur Town Co-operative Bank Ltd., Attur, Salem District, Tamil Nadu; Gondia District Central Co-operative Bank Limited, Gondia (Maharashtra); The Shirpur Peoples' Co-operative Bank Ltd., Shirpur (Maharashtra); and Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd., Nagpur (Maharashtra).

The monetary penalties slapped on these entities range between Rs 50,000 to Rs 3 lakh, a RBI release showed.

"This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers," the central bank said in five standalone releases.

The Risk Assessment Report of the bank based on its financial position as on March 31, 2021, revealed, that these have contravened or were non-compliant to various directions of RBI such as Income Recognition, Asset Classification, Provisioning and Other Related Matters - UCBs, related to Board of Directors - UCBs, provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (the Act), and Know Your Customer. (ANI)
New Delhi [India], January 10 (ANI/Mediawire): Consumers search for the best value out of every rupee spent on buying any product and their quest has been made easier by the fastest-growing online marketing company Cashbackduniya Private Limited providing cashback to online shoppers 24X7 throughout the year when buying through its website. Cashbackduniya.com is a part of Cashbackduniya Private Limited, which is a technology and marketing company specializing in cashback, coupons and loyalty programs. The company has emerged as the best cashback site in terms of growth rate, highest and fastest paying for the consumer in a wide range of merchandise, flight tickets, groceries, gifts etc. It has registered spectacular success in both B2B and B2C space. The mission statement of cashbackduniya.com captures the imagination of consumers to explore the company's offerings from its reputed partners to get the product of their choice at best prices with cashback. 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The company's philosophy of getting best value for consumers saw it in ensuring cashback of rupees one crore plus in the year 2021 which was a difficult year for businesses recovering in the aftermath of the global pandemic. 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The business model spells the growth and survival strategy of any company. The company's business model has been designed around B2B space and a B2C arena adopted by leading retailers across the globe. The aligning of the business around proven strategies highlights that founding team would like to strengthen their core purpose of helping the customer as enunciated in the mission statement of the company. The B2B model strategically works to set up branded cashback and coupons for newspapers, corporates, and large transactional websites that are looking to offer another incentive to their customers. This strategy allows us to inorganically achieve a large market reach without incurring massive customer acquisition costs. On the B2C side company runs cashback and coupon sites like Cashbackduniya in order to grow their focus on smart guerrilla marketing strategies and SEO. The glimpse of the strategic intent of the founders of the company - Sourav Saha, Abhijit Sarkar, Prabir Kr. Mondal, and Moinul Hasan Mondal, is visible in the series of initiatives taken by them with a long-term focus to transform their company into numero uno in the field of cashback, discounts and loyalty programs. Cashbackduniya Pvt Ltd's powerful team of young, energetic, and talented individuals, have ignited the competition, merchants, and the public with out of box thinking by becoming the preferred website for a survey, selection, and purchase of merchandise in the online business. This story has been provided by Mediawire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content in this article. (ANI/Mediawire)
The Reserve Bank of India (RBl) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 3 lakh on the Shirpur Peoples' Co-operative Bank, Shirpur, in Maharashtra for contravention of or non-compliance with certain directions issued by the central bank. This penalty has been imposed in the exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, taking into account the failure of the bank to adhere to the aforesaid directions issued by the central bank. This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers, RBI said. These RBI directions were to urban cooperative banks (UCBs) on 'Exposure Norms and Statutory / Other Restrictions - UCBs', Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) and Know Your Customer (KYC), according to the central bank's statement released on Monday evening. The inspection report of the of bank based on its financial position as on March 31, 2019, and as on March 31, 2020, revealed that the bank had had sanctioned advances to a group of borrowers above permissible limit, had not complied with Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) norms, and did not have a robust software to identify and monitor suspicious transactions, in contravention of/non-compliance with the aforesaid directions issued by RBI. Based on the same, a notice of RBI was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why a penalty should not be imposed for non-compliance with the directions. After considering the bank's replies, oral submissions made during the personal hearing and additional submissions made thereafter, RBI came to the conclusion that the aforesaid charges of non-compliance with its directions were substantiated and warranted the imposition of a monetary penalty. (ANI)
The phased rollout of 20 per cent ethanol blending in India will commence this April, the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said on Tuesday. India has increased the ethanol blending in petrol from 1.53 per cent in 2013-14 to 10.17 per cent in 2022 and also advanced its target to achieve 20 per cent from earlier 2030 to now 2025-26. With a focus on cleaner sources of energy, the government is also setting up five 2G ethanol biorefineries -- Panipat (Parali) in Haryana, Bathinda in Punjab, Bargarh (Parali) in Odisha, Numaligarh (Bamboo-based) in Assam, and Devangere in Karnataka. Also, the Centre increased the rate for Compressed Biogas (CBG) plants from Rs 46 per kg to Rs 54 per kg and is taking steps to ensure bio manure produced during CBG production is bundled with fertilizers like urea. Last week, Union Cabinet formally approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission, which aims to make India a global hub for producing, utilising, and exporting such technologies. The initial financial outlay for the mission is pegged at Rs 19,744 crore, which includes research and development activities. The green hydrogen mission will gradually lead to the decarbonization of industrial, transport, and energy sectors; a reduction in dependence on imported fossil fuels, among others. Under the Hydrogen Mission, the government aims to raise annual green hydrogen production to 5 million tonnes, renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 gigawatts, attract over Rs 8 lakh crore in investments, lakhs of jobs, and most importantly over Rs 1 lakh crore cumulative reduction of fossil fuel imports. India meets a sizable portion of its energy needs through imports, and diversifying indigenous sources is seen as an avenue to reduce the dependence on imported fuel. "India's petroleum refineries constitute the majority of demand for the fuel, and MoP&NG will aggressively pursue green hydrogen to support the development of the nascent industry. OMCs are targeting the installation of Alternate Fuel Stations (EV charging/ CNG/ LPG/ LNG/ CBG etc.) at 22,000 Retail Outlets by May 2024," the petroleum ministry said. What did India pledge for climate mitigation and ultimately net zero emission: At the COP26 summit in Glasgow in late 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to an ambitious five-part "Panchamrit" pledge, including reaching 500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity, to generate half of all energy requirements from renewables, to reduce emissions by 1 billion tons by 2030. India also aims to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45 per cent. Finally, India commits to net-zero emissions by 2070. Walking the talk, India has gone ahead and banned the use of several single-use plastics starting July 2022. The adverse impacts of littered single-use plastic items plastic on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, including in marine environments are globally recognized. (ANI)
On the first death anniversary of American comedian Bob Saget, his wife Kelly Rizzo asked Twitter owner Elon Musk to reinstate a verified checkmark on the late actor's account. The "Full House" star's account has not been active since his demise and lost its verified check mark sometime in the last year. His Twitter account still boasts 2.2 million followers, Variety reported. "Hi, Elon Musk - today on the one year anniversary of Bob's passing, I saw he's no longer verified?" Rizzo wrote on her own Twitter account. https://twitter.com/EatTravelRock/status/1612511720895041537 "My husband truly loved Twitter. Out of respect for his legacy, can something be done? Thank you kindly (friends, please help)," she added. In another tweet, Rizzo further talked about Saget's love for Twitter. "And the only reason I'm addressing this at all is because I know Bob would be very bummed about this," Rizzo added. "He'd say, 'Hey, if someone goes to see my page and all the jokes I've tweeted over the years, how will they know it's for sure me!?'" Rizzo tweeted. Rizzo also paid a heartfelt tribute to Saget on her Instagram account. She shared a reel with photos and videos alongside Saget. "One Year. Our hearts are so heavy. How could I not have talked to or seen my loving husband in a whole year? The surreal-ness never subsides," she posted. "I've accepted the reality long ago but it still seems unreal when I see photos or videos of him so full of life. But there is one thing I carry with me every single day that makes this survivable. I AM THE LUCKIEST," she wrote. Rizzo continued, "I am the luckiest that I got to be his wife. I am the luckiest that I got to live with his warmth, and laughter, and brilliance, and love. I am the luckiest that I get to have his girls by my side. I am the luckiest that I got to watch him first hand help people, make them happy, and make the world a better place. Some people can live 1,000 lifetimes and never live a life as fully as he did. And to that I have to say, Well Done. You really won life, honey. And that is why I will be forever grateful for him and all the endless love he gave me, until my last day." https://www.instagram.com/p/CnM8h_jJEZV/?hl=en On January 9, 2022, Bob died at 65 after he was found unresponsive in his hotel room in Orlando. He was staying in the city while performing comedy shows in the area. The medical examiner concluded that Saget died after falling and hitting his head. Bob and Rizzo got married in 2018. He was previously married to Sherri Kramer between 1982 and 1997 - and he is survived by their three daughters. (ANI)
The Greek God of Bollywood, Hrithik Roshan, who turns 49 today, for over two decades, has been adored and loved for his good looks, impressive style, spectacular acting, and of course his stunning dance moves. Though the actor enjoys a vast fandom sprawling overseas, it has not all been smooth sailing for Hrithik because even he has had his own set of battles with depression and health issues. In 2013, Hrithik underwent brain surgery after suffering a head injury while doing retakes for stunts of his action film 'Bang Bang!'. On Hrithik's 46th birthday, his mother Pinkie Roshan saluted his immense courage and shared never-seen-before pictures from his brain surgery. In an emotional Instagram post, she revealed that before Hrithik was wheeled into the operation theatre, she was "almost fainting" with worry. However, he remained calm and unfazed and reassured her with a wink and smile that all would be well. As the 2013 surgery proved to be a successful one, the actor returned to the screen and gave several hits across the decade including 'Kaabil', 'Super 30 and 'War' among others. https://www.instagram.com/p/B7G-TWSJ3WE/ During a recent interaction with fitness trainer Kris Gethin on his podcast, the actor, along with talking about body transformation, mental health and more, revealed that he wasn't feeling good while shooting for 'War' and that he was on the verge of depression. "I feel as light and as fast as our last transformation. I thought I was dying when I was doing War. I wasn't prepared for the film and I was up against a really big challenge. I was trying to achieve perfection for which I wasn't ready," Hrithik told Kris. He added, "After the film, I went into adrenaline fatigue. For 3-4 months, I couldn't train, wasn't feeling good. I was almost on the verge of depression. I was completely lost and that's when I knew I needed to make a change in my life." Apart from this, the handsome actor even had to overcome a stammering problem as a child. Hrithik reportedly fought with his struggle because he was teased and bullied as a student for his stammering issue. Today, Hrithik is among the highest-paid actors in India and has won several awards, including six Filmfares, four for Best Actor and one each for Best Debut and Best Actor (Critics). As Hrithik turns another year older, he continues to inspire millions to overcome obstacles in life and be the best versions of themselves. And with films like 'Fighter' and 'Krrish 4' under his belt, the actor's success as a performer is sure to reach new peaks in the near future. (ANI)
Veteran actor Anupam Kher, who played a prominent role in 'The Kashmir Files', a movie that documented the alleged genocide and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from Jammz, on Tuesday expressed his excitement after the film made to the Oscars 2023 reminder list. Speaking to ANI, Kher, who has also been shortlisted for the Best Actor award, said, "The Kashmir Files being shortlisted at the Oscars is an achievement in itself, it's too early to celebrate. This tragedy was kept hidden for 32 years and after 32 years when this film was released, the world welcomed it but also there were a lot of people who commented a lot about it. Not only the film is shortlisted but I am also shortlisted for the Best Actor award. It's a humbling and amazing feeling. Four more films are shortlisted from India. I wish them all the best and congratulations." He added, "It's time to show our big hearts, whichever film makes it to the nominations from the shortlist, as an Indian will be an achievement for me. I would like to congratulate all the people on behalf of The Kashmir Files Team. I am happy, this film is made on the Hindu genocide, many people made fun of it and called it a propaganda film. A Chief Minister asked to release the film on YouTube, but I think the truth always wins in the end." Speaking on the other films that are shortlisted alongside 'The Kashmir Files', the actor said, "Kantara, Gangubai Kathiawadi, RRR all are very beautiful films and personally, a small town guy who came to Mumbai 40 years ago with just Rs 37, he got shortlisted in Oscars, so this is a message for all the small town people who dream to do something can achieve everything if they work hard. Indians have a very big heart, it's not nominated it's just shortlisted, and the enthusiasm with which the media is calling us and informing us including ANI, there's a lot of humble feeling in it. Vivek must be very happy, 'The Kashmir Files' is his baby, he made this film after interviewing more than 700 people." He also talked about the controversy over the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) jury head and Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid's statement calling the film 'a propaganda' and 'vulgar' at the festival's closing ceremony. Kher said, "This is the time to be happy, and not to remember those people who just wanted 15 minute of fame, those who want fame for a short time target big things. What to talk about them at this time they will find their answer. The Kashmir Files is trending right now, the film is different because people did not show collective happiness on the success of this movie. They called it agenda and propaganda, and that's why those who are seeing the stir on social media, this is itself the answer to those people, we do not need to answer. Vivek Agnihotri doesn't need to answer." 'The Kashmir Files,' on the life of Kashmiri pandits during the 1990 Kashmir insurgency, is based on first-generation video interviews of victims of the Kashmiri massacre, making an account of their pain, suffering, struggle and trauma. Apart from 'The Kashmir Files', blockbusters 'RRR', 'Kantara', and 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' have made it to the Oscars 2023 reminder list. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) released a remainder list of 301 feature films eligible for the Oscars 2023. Previously, Pan Nalin's Gujarati film 'Chhello Show' was announced as India's official entry for the Oscars 2023. Apart from them, the list also features Indian films 'Me Vasantrao' and 'Tuzhya Sathi Kahihi', R Madhavan's 'Rocketry: The Nambi Effect', 'Iravin Nizhal' and Kannada movie 'Vikrant Rona'. Sharing his excitement, director Vivek Agnihotri took to Twitter and wrote, "BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: #TheKashmirFiles has been shortlisted for #Oscars2023 in the first list of @TheAcademy. It's one of the 5 films from India. I wish all of them very best. A great year for Indian cinema." "#PallaviJoshi #MithunChakraborty @DarshanKumaar @AnupamPKher are all shortlisted for best actor categories. It's just the beginning. A long long road ahead. Pl bless them all," he added. Rishab Shetty also took to Twitter and shared a thankful note for the fans for an overwhelming response to his film 'Kantara'. "We are overjoyed to share that 'Kantara' has received 2 Oscar qualifications! A heartfelt thank you to all who have supported us. We look forward to share this journey ahead with all of your support. Can't wait to see it shine at the #Oscars #Kantara @hombalefilms #HombaleFilms," he wrote. According to Variety, an American media company, the 9,579 eligible voting members will begin filling out their ballots on January 12 and ballots will close on January 17, 2023. The official Oscar nominations will be announced January 24, 2023 with the ceremony on March 12, 2023 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (ANI)
Jr NTR is currently in Los Angeles to attend the Golden Globes where 'RRR' has been nominated in two categories. Before walking the red carpet at the gala night, Man of Masses attended a screening at TCL Chinese Theatre where he received a grand welcome from his fans. NTR Jr was seen smiling and interacting with swarms of fans who were heard saying 'Jai NTR!'. Jr NTR's fan clubs also shared some pictures from the location in which the fans have painted the Hollywood town red with banners, billboards and 3 LED moving trucks bearing the actor's name. https://twitter.com/rajeshreddyega/status/1612463210774528009 NTR Jr arrived in LA a few days back and even attended a screening of RRR followed by a reception at the DGA theatre. He will be attending the Golden Globes ceremony with director SS Rajamouli and team. The historical magnum opus RRR has been nominated in the Best Picture - Non-English and Best Original Song (for 'Naatu Naatu') categories at the Golden Globes. Blockbusters 'RRR', 'The Kashmir Files', 'Kantara' and 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' have made it to the Oscars 2023 reminder list. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) released a remainder list of 301 feature films eligible for the Oscars 2023. Previously, Pan Nalin's Gujarati film 'Chhello Show' was announced as India's official entry for the Oscars 2023. Apart from them, the list also features Indian films 'Me Vasantrao' and 'Tuzhya Sathi Kahihi', R Madhavan's 'Rocketry: The Nambi Effect', 'Iravin Nizhal' and Kannada movie 'Vikrant Rona'. According to Variety, an American Meida company, the 9,579 eligible voting members will begin filling out their ballots on January 12 and ballots will close on January 17, 2023. The official Oscar nominations will be announced January 24, 2023 with the ceremony on March 12, 2023 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. RRR is a fictional story based on the lives of two Telugu freedom fighters, Alluri Seetharama Raju and Komaram Bheem. Ram Charan and Jr NTR played lead roles, respectively. The film collected over Rs 1200 crore worldwide. Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn and Shriya Saran also starred in the film. Jr NTR will begin shooting for his upcoming NTR30, directed by Koratala Siva of Janatha Garage. The film is slated to release on April 5, 2024. He will also be seen in 'NTR31' which will be directed by KGF director Prashanth Neel. (ANI)
Taking to Instagram, Kriti shared pictures from the celebration featuring Kartik Aaryan, Rohit Dhawan and Manisha Koirala.

The last picture showed the bond between Kartik, Kriti and Manisha Koirala as the actresses were seen smashing cake on the 'Freddy' actor.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnO723PrjRn/

Sharing the pictures, she wrote, "And its finally a wrap!! #Shehzada. Happy sad feeling as always.. Sad that this beautiful journey has come to an end. And happy that we can share it with you all very soon! Stay Tuned. #Shehzada Releasing in theatres on 10th Feb 2023!"

On Monday night, Kartik Aaryan took to Instagram and shared a picture of him soaking his feet in ice water to relieve pain.

After shooting extensively for a song in Shehzada, the actor suffered a massive ache in his calves.

"Ghutne toot gaye..Ice Bucket Challenge 2023 starts now#Shehzada #SongShoot #CalvesGone," he captioned the post.

On Kartik Aaryan's birthday, the makers unveiled the teaser of the film which received a massive response from the fans.

The 59-second teaser features the 32-year-old actor, portraying the character of 'Bantu' in the film, in an action sequence. The teaser ends with Kriti winking at Aaryan, to which he reacts with a 'Wow'.

'Shehzada' is the Hindi remake of the Telugu blockbuster 'Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo' which starred Allu Arjun and Pooja Hegde and marks Kartik's second on-screen collaboration with Kriti after 'Luka Chuppi'.

The makers of 'Shehzada' are all set to unveil the official trailer of the film on January 12, 2023. The trailer will be launched on a grand scale for three days in 3 cities in India.

The film is all set to hit the theatres on February 10, 2023.

Apart from this, Kriti will be seen in the pan-India film 'Adipurush' opposite Prabhas and Sunny Singh. She also has an action thriller 'Ganpath- Part 1' opposite Tiger Shroff. (ANI)
Coming as they do from two of Kollywood's top stars, their movie releases promise an epic box-office clash in Tamil Nadu during the Pongal festival holidays.

Earlier in the day, Vijay unveiled the Tamil trailer of 'Pathaan' on his social media handle and conveyed his best wishes.

"Wishing @iamsrk sir and the team all the best for #Pathaan. Here is the trailer," Vijay tweeted.

In return, SRK tweeted, "Thank you my friend @actorvijay. You are Thalapathy for this humble reason, let's meet for delicious feast soon."

Apart from Hindi, the YRF movie directed by Siddharth Anand, is slated to be released in Telugu, and Tamil as well on January 25.

'Varisu' vs. 'Thunivu', meanwhile, is being billed as the biggest clash in Tamil cinema in recent times as Vijay and Ajith are locking horns after eight years!

Given the decibel level of the clash, the Pathaan trailer being played in both films means the SRK-starrer will grab the attention of Tamil moviegoers in this crucial upcoming holiday period.

--IANS pvn/srb

( 208 Words)

2023-01-10-20:12:03 (IANS)
The Air Quality Index at several spots in Delhi and its surrounding areas fell to the "severe" category on Monday. With the air quality worsening, the Delhi government on Monday decided to impose a temporary ban on using BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers in the national capital from Tuesday. The Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi deteriorated to 395 under the "very poor" category, with some parts of the national capital recording AQIs over 400 or "severe". The AQI at the IGI Airport, Delhi University, and Pusa Road were the highest at 438, 415 and 404, respectively, under the "severe" category, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). Dhirpur, Ayanagar, and Lodhi Road reported AQIs at 391, 379, and 377, respectively, under the "very poor" category. The AQI in Noida reached 424 or "severe", while in Gurugram, the AQI on Monday evening was 360 or "very poor". SAFAR has predicted that the overall AQI in the national capital will be in the "severe" category on Tuesday. The air quality had suddenly and unexpectedly deteriorated owing to dense foggy conditions without much sunlight and very low temperatures, coupled with calm winds and stable atmospheric conditions, said experts. According to order released by Delhi Transport Department in Monday, the Sub-Committee for operationalisation of the revised GRAP has reviewed the air quality scenario as well as the forecasts for meteorological conditions and Air Quality Index in Delhi. "As per directions as provided under Stage III of the revised GRAP and under Section 115 of Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, it is hereby ordered that there shall be restrictions to ply BS-III, Petrol and BS-IV, Diesel LMVS (4 Wheelers) in NCT of Delhi, with immediate effect, till dated 12:02:23 or till downward revision in GRAP stage, whichever is earlier (except for vehicles deployed in Emergency Services, Police vehicles & Govt. vehicles used for Enforcement)," stated the order. "An BS-III Petrol and BS-IV Diesel LMV (4 wheeler) found plying on roads will be prosecuted under section 194(1) of Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 which provides a fine of Rs. 20,000," stated the order.A The doctors that with pollution levels in the city at an all-time high, Delhi residents are at a high risk of respiratory and cardiovascular ailments, more so, in people with allergies. "It is important to limit exposure and using masks as the first line of defence is your best bet for protection. Make sure you upgrade your cloth mask to one with a better filtration mechanism like an N95 or FFP2 S to keep out all kinds of particulate matter as well as infection causing germ," a doctor suggested. --IANS ssh/vd ( 463 Words) 2023-01-09-21:08:02 (IANS)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday that for India's growing defence industrial capabilities, efforts are being made towards enhancing manufacturing capabilities, particularly in the emerging areas of drones, cyber-tech, Artificial Intelligence, radars, etc. He said that a robust defence manufacturing ecosystem has been created which has led to the emergence of India as a leading defence exporter in recent years. The defence exports have grown by eight times in the last five years and now India is exporting to over 75 countries. Singh said this at 'Ambassadors' Roundtable conference' for the forthcoming Aero India 2023, on Monday. He chaired the Roundtable conference. The reach-out event was attended by Ambassadors, High Commissioners, Charge d'affaires and Defence Attaches of over 80 countries. The Defence Minister invited the representatives from across the world to attend Asia's largest and 14th Aero show -- Aero India-2023 -- which will be held in Bengaluru in February. He urged them to encourage their respective defence and aerospace companies to attend the global event. Singh described Aero India as a premier global aviation trade fair, which provides an opportunity for the Indian aviation-defence industry, including the aerospace industry, to showcase its products, technologies and solutions to the national decision makers. The five-day show will witness a combination of major aerospace and defence trade exposition, along with aerial displays by the Indian Air Force. "Besides the major entrepreneurs and investors in the defence and aerospace industries, the event will witness participation of prominent defence think-tanks and defence-related bodies from across the world. Aero India will, indeed, provide a unique opportunity for exchange of information, ideas and new technological developments in the aviation industry," he said. Rajnath Singh emphasised that the government's efforts towards 'Make in India' are neither isolationist nor are they just meant for India alone. "Our self-reliance initiative is the beginning of a new paradigm of partnership with our partner countries. Partnerships are being made with global defence industry giants. Recently, we signed a contract for manufacture of C-295 aircraft for the Indian Air Force through collaboration between Tata Advanced Systems Limited and Airbus Defence and Space S.A., Spain. 'Make in India' encompasses 'Make for the World'. It translates into an open offer to all for joint efforts and partnerships in defence R&D and production," he said. --IANS gcb/pgh ( 393 Words) 2023-01-09-22:06:02 (IANS)
A man released from jail on bail in a case of molestation of a school girl recently has been arrested again for allegedly molesting the victim and threatening her to withdraw the case in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur, the police said on Monday. Officials said that the accused, identified as Anas, was arrested by Kanpur police and sent to jail two years ago after a girl filed a molestation case against him. The victim, a school girl had filed a molestation case against a young man two years ago. The incident took place at a school in Metropolis area of Kanpur. It was alleged that he was following the girl for two years. The accused allegedly flirted with the girl in school and also tried to rape her, the police said. When the girl informed her parents about the incident, her father approached the police and lodged a complaint. On the basis of this, he was arrested and later sent to jail, officials said. They said that the accused was released on bail recently. After his release from jail, he allegedly started following the girl at the school and molested her again. The accused allegedly threatened to withdraw the case, the police said. "The girl's family after coming to know about this approached the police and lodged a complaint. Following the complaint, a case was registered at Naubasta Police Station, and the accused was arrested on Sunday," Additional DCP Kanpur City Ankita Singh told ANI. "We went through the accused's criminal record and found three complaints lodged by the victim's family in the same matter. We are going to extern him from district limits," ADCP Singh added. (ANI)
Weeks before the announcement of the Assembly election schedule by the Election Commission, central armed police forces (CAPF) have started arriving in three poll-bound states of Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya, officials said on Monday. Meghalaya's Chief Electoral Officer Frederick R Kharkongor said in Shillong that the state has sought deployment of 119 companies of CAPF for the polls, and 30 companies have already arrived in the state. "There are 782 vulnerable polling stations and 402 have been identified as critical," he said. In Nagaland also, a large number of CAPF already arrived and they were deployed in different districts. In Agartala, Tripura Chief Electoral Officer Gitte Kirankumar Dinkarrao said that 50 companies of CAPF already arrived in Tripura and more 50 companies about to reach in the state. Tripura Director General of Police Amitabh Ranjan also told IANS that 50 companies of CAPF have already arrived in the state and 50 more companies are reaching in two days. "In addition to these, 100 more CAPF companies are expected in Tripura by January 20,"he added. Election officials said that it is proposed to work in mission mode to conduct upcoming Assembly elections in the state with an aim of "Zero Poll Violence". To hold the election violence free, a series of administrative and awareness steps are proposed to be taken over the next two months. The steps to be taken include sensitisation workshops to be held in all 60 Assembly constituencies involving political parties, workers and eminent citizens highlighting the negative effects of violence on the persons, families, society and overall image of the state. "The flag/road marches by the CAPF shall start in advance to ensure confidence building among the political workers for campaigning and among the citizens to cast their votes freely without any fear.The security forces shall be deployed well before the poll process so that they get familiar with the locality. Local police should extend necessary cooperation to the CAPF," an election Commission statement said. It said that the state police shall ensure all miscreants, trouble mongers, history sheeters are either kept in constant watch or bound under relevant sections of the CrPC. Use of deterrent measures like web-casting of poll process, and videography outside the polling stations to keep miscreants at bay shall be ensured. Micro level strategy will face the challenge of poll-related violence - every police station shall make their own strategy depending upon their respective ground level inputs to ensure 100 per cent violence free election. The full Election Commission, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, would undertake a four-day visit to three northeastern states from January 11. The CEC, accompanied by two Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel, and several senior officials would arrive in Tripura on January 11 and then would go to Shillong on January 12 and then to Nagaland on January 14. During their stay in the state capitals, the CEC and other two ECs would hold a series of meetings with senior officials to scrutinise the preparedness of the Assembly elections and give instructions to the state authorities to hold the election in a free, fair and transparent manner. The EC would also meet all the political parties and would seek their opinions to hold the elections with the participation of all stakeholders. After returning to Delhi, the Election Commission would likely announce the schedule of the election in three northeastern states, considering the Class 10 and 12 examinations of the Central Board of Secondary Education. --IANS sc/vd ( 593 Words) 2023-01-09-22:32:01 (IANS)
The youth was identified as Vipul Chaubey, a native of Gopalganj and currently residing in Chapra town. The police personnel present at the spot immediately overpowered him and took him in custody as soon as he showed a black flag and ran towards the convoy of Nitish Kumar.

The incident occurred at Jogania Kothi in Chapra city at a time when Nitish Kumar was returning to Patna.

Choubey claimed that he was protesting against the frequent hooch tragedies in Bihar, the most recent in Saran district.

"I am not a criminal. I am protesting against the ill-implementation of liquor prohibition law in Bihar. Nitish Kumar is responsible for the mass liquor deaths in Bihar," Chaubey claimed while interacting with local media persons after being nabbed by the police.

Nitish Kumar, on Monday, completed the fifth day of his Samadhan Yatra and this was the first incident when a person openly protested against him.

--IANS ajk/vd

( 194 Words)

2023-01-09-22:38:01 (IANS)
The decision was taken by consensus in a joint meeting held on the initiative of Tanzeem Ulema Ahle Sunnat at Wasseypur and has been imposed on the entire city.

Maulana Ghulam Sarwar Qadri said that a campaign, 'Nikah Aasaan Karo' has been started and will be carried out in the entire state after Dhanbad.

All the representatives of the Muslim community who attended the meeting agreed that the financial condition of the people was deteriorating due to "unnecessary" show off during weddings.

They added that fireworks and DJs violated Islamic beliefs and traditions and led to an increase in extravagance, which is why it was decided to collectively boycott such marriages.

Mufti Mohammad Rizwan Ahmed said that spending the money on children's education and betterment would benefit them and would be a concrete step towards social upliftment.

A similar decision was taken in a meeting of Muslims of 28 Panchayat villages in Ledatand of Topchanchi block in the district, wherein a discussion was held to ban dowry.

--IANS snc/fs/vd

( 220 Words)

2023-01-09-23:08:04 (IANS)
Bodies of three members of a family were found from their house in Gujarat's Vadodara city on Monday, police said, adding that it appeared that they had committed suicide on Sunday night. Panigate Police Inspector S.A. Gohil told media that before committing suicide, Pritesh Mistry has written on the bedroom wall: "We are committing suicide on our own, no one is responsible for our extreme step." "Pritesh's mother had come to visit him on Monday morning, when no one responded to knocks, she looked into the room from the window and saw bodies, and started crying. Neighbours reached her and after finding what had happened, informed the police," he added. Mistry, 30, his wife Sneha and son Harshil's bodies were found in their bedroom, the deceased's friend Ketan Chunara said. He told the media that last night, Mistry had called his mother and invited her to lunch on Monday. When she arrived today, she only found the bodies of her son and his family. Police have learnt from relatives, neighbours and friends that Mistry was dealing in the stock market, and was under heavy debt, and since the last few days, the family was venturing out very less. --IANS har/vd ( 211 Words) 2023-01-09-23:12:04 (IANS)
Police said that the arrested individual has been identified as Mohammad Parvez Yameen, 31, a resident of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.

"Platinum which is extracted from the catalytic converter of a four wheeler vehicle silencers and having a large demand in the international market has been seized by the police," Nidhin Valsan, North Goa Superintendent of Police said.

According to him, a total of 122 catalytic converters of four wheeler vehicles silencers, valued at Rs 9,76,000, and 66 kg of elements of platinum approximately valued at Rs 10,56,000 has been seized.

The catalytic converter of a four wheeler vehicles silencer were stolen from Goa and Maharashtra, the police said.

"The arrested person was found involved in stealing the catalytic converter of four wheeler vehicle silencer and further extracting elements of platinum from the carbon/ dust from these silencers and selling it to dealers in Pune and Delhi who in turn used to process it in to platinum metal and sell in international market at high cost," Valsan said.

--IANS sbk/pgh

( 207 Words)

2023-01-09-23:12:05 (IANS)
The woman suffered severe burns and has been admitted to RIMS, Ranchi.

The FIR has been lodged on the basis of the victim's statement, against the men who are all said to be her relatives and acquaintances.

Hazaribagh SP Manoj Ratan Chothe said that along with recording the victim's statement, the police are conducting raids to arrest the accused persons.

The victim alleged that she was sitting at her shop that she runs from her home on Saturday evening, when the accused asked her to lend Rs 100, after buying toffees.

An argument broke out among them when she refused, following which they entered her house through the back door and attempted to rape her.

The accused doused her with petrol before setting her ablaze and fled from the spot.

The neighbours reached her house after hearing her screams.

The woman was taken to Sheikh Medical Bhikhari College, but was referred to RIMS in view of her critical condition.

The statement includes the names of Lalit, Gaurav and Harjeet.

This is the fourth such incident to take place in the state in the recent months.

Earlier, a girl student was set ablaze by her neighbour after dousing her with petrol, prompted by his unrequited love on August 23, in Dumka district. The victim succumbed to her injuries.

In October, a girl was set ablaze by her lover in Bhalki village of Jarmundi police station area in the same district.

Similarly, the third incident took place in Kharikasol village, wherein a woman was set ablaze by her husband.

--IANS snc/fs/vd

( 294 Words)

2023-01-09-23:16:03 (IANS)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday called Lt. Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena for a public discussion, claiming that he had interfered in the functioning of the elected government, while accusing him of by-passing the Council of Ministers. The Chief Minister's reply came after the L-G invited him for a meeting over the matter. Kejriwal has accused the L-G of by-passing the elected government in the appointment of Aldermen, the presiding officers and the Haj Committee. "Make your stand on your by-passing of the elected government. There was strong public criticism when you unilaterally appointed 10 aldermen, presiding officer and the Haj Committee. You admitted having taken all those actions unilaterally bypassing the government saying that in all those Acts and provisions, it was written that 'Administrator/LG shall appoint'. All laws and acts related to electricity, health, water, education define the government as 'Administrator/LG', will all these departments be directly run by you? What would the elected government do in Delhi? Won't it be contrary to all SC judgements on transferred subjects belonging to the elected government? These questions are very critical for the future of Delhi and the whole country, better to have public discussion than private talks," Kejriwal has written in the letter. "Then what would the elected government do, Sir? Won't that be contrary to all SC judgements where it has been repeatedly said that L-G is bound by aid and advice of the Council of Ministers on all transferred subjects? Whereas we could discuss all these issues privately over tea, however, these questions are very critical for the future of Delhi and the whole country. Therefore, a public discussion on this issue will be useful. We wait for your response, Sir." He, however, said that he would definitely attend the meeting with the L-G, and fix a convenient time with the L-G office. --IANS atk/pgh ( 325 Words) 2023-01-09-23:28:02 (IANS)
As per the information, the fire broke out at Raja Utsav Community Hall near Ashok Nagar road.

The fire was noticed by locals of the area, who in turn alerted the fire department, fire department officials said.

Following the information, four fire tenders reached the spot and started the operation.

Further details were awaited. (ANI)
Officials said that the victim, identified as Md Ayub's body was found critically injured in Delhi's Govind Puri area on Monday night.

Locals of the area informed the police and rushed him to a nearby hospital. Doctors declared him brought dead.

On inquiry, it was found that the deceased was assaulted by a person, identified as Shahil with a hammer, Delhi police said.

On the basis of this, a case under IPC section 302 has been registered at Govind Puri Police Station.

The crime scene was inspected by police, and the body has been shifted to AIIMS for post-mortem.

"The accused person has been apprehended. Further investigation is in progress," the police said. (ANI)
The Goa-bound international flight was diverted to Jamnagar, Gujarat on Monday evening, and the crew received clearance for an emergency landing at Jamnagar airport after Goa ATC received a bomb threat, informed airport authorities.

Officials said that the security agencies cordoned off the airport for 9 hours. A total of 236 passengers and eight crew members were travelling in the flight.

They said all passengers were safely evacuated and guided to the lounge inside the terminal building.

Jamnagar District Collector Saurabh Parghi told ANI, "Intensive checking was carried out by security agencies from 9:50pm (on Monday) till morning hours."

He said security agencies were also verifying the passengers' details. "Checking is done by doing normal scanning of all passengers. Non-stop work has been going on for nine hours. The passenger's luggage is being checked and details are being verified," he said. (ANI)

He said, "We received information about bomb threat in the Moscow-Goa flight, which was been diverted to Jamnagar. The flight had 236 passengers and 8 crew members. All passengers were escorted out safely and are in the airport lounge. Bomb detection and disposal work is underway,"the Jamnagar district collector said.

NSG commandos were deloyed in the area, said sources.

"The flight is still at Jamnagar airport and will eventually come to Goa after everything is deemed safe," he added. (ANI)
Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Kamal Nath on Monday claimed that the Congress party supports the ongoing agitation by Karni Sena in Bhopal. Nath made the remark while speaking to mediapersons during a conference of panchayat representatives at Ravindra Bhawan in Bhopal on Monday. The Karni Sena is staging a demonstration at Bhopal's Jamboree Maidan raising 22 demands, including an amendment to reservation on the basis of economic backgrounds and a change to the Atrocity Act, 1989. Nath said, "I support their demands. The government should hold talks with them and try to meet their demands. Nothing will come from suppressing or instigating them. The state government should sit and discuss the demands as they could be met. The Congress is with them. We will fulfil their legitimate demands if voted back." On the conference by panchayat representatives, the former CM said, "They are our local public representatives who won the elections through their hard work. They won the elections despite the BJP's money, police and administration. The voices of these panchayat representatives need to be heard." On the ongoing Pravasi Bharatiya Sammelan and Investors Summit in Indore, he said, "Everyone knows how much investment came to Madhya Pradesh in the last 18 years. However, I do welcome investors coming to the state. But investor trust cannot be built merely by holding conferences and summits. Investments will come when the investors have faith in the state administration." "Madhya Pradesh is surrounded by five states in the south. The one who wants to sell its goods in the south sets up factories in the north, as Madhya Pradesh has come to be associated with corruption and tardy implementation of policies. This is why investments don't come to Madhya Pradesh," Nath added. (ANI)
Amid civilian fears in the wake of land subsidence in the Joshimath area, fresh cracks were seen on some houses in Bahuguna Nagar of Karnaprayag Municipality in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. Earlier, on Monday, Sitarganj MLA Saurabh Bahuguna said that other villages near Joshimath were facing a similar situation. "Efforts are underway for rehabilitation of affected people in Joshimath. We assure the safety of the people of Joshimath. I have received calls about villages near Joshimath grappling with a similar situation. The chief minister will be briefed on the same," the Sitarganj MLA said. Meanwhile, authorities will start demolishing hotels and houses in Joshimath, which developed cracks in the wake of the landslide and subsidence. Hotels Malari Inn and Mount View, which have developed more cracks, will be demolished on Tuesday, officials said, adding that all residents have been safely evacuated from the 'unsafe zones'. The demolition of buildings will begin under the supervision of a team of experts from the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee. A team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is on standby to assist the district administration in the demolition work, as and when required. "Experts are on the ground and the administration will take action on their directions and advice," said the NDRF. On Monday, District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana informed that a central team was to arrive in Chamoli district to survey the damage wrought to properties by the land subsidence and suggest a way forward while coordinating with the local administration in relief and rescue efforts. "A team from the Ministry of Home Affairs will come to Joshimath on Tuesday. Demolition of buildings will start tomorrow under the supervision of the team of Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee," Khurana had said earlier. On Monday, a team from the Ministry of Jal Shakti also arrived at Joshimath. The areas where the buildings will be demolished have been vacated by the administration after they were declared 'unsafe zones'. The officials of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) also called on Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at his residence on Monday and discussed relief and rescue operations. The officials assured the chief minister of an investigation into the geographical condition of the Joshimath area and the causes of the landslide. The state administration was also assured of central in mobilising disaster relief. Meanwhile, the District Disaster Management Authority, Chamoli issued a bulletin related to disaster management in view of landslides in the Joshimath area. According to the bulletin, cracks have been noticed in a total of 678 buildings in the Joshimath town area. In view of security, a total of 81 families have been temporarily displaced. "Under the Joshimath city area, 213 rooms have been temporarily identified as habitable, with their capacities estimated at 1191. Also, 491 rooms/halls have been identified in Pipalkoti outside the Joshimath area, with a combined capacity of 2,205," the bulletin said. The administration has also distributed food kits and blankets to the affected families, as per their requirements along with the distribution of funds to procure essential household items. A total of 63 food kits and 53 blankets have been made available for the affected locals. (ANI)
Two unidentified individuals fired at the car of a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) contractor in Kurla on Monday night at around 8 pm. The BMC contractor, identified as Suraj Pratap Singh, was unharmed. According to police, the incident happened in the Kapadia Nagar area of Kurla, Mumbai when Suraj and his friend Pankaj were going to Suraj's home in his car from the L ward of BMC. ACP (Assistant Commissioner of Police) Govind Gambhire of Kurla Police, said, "Two people suddenly came in front of the car and opened fire at the contractor Suraj Singh." "The bullet missed Suraj Singh and hit his car, after which Suraj Singh somehow left from there in his car and came to the police station," the ACP added. The duo fled the spot after the incident, the police informed. Suraj Singh, while talking to the media said, "The firing happened from the left-hand side. Pankaj was sitting right next to me. The armed man was ready to shoot at us. I resorted to rash driving and jumped the signal. I went directly to the police station." "I reported the entire matter to the police. As soon as I informed the police about the incident, Kurla police reached the spot," he added. According to the police, the attack must have been planned due to enmity or some contract-related issue. Suraj also informed that he had been receiving threat-calls regarding a tender that he had taken up. "I have been receiving calls regarding tenders. They have been threatening me over calls for some time now. I had helped a fellow contractor earlier. Now I have filled a tender so they are trying to take revenge." The Kurla police have registered a case under IPC 307, 34, Arms Act. The police added, "Separate teams have been formed to arrest the accused. The Crime Branch will also investigate the matter. CCTV is also being scanned to identify the accused." (ANI)
The Jamnagar Collector on Tuesday said the alleged bomb threat onboard a Moscow-Goa chartered flight was just a 'hoax call'. The chartered flight was diverted to Gujarat's Jamnagar after Goa ATC following an alleged bomb threat on Monday. Jamnagar Collector Saurabh Pardhi said a thorough search was conducted by the National Security Guard (NSG), police and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) teams but nothing suspicious was found. "A thorough search was conducted by the NSG, police and BDS teams. Hand baggage and check-in baggage of passengers were also checked. The flight has been cleared (for takeoff) and after taking care of certain formalities, it will depart for Goa. It was a hoax call," the Jamnagar Collector said. Jamnagar SP Premsukh Delu said, "Around 9 pm, the district control received a call from ATC after which the district police and a bomb disposal team reached the airport and launched a rescue operation. A total of 236 passengers and eight crew members were on the flight. Once all passengers and crew members were evacuated, the flight was checked thoroughly. The NSG team also reached the spot." He further said the flight landed around 9.50 pm on Monday and the search operation was carried out till 9 am on Tuesday. "Passengers, plane and the luggage were thoroughly checked. We found nothing suspicious," he added. Jamnagar Airport director, too, confirmed that the security agencies found nothing suspicious onboard the Moscow-Goa chartered flight. He said the flight will depart from Jamnagar to Goa between 10.30 am and 11 am. "NSG has not found anything suspicious. The flight is expected to leave from Jamnagar to Goa, sometime between 10.30 am and 11 am. All the cabin baggage has been thoroughly checked," said Jamnagar Airport Director. The Goa-bound international flight was diverted to Jamnagar, Gujarat on Monday evening after the crew received clearance for an emergency landing at Jamnagar airport in the wake of an alleged bomb threat, informed airport authorities. Earlier, the security agencies cordoned off the airport for 9 hours. A total of 236 passengers and eight crew members were on the flight. They said all passengers were safely evacuated and escorted to the lounge inside the terminal building. The Russian Embassy issued a statement saying they were alerted by the Indian authorities about the alleged bomb scare on the Azur Air flight en route from Moscow to Goa. "The Embassy was alerted by Indian authorities about an alleged bomb scare on Azur Air flight from Moscow to Goa. The aircraft made an emergency landing at Jamnagar Indian Air Force Base. Everyone on board is safe; authorities conducting an inspection of the aircraft," said the Russian Embassy in a statement. Jamnagar District Collector Saurabh Parghi told ANI, "An intensive search was carried out by security agencies from 9.50 pm (on Monday) till the morning hours." He said security agencies were also verifying the passenger details. "Checking is done through routine scanning of passengers. Non-stop work has been on for nine hours. The baggage was checked and details verified," he said. "We received information about a bomb threat in the Moscow-Goa flight, which was diverted. The flight had 236 passengers and 8 crew members. All passengers were escorted out safely and are in the airport lounge. Bomb detection and disposal work are underway," the Jamnagar district collector had said earlier. (ANI)
As many as 40 flights, scheduled to depart from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), were delayed because of dense fog, sources informed on Tuesday. However, the airport sources further informed that no flight diversions were reported till 7 am. While several domestic flights queued for departures were delayed because of inclement weather in the national capital, 18 more flights scheduled to touch down at the Delhi airport were also delayed. Amid a severe cold wave prevailing in the entire north Indian belt, Safdarjung in Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 6.4C while Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 7.5C, till 8:30 am. Visibility in the Palam area was recorded at 50 metres while at Safdarjung, it was 200 metres, as per the data from India Meteorological Department (IMD). The national capital, which has been grappling with some of the coldest days in its history over the last week, woke up to another cold and foggy day. According to the Metrological department, the visibility in Palam was recorded at 0 metres at 4.30 am while the visibility at Safdarjung is currently at 200 metres. As was forecast, dense to very dense fog was observed over parts of Punjab, Northwest Rajasthan, Jammu division, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Tripura. "Dense/Very Dense Fog layer (in white patch) extends from Punjab to Bihar across Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh at 0530 hours IST on 10.01.2023," tweeted the India Meteorological Department. "Visibility (in meter) recorded at 0530 hours IST of 10.01.2023: Bhatinda and Agra - 0 each. Jammu division, Ganganagar, Chandigarh, Ambala, Patiala, Bareilly, Lucknow, Sultanpur, Gorakhpur and Bhagalpur - 25 each. Hissar, Delhi-Palam, Baharaich, Gaya, Purnea and Kailashahar - 50," informed the IMD further. Meanwhile, the Northern Railway informed on Tuesday that 36 trains were running late due to fog. "I am travelling to Gorakhpur. However, my train is running late by 4-4.5 hours on account of the fog," said a passenger. Meanwhile, Delhi also continued to reel under worsening air quality as the overall AQI breached the 'severe' category, at 418. The AAP government in the national capital had on Monday imposed a temporary ban on the plying of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers till January 12. The Air Quality Index from 0 to 100 is considered as good, from 100 to 200 is moderate, 200 to 300 is poor, and 300 to 400 is very poor and 400 to 500 or above is considered as severe. (ANI)
Amid the controversy over the Governor's remark, '#Getout Ravi' has been a top trend on Twitter for the last few days.

Bedlam broke in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday as the Governor arrived for his customary address at the opening session.

Members of the ruling DMK and its allies, the Congress and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) started raising slogans against the Governor before staging a walkout from the Assembly.

DMK MLAs raised slogans such as 'Don't impose BJP, RSS ideology'.

The DMK and allies opposed the Governor's stand and accused him of toeing the BJP's ideological position.

'This is not Nagaland, this is proud Tamil Nadu', the legislators chanted.

However, Governor Ravi continued delivering his address amid the uproar. The treasury bench also demanded a ban on online gambling.

The ruling party legislators accused the Governor of sitting on a Bill banning online gambling.

There is an ongoing tussle between the ruling DMK and the Raj Bhavan over several Bills which are pending the Governor's assent, including the one against online gambling and wager-based online games.

In total, 21 Bills passed in the Assembly are pending with Raj Bhavan, as of December 2022, sources said. (ANI)
Demanding case registration under Section 302 of the India Penal Code (IPC) against the accused in the Kanjhawala death case in which Anjali Singh, a 20-year-old woman died after the scooty she was driving was hit by a car which then dragged her for several kilometers in the Outer Delhi area, people protested against the police outside the Sultanpuri Police Station on Tuesday morning. People protesting against the police outside the Sultanpuri Police Station on Tuesday morning demanded a case under Section 302 of the India Penal Code (IPC) against the accused in the Kanjhawala death case in which Anjali Singh, a 20-year-old woman died after the scooty she was driving was hit by a car which then dragged her for several kilometres in the Outer Delhi area. The protest began on Monday afternoon. The uncle of the deceased (Anjali) and a few others were seen sitting outside Sultanpuri Police Station in Delhi. Anjali's uncle said, "SHO told us he'll make us speak with the DCP, adding that section 302 (murder) is not in his hands but that of seniors. If the accused confessed to the crime, what else does the Delhi Police want to see?" "The DCP will meet us around 12-12:30 pm. We will keep sitting here till then," he added. Dr Bhupendra Chourasia, another protester, highlighted the demand. On behalf of Anjali's family, Dr Bhupendra said, "A case should be registered under section 302. If this was indeed an accident, then Anjali would have been alive. The men intentionally dragged her for 13 km." Questioning the Delhi Police, he said, "If Anjali was the daughter of a politician, IAS or some IPS, what would have been the reaction of the Delhi Police then? Would they have been this slow?" "We want a well-drafted chargesheet against the accused. We have faith in the court of law," he said. "If the talks do not work out, we will meet the Delhi Police Commissioner. We will not stop protesting till a case is registered under section 302," added Dr Bhupendra. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police, over the past week, have scanned through more than 300 CCTV footage from the Kanjhawala and Sultanpuri area to zero in on the sequence of incidents in the Kanjhawala hit and drag case where 20-year-old Anjali was killed on New Year eve. The investigators also said they will match blood samples collected from the accused's car with the deceased's parents. It was during the early hours of January 1 when Anjali, along with her friend Nidhi, deceased Anjali was riding a scooter in the Kanjhawala area when her scooter met with an accident with a Baleno car. (ANI)
The 49-year-old passenger was arrested on January 6 and the cocaine was concealed in cloth samples that he was carrying to Delhi, the Mumbai Customs further informed.

The narcotic was hidden in the false cavity of a custom-made duffle bag stuffed with cloth samples, informed sources in the Mumbai Customs.

A senior Customs official informed that the 49-year-old flier from Addis Ababa was allegedly honey-trapped with the help of a voice simulator during an online call.

He added that the caller allegedly spoke in a woman's voice.

"The caller lured him with a job and proposed marriage if he settled in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia," the official said.

The probe further revealed that the passenger smuggled the cocaine at the behest of the caller, who also chatted with him on Facebook, the official said.

The passenger was arrested and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days, the police said, adding that further investigation is underway.

Earlier, on January 4, the Customs arrested an Indian passenger from Nairobi with 4.47 kg heroin.

Apart from narcotics, the Mumbai Airport Customs has also seized 13.73 kg gold and foreign currencies worth Rs 1.5 crores in January. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday posted for February 14 the hearing on a batch of petitions filed by rival Shiv Sena factions led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray. The pleas pertain to the political crisis that followed the bulk desertion of rebel Sena MLAs and eventually resulted in the demise of the Uddhav-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. The apex court will, from February 14, start hearing arguments on whether the matter should be heard by a seven-judge bench or a five-judge bench. Earlier, on December 13, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Uddhav faction, told the apex court that he would argue in favour of the reference of the matter before a seven-judge bench. "It has been agreed that Mr. Sibal shall circulate a brief note of his submission on proposed reference to a seven-judge bench. The note shall be submitted two weeks in advance to Governor of Maharashtra and private respondents," the bench stated in its order. The top court also noted that other parties can also make a note of their submissions. On July 13, 2016, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, during a hearing in the Nabam Rebia case, held that the Speaker cannot initiate disqualification proceedings when a resolution seeking his removal is pending. Earlier, the Uddhav faction submitted in the apex court that an unconstitutional government was running Maharashtra. In August, the top court's three-judge bench had referred the issues in the petition, filed by rival groups of Shiv Sena in relation to the Maharashtra political crisis, to a five-judge Constitution bench. It had said some of the issues might require the consideration of a larger Constitution bench. The bench also asked the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Rahul Narwekar, not to take any action on the new disqualification notices issued against the members of the Uddhav Sena. Several petitions filed by both factions of the Shiv Sena are currently pending arbitration by the top court. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday posted for February 14 the hearing of a batch of petitions filed by rival factions Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in relation to the Maharashtra political crisis. A five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha said, "We will hear it on February 14." At the outset, senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the Thackeray faction told the bench that in the last hearing he had indicated that he wants to argue on the need for a seven-judge bench to hear the case. The top court will first hear arguments on whether the matter is heard by a seven-judge bench or by a five-judge bench. Sibal on the last date of the hearing told the apex court that he would argue on the reference of the matter to the seven-judge bench. Sibal sought a reference of the five-judge bench judgment in the Nabam Rebia case to a seven-judge bench. On July 13, 2016, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court in the Nabam Rebia case held that Speaker could not initiate disqualification proceedings when a resolution seeking his removal is pending. Earlier, Uddhav Thackeray-led group told the apex court that there is an unconstitutional government running in Maharashtra. In August, the top court's three-judge bench had referred to a five-judge Constitution bench the issues involved in the petition filed by rival groups of Shiv Sena in relation to the Maharashtra political crisis. It had said that some of the issues involved in the Maharashtra political crisis may require a larger Constitutional bench for consideration. It had also asked the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Rahul Narwekar not to take any action on the new disqualification notices issued against the members of Shiv Sena. There are various petitions pending before the apex court filed by both factions of Shiv Sena. The Thackeray-led faction had approached the top court challenging the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari's decision to invite Eknath Shinde to form the government and also the Speaker's election and floor test. Later they challenged the Shinde group approaching the poll panel claiming they were 'real' Shiv Sena. They had also challenged the newly appointed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker's action recognising the whip of the Eknath Shinde group as the whip of Shiv Sena. The plea said the newly appointed Speaker has no jurisdiction to recognise whips nominated by Shinde as Uddhav Thackeray is still the head of the Shiv Sena official party. Thackeray camp's Sunil Prabhu had filed a plea seeking suspension from the Maharashtra Assembly of new Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 15 rebel MLAs against whom disqualification pleas are pending. Shinde group's challenged the disqualification notices issued by the Deputy Speaker to 16 rebel MLAs as well as the appointment of Ajay Choudhary as Shiv Sena Legislature Party leader, is also pending before the apex court. On June 29, the top court gave a go-ahead to the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on June 30. Refusing to stay the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30, the bench had issued notice on Prabhu's plea against the floor test. After the apex court's order, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as the Chief Minister and Eknath Shinde was later sworn in as the Chief Minister. (ANI)
According to sources, at a meeting of MLAs in Chennai on Tuesday, Stalin asked the MLAs not to put up any posters against Governor R N Ravi.

In what is being seen as the latest flashpoint between the ruling DMK and the Raj Bhavan, Governor Ravi remarked that 'Tamizhagam' rather than 'Tamil Nadu' would be a more appropriate name for the state.

Amid the controversy over the Governor's statement, posters with the words '#Getout Ravi' were spotted in Valluvar Kottam and Anna Salai areas of West Chennai on Tuesday.

'#Getout Ravi' has been a top trend on Twitter for the last few days.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Assembly was adjourned, soon after the House adopted a condolence resolution on the demise of sitting Congress MLA Thirumahan Eveera and other notable personalities.

The second day of the Tamil Nadu assembly began at 10 am.

The Assembly members paid a silent tribute to Congress MLA Eveera and others.Speaker Appavu announced the adjournment of the House till Tuesday morning. (ANI)
The Ministry of Law and Justice on Tuesday appointed Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar as the Acting Chief Justice of Guwahati High Court. The Notification issued in this regard by the Department of Justice (Appointment Division) stated that, in the exercise of the power conferred by Article 223 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint, Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh, senior most puisne Judge of the Guwahati High Court, to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice of that High Court, with effect from January 12, 2023, consequent upon the retirement of Justice Rashmin Manharbhai Chhaya, Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court. Born on 1st March 1963 in Imphal, Manipur, too (Late) Justice N. Ibotombi Singh of the Guwahati High Court, who had also served as the first Advocate General of Manipur and N. Gomati Devi. On completion of his schooling at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Purulia, West Bengal and Pre University Course in Science from St. Anthony's College, Shillong, graduated from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University with B.A. (Hons.) in Political Science in 1983. Obtained his Degree in Law (L.L.B.) from Campus Law Centre, Delhi University in 1986. Enrolled as an Advocate in 1986. Attended the six months' "Commonwealth Young Lawyers' Course" at the University of London in 1992. After a brief practice in the Supreme Court of India, shifted practice under the Guwahati High Court, the then common High Court of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. Also practised in the Central Administrative Tribunal, Guwahati and the Subordinate Courts in Manipur. Was the Standing Counsel for various Government Departments, the Government of Manipur, and public undertakings/institutions. It also appeared before a number of Commissions in Manipur constituted under the Commission of Inquiry Act, of 1952. Designated as a Senior Advocate by the Guwahati High Court on March 31, 2008. Served as the Advocate General of the State of Manipur from November 3, 2007, till elevation to the Bench. Sworn in as an Additional Judge of the Guwahati High Court on October 17, 2011, and as a Judge of the Guwahati High Court on November 7, 2012. Appointed as a Judge of the Manipur High Court upon its creation with effect from March 23, 2013. Appointed to perform the duties of the office of Chief Justice of the High Court of Manipur w.e.f 01.07.2017 till 08.02.2018, again from 23.02.2018 till 17.05.2018. Participated in the World Congress on Justice for Children from 28-30 May 2018 at UNESCO, Paris. Was part of the 8(eight) High Court Justices team to attend the "Workshop on Counter-Terrorism Phase-II Training" at Washington DC and Orange County, California from 10-14 September 2018. On transfer to Guwahati High Court, assumed charge as a Judge, Guwahati High Court on 11.10.2018. Presently, Executive Chairman of the Assam State Legal Services Authority and Central Authority member of the National Legal Services Authority and a member of the Governing Body of the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal. Appointed to perform the duties of the office of Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court w.e.f. 21.09.2020 t0 09.01.2021 and from 09.05.2022 to 22.06.2022. (ANI)
Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Tuesday said state disputes should be resolved through peaceful dialogue as aggressive political inputs can only create problems. Interacting with civil service aspirants here, the Tamil Nadu Governor said, "On Interstate state disputes like water, land etc, and in the process of sharing our resources, there is an interstate council with the Union Home Minister as its chairman. All disputes should be resolved through dialogue." On demonetisation, Ravi said the Supreme Court recently ruled in favour of the move. "Demonetisation did affect some businesses but when you make a radical shift there will be an element of discomfort. However, in what was an upside of demonetisation, it spawned multiple digital wallets and e-commerce firms," he said. The Governor claimed that digital commerce in India is the biggest in the world right now. "When a decision of such magnitude is taken, there is a negative fallout. However, we have moved successfully to a less-cash economy and our digital transactions are the largest in the world," said Ravi. The Governor said the upliftment of women is the key to India becoming a developed country and the Centre was implementing targeted schemes towards this end. "Today, our women workforce is far less than it should be. We have to come forward and help women realise their true potential," he said. On the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lanka, he said a long-time solution must be found. "We don't have an exclusive economic zone between two countries. The matter needs to be handled sensitively and resolved as it affects the sentiments of our people," he added. On Jallikattu, the popular Tamil bull-taming sport, he said there are people who think the animals are tortured but the sport is an intrinsic part of Tamil culture. "We can't stop Jallikattu but there must be regulations to prevent animal cruelty," the Governor added. (ANI)
After the administration in Assam's Lakhimpur on Tuesday began a massive eviction drive to clear around 500 hectares of forest land, Lakhimpur SP B.M. Rajkhowa said that around 450 hectares of land would be freed from the encroachers. The Superintendent of Police of Lakhimpur district B.M. Rajkhowa said that the eviction drive is underway and going on peacefully. "We will free around 450 hectares of land from the encroachers. Originally there were around 500 families, but after issuing notices from the administration nearly 300 families have left the area. And many families have left the area this morning also. We have deployed security personnel, but there is no report of any untoward situation," Lakhimpu SP B.M. Rajkhowa told ANI. Heavy security has been deployed in the area and the district administration is seen to be using excavators and tractors for the operation. Meanwhile, many families who encroached on the forest lands have destroyed their houses and left the area. Earlier on December 26, the district administration of Barpeta district of Assam carried out a massive eviction drive against encroachers. The eviction drive was carried out in the presence of heavy security at the Baghbar Satra Kanara area where some people have encroached on nearly 400 bighas of government land. Police had also detained suspended Congress MLA Sherman Ali who staged a protest against the eviction. Sunbar Chutia, Circle Officer, Barpeta said, "The district administration has evicted around 45 families who illegally encroached on the land of Satra Kanara." "Earlier, we had issued notice three times to them (evicted families) and a public notice. The entire eviction drive was conducted peacefully. These lands will be government's land and the government will use these lands as per requirement," Sunbar Chutia said. The Assam government had previously carried out a massive eviction drive at Batadraba in the Nagaon district. (ANI)
Delhi's Saket court on Tuesday extended the judicial custody of accused Aaftab Amin Poonawala for 14 days in the Shraddha Walkar murder case. He was produced today physically before the judge in the lock-up on the court premises. The court also directed jail authorities to provide warm clothes to Aftab. After Aaftab said he demanded some law books jail authorities submitted that they will provide him with them. Metropolitan magistrate Aviral Shukla conducted the hearing in the lockup and extended the judicial custody of Aaftab after he was physically produced before him. The court also has rejected his application seeking the release of his debit and credit cards.Advocate M S Khan said that the court refused to release the cards as the investigation is still continuing and the cards may be required in the probe. Advocate Khan also said that Aaftab has requested the court to provide him with books of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure CRPC as he wants to know the law."The jail authorities submitted that they will provide him with the books he has requested," Khan told ANI. Poonawala had moved an application for releasing his credit and debit cards Debit -Credit Cards from the custody of Delhi Police. His plea submitted that the accused had been in custody since November 9, 2022, and he has no money to buy clothes for the winter season. It was submitted that access to his debit and credit cards will enable the accused to buy clothes and day-to-day articles for the winter season. The court on December 23 allowed the plea of Delhi police seeking permission to obtain a voice sample of Aaftab. Earlier, the Metropolitan magistrate Vijayshree Rathore of Saket court had allowed the plea of Delhi after hearing the submission of Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad and Defence counsel M S Khan. SPP Amit Prasad submitted before the court that the voice sample is required to investigate the matter. On the other hand advocate, M S Khan opposed the plea and submitted that he had not been supplied a copy of the application. According to sources Delhi Police had some videos and audio related to the case. Delhi police want to obtain a voice sample of Aftab to examine that evidence. Earlier, the Saket court had dismissed the bail plea of Aaftab Poonawala after he withdrew the same. Aaftab Poonawala has been in police custody for allegedly killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar in May last year and chopping her body and disposing of the parts over a period of time. (ANI)
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday wrote a letter to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi VK Saxena asking him to clear the appointment of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) Chairperson urgently. The letter dated, January 10, stated, "Hon'ble CM approved the appointment of Justice (retd) Mr Rajeev Shrivastava, of MP High Court as DERC Chairperson on 04.01.2023 to succeed Justice (retd) Shabibul Hasnain after his retirement. Hon'ble Chief Justice of MP High Court has also given his consent as required under the Electricity Act." Manish Sisodia further said that the matter was sent the same day to the LG for his approval. "Hon'ble CM sent the matter to Hon'ble LG on the same day to decide whether he would differ with the decision of the Council of Ministers and whether he would like to invoke proviso to Article 239AA(4) of the Constitution," the letter said. The deputy chief minister also mentioned that in the last few days, the LG had got his decisions implemented by sending the file directly to officers bypassing the CM and Ministers. "On all transferred subjects, unless it is a quasi-judicial or judicial matter where Hon'ble LG has to act in his discretion, on all other matters, Hon'ble LG is bound by the aid and advice of Council of Ministers. So, kindly do not send the file related to appointment DERC Chairperson directly to officers for issue of notification," the letter said. (ANI)
The district administration in Chhatisgarh's Narayanpur administered an oath to the villagers leaders and influential people to maintain peace after a violence broke out in the district. "Influential people and village leaders of 68 villages of the district, including Sarpanch, priests, Gaita were called at an auditorium of the district on Monday and a peace talk meeting was organised. We urged everyone to maintain peace and harmony in their villages during the meeting," said Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Sadanand Kumar. "During the meeting, a talk for their development and maintaining peace was discussed so that they could not face any problem in the village. They also assured that they would live with peace in their villages. In view of the safety majors in the district, the police force are continuously monitoring in the district. Over 300 police personnel are deployed in the patrolling in the district to maintain the law and order," Kumar added. On the other hand, Narayanpur Collector Ajit Vasant said, "In coming days, the district administration will organise a solution and dialogue camp in the affected gram panchayats to win their trust again. Besides, people of around four to five villages are still living in Narayanpur city after the violence broke out. We are trying to pacify the atmosphere in their villages in the next two to three days and then they will be sent to their respective villages." There had been a tense atmosphere in rural areas of the district after a violence broke out here on January 2 in which several police personnel sustained injuries, including SP Kumar. After that heavy police force has been deployed in every nook and corner of the city, flag marches are being conducted continuously, all the police stations in the rural areas have been put on alert mode in the district. Nonetheless, at present, the situation is peaceful and normal in the district. (ANI)
A single bench of Justice N Nagaresh stated that the state government does not have the authority to take such an action.

The court has quashed this ban after considering a batch of petitions seeking to set aside the order.

Notably, a ban on plastic came into effect in Kerala on January 1, 2020.

This ban was applicable to 11 types of plastic such as plastic carry bags (regardless of thickness), plastic sheets (table spread), thermocol, styrofoam plates, cups, decorations, single-use plastic cups, plates, spoons, forks, straws, dishes, stirrer, plastic-coated paper cups, plates, paper bowls, coated paper bags, non-woven bags, plastic flags, plastic bunting, plastic drinking pouches, and non-branded plastic juice packets.

The ban was also applicable to pet bottles, plastic garbage bags, PVC flux products and plastic packets. (ANI)
Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi Government has decided to move Delhi High Court against the order of Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, declining prosecution sanction against AAP MLA SK Bagga in a corruption case being investigated by it, sources said on Tuesday. According to an official statement, Bagga, an MLA from Krishna Nagar in East Delhi is accused of seeking a bribe from an AAP worker, Raju Sachdeva, on various pretexts on different occasions. In his complaint dated November 9, 2015, Sachdeva had alleged that Bagga took Rs 11,000, Rs 21,000 and Rs 25,000 from him many times and promised to get him a ticket from AAP in the MCD elections of 2017. "When the ACB, which is investigating the case, approached the Assembly Speaker, Ram Niwas Goel seeking prosecution sanction against Bagga, after going through the due diligence of investigative procedures, he refused to grant prosecution sanction," the statement said. "During the course of the investigation, voice samples of both Bagga and Sachdeva were taken by ACB and sent to FSL, Rohini, for examination. The FSL report confirmed that the audio recordings were genuine and Bagga's voice sample matched with the audio recording," it said. The Lt Governor has accordingly granted his approval to proceed with the filing of appeal in the Court against the denial of prosecution sanction in the case. (ANI)
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) carried out a search in the case of Abhay Kant Pathak, the erstwhile Indian Forest Service (IFoS), 1987 batch of Odisha cadre, who was working in the capacity of Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Plan, Programme and Afforestation, Govt. of Odisha, informed the ED on Tuesday. A BMW-620D GT Car, worth Rs 74.22 lakhs bearing Registration No. OD-07-AG- 7272, was seized under the provisions of PMLA, 2002. During the investigation being conducted under PMLA, 2002, it was revealed that Akash Kumar Pathak, S/o Abhay Kant Pathak had surreptitiously attempted to sell the said BMW car to a person resident of Belagaavi, Karnataka who was a dealer of Old Cars, working in Mumbai. ED had initiated an investigation under the PMLA, 2002, on the basis of an FIR registered by the Vigilance Cell PS, Cuttack, Odisha for disproportionate assets (DA) amounting to Rs 9,35,42,594/- by Abhay Kant Pathak, his family members. It was further revealed that seven other FIRs and chargesheets have been registered by Odisha Police involving Akash Kumar Pathak S/o Abhay Kant Pathak and Abhay Kant Pathak, whereunder they have been charged for duping gullible people in the name of providing jobs in Tata Motors. ED had earlier carried out a search operation on December 3, 2021, under PMLA, 2002 at the Residence of Abhay Kant Pathak situated at Flat No. 101, Viswanath Villa, Vivekananda Marg, Bhubaneswar which resulted in the seizure of a Tata Harrier car worth Rs 15 Lakhs along with various incriminating documents/evidence. Subsequently, the ED has also issued a Provisional Attachment Order against Abhay Kant Pathak and others wherein identified properties worth Rs 29.83 Lakhs belonging to them were attached. (ANI)
The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, on Tuesday, staged a protest against the proposed launch by BJP workers of a book titled 'Siddu Nija Kanasugalu' (The Real Dreams of Siddaramaiah), which is critical of former Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah. The KPCC staged the protest outside the Congress Bhavan in Bengaluru. "When there is no achievement to speak of, the opposition leaders use the weapon of cheap tricks which is nothing but an evil tactic used by BJP," KPCC tweeted on its official Twitter handle. The book was scheduled to be launched yesterday by the BJP workers in Bengaluru's Town Hall area. The event was reportedly cancelled after the KPCC members and Siddaramaiah supporters protested against the launch on the site. "By launching the book defaming the former CM of Karnataka, BJP is merely doing silly politics. We demand the authorities to stop the launch of the book," Congress workers demanded. KPCC working president R. Ramalinga Reddy, along with Siddaramaiah and Congress supporters were present in the protest. The former Karnataka CM, Siddaramaiah, has been on the news for lambasting the Basvaraj Bommai government for the rejection of the state's tableau by the Centre for Republic Day parade in the national capital. (ANI)
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia urged Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Tuesday to clear the appointment of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) chairperson urgently. In his letter, the Deputy CM also urged the LG, not to send the file directly to officers, as he has done in three cases last week, as that is against the "Constitution and various SC judgements". Sisodia said the tenure of the present DERC Chairman lapses on Tuesday and yet the LG has not cleared the appointment of the recommended office bearer. In his letter, Manish Sisodia wrote, "CM approved the appointment of Justice (retd) Rajeev Shrivastava of MP High Court as DERC Chairperson on January 4, 2023 to succeed Justice (retd) Shabibul Hasnain after his retirement. Chief Justice of MP High Court has also given his consent as required under the Electricity Act. CM sent the matter to LG on the same day to decide whether he would differ with the decision of the Council of Ministers and whether he would like to invoke provision to Article 239AA(4) of the Constitution." Sisodia said Justice (retd) Rajeev Shrivastava has been an eminent judge of the MP High Court and has had an outstanding career and impeccable record. "Therefore, I find no reason why you would differ with the decision of the Council of Ministers. On the contrary, I feel you would be pleased to endorse this decision. SC has also said that the proviso to Art 239AA(4) should be rarely invoked," Sisodia wrote. The Deputy CM further quoted the Supreme Court from the matter State (GNCTD) Union of India Ar, (2018) 8 SCC 581 "Under the said judgement the SC has taken the view that the LG is bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers as long as he does not exercise proviso to Art 239AA(4)." The judgement further notes that the difference of opinion between the LG and the Council of Ministers should have a sound rationale and there should not be an exposition of the phenomenon of an obstructionist but a reflection of the philosophy of affirmative constructionism and profound sagacity and judiciousness. And that, "In a Cabinet form of Government, the substantive power of decision making vests in the Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister as a head. The aid and advice provision contained in the substantive part of Article 239 AA(4) recognises this principle. When the Lieutenant Governor acts on the basis of the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, this recognises that real decision-making authority in a democratic form of Government vests in the executive," he said. Further in the letter, Sisodia said, "However, should you desire to express a difference of opinion, then I wish to remind you to kindly follow the process provided in Rule 49 of TBR. In the last few days, there have been three occasions when you implemented your decision by sending the file directly to the officers bypassing the CM and the Minister and got the officers to issue a notification. When asked, your justification was that since it was written 'Administrator/LG shall appoint in those provisions/Acts', therefore, you directly exercised your powers bypassing the elected government." "That is an incorrect legal position Sir. On all transferred subjects, unless it is a quasi-judicial or judicial matter where LG has to act in his discretion, on all other matters, LG is bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. So, kindly do not send the file related to the appointment of the DERC Chairman directly to the officers for the issue of notification. There is a specific judgement of SC on the issue of DERC. In addition to its strong observations in the judgement of the Constitution Bench, the Division Bench of SC has also reiterated the same position," he added. Quoting the State (GNCTD) Union of India and Anr, on February 14, 2019 judgement in the letter, the Dy CM informed the LG of how the court has noted that in the context of the Constitution Bench judgement, it clearly means that LG has to act on the aid and advice of Council of Ministers, as such function do not come within his discretionary powers when it comes to the DER Act. "Therefore, despite it being written that government means 'Lieutenant Governor' in Delhi Electricity Reforms Act, SC has said that LG is bound by aid and advice of the Council of Ministers," Sisodia concluded. (ANI)
Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi in a letter addressed to the Union Minister of Culture and Tourism G. Kishan Reddy sought the preservation of records of our documented history and clarification of any anomaly under National Archives of India (NIA). Chaturvedi mentioned in her letter that there is an absence of records of the wars of 1962, 1965, 1971 and the Green Revolution under NIA. Calling on the need to enhance transparency, through her letter she emphasized that there should be an ease of accessibility of records to the general public, academicians and researchers. In her letter, she said, "There needs to be a declassification of information of historical importance under the Public Records Act, 1993 and liberal application of colonial legislations such as Official Secrets Act, 1923." Chaturvedi in her letter suggests that the Committee formed for the review and study of such documents should be free from bureaucratic control depending on the sensitivity of the matter. She highlighted in her letter that, "If the history is not preserved and made more available to those of us who seek to understand it, the tendency to use an imagined past or to repeat forgotten mistakes will be the only and rather disastrous way forward." (ANI)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday apologised with folded hands to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) for any inconvenience caused during the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) organised in Indore. A three-day program was organised for the 17th edition of PBD at Brilliant Convention Centre in the city from January 8. Addressing the program on the last day, CM Chouhan said, "I apologise to you (NRIs) for the inconvenience caused to you on Monday. We did not leave any stone unturned for the arrangement but the popularity of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was such that the hall became small." "I apologise with folded hands if any inconvenience has been caused. You (NRIs) should return by keeping our love in your heart and forgive us," he added. Chouhan also said, "Today is a rare occasion when Presidents of three nations present on the same stage. I am very happy, my heart is full of joy but there is also sadness. Indore has welcomed you like someone welcomes in a wedding, but when you bid farewell, it causes pain." "The three days of joy, enthusiasm, and celebration have passed. Yesterday, I went to the Padharo Mhare Ghar programme. The NRIs were very emotional. It felt like there were no longer guests and hosts, but two families joined together. Indore has been discussed for three days. This was not a government program. The people of Indore did this program wholeheartedly," the CM said. "PM Modi said, 'Indore is the capital of cleanliness and taste', I will say that Indore is also the capital of public participation. The NRIs have planted saplings and we will grow these trees. PM Modi gave the mantra of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and gave the mantra of Panchamrit to save the environment," he added. Chouhan further said, "In Madhya Pradesh, we start any program with the worship of daughters. Our growth rate is the highest in India at 19.76%. Our contribution to India's GDP is 4.3%. I am requesting you all, don't forget MP. Make whatever contribution you can in investing here. Invest yourself as well as make others do the same. You and I are not far apart. We have made friends of MP. You should become friends with Madhya Pradesh. Do make a small contribution for your motherland. I will call you again in February to see Cheetah." "Apart from the summit, you should visit Madhya Pradesh. Now, the time of farewell has arrived. Farewell with the memories of Indore, Madhya Pradesh and our love in our hearts. Without you, this convention centre, Rajwada, 56 shops, Sarafa and Indore would seem empty," he added. (ANI)
Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty has ordered an inquiry into the incident of an alleged objectionable depiction of a 'terrorist' in a musical programme in a government-organised function. He directed the Director of Public Education to probe the matter and submit reports. The minister further barred the NGO from participating in future state functions for this objectionable depiction of a 'terrorist' in a musical programme. "Matha Perambra that presented the musical programme will not be given a chance in future," said Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty. The controversy arose after a person played the role of a 'terrorist' dressed as per the conventions of a particular religion during a musical programme organised by the Matha Perambra, an arts NGO, at the inauguration of the State Youth Festival last week. According to sources, the controversy over the alleged 'dress' and the portrayal of the 'terrorist' erupted over a Facebook post one day after the event. This incident sparked reactions in the political arena of Kerala. CPIM State Secretary M V Govindan said that "CPIM or government will not take a stand against any religion or faith." CPIM Kozhikode District Secretariat is also conducting an inquiry into the incident at its level. Congress leader K Muraleedharan demanded CM Pinarayi Vijayan should apologise to the people for this controversy. "CM has the moral responsibility to answer this controversy. The Education Minister was in Kozhikode when the School Art festival was going on," he said. According to the director of Matha Perambra they don't have any political inclinations. "We don't endorse any political view. Here, in this organisation, people with different political views work together. The alleged scene was created unintentionally. At the end of the programme, minister Muhammad Riyas even shook hands with the performers," he said. (ANI)
Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has granted sanction to prosecute former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union vice president and AISA member Shehla Rashid Shora for her tweets on the Indian Army, officials said on Tuesday. According to officials at the L-G office, the sanction is related to a 2019 FIR against her, under Section 153-A of the IPC, registered at Special Cell police station in New Delhi, on the basis of a complaint by one Alakh Alok Srivastava. The student activist and a resident of Kashmir, in 2019, took to Twitter and attacked the Armed Forces for "terrorizing" the locals of Kashmir. "Armed Forces are entering houses at night, picking up boys, ransacking houses, deliberately spilling rations on the floor, mixing oil with rice, etc," Shehla tweeted on her official Twitter handle in August, 2019. "In Shopian, 4 men were called into the Army Camp and 'interrogated' (tortured). A mic was kept close to them so that the entire area could hear them scream and be terrorized. This created an environment of fear in the entire area," she wrote in a follow-up tweet. Meanwhile, the Indian Army rejected the claims of Rashid and identified them as baseless. "The allegations levelled by Shehla Rashid are baseless and rejected. Such unverified and fake news is spread by inimical elements and organizations to incite unsuspecting population," the Indian Army said. The LG has granted the prosecution sanction under the relevant section 196 of CrPC 1973 and section 153 A of IPC for promoting enmity between different groups and indulging in acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony. Earlier in September 2019, an Advocate, Alakh Alok Srivastava, filed a complaint against the student activist and FIR was lodged under section 153 A of the Indian Penal Code. Meanwhile, the Home Department, GNCTD, in its observations on file has observed that the nature of the case, the location to which the tweets refer and false allegations against the Army make it a serious issue. (ANI)
Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Tuesday cleared three capital acquisition proposals amounting to Rs 4,276 crore for buying indigenous Helina anti-tank missiles and air defence systems to be developed for taking down enemy aircraft. A meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council was held on Tuesday headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. According to the Ministry of Defence statement, among these three proposals, two are of the Indian Army and one of the Indian Navy. The proposals are under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category. The DAC accorded AoN for procurement of HELINA Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, launchers and associated support equipment which will be integrated into the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH). This missile is an essential part of the weaponisation of ALH for countering the enemy threat. Its induction will strengthen the offensive capability of the Indian Army, the Defence Ministry statement said. The DAC also accorded AoN for procurement of VSHORAD (IR Homing) missile system under design and development by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). In view of the recent developments along the Northern borders, there is a need to focus on effective Air Defence (AD) weapon systems which are man-portable and can be deployed quickly in rugged terrain and maritime domain. Procurement of VSHORAD, as a robust and quickly deployable system, will strengthen the Air Defence capabilities. Further, the DAC granted approval for the procurement of Brahmos Launcher and Fire Control System (FCS) for the Shivalik class of ships and Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMVs) for the Indian Navy. With their induction, these ships would have enhanced capability of carrying out maritime strike operations, interdicting and destroying enemy's warships and merchant vessels, the statement said. (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary meeting, which was chaired by party president JP Nadda on Tuesday, drew a sketch of the ways the party can use its wide base to make the G20 programmes which are in line a huge success this year. This comes in the aftermath of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to the BJP office bearers recently in which he had asked the party to take initiatives for the G20 presidentship programmes. "As a party what we need to do is to ensure the G20 is a massive success. It is a big opportunity for us to show the world India's culture and heritage. People from across the world will come to India and we need to show them this incredible India. As the world's largest party, our party workers will help mobilise for any such programmes," a top BJP source told ANI. BJP national Vice President Baijanta J Panda has been nominated by the party president JP Nadda for G20 initiatives with the central government, sources informed. "Make each and every Indian feel proud of this achievement and make them also a participant of this historic occasion," the Prime Minister has said on multiple occasions including in his meeting with the top leaders of all political parties on the G20 issue. In response to this, a national office bearer said after today's meeting on the idea for the party to help with programmes, "We would love to be a part of the initiative that is a matter of pride for all Indians. It is nothing to do for a political party because it is not a political programme." During the upcoming BJP national executive while the party will be moving resolutions about political and economic development in the country and the role played by the Narendra Modi-led central government. "An important aspect could be to talk about India's foreign policy and India's contribution to this sector. The party could bring in a resolution on this and it is likely that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar may be asked to speak On the G20 presidency in particular in the upcoming meeting," sources said. India formally assumed G20 Presidency from Indonesia on December 1. The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world's major developed and developing economies. Indonesia had last November handed over the G20 presidency to India in the presence of PM Modi for the coming year at the Bali summit. (ANI)
Former Karnataka chief minister and leader of opposition Siddaramaiah on Tuesday hit out at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for attempting to show him in a negative light through a book titled 'Siddu Nija Kanasugalu' (The Real Dreams of Siddaramaiah), which is critical of the former CM. The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), on Tuesday, staged a protest against the proposed launch of the book by BJP workers. The book was scheduled to be launched yesterday (Monday) by the BJP workers in Bengaluru's Town Hall area. The event was reportedly cancelled after KPCC members and Siddaramaiah supporters protested against the launch on the site. "I believe in the politics of debate and dialogue. This is what the Legislature is for. You (BJP) cut short the session without having the courage to debate there. Outside the street, you tie up with hired writers and make up stories about me. Is this your culture (referring to BJP Karnataka)?" "I am always ready for a public debate on our government's achievements. Let BJP leaders fix the place and time and call me. Don't sell your dignity by just lying and photoshopping happiness," he added. "Leaders of BJP in Karnataka state do not have the courage to face me or the Congress party politically. Publish a hundred books about our government's failures, I don't care. I can't even stop it. But I will not let you distort my image," Siddaramaiah said. Siddaramaiah said when he took oath as the Chief Minister, he dreamed of making Karnataka free from hunger, illiteracy, sickness and unemployment. "I made those dreams come true by fulfilling 158 promises in the party manifesto," Siddaramaiah added. "BJP is making false accusations against me day and night," he added. "When there is no achievement to speak of, the opposition leaders use the weapon of cheap tricks which is nothing but an evil tactic used by BJP," KPCC tweeted on its official Twitter handle. "By launching the book defaming the former CM of Karnataka, BJP is merely doing silly politics. We demand the authorities to stop the launch of the book," Congress workers demanded. KPCC working president R. Ramalinga Reddy, along with Siddaramaiah and Congress supporters were present at the protest. (ANI)
A well-established system, the Prithvi-II missile, has been an integral part of India's nuclear deterrence.

The missile struck its target with high accuracy. The user training launch successfully validated all operational and technical parameters of the missile, a Defence Ministry release said.

The indigenously developed nuclear-capable missile has also been successfully test-fired during nighttime as part of a user training trial.

The missile is a proven system and is capable of striking targets with a very high degree of precision. It has a strike range of around 350 km.

Inducted into India's Strategic Forces Command in 2003, the Prithvi II missile was developed by DRDO under India's prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. (ANI)
The Delhi government on Tuesday, informed the Supreme Court that a government cannot function if it does not have control over services. Exclusion of civil servants will negate governance and render officials unaccountable to people, the Aam Aadmi Party government told the five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Delhi government said, "Delhi's running would come to a standstill on every petty issue. There is a famous saying in Hindi 'Ek myan mein do talwar nahi rah sakte (there cannot be two swords in one sheath)." The bench also comprising Justices MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha was told by Singhvi that services were at the core of the dispute and the issue was whether civil servants serving in the NCT of Delhi are accountable through the government to the people who elected the Delhi Government. He added, "There is a chain. The civil servants should be accountable to the ministers. Second, the minister is accountable to the legislature and then finally the MLAs are accountable to the people...hence, the control over the government servants should be with the (Delhi) government." For any government to exist, it should have the ability to create a post, appoint staff to the post and the power to interchange them, Singhvi further contended, adding that unless a government has this power, it cannot function as ministers create policies and the implementation depends upon the civil services which must be answerable to the people through the elected representatives. The top court will resume hearing the matter on Wednesday. The top court has to decide to raise legal issues concerning the scope of legislative and executive powers of the Centre and Delhi government over control of services in the national capital. The case was posted before a Constitution bench after a three-judge bench had in May last year decided to send it to a larger bench on a request by the Central government. On February 14, 2019, a two-judge Bench of the top court delivered a split verdict on the question of powers of the GNCTD and Union government over services and referred the matter to a three-judge Bench. While Justice Ashok Bhushan had ruled the Delhi government has no power at all over administrative services. Justice AK Sikri, however, had said the transfer or posting of officers in top echelons of the bureaucracy (joint director and above) can only be done by the Central government and the view of the lieutenant governor would prevail in case of a difference of opinion for matters relating to other bureaucrats. The two-judge bench which was hearing pleas on six matters pertaining to a long-running conflict between the Centre and the Delhi government had given a unanimous order on the remaining five issues except for the control over services. Governance of the national capital has witnessed a power struggle between the Centre and the Delhi government since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power in 2014. Prior to February 2019 judgement, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court had on July 4, 2018, laid down the broad parameters for governance of the national capital. In the landmark verdict, it had unanimously held that Delhi cannot be accorded the status of a state but clipped the powers of the LG saying he has no "independent decision-making power" and has to act on the aid and advice of the elected government. It had restricted the jurisdiction of the LG to matters pertaining to land, police and public order and on all other matters, it held that the LG would have to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers. (ANI)
A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking to direct all the states to frame rules for menstrual pain leaves for female students and working-class women at their respective workplaces and compliance of section 14 of the Maternity Benefit Act 1961. The plea has been filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi. According to the petition, the Maternity Benefit Act, of 1961 makes provisions for almost all the problems faced by women related to maternity in their true spirit, which can be understood by the provisions Under Sections 5, 5A, 5B, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9A, 10, 11, 11A, 12 and 13 which have made it mandatory for the employers to grant paid leave to its women employees for a certain number of days during her pregnancy, in case of miscarriage, for tubectomy operation and also in case of illness as well as medical complications arising out of these stages of maternity. Ironically, the most disappointing aspect in the direction of respecting the rights of working women, is that in spite of a provision under section 14 of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 that there will be an inspector for a particular area to monitor the implementation of such great provisions, no government in India has created the post of inspectors, forget about the appointment of such inspectors, lawyer Tripathi said. These provisions of law under the Maternity Benefit Act, of 1961 are one of the greatest steps taken by Parliament or by the people of the Country to recognize and respect the motherhood and maternity of working women, the petition pointed out. "Definitely even today also in several organizations including government organizations these provisions are not being implemented in their true spirit and with the same legislative intent with which it was enacted but at the same time one of the biggest aspects of this whole issue or one of the very basic problems related to maternity which are faced by every woman has been completely ignored by the legislature in this very good law and also by the executive while making rules, specifically the leave rules," the petition said. According to the petition, Central Civil Services (CCS) leave rules have made provisions like child care leave (CCL) for women for a period of 730 days during her entire service period to take care of her first two children till they attain the age of 18 years. This rule has also given 15 days of paternity leave to male employees to take care of their child, which is another great step of a welfare state in recognizing the rights and problems of working women. "In spite of making all the above-mentioned provisions in the law to take care of women in difficult stages of her maternity, the very first stage of the maternity, the menstrual period has been knowingly or unknowingly ignored by the society, the legislature and other stakeholders in the society except few organizations and state governments, which raises a question on the intent of the whole society with regard to recognizing and respecting women rights, especially during their difficult times related to different stages of maternity, the monthly leave to working women during their menstrual period, hence the present Writ Petition," the petition said. According to the petition, Bihar is the only state in India which has been providing two days of special menstrual pain leave to women since 1992 through its Human Resources. In 1912, the Government Girls School in Tripunithura, located in the erstwhile princely state of Cochin (present Ernakulam district), had allowed students to take 'period leave' during the time of their annual examination and permitted them to write it later, the petition highlighted. Hence, the petitioner has sought to direct all the states to frame rules for menstrual pain leaves for female students and working-class women at their respective workplaces. The petition also sought to issue directions to all the states and government of India for compliance of section 14 of the Maternity Benefit Act 1961. (ANI)
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has accorded acceptance of necessity for the procurement of HELINA anti-tank guided missiles, launchers and associated support equipment which will be integrated to the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH). The Brahmos launcher and fire control system (FCS) for the Shivalik class of ships and procurement of VSHORAD (IR Homing) missile system under design and development by DRDO have also been approved. A senior Defence Ministry official said that the HELINA anti-tank guided missile is an essential part of weaponisation of ALH for countering enemy threats. Its induction will strengthen the offensive capability of the Indian Army, the official added. At a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), held on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, acceptance of necessity (AoN) was accorded to three capital acquisition proposals, amounting to Rs 4,276 crore. All the three proposals - two of the Indian Army and one of the Indian Navy - are under the 'buy' (Indian-IDDM) category. According to Defence Ministry, the Defence Acquisition Council also accorded AoN for the procurement of VSHORAD (IR Homing) missile system under design and development by DRDO. In view of the recent developments along the Northern borders of the country, there is a need to focus on effective air defence (AD) weapon systems, which are portable and can be deployed quickly in the rugged terrains and maritime domains. Procurement of VSHORAD, as a robust and quickly deployable system, will strengthen the air defence capabilities. The Defenfe Ministry also said that the Defence Acquisition Council granted approval for procurement of Brahmos launcher and fire control system (FCS) for the Shivalik class of ships and next generation missile vessels (NGMVs) for the Indian Navy. --IANS gcb/arm ( 295 Words) 2023-01-10-19:12:02 (IANS)
The National Academy for Learning (NAFL) School in Bengaluru on Tuesday clarified that the student who got arrested for making a bomb threat last week is not from the school. NAFL Principal Indira Jayakrishnan said: "We wish to inform you that a student from another school in the city is under police investigation for sending our school, National Academy For Learning, Bengaluru, a bomb threat by email. He is not a student of NAFL." Karnataka Police have cracked the case of bomb threat to the NAFL, taking a minor boy studying in a private school into custody and handed him over to the state Juvenile Justice Board. According to police, the police detected the boy through his IP address and when questioned, the boy maintained that he did it for having some fun. He had told police that he got the official email id of the school from the internet. Tension prevailed in the premises of the NAFL School, run by the National Public School (NPS) group, in Basaveshwara Nagar locality of Bengaluru on last Friday following the threat, sent with email. The mail claimed that four gelatin sticks have been kept in the premises, which are going to explode at the time of lunch. The school staff had immediately informed the local police. About 1,000 school children were sent out of the classrooms and taken to safe places. The development had also triggered panic among parents and local residents. Hundreds of parents rushed to the school and expressed their concern over the development and demanded that they should be let inside the school premises to see their children. Later, the children were sent home with them. A bomb disposal and dog squad had combed the school premises and later declared it as a hoax. --IANS mka/vd ( 310 Words) 2023-01-10-19:14:03 (IANS)
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday expressed dismay that the problem hadn't been brought up by the authorities for 15 years despite the fact that a significant number of documents and land records had vanished from the sub-registrar's office in the capital. A bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh said that since numerous officials are accountable for the missing documents, she may order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into the situation. "I am making it very, very clear that I may order a CBI inquiry into the case, because this is very, very shocking. Not possible that a truckload of documents from the sub-registrar's office can go missing like this. And 15 years later they register an FIR," she said. The bench listed the matter for next hearing on February 8 and ordered that the Inspector General (IG) Registrations be physically remain present. It further directed the Principal Secretary, Revenue to join the proceedings virtually. Justice Singh said that she wants a complete list of all the sub-registrars who were functioning during the period. "The status of the police investigation and FIR registered be also placed on record," she ordered. The court was dealing with a plea filed by a company called Monk Estates Private Ltd, which claimed that six sale deeds for certain agricultural land were registered in 1994. In February 1995, the petitioner was the beneficiary of mutations, and as a result, it acquired the original sale deeds. The petitioner, however, lost the documents in 2013 and sought certified copies from the officer of the sub-registrar. The company deposited the required charges as well. In December 2013, the registrar told the company that they did not have the documents. Later when the petitioner approached the Department of Delhi Archives, it did not have the copies as well. The petitioner submitted a Right to Information (RTI) request in September 2021, which indicated that the records were unavailable and that the police had lodged a first information report (FIR) in May 2019. The petitioner was only handed two pages of the FIR. After reviewing the petirion and the FIR, Justice Singh observed that the evidence demonstrate that the officials were aware that these records had vanished but waited 14 years before reporting it to the police. "Considering that these documents could be misused for sale and purchase transactions, also raised serious concerns about the credibility and integrity of preservation of land records related to citizens itself. Despite having knowledge of all the facts, none of the authorities appear to be taking any action in this regard," she observed. --IANS spr/vd ( 450 Words) 2023-01-10-19:18:03 (IANS)
A Special MCOCA Court in Mumbai has awarded ten years rigorous imprisonment to three accused in a case related to the nexus between the underworld and gutka manufacturers. Don Dawood Ibrahim wanted to establish a gutka factory in Pakistan and they helped him in the matter. The court while awarding jail terms to Jamiruddin Ansari, Mohd Farooq Mansuri and J. M Joshi also imposed a fine of Rs 15 lakh on each of them. The CBI had registered the case on February 9, 2005 on the request of the Maharashtra government and took over the investigation of the case registered at the Sir JJ Marg police station, Mumbai. It was alleged that during February-May in 2002, Ansari and Ibrahim had threatened to kill a businessman and his associate and forced them to purchase five gutka pouch packaging machines worth Rs 2.64 lakh from Rajesh Panchariya and sent them to Anees Ibrahim in Karachi, Pakistan through their associate Farooq Ahmed Mansoori in Dubai. The case was transferred to the CID, Mumbai Police. After investigation, the Mumbai Police filed a chargesheet on January 24, 2005 against four accused. The CBI conducted a thorough investigation. It was learnt that two more accused J. M. Joshi and R. N. Dhariwal were in nexus with Dawood Ibrahim. Dhariwal used his links with Dawood to settle a long-standing financial dispute with Joshi. As per the settlement Joshi was to receive Rs 20 crore from Dhariwal and in lieu Joshi was to provide all assistance (financial/technical/ operational) to Dawood in running an organized crime syndicate for establishing a gutka factory in Hyderabad, Sind Province, Pakistan. The accused had also kidnapped an employee of Joshi in India and took him to Hyderabad, Sind Province and forcibly made him work for three years in the gutka factory (established/ financed/operationalized) in Pakistan by Joshi for Dawood. Dhariwal was abetting the activities of the organized crime syndicate of Dawood by supplying gutka to a Dubai based company owned by Abdul Hamid Antulay (brother-in-law of Dawood) and Saleem Mohd Ghaus Sheikh. During the period from 1996 to 2001, Dhariwal supplied gutka worth of Rs 46.1 crore to his company, thereby providing gains to the organized crime syndicate of Dawood. After investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet in 2016 against nine accused -- Zamiruddin Ansari, Rajesh Panchariya, Anees lbrahim Kaskar (absconder), Farooq Mansuri, J. M Joshi, R. M. Dhariwal, Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, Abdul Hamid Antulay (absconder) and Salim Mohd. Ghaus Shaikh (absconder). Four out of the nine accused in the chargesheet are absconding. Dhariwal died during the trial, thus the trial proceedings against him abated. Panchariya was earlier discharged by the trial court, against which the CBI has filed an appeal before the Mumbai High Court. Further, two victims have been given compensation of Rs 2.64 lakh and Rs 1.32 lakh respectively. --IANS atk/bg ( 487 Words) 2023-01-10-20:14:03 (IANS)
Mission Youth is focusing on encouraging, engaging and mobilising young volunteers of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to support the government efforts of socio-economic transformation of the Union Territory. Youth Clubs, under Mission Youth initiative, provide an opportunity for the young generation of J&K to contribute to society and achieve self-growth, an official said. As energetic and vibrant partners of panchayats and district administration, these clubs are ensuring that governance effectively reaches to the grassroots level. The official added that through Youth Clubs, the government is not only generating awareness about various employment and self-employment schemes but also uniting young men and women of the UT of J&K to pursue their dreams. Youth's commitment to social service, national integration provides the foundation of developed J&K, the official said. "These Clubs are unique not only by virtue of their composition but also in providing leadership in different sectors and entrepreneurship commitment." "More than 74,000 members have become a beacon of hope for thousands of others. Youth are now active partners in the process of building a peaceful and prosperous J&K," he added. It is pertinent to mention here that more than 74,771 youths from 20 districts have joined the Youth Clubs, which are playing a significant role in providing youth an opportunity to work through real challenges and make meaningful change. A total of 4,522 Youth Clubs have been constituted across 20 districts with a maximum 9,000 youths enrolled in Poonch district. Young people in these clubs, who volunteer, regularly develop a civic identity, as leaders and change-makers and therefore become more socially active. They also learn new social skills like collaboration and problem solving that are vital to succeed in academics, the workplace and their personal lives. Thus, Youth Clubs are playing a pivotal role in creating lifelong change among youth and result in their overall personality development, which happens to be the core agenda of Mission Youth. The initiative of Youth Club was approved by the governing body of Mission Youth, headed by the Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha in its first meeting held on June 17, 2021. --IANS zubair/sha ( 364 Words) 2023-01-10-20:22:01 (IANS)
Global issues like climate crisis, geopolitics, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Indo-China relations, agriculture, and energy will be discussed at the 16th edition of Jaipur Literature Festival scheduled to take place from January 19-23, said Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director, Teamwork Arts, the producer of the annual literature festival, while addressing a press conference at the Clarks Amer Hotel, the official venue for the event, here on Tuesday. "The festival will host a few of the greatest literary minds, including Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah; International Booker Prize recipient Geetanjali Shree; author and translator Daisy Rockwell; author Deepti Kapoor; Booker Prize winning author Bernardine Evaristo; author Siddharth Mukherjee; Booker Prize winning Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka; celebrated poet, lyricist and author Gulzar; filmmaker and producer Onir; winners of 2022 JCB Prize for Literature Khalid Jawed and Baran Farooqi; and classical musician Hariprasad Chaurasia, among others," Roy said. Also, the literary extravaganza will display 21 Indian and 14 international languages. The speakers' list includes a large number of Rajasthan-based personalities, namely C.P. Deval, Nand Bhardwaj, Rima Hooja, Malchand Tiwari, Sandeep Purohit, Tripti Pandey, Devraj Singh, Ambika Dutt, Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, Anshu Harsh, Era Tak, Anukriti Upadhyay, Diya Kumari, and C.P. Joshi, among others, Roy said. "Jaipur Literature Festival spreads and proliferates discerning debate and knowledge, presenting different perspectives on the complex issues of our times. In 2023, the festival will focus on themes such as climate crisis, geopolitics, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Indo-China relations, agriculture, and energy. "The festival will continue to remain committed to its core values: To serve as a democratic, non-aligned platform ensuring inclusivity and freedom of speech. The past 15 editions have seen the iconic festival transform into a global literary phenomenon, having hosted nearly 5,000 speakers and artistes, reaching out to over 200 million people globally," Roy said. For its 2023 edition, the festival will host about 400 speakers from across a vast array of nationalities, as well as recipients of major awards such as the Nobel, International Booker, Pulitzer, Sahitya Akademi, Baillie Gifford, PEN America Literary Awards etc. It will feature a range of themes including the ongoing climate justice debate, great women writers and artists focusing on the female voice and identity, crime fiction, memoirs, translations, poetry, economics, tech morality and artificial intelligence, the global crisis in agriculture, Russia-Ukraine conflict, violence of the British Empire, cutting-edge science, India at 75, remembering Partition, geopolitics, art and photography, health and medicine, among others, said Roy. This season, the festival pass for all the students will be available fro Rs 100, which will be applicable for all the festival days. The literary show will also live-stream some key sessions which will be available on the festival's microsite. --IANS arc/arm ( 461 Words) 2023-01-10-20:24:02 (IANS)
The Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has decided to move the High Court against Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel's order declining prosecution sanction against AAP MLA S.K. Bagga in a corruption case being investigated by it, said an official source on Tuesday. Bagga, the MLA from Krishna Nagar in east Delhi, is accused of seeking bribe from an AAP worker Raju Sachdeva on various pretexts on different occasions. However, when the ACB, which is investigating the case, approached the Speaker seeking prosecution sanction against Bagga, after going through the due diligence of investigative procedures, he refused to grant it, in an obvious attempt to save Bagga, the source added. "Goel, in complete and blatant disregard of evidence verified substantively by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), sweepingly left Bagga off the hook by resorting to a partisan and questionable personal 'wisdom'," the source claimed. In his complaint dated November 9, 2015, Sachdeva had alleged that Bagga took Rs 11,000, Rs 21,000 and Rs 25,000 from him many times and promised to get him a ticket from the AAP in the 2017 MCD elections. Thereafter, Bagga allegedly demanded Rs 2 lakh and again Rs 1 lakh from Sachdeva, but when he refused, Bagga asked him how he would contest the election if he was in such poor financial state. Again in November 2015, Bagga had told him to organise a Diwali programme at Gandhi Park, New Govindpura, where he would get Arvind Kejriwal as the Chief Guest, and demanded Rs 5 lakh for this. When he did not pay the demanded Rs 5 lakh, Bagga refused to get Kejriwal as the Chief Guest, as per the source. However, Sachdeva who had recorded the entire telephonic conversation with Bagga, handed over the same to Kejriwal, but no action was taken by him. Later, Sachdeva gave the audio recording to ACB, which registered an FIR on March 9, 2018, under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code. During the course of investigation, voice samples of both Bagga and Sachdeva were taken by ACB and sent to FSL, Rohini, for examination. The FSL report confirmed that the audio recordings were genuine and Bagga's voice sample matched with the audio recording. Accordingly, the ACB, on March 23, 2022, sought the permission of the competent authority i.e. the Assembly Speaker, for prosecuting Bagga under the PC Act, but he declined. The matter was, thereafter, referred to the Law Department and it advised the Speaker's order be challenged before the Delhi High Court after seeking the LG's approval. The matter was subsequently placed before the CVO, who directed to place the matter before the Lt Governor for approval of the move to appeal. The Lt. Governor has accordingly granted his approval to proceed with filing of appeal in the court against denial of prosecution sanction in the case. --IANS avr/vd ( 497 Words) 2023-01-10-21:00:06 (IANS)
JD-U national President Lalan Singh on Tuesday said that Bihar Chif Minister Nitish Kumar has all the abilities of a Prime Minister but has never claimed to be the Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. "We never claimed that Nitish Kumar is a Prime Ministerial candidate of opposition parties in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The opposition parties will sit together to decide the leader. Our leader Nitish Kumar has only one aim to bring as many as opposition parties united to challenge the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll and lead the country," he said. Nitish Kumar, after the formation of Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar, went to other states and met leaders of opposition parties including Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. Reacting to the Sudhakar Singh matter, Lalan Singh said that it is the RJD's internal issue and its top leadership is capable of handling it. On BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi's statements, he said that Sushil Modi is a big leader of his party. "He is a bigger leader as his party state wing did not invite him when (BJP chief) J.P. Nadda came to Bihar. He was not invited to go on the stage. He is giving a statement against Nitish Kumar to achieve some post in his party or in the Centre. His statement has fallen below expectations when he speaks against CM Nitish Kumar," Singh said. --IANS ajk/vd ( 256 Words) 2023-01-10-21:06:03 (IANS)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs, MPs and ministers, and leaders of Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena on Tuesday attended a joint review meeting at Sahyadri house to finalize arrangements for PM Modi Narendra Modi's visit to Mumbai.

Apart from the PM's visit, discussions were also held on upcoming BMC elections. This is going to be PM Modi's first visit to Maharashtra after the Eknath Shinde government came to power in the state. During his visit, PM Modi will inaugurate several development projects.

The Prime Minister is also scheduled to participate in various programmes. He will also inaugurate two new lines of Mumbai Metro Lines including 2A and 7.

Along with this, PM Modi will also lay foundation stones for setting up two hospitals, and a new sewerage treatment plant in Mumbai to prevent the mixing of sewage water into the sea.

"Maharashtra government is working at a rapid pace and incomplete projects are being taken up for completion on priority," BJP leader and MLA Ashish Shelar said. (ANI)
According to information, the 55-year-old victim, identified as Udaypal Singh, was a security guard at CMS Company - with the agency operating the cash van service

One of the miscreants opened fire at him and fled after looting money from the van on Tuesday.

The bullet hit him in the left side of the chest, and he died while being taken to a hospital.

An official with the company said that an investigation is being carried out and the looted notes are being counted. The deceased security guard was a resident of Ghonda in Delhi, and the amount of cash looted in the incident is estimated to be around Rs 10.78 lakh.

"An ATM in Wajirabad was looted. The gunman was shot by unidentified people and he died while being taken to the hospital. An inquiry is being carried out and the currency notes looted in the incident are being checked," said Dharmendra, a CMS official. (ANI)
Mumbai Police on Tuesday arrested a man for posing as a police officer and trying to extort money from a journalist and her husband near Sardar Tarasingh Talav on Eastern Express Highway. The accused has been arrested by Navghar Police on the basis of a complaint lodged by the journalist. A case under Sections 506 and 170 of the IPC has been registered against him, the police said. According to police, the incident occurred on Monday night, when the journalist was sitting in her car with her husband. A man came from behind and started taking pictures of the car. When asked, he identified himself as a policeman. The journalist then asked him to show his identity card, on which he got angry and pretended to call his senior. On phone, the accused, identified as Shinde, said that a man was trying to molest a woman in a parked vehicle and he was letting them off with a fine, according to the complainant. Following this, the woman journalist called the police control room and informed them about the incident. Soon a team of police patrolling nearby reached the spot and caught the accused. The accused was brought to the police station and during interrogation, he revealed that he was not a policeman and worked in a private firm. Police said that during the investigation it was revealed that the accused had a motive of extorting money from the couple by threatening them and they are now probing if he has any previous criminal record. (ANI)